AN: This will be the first multi-chapter fic I've undertaken since I had to abandon A Bottle Can't Hold You, years ago. I still regret that and have been toying with some possible endings... but what you should know is that this story is complete, and only needs polishing. I won't leave another story orphaned. Enjoy the ride!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Duh.

Chapter 1: Coffee and a Bomb

As in any communal living situation, certain duties in Titan Tower fell to the parties best equipped to handle them. For example, ever since the Incident, neither Beast Boy nor Starfire was allowed to do laundry unsupervised, but they made up for this by handling dish duty most of the time. Hence, security for the Tower was handled by the team member who could seamlessly integrate the perimeter alarms and security footage into his brain.

It was Cyborg, therefore, who was jolted from a sound sleep at 5 AM on Saturday by a proximity alert for a very small, low-flying aircraft. Little more than a flight suit with a helicopter rotor for propulsion, the design did not register in any database, but it bore the insignia of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Powering up his weapons and making a beeline for the front door, Cyborg watched through his cybernetic eye as the figure piloting the craft came to a stop outside the Tower in lieu of landing on the helipad.

A metal finger jabbed the intercom, broadcasting to the speaker system on the Tower's perimeter. "Titan Tower is a restricted area. Identify yourself."

Unbuckling the straps that attached him to the propulsion system and letting the apparatus slide gently to the ground, the pilot reached up and removed his helmet.

"Silas Stone, but I prefer 'Dad'." The silver-haired man standing on the rocky shore shifted from foot to foot. "It's good to hear your voice, Victor."

Cyborg froze, paralyzed by shock. His cybernetic components dutifully recorded twenty-six seconds, but his human brain was unable to process them.

"I have some things to say, but I'd much rather say them face to face if it's all the same to you," Silas said, snapping Cyborg from his reverie.

Numb, the metal man hit the button to open the front door, then depressed the intercom. It buzzed for a few seconds before he managed speech. "Elevator to the top floor."

A thirty-second eternity passed, and the door opened to reveal his estranged father in the flesh.

They stood staring at each other, unsure of anything and everything. The elevator door began to close, and Silas scrambled out into the common room just in time.

Victor flailed for something to say, casting aside countless options until he arrived at the last resort. "Coffee?"

The older man nodded, visibly relieved.

Cyborg was hardly one for coffee most days, and he couldn't remember ever having seen his father drink it, but the ritual of preparation was a momentary reprieve for both of them. The clicking gurgle of boiling water filled the silence, and while it lasted, there was no need for words.

There were only two clean mugs in the kitchen: a hollowed-out bust of Poe with a handle that had been Raven's last Christmas gift from Beast Boy, and a somewhat lopsided but lovingly-crafted piece that Starfire had made for Robin. The former went to Silas. Childish as it might have been, Victor didn't trust his father with anything of sentimental value.

Hundreds of questions swirled through Victor's head, each answered in thousands of combinations by his CPU. He would be prepared for anything his father had to say. He would show no weakness to the man who had ruined his life.

But a computer, however advanced, can never fully predict life.

Before Victor could slip a question off of his suddenly cumbersome tongue, Silas Stone blurted out three words his son had never imagined.

"I have cancer."