Rita was asleep when the alarm went off.  But this wasn’t her alarm clock.  These days, she didn’t even set that alarm.  This was an emergency signal, and an old one at that.

Even asleep, and even through the changes to her hearing, Rita recognized the sound,  It was a Doom Patrol emergency call, and on old one at that.  As old as it was, it had to be from either Larry or Cliff.  Gar would be using more modern technology, and if it was Dayton, she’d let him deal with it himself.  Same for the Chief, if he somehow sent it.  No one else had been in the patrol at the time this signal device was used -- at least, as far as she knew.  She had, after all, died when it was still in use.

Rita literally pulled herself together quickly, assembling the protoplasm that was her body into her human shape.  She knew the call would be urgent.  She had to at least find out what was going on.  If it was Cliff or Larry, she had to be ready to act.

She stretched an arm over to the device and hit the button.  The voice that came through was clearly Cliff’s.

“S.O.S.  Anyone hearing this, please respond to these coordinates.” the voice said.  It didn’t give coordinates.  Rita knew they were encoded within the signal itself.

Rita hit an automatic reply button, but said nothing.  She had an airship on hand, a small one Gar had gotten for her surreptitiously from some incarnation of the Titans or Young Justice, and used it to respond to the call, inputting the signal from the device directly into the piloting computer.

Rita had used her remaining funds from her old Olympic endorsements, her brief Hollywood career and her successful lawsuit over the damages she suffered at the hands of the film producers when she got her powers, along with money from her divorce settlement with Steve Dayton, to buy the private island.  There she lived, alone except fot occasional visits from Gar, Cliff or Karen.  She even kept a dollhouse set up in a guest bedroom so Karen would have a to-scale place to stay.

The airship quickly arrived at the coordinates.  It was a location on the U.S. West Coast, somewhere in northern California.  There, hovering over Cliff, was Chemo, the old Metal Men adversary.

Cliff looked bad.  Chemo had used its chemical abilities to spray various damaging chemicals on Robotman’s metallic parts.  He was missing an arm, and a lot of his shell looked either badly rusted or melted.  Rita quickly realized Cliff was nearing the end of his ability to protect his human brain, let alone help anyone inland, where Chemo appeared ro be bound.

Rita set the airship to hover and dived out, growing as she went down.  She planned to grab Chemo from behind at as large a size as she could reach, and just crush its shell or rip it in two.

She hadn’t counted on the fact that Chemo’s senses worked like hers.  Even without facing her, it saw her on the way down.  It assessed the threat and immediately sent a chemical spray Rita’s way.

Cliff had spotted her, too.  “Rita!  Dodge!”  he shouted.

In her years with the Doom Patrol, Rita had learned a lot about free-falling.  She successfully maneuvered sideways as she came down, but was such a big target that the spray from Chemo sliced through her entire left side from the neck down, burning it right off.

“RITA!” Cliff screamed.

Rita was falling in two pieces.  The part that had been hit with the spray was coming down hard as a blob of protoplasmic goo, but the other section was regrowing the human parts it had been missing and continuing on its downward path.

“I’ve had enough of you!” Rita said as she came down beside Chemo.  She grabbed Chemo’s head and twisted.  When that had no effect, she grew a fingernail through its “eye socket” and flipped open its head, then squeezed its torso.  She was still growing as she tossed the shell of the chemical monster into the air., separating it from its chemical innards.  Unlike her, it needed its shell to function.

Rita shed the toxified fingernail and went to her old partner in peril.  “Cliff!” she yelled.  “Are you OK?”

“I am now,” Cliff said.  :”What about you?”

“Well, having that big a chunk of me sliced away is traumatic psychologically, but I’m used to psychological trauma,” Rita said. 

“Can’t you just, you know, reattach it?”  Cliff asked.

Rita was using a signal device to call the airship.  “Not after what Chemo did to it,” she said.  “I’m afraid that part of me is dead.  But then, thanks to that scumbag the Chief, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.”  She didn’t try to hide the bitterness in her voice.

As the ship landed on autopilot, Rita scooped Cliff up.  “So, what brings you here?”

“Aah, I was checking with a so-called cybernetics expert out here when Chemo turned up,” Cliff said.  “I was hoping he could help me get some updated parts, or something more human-looking, at least, but, bo such luck.  He’s not as good as his rep.”

“So, where do you want me to take you?” Rita asked.

‘I’d shrug if my shoulders still worked,” Cliff said.  “With the Chief gone, I don’t know a lot of people who could work on me and would be willing to do so.  “We’ve built up a lot of bad will over the years with the Patrol.”

Rita strapped Cliff into a chair.  “OK, we’ll take you back to my place,” she said.  I’ve got some spare stuff for you there in case we had an emergency like this.  I knew you might need to count on an old friend.”

“Wow, you think of everything,” Cliff said.

Rita scowled.  “I had to,” she said.  “The Chief thought he’d thought of everything, and look what he cost us.  I can’t let that happen to anyone again.”

The ride was silent for awhile.  Then Rita said, “You know, Cliff, I’ve heard you want to die.  Is that why you threw yourself at Chemo?”

“Partly,” Cliff said.  That, and there were innocent people in the way.  I was hoping it would be another Codsville.”

Rita remembered the village for which she’d died.  Her actions had saved it at the cost of her own life - or, at least, the life of Rita 1.0.  She was both the one and only Rita Farr in one sense and Rita 2.0 in another, and the dichotomy ate at her all the time.

“So, if you wanted to die, why send the emergency signal?” Rita asked.

I wanted to die,” Cliff said.  “But I wasn’t able to stop Chemo from endangering the people nearby, just slow him down.  I sent out the call early, figuring I could keep him tied up for awhile and then work with whoever showed to get him stopped.  Thankfully for the nearby residents, you showed up when you did.”

“Well, we’ll be back to my place in a jiff,” Rita said.  “As much as you can, relax and enjoy the ride.”

“Thanks, Rita,” Cliff said.  “I won’t impose for too long.”

Rita took a deep breath.  “Actually, Cliff, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to stay awhile.  I’m not the recluse type, and you’re my best friend these days.”

“What about Karen?” Cliff asked.

“She’s a great friend,” Rita said, “but she’s not got the years with me that you do.  You’ve seen me at my best and worst, and I’ve seen you the same way .. And, the truth is, I still like spending time with you.”

Cliff tried to smile.  “Same here, kiddo,” he said.

“Besides, I’ve got something I want to talk to you about, once you’ve got yourself put together,” Rita said.  “A proposition, you might say.”

“Sounds intriguing,” Cliff said.  “Let me get myself reassembled , and then we can talk.”

Back at the beach,  the goo of protoplasm and chemicals that had been half of Rita 2.0 was moving.  It was going inland as the tide came in.

Raven sat up in bed, screaming.

Beast Boy came runn ing down the hall.  “Raven, what’s wrong?” he said.

“Gar! Someone’s in some sort of … psychic agony!” Raven said.  As he sat on the edge of the bed, she put her shaking arms on his shoulder.  “Someone reaching out … here!”

“Trying to reach you?” Gar asked.

“No,” said Raven.  “Trying to reach you!”

“Me?!”

Raven nodded.  “I don’t understand it, and I can’t sort out who it is, but the empathic signature is definitely seeking you.”

“Why can’t you tell who it is?” Gar asked.

“Something’s … garbled,” Raven said.  “Whatever happened has left the poor thing’s mind and soul … fractured somehow.”

“Can you get a fix on it?”

Raven’s focus shifted to the empathic scream.  “Ow!!” she said.  “Northern California, on the coastline.”

“Can you take us there?”

“Are you ready to go?” Raven asked.

Gar nodded.  “Let’s do this.”

Raven’s soul-self emerged and enveloped them both.  Instantly they were hovering over the northern California shoreline.  Gar shifted into the form of an eagle; Raven could fly on her own.

“Gar’s eagle eyes couldn’t spot anything immediately.  “Where is this person?” he asked.

Raven focused for a moment, then dipped briefly in the sky due to the empathic pain.  She pointed north.  “There,” she said.  “Not far.”

Gar started flying north.  In less than a minute, he spotted a puddle of something flesh-colored moving uphill on the beach.

Gar looked back to Raven, who nodded, clearly in pain.  “That’s … her,” she said.

Fear gripped Gar’s heart.  There were only a few “hers” who were significant enough in his life to be seeking him.  He was flying with one, and he’d lost the most obvious other once before.  He didn’t want to lose her again.

Gar swooped down and transformed into his normal green humanoid self as he landed.  He looked to the puddle.  “Hello?”  he said.

Immediately the puddle lurched toward him.  He reached out his arm to it and it wrapped itself around the outstretched limb.

Raven had landed.  “The empathic pain has eased considerably with your presence,” she said.

Looking only at the puddle, Gar said to Raven, “Can you tell who it is?”

Raven concentrated for a moment, then worry ran across her face.  “Gar, the images -- dating back to when you first started as Beast Boy --”

Gar looked at Raven.  “It’s Rita, isn’t it?  It’s my mom.”

Emotion overwhelmed Raven to where she couldn’t speak as she nodded.

“Mom?”  Gar said to the puddle.  It moved up his arm and wrapped itself around his torso, hugging him.

Gar was fighting to keep from crying.  “How did this happen?” he asked.

Raven’s brow furrowed.  “Whatever trauma happened, it was here this afternoon,” she said.  ‘And it involved Chemo.”

Gar nodded.  “He must have just … dissolved her,” he said.  “It’s a miracle she’s still alive.”

Raven was scanning nearby minds.  “Apparently, she stopped him as he was attacking,” she said.  “I’m picking up from nearby minds that Elasti-Woman saved the community.”

Gar patted the oozing gelatin.  “You done good, Mom.  Let’s get you some help.”

He looked pack at Raven.  “I’m assuming this is too much for your healing powers to handle, right?”

“Uh, yeah,” said Raven.

“OK, so we’ve got to help her some other way,” he said.  “Best ideas I’ve got are any STAR Labs remnants around and Project Cadmus.  I’m thinking Cadmus is our best bet.  Can we find any of the hidden locations and get her there?”

Raven’s face went blank.  “Got one,” she said.  “Let’s go.”

After another soul-self trip, the threesome found itself in the entrance of a Cadmus center.  Two of the scientists -- one male, one female -- and a guard were startled on their arrival.  The guard pulled a high-tech-looking gun., then relaxed when he recognized the two identifiable heroes.

“We need help!” Gar said.  “This … ooze is Elasti-Woman.  She’s still alive, but I don’t know for how long.”

The female scientist darted to an intercom.  “We need a stasis chamber and an analysis room, stat!” she said.

“She wants to be with Gar,”  Raven said.  “ She doesn’t recognize me, but she understands I’m helping her connect to him.  But she wants him there.”

“Then I’m there,” Gar said.  The male scientist nodded.  “Can she hear us?”

“I think so,” Gar said.  “She responded to my voice earlier.”

The scientist looked to the gelatinous form.  “Ms. Farr, you’re at Project Cadmus.  “We’re going to do what we can to help you, but first we’ve got to figure out what happened and what your condition is exactly.”

“We know she was attacked by Chemo, the old monster the Metal Men have faced,” Raven said.  Beyond that, specifics aren’t available.”

“Got it,” the male scientist said.  “Beast Boy, if it’ll make it more comfortable for her, you’re welcome to come along.  Raven, I think we’ll need you for whatever communication we can maintain.  Let’s go.”

Other scientists and assistants burst out.  Two carried a containment vessel that resembled an aquarium.

“If we get her in the vessel, it can start gathering data while we’re carrying her back to the lab,” the female scientist said.

Gar nodded.  He looked to the ooze.  “Mom, you heard them.  The best chance to help you  means getting in that … tank.  Don’t worry.  I’ll be right here.  You’re not going anywhere without me.”

The ooze slid down Gar’s arm as he placed his hand at the edge of the tank.  It flowed into the vessel, keeping a tendril in touch with his hand.  That moment was too much for Gar, as he felt his adoptive mother’s love even with her in this devastated state.  He began to sob uncontrollably.

Suddenly Gar felt a warmth enfold him.  Experience told him it was Raven, comforting him, sharing his emotional pain.  He looked to his girlfriend.  Thanks, he thought.

she replied.

It was better than two hours later before the scientists had their information.  A Dr. Thompson spoke to Gar and Raven.

Thompson shook his head.  “We don’t see how even the exotic chemicals in Chemo could have done this, but Ms. Farr’s entire bodily structure has been virtually dissolved,” he said.  “We found a single nearly micropscopic fragment of what we believe to be her skull; the rest of her is just protoplasm; sentient, and possessing hearing and possibly other senses, but without any bones or organs -- yet still alive.”

Gar was glad he was sitting down.  “Can you do anything for her?”

“Yes, actually,” Thompson said.  “We can regrow her organs, skeleton and other parts.  Normally, that would take months, but with her powers we should be able to accomplish it in days.  But there is a concern.”

“What’s that?” Gar asked.

Thompson looked at Raven.  “You said Ms. Farr’s mind and spirit seem … broken somehow,” he said.  “Does that include her memories?”

“I believe so,” Raven said.  “The memory images I’m seeing become … spotty starting in her teen years and continuing through the rest of her life.  How much of that is trauma, which would make the memories retrievable, and how much is actual damage, which might leave them permanently inaccessible, I can’t say.”

Thompson nodded.  “That’s what we were afraid of.”

“OK you’re going to need to explain that,” Gar said.

Thompson drew a deep breath.  “You see, Ms. Farr’s powers are voluntary.  How far we can regrow her may depend on what her mind will allow us to do.”

Gar looked at the vessel where the ooze now rested.  “You listening, Mom?”

“She is,” Raven said.

Thompson blushed.  “I’m sorry, Ms. Farr.  Your current … appearance caused me to forget you were paying attention.  My point is, how you look will depend in part on the genetics, and in part of where your mind will allow us to go.  You may well not look as you did before the attack.  Do you understand?”

“She does,” Raven said.  “She wants to know how soon we can start.”

“Right away,” Thompson said.  “We’ll have the process ready to begin within the hour.” He left.

Gar smiled at the ooze.  “Don’t worry, Mom,” he said.  “They’ll have you back to human again in a few days., and I’m staying here until they do.”

“And I’m staying with him,” Raven said.  Then she smiled.  “Gar, I think she likes me.”

He beamed at Raven.  “I told you my mom had good taste,” he said.

Cliff was settling in with his newly replaced limbs.  It wasn’t the first time he’d had this experience, but it was always odd.  The artificial limbs would quickly feel as natural to him as any he’d had since the accident that cost him his original body.

Rita came in, a tentative smile on your face.  “How do they feel?” she asked.

Cliff shrugged.  “Good as anything does,” he said.  “So, you ready to talk about this … proposition?”

“Yeah,” Rita said, looking at the floor.  She gestured to a winged-back chair in the corner.  “Sit down, Cliff.”

He did so.

Rita still wasn’t looking him in the eye.  “Um, Cliff, when I said I had a proposition, I meant just that.”  Now she was looking him in the face.  “I’m propositioning you.”

It took a full second for Cliff to realize what Rita was saying.  Then he was incredulous for a few seconds more.  Finally he said, “What?”

“I’m propositioning you,” Rita said.  “I want to have sex with you.”

“Rita are you nuts?” Cliff said.  “You know I don’t have those parts anymore.  I haven’t since I’ve known you.”

Rita took a deep breath and sat down on a rattan chair.  “Hear me out,” she said, “please.”

Cliff smiled.  “All right,” he said.  “I never could resist those eyes of yours.”

Rita’s smile was sad.  “’Those eyes’ are related to the proposition,” she said.  “Cliff, you know I’m … not real.”

“Yes, you are,” he protested.  “You’re the real Rita Farr, as real as when you had your first body.”

“No, I’m not,” Rita said.  “I look like Rita Farr when I’m awake or in a special suit, but I’m not real.  I have Rita’s mind, her thought patterns, but I don’t have brain patterns because I don’t have a brain.  Cliff, I look more human than you, but you’re more human than me.  You’ve at least got a human brain.  I’ve got nothing human left -- except my feelings, my needs, my dreams.”

Cliff put a metal hand on Rita’s protoplasmic one.  “I know,” he said.

“Cliff, I understand better first-hand some of what you went through when you first wound up in that body,” Rita said.  “I still have all the … urges of a young, or youngish, woman.  I want to have sex with a man I love, and to bear his children, but … I can’t.  I can’t have kids.  “I don’t have egg cells, or fallopian tubes, or a uterus.  I can simulate human sex, but I lack the actual organs, and all I feel from it is physical pressure, a basic sense of touch -- no sexual arousal, no pleasure, no … nothing.

“I mean, all my senses are like that.  These eyes aren’t real.  I ‘see’ with my whole body.  I ‘hear’ with my whole body, too, not just these fake ears.  My sense of smell isn’t centered in my nose, it’s through every bit of my protoplasm.  Touch is just pressure and temperature -- no pain, and no pleasure.  The Chief didn’t want pain, and that meant sacrificing pleasure.  To him, that was no big deal.  To me … it’s becoming everything.”

Cliff’s expression betrayed his concern.  “I didn’t know any of this stuff about your senses,” he said.  “You poor kid!  What about taste?”

Rita hung her head for a moment, then looked up at him.  “What taste?” she said.  “The chief didn’t think that was important, either.”

“But, all those times you seemed to be reveling in how something tasted or felt in recent years. --”

“I used to be an actress, remember?” Rita said.  “I had to keep up the act, keep it light -- especially with Larry around.  He gets so depressed and has such a hard time hanging onto himself these days.”

“Rita,” Cliff said.  After that, his heart ached so much, he couldn’t find the words.

Rita smiled, appearing to be crying.  “Thanks, Cliff,” she said.  She wiped her cheek with her ungloved hand.  “Look at this.  This isn’t even a real tear.  I’m not really crying.  I can simulate tears, or bleeding, when my human mind thinks that’s what I should be doing.  But this tear is just more protoplasm.”

As Cliff watched, the tear reabsorbed into Rita’s fingertip.

“After all, how could I cry?” Rita said.  “No tear ducts.”

After a few seconds of tangled emotions -- pain for his best friend, fury at the Chief for what he’d done to both of them, and confusion over this situation -- Cliff finally composed himself.  “So, if all this is true, how in the world do you propose to have sex with me?”

“I’ve been doing some research, into both my condition and your schematics,” Rita said.  “I can shrink into your system and access the connections to your brain that will stimulate the parts of your brain normally activated by sexual activity,” Rita said.  “If I were human, I couldn’t survive the electrical flow involved in your body, but, as protoplasm, I can survive it -- and the sheer volume of electrical “juice” should actually manage to give me a pleasurable sensation in the process.  It’ll be mutually beneficial.”

“Rita --”

“Cliff, there’s something else you should know,” Rita said.  “I love you.”

“What?”

Rita stood up, flailing an arm for a moment.  “I’ve loved you from soon after we met you -- or the original Rita did,” she said.  “ But I was human then, and never felt it could amount to anything other than frustration.  Then I thought I fell in love with Steve Dayton and married him, and then I died, and … well, you know the rest.”

Rita kneeled down in front of Cliff.  “But I love you, Cliff.  I mean, you are my best friend for a reason.  My heart is so with you, and now there’s a way I can do something about it.  So… I’m asking:  How do you feel about me?”

“Wow, said Cliff.  “You’re taking a chance here, kid.  I mean a confession like this can wreck a friendship.”

Rita looked slightly fearful.  “I know,” she said.  “But I need to ask.”

Cliff smiled.  “Lucky for you I feel the same way then, huh?”

Rita beamed.  “You do?”

“Practically from the first time I laid my artificial eyes on you,” he said.  “And it’s definitely not just the body or the face, although both are amazing.  You’ve got a heart as big as all outdoors.  It’s been pretty badly broken for awhile, but it’s still in there.  And I love you -- all of you.”

“So, um, do you want to try this?” she asked.

“I’m game if you are,” he said.  “When do we start?”

“Since I’ll be, quite literally, in your head, the question is, where would you like to be?” Rita asked.

“Do you need to get ready?’ Cliiff asked.

“I already am,” said Rita.  “Do you?”

“Are you kiddin’?” Cliff said.  “I’ve been waiting for this for years.  Let’s do it.”

Rita smiled as she shrank down, launching herself into a nearly microscopic gap in Cliff’s cranium.

Gar woke up in the chair in Rita’s room to Raven’s smiling face.  “Hi, sleepyhead,” Raven said.

“Hey, Ray,” Gar said.  “How’s Mom doing?”

“See for yourself,” Raven said, pointing to the tank.

In the tank, attached to an artificial umbilical cord, was a small figure, a few inches long.  It looked like a fetus well along in the pregnancy.

“Mom?” Gar said.

The tiny figure turned toward his voice in the floatation tank.  Its arms and legs stirred.

Gar looked at Raven.  “She can hear me?” he said.

Raven nodded.  “And understand you.  Her consciousness is far stronger than her size would suggest.  She’s much more … complete now than she was when we found her.”

“Is she … still herself?” Gar asked.

Tiny Rita began to kick and move her arms.

“She’s trying to tell you, ‘Yes,’” Raven said.  “She’s still your Mom, and she knows who you are.  Her memory is still like Swiss cheese -- lots of big holes -- but the basics are all still there, and she’s still mostly herself.”

Rita was still kicking.

“She’s trying to tell you she loves you,” Raven said.

Gar looked at Rita.  “I love you, too, Mom,” he said.  “Don’t worry; you’ll be able to tell me yourself soon enough.”

****

On the private island, Rita stopped what she had been doing with Cliff’s sensors.  “Well?” she said.  “Based on the noises you were making, I think I already know the answer to this, but how was it?”

“Oh, my Gawd!” Cliff said.  “Rita, that wasn’t just sex, even if it’s only simulated. That felt to my brain like some of the best  sex I’ve ever had in my life!”

“Really?” said Rita, still tiny and inside Cliff’s skull..

“Really,” said Cliff.  “Of course, it didn’t hurt that I knew it was you.  How as it for you?”

“Pleasurable,” Rita said.  “Different than I remember sex being from when I was married, but it was definitely a sensual experience.  I actually enjoyed it, partly because I knew I was pleasing you.  That made it better.”

“Cool,” said Cliff.

“You want to go again?” asked Rita.

“Do you even need to ask?” replied Cliff.

Rita smiled and moved to the sensor.

****

Raven came back into the room with a tray of food.  “How’s it going?” she asked.

Gar was fumbling beside the table where Rita, who now appeared to be about six months old, was lying.  “OK,” he said.  “It’s a little bit strange changing your Mom’s diaper due to young age.”

Rita giggled.

“Yeah, well you never had to do that with me,” he said to his diminished mother.  “You adopted me well after I was potty-trained.”

Raven smiled.  “At least you won’t have to change her again.  And she should be able to speak again within the hour.”

“Good,” Gar said.  “I’m just glad I was able to be here for you, Mom.”

Baby Rita smiled adoringly up at her son.  He caressed her cheek.

****

It was the next morning when Cliff came into Rita’s room on the island and watched her recollect herself into human form.  “Good morning, gorgeous,” he said.

“Hi, Mr. Hard-Body,” Rita said.  “I think I know what you want.”

“In a couple of minutes,” Cliff said.  “You know, Rita, I’m not so enamored of the idea of dying anymore.”

“No?” Rita said, smiling coyly.  “Why not?”

“Why do ya think?” Cliff asked.  “I’ve finally got something to live for.”

“Me, too,” Rita said.  She smiled and walked over to him.

Cliff took her in his arms, and Rita gasped.  “I felt that!” she said.  “It felt like a hug -- like a hug used to feel, when I was human!”

Cliff grinned.  “Yeah, I hoped it would.”

Rita tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.  “What did you do?” she asked.

“Well, you said the electrical current when we’re, uh ‘doing it,’ or as close as we can get, was sensual,” Cliff said.  “So. I figured, if I routed a low-level electrical current through my ‘skin,’ maybe I could give you some kind of feeling like what you gave me.”

Rita’s lower lip quivered.  “I’d cry, but it would just be fake tears,” she said.  “Cliff, that was wonderful!”

“Um, I can try electrifying my fingers and seeing what else feels like it used to  -- maybe even in some places you wouldn’t think of at first,” Cliff said.  “After all, turnabout is fair play.”

Rita’s eyes widened and she smiled.  “I’m game,” she said.

****

That night, Gar and Raven stayed in the dormitories of the Cadmus facility.  By now, Rita was physically eight years old and wanted to sleep by herself without a boy in the room.

The next morning, Gar slept later than the staff using the dorm.

He was awakened to a familiar, yet subtly different than usual voice.  “Good morning, sleepyhead.  It’s time to get up!”

Gar opened his eyes to see Rita beaming down at him.  She was no longer a child, but not yet an adult.  She was a teen and, from the look of things, a few years younger than him.

Gar smiled groggily.  “Mom.  Good morning,” he said.

“The doctors want to see us in my room,” Rita said.  “Better get a move on.  They won’t wait forever.” She pivoted, grew to eight feet tall and bounded out of the room and down the hall.

Gar smiled.  He hadn’t seen his adoptive mom this happy in quite a while.  In fact, the last time he could remember was before the Doom Patrol was blown up by Madame Rouge and General Zahl.

The weary Beast Boy dragged himself out of bed.  Sleep had bee n a relatively rare commodity in the last 36 hours, and hadn’t been comfortable when it had come.  He looked forward to being back in his own bed again.

At Rita’s room, Gar found Dr. Thompson and Raven waiting, along with Rita.  It registered now for the first time that Rita was wearing the old red and white Doom Patrol uniform of hers that he had kept in storage after her death.

He heard Raven in his head.  “I got the uniform for her, Gar.  She’s going to need clothes.”

“Well, now that we’re all here,” Thompson said.  “let’s start.  Miss Farr, our tests show you’ve matured to the limit you’ll reach with our methods.  From here you’ll age normally as a super-powered human being, we think.”

Rita looked around the room.  “But I’m not even half of my right age,” she said.

“The barrier isn’t in our system,” Thompson said.  “Remember, your growth was a function of your powers, and those powers are controlled by your mind.  I think there’s a subconscious level on which your mind wouldn’t let you get older … and our processes are now done working, so you won’t artificially change ages again.”

“So, does this mean I get to go home?” Rita asked.

“Not yet,” the doctor said.  “You see, your home is on a private island, and we need you to stay within the continental U.S.  There will be a period of about two weeks before your condition is stable enough that you may not need our help, but it should be stable enough for you to leave.  We just need to have you stay within the boundaries of the lower 48 states.”

“But why?” Raven asked.  “With my powers, I could have her here in an instant from anywhere on Earth, literally.”

“But we may not be here,” Thompson said.  “Cadmus as it currently operates is secret, including our base locations.  We move with little or no notice.  If that happens, you may not be able to find us, even with your powers -- especially now that we know how easily those powers found us.  We’re going to give Rita a beacon so you can find us and get here if she needs us, but it will only work within the lower 48 U.S. states.”

“But, where will I go?” Rita asked.

“Duh!” said Gar.  “You’re staying with me.  “I’ve got a spare room, and I’m not leaving my mom with nowhere to stay.”

Rita looked at Raven.  “But I’ll be in the way.”

Raven patted Rita’s hand.  “The people we love, if we really love them, are never a load.  There may be inconveniences, but you’re worth it to Gar, and that makes you worth it to me.  Besides, you look like you’re about my size , so we can at least get you some clothes.”

“So, that’s settled?” Gar asked.

Rita nodded.  “That’s settled.  Thanks, Gar,”

“No problem, Mom,” Gar said.

Cliff and Rita enjoyed nearly two weeks of bliss on Rita’s island, exploring the new possibilities they had discovered with their abilities.  Rita found she liked growing to giant size and having Cliff climb inside her private parts, even if they were artificial.  Cliff would electrify his “skin” at a low level when he did, and Rita would simulate the organs needed, and the result was a full-body sexual experience for both of them.  Since Rita’s “lubricants” were part of her own body, they simply withdrew from Cliff when the act was completed, if they even entered any of his orifices at all.  For Cliff, the sensation wasn’t as satisfying as when Rita shrank and stimulated his nerve endings, but he still loved it -- especially Rita’s reaction.

Meanwhile, Gar and the Rita with him were adjusting to their new relationship.  There were moments when Rita tried to be a mom to Gar, but they didn’t feel right to either one of them.  There were other moments when Rita felt like a the youngest person in the room.  And she definitely felt like a third wheel at times with Gar and Raven, but had the sense to get out of the way at key moments.

It was the morning of Day 13 of Rita’s stay at Gar’s apartment.  Gar was having a breakfast of cereal and soy milk when Rita came in the room, wearing a flannel nightie and terry bathrobe.

“Morning, Mom,” Gar said with his mouth full.

“Hey, Gar,” Rita said.  “Can  we talk for a minute?”

Gar gestured to a chair as he swallowed his bite of cereal.  “Sure, sit down,” he said.

Rita sat.  “Gar, this is too weird,” she said.

“What is?”

“You calling me ‘Mom,’” Rita said.  “I mean, I know I adopted you, and you know I’ll always love you as my son, but this whole situation, with me being younger than you now, just makes that weird.”

Gar smiled.  “It is kind of, isn’t it?” he said.

Rita nodded.  “You know, I haven’t even really been your mom all that long or all that much.  I died in that explosion not that long after adopting you, and most of your teen years were spent with Dayton and without me.  Even after I was brought back, our time together was limited, the way the Doom Patrol worked out this last time.  My memory of some of that is swiss-cheesed, but I remember enough to know that it’s been a limited thing.

“Now I’m younger than you, and not just physically.  This age is impacting my emotions.  I’m really functioning as a 13-year-old girl, not as a grown woman.  My biochemistry is impacting my feelings.  I still have many of my memories of womanhood, but I’m not there yet.  It all makes it hard for me to relate to you as a mom -- but I still love you, and you’re still family.  And, legally, you are my son.”

Gar thought for a moment.  “You’re right,” he said.  “I still love you, too, and you’ll always be my mom at some level, but our relationship really has changed.  You’re more like my kid sister in some ways now than my mom.”

“And, from what Dr. Thompson said, I’ll always be younger than you,” Rita said.  “So, um, maybe you should just call me Rita from now on?”

Gar patted her hand.  “Good enough, Rita,” he said.  “But, um, is it OK if I call you Mom once in a while, when you or I feel like it?”

Rita smiled a smile that reminded Gar of why she’d been a movie star.  “Sure,” she said.

*****

Cliff was on the beach when Rita landed her flier.  She was returning from a supply run and emerged as a giantess, carrying all the bundles and boxes of fuel and nutritional items at once.

Rita atarted to greet Cliff, then paused.  He was standing there, on the beach, with a dress suit, tie and wing-back shoes on his robot body.  Frankly, he looked ridiculous, but Rita suppressed a chuckle since she was sure he was trying to look serious.

Rita set the groceries down atop the flier roof.  “Hey, Cliff, what’s up?”

“Um, Rita, with where we are and everything, there’s something I need to do,” Cliff said.  “I didn’t think until two weeks ago I’d ever be able to do this, and with where our lives have gone, I can’t see waiting.  We’ve wasted too much time already.”

Rita couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She had an idea where Cliff was going, but was still surprised -- pleasantly so.

Cliff confirmed Rita’s suspicions as he dropped to one knee.  “Rita Farr, will you marry me?” he said.

Rita beamed and took Cliff’s hands.  “Get up, Cliff,” she said.  “I want to look you in the eye when I answer, and I don’t want to have to crouch or shrink to do it.”

Cliff stood up and looked into Rita’s smiling face.  “Yes,” she said.  “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

They embraced, Cliff sending the by-now-routine low-level current through his arms and torso so Rita would feel hugged.  After the lingering hug, he said, “I don’t want to wait too long.”

“Me, neither,” Rita said.  “Let’s start making some arrangements.  Oops, I almost forgot the supplies.”  She turned back and grew again to pick them up.

*****

Gar was walking through his living room when he heard a knock at the window.  He turned to see Bumblebee hovering beside it, waving and smiling.

Grinning, Gar went to the window and opened it.  “Hey, Karen!  Thanks for coming,” he said.

“Glad to do it,” Karen said.  “How’s Rita doing?”

“She’s great,” he said.  “Younger, but great.  Speaking of changes, you’re looking bigger.”

“Yeah, I’m up to nearly a foot tall now,” Karen said.  “I’m still hoping maybe to get up to at least midget-sized someday.”

“I think ‘little-person-sized’ would be more politically correct,” Gar said.

“Thanks for telling me about Rita,” Karen said.  “I can’t wait to see her.”

“Thanks for coming,” Gar said.  “Raven and I thought it would do her good to see her best friends, and you’re one of the two, along with Cliff.  Funny thing, we can’t reach him.  I’ve been trying for days.”

“Maybe he’s on a mission or something,” Karen said.  “You’re telling me they regrew your mom’s bones and internal organs at Cadmus?”

“Yeah,” said Gar.  “They found a bit of her DNA in her system -- from a tiny piece of her skull or something.  Without that, she’d have probably stayed protoplasmic goo.  But her memory’s got gaps, and Raven and I can’t figure out how she got that way.  Our best guess is Chemo, since she was fighting him when it happened, but we don’t really know.”

Karen, who knew Rita’s secret condition from when they were roommates in the Doom Patrol, realized that Gar didn’t.  She was trying to decide whether and what to tell him when Rita came into the room.

Rita’s eyes opened wide as she grinned at Bumblebee.  “Karen!” she cried out.

Karen smiled broadly.  “Rita!” she said.  “It’s so good to see you.”

Karen flew into a hug, which Rita carefully maneuvered around Bumblebee’s wings.  Karen looked up at her friend.  “So, I hear you’ve got bones again.”

Rita nodded, not fully understanding the significance of Karen’s statement.  “Yep,” she said.  “Bones, internal organs, a nervous system -- the works.”

In that instant, Karen decided that now wasn’t the time to discuss what the Chief had done in reviving Rita after the explosion.  Her friend was happier than Karen could ever remember seeing her, and she didn’t want the shadow of the Chief’s obsessions to come back over that joy.

Rita took Karen’s tiny hand.  “Come on,” Rita said.  “Let’s go to my room and talk.”

After a while of chatting, Rita and Karen emerged.  “Hey, Gar,” Rita said.  “The two weeks are up tomorrow.  That means I can move home to my island by the next day, right?”

Gar nodded.

“Would it be OK if Karen and I went out there tomorrow?  To get things ready, I mean, for my moving back.  I mean, it’s been two weeks.  There’s probably spoiled food in the fridge, and two weeks worth of dust, and all that kind of stuff.  Karen knows the way.  I … um, I don’t remember all of it, but she does.”

“I’m not sure why you need my permission, but I think it makes sense to go,” Gar said.  “I’ll be stateside with the beacon if we need it.  Go, get things ready.”

Rita stood, stunned as a realization hit her.  “Do you know what just happened?” she said.  “I treated you like my dad!”

Gar smiled sheepishly.  “I kinda noticed,” he said.  “But you are still legally an adult.  This is your call.”

Rita ran to Gar’s side and kissed his cheek.  “Thanks, ‘Dad,’” she said.  She pivoted back to Karen and raised her fist in the air, yelling , “Road trip!  Pack the bikinis!”

Rita ran out of the room to her room.  Karen looked at Gar, shrugged, and flew after Rita.  Gar shook his head, chuckling.

Rita and Karen piloted the borrowed Titans flyer to Rita’s private island firs thing the next day.  When they landed, they saw Rita’s own flyer there on the beach, where Cliff’s Rita had left it the day before.

“That’s weird,” Rita said.  “How did I get to the mainland with my flyer still here?”

“Maybe you set it for some kind of autopilot return?” Karen said.

“That must’ve been it,” Rita said.  “Wish I could remember it, though.”

Once the flyer landed, Karen flew up into Rita’s line of sight.  “Let me go ahead before you start unloading,” Karen said.  “That was we’ll know what most needs doing first.”

“OK,” said Rita.  “I’m just going to enjoy my beach while you’re gone.”

Karen buzzed up to the house.  It still struck her as more of a mansion, but how much of that was the house’s size and how much was her own size, she wasn’t sure.  She zipped through a vent and went inside.

As Karen zipped through the house, she was impressed by how clean and organized everything looked.  While that was like Rita, she expected at least a little bit of dust, especially in the tropical climate, yet she found nothing.

Then Karen buzzed into Rita’s room and almost fell to the floor in shock.  There, sitting on the bed, was Rita -- the adult Rita she had been a Doom Patrol teammate with, not the teen she had left on the beach.

Rita looked up and smiled.  “Karen!” she said.  “What a surprise!  It’s so good to see you!”

Karen actually flew slightly backward in confusion.  “Rita?!” she said.  “But, how --  I left you on the beach!”

Rita looked confused.  “What are you talking about?” she said.  “I’ve been in the house all morning.”

“But I flew here with a you who was found as a puddle of goo on a beach,” Karen said.

The adult Rita processed the information and reached a conclusion almost instantly.  “Blast!“ she said.  I thought that part of me was dead!  Now I’ve got to re-merge.”  She dove out the window, growing as soon as she was through the opening.

Meanwhile, Cliff was walking up the beach thinking about recent events when he saw a second flyer there.  He recognized the flyer as being a Titans ship due to Gar, Vox and Bumblebee’s involvement with that team.

The Cliff saw a figure emerge from the Titans ship.  He recognized it as Rita in a bikini, but she looked different somehow.  He picked up his pace, calling out, “Rita!”

The teen Rita pivoted.  Her eyes widened as she threw open her arms, growing as she ran.  “Cliff!”  she shouted.

The girl scooped Cliff up into the air, squeezing him, shrinking back down as she did.  “Cliff, it’s so good to see you!” young Rita said.  “We’ve been trying to -- OWW!“  She pulled back.  “What was that for?”

Cliff was totally befuddled.  He had run the low-level shock out of habit, but it was obvious this girl who looked like what he could now tell was a much younger version of Rita had no idea about that.  What was going on?

Rita picked up on Cliff’s expression immediately.  “Are you OK?” she asked.

Behind him, Cliff heard a giant-size voice roar, “Cliff, get out of the way!”  Behind her was Karen, flying and yelling, “Rita!  Wait!”

Cliff instinctively backed up.  Young Rita saw an older version of herself charging straight at her.  She was so stunned she didn’t move.

The adult Rita enlarged her right fist and slammed it full-force into the teen Rita.  The impact knocked the stunned and confused girl back into a tree, where her head hit hard.

Karen, confused a fearing for whichever one of these two was her friend, was sobbing.  “Rita, please!  Hold up!” she cried to the adult.  “I told you her story!”

Adult Rita looked back at Karen.  “Don’t you get it?’ she yelled.  “This Rita is part of me that got left behind.  She’s just like me, and she needs to be reabsorbed!”

“She’s not just like you!” Karen shouted.  “Not anymore!”

Teen Rita was rubbing the back of her head.  “Ow!” she said.  She pulled her hand forward.  It was covered in blood.

Adult Rita shrank to normal size.  “Blood?” she said.  She looked to Cliff, who was already moving over to the teen Rita.

Cliff sniffed the liquid, touched a finger to it and put it on his artificial tongue.  He quickly scooped the teen Rita up.  As he started running for the house, he said to his Rita, “It’s real.  The blood’s real.  She needs medical attention -- fortunately, stuff that can be done here, not like a hospital.”

“Real blood?” the adult Rita said, standing in shock.  “How can it be real blood?”

Karne placed a tiny hand on her adult friend’s shoulder.  “I’ll explain on the way,” she said.  “Let’s go take care of the other you.”

Under the circumstances, Gar and Raven made the trip via her powers, beacon or no beacon.  They were there within a minute of when Karen called.

Teen Rita’s head wound was superficial.  Like many such head wounds, it bled profusely, but was easily addressed once the bleeding was stopped.  With his years of experience, Cliff had recognized this immediately.

The two groups of Doom Patrollers and Raven compared notes and soon pieced together what had happened.

Adult Rita was sitting, leaning forward.  “So, there are two of me now,” she said.

“Not exactly,” young Rita said.  “I’m a lot like you, but we’re different now.”

“Yeah,” said adult Rita.  “I’m Rita Farr 2.0, and you’re rita Farr 3.0.”

“Stop that,” said Gar, getting in the adult Rita’s face.  “You’re both Rita Farr.  In every way that matters, you” -- he pointed to the adult -- “are the same woman who adopted me.  You are my mom, and you are rita Farr.”

Gar turned to the teen Rita.  “And you are some kind of freaky, Doom Patrol-ish twin sister to her, and kid sister to me,” he said.  “And you’re Rita Farr, too.”

Teen Rita grinned and nodded.  “Right,” she said.  She looked to the other Rita.  “I’m Elasti-Girl, and you’r Elasti-Woman.

Adult Rita stared at the floor.  “Rita,” she said without shifting her gaze, “I’m really sorry about hitting you, hurting you.  I thought you were still just a part of me, one that needed to be shocked back into being able to rejoin me in here.”

Elasti-Girl rubbed the back of her head.  “It’s OK,” she said.  “I might’ve done the same thing … and, in a sense, I did.”

Both Ritas chuckled.  Elasti-Woman looked up grinning at her younger counterpart.

“Actually,” Elasti-Woman said.  “I’m kind of glad you’re all here.  Cliff and I have some news.  We’re -- “

“Wait,” Cliff said.  “Green Bean, this technique worked on Elasti-Girl.  Do you think it would work on my Rita, too?”

“It should,” Gar said.  “What let it work is common to both Ritas.  The chemicals from Chemo apparently are what put the gaps in Elasti-Girl’s memory and limited her maturing to adulthood. So Elasti-Woman would probably become an adult woman again, but it ought to work the same way otherwise.”

Cliff glanced at Rita, then turned his back to her.  “Then you gotta do this, Rita.  You gotta be human again.”

Elasti-Woman stood up.  “Cliff?  But what about --”

“There’s nothing to ‘what about’ about,” Cliff said.  “This is your chance to be human again -- really human.  That’s what you always wanted.  I can’t get in the way of that.  I can’t and I won’t.”

“But, Cliff --”

“I’ll make it easy for you,” Cliff said.  “The engagement’s off.  I’m gone.  Go be human again.”  With that he walked out of the room.

While all the others stood or flew in stunned silence, Gar quietly said, “Engagement?”

It was all too much for Elasti-Woman.  Normally tough as nails, her world had been rocked too roughly in the last hour.  She dissolved into shocked sobs.

Cliff had gone down the hall to his room.  It had, a few hours ago, been the site of the first bliss he had known since the race car wreck.  Now it was just another place of pain.  But at least his self-sacrifice would mean the end of suffering for the woman he loved.

Gar arrived and stood in Cliff’s doorway, saying nothing.

“Whaddaya want, Green Bean?” Cliff said.

“To figure out how your organic brain can be the only part of you that’s rusting,” Gar said.

“Back off, kid,” Cliff said  “It’s my life.”

“You’re only partly right,” Gar said.  “It’s not just your life.  It’s yours and Rita’s -- Mom’s.  She deserves better than what you did in there -- and, frankly, so do you.”

“She needs this,” he said.  “It’s what she’s always wanted, ever since coming back from the explosion.  I’m in the way of that.”

“It’s her choice, Tin Man,” Gar said.  “Just because you think it’s best for her doesn’t mean you can force her into it.  You can talk to her about it -- you should talk to her about it -- but it’s her choice.”

There was a knock on the door behind Gar.  “Excuse me,” Elasti-Girl’s voice said.  “May I come in?”

“Sure, kiddo,” said Cliff.  “Join the party.”

“Um, Cliff, I may have gaps in my memory, but I remember a lot,” Elasti-Girl said.  “I was part of Rita through all the ups and downs you two shared, and remember most of them.  And there’s something I need to do, and something I need to say.”

Elasti-Girl grew to eight feet tall and slapped both of Cliff’s earpieces at once.  The feedback triggered enough pain to cause Cliff to say, “Oww!”

Elasti-Girl shrank back to her normal height.  “That’s as close to a slap in the face as I could get and have it work,” she said.

Elasti-Girl pointed her right index finger at Cliff.  “Now listen, you big jerk!  Rita has been in love with you almost since she met you.  She’s finally found a way to be happy with you, and you seem to be happy with her, and you’re screwing that up!

“Did it ever occur to you, Mr. Self-Sacrifice, that Rita might know what she’s doing?  That she might want to stay like she is now?”

“You’re nuts,” Cliff said.  “Why would she want to do that?”

“Because she can do it at any time!” Elasti-Girl said.  “As Rita is now, she doesn’t age!  She could live forever, exactly what the Chief was hoping for!  But you, you big jerk, are still part human.  Sooner or later, decades or centuries from now, your human brain will die.  Rita -- Elasti-Woman -- can become human again after that, if she still wants to.  The technique, and the data from me, will still exist.”

Cliff had stopped packing.  “Then why didn’t she say so?” he asked.

“You didn’t give her the chance,” Gar said.

“Besides, how would it sound to tell the man you’ve loved for years, ‘I won’t do that now, honey; I’ll wait ‘til you’re dead?’” Elasti-Girl said.

Gar put a hand on Robotman’s shoulder.  “Cliff, I don’t know exactly what you and Mom found together, and I’m not sure I want to.  But for her to be ready to marry anyone after what Steve Dayton did to her means she’s found something really special.  It sounds to me, from what Elasti-Girl is saying, like --”

“Like I want to spend a lifetime with you,” came a voice everyone in the room knew from the doorway.

Cliff looked up.  “Rita.”

“You big jerk,” Elasti-Woman said, shaking her head and smiling.  “I knbow why you’re trying to do this, and I love you all the more for it, but it’s not up to you.  “We’ve found happiness together, and begun to make a life for ourselves.  I want to keep that more than I want to get back my humanity.  I have the  part of that that matters most:  people who love me.”

Elasti-Woman walked up beside Cliff and hugged him.  “And I hope those people include you, because I’m one of the people who loves you.”

Cliff slipped his arms around his Rita, sending out the low level current.  She giggled.  “I guess that answers my question,” she said.  She leaned in and kissed him, and a few small sparks literally flew as she did.

The light dawned on Elasti-Girl.  “So that’s why he shocked me,” she said.

The snogging was starting to intensify.  “So, can I assume the engagement is back on?” Elasti-Woman asked?

“It was never really off, I guess,” Cliff said.

“Smart man,” Elasti-Woman said.  She turned to her counterpart.  “Rita, there’s a guest house down the beach a ways.  You can stay there until we get permanent arrangements sorted out.”

“Sounds good,” Elasti-Girl said.

Elasti-Woman turned back to Cliff.  “Now kiss me a bunch more,” she said.

Gar grabbed Elasti-Girl’s arm.  “C’mon, Sis,” he said.  “I’d tell these two to get a room, but they’ve already got one.  Let’s give them some privacy.”

Once they were in the hallway, Elasti-Girl giggled.

“What’s with that?” Gar asked.

Young Rita was bouncing down the hallway.  “I’m just so happy for them!” she said.

“Yeah,” said Gar.  “So am I.”

Whether Elasti-Girl was happy for Elasti-Woman and Robotman or not, the next few weeks were difficult.  The younger Rita wasn’t used to being as alone as she was in the guest house.  She craved time with her older counterpart, in part because of the gaps in her memory, and in part simply for companionship.  But for Elasti-Woman, her teen self was a reminder of all she had lost, including her individuality, and the only companionship she really craved was Cliff’s.

It turned out Elasti-Girl even cut into Elasti-Woman’s time with Cliff.  Even though she wasn’t able to have the relationship with Cliff that the adult Rita did, the teen still had strong feelings for Cliff and she was having all the trouble sorting through them a teen in love has … and she had it without adult help in sorting it all through.

To make things worse, the adult Rita soon figured out that the missing memories in her younger self were almost exclusively the things she wished she could erase.  They were all the hurts, all the pains -- the actions of the Chief and Steve Dayton, the awful elements of being protoplasmic and even the jerk who dumped her in high school when, at age 14, she shot up a foot in height.  Being so tall had made her ideal for swimming, which set up her Olympic career and everything that followed, but it had cost her the first love of her life, and it hurt like the dickens.

Only the kid hadn’t experienced any of that.

The woman fumed inside every time she saw the teen, which only made the teen’s needs worse.  Meanwhile, the three of them were mostly alone on the island, with Gar, Raven and Karen living their own lives.

Then came the day that Cliff and Elasti-Woman were supposed to be getting together for some of their “special time,” and Cliff was late.  Finally, after 20 minutes, Rita looked out the window, and saw Cliff talking to Elasti-Girl.  The teen was in a bikini and leaning back flirtatiously, laughing at some undoubtedly lame thing Cliff had said.

Rita went out the window, grew to the ground and returned to normal as she strode to the other two.  “Excuse me,” she said.

Cliff pivoted.  “Oh! Rita!  Geez, I’m sorry. I guess I lost track of time talking to Rita, here.”

“That’s OK, Cliff.  We can talk in a bit, but I need to talk to Rita alone, please.”

“OK,” said the teen, looking confused.

Cliff put a hand on Elasti-Woman’s shoulder as he passed.  “Don’t be too hard on the kid, Rita.  This is at least partly my fault, too.”

Rita the adult made no acknowledgement as Cliff walked back toward the main house.

“What’s up?” the girl asked.

“I think you should leave,” the woman said.

“What?”

“I think you need to figure out what you’re going to do with your life.  It isn’t here.  I think you should leave.”

The teen stared at her older self in disbelief.  “And where do you expect me to go?” she asked.

“I don’t know.  Back to Gar’s place,” the woman said.  “Not my problem.”

“No, and I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ve had enough of it.” Elasti-Girl said.  “And I’m not leaving.”

“What?”

“I’m staying put,” the teen said.  “I was part of you when you bought this island.  Legally speaking, I have as much right to it, as much ownership interest in it, as you do.  This is my island, too, and I’m staying.  The only reason I’ve been staying in the guest house is because you and Cliff are a couple now.  I’ve been trying to stay out of your way.”

“Well, you’re sure getting in the way often enough!” the adult yelled.

“I’m just living here!” the teen yelled.  “I’m alone!  I need someone to talk to, and there’s only you and Cliff.  I don’t even have a phone or communicator of my own to call anyone, and all my friends from when I was this age the first time are your age now.  I’m starting over out here all by myself, and you won’t even help me!”

The adult pivoted to walk away, saying, “I don’t have to listen to this.”

The teen grew to match Elasti-Woman’s resting height and grabbed her shoulder.  “Oh, yes you do!”  the girl said.  “You welcomed me at first, but now you treat me like dirt.  There’s something about me that bugs you.  What -- is -- your -- problem?”

The woman’s lower lip quivered.  “You are!” she yelled.  “You’re everything I used to be, and everything Cliff fell in love with, and everything I want to be again and can’t be.”  The adult began to sob.  “You’re young, and you’re vibrant, and you’re happy, and you’re innocent, and you’re … you’re …”

“Human,” the teen said.

The woman collapsed to the ground, sobbing.  “I can’t even make real tears,” she said.  “They’re as fake as I look.  I called you rita 3.0, but you’re more Rita Farr than I am.  You’re everything I used to be and loved being and am not any more, and … I hate you for it.”  She said the last part quietly.

The teen put a hand on the adult’s shoulder.  “It’s not easy having an instant kid sister or teen daughter, is it?  Especially when she really is so much a copy of, a part of, you as I am?”

The adult shook her head.  “I’m sorry,” she said, sniffling.  “I don’t really hate you.”

“Not much, anyway,” the teen said.  “It’s sibling rivalry, only instead of vying for parents’ attention, it’s almost like we’re vying for identity.”

The adult looked up at the standing teen.  “How’d you get so smart?”

The girl shrugged.  “I was still part of you when you were Gar’s mom,” she said.  “I learned a thing or two from the best.” She offered her arm.

Elasti-Woman took it and stood up.  :”You’re right, of course,” she said.  “You have as much right to be here as I do, and I shouldn’t be treating you so shabbily.  I’m sorry.”

Elasti-Girl smiled.  “I can handle it,” she said.  “I may not remember all the bad times, but I know you, since we … share a history, shall we say.  I know the dark places you and I can get to, and you’ve been through more trauma than I remember.  But, you know, I wouldn’t mind talking to you about it, if you like.”

“You want to move into the main house?”

The teen shook her head.  “Nah.  You and Cliff need the room, and my place is closer to the beach.  Besides, how many 13-year-olds have their own house?”

Elasti-Woman nodded.  “I’ll see what we can do about getting you some kind of cell service or communication here.  And Gar, Karen and Raven know other super teens.  They can help you make some contacts, and some friends.”

“Thanks,” the younger Rita said.  “Um, I want to be your friend, too.  I know it won’t be easy.  In some ways, we’re closer than twins.  But --”

The adult place a single index finger to the younger Rita’s lips.  “I don’t know what you’d call this relationship, but we’re definitely friends, at the very least.  Very close friends who can drive each other crazy.”

The teen laughed.

“And from now on, we talk when either of us needs to -- except, of course, if my husband to be needs my attention at the time.  He will need to come first.”

The teen nodded, “That makes sense,” she said.

The two of them walked to the main house, steps in synch, their arms around each other’s shoulders.

Elasti-Girl looked up at Elasti-Woman.  “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” she said, trying to sound like an old-time movie actor.

The woman groaned.  “That was really bad,” she said, laughing.

“We never could do impressions,” the teen said, also laughing.

“Let’s just be ourselves.  That’s hard enough,” the adult said.

“Agreed,” the girl said.  “And let’s have as much fun as we can doing it, OK?”

“OK,” the woman said.

Cliff was waiting inside the front door when the Ritas got back to the main house.  Elasti-Girl took one look at him and broke the side-to-side hug she’s been sharing with her older self as they walked.  “I, uh, need to head back to my place for … something,” she said as she turned to leave.  She glanced back to Elasti-Woman.  “Thanks, Rita.”

“See ya, kiddo,” the woman said.  She looked to Cliff.  “Was I always that bad a liar?”

Cliff mustered what passed for a smile.  “I’d rather not make any comments that might reflect on your acting career,” he said.

“Ouch!”  said Rita, chuckling.  “Yeah, I know.  I was an athlete trying to cash in, and all that stuff.”  She looked over to Robotman.  “So, you know we need to talk.”

Cliff shrugged.  “That’s why I was waiting here.”

“What was going on out there, Cliff?”

Cliff closed his eyes for a moment.  “Look, Rita, the kid is cute, and she reminds me of you … you know, when we first met.  She’s so much more full of life, and energy, and it’s fun to see that side of you again.  I’ve missed it.”

Cliff turned to face his fiancee.  “But,” he said, “that’s why I’m in love with you and not her.”

Rita pulled her head back slightly.  “I don’t follow that one,” she said.

Cliff took a deep breath before continuing.  “Rita, we’ve each been through several layers of hell in our lives; some separately, some together.  It’s how we’ve pulled through those times, how we’ve bonded and grown in them, that’s part of what makes our love work.  It gives it a richness, a texture, that a relationship with that kid could never have.  She’s a really cute kid, but she’s a kid.  I fell in love with a woman, who was a woman even when she called herself Elasti-Girl.”

Rita nodded.  “OK,” she said.

Cliff looked surprised.  “OK?  That’s it?” he said.

Rita nodded.  “I get everything you said, and I believe everything you said,” she answered.  “And I love you, too.”

Cliff wrapped his arms around her.  “You still want some special time?”

Rita smiled at him flirtatiously.  “What a silly question,” she said.

It took a few weeks to get the wedding put together.  Technically, the island was outside any legal jurisdiction, there were no requirements for a ceremony.  Adult Rita and Cliff could simply have declared themselves married, but each wanted to have some sort of ceremony or celebration.  Gar used his connections to make arrangements for Aquaman, who had status as royalty, to officiate at a simple ceremony on the island.

The guest list wasn’t long.  As many surviving former Doom Patrol members as possible were invited to the island.  Larry still was lying low, so they couldn’t invite him, and Rita wanted nothing to do with her ex-husband.  Vox had stayed away; Mal still hurt too much about his break-up with Karen, and still wasn’t coping well.  Some other friends of Gar’s, Raven’s and Karen’s from the superhero community were invited, as well.

During the ceremony, Gar served as best man, with Karen as matron of honor.  Elasti-Girl served as flower girl, but she was dressed in the most daringly low cut outfit any flower girl ever wore.  The bride knew her younger self well enough to know she was trolling among the young, studly males present, but figured the girl had relatively few opportunities for that right now, so simply let it pass with a sly smile.

After the ceremony, Cliff and Gar introduced Rita to various friends she didn’t know.  It was one of those times that she keenly felt what she had lost during the window of time that she was dead.

Last in line was Crazy Jane, carrying a brick.  “Rita, this is Crazy Jane and Danny the Brick,” Cliff said.

Rita had heard about the two Doom Patrollers from her dead time from Cliff.  “Pleased to meet both of you.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Jane said.  She looked to Cliff.  “After a bit?” she asked.

Cliff nodded.  “Yup.”

Jane smiled and flounced away, still carrying the brick.

Rita looked at Cliff with a raised eyebrow.  “What was that about?” she asked.

“Danny has a wedding present,” Cliff said.  “You’ll see later.”

The reception was reaching the point of breaking up.  Elasti-Girl, who now had a smart phone, had a half-dozen phone numbers from guys she’d met.  A number of the supers were saying their goodbyes.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elasti-Woman saw Gar and Raven unloading some luggage from the ship they’d arrived in and carrying it into the main house.  She didn’t remember setting anything like that up.

Soon after, Jane came up, carrying Danny, Cliff by her side.  “Time for the gift!” Jane said.

Seeing no gift, Rita turned her head at an angle.  “OK,” she said.

“Touch Danny,” Cliff said.  “You’ll see.”

Rita reached out and touched the brick as Cliff did.  Suddenly, she was standing on a quaint city street, full of eclectic shops.

Street signs on a lamppost read, “Hi, Rita.  Pleased to meet you!  Congrats!”

Rita swallowed hard.  “Thanks, Danny,” she said.  She realized Cliff and Crazy Jane both were standing there, too.  “I thought Danny’s street had been destroyed, leaving him as just Danny the Brick,” the bride said.

“Silly,” said Crazy Jane.  “Danny had been Danny the World before that.  He never fully stopped, and demolishing one street can’t get rid of a world.”

Cliff put a hand on Rita’s shoulder.  “Danny exists outside time and space,” the groom said.  “Destroying one aspect of him still leaves others.  He’s pretty hard to really take out.”

Rita smiled.  “Well, it’s good to really meet you, Danny,” she said.

“Likewise,” Danny said in some steam from a manhole cover.

“Now, about the gift,” Cliff said.  “Danny is offering to take us anywhere we want to go -- anywhere -- for an extended honeymoon.”

Rita looked delighted, but then panic-stricken.  “But, Cliff, my face --”

“Relax,” Danny said in a barber shop window sign.  “I have old sports magazines with your pics from your swimming days in here.  You can use those.”

“I told him how you need to look at old photos of yourself to, uh, put your face on in the morning,” Cliff said.  “I hope you won’t mind looking like your Olympic swimmer self for awhile.  That’s what Danny has.  If you want, we can get some shots from the island before we go.”

Rita chuckled slighty and patted Cliff’s metal chest.  “What Danny’s got will be fine,” she said.  “Besides, I may want to use some photos of other women -- you know, models or something -- for a change of pace.”

Cliff grinned.  “Could be interesting,” he said.

“Can we say goodbye to Rita and the others?” Elasti-Woman asked.

“Sure,” said a cloud in the sky over Danny.

Suddenly they were back on the beach, Jane holding Danny’s single-brick aspect.  Gar, Raven and young Rita were all approaching.

The bride hugged her son.  “So, you’re chaperoning the 13-year-old?” Rita said.

Gar smiled.  “Someone’s go to keep your ‘kid sister’ in line,” he said.

“I don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” Elasti-Woman said.

“Take all the time you need,” Raven said.   “With my soul-self, I can easily get Gar and I to anywhere we need to be in an emergency, and you deserve the time.”

Rita hugged Raven.  “Thank you,” the bride said.  She looked to Gar.  “Thank you both.”

Then the woman turned to the girl.  Both were smiling, and both had tears in their eyes.  Suddenly, a hug erupted.

“Ready for a shock?” the adult said.  “I’m gonna miss you while I’m gone.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” the teen said.  She pulled back and caressed her older aspect’s face.  “Go find some more of me in you, and enjoy that husband of yours, OK?”

“I will,” Elasti-Woman said.  “And you behave yourself … at least somewhat.”

Elasti-Girl giggled.  “I’ll try, but I won’t promise how hard,” she said.

Rita took Cliff’s hand.  “You ready?”

“Just about,” the groom said.  He looked at Gar.  “Take care, Green Bean, and thanks.”

“No problem, Rust-Bucket.  Have fun,” Gar said, still smiling.

Robotman caressed Elasti-Girl’s jaw line with surprising tenderness.  “Take care of yourself, kiddo,” he said.

“You take care of yourself, and her,” the teen said.

Rita shouted a goodbye as she and Cliff touched the brick together and disappeared.  This time, Jane stayed on the island.

“Danny will take me away in a little bit, once Cliff and Rita are settled,” Jane said.

Young Rita went over to Gar.  “So, can I have a beach party, my guardian son?” the girl asked.

Gar put an arm around Raven’s waist.  “Let us get settled in first, OK?” he said.

“That sounds promising,” said Rita.  “C’mon Jane, Danny, let me show you my house.”

After the others had left, Gar turned to Raven.  The sun was getting low, and the light reflecting off the water played on the face of the young woman he loved.  “They were so happy, Mom and Cliff,” Beast Boy said.

“Yes, they were,” the empath said.  “And so are you, … and so am I.”  She gently pulled him to her, and they kissed a long and passionate kiss.