Hey everyone! Exciting news! I just moved into my college dorm today! And I got a long chapter ready as well! Because of its length, and because I'm tired, Mailbox Time will be skipped for this chapter. But I'll make sure to respond next chapter. For now, enjoy!

I will add this as an afterthought, here's your cookie in the beginning scene .


Since Last Time: 4 more favorites, 7 more followers (Total: 268 Favorites, 308 Followers)


Updated: May 9th, 2019 10:00 P.M.


Disclaimer: Don't own it, but dream sequences are really cool!


Chapter Thirty-Eight: Dreams of the Past


Some time later

Bright strobe lights flashed around in a variety of colors. Music, the clattering of glass against glass, conversation noise, dance steps against the floor; a variety of other sounds stood out in the background.

'How did I get here?'

Raven blinked her eyes a few times in confusion. She couldn't remember how she had got to that bar. At least, she thought it was a bar. Maybe it was more like a club since she was sitting in a booth. A plate was on the table in front of her. Strangely enough, it was a large chocolate chip cookie. She rubbed at her eyes with her hands before she opened them again.

'Wait... what?'

She took a closer look at her hands. They were normal hands, with a normal skin color. She wasn't wearing her set of holo-rings. She followed the skin up her arms and found they were also a normal skin color.

'What's-'

Then she saw the dress she was wearing. It was a pure red dress, with the fluffy sleeves almost wrapping around her shoulders like a scarf. It was rather modest, but it still showed some of her neck and her shoulders. She looked around herself curiously.

'What's going on… why am I here?' She thought to herself.

"Hey Rae, are you okay?"

Raven looked in front of her. She could have sworn she was the only one at the booth a moment ago. Yet sitting on the other end of the table between them now was Beast Boy. Only, he looked exactly like he did when he wore the rings. In a more real sense if that was possible.

He was dressed in a nice black tuxedo with a red colored tie and boutonniere. His blonde hair was combed to the side. His smile, without his signature fang, looked dazzling and… genuine. One quick glance at his hands revealed he had no hologram rings on his fingers either.

'What's... happening?' Raven thought to herself.

He continued to smile widely and genuinely, as if he was really happy in that moment. "Don't tell me you're nervous about tonight again dude." He said almost teasingly.

"No Gar." Raven found herself saying. "It's nothing really."

'But… That wasn't me speaking...' Raven thought.

Beast Boy's smile became more relaxed. "Is it the place I chose? Too fancy? Too, loud?" He asked.

"No Gar. The place is amazing. I've... just never been on a date like this before." Raven said shyly.

Raven's mind locked up.

Beast Boy thought on it. "It's the dress then. Even though I think I've told you a thousand times it looks great on ya Rae." He said with a wink.

Raven chuckled, and put a hand up to hide the blush coming onto her face. "No. Well maybe..." She said involuntarily again. Her tone held a little bit of nervousness.

In her mind, Raven was really confused now. She couldn't even think as the scene progressed before her eyes.

In the midst of her mental paralysis, a hand gripped hers. She looked up in slight surprise at Garfield. He had reached across the table to grip her hand. He moved it away from her face. "Please don't hide Rae. You really do look beautiful the way you are." He said softly while he looked her in the eyes.

Raven found herself glued to those eyes. Even without using her empathy, she could tell he hadn't been lying. "Do you really mean it?" She said for herself, not involuntarily.

Garfield nodded his head, and his other hand came forward to grip her hand. "Rae, you might be one of the most stubborn, sarcastic, and creepiest girls I've ever met before in my life..." He paused and gave her a wink. Raven chuckled.

"... but you're also the most lovely, amazing, smart, kind hearted..." His hand moved to cup her cheek. "...and above all, most angelic girl I have ever had the pleasure of knowing." He said quietly, yet seriously.

Raven was silent for a moment... and then tears started to fill her eyes. "And I mean inside, and outside." He finished.

Raven bowed her head into his hand. "Gar, that's... nobody has ever said something like that to me before..." She said quietly.

Beast Boy's hand gently moved to her chin, and made her look him in the eyes again. "That's because everyone else is blind Rae. They can't see all the good that is hiding in you like I can."

Raven laughed a little at that. "Thanks Gar... although I still think you're still a dork at heart." Raven said sarcastically at the end.

He just continued to smile, and leaned closer over the table. Raven found herself leaning forward too. She had a smile resting on her face as they got closer.

"I love you Raven." Beast Boy whispered, before he pressed his lips to hers.

GASP!

Raven sat upright on the bed and put a hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding a hundred miles an hour against her hand. Raven tightly closed her eyelids, pulled her legs up to her chest with her free hand, and tried her best to block out the outside world.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos Azarath Metrion Zinthos..." Raven chanted under her breath over and over again as she rocked back and forth on the bed.

'It's okay... it was a dream... it was just a weird, weird dream...' Raven thought to herself as she said her mantra over and over again.

Eventually, her heartbeat slowed, until it felt like it was almost back to normal. Her breaths became more even and less rushed. The rush of emotions that had been flowing through her stemmed until it was just a tiny, controllable trickle from the center of her being.

Finally, Raven stopped her chanting. She sat calmly on her bed, with her eyes now calmly closed.

'Now how much damage did I do this time?' She thought sarcastically to herself.

Raven took one more deep breath, and then opened her eyes.

She was expecting her room to be trashed. She was, however, slightly surprised to see that nothing had toppled over. There was no craters or explosion spots anywhere. Everything was in it's normal place...

Raven allowed her body to be filled with relief. 'Maybe my powers are still exhausted?' Raven thought to herself as she continued looking just to make sure.

Then she saw the front door was wide open. 'What?' Raven thought as she double checked the room again. Had her powers flown out the door to destroy something?...

Then she realized that there was no sign of Beast Boy in the room. The thought was followed with a memory of the dream. A memory that sent a shiver down her spine.

'Did I really… with Gar...'

Raven floated up off the bed, and hovered a few inches above the floor. It didn't come to her mind then that her powers were working. She simply floated across the empty space towards the front door. She was instead focusing on trying to be frustrated with her friend for leaving the front door open.

'I know I've asked him if he lived in a barn before for keeping the door open, but this is ridiculous. Where did he go? If this is some version of a joke...' Raven tried to think to herself as she floated out of their cube home.

The two doors of the old barn were open too. Outside, the starry night sky still shone brightly in the night. The light of the predawn sky was visible in the distance though. Signifying that soon, it would be the start of a new day.

Raven continued floating a couple inches off the ground towards the entrance. A few feet out in front of the barn doors, sitting cross legged on the ground, was Beast Boy. He was staring at the stars in the night sky up above. Stars whose light would soon give way to the bright light of the morning sun.

Raven paused. The aura that was coming off him was surprisingly calm. Any thought she had of distracting herself with a lecture on leaving her door open left her mind. She was almost unsure about bothering him altogether... then she took another deep breath to calm herself, before she continued on.

He didn't speak up until she had hovered next to him. "Couldn't sleep either Raven?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven slowly settled down cross legged on the ground. She used her cape as padding between her and the hard ground. "Yes." Raven said dryly.

Beast Boy didn't look away from the night sky. "Were they bad dreams?" He asked.

Raven glanced at him. The image of him in the dream reappeared again in her mind. "Yes... No... I'm not sure what to label them." Raven said blandly.

"Did anything bad happen in it?" He asked.

"Did anything bad happen in yours?" She counter asked.

Beast Boy was silent for a while...

"Not really dude... It was just a weird dream." He finally responded.

"What happened in yours?" Raven asked.

"I'll answer if you tell me what happened in yours." Beast Boy replied.

Raven looked back out at the plains. "Mine would be too weird to explain." She responded.

Beast Boy chuckled a little. "What else would we expect to come from a couple weirdos dude." He joked.

Raven stayed silent, and he didn't say anything else. The two silently stared at the plains and the night sky for a while...

'Was my dream really all that bad?... I mean, I don't think he actually thinks of me in that way... nobody really thinks of a half demoness as lovely, or attractive... or beautiful...' Raven thought to herself. An image of an evil dragon passed through her mind at the last word.

She paused in her thoughts, almost as if she was waiting for her peanut gallery to respond. All of them were being silent though. Maybe they were resting? Or maybe they wanted to leave this thought process up to her.

'… I guess maybe it was the word beautiful. Malchior used that word to use me... or maybe it was the normalcy in the dream... or maybe… it was because I wanted to-'

Raven didn't finish that thought. 'Maybe I'm just looking too much into it. Maybe it was just a weird, crazy dream about the two of us. That's all it was...'

'Was it?...' She thought.

It had been a while since Raven had spoken. Beast Boy was still looking out over the wide open plains in front of him in the premorning light. He had his hands under his chin holding his head up.

'… things really do look pretty today.' Beast Boy thought to himself.

After a moment, he glanced out of the corner of his eyes at the still pondering Raven next to him. A flash of his dream from the night before crossed through his mind at that moment. It hadn't been like any other one he'd had before. Ones that he'd throw off as simple teenager dreams influenced by puberty. It was different, far deeper than that filth. It had been, genuine, deep, almost feeling… real.

.

A visible shiver traveled up his spine, and he looked out over the plains again. '… and... I guess Raven is...'

'Yes?' The Beast asked mischeviously.

Beast Boy sighed, and lowered his head a little. 'Our mate looks... really beautiful right now.' He thought defeatedly.

It was almost like he could hear the Beast chuckling right next to him and slinging a bro arm over his shoulders. 'Don't be embarrassed master. You are merely learning to understand the depth of your feelings towards her.' The Beast said encouragingly to him.

He brought his legs in, and rested his head on his knees instead of his hands. 'Well... I'm just not sure what to think anymore Beast. I mean, it's Raven. But she's...'

'Our mate?' The Beast asked.

Another memory of his latest dream went through his mind. It was a simple image of them dancing together on a ballroom floor. She had her head rested against that familiar crook in his shoulder as he led her on the dance floor.

Beast Boy gulped. 'A friend. A really really good friend.' Beast Boy thought in haste.

'But?' The Beast asked.

'A friend… a good friend... who I think has the potential to become my mate dude.' Beast Boy again thought in defeat.

'Then why are you fighting it if you want to be with her so badly master?' He asked.

'I... I just don't want to ruin it dude. I don't want to ruin what we've steadily built up the last few years as Titans… and the last few months since we left Titan's Tower.' He thought sadly after that.

'Do you have feelings for Raven master?' The Beast asked.

Beast Boy was slightly surprised at the Beast's use of her actual name. '… I never said I don't... I just...'

'You don't think she shares the same feelings for you.' The Beast said.

The Beast had hit the problem square on the nail.

'Yeah...' Beast Boy finally thought.

The Beast clapped its paws together inside his mind. Sometimes it just had a way with the human tongue to help things make sense for his master. 'Well then. I believe all you have to do is rut with our mate, and then you will find out that everything will work out-'

Never mind. The Beast ruined the moment.

'Will you stop suggesting that?! She'd flay me alive!' Beast Boy thought angrily.

'It's never harmed any animal I know before.' The Beast replied.

'But I'm human, and she's... mostly human!' He angrily thought again.

'You do realize that humans still have an animal side to them, right? And technically demons are well known to really go at it while mating-' The Beast continued despite Beast Boy's counter argument.

'Gah!' Beast Boy thought in frustration as he raised his hands up into the air.

"What?"

Beast Boy looked in surprise next to him. He had almost forgotten that Raven was sitting next to him. She was staring at him with a blank look on her face. "You look like you're frustrated about something." Raven said dryly.

Beast Boy put his hands back down. "Sorry. It was nothing really." Beast Boy said.

Raven turned to face him. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

Beast Boy paled on the inside. 'Alright. How is it that Rae wants to freaking talk at the very worst times?' He thought in disbelief.

'Maybe it's because our mate has very good timing Master.' The Beast responded.

Beast Boy met her blank look with a blank stare. "Uh... well..." Beast Boy looked out over the plains. 'No, I'm not discussing that with her now... there has to be something else we can talk about...' Beast Boy thought.

He heard Raven let out a sigh. "Was your dream from earlier regarding something from your past?" She asked.

Beast Boy almost said yes to immediately avoid the other subject. Then he internally realized what she had asked, and froze. "Um… uh… not really..."

It had been a while since the last time she had brought it up. He certainly knew more about Raven's past now than he had ever known before. Mostly because Raven had opened up more in talking about it. However, he still had as of yet to talk with her about what he had gone through in the past. Besides giving a watered down version himself of the memory she had seen of him being experimented on in a hospital when he was young, and telling her a little about his parents and what it had been like when he was normal. What little he could remember.

Raven looked away. "It's okay if you still don't feel ready to share Gar. I understand." She said. There was a slight tint of sadness in her otherwise calm voice.

Beast Boy immediately felt guilty. He knew he should probably be more open and trusting of her by now… but there was just some things he didn't ever want to talk to anyone about. He preferred leaving that bad stuff in the past where it belonged.

Well, he realized, not all of it was bad. "Actually…" An idea formed in his mind. "Rae, do you ever think about the times when we were still Titans?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven looked back to him. Her eyebrow arched a little at his question. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Beast Boy internally sighed in relief. 'Disaster averted.' He thought.

'You're no fun Master.' The Beast said almost poutingly in his mind.

"Well, don't you miss the days when we were heroes, not villains?" He asked jokingly at the end.

Raven continued to look blankly at him. "Was that what was in your dreams?" She asked.

Beast Boy quickly nodded his head. 'Technically, we were both in Titan's Tower in that dream...' Beast Boy kept only to his thoughts. The topic itself had also been on the backburner in his mind for quite some time.

Raven looked thoughtful for a moment, and then she faced the plains. By this time, the sky in front of them was slowly being lit up by the predawn light. "Sometimes I guess." Raven paused… "Is that what's frustrating you Gar?" She asked.

Beast Boy thought on it. In a way, it was true. "Yeah, I mean it kind of sucks when you've fought bad people for most of your life. And then you're labeled as a bad guy because of one bad thing." Beast Boy said.

Raven sighed at that. "Welcome to my world." She said with a tint of sadness in her voice.

Beast Boy looked to her after she had said that. 'Oh... oops. Child of prophecy, duh.' He thought with a mental facepalm. "I wasn't, um, meaning to degrade you there or anything Rae." Beast Boy quickly said.

"It's fine Gar. I'm, kind of used to it. I've dealt with that part of my life for a long time." Raven said dryly. "Ever since that one monk tried to throw me into nothingness a week after I was born just because I was destined to release my Father, I've known what's it like."

Beast Boy felt his fist ball up next to him. It was like a well of deep predatorial anger was building up in his chest. He took in a sharp breath, and then slowly released it. He hated seeing her look like this… because in a way, he remembered when he was like that too.

"I guess I can relate." He admitted.

Raven didn't look to him. It seemed like one of those average comments he'd make to cheer her up. Beast Boy gulped nervously. He could guess that she was taking it as that. Yet he didn't want her to feel bad. He wanted her to know he did understand, at least in part.

'I guess… here it goes.'

"I had an uncle who made me feel that way once before." He finally said.

That comment grabbed Raven's attention. She had mentioned her story before two months back, but she could never remember him mentioning any uncle. Beast Boy almost wanted to stop talking. But it had already started, and it wouldn't stop. "His name was Nicholas Galtry." He continued, while looking out over the plains again.

"A year after my parents died in their accident, my uncle took me in. I thought back then it was because he was my only family left…" Beast Boy looked down at the ground. "It turned out he only wanted my parent's money. And I was supposed to be the inheritor of it or something like that." He said bitterly.

Raven was fully focused on him in that moment. She didn't open her mouth to question him though. By now, she knew it was better to let him speak. She could think over it herself, and then ask him later when he was more recovered from the memories.

"He didn't even try to get me into school. He said animals had no reason to learn to read or write." He said it with bitterness. Like he really was bitter about not having been able to go to school. Like any other kid his age. "Then he tried to have me assassinated. And when those failed he started to put me in a cage. Then came the abuse, the insults… the whipping... …"

He had to pause to calm himself. "I tried to fight back against him. But I was too young, and too gullible." He shook his head side to side. "He was a monster. And for the months I was with him, he almost made me believe I was a monster…" A sad look came onto his face. ,He eventually tired of it and sold me to the hospital. After the Doom Patrol got me out, I tried to find out what happened to him."

Again, he paused. As if what came next hurt. "I found out from Mento that he had drunk himself to death off the money he got selling me to the hospital. He had died, passed out in some alleyway. I thought I'd be happy that he was gone… but it was like hearing your last family member was dead. Even though he was a monster, I still wish I could have done something to help him." He finished.

Raven stayed silent, pondering over the words he had said. When she saw that no more words were going to come from him, she faced the horizon again. "Thank you." She whispered.

He looked confused. "What for?" He asked.

She looked back to him again. A softer look was on her face. "Because you meant it when you said you understand. It makes me feel not so alone in the world again." She said.

Beast Boy was caught off guard. The comment made him feel better though. It almost smoothed over the rough edges of the memories he had just shared. "Yeah. I guess sometimes, people want to paint others as monsters. But really, they're the ones that are the real monsters… yet we still love them despite that."

Raven smiled a little at his comment. Even despite all the monks did to train her, she still couldn't help but think of them as her family. 'He might not have gone to school in the past. But he's definitely got a brain in his head.' She thought.

"How about we focus on when we were both Teen Titans then. When neither of us were considered bad." Raven offered to steer the conversation back to what he had wanted to talk about.

Beast Boy grinned a little. "Ok. That's a part of the past I'm more comfortable with talking about dude." He said. "So what do you miss most from being a Teen Titan?" Beast Boy started.

Raven thought on it for a moment... "I miss... not being able to meditate on the roof in the early morning." She said.

Beast Boy smiled a little at that. "Was that because you knew I wouldn't be awake at that time to bother you?" He joked.

"I could have easily meditated at 9 in the morning and I wouldn't have had to deal with you for another two hours." Raven jabbed back.

Beast Boy chuckled. "I guess you know what I miss the most about being a Teen Titan dude. Being able to sleep in as long as I wanted." Beast Boy said smugly.

"Unless Robin had early morning training." Raven said dryly.

"Okay, even you have to admit that sucked dude." Beast Boy said indignantly.

Raven shrugged. "Not really. I was used to waking up then." Raven said.

"Well if you liked that, what didn't you like?" Beast Boy asked.

"The fact that I couldn't read a book without anyone else bothering me about what I was reading." Raven answered.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "Aw please, that'd be just like me complaining about having to do a two player game instead of one player on a game." Beast Boy replied.

"You obviously don't know how to enjoy a book." Raven said with a slight smirk on her face.

"And you obviously don't know how to enjoy a good game Rae." Beast Boy mockingly replied.

The conversation between them went on from there. The sky up above continued to light up as seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned into half an hour. Eventually, the sky was an array of colors. The actual sun would be appearing any minute now...

"Seriously dude, what did you think of Starfire putting mustard on everything?" Beast Boy asked.

"I found it disgusting." Raven said honestly.

"Yeah, I mean, how the heck was she able to just chug from the bottle?!" Beast Boy asked incredulously.

"She is an alien. Aliens do different things than what we do... It doesn't make it any less disgusting though." Raven replied. She had a small smile resting on her face now from the conversation.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes. "What about Cyborg's eating habits?" He asked.

Raven raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What does Cyborg's eating habits have to do with Starfire?" She asked.

"Dude! He atrociously ate more dead meat because he can, not because he needed to!" Beast Boy said indignantly.

"Speaking of dead meat, maybe I could use some bacon this morning." Raven said thoughtfully.

Beast Boy paled. "Aw Rae, please not this morning." Beast Boy said.

Raven's smile became a little evil. "Oh, are you afraid it might come from one of your pink family Gar?" She quipped.

Beast Boy looked caught off guard for a second, and then he crossed his arms and pouted. "Not cool Rae. Not cool." He said crossly as he turned to face the eastern sky.

Raven chuckled to herself, and finally turned to face the imminent sunrise in the distance.

Silence fell between them for a moment.

"Gar, would you want to go back to being a Teen Titan?" Raven suddenly asked.

Beast Boy blinked in surprise at that. "What do you mean Rae?" He asked.

Raven was silent for a moment...

"If... things could've gone differently back at the Tower. Would you have chosen to stay with the others and let somebody else like Robin or Cyborg help me to escape?" Raven finally asked hesitantly.

Beast Boy surprised Raven with how quickly he responded. "No." He said firmly.

Raven looked to him again. She looked slightly surprised. "Why?" She asked curiously.

Beast Boy continued to watch the eastern sky for the sun's appearance. He shrugged. "We might be enemies of the Justice League now... but I'd rather be enemies with them than be your enemy." He said honestly.

"Oh..." She said.

Beast Boy smiled. "Seriously dude, you can be scarier than Batman when you want to be." He joked.

Raven was still silent next to him. The sun was finally starting to poke out over the horizon in the distance. It hadn't been what he'd said in the dream to her. But the comment that he'd rather be with her than with the members of the Justice League, with the rest of their former friends...

Beast Boy felt a weight rest on his shoulder. He glanced in surprise, only to see violet hair. Raven's left arm then went around his back, and she rested comfortably against him.

"Thanks Garfield. That... means a lot coming from you." Raven said honestly.

Beast Boy didn't make a move for at least ten seconds. Then he cautiously rested his head against hers, and put his right arm over her shoulders. His free hand rested on hers between their legs. Raven sighed, and closed her eyes at the peaceful feeling she felt then.

"No problem Rae." He whispered. Almost feeling a little awestruck.

For the next few moments, the two were silent. The sun in the distance soon fully emerged from the horizon painting the landscape in a variety of beautiful colors. It was like watching the Earth come to life for a new day...

Beast Boy glanced up at the sky, and saw that they had some cloud cover up above for the moment. 'We should probably head back in. The last thing we need is to get spotted by the Justice League's WatchTower in the middle of nowhere.' Beast Boy thought to himself.

"Hey Rae, you ready to go back in?" He asked.

He didn't get a response.

Beast Boy looked down at Raven again, and found her eyes were closed. She was breathing in and out calmly. She also had a relaxed look on her face. Beast Boy almost wanted to laugh.

'Wow, she fell asleep on me dude.' Beast Boy thought in amusement.

'Are you feeling better now master?' The Beast asked.

Beast Boy steadily shifted as he got up, until he was able to lift Raven off the ground without waking her up. Her head still rested on his shoulder as she slept. 'Yeah… lots better actually... I guess I'll carry her in again.' Beast Boy thought.

'And we'll save traveling for after she's well rested and well fed?' The Beast asked.

Beast Boy turned his back to the light of the rising sun, and walked into the barn towards their cube home. 'Wow, now it's almost like you're wanting to treat her as your cub dude.' Beast Boy thought in amusement.

'Oh, you'll understand that part of being a mate soon enough master.' The Beast replied confidently. 'Now lets get her comfy and cook up the 'dead meat' for her.' The Beast said seriously, up to his mocking words for what Beast Boy called his prey.

'Dude! Seriously I don't want to touch that stuff after how much we just bought!'


A few days later

"Incoming, B, 0, 8, Zatanna."

The inside of the Zeta Tube glowed, and Zatanna appeared walking out of it. She looked around herself at the hive of activity all around.

Some of the Young Justice heroes were hard at work with some of the Teen Titans in the middle of the Cave. Wildebeast was carrying a bunch of metal beams, steel plates, and a few various things in the mix on his back to an area where Blue Beetle and Cyborg were at work putting it all together. "Keep it coming man. Keep it coming." Cyborg said as Wildebeast dumped everything in the pile next to him.

Blue Beetle turned off the welder on his left hand, and wiped a bead of sweat from off his armor mask. Below him was a circular dome of metal. It had three hollow barrels poking out of it. "Done." He said.

Argent came forward then and picked up the turret with her powers. "How many more of these do we have to make?" She asked.

"Not sure. I think we'll be told when to stop though." Blue Beetle replied as he got to work on the next one.

Argent shrugged and carried it over to the pile next to Batgirl, who was at work in the kitchen. She looked to be going over a map of the Midwestern United States where Beast Boy other hero patrols were scrounging over at the moment. A second and third map of the mid Northern and Southern plains was nearby, with lines going towards the different cities in the western states. It was likely the areas they had tried to patrol. It was either areas they had patrolled, or possible routes the two fugitives could have taken.

Zatanna examined this and more as she walked forward out of the Zeta Tube. Her tired eyes glinted like steel.

Superboy walked past her towards the Zeta Tube. He was carrying a large object one of his shoulders. It looked kind of techy. Zatanna didn't say anything to him before he disappeared into the Zeta Tube.

'I see Red Tornado was right about the Doom Patrol's request for tech from the younger heroes.' Zatanna thought to herself.

'If you asked me darling, it looks like they're putting together a fortress.' The voice in her mind said to her.

Zatanna kept the frown from forming on her face. 'I guess there's only one way to find out Nabu.' She thought as her eyes finally found who she was looking for.

Miss Martian was near the back. She was using her powers to lug several large data systems in the air behind her.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

All three settled down softly on the ground at the same time. Miss Martian wiped a bead of sweat off of her forehead. 'Hello Megan. You need to focus on the task at hand.' She thought to herself. She shook her head to clear it of the other thoughts that were trying to trouble her, and prepared to mentally lift the data systems behind her again.

"Hey Megan."

Miss Martian stopped, and turned her head. A look of surprise went over her face. "Zatanna?" She asked.

Zatanna smiled as she approached. Miss Martian turned around fully, and the two hugged. "I thought you were still busy patrolling the southern states with Nightwing and Starfire?" Miss Martian asked.

Zatanna separated from the hug. "I was. I had a little time for a break though before I go out with Doctor Fate to strengthen the Pomerium Line again." Zatanna said.

Miss Martian did her best to smile back. It looked just a little forced. "So what brings you down here?" She asked in what she hoped was a curious tone.

Zatanna put her arm around Miss Martian's shoulders. "I just wanted to talk with a good friend. It's been a while since I've been able to." Zatanna said as she started to walk with Miss Martian towards the hallway.

"Oh, um, okay then." Miss Martian tried to say happily.

'What do I do?!... should I tell her... but Connor said he doesn't trust her... but why?... I'm not sensing anything wrong with her.' Her thoughts were across the spectrum. Yet she still walked with Zatanna into a hallway, not suspecting anything bad on her part.

"Incoming B, 0, 4, Superboy." The computer said.

The inside of the Zeta Tube glowed again, and Superboy walked back out. He no longer had the large object on his shoulder.

"Hey, how was it looking over at the Doom Patrol's headquarter's?" Blue Beetle called from his work station.

"It's looking good. They said it's almost ready for them to move into again." Superboy responded.

Blue Beetle looked down at his current turret. "That's good. I'm kind of getting sick of making a bunch of these so their base isn't infiltrated." Blue Beetle said, before he got back to his welding. "Besides, I want to get this done so we can get back to patrolling with Kaldur." He said.

Superboy nodded. He knew that wasn't the real reason why Blue Beetle wanted out. Though they were both worried about Kaldur. Superboy had asked Mento if Beast Boy had ever killed before, and had been given a very thorough analysis of what Mento knew about his past. The ending of which discussion, had led Superboy to believe it couldn't have been him. If he had gone through even half that crap that Mento was aware of on Beast Boy while imprisoned in Cadmus, he would have snapped and gone on a killing rampage.

No, something wasn't right. He couldn't see Zatanna ever pulling a move like that though. So who other than Zatanna would kill two heroes and frame the two fugitives for it...

Speaking of Zatanna, Superboy looked out over all the activity again. 'I walked past her when she first entered. But where did she go-'

His thoughts stopped when he saw the data systems resting on the ground. He looked around the large open room again.

'Wait... where did Me'gann go?' He thought to himself.

"Yo, I need more parts Wildebeast!" Cyborg called from his area.

Wildebeast grunted and threw his hands up in the air. He was sitting on one of the couches over in the living room area.

"I don't care if you're taking a break man! I don't have anything to work with here!" Cyborg said angrily.

Wildebeast grunted in frustration at Cyborg, and got up to walk over to the part pile.

Superboy continued to look around. He saw no sign of Miss Martian... then he realized that Zatanna was nowhere in sight either. He looked beyond the data systems and saw the hallway next to it.

'What is she up to now...' He thought to himself.

"Yo! Get your lazy hindie in gear, and get me some more metal plates!" Cyborg yelled angrily.

"Whoa Sparky. Calm it down a notch will ya?" Bumblebee said next to him.

"I'll calm it down a notch when Beastie there gets moving past glacier mode!" Cyborg yelled angrily.

Wildebeast grunted something angrily, and then gave a hand gesture that every teenager knew the meaning of. Him and Cyborg then got head to head. "Oh, do you want a piece of this pork chop!?" Cyborg asked.

Batgirl finally looked up from her table. "Hey, I don't know about you, but I don't want Kaldur to walk in on you two wasting time with a fight?!" She yelled angrily.

Superboy walked past the impending chaos towards the hallway.


"So how are the teams holding up Me'gann?"

Miss Martian and Zatanna walked around a corner. Miss Martian looked a bit more relaxed than she had before. "Oh, it's okay. We just, you know, spent the last few months in some swamp, hunting down another group of bad guys while saving some good guys in the process. Then we come back, miss finding the two fugitives by a little bit, and then find two of our friends dead by them. Nothing too exciting in other words." She tried to reply normally, though with a run on conversation.

"That's nice. I'm guessing the swamps were a lot of fun." Zatanna said simply as they were approaching her old room.

"Yeah. If you call having to deal with rain, mud and bad hair days fun." Miss Martian said with a look of disgust.

Zatanna laughed a little at that, and Miss Martian also laughed a little. She went ahead into her old room.

Zatanna lost the laugh and looked to the end of the hall. "Trela em fi enoemos sehcaorppa." She said under her breath.

An invisible sheen went up over the corner of the hallway. Zatanna then walked into the room.

Miss Martian had sat down on her bed, looking more at ease now. "So what's up with you now Zatanna?" She asked happily.

Zatanna left the door slightly open behind her. The smile was back on her face. "Oh, nothing too much." She said as she sat down next to her.

Miss Martian was still smiling. "Come on now, you're a member of the Justice League. There has to be something exciting that went on in the last little while." Miss Martian said.

Zatanna sighed. "There hasn't been all that much. Patrolling and spell casting can be so boring." She said almost sadly... "Well, actually, there has been one thing." She added at the end.

Miss Martian looked curious at that. "What is it?" She asked curiously.

Zatanna looked down at her hands, and then closed her eyes. "I'm afraid... I might have discovered something in the last few days. It was shortly before those two fugitives killed Robin and Aquagirl." She said calmly.

Miss Martian was about to ask, when she felt something stop her. 'Wait a moment-' She started to think.

Zatanna snapped her head up suddenly, and looked Miss Martian straight in the eyes. "There are traitors helping out the two demons, and I believe you're a part of it." Zatanna suddenly snapped.

Miss Martian's alien heart stopped, and her dark green skin took on a paler look. "What, what are you talking about-" She started to say nervously.

Zatanna pulled Batman's tablet almost seemingly out of thin air and showed Miss Martian what was on it. "Don't try to lie. I used my magic to extract more from the footage, and found the what actually happened in that town." Zatanna said bitingly.

Miss Martian didn't speak at all as the footage on the tablet played before her eyes. It showed from an aerial view as Superman and Bumblebee took to the air and flew away from their street.

After a moment, Superboy appeared on the street on the opposite side. He waved at someone to come over, and then disappeared into the building. Soon after, Beast Boy and Raven appeared and ran across the street into the barnlike structure. Miss Martian then saw herself float up next to the building, before she materialized into it.

The film fast forwarded there. Then it went back to normal speed. It showed Superboy run out of the side of the building. It was followed by Miss Martian running out of the back end of the building. Even from up above it looked obvious that she was searching around for where someone had gone while Superboy went on 'searching'.

Tap!

Zatanna finally tapped harshly the screen, and stopped the footage. She looked crossly at Miss Martian, who looked very much afraid in that moment. "I swear, it wasn't what it looked like-" She tried to quietly explain.

"Oh, so you're saying you and your naughty boyfriend didn't help those fugitives escape. Is that what I'm hearing from you?" Zatanna grilled into Miss Martian.

Miss Martian shook her head, and covered her face with her hands. "I swear. That wasn't what happened. I had no idea what was going on." She said.

"But you knew that Superboy has been helping them out, along with Blue Beetle. You know where that Beast and that Demoness are headed. And you haven't told Red Tornado, or Black Canary, or anyone else about it-" Zatanna grilled.

Miss Martian started to silently cry. "I swear, I don't understand... my boyfriend has been acting off the last few months, and I overheard him talking to the leader of the Doom Patrol about things a few days before all this... I didn't know Robin and Aquagirl would die because they got away... I don't know where they went or anything, I swear..." She weakly said at the end.

Ding!

Zatanna was about to say something else, when she straightened on the bed. A ding had sounded loudly in her mind. 'Somebody's coming.' She thought.

She quickly pulled a techy circular device from her pocket and threw it to Miss Martian. She almost dropped it and looked at it in surprise. "That tracker will work in any location. I won't inform Batman about any of this for your sake. But if you're really not a traitor, and if Superboy leads you to those two, you will warn me in advance, and then set it off so we can capture the fugitives once and for all. Understood?" Zatanna said harshly.

Miss Martian was silent, but she nodded her head and hugged the device to her chest. Zatanna stood back up. "Good, thanks again for the chat. I'll see you later friend." Zatanna said almost cheerfully, before she walked to the door.

Miss Martian just sat almost numbly on her bed. She didn't seem to hear it when Zatanna greeted someone at the doorway before walking out. She also didn't get that someone was calling her name for a little bit.

"Meg... eg'a... g'ann..."

"Me'gann. Megan?"

Finally, Miss Martian looked up. Superboy was looking down at her, and he was looking slightly worried. "Me'gann, are you okay?" He asked.

Miss Martian looked down at her hands quickly, and saw that she had subconsciously materialized the tracker into her right hand. She quickly nodded her head. "Yes! I'm fine!" She said in a higher pitched voice.

Superboy looked worried as he approached. "Then why are you crying?" He asked.

Miss Martian was confused for a second... and then she realized she still had tears running down her face. "I... um..." She lowered her head and stood up. "I'm okay... Zatanna's visit was just unexpected." She tried to lie as she moved to walk past her boyfriend to the door.

Superboy stopped her by grabbing her arm. She looked up at his face in slight surprise. His eyes met with hers though, and she found herself unable to even want to escape her boyfriend's grip.

"Megan, are you really okay?" He asked.

Miss Martian couldn't lie. She shook her head and let her tears freely fall. "No... I'm not okay. I'm not sure who to trust anymore. I, I-" Miss Martian almost started to blubber at the end.

'Oh Megan, this is just like all those drama shows I found on TV! I thought that stuff never happened in real life-' Miss Martian thought to herself.

Superboy cut her off with his next words. "Megan? Do you trust me?" He asked.

Miss Martian stopped thinking. She wasn't sure how to respond. But she found herself nodding before she could even think it through.

He said nothing at first, but then he hugged her close and kissed her lightly. She immediately relaxed into his embrace, his warm, protecting, and familiar embrace. Zatanna, Beast Boy and Raven, the Doom Patrol, and everything else that had been bothering her left her mind as the world shrunk to just her and him...

Finally, Superboy pulled back from the kiss. He looked softly down at his girlfriend. "Me'gann, I'm so sorry. I... I think it's time I told you what's been going on lately." He said to her as his hand moved through her hair.

Miss Martian stared up at him. Just as quickly as all the other thoughts had left, they came crashing into a boiling pot inside her mind. She knew almost immediately what it was he wanted to tell her about. And out of all the thoughts that went through her mind, one of the most searing ones was Zatanna calling them traitors, and giving her the unknown tracker.

Miss Martian looked down at her hand. 'Who is really right here?... Zatanna... or my boyfriend?' She thought to herself.

She wanted so badly to see into his mind. But forcing her way into his memories would only drive him away. She had to take solace in that moment as they sat on her bed that she would eventually learn for herself who was right and who was wrong.


Author's Notes:

I'm not even remotely sorry for pulling the carpet out from everyone after making them think that BBxRae was finally happening. :) Hope you enjoyed! Review what you thought, and sit tight for the next chapter! Coming soon from you know who!

Till Next Time

Allen Blaster