A/N: Here it is! FINALLY! I'm sorry it took so long.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans and never will so there.

(italics) - thoughts

Chapter 4
Family Crisis

Thorn slammed the door of the car. She was going to be punished again; she was going to have to face her mother. She tried to think of what she would say.

('He wouldn't stop what should I have done?' No, too easily turned back on me. 'I'm sorry...I couldn't help it.' Oh that would make them happy. They'd just bring the hammer down harder. Might as well just suck it up. Keep quiet and face the music. After all, it doesn't matter what I say. They don't listen. They don't understand. They don't care.)

Her dog growled at her from the front gate.

"Tsubaki move" she instructed. The dog growled again. "Tsubaki!" She couldn't understand why he was acting so strange. Tsubaki was usually so friendly. Tsubaki barked loudly and scratched at the fence. Thorn glared at him "I am not in the mood for this, Tsubaki! STOP!" Tsubaki's skin sliced open on his side in three parallel lines and blood oozed from the wound. Tsubaki whimpered and backed away from the fence. Thorn unlocked the fence and was about to go in when a cold voice stopped her dead.

"It is always the quiet ones isn't it?"

Thorn turned around. A tall man in a trench coat was standing on the sidewalk behind her. "Do I know you?" she asked suspiciously. He grinned at her from under his hat.

"No. Not yet anyway. But you will."

"DADDY" Eileen's voice screeched. Cyborg burst through his daughter's door.

"What's the matter" he demanded, panicked. His youngest children, Eileen and Brad, were arguing over the remote.

"BRADLEY WON'T LET ME WATCH THE JUSTICE LEAGUE!"

"THAT'S CUZ THERE'S A DOCUMENTARY ON THE TEEN TITANS! DAD TELL HER TO LET ME WATCH IT!"

"OH YOU LITTLE FREAK YOU ARE SO OBSESSED WITH THEM! THEY'RE PROBABLY DEAD SO WHY DO YOU CARE!" she screamed, pulling the remote out of his hands. He grabbed it back.

"THEY ARE NOT DEAD! AND ANOTHER THING I AM NOT A FREAK! I'M JUST DIFFERENT! YOU'RE THE FREAK WITH YOUR CREEPY LITTLE ROBOT EARS!" he yelled, pushing her heavy dark curls back and revealing a blue and silver metallic casing around her ear. She shoved him off the bed.

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

"AM NOT! I'M NOT THE ONE OBSESSED WITH DEAD PEOPLE!"

"THEY'RE NOT DEAD THEY'RE JUST USING THEIR SECRET IDENTITIES!"

"IF THEY'RE SO GREAT, WHY DO THEY NEED TO HIDE!"

"ENOUGH!" Cyborg yelled. The two kids gawked at their father. "Bradley, NEVER call your sister a freak. Eileen, let him watch the documentary. You might learn something."

"Like what? The Titans were totally naive and stupid. They believed anyone who said they were their friend. I've heard it all before."

"It was much more complicated than that, Eileen," he said quietly.

"How would you know?" she turned on him.

"I was a big fan when I was younger too. I don't want to hear another word."

"I cannot believe you could be so irresponsible, Thorn."

Thorn glared up at her mother from the table. She had heard enough.

"Oh, you've never made a mistake before! Please forgive me for not being perfect!" Thorn snapped back. Raven looked back at her oldest daughter.

"I'm not expecting you to be. It's impossible for you to be perfect, and I understand that. However, I warned you about this. You're not a normal teenager, Thorn. You can't throw the rulebook out of the window. If you want to keep this under control--"

Thorn jumped up and slammed her fists on the table. The pie they had leftover from last night spun off the pivot and slammed into the door with a blueberry splash. "I DON'T WANT IT UNDER CONTROL! I WANT IT GONE!"

Her eyes glistened in the light. She sprinted up the stairs. Raven heard her door slam and the radio blare through the door. She grabbed the broom and dustpan from behind the door and began to sweep up the residue from the ceramic pie holder. Beast boy knocked on the door quietly. She looked up then back down at the floor.

"Not now, Gar..."

He pushed through the door anyway. "Uh...Rae...I know it's not the best time...but...um...I...uh...kind of um"

"Gar, spit it out" she said, not even looking up from the floor.

"ImetupwithRobinearliertoday," he said quickly.

"Slow down, Gar." She gazed up at him. "Robin, huh?"

"Yeah, Robin. Well he's kind of getting the rest of the Titans-for a reunion and-you don't want to go so I'm gonna--" he reached for the doorknob.

"How do you know I don't want to go?"

He looked back at her with wide eyes. He had expected her to flat out say no. "You want to?"

"I don't know," she replied. She placed the broom against the wall, walked over to him and banged her fist against the door. "Damon! Pippa! Up to your rooms," she said firmly.

Not much to Beast boy's surprise, the door opened and Damon and Pippa, who had been listening to the conversation from outside the door, hurried up the stairs.

Raven looked intently back at Beast boy. "It all depends."

"On what?" he asked excitedly.

"Well, the dates, for one thing"

"It's the 24th through the 26th."

"And then, whether or not the kids or up to it--"

"WE ARE!" Damon's voice yelled from up the stairs.

"I said to go up to your room! Don't make me come up there!" she half-yelled. They heard the doors close in unison and she said, "Well, that answers that."

"YES! I'LL START PACKING!"

"Wait a minute," she grabbed his shoulder. He turned around. "You're forgetting someone."

"I am?" he asked. She pointed to the roof. "Oh, yeah. Oops..."

"If you can convince Thorn to come, we can go."

"YES! RAE YOU'RE THE BEST!" he yelled excitedly. He kissed her and sprinted up the stairs. "YES! YES! YES!"

Raven shook her head and went back to cleaning up the splattered pie.

A/N: So tell me how you liked it. Sorry if it was bad. I finished it up early this morning. I don't want to give anything away but pay attention to that strange person...he's important...anyway, sorry that it took so long and if I went OOC forgive me...Thanks for waiting and thanks for reading.