Birthday Reflections - Chpt 3

                                                       Birthday Reflections
                                                Chapter 3 : Unnoticed Change

Raven walked down the hall, toward her room. It was noon, and she still hadn’t the slightest idea what to get BeastBoy. Not only that, but now there was another thought dwelling in her mind. She kept thinking back to what Cyborg had said:

“…You’ve been spending a lot more time together…”
“…We credited it mostly to BeastBoy…”
“…He’s a positive influence on you…”
“…He was disappointed just because you weren’t there this morning…”

These random thoughts seemed to drift aimlessly, back and forth, in Raven’s mind. Starfire’s insinuation was one thing. But now, Cyborg made it sound so logical.

“Wait a minute.” Raven said coming to a stop “What am I obsessing for? Starfire makes naïve assumptions all the time. And am I really going to take a guy who’s spending his spare time blackmailing Robin seriously?”

But despite how she tried to make it sound, deep down, she knew better. Starfire was naïve, but was managing a better grasp of understanding. And Raven knew Cyborg well enough to know when he was joking, and when he was serious.

“Anyway, this is BeastBoy we’re talking about.” she concluded. She looked around, realizing no one was there. She let out a deep breathe, rubbing the temple of her forehead. “O…k, get a grip. I’m not going to be able to get anything accomplished until I clear this up once and for all.”

Raven dematerialized into the floor. Seconds later, Raven reappeared in the main room. The place was now ready for BeastBoy’s party. The table was set with paper plates, party hats, and party favors at each seat. Balloons hung from walls, and a big green banner hung over the entrance reading: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEASTBOY in big bold letters. Everything was so bright and cheerful, now lit by the afternoon sunlight pouring through the windows.

Raven pushed aside a few balloons and streamers making her way over to the Titans mainframe computer. She was seated at the console, flipping a few switches, allowing the computer to warm up as it turned on. Raven peered over her shoulder, verifying no one else was around.

Raven pushed a sequence of buttons, bringing up a main menu on the screen. After a few more taps of the keys, a viewer loaded, with a single folder visible. The text beneath was labeled “Photo Album”.

Since the team was formed, Robin believed that keeping records of their exploits would prove invaluable to studying the development and improvement of the team. Raven hadn’t thought very much of the idea. Personally, she thought it was just an excuse for Robin to take excessive pictures of Starfire. But that wasn’t the focus of her research.

Raven opened the folder, as a cascade of images flooded the screen. Clearly, it had been a while since anyone had organized anything. Raven entered a few commands, instructing the computer to sort the entries by date. In less than a few seconds, all of the photos were neatly arranged in sequence.

“Now, where to start?” she asked herself.

Raven pushed a few more buttons, loading the first few images. All the pictures were of each individual Titan. A front, side, and three quarter view of each from head to toe, accompanied by a front and side profile of their faces. They looked more like police lineups.

“What’s Robin trying to do? Set us up for a guest shot on America’s Most Wanted?” in a dry tone.

Ignoring them, she continued to the next few photos. They were all of Starfire. Starfire eating, flying, watching TV, drinking mustard, and even one of her sleeping.

“And I thought Cyborg had a demented mind behind a camera.”

Raven continued to browse through the images. She scrolled through photos, newspaper clippings, and even images from news broadcasts. Until finally, she came upon what she was looking for.

Raven analyzed a number of pictures that were taken, anywhere from 8 months to a year ago. All the pictures had two things in common. They included all of the Titans, and she was always either barely visible or in the far corner of the shot. A picture of their trip to the park, everyone was smiling. BeastBoy hung upside down from a tree, a tofu dog in hand, Robin sat next to Starfire on a picnic blanket, and Cyborg had half a rack of barbequed ribs stuffed into his mouth. Raven was far behind them in the upper left corner, reading under the shade of a tree.

The next picture was from a news article, detailing the Titans apprehending a small time criminal. As before, the Titans were up front. Robin with a determined look on his face, closely followed by Starfire, hovering over him, and both Cyborg and BeastBoy posing in super hero fashion with their hands against their hips, and huge cocky grins on their faces. Raven was off to the side, arms folded, and looking away, almost her back to the camera.

“Well, no surprises so far”

Raven skipped ahead, opening entries made within the last 2 months. They appeared no different than the previous shots. The Titans at play in the tower, taking down bad guys, and other usual day-to-day routines. Nothing out of the ordinary.  Raven seemed content with her findings. Yet somehow, disappointed.

“I don’t know what Cyborg was talking about.” slumping back in the chair, moving her hand to close the file “There’s nothing…”

Raven stopped halfway before reaching the keyboard. Her eyes were fixed on the two more recent pictures. At first she thought it was nothing. Perhaps, after everyone else was trying to convince her, she was trying to convince herself. But this wasn’t a case of her mind playing tricks on her, nor an attempt to lie to herself out of frustration.

Raven moved her face closer to the screen, beginning to rise from her seat. She moved the two pictures along side the others to compare. These two were the same. And yet, they were…different.

One was a picture of all the Titans huddled together on the couch during movie night. Raven had a book in hand, wedged between Starfire and BeastBoy. Starfire was cheerfully passing a bowl of popcorn off camera, and BeastBoy was leaning in towards Raven to flash a large grin in the shot. Raven seemed to ignore him and looked straight ahead. In fact, this was one of the only shots she had seen where she actually seemed to acknowledge the camera, looking straight into it. And that wasn’t all. Her expression seemed different. Her face was somehow…neutral. Not happy or cheerful, but not depressed and dull as was typical in the other pictures. Almost like a fine balance.

The other picture was the same story. A newspaper article, depicting the Titans foiling a bank robbery. This time, Raven was up in front, next to Cyborg, and BeastBoy was squatting on the ground beside them, making faces at the crooks as they were hauled into the back of a police transport. And this time on Raven’s face, to her surprise, there was the slightest hint of a smile. Definitely a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless.

“I must’ve let it slip without thinking” Raven reassured herself.

Raven took one last long look at the picture before pressing the off switch. The picture slowly faded out as the screen went black. Raven couldn’t deny it. She had actually been smiling, right out in the open where everyone could see, and she never even realized it. Was Cyborg right? Was she changing? More importantly, was she changing for the better?

Raven leaned back, gazing up into the ceiling. Maybe she had been deceiving herself all along. Or maybe she just didn’t accept it, and chose to ignore it. Whatever the case was, Raven was now certain that she was, to put it bluntly, loosening up.

Raven’s gaze shifted to the sidewall, catching the time off a nearby clock. It was now 12:49. She’d spent almost an hour at the computer, and still had yet to come to a decision about BeastBoy’s gift.

“This is pointless.” She hung her head, looking at the floor “I have no idea what to give him. And by the time I do, it’ll be too late”

Raven was now pacing slowly. She had thought of every possible idea, every conceivable notion. All accept one.

“Well….” She shrugged “What’ve I got to loose?”

Raven turned on her heel, and exited the room. There was only one thing she had left to try.

Meanwhile, back in Cyborg’s workstation, the last finishing touches were being made to Cy’s fail-safe device. The device was now a remote, no bigger than his hand, a small antennae sticking out from the front, and a single red button in the center.

“One photo, one button, ONE HELL OF A HUMILIATION!” he boasted “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Cy continued to tinker with his proud achievement, unaware that he was being watched. From the other side of his door, Robin watched carefully through the open crack. Apparently, Robin’s trip to the gym was lie, in the hopes that Cyborg would drop his guard, allowing Robin to follow him unnoticed. Robin had to be sure that ALL the evidence was gone, and knew Cyborg well enough to consider he might’ve made a backup. He’d arrived just as Raven had left. He cursed himself for not getting there sooner, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to loose Starfire.

“Just one more adjustment, and…” Cyborg said gleefully making one more rotation with a screwdriver “BOO-YAH! She’s all set.”

Robin didn’t like the sound of that. Knowing what that device would do would be like being held at gunpoint.

“At the very first hint of Robin goin’ drill instructor on us, and he’s in for the rude awakening of a life time.” Putting down the screwdriver “Oh yes he is! YES HE IS!” fawning over the remote as if it were a small child.

“We’ll see about that.” Robin whispered.

Robin pulled a small weapon from his utility belt. A small, handheld dart gun. Robin loaded a tiny projectile into the barrel. Widening the opening of the door a tad more, Robin took aim, and fired. With hardly a sound, the weapon found its mark on Cyborg’s upper back. The projectile was a small disk, with magnetic couplings on both sides. It was now attached to Cy’s back, as a small blinking light flickered.

A few moments later, a beeping noise could be heard coming from Cyborg’s arm. Cy checked a monitor on his forearm. He tapped the monitor a few times with his finger, thinking perhaps there was some kind of error.

According to the monitor, Cyborg’s power cell was beginning to run low.

“That’s funny.” he thought scratching his head “Could’ve sworn I had a full charge this morning.”

Cyborg was clearly baffled, but not concerned.

“Oh well. Nothing a quick recharge won’t fix.”

Cyborg placed the remote into his chest compartment, making his way over to his system’s recharger.  He stood against the wall, plugging a thick cable into his midsection. Cyborg’s eye closed, as his body went offline.

After a few moments, the door slowly eased open. Robin stealthily approached Cyborg, making certain he was offline.

“Cyborg?” he whispered “Cyborg?”

No reply.

“Not to worry Cy” removing the disk from his back “Just sapped you of your power for a little bit. Nothing to concern yourself over.” a smirk beginning to appear.

Robin pulled a pair of pliers and a monkey wrench from off of Cyborg’s tool shelf.

“But just to be sure, we’re gonna have to perform a little open-part surgery.”

Robin’s shadow loomed over Cyborg’s lifeless body, as the sounds of gently clanging metal could be heard.


Next Chapter: Raven is considering how she’s changing, but still no idea for a gift. After a brief confrontation, and a revealing discussion, Raven has a rather unorthodox present in store for BeastBoy.