Chapter 2: Capture the Flag

Rating: T

Date: Friday, December 21, 2018

A/N: Well, it seemed like some of you liked this. I also liked it, so I'm going to continue writing it. I don't have a writing schedule yet, but I'm on break so it means I have a lot of time. I can't guarantee that I'll release chapters as fast as this one. However, I'll try my best. Also, I have no idea where the story is heading. I'm improvising. I never really plan out stories since it's not my style. However, if you have suggestions on what you want to happen next, tell me! Just review. Also, I think it'd be fun if you guys wrote challenges. For example, if you want me to include a ridiculous line like "Don't let the chickens out!" or a ridiculous scenario or incorporate a certain DC character. Comment what you want, and I promise I will try as hard as I can to somehow include it! By the way, I will be including replies for reviews at the bottom.

This chapter includes

Karen Beecher - Bumblebee

Raymond Palmer - The Atom

Capture the Flag

Two weeks.

It had been almost two weeks since Garfield's encounter with the dark beauty. He had tried everything. He had essentially walked around the whole campus, which was tremendously huge, glancing through the classrooms and hallways to see if he could find her. He had asked many of his peers (as slyly as he could) if they knew anything about her disappearance. He had gone to Pamela to ask about the girl for God's sake (and that lady was terrifying). It was like she had vanished during the first day. He had heard a few of his teachers ask during class if anyone knew where she was, but no one had any idea. Had something happened to her?

During lunch, he spent more time watching the cafeteria door than actually eating his food. Then, one day, she finally walked in. Though her face was obstructed by the hood from her oversized sweatshirt, he caught a glance of the purple highlights on her short, raven-colored hair. She disappeared inside a crowd of students waiting for their school lunch.

"Who are you staring at, green bean?" Victor questioned curiously from his seat next to him. That caught the attention of his other tablemates who looked over at him.

"I thought I saw…" Garfield stopped when the crowd cleared, and she seemingly vanished into thin air. He swore that girl had the ability to teleport. "Never mind…" he muttered and turned back to his sandwich.

"Don't tell me you're still on the hunt for that new girl? You realize she hasn't come to school since that first day? Maybe she regretted coming here," Dick told him.

Garfield shrugged, "I was just curious about her, that's all."

"Yeah, well I'm curious about that new girl Kory. Have you seen her?" Wally whistled. "She's got the body of a Goddess! Them-"

"Shut up Wally. Have some dignity," Dick muttered as he adjusted his dark shades (no one was sure why he insisted on wearing them, but Garfield was convinced Dick thought they made him look badass, which he agreed on).

"Please! Don't tell me you haven't noticed-"

"Dude, just shut your mouth, you talk too much," Victor interrupted.

The boys started arguing, though Garfield paid no attention to them as his eyes wandered, once again, to the cafeteria doors.

"Hey, Gar?" he heard someone call.

"Huh?" Garfield snapped out of his trance.

"You ready?" Victor asked.

Garfield furrowed his eyebrows, "For..?"

"To go to class. Dude, what's up with you? Did you not hear the bell ring?" Victor snickered.

Garfield quickly jumped out of his seat, "Shoot, I can't be late to class again! That detention period after school was terrible!"

Victor chuckled again, "Well, I'm heading to Computer Science. I'll see you after school?"

"For..?" Garfield asked in confusion.

"Karen's party? Dude, don't tell me you forgot!"

"I… Uh, no of course not!" Garfield chuckled nervously as he scratched the back of his head. He had totally forgotten Karen was having her back-to-school party tonight. "I'll be there!"

"You better, or else Karen will be pissed," Victor pointed out. He patted Garfield on the back before walking away.

Garfield stood frozen for a moment before realizing he only had two minutes to run down two flights of stairs to the gymnasium. He cursed under his breath as he quickly rushed out of the cafeteria.

He burst through the gymnasium doors nearly a second before the bell rung. He placed his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath, "I'm…" Breath. "Here…" Breath. He looked up to see Coach Z glaring him down from her spot on the benches.

"Logan, go change before I give you a nice extra school hour. Head to the field after, we'll be playing an outdoor game today," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!" he quickly replied before heading to the changing room.

Inside, most of his classmates were already changed, including Dick and Wally who were chatting in the corner. Garfield hurried towards his locker next to them.

"Gee, you guys could have waited for me…" he grumbled under his breath.

"Nah, you looked too entertained with the cafeteria door that we just didn't want to interrupt your daydreams," Wally chuckled.

"Let's head out before the coach gives us detention for slacking off," Dick headed for the exit. "You better hurry up Garfield. She won't be so nice to you considering how many times you've missed her class."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," Garfield muttered, though Dick and Wally had already walked out. The room cleared out quickly, and Garfield was left by himself. After he finished tying his shoelaces, he scrambled out of the room a little too quickly and ended up bumping into someone.

"Argh!" he exclaimed before face-planting on the ground. "Ow…" he muttered as he rubbed his nose.

"Ugh, not you again…" the girl croaked.

Garfield glanced up to see the girl he'd been searching for the past few weeks dressed in her gym attire (a black zip-up over a white shirt and some black joggers). His eyes widened, and his smile grew like the Cheshire Cat, though it quickly diminished when she scowled at him. He stumbled onto his feet and offered his hand to Raven which she promptly ignored. She helped herself up. Then, after a few seconds of awkward silence, she cleared her throat. "Can you move? The field is that way…" she pointed behind him.

"Oh!" Garfield exclaimed and chuckled in an awkward manner as he stepped to the side. "Uh… yeah, but… Can I-"

She pushed past him in an attempt to ignore him, but he wasn't about to let that happen.

"Wait, Raven!" Garfield took hold of her wrist and pulled her back, though she jerked away. He noted the way she rubbed the spot like he'd hurt her. Had he pulled too hard? "Uh, sorry… Did I hurt you?"

"No," Raven growled and crossed her arms. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to know where you've been for the past two weeks… You haven't shown up to class and no one's heard from you since the first day," Garfield replied.

Raven huffed, "Why do you care?"

"What can you say? I'm a curious guy," he grinned at her. That only seemed to intensify her glare though.

"I've been out," Raven simply stated.

"Out where?"

"Out of the country."

"The country!? Why?"

"Can you stop asking questions? It's none of your business," she snapped.

Garfield put his hands up in a surrender motion, "Like I said, I'm just curious. Plus… They could expel you, you know… I don't think you really want-"

"How would you know what I want?" Raven retorted.

"Oh well, I don't really know, but you know…" Garfield wasn't sure how to reply to that. "I don't think anyone would like to get expelled?"

"Right," Raven murmured before turning around and walking away.

Though Garfield was going to attempt to call her back, he didn't, considering he had no idea what he would say. Instead, he decided to catch up to her and amble beside her.

"What do you want?" Raven groaned.

"Hey, dude, I'm just walking to the field too. You know… Where we're supposed to go? Like you said. It's this way," he pointed down the direction they were walking towards.

Raven only rolled her eyes.

When they arrived at their destination, Coach Z promptly scolded them both for being so late. Then, she sent them to their spot with a warning (thankfully). They separated respectfully to their side of the gym (Garfield to the right with the guys and Raven to the left with the girls).

"Alright, everyone! Today we're playing an open-field game of capture the flag. I need you to pair up with a partner in your side, and each pair is going to go against another," Coach Z ordered before blowing her whistle. "Go!"

Garfield glanced around in the guy's section to find that most of his classmates had already found a partner. He spotted Dick on the other side waving him over. He jogged towards him, "Wow, the mighty Dick Grayson asking me to be his partner for a gym activity. I'm flattered. Was I your last resort or something?" he laughed.

Though Garfield couldn't see his eyes through Dick's dark shades, he was pretty sure he was rolling his eyes.

"Shut up before I regret my decision."

"Okay, pairs, grab a color flag and then head to the pair with the complementary color of your flag," Coach Z exclaimed. "You're going to go against them."

Garfield and Dick walked over to the flags and grabbed the last color left in the pile: yellow.

"What's a complementary color again?" Garfield questioned.

"Don't you have art this year?"

"Yeah, but I don't remember."

"It's the color opposite to another color in the color wheel."

"Got it… What's the complementary color to yellow?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Dude! You're the smart one!"

"I'm not the artsy type."

"Yeah, but you're-"

"Excuse me," a girl's voice interrupted.

Garfield's eyes wandered towards the newcomer—an exceedingly tall girl with fiery red hair and sparkling green eyes. Though he had never spoken to Kory Anders, Garfield knew her from the rumors in the hallways claiming she was a foreign model from Europe who had moved to Jump City for an unknown reason. She was beautiful, but Garfield doubted that she was really a model. Why would a model move to their crappy city when there were plenty of other famous cities she could've moved to? Why would a model even attend a public high school?

"I believe we are against you, yes?" Kory questioned while raising up a purple flag. That's when Garfield glanced to her side where none other than the dark ice queen herself stood with an infuriated expression.

Garfield smiled widely, "Hey Raven!"

Dick cleared his throat, "Yes, I believe purple is the complementary color to yellow."

"I thought you said you didn't know your complementary colors," Garfield replied in a mischievous tone. Clearly, his friend had taken a liking to the red-head.

"Shut up," Dick muttered under his breath.

"Me, on the other hand, I'm an expert," Garfield bragged, his eyesight landing on Raven who simply rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. That seemed to be her signature expression.

"Garfield, you didn't even know what a complementary color was," Dick pointed out with an amused expression.

Garfield sent him a glare.

He was about to reply when Kory spoke up, "I am Kory Anders, and this is Raven Roth. May we know your names, friends?"

"I'm Dick Grayson, and this is Garfield Logan over here," Dick introduced them.

Garfield huffed at the sound of his full name, "You can call me Gar though. All my friends do."

Kory clapped her hands and squealed, "We are friends, then! Yes?"

Garfield smiled at her, "Sure thing!"

Before he knew it, he was enveloped into the girl's surprisingly strong arms. "Kory-" he tried to breathe out. She recoiled back. "Oh, I am sorry friend Garfield! I got very excited!"

"Do you not have many friends?" Dick asked.

Kory shook her head, "There are a few girls who I sit with during the afternoon meal. However, most of the girls here are exceptionally mean, and many of the boys are rather… touchy."

"Oh," Dick's face turned red at the implication. "Well, we're rather nice. Who do you sit with during lunch? Maybe we know them."

While Kory and Dick stroke up a conversation, Garfield directed his attention to Raven, who looked rather bored. "So, Rae? We're friends too, right?" he asked as he stepped next to her.

Raven stared him down. For such a petite girl, she was rather terrifying.

"No," she stated. "And I would highly prefer it if you'd call me by my birth name, Raven."

"Aw, what do you mean? You know you'd love to be my friend," Garfield ignored her second statement.

"No, I really wouldn't."

"Why not!?" Garfield pouted.

"Because… You're insufferable, childish, and loud."

"I'm not!"

"Your exclamation confirms it."

"I'm not…"

"Friends!" Garfield and Raven looked over at Kory who, alongside Dick, had set up the flags on their respective sides of the field. "I believe it is time to begin."

She pointed at Coach Z who was getting ready to blow her whistle.

"Huh, I didn't hear her," Garfield stated.

"Maybe it was because you were screaming," Raven deadpanned.

"I was not!"

"Now!" Coach Z announced before blowing her whistle.

Garfield turned back to Raven who, to his surprise, was already heading hastily towards their flag. He turned back to see Dick attempting to run past Kory for the purple flag. "Protect our flag Gar!" he exclaimed. He looked back at Raven who was only a few feet from their base.

Garfield cursed before running towards their base. Raven took hold of their flag just as Garfield reached base. She was surprisingly quick and agile on her feet and managed to evade Garfield, taking him by surprise. He rapidly turned and chased after her, though she was too fast for him, and she was dangerously close to her base.

"Dick!" Garfield alerted.

Dick turned and blocked Raven before she could arrive at her base, seemingly forgetting about the red-head next to him. Raven abruptly stopped in her track and turned back. Garfield didn't have time to break as he was heading at full speed towards her. He felt a sense of panic overwhelm him as he realized what was about to happen.

"Look out!" he managed to let out, but it was too late. He toppled down on Raven letting out an unmanly squeak as he did.

The good news: he landed on something soft and squishy.

The bad news: when he attempted to feel what it was, he realized that something was Raven's… chest area.

Welp, that was it. He was going to die today. 'Garfield Mark Logan, mysteriously found dead in his high school football field after groping a girl during a game of capture the flag.'

"Get. Off. Me."

Garfield was up on his feet within a second. He considered offering a helping hand to Raven but decided against it. Instead, he stepped back a considerable distance to make sure he had time to escape in case she attempted to strangle him or something. He began to apologize profusely, but she could only glare at him. How had he gotten off on such a wrong foot with the girl?

"Just, shut your mouth," Raven muttered, and he quickly obeyed. He didn't want to aggravate her further.

"Raven! We have won!" Kory announced from her spot in their base, yellow flag in hand.

"Great," Raven simply replied, though Kory most likely didn't hear her as she was jumping around and cheering loudly. Meanwhile, Dick was catching his breath beside her.

Coach Z blew her whistle, "That's game! Get ready for the next round! We're switching teams!"

Garfield glanced at Raven who seemed to be avoiding his stare. He wasn't sure how he was going to make up for this one.

"You- You…" Victor was wheezing from the laughter and almost falling out of his chair. "You did what!?"

"You're already on second base! I thought you said Raven wasn't that kind of girl!" Wally exclaimed through his snickers.

Garfield felt like a tomato. He looked down to avoid any eye contact, "Dude! It was an accident…"

"Yeah, right! You totally nailed it though! Can't believe you're still alive after that one!" Roy added.

Garfield rolled his eyes, "It wasn't on purpose!"

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Raven walking into the lab. They locked eyes for a moment. Raven turned to avoid his sight, however.

"Hey, Raven-"

She dismissed him as she walked past towards an empty table in the very back of the lab. Garfield sighed and his friends only laughed harder. He turned back to the front and frowned at them.

Mr. Palmer walked into the classroom and everyone settled down. Throughout the whole period, Garfield couldn't help but sneak glances at Raven who kept her eyes glued to the window next to her. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he was going to do whatever it took to apologize. She couldn't avoid him forever.

Could she?

A/N: As I said, write your challenges in the review section for something you want me to include! Thanks for reading!

Rachxel - I'm really trying to keep them all in character. I have a little obsession with the Titans, so I know them well. The only ones harder to write are the secondary Titans (Titans East and such) since I don't have as much background with them.

Miss geek - Haha, thank you! I will!

YourDemonicAssassin - You're in luck! It's right here!

victoriagp2222 - Thank you! This is my first Teen Titans fanfiction so I'm definitely trying my hardest.