A/n: I didn't feel right just putting up a note without a chapter, so here's what I have done. The result is another cliff-hanger, though. :)
Chapter Seven
Raven and Starfire slumped down on a bench. They had given chase to the man, but hadn't been able to find him. That wasn't for a lack of trying. They'd blasted into gated shops, checked the roof, the basement, the bathrooms, and even the lingerie section of every visible store. Raven had even agreed to step into a Limited Too store, although that almost gave her a heart attack.
Now, outside of the mall, they could conclude that the baby was gone.
"Who would take our child?" Starfire wanted to know. Her eyes were full of tears, and Raven felt so badly that she reached out and hugged the other girl.
"We'll find him," she said, realizing she should protest Starfire's use of the words 'our child' but not having the strength to do so. "He's got to be somewhere."
"But why? Why would anyone want to take our baby?" Starfire asked Raven, looking up at her from the crook of her shoulder.
"I have no idea," Raven said, starting to feel angry. "But we're going to find them."
"What if the baby belongs to him?"
Raven felt a stabbing pain in her chest. "He wouldn't just snatch something that belonged to him," she said, hoping she sounded surer than she felt.
Starfire smiled. "Perhaps you are right," she said. "But where shall we look?"
"We might have to wait for the boys to see what they think," Raven said, "But in the meantime, let's just take to the streets and see what we can find."
Across town, the boys exited the arcade laughing. Beast Boy walked in front of the other two, sulking. He had lost badly at everything except basketball, and that was because Robin had picked him up on his shoulders to use him as a means of beating Cyborg, practically throwing Beast Boy repeatedly through the electronic hoop.
"Oh come off it B," said Cyborg, grinning. "No need to be a sore loser!"
"I am NOT a sore loser!" Beast Boy yelled, hitting his hand off the hood of the T-car.
"Watch the car!" Cyborg barked in response. "You wanna hit something, hit me!"
"So I can break my hand? I'm not that stupid," Beast Boy shot back.
"I dunno about that..." Robin muttered, and Beast Boy glared at him.
"No respect!" He yelled, and the other two laughed at him.
Robin climbed into the passenger's seat while they argued. "Shotgun!" He yelled out the window, causing Beast Boy to howl in annoyance and Cyborg to laugh. Robin smiled; he felt as though the day out had accomplished exactly what he'd meant for it to.
He wondered if Raven and Starfire were having as good of a time. He imagined not. No matter how hard Starfire tried to make friends with Raven, they were total opposites and it usually resulted in a moody silence from Raven for days.
He hoped that wouldn't be the case.
As if on an eerie cue, he heard his phone vibrating. Cyborg and Beast Boy were just climbing in the car, and he turned to Beast Boy. "Do you see my phone under the seat?"
"Why, expecting Starfire to call and tell you how awful her day with Raven was?" Cyborg joked. "I really don't know why you leave them alone together…" He threw the car into gear as Robin bent over to look for his phone, causing him to fall into the backseat of the car.
Both he and Beast Boy howled with laughter.
"Not funny!" Robin yelled, although his voice came out muffled. With his head at ground level, he realized that the phone was between the seats, and sat up as Cyborg gunned the car, causing him to be thrown back against the seat.
With difficulty, he wrestled the phone out from its narrow ledge and held it up to his face. Flipping it open, he saw three missed calls; oddly, all were from Raven. He also had a text, and so he flipped to that for an explanation.
I am going to kick your ass. – Raven
"What'd you do to her?" Beast Boy asked, reading over Robin's shoulder.
Robin ignored him, putting the phone up to his ear and calling Raven's phone.
'The number you have reached is no longer in service' said a voice. Robin's eyes grew wide. "What's Raven's number?" He asked Beast Boy.
Beast Boy attempted to call her, but the same automated voice played in his ear. "I have no idea what's wrong…"
"She tried to call me a bunch of times."
He was in the process of dialing Starfire's phone, but only her voicemail picked up. 'Hello, you have reached the phone of Starfire! I am sorry I am not in my phone, but people are never actually in their phones, so if you would pretty please leave me a message…"
Robin hung up in annoyance.
As he did so, Cyborg slammed on the brakes. The entire street leading up to the Tower appeared to be blocked by people. "Yo, what're you DOING?" He screamed, and dismounted.
He could see people standing there, newspapers thick in their hands. As they stepped out of the car, all eyes were thick on the boys. Suddenly a swarm of reporters ran forward, all branishing microphones and fighting to talk over one another.
"…feel about the adoptions?"
"….realize you were being betrayed?"
"…support the homosexual lifestyle of your ex-girlfriend?"
"…meet the child in question?"
"…have an enemy that would want to take Tyler?"
"Wait a minute… Slow down!" Robin yelled as he was poked in the back of the head with a microphone. "What're you talking about? What's going on here?"
One reporter reached out. "So you didn't realize! How tragic!" In her hands was a full-color photograph of two young women, who Robin instantly recogonized as Raven and Starfire. His eyes grow wide and he could barely breathe; Raven was carrying a small baby in her arms, and Starfire was smiling at them both.
Under it was a picture of the two holding hands.
'Titan Women Out and Proud: Couple speaks on Child Adoption"
Robin nearly fainted, Cyborg supporting him, Beast Boy looking at the paper in a dumbfounded way.
Just then, Robin's phone rang.
