It was a slow and lazy afternoon in the Tower. The crime alert had been silent for days and the four teens in the common were finding ways to keep themselves busy.
Robin and Cyborg were seated on the crescent shaped couch playing some first person shoot 'em up game against anonymous players over the internet. They exchanged friendly banter as they repeatedly fragged their opponents.
Raven was seated in her usual spot at the end of the couch, with a mug of herbal tea and a scone which she had been slowly nibbling as she read old book that looked so ancient that it looked that it was ready to crumble into dust.
Beast Boy was in the kitchen. He opened the freezer, from where he extracted a one gallon tub of chocolate flavored tofutti.
"Who wants some ice cream!?" He shouted.
"Is it real ice cream?" Cyborg replied while he continued to play.
"Of course it is!"
"It isn't that disgusting soy-boy crap I saw in the freezer, is it?"
"What's wrong with soy? And I'm not a soy-boy!"
"I ain't eating that crap."
"Why?"
"Cuz it lowers your testosterone, B. It turns you into a soy boy."
"There's nothing wrong with my testosterone levels! Robin, how about you?"
"I'll pass … sorry Beast Boy."
The changeling snorted, then looked at the sorceress.
"How about you, Raven? It tastes good and is good for you."
"Sorry; but I also pass."
"Oh come one, Rave! Your my girl friend. Back me up on this!
She put her book down. "Gar, we agreed to respect each other's diets. I respect that you don't eat ice cream, please respect that I don't eat fake ice cream. And speaking of real ice cream, I believe there is a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream in the freezer. Would you scoop me some?"
He frowned as he accepted his defeat. "Fine, but you don't know what your missing."
The green Titan scooped Raven her ice cream, and took it to her.
"Thank you." She replied, then rewarded him with a soft kiss on the lips. Robin and Cyborg briefly took their eyes off the screen to watch the highly unusual public display of affection. A loud explosion was heard on the surround sound system.
"Ah man, I got fragged."
Robin's character was also killed during his brief distraction.
"Get your tofutti and sit next to me." Raven said with a sly smile on her face.
Beast Boy read her mind and raced to the kitchen. Before you could say 'Monsieur Mallah has bad breath' he was back and sitting next to his gray girlfriend. After each eating a spoonful of their treats, Raven leaned over and traced her index finger over his ear, spending extra time caressing its pointy end.
"Oh mama, you know what I like." He groaned.
Don't look, don't look … dammit, I gotta look.
Once again, Robin's and Cyborg's video game characters were killed. The two Titans grumbled, but said nothing else. Beast Boy removed one of his gloves and caressed Raven's bare thigh.
"Gar, not here." Here voice warbled.
Once again, the sound of virtual grenades exploding echoed in the room and the games's soldiers screamed as they died.
"You two, stop that!" Robin shouted.
The Chromatically Challenged Couple began to kiss, while Beast Boy's hand wandered to her midsection, venturing perilously close to her bosom. The guys stared slack jawed at them, while their characters were repeatedly killed, until a computer voice announced: "Game Over. Losers: Cyborg and Robin."
The amorous couple instantly desisted in their endeavor and resumed eating their desserts.
"You did that on purpose, so we would lose!" Robin shouted as he pointed an accusatory finger at them.
Raven looked up from her bowl with a blank look on her face. "We have no idea of what you're talking about."
Before Robin could reply the sliding doors swished open and Starfire entered with a box labeled "United States Postal Service"
"The mail call!" She shouted before beginning to distributing the day's incoming mail, which mostly consisted of fan mail. Raven tossed her fan mail into the recycling bin, since she never read it. Her only other correspondence that day was junk mail, which she also threw away.
The changeling had at one time read his fan mail, but once Raven became his girlfriend he began to throw his away as well, even though Raven said he didn't have to do so. As he sorted through his mail he found one letter that was certified.
"What's this?" He asked.
Starfire was reading her fan mail, which was copious. "I do not know, but I had to do the signing for it."
Gar took a closer look at it. "It's from some lawyers: Dewey, Cheatham and Howe … is someone suing me?"
"There's only one way to find out." Raven replied.
He tore the envelope open and read that letter silently. When he was done he looked astonished and muttered "No. way." as he handed the letter to Raven who also read it silently. She too suddenly looked surprised.
"What does it say?" Robin asked.
"Go ahead, read it out loud." Gar said in a still amazed voice.
Raven nodded and began to read.
"Dear Mr. Logan,
We are contacting you on behalf of your estranged cousin, Cindy Logan, daughter of your uncle Bill Logan. Your uncle Bill and Aunt Deborah recently died in a car accident, and we have determined that you are Cindy's only living relative. Being that you are now 18 years of age you can legally become her guardian. We would like to discuss your officially taking on this responsibility, if you do not, Cindy will have to be placed in foster care as she is still a minor. Please contact us as soon as possible. We can meet either at out office in downtown Jump City or we can meet you at Titans Tower ..."
Raven stopped reading. "It's signed by Gordon Howe … Gar, you didn't know about her, did you?"
He shook his head in dismay. "I didn't even know I had an uncle Bill." He said in a breathless voice.
"Perhaps they thought you were dead. You didn't announce your real identity until a few months ago." She replied.
He leaned forward and cradled his head in his hands. "I had an uncle, my dad had a brother and I didn't know … and now he's dead too."
"Maybe he isn't your uncle." Robin said in a very matter of fact voice.
"Maybe it's a scam." Cyborg added.
"I need to find out."
"We're doin' a DNA test." Cyborg said as he crossed his arms.
"That's a given." Raven replied. "But the real question is what do we do with her if she is his cousin?"
"We?" Robin asked.
"Gar would be her only living relative."
"Rave's right, I can't turn my back on her."
"Grass stain has a point. Once the word gets out, she'll be in danger. I could see Slade kidnapping her and keeping her as a hostage to control BB."
Robin sighed. "I'll call the lawyers. They're bringing her here and I want you to do the DNA test, Cyborg."
"Oh, I wouldn't trust it to any lab."
Raven noticed that Beast Boy was very quiet.
"Gar, are you OK?"
He looked up at her, but said nothing.
"I understand how important this is." She said.
Finally he spoke. "I might actually have family … I mean, you guys have always been my family; but ..."
Starfire wrapped her arms around him. "I do understand, dear friend. You are like the brother to me and I am happy that you have found Cindy."
"More like she found him. And I also understand. This is a really big deal." Raven interjected.
Starfire released him.
"Guys, I kind of need to be alone and think about this."
"We understand, evergreen."
-( - )-
Beast Boy paced around in his room, with the letter in his hand. He had reread it at least twenty times, hoping to glean some more information about who Cindy Logan was.
"Why didn't they send a picture of her?" He grumbled to himself.
He was feeling completely overwhelmed when his train of thought was interrupted by a soft knock on his door. He would recognize that knock anywhere.
"It's open."
The door slid open and Raven entered. "They're bringing her over."
"Now!?"
"Yes, now, they should be here in 20 minutes. Gar, you know I'm here for you."
"I know … what am I gonna do? I can't be her dad!"
"No one is expecting you to do that. You can't take her father's place, just like no one could take your father, Mark Logan's place. Legally, she does need a guardian, but what she really needs is her cousin."
"If she really is my cousin."
"We should know that in less than an hour."
"And if she is ..."
"We will take her in and protect her."
"Rave … I'm so scared."
"I understand … Gar, I'd like to try your tofutti."
"You would?"
"Yes. Let's go have some and relax while we wait for her to arrive … and something else … your hand got dangerously close to my chest today."
He smiled. "It was fully under control, no way that was happening. But you have to admit, it worked."
"No arguing with that … Gar?"
She took his hand as the walked to the door.
"Later tonight, you can touch."
"I can!?" He gasped.
Lovingly and respectfully."
He looked bewildered. "Is that even possible?"
"You do love and respect me, right?"
"Of course."
"Then it is possible."
As they exited the room the changeling, his problems at least temporarily forgotten, had a huge grin on his face.
Dude! I'm going to second base!
Raven of course could feel the changeling's change in demeanor.
The things I do for you, green bean.
As if you don't want it. One of her emoticlones replied in a disembodied voice in her mind.
Don't make me come in there.
-(-)-
About twenty minutes later ...
Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven stood in front of the elevator doors. Robin had gone down to receive the lawyer and Cindy Logan. They waited patiently until finally they saw on floor counter on the wall that the elevator was on its way up. Finally the display said "C", which meant it had arrived at the common room.
Raven was holding his hand and as the door began to open she squeezed it. Robin came out first and he looked amazed. The lawyer came next, the as he moved over, Raven saw her. She stifled a gasp. Her first thought was that perhaps a DNA test wasn't even necessary.
Cindy Logan looked like she could be Garfield's long lost sister. The resemblance was simply amazing, even if she had blond hair and a normal complexion.
-(-)-
OK, readers, what do you think? Are you intrigued? Is she really BB's cousin, or is this some diabolical setup?
If there is interest, I will continue.
