Author's Note: I just thought of this idea today and thought it would make for a great story. Naturally not edited, sorry. I'm thinking three, maybe four chapters in total depending on how I want to end it. I wanted it to be a one shot but with it being late right now I figured it best to break it all down instead so you get more, cool huh? Titans are aged up a bit in this one and pairings may be fleshed out as time goes on, might just keep it Beastfire but we'll see. Enjoy, please read and review.
Garfield Logan descended down the elevator with a deep breath, looking carefully at the small dark blue box in his hands with the gift that meant so much to him from his past before dropping his hands to his sides, the box held tight in his left hand as he adjusted his wrinkled blue with a golden almost yellow with the constant washes Doctor Fate emblem in the center t-shirt, his gray jeans and black with a green striped horizontal line streaked across them sneakers before he put his right hand into his pocket.
He passed the time by whistling softly to himself, a skill taught to him by Robin of all people and he was glad for it kept him entertained enough in situations such as these as the metal death trap, as Jinx liked to call it slowed and finally stopped at his destination before sliding open and he took another large, deep breath before exiting, his heart racing at what to say to the one he hoped would help with his predicament.
He entered the garage, the smell of motor oil and gasoline assaulting his nose higher then it did for his friends due to his heightened senses and he nearly gagged out loud in response, he knew there was a reason he rarely went down here, but this journey he had sent himself upon was far too important to ignore, Kori was worth feeling as though he would be sick if he stayed down here to long in his mind.
As he walked further in, he was not surprised to see Cyborg expertly tuning his car to perfection as he was leaned over far into the opened front of the car, the hood propped up and fixing something Beast Boy could not see at the moment, as he looked around the nearly barren, semi small area and saw Robin underneath his motorcycle, no doubt doing maintenance or repairs for his mode of transportation and was taking it as serious as one could seeing as how he was dressed in black overalls with black gloves over his hands, though Beast Boy didn't know the material they were made of and wearing black boots that were laced up, no large green gloves or domino mask in sight as he was completely focused on his task at hand.
When Beast Boy's eyes shifted back to Victor and his car, he noticed Jinx was laying on her back on top of the car, wearing a black Catwoman t-shirt and a pair of purple shorts with light blue slippers on her feet and no socks, a cigarette in her left hand that she brought to her lips and took a casual drag before exhaling as she had her Titans Communicator out and was texting someone from the way her fingers moved so fast before she giggled to herself making the shape shifter smile to himself.
As he walked closer to the vehicle, he noticed Terra in the back seat of the car playing some sort of video game that had been installed at a much later time by the owner for long car rides, he couldn't see what she was playing and he was not close enough to see what she was wearing but he could tell she was not happy by the angered expression on her face as she furiously mashed buttons on the controller and moved the analog sticks to her will.
None of the four even noticed his arrival, too fixated on their different activities that he was forced to politely clear his throat to gain Cyborg's attention making the large, metal man flinch before moving the front half of his body back and looked down at his friend in surprise, grabbing a red rag next to him to wipe his hands clean of the oil, dirt and grime that had settled on them before placing it back to where it laid once more.
"Hey, Gar. Didn't even notice you. What you doing down here? Thought the garage messed up your sense of smell and you get bored real fast. You here to come chill with us grease monkeys? You decide you want to learn how to finally mess with what's under the hood like Raven?" The african american asked with a smirk, a tone of excitement and no doubt gibberish of words Beast Boy could not even begin to comprehend about to come from his lips before Beast Boy stopped him with his right hand up.
"Uh, no. You know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important, Vic. I'm not like Rae, Star or Terra who actually want to learn about cars. I-I need a favor, actually when you get the time, please." His voice held a hint of humor but quickly evaporated as he looked up to his best friend who crossed his arms and with a small sigh brought his other hand up from behind his back, putting his right back to his side as he showed the man the box he held.
Victor was silent as he looked on in puzzlement of what was being offered to him, his cybernetic half quickly assessing that his friend held a nothing more then a dark blue cardboard box in his hand, nothing dangerous or with malicious intent, naturally, while his human side questioned if he was going to get pranked by the young man again.
"BB, I swear if this is another prank-"
"It's not!" The green skinned eighteen year old interrupted, the seriousness and anger as well as genuine shock displayed in his voice was loud enough to catch both Robin's and Jinx's attention as the leader rolled himself out from underneath his motorcycle in curiosity from the small, blue plastic creeper he laid on as Jinx looked up and leaned her head over to see what was going on, all of it being ignored by Terra who could not hear the commotion with the car being soundproof inside.
"It's not. I swear, Victor." Beast Boy said more quietly, his eyes looking towards the ground not seeing the surprise on Cyborg's face from the outburst who uncrossed his arms before slowly reaching his left hand towards the gift, grabbing it carefully as he held it in both hands and opened it.
Victor's face shifted from concern to his friend for his reaction to confusion as he looked at what laid inside, a single onyx colored lion claw crafted from metal and had a small hole in the very top attached to a really old looking, almost fragile string of brown yarn that was rolled up tight with great care and a few scapes of newspaper to protect it.
"I-it belonged to my mother before...my father gave it to her before I was born, as a gift and I was hoping to give it to Kori to celebrate our one year anniversary. It's the only thing I have left from them, from her. But with the condition that it's in I was wondering if you...if you-" Garfield couldn't hold back the pain and flood of tears any longer as he reached forward and hugged his friend tight, tears sliding down his face as he wept and causing the man he was sobbing into to do nothing more then wrap his right arm around his neck gently in response, being very gentle with what he was given.
Jinx held a hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep from crying from what she just heard, ignoring the text she just got and the cigarette in her hand that lowered from not being inhaled while Richard very slowly and softly reached his left hand and patted the crying man's back in sympathy before taking a step back to give them some space, turning his head to the right when he noticed a black portal materialized from the wall as Raven stepped through, her dark blue cloak concealing her entire body and her hood up to cover her face as she frowned in shame and gave the boy wonder a small nod, unnoticed by all but him.
"Hey, hey. It's ok, Gar. I got you, I got you man." Cyborg promised as Beast Boy took a slow, shuddering breath before he stepped back, wiping his face with his ungloved hands before using his pants to dry them off and licked his lips, looking up at Cyborg with a hollow chuckle.
"I-I'm sorry, Vic. I didn't mean to break down like that. I...it's just been so long since it all happened. A-anyway, as I was saying. I was hoping you could restore it so Kori can't break it so easily. And maybe make it look more, presentable. If you don't want to or have the time, I could-"
"Gar. I got your back, my dude. You just leave it to me, I swear to you I won't fuck up the only thing you got left from your parents." Cyborg swore as he placed his right hand on the young man firmly and gave an honest smile and a wink as Beast Boy gave a more genuine laugh.
"Thanks, Vic. I knew I could count on you. Our anniversary isn't until next friday though so I'm sure you'll have plenty of time. Dick, I been meaning to ask if Kori and I could get a few days off to travel to Africa, I want to introduce her to my parents and see a bit of the country. If we can't and-"
"Consider it done. Take all of next week off, in fact." Richard replied without any hesitation or second thoughts as Beast Boy stared in awe at his leader's firm but sincere tone.
"A-are you sure? What if you need us for an important mission or-"
"Garfield, this is something you don't put off. Not only for your parents but because of the importance it holds to you and your relationship with Kori. There are seven of us in total for Titans West, we can handle the city with just the five of us. If there really is an emergency then we'll be sure to call you but if not then you go home and take Kori with you without a care in the world, we'll be fine. I don't want you to have any regrets." Robin answered as he placed his right hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, his ocean blue eyes looking into Beast Boy's own forest green holding an emotion that Beast Boy could not determine before he slowly nodded.
"Ok then, thanks, Dick. You have no idea how much this means to me. I'll let you two get back to work then, mind if I stay in here for a bit longer and chill with Terra?" He asked with a half hearted grin as Cyborg scoffed with a shake of his head.
"You live here, Green Bean. Don't got to ask us that, go chill with her before she starts clawing at my seats, I can tell she getting her ass kicked, my car can wait. I'm going to get started on testing out metals that a certain Tamaranian woman can't break through for the necklace, call me for dinner, please. Baby, you want to watch?" Cyborg called out to Jinx who smirked and took one last drag of her smoke before she put it out on the ashtray near her and hopping off the roof with practiced ease as she followed her boyfriend of six months out of the garage with excitement.
Robin watched the two leave and turned his head to see Beast Boy opening the right side back seat door where he could hear Terra screaming curse words in rage before greeting her friend who could only laugh as he closed it, Raven walking near him before she stood next to him making him turn to look towards her with a loving grin as he leaned forward and gave her a small peck on the lips as she rolled her eyes with a smile.
"Guessing you noticed I felt the wave of guilt and shame radiating off of Beast Boy from my room being the only reason I'm down here, right?" She questioned as he frowned, glancing towards the two who were playing a different game if Robin had to guess from the smile on Terra's face.
"That bad?" He asked softly as she looked at the concrete below with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Worse...much worse." She answered slowly as he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers before shaking his head.
"He wouldn't be the first. You already know my story, maybe one day he'll tell us his own." He sighed before wrapping his right arm around his girlfriend's shoulders, they had been together for almost four months at this point as she didn't respond.
"What to help me with my bike?" He asked, trying to lighten up the mood.
"I suppose." Was her only answer as she gave a small smirk before lightly bumping her hips into his own as he laughed out loud and kissed her lips once more.
Garfield Logan was both eager and nervous to see what would become of his mother's necklace and what the reaction would be when he finally gave it to the woman he loved.