Hey guys, so yeah here is chapter three. I am totally having a blast writing this story and I hope you're having fun as well. Got a lot of Stuff planned over the next few chapters. As always, Kudos to RaeSM for proof reading and encouragement.

Now that I know for a fact The Thief is a solid character that's going to stick around I figured I would give a little background on him in general. He is not one of my characters; I actually have him on loan from a fellow writer who is just about to post his first story here on fan fiction. When he finishes his account and posts a story I will totally link it for you guys. Anyway, Kudos to him, as his source character was a beautiful addition to the story.

Now before I ramble much more here is chapter three.

Baconbitz

xXx

The next few days passed without much incident, which came as a relief to Raven. The ocean softly lapped onto her nest of rocks next to the tower. The sun had yet to rise, and as a result it was still quite chilly out. Raven didn't mind too much, however, as meditation always seemed to keep the physical problems away, at least until later. She slowly chanted her mantra as she began to mull things over in her head. Things had returned to what would loosely be considered normal in her home. Ravens dreams had subsided, and now that she was getting enough sleep that she could concentrate on dealing with other issues that had begun to rear their ugly heads.

Issues huh?

Yes issues. Something doesn't feel right.

No wonder. We hide away from our emotions, and then it feels weird when one finally makes it out, or rather when someone finally makes his way in.

As Always with Ravens doppelganger, the conversation swerved from what she saw as important, to something she really didn't feel like discussing. Raven felt her team was in trouble. The nagging in the back of her mind just wouldn't go away, and when she needed introspection the most, the single being that could help her wanted to pull a Starfire.

That's not what I was talking about…What do you mean 'makes his way in'?

Oh come on, we aren't that blind. Anyway, Even if we were, we can still feel that little jump when he walks by, or that giddiness when we catch his eyes following us... Not to sound weird or anything but I think…

Not trying to sound weird? That's a First.

Oh ha ha. That's got me rolling around in your mind…

At least you have our sarcastic streak.

Back to the point, Raven. Whenever you are around him, it's like this stifling blanket gets shoved over our emotions. In case you forgot I FEED off of the ambient energy the body releases when it feels strong emotions. I need those to survive, and whenever Beastboy walks into the room its like I get starved because you can't just deal with it.

Ravens frustration was slowly beginning to surface. Rocks near her had begun to vibrate and the water in front of her seemed to be trying to crawl away. This was not unnoticed, but simply disregarded by the half demoness.

That's because we are DANGEROUS. The last thing I need is for one of my friends to accidently explode because I can't handle feeling his emotions.

Pfft. Stop lying to yourself. Heheh, His emotions... your better then that and if your going to keep trying at least get better at it.

A rock next to raven shot off, skipping across the water a few times before it finally sank into the oceans depths. Others had begun to crack and slowly melt. This was starting to get out of hand. When meditating one was supposed to find peace, not be forced to talk with something that thought it could play matchmaker. Raven was beginning to think this Doppelganger was a bad idea.

Look, despite our… interesting heritage, we are a teenager. Anyone else would be flirting or, Azar forbid, dating.

Who said anything about dating?

We did, or at least you thought about it. I'm just a mirror Raven, I show you what you love and hate when you can't. Even if you don't admit it to yourself I will, I thrive off of emotions, and yours have been cooped up so long that if even one of them out, even for an instant would be a feast fit for Morphos himself.

I DON'T love him, if that's where you're going with this.

No, but you like him. Even his stupid jokes sometimes make you want to laugh.

Why are you so stuck on that?

Oh a few reasons. It's frustrating because no matter what you do he always comes back. We have humiliated, abused, berated, insulted, laughed at, physically harmed, and treated Beastboy like a doormat. Even with all of that, he has always come back. Your afraid if you decide to follow this to its logical conclusion then he will leave. You KNOW if you keep hurting him he will come back. He has every other time. What if the next time is the last time? What if another Terra shows up but he won't come to us because everything we have done? I believe you should think on this for a little while. It seems like that's all you want to do.

With that the Doppelganger retreated to the back of her mind. At this point the tides were going the wrong way, and a quick glance around had indicated not many of the rocks were as lucky as the first one. Shards of the geodes littered the ground around and under raven.

"Just great." Raven whispered softly. Despite the extreme annoyance at the spirit, she closed her eyes and logically thought about the last few things the being had to say. It was true; if Beastboy had left it wouldn't feel right. This was the team, it was HER team. Besides her mother, this was the only family Raven had. And Beastboy… well, she could deal with that later. Her stomach made itself known with a soft grumble, indicating that while she hadn't been cold or hungry while meditating, the symptoms of mortality did indeed return with a vengeance once meditation was over.

Raven landed on the ground and turned, having decided a meal was definitely in order. The sun had just started peeking over the horizon, and her hopes were that no one would be awake yet. The lull in super villain crimes had given the team a break that raven, at the very least, had desired. The others didn't mind so much either, although sometimes robin would head out and stop some purse snatchers or minor thieves. It was encoded into him at some point with his training from batman. Robin needed to stop them; after all, his mind set was that if he didn't who would?

Much to ravens surprise someone was up. Cyborg was making his waffles, and the definite sound of bacon sizzling on a pan greeted her ears. Not a moment later the aroma of a home cooked breakfast wafted over her. This made ravens mouth water.

"Is there enough for two?" she asked, a look of want pulling at her face when her eyes found the meal that was well on its way to being cooked and ready for its horrible demise in Cyborg's stomach.

"You know it, Raven. Warm maple syrup on golden brown waffles topped with butter and bacon, sausage, eggs, and hash browns on the side…" A look of pleasure shot across the metal mans face as Cyborg talked about his labor of love. "Even thinking about making some Cinnamon toast. This is a good ol fashion meal."

This caused a small smirk to briefly flit across her face. This was going to be good.

XXX

Beastboy wandered into the living room a few hours after the meal was finished. Robin had woke up just in time to catch the feast, although Starfire had not. Cyborg found this comforting, as he felt his home cooked meals didn't need mold or alien fruits or, god forbid, Blorthgan… Whatever that was. His meals were just fine. Cyborg's eyes set on Beastboy and a frown crossed his face.

"Yo BB, you ok man?" he asked after watching him for a moment.

"Yeah Cy, just didn't sleep too well last night… not that the smell of your breakfast helped any." He said as a disgusted look crossed his face. The smell had long gone to everyone else, but whatever was causing the more animalistic features of his nature become more apparent helped him to notice… well everything. The slight smell of ozone coming from cyborg, the perfume Starfire had tried to discreetly put on, the smell of bacon… a shiver ran down his spine as Beastboy collapsed on the couch. Raven, who had been sitting on the end of the couch shot him an annoyed look, briefly wondered if his nightmare the other night had been the only on. It wasn't highly noticeable; however, Raven was the meticulous type.

Beastboy looked like raven had just after her nightmares started… maybe it was a flu virus or something… something that caused a form of delirium… raven mental bookmarked the idea and figured she would go to Cyborg later about it.

"So, who wants to do some drills later today? Not much has happened, so I figured I would set up a training coarse run today." Robin asked as he looked around.

"Too Tired…" Beastboy groaned as he looked over to the boy wonder. Cyborg shook his head when robin looked over to him.

"Sorry man got work on the T ship to do, guess who just got the newest, and greatest, variant of the XLM Hydro Tank Boosters?" Cyborg called as he started for the elevator.

"Reading." Raven simply said over the edge of her book.

"I would enjoy some training Robin, if it is not too much trouble. Perhaps you could show me more of this Fu of Kung. This Kung must have been a fierce warrior!" Starfire said excitedly as she rounded the kitchen table. Robin shrugged." Sure no problem. Though I don't think we need the whole track for that." He said with a chuckle. "I suppose we could use the training room."

"Get a room!" Beastboy yelled, his voice muffled by the couch his face was shoved in. Even if robin had heard it, he probably would have just shrugged it off. How many people got to say they were dating the most beautiful girl this side of the universe?

Raven shook her head at them before continuing to read her book. Despite much whispered mutters, no one had guessed what raven really read. While she had decided to leave that to debate, today it was a book she had gotten on loan from a Shaman. See's The Hidden Mask, or Mask for short, was a very eccentric Shaman. From what Raven had caught, he said he was first an animal before taking on a human form, and that his kind was a part of a culture dedicated to fighting things like Trigon. When Raven had finally found this man after her nightmares had begun to take an impact on her life.

Mask simply provided her with this book. It was on demons and their effects on the Dreaming. What made her finally look into it was the vision Beastboy had gotten. It hadn't said much more then that some demons fed on the fear of mortals, and so would mentally torture them to gain sustenance. However so far she had barely been able to keep focus on the book for too long before an interruption had stopped her. This had happened to raven since just after breakfast.

It was both frustrating and unique. Normally Raven could sink into a book and just about nothing could faze her. This time however, it was almost like ravens eyes were trying to slide off of the page. They would find anything else to look at, robin escorting Starfire out of the room, the ocean outside, even Beastboy's eyes.

She was shocked out of her own thoughts when she noticed Beastboy's eyes looking up to her from her lap. They were half closed and she could swear he was snoring. When he had made his way over was lost on raven, all she was really concentrating on was not blowing up anything. His upper fangs poked out from under his lip, and one of his hands was uselessly hanging near the floor.

"B...east…boy?" she stammered out. Beastboy muttered something groggily and shifted until he was facing the TV. and his knees had come up to his chest. She glanced around and bit her bottom lip. A fluttering had softly started in her chest, and the beginnings of a blush had slowly begun to form at her neck. As it worked its way slowly up ravens face, she glanced at the book. It could offer some solace for this situation.

I'm telling you, don't hide from it. I've been starved, and this tastes so good.

What tastes good? There is nothing good about this!

A drop of fear and anxiety, mixed with joy and a hint of longing. Raven this is what you called me to do. Just relax, don't run from the situation, and don't instigate it. Just enjoy reading your book, and please don't hide again. It hurts me when you do.

All your worried about is your meal.

I'm serious, and I'm not worried about my meal… that much. You forget the ritual caused us to Be As One. Until the ritual completes itself, or you boot me out we are essentially one person. You can block out your pain, and your fear. I can't. I need to use those and as such when you run from something like this, or anything for that matter I suffer for it. I feel torn because I know what you won't let yourself go thru.

Look, just try it. just sit here. You don't have to do anything, and if someone walks in just say… you were waiting for him to wake up so you could see the look on his face when he goes flying!

You're twisted.

I pride myself on it.

Raven slowly glanced around, before setting her eyes on Beastboy once more. No one was around, so for now, maybe she could just… let things be. After all what harm could it possibly do? It's not like the world would end if Raven allowed little moment to slip by…

XXX

In their dark hole, this forbidden place where gods would not tread, the sound of music floated out to hang in the air. The notes were soft and forgiving, like some soft silk blanket holding the promise of a good nights rest. Unbeknownst to the only listener was the dark undertone. It whispered of deceit, of pain and loss. It slid as a snake would, hidden, quiet amongst the background, waiting to strike.

Trigon shifted his weight, he was getting impatient. He had been locked away for far too long and this being's little games were beginning to wear on any semblance of patience he never had. The glowing orb that had floated for the past few days near the piano showed the scene in the tower. It made Trigon sick. A demon catering to a pathetic mortal.

"Now for your first lesson youngling. You see, now is the time. They have begun to let their guard down." The voice called. Trigon growled softly. He was a DEMON LORD; if not for his weakened state he would have demolished this lesser form of filth from his dimension. "This is something that will appeal to your Brutish nature. It does, however, serve my purposes just as well. I spoke of using a lesser being to control a situation. Now it is time to take that thought and turn it a controllable action. Take a piece of you… give it form and thought. Give it purpose, give it life, and then remove your essence from it." Trigon found himself confused at the very idea.

"Fool! If I create something it will not be some pathetic mortal. I have seen how uncontrollable they are."

"Trust me." The words came out soft as satin, and churned with so much more meaning then any mere child like Trigon could understand. Slowly, begrudgingly Trigon began his work. In his current state it would take a while yet to create a pawn. Soon, he promised himself, soon there would be no need for all this cloak and dagger nonsense.

"Make its form something from their planet. When they look for the source it should be in their own backyard. We don't want them looking too closely now. Do not make it to strong; we want them to win this first small battle…"

XXX

So, a cookie and a One-shot for the person who can guess where See's The Hidden Mask is from. Good luck lol. sorry it took so long to get this posted, some stuff came up, anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be ready soon. have fun guys, happy Singles Awareness Day.