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

Chapter 7

The four hour bus ride flew by. Raven was three quarters of the way through explaining and breaking down the book when they pulled into the station. To Beast Boy's surprise she hadn't bored him to tears. He'd expected her to be critical and lecture him as though he were in a classroom. But when she began to tell the story that she'd fallen so deeply in love with he'd seen a side of her he was sure she didn't possess. She was animated, enthusiastic, and spoke with pure dedication. She explained each part carefully and would let him know when she was putting her two cents in. To see her so spirited about anything was refreshing and he wondered why it had taken him so long to see this side of her.

But not only was he drawn into her passionate telling of the tale he was actually entertained by the story itself. He had to admit, it was good. It wasn't some fantasy story written for ten year old girls. It was adventurous, thought provoking, and left you on the edge of your seat. When the bus stopped and it was time to get off he made a note in his head to actually go get these books after this adventure of theirs was over.

After a fifteen minute wait they boarded another bus that would hopefully get them back to where they should have been earlier that day. Beast Boy felt foolish for ever changing their destination in the first place, seeing as he was now no closer to Empire City. He should have thought of changing their path further on in their trip. But he couldn't take it back and now he'd have to think of something else.

"And it just ends there?!" he exclaimed as she wrapped up the story.

"I know," she agreed. "I couldn't believe it when I finished the last page. I don't think I've ever been so excited for the release of a book before."

"When's volume four coming out?" he asked eagerly.

"This weekend," she said then gave him an odd look. "That's why Melita Funar's doing the signing, remember?"

"Oh, uh, yeah! I was so, um, into your storytelling I forgot," he said with a nervous smile. That certainly was close. "You're one heck of a narrator, you know. That time between changing busses nearly killed me!"

"I'm glad you paid attention," she said, a bit pleased but doing her best to suppress it. "And I can't believe you actually asked questions. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were actually interested in this series."

"I told you I liked it," he smiled, his lie starting to turn into the truth. "Heck, I like it even more now that I've heard it from you. I'm totally seeing it in a new light." He watched as she smiled just ever so slightly and sunk into her hoodie. To see her so…bashful made him smile. He would never again see her as his creepy teammate. She did have feelings. She could smile. It was capable for the two of them to have a common ground. "You know what?" he playfully jabbed her arm with his elbow. "I'm kinda seeing you in a new light, too."

The shyness she'd been sitting in disappeared instantly and she rolled her eyes. "We were having a moment and once again you've-"

A loud bang erupted and the bus swerved with enough force to throw two people from their seats and into the aisle. The two braced themselves and nearly sprung into hero action but when the thought crossed their minds their powers did not waken. So they were as helpless as the rest of the passengers. The sound of metal shrieking and crunching filled the air as there came an impact from the right side and then the left. The bus jerked harshly and Raven felt gravity ripping her out of her seat. Beast Boy's quick reflexes sprang into action and he grabbed her, pulling her against him to weigh her down. The vehicle swerved all about before finally leaving the paved road and diving down into a forest that lined the highway. After about forty feet the commotion came to a stop and everything went still.

It was quiet for only a moment before there came a chorus of groans and cries. Beast Boy continued to hold Raven close, he seemed rather frozen with shock, and looked around at the mess. Both luggage and passengers were strewn about and there was an overwhelming smell of burnt rubber. He released his hold of her and the two looked at each other. They had the same thought at the same time. Both climbed out of their seats and went into action.

"Is everyone alright?" Raven asked while Beast Boy looked around for the nearest emergency window. She was met with many shouts and people saying they most certainly were not alright. "Everyone stay calm and everything will be fine."

"I've found an exit," said Beast Boy who helped a man out of the way of the window that was marked. Once the man was removed he grabbed the lever available and pulled until the window and a small section of the bus popped and was pushed aside. "Everyone stay put while I make sure it's safe outside." And with that he climbed out.

"Of course it's safe outside!" shouted a distressed woman. "A lot safer than being inside of this deathtrap."

"He's checking to make sure a fire hasn't started anywhere nearby and to look for unstable trees that could fall on us," said Raven. "We know what we're doing just trust us."

"Why should we trust you?" asked a man who was clutching his briefcase close.

She gave him a stern look and said, "Because we're Titans."

Once Beast Boy had checked the surrounding area and was sure it was safe he and Raven helped the passengers exit the bus. They did their best to address wounds and injuries, then sorted out the mixed up bags. As weary as the people were of these teenagers taking charge they soon surrendered their worries and gave them their trust. Though the two never displayed any superhuman powers the fact that they had taken charge and were calm throughout the situation made the people feel a bit safer.

After everyone had been checked and helped the two finally had a moment to sit down and decompress. They'd been so concerned about the passengers they never stopped to think if they themselves were alright. The changeling realized he had a scrape above his brow and Raven was rubbing what was sure to be a large bruise on her arm where he'd grabbed her.

"Jeez, that was scary," he said, taking a seat at the base of a still standing tree.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," she grumbled, sitting next to him. "Tonight we're having a deep fried dinner and staying at a hotel. A hotel with a large bath."

"I like the way you think," he said, rubbing his sore neck. He looked over and saw her gingerly touching a large red mark on her arm. "Is that from me? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"I'll have a decent bruise but if you hadn't done what you did I could've really gotten hurt. Thanks for that."

"Hey when there's trouble those Titan instincts can't help but go into action," he smiled but it quickly melted away. "Seriously, though, you okay?"

"I'm fine," she brushed him off. "Still suffering from mild shock now that it's all over, but fine. How about you?"

"Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just not use to going through something like that without my power is all. I can't imagine how scary life for normal people must be. I'd be scared just to go around the corner."

"Well let's hope nothing like this happens again while our powers are unavailable."

Within fifteen minutes the scene was flooded with police cruisers, fire engines, and ambulances. Everyone praised the two heroes and though they refused to talk to the news crews that showed up to document the event they did say they were affiliated with the Titans, but left it at that. And an hour and a half later another bus arrived to pick up the passengers, who hadn't been taken to the hospital, and drive them the remainder of the journey. Needless to say it was a very quiet trip and any slight movement of the bus caused everyone to grip their seats and pray the bus would stay on the road. And, by the grace of Azar, they made it to the station without further incident.

"I can't believe we made it," he said with relief as they entered the terminal. "How long until the next bus?"

"No more busses," she state firmly. "I've had my full of busses. We're going to the nearest hotel and tomorrow we're taking the train."

"That's the best news I've heard all day," he said. "Let's get a taxi and get the heck out of here."

"You read my mind," she agreed and off they went.

Getting a taxi was rather difficult now that Beast Boy's skin was no longer covered. After ten minutes of no luck she sent him back inside to buy a sweatshirt with the city's name on it. Once he was covered up a cab pulled over for them. That really angered the changeling and he was ready to go off at the driver but she calmed him down and told him to be reasonable. Who wouldn't be concerned about driving around a guy with green skin and hair? Especially when paired up with someone as dark as her? They asked for the nearest hotel and were soon standing in a very fancy lobby. They booked a room for the night and went up to it as quickly as they could.

"I'm taking a bath," she announced, throwing her bag without a care for where it landed. "You start ordering food. If it has the words 'fried', 'cheese', or 'chocolate' I want it in this room."

"You keep talking like that and I might put a ring on your finger, Pollywog," he smirked and grabbed the menu on the bedside table.

"Just shut up and do as you're told," she growled.

He read through the menu and ordered everything he was sure would please his very stressed out teammate. He certainly needed some pampering as well after their hectic day. He may have been responsible for the missing book and the change in their destination but he certainly had no part in the bus's tire blowing out. And he'd be lying if he said he wasn't still in shock from the whole ordeal.

By the time Raven had finished her bath the food had arrived. He quickly washed up then the two sat on their large beds in clean plush robes and ate until they felt sick. They had just finished and were about to nod off into a well-deserved nap when her communicator went off. She grabbed it and answered the call while lying down on her lovely soft bed.

"Yes, we're alive and, no, I'm not in the mood to talk about it."

"Well it's good to know you're alright," Aqualad chuckled.

She sat straight up and nearly dropped her communicator. "Aqualad? Uh, hi." Hearing his arch rival's name being said, Beast Boy sat up as well. "Sorry about that. Usually it's Robin that calls me."

"He's a little busy at the moment. There are a dozen different news channels calling the tower asking for information regarding the Titans that were involved in the bus accident earlier today."

"Yeah, we've had a really…unusual day," she said, unable to control the slight smile on her lips. The changeling frowned and rolled his eyes. He hated it how even Raven couldn't help swooning over the Atlantian.

"Apparently. I'm calling to make sure you guys are alright, which it seems you are. Must've been a scary experience."

"You have no idea. The fact that we don't have the use of our powers made it all the more unnerving."

"How's Beast Boy?"

Said green teen leapt at his teammate and grabbed the communicator from her. "Amazing, as usual. Wish we could talk more but we're kinda tired. Saving a bunch of people on a bus without any superpowers is exhausting, you know? Okay nice taking to you, bye!" And with that he closed the communicator and tossed it back to her. "Here."

"Well that was rude," she frowned, placing the device on the bedside table.

"I thought you weren't in the mood to talk," he said, crawling back to his bed.

"I'm not but that doesn't mean I'm going to be uncivilized. Besides, he was just making sure we were alright."

"Well now he knows. No sense in dragging the conversation out."

She let out a long breath of aggravation and relaxed into her bed once more. "Tomorrow we'll have to skip our visit to Madame LaMasque's Uniform Boutique to make up time."

"That sucks."

"Thus far this vacation is not going the way I wanted it to. I haven't gotten to make any of the stops I wanted. If things keep going like this maybe we should just go home."

"No!" he sat straight up. The last thing he needed was for her to call off the trip. "We can't give up now! Not after all we've been through. If we travel nonstop tomorrow we'll be back on schedule and everything will be fine."

"We don't know that and the events following us seem to be getting worse and worse. At the rate we're going we'll be lucky to make it to Civic City alive."

"Come on, Raven, do you really wanna miss Melita Funar's one time meet and greet?"

"…No."

"Right! So let's just keep going. No matter what gets thrown at us we'll be able to make it through it. You know why? Cuz we're Titans! And what's our motto?"

"We don't have a motto."

"Well if we did it'd be something about not giving up and always working until we win."

"Unfortunately I think you're right." She let out a sigh of resignation. "Fine, we'll keep going. But if our lives are threatened once more we're turning around and going home."

"You got it, Pollywog."

"If you don't stop calling me that I'm going to make it very difficult for you to sit down the remainder of this trip."

"Come on, you know you're starting to like it."

"I can say with all certainty that I'm not."

"Don't worry, it'll grow on you."

"I'm not going to let that name live long enough to grow on me. Now stop being annoying and order another plate of chocolate covered strawberries."

"You've got it…Pollywog."

"Beast Boy!"