Author's Note:

Thousand pardons guy's, I think my muse decided to bugger off to America, steal Star of Airdrie and Katergator's muses and have some debaucherous nights on the town. They came back with matching tattoos, smelling of alcohol and with wads of one dollar bills still rolled up in their bras.

I've been stuck for a couple of days and I think I may have forced this chapter a little... next one will be better, promise. But then, I could be wrong, I'm my own worst critic.

Gramgram - suggested by Katergator

Apple trees lined the long, dirt driveway. They passed the orchards, through the green fields of sheep and down to the large farmhouse in the middle of the properly. Wooden post fencing lined the single lane driveway, several puddles of water splashed as the tyres passed over them. The road was bumpier than Beast Boy had expected, he gripped his seatbelt as Cyborg navigated through expertly.

His eyes read the arched sign above the main driveway to the house. "Peach Apples?"

"Yup," Cyborg said, concentrating on the road. "Peach was Mom's maiden name. Farm's been in the family for years."

"But-"

"What?"

"I thought your parents were scientists."

"They were."

"Then-"

"Not everyone does what their parents do," Cyborg said. "My uncle stayed on the farm while my mom went to the city. It was their choice."

"Oh. And your cousins?"

"Reggie works on the farm now he's done with his degree. Melanie goes to Stanford."

"And they'll both be here?"

"Nah. Just Reggie."

"Okay."

The car bounced, the shock absorbers groaning. "And we'll fix that pothole while we're here."

"We could just fix the whole road," Beast Boy suggested.

"Gramgram wouldn't allow that," Cyborg said with a smile. "Ever been apple pickin', B? Milked a cow?"

"No."

"Well, you're gonna learn. How about shearin'?"

"Sheep? No."

Cyborg grinned. "Well, you're gonna learn that too."

"I can herd them!" Beast Boy said, excited.

Cyborg shook his head. "Bella won't like that."

"Who's Bella?"

"My dog."

"You have a dog?"

"Yup. So... no shiftin' and sniffin' her ass."

"Gross."

Cyborg chuckled, then his face broke out in a big grin. "There she is!"

Beast Boy leant forward in his seat, toward the woman standing on the wooden porch of the farmhouse. She was old, her hair was grey and tied up firmly into buns on the side of her head. There was a chain around her neck attached to her glasses. She wore a bright blue floral dress and a pink frilly apron. She held firmly onto the collar of the border collie trying to come and greet the car.

Cyborg parked in front of the large barn beside the house, pulling up next to a tractor. He bounded out of the car, heading toward his Gramgram and sweeping her up into a massive bear hug.

Beast Boy scrambled out the window of Cyborg's little car, the passenger side door was rusted shut, then hesitated beside the car. Bella the dog was looping little circles between Gramgram and Cyborg's legs, jumping up and down and barking like mad until Cyborg turned his head and commanded her to sit, which she did.

Gramgram grinned broardly, her arms around Cyborg's middle. "Victor, how you've grown! If Grumpy were here, he'd be so proud of you."

"Thanks, Gramgram."

She looked him up and down and wiped her hands on her apron. "You got my chin. He wouldn't like that."

"I got his hair though." Cyborg turned toward him and gestured. "B! Come and meet my Gramgram!"

Beast Boy gave a shy grin and trotted over, taking the two stairs up onto the porch. "Hello-" he squeaked as he found himself crushed against her massive bosom.

"Why, Victor, he's just adorable," Gramgram told Cyborg.

Beast Boy tried not to struggle, that just seemed to make the crushing hug worse. "Um... thanks... Mrs Peach-"

"Call me Gramrgam," she said, placing both her hands on his shoulders and dragged him away. "Let me look at you." She frowned. "Buttercup, have you seen my glasses?"

"Around your neck, Gramgram."

Beast Boy desperately tried not to giggle, Cyborg gave him a flat, no nonsense stare which effectively shut him up.

"Thank you, deary," Gramgram said and planted her glasses on her nose. She tilted her head back so she could view Beast Boy. "A bit skinny, but we'll fatten him up. Look at those ears, I bet a cutie pie like you gets all the girls."

"Ummm..."

Gramgram released Beast Boy, turning back to Cyborg. "Buttercup, look at you in all your glory. You must be so cold!"

"I'm alright, Gramgram-"

"Nonsense." Gramgram turned to a box sitting on the porch bench. Beast Boy had to stand on his tip toes to see into it. "Here we are," Gramgram announced after rummaging through the colourful swathes of clothe for a moment. She turned and shove a bright, rainbow striped and poorly knitted sweater over Cyborg's head. One sleeve was longer than the other, there was a hole in the shoulder and the hem was wonky, the colours she'd used for the stripes mismatched so Cyborg looked like a lost waif.

Nevertheless, Cyborg beamed like she'd given him a years supply of bacon. "Thanks, Gramgram."

"And for you, dear boy," Gramgram said, turning to Beast Boy and planting a yellow and orange knitted hat on his head. "For your ears."

Beast Boy bobbed his head. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Such manners," Gramgram said, impressed. "My dear Grumpy would have loved you, bless his soul. Well-" she clapped her hands together once. "We'll work those manners out of you soon enough."

Beast Boy shot Cyborg a startled look, but Cyborg just laughed.

"There he is!" a voice announced from the other end of the porch.

Cyborg nudged Beast Boy. "That's Reggie."

"Don't you be a-walkin' on my porch with your dirty boots," Gramgram commanded.

The man who had clomped up the steps to their level took a rapid and rather large step backward. "Sorry, Gramgram."

"Boy, ain't you learnt yet?" she scolded as he remove his muck riddled boot. He wore large, blue overalls and a fuzzy pink knitted sweater complete with holes and grease satins and little bits of hay sticking out of the fabric. Complete country image, Beast Boy thought, just like everything else. He looked very similar to Cyborg, except for the black hair woven in cornrow braids tight to his head and down his neck, the fact that he was several years older than Cyborg, and rake thin where as Cyborg was quite broad.

Reggie wiped his greasy hands on his pants as he clomped up to them, his feet still loud on the decking even though he wore socks. "Vic, 'bout time you rocked up. Tractor broke down."

"Nice to see you too," Cyborg replied, grinning.

Reggie dropped his dark eyes down to Cyborg's sweater. "Love the look. Suits you."

"I picked up that pink yarn you wanted."

"Ass."

"Prick."

"Language," Gramgram chided.

"Sorry, Gramgram," they chorused.

Reggie's eyes turned to Beast Boy. "Hey there, little man."

"Um, hi," Beast Boy said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Beast Boy."

"Howdy," Reggie said, shaking Beast Boy's hand. "Vic tells me you're into animals."

"Yeah."

"We've got a sick sheep-"

"We just got here," Cyborg protested. "Let me show him around first."

"Do you smell burning?" Gramgram asked, sniffing the air.

"Cookies," Reggie said, sighing.

"What cookies?" Gramgram asked, bewildered.

"Vic's welcome home cookies."

"Gramgram, ya'll burning my cookies!" Cyborg said, scurrying inside.

"Victor, why are you making cookies when you aren't here yet?" Gramgram cried, following him in.

Beast Boy blinked.

Reggie laughed. "C'mon, short stuff, let's go inside."

The inside of the farm house was totally not what Beast Boy expected. He expected old furniture. A cat. A pile of homemade quilts. A fireplace. A rocking chair. Pillows. Pictures on the wall of family, kids handprints. Everything expected of a grandma's home.

Totally not what was inside.

The pictures on the wall were there. As holographic projections, littered all along the hallway, they shifted and changed all along, different pictures of various times in their lives. Beast Boy noticed five different themed projections. One was clearly Cyborg. Another was a girl, recent pictures which possibly meant his cousin. Reggie had his own screen too, then another boy and girl, which Beast Boy assumed were Cyborg's uncle and mother.

The furniture was all new and modern, various shades of red and cream. One of those self vacuuming cleaners patrolled up and down the hallway. the walls were white, freshly painted. There was a large electronic computer panel beside the door, not that Beast Boy knew what that was for. But he could guess. When you had scientists for children, and someone like Cyborg, you're sure to be decked out by your family.

Reggie strolled through the large open door to the right, and Beast Boy followed.

Everything was state of the art. Absolutely everything. Automated oven, automated dishwasher, a large fridge with ice maker, blenders and stirrers, a slow cooker, every chef's dream. Appliances sparkled and gleamed against the smoke billowing from the oven.

Cyborg waved his hands, batting at the smoke as he angled his body away to retrieve the tray of blackened cookies. He shoved it on the bench in the middle of the room while Reggie opened a window, picked up a towel and started fanning the smoke outside.

Gramgram calmly picked up the tray on the bench with a pair of oven mitts and offered it to Beast Boy. "Cookie?"

TTTTT

"Maaa... baaa... maaaa."

Cyborg watched, struggling not to laugh as the green sheep bleated at one of the flock. "I didn't know you could talk to animals."

The green sheep stuck out his tongue at Cyborg and turned back to the sheep, one of which bleated at him. He nodded and shifted back to normal, an action which spooked the sheep and caused them to dart a few steps away before they stopped.

"Well?" Reggie asked.

Beast Bot scratched his nose as he rose to his feet. "Sheep brains aren't... they're not... coherent... something about yucky grass?"

"Ahh. Damn," Reggie said, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "We got horse-nettle up in the top pasture, I've been poisoning it, but must've missed a few. I'll just keep them out of that pasture 'til I'm sure it's gone."

"They kinda know not to eat it," Beast Boy said, looking at the sheep. "But some times they forget."

"Thanks for asking them," Reggie said.

"Also there's a 'bad snapper' that's been worrying them. I think they mean a dog."

"A dog?"

Beast Boy shrugged. "All they say is its not their snapper, which I assume is Bella. It tried to take a lamb, but got distracted by a 'bouncer' which I assume is a rabbit."

"Right. I'll get on that. Thanks."

"Good work, short stuff," Cyborg said, clapping his hand down on Beast Boy's shoulder. "Let's go pick some apples for Gramgram."

TTTTT

Monkey Beast Boy tossed down another apple to Cyborg, who deftly caught it and transferred it to a woven basket. He shifted back to normal for a moment to speak. "Hey, so, who's this Grumpy your Gramgram was talking about?"

"My grandfather," Cyborg replied, shielding his eye so he could see through the dappled light and into the branches of the tree.

Beast Boy paused, his paws around another apple.

"Gramgram's not all there," Cyborg said. "She forgets things, but she's still adorable."

Beast Boy threw down the apple and shifted. "I wasn't gonna say nothing."

"Good, cause I'd have to come up there and kick your ass."

"Like you could, you'd break the tree and Gramgram would yell."

Cyborg scrunched up his face. "Ick, yeah. Better not."

Beast Boy grinned. "Funny isn't it?"

"What?"

"We can be bad ass heroes and save Jump and still get pulled into line by an old lady."

"Don't mess with the old lady."

"Wouldn't dream of it. Do we need more apples?"

"Arms gettin' tired?"

"Nope."

"Then keep throwin'," Cyborg called. "Gramgram loves apples, she makes an awesome apple cider. Apple pie. Stewed apple, baked apple, dried apple, apple jam, apple sauce, you name it. She'll make stuff outta whatever we bring."

"Okay," Beast Boy said and shifted back to the monkey to scale the upper branches for the tasty treat.

TTTTT

Cyborg stood on the porch, watching as the sun sank over the horizon. It had been an interesting day, Beast Boy had taken to farm life a lot faster than he'd expected, but the little guy was very quick at adapting.

The smell of spaghetti and meatballs wafted through the air (with a little smell of Gramgram's mushroom sauce for Beast Boy, not that Cyborg was gonna tell him). Dinner wasn't too far away, still some time to finish up the chores. Or watch Beast Boy chase the chickens around as he tried to round them back into their pen.

Cyborg wasn't going to tell him all he had to do was spread some feed down inside the coop and they'd all come running. It was just that darn funny to watch them all squawking at each other. Beast Boy included.

"We weren't sure you were coming this year," Reggie said.

Cyborg glanced over his shoulder at his cousin as he leant against the door frame of the farm house, absently rolling a cigarette. "Wasn't sure myself."

"Gramgram's glad you did, she's been talking non stop all week."

That made Cyborg smile. "And you?"

"Hey, you're the baby of the family, I have no one to boss around when you're not here." Reggie smiled and pushed away from the door. "You're not hiding anymore," he said as he settled in beside Cyborg.

Cyborg shook his head. "Gotta accept what I am and live with it."

"Good for you. Must admit, the tools in that hand of yours are awesome. New addition?"

"Wayne Tech," Cyborg said. "Yeah. I gotta friend who's in with the owner."

"Niiiiiice."

"It's got it's perks, I 'spose."

"You gonna tell your friend about Grumpy?"

Cyborg laughed. "Hell, no. I'm gonna stand back and watch the fun."

Reggie chuckled. "Go, help him out," he suggested, lighting his cigarette and nodding toward Beast Boy.

"Nope," Cyborg said as Beast Boy slipped on a pile of mud and went flying. "You can't tell me that ain't funny."

"City folk," Reggie said, grinning.

"BOYS!" Gramgram bellowed from inside the house. "Ring the bell!"

Reggie laughed and nodded to Cyborg. "You can do the honours, cuz."

Grinning, Cyborg strolled over to the large metallic triangle which hung on the corner of the porch. Picking up the wand, he rattled it around the inside of the triangle, then bellowed, "DINNER!"

The chickens immediately stopped playing their game of chasey with Beast Boy and headed into the coop. Bella came bounding over, her tail wagging happily. The four cows, previously munching on the lawn, headed for the barn. Just as they'd all been trained to do.

Beast Boy looked up at Cyborg and panted. "Why couldn't you have done that before?"

"Wasn't as funny."

"Remind me to take you to Africa and have a lion eat you."

"A lion'd break his teeth on Vic," Reggie said.

"Rhino stampede then," Beast Boy said, brushing the dirt and chicken feathers off his shirt.

"Did you forget about the part where I'm mostly metal?" Cyborg said. "I can wrestle with a rhino."

"Fine. I'll tell Starfire on you."

The smile dropped from Cyborg's face. "Yeah... okay. Point made."

"Starfire?" Reggie asked, intrigued. "Got yourself a girl?"

Cyborg chuckled. "Nope, just a friend."

"Good friend?"

"She's taken," Cyborg said.

"Yeah, but she'll still kick your ass if you pick on me. She likes me," Beast Boy said. "It's the ears."

Reggie tilted his head. "The Spock thing? Naaaaaah."

"Hey! Chicks dig the ears!"

"The 'chicks' seemed to want to run away from you," Reggie said, pointing at the chickens.

"Not those 'chicks'!" Beast Boy protested.

"They're the only chicks I see around here," Reggie said.

"Unless, he's tryin' to impress Gramgram," Cyborg mentioned.

"Does teasing me run in the family?" Beast Boy muttered.

"Yup," Reggie and Cyborg said at the same time.

TTTTT

Raven felt bad about lying to Robin about having a place to go for Thanksgiving, but to be honest, she wasn't American, the holiday didn't really mean that much to her. He just seemed to be so insistent that she wan't alone, that she be with someone, him and Starfire, Cyborg or Beast Boy, someone, when all she really wanted was to be left alone.

She wasn't about to sit down and hold hands with a bunch of people and eat a dead bird and give thanks when she had nothing to be thankful for.

Although, she supposed it might be different when she was close to those four people, right now, Thanksgiving was just another pointless, touchyfeely holiday.

Still... she did yearn for company. The quiet sort of companionship only the monks of Azar could produce. She needed something familiar for a while, something to settle her when everything around her was so disorderly.

So, while she may have lied to Robin about visiting her mother, she didn't lie about having a place to go.

The monks had a haven on Earth, lost in the mountains in Tibet. Because, as Raven snarked to herself, all monks live in the mountains of Tibet. So that's where Raven went.

Stone walls carved out of the mountains itself, a single path which would only be navigated if you were part mountain goat, could fly, or studied the ancient arts of teleportation.

She had a room there, would always have a room and a home and family there. It over looked the valley below, white and brown dusted with low lying clouds.

They grew all their own food in their gardens. Produced their own clothes and energy. Everything they had was a product of their own labour.

Except for the games room and the communications hub and miniature satellite. Little known fact, the Monks of Azar were actually a ruthless band of Starcraft 2 players. They won a few minor tournaments every year, just enough to keep their systems upgraded and supply her with a small income, but not enough so that they'd be noticed by the billion dollar Starcraft gaming empire.

Raven smiled as they all raised their hands to greet her, even though no words were spoken, when she walked through their arched stone gate. Then pulled up a chair to her terminal.

Author's Note:

Cyborg's relatives are completely my imagination. There's no mention of family for him in the comics, besides his parents.

Starcraft 2 has tournaments, some of which have billions of dollars worth of prize money. There are people who train for eight hours every day to enter and win, you can make a living from it, a good living. It's not like other games, you need a real strategic mind for it and the ability to adapt quickly, its a lot like chess in the way it counters. Seemed right up Raven's alley. She just doesn't find joy in handheld noisy games. Shush, it's my headcanon.

Next chapter: Morning after