Success! You all are the coolest peoples ever, yeah man. Hey, I noticed I'm rather exclamatory in my reviews. HaHA! Love to the exclamation mark! Review thanks:

Mystyre – Totally cool! Glad you like it.

Free-Desert-Wind – Yay, you rock big time! Your compliments always make me smile. I really enjoy and value your reviews. Thank you.

DragonGirl – Is my story so cool that you must cry? Cool! And don't cry; here have a hug.

Rose – How horrible of your sister to eat your cheesecake! The injustice! Have some more key-lime. Hey, you have a Robin mask? I want one, but it would clash with the chakra on my forehead, lol.

TDG3RD – Thank ye kindly. I don't think even Vesper expected to be that reckless. We must learn why…

DarkWindingRose – I have posted your 'day in the life of…' at the bottom of this here chapter. And I thought it was funny.

Scathac's Warrior – Yes, we can all dream. Mock-suicide and perverted comments for everyone! Cheers!

RavenluvsBB – Yay! I updated again! I'm glad you liked the 'day' list! (!)

DarkElf6 – Our days have not been the greatest, nor have they been the brightest, but I have you and you have me and we shall make it through all of our hardships together. Lakshmi guide us both, my sister, and this darkness will end. I know it will. Is treasa dithis a' dol thar àn àtha na fad' o chèile. (And, dude, you rock MY socks! Our poor feet…)

Portmanroxsmysoxs – Thank you, m'dear! Glad you like!

Grey Rain – Gay? Never! Those were funny! I'm so adding those to the recently increased list down at the bottom. And I'm glad you like the jingle. It is catchy…(hums tune) Dangit, not again!

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Disclaimer: (Are we there yet?)

Ch. 8: First Impression Is Everything

"So…a country club."

"Yes."

"That sounds…fancy."

"I guess."

"Yeah…Mind if I change the station?"

"Be my guest."

Gar sighed resignedly at the terse and aloof replies of the girl who had almost practically begged for his help merely days ago. It aggravated him so much that his focus was most pointed to her and not to the road. After multiple lane crossovers, Vesper smacked him on the back of the head and he refocused.

And yet his thoughts were on her, always of her and about her. She was certainly a changed woman since the last time he had seen her. Here she was, out of the old world and into the new, but the problems were always the same. She was still fighting some invisible power over which she had no control and suffering terribly in her heart as well.

It pained him to see her so. She was one who deserved so much respect and love, but there was never anyone to hold her, only to shun her. Vesper was worthy of so much more.

"LANE!" Vesper's voice bellowed in his right ear. Gar immediately awoke from his ponderings and veered the car back into the center of their lane. Vesper shook her head. "Sometimes I worry about you, Gar."

He rolled his eyes. "Trust me; I do that enough for the both of us."

She smiled slightly at his wry tone and he himself let warmth in his eyes glow. She was so beautiful, but even more so when she was happy. And it made him happy when she was brighter than her usual self.

Her voice broke through his train of thoughts: "One: you're shifting again. Two: make a right up here at the next stop sign." And she went back to closing herself off.

Gar knew he had to prod her until he got a conversation, and he knew it may possibly cost him a bone or two in the process, but he wanted to know her thoughts.

"So, why exactly did you leap off the balcony?"

Ah, as he expected: a death glare.

Kori stepped outside into the cool night air. Although she was a cheery, bubbly, sunshiny woman, she also loved the night. When she looked up she could see home. There - that distant spot of light high above the unnaturally orange horizon - was where she used to belong. Now she was here with a family of her own and not having to live with the expectations of a royal court. It was tranquil and wonderful. She wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

She stepped down off the porch step and brushed the snow off a nearby bush. She waited to see the wilted leafs underneath as she freed them from the cold, flaky blanket.

What she saw made her gasp. "Rick!" she cried out, panicked.

Moments passed and her husband appeared in the doorway, apparently having run. "Kori? What's going on?"

She pointed to the plant. "Look!"

He trotted down to stand next to her. And Rick, too, made the face of one terribly confused. He gazed at his wife. "This is unnatural. Something happened here that made it do this."

"But, Rick, no one was here to do this. Only Vesper was near this plant. And…James. Who else would do this?"

Rick shook his head. "I don't know, but this is abnormal. I mean, since when do plants bloom in the middle of winter?"

His thoughts went unanswered.

Vesper still had said nothing since he posed his question and he was starting to become irritated.

"Yeah," he said sarcastically. "If it's quiet long enough you might actually evade the question. The silence sure has a way of erasing my memory…"

"Shut up." She answered tersely.

"Nope." Gar gave a lopsided grin. "I'm not letting it go that easily. Are you going to tell me why you jumped? Or do I have to press some buttons?"

"Do I look like an elevator to you?" she sneered defensively. "You can't press any 'buttons' on me and randomly expect me to open my 'doors' and give you answers!"

"Dude, you took that statement way too seriously."

"Shut up."

"No, Vesper, because I want to know." Gar reaffirmed his concern. "I care about you. Why'd you be so...not you?"

Vesper sighed and leaned into her lap, placing her hands over her face. She muttered something heard unclearly.

Gar leaned over. "What?"

"I said, I don't know." She looked up at him with sullen eyes. He, although affected slightly by the saddened visage of his female friend, was not so easily pacified.

"That doesn't solve anything." He pressed further. He had to know, really, he did. It may have sounded corny, but her feelings and life mattered very much to him. She herself might have not been so concerned for her well-being, but he sure as hell was. If even she didn't care for her, then someone had to. Vesper needed someone, whether she admitted it or not. "There must have been something; a pull, a tug, an unnatural feeling inside of you."

Instead of being harped on by yet another one of her sardonic, yet secretly protective remarks, he got a long, confused stare. He turned to look at her briefly before gazing back at the road. She looked worn and old, as though the many years of pain and beating had finally caught up with her. It was a rather frightening concept: Vesper breaking down and falling apart long before her time. Her strength had obviously waned much more than he had originally surmised.

Vesper finally heaved a tired sigh, not moving from her hunched position. "I – I don't know what's in me anymore. Someone new, maybe? Maybe I'm just finally going insane…"

Gar was struck hard with this last comment. His hand reached out, clasping her own cold fingers. "No. No, you aren't insane. Never, ever think that. You are perfectly normal."

"Yes…" she paused, her terribly distraught face never changing, "we are all normal. So normal, that we had to be separated from everyone else. I suppose they were abnormal, all those people in that city. That city."

There were no words for her now. Gar could only rub his thumb across her knuckles, soothing her. The silence fell on them again and he focused on the road. Now was not the time to be humorous.

"Please," her voice spoke again, causing him to automatically return his attention to her. "Please don't leave my side when we go in. I don't want to be in there with all those people, alone."

His fallen angel begged him to stay. Of course, he obliged. "Not for a moment, Raven. Not for a moment."

"Thank you, Garfield." She answered softly. The car drove beside a bustling parking lot. A hopeful smile on her lips and in her eyes returned. "We're here."

The car pulled into the lot, shifting and turning around all the commotion in the street. People walked haphazardly on the drive, ignoring the cars that needed to park. Gar revved the automobile several times to shoo the idiots that pranced in the middle.

He finally got to park a little way from the back, three quarters of the way to the exit. Opening the door, Gar fixed his tie, nervousness settling on him in a frantic burst. He moved to the other side of the car, ready to open the door for his 'date', but she had already gotten out.

"Are you trying to make this as informal as you possibly can?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

She frowned. "Sorry, I'm not used to formalities. I suppose I have to try to behave like a docile girl around James in order to pull this off, hmm?"

"Nah," he took Vesper's arm and wrapped it in his. "If he's engaged to you, then he already knows you are anything but docile."

She smiled weakly at his point as they headed off to the entrance. It was a large building on the water, with a dock off the back and spouting fountains at the sides. The structure itself looked to be made from marble or a stone colored to look like it. (A/N: I have nooooooo idea…) The doors were open wide, inviting guests with the cheery glow of the hall lights and the promise of warmth.

Vesper could see her breath rise and settle in front of her eyes, and she tried her hardest to hold down her shivers. Still, nothing got past the animalistic bit of Gar, and he picked up the loss in body temperature while monitoring her breathing. She wouldn't admit it, but she was cold. It made perfect sense; it was winter, after all. Willing to risk that portal into damnation that she so often threatened him with, he draped his arm over her shoulders.

She shot him a death glare immediately, but he just smiled and winked, prodding them forward but stepping faster. But Vesper, who was looking around now in fear of James, hardly paid attention. She did slightly tune into the fact that she hated herself right now. Yes, hated herself. She had opened herself up too far in the car with him. She should have just kept her mouth shut, but she didn't. His methods of interrogation were no different than most, yet no matter how hard she tried not to, she told him things she wouldn't even tell a journal.

She had shown him for a moment that she could indeed be weak.

It seemed Gar didn't understand in full what he had done. Although she knew her heart harbored feelings for him, she believed he had no idea what was going on. If only she had asked, she would have learned that that was not the case at all.

"Vesper…"

Looking up at him, she snapped, "What, Gar?"

Surprised, he raised an eyebrow. "You ok?"

"Super." She hissed, returning her gaze to the ground.

"Well, turn that frown upside down, James is up ahead." Gar nodded at the man in white.

Vesper immediately pulled herself from Gar's protection. To make sure no feelings were hurt she gave him a soft smile. He smiled back.

James waited there near the doors, running his fingers over the snow-covered bushes and standing aside the other guests so that he didn't crowd them. His white tux meshed nicely with his skin and hair, and for a moment Vesper thought of Jay Gatsby, except Gatsby generally wore pale pink. (A/N: Gatsby is from the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. What, you thought Raven only read Edgar Allan Poe?) The snow seemed to melt under his fingers and for a moment Vesper recounted all the times her skin had melted under his touch. Shaking her head, she walked faster to the steps.

"James." She called to her fiancé.

"Ah, Vesper, babe, you look smashing. Positively gorgeous." He grinned in a devilish way. "I hope that dress comes off easily…"

"James." She said again, blushing slightly. "You've met Gar." She took his arm and pulled him up so that the two men could face each other.

James' façade went full circle as he let his debonair comments become that of brusque attitude. "Indeed I have." He sneered at his rival. "Well, Gar, what are you doing here? This here is a gathering of doctors and medical students, not snippy little Californians who 'hey dude' every bimbo they lay their eyes on."

"Whoa, too many stereotypes," Gar responded gaily, though his anger was apparent. "I mean, you wouldn't want me calling you a British prick with your head so far up your ass that you lose count of all the women you've whored, now would you?"

"No stereotype there." Vesper pulled out the invitation and slapped it to James' chest. "It's true."

She made to walk past James with Gar, but the doctor reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her to his side. "So, you caught that guests comment, hum?" he murmured in her ear. "Remember, my little vixen, that he is only a guest. I own you for the rest of your life." With that he pushed her away, slapping her soundly on the butt.

As expected, Gar sent a furious frown back to James and took Vesper's hand. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She squeezed his hand in reassurance. "The worst is over, I think." They passed through into the building, because James walked behind them, flashing the invitation. Plus, Miss Crow and Mr. Ethridge were rather popular doctors and so the men already knew who they were and that this extra man on her arm was sure to cause a scandal.

"As long as you're okay," Gar said softly to her.

"I am." Vesper said stiffly. "I will be."

James walked stiffly behind the couple, glaring viciously at their backsides. If anything, this complicated things. Pulling out a pad and pen from his coat pocket, he wrote down the name of Garfield Logan. Maybe, if he was terribly lucky, and which of course he believed he was, this young man may well have also been a titan. If this was true, revenge could be implemented that night.

Outside the bushes that James had been touching began to change. A lively green came back to them as the snow continued to melt. They bloomed like spring had come.

Lame, yeah, I know, I type a lot of nonsense and so my chapters are full of air. But I'll kick it up next chapter, I promise. And why on earth did Raven jump? What did she mean when she thought there was someone new? Maybe that person was always there…

But I did kick it up on the mystery factor. What's happening to the plants? I know, do you know? Maybe…

LIST!

Okay, thanks you guys for all the reviews and responses to the list!

Ok, whoa, we had a Mad Mod, The Mail Man, Beast Boy, Slade, Red X, Silkie, and Larry – 7-way tie. Because there were so many choices, the lists will be considerably shorter than usual, but I loved this! Y'all are so much fun! And thanks so much to those who submitted their own. Kudos to your cleverness! These few are by DarkWindingRose and Gray Rain.

Every time someone breaks the rules, you shout "Titans go!" and cry when it doesn't work

Use Robin's lame lines as a comeback to everything

Dye your hair purple and buy a blue cloak

Search in recipe books for "Pudding of Sadness"

Scream at the guys at Circuit City for not carrying rings that change your appearance

You just off the auditorium stage and land crouching like Robin or Slade.

Mad Mod

You sit very warily in school seats, very positive that there are some sort of metal arm bands ready to attack and restrain you at any moment

Your teacher hands you back a graded homework assignment. Written in red ink at the top, he/she wrote, "I'm not mad."

British people scare you, particularly if they are school administrators

People with shiny canes also scare you

You suggest that Ink-Blot tests should be renamed 'Mod-Madness' tests

The Titans' Mail Carrier

You give your mail to the mailman every day with the address of 'T, Jump City' written for the recipient (It's fan mail, doncha know?)

You ask your mailman if he may know the guy who delivers their mail so that you can meet him and bribe him to take you to the Titan Tower

When applying for a job, you write down in career choices: Mailman for Superheroes, right after 'mad scientist' and before 'alien experiment'

(Sob, so lame…)

Beast Boy

When you eat pie, you toast to Terra

You count the number of times you've seen him drool and consider that your lucky number

You flame any FanFiction writer who does not have B.B. as a main character

You are an extreme Vegan and have considered joining the Green Peace in his honor

You tried very hard to turn into a bird when you jumped of that ledge, but no matter how hard you try, you can't become that little green canary. Oh, and if this is true, I'm sorry about any broken bones that may have resulted from this experiment

Slade

You prefer pedophiles that aren't sexist, because Slade wasn't

You attempted to train an army of Lego men to fight for you and called them Mini-Slades

You are upset because there are no empty warehouses nearby

You captured your little brother or sister, designed an outfit for them, and said, "For now on you're my apprentice, got it?"

You have a list of fifty different ways for ruling the world

Red X

You're a frickin' copycat and have no sense of self

Why on earth isn't zinothium (xynothium?) on your Periodic Table?

When you took karate classes, you insisted on wearing black body armor

You're a loner because X is, and he's so cool, cuz you have a doll – uh, excuse me – action figure of him

You only wear read, black, and white

Silkie

You dress your cat up in baby clothes and try to feed him foreign berries

You search for Killer Moth in the Cirque de Solei (or however it's spelled) shows, believing he is there in disguise, ready to kidnap this aforementioned cat

Tried to shave your cat (Poor creature! Quit it, you horrid person of animal cruelty!)

You don't have an ant farm, but a caterpillar farm

Larry

No, the school professors do NOT have clone machines in the back closet

Dressed the same cat as above in the same clothes as you, just so he looked like your little, hairy twin (He only has fur because he is from another dimension, you see)

Banged your pointer finger and broke it in hopes of disturbing time and space

You have your own little alien name that you use in secret

You, too, are a frickin' copycat and have no sense of self

That's all I have! I made them up on the spot. If they are ridiculously stupid and make no sense whatsoever, then bitch-slap me and tell me they're crap. I'll cry, thank you for the 'constructive criticism' and will return to typing the next chapter.

If I actually pulled through this time, we can go another round and I can do some more lists. So vote, if you wish!

Isaac out.