Disclaimer: Teen Titans is the property of DC Comics

Chapter 3: The Split:

"I'm worried about him, that split with Robin has him pretty upset," Kole said unable to hide the concern in her voice. A glance at the center of the common room showed that Beast Boy was still sulking on the coach.

"I would not be so concerned, comrade Antonia appears to be attempting to cheer him up. If what comrade Cyborg told me is true, then she should have little to no difficulty in improving his mood," Red Star responded as he gestured to New Zealander who was heading towards the sulking changeling.

"I expected that from Cyborg but really Leonid, you're a gossiper," Kole asked causing Gnarrk to raise a brow. "Wait, why should Argent not have a problem," she continued intrigued.

"The same reason that Jericho would be able to cheer you up easily. I do not gossip, I merely gather information needed to maintain the highest possible quality of field operations," the former Soviet Captain replied.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about," Kole said flustered. "Shush, they've started talking," she added drawing the attention back to their teammates.

"What's up boss man," Argent asked as she sat down next to her distraught leader. When Beast Boy merely smiled weakly she scooted closer and tried again, "Come on Greenie you can talk to me," she coaxed while she put an arm around his shoulders.

Beast Boy sighed before responding, "It's just I don't get it Toni. One minute they're all supportive of me and seem to think I can do this, and then the next Robin gets all Robiny and splits up the Titans while the others don't even say anything about it. This is just like the Doom Patrol towards the end, one minute it all seems great and then something happens that brings it all downhill. I can't help but think that this partly my fault, you know? I mean I've seen this happen before and I didn't do anything to stop it."

Argent stopped to think for a moment before responding, "Don't worry about it Gar, you know how Robin gets when Slade is around, the others probably just didn't want to upset him and set him off. Just because the Titans have differences in opinions and have to work in different groups occasionally doesn't mean that were going to disband or change entirely." She felt a pang of pain as he blamed himself for what was occurring; gently caressing Beast Boy's chin she brought looked into his emerald eyes, and said in a comforting tone, "You listen to me Greenie, no matter what happens none of this was your fault. No one can blame you for wanting to grow up and try to lead." Seeing a slightly surprised look on his face Argent continued, "I don't know if it means much to you, but if the Titans do ever eventually split up… I'd follow your lead."

Beast Boy was silent for a minute letting her words sink in, before continuing the conversation, "I guess you're right Robin's always had an unhealthy obsession with Slade, and splitting up will probably help us bring down the different villain groups faster." 'She has pretty eyes,' Beast Boy thought as her touch made him turn brown in a blush. Then coming out of his thoughts, Beast Boy heard Argent's next comment and felt a slight excitement rise in him. "Really!?" he exclaimed and seeing her nod with a slight small smile, he jumped up unaware of just how closely Argent had been sitting to him. The sudden movement caused her to lose her balance and as she grabbed on to him, and they both fell on the floor. "Sorry about that, got kind of carried away," he muttered, then realizing that the girl was on top of him, he asked rather embarrassed, "So… uh what do we do know?"

"Well, that kind of depends on what you want to happen," Argent whispered in his ear with a mischievous grin.

"Um… uh… you wanna go to the fair," Beast Boy asked, and then added upon seeing a slightly disappointed look on Argent's face, "I am asking you on a date."

"I suppose then that's alright," Argent responded before pecking him on the cheek, "It's a start," she finished as they started to walk towards the door.

"Where are you guys heading out to," Kole asked seeing the two of holding hands as they headed towards the garage. "Are you two going on a date," she teased seeing Beast Boy turn brown and Argent blush slightly.

"As a matter of fact yes," Beast Boy answered. "The rest of you can have the day off, when we're all back we'll call the others and see who's willing to help us against the brotherhood," he added as they entered the garage.

"That was nice of you," Argent commented on him giving the team the day off. Then seeing the look on his face as he got into the driver's seat of the Titans North T-Car she asked, "Do you know how to drive?"

"Sorta… Cyborg really helped me to improve after my eighth attempt at the driving test," Beast Boy replied. Then in response to a questioning glance from Argent he responded, "I'm not joking, but don't worry I'm pretty sure I can manage this." Beast Boy couldn't help but laugh at the look on Argent's face as he started to drive away from the tower.

Boom

"We aint gonna make it," Cyborg exclaimed as he jumped back to avoid a missile launched by one of Slade's larger robots.

"Tell me something I don't know," Raven growled as she threw up a dark energy barrier to protect them from another missile salvo.

"Friends, Robin is attempting to stop Slade in the one on one combat, we should attempt to assist him," Starfire said pointing towards the Titans leader who was a short distance away brawling with the evil mastermind.

"I don't think there's anything we can do Star. I don't know what well do to help ourselves," Cyborg replied firing his both his cannons at the advancing Slade bots. Then getting hit by a moment of aspiration he added, "Hold em, I've got an idea."

"What are you up to Slade," Robin growled as he swung the end of his staff at the villain's head.

"Come now Robin, can't I just be visiting old friends for no specific reason," Slade responded easily dodging the boy wonder's attack. "Though I must admit I'm quite shocked at the impact Beast Boy's departure has had on your performance," he taunted, countering with a powerful jab into Robin's stomach.

"We're not you friends," Robin said weakly before receiving an elbow to the back as he hunched over from the previous blow. 'Where the hell is our back up,' he wondered as he rolled to avoid being stomped on by Slade.

"I'm hurt, what about our alliance during the end of the world," Slade responded with a fake hurt tone. What else he had intended to say was caught off as the T-Car broke out of the garage and slid across the battlefield, launching missiles and firing lasers at the legions of robots attacking the tower.

"Booyah," Cyborg exclaimed as he and the other Titans advanced under the cover of the car's assault.

"That was almost impressive," Slade commented as he watched the scene unfold. Tossing Robin in the direction of the other Titans, he continued grabbing a detonator from his belt. Pressing the button the ground shook as Cinderblock burst out of the ground, destroying the T-Car with a ferocious roar.

"My baby!" Cyborg exclaimed unhappily as he saw the stone giant tearing the car apart, piece by piece.

"Excellent," Slade said with hint of joy in his voice. "Remember this, Titans without your little friends to back you up, you are no match against me," he taunted before pressing another detonator causing Warp to open a portal, allowing him and Cinderblock to escape.

Ding, ding

"O, yah! Told you I could win the dart game," Beast Boy said as he handed Argent a stuffed snake.

"After like your tenth try," Argent countered but found herself unable not to smile at the changeling's joy at having won. "But thanks," she added deciding to concede him that much.

'Dude, this is awesome!' Beast Boy thought as he heard Argent actually thank him, unlike Raven who had made a sarcastic remark when he'd won her a giant chicken. "No problem, I'm just surprised you like having a stuffed Burmese python," he responded. Before asking "What do you want to now?"

"Well, since you already gave me such an awesome gift," Argent answered actually holding the snake close to her, "I'll go buy us a few tickets for some rides."

"You sure, I'll pay," Beast Boy offered, reaching for his wallet.

"Don't worry about it Greenie, I can pay the five bucks for a few rides, I mean you just spent twenty winning me this snake," Argent countered, making her purchase before the changeling could continue the debate with her.

The two then proceeded to spend the next few hours going on the various rides. 'He's actually pretty fun to spend time with, I don't get why Raven seems so annoyed with him all the time.' Argent thought as the pair walked around the pier trying to find something to ride on before heading home. Thinking back on the past few hours, Argent decided that she had had a lot of fun with Beast Boy, sure his jokes weren't all that funny and he had clung on to her a little too tight during the haunted tunnel, but he was sweet and actually pretty funny when he didn't try too hard to be. "What about this one," she asked gesturing towards the tunnel of love.

"Uhh… sure," Beast Boy replied slightly nervous, causing Argent to laugh at his nervousness. Getting into the boat Beast Boy put his arm around Argent and tried to pay attention to the ride. While he utterly failed to remain interested in the various lovey dovey scenes displayed in the ride, he did manage to pretend to be interested enough so as not to distract Argent from the ride. "So did you have fun," he asked as the ride came to a close.

"Yes, I did thank you," Argent replied as she leaned up against him. There was a moment of awkward silence as the two merely looked into each other's eyes. Then taking the initiative Argent leaned in and kissed Beast Boy, who while surprised at first didn't pull away. Once the two had released on another to exit the ride Argent could only laugh as the only thing Beast Boy muttered on the trip home was "Dude."

"So how was your date comrades," Red Star asked as the new couple walked through the doors.

"Awesome," Beast Boy responded while Argent just nodded and leaned against him, squeezing the stuffed snake.

"Good, I'm glad you all had fun," Red Star said, before continuing in his usual serious tone, "Shall we contact our supporters in the coming battle?" Receiving a confirming nod, he added, "Opening a channel now."

The main screen in the Titans North's common room then brought up and image of Titans South, Lighting and Thunder, and a final image of Jinx and Kid Flash. Glancing over the three images Beast Boy felt a slight moment of pride, he had managed to bring together more Titans than he had expected. Pausing for a moment while he carefully pondered his next words.

"Nice going BB, Toni is a great catch," Kid Flash teased upon seeing how close Argent and Beast Boy were sitting,

Causing Jinx to slap him while she huffed, "Wally what did I tell you about that."

"Ah, come on Jinxy I was only teasing them, you know I only have eyes for you," the speedster countered soothing his girlfriend.

"Uh... thanks I think," Beast Boy replied. "Anyways, I want to thank you all for meeting with me. I know that without Robin and the other original Titans with us we may not seem like much, but rest assured we will prevail. Our foe is one we are all familiar with, the Brotherhood of Evil as we all know is both cunning and ruthless. They came close to defeating us once before, and they have beaten the Doom Patrol on numerous occasions, yet we can not falter. We are the last line, no the only line of defense against their cruelty, we all saw what they were willing to do in Paris and believe me when I say that they will do so again without pause or remorse. We can not fail, we will not fail, we will hold out against the tide of tyranny. We will hold the line, we will uphold the principals of justice. The Brotherhood will try every trick they know, they will show no mercy, yet we can not falter. We will hold the line no matter what they try, and believe me when I say they will try all the tricks they know with no mercy. Yet we will hold the line, we will not falter no matter what they try or attempt. We will hold the line," Beast Boy said trying to use what he learned from Mento and Robin to sound inspiring. After letting his words sink in for a minute he said what he had been dreading to offer, "I can't promise you that we'll all make it back. I understand that the Doom Patrol motto of no matter the cost can't be forced upon anyone, so if any of you want to leave now, I understand."

While he was surprised when none of the other Titans mentioned wanting to back out, Beast Boy was even more surprised to hear Thunder say, "My brother and I are at your service Garfield, where do you want us to search?"

Followed by Jinx asking, "We are to, where do you need us Greenie?"

"Thank you all," Beast Boy replied grateful for their support. Then after a moment's consideration of what to do, he responded, "Ok dudes and dudettes, since we know the Brotherhood is likely still in Europe, we're going to divide and conquer. Titans South you guys are going to look through Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium and the United Kingdom, remember to look into rumors of suspicious activity in old medieval castles. For some reason the Brotherhood seems to have a real soft spot of castles to use as their base. Thunder and Lighting you guys will rendezvous with Jinx and Flash to investigate the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Poland. While well take the Baltic States, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. If anyone finds even the slightest sign of the Brotherhood call it in and we'll regroup to take them out together."

Receiving no complaints the screen went blank as the other Titans scrambled to head to their various destinations. "Excellent job Beast Boy, with us searching in sectors the Brotherhood will soon find themselves running out of places to hide," Red Star commented.

"Thanks," Beast Boy replied glad that his plan made since in strategic terms. "Well I suppose now we have to call Robin and let him know that we'll be out of the states for the foreseeable future," he added unhappily at the thought of having his plan criticized in every aspect by the boy wonder.

"We don't have to do it right now if you don't want to Gar, let's go out to eat and we can call them when we get back," Argent suggested seeing the changeling's mood darken.

"Good idea come on Toni I heard about a great vegetarian place this afternoon," Beast Boy happily exclaims pulling his girlfriend by the arm. Then as his initial joy settled down he added, "Uh... that is if you like Tofu."

Argent had to stop and consider this for a moment, she had never had tofu before but if it was anything like what Cyborg made it out to be then she doubted she would like it. On the other hand however Beast Boy seemed to really like it and she was pretty sure Cyborg was exaggerating about the taste. Deciding to go ahead and take a chance she replied, "Sure, sounds great." Laughing slightly and rolling her eyes how excited Beast Boy got, Argent allowed herself to be lead out to the car, where she held up her hands and grabbed the keys before teasing, "Since we probably want to get there in one piece I'll drive this time."

Stomp, Stomp

"Vill you stop vith that damned pacing vou stupid ape," Madame Rouge hissed as Minseuor Mallah paced back and forth in the helicopter's passenger hold.

"How can you be zo calm while ze Mazter zits in jail," the gorilla responded, still upset over having to abandon the Brain.

"Relax Immortus has a plan, he alvays has a plan," the villainess assured him, not entirely lying.

"Hiz plan haz uz going to Mozcow, that iz in ze exact oppizate direction of the Mazter," Minseour Mallah complained.

"Trust us, ve know precisely vhat ve are doing," Rouge countered again not lying entirely to the ape. Who had by now started to become extremely suspicious of the two, who seemed to be entirely to at ease with the current situation.

Meanwhile in the next room General Immortus sat at a monitor preparing a secure communication link with his newest partner. "All proceeds according to plan, we will be crossing the Belorussian border soon. If Rouge rallies Mallah up any further we won't even have to worry about him playing his role, are the others in position," the General reported.

"Yes, our agents both in the nation and abroad are ready. Once Rouge receives the codes from Overload and Control Freak I will give the signal. Remember that this has to be believable, so I'd you deem it necessary lose some of our expendable agents as well," Slade responded as various dots appeared on the General's map.

"Of course, this ruse is one of the easiest to pull off, even if we're attempting it on grander scale. I am concerned though, how do you intend to make our foes in Jump react the in the desired fashion," Immortus asked as he arranged the dots in a more useful manner and array.

"Leave that to me, I have contacted our friend in the pit. He assures us in his ability to get the dark pawn into play, after that it will merely be a matter of pushing them in the right direction to get the correct responses. In the meantime use the operation channels if you need to initiate communications, we can't risk being discovered yet," Slade responded before ending the communication.

Thud

"Are you okay Gar, I told you this was a bad idea," Argent asked concerned as Beast Boy returned to his human form.

"I'm great actually, you're awesome I can't even remember the last time I had this much fun. A little crash at the end won't ruin today, it was actually pretty fun. I mean you did warn me," Beast Boy responded getting up and rubbing his head. After dinner he had gotten the idea to do the normal thing and take Argent home, the problem being that they lived at the same place and his lack of driving abilities. While the first was unfixable, the second he had decided could be overcome by him morphing into a pterosaur and carrying Argent home in his back. After some assurances that she wouldn't through off his balance Beast Boy had been able to convince her to go along with it, and it had actually gone well minus the landing, or well more accurately the crash.

"Thanks you're pretty great yourself," Argent said blushing and then seeing Beast Boy limping, she continued with her concern, "Are you sure you're okay?" While he initial just shrugged it off Argent persisted putting his arm around her so she could help him walk. "At least let me help up you in tough guy," she said as they limped thought to door.

"Robin called and he is ticked off for some reason," Kole informed them as they entered the common room. Then seeing that Beast Boy limped she asked concerned, "Are you guys alright, should I have Gnarrk pull some wires and call them back later."

"I'm fine, just a rough landing. Thanks but I suppose now is as good time as any to talk to him," Beast Boy replied.

"Alright Grass Stain, I didn't know you worked so fast man," Cyborg exclaimed seeing how close Argent sat next to him her shoulder resting on his shoulder and an arm draped over her shoulders.

"Oh that is most glorious, perhaps you and friend Argent can go on the double dates with Robin and I." Starfire said cheerily, unaware of of the tension between the changeling and boy wonder that had yet to cool.

"Mind telling us where you've been all day? We were under attack by Slade and got no response, I thought you said you could handle leading your own team," Robin asked clearly irritated. "We even lost the T-Car do you know how much that will cost to replace?"

"Dude, I'm sorry I was out with Toni all day. I'm so sorry for your lose Cy," Beast Boy replied wondering how his friend was taking the destruction of his "baby".

While Beast Boy looked as though he was going to continue, Robin interrupted him sounding more condescending than the boy wonder had intended "That's your excuse? You were on a date? Beast Boy when you're in charge you need to always be ready to react."

"Now hold up Robin, with all do respect you're overreacting. First of all it was my idea to leave our communicators, secondly when we all took today off none of us expected to be called, and finally Garfield already apologized, you don't have to make him feel worse about it. I know you're mad, I understand that but no one was seriously hurt and it wasn't even his fault," Argent interrupted earning surprised looks from the majority of the Titans present.

"Beast Boy is in charge he should have taken responsibility and brought his communicator," Robin responded ignoring the glare the New Zealander shot him. "But on to different matters, have you contacts the Titans that want to help you find the Brotherhood," he asked deciding to end the previous debate.

"Yes I did, we're going to be spread out over Europe. So I'm sorry if we can't drop everything and come running over every time you need help," Beast Boy answered surprising some of the present Titans with the tone of his response. But alas he had had enough with his former leader's tone, accidental or not. Then even more surprising was one he signaled for Gnarrk to pull the wires, effectively cutting off the communication.

"He's such an ass are you ok Gar," Argent asked as she wrapper her arms around him tenderly.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," he responded pecking her on the forehead. Then after a moment he said, "Let get ready to go, we've got a long flight ahead of us."

Beep, Beep

"Ah, come on I was preparing the casket," Cyborg whined as he left the large metal casing he had built around the remains of the T-Car. "Who is it this time," he asked hoping that it wasn't some minor crime that the scanners had accidently picked up.

"Trident and Plasmus they're attacking the harbor," Robin informed when suddenly three more flashing red dots appeared on the screen. "Damn Slade just showed up at S.T.A.R. labs, while Red X and Cinderblock just launched an attack in the warehouse district," he explained.

"I just got off the line with Bushido and Bumblebee, they've both offered to bring their teams to help but they're around a half hour out. Titans East can go to the harbor, while Titans West is offering to go to the warehouses," Cyborg said before rather unhappily adding, "That just leaves Slade for us."

"Need some help Dick," a feminine voice asked startling the Titans.

"Barbara what are you doing here?" Robin asked shocked at who it was.

"Batman and I were able to successfully bring in the Joker, so when he heard you were down a member he agreed that I should come and help," Barbara Gordon answered him unaware of the strange glances that Starfire gave her.

AN: A little late but work prevented me from updating and then my computer had a panic attack or something and rearranged all my files so it took me awhile to find it, but anyways here's the update the next one should be on time.

Next Time: The Titans engage their various foes and Slade reveals the next part of his plan.

Juvenual: Thanks, there will be more from now on

Guest: Thanks that part of plot will be revealed upon shortly

The Flying Frog: Thanks, I hope I've done okay in my portrayal of Slade so far.

GhostHornet: Thanks