A/N:
Necessary Introduction to this fic:
I'm aging them all. During the time of the show I'm placing them all at 16 or older. During the time of this fic, Beast Boy (who is the youngest) is halfway through being 18.
I decided to try and write this like an episode would have played story flows in a chopped, scene-based way, with jumps ahead in time and information. Hopefully it flows alright for you, the reader, and doesn't come off confusing at all. If you guys like this style, it'll lead to a series of episodes and arcs.
I like to imagine there's a commercial break between parts of the 'episode'.
Finally, this won't be incredibly long, but will instead be like an episode involving Raven/BB character development and the development of a more mature relationship between the two of them. It was never meant to be their romantic origin story, merely the way that they continued on after Tara's absence in their lives. If I continue writing more "episodes" I'll continue their relationship as well! Not to mention the relationships of Rob/Star, Cy/Bumble and others who may appear throughout the series.
If you like the story, let me know! If there are some characters you want to see, story lines you want delved into, or relationships you'd like an 'episode' on,
Every morning she'd come downstairs a little early and drink herbal tea over an old book. Watching her lightly sip it as it steamed in the cool morning air made him sick to his stomach. Why didn't she eat? Beast Boy couldn't remember a time when he didn't crave a huge, tofu breakfast. If he hadn't eaten before Raven got her tea, he'd literally feel his stomach eating itself. He tried asking her once about her breakfast habits.
"Why don't you eat in the morning?"
Raven simply took a dramatic sip from her mug, glaring from under her blood red chakra.
"Are you...trying to lose weight?"
This time she slammed the mug down and glared.
Beast Boy yelped and backed up. "No? Okay, cool." He scurried away to the kitchen where Cyborg was flipping pancakes.
"Man, you're an idiot."
"What! Just because-"
Cyborg flipped a pancake at him, that Beast Boy caught in his teeth on instinct. However, he bit down too hard and the rest fell helplessly to the floor.
"You can't ask a girl about her weight, especially someone like Raven who could drown you in some dark abyss."
Beast Boy scoffed. "Please, she's not offended by things like regular girls." He leaned in close, and said "She's not regular, dude."
When he turned back to 'apologize', Raven had vanished from the table. Her book had gone with her, and so Cyborg commented that she probably wouldn't be back.
There was a routine to Raven.
After breakfast, Beast Boy knew that she'd either go to her room, or disappear into one of the unused rooms in the tower, and there were a ton of them. So for the first few hours of the day, lack of crime permitting, Raven would be a shadow in the walls. Beast Boy, however, was all over the house in the morning. While he wasn't a 'morning person' per-say, he would play video games, exercise, run outside or go for a swim all before lunch. His animal side craved movement and stimulation, while his lazy human side was happy to lounge on the couch and channel surf. So, after lunch (which was also a huge meal) he'd end up on the couch for a few hours. After that it was anything and everything until dinner. Not that anyone cooked dinner, they'd usually go out for pizza. It was then that Beast Boy would see Raven again.
She'd emerge from her shadows and dusty pages, and rejoin her companions for an evening feast. That was all he ever saw her eat.
"Why doesn't she eat?" Beast Boy growled into the floor mid push-up. Robin was in the corner of the gym hammering away at a punching bag.
Cyborg was bench pressing the weight of an elephant. "Why do you keep asking me this, man?" He let the weight rest on its stand and sat up. "She eats, I've seen it."
"Yeah, breakfast and dinner. Do you know what breakfast and dinner is to Raven?" He pushed fingers down on his hand. "One mug of herbal tea and one slice of pizza."
"It's not always pizza."
"Okay, about fourteen french fries or one salad, or… I don't know, but it's not healthy."
Robin joined them, sweating and wiping his face and shoulders with a towel. He was wearing loose, martial-arts type clothes and no shoes. "What are you saying?"
Beast Boy felt his ears flatten a little. "I'm not accusing her of anything… you know, self-harming, but shouldn't we still be concerned about this?"
Cyborg shook his head. "You can't ask a girl about her weight or her eating habits. I told you this."
"I don't know, Cyborg." Robin interjected. "If she's really depressed or becoming unhealthy, it's our job as teammates to watch out for her."
"Then YOU should talk to her, Robin." Cyborg said loudly and clearly in a jab at Beast Boy. "She'd actually listen to you."
"Not cool, dude." Beast Boy let himself fall forward, then caught himself in another set of push ups.
…
When it became sunset, as it did every day, you could always find Starfire watching the spectacle from the rooftop. Now, normally, Raven was disinclined to enjoy the last few rays of sun. Their death brought about a night of darkness and disquiet, a time of self-reflection and, even worse, self-loathing. Yet, this particular sunset was bathed in the early stars of the autumnal equinox, which was a powerful time in the sorceress' calendar. It would be another month before the equinox arrived, but Raven wanted to soak up as much as she could before and after it came. She sat alongside Starfire, well, floated (honestly), in silence. Starfire was less inclined to break these "glorious" moments on earth with idle chatter.
Raven had a theory about that.
While it may always seem that Starfire is incapable of communicating through normal means, Raven had noticed upon one or two powerful sunsets that Starfire was capable of nonverbal communication. Meaning that, at this momentous time of day, or twilight, Starfire would float side by side with Raven, in full knowledge of her existence, and say nothing. However, once the sun had finally dipped below the horizon, Starfire would regain her footing and calmly rest her hand on Raven's shoulder before departing below. Furthering Raven's analysis into the matter, when questioned about the significance of the sunset Starfire explained (in too many words) that the setting of the sun was a momentous journey from one day into the next. The death of today and the birth of "today" again.
"For we are all born in darkness, before discovering life's glorious light." Starfire smiled at Raven, in a knowing way.
So Raven's theory was this:
Starfire did not solely communicate babble. She communicated through babble. It was all she really had, an outsider to this world of different people and customs. Like a foreigner learning a language her babble was merely to compensate for a lack of knowing the proper words for things. It wasn't even her adorable slip-ups now and again that Raven rolled her eyes at, but rather every filler word in her sentences was to make up for lost communication. What Starfire didn't know, was that her attempt at compensation was what created her miscommunication in the first place. What Starfire said with fifty words, she meant it in only ten.
Probably.
"After all, that's just my theory." She whispered out loud as she scribbled the last of her words into a large notebook.
Raven stretched out on an old dusty sofa that was nestled at the edge of an empty room. The door was farthest away, and next to her was a bedside table covered in a sheet. She actually hated this room. It was neglected and dark and had little to no color to it. While Raven possessed many a dusty old book, she purposefully allowed them to collect dust to reserve their dignified, ancient appearance. This was just sad. However, it was the most recent in her rotation of old, empty rooms hidden around the tower, so she'd hunkered down for the afternoon. But her time was up, as dinner was approaching. Her team would miss her if she didn't appear, and would surely come looking for her in an obnoxiously caring way.
She smiled.
…
At dinner, which was chinese food this time, Beast Boy paid special attention to Raven's plate. It was practically bare, but there was a surprising sweet on the edge of it. Something made from cherries and cream. The chinese food place that they'd picked was very inauthentic, and therefore served a lot of American foods as well. Beast Boy supposed that it was some sort of tart or piece of pie. Either way, he figured that if Raven was indulging in things that were sweet and fattening like that, she couldn't be on a diet.
Yet her plate was still bare. Not even because she had eaten it all, but because she'd barely brought anything back from the buffet.
"Forgive my question, but why is that man staring at us?" Starfire asked through a mouthful of white rice.
Robin shrugged next to her, shoveling food into his mouth with chopsticks, not even bothering to look at the man.
"People always stare at us, Starfire." Raven commented, swirling noodles with a fork. "Don't make eye contact."
Unlike Raven, who purposefully didn't give the man attention, Cyborg turned fully around in the booth, throwing his arm over the back to better crane his neck. "Who we talkin' about, now?"
"That man, in the dark coat. In the back corner?" Starfire commented, sounding nervous now.
Now even Robin glanced up, and Beast Boy turned, too. He and Cyborg had squished Raven into the booth against the wall, so that Robin and Starfire could sit together. That put Beast Boy on the end, and so had to put a leg out to turn fully to see the man.
Starfire was right to become nervous. It was just like their alien girl to forget to mention to everyone, that not only was a man in a dark coat staring at them, but that half of his face was scaly and red, with a long red and black horn protruding out of his black hair on the scaly side. He had pure black eyes and was watching them intently.
Robin swallowed. "Well, that can't be normal."
Beast Boy looked at him incredulously. "You're tellin' me! Who walks around in public with half a scale face?"
"Maybe he's like us. A hero out to eat." Raven suggested, yet she shivered. Her optimism surprised even herself, as she usually was the one to get a bad feeling immediately. In this case, she just wasn't in the mood to get into some brawl. Not with all these people around to panic and fuel her mind with anxiety.
Both Cyborg and Robin shook their heads. Cyborg removed his arm from the back of the booth and settled it on the table. "I don't think so, Raven, but nice try." His arm casually transformed into his sonic blaster. "Should we...engage?"
Robin stood up from the booth. The man did the same. "There are too many people here. I guess I'll go deal with him."
Beast Boy coughed. "By yourself…?"
Robin didn't answer. Instead of continuing, the man glared at Robin and promptly left the establishment.
"I think we've got a fight anyway. Come on, team. Dinner's over." Robin paid and led them all out. Beast Boy figured Raven wouldn't have finished her plate anyway, but when he turned to give her one last glance, he saw her grab the cherry tart and pop it in her mouth nonchalantly before scooting out of the booth after Cyborg. She chewed with quiet dignity.
When they emerged into the street, it was dark and quiet. There weren't many leftover people lingering about, but they really should have been. It was still pretty early in the evening.
"What do you want?" Robin demanded.
When the man opened his mouth to speak, Beast Boy noticed that half of his teeth were in fangs on the red side. He vaguely wondered if the red man had a tail as well under that coat. "I am Kane, and I need your damn help."
Beast Boy scrunched his brows in confusion. "Sooo… not a fight?"
"No." He growled.
"Then," Starfire queried. "Why do you seem so angry with us?"
He raised one clawed hand, it's black talons were long and angry looking. "One of your enemies has mutated me into whatever this is. I blame you for not catching them, before they turned me into a monster."
"You're not selling your case, buddy." Cyborg crossed his arms. "Who turned you into...whatever you are."
Kane narrowed his eyes. "Believe me, you wanna take this case. It started with the fangs…" He paused. "Suddenly...suddenly I had a horn and scales, my eyes darkened. Now I have these razors on my hands. It's spreading."
Starfire gasped in sympathy.
"Please." He hung his head, his horn nearly touching Raven's side as they circled around him. "This curse is eating me alive."
"But who did this?" Raven brought the man back to the original question.
"I… don't know."
Robin's face was hard. "Then how do you know it was one of our enemies?"
"One day I was out running in the park. I passed out on the path, and woke up in the forest outside the city in the mountains. My teeth were all sharp, my tongue was bleeding where I scraped it. I was so confused, and it took me a day to find a gas station and call for help." He ruffled in his pockets. "I found this note when I woke."
Robin snatched it and smoothed it out. His team gathered around him to read it. Scratched in red ink on an old piece of parchment it read: The Titans will Fall
It seemed like enough evidence for Beast Boy. He pulled away from the group and nodded to the guy. After a moment, though he asked, "Wait...what are you supposed to be?"
"A half-dragon, half-human." Raven supplied. "A drake, draconian, or halfling."
"Whoa. Dude, even I can't turn into a dragon!" Beast Boy smiled his toothy smile at Kane, who seemed only to grow worse.
"I'm sorry," Robin began, looking up from the note. "But until we look into this, you can't be allowed to go roaming the streets of Jump City. You might be a spy plotting against us, or you might be who you say you are and hurt an innocent on accident. Either way, we're going to have to take you into custody." Kane gave Robin a hateful, resigned look, before he was handcuffed. Cyborg took his arm and they started to walk.
The half-dragon looked at Raven now. "If you know what is happening to me, please. PLEASE, cure me."
Now everyone was looking at her, and suddenly she felt self-conscious. "I can try, but don't get your hopes up."
"Thanks, Raven." Robin nodded, proud of his teammate. "In the meantime, Cyborg and I will analyze your note. If it's really from whoever changed you, and you're not just lying to us, we'll figure out it's origin and put a stop to this mad scientist."
"Or sorcerer." Cyborg commented.
"If they're infecting the people of Jump City, OUR city, then we need to put a stop to it." Robin slapped a fist in his open palm.
They walked the dark, seemingly empty streets in the chilly September air, and after a while returned home with their prisoner in hand.
…
Kane was now a full-time resident of Titan's Tower. He was far too conspicuous to be holed up in a regular jail cell, and not proven guilty or dangerous enough to be sent to a maximum security prison like Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload. They weren't even sure if he was dangerous. The whole way back to the Tower he remained a quiet, resigned prisoner who only seemed to be angry and filled with foreboding misfortunes. Depressed, even. Beast Boy had attempted to cheer him up, but Kane never even so much as responded or looked at him. At one, small moment he'd cracked a smile, but that was only because Beast Boy had tripped when he was walking backwards, and Beast Boy hadn't even seen Kane smile anyway.
Raven did.
She couldn't help but stare at his half-dragon form. His face was all too familiar. She kept having visions. Visions of spellbooks and wizards that seemed kind and understanding at first, but then morphed into towering lizards that breathed green fire and -
"Raven?"
She looked up from her book. Raven was nestled on the couch in the Titan's living room, remembering the events from last night. She'd read the same paragraph fourteen times, and couldn't remember anything past "The first sorcerer to successfully…" and that was it. Her mind was elsewhere, and Robin knew it.
"What?" She bit out quietly.
"I just thought, that maybe you wanted to talk?" Robin leaned against the back of the couch, looking over her head. "You haven't been eating, I hear. Even less now that our new guest has entered the Tower."
"Who said I haven't…" Raven didn't finish. She was smart enough to guess and tired enough to stop caring. "I'm fine."
Robin finally looked at her. "Is that your final answer?"
"For now." She almost smiled at him to ease his mind, but he could hear the intent in her voice without it.
The door to the living room slid open and Cyborg stepped in with Starfire floating next to him.
"Just remember to keep me posted if there's a change in the… situation." Robin gave Raven a pointed look.
"You'll be the first to know." She replied, sincerely. After realizing that reading was pointless now that there was company in the room, Raven retreated to her regularly scheduled rotation of the tower's forgotten corners.
When Beast Boy came downstairs for lunch that day, he noticed that a forgotten pen was lying on the counter in the kitchen. It was old, ornate and probably should have had an eagle feather attached to it for how antique it looked. Garfield had never seen it before, and when he picked it up in curiosity, it sparked in his hands and shocked his fingertips. He yelped like a puppy and let it fall to the floor where it rolled under the bar counters. He rolled his eyes in a loud sigh and got down on his knees to retrieve it. The only explanation for this was that this pen was Raven's. Who else would own something so old, dark and dusty that shocked you with energy when you touched it? And he'd let it roll under the nasty counters. While digging for the instrument, he felt his ungloved fingers touch things he could only guess at. Something squishy here, slimy there, and something that felt oddly like a gumball but grew legs and crawled all over him when he touched it.
"AH!" He ripped his hand back and yipped again.
Footsteps approached behind him. "What are you doing?" She asked in a sarcastic drawl.
Raven. "Uh, well." He turned and scratched the back of his head in a panicked contemplation of what to say. "I-er, that is, I mean…" He gave up and hung his head. "I dropped your pretty pen under the counter."
Raven raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
"I'll get it! Hold on!" He scrambled for it this time, coming up finally with the prize in-hand, triumphant. On his green arm was several unidentified, sticky things and a lot of dust on his fingers. Her pen was wrought with dust bunnies, but no other damage was done.
"How did you know it was mine?" She asked, taking it delicately with two fingers.
Beast Boy recovered from his preparation for her anger after realizing she wasn't mad. "Oh, well it just seemed like you." Again she didn't answer. "Uh, you know? Because it's pretty and all sophisticated looking? Like you'd find it in a museum or an old bookstore. NOT that you're like an old book or a museum, er-"
"Thank you."
He stopped. "For what?"
"For telling me that you dropped it, and then getting it for me." She walked away without continuing, and disappeared through the sliding door.
Later, in one of the dusty tower rooms, Raven pulled out her notebook and started writing with her pen. While doing so, she thought back to when Beast Boy had kept looking at her like she was about to explode, but then with relief kept babbling anyway. Raven's theory for Beast Boy was that, if you didn't talk long enough, he'd tell you all that was on his mind eventually. Raven never had to ask him a thing. She was patient, and he didn't like to leave empty space hanging between conversations.
…
The next day, the whole team went to see the prisoner. Robin and Cyborg were still working on the origin of the note, and with limited clues and little to no evidence to suggest otherwise, they were starting to think that they'd have to take the poor Draconian at his word. Robin, however, was still incredibly wary of the subject, and when they all convened in the basement levels of the Tower to interrogate him again (and discuss his options) he was short and blunt.
"There may be no way for Raven to save you."
Raven crossed her arms. "Robin-"
"If she can't save you," he continued over her. "Then we'll have to assume your new...form will be a threat to society. You may be incarcerated to the fullest extent of the law if it's decided that you can't control it."
"Robin," Raven tried again. "I haven't even started yet."
He nodded. "I know, I just think that we need to be honest and serious about this."
Kane didn't seem upset by it. His sad, depressed demeanor returned to his face. "I suspected as much. As soon as my eyes turned black, I guess I just kinda gave up."
"But, you came to us for help, so surely you are keeping a little hopeful?" Starfire offered in her kind, soft voice.
Out of respect for her sympathy, Kane smiled at her. "Sure."
"In the meantime, you'll be updated on the note you found, and what else we find out." Robin finished.
Cyborg nodded. "Who knows? If someone did mutate you, I'm sure they've got a bigger plan than just sending you after us. No offense man, but you don't look to scary to me."
"Let's not forget these claws, though." Kane joked. "They scrape me up pretty bad when I try to scratch my scales."
Beast Boy was the only one who really laughed. Everyone else just breathed out in nervous pity.
Due to her new task as resident cure tactician, Raven was unable to continue her routine in the dustier parts of the tower. While she could have brought her research with her to those rooms easily, it was far more convenient for Robin to find her in her room when he needed to ask a question or check in. Unfortunately, it was also easy for everyone else to find her, too.
"Raven?" Starfire knocked lightly. Raven set the book down slowly and sighed.
"What?"
"I wondered, perhaps, if you require assistance?" The timid voice replied. "I could read with you, or bring you your favorite grass drink?"
"Tea."
"T-what?"
Raven almost laughed. "The 'grass drink' is called tea. Come in." She rolled her eyes and moved papers and notes around. Using her mind she floated about six books over to her and set them in a pile for Starfire.
After giving Starfire instructions on what to look for in the books, the two spent the next two hours reading, commenting on passages, and (on Raven's part) taking notes. Raven was pleasantly surprised with Starfire's focus and dedication to the task at hand. She barely spoke, and when she did it was to ask a question or point out something on the page. It was a good day in Raven's opinion, and Starfire was happy to be bonding over dusty pages with her best-girl-friend. It was not uncommon for them to spend a few quiet hours together nowadays, as they had grown far closer in the last few years, but each and every time Starfire was so happy.
Raven could always sense the level of Starfire's happiness, and it made her smile.
…
"I, uh, appreciate your help."
Raven had been in the basement of Titan Tower for less than 20 minutes and she was already frustrated. Not only was the curse incredibly powerful and vague in its origin, but her subject of interest was filled to the brim with bitterness, anxiety and worst of all, fear. It was pouring off of him in waves, and he was getting worse with every day. New scales were forming on his face, and his claws got sharper and longer. The fingernails on his other hand were turning black, but were not yet pointed.
"Has anything else happened to you?" She asked, examining the horn on his head. He was bound to a chair by the wrists and ankles.
"I, erm…" He hesitated.
She frowned at him. "What?"
"I think, well, there may be, the possibility of a… tail." He cringed.
Raven felt his embarrassment through her empathy. It was so strong she almost blushed herself, but she kept a straight face. "That's to be expected."
"Can you fix this?" He sounded desperate.
She sighed deeply. "I'm working on it."
"Right, I know, I just-"
"Look," Raven stopped him. "I realize you're having an...issue, but you need to calm down. I'm doing everything I can to help."
He just continued to look at her with fear and frustration. Raven hated it when he looked at her. In his dark eyes she saw memories of the past. A dragon from another time.
"I know you'll do well. I've heard you're strong, smart. I'm just worried."
You're strong, Raven.
She nodded and left him there for Robin to speak with next. She made her way back to the kitchen, where it wouldn't be too quiet. Raven didn't want a quiet place to herself, a place where she might remember.
Beast Boy saw her quietly inch her way into the living room and strategically place herself amongst the chaos, and since there was an argument going on, no one else seemed to notice.
He did.
It wasn't that he was particularly inclined toward Raven, or at least he never felt like he was before, but ever since he'd decided to monitor her eating 'problem' he'd started to notice her every move. It was both annoying and interesting to keep tabs on the enchantress, but it was also (he figured Raven would feel) an invasion of her daily privacy. Not that he cared, after all, didn't everyone always expect him to be annoying and nosy? Isn't that how everyone saw him anyway?
He sighed a little, his ears flattening against the volume that the argument had risen to.
Mas y Menos were screaming spanish at the top of their lungs over… something. He still hadn't learned any Spanish besides 'taco', 'hola', what 'mas' and 'menos' actually meant, and 'adios'. He could have sworn that Menos threw in a curse word at one point during the argument, but other than that he was oblivious. He'd ask someone later what the fight was really about. Raven didn't seem upset by the noise being made in the living room. In fact, she sat in the Raven equivalent of bliss around the coffee table with Bumblebee and Aqualad.
Almost like she's relieved. Beast Boy puzzled over this when the fight reached its climax and Cyborg had had enough.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" He grabbed both of the Titan's East members by their scruff and pulled them apart. "You're going to fry my circuits if you keep screaming at that decibel! Now make up and play nice, or I swear I'll have Raven swallow the two of you whole into a dark, deep dimension where you'll never see farther than the end of your noses EVER AGAIN!"
In their defense, the twins couldn't help their bickering; it came so naturally to them, but almost everyone present in the living room couldn't help but thank Cyborg silently for shutting them up. Menos folded his arms in a huff while Mas gave Raven a nervous glance. The two shook hands sarcastically and went to sit on opposite ends of the couch.
"Dragging me in again?" Raven raised an eyebrow at Cyborg who plopped down next to Bumblebee.
"Sorry, but it worked." He gave her a huge grin, but she just rolled her eyes at the Titan's unofficial 'Big Brother'.
Beast Boy wondered if Raven had ever made good on a 'throw you in a dark abyss' threat, but it seemed possible. He also wondered if the 'threat' ever bothered her when they threw it around like that. It would be like Cyborg saying, "I'll have BB here rip your throats out with any razor-sharp predatory teeth of his choosing". It was a good threat, but it was insulting in a way. Like he'd ever do that in a million years. Would she? He didn't think she would. Suddenly, Raven's eyes met him and he yipped internally, looking anywhere but at her.
Busted.
"Sorry to barge in on you guys." Bumblebee kissed Cyborg's cheek. They twined fingers together, much to the discomfort of everyone else not currently in a relationship, which was pretty much everyone but Starfire. "The gang heard you had a monster living in the Tower dungeons and wanted to come see it."
"And we missed you." Aqualad added, charmingly.
"Oh, but he is not a monster." Starfire interjected, carrying snacks from the kitchen and setting them out. "He is a man. A man who is… scaly and red all over. To have a horn is a heavy burden, you know." She shivered at an old memory of pink and black planets.
"And not just because it weighs a ton." Beast Boy joked. Aqualad and the twins chuckled, while Bee smiled politely.
"Can we really see him?"
"I don't think so." Robin appeared then, arms crossed. He was with Speedy, and now everyone was momentarily together. "He's dangerous, I'm headed down now to interview him again." He glanced at Raven for a report.
"I've sensed that it's clearly dark magic that has changed him. He's stable, for now, but his condition worsens each day. I suspect that before long his mind will be destroyed by the creature he is becoming." She finished her report with an air of detachment. Everyone else looked to Robin.
"If that day comes, we won't have a choice but to put him away where the authorities can decide what to do with him." He finished and left.
Bumblebee looked at Starfire. "Is he alright?"
Starfire looked down and shook her head. "I fear that Robin is sad, deep down." She hugged herself. "He does not wish harm to come to this man, this Kane, but he knows that there may not be a kind ending."
Speedy nodded. "Sometimes we have to make hard decisions."
"But Kane was changed by someone, we are sure of it." Starfire threw in, holding onto her optimism.
"We aren't sure of anything yet." Cyborg interrupted. "Robin and I still haven't found the source of the note, and that could mean some serious holes in Kane's story. Mutated against his will or not, he could be waiting to strike at any moment." Starfire seemed to deny this with all her heart.
"What note?"
Cyborg described what had happened the night they found Kane and the note that he claimed was on his body when he woke.
"That doesn't sound good." Aqualad crossed his arms. "You guys need any help?"
"I don't know what you could do. It seems like it's our problem." Cyborg shrugged.
Bumblebee shook her head. "But 'Titans' could mean any of us. Any of the Honorary Titans." She paused. "Or all of them."
They hadn't thought of that, and now that it was a possibility, Cyborg made sure to make a note of it and have Robin issue an alert for all Titans to be on the lookout for anything strange. When Robin returned from below with nothing new to say on the subject, the conversations took different turns every hour or so. It started with status reports from Titan's East, then onto the subject of the whereabouts of Slade (who was still at large somewhere, at least until Robin had full proof that he was dead) but without any whispers or sightings, they let that topic go. Now they were discussing each other, friends and honoraries and what they were up to, relationships (failed ones, too) and finally, video games. Apparently, Raven wasn't informed that she was to hunker down for the next three months while the newest racing, fighting and first-person-shooter games were being hyped and announced as a part of the Autumn madness that was the gaming industry.
She wished she'd brought a book.
Instead, Bumblebee and Starfire had squeezed close to her on the couch to talk over her about their happy relationships with their strong, confident, Team Captain-like boyfriends. She rolled her eyes. Even though video games weren't her thing, the boys seemed to be having a lot more fun with their topic.
"What about you, Raven?" Bumblebee turned the conversation on her. "Last I heard, your previous relationship ended with a book buried somewhere deep in the tower."
Starfire inhaled sharply at the comment, afraid of what Raven might do or say. Instead Raven shrugged. "He needed time to think about what he'd done." She replied, deadpanned.
Bumblebee burst into laughter while Starfire forced a smile. "That's what I like to hear. Show em' who's boss."
Raven stood and stretched. "I think I'll leave you to it." She was about to walk away when Bumblebee grabbed her wrist lightly.
"Wait."
Raven turned and raised a brow.
"Just in case you're interested, there's always Aqualad. I know you once had a thing for him, and frankly he could use some attention. He's a good guy, he'd treat you right."
Starfire paled a little at Bee's forward, hushed declaration. Again, Raven shrugged, then pulled away and left. Starfire then turned to Bumblebee. "I would not speak to Raven about such things. Does Aqualad even have 'the feelings' for Raven?"
Bee smirked. "He's denied it, but I've seen him look at her before. Trust me, Star. I've got a knack for this stuff." Even while basking in the glow of Bumblebee's confidence, Starfire had major doubts about that.
Later that night, after everyone had said their goodbyes, Starfire and Robin were in Robin's room. He was sitting on the bed, about to take off his mask when he asked her, "What were you and Bee talking about?" Starfire gave him an adorably confused look. He stood up and kissed her on the side of the head. "Earlier? When the rest of us were talking about video games?"
She hugged herself sadly. "Well, she and I were discussing you and Cyborg, and how happy we were. But then…" He pulled her gently back down on the bed, her tone of voice made him uneasy. "I fear that Bumblebee may have accidentally offended Raven, though she did not get angry. Merely walked away…"
"Oh," He squeezed her with one arm. "That's alright, Raven's pretty strong." He smiled and finally took off his mask, laying back on the bed. She didn't join him at first.
"Robin, she mentioned the Malchior. The dark creature we faced?" Robin lifted a brow. "She did not seem upset by it, but…"
"You're worried."
"Mhm." She lay back with him and they stared at the ceiling.
"Beast Boy doesn't think she's been eating." Robin sighed. "This new guy in the basement can't be good for her health."
Starfire's mind clicked and she gasped. "Because he is another dragon?"
He nodded. "Come on," He pulled her close. "Let's worry about it in the morning."
