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Dick Grayson narrowed his eyes, wondering what Donna Troy, Wally West, Roy Harper, and Garth were doing in his living room.
"I know those smiles. What are you up to?" Dick asked, looking at the smiling young people.
"What smiles?" Garth said, acting confused.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Robin," Wally said, leaning theatrically on Roy.
"We don't have suspicious smiles," Roy said, letting the redhead lean on him.
"They're our normal faces," Donna said.
"No," Dick said, pointing at them all. "They're your 'I-have-a-great-idea-and-somehow-we-end-up-in-Athens' smiles."
"That only happened once," Donna said.
"Yeah, the other three we ended up in Paris, Greece, and Argentina" Robin said, arms crossed.
The four of them approached Robin and smiled wildly.
"We're going on a trip" Donna said.
Dick raised an eyebrow at her
"All together" Garth said.
"In a car" Wally said.
"And we're leaving today" Roy said.
"Guys, I have responsibilities here" Robin said.
"The Titans will be fine without you for a few days" Wally said, downplaying it.
"It'll help them forge character" Roy said.
"And you can't say no" Garth said.
"But most of you can go wherever you want whenever you want" Robin said.
"Come on, Dick, it'll be just like old times" Wally said with a grin.
The four of them got their puppy dog eyes out, and Robin was soon in a car.
---
"How long?" Wally and Roy asked simultaneously.
"We haven't even left" Donna said, pointing to the tower behind them.
"And you're planning on taking a 5-day trip with them?" Dick asked.
"Yes" Garth said as he used his water powers to navigate the Volkswagen T1 van across the sea to the highway on the other side of the coast.
The trip started well, with Donna driving while the boys chatted in the back.
No one bothered them much until they reached their first stop:
A gas station.
The five of them got out, and Dick went to fill up the tank, as he had to drive later.
While the others went to get supplies.
"Are you sure you want to buy all this?" The cashier asked, seeing five carts full of food.
"Yeah" Dick said, taking out his credit card.
"Okay" the guy shrugged and began scanning the items.
...
"I see" Wally said, looking out the window, "a little flesh-colored thing"
"Your ugly face" Dick said.
"Hey" Wally said indignantly.
Dick laughed and continued reading his magazine.
"The person on the billboard" Roy said.
"Yeah" Wally said with a smile.
...
While Roy slept, leaning against the window, Wally and Dick cuddled up in the backseats.
"Look at them, saying they hated each other" Donna said, giggling.
Garth smiled at the cuddled couple "You know that was all for fun, and to stop Batman from complaining about Robin's bad life choices"
Donna smiled, and Garth continued looking at the road, ready to relieve the girl when she wanted to take a break of driving
---
They'd been traveling for a day and had already reached the coast of California, where they stopped on a corner and went to a secret beach.
While Donna was sunbathing, the boys decided to have a piggyback fight in the water.
The woman lowered her sunglasses when she saw her twin running alongside her with a wicked grin on his face.
"No!" She screamed, but that didn't stop Dick from grabbing her with quick reflexes and lifting her up, then carrying her to the sea and dropping her into the water.
"You're a son of a bitch" Donna said.
Dick grinned at her from ear to ear "Enjoy the water, dear"
Donna responded by throwing a bunch of water at him, and soon they were both wrestling and splashing each other like little kids.
...
"Hey, I'm hungry" Wally said as he dried himself off in the sun.
"You're always hungry" Dick replied.
"Make me something to eat" Wally said, appearing at his side only to hang onto the man.
Dick shook his head "I don't have anything to make, honey"
In no time, he had a grill and meat heating up in front of him, along with an apron that said "Kiss the chef"
"You could have gone and bought a sandwich" Dick said
"It's better when you cook" Wally said, blowing him a kiss before sitting back down sunbathing and watching his boyfriend cook meat
---
"Hey Roy, stop here" Dick said, pointing to a building on the corner.
Roy drove the van to the entrance of the building where he parked in an empty spot.
"Do you recognize this place, Rob?" Wally asked, curious.
"It's the building where Beast Boy's parents live" Dick said with a smile. "I want to stop by for a visit"
...
At 4 p.m., Beast Boy came out of his room to show the other Titans a photo Dick had just sent him.
"I think he's having a good time" Beast Boy said, showing a photo of a smiling black-haired man next to two brown-haired adults.
"Did he go on a road trip?" Raven said, looking at the message that came with the photo.
"It seems so" Beast Boy said, looking at the photo Robin had sent him of him with the former members of the Titans.
"Did he tell you when he was coming back?" Starfire asked.
"Technically, in five days, but the trip might be longer" Beast Boy said.
"Well, then let's take care of the city while he enjoys the trip" Cyborg said.
"Considering he'll kill us if he comes back and finds the tower on fire, I'd say it's a good plan" Raven said.
...
"What's the next stop?" Dick asked, enjoying the sunshine on the highway.
"A hotel. We need to stop sleeping in the car," Donna said.
"A real shower would be nice," Garth said.
"Yeah, going to three beaches in a row is bad for my hair," Roy said.
"For yours and anyone else's," Wally said, looking at the road, since he was driving.
"I say we play UNO while Wally looks for a hotel," Donna said.
10 games later, they had parked the van in the parking lot of a roadside motel.
"This place looks like it had a better life in the 50s," Dick said, looking at the peeling paint on the walls and the unlit light bulbs on the sign that said Buena Vista Motel.
"Well, it's got 5 stars" Wally said, checking out the reviews online.
"5 ninja stars on your chest?" "It looks like you can commit a murder here and the staff won't look at you any differently" Roy said, looking at the trash cans and the family of opossums living in them.
"As long as they have hot water, is fine" Donna said.
"I just want a mattress, I don't care if it's cardboard" Garth said.
The five of them walked inside and were impressed by the reception. It looked like it was taken from a luxury hotel.
Dick could confirm this; he'd been to many luxury hotels.
"Wow," the millionaire's son said, impressed.
"Are you looking for a room, young people?" a man in a suit asked them with a smile.
"Yes," the five said simultaneously.
"We have two rooms available, one single for the lady and one with two double beds for family" the receptionist said.
"How much would it be?" Dick asked, taking out his card
"100 dollars, 60 for the family room and 40 for the single room" the man said, grabbing the keys from behind his back.
Dick paid and the man rang a bell. Soon, a blonde woman appeared in the hallway and led them to their sleeping quarters.
"Wow, this is amazing" Gath said, looking at the flat screen in their room next to a state-of-the-art Xbox.
"That's probably true, don't judge a book by its cover" Wally said, lying down on the bed
"Take a shower before you hit the sack" Dick told him
"They also offered breakfast" Gath said, remembering the blonde woman had told them that breakfast was included in the room and started at 9.
"Well, I'll have first" Roy said, taking a towel out of the bag he had his belongings in and heading to the bathroom.
"I'll have second" Wally said before diving into the room to see what games the console had.
After 3 hours, three of the four men had showered.
By 5 hours, two had already gotten into bed and were snoring.
"Dick, are you going to take much longer?, I want to sleep" Wally said, banging on the bathroom door.
The door opened, letting out steam from the hot water and a dark-haired man dressed in sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt.
"Do you want to cuddle or what?" Dick asked, laughing.
"Yes" was Wally's simple and straightforward reply.
With a smile, Dick grabbed his hand and led him to the bed.
---
On the third day of their trip, they parked near a pier in Villa Arriba to enjoy the market advertised on the streets.
The five of them got out of the van, enjoying the smell of the sea and went to look at the stalls to see what they had.
"Food" Wally said, pointing to a stall selling kebabs.
"Crafts" Dick said, noticing a stall selling things made from shells.
"Please don't spend all your savings here" Donna said, looking up at the sky.
"We're not promising anything, darling" the couple said simultaneously
Roy put a friendly hand on her shoulder and said ruefully "You know how they are"
The five of them ended up walking along the pier full of stalls, and they don't regret making the van carry more boxes than they had initially set out with.
...
"Where are we?" Dick asked, looking at the meadow full of cows and grass.
"Mountain" Garth said.
"Okay, thanks for the fundamental clarification of where the hell we are" Dick said sarcastically
"We're at Wolf Peak" Roy said.
"Wolf Peak?" Wally asked.
"It's a mountain southeast of Jump City where many animals and different types of vegetation live" Dick said
"So why are we here?" Wally asked.
"To have a picnic" Donna said, putting a blanket on the ground and sending Roy and Garth to set out the plates and cutlery.
The food had been delicious, and they had decided to take a walk to see the mountain.
They ended up having to ask a cow to carry them back because they got lost, and Roy fell into a hole in the ground and twisted his ankle.
It was a fun day.
---
By the fifth day, they were singing songs from the playlist Dick had put on while screaming like their lives depended on it, and they had arrived at their destination 30 minutes early.
"Where are we?" Roy asked, waking up from his nap.
"We're in Gotham" Dick said.
"What are we doing in Gotham?" Wally said.
"Isn't Gotham three days away from Jump City?" Gath said.
"Not if you're going 200 km/h on all the roads" Dick said, winking at his friend.
"We're going to get a ticket, aren't we?" Donna said.
"Maybe" Dick said with a smile.
"What are we doing in Gotham?" Roy asked.
"I need to pick up some things from the mansion, so I took advantage of the fact that we were close" Dick said.
"Close" he said. We were 5 days away at normal speed, and you arrived in 2" Donna said.
"The important thing is that we arrived" Dick said, smiling at the golden metal gates at the entrance to the mansion.
"What do you need to grab?" Wally asked.
"Clothes, gun parts, and I need my laptop. I left it last time I came to visit" Dick said.
"Do we have to go downstairs, or can we stay in the van?" Garth asked.
"You can stay. I'll be in and out quickly. Then we can go to that paintball place we always wanted to go to as kids. It's not far" Dick said.
"Well, we'll wait for you here" Wally said, lying down in the passenger seat to get some sleep.
Thirty minutes later, Dick appeared running through the gardens while shouting, "Wally, drive!"
The four members jumped up, and Wally quickly started the car while getting into the passenger seat.
Dick jumped out the window and said "Come on, hit it."
The van left skid marks in the driveway, but they sped away at the young man's request.
While they stared in disbelief at Dick, who was smiling at the wagon while showing Wally shortcuts to the paintball field.
"What the hell happened?" Roy asked.
"It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" Dick said.
"Dick?" Garth asked.
"What the hell did you do at the mansion?" Wally asked, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.
"It looks like you robbed it" Donna said.
"Actually, I did. I climbed up the facade and went through an open window before going to my room and grabbing the clothes I needed, along with my laptop that was on the desk. Then I had to go into the cave and grab the tools I needed. Only I forgot to disable the security system, so Batman was going to arrive in five minutes, and I had to get the hell out" Dick said with a nervous smile.
"You're something else" Garth said.
"Oh my god" Roy said, shaking his head.
"He couldn't have been raised worse" Wally said.
"You robbed your own house!" Donna said.
"Technically, I stole from my dad house" Dick said with a nervous smile.
"That doesn't make it any better" the four said simultaneously.
"Well, at least I didn't get hit by a laser" Dick said with an amused smile.
The four sighed in resignation, and Wally turned onto the dirt road where he saw the sign for a paintball club.
...
About 5 games later, the five team members were covered in paint, but they were laughing.
"I can't believe you dodged a hit just by falling in the mud" Dick said, laughing.
"What can I say? I'm an expert at falling" Wally said, laughing.
"We need a good shower" Donna said.
"I even have paint in my hair" Roy said.
"How about going to the bay?" Garth said.
The five of them got into the car and drove to the beach, where they parked and went swimming to clean the paint off their bodies.
"We're going to have to wash the car" Donna said, sitting on a towel in the sand, drying her hair with another towel
"We can do it tomorrow. It's already nighttime" Dick said, smiling at the girl.
Later, the five of them were surrounded by stars around the fire Roy had made, enjoying the company and warmth.
"This is peaceful" Dick commented, resting his head on Wally's shoulder
"Yeah" the other four said, smiling.
---
On the sixth day, they washed the car. But not before having a foam fight at the car wash and ending up soaked. They went back to the beach to dry off and drove leisurely along the roads to get to Jump City.
"Hey, how about we stop for something to eat? You've been driving too long" Wally said, running his fingers through the hair of the young man sleeping in his lap
"We still have a few days of travel left" Roy said
"For my sake" Garth said.
"Okay" Donna said.
Dick continued sleeping on Wally's lap while Donna drove to somewhere to eat.
They ate some delicious waffles at a restaurant before continuing their road trip.
...
The streets passed before their eyes, and sad expressions consumed their faces.
"Well, I guess we'll have to say goodbye" Garth said when the van arrived at the tower thanks to his powers on the seventh day of the trip.
"Yeah, I guess so" Donna said
"At least the trip was fun" Roy said
"Yeah" Wally said with a smile
"Oh, come on guys. It's not like we'd part ways and never see each other again. We're friends. We have each other's numbers. This isn't goodbye forever" Dick said
The four of them looked at their friend's bright smile and also smile
"I guess so"
The five members of the original Titans hugged and said goodbye, promising to see each other again soon.
The road trip had started as a spontaneous idea but ended with five friends reuniting and promising not to part ways this time