Teen Titans: All Things... Good or Bad...: Part Three
Author's Note:
I'm not good at writing disclaimers, because at the moment I am not motivated enough to dig around to find out all the copyright information regarding Teen Titans... so...
Disclaimer: Blah blah blah... D.C. Comics... blah blah blah... I do not own stock in them.. blah blah.. do not take credit for Teen Titans characters.. blah blah... just paying homage... yadda yadda.
Warning: Um.. not much to report this chapter.. except.. a little sexual innuendo... darn, I hate spoiling things for warning's sake!
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Part Three: Clouds of Steam
Titans Tower was truly a testament to dynamic architecture. The pale moonbeams bounced off of the shiny metallic surface of the building, illuminating the island on which it rested. It was nigh midnight when the two dark-haired Titans walked up to the tall double doors at the foot of the tower.
Raven practically had to drag Robin back to their headquarters. The Boy Wonder practically wanted to put on a badge and direct traffic after spending a good hour or two surrounded by police officers who came to investigate the slaughter at the warehouse. The Titans never worked too closely with the 'normal law enforcement,' but the gruesome and mysterious death of three of their most notorious adversaries was too important to abandon. When Robin had collected more evidence than Sherlock Holmes had accumulated in his entire career, Raven grabbed the black-haired boy by the cape and escorted him out of the warehouse for fear that the police may start to harass them.
She was right to do so; the police respected the Titans, but harbored a bit of resentment as well. Robin usually ignored this, since the police were really no match for the type of villains that Jump City had to offer, but this night, he agreed that it might be best to leave them to their jobs. "Besides," Raven had said as she offered to fly Robin back to the tower, "we should really check in with Cyborg and the others."
Raven's mild concern for her teammates had become much less mild over the past several months, and she tended to more readily voice this concern. Robin opened up a line of communication with Titans Tower as Raven firmly grasped his shoulders, concentrating and preparing to lift the boy into the air with her. "Cyborg? Are you guys there? It's us. Report, please."
Having been slowed down a bit by the two-person payload, Cyborg had taken a bit more time to return to the tower than had been taken to get to the warehouse earlier that night. However, the cybernetic young adult had managed to safely and inconspicuously carry his friends back home. The two had remained slung over Cyborg's shoulders, making no conversation or sound safe the occasional sob from Starfire and the incoherent moan from Beast Boy. Cyborg reassured them a few times, insisting that everything would be "fine." He had not let the mental images of what they had witnessed get to him, and the fact that their most familiar rivals were in fact... gone.
And so brutally. Cyborg was not thinking about any of this. Upon entering the tower, he set both Starfire and Beast Boy down on the living room sofa. He looked them over, pondering what should be done with them. He suddenly felt very fatherly, and it startled him for a moment as he watched Starfire tremble and Beast Boy appear as though he was about to go comatose. Rubbing his chin with his forefinger and thumb, Cyborg suggested that they both go to bed. Starfire clenched her fists and vehemently shook her head back and forth, protesting that she wanted to wait for Robin and Raven to return. Cyborg was a bit reluctant at this request, but he was quite relieved that Starfire was coherently able to communicate. Beast Boy was another story. He merely sat slumped on the couch and looked rather green around the gills... but more green than normal. Cyborg observed an unsightly stain and remnants of vomit on Beast Boy's uniform and blinked a few times, not having noticed it until that very moment. He lifted a finger in the direction of the bathroom and suggested that the young shape-shifter hit the showers. As a side note, he added that it may very well relax the feral boy's nerves. Beast Boy did not seem to hear him at first, but then showed signs of life by nodding a bit then slowly disappearing down the hallway. It was then that Cyborg heard Robin's voice coming from the main computer room.
"Yo Robbie. What's going on? You guys cool?"
Cyborg leaned over the computer terminal console and stared up at the large image of the team leader on the screen. Robin tried to look as calm and collected as possible as he addressed his half-robotic comrade.
"We're fine, Cyborg. We'll talk about all this when Raven and I get back." He paused and seemed to look past Cyborg for a second. "How are Beast Boy and Starfire?"
Cyborg commented on the status of the younger Titans and Robin merely nodded in understanding, then reported that he and Raven would return within ten minutes or so.
The two walked briskly up the hallway that led to the living area where Cyborg said he would most likely be waiting with Starfire. Lo and behold, the tallest Titan was pacing back and forth in front of the big screen television while occasionally glancing at Starfire who had trembled herself to sleep on the sofa moments beforehand. He blinked as he noticed Robin and Raven out of the corner of his eye, and as Robin approached with his finger up and his mouth open, Cyborg quickly shushed him and pointed at Starfire.
Robin obliged and motioned for Cyborg to come over, and Cyborg in turn obliged him. The shorter boy quietly briefed the half-robot about the night's events involving the police and the investigation of the murder scene. Cyborg nodded at all of the appropriate moments and did his best not to react to the slight cracking in Robin's voice as he recounted the unsettling details. Raven merely stood cold still a few feet behind and blinked from time to time. Her hood was still up.
After about ten minutes of discussion, the two males agreed to further ponder the matter when the sun had come up and everyone had enjoyed a much wanted sleep. Raven's eyes were close, as though she had gotten a head start on the matter, but she opened them again when Robin suddenly spoke off-topic. "Where's Beast Boy? Is he already asleep?"
Cyborg looked as though he had left a roast in the oven and forgot about it for five days. "Oh, I told him to go take a bath. He was a real mess... but that was a while ago." He stood in silence for several seconds as Robin and Raven merely looked at him with somewhat concerned gazes. "Maybe someone should check on him."
Robin nodded and was about to open his mouth to nominate himself as the obvious volunteer, but Raven abruptly interrupted before he could begin. "I'll do it." Her voice was dry and cracked ever so slightly as though she had not spoken for days. It would have taken Robin and Cyborg a week to respond to her statement, as they could only stare at her incredulously. They could not decide if they were more surprised to hear Raven express that much concern for Beast Boy in general, or if they were shocked that she was going to check on him while he was in the bath.
Nevertheless, Raven showed no signs that she was joking, or even that she was serious. She said nothing more and bowed her head ever so slightly to the two boys in front of her. Not waiting for a response, she turned on her heels and began walking down the hallway behind them. Robin and Cyborg just stared.
"Ooookay. Now I've heard everything," Cyborg finally said when Raven had disappeared into the darkness of the hall.
Robin silently agreed, then looked over to Starfire on the couch. "How is she..." he mouthed softly, not really expecting an answer.
Cyborg honestly replied, "I'm really not sure." A few seconds of awkward silence ensued, and Cyborg seemed to get the point by the expression on Robin's face. He placed a large hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. "G'night, Robbie. Wake me up if you need to." With that, the tall young man turned towards the hallway and marched solemnly into the darkness, the blue lights on his limbs illuminating the walls for a minute before disappearing.
Robin made his way to the other side of the couch and gazed down at the sleeping princess for a moment. He could think of nothing else to do beside gently pick her up into his arms. He examined her face as he cradled her carefully; she showed no signs of stirring. With a small sigh, the boy carried the girl into the hallway and to her very pink room.
Raven stood stiffly in front of the bathroom door. She knocked for the third time and again received no answer. "Maybe he drowned." She said this so dryly that to someone who did not know Raven very well might have been appalled at her insensitive remark. However, deep inside, Raven's heart was beating very quickly at the thought that he may actually have come to harm behind that closed door. She blinked a few times then turned the doorknob and pushed her hip against the door as if expecting some kind of resistance. None came and the door swung open with ease.
The girl almost let out a cough when she entered and hastily pulled down her hood. It was as though the room was full of smoke, but in actuality, it was only steam. Still, the thick, hot air assaulted Raven's face and eyes and she lifted her cloak over her nose and squinted. "... Beast Boy?" She took a step forward and fanned the gossamer mist with her free hand, letting a good amount escape through the door behind her. The vapor cleared a bit and she found it easier to see what was in front of her, which may or may not have been a bad thing.
The young changeling lay in steaming hot water up to his neck in the sizeable bathtub at the far end of the bathroom. His left arm hung limply over the side of the tub and he stared blankly at the ceiling. His clothes were on the floor not too far from him, and one shoe was near the toilet and the other lay upside down under the sink. His gloves were scattered about in a similarly unkempt fashion. Raven observed this and thought it a wonder that he even made it into the bathtub at all.
Cautiously, she advanced a few more steps. "Beast Boy," she demanded in a soft, but more stern voice than she had previously used. Still no response. Now her heart actually skipped a beat and composure was quickly escaping her. Several more steps were taken until she was adjacent to the bathtub and leaning directly over the younger boy's head. "Beast Boy!"
The green shape-shifter continued to stare blankly through Raven. The girl was about to panic when Beast Boy suddenly blinked a few times, his eyes growing wide. "R-Raven!"
He jumped into an alert state and almost jumped out of the water, but he thought better of that at the last second. His hands quickly splashed down into the scalding water and made their way between his legs where they conveniently created a visual barrier between Raven's eyes and his boyhood. Raven's alarmed expression rapidly returned to its default setting of calm and collected.
"Beast Boy, are you trying to cook yourself or something?"
Beast Boy had not expected such a bizarre comment and he did not bother acknowledging the fact that Raven sort of, kind of, was making a joke about the temperature of the bath water. He was preoccupied being completely embarrassed and mortified that she was staring at him.
"What? What are you doing in here?!"
"Cyborg sent me to check on you. He thought you might have drowned, or needed help finding your rubber ducky." Raven was being more sarcastic than usual, but it was a great way to mask her true concern for her friend. She expected Beast Boy to retort with more sarcasm or more protest, but when he merely glared at her with eyes that she could identify as nothing but pure hurt, she tilted her head to the side and said, "What?"
A moment of silence ensued. "Raven, I'm naked!"
"So?"
"Whaddya mean, 'so'?"
"You don't seem to care when you're a dog, or a gorilla, or a bull." Raven had no idea why she was having this conversation with Beast Boy. In fact, her stomach did a somersault and she gulped hard, and then returned to her ultra-calm state of mind before the toilet exploded or something terrible like that. Suddenly, she knelt down in front of the bathtub and gazed at Beast Boy from this lower elevation, intending to give him more privacy. She could have just left. He was obviously alive and well, and that was all she was required to find out. But something made her stay and pursue this uncomfortable conversation.
"That's different!" Beast Boy blurted out, suspiciously watching as Raven sat down on the floor next to his black and purple outfit.
"Is it?" she replied dryly, blinking at his clothing with feigned interest. What was she saying? Did she even know? Did she care that she was making Beast Boy so uncomfortable by talking about the magnitude of his nudity? Did she care that she was making herself uncomfortable? Yet still, she pursued the issue. Of course it was different. When Beast Boy assumed his animal forms, he was technically naked, but he was an animal. She never really thought much about it, however, she had 'glanced' at the area in question, but no differently than one would glance at a random male dog walking down the street. Or so she thought. But she had never equated or compared the nakedness of those forms to his true form... why the hell was she suddenly thinking about such a horrible topic now? She looked at Beast Boy's face. He looked like a deer in headlights. She imaged him as a buck for a moment, then blinked the image away.
"Well... yeah!" he stuttered after a beat. He half expected her to say, "How so?" but she didn't. They glared at each other awkwardly for about a minute before the young changeling turned away and stared down at the steaming water in front of him.
The truth was, Raven was desperately trying to get the horrifying look on Jinx's face out of her head. The moment she looked up at her old nemesis, the bloody cackling face was burned into her memory. For some reason it had greatly disturbed her, but with great strength and struggle, she had been able to tune it out and control an otherwise violent reaction to it. By exploring another demon-- the fact that Beast Boy was 'growing up' and she was indeed noticing-- the grotesque images of the night could be pushed to the back of her consciousness until later. And truly, sitting next to Beast Boy while he was bare-ass naked disturbed her less than having to relive the repressed feelings of seeing the Hive students slaughtered like that. She almost wanted to tell Beast Boy, "Relax, it's not like I haven't seen a naked boy before." But she did not feel like lying to him tonight. She decided to cut the crap.
"Beast Boy, are you all right?"
He did not look at her, but pretended to be very interested with the water in front of him. "Well I guess so... I mean..."
She cut him off. "About tonight... I--"
He returned the favor. "I don't wanna talk about it." He lifted one hand and made a point to slide it across his already wet chest, as if to further wash away the memory of the vomit that had made its home there earlier.
Raven paused and looked under the bathtub. "I understand." And she truly did. She lifted a hand a short distance and her fingertips glowed an eerie black in color. For a second her eyes turned pure white. In the next moment, a small yellow object rested in her hand. "Here." She stood up and dropped it into the water, splashing a bit onto Beast Boy's face. He blinked a few times and took one hand and wiped his face, using the other hand to once again conceal himself from Raven's trespassing eyes. "Good night, Beast Boy." With that, the girl turned with a dramatic flourish of her cloak and exited the bathroom, closing the door with her telekinetic powers.
The younger boy watched her leave in awe, then looked down at the water. A cheerful yellow rubber ducky bobbed playfully in front of him.