A/N: I'm back! Well, actually, I've been back since Wednesday of last week but writers' block and being without the Internet for most of this week because my brother is technologically inept kept me from updating. These two oneshots are rather long, though, so hopefully that makes up for the wait. And hopefully, I still have readers left. I really am sorry for the wait, guys.

Europe is awesome, by the way. If you have a half a chance to go, you really should. If you already live there, lucky you.

This takes place right after Homecoming, Part II. I always wondered exactly how the Titans got roped into fighting off the Brotherhood of Evil; I mean, I can understand Beast Boy's involvement because he has connections to the Doom Patrol but really (aside from the trivial matter of the world being in mortal peril), the rest of the Titans didn't have to do anything. So this oneshot is me answering my own question and stating my opinion of the team's relationships with each other. I've been working on it for awhile, and I think I finally managed to get the tone I wanted. Hopefully it's not too sappy.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own 'em. More like they own me, actually.

024. Family

Technically, Beast Boy knew he did not have to fight in this battle. After all, he was a Titan now, and the Brotherhood of Evil was not a Titan problem. He could walk away, and no one would have the right to say anything about it if he did.

The Doom Patrol needed him, though. Mento had specifically asked him to stay, and the changeling didn't know if it was because he felt he should aid the people who had practically raised him or because his adopted father had never once admitted the changeling's help was needed for anything that prompted the green teen to agree. Whatever his reason, Beast Boy knew he couldn't turn his back on the Doom Patrol. After all, they had been his only family for years, and he loved them fiercely.

But the Titans were his family now, and he loved them just as much. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven would want to help, of course, especially if he was involved but Beast Boy was determined to dissuade them. His friends didn't need to be a part of this. He couldn't let them be a part of this, not when he knew how ruthless the Brain and his minions could be. A few particularly nasty memories of fighting the Brotherhood ran through his head, and he held back a shudder as he remembered the way Elasti-Girl had screamed when Madame Rouge crushed her elongated arm under a six ton door and the time they'd had to rebuild Robotman nearly from scratch after Mallah and General Immortus had torn him apart.

At least they're going to have plenty of fun trying to kill me again. It'll be like a family reunion—with arsenic in the lemonade and bombs in the potato salad, Beast Boy thought bitterly, kicking at the dirt in front of the campfire. A loud round of laughter interrupted his thoughts, and the changeling tried to smile as Robotman and Elasti-Girl amused the Titans with a few embarrassing stories from his childhood but was well aware that his expression was strained. He hoped his friends hadn't noticed but from the way they were acting—Starfire and Cyborg were doing all they could to get him to participate in the conversation, Robin kept asking him specific questions about the training techniques he'd used as a kid, and Raven was spending most of the evening intently watching him—he figured they knew something was bothering him. The Titans were waiting for him to tell them but the green teen wanted to wait until the Doom Patrol turned in. He wanted this conversation to be private, and Mento must have realized that because he herded his team off to bed only a few minutes after the sun went down.

Robin, trying to be casual in a way that said he knew something unpleasant was happening, wasted no time. "You've been quiet all evening, Beast Boy. Is something wrong?"

The changeling tried to breathe through the leaden weight that had risen from his stomach to his chest as he suddenly realized the only way he knew how to tell them was to simply blurt it out. The Boy Wonder had given him a preamble, and he was going to take it.

"The Doom Patrol has asked me to stay. The Brotherhood is way, way stronger than they've ever been, and Mento needs my help," Beast Boy explained quietly, and he paused for a moment to gauge his friends' reactions. Robin's expression was carefully neutral—far too carefully neutral, in fact—but Raven frowned and Starfire looked more than a little worried. Cyborg's jaw tightened as he put down his eighth hotdog to send seething looks toward the Doom Patrol's ship. "I guess you guys already know what I told them."

It wasn't really a question but Cyborg answered him anyway. "You said yes, didn't you?" When the changeling nodded, the half-metal man cursed, and his stare turned dangerous. Cyborg had not appreciated it when the Doom Patrol's leader had demanded that Beast Boy—and only Beast Boy—follow his team into the jungle, and the half-metal man had appreciated it even less when Mento's obstinacy had very nearly gotten his best friend killed. "But you don't have to do it, man. You're one of us now—they can't goad you into fighting for them."

"It's your choice," Raven told him but the way she emphasized her last word told him what she wanted him to do.

"They are right, Beast Boy," Starfire added, her tone making it obvious that she did not want him to be put in such danger.

Robin nodded, agreeing with the majority of his team. But the Boy Wonder, despite his mask and seeming objectivity, appeared a little more understanding. Beast Boy knew why—if the Boy Wonder's former mentor called for his help, he would feel the same obligation the changeling did now. "You don't have to get involved in this…unless you want to."

Now here comes the hurricane, Beast Boy thought gloomily. "I want to. But…but I don't want you guys to."

There was silence after that. The green teen had to suppress a groan, knowing he had just dropped a bomb on them and feeling their disbelieving looks boring holes into him. Instead of returning their stares, he kept his eyes resolutely fixed upon the fire, thinking that the scenario was almost funny, in a way that made his chest ache. Here they were in the middle of a dense jungle, sitting on logs surrounding a large campfire and roasting hotdogs in the flames. It was like someone was about to burst into "Kumbaya" at any moment, and Beast Boy was oddly reminded of all the summer camps he had never had the chance to go to.

"If you guys pack up right now and go, the Brotherhood might leave you alone," he added, not surprised that he had not received an immediate answer. Whatever they had expected or wanted him to choose, they had not anticipated that he would tell them to go. The Titans had faced every trouble, both public and personal, together. There was an unspoken but firmly established agreement that no matter what happened, they would all stand by one another and take care of each other—and now he was taking that back.

"Friend, surely…surely you are not requesting that we leave you to fight alone?" Starfire finally gasped.

Beast Boy nodded tightly, still unable to look at them. His eyes had begun to sting furiously, and he feared that if he met their gazes, he wouldn't be able to hold back tears. Or worse—his resolve would slip, and he would beg them to stay. "Yeah, Star, I am. You've got a chance to get out of here before things get really bad—"

"You're serious?" Cyborg interrupted, his tone falling somewhere between incredulous and furious. Beast Boy knew his best friend was staring at him like he'd never seen him before. "You think we would actually leave you? Man, that is not happening! We're your friends!"

"That's why I'm asking you to go," Beast Boy replied desperately. This is going to kill me and I can't let it hurt you, I can't do that—"You guys don't know what the Brain and his jerks are really like. You don't understand what you're getting yourselves into!"

"Yes, we do. Beast Boy, we've gone up against tough criminals before, and we fought the Brotherhood today," Robin said. He was obviously trying to be both practical and soothing, trying to keep his teammate from breaking down. "We know what they can do—"

"No, you don't! You have no idea!" Beast Boy suddenly shouted, causing them all to go silent again. His hands were beginning to tremble, forcing him clenched his fists to make them stop. "You think what you saw today is going to prepare you? It's not! The members of Brotherhood aren't your everyday bad guys—they're sociopaths! They don't make deals, they don't make mistakes, and they don't think twice! They just destroy! And there's no way—no way—I am going to let you guys get killed because of me!"

Starfire floated forward to lay a hand on the green boy's shoulder. "Beast Boy, there will be no death—"

"You're wrong, Star. They're looking to kill us," the changeling interrupted, moving out of the Tamaranian's reach and furiously rubbing his eyes. He took a few deep breaths to keep his voice from shaking. "Guys, please—go. That's the only way I know how to protect you."

The Boy Wonder spoke next and sounded both confused and astonished. "Protect—? Beast Boy, you don't have to protect us."

"Of course I do. I've always sucked at it, and you may not want me to do it right now, but I have to," Beast Boy told them. He didn't know how they could think anything differently, not when they had all always been so protective of him. Didn't they think he would feel the same way about them? He couldn't let them do this, not when there was a chance they could die. The changeling knew too much about being left behind to allow anyone to do it to him again. "You're not just my team, and you're not just my friends. You are my family, and…well, I love you guys. I wouldn't have made it this far without you. I wouldn't be me without you. So if something happened to any of you…I couldn't handle it!"

"Neither could we if something happened to you!" Cyborg shouted, slamming his fist down on a log. It cracked but the half-metal man obviously didn't care. "If you're gonna stay, so are we!"

"You think you're going to die." Raven had only spoken once before, and her words brought on another silence. Beast Boy finally glanced up to look at her and immediately wished he hadn't. In all the time they'd known each other, she had never looked so furious with him. "And you are asking us to allow that."

The changeling gaped at her. He hadn't thought about it like that and struggled to find an answer. "N-no, that's not it—"

"Yes it is. You say that the Brain and his minions are killers—and then you expect us to leave you to them. You say you love us—and then ask us to leave you," Raven cut in. She moved so she could stand directly in front of him, and he could now hear the undercurrents of fury in her voice.

"I can take care of myself, Rae," the green teen said meekly. He wasn't so sure about that—now with the Brotherhood involved, anyway—but he felt like he should reassure her, especially since she looked like she was about to hurt him.

"And we can help you do that," she replied. Her eyes narrowed a bit more, and her next question was more like a blow to the stomach. "Are we traitors, Beast Boy?"

"What? Of course not! Why—"

Raven stopped him again. "Then do not ask us to betray you. The Titans do not desert their friends, and you of all people should know that. You're not alone, Beast Boy."

Beast Boy inhaled sharply. He knew those words. She was using a completely unfair tactic, throwing a memory at him that was sure to weaken his defenses, and his vision blurred again as he tried to make eye contact with her, with all of them. They were looking at him with defiance, as if daring him to try and convince them to leave again.

Beast Boy found he couldn't do it.

"Why won't you leave?" he demanded plaintively, not caring that he sounded like a child. At the moment, he felt that helpless.

"On my planet, a close comrade-in-arms is the equivalent of a blood relation. We call them yarbaffs," Starfire answered. Smiling gently, she took the changeling's hand as if she were shaking it. "Beast Boy, you are my yarbaff. I will not abandon you."

"Me neither," Cyborg said, putting his large hand over theirs. He gave the green teen a reassuring grin and ruffled his hair. "You were the first person to look at me and not be freaked out. You're my best friend, dawg. I'm staying with you."

"You fought Slade to save me." With all the determination of a true leader and friend, the Boy Wonder added his hand to the pile. "I turned my back on you once. I won't make that mistake again."

"You faced the end of the world for me. And that time in my mind—you wouldn't leave me then." Raven didn't hesitate to put both her hands on top. "I'm not leaving you now."

Beast Boy stared at them, more tears evident in his eyes. He still didn't want them to do this. He didn't want them to risk their lives for him—but they were going to. They wouldn't let him do this alone, not when they could be there to stand beside him. He had made the choice to fight the Brotherhood of Evil. They had made the choice to fight with him.

And he had never loved them so much as he did then.

"Thank you," he finally whispered.

"No thanks is required, my friend. I believe the phrase is 'all for one, one for all'?" Starfire commented happily.

Despite himself, Beast Boy giggled. "We're not the mouseketeers, Star."

"It's musketeers but you're right. We aren't them," Robin said with a grin. "We're better. We're the Titans."

"We're family," Cyborg added firmly.

"And we're in this together," Raven finished.

The changeling nodded, feeling a little lighter for the first time in hours. Things still looked bad and he knew that they were in for a rough time but he didn't feel quite so hopeless now. The Titans had done the impossible and saved the world before so Beast Boy believed that, maybe, they could do it again. The Brotherhood of Evil was not going to be easy to defeat but maybe together, they could do it. And maybe he would be okay, too.

With his friends—his family beside him, it was hard to imagine he would be anything else.