***

Although sleep had been a luxury that I had been deprived of the last couple of nights I found myself waking up early to start my day. It seemed Dick wasn't having the same issue as when I stepped back into the room after a shower he was still softly snoring, still tangled in the sheets.

There was some part of me that still couldn't believe the fact that I had found myself back in the arms of Dick Grayson after having convinced myself that he was someone that I had given up on entirely. But seeming him now made it all the more real and although I had spent years denying I still felt something real for him, not I could admit just how much I had continued to love him. Even when we were apart that connection continued to be as strong as ever.

A knock at my door quickly snapped me out of my thoughts and instinctively I found myself expecting some kind of disaster. "Rachel?"

"Cheyenne have you seen Dick? He told us to meet at the training room a 7. It's 7 and he's not in the training room." Rachel questioned in a slightly bored tone that seemed to be the new normal for her since Trigon. Some part of me wanted to question her about it, but I also knew that it was best to wait until she was ready to open up on her own.

"No, haven't seen him." I found myself lying not exactly feeling comfortable telling Rachel that Dick was currently asleep in my bed. There was also the fact that Dick and I hadn't discussed where or not we were going to tell Rachel and the others at all. It was new territory for the both of us and having to live with three teenagers wasn't going to make this any easier. This responsibility was already weighing on me, especially because this was now feeling like a long term commitment. 

Rachel met my eyes for a what felt like and eternity before she nodded. The truth was that I didn't know Rachel very well as our time together had so far been short, but that didn't change that I had the feeling that she already knew or was at the very least suspicious. "Well, if you see Dick can you tell him he's late?"

"I'll tell him."

"Don't worry I won't tell the others." Rachel whispered as she gave me a knowing look. We still didn't completely know the full extent of Rachel's powers other than that fact that she was an incredibly powerful empath. The fact that she could tell what we all are feeling was still an unsettling thought, but one that I had to accept.

I smiled at her grateful that she wasn't going to go off and gossip to the others, but there really wasn't a reason why I should have been surprised. Rachel was arguably more mature than Gar and Jason eve if she was the youngest. "Thank you."

Closing the door I shook my head in disbelief. A small smile touched my lips as all my reservations about coming to San Francisco slowly began to slip away. There was still some part of me that felt like I belonged in Gotham, but I had to admit that ultimately being there only pulled me into problems whether I wanted to or not. This was a fresh start for me and a way to make up for all the times that I was close to crossing a line that would be impossible to come back from. 

"Who was that?" Dick muttered clearly still more asleep than awake. It almost seemed that he didn't plan to get out of bed at all. His hair was a mess and there was nothing more that I wanted than to run my finger through his hair.

"It was Rachel." I replied as I slowly began to realize how odd it was that they were going to start to train so quickly. They hadn't even had a full day to settle into what was no going to be their new home for what I could only imagine would be the next couple of years. "You're going to start training them already?"

Dick sat up a stern look suddenly coming over his features making clear how serious he was going to be about training these kids. There was something else stirring inside him, something that I couldn't miss but also couldn't name. "They need to be on a strict schedule. They have to be responsible."

Taking a seat at the edge of the bed I slipped on my shoes and began to tie my shoelaces still wrapping my mind around the fact that we were actually about to train children to go out and risk their lives helping others. They still had no idea what they were truly getting themselves into, except for Jason who still had his own problems to work through before he could really help people. For him it was all about the thrill, something that I could completely understand as that thrill could be intoxicating. "Well, you're setting a horrible example."

There was silence for a moment before I felt as Dick's arms wrapped around me as he began to slowly kiss my neck. Memories from last night began to resurface and although I wanted more that really wasn't an option at the moment. "What was that you said about responsibility?"    

He didn't say anything as he turned my head allowing me to meet his dark brown eyes for a moment before he pulled me into a kiss. 

Instinctively I returned his kiss pulling him closer to me, feeling relief flood over me with the knowledge that this was going to be our normal now. That we no longer had to pretend and chase after each other. The chase was fun in the beginning but it quickly became something that neither of us could bear, as all we ever really wanted was to be together.

"I'm kind of regretting telling them to get up so early." Dick muttered as a small smile touched his lips. He leaned forward again but I pulled away as I sat up knowing that he wasn't looking for a quick kiss. There was still so much that was unsaid between us, but now we had the responsibility of training teenagers who were currently waiting for us. 

"Do you have any idea how you're going to train three teenagers to become vigilantes?"

"None." He admitted as he gave me another quick kiss before finally getting up to get ready for the day. His answer did nothing to reassure the reservations I still had about coming here and making heroes out of Rachel, Gar, and Jason who I was sure still fully didn't understand what they were signing up for. "We'll figure it out together."

***

Stepping into the training room and looking at Jason, Gar and Rachel staring at us expectantly had me quickly realizing that Dick and I were in over our heads. There was no way that we would be able to train three teenagers and turn them into heroes, especially when two of those teenagers had abilities that even they didn't fully understand.

"Okay first things first." Gar immediately declared once we reached the center of the room. It seemed that he couldn't contain all his energy or that he at least drank one too many cups of coffee. Not that it was any surprise that Gar seemed the most interested in the idea of training to be a hero, it was all he ever spoke of considering that he was a fan of the worlds heroes and villains. A shared fascination with most of the population who practically worshiped and idolized heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. "What's our name?"

Dick seemed amused as he crossed him arms over his chest, and I was sure this was something that he hadn't considered before. If he brought them all to Titans Towers her was planning on making them Titans even if he wasn't ready to say that to them just yet. "Our name?"

Gar's jaw dropped in shock as he met all of our eyes almost like he wanted to make sure that we were all serious. "You know. Like our superhero team name. You Donna and the others were the Titans. What are we?"

"How can you call yourself a superhero without any training?" Jason asked bitterly as he crossed his arms across his chest. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he believed himself to be better than Rachel in Gar, and although Jason didn't have any powers like they did he did have the training and discipline. He was trained by Batman after all and I had no doubt that he would be able to hold his own against Gar and possibly Rachel who didn't have any training or real knowledge of how to use their powers correctly.

"I have powers." Gar quickly reminded him for the first time seeming proud at the fact the he had powers. But maybe that was due to the fact that he recently learned that he could turn into more than just a tiger.

Jason simply smiled as he looked at Gar with a mixture of what seemed like contempt and pity. "That's not enough."

"I don't know if you remember but I was there when we went against Rachel's giant demon father from another dimension!" Garfield continued though he was seeming less excited, something that I couldn't blame him for. I still had nightmares involving Trigon because even though I had seen many disturbing thing over the last couple of years nothing compared to Rachel's demonic father.  "If you ask me that was pretty heroic."

Almost out of instinct I turned to Rachel who also stole a glance at me as we both shared a bored look. I was truly in disbelief that this conversation was still going as I expected better from both Garfield and Jason.

"You never actually went against Trigon."

"Enough." I said in a bored tone but it was enough to get the two boys to stop arguing. They both turned towards me almost like they expected my to continue to scold them which was something that I really had no interest in doing.

"Jason's right having powers isn't enough. You can't rely on them. Having powers should just be another weapon in your arsenal." Dick instructed and it amazed me how much he seemed like Bruce in this moment, of course he lacked the usual darkness that seemed to surround Bruce. Although I was aware that Dick was taking up the responsibility of training three teenagers I never thought that his approach was going to be similar to the man to mentored him, especially when Dick seemed to resent Bruce for the way he was raised. 

We all watched as Dick walked over to a wall that had a variety of weapons. Most of them resembled the toys that I had seen him and Bruce use in the past, weapons that I could never see myself using. Someone like me didn't need to use a sword, my whip and my powers were enough for me. Rachel and Gar also wouldn't need to learn to use them all as their abilities were more than enough. 

Picking up two bo staffs Dick tossed one in my direction, and although I caught it knowing where he intended to go with this I still gave him a questioning look. "Chey?"

Stepping forward Dick and I began sparring in what was surprisingly an evenly matched fight. Over the years I had always known that Dick was holding back when our late night encounters resulted in a fight. 

Fights that he had always let me walk away from. 

But over those years I had learned that the way that he fought. And in the years we hadn't seen each other I had gotten more training. We were both confident in our abilities, but sometimes his overconfidence could get in the way. And he still remembered me as the girl who occasionally had to resort to using her powers to get out of tough situations. That made the moment he fell back against the training mat so much more satisfying. Jason, Rachel and Gar's cheering also added to the satisfaction of having gained the upper hand. 

Dick smiled seeming slightly stunned and proud. "You've gotten better."

"Why the tone of surprise?" I questioned as he got to his feet. Undoubtedly Dick was a better fighter than me but he had only ever been trained under Bruce while I had assistance from multiple people in Gotham over the years. My advantage was only my ability to be spontaneous, while at this point Dick was predictable to me. Turning towards our audience of three I wondered who would be the one that would be able to surprise us. They all had something that made them special. "Who's next?"

"Me!" Jason and Gar declared in unison as the shoved one another to be the first to begin their training. Seeing them now made it difficult to ever imagine them as masked vigilantes, they seemed so much like children I almost felt like I was stripping away their childhood. Or the possibility of them to ever live a normal life.

Rachel crossed her arms across her chest looking at Jason and Gar with slight irritation. An emotion that I could understand considering that both boys had been acting childish all morning. "Boys."

In the end Gar began sparring with Dick while I did my best to handle Jason who although didn't share Garfield's excitement, did seem to have homebuilt up anger that needed release. Rachel on the other hand insisted on observing and it wasn't difficult to assume that she was afraid of losing control of her powers. 

Although Dick and I hadn't discussed it, the fact I would be the one to help Gar and Rachel explore their powers was an unspoken agreement. Just like relied on Ivy with help on getting my powers under control, Gar and Rachel would look to me for help. Help that I wasn't very sure I could fully provide considering that our power sets were completely different. So were the circumstances that gave us our powers. 

As I continued sparring with Jason it was impossible to ignore the anger in all of his movements. He was very skilled which wasn't a surprise, but he still wasn't at the level that Dick was which I knew could easy change with more training. His advantage was his unpredictability and the anger that came with his movements, one thing he shared with Dick was his overconfidence.

In one swift movement Jason was on the floor looking up at me with resentment shining in his eyes. Resentment that came from the realization that maybe he wasn't as skilled as he believed himself to be. 

"You're too cocky Little Bird." I stated as I offered him my hand at first it was no surprise that he seemed to stubbornly refuse my help, the surprise came when he took my hand as I helped him to his feet. Even if it would be difficult for Rachel and Gar to master their powers I knew it was possibly going to be more difficult for Jason to cooperative. "Thats something that you share with your brother. Must be a Robin thing."

Jason looked truly disgusted as he stole one quick glance at Dick before turning his attention back to me. "Dick isn't my brother."

"I'm not his brother." Dick agreed immediately looking at me like the idea itself was absurd.

"You two were both adopted by Bruce." I reminded unsure why they both seemed so repulsed by the idea of them being brothers. The had so much in common that it almost seemed natural for them to reply or feel a connection to one another. In fact I was almost certain that Bruce didn't only send Jason away as a punishment but as a way for him to get closer to Dick. "You're brothers."

"Is it time for breakfast now?" Gar suddenly questioned seeming a lot less excited about the prospect of training which I had a feeling would be the case. The idea of being a hero was not as fun as it seemed having spent a couple of month with Bruce Wayne made that incredibly clear. "I'm starving."

I looked back towards Dick who already seemed slightly irritated at Gar, but it was impossible to him to ever be as disciplined at Dick was when he was younger. Getting Gar, Rachel and even Jason to a place where they would not only take this seriously but also completely dedicate themselves to heroism was going to be a lot of hard work. 

The whole hero thing was admittedly new to me too as I had never imagined myself in this position. I was a criminal and if I returned to Gotham I would still be one. Changing the mentality that I was no longer one of Gotham's rogues wasn't going to be easy for me either. We all seemed to have many challenges ahead of us if we were ever really going to function like a real team. 

***

A/N: The show definitely lacked bonding moments between the characters, so that's something that I'm going to be attempting to do here. I feel like we have yet to see them work together as a team which is a real shame and a detail that I plan to change in the upcoming chapters. In my opinion them having a strong relationship before Deathstroke comes in the picture will add higher stakes. So yay to actual character development! On a side note I really would have liked to have published this chapter sooner but fight scenes really do give me writers block. It was so terrible I couldn't even write for any of my other stories! But I finally was able to finish so yay!

On a side not I did create playlist for this series including a mixtape for Chey and Dick. You can find it on the author's note of this book, my instagram (cjswonder.wp) or on Spotify at cjswonders. They honestly have helped me during the writing process and thought you all might enjoy listening along.