Chapter Text
[ chapter 1 — reunited ]
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“I was in town and thought I’d drop these off. Save you a trip to Gotham.” Tim nervously ran his hand through his mop of dark hair as he passed the small package to Ri, who was standing just in the doorway of her apartment.
“You didn’t have to do that; but thank you, I was running pretty low.” She beckoned him inside and shut the door, placing the parcel on a small end table near the coat rack. It was full of the special contacts Tim had developed for her years ago when she first landed on Earth. They would make her eyes appear a “normal” blue, covering the natural all-pink.
“They would last longer if you didn’t wear them /all/ the time. Have you been sleeping in them?” Tim sat down on the white and blue Victorian sofa beside her.
“They make me feel normal.” She almost snapped. “Like a human. Waking up and seeing a human’s reflection in the mirror in the morning is more than worth having to swap contacts a few times.”
Sighing, Tim put a hand on the back of his neck and leaned forward. “But you’re not a human.” He said, not cruelly, but a bit bluntly. “That’s not who you are. No matter how you alter your appearance, you will always be half Tamaranean.”
“You sound like Kory.” Rolling her eyes, Ri stood up. “Some hot chocolate? I was just making some before you got here.”
Accepting the offer, Tim thanked her. He didn’t need to tell her that he liked precisely two marshmallows and a little sugar added to his — just like he knew she’d pile hers with whipped cream and rainbow star-shaped marshmallows. In the years they had dated they’d learned a lot about one another.
But these days they were just friends. Barely that, if Ri was honest with herself. She’d made a habit of shutting everyone from her old life out. Even her contact with Kory was down to maybe one phone call a week.
She needed this distance, otherwise taking up the mask again would be too tempting. And she’d made up her mind a year ago — she was going to have an ordinary life. She attended Miss Beatrice’s School of Fine Arts ballet program, she had a part time job at a cafe, and her own house in the upper east side of Bullet City. She didn’t use her powers, she avoided watching the news, and she went about daily life as a civilian.
No longer was she a hero. No longer was she Starfall.
Returning with the hot chocolate, Ri handed a Pretty Cure mug to Tim and cradled her own Strawberry Shortcake one in both hands as she took a seat again.
“How are things at school?” he asked, waiting for his drink to cool.
“Pretty well.” Ri answered. “We’re performing The Nutcracker soon. I’m a little nervous, I’ll be dancing as Clara. But dancing as Odette in Swan Lake over the fall helped me find my stage presence.”
“Well that’s promising. Mind if I come to opening night? I know the team would love to come see you perform.”
Ri’s throat tightened but she nodded. “Yeah, you’re all welcome to attend.”
It wasn’t that she didn’t love and miss her team — it was the exact opposite. But seeing them would chip away at this fragile facade she’d donned. Always, there was the longing.
The need to fly. The freedom of patrolling the city and the satisfaction of catching the bad guy.
But that was all firmly behind her.
“You know, we miss you. At the Tower.” Tim took a sip of his hot chocolate. “You’re welcome to come home anytime. I hope you know that.”
Ri’s hand tightened around the handle of her mug. “I’m doing pretty well for myself right now. In a year I won’t even be a teenager anymore,” not that being a “teen” was a requirement of being a Teen Titan — Dick and Kory led the team and they were well into adulthood.
“Don’t you miss it?” Tim set his mug down on the coffee table next to a decorative unicorn figurine. “the life is hard to just leave behind. I know there are times you think about it.”
“I already told you, Tim,” Ri said sharply, “I’m done with the whole hero thing. I just want to be a normal person.”
“But you’re not a normal person,” Tim shot back. “You have a responsibility. Your powers saddled you with it long before you came to Earth.”
“Exactly!” Ri replied shrilly. “My entire life, fighting is all that I’ve known. I was in the military, then I crash landed here and took up the mantle of Starfall. I’m so tired of fighting, Tim. I can’t do it anymore. I won’t.”
“Denying who you are won’t get you anywhere.” Tim said sternly.
“I think you should leave.”
“That’s probably for the best.”
“Thanks for the contacts.”
/ / /
What was he doing here? After all this time?
Kicking some of the grease-stained snow that had slid into the gutter between the street and the sidewalk, Jason took a deep breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. He’d been standing there for well over a half hour, putting off going inside. Funny, he never fancied himself a coward before.
But this wasn’t a fight he could win with guns and martial arts. It was an emotional battle. He was finally going to face /her/.
It had been three full years since he’d last seen her at the Ruin of Bullet City.
And ever since he disappeared from her life he cursed himself for listening to Grayson and letting him get in his head. /“She is a /child/!”/
Well, not anymore, Grayson. Not anymore.
Now she was nineteen years old and in college. He’d come to see her dance in Swan Lake in September, but made himself scarce so she wouldn’t see him.
All of this watching from the shadows, checking her social media every so often to see how she was doing — it made him feel like a stalker of some kind. But it hurt to be without her. Ever since he left, there’d been a hole inside. One that no amount of whoring and drinking could fill.
It didn’t take him long to figure out he was in love with her. As a matter of fact, that was why he left in the first place. He was only three years older than her, but at the time she’d been under age. It wasn’t right for him to feel the way that he did. That much Dick had been right about.
Sighing heavily, he finally forced himself towards the glass front doors of Miss Beatrice’s Academy of Fine Arts.
Once Inside he found that the mostly glass building was just as fancy as the outside. Polished marble floors and pillars, antique velvet couches, a reception desk, and a grand staircase on the far side of the foyer.
A lone woman sat at the desk, her glasses pulled up like a headband, keeping her blonde hair from falling into her face. She was typing away at a computer.
Jason approached and lifted a hand in greeting to get her attention. “Hi. Sorry for bothering you — I know it’s late. I’m here to pick up a friend of mine. Could you point me towards the prima studio?”
The woman flashed a smile and nodded. “Just down this hall. She’s in room one-twenty-two. Only Ri ever stays until this hour.” She pointed a manicured finger towards a corridor to the left of the desk.
Waving a hand in thanks, Jason followed her directions.
Next to room one-twenty-two was a window, and inside Jason could see a gorgeous, slender and busty brunette doing stretches in a white leotard with a matching cotton skirt. Her ballet shoes were pale-pink.
This was definitely Ri — she’d grown up, but she was still recognizable. It had only been three years after all.
Taking a deep breathe again, Jason reached for the door handle. And then he froze up, stepped away, and made his way back to the lobby.
He left without saying a word to the receptionist.
Why was he such a coward? He’d faced countless baddies since childhood, why did a five foot half alien girl scare him so much?
He didn’t much like this “being in love” thing. He wasn’t even sure he understood it yet.
But that’s what it had to be, right? Spending three years thinking about someone almost nonstop and missing them so much it hurt had to be love.
And Jason was determined to overcome the petrifying fear of telling her. Somehow.
Just then the door opened behind him and out stepped the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. She was covered up now in regular clothes and a pink and white parka, a pale-pink duffel bag slung over her shoulder.
“Hey there, Bright Eyes..” Jason said lamely, rubbing the back of his neck.
The look on her face was beyond shock, beyond even comprehension. At last she was able to speak. “What the hell are you doing here?”
It was a fair question, and she had every right to be angry with him. “I.. missed you.” Why did he sound so flat? He’d waited for this moment — practiced for it even — and now he was at a loss for what to say.
Anger passed over Ri’s face, her cheeks flushing and her eyes glistening with unshed tears. But she refused to cry — he knew she’d never let him see that she’d missed him too, even if only a little.
“That’s it? Three years and you “miss” me? What the fuck, Jason?? Do you know how worried I was? Nobody heard from you for three whole years! We didn’t know if you were dead, or missing — “ her voice caught and she cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. “Whatever business you have in Bullet City, make sure it’s far away from me.”
With this she started down the sidewalk, clutching the strap of her bag tightly enough to make her knuckles white. She clenched her teeth to keep from saying everything she’d wanted to say to him since he disappeared.
“Bright eyes, wait —“
“Don’t call me that!” Ri whirled on him. “Don’t pretend we’re still best friends after all this time. After what you put me through.”
He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Okay, baby steps, I get it. But please hear me out. You know I’ll only keep bugging you until you do.”
Rolling her eyes and scoffing, Ri stormed off down the street again. But as she continued down the side walk, the street lamps covered in colorful lights and wreaths for the holidays, she knew he’d make good on that promise.