The scene showed a sidewalk path in the middle of Jump City Park. All around, different sorts of people were seen doing various activities. From little kids playing touch football while their parents stood nearby talking to each other, to old couples sitting together at park benches, feeding the birds…
The view focused on a different part of the path.
Adam and Beast Boy appeared from behind a tree. The two of them were the only ones in sight here.
Adam took a deep breath and exhaled. "I don't know what it is, but the smell of the woods really feels like home to me,"
Beast Boy chuckled. "Dude, you're talking to the freaking animal kingdom here. The woods are part of my home." He said in a happier-sounding voice.
Adam chuckled with him. "Did you grow up with trees as a kid?"
"Yeah, a whole freaking jungle of them…" Beast Boy's smile slowly dropped.
"Bad memories?" Adam asked worriedly.
"You can say that…" Beast Boy looked away sadly.
Adam's face turned more serious. "How about we talk about something else then? Like why you and Raven aren't suddenly getting along."
"You're really going to go straight to that, dude?" Beast Boy asked.
Adam shrugged. "Might be better than what you were just thinking about."
"Ha," Beast Boy chuckled a little. "I guess it is, actually."
A small smile appeared on Adam's features. Beast Boy's happy expression disappeared entirely though after nearly resurfacing. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot that's why we came out here anyway."
Beast Boy stopped to lean against a tree trunk. Adam leaned on a tree trunk opposite him. "How about you just tell me what's been going on lately between you and Raven, we can go from there," Adam suggested.
Beast Boy put a hand to his head. "To be honest dude, I don't know. It's just that for the last week… everything I seem to do either makes Rae indifferent toward me… or ticks her off to no end." Beast Boy said sadly.
Adam nodded. He was suddenly holding a clipboard, and a long white coat fell around his shoulders. "And when did you notice this strange behavior coming from Miss Raven?" Adam asked in a therapist's tone.
Beast Boy was now laying back on a couch. He put a hand to his chin in thought. An anime bubble appeared over his head, with a stick figure of Beast Boy in it.
"Well, last week was her one-and-a-half-year anniversary of being free from Trigon."
The view showed the stick figure of Raven appear, stabbing a stick figure of Trigon through with a sword. She and the other stick figures of the Titans appeared, cheering with their hands above their heads.
"Alright, go on." Adam encouraged.
"Well, the day after that, she didn't laugh at any of the jokes that I said for Entertainment night in the Common Room."
The stick figure of Beast Boy was shown on a poorly drawn stage. The stick figure of Raven now had her nose buried in a book. And was completely ignoring Beast Boy.
"... I don't believe any of us found your jokes funny." Adam then said.
The other Titans were then shown in the anime bubble, sitting in various stages of sleep around Raven.
"I was totally funny! You all just have poor taste in jokes!" Beast Boy's stick figure waved its arms around on the stage angrily.
"Sure, sure, please continue." Adam's stick figure drawled on the poorly drawn couch.
"Fine, after that, I remember we all gathered to write birthday cards for Mas and Menos."
The anime bubble showed the Titan's stick figures gathered around a table. Each of them was trying to figure out how to write 'Happy Birthday' in Spanish.
"Then we had that all-night movie marathon with Godzilla vs. Zombies."
The anime bubble showed the Titan's stick figures back on the poorly drawn couch, watching a poorly drawn movie on a poorly drawn screen.
"Then we had waffles for breakfast because Cyborg set the stove on fire again."
The anime bubble showed the Titans freaking out in a poorly drawn kitchen with poorly drawn fire extinguishers in their hands as not only the stove but the nearby cabinets had caught on fire.
"And then-"
Adam suddenly popped the bubble with his pen, bringing the view back to normal. "I'm sorry, but could you get to the point already?" He asked, tapping his clipboard impatiently. "I'm not seeing any really major red flags here."
…
Beast Boy paused in his talking. Then he sighed after another moment of thought.
"Dude, as I said, I honestly don't know what happened." He rested his head on the end of the couch. "I'm as lost as you are."
...
...
Adam frowned. Then he put his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I'm sure we'll figure something out."
Beast Boy still looked sad. "Yeah, females are already hard enough to figure out as it is. I'm sure a half-demoness makes it all that much easier." Beast Boy said sarcastically.
Adam stayed frowning as Beast Boy got back up. The couch, chair, and clipboard disappeared, and Adam's therapist outfit was replaced with his hero outfit.
"Thanks for talking to me. If you need me, I'm going to practice for my rematch against Robin."
With that, he began to walk away from his fellow Titan…
The view faded to show the outside of the T-Tower. The sun was starting to set in the evening sky.
The scene changed.
Robin sat at his desk in his office. He was examing a report on his screen.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
"Come in," Robin called. He closed the report he was looking at. There was only a brief glimpse of a girl with white hair in a photo before the file was closed.
Thmmm.
The door slid open, and Adam appeared in the view. He walked into Robin's office. "Can we talk, Robin?"
"Sure," Robin turned off the computer and moved to another desk Robin had set up for such cases. He sat down on one side, while Adam sat down on the other.
"What's up?" Robin asked.
Adam looked a little nervous at first and looked around to make sure no one was around. Then, he focused on Robin again. "Have you noticed how Beast Boy and Raven have been acting around each other lately?" Adam asked.
Robin's eyebrow went up. "You've noticed it too?"
"Dude, the tension between them is thick enough to be cut with one of my swords at this point, I think all of us have noticed it," Adam said sarcastically.
Robin frowned and held his hands in front of him. "Yeah, Ifair point, I just haven't been sure how to address it,"
Adam sat forward in his chair. "Do you have any idea what they're quarreling about? Because I talked to Beast Boy earlier, and he doesn't even know what it is they're fighting over this time." Adam said seriously. "From what he said, there's nothing he did that could have set Raven off."
Robin frowned more deeply. "He doesn't know... Ugh, if I only still had a link into that girl's mind. I'd be able to find out instantly what the whole problem was and be able to resolve it."
...
"… you have a connection to Raven's mind?" Adam asked confusedly.
Robin shrugged. "Had one. After she died and came back to life, I wasn't able to look at her thoughts anymore." Robin said simply.
…
Adam looked even more confused. Robin opened his desk, perused the files inside, and then pulled one out and handed it to Adam. "That report explains that whole story involving her Father and some other things."
"Okay, thanks. Because none of that made any fetching sense." Adam said as he opened the file to reveal the first page of a very long and detailed report. "I can only hope this makes more sense than what you said."
Robin chuckled. "Maybe I'll take some time later to fill you in on some details I left out of that."
"This already looks like two hundred pages," Adam said dryly.
"I mean, I left out some details about my trip to hell to retrieve her child form." Robin shrugged.
…
…
Question marks appeared over Adam's form, only to fall on top of him and bury him from view for a few seconds.
"How the fetch did Raven turn into a child after dying?!"
"Let's just simplify the topic and say that I have no idea what's going through my little sister's mind anymore," Robin responded.
...
Adam sat back in his chair, shaking his head to clear out all his confused thoughts. "Alright, fine, I hope this thing here will answer it. For now, how do you suggest getting them through whatever it is they're going through peacefully?" Adam asked.
Robin thought to himself.
…
After a moment, he started to smirk evilly. "Well, if Beast Boy doesn't know anything, then we'll just have to force Raven to talk."
"How are we doing that? Torture? Last I checked, she isn't the most talkative individual." Adam responded. "Especially when she doesn't want to talk, which seems to be right now as of late."
Robin shook his head. "You could call it torture. But all you have to do is be more stubborn than her patience. And I think the idea I have will allow us to do just that."
"Hmmmm..." Adam thought to himself for a moment. "Be more stubborn than her, huh?"
...
"Alright, I'm sold. What do we have to do?"
Robin grinned at Adam's response. "First off, I'm going to need to ask a huge favor from Kori..."
The view showed a hallway of the Tower.
"Starfire, that hurts." A plain voice complained.
Raven and Starfire appeared from behind an intersection. Starfire was pulling Raven by the hand, and Raven was reluctantly going along with her.
"Can you please tell me where we're going?" Raven asked.
"I can't tell you friend Raven. It is the secret." Starfire said joyously.
"Could you at least loosen your grip so I can have blood flow through my hand again?" Raven pleaded.
"Sorry friend, I just want to make sure you don't do the running off on me," Starfire replied.
Raven groaned again as Starfire walked up to a familiar-looking doorway. "Here we are," Starfire said cheerfully.
Thmmm.
The door slid open, and Starfire pulled Raven into the dark room. Raven looked around herself, trying to figure out where she was.
"Starfire, I thought you were going to drag me off to the-"
Whoosh! Thmmm.
Raven looked to her side. No one was in view.
Thmmm.
The doorway out slid shut, leaving Raven in darkness.
"... mall?" Raven finished her earlier statement.
...
Thum! Thum! Thum! Thum! Thum!
Suddenly, row after row of lights up above turned on. The sudden whiteness of the room made Raven lift her arm up to cover her eyes.
"Where am… Wait a moment," Raven slowly moved her arm away.
The view showed the room Raven was in. It was the same vault room that the Titans had made for her when Slade led an army of demons to grab her long ago.
The only difference was that a small, green couch was in the middle of the room. And someone was sitting on it…
Raven's eyes widened when she recognized who it was.
Beast Boy chuckled to himself. "Heheh, surprise?" Beast Boy said nervously.
The scene faded to black.
The scene showed Raven facing one of the white walls.
She was mad, very mad.
"What the hell are you trying to do!?" She yelled in a somewhat monotonous, yet angry tone at the wall.
"Sorry friend Raven, I was asked to do this as the favor by boyfriend Robin." Starfire's voice sounded over the speakers to the vault.
Raven bristled at the statement. "Robin, if this is some sort of prank, then you better end this, now!" Raven screamed.
"This isn't a prank Raven. You and Beast Boy have been causing a lot of tension in the team lately. And you two aren't coming out of there until the issues you two are having are resolved…" Robin said over the speakers. "Or until you're not angry at us for trapping you two in a room together."
Raven gritted her teeth and raised her hands above her. She looked surprised though when her black ethereal energy didn't form.
"Oh yeah, we also put additional wards on the room that'll keep both of your powers from working. You know, just an additional safety measure so you won't be able to harm Beast Boy… or us." Robin said.
"Mostly us." Cyborg's voice sounded over the speaker next. "Still can't believe you came up with this idea, Rob."
"Did you have to tell her that?" Robin's voice sounded again.
Raven put her hands at her sides in frustration. "You can't do this to me! I'm capable of sending all of you to Outer Perdition for this!"
"Good thing I already know what it looks like," Robin replied.
"I'll do it! Don't think I'm joking!" Raven yelled again.
...
There was no response.
Raven growled again. The view showed a now very nervous and scared-looking Beast Boy on the couch. He looked to be regretting trying out this idea.
There was a long stretch of silence inside the room…
…
"So..." Beast Boy tried to start, but he couldn't get past the first word. He became silent again.
…
Raven took a deep breath… and then sat cross-legged on the ground. "I'm going to meditate first. We can talk after I don't feel like murdering our leader anymore." She said flatly.
...
Beast Boy sank back into the couch disappointedly. "Okay." He said sadly.
…
The view moved to the viewing room for the vault. Cyborg was sitting in the control chair, with Adam, Robin, and Starfire peering over his shoulder at the two Titans down below. Robin had a very large sweatdrop resting on top of his head.
"She wouldn't actually try to kill me, right?"
"I don't know man," Cyborg smirked. "You really pulled one over her this time."
"Only because this could affect the performance of the team if it's allowed to continue!" Robin argued.
"Well, at the very least, they're not trying to kill each other right now." Adam pointed out.
"That's better than what I was expecting." Robin sighed.
…
The silence ran for a little while longer after that. Beast Boy continued to sit dejectedly on the couch, Raven stayed on her spot on the floor, meditating the time away.
The view showed the clock to the side. It said it was 3:00. The view focused on the clock…
…
The clock now showed 6:00. It was still ticking away normally.
The view moved to the viewing room again.
Cyborg was laying back in his control chair. Adam, Robin, and Starfire had each grabbed chairs from different rooms to sit down in. All of them were facing the ceiling with bored looks on their faces. Adam had the file Robin had given him resting on his chest.
"Man, that really was something. I can't believe Trigon was big enough for Beast Boy to turn into a sperm whale while inside of his ear without killing him." Adam drawled.
"Yeah, he complained about smelling like ear wax for a week after that." Cyborg drawled back. "Not sure why though since I couldn't get the smell of brimstone out of my room for a month."
…
Down below in the vault, it didn't look like Raven and Beast Boy had moved an inch from their spots.
"What the fetch is their fetching problem?" Adam asked in a dull tone.
"I feel the boredom sinking into all of the pores in my body," Starfire said in a dejected tone.
Cyborg groaned.
Wham!
He smashed his fist on the desk next to him. "Yo. Can't those two love birds just kiss and makeup already?! I've seen goldfish more interesting than them for crying out loud!" Cyborg said angrily and impatiently.
"You know Raven can be a little on the stubborn side," Robin said. Though he sounded just as bored as the other two. "We just have to whittle it down until she breaks."
Adam groaned again. "It's been over three hours Robin. How much longer is it going to take to out stubborn her?"
"Well, they're going to get hungry or thirsty eventually," Robin said.
"Knowing Rae, she'll probably starve herself to death before she caves in," Cyborg said sarcastically.
"Oh, I really hope they'll do the Earthly reconciling actions soon." Starfire moaned out.
The view showed outside the T-Tower again. The sun was setting in the distance. Time seemed to fast forward, and the sun quickly finished setting. The night came on over the bay, with the stars glittering up in the sky.
The moon traveled quickly from one horizon to the other. And then the bright rays of the sun finally came over the mountains in the east. Soon, it was the morning of the next day.
The view showed the inside of the viewing room again.
Adam was passed out in his chair, with his head hanging at a weird angle. His leg twitched a little bit in his sleep, and Robin's report lay sprawled out on the floor.
The poor Titan had probably read through it all at least five times.
The view then showed Starfire cuddled with her pet worm Silkie on the floor. She was sound asleep too, although Silkie was trying desperately to escape.
Cyborg was leaning back in his control chair. He had himself plugged into a spare battery placed below the console of the desk in front of him. Drool was hanging off his chin.
The view finally showed Robin, who was still wide awake. He was standing next to Cyborg, and leaning on the control desk. He stared down into the room down below as he sipped from a cup of coffee.
The view showed the inside of the vault next.
Beast Boy had moved to a different part of the couch. He was still awake, but almost barely. He was facing a corner of the room, not making any sounds.
The view then moved to where Raven was still sitting cross-legged on the floor. She was still meditating. She hadn't even moved an inch from her spot.
…
…
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The klaxons on the walls started to blare.
Raven opened up her eyes. They looked as calm as ever. "Finally." She muttered under her breath as she stood up. She had to rub some soreness out of her backside.
She turned to face the doorway to the vault. But the doorway didn't slide open. Nor did the large vault doors slide open either.
"Sorry, it's just a robbery going on downtown. Me, Star, and Adam should be able to take care of it by ourselves." Robin's voice sounded over the speakers.
"Wha…" Adam drawled out sleepily.
Raven looked up in surprise. The viewing room couldn't be seen from inside the vault-like room. Then her eyes narrowed in anger once again.
"Robin, just let us out already!" She yelled at the wall.
…
She got no response. Raven tried to calm her face down, but her hands tightened into fists at her sides.
"Rae... All they want us to do is talk things out." A tired voice said behind her.
Raven angrily turned. Beast Boy was still on the couch, but he was facing her again. He looked even more tired, and a little depressed.
"Can we please, just talk?"
...
"There's nothing for us to talk about, Beast Boy," Raven said dryly before she turned to face the wall with her arms crossed in front of her. "I figured that much out already."
…
"Nothing to talk about…?" Beast Boy looked taken aback by her statement.
But then, he indignantly got up from the couch. "Are you freaking kidding me!?" Beast Boy yelled angrily.
Raven turned in surprise at Beast Boy's tone of voice. "Nothing to talk about?! I stay in a room with you all night, trying to stay awake because I just wanted to try and figure out why our relationship has been so rocky lately! And you don't even say a single word to me because you were waiting for a villain alert to force Rob and the others to release us?!
"What the hell, Rae!? I know I've been stupid and immature in the past, but I'm at least trying to take this seriously, unlike you!" Beast Boy yelled angrily.
"... what?" Raven asked. There was an edge to her tone.
"You heard me, Rae! This wasn't even my idea! I was planning to just give you space and try not to bother you until you felt ready to talk! But our friends convinced me to do this because even I don't know what's going on between us anymore!"
"That's all I wanted out of this! I just want to know why we're suddenly not getting along! I've given up food and games and sleep for a chance at fixing this! And you're just, just… being a bigger jerk than I've ever been!" Beast Boy growled at the end and pulled on his hair.
The view showed Raven again. Her face had fallen a little, and a strange look appeared in her eyes.
"I don't even know why you're doing this! I thought everything was going great! I thought we were both happy!" Beast Boy yelled.
"I… I was happy." Raven tried to speak when she recognized Beast Boy was being genuinely sincere.
"Then why the heck are you throwing that all away now!? What did I do that's made you hate me lately!? Please, tell me so I can change and fix this mess-" Beast Boy was yelling.
"Beast, Garfield…" Raven interrupted with a mutter. "Changing won't help."
…
"We're just too different." Raven continued.
…
…
There was a long silence…
...
...
"What?" Beast Boy finally asked.
"Garfield, you like video games, and I don't. You like playing pranks and showing off, and I don't. You like being loud, exciting, social, and doing all this other fun stuff with everyone, but I don't!
"I'm just the creepy goth girl of the group who prefers being left alone! Reading a book or sipping a simple cup of tea in her part of the shadows before she sneaks off to meditate!" Raven raised her voice as she went on. "Change? Do you even know what you're asking?! You'd have to throw out your whole persona and build yourself from the ground up to try and be like me! You wouldn't be Garfield anymore! You'd just be, me."
…
Beast Boy was dead silent. Raven glared at him.
"Let's face it already! A relationship between us would never work out in the long term! We'd eventually clash over something inconsequential and let everything fall apart! And I'm the only one that's mature enough to realize that right now…"
…
…
Again, there was silence for a long time. Filled only by the sound of Raven's heavy breathing…
...
...
Finally, Beast Boy hung his head. "Was what we were doing up to this point all a lie then? Was… was the happiness we were both feeling not real, or anything?"
"Was none of that worth as much to you as it was to me?"
Raven opened her mouth, but no words came out…
…
…
Before Raven could find the words, Beast Boy sighed. "Okay then." He said defeatedly. "I know what I did now."
He turned to the side.
Thmmm.
The doorway Raven had entered through before finally slid open. Raven looked in surprise at it, then back at Beast Boy. A remote device was in one of his hands.
"If it'll make you happy, then go." Beast Boy said in a dead voice as he pointed to the door. "I'm not going to keep you here any longer, now that we've cleared the air between us."
…
Raven looked back at the open doorway. Then she looked at Beast Boy again. Her hand reached forward, almost as if she was hesitant or unsure…
Then she shook her head. She brought her hood back up over her head and turned back around. "This is what's best for us," Raven said flatly. "The two of us are better off being friends."
"Sure..." Beast Boy muttered under his breath.
…
"I'm sorry." Raven then said.
"I'm sure you are."
…
A moment later, she was shown walking quietly out of the room.
Beast Boy stayed looking down at the floor.
…
"Hey man, is everything…?" Cyborg spoke over the speakers.
Beast Boy turned to the open doorway. A little tear hit the ground in front of him. "It's perfect now Cy. I know exactly what her issue with me is now." He said flatly.
"How's that saying go? If you love something, then let it go?... I guess that's what I'm doing now."
"Heh… what a world we live in… if you need me dude, I'm going to catch up on some much-needed sleep."
Beast Boy sank his hands into his pockets and walked out of the room, a frown resting on his defeated face.
The scene faded to black.