Bargains and Balance
I don't own Teen Titans.
Okay, the wait has been absolutely horrendous. Sorry about that. I've been doing a lot of thinking and school and such.
When Raven got up the next morning, she was completely at a loss as to what she was supposed to think or do. It was either she tried to figure out a solution herself and risk Beast Boy's life, or she let Trigon do what he wants to so that Beast Boy could walk away the way he was.
She sat up in her cot and ran a hand down her face with a groan of frustration. This was way too much to deal with. Not only does her father want out, but Slade wanted her. So basically she had to find a way to help Beast Boy and get everyone out alive.
Raven looked around the safe room. The place was pitch black with the exception of a few blinking dots of light. She could hear Beast Boy mumbling in his sleep in the far corner.
What did he mean when he said he'd burn Beast Boy's soul from the inside out?
Actually, she was completely aware of the fact that her father could give some people fates worse than death. But this was a new method that she didn't want to test out.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zenthos . . ." Raven muttered. The lights flickered on on their dim setting.
She looked at Beast Boy and almost screamed out loud.
He shifted in his sleep and rolled over onto his other side. Beast Boy then put his hands on his head. His now brown haired head.
Her newfound boyfriend had lost his powers. Overnight.
"What is Robin going to say about this?" she groaned.
Robin was having his own issues to sort out. For instance, Starfire. Her temperature had returned to normal, as had her blood pressure and heart beat. She had been very close to becoming…..well nothing.
At the moment he was in his study. Cyborg had put the virus on hold inside every single one of the Titans for at least ninety six hours. Which meant they had four days to find Slade and put an end to his outrageous scheme.
Robin slammed his fist onto the table, causing everything to rattle. A pen rolled off the table and against the floor.
Not to mention there was an all powerful evil demon residing inside one of his friends. Beast Boy didn't deserve that. No one did for that matter.
The poor kid would probably be better off dead once Trigon had finished him off.
Not to mention Raven. Robin wasn't dumb. In fact his training had sharpened his mind more than ever and he knew for a fact that something was going on between the two of them. He didn't know what exactly to think about it other than the fact that their enemies would've seen this if he had. And it was definitely a weak point in the Titan's armor.
Slade was right. Parasites always took something from their hosts. But this one would take more than something. It could take everything. And it probably would.
Robin growled and put his face on his desk. Did he really have an option? He really didn't want to ask for help. Especially from a certain masked man who would ask for something that would make Robin want to hang his cape up forever over.
Life as a superhero sucked at the moment.
Raven sat until Beast Boy woke up. Well . . . she didn't know what to call him at the moment.
"That. Was. Awful. Do you know how many times I woke up last night? Let me tell you, it wasn't fun at all. I had the strangest and scariest dreams and . . . what?" He had finally made eye contact with Raven.
Beast Boy's grin slowly faltered and his face grew serious.
You have no idea how easy this is, Beast Boy heard Trigon's voice again.
"Rae . . . wha -"
She cut him off. "Beast Boy . . . how do you . . . feel?" she asked him hesitantly.
"Feel?" Beast Boy put his hands on his face and ran them down his chest. "I don't feel any different than I did yesterday. Why should I feel - HOLY GRASSHOPPERS!"
Raven winced as he finally got a look at his hands. Beast Boy plucked some hairs from his head.
"I'm normal?!" he asked aloud as his voice cracked so that he sounded like he used to when they fought her father the first time.
"It could . . . be . . . worse?" Raven tried.
He grabbed his hair with both of his hands. "I can't be normal! Not now!" He crouched down and when nothing happened he fell onto his knees and pulled on his hair some more. "And no more powers!"
It doesn't stop here, boy. As long as I'm with you, you'll get worse. I wonder how you look red…..
"RED?!" Beast Boy shrieked.
Raven came beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. She guessed her dad was talking to him at the moment. "Beast Boy . . . Garfield . . . whatever I'm going to call you for now, just listen. We'll figure something out. We have to. I am not going to risk letting my father escape to destroy the world, but I am not going to let your life wither away. Hold on, I'll get Robin."
With that, she walked through a portal that had appeared in the wall and was gone.
"Red?" Beast Boy squeaked into the empty room.
Raven was back in maybe a minute. Following her was the Boy Wonder in all of his sleep deprived glory.
"BEAST BOY!" he exclaimed when he saw his previously green friend on the floor. "You . . . wha -?!"
Beast Boy looked up at Robin with his still green eyes. "I still look good, huh?" He attempted a smile but to everyone it seemed more like a grimace.
"I'm guessing your powers are gone?" Robin asked meekly.
The silence that met him left him the answer he had been wishing wasn't true.
"What's going to happen?" Beast Boy asked them.
Raven and Robin exchanged glances before they both looked at him. "I don't know," they said simultaneously.
Robin stepped forwards. "But you won't be without your family. We won't let you leave. We will help you in any way we can, I promise."
Beast Boy stood up. "Thanks guys," he said as he gave them a lopsided grin. Raven missed his fang already.
"I'm gonna . . . see what Cy thinks of my new complexion." With that Beast Boy left the room.
"Tell me you're not considering -" Raven was cut off.
"Give me another idea, Raven! It's either Slade, or it's your father. Either way I don't think it'll end up well at all. We are at a dangerous crossroads at the moment and I am just about to explode!"
Raven reached forward and put her two middle fingers on her friend's temples. The Boy Wonder tensed up even more, if it was possible, before he relaxed.
"Thanks Raven."
She sighed. "I just don't know what to do."
"I understand what it's like to feel hopeless when people you love are in mortal danger. I was taught well," Robin looked her in the eye.
"You -"
"I'm not oblivious," Robin said as he raised an eyebrow.
Raven lowered her hands and Robin felt his headache go away. "I just didn't want you to be worried about more than was necessary," she began.
"It's fine," Robin interrupted. "I just . . . need you two to be careful. I am sure that the enemy knows about it. After all, if I've figured it out, then I am sure that Slade has too. It is a weak point. I'm sure you know that."
"More than you know."
Robin gave a small smile. "We'll fix this. I promise. We will fix this."
"That's what I'm afraid of. Once we do fix this, something else will start up again. Sometimes I wonder what it's like to have a life without these things happening all the time."
He gave her a small hug and headed for the door. "If you had that life, you wouldn't be you, Raven. You'll always be you and you shouldn't forget that."
"OKAY! I'll listen!"
A deep chuckle met her cry for his attention. "The prodigal daughter returns."
"I didn't come because of what you said. I came because of what you are doing."
"Actions speak louder than words."
Raven once again came as close as she could so that he couldn't reach her from where he was chained.
"You'll help me free him and everyone else from Slade. You offered. But I know you want something. You want something that I'm not going to like."
Trigon grinned and sat back against the hard wall he was chained up against. "You've caused me great pain, daughter. I shall cause you the same."
Raven stood tall with her chin up. She wouldn't let him have the satisfaction of knowing that he was about to crush her. And she knew he was about to change everything.
"I won't attack your world once I am free. I'll help you defeat this pesky masked human you call 'Slade', however," Trigon grinned his sinister pointy toothed grin. "I require your powers. All of them. Forever."
Raven didn't expect this. "WHAT?!" Never had she raised her voice like this to anyone.
"It is only fair, my little child. I leave your precious Earth alone forever, you lose your powers forever. I'll leave you enough to heal yourself after freeing me. That'll take the brunt of your energy, but you heard me."
"What do you need them for?" Raven asked quietly.
"A demon's got to do what a demon's got to do. I have worlds to see and worlds to conquer, my daughter," he leaned forward.
Raven found herself trembling. All she had ever known was her powers. Her powers were part of her. They were her. But to give her powers away, she'd be giving the demon part of her away. The meditation would go away. The constant lack of emotion. And yet . . .
"Why can't I offer you something else?" Raven asked him carefully.
"Like what? The only other fair thing I can think of is your soul. And we both know you don't want that. So, what do you say?"
Raven's fingers shook. She wanted Beast Boy to be okay. She didn't want him to die from the inside out. He would become Trigon, his soul would be consumed and he as Garfield Logan would cease to exist. She valued her powers more than anything. More than anything except the one she knew she loved.
Raven felt a tear drip out the corner of her eye.
"Fine. FINE! I'll . . . I'll do it. But not for you!"
Trigon grinned triumphantly. "Perfect. Two more conditions, after all I did promise payback. You tell anyone about this deal and what follows, and your friends become monsters before your eyes; and," he paused for effect, "you are to take an . . . extended vacation let's say . . . from the Teen Titans. I do not want you to interfere with my plans. Remember: I am a master of pain. I will tear you down, I will make you wish you were gone, I will make you hurt!"
Raven fell to her knees with her mouth open in a silent cry of pain.
"Here's the spell you need to say . . ."
"I sense our enemy has come closer to his goal than we have. We need the girl and we need her now!"
"Yes, sir!"
Slade rested his chin on his hand as he watched the Titans sleep on his screens. "Send out Greyston. He already knows what to do."
When Beast Boy woke up again the next morning he was still looking like a normal human being. He trudged into his bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.
"I'd almost forgotten what I'd looked like," he mused.
He looked at his hands, then met his own eyes in the mirror. His emerald green eyes that were shining with worry.
Suddenly he felt his heart skip a beat. Literally. He stumbled and caught himself with one hand propping him up against the wall.
His other hand was a fist against his now throbbing chest. He looked at himself in the mirror. He was covered in sweat. "What?"
It seems like your loved, small one, he heard inside his head. Sorry. Can't give back what I've taken. But you have some smart friends. Didn't you tell me they could do whatever it took to help each other?
Beast Boy's head echoed with the hauntingly sinister chuckle as he felt his heart skip another beat. Beast Boy slid down the wall with both hands pressed against his heart.
He was gasping for air while his chest throbbed with a dull pain.
"What . . . what's hap . . . happening?" he whispered aloud.
The chuckle came again. Your girlfriend seems to have fallen in love with you my friend. Sacrifices made for love. Trigon chuckled. Don't worry. She's still alive. You'll barely be when this process is over with. It was nice getting to know you.
Beast Boy's heart started beating increasingly fast and he started panting as if he had ran miles and miles. His consciousness began to slip and he felt his head hit the ground.
One of his last thoughts before fading into unconsciousness was whether or not Raven was faring better than he was.
His last thought was more easy to think.
However you're doing, Rae, know . . . that if I'm not okay . . . when this is over . . . I . . . love . . . y -
WOW. That long wait almost killed me. I hate when you have so much to do you can't relax and have downtime.
REVIEW, MY PEEPS!
I miss you guys.
-Belgaria