AN: I do not own Teen Titans. Please refrain from reviewing until the end of the story. Thank you.

Chapter 2

"You stupid, idiot!" Beast Boy screamed at himself as he beat the side of his bunk bed with a pillow. "You just couldn't shut up. You had to say all the crud about being besties with freaking Fiona Star and now you've gotta change teams!" His pillow exploded, sending tufts of cotton all over the room, and he finally sunk down onto his bottom bunk. He placed his face in his hands and let out a long frustrated sigh. "I'm really screwed, aren't I?"

He sat there for a while, running the entire scene over again in his head, and stewing in the misery he'd created for himself. But this only lasted a total of seven seconds.

He quickly jumped back up and exclaimed, "No! I'm not giving up. Titans don't give up. What's our motto? 'Win or die trying!'…wait a second, we don't have a motto. Do we? Argh, focus Beast Boy! You need to get yourself out of this mess." He proceeded to pace around the room, his mind racing. "Okay so I need to get across the country to Empire City, get into Fiona Star's concert, and somehow get on stage to sing Riding on Sparks with her. Jeez, why couldn't I have just left it at being at the concert? Focus! First thing's first. I've got to get to Empire City. Well Robin definitely won't let me go so I'll have to sneak out. And there's no way I'd be able to get one of the T-ships out of here without being noticed and I don't have any money so I can't take a plane or a bus or even a taxi. I guess I could fly with my own wings but I don't think I could do 3,000 miles in a week. But I don't really have any other-"

There came a sudden knock on his door and he jumped with a squeak of surprise. He recomposed himself and opened the door to find Cyborg on the other side. He had an odd look on his face and Beast Boy knew he must've heard him through the door talking to himself.

"Uh, hi Cy," he smiled, doing his best to cover up the anxiety he had over his current situation. That's all he'd need is for Cyborg to find out that not only had he gotten himself into a bet that he had no hope of winning but it was over Fiona Star. Cyborg would never let him live it down. "What's up, dude?"

"Just wanted to let you know that Raven's about to leave," said Cyborg, the concerned look not leaving his eye. "You, uh, you okay?"

"Me? Oh yeah," Beast Boy lied, doing his best to brush off his friend's concern. "Just, um, being myself."

"…Okay. Well get your butt to the common room," said Cyborg, who obviously didn't want to push the issue. If Beast Boy didn't want to explain why he was talking to himself then that was fine with him. "Raven wants to go and you're holding her up."

"Me? How am I holding her up?" asked Beast Boy, who always seemed to be at fault whenever Raven was aggravated, whether he was guilty or not.

"She wants to say goodbye to everyone," Cyborg explained. "And you're included in that 'everyone', just so you know."

"Fine I'll be there in a sec," said Beast Boy, closing his bedroom door. He listened and once his friend was down the hall began to rant once again. "Ugh, I don't have time for this. Raven doesn't care if I say bye to her. It's probably Robin wanting to make the team look good in front of Aqualad. Besides, this is all her fault anyway. If she didn't have to go on her stupid vacation then Aqualad would never have come and I wouldn't have…wait a second." He paused as he felt that familiar epiphany spark rattle his brain. "Raven! She's going across the country! Oh, dude, this is perfect. I'll just hitch a ride with her!"

Yes, it was the solution he'd been hoping for. He'd turn into something very small, smuggle himself in her bag, and ride with her across the country. Once they reached the east coast he'd make his way to Empire City on his own and figure the rest out from there. Raven would never know and he'd be that much closer to winning the bet and staying on the Jump City team.

With a smile he left his room and hurried to the common room to pretend to say goodbye to his vacationing teammate. He found everyone was assembled and had been waiting for him. "Sorry about the wait."

"About time," said Raven flatly. "I was about to walk out the door so I don't miss my bus." She was in civilian clothes, so as to not draw unwanted attention to herself, and seemed in no way excited about her trip. But that was Raven for you. She threw a modest sized duffle bag over her shoulder and said, "Well I'll see you all in a week."

"Oh Raven I will miss you!" Starfire cried and wrapped her friend in a strong hug. "Please have a most glorious time."

"I'll try," Raven wheezed and managed to wriggle out of Starfire's arms.

"You don't have to check in with us but I'd appreciate it if you did every once in a while," said Robin.

"I'll keep that in mind," said Raven.

"You sure you don't want to take a T-ship?" asked Cyborg. "It's faster and more reliable than a bus schedule."

"As much as I appreciate the offer I'd rather spend my vacation not having to worry about taking care of one of your babies," said Raven. "I just want to sit back and let someone else worry about the vehicle and the driving."

"Make sure you get me something nice," said Beast Boy with a cheeky grin. "I like big souvenirs."

"That'll be the day," Raven said flatly. "Don't go near my room while I'm gone, got it?"

"Got it," he winked at her, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Have fun on your trip," Aqualad smiled, causing Raven's knees to go a little weak so that she had to catch herself and readjust the strap on her bag. "I know I'm not as skilled as you are but I promise I'll keep the city safe until your return."

"Oh, uh, thank you," Raven said, keeping her head low so that he couldn't see the blush painting her cheeks. Sometimes her body picked the worst moments to ignore her usual emotional control. She quickly made her way towards the door, calling out, "I'll be back Saturday."

"Bye!" the five Titans called to her.

Ten seconds after the doors closed behind her Beast Boy clapped his hands together and announced, "Well nature calls. Later!" And with that he ran out the same doors and proceeded to catch up to his leaving teammate, leaving the rest a bit confused. But then again it was Beast Boy.

He spotted her getting into the elevator that would take her down to the front door. He turned into a fly and zipped as quickly as he could to her. He managed to make it into the elevator before the doors closed and as soon as he landed on her duffle bag turned into a mite and crawled inside. Since Raven could feel emotions and the presence of another soul he knew that if he got himself down to a small enough size she wouldn't be able to sense him. Or if she did it would be so slight that she'd probably ignore the feeling. He made a nest for himself within the fibers of her clothing and congratulated himself on a job well done.

Raven stepped outside of the tower and took in a breath of the bay air. She quickly spat it out with a choke and rubbed her now itchy nose. She was so glad to be getting out of the city. True, she was heading to another city but for the next few days she was going to get to see more open areas and fresher air. She focused and in a matter of moments she'd gone from standing on the Titan's island to outside of the bus terminal within the city. Inside her bag, Beast Boy shivered as he usually did when subjected to one of Raven's dark energy teleportations. Ignoring the startled looks from the civilians standing about, she proceeded to the ticket counter where there was a line of eleven people already waiting. One by one they made their ticket purchase until finally it was her turn.

"H-Hello can I help you?" asked the woman behind her very high desk. She was obviously uncomfortable having to serve someone with such a threatening aura. The young woman before her was wearing dark clothes that covered up just about every bit of her, something people with dark deeds in mind often wore, and of the bit she could see it appeared this person was not in a friendly mood.

Raven paid the woman's nervousness no mind and handed her ID over, saying, "I have a reserved ticket waiting for me."

The woman took the card and the moment she saw that it was an official Titan state ID she relaxed. She typed the information into her computer and a moment later printed out a ticket. "Here you are, Raven, gate five. Have a nice trip."

"Thanks," the empath replied and proceeded to find gate five. She was a little perturbed that the woman had said her name aloud but no one else seemed to hear so she let it slide. She really didn't want anyone recognizing her. Whenever civilians saw her they always had one of two reactions: swarming her for an autograph and picture or, the more likely outcome, turning on their heels and walking in the opposite direction so as to avoid her.

She soon found her gate and took her place at the end of the line. While waiting, she could feel the hundreds of emotions from the people standing and passing by. She could also feel their stares and quickly put her hoodie to good use and slipped the cowl over her head. She focused her mind and did her best to let the emotions of others not faze her. But there was something…strange. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on. An odd lingering presence that felt far away and yet right on top of her. Her remedy to this was to focus more and push it to the edges of her mind.

Ten minutes later her bus pulled in and soon she was settled in her seat and ready to embark upon the first leg of her journey. As she watched the bus terminal move behind her and the bus merged into the highway traffic she finally settled in. She was free. For the next week she could do as she pleased and not worry about saving lives or being sociable. She had her week planned out to the last detail, just the way she liked it. She hadn't had a proper vacation in…well she was pretty positive she'd never had a vacation. Whenever she got to leave the tower it had something to do with a mission. But not this time. This time she could just sit back, enjoy a few books, and watch the country slowly pass her by.

She reached in her bag and took out one of her books and a pen. But as she slid the book out she paused as an odd sensation tickled the outermost edge of her senses. What was this odd presence? It was almost as if a ghost was nesting in her bag; a soul that she could feel but could not see. But what really unnerved her was that it was a familiar presence. She knew this energy but there was so little of it she just couldn't place it. Once again she decided to not let it bother her. She took her book out, opened it up to where she'd left off, clicked her pen open, and began to read.

Beast Boy knew he couldn't be seen but, man, he'd be lying if he said he didn't think he'd just been found out. He could tell that she'd sensed something and had been trying to figure out what it was. He'd held his breath until she'd finally finished her task and took her attention off of the bag.

"Phew, that was close," he said to himself. "Well not really. It's not like she can actually see me. But, dude, I thought for sure I was caught. I've gotta stay out of sight at all cost. Oh crud, when am I gonna eat and go to the bathroom? I should've thought this through better."

Raven underlined a passage in her book but paused when she felt the slightest tingle of frustration from an outlying source. She subtly looked around the bus and tried to place the feeling but she could not. What in the world was going on? Where were these phantom feelings coming from? She looked down at her bag and though it was only very slight she could swear that was where these feelings were emanating from. Was her bag haunted? Possessed?

She grabbed her bag and shoved it under her seat. She took in a deep breath and said softly to herself, "Now isn't the time to get flustered by the unknown. You're off the clock so get used to being relaxed. Peace. Quiet. Tranquility." She took a moment to center herself then, with a new sense of peace, picked her book and pen back up.

The green stowaway also achieved a sense of peace now that he and the bag were out of Raven's sight. He decided the best thing to do to keep Raven from sensing him was to feel as little as possible. So he'd take a nap for as long as he could, hoping she'd forget about the odd presence she could sense.