Disclaimer TEEN TITANS and all other related characters and material are the property of DC comics and Cartoon Network, I claim no ownership.

Chapter 3: Dinner with a Demon

By: Ansa

The rain fell from a blackened sky, even more so black with the clouds blocking out the ebony night sky. Light only came in shimmers, reflections from the street lights off of puddles and the surface of the torrential downpour that engulfed the city below. The rain made no sound, not itself, but rather it's impact on the ground and splashes as they fell into puddles cumulated from their brothers and sisters already fallen. Even if it had, the sound of thousands upon thousands of rain droplets making contact with a hard flat surface was so deafening that you would not be able to hear it.

It seemed that everyone had gotten the hint that the sky wanted them inside, give it some privacy while it wept. Everyone except a solitary figure floating along the sidewalk slowly, with infinite patients and tolerance for the rain, down the sidewalk staring at her feet as she walked on. Her fiery red hair was damp and dripping with the tears of the night sky, chilling her slightly, yet not enough to force a shiver. She floated…simply floated on in her own world it seemed, a world that held no rain, nor cold that could sway her in her thought.

This was not the city of which she was familiar, that was another time, a time long gone. A time for which she yearned, a time where she was happy, a time where she had her friends…and…him.

"Hey hun, I'm home." Beast Boy streached out his back and let out a relaxed sigh, closing the apartment door behind him as he set down his keys on the counter. Scanning the room he could see his fiancé meditating near one of the windows, floating roughly a foot above the floor. He smiled slightly as he unzipped his "greasies" and letting the top half fall down past his waist. He moved up quietly and left a tender kiss on her cheek, rubbing her back slightly. "Any luck finding Starfire?"

"There won't be if you keep interrupting me like that." Raven clenched her eyes tighter in annoyance but welcomed the kiss.

"Sorry."

"That's ok, I needed a break anyways." Almost effortlessly Raven floated up a bit higher and let her legs unfold and touch the floor, stretching slightly before opening her eyes, watching as Beast Boy rummaged through the kitchen gathering ingredients for dinner. "How was your day?"

"Not bad, worked on a few of Wayne's loading trucks." Beast boy muffled slightly as he spoke, a small box of onion mix between his teeth. "How bout yours?"

Raven simply nodded as she followed him in the kitchen, her own day didn't really matter much, and neither did his, except for one thing... "So did you manage to contact the league yet?" She was blunt and to the point, leaning against the counter eager for his response.

"Uh hun…" Beast Boy sighed, letting the box fall from his mouth and into his hand as he sorted out things on the counter, pulling out the cookware. "I don't think the Justice League is going to help us."

"Why not?"

"They've got other things to worry about; more important things than helping us find an old friend so we can invite her to our wedding." Beast Boy was too busy with the food to look at her, even if he wasn't, he would be too nervous to. With good reason, once he was finished there was a brief period of silence before she took his hand, and used her free one to touch his cheek gently and looked into his eyes.

"Ok hun…I may not be a normal one, but every girl dreams of her wedding since she is little, and I'm no different. So if you don't do absolutely everything in your power to help make this day perfect for me…I'm going to have to hurt you." She smiled softly and patted his cheek before giving him a quick peck on the cheek and headed back to the table.

Beast Boy stood there, still a bit nervous but soon shook it off, continuing work on dinner. "W-Well I did see the Flash today at the diner." A grasp…a desperate one to win back some points, maybe, but still it was true.

"Did you manage to talk to him?"

"I tried, but there was some emergency and he had to run."

"…and? Did you catch up with him?" Raven sat looking over some text books, not really thinking before she spoke.

Beast Boy blinked at this, "Ok hun…he's The Flash, there was no way I was gonna catch up with him unless he let me…which he didn't." He turned back to start chopping some vegetables, his fiancé having just registered the name of the JL hero with his reputation as the fastest man on the planet…then blinked.

"You…actually tried to," she laughed slightly, "catch up with him?"

"Yeah, wasn't really thinking. Got about 5 blocks down the street before it hit me." Again, Raven laughed warmly, picturing him panting his way down the street following nothing but a fading red blur. Beast Boy smiled, but didn't speak, simply shook his head at his own lack of thought, pushing the veggies into a large cooking pot.

"Oh…and I did manage to ask Bat-girl the other day to see she could get the big-guy to help us." The rush of tap water filling the vegetable filled pot drowned out the last few words slightly, but that didn't matter; the gist of the message was there.

"Really? I don't expect much to happen with that."

"Why not, don't you trust her?"

"Sure," Raven looked up again from her text, "It's just that old Batsy isn't one for compassion." Beast Boy smiled at this, the reputation of the Dark Knight certainly wasn't very cheery. He did his job well, only he wasn't the Boy Scout type.

"I'll keep that in mind the next time you two need help." A heavy shiver fell down his spine as a deep gruff voice sounded from behind them; slowly he turned to see a rather large man draped in the trademark cape and cowl. A man dressed in the visage of a giant bat.

Beast Boy nearly dropped the open onion mix in his hands as he turned full round, the dark figure crouched on the window sill, his long flowing cape draped over his shoulders. Even more shocking was to see his fiancés reaction, or rather lack of one. Raven still sat calmly and coolly, setting down her text and yet not turning to speak.

"I have to admit I am surprised you're here, I figured if anyone in the league would help us it would be Supes, or even Green Lantern."

"I could leave if you would prefer it that way."

"N-no, that's ok." Beast Boy stumbled forward, dropping the mix on the counter that spilled despite his desperate attempt to set it down on its end with shivering hands. "Thank you for coming, did Bat-girl fill you in?"

"No, all she told me was it was important."

A large sweat drop formed on Beast Boy's forehead, Bat-Girl wasn't making things easy on them, the least she could do was tell him herself, the Batman in person was quite intimidating.

"W-well…me and Ra-uh…Soma, are um…getting married." He paused out of habit in wait for the usual congratulations. This of course, never came from the Bat, who just sat here quietly in the long, awkward silence. "Yes well…and we sort of…well, have lost a f-f-f-…"

"We've lost touch with one of our friends and were wondering if the League could help us find her." Raven cut in quickly and rather bluntly, clearly not phased by the guest in their small apartment. Beast Boy sort of cowered in his spot near the table, his eyes not moving from their place on the dark figure before him.

Batman himself crooked an eye, then quickly dropped it to a dark scowl, standing tall as he walked forward to the table. As he walked he seemed to carry a dark shadow with him that swept over the room and nearly made the green chef nearly faint, even if he wasn't in the Knight's path. Instead, Raven sat in his shadow, again, rather calmly and clearly not intimidated. Even to the Bat's surprise, even if he didn't show it, she even got up to prepare a pot of tea.

"You're telling me, that you want the Justice League to help you find some long lost friend in order to send her an invitation to your wedding?" Somehow the gruff in his voice grew deeper, his annoyance and impatience making themselves quite clear, even if the purple haired girl showed little to no response.

"You can either help us or not, don't try to intimidate me because it won't work." For the first time since he arrived Raven turned to face the figure, returning his dark glare directly, and small kind of intimidation he had on her was suppressed deep inside her. Beast Boy, watched in horror at this, not quite sure what was going to happen, although the Knight's response he knew before he even asked.

"No." The Bat turned and walked back to the window, ready to leave right then and there.

"Do we at least get a reason?"

"The Justice League isn't 'Missing Persons,' go to the police and don't waste our time." With that, he was gone, lost in the black of the night, leaving the window open and the curtains blowing behind him. Raven stood with her tea, staring out the window, letting out a single shiver before sipping. The Bat now gone, Beast Boy was finally able to shake his presence off and manage to move without trembling. After a long awkward silence he finally spoke, watching the curtains blow gently as Raven handed him a warm cup of her tea.

"Well…that could have gone better."

The cold night surrounded the Batman as he cut through the air, his grapple gun carrying him from the small apartment building to a large office building around the corner and up to the sloped roof. Once his footing was secure he readied his grapple gun once again, aiming for the claw of a gargoyle perched on one of the larger and more prestigious banks about town.

"So did you talk to them?" A familiar voice sounded behind him, yet did not surprise him considering the fact he had known she was there the moment he set foot upon the roof tiles. He had trained her after all, and couldn't be fooled by his own student, no matter how good Bat-girl seemed to be.

"You knew didn't you, and still you chose to waste my time?"

"Listen, you may know a lot about the hero biz, but you know nothing about women."

"Excuse me?" Batman couldn't help but turn to face her with a confused look. "Since when did this have to do with women…either way there's no way I'm letting them use the League like this. End of discussion."

"Tell me Bruce, were you ever just a man? Were you ever in love?" Again, Batman gave a confused look and raised his grappler.

"We're not talking about this…"

"Because right now the most important thing to them is to have their friend be there for their wedding, the day their lives a joined together in love."

"Ugh, please stop…" Batman shook his head, trying to drown her out.

"Are you going to deny them of that one thing?"

"…" The Bat grew silent for a moment, lowering his grappler slightly before turning to look at her. "If I do this, will you promise never to talk like that again?"

Bat-girl smiled and nodded, pulling out her own grapple gun, aiming at the same building and shooting. "You're a good man."

"Yeah whatever…"

Ah good old Batsy, who doesn't love the Dark Knight? I wasn't sure how a Batman/JL crossover would do, but so far I am feeling pretty good about it, I just hope I gave the Bat justice and kept him in character. It's been a while since I've read the comics, or seen the cartoon. Oh well, another chapter down, I'm really on a roll with this. Well, until next time, later days.

ANSA