What's Forever For Chapter 1, a teen titans fanfic

Sorry, I still don't own anything relating to the Teen Titans. Nor do I own the rights to the song, What's Forever For.

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I've been looking at people,

And how they change with the times.

And lately all I've been seeing are people

Throwing love away and losing their minds.

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"Yes."

"Yes, I'm Dr. Victor Stone."

The tall black man in the white lab coat leaned back in his chair. His eye had left the microscope that he had been peering into only moments ago. It was obvious that while he had been only half-heartedly paying attention to the questioner, now his attention had been fully captured.

"Wow, that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. Yes, I am, or was, Cyborg." He turned around to face his visitor. Completely bald, the man looked to be in his late 40s. He had the appearance of a football player who was slowly entering middle age and not keeping up his physic, a little pudgy. One eye stared brightly at his questioner, the other, just a little…off. As if it wasn't really focused.

"Yes, I suppose I do look different from when I was young. Most of us do." He certainly wasn't going to help this rather persistent nuisance.

"Amazing what modern technology and plastics can achieve. Look comparatively normal, don't I?"

"Oh, I still have some of my old cybernetic abilities. But for the most part, I've traded them all in. Now that we've discussed my appearance, what is it that I can do for you?"

"Why? That part of my life is past. Long past." A look of sad nostalgia flew across the man's face, a remembrance of times past.

"Has it been thirty years?" He thought for a moment. "Yeah, guess so. Hell, where does the time go?"

"Dead? No, of course I'm not dead."

"No, none of the others are dead. At least I don't think so."

"Why?"

"Oh, the Tower." He mused, "Yeah, I guess you could come to that conclusion. But it's wrong. When the Tower exploded we were all very much alive. And were for some time afterwards."

"Villain? Attack? We weren't attacked." He gave a sound of disgust. "The Titans were never beaten. Oh, we suffered some setbacks. Had some reverses from time to time. But we never lost. Not to Slade, the Brotherhood, the Hive 5, Brother Blood, not even Trigon. No, no villain beat us."

"And you BELIEVED him? Dr. Light? Sheesh, if there was one dope who could never beat us, it was him."

The tall man remained silent.

"Look, I'm not sure I really want to talk about it."

"Don't try that on me, I worked with the best." He paused. "I don't see why I have to prove anything, or explain anything. I'm alive, I'm retired from superheroing. Science was always my first love, after my wife of course. End of story."

The man let out a sigh. "Look, we may have been heroes, but we were kids. I'm not sure anyone really understood that. I know we didn't." A troubled look came over his face.

"Inspirations? Yeah, I guess we were. But you don't realize the work, the training that went into it. Most of us had spent years learning how to use our abilities. None of us had a normal childhood, most of us didn't even have parents, only trainers and teachers." He paused. "Maybe if we HAD had something approaching a normal childhood, with normal parents, that whole final disaster could have been avoided." He considered for a moment. "I probably had the closest thing to a normal childhood of us all. My folks were alive through my teen years, so, whether I wanted to admit it or not, I DID learn something about how people behave. Or should behave. That's why I came out of the whole thing in the best shape."

"Perhaps I should say, the most emotionally stable. You've seen 'normal' kids in high school, the drama, the angst, the messed up relationships. And these are normal kids. Just imagine superpowered teens with little to no 'normal' parental guidance during their formative years." He began to swivel his chair back around.

He let out a sigh and turned back to his questioner. "You're really not going to leave this alone, are you?"

"No, I guess not, not in your shoes."

"Happened? What do you think happened? With five hormonal teenagers living together."

"No, nothing like that! Come on, we were all of us highly moral, responsible kids. We were spending our time helping people. Putting our lives on the line day after day. Suffering injuries and hurts while doing our best to make the world a safer place. Give us SOME credit at least."

"Apology accepted. What happened was the most normal thing in the world that could happen, even to superpowered kids. Some of us fell in love."

"No, you don't really expect it do you? Even with the gossip magazines harping about it. Still, stick five kids of mixed genders together for an extended period of time together, they start to pair up."

"You count quite well. Yes, someone was left out, two guesses who."

"Don't be insulting. One of us was green, one orange, one grey, one black and one white. One was from another planet, one another dimension and one could become any conceivable animal that ever lived, and animals have absolutely no recognition of human mores. No, it had nothing to do with racism. It had to do with numbers. Two does not go into five no matter how hard you push it."

"Of course I resented it at times! Be sensible. If you saw all your friends in relationships and you were left out, wouldn't you resent it? Still, these were my best friends, my comrades in battle. I didn't resent THEM, I was resentful that we didn't have a sixth member." He paused, "Well, for a while we did, but it didn't last. Even so, some benefit came out of me being a fifth wheel."

"I saw what was happening to the team from the 'outside'. How the emotional pressures were mounting between everyone. I just wished I knew what to do about it. Thinking back on it, I'm not sure that there was anything I COULD have done. You can't change people. And kids learn what they're taught, especially in matters of the heart."

"Ah, now there's the problem. None of them were ever taught anything about love and relationships. As I said, we learn by observing, usually our home life. The others never really had a home life. So all they had was their regular day to day experiences and their innate natures."

"If you knew them personally, knew their histories, you'd know that's a loaded question."

"Well, I suppose it really started when the Titans were formed, that first day when Starfire arrived on Earth. She kissed Robin."

"It had nothing to do with that. Tameraneans learn languages through kissing. It's how she learned enough English to warn us to leave her alone. I just found it….interesting that she kissed Robin. Well, that's beside the point. After the brush up with the Gordanians, we formed the titans and Starfire began almost immediately to show interest in Robin."

"Oh yes, he was interested in her as well. But he's the ULTIMATE Type-A personality. Work, work, work. Anything that detracted from work was to be put aside."

"It was our trip to Tokyo that FINALLY got those two together. I think it was then they had their second kiss. And this was years later."

"No, as far as romance goes, Robin was NOT a 'fast worker'. He really was a very dedicated, responsible man. My God, the training he undertook, what he did to HIMSELF, what he insisted we all do. Well, at the time I resented it, we all did. Now, I understand. It wasn't to be tyrannical, it was to protect us. I've never seen a person more dedicated to helping others than Robin was, is. Unfortunately, he learned his methods from the Batman. Not the most….sociable of people. Still, eventually, Starfire was able to work her way through his barriers and he fell in love.

The tall man laughed. "No." He continued chuckling. ""No, his sense of duty was far too strict. He DID love Starfire. As much as any 16 year old can." He paused and grew somber. "No, looking back at it from this time, when they came back from Toyko, Rob and Star were as close and committed as you could expect any teenagers to be. No, the problem was we came BACK from Toyko."

"Come on, you've never had a vacation romance?"

-?"

"Humpf. Well, in THIS case, the two lovebirds were inseparable for the first week." He let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, after that first week, Robin reverted to his….regular behavior patterns. Working through the night, focusing on crime, trying to monitor the entire world so ensure that everyone was safe. I've never seen such dedication. Or stupidity, depending on your point of view. And where was Star? Left alone. Trying to rekindle the affection she had received during those magical weeks."

"Oh, I think she would have eventually given up. Even with her warrior's perseverance, she wouldn't carry a torch forever. No, what kept her going was something completely unexpected."

-?"

He began to laugh. "Why, Beast Boy and Raven becoming a couple."

"Yes, I agree, doesn't seem to fit, does it? Yet, from the very beginning there was always an attraction. Something between them. The old saying is that opposites attract, but this was beyond conception. The emotional whirlwind and the ice queen herself. And yet, when it happened, it made a weird kind of sense. Looking back, at the time, you could see the signs. They were always together, they seemed to bond in a contorted way." A troubled look came across the tall man's face. "Still, you wondered if they were TOO opposite. If their personalities and needs were too much in conflict. And, by that final day, it became obvious."

"Why, the obvious difficulties, the dramas that were infusing the Tower. Gar and Raven, Robin and Star, and me, stuck watching the oncoming disaster and not being able to stop it."

"What happened? Everything!"

"No, I guess it doesn't." The white robed man let out a long breath. "Well, you've managed to track me down this far, guess you deserve more than just hints and vague statements. OK, I'll explain about the Tower and the Titans. At least as far as I'm able. For that, probably it's best if I focus on that final day. The day the Tower exploded. After that….well, you'll have to answer your own questions."