(amused4ever and Beast Boy walk timidly into a dark room, an abandoned computer screen in the back)

Me: HELLO? HELLO? (scratches head, eyes scanning room) AIY! don't tell me i'm the only one here! (waits in silence for a few seconds, then covers face in hands and bursts into tears) WAA! where have all my reviewer buddies gone? am i alone, deserted, beat down, and left for dead?

Beast Boy: (pats amused4ever's back awkwardly) erm, i'm sure they'll come back… (after a slight pause, grin spreads on his face) i mean the story is about me, right? they can't resist little old me! (puffs out chest show-off like)

Me: (lifts head from hands, glares threateningly) shut up.

Author's Note: don't tell me i ran you all off with boredom, either! okay, i do feel like last chapter was kinda mediocre, but i really hope this chapter makes up for that! for those of you who have been craving for action and are already tired of Gar's social life, this chapter is devoted to you! but first, i have an important question for all of my reviewers (by the way, you guyz rock, all of you, new and old, so come back!): do you think i put Beast Boy/Gar too outta character? i mean, this whole fanfic is about delving deeper into his personality and feelings, but i don't wanna distort him into someone else completely, so you have to warn me if i'm starting to do that, alrighty? keep me tuned, i'll be listening out. anywayz, now i have something else to share—these last couple of chapters that i've written have just been almost like background information, you know, setting the stage for the play. i introduced many of the past characters for reasons that'll be important to the plot and the flow of the story, i can't tell you that enough. i'm sorry if i lost a couple readers due to the bore and uninvolvement of the Teen Titans, believe me, but i swear the pace is picking up from now on out. SO COME BACK! and great new episode last Saturday, July 2nd, no? i hope they didn't just kill off raven, though…

dragoon-bane: wow, i can really count on your review at all times even if you don't read the author's note, can't i? dude, seeing as you've been begging for bbrae 'interaction' the whole time, the rest of any romance between the two in this story are written for you…

SlOpPyKiSsEs: WHOA! a new reviewer! YAY! you like my story? sit tight and i'll give you more to like…pleeze come back again!

bianca rios: WHOA! another new reviewer! DOUBLE YAY! bbrae is on the way, and me mucho gusto mexico! and pleeze come back…

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the Teen Titans show or comics.

A huge shockwave suddenly shook the restaurant from the ground up, cutting off Michael's words and sending glasses, plates, and pitchers crashing to the ground. Customers steadied themselves on walls and in seats as waiters and waitresses danced around in an effort to keep emptied plates and trays full of food balanced treacherously in their arms from falling to the floor. More than a few didn't succeed, the carpet and tile soon sporting eggs and pancakes as well as glass shards. It was astonishingly weird, how everyone grew quiet and conversations stopped for the split second instincts took over and people tried to stay off the ground. Of course, the silence didn't last long, as the trembling arrested as abruptly as it had started. Shouts of confusion and fear flitted across the booths and table, staff and consumers both beginning to make their way towards the doors at the front of the restaurant.

"What the 'ell was that?" Nick exclaimed as the rumbling halted, his eyes lingering on the orange juice soaking into the rug and the pieces of glass that had used to be the party's orange juice pitcher.

For a minute no one responded, stunned at the disruption of their Saturday breakfast. John was the first to move and speak as he glanced up through the window that was at his back just as a huge shadow blocked the morning sun for a moment, covering the street outside and most of the area around the restaurant. "Uh, guys?" His eyes flickered nervously as the shadow passed over. "I believe we should make our exit now."

He got about five dubious glimpses before the street outside of the window suddenly exploded, pieces of cement and pavement rushing at the glass. John ducked under the table right in time as some rubble flew through the window were he had been moments before, skidding across the table and coming to rest on top of the remains of the orange juice pitcher. In an instant, the stunned air that had enveloped the group a moment before disappeared, everyone scrambling out of the booth to join the crowd pushing out of the restaurant. Benji had pushed Kassie in front of him and they were the first to head to the doors, closely followed by a sprinting Nick dragging a ruffled-looking John behind him. Gar helped Michael and Tye out of the booth and all three of them began to run towards the mass of people fighting and pushing to get out of the building.

"What just happened?" Gar shouted over the din at Michael, who was a bit in front of him with Tye.

"Look out that window," Michael shouted back over his shoulder, "And I guarantee you'll see the flashes of cameras going off." He turned back around to face the door as they drew level with it, and then glanced back at lack of answer from Gar to see his friend racing in the direction they had just come from. "What! I didn't mean for him to take that literally!" he screamed at Tye in alarm as he was pushed through an opening to the exit.

But Gar wasn't looking for tourists as he scrambled over the booth he had been enjoying his breakfast at a few minutes ago and through the smashed window, though he imagined he saw a few here or there. A wild rebelliousness had swept over him the second he had put the puzzle together, his desperate desire to see his old friends once more so consuming he barely noticed as his shin was sliced open by a glass wedge when he landed roughly outside the window, or the warnings people shouted at him as he ran in the opposite direction everyone else was headed in. No, his eyes were only for the huge, stone-like creature fumbling around the street only a few painstakingly close yards away, and the teenage superheroes fighting it in an effort to stop its rampage. And they were desperately failing.

A violent push and a near whack to the head by a parking meter woke Gar from his trance, and he realized he wasn't in the best of places—in the middle of a sidewalk with people shoving him back and forth next to a street which was currently occupied by battling superpowers was never a good place to be. He was about to turn around and get a little farther away when he realized something he hadn't before. He saw the brilliant green light beams belonging to Starfire glancing off of Cinderblock's back and arms, and he recognized Cyborg and Robin's famous Sonic-Boom move…but Raven.

Where was Raven?

Directly across the street from where Gar was standing, an eruption of screams sounded, drawing Gar's eyes like a magnet. People were dashing away from a cloud of dust that was rising into the air, though its source was hidden from Gar by a parked truck that was remarkably still in one piece. A darkly dressed figure shot up from the center of the cloud, blue cape streaming behind. Raven. Gar took a couple hesitant steps into the street as she flew to join the battle with Cinderblock, and he wondered what had kept her.

Immediately after this thought another figure much larger and heavier than Raven leapt from the cloud, stirring up the dust again. It landed in the street a little ways from Gar, and Gar's heart skipped a beat as he took in the bright red armor and snidely-smiling brown face watching Raven fervently. It was a villain he thought had been locked up for sure, and had never wished to see again: Adonis. Bad memories surfaced in Gar's mind—his transformation into that man-beast, the close-to-death experiences both he and Raven had…the armor had some differences, some gadgets with purposes Gar couldn't guess, but there was no doubt about whom was inside.

Oblivious to the fact that his former archenemy was standing practically right behind him, Adonis raised an armored arm and trained it on Raven as she glided farther into the sky, a sickly grin on his face that made Gar's stomach turn once or twice. After a loud snap and hiss, the arm swiftly transformed into a blaster similar to Cyborg's sonic canon, and Adonis mouthed something that suspiciously seemed like 'Asta laviesta, baby!' Raven halted in midair as if she had heard him, eyes widening slightly as the tip of the gun glowed red and a series blasts shot off towards her. Gar's eyes followed her while she dodged the blasts and levitated closer towards to the ground like his life too depended on her flight. Adonis, however, was not put off by Raven's escapes, and merely kept firing at her with a calculating glee in his eyes. Gar took a couple more steps out into the street, anxiously waiting for her safety to come from some anyone, anywhere…but the rest of the Titans had their hands full with Cinderblock's raw strength, and couldn't do anything for their distressed team member if they wanted to.

Gar switched his observance to Starfire and Robin as they both flew through the sky on top of one another, thrown aside by Cinderblock as he wrestled with Cyborg, and then turned his attention back towards Raven to find Adonis firing rapidly at her feet while she glided straight upwards. Gar then witnessed what he would later regard as the longest two seconds in life.

With an impossible speed, explained by the action of transforming his other arm into a blaster as well while Raven dodged shots from his other arm, Adonis suddenly changed aim, firing at Raven's head, his other arm firing simultaneously at her feet. It took a moment of dawning horror for Gar to realize exactly what this meant for Raven: she had no where to dodge to, caught off guard as she was. Time seemed to slow down and freeze as red light covered Raven in a silhouette, her body curving gracefully into a perfect arc, outlined in a deadly red glow. In that instant, she was a striking picture of unbelievable pain and indescribable beauty, causing Gar's heart to leap out as he watched powerlessly, a monstrous rushing growing filling his ears. Glimpses of memories long passed and sealed away flashed through Gar's mind; a vision of a elegant red-haired woman, dressed in a khaki safari outfit, her hands reaching up with an expression of fear illustrating every inch of her face, as she fell into an abyss of blackness, worry etched into the crows-feet at corners of her sky-blue eyes; a man, dark brown hair falling over his face, looking down with distress and concern shadowing his forest-green eyes. Numbers of faceless people tumbled over a cliff of water, their lifeless bodies swirling in cold blue currents, drowning, dying…

"NO!"

Gar had shouted and was tearing across the street towards Raven's crumpled and plummeting figure on impulse, his mind detached from his body. He felt as if it were someone else darting across the street, bypassing an astounded Adonis instants before a blast of green knocked him to the ground, unconscious…as if it were someone else stretching out his arms as he jumped over a discarded purse, a flying piece of metal barely missing his back. Raven appeared to pick up discouraging speed as she plunged to the ground, and Gar dazedly wondered if she would be caught before she crashed into cement, her body breaking with the impact, bones snapping, flesh ripping…

But he immediately snapped back to himself as he skidded to a halt, his shoes slipping on loose gravel and as Raven's body slammed into his extended arms, her weight and speed carrying him to the ground, his feet slipping from underneath him because of the gravel. Air rushed out of his lungs as his back smacked into the incredibly hard pavement, his teeth chattering and every bone in his body jarred. The back of his head smashed into the ground, stars bursting in front of his eyes. Raven's body crushed his, but he didn't mind her hip digging into his pelvis, if it meant she was alright and unbroken. Groaning, Gar struggled to a sitting position, cradling Raven in his arms with lights chasing back and forth across his vision. She started to slip out of his lap, but he automatically gripped her waist and slid his arms underneath her legs, situating her across himself as he fought to gather his wits again.

At feeling a gentle tickle on his forearm, Gar quickly glanced down, regretting his movement as a bolt of pain shot down his neck. Grimacing, Gar focused his sliding vision on Raven, to figure out what damage had been done. Basically, she had fallen too fast and rough for him to catch her—he had pretty much just kept her head and upper body from slamming to the ground. Her legs, however, hadn't been so lucky, hurtling into the pavement as Gar's back had when he had lost his balance. A long scrape ran up one of her legs, droplets of blood trickling onto Gar's arm, and mildly wondered if she would be able to walk. He felt like he couldn't.

Then again, he couldn't necessarily stay out in the open while there was a huge stone giant prancing around between skyscrapers and other buildings next to him, and a loaded human weapon on the edge of waking up. Grunting, he hefted Raven's weight and picked himself up, staggering as his back notified him just how forceful its impact had been with the ground. Ignoring the streaks of pain that ran up and down his spine, Gar moved behind the still-in-one-piece bright-red truck that was parked only a foot or so away, sitting down on the curb with Raven once he had gotten behind the safety of its massive hulk. A vast crater was in the sidewalk a few inches from the curb, and Gar gathered this had been the source of the dust cloud earlier. The other sidewalks finally seemed to be empty of the public population, and Gar could hear the distant sounds of police sirens. If you could shut out the explosive booms, shouts, and angry roars of the fighting raging on the other side of the truck, the morning could actually be peaceful.

There was fighting still going on, though, and the sounds reminded Gar he had a Titan out cold in his hands who could be critically hurt and who he should probably be trying to wake up before Adonis. He looked down at Raven, enjoying the sight of her face for a minute or two…smooth lips parted slightly, wisps violet-blue hair falling over her eyes, closed not in frustration, concentration, or fear, but naturally. It was an expression of complete relaxation, an expression Gar had rarely seen on Raven's face. Her head fit neatly in the crook of Gar's arm as he held her, the curves of the rest of her body fitting perfectly against Gar's. A silent thrill unexpectedly ran through him, his heart thumping in his chest as he surveyed Raven, her body pressing against his. She looks so fragile, he thought, an odd fluttering sensation filling his stomach. His face began to grow hot, and his mouth started to go dry.

A fire hydrant hammered into the cement beside the truck, skimming into the crater and breaking the strange trance that had come over Gar. Taking his arm out from under Raven's legs, he brushed the wisps of hair out of her face and carefully shook her shoulder. "Raven," he called softly. She didn't respond. Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Raven, come on, don't scare me anymore. Wake up," he said louder, shaking her shoulder a little harder. Nothing. Trying to remember his really, really old first aid course he had taken in, like, fifth grade, he took one of her hands and began feeling for her pulse on her wrist, keeping her head supported on his other arm. He believed she was breathing, but he really didn't know what to do.

All of a sudden Raven's eyelids flickered, causing Gar to drop her hand and grip her shoulder. "Raven?" He watched her face closely. "Give me a sign, anything to let me know if you can hear me…"

When she spoke, Gar had to lean in to be able to hear her. "Bea…Beast Boy?" she whispered, opening her eyes navy-blue and looking adamantly confused. He stiffened a tad at hearing that name, but Gar gave a small smile.

She stared at him, then realized he was holding her. She pushed herself up quickly, letting only one grimace escape her mask as her face resumed its usual monotone expression. Gar let her move around in his arms, steadying her even though she refused to look at him. Sitting up, Raven realized she was now, quite frankly, sitting in Gar's lap, and he had to resist and urge to laugh as she scrambled off him, almost landing on her butt in the process. "Are you okay?" he asked once she had composed herself on the curb beside him. "You fell at least twenty stories, and you're really hard to catch going like a hundred miles an hour."

"I'm fine," she informed Gar, inspecting the cut on her leg. Her hands pulsed black, and she placed them on the cut as a black glow grew around them. When she lifted them from her leg, the cut was gone, like it had never been there. Right, Gar remembered, she has healing powers, too. Raven raised her eyes from her leg. "It was a stun gun. Where's Adonis?"

"He was knocked out," Gar told her, glancing nervously at the red truck they hid behind. "But I don't know how long—"

At that instant, the truck was lifted up effortlessly and tossed aside by none other than Adonis.

Gar and Raven scampered to their feet, Gar stepping out in front of Raven protectively, although he knew that he was probably the one who needed protecting. Adonis observed them eagerly, letting a peal of laughter break loose when he saw Gar standing in front of Raven, an absurd picture of a bluffing man scared to death. "So, doll, you picked up another knight in shining armor?" Adonis boomed, snickering. "'Cept he seems to be missin' the armor. Either way, I'm hurt." He laughed again.

Embarrassed and angry beyond point, Gar opened his mouth to utter something, anything that would shut up Adonis's sputtering. But Adonis wasn't done. "Oh, please," he continued, noticing Gar's demeanor, "don't even think about shooting one of those macho lines like, 'Hey, pick on someone your own size!'" He took a rumbling step up to the curb and looked down at Gar, who had to crane his neck to see Adonis's face. "That just wouldn't be fair."

Adonis roared with laughter, Gar's face turning red, but his shame was short-lived. Adonis stopped laughing in time enough to swear once before two slabs of concrete crackling with black energy, exact to his length and width, crushed him. Gar stared at the two slabs as the crashed to the ground for a delayed moment, his blush frozen in shock. He felt a light hand on his shoulder, and he turned to face Raven. She studied him for a moment, and then said quietly, "You should leave now."

The cement remains Adonis had been buried in suddenly burst open, an insane gleam in Adonis's eyes present as he climbed out of the rubble way too fast for Gar and Raven to do anything but stare. "You wench!" he screamed at Raven, bringing one of his massive armored hands down the exact second Raven began to push Gar out of the way. She was too late, unfortunately, and Adonis's hand connected with Gar, knocking the air out of him and sending him flying to the ground a good ten feet away. With Gar gone, Adonis had tried to pick up Raven and was rewarded with obsidian energy covering him and swinging him into a building.

Raven looked towards Gar as climbed up shakily, and shouted forcefully, "Get out of here!" Gar watched helplessly as Adonis recovered from the blow and started to charge at Raven, only to be halted by a wall of black. Raven noted he still hadn't left. "Now!" she shouted again, her voice threatening. And with a concentrated blast of energy aimed at Gar's back, he was sprinting down the street, a string of curses running from his mouth. Raven gave a small, satisfied nod; then Adonis once more swallowed all her attention.

"Girls!" Gar fumed as he banged his way into the kitchen, jolting Steve out of his work, which was spread all over the table, some papers fluttering to the ground at the force of the slamming front door. Steve glanced up from a contract he was reviewing, Gar stomping past him and going to the freezer. Steve returned to the contract, then jerked his head back up and stood, his chair falling to the ground as he rushed over to his foster son.

"Oh my God, Gar, what the hell happened?" Steve cried, grabbing the ice pack Gar had been reaching for, slamming the freezer shut and ushering Gar over to the table in one swift motion. Gar sighed, took the ice pack, and buried it into his left eye. He had predicted Steve would freak when he saw the condition Gar had managed to scrape up for himself. How many parents didn't freak when they saw their son walk into the house with a black eye, his back and hair covered with dust, a tiny limp, and caked blood on the back of his head?

"Please don't tell me you got into a fight," Steve continued, getting a rag from the kitchen sink and wetting it, most likely so he could clean off the back of Gar's head. His hair was glued together in sticky clumps, so it wasn't a pretty sight.

Gar hesitated as Steve came up behind him. "Well," he began slowly, "it wasn't exactly a fight. At least the kind you're thinking of. And I didn't start it."

Steve was silent for a second, then gave the rag to Gar and walked to the other side of the table, a stern look on his face. "Oh really?" he said lightly, picking up the chair he had abandoned and sitting in it. "Enlighten me."

Gar scowled, thinking of Raven. "It isn't important."

"Yeah." Steve snorted. "You're just covered in shit, your clothes are torn up, you probably have a head concussion, but it's nothing important."

Gar stared at Steve, surprised at his foster father's language and obvious concern he was showing. And he was searching for something to say. "I…fell," he answered truthfully but lamely to Steve's implied question.

"Huh. So now we get black eyes from falling?"

Gar winced. It wasn't his fault Raven decided the best way to get rid of him was to shoot him. Of course, it was kind of his fault he had been so smart as to look back right as the bolt of black power Raven had sent after him grew level with his head, resulting in a very painful collision between the bolt of power and, rather coincidently, his left eye. "That's nothing," Gar said, evading the question.

Steve seemed to double in size with his anger, and Gar immediately regretted his evading. "That's nothing?" he exclaimed. "You have a black eye, maybe a few broken bones, and a head concussion, but that's nothing?"

"I thought I probably had a head concision. What happened?"

"Concussion."

"Whatever! Fine!" Gar snapped. "It wasn't a street fight, if that makes you feel better. Cinderblock decided to crush a couple cars next to IHOP, okay?"

"Cinder…?" Understanding lit up Steve's face. "He's one of the freak villains around here, isn't he? That means they were there…Gar, you know you're not supposed to—"

"I know!"

"But you did, didn't you?"

"Yeeessss…"

"God, now we are definitely going for x-rays."

"No, I'm fine, just a little bruised—"

"That's what they always say, then it's discovered one of their lungs collapsed or something—"

"Trust me, I'd know if that happened, and I'm NOT going to a hospital, okay?"

"Right, but if you are hurt and we discover so later when there's no way we can fix it, rest assured that you are grounded for the rest of your life."

"That's not fair."

"Yes it is."

Gar grumbled something inaudible, then sank low into his chair, burying his head into his arms.

Steve sighed. "Are the rest of the kids you were hanging out with okay?"

Gar lifted his head. "I think so. They all got out before I did."

"That's one less thing to worry about." Steve ran his hands through his hair. "I guess you should go get some rest. Why didn't you call me at a pay phone?"

"All I have is cash." Gar got up, taking the ice pack with him, and made his way towards his room.

"Right. At least you got free breakfast." Steve watched his son disappear into the hall, pausing in his thoughts. "Wait," he called as he heard Gar shut his door. "What did this have to do with girls?"

Gar moodily threw himself on the bed, feeling a mixture of emotions that he was beginning to think were becoming his favorite. He was pissed, upset, and bewildered, not to mention incredibly sore, with the added plus of having another Saturday morning ruined. He was starting to hate Saturdays…rolling onto his back and placing his hands beneath his head, he decided his new favorite day was Friday. Still part of the weekend, but so far with no lousy luck.

Staring up at the ceiling, Gar's thoughts migrated to a certain dark Goth-girl, one who gave him butterflies and black eyes. He gingerly brushed his left eyelid with a finger to be rewarded with a burst of fresh pain. He sat up and searched for the ice pack, finding near his pillow, and then returned to his former position, the ice pack on his eye. What he wouldn't give to know what had been going on in Raven's mind from when she woke up from her fall to when she so generously blasted Gar away. Of course, he had been in Raven's mind before, Gar reminded himself, his face stretching into a grin. Now that had been an interesting visit, one he hadn't forgotten and probably would never forget.

Then again, even with that revealing fumble, Raven seemed as mysterious and baffling as ever. Gar didn't think he'd ever be able to figure her out totally, with her abnormal mood swings. Gar's smile disappeared and was replaced with a boiling anger, not necessarily at Raven, but mostly at himself for playing the fool. He knew full well how Raven tended to be, showing absolutely no emotions one minute, usually followed by a grouchiness directed at anyone within an arm's length of her. Yet he had believed she would be thanking him all over the place, relieved to see him again, not the reaction of fear and irritation she had given him. He would've expected any of his old friends to be happy to see him, at least alive and well…but he couldn't jump on her, it was he who had stupidly ran out into the fighting, alone and unarmed, expecting something he should've known wouldn't come. Expecting something he should've known wouldn't come, that was one thing he could do rather well. Gar let out an annoyed groan—sometimes he could be such an idiot.

Sitting up and getting to his feet, Gar walked over to his window and looked out of it for a while, clutching the ice pack to his face and brooding over other times he had acted like a heroic twit…when he had tried to ask out and 'protect' Terra…the first time he tried to fight crime in a stupid move to prove that he was capable of taking care of himself—at least that turned into something worthwhile…both times he had nearly gotten killed for his efforts. Shaking his head, Gar turned promptly from the window, tossing the ice pack on the bed and stripping from the waist up as he headed to the closet. Presently, his back was killing him, being one black-and-green bruise. Gar opened the closet door, preparing to drop his new laundry into the pile of clothes he had deemed the dirty clothes pile, when froze with a frown on his face. He had finally gotten around to unpacking most of his stuff a couple days ago, his suitcase and boxes disappearing from the room, but there was one box Gar had shoved into his closet, a little afraid to tear the white, party-ballooned printed wrapping paper that covered it. He had found it with his stuff while they were unloading the helicopter, and had immediately read the note attached to it once he had gotten to his room. Realizing what type of gift it was, he had refused to open it, as if accepting the gift would b accepting his removal from the team.

Now, though, Gar bent down and brought the gift out, setting it in his lap on the bed and cautiously opening it. Once he had the wrapping paper off, he took off the lid of the box, to find tissue paper lining the inside of the box and cushioning four comic books, all encased in plastic sheet protectors. Gar stared at them, only reaching down and taking one of them fondly out of the box, disbelieve written on his face. "Star," he whispered, having no idea how the alien had gotten hold of what he was holding: the first four issues of the Doom Patrol comics, rare classics he had wanted since he had been a little kid, which all together probably cost over two or three hundred dollars.

Settling on his stomach with the first issue, Gar marveled over his last connection to the best times of his life.