Traitors and Teachers

Chapter 10

Four days later and the Teen Titans, minus Raven, were sitting in the T car driving to answer a call once more. Though the new hero had yet to receive a name, thus unofficially dubbed 'cool new guy' by Beast Boy, he had called the Teen Titans no less than three times to report something. By their guess he lived in the city, and possibly a bad part of it, because he seemed to find things before or shortly after the police found out. Not having to travel from the T Tower to the city, he was usually on the scene before they arrived and managed to hold his own until they came. The injuries dealt out by him lessened from what they were before, or at least they weren't as serious as shattering someone's tibia. Perhaps this was due to sheer numbers, once the Teen Titans arrived he no longer had to contain and subdue them all as quickly as possible. Regardless, the Teen Titans were becoming more accustomed to him, and much more friendly. They had even discussed inviting him to their home, a sort of "you're more than just a random honorary Titan we met on the street" gesture. Raven was the only one yet to meet him and make her judgment, but the others were warming up to him quickly as they fought together against crime. His style was familiar, yet they reasoned that it was because it seemed to be like Robin's fighting style, regardless none of them questioned him.

The scene this time was Mumbo robbing a bank, nothing too extraordinary, by the time they arrived the now familiar flash of blue and silver darted behind the windows, fighting the magician. A sleight of hand trick managed to knock the new hero off balance when he glanced at the Teen Titans with the same searching glance he had every time they encountered each other. A starbolt stopped Mumbo from taking advantage of the momentary loss in focus, and for that the man gave the Tamaranaen a generous smile. The blush that flashed across her face was not the reaction he expected, but he thought little of it and within ten minutes Mumbo was handed over to the police. With another job well done, he was about to depart as always when he was stopped.

"Please, friend! Will you not come back to the Tower with us? You are most welcome to come!" his mismatched eyes looked into the alien green eyes in momentary shock, but mentally he quickly recovered and forced himself not to start smirking. He had hoped for this, but had not expected it so quickly. Glancing at the others they gave their approval, smiling and gazing at him hopefully.

Which explains why a short time later he was walking into a place he never thought he would be invited to enter: Titans Tower. While he had assured them he could not stay long, not wanting to be rude and impose on them, he kept a look out for what he was always hoping to see. And soon after arriving and being seated at the table while Starfire decided to make something that sounded like " Gor'shig'iffu " a quiet girl entered the room.

He felt her before he looked up and saw her, it was strange being familiar with someone's mind like that, he wasn't even aware of it because of how slight it was until it was brought into sharp focus. She looked better than the last time he had seen her in person, but he could see faint scars on her legs where her healing had not yet completely removed the damage. Perhaps the damage was so great that her powers could not heal them completely without leaving scaring. Considering what had happened she was lucky to be alive, a couple faint scars seemed like a decent trade for her life. The half demon also looked thinner, recovering but still tired and thin. Their eyes met and she gave him a quizzical look, curious and wondering about why he was so familiar. She had seen him on the news, the others had talked about him, but there was something else to him she could not place.

"Hey Raven..." he did not hear the rest of what Robin said because Starfire was addressing him, making him look away from Raven as Robin approached her. The naïve alien held a strange dish of food in her hands -at least he thought it was suppose to be food- that she was offering to him, her face slightly flushed.

"Have you thought of your hero name?" Starfire asked him as he hesitantly poked an orange blob on his plate with a spoon. But he felt eyes on him, Raven was studying him with interest.