"Where's BB?"
Sometime later, Batman returned with a service cart; one containing a K-Cup brewer and several cups filled with cocoa. As he handed each of them to everyone, the caped crusader saw that the Titans were on the verge of a breakdown. Commissioner Gordon did everything he could to help keep them calm but to no avail.
"I'm glad you're back" he sighed with relief upon seeing Batman re-enter the room, "we best continue the story before one of these kids falls apart on us." As if on cue, a water cooler in the hallway was suddenly enveloped in a strange black aura. Then, seconds later; it exploded, causing water to fly about everywhere.
Naturally, the officers within the "splash zone" were the first to be doused. Among them was Harvey Bullock, who already appeared on the verge of losing it due to work-related stress. "Hey, tell that damn witch in there to ease up on the hocus pocus" he shouted towards the briefing room, "she's lucky it was just water that hit us and not coffee."
Upon hearing this, Raven growled loudly and her eyes suddenly turned blood red; which caused the Titans to suddenly tense up with fear. Without hesitation, they immediately tried to calm her down...but she wouldn't listen. "Back off" she roared with a demonic voice, "I've been looking for an excuse to vent my anger, after everything that's happened!"
After that, she raised her arm from out of her cloak and was poised to summon a black tendril to attack the officer. But then, Robin made one last attempt to get through to her by saying something he knew she would listen to. "We know you're angry, Rae" sighed the Boy Wonder, "but...is this what he would've wanted to see you doing, hurting jerks like Bullock?"
As expected, the aforementioned officer overheard his comment and proceeded to let out some rather...obscene words at him and the team. But Robin didn't listen; he simply kept his focus on Raven, hoping that what he said would bring the empath back to her senses. For a moment or two, all was silent; as the two Titans suddenly fell into a very tense stare-down.
Eventually, the glow in Raven's eyes swiftly faded away; before tears suddenly started forming in them. Then, much to the surprise of her teammates, she threw herself into Robin's arms and sobbed loudly. "Why him" she asked in a muffled voice while crying into her friend's shoulder, "he did nothing to that clown, why did they have to take him from us?!"
Even without his detective skills, it didn't take long for Batman to realize who the "he" in Raven's sobs was. After everyone was given a drink, he took a seat and asked if the Titans would be able to continue. "You know...you don't have to keep talking; if ya don't want to, kids" murmured Comm. Gordon, "it's obvious that something must've happened to you on that night."
After Raven stopped crying, minutes later; she wiped the tears in her eyes and shook her head at the policeman. "No...No, we can do this" Raven murmured, "I'll be okay...somehow." After that, she took a sip of her cocoa and sighed deeply; feeling the warmth of the beverage flow through her.
After a while, she became calm enough to continue with the rest of the interview; as was the rest of her team. "Good...now, how did you learn that your friend was captured" questioned Gordon, "were there any traces of the attackers left behind or any clues in the area?" As much as it pained them to do so, the team shook their heads in sad unison; proclaiming that Beast Boy's captors were quite thorough in covering up their tracks.
"At first, I thought he was goin' downtown for a bite to eat; considering how long we were patrolling that night" Cyborg murmured, "boy...I was so stupid back then."
(Flashback to Titans Tower)
In a familiar "T" shaped structure on a lone island in the sea, four of the five Titans were seen in the common room; either pacing about or anxiously tapping their fingers and toes. It had been almost an hour since Beast Boy had contacted Robin and he had yet to return home. "What's keepin' grass stain so long" groaned Cyborg, "it's almost dinner time and I'm getting hungry!"
Upon hearing her friend/teammate's complaint, Raven ceased tapping her foot and glared at him from behind the book she was reading. "You're almost always hungry, Cy" she groaned, "so, what else is new?" Rather than make some sort of comeback, the half-robot teen simply shrugged and folded his arms bitterly.
"B's takin' his sweet time out there" he grumbled, "for all we know, he could be eating out without us!" This suggestion seemed to mildly distress Starfire, who proceeded to question why he wouldn't "sup" with all of them? "Since it is my turn to cook tonight, I was anxious to introduce my new mustard infused Glorg with you all."
No sooner had she said this, Star grabbed for a nearby XXXL bottle of mustard and sprayed it into a bowl; one that seemed to contain a gelatinous substance filled with meat. This sight caused the team to shudder...but not so loudly that Starfire might hear them. "Beast Boy might've had the right idea in eating out after all" Raven thought, "still, he could've at least called and tell us he'd be late."
At that moment, Raven's train of thought was suddenly disrupted by the familiar chimes of the Titans communicator ringtone. She reached for the table, swiped up her device and flipped it open; expecting/secretly hoping to find Beast Boy's face on the small screen. But much to her dismay, it was completely blank.
Confused and mildly irritated; Raven wondered if her communicator was glitching out, if someone had hacked into the transmission or if someone was pulling some sort of prank on her. As strange as it seemed, she was secretly hoping for the third idea to be true; seeing it as a sign that Beast Boy was safe. Instead, what she found was Robin typing away at his communicator.
"Any particular reason you're messing with that, Robin" she murmured in her classic monotone voice, "I was in the middle of reading." Now, Raven knew very well she was lying through her teeth in saying that. But she was never one to openly admit that she ever felt concerned, afraid or distressed about anything.
Yet, in spite of this white lie; Robin did not chastise her nor call her out on it. "I'm worried too" he said simply, "I know you won't admit it but...I'm hoping he's okay as well." No sooner having said this, the Boy Wonder explained he'd been trying to triangulate any signs of Beast Boy's communicator.
Unfortunately, after typing away for almost an hour and a half; his search came up empty. "This is getting weird, y'all" Cyborg muttered, "even if he was eating out, B would still keep his communicator on and close by at all times." It was in that moment the team came to a unanimous decision; they'd go out, search all of Beast Boy's usual hang out spots and bring him home (if and when they found him.)
(Line Break)
For most of the night, the Titans scoured every corner of the city looking for Beast Boy. But before their search began, a sudden realization struck the four of them like a blow to the head. Upon their return from battling the Brotherhood of Evil, they noticed that the block where many of their favorite establishments have been shut down.
In its place, the block had now become the location of a new office complex of some kind. With this in mind, they wondered if there was any other place where Beast Boy could hang out at. "There's always the pizza place" Cyborg said matter-of-factly, "and besides, many of our favorite shops on that block just relocated somewhere else."
The team murmured softly in understanding, believing that there might be some hope of success for their search party. "Go to any and every place in the city Beast Boy might go to, team" Robin instructed, "if you find anything, give a call...Titans, GO!" With that command, the team dispersed and began combing every inch of the city; hoping to find Beast Boy at any cost.
Unfortunately, things did not go quite so easily for them; as time passed. There was a slight upside to the situation however; just as Cyborg had deduced, many of their former hangout spots have relocated from the original block to another area of Jump City. Furthermore; these establishments were either run by the original owners or friends, family and/or former coworkers of theirs.
Whatever the case, these people knew the Titans very well; especially Beast Boy. Sadly, no one at any of these locations saw him come in that night. The Titans searched all of them; from the comic shop, the video store, the arcade, the pier (which was still up and running) even Beast Boy's favorite prank shop.
Yet in the end, the result was all the same; he wasn't there. The only place left was Beast Boy's patrol location, which was where Robin had chosen to go to. Upon regrouping with him, the Titans could see their leader pacing back and forth in the middle of an alley; his face contorted into a vicious scowl.
Upon seeing his friends/teammates approaching however, the expression on his mask-covered eyes softened slightly and he let out a long sigh. "Guys...I'm so glad you're all here" he said with great relief in his voice, "please...tell me that at least one of you has some good news!" The moment this was said, the other three Titans suddenly found themselves becoming very tense.
At first, they were more than willing to give him their report. But judging from his demeanor and earlier pacing, it was clear that his search came up empty as well and he hated the idea of a failed mission; however big or small it was. Thus, they found it difficult to say anything to him.
Finally, after what felt like ages of awkward silence (which was more likely fifteen seconds worth of it;) Raven sighed and stepped forward. "Nothing" she blurted out, "we've searched every known place Beast Boy would go...but it there's been zero sign of him, according to the employees and other staff. No sooner had she said this; Robin let out a frustrated growl, took out his staff and slammed a nearby trashcan with it.
Naturally, this display startled the team but at the moment; he was too frustrated to notice. When he suddenly realized what he was doing, seconds later; Robin shook himself out of his daze and apologized to the team. "So sorry about that, guys" he sighed, "it's just...I've combed every inch of this location and found nothing!"
When asked if he found any sign of Beast Boy's communicator; Robin, with a disgruntled groan, said that there was no sign of that either. "Whatever happened here...whoever took him, one thing is certain" he murmured, "these guys know exactly how to hit us where it hurts." With that revelation, Robin commanded the team to continue the search; even going as far as have them do so beyond Jump City.
"Look...Robin, we know you're worried; we are too" Raven groaned, "but it's getting late, we're all tired and if we don't get any rest...our minds won't be strong enough to focus on looking for Beast Boy." Cyborg and Starfire cried out in agreement with their friend, while also adding that the four of them alone weren't enough to find their friend. "Let us go home and retire to bed" Starfire urged, "in the morning, we shall look for others to help in our search."
For a moment or so, Robin said nothing; despite the many thoughts furiously echoing in his head. Finally, with a reluctant sigh; he agreed with their request and decided to call it a night. "Tomorrow morning, 5 AM; we wake up and continue the search" he ordered, "in the meantime...when we get home, I've got some calls to make."
(Back to Reality)
As our story cuts back to the present, we see Robin staring into his cup of hot cocoa; his hands trembling slightly. "We shouldn't have stopped" he murmured bitterly, "that night...we should've kept searching; if we did, maybe we...maybe he would've..." For years; the Boy Wonder prided himself as a strong and firm hero, one that barely let anything shake his resolve (with the exception of Slade.)
But in that moment, Robin found himself on the verge of a mental and emotional breakdown. As if sensing this, Starfire hurried over to her boyfriend and held him tenderly; while also letting out small tears of despair. "I know, dearest Robin...I know" she whispered, "we all wished to continue our search that night...but couldn't due to certain circumstances."
After that, Robin allowed himself to break down a little and took the Tamaranean princess in her arms; sobbing softly. Meanwhile, Cyborg was currently fighting the urge to chuck his chair through a nearby window. Lastly, Raven's own resolve was slowly chipping away as well.
Even with her hood up, Batman could see her biting her lip while trying to hold back the tears in her clenched eyes. For almost five minutes, neither he nor Gordon wished to disturb the kids; thinking they deserved a brief moment to grieve. Once the five minutes were up, Raven used her magic to levitate a box of tissues her way.
Once it was within reach, each Titan took a few of them and did their best to dry their tears away. "Are you doing okay, gang" asked the commissioner, "do you think you can keep talking with us?" At first, the team came close to saying "no;" considering what was to come next.
But in the end, they realized that there was no point in delaying anything and decided to continue. But not before they had some more cocoa to help calm their nerves. "Cash, bring in a few more K-Cups" shouted Gordon, "we're gonna be in here a while." No sooner had he said this, an officer in the next room called out in response; proclaiming they'd be coming "lickity split."
"Best bring in some coffee cups as well, Sir" grumbled Raven, "with what we're about to tell your boss, I feel like I'm gonna need something stronger to get through it all."
(First AN: I know this seemed shorter than the previous chapters, folks. But with the holidays and New Year's Eve and all, I had been busy. In any case, I feel like this chapter gave us just enough to really show us the grimness of the situation.
Where could BB have gone, what does Joker have planned for him and the team and most of all; with the exception of Batman...who else can help look for him? Find out next time, as our story continues.)
(Second AN: The whole thing with a block of Jump City having an office complex of some kind is in reference to the Teen Titans finale, Things Change. But while that episode failed to tell us if the team's favorite hot spots were gone forever. I've decided to be clearer and made it so they were all simply relocated, instead of being closed indefinitely.
It may seem like it doesn't quite mesh with the "lesson" Things Change was trying to tell us. But I figured...if they were all closed for good instead of relocated, where else would B hang out at? Regardless, I hope everything seems clear to you here."
(Final AN: I know Rae attacking Bullock with her magic may seem out of character to some of you. But bear in mind, what happened to BB during his encounter with Joker had left both her and the rest of the team emotionally broken. As such, any of the typical stoicness or deadpan nature she usually would have is now on the brink of collapse and her emotions are slowly getting the better of her.
To understand why it's happening, I recommend you keep reading; all will be revealed, in time.)