Hey, everyone! Today I bring you a wholesome (kinda) one shot featuring all of the Titans in which the team is having a pretty crappy day and just needs a little time to unwind. I've been thinking about this for a few days now- and I decided, screw this, I'm just gonna write it. I hope you all enjoy!
Shoutout to user Peonywinx (if that's how you spell it) for reviewing and favoriting two of my stories! It means a lot, especially from such a popular writer. There's more BBRAE and RobStar fictions in the works, so just hang in there, I'll publish them soon enough!
Anyways, I don't own the Teen Titans, and happy reading!
Rain pounded down on the roof of the T-Car as the Titans rode down the empty road and through the tall trees. The team was silent, watching the gray skies and dull clouds whiz by in the sky.
The Titans had just finished a battle with the infamous madman Slade a little further up the state of Maine, with a lot of forest areas and trees- which apparently made him believe that the woods was a covert place to plant his next devastating device; a large underground chip that would take several days to heat up, and eventually would heat to the point that it would melt and scald everything and everyone within the state of Maine. The Titans, thankfully, had disabled the device, but were unable to destroy it or capture Slade- which meant he had escaped with the device, also meaning that he could try and use it again- which, if the Titans didn't destroy that device in time, would lead to a very gruesome end for a grim amount of people. So the Titans weren't in very high spirits.
"That went well," Robin muttered with venomous sarcasm from the front passenger seat.
"You don't have to say anything," Raven snapped, voice dripping with iciness. Robin glared coldly at the sorceress through his mask, then turned back around and faced stonily forward.
More silence. The T-Car continued to bump down the empty, wet road. One could practically see the storm clouds hovering above each of the Titans' heads.
Then there was a sputtering sound.
"What was that noise?" Starfire questioned, eyebrows creasing in concern.
Cyborg leaned down- and saw that the T-Car's gas gauge was pointing to empty. "Crap, crap, crap, crap." He stared through the glass at the bobbing needle, just barely grazing the letter "E," and tapped it forcefully. No such luck- the needle stubbornly remained at empty.
"What is it?" Raven asked from her seat in the back, tilting herself forward. The rain continued to pour.
"The gas tank's empty. No, no, no- not now," Cyborg groaned, and he banged the dashboard with his fist out of frustration. With a heavy sigh, he took the wheel roughly and used the last of the car's gas to pull the vehicle over to the side of the road beside the tall trees, face contorted with aggravation. Mumbling under his breath, he pushed open his car door, stomping outside and moving to the back of the car to see if he had any gasoline.
"As if this day couldn't get any better." It was Robin again. Such animosity was rare for him, as he was more often than not the one who tried to keep the peace with the exception of tranquil Starfire.
"Such remarks will not improve the situation," Starfire finally retorted. She didn't like this type of behavior from Robin- and to be honest, she felt a little burned out herself.
"Sure will make me feel better, though," Robin replied, not turning around to face the magenta-haired alien.
"It is not-" Starfire started, at last fed up, but Raven cut her off.
"Okay, both of you-" Raven interrupted acidly, "-shut up."
This time she received nasty looks from both Titans in reply. Beast Boy, not having the energy to try and calm his friends down, just looked down at his feet glumly.
Suddenly, Cyborg reappeared, face barely visible through the raindrops rushing down the window. "Get out the car- y'all," he told the other Titans, voice full of exhaustion. "We're out of gas, and the engine's overheated. We'll have to call a tow truck- if I can even get a signal," the half-robot added sourly. With that, he pressed something on his metal chest and opened a small compartment from which he produced an old phone. Turning it on, Cyborg held it up to the sky, attempting to pick up even the littlest amount of service.
Raven watched, unenthusiastic, as her friend wandered the area, waving the device in the air. "Fun," she mumbled, abruptly shoving her car door open and stepping out into the rain.
Starfire and Robin both exited the car in a huff- Beast Boy slipping out behind them, still somber, silent, and keeping his distance. The mud instantly drenched their feet as they squished into the woods where the trees were more numerous as to find the slightest bit more cover from the relentless rain.
"Which do y'all think will kill us first- hypothermia or bears?" Cyborg chuckled ruefully, staring up at the sky beseechingly as he continued to navigate the trees.
There was only bitter quiet in response. Raven pulled her hood over her head to achieve the smallest amount of shade- but it didn't do much good as the rain promptly soaked through her cloak and rendered the hood useless. The hair of the other Titans appeared ten shades darker than normal, completely sodden, and their clothes clung to their skin.
Starfire, arms folded and teeth chattering, sniffled, "Could this day not get any worse? We have not prevailed in battle, our vehicle has stopped functioning, and we are standing in the rain in the very eerie forest in an unfamiliar place." She sneezed- and as if to punctuate the Tamaranean's words, a thunderclap sounded in the distance, making her startle.
"Careful, you'll jinx it," Robin told her with a mirthless smirk. "Next thing you know one of us will get struck by lightning."
"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Cyborg called resentfully from a short distance away, indicating his tall metal frame. Robin wrinkled his nose and turned back around.
By now the team was up to their knees in mud and water- almost to the point where their shoes were completely submerged under the brown goop. Raven eyed the ground with disdain and disgust, while Beast Boy kicked at it slightly. The changeling seemed not happy nor unhappy. He was oddly difficult to read right then.
Starfire glanced over at Cyborg, who was still holding the phone up to the dark, rumbling clouds. "Have you had any of the luck?" she asked, weary, having given up on trying to protect her body from the rain and instead just letting her arms dangle at her sides.
Cyborg turned a scorching gaze on the girl. "Does it look like I've had any luck?"
Starfire recoiled at the harsh outburst- then slumped over, not having the energy to retort. Arguing wasn't her nature.
"We're going to have to live here, aren't we?" Raven groaned, tucking stringy violet strands of hair behind her ears. "Like hillbillies or something." She glared at the ground. "We're never going to get any signal. We're in the middle of nowhere."
Starfire, exhausted from the pessimistic comments her friends were making, sighed, "Complaining will not make our situation any better. Perhaps it is best if we simply remain silent if we do not have anything encouraging to say."
"Whatever," both Robin and Raven groused in unison. Starfire turned her gaze toward the mud, slightly wounded. In the distance, another thunderclap sounded- followed by a brief but jarring flash of lightning. A few seconds later, a dejected-looking Cyborg joined the team in their circle, murmuring something about not being able to get a signal.
The Titans continued to stand there in the mud, icy and cold and wet and mad at each other as well as themselves. Morale was low and the mood was grim.
It didn't seem like this was going to end well.
"I remember when I was upset as a kid sometimes, my mom would put on some music, and we would just jump around and dance until I felt better," Beast Boy mumbled, facing his slime-covered sneakers.
The team all turned at once to gape at the shapeshifter with bafflement, confused as to where this was coming from and why it was the first thing he'd spoken in hours.
"Huh?" Cyborg blurted.
"She would call it "dancing it out," Beast Boy mused, a small smile appearing on his face as if he was thinking about all the times his mother had danced with him. "It would always make me feel better." For a short second, Beast Boy's face fell, but he masked it quickly with an expression of resolve. "Maybe we just need... a break."
The other Titans still looked clueless- but Beast Boy ignored the blank faces and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small device about the size of a dollar. "I think Cyborg built this a while ago- it was supposed to be some listening device, but he trashed it, so I messed around with it a little bit and turned it into a music player." He grinned sheepishly as he took the device and fiddled with it for a minute, pressing buttons here and there, and then finally setting it on the muddy grass in the center of the group.
"Dance? Now? You're joking, right?" Raven deadpanned, gaze ricocheting from the repurposed listening device to Beast Boy.
"No offense or anything, man- but you were probably really little when you used to, uh... 'dance it out' with your mom," Cyborg wheedled awkwardly. "And, um, we kinda got other things to worry about..."
Beast Boy shrugged, still grinning, as the opening notes of "Freaks" by Surf Curse began to play. "Suit yourself," he said gleefully, and the green teenager began to jump around the mud, splashing in the puddles like a much younger child, not much caring about anything else but what he was doing. He shook the rain out of his hair only for much more to drench his head again with a gleeful laugh as he hopped around to the song.
His teammates watched, a little worried at first, wondering if maybe they should be consoling their friend what with the small speech about his mother prior to. But, at the last second upon seeing the carefree look on their friend's face, they decided not to say anything.
After watching the changeling for a few more contemplating seconds, Starfire opted to join her green friend in his "dancing" and began to jump and splash to the music along with him, giggling as the rain ran down her skin and soaked her clothes. Beast Boy beamed at Starfire, happy to have the alien join him, and the two jumped and splashed in the mud puddles and the grass, pushing aside their reservations and simply having fun.
Soon, one by one, the remaining Titans dropped their guard and followed Beast Boy and Starfire in their merriness, even Raven, although the most she did was clap along to the music. The teens weaved their way through the trees and into puddles, absorbing the trees and the woods and the rain and the hiraeth of it all, splashing and jumping and clapping and laughing and smiling and simply enjoying being kids; relinquishing all their cares and forgetting about the world outside of each other for then. And despite being soaked to the skin and full of mud, the teammates kept on through the woods, the song trailing behind them.