-Chapter 21-

Cyborg mashed his controller's buttons in a fury as his character clashed against Beast Boy's on the large TV screen. "Oh yeah, take that!" He yelled pulling out a combo move that won him the match. "Booyah!"

Beast Boy grunted tossing down his controller. "You so cheated." He said without his normal defiant enthusiasm.

Cyborg looked at Beast Boy thoughtfully and put down his controller. "You wanna tell me what's up?" He said figuring that now would be the best time to see what was up with his green friend.

Beast Boy looked away thinking about telling Cyborg to mind his own business but he knew better than to go down that route. "I was just thinking about Raven… And Terra…" He said with a sigh.

Cyborg frowned knowing now why Beast Boy was upset. After Terra, Beast Boy had never really tried to get with another girl. Beast Boy had confessed to him that he had thought about trying to date Starfire, but the redhead was so head over heels for Robin it just would not have worked out. While Raven had still been single, Beast Boy had kept the hope of trying to start a relationship with her but now… "Maybe you should try to go out and find a date?" Cyborg asked, thinking about it. Being a Titan did open up a lot of doors for dating.

"Eh… It's hard getting a date when you're green…" He replied looking out the window.

"Yeah, but there are a ton of girls who like the color green. Just go out and see what happens! Nothing is going to change if you just sit here and mope. Hell, you haven't even cracked a joke all day!"

Beast Boy grinned. "Maybe I'm just saving the good ones for later." He sighed and leaned back on the couch. "I guess I might do that…" He said thinking that it would be good to get out of the tower for while again. "You wanna be my wingman?" He asked with a smile.

Cyborg rolled his eye. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

"Mall works." Beast Boy said with a grin jumping up. "Plus, the new Zombie Brawlers is out! We could get a copy of it!"

Cyborg laughed. Beast Boy and zombies… Raven was right; his brain had to have come from a zombie. "We can do that." Cyborg said with a grin happy to see Beast Boy starting to return to normal… If that was what you could call it.

"AWESOME!" Yelled Beast Boy while jumping up into the air throwing his fist up in his excitement. "Let's go now!"

Cyborg smiled and rolled his eye nodding his head. It was not as if he had anything else to do. "Alright, but no drool on my car again!" He said pointing a finger at Beast Boy as they left the common room.

"Dude come on!" Said Beast Boy trying to justify himself. "When I'm in the car I have to be a dog! It feels so good sticking my head out the window!"

"Yeah well it won't feel so good if I roll that window up with you in it!"

"Man, you're no fun..." Beast Boy said with a pout.

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Robin smiled as he walked in the park with Starfire. He had agreed to spend a day out with her as both Cyborg and Beast Boy had taken off before he could tell them about training later. 'Maybe it's a good thing we don't train today…' Robin thought as he walked down the path only half listening to Star. 'After all, if things go badly later we're going to need to be ready for it…' Robin felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to Starfire who had been trying to get his attention. "I'm sorry, Starfire." He said taking her hand in his, apologizing to the girl with a smile. "I was thinking about work." He said knowing Starfire did not know about the plan for later yet.

Starfire smiled, squeezing his hand softly. "You think about work far too much friend." She glanced away from him seeing a large jungle gym she knew children played on. It was empty of children today; the coming winter chill kept them all indoors. "Come friend!" She said getting an idea as she started to pull Robin towards it. "Let us pretend we are young children again and play!"

"Starfire it'll look silly if people saw us playing on that!" Robin said knowing they were still in uniform.

"Oh please friend Robin!" Starfire begged, looking at him with her green watery eyes. "It will be most fun!" She clasped her hands around his pleading with him with her puppy dog eyes. "There is no one around to see!"

'Damn it…' He thought feeling his will against her start to break. "Well… I guess we could play for a little while…"

"Oh Yay!" Starfire yelled pulling him to the large gym. "This will be most exciting!" Robin laughed thinking that at least she was happy. He was not sure yet if he was going to enjoy himself or not.

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Raven hummed a soft tune as she looked over the library shelves hunting down another book to read. Slade had finally finished his work and was in the kitchen getting them tea. There were still a few hours before they would need to leave to meet up with her friends and put her plan into action.

"Will I ever get to hear you sing?" Slade asked with a smile in the doorway holding the tray of tea.

Raven glanced to him as she pulled a new book off the shelf. "No." She said taking it back to the couch, laying out on it, opening the book.

"Aww." Slade said with a grin, walking into the room and placing the tea on the table next to the couch. "I'm sure you would sing wonderfully." He said pouring himself a cup.

"Why would you think that?" She asked looking to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Because the sounds you make for me in bed are music to my ears." He said huskily giving her a lustful gaze.

She blushed from his look and the emotions she felt from him. "Stop thinking about sex." She said burrowing her face in her book as he laughed.

"I can't help it." He said taking his cup with him as he stood and walked to a shelf picking out a book for himself. "You're too damn tempting." He said trying to keep the darker thoughts at bay. He would much rather think about sex with her but it was getting harder to ignore his more violent urges. He picked out a book and took it to one of the plush chairs, sitting down and starting to read after setting his tea on the small table next to him.

Raven did her best to ignore his emotions and focus on her own book knowing he was trying to do the same. They did not have the time to test his level of control again.

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Cyborg rolled his eyes watching Beast Boy try to chat with a cute blonde-haired woman who was standing before Beast Boy in line to check out at the gaming store. Cyborg could tell from the look on the girl's face that she was uninterested. 'Damn... Fifth girl today...' He thought knowing he had tried to help hook Beast Boy up all day. 'I guess being green doesn't make it any easier...' The girl rolled her eyes and stepped up to the counter doing her best to ignore Beast Boy. 'Then again... Those jokes aren't helping...' Cyborg watched as the girl paid for her game and left not giving Beast Boy a second glance. Beast Boy paid for his game and returned to Cyborg looking more depressed.

"I blew it... Again..." He said with a sigh as they walked out of the store.

"Maybe we're just not looking in the right place." Cyborg said thinking about it as they wandered around the mall.

"Look we've tried the salad place, arcade, movie store AND now the game shop!" Beast Boy said in a huff. "Where else is there?!"

Cyborg thought about it but before he could answer, his t-com in his arm went off. Beast Boy huffed again, crossing his arms over his chest. Cyborg gave him an apologetic look as he answered it. "Cyborg here." He stated seeing Robin on the other end.

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Robin and Starfire laughed as they jumped around the jungle gym like monkeys. A game of tag had started between them and now, Starfire was fleeing from Robin. They did not know how much time had passed as time was meaningless in their game. Starfire laughed and swung around the gym bars with ease. Robin was close behind her and quickly caught up with her, tagging her back with a hand.

"You're it!" He yelled, quickly turning around and bolting the other way through the equipment.

Starfire giggled as she pursued him without the use of her powers. "I shall make you the 'it' soon!" She yelled with a laugh.

Robin dashed from Starfire going down a slide. He froze at the end of the slide hearing his t-com go off. "Time out Starfire!" He yelled as she reached the slide. Starfire paused at the top of the slide looking over at Robin as he opened the device. "Robin here." He said seeing the Police Chief on the line. It was uncommon for the Chief of Police to call him directly.

"Robin we have a situation..." The man stated. He was in his blue uniform with short brown hair and matching eyes. There was nothing distinguishing about his face that would make him someone particularly easy to remember his name. However, Robin always made sure he knew the name of everyone important in their line of work.

"What is the situation, Chief Johnson?" Robin asked concerned, hearing the hesitation in the man's voice.

"Well... It isn't something we normally call on you guys for..." Said the man looking away. Why did a grown man like him have to call on a kid? "But we have never encountered something this... Extreme… And strange... You have experience with this being from Gotham." He stated getting to the point of his call. "We need your help investigating these murders we found a few hours ago."

'Extreme?' Robin questioned but kept a neutral face. The police rarely called on the Titans for help with anything other than the meta-humans. They liked to pretend that they handled all the normal human problems and were capable of doing their job protecting the people of the city without the Titans' help. Therefore, whenever Robin got a call from the Chief, he knew it had to be bad. "Send the coordinates over. I'll be there shortly."

Johnson nodded. "You should bring Raven with you again." He said remembering the last time that he had called Robin; he had brought the dark girl with him. Raven's abilities, while freaky, had been very useful in piecing together what had happened that day. Her soul tracking ability was something the Chief had been very envious of. It was because of her they had found the killer so quickly and caught him before he could execute his next murder. He always thought that talent was squandered by her being with the Titans.

Robin's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew why Johnson wanted Raven to come with him. Johnson had made his intentions very apparent before when he had offered Raven a job on his unit during the last case they assisted with. "No, Raven is busy at the moment with other Titan matters." Robin lied. "Cyborg will be coming with me."

The Chief just nodded knowing not to press the matter. Cyborg would be useful to the case, so he was not going to bitch. "I will see you soon then." He said deciding not to brief Robin on what to expect. Maybe that was petty of him, but he wanted Robin as unprepared for the scene as he had been. After all, what he had seen today was something he did not understand but hoped to never see again.

Robin sighed as the line cut off and the coordinates flashed on his screen, quickly memorizing them before he closed it. Robin looked up to Starfire seeing her pout. "I'm sorry Starfire... We're going to have to cut this short." He glanced at his watch he had on under a glove. 'It's 2 pm... Plenty of time to get this done… Hopefully.' He thought thinking about what was going to happen later today.

Starfire slid down the slide and said her goodbye to him. She left his side after they shared a hug, going back home. She was not one for going to murder scenes. They always made her cry.

Once she was gone, Robin walked to his bike opening his com again to call Cyborg.

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Cyborg grumbled something about lazy cops as he got out of his car looking around for Robin. He found him easily as Robin's uniform colors stood out in the crowd of police and medical workers. Robin was talking to Chief Johnson as Cyborg walked up and waited to make himself known. He heard the end of the conversation. Apparently, Johnson was unsure, if not unwilling, on how to describe the scene in the building.

"So, what are we here for?" Cyborg asked Robin as the Chief left going to work on keeping the media away from the scene with his other men.

"Something... Extreme." Robin said looking over everyone who had been in the building. A few looked to be sick while others were stone-faced hiding their feelings on what they saw. "He wouldn't tell me much." Robin said as he and Cyborg turned to the entrance stepping under the police tape. "Just that there are a lot of dead in here and none of them complete."

"Oh, that ain't good…" Cyborg mumbled to himself.

Robin and Cyborg braced themselves for a bloody scene as they entered the building. The crime scene lights made it look as though the daylight had penetrated the old walls.

"What the... Fuck?" Cyborg asked looking around seeing the grass and flowers. "This is a murder scene?"

Robin saw the plants, but his eyes quickly saw past them, seeing the horror beneath. "Look closer..." He said walking further into the building, watching his step. He quickly figured out that wherever there were flowers there were body parts.

Cyborg did as Robin said with his mechanical eye scanning the room. "Holy shit..." He said finally seeing the bodies. "Why are there flowers growing on the..." He raised up a hand, wiping his mouth unable to finish realizing some part of him was trying to throw up.

"I don't know..." Robin said knelling by the body of a woman whose throat was slashed. Blue roses with dark green leaves; something that did not exist in this world, had claimed her chest, the roots growing out from the gash. Robin inspected it coldly, making sure to note every detail about the wound and NOT the human. Robin moved on to the next body noting that these wounds were different. The first body he inspected had been killed with a quick clean cut. The gaping hole in the chest of this male was anything but clean. "There were at least two different killers." Robin said after inspecting a few more bodies. He was glad his time with Batman was paying off.

Cyborg nodded as he stood up after finishing a scan of another body. "I agree... Some of these are clean strikes, like with a knife, though they don't match any knife blades I have in my records..." He said examining five almost equally long gashes in the body of a male's chest. "More like claws..."

Robin nodded silently as he moved towards the center of the room seeing the plane of grass in the middle of the room that was void of body parts and flowers. Something about how the blades of dark green grass were pressed down called to him. A patch of blue caught his eyes and froze him where he stood, stilling the very blood in his veins.

Cyborg walked over to a pile of bodies seeing the destructive mess of them. He paused in his scan and crouched down picking up a piece of black clothing he thought he recognized. "Oh no..." He whispered while standing up, taking the black shirt with him, holding it up. "Robin... I think I know who did this..." He said softly, glad that the other police were not in the building with them.

"So do I..." Robin said standing up as well, holding the blue clothing in his hands. He turned to Cyborg and they spoke together.

"Slade..."

"Raven..."

The two stood there frozen as it sank in on both sides. A rustle and yell outside snapped them out of their thoughts with wide eyes. They glanced to the clothing they had in hand and rapidly made a decision, unsure if it was the right one or not... Quickly Cyborg and Robin gathered up the clothing and shoes they found and bagged them. Cyborg stuffed the bags into his chest compartment to hide. They said nothing to each other but the look was enough. This could not make it out to the public...

Robin and Cyborg calmed themselves knowing that they were going to have to lie to the police. They left the building and gave a report to the Chief. It was brief but held as much as they felt they could tell without incriminating Raven or Slade. Johnson seemed happy with the report and Robin's willingness to help should they find any leads. Cyborg of course promised to send them detailed scans of the scene later tonight. What Cyborg did not tell the man was that he was going to do a bit of editing of some of the scans; just a little picking and choosing of what to send Johnson.

Once they were finally away from the scene and back to their vehicles, they shared one last look before quickly rushing back to the tower. They said nothing in the garage going to one of the more secure interrogation rooms. Cyborg opened his chest and pulled out the bag, tossing it onto the table. The heavy boots inside of it made it land with a loud thud in the silence.

Robin took a deep breath and opened it, pulling out the evidence, sorting it with a sense of numbness coming over him. He swallowed hard looking at the clothing and small pair of cloth boots. He had only known Raven to wear those boots... The shorts... The open backed blue top... She had been wearing the same clothing yesterday...

"There is no blood on her clothes..." Cyborg said as he sorted the black uniform looking for anything that would tell him this was not Slade's. "However, this thing is covered in blood..." Cyborg glanced to Robin. "Maybe she didn't have anything to do with it?"

"Even if she didn't..." Robin said forcing himself to look away. "She should have stopped him." He said knowing deep down that though her clothes were clean... He knew what had happened and it sickened him. His hands clenched into tight fists. "She's betrayed us..."

Cyborg looked at Robin with wide eyes. "No... No no no... She'd never do that!" He said tossing the clothes away onto the table to be forgotten. "She's family! She would never do anything like this!" He said trying to force himself to believe his own words. "Raven isn't a killer! She's a Titan and always will be!"

"Cyborg..." Robin said calmly though he felt anything but. "The evidence is overwhelming..."

"NO!" Cyborg yelled, grabbing Robin by his shirt, lifting him up, yelling in his face. "I WON'T BELIEVE IT!" Robin did nothing, allowing Cyborg to vent his frustration. Cyborg calmed quickly and let him go, looking away. "I can't believe it..." His hands fisted. "I'll ask her... And when she says she didn't do this... I'll believe her..." He said trying to force away the truth. "She's my little sister... I can't believe she'd do this..."

Robin said nothing on the matter as he gathered up the items, putting them back in the bag sealing it. "No matter her answer... We can't let this information reach the public... It would be the end of the Titans if the city knew she had gone rogue..." Cyborg nodded mutely agreeing. "We'll confront them about this when they get here..."

"What are we going to tell Starfire and Beast Boy?" Cyborg asked forcing away his emotions. He had to worry about the two youngest on the team now.

"I don't want them to know... But keeping this from them could prove to be a fatal mistake later... If Raven really has..." He paused forcing himself to say his worst fear. "If she really has gone evil than we need be careful. She could turn on us at any time."

"NO." Cyborg said firmly glaring at Robin. "She would NEVER turn on us." He pointed his thumb to his chest. "I will always trust her with my life. I don't care if she has turned evil. She would never hurt us. We're family and that is never going to change." He said firmly, truly believing his words.

Robin sighed and looked away; grabbing the bag and taking it with him out the door. "I hope you're right Cyborg... I just don't know what to believe anymore..."

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Beast Boy moped around the mall after Cyborg left just wandering the halls hoping for some woman to take pity on him. Why was it so hard to find a pretty girl who would give him a chance? He kicked a random piece of trash on the floor feeling just like it. 'Terra doesn't want me... Raven's found someone stronger... Am I always going to be alone?' Beast Boy was so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice the person he roughly bumped into.

"Hey watch it!" Yelled the girl as she bent down and grabbed her bag that had fallen to the floor, spilling out its contents. She grumbled in her head as she started to pick everything up realizing that this was partially her fault. She had been so caught up in her own thoughts that she had not paid attention to anything all day.

"Oh... I'm sorry..." Beast Boy said quickly, crouching down, helping gather everything up. It was not until his hand touched hers, reaching for the same CD case, that he finally looked up to see just who he had bumped into. His green eyes widened when they meet the pink cat eyes of the girl before him. "Jinx?" He asked looking her over. Her pink hair was pulled back into a tight short ponytail instead of the dual horn style she normally wore it. She was dressed in a purple shirt with a large black spider going across it from the right side and a pair of tight dark jeans with her normal high-heeled black boots.

"Beast Boy..." She said back softly, quickly pulling her hand away with a soft blush coming to her cheeks. Out of everyone in the stupid mall, why did she have to bump into a Titan? She stood up, grabbing her bag, collecting herself.

Beast Boy grabbed the CD and stood up holding it out to her. "Here..." He said awkwardly unsure if he was supposed to fight her or not. "What are you doing here...?"

Jinx glared at him and grabbed the CD, putting it back in her bag. "Shopping, why else would I be in the mall?" She asked rolling her eyes.

Beast Boy laughed lightly rubbing his neck. "Yeah good point... Though you could be here to cause trouble." He said looking to her suspiciously. "It wouldn't be the first time."

Jinx glared back, resisting the urge to look away. "Yeah well, I'm not." She gestured to her style of dress. "I'm here as just another normal person."

"Okay." Beast Boy said seeing her point. She was out of her uniform, so he figured he would let her go. Now if Robin found out, he would be in trouble but so long as no one knew, he would be fine. He glanced around the mall. "Where are the other two you're always with?"

Jinx shrugged. "Don't know... I left them this morning before they woke up. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other shopping to finish." She said brushing past him.

"Hey wait!" Beast Boy called out behind her, reaching out to grab her arm softly. Jinx spun around, her eyes glowing a bright pink. Beast Boy let her go quickly and held up his arms, his small bag in one hand hung off his thumb. "I was just thinking since we're both here alone..." He started quickly but slowed as he continued, glancing away with a blush. "Maybe we could... Hang out?" He asked with a flinch, awaiting the blow of rejection.

Jinx's mouth opened to tell him off but the look of rejection already on his face stilled her tongue. She calmed her pink power and thought about it for a moment. 'This could be my way to become a Titan...' She tried not to think about the other thoughts that plagued her, but she failed. Maybe Beast Boy would know what was happening to Raven? If he did not... Was she going to tell him what she knew? "Only if you buy lunch." She said knowing that she had not had breakfast this morning, so she was starving. If nothing else, at least she was going to get a free meal out of this.

Beast Boy looked back at her with wide eyes. "What...? Really?!" He asked as a grin broke out on his face. "Awesome!" He yelled causing more than a few bystanders to look at them.

Jinx blushed and quickly grabbed his arm, leading him to the food court. "Dude, shut up." She said unsure why he would look so happy that she had said yes.

Beast Boy just grinned and walked with Jinx who led them to the place where she wanted to eat. Today he did not care that she was his enemy. She was someone who was giving him a chance. Beast Boy's thoughts wandered away from him in the moment. 'Did Raven think this when she mated Slade? That the lines of good and evil didn't matter? Or maybe... They're just not really there...?' He shook his head sending his thoughts away as they arrived at the food court.

Jinx led the way into a line and ordered a drink, sandwich and a salad. Beast Boy got a salad and drink as well. He was glad that he had not spent all the money Cyborg had given him today. Once they had their food, Jinx walked to a table in the back where there were not very many people around and sat down. Beast Boy sat across from her and gave her a nervous smile. He was not very good at small talk.

Jinx rolled her eyes taking the lead in the conversation. She was not nervous talking to a Titan, at least not this Titan. After having a conversation with Raven, talking with any of the other Titans would be a breeze... Well maybe not Robin... He still made her nervous. "So, why are you here alone? Don't you guys normally travel together?" She knew it was odd to catch any Titan but Raven out on their own.

"Cyborg was with me..." Beast Boy said poking at his salad while Jinx started to eat her sandwich. She was too hungry to let the food wait any longer. "Robin needed him for some murder scene though..." Jinx nearly choked on her food and banged on her chest, forcing herself to swallow. "Dude, are you okay!?" Beast Boy asked leaning forward as Jinx finally got her breath, taking a drink from her soda.

"I'm okay..." She said slightly breathlessly. She swallowed again, taking another drink and deep breath to calm herself. She could guess what murder scene the cops would call the Titans too. "Do you... Know anything about it?" She asked wondering just what Beast Boy might know.

"No..." Beast Boy said watching her for a moment before going back to his salad taking a bite. "Robin normally takes Raven with him to those but..." He hesitated, wishing that the conversation was not on this topic. "She's busy."

"Who is that guy she's with?" Jinx asked before she could stop herself. "I mean is he with you guys cause... I didn't think Titans killed people..."

"We don't." Beast Boy said with a glare to his food. "He's not a Titan." He said roughly.

"Oh..." Jinx looked away to her food. She could tell Beast Boy did not want to talk about this, so she was not going to push it. Normally she would push until she got her answers but she found herself not overly wanting to talk about either. She needed some other neutral topic to discuss. She glanced to his bag on the table. "So, what game did you buy?" She asked seeing the game store logo on the plastic bag.

Beast Boy's eyes lit up and he smiled. "Zombie Brawlers!" He said pulling out the game and showing her. "It's supposed to have the best Zombie battles of any game yet!"

Jinx laughed and shook her head. "Dude, no game will ever match 'Night of the Walking Corpses'." She said knowing her video games.

"You…" He paused. "Play video games...?!" Beast Boy asked in shock.

Jinx smirked a catty-smile as her eyes flashed. "I don't play, I dominate." She said popping her knuckles.

Beast Boy grinned a fierce fanged grin. "Oh really... Wanna come over and prove it?"

Jinx was caught off guard by that. "What? Like go to the tower?" He was not serious, was he?

"Yeah, why not?" He asked slightly confused at her shock.

"I'm your enemy? You can't just invite me over..."

Beast Boy shrugged. "So? Raven invited him over and he's a lot more dangerous than you." Beast Boy said getting a cold look to his eyes for a moment. "Besides, Robin and Cyborg are out at a crime scene and those normally take forever so I can sneak you in and out before anyone knows."

Jinx thought about it knowing there had to be thousands of reasons why she should say no but just could not think of one of them. "Okay." She said watching him smile. "Let's finish eating, then we'll play."

"Awesome." Beast Boy said going back to his food as she did the same. Maybe today was not such a bad day after all?