When Beast Boy stepped through the portal, he was greeted by a sight to behold. The room was extraordinary large. Black marble walls surrounded him and a big window was at the far end of the room, looking over the busy city. A massive table was stationed in the middle, along with a huge wrap around couch. A TV monitor was placed on one wall, and computer screen and massive keyboard by the other. He turned around and saw the kitchen and it took him a moment to collect himself.

The countertops were aligned with gold, as well with a refrigerator that was so far advanced technologically, it would've put the one back at the Tower to shame. Gunmetal cabinets filled with plates that looked like they were gifted from a prince sat above the cooking area. This place was far beyond what his previous home was.

He landed his eyes back on Slade, who seemed to be taking amusement in the fact that the boy was star struck. He raised a hand, as if presenting everything again, and addressed the boy.

"So Beast Boy, what do you think?"

He looked around once more, letting everything soak in. Once he finally got done gazing at everything, he spoke to Slade.

"This place is amazing. How did you get the money for this?"

Slade chuckled and decided to fill Beast Boy in.

"We are in the UAE, one of the richest places in the world. Along with the fact that Saudi Arabia asked us for help, they gave us a generous amount to design a tower and promised us whatever we asked."

Jaime came up to Gar and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"Told ya man, this place is awesome! You haven't seen everything yet either."

Rose decided to speak up, addressing the fact that her boyfriend's stuff was now in the middle of the room.

"Why don't the boys go take all of your stuff to your room, while me and the girls show you around."

Gar nodded his head while the boys rolled their eyes and grunted. Slade meanwhile had other things to attend to.

"I will need to speak to the government officials. I already told them you would be expected to arrive soon. I wasn't expecting it to be so sudden, so I have to inform them that you are here."

Gar nodded and watched as Slade went over to the computer and started typing away. He felt a hand slip into his and turned to come face to face with Rose. She smiled at him and tugged lightly at his hand, nodding to indicate that she wanted him to follow her.

"Come on love, we'll be busy for a while."

Gar and the girls exited while the boys began to send his stuff to his room via a portal. As they were leaving, they could hear Jaime complaining that he didn't want to do it while Grant just told him to join the club and help get it over with.

First stop was to the training room. Once again, this place had ten times the facilities his old place had. Technologically advanced courses, a simulator for fighting opponents, mats for sparring, and almost any other thing you can think of. He noticed that at the far end and sectioned off from the enormous room was a shooting range. He turned to the girls and asked them about it.

"A shooting range, huh?"

Rachel spoke up.

"Yep. We'll be dealing with terrorists who will be heavily armed. Slade will want to make sure that all of us can handle a gun if we need to. I'm sure he'll want to see you on it pretty soon."

Surprisingly to them, he didn't seem to be intimidated or worried in the slightest. He just casually shrugged his shoulders and told them not to worry.

"I'll be fine. Wouldn't be the first time."

All the girls glanced at each other before shifting their gaze back to the boy. Shae spoke next.

"You mean you've handled a gun before?"

A nod was all that he gave them. This boy was just full of surprises. From what they knew, the Titans never used any weapons that could kill. Robin just had his gadgets and staff, while Cyborg had a cannon that was intended to maim their opponent. It was another thing from his secret past that they intended to find out.

"When was this?"

Gar turned to look at the gun range again and became quiet. The girls watched him and his eyes and face looked like he was remembering memories long ago that he wish he could have forgotten about. His eyes became distant and his mouth formed into a frown. Finally, after what seemed like minutes, he addressed the question.

"A long time ago."

As they watched, the girls felt different emotions run through them. Rachel and Shae began to get the feeling that this boy who put on an appearance that he had been the jokester and happy-go-lucky guy before had something deep and dark hidden underneath it. A mask to cover up a tragic or violent past that he wished he hadn't been put through.

Cassandra had been quiet the whole time observing him. She could see that something was wrong and this was not the same boy she had met three years ago. There was inner turmoil going on with him and she wanted to know more about it. Only thing is, she was never good at talking to people, especially when it came to emotions.

Rose on the other hand, felt a pant of sadness in her heart. This boy was someone she cared for, even going as far as saying to start to fall in love with. Seeing him in this state made her want to go to him and fall into his arms. She wished she could ask him what was going on and talk things out to make him feel better. She could see his eyes becoming dark and thought it would be best to move on to the next place and talk to him later.

"Why don't we move on to the next place. I'm sure you'll want to see the gym."

This snapped him out of his trance and he nodded his head, giving her a small but genuine smile. He walked forwards, grabbing her hand and she lead him out of the room. The other girls exchanged glances once again and followed the two out the door.

When they entered the gym, he was taken by surprise again. Every machine, weight set, and cardio centered workout seemed to be in there. It was huge like every other room and once again, easily outshone the Titans' facilities. It even had a snack and shake bar off to the side for when workouts were finished and it was time to recover. He smiled as he looked around and began to find himself liking this place more and more.

"This place is awesome. I guess the government must take a liking to you guys."

Rose smiled at him and found herself loving the excitement he was showing.

"Like dad said, anything we asked for they agreed to give us. I guess it helps to have two of the richest nations in the world asking you for help."

He gave her a smirk, agreeing with her statement, and walked over to the snack bar. When he opened the drawers, his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. Every type of food, protein powder, and preworkout were stored neatly in there. It was like they had an exact amount of food they needed to ingest after a grueling workout to a tee.

"Man, why did I wait so long to join you guys?"

"You had your reasons."

He turned to Rachel and gave her a smirk, agreeing with her statement.

"Yeah but if Jaime would've been a little more detailed about what you guys have, I would've left with ya that night on the roof."

The girls chuckled, finding amusement in his actions. He looked like a kid at Christmas who had gotten everything he wanted on his list. They watched him a little longer as he fiddled around with a couple of the machines. Not going all out, but he did want to try a couple of them, being that some were completely new to him.

"My father wanted to make sure we trained every muscle and were able to, to be prepared for anything. He found every type of machine and equipment that had been produced for us to train with."

He turned to look at her with another smile.

"Well he really went above and beyond. So far, this place has been great."

He got off the machine he was trying out and went back to the girls. He didn't want to break a sweat, being that he didn't even know if his room had a private bathroom or if they had to share one. He didn't want to shower yet and he thought the girls would appreciate it if he weren't going around smelling like nasty gym socks.

The girls finished up the tour and he was highly impressed and blown away. They had a pool, game room, as well as a huge balcony that stretched far out to overlook the sights of the busy streets of Abu Dhabi. Even the roof was impressive, with a grill, a porch area that had another massive television and long table to eat from when they decided to some up. There was also a fire pit on it, for when they wanted to look at the night sky and bright lights. The girls were great company and he found himself feeling more comfortable in their presence as time went on.

When they had returned to the main room, they saw that the guys had been hanging around talking while Slade had been on the computer updating the security program and team files. As they walked in, the guys immediately shifted their attention to them and motioned for them to join them on the couch.

"How'd you like the tower Gar?"

He turned and beamed at Jaime. He could see the boy was excited to hear his answer and hoped to prove he hadn't been wrong with what he told him the previous night.

"It's amazing man. This place blows the Titans' tower out of the water. You kind of undersold it when you were telling me about it."

Jaime shrugged his shoulders.

"Didn't want to oversell it. Figured I'd let you be surprised by it."

Gar and Rose sat down next to each other, while Rachel and Shae sat next to them and Cassandra sat next to Jaime. Once seated, Muhammad decided to pipe up.

"You've got some expensive jewelry man, and a lot of it. Must've cost you quite a bit."

Gar shrugged his shoulders and turned to face him.

"I got money, so it wasn't really an issue."

This seemed to catch everyone's attention. Even Slade turned to the boy and began to listen in.

"Really? If you don't mind me asking, where did it come from?"

Gar began to get that distant look on his face again. The girls instantly knew that he was reliving another bad memory and turned to look at Muhammad with a slight glare. The guys, who hadn't been there before when it happened, became slightly curious and a little concerned at the change in demeanor from the boy. Slade watched closely as his interest as well began to peak.

"It's a long story."

Grant could see that it was something he wasn't ready to talk about yet. He felt for the boy, as he knew that there was probably something that he was trying to push away and forget about. Remembering that he wanted a talk with him, he decided to speak up.

"Hey Gar, did Rose show you the roof?"

Gar turned to face him, coming out of his trance like state once again.

"Yeah, pretty sweet. Cyborg would be jealous if he saw what you guys got up there."

Grant chuckled and decided he'd extend an invitation for a little drink.

"You ever drink?"

Gar chuckled and beamed a smile at him.

"Every once in a while. It wasn't legal but I can handle alcohol. I'd sneak a drink here or there from the whiskey cabinet."

Grant got up and nodded towards the door.

"Follow me. We'll have a glass of some up there."

Gar nodded and began to get up after receiving a quick peck on the cheek from Rose. He smiled at her and walked to Grant who awaited him at the door. Wrapping an arm around his shoulder, Grant lead him out while starting a conversation that got harder for the rest of them to listen to as they got further away and the doors finally shut.

Once gone, the girls turned to Muhammad and the glares were back. He looked around at their faces and began to feel like he messed up.

"What'd I do?"

Rachel spoke up first.

"I don't think he's ready to talk about his past. You need to refrain from bringing it up for now."

Muhammad focused his gaze to her.

"Did something happen while giving him the tour?"

Shae filled him in on the incident in the training room.

"He saw the gun range and decided to mention it. We told him about how we'd eventually be using guns when our powers wouldn't make a good first choice. He surprised us after we told him that Slade would need to know if he could use one, saying it wouldn't be an issue. After we asked about it, he said he used them before a while ago."

Muhammad nodded as he seemed to catch on.

"I'm guessing he had the same look on his face when you asked him about it?"

The girls nodded and he began to drift into his own thoughts. He seemed like a calm and relaxed guy. Who knew that there could be so much unknown about him and that he could have a dark past.

Jaime was in the same boat as him. They had worked together before and he had seemed to joke around and had been so carefree. What was his old buddy hiding from them that he wasn't so ready to share yet?

Slade watched as the group began to get in their inner thoughts. Figuring he'd get them out of their funk, he addressed an important topic that had needed to be done.

"His file has been put in the system and I have let the Arabian government know about his arrival. He still needs to go through his medical exam and we'll need to get his facial recognition into the system as well."

He turned to Rachel.

"When you do his exam, I expect to be given the results of it. The more we learn about his DNA, the more I can figure out how much I can help him reach the full potential of his powers."

She nodded her head and acknowledged his orders.

"Yessir, I can do that for you."

Once receiving her word, he turned to his daughter.

"I want you there with him. I have a feeling that he isn't so comfortable around medical equipment. Rachel will be extracting blood and something tells me he might not like that."

She nodded her head. Even if he didn't tell her this, she would still be there with him. She really didn't want him out of her sight, especially after what she had seen from him earlier. She made it a promise to herself to find out more about him and get him to open up to her. And if her dad was right, she'd be there in case things went sideways.

Slade turned back to Rachel to give her one last order.

"You will need to run the facial program as well so he can have access in and out of the tower. It will also help if he's in a situation where things become FUBAR and we have to do a rescue mission."

She nodded to him once again.

She had taken a liking to the boy. Nothing like Rose did, but she could feel a good friendship forming. He seemed to light up a room when he smiled and she found his company to be enjoyable. While attractive, she already knew Rose had taken claim into him being hers. She had nothing against it, in fact, she was happy for her. Rose was a tough and cold girl, so for him to break through that shell was impressive to say the least. She had noticed him in the training room like the others had and wanted to see if she could help. He was on this team and it was going to be like a family. He already had a good friendship with Jaime and Cassandra and Rose seemed to be awestruck by him. She wanted to have a friendship with him and invite him into being apart of her family.

"I'll be sure to be as cautious with him as possible. He's a nice guy and seems to be a really good friend. Rose found a diamond in him and is a really lucky girl."

Rose shot her an appreciative smile and she returned it. The girls had all formed a sisterly bond and would do anything to help each other out. Everyone had taken a liking to Gar, and since he was apart of the team and had Rose's heart, they'd do what they could to help him.

Slade nodded his head and addressed the team.

"I'm sure Grant is going to be a while with Gar. Since they're busy for the moment, I want everyone to look at the files again for potential members for the secondary team. If you have anyone in mind that isn't in a file, let me know and I will see what information I can pull up."

They all nodded and went over to the table while Slade handed them the stack of files. Once he saw they were indulged in them, he turned to make his leave.

He was becoming more and more pleased that this team was getting along so well. Add in the fact that they all had immediately taken Gar in like family, and he was already becoming excited at what this team could become. He was determined to help Gar out and protect the area. He was going to make sure that his plan worked and that he could turn Gar into the leader he knew he had the potential to reach. He may have messed up before, but this time he was going to show that he could also do the right thing.