Chapter 7
Beast Boy had been in countless fights in his lifetime. He had been beaten, shot at, blown up, and almost crushed several times. And at times, sure, he feared for his life. But he had always had a very strong survival instinct and it had never failed him before. It had helped to numb the pain and more importantly the fear he felt. It was what made him so resilient when backed into a corner. His fear never outgrew his willpower.
But this time it was different. It wasn't fear of pain or injury. It wasn't his body and mind pushing the fear out, telling him to fight harder, to give more, to destroy your enemy before he destroys you. No, for all of his many animal instincts and years of combat experience he was lost. This fear was set right in his soul and it was quickly consuming him from the inside out.
He wasn't sure what it was but he knew where to go; knew where all of his friends were now. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He could 'sense' all of them like there was a giant arrow pointing to their location. He had always been able to track them by their scent; he knew that each one of them had a specific 'taste' they left in the air wherever they went. But this was like an extension of his body, his own being.
He could feel Cyborg behind him, bewildered and confused with a hint of frustration. He knew it was probably because of him and the state that Cyborg found him in. 'I would be pissed too if I found me wandering around eating pizza while the team, my friends, lay injured and in need of help.'
He was now flying as fast as he could to where his friends were. He had recalled what had happened after Cyborg gave him the rundown. 'I left Raven there by herself. Oh god.' He could make out the burning rubble below him and he knew he had arrived.
He could feel the immense pain that Starfire was in as she tried to not let it show. She was always trying to think of her friends and more importantly Robin first before she would have anyone trouble themselves for her. She really was the most innocent and human person on the team. And seeing as she was an alien that was saying something.
And right by her side, as always, was Robin. He was a storm of emotions right now. He was a mixture of rage, anger, trepidation, and concern. 'No wonder why that guy is always on edge. He never knows what to feel.' Beast Boy couldn't imagine how he ever survived before the Titans.
Then he felt her. It was Raven but a cold and lifeless shell of the woman she used to be. 'Raven! Hang on, I'm coming!' Beast Boy, still in his falcon form, swooped down as fast as he could. In seconds he was by her side on the rooftop once more.
Morphing back into his human form, he kneeled down beside her. She was lying in a prone position with her head to the side. Her eyes were shut delicately, not clenched closed as they would be if she was in pain or if she was trying to ignore him like she did so often. She was so still, so calm, she looked as if she was sleeping. Her violet hair had fallen over her face but he could still make out her features. He had never seen her asleep before. Sure, he had seen her passed out on the couch in the common room, or in the T-ship on a long flight with the side of her face plastered against the glass canopy of her cockpit. But she had never looked this peaceful.
One night a few weeks after they had started dating they were alone in the tower. Robin and Starfire had gone out on a date and Cyborg had meeting with Bumblebee to discuss new security systems or something for the Titans East tower. Beast Boy didn't remember exactly, he was too excited that he got the whole evening alone with Raven. Arranging dates was difficult to do while trying to avoid raising the rest of the team's suspicions. After some effort he had convinced Raven to come out of her room and join him in the common room to watch a movie. He had picked a Kevin James movie thinking that even Raven would find it funny.
"C'mon Rae. Everyone likes Kevin James," he reasoned with her. And for lack of anything productive to do she agreed to join him. She sat next to him on the couch, though not too close-she was still getting comfortable with the idea of being with someone. Much to Beast Boy's surprise she never once laughed or even giggled. He could have sworn he saw the slightest of smiles a couple of times but it wasn't anything much. About halfway through the movie he had given up and decided to turn it off. Raven wasn't enjoying it anyways. He was sad and upset but he didn't want her to waste the rest of the night when she could be doing something she would enjoy. Just as he was about to get up he felt a nudge on his left shoulder. He looked over to see a sleeping Raven, her head resting on his shoulder at what looked to be an uncomfortable angle. He was so shocked he didn't move an inch. He even went as far as to do his best to draw in his breaths slowly as not to disturb her.
Forty-five minutes later the credits began to role. He didn't even notice; his eyes were fixed on the girl at his side. Her mouth was agape with a thin bead of drool running from her mouth and trailing down his sleeve. Every once in a while she would let out a solitary snore or grunt and mumble in her sleep. He sat there, taking it all in as he realized that this was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his entire life.
He couldn't resist any more. He knew she would wake up but he didn't care. He gently reached up to brush the hair from in front of her face. He slowly turned his head down as he inched closer to her. She suddenly let out a snort and snapped her head up quickly. Her forehead met Beast Boy's nose with a loud crack. He recoiled in pain as he crashed to the ground.
Raven jumped to her feet "Beast Boy what happened?!" she asked, trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Oh nothing. I uh, just um…nothing," he mumbled out, cupping his hand over his bleeding nose.
Raven looked at him for a moment then glanced over at the movie that was still on. She was able to tell it was near the end of the credits as the song list was now scrolling up the screen. Feeling very awkward she decided she needed to get away from this as fast as possible. "I'm going to bed Beast Boy," she said as she quickly flew out of the room.
"Yeah, Sure. Had a good time with you tonight Raven," he said to himself as he walked into the kitchen to get a wet rag for his nose. "Best movie ever."
Beast Boy looked down at Raven, now lying unconscious on the roof top. She looked so peaceful and happy. It was easy to forget what she had gone through.
"Raven I don't know if you can hear me but please you have to be ok. You have survived worse than this," he said quietly, kneeling down beside her. In truth she probably hadn't been in worse shape before than she was now. Even with the whole thing with her father she was never in real physical peril. Her soul, her team, and the world sure, but her body never suffered this kind of abuse. He wasn't sure how she healed herself when she went into one of her trances but he knew she had to pull through. She just had to.
"Please Rae, we can't lose you here. I can't lose you. Please wake up," he said. He wanted so badly to reach down and pick her up in his arms but he knew he couldn't risk it with her back injury. The last thing he wanted to do was to make it worse. "I don't know how this will work if you're not around. Who will tell me my jokes are stupid, or that I am acting childish? Who else could put up with all the stupid things I do?" he choked out, his voice becoming weak and shaky.
He quickly went over what had happened and tried to think of something he could do but was unable to come up with anything. He couldn't even move her, let alone render first aide. He felt completely helpless. He knew Raven was her own best chance at recovery.
He laid down on his side beside her, trying to get a better look at Raven's face. 'Cyborg said her jaw was broken, didn't he?' he thought to himself. It didn't look broken or dislocated in any way. He gently reached up, being careful not to move her; he brushed her hair back away from her face. "Wow, you really are the most beautiful person on the planet, you know that?" he spoke softly. "If you could hear me I know you would never believe me," he said as he let out a small laugh. "How was I lucky enough that, out of six and half billion people, I'm one of the ones that can say I know the only living angel on Earth?" He leaned and delicately kissed her on the lips. They were warm and soft, he could have stayed like that all night.
"I'm no angel Beast Boy," Raven said quietly.
Beast Boy gasped. "Raven! You're ok!" Instinctively he reached over and wrapped his arms around her in huge hug.
"Ahhh!" Raven cried out in pain as he grabbed her. "I'm not ok, I'm just awake! Get off me!"
Beast Boy immediately let go. "I'm sorry. I'm just so happy you're not dead."
"Not yet I'm not. Do something like that again and you might be though." She shot him a glare, winceing in pain as she got herself up into a seated position. "I'm still very sore," she said as she reached up to rub her jaw.
He suddenly wondered how much of that she had actually heard. As he ran through his head what all he had said to her, trying to figure out how best to approach this, someone behind them on the roof cleared their throat.
Cyborg stood there rather awkwardly looking at the two siting on the roof. "I, um, was just was coming up here to check on Raven. I saw she had woken up," he said, holding up his arm to show Raven's vitals displayed there.
Beast Boy looked around the rooftop, only now noticing the various sensors placed there. "Yeah, she had just got up when you got here."
"I've been here for about five minutes. She's has been awake for about ten minutes though," Cyborg stated.
Beast Boy felt his face turning the brightest shade of red as he slowly glanced back at Raven. She simply returned the sheepish smile, as her face was almost as red as his.
"So," Cyborg said looking down at the two of them. "Who wants to explain what I just saw?"
A/N: I don't own Teen Titans. If I did BB and Raven would be together in the show.
