Disclaimer: I own the characters and setting; I'm also good friends with George Washington, I'm old enough to vote and I often have deep, two-sided conversations with my neighbor's cat. Gah, fine. I don't own the characters and setting, I don't know George Washington, I'm only thirteen and I have deep, one-sided conversations with my neighbor's cat. Happy?
Review Replies: You guys were so sweet; I got that nice fuzzy feeling inside again. Hmm, Dark, do I get a cookie now? Hey, I liked your idea Tsusaka! Actually, I liked your review, and was trying to put it into my chapter, but since I'd already started writing it and it took place like, a month afterward, it didn't fit. Then I was actually thinking about making a new chapter just so I could mention it...so I did. Hee. Call me lame, I have no life- I can afford to make an extra chapter! See what leaving reviews can do? Leave them! Also, MyNaMeIsMuD19524, I'm so sorry- I probably should have made Raven kill them, but since Beast Boy was critical to the plot (Yes, there is a plot in all this chaos. Well, um, not really), I decided to just drench him and Cyborg a lot. It was fun. Well, this is going to end up longer than the chapter, so thanks go to: Kestrel, Weeble Wobble Chic, funvince, Darkfire, Lain the Fluff-Master, SilverGriffen, Tsukasa, Dark, MyNaMeIsMuD19524, DarkBird2, and Kestra!
Author's Note: Yo! This was an unplanned chapter; I got the idea from Tsusaka, who said I should mention Raven's tan. So to write a new chapter, which would also give Raven and Beast Boy MORE time to spend with each other (as if they weren't, at least in this story), I asked my dad what activities he could think up that people bonded over. I vetoed his first idea ("drinking"), but "getting in trouble" gave me this idea.... I hope you enjoy it!
Timeline: A few days after Chapter Three ("Water Wars")
Chapter Four: Green Spray-paint
Beast Boy, Robin and Cyborg sat at the kitchen table, discussing something.
"Man, you just TELL her, okay?"
"But what if she doesn't-"
The voices abruptly stopped when Raven walked through the room, holding a book in one hand. She pushed down her hood and gave them a curious look; then she shrugged and looked around for a bookmark so that she could put her book down. Finally snagging a clean napkin off the counter, she placed it in the book and began to get out a tea bag. Noticing the silence in the room, she turned and snapped, "What?"
They collectively jumped. Robin nervously asked, "Uh, how much did you hear?"
"Nothing. Are you plotting something? You had better not be...."
Too quickly, Cyborg denied it. "No way! We were SO not talking about- mmph!"
Robin covered his mouth. Beast Boy looked over at them, then at Raven. "So Raven, nice tan!" (A/N: See? The tan!)
She raised an eyebrow. "Um, thanks. I'll be going now." She picked up her finished tea and book and padded quietly out of the kitchen, steam trailing from the cup.
Beast Boy slouched sullenly in his chair. "She's never going to like me, is she? She barely knows I exist!"
Cyborg laughed triumphantly. "So you ADMIT you like her!"
Beast Boy opened his mouth to protest, then nodded his head in defeat. "What do I do?"
Cyborg shrugged. "Weren't you listening to what I was JUST telling Robin to do? You tell her you like her, and see what happens."
The two said at the same time, "But what if she doesn't like me back?!"
Cyborg shrugged. "Not my problem. But let me just tell you; I have a feeling you'd like the answers they would give you."
Robin stood up suddenly. "Thanks for the advice, Cy. I'll think about it. Something else has been on my mind, though. We haven't fought anyone for at least a month.... Jump City hasn't had a single crime that we've had to take care of. I think we should patrol, make sure nothing's going on."
Beast Boy sighed. "Dude, why can't you just be grateful for the break?"
"Yeah, man. What's that saying about mouths and gift horses? Whatever it is, I think it definitely applies here!"
Robin ignored the huge green horse now whinnying in his face, taking up a considerable amount of room in the kitchen. "Go get the girls. We're going patrolling."
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The Teen Titans stood on the roof of a building in the heart of Jump City. "Guys, I think it's time we split up. Cyborg, you take the streets. I'll look around roofs; Star, Raven, Beast Boy, you guys fly, you can cover more ground that way. If anything big is up, use the communicator. Titans, go!"
Robin leapt off the roof to the next one; Starfire took a moment to look after him before kindly flying Cyborg to the street below, then soaring off. Beast Boy and Raven were left. Beast Boy seemed to be considering something, and then turned to Raven.
"Rae, can I talk to you for a sec? I wanted to ask you--"
She held up her hand, looking like she was concentrating on something. "Someone's up to no good; I can sense it. I can't tell...wait, I think I can hear something...."
Beast Boy's sensitive ears twitched. "It sounds...." He wiggled his nose, "and smells, like...spray-paint. A few alleys away, I think."
Raven rolled her eyes. "Great, petty vandalism. Jump City's criminals are really up to no good, aren't they? Whatever, let's go."
Beast Boy morphed into a hawk and took off, Raven right behind them. He was right; two alleys down, they spotted a teen in a Yankees cap (A/N: Boo! Um, no offense) spraying something on the brick wall of an apartment building. The two landed behind him and got a chance to see what he was writing.
In crude, green letters was "TeeN TiTaNz SUK!" He was finishing the exclamation point when a voice behind him caused him to spin and drop the can.
"It's nice to know we're thought of so fondly by our devoted fans."
Beast Boy stepped up, pretending to carefully examine the graffiti. "Hey, I love the color, but I think this could use a little work." The two Titans turned to look at the Yankees cap kid, who was nervously backing away. Then he spun and began running down the alley.
Raven started to chant. "Azarath, Metrion, Zin--"
"Freeze!"
Beast Boy jumped and spun around. Raven, on the other hand, turned slowly, clearly annoyed. "Sir, if you don't mind...."
"Yes, I DO mind. You two vandals aren't going to get away this time! The Jump City police force is really cracking down on stuff like this, you got it? Now hands up!"
They slowly put them up, Beast Boy turning to see if the real culprit had gotten away; he had. "Dude, we're part of the Teen Titans. Are you new or something? Raven, tell him!"
She merely stared at the cop, speechless. She was clearly too shocked, or maybe pissed off, to do anything.
The policeman just raised an eyebrow at the graffiti behind them. "Sure, you're the Teen Titans. Who happened to write 'Teen Titans Suck' on the wall?" He rolled his eyes. "I'm going to have to ask you to get in the car."
"No way, man!" Beast Boy had lowered his hands by now, and was making frantic, frustrated gestures with his arms, trying to convince the man he was telling the truth.
He listened skeptically as Beast Boy went on about how they were in the Teen Titans, and why wouldn't he believe them, and how much of a rookie was he, exactly, but finally just sighed and said, "Look, I don't want to make this harder than it is. Do you want to make me call backup?" When Beast Boy just glared, he brought the radio to his mouth. "I have two teenage vandals here, one of them is making a slight disturbance; he looks like a joker, seems to have covered his entire head in green spray-paint...." He chuckled a little.
Raven's eyes flicked from the green spray can on the ground to Beast Boy's head; he caught her gaze and she raised an amused eyebrow.
The cop lowered the radio. He looked at Raven. "Hey, I'm sure you don't want to get in any more trouble, right? Please, tell your boyfriend not to do this, it's not making this easy." She raised her eyebrows at this. The guy thought Beast Boy was her boyfriend? Apparently the policeman took her silence as defiance, because the next second her expression turned to indignation as the officer took her arm. He tugged a little harder when she wouldn't move, and her eyes turned red. She used her powers to sweep him into the air rather violently, and growled, "Don't. Touch. Me."
He pressed anxiously against the wall of the black bubble and nearly whimpered in fear. Raven ignored Beast Boy's yell. She took a step toward the man, her eyes still glowing red under her hood, when Robin suddenly jumped in front of her from the roof above. "What's going on?" She gasped, and the glow in her eyes faded. The bubble of black energy disappeared in a moment, and the officer landed heavily into the rather squishy green arms of an octopus. Robin looked behind to Beast Boy and repeated, "What's going on?"
Beast Boy turned human again (accidentally dropping the policeman) and shrugged, but he looked rather shocked. "The guy didn't believe we were part of the Teen Titans, he thought we were like, vandals or something! He took her arm and she went all uh, angry...." He looked worriedly at Raven.
Robin turned to the policeman, now sitting limply on the ground against the graffiti-covered wall. "Are you alright sir?" The man only nodded, and Robin helped him up. The man walked nervously to his police car, sneaking scared glances behind him. He had wet green paint on the back of his jacket.
Raven blinked. "I...I'm sorry. I don't know why I snapped so quickly.... I guess I'm tired. I'd better go." She rose into the air and glided in the direction of home, Robin and Beast Boy left staring after her.
"I'm going after her." Beast Boy took off as a bird. He trailed behind her in the sky, and finally caught up to her as she landed on the roof of the Titans Tower. "Raven!"
She turned. "Beast Boy, you should be out patrolling. Now you've left only the three of them to do it."
"We need to talk. What happened back there?"
Raven passed a hand over her forehead. "It was nothing. I'm tired, and I lost control for a second. I just haven't gotten enough meditation in lately. Can we leave it at that, please?"
"I want to help, Rae! We all do. We care about you; we don't want anything to happen to you, okay? Understand that." He placed a hand on her shoulder, but she brushed it off.
"I know you want to help, but you can't, and you don't need to. Let it go. I'm fine, and it's not going to happen again!" She turned to leave, and then paused. "But...thanks."
He gave her a small smile, but it faltered slightly with worry. "No problem. Remember, I'm here...we're all here for you." She weakly returned the smile and entered the tower, leaving Beast Boy staring after her for the second time that night.
Final Author's note: You know the drill. Review and tell me what you thought of the chapter- if you'd like to make suggestions, please do, I'll do my best to fit them in; maybe I'll make an entirely new chapter from them like I did with this one! Oh, also- I got cable again for a WHOLE WEEK! (Lisa cheers) So now I get to watch some more Teen Titans! I'll probably cry when it ends next Sunday. Waaah! Oh yeah, and please forgive Bob the policeman, he's a rookie who'd never seen the Titans. Okay, so once again, indulge my new addiction and review!