Author's Note: There's something ironic about Raven being Beast Boy's 'guardian angel.' :)
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Chapter 7:
Back in Beast Boy's mind, Raven entered the fourth door quickly, bracing herself for whatever was inside. She immediately felt a wave of anger. Looking around she saw Beast Boy standing at the top of a hill overlooking what appeared to be a government facility. It had a large logo on it and Raven recognized it as the logo on Beast Boy's Doom Patrol uniform.
Walking up to him, she could feel the anger radiating from him. She also detected something else hidden underneath the surface. Focusing on it, she realized it was hurt. She reached him and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned towards her, clearly not expecting anyone to be there. His anger diminished as he recognized her.
"You...I know you?" He asked, more statement than question. Raven guessed he was no more than 10 or 11. A few years before meeting the Titans. She nodded.
"I'm Raven. I-" she started.
"My guardian angel? No way. I thought I imagined you back then." His eyes lit up. Raven was shocked. Shocked at the idea that he saw her as his guardian angel. She was also shocked that his memories knew about her presence in his previous memories. She got over her shock quickly and responded.
"Not quite. I just want to help." She replied, giving him a smirk. "What's wrong?" She added, gesturing to the base in front of them. Raven felt his emotions change at that and instantly regretted bringing it up.
"They abandoned me. I told them I was leaving to learn more about my powers and they simply abandoned me. Even Rita." He said, angry at first, but his voice became pained and insecure when he mentioned his adoptive mother. Raven felt anger rise in her chest. She took a deep breath, she knew he hadn't left on the best of terms with his previous family, but it had to be a miss-understanding.
"Well. Do you know why?" Raven asked, almost slapping herself at the way her words could be taken. Luckily, young Beast Boy didn't take them that way. He simply shook his head, seemingly more confused and angry than sad. "I'm sure they didn't mean to hurt you. They probably thought you needed some space." She added, her hand still on his shoulder. Young Beast Boy thought about what she said for a moment. His face lit up for a second before he frowned and held up a note for her to read.
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Dear Garfield,
THE time has come for You to move on. We hAve Now deTermined TO EXPEll you fRom wIthin our teaM. I hope you ENjoyed our Time tOgether. No matter where YOU go, I wish you luck.
Please don't contact me,
Rita Ora.
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Raven's blood started to boil as she read but something struck her as odd. What did the random capitalized letters mean. She looked closer and her eyes widened.
"Look at the capitalized letters." She said. Young Beast Boy's hung head looked up in confusion before looking back at the letters. He read it over three times, carefully but couldn't figure it out.
"Yea. The capitalization is weird but I don't get it." He said, confusion still plastered across his face. Raven's hand left his shoulder as she held out her hand for the letter.
"Do you have a pen?" She asked. She took the letter. He then nodded and handed her one. Raven flipped the letter over and young Beast Boy protested as she uncapped the pen. "Trust me. I promise I won't ruin it." She said, sympathy written across her eyes. He simply looked at her and nodded, slightly. She wrote something and handed the letter back to him. He looked at the circled capitalized letters on the front of the page before flipping to the back and read the sentence, Raven had written.
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THEY WANT TO EXPERIMENT ON YOU.
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His eyes widened. He started to shudder as tears welled up in his eyes. Raven simply grabbed his arm and helped him to sit down as his legs began to shake.
"Sh...she was warning me?" Young Beast Boy said, more than asked. Raven nodded, unsure of what to do or say. She simply sat next to him, in silence. His shuddering became heaving as he cried. Raven put her arm around his shoulders and hugged him to her as he cried into her shoulder. She completely ignored their proximity, having become used to it over the past few hours, as she reflected on Beast Boy's rough past. He had been through much more than she had. Much more than anyone she had ever met. Yet he still stayed cheerful and tried to make others smile, especially her. She marveled at how strong he actually was, despite everyone thinking otherwise. Her mind then drifted to her treatment of him. Knowing what she now, knew, she felt ashamed. She had always assumed he had it easy. Sure, he was green, but she always treated him poorly assuming he'd never truly struggled and would simply bounce back to his normal self moments later. To his credit, he almost always did. She realized truly did not deserve a friend like him.
Raven tried to shake herself from her thoughts as she turned to the boy in her arms. She wanted nothing more than to make him feel better but she knew he needed to cry at that moment. Slowly rubbing his back and soothing him with her words once again, she consoled him until she felt his shuddering gasps subside and felt him still in her arms.
"Garfield?" She asked, gently lifting his head from her shoulder, she saw that he had fallen asleep. She half-smiled as she laid him down on the grass and waited to be pulled from the memory.
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Author's Note: Again, thank you guys for the support! Feel free to leave a review and let me know how I'm doing.
