Just FYI, I wrote a decent amount of this on my tablet so please forgive me if there are minor spelling mishaps, it kept trying to correct things I really was trying to say. Like it hates when I type BeastBoy and it also does not like when I start new talking dialog. Ahh, the fun. Whatever here we go.

I do not own Teen Titans.

BeastBoy

I didn't let go of her hand until we stood out front of the large tower, scared she'd change her mind and go away. She gave me a look but didn't say anything as I pulled her along with me and when I released her hand she just turned and pulled her hood up over her face. Before I could shift she summoned a black disk in front of me. Shooting a nervous look her way, I stepped on, almost losing my balance as I felt myself ride up.

"Woah. Um ... thanks, Rae." I said nervously, bracing myself like a surfer in the hopes of keeping my balance.

"Raven. Maybe try sitting?" With her face still shrouded I could only imagine the eye roll she's giving me, but her time held a hint of humor. I switched into a sitting position, letting my legs dangle off as we took off.

" Not that I mind the break, but you know I could have flown myself right? " I asked as we flew along. In all honesty, though I kind of liked this. Flying without shifting felt different and its something I didn't ever get to experience.

"When you shift you can't talk. And while that is usually my favorite part about you shifting, I figured you would enjoy being able to speak." She replied dryly.

" Oh... Thanks, Rae..ven" I added quickly when she turned to me. We had almost reached the pizza place when I felt a knot form in my stomach. "Any way you would want to try the pizza place across town?" I cringed knowing my voice came out in almost a squeak.

She gave me a curious look but nodded as she redirected us and I started babbling to her about nothing imparticular. I was glad I was with Raven. Any of the others would have forced the issue, making me talk about what was bothering me and why we couldn't go there. Raven either knew why and wouldn't make me say it or figured I'd tell her if I wanted to. I always had felt relaxed about that particular aspect of Raven. The one person in the tower who could feel everyone's feelings and she always allowed us our space. Even Cyborg, my best friend, couldn't just back off when I was upset. Robin always wanted to butt in to help 'fix' his team and Starfire has an undying restlessness to make others happy. All of those things are fine and make them who they are. But with Raven, I had to put up less of a show. Sure, I still tried to mask my own sadness but that was more or less for me at this point. If I can just smile through the day, maybe I'll forget how bad it hurts that she's gone.

We arrived at the new pizza place, quickly placing our order and finding a seat outside. Raven lowered her hood, the breeze following gently through her short hair violet hair. She tucked a strand behind her ear before turning her large purple eyes to meet mine.

"How do you feel about Cyborgs mission?" She asked. I noticed her small cringe and smiled to myself. Small talk wasn't one of her strong suits. Raven spoke when something needed to be said, not just to fill the silence. She was doing this for my benefit.

" He'll be fine. I mean, I worry about him of course but he can contact us if he needs us and he's strong. I do have to say I like that ring he made, I wonder where he got the idea from...? " I missed mostly to myself as I picked at the imaginary speck on the table.

"Oh. That may have been my fault." She said, looking down as a small blush crept onto her face. I stated at her, not used to seeing her blush. It made me curious...

"Really? Cool! How do Rae? Does that mean you have one as well?" I reached out, grabbing her small hand in my gloves one, startling the empath enough that my drink went flying with a burst of dark energy. I didn't bat an eye though. With our line of work, you get used to little accidental bursts of powers.

"Um..." Her eyes met mine again, nervously, before using her magic to summon a small black velvet bag. She reached inside and pulled out a dainty looking ring. It was a simple band, designed to almost look like leaves going up the band, and in the center sat a small amethyst stone. "Cyborg made it for me so I could get some time out of the tower. There is a cafe nearby, near the used book store I like, that I enjoy going to. But if I go out as me... I never get left alone. People love hero's and I can't bring myself to shoo them away but I also can't deal with swarms of people. I want to get better with handling my emotions, especially in groups of strangers but I can't do that as Raven. So he made me this."

"Have you tried it out yet?" I asked, unsure of how else to continue our conversation.

"Not yet. He made mine and his at the same time, so I got it last night." She twirled the small band in her fingers.

"Why don't we go? I'll shift into something small and hide in your purse or something and you can go and try it out. If something goes wrong I'll be there to help you." I bounced in my seat, excited now at the idea. She opened her mouth to respond as a waitress comes over, dropping off our pizza at the table. She goes to get me a new drink and we began to dig in.

Raven

lunch with Beastboy wasn't the worst thing in the world. We actually had a good time and seemed to be getting along fairly well which as anyone on the team will agree to, is rare. We both agreed that hanging out together was enjoyable and that we could continue to be friends, we also agreed to tell the team. It's something I had considered but BeastBoy was the one to voice it, surprisingly enough. It stung for a moment but I tried to shrug it off. I wanted the same thing, so it shouldn't matter that he didn't want the team knowing we were becoming friends.

Things continued on pretty much like normal. Maybe he overdid it sometimes with the being overly annoying but it was bothering me less, not that I would let that show to the team. He continued to play with the giant Cyborg double. He played it off like it was just for fun but I got the feeling that it was partly because he missed his best friend.

When Cyborg checked in a few days later, we got updates of his mission. Including learning that they were working on some 'class project'. The transmission cut out as Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth approached him, and while it put all of us a little on edge, we knew we had to trust Cyborg to handle this on his own.

I sit quietly on the edge of my bed, reading over one of my favorite books. I had read it so many times that the book was well worn, the cover breaking away from the spine of the book in some places. It made me sad, but I knew I could pick up a new copy at some point. Right now I was just getting to the point where the main character left for France along with best friend and lover when I heard a loud knock on the door. I sighed to myself, not bothering to mark my place in the book as I closed it. I had read it so many times that I could start anywhere and still enjoy the story.

The assault on my door continued as I levitate across my room. I let myself reach out trying to figure out who was on the other side. The erratic, bubbly emotions could belong to one of two people but it felt more like...

"What do you want BeastBoy?" I called out, before opening the door. He let out a small yelp before scratching the back of his neck nervously.

" How'd you know it was me? " he half-whined at me, pushing past me and flipping down on my bed.

I raised an eyebrow but didn't reply to his question as I drifted after him. "What are you doing in here BeastBoy?"

"Star and Robin went out to the 'mall of shopping'. Cy is still undercover so I just thought maybe we could hang out? We don't have to go anywhere, we could just talk or whatever. Unless you want to go out, cause we could totally go try out that fancy ring of yours! We could hit up that cafe and we could go to a movie, OH! Or we could-"

"BeastBoy," I said raising a hand to motion for silence. If I didn't silence him I feel like he could babble forever. It was something I was mildly envious of. I could never seem to find the right words to start up a casual conversation. BeastBoy, on the other hand, could talk about anything with anyone, including me. "I don't really feel like going out. If you want to hang out we can, but let's just stay in and watch a movie or something. Though, I wouldn't mind seeing how this ring worked. I haven't been able to give it a try yet."

I walked over to the edge of my night side table, pulling open the drawer that held my little black bag. Pulling out the small dainty ring in my hand once more I met BeastBoys emerald eyes.

"Is it weird that I'm a little nervous?" My eyes turned away from him as I caught a glimpse of myself in my mirror. I didn't know why I was saying this, I tended not to voice my feelings as much, but with BeastBoy I was finding it was getting a little easier to find my voice. "This is how I have always looked. With you and Cyborg… you know what you looked like before you were what you are today. But this has always been me. Nothing happened to me, nothing changed me and honestly, I don't like the way I look all the time but it's me. I don't know how I feel about trying to cover it up."

I felt silly for the admission, and I wondered if he would understand. When Cyborg and I had spoken of it, I knew that Cyborg would almost give anything to be who he was, to regain what he had lost. I wasn't sure if BeastBoy felt the same but I could imagine so.

"You shouldn't need to cover up who you are. All of us… We all have suffered in different ways. Cyborg and I, we may have physically changed the most but we have all seen the worst part of this world and still try to fight for the change we wish to see. The way we look… It used to bug me when it first happened, but now I can't imagine my life any different. Don't get me wrong if Cy made me one of those rings I would totally enjoy it but I don't wish I was any different. I think it's okay that you feel nervous. I think it's okay that you don't want to be anyone other than who you are. Honestly, I feel like if Terra hadn't felt like there was something wrong with her, we wouldn't have lost her to Slade in the first place and she would still be here with us." He looked sad and I reached out to touch his shoulder, nervously patting him in what I hoped was a comforting fashion.

"We may not have seen eye to eye on some things, but I am sad she's gone as well. I wish things had turned out differently for her. If you ever want to talk I hope you know I will listen. I'm not always the best person when it comes to feelings and I don't always know what to say but I will listen and try to help as best as I am able." I removed my hand from his shoulder and he turned his eyes up to meet mine.

"Thanks, Rae. Now how about we try this thing out?" He forced a smile on his face and I pretended I didn't notice as I slid the small ring on my finger, squeezing my eyes shut as I waited. I didn't feel anything happen, nothing big or flashy and I cracked one eye open as I stared at Beastboy whos eyes were wide and his mouth hung open slightly.

"Do I look that different? Does it look bad?" I turned to the mirror and I fought and mostly lost to maintain a neutral expression as I looked at myself in the mirror. Black hair hung around my face in place of what once was purple. The cut was still the same, but it now fell against pale skin instead of my normal greyish skin. The biggest difference was found when I got to my eyes. What was once my amethyst eyes were now replaced by hazy blueish grey eyes. I was in shock and I couldn't honestly tell if it was because I loved or hated it. It was just so different.

"It doesn't look bad. I mean honestly, you look good but you just don't look… like you?" He laughed nervously. "I guess that's the whole point though, right? So you can blend in? I mean if I were to see you on the street I wouldn't recognize you, so you would be able to have some level of freedom with this then dude." He said, both of our eyes looking at the effect in the mirror. His words were comforting but his face… I could still see a small level of shock and almost disappointment on his face. I couldn't blame him though. It matched my feelings. Something about looking at the stranger in the mirror made me feel uncomfortable.

I took off the ring and watched as the illusion faded and my purple eyes blinked back at me. I turned to BeasyBoy, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Now that we have gotten that out of the way, how about that movie?" I said brushing past him as I walked purposefully out my door.

Thank you to everyone who is reading this story, I am gonna end the chapter here for now and pick up the next chapter from the next episode. I am going to be trying to do long updates, each one being one 'episode'. Some 'episodes' maybe 2 parts depending on the content of the episode and how it plays out, but I will try to post them close together. I will be dealing more closely with the story plot but with this episode, there really was not a whole lot of BB or Raven in it. Which I like because I get to put what I want but it's also a pain because I don't feel like I'm following the story that well. Please let me know what you think, and how I can improve the reading experience for you and what you would like to see. If you have any ideas for the story feel free to review or PM me.

Have a wonderful day!