Author's Note: hey guys I apologise for the wait. Just a little advice for fellow writers dont ever add 20+ characters to a story unless your absolutely certain you want to use them. It will come back to haunt you. Anyway I thought I'd finally do something about to to try and resolve the roster problem a little bit. i actually wroter several different versions to try to move past this problem but hopefully you'll like this next one. again sorry for the wait. This was originally just a side project.

Young Outsiders

Chapter 9

Keep Your Friends Close...

"Brother Blood. I've heard of you. But I thought you were older." Lex said.

"That was my father. He ran the HIVE Academy for some time before he was put away by Cyborg and his Titans." he told him.

"Yes that's right. So I gather that he's not around anymore." concluded Lex.

"My father has been...indisposed for quite some time I'm sad to say. And now I carry on his legacy." Brother Blood told him. Luthor smiled and struck a thinking pose.

"So then what can you contribute to this team of ours?" he asked.

"Anything you want. I am completely at your services, as are my subjects." he said bowing to him.

"And who exactly are your associates?" he asked.

"The Nation of Zandia." he replied.

"Very well. Welcome to the team." he said.

However several of the Titans didnt take kindly to his addition and suspicion grew amongst them. But none more so than the Martian Manhunter and Batman. The bald headed woman cast an eye upon Luthor signaling her disdain towards the new recruit. Luthor caught her glance from the corner of his eye and shrugged.

"If you'll excuse me now. I have business to attend to." he said excusing himself.

"As you wish." said Blood.

Luthor turned and left the room and was soon followed by M'gann. Once the doors closed behind them she spoke up.

"I dont trust him." she said.

"Which is why your on this team my dear. What did you pick up?" he asked as they walked.

"He has alterior motives sir." she told him.

"What kind of alterior motives?" he asked, his voice deepened.

"As I'm sure you already know the nation of Zandia is home to..."

"The Church of Blood." he finished casually.

"Then you know why he came." she said.

"It wasnt that hard to figure out." Luthor said.

"Then what do you need me for?" she replied snidely.

"A second opinion my dear. One must always remain a step ahead should certain parties threaten to interfere." Luthor told her.

"So then what shall we do with him in the mean time?" she asked as they reached the end of a hallway. Luthor then turned to her infront of a hydralic door.

"Keep an eye on him. I dont want anything endangering our plans. If he does try to pull something, take him out." he ordered.

"Yes sir." the clone replied obediently.

Luthor placed a hand on the keypad next to him and the door slid open. M'gann left him to his devices. In another part of the tower, Brother Blood seperated Crimson Devil from the others and placed him under a paralysis spell.

"What do you want with me?" Eddie growled.

"You have trapped my master within your cursed form, and I intend to free him." he smirked.

"I know everything that happened all those years ago. When Trigon was last resurrected you sacrified yourself to prevent him from rising. And now he resides in a vassle owned by Neron! I shall not forgive you for defiling my master like this, but those days will soon be over. When I destroy you!" he said with eyes blazing.

Eddie struggled against the spell but could gain no movement.

"You think I'll just stand by and let it happen?" he asked definatly.

"Or how about me?" Martian Manhunter asked standing a way's off.

Sabastian turned around to see the rouge Martian standing there arms folded.

"You have alot of gull you know." she said in anger. Brother Blood only smirked.

"I'll admit my actions were a bit brash but I've always perferred getting to the heart of the matter." he replied.

"Your not leaving this tower alive." she told him.

"Is that a fact?" he asked snapping his fingers.

In the next instant a horde of members dressed in violet cloaks surrounded Brother Blood. Each one wearing the crest of the HIVE Academy around thier necks.

"I think the odds are in my favor. And there's plenty more where they came from. So...feeling lucky?" he added.

"Perhaps you didnt hear her..." Superman said with the other Titans standing behind her.

"Stand down before we destroy you." he warned.

"Trigon will never rise again." Dark Raven added.

"And you will be wise to leave this tower if you value your lives." Superman warned with eyes glowing.

Several of the cloaked beings looked at each other as the gravity of the situation suddenly weighed on them. The Dark Knight made his way to the front of the group and stood next to Superman.

"So what's it going to be?" he asked.

"If you honestly think we'll fold to the likes of you. Your sadly mistaken." Brother Blood said definatly. A dead silence lingered in the air. Superman smirked before replying.

"Then it was nice knowing you." he said as the group decended on them.

Blood growled as his followers retreated back a step. Brother Blood stood his ground summoning huge balls of energy and opened fire on the team. The team stood there as it rushed at them, at the last second a large force field protected them from the blast. Blood widened his eyes in shock as the force field receeded back into Superman's body.

"Is that the best you got?" he asked.

"Not hardly!" he hissed.

"Aquawoman flush em out." Batman ordered.

Lorena stepped forward and nearby pipes started to burst. The water funneled around her body as she raised her arms and sent the torrent towards them knocking them off thier feet. The Trigon worshippers slammed headfirst into an opposing wall knocking some of them out. Lorena continued the attack as the floor around them started to flood. In seconds they were already partly submerged as the water continued to rise. Brother Blood was back on his feet and fired a second concentrated blast at them. Zoom deflected the blast this time with his body, and didnt do any damage to him. Several of the doomed subjects were already underwater, as it climbed up to his knees. Batman took a step forward as he addressed him.

"Your services are no longer needed." he said.

On a staircase behind the two groups, the Joker's Daughter, Kitten Van Cleese looked on in horror as Aquawoman finished them off. Terrified she raced out of the room catching the attention of Batman. Kitten ran up the hall before running into the newest Nightwing.

"Watch where your going." he warned.

"He...they...the Titans...they just..." she stammered.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Nothing important." Batman said standing at the edge of the hallway.

Kitten hid behind her teammate as the Dark Knight approached them.

"Let me give you some friendly advice. Neither of you are wanted on this team. If you value your lives, you'll leave." he told them.

"Hey I was just about to do that." she said still hiding behind Nightwing.

"You'd be wise to." said Tim.

"I dont want any trouble okay? I just joined cuz I thought it'd be fun, but you guys are lunatics." she said. The Dark Knight growled at her frightening her all the more.

"Right so I'll just leave. Um, Nightwing you'll see me out safely right?" she chuckled nervously.

Nightwing glanced at her from the corner of his eye sensing the terror in the girl before turning his attention back to Batman.

"Sure. Come on." he said and turned to leave with her.

"You'll be wise to leave as well." The Dark Knight told him. Nightwing scoffed as he escorted Joker's Daughter off the premises.

"These guys totally give me the creeps. I know they're nothing like the old Titans but these guys are freakin' psychopaths." Kitten whispered to her confidant. Nightwing remained silent as he walked with her.

"Hey are you listening?" she asked. He nodded as they continued walking.

"Then why dont you say anything?" she asked him.

"Your different from them arent you?" she said in an even lower voice.

"You wanted me to see you out didnt you?" he replied.

"Yeah...thanks for that." she said softly and stopped short of the door.

"Hey can you stay with me? I dont really feel safe in this town. And I'm afraid I might be next." she confided. Nightwing stood over her stoically before answering her.

"I'll get you out of the city." he said.

"No just please stay the night. You dont have to do anything else." she said as she wiped away her Joker's Daughter makeup. He looked back at her silently before answering.

"All right." he finally said.

"You know you kind of remind me of the original Batman." she stated softly.

"We better go." he said escorting her out the door.

Nightwing looked over his shoulder and saw Batman standing at the head of the staircase in the lobby. Without saying a word he made his way out. A while later the two walked the streets of San Francisco with just a few other people out at this hour. Kitten now without her makeup attempted to keep herself warm as the night air swept past them. Nightwing soon offered her his jacket, as the young woman looked up at him almost astonished by his generosity who continued walking without saying anything. She took the jacket and drapped it around herself. A small smile appeared on her lips as she looked back at him.

"Thanks for getting me out of there. You know this may sound wierd but your nothing like those other guys." she said softly.

"I'll take that as a compliment." he replied casually. Kitten turned around and stopped infront of him.

"You know you saved my life right?" she asked.

"I might have." he shrugged.

"Nobody has ever tried to help me before." she said.

"That's what you wanted wasnt it?" he asked.

"Well yeah, when Luthor asked me to join Titans West. I thought it'd be fun, cause some havok and destroy the other Titans...but I never really thought about what they were capable of. And it wasnt at all what I expected. I only became the Joker's Daughter to piss off Batman but now I'm terrified." she said.

"Maybe we should get you home." he said.

"Yeah." she said.

"Come on." he said putting a hand on her shoulder.

A short while later they arrived at Kitten's apartment. It was a single bedroom, a few minutes later she changed out of her clothes and came up to him in just a pink dress shirt.

"Here's your jacket." she said. He took it and threw it on a recliner.

"Thanks for getting me home." she said putting her hands on his chest.

"That's what I'm here for." he replied.

"You know I have room for one more." she said slyly. He smiled and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"I think I'll stay in here." he said.

"A gentleman too. Well the door's open if you change your mind." she said.

"I'll keep that in mind." he replied.

Kitten slowly made her way towards her room and gave him one last smile before leaving the door ajar behind her. Nightwing smiled as he settled down into the recliner and covered himself with his jacket. In the other room, Kitten ran her hands through her hair before crawling under the covers and settled in. She looked back at the door to see if he had changed his mind yet and turned off the light. A few hours later he was fast asleep as Kitten crept in and put a blanket around him. A smile graced her face as she watched him. For a moment she considered pulling off his domino mask to see who he was. As she reached for the top left corner of his mask she hesitated. Instead she kissed his cheek, Nightwing snored slightly and shifted in his sleep. She giggled a bit as she roughed his hair slightly and made her way back to bed. Getting back under the covers she looked back towards him one last time before drifting back off to sleep. Back in the living room Nightwing took out his communicator.

"This is Nightwing. Yeah, yeah they already took out Brother Blood. According to Joker's Daughter he's dead. Batman seems to be after her as well...she wanted me to stay with her. No. I'll let you know if anything else develops. I'm afraid my cover may have been blown as well. So what do I do? All right. Signing off." he said.

Author's Note: All right so what'd you think of that? I know that was more filler than anything else. I'll try to update again sometime. Hope you guys liked it.

Please review,

Green Gallant

Happy Easter