Chapter 4: Stay out of the Garage - Beast Boy and Cyborg

"I mean it, Beast Boy," Cyborg growled menacingly, staring his green friend in the eye.

Beast Boy flinched a little. If Cyborg used his full alias, it definitely meant business.

"Stay. Out. Of. The garage," he said. Then he shut the door in the boy's face.

The changeling scowled and then pouted, his lower lip sticking out. "Fine!" he shouted so his voice would carry through the thick metal door. "I'll just go and hang out with someone who cares about me!" He waited a moment to see if he would get a reaction out of the teen, but none came, so he grudgingly turned and made his way back to the common room.

"Thought you were going to pester Cyborg for a while," Raven said through gritted teeth when he returned.

"Uh, he's busy," Beast Boy shrugged, crossing the room to the kitchen, where he dug into the refrigerator for a cold drink.

"Kicked out," she said knowingly.

Beast Boy scowled, but then pushed his annoyance aside. "What'cha reading, Rae?"

"Raven," she corrected. "And none of your business. Why don't you see if Starfire will take you to the mall or something."

"But she went on a date with Robin," Beast Boy protested.

"Then go outside."

"It's pouring rain!"

"Then go to your room. Just go anywhere where I'm not," Raven seethed.

Beast Boy's shoulders slumped. Rather than going to his room, he meandered back downstairs, namely toward the garage. He knocked on the door. "Hey, Cy! Can I come in?"

"No, Beast Boy!" came the muffled reply. "I don't want you here."

He was a little hurt by this. But, as per usual, he bounced back from the pain and put on a cheery smile. "How 'bout now?"

"No."

"Now?"

"If you don't go away," said Cyborg in an exasperated voice, "I will come out there, and I will stuff you into a box and mail you to Guatemala."

"Where's that?"

"Far away, Beast Boy, now leave!"

This time the changeling didn't hide his hurt expression, but he still didn't leave. He turned his back to the door and, leaning against it, slid down to sit on the floor with his arms wrapped around his knees. Had he done something to make his friend mad? He had, as he'd been told countless times, been really annoying lately. Did Cyborg feel that way, too?

Although he knew that his friends still loved him, he was really lonely and bored and just wanted to spend time with someone. Cyborg was his go-to guy, but now even he didn't want anything to do with him. What if Cyborg had gotten bored of him, and didn't want to play video games or play pranks with him anymore? Was it possible to be alone when you were surrounded by people? Yes, Beast Boy thought, of course. It had been that way in the past, and it could certainly happen again. But that didn't make him feel any better-in fact, he only felt more and more sorry for himself the more he thought.

Cyborg felt a spark of satisfaction. He had finally finished his newest masterpiece, and he couldn't help but to imagine their faces when they saw it. There had been several close calls when a certain someone had almost seen it, but after being kicked out a few times he had learned to keep his distance. Now to finally let the green bean in. After covering it up with a white sheet, Cyborg put away his tools and made his way to the door.

He almost tripped over something on the other side. Beast Boy barely managed to scramble out of the way, looking both startled and embarrassed. "Oh, hey Cy," he uttered, turning his face and wiping it as though he had just woken up. But he wasn't quick enough to hide the tears from Cyborg.

"Yo, man," Cyborg said, creasing his brow in concern. "You crying?"

"No," Beast Boy replied defensively.

"What's wrong, dude?"

"Ha!" he scoffed. Cyborg was taken aback. "What's wrong? Nothing at all, Cyborg. It's not like anyone's, I dunno, brushed me off lately? Ignored me? Yelled at me? Gee, no way. It's all been pretty peachy in Beast Boy's world."

A heavy feeling of guilt weighed in Cyborg's stomach. "Listen, man," he said.

"No, you listen!" Beast Boy interrupted, green eyes flashing angrily. "All my life I've been treated differently because of the way I am. I try so hard to be a cool guy, to be fun, to be nice, to be all these things, but no matter how hard I try, everyone leaves me! They get bored of me, they think I'm stupid, they call me names! It's not fair! No matter where I go, it's always the same, and I hate it!" By the end of his rant, fresh tears were sliding down his cheeks, and he furiously wiped them away with his sleeve.

Cyborg was speechless. "Sorry, B," he said quietly after finding his voice. "I didn't know, man. But I'm not bored of you. I don't think you're stupid. I do call you names but that's mostly endearment," he muttered the last part.

Beast Boy looked up him, showing that he was listening.

"I was a little busy for a while," Cyborg continued, shifting his weight from foot to foot. "I mean, I guess I could stand here and explain it to you, or I could take you in and show you." He gestured for his friend to follow him, and they walked into the room. The T-ship was tucked into a corner, awaiting the time of its need. The T-car and R-cycle were parked beside each other, close to the door. Cyborg's workbench took up the better of two walls, and still more tools and parts were strewn across the floor. Cyborg directed Beast Boy's attention to the gleaming white sheet in the center of the room.

"Ghost car?" he asked.

Cyborg scoffed. "Just take the sheet off, grass stain."

Beast Boy snorted and walked over to it. He was still a little angry at Cyborg. He cast a look at Cyborg over his shoulder as he gripped the sheet, then yanked it off. "Wha...?" he breathed.

"Happy birthday, B," Cyborg said, folding his arms.

"A-a-a," Beast Boy stuttered, unable to form words. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes again. "It's...really for me?"

"Of course," Cyborg nodded. "I couldn't let you in here or you would see it, and it would ruin the surprise." Before he could react, Beast Boy had thrown himself at him in a hug.

"Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!" Beast Boy breathlessly released him and ran back to his present, all his sorrows forgotten. "My own moped!"

Cyborg smiled and shook his head. It was worth all the time and money he had invested to see how happy his friend was.

A/N: That was a really fun and quick write, since I had been thinking of this idea for a very long time. Seems like something Cy would do, right? So cute! ^-^

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it.

The next chapter is of Starfire and Robin, who are lost in translation...Ought to be good. :)