The Problem With Orange

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. Please don't sue me.

Chapter 3: Dissention in the Ranks

A couple of days later saw the remainder of Starfire's orange skin disappear. Everyone breathed a little easier, especially Beast Boy. The fiery red-head had put on such an obvious show of false cheer whenever he walked into the same room that both Cyborg and Raven had pulled him aside on separate occasions to ask what the problem was.

The most disturbing conversation had been with Raven. He already knew that she was aware of the Problem, but Starfire didn't seem to have told her about the kiss. The "talk" was an exchange of stony glares (on her part) and nervous but embarrassed glances (on his). Raven finally ended the torture with a cryptic, "I'm watching you."

That was even worse than when someone said they'd tell you-know-who about the you-know-what, in his opinion.

And on top of that, Robin had been peculiarly cold to him for days. It was enough to make Beast Boy want to tear his hair out. What had gotten into his leader, anyway? It wasn't like he didn't have enough to deal with, what with the kiss and all...

The kiss...

"No. Oh, no," Beast Boy moaned out loud, slapping his palm against his head. Man, was he an idiot. Robin knew about the kiss; how he knew was beyond Beast Boy, but it was the only logical explanation. "Great. I guess that means I gotta go talk to him about it. Talk to a guy who probably knows how to break my bones in a thousand different ways about how I kissed his girl. Just peachy," he muttered. It was just not his week.

- - -

Robin gritted his teeth and steadied himself for the kick. It was just him and ol' green skin over there, completely unaware. Get ready, and... He executed the kick perfectly, nearly decapitating another sparring bot. It wasn't green, of course, but the same flat gray that made all of the robots seem so impersonal. Unless you got creative.

"Whoa, Robin, buddy, you've gotta lay off the droids. I can only build so many, and you've already gone through two. Tone it down a little, will ya?" Cyborg pleaded from the other corner of the room where he was lifting weights. Although his robotic parts were in top shape, the human muscle still had to be exercised to stay in shape.

Robin wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Sorry, Cy. I'll try not to trash any more of them."

The truth was, he just wanted the other man to go away. He wanted to pummel the non-life out of every single piece of equipment in this room, and he couldn't do that with Cyborg cautioning him to be more careful every five minutes. Besides, it was either take it out on the droids, or go find--

Beast Boy walked in. Robin's eyes narrowed.

Beast Boy saw the look and wanted desperately to run. Instead, he did the brave thing and stood his ground, saying, "Hey, Robin, just the man I wanted to see. Listen, I gotta talk to you about something. In private."

Robin turned away to shut off the sparring droid with an angry flick of the switch. "Go away, Beast Boy. I really don't want to talk to you right now."

Cyborg looked like he was caught between unbearable curiosity and an urge to flee. Beast Boy knew the feeling. He sucked in a deep breath and said, "I know. You're probably really mad at me right now. I don't know how you found out, but--"

"Found out? Found out? I was standing right there when it happened!" Robin snarled, whirling to face him. Cyborg began inching his way out of the room. Damned if he didn't want to know what the "it" was, but it wasn't any of his business. Besides, he was going to the medical room. Odds were someone was going to have to be patched up after this one.

Neither teen noticed him leave. Beast Boy was staring at Robin with wide eyes. He'd only ever seen this much rage come from the other Titan when Slade had gotten the best of them, and now all of it was directed at him. It was an awesome and terrifying sight.

"Look, I don't know how much you actually saw, but it was a mistake. An accident. See, Star--"

"An accident. Right. You're lips just sort of fell on her, and then you're body followed without consulting you." The sarcasm was thick enough to hang a sweater on.

"No, I mean it. See, it happened like this--"

"I don't need your version, I saw you kissing her!"

"Robin, you're not listening to me! Star kissed me!" Beast Boy finally blurted out. He instantly regretted his words when he saw misery and doubt replace rage on Robin's face. The words hung between them for a moment.

And then Robin said, very softly, "But why would she do that?"

The other Titan let out a frustrated sigh, running his hands through his hair. "I think that's something you're going to have to ask her."

The door opened suddenly, startling them both. Raven's head poked in, as curious as they'd ever seen.

"I just passed Cyborg muttering something about bandages and 'killing each other.' You two aren't doing anything stupid, are you?" She asked the question casually, as though she weren't really calling them idiots and was instead asking them what kind of sandwiches they wanted. Beast Boy gave Robin a questioning look, as if to say, it's your call, man. Robin sighed.

"No, we're through here. You can tell Cyborg that BB and I won't be killing each other. Today." The momentary joy Beast Boy felt at Robin calling him by his nickname again was squashed by the weight of the stony look his leader cast at him.

"Uh, yeah, what he said," came the nervous affirmation.

Raven fixed them both with a routine glare. She must bottle them up and hide them in the Tower somewhere, Beast Boy thought inanely. When she seemed satisfied that neither one was lying to her, she turned and left the room without another word.

"Dude, she's really good at that. If she ever has kids, they'll never even gonna have a chance to get away with anything," Beast Boy exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know. Ever get the feeling she's got eyes in the back of her head? It's so creepy," Robin agreed. Then his humor drained away. "I'm still mad at you. Raven can't stop that."

Beast Boy looked miserably at the floor. "Yeah, I'm still mad at me, too. But it really was just a mistake, you know? If it wasn't for that stupid... Ah, well."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Stupid what?"

Beast Boy looked him full in the face, his gaze taking on a measuring look. "That's another thing you should talk about with her. I won't be the one to spill the beans."

"Your not helping yourself, Beast Boy." The frustration was thick in his voice.

The shape shifter gave a tight, angry smile. "Hey, you wouldn't have spill a secret that Star specifically asked me to keep from you, would you?"

"Me?" Robin looked stricken.

"That's right, you." He didn't bother to add and Cyborg because he was too mad at his friend. Petty, but true.

Suddenly the alarm went off. Real life was intruding on their private bubble, and it made them both jump.

"Robin, Beast Boy! Get your butts down here!" Cyborg's voice sounded over the comm system. Robin clenched a fist, then headed out the door without another word. Shaking his head, Beast Boy followed.

- - -

"Okay, here's the deal. We've got a robbery at an antique store in downtown Jump City. The and here's the kicker: the perp's armed, and dangerous, with umbrellas."

"Excuse me?" Raven asked, thinking that maybe she hadn't heard right. She had.

"Umbrellas, they're attacking the store with umbrellas. I'm not joking here."

"Good, because I'm not laughing. All right, Titan's, go!" Robin ordered.

- - -

"That's right, run, my dears! I am UL, goddess of this world and the next! Fear my glory!" a crazed woman screamed. She was in her fifties and so painfully thin she could almost be called emaciated. She had dark hair, although in the middle of the night everything looked dark, even with the help of street lights. It was cut to her jaw, and suck out in all directions like straw. Her dress was a faded blue with large white polka dots. It looked vintage.

"Dude, seriously, umbrellas?" Beast Boy asked, staring in amazement. UL, as she called herself, was floating ten feet above the ground, one hand clutching a sky blue umbrella, already opened. Fluffy white clouds were painted on it and delicate silver wings had been attached to the top. Her other hand held a closed umbrella, painted to look like a laser cannon. It was doing a pretty good job at simulating one, too: a beam the size of Cyborg's head was making deep furrows in the city's roads. She didn't seem to be very good at controlling the beam, since she had to direct it one-handed, and the police she was aiming for were safer than the bystanders.

"I've had enough of this. Titans, go!" shouted Robin. He leapt, throwing his trademark bombs at the woman. She screamed, but clung to the floating umbrella.

"Do you really think you can win in a challenge against your goddess?" she shrieked at them, spittle running down her chin.

"That's disgusting," Raven commented as she used her powers to try to yank the laser-brella away from UL. The crazed woman appeared to guess Raven's intentions, and pointed the lethal thing at her. Only Starfire, who scooped up the other girl, prevented her from being a permanent smudge on the sidewalk. The crazy woman was getting better at aiming.

Beast Boy crouched in tiger form, ready to spring as soon as he had a clear shot, while Cyborg and Robin worked together to move people out of the blaster's range. Starfire raised one arm to fling a green bolt, only to duck as UL pointed the laser-brella at her again; the blast took out a chunk of the building behind them. Raven's hand tightened on Starfire's arm.

"The building--" was all she managed to get out before Starfire saw the danger. She was too slow to get completely clear and the massive chunk of concrete and steel slammed into her arm on the way down. She screamed in pain, nearly dropping Raven.

Robin's head jerked up at Starfire's cry. She was biting her lip in pain. Raven seemed to have remembered that she, too, could fly, and had put up a protective barrier around the two of them as she examined the damaged arm. Robin felt anger burning from the inside out for this madwoman. She was stealing and tearing up the streets of his city, firing at the innocent and the protectors alike, and now she had just wounded one of his best friends. She would pay.

Apparently Beast Boy echoed the sentiment, because with a roar he leapt at UL, startling her into dropping the laser-brella. She screamed and tried to protect herself as best as she could with one frail arm, but it wasn't her he had aimed for. He gripped the handle of the peacefully levitating umbrella with his sharp jaws and snapped it in half. There was a loud snap, and then the two of them were falling. Beast Boy shifted to a hawk, landing gracefully, while Cyborg rather unceremoniously caught UL. She kicked, screamed, bit, cursed, and clawed at him, but he held firm. Finally exhausted, the crazy old woman collapsed into bitter tears, ranting at all of them. The police took her into custody shortly after.

"Star, are you okay?" Robin asked, kneeling beside her. She shook her head; she was still biting her lip, and tears shone in her eyes. Raven had just finished probing the arm with her mind.

"It doesn't look good," she told him quietly. "Her bone is broken in a couple of different places. I can heal it, but I'm afraid to do it here. It needs to be done slowly. We have to get her back to the tower."

Robin nodded, face grim. "All right, then, let's go."

End Chapter

That was my first action sequence, so I'm sorry if it didn't flow right. I tend to edit things even after they're posted, so it might get fixed if I have the motivation. C&C? -Tries to look winsome-

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