The Next Generation

When the two sides clashed, it was chaos, to say the least. Though the Titans were quite a bit outnumbered, Neal's illusions helped play a great part in their not being dismantled in about five seconds. The assassins loyal to Talia and Shiva also helped even the odds a bit, though more than half of them went down before long. On the plus side, many more of Ra's' assassins were falling. Red Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all handled quite a bit on heir own, incapacitating as many as they could. They did suffer their share of blows, but nothing they couldn't keep fighting through.

Within several moments, Ra's grew impatient. he could see that this wasn't going to go quite as smoothly as he had planned... but that's why he had hired help. "Deathstroke, time for you to join the fight," he said. His eyes fell on Neal, who was at this point taking down far too many of his assassins to be comfortable. "Start with him."

Deathstroke didn't hesitate, taking aim with his pistol and firing a crippling shot at Neal's left knee.

The battle was in an absolute warzone, with everyone taking sides and fighting to the bitter end. Thankfully Neal's own illusions were able to even the odds a bit since more men went over to join Deathstroke and Ra's. The addition of Red Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy certainly helped as well, since now not everyone was just an assassin on their side. With the variety on their side they were winning, Neal's own training was coming in handy as he was able to dispatch any assassin that came before him.

In the chaos of the battle Neal didn't even hear it as Ra's gave the order to target Neal. There was a loud gunshot and Neal's leg gave out from under him. He was yelling in pain as the bullet shot clean through. Neal wasn't going to be walking on that for some time. "Damn it!", he shouted before looking up to see Deathstroke. He was aiming for Neal! If Neal didn't do something quick he was going to get killed! Without taking anytime to think Neal quickly just tried to form a series of bright lights in Deathstroke's face, hoping to at least mess up his aim.

In Neal's condition, he wasn't going to last long in the fight. He could hardly move anymore.

But with Deathstroke's sharp mind, the bright lights did little to throw off his aim. He didn't need to see to know where to shoot at all. He knew where Neal had fallen, and his aim would find that spot whether or not he could look down the sights or not. His pistol stayed on Neal, this time aimed for his head. But before he could pull the trigger, the sound of a projectile slicing through the air caught his ears. A moment later, something struck his hand and knocked the gun he had been holding away.

Deathstroke's eyes narrowed, glancing down at his empty hand, and then at the ground next to him, where a distinctive, bat-shaped projectile lay on the ground. He knew it very well. Frowning, he glanced upwards just as a dark figure came gliding down to ground level, where the battle was taking place.

"I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up," Deathstroke muttered.

The figure slowly rose to his full height, a strong and imposing figure. The pointed ears of his cowl were as distinctive an image there was for any hero out there, one of the most recognizable of them all.

"Ra's," Batman said, looking past Deathstroke to the leader of the League of Assassins. "Your plans end today."

"Batman..." Ra's growled, raising his sword. "You think you can stop me?"

"Not just me," he responded. "I didn't come alone."

At this point, a smaller figure came tumbling down out of the air and landed on two of Ra's' assassins, knocking them both out in one motion. The acrobatic figure then flipped up to a standing position and took a bow.

"The one and only Girl Wonder, at your service!" Robin exclaimed with a wide grin. She then glanced over at Red Robin and blew a kiss. "Heya, Tim!"

Red Robin blinked for a moment and then cleared his throat, trying to retain his poise. He gave a small wave in return. "Uh, hey, Steph."

Neal's eyes remained on Deathstroke and he began to feel sweat falling off of his forehead. Deathstroke knew where Neal was, all it would take was one more pull of the trigger and Neal would be dead just like Batgirl. He tried to come up with something to do, but there was nothing that he could do. Deathstroke was too good, too well trained. Neal just closed his eyes, not wanting to see the bullet as it came.

But the shot never came though, Neal opened his eyes a minute later to see that Deathstrok had been disarmed completely. He turned to see none other than one of the most recognizable costumes in history. "Batman," Neal said in a whisper as he realized that his life had just been saved. He had to get moving, or one of these assassins was going to finish Neal while he was down.

Neal quickly began to focus, making himself seem invisible to everyone around him. With that he began to push and pull himself away from the fight, trying to fight a place against the wall that he could just lean against. He didn't want anyone to find him, not Shiva, Talia, Nightwing, or Raven. Neal just wanted to vanish and be forgotten. His power didn't extend that far sadly, so he was force to move against the wall and turn his head so he could watch the rest of the fight.

"As if that makes a difference," Ra's said, with a glare. "You're still no match for either us, Batman. You or the rest of your allies. You cannot stop us now. The city will be mine, and our influence will spread across the world. I will rule things as they should be! Only the best of humanity will prevail! The weak die, and the strong survive, that is the way it works!"

Deathstroke cracked his knuckles, already advancing towards Batman. "You know you can't beat me. Your skills are inferior."

"Perhaps," Batman remarked. "But before we fight, you should probably check your bank statements."

Deahstroke's eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?" At that moment, a small beep went off. Glancing down, he reached into one of the pockets on his belt and pulled out a smartphone, which he used to check various things... such as his bank statements. "Interesting..."

Ra's glared, growing impatient. "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

"It appears as though the funds you were supposed to wire me were denied," Deathstroke said, looking back at Ra's calmly. "No funds, no contract. No contract means I don't listen to you."

Ra's eyes went wide. "What?! What do you mean they were denied?! I sent those funds to you months ago!"

"Whatever the reason, they're not there," Deathstroke remarked, placing his phone back in its pouch. He then walked over to retrieve his fallen pistol, putting it in its holster and then sheathing his sword. "Have a nice day, Ra's." And with that, he casually existed the chamber.

Neal watched as the confrontation between Batman, Ra's, and Deathstroke seemed to be imminent. This was going to be the fight of a lifetimes. Ra's al Ghul was the leader of a large band of assassins, Deathstroke was one of the strongest men that Neal had ever encountered, and Batman.....well he was the goddamn Batman! Who knew what could possibly happen next? And than it happened, something that Neal definitely didn't see coming.

"What?" Neal asked himself as he saw what had just happened. "Did he really just leave because he didn't get paid?" he asked himself in disbelief. That was...anticlimactic, but at least it had worked out in benefit of the good guys. Still, Neal wished he could have done it like three minutes ago before Neal got shot. Despite this change in the battle Neal continued to hide himself from everyone's eyes. He was only going to watch this time, it wasn't his fight to participate in anymore.

This just left Ra's against Batman, and Neal had no idea how that fight was going to go down. "Come on Batman, you got this one," Neal said to himself.

And just like that, it was Ra's against the Titans, Batman, Robin, and Red Robin. Most of his loyal assassins were defeated, lying unconscious all around him. But the heroes stood tall, ready to keep fighting. And he couldn't hope to take on all of them. He was quite aware of that. Scowling, he sheathed his sword and took a step back. "You may have won today, Batman, but this isn't over. It's never over, between you and I. I'm almost looking forward to the next time that we meet."

Ra's then threw something at the ground, enshrouding him in a thick cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, he was gone. This left the good guys alone, victorious. It would have been better to have been able to apprehend Ra's, but at least for now, his League was out of commission. It would be quiet some time before he decided to surface again.

"Robin," he said, turning to her. "Make a call to the authorities. Get as many ambulances and police officers out here as possible. There's a lot of people that need to be taken care of."

"I'm on it!" she replied, with an affirmative salute.

As Neal was looking on, someone approached him. "Hey." It was Cyborg, who held a hand out to him, to help him up. "You look like you could use a hand."

Neal watched as eventually Ra's made a simple retreat. Apparently without Deathstroke's muscle Ra's wouldn't be able to take on all the heroes and the rest of the assassins that were in the League and loyal to Talia and Shiva. The good guys had won, and that was the important thing. Neal couldn't help but frown though, knowing how much of it could have been avoided if it hadn't been for him. He let his own foolish ways and thoughts get in the way of the bigger picture. He turned on his own family, the ones that had taken care of him.

It was only when he was approached and spoken to that Neal looked up. For a moment he just stared, wondering about how on earth Cyborg could still see him. Than of course it hit Neal easily. "I'm such an idiot even now," he muttered with a weak laugh as he reached up and took Cyborg's hand. "There's no fooling that electronic part of your brain" he admitted as he started to push himself up with his good leg.

Neal couldn't look Cyborg right in the eye, much as how Cyborg had turned away from him when he saw Neal's real face beneath the League uniform. Neal had been caught aiding one of the most dangerous organizations of all time, and he had nearly caused the death of the police commissioner. "No chance you'll guys put in a good word for me when I get sent to court will you?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it," Cyborg said, folding his arms. "I was doubting you there for a while... but you showed us who you really are in the end. I can't say I really approve of everything that went on in the meantime, but... hey, mistakes happen. The point is that you realized it in time, before you did something you really couldn't take back... something permanent." Like he almost had when he nearly killed Raven. "

But then again, I'm not really the one who you should be talking to about this. Your actions affected some of us a great deal more than others." He was looking over at Nightwing, and, more importantly, Raven, who was currently sitting on the ground with her knees tucked up to her chin, just staring at the ground.

Meanwhile, Red Robin was packing up and getting ready to head out. "Well, it's been fun," he said, starting to walk towards the tunnel. "But I have other business I need to be attending to. Always glad to step in and stop the bad guys. Later guys."

He never got the chance to leave peacefully, though, as Robin suddenly ran after him. "Wait for me, Tim! I'll walk you out!"

When they were gone, Batman turned back to the others and walked over to Nightwing, hold his hand down. "You're a mess."

Nightwing reached up and grabbed Batman's hand, using it to pull himself into a standing position, though all his weight was on his uninjured leg, as the other was practically lifeless. "Good to see you, too, Bruce. Cut it a little close, though, wouldn't you say?"

"I got held up at the bank," Batman replied, making a small joke. "Long lines."

"I don't feel like I really did, I still beat the living hell out of you guys, nearly shot the commissioner, and only turned my back on Ra's and Deathstroke when I learned that I was a pawn.......not exactly the comeback victory story of the year ya know?" Neal asked weakly as he glanced over to Cyborg. Neal was willing to accept that mistakes happen, but this one wasn't an accident. It was a choice, one that Neal had made alone. Granted it had been at a time when he was really vulnerable, but that was just an excuse. Neal made a choice, and a lot of people got hurt.

As Cyborg mentioned that some were hurt more than others, Neal realized that this was the truth. Cyborg and Beast Boy could roll with the punches, but Raven and Nightwing he had hurt on extremely personal levels. Plus, no matter what Neal did the fact was that he truly did slash at Raven with the mind to kill her. Even if she forgave him, he wasn't going to be able to forgive himself for a very long time. "I'm going to go talk to her....thanks for everything Cyborg" Neal said as he began to limp over towards Raven.

As he finally got near to her, he sat down across from her, as if it was just another meditation routine for the two of them. For a while he didn't say anything, knowing that nothing he said could ever take away what he did. "I don't understand Raven," he admitted as he looked towards her. "I tried to kill you.....how can you forgive me so easily? I don't understand how you could even look at me right now. I was almost hoping that Deathstroke would kill me, I felt like it was what I deserved," he admitted.

Raven looked up at Neal as he sat across from her. She knew this conversation would have to take place sooner or later. Better to be sooner. She couldn't blame him for not being able to understand her forgiveness. After all, after everything he'd done, she'd have to be crazy, right? Were she a normal person, she would be crazy. But she wasn't normal, She could feel things that others simply could not.

Reaching out, Raven took his hands, the same as she always had when meditating together. "Have you forgotten my ability already?" she asked. "I can sense... everything that you feel. Everything that you felt. I can see into your soul, and see just what it was that brought you down this path... It allows me to understand you, Neal. I understand how vulnerable you felt after our... discussion. I understand your anger, and your confusion, and your desire to want to become stronger. I know you did many questionable things, but I also know why you did them, and the conflict and pain it caused you to do so. That is why I forgive you, Neal. Because I understand everything that you went through."

While Neal and Raven were having their conversation, Nightwing was watching them, still in a discussion with his former mentor. "I don't know if I can do it, Bruce. He betrayed us all. He hurt us. He turned his back on us. How can we trust him again? How can we accept him back."

Batman was quiet for a moment, also watching Neal speaking with Raven. "In the end, though, he came through, didn't he? You know, many a hero have gone rogue at one point or another. I've seen it happen far too many times for my liking. But we learn to forgive, so long as they're willing to make amends. We all make mistakes, Dick. What matters is that we're willing to learn from them and better ourselves as a result. Some bad decisions are beyond forgiveness, true, but this isn't one of those, I don't believe so. He's not beyond forgiving. A family has to work through their worst problems to get stronger, and they have be there for one another when it matters most. That's something you seem to have forgotten."

Nightwing bowed his head, almost shamefully. "Maybe I have..."

Neal jumped in fright as Raven reached forward and took his hands into her own. It was an action that he hadn't suspected, not so soon at least. It was than that she began to speak, and Neal realized that he had already forgotten so much in his grief. Raven could read emotions, she could tell that his change of heart wasn't a fake because he was on the losing team. She could read the path that his emotions took, and that she was why she was able to both understand and forgive him. Tears were already coming to Neal's eyes, but as Raven finished speaking he couldn't keep them in any longer. He bowed his head down so that his forehead touched her hands, she would feel the tears falling from his face.

"I'm so sorry Raven.......I'm so sorry", he uttered weakly even though she already knew. "I never wanted to hurt you, I just.....I just....I was weak", he finally finished. "It'll never happen again, I swear on my life I'll die before anything like this ever happens again," he said before looking up at her.

"I wanna go home"

Raven didn't say anything else, as Neal struggled through his apology. She simply leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, trying to provide him with comfort. It wasn't something she normally would have been able to figure out to do on her own, without meditating deeply on the matter first. She was never good at knowing how to comfort someone, after all. But something about the act just felt right... she knew she had to hug him. She knew that this time, she had to be there for him.

After several moments, two more figures joined the pair. Standing over them was Nightwing, who was currently still being supported by Batman, since he couldn't really walk by himself yet. Nightwing gave Neal a long look down, before finally holding out a hand to him.

"We both said and did things that I don't think we meant," he said. "I'd like it if we could put these events behind us and make amends."

Neal felt Raven wrap her arms around him, holding him close as a sign that she accepted his apology. Neal knew that even though the group might take him back, he still needed to keep fighting and prove that he was worthy of being a Titan. He needed to remove any sense of doubt that he might not deserve to be trusted. "Thank you Raven, thank you", he whispered before slowly pulling back.

It was only at that time that he realized that some others were there. He turned to look up and see Nightwing and Batman standing over him. Neal felt a lump in his throat, wondering if something bad was about to happen. What he didn't expect, was for Nightwing to extend his hand and offer forgiveness. Neal just stared at it for a moment before gaining a weak smile. He extended his own hand and took Nightwing's firmly. "I'll do whatever it takes to prove myself to you again, you have my word" Neal said slowly.

It was at this time that Neal looked past Nightwing and Batman and saw Talia and Shiva in the background. They were still wounded, from Deathstroke's attack. "Nightwing, I have a quick favor to ask. Would you be alright if......if I said goodbye to them?" Neal asked as he kept his gaze on Talia and Shiva so that they'd know who he was talking about. "I know that they're our enemies........but they helped me and watched out for me while I was here. With your permission, I wanna talk to them one more time"

"Do what you have to," Nightwing said, looking around to find a comfortable spot on the ground. "I'll just be... sitting over here." And with that, he plopped himself down and grabbed his leg. It had been numb for a while, but the pain was starting to make itself evident. "We'll go when you're ready."

Batman reached down and helped Neal up to his feet. After all, Nightwing wasn't the only one with a messed up leg at the moment. "I'll take you to them," he said, assisting Neal in making his way over to Talia and Shiva.

When they reached the two women, Talia looked up to see Batman standing there and forced a smile out through the pain. "Bruce... good to see you again."

"Talia," he said, with a brief nod. "How are you?"

Talia glanced down at the bullet wound in her side. "Well... I've had better days."

Neal gave a small nod as Nightwing gave him permission to go talk to the women before they left. He was grateful for it. Despite the fact that Neal joined the wrong side, he still had a connection with Talia and Shiva, something that he wasn't sure if it was appropriate or not. They were members of the League of Assassins, but he still believed that they truly wanted a better world. If Neal wasn't going to work with them anymore, he wanted to say goodbye.

"Thank you Batman," Neal said as the Dark Knight helped Neal to his feet. That bullet wound had really taken a lot out of Neal. He was going to have to rest and recover for weeks before being able to officially join the team back onto the field, but he was okay with that. He moved along with Batman, soon reaching Talia and Shiva.

As they did so Neal couldn't help but be surprised by the demeanor that Talia seemed to take on such a calm demeanor with Batman, even calling him Bruce. Bruce? Was that his real name? Neal took a single glance at Batman, but decided against asking anything. Neal's attention turned back towards the two woman, looking at each of their respective wounds. "What will you two do now?" Neal asked curiously. They weren't going to be a part of the League anymore, that much was obvious. What else would they possibly do though?

A part of him was worried by the answer that they'd give, but Neal couldn't help but want to make sure that they were going to be okay.

"I, for one," Talia stated, struggling back up to her feet. She was still hunched over, unable to straighten herself up all the way yet, "do not plan on being here when the cops arrive. There's too much I still have to do first. My father is still out there, and if I know him, he'll be trying to reform the League and who knows what else. Someone has to track him down and stop him, wouldn't you say?"

Batman retained his calm demeanor, just staring back at her. "I'll have to stop you, too, you know that."

"Of course," Talia remarked. "But you'll give me a head start. You always do." And with that, she staggered forward, leaned into Batman, and gave him a brief kiss. He didn't return the kiss, but he didn't pull away either. When the kiss finally ended, she continued to make her way towards one of the side tunnels. "It was good seeing you again, Bruce... I look forward to our next meeting."

Once Talia was gone, Batman slowly moved his eyes back to Neal, who was likely more than a little confused at that exchange. "Long story," was all he said.

And then Shiva finally spoke, sitting up and trying not to show the pain she was feeling. "I... will wait here," she said, looking back up at Neal. "I must pay for my crimes... my daughter is dead because of my actions, and that is not something I deserve to escape judgement for."

Neal gave a small nod as Talia said that she was going to try to stop her father from reforming the League. He wanted to ask her a few things, such as if she was going to form a league of her own, if she still wanted to help the world as she was originally planning to. Neal decided that it wasn't best to ask these questions, especially with Batman standing right there. "Well, I wish you good luck Talia. Thank you for everything," Neal said before watching the exchange between her and Batman.

As she kissed Batman and left Neal couldn't help but look over at Batman and raise a single eyebrow in confusion. Batman said that it was a long story though, and that was good enough for Neal to back off.

As curious as Neal was about that exchange, he quickly turned his head to Shiva as he heard that she was planning on staying because of her crimes. But....that meant she might go to jail for the rest of her life! "Shiva, you didn't kill your daughter though. You wouldn't even let me fight her, you did everything you could have in order to protect her," Neal said as he moved closer to Shiva. "There must be something else you can do, offer your services to the League, do anything else" Neal tried to plead with her.

Neal doubted it would work though. Neal wanted to be dead after what he had done to the Titans. He couldn't even begin to imagine how Shiva must feel.

Shiva shook her head slowly. "No, I was the cause of her death just by being in this League. Just by not being there for her as a better mother... it is my fault." She let out a deep breath, then looked up at Batman, a sad look in her eyes. "Thank you, Bruce... for looking after her as long as you did. I know you cared for her, as well..."

Batman gave a simple nod. "She will be remembered always."

"And thank you, Neal," she added, turning to him and smiling slightly. "For bringing out a better side of me." Leaning forward to him, she gave him a short kiss, then held her forehead against his for several moments, before finally pulling back. "I'm ready to face the consequences of my actions."

Batman put a hand on Neal's shoulder. "You should go now, with the Titans. I'll finish up things here."

Neal hung his head as he heard what Shiva was saying. He couldn't understand if he lost his own kid, but if she decided that she needed to face the consequences of her actions than he was going to understand and not fight her on it. He wished that there was a better way, but Neal had a feeling that in the next few weeks he was going to begin to understand the idea of redemption a lot better.

"It wasn't that hard Shiva", Neal said as he wrapped a single arm around her in a slight hug while she gave him that tiny kiss. "If you ever get out for good behavior, just remember that you'll always have Neal and Fade as allies if you need them" he said with a smile. Despite her order, she really was a good person and believed that she was doing the right thing. Neal was going to miss her greatly.

"Yeah, you're right," Neal said with a small nod before looking at Shiva once more. "You'll know where I am if you ever need me. Take care of yourself Shiva, and thank you for everything" Neal said before turning and walking back over to the Titans slowly. His damaged leg wasn't helping him, but he was also still partially sad to leave this place. Despite being used by Deathstroke, they still made him far stronger than he used to be.

As Neal was walking he walked by the sword that Deathstroke had thrown to him. He stared at it for a moment before picking it up and taking it with him. He would take it, as a reminder of what happened. Neal was never going to forget this place, he would remember it so that he never made the same mistake again. Neal continued over towards the other Titans, not saying a word even once he get there.

The next few days passed quietly. It was a sort of readjustment period for the Titans, getting used to having Neal back in the tower with them. Though he had been mostly forgiven, there was still a small amount of tension between them all. It would pass, though, in time. Eventually, they truly would forget about what happened, wanting to put it in the furthest recesses of their minds. Certainly no one was talking about it. Either way, they were all happy that things were back to normal now. Of course, neither Neal nor Nightwing would be doing much work for a while, but at least the other Titans could cover for them.

In better news, after the bust of the League of Assassins, Clint Dickson had all but disappeared from the face of the earth. Nightwing surmised that it was because Dickson was employed by the League, acting on their behalf to help take control of the city and get rid of the Titans. With no more League, Dickson had no more purpose. This led to a different mayor being elected, one who was still in support of the Titans. This meant hat the current commissioner was able to retain his job, and the unrest within the police force quieted down.

Still, the Titans were open to other ways of making money, if it meant helping out the city. They didn't want to feel responsible for draining tax money if they didn't have to. And believe it or not, it was Beast Boy that came up with the winning idea.

"Okay, so here me out on this," Beast Boy said, after gathering them all together. He had set up a table with a sheet draped over whatever was hiding beneath. "I figured otu a way to make us money without having to use taxes. Ready?"

"Just get on with it," Cyborg said.

"Right, right," Beast Boy said, then pulling back the sheet.

Nightwing blinked, trying to take in what he was seeing. Raven looked dumbstruck, as if trying to believe that he was serious. Cyborg, on the other hand, looked a little more impressed.

"That's your idea...?" Raven muttered.

"That's right!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "Merchandising!" he then started going around the table to present some of his different ideas. "Titans T-shirts! Titans party supplies! Titans baseball caps! Even Titans actions figures!" He held up an action figure modeled after him, then twisting it around like a transformer and turning into a gorilla. "See? Mine changes into different animals! There's twelve different ones in the whole set."

"Ah man!" Cyborg exclaimed running over to the table and picking up a Cyborg action figure. "This is so cool. Look, the sonic blaster even lights up!"

Raven stared on with growing unease. "You have.. got to be kidding."

Then, Beast Boy grabbed something else on the table and held it up with a smile. "This is a Raven doll. It's it adorable?"

Raven blinked, reached out to take the doll, and stared at it. It was a decent representation, but was of course a bit... 'dollish'. "Adorable? ....creepy, maybe..."

"Oh, and I was thinking about starting a swimsuit calender, starring the female members of the team," Beast Boy added. "You know, once Sarah and Starfire get back. " He held up a camera and grinned. "But maybe we can get a head start on some of the photographs."

Raven glared up at Beast Boy. A second later, the camera exploded in his hand.

After the defeat of the League it seemed like things had really quieted down in New York, something that Neal was just fine with. Due to the bullet passing through his leg he wasn't quite as useful for the team as he liked to be, and sadly not everything returned to normal. Despite having been back several days he hadn't talked to Raven that much, not about what he wanted to at least. He would be lying if he said he didn't still have feelings for her. She may have forgiven Neal, but that didn't mean that everything was going to go back to how it was. He wanted to meditate with her again like they used to, but he was afraid to go up and ask her.

God, he couldn't help but wonder how he was going to explain what had happened to Sarah and Starfire. Unless the Titans sent them some galactic email, they still had no idea what Neal had done in their absense. That wasn't something he was looking forward to.

Right now though his attention was on Beast Boy who was presenting his latest money making scheme to them. "This should be good," Neal said to himself as he put down the newspaper that he was reading to watch Beast Boy's presentation. As it was presented Neal had to admit that he was skeptical of the idea at first, until he stood up and began to look at some of the merchandise. "Wow.......this is actually pretty impressive Beast Boy," he admitted as he picked up a Nightwing action figure that had his Batons and Throwing Disks that could be launched.

Of course at the mention of a swimsuit calender starring the females of the team, Neal couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he got a look at Raven's expression. Beast Boy should have known better than to suggest something like that with her. The idea in general though......not a bad idea. Starfire would definitely be up for it, maybe even Sarah too. That alone might make them enough money for quite some time.

"When did you take all the time to design this stuff anyway?" Neal finally asked out of curiosity.

"I've been doing it in my spare time for years now," Beast Boy remarked, while shaking his hand. That rather abrupt camera explosion had hurt! "I only just went to a toy manufacturer the other day in light of all the recent... stuff, to see if they'd be interested in producing some of my ideas. Wouldn't you know, they wanted to make it all! Ha, I guess I'm just a marketing genius."

"So what does this do in terms of funds, then?" Nightwing asked.

"Well, we make a ten percent royalty on every single item that sells," Beast Boy explained. "So as I understand it, if they sell ten million dollars worth of stuff, we get a million of that in cold, hard cash. Well, maybe a check. I don't know if they have a million dollars in cash lying around... you know what I mean."

Nightwing went over to take a closer look at some of the items on display. "And you really think this will be enough to fund... well, everything we do?"

Beast Boy looked around after the question, then finally found what he was looking for and pulled it out. It was a slip with a bunch of numbers on it. Holding it up to Nightwing, he pointed out various things. "This is the price of each of the items. Over on that side is the number of pre-orders that have been made for each product. That at the bottom is the total amount we stand to make just on launch day, when all this stuff goes public."

Nightwing's reaction was, quite simply, priceless. His jaw hung open in shock, and he just stared at the paper.

"What is it?" Cyborg asked, coming up from behind to look over Nightwing's shoulder. When he saw the number, his eyes bugged out and he shouted, "Hot damn! Daddy needs a new T-jet!"

"What's so special about-" Raven started, then getting a good look at the number. "-oh. Um... wow." She then noticed something else written off to the side. "What are those numbers?"

"How much the swimsuit calender would have gone for," Beast Boy remarked. "And how many people would have been interested in purchasing it, as determined by online poll."

Raven was silent for a moment, then pointed at another number. "And that one?"

"The total amount that would be added to the bigger number, if there were a swimsuit calender."

"I see..." Raven remarked, then pulling back and starting to leave the room.

"Hey, where you going?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven didn't stop as she answered. "To...buy a swimsuit."

Neal had to admit that had Beast Boy suggested this on any other idea he probably would have been quite skeptical. However, he couldn't deny that he was actually fairly impressed with the lines up of items that he was being shown. They weren't anything legendary or priceless, but with the sheer amount of them that total amount of money they earned might add to quite the number. Neal personally wasn't sure if it was going to cover everything, but it would definitely help so that they didn't have to take as much from taxes. Dickson might be gone, but there were probably still some people that thought the Titans took more than their fair share.

"This might actually get a bit of the public spotlight off of us in regards to the funds that we take from the city," Neal admitted as he was looking at the Raven doll that Raven herself didn't like that much. "At the very least it'll show that we're willing to come up with some sort of a compromise"

When Beast Boy pulled out the list of items and their prices, along with the total number of pre-orders, Neal couldn't help but let out a bit of a laugh. "You were motivated to do math in your free time? This must be some big number you got," Neal said before he took a look at it as well and ended up just staring at it for a full minute in silence. "That is a lot more commas than I expected," he said in shock as he ended up just staring at the number for quite some time.

This really had the potential to work.

It was than that Neal heard what Raven was saying about going to buy a swimsuit. Part of him wanted to offer to go, but he wasn't sure if that was appropriate or not. Raven might be willing to get one, but having Neal along might make her uncomfortable. Still, it was at least worth a shot. "No chance you want some company for your trip?" he finally asked.

Raven did stop, however, when Neal spoke up and asked if she would like someone to accompany her. She'd really only been mostly joking, though with the experience she had in cracking jokes and her singular tone of voice, it had most likely come across as a serious statement. A part of her wanted to just brush it off and say she'd be fine, or even come clean and say that she hadn't been serious... but she knew that she and Neal needed to start building their friendship again. The recent events had damaged it to a degree, and some time together might help restore that. So, apparently she was going shopping.

"If you would like to... that's fine," Raven said. Just as Beast Boy started opening his mouth, she added, "Just Neal." Beast Boy let out a disappointed sigh and turned back to his merchandise. He was going over what the Halloween costumes should look like now.