Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. So, Beast Boy is messing with Raven's head; literally. Poor Raven.
"Is it still there?" Asks Billy, peering into Raven's room.
"I don't think so Billy." Replies another Billy, also looking in.
"What was that thing?" See-More asks.
"A monster?" Suggests Mammoth.
"No you cludgeheads. Probably just one of the witch's stupid magic tricks." Gizmo mutters. "Stop obsessing over something that isn't there and come help remodel the tower already."
The three frightened HIVE members glance at one an other before walking carefully away from the room. The door, which had been knocked down, ominously rises off the floor and floats back into place. The three teens shiver.
###
"Well. It's been fun. But I should probably return to my realm. If I'm gone too long the others will think I'm up to something." Rage says, looking irritated at the prospect. "Take care of green bean Timid."
"Wha-What?! All on my own? What if I do something wrong? What if he gets mad at me? What if-"
"Bye. You two don't do anything inappropriate now." Rage grins as she flies out of the cave.
Timid's face returns to it's red color and she refuses to look at the changeling sitting in her lap.
"She was jus jokink Timdis. Is alwight." Beast Boy tilts his head way back so that he can see Timid properly.
Timid tries to shrink away from his gaze, but it isn't particularly effective considering where he is seated.
"B-But! I-I..." Timid stutters. "I'm sorry!" She blurts out.
"Fow what?" Beast Boy asks in confusion.
"For not knowing what to do! And for all of Rage's comments, and for that time when-"
"Is fine! Is fine!" The changeling quickly interrupts, recognizing that the emoticlone was going into "apologize for everything" mode.
Timid shakes for a moment before calming down. She is worried about not being allowed to apologize, but Beast Boy seemed to understand, so it should be okay.
"What do we do now?" She asks quietly.
"I no sure bouts yous, but I tiyad." The shapeshifter yawns, eyes drooping shut."Night Timdis." He falls asleep almost immediately, using her cloak as a blanket and her lap as a bed. He starts snoring softly as his sleep deepens.
Timid stares at him for a moment, unsure about what she should do and how he could get tired so quickly. She resigns herself to staying put and leans back in her chair, smiling shyly at the cute green boy.
###
The T-Car is just approaching the tunnel connected to Titans Tower when the second wave of emotions hits Raven, though they are much less potent that the first wave.
First is minor irritation, then amusement, which causes her to grimace then hold back a chuckle. Next is mortified embarrassment. At this, the empath curls up in her seat, face burning, and refuses to look at anyone. The others stare at her strangely. Last is trepidation followed swiftly by relief, which turns into minor shock, then a feeling of content. These feelings are not strong, and Raven manages to not react to them after uncurling herself.
"You okay Raven?" Robin asks.
"Yes." Raven hisses, grimacing. "I just happen to have a sleazy green toddler in my head messing with my emoticlones."
Robin gives her a sympathetic look as Cyborg speaks up.
"Hey, look at the bright side Rae, maybe he'll learn a thing or two about you and stop bugging you as much." The half-robot's face turns into a grin as he continues. "Maybe he'll even find out that you have a cru-" A death glare from the empath silences the teen. Starfire giggles as Robin attempts, and fails, to hold back a smile.
Raven notices this of course. "Why does everyone think I like Beast Boy." She mutters.
"Cause it's true!" Comes the general reply.
"Ugh." Raven growls as the T-Car pulls into the garage. Robin's face immediately turns serious.
"Alright Titans. We have scum to eliminate from out Tower. Cyborg, reroute all the cameras to yourself and make sure no one else can use them."
"Got it."
"We go as a group, no going alone." He commands. "Titans GO!"
###
"What!?" Cries an obnoxiously high voice from the main room. "What happened to the cameras!?" Gizmo frantically taps away at the keyboard which no longer seems to be responding.
"Maybe the monster got them." Whimpers See-More. The other three members next to him nod their agreement.
"You too Wykkyd? Your all just big babies." The tiny teen huffs. "I'll bet it's the Titans come back from beating Adonis."
The others gulp as Gizmo finds the camera controlled and shuts them down for everyone, not just themselves.
"But they're going to run into some of my traps." Gizmo starts cackling like a maniac. The four HIVE members look at each other uncertainly as their leader continues laughing.
###
"WAAAUGH!" Cyborg hollers as he runs down a hallway, fleeing from the spider-like droids skittering after him.
"Cyborg, drop!" Robin commands. Cyborg dives to the floor as the other three Titans shoot projectiles at his pursuers. There are several explosions and soon the hallway is cleared of droids. The walls, floor, and ceiling are scored and battered from the attacks.
"Man, that's the fifth trap so far!" Cyborg complains, getting up. "Those things were worse than the bowling ball launcher!"
"This would be much easier if the Gizmo did not disable the elevator." Starfire murmurs.
"Or if Rae had the energy to teleport us." Cyborg mutters.
Robin shoots the half-robot a sharp look. "Keep moving Titans. We need to search every inch of the tower since the cameras were shut down." The others sigh and nod.
The Titans walk around their home warily, not wishing to trigger more traps. However, they must check every room in order to locate the HIVE FIVE, so they trigger many anyways.
Eventually the four teens reach the main floor, soaked in honey, covered in paper throwing stars, and with candles sticking out all over them.
The HIVE FIVE, who had been waiting in the main room, burst out into peals of laughter upon seeing their opponents enter.
"I don't care if I'm going to jail, this is worth it!" See-More laughs, wiping tears from his eye.
The five villains are laughing too hard and don't even put up a fight when Robin slaps cuffs on them. The police are called and within minutes the HIVE FIVE are wheeled away, still hollering and holding their stomachs.
"I really don't like those guys." Cyborg growls, wiping honey off himself. "This is gonna take forever to clean out of my circuits."
"My hair is ruined!" Whines Starfire, combing her sticky hair and plucking out ninja stars.
"This stuff might work as hair gel."
Silence...
"Seriously Robin?" Raven sighs.
"What?! It's true! It works rather well."
The empath let's out another sigh. "I'm going to take a shower, I suggest all of you do the same." She turns around stiffly and walks out of the room.
"Wonder if she remembers Beast Boy is in her mind." Cyborg muses as he takes an experimental lick of the honey.
"Maybe she dislikes being covered in honey more than Beast Boy being in her head." Starfire suggests.
"I'm fairly sure she forgot." Robin says with absolute certainty. "She would never want anyone messing with her mind for any longer than necessary."
"So we should probably remind her?" Cyborg says, sighing in disappointment.
"When did I say that?" Robin grins. "Raven needs to come out of her shell more and Beast Boy needs to understand Raven more. An opportunity like this won't come around often."
Cyborg grins. "So we remind her before bed?"
"Sounds fair." Robin agrees.
"Best of luck to you Beast Boy." Starfire says, looking skyward. "Do not make Raven feel too much of the anger." The other two male Titans nod, this is a risk that they are taking with their teammates' relationship. Hopefully it pays off.
###
"TIMID! TIMID! WHERE ARE YOUUUU?" Raven's voice rings through the maze. Timid covers the ears of the dozing changeling and remains silent, hoping whichever emoticlone it is will leave. "TIIIIIMIIIIID!" The voice calls again. "COME OUT AND PLAY!"
'It's Happy.' Thinks the grey-cloaked girl. 'It might take a while for her to leave.'
The maze grows strangely silent for a moment.
'The door is open!' She suddenly remembers.
"HI TIMID!" Happy yells, bouncing into the room, smiling like a maniac.
"Shhhhh!" Timid shushes.
Happy looks confused for a moment until she notices the sleeping toddler that is Beast Boy. Her eyes grow wide and a large smile reaches across her face.
"Awww..." She coos quietly, observing the changeling sleeping in Timid's lap. "Isn't he cute?"
Timid looks away nervously, not sure what to say or do.
"I wanna pet him." Happy says, approaching the two.
"No!" Timid squeaks, picking up Beast Boy and holding him to her chest. She turns her body away from the pink emoticlone, trying to shield the changeling. "He's not a pet."
"You mean you don't want to share." Happy grins. She puts her hands on her hips and looks down at the flustered girl.
"Wh-What?! N-No!" Timid protests.
"Then I can pet him." Happy approaches again.
"No!" Timid curls up, putting Beast Boy between herself and the chair. "He's not a toy to be passed around!"
Happy halts upon hearing those words. "Timid." She says softly. "I know he's not a toy. He's too important to Raven for me to think that."
Timid peeks out of her cloak to look at Happy's uncharacteristically serious expression. She considers these words for a moment before admitting silently that Happy is telling the truth.
"Just don't wake him up." Timid whispers quietly. She uncurls herself and scoots over on the chair, giving Happy room to sit. Happy has started to grin again but stays quiet and waits patiently as her sister passes the sleeping boy. A small giggle escapes as she stars stroking the changeling's hair.
"So?" Happy asks quietly after a few minutes of silence.
"So what?" Timid whispers back, confused.
"How long until he has to go?"
"Whenever Raven comes to get him."
"When's that?"
"I don't know. I didn't even know he was here until Rage brought him over."
"Rage?!" Happy sounds shocked.
Timid nods. "She carried him over from the entry rock."
"Wow. And here I thought she despised him."
"You still think of Rage as irrational, but Trigon's influence is gone, so she's just like the rest of us now."
"Oh."
Another stretch of silence blankets the room for a few seconds.
"How come none of us realized Beast Boy was coming?" Happy asks.
"Raven must have hidden the information from us. Maybe even from Knowledge."
"Won't that mean she'll forget it quickly?"
"Yes."
"Huh."
"What?"
"How did Rage know?"
"She's the strongest of us, something this important must have been too hard to hide from her."
"That makes sense." Happy nods, agreeing with Timid's reasoning. The two look down at Beast Boy, who is still asleep, but has grabbed both of their cloaks and pulled it over himself. Happy's expression is one of serenity as she says "I almost wish he would stay like this. Raven gets a lot closer to him as he is now."
"Yeah, but Beast Boy wouldn't like being stuck like this. Plus, we made a promise." Timid reminds her sister.
Happy sighs. "Yeah." Her expression turns slightly mischievous as she speaks again. "And if he's a toddler we don't have a chance of getting him to see Raven as something other than a mother figure. If you know what I mean."
Timid's face immediately starts burning up. "You've been hanging around with Affection too much."
"You WANT him to see us as a mother?"
"Wah?! N-No! I mean- Not really- It's just-" Timid flounders as she tries to explain.
Happy just giggles. "I knew you agreed with me."
Chapter 8 complete. Happy messes with Timid. Poor Timid is always getting mocked and embarrassed, then again, that's what makes her so adorable!