Chapter 10 – My Heroine
AN1: Thanks to everybody who attempted to 'motivate' me; it was really working until I met a boy, then got dumped by said boy, then got pissed off at boy when found out boy was lying, cheating, bastard…you see, I didn't want my seriously skewed perceptions on relationships to taint the wonderful story in my head! With how I was feeling, Raven would have gone on a homicidal spree and completely ruined any chances of being with Garfield! Granted I'm sure he'd give it a go, with her incarcerated and everything, but it would probably prove too strenuous for their budding relationship! Sorry again for the delay, and a shout out for my beta Shadico.
P.S. For those that don't know, my ChPOV alter between Raven (odd) and BB (even), so this is all BB. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based upon subject matter that is not my own. Pop culture references also do not reflect ownership by me. Also, BB's really bad jokes, I mean, the really, really bad ones, those are more than likely off Popsicle sticks.
It was just another day in Jump City. The Titans, minus Raven, had just defeated yet another two-bit villain with an inferiority complex and Robin had decided to celebrate by going out for pizza. Well, in actuality the team had suggested pizza and Robin, while initially against it, caved when Starfire turned her shiny-emerald eyes in his direction. It helped that she mentioned that Raven might be feeling a little left out and they should include her in their victory since she was probably brooding. Not Starfire's word, but that's what Rae was doing; and really, Robin ought to understand brooding and how bad it was for you better than anybody. Still, that was a typical day in the life of the Titans; at least, life as it had been since Raven's accident. It'd been a while now, Raven was still adjusting but her powers weren't gone, that was the important thing. They'd figure out how she could get her control back and everything would go back to normal, no worries.
It's just that, Raven wasn't really adjusting. It'd been about a month; a month of her frustration, a month of her loss of control, a month of her self-doubt and brooding. There really was no other word for it. Raven was trying, no one could deny that. She worked daily to get a handle on her emotions. She meditated, she trained, she researched underlying magical possibilities to her sudden loss of powers. Honestly, he was exhausted just watching her trying to compensate suddenly being…what was she? Certainly she wasn't fulfilling her usual role but she wasn't 'useless' either. Raven might feel like she wasn't a Titan anymore, but that was far from the case. Of course, she hadn't actually lost her powers…not that she'd know that since the team hadn't told her that she still had them but could only use them subconsciously, but still. They'd had a huge fight over whether or not to tell Raven and in the end the idea was shot down. The consensus was that if Raven were to find out she might lose even the subconscious ability to use her powers and that was the only thing they had at the moment to help her get her powers back. It was too risky. They all wanted Raven back, her powers and her confidence, and if keeping her in the dark bettered their chances at that, well, Garfield was willing to endure a bloody tongue from keeping it firmly between his teeth on the matter.
But it wasn't just Raven's powers that appeared to have gone missing. Her very identity seemed to be in question. Not with the team, but with herself. Raven was the 'Mistress of Magic' but without her powers she seemed so…lost. It didn't matter that she was still Raven. She still liked creepy décor, she still liked depressing poetry, she still couldn't stand his jokes—so she claimed—but because she could no longer hide behind a numb façade, or fight as part of the team she acted as if she didn't deserve to be part of the team. She didn't want to go out with them after alerts. She did because she couldn't numb the guilt anymore—her newly freed and empowered emotions wouldn't let her—but Garfield knew that deep down she was ashamed of herself, of her inability to "contribute". Try as he might, Garfield couldn't figure out a way to make her understand that he—and the team—didn't care if she couldn't use her powers. It wasn't like the team was going to kick her out. Even if she never went on another alert, they'd find something for her to do. Coordinate from the Tower, organize the computer files, something, anything! He was starting to worry that if they didn't get a breakthrough about her powers soon she might actually up and leave.
Alerts certainly weren't helping matters. It was especially bad when an alert sounded when they were out of the Tower and Raven was with them. Which, due to the team actively trying to make Raven feel included was a lot more often than it used to be. Unfortunately that meant that she was forced to sit in the car while the rest of the team took care of whatever the threat was. Usually it didn't matter since most of their foes tended to be two-bit villains, however, even Garfield had to admit he was starting to miss Raven's 'blue light special'. It wasn't that the villains had gotten any more dangerous or anything, but they did seem to have gotten a bit more ambitious since Robin's news release about Raven's 'sabbatical'. As if, just because Raven wasn't plowing them through with city busses at the moment, they got a free pass to rob the bank. They weren't getting more dangerous, but they were attacking more frequently and the team was down a member. He hated to admit it, but he was starting to feel Raven's absence as part of the team and he wasn't the only one. Robin was already scouting for a 'temporary replacement'.
Garfield fought back a scowl. Why was everything so messed up? And why did Raven have to be caught in the middle? Robin was putting off the decision for Raven's sake but pretty soon he wasn't going to have much of a choice. It might not be as big of a deal if it wasn't for the media and all the rumors though. It didn't matter that there was footage of Raven's injury. It didn't matter that there was footage of Raven out and about the town. The media was just full of ridiculous speculation about her, from her physical health to her mental and emotional. And the most irritating part of that was that the vast majority of it was rude, if not downright hurtful. Seriously, there were even some rumors that Raven's sabbatical was a pregnancy cover up! They were setting her up as a poor role-model for young girls, living in a Tower with teenage boys without adult supervision. Honestly, they were all legal adults at this point and the media never had a problem with it before!
Raven pretended she didn't care, that it didn't bother her, but he knew better. He could feel her tense at the sound of her name on the news before someone could change the channel. He could see her head and shoulders slump as she sat in the back seat of the T car when there were catcalls from the crowd at her lack of participation. He could taste her anger and bitterness in the air when he came in for breakfast, and he just knew she'd spent at least part of the wee hours of the morning in the kitchen with her tea. Raven was one of the strongest people he knew, but he wasn't sure just how much more of this she'd be able to endure. He was certainly pressing his breaking point so how much worse must it be for her? It wasn't fair. It wasn't right and it wasn't fair.
But Raven, she was amazing. Even through all her self-doubt, all her frustration, all her brooding, she spent every day trying to overcome it. She worked on coming to terms with her emotions; she sparred and trained so that she could still work with and for the team. She actively participated with the team on a social level even when she knew she'd have to endure a cloud of paparazzi following them about making remarks and innuendos. If Robin didn't do something about them soon, so help him he would and it would be a whole lot less...diplomatic than Robin's method.
So here they found themselves; they were at their favorite pizza place and after ordering the vegan-friendly option the owner had created especially for her most loyal customer, Garfield left to use the little boys room. It was on his way back when he ran into a couple of young guys looking to start something, he could tell just by looking at them. This was also, unfortunately, just like any other day for Jump City's sole green teen. Garfield couldn't help the intense anger that reared up. Couldn't a guy just be left alone?
"Hey man," one of the guys started, "you're like, the green guy from the Titans, right?" Trouble Maker One was slightly taller than Garfield, had shaggy brown hair, sunglasses and a backwards baseball cap. His friend was shorter, had a Justin Bieber haircut, and wore his clothes two sizes too big.
"Yeah. I'm green and wearing my uniform. Nice observation." Garfield deadpanned, doing his best to channel Raven's usual apathy. He knew exactly what this conversation was going to deteriorate into and he really wasn't in the mood.
"Woah, man. Don't need to get your panties in a twist. We're just making conversation." the second guy spoke up.
"Nice talking to you." he answered, turning to go around them. Unfortunately they decided they weren't done talking.
"Hey man, what's the rush? You're supposed to be a hero right? Shouldn't you be like, accommodating to us and stuff?" the first guy asked with a smirk.
"Ooo, sorry, I'm off duty right now. Maybe next time." Garfield moved to leave again, and again his path was blocked.
"Aw, come on man, we're just curious. You turn into animals right?" the Bieber wannabe asked. Great. That was awful fast. He'd really wanted to leave before they worked up the nerve to start in on the dirty innuendos, but apparently these guys had a lot less shame than most…and that was definitely saying something. The sick thing though, was that even though he wasn't the one being crass he still felt ashamed and embarrassed. It wasn't fair but that didn't make the flush on his cheeks dissipate any faster.
"Yep, that's me, Beast Boy. Bye now." he tried to extract himself from the situation without acknowledging losing his temper.
"Not yet man! Just chill, we're just guys, talking about guy stuff. I mean, come on; you turn into animals…have you ever, you know…while with a girl?" Too late. Garfield felt his face flame and his irritation escalating to outright fury. Was it really too much to ask? Was respect really so hard to come by? After everything he did for this city, this is all he could expect in return for his sweat, his blood, his pain?
Garfield leveled his best glare at the grinning idiots, "You guys are real jerks you know that?" he was quite proud of himself for keeping his voice even; even if the anger was all too clear, he was at least keeping the volume reasonable. "Getting off on making complete strangers uncomfortable? Seriously, get a life." Garfield made to force his way through but the tall one pushed him back. He was seriously rethinking his approach to dealing with these cretins and those like them. He learned a long time ago that just running away usually made it worse, and really, how much better would he feel running to his friends because someone was being mean to him? That didn't really make facing these jerks down any easier, but between running off with his tail between his legs or standing up to them and taking their insults like a man, well…unpleasant it may be but at least he could maintain some shred of dignity.
"Aw, come on! Indulge us a little. Are you, you know, all green?" The asshole wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, his smirk stretching his face unpleasantly. "Doesn't that, like, freak out the ladies?"
Steam pouring out of his ears, Garfield opened his mouth to retort but someone else beat him to it. "Hey BB, you coming or what?" Garfield looked up in surprise. Raven, with her hood down and her cloak uncharacteristically thrown back behind her shoulders, stood there with her fist propped on her cocked hips. Raven never called him 'BB', she wore her cloak specifically to hide under, and she most certainly didn't pose provocatively with a knowing smirk on her lips, eyes hooded seductively. Her behavior was far from typical, and all he could do was stare…at least he wasn't drooling…oh wait.
Both trouble makers turned around to see who'd interrupted. One of the guys let out a wolf whistle and the other exclaimed, "Damn! And who's this hottie?"
Garfield clenched his fists and snarled, "Don't talk about her that way!"
"Woah man, chill out." the shorter guy flinched like a startled horse.
"Seriously, Babe," Garfield's head snapped down, his brows furrowing; Raven had pushed her way between his harassers and as bold as brass, wrapped her arms around his waist, "everybody's waiting and I'm starved. You coming or what?" she purred up at him, squeezing his middle and snuggling in close.
"Uh…y-yeah." he stuttered in surprise, looking down at her in alarm. What was wrong with her? He debated whether or not he ought to feel her forehead, what if she was delirious? That could be a side effect of a serious fever right?
Raven smiled coyly up at him, "Well, come on then!" She slid one arm down, hooking her thumb into his belt by his left hipbone, her other hand snatching his right hand and bringing it around her, resting it on her hip, her fingers laced with his, and started forcefully pulling him towards the stairs. The assholes giving him trouble parted for her without comment, just befuddled stares…or maybe it was just he that was befuddled. Garfield, bemused as he was, was expecting her to pull him all the way back to their table but Raven wasn't done surprising him.
"Oh and boys," Garfield turned his bewildered gaze to Raven, she was looking over her shoulder at the jerks, "little piece of advice. Color doesn't hold any significance for most people; skill however..." she trailed off suggestively, coy smile still in place, "Between you and me, I for one have never been disappointed in Beast Boy's ability to do his job." her gravelly voice was a sinful caress, and she winked at them. Winked. Garfield's jaw dropped but this went unnoticed as the trouble makers were too busy gawking at Raven. "Maybe you could learn a little something." she mocked with condescension. "Have a nice day gentlemen." With an emphasized sashay Raven resumed pulling Garfield back towards the Titan's table.
It wasn't until they'd made it to the staircase landing between the first floor and the outside balcony—out of sight of the assholes—that Garfield balked and turned on Raven. "Who the hell are you and what have you done to Raven!?" he demanded, confused as all-get-out at the moment. If his nose wasn't convinced that the tea leaves in old pages was the genuine article, he'd swear his instincts had gone haywire and mistaken some alien creature for his Rae—friend, his friend and teammate. Raven's face flushed fire engine red and she snapped her hood up to cover her face. She avoided looking at him by drawing out the movements necessary to affix her cloak back into its usual place. "Seriously," he demanded when it appeared she wouldn't be answering, "what was that?" Even with her scent, he wasn't sure he could believe it was really her. She was acting downright bizarre!
Raven's hands wrung nervously, twitching at her cloak, before she blurted, "In all honesty, I have no idea."
"What!?" Garfield demanded flabbergasted.
Raven started to pace, which was both awkward to do and awkward to watch as she only had enough room for about two and a half small steps before having to turn around; but that was beside the point so Garfield wrenched his attention to her flustered words. "Honestly, I don't really know what I was doing. I was just sitting, you know, at the table. You weren't there, well, of course you weren't there, but I was and I was just sitting, not doing anything. I wasn't really paying anybody any mind. I keep tabs you know. Like, emotional ones, on the team. On the team members. It's sort of not really a conscious thing; just like…a reflex I guess?" Garfield had never witnessed a disconcerted, rambling Raven before. It was…unnerving. Granted, Embarrassment was probably in control right now, but Raven had been getting better at keeping her emotions from seizing control of her...was Embarrassment in control or was Raven in control and actually expressing embarrassment? As much as he might feel bad for her if the second was the case, he couldn't help but hope because that would be a huge step in the right direction for her.
"Anyway, I wasn't paying attention but I felt your emotional signature spike with anger. Not that you never get angry, but anger isn't usually in your normal emotional demeanor. I debated whether to investigate but decided I wasn't going to. I mean, what business is it of mine, right? But then," Raven stopped pacing but kept herself turned from him, "then it wasn't just anger anymore. In all honesty, there was really too much…you were feeling too much, too strongly, for me to just ignore it. I couldn't even differentiate what all emotions were there, but…" Raven trailed off, obviously not comfortable with whatever had spurred her into action. Great. Fantastic. This is exactly what he needed, the team getting involved with this.
"But what, Rae?" The way Garfield figured it, he really couldn't feel any more mortified at this point, so why not satisfy his curiosity?
"But…when I felt…shame," she whispered, "I couldn't not act. Whatever the cause, it had to be stopped." Raven turned and finally looked up at him, "I'm not sorry for intervening but," she blushed profusely, well, more than she had been…Garfield had never seen her so flushed, "if I had known that was what she'd planned on doing, I'm not sure I would have let Sass handle that situation."
Garfield felt his own face flush, "Well, thank her for me, would you?" he laughed nervously. "At least that explains the 'Babe' and flirtatious smile. I was worried you'd been swapped with an evil doppelganger or something." Garfield fervently hoped she wasn't going to go back to analyzing his emotions; he really didn't want to have to repeat anything these douchebags had said…or past things said that they had unknowingly reminded him of.
"Evil doppelganger?" she asked, brow furrowed, "Why would my evil doppelganger flirt with you? How would flirting be evil? Surely I could come up with something more evil than that?" She'd seized on a distraction for which Garfield was incredibly grateful.
Garfield chuckled, "First of all, toying with my heart would be all the evil I could handle Rae. Secondly," he grinned at her blush, "I'm sure your evil doppelganger wouldn't be nearly as creative as you. So while you could probably devise something infinitely more devious, it's really a moot point."
"Garfield." she said, all too quietly. Uh oh, distraction over; here it comes. "Those guys…does that sort of thing happen a lot?"
"Nah, often enough to be annoying but not terribly so." Garfield hoped his nonchalance was as convincing as he was trying for. Raven's expression led him to believe it wasn't.
"Garfield, you are one of the best I've met at masking emotions. You give Robin a run for his money, but sometimes, like times that you have to look me in the eye, you let your grip slip and your honesty shines through. It shines bright enough to burn out the shadows your lies hide in. If this sort of thing happened as sporadically as you're trying to make me believe, there would have been shock and surprise in your emotional cocktail. There wasn't an ounce of either. You felt more…resigned." Raven paused, looking away, "Is it always that bad?"
Bad? That was downright tame compared to a lot of the stuff he'd faced in the past. For reasons unbeknownst to him, some people just got perverse enjoyment from other people's suffering. But he wasn't the only Titan that had to deal with that sort of thing and it wasn't fair for him to dump that kind of burden on his friends. "No, not really." he shrugged like it was no big deal.
"You may not be looking into my eyes but I didn't just suddenly stop being an empath Garfield." Raven retorted drily, gaze cutting to him to emphasize her point before flicking away again. "How come you've never said anything?"
"Probably for the same reason you've never said anything about the religious fanatics' exorcism attempts." Raven's gaze shot up to his in surprise. Yeah, he knew about that. Stupid, stupid, stupid Bill! Stupid old men half a world away without any idea what the life of a teenaged superhero is like thinking they can make any decision they want, pass any law they want, and damn the consequences, and damn that stupid Bill! "Just because Robin doesn't advertise it doesn't mean that the file in the Titan's mainframe labeled 'Complaints' is encrypted or anything." Raven looked down and away again, "That and Robin's not exactly quiet when pissed about paperwork. You do realize he has to sign off on any police reports involving a Titan, right? Were you ever going to mention being banned from the Jump City Library?"
"It wasn't really important;" she shrugged, her nonchalance very convincing, "I've read the majority of their collection anyway."
"Still doesn't make it fair."
"Nobody said being demon spawn was fair." Garfield made to interrupt but Raven plowed on, "It's not any less fair than being labeled with a stigma due to the color of your skin." Her tone was cutting, her posture defensive, then suddenly her stance and demeanor softened. "The world is a gray place filled with people of light and dark natures; life is about filling your world with so much light that it outshines that darkness." Raven looked up into Garfield's eyes, gaze unwavering, "I've never met anyone that shines so bright as you Garfield. You're my hope that I'll never be truly lost in the dark." she told him, voice low but firm. With that, she turned and climbed the remaining stairs that separated them from the rest of their friends.
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Raven was going to make Garfield lose his mind, she really was. What was it about girls that made them be all cryptic and confusing? Was it hardwired into their DNA or something? Something about that second X chromosome that guys were lucky they didn't have to deal with? Well, actually they did have to deal with it because they had to deal with girls; girls who would do something completely out of character, say something cryptic and emotional about it, and then act like nothing happened. How could she sit there and act like nothing happened? He was there! He knew! It wasn't nothing! In fact, he had half a pizza parlor as witness that something happened.
There she was, sitting cool as a cucumber reading her book and drinking her tea and acting like she hadn't spent the morning swooping to his rescue while playing the seductress. No way had he only imagined the innuendoes she'd laid down. She wasn't talking about his 'job' as a superhero, he was sure of it! Granted he knew she was only saying that stuff to make him look good in front of those jerks. Making it seem like he was beyond cool because he was able to snag a catch like her who was so far beyond his league he'd have to use the T ship to even visit. But come on! She wrapped her arms around him, she voluntarily touched him, she hugged him and then implied they were doing a hell of a lot more! If there hadn't been much fodder behind some of those news accusations before, he doubted it was lacking now. But still, she was just sitting there and acting like nothing happened!
"Can I help you with something?" Garfield started, abruptly ripped from his musings by Raven's voice.
"Uh, what?" he asked, flustered. Her voice had its usual gravelly quality; however he felt his face flush at the realization that his mind had provided the caressing undertone it had had in their earlier encounter making her innocent query…far less innocent.
"You've been staring at me for quite some time. Is there something on my face or do you need something?"
Another explanation would be nice. One with more clarification. One that could make him stop thinking about it at all. "Uh, sorry. I was just thinking." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head and looking away. He hunched his shoulders and rested all his weight on his elbows and the kitchen table.
"You're embarrassed about earlier, I understand." Raven stated calmly to her book. Garfield's eyes shot straight up but met only with an old, faded and tattered leather book binding. "I am sorry about that."
"Come again?" he asked confused.
"I embarrassed you and I'm sorry." she reiterated.
"Well, I guess I was embarrassed that you had to witness those jerks being…well, jerks, but as far as your 'rescue' went, well that was shocking sure, but I wasn't embarrassed."
Raven looked up in surprise, her book dipping to expose her eyes, "You weren't?"
"No." he grinned at her. "Raven, I had a drop dead gorgeous girl claiming I'd 'never disappointed her', do you have any idea what a huge friggin' ego boost that is?" he quirked his eyebrow at her. Raven immediately flushed crimson. "I mean, you and I knew that you were lying but those guys? To them I'm practically a god now."
Raven huffed and rolled her eyes, she was putting on a good show but Garfield could see right through it, she was embarrassed and flustered. "Do you realize how prone to exaggeration you are?"
"Okay, so maybe not a god, but a lesser deity for sure." he shrugged.
"Please, those guys only saw two things and my words were only white noise. They probably didn't even register that I'd spoken at all."
"Maybe, but I'm sure it registered with everybody else in the restaurant." Raven flushed deeper and hid her face back behind her book. "So, maybe I'm not the only one that should look before I leap huh? The repercussions of this day will be far reaching." he told her solemnly.
He couldn't see her eyes, but he could definitely make out her arched eyebrow, "Since when did you start sounding like a fortune cookie?"
"Since I had to pick my jaw up off the floor when you winked at those jerks." He could see Raven's fingers tighten on the book's covers. "Did Sass really not give you any heads up for what she was going to do?"
Raven was quiet for quite some time before her voice sounded in a whisper, "She said she'd shut them up and leave no doubt in their minds that they couldn't be further from the mark. I think that her meaning was rather obvious if I'd simply allowed myself to stop and think about it." Raven's fingers twitched but otherwise she was still.
Garfield fought back a snort. That sounded like Sass alright. He was really starting to like her…well, considering she was behind most of Raven's dry humor, he'd always liked her, but that was completely beside the point. "Do you think any of that is going to end up on the news?"
Raven shrunk further behind her book, "I hope not."
"For what it's worth, I really appreciate you putting those guys in their place for me."
"For what it's worth, Sass wasn't the only one that offered to come to your aid."
"Huh?"
"While all of them agreed to intervene, they all differed on how to handle it. Rage, Rude, even Timid, wanted to come forward."
"Um, I think I'm glad Sass won out."
"She's a facet of Bravery tied in with Confidence so it's unsurprising she ultimately succeeded."
"I'm just saying that it's probably a good thing that Rage didn't come out to play."
"True, she would have made an even bigger scene."
"YO! You guys better get in here!" Cyborg's voice suddenly echoed through the Tower's intercoms. Since he and Raven were already at the table they simply moved to the living room as Cyborg came running in. He cast them a glance that Garfield couldn't identify before he started tapping away at the computer keyboard.
"Cyborg, report!" Robin commanded as he entered the common room, Starfire at his heels.
"I think there's something you guys ought to see, it's all over the news!" With another glance from Cyborg in his and Raven's direction, Garfield felt his heart sink. This wasn't good. He darted his gaze to Raven and her stiff shouldered posture led him to believe she was thinking along the same lines.
The Tower's bay windows converted into a giant video screen, and in bright, high definition detail was Garfield staring down the two trouble makers in the pizza parlor. He groaned. "And the newest internet video craze is of our very own Jump City Teen Titans! Due to the low video quality of the footage, shot from a citizen's cell phone and posted on the popular internet video site, MyTube, it can be hard to make out some of the dialogue but what we see here is a couple of trouble makers causing a scene in a popular teen hang out, and a known hotspot for Teen Titan socialization." The news anchor, a generic blond with a plastic smile was practically squealing with glee. Apparently this was quite the story. "While the beginning of the confrontation wasn't recorded, the good parts apparently were." she grinned into the camera. Suddenly the video started playing and Garfield had to fight the urge to hide as his own voice, only slightly muffled by static played out as he tried to go around the jerks in the video. "Nice talking to you." Well crap. That meant that almost the entire confrontation was going to play out for the world to see.
Beside him he could feel Raven tense up and he wondered how much worse this was going to be for her. "Aw, come on man, we're just curious. You turn into animals right?" Crap on a stick! Why was Cyborg having them watch this!? "Yep, that's me, Beast Boy. Bye now." No, no, no, no! He didn't want the whole world knowing about his dirty laundry! "I mean, come on; you turn into animals…have you ever, you know…while with a girl?" He should have known somebody was going to have a cell phone fixed on him. And now, of course, his whole team knew about the harassment. It wasn't like the others never suffered from xenophobia or anything, but he didn't want any of them feeling sorry for him. "You guys are real jerks you know that?" Garfield could feel his cheeks burning. "Aw, come on! Indulge us a little. Are you, you know, all green?" And of course it was all about to get worse!
"Hey BB, you coming or what?" The camera angle was off to the side, him and the two jerks taking center stage, but at Raven's voice the camera jerked away to focus on Raven. Garfield could almost feel his friends' eyes widen at the Raven on the screen. The way she stood, the way she spoke, the way she was looking at him. "Don't talk about her that way!" This time he was able to watch Raven walk up to him. The him on the screen was entirely absorbed with biting the guy's head off, but the him in the common room felt like drooling all over again as she practically stalked up to him like she was a lethal predator and starving. "Seriously, Babe, everybody's waiting and I'm starved. You coming or what?" Garfield could practically feel the heat of embarrassment radiating off of Raven. "Uh…y-yeah." Garfield wanted to facepalm, even through crappy phone footage his bewilderment was obvious, especially since he was facing the camera. "Well, come on then!" The camera couldn't make out Raven's face but it could make out her maneuvering his hands and forcefully tugging him along. "Oh and boys," great, now she was facing the camera and everybody would be able to see her wink. "Between you and me, I for one have never been disappointed in Beast Boy's ability to do his job."
"Oh Azar! I can't believe someone caught that on video!" Raven's voice was only a strangled whisper but Garfield could hear it just fine being right next to her.
The team was silent, as the news anchor came back on screen and her too-chipper voice rang out. "Seems that a Titan's job is never done. The Teen Titan known as Raven, while currently on sabbatical, still took the time to come to her teammate's rescue this afternoon when he was being harassed by some bullies. It's not often something we think about, these teen heroes being teens and forced to face many of the same problems the rest of us have to face. While the Teen Titans are local heroes and never went through formal schooling, they too face many of the same problems that average teens do every day, including small minded individuals that build themselves up by tearing others down. I for one commend Miss Raven on her creative technique for extracting her teammate Beast Boy from his predicament. We can all take a lesson in tolerance, understanding, and equality from our hometown heroes, the Teen Titans!" Huh, that's not how he was expecting that one to play out. That pretty news lady deserves a raise.
All at once his teammates unfroze, there was cheering, disbelief, anger, and of course, unrelenting teasing. The three of them were a mass of noise but Garfield was able to pick out a couple of the things they were saying. "Booyah! I knew my girl had some backbone but damn! And were you drooling BB?"
"Friends! This is most joyous! Might I enquire if you are now doing the dating?"
"How long has this type of harassment been going on Beast Boy? You should have told us so we could put a stop to it…though; even I have to admit that Raven's 'creative technique' garnered results." Garfield felt his cheeks burn and hoped Raven couldn't understand most of what their friends were saying.
"I didn't do anything any of you wouldn't have done." Raven's voice wasn't a shout, but she was able to project it over the sound of their teammates; they fell silent and Garfield wondered if she'd be willing to teach him that trick.
Cyborg's grin was huge, "Uh, yeah no. I can honestly say that's not something I would have done Raven."
Raven's eyes narrowed as she glared at Cyborg, "I meant that any of you would have gone to his aid as I did, so there is no need to cause such a fuss."
"You were marvelous my friend! You were victorious against those Clorbag Varblernelks and Friend Beast Boy was rescued!"
"Um, can we please stop making it sound like I was in mortal peril or something? Those guys were just being jerks, it's no big deal." At once, his entire team turned to look at him, some with more intensity than others.
"Beast Boy, you're not just our friend and a member of our team, you're a person; a person who has the right to walk down the street without being harassed and demeaned. If you think any one of us would have just stood aside and let them mistreat you that way, you'd better think again. What if the tables had been turned, what if it was one of us that was being harassed? Would you still think it wasn't a big deal?"
"Of course not." And that was too true, unfortunately. Starfire, being drop dead gorgeous was usually ogled at by Earth guys, but that didn't mean she didn't feel objectified, and it wasn't like Earth was the only place she had the ability to go. Robin wasn't the only one incised by the whole 'Troq' incident. While he wasn't sure about Robin, since nobody seemed willing to try to piss him off, Beast Boy knew Cyborg and Raven experienced more than their fair share as well.
"Then why isn't it a bid deal when it happens to you?" Raven asked.
Garfield glanced around at his friends, feeling suddenly surrounded. "Uh, I'm just saying that I can handle it."
"You shouldn't have to man." Cyborg grumbled.
"Yeah, none of us should, but as we well know, the world is an imperfect place." he shrugged.
"Regardless, I'm glad the media spun this story the way they did, this could have really blown up in our faces."
"Spun it? That's exactly what actually happened!" Raven pointed out.
"We know that, and hopefully the general populace will believe that, but this could have easily turned slanderous Raven. You need to be more careful. I know putting those jerks in their place probably felt good, but you have to be careful."
Huh. Garfield hadn't thought of it that way. With Raven's usual attempts at emotional sterility, what had she felt, coming to his rescue like that? He knew what he felt, but her? He wondered if there was any way he could weasel that out of her.
AN2: So I don't deserve your reviews, but maybe I can haz fuzzy anyway?