Archive of Our Own ^beta

Author's notes: This is a gift for my awesome friend and fellow author, Relentlesslyoptimistic, who has helped me so much recently, so this is for her, hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Next in 'The Extremityverse', each story is standalone but shares continuity.

Built on the (2003) animated series canon, but it is not the same universe. Think of these as lost episodes. 

This story takes place during season 5.

Time is the Answer Nobody Saw

If you were to ask Beast Boy what value he placed on the concept of time, he’d probably be confused at the question. Not that he didn’t understand the meaning, just that it wasn’t something he had considered. Why would he at his age? He had all the time in the world; his future was ahead, and it looked bright most days. Though now and then he’d slowly get reminded that time was indeed a luxury, especially when there was a specific time on hand.

He only entered the competition on a whim, not that he expected to win. His answer wasn’t clever or insightful, part of him did wonder if the owner was just trying to gain favour with Jump Cities heroes, any publicity is good after all. The fact was that he had them, and the word being ‘them’, tickets, plural. Free pass, all weekend, two holders required, and there was the clause, one he wished was just a typo, a clear mistake, but no…

He checked, meticulously. They wanted two visitors; clearly, it was a publicity stunt. He was certain, though there was little he could do to change it now, it was already Thursday.

Each of them got asked the same question, “Come on, it’ll be fun and it's free!?” and he got given different responses to the same answer:

“Sorry, Busy”

“I cannot, I am afraid”

“You know I get sick on rollercoasters, B?”

The only one that was spared a question was Raven, asking the resident empath seemed like a waste of breath, not like he didn’t contemplate it for a second, then quickly move it out of his mind, often nagging at him throughout the week as the days soon passed.

Now it was Friday, and the last chance to redeem the ticket before the day ended, Raven now seemed like a last hope instead of an unthinkable option. Though he wasn’t sure how to approach her to get the answer he was hoping for, scenarios ran through his head as he contemplated his next move.

Maybe if I play it cool? Casual, yes, that’s it! No. Maybe if I offer her chore duties? “Ah, I’m not cut out for this!” Luckily for the changeling, his whining fell on deaf ears; the couch was his sanctuary alone in the early afternoon. Without a threat to fight, the rest of his teammates had ventured off to partake in their usual activities, leaving him and his brain to slowly malfunction.

Defeated, his body flopped backwards, almost being absorbed by the couch cushions. Taking a quick glance at his winning ticket, his soon-to-be-worthless tickets seemed to get heavier each time he picked them up. He thought it was pointless now; he had so little time to convince her, and she’d probably only say no almost immediately, so why bother?”

Sitting back up, a deflated groan escaped his lips. What’s the point? He thought to himself, the futile disposition had completely distracted him from the enveloping, familiar aroma surrounding his senses.

Is that… lavender? “Oh?” Beast Boy felt the slow press of a pair of sleek arms wrapping around him, locked with a pair of stoned, toned hands. The press of her head against his own felt unusual but comforting. He still wasn’t sure what was happening; this was so very not a Raven move.

“R… Raven, are you okay?” Beast Boy felt her embrace grow tighter. It was a hug he hadn’t felt since a dragon redecorated her room; it felt good. Disarming, in the moment, he wasn’t complaining, just curious. Raven pulled away, her arms moved back up, letting her left hand cradle the back of his head. She applied gentle strokes, watching as he turned up to face her, looking down at him from behind the sofa.   

“I just wanted you to know, Garfield, how much I appreciate you. No matter what you might think, no matter what I might do… I always will,” Her smile was so warm, as warm as he felt, feeling her fingers rub through his hair, he felt content.

“You do? Oh, thanks, Rae,” Garfield looked up at her, feeling a wave of reassurance. He hadn’t expected this; it had to be a sign from the universe. There couldn’t be any doubt. As her hand slipped away, her cloak masked her form as she moved off back towards the kitchen. As Garfield kept his eyes on her, he had forgotten already what he had been planning to do all morning. His arms started to pat his pockets to check if they were still there. He looked away for only a moment to make sure he could get them out safely,

“Hey Raven, I was gonna ask…?” Beast Boy had pulled his head back up to the exact spot he’d been staring at, expecting to see her just a few feet further away; instead, nothing. She was gone.

He wasn’t deterred, however; if anything, now he had a newfound confidence to ask her, especially with the mood she was in. Thinking about it for a few minutes, he wasted no more time and flew over towards her room. The flapping of his falcon form filled the corridors. When he returned to his human form just outside her door, he made a soft landing, doubtful she’d hear it. He prepared himself with a quick dusting off his shoulders, best to look presentable after all. Knocking on her door to get a response took talent, one that, thanks to living with her for so long, he’d mastered. Though his perked-up disposition did make his knocking rather more excitable.

“Hey, Raven, hello!?” Three firm taps on the metal panel door rang through the hallway. He watched the right side of the doorframe, waiting; he knew he wouldn’t likely hear any footsteps. As was typical, he saw the sight of her door slowly creep across, stopping just enough to keep her concealed but enough to let her face be clear in the hallway light. She did not look pleased.

“Yes, Beast Boy?” Her tone threw him off; it was completely different from a moment ago, which couldn’t have been more than five minutes.

Was she meditating? “Um, hi Raven, I was just… You know? I was just wondering?”

“Beast Boy, you're babbling.”

“Oh, hehe, sorry,” Garfield grinned. He clenched his fist and cleared his throat, hoping it would help him along. “Ahem, I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me to that new theme park they just reopened, this weekend!? On their free duo pass?” Beast Boy helped up the tickets in question, letting Raven see the ridiculous images displayed on them of anthropomorphic characters having various degrees of what she was sure Beast Boy would call ‘fun’. She stared blankly at them, not changing her familiar, stoic expression. She lifted her eyes up towards Garfield and locked eyes with his goofy grin.

“No, thank you”, and with that, her door promptly shut, leaving him completely befuddled.

“Wait… really?” Beast Boy didn’t understand it; he was certain that she might have at least contemplated the notion. His confusion was soon drowned out by the sound of the deafening wail of the Towers' alarm. Oh, perfect…

None of the Titans really understood Cinderblock now. Without Slade, he just seemed to show up when, well, they had to assume when he got bored or whatever he did when he was out of their sight. This seemed to be the former, a rampage just because and whilst he was hardly a mastermind or a competent threat, he was still a problem, if left unchecked.

The group was applying the standard techniques against him: distract, engage and keep him away from civilians, and it was working. The street was clear, and they had free rein to apply greater force on him. Raven went in with her typical strategy.

“Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!” Raven’s dark energy ripped through the concrete below, stripping the pipes under the street, forcing the pipes to wrap around the stone giant. The behemoth struggled against his restraints, giving the others a chance to deliver a blow that could knock him out. Robin, Cyborg and Starfire all had their projectiles; they shot first. Coating Cinderblock in a veil of smoke, leaving it up to Beast Boy to land the final attack, seeing he had little time, he decided for speed over strength. His transformation choice of a ram gave him that. He saw his target and pelted towards it. Recklessness wasn’t exactly an uncommon strategy for Beast Boy; usually, it paid off, not here, however. The smokescreen of his teammate’s firepower blocked off his sight from the image of a large stone arm swinging straight at him.

The force of his flying across the air was more apparent to him than the pain that struck his head moments after he landed on the ground. His human form rolled around, coming to a halt down the stretch of the alley next to the street where the clash was taking place. The throbbing pain in his temple was slowly blurring his vision, his focus waning as he watched the image of his friends continue to battle slowly turn dark. The last sound he heard was hard to be certain who said it, but the cry was loud, piercing as it rang in his ears, consciousness leaving him.

“GARFIELD!”

Blackness faded in and out of his vision, blurry images and sounds. Next to impossible to make out, the pain in his head was about all he could focus on. The images seemed to flash along at random intervals, and there was no way to tell how long had passed between them. Then he felt something different, like he was pulled around, his head lay back. His consciousness came back again for a moment; his eyes tried to focus on what was in front of him. His vision wasn’t clear, but he was certain the grey and lavender blur above him was who he thought it was; the throbbing pain in his head starting to subside, it had to be her.

“R…Rae?” He tried groaning.

“Shhh, don’t speak” Her reply came as a gentle whisper, almost rocking him back to sleep. His eyes closed, and the darkness came back.

The next time his eyes opened, his vision was clear, the pain in his head was all but gone; it was like walking up from an everyday nap. If a little sore. Which brought his sight to the visage of Raven, who knelt beside him, hands glowing a vibrant blue.

“Raven?” Beast Boy sat up as she continued her work.  

“Almost done.”

Raven scanned across his limbs to make sure she hadn’t missed anything “You know, you really need to think before you act, Garfield. You were lucky it was just a few scratches and a bump on that thick noggin of yours” Raven’s hands flicked like a light cutting off her glow, and her grey hands pulled away, glow now gone as she stood back up, hovering over him. Beast Boy was still down on the concrete, rubbing his temple where Cinderblock had struck him. He glanced over to see the rock man subdued, wrapped around with several types of cables, chains and pipework, the empaths' handwork clearly.

“Oh, Thanks, Rae…” Beast Boy looked back up at her as she stared down at him, offering a hand to pull him up, which he promptly took. With a small tug, he was raised back on his feet.  

“Don’t mention it, now let’s go back home… I’m getting a headache too” Raven turned away, rubbing her temple, walking towards the others. Beast Boy was ready to follow, though he smelled something odd. He thought about it for just a moment, then quickly chalked it up to the knock on his head and waltzed over to his teammates back in the street.

Beast Boy was still uncertain about Raven’s behavior recently. One moment, she seemed like she was his best friend, and the other, she was “No one goes in my room”, same old Raven. It was odd. Though he was now out of options, he was ready to risk it.

He knew he had to act fast; his window could be delayed by anything, a villain or monster again. He would have to be smart; this was Raven. She didn’t suffer fools gladly, and he would have to choose his words carefully; otherwise, the conversation would be over before it barely had a chance to begin once more. After Cinderblock, he’s spent the next few hours rehearsing his questions. Every time it seemed like it would be a disaster, and it promptly put him off again. After he knocked himself out of his funk, he made his way back to the living room to confront his destiny.

The living room doors sounded particularly loud as they glided by. The image they revealed was nothing abnormal, typical really. The other Titans were in familiar spots, cooking, chilling and partaking as they usually did into the early evening. Raven, like always, was reading, way in the back, situated on the coach in her usual spot. Whilst the prospect of witnesses was a scary prospect for his plan, he had to put that aside and focus. He ignored the others and passed by them without any acknowledgement; they were focusing on their own activities.

Her distinct image got clearer as he came around to the curved coach’s edge, stopping just shy of the back edge. Trying to play it casual, Beast Boy placed his elbow against the back pillow, not expecting his arm to slip; his clumsy little moment luckily seemed to go unnoticed by Raven, too focused on her book, not even looking his way.

“Hello, Raven”, Beast Boy announced himself, trying to play off his stumble, trying to sound casual.

“Garfield” Raven still didn’t give him a head turn, just a simple reply, keeping her usual stoic demeanor.

“You know, I was just wondering?”

“You’ve been ‘wondering’ a lot recently”

“Well, I was just… You know… did you wanna...?”

“No, thank you, Garfield” Raven’s sharp reply severed his train of thought, not like it had a clear destination to begin with.

“Wait, but, but I haven’t even asked?” He yelped.

“I’ll assume it’s about that theme park you asked me about this morning?” She replied, Beast Boy gulped; she’d called him out already.

“Yes… But you didn’t hear about all the things you can do there!” The changeling stepped closer towards her, arms out, practically pleading.

“When have I ever made it apparent I’m a big fan of theme parks, Garfield?” Raven questioned.  

“Never but… I thought that maybe?”

“No, thank you, Garfield”

“Oh, come on, please!” Garfield had fallen to his knees, now getting desperate.

“No”

“Please, please, please please?!”

“No, no, no, no”, Raven replied in the same dry tone, still looking at only the pages of her ancient tome.

“I’ll do your chores for a month?!”

“Last I checked, you already owe Cyborg and Starfire a month’s worth. Why don’t you ask one of them to go with you?”

“They’re all busy… come on, Raven, please? I’ll… I’ll go with you to your poetry readings!”

“And watch you fidget all night with boredom? Pass.”

“I’ll be your best friend!”

“In a strange way, Garfield, you already are?”

Oh, come on, dude! “I’ll go with you to the mall?”

“The mall? And you call yourself my best friend, Garfield? Really?” Raven chuckled slightly, still not looking up from her book. Beast Boy’s desperation started to meld with his growing frustration. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled up his lips, getting ready for his next question.

“Amiga que vai comigo pro parque de diversões diz, quê?” Garfield blurted out, fast enough to hope she wouldn’t understand. Raven then, for the first time since their conversation, turned her head to lock eyes with him.

“Boa tentativa, Garfield” Raven gave him a subtle smile and turned back down to her pages.

Beast Boy had little choice now; he had to bring out the big guns. With a decisive and swift transformation, Raven felt the soft fur of a small, cute kitten pressing against the fabric of her arm.

Alright, I’ve had enough “Garfield” Raven firmly snapped her book shut; the sound cut through the other noises filling the living room. “I don’t know where you’ve got this idea in your head that I’m even the slightest bit interested in joining you this weekend at this theme park, but I suggest you get it out of there. I’m not going to change my mind. No matter how many times you ask.” With that, Raven got to her feet, looking down on Garfield once more. As the kittens' form grew, slowly transforming back into Garfield’s natural human state, she didn’t need to be an Empath to see his disappointment. It was clear as the day, one could almost be forgiven that she felt a sense of pity looking at him.

Neither of them had time to rebuttal, the living room was now draped in a deep red, alarm barring through each of their ears.

“This had better not be Cinderblock”, Raven groaned.

Museums were not uncommon for most Villains to pay a visit; there are all kinds of valuables, each with its own unique worth, not really something they imagined Cinderblock going after. But the time the five of them arrived, it was well into the evening, Cyborg placed the T–Bot on patrol outside; it was about all she could manage at the moment; she had still never been the same since the space disk incident.

There was no clear sign of an intruder, but the night guard pointed the group in the right direction. There was definitely something inside, though none of them had any idea what.

With the museum's power off for the night, tracking the trespasser down was even more problematic. Cyborg’s shoulder light scanned around, hovering briefly over various artefacts.

Beast Boy prowled in front of the group, in wolf form, snout at work, trying to get an identity of their target. Returning to Human form, he wasn’t sure what to make of what he’d just sensed.

“Have any clue who it is, Beast Boy?” Robin asked, hoping for a familiar answer.

“I have no idea who this is, guys? … It’s like nothing we’ve ever run into” Beast Boy scratched his head, still contemplating his findings.

“Well, what do you smell?” Raven asked in her usual demeanor. Beast Boy, still looking very confused, locked eyes with her and replied.

“Sand…?”

The group moved off towards the next room, through a set of large doors. Beast Boy went through first, still on the unfamiliar scent.

“You guys hear that?” Beast Boy asked quietly.

“No, what?” Cyborg looked around, trying to see if he could spot anything, his shoulder light, peering around the room.

“Ticking?” Beast Boy wasn’t sure if that was the best word to describe the odd sound he was hearing, though it put Robin on guard.

“A bomb?!” Robin tightened his stance, ready for action, but he just had no idea in what direction.

“No, I think it’s too fast for that, it’s almost up there!” Closing in on the sound he was hearing, Beast Boy pointed. Straight upwards, Cyborg’s light followed his direction and revealed hanging above the room, dangling almost was something none of them could properly make out. With Cyborg’s light revealing it, the being dropped down to the ground floor; all that was visible was a gold mass of metal that, with hardly what you would call a soft landing, slowly started to raise itself to its feet after making its way down.

“Uh, what exactly is that thing?” Raven asked, bluntly. The creature in question was indeed an oddity. Its body structure was insect-like, a strange combination of a beetle and a praying mantis. Humanoid in structure, its arms ended in a pair of long scythe-like blades. Its form was comprised of dull golden metal, with markings across every plate of its body. On its back, a set of wings was clicking, the sound Beast Boy had described. Its most distinct quality was a large gash across its left shoulder that tore through most of its torso; wherever it was from, it had been attacked. The Titans watched as a spark of red electricity tingled around the gash. If Raven and Garfield didn’t know any better, they were sure the energy from the wound looked familiar.

“I don’t care, take it down and quick! Titans Go!” The group of them went in on the Attack, each throwing their own attack at the creature, using its wings. It swiftly flew back and perched itself against one of the nearby pillars like an insect crawling along its side. Its body moved animalistically, fast and twitchy. As they tried to land a shot on it, the creature kept dodging, causing more damage to the building.

“Stop! We’ll bring the whole place down on us,” Robin held his team back, spotting the damage being done. The creature observed them; its eyes had no clear intelligence, but it was there.

Vibrant green glowed against the gold of its body, emanating from its core. The green energy started to appear around the Titans. They each prepared themselves for any kind of attack, the green energy then materialised as almost exact duplicates of the creature itself… almost.

It took a moment for each of them to realise, some of the duplicates had no clear signs of damage, whilst others had even more visible signs of battle. The group soon shook off this confusion and engaged the small army of machines in a hectic clash.

Cyborg used his armour to deflect the creature's blades, Beast Boy tried opting to smash each of in gorilla's form, whilst Robin and the girls tried their own projectiles. Their attacks weren’t effective at first; whatever this thing was made out of, it was durable, not like actual gold.

It was Robin, however, who made the first instance of a successful hit, one of his Birdarangs, stuck into one of the duplicate's arms, the explosion ripped through its structure, leaving it just a smoldering metal stub where its arm had been. That wasn’t the thing that threw them off, however. No sooner had Robin destroyed one of its limbs than several of the other duplicates lost their arms as well, in the same place. Not by an explosion, however, but they just disappeared. Some duplicates, however, still had both arms.

This continued throughout the battle; whatever injury one took, several others would get it too. The ones that were spared were always the ones without scars or damage before. This pattern made Raven curious; she had a theory. Stepping back from the fight for a moment, she scanned the room and spotted one of the duplicate machines in the back of the room, not taking part in the battle. It wasn’t the same as its original and had next to no signs of visible damage.

“Guys, destroy that one!” Raven pointed towards the machine situated in the back of the artefact hall.

“Are you sure?” Robin turned back to question her after knocking back one of the other duplicates.

“Trust me”, Raven affirmed. With this, Cyborg tried to land a hit on it, firing a volley from his sonic cannon, but the machine moved off and didn’t exchange, but retreated towards the ceiling.

“Starfire! Time for a Star cannon!” Cyborg called over to Starfire, who acknowledged his statement with a determined nod. Her first illuminated her familiar green glow, vibrant green energy growing at her palms. She threw the energy upward; its form collided with their strange foe, absorbing it into its glowing sphere. Seeing his chance, Cyborg aimed and promptly fired with little hesitation. The blue sonic beam struck the Star bolt, resulting in a powerful explosion that shattered the glass of everything around the room, in every box, window and ceiling. The space became a storm of shards of glass.

The Titans watched as something came crashing down through the smoke cloud from their combination attack and landed with a rather satisfying sound like a car smashing on the museum floor. The moment it did, the other duplicates vanished instantly, leaving the group to ponder what had just happened.

Beast Boy walked up to the wreck of the strange robot creature first, and the others soon followed.

“How did you know, Raven?” Starfire asked her teammate.

“I had a theory,” she replied.

“What do you think this thing is? Some kinda space scarab?” Beast Boy leaned in to try to examine the smouldering wreckage of the machine, placing his gloved hand outwards.

“Garfield, don’t touch tha…” Raven’s protest was cut off, Beast Boy already jolted his hand back before touching as the machine's remains began to crumble, slowly dissolving into a pile of reassembling golden sand.

The changeling darted his head back around to face his teammates. “I never touched it!” he claimed. The nervous visage of Beast Boy was then bathed in a bright glow; the museum's lights shone above them. The Titans could hear the sound of footsteps approaching from behind them. They turned to see a pair of police officers, led by a stout, round gentleman in a loud orange suit, pattering towards them.

“Oh, sweet merciful lord, what happened to my museum?!” The gentleman’s horror at the wonted destruction around him was immediately made apparent. Robin stepped up to try and calm him down. The others followed behind, all except Beast Boy, who hung back, fascinated by what he had just seen. He looked down at the pile of metal dust that was a moment ago trying to kill them.

Then, within the small chance of his wandering eyes, he spotted it, a tiny flickering. A little glow seeping from the pile. He darted his head back and saw the others arguing with the authorities. He didn’t want any part of that. He leaned down closer and brushed away the dust covering what he had spotted. His fingers brushed aside golden glimmering remains to reveal something. Something solid, round and still in one piece. Darting his head back around again, Beast Boy looked over. No one was watching him, so he snatched it, instinctively placing it behind his back whilst he looked over again at his teammates, who just now seemed to be finishing up with their conversation. The changeling slowly made his way over to them, hoping none of them had noticed him.

“Furthermore, we have no idea what this thing was. I wouldn’t even reopen until you get some specialist to analyse what’s left,” Robin finished, gesturing towards what was left of the creature. The stout gentleman sighed in a combination of despair and defeat.

“Fine, fine, fine… I’ll get someone in and will, someone get me a latte drenched in sugar?!” The suited gentleman gripped the bridge of his brows and mumbled to himself as he moved away from the heroes. “Disaster, absolute disaster…”

Robin turned back around to confer with his team. “Ready to head back?”

A strange encounter like that called for one familiar remedy, homemade pizza. Easy, not too complicated and full of options. So long as there was a vegetarian option, Beast Boy had no objections; his mind, however, was focused on something else.

Since arriving back, the changeling hadn’t left his room, uncharacteristic for him among all the Titans. Usually, he’d be ready to relax with some bad movie marathon, but Starfire had already laid a claim to another documentary that would more than likely make them all lose their appetites. He was too busy getting the chance to take a closer look at his findings, which were oddly mesmerising.

Now that he could see it clearly, he could properly examine it. The object was peculiar. A strange glass sphere coated by a partial golden metal structure, it looked almost incomplete. It was small enough to fit inside one hand; he couldn’t begin to make sense of the markings on it. The green energy that glowed within it, as he had spotted it to begin with, had subsided. For the last hour, he’d tried fiddling with it, pressing down on small button-like pieces around its frame, but nothing.

He felt almost disappointed, yet it wasn’t like he had expected anything from it; it could have been anything. His arms flopped with it in hand, and with a soft groan, he thought to himself about whether he should just tell Robin about it, though it would be a little odd now.

“BEAST BOY, you coming down or what?!” The bellow of Cyborg’s call through his door jolted his body into a frantic motion, his hands hectically juggled the small device as he tried to keep himself from dropping it, and he quickly caught it. Gripping it tightly, he felt the buttons around it pressing down; this was followed by a bright flash of green that exploded from inside his hands. The flash enveloped him, and he darted his eyes around, expecting something bad to happen.

“BEAST BOY, you coming down or what?!” Cyborg’s voice came through exactly as it had a few seconds ago. This time, Beast Boy didn’t jump as he had before, but the repeated question did throw him off, taking a hold of the device firmly but not as he had before; no flash happened this time. He chalked it up to a déjà vu thing.

“Yeah… I’m coming,” Beast Boy got to his feet, pocketing his secret treasure. He was too nervous to leave it alone for now.

The empowering scent of ovens filled with freshly baked Neapolitan pizza filled his nostrils. He saw as he came through the living room doors behind Cyborg, the others and already started. The TV displayed a footage reel of cars being constructed in factories. Cyborg moved over to check on dinner, whilst Beast Boy made his way towards the television.  

Huh, well, at least it’s not gross this time? Beast Boy walked up towards the couch casually, acting as if it were any other night. He scanned the spots his teammates had taken on the sofa; even with the five of them, it was never hard to find a spot. He spun around the left edge and took a rather tense-looking seat at the end of the row. Raven, who had been intensely enthralled in her book, raised her head to gaze up at him.

Beast Boy didn’t need to look her way. Quick, think about something else or she’ll be onto us?!

“So, what are we watching?” Beast Boy asked, trying to deflect his own state of mind.

“Oh, it is most fascinating, I had no idea your planet built machines to make other machines?” Starfire was happily engrossed in her show, and Robin sat beside her, clearly not entertained, but watching her reactions was enough. Raven, of course, had her book, though she’d eventually throw in a quick jab now and then, in her own Raven way.

“Oh …sweet!” Beast Boy tried to feign his interest, but he sensed Raven could see right through him; she wasn’t the only one who could see things that weren’t there.

“What’s up with you, Beast Boy?” Raven asked bluntly after several seconds.

“WHAT?!” Garfield jumped at the question, instinctively gripping the orb he had placed in his pocket. His fingers managed to hit the same buttons even under the fabric. The same green flash erupted from it, even visible through his uniform. As the light quickly faded, he looked around again and saw that everyone was still sitting where they had been, but something felt off. They all looked as though they had moved almost backwards. He couldn’t place it.

“What’s up with you, Beast Boy?” Raven asked in the same way as she had done a moment ago. Like with Cyborg back in his room, Beast Boy hadn’t registered the question, still trying to take in the moment.

“Huh?” He mumbled.

“What’s. Up. Beast Boy?” Raven repeated, taking the time to pronounce each word clearly.

“… Nothing… just…” Did that actually just happen? Beast Boy started to wonder, maybe he was right, but he’d have to test it to be sure. With a quiet movement, he gripped the orb and pressed where he had before. Another green flash, and again the Titans had moved, subtly, but they had moved for sure.  

“What’s. Up. Beast Boy?” Raven’s repeated question came from her lips once again. Exactly as before and exactly as each time the flash burst out. This time, Beast Boy smiled, knowing he was all but right about his theory.

“Nothing, I’m great”, he grinned, looking pleased with himself. Raven gazed at him a little and pondered, but ultimately rolled her eyes.

“Whatever”, Raven turned her head back down towards her book. Beast Boy was practically beside himself. He turned away, trying not to show his excitement.

Oh, dude, this is so sweet! Okay, okay, calm down, dude. You have a magic reset button, and you gotta make sure not to let this power go to your head. Otherwise, it could be bad, really bad.

“Okay, guys, pizza’s almost done!” Cyborg called over from the kitchen, prompting Robin and Starfire to get up to head over towards the kitchen, leaving Raven and Beast Boy alone on the couch. This was his chance.

Okay, you’ve got a chance now to get the answer you want. How hard could it be? Well, it’s Raven? Best play it safe to start with?

Garfield scooted over towards her just a little. He placed his hand beside his pocket, ready.

“Hey Raven, do you wanna come to the theme park with me tomorrow?” He asked.

“I thought we already discussed this, Garfield?” Raven replied, like earlier that day, she didn’t look up from her book.

Thought as much? Beast Boy pressed down on the orb as he had before, and with a prompt ‘FLASH’, they were back ten seconds. Perfect, he thought to himself. 

“Come on, Raven, please, will you go with me to the theme park? Please, please, please?” He pleaded with her, applying a little more begging.

“Garfield, I already said no? How many more times?”

Garfield grunted and got ready to press again. Okay, I need a different approach… FLASH.

“Come on, Raven, how much will it take for you to go with me to the theme park?”

“You couldn’t afford it, Garfield… and will you stop asking me, Ughh, why does my head hurt?” Raven replied, rubbing the side of her temple, still not looking up from her book. Beast Boy groaned, this time more frustrated in tone. FLASH.

“Come on, Raven, what will it take for you to go to the theme park with me?” Beast Boy tried to offer any price she might take in the hopes he would get the answer he wanted.

“How are we still having this conversation, Garfield. I said no. You need to accept that,” Raven declared, still not even looking up from her book, but her tone was more serious than her previous answers, even if she hadn’t actually been asked these questions in succession, it seemed like she had. Beast Boy let out a small growl and pressed down on his device again. FLASH.

Back reset for the fifth time, Garfield let his annoyance get to him. “Say, Raven, have you always been this stuck up, or did you have to work at it?” he smirked, feeling proud of himself and his snide remark. His confidence was soon shattered by the sound of Raven, swiftly slamming her book shut. 

Oh no… Garfield looked over to see Raven pulling her head up, giving a heated, intense glare straight at him.

“Excuse me, Garfield?” Raven’s tone was as flat as a dagger, terrifying and direct. Beast Boy panicked instinctively, FLASH.

“Wait, Raven, I’m sorry, please don’t be mad at me!” Garfield had almost forgotten he had reset; he saw that Raven had turned her head up at his out-of-nowhere apology, with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you okay, Garfield?” Raven quired.

“Huh?” Wait, I reset?! No, no, no! It’s too early to go back now, quick, change the subject! “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” He tried deflecting.

“Well, because you just blurted out an apology like I’m mad at you for some reason?” Raven explained, still not fully understanding what was happening.

“Oh, really, well, I don’t remember that?” Seeing that there was little more he could do with his new little toy, he opted to try and remove himself from the situation. He stood up, looking stiff and shuffled around to the kitchen, with Raven watching his every movement, turning her head to follow him.

Beast Boy moved into the kitchen area and relaxed a little. Cyborg was preparing all the condiments and accessories for their dinner, whilst Robin and Starfire were preparing drinks.

“Beast Boy, we weren’t finished” Garfield felt the monotone gravel of her voice behind him. He turned his head back slowly. She was standing right behind him, arms crossed, looking rather serious.

“Uh, dunno what you mean, Raven?” Beast Boy tapped his chin, looking away from her. Raven paced forward, arms still crossed, closing the gap between them.

“Garfield… you’ve been acting weird ever since we got back. Normally, I’m the one to rush back to my room after a battle, not you?” Raven called out, his strange behavior plain for all to see. Garfield gulped, knowing he had little room to maneuver here except maybe…

“PIZZA TIME!”

Beast Boy pulled his hand away from the device in his pocket as Cyborg threw down the large collection of different pizzas, freshly cooked, including vegetarian ones. Beast Boy took the distraction as an opportunity to get away from Raven’s integration. He took a quick swipe of a slice of the vegetarian option placed on the countertop. He filled his mouth up, trying desperately to make it so he couldn’t talk back to her. Raven watched him closely, not taking her eyes off him. She took a slice too, but munched on it, as softly as one could. As she watched her teammate chew down on his mouthful, her face started to scrunch up as she examined the slice she had just bitten into.

“Cyborg, is this pizza supposed to be partly cold?” Raven asked, turning towards the others, each of whom had frozen still, half-eaten slices in their hands. Each looked in distress.

Raven stood there frozen too, until an odd sensation came over her stomach, and it let out a stressful growl. “Uh, oh”, she groaned, grasping her front.

Cyborg, Starfire and Robin all made a swift run towards the back living room doors, each trying to race each other to the bathroom. Beast Boy watched them disappear out of sight, leaving only Raven, whom he turned back around to see beginning to disappear through a shadow on the ground.

Garfield had already swallowed his mouthful, and he gripped his own stomach, waiting for the bad pizza to take effect on him, too. A few moments passed, and he assumed he was in the clear. With a relieved smile, he chuckled to himself.

“Must have been the meat…?” Garfield’s elation was then shattered by the painful sensation travelling upwards from his stomach. “Nope...” Beast Boy tried to wrestle the orb out of his pocket, but he couldn’t fight back anymore. The device fell from his hand and rolled along the ground. Beast Boy couldn’t focus on that right now and practically launched himself towards the kitchen trash can. The sound of his heaving was heard throughout the walls of the living room for no one else to hear.

Minutes had passed, and he assumed he had nothing left to hurl up he wasn’t sure how; he hadn’t even eaten that much. Momentary panic filled his skull as he checked his person; he couldn’t find it. Where is it?! Beast Boy shifted into the form of a small bloodhound, trying to sniff it out. The glimmering of a gold shine caught the dog’s eye, behind a group of cabinets. Green paws shifted back to human, grabbed his golden prize, and a sigh of relief followed. He wasn’t sure how it ended up there. Not something to dwell on, he thought to himself.

Since the night was pretty much done with, he returned to his room to retire, hopefully without making a trip to the bathroom. He admired his golden device again, trying to make some sense of it. The firm tapping of a knock on his door got him jumpy again; he knew that aroma. In an unusual display of quick thinking, he slipped the orb under the covers; best not to risk it with her after the event at dinner.

Beast Boy let his door slide along enough to make his form clear; he wasn’t Raven, and even she would call foul on acting like that, especially after earlier tonight. Raven leaned against his door frame, looking like, for lack of a better term, that she had seen better days. Beads of sweat were still running down her face; she had likely not long come from the bathroom.

“I said we… *burp*… weren’t finished”, Raven murmured, looking up at him, eyes glaring up at him.

“I told ya, Raven, there’s nothing going on?” he grinned at her, rubbing the back of his head.

“And I don’t believe you”, Raven countered. “You’ve been off all day, and your emotions have been in states that I don’t understand, being so close to one another," she continued.  

“I…” Beast Boy tried to begin his sentence, but this time he had nothing.

“I thought we’ve known each other enough to be honest? Is this about that dumb theme park?”

“No…”

“Then what?”

“… I’m fine, Raven”, Beast Boy prayed his answer would be enough for her. He let his emotions settle; his smile was genuine. She stared back at him, her eyes not moving away from being locked onto his own. Beast Boy felt infinity pass him by as she watched him. Finally, she rolled her eyes back, pulling away from the door frame.

“Whatever…” Raven moved off from his door and said nothing more to him. He watched her disappear and let out a relieved sigh.

With any hope of cashing in his prize-winning tickets, Garfield decided to spend the day cashing in his other prize. Yesterday was a test run, almost; now he could have some real fun.

He thought it best to play it carefully, but that didn’t mean he didn’t take the joy in every moment he could get the upper hand in conversations. Though, since he was the only one who remembered the resets, the others seemed to just notice he felt uncharacteristically… smarter.

Cyborg was beside himself; he hadn’t beaten Beast Boy in a video game all day. He couldn’t place it; it was baffling. No matter what he tried, he wasn’t able to beat him. All he could do was watch the changeling’s smug expression every time he lost.

“How, how are you doing this?” Cyborg gripped the sides of his metal cranium, trying to prevent a system crash as he watched another round in his fighting game slip through his fingertips.

“I’m just too good for you, chrome dome” Beast Boy smugly grinned down at Cyborg, placing his controller down in a display of victory, preparing his exit from the front of the living room. Cyborg watched him waltz away.

“This isn’t over, B! Mark my words…”

With Robin, Beast Boy was more cautious; he only used the device to gain the upper hand in a few instances, and he would be more inclined to be onto him than Raven would have been. Starfire, he simply used to get out of being a taste tester, coming up with extravagant excuses every time and finding the perfect answer to make her ask someone else to try her exotic alien menu.

“Why don’t you ask Raven, Star? As a resident of the dimension Azarath, her pallet is likely much more sophisticated than mine,” Beast Boy explained, seeming like it was the first time he’d given this answer, despite him knowing this was about twenty instances of trial and error.

“Oh, that is a most wonderful idea, friend Raven!?” Starfire had her latest recipe gripped in her hand, ready for a sample. With Beast Boy's suggestion, she made her way to find Raven at the front of the living room, who was in her usual spot, reading. Beast Boy watched with a small semblance of satisfaction as he made his escape back to his room. He planned to take in some comics before dinner.

A slightly longer than usual nap later, Beast Boy woke up to the sight of his comics that he’d tried to start reading and saw the time, groggily looking up at the lights of the digital clock. Time for food!

With a creaky stretch, Garfield made a swift exit outside of his room, checking his pocket, he pulled out his little treasure and admired it once more. “Oh, it should be fun tonight”

“Hello, Garfield”

The voice made behind him practically had his bones leap out of his skin. He zipped his head back around to see the sight of a rather frustrated Raven, standing in the hallway. Arms crossed, glaring at him with intent.

“R…Raven?! Hey… What’s up, doc?” Garfield giggled nervously.

“Enough Games, Garfield, where is it?” Raven asked bluntly; her question caused Garfield’s heart to stop.

How, how does she know? “Got no idea what you mean, Raven?” He tried to counter. Raven wasn’t up for any more deflections. She flicked her wrist, wrapping her hands in her familiar dark energy. Beast Boy felt a tug from within his hand as the orb was pulled away from his grip and zoomed over, landing firmly in Raven’s palm like a baseball.

“This, Garfield,” Raven examined the little glass object, twiddling it in between her fingers.

“Uh… that? That’s just an old toy Raven.”

“I’m disappointed in you, Garfield. Not only are you lying to me, but you think I’m dumb enough to fall for that” Raven stared back at Garfield, face stoic but with a hint of pity on it.

“Okay, come on, Raven, gimme it back” Garfield put his hand out, trying to grab it from her. Raven just put her other hand up front to block him and pulled the orb back out of his reach.

“Ah, bub, bub… tell me what this thing is and maybe I’ll consider it”

Garfield grumbled to himself; he’d almost become used to having a get out of jail free card. He wasn’t prepared to fight this battle on these terms; this was Raven as well. He was outmatched in almost every sense. He flopped his arms down and sighed like a pouty child.

“Okay, fine… It’s from that weird bug thing we fought yesterday. You press certain buttons down on it and it lets you… rewind time,” Garfield admitted.

“So, you’ve had a device that can rewind time? And you didn’t think to let any of us know?”

“I didn’t think it was important?!” He tried to argue; Raven just looked down at him. She started throwing the orb up in one hand like a rubber ball, shaking her head.

“Garfield, Garfield, Garfield… how irresponsible and immature do you have to be to…” Raven’s arm started to flail as she tried to catch the orb from slipping out of her hand. The image was rather comical from Beast Boys' perspective; what wasn’t was the sight of the device smashing on the floor below, both trying to grab it before it fell. Beast Boy’s face went white as a flicker of green energy sparked before going out. Raven looked down in shock, too, as they both lifted their faces to meet each other. They both had the collective expression of

Now what?  

“You idiot, Garfield! Look what you made me do?!” Raven seethed.

“Me?! You were the one throwing it about like a show off!” Garfield defends.

“That was because you... “Raven pinched the bridge of her nose, seeing this was likely going to go nowhere. “Look, it doesn’t matter, let's just clean this mess up, put the pieces back in your room and then tell the others,” she said, admitting almost defeat in herself.

“But, Raven?”

“No buts” Raven collected the pieces and brought them together in a pile swirling in the air. She turned around, heading back towards his room. Expecting the door to swing open, she was surprised that the door wouldn’t open. She hadn’t thought to stop; the door would always open. They both looked at each other, as if to expect the other to have an answer. Beast Boy tried to move in front of it, perhaps to trigger it as if the door would recognise him. It didn’t budge. He tried pulling it across, but its flat surface made it hard to get a good grip. Seeing him struggle, Raven assisted with a spark of her magic. The effort took a bit more than Raven thought it would; the door shuddered across, revealing what they thought would be the illuminated sight of his lair, but instead it was dark and no matter how much Beast Boy tried, the lights wouldn’t come on. Raven could feel Garfield’s growing anxiety; it wasn’t as if her own wasn’t slowly creeping up her spine.

“Let's check the others are okay, we don’t know what just happened when we dropped this”, Raven suggested. Instead of leaving the remains of the device in his room, she carried them back to the living room. Beast Boy held no objections. The two made they’re towards the living room doors in an uncomfortable silence. Both looked at each other again before coming close to the doors. Like before, nothing. They hadn’t given yet, and the lights were still on. Raven tugged on the door again with her powers, and the doors again resisted.

As the doors pulled across, the two of them didn’t know what to expect to see. At first, they couldn’t see anything, then Raven spotted the silhouettes of the others sitting on the couch on the other end of the room. Strangely, the television was still on, but the picture was frozen. Raven now had her theory, which she prayed was wrong. The two of them walked over towards the others slowly.

“Guys?” Beast Boy called over to them and received no answer, which made him gulp. The two made their way around the couch, and Raven saw what she was afraid of. All of them, frozen in place. As if time had come to a stop. Starfire was pointing up at the screen, mouth wide open, whilst Cyborg and Robin were in the middle of snacking. Pieces of food are suspended in mid-air unnaturally. Beast Boy tried waving his hand in front of them both and got no reaction from them. Beast Boy looked over at Raven, terrified; she looked back at him with a face of uncertainty…

“Okay, try putting it on now”

“I am, just give me a second”

“Be careful!”

“I am being careful, Garfield”, Raven tried to ignore Garfield as she had been for the last couple of hours. She used her magic to try and steady the last piece of glass coated in superglue into place. Beast Boy watched, leaning against the kitchen countertop, watching with beads of sweat dropping down his face. Raven could practically hear his heartbeat. She steadied herself, ready to place the last piece and with a gentle flick of her fingers.

“There”, Raven pulled back, letting the orb settle as they both examined it to make sure everything was in place. They had all the pieces back together, and Raven let out a sigh. She pulled herself back and centered herself as Beast Boy watched her nervously.

“Well?”

“Well, what Garfield?”

“Is it fixed?” Raven rolled her eyes; she had already had enough of trying to explain to him that mixing her powers with something else was a bad idea.

“I guess we're going to have to find out?” Raven lifted up the orb and brought it into her palms, and gripped it softly. “How did you get it to work before?”

“Uh, I pressed down on certain buttons?” Garfield replied.

“Well, why don’t you try?” Raven brought the device up towards Garfield, who she assumed was ready to give a set of button combinations a go. He hesitated at first, twiddling his fingers, biting his lip. The stress leaking from him was like a scream to Raven.

“Hey, look at me, Garfield”, Raven spoke up. Garfield met her eyes and saw the warmth in them, the reassurance. “It’s okay, take your time” Garfield smiled back at her, taking in her words of comfort and breathed. He pressed down on the familiar buttons that usually let him rest and found that nothing happened. Raven felt his anxiety perk up a little as he tried a different combination to try and make something happen.

Eventually, the device did activate, enveloping them both in a bright flash of green. The frozen scene they saw had started to move again, and Beast Boy was ecstatic.

“YES, we did it, Raven, we did it!” Garfield brought his arms around her with the orb in hand, which put Raven into a bit of a fright. She hadn’t expected it, and neither expected what happened afterwards, a second flash of green surrounded them.

They both looked around. Raven was set upon by a splitting headache almost instantly. As she gained focus on her surroundings, she pulled both of them down, almost dropping the device again. Garfield looked up at Raven, not sure what was happening.

“Raven, what are you… we fixed it?” Beast Boy couldn’t finish his words. Ravens' pale hands had his jaws covered. As he tried to speak through her palms, Raven placed a finger up to her lips, signaling with it over towards a direction behind him, his eyes turned slowly as did his head. His eyes scanned between the drawers of the kitchen, raising his head above the counter, he spotted what Raven had seen.

The five of them in the kitchen, time moving as it had before, if Garfield wasn’t certain himself, it seemed like the scene from yesterday before the unfortunate pizza incident. He darted himself back around to face Raven, then around again and then back towards Raven, each time her face got a little more annoyed.

“Is that…?” Beast Boy whispered. Raven nodded, confirming his own theory. “H…how?”

“I don’t know, you’re the one who used this thing?” Raven seethed through gritted teeth, trying to make sure none of the others spotted the two of them. Her head was splitting open; it was exactly as it had that night. Now she knew why.

“Oh, no, no, no… no! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I messed up again!” Garfield berated himself.

“Calm down, what did you press?” Raven whispered, trying to keep him quiet.

“I don’t know, I must have pressed the buttons again when we hugged? I didn’t know if I could do this? Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Garfield whispered in a panic, trying not to be too loud, hidden behind the drawers.

“Stop freaking out, at least we got time moving again, we just have to get back” Raven raised herself a little to gain an assessment of the situation. She spotted herself and Garfield on the couch as they had been the night before, with Starfire and Robin sitting beside them, and Cyborg was preparing dinner as he had been the night before.

“Okay… we are definitely back at dinner yesterday,” Raven summarised. She knelt back down, looking back at Garfield.

“What if we press it again?” Garfield suggested.

“Not so fast, we don’t know where it could send us”, Raven countered.

“Then what do we do?” Garfield bites the tips of his grey gloves.

Raven bit her own lip and peered over the counter again to try and get a handle on things. She saw that Starfire and Robin had moved over towards the kitchen, leaving the past version of herself alone with the past Garfield, too.

Raven noticed out of the corner of her eye, their orb started to flicker with its green energy. A thin veil sphere surrounded the two of them as Raven noticed a small flash coming from where the two past versions of themselves were sitting. She spotted that the other three Titans had changed positions after the flash, almost like a glitch, then Raven clocked it.

“You used this thing on me last night on the couch, didn’t you?!” Raven glared at Beast Boy and growled; the changeling gulped.

“I… I only used it a few times just to try and get…”

“Get WHAT… Garfield?”

“Get you to… go with me to the theme park?” Garfield murmured. Raven was still mad, but she felt her frustration subside a little as his guilt washed over him and her. “I’m sorry… this is all my fault…” Garfield pressed his hands up to his head, trying to fight the urge to break down. “I don’t know what to do…”

Raven tried to reach her hand out to press his shoulder. She let out a sigh. She was still mad at him, but she knew she had to focus for both of them. “Garfield, look, I know you're sorry, don’t worry about it. Right now, we have to focus, we have to get back to the time were supposed to be in” Raven tried to explain to him.

“Well, what do we do?” Beast Boy looked up at her with watery eyes, waiting for her next word. Raven thought for a few moments as she noticed several green flashes had past both of them by, she assumed that their own orb was protecting them from the others' effects.

“Maybe if we get a hold of yours from this time, we could try and use it to get back without using this one again, at least that one isn’t broken?” Raven suggested.

“But don’t I have… wait, he has it? No, me?... Ughh, my brain hurts,” Garfield tried to make sense of things, but he was struggling.

“We’ll have to get it off you…”

“Wait, how? I always kept it in my pocket?”

Raven sighed, “Okay, was there any time yesterday when you dropped it?”

“I don’t… wait, there was a moment where… after the pizza?”, Garfield remembered his session of prompt throwing up. Raven peered over the countertop and spotted the oven still baking away.

“Well, unless the oven breaks in the next minute, I think there’ll be a problem with that plan…” Raven peered her head back down.

“Cyborg said something happened with the oven?”

“The oven's fine, look at it.”

“Well, what do we do? It happened, how did… wait”

“What, Garfield?”

“Maybe you could use your magic on it?”

“What?! You want me to intentionally poison us all… and myself?”

“It might be the only way, we gotta be quick, come on, please”, Garfield gestured towards her, practically pleading with her.

Raven looked at him for a moment. She felt his assurance; he was certain this was the right call. So, with a reluctant eye roll, her magic enveloped her hands, and a small spark travelled across the countertops. Raven peered over the top and saw the effect of her magic take place.

“Okay, now what?” Raven asked.

“We wait, I guess?” Garfield peered over and saw that both past versions of themselves were about to join the others in the kitchen. As with the night before, the events played out as they had; both of them listened to the conversation above and waited for the moment when the original device would be exposed.

Garfield heard the sounds of his past self retching inside the kitchen trash bin and knew it was time. “Okay, Rae, now!”

Raven peered around the corner of the countertop and scanned the floor. It didn’t take long for her to spot the original orb and pull it towards her; her energy coated it, bringing it into her hand. She pulled back around and brought both orbs together.

“Okay, quick, which buttons did you press on this one?” Raven brought the two orbs together in both hands, parallel to one another.  Garfield tapped his chin; he wasn’t sure now that the moment was here.

“Um, I think it was like this?” Garfield pressed down on the undamaged orb as he had done with the broken one before, but nothing came of it. He panicked, not sure what was going wrong. “I don’t get it, it's not working?” Beast Boy’s anxiety was palpable.

“Well, how did you do it on this one?” Raven lifted the broken orb up slightly. Beast Boy almost didn’t think about his next action; his hands seemed to move on their own.  

“Well, like this?” Garfield pressed down on the broken orb without realising it, and with a flash, they were surrounded.

As the light melted away, they both looked around and saw that their environment hadn’t changed, but the light of the sun was now piercing through the living room.

“Wait, I didn’t mean to! Ugh, I screwed this up again!” Garfield batted the side of his head, reeling at his mistake.

“Calm down, we can’t haven’t gone back that far, your dishes from three days ago are still over there”, Raven observed, pointing over towards the sink. Garfield turned and spotted them too, feeling an odd sense of relief.

“Oh…” He chuckled to himself with a nervous edge.

“So, where are we right now, as in the old we?” Raven asked.

“I… don’t remember?” Garfield answered, honestly, he wasn’t sure; all this travelling was becoming too much for him.

“Hang on, maybe?” Raven grabbed hold of her communicator, hoping her idea would work. “Yes”, with her theory confirmed, she closed the device and steadied herself. “Alright, hang on” Raven enveloped the pair of them in her trademark dark energy. The darkness enveloped them, and as its veil fell, their environment changed as well.

Garfield looked around, where they were seemed familiar, the street was run down, filthy and an alley by the looks of it. Though he was more attracted to the sounds coming from the main street that they were both observing now.

“Look”, Raven pointed over to the Titans, their past versions, engaged in battle with Cinderblock, exactly how they had a couple of days before. Now it all came rushing back to Beast Boy’s head.

“Wait, this is too far back. I haven’t found the thingy yet!?” Garfield was starting to remember what happened despite his performance in the fight itself.

“What?” Raven growled, pulling both of them behind a meta dumpster to keep out of sight.

“In a second, I’ll get knocked over here” The moment Garfield had said those words, they both watched the form of a green Titan rocket towards them down the alley, flying through the air. Beast Boy has claimed not to remember anything, and Raven, when she had healed him up, stated it was just a minor knock to the head. Though they both heard the high-pitched scream of his name through the streets, loud and clear for both of them.

“GARFIELD!”

Her mind was focused on something else now, as she watched the past version of him roll across the ground, landing not far from them. She wasn’t so sure. The changeling was losing a lot of blood on the wet concrete.

“You're hurt bad, Garfield”, Raven said, eyes not leaving his unconscious past form.

“Don’t worry, you come over and heal me up”, Garfield reassured her. Raven looked down the alley at the fight with Cinderblock; her past self was indisposed, and she remembered that she wasn’t going to reach him for several more minutes.

“I’m not going to make it to you, look”, Raven pointed towards herself, still caught in Cinderblock's grip. That was enough to get her to move forward; she didn’t have to think about it, and it took Beast Boy a moment to realise what was happening. He grabbed her arm, trying to hold her back.

“Wait? What are you doing? There can’t be two of you?!” He argued.

“If I don’t treat you now, you’ll be finished, Garfield” Raven tried to free herself from his grip.

“But Raven…?”

“I REFUSE to watch you die, Garfield” Raven broke herself free from her hand and hurried over, kneeling, keeping an eye on the fight playing out over in the street. She knew she had little time. She brought the past Garfield's body over, rolling it softly letting his head rest flat. Her hands raised up with the healing light of her warm blue glow; her powers did their work.

She looked down at him, and he was trying to gain consciousness, but his eyes were fighting him.

“R…Rae?” He tried groaning.

“Shhh, don’t speak” Her reply came as a gentle whisper, almost rocking him back to sleep. His eyes closed, and the darkness came back. She placed her palms softly on his head and smiled down warmly. With her work done, she quickly slipped back away where her own Beast Boy was hiding. She grabbed him, not noticing the shock that was still on his face and pulled both of them through a portal embedded in the wall, leading both to a roof on a building a few blocks away.

Raven turned to face Garfield, whose jaw was pretty much still on the floor.

“It was you?! I mean, it was ALWAYS you, just you know the old you, wait, no, the new you and…?”

“Slow down, Garfield. You’ll make your head hurt even more. You saw all the work I just did”

“I just, I can’t believe it”

“Well, you just watched it”, Raven reminded him.

“You really do care about me that much?”

This made Raven look a little offended, “Of course I do, Garfield, why do you think I don’t?” Raven crossed her arms, being as direct with him as she could”

“Well, it’s just…” Garfield brought his fingers together, twiddling them. He shrank down a little, looking away from her. “You never want to do anything with me…” He murmured, and Raven felt a little guilty wash over her, though she quickly reminded herself of the situation.

“Garfield, I know we don’t exactly share the same interests and hobbies or obsession with playing video games for hours on end…” She began watching him as his ears dropped further down.

“… But that doesn’t mean you aren’t my friend or I don’t appreciate you because I do, you are one of my best friends… I just don’t like theme parks”

“I know, and I’m sorry, Raven, for this whole mess and everything else I did to you and everyone else… I should have just accepted your first answer,” Beast Boy admitted.

“It’s okay, Garfield”, Raven smiled across to him. Her warmth drew him towards her, and with a leap, he embraced her tightly, arms wrapped around her. She brought her own arms around him, but found the emotions too strong after a while.

“Whoa, okay, Garfield. Still not that big a hugger,” Raven tapped his back, signaling him to pull back. As he did, she noticed his eyes were a little teary.

“I know, Rae. I just assumed that when you hugged me that morning, you were…”

“Hugged you, when?” She questioned.

“You know the morning before Cinderblock attacked? You were all smiling and told me how much you appreciated me.” Garfield tried to explain. Raven thought about this, and then the pieces started to fall together. With a light smile, she knew.

“Okay…” She said quietly.

“Rae?” Garfield looked up at her, confused.

“Press that thing one more time," she said.

“What, really?”

“Trust me”

Garfield was a little reluctant, but ultimately, he did as he was told and obliged. With a press down on his broken orb, the familiar green flash enveloped them again, and the two were greeted with the light of the early morning sun.

Raven looked around and nodded. She lifted herself in the air and prepared to take off into the sky.

“Wait here, Garfield”

“Huh, where are you going, Raven?”

“To tell someone how much I care about them” With that, Raven flew off up into the cloud lines before he could get another word in; he just watched as she vanished from view.

Raven arrived back at the Tower. She knew she didn’t have long. Though she was certain she wouldn’t need much time, she slipped through the shadows throughout the halls of the Tower until she came to the living room. There, past Garfield sat, alone in the Tower, deep within his thoughts, as she watched him from the side hallway, she knew this was her time, she moved in, locking onto his melancholy.

Is that… lavender? “Oh?” Beast Boy felt the slow press of a pair of sleek arms wrapping around him, locked with a pair of stoned, toned hands. The press of her head against his own felt unusual but comforting. He still wasn’t sure what was happening; this was so very not a Raven move.

“R… Raven, are you okay?” Beast Boy felt her embrace grow tighter. It was a hug he hadn’t felt since a dragon redecorated her room; it felt good. Disarming, in the moment, he wasn’t complaining, just curious. Raven pulled back, her arms moved back up, letting her left hand cradle the back of his head. She applied gentle strokes, watching as he turned up to face her, looking down at him from behind the sofa.  

“I just wanted you to know, Garfield, how much I appreciate you. No matter what you might think, no matter what I might do… I always will.” Her smile was so warm, as warm as he felt, feeling her fingers rub through his hair, he felt content, and she felt it too. No wonder he had tried so hard to get her to say yes, she thought to herself.

“You do? Oh, thanks, Rae,” Garfield looked up at her, feeling a wave of reassurance. He hadn’t expected this; it had to be a sign from the universe. There couldn’t be any doubt. As her hand slipped away, her cloak masked her form as she moved off back towards the kitchen. Her task was done, and the loop was hopefully near closed. With a quick hand gesture, she made her escape portal and slipped away before he could see.

Her own Garfield was waiting patiently, feet dangling from the building rooftop. He almost didn’t hear the sound of her landing behind him; her feet were so soft touching down on the roof.

“Raven?! Are you okay?” He darted his head around and rushed over towards her.

“I’m good, Garfield” Raven smiled at him; both shared a little moment of awkward silence, not knowing what to say next.

“So what now?” Garfield asked.

“Well, first things last,” Raven opened a small portal next to her head, and the broken device floated outwards. With a swift handwave, the device disintegrated, consumed by the darkness.

“Whoa, Raven?!” Garfield protested.

“Can’t have anyone running around with something like that”

“But what happens to us?” Garfield asked.

Raven thought for a moment, “Well, I think we wait out the next few days somewhere and then slip back into the place of our old selves before you sent us back”, Raven suggested.

“Oh, really?” Beast Boy pondered that thought for himself, “Okay… wait, won’t that be weird? They’ll ask questions?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll think of something, after all, you’ve had the practice, but let’s keep this between us, we don’t wanna risk the natural flow of time again” She chuckled rather cheekily for Raven. Garfield smiles back with a drop of sweat; mind you, he knew he deserved that.

“Okay, Rae… So, what do we do until then? It’s gonna be boring, sitting around for the next two days?” Garfield asked her.

“Well, do you still have those tickets?” Rave suggested.

“Yeah, but they’re worthless”, Garfield admitted, pulling them out of his suit pocket.

“Hmmm, are they Garfield?”

It took Beast Boy a few moments before Raven saw the lightbulb shine above his head in glee.

“Wait! They aren’t now!?” Garfield beamed, finally clicking that it was Friday again.

“Well done, Garfield”, Raven deadpanned, with a small smirk.

“Haha, sweet dude, wait?! Are you serious, you’ll go?!” Garfield beamed, practically bouncing.

“I mean, I’ll probably regret this, but, yeah, why not?”

“Awesome! Oh, this is going to be amazing, Rae, thank you!” Garfield reached his hand out with the tickets in his other, waiting for Raven to take them. She gripped it back tightly and let her friend pull her along towards what she hoped would be a weekend to remember if nothing else, she certainly wouldn’t forget this.

“Anytime Garfield” Anytime…

Alright there it is, thank you and I'll see you in the next one!