OK so the basic idea behind this is for me to write one-shots and each one will be based off of the lyrics from one of the songs on The Smith's "Singles" album. Each one-shot will be some type of conversation or event between Raven and Beast Boy. I hope to get one out every two weeks, could be faster, could be slower. Let me know what you think though, constructive criticism is very welcome.
Park the car at the side of the road
You should know
Time's tide will smother you
And I will too
When you laugh about people who feel so
Very lonely
Their only desire is to die
Well, I'm afraid
It doesn't make me smile
I wish I could laugh
But that joke isn't funny anymore
It's too close to home
And it's too near the bone
It's too close to home
And it's too near the bone
More than you'll ever know ...
Kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
You kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
You kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
You kick them when they fall down
Kick them when they fall down
It was dark as I drove the point home
And on cold leather seats
Well, it suddenly struck me
I just might die with a smile on my face
After all
I've seen this happen in other people's lives
Now it's happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine
Happening in mine
I've seen this happen
in other people's lives
Oh ...
And now, now, now it's happening in mine
(I've seen this happen)
Happening in mine
Oh... now, now
I've seen this happen
in other people's lives
Oh ...
And now it's happening in mine
Happening in mine
"Don't call me that anymore." It had been odd to find Beast Boy up before me, odd the way he was cooking and hadn't even said good morning to me, not even a smile. He just kept scrambling those disgusting tofu eggs of his. I thought for a moment I would actually have a relaxing morning, but then he spoke.
"Call you what?" I called him a lot of things, but they were mostly in jest or in anger. I didn't really mean them. He should understand that, shouldn't he?
"Freak. I don't like being called a freak. Do you know what it means? I looked it up last night. It means an abnormally formed organism, especially a person or animal regarded as a curiosity or a monstrosity. When I was in the circus-"
"You were in the circus?"
"Yeah, my family died when I was three. I had a foster family and they died when I was seven so a circus took me in."
"I didn't know," I was beginning to feel pretty low at the moment. How long had I been his teammate, two, maybe three years? These were things I should have known, but when had I ever asked? I started to realize something else, most parents didn't let their teenage children run around in tights fighting villains. Had I ever once seen Robin or Cyborg's parents?
He carried on like he didn't hear me, still scrambling his eggs. "When I was at the circus I got called freak a lot and a lot of the people there didn't really like me. Guess I was to good looking for them," he said. It was a hollow joke if I'd ever heard one. "I just don't like being called freak, especially…especially not by someone else who's like me. I mean we got lucky ya know? We saved the city so we weren't freaks anymore, we're heroes, but sometimes I wonder what if we just wanted to live normal lives? My foster family was like us, a bunch of people with powers, but when they saved people they were still seen as freaks. We're not to different from them I mean, look at us a cyborg, a half-demon, an alien, and a green kid who can change into any animal living or extinct."
"What about Robin," I asked, still feeling like trash for ever having called Beastboy anything, whether it was in jest or not.
"He's the worst Rae, he's a freak lover. He hangs out with freaks, lives with them. They'd probably see if any of us rubbed off on him and then when they were done burn him at the stake."
I'd never seen him like this, so bitter and cynical all of a sudden. I kept expecting him to turn around. What would I see? I hoped whoever it was that it wasn't Beast Boy. What if it was Beast Boy though? Was he right? Did we just luck out? There was a part of me that said yes, but then another part… Did I even know Beast Boy? I had always thought of him, stereotyped him as the joker. He was an optimist, wasn't he? He was…marshmallows and good cheer, not this… this person who had taken personal offense at being called a freak. I didn't like this Beast Boy because he made me worry, made me wonder about myself. Had I always been this cold to my teammates?
"Guess we couldn't help it though, getting together I mean."
"What," I was honestly confused and not even sure if I wanted to hear where he was going with this conversation. In one morning he had destroyed the personality type I'd placed around him, did I really want to hear my thoughts on my teammates were wrong too?
"Us freaks, we were kinda put together and none of us have real families. I mean my family, Cy's family, Robin's family, your family, and Star's family are all gone, either dead, in another dimension, or on a different planet. It's like one of the three things we all have in common. The third one's the best though, cuz its like even though we don't have families and we're freaks we still go out and save the world because it's the right thing to do."
Oh my God, I was right. Robin, Cy their families were dead, where was I at? I had never once asked how they were or how their families were. The thought made me feel even worse. "We could be bitter," I said. I was bitter, but still… he was right. We were bigger than that somehow, he was bigger than that. Is that what it was? Was he showing himself bigger than his upbringing when he laughed? The thought made me smile, a boy who would laugh at fate, at bad luck.
"Yeah, I guess, but its like I don't want to be one of those kids always complaining about how bad stuff happened to them and they're bad because of it," he said as he placed his eggs on his plate. "I just want to help out and like I said we have this bond," he finished as he finally turned around to look at me.
It was him in all of his green glory, smiling with a fang hanging out of his lip. This was the Beast Boy I was used to and yet I couldn't shake what I 'd just heard him say. The team had been brought together and yet I'd never done anything to reach out to them, always assuming that I had it worst of all. Maybe I did, but that didn't mean I could treat them so badly. I wanted to be bigger than myself, than my problems and so for one of the first times in my life I apologized.