AN: I do not own Teen Titans and Please Do Not Review Until End of Fic

Chapter 21: The Fight

Vic looked around his apartment and had major flashbacks to the day Gar had moved in. Mainly because there were boxes everywhere. He did his best to step over them and not crush anything, but he could only be so flexible.

"Goddamn, couldn't he have at least stacked 'em?" he grumbled to himself as he walked through the maze of boxes. "I didn't even have this much sh-," he barely got to finish as his foot caught a box and he went stumbling forward, nearly colliding with a wall. He growled and found his footing. "Gar! Would ya stop packin and move some of this outta he- AH!" He screamed as he came face to face with Gar's lovely iguana.

"Are you okay?" asked Raven, coming out from Gar's room with another box in her hands.

"I dunno how ya can put up with him, Rae," said Vic, trying to shoo Whiplash away with a wooden spoon he'd found in one of the many boxes around him.

"Gar, I found your iguana," said Raven.

"Whiplash?" came Gar's voice as he ran out of his room. "There you are!" He ran over to Whiplash and gently took him into his arms. "I was worried about you, buddy."

"Man, I'm not gonna miss that thing," said Vic, relaxing a bit now that the iguana was restrained.

"Come on, what'd he ever do to you?" asked Gar as he rubbed the top of Whiplash's head.

"Other than scare the bejesus outta me everyday?" said Vic.

"Alright, boys, I'm making a trip downstairs," said Raven picking up another box. "I suggest you do the same so we can get out of here."

"What? You don't like hangin with me?" laughed Vic.

"Not when I'm doing heavy lifting and manual labor," said Raven as she struggled to open the door.

"Yeah, princess here isn't used to doing physical work," Gar laughed.

"You know, it's not too late for me to take back my offer," Raven warned.

"Sorry dear," said Gar in a sweet voice. Raven rolled her eyes and shook her head as she left, closing the door a bit harshly. Vic looked to Gar with a worried look. Gar just smiled and said, "Don't worry, dude, she loves me."

"She better," said Vic. "I can't see someone like her puttin up with you if she only liked ya."

"True," said Gar. "Come on, Whiplash, let's get you back in your case. You just wait until we get to your new home. You're gonna have your own room!"

While Gar baby talked to his iguana Vic decided to help Raven and grabbed a few boxes to make a trip downstairs to the car. He made it outside and saw Raven attempting to open her car's door, but was having trouble since she was holding boxes. He quickly ran over to her and opened the door.

"Thanks," she said with a kind smile.

"No problem," said Vic.

"I had no idea someone could own so many items and live in such a small space," said Raven as she loaded the boxes in.

"Yeah, but remember that most of it was on his floor," Vic laughed.

"That's true," said Raven.

"And soon it's gonna be all over your floor," chuckled Vic.

"Like hell it will," said Raven.

"Ah, so you're gonna clean up after him, huh?" said Vic.

"To a certain point, yes," said Raven. "I can understand that he's not exactly a neat and tidy person, and I'll pick up after him to keep my house clean, but he should know that I can only take so much."

"Ya know that ya might hafta spell it out to him though, right?" said Vic.

"Yes, I know," Raven sighed. "But, relationships are all about compromise, or so I hear."

Vic laughed and the two headed back upstairs to grab more of Gar's belongings. As they walked inside Vic nearly tripped over Whiplash who'd escaped once more. The iguana gave Vic's leg a healthy whip with his tail and then hightailed it out of the apartment.

"Ow!" Vic yelped. "You lil bastard! I'm gonna kill you!" He grabbed a broom and went charging out into the hallway after Whiplash.

"No!" Gar cried and quickly went running out after Vic and the iguana. "Vic, if you even touch Whiplash I'll kick your ass!"

"Say what?!" Vic yelled. "You're lizard just fuckin attacked me, man!"

"He was scared!" Gar yelled back.

"He's evil!" Vic screamed.

"Would you two shut the hell up!" one of their neighbors yelled.

"Stay out of it!" the two shouted.

Raven just sighed and went back to packing Gar up. She could do without their fighting about the iguana. She went to his room and saw that most of it was packed up. There were only a few draws left to be packed and she figured she might as well do it.

She opened an empty box and began to fill it with various things from his draw. She knew he'd probably freak out if he found out that she was looking through his things, but she didn't care. She expected guys to have certain things hidden away in their draws. She was a little surprised to see a clapping monkey doll, though. She figured it must have been something from his childhood, or at least she hoped it was, and she threw it in the box.

She then saw a picture frame facing down in the bottom of the draw. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't keep a picture out in the open, since his room had been covered with them. She picked it up and flipped it over to see who it was of. She was quite surprised to see it was a picture of him holding some gorgeous blond girl at sunset.

"Asshole," Gar grumbled as he entered the room. He then looked to Whiplash, who was in his arms again, and said in a baby voice, "You didn't mean it did you?" Gar then looked past Whiplash and saw Raven kneeling on the floor with a picture frame in her hands. He knew exactly which one it was… and paled. "Uh, Rae, what're you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing," said Raven, quickly throwing the picture into the box she was packing. "Just packing the rest of your possessions."

"I coulda done that," said Gar, putting Whiplash into his carrying case this time so he wouldn't get out again.

"I know," said Raven plainly. "I just wanted to finish so we could get out of here."

Gar heard an odd tone in her voice and he knew she must have been upset about finding that photo of him and Tara. Not that she knew what Tara looked like, but he was sure she was smart enough to make the connection.

"You know, I don't even know why I keep that picture," he said.

"What picture?" she said, throwing the rest of his belongings out of the draw and into the box.

"The one you were just holding," said Gar. "I forgot I even had it.

"Uh huh," said Raven, obviously not believing him and trying to hide how much it hurt that he still kept a picture of his ex around.

"You know what?" he said, reaching into the box and grabbing the picture. "I think I'll just throw it out."

"You don't have to," said Raven. "I really don't care."

"You sound like you care," said Gar.

"Well I don't," she said and stood up with the box. "So drop it."

"If you didn't care then you wouldn't be upset," said Gar.

"I'm not upset," she said harshly and left the room with the box.

"Hey, you don't see me getting upset about having to see pictures of you and your dead husband everyday," he said, getting upset with her.

Now, there were few things that truly upset Raven; things that struck a nerve and made her nearly breakdown. And one of those few things was having someone refer to Malchior as her 'dead husband'. He might not have liked her, but she had truly liked him when they were together and even believed she loved him for while. Yes, he'd done terrible things to her and killed her father, not that she liked him very much, but he was her first love. And he had been the father of her child. Calling him her 'dead husband' brought all of those memories back and it always upset her. She dropped the box she was holding and stormed out of his room.

"What?" said Gar as she angrily left. He sighed and ran after her. "What'd I say this time?" But she didn't answer him. She just made her way through the apartment and then left, slamming the door behind her. Gar groaned and went running after her.

Raven flew down the stairs as quickly as she could, not wanting to talk to Gar. As she went she passed Vic who was heading back up with the broom still firmly in his grasp. Apparently Gar hadn't told him he'd found the iguana.

"Rae, ya okay?" asked Vic, but she just pushed past him and continued on her way. "Oh shit, what'd he do now?" He was about to head back up the stairs, but Gar practically jumped over him to get to Raven. Against his better judgment, Vic decided to follow them down and eavesdrop.

Raven made it to her car and took out the boxes that she'd packed in the back. She placed them on the sidewalk just as Gar burst out of the building. She frowned and headed for the driver's side of her car.

"Rae, would you wait a goddamn second?!" he said, angrily.

"I don't want to talk to you right now," she said, steaming.

"God, you're so fucking dramatic!" he said, running his fingers through his hair. "Would you at least tell me what the hell I did? How come you can get all pissed at me but I get just a little upset and you flip out on me?"

"There's a large difference between me being a little concerned about finding out you have a picture of your ex hidden way and you insulting my deceased husband," said Raven.

"Insulting your… I didn't insult him!" said Gar, confused and angry as ever. "Though I could! God, why do you even care? I swear, I think you care more about that dead bastard than me!"

Raven stiffened and tears welled into her eyes. "Do you really think that?" she said practically through her teeth.

"Yes, I do," said Gar, crossing his arms.

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Well fine then," Raven spat. "If you can't tell by now that I care more about you than anything else in the world then I don't think I want you living in my house. In fact, I don't think I want you anywhere near me." And with that she got into her car.

"Rae, come on!" Gar shouted, but it was too late. She started her car and quickly drove out of there. He let out a frustrated yell and headed back into the building. And Vic was right there, ready to handle the situation.

"What happened?" he asked as Gar entered.

"Dude, leave me alone," said Gar, continuing to walk and heading for the stairs that led up to their apartment.

"No, I wanna know what the hell happened to make Rae flip out like that," said Vic.

"It's none of your fucking business!" Gar screamed at him and began the long climb up the three floors worth of stairs.

"Gar, I'm ya best friend," said Vic, following him. "Of course it's my business. And I don't wanna see you two break up over something stupid."

"It's not stupid," said Gar. "She found a picture of me and Tara, which I forgot I even had I might add, and got pissed at me. Then I pointed out that I have to look at her fucking dead husband every day when I see her wedding picture and she got even angrier. I mean, is it me? How come she always gets to be the one upset and I can't have any negative feelings at all?"

"Okay, calm down," said Vic. "We can fix this."

"Dude, I don't need your help," said Gar. "If this is how she's gonna be all the time then why the hell do I even bother?"

"Cuz ya love her, man!" said Vic.

"Yeah, well she acts like she loves that dead asshole more than me," said Gar, opening the door that led to their floor.

"Ya know that's not true," said Vic.

"No… I don't," said Gar.