Chapter Seven

Sorry this new chapter took so long! I got caught up in school and work and college stuff and soon enough I forgot about this :P It didn't help that my computer totally fritsed out and I just recently fixed it. I hope you guys like this chapter! Stick around for the next one, cause it's about to go down ;D

Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of it so far! Hope you like it!

Exactly seventeen days had passed since Starfire had last seen her fellow Teen Titans. Laying in her bed, she let her mind drift to thoughts of home. Although none of them were in their teens anymore, the team had chosen to keep the name. Changing the name would have been like changing their own names, or facing the fact that they were not the team they used to be. Starfire visibly frowned at the aching memory when she realized it wasn't the name that had torn them apart and nothing could have prevented time from taking its course.

She ignored the aches in her back and in her joints from the rigorous exercises she'd been enduring lately as she stretched and sat up on her bed. The tests with Hange had escalated and now they were finding her physical limits. After the first day when they discovered nothing they had was too heavy for her to lift. Although taking in accounts where soldiers had witnessed her punch the head of a Titan straight off, no one doubted her strength and they moved on to other tests. Today they would try to learn how fast she could fly. It had never occurred to her to clock her speed. It would have been easier to do so in the alternate universe which she came from, she thought. But when she voiced her concerns to Hange, she was quickly reassured they had equipment to test speeds.

Dressing in her usual Scouting corps uniform, a bit reluctantly, she sluggishly ran a brush through her long scarlet hair and left her room. Ruefully realizing she wouldn't be relaxing on her bed until long past sunset, which seemed like eons from now. She walked past Levi's door, silently hoping he would be ready in time to walk with her to breakfast. His door stayed shut as she dragged her feet down the hall and she shrugged her shoulders. She would find another way to entice him like she had in the showers like before. The little man had caught her interest and it seemed to her she had a similar effect on him.

She was pondering this connection between her and the captain when she entered the mess hall. After collecting her tray, she sat in her usual spot between Armin and Mikasa. It seemed she wasn't the only one feeling sore today. When she settled herself in her seat, the others barely nodded to her and ate their food with their eyes half closed.

"Why are all of you so tired?" She asked.

"Yesterday Captain Levi made all of us run because one of the newer recruits couldn't keep up."Armin replied.

"But why did he punish all of you?"

Jean replied before Armin could muster up the words. "Probably because we've gotten lazy. We haven't had a mission in a while and it wouldn't do us any good to sit around like a bunch of lazy asses."

"What's wrong with being a lazy ass?! I pull it off pretty good!" A voice unfamiliar to most of them shouted from a few feet away. To Starfire, the voice was one she thought she would never hear in the confines of this world.

She shouted and jumped from her seat to hug the green man with pointy ears. Beast Boy hugged her back and lifted her off the ground.

"Star, I'm so glad you're ok!" He said to her shoulder. He finally put her down and looked around. He expected he would attract attention, but he was more so thinking girls would be clinging to him and the boys would be staring enviously at all of the attention he was getting. But in reality, from the boys and the girls, he received cold stares. In some eyes he saw fear, others wouldn't meet his eyes when he looked their way. There were a few who gawked but they were few in number.

"Star, what's with these people? Haven't they ever seen a green alien before?" He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably and slumped self-consciously a bit.

"No, Beast Boy, they have never seen a green alien. Come, meet my friends." She held his arm and dragged him over to her table.

"Your friends?" He seemed slightly confused but he went along with it as she stopped at the table he'd seen her at.

"Beast Boy, these are my comrades." As she pointed and put a name to each face, they smiled politely, From the death glare the one that looked like a horse was giving him, he could tell they would have issues.

"And this," Starfire said gesturing toward Beast Boy, "Is my good friend Beast Boy."

"Nice to meet you, Beast Boy," BB recalled the one named Armin was the one who spoke.

"Nice to meet you too dude." He replied.

"Beast Boy, did Raven come with you?" Starfire asked hopefully.

"Yeah, I had to help her carry all of your luggage. Star, are you really staying here? We miss you." He pouted his lower lip a bit and gave her the puppy dog look she'd missed so dearly. It made her heart melt.

"Yes, Beast Boy I'm staying. Now, where's Raven?" She asked excitedly.

"I think she's in your ro-" Before he even finished his sentence she was flying out of the room. He was now alone.

He looked at table of her friends and uncomfortably sat down. "So, what do you guys do for fun around here? Do you have video games or tv?"

He was met with clueless stares and silence. "Ok, maybe not. What about comic books?"

Still nothing.

He sighed and was about to stand up when the one he remembered Star had called Eren spoke up.

"We don't know what those things are. But, why, uh.." He seemed unwilling to finish what he was saying. BB sat back down.

"Why what? Come on, don't be afraid to ask." He smiled a toothy smile.

"Why is your name Beast Boy?"He finally said.

BB gave him a devious grin. Without replying, he just stood up and planted himself a few feet away from the table so everyone could see. It took a moment to decide what he wanted to morph into, but when he chose one, he looked at each of them and smiled again.

"This one's for you, Jean."

So he took the form of a horse.

After they all stared at Beast Boy for a few moments, in shock of the sudden change, they realized the joke and started laughing hysterically. Jean of course was furious and was yelling at the others to stop. Insisting that he didn't look like a horse.

"No, you definitely do." Eren shouted. It wasn't until Jean saw Mikasa trying to hide a smile under that red scarf he reached his limit and stormed off.

Beast Boy changed back to his normal self and laughed along with the others.

"I think you'll fit in just fine," Sasha said as she flung her arm around his shoulder.

"If you fought with Starfire, you must be really tough. Why don't you train with us while you're here?" She invited.

He was looking forward to spending time with Star, but she was with Raven and he figured he would let them have some time together.

"Sure, sounds cool."

He waited for the others to clear their table and followed them out the door. Little did he know these soldiers were on a whole other level than he was. As he would discover later while tending to the many bruises and scrapes he procured from their "sparring matches". More like "Let's beat on Beast Boy matches." He thought sorely.

Elsewhere, Starfire was flying up the stairs, hoping to find Raven still in her room. She was speeding down the hall and turned a corner too quick. She had no time to avoid barreling into Levi.

"Sorry Heichou," She called behind her while she flew past him. Levi was left rubbing the back of his head and wondering how the hell someone so skinny could feel like a damned rock.

Starfire wasted no time rushing to her room, and flinging the door open when she got there. The scene before her almost brought her to tears. In the time she left her room this morning to right now, her dwelling had transformed. Raven had not only brought her clothing home, but her bed, and her dresser, and all of her stuffed animals were here. Raven herself was standing by the bed making a few last adjustments to the blankets.

"Oh Raven, this is wonderful! You did not have to go to this trouble," Starfire walked to the armoire that held her clothes and open the wide chestnut doors. Inside contained every article of clothing she owned.

"I know we didn't have to, but this place is seriously messed up. Cyborg thought that if you had all your stuff with you, it would make you feel a little better about staying," Raven explained. They both took a seat on her bed and like old times when the Teen Titans were all close, they updated each other on their lives.

"How is Cyborg and all of the other Titans?" Starfire asks.

Raven sheds her gloomily disposition and smiles for her friend and rambles on, quite uncharacteristically, "Oh you should see it, Cyborg updated the screen in the living room so it's 3D now. Robin is still with Batman but he calls all the time asking us if we've gone to see you. He'll be glad to know you're doing well. I've been spending some time in this other dimension I found while I was looking for you and I'm learning a lot about my own powers. But how are you? We miss you Starfire."

Starfire gives a shy smile and looks down at her hands. "I miss the Teen Titans too."

"Then why don't you come back? Surely you've made enough of a difference in the past few weeks that you can come home."

"No, these people are still at risk of losing everything if the armored Titan or the Colossal Titan show up. I need to be here when that happens." She takes another look around the room and leans against the wall. "But you should know I don't go a single day without thinking of my team. It's hard for me to wake up sometimes and have to put on that terrible uniform. Really, Raven I do not understand why they have to be so tall." They both laugh a bit and simply sit in silence until they both hear a knock at the door.

"Come in," she calls to the visitor. About a second later, the brass door knob turned and Levi Ackerman slowly entered the room.

"Hello again Raven," he greeted, nodding in her direction. "I'll ask why your bed is covered in strange soft animals later. Sorry to cut your reunion short, but we've been called on a mission to the Titan forest. You'll have some time to say good bye to you're friends because we're not leaving for another two hours. Be ready to move out at eleven." He turned to leave but stopped halfway. "And will you explain to your green friend hiding in my uniform is the shittiest way to hide from Hanji?" The girls looked at each other confused until they saw a small green snake the size of a pencil crawl out of Levi's boot.

"Sorry dude, but that lady's crazy," BB shifted back to human and tried to explain while Levi turned and finally closed the door behind him. "What's stuck up his butt?"

Starfire retorts, "probably a Titan." They all laugh and Beast Boy takes his turn to ask Starfire about her life and how her new friends are treating her.

"Wait, so you mean you killed HOW many monsters?" Beast Boy exclaims.

"Seventy three." She replies.

"Wow Star, I knew you were tough but I didn't know you could do that." He rubbed the back of his head shyly and remembered the first time she'd ever had a cheeseburger. To this day if he showed her a bottle of ketchup, her eyes were guaranteed to light up. Was this really the same woman?

"Thanks Beast Boy, but I think it might be time for me to get ready now. I don't want you two to leave but I have responsibilities I can't shirk here. But I thank you both dearly for coming to see me. I miss all of you," She gathered them up in a bear hug and only relented when Raven mumbled something about crushed ribs.

"We'll miss you too Star," Beast Boy said as he gave her one last hug before jumping in the portal Raven had opened. Raven gave her friend one last solemn wave and followed after her green friend.

She stared at the blank floor where her companions had disappeared at and sighed to herself. Of course the day her friends come to visit, they get a mission for the first time in more than two weeks. There wasn't much she could do about in, however so she walked over to her closet to pick out suitable attire for her mission. Much to her delight, she found an outfit just like the one she had worn into her first attack against the Titans. The only difference was that this one had a beautiful gray sheen to it instead of the purple she always wore. Even better, the boots that paired with it did NOT pass her knees. Probably her favorite present so far.

About twenty minutes later. just as she finished praying before donning her face framing crown, a knock resounded at her door. "Starfire, it's time to go, get your ass moving!" Her captain shouted through the wood. Since she was finished already, she opened the door just as he was walking away.

"No need to yell, I am already prepared." She explained.

He turned around and had to physically struggle not to show his surprise in her choice of wardrobe. If he thought she was pretty before, she was exquisitely lethal now. He'd seen what she could do on the battlefront. But looking at her now, before she'd activated her armor to cover her body in metal, he only saw a young woman who... who he realized would kick his ass if he stared at her boobs another second. Seriously, he saw pretty women everyday but the one with that can throw green bolts had to catch his eye. He quickly turns away and tries to recover his dignity all the while repressing the memory of seeing her in the shower stalls all those weeks ago.

"Nice armor," he tried for a neutral compliment. Nailed it.

"Thank you captain. Why are we going to the Titan forest so quickly? What could be so important?" She definitely noticed her captains ogling but had opted for ignoring it at the moment. Her curiosity of the mission prevailed for now.

"This isn't a normal mission. We received word from an unknown source that the human Titan shifters gather somewhere in the forest. So you, me, Mikasa, and Jean are doing a recon mission to find out what we can. We'll be back by sunset so it's not a long mission." Not that the duration mattered, Levi thought. As long as they learned something about the Titan shifters. This will be the deciding mission. If they don't start digging up some information on these things, there will be no safe place for humanity to hide. And as the scout regiment, it was their jobs to put their lives on the line to salvage any chance for the human race to survive.