The sound of strident alien klaxons blared all over the ship, which almost masked the sounds of metal twisting and snapping as the Glory of X'Hal was going through its death throes. The ship was the pride and joy of the Tamaranian fleet, but that was not enough for it to survive the Gordanian ambush it suffered. Its only consolation was that the Gordanian vessels had all been destroyed in the attack.

The ship was a hopeless mess. Life support and artificial gravity systems were beginning to fail, which made getting around the ship a next to impossible task, even for Raven, as she found that the gravitational distortions that were now manifesting themselves in a near random fashion made teleportation impossible, not that there was anywhere to teleport, as the ship was in deep interstellar space, light years from the nearest safe harbor. Her Titans communicator also didn't seem to be working,

She was also helping Beast Boy, who had a broken leg, to keep moving. They were separated from their teammates, who were also on board the ship. This was supposed to have been a pleasure cruise to Tamaran, but at the moment there was no pleasure, only pain. Raven had a nasty wound on her left thigh which was bleeding. It was a miracle that the ship was still in one piece, though it was obvious that situation wouldn't last for long. Tamaranian warriors were running in all directions, engaged in the hopeless task of keeping the ship together.

"Where are the damn escape pods?" She muttered under her breath. "Beast Boy! A little help here."

The green Titan was clearly in medical shock. He groggily raised his head to look at her. His eyes looked hollow and vacant. "Sorry … don't know … so tired."

His body went limp and Raven braced herself to keep him from falling onto the floor.

"Hang in there, Garfield. We're getting out of here … I just don't know how."

As she continued to drag the disabled and semi conscious changeling, still with no idea of what a Tamaranian escape pod looked like nor where to find one, a blond Tamaranian female leaped in front of them. Picking both of them up like they were rag dolls, the amazon like woman took off running, with them tucked under her arms. Beast Boy finally passed out, and Raven was struggling to keep her senses as her own blood loss was getting the best of her and she too was feeling groggy.

The woman ran like the wind, navigating through the ship's maze like corridors, seemingly unaffected by what was happening to the ship. She then skidded to a stop in front of a hatch. She popped it open and tossed the two Titans into it and slammed the hatch shut. Raven managed to get up and looked through the hatch's port hole into the ship. The woman saluted her and pressed a button. Raven heard a hissing sound followed by the roar of a rocket engine and the escape pod blasted away at unbelievable speed. The Glory looked smaller and smaller through the port hole, until it suddenly exploded into a huge ball of lights and sparks. Raven blacked out and she knew no more.

-(-)-

Beast Boy was woken by a bright light shining in his face, which he blocked with his right hand.

"Take it easy, you're still in bad shape."

He turned to the voice, and saw Raven, who in his opinion looked worse than he felt.

"Where are we?" He croaked in a dry voice.

"I have no idea." She replied weakly as she handed him a canteen. "Drink as much as you want, there's plenty of water here, wherever here is."

He carefully sat up and moaned. "I feel terrible. What happened to the ship?"

"Gone. Destroyed. A woman carried us to an escape pod. She stayed behind. I don't know what happened to the others. I've tried using my communicator, but no one answers."

"Rescue beacon?" He asked

She shrugged. "I don't know. I can't read Tamaranian, so I have no idea if it's working or if there even is one in the pod."

"So we're stranded, lost."

"Maybe, probably, I really don't know."

"Raven, are you OK? You look really bad. Is there a first aid kit? Food?"

She showed him a canvas bag. "I found this in the pod. Of course, the writing's in Tamaranian, so I have no idea what's in it. Looking at the contents doesn't help. It could be food, medicine, or maybe something else, I have no idea." She tossed the useless bag aside.

"So we're in trouble."

She nodded. Her face was filthy and her cape was torn.

"Yeah, we are."

"We need to find food." He said as he tried to stand. He fell to the ground, wincing in pain.

"I'm sorry, I tried to heal it; but I'm too weak." She crawled over and sat next to him. He was propping himself up on his arms, watching her. She gently took him and laid his head on her legs. He looked up at her face. Raven was perhaps the most beautiful girl he ever met, and even though she was filthy and tired, she still enraptured him.

"So, we're gonna die here." He asked in a hoarse voice.

"Unless someone finds us, you're probably right. Without supplies or medicine we won't last long."

He was on his back on the sandy surface, resting his head on her uninjured leg, looking up at her face. She placed her hand on his head and began to gently caress him. He stared into her violet eyes for the longest time, until he took a deep breath and looked away

"Well, in that case, I need to tell you something … I need to tell you this before I die."

A small smile formed on her face. "It's OK, Gar; I know it was you who put the itching powder in my bras. I forgive you."

He smiled back at her. "Actually, that was Chrome Dome … I want to tell you something else."

"That it was you who swapped all my boots for identical ones that were five sizes too big?"

"No, not that … that was a good prank, one of my best." He paused and stared into her eyes, gulping before speaking. "Raven, I don't know how to tell you this ... I love you."

She stared at him in utter disbelief. "Are you serious? Gar, this is a really bad time for one of your stupid jokes."

"I'm not joking … Scout's honor. I just never could tell you before."

"But why? Why didn't you tell me?"

He looked away. "I was afraid you'd laugh at me."

Raven scrunched her face as she fought back the tears. "You … stupid … idiot." She whimpered.

"I'm sorry … I shouldn't have said anything. It was a dumb thing to do."

"No, you moron … you should have told me before."

"Before? Why?"

Raven's water works started to flow. She wiped her tears away with her dirty sleeve, leaving a huge smudge on her face.

"Because I love you too!"

Beast Boy didn't say anything. He gently took her hand and kissed it. She quickly yanked it away.

"I'm sorry, my hand's dirty … I'm filthy and sweaty and covered in dry blood.. I'm also a hot mess .. I've always been one."

"I don't care. I still love you."

Raven leaned over him and gently touched his lips with her own. He kissed her, so softly that it felt as delicate as a feather. The barren alien landscape around them vanished and nothing else existed. They kissed more and continued to do so and lost track of time.

Their interlude was suddenly interrupted by the sound of landing thrusters. They both sat up and saw a Tamaranian shuttle land next to the escape pod. It gleamed as if made of silver and was undamaged, unlike the pod. A hatch opened with a hiss and their three friends stepped out, waving happily as they ran to their injured comrades.. The changeling looked up at his gray beloved and smiled.

"I guess we're not gonna die after all … so, do you still love me?"

"I always loved you." She replied before kissing him again.

The End.