Alliance

Beast Boy snickered to himself as he loaded the white and black pieces back into the box. He had spent weeks preparing, practicing his technique, working out all the best strategies all in anticipation of this day. Now it was finally time to put his plan into action.

"She's not going to know what hit her," he said, smiling to himself.

"Raven?"

His voice echoed through the halls of Titans Tower as he called the mage's name in a sort of singsong.

"Raven, you in there?" He asked, knocking on the door to her room and waiting for a response.

"You can stop the silent treatment, Raven, we both know you are," he said after another period of silence.

The box shifted in his hands from his left to his right as he waited. He contemplated knocking again when a low, gravely voice sounded from the other side of the door.

"What do you want, Gar?" Asked Raven in her usual monotone.

The changeling smiled to himself. Persistence truly was one of his strong points.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute," he said trying to sound as innocent as he possible.

There was a long pause before Beast Boy heard the clicking of Raven's lock. Upon realizing his success in acquiring an audience, Beast Boy quickly shuffled the mystery item behind his back and put on his most polite and well-meaning smile.

After undoing the lock, the door slid open and Raven, the Azerathian goddess herself stepped out of the sanctuary of her room. After setting eyes on the widely grinning Beast Boy she knew immediately he was up to something. Living together for so many years had given the empath a sort six sense that told her when the young man was plotting something. The rule of thumb was "if he looked innocent then he probably wasn't."

While Raven contemplated the shape shifter's ulterior motive, Beast Boy lost himself in Raven.

'She really is incredible.' He thought as he silently admired her. He had always thought she was attractive- in all honesty pretty much every female in the entire superhero profession was –but Raven's beauty had just grown exponentially since they were teenagers (They were now in their twenties). Add to that her unmatched bravery and determination, and Beast Boy found that in his eyes no one else could hold a candle to her. It's probably why he had fallen for her so hard.

Raven noted the silence between them with a bit of apprehension as Beast Boy continued grinning at her.

"Well, are you going to tell me what you want or are you just going to stand there smiling like an idiot all day?" She said abruptly, breaking Beast Boy out of his stupor.

"Oh, sorry." He chuckled, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of his head.

Raven rolled her eyes and sighed in response. She didn't know what she hated more; that he was so damned cute or that she actually thought he was so damned cute.

"I was just wondering if you'd be interested in playing a game with me," he said as he flashed her his trademark toothy grin.

"Gar, how many times do I have to say this? I don't play videogames." So much for thinking he was up to something. Raven was about to retreat back into her room when Beast Boy hurriedly stopped her.

"No, no, it's not a videogame," he explained quickly.

"Then I don't want to play one of your gross, made-up games like Stankball either." She again attempted a retreat and again Beast Boy stopped her.

"It's not one of my made up games either," he said, really not wanting to lose her back to the solitude of her room. "It's a game you know actually."

Raven was once again suspicious, but the changeling had managed to peak her interest. She wondered what he could possibly be talking about.

As if on cue, Beast Boy dispensed from behind his back a long rectangular box with the words, "Classic Chess", printed across it in a simple font.

"Chess?" She said incredulously.

Beast Boy nodded.

"You play chess?" said Raven, arching her eyebrow skeptically.

"Sure, why not?" He replied matter-of-factly.

Raven really hated when he did this. He would spring something totally out of left field on her and then act as if it was basic knowledge. It was one of the many things that aggravated, yet also intrigued her about the young man.

"Come on, play a game with me," he asked, pleading ever so slightly.

For a moment, Raven contemplated what she may be getting herself into. She knew he had to have an angle, but she honestly didn't know what it could be. Another silence grew between them as Raven considered the offer.

Beast Boy could see his plans going up in smoke and was really considering straight up begging when Raven finally spoke.

"Are you sure you know the rules?" She asked in a serious tone.

"Raven, please. You got to give me a little more credit then that," he said in mock exasperation. "I wouldn't ask you to play a game if I didn't know the rules."

Giving him one more suspicious look over, she finally agreed to his offer.

"Alright. One game," she said, walking past him and down the hall towards the common room.

"Awesome," Beast Boy stated simply, grinning all that much more. "I got to warn you though, Rave, I'm pretty good."

Raven frowned slightly at the nickname and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," she replied bluntly.

Beast Boy only smiled.

The meeting room on the JLA watchtower was currently full as Earth's mightiest heroes gathered around the conference table to discuss a matter they had been putting off for some time.

Exuding confidence from every pore, the man of steal himself, Superman stood up from his chair and faced his fellow Justice Leaguers.

"I'm going to be frank," Earth's greatest hero said firmly. "I think it's time."

"I agree," said Wonder Woman standing along side Superman. "Not only have they shown remarkable character, but they have also been victorious time and time again against incredible odds."

"I'll vouch for that," chimed The Flash with a big grin on his face.

Green Lantern wasn't quite convinced.

"Aren't they maybe a little too inexperienced?"

"Perhaps," responded Superman. "But they at least deserve a chance."

The rest of the Leage nodded in agreement. Superman was more than pleased with his team's response as he very much wanted this to be a unanimous decision. However, one of his teammates had yet to speak.

"Well, Bruce?" Superman questioned, slightly dreading the answer.

"You already know what I think," replied The Dark Knight.

With that simple statement, he rose from his chair and calmly exited the room.

Superman sighed heavily at Batman's reaction although honestly it was exactly what he expected. Regardless it could not be helped, so without giving it another thought he returned his attention to the group.

"Then it's decided," he said proudly. "Now the next question is: Who wants to tell them?"