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.