Vulnerable

Ch. 2: Old Habits Die Hard.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans

He stepped out of the water and walked his way upon the rocky shore. The sun set an hour before and you could see the stars shine their light over him as if they were saying welcome. He stood looking at the tower before him, a small grin graced his face and he couldn't help but shiver in anticipation. Despite how cold he felt he knew that warmth spreading through his heart was something he missed.

His ragged suit was soaking wet and the top half of it had been ripped off exposing his chest, which was dressed with scars, cuts and bruises, along with other holes and rips adorning his clothing. His hair was matted to his head covering the top of his brow, but still that grin didn't falter, he stepped forward and made his way towards the door.

'It's been seven years since he left' Cyborg sighed and continued to play his new video game, Mega Monkeys: Samurai Warrior, all by himself in the common room. Cyborg had to admit that video games weren't all that much fun without his gaming buddy here, but he still played out of habit. Ever since he left, the tower seemed to lose all of its excitement and also there was the slight increase in crime, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle, even though without him here it was a lot harder than expected.

Cyborg dropped the controller onto the floor and leaned back onto the couch 'I can't wait till he gets back' he grinned 'He won't believe the new entertainment system I built or the new and improved gym and the obstacle courses, I'm sure he'll have fun with that.' He thought.

The sliding door opened and Robin and Starfire walked in holding hands. Cyborg turned his head towards them and his grin widened. About three years after Beast boy left Robin and Starfire had gotten together, and well they have been inseparable since.

"Well hello! How are the two love birds doing this evening? Finished with your make out session I see." Robin glared at Cyborg but it wasn't really all that intimidating when his face looked as red as a tomato. Before Robin could retaliate Starfire answered his question oblivious to the teasing manner in the robot's voice "We are most joyous friend Cyborg, but it is time for dinner and Silkie has eaten nearly everything in the fridgerator."

As soon as those words left her lips Cyborg stopped grinning and stared blankly at the pair. "Don't worry, I ordered take out and I'm sure the pizza will be here any second. And tomorrow morning I'll call the store to deliver us some groceries" Robin raised his hands in a calming gesture and his reply seemed to have reassured the robot.

In seven years a lot of things have changed, but old habits die hard. The Titans have grown up and were no longer called the Teen Titans they were just simply The Titans. Over the years they have become closer together as a family than ever before, but they knew that the family would never be complete until their green comrade came home.

They all missed him dearly and even Raven was seen with a solemn expression on her face from time to time, but they held onto the promise that he made before he left.

Robin and Starfire made their way over to the couch while Cyborg grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. The sliding door to the common room opened once again and Raven walked in. She made her way over to the couch, "Hey Raven. Care to join us?" Cyborg asked not taking his eyes away from the monster sized television in front of him.

"Actually I was thinking about having dinner."

"Silkie ate everything and so Robin ordered pizza." Cyborg replied plainly.

"Please join us Raven we have not spent any time together today" Starfire coaxed.

Raven paused, weighing down her choices. Her initial reaction was to go back to her room and finish the newest book she bought the other day, but then again if she didn't spend time with them now they would try to get her to do something else with them later, which would most likely be much more excruciating than sitting in the common room with them.

"Move over."

Raven moved around the couch and sat in between Starfire and Cyborg, she pulled a book out from underneath her cloak and began to read without another word. Despite the occasional sarcastic remark and the ice cold exterior that she shows, Raven has been able to show about 60 percent more emotion than she did years ago, which allowed her to express nearly all of them, but if she were to be overwhelmed then….who knows what could happen. Raven simply assumed that disaster would come if that was the case.

Since Beast boy left she has been meditating non-stop to harness control over her powers, and she almost hate's to admit it but it was a lot easier to do that when he wasn't around.

But then again she was inspired by Beast boy's determination to have control over the dark side of him. And so it led her to those long hours in deep meditation and slowly she began to show the other titans her emotions without causing something to explode.

When she first gave them a full blown smile and a laugh they just about had a heart attack. They were so happy for her that she couldn't help but be moved, but like I said before old habits die hard.

"I love these precious moments we spend together as a family" her voice was laced with sarcasm as Cyborg and Robin began arguing over the remote rather loudly while Starfire was trying to calm them down. All the while she didn't take her eyes away from her book. Yup old habits die hard…

He stood outside the door his hand raised ready to open it, but still he hesitated. He pulled his hand back and let it fall to his side. He stared at the metal door with a blank look on his face, but inside he was feeling a tidal wave of emotions. 'Will they remember? Do they even need me? Does s- '

He heard the opening of the underground tunnel that leads from the tower to the city and saw a pizza delivery car appear. He stared at the car and a smile grew on his face, all the previous thoughts and emotions that were troubling him faded, and he walked towards the car.

Raven looked up from her book and turned her head towards the elevator. 'Is there someone at the door?' She asked herself, DING DONG, 'It must be the pizza Robin ordered' she turned her head towards the rest of the titans. They were still arguing and it seems that a fight was about to break out. "There's some one at the door" Raven announced.

No one made any indication that they heard her, 'DING DONG'.

"Raven could you get that!" Cyborg yelled as he pushed Robin onto the floor and away from the remote.

"Fine" She sighed and walked towards the door. 'DING DONG' the door screamed "I'm coming! Can't you at least be patient?" 'DING DONG' A vein throbbed at the side of her forehead, clearly showing how annoyed she was. "No of course not that would be listening to me, wouldn't it?" She walked up to the elevator door and pushed the button….

As soon as the door opened he let out a toothy grin that used to look cute when he was younger, but now it looked as though it was chiseled by a Greek god, needless to say it was a smile girls would melt at and Raven was totally unprepared.

She couldn't speak, but there were so many words to say, and she was sure her heart stopped beating for 3 second. She observed the person standing before her. He was maybe a good 3 or 4 inches taller than her with his muscular chest showing off in all its glory almost making her blush and turn away, but of course she didn't.

She couldn't believe all the scars that were on him and the bruises that adorned his skin, she looked up towards his face and almost didn't recognize him, his face had sharpened and matured, and she could see that he had a strong jaw line. If it wasn't for his skin color then she probably wouldn't have recognized him. 'He…he's Beast boy?'

He was about to speak when he noticed her appearance. She no longer wore the black leotard and blue cape but, instead this one was white along with her cape. Her hair was still kept short, and her body, oh gosh her body was beautiful to say the least. She had filled out quite nicely indeed. He's defiantly gonna need to take a cold shower tonight.

His eyes lingered until he forced himself to look at her face. She was something so undeniable gorgeous that he wondered why he had not noticed her beauty before. He took all of this in a matter of seconds and the only coherent thought that crossed his mind was 'Whoa.'

"H-hey Rae it's been awhile." He stuttered, his voice deep and masculine. She didn't respond. "I, uh, brought pizza." He held the pizza boxes up "Sorry I took so long." He chuckled deep and a light blush crossed Raven's face.

'His voice has changed also…' Raven thought.

"I smell yeast! Raven did you grab th-" Cyborg stopped in mid sentence when he reached the door. His human eye was as wide as a saucer and his mouth hung open with shock "No way…" He whispered. His eye soon became bright and an enormous grin crossed his face.

"Beast boy! Your back! You're here! You're alive!" Cyborg grabbed him into a huge bear hug and dragged him into the common room leaving Raven at the door. She watched them leave not taking her eyes off of Beast boy; but she eventually overcame her stupor and followed 'I can't believe I froze up like that! What was I doing looking at him like that? O god I hope he didn't notice.' She scowled at herself and walked on.

As she went through the kitchen and into the common room she could here the excited yells of joy escaping from her comrades. A smile graced her face as she approached them.

"Wow Beast boy you sure have grown! I can't believe your really here! We missed ya man." Cyborg moved around eagerly and patted Beast boy on the back, surprisingly he didn't fall over like he did when he was younger.

"Friend Beast boy is back and this calls for the traditional Tamaranian pudding of welcome! I will also bring you a towel friend, for you are getting the floor wet."

Starfire was off to make her famously disgusting pudding when Beast boy made an attempt to stop her "Star don't make the pudding! I brought pizza remember?" His eye's giving away how desperate he was, but Starfire took no notice. "Oh yes! Then we shall have pizza instead." She clasped her hands together under her chin and smiled brightly before venturing off to get his towel.

Robin grabbed Beast boy's shoulder in the same manner the day he had left. He gave him a proud smile "It's good to have you back" Beast boy nodded and smiled at him " You have know idea how good it feels to be back". Robin laughed and Beast boy joined in.

Raven watched them, their feelings of happiness mixing in with her own. 'It's like nothing happened, they picked up right where they left off seven years ago'. Her smile widened at seeing him laugh, things will be different now that he's back, it will probably be a bit louder than usual, but that's not a bad thing per say, she was actually looking forward to it.

His ears perked up and he looked towards her, his eyes comforting and happy while he made his way towards her. Raven couldn't look away and for the first time she realized that she had missed him a lot more than she thought. His voice, his presence the way he infected people with his optimism and happiness, he astounded her, and she to him.

His smile widened into his famous grin and he laughed out loud again. He couldn't believe that she was smiling at him, 'That's the second smile she gave me in all the years that I've known her, and I'm blown away' and he truly was.

"Hey Rae." His eyes never leaving hers.

"It's Raven. I'm sure even you can handle that, right?" her smile never failing.

He laughed out loud and hugged her picking her up off the ground "Aww! I missed you too Rae!"

"Beast boy you're getting me wet! Put me down!" Even though she was yelling at him she still smiled making her demand look not all that serious, she soon caved in as well and joined in with his laughter.

Beast boy was caught off guard when he heard Raven laughing and almost dropped her, none the less he didn't stop. He just couldn't help himself, no matter how much older he grew or how mature he looked, he was still Beast boy. He continued on with his playful banter for a couple of minutes before putting Raven down.

He half expected her to throw him across the room for invading her personal space, but instead she threw him straight into a wall. This by the way wasn't at all playful.

"Geez, Raven that hurt a lot." Beast boy whined as he lay on the couch with a bag pack of ice on his head and a towel wrapped around him.

Raven shrugged and sipped at her tea "Old habits die hard I guess"

"Yeah, I guess they do." He smiled and glanced at her. She was sitting at the end of the couch with her eyes closed as she drank her tea. For some unknown reason his heart swelled, making his chest feel like it was full, full of what he didn't know. His heart was pounding when she turned her head suddenly and looked at him. Beast boy jumped slightly but didn't lose his stare.

They stayed that way for what seemed like minutes when in reality it only lasted about 3 seconds. They simultaneously looked away, holding a slight blush on their cheeks. 'His eyes…their different, the look he gave me was one he's never given me before, and I thought I had seen them all, from happiness to loneliness to rage to pain, and so on. But this was different… I keep on forgetting he's different.'

AN: Okay I know not much happened in this chapter, but I kind of wanted it to be a good old happy fluffy type of chapter, So I focused on doing that. I hope you enjoyed it and the next one will be coming up as soon as I am half way done with the 4th chap.

PR