Metallic footsteps echoed down the hallway. The two Slade-bots stared stoically forward, seemingly uninterested in the unconscious woman they were dragging by her feet across the smooth concrete floor. Alexa, her mind in a daze, stared at ceiling above, as if in at trance, breathing slowly.

The droids stopped and she heard a loud clunk. The robots then lifted by her armpits, dragged into the cell and threw her face down onto her cot. She tried to move, but her muscles refused to obey her. She once again heard the clunk of the door's lock. She quickly assessed her situation.

I'm in shock. I need to calm down.

The water boarding was terrifying. Alexa more than once felt that she was about to asphyxiate. It was amazing that a water logged towel could be such an effect instrument of torture. For the first time in her life she experienced the fear and terror of death. It didn't matter that in her intellect she knew that Slade would not kill her, as she would take the password to her grave if he did. But she learned and experienced firsthand that survival instinct will always trump intellect.

Gradually, as the psychological trauma wore off and her limbs began to obey her again and she slowly and uneasily sat up in her bed. Her body began to tremble uncontrollably and she began to weep. Her intellect began to reassert its control and a terrible realization fell upon her. Slade knew what he was doing and she had incurred no physical harm. Of all of the torture techniques he had available to him, water boarding was the most benign, and since it had not worked he would be upping the ante. She saw the scalpels on the table. Would Slade use them to disfigure her? Or would he perhaps burn her with red hot iron?

She tried to use some calming techniques she learned in her yoga class, but they were useless given the situation. She remembered Slade's ominous warning: the torture would escalate to a level where she would eventually beg for death. He was going to break her at some point, and she would give him the password. It was inevitable.

This left her with two choices. She could just give Slade the password now and hope that he wouldn't kill her. It crossed her mind that he wouldn't have to do that … he could just toss her out, Luthor would find her and she would meet a grisly end at the hands of his henchwoman, Mercy. It would square perfectly with Slade's twisted and distorted sense of morality. He would keep his word about not killing her, and yet she would die. The thought of quickly surrendering to the Titans crossed her mind, but she would have to somehow contact them before Luthor found her. It was a big risk, and the consequences were dire if she failed.

There was another option. One that was also fraught with risk.

She closed her eyes and remembered when she first met Garfield at orientation day at Colorado State, when they were freshman. It was hard to not notice him. She was already in the auditorium, where all the new students were congregating, waiting for orientation to begin. Three chiseled young men were with her, no doubt attracted to her stunning beauty, telling her that they were on the football team and she flirted shamelessly with the trio, a skill in which she held the rank of Grand Master. That was when Garfield arrived. She recalled that he was wearing that goofy superhero costume of his, the black and purple one. One of the football players noticed the changeling who was quickly mobbed by the rest of the students assembled in the room.

"Hey, is that Beast Boy? Isn't he one of those Teen Titans from California?"

"Yeah, I heard he was coming here." The second player remarked.

"Pfft, what a freak." The third one interjected. "Did I ever tell you that I once met Robin? I was a kid in Gotham and he came to our school to lecture us about drugs. Can you believe that?"

"All those super heroes are freaks are losers."

Alexa cleared her throat. "Have you ever heard of Starfire?"

The third player grinned. "I sure have. She's a babe, totally hot, even if she is an alien, which makes her a freak."

Alexa stood up and walked towards Beast Boy, leaving the jocks behind. "She's Robin's girlfriend … so who's the loser?"

The three athletes frowned as Alexa pushed her way into the crowd. The throng was thick and it took her some time to get through. As she did she heard one of the female students, a short, mousy and slightly overweight girl with greasy hair and thick glasses speak to the changeling.

"I'm a big fan! Can I have your autograph? Are you retiring from the superhero business? "

Alexa raised an eyebrow as she saw the changeling give the Plain Jane a genuinely warm smile. The girl almost melted in her shoes as he took her spiral notebook.

"What's your name, babe?"

The girl blushed. He called her 'babe'. "Mariah … my name's Mariah." She stammered.

He pulled out a pen and scribbled a dedication to the girl on the notebooks cover. "To Mariah, Best Wishes and Good Luck at CSU, Your Friend, Gar Logan/Beast Boy."

She took the notebook reverently, as if it were a holy relic..

"Thank you."

"As for your question, no, I'm not retiring, just taking an extended break to study biology and zoology."

By this point Alexa had pushed her way in and extended her hand to Garfield.

"Hi, I'm also majoring in biology."

"You are? Cool!" He replied enthusiastically as he shook her hand. "You can call me Gar, that's what I want everyone to call me. I won't be wearing any spandex once school starts, I'm just going to be an ordinary student, so don't call me Beast Boy."

"Sure Gar, I'm looking forward to seeing you in class, though I have to say, there's nothing ordinary about you."

One of the football players grabbed Alexa by the wrist. "Why are you flirting with him? He's a freak."

"Let go." She snarled at him.

"You aren't dissing us for that green loser."

The changeling stepped forward and firmly grabbed the jock's arm. The man's eyed opened wide in shock at the pincer like grip he felt.

"The lady said 'let go'." Beast Boy growled.

"Back off punk, this is none of your business."

The football player suddenly gasped when a huge green gorilla appeared before him and snorted. Its eyes looked feral and it towered above him. The young man felt a shiver of pure fear run down his spine. He released Alexa and backed off.

"You're still a green freak." He shouted as he retreated to the far side of the auditorium.

Beast Boy reverted to his human form and smiled at Alexa while the crowd cheered.

Alexa never forgot that day. Gar would always be Beast Boy, a superhero. And superheroes always rescued people, especially friends.

And that was her second choice. Tough it out until the Titans rescued her. She would ask for their protection and they would grant it. If she played her cards right, she might get to stay in the Tower … permanently.

Of course, that assumed that she wouldn't break first.

Suddenly, a third option occurred to her.

She ran to the door and began to bang it.

"Slade! I want to talk with you!" She continued pounding on the door.

"I'll give you the password!"

-( - )-

It took everything Cyborg could muster to not grind his teeth.

"You're still using these circuits? What is this? 1990?" Gizmo snarked as he tossed aside yet another circuit board he pulled from the telecom rack.

"Those circuits can withstand all kinds of radiation. They use them in satellites for a reason."

"Well, duh, sludge head! But we aren't in orbit, in case you haven't noticed. Don't you ever update your tech? I remember some of this stuff from when we took the Tower from you, and it was out of date back then."

"If there ever is an electromagnetic pulse, I want my communication array to still work."

"There's newer stuff that can withstand an EP blast."

"Not as well as these circuits." Cyborg seethed.

Gizmo snorted in derision. "Well, in that case, why don't you just use smoke signals or wave flags?"

"Now you're just being silly."

Gizmo pulled another circuit board out of the rack and shook his head. "Whatever, booger brain. All I know is that we won't be able to trace Slade with this ancient junk."

Gizmo pulled out a notepad and began scribbling on it. He tore the sheet from the pad and handed it to Cyborg, who frowned as he took it. Gizmo began to pack his tools.

"What's this?"

"It's a shopping list, sludge head. Call me when you have everything on that list."

Cyborg quickly scanned the sheet of paper. "I'll have everything late this afternoon."

Gizmo looked at his watch. "Alright, it's lunchtime."

"I said no ribs until you're done."

"No fair! I can't finish until I have the parts. What am I supposed to do for lunch?"

"Let's see … oh! I remember! I don't care what you have for lunch."

Gizmo kicked one the circuit boards on the floor. "It wouldn't kill you guys to show some gratitude. And you never thanked me for getting those viruses out of your personal circuits when Beast Dweeb infected you with the mega monkeys virus."

"That's because it was BB who wiped them out, not you."

Gizmo resumed grumbling. "Fine, I'll go to Burger King. You Titans are a bunch of tightwads. And I'll bet your ribs suck."

"OK, fine, you can have some ribs."

Gizmo brightened. "Really?"

"No, not really … see you this afternoon, enjoy your Whopper."

Gizmo left the tech room just as Raven came in carrying Coraline. Gizmo stopped to look at the infant. With a sneer on his face he spoke to her.

"So it's true, you and Beast Boob are married. Who would have thought you'd set your sights so low? Talk about settling for less. At least your baby isn't green."

She frowned at him. "Would you like to see my hydras again?"

The fat midget gulped. He remembered well the day when Raven forced him into getting the computer virus out of Cyborg. To this day he wasn't sure if it was an illusion or if those really were snakes growing out of her head. All he knew is that it was the scariest thing he ever saw in his life.

"No thanks, once was enough … I'll be back later."

Once Gizmo scurried out the door, Cyborg smiled at his 'little sister'. "So what brings you down to the basement?"

"I just wanted to make sure he wasn't driving you batty."

"Too late, he already did."

She sat down next to him. "You know, I miss the old days."

He nodded. "Me too. We had some good times in the shop."

She chuckled. "I must be the only witch in the whole world who can take a transmission apart and overhaul it."

He grinned at her. "You were pretty good at that. When you were done it always purred like a kitten. And for the record, you aren't a witch."

"It sounds better than demoness."

"Don't say that …you know what you really are?"

"I'm afraid to ask."

He laughed. "You're a momma."

"I guess I am. I'm also a wife."

"Yes, you are. And you're the best damn thing that happened to B. He has no idea of how lucky his is."

"I think he does."

Cyborg nodded his head as he began to pick up the discarded circuit boards.

"Don't let Gizmo get to you. He's … an asshole … he can't help it." She continued.

"I guess that's one way of looking at it. I just wish he wasn't so damned good at tech." He complained.

"I understand … I hate depending on him for help at this time."

They fell silent for a moment, while he wrapped the boards in antistatic bags and stored them in a box. When he was done he turned to his gray friend.

"Hey Raven, I need some advice."

She arched an eyebrow. "Sure, what is it?"

He nervously scratched his chin. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"You know that I will keep whatever you tell me in the utmost confidence. I won't even tell Gar."

"Good … anyway … I'm thinking of asking Karen to marry me."

"Victor … that's wonderful!"

"You really think so? You don't think I'm making a mistake?"

Raven locked eyes with her friend. "Have you forgiven her? What she did to you, I know that had to hurt."

He nodded. "Yeah, I have."

"Are you sure? I know she is truly sorry for what she did, when she cheated on you, and I know she is completely devoted to you now. But only you know if you've really put that behind you."

"I'm sure."

"Victor … there are some people who will think that you are making a mistake, that you shouldn't trust her. Don't listen to them. I know a lot of people were convinced that Gar was crazy to marry me …"

"You think so? Cuz I never heard anyone say that. Everyone thinks you guys are a perfect couple. Heck, you guys don't even fight or anything, it's like your marriage is made in heaven."

She smiled. "Oh, he can still drive me crazy. Every once in a while that green trickster he used to be comes out of the woodwork. And while I actually like it when he does that, sometimes he gets carried away."

"What did he do?"

"Well, for starters, he bought a huge book with corny jokes in it and he reads them to me."

"I'm sorry I asked … so you think my head is screwed on straight, that I'm not crazy for asking a girl who cheated on me once to marry me?"

"If she hadn't changed, then yes, you would be crazy. Victor, the burden of the guilt she feels is very real, I can sense it with my empathy. If you ask her to marry you, she'll know without a doubt that you've forgiven her. You have no idea how happy and relieved she'll be."

"Yeah … I kinda had that figured out … and I know Aqualad and Arsenal will think I'm nuts."

"Do you really care what they think?"

"I know, I shouldn't worry about what they think. It doesn't matter because what I really want is to spend the rest of my life with her."

One of her small smiles appeared on her face. "I presume you already have a ring ready." She asked in her monotone.

"Yeah … I do."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"I have to order some parts first."

She snatched the list from him. "Leave that to me … now go get her, Tiger."

-( - )-

He looked for her everywhere in the Tower. She wasn't in their room. He tried the gym next, then her office. He crossed paths with Wonder Girl whose only reply was that she hadn't seen Bumblebee anywhere. Jinx hadn't seen her either. Finally, he went outside, wondering where she might be.

He found her in an unexpected place. She was at "Terra's Rock", skipping stones into the water. She noticed him approach and stopped throwing stones.

"I didn't know you'd come out here." He remarked off handedly.

"Yeah, sometimes I come here to think. It's also a great place to skip stones, which always helps with thinking."

"BB and Terra used to hang out here a lot."

"Raven never liked her, did she?"

"Can you blame the girl? … So … what are you thinking about?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, you know, stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"You and me stuff."

"I've been thinking about that too. So why don't you tell me what exactly you've been thinking about?"

She picked up a stone and with a perfect motion she threw it into the bay, where it skipped several times.

"I've been thinking about my cheat."

"Karen, why are you dwelling on that? It was a long time ago."

"It was … but I hurt you, and … I thought I had put it behind me, but now I'm not so sure."

"I don't understand … I thought we both agreed that was a mistake and that it's in the past. Why is this coming up all of a sudden?"

She gestured to him to sit down, and she sat next to him.

"Sparky … I … was thinking about asking you to marry me."

"Uh … you make that sound like it's past tense."

She began to fidget with her fingers.

"Well, yeah … you see, something happened … I was out shopping at the grocery store, and I ran into Raymond."

"Raymond?"

"You know …"

"Oh … him."

"Yeah … him. If found out he's married. He was with his wife and two kids at the store. When he introduced me to his wife, Stacey, he said I was an 'old friend'. Oh, Sparky … talk about naïve. This woman has no idea of what kind of player her husband was, and probably still is."

"So you buttoned your lip, huh?"

"Yeah, I kind of figured that it wasn't my place to say anything. Anyway, they just moved to Jump from Steele City. Bumping into him like that … it was so awkward, and it threw me off. So I was trying to keep a straight face while I pretended to be an 'old friend' for his wife's sake. This woman has no idea that her husband used me, without any regard for my feelings, to satisfy himself. That he talked me out of a good relationship I had with you, pretending that he wanted one with me, and he lied to me, promising me the world if I dumped you."

She sighed. "Seeing him dredged up a lot of feelings in me … bad feelings. I felt anger … hatred towards him. I quickly excused myself before my façade cracked, which almost happened. I abandoned my shopping cart in the next aisle and left the store, fleeing as if I was running away … who am I kidding, I was running away. I felt sick and angry, and not just with him. I was angry with myself, for letting him fool me and for fooling myself."

She sniffled. "It reminded me of how unworthy I am of you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! We've talked about this already. I thought we agreed that we were both over it. It's in the past. That from now on we're only looking forward."

"I know … I guess seeing him after all these years, it just brought everything back. All the regret, the guilt, the self loathing were there again."

"You know that I've forgiven you. And you know that I trust you. I know you'll never do it again."

"Oh Sparky … do you really believe all that? Do you really have that much faith in me?"

"Of course I do. You think I'm not serious?" He growled.

"No, I didn't mean that. It's just that I find it hard to believe anyone could forgive a betrayal like that."

"Well, I do. And I have some proof."

He dropped down onto a knee and pulled out the ring box from a compartment in his arm. He opened it and showed it to her.

"This is how serious I am."

Karen stared mesmerized at the diamond solitaire. It was a two caret stone, flawless and dazzling.

"Sparky … no."

"What? You're turning me down!?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

Her eyes were moist with tears. "After all I put you through, I should be the one on my knees asking … no … begging you to marry me."

He removed the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. "I'll take that as a yes."

He stood up and buzzing her wings she levitated until they were eye to eye.

"Only if you promise me one thing." She replied as she admired the ring on her finger.

"For you, babe, anything."

"Promise that you'll never take any crap from me."

"That's an unusual vow … but … you got it." He smiled.

"And I promise to forsake all others and to be with you until the end of my days." She replied.

"Right back at'cha." He whispered as he pulled her into a kiss.

-( - )-

I thought that CyBee deserved some fluff time.

If any of you saw the book club episode, you got to see what our heroes (except for Raven) looked like in the 1980's comics. I love comic book Starfire, her hair is so big and wild and she is quite stacked as well. Plus she's a real sweetie too. And she speaks correctly in English too.

And now, it's mailbag time. We passed the 1300 review mark. You guys are great. Also, there is going to be a nice surprise that I think all of you will like a lot at the end of the story.

Shadico – I have to admit, it was a case of misdirect with Gizmo, though he was wearing his goggles.

Guest – You got the 1300th review!

Soulsurfer2112 – Alexa is complicated. She is always looking out for herself.

Ravenandthefire – He sure is.

EnriqueIglesias – Thanks!

Bluedog197 – To this day I wonder two things: How did Raven ruin the pancakes like that and why did Starfire like them?

chica13 – Maybe she's bipolar?

Lover of A Good Story – That seems to be a popular sentiment these days.

BartWLewis – I was very surprised when I first encountered Gizmo in the comics. In "Beast Boys and Girls" BB catches him by morphing into a poisonous snake and biting him, telling Gizmo that to get the antidote he would have to surrender.

mlbv-grimm – Don't we all?

SuperNolon – Rose is a tough cookie.

acosta perez jose Ramiro – I was inspired by BB getting fat in the future in the episode "How Long Is Forever"

titanfan45 – I hate to admit it, but I like TV Gizmo and his attitude.

The Cretin – I wonder how good Cyborg's French Toast is?

Shadowyshadow – I think it adds color to the story.

Hairul The Nightrage Beast – Sivana is usually portrayed as a joke. I believe that he coined the phrase "Curses, foiled again!". If Alexa was a whore, she'd be one of those super expensive call girls that caters only to millionaires.

krostovikraven1 – Rose is a great character and was really developed during the Geoff Johns years.

Me – I will do my best!

Just a Reviewer – Star was just teasing him … and letting him know who's boss!

DeeThom – BB is still his errand boy.

jovanchin2013 – That could happen.

Dragonkyng – An interesting theory.

GreenMongoose – It's obvious that Raven loves Mark more than Alexa does.