They all arrived at the town hall for the press conference. Once they had filed out of the T-Car, the team proceed to head towards the entrance. News crew and media members were already outside waiting for their arrival at the steps leading towards the doors. Instantly they were swarmed and had to fight their way through. Beast Boy was stuck at the front, wanting to get it over with as fast as possible.
As they were getting close to the door, a reporter bravely reached out to grab a hold of Beast Boy's arm to ask a question. Beast Boy turned around with a look of anger on his face for someone having the audacity to grab him like that. The team froze and you could feel the tension immediately. The reporter, a young blonde lady, hesitated to begin her question with the look she was receiving. The one saving grace was that there was a cameraman right beside her. Before she could get her question asked, he pulled his arm away and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "I suggest that you don't do that again." He uttered in a dark tone away from the microphone.
He proceeded to make his way past the rest of the crowd, the team following closely behind. They were ushered in through the doors and lead to a hallway outside of the room the press conference would be held in. As they were waiting to enter, Robin walked over to Beast Boy.
"Are you alright BB?"
Beast Boy nodded his head. Nothing else escaped his lips or gave any sign that he had heard him. Starfire then spoke up.
"Friend, what did you say to the lady?"
He had to give Star credit. She seemed to be very naive when it came to a lot of things, but sometimes she showed she had a large amount of bravery. He was sure everyone on the team wanted to ask that question and it was her that had the guts to do it.
"Not to do that again."
Cyborg was the next to speak.
"B, she was just doing her job. Was she a little out of line, yes, but don't be so hard on her."
Beast Boy turned his head to Cyborg and his eyes hardened. It felt like the temperature in the room dropped 40 degrees. Robin and Raven held their breath while Starfire looked on with worry.
"I might be able to turn into them, but I'm not a pet. Don't expect me to take kindly to being yanked around like one."
After that comment, it was silent. They waited for the go ahead to enter, which seemed to be taking an eternity. Robin kept looking at Beast Boy, Starfire fidgeted with her hands, Cyborg had his head down, seemingly embarrassed from being scolded by Beast Boy, and Raven was picking at her coat she was wearing. All the while Beast Boy laid back against the wall, arms crossed and looking straight ahead. Not even 10 minutes into arriving had things already gone in a negative direction. Everyone was hoping that this night would pass quickly without anymore incidents, and Beast Boy was just hoping to get away from anyone else who might piss him off.
Finally, a security guard told them it was good to enter the room. They walked in, went over to the table overlooking the press and filed into their seats. Robin sat next to the mayor, followed by Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg. Beast Boy inwardly sighed as he noticed his position. He seemed to be right in the center of attention again, something he was starting to hate. The mayor gave them a nod and Robin started out with the greeting.
"Thank you all for coming and thank you mayor for allowing us to be here. I want to start off by saying that we couldn't be more pleased with the way that the crime rate has been reduced. The police force has helped out greatly and we'd like to thank them as well."
Robin continued on with his rhetoric and fielded some questions. Beast Boy was getting dreadfully bored and placed his chin in his hand as he tried not to allow his bored demeanor to be noticed fully. It was hard to pretend like he was interested in anything going on, but that's what he was good at. Rose's words filled his head as the conference continued.
"That's what you're good at. Adapting to the situation at hand and filling whatever role you need to that'll make things work."
He looked up for a second in thought of her. Was she watching? Was she here somehow? He took a quick look around the room and could not find her presence anywhere.
Raven watched him out of the corner of her eye. She knew he didn't want to be here. That was evident by the interaction out on the steps before they even entered the office. He seemed to be in thought briefly and she wondered what was going on in his mind.
Starfire and Cyborg watched him as well as Robin was continuing with the questions from the media. They had missed the old Beast Boy. All of them did. He no longer smiled at them or asked them to do anything, except pass the salt or to find out who's turn it was to cook that night. He was quiet, serious, and never seemed to want anything to do with them. It hurt them a lot to see how after that one fight, everything changed. Cyborg and Robin had both agreed that it was just a unfortunate occurrence when he was thrown in their path all those months ago. They apologized and all they received was a nod before Beast Boy continued on wearing out the punching bag with kicks, elbows, and punches that were so brutal it made them flinch.
A reporter raised his hand to ask a question. After Robin called on him, he was given a microphone and began to speak.
"I have a question for Beast Boy, if he wouldn't mind."
This broke the remaining four out of their reverie. Beast Boy lifted his head out of his hand and adjusted his microphone. The other Titans looked on in curiosity and nervousness. He gave a nod to the reporter, indicating that he may speak.
"There are a lot of rumors going on about your future. Can you give us anything that will let us know if you plan to leave or not?"
He inwardly swore and wanted to roll his eyes, but kept his façade in check. The reporter had spoken to him with respect so he figured he would do the same. He calmly swallowed to make sure his voice wouldn't be raspy and licked his lips to speak.
"I'm on the Titans and have sworn to protect this city. That's what I plan to do until further notice."
It wasn't a direct answer but one that he thought would keep everyone calm and off his back. It seemed to be enough for that reporter and the remaining ones in the room. The team and mayor seemed to be pleased with the answer as well, which helped calm his irritation.
Unfortunately, while most of the people in the room were satisfied with the response, one reporter didn't seem to be so. He grabbed the microphone and spoke next.
"Beast Boy, that wasn't really a clear answer. Would you mind giving a yes or no if you plan to stay here?"
Beast Boy knew who that was. A couple of months ago, after the fight with the Hive, the same reporter wrote a story about how he seemed to be the weak link of the group and held the team back. After the change in his diet and philosophy and he started showing how great he really was, the reporter wrote another article. This time asking why he never showed this before and had stated that if he was like this since the beginning, the crime would never had been so bad. It seemed like the reporter was blaming him for all the bad things that happened to the city.
He hardened his eyes and glared at the reporter. The room seemed to get colder for everyone, including the rude reporter.
"How was that not direct? I said I was a Titan and I was going to be here until it would be time for me to go."
The reporter faltered slightly under his gaze, but still kept going.
"Well how long will that be? Are you leaving tomorrow, or plan to be here for years to come?"
Beast Boy clenched his jaw in anger. He knew the reporter was trying to paint him in a bad light and he was having enough of it.
"Things can change at any time. I don't know how long my future is going to be-"
He saw the reporter look down to write something on his pad. Big mistake, he thought.
"Hey!"
The reporter glanced up, surprised at the tone of his voice. The whole room instantly held their breath, waiting for something to happen. The team all glanced at Beast Boy, worried he might lose it. Robin instantly thought he would have to go into damage control and began plotting what he was going to say or if he should end the press conference. He also was getting sick of this reporter after all the bashing he had done to his team member and made a mental note to go to the office he works at to speak to his boss about a possible termination for the employee.
Before he could say anything, Beast Boy spoke again in a calm, but cold and warning tone.
"Look at me when I'm talking to you. Don't go writing something down while I'm speaking. I know you're the one who said all those things about me not carrying my weight. So before you kill a man, make sure you look him in the eyes while you do it."
This shut the reporter down, effectively embarrassing him. The room remained quiet, with all eyes on either the reporter or the green skinned, tattoo covered superhero sitting behind the table at the head of the room. The reporter cast his head down, no longer looking for an answer to his question.
The whole time, Beast Boy had kept his gaze on the reporter. He watched him lower his eyes and thought briefly that he got what he deserved. But after a quick thought, he figured he'd bury him some more.
"What did I just say?"
The reporter glanced back up at him, his face full of worry. Every eye in the room was on Beast Boy and every thought was about what he would do next.
"I wasn't done with my answer. You wanted an answer so I'm giving you one. Just because you got yourself embarrassed, doesn't mean I'm finished speaking."
The reporter looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at that moment. Eyes were going back and forth between him and the green hero. Beast Boy was sure that he might have a private talk once back at the tower with Robin, but he couldn't care less.
He let the silence carry on for a brief few seconds before finishing up his answer in a surprisingly calm tone to hopefully his last question of the night.
"As I was saying, I don't know how long I'll be here. None of us do really. We could be gone in the next couple of weeks or we could stay here our whole time as heroes or even longer. It really just comes down to how the city views us and if they want us here."
He knew he was covering himself up and with what he had said, he thought he did so perfectly. The reporters and team seemed pleased with the answer and he was finally glad to get everyone off his back. It also helped that the reporter kept his mouth shut and was fully embarrassed.
He stared at said reporter and was inwardly amused at how he went from obnoxious and provoking to quiet and humbled.
"You can write whatever you were going to down now."
The reporter nodded his head and looked away, thankful that the embarrassment was over for now. Even he knew that he really messed up this time. And to be scolded by Beast Boy of all people really put him to shame.
Robin and the team had their gazes on Beast Boy, impressed he could go from lecturing and tearing into someone, to calm and collected the next second. Robin held his gaze a little longer before turning away and addressing the media.
"Any more questions?"
The room murmured about for a second before a few shakes of the head gave him his answer. He thanked them for coming and thanked the mayor for allowing them to come and speak before the team got up and left the room.
As they were heading for the exit, Beast Boy dropped back a bit to talk to Robin for a moment.
"I'm gonna be back a little later. I'm gonna go out for a quick fly around the city."
Robin nodded and allowed it since he knew Beast Boy was likely more irritated than what he let on.
"Okay, that's fine. Try to be back before too long. I don't want you to get locked out by Cyborg's security program."
Beast Boy nodded and turned to take off. Robin watched him go until he was no longer visible in the night sky. He sighed and turned to go back to the team at the T-Car. He knew that something was going on with Beast Boy and it wasn't just the sudden decision to become such a good crime fighter. He was sure the League were keeping an eye on him since he's become such a force to be reckoned with. But he knew there was some underlying reason why he's become so distant and at times cold.
No smiles or playful gleam in his eye. No jokes or banter with the team. He left Raven alone and no longer argued with Cy at breakfast. Hell, he wasn't even present most of the time at breakfast. At training he'd run through the course breaking the record time almost every time he went through it. He passed Robin in martial art skills, which was something nobody thought was possible.
When it came to sparring now, it was almost like a joke. He'd use karate, Muay Thai, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and anything else he wanted to throw at them. He even knocked Robin out 5 seconds into their spar with a running knee to the temple. It happened so fast that the three that were standing off to the side had no idea what had happened or what to do. When Beast Boy noticed them standing there he just turned and asked Cyborg if he was gonna ring the bell to signal the fight over or if he was gonna get the smelling salts to wake him up.
Something had to happen in the last 3 months to start this change in him. And if he didn't know any better, he'd probably say a huge part of it had to do with their treatment of him. He knew they could be hard on him and at times forget he was the youngest. If they all could go back, he was sure they would've done a lot better of a job at letting him know he was valued and loved.
He reached the car where everyone else was standing outside of. They noticed Beast Boy wasn't with him and began to voice their concerns.
"Where is friend Beast Boy?"
Robin turned to look at Star to answer her question.
"He went for a fly. Probably to clear his head and calm down."
She nodded her head in understanding. She knew her friend was upset and was probably still angry at the reporter that kept pestering him on his answer.
Cyborg was the next to speak.
"He really tore into that reporter. I would have never thought B to be the one to put someone in their place but he sure did a good job at it."
The other three nodded their heads in agreement. They all had seen the way he put the embarrassed reporter to shame. Secretly, none of them liked the guy, but they knew they had to keep up the looks of good heroes and deal with it. Beast Boy however, did seem to care all that much.
Raven turned to Robin to ask a question that the other two probably were thinking as well.
"You're not going to punish him are you? After all, he was the one that was making Beast Boy look bad with those articles he wrote."
The others now looked at Robin waiting for his answer. He didn't even know what he was gonna do about it. On one hand, it was deserved and long overdue. But on the other, who knows what that reporter would write now after being publicly humiliated.
"I don't know. Probably just talk to him and let him know that we're behind him and to not let reporters and media affect him too much. I plan on making a visit to that reporter's place of work and having a talk with his boss."
They all agreed that it was fair. One can only take so much before lashing out, even Beast Boy. They also wanted to help fix any wrong doings they might have done with their teammate. Cyborg decided to make a joke to lighten the situation.
"That's smart on your part. Any punishment you might of given could get you knocked out again."
The girls chuckled and Robin glared at Cyborg.
"That's not funny Cy."
He just raised his hands in defense.
"Hey all I'm saying is I'd rather not have to worry about a villain attacking while our leader is out cold."
Robin grumbled and got in the car while they girls followed suit. Cyborg took a quick look at the monitor in his arm to see if Beast Boy had his communicator on him so Cyborg could track his location. Seeing that his communicator was giving a signal from the tower, he sighed and got in. Once everyone was buckled, he started up the car and sped off to get home and get some dinner.