Raven bolted awake, sweat dripping down her forehead. It was the third time that night, after returning from her sojourn in Nevermore. She wiped her forehead dry before picking up her alarm clock. It was now 5:30 AM. She sat up and swung herself around, letting her feet fall to the floor. She deliberated what to do next until she restored the clock to her nightstand and stood.
There was no point in trying to get some sleep. She had an 8 o'clock appointment with one of her customers, but that wasn't what on her mind.
She sighed and she replayed her experience in the mysterious confines of Nevermore, and it troubled her. She had always thought of Garfield as a friend, or at least that's what she told herself. That was her story and she intended on sticking with it. The problem was that not a single one of the emoticlones she encountered in her mind were buying her story. It was expected that Lust would suggest am erotic encounter with the changeling, that was her job after all. But Brave and Rude were also on board with project "Bag the green changeling." That disturbed her to no end.
She pondered the implications and they were not good. For some reason she was intent on moving the changeling from the friend zone to the lover zone. It made no sense, she had only seen him once in the past 8 years. Sure always called her on her birthday … and Christmas, and … ok he called her a lot, officially it was just to check up on her, and she always put on a masterful performance, always leading him to believe that she was fine, when in fact she wasn't.
The others also called, but far less frequently. She was suddenly feeling pangs of regret. After all the years in the Tower and the countless ways she had mistreated him, he only repaid her with kindness. She felt ashamed of herself.
But there was something else … when the team dissolved he was still a gangly 19 year old. Sure, he had grown taller and she no longer towered above him. But he was still a boy when he departed and now … now he was a man.
This realization was hardly lost on her. It was perfectly clear to her that she felt stirrings within herself, her emoticlones didn't lie. She was thrilled to see him again, but Brave was quite right. She wanted him under her roof.
She bit her lip as she felt ashamed of herself. She has posed as a friend … but deep down she wanted him. This was wrong … he was a friend … a good friend, a close friend … someone she … loved.
All sorts of nagging doubts ran through her mind. What if he wasn't interested in her that way? Why would he feel that way? She knew that she was creepy, foul tempered and undesirable … that the men on campus had avoided her like the plague spoke volumes in that regard. What on Earth made her even think that he could possibly have romantic feelings toward her.
So this is what the 'friend zone' feels like.
Raven snapped out of her funk and headed to the kitchen to prepare some tea. As she opened her fridge to get some milk for her brew she realized she had nothing vegetarian to feed him. She skipped her tea and instead dressed quickly before rushing out to the grocery store.
-( scene break )-
Gar stretched as he sat up and yawned. The sun was high enough in the summer sky that he knew he overslept, not that it mattered. Originally this day had been set aside for apartment hunting but that was no longer required. He glanced at the old school alarm clock on the night stand and saw that its arms indicated that it was past 9:30. He scratched his butt as he got up and trudged over to his suit case and opened it, debating on what to wear that day.
Recalling that he was moving in with Raven he began to unpack his suit cases, hanging some garments in the closet and placing others in the chest of drawers. As he opened the third case he saw them. Smiling he pulled them out and set them on the bed, which was still unmade, and continued to unpack. Once he was done he picked some fresh underwear, still debating what to wear that day.
He looked out the bedroom window. Raven's apartment had an unobstructed view of the bay and he saw Titans Tower in the distance. The city seemed like a friend he hadn't seen in a long time, a friend who had changed but was fundamentally still the same person. Someone he wanted to catch up with, to spend time with.
Someone like Raven.
He picked up the outfit he placed on the bed and headed off to the bathroom.
After showering, dressing and completing his morning grooming he made his way to the kitchen. There was a small dinette table in the kitchen. It was draped in an immaculately clean table cloth and there was a placemat with a setting. There was a bowl and a spoon on the placemat and the table was adorned with a small vase that contained some freshly cut flowers. Next to the vase was an unopened box of Captain Crunch with a large yellow Post-it stuck on it. Gar reached and peeled it off the cereal box, revealing the Captain's cheery face. He read the message on the note:
Sorry, this is all I could round up for you on short notice. There's soymilk and juice in the fridge – Raven.
Gar smiled. He had given up sugary cereals years ago, but he figured that it wouldn't hurt him to have a bowl or two …
-( scene break )-
"You're wonderful Raven, simply amazing! Only you can find the artifacts that I need and want!" A man wearing a turban remarked boisterously. "How much do I owe you today?"
"Thank you Ranesh. What can I say? You're my best customer." Raven replied as she tallied up his purchases.
"That will be four thousand, three hundred and twenty eight dollars." She informed him.
"And worth every penny." He replied as he began to write a check. "You will let me know when the Babylonian relics arrive?"
"I'll be going out of town to inspect them personally. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time."
"Oh yes, the counterfeits. You did catch them before delivering them to me that time."
As Raven began to pack Ranesh's purchase into a box she heard the stairs creak.
"About time you got up, sleepyhead!" She called out. "I was wondering if you were going to fall back on you r old bad habits and sleep in until noon!"
Gar emerged from the storage room, out of Raven's line of sight. Ranesh smiled when he saw him.
"You are Beast Boy, correct?" The man asked.
"I used to be, but I go by Professor Logan these days."
"Yes, yes! Miss Raven was telling me that you will begin teaching at UC this fall. Congratulations!"
Ranesh picked up his box and bade Raven and Gar farewell. Once he walked out the door Raven turned around to give Gar a proper good morning greeting, but instead did a double take.
"You're wearing your Doom Patrol costume?"
He smiled sheepishly before answering.
"If I morph when I'm wearing my civvies they'll get ruined. I was thinking of going flying for a while, to check out the city."
She nodded.
"Of course, you haven't been here in years."
"Wanna come with me?" He asked. "We can get some lunch later."
Raven smiled.
"Sure, why not? I don't have any more appointments today and I'm all caught up with the internet sales."
She flicked her wrist and the front door locked and the "Open/Closed" sign flipped around, displaying the ubiquitous "Sorry, we're closed".
"Ready when you are." He grinned.
Raven hesitated for a moment.
"Just give me a minute." She replied as she phased into the ground and disappeared.
While he waited Gar began to peruse a stack of books she had on the main counter. Every single one was hand written in some strange script he had never seen before. Just as he put them back Raven reemerged from another portal in the floor. He turned around and smiled, as she had changed into her signature black leotard and blue boots. She extended her arms, raising her cape and exposing her now more mature and voluptuous figure.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked.
From the look on his face she could tell that he liked what he saw. He gestured as if sticking his index finger in his mouth and then touched her shoulder, making a hissing/sizzling sound with his mouth.
"If you were any hotter, you'd be on fire."
"Yeah, yeah Mr. Smooth Talker. So where do you want to go first?"
"Isn't it obvious? Let's go to Titan's Tower!"
The Chromatically Challenged Couple™ walked out the back door. After Raven locked it and cast a security spell on the building they took off, heading off to the city's most famous landmark.
Meanwhile, Gar's phone remained on his nightstand as he forgot it. It began to ring and the screen identified the caller's name before it went to voice mail.
It was Silas Stone.
-( scene break )-
It was a beautiful day to fly over the sparkling bay and Raven felt her spirit soar as the wind blew in her face. It was years since she last went out flying and the experience made her feel as if she was once again 16 years old. Gar shifted between a series of birds and was now a giant condor. Raven felt joy in her heart to see the magnificent bird flying beside her, and felt as if she had travelled back in time and was once again a Teen Titan. Her intellect reminded her that she was still 28 years old as did her now much more ample bosom and hips.
But she didn't care, and she continued to revel in her flight. The image of Happy running around, her arms stuck out like airplane wings formed in her mind and she embraced it.
She was also able to feel Gar's emotions and he was in the throes of near ecstasy as he surfed the warm summer thermals. She knew that he enjoyed his avian forms the most and he was clearly enthralled with the experience. His joy was as bright as the morning sun above them and she secretly prayed that it would never end.
He turned his condor head towards her and squawked before gesturing with his beak towards the waters below. Raven looked down and saw that the first ferry of the morning was headed towards the island, brimming with sightseers on their way to see the now museum like tower. She nodded at him and he morphed into an eagle after which he began a steep dive towards the small ship. She leaned over and followed him down in his descent.
They weren't even halfway to the ferry when the passengers who were standing outside saw them approach. Raven felt a wave of surprise and delight grow from the passengers. From her vantage point she could see the adults pointing in their direction while the children began to hop and jump in their excitement.
The two retired heroes leveled off from their dives and flew alongside the ferry, and the passengers, who had not been expecting to actually see two former Titans began to wave at them and called out their names. Raven waved back before she and Gar sped up and left the ferry behind.
They continued at their brisk pace and soon they approached ferry dock. A couple of National Park employees were already there; ready to secure the ferry when it arrived. They stared in disbelief as the couple landed on the dock and Gar morphed back into his human form.
"No way!" The first dockworker, a young redheaded woman exclaimed as she dropped a coiled up rope. "It's really you!"
"Are the others coming too?" Her companion, a young male, asked as well.
"Sorry guys, it's just us today." The changeling responded. "Uh, so where do we buy our tickets?"
At first the two park workers were too stunned to answer. Finally, the girl spoke up.
"Admission is included with the ferry ride."
"Well, as you can tell, we didn't come over on the ferry. Do we have to go back and buy our tickets in the city?" Raven asked.
"That won't be necessary." Another voice interrupted. "Welcome to Titan's Island. I'm Marcia Dale and I'm the superintendant. I hope that you'll be pleased with what we have done here."
"Greetings, Miss Dale." Raven replied in her monotone. "We thought we would drop in for old time's sake."
"And we are not only honored, but … heck … we're tickled pink that you're here. Anyway, please feel free to roam anywhere you want. The velvet ropes don't apply to you, just regular visitors. No one's here yet but the first ferry should arrive in 15 minutes. Once they're here, well, you'll be mobbed." The woman smiled.
"We'll be fine. C'mon Rae, let's go!" He said as he took her hand. They ran off together into the main entry hall.
The first thing they noticed was that the two rows of upholstered chairs that lined each wall in the long room were gone and were replaced with multiple free standing exhibits. One was a showcase that contained replicas of the uniforms they wore. Another was a diorama of the Gordanian ship crashing into the bay. There was also a mannequin dressed up like Slade, with a plaque that commemorated his capture and imprisonment 10 years ago.
"It is a museum." Gar whispered to Raven as they boarded the elevator.
When the doors swished open their breath was nearly taken away as they stepped out into the common room. As Miss Dale had mentioned, most of it was cordoned off by the ubiquitous velvet ropes, which they ignored as they explored the room they had last seen eight years before.
Gar laughed when he saw the now very obsolete GameStation XL on the coffee table in front of the circular couch. Raven watched him pick up the controller and sensed a tsunami of nostalgia emanate from him. He sat down on the couch and instinctively began to search for the TV's remote control, and found it. Much to his chagrin it was glued to the table.
Raven wandered off to explore the kitchen, where she found an electric tea kettle and a box of herbal tea. She chuckled, as they chose the wrong flavor to display. She always hated chamomile tea, but she had to give them credit, they remembered that she liked herbal tea. She blanched though at the huge, tacky mug next to the kettle which had her name printed on it. As if she would ever drink tea out of something like that.
"They're coming Rae, I can hear the elevator…"
"Let's move on." She agreed.
They made their way through the rest of the Tower, staying a step ahead of the other visitors. The evidence room was unchanged; Robin's office bore no resemblance to the way it really looked in the past. In the garage there was a replica of the T-Car and the still broken Tidwell scooter was there too, which had a plaque next to it explaining that this was the actual scooter Beast Boy rode on when he defeated the Nufu invaders single handedly.
They continued to tour their former home and both agreed that it felt … strange. Their next stop was in Gar's old room. Once again they stepped past the velvet ropes and explored the room. Raven inspected the abode and nodded approvingly as they had every detail there down pat. Even the bedspreads on the bunk beds were the original ones or were perfect replicas.
"This is completely wrong!" He griped. "They totally ruined my room!"
"They did? But how?"
He grinned mischievously at her.
"Can't you tell? It's super obvious!"
"I'm sorry Gar, but this is the most authentic room in the Tower. Every artifact here, even if it's a reproduction, is authentic looking. So what's wrong with it?"
"IT'S CLEAN!" He said with a clearly mock voice of disgust. "Where's the unfinished pizza? They could have dipped it in acrylic to preserve it!"
Raven was standing next to him and gave him a friendly shoulder to shoulder shove.
"Gar, you aren't gonna make a pigsty out of my house, are you?" She asked, only half in jest.
"Don't worry Rae; I've been housebroken since I went to Colorado."
The next stop was Raven's old room. Once again the attention to detail in preserving it was commendable. Raven left her old furniture behind when she left and she walked up to her old bed and caressed the hood shaped headboard.
"Damn, I was creepy back then." She said to no one in particular. "They did a really good job reproducing all the artifacts … but …"
"It feels wrong. It feels fake." He completed the sentence for her.
She nodded before replying.
"So the saying is true. You can't go home. Because it's changed, it doesn't exist anymore …"
"Rae, you ready to go get something to eat?"
"Yes … I think I've seen enough here … you know Gar, I never thought I would find a museum I didn't like."
She turned and looked him in eyes.
"But in this case, I'm ready to leave."
-( scene break )-
"Any luck Master Bruce?"
The Dark Knight reclined back in his chair, which was in front of his master console. His cowl was removed and judging from the expression on his face the question was rhetorical.
"Not a sign of them. They vanished into thin air three weeks ago. I even contacted Tamaran, but they aren't there either."
"You don't expect foul play, Master Bruce?"
"I'm not sure. The Cyborg is also missing."
"And what about Miss Roth and Master Garfield?"
"I don't know. She runs a small store in Jump City and he just graduated and took on a Professorate at UC Jump City. I'm debating on whether or not I should contact them."
"Debating sir?"
"They're retired Alfred. They aren't superheroes anymore. They can't help us."
"Do you think they are in any danger? They still have their powers after all."
"It's hard to say. I just found out she's coming to Gotham on business in a couple of days. I'll contact her then."
"And what about the changeling?"
"Something tells me he'll be coming with her."
-( scene break )-
"Hello? Is this Dr. Stone? … Hi … yes this is Garfield Logan … yes … you're right … it's Dr. Logan now … thank you sir … let me put you on the speakerphone. Raven … that's right … Dr. Roth … she's here too."
Gar pressed the speakerphone button and placed the handset in its cradle.
"Garfield! Raven! I finally reached you!"
"I'm sorry sir, I left my phone at home this morning … are you sure Cy's disappeared?"
"He's dropped that name Garfield. We all just call by his given name, Victor. And yes, he's vanished."
"Dr. Stone." Raven interrupted. "Are you sure no one has seen him? I mean, he does kind of stand out in a crowd."
"He's updated his tech. He now looks completely normal; his implants look 100% natural. He even started growing hair again."
"Have you checked with his friends?" Gar asked.
"All of them. I just found out that his fiancée is missing as well, she disappeared the same day he did."
"Whoa ! You're saying that he's engaged? I never heard about this!"
"I know Garfield; they announced their engagement just a few days before they disappeared. I don't like this girl. She's manipulative and controlling. I'm sure that she told him to not tell you."
"Maybe … they eloped?" Raven suggested.
"That's what I thought at first, but you'd think that they would contact us to let us know, but they haven't. We waited two weeks and we decided to contact Nightwing and Starfire. They never replied … something is going on … I'm sorry … I know that you and Raven are retired from the hero business, but I don't know where else to turn."
Dr. Stone's voice was trembling and it was obvious even over the phone that he was close to breaking down.
"I have a business trip scheduled to Gotham the day after tomorrow. We'll try to contact Batman to see if he knows where Nightwing and Starfire are. Don't worry Dr. Stone, the four of us will find him."
"Thank you, Raven. I already feel better. I'll let you go now. I'm sorry for imposing on both you …"
"Hey, Vic's our best bud, of course we're gonna find him. Now you stop worrying and leave it to us." Gar interjected.
The phone call ended and a dial tone was heard over the speakerphone, which Raven muted. She turned to him and sighed.
"Once a superhero, always a superhero." She said in her monotone.
"Titans forever." He added. "I've never been to Gotham, much less to Bludhaven."
"Neither have I … Gar … I have a bad feeling about this."
"Yeah, me too."
-( scene break )-
We'll we're off to a pretty decent start here, better than I hoped for. What's especially pleasing is that I'm seeing reviews from new readers.
So anyway … it's mail bag time!
TW - "Nice to see you trying to rewrite this story it's actually one of my favorites."
Thanks! Hopefully the second time around it will be better!
Hairul The Nightrage Beast - "8 Years Later Remastered."
Digitally remastered (I'm remastering it on a computer)
krostovikraven1 - "very interesting. imagine Gar as a professor, lol, the girls will go to his class just to see him, i know i would. jijijij XD . Good thing he came back before she went crazy like Star saw before. i hope Victor is ok."
You mean like on Indiana Jones when all the coeds fawned over him?
La5021 - "Yes! I'm so happy you've decided to continue this :D"
I knew I would, it was just a question of when.
RavenOfObsidian - "I didn't read the first one but damn! This is getting real good real quick! The suspense with cyborg is killing me and raven and changeling together is just too cute! I like this a lot :)"
Yeah, I wasn't happy with it so I killed it. I might also yank Carved in Stone after I finish it, as I'm also not terribly pleased with it.
Thisguy720 - "Well i loved this story the first time around. Cant see what you add this time. Its very exciting :D, by the way i really liked this chapter"
I think that opening chapters are one of my strengths. Finishing stories, now that's where I could improve.
Shadico - "I remember reading this a while ago...but I can't remember how it went at all."
Perfect, you get to enjoy it all over again for the first time
greenhatred77 - "thank you for bringing this back. i was looking for this story several months ago and i was disappointed to find that you deleted it. i'm so glad you revived it."
Now if only we could get the original show back and not the parody of it that the new show is.
DeeThom - "I vaguely remember this story although I can't remember how it went but I'm glad to see it re-born. This was one of my personal favorites."
I'm surprised tat so many of you are still around. I started this story about 2 years ago.
JOHNXgambit - "now i can read it from the start, honestly I like the story the first time around just sayin"
I know that many of you liked it fine the way it was, but it bothered me because I knew it could be far better.
LSUABW - "This story shows lots of promise, just like Carved in Stone and Bulls Eye! Can't wait to read more! You're a terrific writer!"
Thanks!
Anoymous136 - "Are you gonna change the big themes of the story?"
Yes and no. The first half will be mostly unchanged; the second half will be completely different. I'm dumping the second half where they train the next generation Titans.
discb - "Good start, glad to see this is back."
Thanks!
Densharr - "Glad to see you're redoing this - the original was good, but I agree when you said that it lacked a certain... something after the first dozen chapters."
No doubt, the second half was weak. Even though the story had 500+ reviews I still chose to delete it.
TheThoughtsofKarasu - "Very nice! And just to be sure, Carved in Stone and Bulls Eye on Her Back ARE going to be continued? I panicked slightly when I saw this, I thought you were going to drop the other two. No worries though! I'd love to see where this goes, it sounds interesting."
Carved in Stone is almost done. Then I will resume Bulls Eye and write it in parallel to this story.
titanfan45 - "I am really glad you are bringing this one back. When you deleted the original, I missed rereading the fist chapter as I really like Beast Boy and Raven's reunion. Having him impress her with his revelation of him being the one to create the vaccine that saved the world's dogs was perfect. I am very much looking forward to seeing how this plays out this time around. Thanks for giving this story another chance."
If anyone would come up with that vaccine, it would have to be BB.
