About a week later …
Things seemed to return to normalcy at the Tower. The crime alert only went off a couple of times, and there was no sign of Rancid anywhere in Jump. There were some reports of him being sighted in Chicago, but they were unconfirmed. Cyborg continued working on repairing Raven's room and Starfire, when it was her turn to provide dinner, wisely resorted to only doing take out as Robin had stomach cramps after eating her alien dinner.
Things didn't change much for Gar and Raven. They would occasionally go out for dinner, though at places less pricey and less carnivorous than the steakhouse. Otherwise they would quietly hang out, usually reading. There was an excursion to the Tattered Cover Bookstore, Raven's favorite, and she would sometimes teleport to a nearby CostaLot coffee shop and purchase some freshly brewed coffees for them to sip on while they read. And, contrary to what she had first told him, she would give him a chaste goodnight kiss at the end of every day.
Gar didn't know what to think. Was she or wasn't she his girlfriend? It was so confusing, but he did enjoy the status quo, so he let sleeping dogs lie. How could he complain? They went out on their "non dates", where they discussed all sorts of things. She showed great interest in his parents and he asked her all sorts of questions about Azarath, which led to the topic of her mother. He remembered well when he brought up the topic for the first time; it was after the Titans foiled a bank robbery. Gar and Raven stayed behind and went into a CostaLot and ordered some Latte's.
"Rae, you've never talked about your mother."
Raven stared at her paper coffee cup.
"Hey, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand."
She sighed. "I suppose I should." She sighed a second time.
"Hey, you don't have to."
She inhaled. "My mother was a troubled woman. She ran away from home when she was a teen, and got involved with a demonic cult. She had never heard of Trigon, and she didn't believe in demons. For her it was just a lark, she planned on messing around with some of the more handsome guys until she decided to move on."
She paused. "One day an unbelievably handsome man joined the cult. He of course had the attention of all the women, who all wanted to bed him. To my mother's astonishment, he showed interest only in her. Needless to say, she was putty in his hands. She was easy to seduce and they had sex. A few weeks later my mother found out she was pregnant and ran to tell him. As soon as he heard the news he revealed that his was a demon."
She paused.
"Raven, that's awful. Im so sorry."
She nodded and continued. "My mother ran away from the cult, but had nowhere to go. She was living on the streets, cold and hungry, when she encountered some Azarathians, who took her in. At first it was on Earth, but then they revealed who they were and just who my father was: Trigon the Terrible. My mother, her name is Arella, was stunned and terrified. The Azarathians offered a safe place for her, where Trigon couldn't go. She accepted and that's how I wound up born on Azarath."
"After I was born they told her what I was destined to be, The Gem, and that they would prepare me to fight back against that. And part of that meant that we would rarely see each other. The monks and nuns became my surrogate parents and they helped me become the joyless creature that I am."
He took her hand and squeezed it. "That's not true, Rae, you aren't joyless. I've seen joy in you."
"I know, you all have seen it, especially you. But come on, Gar, I don't exactly light up a room when I enter, do I?"
"You're different. Maybe your joy doesn't just shine all the time. But when you smile, it's the most beautiful smile in the world."
"You're my best friend." She murmured.
"Same here. I always want to be with you" He smiled.
She looked at him with a sad expression. "You shouldn't, you deserve better than me."
"What are you talking about? Raven, I like being with you, a lot."
"I know, and I like being with you too, but …"
Before she could finish, her communicator chirped. She flipped it open and saw Robin's face in the screen.
"Sorry to interrupt, Raven, but I need to talk with you. Please come back to Tower right away and meet me in my office. It's important."
"We're on our way."
Minutes later …
Raven knocked on the door of Robin's office. The door slid open and she entered.
"What's the matter, Robin? This sounds urgent."
"It is. Here's the situation: Speedy and the twins have the flu, so Bumblebee asked me to send someone to backfill for them until they recover."
"And you're sending me? Why not one of the honorary Titans?"
"Bumblebee requested you. And before you ask, she didn't say why you. She just did, and I owe her a lot of favors, so I'm sending you. Sorry."
Raven frowned. "Can Gar go with me?"
Robin suppressed a smile. Not a couple, yeah right.
"I can only spare one of you. And she asked for you. She said if I sent you that we're even."
"Great, an all expenses paid vacation to Karen's mad house. I must be the luckiest girl in the world."
"Raven … please?"
"Fine, I'll do it. But you owe me, bird boy, big time."
"Thanks, Raven, and Aqualad is already on the way with their T-Ship."
Raven charged into their shared room, ignoring her "knock first" rule. Gar was resting in his bunk. He propped himself up on his elbows.
"What did Rob want?"
"He's sending me to Titans East until Speedy and Mas Y Menos recover from the flu … do you have back pack I can use?"
He hopped down and pulled one out of his closet.
"I'll go with you."
"Robin says I have to go alone."
"Why?"
She grunted unhappily as she hastily stuffed her few remaining garments into the backpack.
"He said that Karen requested me."
"She did? Hmmm …"
"What?" She snapped at him.
"Nothing, just some stupid rumors I've heard. Forget it."
"Who told you what?"
"Forget it, I'm sure they made it up."
Raven was about to demand he tell her what the rumor was when PA system activated, and Robin's voice boomed throughout the Tower. "Raven, your ride is here!"
She zipped the backpack shut, and turned to look at him.
"Bye, Gar."
"Bye, Rae." He whispered.
She bolted for the door and stopped before going through it. She ran back to him and kissed him, and ran off again; she was already in the hallway when he shouted at her.
"Rae, are you my girlfriend?"
She froze and looked back at him, with a scared look on her face; but the door closed before she could reply.
"Raven, your ride is waiting for you!" Robin's voice boomed over the PA again.
He wanted to run after her but something stopped him. Maybe it was the fear that she might say no, or maybe something else, but he stayed in his room, the look on her face haunting him. He was about to sit down when his communicator buzzed, indicating it had just received a text message. He flipped it open. It was a message, from her: "I don't know."
He winced as he shut the communicator and dropped it on his desk.
Aqualad was in the pilot's pod while Raven sat in the co-pilot's pod as the Steele City based T-Ship soared across the Midwestern sky. Raven was wearing her headphones and heard Aqualad's voice.
"I can't thank you enough for helping us out."
She was reading a book she had just purchased the day before. She book marked and closed it.
"Don't mention it. How much longer?"
He looked at the trip computer. "About 30 minutes. Raven, may I ask you something?"
"Is it about Gar?"
"Gar? Oh, you mean Beast Boy. Is that your pet name for him?"
"It's his real name. Why would I have a pet name for him?" she deadpanned in a bored voice.
"Oh, there are rumors going around."
"Rumors?"
"Never mind, it's stupid. Forget I said anything."
"No! You're the second person to say that today. Just tell me what the damn rumor is."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, dammit!"
"OK, but I did say it was dumb, anyway, there is talk in the extended Titans community that you and Beast Boy are lovers."
Her eyes widened. "Wait, you mean people think that Gar and I have sexual relations?"
"I told you it was stupid."
Raven crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat. "You're right, it is stupid."
"I'm sorry."
"If you started it, you'd better be sorry."
"I don't know who started it; but it wasn't me."
She heaved a weary sigh. "I'm going to meditate for a bit. Please don't interrupt me until we get to the Tower."
A few days later …
Gar was sitting in the lounger he had in his room. A new comic book, already forgotten, sat limply in his hands as looked forlornly at his lower bunk. He and Raven hadn't communicated since she left and he knew why she hadn't sent a single message since "I don't know." He jumped the gun and had scared her off. He knew that he came across as a needy loser when he asked her if she was his girlfriend. Why would she be his girlfriend? It was obvious she was out of his league. She was probably already dating Aqualad.
He got up, tossing the comic book aside and walked over to the bed. He picked up her pillow and sniffed it. His sensitive nose picked up not only the unique perfume she used, and which anyone could smell, but also her natural scent. The others would simply identify it as "sweaty", if they could even detect it. But to him her natural scent was as loud as a fire engine and had the uniqueness of a fingerprint. He looked sadly at the pillow before putting it back on the bed.
His communicator was on his desk, with the heart breaking "I don't know" still flashing on the screen. He desperately wanted to call her, but just couldn't.
"Why did I ask her that? Now I've messed everything up. She knows I'm a desperate loser."
He put the communicator down, turned off the lights and climbed into his bunk.
"BB, you idiot! You blew it! Why couldn't I be more patient? Ugh! I'm girl repellant!" He tortured himself.
Meanwhile, in Steele City, in Raven's room …
Raven stared at her communicator, wishing it had an unsend button.
"Why did I say that? He was serious! And what did I do? I panicked and gave him the most uncommitted answer in the world. What the hell is wrong with me? The boy I love asks me if I'm his girlfriend, and I give him the worst answer in the world. And now I've blown it for good. He'll probably have a new girlfriend by the time I get back. A nice one, who doesn't have hang ups, who isn't demon spawn … someone he deserves, someone better than me … someone who is lovable, unlike me."
She opened her communicator and began to type "Please disregard my earlier idiotic message. Of course you're my …"
She stopped typing. "Who am I kidding? He hasn't called because he's furious with me. I can't back pedal what I said."
She pressed the backspace key until her message was erased. She tossed the communicator aside and picked up the backpack she borrowed from him and hugged it.
"I'm an idiot. What have I done?" She whimpered as tears ran down her cheeks.
At the end of the week …
Gar walked past Raven's old room. A crew was setting up her furniture and doing final cleanup work.
"Her room is done?" He asked no one in particular.
Cyborg stepped out of the room with a clipboard in his hand. "We got lucky; I was able to find enough workers to work around the clock and get it finished early. When she gets back home tonight she won't have to bunk with you anymore, which is kind of too bad as she made you keep your room clean."
"Yeah, I can turn it back into a pigsty again." He said in a dejected tone.
Cyborg's built in communicator chirped.
"It's BumbleBee, they're running late, won't be here until well past midnight. Don't worry, Grass stain, I'll stay up and give her the good news myself when she arrives."
"Uh, yeah, good idea, Cy."
Well after midnight …
Garfield tossed and turned in his bunk, as he slept restlessly. His ears twitched and he woke with a start, quickly sitting up in his bunk. The clock on the wall read "1:28".
He leaped off his bed. His ears weren't deceiving him. Someone was in the hallway.
"Welcome home, little lady. I have a surprise for you!"
"A surprise?"
"I'll show you."
They waved goodbye at Karen as she flew the away and then entered the Tower through the roof top door. They rode down the elevator to the habitat floor where the rooms are. Her mind was racing, What would she tell Gar when she entered the room, assuming he was awake. It didn't really matter if he was awake or not he would know she was back eventually. And would then read her the riot act before dumping her, which she knew she deserved.
Cyborg stopped in front of her room. She noticed that the temporary plywood door was gone and the sliding door was reinstalled. He opened it and gestured her to enter. Her eyes grew wide at the sight before her.
"You finished my room, already?
"We worked three shifts to get it done before you got back. And your clothes order arrived while you were gone. Star already took care of putting them away for you."
She looked awestruck. "It … it looks just like it did before. But how?"
"Nothing but the best for my little sister. And best of all, you won't have to bunk with B anymore."
She looked longingly at his door down the hall.
"I suppose I won't … thank you, Victor … it's late and I should get to bed."
"Glad you're back and tomorrow to celebrate your return I'm making waffles. Good night, Raven."
"Good night, Victor."
He smiled and walked out, the door closing behind him. She turned around and explored her resurrected room, running her hand along every surface. He even replaced some of her decorations and her candles. The only thing that was different was the bed, which for some reason was much larger than her old one. It was one of those mattresses with the memory foam on top.
She opened the drawer where her nightwear would usually be and found a fresh set waiting for her. She changed and was about to get into her new bed when she sensed him. She froze, as if she were prey and he was the hunter. He came closer and closer to her door. She leaped out of her bed and ran to her door, and opened it.
Gar was standing outside, in his sleepwear.
"Raven, I'm sorry I …"
His apology was abruptly interrupted when she smashed her lips to his, kissing him with both a passion and a fury he had not experienced before. He of course reciprocated, and the fireworks in his brain kept exploding. She then pulled back and caressed his face with her palm.
"Hi … I missed you; I missed you more than I thought it was possible to miss anyone." She deadpanned.
"I love you." He replied.
She hugged him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"So, just to be clear, are you my girlfriend?"
"I am most definitely your girlfriend, and have been your girlfriend since we went out to dinner at The Good Earth. I was just too stupid and clueless to admit it."
They hugged and kissed some more, until he spoke.
"So, do you still want to sleep on the lower bunk?"
She looked up into his eyes. "Let's sleep in my room for a change."
He looked into her room. "But you only have one bed."
"I know." She smiled demurely.
Starfire, Robin and Cyborg watched the scene play out on closed circuit TV in Robin's office. Starfire levitated and squealed with delight upon seeing them kiss passionately. They all watched, captivated, until Raven took Gar's hand and led him into her room, with the door closing behind them. Robin shut off the video feed and high fived with the Tin Man.
"It is about the time!" Starfire shouted.
THE END