These chapters are coming a lot slower than I thought. I'm sure that I'm not the only one irritated with myself, but I wanted to thank anyone who's still reading. Sorry about being such a mess. Life's been a pain.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
The next morning, Beast Boy giddily made his way to the kitchen. When he entered, he scanned the vicinity but only saw Robin at the table. As usual, the Boy Wonder was preoccupied with his coffee and morning papers. "Robin!" Beast Boy screeched in the loudest voice he could muster. "Do you want some tofu eggs? I can make two servings!" Robin opened his mouth to interject, but by then, the changeling had already taken the liberty of starting to cook the dish.
While the eggs were cooking, Beast Boy decided to occupy himself by conversing with Robin. On the other hand, the Boy Wonder opted to ignore the changeling and to focus on the issue at hand, the morning papers.
While Beast Boy was busy holding a one-sided conversation, Raven silently entered and made her way over to the stove to prepare her tea. As soon as doors revealed her small form, Beast Boy stared expectantly at her as if by doing so, she would speak to him. Robin, noticing the sudden silence, looked up and observed the interaction. Raven, while waiting for her water to boil, sent quick glances to Beast Boy. Realizing that it was her responsibility to start the conversation, she approached him. Right when she was going to greet him, a loud booming voice yelled, "Tofu!? Tofu!?" The owner of the voice, none other than Cyborg, ran towards the table and grabbed Robin. The aggravated leader stopped his observation of the two and glared at Cyborg.
"What?" Robin said through gritted teeth. Cyborg, however, ignored the Boy Wonder and started to take Robin's pulse.
After a moment, Cyborg patted his back. "It's okay, Robin. You'll survive. The tofu hasn't contaminated your bloodstream yet." Cyborg said while sending a glare at the dish.
Before Robin could cough out a snide remark, Beast Boy intervened. "Dude, it's tofu! It isn't going to kill anyone!"
"Is that scientifically proven?" Cyborg said with a raised eyebrow which caused Beast Boy to be silent while thinking of an appropriate comeback. Cyborg, interpreting the silence as a surrender, gave a devilish grin. "It's time for bacon!"
Robin opened his mouth to interrupt but was once again quieted by another Titan. "You...you...carnivore!" Beast Boy yelled.
Cyborg smiled after exchanging looks of astonishment with Robin and patted the changeling's head. "Welcome back, BB. You've been mopey lately, but at least you're back to your usual Grass Stain self."
Beast Boy gave his robotic friend his trademark smile. Then, the doors slid open, revealing another figure. Starfire, entered with Silky in tow. "Friends, the feeling of friendliness has returned!"
Beast Boy awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry if I've been weird lately."
Robin patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's okay, BB. Puberty happens to the best of us."
Beast Boy could do nothing but start sputtering incomprehensible words in retaliation. Raven, on the other hand, only blushed. Thanking Azar that her hood was covering up her face, Raven tried to finish her tea as fast as possible.
Fortunately for the two, the alarm sounded. Robin, immediately taking charge, dropped the papers and proceeded to assign roles after reading the description of the situation. "Raven, get Rorek to the scene," he began. "Cyborg and Beast Boy, take the T-Car and park a several miles away from town center so that Overload can't take control of it. Starfire and I will begin attacking him while the rest of you will close in afterwards."
Once he finished, the team dispersed to their respective places.
Beast Boy ran into the passenger seat and waited for Cyborg. Once the robotic man got in, he began the routine speech while starting up the engine. "Don't touch anything. This includes the buttons and even the cup holder. If you do—"
"Blah, blah, blah. Let's go!" The changeling yelled and pressed a button that he believed was the accelerator. Almost simultaneously, the cup holder popped open.
Cyborg shook his head in disapproval but nonetheless started to move towards the assigned location. Glad that you're back, BB. He thought.
They were able to park the car fairly quickly. However, walking the several miles was a daunting task. Cyborg shook his head. "Man, why would Robin ask us to park the car this far away?"
Beast Boy smirked. "Maybe to get you to stop moaning after your car gets wrecked in a fight." Upon seeing the robotic Titan's appalled face, Beast Boy chuckled. "Now, get on!" With that, the changeling morphed into a rhino and waited for Cyborg to mount him. Once he did, Beast Boy charged to a nearby fire station to ask for the longest hose available. Then, the two headed to the rendezvous location where Robin and Starfire were already distracting Overload.
Robin and Starfire were barraging their foe with projectiles and starbolts but were clearly becoming exhausted. Overload, on the other hand, did not look harmed at all but rather annoyed. The only signs that Robin and Starfire had fought with the villain were the snapped electric wires dangling from their poles and the scorched debris scattered in various places.
For a few moments, Beast Boy and Cyborg waited for Raven and Rorek while prepping for their raid. However, after seeing two figures riding a shadowy disc, the two readied their attacks.
Initiating their group attack, Cyborg fired his sonic cannon with Rorek whom was muttering spells following behind. Beast Boy took this as his cue and morphed into a gorilla. He ran to the closest fire hydrant and plugged the hose into the valve. Once he finished, he signalled Raven to do her part. The ground from the hose opening to that surrounding Overload became pitch black. Before Overload could react, the water started to flow through the trail that Raven's powers created. Soon, the villain became noticeably weaker.
However, because everyone had lowered their guard, Overload took the chance to strike a nearby tree aimed specifically at the source of his weakening. Raven's hovering form was going to be knocked down if not for Beast Boy, who was coincidentally the closest at the time, pushing her out of harm's way.
"Thanks." She said quickly and jumped out of his hold to maintain the path that her powers created while Beast Boy merely smiled at her retreating figure.
There were no hints of awkwardness. He internally remarked. This is a good sign. The changeling, after lingering at the spot for a bit, went back to the fight. However, all his moves were automatic while he let his thoughts carry him. Beast Boy charged at Overload without hesitation and let out a humorless chuckle as a thought came to him. Even if she didn't come, I would still wait for her, wouldn't I? Another chuckle escaped his lips. In her eyes, I must be so pitiful. During a lapse in attacks, he stole a glance at Raven. How can something so pure as liking someone be so painful?
"Raven, now!" Robin yelled while throwing projectiles simultaneously.
The empath nodded in agreement and projected the water upwards since Overload had diminished in size. Soon, all that was left was a circuit card that marked the area where Overload once stood.
Robin nodded his head in approval at the group. "Does anyone want to celebrate with pizza." The whole group looked up and glared at him through the mud and grime that were covering them. The Boy Wonder gave out a nervous laugh. "I guess not."
Therefore, after cleaning themselves, they went straight to bed. Meanwhile, Beast Boy seized the chance to finally approach Raven. He knocked on her door and waited. Standing outside her door for what felt like eternity, Beast Boy was finally awarded with the door sliding open to reveal the empath whom seemed calm as ever.
"Hey," he said awkwardly.
"Long time no talk." Raven stated n a dull monotone.
Beast Boy scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment at the awkwardness. He looked around his surroundings in an attempt to find something to talk about but was met with the simple background that decorated all the walls of the tower. "Good job on today's fight," he said in a shaky voice before cringing at how inarticulate he must have sounded.
However, Raven only nodded, unwilling to comment on his nervousness. Inwardly, she was feeling just as anxious as him and was glad that he decided to approach her first. After excessive thinking, Raven ultimately walked past the threshold of her room and embraced the changeling in a hug. "Listen," she stated, "I'm sorry. I never should've pushed you away."
Beast Boy froze once he felt her tears soak his uniform. All he could do was stand in place and gently pat her back. After all, this was Raven. To hear her admit that she was wrong or to see her display her emotions was a rare sight to behold. As shocked as he was, he had to continue the conversation before the awkwardness set in again. "Well...uh...I forgive you." The two stood in the corridor for the longest time with Beast Boy continuing to comfort the empath until her sniffles and whimpers died down. After several minutes, Beast Boy noticed that her breathing evened out. "Rae? Are you still awake?" Beast Boy asked. However, he was met with silence.
The changeling smiled. Gathering up all of his strength, he carried her off to her bed as gently as possible. When he was sure that she was comfortable, he allowed himself to lean down and quietly mutter the few words that have plagued his mind for the last few months. "Of course I forgive you, Raven. No matter what you do, I'll forgive you because...I've fallen for you."
