Fic: Team Building 101; or, Titans Together! (DCU, Ensemble)

[amathela]

Title: Team Building 101; or, Titans Together!
Fandom: DCU
Character(s): Stephanie, Cass, Donna, Wally, Mia, Connor, Koriand'r
Word Count: 2071
Rating: PG

Summary: Once a Titan, always a Titan. (Or, this is what some of the missing characters have been up to in the New 52. Hint: It isn't 'not existing.' Or at least, for everyone except Donna it isn't.)

Notes: Set post-reboot. Written for thankyouturtle as a yuletide treat.


If Steph were as bad at her job as the Cluemaster is, she would have quit a long time ago. (Excluding the period where she actually did suck at her job, because, hey, she was fifteen, and everybody has to start somewhere. But her dad is a grown-ass adult who's been doing this since he was Steph's age; he doesn't have the same excuse.) Case in point: She and Cass are currently waiting outside Rollin' Records on 83rd, exactly two minutes before her dad and his goons of the week are due to show up. She knows it's exactly two minutes because, apart from Cass being able to keep freakily accurate time even without a watch, he told them so.

You'll never catch me, the note read. I'm on a roll. Going to set a new record. Haven't felt this good since '83.

Yeah. Not exactly rocket science; Steph could have figured that one out all on her own.

Not that she needed to.

"Thirty seconds," Connor's voice says in her ear. She's still not quite used to wearing an earpiece, but these ones are seriously high tech; she supposes she shouldn't be surprised. "I'm in place."

"Ready," Steph says. "On my mark."

She's not in charge of the operation, technically, but Donna let her have the lead on this one. She said she knew how important this was to Steph, and that shouldn't surprise her, either, but it does; she's never had anyone have this much faith in her before, and she's terrified of screwing up. But she's even more determined to take her father down for good this time, so that helps.

"Mark."

Around her, it seems like everyone springs into action all at once. Arrows rain down from all sides, freezing the ground, forcing the conspicuously unmarked black vans to skid to a halt. Cass is a blur of black, taking down two, three, four goons before they even see her coming; a flash of colour ahead ties up another three neatly and keeps them waiting. And Donna, shining like the night sky, doesn't have to move to stop the Cluemaster in his tracks; he does that all by himself, looking so terrified Steph's half surprised he manages to keep his bladder functions intact.

Arthur Brown would say he's not afraid of anything, but most people haven't met Troia when she's angry. (To which Steph could add: Getting a real job, being a father, supporting his family, going back to Blackwater.)

"I think this belongs to you," Donna says, and that's Steph's cue. Her dad doesn't blink when he sees her, but he can't hide his surprise, either; the moment is pretty much everything Steph's ever dreamed of.

"Nope," she says, as the nearby sirens, background noise until now, coalesce into a small fleet of police cars. (Is two a fleet? Maybe not, but they're the big ones, so it probably counts.) Late, but that's okay; they didn't need the backup. "He belongs to them."

And then she pinches herself, hard, just in case.

-

"You did not!"

"I did," Connor says. "But don't feel bad just because I hit my mark more than you did, Speedy."

"Whatever, old man," she says, smiling. "Next time I'll prove I'm better than you."

Connor grins. "And I'll have taught you everything you know."

Steph's not sure if she's still supposed to be in charge, but either way, she's not going to intervene; if someone got in the way every time they starting competing like this, they'd never have time for anything else. Besides, it's kind of nice; not at all like the first time she and Cass met Mia, when Steph thought she hated them, when she barely spoke, wouldn't even touch them.

Now, Connor wraps Mia up in a bear hug that turns into hauling her around the room over his shoulder, and Mia's laughing as loud as he is.

"Congratulations," Donna says, and Steph turns around. "I knew you'd do wonderfully."

"Yeah," Wally says. "Maybe now he'll get a clue."

Steph groans, but she can't help laughing, too. Stupid rivalries and bad puns aside, this is her team, and she wouldn't trade them for anything. Donna. Wally. Mia. Connor.

And Cass.

"You deserve it," Cass says, when Steph turns around. Like she knows what Steph's going to say, what she's thinking, even before she does. Maybe there was something in her expression, in her body language, that gave it away; or maybe Cass just knows her. She's good at reading people, but Steph most of all.

"I was so nervous," she says, and takes Cass' hand. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"No need to be nervous," Cass says, smiling wryly. "You are good at this. Now."

"Hey!" Steph says, punching Cass lightly on the shoulder. Very lightly - the last thing she wants is for Cass to retaliate, even jokingly. Cass' fake punches hit hard. "I wasn't that bad."

Cass raises an eyebrow at her, and Steph sighs. Yeah, okay, she totally was.

"Well, okay," she says. "But not after I met you."

"After you fell on me," Cass corrects, and Steph blushes. Yeah, she did do that, didn't she?

"It was a tactical retreat," she says.

"Heavy," Cass says.

"I said I was sorry," she says. "Besides, if I hadn't fallen on you -"

"Knocked me over," Cass says. Steph hates it when Cass teases her; like everything else, she never lets it go. "Lost my target."

"- We never would have met," she finishes. Besides, she didn't hit Cass that hard. "And that would be terrible."

"Terrible," Cass agrees, smiling and squeezing Steph's hand. "Then who would I beat at rooftop tag?"

-

It's just another night in Gotham. Which, for Steph, means hiding out on rooftops, waiting for a pair of third-rate goons to finish loitering outside under the guise of a cigarette break and lead her back to their lair.

"How does Anarky even have goons, anyway?" she wonders out loud. She can't see Cass - she's a lot better at the whole 'hiding in the shadows' thing than Steph, but Steph knows she's around, and close, so it's not like she's talking to herself. Not really, anyway. "I mean, he's in high school. Does he pay them? I can't imagine these guys doing anything for free?"

"Lucky," Cass says. "If they were better at their jobs, they'd have spotted you."

"Relax," Steph says. "Nobody's going to -"

Which is when somebody slams into her from behind, knocking her flat on her face. Of course.

"Okay," she says, turning around and dusting herself off. "That was a mistake."

"Was it?" The man standing in front of her is costumed - red leather, mask, bow and arrow. Stupid baseball cap, which totally ruins the whole look. Villain? "Because you don't exactly look like an innocent bystander to me."

He moves quickly, but Steph's been working, been training, with two archers of her own, so she knows to get in close, make it so he can't use his bow. Or at least, so he can't use it to shoot at her; he still hits her with it over the shoulder, and it hurts badly enough to make her stumble for a second.

In which time Cass swoops in and puts herself in between Steph and the attacker. See, Steph knew she was close.

It isn't really a contest after that; Steph's pretty sure she could have taken the guy down on her own - baseball hat, for chrissakes - but Cass could do it in her sleep. With one hand tied behind her back. Probably blindfolded.

"So," Steph says, leaning over him as Cass keeps him pinned, seemingly effortlessly, with one foot. Steph has no doubt it's on some kind of pressure point or something; she tried to get Cass to show her some of those once, but gave it up after she managed to numb her own arm for half a day. "Do you want to tell me who you are and who you're working for, or do you want to go another round?"

Baseball hat guy laughs. "What are you supposed to be, a blueberry?"

"It's eggplant," she says. "And I'm guessing you're, what? A truck driver with a fetish? Scary."

He laughs. "You haven't met my friends yet."

"Then let's do that," Wally says. Steph tries really, really hard not to jump. She hates it when he does that - like it'd kill him to walk up every now and then, give non-super speed powered people a chance to catch up. And then, "Roy?"

"Wally," baseball hat guy - Roy, she guesses - says. So, they know each other?

Duh, Steph. Obviously.

"So," Wally says. "These friends of yours."

-

"Wait," Roy says. "So you didn't exist?"

"I ..." Donna hesitates. Even Steph doesn't know exactly what went on there; the big picture, yeah, but Donna doesn't like to talk about it a lot. Steph gets why. "I suppose that's the simplified version."

"And we didn't remember you?"

"It appears not," Donna says. She's talking to him, but looking at the hottest alien Steph's ever seen, all red curls and golden skin. Starfire, Wally called her.

"But Wally did?"

"He ..." Donna takes a breath. Good guy or not - and that part's still debatable - Steph wants to smack him. "Yes."

"And we do now."

Donna looks at Starfire again. Steph can't read Starfire's expression, but maybe that's just an alien thing. "Mostly."

"Well, this has been a great reunion," the guy in the weird red hood says. Jason? His voice goes a little bitter on the last word, and Steph's not exactly surprised; when Donna and Wally and Roy were talking about the old days, he didn't really seem to rate a mention. "But we're not sticking around."

"Maybe you should," Donna says. "The Titans -"

"Don't exist any more," Jason says. "And I'm not really a team player."

Donna raises an eyebrow, glances pointedly at Roy and Starfire. "You could be."

"Tried that," he says. "It didn't work."

Right. So that - explains nothing, and makes Steph even more confused about the whole thing. Was he a member of their team, or not? She has no idea what his deal is, and even less about Starfire; Donna and Wally keep talking as if they know her, and she looks at Donna like she does, sometimes, but the rest of the time she just looks ... bored.

Well. It's probably a whole lot more complicated than she's going to be able figure out any time soon, so she figures she's better off just nodding and looking like she's not completely lost.

"We'll be here," Donna says. Looking at Starfire again. Seriously, what is the deal there? "If you change your mind."

-

Somehow, after all that, they still get the location of Anarky's hideout. (Steph suspects Cass and Wally teamed up for some super stealthy, super speedy reconnaissance, but they aren't telling.) Which means the next night they're back - under Donna's leadership again, which Steph doesn't mind at all - and in position to strike when there's a flash of light behind them.

Steph turns, sees Cass' silhouette outlined for a split second before the light dies down again. It wasn't really all that bright, she supposes - at least, hopefully not enough that it could be seen from inside the near-windowless building - but it still takes her eyes a second or two to adjust.

"Starfire," Donna says. So. She doesn't just look impressive; her powers pack a punch, too. "You're -"

"Joining you," Starfire says. "If I am welcome. Donna ..."

And, okay, so something important is clearly happening here, but Steph has no idea what it is.

"Always," Donna says. "Do you want to say it, or should I?"

Starfire smiles, still radiant in the darkness, and says, "Titans together!"

-

A couple of weeks later - and seriously, he doesn't even have the decency to stay locked up for a month, that's her dad for you - Arthur Brown and a couple dozen other inmates escape from Blackgate.

Good. Because things had been really slow lately, what with all the supervillain takedowns and new members and confusing backstories to learn. At least now they'll have something to do.

(Or - whatever. She's put her dad away before. They've put him away before. They'll do it again.)

"So," she says to Cass, who's already smiling. She enjoys this way too much. (And she taught Steph everything she knows.) "Titans together?"

"Always," Cass says, and takes her hand.