Disclaimers: Disclaimers: I do not own Teen Titans nor do I claim to own anything in this story.

A/N: I deeply apologize to my readers and reviewers for the massive delay in the next installment in Evolution: Times of Change. I honestly have no real excuse to my absence besides playing 'Real Life' and getting back into PC building and PC Gaming. If anyone here is a computer buff, you're more than welcome to visit my Profile Page where I will be posting image(s) of my current PC build. Anyways, again I'm sorry for the massive delay in updating this story. For your troubles I have concluded that I will be making this next chapter longer than originally intended. The original concept was to have this chapter be split into multiple segments but because of recent events it's going to be one massive chapter.

So as a precautionary measure, I have to inform my readers that this is a longer chapter than my previous ones. And of course, if there is anything you don't like, please always make a remark. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated but flames will only keep my tea kettle warm. Thank you.

In case anyone was confused:

"Dialogue" – Basically stuff being said out loud.

Thoughts – Mainly thoughts but will also signify the importance of the italicized word and /or display actions/sound effects.

Beast's Thoughts – This is the Beast's thoughts/dialogue with Beast Boy.

Without further notes, I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter in Evolution: Times of Change

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Previously on Evolution: Times of Change:

Garfield gulped, hard.

"That's right, Grass Stain!" Cyborg bellowed.

"It's time for your re-initiation." Raven concluded, standing above him while twirling a pink colored wig in her hand and a wide smirk plastered on her face.

As the Titans closed in around him, he could only squeal in horror.

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Evolution: Times of Change – Chapter 2: Bittersweet Normalcy

Garfield groaned as he rolled over on his top bunk. He slowly cracked opened his eyes to a brightly lit room. As his eyes adjusted to the blistering bright sunlight that was illuminating his room, he could only groan some more at what conspired the night before. Not wanting to remember the events of his re-initiation, he got out of his top bunk ungracefully as he missed the ladder and fall flat on his back. With a successful thunk, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Stupid eye boogers…" Garfield complained. He glances towards his bunk bed with a troubled face. "I think it's about time to get a 'big boy' bed, eh?

I would assume so… after all you are 22. The Beast paused for a minute before continuing. Well then again, you can't fit two bodies on your top bunk, now can you?

"Oh, shut it."

As Garfield came out of his groggily state, he started his daily morning routine. He quietly walked over to his large window and looked out towards Jump City. After taking in the scene before him, realizing how much he really missed this place, he started his morning workout. It consisted of stretching, jumping jacks, sit ups, star pushups, crunches and various other cardiovascular inducing exercises. After about a good 45 minutes of his morning workout session, he quickly gathered his change of clothing and headed towards his alternative shower which was located on the other side of the tower where the guest rooms were located.

The only reason why he couldn't use the personal bathroom that was located inside his room is because the plumbing was cut and redirected. Not knowing when Garfield would be back the Titans assumed to just turn it off until he returned. Apparently they didn't turn it on because of the previous days' events. Before he left his room he glanced over towards his nightstand and read the time: 7:45 AM.

"Hmm, I figured that I would be awake much later… Stupid internal clock must be on the fritz." Garfield started knocking on his noggin to emphasize his statement.

As he left his room, he had his blanket hanging loosely over his shoulder with his change of clothes under the other arm. As he strolled through the corridors in the early morning, he didn't take into consideration that he was strolling around in only his boxers.

Smart.

When he got near the common rooms doors, he stopped dead in his tracks as he took in a scent: the scent of cooking meat. Garfield visibly shuddered at the mere scent of cooking meat.

"Ya know, as much as I have evolved with the heightened senses and vast array of other abilities, there will always be a drawback… and this is one of them…"

As he entered the common room, still on his way towards the alternative shower, Garfield noticed two figures already in the common room. While lightly humming towards himself he slowed down his walk to take in his surroundings.

"Morning Rob… err… Nightwing." Garfield scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Morning Garfield." Nightwing replied without looking up. "You can call me Dick or Richard whilst in the tower, Gar. It's alright, I think after all this time I can at least trust you guys with my real name." Nightwing said. It appeared that the Boy Wonder was currently making breakfast for one. As he neared the still masked leader, slowly flipping the bacon in his pan, he inwardly retched as the scent of the bacon was overpowering his senses.

"I see everyone's been converted to the House-de-Cyborg." Garfield said with a face full of disgust.

"Well… what can I say? I love bacon." The team leader gracefully flings the bacon into the air and caught them on a plate that was covered with paper towels; most likely used to absorb some of the grease and fat. The young masked man places his perfectly crispy bacon on the table and looks up at the changeling.

"Ok, first off, what are you doing? Where are your clothes and why are you sweating?" Nightwing asked, obviously confused. All the while he was scarfing down strips of bacon in front of Garfield.

"Oh, I was doing my morning workout session and found out that my shower doesn't work… or any of the plumbing in fact." Garfield replied, honestly, eyeballing the strips of bacon.

"Why would –" The Boy Wonder thought. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Oh! Shit, sorry man. Cyborg and I were meaning to restore the plumbing back to your section of the Tower but we totally forgot. Sorry about that, seriously. I'll make sure Cy and I get your plumbing back in order before the day's done."

"It's all good man. I kinda figured something like that was going to happen. Heh. After all, I did just show up randomly." With that said, he turns his focus on the other person in the vicinity: Raven.

Raven, however, was floating in front of the giant windows floating in midair. Obviously she was meditating. Garfield stopped before exiting the common room to take in the scene before him. The floating and meditating sorceress had her eyes closed and was chanting her mantra quietly, seemingly unaffected by Garfield's presence. The sight before him left him in awe.

In the windows reflection, he could clearly see the soft and gentle features of her face as she was completely relaxed in her meditative state. He noticed how the orange sunlight lightly radiated off her pale skin, giving her the sense that she was slightly glowing in the morning light. All in all, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Shaking his head slightly trying to snap out of his dream-like state, he suddenly realized that Raven was wearing his necklace. The Beast that resided in his subconscious purred in delight and his heart skipped a beat. He was ecstatic, to say the least, to see her wearing the gift he gave her. Coming back to reality, he figured, since he said good morning to his fellow teammate he should share the same respect and acknowledge her presence in the room as well.

"Morning, Rae." He said softly, hoping his voice wasn't too penetrating. However, what was penetrating was the sound of the Beast, purring quite contently at the sight of Raven.

Raven's eyes slowly opened and her chanting stopped and slowly turned towards him.

"Morning, Garfield." Raven replied, slowly turning around to face him. "How did you slee–" Raven stopped in mid-sentence as she slowly registered at what stood before her. Upon realization of the sight being displayed to her, she could feel her face start to flush.

She was slightly gawking at Garfield's appearance. What stood before her was Garfield, shirtless, pant-less and covered in a light layer of sweat; the sweat causing him to shine a bit under the orange glow of the morning sun. She also noted that without his new outfit inhibiting his physical features, she could clearly see his defining characteristics.

After a minute of staring, Raven summoned her powers to bring up her hood. Hoping that Garfield didn't notice her very red face, she then phased through the floor to re-appear in her room.

Somewhat dumbstruck, Garfield figured it was nothing and shrugged it off. He started walking towards one of the guest bathrooms, remembering his goal before he stopped to stare at the beautiful half-demon. Nightwing on the other hand, saw the whole thing unfold before him. He watched as Garfield was staring at Raven and vice versa. Nightwing smiled to himself as he noted at how oblivious those two really are. Suddenly he heard the toaster bell ding and brought him back to his original goal as well: fill his stomach with food.

Unbeknownst to the other Titans, Raven was within the safe confines of her room blushing brightly while her mind went into the gutter. As she walked over to her dresser, she picked up her Azarathian mirror and chanted her three famous words.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" A dark energy-infused hand suddenly sprouts from the mirror, grabbing Raven tightly and was dragged into her mirror: into Nevermore.

-Inside Titans Tower and back with Garfield-

After being in the shower for a good 20 minutes, Garfield stepped out feeling completely refreshed and clean, ready for the days' events. As he threw his dirty boxers and used towel into the laundry basket, he strolled back towards the common room, thinking of what he should make for breakfast. After concluding that breakfast should consist of toast with some strawberry jam and a cup of O.J., he let his mind wander and found himself thinking about the beautiful sorceress for the up-thousandth time.

I can't believe how much she's changed over the span of the time I was gone… The changeling thought to himself.

After he finished creating his meal, he sat down at one of the stools that were around the kitchen. Nightwing was currently at the terminal that was linked to the window-sized TV, looking up if there were any reasons as to why major criminals were focusing their efforts to breaking out other convicts. As Garfield happily munched into his toast, Cyborg and Starfire came walking into the common room, chatting loudly.

"But does that not mean that people should be more nice to one another?" Starfire questioned the Tin Man.

"Not really, Star. Some people are just like that." Cyborg replied. "Hey there Green Bean, how'd you sleep?" Smirking slightly.

"Oh, hardy-har-har." Garfield replied, dryly.

"Welcome back, bro. " Cyborg pat Garfield on his shoulder then proceeded into the kitchen, getting ready for his carnivorous meal.

While Cyborg was busy grilling away in the kitchen, Starfire was floating next to Nightwing, attempting to get him away from the computer.

"Please my beloved, please join us for breakfast?"

"One sec, Kori. I gotta –" Before Nightwing finished his sentence, Starfire nonchalantly places a firm kiss on her lovers' lips. Pulling away after a second or two, Starfire floats away and sits down a few seats away from Garfield. "Ok. I guess I'm done." Pushing himself away from the terminal, he trots over and sits down next to his girlfriend.

Hmp, if only I had someone like that to entice me in the morning…

You already know whom we would want…

Ya know you don't have to keep reminding me. But I can't change what I can't control.

As Garfield absentmindedly ate the remainder of his breakfast, Cyborg sat down next to him with a rather large stack of pancakes and waffles; fully drenched in syrup and a slice of butter on top. He also has a side of bacon, sausage and a rather large cup of ice cold milk.

"If I didn't know any better, Vic," Garfield piped up. "I'd say you've changed quite a bit since the last time we saw each other… But your breakfast sure hasn't."

Starfire, on the other hand, had a nice helping of waffles and French toast. As Cyborg literally inhaled the scrumptious meal and downed his drink, Nightwing waited for his girlfriend to finish her meal before speaking up.

"When Raven gets back from her room," Nightwing then shifts his attention to the Changeling. Nightwing eye's Garfield for a second before continuing. "I'll brief everyone of this afternoons training session. It'll start at 11:30 sharp. I have a new idea that I want to try out in the gym. Don't be late." With having that said, Nightwing and Starfire both got up and headed towards the gym; to either warm up or God knows what. Cyborg cleaned up the dishes and then headed for the Game Station.

"Yo, B! You up for a nice ass kicking in Mega Monkeys 7: The Banana Affect?" Cyborg challenged. "And I ain't going easy on ya just because you've been gone!"

"You don't know who you're up against, Tin Man!" Cyborg's offer accepted, the two had a very intense gaming session that lasted until they had to meet on the training grounds for practice.

-In Nevermore-

As Raven gracefully landed on the landscape of her mind, her eyes scanned the area to take in the atmosphere. It still had the space-like affect for a sky but there were no longer floating asteroids that lead to different areas. Instead she was on a large floating island that was a rather grassy plane that had multiple routes one could take. Each route would take you to her different personalities and emotions that dwelled in her mind. Raven's eyes started to glow and she summoned her other 'selves' to begin her meeting with herself.

Suddenly, multiple figures clad in different colored cloaks phased up from the ground. The ground beneath the doppelgangers' feet suddenly started shifting and morphing until it retained the shapes of chairs. As Raven's personalities phased in and sat down in their respective seats, in the center stood the 'real' Raven, with her emotions forming a circle around her. As Raven sat on her chair, the ground in between Raven and her doppelgangers rose and steadily formed a circular table. After the summoning procedures were finished and the summoning of her personalities and emotions were also completed, did she start the meeting.

"Hi Ravie! What's up girl!" The pink clad emotion known as Happy expressed excitedly.

"Hey Happy, why do you even bother asking me 'what's up' when you obviously already know the answer to said question?" Raven deadpanned.

"Well sorry, Ms. Grumpy! I just wanted to keep things lively." Retorted Happy.

"Can we just get this thing started?" Complained the emotion clad in orange.

"Even though I tend to not associate myself with Rude, I do have to agree with her." Agreed Raven.

"Well, as you all have probably figured out," started the emotion wearing a pair of glasses and a yellow cloak, better known as Knowledge. "This meeting is being called forth to try and see if we can… resolve a particularly green issue."

"What seems to be the problem?" Inquired an emotion clad in lavender. "Everyone here, including yourself Raven, have already come to terms that we are indeed and undoubtedly infatuated with Garfield."

"But what if he doesn't like us back?" Squeaked an emotion in gray.

"Why wouldn't he?" Questioned Love.

"Because when he left the first time, he left us! Not only was he too fucking weak to handle whatever personal bullshit he had to, but he was a fucking weakling at everything else." Retorted Rage; emotion clad in a crimson red. "Not to mention he's a piss-poor comedian, a really fucking annoying little –"

"Enough!" Raven yelled.

Ignoring Raven's command, Rage continued with her rant. "And why are you even here, Love? Huh? I mean, sure, you're love and apparently we've all come to the conclusion that we, as in Raven, love Garfield but as I recall, weren't you in love with Dick a while back? Hmm?"

"I love him like I love everyone else on the team, platonically." Love retorted. "Minus Garfield… that's a different story."

"Even though what Rage is saying maybe somewhat true, you have to remember, Rage is talking about stuff that happened three plus years ago." Knowledge said. "Today, we are faced with much different circumstances. Regardless of the facts that are currently at hand or was presented to us in the past, it's that Garfield is back and now he seems to be completely… different."

"He's not entirely different." Inquired Love. "He may have changed physically but underneath that… delicious exterior is still the Garfield we all know and love." Love received a vast amount of nods that approved of her statement.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Knowledge agreed. "But the reason why we're gathered here today is to discuss how his return will affect our way of life."

"Can you be more specific?" Interjected Rude.

"What I mean by that is, how are we going to handle things when Raven's powers become unstable, as a direct result of Garfield being around?"

"Just for the record," Raven interrupts, "we all know that I have much more freedom with expressing myself without having to worry about my powers discharging."

"Even if that maybe true –"

"It is true." Rude interrupts.

"- that still doesn't mean that you can let things go unchecked. Who knows, just because you have the ability to freely show emotions, to a degree, without consequence doesn't mean, praise Azar, that if Garfield happens to kiss you one night, that nothing will happen. Also, even though you have great control, basically complete control, over how your powers are channeled, that doesn't mean that there might be a possible outburst of energy created by the emotions you are going to feel when you're with Garfield. There is almost no guarantee that your powers won't discharge at will because we have yet to experience these kind of… things." Doubt added delicately.

"Just the thought of us gathering the courage to plant a nice wet one on the green beast makes even me giggle like a little schoolgirl." Bravery suggests. Raven looks down, somewhat embarrassed at Bravery's comment.

"Oh I feel like I would explode if he ever chose to do that!" Piped up Happy. Knowledge eye's Raven with her statement.

"But what if he doesn't like how we kiss? What if he doesn't like the smell of our breath? Or –Ow!" Timid was smacked in the head gently by Affection, her eye's tearing up.

"How can you even think about this in a negative fashion? Regardless of the reason for it happening, we all know that when it does happen, it's going to be amazing." Inquired Love, resulting in most of Ravens' doppelgangers nodding their head's in agreement yet again.

"I'm not trying to be the pessimistic one, like Timid over there, even though these are all great ideas and scenarios and everything…" Knowledge interjected. "But we must use extreme caution when it comes to how we feel about the changeling and how we intend on informing him on our feelings. It might be dangerous; it might not. We can't say for sure what will happen: We don't know if he'll reciprocate and don't know what'll happen to us. I mean, the consequences could be catastrophic!"

"The mystery of the unknown with the influence of the certainty… interesting…" The brown clad emotion, Curiosity, thought. "Does the saying, 'you'll never know until you try' come into mind?"

"Albeit that be true, the risks would be great." Raven rebuttals, now reflecting upon Knowledge's assessment of the situation.

"But how can you be sure?" Curiosity questions. "As you have yourself stated, we have never experienced such strong emotions before and let's not forget about Malchior." Anger suddenly growled dangerously at the mention of his name. The emotions also slightly recoiled from the mention of the dragons' name. Raven, on the other hand, just narrowed her eyes.

"What Curiosity brings up is very valid." Agrees Knowledge. "As much as Malchior did hurt us, let us not forget the lesson that was taught to us…"

"What lesson was that? That men are fucking pigs?" Anger spat.

"No, but rather we were… happy." Knowledge continued, "we were naïve and blinded to his true nature. It was a false sense of infatuation and trust from him, but what we felt was completely true. We were infatuated with him, regardless of what you say Raven. And you know what I've concluded with our small infatuation with said creature?" The yellow clad emotion eyed every single other emotion, including Raven, waiting for an answer.

"Raven was balanced: was pure, was in control." The small revelation made Raven got slightly slack jawed. "We had no fears; we were content, we were happy and we were whole. We not only were able to control more power but also were able to express our emotions without consequences." She left the facts sink in, pausing for affect. "Was anything destroyed – scratch that. Was anything damaged when we expressed our feelings for that creature? Even remotely damaged?"

After a few minutes of silence, Knowledge decided to speak once again.

"I believe," Knowledge continued, "that in order for us to be 'whole,' to be 'complete,' we need a partner. The one thing that Raven lacked in her entire life was love. Whether that love is platonic or romantic love, she lacked.

"We were taken from our mother in order to control our powers, who loved us to the point where being raped by pure evil didn't dissolve her belief that Raven should live. She was not allowed to show us and make us feel what she felt for us. We learned that we were not created into this universe via love. We basically have experienced and have every other emotion besides love, more specifically, romantic love. We continue to lack an emotion, a powerful emotion at that, that would make us complete.

"Without love being in Raven's life is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle missing: incomplete. I believe that this completeness is what will bring order to chaos. That chaos, referring to Raven, is being unbalanced. In order to be able to feel complete; be whole, be balanced, we need a partner that not only we can love, but be loved as well. That partner could possibly be Garfield."

Everyone within Raven's realm seems to have been silenced with Knowledge's theory.

"I do hope Garfield would be that partner." Love commented, after many minutes of silence.

"I too agree." Happy replied, literally bouncing in her chair.

"Saying that I have a lot to reflect upon would be an understatement." Raven replied shortly after Knowledge's speech. Raven slowly stood up from her chair. "This has definitely been an eye opener and has given me a lot to think about and all I have to say is that I know for certain that I love him. Revealing to him about how I feel and him reciprocating is a whole 'nother ballpark. I still have to tread carefully; better to be cautious than careless."

"Admitting to yourself is the first step in the right direction." Wisdom added. "The direction to not only true happiness but also serenity in both mind, body and soul."

Raven slowly nodded her acknowledgement to what Wisdom has said and chanted her mantra. Raven slowly felt herself being lifted off the ground, out of her mind and back into her room. After a slight plop sound when she landed on top of her bed, she glances over to her nightstand which read: 11:17 AM.

Good, I still got time to make it to today's training session. She moves over towards her dresser, made sure the mirror was placed back where she previously found it then headed towards the common room.

Upon entering she found her two male counterparts gaming heavily. Raven walked over to the two boys and watched as Cyborg's race car swerved ahead of Garfield's, winning the game a split second later.

"Boo-yeah!" Hollered Cyborg. He dropped his controller on the couch and did his victory dance.

"Awe man, I can't believe how rusty I've gotten." Whined Garfield. "Give me a week and I'll be back to whoop your ass, Vic!"

"Whatever you say, Grass Stain!" Cyborg challenged.

"C'mon guys." Raven announced, revealing her presence to the boys. "Time to head down to the gym. Better not be late or Dick will have a fit."

The grumbling teens reluctantly released their controllers and headed towards the gym, Raven following suit.

"Dude, what do you think Dick was talking about when he was saying something about 'a new idea'?" Garfield air quoted.

"Beats me, bro." Cyborg started to contemplate on what kind of plans the Boy Wonder was coming up. "I'm assuming we have to start changing out battle plans and strategies and stuff since your scrawny ass came back." Cyborg lightly shoves Garfield as they walked down the corridors of Titans Tower. Raven was quietly observing her teammates from behind while also consulting with herself about her recent visit to Nevermore.

Raven looks up after being lost in thought for a few minutes, she suddenly finds herself nearing the entrance to the gym. Garfield kindly opens the door for his brother and as Raven nears he gives her the same courtesy as the man before her. As she walks in she notices that Garfield's head was looking down as if… he was slightly bowing to her? With an arched eyebrow, she enters dumbfounded.

"Alright, team, this is how we're going to do things today. First, normal warm-ups then physical strength and endurance testing." After getting some sort of acknowledgement from his teammates, Nightwing continues. "After said testing, we're going to see, no offence Beast Boy, how much you've… changed." Nightwing concluded. He didn't know what word to use because he didn't want to sound rude or rather unemotional.

"Wait, ya know, I've been thinking about something." Garfield piped up. All heads turned towards him. "Beast Boy is kinda… prepubescent. After all, I did make up that name when I was like 10." He scratched the back of his sheepishly. "I'm considering on 'officially' changing my name. Ya know, to suit the older me?"

"Makes sense." Nightwing added. ", but we'll think about that later. Let's get today's training over and then get back to daily patrols." With that having said, each Titan head towards their warm-up sections of the gym to start their days' training.

Both Nightwing and Garfield headed towards the 'cardio' section of the workout room, as a start. For Nightwing's first step, he went straight for the punching bags. After doing a few stretches, making sure to have stretched every muscle in his body he took a fighting stance in front of said bag. His eye's narrowed as if he was staring down his opponent; his enemy. Then with a loud battle-like yell, he lunged fourth and assaulted the poor inanimate object.

As Nightwing was laying waste to the poor bag, he noticed the Changeling heading towards the treadmills from the corner of his eye. While assaulting the punching bag, he repositioned himself so he can continue his workout but be able to view Garfield in his peripheral vision, as well.

I do recall when Garfield was last on the treadmills, years ago, when the he sped up the treadmill in order to keep up with the faster pace, he would morph into different animals, depending on the speed he was currently at. Nightwing thought analytically to himself. He would normally 'analyze' his environment and depending on said environment, would depend on what type of animals he would shift into. Sort of like he takes in his surroundings and tried to adapt to them.

As he watched Garfield, he was, to say the least, surprised to find Garfield running at a nice steady pace. Slowly, Garfield would increase his speed and keep pace with his new setting for 10 minutes. He kept increasing the speed from a nice steady paced jog to an all-out sprint. While doing so, he did not once morph into an animal.

Huh. I wouldn't have guessed that he would stay in his human form, even at a break-neck speed he's currently on. I was under the assumption that he would morph like he did before. But all he's doing is running and not even slowing down.

As Nightwing halt his siege against the inanimate object, he took the nearest towel from the towel rack and started to openly observer the green superhero.

I know being a leader means that I basically have to address every little detail; no matter how small… but this is a little different… The masked superhero started contemplating. Even though he did leave the entire team because of a personal reason, albeit a rather strong reason, doesn't mean everyone, including myself, will welcome him back wholeheartedly. It may seem like so but I believe no matter what, Garfield has left a deep scar in everyone's hearts; especially Ravens.

Ever since Garfield's sudden departure, I had to drastically think and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of being one member down. I mean, I'm not trying to be mean or anything but it really wasn't that much of a loss to the team; strategically. If I had to breakdown the team, it would be thus:

I believe that a teams' as strong as its weakest member. Having a weak link in the chain is something I will not tolerate because I will not have one person bring down the whole team. If I took a closer look at each and every member, minus Garfield, I could identify their strengths and how they all contribute to the team.

Starfire. The main attributes in which she contributes to the team would be the ability of adaptation to extreme environments, superhuman strength as well as flight; thus enabling not only the addition of speed but also the capabilities of transportation. She can handle even the most harsh environments from subzero temperatures to being able to handle radioactive material. She is also extremely naïve and innocent which is a great need in stability of the team. Her constant remarks and unfamiliarity is what helps soften the rough edges of hard times, albeit it may also cause her harm when it comes to battles. Her greatest strength, which I believe to be, would be her positive attitude that now only empowers her own superhuman powers but also wraps the team in a veil of light which helps keep the darkness of our pasts and our jobs at bay.

As Nightwing breaks down, mentally, his team, his glance traces over towards the girls whom were currently doing their warm-ups on yoga pads. Starfire and Raven did their respective stretches then started to engage in yoga. Centralizing their emotions, focusing their minds and controlling their breathing were essential for them so they could use their powers as directed and needed. After their yoga session, Raven headed towards a wooden dummy and started doing simple hand-to-hand strikes against it. Raven made sure that she was competent enough to defend herself without powers because she believed that her sole dependency on her powers is her greatest weakness.

Then we have Raven. Raven brings a whole new set of rules when she comes to the battlefield. Not only is she resourceful, being both intelligent and having a vast array of spells that can literally do limitless things. Her strength mostly derived from her mental abilities that gave her fortitude and stability, even in the most traumatic of times. Raven would often use her intelligence when being stealthy on missions as well as inputting vital information when it came to training and analyzing information from multiple angles. Her physics defying abilities also enables her to be extraordinarily stealthy.

She also keeps everyone rooted, down-to-earth. She would always bring everyone back together if we started to drift apart when it came to tough decisions. She always has her head on straight and can be, at times, quite stubborn. Since she has control over her powers, although still deriving from her emotions, she is not only extremely powerful with her vast arsenal of spells but also capable of being empathetic when needed. She, being more of a sisterly figure towards the team, enables her to be personal with everyone which allows everyone to be able to communicate well. Not to mention, she is also my second-in-command.

As Nightwing continued to gaze at the two beautiful women in the vicinity, he focused more intently on Starfire, who was currently heading towards the air-training section of the gym. A rather large section of the gym 'floor' was redesigned specifically for Raven and Starfire so they could hone in their flying capabilities. Nightwing made sure everyone was as 'round' as possible. The small flying course had loops, multiple obstacles that were both stationary and lethal. Each time they used the course, it gets reconfigured, making sure that each time was different than the last; making them have to rethink and readapt to the new environment.

Then there is my brother, Victor. He is and will always be the big brother of the Titan's family. Not only was he strong physically, the opposite of Raven, whom was strong mentally, but he was also intelligent, in a different way. When it came to resources, in the forms of geographical, language and other Earthly types of resources, Victor came second to none. He is a great strategist but when it came to battles on Earth, he was your man. He also is the only Titan to know the complete layout of the Tower, its' functionality as well as repair almost any kind of mechanical device. He could take apart, rebuild, and repair almost anything as long as he does it his way. Plus, he makes most of the food and since he's our main chef, looking forward to meals would be neigh impossible.

Nightwing shifts his gaze to where Victor aka Cyborg was currently positioned. Cyborg was heading towards a diagnostic checking station in which he would hook himself to. This station was designed for multiple functions. Firstly, it did a diagnostics check on all his systems, both hardware and software based as well as machine-to-human interfaces. Making sure there were no faults and everything was updated and on par, it then proceeded to make sure every joint, connection and opening was thoroughly checked and strained. Every port that opened or moved, every part that could detach or reassemble itself did their corresponding actions. Making sure everything worked properly and flawlessly was key.

After he went through a rather rigorous checkup, he preceded towards his next station, which was built specifically for him, the "lock-in" machine. Said machine made sure his targeting systems and battle systems were on par and ready to go. He went through simulations and other types of test missions making sure his systems were as accurate as they could be. All the calculations and principles of life, like gravity and wind, were all accounted for. He also went through simulations that were borderline impossible, but then again, they were the Titans. Inter-dimensional demons, physics-breaking phenomenon and whatnot are all part of a days' work. Thus he had to also incorporate such events into his simulations.

Then there's me. Nightwing chuckled to himself softly. I guess what I have to contribute to this team is leadership, agility, OCDness and gadgets. I have a gadget for almost every situation in any condition. I guess I am Bruce's protégé… even though he does have better toys than me… Anyways, I not only brought everyone together but I make sure we stay together. I may not be completely strong physically like Starfire and Cyborg but I'm more agile than they are. I have extremely fast reflexes that make me one annoying opponent. But most of all, I have everyone's respect and thus have great authority that usually isn't questioned. Only if it really is something insane and/or stupid does it get questioned, but that's rare.

Nightwing now has a full smile on his face. Patting my own back a little too much, eh? Anyways, back on track. We all have great strengths that we contribute to this team. When we have weaknesses, it's usually overshadowed because we have other team members that help balance each and every single one of us out. But then there was Garfield… before he left us.

Nightwing's eye furrowed slightly as he shifted his gaze towards the changeling and started reminiscing about the past once again.

When Garfield was still with us, whilst he was still a teen and we called ourselves the 'Teen Titans,' he was shown to be the comic relief; the jokester, the prankster and the all-around free spirited member that he was. When it came to actually contributing to the team, the most 'positive' attribute in which he added was his free spirited nature, he attempted at funny antics and acted like he was just a nice guy. He tried his best to keep up the teams' morale and in turn, was subjugated to quite a bit of abuse, both physically and mentally by the team; mainly Raven.

Garfield, back then, wasn't physically strong. The only thing that made him physically stronger was his ability to shape shift into any creature, either living or imaginary wasn't a concern. That's where his true physical strength came from, his ability to shape shift. When he wasn't using his superpowers he was more-or-less an ordinary human albeit green. That's why I tried to push him harder than the rest because if he wasn't , God forbid, able to shift or use his abilities, he would not only place himself in harms' way, but also risk the lives of the civilians as well as other team members, if they were to try and assist him.

Not only did he lack any physical attributes but he also lacked mental strengths. At least, that's what he wanted us to think. The only time in which he actually used his head and contributed to the team was when everyone was assaulted by the Brain and The Brotherhood of Evil. That once incident was the only time in which he slapped his own ass and got into gear. Other serious situations, minus that one, he didn't really help strategically or whatnot. He was the comic relief.

Although he can be stealthy at times, when it comes to pranks and other silly immature antics such as those, he was barely at that. While in his 'normal' form he didn't stand much of a chance if he was on a stealthy mission. If he shape shifted however, he can be the stealthiest person on the team. Again, because of his superpowers he was able to achieve a lot but he didn't use it to his full potential. At least, what I believe to be his full potential.

Not only was he not overly serious, minus the Brain incident although he did share with everyone the poor joke at the end… But he doesn't normally express any form of intelligence. He leads us to believe that he's poorly educated and normally doesn't contribute any good form of intel when it comes to missions and battles.

So in the end the old Garfield lacked many things. I did believe that he had potential to be better but he wasn't mature enough at the time to actually push the boundaries of his superpower. I wonder how much he's changed, if any and if I can use him on this team, once again.

As Nightwing slowly backed out of his analytical analysis of Pre-Garfield, he scanned the area and focused back on his team, his family. He found himself gazing, once again, at the Tamaranean Princess and watched as she parted from Raven and instead paired with Cyborg as they headed from the 'warm-up' section of the gym to the 'extreme workout' section.

Both Cyborg and Starfire went to their respective sections of that portion of the room where they intend to test and stress their superhuman strengths. Cyborg was first warming-up with dumbbells that didn't look like barbells at all. Instead, he was lifting weights, one in each hand that looked like miniature pyramids on a stick. In the center of each pyramid displayed, digitally, the amount of weight in metric tons. As Cyborg continued his reps with his triangular weights, the digital numbers slowly increased. After reps of 50 and 100, the weight increased by 10 tons until Cyborg found the "sweet spot."

Starfire was next to her training partner with similar weights. Instead, these looked much more intense and had a more sci-fi look to them. These weights were used under the same principle as Cyborgs but with an added bonus. Made specifically for Starfire, the weight would increase to the designated weight in which Starfire was accustomed to then when she wanted to test her strength, she would summon her green energy and release them into the weights. The result would be the weights gaining more weight, equivalent to the amount of power Starfire flowed into it. This made it so that Starfire was not only training and strengthening the aliens' physical anatomy, but also strengthening her star-power enriched anatomy; thus she is not only training her muscles but also her powers.

The weights that they were using at first were mostly for endurance training. The "weights" that they are now going to use are for strength training. Cyborg was now using barbells, but on the sides of the barbells were astronomically sized weights. Compared to the dumbbells they were using before, they looked rather pitiful. The barbells were attached to a machine in which weight is added in units of metric tons, times ten. As he would bench-press the weight, more weight would be added requiring him needing to displace more force to keep the barbell above his chest. The weight would keep adding until he could bare it no more, thus always resulting in a thunderous thud as he dropped the device. Starfire did the same exercise but only with weight that would exceed human belief. Compared to Cyborg, the maximum weight in which he could bench-press was about the same weight Starfire could bench-press with one arm. Every time Starfire would near her maximum weight, the very weight she dropped always shook the very foundations of the tower.

Thank God I made sure Cyborg reinforced the reinforcements of the reinforced structure of Titans Tower. Nightwing comically thought.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Nightwing. He shifts his gaze back to the changeling. He notices that he was in the 'rest' area of the gym where towels and water is supplied, as well as other emergency medical supplies that are at the ready, if needed.

"Yo Garfield!"

"Hmm?" Garfield replies with a mouthful of water and a towel draped across his shoulders.

"You. Me. Sparring ring. Now." Nightwing commanded. Garfield gave his leader a quizzical look. "C'mon. I've gotta check out how much you've changed. Now get ova here!"

Shrugging his shoulders, he took off the towel, discarded it towards the 'used towels' bin, and took one last swig of his water before throwing the empty bottle into the recycling bin. With a short hustle, he jogged over towards the sparring ring where Nightwing waited patiently by stretching.

Garfield reciprocated, doing his own routine of a warm-up. The sudden challenge which Nightwing shouted gathered the attention of the other members within the vicinity.

After Cyborg and Starfire finished their training, they joined Raven who seemed to be entranced by the other two males in their training session. The two males, shirtless, were just starting their sparring match when the other three teammates sat on the sidelines spectating. At the enlarged boxing ring, Nightwing and Garfield were sparring but it seemed as if they were holding back. While they were sidestepping and throwing hooks left and right, it didn't even seem like the two "foes" were putting their heart into their training session, or in this case Nightwing's version of a check-up.

Suddenly Nightwing's face darkened a bit and his eye's narrowed. Garfield, watching his opponent closely noticed his sudden shift in mood. He could literally smell the serious tone that was radiating off of Nightwing's body. As time seemed to slow down dramatically for the changeling, he used his now heightened senses and reflexes to take in the environment.

As the hairs on the back of his neck slightly pricked, he felt an all too familiar chill run up and down his spine. In his peripheral vision, Garfield saw Cyborg, Starfire and Raven watch the two of them shift from being lightheartedly sparring to seriously fighting. He watched as Nightwing's charge started up with his right arm rearing up for a right hook. Garfield's eyes, in real time, dilated quickly in and out as he reacted to Nightwing's sudden burst forward.

Garfield's body reacted quickly as Nightwing's left and right hooks assaulted him with an almost inhuman like speed. Garfield was dodging left and right, parrying every other strike only having to dodge the next swing a split second later. Suddenly, Nightwing's knee came up to strike him in the stomach. Garfield blocked it by crossing both arms and taking the blow in the palms of his hands. Bad move.

Nightwing, seeing his opening took a quick and hard jab at Garfield's side. The blow was powerful enough to knock him off his feet but he curled his body into a summersault right before he hit the ground. Using the momentum, he tucked himself in and rolled himself back onto his feet. Pivoting so he was facing Nightwing, who was currently on the other side of the boxing ring, was now filled with spirit. Now having a reason to intensify the current situation, the two men sparred to their hearts' content.

All the while, Nightwing was keeping tabs and mental notes on how well or how poorly Garfield was performing. But the latter was extremely limited as he can see only improvements.

Last time I sparred with Garfield he could only withstand so much before submitting to defeat. On average, after each sparring session he would only last up to six minutes, max. So Garfield, show me what you can do!

Roughly fifteen minutes into the match, the two were obviously taking the training session seriously but with an air of entertainment. They were having fun regardless of the fact that they're putting more than half of their power behind their blows. The men sparred until sweat covered their bodies and slowly dripped from their brows to the rings' floor.

Damn, dude. Was all Nightwing could think. Every other punch, every other jab, every other parry was met with the same force in return. He has gotten very fast and not to mention he strikes harder and more accurate than before.

Nightwing throws a trick punch at Garfield's with his left hand. As predicted Garfield dodges by leaning away from his fist and heading downwards on an angle. Just as Garfield is about to counter Nightwing's attack, Nightwing's right fist closes in to his again exposed side. Garfield had just the right amount of time to acknowledge the trick move and dodge it then counter. Garfield leans back to do a matrix-inspired bullet dodge just in time for Nightwing's fist to fly across the air, harmlessly. He uses the momentum of his back-leaning dodge to throw himself back into a backflip. In the process of doing said flip, he takes one of his legs and catches Nightwing's outstretched right hand and literally picks up Nightwing, throwing him over Garfield.

Nightwing, also being able to execute quick actions, quickly adapts to Garfield's counter and quickly tucks his body in, in midair, and does a front summersault over Garfield's body and lands on his feet about a foot in front of a now standing Garfield. Garfield, being slightly taken back at the extraordinary counter against his own, has is back completely exposed to a counterattack.

Nightwing, now having the upper hand, takes the advantage wholeheartedly and ends the match with one swift strike. Nightwing's legs swiped Garfield's feet from underneath him, sent the changeling twisting in midair and tumbling towards the ground. Nightwing then jumped on top of the green man, his knee pinning Garfield's chest to the floor and his right fist reared and ready to deliver the finishing blow.

"Yield." Panted Nightwing.

With two pats on the boxing rings' floor, smiles crept on the two sparring individuals. Nightwing got off of Garfield and left out and outstretched arm. Accepting a hand up, he chuckled softly, smiling all the while.

"Woo! That was one hell of a fight!" Cyborg retorted from the sidelines, clapping wildly.

"That was most heated, friends!" Starfire was happily bouncing and clapping in place. "I'm so glad you two had a wonderful match. Regardless of who the victor was, you both came out champions!"

"She's right, y'all. That was one hell-uva fight." Cyborg patted both men on their backs as he handed them both towels and bottled water.

"I haven't had that much fun sparring, in a long ass time." Nightwing said, in between sips. Garfield… welcome back to the Titans. Nightwing thought proudly.

"Likewise, Bird Brain." Garfield replied, patting his face dry of perspiration. The two competitors both brought up their fists and bumped them together. They were both chuckling at themselves and at each other for the seriousness and epicness of the previous match.

"Now," Nightwing continued, "I believe that's enough of a workout for one day. Plus, since I have to go with Starfire on todays' Patrol, I'm going to go get cleaned up. Meanwhile," Nightwing eye's both Garfield and Raven, "Garfield, take a few minutes rest then help Raven with her physical training." Both Garfield and Raven give him a quizzical look. "She's been building up her physical strength so she doesn't have to solely rely on her powers. I want you to assess how far along she is with her training and let me know, as well as each other, what are the things you need to work on and etcetera."

Garfield and Raven gave each other quick glances and both nodded their heads at one another, for approval.

"Good, now with having that said, Starfire and I will be back by tonight. We have errands to run after the patrol and other chores. You know how to reach us if something were to happen." With that having said, Nightwing and Starfire exited the gym.

"Well, sorry but you two lovebirds are on your own today." Cyborg added, heading towards the exit. "I got to head out and get some supplies for my baby and other upgrades I'll be adding around here and Titan's East. I'm out. Later." Without another word, Cyborg stepped through the sliding doors.

Standing rather dumbfounded at their current situation, silence fell between the two. After what seemed like an eternity, Garfield decided to try and ease the sudden awkwardness in the atmosphere.

"Well, it's been like five minutes, so I'm ready when you are." With a small nod from Raven, the two headed towards another boxing ring. This ring differed from the one in which Nightwing and Garfield sparred because this ring was uncontaminated with sweat from Garfield's and Nightwing's previous spar.

Garfield jumped into the ring, offering a hand to Raven which she accepted.

"So what exactly do you have to work on?" The changeling eyed the sorceress. He bent over and picked up a pair of padded target gloves.

"Well I normally would work on punches using those." She gestured towards the pair of gloves Garfield was currently wearing. "Practice jabs and other stuff. Sorta like what the boxers do."

As Garfield readied his stance, Raven positioned herself in front of him, also in her fighting stance. With a small nod from both superheroes, Raven commenced her training session with Garfield.

Raven's eyes focused on her targets, which happen to be the padded gloves Garfield was currently wearing. She let out jab after jab, her fists colliding with the changelings; right hand to left pad and vice versa. Garfield changed things up from keeping his hands centered to moving them around; making sure Raven had a good range of strikes from high to low, close to far. She kept up her barrages of jabs for a few minutes while keeping her stance strong and her fists held up at chest level. After fatigue settling within her arms she let them down, resting while panting slightly with sweat dripping from her brow.

Garfield discarded the gloves and started up some small exercises that helped Raven with her stances while being still and in motion.

"So," Garfield started explaining, "if your opponent is directly in front of you, going for a frontal assault, your feet should be like this and move like this." Raven concentrated on Garfield's foot placements, making sure to try and remember the lesson he's giving her. "And if your attacker so should happen to play dirty by side-stepping or even jumping, you can change your stance like this." He continued to show her some of the techniques he knew as she recovered from her jab practices.

After about ten minutes, Garfield gestured her over towards the center of the ring. Slightly confused as to what he was up to, Raven slowly walked towards the green boy.

"Ready yourself." Garfield commanded.

"Huh?" Raven arched her brow in confusion.

"Ready yourself," Garfield repeated. "You're going to spar with me. I believe that there are two steps in which a person can learn things affectively: Learning it and then using it."

Raven smiled at his thoughtfulness. "Ya know, Gar, you're smarter than what you lead people on to believe."

Garfield lightly chuckled at Raven's comment. "That doesn't mean I'm smart, though. Who knows, I could just be average." That resulted in the both of them smirking. "Anyways since I showed you on what to do, let's apply them. Shall we?"

Without another word Garfield slowly walked towards his teammate. Raven, reacting quickly, brought up her arms and successfully blocked Garfield's first quick strike. Garfield's left fist was successfully blocked by Raven's right. Smiling a bit, he decided to up the ante.

Using only half of his strength, making sure he didn't go overboard with Raven, he started to send multiple jabs. Raven reacting quickly was successful in blocking wave after wave of punches. Gar studies Raven's reactions and movements as he fires a barrage of punches. He watches as her focus was deadlocked on his fists.

"Hey Rae?"

"Yeah, Gar?" Raven replied in between breaths. While talking to Garfield, she was parrying and dodging his jabs.

"Instead of your focus being on my fists, rather focus here." He shortly stops his assault and gestures towards the insides of his shoulders. He starts patting the area in which the arm is attached to the body. "You should try and focus on here. Ya know why?"

Raven shakes her head.

"Because when a person punches it derives from here. So if you see movement here, you should have more time to react to it. That's because his shoulders would move first before his hands do. So if you see his shoulder move it would enable you to react more quickly against your opponents' punches, which will allow you to counter quickly and more affectively."

"I'll remember that." Raven replied, thankful. "Thanks."

"Anytime."

Garfield continued to work with Raven on her footwork as well as reaction times. Every once in a while, however, he would throw curve balls at Raven, like trying to swipe her off her feet with his. He did this so he could analyze how well Raven could adapt to a changing environment. After the third or so attempt at destabilizing her stance he concluded that she was indeed good at adapting to a changing environment.

While Garfield was assessing this, he didn't notice that he was slowly letting his guard down and as a result, Raven took notice of this she decided to go on the offensive.

Garfield, being slightly caught off guard at her sudden charge, had to sidestep to dodge Raven's first strike. As her right fist came flying towards him, he took a step back and decided to not to take advantage of her powerful punch. Stepping towards the side slowly, still keeping up his guard, he decided to point out Raven's small flaw with her attack.

"Good initial launch." He blocked three more strikes and sidestepped before being punched in the face. "But don't go all-out on your first series of strikes." This time blocking two more strikes then went on the offensive. "Your first strike made you expose your stomach and lower chest."

Raven blocked Garfield's strikes, noticing not only was he correct in pointing out her flaw but also his punches were getting slightly faster and harder. "Thanks. I'll try and keep that in mind."

Next thing the two knew was that they were sparring for a good ten minutes before fatigue hammered at their muscles. Garfield, noticing that the end of the session was near, decided to sweep Raven off her feet, literally. Suddenly, with Raven panting lightly and stance a little wobbly, Garfield launched himself forwards. Raven, anticipating the attack readied herself.

As Garfield neared Raven, he reared his right arm, as if he was going to strike with his right hand. Raven, anticipating it, countered accordingly. But what Raven didn't expect was the changeling suddenly dropped to one knee and slid towards her. Using his hands, he slid and pivoted towards her and used the momentum to strike Raven on her legs, using his own.

Raven, being completely caught off guard, lost her composure and tried to brace herself for the inevitable. As Garfield's shins collided with Raven's calves, Raven's body twisted in midair, much like what happened to Nightwing during their spar, and Raven ultimately landed on her back. As she landed with a slight thud, she noticed Garfield quickly and effortlessly get up from his crouched position and launched himself in the air. He quickly landed on top of Raven, pinning her down. With a satisfying smirk, Garfield was now on top of Raven in a rather suggestive position.

"Yield." Garfield said, panting lightly. Raven took a close look at the current predicament.

Firstly, she was well pinned underneath the changeling. The way he was positioned on top of her was not only suggestive but very affective, as well. Her arms were locked at her sides because Garfield's legs were pinning them both against her body and the floor. With the bulk of his body weight sitting lightly above Raven's stomach, she was affectively and hopelessly pinned.

Then she noticed that they were both covered in sweat. Not only were they both panting heavily but they also still had their eyes filled with determination: Determination to win and determination to show their worth to one another.

Lastly, she realized how close his face was to hers. She could not only see each bead of sweat that rolled off his well sculpted face but was able to see clearly into the changelings beautiful forest green eyes. She felt herself become lost within those dark green orbs. She became entranced in his eyes because she felt as if they were emanating a sense of mystery that was calling out to her. Wanting her. Needing her. She feels Garfield start to lighten up and soften. He was letting his guard down.

"Never." Raven replied. She summoned her powers and a dark energy ridden hand came out from the floor, underneath the pair. The energized hand collided with Garfield's mid-section and was suddenly launched off of Raven and across the room. He slammed against the ground on his back, with the hand forcing him down and successfully pinning him.

Raven got up swiftly and jumped into the air landing on top of Garfield. Raven, still using her powers to subdue the changeling, grabbed him by the collar. With Garfield in between Raven's legs, she conveyed a message that Garfield won't forget:

"Sorry, Garfield." Raven said softly. She bent down so her mouth was against Garfield's ear; her voice softened and whispered, "I'm not easy to subdue." Her hair lightly grazed the superhero's cheeks.

She slowly backed up so she could look into the changeling's eyes. As she looked into his dark, emerald orbs, she failed to realize the position she was in. Letting her eyes wander, she gazed over Garfield's newer physique and mentally drooled. After soaking in the spectacle that lay before her, a deep blush formed on her cheeks.

With having that said, she got off the changeling but didn't release her hold on him. She gathered her things slowly and started to head towards the sliding doors, which lead out of the gym. As the doors slid open she stopped and looked back, draping her towel over her shoulder. She smiled, almost mischievously then snapped her fingers and her hold on Garfield was lifted. Garfield repositioned himself so he was sitting Indian style on the floor.

Wow… Was the only thought that was running through the young man's mind. As he relived the moment when Raven stared into his eyes, he couldn't help but smile. God, she's so beautiful. The Beast purred in agreement. I mean, I know I shouldn't think about my teammate like this but just the sight of her, on top of me; panting; sweating; cloak clinging tightly on her body; the beads of sweat shimmering on her cleavage… fuck me.

I hope she's always this… enticing.

Yeah… you said it.

The changeling slowly sat up straight and then took in a deep breath. With his heightened senses, he could still feel Raven's power lingering on his body. He also could smell her distinct scent of lavender, different types of incense and her natural musk that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Smiling to himself and completely content, he got up, gathered his belongings and headed towards the shower, once again.

-Somewhere Outside the Tower [Unknown Territory]-

Somewhere deep underground sat a lone figure, quietly watching the scene in front of him. The figure sat quietly and concentrated on the plethora of screens mounted on the lairs' walls. As his one exposed eye scanned from one section of his command center to the other, he couldn't help but smile beneath his mask. Displayed before him was a computer geek's wettest dream: dozens of differently sized monitors displaying information regarding his current target. Each monitor sizes range from your everyday widescreen LCD panel to panels the size of a side of a house.

The LCD panels were grouped together according to the figure it was displaying. The walls in which the panels were being mounted on were siphoned into five sections; one for each target. Each section being labeled accordingly, showed multiple angles from multiple viewpoints of his intended victims. The masked figure just scanned each section, one by one, slowly taking in the information being shown to him. He was silent as he was meticulously formulating a plan within his genius mind.

"Miranda." The dark figure called out into the darkness of the lair. Moments later a middle-aged woman appeared before him, as per requested.

"Yes, Mister Slade?" She replied, standing at the ready.

"How is our… guest holding up?" As if on cue one of the LCD displays in which wasn't monitoring anything quickly switched on, revealing a figure.

Said figure was currently chained in a spread-eagle like position and was unconscious. Upon closer inspection one could tell this person was not only brutally tortured but was also captive for quite some time. The figure being hung was covered with massive bruises, dried blood clung to her damaged skin and clothing while crimson red liquid was lightly dripping from newer wounds. As Slade typed a few commands into the nearest terminal a new image appeared beside the monitor in which he was watching his captive.

The new display revealed a full-body x-ray scan of the current victim. As he clicked each section of the figures body, he could clearly see the extent of the damage he had given his victim, as well as how deep the wounds were. He could see multiple fractures, multiple breaks, hairline fractures, slight internal bleeding, the works. Even he was surprised that his guest was still alive and breathing, albeit just barely.

"Well, sir, subject KA-01A still show signs of life." Replied his servant, respectfully. "Although, I believe that anymore treatment done to subject KA-01A would prove to be fruitless. KA-01A is adamant on surviving for as long as possible."

"Thank you for the report, Miranda." Replied Slade calmly. "I believe that KA-01A is ready for phase two. Please have her ready within the hour and report back to me if she gives you any… difficulty."

"Yes, sir." Miranda quickly bows and executes her orders.

Slade reverts his gaze back to the five sections on his wall and can't help but chuckle lightly to himself. Each section he was focused upon was clearly labeled with the names: Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy.

"Well, my dearest friends, enjoy this time of serenity while it lasts. I will be watching your every move and when the time comes…" Slade doesn't finish his sentence as he breaks out into a fit of maniacal laughter.

-Back at Titan's Tower-

After Garfield was finished showering for the second time today, he entered the Common room in civilian clothing and sat down at the couches. After looking at the clock and realizing that it was nearing one in the afternoon, he decided he would wait for Raven to come back from showering to go out and have lunch with her.

"But in the meantime," Garfield spoke out loud, "time to rot my brain with some good 'old fashion TV." After having slight difficulty in trying to find the remote for the TV, he gave up his goal and rather than watching TV, he started to ponder about his teammate; his Raven.

It's been like, what? Three years since we've seen her last?

Yeah, something along those lines. The Beast replied.

Ya know, she's changed quite a bit.

Do tell.

I mean, yeah, physically she's changed quite a bit but personality wise… she's become much bolder. Heck, before we even left she was more expressive, ya know? She was still that creepy, dark and mysterious girl that was always by herself. She still secluded herself from us because she believed that she didn't have what it takes to completely control herself and her powers; she stayed away because she cared about us. She was so afraid of hurting us, the team, the Titans that she refused to allow herself to feel any kind of emotion, for fear of hurting or even potentially killing us.

But that was when we first met. The first time we laid eyes upon one another.

Then we defeated her father, Trigon. Fucking douchebag. As much as I hate that… thing, I have to say, I have to thank him or else I would've never been able to meet Raven.

True but even taking that into consideration, what he did was completely selfish and brutal. Remember that. We can't let ourselves think that just because of one deed, albeit a deed that has made us the better, we can let those who've done bad and harm, live without justice.

You're sounding like Ro-I mean Nightwing, ya know… But all that aside, the Raven that we see now, the Raven we interact with now is…

The moment the thought crossed inside Garfield's mind, Raven enters the room through the sliding doors, snapping him out of his current trance. Turning around on the sofa, he watches as Raven drains the water from her long hair, using her two hands. She releases her hair within her hands and sways it back and forth in a very cliché, movie style manner.

"…Beautiful." Garfield breathes out, quietly. Raven looks up to see the changeling slightly gawking at her from the couch. A ghost of a smile forms on her lips.

"So, Gar, what's the plan for the rest of today?" Raven questions. "Since Dick and Kori are currently off together and Victor has abandoned us because he has to run and see Karen..."

The changeling has a face that clearly says 'who?'.

"Oh, right. Bumble Bee." Garfield mouths 'oh' upon hearing this news. "If you don't have anything planed I'm fine with just sticking around the Tower and finding something to do…" Raven trails off, signifying that she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do. Garfield just shook his head.

"Nah, Rae. I have an idea?"

"Yeah? And what did you have in mind?"

"I say, we go out for lunch." Raven arches an eyebrow at his suggestion. "What? Neither of us have eaten since breakfast and it's already nearing 1:30. Plus after our intense workout session today, I believe we deserve a day out in the city. What ya say? Let's go out!" Garfield says enthusiastically.

'Let's go out, huh?' Raven ponders. "Alright, Garfield. But do you have any idea as to where we'll be eating lunch during the cities' lunch hour?" The empath questions.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do! I believe that I have the best place in mind for just the occasion." As the two Titans leave the tower, they fail to notice that their every movement, every word and every breath was being recorded.

As Raven followed the green hawk that was flying in front of her, she can't help but wonder as to where he was taking her.

He's only been back, like what? Two days? I would've imagined that he forgot what this town looked like… or at least he would've asked if it was still there in case it got moved or something… But it would seem he has no doubt as to where he's going.

As the empath flew quietly behind her fellow partner she couldn't help but sense the radiating happiness from him. Wherever he is taking her, he obviously liked it.

Suddenly the green hawk made a sudden change in his course and started a nose dive. Raven, taken back slightly, followed her colleague albeit more cautiously. She watched as the hawk got lower and lower until he arched his back into a backflip and ended up landing on his feet in his normal form. She couldn't help but smile at his rather reckless antics. Upon landing next to the green changeling, she looks up from him to see a diner.

"Well Rae, welcome to Moe's Diner!" Garfield started to flail his arms widely. His response, an arched eyebrow. "Trust me. Don't knock it until you've tried it." Garfield, now holding the door open politely for Raven, gestured her to go in, which she did willingly.

Once Garfield was inside the diner, the owner by the name of Maurice, quickly spotted him and yelled for him.

"Yo! Beast Boy!" The diner owner yelled excitedly.

"Hey Moe! It's been a while." Garfield replies, high-fiving the owner.

"Indeed it has. I was about to start thinking you weren't even going to come back!" Maurice said in a rather exaggerated manner.

"Nah I could never stay away forever, dude. Plus, there are things that I love too much for me to leave." Garfield quietly gestures over towards Raven, who was behind her eyeing the diner approvingly.

"Ah… I see…" Maurice lightly nudges Garfield. "As always, it's a pleasure to have the Titans in my diner. Everything's on the house and before you can refuse…" Garfield has his right index finger up, already ready to deny his generous offer. "Think of it as a 'Welcome Back Garfield' party." Without further words, the owner showed the two Titans over to their seats and left.

"So what ya think so far, Rae?"

"Well, to be honest, I had a feeling that the owner of this place was a rather nice person. At least that was my assumption before he gave us that generous offer."

"How'd you figure that?" Garfield started to scan through the menu, which evidently changed in the past few years.

"It feels somewhat… nostalgic, I guess. It had a nice atmosphere when we walked in. I guess it's one of those things I felt."

"Ah… well I found this place a while back and last time I was here, they had the best Caesar salad and Triple Berry Pie… yum…" Garfield literally started drooling at the mere thought of tasting their pies.

Raven chuckled lightly at his childish antics. "I'll take your word for it, Gar." After reviewing the menu for a minute, Raven decided on what she was going to order. Just as she placed the menu back on the table, the waitress walked over.

"Hey guys, I'm Melissa and I'll be your server today. What can I get ya guys to drink?" The waitress politely entered.

"I'll take a water with lemon and the lovely lady will have Jasmine Green tea." Garfield ordered. Again, in response to his comment he received yet another arched eyebrow.

"Very well." The waitress replied, writing down the orders. "Are you guys ready to order or do you think you need another minute or two?"

"Well, I'm ready to order. I don't know about Garfield though…" The two females now eye Garfield who had a rather painful look on his face while looking at the menu… which was being turned upside-down and all around.

"Ugh…" Garfield groans. "Moe!" Moe comes back from the back and eyes Garfield.

"Yo."

"Surprise me."

"Very well, Mr. Logan." Without further questions, Moe returns back into the kitchen.

"And what about you Miss Raven?"

"I'll take the lemon chicken with rice and veggies."

"Thank you. I'll get your drinks and your orders will be out shortly." Melissa politely gathers the menus and leaves the two Titans.

"Ya want to know something interesting, Rae?" Garfield asks while looking out the window.

"What's the Gar?" The waitress drops off the drinks on the tabletop then leaves to serve the next set of customers. Raven takes a small sip of her tea, smiling as she feels the warm liquid quench her thirst.

"You want to know the last time I was here?" Garfield continues to look out the window. His eyes were slightly closed and almost glazed over. Raven could sense nostalgia and sadness radiating off him. She reaches over the table and takes Garfield's hand into hers and she gives him a reassuring squeeze.

"When was that, Gar?" She watches as he stops gazing out the window and looks Raven straight in her own deep violet eyes.

"The last time I saw her." Without even having mentioned her name, Raven already knew as to whom he was referring to. Terra.

"You failed to explain to me, the rest of the Titans, what actually happened back then… clearly." Raven replied, still holding Garfield's hand.

"Well, you know how I told you guys that I found Terra again, right?" Raven replied with a small nod while taking small sips from her tea. "Well, while you guys were fighting that elemental-morphing-adapting-thing, I ran into her. After I confronted her, she told me she didn't remember anything after waking up in that cave."

At that moment the waitress Melissa came by and dropped off Raven's lemon chicken and Garfield's special dish that was an assortment of veggies and what looked and smelled like vinaigrette dressing. Raven saw Garfield's face falter slightly.

"Last time I was here, I had this exact same meal… " Garfield slowly zones out but quickly recovers a few seconds later. "Anyways, after a few days of research and borderline-stalking, I've finally concluded that she was telling the truth. She doesn't remember anything at all.

"At that time, I thought things could back to the way things were, ya know? Like having Terra with us Titans again and we would all be fighting crime together. But I kinda knew, in the back of my mind that, that reality was far from coming true. But one could hope, eh?"

Both Raven and Garfield slowly ate their meals while Garfield recapped with the events after Things Change.

"Well that gave me a lot to think about. Gave me time to think about people… things… life… ya know? Stuff like that."

"Do you love her?" Raven asked seriously. She places her knife and fork back on the table, dabs her mouth with her napkin and looks at Garfield with steady eyes. After a few moments, with Garfield in deep thought, he replies.

"Yeah. I was." Garfield saw Raven's eyes' flash sadness before recovering herself a split second later. "But if you were to ask me if I still loved her now, I would say yes." Raven's breath hitched in her throat due to his comment.

"But I don't think it would be in a romantic type way." Garfield continues. Raven now eye's the changeling skeptically. "It would be more platonic than romantic now. I mean, sure, I was head over heels for the blonde at first but that doesn't mean after her betrayal, I would forever ban her from my heart and mind.

"I will always have a soft spot for those I loved. It will never go away and it will never always fully heal. I guess you can call it the scars of my heart." Garfield chuckles lightly at his analogy. ", but if she were to come back from the blue, I would still welcome her with open arms. That includes her having and not having her memory restored.

"But to answer the more critical question; I would say no. If she were to come back, I wouldn't fall back in love with her. I wouldn't want to start or continue a relationship with her because not only did she hurt me deeply, but she also harmed the team… hurt you." Garfield said the last part quietly.

"She had her chance… no, we had our chance and it didn't work out. Plus, I figured I should start moving on to bigger and better things. She would've wanted me to and I know she wouldn't have minded. My heart and mind is currently clouded with other things… more pressing matters than my past relationship with the geomancer." Both Garfield and Raven finished their meals and now were waiting on their dessert: two slices of Triple Berry Pie.

"What about you, Rae? Anyone in your life I would have to beat up if he or she broke your heart." Garfield wiggled his eyebrows.

"Real funny Gar but no, I don't have anything or anyone like that in my life… currently." Raven replied. "I guess you could say that I'm still waiting on my partner. Plus, I barely go out anyways so there's barely a chance for any of the lads in this city to have a piece of this." Raven gestures to her whole self.

"No offence sweetheart but if anyone as much as looks at you the wrong way, he'll have to deal with me." Garfield stated sternly.

"Oh, my knight in shining armor." Raven sarcastically coos. Garfield gets out of his chair and walks up to Raven while she is still sitting in hers. He takes her right hand, goes down to one knee, lightly bows his head and kisses the top of her hand.

"My lady." Garfield curtseys. This resulted in Raven blushing.

Melissa walks on over with their desserts and looks at Garfield questionably. Then her eyes were almost bulging out of her head.

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt your proposal!" Melissa shrieked. The two heroes went just as bug-eyed as the waitress.

"What?"

"Whoa?"

"No, no, no, no, no…" Garfield suddenly shot off his one knew and jumped into the air. "You got it all wrong… I wasn't proposing!"

"Yeah, it was just a simple misunderstanding and bad timing." Added Raven.

"Oh… shucks." Both Titans stare at the waitress. "I was actually hoping that you two would end up together… heh…" Melissa starts chuckling to herself. "Heh, my bad… anyways! Enjoy your dessert!" Without taking a moment to breathe, Melissa shot back into the kitchen in a flash.

"Well… that was… " Garfield started.

"… Interesting… " Raven ended. Without much interruptions or awkward moments, the two heroes finished their dessert, paid their respects and walked out of the diner.

As the two Titans left Moe's diner, Garfield gestured towards Raven to follow him, which she did obediently. The two walked in silence, both being lost in their own thoughts about each other. But they soon found themselves at Jump City All Natural Preserve; basically their park and wildlife preserved area. This place was currently buzzing with not only with wildlife but also the city life as residents from both the city and outer residencies.

People come from the tri-state area to come to this place because of its natural beauty and come serene atmosphere. Thus, the Titans found themselves amongst the many couples and families that enjoyed the all-natural scenery and animal life.

"Hey Rae?" Garfield quietly asks.

"What's up, Gar?"

"Would you mind if we took a little detour up ahead?" Garfield points out that they were indeed following a set path that people took. The particular route they were following was the more scenic route and those for people who wanted to enjoy each other's company as well as the scenery. Sort of like a romantic walk in a very serene view.

"Sure. But in all honesty, I really don't mind walking this particular path with you..." The dark empath hinted.

"It's not that I don't mind enjoying this view and atmosphere with you as well…" The changeling defended. "It's just that I have a more personal tour I want to take you on. That is, if you don't mind." Garfield put out his hand, hoping that she would take it.

"Of course, Gar. Just as long as I don't end up being ditched or something…" The sorceress looks down as if the ground seemed interesting all of a sudden. Garfield mentally noted her behavior and reminded himself to ask her about it later.

Raven takes his hand gingerly and was slowly being lead towards a set of benches off on the side of the path. But he didn't drag her to sit down at said benches, but instead he moved behind them and got on his hands and knees.

"You might want to get down. It's a bit of crawling where we're heading towards." Garfield informs while smiling sheepishly with one hand behind his neck. Raven just rolls her eyes and follows her beloved.

After merely five minutes of crawling through rather thick brush, and another fifteen walking through an overgrown pathway, it slowly started to open up. Raven soon found herself coming into a clearing with vibrant green grass and a single large rock in the center.

Garfield was already at the center of the small field, sitting on top of the boulder with his feet hanging over the side. While sitting on top of the makeshift lawn chair, Garfield just watched Raven as she took in the scenery.

Raven, to say the least, was in complete awe as she took in the atmosphere and view. She scanned the area before her and felt as if she were on a movie set. The grass was naturally grown and was long enough that when the wind picked up, you could see the wind bands in streaks going over the grass. The place was extremely well lit when the sun was out and she could even imagine how clear the night sky would be at night. All in all it was absolutely stunning and beautiful.

"How'd you manage to find such a place, Gar?" Raven asked, still soaking it in.

"Well, this boulder right here," Garfield slapped the large rock with his hands, "wasn't here when we found it." Garfield replied, still watching Raven.

"Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Garfield just waved his hand.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Rae. In all honesty we found it by happenstance. We were just enjoying ourselves when I touched her hand, she lost focus on her powers and we came tumbling down here. I guess you could call it fate or sheer dumb luck." Garfield chuckled lightly. Garfield then gestured her to sit next to him on the boulder and she did so without hesitation.

"Hey Gar," Raven said while she rested her head on his shoulder, "tell me a story."

"Huh?" Garfield asks while wrapping his arms around Raven's waist. "Well, I'm not sure if I can tell you a good story… but I think I might have a small tale I could tell." Garfield paused and looked Raven straight into her eyes. He watched as the most beautiful violet eyes stared back into his wild green eyes.

"Once, there was a young superhero called Beast Boy. He was green, a jokester and all around great guy." Both Raven and Garfield chuckled as Garfield told his story. "When he first met the Titans, he was as happy as a kid on Christmas could be. He met four wonderful and awesome friends. They were Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and finally, Raven." Garfield squeezed his arms tighter around her waist to nudge her.

"He fought countless villains and enemies while he lived with them in their infamous Tower. Almost every day, he would start fights with his best friend Cyborg during the morning when it came to what to eat for breakfast. This was because was an advent carnivore while Beast Boy was a full on vegan. Let's just say the mornings were intolerable. Especially for Raven, for she is a person who thrives off of silence, serenity and tea.

"Our lives together have sent us all to the edge and back again. We have fought with ourselves, with each other and even things from other universes! Whether it be us fighting Slade, fighting your father or even fighting what's for breakfast, we would always, in the end, end up victorious. But our greatest victories as well as battles would be with ourselves. At least, that's what I believe and they would always involve the entire team.

"I can say for the most part that one of my greatest battles was with me when it came to Terra." Garfield's eyes never left Raven's as he tells his tale to her. "I will not lie to you, Raven because she was indeed my first crush. Love would be too strong of a word for it because I was immature to the feelings I felt for her at that time. Crush would be better because it was indeed my first true crush and likewise could be said from her perspective.

"Even though our relationship only lasted for a short while, it was still true. Regardless of what others might say or think, one thing was for certain: we liked each other. Even at the very end after she betrayed us and saved us, I still believe that, that attraction was there. She told me, at the very end that I should be happy, whether or not it was with her. Even until this day, I thank her because she was right: I have the right to be happy and I shouldn't let the past haunt me forever. I should be happy with whomever I want to."

Garfield pauses yet again but it wasn't because he was becoming emotional of his story, no. it was because he was looking at Raven , who was currently in his arms, in an embrace and her face was lit with a smile. To Garfield, her smiles mean a thousand times more than your average everyday smile from everyday people. This was special, this was beautiful.

"You should smile more often, Rae." Garfield whispers. "It really suits you."

"You think so?"

"Definitely." Garfield replies with a genuine smile of his own. "Hey Rae, we should start heading back now." Raven, finally taking her eyes off the changeling, looks up into the sky. When they first arrived at Garfield's secret location, it was clear and blue but now the blue was replaced with black and was dotted with stars. It was a full moon out and the entire opening in which they were sitting was completely illuminated from the moons glow. Words could barely describe how beautiful everything was. Everything about today was just… perfect.

As Garfield morphed into a hawk once more, Raven took a few seconds before leaving the sacred grounds. After taking one last mental image Raven summoned her powers and started flying towards Garfield. While flying the two Titans had the same thoughts run through their minds.

"The city is really beautiful at night, don't you think so, Gar?" Raven's question was soon replied with an enthusiastic sounding squawk. After being in such a beautiful clearing for most of the afternoon and ending with a flight over a city at night was pure bliss for both heroes.

As Titans Tower came into view, the two Titans landed on the beach located in front of their home. As Garfield landed he could feel the sand give way underneath his feet. He looks up at the tower and can't help but smile.

Home is where the hearts at, eh? Garfield thought to himself. Man 'home sweet home' definitely comes into mind. Garfield then turns around in time to see Raven land gracefully in front of him. With his back towards the tower, Garfield once again places an outstretched hand for Raven to take. But Raven hesitates.

"Hey Gar, please don't take this the wrong way." Raven starts. Garfield replies with his hand still outstretched towards her.

"Whatever it is Rae, just say it to me straight."

"Coming back after all these years… I can honestly say that I'm extremely happy. But things have changed since you've been gone." Raven looks down at her feet. "I hope you realize that things can't always go back to the way things were…" Garfield just shakes his head.

"I know, Raven. Trust me, I know." Garfield walks up to her and stops as he's mere inches away from her. He takes his right hand and cups it underneath Raven's chin and lifts her face up to meet with his. "I can honestly say that I don't expect things to go back to the way it was. I wouldn't want that. I know things have changed and I want to meet and experience those changes. I want to be there with the team… with you."

The wind suddenly picks up which resulted in Raven's long hair billowing in the wind, behind her. Garfield notices the bangs flowing wildly in the wind and takes his hands away from her chin. Instead he takes his right hand and takes Raven's bangs and tucks it behind her left ear.

Garfield then slowly starts to lean into Raven. Raven noticing his movements, mirrors and her hearts start to race and she slowly starts to close her eyes. Just as they close in, Garfield suddenly stops. Raven, feeling Garfield's sudden change in mood, opens her eyes to see Garfield with his eyes wide open.

Garfield sniffs the air and Raven reciprocates. Both of their mouths close and Raven suddenly realizes why Garfield was suddenly taken out of his romantic trance. The inside of her mouth was lined with the taste of copper, heavy copper.

Garfield suddenly turns around and starts dashing towards the entrance of Titans Tower with Raven following suit. Garfield stops abruptly 100 feet from the towers entrance with his faze fixated at the entrance. Raven stops next to Garfield and grabs onto his shoulder to get his attention. She could hear Garfield growl underneath his breathing as his gaze intensifies at the towers entrance. As Raven squints to try and see what Garfield was looking at, she gasps at the sight of a body.

As the two Titans closed the distance between them and the body, realization struck Garfield like a bolt of lightning.

What was laid before the two was a female body.

It was Terra.

And she was covered in blood.

---

Author's Zone:

Again, I deeply apologize for everyone that is or was following this fanfic for the sudden disappearance. I really don't have a good excuse for my absence but rest assured, I am back but I will only be updating when I can. It can vary from every two weeks to every month. But the bottom line is: I will be updating. No more 'couple months of absence' bullshit. Again, I'm sorry.

Also I hope this wasn't too confusing or fast paced. The original copy that was typed some ages ago, have been warped and redone over 17 times. So technically speaking there are 17 different versions of this one chapter because me being a completely indecisive individual as well as OCD, I didn't like how they came out and had to refine them. I guess you could say it was a contributing factor as to why I was so delayed in updating again. =X

I also apologize to Robin/Nightwing fans because as I was writing this, my friends who were reviewing the story before I posted, noticed that he was being a bit of a douche when he was analyzing Garfield. I didn't intentionally write him off as that but I'm sorry if it did. I just hoped it added the desire effect of Garfield's change.

Also, rest assured that questions will be answered in the near future. The main one being 'where did Garfield go in those three years and what happened.' Be patient as things are slowly being unfolded since you now know of the main villain of the story.

I give my thanks, in advance, to all the people who still stay with this story and want to see it through. This is for all my loyal fans, friends and all those who gave me inspiration for this fanfic. 'Till next time!