A/N: This is just a little story that popped into my head a while back, back before I even had a fanfic account, and now I've decided to put it down on paper...er screen. It'll be short, probably only four or five chapters long (Sorry, no grand, multi chapter epic this time) but I hope you'll enjoy it all the same. - Sir Alwick

The joke parts and definitions that appear throughout the story come from the Comedy and Humor Blog.

The look on her face was that of peace and serenity. Her eyes were closed, the corners of her lips pulled up so slightly that at first glance once could hardly notice it at all. He, however, after so many years of being around her, could see it clear as the dainty nose on her beautiful face. Running his fingers gently through her hair, he had much the same expression adorning his own face, save for a much wider, more obvious grin.

It was when the comfort of the bed had just about lulled him off to sleep that she decided to break the silence that had settled in the room. With her head still resting on his chest and without opening her eyes she turned her face slightly to his. "Tell me a joke," she said.

Although he had clearly heard her he paused a moment or two before answering. Smirking to himself and still with his eyes shut, he muttered, "Can't joke; tired."

For a moment he heard nothing, and it seemed once again silence was taking up residence in the room, but then, in much the same way she had said only moments before, she pointed her face up at him. "Tell me a joke," she said. She paused and then added, "Please."

For some reason he couldn't keep himself from chuckling at that. It was nothing he could explain- not that he felt it could be explained- but for some reason he just found himself laughing, his chest moving up and down in rapid succession, her head bouncing against him with each spastic movement. Some things are just only funny when you are on the verge of sleep.

"Alright," he said. "Alright," he said again.

For a moment he simply thought, his eyes peeled open since he found it impossible to comb the deepest recesses of his mind with them closed. Also, if he had not, he felt it was very likely he would have simply fallen asleep in mid-consideration. So, with eyes open, he thought.

"Alright," he said again. "Once upon a time, about seven years ago give or take, there was.."

"Wait, wait, wait," she said, interrupting him midsentence. "I asked for a joke not a story."

He snickered. "There's not a lot of difference between jokes and stories," he said. "They have beginnings and ends and they're both driven by an idea. In fact a lot of jokes are just short stores."

Again there was silence. Looking down at her graceful profile laying against him he took a moment and pretended he could see into her mind, the inner machinations the made her function and made her the kind of person she was. He then felt her gently run the back her hand up and down his bare stomach. After a few passes she then turned it over and drummed against his abdominals with her finger tips.

"Okay, mister smart guy," she said. "Continue."

"Well," he said. "Just like every story has a beginning, every joke has a set up."

The Set Up: The beginning of the joke. This is where a connection is forged between comedian and audience. You start with something honest, something familiar, something that hopefully everyone can identify with. This is where you begin creating the situation that will carry you through to the punchline.

The whole room was silent. Silent as the dead of night or the wee hours of the morning. Still sitting on the couch, a half of book still lightly gripped in each hand, Raven looked up at her now quiet teammates. Two of them appeared to have been stunned into silence- that was Robin and Cyborg- their mouths ajar with unfound words, their eyes widened to their maximum capacity for open. The look on Robin's face she found especially amusing. Over the years the Boy Wonder had done his best to hide his thoughts behind a stone stare, an unwavering mask of stoicism, not unlike the Batman (she might also add not unlike herself), but at this latest revelation his face couldn't help but betrayed the shock and disbelief that flowed through him like a tidal wave.

Another of her teammates- this being Starfire- appeared less stunned and more confused. Her bright green eyes were lost in thought. Her small alien eyebrows arched upward, and her lips were slightly pursed. Hers was an expression of pure innocence as she looked from teammate to teammate searching for an explanation as to the gravity of the situation that had just been dumped into their laps.

Finally there was Beast Boy, his arms crossed in front of his chest, his back straight, and a wide smile stretching from pointy ear to pointy ear. His eyes closed in smug satisfaction. Clearly he was happy with himself, the decision he had made as well as his recent announcement.

Robin was the first to try and break the silence and began struggling to make words, which, it turned out was not an easy task at the moment. His lips and tongue and throat suddenly developing a mind of their own, they refused to obey his command to speak until, finally, with perceived effort he managed to drone out an "Uh, what?"

Smirking somehow wider Beast Boy looked straight into his friends bewildered faces and once again made his announcement. "I signed up and am going to be competing in the Stand-Up Comic Face Off competition this Saturday at the Laugh-a-holics Comedy Club."

Cyborg dug a metallic finger into his ear and twisted it several times. "I'm sorry I think I have a hunk of crazy stuck in my ear because there's no way you just said what I think you said."

Starfire, her face scrunched in confusion, rose up into the air levitating just above the others and leaned her face down in between Beast Boy and Robin (She tended to do this whenever she was confused and needed to interject herself into a conversation.) "I do not understand," she said. "This Comic Face Off, is it some kind of battle?"

"No Star," answered Robin, managing to tear his wide eyes away from Beast Boy and shrink them back to a normal size. "It's a competition where people get up on stage in front of an audience and tell jokes, and whoever's the funniest wins a cash prize."

"That's right," said Beast Boy enthusiastically sticking a thumb in the air and pointing it at himself. "And this year that person is going to be me."

Cyborg managing to fully return himself to normal faced his friend with serious and somewhat concerned expression on his face. "B, uh. Are you sure you want to do this, man?" he asked.

"Of course," replied the changeling incredulously. "I've been working on my routine. Oh man I am going to knock'em dead. They're not even going to know what hit them. And I want all you guys to be there watching me, sitting in the front row when I go up there and show Jump City what real comedy is." As he spoke he seemed to swell with confidence. His head raised high, his shoulders broad, he was the ideal image of a man who had the utmost faith in himself and his ability. Unfortunately he had not managed to instill within the others the same level of certainty. Not that he even noticed. "Well anyway," he continued. "I gotta go practice. Only a few days before the big night."

He bid his still bewildered teammates a fond farewell and then made his exit, zipping out the common room doors, whistling merrily to himself.

There was a moment of silence after the green teen had left the room. Once again Robin was the first to speak.

"We can NOT let him go through with this," he said turning and facing both Cyborg and Starfire. "It'd be a disaster."

"No doubt," confirmed Cyborg. "But what can we do?"

Once again Starfire floated into Robin's line of sight. "Robin, I am confused. This Face Off sounds like fun. Why do you act so concerned?"

Robin sighed. He had figured the Tameranean girl would need some explaining as to the severity of the situation. His inner mind clicking in whirring as he thought, he reasoned out an explanation for why Beast Boy needed to be stopped. "Because, Starfire, you know how bad Beast Boy's jokes are. If he goes up on stage in front of a crowd of people with those tired puns and one liners of his, he'll be booed into oblivion."

"Rob is right, Star," said Cyborg. "BB's my bud and all, but the dude can't tell a joke to save his life. And bombing on stage, it might crush him."

Starfire's face grew serious as she contemplated what was being said. Her eyes softened and her smile faded. "I do not wish Beast Boy to be hurt," she said sympathetically.

Despite Starfire's capitulation Robin continued his reasoning. "It's not just Beast Boy's morale that's to be considered either, but also his reputation as well as the team's. We're teenagers trying to do an adult job and it's of the utmost importance that we maintain the respect of the people."

Upon hearing this last comment Raven was unable to help herself. With a sharp exhale of breath cutting through her teeth, she scoffed and shook her head. She had done nothing but listen for quite a while, but finally she felt she needed to say something. Folding a page corner, she closed her book and looked up from her seat on the couch to where her teammates stood a few feet away. "Don't you think you might be overreacting a bit?" she said dryly. "I mean the reputation of the team? Like anyone's going to care about whether or not one of us got booed off stage at an open mike night when their falling from a building or being held up at gunpoint."

Cyborg stepped forward. "Well, Rae, all that stuff aside, we're BB's friends. Don't you think we ought to save him from this?"

Raven's eyebrows arched in disbelief. She couldn't for the life of her understand why they were treating this like a crime had just been committed. "Save him from what?" she scoffed again. "A couple dozen rowdy hecklers?"

Starfire quickly flew over to where Raven was seated, the same worried expression on her face as before. "But don't you want not to see him hurt?"

For a moment Raven was silent, partially because of Starfire's confusing syntax but mainly because she found it particularly hard admitting to the others that yes, she did not want to see Beast Boy hurt and yes, she did care about him. A lot more than any of them realized. "No, I don't want him to get hurt," she said looking down for a moment and thinking about the green shape shifter. "But I've already told him countless times that his jokes aren't funny. He never listens, so there's really little else to do other than wish him luck and let him be."

The room was silent again as the Titans stared at one another, thinking to themselves. For a third time Robin broke the silence.

"Raven's right," he said suddenly.

"She is?" questioned Cyborg.

Raven face remained stoic but inside she felt like smiling. As much as she hated to admit it, like most people, she felt a special joy within herself at being called right. She was about to continue her reading when Robin continued speaking.

"Beast Boy will never listen to us. Simply telling him he shouldn't do the show because of his jokes won't work. If we want to save him from this humiliation we'll have to be more crafty."

An exasperated sigh erupted from Raven and she immediately got up angrily from the couch and began heading for the exit, hovering swiftly across the floor.

"Where are you going?" said Robin.

"This is ridiculous," said Raven, not bothering to look in the Boy Wonder's direction as she spoke. "It's a waste of time and I want no part of it." And with that she quickly made her exit.

Starfire raised a hand and made a small attempt to pursue the fleeing empath, but she was stopped when Robin placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Let her go," he said. "It's her choice." The Tameranean looked at him and let out a small, slightly sorrowful sigh. She floated back down to the ground, and the group huddled around close. "Okay," continued Robin. "Let's start discussing ideas for Operation: No Laughing Matter."

"Aw come on," lamented Cyborg. "Man, what did I tell you about the mission names. Man, nobody likes those."