He looks around frantically, and backs away. Raven is behind him. She hold his arm, and whispered gently,

"Beast Boy, Beast Boy, it's ok. He's here to help you."

"Help me?" He croaked out. It may have been years since he'd encountered Batman and he may have acquired a deep respect for everything he'd done as a heroic vigilante but he was still afraid of him

"Hello Beast Boy," Batman walks up to Beast Boy who is paralyzed with fear. He stops right in front of him. The man is tall, intimidating, but his voice was as cool as ever.

"Well, there's no use in introducing myself. We've already met."

Beast Boy realizes he couldn't do anything. His hands trembled. His legs felt like jelly. He gulped in response.

Batman continues, "As for my arrival, Robin contacted me. I flew in as fast as I could. I made it to the Tower early. He told me everything."

He sighed heavily.

"It's true, then. The Joker has indeed returned. His old warehouse had burned to the ground and I thought he'd been charred along with the rest of the rubble…"

"I..."

Beast Boy is too tongue-tied to say anything and Batman placed his hand on his shoulder. Beast Boy flinched. He's not used to this type of gentleness and kindness especially coming from a man who didn't show much emotion.

Batman sighed sympathetically.

"Beast Boy, I am not here to hurt you. I'm not even here to arrest you. I want to help you. Like I've mentioned, Robin told me everything. I know now you did not do the things the Joker asked out of your own initiative. You were forced into crime. It wasn't your fault."

Beast Boy looks down at the floor, refusing to meet the Dark Knight's eyes. He mumbled out,

"Joker didn't control me. It's all me. Entirely."

"No," Raven said but Batman stops her.

"If it really was you, your own capabilities, your own conscience, then why did you leave the Joker in the first place? Truly evil villains are perfectly fine when it comes to committing atrocious acts. It doesn't bother them in the slightest. They wouldn't leave unless something changed within them. So why the sudden change of heart?"

Beast Boy hesitates, "B-because…"

He looks away from the floor and searched across the room; everyone was staring at him.

"Because of him…"

He points at the Boy Wonder.

Robin's mask widens. He walks up to Beast Boy and Batman.

"Me?" He points at himself. Beast Boy nodded.

"How did I change you?"

"I—Well... I never faced you. Never fought with you. You were the Joker's problem. Until that night."

"Is it because you saw me for the first time?"

Beast Boy nodded once more. And then he added,

"It was also my last chance to prove myself. To prove I had the guts to kill somebody. He meant Batman..."

He nervously glanced at the Caped Crusader.

"But then I saw you..." He looked at Robin, "And I... I..."

Batman speaks again, "Robin told me you never killed people."

Beast Boy gulped and said, "That doesn't excuse anything. I still hurt them."

"But you didn't murder them."

"I'm still responsible."

"Beast Boy you had no choice—"

"I did have a choice!" Beast Boy snapped out, pulling himself away from Batman, wriggling his hand off his shoulder. "I had a choice to leave! I had a choice to say no, to stop, to protest, to kill him! Goddamn it I wanted to kill him and I couldn't! I'm just a coward, just a damn coward, who couldn't even let the gun drop and run off! I–"

"Didn't. Kill. Them." Batman said, his voice rumbling. "You didn't murder. Which tells me something. You have a conscience. Which tells me you were not a lost cause, that you tried everything in your power to resist."

He then lowered himself to his level. Beast Boy stood frozen, his emerald eyes glistening with tears.

"Stop blaming yourself for things you are not responsible for."

Beast Boy swallowed again and said somberly, "But I am responsible. I hurt you."

"By hurting Robin?"

He glanced up at Robin again. He nodded again, sniffling.

"Tell me about that night."

Beast Boy was conflicted at this. Would it really matter at all if he said anything about it? Would it make any difference whatsoever with all the terrible things he'd done? In spite of Batman telling him otherwise, he still felt this guilt, clawing at him, scarring his soul.

Batman seemed to read his mind, "You feel guilty. To me, that's a great sign. It shows remorse. It shows responsibility. Stop beating yourself up anymore than you've already have. Just tell us."

Beast Boy sighed heavily. He walked over to the couch and sat down. Everyone was staring at him, patiently waiting for him to explain what happened on that fateful night.

He sighed out, "Ok..."

Then,

"The Joker gave me the gun. He warned me that if I didn't kill my captors then... I had a last resort."

"What was it?" Batman asked.

"Killing myself," he said his voice dead. He added, "You can't ask a graveyard for answers."

"Right."

"Anyway, I went into hiding, behind the boxes. You guys burst in. You were trying to find the hostages but the Joker lied. He stands at a catwalk, lets his cronies do all the work. I crept up, pointed the gun at you."

He pointed at Batman.

"You were the main target. You were the one who was going to arrest me so I figured it'd be fair to shoot you. And then..."

He glanced at Robin.

"I saw you. That made me think... made me realize... that you were just like me and not like me at all. You were a kid like I was but we were in two very different sides of this fight. I'm the one who was about to shoot at your mentor and yet I couldn't really do it. You guys were heroes. Are heroes. Your job was saving the city from the damage I'd caused. You risked your lives for it. And I just—I froze. And then I starte... debating whether to shoot you or not and I couldn't think straight anymore. It was like everything was in slow motion. I didn't mean to shoot you. I didn't mean to hurt you, Robin. The way you looked at me..."

He shivered.

"You might as well have killed me with that look. I didn't forget it. I don't think I ever slept soundly since..."

"Since when?" Robin asked.

"Since my parents died."

Both Robin's and Batman's faces fell in complete understanding and sympathy. They knew how it was like to lose a family, especially to violent tragedies.

Beast Boy continued, "So when I saw you've beaten the Joker I didn't see any pity anymore. I used to feel a tiny bit sorry for him and then when I saw how he didn't even flinch seeing Robin hurt, it plagued me. I threw my mask away at him and ran. I haven't looked back since."

Beast Boy is staring at the floor now, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. He feels frightened, helpless, hopeless even.

He speaks again, "It's a waste of your time trying to help me. It's over–"

"Beast boy," Robin said with clenched teeth, "Don't say it."

"I can say what I know and you can't tell me–"

Batman cuts him off, "You are not responsible. How many times do I–"

"God, don't you get it?!" Beast Boy stood up, shouting now, "I ate a dog! An old dog! A stray! I ate a dog that didn't do anything to any body! It was only trying to survive and I ended its life! I shot at people, I beat them, robbed them! I might as well have murdered them because I murdered their hearts! Look at me! At my wrists! I'm beyond hope! He broke me! Alright?! He'd long since broken me!"

Beast Boy sinks down, his knees on the floor, burying his face into his cuffed hands, sobbing bitterly.

He barely gotten the last sentence out, "I'm worthless…"

BANG

Everybody jumped startled as Cyborg banged on the table with unrelenting fury. Beast Boy shot up and looked at his best friend. He's walking towards him.

"You are NOT worthless! Never have been! Never will be! You're the one who's been telling us never to give up hope even in our darkest hour! You told me, Starfire, Robin, even Raven when the whole damn world was about to end to never give up hope, to keep it alive, to keep fighting and look at where we are now! You ain't giving up because we ain't giving up on you and I will fight till the death to make sure you won't let this madman take you away into the dark! Alright?!"

Cyborg sighed in anger. He breathes deeply for a moment and then, he continued, calmly,

"You have always been willing to take that stand of hope. God, even you knew that we would probably die. None of us are immortal, man. But you took that chance, anyway, because you knew at least it was enough to save us. Hope is just enough we all need to save ourselves. And now, it's our turn to take the stand. We'll be there to pick you up when you fall, no matter what. And the only way for us to do that is to keep hope alive."

Batman added, "He has a point Beast Boy. Look at yourself. You may have done terrible things as you say but you are not beyond any redemption. You have the advantage. You know the Joker more than we could ever know. And maybe you could've attacked us. You could've just gone with the orders and murdered us. But you didn't. And that speaks volumes about the type of person you are. You still have hope inside of you, fighting its way out."

Beast Boy stared at Cyborg, at Batman.

Tearfully he said, "I'm sorry Cy. I guess I just didn't …"

He trails off. He then mumbled out, "It's just… the Joker had always said I was a nobody, that no one would care if I..."

Cyborg knelt in front of Beast Boy, giving out a thud as he reached the ground, "Forget all that shit. Whatever the Joker told you, that's bullshit. And remember why we are here right now. It's to help you fight. It's to reignite that hope inside you."

Cyborg glanced at Beast Boy's cuffs, "Ya know something? I trust you."

Cyborg lifted his index finger. It mechanized into a handcuff key. He inserted it into the lock and the cuffs go loose.

Beast Boy's eyes widen, "No. No-no-no-no! I need those!"

"No, ya don't. You never even needed them in the first place. You can control yourself without it. And that's 'cause I trust you," Cyborg gives him a reassuring smile. Beast Boy finally managed to calm down.

"Thanks, Cy. I really don't know what I would've done without you…"

"No problem, grass stain," And then he gently placed his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder and said, "Anything for you man. I'm here. You're not only my teammate, my best friend. You're my little brother. And I promise I'll fight till my last breath to save you, if that's what it takes."

Beast Boy sniffles and throws his arms around Cyborg, hugging him tightly. Cyborg returns the hug without hesitation.

The others stare at them, smiling at the gesture.

Unfortunately, the embrace had to be cut short as Robin cleared his throat. He personally hated interfering with a touching moment like this but he knew it was only a matter of time before the Joker could strike.

Beast Boy and Cyborg pull away with tears and smiles on their faces.

Cyborg exclaimed, absolutely pumped up, "A'ight, let's get to work, y'all! Let's finish this lunatic!"

Beast Boy nods happily as the team gathers around the table. He pauses before sitting down, taking in the view.

Besides the middle of the couch which was reserved for Beast Boy, Cyborg is sitting on the far right whilst Raven is on the far left. Next to Cyborg is Robin, then Starfire beside him. Batman is sitting next to Raven.

Evidently moved, he sits into the empty spot on the couch.

Robin asked, "Alright Beast Boy. You've worked with the Joker for some time. You know him better than anybody. How do we take him down?"