Teen Titans #55: "A Relatively Quiet Day"

-1-

Naturally, the Titans are not fighting some major super powered threat every day. And not everyone is there every day, either; Nightwing and Kid Flash were often away. Others came and went on personal business. Very few of them actually lived in the Tower full-time.

But there was always someone here. The number of members the team had now, it was never really empty.

So it is that we find ourselves here, on a day with no super villain threat, and even regular crime is relatively low level. But even so, everyone is here.

This is a relatively quiet day, for the Titans.

-3-

After a short but intense session with her lover, Kory left Dick in bed, showered, and went to her modeling shoot.

She didn't want to wash the scent of him off of herself, but they wouldn't understand that sort of thing at a modeling shoot. Like all Tameraneans, everything she did, she did with passion, and that meant doing it right.

She knew who Batgirl was, of course; Barbara, 'Babs'. She knew something of her history with Nightwing. Starfire respected her, felt she was a capable warrior. And hopefully in future they could be allies without...any unnecessary distractions.

One thing that had worried her when she had first come to this world, in the early days of the team, was setting up a proper secret identity. It was no real difficulty to establish such a thing—taking her real name of Koriand'r and 'humanizing' it to Kory Anders—but surely she would be discovered?

The Titans had laughed at that. Then, when she had found Beast Boy down in Miami, he hadn't even bothered disguising that green skin of his, even disdaining the mask he had originally worn. He had been a high-profile hero before, in the Doom Patrol. She had wondered why his friend Cyborg hadn't built a holographic disguise for him, and had said so at the time. If he couldn't hide himself, he could surely protect the rest of them and not risk their identities.

That was when the others had laughed. Donna went bare-faced all the time, and Dick had told her that Superman was almost as obvious in his civilian identity. Kory still wasn't sure of the situation, but went along with it. When Donna had suggested a modeling career to her, Kory had been properly startled, but Donna assured her it would be no problem.

Not that Kory had any doubts about her ability to model successfully. She knew well enough that she had an attractive body, by both human and Tamaranean standards. Nor was this vanity; she knew it would not last forever, and wasn't overly smug about it. It was simply part of who she was, and would be for many years to come. No, her concern, rather, was that it would be another risk for exposure.

The others, Donna particularly, had explained to her that it was a matter of behaving differently when you were out of costume—developing that sort of willful self-inflicted split personality that any superhero had to have, save those like Gar or Victor who couldn't truly hide themselves. She had learned it from the others behavior; Donna was more studious and introspective than Troia; Dick was more relaxed and less brash than Nightwing; Wally was far more subdued and serious than Kid Flash. And Tara, once she had arrived, was a shameless brazen tart, but as Terra, only the temper remained the same; she was otherwise the cute-girl superhero she appeared to be.

So once the others had sufficiently reassured her about their secret identities, she had started on her modeling career. Despite her figure and looks, she hadn't gone for the big time; but she had a respectable mid-level career. Illustrated Sports had already had her in their swimsuit issue two years running.

Tara had, only half-jokingly, suggested she go for one of the more adult magazines. But Donna had advised against it and Kory agreed with her. She was a passionate woman with every fiber of her being, but not that brazen. And that side of the business had contacts she didn't want to get involved with.

So today she was modeling fashionable clothes for up-and-coming businesswomen. She was shooting in an office suite. It felt a little silly, but then many human customs felt silly to her. Posing and spinning and turning for the cameras was by now reflexive for her, almost pleasant.

On her way out, she heard some commotion and feared she would have to duck around the corner and come back as Starfire; but it turned out to be a mundane matter that the police already had under control; some disgruntled worker in a warehouse had commandeered a forklift and had chased his boss with it.

She smiled and went clicking away on her high heels; another human conceit she did not understand, nor ever wore casually.

-5-

Before going back upstairs to wake the lovebirds, Cyborg had, as planned, brought Sarah Charles to the tower....to tutor Scarlet Wing.

Carrie Levine was her real name, and she had never existed in this reality. The Levine family was real, but they had had twin girls, neither of them named Carrie, and a younger boy named Jon. She had researched it. One of the girls almost looked like her, but the hair wasn't right. She had felt very...disturbed.

Carrie had been curious about life in this world, not just her 'alternate' family. Though she had been privately tutored by her timeline's version of Slade Wilson—even after having faced him in this reality, she still had a hard time accepting that the wise professor she had known was such a heartless mercenary here—she had hoped for a more traditional education in this...sadly atomic-powered world.

But her wings would make her stand out. And there was no school for gifted metahumans, whether they were born with that gift or came by it later. Such things were only tales of a world even more dystopian than this one.

But despite her sadness over this world and the loss of her own, she was an essentially optimistic person. However naive it might seem, she was bound and determined to make this world a better place in any way possible. And after all, wasn't that what mystery men....no, groups like the Titans were for? The name may have changed, but the purpose was the same.

“It's not naive at all, Carrie,” Sarah Charles said when she expressed her thoughts. “That is why the Titans are here, and why we are trying to make a better tomorrow, all of us. That's part of my job as a scientist, after all.”

Carrie nodded. She knew the personal stories of all the Titans save Dagon, who didn't remember all of it, and didn't want to talk about the parts he did remember.

“But I'm curious,” Sarah went on. “Your level of education is already well past that of one of our good schools. Why do you want private tutoring?”

“It is true that my level of education is satisfactory by the standards of this culture,” Carrie agreed. “But that isn't enough for me. I could rest on my laurels and simply adventure for a few years before learning any more. But first, I am part of this world now, which means I must learn as much as I can about it; and second, one the principles I retain from....my old world and the people in it.....is to keep learning as much as I can. I am still only sixteen; by the standards of this world I should still be in school anyway.”

“I've never heard a sixteen year old from this world talk about it like that, even an exceptionally smart one,” Sarah smiled.

Carrie smiled shyly back. “Thank you. Even in my world, I was taught by an exceptional man. And....thank you for tutoring me.”

“My pleasure,” Sarah assured her. “It's a nice change to get out of the lab. Now, you wanted to study the rise of atomic power.....”

-7-

Rachel “Raven” Roth was sitting in her room, reading some ancient texts. In theory, if Troia needed help, she would be the first to respond. In actuality, she minded the quiet.

Unlike Scarlet Wing, her school year was over, but she always studied the mystic arts.

The truth was she felt peaceful; her terrible father showed no signs of returning, though she always kept a mystical eye out for that possibility, All of the founding remembers remembered those days, and those that had come after had been warned.

But so far, all was quiet on that front.

She felt happier and more at ease than she had at any time since she joined the team, which now seemed a long time ago. Her relationship with Wallace had increased her peace of mind. Oh, at first they had been a bit awkward, but things had rapidly improved. Now, she wished Wallace had pushed for a more physical relationship sooner. She would never be the brazen bad girl that Tara was, or even the passionate woman that Kory was; but she was and would continue to be, happy. And at peace.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Wallace arrived at the tower at the speed of which only he and a handful of others on this planet were capable. He too was in a much better place mentally, she knew; things were still politically uncomfortable for the Flash family, but Wallace had overcome his injuries—partially with her help—and risen back to the peak of his power. If anything, he had had a more rough time of it recently than she, and he too was much happier for his recovery.

She carefully put the manuscript down, smiling, and spread her arms.

Moving at a somewhat more normal speed, he came to her, and they embraced.

-9-

Donna, Tara and Kory were at a club they didn't frequent as often. It was a little too seedy; not even Tara liked it that much.

Donna was telling them about meeting Eric.

“Why Donna,” Tara said, one eyebrow raised. “You getting the hots for this guy?”

“Not like you would,” Donna said. “But there's something there.....something. I have to admit that. And I think we should take a serious look at his machine empathy.”

“Donna,” Kory said, frowning, “Are you suggesting him for membership?”

Donna smiled and shook her head. “I don't think he'd know what to do with a costume and a code name. Machine empathy powers aren't exactly front line material, anyway. And I think that we have enough members right now. But he bears watching; and it's better for us to do it than, say, Checkmate.”

Both of the others nodded at that.

“Gar's asking meet the Doom Patrol again,” Tara said, scowling.

“You've been faithful to him,” Kory said, “And I call that a good thing.”

“Yeah, thanks. But I think you both know me. And I think you both know—and even Gar knows—that while I'll never cheat on him, I do wish I could loosen him up enough that I could take him with me to a swingers party, or something.”

The other two exchanged a look. “You wouldn't know where to look for one,” Donna said.

“Not in this city. But I hope Gar does loosen up, and that we really can party with other people.”

Kory shook her head, and Donna groaned.

“You know you are gonna have to meet his foster parents,” Donna said eventually.

Tara put her drink down and buried her face in her hands. “I know, and that's what scares me. More than anything else.”

“More than Deathstroke?” Kory said, only half-teasing.

“More than the Black Sun,” Tara answered seriously.

“It won't be as bad as you think,” Donna assured her.

“Yeah, easy enough for you to say. But....yeah, it will be soon. And sooner or later, I'll have to face my past.”

“You mean Geomancer,” Kory prompted. They'd all heard the story of the villain who'd shaped her early career, and Nightwing had confirmed he was at large.

“Yeah.” Tara shook herself. “But enough. We're here to have fun!”

“Yes,” Kory said, turning to the small dance floor. “I think we might want to find a better place next time.”

“No argument,” Donna said, as they all began to dance.