Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Titans, sadly...
Note: Sorry about taking so long to update! I meant to get it done by yesterday, but I have severely limited access to the internet... so, I posted it when I could. I hope it was worth the wait!
Chapter 6: Suspicions
Two more weeks had gone by, making it close to a month since the string of murders had begun. Things had gotten better and worse for the Teen Titans. It was worse because the case was no closer to being solved, rather, it had only grown more perplexing. Only a few more killings had taken place. This was good because it meant less casualties, but it was bad because they still had yet to catch the murderer. At the same time, Beast Boy appeared to be slowly returning to his normal self, as normal as he ever was, anyway. The deaths still seemed to bother him, but he was gradually putting in more and more effort to help with the case. Step by step, he began to learn how to better cope with everything that was going on. Thus, there was a balance of positive and negative feelings within the tower.
It was around lunchtime, which meant that they were returning from what had become their morning routine over the past month. As it had been, Robin and Starfire would head off to work on research while Raven and Cyborg would work on verifying different pieces of evidence. Beast Boy had gotten in the habit of switching between the groups, going where he was needed at the time. This was somewhat due to the empath, since she had convinced him that he could still be of use without changing into animals. The others had been a bit skeptical at first, worrying that his tendency to play around would interfere, even in such a serious case. However, seeing as he did not want to be useless, Beast Boy kept himself in check so that he would at least not hinder the research. After all, he did know that there were times that called for him to be serious; he just did not always act like it.
The changeling had already returned, beating the others back. He had been with Robin and Starfire that day, but had decidedly excused himself a bit early. True, their minds had been set on research, but he had started to feel a bit like a third wheel. They had not said anything aloud, but it was obvious there were feelings beyond friendship between the two. This did not mean that he was not aware of this before, as he had noticed it a long time ago... He and Cyborg were simply waiting to see when they got around to admitting those feelings to each other. "People can be so oblivious...", he thought silently to himself as he walked into the kitchen area, intent on making lunch.
"Maybe breakfast for lunch," Beast Boy mused aloud, opening a cupboard to dig out a few pans. He did not think he would get a lot of complaints about that, seeing as how they had eaten it many times before. It was tofu, of course, so Cyborg would no doubt voice his objection, but he was more than used to that. With that, he threw on a relatively clean apron and shoved a chef's hat floppily onto his head.
He figured it would be at least fifteen to thirty minutes before the others returned, so he set about fixing lunch. With no one else around, it was only a matter of a few moments before his thoughts began to wander. It was not the case that was on his mind, but a certain fellow Titan. Over the past month or so, he had found himself thinking about her more and more. He could still remember the way his heart had skipped a beat when she had given him a hug after her heart had been broken, but at the same time, he had not allowed himself to think anything of it. She was unusually emotional at the time and he... well, it had been not all that long since Terra. He had not wanted to open up his own heart right then.
"But what about now?"
His own thought stunned him momentarily. Was he opening up to her? He shook his head, trying to drive the thought out of his mind but it refused to leave. Maybe it was true... After all, she had been helping him to cope when he had been unable to, and he found himself willing to trust her and to take her advice. It had helped, too. She had told him to train to let out his anger, only this time with a goal in mind. (... not like the time he had been doused with a chemical...) The researching had been her idea, too. This was in order to make him stop avoiding the case like he had been. She had been there for him, and had actually shown concern. When had that started, anyway?
A long sigh passed over his lips as he started setting out the plates. He knew that she had begun to open up to him as well, but her reason for doing so still eluded him. "She's my friend... I mean, she still doesn't laugh at my jokes, so there's nothing that unusual... right?" His shoulders drooped slightly at that last thought and he bit his bottom lip as if disappointed, that is, until his head snapped up suddenly and he attempted to force a dawning idea from his mind. "She's only a friend! ... Sure, she's pretty, and she is going out of her way to help me, but that doesn't mean that I -like- like her!"
With his free hand, he gave himself a firm slap on the forehead, almost causing himself to fall over. What was he thinking? Of course he did not like her as more than a friend, and he could not think anything but the same for her thoughts about him! She helped him, but he had come to learn that she did try to help her friends. A gloomy feeling seemed to settled when he pointed that out to himself.
"That's because you do like her, and as more than a friend, too!", a voice whispered in the back of his mind
He was almost sure that if he could see it, that "voice" would be wearing a smirk like a Cheshire cat. Now, what was it that Raven had once told him? "Oh yeah, don't let your emotions control you... That sounds like her."
Grumbling outwardly, he was unable to defend himself from his own thoughts because he heard the doors to the common room abruptly swish open. And who should come walking in? None other than the current reason for his inner conflict. However, he managed to force a grin onto his features a moment later. Of course, it was only forced for the first second. "Hey, Raven," he greeted, scrambling some tofu eggs while looking over his shoulder at her. "Want some breakfast for lunch?"
"Let me guess, tofu? It seems I have no choice," she replied in her usual tone as she drew closer to the counter. "I thought you were with Robin and Starfire," Raven added, allowing her gaze to briefly sweep around the large room and finding it empty save for the two of them.
"I was," he answered, continuing to whip around the eggs in the pan. "I wonder if they noticed that I left," the shape-shifter snickered slightly.
"Robin mentioned that they could use your help this morning," she responded as she took a seat at the counter.
"I know, but that doesn't mean that he didn't want some alone time with you-know-who," he commented, a mischievous smirk appearing faintly across his features.
Catching what he meant by his tone, she let out a brief sigh and shook her head slightly. Still, the violet-haired empath said nothing to disagree with him. Instead, she let a comfortable silence fill the room for a few minutes, until he chose to break it.
"So, where's Cyborg?", Beast Boy questioned, more or less because he wanted to be ready to get yelled at for cooking tofu again. Not that it mattered. He had just wanted to fill the silence.
"He's back, too," she answered. Allowing her gaze to shift over to the green Titan, she folded her arms across the hard surface. When she spoke again, she changed the subject to a more serious one. "How was your morning?"
Having already removed the pan from the heat a minute ago, he was currently beginning on waffles. He was not startled by her question, seeing as how she asked it every day now. She was holding him accountable and expecting to be told if something new had developed. This was in addition to the discussions they would have every afternoon, but that was more to work on finding different ways to cope with the whole situation.
It took him a moment before he replied honestly, "It was alright, nothing bad." Sure, it was a generic answer, but that was where they normally dropped the conversation until later.
"Good," Raven responded, watching him for any signs of him having given her a false answer. Seeing none, she let herself offer a barely noticeable smile, even if he could not see it. Then, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone, mostly.
The doors opened behind them, signaling the arrival of one or more of their teammates. They would talk more later.
–
It was that time of day again. The time for her to meditate, but she was not looking forward to it right then. She knew where her thoughts would go and she could already feel an argument with her emotions forming. This had been happening for the past few weeks. Still, they gave her no new information, nor did she agree with what they were trying to get her to admit. It was like a tug-of-war in her mind, neither side willing to give an inch. One would think that this would become tiring after awhile, and yet it persisted.
Settling into her usual position, she began to quietly chant the same three words over and over again, "Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos... Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos..." The world around her seemed to drift into a calming state, not affected by the light breeze or mild warmth that was in the air. For a few minutes, it appeared as though her emotions would remain silent for that session of meditation and she inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, she heard an all too familiar voice giggle in the back of her mind. "Come on, admit it!", it coaxed her with an eager tone.
"No," she answered firmly, hoping to end the conversation there but knowing the contrary.
"Why are you helping him, then?", the voice questioned curiously.
"He's my friend," Raven responded to herself, facial features unchanging.
"Would you do this for any of them?"
"Why wouldn't I?", she replied to the question with one of her own.
"... but this time is different," came the cheery voice, fully believing what had just been said.
"Not really," the Titan stated dryly, getting a bit fed up with the conversation already.
"Oh, so you admit that it is at least a bit different?", the voice asked teasingly and hopefully at the same time.
"That's not what I meant," she uttered firmly.
In attempt to end the discussion there, she opened her eyes to look over the waters that surrounded the small piece of land. During this time, she noticed a certain other Titan standing at the shoreline, which appeared to be the place he went when he needed to think. His shoulders were rising and falling as though he was breathing hard, making it seem that he had actually done some training already that afternoon – even in the absence of his powers. She found herself just watching him for a few moments, until he suddenly turned around, supposedly feeling her eyes on him. He smiled and waved up at her, only receiving a brief nod in return – one that was just barely noticeable at that distance. With that, he moved to walk back inside the large building while she immediately returned to her meditation.
The cloaked female tried to keep her mind off of her teammate, but her efforts only proved futile. She struggled to think of anything besides what she had come to learn about him within the past few weeks. He had already known about her situation concerning her father, and lived through it. On the other hand, she had known very little about his past. He had kept quiet about it. However, in hopes of trying to find out why the current case bothered him, she had ventured to ask a few questions concerning his life before the Teen Titans. In doing so, she had found out about how his parents were killed in a boating accident, and he still wondered why he did not die as well. She had also heard how when he first came to the states, there were people who tried to make him use his unique ability for criminal purposes. Of course, she had been unaware of it all until he had told her. He had hid it all well.
"He trusts you," a voice spoke up, but a different one than before.
"How do you figure that?", she questioned, her tone letting on that she did not appreciate the new conversation.
"He told you about his past. You yourself don't tell anyone about yours unless you trust them," came the logical response.
"What are you getting at?", Raven replied, gaining a slightly suspicious tone.
"Simply that if he trusts you, you should think about letting him know that you trust him," the voice answered casually.
"He knows I trust him as a friend," she commented in a mildly irritated tone, knowing where the discussion was going.
"But what about as more than a friend?", the voice questioned imploringly.
Not giving a response of any kind, the empath chose to abruptly end her meditation. The slight rattling of the roof door's knob only reinforcing her decision. "This can't go on much longer," she whispered mentally as she rose to head down from the rooftop.
–
At some point between her meditation and her daily discussion with Beast Boy, the Tamaranian had insisted that they go to the "mall of shopping" later that afternoon. She said it would be a good break, so the violet-haired female had agreed to go.
Thus, she found herself walking around said mall as dinner time drew near. They would have to leave soon, seeing as they had already been there a good hour and Robin would not let them be late for their "duties" that night. It had been that way lately, seeing as the murderer had gradually stopped their nightly routine of taking someone's life and then setting the nearest building on fire. Since the Boy Wonder seemed to view this change of pace as a chance to get ahead, he had them patrol the city each and every night after dinner. (This was because all of the murders had been estimated to have happened between dusk and midnight.) North, South, East, and West. Each quadrant of Jump City was searched by one or more of the Titans. Beast Boy would go along with one of the others as a precaution, since his powers had yet to return. So, after dinner, this is what they had to look forward to.
However, right at that moment, Raven could admit that she was rather enjoying the time to get her mind off of everything that had been going on recently. She had needed a break, even if it was simply window shopping at the nearest mall. Starfire was currently babbling on about something in a nearby store, although the cloaked Titan had tuned her out at some point in the past few minutes. Suddenly, the other girl took hold of her right wrist and dragged her into a small but tidy clothing store. Seeing as it mostly contained brightly colored apparel, Raven pretty much lost interest and took to following the redhead around as she dashed between various racks of clothing.
After what seemed like many minutes of pointless shifting through shirts, skirts, dresses, and pants, the alien girl announced that she was ready to leave the store, having not found anything she really liked. The two continued on their way, looking for another shop or something of the like to browse through. They had already been to the bookstore for Raven and the pet store for Starfire. She had wanted to see if there was anything interesting that Silkie might like. It did not matter that the pet was unusual; she insisted on looking anyway.
The next place the redhead stopped in front of was a nail salon, a large smile suddenly spreading across her face. She turned toward the other girl, beaming, "Shall we do the painting of our nails before we go back?"
"That's alright, mine are fine," the empath answered, not even showing a hint of interest in the activity.
"But Raven," the Tamaranian persisted, "it would be fun and they would look nice for the next time you saw–..." She stopped speaking suddenly and looked back toward the salon.
"What did you say?", the other female Titan questioned, one eyebrow raised.
"Um... that it would be fun?", Starfire offered weakly, only turning partially away from the storefront.
"No, after that," Raven replied tersely. "Who would I want my nails to look nice for?"
Folding her hands in front of herself and allowing her head to droop slightly, the alien girl slowly shifted to face her violet-haired friend, eyes directed at the ground. She began to twiddle her thumbs nervously as she tried to answer, "Um... well, Raven... y-you must admit... after all, you did offer to help... a-and you have rarely done that before..." When she had finished her near-stuttering sentence, she peeked up at her friend through her bangs.
Through the past few moments, the cloaked Titan had been watching the other with a critical gaze. "Starfire," she began in her usual tone, or lack thereof, "just because I am helping him, doesn't mean that I like him that way." As if to emphasize the opposite of what had just been spoken, a glass figurine on a nearby cart suddenly exploded into countless shards.
Choosing not to comment on the shattered object, the Tamaranian nodded weakly and opted to leave the topic at that. "But... we can still do the painting of our nails, yes?"
"I don't think we have enough time," Raven responded calmly. This was followed by a brief pause before adding, "Why not just paint your own nails?"
"I want them to look nice," she replied easily, glancing at her unpolished nails.
Knowing that Starfire was not necessarily one to fawn over her looks, her answer perplexed the empath slightly, until she remembered what Beast Boy had hinted at earlier that day. Although certain behavior would be uncharacteristic for her, this once she felt like returning the favor. "For Robin?", she asked, a small smirk appearing across her features.
The heat suddenly rose in the redhead's cheeks as a blush spread across her features. "W-what?", she stammered, one hand raised to try and cover a reddening cheek.
"Nothing," Raven answered simply in her normal tone of voice.
She was about to say something further when something, or rather someone, caught her attention. There was a person sitting on a nearby bench that was positioned against the wall, newspaper in hand. Since it was slightly behind Starfire, she could not have noticed, but the cloaked female did. She was not getting a good feeling about him; there was just something out of place... although she was not quite sure what. Turning away momentarily, she lowered her voice when speaking to her companion. "Starfire," she began, gaining the other's attention, "there's a man on the bench behind you."
"Hm?", the Tamaranian raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look where her friend had indicated. "But there is no one there."
Hearing her response, Raven once again looked over, only to see that her teammate had been right. There was no one sitting there anymore. "That's strange," she murmured quietly, eyes narrowed a bit.
Raising the hood to her cloak over her head, she glanced briefly at the other girl before starting toward the mall's exit. "We better get going," she stated, soon followed by Starfire.
–
Note: So, how was that? I tried to add a bit of humor in there with Starfire, but I'm not sure how good it was... Oh, and the information I used about Beast Boy's past I got from so all credit goes to them! I already have the next chapter planned out, and the end of it really start things moving. That's all I'll say about it for now!
Tammy Tamborine - I'm glad you liked the last chapter, and I apologize personally for not updating sooner. Thanks so much for the review!
TDG3RD - Yeah, in some ways they do... but there are other issues, too, which I have yet to name. I hope you liked this chapter! Thank you so much for all of your reviewing!
Note: Thanks again! Please R&R!
