Disclaimer: This is a fan work created at no profit and for entertainment purposes only. The author acknowledges that Teen Titans and related characters are property of Warner Entertainment.

Teen Titans: Menace in Mexico City

Chapter 1 – Frank Talks

Jump City California was a beautiful town, home to sun, various tourist attractions, fine dining, and the occasional supervillain attack.

That last one wasn't as big a damper on tourism and quality of life as would be expected, because when there was trouble, the people of Jump City knew who to call: the Teen Titans. And from their tower, on a lone island in the middle of Jump Bay, they could see it all.

Or at least they could normally. On this particular afternoon, the windows that looked out over the city from ops were covered in tarps. That wasn't the only sign that the tower had recently sustained trauma. Great holes were torn in the face of the building, now surrounded by scaffolding, and a fence had been erected around a pile of rubble beneath the largest of those holes. Oddly, the fence seemed less to keep people out and more as a place to hang the dozens of pine tree air fresheners situated around the debris, which on close inspection was ninety percent dirty laundry, old pizza boxes and oversized tofu cartons.

All of it was testament to the team's defeat of a foe that had plagued them for almost an entire month, culminating in a fight that would be the talk of Jump for weeks to come.

And for some residents, it was also still the talk of the tower.

In the Titans' garage, Cyborg pried open the top of a large, wooden crate with a crowbar and stared down into it with an expression normally reserved for new fathers. He was, of course, looking at the newly arrived engine block for the T-car.

"Finally! Man, I thought this would never get here. But just look at it; so shiny and new and beautiful... it's almost worth the heartache I went through."

From the workbench, where she was reading a book while waiting out his cooing over all the new parts, Raven raised an eyebrow. "Finally? It's been two days. The only what they could have got here faster would have been teleportation."

"Yeah, but you said 'no'." Cyborg sniffed before breaking down the rest of the crate. He busied himself hooking the block to a pulley and chain system in the ceiling and lifted it out of the crate and over to the waiting, newly rebuilt T-car.

The brave vehicle had been disfigured and then destroyed in their recent battle. Luckily, that had happened so often by now that Cyborg kept enough replacement parts on hand to nearly build a second.

"So..." He said, halfway to his destination. "How are things?"

Raven glanced up at him. "Things?"

Cyborg gave her a sly grin. "Girl, you know what 'things' I'm talkin' about."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Raven hid her expression behind her book.

"Don't think you can play with me like that, Rae. My two best friends got together, so I've got a right to know how it's going."

"You really don't." Raven pointed out, only to catch his glare. Despite having only one human eye, he was good at giving glares, almost as good as Raven herself. "Fine. But you realize it's only been two days, right?"

"Just keeping tabs." Replied Cyborg. "So. Have ya'll gone out yet?"

"Two days." Raven replied.

"Kissed again?"

"Two. Days."

"Any kind of PDA at all?"

One of his many toolboxes, situated on the workbench beside Raven, was overshadowed by her soul-self and started to shake violently.

Cyborg stopped pushing the engine block and held up his hands defensively. "Alright, I get it. Two days is too short a time to ask for a status report. Sheesh. I just figured B would insist on you two at least trying something relationship-y by now."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Of course he has. It's all he's talked about or thought about since this... this started. He's been getting so many bright ideas and trying to make so many plans that he hasn't had time to actually do anything."

"And you couldn't be happier with that, could ya." Cyborg chuckled as he lowered the engine into the waiting car.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. We've been spending almost all our time together since then and... I'll admit, I like that. But actual dating? Going out to a restaurant or to the pier like her wants? I don't think I'm ready." Raven kept the book up even though she wasn't reading it anymore.

Cyborg could tell there was more on the tip of her tongue and so kept working in silence.

Sure enough, Raven could be counted on to fill her own silences given time. "We watched a movie last night. That was nice. Why can't we just keep doing that?"

"Did he turn into a kitten and jump in your lap?" A mischievous grin split Cyborg's face. He caught the expected screwdriver hurled at him with black magic and snickered. "Sorry, couldn't resist. Anyway, there's no reason you can't. B just doesn't know what to do with himself. I mean he's spent the last four years trying and failing to impress you and now that the stakes are even higher, he's getting a little..."

"Overzealous?" Now that the engine was in place, Raven closed her book and slid off the workbench to come help.

"I was gonna go with 'stupid', but there ya go. Just let him know that he doesn't have to do anything big and showy to make you like him and he'll calm down... or try ten times as hard. One or the other."

"Comforting." Raven rolled her eyes again and strolled over to the open hood of the car."

"That's why they call me Love Doctor Cy." he smiled. "So where is green bean anyway? I thought I'd have to work on getting my baby back on her wheels for the trip alone with you two spending so much time together."

Beast Boy was strictly forbidden from being in the garage when anything more complicated than a wash and wax was going on after Cyborg suffered one too many comedic injuries thanks to his interruptions, not to mention a fortune in ruined parts.

"He understands that this is sort of our thing as friends." Raven assured him. "Plus, he's currently occupied with his new playmate."

Cyborg face palmed. "I never thought I'd see the day that Control Freak was getting invites to the tower."

"It could be worse." Raven levitated over a wrench just as Cyborg noticed he's need one.

"How much worse?"

"Gar's not the only one that's gotten to like the geek boy. Starfire's been needling Robin about letting him house sit while we're in Mexico."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"I wish I was." Raven droned. "And speaking of the trip, please tell me I'm not the only one feeling suspicious."

"You mean suspicious about Robin of all people suggesting we take a vacation?" Cyborg asked and handed the wrench back to her.

Raven took the wrench and used her soul-self to tighten the bolts the rest of the way. "Thank you! It isn't like him, and just between you and me, when he first suggested it, I got this feeling form him; like he thought he was being very clever about something."

"You mean Rob doesn't feel that way all the time?" Cyborg chuckled. "So what do you think's really going down?"

"No idea. Mexico is having trouble with their drug cartels, but Mexico City's been left largely untouched by that." said Raven. "Maybe it's another of his Slade leads and he doesn't want us to know he's chasing it. Whatever it is, I don't suggest packing for nothing but fun and relaxation."

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AN: Guess who's back? That's right, the sequel to What Grows in Deception starts right here. I'll be updating slower on this one, I'm afraid, but hopefully, this will be a shorter story over all. Hopefully, this works without WGiD, so people don't need to read it first, but I recommend reading it anyway.

As always, if you like my style, you can check out my original, ongoing series The Descendants via the link in my profile.

Next Chapter: What's Robin's real reason for the trip, and what are Beast Boy's thoughts on his two day relationship with Raven?