Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.
Chapter 5 – Commitment
Beast Boy was now standing in front of the training course control console. He ran his ungloved hand over it, caressing it, as if drawing memories out of its circuits. Raven had always been the Titan who was least challenged by the ever changing obstacle course, while it had given him the most grief over the years.
He punched in his personal code on the console's security pad after which the console's lid flipped open, revealing its 747 cockpit of buttons, dials and displays. In the middle of the console were 6 large buttons, which invoked each Titan's preset obstacle course settings. They were labeled in alphabetical order: Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven, Robin, Starfire and Terra.
Terra had returned to the Titans after completing her degree. She hadn't been well received at Cal State Jump City because of her past but she toughed it out while there and finished her geological engineering degree, graduating with honors, which had impressed Robin. She had begun to hang out at the Tower during her final semester and had cautiously approached Robin about the possibility of returning to the team. She explained to him that all of her on campus job interviews had ended in disaster when the interviewers realized who so really was. They all told her the same thing: 'we do not hire former felons'. It didn't matter the she had never been convicted of a crime; to them she was simply Slade's apprentice, end of story.
Robin thought about it for a few months and after consulting with the others he made his decision. Two months after the wedding he called Terra in for an appointment. In a simple ceremony in the common room he welcomed her back to the team and gave her one of the newly redesigned Titan communicators. She thanked everyone for the second chance and promised to not let them down. And so far she hadn't. She had become an exemplary member of the team.
Beast Boy's mind drifted back to the wedding day…
The day had not started out well. The original plan was for the wedding to be held on the Tower's roof top but as luck would have it there was a fierce Pacific storm system that had parked over Jump City and stayed there, forcing them to move the ceremony indoors.
There were only two rooms large enough in the Tower to hold all the guests. The common room was already reserved for the reception so Cyborg had to empty the hangar and clean it in just a few hours. Fortunately the guests all chipped in afterward and helped set up the hangar for the ceremony.
But that wasn't the only thing going wrong that morning. While Starfire helped Raven prepare for the big day the Sorceress was beginning to dread the ceremony. As she sat in a chair while the Princess styled her hair (don't ask me what Starfire did with Raven's A-line, I have no idea!) Raven could feel the jumble of emotions from the nearly two hundred guests who were already waiting in the hangar.
Raven had always known that she was the least favorite of the Titans, if she could even be called that. When fan mail arrived she was lucky to receive a handful of letters while the others always received huge piles which typically included marriage proposals from adoring fans. The only proposals Raven ever received in her 2-3 monthly letters were of the indecent sort.
But what did hurt Raven the most was her lack of popularity among the honorary Titans and other super heroes. As she felt the cocktail of emotions seep out of the hangar the empath could feel their overall hostility towards her and their overall disapproval.
She knew that she had the support of the original Titans and the Titans East. Even Terra had congratulated her when they announced their brief engagement and she felt reasonably confident that the geomancer was sincere.
Nevertheless she was feeling a sense of dread when she thought of entering the hangar. She felt like running away and the only thing that stopped her was her knowing how devastated and hurt he would be if she left him standing at the altar.
"You are ready Raven!" Starfire cheered. "You are a most radiant bride!"
Raven stood up and walked to the mirror. Starfire was right, she looked beautiful. The only problem was that her face wasn't with the program.
"You have the butterflies in the stomach, correct?" Her friend smiled.
Raven nodded silently.
"Do not worry friend. Your true love awaits you. It will be a glorious day." Starfire comforted her with a kiss on the cheek. "Now go and claim him as yours!"
Raven nodded again. The princess was right. This day belonged to her and Gar.
"I'm ready." She told her friend, after which they stepped out into the hallway. Robin was waiting there for them as Raven had asked him to "give her away". She certainly wasn't going to have Trigon do that. Robin was dressed in a tuxedo but was still wearing his mask.
"Sorry Raven, but only you Star, Cyborg and Beast Boy know my secret identity."
Raven smiled. "Well, we can't let you steal the show today, can we?"
Robin hugged her gently and gave her a loving kiss on the cheek.
"Is my little sister ready to get married?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." She replied.
They were now standing in front of the hangar doors. Robin hooked his arm around hers and nodded at Starfire, who entered first.
"I'll take that as a yes." He replied to the sorceress as they heard a bridal procession begin to play on the organ. Raven wasn't familiar with that particular piece of music but thought it was tasteful and elegant, much better than the stereotypical "here comes the bride" tune that was associated with weddings.
Robin looked at her and smiled. "Titans Go!" He said in a mock command voice. Raven returned his smile and together they entered the hangar.
Raven felt a tsunami of emotions pour over her and had to summon all of her will power to keep them from overwhelming her. The feeling of disapproval was present and there was even a little dismay to be felt. There was no doubt in her mind, most of them were wondering what Beast Boy was thinking of, taking a demon as his spouse. Sometimes she herself wondered what he was thinking.
As they began to walk up the aisle in the improvised chapel she tensed up as all eyes were on her. She saw that most were smiling, some genuinely but most were forced, being polite, no doubt for Beast Boy's sake. The aisle felt like a gauntlet and for a moment she wasn't sure she could make it all the way through. That is until she looked to the end of the aisle. There he was, smiling, radiating pure joy; his eyes were fixed on her. Starfire and Cyborg were standing next to him.
Raven no longer saw the guests as they simply disappeared in her mind. All she saw was Gar and acknowledged him with a huge smile. Before she knew it she was standing next to him. She looked down at the front row and saw the Titans East and a few of the closer honorary Titans as well, all smiling. She had to bite her lip to no break out laughing at Gnark, who was clearly out of his element wearing a suit and tie. Kole elbowed him, admonishing him to sit still. And next to them was Terra, who was beaming at the bride and groom.
She turned to face him. "I love you." she whispered, knowing his sensitive ears would hear her. He winked at her, acknowledging her declaration.
The judge stepped forward. She was dressed in a simple black gown and began the ceremony, which was brief as Raven had requested. The judge said a few words of welcome to the guests and gave a brief speech on the history of marriage throughout the ages. Then without further ado they went straight to the vows.
Raven was in a daze as they first placed the wedding bands on each other's fingers. Beast Boy recited his vow first. Then the judge turned to Raven.
"Raven Rachael Roth, will you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband, will you forsake all others for him, will you stand by him in sickness and in health, for better and for worse, until death do you part?"
"I will." She replied breathlessly.
"Then by the authority vested in me by the state of California I pronounce you husband and wife." She then turned to the assembly. "I present to you Garfield and Raven Logan."
The entire assembly stood up and applauded as Raven and Beast Boy turned to each other and shared a passionate kiss.
"We did it." She whispered in his ear.
"I never had a doubt, Mrs. Logan." He whispered back.
Beast Boy closed the lid on the console, making sure it sealed and locked. He picked up the manila folder, which had arrived via express courier earlier that morning and tucked it under his arm as he resumed his walk around the island, occasionally glancing at the sky.
The reception had been pleasant as there was plenty of good cheer and merry making. Raven was in the spirit that day and had done her share of dancing with Robin, Cyborg, Speedy, Aqualad, Mas, Menos, Red Star, a few others and of course with her brand new husband.
They had requested no gifts for the wedding, as they had no need for Lenox china, fancy silver and crystal ware, and they definitely had no need for kitchen appliances of any sort. He recalled the surprise they both shared when at the end of the reception, after most of the guests had left, Starfire presented to them a basket full of cash that everyone had chipped into. She told them that she had already counted it and it was a total of $23,475. They ended up taking a couple thousand with them on their honeymoon, which they enjoyed thoroughly as they relaxed in the tropical paradise for the following week. Since it was an all expense paid trip they spent very little of the $2000 and wound up donating what was left at the end to a local orphanage in Cozumel before returning home.
The wedding day and the year that followed it had been the best 12 months of his life.
Unfortunately the following year was not as good.
OK, since I short changed you with a short chapter I'll do mail bag today.
Novus Ordo Seclorum – "Yet another solid chapter! … Star and Raven dress shopping? Now that is priceless!"
Thanks! You definitely are my #1 fan (sorry Rosalind, you've fallen behind on the reviews!). I just figured that Raven would have been content to get married in her cape and leotard. Of course Starfire would have none of that!
Titanfan45 – "That was a great "Guy" moment when Cyborg came into Beast Boy's room and saw Raven's clothing there."
That was my favorite moment in the chapter.
The Might One – "I can feel that Terra won't be too happy to see Beast Boy and Raven getting married."
She seems cool with it … so far.
Raven's Favorite Emotion – "I just LOVED how assertive Raven was, that was fantastic."
Welcome, new reviewer! I really did like the "5 rules" section of chapter 3.
Rosalind2013 – "Well, this is AWESOME so far! And I've only read the first chapter...Aw..."
And you still haven't read the other ones yet! I don't know if I should take this personally or not! (j/k)
