SUPRISE!

Two chapters in one sitting!]

BOOYA!


"Heya Rae, mind if I go hang out with Rose tonight?"

"Why would I care?"

"Oh…no reason…just giving you a head's up then…"

"Mhmmm."

Robin watched this exchange wordlessly. It wasn't the first time he had seen this in the past three months since the changeling had met Rose, but it didn't mean he was entirely comfortable with it. Beast Boy was spending a few hours several days a week with this girl who had randomly taken an interest in him and it had been subtly affecting the team. In a good way, though.

Well…that wasn't completely true.

The good part was that Beast Boy seemed to be mellowing out back to how he once was. He wasn't quite as aggressive as he was the previous few months, which was great since he clashed with Robin and Cyborg more than a few times over nothing (seriously, who gets mad about putting chocolate on bananas?). The caped crusader and half robot had a nice long chat about the changeling and came to the conclusion that the attention Rose was giving the changeling was soothing his inner beast (so to speak, though the boys were really hoping it wasn't an intimate soothing, that could cause problems). Of course, his newfound (and unexplained) interest in working out more could have been a factor in that too, but they chalked it up to him wanting to impress Rose. The green teen was, all in all, looking happier than he had ever looked before.

The bad part, however, wasn't with Beast Boy. It was with Raven.

In the past few months Robin had noticed Raven would watch Beast Boy whenever she thought no one was looking. Thankfully, the Boy Wonder wore a mask and could keep his emotions (mostly) hidden from her view, least she realize he was spying on her spying on the changeling. Whenever she watched him there was always this curious expression on her face, one of deep thought with just the barest hint of a smile gracing her lips.

He shared his observations with Cyborg, who had noticed as well.

It was a lot of little things, really, that made them suspicious of what was going on with Raven. She would openly smile, at least just a little bit, at the antics of her adopted daughter and the child's surrogate father. It wasn't often that she would refuse an outing with Beast Boy and Emelia, even if it was just something as simple as a walk through the park (though the attack from Overload left her more than a little cautious at said park). More than a few times Raven dragged them into a café of some sort (where she learned that giving highly caffeinated drinks to the changeling and little girl was a terrible idea). Beast Boy would return that favor by dragging them into a game store (to his horror he discovered that Emelia and Raven were too damn good at puzzle games).

During meal times she sat near Beast Boy with Emelia sandwiched between them, simultaneously scolding the changeling for his bad eating habits and making sure that the little girl wasn't making a mess. Bizarrely enough, Raven made a minor schedule based around meals. After breakfast, she insisted that Emelia do some extracurricular activity with Beast Boy. After lunch, a nap. After dinner, she would bath her daughter and send her to bed with either Beast Boy or herself. Late night gaming for Beast Boy and late night reading for Raven became a distant memory, replaced with a loving devotion for a certain little girl. Of course, none of that sounds bad at all.

At least until Rose was brought up.

That was the bad part. The instant someone brought up the white haired girl that randomly appeared in their lives, Raven clammed up. It took less than a heartbeat for her to revert back to her old emotionless and distant self, much to the dismay of her friends. When Starfire confronted her about this Raven had pretended to have no idea of what the alien princess was talking about. But that was an awful long time to keep up a charade, so Cyborg's line of thinking was that the sorceress really didn't know she was doing it, that she was doing it out of reflex. The boys had no idea why, but apparently Starfire did.

"Friend Raven does not wish to get hurt again." The fiery haired girl had said.

It didn't take long for the resident detective and the resident robot to understand what the alien princess meant by that. With that now in the air, the boys realized that Raven was growing attached to the resident shapeshifter sooner than expected. This was good, since the other Titans were very subtly pushing them towards each other. Raven called them out on it a few times and she was quite negative about their meddling.

But today was all on her.


The aforementioned half-demon sorceress frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror. How she had ever let Starfire convince her to buy this two piece bikini she would never know. But here she was, wearing it all because Emelia and Martin wanted to go swimming in the pool on the second to top floor. The poor pool that hardly ever got used was now occupied by a changeling, an alien princess, an ex-detective, and two clone children. And they wanted her to join them.

This is stupid, she thought to herself. Beast Boy is just going to make fun of me for being so pale while Starfire gushes about me finally joining them.

Oh, don't be such a sourpuss! Came the voice of Happy, her pink emoticlone. Emmy and Martin will be there and they love playing with you!

We aren't scared of anything Beast Boy has to say! Shouted Brave, her forest colored emoticlone.

Swimming is a pretty good exercise and the children need it in light of all the junk food they eat. This came from the goldenrod colored emoticlone, Knowledge.

Ah, screw that. We just wanna read by the pool and watch the kids. It's too much work to swim. Her orange colored emoticlone, Rude, yawned.

Beast Boy will be there and we all know he hasn't teased us in months. Affection spoke up now, her light purple contradicting the next speaker. He's actually been very sweet for some time now and it's very…nice.

That's cause he knows we'll drown him if he does. Anger growled from under her red hood.

Of course he won't tease us, he's all googly eyed for that white haired bimbo. He barely notices us anymore.

This last voice made Raven visibly flinch. It was a new emotion and she hadn't been able to name it just yet since it only spoke up when a certain girl was mentioned. She had visited Nevermore a dozen times trying to get the name of the emotion so she could control it better, but it was as stubborn as Beast Boy about changing his socks. It, in its own words, "didn't give a damn about anything but how that tramp was butting in on her happy family".

Raven simply had no idea what her dark green cloaked emoticlone was talking about. Disturbingly enough, the emoticlone was often seen in the company of Anger and Affection.

Unfortunately, this argument inside her head continued all the way to the pool. As she stepped into the doorway, she glanced up from unfolding her towel. What she saw killed the conversation in her head immediately.

It was Beast Boy, climbing up out of the pool to stand next to Emelia. As she watched him, she noticed for the first time the rippling muscles that made up his torso, his near-bulging biceps hoisting himself up easily, giving her a full view of the six pack of rock hard abs on his stomach. Water was cascading down his boyishly charming face from his messy mini mane of hair and onto his glistening pectorals as he asked Emelia if she wanted to try a cannonball. Raven glanced down and saw that his legs were just as toned as his arms, also taking note of the many scars dotted about his body, a testament of his battle prowess. Was it just her or did he look taller too? Those big emerald eyes of his shone so brightly, as if his soul really could be seen, but his fang gave him bit of a savage look now that his facial features were starting to fill out. Rivulets of pool water streaked down his arms to form a steady stream of beaded water falling from his clawed hands, where the water pooled at his clawed feet. All in all he was…

DAMN!

This came once from all the emotions in her head at once, making her flinch. It was the only thing they could say as Raven unknowingly glued her eyes on the verdant changeling in front of her.

When the hell did he become so… Anger trailed off, for once losing her train of thought.

Hot? Said Happy.

Gorgeous? Said Knowledge.

Sexy? Said Brave.

Wow! This came from Affection and Rude at the same time.

Stop ogling him like he's a piece of meat! Raven mentally berated her emotions as she tried (and failed) to tear her eyes from him.

Meat? Rude snickered. Oh, he's definitely a fine piece of -

Not another word! Raven snarled mentally.

Raven. Anger said suddenly, a curious tone in her thought pattern.

What?

Walk behind Beast Boy, I want to see what his butt looks like.

Raven visibly balked, now wide eyed and blushing at what her angry side wanted to see. She twitched involuntarily and took a step in the changeling's direction.

N-no! Another voice rang out, this time the gray clad Timid, who had been sitting quietly on the sidelines. Raven halted as she spoke more. We c-can't do that!

Why the hell not?! Demanded Anger, Affection, Rude, Happy, and Brave.

Because we don't like him like that! Timid practically cried. He's our friend, we can't look at him like that!

At this moment Beast Boy approached, Emelia in his arms. "Hiya Rae!"

"It's Raven, not Rae." She said automatically as she forced her gaze towards the pool. She could see him frown slightly, then shrug.

"You gonna get in with us?" He asked after a moment.

"I suppose I'll be along in a minute."

Beast Boy nodded and walked back towards the edge of the pool, where he set Emelia back down in the water. There was a shifting in Raven's emotional spectrum, as if most of the emotions had turned to look at a single one. Her eyes drifted.

Are we sure we don't like him? Affection asked. I mean seriously, look at that sexy a-


Across the pool Robin, dressed in only his mask and red shorts with yellow accents, noticed Raven's eyes nearly pop out of her skull at seeing Beast Boy in swimming trunks. Her inner turmoil was so clearly written on her face at this time that he couldn't help but to smirk.

I'm glad I subtly suggested this to Beast Boy yesterday. This might just the push Raven needs to begin admitting to herself that she's into him. Of course, getting to see Starfire in a bikini works in my favor as well.

Sitting next to him holding Martin was Starfire, wearing something that could might could pass as a bikini (seeing as how skimpy it was), also smirked to herself as she also noted Raven's reaction.

Friend Raven might act like she has no emotions, but she is just as vulnerable to an attractive male as any other girl our age. I am glad I hinted to friend Beast Boy months ago that working out would impress Rose…and Raven. Though that was not quite the reaction I was expecting. Perhaps Raven is more 'into', as Earthlings say, Beast Boy than I thought.

Both teens were unaware of the others' plans but would have been pleased to know they planned so well together. Both also watched with growing smiles as Beast Boy approached Raven, Emelia in his arms. Raven kept her eyes firmly on the pool, making it look like she was thinking about swimming but in reality refusing to meet his eyes with her own. They spoke for a moment before Beast Boy turned back to the pool. Raven glanced for several moments at his bottom before looking away with a full faced blush.

Right into the gazes of her two smiling comrades.

In an instant she teleported across the pool and stood in front of them.

"Say one word and I swear your deaths will look like an accident!" She snarled quietly, blushing furiously. Robin raised his hands in compliance but Starfire merely frowned.

"Friend Raven, if you find him attractive why do you not court Beast Boy?"

"I do not find him attractive." Raven huffed. "And even if I did, he's only got eyes for that little tra-I mean for Rose."

Starfire only smiled to herself as her friend stomped away. It wasn't much to work with, but it was a start.


In the security room of the tower, Cyborg cackled gleefully as he watched the whole exchange. This would make for some excellent blackmail!


Back at the pool, Beast Boy was having a very serious problem. And that problem was named Raven.

It was almost impossible to keep his eyes off of her. It was like she was carved out of living moonlight with the way her pale skin shined when it was wet. Those purple, soul piercing eyes of hers and that matching hair matched her skin so well that they made her look like she was an exquisite and exotic doll that had to be handled carefully (which was true). The two piece black bikini was tight on her, showing off her every delicious looking part of her, from her shapely thighs to the curve of her incredible breasts. They must have been somewhere in the C's. The way the spaghetti strings on top raced up her shoulders and across her sides only accented her mysteriousness to him, just as the strings racing around her hips from her pelvis only enhanced her allure. And when she turned around…

Beast Boy's eye twitched upon glancing at her bottom. He had always considered himself a breast man, but daaaammmnnn-

"Daddy?"

Beast Boy's attention snapped back to the little girl in floaties nearby. He smiled at her. "What is it Emmy?"

"I saw you staring at mommy."

Beast Boy paled, which was hard to do when you're green. "I-I uh, wasn't looking at mommy. I swear."

A giggle escaped the little girls' lips. "Yes you were. You were looking at mommy's boobies and butt."

"W-w-w-what?! Where did you hear those words?!" Her father figure stammered, really hoping Raven was going to stay on the side of the pool instead of joining them. Well, at least for this particular moment.

Emelia splashed around in the water, hardly paying attention to her panicking parent. "Uncle Cy. He was talking to Mr. Herald about Auntie Bee the other day."

Beast Boy swam up to her, perturbed. "Looks like I'll have to have a word with Uncle Cy about naughty language. Don't say those things again, okay?"

The little purple eyed girl nodded. "Okay daddy, I won't say them again after I tell mommy you were looking at her."

"NO!"

Beast Boy's frantic shout echoed in the room, drawing the attention of the other Titans. Raven, a curious look on her face, stepped further into the pool and started wading over to them. She seemed to cut through the water like a porcelain knife, her body gliding gracefully as she made her way towards them.

A panicking changeling looked at his daughter desperately. "Look, don't tell mommy, okay? Please? If you don't I'll…"

"Make waffles for lunch?" The little girls' eyes brightened with a mischievous glint.

Beast Boy glanced over his shoulder at Raven, who was now only a few feet away. "What is it with you and Raven and waffles? Geesh. Yeah, sure, okay dude, whatever floats your boat."

"What were you shouting about and what are you whispering about now?" Raven demanded, raising her eyebrow at her floating daughter. She was still trying to keep her eyes off the not-so-scrawny boy in front of her. Don't look at him, don't look at him, don't look at him…maybe one peek…

"Daddy's making waffles for lunch!" Emelia practically shouted.

The sorceress glanced at her parental companion. "Oh he is?"

The changeling looked away so that he wouldn't stare into those big purple eyes or at that gorgeous body in front of him. "Y-yeah…I thought you would disapprove, so I wasn't gonna tell you…but…"

"I don't mind." Raven shrugged, forcing her gaze back at her daughter. "I like waffles and so does Emelia."

"A-awesome." Beast Boy gave her a meek grin as he had a thought.

Did I just get blackmailed by my own kid?


Back in the security room, Cyborg's frown turned into a wicked grin. If Emelia ever used those words in front of Raven, he was a dead man. Good thing he had his blackmail to protect him!


Back at the pool, Robin was watching with great amusement at the splash war going on. Emelia was perched on Raven's shoulders while Martin was perched on Starfire's shoulders. Each of the older girls were in the deeper end of the pool, the water coming up to their necks (Raven was towards the less deep end so that she could be level with the taller girl) and the little kids on their shoulders were laughing and splashing each other. Starfire was having an absolute blast and Raven had a small grin on her face as well.

"Ain't that something else, dude?"

Robin's head jerked up to find Beast Boy taking a seat next to him.

The Boy Wonder raised an eyebrow. "What's that, Beast Boy?"

"Raven." The changeling smiled. "Just look at her, smiling and having fun."

Robin cast he gaze back out into the pool. Now Starfire and Raven had gotten into the war and were splashing each other with gusto. The currently capeless crusader smiled as he watched, then frowned as a sudden thought struck him. He turned back to his friend, who was staring longingly out at the lavender haired girl.

"Uh…Beast Boy?"

"Yeah dude?"

"Should you be looking at Raven like that?" Robin was uncomfortable with what he had to ask but it needed to be said. "Aren't you dating Rose? That's kind of…unfaithful, bro."

Beast Boy stiffened, then glanced at his friend. "If I tell you something, will you keep it a secret?"

Robin nodded instantly. Keeping secrets is something he was renowned for.

It took a few minutes of struggling, but the green boy beside eventually sighed and spoke. "I'm not dating Rose. We go out on dates, yeah, but we aren't in a relationship."

Robin cocked a questioning eyebrow at his friend. Beast Boy shrugged.

"I know it sounds weird, dude, but it's true. Not long after we started seeing each other, I asked if we were in a relationship. She said she wasn't looking for anything remotely serious, but also said that as long as she and I were 'having fun' that she wouldn't associate with other guys like that." This wasn't quite what had happened, but it would do for now.

Robin's eyebrow arched even higher, to which Beast Boy shook his head.

"No dude, I'm not sleeping with her. Heck, I haven't even kissed her."

The Boy Wonder was thoughtful for a moment. "So…what are you two then?"

"I don't know, Rob, I really don't." Beast Boy sighed. "Please don't tell anyone. Especially Raven and Cyborg."

"Why not?"

"You know Cy. He'll give me hell about not being able to score a hottie like Rose as my girl, then spend hours trying to teach me all the right ways to make her want me. I want to do things at my pace." The changeling then scratched the back of his head. "As for Rae…well…I'm not entirely sure. I think she thinks I'm happy with Rose, which is half true I guess. But Rae gets all weird when someone brings Rose up. It's almost like…"

"Like she's jealous?" Robin dared to ask.

Beast Boy nodded, a disturbed look on his face. "Yeah, but that's crazy! Rae, jealous? Never! She doesn't like me that way, so what does she have to get jealous about?"

"Daddy!"

"K'norfa!"

Robin and Beast Boy both looked up to see their surrogate children waving something in the air. Their mother figures were staring up at them in curiosity, at least until they heard a gasp from the poolside. The girls glanced over at the boys, whose faces were the same shade as a tomato and covered up with their towels. Raven looked to Starfire to ask what was going on when the realization hit her. She looked down and screamed, making the water in the pool blast out in all directions.

The kids were waving her and Starfire's bikini tops.


Up in the security room, Cyborg was deleting his memory of the past few minutes. He didn't mind see girls topless, but those were his freaking sisters!


A little while later, Raven found herself brushing Emelia's hair. She had just bathed the little girl to remove the chlorine from her skin and hair so that it wouldn't damage her lovely blonde hair. Of course, before Emelia came along Raven had found blonde hair to be rather irritating to look it.

And that most certainly had nothing to do with a certain geomancer. Nope. Not at all.

So there she was, sitting in her room wearing nothing but a bath towel as she dried her daughter's long hair. It was a strangely relaxing experience, seeing as both mother and daughter were silent with their own thoughts.

"Mommy?" Emelia said as Raven was finishing up.

"Hmm?" Raven took her towel off as she got off the bed.

"Why don't I have pretty hair like yours?"

Raven frowned a little as she dressed herself and then her child. "I suppose it's because you have your father's hair."

Emelia frowned now. "But daddy's hair is green."

"Only because of some stuff that happened to him as a kid." Raven glanced at herself in the mirror. "Why would you want hair like mine?"

"'Cause daddy said it's pretty and I agree with him."

Raven turned to the little girl, a curious look on her face. "He did?"

"Yeah. He said when it was long it was way prettier and looked really good on you too." Emelia cocked her head at her mothers' expression. "Is it bad that I want hair as pretty as yours?"

"No…it's not." Raven shook her head as she sat on the bed. "Now, run along and help your father. I'm going to meditate for a few minutes before I join you."

"Okay mommy!" The little girl stood up on the bed, kissed her mothers' cheek, then left the room quietly.

Raven was left in the room with her thoughts whirling. He thinks my hair is pretty? And that it's prettier when it's long? Should I grow it out?

Immediately after this thought surfaced, her face screwed up in confusion. Wait, I don't even like my hair long. Why would I grow it out for him?


After a rather unhelpful meditation, a confused Raven made her way towards the common room. As the doors opened, she found Cyborg and Robin on the couch playing games with Starfire cheering her boyfriend on. Martin was sitting in her lap staring intently at a Dr. Seuss book in his hands. Looking around, she spotted Emelia in the kitchen with Beast Boy.

Said shapeshifter was currently in the form of a green Labrador, wearing an apron around his canine neck with a chef's had precariously perched on his head. There was a spatula in his mouth and waffle mix in his fur. Emelia was sitting on a stool next to him, stirring waffle mix in a large white bowl.

The empath sat down at the counter behind them and eyeballed her daughter. "Emelia, what are you doing?"

The little girl turned around and looked at her mother. Raven had just picked up a cup of tea that had been left for her and was sipping it when Emelia spoke.

"Making woofles." She deadpanned.

Raven spat out her tea and clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. The green canine dropped the spatula in amazement as he shifted back to his human form.

"You…you laughed at one of my jokes." Beast Boy stared at her open mouthed. The sounds in the living room died off immediately as the other Titans turned to observe.

"I did not." Raven rolled her eyes.

"I saw you! I heard you! You laughed at one of MY jokes!" He pointed at her now, his excitement rising.

"No, Beast Boy, I didn't." The empath said monotonously. "I found Emelia's joke to be amusing."

"I told her to say it! That makes it my joke!"

"No, it doesn't. You gave up rights to that joke when you gave it to her."

Beast Boy's ears drooped and he sighed. Turning back to the stove, he mumbled something to himself that Raven didn't quite catch. Emelia, on the other hand, frowned at her mother.

Rolling her eyes, Raven stared at the changeling for a moment before she had an idea. Chanting quietly to herself, she wrapped the mixing bowl in her dark magic and quietly levitated it over the green teens' head. Emelia, wide eyed, watched as it flipped over and dropped on her father's head.

As the startled green boy turned to the smirking purple girl, she couldn't help a stray thought. By Azar, the look on his face is priceless right now! The way his ears are holding the bowl on his head is kinda cute too.

Before that thought had fully registered in her mind, a glob waffle mix smashed into her face. Sputtering, the empath glared fiercely at the grinning changeling.

"What's wrong, Rae?" Beast Boy asked innocently.

"You know this means war, right?" She hissed. He laughed and threw another glob of mix at her.

Raven dodged it and chanted for a few seconds as she ducked behind the counter. Popping back up, she snatched up several blobs of mix with her magic and hurled them at the boy. He yelped and shrunk into some quick animal that her eyes couldn't keep up with. He dashed around the counter, dodging waffle globs, before shifting back into his human form in a roll. He snatched on the blobs out of the air and launched it at the surprised empath. It splattered against the side of her head, filling her freshly washed hair with waffle mix. Growling, Raven tripled the number of floating globs as she tried to hit Beast Boy. He was still laughing the entire time he dodged, rolled, and flipped around the projectiles, occasionally snatching one and launching it at her. He missed, most of the time, but got her twice on the chest and stomach.

Raven was absolutely livid. Other than the initial bowl, she hadn't hit Beast Boy once. When the hell did he become this agile? Snarling, she gathered up as much of the mix as she could and sent a barrage of it blasting at him. He yelped and disappeared.

The room fell silent as Raven cautiously peered about. Where had he gone? She should have been able to sense him. Unless…

Splat!

Another glob hit her in the back of the head and she whipped around. Beast Boy was sitting on the counter next to the stove laughing his butt off. Raven nearly bit her tongue off in anger as she dashed forward, trying to catch him by surprise.

Imagine her surprise when she slipped on a pile of waffle mix and went crashing into the counter. She closed her eyes and mentally berated herself for starting this food fight as she hit something hard but firm. Her face scrunched up in confusion.

This doesn't feel like the counter…She thought as she placed her placed her hands on it. It was hard, but firm. Warm too, with a strange texture.

Raven slowly opened her eyes to meet a pair of green eyes sternly staring back at her. Their faces were barely three inches apart.

"Geesh, Rae, what's wrong with you? I'm supposed to be the clumsy one on the team, you can't be doing reckless stuff like that!" Beast Boy scolded her. "What am I supposed to do if you hit yer head and hurt yourself?!"

Raven was rapidly becoming aware that his arms were wrapped around her, having used his body to stop her from hitting the counter. She looked into his eyes and saw the raw emotion in those emerald pools of light, his concern for her safety shining through clearly as he continued to fuss over her safety. A slow blush was creeping up her face as her emotions erupted in a frenzy of activity.

She honestly couldn't understand a word they were saying to her, but one particular thought rose above all the others.

His arms…they're so warm and safe…

This startling thought made her push away from him and turn away. Her head was pounding as hard as her heart was and she was having a problem breathing. She staggered two steps away, holding her head.

"Raven? Are you okay?"

Timidly, the empath turned towards her friend. He looked upset with the idea that he had somehow upset her just then. She met his gaze for only a moment before looking away and shaking her head.

"Sorry, just too many emotions in the room right now. They overwhelmed me. I need to go meditate."

She fled the room immediately after this, leaving a very confused changeling behind.

Still sitting on her stool, Emelia smiled mischievously.

On the couch, three sly grins met with twinkling eyes.


Not gonna lie, I enjoyed this food fight. But the original version of it was with them still in their bathing suits and was boarderline saucy. I decided to keep it much cleaner, though. It felt more appropriate for this story.