Hey, folks! Sorry I've not updated in a bit. I've had to move recently and was dealing with that.

A special thanks to all the reviewers! Your comments keep me going.

An anonymous reviewer gave me one of the best compliments ever. I got the character interaction right between the Titans! Woohoo! I also dislike Mary-Sue characters and was glad that Vivian didn't seem like one. She's not. She's extremely flawed on many levels and flaws are important to a character. Perfect characters are boring.

Oh, and don't apologize for writing a long review. I love long reviews! Write more! Cover entire pages with your comments! Ahem.

Letselina mentioned that Raven seemed a little too mean and sarcastic. Reading it over, that definitely seems to be the case, but there is a reason for her being so on edge. Apparently, though, I haven't presented that well enough, so I will correct that in the future. Thanks for the comment!

In response to Catty Engles regarding the meaning of the word 'harbinger', the answer is yes. It does mean a foreshadower or precursor. The story will get more into that in Chapter 6.

Again, thanks to all the folks who read and reviewed! Glad to see people are liking things! So, without further ado... here's the latest chapter!

Chapter 5: Date With Darkness

"Okay, I think I got it," Beast Boy said with a nod, mouth set in determination, "I need to find out where she was last night at the time when the museum was robbed, see if there's anyone who can substantiate her story, and try to find out if she knows anything about the demon thing, right?"

"That's about it," Robin affirmed with a nod, "Also keep on a lookout for anything strange and that should be enough to see if we need to investigate further."

"I won't let you down," Beast Boy stated with a broad smile, just before the door alert rang. "Well, that's probably Vivian. Time for me to put on the charm and get her out on a date. Invite her up!"

A moment later, the slight form of Vivian appeared in the entrance. In her hands she held a white box and presented it to the assembled titans in the living room. "Here you go, everyone! It's, uh... not m-much. Just some chocolate. But, uh... I thought I s-should bring something." With a bit of a flourish, the brown-haired girl removed the top of the box and offered up the dark ingots of sugary goodness.

Cyborg took one of the small chocolates and bit into it hesitantly. "Hey, not bad."

Vivian blushed faintly and grinned at the half-man's words, "Thanks! I made it myself. Well... I mixed the ingredients in any case." Robin and Starfire both reached into the box and pulled out one of the chocolate pieces and, with a small nudge from Cyborg, Raven did the same. Vivian looked over at Beast Boy and smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry... I didn't make any especially for you. I know you're all vegetarian and all."

A confused expression appeared on the green titan's features, "Huh? It's just chocolate. Last time I checked, that was a plant."

"Yeah, but it uses sugar."

Beast Boy blinked twice, "Dude, sugar is a plant too."

Vivian nodded, "Right, but sugar refinement process utilizes animals. Or, more accurately, their bones. There's this stuff called 'char' which is basically just crushed animal bones. Usually cows. Anyway, the pores of bone turn out to be great for capturing impurities in sugar. So they grind up the sugar cane, add water, then run it through a big vat filled with char and the sugar water comes out clean on the other side. Then they take the vat, put it into a blast furnace to vaporize the contaminates, and use it all over again."

All the titans had stopped mid-bite and stared at the girl.

Gray eyes glanced around in puzzlement, "What? Did I say something wrong?"

Thankfully, Beast Boy decided to change the subject of conversation, instead offering a wide grin and saddling up to Vivian. "So, Viv," he said, "I was wondering, uh... if you'd like to go out today. Just us."

Vivian paused, blinking back at Beast Boy. "'Just us'?" she queried curiously, "You mean... in like a date or something?"

The green titan blushed faintly and nodded, "Uh... yeah."

"Wow!" exclaimed the brown haired girl, smiling brightly, "I... I've n-never really been on a date before. Heck, I've never even been asked. Well, I was once, but it turned out to be a horrible j-joke." Her face was shadowed briefly with a dark expression before she shook her head as if to clear it and forced a smile back on her lips, "Um, so... um... I guess, sure!"

Beast Boy grinned broadly. Raven couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"We, uh... can go back to the museum. Or there's a private collection of rare artifacts being shown downtown?"

Beast Boy's grin faded slightly before he rubbed the back of his head absently, "Uh... actually I was kinda thinking more along the lines of going to the park, or to the movies or something."

Vivian blinked again. "Oh. Um... yeah, I guess that's okay too. Sorry. I don't have much experience with dates." Her smile returned, radiant as before, "This is unbelievable! I meet the Teen Titans, then get a d-date with Beast Boy himself! As long as I'm back home by eight o'clock."

"Why eight?"

For a moment, Vivian seemed surprised by the question and faltered in a response. Finally, though, she smiled hesitantly and replied, "My, uh... m-my parents would worry. So, um... s-so. I have to get back before then. That's all. Wouldn't want to get in trouble with the folks and all!"

"Oh, right," Beast Boy said with a nod before motioning to the doorway, "Well, let's go. We'll decide where to go on the way, okay?"

Vivian laughed nervously and spun around on her heel, heading for the exit. Beast Boy smiled widely and gave the other titans a thumbs up before disappearing after her.

For a long moment, no one spoke. Finally, Raven turned towards Robin and asked in her dry monotone, "Do you still think this was a good idea?"

After taking in a bad horror movie at the local cinema, Beast Boy and Vivian took a break at his favorite pizza restaurant, the pair sitting outdoors as the day sun shown over them.

"So," Beast Boy began as they ordered and their drinks were delivered, "What did you think of the museum yesterday?"

"Oh, it was wonderful!" gushed the girl in glasses happily, "I saw some old tablets that have never been translated. Of course, they were behind glass, so I couldn't see them very well. But it was quite interesting."

Beast Boy hmmed softly, "Can I ask you a question?"

Vivian nodded, sipping on her soda silently.

"Did you see anyone... strange while there?"

Vivian blinked behind her glasses, tilting her head to one side, "Strange...? In what way? Why do you ask?"

"The place was robbed last night," Beast Boy stated, "I was kinda hoping you might have seen something unusual. Suspicious characters or something."

She shook her head, shrugging, "Sorry, no. My, uh... m-my attention was elsewhere." Vivian's cheeks reddened slightly.

"Eh, well, it doesn't matter," the green titan replied with a smile, "I wanna apologize again for Raven. She gets a bit..." Beast Boy's voice faded off as he searched for a proper word.

"Abrasive?" Vivian filled in with a nod, "Yeah, I... uhm... I n-noticed. I don't think she likes me very much. "

"I hope you made it home okay."

Vivian nodded, "Yeah, I did. It was still light out when I got home."

Mentally, Beast Boy crossed off reconnaissance information. So, she had to be back home before eight. "That's good. I hope your parents weren't angry at all."

"Oh, they weren't there," Vivian stated dismissively with a wave of her hand, "They're... busy. And not around often. They're off somewhere for like two weeks now."

Beast Boy's brow furrowed, "But... you said you had to be back by eight because your parents would be upset?"

Again, the brown haired girl froze for a moment before letting out a string of nervous laughter, "Oh, s-sorry. Uhm, bad c-choice of words, I guess. I just meant that they trust me to be on my own. Um. And I w-wouldn't want to betray that trust."

Before Beast Boy could say something else, though, the pair were shadowed. "Well, what do we have here?" a voice said, jeering. It was a teenage boy, rather broad shouldered; the stereotypical jock. He had his arm around a blonde girl who smiled smugly with an air of superiority. "Looks like the little freak has a date!"

Vivian's eyes swiveled to regard the pair, a look of panic on her features. "T... Ted?"

"Man, she's even more ugly up close," the blonde girl stated flatly, looking at Vivian as if she was something that crawled out from under a rock, "I can't believe you even faked her out, babe. How could you keep your lunch down?"

Jaw tightening, Vivian dropped her gaze to just peer into her soda, her hands folded around the glass. She remained silent at the verbal assault.

"Well, it was funny," Ted replied to the blonde, "She cried her eyes out in front of the whole class." The teen laughed derisively, nearly sneering at Vivian.

"Hey! Leave her alone," Beast Boy said, frowning deeply.

The pair then turned their belittling attention to the green titan, laughing shortly. "Aww, isn't that cute," Ted said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Her little green boyfriend wants to protect her!"

"If you ask me, they deserve each other," the blonde said, smiling in a sickly sweet way without any trace of warmth, "They're both ugly freaks. I guess there is someone in the world for everyone, no matter how screwed up."

Beast Boy glared at the pair as Vivian's hands tightened about the glass of soda, her knuckles turning white. Beast Boy was about to say something else when Ted spoke again, snorting softly, "C'mon, baby. Let's leave the little weirdos to their date. Maybe their mutual hideousness will cause 'em to both die of a heart attack." Laughing cruelly, the pair moved off, quickly darting around the corner of a building.

Vivian didn't look up, hands still tight around the glass in front of her. Beast Boy growled under his breath as he saw the pair head off then turned a sympathetic eye towards Vivian. "Hey," he said gently, "Don't worry about those idiots. They obviously don't know what they're missing. Probably because that happens to be a brain."

For a moment, Vivian remained silent and impassive before she laughed softly, looking up, eyes shining with tears again. "You... always know how to make me laugh, Beast Boy. Um... thanks. Most would probably just leave an ugly lost cause like me after the first few minutes."

"You're not ugly," Beast Boy stated with a note of certainty, "Those two? Were just trying to get to you because you're smart and funny. They're not important."

A smile twitched up on the brown haired girl's lips and she nodded, "Y-yeah. I guess you're right. Thanks. Besides..." Vivian's face twisted once more into that hideous mask of hate and anger, though her voice was deadly, icy calm. "I'm sure they'll get theirs soon enough."

Beast Boy's brow furrowed and he was about to reply when there suddenly was great commotion from down the street. The high-pitched squealing of breaks, followed by the scream of a woman, and a hideous bone-shattering crunch.

"What was that?!" Beast Boy asked, standing immediately and taking Vivian's hand, "C'mon, we gotta see if we can help." He ran off in the direction of the noise, dragging a much more reluctant Vivian with him. He pushed his way through the crowd of people who had gathered quickly around the accident scene and quickly had to force down his lunch at the scene before him.

Blood was splattered across the street and on a large car nearby. The owner of the car, a middle-aged man, was in near panic. "I don't know what happened! I was stopped at a light and the car just lurched forward!"

"My legs! I can't feel my legs!" the voice was familiar and full of sobbing fear. The voice came from Ted, who lied broken and battered on the street, his legs both at odd angles. A half-scream, half-gurgle rose from nearby, blonde hair now matted and stained with blood. The figure lifted her head, revealing a mutilated face; broken teeth, stripped flesh, crushed nose. Horror and fear shown in her eyes, but all that escaped her ruined mouth was that same gurgling scream, bubbles forming in the blood.

Beast Boy looked on in shock and turned towards Vivian who was staring at the grisly scene with serene neutrality on her features. "Quick, Viv! Go call an ambulance!"

Vivian kept staring at the mess for a moment before seeming to snap out of a trance. "Huh? Oh! Right... I'll be... I'll be r-right back." She turned and moved through the crowd running for a nearby phonebooth.

No one saw the wide, wild, maniacal smile that crossed her lips, vicious and cruelty born in her visage.