Boo!


Well…shit.

It was the first thing that came to mind after Garfield woke up, seeing as he had to pee but couldn't go because he was pinned down in bed. On his right was Emelia, sprawled sideways in bed with both her feet on his stomach and her head up against the wall. On his left was Raven, tucked up under his arm against his side with her head on his upper arm. Her legs were wrapped around his leg and one arm was slung over him too. He sighed, not because he was annoyed that he couldn't get up, but because he couldn't get annoyed that he couldn't get up.

All that stuff with Rose and Eddie yesterday had been an absolute disaster, one that Raven was blaming herself for. When he had asked why she was blaming herself, she said it was because she had deliberately brought Rose to the tower to meet Eddie. He had had no idea why she had done that and it was then that she revealed that she had suspected that Rose and Eddie might be each other's ex and had wanted to try to get them back together so that she (Raven) would get some peace and quiet from the nuisance called Rose.

Raven had thought it wasn't a bad idea and Garfield would have agreed with her if the meeting hadn't gone up crap creek without a paddle or boat.

But since it did go up crap creek, Raven was dead set on blaming herself for reopening such a horrid wound for both Eddie and Rose. Nothing Garfield had said had calmed her down, nothing he had done had cheered her up, and even Emelia couldn't bring her mother out of her depression. Garfield didn't think it was Raven's fault, though he did think she should have poked around a little more before she had set up the meeting (not that he had room to talk considering how many backfired plans he had accumulated over the years). It was more his fault than Raven's anyways.

He sighed again as his hand came up to stroke Raven's hair. His girlfriend was a much more caring person than she let on if she felt this way over a girl she couldn't stand being around. He knew she was trying to help Rose as much as she was helping herself and he couldn't be mad at her for attempting to do so.

Garfield's own feelings about the situation were very mixed though.

On one hand, he had been shocked that Kid Devil was the same Eddie that Rose had once mentioned to him, the boy she said she still had feelings for that prevented her from getting into a relationship with anyone else. Things were going to be awkward with Eddie since Garfield had gone on multiple dates with Rose and she had tried to have sex with him.

On the other hand though, he was angry that Rose had kept such a violent part of herself hidden away. She was ridiculously well trained to stand toe to toe with Robin like that and didn't hesitate the least bit to attack Eddie. She had revealed more about herself to Raven than she did him and had revealed some seriously dark shit yesterday. How aggravating it was to find out that he had been duped again by a girl. He should have never gotten involved with her, he should have just waited it out for Raven like he originally planned. It was yet another dumb ass decision he made simply because-

He flinched a little when he felt Raven's lips press against his arm and her hand pat his chest. He looked down at her to see that she was still out cold. His emotions must be stronger than he thought if she tried to comfort him while sleeping.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, holding it for a moment before exhaling in what sounded like a long and deep sigh. He felt better as he let that anger fade away, then glad that he had happened to overhear Raven teaching Robin a calming technique via breath control some time back. He probably didn't do it right, but it worked regardless.

Now he just had to get up to pee.

It took a minute of finagling, but he managed to wiggle his arm out from under Raven's head and replace it with a pillow. Then he shifted into a snake and slithered free of her legs (mildly amusing himself with an innuendo that came to mind) and off the bed. He glanced at the clock and found it was barely past four in the morning. With a soft groan of annoyance towards his bladder, he quietly left the room.

Might as well get a drink while I'm up. He thought after he left the bathroom some minutes later. He quietly stalked through the halls, knowing them like the back of his hand even in the dark. It was far from the first time he had been up at an odd hour because of the need to pee and it was far from the last time he would do so too.

He was, however, quite surprised to see a light on in the kitchen when he got to the common room. Said light revealed a form sitting at the island counter, face down and breathing deeply as if sleeping. In the seconds it took for his eyes to adjust to the light, he realized the person was red. When did he get back?

Well shit. He thought to himself again as he approached Eddie. How am I supposed to help him?

He sat down next to his relatively new friend, unsure as to what to do or say. Talking about emotional things wasn't really his forte (much like Raven), but he should probably…wait.

Eddie is asleep.

He reached out and shook the red guy gently. After a moment, he stirred.

"Hey man…" Garfield said quietly. "This ain't the best place to sleep."

Eddie sat up and rubbed his face. "Shit, didn't even know I passed out after getting back."

Garfield both nodded and shrugged a little. "Well, no one would blame you after…that."

Eddie looked at him in sleepy confusion. "That?"

"Raven and I'm…kinda followed you to the park." Garfield admitted with a slight cringe.

Confusion gave way to a grave look. "How much did you hear?"

Garfield was hesitant to answer. "…everything."

Eddie dropped his head onto the counter with a thud. "Great."

"Look man, we were worried about you and her and confused as hell and-"

Eddie's hand came up and waved him off. "I know dude, I'm not mad. I'm just…it's hard to explain."

"I know. That's some heavy stuff right there."

"That's putting it mildly." Eddie snorted as he sat back up. "I have no damned idea on what to do now."

Garfield said nothing, mostly because he still didn't know what to say. But that was okay, because Eddie started talking again.

"You know man…I spent every day in Hell thinking about her. Thinking about how she laughed, how she smiled, how she begged me to make pancakes for her every morning, how she danced in the kitchen in the middle of the night, how she used to kick my ass in sparring matches, how she was just so…Rose. She was my everything and I missed her more than I missed living. When Landon popped up and asked if I wanted out of Hell, I literally couldn't say yes fast enough. I was so happy, so excited, that I would get to be with her again. I mean, I was heartbroken that I missed the first few years of our kids life, but I was gonna do my damned best to make it up to both of them…." He trailed off with a sigh, covering his face with one hand. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"You could…I dunno…try again?" Garfield suggested weakly, pretty much grasping at straws.

"Dude, it was a miracle that we even got together in the first place, how am I supposed to do that again when she hates me?"

"I don't have the faintest idea how you two got together to begin with dude."

Eddie sighed and rubbed his face as he looked at the calendar on the wall. "It was about…four or five years ago, give or take a couple of months. I had just recently gotten my powers from Neron and decided that I was gonna be a real superhero like Blue Devil, so I-"

"Hold on." Garfield interrupted. "That's the second time I've heard you mention Blue Devil like you know the guy."

"Well, that's because I do know him." Eddie said in annoyance. "Don't you remember the kid in the mech suit that became his sidekick?"

"Well yeah, everybody know about the original Kid Devil." Garfield replied. "But he disappeared years ago. I figured you were a big fan-"

"I didn't disappear, I found a magic candle and went to Hell." Eddie interrupted in turn.

Garfield stared at him for a moment until his eyes went wide. "Wait, you're the Kid Devil?! The original one?!"

"Hell yeah dude. You think I'd let someone else take my name?" Eddie snorted.

The changeling shook his head. "Sorry man, just never thought you two'd be the same guy. Who'd make that connection?"

"Gee, I dunno, how about my name being a dead giveaway?"

"You know what I meant!"

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Aannyywwaayysss, yes, I am the original Kid Devil, ex sidekick to Blue Devil. I had a mech suit I built myself based off of Blue Devil's original suit. I even had a little pitchfork with a rocket on it that I could fly around on."

Garfield was amused at the thought of this but merely motioned his friend to continue.

"So, yeah, I just got my powers from Neron and was trying to be a real hero. You know, catch the bad guy, save the day, stuff like that."

Garfield nodded. "Totally dude. I was the same way when I became a legit member of the Doom Patrol."

"So you know exactly what I'm talking about." Eddie smiled, just a little. "It was a great feeling at first, you know? Being able to help people that couldn't help themselves, being able to stop crime, etcetera etcetera. Buuuut…as time went on I began to realize that the everyday guy was just as afraid of me as the criminals, all because of how I looked. The religious people were the worst about it, always throwing holy water at me. That shit burns, ya know, and I can raise my internal temperature to six hundred degrees."

"Well of course it burns, dude, you sold your soul for superpowers!" Garfield scoffed.

"It was a pretty dumb idea, I admit that…but at the time I just wanted to be like my hero." Eddie sighed again. "It hurt that they treated me like that, but I didn't let it stop me. I kept at it and kept at it and never quit. I was determined to be a great hero like Blue Devil…and that is what caused everything to roll downhill."

Garfield raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"

"Well…as it would turn out…the mob is a little…shall we say, touchy, about their stuff and they did not appreciate me interfering with their work."

"I think I can see where this is going…"

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. They were pissed. So pissed that they put a bounty on my head and I had to watch my back wherever I went. I spent weeks dodging drivebys and getting snuck up on and stabbed. It didn't matter that I was a kid, they wanted me dead. Only…I wasn't dying. My healing factor fixed anything and everything they did to me and that drove them even more nuts. They wound up hiring an assassin to get rid of me and I spent weeks dodging that too. It was crazy, I tell ya…"

"I bet dude." Garfield chuckled. "So…how does Rose fit into all that?"

"Well…it was actually a pure accident that I met her. Sort of."

Garfield raised an eyebrow. "Sort of?"

Eddie nodded and gave him a meek smile. "Yeah, sort of. 'Cause…she sort of hit me with her dads truck."

Garfield stared at him until he threw his hands up in the air.

"Hey, look man, it was some kids dog chasing some squirrel across the road and I didn't wanna see the kid's heart get broke, so I teleported over to it right before the truck hit it and took the blow."

"Was the dog okay?" Garfield had to ask. Eddie shot him a glare.

"Of course the dog was okay! I'm the one who got ran over! Damn dog just freaked out, bit me, and bolted when I let it go." He snapped. "Didn't even get a thank you from the kid, he just grabbed the dogs leash and took off."

Garfield chuckled. "And the driver?"

"Well, I didn't see them at first cause I was kinda laying on the ground in pain, but soon enough I heard someone tell me I was a dumb ass for jumping in front of a moving truck." Eddie chuckled at the sight of Garfield's disbelief. "Yeah, my thoughts exactly at that moment. I looked up and there she was with an annoyed look on her face. Not fear, not disgust, not hate…just annoyance. Like, it didn't phase her at all that there was a guy that looked like a devil right in front of her." He paused to sigh. "And she was just…so damned hot too, with those tight little orange booty shorts on and a black tanktop, her long white hair flowing in the breeze. I was hooked, instantly."

"So you two hit it off right away?" Garfield snorted in amusement at his double entendre (not that he could spell entendre if asked).

"Actually, no." Eddie shook his head. "Other than calling me a dumb ass, all she did was ask if I was going to file a police report. I told her no, there was no need since I was fine. Then… she left."

"…that's it?" His friend asked in disbelief.

Eddie nodded. "Preeeetty much, yeah."

Garfield couldn't quite comprehend this. "Seriously?!"

Another nod. "Yeeeeeep."

The changeling shook his head and Eddie let out a wry chuckle.

"That wasn't the end, obviously." He said. "Since I knew there was a total hottie riding around in an orange and black truck I kept an eye out for it. Every time I saw it I kinda…followed it."

Garfield raised an eyebrow now. "Dude…you stalked her?"

Eddie shook his head. "No, not like that! I kinda just followed her around, trying to learn stuff about her so I could figure out if I could ask her out."

"…so…you obsessively stalked her?"

"No!"

Garfield skeptically stared at his friend, who threw his hands up in the air again.

"Okay, maybe just a tiny bit! But damn, dude, I just wanted to know if I stood a chance! Jeesh!" He then scowled. "I didn't do anything like follow her home, that's totally creepin'. I just…I wanted to get to know her, to get to know the girl who wasn't fazed by how I look. Come on man, you, of all people, should know how that feels…"

Garfield's skepticism turned into a grimace. "Yeah, I do. It ain't easy being green."

"Try being red with horns and a tail!"

"Dude, claws, fangs, and pointy ears!"

Eddie frowned. "You know we could argue about whose got it worse all day, right?"

"Til we're blue in the face." Garfield shrugged. "You were saying?"

"Yeah…well…I failed to actually meet her again. Saw her a few times, but always got side tracked by one thing or another. Mob guys stepped up their game for a bit before backing off to let the assassin go at me again too. Let me tell you dude, that was scary, getting chased around by a professional with guns and swords and grenades and shit..." He made a smug face. "Still didn't stop me from smashing a few more of their operations though…"

He trailed off cause he saw Garfield making a motioning gesture, so he hurried along.

"Right, so, well, I was still getting used to my powers and decided one day that I was gonna test my super strength. I picked up a couple of train cars, moved stuff around, stuff like that. Then I got the wild idea to go hang out at a construction site, ya know, to show off? They laughed at me at first, then got all quiet when I deadlifted the excavator. After that they kept daring me to try stuff, like bending warped I-beam's into pretzels or stacking old concrete sewer pipes." He chuckled. "It was a lot of fun until one of them dared me to jump over the building they were working on. Ya know, like Superman does?"

"Dude, Supes can fly, he doesn't actually jump over buildings…"

"I know that but it was the concept that was cool." He snorted. "Shoulda left it at as an idea, cause I totally screwed it up."

"What'd ya do, hit the building?" Garfield chuckled.

Eddie shook his head. "No, I got a running start and jumped right up and over it…and kept going."

Garfield raised an eyebrow. "And that's bad because…?"

"Well, I hadn't quite got the hang of these…" He gestured to the bat-like flaps between his arm and torso. "They sorta threw me off and I half fell half glided into a window of the apartment building next door…"

Garfield facepalmed and Eddie grimaced.

"Yeah, it wasn't good." He said. "But what was in that apartment was…Rose."

"Seriously? You found where she lived by accident?"

Eddie nodded. "Yep. She was…well, have you ever seen Charlie's Angels?"

"Who hasn't?" Garfield scoffed.

Eddie nodded again. "Right? So, do you remember that scene in the beginning where Cameron Diaz is dancing in her panties and she gets a package at the door?"

Garfield smiled. "Heck yeah dude. She was so hot!"

"Ohhhh yeah!" Eddie chuckled. "Not gonna lie, totally had a crush on her back for a long time."

"Who didn't have a crush on her?"

"Ha, fair enough!" Eddie smiled and shook his head. "Anyways, that's kinda sorta what I rolled into. Only, it was Rose, wearing a lacey black thong and a white tanktop, and she had headphones in while exercising in the middle of her living room. I mean I was like two feet away from the finest butt I'd ever seen in my life and all I could do was stare like the dumbass kid I was."

"So what happened?" Garfield pressed, pushing the thought of Rose in her underwear (and subsequently, Raven in that type of underwear) from his mind.

"Well, I was too hypnotized by the ass bouncing back and forth in front of me to really come up with anything reasonable as to why I just burst through her window, so when she noticed me I just froze where I was. She took off her headphones and said that I had better be the pizza guy, cause she was fucking starving. And I…well, I replied with the first thing that came to mind."

"Which was…?"

"No ma'am, I'm sorry, all I did was throw off the emperor's groove." Eddie recited with a smirk.

Garfield looked at him, stared at him as the wheels turned in his mind as he worked to figure out where he'd heard that line. When he did, he burst out laughing.

"Dude! That's perfect!" He laughed.

"I know, right?" Eddie chuckled before it gave way to a solemn look. "Unfortunately, Rose didn't get it. She just gave me a dirty look before throwing me back out the window."

"Harsh."

A nod. "Yeah. Funny thing is, I almost landed on the pizza guy!"

"Damn dude…"

"Yeah…"

There was a moment of silence as both boys lapsed into thought. Eddie was reminiscing while Garfield was wondering how the fun and energetic Rose had been like that back then. After a few minutes of pondering, he nudged his friend. "So? What happened next?"

"Well-"

"Kid Devil, I'm glad you're awake." Robin said as the common room door opened, making both of the other boys nearly jump out of their skin. Garfield noted that Robin was already in uniform as he approached them.

"Jesus Christ, Rob, don't scare me like that!" Eddie said, clutching his chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"You have healing powers, you'd be fine within minutes." Rob replied humorlessly. Garfield recognized the look on his face as one of seriousness and suspicion and he almost groaned aloud. Now what?!

Eddie also noticed this look and frowned. "What did I do wrong for that kind of comment?"

"How about turning my living room into a war zone?" Robin's eyebrow came up. "That little detail slip your mind?"

"Okay dude, first of all, I didn't know BB's friend Rose was my ex Rose. I had zero idea about that and had no reason to connect the dots. Second, the only person who got hurt was me and Raven fixed all the furniture from what I see. Third-"

Plop!

Eddie stopped and looked down at the pictures Robin just pulled from under his cape. Both sitting boys leaned in to see multiple devastated bodies with blood everywhere.

"Uhhh…" Eddie said uncertainly. "Whhhyyyy are you showing me this?"

"Yeah dude, what gives?" Garfield asked his team leader.

"This-" Robin said tonelessly, "Is what's left of Fang, Killer Moth, and Kitten. They were butchered in an interrogation cell yesterday. The prison warden faxed them to me ten minutes ago and I'm going to the prison as soon as Starfire wakes up."

The red boy and the green one traded glances before shifting through a few more pictures. Sure enough, it was that trio of peculiar villains.

Was being the keyword.

"How'd this happen?" Eddie asked, grimacing at some of Killer Moths wounds.

"The only thing the warden could come up with is that someone snuck in, had them all transferred to the same room, and then went all Butcher Pete on them." Robin replied. "How all that happened without anyone noticing is also an issue."

"Dude…none of our regulars do this kind of stuff…" Garfield pushed the pictures away.

"I know. Punk Rocket and Red X were killed too, remember? Either we have a new vigilante in town with a vendetta against villains or…." He trailed off, looking at Eddie, who sighed and looked down at the counter.

"You ain't gotta say it Rob. I know you think Rose did it."

Robin nodded. "I suspect her, yes. She's highly trained to be able to take all of us on like she did yesterday. These murders are something she would be very capable of, wouldn't it?"

Eddie sighed again. "Whaddaya wanna know?"

"Everything, obviously."

"Okay, Uhhh…" Eddie scratched his head. "Yeah, she's definitely trained for it. Her kill count was one hundred and twelve before we officially got together and zero after we got together. She gave up contract killing completely for me though, gave up pretty much everything. So…."

"Could she have gone back to that life after you died?" Robin asked.

Eddie hesitated and thought about it. "I'd say it's a really low chance that she did. She hates her father and he was the only reason why she was like that."

Robin pondered this. "What kind of man is he to turn his own child into a killing machine?"

"A freaking psychopath, that's what kind." Eddie shook his head. "The first time we met he beat my ass so hard my healing factor almost couldn't keep up. If it wasn't for Rose, he would have eventually killed me. Hell, the second time we met he tried to cut my head off with a huge sword."

Robin and Garfield exchanged glances. Eddie saw this and shook his head again. "Nah he didn't kill me. That happened long before I died, which actually wasn't all that long after Raven apparently ended the world."

Garfield was confused. "What? That wasn't…"

"That was almost two years ago." Robin interrupted. "Raven's turning eighteen soon, remember?"

The changeling lost himself in thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "Yeah, she is, isn't she? It don't feel like that much time has passed though…"

Robin shrugged and looked pointedly at Kid Devil. "You know if I get any kind of evidence it was her that I will bring her in, right?"

Eddie nodded. "Yeah man. Just…don't hurt her."

"I will do what's necessary to bring her in."

The red boy looked up at Robin. "I understand that, Robin. I'm just asking that you don't hurt her."

"I will do what's necessary to bring her in. If she resists, I will use force." Robin replied flatly. Garfield groaned as Eddie jumped up and went nose to nose with his team leader.

"I'm only gonna say this once. If you hurt Rose, then I'm gonna hurt you." He said in a low and dangerous tone.

Robin didn't back down the least bit. "I don't know what makes you think I'm afraid of you, Kid Devil, but if you threaten me again we're going to have a problem."

"Its not a threat. It's a promise." Eddie snarled, a wisp of flame shooting out his mouth. Robin simply tilted his head to the side and let it pass him.

"And I promise that I'll put you in a cell across the room from hers if you even attempt to break the law by helping a suspected murderer." Robin said coldly.

Eddie visibly bristled. "Listen here you little spiky haired motherfu-"

"Alright alright, that's enough of that!" Garfield said loudly as he jumped up and forcibly pushed the two boys apart. "Eddie, dude, go get some sleep. Robin, quit being Robin for like, five minutes."

Eddie glared at Garfield more a moment before turning back to Robin, but the changeling stepped between them.

"Go." Garfield said firmly. "Get some sleep. I'll deal with Robin."

The devilkin snorted, sending a puff of flame shooting out his nostrils before he stomped around them and left the room.

"Deal with Robin?" Said boy echoed in amusement. Garfield shrugged.

"It worked, didn't it?" He said as he sat down at the counter again and sighed. "Man, shit really hit the fan yesterday…"

Robin sat next to him and nodded solemnly. "That it did."

"I know I said it last night, but I'm gonna say it again. I had no idea about Rose. You know, she was just…a hot girl that wanted to hang out with me."

"I believe you, Garfield." Now Robin sighed. "It's just very…agitating…to experience something similar to Terra again."

"You're telling me?" Garfield chuckled mirthlessly.

"Rose is ridiculously well trained. To be honest, if that fight had kept going I'm not certain I could have beat her."

Garfield looked at his friend in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Robin nodded. "Seriously."

"Maaaaaaan…." Garfield thunked his head onto the counter. "If I had known Rose had so many skeletons in her closet I would have blown her off when she first asked me out. I still can't believe this crap."

"Sounds like she's been through as much as we have, truthfully. But that doesn't excuse her recent actions. She's dangerous, Beast Boy, and I don't like it."

"Yeah…another child soldier. Yippee." Garfield sarcastically replied. "As if two of us wasn't bad enough."

"Careful there BB, you're starting to sound like Raven." Robin chuckled.

"Yeah, well, Rae doesn't sound like anything right now. She's so bummed out from yesterday that I couldn't even get her to smirk." Garfield sighed again." And I gotta get her to figure out this Mister Spooky crap."

"Why not go out of the tower for the day? Get away from this for a bit and let her decompress?" Robin offered. Garfield's head popped up.

"Really dude?"

"I'm not always a tightass." The caped crusader smirked. "Besides, I didn't like seeing Raven like that last night. I don't really want to see her like that again today."

Garfield gazed towards the common room windows, looking out at the persistent rain. "Thanks for the offer dude but what can we do while it's raining?"

Robin shrugged. "You're the one that always comes up with spur of the moment ideas, so you tell me."

The changeling chewed on his cheek in thought. "Hmmm…"

"We'll talk more tomorrow about this Rose stuff and Mister Spooky. That is an order." Robin said as he got up. "I'm going for a jog in the training room before Star wakes. You in?"

"Ha, no."

"Suit yourself." Robin chuckled again before he left.

Garfield sighed before dragging himself off his seat. His thirst completely forgotten, he wandered back to his room, lost in thought. He was grateful Robin was giving him a day before they sorted this mess out. It showed how much he'd relaxed since he got with Starfire. But there was so much on his plate right now that he wasn't sure where to begin with aside from Raven. Mister Spooky was going to be completely out of his area of expertise, he needed Raven for that. As for Rose and Eddie…not a damn clue where to start.

"Maaaaan, this sucks." He whined to himself before entering his room. Raven was still asleep, as was Emelia. He stood there and watched his girlfriend sleep for a moment. How was he going to cheer her up?

He pondered this for more than a few minutes before he grabbed his phone and sat down at his desk. He had time before Raven woke up to do a little researching and could, hopefully, come up with a way to bring her smile back.