Two Years, Nine Months and Four Days

Raven watched the vast whiteness flow by the window as they descended through the clouds and smiled sadly. Fitting that my first view of what-could-have-been is going to be in such a dreary place.

"Arriving at the landing co-ordinates... now." The occupants of the craft barely felt the tell tale bump as the Javelin finally touched down. Cyborg was up nearly before the door finished opening, tapping on a panel inset into his arm. "Team, we've got a short hike before we hit the rendez-vous. Jinx, you guard the bird here and stay in radio contact. Raven, you're with-"

"Now hold on, Vic. You've never told me what to do, and you're not going to start now." Jinx held her hand up to Cyborg's lips, stifling his protests. "Now, we're safe here. This is neutral ground, so there's no need for me to guard the 'bird' here. Secondly, I am perfectly aware that I'm pregnant, so you don't need to be worried about me taking stupid risks or trying to take out a supervillain - which there won't be any here anyways. Finally, it's been years since I've seen the kid. Don't you think that I want to see him for myself?"

He held up a hand to argue for a second before he cocked his head, and then deflated. "Fine. You can come. But we're dropping you off either in Jump or the Watchtower before we hunt down Rouge and the Brotherhood, okay?" Not even waiting to listen to her answer, he turned and raised his arm before he walked out. Jinx exchanged a look with Raven before hurrying off after her husband.

I wonder how changed he'll really be. There wasn't really any real sort of scale in the League video, considering that I have no idea how tall Green Lantern and Hawkgirl are. I last saw him as a teen of eighteen, barely taller than I am.

"Alright guys, we're here." Raven looked around to the clearing that Cyborg was indicating. It wasn't much – a terrace on one of the island chain's mountains, with a couple trees and bushes scattered around. She could see why Cyborg had landed nearly a kilometre away – there wasn't nearly enough room on the mountainside to support their vehicle. Looking over the edge of the terrace, to the east, she fairly imagined that he could see the continent of Africa just beyond the horizon, even though it laid hundreds of kilometres away.

"Took you long enough, Cyborg." Raven turned and saw a figure leap down from the cliff above. Impressive That cliff's got to be at least thirty feet high, and he doesn't look the worse for landing. She tried to get a better look at the figure, but she could only see the shaggy hair on top of the figure's head over Cyborg's bulk.

"Man, it's been too long. You should have stuck around this year."

"We can catch up on the way. Are the T-Ship's engines primed? It's no short hop to Canada, you know."

"We retired the T-Ship a while ago, actually. The League hooked us up with a Javelin." Cyborg's sensors picked up a hint of movement; Raven was pulling her hood up and trying to see who was on his other side. With a carefully composed look on his face, he told the stranger that they had a guest that he thought that he'd like to see. "An old... friend, B."

"Dude, I keep telling you. Call me Changeling."

"Nah, you'll always be B to me, man. And now, presenting-"

"I don't believe that introductions are necessary, Cyborg. After all, we're old friends, aren't we Beast Boy?"

Raven pulled back her hood as she looked... up to see the green man's face. Whoa... tall. He's taller than Cyborg now. He was wearing little more than a loose pair of dark pants, but his upper torso was covering in tribal tattooing. She was surprised to note more than a hint of magic emanating from the bold traceries; she'd need to remember to ask him about them later.

"Ra-Ra-Raven?"

"Were you expecting someone else?"

"Bu-Bu-Bu..."

"I know, I'm supposed to be dead. It's a long stor-" Raven's voice was cut off as she was enveloped in a fierce green hug. She'd read passages in her books about how some women compared being held in their lover's arms as hiding behind a wall. Although his weren't quite wall-like, she could easily see that he surpassed Nightwing's muscle tone. She could feel a dampness on her head, and when she looked up, she could see a trickle of tears falling off of Changeling's face.

"You're alive."

.

.

.

.

(No, I'm not going to end it there. Although I was seriously tempted.)

- - - oOo - - -

Raven watched the white sea of clouds pass beneath her as she let her empathy extend to the rear of the Javelin. After the tearful reunion with Beast Boy, Cyborg had gotten her to warm up the ship with Jinx as he brought the changeling back with him. Raven had gratefully accepted, feeling the turmoil rolling off of the green man and his cybernetic friend.

"So, is he everything that you thought that he'd be?"

"Jinx!" Raven tried to hush the other woman "They can hear you!"

"Not if we don't want them to" Jinx remarked, inclining her head to rear of the craft. Raven rolled her eyes and erected a barrier in between them and the men, taking an extra moment to absolutely null anything from crossing, be it odours, sound waves or even air. "Now, Raven, spill."

"He's just so... big. I know it's been close to three years for him, but he's even taller than Cyborg now. What in Azar's name happened?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. Truth be told, this is the first time that I've actually seen him for years. When he left, he was barely taller than you are now. Vic's caught sight of him once or twice over the years, always around the same time of year, the Doom Patrol's mentioned him a few times, and the League's said something about a pair of its members keeping tabs on him every other week or so, in case they have need of him. Other than that, he's completely dropped off the radar."

"Beast Boy? Off the radar?" Raven shook her head in disbelief. "Not possible. You're talking about the guy who constantly promoted the 'benefits' of tofu merely for the attention." At Jinx's frank look, Raven coloured slightly. "We would occasionally talk, you know. Usually in the middle of the night. He'd wake me up with the violent emotions from his dreams, and we'd sit on the roof and talk. He never told me what the dreams were about, specifically, but I've got a few guesses." The Beast. Terra. Soto. Who'd guess that he'd have so many things torturing him? "He'd tell me mostly about adventures when he was off by himself. He's travelled pretty extensively, you know."

"Hmm. Vic was right."

"What are you talking about?"

"Vic figured that there was something between you two. He didn't know what was, but he knew that it involved the rooftop cameras."

"...There's cameras on the roof?"

"You didn't know? Figures – you're not that handy around electronics. So he was right again, dammit. Now I owe him twenty bucks." At Raven's upraised eyebrow, Jinx laughed. "I bet that Beast Boy knew nothing about electronics, so it must have been you who cleared the tapes, no matter how unlikely. Cyborg said something about BB hacking the Tower systems to find out your birthday, but I didn't believe him. Guess I should have, hmmm?"

Raven let loose an exasperated sigh. "Yes, you should have. There's a lot that he concealed from us. I can feel the guys waiting for us to drop the wall."

"In that case, you never answered my question."

"Excuse me?"

"What do you think of the new BB?"

"He's certainly... different."

"Different? Girl, are you made of ice? That man is smokin'!" She smirked at the blush that crept up Raven's cheeks. "I mean, he's giving Aqualad a run for his money. He's really buffed out. And can you feel his aura? Rooooowr. Down, Tiger." Jinx let a smirk creep onto her face. "Literally, if he wanted."

Raven's cheeks were redder than the setting sun leaving the sky. "You can stop now, Jinx."

"Not a chance. Not until you admit that he's hot stuff." Jinx could see the indecision warring across Raven's aura before it turned to acceptance and the petite girl's shoulders fell.

"Alright. You win. I'll admit that I find Beast Boy... attractive. Happy?"

"Like you have no idea. You can drop the wall now, by the way." The men gave the females a curious look, but they waved it off.

"So, B here was telling me some of his time in Africa." Raven didn't need empathy to hear the thinly veiled lie when she heard it, but she decided to let it slide. "And apparently, he's helped train a few heroes on his own from there." Cyborg produced a memory card that he slid into his arm. "Regardless, here's the low-down on what B's collected from Africa, along with some supplementary info from the League."

"The League?"

"Damn straight, Rae." Beast Boy's characteristic grin hadn't seemed to have changed a bit throughout the years, even though Raven could still sense the turmoil brewing behind the disarming smile. "John and Shay hooked me up. They intercepted a probe a while back, and it had the new intel on it."

"John and Shay?"

"Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, Rae. They're pretty cool. John taught me some neat tricks he learned from Oa – remind me to show you sometime."

Cyborg gently angled the ship back towards the earth before he grabbed an handset that looked oddly out of place on the gleaming ship.

"And now landing back in Jump City, California. I ask that you please return your trays and footrests to their stowed and locked positions. It hasn't really grown much since you last visited, B, but I bet that it's a sight for sore eyes now, eh?" Cyborg steered the Javelin through the clouds and down onto the landing pad. "We'll rest up here tonight, and then we'll get going in the morning."

"I need to make a call – I'll see you guys in the morning." Beast Boy shifted into a sparrow and flew down the hatch and out into a corridor.

- - - oOo - - -

Cyborg called up the Tower computer as he entered his apartment. "JARVIS, can you trace Changeling's call? I wanna know what's going on."

"Master Stone, it would be highly improper. One would assume that since he retired for the night, the call is private."

"Ya damn hunk of metal, I didn't build you to be sassy. Now trace that call. Override privacy protocols, Authorisation Stone Pi one one zero."

"Authorisation accepted. Attempting trace..."

Cyborg tapped his foot impatiently. Whoever Changeling was calling, they had given him some sweet tech. JARVIS could usually trace any call within a matter of heartbeats.

"Sir, I cannot trace the exact destination of the call. However, I can confirm that the signal leaves the atmosphere and does not jump back to earth."

"...Not back to Earth, eh? He must be calling the Watchtower. Likely Hawkgirl or GL. I wonder what's going on. JARVIS..." Cyborg trailed off. Did he really want to intrude more and try and spy on the call? On the one hand, it could give him insight into this new Beast Boy. On the other, Red Tornado or Mr. Terrific would likely catch him snooping around on their comm signals and give him a lecture. Again.

"Sir?"

"Never mind, JARVIS. I'll just ask the grass stain later."

- - - oOo - - -

Raven stood outside the small room set aside for Beast Boy in the Tower. Although he had resigned his commission, Cyborg had set aside a small room for him in case he ever decided to visit. It was, ironically enough, his old room. The irony of her standing outside his door, unable to summon the will to knock, didn't escape her. How many times over the years had he been the one outside her door, emotions awhirl with trepidation and nervousness, willing himself to do the same act the she couldn't now. Summoning a deep breath, she reached forward and knocked on the door.

The sound of her knuckles hitting the solid steel thundered through the silent corridors like an explosion. A half dozen heartbeats passed before she could hear Beast Boy shuffling towards the door. The door opened and his shadow loomed over her. She coloured slightly as she realised that she didn't even reach his collarbone.

"What can I do for ya, Raven?"

"Uh..." Raven felt the colour rising in her cheeks again. What was it about him that could do this to her?

"Rae?"

She cursed silently. What had she come here to ask him about again? Quick, think of something... anything.

"I noticed traces of magic emanating from your tribal markings, but their origin wasn't familiar to me. I was hoping that you could elaborate for me."

The green man's cocked back for a sec before he let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his neck. "Ummm, Rae? I kinda lost my Raven to English dictionary when I left for Africa. Care to translate?"

"Your tattoos. They're magic, but not anything that I recognise."

"Oh..." he traced a line running up his arm. A light from Changeling's room shone from behind him, and she could make out some of the markings. He seemed to be tracing a stylized weasel-type creature. "It's... a long story, Raven, and we have a big day tomorrow. Can I get a rain check on that?"

She nodded and held up her hand, but was surprised at what came out. "Are you sure that I can't convince you to tell me tonight? You know how I am with unsolved mysteries; if you don't tell me, I'm going to be up all night anyways trying to figure it out."

"...You got me again, Raven. Come on in. I've just got to finish up this call. You don't mind, do ya?" Without waiting for a reply, he slipped back into the room, leaving the door open for the sorceress as he headed back to the console sitting at the desk. "Alright, Big J, something's come up. Catch ya later?"

"That is acceptable, Changeling. Do you still wish to attend your Thursday lesson? I sense that there is something that you are not telling me."

"I'll... get back to you 'bout Thursday, alright? I told you that the Brotherhood is back, so I might be busy then. Just be sure to pass along my message, alright?"

"It shall be done. Watchtower out."

Raven stared at her former teammate with no small amount of shock. "Was that... the Martian Manhunter? And did you just call him Big J?"

"Yeah, J'onn's a pretty cool guy once you get past the stony face. A lot like you, Rae. He's been helping me with some of my powers. See?" He grinned, and before her eyes, she could see his teeth deforming as they sharpened and moved forward for the three extra rows of razor sharp teeth growing in behind them. A second later, they turned back into the familiar human teeth with the sharp canines. "He's been helping me control my shapeshifting ability so I only change one specific trait. Like the shark teeth."

Raven was astounded. Not only was he playing with his powers in a way that she doubted any of the team had even thought of, but he was on friendly speaking terms with nearly half of the Founding Members of the Justice League.

"So, what did you want to know about my tattoos? Only a few questions, then I should really be getting to bed. Gotta sleep off today's jet lag, plus there's going to be a big fight tomorrow."

She pursed her lips. Only a few questions? Alright, I can do that. "When did you get them?"

"I got them not too long after I got to Africa."

"..." Raven waited for her companion to continue. As he showed no sign of continuing (and kept flashing her that damned smirk), she glared at him.

"What, you want more than that?" He grinned cheekily. "That'll cost ya another question."

"Fine. How did you get them?"

"That's a bit more complex. Truth is, I don't really know myself."

Raven quirked her eyebrow.

"Heh. Lemme explain what I mean..."

- - - oOo - - -

...and that's pretty much the end of my buffer – now, should I post chapters as they come, or take a month-long hiatus and resume regular updates after that?

Of course, I wouldn't leave you guys in the lurch for that long – I have some minor stuff that I could post during the interim. Anybody interested?

As for the buffer disappearing... blame the people who got me the entire series of Witchblade, Firefly (INCLUDING the Big Damn Movie) and Chicago Code. Thanks, mei mei. (For those of you who don't speak Firefly, that's little sister)