Disclaimer: Teen Titans is the Property of DC Comics

Chapter 2

Rachel placed her coat on and turned off the last of the lights. She exited the doors and locked them. It was nearing nine and she felt quite tired. She couldn't wait to go home, have a cup of tea, and go to bed. She walked over to her car and was met with a very unpleasant surprise. Beast Boy was leaning against her car, waiting for her.

"Can I help you?" she snapped.

"Yeah," he said, standing up straight. "You wanna tell me why you're here and not at the tower?"

"Sir, I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "Now get away from my car or I'll call the police."

"Rae, I'm above the police!" he laughed.

"My name is Rachel," she said angrily. "And I don't care who you are, go away!" She went to her car door and began unlocking it.

"You think by dying your hair and wearing a skirt you can conceal who you are?" he said, quickly going over to her.

"I do not dye my hair," she said, opening her car door.

"Then why's it black?" he asked. "You have purpley hair, not black."

"That's not even a word," she said. "And my hair is black, sir."

"Well then let me see your forehead," said Beast Boy.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Come on, I just gotta see something," he said, reaching forward. "Then I'll leave you alone."

"What are you-" she began, but not in time. Beast Boy reached forward to move her bangs out of the way. Unfortunately, she tried to duck out of his grasp and this only allowed him to push her black wig clean off. It fell to the ground and revealed that under it lie a purple head of hair tied in a bun.

"Raven?" said Beast Boy, shocked. She looked to the ground and bit her lip. He smiled and said, "Is it really you?"

She then looked up, yelled, "You jerk!" and punched him right in the face.

He fell to the ground and grabbed his cheek in pain. "Yup," he said, wincing. "It's you."

"Why did you do that?!" she yelled.

"Hey, I was just trying to see your forehead," he said, looking up at her. "Which I see my suspicions were right, there's your chakra. You were hiding it."

"Along with the rest of my past identity," she spat. "You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" She quickly got into her car and Beast Boy quickly got back to his feet.

"Wait, where're you going?" he said.

"Home," she said, turning her car on.

"What? Raven, I finally found you after six years and you just wanna leave?" he said. "We've been worried sick! You at least owe me an explanation."

"I don't owe you anything," she said.

"Oh, yes you do," said Beast Boy. "Years ago I saved you and you saved me. You accepted me for who I was and I accepted you for who you were. We were friends, whether you wanna admit it or not. And then you just left one day without a word. Every day since then I've thought about you and whether you're alive or not. Six years of worrying and wondering every day? Yeah, you owe me an explanation."

Raven gripped her steering wheel and sighed. "Fine," she said. "Get in."

Beast Boy quickly ran around and got in the passenger's side. "Thank you," she said, buckling up.

They pulled out of the library parking lot and got on the road. He looked over to her and saw her looking straight ahead at the road, as if he wasn't even there. As she drove she took the various pins and an elastic out of her hair, allowing it to unravel and fall past her shoulders.

"Your hair's longer," he said, trying to make conversation with her.

"So is yours," she said.

"Yeah, but not much," he laughed. "You know, other than your hair, you don't look all that different."

"Thanks," she said evenly. "Where's Crystal?"

"In bed," said Beast Boy.

"Does anyone know that you came after me?" she asked.

"No," he said. "I told them I was going out for some fresh air."

She turned into a diner and found a parking spot. She parked and proceeded to get out. "Well, are you coming or what?" she said.

"I thought you were gonna take me to your place," he said, unbuckling.

"I'm not that stupid," she said and closed her door. "Like I want you knowing where I live."

He quickly closed his door and ran around to catch up with her. She walked swiftly and reached the doors of the diner, throwing them open and entering without even a second thought of the man behind her. After nearly catching the door in his face he followed in after her and the two got a booth.

"Jesus, you're the same as ever," he said, sitting down.

"Forgive me, I'm not exactly in the best of moods right now," she said and placed her face in her hands as she leaned on the table with her elbows. "And I can't for the life of me figure out why you couldn't just leave me alone."

"Uh, cuz you've been missing for six years!" he said.

"I haven't been missing," said Raven. "I've been here the whole time."

"And you couldn't have called us or something?" he said.

"Are you just here to yell at me?" she said, exasperated.

He sighed and said, "No. It's just… I can't believe it's you. I mean, we never thought we'd see you again. We've missed you, you know. Did you miss us?"

"Of course I did," she said.

A waitress came up to the booth with a smile and said, "Hey, can I get you two something?"

"I'll have a cup of decaf tea, please," said Raven. "And a turkey club sandwich."

"Alright," said the waitress, writing down the order. "And you, sir?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, I'll have a cola and a small salad," he said.

"Alright, it'll be up in a minute," she said with a smile and left.

"Since when do you eat after eight?" asked Beast Boy. "Or at all?"

"Since I got a job that doesn't get out until nine," said Raven. "And I eat just like any normal person."

"I never saw you eat when you were at the tower," said Beast Boy. "You know, other than pizza when we all went out."

"Did you think I just starved myself?" she said, bringing her purse onto the table. She opened it and took out a small bottle. She poured out three different looking pills.

"What are those for?" he asked, curiously.

"Vitamins," she said simply and began to itch her left wrist and then her right.

Beast Boy found this odd and looked closely. Through the white material of her blouse he swore he could see something wrapped around both her wrists. "Uh, Raven, can I see your wrists?" he asked.

"No," she said plainly.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because I said so," said Raven.

"Raven," he said sternly, which certainly caught her attention. He placed his hand out and said, "Let me see your wrists."

She looked at him with a harsh glare, but was only received the same glare in return from him. She had expected him to cower, like he used to when they were younger. But he was a man now and a simple glare wasn't going to affect him anymore. Her look softened and then she sighed. "Fine," she said. She unbuttoned the cuffs of both her sleeves and pushed them up. She then held both her wrists out to him. "There, are you happy?"

Beast Boy was shocked to see bandage wrappings covering both her underarms and wrists. "Raven… what'd you do?" he said, fully concerned.

"It wasn't my fault," she said, quickly pulling her arms back and covering them up. "Look, my damn doctor prescribed me pills that aren't supposed to be mixed. I took them, went a little crazy, and tried to kill myself. I barely remember it I was so drugged."

"Why did you need pills in the first place?" asked Beast Boy.

"None of your business," said Raven. The waitress came over and gave them their orders. Raven quickly made her tea, took a sip, and downed the three pills. Then she took a big bite of her club sandwich.

"Raven, do you really think you're going to leave me hanging here?" said Beast Boy, crossing his arms.

"Yes," she said looking down, not daring to look at him anymore.

He groaned and leaned on the table much like she did a few minutes before. "I can't believe you're still being stubborn like this," he said. "You still think you have to handle everything on your own. Why can't you ever ask for help?"

"Because I don't need help," she said growing angry again.

"Obviously you do if you're taking pills for something and then go off and try to kill yourself!" he said.

"I didn't do it on purpose!" she said. "It was a bad combination of pills. And, yes, I did leave to handle things on my own. Excuse me for trying to be independent."

"No, you were being stupid," he said plainly, again shocking her. "What the hell could you have been going through that we couldn't have helped you with?"

"Fine, you want to know," she said, taking another bite of her sandwich. "I was going through a bit of a nervous breakdown that I didn't want any of you involved with."

"Nervous breakdown?" said Beast Boy. "That's why you left?"

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" she snapped.

"Oh, would you calm down," he said. "Anyway, you should have asked for help if you were in trouble. You know we're always there for you."

"I know and obviously I didn't want your help," said Raven. "Look, the fact is that when I was having this… breakdown… you were all very happy and I didn't want to bring you down."

"What do you mean?" asked Beast Boy.

"Well Robin…" she began.

"Nightwing," interrupted Beast Boy.

"That's right, he's going by Nightwing now," said Raven. "Anyway, he and Starfire were engaged, Cyborg and Bumblebee were expecting a baby, and you and Terra had finally gotten together. And there I was about to go over the edge. You were all so happy I didn't want to ruin it."

"So you left to handle this on your own just so you wouldn't trouble us?" he asked. "Raven, when you disappeared we were all panicked! It would've been better if you'd told us what was going on."

"Look, what's done is done," said Raven. "I'm quite… happy, with my choice, and I'm sure you've all been doing fine without me."

"Sure, we've been fine," said Beast Boy. "But we've missed you. I mean, you weren't there for Nightwing and Star's wedding, any of the kids' births, or… or Terra's funeral."

"I did go to that," said Raven. "I paid my respects and then left before any of you could see me. I'm not that cold hearted, you know."

"Oh," said Beast Boy. "Well… that makes me feel a little better."

He picked at his salad while Raven ate her sandwich. He occasionally looked at her and found her to be simply looking out the window while she ate. She looked tired and anything but happy.

She finished her sandwich and grabbed some money from her purse. "Well, I've got to be going," she said. "It was nice catching up with you. Don't tell anyone you saw me." And with that she stood up to leave.

"Raven, I can't let you just go," he said quickly, standing up with her. "Come on, come back to the tower with me. You don't have to be alone anymore."

"That's alright," said Raven. "I'm perfectly fine by myself."

"That wasn't a suggestion," he said crossing his arms.

Raven frowned and said, "And who are you to…to tell me… what to-." But she never got a chance finish her sentence. The room began to spin in her eyes and she felt her consciousness slip away from her.

Beast Boy watched as Ravens eyes swiveled about and she wavered. Then, all at once, she dropped to the floor. He quickly went to her and tried to bring her back.

"Raven?" he said, holding her. "Raven, wake up!"