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

Chapter 4: Awkward Silences

By: Ansa

Beast Boy wiped the sweat from his brow with his wrist, his hands covered in oil amongst other various car fluids. He waited patiently for the flood light to flicker as it always did before realizing that it was brand new, the old light having been replaced during the move. Once this hit him he continued to reach down near his legs into the pile of tools dripping with grease. After fumbling around for a few moments he managed to take grip of a ratchet and socket, bringing it into up into the tangled maze of tubes and metal that flowed under the vehicle.

"Hey Gar, it's 3:30." Derek walked up to the pair of legs that stuck out from under the large moving truck parked in the garage. Normally quitting time wasn't until five o'clock, but he seemed particularly generous today.

"Yeah? What about it?"

"You're going out with Soma tonight right?"

Beast Boy rolled out from under the truck and gave Derek a confused look. "Yeah, so what?"

"So go on, I'll cover for you. Go clean yourself up, likes like you went from green to black. It's disgusting to look at you." He smiled, helping his friend up who still had a rather puzzled face. "Don't give me that look. Use the time to get her flowers or something…does she even like flowers? Hell I don't know, just go on before I change my mind."

"…thanks man." Beast Boy smiled and bumped knuckles with him, handing over the greasy ratchet from his equally greasy grip. "I owe you one."

"The new H.I.M. CD comes out tomorrow, pick it up for me and we'll call it even."

"You got it." The situation finally hitting him, Beast Boy grinned from ear to ear and ran off out and down the hall to the rather large locker room. His mind pulsed with ideas of what to do with this newfound time, there was so much he could do, so much he wanted to do. Tonight wasn't just any night out with his fiancé, this was their anniversary. On this night roughly three years ago, he and Raven went on their very first date. Since then so much has happened, she had brought him so much happiness, and tonight he wanted to give her the best possible time…he wanted to give her heaven tonight.

"…Logan…two please…ummmm," Beast Boy checked his watch lodging the phone between his ear and shoulder as he lifted up the sleeve of his black blazer. "…seven? That's fine…ok…thank you very much." The click of the phone and the opening of the front door occurred almost in unison, so closely that Beast Boy hadn't even noticed she was home until she had kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Well, don't you look handsome? I take it you're all ready to go?" Raven took a step back, straightening out his collar a bit as she looked him over. He wasn't dressed too formal, just a simple black dickie pants and blazer combo, underneath a slightly stained white dress shirt. Beast Boy smiled at her and stole a quick kiss on the lips as she adjusted his collar.

"Mmhmmm, how bout you?"

"Not quite." Raven smiled and returned the kiss, this time on his nose before giving up on the stubborn fabric and set down her book bag on the table and headed into the bedroom. "Just give me a few minutes to change and we can go." Beast Boy nodded and waited patiently…that is, as patiently as he could get. Inside the bedroom he could hear the shuffling of clothes, the spray of perfume and the strokes of a brush before out off came the light and out stepped Raven.

Around her body was wrapped the same red dress she wore that first night, still sparkling as brightly as ever. Her hair was brushed neatly, one side pushed back behind her ear, the other falling forward as it always did. And all around her, it seemed the sweet scent of cherry blossoms seemed to waft, as if her very skin were the petals of the flower itself. Beast Boy stood back and smiled looking her over, taken a back by her beauty, yet trying not to make it seem too obvious.

"After all these years…you still give me the same look you did that night." Raven walked up slowly, a slight blush forming on her cheeks. There was something so powerful about it, knowing that you are loved and cared for, and still seen beautiful by your man.

Beast Boy turned bright red and turned away slightly, "W-well…you're still just as beautiful as you were back then…so why wouldn't I?" Beast Boy turned back and gave her his full attention as she walked up and wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling brightly up at him.

"Hehe, careful with the sweet talk, you're already getting big points for dinner at La Rouge you don't want to over do it." She laughed gently before kissing him quickly on the lips, letting go of his neck and heading over to the door. "Shall we then?"

"…so he gave me a few more days before he fails me on that paper." Raven walked slowly next to him, arm and arm in the cool night, his jacket warming her shoulders. They had been walking for blocks now after a rather tiring ride on the subway, but they were almost there, and her feet were quite thankful.

"Damn…we really need to get you a laptop, those university computers are killing you."

"What do you expect? They're MACs after all, I shouldn't expect much from them." They both laughed before their eyes fell on some familiar landmarks. In particular, an old Chinese restaurant, an abandoned phone booth, and the name "DEEkay" spray painted on the side of a Laundromat. They looked at each other and smiled, knowing that they were almost there. One more block, then a flight of stairs leading down and there…was nothing.

"No way…" Beast Boy let go of her arm gently and moved up to the small window at the door and cupped his hands around his eyes, trying his best to peer inside. They had noticed the neon sign wasn't lighted on their way down the steps but didn't think much of it…that is until they saw the orange tag on the door reading "condemned." From what he could see, the tables were mostly gone, only a few remained laying upside-down or on their side. The bar was stripped, the mirror behind it cracked and broken. The dance club…their dance club, the place where they had first spent a night out together, was gone…dusty, and derelict.

"I can't believe this…our club."

"I know…it looks like it's been a while since this place was open."

"But we were just here six months ago."

"Yeah well, my guess is they went belly up right after." Beast Boy stepped back from the door and put his arm around Raven who was reading over the tag and shaking her head. Once she was finished she slumped back into his embrace and sighed.

"Well this sucks."

"I know…" Beast Boy held her, looking over the orange tag then looking up at the rest of the building. "We have about an hour or so before we need to be at the restaurant, is there anywhere else you wanted to go?" Raven let out a slight sigh as she thought, on this night there was only one place she wanted to be. She wanted to be there with him in that very same place they were years ago, the place where they shared their first dance, the place where she first started to fall for him. That, of course, was now quite impossible what with the orange tag and ripped up floorboards.

"…not that I can think of."

"Come on, let's just start heading down and see what we can find along the way." Beast Boy let go of the embrace gently and simply put an arm around her as they started heading back up the steps, and Raven nodded. This was how things worked usually, Raven the pessimist, and Beast Boy the optimist. That is not to say that Raven didn't have those few optimistic moments where she saved the day with a positive outlook, but usually that's not how things ended up.

Slowly they made their way down the dark streets, their eyes scanning shop windows every now and then, chatting quietly about this and that. Sure enough, Raven began to feel a bit better, standing up a bit straighter and putter her own arm around her fiancés back. They walked down the streets further and further, making their way down several blocks and past several stores they occasionally stopped in at for numerous reasons, the most popular being just to kill time before they needed to be at La Rouge which was not much further around the corner.

Beast Boy suddenly blinked, his eye catching something in the street light, something shining that hung from around her neck gently. "Hey…what's that? Since when do you were necklaces?" Raven turned a bright red, hoping his jacket would conceal it for most of the night…she had always worn it, but for some reason chose not to reveal it to him, taking it off whenever he would see her bare neck and shoulders…except tonight.

"Oh…um…well…" Raven turned away slightly as she walked, pulling the jacket tighter over her skin, her face practically burning. Her mind raced, not sure why she was acting this way. After all, she is going to spend the rest of her life with him…and she needed to be honest and open with him…even if it meant the most embarrassing things. Finally she sighed, and turned back reaching in and pulling on the small golden chain. Beast Boy watched as the long chain pulled out and finally revealed a small trinket at the end. At first he didn't recognize what it was…that is until he saw the little copper president on one side.

"A penny?"

"It's not just any penny you dummy…" Raven held the small coin in her hands, stroking it softly in her palm. Her eyes stared into it deeply as if suffering an immense pain…only to be soothed by this small object. "Don't you remember? It's the penny you…"

"The penny I gave you for luck the day the world ended…the day Tri-…" He stopped, since that horrible day neither of them dared speak her father's name. "…the day he came…" Raven nodded and smiled, her eyes never leaving the penny as she closed it in both hands and held it to her heart. "I thought…I mean, I saw you drop it on the alter."

"I…did. But…I couldn't leave it there." She leaned into him as they walked, opening her hands once again to show him the charred and stained copper. "At first it was just to remind me of my friends…but…after we got together, it meant so much more. I mean, I always thought it was sweet of you but…" Again, Raven turned a bright red and let the coin hang. "Sounds silly doesn't it?"

"Not at all…I'm glad you kept it." Beast Boy held her closer, the sidewalk slowly passing them by beneath their feet. Then…he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes bulged out wide as he stared forward at the figure standing under the street light before them. It took Rave a few steps to realize her arm wasn't moving, still locked with his.

"Hun? What's wrong?" She shook him once, the look on his face making her quite nervous. He was stiff, not showing any response to her at all.

"Hello Beast Boy…Raven." Raven gasped slightly at the sudden voice in front of them, her having not noticed the dark figure. She didn't need to wait for it to walk into the light to know who it was, the voice was evidence enough. It had been so long…so very long…but she would never have forgotten her.

"Hello…Terra."

Wow, I know it took a bit for this one to get posted but I had a rough week, not to mention this one gave me trouble, going through several revisions and plot turns before the final version. It's short I know, but I'm happy with the ending, hope you are. For those hoping to see more Batman crossover action, don't worry, ol' Batsy will be back, as well as Bruce…with a bigger part than you would expect…ACK NO! I'VE SAID TOO MUCH! NO MORE, NO MORE!

Ansa