Chapter 12: Hide and Seek

The days that followed my break up with Beast Boy were worse then I had ever imagined possible. As I attempted to get up each and every morning to complete my normal day-to-day routines, a continuous numb feeling would sit in the pit of my stomach.

The nights were the worst. The gnawing ache that I would do my best to hold back during the day would always come back at full force when I would lay down to go to sleep. Tossing and turning, I would wrap my arms around my abdomen in an attempt to stall the nausea I was feeling. Tears would pour down my cheeks, and leave stains on my pillowcase and sheets.

I never talked to my friends about what had happened. They had overheard enough to realize that there had been something more than friendship going on between me and the changeling, but in light of everything else that was happening, I was glad when they decided not to question me about it.

I rarely saw Beast Boy. Lately, he had preferred stowing away in his private quarters . . . Not that I blamed him. The few times I did see him either stepping into the kitchen to get something to eat, or running into him in the hallways, were painful to deal with. I wanted nothing more than to try and make things right with him again, even if it wouldn't be like it was before . . . but he wouldn't even talk to me.

It felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest and I couldn't make the pain go away.

With my hands on my hips, I waited impatiently in front of the train station where Robin had instructed me to go.

Taking a quick scan of the area, I took in my immediate surroundings. Behind me, I could see a mountain range that was set a couple miles in the distance, while in front of me laid a lush meadow.

I began to tap my foot in annoyance, and glanced both ways down the dirt packed road.

Where was the bus?

It felt like I had been waiting for hours.

Lately, Robin had been encouraging us to take on missions outside of Jump City. Everyone else seemed to find this rather strange. Why take on crimes outside of the city when we already had plenty of missions to deal with in town? But, considering how things had been playing out with the team lately, it actually made a lot of sense to me.

With the knowledge of my destiny being out in the open . . . and the awkwardness going on between Beast Boy and me, we had all been feeling rather tense being around each other lately. I had feeling Robin was hoping that having us take on a few missions separately would help cool things down a bit.

That didn't mean I had to enjoy standing in the middle of nowhere with the beating sun blaring down on me.

Where was this bus?!

I could feel my blood starting to boil in frustration. With a sigh, I closed my eyes and began to mumble my typical chant under my breath.

Hearing the sound of an engine in the distance, I opened my eyes to see a cloud of dust heading in my direction.

"Finally . . ." I moaned in relief.

As the vehicle neared, it came to a stop in front of the train station and the door swung open. At first, no one seemed to be getting off, and then –

"WAAAAH!"

I raised an eyebrow in wonder. What . . . was that?

Seconds later, a girl no older than six or seven, came waddling towards the open door, carrying a screaming child in her arms. Hopping off the bus, another young child, perhaps four or five years old, followed clutching a light blue blanket in one hand.

"You have got to be kidding . . ." I moaned, and reached for the communicator under my cloak. "Raven calling Robin. Over," I said into the device.

I was suddenly jerked back when I felt a tug on my cloak, and glanced down to find a child with orange hair staring back at me.

"Are you Raven?" the child asked.

"Robin's communicator." I heard an all too familiar voice coming from the device in my hand. "May I help you?"

Ignoring the child, I turned back to the frown at the face on the screen.

"Oh . . . It's you," Beast Boy snapped, immediately mimicking my expression.

"Beast Boy, put Robin on."

I was not in the mood to deal with him right now.

"Wish I could." He scowled. "But he's fighting crime at the moment. What's the problem?"

Behind Beast Boy, I caught an image of Robin attempting to take down what appeared to be a robot, which just proved the changelings explanation.

"Tell him I don't do babysitting," I replied back, starting to get annoyed.

Beast Boy placed a hand over the screen as he turned away from me to relay the message to our leader somewhere behind him. There was short pause before he turned back, removing his hand.

"He says you have to."

"Can't someone else do it?" I plead with him. "Starfire likes people . . . or Cyborg?"

"Everyone else is on other missions. You just gonna have to – " he said, before his attention was yanked away by a laser shot that blew out a spot just behind him, and the connection broke into a snarl of static.

I could feel my temple beginning to throb in irritation. Now, what was I going to do . . ?

"Hey, lady," I heard one of the kids call from behind me, and turned to see the blonde girl staring up at me with big round eyes. "Are you going to help us?"

"Which one are you?" I asked with a sigh.

"Melvin," she announced. "That's Timmy, and Teether," she explained pointing to the orange-headed kid, and then the baby.

I nodded once. "You the leader of this . . . group?"

"I guess," she said with a shrug, her pigtails swinging back-and-forth. "They are always following me around."

I studied the young team for a couple seconds thinking over my options, but there were none. They were children. I couldn't just leave them to fend for themselves.

"Fine," I groaned in surrender. "I'll take you and your team to the drop-off, but that's it."

It wasn't long before I found myself seated across from the three kids in one of the passenger compartments on the train.

I have never been very good with kids. We were only a couple minutes into our journey, and I already didn't know what to do with them.

The youngest, I think his name was Teether, suddenly reached out to grab his brother's blanket.

"Mine!" Timmy cried out, trying to tug the item out of the baby's hands.

Teether let his pacifier fall out of his mouth, and proceeded to suck on the blue fabric.

"No!" Timmy screamed again, and reached out to rip the cloth out of the younger one's mouth.

As the fabric was violently ripped out of his mouth, the child instantly burst into to tears.

"WAAAAH!"

Needing something else to occupy some of my time, I turned to glance out the window and watched the landscape as we zoomed passed. I was strongly starting to wish that I had brought a book with me.

"Two hours," I reminded myself. "It's just a two hour train ride, and then it will all be over."

Surely I could last two hours with this group.

But, when I turned back to face the young team, I was left staring blankly at an empty seat.

They were gone.

"Great idea, Robin," I said out loud, sarcastically. "Put Raven in charge of the kids."

"Melvin?" I called as I wandered down the aisle. "Timmy?"

If I didn't find them soon, I would never hear the end of it from Robin . . .

Spying Teether up ahead, I sprinted over and grabbed him right before he could slither underneath a seat out of my reach.

"One down, two to go," I noted as I tried to ignore the feeling of slobber that was seeping onto my shoulder.

Just then, I heard another wail from farther down the train.

"Timmy," I guessed with a sigh, and hurried after the cry.

Open the door, I stepped over into the next car to see some tables and chairs set up for the passengers to sit and relax in during their ride.

Letting the door swing shut behind me, I scanned the car with my eyes trying to figure out where the child's cry had come from.

"Whose kid is that?" I heard someone complain, followed by another cry from a child.

"What a brat!" Came another complaint.

Making my way passed the train's bar, I saw Timmy lying on his stomach in the middle of a full-fledged tantrum.

Desperate to get away from the judgmental stares of our fellow riders, I walked over towards Timmy and simply reached down to grab one corner of his blanket, not breaking my stride. By now, I knew their was no way he would ever let go of the piece of fabric, and ended up dragging the poor kid out to the next car.

"My child never threw a tantrum," I heard someone announce behind me right before the door slid closed.

"Really?" I thought, slightly irritated at the judgments people were throwing at me. "I would love to know how she managed that . . ."

But I didn't have time to question her about her parenting techniques. I still had one more child to find.

"Melvin?" I called, making my way through a couple more cars. "Melvin, where are you?"

My patience was starting to wear thin when I finally entered the last car on the train.

"Melvin!" I cried in relief, spying her sitting atop a huge box surround by other luggage. "What are you doing?"

"Bobby couldn't fit in our car," she explained, motioning to the empty space in front of her.

"Bobby, huh?" I groaned.

A loud screech suddenly reached our ears from under us, and Timmy and I were knocked off our feet by the rock of the train. Holding the baby close to my chest, I turned as I fell making sure to land backwards to protect him. Glancing up to check on Melvin, I saw her laying on his side on the ground having been knocked off the box in the sudden stop.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked, pushing myself back to my feet.

"I think so," I heard from Melvin's direction, while Timmy just sniffled as he stood back up.

Glancing down, I checked on the baby that was still in my arms. He smiled right back at me, as if the whole experience hadn't affected him at all.

"Sorry folks." I looked up as the voice of train conductor was heard over the loudspeaker. "We are experiencing some unexpected mechanical problems. We are sorry for any inconvenience. We will have you all on your way as soon as we can."

I let out another sigh in frustration. This could not be happening . . .

"Choo-choo bye-bye?" Teether asked as a cradle him in my arms.

"Yes, choo-choo bye-bye," I agreed.

If there was a mechanical problem with the train, I knew it could be hours before it was up and working again. I hated the idea of just sitting around waiting with these three feisty children. I always felt better when I kept myself busy with something.

It might take longer to walk the distance to the drop-off point, but I had to do something to keep these kids preoccupied. This also sounded like a way better idea than being back on the train having people send me judgmental looks.

"But how are we going to make it over the mountains," Melvin asked, staring wide-eyed at the huge cliffs that lay in front of us.

"We'll fly over them," I explained, creating a black platform beneath us. "It will be faster than walking."

"We can't!" Melvin cries. "Teether's tummy gets sick."

"We don't have that far to go. I'm sure he'll be fine."

But we were only a couple feet off the ground when we all heard the baby's stomach rumble and his cheeks bulged out straining desperately to keep from throwing up. Seconds later, there was a mess on my boots.

"Nice," I noted disgustedly.

"I tried to tell you," Melvin pointed out, and Teether face starts to turn green.

"Okay, okay," I give in, and start to take us back to the ground. "We'll walk."

Touching down on the grass again, I pick up Teether and Timmy in each of my arms. I watched as Melvin lifted a hand up in a gesture where she must have been pretending to hold on to the hand of her imaginary friend, and together we turned to make the long journey of the mountains.

Hours passed. The sun slowly sunk down behind the hilltops and the moon made its appearance in the sky. My legs were quickly starting to get tired from walking for so long, and my arms were growing tired from carrying both of the boys. I couldn't imagine how Melvin was feeling, and she still held her hand up clutching Bobby's.

How much farther was the drop-off point?

"It's past Timmy's bedtime," Melvin pointed out, just seconds before I heard said child yawn in my arms, "and we missed dinner."

Spying a run-down cabin in the distance, I nodded my head in that direction. "We'll stop there for the night. Get a fresh start in the morning."

Using my powers to open the locked cabin door, and stepped inside setting the two kids that I had been carrying down with a soft sigh of relief.

Giving the space a quick scan, I saw one bed that we placed against one wall, a fireplace, a couple chairs, and along one wall was kitchenette.

I really wanted to take a seat and rest in one of those comfy looking chairs, but my stomach was starting to make noises in hunger, and Melvin had mentioned needing food as well.

Stepping over to the kitchenette, I began to rummage through the cabinets trying to find something for us to eat. I found several cans of food and grabbed a bunch in my arms and brought them over to the table to go through them with the kids.

"What do you guys want?" I asked as I shifted through the cans. "We have . . . peas, carrots . . . and beans. Lots of beans . . ."

"Teether likes mashed carrots, and Timmy and I will eat beans," Melvin said, continuing to be helpful through this whole experience.

For next thirty minutes, I went about creating a fire in the fireplace and used it to help heat up our food.

I was just finishing up my meal, and starting to think that I wasn't a complete failure in taking care of these kids when Timmy started crying again.

"What now?" I groaned, turning in his direction.

"My . . . blankie . . . you . . . see . . . my . . . blankie?" Timmy said between sobs, holding up the piece of fabric.

"Yeah . . ." I said, still not understanding what was wrong with him. "It's, uh, pretty?"

"My . . . blankie . . . see?" he continued.

Teether chose that moment to totter over himself and started bawling.

I was obviously not cut out to take care of children. With my upcoming destiny, I had never picture myself as being a mother, but this adventure was just proving to me how badly I would be at it anyways.

By now my headache was starting to return and tried my best to tune them both out. Clapping my hands over my ears, I turned away from the table only to have Melvin tug lightly at my cloak.

"Raven, you still need to feed Bobby."

Thankful for an excuse to go outside for a little quiet time, I grabbed a plate from the cabinet, scooped a little food onto the dish, and headed for the door. With yet another sigh, I took a seat on the steps and set the plate down next to me.

"Eat up, Bobby," I said sarcastically, not expecting anything to happen from the gesture and not reserving one.

Staring out at the landscape in front of me, I felt the pure exhaustion in my muscles. My whole body seemed to be aching. I couldn't handle anymore of this by myself. I needed help.

Reaching under my cloak for my communicator, I flipped the screen open.

"Raven calling . . . anyone!" Seconds later, Beast Boy's face appeared on the screen. "Anyone besides Beast Boy . . ."

"Did you finish your mission?" he asked, a small smile on his face. I hadn't seen Beast Boy smile at me in weeks. This confused me until he added, "You look exhausted."

Was he laughing at me?

"We had a little detour," I explained, trying to shake off my despair. "I'll drop them off tomorrow . . . if I survive that long," I added, turning away from the communicator.

"Kids are easy," Beast Boy explained astonishingly. "All you have to do is make funny faces. Oh, and jokes! Kids love jokes."

So, he was laughing at me . . .

Talking to the changeling was only making me feel worse. Flipping the device closed, I hung up on him.

"I guess I'm on my own," I noted sadly.

Standing up slowly due to my aching muscles, I turned around and prepared myself to head back inside to face the little monsters.

Opening the door, I was instantly hit with the screaming of the two boys. The once constant sound of crying had now turned into an ear-splitting wail.

Slamming the door behind me, I brought my hands instantly to my temples as my head started to throb.

"You don't babysit much, do you?"

I turned to see Melvin sitting on the bed, her legs dangling over the side.

"That obvious, huh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ignoring the question, the girl proceed to explain what was going on with her siblings.

"Teether's got gas," she said, pointing at the screaming baby.

"And what's wrong with Timmy Tantrum?"

"His blankie is ripped," she replied matter-a-factly.

Deciding to deal with the baby first, I picked the kid up and held him against my shoulder, patting his back like I had seen done on TV. It wasn't long before I was rewarded with the sound of him belching.

Success!

With Teether calmed down, I moved on to Timmy.

Reaching over, I grabbed the torn blanket that the orange-headed child was holding out to me and preceded to use the closest available object to fix the fabric: a stapler. A couple quick clicks with that machine in the blanket was repaired, and I handed it back over to the child with the return reward of silence.

Tantrums under control, both boys headed over towards the bed to join their sister only to turn back to stare at me.

"Now what?"

"Well, you could tell us a bedtime story," Melvin advised with a smile. "Kids like stories."

"Umm, I don't really know any . . ." I start, but was interrupted by another out burst from Timmy.

"Me want story . . . Story, story, story, story, story, story, STORY!" he complained bouncing on the bed, and getting louder and louder with every repeat of the word.

"Alright!" I screeched back at him, and after a second, I slowly started to tell them a story.

The day had been such a hectic one. I could still feel the weariness in my bones, and couldn't wait to finally be able to close my eyes, but when they were like this; quiet and relaxed, they almost appeared to be . . . peaceful. It was such a big difference from when they were wide-awake and running around.

In a weird and totally unexpected way, I felt like I was growing attached to the little monsters. I honestly believed I was going to miss the little rugrats after I was forced to leave them at the drop-off tomorrow.

Sure, they could be a handful at times, but when I got it right, when I would finally get them to calm down and smile at me . . . it made me feel great.

As I progress with the story, I started to pull the covers back on the bed and had them crawl under to lie down. As my story drifted to the end, I watched as their eyes began to droop and their breathing grew shallow.

Maybe I wouldn't make such a bad mother after all.

"And they all lived happily ever after . . . The end."