Chapter thirty seven – goodnight
The two conscious adults both turned at the sound of the baby's distressed cries. Their expressions complete opposites – Raven's was of complete horror and the man's of complete delight.
"A baby? Oh, you should have told me, I would've brought a present! Never mind, I guess this will have to do." The man cocked his gun and peered into the cradle. His sneer disappeared and a look of confusion replaced it. The baby had completely vanished. He growled, glaring accusingly at Raven.
"What did you do?! The handcuffs should stop your powers! No matter," his smirk reappeared. "I'll shoot you anyway."
"Ugnn…" a groan came from the other side of the room. Beast Boy was waking up. "Raven? What-" then he saw the man with the gun. His mouth dropped open. The attacker started in surprise. Beast Boy was unshackled and could easily use his powers. He had to think. Quickly, he snatched up the knife and held it at Raven's throat. The woman gasped in pain as the gash deepened.
"Raven!"
The man pointed his gun at Beast Boy.
"Move, or make a noise, and you and your pretty wife die!" he growled. A sudden emotion that Raven recognised as unveiled anger flashed over her husband's face. No one was going to threaten his Raven! In seconds, instead of a tall, green skinned man, there was a huge shaggy-haired creature standing beside the bed. The woman's orbs grew wide.
It was the Beast.
The creature that Beast Boy, in moments of inexorable anger, would transform into to protect the ones he loved. Last time it had been her that he had nearly died to save. This time, she realised, might be the last, as there was a gun pointed at his head.
"MLLFFF!!" she screamed through the gag.
The green shaggy mountain stood, glaring over the bed at his wife's potential assassin. He bent his knees ready to attack.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion.
The man was not fazed. He had hunted and taken down creatures much larger than this thing. He closed one eye, took brief aim and squeezed the trigger…
In that same second, Beast Boy launched himself into the air with complete disregard of his own personal safety. All he knew was that his wife was in danger and he had to protect her…
The man pressed his finger on the trigger, so that the small piece touched the gun. The bullet began to build up power, the bullet creeping slowly through the barrel…
Then it sped up…
A sharp pain in his ankle caused the attacker to cry out, flicking his wrist. The bullet hissed through the air, glancing Beast Boy on the side of his temple and bouncing off. He crashed into the wall from impact, turning back into human form and opening his eyes for a split second, allowing him to see his saviour.
Raven too managed to prise open her eyes in time to see the tiny blue snake slither out of the way as the man took a step back. Realising that the gun shot and the crash of Beast Boy into the bedroom wall would have alerted the rest of the Tower, the assassin decided to complete his mission quickly.
"Right," he reloaded his gun and aimed it at Raven's stomach. Her eyes grew wide. "Say goodnight, girlie."
Wsssshhhhhh
The man glanced up and the first thing he saw was a bird-a-rang speeding towards his head. It was also the last thing he saw before he was sprawled on the floor, unconscious.
"Goodnight."