DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Teen Titans!!! Awww… :(
Hey guys; sorry it took so long to update; but I-
Hang on; I'm going to make my excuses at the end because I'm sure you're ready to read instead of listening to my blabbing… :D
On with the FanFiction!
Chapter 10
Beast boy…
Gar finished washing dishes and he began to dry them, placing them in their proper places and standing back to admire his work upon finishing.
"Well, that's the last of them…"
Ever since moving back into the Tower, he'd become a chore-hound.
His room was spotless, the refrigerator was clean, the dishes were getting washed, and the floor never went without being vacuumed.
Oddly; he didn't mind cleaning; since everyone else was doing the crime-fighting, it was the least he could do.
He had also been working out a lot to occupy time; having already been muscular; his muscles became more defined.
Raven was never in her room; which was the only way that his friends' behavior was different than before.
She spend all of her time at bookstores, looking for the book that Beast boy had used to change the past.
She didn't have the book in her collection; so she assumed that she had not yet acquired it, and dedicated her time to finding it.
The Tower was silent, seeing as how the skilled members of the team had left to fight crime. The silence was peaceful yet lonely.
Gar took comfort in the fact that he wasn't completely useless; the team consulted him for his information on how to defeat certain villains, since he had more experience fighting them than the others.
He turned as the door to the elevator slid open with a hiss to reveal Raven, her slender arms full of books.
She walked past Beast boy and dropped them onto the table neatly.
She turned and looked at Gar expectantly. He walked over to the table, he emerald eyes scanning the array of spell books.
"Nope…"
He shook his head sadly.
Raven sighed and flopped down into a chair, pinching the bridge of her nose between her forefingers,
"Why can't I find it?"
He sat down next to her,
"Hey, you'll find it…"
His sweet breath fanned across her face, and once again the fuzzy emotion that was not hers stirred; making her stomach do summersaults.
She ignored that the best she could; shoving the unfamiliar emotion into an air-tight mental drawer.
She pulled her hood down to reveal her pallid face, "It's amazing how many books there are by the title "Do Over"…"
She shook her head in disbelief.
Gar picked up one of the books,
"You can't just use one of these other books to send me back in time again?"
Her eyes narrowed,
"No, because I don't know exactly how the spell worked; using another spell to try to undo an unknown spell is never a good idea; especially when dealing with time travel; and could obliterate the space-time continuum."
His shoulders slumped, "Oh…"
Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg then entered the room with pizza boxes in hand,
"Thought you two might be hungry."
Robin sat a few pizza boxes down in front of Beast boy and Raven.
Beast boy opened the box to see what was in it; he pulled out a slice of veggie pizza, and placed it on a plate, also grabbing a plate for Raven.
He walked to the table and rummaged through the pizza boxes until he found Raven's favorite, handling it with a napkin, so as not to touch the meat, and placed the plate in front of her.
She looked up from her book at the pizza, then at Beast boy,
"Thanks… How did you know- never mind."
He smiled broadly and took a bite of his pizza.
In the Real World…
Raven lagged behind the large group of eight teen heroes. They were headed back to the Tower; all of their feet dragging.
Even Bumblebee and Cyborg's usual playful banter seemed forced in an attempt to alleviate the tension. They had searched long and hard; and come up empty.
Speedy yawned and rubbed his eyes,
"What time is it?"
Cyborg checked the digital clock on his arm,
"Two a.m."
Starfire still flew overhead, searching in vain. Bumblebee walked beside Cyborg, her wings drooping from exhaustion,
"Sparky, where do you think he is?"
"I don't know, Bee."
They all stopped walking as Raven interjected,
"I just can't think of a plausible reason… If he left willingly; I can't find the trigger. He was perfectly fine. There is also no evidence of foul play… It just doesn't add up."
The group of eight had all but forgotten the about the brooding ninth addition to their group; and were slow to reply. Cyborg was the one to respond,
"You're right. It doesn't make sense that he would run away, and there is no evidence to show that he was taken by force. I'm really hitting a blank here guys. I can't understand it…"
"Unless there is evidence that we're missing."
They all turned to face the speaker, who had been silent throughout their conversation,
"What do you mean Robin?"
"I mean: there is no reason for Beast boy to have left on his own, right?"
They all nodded in unison, "So that leaves one option: someone made him leave."
Starfire had landed to walk along with them somewhere in the middle of the conversation,
"But Robin, how would the captors keep Beast boy contained? He is very capable of escaping a bad situation, yes?"
Robin nodded meaningfully,
"Yes he is."
Bumblebee was getting impatient; she placed her hands on her hips,
"That doesn't explain why he's been missing for ten days!"
Robin crossed his arms over his chest,
"That is…unless they're not keeping him contained."
"? De que estas hablando?", the twin named Mas inquired; Aqualad punctuated his question,
"Yeah Robin; what are you talking about?"
Robin sighed, frustrated that he had to continue,
"I mean; if Beast boy were being held captive; he would've escaped by now…"
Cyborg froze in realization,
"You don't mean-"
Robin's shoulders slumped,
"Right now; that looks like the most probable conclusion…"
"NO!"
They all wheeled to see who had yelled. To their surprise; it had been Raven.
The postal box beside her spewed its contents up into the air, and the papers fluttered frenetically in the air before landing back on the ground.
Raven gasped, then squeezed her eyes shut, sinking to her knees and clutching the sides of her head. She began chanting her mantra and within a few seconds she relaxed and stopped.
She kept her eyes shut and remained sitting on the ground, letters strewn chaotically around her.
She slowly opened her lilac eyes,
"Robin…next time you decide to unveil another one of your disturbing theories…You might want to consider warning me first."
Her voice was even and without inflection, but everyone could tell that she was just as perplexed as everyone else.
Robin frowned, "I'm sorry, I didn't know how else to say it."
Raven nodded and swiftly got to her feet, then used her powers to put all of the mail back into the box.
Bumblebee finally got over her shock,
"So you're saying that you think that Beast boy is…you know…gone?"
Starfire finally picked up on what they were talking about and began to sob loudly into her hands.
Cyborg stared blankly ahead as what his girlfriend had said sunk in.
Robin was desperate to stop the grief-stricken tears of his beloved,
"Whoa! Hold it Titans!"
They all looked up at him,
"There's no proof to guarantee my theory! It's just that, right now, anything should be considered an option! There's still no guarantee that he didn't just run off somewhere on vacation."
The rest of the Titans then switched into optimism mode, just as he'd known that they would. Cyborg attempted to cheer everyone up,
"Okay y'all, it's a Saturday! Why don't we have a movie night?"
The rest of the group played along and began to discuss the plans for the gathering walking quickly toward the Tower.
All except one.
Robin looked over his shoulder; Raven still stood motionless in the middle of the street. He walked over to stand beside her,
"You alright?"
She nodded silently.
Robin could tell that she didn't want him to leave, but she didn't want to talk either, so he just stood there with her; watching the skyline. The stars glittered up in the sky; it was a breathtaking sight.
Raven's monotonous voice nudged him out of his reverie,
"Robin…I…"
She cleared her throat nervously,
"I'm still so confused…I don't know how I feel, and…and I…I miss him…"
Robin contemplated what to say,
"I'm always here if you want to talk about it."
"I'm not sure how to. I can't even figure out how I feel; all of these emotions keep running through my head, and I can't even figure out what some of them are!"
Correction, what one of them is…
She gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists tightly; digging her fingernails into the skin of her palms.
Robin didn't know what to think; she seemed to be in physical pain; yet she had told him that her problem was mental, not physical.
She turned away from him to organize her thoughts and shove her erratic emotions away. When she turned around to face him again; she had complete control.
Robin was shocked at how fast she shifted from being on the verge of tears to her usual stoic self. He simply stood there; unsure of what to do. Raven sensed his uncertainty through her empathic abilities,
"I'm okay, Robin. This is probably something that I need to work out on my own…"
He sighed in relief,
"So are you coming?"
She nodded, and then fell into step beside him headed for the Tower.
Beast boy…
Gar lay stretched out on his bed; his room abnormally spotless.
Hey, I like a clean room; if I ever get back home; I'm never letting it get messy again!
He smiled,
I guess I'm kinda home… Sorta. I'm in my house, I'm with my friends…but I feel like I don't belong without my powers. I guess being a mutant has its perks…
He laughed to himself as he tossed a football into the air for the sole purpose of catching it. He contemplated what he would do if he ever returned things to normal,
I guess I'd tell Raven how I feel… I'd tell her that I love her!
"Heh heh, I even feel weird saying that in my own head!"
I know I'll never be able to do it…she'd reject me. She'd break my heart; so it's better left unsaid, I guess.
He sighed.
I guess she'll never know-
A high-pitched shriek ringing down the halls yanked him out of his internal conversation,
"Eeeeeeeeeeeek!"
He rolled off the top bunk and landed jarringly on the balls of his feet.
It was something that was a learned trait from his experiences as a changeling; it hadn't turned out like he'd planned without his animal instincts to guide him, but he ignored the pain that shot up his legs and broke into a run,
"Starfire!"
He ran out of his room and down the hall at a normal human speed; he noted how different his speed was than he was used to. It seemed to take forever for him to make it down the hall.
Raven rushed out of her door as he ran past it; she kept pace with Beast boy easily, and they ran side by side towards Starfire's room.
Cyborg joined them as they arrived and they all skidded to a stop.
Robin stood outside the door, his face flushed and his breathing heavy as if he'd just run a mile.
Raven, Beast boy, and Cyborg all stood looking at him quizzically. He tugged at the collar of his uniform nervously and he cleared his throat,
"We really need to put names on these doors…"
He then walked away down the hall and entered the crime lab.
Cyborg looked at Raven and Beast boy then they all looked at Starfire's door, Raven stepped forward and knocked,
"Starfire, what happened?"
The door slid open to reveal Starfire in her pajamas and robe, a towel on her head, bunny slippers on her feet, and her face in a green mud-mask,
"Friend Robin interrupted my painting of the nails."
She held up her hand to show her unfinished fingernails,
"If you would excuse me, Friends; I would like to finish with the 'making over' of myself."
The three nodded, and she shut her door back with a flourish.
After the door was shut, Cyborg and Beast boy shared a look, and then busted out laughing.
Raven crossed her arms,
"Boys…"
She then walked to her room and shut the door behind her.
Later that Day…
Gar sat on the couch next to Cyborg, both of their fingers flying as they played their video game.
Robin was in the Evidence Room organizing and Starfire stood behind the couch contentedly watching the digital battle on the huge TV.
Raven sat at the kitchen table with a mug of herbal tea and a thick leather-bound book.
Everything was as it should be.
Suddenly the alarm went off and all of the Titans jumped to their feet.
Robin swiftly ran into the room and typed a code into the computer. He turned to the rest of the team;
"There's trouble down at the bank!"
He then turned to Beast boy,
"Do you know what's going on?"
Gar counted the days on his fingers muttering to himself,
"Oh! Um, yeah. The Hive is attacking!"
He quickly rattled off a list of instructions for how to win quickly without having the Hive take over the Tower.
As the rest of his team sped away, he couldn't help but to wish that he were going with them…
Back at the Tower…
Raven walked into her room at 4:00 a.m. She was exhausted from the long day of searching, and then to top it off, she'd stayed up to watch that movie.
What in the world compelled me to do something that stupid! I shouldn't have watched that movie; I should've gone to bed…
She groggily threw her communicator into her dresser drawer quickly shutting it; and then she took off her cloak and leotard, exchanging them for a pair of black shorts and a baggy tee-shirt. She collapsed onto her soft bed and drifted off instantly…
Well, hope you enjoyed!
This chapter was a pain to type! I had it written down; and all I had to do was type it up; and I just couldn't seem to get it together!
I had been banned from the computer this weekend; so I was working on typing this chapter yesterday!
Then I got distracted because I really wanted to type this one-shot that I wrote this weekend in the car; 'Blame it on the Mistletoe".
It's a cute story; and it's really short; it won't take long to read!
Plus it's the holiday season, and I had a lot of stuff to do for Christmas this weekend and yesterday! This is probably my last update for winter break; I have a lot of stuff to do!
Sorry guys; I hope that this chapter was long enough to hold you over!
Please review;
I love to hear from you guys! Tell me what you thought about my explanation of the name-plates!
Did it live up to your expectations?
Was it funny enough?
Let me know!
Oh, and I was reading 'Collateral Damage' by Novus Ordo Seclorum; it's great! I really love it!
And 'CONSEQUENCES' by drowninginthedark123 is awesome too!
Well,
Later Days and Merry Christmas!
(whichever you prefer!)