r?

The date went well enough, with the two young heroes taking a walking tour of Jump. As they walked, Beastboy pointed out sites of historic interest, professional importance (high crime areas, good places to get out of the rain without breaking cover, and so forth) and personal landmarks. "That right there is where Cyborg gave Robin his first wedgie. I still have pictures!" "Over there is where Starfire first sampled mustard- She still has pictures" "On this spot, two years ago, Robin accidentally undid his utility belt during a fight and totally pantsed himself". Cassie was enjoying this very much- it was so different from the "Familiarization Routines" Batman had developed, which focused solely on those aspects of the environment that related to the mission. She smirked. 'Maybe that because Batman not trying to romance me'. She shared this train of thought with Beastboy who started laughing.

"Oh man, can you imagine it? Batman shows up for patrol, right, all dark and broody like usual. Only he suddenly reaches into that utility belt of his and whips out like a dozen roses and a box of chocolates! Then he says" here the not-so-green boy affected a deep tone he imagined to be similar to Batmans " 'Come on sweetheart, its time to implement the Love Protocol! If you're good I'll show you the Batpole' Heheeheheheheheheh!"
Cassie mentally pictured this, and laughed until tears were running down her face. She sat down on a bench and put her head in her hands, laughter rocking her small frame. Beastboy joined her, laughing almost as hard. Their laughter tapered off, and finally was interrupted by a loud rumbling from Cassie's stomach. She didn't seem at all embarassed and simply said "Time for lunch". Beastboy began the walk towards the restraunt, impressed by the girl's nonchalance. Most girl's seemed embarased by that sort of thing.

'So far so good' he reflected

- - - - - - -

Meanwhile, back at the Tower, Cyborg was busy teaching Starfire the fine art of Cooking. Starfire had come to him that morning saying she wanted to master Terran cooking, but that cookbooks hadn't been much help. They assumed that she knew certain terms and concepts which she did not: what size cup should she use- and how should she know when it was exactly half-full? How much was a pinch? What was the difference between white and brown sugar? Starfire wasn't stupid by any means, but these were not questions she could answer. She so badly wanted to be able to cook, she said, and so far had been a total failure.

"And I'm sure the fact that Robin loves my Barbecue almost as much as me has nothing to do with it, right Star?" the metal man had joked. Starfire had blushed (a purplish tinge staining her cheeks) and mumbled something about knowledge for its own sake. Cyborg had laughed, but not maliciously, and agreed to teach his friend. It was rare that he got to spend some quality time with the naive alien, and he always enjoyed it.

Today they were focusing on the art of grilling steak. They'd marinated the meat to start with, using a recipe ol' grandpa Stone had taught young Victor- after Starfire had solemnly sworn to never reveal its mysteries to anyone. Cyborg had carefully explained every step of the process to his pupil, answering all questions, and stressing that the recipe was to be used as it was or not at all- there could be no substitutions when making the Stone Family Marinade. Next, they'd tenderized the steaks, a process which Starfire did just a BIT too enthusiastically resulting in a pile of meat paste where a fine flank steak had once been. After repeating the whole process, Starfire learned that superstrength- while extremely useful elsewhere- had no place in the kitchen.

While Cyborg prepared the oven, Starfire made a salad. As they worked, Starfire extracted a promise of future cooking lessons from her friend.

Soon, the smell of cooking meat wafted through the Tower, drawing Raven and Robin out of their room. Cyborg decided to let Starfire have her moment, and ducked out of sight while the alien beauty served the food, reappearing behind Raven through unknown means. At first, the Bird pair were somewhat nervous to see Starfire making lunch- the memory of last month's Glork was still all too fresh (Robin could still taste it sometimes). However, the scent proved too attractive, and they began eating, tentatively at first and then with greater enthusiasm as their tastebuds cried out in joy. The meat was juicy, tender, flavorful- perfect.

Once he'd finished eating, Robin looked at Starfire as though he was trying to figure something out. "Starfire, when did you learn to cook like this?"

"Did you like it, Robin?" Starfire asked shyly. She knew what Robin had said about their relationship needing to stay professional but she couldn't help but hope he might change his mind. Cyborg, who shared this view, decided to intervene before Star's honesty damaged her cause. Robin respected self-taught lessons a great deal and would be impressed if he thought the orange girl had improved on her own.

"Ah ah ah Rob. Y'know the ladies have to keep some secrets from us guys. Probably she just got a new cookbook, right?" The alien girl nodded.

Robin accepted this, and left the room. Starfire noticed the stiff way he moved, and followed him down the hall. She caught up to him just outside his room.

"Robin? You seem unhappy. Did you not enjoy the meal?" Her eyes grew large, and filled with tears. Robin tried desperately to keep the orange Titan from cying.

"No! I mean yes! I mean, the meal was great Star. I'm just...worried. In all of his history, the Joker has never gone this long without pulling something big. A few killings aren't enough, not for this amount of time. He's up to something and up to something big and with him that means that, unless we stop him, a lot of people are going to die."

Starfire nodded but said "Surely you are familiar with this situation by now? Is this not what we often face with Slade? Does he not also menace the innocent? And was notTrigon also a menace to the world?"

Robin answered sadly, shaking his head at his own feelings of helplessness. He leaned his head against the wall, as Starfire put a hand on his back, and he let otu what had been bothering him since this wholed mess began. "This is different Starfire. With Slade there generally isn't as much uncertainty. We know he will strike, and we know he will either target us or something he feels will help him against us. He'll use exactly as much force as he feels he needs to, no more and no less. His motives and plans are logical, if evil. Trigon was fulfilling a 'prophecy' which meant we knew exactly what he was going to do before hand, even if he was powerful. The Joker is completely insane and utterly without compassion. There is no way to predict what he's going to do until he does it. He takes life for the fun of it, and the more dead the better. Not even Batman can keep him from killing, and I...I'm scared Star." Robin would never ever confess this to anyone else, but somehow it felt right to confess it to his best friend."I'm scared that we won't be fast enough or good enough and because of that people will die.I'm scared that I'll make a mistake and one of us will die. I'm scared of letting down Batman, of proving I'm not good enough. The Joker scares me in ways Slade and Trigon never could."

Starfire felt like crying, at once sad and joyful. Sad that Robin carried such a burden on his shoulders, yet joyful that he felt he could share his worries with her. But right now, her best friend needed comfort. "Robin, these fears are natural. The fear of failure, of not being good enough, of letting down those we have sworn to defend.We have all faced them at one time or another, and we have triumphed over them. You must not allow them to better you. Simply remember that you are not alone, and that I...that we are always here for you."

Robin had caught Starfire's little slip, and blushed slightly. He knew how the alien girl felt, and he felt the same way. But he couldn't allow anything to come of it. Nevertheless, her words were a help at a time like this. It helped to remember that this wasn't the first time he and his team had faced a monster like this. It put things in perspective. Yes, the Joker was the worst challenge the Titans had had, but he could be beaten."Thanks, Star. You always know just what to say."

- - - -

Lunch had been a pleasant experience for Beastboy and Batgirl. While she had never had vegetarian food before, Cassie proved much more adventurous on the matter than most of the Titans. She had ordered a tofu burger and fries, while Beastboy picked the house specialty, an all-vegetable chili . The two spent lunch making pleasant small talk about nothing very much. At one point the discussion got heated, an argument over which was the better football team the Gotham Knights or the Jump City Titans (formally the Juggernauts) but for the most part they kept things light.

Once the meal was paid for (at a significant discount- not because the owner knew he was serving the Teen Titans but because 'Garfield' was a frequent customer), the pair continued their walk. They dropped into a nearby music store, to see what was in. Cassie had had her musical tastes formed by Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth- which is to say an elite millionaire and a sixty year old Englishman. Unsurprisingly, she hadn't been exposed to much music from the last thirty years. Beastboy took it upon himself to remedy this by letting her pick some artists who interested her, and then burning her a cd when they got back to the Tower. Cassie flipped through the various styles, asking questions when she saw something that she didn't recognize. Beastboy, however, was somewhat ditracted by a strange looking man who seemed to be angrily whispering to his girlfriend.

He was a tall man, easily over six foot three, and almost unnaturally thin. His skin was tanned, yet somehow still managed to look unhealthy, and his black hair look oddly greasy. But the oddest thing was the mans mouth- it seemed to be a little too big for his face. Beastboy wanted to get a closer look, but resisted the urge. 'After all', he reasoned, 'I don't like it when people gawk at my skin, this dude probably hates it when they stare at his face'

- - - - -

"How DARE they! How DARE THEY!" Joker was absolutely furious. He had felt trapped in his hideout, and Harley'd been getting restless. So he'd applied his makeup and hair dye (or as he sometimes called it his "Sheep's Clothing") and some normal clothes. They'd headed out to buy a bit of music- some nice Mancini or a calliope albuum. Anything to relieve the doldrums of waiting in that damned house. But instead of a pleasant shopping spree, the Joker found himself insulted by this...ATROCITY he now held in his hands.

"Shhh! Puddin! Ya said ta tell you if you were gettin' too out of character! Remember we're normal everyday sheep! An' that means no yellin' in the store" Harley hissed. She was frightened by the idea of shushing the Joker, but even more frightened of what would happen if they got caught because she didn't do what he told her to do.

"But that was before I knew about this!" Joker hissed back "Hell, if I'd known about this, we'b be making plans to kill them right now!"

"Well, puddin' it's not like they're a new band..." Harley said, without thinking. The Joker glared and dropped the CD.

Joker grabbed her arm and pulled her close. Anyone observing the pair would only see a man drawing his sweetheart close to whisper something in her ear. What Harley heard was him hissing "You KNEW and didn't TELL ME?!! Oh, just you wait til later li'l missy..." and she gulped. Joker headed for the exit, fuming. Harley followed after, but not before glaring at the CD her man had tossed to the floor.

'Stupid Insane Clown Posse. Because of you, Puddin's mad' at me.

- - - - - -

Once Cassie had selected a number of different artists, they left the store and had a race to the end of the block. Once Beastboy finished his victory dance, they moved on to the financial district, which Cassie couldn't help but note was nothing like the size of Gotham's Wall Street. Beastboy got a little offended, and pointed out that Jump City had put more money into beautifying the area than Gotham had. He espescially drew her attention to the large number of ornamental fountains in the main plaza. he was so busy gesturing around that he over balanced and fell into one of said fountains, much to his dates amusement. Beastboy spat out water and Cssie commented on the 'Handsome statues' the fountains had.

They finished the date with a walk by the water front around two in the afternoon. The sunlight caused the water to shimmer perfectly and the teenagers decided to sit and enjoy the view for a little while. Beastboy decided to gamble a bit; he put an arm around Cassie's shoulder. The young vigilante stiffened briefly, and the boy wondered if he'd made a mistake, until she leaned back into his arm with a small but happy sigh. They sat like that for a little while, enjoying the moment. Finally, Cassie broke the silence.

"Thank you for date, Garfield. Enjoyed very much. Was perfect." And she leaned over and kissed the changeling on the cheek, causing him to blush visibly for the first time in many many years. he stammered for a moment before smiling and rubbing the back of his head. Cassie giggled, and Beastboy found his voice.

"Believe me, Cassie, it was entirely my pleasure. I had a terrific time."

They sat for a moment more, then got up and began to make their way back to the Tower.

Authors notes:
I included the cooking lesson scene because I notice there are no fics which focus on the friendship between Cyborg and Starfire. In fact, they rarely even speak to one another in most stories. Also, I think the whole 'Star cant cook' thing is a bit overused- thought I'd try something different.

The Joker scene came to me at around 2am, when I wondered how the Clown Prince of Crime would react to a group calling itself Insane Clown Posse. My guess is, he'd be angry that anyone dared take his schtick.

I want to see if I can crack 30 reviews. I'll still update no matter what- but it'd be nice.