A/N: Hello Teen Titans fandom. Contributing for the first time to one of the very first ships I have ever shipped. Hoping to be adding more in the future as well. Please, enjoy.

The Plunge

"fall in love with someone who makes you glad to be different..." –unknown

It had to be the hair.

She'd recently started growing it out, much to the shock of her fellow teammates. When he'd been the only one brave enough, or stupid enough, to point out the subtle change, noting the barest brush of dark locks against slender shoulders, the empath had coolly shrugged it off.

"Felt like making a change," she'd answered him flippantly, her eyes never leaving the pages of her book.

No one had expected that, not even their unusually prepared leader it seemed, judging from the way his mouth hung open in perpetual shock.

Everyone knew that Raven liked her hair short; easy to manage and out of her way when it came to a fight. The moment anyone noticed it had grown even an inch too long, she wouldn't hesitate to get a trim in an effort to return it to its former length. It had therefore been highly uncharacteristic of her to decide to grow it out instead, citing that she'd simply felt like it as her reasoning. Even more so that she'd divulged that information so easily to Beast Boy of all people.

Nonetheless, her new length of hair was, much to Starfire's merriment, a refreshing feminine attribute on the otherwise indifferent empath. The red haired alien princess had followed Raven around for a few days, begging her to join in "the brushing and decorating of the lovely, long hairs while also partaking in the feminine bonding", as she had so eloquently put it. As expected, Raven had politely declined her invite each and every time. Unfortunately, that hadn't put a halt to all the frequent discussion and buzz surrounding the most reserved Titan's latest fashion statement.

Lucky for Beast Boy, he'd happened to be the one bumming around the tower during one of the occasions that Starfire had been turned away by Raven for the umpteenth time. The usually high spirited girl had slumped into the seat next to him with a heavy, loud, dragged out sigh, no doubt in an attempt to get his currently distracted attention. Beast Boy knew that not even the catchy videogame music and noises pouring out from the TV's speakers were capable of drowning out Starfire's misery when she'd have a black cloud hanging over head, even if he'd put the volume up to max. And so, during the next lull in combat in the game, he had taken a deep breath and mentally braced himself for the inevitable.

"What's up, Star?" he'd finally asked her, never taking his eyes off the screen, and his fingers still expertly mashing the buttons on the game station's controller.

"Friend Raven refuses to partake in any of the feminine bonding activities I suggest!" Starfire had exclaimed. Even when he wasn't looking at her, Beast Boy could easily visualize the pout on the pretty alien's face as she'd replied.

He couldn't help but grin at the Tamaranean's misfortune, and fought the urge to roll his eyes at the all too familiar predicament. "Well, duh. This is Rae we're talking about. She's never been the, uh...most feminine girl around, ya know?"

Boy oh boy, was he lucky that she hadn't been around to hear him say it. No matter how delicately he'd tried to put it, his description of the powerful half demon would only ever come off as an insult and he knew it. His plight hadn't helped brighten Starfire's mood much, either. If anything, he had only succeeded in making it much worse, as the other female Titan was quick to her friend's defense on the matter.

"That is not true! Her hair has always been of the perfect sheen, and oh, if you should ever feel it, it is as soft as the silk, and smells of the earth's most wondrous gardens!" Starfire informed him excitedly, her bright green eyes glazing over as if to be in a daydream. Her reaction to his statement had come out so loud and abrupt that she had taken him completely off guard. Beast Boy's fingers had slipped off of the controller, and the monsters he had been fighting were quick to do away with him in the game, leaving behind only the large, bright red words, 'YOU DIED' flashing on the otherwise black screen.

As he watched the aforementioned subject of his and Starfire's previous conversation now, the way she was, Beast Boy found himself entranced and almost tempted to touch all that hair, to run his fingertips through the mass of deep purple hues, and watch it slip through his hands like a delicate fabric. He knew he couldn't, of course. He wouldn't even dare in his boldest of dreams. Even if Raven was completely unconscious, the motion was far too intimate for him to ever have the courage to perform. Still...looking at her unmoving silhouette now, he couldn't help but recall Starfire's flowery description of the empath's luscious locks, and wondered what it would be like to become privy to such a personal detail about the Titan girl shrouded in so much mystery.

He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks just thinking about it. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be paying her any such mind at all, at least not in such a particular capacity. So, he had deduced that it had to be the hair, and if it was anyone's fault, it was Star's for pointing it out to him in the first place, and making it sound so...lovely. It was far easier if he'd just settle on blaming the alien princess, if only to help keep himself somewhat sane on the matter. The Tamaranean royal had been the one to plot the thought into his head a few weeks ago, and now he found himself unable to shake it. Truthfully, the condition of Raven's hair should have been the very last thing on his mind in this sort of situation, and it had him feeling guilty for letting it consume his mind at all.

She'd been knocked out hard by Cinderblock, who'd broken out of his confinement recently and had, in the process, freed many more criminals in his wake of destruction. The Titans had been dispatched in the dead of night for an emergency situation that had forced them all to split up into smaller groups in a vain effort to round up all the bad guys. He'd been partnered with Raven, in accordance to Robin's orders, and sent to locate any criminal they could find, take them down and arrest as necessary. But Beast Boy had the Goliath's scent in his nose and it wasn't long before he'd stumbled upon Cinderblock himself at the center of all the chaos. He had barely waited for Raven to react when he'd decided to spring into action, charging at the giant monster in the form of a T-Rex and letting out a mighty, frightening roar. But despite his much larger, intimidating form and impressively sharp teeth, he may as well have been a fly sitting on a horse's ass with how little he seemed to affect his opponent. Instead, Cinderblock had suddenly become far more preoccupied with the powerful witch following behind Beast Boy, knowing the real threat when he saw her.

Raven had been in the middle of one of her eerie spells when he'd lashed out at her so quick and unexpectedly that he'd taken both Titans completely off guard. Before Beast Boy could even think of shouting out a warning, Cinderblock had effectively smashed her into a wall with so much force, it had crumbled down on her shortly after, burying her beneath it, and a giant cloud of dust, in moments. Beast Boy was himself again in a hot minute, rushing to the aid of his endangered friend as he was overcome with a fresh wave of panic, adrenaline, and fear. Completely sidetracked and focused solely on rescuing the empath, he'd barely taken notice of Cinderblock gearing up for another attack. Luckily, his other fellow teammates had arrived on the scene to help subdue the colossal creature before he could do any more damage.

"Beast Boy! Stay with her!" Robin had commanded through gritted teeth, rushing at Cinderblock with staff and gadget in hand, not sparing the green Titan another glance in his haste to join the others in the fight.

If he paid enough attention, Beast Boy could see the familiar glow of Starfire's bright green starbolts in the corner of his eye and hear the carnage of Cyborg's proton blaster somewhere in the distance. In that moment though, he'd had other things on his mind, like finding out if Raven was alive beneath all that stone, or if one of his greatest fears had been realized. When he'd finally reached the rubble, he'd quickly transformed into a gorilla and started digging frantically through the heavy brick and mortar, throwing it aside like it was paper, and always searching for that familiar flash of purple and blue against all the gray.

By the time he'd managed to dig out her broken, limp body, his other teammates could be heard battling Cinderblock a good distance away, having chased him further towards the outskirts of the city, which was no doubt his newest target for mass destruction.

Beast Boy had seen her laying there at the very bottom of it all, her eyes peacefully closed, pale face smudged with dirt and caked with dried up blood. The deep crimson colour popped against the pallor of her complexion, marring the top of her head, under her nose, and a bit on her lower lip and chin where it had dribbled. Her long, pale legs, the only other part of her body that was entirely exposed, were already covered in transparent cuts, deep gashes and purpling bruises as well. Her hair, recently just grown past her shoulders, pooled about her in a tangled, violet mess, picking up any dust and tiny bits of cement that lay in its path. Her body suit and cape were tattered and beat, her unitard only coming apart in places she'd been injured and bleeding from. Beast Boy knew that if she ever did wake up, she'd have his head for pulling her out so hastily and ripping part of her favourite article of clothing when it had been caught beneath some rubble. That was, if she woke up at all.

The changeling was fully aware that he didn't need to examine her too carefully to know how bad the situation appeared, and maybe if he didn't look, he could pretend that she still had a fighting chance of coming out of this one alive, and that it wasn't somehow his fault. The moment he'd managed to pull her out, he'd instantly grabbed her by her slender shoulders and started shaking her lightly a few times. He'd even called out her name in a question of desperation as he urged her to open her eyes and to give him some sign of life. However, no matter what he did, no matter how he listened for her faint, erratic heartbeat, or pressed his cheek to her lips to feel for her warm breaths, Raven would remain unconscious.

It was only after he'd felt his heart sinking into the pits of his stomach in sickening defeat that he'd noticed she'd been slightly levitating where he'd left her. In a frantic state, he got on all fours and inspected the small bit of space between her body and the ground, making sure that it was in fact there and that he wasn't just imagining it. He shouted out in victory when he'd learned of it, elated to know that she was in the process of healing herself, and that he hadn't lost her to death's vice grip just yet. Slowly but surely, she'd come back to him. He just had to wait it out in the mean time.

That was how he'd found himself with the free time to become so painfully preoccupied with her.

It had started with her hair (thanks to Starfire), and how his heightened senses always allowed him to smell that familiar, sweet scent of lilac, mint, and incense buried within her darker tresses. Even now, although faint, he could still pick up on it, only this time, it mingled in with the metallic iron from her blood, as well as the saltiness of her sweat.

Shortly after, his own guilty conscience sought to prove him wrong on the matter of Raven's new hairstyle being the bane of his tortured mind. Both his attention and gaze had drifted to the odd peacefulness of his teammate's expression, despite her body's current condition, and he found himself perplexed by her different demeanor. The girl spent most of her time hidden beneath the comfort of her hooded cape, and it was rare that he'd ever gotten a real long and good look at her features before turning into the coward he felt like when she'd catch him staring at her. Yet in this particular moment, he slowly came to realize that the usually cold and stone-faced empath had become so uncharacteristically vulnerable; a state of being he knew Raven went to desperate measures to avoid. Right then, she was weakened and, as far as she knew, completely and utterly alone. She wasn't exactly asleep but she most certainly was not awake, nor was she aware of her surroundings, and Beast Boy was taking the opportunity to truly study her in ways he'd never been permitted to before.

Even with her mind out of the loop, it didn't take long for him to wimp out. He felt his face go aflame and had to force himself to look away early on when he'd realized that his long time hunch about her being pretty had always been apt. He was slowly coming to discover that he really had a fondness for her long hair and the way it framed her face, the deep purple tendrils brushing softly against her pale skin. He could feel his heart rate increase, and it was like he was subconsciously worried that she'd wake up and know he'd been watching her like a total creep; that, despite not being telepathic, she'd somehow become very aware of exactly what he was thinking.

So, maybe it wasn't just the hair, and maybe it wasn't Starfire's fault entirely after all.

Maybe, it was just part of her many magical gifts. That she could draw attention to herself in such a way as a defense mechanism, so that someone was looking after her at all times, didn't seem all too farfetched an idea for the daughter of a demon lord.

Beast Boy, knowing he should probably not be touching her as she was healing, sat complacently next to her instead, and stared up at the half moon looming in the dark blue of the night sky, because it was a whole lot better than the alternative. It was the only other safe option besides succumbing to watching her and learning that he really couldn't trust his own mind when he was this close to her without her knowledge. He just had to play it cool, and remind himself that she couldn't read minds.

Even when he was trying to distract himself from thoughts of Raven and her stupid hair and stupid face, he only found himself recalling and regretting his earlier comment about her lack of femininity. Here he was, ogling her shamefully for her attractive, female features while he'd told Starfire that she was the furthest thing from it. He'd have been lying if he denied feeling like a jerk for it shortly after.

But it wasn't just that Raven was pretty or a girl.

He'd seen plenty of pretty girls before, even dated some of them here and there. Terra had always been a looker, and he'd prided himself on having been with someone as attractive as her, however brief and bitter their relationship had been.

But this was Raven, his forever friend and teammate Raven. Therefore, this was automatically different.

He didn't just want to touch her hair because he wanted to attest to its softness. He wanted that connection with her, wanted to know her. He itched to learn about the things she wouldn't dream of telling anyone else about, things that perhaps she was unaware of herself. Like if her hands were smaller than his, or if her lips tasted like the flavor of herbal tea she liked the most, or how her fingertips felt against his skin. He wanted to gauge her body heat when she was standing close enough to tell, to take in her heady aroma from the nape of her neck, to know what made her heart race in anticipation, and what made her breath hitch in her throat. He wanted her to talk to him about something that sparked a passion that could light up her amethyst toned eyes, or to divulge to him the details about the types of jokes that got her laughing, or at the very least, smiling. He'd give anything to have her tell him all of that and then some.

Of course, realistically speaking, he knew he'd most likely never find out any of it. Not only was Raven an extremely private person, as he'd been quick to learn, she was also least likely to go to him for anything so personal. Beast Boy had no shadow of a doubt that she'd sooner have those conversations with the other Titans before even considering him at all.

Effectively bumming himself out with this thought, he stole a glance in her general direction then, and found her condition to be very much unchanged, although some of her wounds appeared to be less severe than they had been when he'd first found her. The small red jewel on her forehead gleamed in the moonlight and her bangs stuck to the clammy skin around her temples. If it was possible, she appeared to be paler than usual. Beast Boy chewed his bottom lip and willed Robin and the others to hurry back already. He certainly was no doctor and as it stood, he was barely familiar with Raven's healing capabilities and exactly how they worked. It was hard for him to tell what sort of interventions would be necessary in the event she needed medical attention after all. He knew better than anyone that Cinderblock could pack a punch, and Raven had taken the brunt of one.

"C'mon, Rae," he found himself urging her to wake up, his voice a gravely whisper as his brows furrowed in concern.

If she'd heard him at all, she made no inclination of it.

He was of half a mind to change into a stronger animal and carry her off to the tower until the others would return, but disobeying Robin's direct orders, even in such a dire situation, would most likely result in a nasty scolding from their uptight leader at some point in the future. Beast Boy wasn't too sure he was in the mood for one of those, not especially since his own inner voice had been berating him this entire time. Besides, if nothing else, Raven was strong. He had a ghost of a smile on his lips when he looked at her peaceful form again. There was a sense of pride in how tough his teammate could be, and all that she'd managed to overcome. If he had to choose, he'd have to say that most of the time, she was the strongest of all of them. Instead of feeling overshadowed by this fact, Beast Boy found that he only admired her all the more for it. He partly understood what it meant to constantly have to fend off inner demons, and he could only imagine the struggle she faced on a daily basis to always beat out her own dark side.

Even now, in her most weakened of states, she was still trying to get by without any help at all. How could he not respect that sort of durability?

"How's she doing?" It was Robin's worried voice that brought Beast Boy out of his trance.

He'd been so busy staring at her that he hadn't even picked up on his approaching team members. When he did, he noted that they were all winded from the battle with Cinderblock. Robin was breathing heavily, face coated in a thin sheet of sweat, Starfire's eyes weren't quite as bright a green as they typically were when she was filled with energy, and Cyborg was carrying a few of his own parts in his arms. The Titans had had their hands full and the changeling couldn't help but notice being two heroes short was rough on the rest of the crew.

Robin bent down to inspect Raven's still levitating body, no doubt making mental notes of all her injuries and their severity.

"It would appear friend Raven is still in the process of healing herself," Starfire pointed out.

Cyborg huffed in his more serious tone of voice, "Better get her back to the Tower, anyways. Plug her into a few machines; find out how she's doing."

Robin nodded in agreement. "We've still got a lot of cleanup left to do here, and there's the matter of confining Cinderblock in something a lot more secure this time around. Beast Boy and I'll stay behind and deal with it. Cyborg, Starfire, will you-"

"I'll do it!" Beast Boy piped up, interrupting the boy wonder rather abruptly and drawing all his fellow Titans' attention to him.

He gulped and chuckled nervously as he received a less than impressed look from Robin. "I mean, I'll help carry Rae back. I don't mind, really," Beast Boy threw in for good measure.

Cyborg quirked up an eyebrow in the changeling's direction, while Robin remained impossible to read. The Titans' leader then looked to Starfire, who shrugged in response.

"It would not make the difference who stays or who goes. Beast Boy is also capable of such a task, and I am more than qualified for the cleanup, Robin," Starfire told him.

The green teen grinned toothily before transforming into a stallion and neighing at Cyborg to get Raven onto his back. Once she'd been settled in, Beast Boy took care to trot carefully along, always conscious of her soft, warm body against him.

"Hey Cy," he'd call out to his friend later as they made their way back.

"Hmm?" Cyborg was busy fiddling with his own damaged tech as he tried to get a read on Raven's vitals.

"You believe in curses and witchcraft and stuff?" Beast Boy asked him, head somewhat in the clouds.

This caused the half man, half machine to give his friend another quizzical look. "Not really. Why?"

Beast Boy sighed in defeat, as if he'd learned something both new and disappointing. Lost in his own thoughts, he spoke at last, and it was as if he'd evaded Cyborg's question entirely without even realizing it; "Yeah, neither do I..."

A/N: I wanted to make this a bit longer initially, but really liked how it ended right here. I think I got my point across, and the story is solely based on Beast Boy's slow realization of his feelings for Raven (hence why it's mostly one-sided here). That being said, do let me know what you thought. Feedback is welcome, as is constructive criticism. Thanks for reading. :)