Chapter Five

Raven bowed her head against the rain as the bus finally rumbled to a stop before her and Starfire, who was bent over, making faces at the baby. He had been surprisingly good the entire time she'd held him in her arms; aside from the one and only kick he'd dealt to her breast before she'd sworn loudly enough to frighten him, he had not hurt her at all. She was finding that she did not mind holding him.

He giggled at Starfire. "Funny!" He exclaimed, and Raven felt a ghost of a smile twitch upon her lips. She scooped him closer to her and pulled her hood down more tightly, clambering aboard the bus with Starfire behind her.

As she climbed up the stairs, Tyler poked his head out from Raven's hood. "Hello!" He said to the bus driver. The man's eyes went wide, then narrowed in suspicion. Raven sighed and quickly moved to her seat, dragging Starfire behind her.

Eyes grew wide all around the bus as the other passengers realized not only were they riding the bus with two members of the famous crime-fighting Teen Titans, but one of them was holding a baby in her lap.

One boy was bold enough to ask the question. He walked over to them as Raven was handing Tyler to Starfire and pulling her hood down. "…for a while," Raven was saying.

"You are such a good baby," Starfire told Tyler, who giggled again.

"Is he yours?" Asked the gangly teenage boy, watching Raven fold the corners of her hood back down where the baby had messed them up. She's supposedly the crabbiest one, he thought, so what's she doing with a kid?

Before Raven could answer and prompt damage control, Starfire opened her mouth.

"He is not technically our baby, as friend Raven and I found him this morning, but we have decided to take him and raise him as our own! He is a wonderful boy!" She said, gushing and holding onto Tyler.

"I…See…" The boy eyed them suspiciously.

It was at that moment that Tyler seemed to realize he had changed hands. He was a ridiculous sight, the arms on Robin's sleeping shirt having unfolded over his little hands. "Mama?" He asked, looked up at Starfire.

"I'm not your mom," Raven told him again. The little boy pouted for a moment before turning to play with Starfire's hair. She felt bad as soon as she'd said it.

The teenage boy stayed in the seat across from them, staring at them the whole time. Tyler finally noticed and turned to look him in the eyes. "Staring not nice," he said, causing both girls to laugh. Starfire put him down on the seat next to her while the boy blushed and turned away.

Several minutes passed in unusual silence, save the rumbling of the bus. Finally, the mall rose over the crest of the hill. Raven reached over to the seat next to her to pick up Tyler and discovered he was gone.

"Tyler?" She asked, panic starting to rise in her throat. "Starfire, where's Tyler?"

Both of them looked around nervously, Raven looking under the seat while Starfire looked up and down the aises. Both of them became increasingly nervous.

"Why weren't you watching him?" Raven snapped.

"It is not my job to watch him all of the time. Besides, he seems to like you better!" Starfire snapped.

Before their fight could go any further, both heard a tiny voice yell, "Hi you!"

Somehow, while the girls had not been paying attention, Tyler had crawled under several seats. "Sit by myself!" He proclaimed proudly.

"Don't ever go somewhere again without telling us!" Raven said, snatching the baby up. "Okay?"

"Okay," he said as Raven put him back into the front of her cloak. This kid will be the death of me, she thought, and slowly descended the stairs. Had she been paying attention, she would have realized everyone was staring at her.

And maybe they would have seen the man following them.

(A/n: Sorry for the short chapter/dangling plot line. I'll get there, I swear. Major writers block; longer update later - TGR)