The office of Doctor Jeremiah Arkham was surprisingly Spartan, given his position as the head of the state's largest mental institution. The walls were painted the same institution green as the rest of the asylum, and his desk was a simple wooden model. The only signs of privilege were a small brown sofa and a pair of bookshelves which framed a large window, positioned directly behind the desk. Clearly, this was a working office, used by a man unused to visitors. It was, therefore, somewhat unusual, to find it so crowded.

Currently, the room held no fewer then nine people. Doctors Arkham and Leland were standing by the window, talking quietly about what had happened that day. A huge, heavily scarred man in a guards uniform stood beside the door, although whether he was keeping people out or in was uncertain. But the main cluster of people surrounded the small brown sofa. Robin, Starfire, Cassie and Cyborg stood in a small semi-circle around the sofa, while Raven kneeled beside it as she tried to get some sort of response from her boyfriend. For his part, Beastboy sat completely still, his knees drawn up to his chest with his arms wrapped around them, staring mutely at nothing.

"Beastboy, wake up" Raven said, her voice as monotonic as ever. It wouldn't do to lose control- not here.

Robin turned to the doctors and spoke in a no-nonsense tone. "One more time, exactly what happened?"

"Patient J-198 managed to squeeze himself into the ventilation ducts inside his cell" Doctor Arkham replied, his tone equally stern. "This sort of thing isn't unusual- we have at least one escape attempt per week, and we have procedures in place. Naturally, these involve cutting power to all elevators and exits. Unfortunately, your friend happened to be in an elevator when this occurred. Once we recaptured Patient J-198, we resumed all normal functions. Your friend arrived on the main floor just as he is now- completely catatonic."

"Please excuse me, but what is cat tonic?" Starfire asked, her tone worried. "I am not from this planet, and I fear I do not understand"

Doctor Leland went to the desk and opened one of the drawers. After a second of searching, she withdrew a small syringe. "Catatonia is a psychological reaction- the mind shuts itself off, and the body becomes locked into place" she replied, striding over to the sofa "There are many causes, ranging from schizophrenia to drug abuse. But in this case, we think it was a post-traumatic reaction to extreme terror. He was so frightened that his mind turned itself off rather than deal with the situation."

"What is to be done?" The alien said. She felt terrible- she had been tasked with ensuring her friend's safety while in this horrid place. Instead, she had abandoned him and now he was suffering this terrible condition.

"Fortunately," Arkham said "It is fairly simple to treat- a shot of lorazepam should bring him out of it within half an hour. However, due to your friends unique physiology, we decided to wait for your approval before administering medication."

Cyborg nodded. "You did the right thing, doc. Beastboy's body chemistry is unlike anything else in the world- or off it, as far as I know. Let me check my database..." The metal man went silent for a few seconds as he checked the vast medical data he kept stored in his systems for precisely this sort of situations. Given the dangerous work the Titans did, it was vital that he be able to access their medical files at any time- few physicians were capable of dealing with an injured Tamaranian, for example. Eventually, he let out a sigh.

"I just don't know. A few years ago, I could have told you but after our first battle with Adonis, the green bean's body chemistry has become much weirder. But, to the best of my knowledge, lorazepam looks like our best bet."

Nodding, Leland injected the chemical into the green boys neck. The effect was almost instantaneous- the changelings limbs went limp as the unnatural tension bled out of them. He sagged back until he was lying down on the couch. The two doctors glanced at one another- clearly, the green boy's altered chemistry was causing the medicine to work much faster than expected. A moment later, his eyes fluttered open as consciousness returned.

"Uhhnn...." he groaned "Wh-where 'm I? Whass goin' on?"

Speaking in a far more gentle tone than any he'd used until now, doctor Arkham responded. "You're in Arkham Asylum, Beastboy. Would you mind telling me what the last thing you remember is?"

"Wakin' up" the shapeshifter responded with a groggy smile.

"Even half-conscious and bombed out of his mind" Raven said, shaking her head but smiling "he still goes for the bad joke."

"'S why y' love me, Rae"

"I meant before that" Arkham said, just as kind and gentle as could be.

"Oh. Ummm. Lights wen' out. N' the 'levator stopped. Joker w's gonna get me. N' then ev'rything got dark" Beastboy said, completely calm if somewhat vaguely.

"I see. Why don't you and your friends go with mister Stevens here? You must be hungry, or at the very least thirsty. I'd like to have a word with Robin, if I may."

The massive guard smiled, which actually made his frightening face seem somewhat friendly. Speaking in a gentle voice. "Yeah, kid. I'll get some cocoa ready and we'll have a little chat."

Beastboy's head rolled to look at the guard. "You make good cocoa?"

Stevens nodded, and even managed a wink. "I'm not just a pretty face, you know. Come to think of it, I'm not EVEN a pretty face"

The changeling laughed, a weird sleepy laugh. "You're okay, man." After a moment of struggling to rise, he called out "Uh, little help, guys?"

As the other Titans left the room, Doctor Arkham sat down behind his desk. The kindly doctor face vanished as he glared at Robin. "Exactly what happened to your friend, Robin?"

Robin scowled. "That isn't really any of your..."

"Young man." The aging doctor snapped, and the steel in his voice made the Boy Wonder flinch. "A young superhero experienced what most laymen would term a psychotic episode in my hospital for no readily apparent reason. I think I'm entitled to know why this occurred."

Robin recounted the story of Beastboy's capture by the Joker, his long period of isolation and torment, and his eventual release. AS he spoke, Doctor Leland smiled at him encouragingly while Doctor Arkham nodded thoughtfully. When he was finished, Arkham spoke again.

"I see. Well, that would certainly have explained his behavior today if it had happened a month or so ago. What was done by way of therapy?"

Emboldened by the positive reception he'd gotten so far, Robin detailed the 'aversion therapy' he'd used, and the psychic treatment employed by Raven. This time, however, when he finished talking, Leland looked horrified while Arkham merely appeared scornful.

"Young man" Arkham said "I ought, by rights, to call the police right now and have you all arrested"

"Typical laymen" Leland said "You heard about this treatment and decided that you were just as qualified to administer it as a trained professional. If I'd known it was that easy, I wouldn't have bothered with med school- I'd have just bought myself a mask and some tights!"

"Hey, now!" Robin replied, defensively. "How were we to know that the protocol, created by Batman, wouldn't work? Besides, psychologists use this method all the time!"

"Yes, Robin, PSYCHOLOGISTS do" Leland said, pacing as she spoke. "Robin, a vital part of aversion therapy is the deep discussion and psychological testing that are done before the patient is exposed to her fear. Through discussion, the patient is brought to understand that his fears are irrational and harmful, and slowly is able to move past them. Simply locking an arachnophobe in a roomful of spiders is not going to cure her- it takes months of work before she can reach that point. What you did to your so called friend is much closer to TORTURE than it is to therapy!"

"If I might guess" Arkham added "Batman created this protocol to deal with phobias caused by Professor Crane's toxins, correct? They are intended to combat artificially created phobias, not deep-seated psychological traumas! In all likelihood, you've managed to deepen the trauma, making his fears even stronger"

Robin swallowed. In truth, what she said made sense- and he marveled that he hadn't seen it before. He'd been so certain that Batman's protocol would work that he hadn't stopped to consider the difference between their situation and the one it was created for. "So, what do we do?"

Arkham sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Your friend needs serious help, Robin. Thanks to your 'help', he's almost certainly past the point where normal counseling can help him. I recommend a lengthy stay in a mental hospital- I understand there's a fine one outside of Jump City."

"Hold on" Robin protested. "We can't just send him to..."

"NO. YOU hold on." Arkham said, rising from his seat. "I am a doctor, Robin, first and foremost. That means that I have certain responsibilities- and one of them is to ensure that badly damaged people get the help they need. If you will not agree, in writing, to have your friend placed in a suitable care facility, I WILL contact the authorities. I have that right- in cases where it is clear that the victims family is obstructing proper care, and if I feel that the victim's condition renders them a danger to themselves or others, the state grants me the right to forcibly commit him."

Robin looked into the doctors eyes and saw that they were serious. "All right. We'll- we'll begin commitment procedures as soon as we can."

There was surprisingly little resistance to the idea from the rest of the team. The Titans realized that their friend was beyond their help, and perhaps had been from the start. Once the team returned to the Tower- a short trip thanks to Cyborgs newly construnced T-Jet- Robin began making calls. Raven led Beastboy to her room for a talk.

"I'm not sure I like this, Gar" she said as they sat down on her bed. "How long will you be gone?"

"Rae, I'm not exactly crazy about the idea myself. But ya gotta admit, I went completely whacko back there. What happens if the next time is in a dangerous situation? Or worse, what if I go Beast and attack someone? This is for the best, and you know it"

Raven nodded and a single tear trickled down her cheek. As if in sympathy, a pillow flew across the room before she was able to master her emotions once more. "I'll miss you, you know, and I promise to visit every day."

Beastboy gave her a curious look. "Uh, Rae? I don't think mental hospitals allow visitors that often- I think its something like once a week"

Raven gave him a blank stare. "Beastboy. Do you honestly think the staff of Sunnyvale Rest Home is going to be able to stop me from doing exactly as I please?"

"Good point, Rae." The green boy seemed nervous for a moment, then leaned in and kissed her. Raven, caught unsurprised by this, momentarily lost control of her emotions. As a result, her window went black before exploding outwards, raining shards of glass into the sea.

"Heh." Beastboy said, rubbing his head awkwardly "Sorry about that. I just wanted to show you that I'd miss you too."

"Don't be sorry, Garfield" Raven said drawing him into a hug "I'm not"

Meanwhile, Starfire sat in the kitchen sipping a jar of mustard, and staring at the wall. Cassie strolled in, and stopped to look at the morose Tamaranian.

"Not your fault" Cassie said, sitting down at the table. "Know that look. You wondering if, maybe, you had done differently, Beastboy not be...sick."

"Is it not true?" Starfire said, and her voice betrayed how worried she really was. "I should have insisted that friend Beastboy be treated by experts- I should not have allowed Boyfriend Tim to attempt the treatment on his own. Now, our friend was rendered cat tonic because of his problems and I am to blame!"

"Not know how bad things were. Not know how humans work. No one expect you to know these things, Starfire." Cassie replied reasonably.

"Oh, yes" Starfire said, bitterly. "I am the ignorant alien, who cannot even be speaking as humans do. I cannot be expected to know anything!"

"I not speak well either" Cassie pointed out, reaching for the mustard pot "No one call me ignorant. Just that we not learn to speak English until late- not easy." The vigilante took a sip of mustard, and grimaced. "I think Zesti better."

That sent both girls into giggles, and as the tension drained out of Starfire she realized that she felt better. "I thank you, Friend Cassie. I was needing that."

At the same time, Robin made a call to Gotham. Despite his agreement to the treatment, Robin knew that Beastboy would most likely have second thoughts later on. Luckily, he knew just the people to help out.

Eventually, the day came for Beastboy to enter the hospital and begin his treatment. Naturally, this being Beastboy, he needed to be reminded of this, which set of a frenzy of activity. Beastboy attempted to do all the things he'd put off until now- packing his bags, cleaning his room, arranging a vegan diet at the hospital, and so forth. The other Titans either tried to help him or watched the scene in bemusement until the entrance chime went off. Everyone froze- visitors to the Tower were almost unheard of, and rarely meant anything good. Then Robin smiled.

"Good" he said "They're here. I was starting to worry. Cassie, why don't you go let our guests in?"

Mutely, the girl from Gotham headed for the elevator, pausing only to put her mask on and adjust her uniform. A few moments later, the elevator returned carrying three people. Aside from Cassie, who now had her mask off, there was a tall young man with dark hair in a ponytail, and a young woman with fiery red hair who rode in a wheelchair.

"Dick! Babs!" Robin called, whipping off his own mask as he went to greet his 'siblings'. "How was your...ACK! LEMME GO!"

The tall man- Dick, presumably- had Tim in a headlock and was applying a blistering set of noogies. "What's wrong with you? You've been here nearly five years and this is the first time you invite us over?"

"I didn't to- OW!- to breach security!" Tim yelled, struggling to escape the older man's clutches.

"Boys..." Barbara sighed, before intervening. "All right, kids, break it up before I tell Alfred on the both of you."

Dick released his grip, but smiled evilly at his fiancée. "You wouldn't dare, Babs- I've still got those pictures of you in his kitchen."

"Are you sure of that, Dickie? You really should get a better firewall on your system" Barbara replied, smirking.

"Curse you, web-savvy wench!"

"AHEM! Let me introduce my team..." Tim interrupted, knowing from experience that those two could go on for hours if they were allowed.

The pair warmly greeted each of the Titans, trading jokes or stories with each one, with one exception. When they arrived at Starfire, their 'hello's were abrupt and icily cold. The alien girl was somewhat hurt by this obvious rejection, but decided not to pursue it. 'This is not being the time or the place' she told herself.

Finally, Cyborg voiced what they were all wondering. "It's great to meet y'all, but why are you here? Today, I mean? We're kinda busy right now, y'see..."

Barbara held up one hand. "Timmy already told us." Wheeling herself over to Beastboy, she took his hand in hers. Looking up at him, she spoke seriously. "Garfield, Tim told us what that monster put you through. The Joker paralyzed me- the bastard rang my doorbell and shot me in the spine when I opened the door. He kidnapped my father and tortured him for hours. Not just physical torture, either- he made him look at a slideshow of pictures of me, lying naked in a pool of my own blood. The point is, I KNOW what you've been through- and I know what you're feeling right now. It took my father and I months of therapy to overcome what that son of a bitch did to us. It's not a sign of weakness that you need the same help."

Beastboy suddenly felt better than he had since his trip to Arkham. In truth, he HAD felt a little ashamed of what had happened. After all, hadn't his friends been helping him for weeks? Hadn't THEY all been through traumatic experiences, and emerged without any psychological problems? But now, here was someone who'd been through something similar, telling him that it was OKAY to need help. He smiled, and nodded. "Thanks, miss Gordon."

"Don't worry" Dick said, hefting Beastboy's bags "You can thank us properly by kicking in for gas. My tanks nearly empty."

"Well, if you'd bought the car I suggested, you wouldn't be getting such bad mileage" Barbara commented, as she lead Beastboy to the elevator.

"Don't start that again, Babs. You seem to think..." The elevator doors closed, as the argument raged on.

There was a long, long moment of silence, which ended when the Titan's Alarm went off. Tim slipped his mask back on and raced to the Comms unit.

"It never ends" he sighed "Bank robbery at the Finster street branch of Metropolis Banking. TITANS GO!"

A/N

The info on catatonia comes from wikipedia. If you spot an inaccuracy, blame them not me.

For the record, despite the current sh*tstorm my country is experiencing, I'm okay. Thank you to those who wrote me to ask- all of you. How's about taking my mind off the situation with some reviews? ; )