About a week later …
It was early in the morning and the T-Car hummed its way down the highway through the forest. The car's powerful engine made a deep rumble, warning others that this was no ordinary car. The Tin Man knew that the his ride would disturb the otherworldly serenity at the Abbey, but he also knew that Raven would object to Mark riding back to the Tower on Cyborg's silent and abbey approved electric motorcycle.
He turned off the highway, down the familiar dirt road that lead to Raven's little castle. As he drew near he did a double take. Mark was dressed in civvies, which made sense as he wouldn't be allowed to enter the Happiest Place on Earth during their visit tomorrow wearing a habit. What caught his eye was that Raven was standing next to him, dressed in her old leotard and cape, with a small suitcase next to her. Cyborg pulled up and and got out of the car.
"Ready to go, Mark?"
"Sure thing, Uncle Vic. Mom's coming too."
He smiled at Raven. "Well alright! Hop on in and we'll get going." He said gleefully as he picked up the suitcase and placed it in the car's trunk.
The ride out was quiet at first. As soon as they were on the highway, Cyborg broke the silence.
"So, Rae, what made you decide to come? Not that I don't want you to come, I'm just a little surprised."
"I thought that it would be a good idea to watch the old home videos with Mark." She deadpanned.
Cyborg arched his human eyebrow at her response. He then focused on Mark.
"Hey slugger, you ever eat pizza at your mom's resort?"
"What's pizza?"
"Say what!? You don't know what pizza is? Well, you're in for a treat. Do you know what root beer is?"
The boy shook his head.
"Coca Cola?"
Again, Mark shook his head.
"Waffles? Potato chips? Hamburgers? Hot Dogs? Pan cakes?"
"I know what pan cakes are? Sarah makes them."
"And Sarah is one of your mom's nuns, right?"
"They aren't 'my nuns'." She interjected.
"Well, you're gonna get to try all of them at the Tower and ..."
"Mark is a vegetarian." Raven interrupted.
"Just like his old man." Cyborg grinned.
"And just like his mother." Raven added.
"I still can't believe that B was able to talk you into giving up meat."
"Who's B?" Mark asked.
"Your dad. I used to call him B sometimes, it's short for Beastie."
"What did my father call you?"
Vic chuckled. "Oh, he had a whole bunch of nicknames for me: tin man, bucket head ..."
"Those don't sound very nice."
"Aw, it was all in good fun. Friends like to trash talk each other."
"Why?"
Raven was barely able to conceal the smirk forming on her face. She couldn't wait to hear Cyborg's explanation.
"Well … it shows that you're comfortable with each other, that you won't take it seriously, because … you know … you're close, you're best buds."
"So, because you and dad were best friends, you'd tease each other."
"Exactly."
The young boy appeared to process what he had heard. Vic had learned over the years that while Mark looked a lot like his father and even had a few of Garfield's personality traits, he also knew that the brain inside his head was courtesy of his mother. Gar was not a dimwit, far from it; but Raven was a bona fide genius. At that moment he decided to change the subject.
"So, you wanna see what your dad looked like when he was 14? I have videos."
"I've never seen a video. We don't have TV's at the abbey."
"Well, you're gonna love them. Your dad was one cool dude."
-(-)-
A while later, in the common room …
Mark was seated on the circular couch, between his mother and Mar'i. Vic plopped a few white cardboard boxes on the coffee table.
"Go ahead and dig in, I'll get some sodas ..."
"Just water for us, please." Raven interrupted.
Mar'i opened one of the pizzas boxes. Mark stared at the disk like object it contained.
"Is that a pizza?"
The young girl picked up a slice, placed it on a paper plate and handed it to him. "It's vegetarian pizza, I think it was your dad's favorite, at least that's what my mom says."
Mark took a bite and his eyes widened. He devoured the slice with haste and greed. "Can I have another one?"
"You can have all you desire." Starfire shouted from the kitchen.
Mar'i handed a plate to Raven and then refilled Mark's plate, after which she helped herself to a slice from another box.
"That one looks different."
"It's a meat lovers. It has sausage, pepperoni, salami and bacon. You want to try it?"
It smelled wonderful. "I've never eaten meat before."
"There's always a first time."
He looked at his mother, who to his immense surprise nodded very subtly.
"Sure, I'll try one."
Cyborg came back with a 2 liter bottle of sparkling water and two glasses, which he placed before his guests.
"How about we watch some of those videos?" He asked as he grabbed the remote from the table and turned on the TV.
Mark stared in amazement as the picture formed on the screen. A much younger Raven was giggling, and she spoke to a teen he immediately recognized as his father from the photo album his mother kept.
"You're funny."
"Mom, you were … so young."
Raven nodded. "I was."
Soon the pizza was gone. Everyone was seated on the couch as they continued to watch video after video. At first Raven was amazed that Cyborg had such as huge library of recordings of the team from those days, but in hindsight it made sense, one of his eyes was digital. They continued to watch, and soon it was the scene in Tokyo where they were awarded medals for saving the city. The camera focused on Beast Boy.
"Next time, let's go to Mexico!"
Raven grabbed the remote and paused the playback.
Mark gave her a bewildered look. "Mom, why did you stop it?"
She stared at the screen, and a tear dripped down her cheek.
"Because you're about to see me do something I've regretted my whole life, which makes me feel great shame."
Mark noticed that the other adults had understanding looks on their faces.
"What did you do?"
"I'll … let you see it, but please understand that back then I was still under my father's influence and what you're about to see doesn't mean that I didn't love your father, the truth is that I was already in love with him back then. I just couldn't express it, and instead chose to behave like an idiot."
Raven fingered the remote in her hands, hesitating before pressing the play button. The video resumed and Mark some the infamous scene where his mother slapped his father in front of the whole world.
"You hit dad."
Raven nodded.
He looked at her, and his eyes widened.
"This is why you wanted to come."
She nodded again, wiping more tears away.
"Mark, will you forgive me for hitting your father?"
The boy snuggled up to his mother and hugged her. "Sure, plus I think dad already forgave you. I mean, he did marry you."
Raven hugged him back. "I wish he was here, so you could see how wonderful he is."
They continued to watch. There were videos of them going out on their first date, another when Garfield was finally taller than her, one of her healing a broken arm for him. There was a video that was clearly taken using a telescopic lens, of them kissing on the shore.
"Victor, you were spying on us!" She threw a quick glare at him.
"Can you blame me?" He grinned.
Raven looked back at the screen, where she continued to share a tender kiss with her long dead mate.
"No … I guess not … thank you, for saving this memory for me."
The videos continued all the way up to the wedding, which Mark watched with great interest. He heard both his mother and his Aunt Starfire sniffle more than once. Once the wedding video was over Raven cleared her throat.
"It's a little late for us, and I know we're leaving early tomorrow for Disneyland. We should go to bed now."
"Sure thing, I prepared your old room and put in a bed for Mark. But before you go to bed, I have one more video to show you. This is for you, Mark."
Cyborg pressed a button and Garfield appeared on the screen.
"So, is this recording?"
"It's recording, B" Cyborg's voice replied.
The changeling sat on the couch facing the camera. He cleared his voice.
"Hi Mark, I'm your dad. You haven't been born yet, in fact you're not even on the way yet; but your mom and I chose this name for you ahead of time. I'm making this video just in case something happens to me and I'm not … alive anymore. Which is too bad, as I'd love to be with you right now, because even though I haven't met you, I just know you're totally awesome. How could you be anything else?
Gar smiled on the screen.
"I know that I'm probably a stranger to you and it must seem like I'm far, far away, and you don't know me. I'm sorry about that, if it was up to me, I'd be with you right now."
He paused.
"Even though we've never met, know that I love you. Good bye, my son. Kiss your mother for me."
The recording ended. Raven appeared to be stunned.
"I had no idea he ever made that. Victor, when was this recorded?"
"About a year after your wedding."
She turned to her son. "Mark, are you OK?"
He leaned over and kissed his mother on the cheek.
"That's from Father."