"Rachel! Wait!"

The ponytailed sorceress ceased her march down the hallway that connected the common area trailer with the extra large modular unit that contained the bedrooms. She looked over her shoulder, not that she needed to do so as she recognized his voice. Suddenly, a wave of regret swept over her. She had acted like an ass, and she did right in front of him.

"Garth?" She replied.

He grabbed her wrist and gently turned her around.

"You have food on your face."

"Yeah, I know … refried beans and Mexican rice are the latest fashion statement."

He stifled a snicker as he plucked a piece of tortilla off the top of her head. "What happened? What did you say to her?"

She sighed. "I asked her if she's slept with BB yet."

"Why in Neptune's name did you ask her that?"

She turned away from him. "Because I'm a jerk."

He shook his head. "No, you're not. But you of all people should know better than to ask her something like that."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm her clone, her copy and I should know what upsets her."

"Hey, that's not what I meant."

"But it's true. I do know how to push her buttons, and I did it purpose, just to get a rise out of her."

He shook his head. "But why?"

"I don't know!" She whimpered. "Oh Garth, I came here to get away from her, to be my own person, to have my own life. Then she shows up with Gar and its back to square one … that I'm her clone and I lost him to her … you must be disgusted with me … I'm so pathetic … I was even going to ask you to join my team, of course now that you've what a loser I am that'll never …"

"Whoa! Slow down! Did you say that you were going to ask me to join Titans South?"

She briefly looked back at him. "I know, what was I thinking? You already have a team, plus San Antonio is landlocked."

"Actually, I kind of like that idea."

Her eyes widened in astonishment. "You do?"

He leaned forward and kissed her tenderly. "You bet."

"I-I don't know what to say." She stammered.

"You don't need to say anything, at least to me. But I think you should apologize to Raven … after you take a shower."

"A shower?"

"A shower … you smell like an enchilada and your hair is full of beans and rice."

Rachel ran her palm over her scalp, and frowned at what came off. "She really nailed me."

Aqualad snickered. "She sure did." Rachel joined him in his laughter.

-( scene break )-

Raven hummed happily as she loaded a new plate with food and joined her boyfriend at the large communal table set up in the room. The other Titans pretended to not notice her, as if the previous moment's food fight had not happened. Beast Boy had hastily cleaned up the mess left behind on the floor before taking his own place at the table. He watched wide eyed as Raven eagerly began to eat with a gusto he normally did not associate her. After finishing her morsel she turned to her beau.

"Gar, why are you staring at me?"

He snapped out of his stupor. "Uh … you don't like Mexican food."

"I know, but for some reason, this stuff tastes really good." She replied before resuming her feast. "Maybe because it doesn't have any tofu in it."

He sniffed his own plate, which like hers had a few cheese enchiladas on it.

"Good thing we aren't vegans, huh Rave?"

She nodded her agreement while she continued to eat.

"Rave … what happened?"

She stopped eating and turned to him. Suddenly the trailer, with its cheap manufactured interiors and low ceiling felt confining to her, not to mention there was no privacy whatsoever. She picked up her plate and utensils and stood up.

"Let's go outside." She abruptly announced in her monotone.

He picked up his plate and grabbed two cans of soda pop as he followed her outside, where they sat at a lone weather beaten picnic table near the back door. The sun was setting and the twilight was replacing the brightness of the day and the heat was a little less oppressing. He popped open both cans, setting one before her. She quietly resumed eating, appearing to have forgotten his question. He poked at his own food with his fork before looking up at her.

"Rave?"

Raven swallowed her mouthful and washed it down with the diet root beer he placed before her. She paused for a moment, clearly collecting her thoughts. She then cleared her throat.

"She said that you looked very happy."

"And you creamed her with your food because of that?"

"No … she asked what I was doing to keep you happy … she asked if we were fu ..."

She paused.

"She asked if I was using sex to manipulate you."

He nodded his understanding. "Except that she used the F word, right?"

Raven nodded. "I know that I overreacted; but you have to understand what a sore spot this is for me. You've been intimate with her and I still can't be that way with you. She knew the answer when she asked me … she was rubbing it in my face, that she's been one with you while I haven't"

"So you rubbed your dinner in hers." He replied.

She smiled as she nodded. "It was an incredibly childish thing to do … and yet … it was so satisfying."

He smiled back at her. "You know how you think you're so different, that you're abnormal?"

"I am abnormal."

He chuckled. "OK, you are different, but … you're also pretty normal. I'll bet Rachel was expecting you to stew in your juices while showing her one of your patented poker faces."

"Patented poker face?" She replied with a hint of a growl.

"You know what I mean … 'Raven never does anything rash' … 'Raven never reacts'. Rachel wasn't expecting you to do that. I mean … she looked really surprised."

"In other words, I behaved like an idiot."

"You aren't the one who ended up with a refried bean and rice facial." He snickered.

Raven began to snicker too. Soon they were both laughing.

"Oh Rave, it was priceless. That was a nice kick you gave her, too."

"You mean you didn't feel sorry for her?" She asked.

"Nah, she's dating the fish stick, the 'handsome' Titan. I should be jealous, right?"

"You're not gonna ever forgive me for that, are you?"

He shoved some food into his mouth, and replied with his mouth still full. "I will … eventually."

"Aren't you gallant?" She hissed back at him.

"Oh Rave, lighten up, I'm just teasing you."

Before she could reply she saw his ears twitch. An alarmed expression appeared on his face.

"Rave! Shields!"

She didn't need to be told twice. She raised her arms just as a mortar shell landed twenty feet away from them. It exploded with a roar of violence and a bright flash that conveyed the harm it was meant to impart. Shrapnel bounced off of Ravens shield like countless rain drops. Within seconds more mortar shells began to hit the compound. One hit Raven's bubble directly and she winced from the strain of containing it but her shield did not fail. Beast Boy opened his communicator.

"We're under attack!" He shouted.

Robin's face appeared on the screen.

"Everyone regroup in the tower, from there we'll reassess and strike back!" He barked in reply.

Raven nodded at her beau and they phased into the ground and disappeared, just as a mortar shell hit the modular unit behind them, ripping the trailer to shreds.

-( scene break )-

Mas y Menos were the first ones to enter the tower's still unfinished lobby. The floor was bare concrete and along the walls unconnected electrical wiring dangled from the still exposed conduits, looking naked as the juncture boxes they would eventually be mated with were still missing. The smell of industrial adhesives and wet plaster was strong in the air.

The tower's elevator was missing, in its place stood a pair of industrial service lifts. The Guatemalan twins zoomed into one of the lifts and began to fidget with the controls, but the lift did not respond. They turned to the main entrance as the others entered into the relative safety of the lobby. Robin and Starfire entered first followed by Cyborg, Bumblebee, Pantha, and Speedy.

"No hay electricidad!" The twins shouted.

"Great, they cut the power and the backup generators haven't been installed yet." Robin grumbled.

A mortar fell near the door and the cavernous lobby reverberated from the blast.

"That was too close!" He shouted. "Cyborg! Starfire! Shut the blast doors!"

Two huge titanium doors stood open at an oblique angle.

"But Robin, what about Raven, Beast Boy, Rachel and Aqualad!?" The princess shouted.

"The girls can teleport inside. Now close those doors before a shot gets in here and wipes us out!" Robin barked back at them.

The two power houses began to push on the huge and heavy doors. They both grunted as the doors resisted their efforts. The others joined in, helping to push the doors which finally began to yield. Mortars continued to rain down outside.

"Push harder!" Robin groaned.

The doors appeared to listen to him and they yielded, slamming shut with an authoritative thud. Robin heaved a sigh of relief, which was deafened by a loud explosion that shook the tower.

"What was that?" Speedy shouted.

Cyborg popped a panel out of his arm and inspected it grimly. "It was a missile, a nasty one. An anti tank missile, judging by its potency."

"Who's attacking us? The army?" Bumblebee shrieked.

"Someone who has a lot of weapons." Robin replied.

At that moment two black spheres rose from the floor. They sublimated away, revealing the figures of the four missing Titans. Raven ran up to her leader.

"Robin! Who's attacking us?"

"We don't know. And the tower is still offline, there's no power and nothing works. We're blind!"

"There has to be something we can do!" Rachel shouted before turning to Cyborg.

"The T-Ships!" She shouted. "They have radar and sensors!"

The tin man grinned as tapped on the console in his arms. "All three are undamaged … I'll just program them to take off and scan the area. We can feedback the data into my secondary processor and I'll …"

His discourse was interrupted by multiple deafening blasts, as several missiles hit the tower in quick succession. The building's armor withstood the blasts, and the building shuddered.

"… and I'll generate a 3D holographic map of the area, with the enemy's positions. With a few close-ups we should see who it is."

More missiles hit the tower, which groaned in agony.

"Armored or not, we aren't going to last long in here if they keep shooting missiles at us." Raven grumbled.

"We must be the patient." Starfire replied. "And I have studied the design diagrams for the tower. It is impervious to any attack, except for the nuclear weapons."

"You mean they're gonna nuke us?" Beast Boy shrieked.

Cyborg shook his head. "The T-Ships are airborne and there are no radiological signatures. If they have nukes, they aren't here yet."

"Why do I not find that reassuring?" Rachel replied.

"Hang on to your ponytail, little lady." Cyborg remarked. "I'm starting to get some telemetry from the T-Ships … we found one of the missile launching platforms … hang on, I'm getting a holographic visual."

A holographic projector popped out of Cyborg's shoulder and began to flicker as it came to life. The extended Titans team watched with mesmerized eyes as a life sized holographic reproduction of the missile launcher appeared. It was not of any known design. It was not of American, Russian, European or Chinese origin. As the image came into focus they saw who was operating the launcher, and they gasped.

It was three, older model, Mark-III Slade-bots.

-( scene break )-

Another cliffhanger!

And sorry for the delay in updating. Things got hectic and my muse was misplaced.

And now the mail bag, which will be very short as only seven reviews came in.

EbonyVergil

lol, don't worry about the f-bomb thing, using it sparingly means that people will pay attention when an f-bomb is dropped, it'll add to the scene! ;)

Liking the second part of this story so far, it'll be interesting to see how the Titans deal with drug cartels and the like, rather than supervillains that rob jewelry stores, I'm excited!

Thanks, the Titans will be dealing with some very vicious types. Too bad Bats won't be there to help them, as he's more experienced with this kind of scum.

Rosalind du Coudray

Nice chapter! Can't wait for more!

So sorry to keep you waiting.

Chayse-man

Oooh, Rach, I luv ya, but you deserved that one. Not bad, gotta say, I'm really anxious for Slade and his terror titans to make their impact. Gotta ask, will blue beetle make an appearance? He, next to BB, is my favorite DC universe character, Razor from GL: TAS isn't too bad either, I'm rambling, great job, can't wait for more!

The Terror Titans still need to incubate. But is Slade really behind this attack?

bluedog197

OHHHH YAAAA dude i know that line of... it felt good it felt really good that came up in life too almost the same way to but instead it was yelling and telling people off anyway awesome story i like how they made up in the end keep it up

Glad you are enjoying it.

Avandra the Mary Sue Slayer

Cat fight! Sweet! I must say that Raptor had it coming, she should know by now that her sis' problem goes well beyond not having sense of humor. Maybe she's a bit bitter to see Gar so happy with her?

About vulgar language, it's good to know how to avoid it, I think you do fine because it still sounds realistic. When you don't do it right you can feel that something's out of place. Probably with Teen Titans is easier because you don't hear them cursing in the show... and let's be realistic, can anyone in the world imagine Starfire cursing (unless when she uses her native language)?

You want to see Starfire cursing? go to youtube and search for "Teen Titans Gamma Rays" (this is one of the official shorts shown on Cartoon Network). She curses three separate times.

guest reader

wow first time I review and you shun the mailbag. On another note I think raptor was a real bitch in this chapter. Raven really shut her up "huh". great job keep up the good work.

Thanks! And even though you reviewed anonymously you made the mail bag

titanfan45

Hopefully Raptor won't be baiting Raven any more. The "F bomb" was appropriate given the situation, I hope things will get better between Rasven and her twin.

Our grey girls still have some issues to work out.