AN: Nope, no ownership yet… deal with it

Feelings Stengthen

Control Freak laughed menacingly, or as menacingly as the poor guy could. "Tremble in fear, mortals!" he yelled out to the sky. "At last, Control Freak has the control!" He held up a large remote with many buttons.

"Yeah, crowd control," said Beast Boy, noticing the lack of people in the general area as the five arrived.

"Hello Titans!" he said in an excited squeal. "Do you wanna see what my new remote can do?" He pointed it at the five Titans and pressed the rewind button. Suddenly all five began moving backwards in the exact steps they had taken. He then pressed play and they were running towards him again.

"Yeah, crowd control," said Beast Boy. He then stopped and shook his head. "Whoa! De ja vu."

Control Freak laughed and said, "There's no way you can win now! I control your every move!"

"Titans, get that remote," ordered Robin, and the five took off.

Cyborg went charging at the large, still acne covered young man and attempted to knock the remote out of his hand. Control Freak smirked and pushed the pause button. Cyborg stopped where he was, in mid attack yell. Control freak tossed the remote in the air casually and caught it.

Suddenly he felt starbolts bombarding him and he gave a slight scream. He looked up and saw Starfire flying about and ready to fly in and attack again. He raised his remote to her and pressed the rewind button. She flew backwards and he waited until she was back on the ground to push pause.

"You Titans can do nothing now that I control your every move!" laughed Control Freak.

"I wouldn't count on it, Control Freak," said Robin, attacking him with his bow-staff.

Control Freak yawned and stepped out of the way. He then pushed fast forward and watched as Robin kicked and punched and fought in hyper speed, only without Control Freak there, so he was attacking air. After a few seconds, he pushed play and Robin fell to his knees, gasping for air he was so tired.

"You see? Not even you can stop me now!" he said as he pushed pause on Robin, so that he could no longer move.

"And what about me?" asked Beast Boy, cracking his knuckles.

"I've got a special button for you," said Control Freak as he pressed a button on his remote.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to say, "And what's it gonna do?" but he found that no sound came out of his mouth. He had been muted! He gave a silent scream and held his throat, wondering where his voice went. Control Freak began laughing and this only angered Beast Boy. He growled, turned into a raptor, and went after the fat, greasy man.

But every time he took a step forward, Control Freak would press the stop button, and Beast Boy would come to a halt. He would try moving again, but would be stopped a second later. This was all getting quite frustrating.

"And freeze!" said Control Freak, as he pushed pause and stopped Beast Boy where he stood. "Yes, I am the victor! I'm the coolest! I'm the…"

"Biggest loser to ever walk the Earth?" said Raven. "Yes, I'd agree with that."

Control Freak turned and smirked when he saw her. "Oh, it's only you?" he laughed. "I didn't even know you were back. Well, pick a pose, cuz you're gonna be stuck in it forever!" He began laughing idiotically again and Raven rolled her eyes.

Suddenly the remote in Control Freak's hand flew out of it and went over to Raven. She grabbed it and looked at him with her own smirk. "Now, if you had actually acted before speaking, I wouldn't have been able to do that."

"Hey, no fair!" cried Control Freak. "You cheated!"

Raven smirked and pressed on of the buttons on the remote. Control Freak's voice disappeared and he was silent. He grew quite upset and attempted to scream at her, but nothing came out.

While he was ranting and raving Raven released her teammates from their paused states. They each felt rather stiff and began to stretch. Raven then turned back to Control Freak and pressed another button.

"¡Ustedes verán que soy un genio!," he screamed at them, then covered his mouth. "¡Ah! ¡Hablo en español!"

Raven was feeling quite entertained with this little device. She pressed another button and watched as Control Freak began moving at super speed. She stopped it and he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. She then pushed the rewind and he moved backwards to where he was yelling in Spanish.

"¡Párelo!" Control Freak screamed.

Raven chuckled to herself and knew she had to stop. She pushed pause and went over to her friends. "Here you go," she said, giving the remote to Robin. "Have fun."

"Ooh, can I have a turn!" said Beast Boy, trying to get it away from Robin.

"No, we're going to lock this thing away, as well the remote," said Robin. "Cyborg, cuff him."

"On it," said Cyborg, placing the frozen Control Freak in handcuffs.

"How does he get such technology?" asked Starfire.

"Who knows," said Robin.

"Well, at least he's not getting any smarter," Beast Boy chuckled. "He totally forgot we had Raven." He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her close. "He didn't even see you coming."

"Well, this is the first time I've fought him since I've returned," said Raven. "Poor guy probably worked on that remote for months."

"Don't tell me you feel sorry for him," said Robin.

"Not sorry," said Raven. "Just pity. Now let's go home."

"Are you gonna cook lunch?" asked Beast Boy, excitedly.

"Beast Boy, you're running me ragged!" laughed Raven. "Can't I just cook once a day?"

"But I love your food!" said Beast Boy.

"Oh, yes, as do I," said Starfire clapping. "I would very much enjoy if you made us the lunch."

"I'm starting to regret that I learned to cook," Raven sighed. "I'll tell you what, if you let me take a break from making lunch, I'll make you dinner and dessert. Does that sound fair?"

"What kinda dessert?" asked Beast Boy.

Raven sighed, rolled her eyes, and said, "Any dessert you want."

"Gravy covered chocolate cookies, please!" said Starfire, clapping.

"No, cherry pie!" said Cyborg as he carried the paused Control Freak above his head.

"I like your apple crisp," said Robin, who couldn't deny that he was addicted to Ravens cooking as well.

"No, you gotta make that chocolate cake pudding thing again," said Beast Boy.

Soon all four were in a deep discussion over what Raven could cook. Raven already felt exhausted just from hearing their orders, so she chose to fly back to the tower. She would have to have a quick lunch and then get to work. Not that she minded at all. She loved to cook and she loved to make her friends happy.

The others came home after locking Control Freak up and found that Raven had prepared a small lunch for them and was now busy in the kitchen preparing dinner. She was now out of her uniform and wore a pair of jeans and a black blouse, with the apron on of course. They couldn't believe how happy she was now. Every day she smiled and cooked and genuinely seemed to be enjoying life. She didn't even need to meditate anymore, for cooking was her new way to center her mind.

And it was very rare that Beast Boy wasn't there watching, talking, or helping her. He was always as close to her as possible, but not close enough to make the others notice. But Raven certainly noticed, and she liked him there. He was very curious always asked when she was doing. She had learned many cooking techniques from her grandmother and was always eager to practice them.

She went to her grandparents every weekend now. This, of course, made Beast Boy rather unhappy, but he had learned to let it go. As long as she was happy he could deal with it. But it wasn't her grandparents that concerned him now. It was this Paul fellow. Evidently she hung out with him every time she went to Gotham. He would constantly ask her what they did when they 'hung out', but she would tell him that it was nothing she didn't do with him. That wasn't exactly the answer he was hoping for.

After dinner that night Raven was exhausted. They were all sprawled out on the couch, watching television. Everyone was full and happy and thanked Raven a dozen times. She was beaming with pride, but only for a little while. It wasn't long before she had passed out on the couch, leaning on Beast Boy.

"Please, should we wake her?" asked Starfire in a quiet voice.

"Naw, she deserves to sleep," said Cyborg.

"But we can not leave her here on the couch," said Starfire.

"Someone can bring her to her bedroom," said Robin.

"I'll do it," said Beast Boy. "She's practically sleeping on me anyway." He moved her a little bit and then scooped her up. "Be back," he said and headed off to her room.

Beast Boy couldn't help absolutely loving this moment. He was carrying a sleeping Raven to her room. And as he walked he could have sworn that she snuggled up to him. He wondered if there was any way that she could possible like him like he liked her. She seemed to enjoy his company, and that was a large improvement to how they used to interact a few years ago.

He reached her room and eventually figured out how to slide her door open. It looked far different than it had a few years ago. No longer was it dark and dreary upon a midnight weary. Now it was a little more normal and it really matched her new personality. He liked it.

He gently lay her down on her bed and made sure she was comfortable. As he did she let out a sigh and her eyes fluttered. "What's going on?" she asked, still half asleep.

"You fell asleep on the couch, so I brought you to your room," said Beast Boy.

"Thanks," said Raven, turning on her side and snuggling into her pillow.

"No problem," said Beast Boy, smiling. "Now go back to sleep."

"Okay," said Raven, smiling softly. "But wake me up before you go to bed."

"Why?" asked Beast Boy.

"So we can have our goodnight chat," said Raven. "I know you can't go to sleep until we talk."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna wake you," said Beast Boy.

"Well, if we don't talk then I'll wake up in the middle of the night and be restless," said Raven.

"Really?" asked Beast Boy. Raven smiled and nodded. Beast Boy smiled, then leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be back in a couple hours then."

"Okay," said Raven, closing her eyes and sighing.

He quietly made his way out of her room and closed her door behind him. She couldn't help smiling very widely. He had given her a kiss. And it felt far better than the ones Paul gave her on the cheek. She really couldn't wait until he went to bed so she could see him again.

She had found lately that she really did have strong feelings for him, and they certainly went beyond friendship feelings. She could deny it no longer; she had a crush on her friend and teammate Beast Boy. And she had a funny feeling that he had a crush on her as well. She just hoped he would do something soon, for she was starting to feel quite impatient.

Beast Boy practically skipped back to the common room. He couldn't believe he had actually done it. He had kissed her. It was only on the forehead, but still. And she didn't seem shocked or upset or anything. She looked like she had liked it. And it had felt quite natural. Could she have feelings for him? Was that why she liked talking to him so much? At the moment, he still wasn't sure, but everything was pointing to her liking him.

He made it back to the common room and quickly made sure to look normal again. He really didn't need his friends to see him all happy with a dreamy look on his face. He composed himself then took a seat on the couch.

"Did she sleep all the way?" asked Cyborg.

"No, she woke up when I put her on her bed, but then fell right back to sleep," said Beast Boy.

"I can't believe she didn't yell at you for going in her room," said Robin.

"I think she was too tired," Beast Boy chuckled. Good, they still had no clue.