This is a shorter one, I apologize for that, but I feel like it packs a punch! I looked to maybe add to the word count, but it felt right how it is. Short but…impactful. I hope you enjoy it!

Aqua Rules—That is one of the things I love about Raven, how much she secretly enjoys the attention. She's reserved, but for those who have forced their way in (BB and Starfire) she really does care for them and grudgingly enjoys putting up with their nonsense.

Anonymoose: About that angsty cliffhanger… Yeah…

YourDemonicAssassin—Glad you enjoyed the silliness of it. Raven needs a bit of silly in her life, even if she doesn't realize it. And wait no more, turmoil is here!

Dwhispers—You are right, Raven needs that unrestrained enthusiasm that is Beast Boy. She does. And have no fears, I'm not the type for tragic endings, they'll figure it out. They've just got some challenges ahead. Bum, bum, bum…

And now…

Fractured

Garfield Logan clenched his jaw and curled his fingers into fists. He was being tested. And he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going. What was being done to him was torture.

Delicious, sweet, agonizing torture.

Beneath him, Raven let out a ragged exhale. Her body writhed against his, the sweat beading on her bare shoulder calling out to him.

He lowered his mouth, pressing a kiss to her gleaming flesh. Then, unable to resist, he nipped lightly at her skin, his teeth more graze than bite.

She whimpered throatily, the sound igniting a fire in him that made it even more difficult to restrain himself. He hadn't realized that was even possible. "Gar…"

He shifted so he could stare down into her violet eyes. As he did, she exhaled, her breath grazing his lips erotically. He groaned, brushing his lips against hers.

It wasn't enough for her. She tilted her face up and captured his mouth in a desperate kiss, her tongue clashing with his.

He slid a hand down her thigh until he was able to grip it. Then he tugged her leg up higher around his waist, tighter against him. He could feel himself losing control, getting closer to that glorious release.

And that was when the Tower's alarm sounded. It rang through the quiet, demanding attention.

With a groan of disbelief, he stopped his rhythmic thrusting and pushed himself up on his knees.

Raven's eyes widened in horror. "Don't you dare."

He gaped down at her in surprise. "But the alarm…" Raven was the most dedicated super hero he'd ever met. He'd never thought there would be anything capable of delaying her in answering the call to duty.

"The alarm can wait two minutes. Just…finish." She bit her lip, her expression looking adorably guilty. "I need to finish."

"You don't need to ask me twice, baby." He eased himself back down to her.

"Don't call me 'baby'."

He shoved himself back inside of her, driving in deep, so deep. "Whatever you say, baby."

She gasped at the sudden invasion, but it quickly transformed into a moan. Even so, she dug her nails into his back in a silent reprimand for calling her the seemingly offensive nickname.

He chuckled as he thrust into her, hard enough to rock the bed ever so slightly. "Joke's on you. I liked that."

"Shut up," she grumbled breathlessly. "Just keep going."

Smirking, he lowered his head over her shoulder and set to work, taking his task seriously. He knew they had limited time, so he needed to focus. He thrust into her, setting up a swift rhythm.

She arched into him, her moans driving him on. "Please…please."

He was more than happy to oblige. He thrust harder, driving as deeply as he could go. And then he felt it—her muscles clamped down around him. Her body quivered, shockwaves of pleasure echoing into him.

It was too much to bear, and it dragged him over the edge with her. Letting out a guttural growl, he crashed over the precipice into blessed euphoria. His entire body stiffened as he emptied himself inside of her. The moment seemed to drag out, lengthening into endless pleasure.

When he was finally able to reign himself in, he collapsed to her, nuzzling himself in against her body. It was the animals in him. After sex, he always wanted to curl himself around her. He had a built-in need to protect, to nestle into her and make sure she felt safe. "I love you," he whispered against her shoulder, giving it another kiss. This one was gentler, loving.

"I know you do," Raven said with a playful little smirk curving her lips.

Beast Boy snickered and curled his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "You're lucky I'm not one of those insecure guys."

"If you were, I wouldn't be with you," she said.

He opened his mouth to comment further when there was a loud knock at the door.

"Beast Boy! What are you doing in there? Let's go!" The familiar sound of Robin's voice filled the room. Their fearless leader was obviously in a hurry to get to wherever their mission was.

"I'm coming!" His holler echoed into the hallway, hopefully appeasing Robin.

"What do you think his reaction would be if you told him we were busy having sex?" Raven asked in amusement.

Beast Boy shook his head with a little laugh. "I'm not even going to go there. But it shows the level of comedic progress you've made that you're even willing to joke about it."

She wriggled out from underneath him and slid out of the bed to her feet. "Just don't let the others know how funny I am," she said dryly, that subtle wit of hers that he absolutely loved shining through.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said as he sat up, throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

She rolled her eyes but came closer anyway. Leaning down, she cupped his face and pressed her lips gently to his. "I love you too."

He knew those words weren't easy for her, knew how much they cost her. He knew they made her feel vulnerable, weak. But she said them anyway. "I know you do," he said, tossing her words back at her. But where hers had been teasing, his held a seriousness to them. He never wanted her to question if she was doing enough, expressing herself enough. "I'll see you out there."

"Be careful, Gar," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Nor I you." He took her arm and pulled her in between his legs. She was short enough that with a gentle tug of her hand, he was able to pull her lips down to his. "Be careful."

"I always am." She offered him a soft, affection look before extracting herself and disappearing through a portal back into her own room. Most of her clothing was there anyway. Plus, it would keep Robin from knowing what they'd been up to. Even though their friends knew about their relationship, they still tried to be subtle about the details of it. He understood that Raven was private, so tried to adhere to that. He wanted to do everything possible to make her feel comfortable in their relationship.

Outside his door, he heard Robin's booted feet stomping down the hallway a moment before his leader was pounding on his door once again. "Beast Boy! What's the hold up?"

"I'm coming!" he called out in reassurance. With a sigh, Garfield pushed his way out of bed to get dressed. He would have much rather spent his evening snuggled up with a certain half demon, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. Duty called.

OOOO

Beast Boy stared at the villain in front of him with an expression of disgust plastered across his face. His lips were twisted in annoyance, and he shot Robin a look of exasperation. "Really? I had to cut short—" He clamped his mouth shut, realizing he'd almost said the word 'sex'. That was far from what he wanted to be talking about in front of the team, a store full of witnesses, and their current villain. "Lounging about in bed for this?"

Raven's expression never changed, never gave a thing away. Damn, she was good. Even when he nearly slipped up, she was cool as a cucumber.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Control Freak said. "Do you have somewhere better to be?"

"Yes!" Beast Boy cried. "A thousand times yes."

"He is the correct," Starfire said, backing Beast Boy up. "I was watching a documentary on Earth penguins and they are the most adorable. I was very displeased to be called away."

"Well, next time I rob an electronics store I'll make sure to call and clear it with your schedules first," Control Freak said snidely.

"Not sensing his sarcasm, Starfire beamed. "That would be the most appreciated."

"I wasn't serious," Control Freak snapped in irritation, crossing his arms indignantly over his chest. His disgruntled gaze slipped to Raven. "And I assume you were super busy as well?" he asked snidely. "Busy spending your time with the green turd."

"The green turd makes me laugh," she said dryly.

It took Beast Boy a moment to realize he'd been insulted. "Hey!" he cried in outrage.

Control Freak ignored him and took a step closer to Raven. "You're wasting your time on that clown. Have you ever considered hooking up with a guy who knows his way around a software program?"

This question seemed to genuinely surprise Raven. Her brow rose and she blinked at him for a moment in confusion. "Are you referring to yourself?"

Control Freak's shoulders hunched. "Is there a problem with that?"

Raven frowned. "Yeah. There's a big problem with that. First off, you're a villain. I'm a hero. That's a recipe for disaster. Second, you're not even remotely funny."

"I could be funny," Control Freak said haughtily.

Cyborg, who was standing close to Beast Boy, leaned over to whisper to him. "This is getting weird."

"Yeah," Garfield said in agreement. Normally, he was not the type of guy to rush to his girlfriend's rescue. He knew Raven wouldn't like that. She could handle herself just fine. But this was becoming really bizarre, and perhaps it was time to remind Control Freak that Raven did in fact have a boyfriend. One that was standing only a few feet away.

Walking over to Raven's side, he stood next to her, his shoulders squared, his head held high. "I think this has gone on long enough. Are we here to fight or so you can harass Raven?"

Control Freak's nose curled in distaste. "Fine. Have it your way." From his pocket, he withdrew an instrument that looked similar to a radar gun. "If you guys love each other so much, why don't you just be one another?"

Before Beast Boy could react, could move, Control Freak lifted the weapon and fired.

The blast from the gun knocked Garfield backward. He hit the wall of the store with a resounding crunch and dropped roughly to the floor. Beside him, Raven crumpled into a heap. He heard shouts from his fellow teammates, heard a fight begin, but he was more worried about what that gun had done to them.

Crawling to her side, he helped Raven ease up into a seated position. "Are you okay?" he asked frantically. "Did he hurt you?"

She groaned, placing her hand against a bleeding scrape on her forehead. "I'm fine. I'm fine." Despite her words of reassurance, she looked slightly dazed.

"That weapon…" Garfield looked down at himself, frantically patting at his chest, looking for any signs of damage. "It shot some type of beam at us…"

"I feel fine," Raven assured him. A glance at her showed she'd quickly recovered, rebounding from the unexpected blast. "You know, aside from crashing into the wall." She groaned as she pushed herself to her feet. "Worry about it later. Right now, we need to stop him from causing any more trouble."

His lips curled into a smile at her tenacity. "You're a bad ass, you know that?" he asked as he staggered less gracefully to his feet.

"I do." She winked at him. "But I never mind hearing confirmation of it." With that, she darted off to join their friends, who were in the process of chasing after Control Freak.

The villain had ducked out into the street and was racing away on foot, not a wise move considering his obvious lack of routine exercise.

Beast Boy turned into a cheetah and went racing after the group, but Robin reached Control Freak before Gar even placed a padded paw to the sidewalk.

Robin's staff came whipping around at Control Freak's ankles, and he swept the villain down to the sidewalk. Control Freak attempted to roll to his feet, but Robin pressed his staff down into the man's chest, holding him in place. "Not your day, Freak. Not your day."

Control Freak seemed to deflate. He let out a sigh and went limp against the pavement. "No. It's not."

Robin rolled him over and fastened a set of plastic zip tie cuffs to the man's wrists. "What were you even looking for in there anyway?" he asked, almost sympathetically. "Petty thievery is usually above you."

Beast Boy came to a stop a few feet away from them. He shifted back into his human form and took a protective step in the direction of where Raven stood. She seemed fine, but he was still worried about how roughly she'd hit that wall.

Before he could ask her how she felt, Control Freak answered Robin. "Maybe I wasn't looking to steal anything."

"Then what were you looking for?" Robin asked.

Control Freak's gaze swept to Raven and he glared. "Maybe I was here for someone, not something."

"I'm not sure what that means," Robin said as Beast Boy stepped protectively in front of Raven, "but whatever you were going for, you failed."

Police sirens sounded from not far off and Gar was filled with relief that they could hand over Control Freak and be done with him. The villain was starting to freak him out.

"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't," the villain said ominously.

"You definitely did," Cyborg said in annoyance. He stepped forward and yanked Control Freak up off of the pavement as the police cruiser came careening around the corner. "Now stop being so creepy."

Beast Boy couldn't have agreed more. As the cruiser came to a halt in front of them, he took Raven's hand and tugged her back in the direction of the store they'd vacated. Someone would be needed inside to talk to witnesses, check for damage. He wanted that to be the two of them. The farther away from Control Freak they were, the better he would feel.

OOOO

Garfield turned his face up to the cascade of scalding hot water and let out a shaky exhale. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but something about this mission had freaked him out a bit. Since he and Raven had gotten together, they'd been on plenty of missions together. They'd both been banged up, injured, and targeted. But something about tonight had just felt…different.

He couldn't put his finger on it exactly. Was it the unknown factor of Control Freak's weapon? He hoped so, because he wasn't about to become the guy who freaked out any time someone looked sideways at his girlfriend. Raven was beautiful and bound to draw the eye of a villain now and then. Going into this relationship, he'd known that was something he'd have to deal with.

But this incident with Control Freak had been creepy. Well, creepier than usual.

"We're fine," he mumbled under his breath, his words swallowed up by the spray of water. "We're perfectly fine."

A small 'pop' sound from behind clued him in to Raven's sudden presence.

"Opening portals into my shower now, are you?" he asked with amusement. Just her mere presence had some of his anxiety melting away, and he was more grateful for that than he wanted to admit. He was completely rattled after their last mission, and that was unlike him. Usually, he was one to let things go almost immediately, but something about this was sticking with him. He couldn't place his finger on why, but his stomach was still filled with a sense of unease.

"As if you're complaining."

She had a point there. He wouldn't ever complain about her popping up in his shower. Her arms slipped around his chest and she stepped in against his back, curling herself around him. And she naked at that! Nope, he was not going to complain.

"Robin just got back. He said Freak refused to talk." She let out a weary sigh. "He wouldn't tell Robin what that weapon was supposed to do. I guess it doesn't matter, because it didn't work, but it would still be nice to know what he'd attempted to do to us."

"What are the odds of Cyborg being able to figure it out?"

Raven shrugged before placing her cheek against his back. "He's looking at it now, but Control Freak smashed it before Robin took him down. So not only does it not work, it's cracked. I'm not sure how much good it will be. It might be asking too much of Cyborg to get any answers from that thing." There was a brief silence before she asked, "Are you okay?"

Her question caught him by surprise. He turned around to stare down into her perceptive violet eyes. "Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"You seemed kind of freaked out by what happened this afternoon."

He shrugged sheepishly. "Yeah…I don't know. A bad guy pummels me into the ground and I'm fine. But shoot some mysterious ray at me and I get all worried." He sighed, brushing her damp hair away from her face. "He just seemed too fixated on us. I'm not sure what that was about."

"I'll be too fixated on you," Raven said with a little purr, her hands sliding seductively down his stomach.

He knew she was trying to distract him from his concerns, but it worked. Man, did it work. He let out a little growl and pulled her closer. "Is that so?"

She nodded, a smirk on her lips. "I've never had sex in a shower before…"

"Well, there's a first time for everything." With that, he hefted her up, spun, and pinned her to the tiled wall of the shower. "And I'm glad to be the one you experience such firsts with."

Her legs wrapped around his waist, his mouth descended on hers, and suddenly his concerns felt miles away.

OOOO

Even in his sleep, Garfield sensed that something was off, something wasn't right. His eyes popped open and he stared up at the ceiling for a moment, gathering his bearings. He was in his room, in his bed. That was at least correct. So what was it that had woken him?

He pushed up onto his elbows. As he did, a rumbling against his stomach drew his attention. He lowered his gaze to his bare abdomen to find a snowy white cat curled up on his belly.

Being what he was, the sight of the animal didn't frighten or startle him. It had his lips curling into a small grin. "Well, hello there, cutie." He reached down to scratch behind the cat's ears and its purrs reverberated through him. "How did you get in here?" It wasn't like Titan's Tower was easy to breach. All manner of bad guys had tried, but it was this petite feline that had succeeded.

He ran his hand down the length of the cat, and as he did, markings along the back of its head—a patch on its hind leg—caused him pause. There were areas of purple in the fur. "A purple cat?" he asked, concern filling him. This wasn't just any cat, something in his gut told him that.

He shifted his gaze to the spot on the bed next to his own and was surprised to find it empty. Raven was gone. Why was Raven gone? Dread overwhelmed him, his stomach roiling with worry as he glanced back at the cat.

The cat's eyes flickered open lazily and he sucked in a sharp breath as familiar violet eyes stared back at him. "Raven?" he whispered in horror.

Confusion filled those eyes, but a moment later, the being seemed to realize its form. The cat gave a screech of alarm. In a panic, it jumped to the floor and began running in frantic circles, its sides heaving with its terrified breaths.

Beast Boy slipped out of bed, his bare feet hitting the floor as he propelled himself up and toward the cat.

Before he could reach it, a loud 'pop' sounded. The space where the cat had once sat was now occupied by a naked Raven. Her ribs pulled harshly inward as she took gulping breaths. "What is happening to me?" she cried in fear.

And then in the next instant she was gone, replaced by the cat once again.

Beast Boy reached for her, but the cat recoiled with a hiss. Fear for her raced through him, nearly overwhelming him.

…And then suddenly his own fear was drowned out by every emotion he'd ever experienced in his life. He was bombarded by his teammates. Cyborg was frustrated with the busted weapon. His annoyance lashed at Garfield like a whip. Robin and Starfire were in Robin's room, and the lust and pleasure and excitement hit him like a physical blow, knocking him to his knees. Their emotions were too much for him to handle, too strong. His hands went to his head and he clutched at his hair. "No…too much…" His sensed seemed to reach out without his consent and suddenly he could feel a man, a stranger, somewhere on the beach, and he was angry. So angry…

Around him, he heard glass shattering throughout the room. In the deep recesses of his mind, he understood it was his fault—his doing—but he couldn't reign himself in. He couldn't control the foreign power racing through him, threatening to overpower him.

Raven burst into being once again, her fingers clawing at the floor as if she could somehow keep purchase of her form if she could hold on to her surroundings. Her fear hit him hardest, as she was so close in proximity, her emotions so close to the surface, and their lives linked so deeply.

Her terror slammed into him with the force of a truck. It hit him in the skull, and he worried it might explode, as if struck by a bullet. As Raven's terror dragged him down to a darker place than he'd ever been before, he worried he was dying, worried this might be the last time he ever saw her. "I can't take anymore!" he screamed, yanking at his hair. And then something exploded in his mind. Stars burst in front of his vision, and suddenly everything went black.

As his body collapsed forward to meet the floor, he welcomed the oblivion. Anything was better than the pain. Even death.

To Be Continued…