Arc 2 – "Homecoming" – Chapter 8: The Welcome Could Be Warmer

A/N: Hey guys, long time no read!

Getting back into the Teen Titan's now that I've had time. Energy is another matter, and my mind is no less divided than before, but something feels a little different. I don't know. I've felt... positive for the past couple weeks while I've been working on this. I know I wrote that I'd try to get to this out in a couple weeks, and I have no excuses save that feeling positive means that I'm enjoying re-experiencing a bunch of stuff. Like "Shadow of Mordor" and "FFXV" and a bunch of Anime and stuff that I haven't looked at in forever. I'm... strangely physically and mentally exhausted... but I'm doing my best to counter it by being pumped.

Review Responses:

-Ragnaroll: Thank you. For some reason I was having a hard time finding the reasoning behind that.

-"Eris": (Heheh!) Spoilers. I guess you'll have to see if Rorek is Neutral, Evil, or otherwise. And way to add some Alignment reference in the review. Now I know what you've been enjoying ;)

-Mr. Ursine: I wish! That would be a wonderful escape. Now if only I didn't have these things called work, responsibilities, video games, books, Fanfi- Oooo! Scratch that last one. Even if 90% of my distractions come out of Fanfiction. I hear ya though. I've been waiting for so many stories to update, and its driving me nuts. So hard to sympathize with my fellow authors when I want to read their stories too.

- dld51: That will still be a bit yet, but hold in there! I'm getting to it as fast as I can! :D

-Invictus Icarus: I guess you'll have to read down below to find out. Don't worry about the Dick jokes, I'm saving some specifically for your entertainment.

Oh? Theories? Theories you say?! Care to share your theories?

Can't wait to expand your liking of Miss Morgan Lassiter.

*End of Responses

Disclaimer: You know the drill. If sorrow could kill.

Read and Review if you have Questions, Comments, or Concerns (affectionately QCC)

Without further ado. *Que the dimming of the lights*

Magicks that Bind: Arc 2 – "Homecoming"

Chapter 8: The Welcome Could Be Warmer

"Snggggggggh-fooooooo. Snggggggggh-fooooooo."

Raven stared at the green red fox in her lap, her eye twitching. Who knew foxes squeaked as they snored? Along with a series of yips, squeals, coos, chitters, clicks, and disgruntled moans. There were also some noises that vaguely resembled the sounds a baby would make. It was like the species itself wasn't content with one noise; it had to darn well make all the sounds it could. And he had been doing so non-stop for hours.

"Snggggggggh-mnnnnnnh." He kicked a back paw, rolling over a little until his off-white belly was completely exposed. It smacked its chops and went right back to snoring.

"So that's what the fox says," she quipped humorlessly, rolling her eyes.

She had already tried sleeping on the way back, but something about the stiff seat and its inability to lean back made that difficult during the long flight. Meditation was off the table too; she was far too distracted to meditate. Manually flying the T-Ship's wing was also off the table. The sky was monotonous, and with her current lap-warmer, she didn't want to fall asleep at the console; so she left the auto-pilot on. Read a book? She vaporized the only book she thought she'd be reading (see Chapter 1 for details) for the remainder of the next week; and she wasn't up for any more geese getting cooked.

And so, Raven's monotony was partially self-inflicted. She was… Azar forbid, she was bored. All her normal go-to's were temporarily out of her reach. While this was not a foreign concept to the sorceress, it was an unwelcome one that she would prefer was remedied fast. She pursed her lips in thought, staring down at her travel companion. Slowly, a smirk began to twitch at her lips. Maybe… just maybe, she could have some fun with this.

She began to draw her fingers across his belly, gently scratching through his soft fur. A shiver went through the small sized body, his paws flexing as they stretched out. "Mmmmm," he squeaked, before gently wrapping his legs and his tail around her forearm. He just kept sleeping.

'Great. I'm a Huggable now. I swear to Azar, if he starts chewing on my hand….' So she just kept stroking his fur, drawing soft and content chittered purrs of contentment from his little maw. 'You're lucky you can turn into cute forms. You little shit.'

'A super cute little shit!' Passion cooed. 'With a cute nose, and cute ears!'

'Nope. Just a shit,' Envy jabbed, before glancing inconspicuously. 'And maybe, sorta cute.'

She perked slightly in realization. She was going to have to work on that. Once the kids were legally apart of the family, they'd all have to cut back drastically on the cussing. Family-friendly mouths only. "Great," she muttered sarcastically. "I have my work cut out for me." Especially since Gar had let loose more than a few 'F'-bombs over the past couple days. Maybe she could threaten to wash his mouth out with soap? Yeah. Much more doable and less trauma-inducing than sending him via portal to another dimension. Plus, she'd actually follow through with shoving some honey-lavender hand soap down his throat.

'~Go to sleeeep, go to sleeeep, go to sleep li-ttle Bea-stie~' Happy sang, inheriting her creator's slightly scratchy voice and somewhat off-key tone despite the night and day difference in their expressions and pitch.

'Aaand, even at my best vocalization, I still sound like a coyote in a trash compactor,' she sighed. So any form of singing was a no-go. Better to reiterate that now, than attempt it later down the road. She'd save herself the embarrassment.

A soft droning beeping drew her attention to the console. They were about five minutes out, and just in time for an evening cup of tea. Azar be praised.

"Alright Gar, wake up," she ordered, gently shaking the bundle of fur. "We're almost there."

"Mmmm?" he whined, blinking groggily with a cramped stretch. He sniffed before looking her in the eye. Almost immediately, he sprouted a foxy grin (pun intended), propping himself up as best as he could for an animal without proper shoulder rotation, and giving her a half-lidded look that might have been sultry if she knew he hadn't just woken up. "He-llo there! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Don't make me hurt you," she stated passively. "We're a few minutes out from the Tower. Thought you'd like to be bright-eyed and bushy tailed when we arrive."

"My tail is always bushy," he grinned back, before turning just a little more serious. Nervous even.

Raven just flicked the tuft of his tail. "Calm down," she ordered. "You feel like you're gonna bolt."

"Can't I just fight another pack of Jag's?" he asked pitifully, nose scrunching. "Actually, upgrade them and make 'em Tigers. With lightning-breath. And laser horns. With a–"

He almost collapsed in a heap when one of his ears was softly rubbed between Raven's fingers. That was the spot. That was the spot. A soft groan escaped between his lips, his eye twitching uncontrollably.

"Better?" she asked before ceasing her doting.

'No! You left me unbalanced!' he thought, one ear now thoroughly satisfied, while the other… the other one was left abandoned and tweaking for attention. He'd rub his ear himself, but… it wasn't the same. He felt so disbalanced now. And one look at her face said she had no idea what dark and dastardly act she'd done to him.

"Um… could you… finish?" he asked, his little vulpine eyes going pitifully wide.

"Finish?"

"You left my other ear out," he clarified, lifting and twitching said ear while lowering the other one. "It's feeling lonely."

'Awww! Look at that face! Scratch the ear!' Of course, Happy was on board.

'His ears have been rendered in a state of half-stimulation,' Knowledge mentioned informatively. 'Until the second one is scratched, it will probably continue to bother him.'

'There's something almost… hypnotizing about them,' Brave mentioned, eyes simultaneously wide and focused, like she had a mission in mind. 'I… I want to… play with them.'

Raven just rolled her eyes. "You're fine." She wasn't sure if she was talking to the changeling or her emotions.

"Humm!" he harrumphed, giving his best puffy cheeked animal pout.

She just sighed, putting a hand to her cheek as she looked sideways at the window. 'Greeeat. Now I have four kids to worry about.'

Down below, the buildings of Jump City stretched out. They hadn't changed at all in four months, save for some of the infrastructure and construction of some of the newer buildings being that much closer to completion. Some of those projects had been around since just after the Teen Titans had defeated the Brotherhood of Evil. Since most of the super-villains had temporarily vacated during that period, with no one to destroy them, it had allowed the city to get a head-start with new buildings. Good times.

The ship's auto-pilot was swift to take them beyond the city skyline, and out across the bay, swooping in low until the water waked as it zoomed past. And there it was. That magnificent 'T'-shaped tower sitting on an island in the middle of the bay.

"Hey, you guys change the side paneling?" Beast Boy asked as he pressed his face to the window like a dog. "I thought you couldn't. Cy and Rob kept complaining about unnecessary cost."

"Vi– Cyborg did a small overhaul," Raven stated. As used as she was now to calling the machine man by his given name, she'd let each of them do the introductions. And most of the explaining.

"I can tell," he said, somewhat crossed between bitter and pouting still. "At least he up 'n amped security. Especially after that last break-in. Even I might have a hard time breaking in. Or out. And is that a new power grid?" He face-smooshed his fur even harder into the window, fogging up the glass. "Cooool!"

Right. Garfield had lived as a kid-thief for a little while. Between him and Cyborg, it was probably a close call as to who knew security systems (or how to mitigate them) better. "If the Tower got an upgrade, I'll have to check out fixing up my room. After I hit my last growth spurt, the bunk bed was a little cramped. I probably need ta get a new one."

"Oh really?" Raven said with a raised eyebrow. Same ol' Beast Boy…. Sorta.

The ship banked around the side of the island, reaching the side opposite of the city before it came to a hover. Just under it, dust blew away as the ground spiraled open, revealing an enormous docking hatch that lead under the island. And with that, the wing lowered below ground, and the hatch reclosed, sealing them in darkness and the consoles soft glow as they continued descending.

Guide lights flicked on, giving guide even though the hole was designed to fit the whole T-ship. A shiver drew Raven's attention as Beast Boy morphed, turning into a giant railroad-worm larva, shaking himself as soft red bioluminescent spots the size of nickels lit up the cockpit.

It only took a couple moments before they entered a large underground cavern. What had once been a remnant of Slade trying to sink the Tower with giant robotic laser worms, now looked like a sub-terranean Cape Canaveral. Everything from the T-ship's launch pad, to the automated command center, to said ship sitting off to the side, suspended by machinery that could reconfigure and substitute out any damage to the multi-faceted parts; whether for submersion, long-flights, or deep space. Cyborg had a lot of time on his hands in the last four months. Nothing as fancy as the Bat-Cave, but at least they weren't stuck in the "Dark Ages".

"Duuuude," the beetle chittered, his bug-eyes glimmering with awe-struck wonder. "Okay, what's up?!" he demanded, sitting up on his segmented body and crossing multiple sets of legs. "Where'd you guys get the money to pull all this off? It looks like someone robbed NASA. Who's rich great-uncle died?"

"You'll find out," Raven smirked.

"I hate surprises, Rae," he stated, his mandibles quivering.

Raven just rolled her eyes as she pulled him closer so she could reach over the console, initiating the reconnecting sequence as they entered the ship's range. The wings folded down, and the cockpit rotated as it deftly and flawlessly reattached to the main fuselage.

"Activate Interlocks! Dyno-therms, connected! Infra-cells, up! Mega-thrusters are go! Let's gooo, Voltron force!"

Raven stared at the beetle in her lap, mouth half-open in confusion as the engine began slowing down, actively sagging the whole of the T-ship as gravity became the most prominent force acting on the reconverted wing. "…What?"

"The better parts of my childhood in a nutshell," he stated with a buggy grin. "Thundercats and TMNT didn't exactly have key lines that fit with the T-ship coming back together."

Raven just blinked in resignation. A small, almost abysmal, part of her was regretting this. Then again, maybe it was a good thing he could focus on something good from his childhood. When weighing the pros and cons… as much as it irked her to admit it, she preferred having him back.

The cockpit slid open with a muted shhhh!, causing them both to blink now that the tinted windows weren't blocking the lights. Raven pulled her hood over her head, picking up the light-sensitive form of her companion as she gently jumped and glided to the concrete ground.

He immediately jumped out of her arms, shifting into a bear as he pulled out a yawn that pulled back his lips, curled his tongue, and seemed to elongate his jaw, stretching with an audible groan from both his mouth and his muscles. "God, that smarts. Road trips are the worst."

"If you say so," Raven commented, chirping the wing's trunk, deftly catching the contents that fell out with her powers, guiding it slowly to the ground.

"Sweet!" Beast Boy gruffed, lumbering over as he nosed through his stack of stuff. For such a large creature, he pawed through it easily enough before he dragged out a duffle bag. As soon as he did, he was looking at Raven pleadingly. "Uh, c-could you turn around please."

"Why?" she asked, annoyed.

"To change. Duh! Can't exactly greet everyone naked– Well, I could, but that would be embarrassing. I'd rather not strut the goods just yet."

Raven just rolled her eyes as she turned around, huffing in annoyance. "Make it quick." Her ears unconsciously perked as sound of the duffle zipper opened, followed by soft rustling as Beast Boy shifted through his bag.

"Come on," he muttered, now his normal voice, unimpeded by the strange vocals his animal forms possessed. "…Where did I stash that? … Ah! Here we are!"

A strange heat settled on Raven's neck when she heard the rustling on him putting on his clothes, warmth gently creeping up through her cheeks.

'Turn around Rae-Rae,' Passion tempted with a sultry whisper. 'You know you want to.' The purple clad emotion was flicked in the middle of the forehead.

'No,' Temperance commanded sternly. 'There is no need to cause him or ourselves undue embarrassment.'

'Ugh! Is it too late to release him back into the wild?' Rude asked, absently drawing on a mental bolder she was laying on. 'We may never see bare gluts again if he's back.'

'But we'll have plenty of time to see his bear gluts,' Happy joked, smiling proudly for herself.

…

…

'You're not funny,' Rage stated, crossing her arms.

'Awwww! No fair!' Happy whined back. 'I worked hard on that!'

'It really wasn't funny,' Rude commented. 'Leave the jokes to Beastie, and we'll get along just fine.'

Raven just let them go at it, ignoring the headache it was giving her as some of her emotions tried to justify getting any kind of look at Beast Boy's… well… anything. He couldn't finish dressing fast enough in her opinion.

"There. All done." Raven let out a sigh of relief at how quickly her emotional spectrum shut up, turning around on impulse. She blinked.

"Wow. You look normal," she stated in surprise.

He grinned back at her, wiggling his eyebrows. ""Normal", huh?" He'd put on a pair of camo cargo shorts, complete with a white hoodie that sported a large red slash up the middle that split into a Y-shape that led into his long-sleeves. He'd even pulled his hair back into ponytail, letting only the shortest of his sides hang down and frame his face. The only thing not normal (outside the obvious) was his distinct lack of shoes. "Just figured I'd look my Sunday best."

Raven snorted, rolling her eyes, and already walking toward the Tower elevator. "Come on. I'd rather get reintroductions out of the way."

"Eh, fine by me," he stated, quickly falling into step beside her, looking pleased with himself.

They both stepped into the elevator without incident as Raven pushed a now glowing "C" for the "Commons". It was then that it grew uncomfortably quiet.

"What's the matter? Not worried are you?" Raven asked, noting his near one-eighty in attitude. Albeit, he actually looked a little relaxed. Certainly not as pent up as he was before.

He shrugged dismissively, putting his hands behind his head. "I got you here, so why would I be worried?"

'That's oddly worded,' she thought, but dismissed it. And with that, the elevator doors closed.

The Tower, Commons…

"Huh. Well that was a twist."

"Indeed. It was most twisted!"

The hero now known as Nightwing sat with his arm draped around his girlfriend's shoulders as they sat on the living room sofa, staring at the television in thought, dressed down for the evening in more home appropriate attire.

"I didn't think that Natasha would cheat on Rick with Doctor Simmons," he stated with bemusement. "But that's kind of the point of the series I suppose… even if it's only the end of the first season."

"Nor that she would get the preggers by sleeping with him," Starfire stated, pouting in equal disappointment. "Although, I am beginning to notice a pattern."

"What's that?"

"Every time a new character is introduced, the main character of the episode they do the premiering in, is the one who sleeps with them," she stated, frowning. "Although, this Natasha has done the "sleeping around" more often then many of the other main characters."

Nightwing put his free hand to his chin, quickly analyzing over the episodes they'd seen so far. "Not wrong. There was Cory, Tim, Jeff…."

"…Tim the second, Kit, Sonny, Alan, Rick…," she continued for him.

"…Robert, Roberts unnamed brother, Tim the second again…."

"…Then she proceeded to sleep with her boss, Mister Wilkins?" Star asked for clarity.

"Yeah… then Tony, Cory again, Bob, Rick again…."

"…And now Doctor Simmons, who she is now the preggers by, though she is wrongfully insisting that it is Ricks," Star finished, frowning slightly. "I am not one to judge demonstrations of human mating rituals, but it would appear that this Natasha is a garden tool."

"A shovel?" Nightwing asked, wondering if this was some "digging" metaphor he wasn't getting. Star had mixed up shovels before.

"No. Thee hoe," she clarified.

"Ah," he said in understanding, chuckling a little bit. "Yeah. She kinda is, but then again, so is Trish, Tiff, Genessa, and Barbra. So is Jed, Bill, Cory, and Max."

"The male-garden-tools with abdominal muscles that are too large to be natural? Agreed. Why do they continue to produce these… operas of soap," she asked, glaring at the TV so hard, her eyes might burn a hole through it. Knowing her, she just might. "This "Highschool Never Ends" should have done the ending. Señorita Dora's show is much the better. At least it is the educational and promotes audience involvement."

"Because people watch them," he explained. "People want the excitement of drama in someone else's life, but not their own. It's basically fictional gossip. And people love a little gossip… Or a lot."

"That is a terrible reason," Star concluded, shaking her head sadly. "It is truly thee "depressing"."

Nightwing just shrugged, not entirely sure of it himself. But he didn't miss out on the chance to gently pull her head to his shoulder, sending soft strokes of his fingers through her fiery hair to make her feel better. This elicited a strange purr-like sound from his fiancé's throat. "It is a terrible reason," he whispered softly into her ear.

"Agreed," she whispered back, leaning into his hand as he continued to massage his fingers into her scalp. After a few scant seconds, she released a soft, but long, exhale; her posture growing looser.

"Better?" he asked, kissing her softly on the temple, but not stopping his caresses.

"Mmm," she hummed pleasantly. "If you are going to be doing the massaging, perhaps we should do the moving to more private accommodations?"

He just raised an eyebrow. "Are you seducing me?"

She pouted slightly in response as she pulled away from him, giving him a soft glare. "It is you that is doing the "seducing". I am simply responding with an affirmative "yes" to your advances."

"Well, we do have the Tower all to ourselves," he whispered suggestively, leaving that statement out in the open.

"You are purposefully trying to get friend Cyborg to do the complaining and the yelling," she stated, only to start purring a little more when his hands began to rub hard circles into each of her biceps, kneading gently, but firmly, down into her muscles. She couldn't help the general moan of appreciation that escaped. "P-perhaps, for a few minutes," she amended, turning around and pulling her hair around her shoulder.

Taking her words and silent gesture as acknowledgement, he began to work her shoulders and upper back, attempting to work with and around the back of her bright pink tank top that he oh so approved of for a number of reasons. That being admitted, let it never be said that Tamaranean's weren't tough, and that went double for their armor-like skin and stone-like muscles. While not invulnerable, they certainly could take as much as they dished. Trying to massage any muscle group of hers was an endurance test, but he liked to think of it like he was training in a task that may not make sense now, but it would later as it was applied in combat. Plus, he just did it because it made his fiancé happy, so what other reason did he need.

But speaking of training…

He found a particularly tough coil of muscle just between her shoulder blade and spine. He frowned intently, trying to see where the tension was promoted. "Hmm."

"I am feeling the intensity of your stare," she commented now that his hands had stopped. "Is something the matter?"

She shivered as his index and middle finger traced it before moving off course across the ridges of her spine, as if searching for something specific. As quickly as it started, it stopped, and his fingers lifted as they pointed precisely. Fortunately for some (and unfortunately for him) he needed direct contact. His other hand teased slightly at the hem of her top, even as he swallowed thickly. "M-m-may I?" Curious, but trusting, she nodded her consent. "Hold still, okay?"

She took in a deep breath through her nose as she felt more of her back become exposed, doing her best not to blush at whatever view her fiancé was getting. Then she began letting the breath slowly roll out through her as she attempted to hold sti–

Ptth! "Hup!"

A quick jabbing into her between two vertebrae sent a jolt through her system as the last of her breath Oof!ed out, temporarily hazing her thoughts before everything cleared back up; like her brain needed to reboot. And just like that, the tension released from her shoulder muscles. She rolled her shoulders and neck as her boyfriend pulled her top back down, surprised when she felt completely loose and tension free. "That is… most marvelous!" she exclaimed, floating and turning around to look at her boyfriend. "Where did you learn such a thing?"

He smiled, sneaking a kiss to her top lip while she was openly gawking. "I picked up a thing or two," he answered mysteriously, trying to suppress a shiver. His master hadn't been even a quarter as gentle to him. Luckily for him, it had… other… applications, with results that were more than desirable.

"Is that so?" she questioned, sneakily draping her arms around his neck. "And how shall I ever repay your wonderous deed?"

"Well, since you insist Princess," he smirked back, already leaning in to capture her lips once again. They tasted sweet, and he quickly relaxed into it as she kissed him back. She was already gripping tightly at his shirt, as if she could pull him any closer. Even as she was pulling, she was pushing, causing him to stumble backwards before she crawled on top of him, pinning him down as she straddled him.

They broke for half a moment, breathing heavily; iridescent green eyes staring into dark blue. And then they reconnected as though they hadn't separated at all. His hands carefully brushed along her hips, subtly holding her steady as they continued to fight "the war of tongues". And slowly. Very slowly. She "allowed" him to move his digits upward, slipping under her top until he had a hold of her waistline. Purposefully, his thumbs began to massage into her midriff, eliciting approving moans into his mouth.

He noticed his vision was blurring, so tried to offset breathing from his occupied mouth with an inhale through his nose. He was immediately met with the smell of raspberries, mustard, and something distinctly unearthly. And all it did was illicit a groan through their smacking lips. It didn't help that her hands were bunched up in his shirt and tracing his chest with a familiarity that might have bothered him if this had taken place years ago.

Now it was just… super hot.

"Greep'va? U Tak?" she whispered as she pulled away, her voice smoky and breathless as she pulled back, her wavy hair framing one side of her face, her green eyes encompassed so fully with love, longing, and hunger.

'Oh? Oh. Oh!' he thought in gradually increasing realization, almost tangibly feeling as the blood-levels in his brain began to drop. If it wasn't hard to think before, it was now.

He gulped, doing his best not to look anywhere but her eyes considering the view her leaning down was potentially offering to give him… if he chose to look any lower. She didn't move, giving him as much time to process it as he needed. No goading. No rushing. She was giving him the reigns. She was trusting him with the decision. He was literally weaker than her in every sense of the word, and she was handing that power to him. It was a bit overwhelming.

"S-S-Star… are you sure?" he asked, gently letting his hands move to her thighs, gently running his thumb affectionately along the well-toned cord of definition. "We don't have to." And he was honest. He was perfectly content with simply making out and massaging. He appreciated both to an extreme degree as her boyfriend and now fiancé, and he knew that she did as well.

The low guttural she let loose told him that those were probably not the best words to offer as her pupils dilated a little wider in response. It was sometimes easy to forget that she was powerful alien warrior amidst her giddy and expressive personality. Tamaranean's lived their emotions, and hers were so clear, they might as well be choreographed.

"Richard," she stated, the simple act of speaking his name causing him to shutter in anticipation. Her hands moved from his chest, pulled his hands away from her, slowly interlocking her fingers with his. She gently guided his hand to her lips, a single kiss sending a third-degree fire burning through his nerves. "Now we do."

'Gulp!' his thoughts clarified.

Welp… there went his inhibitions amidst a spike of hormones.

Whoosh! "Alright! That's enough of that!"

Or not.

"Eeeeep!" Starfire squealed, suddenly diving to her boyfriend's side while he looked up at the suddenly empty ceiling, blinking in confusion as he began to come down off the adrenaline. Then his brain finally got oxygen properly flowing again.

"Well crap." He slowly sat up, peering over the couch back to see an irritated Raven standing in the door rubbing her chakra and glaring right at him.

"What happened to those official rules you made regarding yours and Starfire's relationship?" she hissed. It didn't help that she was right. "I believe you two were supposed to act at least somewhat cordial."

"We weren't doing anything," he defended weakly.

"Riiight," Raven drawled. "And I couldn't sense both of your emotions the moment they spiked."

Starfire's chin popped over the couch, looking innocently at her friend, completely devoid of any former hunger. "Friend Raven, you are back!"

"And earlier than expected," Nightwing noted, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Raven muttered, thinking of a hundred other places she'd rather be right now. "And good thing too. Someone has to keep you both accountable."

"Oh God! Is it over?! The smell was killing me!" someone gagged.

Both Titan's eyes widened in recognition as the ragged shape of their former teammate came into view. Many eyes blinked simultaneously.

"Gaaaaaah!" the changeling broke the silence with a shriek, pointing at the two lovers in horrified confusion. "Wha- What?! Where's Robin?! Why is Star about to send this guy to the moon?! And speaking of this guy, who the hell is he?!"

Richard Grayson instinctively slapped on his face mask to hide his "secret" identity. "I'm Nightwing," he declared darkly.

"Wha?! Who?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "That is Robin."

"Robin?!"

"Well, Nightwing now," Nightwing countered.

"Nightwing?!"

"I get to call him Richard," Star added happily, including herself into the conversation.

"Richard?!"

"Cyborg calls him "Dick"," Raven added.

"Ha! You said dick! Wait! Dick?!"

Beast Boy's finger rapidly rotated between all of them in a merry-go-round of rapid-fire information that was causing his head to spin. He quickly called for timeout. "Okay, timeout! Slow down!"

Everyone froze in confusion, looking between each other with dawning realization. Well, for two of them anyway.

"Wait! Raven, you found Beast Boy?!" their leader exclaimed. "Why didn't you call ahead?!"

Raven tried to look uninterested as she flashed her hands passively from underneath her cloak. "Surprise," she muttered listlessly, immediately walking over to the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea. She was going to need every ounce of calm to get through the inevitable approaching conversation. "And don't change the subject."

Neither Nightwing, nor Starfire moved, staring at the entity that was their missing friend. Or what was assumed to be him. A lot… had changed. Not enough to leave him an absolute stranger, but enough to leave "What happened?" silently prompted.

"Sooo…?" Beast Boy drew out, looking increasingly uncomfortable as he shifted on his bare feet and did his best not to breathe. Their pheromones were still fresh, and he could either taste or smell them. Neither option was pleasant.

Raven just sighed, multi-tasking with her powers to fill up the kettle, turn on the stove, prep her mug, and overall, just make a damn cup of tea. Half the calming process was waiting on the tea. Evidently, she'd have to play mediator, so she'd have to get started before even steeping her drink. Maybe she should have started something stronger. She sniveled a frown, wishing she'd thought to start a pot of coffee.

'Uhh, priorities,' she complained, already walking over to the dining table. "Alright. Table. Everyone. Now." There was no room for debate in her voice.

While the couple on the couch spent a moment straightening each other's hair and clothes, Beast Boy was already beelining for an empty seat; preferably away from his two… former? Current? … teammates. Lucky for him, darkness encompassed a chair and pulled it out, offering him a seat next to where she was sitting. He took it without another thought.

"How you doing?" she asked, looking at his paler visage.

He gave his best grimacing smile through watering eyes. "It smells like a bunch of rabbits had a free-for-all party and forgot to say when."

"That bad?" He only nodded in blaring discomfort. "Here," she stated, pulling up the small pouch she'd carried around her neck and slipping it free. "This has been helping me. It's mixed with a few herbs that should help. Just take a couple small inhales. That should do it."

He gently accepted the bag, doing as the doctor prescribed. Snn–sn–

He almost choked when his nose caught a myriad of scents. The entire thing smelled of her. Her sweat. Her drenched in completely natural rainforest rain. Her drenched in his pheromone tag. The lingering scent of coffee (the good kind, mind you). And especially of the herbal remedies that had gotten soaked and dripped between her– and down her–

He looked discreetly over at her uninterested gaze glaring at the other two Titans, before looking dead ahead as he began erecting his emergency mental walls so she could hear or see ANY of his emotions, or how ever that worked. 'Tha– That's not fair,' he tensed inside, wrestling for control of his own stupid hormones and all the Beasts' that came with it. 'THAT'S! NOT! FAAAAAIR!'

One act of kindness had just made this a whole lot worse, and now he was wishing he could go back to choking on the scent of Bird-Brain and She-Ra Warrior Princess failing to get it on. It would be kinder and less impactful than, say, Raven with so many alluring scents now being cataloged and filed away by his 'Stupid! Stupid brain! Bad!'

Not soon enough, they were joined by the other two.

Beast Boy looked uneasily between the two of them as he accidently squeezed any remaining liquid in the bag out onto his pantleg in distress, doing his best to distract himself by noting their surprisingly chill clothes, something that hadn't been present when he'd been with the team. Robin had always insisted that they be prepared for any emergency; that meant being in their gear almost 24-7. It made it faster to answer their alerts if they weren't "wasting time" getting dressed.

Between the two of them, they were looking directly at him. Robi– Nighwing? Looked like his usual brooding self; undoubtedly analyzing and processing this development, and how it impacted the team. Star just looked… pensive. Her normally expressive features were strangely guarded as her eyes watched him like a hawk.

"So you're back." Surprisingly, it was Nightwing who broke the silence, letting out a sigh that showed a world of exhaustion. Considering where he had been going with his evening, not surprising. He continued with a humorless chuckle. "Figures Raven would be the one to find you. I guess you were in… South America?"

"Heheh." Beast Boy couldn't even give a proper response-chuckle. "Yeah. A couple million square miles of jungle lets you chillax just about anywhere." God, this wasn't super awkward at all.

Starfire frowned slightly at his response. "You have been the missing," she stated coldly. "Have you no better responses?" That settled like a lead weight.

'Oh crap,' Rude voiced to Raven.

Beast Boy frowned back, his hormones completely forgotten as he met her stare head-on. "Like what? "I'm sorry?" "I won't do it again?" That seems a little cliché, and honestly, what do you want me to say?"

Her eyes burned green as she shot to her feet, hands smacking against the table. "You do not get to do the mocking!" she growled.

Robin 1.2 blinked in surprise. "Star?" He hadn't expected that from her, and it showed on his face. And Raven's.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy's hackles bristled, his neck jerking as his instincts flared. "I'm. Not. Mocking. Anything," he hissed, fighting back the impulse to morph or transform. It was taking all his self-control to remain in his seat now. Confrontation bred confrontation, and his new mentality was no exception. Dominance wasn't just mandatory. It was essential.

"You disappeared!" Star stated. "Friend Cyborg has done the filtering on the media of socials, to which you avoided! My husband-to-be has done the contacting of anyone and thee everyone, and no one has caught the scent! And friend Raven expended the magics that came close, but again, you did the slipping through her grasp!" Her eyes narrowed, like she was staring down a villain who had hurt her friends. "You have eluded us and those we have asked to do the "looking out" with seemingly little effort, and now you do the walking in with friend Raven as though nothing has changed! How is that not "the mocking"?"

"Star, that's enough," Raven stated, frowning at her outburst. Star was mad, and she couldn't fathom why.

"I will not!" she responded back. "Our home was destroyed! Richard has done thee self-blaming for Beast Boy's choices! Friend Cyborg has been in thee dumps that are down! And you have been less than happy as well! He has invited the Rekmas, and if none of you will be the angry, than I will!"

"That's not fair," Raven countered, hardly believing that she was arguing with Starfire of all people. Then again, she'd practically tore apart part of the rainforest to deal futile vengeance. But blaming him alone for Rekmas was too much. "Garfield blamed himself plenty. And you can't say he's solely at fault when there were other contributing factors. How was he supposed to stay if he didn't feel safe enough with us? The only reason he came back is because I asked him, and all but threatened him!" Great. Now she was getting worked up.

"And yet you have done the forgiving after he did the biting," Starfire pointed out. "So he should not have stayed gone for so long."

"It's not like he knew that," Raven shot back.

Nightwing just looked back and forth, almost afraid to speak as their two most powerful members seemed to be doing all the talking. That was fine. He was content just to listen, until he could find a moment to speak. He was only "normal" after all. Still, he looked over at his fellow male, and the wince that flickered across his face at the mention of biting Raven.

Yeah, there was that too.

"She also nearly castrated me," Beast Boy mentioned off-handedly. "And blew me up. And tried strangling me. And then there was the stabbing. And destroyed the homes of tens, if not hundreds, of helpless animals to get at me."

The microwave suddenly exploded with a BANG! as Raven turned away, face flushing red. "It wasn't that bad."

He raised an eyebrow. "It was bad, Rae. There was even a monkey that was sent flying and–"

"That monkey had it coming!" she objected.

"So… you are not mad at friend Beast Boy?" Starfire asked in confusion as she watched their exchange. "But… you were greatly distressed when you found him, but could not do the finding again. You have been more withdrawn than has become normal."

Beast Boy's ears perked, staring at Raven intently with a pang of worry in his eyes.

"I'm still mad," Raven admitted with the most imperceptible uplift to the corners of her mouth. "But we sat down and talked for a bit over coffee." That was it. No further explanation offered. She didn't need one for herself; not when she understood him a little better.

"Well," Nightwing stated, pulling everyone's attention his way, "I'm glad things worked out." He took a deep breath, letting it all out at once. He didn't like this next part, but it had to be covered. "As things stand though, your return to the team is pending."

He almost winced himself when the changeling looked apprehensive. It wasn't going to be easy, seeing as he and the changeling were still of differing mindsets; never mind the last time they had seen each other, he'd been a dick. "Pending what?"

"Pending medical evaluations, physical testing, and the like," he answered, before hardening his gaze a little. "And also following proper disciplinary action."

"Now wait just a secon–" Raven was quickly cut off.

"I understand what you want to say, and I am sorry to you both," Nightwing stated, "but Beast Boy left the team without warning for an extended period of time that garnered no check-in's and didn't involve any missions." He turned a pointed look toward the changeling. "We had to hold off the media and the police during that time, as well as alert the Justice League that you were missing. And Raven took it upon herself to tell the Doom Patrol."

Beast Boy's eyes shot to Raven, his worry radiating tenfold unimpeded. "You didn't. Tell me you didn't."

"They would have figured it out soon enough," Raven stated. "It was better that they heard it from us than from the news."

"Nonono, I get that part," Beast Boy stated with a frown. "But the Doom Patrol isn't exactly known for being "understanding". They kind of just… bulldoze through everything that way. And if you told them…."

"Miss Rita did the chewing out of friend Raven," Starfire confessed. "The rest just looked the sad."

Nightwing noticed the changeling's neck twitch again, his claws sliding gently over the table, and his eyes changing shape before they were brought back under control. The veins in his arm still writhed though, and his ears lay flat against his head. "She did, huh?"

Raven bumped Beast Boy's knee with her own under the table, trying to calm him down. He was practically broadcasting his displeasure. "She didn't say anything that a normal mother wouldn't have said in her position."

He didn't look convinced at all, but he appeared to let it slide for now given her dismissal, but as he looked back at Nightwing, he needed to change the subject quick. "You mentioned discipline?"

Dick paused, knowing that the last bit had been weighted. Still, they had to get this over with. "At the very least, you'll be questioned by Commissioner Stevens, and possibly bid for an interview. I'll let you decide which news station or talk show you would rather guest, but we'll need to corroborate stories to make sure that we keep it as fluid as possible."

"And why do we need to co-board-o-cate our stories?" Beast Boy asked suspiciously.

"Corroborate," Raven corrected under her breath.

"Thank you, Rae."

"Don't mention it."

"Because we've been telling everyone who's asked that you've been sick with something specific to you for the past four months," Nightwing answered seriously. Still, he raised an eyebrow between the two of them at how quickly they built off each other mid-conversation. "As far as the public knows, you've been in the Tower sick the whole time."

"We lied," Raven clarified when the changeling looked at her.

"Greaaat. So now that you guys got it wrapped, I gotta tie it with a pretty bow," Beast Boy stated with a frown.

Nightwing just smirked. "That is why it's a punishment. That being said, I have some questions of my own. Most of that night is still unaccounted for save for Raven's accounts, and half a camera recording."

"Is that all?" he asked, temporarily stealing Raven's deadpanned look.

"That will be up to the team," Nightwing answered. "But there's still the if you return to it. For that, we'll wait for Victor and make a decision as a team."

"Victor?" Beast Boy asked, cocking his head slightly.

"We did the exchanging of personal info," Starfire stated, looking more in thought than happy. "Including thee secret identities. "Victor" is Cyborg."

As they pondered this, Raven kettle began to whistle, causing a break in the conversation as she left the table. Even if she was in earshot, it still seemed pointless to continue until they were all together.

"So…," Nightwing began, fidgeting without meeting Beast Boy's eyes as he tried to find something less… hard to talk about. "…What did you do while you were gone?"

"Mastered the four elements, became the leader of my village, trained a dragon, got caught up in a submersed city's civil war, and became a biomechanical space wizard ninja."

"I'm being serious."

"I travelled, I saw the sights, I trained" Beast Boy answered with a shrug. "Nothing really exciting."

"You trained?" Nightwing asked with a disbelieving eyebrow. He could barely get him to train when he was at the Tower; now he was self-motivating himself to do it? How?!

"I got to see some of the results," Raven mentioned from the kitchenette, pouring the hot water into her mug. She quickly rejoined them, and they were once more batted in silence. "It was… surprising."

If it was awkward before, it was more so now. They didn't talk, but just sat there. Waiting. It was strange, but Garfield would have preferred at least one of them was yelling at him. At least it would have broken up the monotony of boredom that was threatening him. Instead they opted to just stare at him from across the table.

At least Raven was there. She may not know it, but her presence right then was worth the world to him. Dirty, rotten, evil hormones aside; that was weird… right?

"Sooo…" Raven drawled, not sure what she was expecting from this. Maybe a lot more vocalization. Maybe some actual talking. Silence was the last thing on her mind. She'd even expected Garfield to make comments about some of the stuff discussed or revealed, but it seemed he was content with observation. "… You guys gonna tell him the news?"

"News?" Garfield asked, looking back and forth between them expectantly now before a beaming smile broke out. "Oh shit! You guys pregnant?!" Something else exploded in the background as Raven facepalmed.

Starfire's face turned red in embarrassment while Nightwing had somehow found a new shade of pale. "No friend, we are not expecting children. Richard and I have committed to this thing friend Raven has called, thee "Abstinence", until we are wed. She said it was proper."

'And also to save me from your hormone-induced anything,' Raven thought. But they didn't need to know that.

"If what I smelled was "abstinence", then I'd hate to be around when they have free reign," Beast Boy muttered quickly, just loud enough for Raven to hear.

'Oh Azar!' she swore. He had a point. If that was them getting worked up, she'd have to leave the Tower anytime they… She shivered in regret to even beginning that train of thought.

"Wait? You guys are getting married?" Beast Boy asked, finally catching the last bit. He quickly smiled. "'Bout time! Looks like Rob finally grew a pair!"

Raven just smirked behind her mug, having said the same thing earlier. Nightwing's face turned red with restrained embarrassment and anger. 'How much did Raven tell him?' he wondered, also recognizing her words.

"Seriously though, congrats," he stated. "Lemme see the rings!" Starfire was quickly pulled from her displeasure at him, caught up in his enthusiasm like the riptide he was, quickly demonstrating her banded hand with giddy excitement. "Well shit. Star, if you ever get tired of him, send Rob my way. Those rocks look like they're worth a mountain."

"Yeahhhh, no thanks," Nightwing rejected quickly. "You're not my type." 'And it was worth a moon,' he added mentally as he thought about how expensive those Centauri Moon diamonds had been. Gotta love them alien currency exchange rates.

Star was quick to stand and drape her arms around her fiancé from behind, leaning down to kiss him sweetly on the cheek. "I'm afraid I shall just have to keep him, oddities and all."

"Ah shucks! Quit being so sweet. You're giving me cavities."

'At least his excitement is real enough,' Raven thought, doing her best to keep from delving too deep into the changeling's reserves of happiness, even as it blanketed her warmly. It was a beautiful thing, even from an emotional distance. Not that she could completely block it off anyway.

"So when's the wedding?" he continued, interrupting Raven's train of thought.

"We haven't picked a date yet, but we're still looking through venue's, color scheme, and the like while trying to keep it low-key."

"Riiight, the media would be sharks at a chum-feed," Beast Boy conceded. "And Bolts-for-Brains?"

"Jump U," Nightwing responded. "He's looking to get a couple Masters and Doctorates."

"Really? You'd think they'd just hand him his diploma with all the hands-on experience he's getting," Beast Boy commented. "Tell me he's at least getting the Heroes Discount per credit. Full-time, on-call hero work plus school would be rough, dude."

"We'll find out soon enough."

The Common's doors hissed open, a deep yawn following the clunk! of heavy footsteps attempting to be tiptoe. "Hello? Everyone better be decent, or I swear to God, I will put itching powder on the couches!"

"Speak of the Chrome," Nightwing muttered.

"You might need to do that anyway," Raven warned. "Dick and Kori were about ready to do the disturbing all over your couch just as I was getting back." Two of her friend's glares at her spelled "Tattle-Tale" while she smirked behind another sip of tea.

"NOOOO! NOOOO! GOD PLEASE, NO!" Cyborg shouted, zipping over to the couch as he ignored everything but his defiled couch. He quickly took bleach-water to the vinyl, half-muttering half-praying, "It'll clean right out. It'll clean right out. Please clean right out," as he began wiping down the couch like a madman. As soon as he was satisfied, he pulled the trigger of an air freshener can, spritzing it over the couch with calculated passes before watching as the mist finally settled. "Ahhh. Better."

The tin-man quickly dusted off his hands, clearly proud that he'd averted disaster. "Hey Rae," he finally greeted. "When'd you get back?"

"Just got back," she replied, half-wondering when he was going to notice–

"Dude. Take it easy with the bleach and California Sunset," Beast Boy coughed as he slapped a hand to his nose to block the scent of chemicals. "I swear, the cure is as bad as the disease." Not as torturous as the bag in his hand though.

The sound of a spray bottle and spray can thunked against the Tower floor, a single calf-brown eye widening in realization. "Grass-Stain?"

"Yo!" Beast Boy greeted back with a pearly grin. "What's up Chrome Dome? A little bird just told me that my best bud was goin' ta college. If you turn frat though, I'm crashing your pad for all the pizza. You didn't fill the freezer with baby backs while I was gone, did'ya? That would be as cold as cold cut can get."

A spark fizzled in Cyborg's robotic half as his circuit-brain's processing glitched for half a moment. In the next moment, his hands were gripping Beast Boy's shoulders, and his visage set in fury.

"Young man! Do you know how long you were gone?! Four months! Four! Months!" he shouted, shaking the changeling like a ragdoll. "What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I'm… guilty?" he wondered, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"That's it wise-ass! You're grounded! Do you hear me?! GROUNDED! Up to, and including, a year!"

"You can't ground me!" he protested. "I am a "grown-ass" adult! Besides, what would you ground me from?!"

"Don't you talk back to me Green Bean! I don't care how old you think you are, you're grounded for the sake of being grounded! Besides, you're only seventeen!"

"Almost eighteen! And in animal years, I'm frickin' ancient!"

"Don't know! Don't care! You had me worried sick!" As if to demonstrate his level of worry, he pulled the changeling into a headlock, cranking his "noogie settings" up to eleven.

"Ow! Ow!" the changeling yelped, trying to pull his head away as robotic appendages knuckled his noggin. "Du-uude!" Cyborg's hand slipped through Beast Boy's head like putty, causing the tin-man to shriek in horror, even as it stretched and reformed into an octopus around his hand. The tentacles shot out, snagging his arm and head. The green cephalopod pulled them together, forcing the half-robot to simultaneously punch himself and give himself a noogie. "Quit hitting yourself. Quit hitting yourself. Quit– Gah!"

Black energy enveloped Beast Boy, detaching him from Cyborg as he was lifted into the air and pulled toward the sorceress. "What happened to behaving?" she asked, tapping him between his enlarged eyes to ensure his attention.

"He started it," he blubbed indifferently, crossing his tentacles.

"And I'm finishing it," she said with annoyance, turning to Cyborg, who now had ink-black round rings all over his head and arm from the changeling's suckers. "You hurt?"

Cyborg was also pouting, crossing his arms and pursing his lips. "Nothin' but my pride," he muttered.

"Good," she stated blankly. "Now sit." It was amazing how quickly things quieted down when Raven gave the order. "So where were you?"

Cyborg quickly slumped in the only available seat, still pouting as he periodically glanced at his best bud. "Jump University. Was checking to make sure that all my transcripts were good. Evidently one of the alarms at the school went off, so I checked it out."

"Which alarm?" Nightwing asked, immediately in "hero-mode".

"The "Attack" alarm," Cyborg answered, gently wiping off the ink on his body with a spare oil rag. "Fortunately, it was nothing serious from what I could tell. No bomb, no chemicals. No physical evidence of anything disturbed, though some of the students who stuck around swore they saw a bright white pulse. It didn't warrant much else."

"Fair enough," their leader consented. "Still, once we're done, I'd still like a mission report. If anything like that happens again…."

"…We need to know about it?" Cyborg answered, already presenting a small stack of stapled papers. "Already ahead of yuh."

Nightwing accepted the report quietly. He'd digitize and file it away later. Right now there was more important business. "Now that we're all here," he stated, not missing that everyone was glancing at Beast Boy, who had already sucker-crawled back over to his fallen clothes, shifting back slowly back into his human form so there were no… undue surprises. "Besides training and travelling, was there anything else you wanted to share with the group, Beast Boy?"

"You mean you already started the interrogation… without me?!" Cyborg exclaimed. He began crying half-robot crocodile tears. "I didn't even get to video it."

"There better not be an interrogation," Raven stated coldly, her glare sending shivers up everyone's backs.

Beast Boy just put a hand to his chin in thought, trying to see if there was anything that warranted anyone's attention in the past few months. Even if he wanted to share some of those things, the closest he'd let anyone get to it was because Raven already had an idea. And other stuff… he kept filed for this moment.

He reached into his pocket, tongue sticking out in concentration as he rummaged before producing and sliding a flash-drive toward the center of the table. "Everything you guys need to know. I catalogued as much of the past four months as I could, but most of it is over the last two. I figured you guys would like to know the majority of what I've been up to. That's it," he stated, gesturing to the drive.

Cyborg was the first to reach for it, holding it up to the light as though he was looking over a gem. "How much data we talkin' here?" he asked curiously, wondering how two months of data was supposed to clarify anything.

"Well, once I got passed the initial phases, I'd say something like… oh, three or four terabytes. And that's while the files are under max data compression. I reckon there's closer to a few hundred."

The guys choked on air while the girls looked between them in confusion; one because she didn't know computers, and the other because she didn't understand earthling terms of digital data measurement.

"Hundreds of terabytes, B? Hundreds?"

"It's in 4K HD," Beast Boy admitted, "but there's still eighty-plus hours of footage. All of it is organized by date."

"In Wide-Screen?" Cy asked.

The changeling just smiled. "You know it."

"In 3D?"

The changeling just deadpanned. "Dude? Really?"

"Daaaaamn," Cyborg whispered, already packing it into his arm as he looked to Nightwing. "I can begin analyzing and uploading as soon as we're done here. I should be able to sift through it and get you a summary copy by tomorrow."

"Please do," Nightwing affirmed, glad to see that Cyborg was already on it. He had to keep from impulsively clasping his hands together and resting his chin on them. His deep-thought pose was all too recognizable. He wanted to keep as much of his thoughts as possible to himself. But Beast Boy had possessed the forethought to record and log his own work. It was forward thinking, and it showed that he'd have to take reinstating him seriously.

Speaking of which…

"And on that note, I'm opening up for discussion any reprimands the team would like to present for Beast Boy in the event of him passing his reinstatement test."

"There's a reinstatement test?!" Beast Boy exclaimed, doing his best not to rip out his hair.

"There's punishment?" Raven glared. Meanwhile, Passion was smirking naughtily.

Cyborg grinned, silently rubbing his hands together slyly. "Rules is rules, Cabbage Head. You guys did it to me after the H.I.V.E."

Starfire frowned in thought. "Are there the limitations?"

Raven and Beast Boy blinked at that. 'Why are you asking that?!'

"No physical harm, no psychological torture? Why?" Nightwing asked, clearly wondering the exact same thing.

"Very well." She nodded, moving to stand and gentle clearing her throat. "Friend Beast Boy, your absence has caused great strife and unnecessary harm to our friends' feelings. Under the circumstances that are normal, I would bequeath a punishment on each of our friends and their grievances behalf. But seeing as friend Raven has done the forgiving, and both friend Cyborg and fiancé Richard appear to have theirs in "the bag" that is evidently not an actual bag, I shall operate with my own punishment in mind."

'Oh great, it could have been worse,' the changeling sighed inwardly.

"Hence forth, for every day you have been the missing, I shall make a bowl of the Pudding of Sadness for your consumption. That way, you may experience a fraction of the sadness we have felt at your absence."

Everyone blinked in shock, and some in horror. The sheer collective of "Oh Fuck!" written on everyone's face was a blatant testament to the seriousness of Star's prescribed punishment. 'Oh great, it's worse,' Garfield mumbled to himself.

But wait! There was more! "You must eat at least one bowl a day, but you may do the eating of more at your leisure if you wish to reduce your sentence. I shall be most pleased to do the making of more. At my count there are in the one-hundred and twenties of bowls for you to consume. That is sufficient, yes?" For once, Beast Boy was sure that the smile on her face was as cold as Mister Freezes cold heists… or one of those Circles of Hell Raven had always threatened him with. "If it is not sufficient, I'm sure I can add more until it is."

Oh. So it was one of those punishments. Either take it as is, or the punishment gets worse.

Garfield gulped. "That… sounds… good, Star," he hesitated in fear. "Really good. Fair even."

"Excellent." Oh yeah, he was shivering. Why did Raven seem like the sunny disposition right now?

"Well shit. I can't beat that," Cyborg stated, letting out a defeated sigh. He hadn't really planned a punishment. Especially since he knew what was coming up for him was going to be worse. "Worst case scenario, I'm gonna have to check your physicals anyway. Make sure everything is up to snuff, and your info's updated. A mandatory check-up is about as torturous as I can make it."

'Of course, I probably won't know everything,' the half-robot thought dejectedly. Raven's "only because it's necessary" confession four months ago ensured that. He still didn't understand half the logistics of the spell she'd used. Only the base, and the effect.

It didn't sound like a punishment, and in reality, it probably wasn't, and he was eternally grateful. Beast Boy only knew what he saw. And that was the knowing look that passed between Cyborg and Raven. Robi– Nightwing and Starfire didn't appear to notice. But his two besties? They looked like they were trying to keep a secret.

"Raven?" Nightwing asked, "what about you?"

Raven just shook her head in response. "It's fine. He's already been punished enough."

Add that to the weirdness. The softest tone dejection met Garfield's ears, causing them to home in instantly. 'What did she mean by that?' Again, he noticed the looks that Raven and Cyborg shared, a few hairs of suspicion raising on the back of his neck.

One thing at a time though.

"Wait. If I still have to take a test, why are you letting me know the punishments before I'm even officially back?" Beast Boy asked in confusion.

Nightwing smiled, nodding in acknowledgement of his question. "Because, that's part of my punishment. Knowing what you lose, even if you win. So Beast Boy, you know what will happen if you pass your test. Is it worth it to come back into the fold?"

'Mother-flubber!' the changeling internally screamed. 'That's Mind-Games 101 you dirty rotten, brooding, gel-haired, son of a–' He had to hold back a flinch when he felt Raven's knee bump his own once again as she felt his tensions rise. Somehow, that calmed him down, like a buzz of warm water splashing over his head. How did she–? Riiight! Empath. One of the reasons he had to keep his shit together and under control.

Instead of voicing the anger he felt slithering through his veins, he dammed it up, preparing to channel it into whatever this "test" was. "Don't you worry your pretty gelled hair," he stated with a half-grin, half-grit of his teeth. "I'll own your "punishments", even if I have to make tacos out of Star's cooking."

Starfire's eye twitched at the comment about her culinary skills, and she looked at Nightwing, silently wondering if there was anything wrong with her cooking.

Nightwing got that particular look in his masked eye, like he was being challenged. But in a good way. Sorta. Only this time, it was Beast Boy doing the challenging. Plus, that little green shit had pointed Starfire's questioning glance in his direction. Not cool. Definitely not cool. "Good. Then we can begin immediately."

"Now wait just a mo–," Raven started.

"Dude, you are. So. On," Beast Boy enunciated. It was no different than when they had challenged each other over video games… pending Beast Boy's reinstatement as a Titan of course.

"Hold it!" Raven snapped causing the kitchen sink to rumble in protest as her powers flickered, not appreciating her being interrupted. "We just spent the last several hours flying! This can wait until tomorrow."

Both challengers blinked at her blankly, before looking at each other and blinking. Small snorts escaped both of their noses, causing Raven's glare to harden. "What's so funny?"

"Rae, "The Bro Code" dictates that we settle this here and now," Beast Boy explained with a grin. "Let no pent-up anger remain between dudes. When push comes to shove… fisticuffs. Better to settle it sooner rather than later."

"Not wrong," Cyborg provided with a deep and contemplative nod.

Nightwing just smiled harder, bordering on a grimace. "Reinstatement is as follows: One round of sparring. No bars held save for the norm."

Beast Boy's smile fell into a frown really quickly. "No powers? No equipment?" he clarified.

"Skill on skill, as God and gods intended," Nightwing stated, barely catching the nod of approval from Starfire. "The round lasts until one of us is incapacitated, rendered unconscious, or surrenders." Their leader's eyes narrowed seriously. "You said you've been training. I want to see exactly what you're capable of. If you meet my standards, you're welcome back. If not…." That which was left unsaid didn't need to be said. "That's what's at stake Beast Boy."

Raven watched in partial disbelief as this took place in front of her. It was an ultimatum. A really terrible ultimatum. Damned if he did. Damned if he didn't. She didn't have to look at Garfield to know he was nervous. In all their previous spares, the then Robin hadn't pulled any punches; and he'd only gotten stronger since then. But then again, so had Beast Boy. So despite his nervousness, she could feel his determination. And something else… flickering across his emotional spectrum. Something like possessiveness, but… not.

"I told you dude. You're. On," he whispered, the intensity of each word not allowing him to speak any louder.

"Then follow me," Nightwing stated with an approving smile, already standing from his seat.

'What do we do Rae?' Knowledge asked, trying to work with and around what was happening.

'We watch, and wait,' she answered, not entirely sure how this was going to end.

XTRA Special Authors Note: BB is back with the gang guys! Thank you one and all for your patience, and especially those of you who have been with me since the beginning. You've been troopers, and I can't thank you enough for your PM's, Reviews, and encouragements as I struggled to keep up with this. It means a lot to be able to finally put this chapter out for you guys. So I'm giving you all a round of applause! XD

Don't forget to Read & Review! :)

While I did plan something a lot more dramatic, it would have felt forced in my opinion. The Titans, despite their quirks, are a lot more cohesive after five years of working together; even with Beast Boy disappearing for 4 months. They've matured... sorta.

Nightwing/Robin is of course, still the leader; and while he may feel bad about how he treated Beast Boy, he's attempting to be fair while also trying to show how disappointed and disapproving he is of his actions (let's face it, he's still kinda bad at this whole thing non-professional part of the job). But be as that may, he still wants Beast Boy to prove that he still wants to be part of the team, and is willing to make him fight for it. His punishments are a delegated responsibility that the team has upheld, and now he's wanting Beast Boy to finish it off. Can't really blame him for that after all the press dodging they've been doing.

I was confident that of the whole group, Starfire would be the one to take it the hardest next to Raven. From what I remember of the series, her goal in the group is to keep the team happy, and if something throws that off, and she can't fix it, of course she's going to be a bit miffed. Add on that she has spent months watching her teammates fret over his disappearance, I felt she would be the most confrontational (following Raven attempting to do some serious physical harm of course) about it. She's literally been sitting there, unable to do anything about it. Also, I did make reference near the end of Sequence 2 about punishments, and I felt, of all the things she could throw at Beast Boy, the Pudding of Sadness would be the worst of it.

Cyborg was the least shown in this chapter, but his reaction I think was spot on. He's the big brother of the group, and being so close to B was basically a guarantee for some over-reacting, attempted noogies, and "stop hitting yourself" banter that I think would have been common between them. The seriousness isn't deflected. That's just how some people show how worried they are. Or more specifically, how relieved they are.

I'll leave most of the other developments up to you guys to bring up, since I'm sure most of you will have questions. ;) ;) ;) If not, that's fine.

I am still trying to keep this a T-rated story, but I've found that the more I write, the more mature my outlook on life, and my writing becomes. I'm not trying to deviate from more friendly interactions, but I am trying to keep them realistic all the same. The Titans are now basically adults, in a basically adult world. Sorry in advance if things start deviating again... or if I have to change the rating! I'll check the terms and conditions ahead of time to make sure before I do though.

Got some feedback for the Behind-the-Scenes stuff, and I got only a single, constructively negative synopsis as to why it wasn't the greatest idea. And I gotta say... it was fair. So I will be discontinuing it before it takes off. Still gonna do my little after the story rants though :D

I have noticed that I've been far too constrained on my word limit (around 10k), so I've had to reestablish a realistic limit to help give me some leeway (8k to 13k words) in the hopes it will help me not try to draw out some chapters, or condense others. The content and fun can be lost in either scenario, so I will be trying to work on that.

Other Super Big News! I may have found picture to use as the cover for Sequence 3 (even if it is a bit of a Spoiler)! Will let you guys know hopefully sooner rather than later! Just need to see about getting artist permissions and stuff.

Tamaranian Translations (Original Translation): (Yay! Translations are back!)

Greep'va? U Tak? - quiet literally: "My den? Or yours?"; basically, she is seducing him.

*End of Translations

Once again, this is a Rough Draft, so if there is anything that needs, or is connecting in a weird way for you guys, let me know and I'll try to clean up the text. I do accept grammar and spelling errors too. (*A copy and paste, but hey, some things are worth repeating for you fine folk*)

As always (and I'll just keep posting this because its true), keep posting your constructive criticisms, as they will help me know what to look for in my future writings, and for the days I decide to do a hard edit. A writer should never stop growing, and I have no intention of stopping now.

Please Read and Review, and Private Message if you're shy or prefer your inquiries to be... well, private. Please indulge my curiosity, and let me know what parts you liked, what parts need work, and overall what you guys think about it :D

Upcoming Magicks That Bind - Arc 2: "Homecoming" – Chapter 9: The Art of Imitation (I think this is gonna be the chapter title. No guarantees yet)

There will also be a new and interesting arrangement at the Tower for after his return ;) Still doing this.

I'm also hoping to get to a chapter, starring Thanksgiving with the kids, so I'm looking forward to that. Still wanna do this.