It was inevitable, really. They should have anticipated and planned for it but it was such a common occurrence in their lives that they didn't think about it. After a day that found Raven in an odd mood in which she vacillated between being upset over the ugly news she had gotten, cynically sure that the evening would be a disaster and happily anticipating the date with Beast Boy, she had dressed, steeled herself one last time and gone downstairs. The entire team was there, Robin and Cyborg pretending not to pay attention and Star openly staring, watching Beast Boy wait for her. She had just enough time to step into the common room and begin to say hello to him when the alarm sounded.

Beast Boy had gotten ready early and was pacing back and forth waiting for Raven, much to the amusement of the others. When she came down, looking exactly as she did every day, he felt a little overwhelmed and nervous. She had stepped towards him and actually opened her mouth to say something when the news that their plans were at best delayed was delivered. He shook his head and grinned ruefully. "Duty calls," he said.

Raven nodded, "So it does," she said. She hovered and looked at the rest of the team as they ran to the huge monitor, "Lets get this done quickly," she said.

It had fortunately been minor. A robbery had degenerated into a hostage situation, two thieves holding a convince store worker. After a quick consultation, Raven had used her powers to move the hand of the man actually holding the hostage so that there was no danger. Robin had dropped him with one of his arsenal of projectiles and Cyborg had simply shot the other man with his sonic cannon, on a low setting. It pleased Robin. Handling a crisis quickly and neatly always did.

Before going over to the police, Robin had looked over at Raven, who was standing closest. "Go pick up your boy toy," he said with a grin, "and have a good time. Get going." He didn't know if Raven said or meant to say anything, because he turned and walked directly away.

Raven didn't answer Robin. Beast Boy, she saw, was talking to several children. It seemed that the public attention they got fell into distinct categories. Kids loved Beast Boy, probably because kids love animals. Teenage girls all simply drooled over Robin. Starfire seemed to get most of her attention from young girls and older men. It was a good thing the sweet, innocent and very powerful alien didn't know how creepy and wrong that last was. She and Cyborg seemed to draw the least public attention. He was crouched down talking to the children, putting them eye to eye, something she suddenly remembered he always did. As she approached, she saw him high five a young boy and turn into an impossibly big-eyed kitten for a little girl. He was allowing her to pet him when he noticed Raven approaching and turned back into himself. "Hey," he said with a wave. "Guys, say 'hi' to Raven."

The children dutifully complied. She smiled tightly and stiffly waved. "Hi," she said.

Beast Boy stood up, saying, "I got to be going. You guys take it easy." There was some childish protest but he dispensed with it kindly. "Robin cut us loose?" he asked when the group had dispersed.

"Yes," she said. "So, this is the big night."

He nodded seriously. "Date night," he said. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah..." her voice trailed off.

"Where is this place?" he asked.

"Not that close," she said. "It would be quicker to fly."

He nodded. "Lead on." She hovered into the air and took off across town. He transformed into an eagle and followed. She soon landed in front of a run down coffee shop and waited a moment while he landed next to her and changed. "You come here a lot?" he asked.

She shook her head, "Am I away from the tower enough to go anywhere a lot?" she asked.

"Not really," he agreed.

They walked in through the door, a little bell ringing. The place was all dark wood and old unmatching furniture. There was a bar with the complicated trappings of pretentious coffee and a bored looking girl, a few years there elder, minding the store. There were few other patrons, ten or so people scattered around the large, dimly lit room. Most of them glanced up as the door opened and several kept staring longer then was usually considered polite. Stepping to the bar, the girl smiled at them. "Hi! What can I get you?"

Beats Boy looked briefly at the menu, "Um... something sweet with not a lot of caffeine," he said. "I don't know what most of this stuff is and I get jittery," he added in explanation. Raven selected hot tea. They moved to a table in one corner with their drinks and looked at the short menu of sandwiches and baked goods. "Do you really want to play chess?" he asked.

"Not really," she said. "Unless you do. That was just an ice breaker." He shook his head. "What do you want to do?"

"Let's just talk," he said. They got through dinner and desert with general small talk about nothing in particular. They enjoyed it but kept it light. As the waitress was gathering the dishes, there was a lull in the conversation. "Ok," he said when the girl had gone, "I'm going to go ahead and get this out of the way. Second date."

She nodded, mock thoughtfully, "Are you asking?"

"After careful consideration, I've decided to ask."

"After careful consideration, I've decided to say yes," she replied.

"That didn't take long," he said teasingly. "I don't think you really considered it at all."

"Of course I did," she said loftily. "I knew you would ask, so I did my considering beforehand."

"That's awfully confident," he said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest, "What if I hadn't asked?"

"I would have asked you," she said, "after I was finished beating you up."

"See?" he asked rhetorically, "what did I tell you? Mean."

"I am not mean," she said.

"Argumentative too," he added.

She quirked a small smile. "Whatever." She was silent for a second. "I've had a good time so far," she said.

"I'm glad," he replied. "Me too." He paused a second, "But how could any woman have a bad time with me?"

"I have no idea," Raven replied sarcastically.

"Really mean," he said.

"Oh, yeah, I'm in no way reacting to your hubris." she said dryly.

"I'm hurt," he said, resting on hand on his heart, "and what does 'hubris' mean?"

"Look it up, and you're a big tough super hero," she said. "You'll recover."

"What now?" he asked. "Do you want to hang around here for a while or what?"

She stood up. "Let's take a walk."

He also stood. "Sounds good."

They stopped by the counter to pay the bill on their way out. Beast Boy reached for it, watching Raven as he did so. Getting out his wallet, he said, "No big scene over who pays?"

She shook her head. "No. I would never dream of breaking the sexist standard and emasculating you by trying to pay."

"Thanks," he said dryly. The girl at the counter grinned and shook her head a little as she made change. Beast Boy smiled at her and waggled his eyebrows. She and Raven both rolled their eyes. They left the coffee shop and turned left down the street. "The park and stuff is this way," he said. "That might be nice for a walk." Raven nodded agreement and they started off, side by side. They walked in silence, both feeling suddenly awkward. After a few minutes, he chuckled and said, "This got all weird all of a sudden."

"It did," Raven said. She looked at him speculatively. "Why?"

"Well, to tell the truth, I was trying to decide if I should hold your hand."

"I was trying to decide what to do if you tried to hold my hand."

He responded by reaching out a bit with his left hand, smiling shyly. She took it. They kept walking, closer together now.

-----

Cyborg and Robin were frantically playing a game while Starfire kept up a running train of questions. "Do you think they are having a good time?" Both of the guys shrugged. "Do you think they will kiss?" Again, two shrugs. "Do you not even care?" Starfire asked.

"Not really," Robin said.

"Not so much," Cyborg said at the same time.

"I do not think you are being good friends," Starfire said sternly. "You have not been at all supportive of their..." she started to say "love" but remembered her talk with Raven, "exploring of possibilities!"

"Have so," Cyborg said, never looking away from the game.

"Sure have," Robin agreed, his attention also focused unwaveringly on the screen.

"You are both not telling the truth!" Starfire said. "You did the undeserved mocking of Beast Boy..."

"It was completely deserved," Robin said, interrupting her.

"Totally," Cyborg agreed.

"It was not!" She pointed at Cyborg. "You sang that song, which I thought was a nice song of celebration and hope but that I learn from Raven was not!"

"She's got you there," Robin muttered.

"I paid for it," Cyborg said unconcernedly.

"And you, Robin, have acted as if nothing is happening." Both of them ignored her, having reached a critical juncture in the game. "You are not listening to me!" They both continued pushing buttons quickly and with deep concentration. Very annoyed, Starfire marched with deliberation directly in front of them and turned off the game. She almost laughed at how stunned they were.

"You turned it off," Cyborg said, sounding like a very little boy.

"We were playing that," Robin said, with a very uncharacteristic pout in his voice.

"You will both listen to me," Starfire said, actually shaking her finger at them. "You will both be nice," she strongly emphasized the last word, "to them and you will not make fun or sing mean songs. You will both," her eyes narrowed dangerously, "be happy for them and you will act like it. Do you understand?" Dumbfounded, they both could only nod agreement. "Good," Starfire said, turning and stalking out of the room.

Robin got up and turned the game back on. They played for a while in complete silence. They were both distracted. "Did you ever notice," Cyborg said finally, "that Star and Raven bully us sometimes?"

Robin nodded. "I have."

"Think we should do something about it?"

"Probably not," Robin said. Cyborg nodded agreement and they went on with their game.

-----

Raven and Beast Boy had kept walking till they reached a park, abandoned so late at night. He had sat down on a bench and casually draped his arm across the back. Raven had hesitated a moment and then, much to his surprise, sat very close to him so that his arm was behind her shoulders and their hips were touching. She didn't look at him, instead looking straight ahead. He grinned in spite of himself and moved his arm from the bench and rested it around her shoulders. She smiled and actually settled in so that she was leaning against him. "You remember asking me what my ideal outcome was?" he said softly. She nodded agreement, so comfortable she felt no need to speak. "For the first date, this is kinda it." Raven again didn't answer. Instead she very slowly and gently touched his cheek and turned his face towards her. She kissed him then, very chastely but lingeringly. When she pulled away, she kept silent and lay her head on his shoulder.

-----

Jim Talbot didn't consider himself a thief. Not really, anyway. He was just down on his luck and you can't blame a man for doing what he has to when he's down on his luck. Also, people should know that the city could be dangerous and if they put themselves in dangerous situations they deserved what they got. Anyway, maybe they would learn a lesson. Better they meet him and just loose their money and stuff rather then someone really nasty who would hurt them.

Jim Talbot was a thief. He was just too cowardly to even admit it to himself. He walked casually down a path in the now dark park, keeping an eye out for the solitary and foolish that made up his victims. Down the way a bit, near a lamp, a couple sat on a bench. He couldn't be sure what they were doing since he could only see them in silhouette. The guy was scrawny and the girl was just a girl. They looked young so they likely wouldn't have much, but they did seem to be easy marks. He stole off the path and began approaching them.

-----

Beast Boy was as happy as he had ever been in his life in the moment Raven had kissed him. He thought that it was even a bit maudlin that he was so thrilled by the fact that she was leaning into him so comfortably. Then he heard something. His senses weren't really superhuman when he was in human form but his hearing was very sharp. It was probably the shape of his ears. He heard someone walking up behind them. "Rae," he whispered, "someone's coming."

"What?" she asked, sitting up suddenly.

He glanced significantly over his shoulder in the direction of the sound. She nodded and relaxed against him again, apparently opting to deceive their attacker about their readiness.

-----

Jim grinned. The way the girl popped up, he was willing to bet that the scrawny kid had gotten a little too touchy-feely. He approached as silently as he could and then stepped quickly in front of them, knife in hand. "Okay, kids," he said in a rush, "no need to be scared, just give me your money and you can get back to smooching." Even armed, he was frightened despite accosting what he thought was a pair of kids. He wasn't really paying a lot of attention to them, instead looking around for witnesses. He was very surprised when his threat was met with uproarious laughter.

"We're being mugged!" a boy's voice said through the laughter.

A girls voice, deep and serious for a teenager, said, "It's almost cute."

Jim turned and actually looked at them in the light of the street lamp. "Ah, crap," he said, dropping his knife. "Everything happens to me."

-----

After waiting for the police to pick up their would-be mugger, Raven and Beast Boy flew back to the tower. They entered the common room together and found everyone still up. Starfire bounded to them and fiercely hugged them both. "Did you have a wonderful time?" she asked.

"Yeah," Beast Boy said, having been hugged first and thus recovering the ability to speak first, "we got mugged."

"You got mugged?" Robin asked quizzically.

"Sure did," Beast Boy said.

"Ambitious mugger," Cyborg said.

"He didn't know who we were," Raven explained. "He came up behind us."

"You are both unhurt?" Starfire asked.

"Of course," Raven said. "He was a common criminal and surrendered as soon as he saw who we were."

"Where did this happen?" Robin asked.

"Umm... in the park," Beast boy said diffidently.

"You were in the park?" Cyborg asked. "At night?" He sounded amused but he saw a warning look from Starfire. "Yeah... the park is nice... at night." he finished lamely.

Robin had seen the look too. "Yeah, ok," he said. "So that's all good, and..." he trailed off and looked almost as if the words were choking him, "other then that, you had a good time."

"Yes," Raven said.

"Good," he said.

They all stood in an quiet, uncomfortable circle for a moment. Finally Raven said, "All right then, I'm going to bed."

"I'll join you," Beast Boy said quickly. Four sets of eyes turned on him in surprise. "Heh.. I didn't mean," he cleared his throat. "I just meant I'm going to bed too... in my own bed."

"Right," Raven said, turning and starting up the stairs.

Beast Boy followed her. She let him catch up. It was clear from her curt comments that Raven had emotionally closed up in dealing with their friends. Beast Boy understood and didn't comment. Once they were out of earshot of the others, he said. "Wow, I really couldn't have said anything worse there, could I?"

Raven glanced over at him and when she spoke her voice was warmer, "You possibly could have."

"Sorry," he said.

"Nothing to apologize for," she said. They reached her door and she turned to face him. "I really did have a good time. Even the attempted robbery had it's charms."

"So did I," Beast Boy said. He looked at her and realized that she was watching him closely, something that resembled a challenge in her eyes. He grinned and leaned forward. The instant he moved, she reciprocated and they had their second kiss in the hall of the tower, in front of Raven's room. It was less chaste then their first but no less sweet.