I've gotten so much happy feedback from so many people on this! By far the most reviews I've ever received for a single story! I'm so HAPPY! …On to chapter five! I got reviews right away for the first four chapters, and I thank those who took the time! Thank you so much! You make this small Kentucky-town guy feel good! Oh, right! On with the story now! I don't own Teen Titans!

BARCODE

CHAPTER 5: Dude

TITAN'S TOWER,

JUMP CITY BAY

That Evening . . .

Robin and Cyborg had been sour all evening because of B-407. The scientists that they'd saved had been interrogated, but hadn't really given much information they didn't already know.

His name was B-407. He was the latest and greatest of military bio-weapons. He had the ability to phase-shift, or change, into any animal he wanted to on the face of the planet. And, if he ever ran into something that wasn't from Earth, all he had to do was merely look at it long enough and he could turn into that as well. He was green all over. He had barcodes on the backs of his hands.

Those scientists were being sent to jail for genetic tampering and breaking dozens of animal rights laws. That made Robin happy. Cyborg too, but they both still wanted to catch this B–407 thing. Robin wanted to catch it because he wanted to know if it was friend or foe. Cyborg wanted to catch it because it had made a fool out of him in the forest. Raven… made like she didn't care.

Anyway, both boys were pretty grumpy, but that wasn't something an evening of Super-Racer 5000 couldn't cure. Their hands raced back and forth across the controllers as their cars did the same across the screen.

Raven would glance up from her book every so often, then return to it. The boys hadn't been paying attention or they would've noticed, but she hadn't turned a page in almost half an hour. She was busy thinking about him. The green boy from the forest. Why was she so fascinated with him? Why did she want to tame him so badly? Why didn't she just levitate a banana or something and have him follow it back to the T-car, then shove him in? Why was she keeping him from the other two…? She didn't know. She sighed softly, closing her book and standing. "'Night Rae." Cyborg said automatically. Robin waved her away too, for it was getting late and they probably wouldn't see her again that day. She said nothing to them in reply, simply left the common room through the double doors.

In her room, Raven paced back and forth. She couldn't meditate, which was a little scary to her. She'd tried everything to put herself in the mood. Candles, incense, darkness, Japanese flute music… but nothing worked. She couldn't clear her mind. "What should I do?" She paced one way. "The main problem is his talking. He can only say what he hears, and then incorporates it into his own vocabulary. Like he was designed to do that by the scientists Robin brought in…" She paced the other way, her hood falling back. She found herself in front of her bookshelf and stopped. Her collection of spell books didn't seem to jump at her, though. "Is there something I can do that would help him speak more…?" She pondered long and hard. "If I could get him up to… a kindergartner's level of talking… he would be ten times easier to handle." She wondered, suddenly, why she'd brought that book to him in the first place. It had been a children's book, and Raven had gotten the oddest look ever when she'd gone to the counter of the bookstore to pay for it. Two horror novels and a baby book? It was enough to make anyone look at her cock-eyed. "If only there was something…" she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. She undid her cloak, throwing to one side so she could stretch out. Hugging a pillow to her chest, she went on. "Something that could…" she turned, and spotted her radio near the head of her bed. "–talk to him for me!" She sat up quickly and examined it. It hadn't been turned on since she'd gotten it, and was starting to gather dust. "C'mon… c'mon…" she turned it on its side and, sure enough, there was a solar panel on it! "There's an idea…" her eyes narrowed in that amused-Raven sort of way we all know and love.

A few days later, Raven found herself in the forest again. They'd all split up, and it didn't take her long to find B-407 again. Or rather, it didn't take long for him to find her. Although all three Titans were wearing the lavender perfume again, Raven had put some on her neck instead of the middle of her torso, like she had with the boys. Of course, they didn't think twice about it, but Raven knew she might make better progress with him if he liked her more. Or… was that the only reason? She shook her head to herself, blotting those thoughts out of her mind.

As if on que, B-407 dropped out of a tree, and landed in front of her! She jumped, and a tree uprooted itself, swaddled in black! Trying to calm herself and not give B-407 a heart attack, she gently forced it back down into the ground where it had been earlier. The trunk seemed to groan in protest, but then it was fine. "Raven!" He said aloud, pointing at her.

Raven was amazed. Not only did he not slur, but he'd remembered her name. His big grin told her that he'd spent a long time practicing it, and she allowed herself a small smile of approval. "Good job, Garfield." She said softly. He split into another mighty green.

"See Jane, Raven?" he asked. His misuse of tones made it sound like a question, but he produced the book she'd given him for her to see. It was a little torn and dirty, but still readable. "See Jane run!" He said proudly, taking off in a random direction. Raven shook her head, awed by how fast he'd taught himself to speak. It was remarkable. He suddenly appeared to one side, taking her hand and dragging her along for the ride! He scooped her up with no effort and took off into the thicket! Raven gave a little shriek and suddenly he leapt into the nearest tree! "Run Raven ruuuuun!" He leapt high, and they jumped from branch to branch with her in his arms! Raven was so dizzy she didn't want to stop him for fear of falling and breaking her neck!

Quite suddenly they came to a stop, and Raven found them both on top of the canopy of leaves, like before! The same spot, too! He set her down, and in the process his nose came near her neck. He paused for a moment, and Raven heard his almost silent, deep whiff. She turned red, suddenly beginning to regret that she'd put perfume up on her neck. He was a little tamer than before, but no doubt he still had teenage hormones in him. He might try…… something. Raven steadied herself when he finally backed away with a grin. It wouldn't come to that. She was sure of it.

He stared at her eagerly, and she could tell he wanted to know what she'd brought him this time. Starting to feel like Santa or something, she set her pack down and brought the little solar-powered radio out. "This is a radio." She said slowly. "Ray-dee-oh."

"Ray-dee-oh!" Garfield chirped, taking it into his hands. "Ray-dee" his finger accidentally came across the on switch, and a loud announcer came on! "And it's the top of the ninth, folks! The Jump City Heroes VS. The Gotham City Bats! Its all comin' down to!" B-407 cried out in absolute horror, dropping it and hiding in Raven's cloak! Raven looked around for a moment, then felt him shivering against her.

"Hey now…" She fought her burning face as she shoved him out of her personal space. "Easy there." She picked it up and turned the volume down. "You can listen to this and learn to talk more, okay? You learned from the book without anyone teaching you and you can copy me, so listen to this for awhile, okay?" He stared at the radio for the longest time, inching closer bit by bit.

Poking it a few times with a stick to be sure it was safe, he slowly took it into his hands again. "Ahhh?" he murmured for a moment, listening to the baseball announcer. Raven knelt next to him, tilting it so he could see the tuning dial. She turned it one way, then the other, showing him it could change what was playing. Absolutely captivated, he played with it for awhile. "And I was like, dude, no way! And she was all, oh yeah, man!" said the radio. B-407 stared at it as she showed him the volume control.

"Listen to this when I'm not around, and I'm sure you'll be talking more soon."

"D… duuuude?" He tried the word out, then smiled broadly. It sounded fun, and it vibrated his mouth just enough to make him laugh a little. He decided right then that was his favorite word so far.

"Though that may not be the best thing if you learn the wrong words…" Raven sighed, tuning the station back to the baseball game. He immiediatly brought it back to where it had been.

"Dude!" He said, his tooth jutting out from his lower jaw. Raven leaned over to turn it back again, but his pulled it up and placed it next to his ear, grinning mischievously. "Dude, see Raven run?"

Raven sighed. It was going to be interesting to see how a radio would influence him. "Yeah, I guess so." She shrugged. "I wish you'd learn a little more than just that."

"Dude? Dude! Duuuuude! Dudeee!" He tried his word out in all sorts of different ways, and Raven shook her head. She'd brought the radio for him to learn, so whatever he learned was up to him. He spun around a few times with his new sound machine, laughing merrily as he switched back and forth between stations.

"Alright, one more thing today." She dug into the pack, and pulled out a pair dark blue boxer-shorts. She'd stolen them from Robin, phasing through the wall while he was asleep, and taking them before he noticed anything. She was the female equivilant of a pantie-thief! "It's for a good cause." She reminded herself, sighing heavily. "Put these on." She made him set the radio down and forced them into his hands. "Go on then." He stared at them as though, well, he'd never seen such a thing before. Which honestly, he hadn't. Raven mimed putting them on, hoping he would catch on. She held her hands out, then pretended to be stepping into something.

B-407 watched her do this a few times, then looked at the dark blue boxers. The gears in his head slowly… slowly… began to turn. His eyes suddenly lit up! Raven sighed with relief, happy she'd be able to look at him without feeling dirty from then on. Garfield's mind put two and two together…!

… and came up with five. He put the boxers on his head. Raven slapped her own forehead as he danced around, laughing. "Dude! Duuude! Dude!" He chanted, dancing around with the underwear on his head.

Sorry! ; I couldn't resist doing that! That just seemed to fit for some reason! We'll have him dressed before you know it, if Raven doesn't lose her mind first! LOL! Also… did anyone notice the other Garfield wasn't in the lab when B-407 was awake? B-407 goes by Garfield, but I'm talking about the other guy named Garfield, whom B-407 was named after. OO; Where did he go! More on him in the next chapter! I promise!