A/N: Well here's the next chapter. I'm going to try to update at least once a week, but sometimes it work. And I'm still working on parts of my HP fic "Coming To Terms", and I'm going to do some really deep digging for my Lupin III fic "A Pack of Wolves". Promise I'll at least try to keep at least this and CTC going.

I'm going to snag an idea from my friend Yma and start posting review replies on my Live Journal if you guys think it's a good idea. So if you don't mind that, you can find a link in my bio page.

Purtymanagirl58 - Secrets are fun plot devices. They keep the reader interested enough to do a little more reading. If your as smart as I think you are you'll figure it out soon enough. If not, then it will be a mild surprise. Kale is a bit old fashioned.

Chapter Two: Out of Nowhere

Raven sat once again behind the counter of "Cozy Corner Children's Books". It had been a few weeks since she had come in to work, fortunately her work schedule was very flexible. The shop remained unchanged. It still had that comfortable air about it and Raven enjoyed working there. Small children would rush in excitedly to look over the shelves of books filled with stories, followed by their parents smiling at the fact that their children enjoyed reading. She leaned back in the swivel chair and closed the book she had been reading.

She just couldn't seem to concentrate today. She had noticed Kale acting quite odd lately. He kept sneaking around the tower, as though he was hiding something. This seemed very likely since she could feel that he forced himself to stop thinking about something when she entered the room. He was suppressing something so that she wouldn't find out. Far from worrying about this, Raven found it quite funny. Her boyfriend was trying to be sneaky and Raven knew it had something to do with her. She smiled to herself, she needed a good challenge.

Then there was Beast Boy. He was constantly moping around the tower. He had come down with a bad case of melancholy. The titans had talked about it, and agreed that his problem was loneliness. Everyone in the tower was in love except him. Once the problem had been identified, Kale, being the sweet, kind, and caring person he was, had set out to find a solution. The others wanted to help, but were caught up in their own lives as well as the occasional villain.

The bell above the door jingled as someone walked into the store, shaking Raven out of her thoughts. In strolled three of her regular customers, followed closely by their mothers. Nelson Dank, Joshua Amid, and Mary Polk. Mary, all dressed in pink, hurried up to the counter and peeked her smiling face over the top as best she could. "Miss Raven, Miss Raven" she bobbed merrily on the tips of her toes, "Guess who we saw on our way here."

Raven smiled brightly, "Santa?" The small girl shook her head no. "I give up," she said "tell me."

"We saw Mr. Kale!"

"Really?" Raven certainly hadn't been expecting that.

"Yeah. He and Beast Boy were walking somewhere and we talked to them." Mary was bouncing with enthusiasm, "And Mr. Kale told me a secret, and I can't tell anyone about it."

"Wow! A secret." She wasn't just playing along anymore, Raven was very interested as to what this secret was. However, Mary was dragged away by the boys before Raven had the chance to ask her anything else. "Come on Mary," Nelson whined, "Let's go look at the comics."

"Those kids." Mary's mother, Charlotte, leaned on the counter. She was watching her daughter look through the comics with Nelson and Joshua. She was a thin woman of average height. She had thick, curly brown hair, and piercing green eyes. And she loved to tease Raven. Charlotte claimed that Raven would look better with more "color" in her cheeks. Raven had the sneaking suspicion that red was her favorite color.

"Did they really see Kale?" Raven asked.

"Yes, they did. We were at the play park over on Johnson Street and Nelson spotted Kale and Beast Boy." She smiled as Mary coaxed the boys into the girls section. "They talked and Kale whispered something in Mary's ear. She's been bragging that she knows something and we don't."

Raven rarely became curious enough to nose into other peoples business and she was trying her hardest not to use her powers to find out just what that secret was. She kept telling herself that it was probably just something silly like his favorite color, or what his birthmark was shaped like (both of which Raven already knew). "So..." Raven began "How was Kale when you saw him?"

"He looked pretty good to me." Charlotte gave Raven a sly look, "You snagged yourself a keeper huh?" Raven merely blushed. "No" Mrs. Polk continued, grinning roguishly, "He really is a sweet guy. You're lucky he was after you from the start."

Raven was now red in the face with embarrassment. "What makes you say that?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Oh nothing..." Charlotte waved her hand, "Just that he's the kind of guy every woman dreams she'd met and married." Raven picked up her book and hid behind it. "You are planning to marry him, aren't you?"

Raven sighed, knowing she wasn't going to be able to avoid the question, and answered. "Yes," she said placing her book back on the counter, "I do want to marry him. But I want him to propose, and only when he's ready." Before Charlotte could say anything more Mary, Nelson, and Joshua arrived at the counter with the other two mothers, each with a stack of books.

Kale and Beast Boy had finally made it to Kale's shop. It was set up and open, but Kale's schedule showed that there were no appointments for that day. "Dude," Beast Boy complained, "If you don't have any appointments for today why are we here?"

"Because there are people who like to make appointments in person. You can't neglect your shop just because nobody's scheduled that day. It's bad business. Besides," he said, looking through some cabinets, "I've been working on a special project and I needed to find a nice photo album. If you go to the East Side Market two blocks over and find a nice blue one I'll even teach you how to develop film."

That grabbed his attention. Beast Boy had always wondered what went on in the darkroom. "Alright. I'll find you an album." Kale smiled broadly and reached into his pocket to pull out a wad of cash. He counted out about twenty-five dollars and sent Beast Boy on his way. The streets outside were very busy, even for the Christmas season. It didn't take him long to find the market and he was soon inside browsing the shelves.

He wandered through the snack aisle first, but finding nothing he craved he moved on to finding what he was sent for. He looked at several photo albums before picking a nice dark blue one out. Then, thinking about what Kale had said that morning, he went looking for a journal. After browsing and choosing a notebook with a bright green plastic cover and buckle, he paid for them and exited the store.

He was almost back to the studio when a bright blue orb appeared out in the middle of the street. It glowed brighter and brighter. As suddenly as it had appeared it was gone and in it's place was a young woman. Cars immediately put on their brakes, but one wasn't stopping fast enough. Beast Boy reacted instantly. Not even bothering to morph, he ran out and tackled the young woman to the safety of the opposite sidewalk. The car stopped just where the two had been moments ago. Beast Boy stood and walked over to the car in question. He tapped the window with his finger and it rolled down. The man inside looked badly shaken.

"You might want to have those brakes checked." He said calmly.

"Yes sir." The man nodded, still shaken from the near accident. He rolled up his window and started carefully down the street again, as did the rest of the cars. Beast Boy walked back over to the young woman and helped her up.

"Thank you" she said. Now that he got a good look at her, she looked familiar. She had bright, golden hair and green eyes. She was wearing summer clothes and looked cold. Indeed she was shivering.

"You look cold," he said, "Here. Take my jacket." He removed his jacket and handed it to her. She started to protest but BB cut her off. "You need it more than I do. Take it."

"Thanks again." She stood there for a moment, and then spoke again. "Do you happen to know where I could find Kale Syger?"

"Sure," Beast Boy said, a little surprised, "I'll take you to his studio, I'm going there anyway." The two moved quickly to the small studio, Beast Boy still carrying the bag with the album in it. They arrived a short time later and Beast Boy yelled, "Hey Kale! I'm back with the album you wanted and there's someone here to see you."

Kale came bustling out of one of the closets and looked up. He seemed startled and the first word out of his mouth was, "Grace?"