Chapter 10
Raven slowly opened her eyes and looked around her surroundings. She was in a bed in the med bay. The back of the bed was up a bit which allowed for her to be in a slightly sitting position. She tried to move a bit, but her body felt so heavy; like she was made of stone. And yet, at the same time, she could feel all of her new powers and abilities pulsing through her. It would take a very long while for her body to become used to them, and so for now she was weak.
As she laid there, head cocked to the side on her pillow staring at the door, she wondered what had happened after she'd passed out. Did they restrain Adrienne? Was it all over? Did Beast Boy explain everything? How did Robin and Starfire take it? Cyborg was there to support him, right? Her head began to throb with such unanswered questions. Where was everyone?
No sooner had she thought this that the med bay doors opened to reveal Starfire. She smiled at her friend and quickly went to her. "Raven, you have awakened," she said. "Are you alright?"
Raven did her best to nod, but her whole body felt stiff.
"So much has happened, I must inform you," said Starfire, taking a seat in the chair next to her bed. "There is the good news and then there is the bad news, as you say. We have arrested Adrienne and she is now being held by the police. She has no more magic inside of her. You were able to take it all away. Isn't that great? She is no longer a threat to us!"
Raven gave a small smile. Was it great? It was some of the best news she'd heard in her entire life. But… what was the bad news?
Starfire then sighed and said, "I am afraid I must tell you the bad news now. While we were fighting Adrienne, Cyborg was fighting Beast Boy and Beast Boy has nearly killed him! We have placed him on a support system to keep him alive, but he will not wake up and Beast Boy ripped most of his insides out. We are not quite sure how to repair him. But there is good news once more! We have arrested Beast Boy as well!"
Raven was quite distressed and confused to learn all of this. Obviously, there must have been a misunderstanding. Beast Boy would never intentionally hurt Cyborg when Adrienne wasn't looking. Cyborg was supposed to bring him away from the battle and explain what was happening. Where did it go wrong? And how'd they arrest Beast Boy?
"But we did not turn him over to the police," Starfire continued. "Robin wishes to… talk… to him first and then handle the punishment his own way. The authorities have agreed to this. So now we have Beast Boy locked up in the jail on lower floor seven."
Beast Boy was back in the tower? He was being held in the jail? She had to see him. She had to make sure he was okay. She tried to sit up, but it was so hard. Once she was up she felt her body begin to shake and want to lie back down. Starfire saw her struggling and quickly went to her aid.
"Raven, you must not move," said Starfire. "Your body is weak from absorbing so much power."
But Raven didn't care. She kept struggling to sit up and as she did she only made herself more tired.
"Raven, why do you move?" asked Starfire, holding her shoulders down so she couldn't sit up anymore. "You must rest."
Raven slightly shook her head, since it was all she could manage. She had to get to Beast Boy. But how was she going to tell Starfire that? She was too weak to write and too weak to use the spell to borrow anyone's voice. So she began to mouth his name over and over until Starfire could understand. "Beast Boy," her mouth said again and again. "Beast Boy."
Starfire watched as Ravens lips mouthed two words over. But she couldn't figure out what she was trying to say. "Raven, what are you trying to communicate? Peast poy? Beas poi? Peatht boya? What is it?" Then Starfire's mind made the connection. "Beast Boy!"
Raven let out a relieved sigh and nodded.
"You wish to see Beast Boy?" asked Starfire. "Why?"
Raven wasn't in the mood to try to explain why and Starfire could tell by the look on her face. Robin had told her not to let anyone see Beast Boy, but Starfire couldn't help feeling bad for Raven. She knew that Raven probably wanted to tell, in some form or another, Beast Boy how much he'd hurt her.
"Alright, I shall take you to him," said Starfire getting a wheel chair and wheeling it over to Ravens bed. "But you must not speak a word of this to anyone."
Raven just stared at Starfire.
"Oh, right, I am sorry," said Starfire, blushing with embarrassment.
She lifted Raven out of her bed and placed in the wheelchair. She then began to roll her down the hall to the elevator that would take them down to Beast Boy. Starfire just hoped Robin wouldn't catch them. But even if he did, she was pretty sure she could cool him down and explain everything. He did always listen to her, though he didn't always agree.
Raven hoped Beast Boy was alright. She wasn't sure how events might have played out to have them still not trust Beast Boy and have him locked away in jail. Didn't he explain things? Why would he have harmed Cyborg? Something certainly wasn't right.
They reached the lower seventh floor and the elevator doors opened. Starfire peered out first, saw that it was clear, and wheeled Raven out. They passed a few empty cells and then reached the end of the hall. Starfire turned her chair and Raven saw into the last remaining cell. And what Raven saw shocked her.
Beast Boy sat on the floor with his back against the wall. His ankles were shackled as were his wrists. There was a large collar around his neck that kept him chained to the floor as well. He even had on a muzzle. His eyes pleaded for help from Raven, who was shocked and disgusted.
"We have chained him up so that he can not attack us," explained Starfire. "And we have covered his mouth so he can not bite us with his fangs. We have also neutralized his powers so that he can not transform." The Titans had apprehended Ding Dong Daddy's neutralizer gun and found it to be rather useful at times. Cyborg was working on concentrating it so they could each have one built into their communicators, just incase.
"Do you wish to be alone?" asked Starfire. Raven nodded firmly. "Alright, I shall leave you be. I shall return in five minutes." And with that Starfire left.
Raven watched as Starfire walked down the hall and turned into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed Raven practically leapt from her wheelchair. She tried to stand, but her knees gave out on her. She fell to them and then crawled over to the cell. At the same time Beast Boy struggled against his chains and pulled himself as close to the bars as he could. Raven reached her arm through, but she couldn't reach him. She had to get in there.
She weakly lifted her hand and with her powers attempted to unlock the cell door. But instead of simply unlocking it, it unlocked and slid open with a loud clang. Her powers were far stronger. But she didn't care at the moment; the door was open. She crawled inside and wrapped her arms around him. Relief spread through both of them.
She released her grip and took the muzzle off of him. She through it aside and kissed him strongly, wrapping her arms around his neck. Beast Boy put his hands up, since they were shackled together, and cupped her face in his hands.
They knew Starfire would soon be coming back, so they stopped as quickly as their hearts would allow them. They both began to look each other over, make sure the other was okay.
"You did it Rae," said Beast Boy, smiling. "You beat her. I'm so proud of you."
Raven wasn't as happy with herself. She pulled at his chains and tears fell from her eyes.
"Don't worry, we'll fix this," said Beast Boy. "Now you gotta listen, Rae, I didn't hurt Cy. He was telling me about what was going on and a telephone pole was hit by something I'm gonna guess was from Adrienne. It fell over and nearly killed us. I jumped out of the way, but Cy got caught in the wires. It scrambled him up pretty good and he shut down. I tried to reboot him by going through the wires in his chest, but Robin thought I was trying to kill him. He didn't give me a chance to explain."
Raven nodded, understanding everything. She knew that there must have been a reasonable explanation. She saw that he had a large bruise on the side of his face. She gently touched it and he winced.
"Don't worry, Robins kicks aren't really all that bad," said Beast Boy with a small smile. Raven returned it and wrapped her arms around him again. "Rae, there's something I gotta tell you." Raven released her grip and sat back. "Look, I know Adrienne made me do all of the horrible things I'm gonna be charged for, but I can't help feel guilty. So I'm gonna take whatever punishment Robin gives me. It's the only way I can clear my conscience."
Raven looked at him like he was nuts. She shook her head and took his hand, her eyes pleading.
"Rae, I know you think that once we tell them everything that things will go back to normal, but I know Robin won't let it go that easily," said Beast Boy. "And I deserve to be punished for the things I've done, even if I didn't do them by choice. Please understand, Rae."
'He doesn't think he's been punished enough already?!' Raven thought in distress. 'None of this is his fault in the first place. How can he accept punishment for crimes that he had no choice but to commit?'
"That's not to say that I hope Robin doesn't punish me too severely," said Beast Boy with a sheepish smile. "And that's why you gotta fix Cy. If Cy can give his side of the story too, then we might have a chance of getting through to Robin. But I can see that you're weak. Don't do anything that might hurt you, okay? No matter what. I would rather be given jail time and have you healthy then be given probation and have you weak."
Raven sighed and nodded. He was always thinking of her, of her well being. He was so selfless. She wrapped her arms around him again, to which he responded the best he could. He took in her scent deeply and pressed himself closer to her. She had saved him. She had defeated Adrienne. And he owed her everything for that.
Suddenly the two heard the elevator bing and the doors opened. They jumped apart, knowing that Starfire must have been back. They shared one last quick, powerful kiss and Raven backed away from him while Beast Boy backed back up to the wall.
"Sorry, no visiting hours," said a male voice.
Raven spun around and saw that it was not Starfire; it was Robin, who did not look happy.
"How'd this door open?" he asked in an ordering tone. "I made sure to lock it."
"She opened it," said Beast Boy.
"And why's you're muzzle off?!" said Robin, quickly stepping into the cell and grabbing the muzzle. He went over to Beast Boy and said, "You better not bite me, Beast Boy, or I'll knock you out again."
"Don't worry, I'll behave," said Beast Boy, rolling his eyes.
Robin didn't exactly like his attitude, so he was a bit rough as he refastened the muzzle onto Beast Boy. Once that was done he made sure Beast Boy's chains were still secured properly. Once he was sure he went over to Raven. He scooped her up and placed her back in her wheelchair.
"I'll talk to you later," Robin said to Beast Boy, to which Beast Boy muttered something rather crude through his muzzle that neither Robin nor Raven could understand.
As Robin pushed her away, Raven looked longingly back to Beast Boy.
"You shouldn't have left the med bay yet, Raven," said Robin. "You're body isn't use to the amount power you've absorbed and it's close to breaking down. You have to give it time to adjust."
Raven sighed and crossed her arms. She knew very well what was going on with her body. It was her body, after all.
Robin pushed her into the elevator and the two started their ascent to the top floor. It was quite between them and that was just fine with Raven. The last thing she wanted was for Robin to be scolding her for seeing Beast Boy. Not because it made her feel bad, but because she couldn't stand the sound of his voice anymore. All he ever did was lecture and order. She wasn't sure how Starfire could put up with him.