JLA Watchtower (Archive)

So far, the day hasn't gone well. He's had to watch Mar'i fall apart all over again over Ibn. He's hoping things improve from here. He's gone over the arguments for and against in his head.

And yet he still doesn't know how this will go over.

He enters the meeting room. He's supposed to be focused on this, but he's still thinking about watching Mar'i flying away into space. He almost doesn't see Donna until he almost collides with her.

Oh -- hey. Sorry. Million miles away. Maybe literally.

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"Is whatever you wanted to discuss a million miles away?" asks Starfire as she enters and takes a seat.

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She jumps too. Normally, they're both better about this.

"I hate meetings, too." She admits, with a shallow grin after handing him a cut bagel and coffee. Then she hands the same goods to Starfire. "Nope. Not a million." Just another coast.

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Right then, out with it. Some of us have a team to keep running, you know.

Vic's grinning when he says it, but heaven knows he and Dick have stepped on each others' toes about who's the leader before.

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Starfire accepts the bagel and coffee, looks questioningly at Nightwing, then stuffs half a bagel into her mouth.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Nightwing's grateful for the coffee. He's not so sure about his appetite right now, as he sits at the table.

That's kind of what this is about. The team, I mean. I realize I've been underfoot these days, and I've been pulling a Batman on you guys. That's not real fair to either of you. This is your team now, and I need to get the hell out of the way, and this place is getting pretty crowded lately.

He looks down into the coffee cup, then over at Donna.

But I don't want to give up the Titans. So here's an idea - and we wanted to float this past you two first.

We'd like to splinter off. Restart Titans East.

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Interesting. Though we've tried this two-team stuff before, Dick.

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I know. But there weren't this many people here before. Not counting the Legion refugees we've got holed up here, the active roster's got twenty Titans. I don't know about you, but that's way more than we ever envisioned having here in the Tower.

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"It has been crowded," Kory agrees. "When everyone is in their own quarters, it is hard to notice, but in the gym, or in the kitchen, any of the common areas...."

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Not to mention the laundry room. And that's with only about half the people living here full-time.

But the Titans is more than just a team. How are people going to feel about relocating their base of operations? About being separated from their friends?

There's a reason that Titans West crapped out. And it wasn't numbers. It's family. They didn't have it.

*sigh*

It's not a bad idea, if you can pull it off. But can you -- can we? Do you have any more details?

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Another look to Donna.

Most of the team would still be here. There's Alcatraz to think about, after all, and this is where the bulk of the training goes down. Think of it more like... getting the more senior members out from under your feet. Six or seven, at the outset. And if it doesn't work, well, the younger kids aren't really affected.

Pause.

And, yeah... part of it is that Donna, Roy and I want to be closer to home, for our families' sakes. I'm not proposing a total split - we'd trade members for training, join up on missions that need particular Titans' strengths, instead of being completely cut off from each other.

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Well, that's a step up from Titans West right there.

I'm willing to float the idea past the rest of the members. You get to argue it out with them.

Some of them are gonna dig in their heels just because. You know that, right?

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"It is a hard thing, to leave a place that has been your home," Kory says quietly, her voice soft with memory. "Even when duty calls you elsewhere."

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He nods, sparing Kory a sympathetic look.

Yeah, but it's not like they can't ever come back here again. I kind of have a few people in mind to approach about this, and I don't think it'd pull anything away from you guys in terms of strength and abilities.

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"Vic, Kory, you saved the thing in the world that meant the most to me - my family. But Roy and I want - need - to start one on our own. I want to also let Cassie and the other legacy cases have the breathing room we enjoyed along with the type of support we wished we had. Right now, with the fallout from Light and Luthor there's more than enough work to do and there's more teachers in the class than students."

"There will be three of us going, regardless. We're asking, if others choose to go with us, to have you both let us continue to be Titans closer to our other families. And yes, I expect some heel-digging, but there's a reason we want to be Titans rather than some brand new team."

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Donna, I'm not gonna try and stop you. Like I said, if it works, it'll be great for the team.

But when Kory and I reformed this team, we told these kids that everyone had a vote. That means that you have to convince them, too.

I'll put in a good word, but you're the ones who have to convince everyone else.

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"That's fair, Vic." She looks to her brother for a moment. "We just wanted to address you both first before we started telling people. This proposed team is supposed to be for volunteers only, not shadow recruits."

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Right. We didn't want to take this any further until we'd discussed it with you. We don't even have a location nailed down, yet.

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"Our old base?" Kory wonders.

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"Sadly, rubble at the moment. I was going to ask Gar about some of the old Doom Patrol bases."

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There's a couple of other old bases lying vacant, too, if memory serves. And who knows? We might be able to convince someone to help us rebuild the Tower out there.

I'll do a little bit of checking, and fill you in after you've talked to the rest of the crew.

Sound good?

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Well, that was fairly painless.

"Certainly...and thank you."

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Dick isn't sure that it'll stay that way, as he picks up his coffee and gets to his feet.

Thanks, Vic.

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