Robin hurriedly unbuckled and jumped out of the car as if it was the worse car ride he'd ever had to sit through.

Raven got out too, closing the door gently. More gentle the Robin had. He had shut that door as if he never wanted to get back in that car again.

Gar looked over at Tara again and saw her hanging her head "Oh, so what do you do for fun?" He joked, nudging her arm with his and laughing in hopes of getting her too.

Cyborg walked out slowly, gently closing the door then taking his buffer to it. His eyes sharply turned to Robin when the door was shut too hard "No temper tantrums on my baby."

Starfire opened her door and got out slowly as well, then closed the door as softly as she could so Cyborg wouldn't get mad. He was overly protective on the T-car at times... okay almost all the time.

Tara laughed a little. "I dunno, just hang out with friends, I guess," she said. "We never really pulled pranks. Well, some of them did. I didn't. Not a big prank puller I guess," she looked at the floor, but then back up.

Robin rolled his eyes. He was a little ticked with Cyborg. Nothing serious. He was just mad because that had been seriously close. Robin knew Cyborg and Raven knew that he maybe sort of kind of felt something for Starfire. Though he would never admit it. Ever. He was horrible with that kind of stuff.

Raven raised an eyebrow at Cyborg. "Come on, you can do that at home," she said and started her walk across the street.

Gar looked at Tara with a raised eye brow, not a big prank puller? She had been one of the best, being a lot like he was... was. He hoped to god she wasn't always going to be like this, that she could change back. He would always and forever still like her a lot. But in a way, he wanted the old Terra back, he wanted his Terra back. "Oh... well Tara my friend I guess I am just going to have to show you the error of your ways and teach you to prank" He grinned.

"Hang on..." Cyborg said as he was near done buffing the entire door of the T-car.

"Cyborg, I do not believe we have much time to venture around in this mall of shopping. Perhaps we should be going inside now?" Starfire covered her mouth and giggled, her friends where really funny in her eyes.

Tara glanced into Gar's eyes for a moment, then down at the straw and napkins she was holding. She smiled a bit. "Well… okay," she said a little reluctantly. "Just this once," she more told herself then Gar.

Robin glanced at Starfire and then quickly looked away. He looked after Raven and started walking the rest of the way to the mall as well. Cyborg would catch up when his baby was all nice and clean again. Not that it was ever dirty.

Raven was already waiting over by the door for her friends. God, they were slow.

"Trust me, once you start pranking you keep doing it" Gar laughed. "I can teach you all my tricks" He started. Again... he thought with a quick frown that left his face faster then it came.

Starfire floated off the ground and was next to Raven in mere seconds.

Cyborg was almost done, just a little more... more...

Tara smiled, but it was a different smile this time. What'd I tell you? that voice in her head told her. You say 'just this once' now, and then it'll happen again, and again, until it's an everyday thing. Just like it used to be. Tara frowned. It'll never be like it used to be, she thought. I won't let that happen. She grinned again, forcing an actual smile on her face. "Okay," she said, though not knowing if she really meant it.

Robin's foot his side walk again as he waited for Cyborg next to Starfire and Raven.

"Awesome, now c'mon before the news people leave" Gar laughed, he was about to grab Tara's hand and run. But caught himself in time and didn't. He just started off running, the new part of the giant mall wasn't that far away.

Cyborg finally finished his work on the T-car and ran over to catch up with the others. His arm had gone back to being an arm instead of a car buffer. that had to be one of his favorite attachments.

"Are we ready to do the viewing of stores now?" Starfire asked, clapping her hands.

Tara laughed, forgetting her troubles for a moment, and ran to catch up with him. She hadn't seen the new part of the mall yet. She vaguely wondered what they had added.

"Finally," Raven said.

"C'mon, let's go," Robin said as he walked to the door. He opened it and held it open for his friends.

Raven walked in, looking around. It had been awhile since she'd been in the mall. She wasn't much of a mall rat.

Gar ran till they where only a few feet from where the news lady was talking in front of the new store called "Tom's Pet World." Cool, Gar made a mental note to check it out after their 'fun.' "Ready?" He asked, looking over at Tara with a slick smirk on his face.

Starfire walked in "Thank you, Robin" She smiled and then looked around the mall. she loved it here, so many earth things and people!

Cyborg walked in after Star "Thanks puppy boy" He laughed slightly.

Robin had stared at Starfire as she walked by, a small smile on his face. "Anytime," he said, hardly realizing it. He stared at her even as Cyborg walked in. Until he heard the 'puppy boy' remark. "Hey!" Robin half snapped and walked in after him. "I should have let that door slam in your face," he half muttered in annoyance.

Raven looked back at the two boys. Here we go again.

Tara caught up with Beast Boy and stopped next to him. She grinned and nodded her head once.

Cyborg only laughed at Robin. "Right" was all he said before catching up with the girls.

Gar ripped a piece of napkin and threw it in his mouth. He let it roll around before spitting it out on his palm and setting it in his straw then taking aim at the reporter, who was live on TV.

"And behind me is the newest addition to the-" The black haired women was cut off by a spit ball whapping her in the eye. "Oh my god" She flung it from her eye, looking grossed out. "Ahem" She put her tooth paste commercial break smile on and faced the camera "As I was saying, behind me is-" She started all over again.

Tara tried not to laugh, not wanting to show that they were the ones doing this. She ripped off a piece of napkin and put it in her mouth, chewing it up a bit, into a little ball. She put the straw to her mouth and blew a quick breath into it, sending the spit ball flying right at the news reporter.

Robin growled and caught up with his three friends as well.

"So…" Raven said. "Where do we go first?"

The poor lady closed her eyes and looked as if she was trying to keep her cool. it was hard to do though. "As I was saying, this is-" She was cut off by another spit ball whapping her in the face.
The camera man stopped taping, he could tell the news lady was about to blow.
"WHO WAS THAT?" She demanded.

Gar covered his mouth with his arm, as if covering his cough. though he was hiding the laughing smile spread on his guilty looking face.

"I thought maybe the pet store I heard they just put in here. Maybe we can get something to replace the silk monster" Cyborg joked.

Starfire gasped "Cyborg! how could you think of doing such things! Silkie is our pet and-" She started.

"Starfire, I was kidding... for the most part" Cyborg said.

"Oh"

Robin smiled. Man, she sure loved that worm. "Alright, let's go," he said, and started for the new area of the mall.

Raven followed with out a word, just looking around a bit.

Tara hid her straw and held the napkin as if they'd just gotten there from the food court. Well, technically they had. She kept a straight face as best she could. Actually, she did pretty good.

Gar looked over at Tara then back at the clearly mad news lady.

"I said who did it! ... well whoever did better stop!" She yelled, looking mad but finally calmed down and was ready to go back on air when another spit ball whapped her eye. She nearly screamed.

"Go me, go me, go me" Gar cheered quietly to himself.

"How about we get a puppy.. no wait! we already got one" Cyborg laughed and nudged Robin to let him know he was being picked on again.

"I am not!" Robin protested. "Why don't we just get a donkey? Oh yea! We already have a Jack A-"

"Robin!" Raven said, smirking at Robin's annoyance.

Robin didn't finish his remark, but grumbled something to himself.

Tara giggled a little, not loud enough for anyone but Gar to hear. When no one was looking and the news reporter had her back turned, Tara ripped another piece of napkin off and chewed it into a spit ball, and took aim again, shooting it out the end of the straw.

Cyborg raised his eye brow at Robin, oh it was on now. "While we are their ill have to make sure to get some PUPPY food for Starfire's spiked hair pet" He said.

At hearing her name Starfire looked at the boys then at Raven as if asking what they were talking about.

The lady was hit ... again. "THAT'S IT! I QUIT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Linda! wait! No wait Linda!" the camera guy yelled, dashing after her.

"Good one Tara" Gar let himself laugh now and held his hand up for a high five.

Robin's mouth fell in shock, then closed again as his eyes narrowed. "You did not just say what I think you said! Do NOT even go there! I AM NOT A PET OF ANYONES!" Robin half shouted this.

Raven sighed. Another one of their friendly fights. She shook her head slightly in an 'it's a boy thing' way to Starfire. "Guys!" she snapped. "Stop!"

Tara busted out laughing and gave Gar the high five. "That was great!" she exclaimed. "Priceless!"

Cyborg only laughed, even when Raven told him to stop. "anyone but Twinkle Star" Cyborg laughed, giving Robin a goo goo look.

Starfire was watching them with a raised eye brow, she had to have the weirdest friends ever... though extremely funny.

"Told ya it was a blast" Gar laughed then looked around. "So... want to check the pet store out? do you like animals?"

"I- That's- You're-" Robin opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "I am not a pet!" he said, yet again, this time more clearly. He growled and thought a moment. "Better then being the pet of a dumb car, anyways" he mumbled to himself.

As her laughter subsided, Tara looked over at the pet store. "Okay, sure," she said before starting off that way.

Raven only sighed. They were getting out of hand.

"Well, what do you think boy friends are? Pets to the girls," Cyborg said, clearly saying Robin was Starfire's boy friend.

"Awesome" Gar was still laughing in a way. His face said so anyways. He ran ahead of Tara and into the pet store. animals loved him, for obvious reasons! he loved animals too, well that too was an obvious reason.

Tara smiled again and ran after Gar into the newly made store. She spotted him and walked over. "What kind of animals do they have in here?"

Robin blushed again, getting wide eyed, and a look on his face. It took everything in his mind to not yell that Starfire wasn't his girlfriend. The last time that had happened was too memorable. He kept his mouth shut tight, shaking his head in a threatening way to Cyborg.

"Good choice," Raven said to Robin about keeping his mouth shut.

"I dunno" Gar shrugged, making his way over to the puppies. Terra had loved puppies, and a part of him wondered if that changed. "Hey Tara" He called, reaching his hand in the plexie glass cage and petting the little puppies.

Cyborg was giving an 'I win!' grin as he marched on, clearly proud of this.

Tara looked over at Gar again. She looked at the glass cage, and glanced from side to side. Did she still like puppies? No, Terra liked puppies. You don't, that voice told her. She bit her lip and went with it, inching over kind of slowly. Just tell him you're afraid of dogs Tara stopped a bit farther from the glass then Terra would have.

Robin glared at Cyborg. Everyone knew Robin never gave up. This wasn't over. He would get Cyborg back for that. "I'm gonna get you back! This is NOT over!" he told Cyborg.

Raven rolled her eyes a little.

Gar looked up from the little spotted pup he was playing with and over at Tara. He cocked his head to the side "What's wrong? You don't like puppies or something?" He asked in a confused tone.

"It's only over when you finally ask Star out" Cyborg said in a low tone for only Robin to hear. "No wait" he spoke up. "Then I just don't tease as much. So I guess it's only over when you guys get married" He laughed.

"Oh… umm… I don't like dogs. I'm… afraid of them," she said. She couldn't look at the puppy. It would take everything to not say 'awww how cute!' So, instead she looked at the ground. You don't like dogs she told her herself. She was more trying to persuade herself.

Robin's jaw dropped. "WHEN!" He shouted. "When? Whatever happened to 'If'!" he said the last part so only Cyborg could hear.

"When what?" Raven asked.

"If? Ohhh, so there is a chance?" Cyborg teased.

"Oh" Gar tried not to sound disappointed. So that had changed too... "Okay so what animals DO you like?" He asked, forcing a grin on his face once more.

"What?" Robin asked. "NO! I didn't mean it like that! I just meant- I mean- there's more chance of 'if' then 'when' but that doesn't mean there's chance! There is no chance! That would never happen!" Robin was talking fast as if trying to explain.

Tara rubbed her arm with her hand. "Well… umm…" she looked around. "Anything, I guess. I just don't like… dogs," she lied. It's not a lie! It's the truth. Tara, you, hate's dogs she continued persuading herself. Was it just her, or was there something about Gar that reminded her of her past? She looked around again at the sound of a sharp bark, whine type noise. She looked down at this little puppy clawing at the glass, looking at her. She stared for a second, a bit sadly, then looked away a bit reluctantly. She kind of hated how they kept these poor animals locked up.

Even if you don't like dogs, the voice told her.

But I-

You don't like dogs.

I don't like dogs, she repeated. Tara sighed quietly.

"Okay love dove" Cyborg laughed, again making fun of Robin's bird name and his crush issue at the same time.

"Well, where do you want to go? I'll follow you" Gar said. "Even if you don't like real poppies I'm still your little lost puppy, remember?" He joked.

Tara grinned. "Okay," she said.

Robin saw the pet shop ahead and walked over. Stupid Cyborg with his stupid smart Alec remarks. Robin would get him back for this. He stood outside the shop, waiting for Starfire and Raven.

Raven came over and looked up at the name 'Tom's pet store'. It was in red, and the little O's were dog paw print shapes.

Tara looked around for somewhere to go. She spotted someone outside the door. Was that… it was… Oh man. She glanced around a bit nervously now. What if they were all here? What if he was here? She turned to face Gar, her back to the door. "We could…" she pretended to be thinking about where to go. Well, she was thinking about where to go. But she wasn't exactly thinking about what animal to go look at.

Starfire walked beside Raven and looked up at the giant lettering as well. "This place looks most wonderful" She said.

Cyborg was still grinning, in his mind he had won the little fighting match. And he was sure he would win the next time as well, because he was the one teasing.

Gar looked at Tara when she talked; it wasn't for very long though. When he heard familiar voices outside he looked outside the large window that held more puppies and saw his fellow teammates. Okay, a pet store was really the last place he would look for them. He would be less surprised to see Robin in a girl's store, because Starfire would probably have drug him in there. But a pet store!
"Uhh... c'mon" Gar turned around and started for the other side of the store. Walking by rows of pet items and cages with bunnies and other little rodents on the way.

Tara immediately followed, not asking for an explanation in their sudden change of direction. She looked around at all the animals, glancing at the door every now and then. When the little bell above the door rang, Tara looked up. Robin had walked in, Raven right behind him.

Raven looked around at all the animals. She wasn't much of an animal person. She did however think it cruel and unusual for them to be kept locked up in a pet store cage all the time.

Robin looked around too. He saw all the puppies. He went over and looked at them through the glass.

Gar was really starting to consider asking if it was alright if they just leave the whole mall. He was sure Tara didn't want to bump into the Titans any more then he did at the moment. They would know his voice, Cyborg would know the watch and then everything would fall apart. He walked into the fish section, it was cave like. Dark with only the dark blue lights from the fish tanks giving off any light.

Starfire floated over to the birds, she looked over them. Doves, and a few parrot like birds in one cage. It had an open top, so the birds' wings must have been clipped.

"Eww, smells like BB's room in here" Cyborg joked, waving his hand in front of his noise.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Raven said in her monotone voice.

"It's cleaner in here in then in that mess," Robin said.

"Even the animals would be afraid to go in there," Raven said, looking at a sleeping, and smelling, ferret.

Tara immediately followed Gar, right behind him, glancing nervously behind her at the Titans. She sighed a sigh of relief as they entered the dark, cave like room. She looked around. As she listened to the Titans talk, she immediately knew they were talking about Beast Boy. She looked down at the floor, he was the only one Tara hadn't heard in the pet shop.

"I think we should lock villains in there, that would be more torture then sending them to jail" Cyborg laughed, he reached in to poke a bird but it pecked at him then started making a bunch of noise over nearly being touched. "Ow!" Cy yelped, recoiling his hand and glaring at the bird.

Starfire however seemed to be doing fine. She had a small little brown dove sitting on her finger. Its fathers spotted with white specks so it looked like a cross between a fawn and a dove.

"So..." Gar started, stopping his walk and looked into the glass that held large fish that looked ready to jump out and try to kill you... COOL.

Robin was still looking at the dogs. He was playing with one, running his finger along the glass and the puppy would chase it, barking and wagging its tail like mad. He chuckled and looked over at the others, his eye immediately catching Starfire. She looked so peaceful. He was still smiling a little bit, just watching her.

Raven walked by a bird cage, the bird making a mad lunge at her as if trying to bite her. It bit the cage and chewed on it really hard. Raven just gave it blank look.

Tara leaned against one of the fish tanks. "So," she repeated. She didn't know what to say. What was there to say? When she heard Cyborg's remark, she smiled slightly, but then forced the smile away again. She remembered Cyborg had always enjoyed picking on them. Tara shook her head, snapping out of it. She really needed to stop doing that. She hadn't thought about the Titans this much for a really long time.

Cyborg caught Robin looking at Starfire and smirked; he walked over to her and said loud enough for Robin to hear "Okay, about that pet of yours. Don't feed it after midnight, don't get it wet and I suggest the name brand puppy food for it"

Starfire only looked at Cyborg blankly as if saying "Wha?"

"Any other stores you wanted to check out?" Gar asked, turning back around so he was looking at Tara. He was hoping he didn't make it too obvious that he was avoiding the Titans. They probably wouldn't know who he was if he just walked by, though Terra on the other hand might be a little bit of a problem. Starfire at the first glimpse of anyone looking like Terra would squeal and rush over.

Robin glared at Cyborg and immediately turned back to the puppy who looked like it was trying to attack his stationary finger. He started moving it up and down the glass again, the little puppy bounding after it, tongue out and a dog smile on its little face.

Raven looked over at another section of the store. It was like a dark cave. That was more her kind of place. She looked up at the sign over it. She sighed as she read the sign 'Fish'. She figured it wouldn't smell as bad in there.

Tara looked up. "Oh… uhh… we could go to…" her stomach growled a little. "Food court?"

"Sure, I didn't have a big lunch." Gar said, nodding in agreement with the choice of going to the food court.

"Great," Tara glanced over at the Titans. She saw Raven start walking over to the darkened area of the store- the little cave like room that herself and Gar stood in. She looked at the other Titans; they all had their backs turned. Perfect. "C'mon," Tara said, grabbing Gar's wrist again and pulling him out of the cave area. She quickly pulled him out of the pet shop, nearly dragging him.

Gar had let a yelp escape from his lips. Now he really did feel like a little puppy, only being dragged around on a leash. Not that he really minded, just glad to get out of the store. Though when out of the store he made Tara stop running with him being dragged behind. That would catch attention. "Slow down Tara! Not like someone's trying to kill you, unless those fish scared you" He joked, though using a low tone so the others would have no hope of hearing him.

Tara let go of his wrist and stopped. "Sorry," she said a bit sheepishly. She just didn't want to be seen by one of the Titans again. "I'm just kinda hungry. What do you want to eat?" she asked Gar. "There's pizza, tacos, burgers, a lot more. They've got ice cream too," she listed.

"It's okay" Gar laughed slightly. What did he want to eat? Well... tofu bits in his salad sounded really good right now. But that might hint who he was. Not many teens ate tofu these days. "Pizza?" He suggested, stealing a glance behind him at the mall's big open window and at the Titans. They seemed to busy bickering and playing with the animals to notice them.

"Pizza sounds great," Tara said. She started heading to where the

Food Court was, eager to just get away from the Titans. She didn't dare to look back at the shop, just incase one of the Titans looked out the window. She sighed as a strand of her hair fell into her face again, she pushed it back impatiently.

Gar as he had done all day walked beside Tara on their way to the food court. He had glanced over at her, and found himself staring when she messed with that annoying strand of hair. He couldn't help a small chuckle. At least Terra's hair refused to change. His eyes looked back ahead of him. The line had creased to be so long. Seeing how the lunch hour was long gone. How late was it anyways? Gar didn't know. His hands found themselves back over the backpack's straps, clinging to them tightly so they weren't just flopping around at his side aimlessly.
But even if the food court wasn't over stuffed with people the rest of the mall was. Kids that had either done all their home work early or kids hanging out before they did it were here. Gar thought he recognized a few from school. Adults where here, some working and others just shopping. The sound of hundreds of people talking made the large main room sound like mumbling of a river. It was a little louder for him of course, because he still had his large elf ears even if they weren't visible.

Tara looked around. She spotted the pizza line, which was really short at the moment, and walked over to stand behind some guy and girl holding hands. She looked over the menu. She would just get cheese again. Maybe a soda too. She looked over the drinks.

"Whatcha getting?" Gar asked Tara, his eyes made a quick glance over the menu. "Did you want to share a whole pizza or like, get a diff slice?" He grinned and let his eyes lock on Tara's face.

Tara looked up at the menu again. "Well… what do you want?" she asked. "I was thinking just a plain cheese. But we could get a half cheese and half whatever you want. Unless you want cheese too. Or do you think you could eat more then one piece? Or would one be enough?"

Gar laughed "I can stand a cheese." He could, he didn't mind dairy if it was for the sake of pizza. "I could eat a whole pizza if I wanted, but I would be perfectly happy with only a slice. So it's up to you" He grinned, almost laughing again.

The guy behind the counter cleared his throat in an 'I'm waiting' way. Tara stepped forward and pulled out her wallet. "One cheese pizza, please," she said. "Oh, and a sprite." She turned to Gar. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"I'll take a root beer" Gar said, glancing at the guy then looked back at Tara "Why don't you go get a seat? I can get the food" He smiled.

"Okay," Tara agreed, though before walking off to get a seat pulled out a ten dollar bill and practically shoved it into Gar's hand. She didn't like people paying for her. It made her feel… selfish, greedy. She smiled and walked off to find a small table with only two chairs, one right across from the other.

Gar looked down at the money and shook his head though smiling; he stuffed it in his pocket to make Tara take back. He made sure she wasn't looking before pulling out his T-com from his bag and flashing it to the pizza guy "Put it on the Titans bill" He grinned, pulling it back and putting it away faster then he had got it out.

The pizza guy nodded and handed Gar their orders "Have a nice day" He said with a stifled yawn.

Once again, weird ending, weird beginning.