FicWad

The newly expanded Teen Titans were, for a change, taking a leisurely trip home. The R-Cycle had been strapped to the top of the T-Car, outside of which flew Raven and Starfire. The remaining four were inside the automobile: Robin and Cyborg in the front and Beast Boy and Terra in the back.

"So...what kind of cool stuff do I get? Like Birdarangs and freeze bombs and lasers and stuff?" Beast Boy mimicked the sound of lasers being fired to punctuate his hopeful excitement.

Terra and Robin laughed at that, and the latter responded, "Slow down, Beast Boy. Most of that's my stuff. Besides, you don't need weapons, do you? You are a weapon."

"Robin!" the blonde protested, moving closer to Beast Boy. She said nothing else, but shot her leader a glare that could have turned him to stone.

"No, Terra," Beast Boy mumbled, blushing. "It's...it's cool, really."

The conversation fell into uncomfortable silence that, despite the unspoken intentions of Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy, could not be broken. The remainder of the ride was without notable incident; however, Terra's glare never wavered and she never left Beast Boy's side until the six Titans reached their Tower.

-IL-

"It's gonna take me a while to get your room ready," Cyborg commented as Robin handed Beast Boy a communicator. "'Til then, you can share a room with someone else."

"Oh, friend Beast Boy! Take up the lodging with me and we shall stay awake through the night sharing tales, eating zorka berries, and playing the gorka pipes while singing traditional Tamaranean folk songs!"

The other Titans looked at Beast Boy with a severe thought in each of their minds: "You'd better not room with Star."

Beast Boy looked at Starfire oddly. "Uhm, thanks but no thanks, Starfire." Before he could even turn around to face Terra, she volunteered.

"You wanna room with me, BB?" The new Titan's answer came unspoken, but it gave the others a good idea of what colour one gets when red and green are mixed. "Okay, come on," she beckoned. "I'll show you around the place."

"Wait, Beast Boy." Robin insisted, which made both Terra and Beast Boy stop in their places and turn to face him. "I'm sorry about what I said to you in the car."

"Robin, chill. I told you it was cool." He turned back. "Let's go, Terra."

The Boy Wonder, not feeling very wonderful at all, just watched them walk out of the communications room.

-IL-

"Welcome to my room, Beast Boy," Terra announced. "You can take my bed until Cy gets your room made up. I'll sleep on the couch."

Looking between the brown-sheeted bed that was all too large for him and the semicircular couch on which she could never have been comfortable, Beast Boy declined. "I'll take the couch. It's your room and all; you take the bed."

"You sure?" Beast Boy nodded. "Okay then. There's the computer on the table over there," she motioned to the couch, which surrounded the table she mentioned. "It's got the Internet if you need it. And that's pretty much the tour."

"Cool. So..." He trailed off and slowly looked down to the floor.

"You alright, Beast Boy?"

Before he could give an answer, their communicators went off. Terra opened hers before Beast Boy even realised what the noise was and, almost as quickly, started running out of the room.

"What's up, Terra?"

"Trouble. You coming?"

He nodded and followed.

-IL-

A vault door exploded off its hinges after two arcs of pink energy hit it. The sorceress responsible for the destruction entered the vault that she had just opened. Her eyes sparkled like the diamonds and gold to which she had allowed herself access. She slung a small sack from her shoulder and began filling it with precious stones and metals. "I'll be set for life," she thought happily.

"Tough luck, Jinx!" came Robin's voice from behind her.

The sorceress gasped and turned her head over her shoulder, then smiled slyly. "Nice try, Robin, but the bad luck is yours today." Putting her bag of loot down, she waved one arm in an arc and sent another wave of cursed pink energy at the Titans.

"Titans! Break!" Robin barked. The six split into three pairs -- Robin and Cyborg, Raven and Starfire, and Terra and Beast Boy -- and began a sequence of three attacks on the pink-haired sorceress. The wave crashed seconds after the break and shattered a glass door into countless shards.

As the Tamaranean flung Star Bolts at Jinx, Raven surrounded the destroyed vault door with black power and threw it at her foe. With astounding agility -- doubly so because she was in such a small and confined area -- Jinx dodged every last Star Bolt with simple strides and, without even flinching, swept both her arms in front of her and let fly a massive curse that destroyed the projectile door upon contact.

Raven and Starfire backed out and allowed Robin and Cyborg to attack. The metal man looked at his friend and implied his plan. "I've got the sonic if you've got the boom." Robin nodded and the two moved into formation. Again Jinx waved her arms in front of her, but this time she sent out two curses: one directed at each wall.

The segment of wall on which each of the two were running exploded in front of them, causing Cyborg to falter and fire his Sonic Cannon at another closed vault, which left a small though very noticeable hole in the door. Robin also stumbled, accidentally dropping his bombs in front of Beast Boy. The resulting explosion knocked the changeling back into the vault that Cyborg had opened.

-IL-

Before Beast Boy knew what was going on, all light disappeared. He could no longer see his friends, though he could hear the sounds of the battle outside.

He could hear something else, too. No -- not some/thing/. Some/one/. Someone saying something in his head.

"Hello, Garfield."

The voice wasn't in his head. There was someone else in the vault with him, blocking the hole in the door with his body. "Who are you?" he asked the darkness.

"I've been watching you, Garfield," the eerily calm voice responded.

"How do you know my name? And what do you want?"

"I want to offer you something." The person shifted slightly and let a crack of light slip through. The light reflected off a jewel and shone on the person's face for only a second; still, Beast Boy could discern a glint of orange. The person moved back and the vault was dark once more. "They don't take you seriously, Garfield. They think you're a joke."

"That's not true! They accepted me!"

"Did they? Is that the reason you're in this vault right now?"

"That was an accident! Robin slipped!"

"Did he? Or does he think that you're not necessary for this fight? Listen to them." The voice stopped talking and let the sounds of the battle echo through the hole and to Beast Boy's ears. Jinx was screaming in protest and the sound of sirens was growing louder. "They've won. They've won without you."

"You're a liar! They want me! They wouldn't have let me in otherwise!" Beast Boy lunged out towards the door, trying to attack the voice, but as he reached where the voice was, light suddenly streamed in through the hole. He looked behind him to try to see who or what had been talking to him, but nobody was there.

Another voice began talking to him as the arm to which the voice belonged reached in through the hole. "Beast Boy? Are you alright?" Terra's face filled Beast Boy's vision when he looked through.

"Yeah. Yeah, Terra," he managed to say. He clambered out of the vault and dusted himself off as soon as he was back on his feet.

"Beast Boy," Robin started. "I'm sorry again. It was an--"

"Accident. I know. Thanks," he replied. "Now, come on. That fight must've made you all hungry. I know this great pizza place nearby. We'll celebrate!"

Starfire looked at him oddly. "But you said you do not eat the meat."

"I don't." He laughed. "Not everything on pizza is meat."

"You mean the napkin is not meat?"

"Dude, napkins aren't even toppings."

She looked confused, then blushed embarrassedly. "I would have liked to have been told that earlier."

Terra and Beast Boy laughed in unison with amusement rather than mockingly. Beast Boy insisted, "Come on. The cops can clear things up here." He looked at Jinx, who had been tied up in the cable of Robin's grappling hook. "Let's get something to eat!"

Robin nodded. "I think we could use some pizza." He looked out the glass doors and saw the familiar red and blue flashes directly outside. "The police are here. Sure, let's go." Two policemen entered, took Jinx by her arms, and filed out without saying anything. As the patrol car sped away, the Titans walked out of the bank.

"Yo, BB! Where's that pizza place?" Cyborg asked over his shoulder. There was no response. Cyborg stopped and turned around. "BB?"

Beast Boy was standing just inside of the bank, looking at the shards of broken glass: remnants of the battle in which he did not fight. "Was he right?" he thought. "Do they need me?"

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg called.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm coming," he loudly mumbled and started walking. Careful though he was, he could not help but step on one piece of wayward glass and destroy it with his weight.