Chapter 5: 07/06/05

He was weak, tired, and too broken to open his eyes, to find out where he was at. It didn't matter to him. He didn't care, he had nothing left. Raven, the love of his life, was gone, she died in his arms, accepting her fate, when it was suppose to be his in the first place. He still couldn't let go of that fact. Garfield was determined to keep his eyes closed. He didn't want to wake up, in fact he refused to. Somewhere deep down in his heart he hoped that, somehow, by keeping his eyes closed long enough that he would die in the moment, in hopes that, maybe, he'll be with Raven again.

"…Garfield…,"

He heard his name being called in the distance, the voice was faint and soft, but Garfield didn't dare open his eyes.

"…Garfield…,"

The voice became a bit clearer and louder the second time. He could almost recognize the owner. But he couldn't quite figure it out, all he knew was that he felt at peace at the sound of it. He still was dazed and trying to focus on keeping his eyes closed rather than trying to decipher the owner of this voice.

"…Garfield, wake up,"

He felt a soft soothing touch of a warm hand on the side of his cheek caressing it. He let out a small moan and opened his eyes slowly in curiosity of who's delicate hand did this belong to. He focused more on the being that was leaning so close to him.

"Raven?" he said quietly. She was dressed in the purest of white of her cloaks, almost as if she was glowing. Her smile is so peaceful and so angelic, Garfield thought. Raven was kneeling right next to him as he laid on his back. She slowly moved her hand to his fore head. Garfield slowly closed his eyes and fell into her touch; she slid her hand through his dark forest green hair and it quickly bounced back into place. She allowed her hand to move all the way to the back of his neck before returning to his cheek. He inhaled slowly as he placed his own green hand atop of hers. Raven's smile curved a bit more as she looked over her husband.

"You have to wake up, Garfield,"

He opened his eyes again to find her leaning closer to him. He sighed with sorrow.

"But, why?"

"It is not yet your time,"

"But, I…don't want to," he gripped her hand tightly and pressed it closer to his cheek, "I want to be with you,"

Raven smiled faded a little, noticing that he was on the brink of tears. She knew that he missed her desperately and that he needed her, but she knew that he was strong and he would not be alone, no matter what happens, she would always be with him. And no one could stop that, their bond is just too powerful to break. She leaned down to him more, still cupping his face with his hand on top of hers. She kissed his lips softly to sooth his sorrows and took away his pain. Her lips were warm and he felt her love for him through the moment. It did sooth him tremendously, but it did not take away the pain of knowing that he could not stay with her. He became disappointed when she slowly pulled away, but she was still close enough to see the glitter in her violet eyes as they fluttered open to gaze back into the his emerald ones.

"We will be together again soon enough, but not now," she smiled again, and leaned down closer to whisper in his ear, "wake up, Garfield, wake up…"

He was about to protest, but Raven disappeared in the mist of a whisper. Her voice still echoed through out his surroundings.

"Wake up…wake up…wake up,"

"No! Raven, come back to me! Come back…to me,"

Everything around him faded into black darkness, he couldn't see. He suddenly felt pain in the side of his face, as if someone was hitting or slapping him, rather, multiple times. Raven's voice became louder and harsher toned.

He opened his eyes into slits. His focus was unclear but he came around to see five shadowy figures standing around him like some ritual. One was close by leaning over him. He suddenly heard another voice from where ever he was.

"Jeez, Raven, abusive much? Why don't you throw the clone-me against the wall while you're at it?"

"If that's what it takes him to wake up,"

He felt someone shake his chest trying to wake him. He let out a moan, warning the person to stop. He moved his head from side to side, and closed his eyes tightly getting ready to open them. The shaking stopped.

"Hold on, I think he's coming around," he heard Robin say. He opened his eyes and focused on the people in front of him. The first thing that came into focus was a pair of violet eyes in the shadow of a dark blue hood covering a familiar face. He immediately reacted.

"Raven!" he shouted with joy as he quickly put his around her into a tight embrace and pulled her back down on the medical bed that he was lying on. Three of the four Titans started to snicker at Raven's predicament. However, one was not very amused.

"Um, is that clone of me hugging…Raven?" he whispered over to Cyborg. They both continued to stare at the two.

"I thought I lost you forever, Raven," Garfield whispered lovingly, stroking her back and making Raven's muscles tense up. Beast Boy was burning with hot embarrassment at the scene he was witnessing, not to mention, Cyborg wasn't much of a help as he gave off a silent laugh in his direction. This is hilarious, Cyborg thought. Raven wasn't finding this moment exactly "funny" as the other Titan's did, she was almost as red as Beast Boy as this clone of him was cheek to cheek with her.

"I think you would enjoy that abuse from Raven, whaddya think, BB?" Cyborg snickered. Beast Boy scowled at his best friend, but was still red all the same. Raven finally removed herself from the hug and stepped back a few good steps, stunned at just what happened. She regained her composure and tried to tie up some loose ends.

"Who are you?" she asked Garfield. The other titans finally suppressed their laughter and listened on. Garfield sat up from the bed to get a better view and be able to speak up. He stared at her confused.

"Who am I? What kind of question is that?" he asked back.

"A very simple one, that may answer a few more," Raven replied, returning back to her neutral tone.

"C'mon, Raven, it's me," Garfield stated, Raven raised her eye brow still confused and lost, "you know me, remember?"

Raven innocently shook her head no.

"You know…," Garfield shrugged his shoulders back a bit using his hands for support; a blush crossed his face for what he was going to say in front of all his friends, but desperate time's calls for desperate measures, "your gar-bear?"

"Gar-bear! HAHAHA!" Cyborg fell on the floor rolling in hysterical laughter from what he just heard. Robin couldn't help but laugh too, but cut off when he caught a Raven death glare from the other side. Starfire was giggling madly. How adorable, she thought. Beast Boy was frozen with fear and embarrassment. The name was bad enough, but being Raven's "gar-bear" was another, they were best-friends nothing more, or so he thought. Raven's heart stopped and every single cell of blood in her body went straight to her face. But with her hood up, no one could see her flustered face. Very shocked at this whole situation, she tried to stay calm and responded nervously; a little worried about the next answer that came out of this "Beast Boy."

"Who are you truly?" she asked again, trying to play as if nothing had happened. Garfield was still confused; he couldn't believe she didn't remember gar-bear. She would call him that every night in the privacy of their room. The name just came out of her one night, out of the blue like that. Gar had simply laughed saying that it was adorable and that he loved it. He wondered if he could come up with a pet name for her. Her response was a simple "hell no" and a playful hit with a pillow, she told him his little "nickname" would be between just the two of them. She was a bit timid of what the other Titans would think. Gar didn't blame her after this particular moment.

"Raven, it's me, Garfield," he replied.

"Gar-bear! That's priceless!" Cyborg was still in hysterics on the floor.

"Hey, Borgy-bear, shut up! Or I'll turn you into the first human washing machine!" threatened Beast Boy, whose blush started to show again. Garfield rolled his eyes, regretting what he said, but continued to look at Raven who still looked very confused.

"It's Gar, Garfield Logan, your h--,"

"That's impossible," Beast Boy interrupted, Garfield removed his gaze from Raven to look at the other version of him, and his eyes grew wide at him. It was a clone of him; it was like staring into a mirror, only he looked much younger. Beast Boy had his famous attire on, his black and purple skin tight suit, with his silver utility belt that held his communicator. His physique had changed; he looked younger, with short spiked green hair and the same height as Raven, if not an inch shorter. Beast Boy moved up from behind next to Raven, "I'm Garfield Logan,"

Garfield still couldn't believe what he was seeing, he suddenly snapped his eyes back at Raven and noticed that she was wearing her old leotard, rather than the one she wore now or before…or will later. He studied her in confusion.

"Raven, why are you wearing your old uniform?" he asked. Raven was surprised at this random question.

"My old uniform?" Garfield got up from the bed to walk towards Raven slowly. She took a cautious step back, but Garfield grabbed her left hand gently before she could protest.

"Why aren't you wearing your ring?"

"My…ring?"

"What's with this 'clone' of me doing here?"

"Hey, wait a sec!" Beast Boy protested. He was ignored.

"And why do you look so…," Garfield reached up to her face. Raven only stood about five inches shorter then him. She stiffened as his hand touch her face under her hood. Beast Boy narrowed his eyes at himself and furrowed his brows when he touched her. For some reason he got a twitch of jealously running up his spine. Garfield slid back her hood to reveal her young pale face and short silk violet hair, "…young?"

Raven didn't know what to say, so she held a neutral expression not knowing what to think of this. On the inside, she was getting nervous at this green man who claimed to be Beast Boy.

Garfield paused looking from Raven to the other Titans, who were watching with real interest, and to himself. His mind was starting to function now that he's conscious. He remembered the battle with Warp, how he was after the Clock of Eternity, the glow of the chrome regulator, how he wanted vengeance on the Titans, how angry he was, how he flew through time…his eyes suddenly snapped in realization.

"Wait, what is today? No, never mind the day, what's the year? Raven?" he asked her as he laid his hands on her shoulders. Raven felt a little tense in his grip, but answered anyway.

"The year is 2005, but what does--," she was cut off by Gar letting go of her shoulders and went into deep thought. He stood there for a moment, thinking. Did he really go back in time? Did he just travel back ten years into the past? He knew he went through time, but he thought he went back into ten hours rather then ten years. Was Warp or Dr. Garvitz that stupid enough to travel back in 10 years? He had to find a clock, a calendar, anything. He needed proof to confirm exactly when he was.

Garfield quickly went over to the window to see if the clock tower in sight, there was nothing but the city in the setting sun. Duh, of course, the clock tower at city hall isn't built yet, he thought. He suddenly turned around, the other Titans were staring at him like he was mad, and Garfield ignored them and ran out towards the door into the hallway. He stumbled a few times as the pain from the battle with Warp and being thrown around finally took a hold of him. He went out into the hallway almost breaking into a run; he was heading for the main room. The others came out of the medical bay to follow him; they still had some unanswered questions. Garfield made his way to the automatic sliding doors that connected to the main room, he was almost there.

He would have made it sooner if the aching pain in his legs and arms wasn't holding him back making him stumble. He had to get to the main frame; he had to find out when he was at. He knew that for a fact that the Titans computer had a certain screen saver that had blinking green text that counted down the seconds, hours, days, and years. He also knew that Robin would never change it, because all of them were all terrible time keepers, except for Cyborg who had a built in clock.

The doors of the main room hissed open releasing the air pressure within. Garfield fumbled in with the other Titans hot on his heels. He looked up and saw that nothing had changed, except that everything was a bit newer, and it was a little messy but that was expected with five teenagers. Garfield looked around and stopped to see the Titans computer that would answer his unsolved question. The computer was blinking a soft green text that stated:

TITANS TOWER

07.06.05

17:35:56 PM

Garfield simply stood there as the realization that he actually went back in time started to sink in. He fell to his knees onto the floor, nearly a foot away from the sofa. He felt very weak and very tired, plus the realization was still consuming him. He suddenly felt really depressed. What was he to do now? Where was he to go? He really had nothing left to live for. His team was thrashed, his wife was gone, and now he's stuck ten years in the past. But he knew he had to take care of one thing, and that, was to stop the villain who caused him this pain to begin with, Warp.

"I think you've got some explaining to do, Beas-erm, whoever you are, care to share?" Robin interrupted. He forgot about the other Titans, the "Teen" Titans actually. He did have to explain something to them, after discovering him after traveling through time. And his appearance looks "strangely" like Beast Boy's. Plus, he may have to explain that moment with Raven, too. He weakly got up from his knees.

"Mind of I sit down?" Gar asked as he made his way towards the sofa. Robin nodded yes and the other Titans made their way to the sofa as Gar sat down, "I'm still kinda dazed from, where ever you guys found me,"

"A dumpster," commented Raven, sitting next to Beast Boy on the end of the couch, opposite to Garfield. Robin sat next to Garfield, thinking that he was going to do most of the questioning, for he was the leader; Starfire sat between Robin and Beast Boy, as Cyborg simply stood behind the sofa.

"Right," said Garfield. He leaned his head back on the sofa and began to think up something to tell them, "Well to start off, I'm not a clone, I'm from the future," since he recently discovered this.

"So, you're…me?" Beast Boy asked in surprise. Garfield lifted his head off the sofa.

"Yea, I guess I am you," he replied, "but I'm not considered 'Beast Boy' in my time, I changed my codename to 'Changeling,' because as you can see, I'm not a 'boy' anymore. I would've changed my name to Beast 'Man' but a certain someone wouldn't let me," he gave a wink at Raven, she responded by rolling her eyes, " but your future selves simply call me 'Garfield' or 'Gar' for short,"

"But how'd you travel back in time?" asked Cyborg, "Right now it's scientifically impossible, unless you faced…,"

Garfield frowned and lowered his eyes a bit, remembering that battle in the museum.

"You guys have already faced a villain called Warp, right?" Gar asked. All the Titans nodded in return, "he's back, only this isn't the same 'Warp' as Starfire faced in the future. This guy is completely different, his suit is chromed rather than bronze and his actual name is Dr. Gar…uh…vitz, I think, and he's a little more 'advanced' then the original Warp. He's the one who brought me to this time,"

"How?" Robin asked.

"It wasn't intentional that's for sure, he came back again to steal the Clock of Eternity, for reasons that are beyond me," he sighed and paused, "and to get vengeance on us,"

"But why did the Warp want vengeance on us?" asked Starfire.

"My guess is when that other Warp came to visit and we stopped him then, but I'm not sure," Garfield continued on, "Anyway, we got a call saying someone was robbing the Art Technologies Museum. When we got there, Warp was already heading for the clock, he introduced himself as Dr. Gar-whatever when we mistook him as the other Warp, he looked so much like him though. Then…," Garfield stopped he didn't want to relive this part of the fight, for knowing the result of the battle. His voice drew off in a depressed fashion, "we began to fight," he bowed his head. The Titans noticed his depression and got concerned about their future.

"Were we…not victorious?" asked Starfire innocently. Garfield closed his eyes and allowed a few tears to slide down his face. He took in a deep breath.

"Let's just say…one of us didn't make it back home to the Tower that night," he didn't dare look at Raven. He couldn't without losing control and breaking down in front of her. The Titans were stunned silence; one of their teammates in this very room was going to die within the next decade. They all looked around at each other; Beast Boy was probably the only one out of the Titans to feel less concerned because his future self was sitting right in front of them.

But no, he didn't, he was just as concern as the others, what if it was Robin? Who would lead the team? Who could he play pranks on? What if it was Starfire? It would just be down right sad and depressing if someone as sweet and innocent as Starfire was gone. What if it was his best friend, Cyborg? He barely survived that time he was leader as Titans East. He was like his older brother, his partner in crime, life would definitely be more depressing without his best pal….What if it was Raven?

"No," whispered Robin, "but who? How?" he demanded.

"I'm not going to tell you who, Robin. It's probably best for you and less pain for me if you didn't know," Gar replied fiercely, fighting back tears that were threatening to come out.

"He's right, it's best if we didn't know our own fate," stated Raven as she tried to move away from this topic, "continue, Garfield," Garfield gave her a half smile appreciating her for getting off subject. She could tell that this story wasn't easy for him to tell.

"Thanks, Raven," he said, Raven nodded in return. He continued on, "After that…well, after that I was the last one standing. I was furious at Warp. We fought what seemed like ages, but he literally knocked the wind out of me in defeat. I wanted to just curl up and die in that moment, I felt like I failed you, all of you," he said catching himself. The Titans had sympathy for him, "That was until I grabbed the Clock of Eternity and destroyed it, so he too could fail in his mission. But that was a false hope," he paused, the Titans continued to listen, "he opened up another worm hole, mocking me saying that he could travel back more into time and retrieve it again," Gar looked up with a sudden determination on his face, "that's when I completely lost it,"

"Wait, you mean, you turned into---," Beast Boy interrupted. He was referring to his primal beast side that everyone knew about, especially Raven. Garfield's looked soften as he stared at his younger self.

"I wish I did, then maybe some things that did happen probably wouldn't have happened," he said, "I kept my anger in control, but that didn't stop from wanting to rip him to shreds," Beast Boy sat back, relieved, "Anyway, I was concentrating too much on destroying Warp that I got sucked in the worm hole with him and we both traveled back into time. I thought that he would only go back a few hours, not a few years, he was just going to get a clock, so we traveled back in time and well…here I am,"

"But what happened to Warp?" Robin asked.

"I guess he's somewhere out there too, but he's also very weak, and I know for a fact that he's unable to time travel. I transformed into a tiger in the middle of traveling and ripped his regulator making it dangle from a few wires that still connected to his suit. It sent us both flying into opposite directions, and the last thing I remember…was waking up in the medical bay with you guys hovering over me," he smiled. A pause of silence.

"Speaking of," said Raven, "why were you so…happy to see me in the medical bay?"

Garfield gave off a grin and blushed. He silently placed his left hand inside his right hiding a particular finger from the team, and especially Raven.

"I think it would be best if we didn't know our own fate," he replied slyly. Raven furrowed her brow in confusion, but decided to brush it off. Beast Boy on the other hand caught his hand movements and realization had just smacked him in the face. Robin began to start another topic before Beast Boy could confirm his thought.

"Okay, so you've traveled back in time unintentionally to stop Warp from stealing the clock again," stated Robin, "am I right?"

"Basically, yea," Gar replied, "and to somehow find a way to send me back to the future, I don't want to screw up time more then it already is…or was…or whatever,"

"Alright, so how many years have you traveled back? Or in other words, what year are you from?" asked Robin.

"I traveled back from the year 2015, so that's what, ten years?" He replied.

"And that makes you, how old?" asked Beast Boy who didn't care to count the years. Garfield smiled.

"Twenty-six," Gar replied, "and I think that makes you sixteen, Robin, Starfire, and Raven seventeen and Cyborg eighteen, am I right?"

"Yep, you got it," Beast Boy said. A sly smile began to creep up on his face, "So…exactly how long has it been?"

"Uh…What?" replied a confused Garfield.

"You know, how long has it been?" Beast Boy began to play with an invisible ring on a particular finger on his left hand signaling Gar to what he meant. Garfield caught on, and figured out what he meant. At first his eyes grew wide at the fact that somebody realized that he was married. But then he started to laugh at his younger self's mischievous curiosity.

"Well, I guess I'm not as dumb as I thought I was in the past," he laughed.

"You be surprised, right, Raven?" Beast Boy nudged Raven in the side playfully.

"Yea, you were a born genius," Raven said sarcastically. Garfield snickered at the two. He had forgotten how much he flirted with Raven.

"So, how long has it been?" Beast Boy repeated.

"Five years," Garfield replied. Beast Boy's heart leaped. It's been that long? He thought.

"So, it's…it's a yes?" Beast Boy's little mischievous questions went on.

"It's a yes," rolling his eyes at himself.

"Wow," Beast Boy sat amazed as the facts consumed him.

"But you're going to have to wait a while for a reply,"

"And why am I not surprised by that?"

"Don't let it go to your head though,"

"What are you two talking about?" Raven cut in.

"Nothing," The two Beast Boy's said in unison. They sat back in their seats casually as if nothing happened. Raven eyed the two of them suspiciously , not to mention the other three Titans were jumping gazes between the two changelings. Something just flew completely over their heads and only the two Beast Boys caught it. And boy, that was a weird position to be in when Beast Boy was the only one who understood what was going on. There was an awkward pause and the suspicion in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. But Robin decided to break the ice and get back to business.

"Alright, team," he said getting up to go to the Titans computer, "we've got a time-traveling villain on the loose and from the sound of things, he still wants vengeance on us," he continued pulling up the digital map of the city, he checked the clock on the bottom right of the screen, "we still have time left to give the city a full search of this new Warp before dusk and it gets too dark to see. So, we fan out and find anything that'll give us a lead,"

The Titans stood up and nodded accepting their mission.

"Beast-err, Garfield, " Robin corrected this was going to be hard for them without getting confused, Garfield looked up, "do you have anything that might lead us to this Warp character?"

The other Titans turned facing the older changeling expecting an answer. Garfield paused and looked at them all, his gaze stopped at Raven and then quickly moved to the floor before she made eye contact.

"Nothing more then what I've already told you, but Warp is physically weak, I doubt you will find him in the open," he finished. Robin nodded.

"Alright then. Titans, go!" Robin shouted running for the opened doors. Starfire flew up from the sofa and followed Robin, close behind were Cyborg, Beast Boy transformed into a cheetah, and Raven in last.

"Never get tired of hearing that," Garfield muttered to himself. Raven stopped briefly at the door and turned around.

"Uh, aren't you coming?" she said mono-toned. Garfield turned from the sofa to see Raven halfway through the door, "you know, you're more involved in this then any of us alone,"

Garfield smiled.

"Don't think so," he said, "I think I've screwed up time enough as it is with me just being here. I'm pretty sure that I don't want to screw up time anymore then it already is," he stated, "Plus, all this time travel is giving a major headache,"

Raven nodded in understanding and turned around again to leave.

"By the way," she stopped and turned once more, "there's a few ice packs in the freezer that might help that headache of yours,"

Garfield smirked, she cared.

"Thanks, Raven," he said sincerely.

"Anytime," she replied. She turned and quickly followed the others in pursuit and the door quietly hissed shut. Garfield took a last glance before the doors shut. His memories started to cloud his mind as he got up from the sofa to stand at the windows to watch the Titans fan out and search. He watched Raven fly over the buildings heading towards downtown Jump City.

He closed his eyes and tried as he could to stop the running of tears as he pressed his forehead against the glass. He inhaled slowly, yet a few drops of tears ran down his cheek.

"I miss you already, Raven," he whispered, "Please, be careful,"

He opened his eyes slightly and caught a glance of himself jumping into the back of the T-Car with Cyborg. Garfield sighed and spoke again.

"I just wish I would tell you how much I love you,"

…………………………………………

Meanwhile…

The East side of Jump City where the smell of machine is always fresh in the air. A black hole with a brilliant blue light around the rim began to form on the inside of a factory wall inside a storage room full of crates. From that hole, Warp came shooting out of it like a hot bullet from the barrel and slammed on the opposite end, crashing down into a pile of wooden crates.

Warp groaned as he recuperated himself and sat up from the broken crates. His heavily damaged regulator gave off a huge electric discharge that surged through his entire body making him scream in agony. Taking in the pain, he quickly ripped off the front part of the suit allowing the back side to slip off his bony body. He took off his chrome helmet and fell to his knees out of breath.

His gelled hair was matted with cold sweat as he was on all fours in nothing but his black jump suit and his chrome metal gloves and boots. He started to growl.

"Damn…that Titan!" he shouted pounding his fists into the floor, "now he and I are stuck in the past, unless the suit is repaired. Which will be impossible because half of the advanced technology in order to fix it does not even exist yet!"

He ripped off one of his gloves and chucked it at the remaining crates.

"Damn them all to hell!" he breathed out his frustrations. After gaining back his composure he lifted his head and heavily sighed. But suddenly something caught his eye. The crates had broken open revealing its contents within.

"A vortex regulator?" he whispered in surprise. He stepped closer removing one giant piece of crate wood out of the way revealing a whole mess of futuristic prototypes and untested equipment. Dr. Garvitz stood up awe-strucked, he quickly moved forward and stubbed his foot in the wood he moved. He gazed upon it reading the context that was spray painted red on the side, "Property of HGX Inc."