Action begins picking up soon, promise. And my chapters seem to be getting longer. So that's good. :)

I don't own Teen Titans. They belong to Warner Brothers and DC Comics and other awesome people. I do own the Beast Boy bobble-head, thought. And no, you can't sue me for it. So there.

Phonophobia. Fear of noises or voices

A pounding on the door had Beast Boy awake and tensed instantaneously. Instinctually, he pulled Raven closer before realizing that they had once again gotten nearer during the night. She was as awake as him, but there was no time to be embarrassed. They had more important things to worry about.

Raven extricated herself from his embrace, standing up and staring at the door.

Beast Boy eyed it and said, "I doubt Light would be knocking."

She nodded, but there were still sparking lines of magic along her fingers. He didn't blame her, he felt as if hackles were up all down his neck and back. Still, he walked over to the door and glanced through the small peephole.

Shocked, he pulled the door open to reveal a member of the city's police.

"My name is Officer Campbell," the man said, the shadows under his eyes obvious in his pale, paunchy face.

"Hi. I'm Beast Boy, and this is Raven," he gestured to her as she stepped to his side. "What can we do for you?"

"Sorry to have woken you so early," Campbell said, not sounding that sorry, "but there's a situation at the hospital and the victim asked for you."

"What sort of situation?" Raven asked, grabbing jeans and a jacket. She went into the bathroom, but left the door ajar so she could hear Campbell's answer.

Campbell's voice got monotonous, as if he was reciting something, "A girl was dropped off very late last night, beaten pretty badly. Examinations revealed that she had been raped."

Beast Boy's stomach dropped to his feet as he heard the last word, "Who was she?"

"Her name is Martha Staffers."

Raven exited the bathroom, her pale countenance proving that she had also heard Campbell's report. She glanced at Beast Boy as he walked past her on his way to change quickly.

"And she asked for us?" Raven asked, pulling on a pair of shoes.

Beast Boy yanked on his clean clothes and grabbed his communicator and room key. Raven did the same as Campbell answered, "Yeah. Soon as she woke up. You know her?"

"No," Raven admitted.

Beast Boy's mind turned a mile a minute as they rode the elevator down into the lobby. Rape victim who asked for him and Raven. Had to be Light's work. But why this Martha girl? Why not attack one of them directly?

It was overcast and drizzling when they got outside. A police cruiser was a few yards away from the front door, so they jogged towards the car. Still, all of them were a bit damp by the time they got into the car.

Campbell's partner was a tiny Hispanic woman named Luna. She started the police car as soon as she saw them coming. Beast Boy and Raven slid into the back seat, behind the protective mesh.

"No one saw who dropped her off?" Beast Boy asked, his fingers drumming on the seat. He could have flown there faster, but from the way it sounded, it was too late to do anything for this girl now.

"No. There are cameras on the exits, but the screen stops at the end of the emergency driveway. Staffers was dropped off just beyond that. Easily seen form the door, but not caught on camera," Luna said as she turned onto the highway.

"How badly beaten was she?" Raven asked, her voice composed, if quiet.

"Some broken bones. Lots of fractures. Clothes were a mess. Barely more than rags. Doctors said they might be able to save her eyes." Campbell stared out the window as he responded.

Raven hesitated, "How old?"

Campbell was silent, so Luna eventually answered, "Just seventeen."

Beast Boy's claws dug into the seat. Seventeen?

Raven put her hand over his, squeezing his fingers. He relaxed his grip on the seat, turning his hand palm up so he could entwine his fingers with hers. She looked at him, understanding all over her face.

"And someone just left her outside the hospital?" Raven asked.

"Yes. She was unconscious, somebody just dumped her off and left."

Beast Boy wasn't surprised. Raven looked out the window, silent as they continued the trip there.

Once at the hospital, Beast Boy got nervous. He hated them. Hated the smell, the feeling, the people. The smell of sickness and death was bad, but at least that was all natural. The antiseptic made his nose hurt and burn, his eyes water. He hated it.

But…things had to be done. Beast Boy wiped excess water from his hair, avoiding the hospital for just a second longer. Then, he clenched his teeth and fists and started in, Raven following behind the cops who were leading the way. He had a job to do.

They were led up to the third floor. ICU. Campbell and Luna stopped outside a private room. "Here she is."

Raven looked in through the window and Beast Boy stepped up next to her. Martha's face had gauze wrapped around her eyes, and she was turned away from them.

"Can we speak with her?" Beast Boy asked quietly.

"Yes," the officer said. "But try not to agitate her."

Raven glanced at Luna and Campbell, "You've gotten her entire report? Everything that happened to her?"

"Yes. Why?" Luna asked.

Raven looked back inside. "I might be able to help her. But it might make details a bit vaguer."

"You can help that girl?" Officer Campbell asked. "Really? Make it go away?"

Raven looked at the officers, "Nothing can ever make that go away. But I can help her. Make it less…fresh in her mind."

"Do what you can," Campbell said.

Raven led the way into the room, Beast Boy right on her heels. Martha stirred and turned her head to face them and Beast Boy felt his breath catch.

He stared at Martha Staffers, a brunette girl with flyaway hair. The girl he had seen late the other night, the one who had helped him carry his breakfast upstairs. He had forgotten her name. He couldn't believe he hadn't remembered her name.

"Martha?" Raven said quietly.

The girl stirred, though both her eyes were covered by gauze, "Who is it?" Her voice was raspy, as if she had been screaming.

Beast Boy clenched his fists, feeling sick.

"My name is Raven. I'm in the room with the green man, Beast Boy." Clearly Raven had figured out where they knew Martha from.

Martha turned her head towards Raven's voice. "So you came."

"Can you tell me who did this to you?"

"He said you'd know," Martha whispered, her voice wavering.

Raven touched Martha's hand, "What else did he say?"

"He…he said that I wasn't really who he was looking for, but that I'd do. That she was to realize that he meant for her to see herself in me. And that the boy should recognize that he'll be helpless to stop it," Martha recited it all without feeling, as if she'd been forced to repeat it.

Beast Boy knew exactly who Light meant by 'her' and 'the boy'. And there was no way in hell he'd let himself be helpless to help Raven.

"He said that maybe he would have let you live, like…like me." Martha was looking at Raven without eyes. "But you two walked away first."

"We walked away?" Raven asked out loud.

He caught up with Light's train of thought. "In all of his other recent fights with the Titans, Light left the fight first. He chose when to leave. When you and I fought him, we left first, before he let us."

"He says he wanted you to know what awaited you. This for her, while the boy watches, and then he'll kill both of you."

Beast Boy looked away from Martha as tears began to seep out from beneath the gauze. Light was a goddamn monster.

"Can you tell me where and when this happened?" Raven asked.

Martha shook her head, so Raven said quietly, "I know it hurts, but please, if you remember anything else, please tell me."

"I was getting off work at the hotel yesterday morning. I went to my other job at the drug store. When I got off there, about midnight, he was waiting outside," Martha finally told her.

"Anything else?"

"No," Martha whispered. "Wait. Yes. He called me…his blue star."

Beast Boy looked at her, "Blue Star? As in Blue Star Hotels?"

Raven looked back at him. He went to a dozen hotels yesterday. Not ours. He went to sleep. Deep sleep. He shouldn't have been able to get up, find out where that girl worked and attack her. She thought to Beast Boy.

So… Beast Boy thought back, He either knew where we were staying before yesterday and he was just playing with us, assuming that we'd be following him. Or…picking her up was a coincidence and when he found out where she worked, he used her as a message to us.

Raven asked Martha an odd question, "The man who approached you outside you work, was that the same man that did this to you?"

Martha frowned, "Yes. Unless he had a twin brother."

"He wore the same clothes, acted exactly the same?" Raven pressed.

"Yes…? At first he wasn't trying too much to touch me. He just grabbed me and put something in me," she gestured to the side of her neck. Beast Boy could see a small red dot. Injection? Light injected something? "It got all hazy and I was dizzy and he pulled me along. When we got there, he put me in a room and locked the door. When he came back…"

Beast Boy walked a little closer to Martha, subtly breathing deeply. Beneath the antiseptic and plastic that dominated all hospitals, he could scent Light all over the girl. But Raven wasn't entirely wrong. There was someone else's scent on her as well. He couldn't tell who. Could be someone working with Light, could just be her boss or a friend.

There may have been someone else. He said silently to the empath. But I have no idea who. What're you thinking?

Don't know. Just odd that Light awakes from a deep sleep to run to a drugstore with an injection ready and attack a girl who knew where we were staying. That took planning. Raven kept her face composed, though Beast Boy could tell she was worried.

You think he's working with someone?

I don't know. Raven thought. But we should move hotels to be safe.

"Listen, Martha. I can help you." Raven sat on the edge of the bed, holding Martha's hand. "I can fix your eyes and a few of your hurts, though you'll have to stay here for a while longer."

Martha didn't respond.

"Also, I can help your mind. I can take away some of it," Raven told her.

"You can?" Martha whispered.

"I can't make you forget entirely, but I can make it seem far away. I can make it hurt less to remember." Raven touched Martha's temple. "Would you like me to do that?"

"Please," Martha asked, her voice shaking.

Raven closed her eyes and Beast Boy saw her fingers begin to glow white-hot. He walked outside of the hospital room and flipped open his communicator. Robin answered almost immediately.

"Beast Boy?"

"Yeah. Listen, we need to make reservations somewhere else. Discreet, with as few people knowing we're moving as possible," Beast Boy said, not feeling like chit chat. "Light may have found out where Rae and I were staying. Attacked a maid. We're here at the hospital with her now."

"Did he…?"

"Yeah," Beast Boy said shortly. "Rae's in there with her now, doing magic to heal her up and take away some of the memories. Light may or may not be working with someone. We don't have much to go off of other than a feeling."

"I'll make the changes and let you know where we're moving to," Robin said. "If you two go back there," he knew there was no 'if' at all- he and Raven would go back there, "be careful. Let me know if you discover anything about an accomplice."

"How far away are you guys?"

"About three more hours."

"Okay," Beast Boy saw Raven started to stand in Martha's room and quickly ended the call with, "Call me as soon as you know something."

He barely heard Robin's farewell as he saw Raven take a shaky step and grab the edge of the bed frame. He ran inside helping her to a chair, "What's wrong?"

"Just tired," she told him, her voice small.

Beast Boy glanced at Martha. "How is she?"

"Sleeping. She should for a few hours. When she wakes up, her eyes will be fine," Raven said.

"Wow. Maybe you should've been a doctor, huh?" Beast Boy said quietly.

Raven shook her head, "Can't. Takes a lot to heal people. I'd be useless after just one patient." She rubbed her eyes and Beast Boy got a weird sensation from her. "Can we leave now, please?"

"Yeah," he said immediately, not liking the tone in her voice. "Of course. We'll leave right now."

He walked over to the door, "Officers?"

Officers Campbell and Luna turned towards them, "Yeah?"

"We've done all we can," Beast Boy said, holding the door open as Raven walked out. She was visibly shaking.

"What can you tell us?" Campbell said.

"You got the file that the Titans sent your department on Doctor Arthur Light?" he asked.

"Yes."

"That's who did this. There may have been someone else involved, but we have no idea who. If you find out anything from the security feeds outside the pharmacy, would you let us know?"

"Of course. This guy's got it out for you two, huh?" Luna said, glancing at Raven.

"Apparently," he said, following her gaze, "we've got the rest of our team coming up today. Hopefully we can stop him before anyone else gets hurt."

"Do you need a lift back to the hotel?" Campbell offered.

He took a glance at Raven's face. She didn't want to hear the inevitable questions the officers would ask. "We'll just catch a cab. Thanks for your help."

"Be careful. Call us if you need anything," Luna said.

Beast Boy nodded, thanking her. Slowly, he and Raven made their way back downstairs and out the front. The rain was coming down harder, so they hid beneath the canopy of the hospital before he could hail the cab. Once they finally found one, the duo jogged over and slid in the back, Beast Boy giving the address of their hotel and sitting back.

Raven was silent, both in voice and mind. He couldn't hear anything from her. Not that he was trying too hard. She seemed honestly surprised when he picked up on her emotions; apparently that wasn't supposed to happen. So he didn't want to push it, not when she seemed so…raw. She wasn't moving, barely breathing, she just constantly kept tapping her index finger on her leg. Her shoulders were hunched in on themselves and she was screaming 'leave me alone' with her body language. He could respect that, for the moment. But he knew Raven. Her natural response was always to withdraw in herself, whether or not it was the best thing for her at the time.

His communicator beeped and he flipped it open. It wasn't a call, but a message.

'New hotel. 5617 Mossman Avenue. Two rooms. Under my name. Be there in two and a half hours. See you there. –Rob'

He showed it to Raven, who blinked at it and then nodded her head before turning back to the window.

They were dropped off right outside the front doors. No big deal if they were seen going inside, as they'd be leaving again soon. Still, they moved quickly inside, avoiding any of the staff and taking the stairs. They got back into their room without encountering anyone.

"Stay here for the next hour or so, then we'll head out and try to meet up with the others," Beast Boy said, watching Raven carefully.

She just nodded and started gathering up her clothes, packing them into her backpack.

"Raven, what's wrong? What happened in there?" he asked.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said, almost resigned.

"Rae…"

She turned and attempted a smile. "I'm going to take a shower. I promise we'll talk when I'm done, okay?"

No, not okay. But he nodded. She walked by him and touched his shoulder. The bathroom door shut and the sound of running water sounded soon after.

Beast Boy packed up their things into Raven's backpack. It looked fuller than it did when they had left. He cleaned up the room as best he could, making the beds, cleaning up the desk.

It was only after he had scribbled all over the free paper with the complimentary pen that he realized Raven had been in the bathroom for a while. He stood up, walking over to the door and listening. The water cascaded down into the porcelain, constant, unbroken. Not the sound of someone taking a shower, where the water got interrupted by a body in the way. A mumble broke his concentration and Beast Boy frowned at the door.

"Rae?"

There wasn't an answer. He tried the knob and it turned easily beneath his fingers. She hadn't locked the door. He hesitated, leaving the door closed but not relinquishing the knob. "Raven? Everything okay in there?"

She didn't answer him, but he did hear her mumble something. And it sounded something like, "See you later."

Yeah, screw privacy.

He shoved the door opening, not knowing what he might see. What he didn't expect to see was Raven sitting in the lotus position on the bath mat, fully dressed and not even flinching when the door bounced off the wall with a slam. He froze, wondering who had spoken until he saw Raven's mouth moving quietly.

"Raven?" he asked, not sure what was happening.

She didn't respond to him, but that didn't mean she wasn't talking.

"Hello? Who's there?"

Beast Boy turned off the shower and leaned on the edge of the sink. Clearly, Raven had done something intentionally. He wasn't going to interrupt her. But he wasn't going to leave her there alone, without watching out for her. He wanted to know what was going on.

Raven's eyes were closed, but her eyes were clearly moving rapidly behind her lids. Her hands were resting palm up on her knees, occasionally twitching, but not moving too often. She seemed calm…ish. She was in control of whatever she was doing.

"Max?" Raven whispered. "Stop it, this isn't funny."

As far as Beast Boy knew, she didn't know a Max. None of them did. So…she was listening to someone else's thoughts? But who-

"Oh no. No…" Beast Boy groaned, "Tell me you're not, Rae."

"Hello? Hel- oh! I'm sorry, I thought – what are you doing? Don't! Let me go! Help! HEL-mmph!"

Raven's voice got cut off as she relived Martha's memories of being abducted. Beast Boy looked away from the fear on her face and stared at the floor. He understood why she was doing this. Really, he did. That didn't mean he wanted to watch it.

His fists were tight on the sink and he tried to block out the tiny sounds Raven was making. Bad enough that they had to see the evidence of Light's work. She shouldn't have to relive it. Things quieted down from Raven for a while. She mumbled worse than usual. She was probably experiencing the drugs that Martha was injected with. Maybe even already in the room that Martha claimed she was locked up in. He could hear Raven's heart pound erratically. Stress, drugs, fear – all combined to make a nice arrhythmia.

He glanced up when Raven's hands turned palm down and clenched the fabric of her jeans. Her heart rate sped up even more. She was terrified.

"Don't hurt me, please. I won't tell anyone. Please, just let me go," Raven whispered.

She flinched away from something he couldn't see. "Who are you?"

A breath, in which someone could have answered.

"Please, Mr. Light, I won't tell."

Beast Boy swallowed. This was enough now. She didn't need to see anything else. He straightened up and shook Raven's shoulder.

"Enough, Raven. Come out of it," he shook her more when she didn't answer.

"N-no. Please, don't. Don't touch me!"

"It's me, Rae. Come on, wake up," Beast Boy was worried now. He didn't want it to go any farther. She had to wake up before she relived anything else.

A wall of magic spread around her, pushing his hands away. He growled, "Raven! Wake up!"

Her voice touched his mind, Can't…someone here…have to see. It sounded weak and far away. She had pushed aside her own memories to relive Martha's.

He stared at her, hands still tingling from her power. Raven, please.

Have to know. Sorry.

Furious and scared for her, Beast Boy couldn't help snapping, Do what you want. Don't expect me to fucking watch.

She didn't visibly turn, but Beast Boy felt her shy away from him and his language. He wasn't sure he'd ever spoken to her like that. He couldn't bring himself to feel sorry for it. Grabbing the handle of the bathroom door, he slammed it shut behind him. He didn't want to hear it. Didn't want to see anything. He didn't want to sit there helpless as Raven relived an experience that no one should ever have to. Wasn't fair.

He paced the bedroom area, making his steps louder than need be, breathing harder than he had to, just to drown out the noises from inside the bathroom. They weren't bad to begin with, but soon he heard crying. Beast Boy turned on the television that hadn't been touched since their arrival. Not the news – didn't want to see any stories on Martha – but just some cartoon, loud enough so that he could pretend he didn't know what was happening.

It didn't take long. Maybe an hour at most. All he knew is that he was pacing back and forth. He walked by the bathroom once and when he turned, she was standing in the open door. He froze, she was silent.

She looked…not quite frightened, but uneasy. Sad, but not haunted. She watched him, as if gauging as to whether he was still about to snap at her again or not.

"There was someone else there. Someone who could look like Light when he or she attacked Martha outside her work. But it wasn't Light. Light was the one who…abused her once she was delivered to the office building. I could see the other person outside the door after Light was done, but only a silhouette," Raven finally said tiredly.

"Shape-changer," Beast Boy said.

"Or someone that could confuse your mind that you were looking at Light."

Beast Boy opened his communicator, "Rob."

"Robin here, what is it?"

Beast Boy looked away from Raven, "We've confirmed that someone else was with Light last night. He or she can look like someone else, or make us think we're seeing them. Who does that leave us with?"

"Madame Rogue," Robin said immediately.

"Psimon can create illusions," Cyborg said.

"Kyd Wykkyd also has telepathic abilities, though I'm not certain he has this talent," Starfire pitched in.

"Mumbo has powers. He changed our shapes, might be able to change his own," Raven suggested, moving closer to Beast Boy.

"Mad Mod has that whole hypnosis and holographic thing," Beast Boy said. "But I'm not sure it'd work without the witnesses being contained somewhere he could control."

"I'd say Mother Mae-Eye, but I don't think we've been eating any pie lately," Cyborg said.

"Right. Cy'll do a search of the records. Make sure those that're put away are still in prison. Figure out where the rest are, as best as we know," Robin said. "We're almost to the hotel, you guys ready to leave?"

"Just about," Beast Boy said.

"See you in a bit," Cyborg said, as Robin closed the communicator.

Silence reigned in the hotel room. Beast Boy closed his communicator and tucked it into a pocket before facing the empath. She stared right back at him.

"You shouldn't have done that. There had to be another way of getting that information," he said quietly.

"There were a bunch of other ways. But this way was the only one that would give me everything I needed to know."

"Like what?"

"The other person is not as physically strong as Light. She tried to fight him or her off and she almost got away. I could feel the amount of strength Martha exerted. Less than you or I, so the other person is someone who doesn't usually fight physically. They had to drug Martha to move her because they couldn't control her on their own. When they grabbed her, their left hand was weaker than their right, I could feel that. Maybe a past injury. This person needs Light, because he or she isn't strong or powerful enough to be out on their own. They need the muscle, so they brought a good faith gift to Light in the form of Martha and information on us," Raven said quietly.

"And you had to stay the whole time?" Beast Boy asked.

"I only got a good look at the shadow of this person, but I know they're shorter than Light. Slighter build. But, that may have been an illusion or a fake form. I needed to take the chance to learn everything we could about this person."

"You didn't need to sit through it."

"Who else could have?" she asked him, walking closer, "I'm sorry I worried you, but if I have these powers, the ability to look into someone's memories and learn something new about the monster that hurt them, then I have a responsibility to do so!"

"So you can hurt yourself?"

She sighed, "Beast Boy, you were willing to run out our second night here to go after Light so he couldn't hurt anyone, even thought you were badly injured. I sat in a safe bathroom and watched memories of something horrible, yes. But it didn't happen to me. I could distance myself to know that much. But we owe it to Martha to do everything we can."

"Everything you can."

She scowled, "Stop that. Look, I had to do this. It was horrible, yeah. Do I wish there had been another way? Of course! But there wasn't, so I did what I had to do. You'd do exactly the same in my place."

He didn't disagree. Mostly because she was right.

"I'm sorry for worrying you. But I won't apologize for doing what needed to be done."

Beast Boy could have kept being angry. In fact, it would have been easy. He could have yelled and taken out his frustration on her. Instead, he sighed and walked away to pick up their backpack. He put both of their room keys on the dresser, tapping on the plastic.

"You okay?" he asked her, not looking her in the eye.

"I'm okay. A little shaken, but okay," she told him. "I'll be better when we catch these two."

"Good. We should head over to the new place. Want to phase us over?" Beast Boy finally turned.

She smiled a little bit in thanks for letting the argument go, "Sure."

He walked over next to her, unable to stay quiet, "Hey, Raven?"

"Mhmm?"

"Next time you do that, I'll dump you in the shower and leave you there."

"Noted." A wall of shadows came up and enveloped them both in cool, silent darkness.