Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans but I do own this pop I am drinking!

They were fighting again. It seemed like clockwork now, he should be used to it. Nearly every night they fought, and nearly every night, Garfield went to his room to be alone, to be away from them. Tonight, however, was different. Tonight was his birthday, and he hoped that ,for once, they would put aside all their differences and have a good time in each others company but his parents didn't seem to be able to let go.

They weren't even his real parents, those had been gone since he was very young. His real parents were bio engineers, studying animals all throughout the world and Garfield went with him. He was happy then. He was loved. That's all gone now. Now, Garfield only knew pain. Sure, while he was out in the world, he would smile and laugh and joke, but it was all a cover, an act.

He was running now. He couldn't be around them anymore. Not after tonight. His parents stole from him. Sometime ago, he did some acting on a show, "Space Trek 2022" as a young alien named Trok. He did a few episodes and was paid quite well. The money was put into a special bank account to hold it until he was 18, with his adopted parents as cosigners. He came home to find that they had taken the money now and were planning on "improving their way of life." They said they did it for him, but he knew it was a lie. He had loved acting and was planning on using the money to pay for acting school. Now, he was left with nothing. So he ran.

He finally stopped and tried to catch his breath. He had been running for what felt like an eternity. His chest hurt and his head throbbed. He looked around and realized he didn't know where he was anymore. Then the rain started. He cursed as he pulled the hood of his gray sweatshirt further over his head, shadowing most of his face, save his mouth and chin. Garfield kept it up most of the time, just like the gloves covering his hands. He started walking, trying to figure out what to do. He didn't pay attention to where he was going, it didn't matter, all that mattered was that he was away.

The rain fell harder and harder and the night became pitch black, save the street lights Garfield walked under, and sniffles that were once from his tears now became that of a cold. He couldn't keep walking outside, or else he would become really sick. He turned down an alley to find shelter somewhere. He hadn't walked far when he heard a voice.

"You lost, little man?" Garfield whipped around and realized he chose the wrong alley. A group of thugs lay in wait for him, their bodies mutilated in fashions they thought cool, and wearing dark clothes, highlighted with red. Garfield was familiar with this gang, they were a cult, worshiped demons, and were always looking for new sacrifices.

"No, I am fine," Garfield said with a lot more bravado then he felt, trying to cover up his illness that was rapidly becoming worse.

"I think the little man is sick" said one of the thugs. The others laughed, the sound of metal nails of a chalkboard filled Garfield's head. "Perhaps we can help him!"

"Yes, I think we can make the pain go away, can't we?" said the thug in the front. He walked towards Garfield, a wicked smile leering across his face. "But first, a little fun, its been a while since we had some good, old fashion, fun."

Before Garfield knew what happened, the thug's foot slammed into his stomach, driving his breath from him. Garfield fell to the ground and tried to bring himself back up, but he was too weak now, his cold slowing him down. The other thugs were already on top of him, their feet seeming to come faster and stronger as the poor teenager tried to defend himself. They weren't kicking hard enough to break anything, they were just torturing him, before they took him away and deep down inside, he wanted them to. He wanted his life to end. He had no parents, he had no friends, and he would never be happy.

It was then, at the lowest point of his life, that it all changed. The sound of a spinning object flying through the air filled his sensitive ears. He looked up to see a red blur strike several of the cult members around him before turning back the way it came, the cultists turning in that direction at the same time. Garfield tried to look but he couldn't see anything through the forest of legs around him. Then he heard a voice.

"Let him go!" yelled a male voice, not much older than Garfield himself.

"Or else what?" replied the apparent leader of the thugs.

"Or else, you face the Teen Titans." Garfield had heard of them. A small group of super heroes headed up by the Boy Wonder himself, Robin. It seemed the thugs had heard of them too, because they retreated faster than Garfield would have imagined. He tried to get up, he wanted to thank them, he wanted to shake the hand of the boy who inspired him to do the good that he did but he couldn't. His body was sore and his mind was woozy. A gloved hand appeared in his eye sight and Garfield reached for it.

"Are you alright?" asked Robin, pulling Garfield to his feet.

"Fine, thanks." A weak smile appeared on Garfield's face, though the four people in front of him probably couldn't see it with his hood still down. He decided not to pull his hood up and show them why he had no friends. He glanced around at his rescuers. Right in front of him was Robin, in his red, yellow, green and black costume, a small black mask covering his face his eyes hidden behind thin screens of a white material. Behind him stood three other members of the Titans.

On the furthest left was a tall, muscular black teen probably the oldest of the group. He looked normal except for the fact that half his body was robotic. Garfield couldn't help but find himself staring into the cyborg's red, robotic eye. It was hypnotic.

Next to him was a very attractive teenaged girl, maybe around Robin's age. Her hair was red as fire, her eyes seemed to glow green and his skin was…orange. She was, no doubt, an alien, much like Superman. Yet, the orange skin did not bother young Garfield. In fact, considering his own epidermal problems, it was somewhat refreshing.

Finally, was what seemed to be a living, navy blue sheet but once Garfield really looked, he noticed it was a cloak that covered its wearers body. The hood was pulled up much like his, revealing only the tip of the chin and the mouth. The eyes seemed to glow white underneath. As hard as Garfield tried, he couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl or even how old they were. The eyes seemed to stare at Garfield, and it was starting to creep him out.

"Hey, it wasn't a problem, just something us superheroes do," said Robin with a smile. "But perhaps you could do us a favor."

"Anything, you name it, I will do my best to do it," Garfield exclaimed, beaming behind the shadow of his hood.

"We actually came to this city looking for another superhero, Beast Boy. Have you heard of him?"

Garfield was taken aback, why were they looking for Beast Boy? "Yeah, I have heard of him," Garfield responded, his voice suddenly deeper, gruffer, trying to hide something else from his rescuers.

"Do you know where we could find him, where his usual crime fighting spots are?"

"Uh…" Garfield didn't know quite what to say. It seemed like an odd question to ask someone on the streets. Perhaps they thought Garfield needed saving on a regular basis. "No, sorry," Garfield finally said. He hated not being able to help them but he couldn't. He surveyed their faces and realized they didn't look to down. In fact, they were still smiling at him, Except the floating cloaked one; and that one continued to just stare at Garfield. It was starting to bug him a lot.

"Hey, its ok. Don't worry about it," the cyborg said, "What's your name?"

"G…Garfield."

"Cool. My name is Cyborg." The smile widened on Cyborg's face.

Garfield found himself staring back at the cloaked figure, he decided that it was a guy. And he was still really creeping him out. "Hey, Cyborg, could you tell him to stop staring at me?" said Garfield, pointing at the cloaked figure. This caused Cyborg and Robin to smirk and the alien girl to start to giggle. It seemed Garfield chose wrong.

"My name is Raven," said the cloaked figure in monotone voice, pulling back her hood to reveal her face. Garfield definitely chose wrong. Raven was not just a girl, she was beautiful. He hair was short, eyes intense. Garfield couldn't believe anyone that beautiful would ever want to cover her face, even in this rain storm.

"Eh hehe…sorry"

Cyborg leaned over to Garfield, "Don't worry, you're not the first one to think she was a dude," he whispered. Garfield laughed slightly, but stopped when he noticed Raven shooting at him daggers.

"Isn't it time that we be on our way?" Raven hinted, moving past Garfield with her nose in the air. Robin only nodded then turned back to Garfield.

"She's right, Gar. We need to be going. Now you try to stay out of trouble." The Titans started walking by him, all waving a polite good bye (except Raven), until the alien girl came up. Garfield hadn't been introduced to her.

"Oh, good bye new friend Garfield. I am sorry I wasn't able to introduce myself to you. I am Starfire," said the alien girl faster than Garfield could keep up. She smiled with extreme joy and gave Garfield a massive hug, then flew away to catch up with her friends. Garfield looked up at the sky and realized that the storm had stopped. He smiled and looked back after the Titans. He had a chance…a glimmer of hope to be happy again.

"Remind me again why we are looking for the 'Beast Boy?'"

"I think he would be a good addition to the team, Star," said Robin. The beautiful alien girl floated next to Robin, with Raven in front and Cyborg behind.

"Oh, I sure do hope that our new friend will be ok, he seemed so sad."

Robin smiled. "I know what you mean, Star, but I am sure he will be fine."

"Raven sure did seem interested in him, didn't you Rae," Cyborg stated, smiling broadly at the telepath in front of him. Raven turned around and glared at him.

"Shut up Cyborg."

"Sounds like our little Miss Dark Girl has a little crush on Garfield."

"Why do you desire to hurt Garfield, Raven? Is it because he did not know you were a girl?" inquired Starfire. Raven turned to Starfire, her eyes glowing intensely.

"Actually, Star, a crush means that she…um…likes him," explained Robin

"Oh…GLORIOUS! You must return to the alley and ask him to take you to the moving picture shows."

"I don't think so."

"But why…" Starfire's words were cut short by a gasp as her eyes widened. The Titans turned to see what she was looking at.

Garfield was deciding what to do when he heard a scream. He broke out into a sprint, finding himself revitalized. He turned the corner to find the Titans surrounded by the cultists. It looked like the whole gang showed up, easily hundreds of them. The Titans were trying to fight but were simply outnumbered. He had to help, he had to do something. He didn't know why they were looking for Beast Boy, but it was time to get Beast Boy. Garfield turned back down the alley and disappeared into the darkness, tearing his hood off his head as he did.

Robin bolted around between the thugs, wielding his jo staff. His form was perfect but it didn't seem to do much good. The thugs outnumbered them but Robin was determined not to let this be the end. He wouldn't let the Titans go down by some street gang, no matter how many there were. To his left, Cyborg blasted away enemy upon enemy with the blue waves of his sonic cannon. To his right, Star was blasting many back with the green energy blasts that emitted from her hands. Behind him, Raven was extending her soul self to envelope objects with a black mist and launch them towards the thugs. But it wasn't doing any good. All of them together just weren't enough…they needed help.

Suddenly, a yell was heard from above. All four Titans looked up to see a thin silhouette falling from the night sky. As it fell, it enlarged and changed shape. The titans scattered as a giant ape landed in the middle of their group. It stood up, its eyes glowing white and started whipping around at the thugs. The Titans watched as the ape beat the thugs back. During one spin, it changed shape again, this time into a bear. It leaped forward and mauled several of the thug members. What ever this was, it was on their side. The Titans joined in, each doing their part. Together, it took no time to take down the gang, leaving those that didn't run unconscious.

The changeling, now in the shape of a lion, turned towards the Titans. For the first time, they realized that it, as well as all the other animals that it had been before, was green. While the other three regarded the create with suspicious eyes, Robin walked forward, his hand extended.

"Nice to meet you, Beast Boy," the Boy Wonder said. Before their eyes, the lion changed again. This time, he turned into a young boy, no older than 15. His body was thin but he was in good shape. He hair was messed up, allowed to run wild. His smile was infectious and revealed a fang that came up from his mandible. Yet the thing that surprised the Titans the most, was the fact that his skin, hair, and irises were all green. He seemed familiar to them, but none of them could quite place where from.

"The pleasure is all mine." Beast Boy's grin grew wide as he shook Robin's hand. "So what brings the Teen Titans to my neck of the woods?"

"We came to offer you a chance to join us. Now, you will be the youngest member but we think that you will be a good addition to the team. What do you say?" Beast Boy couldn't help but smile bigger than he had for a long time. It was a dream come true. He looked at them all, Robin and Cybord greeting him with big smiles, Starfire with eager hope in her eyes, and Raven, just staring at him, not smiling in the slightest. Beast Boy smiled wider at her, flashing his teeth, hoping to get a reaction of some sort out of the girl, but she continued to stare. Usually his smile would make anyone at least grin slightly. He turned back to Robin, defeated but not down.

"I'm up for it!" said Beast Boy. Robin smiled kindly to him, while Cyborg gave him a thumbs up, saying "Booyah!" Starfire flew to Beast Boy, giving him a huge hug and welcoming him to the team, and making the introductions. Raven just stared at the young boy, uncertain of what to think. She had seen him somewhere, but where?

Garfield Logan was never seen after his encounter with the Titans. His "parents" didn't care. They had his money, for a while. Until the IRS showed up one day, after an anonymous tip alerted them to check their bank records. All of Garfield's money was returned to his account, and waits there for him to claim it. Garfield had no friends and was ignored by the teachers, so no one noticed when he stopped showing up at school. But he didn't care. They always teased him because he was different. Now his curse became his gift. He was part of a team now, part of a family. For the first time in a long time, he was happy again.