"Guys, we have a problem."
The Titans in the tower just stared back without responding. Seeing the state of Speedy's face, they were terrified of what that problem might be. Even Speedy didn't want to go on, so they ended up staring at each other for what seemed like minutes. Speedy knew that it eventually had to be said so he cleared his throat.
"They're gone. We didn't even make it to police station." He said, barely putting words together.
Robin rose from his seat on the couch and asked, "They're gone?"
Speedy nodded ever so slowly. The pain in his head made him not want to move quickly, but the pain of saying what he had to was even worse. "Bumble Bee, Starfire, Beast Boy, and Control Freak. They're all gone. Bumble Bee pulled us over on a side street and I think she knocked me out cold."
Cyborg rose from his seat as well. "Are you sure?"
In response, Speedy held up Bumble Bee's communicator that had a note on it only with the word "sorry" written across it.
"I'm sure." Speedy responded.
Everyone in the room deflated. The Jump City Titans had just come to terms with what had happened, and now it all came crashing down again. Aqualad and the twins now approached the monitor. Things just got a lot more personal for them as well. Now their own team leader had just knocked Speedy unconscious and helped three prisoners escape.
"That can't be right! There's no way Bumble Bee would do that!" Aqualad yelled back.
"Hey, you know I wish that this wasn't true too, but the side of my face says otherwise!" Speedy shot back with a point to the massive bruise on his temple.
"¡Eso es una idea loca!" Mas yelled and was quickly followed by Menos, "¡Está usted equivocado!"
"Sorry muchachos, but Bumble Bee's really gone. I wouldn't joke around about this." Speedy responded back to them.
Robin decided to take things on one thing at a time, so he focused on getting Speedy back to them. The painful things could come second.
"Speedy, we need you back at the tower for a debriefing, but I don't think you're in good enough shape to drive back. Raven can teleport to your location, or we can send Mas y Menos to run and come get you. Which one do you think would be better?"
Speedy really thought about his answer. He had a good chance of having a concussion, so he didn't want to make it worse. They would both be quick trips, but they both had their draw backs. He'd been teleported by Raven before and it almost made him sick, and in the state he was in now, sickness was a certainty. If the twins carried him back, his head would be jostled around, and he'd probably get a killer headache. He knew to risk a headache rather than risk throwing up on the empath and get sent to Hell (literally).
"Send Mas y Menos. I don't think I could handle teleporting right now." He said after thinking it out.
"Okay. Leave the car for now, we'll pick it up later. See you in a few Speedy." Robin called out before ending the transmission. He turned to the twins and nodded. With a salute they took off to pick up Speedy.
About the same time the twins arrived at the T-Car, the rogue Titans and Control Freak were arriving at an apartment complex. They had been following Bumble Bee for the past half an hour, trying to reach their destination. They hadn't made the best time going there, because one of the four couldn't fly and was also publicly wanted. When they did finally arrive, they found themselves in front of an old, worn down apartment that made you think it couldn't cost more than fifteen dollars a month. One out of every three bricks were missing, at least seven of the windows were completely shattered, there were trash piles more than a foot high on either side of the door, and Control Freak was pretty sure there was a tail sticking out of the one on the right.
"I know it doesn't look good, but we will be safe here. I trust the owner as much as I do you guys." Bumble Bee said to her companions as they stood there, taking in the sight of the building.
"It is still better than the last one." Starfire added, trying to stay positive. She turned to Bumble Bee and continued with a smile, "If you trust this person, friend Bumble Bee, then I do as well."
Bumble Bee smiled back and said, "Then let's say hi to her."
Bumble Bee walked up to the door and looked at the buzzer next to it. She looked for her friend's name on the list of rooms, and once finding it, she pressed the button next to it. There was no response for a moment, and Bumble Bee wondered if the thing actually worked. Eventually, a voice came out of the speaker that was barely audible due to the speaker being so broken.
"Hello?" the voice said.
"Hey Cass, it's Karen. Mind if me and a few friends stop by?" Bumble Bee asked.
"Karen? Long time no see, girl! I'll be down in a sec!" the voice responded excitedly.
Bumble Bee smiled at her team, happy that her choice of stay was showing real promise. Starfire and Control Freak just smiled back, but Beast Boy looked at her with narrowed eyes.
"Your name's Karen?" He asked in a shocked tone.
"It is, but I better not hear anything funny about that, Garfield." She responded with extra emphasis on his name.
Beast Boy was surprised that she even knew his name. "Hey! How'd you know my name?" He asked with a tinge of anger in his voice.
Bumble Bee laughed back and said, "There aren't many female heroes in the biz, so we stick close."
Before Beast Boy went to ask if it was Starfire or Raven that told her, but the door to the apartments opened. A girl with blonde hair that appeared to be pretty close to them in age walked out and pulled Bumble Bee into a hug. Beast Boy and Control Freak also happened to notice she wasn't too bad on the eyes either.
"Hey there girl! You never visit anymore! What's up with that?" She asked with a smile.
"I moved cities. I'm with a group of heroes in Steel City. It's not the closest place to Jump." Bumble responded with a little embarrassment.
"You gotta tell me about it, but let's get everyone inside first. It get's a little sketchy out here sometimes." She said back.
With that, the group piled through the door, and headed up towards Cass's room. The two old friends chatted the entire way up there, and only stopped once everyone is inside. The other three looked around the room, astonished by how nice it looked compared to the outside. Cass realized that she had practically ignored everyone else because she was so excited to see Bumble Bee again. She turned to the group of people that now resided in her house to talk to them for the first time.
"Where are my manners? I'm Cass and, uh, well I, uh." She started, but completely lost her train of thought seeing that she already knew all three, and one was on the news less than an our ago for murdering someone and breaking out of jail. She slowly turned back away from the group and faced Bumble Bee again.
"Why is Control Freak one of your friends?" She asked in a very confused voice
Bumble Bee gave an awkward chuckle and said, "Well, it's a long story. I'll just, uh, let Starfire and Beast Boy explain."
Beast Boy ducked his head and rubbed his hand on the back of it while Starfire clasped her hands and looked down at he floor. After a second, they both glanced at each other and Beast Boy said, "Not it." Starfire sighed, and after looking at Cass, began telling her how they came to be in this position.
"Control Freak had been wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of James McKinney. He says that the man had a bomb, and in trying to remove it, accidentally removed his chest." Starfire began her story, but was interrupted by Bumble Bee.
"Wait, hold on. So Control Freak had a reason for killin' that guy? I thought you two were just against the no killin' rule that the mayor added!"
Starfire nodded and responded, "Yes he saved many in the art museum including us. That is why I removed him from his place of imprisonment. I brought him back to the tower after doing so, but my friends, especially Robin, did not approve of what I had done. I then left the tower because we were not welcome. I was going to return when friend Beast Boy decided to leave the tower and join us." She shot him a quick smile and he returned it. "Then we tried to retrieve the remote that belongs to Control Freak, but the Titans had taken the remote back to the tower. We attempted to retrieve it, even though it was defended well, and we had almost succeeded. We were captured and were on our way to be imprisoned when friend Bumble Bee did the "knocking out" on Speedy. We have now come here and seek safety in your home, Cass."
Cass didn't know what to say. There were a lot of complicated things going on, and she didn't want to be mixed up in it. She went to tell them that, but she saw how they looked. The three looked dead tired, barely able to stay on their feet. They had just lost a lot of friends and can't even stay in their own home.
She said, "Okay, you guys can stay here. I don't know for how long, but at least for now, you can."
Starfire, as tired as she was, dove at Cass and pulled her into a hug. "Thank you, friend Cass! It is most glorious that you are allowing us to stay here!"
She deposited her new friend, only slightly injured from the hug, back on the floor. Beast boy and Control Freak said quiet thank you's as well, but they were barely keeping their eyes open.
Cass noticed that and said, "You guys get some sleep. I'll have food for you guys when you wake up."
Back at Titan's Tower, Robin had just finished learning everything that Speedy knew, and it wasn't much. It was getting later on in the evening and he was frustrated with how little they knew about the other Titans' location. He had no idea even where to start the search. They could be absolutely anywhere in the city. As he was walking through the tower, he noticed that everything was quiet. As he entered the main room, he would have guessed it was empty due to the lights being off, and it being completely silent, but he made out a silhouette against the window. He approached and saw that it was his metallic friend.
"Hey Cyborg, want some company?" Robin asked.
Cyborg didn't turn around to face him, but still replied, "Sure." In a quiet voice.
Robin walked up beside him and asked, "What's on your mind."
Cyborg sighed and responded, "This whole thing's a big mess. Everybody's leavin' to help out a criminal, we had to send our friends to prison, came to terms with doing that, and then figured out that they didn't even make it there cuz Bumble Bee broke 'em out." He let silence sit for a moment and then finished, "We're not really the Titans anymore. This ain't us."
Robin heard the pain in his voice, but didn't know how to help his hurting friend. He still wanted to try. "Not everyone has left yet. We lost people that we were the closest to, but not everyone is gone. Things look terrible now, but it won't be like this forever. Let's try to get some sleep, and try to figure this out tomorrow."
Cyborg nodded, and they both walked to Cyborg's room together but didn't speak a word the entire time. After Cyborg entered his room, Robin went towards his. He detoured and made a stop at each of his friends' rooms. All had their doors closed, and none had any sounds coming out of them. Robin knew that this had hit them all hard and didn't blame them for not taking it well. They'd figure something out tomorrow; he knew they would. Robin made it to his room, and joined the rest of his team in the numbness of sleep.
The next morning, in Cass's apartment, Bumble Bee was the first to wake up. She looked around the living room in which she had fallen asleep in. Beast Boy and Starfire were asleep in a spare bedroom, and Control Freak sat on another couch across from her. She was a little angry at having to sleep in the same room as Control Freak, not because she had bad blood with him, but because he snored louder than an elephant with a stuffed nose. She started to look about the room and noticed the décor. It was much indeed nicer than the building itself, and she had a definite taste for ancient Greece. There were antiques everywhere in the room, and she began remembering her friend's old favorite past time. She got up to inspect them more closely, but heard a noise from the kitchen. She went to the kitchen instead and found Cass putting a meal together.
"You don't have to do all this for us." She told her friend.
Cass looked up from her work and smiled back. "No I do. I'm paying all of you back for taking care of this city, Steel City, and for being wrongfully incarcerated. You guys deserve something nice right now."
"Well do you need some help at least?" Bumble Bee asked, trying to at least lessen her load.
"Nah, I got this. You just relax and I'll be done in just a little while." She said with another smile.
"Well thanks then, and I don't want to make the meal harder to make, but Beast Boy is-" Bumble Bee started, but Cass finished.
"Vegetarian. Read it in some article about influential vegetarians and vegans. Already have something for him."
Bumble Bee was impressed. Cass was putting a lot of effort into this. It hit her that it probably would cost a lot to put together such a meal and asked, "How are you paying for all this?"
Cass looked back at the meal she was preparing and replied, "I sold one of my, uh, findings."
Bumble Bee arched her brow, "Findings? You mean priceless artifacts you stole? I thought you said you were done with all that?"
"I am done with it. I haven't stolen anything for a long time, but I still knew a good fence and sold one of mine that I wasn't particularly attached to. It didn't look good in the house." She said, still focusing on the food.
Bumble Bee shrugged. "Well, I can't get mad at you for doing that for us, so thanks. It's good to hear you haven't taken anything in a while."
Cass looked back up. "Yup, last one was a pair of these cool gauntlets I took from an archeological dig. Weird, um, stuff happened so I'm taking a break."
Bumble Bee nodded. "Alright then. Well, I'll let you finish with the food here."
Cass smiled at Bumble Bee as she walked out of the kitchen and continued making her guests their food.
In the spare bedroom, Beast Boy was just waking up. He decided that it would be lovely to just lay in bed for awhile. It felt nice to finally be able to get some rest and relaxation. Things had been going almost nonstop, so the down time was much appreciated. As he lay there he began to notice a very muffled sound that was being repeated. It was slightly high pitched and would fluctuate every now and then. Beast Boy thought it sounded familiar, but couldn't pin it down exactly. His eyes roamed the room he was in, looking for what might be the cause of such a sound. His eyes eventually fell on Starfire on the bed across from him, and he saw that her shoulders were shaking at the same speed of the sound being made. He saw her face pressed into the pillow and finally put two and two together. Starfire was crying? She was the happiest person he ever knew, and now she was crying. Sure she felt other emotions than just being happy, but it usually skipped down to righteous fury. Even then, she'd be back to sunshine and rainbows in around five minutes. Beast Boy was crushed to see her like this.
"Star?" was all he said, not knowing what he could do to help.
The sounds instantly stopped, and she raised her head off her pillow. She turned and faced Beast Boy, forcing a smile on her face, even though there were tears sliding down her cheeks.
"My apologies for doing the waking of you. I will be quieter." She said, forcing her voice to its normal tone, and dropped her head back down onto the pillow.
That sentence hit him hard. Why would she just apologize for crying too loudly? Beast Boy had to do something. He got up off his bed and walked over to hers. He sat down on the edge of her bed and spoke.
"You okay Star?" he asked and immediately thought, Of course she isn't! She's cryin', ya' idiot!
Starfire mumble a response from behind her pillow. "I am fine, thank you."
Beast Boy wasn't going to give up. He was going to be there for her. "You can tell me, Star, I won't be mad, or judge, or whatever the reason is ya' won't say it."
Starfire raised her head and looked at him. "Promise?"
"I promise." Beast Boy responded.
Starfire sat up in her bed and began pouring everything out. "I feel I am responsible for why everyone is against each other. If I had not taken Control Freak out of is imprisonment, we would all still be happy and together. I am doing the missing of our home, Raven, Cyborg, Silkie, and very much Robin. Even the fights of tofu and meat, morning sessions of the working out, and the crime alerts that happen during the nights of movies, friend Beast Boy. I do not know if we will be able to have these things again. I believe I am the cause of much pain between friends." After a pause she added, "I am also angry with myself for crying as well."
Beast Boy sat still for a moment. There was a lot on her mind right now, and he wasn't sure he was qualified to handle all of it, but he still wanted to try and help. Kind of forgetting everything she said, because there was quite a lot said, he began with the last thing she said.
"Why are you angry that you're crying?" he asked.
Starfire wiped her nose on the back of her hand and explained. "On Tamaran, crying is reserved only for the death of someone close, or when there is news of a battle that we have lost. It is done as a community and in public with those you love." She paused as she looked around the room. "Not crying about those still alive, in a room alone."
"But everybody cries though. I don't think it's bad to cry about missing people you love. I miss everybody too! I haven't played video games with Cyborg in days for the first time since we became a team. I miss Robin gettin' on me for slackin' off, cuz it makes me a better person. I even miss Raven makin' jokes about how dumb I am; cuz I know she doesn't mean it." He kept going and his voice began to shake the longer he talked. "I loved livin' in the tower with all of you guys cuz you're all really awesome people, and it's really fun being able to hang out with everyone. Every night was like a sleepover with friends, and that's really cool. I miss havin' all that stuff." By now, his eyes were watering, and tears threatened to spillover onto his face. "But I miss just all of us hangin' out together the most. Like when we get pizza after a solid win for the good guys, or even when we all get beat so bad we all would be down in the infirmary, having patch each other up. Even then, we still knew we'd get 'em next time, cuz we were a team, and we would be there for each other."
After finishing, Beast Boy noticed a tear had traveled down each side of his face and he added, "Dang it, now I'm cryin' too." He punctuated his sentence with a sniffle.
"I thought there is nothing wrong about crying, friend Beast Boy?" She asked with (at least this time) feigned innocence.
Beast boy laughed and responded, "There's not, I just, well… never mind."
He laughed some more and Starfire joined him in doing so. Together they laughed and cried at the same time, just happy to be with the other person but still missing their other teammates.
Beast Boy eventually added, "And don't say it's all your fault, cuz you saved Control Freak's life. You shouldn't be mad at yourself for doing that. We'll either clear his name, or the others will realize he's innocent, and everything will be okay again. "
Starfire nodded and smiled. She was glad that Beast Boy was still there for her, and that he gave her hope that everything would be okay.
"Thank you, I feel much better now. I am most glad that you are still with me; you are a good friend, Beast Boy." She told him.
Beast Boy smiled back and said, "You're welcome, Star."
He realized that he could now smell food being prepared, and completely lost track of what he was going to say. After a few sniffs to confirm his suspicion, he said, "I think I smell food, and I just realized how hungry I am."
Starfire too realized how long it had been since her last good meal, and she too wanted to go down and see if there was something to eat. "I have the hunger as well. Let us look and see what food there is to eat."
They both hopped off the bed and ran down to the kitchen. On the way, they wiped their faces clear of all tears. They found Bumble Bee, Control Freak, and Cass gathered around a table completely full of food. There was a full chicken cooked, fresh baked bread, mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, steamed carrots, and a huge cup full of gravy. Beast Boy was still satisfied with his options, even though there was meat. Then he saw Cass pulled some tofu off the stove and he almost lost it.
Cass saw all of them standing there with mouths watering, Bumble Bee too, and didn't want to keep them any longer. "I know it's way too early for dinner, but you three haven't eaten in a while so I thought it was a good idea. Dig in!"
All four dove right in and began devouring everything edible in sight. They all loved every bite of it, and it was all gone in almost under ten minutes. There wasn't time for polite small talk, they just wanted to get as much food in them in as little time it took to do so. After it was all gone, they sat in the living room, perfectly content with everything provided. Eventually, Bumble Bee spoke up.
"Thanks for the food, Cass. Really, it was absolutely amazing." She said to their host, and everyone joined in and said their thanks.
"You guys are too kind, I'm not some fancy chef. And I hate to break it to you, but not every meal will be like this." Cass said, trying to not be too prideful.
The others didn't care. They felt safe, were no longer hungry, and just happy to not be in prison.
Starfire spoke, saying, "It matters not! You are very kind to help us now, and I am grateful for all things you have done."
The whole time in the kitchen, everyone was so focused on the meal, that Starfire's puffy eyes went unnoticed. Now, they were back to normal, and no one but Beast Boy knew of her bout of crying that morning. They all sat in a comfortable silence until Control Freak spoke. "This is fantastic and all, but we can't stay here forever. We've got the remote now, so now we can start looking for the explosives. Should we head out now?"
There was silence as everyone thought about what their next move should be.
"I think we should lay low for a little while. If we go out right now, the others will be watchin' the area for any sign of us." Beast Boy threw out as an idea.
"I agree. This is the time that the other Titans will be on their highest alert. If we go looking for the explosives now, we're sure to get caught." Bumble Bee confirmed.
Starfire turned to Cass and asked, "Would it be too troublesome to stay here for a week, that we may do the hiding out?"
Cass thought about it for a moment and said, "If I get a personalized autograph from you and Beast Boy, sure. I could use some company around here."
Starfire gave another crushing hug to Cass as Control Freak spoke up, "What about mine?"
After pausing she replied, "Maybe, once you're proven innocent."
Control Freak threw a fist in the air, "I'll take that as a yes!"
As everyone laughed in Cass's apartment, no one laughed in Titan's Tower. They were all standing together in the main room, awaiting Robin's order to go and find the rogue Titans. Cyborg stood with his arms crossed, blankly staring out the window. Next to him, Raven stood with her hood drawn and eyes cast at the floor. Aqualad and Speedy leaned against the back of the couch with their eyes narrowed. Mas y Menos stood across from them and also had their arms crossed. Robin stood there looking at them, with grim determination. He thought he might as well jump right into it.
"Speedy, I don't think you're quite ready to head out yet, so you're going to stay here and at the tower incase there's an emergency alarm. Now, Control Freak told us exactly how he would look for the remote, and there wasn't a reason to lie at that moment, so we are going to say that that is going to be their plan. That means the rest of us are going to be spread out around the art museum. He gave us a two-mile radius, but they're more likely to start close and work their way out. For today, Raven, you will be overwatch, and stay above the museum. Mas Y Menos, you're going to have the largest area to cover. That means the rest will be split evenly between the last four of us. We don't have to be doing in depth searches, just patrolling areas that contain t.v's. Any questions?"
The rest of the Titans shook their heads. None of them were excited to go out on patrol, but they all knew it was necessary. Robin saw there were no questions, so he gathered them together to leave.
"We all have our assignments, Titans go." Robin said without his usual energy. He didn't even make it into a shout. It was just a simple command issued to show that the meeting was over.
The Titans moved into the T-Car, Raven ended up teleporting Cyborg to the car last night, and they drove back together, leaving speedy behind to man the tower. The entire ride to the art museum was was completely silent. They arrived, and all but Cyborg exited the car. He thought that he could cover more ground while driving, and gave the other three smaller portions to cover. They patrolled for seven hours with absolutely no sign of the rogue Titans. Even Speedy noted that there wasn't a single alarm for any crimes. By the end of the day, they were all dead tired and met back at the T-Car, and they drove back home in dead silence again. Once returning, Robin notified the police to send a few cars to patrol the residences around the museum. They all gathered around the table and ate a silent dinner, and immediately went to bed with saying short goodnight wishes. The next day, they woke up, had a silent breakfast, and left for patrol again. This time Robin cleared Speedy, and he came on patrol with the rest. Cyborg rewired Robin's communicator so that it picked up on the Titan's crime alert incase something came up. Robin also brought his R-Cycle, and had Raven out patrolling as well, letting them cover a more ground the second day. Yet again there was no sign of any crime for the day, and they all headed back home, silently. At dinner, there was the first attempt at talking.
Aqualad spoke up half way through the meal saying, "At least this new Bill has kept the crime down so we can patrol the area."
"It's also the reason why we have to patrol." Raven said, effectively ending any chance of having a conversation.
No other words were said the rest of dinner, and the Titans went to bed yet again with only short and quiet good night wishes spoken. The next day, came and went like the two days before it, and the fourth day was the same. On the fifth day, Robin awoke and was sick of how they were all handling the situation. He'd prefer constant complaining to this never ending silence that had somehow lasted four days. This was out of character of all the titans; even Raven usually spoke more than the little bit she was now. He knew he was failing his team by having such a silence take hold over all of them. He was going to make a stand. Robin jumped out of his bed and rushed down to the main room. He came up to the master panel that controlled the tower's defenses and pulled the emergency alarm. Sirens blared and red lights flashed, jarring all residents from their sleep and sending them all running down to the main room. In under a minute they all stood around Robin, still wearing their usual sleeping clothes, but ready to take on any threat. Robin released the alarm, making the tower quiet again, and looked everyone in the eyes.
"Now that I have all of your attention, I would like to inform you all that we are all taking the day off of patrolling. We're hanging out, and having fun today."
The Titans just stared at their leader. They all came rushing in expecting a threat, but were met with just a simple announcement. They looked at each other. Cyborg's hand was in cannon form, Aqualad had his hands up in a defensive position, Speedy had an arrow drawn, Mas y Menos had there hands touching and were in runner's stances, and Raven's hands glowed with dark energy. After a short silence, Speedy was the first to laugh. Soon after the twins fell into laughter, then Cyborg, then Aqualad, and Raven rolled her eyes at the absurdity of the situation. Robin smiled as he saw his friends' reactions; he hoped they would have responded something like they had.
"You don't think you could have announced that, I don't know, any other way possible?" Speedy said after calming down a bit.
Robin smiled back and said, "I could have, but you all needed an adrenaline rush anyway."
They all laughed together, and Robin continued.
"Everyone has been feeling terrible in the tower, and as the leader, I needed to put a stop to it. Today, we are asking the police to cover our shift of patrol and we are all hanging out together. Does anyone have a problem with that?" Robin asked his team.
Everyone shook their heads with smiles on their faces. Robin knew that everyone needed this, and was happy to oblige.
"Okay then, Cyborg I'm going to need you to go grocery shopping, and anyone who wants to join him may. We are pretty much completely out of food, so that's going to be step one."
Aqualad had been thinking of a way to cheer his team up, and he thought that now was a good time to set his plan into motion.
"I have to leave for a while to set something up for all of us to do. I'll be back in just a while though. I promise, that you will all enjoy it." Aqualad announced as he turned to leave.
Speedy never liked to be shown up by his friend and teammate, so he spoke up as well. "I have something for you guys too, but I'm going to need to be in the workshop for awhile to perfect it."
In fact, Speedy's idea had been in his head for a long time, but he never got around to making it a reality. Now seemed to be the best time for him to show off his brilliant idea. Both boys rushed out of the room to get there plans set up. Raven was the next one to speak up.
"I know this is going to sound ironic, but the dead silence around the tower has made it incredibly hard to focus on reading. I want to take advantage of the moment and get some reading in, if you don't mind Cyborg."
Cyborg was perfectly fine with it. "You do what you need to Raven. Any of you three joining me?" he said to Robin, Mas, y Menos.
Robin shook his head. "I have to contact the police and alert them that we aren't able to patrol today. I might also send something to the mayor as well. I'll see you in just a while."
That left just the twins with Cyborg. He smiled at them. "You guys game? I don't think we've really hung out much."
The twins were perfectly fine with spending some quality time with the mechanical Titan and gave a resounding, "¡Si!"
"Booyah! Let's go then!" Cyborg said enthusiastically.
As they were leaving Menos asked, "¿Podemos conducir?"
Cyborg laughed. "What? Aren't you guys like, thirteen? No way you're driving my baby!"
"¡Pero juntos somos veintiséis!" Mas countered.
"No, you can't just add your ages together just cuz you do everything together!" Cyborg said back loudly while laughing.
"No es justo." They said together as they all just passed out of earshot.
Raven let a smile smile rise up on her face, as the three left to go shopping for food. Things now felt so much better with people talking again. Having to be around the constant negative energy of her teammates had really taken its toll on her over the past few days. She had been meditating for almost every waking moment she was in the tower, but she also spent most of the day out on patrol. Being around her friends now that they were much happier felt like a wonderful vacation that Raven had no idea she needed. She settled down in her usual spot and picked the book off the floor that had untouched for the past few days. She started reading, and found it very easy to concentrate on her book. She got so lost in Dickens' story of Oliver Twist, she didn't notice that she had another visitor enter the room. It took the visitor climbing on to the back of her seat and nudging her on the side of the head to finally get her attention. When she turned to look at what had brushed against her head, she jumped back with an uncharacteristically girly squeal.
"Azar, Silkie! Don't creep up on me like that!" she said angrily to the Titans' pet, after a short recovery of her senses.
Her anger cooled as she saw the creature's face. He looked so hurt by what she said, even though she knew he had not fully understood her words. She realized that it hadn't been her yelling that hurt him, but the fact that he had been largely ignored over the past few days. Sure he was still being fed, but it was nothing like the attention that his "Knorfka" Starfire gave him. She felt sorry for the little creature and did something she never thought she would ever do: Raven picked up Silkie and set him on her lap and began to pet him. She was usually nauseated by contact with the overgrown larvae, but now, it was different. He needed someone to be there for him, just like she needed her teammates. Silkie's mood began to improve, but not by very much. Raven had an idea. No, that isn't necessary. She looked back at Silkie's saddened face. Okay, just this once while no one is here.
"There, there my little Bumgorf." She said stiffly.
Instantly, his features instantly brightened and he purred in his own insect way back at her. He obviously recognized Starfire's words, and Raven was encouraged by his reaction to finish the rest of the saying.
"Your Knorfka, Raven, is here." She told Silkie much more smoothly with a smile on her lips.
He gave a little hop in her lap as a response to Raven's comforting words, and Raven let out a small laugh at the adorable insect's antics. He was looking so much better after hearing Starfire's comforting words, and she realized how much the team's spilt had affected everyone.
"It's okay, I miss Starfire too." Raven said to reassure her new friend, but she also thought that she might have been reassuring herself as well. She was missing her closest friend a lot, and she hadn't even been acknowledging it lately. As she sat there stroking Silkie, she thought about how much she had indeed missed her friend. Starfire had always tried to get her to do girly things with her, and it always seemed to rub her the wrong way when she did. Now, she would do anything to have her walk through the door and drag her out to "the mall of shopping." Her happy energy was always nice to be around. The more she thought about it, she even dared to say she missed the same thing with Beast Boy. Not the terrible jokes, pranks, and unreasonably loud arguing that came up so often, but his positive energy was something that she enjoyed.
"Maybe I miss Beast Boy too." She confided to her mute friend.
"Well it's a good thing he ain't here to hear that, cuz you wouldn't have heard the end of it." A voice came out of nowhere.
Raven looked incredulously at Silkie for a moment. After a second, she realized that she recognized that voice and turned around to find Cyborg standing behind her, arms loaded with grocery bags.
"Cyborg? How are you back so quickly? You left maybe five minutes ago!" She said in a voice louder than her usual monotone and much more full of surprise.
Cyborg laughed and responded, "It's been a little over an hour since I left! Been thinking about Beast Boy that hard?"
"No! I guess I was reading longer than I thought I was." Raven replied as she pulled her hood over her head to cover a slight blush.
"Was the book about Beast Boy then?" he asked, knowing full well he was wading into very dangerous waters.
Raven held up the book next to her. "Charles Dickens actually, you uncultured microwave oven."
Cyborg couldn't help but laugh at her creative insult. After recovering, he asked, "And at what point did you start talking to Silkie?"
"Shouldn't you be carrying in the rest of the groceries?" she shot back at her metallic friend.
"Don't forget that I went to the store with twin speedsters." Cyborg responded.
At that moment, a red and white blur shot past them multiple times and deposited a large amount of groceries on the counter in a very short amount of time. The two brothers stood next to the counter and bowed.
"Gracias, mi amigos." Cyborg told the speedsters as he deposited his groceries next to theirs.
To keep Cyborg from starting again on the same subject, Raven got to work putting the food away. The first bag she opened up unexpectedly contained tofu. She held up the contents to Cyborg and looked at him with an arched eyebrow.
"Well, I thought I should get some just incase the little green bean came back soon." Cyborg defended.
"And you're getting on me for thinking about Beast Boy?" Raven asked with her eyebrow still arched.
"He's my best friend. What's your excuse?" Cyborg responded quickly.
Raven just decided to give this round to Cyborg. He was lucky he started off with her already on her heels. Next time he wouldn't be so lucky. The two quietly got to work at putting the rest of the food together. The whole time Cyborg thought about how lucky he was able to pull off a win with Raven. He tallied the total score Cyborg: 2, Raven: 31, but he could smell a comeback. By the time they finished, Robin had returned from wherever he was in the tower.
"The police have agreed to take our watch for today. They think we deserve a break from patrolling, even though they don't even fully understand why we're doing it." Robin informed his teammates.
They began putting a light snack together while they waited for Speedy and Aqualad to finish with their secret tasks. Mas y Menos took the helm for making their snack, and made all of them some amazing nachos. It was loaded with every nacho topping imaginable, and the group of five demolished it in minutes. When they finished, Robin received a message from Aqualad. After reading it, he sent an alert to Speedy to come down to join him.
Once Speedy came into the room Robin announced to his friends, "Aqualad's back with whatever thing he left for. He told us walk outside and see what he brought."
The group left to see what the surprise was, and on the way out Speedy asked, "Why do I smell nachos?"
Cyborg slapped a hand onto his friend's back and said, "My man, we just ate some of Mas y Menos's absolutely fantastic nachos."
Speedy looked back at Cyborg in complete shock. "Without Me?!" He yelled back.
Before anyone could give a response, they all were outside by then, and they saw Aqualad's surprise. They all completely forgot about the nachos, and just stood with wide eyes. Raven smiled and thought, Okay, that's pretty cool.
[End Chapter]
There you have it ladies and gents! Sorry that I got this one in way later than I usually do! I was already slightly behind and I've had back to back days with tests that could possibly make me fail two different classes if I were to do badly on the tests. And yes, they are college classes (Yes, I am in college).
Anyway, How'd you like it? What could Aqualad have possibly brought for the team to help them unwind? Am I too cruel for ending it like that? Who knows the answer to these questions? You do, my readers, and I want to know what is in that big brain of yours. (I know it's big because you're reading my story)
On that note… I need feed back from you guys! I have to point out two guest reviews that show why I need you guys so much!
One pointed out to me that I hadn't been showing Starfire's thoughts on the subject, and you were very much correct my friend. Did I cover that enough for you? I'm going to make sure her thoughts are known to you readers from now on.
The second made me laugh and realize I can be a real dummy sometimes. It said that I had a major plot hole because I had said that the Bill instates the death penalty for MASKED Villains, and none of the villains persecuted wear masks! (Control Freak, Brother Blood, Plasmus, and Doctor Light). You too, are very much correct, and I have since amended the rule to be for COSTUMED villains (pretend Plasmus's goo is his costume if you must).
I need you people to tell me how to be the best writer I can, and also for me to give you the best story possible! Sorry for the long ending note. I'm done now.
Actually one more thing. Did Cass sound familiar? If you've read this far and can be the first person to tell me who is the gracious host to our rogue Titans (full name or super hero name), I will give you a shoutout in the next chapter posted! Sound fun? Now go! Go be the first one!
As always: you have read my newest chapter, is it Above Average in your book?