So for the record, this isn't a self-insert. I am much older, heavier, and prettier than Mark, the original character in this. At any rate, this has been kicking around my head for a few weeks now, so I figured what the hell, I'd post it up and see if I get flamed and how badly. I've only recently gotten back to writing again, so I've been treating any mental drek as story gold if I actually get it written. I kind of have an idea where this story is going, and yeah, I do sort of intend a pair-up between Raven and Mark. Right now I've been concentrating on making sure there's no chance in hell of Mark becoming a Gary Stu. Also, this is my first foray into first-person POV story-telling, so it's a bit of an experiment. For the most part, it's rough as hell and I'm not sure I've caught all spelling or grammar mistakes.

Constructive reviews are most welcome.

-MeatLips

I couldn't help but look around the small office as I sat before the desk. My stomach was doing flip-flops. That morning, I had thrown-up from anxiety, so at the very least my stomach was empty at that point.

I glanced down at my ill-concealed paunch. I could easily admit to myself that I wasn't in the greatest shape. At 5'8", I could have stood to drop twenty pounds or so. It's like most people I that I know who went to college came out in good shape or at least attempted to stay in shape once they left the pristine campus of university life. Me? I went to college and studied computer science and engineering while relatively in good shape. I came out four years later twenty pounds overweight. I guess living off of pizza and Ramen noodles will do that to you. Meh.

I took off my glasses and nervously cleaned them. Yeah, I was anxious. Who wouldn't be? The opportunity to work with genuinely certified super-heroes was like a wet dream to me. Ok, maybe "wet" is a poor choice of words, but it hardly belied my excitement at being there.

I put my glasses back on and tried my damndest to not stare in sheer awe at the half-metal man behind the desk who was reading through my resume on a tablet. This was Cyborg, man! Cyborg! I had followed the exploits of the Teen Titans since my last year of high school and all through college. Even though Cyborg was only a year younger than me, he was my hero. Hell, all the Titans were my heroes. I wasn't exactly the most popular dude in high school, so my outlet was the world of superheroes. Not like you could avoid them since they were always on the news and all over the web. I guess I was kind of shy, but whenever I got home I'd be all over the Titan's official site to see what they had been up to.

I guess I ought to put a little backstory here as to why I was sitting in Titan's Tower in the bay at Jump City. I certainly wasn't there to interview for a position on the team itself. Life had tossed me a few curveballs, but any sort of meta-human abilities or martial skill wasn't one of them. I'm a Boston boy, born and bred. I went to Gotham University in Gotham on a small technology scholarship and studied CompSci. When I got out, I managed to get an internship at Wayne Technologies, a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. After being there a year, I transitioned to a full time gig at Wayne Tech. The salary wasn't too bad and I made enough to keep my cat Melvin in food and litter while I paid off my exorbitant school loans.

I had just turned 23 when my boss called me into his office and asked if I would be interested in moving to the west coast. There was a position opening up at a secure site in Jump City. I just had to fly out for an interview and if they liked me, I'd be transferred. There would be a bit of a pay bump and Wayne Tech would cover moving costs. Naturally I was totally into this. Little did I realize who I'd be working for.

"So, Mark," Cyborg said, looking up from my resume, "I just have a few questions."

He put down the tablet and folded his big metal hands together. He focused his human eye on me, while I could swear that his artificial eye was scanning me up and down.

"If I wanted to upgrade the network here at the Tower, what would you suggest as a network design? Let's talk speed, hardware, and security."

I thought for a moment before answering.

"That's easy. I'd run 10G BaseT to every room."

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. Well, his only eyebrow.

"BaseT, huh? Why not fiber?"

"Well sir," I said, "Copper cat6A is backwards compatible with 1000-BaseT, so anyone could plug their laptop or desktop into any wall port. Assuming they didn't want to use the wireless network."

"How would you architect it?"

"Well, Wayne Tech makes a switch that has port speed support of 100/1000/10000 copper twisted pair. So I would put a 24 port model on each floor and run 40G fiber cross connects to them."

"So run a cross connect to each switch as opposed to running them in serial?"

I shrugged. "You could run them in serial, and it probably would be less expensive, but if you lose a switch on any floor, you would lose connectivity to the floors above it."

Cyborg smiled. "So that's speed and hardware. What about security?"

"My boss back on the east coast told me this was a secure site," I said, "I wouldn't even be here without security clearance Wayne Tech got for me. So I would expect to use at least two of Wayne Tech's military grade firewall appliances in a two tiered configuration. I would also firewall off the wireless network. Internal shielded hardwire is more secure than broadcast wi-fi, so it would need to be protected at your primary gateway, hence the two tiered config."

Cyborg stood up and held out his hand. He gave me a big grin.

"Awesome. You're hired. When can you move out here?"

I stood up, feeling victorious. I grasped his big metal hand in mine and gave it a hearty shake.

"I just gotta find a place to stay in the city, then I can move out immediately."

Cyborg arched that eyebrow again. "They didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Tell me what?"

He let go of my hand and gestured around the office.

"We have a room for you here," he said, "you'd be staying here at Titan's Tower."

"Really?" I exclaimed, "I mean, yeah! That's awesome!"

I stopped for a moment. "Hey, is it alright if I bring my cat? I'll keep him in my room. He won't get underfoot or anything, and I'll make sure he doesn't shed on anything!"

Cyborg chuckled. "Dude, we got a changeling on the team that can change into any animal. We're not worried about cat hair."

"Oh yeah," I said, "Beast Boy!"

"Oh, you know about us?"

"Come on man, you guys are the Teen Titans! You guys are like my heroes!" I grinned, "But I swear, I won't let any hero worship interfere with my work. I am a professional, so I will limit my awe-filled stares to off-hours."

Cyborg laughed as he came around the desk. He put a big steel mitt on my shoulder.

"How old are you, Mark?" he asked.

"I just turned 23."

"So you're only a year or so older than me, and I'm the oldest one on the team." He gave my shoulder a squeeze that brought tears to my eyes. I hid the pain. "So I think you'll fit in just fine with the rest of us. It's gonna be a bit of a learning curve for us too. You'd be the first civilian to live here."

A week later, Melvin (my cat) and I moved into our new digs in Titan's Tower. Cyborg took me around to introduce me to the Teen Titans. I made sure I wore my best outfit, nice slacks, dress shirt, and my Doc Martens shoes, (which were in dire need of being replaced with a pair that didn't look beaten to hell) and I groomed and neatened my mustache and beard. No, I didn't have a neck-beard. I had one of those short but neatly groomed face warmers most IT guys seemed to be issued like standard equipment. My mother and sister always told me they hated my beard, but I liked it. I felt it gave my face character. It also did a good job of hiding the roundness of my cheeks which I had hoped would go away once I dropped some weight.

The Teen Titans are simply an awesome group of kids. The youngest at the time was Beast Boy and the oldest was Cyborg, with everyone else sort of falling in between. Robin was the first to greet me. He was about my height, but powerfully built. Not overly muscular, but I could feel this steel-like strength when I shook his hand. In some ways he reminded me of some of the douche-bag jocks I knew in high school, but unlike them, Robin had this relaxed confidence and this graceful way of moving. Almost like a predator. He had this weird aura that wasn't quite alpha-male, but I could easily see why he was the leader of the group. This was a man who always seemed like he would know what to do, no matter the situation.

Beast Boy was the second Titan I met. He was a bit shorter than me, but he also exuded an easy confidence born from years of experience with a top notch team.

"Dude! So you're like our new resident geek?" He grabbed my hand and gave me a lopsided grin which exposed a fang. "Welcome aboard!"

"Indeed! Welcome to the onboard!" Starfire had floated over and I was immediately struck by her exotic beauty. I decide that her online pics never did her true justice, even though I had always thought she was beautiful in those. Tall, orange-skinned, with flaming red hair that cascaded down her back like a molten waterfall and green eyes that seemed to glow with delight.

Cyborg looked around the main operations room. "You know where Raven is, Star?" he asked.

"I believe she is in her room," Starfire responded. She shrugged with a gentle rolling of her exposed shoulders. "she said she did not want to be disturbed."

"Oh well," Cyborg said, turning back to me, "I'm sure you'll meet her later."

"Yeah, later," I replied. I will admit that I was really disappointed. Of all the Titans, in my deepest darkest heart, it was always Raven who was my favorite. Back in my last year of high school I had carried a major torch for that reclusive Titan. Being four years younger than me made it awkward to remind myself that Raven was only 14 when I first became aware of the Teen Titans. Hey, I was only 18 and not prone to dating anyone at the time. I did have a girlfriend in college who was into the whole Goth scene. But I'll never admit that I only dated her because she reminded me of Raven. At any rate, I still harbored some feelings for that dark Titan, but I was smart enough and professional enough to think there was no chance of anything happening between her and me. Afterall, she's a Teen Titan and a reluctant celebrity with a suprisingly large following online. I was just some schlub computer engineer with a paunch.

"Oh, friend Mark!" Starfire suddenly said, pulling out her cellphone, "I shall send you the friend invite on the Facebook!" She looked at me with a wide grin that reached up to her amazing eyes. "Will you accept the invite?"

"Of course!" I replied with a returned smile.

"Glorious!"

Three days later, I was standing on a rickety step ladder and staring at a crooked length of plastic conduit above the drop ceiling on the 7th floor of Titan Tower, about nine feet from the floor. The conduit was supposed to snap together and drop into a U-shaped bracket that was screwed to the ceiling. It was open conduit, meaning you would lay the wires in it from the top, but you couldn't see them from the bottom. I just had to move it like a half inch. Barely. Proper procedure would have me climb back down, grab my power screwdriver, climb back up, disassemble the conduit and properly align it. But the power screwdriver was down on the floor nine feet away from the bracket and all I needed to do was shift it, just a little. Also, I'm a lazy dipshit.

I wedged my flathead screwdriver behind the bracket and tried to shift the conduit.

"Come on, you douche-bag," I muttered. I applied more weight to the screwdriver and conduit. I could feel it slightly flexing. "Oh come on, you fucker."

Murphy's Law and I never got along. Personally, I always thought Murphy was a pessimistic dick. Sort of a "glass half empty" kind of guy. It's just that he was often right, at least his stupid law was.

The step ladder fell away and clattered to the floor of the hallway leaving me hanging nine feet up from a length of plastic conduit that was never designed to bear the body weight of a human. Especially someone who could stand to drop twenty pounds. Then it snapped like a dry twig.

"Oh sh-!"

I landed on my back and lay there stunned for a moment, trying to regain my wind. Then my stupid flathead screwdriver fell point first towards my face. Fortunately, it stopped mid-air about an inch from my left eye. I noticed it was encased in some kind of black energy field or something. It was surreal. I had never seen anything like it. So I lay there like an idiot, staring at my floating screwdriver. Then I heard a dry feminine voice.

"Are you alright?"

I lifted my head and stared up and found myself looking up at the elusive fifth Titan. Raven. She stood there looking down at me. In one pale elegant hand, she held an open book with two more books held under her other arm. She wore her customary dark blue cloak with the hood down, revealing her face. I quickly jumped up and grabbed my floating screwdriver.

"Um, y-yeah!" I stammered, "Yeah, I'm ok!"

Magazine articles, pictures on the web, nothing, nothing could compare to meeting Raven in person. She was shorter than me, probably around 5'3" or so. Her face had this delicate elfin-like beauty that was framed by her dark purple hair which seemed to hang down into points just below her pointed chin. Her eyes were like a pair of amethysts set into her heart-shaped face and a single red bindi jewel rested just below the point of her delicate widow's peak.

She stared intently into my face, her eyes seeming to bore right through to my soul, before she cleared her throat. I mentally slapped myself for staring.

"You must be Mark, the IT guy?" Raven asked.

"Um yeah!" I said. I stuck out my hand awkwardly. "It's nice to meet you, Raven! I'm Mark, the IT guy, which you already know..."

She arched a single elegant eyebrow. Then she closed her book and tucked it with the books under her other arm before grasping my hand in a brief handshake. Her hand felt small in mine, but her grip was strong and warm.

"Nice meeting you," Raven said. She let go of my hand and walked around me. "Try to avoid any more falling tools. It's still only your first week here."

"Yeah," I muttered, watching her disappear down the hallway, "I'm such an awkward asshole. Good job, Mark."

My "office," if you could call it that, was just a room next to my living space. Cyborg had stenciled my name on my door, and on my office door, he had stenciled "IT." Now I won't lie. I hate doing desktop support. I studied with and primarily used Linux as my main operating system on my computers as well as my work and personal laptops. I became so Windows illiterate, that I had to take bit of an online course to remember how to do stuff outside of terminal windows. Suffice to say, one of my minor responsibilities was to do desktop support. Cyborg had promised me that we could hire some outside help to come in as a desktop support specialist, but not immediately. The overall plan was to expand the Titans team by bringing in new and younger heroes, hence the infrastructure build-up. Apparently the JLU was considering expanding the resources and responsibilities of the Teen Titans to include larger areas of the West Coast and not just Jump City, though Jump City kept the Titans plenty busy.

At any rate, the following Monday morning after I finally met my favorite Titan, I found myself staring at a battered laptop and a woeful looking Beast Boy.

"So, can you fix it?" BB asked with hope in his green eyes.

"I don't know," I said, "Besides being old, what's wrong with it?"

"Well, everything runs so slow on it, and I keep getting pop-ups."

I turned on the laptop and waited for it to come online. Almost immediately after login, all kinds of porn-related pop-ups inundated the desktop. It was almost impossible to do anything. I took my glasses off and rubbed my eyes.

"Dude," I said, putting my glasses back on, "I get it. You're sixteen. Porn is awesome. But you can't just click the 'ok' button on everything that comes up."

"But I don't surf porn!" Beast Boy exclaimed. I arched an eyebrow at him and his ears drooped. "Ok, so maybe I like going to some sites..."

I popped open his history folder.

"Youporn, Porntube, Redtube," I rambled off, "And what the hell is this?"

He came around my desk to see what I was looking at, then turned a shade of red that I didn't think was possible on green skin.

"TeenTitansErotica?" I asked, "You go to fanfiction porn sites about your own team?"

Beast Boy sighed, then finally shrugged. "Yeah, I do. I'm not ashamed to admit it. Some of the stuff those people write is pretty good."

"Really?" I replied, flabbergasted.

"Look," Beast Boy said with an annoyed tone, "I know you think I'm just a kid. But it's like the only relationships I'll ever be able to be involved in are the ones written on sites like this!"

"Dude, you're like sixteen," I said, "You don't think you'll find a girlfriend? Do you have any idea how many fans you have out there? You're freaking Beast Boy! There are girls by the hundreds that would murder each other to have your baby!" I arched an eyebrow at him again, "Unless you prefer boys? I mean that's totally ok and nothing to be embarassed about."

Beast Boy narrowed his green eyes at me. "First of all, eww. No, I don't prefer dudes. Second of all, there's like no chance for me to go out and meet any real women. I'm kind of recognizable, you know?"

"Yeah, but you don't need to live vicariously through fanfiction sites," I said, "Look, I didn't even start dating until I was in college."

"I totally see that."

"Hey, I will admit that I wasn't the sexy bearded ladies man back in high school that I am today," I said with a glare, "But I was in good shape and I sort of knew how to talk to people."

"Do you have a girlfriend now?"

"Well, no," I admitted, "but I haven't given up trying."

I looked back at his laptop. "Anyway... you have to admit it is a little weird to be reading fanfiction about yourself." I paused for a moment. "What's good on here?"

Beast Boy grinned and grabbed the mouse. "First of all, you wouldn't believe the amount of fanfiction here about me and Raven having a thing!"

"Really?" I repeated.

"Yeah!" Beast Boy responded. He clicked a few links. "There's tons of epic stories, though the lemon scenes are kind of creepy."

"The hell is a lemon scene?"

"Seriously?" Beast Boy's eyes widened as he looked at me. "Those are the sex scenes, dude!"

I raised my eyebrows at this. "Why do they call them 'lemon scenes?'"

"I don't know," Beast Boy admitted, "It doesn't really matter anyway. I mean look at all this! It goes back years!"

He clicked another link.

"There's lots of different shippers here," he said, "Lot's of stuff with Rob and Star, or Rob and Raven, and even Cyborg and Bumble Bee."

"Wow," I murmured, staring at all the story links.

"Yeah, the consensus seems to be that Robin and Starfire would be a thing." Beast Boy chuckled, "It's kind of funny they turned out to be right."

"Those two are together?"

"Yup," Beast Boy said, "But it's not really a public thing, so shut-up about it." He closed a couple of porn pop-ups. "I don't really like the ones about me and Raven. She's like an older sister to me." He shook his head. "I can't really imagine banging her."

"So... she's single?" I said with some forced nonchalance.

Beast Boy looked at me for a moment. Then he laughed. "Dude, seriously? You got the hots for Rae?"

I could feel my face getting red. Good thing I had the facial fur to hide some of that.

"I will admit to nothing," I replied with a huff, "Even under pain of torture. Also, if you mention that to anyone, I will personally make sure the only sites you will be able to access in the future will be nothing but muppet porn."

"Point taken. So about my laptop..."

I closed his laptop down and turned to my computer screen.

"Beast Boy, I'm going to do you a favor and just open a purchase order to get you a new machine." I nodded to his dilapidated laptop. "That one is older than dirt, has sticky keys, and enough porn and viruses to make Symantec cry. I'm going to transfer what I can to your new laptop when it comes in and physically burn that old one because I believe that to be the only way to keep it from coming back from hell."

I turned back to face Beast Boy. "Also, I will show you the proper browser plugins you need to surf porn securely so you don't jack your new one up, no pun intended."

Beast Boy grinned. "Awesome! So when would I get it?"

"I'll let you know when it's in. Begone from my sight for now, and take that abomination with you. Oh, and keep it on the guest wi-fi if you insist on using it whilst spanking the mini-beast. It's an isolated network."

Emotion was something Raven was very familiar with. It often manifested to her empathic abilities as colors and deep-rooted feelings in her gut that she would often shut out in order to maintain the order and sanctity of her inner-mind. Over the years she had become quite familiar with the other people she shared an abode with. With Robin it was the blue of a calm sea that showed his confidence in his abilities and his teammates. Starfire presented an almost fiery orange that showed her range of contentment and joy. Beast Boy gave off a static forest green that would sometimes spike with brown and reds whenever he felt mischievous. Cyborg gave off a static light blue that would also spike with brown and reds, especially when he and Beast Boy were playing a game together or playing pranks. The colors would tend to personify the personalities of her teammates.

Lately, there was a new set of colors and emotions that kept popping up on Raven's empathic radar. The new IT guy. His color range seemd to flow between a whimsical yellow to a muted green when he was content or happy with something. However, his confidence seemed to drop whenever Raven saw him. She felt him become embarassed or unsure of himself and he'd have some difficulty speaking with her. Granted, Raven had only met him a few times, so it wasn't really a big sample to examine, but at the very root of the emotional swings was his obvious infatuation. With her.

Raven wasn't entirely sure what to make of that feeling. Whenever she traveled in public with the other Titans, she kept her empathic abilities muted, but at home she didn't bother. So discovering someone was attracted to her romantically was, well, weird. It wasn't that Mark was unattractive. He was a little chubby, but kind of cute. He had a kind face and nice eyes. Not really the type to go hit on someone. Kind of shy, actually.

She sat lotus style in her room, floating steadily and unmoving a foot above the floor. There was a time when her mind felt fractured and her emotions were personfied as mirrored reflections of herself. Her meditations back then were geared for maintaining a tight control over her emotional clones lest her powers became erratic or out of control. Since her final confrontation with Trigon a few years back, Raven's emotions seemed to slowly merge and her fractured mind healed. Now in the inner sanctum of her mind she found a peaceful calm permeating her soul, especially when she meditated. She could collect her thoughts, analyze her experiences in an objective manner, and file her insights away for later introspection if she chose.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," Raven murmured, her eyes closed.

Her calming meditation was interrupted by the loud klaxxon alarm of a Titan alert blasting through the tower.

I don't think I'll ever get used to that alarm. I was sitting in front of my computer, deep in coding mode. Whenever I start coding something, I tend to become hyper-focused, often to the exclusion of all else. I was mechanically lifting my cup of lukewarm coffee to my face, my mind walking the eldritch depths of Java application programming, when that alarm klaxxon started screaming. It even had a spinning red light right next to my office door. I had originally thought it to be a fire alarm.

My coffee splashed all over my face as I jumped.

"FUCK!"

I raced out of my office door and into my room where I grabbed Melvin (who was also startled and not too happy to be grabbed) off the bed. Then I ran into the hall towards the stairs when the klaxxon suddenly stopped. I stopped as well and looked around. Melvin expressed his displeasure with me by yowling.

Do I evacuate? I wondered, Am I supposed to wait outside for the fire department or something?

My musings were interrupted by the buzzing ring of my cell. I grabbed it off my belt and answered.

"H-hello?"

"Mark, it's Cyborg."

"Oh, dude!" I exclaimed, "was that the fire alarm?"

"No, it was a Titan alert. The team has to head into the city to do our thing."

"Ahhh," I responded. I walked back into my room and dropped Melvin on the bed. He gave me his usual glare before jumping off and crawling underneath to sulk at the indignity.

"Anyway," Cyborg said, "we'll be back in a little while."

I could hear the sound of the T-car revving in the background, followed by a "TITANS GO!" from Robin. Then the call disconnected.

I glanced back at the bed where Melvin was hiding. "The life of a superhero, huh Mel?" He growled as I went into my bathroom to grab a towel.

Around 7pm that evening, I sat in the common room that was the main entertainment/dining area for the Teen Titans. I was working on my laptop when I heard the elevator ding. The doors slid open and disgorged five weary looking Teen Titans. They didn't look so great either. Robin was sporting some fresh bruises on his face and his trademarked spikey hair was mussed up. His uniform was dirty and had some rips in the sleeves and there was a nasty looking gash on his arm that disappeared into his right glove. Starfire had dirt on her cheeks and uniform as well. Beast Boy and Cyborg were scuffed and dirty as well as bruised, and even Raven, normally nonplussed, had some jagged rips in her cloak, though her face was hidden by her hood. She looked to be the most tired one of them all.

I stood there in my dress shirt and khakis wearing my stupid bunny slippers (which I had originally kept because I thought they made me seem whimsical and funny) feeling like an asshole. I wondered if anybody really appreciated what these kids went through when they went out on those alerts. I took out my cell and walked over to them as they gathered around the table.

Robin looked up at me. "Hey Mark," he said, "sorry if the alarm bell startled you earlier. We're just going to debrief here and-"

"I'm ordering you guys pizzas," I said firmly, "my treat."

All five of the Teen Titans looked up at me in surprise.

"Cyborg, you like meat lovers, right?" I asked, dialing my phone, "Tofu and non-dairy for BB, pineapple and olive for Star... I'll also get a couple of plain cheese, a pepperoni, and a mixed veggie."

Beast Boy stared at me, wide-eyed. "Dude... why are you getting us pizzas?"

"Yeah," Robin wondered. He had a puzzled expression on his face. "I'm not complaining, and it's certainly appreciated, but why are you buying us pizza?"

"It's past seven," I answered, "you guys look like hell, so I doubt you've eaten..."

I took a deep breath. "And I wanted you guys to know that I appreciate what you do. It's a hard job. People can be dicks, but you all still risk your necks for them. I know I'm only here as your friendly neighborhood IT guy, but you guys are my heroes."

I kind of felt like a tool, laying it out for them, but that feeling quickly dissipated when I saw the grin spread across Robin's face. That grin spread to Beast Boy and Cyborg, and Starfire's eyes lit up with her usual joy rekindled.

"Thank you, Mark," Robin said.

I glanced over at Raven and saw that even she was looking intently at me from under her hood. Her expression seemed thoughtful.

The pizzas ended up costing me about seventy bucks with tip. Who knew that we could get delivery way the hell out here? However, it was worth every penny to be able to sit with the Teen Titans and listen to them laugh and talk about the things they've done. Well, listen to most of them. Raven didn't say much, but she stayed at the table with us and ate pizza. I had gotten the impression she would normally disappear to her room, but she stuck around for this impromptu pizza party. I did warn the Titans that I couldn't treat them to pizza all the time. I'm actually quite poor.

Later that evening I got the awesome opportunity to sit and chat with Robin and Cyborg. The other Titans retired to clean up and get some rest, but Robin and Cyborg were the oldest on the team. I think they felt some kind of grown-up kinship with me since I was only a year older than Cyborg. I didn't have the heart to tell them that they seemed more adult than me. Also, Cyborg opened the bottom compartment of the fridge and produced some Sam Adams. Cherry Wheat, to be exact.

"Now wait a minute," I said, after I watched Robin sit back and down a quarter of a bottle, "Isn't one of you still underage?"

Robin belched.

"I'm going to look the other way this time," Robin replied, "but that underaged person better not let me catch them drinking again."

Cyborg and I laughed at that.

"But seriously," Robin continued, "I don't drink a lot. Maybe a beer once in a while, but that's really it."

He winced as he stretched out his bandaged arm. "Too much alcohol is not good for anyone, and I can't risk being impaired in any way."

I looked over at Cyborg.

"What about you, boss? What's your excuse?"

Cyborg emptied his bottle and belched loud enough to vibrate the table.

"I just drink this stuff for the taste," he replied, "my body processes alcohol so fast, I don't even have time to get a blood alcohol level over .001, much less get a buzz."

Robin slid his empty bottle between his hands, back and forth across the table.

"We always have to be careful with addictive substances," he said with a thoughtful look, "it's too easy to find ways to blunt the worst parts of what we do. I've known at least a few major heroes who were alcoholics or drug addicts."

Robin looked up into my face. His intent gaze spoke of weary experience.

"The police usually only call us when there's a meta-human involved. Today we fought a guy named Cinderblock. We've tangled with him before. He's big, strong, made of concrete. For whatever reason, he showed up on a busy street downtown and started throwing cars around." Robin rubbed his chin. "Bad guys like him only turn up for some purpose. They rarely show up to just tear shit up. There's always a reason." Robin glanced over at Cyborg. "I'm going to have to run a check on any reports of weird activity going on around the city."

Robin stood up and stretched, then dropped his empty bottle in the recycling bin. He turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Once again, thank you for the pizzas Mark," he said, "You have no idea how much we appreciated it."

With that, Robin turned and headed off to bed. I glanced over at Cyborg.

"You guys looked like someone had ripped off your lunch money when you came back."

"Yeah, that's what happens when a fifteen foot concrete douche-canoe throws cars at you," he said, putting the rest of the beer away, "And the owners of said cars get pissed off and think it's your fault."

My eyes widened at that.

"Man, that's total bullshit."

"Hm. I guess your perspective changes when you see your $80,000 Tesla get thrown at a superhero and that hero just gets everybody out of the way instead of catching it."

Cyborg leaned against the counter and looked at me.

"Seriously though," he said, "buying us those pizzas was super awesome. Robin had gotten clipped by a car and got hurt pretty bad. The rest of us weren't doing so hot either, but Raven was able to heal the worst of it. When we finally got Cinderblock secured, people were yelling at us like it was all our fault that Cinderblock had shown up. So yeah, we got back here feeling like total shit."

He held out his steel hand to me.

"My real name is Vic Stone. I only tell that to people I consider to be my friends."

I shook his hand again.

"Hi Vic, it's nice meeting you... again."

Cyborg grinned. "On a differnt note, we got a lot of big projects coming down the pike. You're definitely gonna be busy. Real busy."