I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC universe.
The 8th chapter in the alternate ending. In case you missed it, the alternate ending began in chapter 13
Cyborg returned from the Tower's forensics lab and entered the common room with a glum look on his face. He had the envelope that Raven received at the hotel lobby in Prague in his hand and looked around before entering. He slowly walked to the front of the common room, just in front of the giant TV and turned around to face the motley crew of superheroes that was assembled. The room was abuzz as the Titans and their guests chattered away, speculating about the Brotherhood's motivation for revealing their plans to the Titans. Vic scanned the Titan crowd: originals, eastern and honoraries, plus Starfire and her Tamaranian Phalanx. He made eye contact with Raven, whose facial expression said it all: you're in charge now.
"Ahem!" he cleared his throat, but no one seemed to notice. He cleared his throat a second time, with similar results.
"Shut up y'all!" he shouted, and within a few seconds the din died out.
"That's more like it." He paused before continuing, fidgeting with the envelope in his hands.
"I've analyzed the pictures. If they're forgeries they're good ones, cuz there were no tell tale signs of image modification."
A chain of hushed whispers made its way around the room.
"Which means that Didi has joined the Brotherhood of Evil." He confirmed.
"But a question remains. Why did they tell us they are coming to fight us here, in our hometown? Any ideas?"
"Let's look at this from an outcome perspective." Batgirl replied as Starfire stared at her with steely eyes.
She was good enough for him, but I was not?
"It was predictable that we Titans would hunker down here, preparing to do battle with them. Why would they want us to do that?" Barbara asked.
Starfire stared at the couple, now married almost three years. Richard was beginning to look like the Nightwing she had met in the future: tall and muscular, with long hair and a deeper voice. Seeing them together only reinforced her sense of solitude, of not having a soul mate. A reminder that she had once had briefly known the comfort of a man's embrace, a man she loved and who loved her back. She had known this joy twice in her life, but now she had nothing. She was an Empress, doomed to be alone. There were plenty of young men back home who were willing to be her boy toys. She could have a whole harem if she wanted, but that wasn't what her heart longed for. Right now she only wanted one man, and he was already married to a friend, and they were happy together, raising her daughter. She turned away and wiped away her tears before anyone could see them.
"If we're all together it would be easier to destroy us all at once." Hot Spot volunteered.
"Not all of us!" Red Star corrected him. "Some of us are very resilient and could survive anything they might try to use against us, even a fusion bomb."
"What about that black hole machine they once had?" Kid Flash asked. "If we're all in one place wouldn't they be able to suck us all away at once?"
"Wally brings up a good point; it might be prudent to separate into groups." Nightwing replied.
"I'll find us some alternate lodgings." Cyborg interjected. "It's too late to do it today. So we'll all stay here tonight at the Tower." He looked across the room until he saw Beast Boy, who had a data pad in his hand. Cyborg loved technology and had supplied each Titan with a data pad, which was basically a wireless computer that was no bigger than a clipboard, and almost as thin.
"Hey BB, any word from the Doom Patrol?"
Beast Boy looked up from his data pad. "I just received an encrypted message from Mento. He says the Brotherhood doesn't have the parts they need to make a black hole machine like last time."
"OK then, let's get some rest. Logans! You must be jet lagged. Get some shut eye. Everyone else, it's not your bedtime yet, but don't stay up late. We have a big day tomorrow. Dismissed!"
The day had caught up with Raven and Beast Boy. They had only slept a few hours in the past two days, but it was the only way to overcome the jet lag. They would get a nice long sleep tonight and wake up early tomorrow, and hopefully their inner clocks would adjust.
Beast Boy was finishing up in the bathroom, brushing his teeth while Raven got Marie ready for bed, which was easy as the young Tamaranian was exhausted. Raven then headed for her chest of drawers to find something to change into. She found an old night gown she hadn't worn in a while and threw it over her shoulder along with some fresh underwear, as all her newer nightwear was still packed in the luggage and needed to be laundered any way. She was tired but wanted to take a shower before turning in and headed into the bathroom as Beast Boy trudged out, wearing his old dinosaur pajama bottoms. After quickly showering and drying off she slipped on her underwear followed by the nightgown, which made her groan.
It's tighter than ever! She moaned under her breathe. It wasn't just because she had gained a few pounds during the trip. Raven's figure had changed over the past three years. She stared with a frown at her reflection in the full length mirror in the bathroom, which was slightly fogged up by the residual steam from her shower. My boobs are huge! And look at my hips. She thought to herself, as she stared unhappily at her voluptuous figure in the mirror. Starfire had once remarked to her "Friend Raven, you have the child bearing hips" when Raven had long ago tried, in vain, to squeeze into a pair of the Tamaranian's blue jeans. It was worse now, much worse. What good are 'child bearing hips' if I can't get pregnant. She thought bitterly to herself.
Raven removed the snug nightgown and tossed it on the floor. She charged out of the bathroom in a foul mood, bracing herself for a cat call from her husband. He'd better not; I'm so not in the mood. She opened a drawer and rummaged through it, until she pulled out one of his T-Shirts and slipped it on. She wondered why he didn't say anything about her partial nakedness and turned around to inspect the situation. Beast Boy was reading something on his data pad, with a grin on his face.
"What is it?" She asked as she slipped into their bed.
"It's a message from Meredith Cromwell, remember, the geneticist from S.T.A.R.R. labs"
"I remember her; she wanted you to morph into a demon. Talk about bad ideas. What does she want now?"
He handed her the data pad with a grin on his face. "See for yourself."
She took the data pad and began to read it, her eyes growing wide as she worked her way through the missive.
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Logan,
I heard through the grapevine that you are back in town. I have some very good news to share with you. We believe that we have solved the puzzle regarding combining your genomes and think that we can now help you conceive a child. It would have to be in-vitro of course; but Raven would be able to carry the child for the full nine months. I have to return to Metropolis tomorrow afternoon, but I do have some free time tomorrow morning, at 10 AM here at the local branch office of the lab. I can then explain everything to you in detail. If you can't make it, let me know. I'll be back in town in 3 weeks.
Dr. Meredith Cromwell, Ph.D.
Principal Geneticist, S.T.A.R.R. Labs
Beast Boy saw Raven's eyes tremble from the excitement she was feeling and trying to contain. She then tossed the data pad aside, threw her arms around him and began to sob. She didn't say anything and didn't have to as he pulled her closer as he lied down on his back, resting her moist face on his shoulder. Finally, she spoke.
"Gar, we can have a baby." Her voice warbled with excitement. "A baby of our own."
Beast Boy kissed gently her around her Chakra stone. "Marie's gonna be excited to have a sibling."
She nervously looked him in the eyes. "Gar, I'll still love her as if she were my own, you know that, right?"
He kissed her again and pulled her in closer. "I know. I'm not worried."
She began to run her delicate hand around his hairy chest, and tracing patterns on it while a smile grew on her face.
"Gar, are you tired?"
"A little bit, why?"
She looked into his emerald eyes while she began to undo the draw string on this pajama bottoms with her right hand.
"I was just wondering if the Beast wants to come out and play?" she asked with a purr.
He smiled back. "I think he does."
The three Logans arrived early at the local lab branch office the next morning and checked in with the receptionist, who informed them that Dr. Cromwell would be with them shortly. The lobby was uninviting and felt sterile with its marble floors and Scandinavian style furniture. Raven had never felt so jittery in her whole life, not even when she faced down her father on that fateful day. Beast Boy noticed her right knee was bouncing up and down. He took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Her leg stopped moving.
The lobby door opened and a smiling Dr. Cromwell made her appearance. She greeted her guests and asked them to follow her to her office, which was a spacious corner room with floor to ceiling windows at the end of the hallway. The furniture was also modern and the office reeked of antiseptic.
"I'm glad you could make it. I can see from your expressions that you're excited."
Raven took a deep breath before responding. "Doctor, you have no idea."
"And who is this little one?" She asked, looking at Marie, who was busy reading "Fox in Socks" while sitting on the floor.
"Marie is Gar's daughter from a previous marriage. She'll be four next month" She replied.
"I see. We'll I think we can help you grow your family even larger." She said as there was a knock on the door. "Come in" she called.
An African-American woman dressed in clean room garments entered the room, carrying a tray with some lab specimens on it. She was wearing her head covering and a face mask.
"Just leave the samples on the credenza." She ordered the lab tech. "Now where was I? Oh yes!"
She reached in Beast Boy's direction and both her arms shot out, stretching at a vertiginous speed. Within a split second both her fists connected with Beast Boy's face, knocking him against the wall behind him, where he slumped to the floor, unconscious.
"Rouge!" Raven hissed as she conjured her white energy, ready to strike back at the elastic woman. She saw a flash of movement from her peripheral vision. It was the lab tech, who struck Raven in the head with a spinning heel kick. Raven's vision went black, except for all the stars she was seeing. Before the attacker's foot connected with her head Raven saw her face, as the mask had been removed.
It was Didi.
Raven threw up a shield around her as she struggled to regain her senses, and not a moment too soon, as it had blocked a thrust side kick that was meant to finish her off. Her vision was still blurry, but she could see that Madame Rouge already had Beast Boy in her clutches. She then remembered Marie and began to scan the room for her, but heard her before she saw her.
"Leave mommy and daddy alone!" Marie shrieked.
"Or what, little one? Will you throw your book at me?" Rouge taunted her in her natural voice with its normal accent.
Raven then heard a familiar sound. One she hadn't heard in years.
Rouge gasped as two star bolts hit her square in the face, forcing her to drop Beast Boy, followed by two more blasts that sent her crashing through the window. Marie was flying now, and she pummeled Didi with more star bolts, which she barely dodged as she retreated from the room performing seemingly impossible acrobatic maneuvers.
Raven leaped up and grabbed Marie, landing next to Beast Boy's still unconscious form. She flung her cape over them and they phased out of the room and soon reappeared in the Tower's common room.