Note: This is set directly after the episode Mother Mae-Eye.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans

Your Mother And Mine

It was just something about the way he had said it. There had been venom in his voice and although the words were expected, they had been laced with an unpredicted anger. At the time they had all been busy, caught in the haste of a battle, but now that the shapeshifter actually had the time to dwell on the incident as a whole, nothing stood out to him more than those few words.

"Lady, you are not my mother."

What exactly did it mean? Obviously it had been the team leader refusing to accept the terms of Mother Mae-Eye's conditions, but Beastboy could tell that there was more to it than that. The words had just been laced with such pain; now that he was thinking about it, he could tell that there had been uncharacteristic hatred in that sentence. Robin usually reserved such a tone for villains such as Slade, but not for one such as Mother Mae-Eye.

Did this mean that Robin had issues with his mother?

Beastboy really had no idea. He did not know much about the personal life of the Boy Wonder; as far as he was aware, none of the team did. Robin kept himself to himself and gave very little away. In fact, besides the little things that didn't really matter in the long run, he gave practically nothing away to his friends. Most of what Beastboy knew about him came from media acknowledgement of his partnership to the Batman, and he was all too aware that most of it was generalised and lots of it would not be true. But where else could he look but the media from Robin's old city?

Normally this did not bother Beastboy. He himself kept plenty of secrets from his friends; he had not even told them his real name and was unsure if he ever would. It was likely that the time would come but every time he decided to tell them who he really was, he chickened out of it and instead relied on old jokes and pranks to get him out of an awkward situation. He was not hypocritical enough to have a go at Robin for hiding things.

However, what had been said that night revealed to the shapeshifter that there was something to do with Robin's mother that had troubled him. And even though they had personality clashes and fought a little too often, Beastboy did care deeply for the leader of the Titans; he valued Robin as a friend and the pain in his voice earlier bothered the boy. What was Robin hiding that was so bad it had influenced him now, when he had obviously mastered the act - long ago, if the rumours were anything to go by - of keeping his true feelings hidden?

Beastboy jumped out of bed and headed down to the main room of the Tower, knowing from experience that their leader was always still awake at this time - just after midnight - following a mission. Not only that, but everyone else would have gone to bed already, and that would mean he could ask Robin about what he'd heard without getting everyone else involved. No matter how immature Beastboy could seem, he knew how valuable one's own privacy was; he cared enough about Robin to both question him and to do it in private.

His footsteps sounded too loud to his sensitive ears and he imagined that the other boy would hear him coming. But when he got into the main room, Robin was sitting at the computer and did not even turn around to acknowledge his friend, indicating that he either had not heard or was too deeply engrossed in his work to bother. Beastboy would normally put money on the latter, but today wasn't a typical day. Today he had to physically tap the Boy Wonder on the shoulder, making him jump a little although Robin quickly settled himself and asked what the other was doing up so late.

It was a valid question and, Beastboy figured, a good way into a conversation. After all, he knew from past experience - having been curious when he'd first met the other - that if you ambushed Robin and asked for information, he would close himself up and tell you nothing. He had a knack for talking without really saying anything.

"Couldn't sleep" he shrugged, appearing as casual as he could. "You?"

"Just cataloging the details of what happened today. We need to make sure that nothing like that pie every makes its way into the Tower again."

"Yeah. Robin, about that whole thing ..."

Beastboy trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand nervously. Robin stopped typing and turned around to face the changeling.

"Look, you said something earlier and it was ... weird, dude" Beastboy began, hoping that he sounded worried enough that his friend would not think he was demanding information. "Just wondering if you're okay."

Obviously Robin had not been expecting this; he looked genuinely surprised and interested. "What are you talking about, Beastboy?"

"You said that she wasn't your mother."

"So?" Confusion had replaced the surprise. "She wasn't our mother."

"Yeah, but you didn't say that she wasn't our mother. You said that she wasn't your mother."

Robin visibly tensed but didn't say anything, immediately taking on an emotionless mask to guard the feelings that built up inside, ones that he wasn't about to disclose. "What's your point?"

"Just ... I don't know, dude, you sounded like you were really hurting." Straight to the point; he didn't know what other approach to take. Before his friend could react, he continued with "I just wanted to check up on you."

Robin sighed. He was the leader; it was his job to check up on his teammates. They didn't have to check up on him and that was the way he liked it. One of the major perks of being in charge was that he didn't have to talk about things like this, things that made him uncomfortable.

A thick silence settled over the two of them. Beastboy was waiting for a reply that Robin didn't know how to give. He had barely even noticed what he had said at the time; he had merely saw red and reacted. The creature - whatever the hell she had really been - was not his mother and he resented the implication that she was. His mother was nothing like the beast and could never be replaced, anyway. He'd barely noticed he had said it and he had certainly not noticed that Beastboy had heard.

Their eyes met, bright green meeting masked blue, and Beastboy took the chance to ask, "did something happen with your mom?"

To his credit, Robin didn't react negatively. He merely glanced away, thinking quickly about the pros and cons of revealing anything to the shapeshifter. Beastboy was his friend and he trusted him, but the boy was childish and might mistakingly reveal something to another. Still, he looked genuinely concerned. The thirst was the secrets behind the mask that he had possessed at the formation of the team was gone; Beastboy was not looking for gossip, Robin decided. He was trying to help.

"It was a long time ago" Robin replied, trying to keep his tone even and firm so that the boy would not expect him to elaborate.

Beastboy nodded, mentally trying to ascertain whether or not his suspicions were being confirmed or not. After all, he himself knew what it was like to have issues caused by the loss of somebody dear to you; now that he had this one tiny admission, he more or less could figure out the rest. Pain like that is an expression and he knew it all too well from seeing it on his own features in the mirror.

"Was it ... just your mother? Or ..."

"It wasn't just her."

"Sorry" Beastboy whispered.

Robin nodded in acknowledgement and thanks; he was grateful that the boy was not asking for any more information because he didn't know how much more he could safely give away. He still did not like to talk about this, even when the other person involved in the conversation was not exactly sure what was being said.

The two shared a slightly more comfortable but still tense silence before Beastboy rose, having gotten the information he had sought. He knew that offering the Boy Wonder a shoulder to cry on would be a wasted effort but he had made up his mind about one thing.

Soon - not tonight, but soon - he would tell Robin who he was. Whether or not he told the others was still up for debate, but he would tell Robin; he would tell him who he really was and how he had become Beastboy. He would tell him what had happened to his own parents; that way he could perhaps empathise.

The shapeshifter was standing by the doorway and Robin had already turned back to his work when Beastboy paused and looked back.

"Robin?"

"Mm?"

"I lost my mom, too."

After a pause, Robin turned around to face his friend, carefully making sure that his face gave nothing away. He had planned to say what anyone else would in this circumstance but by the time he was ready to speak, he found that Beastboy was already gone.

Please R&R