In all honesty, I thought I wouldn't make it in time to post this chapter this weekend, I was so busy and preemptively exhausted. But I managed to finish it and lay better groundwork for my main story, Accidents Can Happen. Hopefully I can get to work on it soon, though I'm still going to work on this story too.

Muggleborn11-yeeessss! Hate me! I FEED off of hate! I mean what . anyways, you should enjoy this chapter, it's chocked full of Speedy goodness. As for the demons...well, they won't be making another reappearance for a few chapters. I have something interesting in mind for them. Something non-Trigon related. Hell and the Astral realm are two different dimensions, after all.

RPGPersona- good on ya for figuring out Jade so quickly! And as for KD...well, if you know Ravager, you should know KD. If you don't...well, we'll see how this goes, eh? heh. As for Rose visiting the tower...it's an amusing idea that I'll definitely consider.


It's been three weeks since the first date Beast Boy went on with Rose and he could confidently say he was having a blast. They went out and about and did all kinds of things together, from bowling to fishing (and releasing) to more clubbing. Sure, he still made plenty of time for Emelia and Raven, but this was way different.

Of course, tonight was gonna be something new. Rose and Beast Boy were gonna go on a double date with her friend Jade and her boyfriend Roy. Beast Boy hadn't met the guy yet, since he lived in Steele City, but he'd met Jade a few times. She was cold and quiet, somewhat like Raven. But while Raven held this addictingly mysterious air about her, Jade's air just screamed "Bother me and I will kill you."

So, Beast Boy rarely chatted with her. Just to be safe.

He was headed for the common room door to leave for tonight's date when he was almost bowled over by a giggling Martin, who was followed by a smiling Emelia. When she saw her father dressed out of uniform, she paused.

"Daddy, are you going out again?"

Beast Boy smiled. "Yep. Gonna go meet Rose and some friends tonight for a little while."

Emelia stared at her father for a moment then looked at her mother, who was on the opposite side of the room on the couch. Raven was reading and not paying the changeling the least bit of attention. She actually hadn't paid him much attention since he started seeing Rose.

"Daddy, can't you go with mommy and me on a walk this evening?" Emelia begged.

The changeling hesitated then gently shook his head. "I'm sorry Emelia, if you had asked me sooner I'd be able to change my plans. I'll go with you next time, okay?"

He watched her nod sadly and it left him feeling really, really bad. He loved spending time with Emelia and Raven, but he loved spending time with Rose too. He was torn between two worlds and making choices between them wasn't easy.

On one hand, he had what was appearing to be a successful relationship (for once in his freaking life) with a beautiful girl that wasn't bothered by his green skin and shapeshifting.

On the other hand, he had an adorable little girl and her mother, who had been the apple of his eye for years now. He didn't think Raven had any legitimate issues with him, so it pretty much put her on a level ground with Rose.

But ya know, since Rose was the one paying attention to him…

"Daddy, do you love Ms. Rose?"

Beast Boy looked down at his daughter, a look of disbelief on his face. Had he been paying attention, he would have noticed Raven lower her book and turn slightly to look at them. He thought long and hard before giving his daughter an answer.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not in love with her. But…if the things keep going to way they are…I could."

"But you aren't?"

He shook his head. "As it stands, nope."

Emelia smiled. "Good. That means me and mommy have all your love."

He laughed. "You sure do kiddo. Listen, I'll take you to the park tomorrow to make up for missing ya'lls walk tonight. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" The little girl giggled. "Can Martin come too?"

"Sure can." Beast Boy smiled and picked her up, kissing her head. "Anything for my little angel."

She kissed his chin. "Thank you daddy."

He set her down, bid her goodbye, and walked out the door. Emelia ran off to play with Martin.

Raven, who had heard every word spoken, sat on the couch looking out the window pondering her friends' words.

He could fall in love with her?

Why does that bother me?


Beast Boy paused to look out at the bay, admiring the view. It was a lovely evening, despite the Titans having had to deal with Billy Numerous earlier in the day. He had been robbing every bank across town this morning and it had been quite a patience –testing period of time to track down all his clones and stop them. The strange part was that he didn't really put up much of a fight.

It didn't really matter to the changeling though. When they got back he made some peanut butter sandwiches for himself and Emelia for lunch and even made a BLT for Raven. It was tofu bacon, of course, be she ate it anyways. Afterwards she had said "Not bad, but not something I would eat frequently."

Oh well. It was a start.

After he put Emelia down for a nap, he returned to the common room. Just as he was pouring himself a glass of soy milk, Starfire drifted through the door with a magazine in her hand.

"Friend Beast Boy," She had said quietly, not wanting to draw the attention of the other Titans in the room, "I would like your opinion on something."

He had leaned on the counter and looked up at the girl he considered his big sister. "Wassup Star?"

"I have been reading this magazine called TEENE and it states that the majority of Earthly females prefer when their boyfriends have a body that is in decent shape." She held up the magazine and he had given it a wary glance.

"Ya know, Star, ya can't really trust books like those. They'll publish anything just to make a buck."

"I am aware of this." Starfire had a smile on her face that was nothing less than mischievous. "I was only wondering if this particular article was true or not."

Beast Boy had taken the magazine and flipped to the page indicated. He scanned it, only slightly interested at first, then very interested when he realized what it was about. Apparently in the teen world, nerdy guys (the kind that play video games, watch anime, read comics) that worked out enough to have a ripped body were an up and coming fad that had girls across the nation going wild. His eyes had grown more and more wide as he read the article. When it reached the part where there were quotes from girls praising it, he made a decision.

Tossing the magazine back to the alien princess, he nonchalantly shrugged. "Dunnno Star, but it's possible."

"Oh, that is most wonderful friend Beast Boy." Starfire had smiled again, having read him as easily as he read the magazine. "Does that mean you will be partaking in more exercise to impress your friend Rose?"

He had blushed and shrugged again. "Maybe."

Again with that mischievous smile. "I am sure friend Raven would be pleased to know that you are taking care of your body in such a manner as well. You would be setting an excellent role model as a parent for your little bumgorf."

Hey, there's a great idea. Work out, become a hottie, impress Rose and Raven! It was almost too good to be true! He had thought as he said, "Ha, Raven doesn't care about that kind of thing. Anyways, Rob wanted me to do some afternoon training so I'm gonna go do it now. Later."

Starfire, clueless, waved him goodbye as he darted out the door. He had almost run Robin over in the process. As he heard the door shut behind him, he had heard his team leader ask Starfire why his printer was out of ink and paper.

Beast Boy wasn't sure why he'd ask Starfire, of all people, where that stuff went. The poor girl couldn't cook to save her life and her singing was so off key it killed brain cells, let alone work a computer to print stuff.

After a rather long and intense work out, he had taken a shower and dressed for his evening. This particular set of clothes was a gift from his adoptive parents, Mento and Elastigirl of the Doom Patrol. They were made of the same material as his uniform, so they would shapeshift with him. His parents reasoning were "You need at least one set of civvies that can be used in an emergency". He certainly wasn't going to complain, his uniform was expensive to produce.

And now here he was, looking over the bay. There was a gentle breeze blowing, causing very small waves across the water and it was a lovely temperature outside right now. The way the sun was just hiding behind the clouds as it lowered made it clear that the sunset would be beautiful.

Too bad he wasn't gonna stick around for it.

A shift and a flap was all it took for him to be racing across the water as a peregrine falcon. He had always loved the sensation of flying, the way the wind ruffled his feathers and the open sky seeming to beckon him ever onwards. Tonight, though, he wasn't concerned with it.


It was some time later when he got to Rose's apartment. It was a quiet little neighborhood with just enough crime to make you lock your door at night and bolt it. Beast Boy honestly couldn't remember anything ever happening here other than robbery or jaywalking, it was so boring.

He climbed the stairs almost two at a time and practically ran to the door. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet when the door opened to reveal a tall red headed guy wearing sunglasses and a ballcap, a red sports jacket with the Steele City Hornets basketball team logo on it, a pair of blue jeans, and a pair of red Nikes.

Beast Boy's confusion turned to anger in less than half a second.

"Who the hell are…" He trailed off as his nostrils flared with a familiar scent. His face screwed up in confusion again. "Speedy?"

Roy Harper, better known as Speedy of the Teen Titans East, clamped his hand over his friends' mouth and hissed at him. "Dude! Be quiet!"

He glanced around to make sure no one was nearby before looking back at the changeling with a small glare. "Don't blow my cover, bean sprout."

Beast Boy's eyes widened as Speedy removed his hand and he spoke quietly. "Dude, you're the same Roy that Jade is dating?"

"Yep. We've been seeing each other for eight months." The archer nodded. "How long have you and Rose been dating?"

The green teen hesitated. "I'm…not sure if we are dating, dude. I mean, we go on dates and stuff…but we haven't…like…ya know…held hands or kissed or cuddled or anything…so…I dunno."

Speedy arched an eyebrow at his shorter friend. "Uh…huh. Do the others know?"

Beast Boy fidgeted uncomfortably and shook his head. Speedy sighed and shook his head in exasperation.

"Come on then, BB. Don't tell Rose who I am though, she just knows that my name is Roy and I'm from Steele City."

The changeling nodded and followed the archer into the apartment. It was a pretty small apartment, with just a bedroom and a kitchen/living room. Inside was a black couch and two black and orange recliners. The kitchenware was new and black as well, with cabinets that were orange. The carpet was a boring cream color, just like the walls. Rose, wearing a black miniskirt with an orange top, was sitting next to Jade, who was wearing a green and white skirt with a darker green top that had a white square pattern. They looked up from their position on the couch and Rose smiled.

"Beast Boy! Lookin' good!"

He grinned sheepishly back at her. "Thanks Rose, yer lookin' awesome as usual."

She laughed and waved him to sit down next to her. Beast Boy heard Speedy snort behind him as he joined Rose and Jade on the couch. The hidden archer sat down in a recliner nearest Jade, who hopped up and sauntered over to him to sit in his lap. Rose rolled her eyes and nudged her date for the night.

"Look, better find them a room before they start getting kissy."

Beast Boy laughed, which lead to Jade and Roy rolling their eyes.

"So, what are we doing tonight?" Beast Boy asked as their laughter died down. Rose gave him another smile.

"We're all gonna go catch a movie that's playing a bit, then come back here."

"Sweet, what are we watching?"

"Wicked Scary 2!"

"Awe yeah! This is gonna be awesome!" Beast Boy pumped his fist in the air. "Cy showed me the trailer to that the other day and it looks epic. Raven wants to see it too, funnily enough."

Rose gave him a curious look. "So, what, ya gonna go take her to see it?"

Not seeing the looks Speedy and Jade gave each other, he shook his head. "Nah, she'd never go with me and Emmy to the movies, not that I'd take Emmy to see that anyways. It'd prolly give her nightmares."

He also didn't catch the looks that Jade and Rose gave each other, looks that said 'Who said anything about Emelia?'.

Roy cleared his throat. "Alright, well, the movie starts in a bit. Let's go get some food."

"Pizza!" Rose and Beast Boy shouted at the same time. Jade groaned, not really wanting pizza again. The white haired girl and the green boy looked at each other before bursting into laughter.


As the two Titans and their dates sat down to eat a while later, another Titan was stepping out of a dark portal with a little girl in her hands.

Emelia looked up at her mother, who was looking around the park warily. Raven couldn't see or sense anything, other than a single street lamp that was flickering constantly. The only other occupant of the park was a single jogger, an older man who was thoroughly enjoying his exercise. This was good, a quiet night in the park was just what Raven needed. No noisy Cyborg playing games, no mini explosions in the kitchen from Starfire's cooking, no sounds of punching bags echoing from Robin training, no Martin babbling constantly. Just peace and quiet with her daughter.

Of course, if Beast Boy was here it'd be better…

The sorceress flinched inwardly as the thought skittered across her consciousness. She wasn't entirely sure where it came from either. For years the green boy had be a borderline bane to her existence, a pimple on the buttock on life just begging, an ingrown hair in the armpit of reality.

Why was she thinking of him like he was some sort of malignant tumor?

She supposed that in a certain way that he was a growth of sorts. As in, he was growing up and growing on her slowly. She found it pleasant to be in his company now, but not quite to the extent of wanting to be around him all the time. He just wasn't so annoying anymore to her. It was a strange feeling.

Of course, it was this odd sensation that Raven had used to determine that he was indeed the person most precious to her, her best friend. This, combined with his ever persistent desire to pester her, was an endearing trait in the boy.

Her brow furrowed in thought. Endearing? Beast Boy?

She was beginning to have at least one thought like this per day and it was getting rather weird. While she wouldn't deny the fact that she and he had gotten a bit closer before the kids came along, she most certainly had no idea how or why she'd consider anything he does to be endearing now. Her precious friend, yes, but endearing?

What the hell is wrong with me? She thought.

With a silent sigh, Raven set her daughter down. The little girl immediately took her by the hand and they began walking around. The sorceress was too mentally preoccupied to notice the single flickering light jump to the lamp post nearest them.


Several blocks away, the R-cycle came to a half. Robin kicked the stand down and turned to the new side car to retrieve his son. It was something he and Cyborg designed with the boy's safety in mind. Heavily armored and heavily padded, it could take a direct hit from high powered sonic cannon, starbolt, or dark magic and remain relatively unscathed. Cyborg was proud of his work and rightly so.

"Boyfriend Robin, this is a most glorious location to partake in dinner!"

The caped crusader turned to his girlfriend with a smile. She had chosen to fly there, following the R-cycle every inch of the way like a protective hawk. Normally she would have rode on the back, just behind her lover, but the sidecar was new and he needed to adjust to riding with its weight attached.

"It sure is, Star." Robin turned his head to glance at the nice Italian restaurant in front of them before turning back to unstrapping a very happy half-Tamaranian boy.

"Momma, that smells good!" Martin shouted gleefully.

"Indeed it does, my bumgorf. Friend Tony makes the best Earthling ghetti of the spa on the planet!" The alien princess smiled hugely as she took her son by the hand. Robin took his other hand and they walked into the restaurant.

Nearby, in a sewer grate, multiple yellowish green eyes opened and watched them.


"And then Raven says 'Evil beware, we have waffles'!"

Speedy and Beast Boy both started cracking up, leaving Jade to look at them like they'd lose their minds. Rose chuckled at the joke even though she didn't find it funny.

That was the thing about Beast Boy. He told a lot of jokes, a good bit which were funny. It was a good thing, because she liked to laugh. But he also talked about Raven at least twice each time they hung out. While it was good to see he cared so much about her, Rose could have gone without hearing about the empath every time they met up.

Now, Rose wasn't the jealous type. But some topics just get old. Time for a subject change.

"So BB." She said, flicking an olive at him. It bounced off his nose and he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah?"

"You said that Emmy was a metahuman too, right? What kind of powers does she have?"

Speedy and Jade leaned in, just as curious as Rose now. The changeling gulped and scratched the back of his head nervously. He glanced at Speedy, who knew that Emelia was a clone of the changeling and the empath, looking for an out. The archer gave him a barely noticeable shrug that said 'eh, won't hurt to tell them'

"Well…She's an empath, kinda like Raven, but at the same time not like Raven, ya know?" The green teen struggled to not give too much away. "And she can do this neat thing where she walks through walls too."

"'Like Raven but not like Raven'?" Rose set her pizza down and stared at him. "What the heck does that mean?"

"Uh…well…Raven can feel emotions but Emmy can project emotions. Like, every time Rae gets mad at me, Emmy does this thing that calms her down before her powers can like, throw me out a window or something."

Rose and Jade both had impressed looks on their faces while Speedy whistled.

"What else can the child do?" Jade asked after a moment.

"That's it."

Rose, who had been reaching for her pizza once again, paused. "That's it? Just walking through walls and emotional projection?"

"Yep."

The white haired girl frowned. "Well…that's kinda…"

"Boring." Jade finished for her. Rose frowned but Beast Boy laughed.

"Yeah, but that's good too. It means she won't have any kind of crazy powers like the rest of us."

Speedy snorted. "Yeah, like you need powers to be a hero. Look at Speedy and Robin, not to mention Green Arrow and Batman."

Beast Boy gave him a look that said 'seriously dude?' at the same time Rose gave Jade the same look. The red headed archer shrugged, to which the changeling opened his mouth to respond.

Then he paused, his ears twitching.

He whipped around in his chair, a growl on his lips. The others looked to him in surprise just in time to see him bolt towards the large glass window. Just as he reached the window he shifted into a gorilla and roared.

A car came crashing through the glass, caught easily by the shapeshifter.

People started screaming and running out the exits as Beast Boy put the car down and leapt over it. He dashed out of the restaurant without a word to his friends. Rose and Jade were nonplussed when they discovered Roy had disappeared as well.

"Boys." Rose grumbled. Jade nodded and glanced outside. It turns out that it was Cinderblock who had thrown the car at them. Beast Boy was darting around, shifting from animal to animal to avoid the concrete mans' attacks. He bounced off a car and changed into a kangaroo to kick Cinderblock in the head. The stone giant was forced back a step, where an arrow blasted him in the face. With a roar, the villain toppled to the ground.

"Should we help them?" Jade said nonchalantly.

Rose shook her head immediately. "No, that would blow my cover. I need him to trust me, Jade."

Her friend held up a fragile looking feline kabuki mask. "That's you. My boyfriend is out there dealing with your fathers' flunkies."

"I know."

The Viet girl stashed her mask back in her purse. "Does he even know-"

"That I'm here? No."

"Does he know that-"

"I'm watching the children? No."

"How about you and-"

"Beast Boy spending time together?" Rose smirked. "Not a chance."

"Does Beast Boy even know anything?"

Rose only shook her head.


Outside, Beast Boy and Speedy were having quite a time with the stone giant.

With a roar, the changeling shifted into a T-Rex and charged Cinderblock. The villain roared back and swung at Beast Boy, who shifted into a fox at the last moment and darted between his legs. Sliding to a stop behind the leaning giant, Beast Boy then shifted into an ankylosaurs and slammed his tail into the back of his foe's knees. Cinderblock toppled forward with a cry of surprise.

The sound of arrows being fired filled the air as half a dozen came raining down from the sky. But these weren't explosive arrows, boxing arrows, or freezing arrows like Speedy usually used. These were glue arrows and each one landed on a joint on the giant, instantly covering his limbs. The concrete villain struggled, but couldn't move at all.

Beast Boy and Speedy jumped on top of the villain and started doing a two-man victory dance.

Rose and Jade strode out of the pizza parlor and waved at the boys, who waved back. The two Titans jumped off Cinderblocks' back and started towards the girls only for Beast Boy's communicator to go off.

"Beast Boy, what's up?" The changeling answered.

"Yo BB! We got reports of Overload, Plasmus, and Cinderblock in town! You iight?" Cyborg's frantic face appeared on screen.

"Yeah dude, I'm good. Me and Speedy just took down Cinderblock."

Speedy popped his head over then changeling's shoulder. "Heyo Chrome Dome. How they hangin'?"

"What the heck are you doing here Speedy?" Cyborg asked, bewildered.

The archer shrugged. "I was in the area. What's the deal with Plasmus and Overload?"

"Rob and Star are nuking it out with Plasmus down on 34th street in front of some Italian restaurant. They've got Martin with them and need some backup."

Speedy pulled several arrows from his quiver and inspected them. After a moment, he nodded. "Got it. I think I've got something that'll work on the living play-doh man."

Beast Boy suddenly found himself dreading what was coming next. "Where's Overload?"

Cyborg grimaced. "Downtown, at the park. Where Raven and Emelia are."

There was silence between the three Titans before Cyborg looked away. "I think Rae's hurt, B. She tried callin' but got cut off."

Beast Boy's reaction was instantaneous. One moment Rose, Jade, and Speedy were standing next to the green teen. The next they were standing next to a ten foot tall werewolf-like creature with massive fangs and claws.

Both girls yelped in surprise and jumped behind Speedy, who had whipped out a thermite arrow and pointed it at this friend. But by the time he had it pointed at the changeling, Beast Boy had bolted from the spot. His howls of rage echoed throughout the area, sending every animal within hearing distance into a frenzy.

A shiver of fear ran up Roses' spine. "What the hell was that?"

"That," Speedy said as he replaced the arrow in his quiver, "Is what happens when you really cross the line with Beast Boy by threatening Raven."

The girls stared at him wide eyed. He shrugged.

"From what I've been told, he only turns into that when Raven is in danger."

Jade and Rose glanced at each other. Speedy saw this look but wasn't concerned. He knew his friends would be alright. He leaned over and kissed Jade before taking off to help his other friends.


Over on 34th Street, Robin and Starfire were having an issue with Plasmus. It's not that the toxic villain was too much for them. It was that fighting him was so much easier with Raven around. She could usually one hit KO the creature by sending her soul self into it to knock out the man inside it.

Although Robin had called for backup, Raven was nowhere to be found.

"Dangit!" The caped crusader growled as he threw a trio of exploding discs at Plasmus while in mid-backflip. "Where the heck is everyone?"

The toxic creature let out a gurgling screech as the discs blew his arm off, only for it to reattach itself seconds later. Starfire let out a warcry and started throwing starbolt at his back, making splashes in the goop that was the skin of the monster. A secondary mouth opened on its back and spat a stream of acid at the alien princes. She squeaked in fright and dodged it. Getting covered in the goop that made up Plasmus's body was one thing; getting hit with the acid would only mean death.

Robin glanced around in nervousness. He had been forced to hand Martin over to Tony, the restaurant owner and his friend, for the duration of the fight. Tony had sworn up and down he would flee to a safe place nearby to watch the boy, who was very distraught at leaving his parents.

Had Tony made it far enough away?

Was Martin okay?

He wasn't still crying was he?

God, he hated it when Martin cried, it always upset him.

Starfire's sudden tackle brought reality crashing back down as he watched a stream of acid engulf the car he had been hiding behind. The boy wonder gulped and kissed Starfire's cheek. It was all he needed to say to his girlfriend, who nodded and launched herself into the air. From her vantage point, she began to launch starbolts back at their foe.

A gurgling screech brought Robin's attention to his side, where a crab-like blob of Plasmus's body had broken off to chase him down. The caped crusader reacted instantly, his bo staff sweeping out to swipe the creature's legs out from under it. It toppled over with a cry, then surged forward to reform around him.

As it covered his mouth, Robin cast his glance up at his beloved girlfriend. When was the last time he told her that he loved her and Martin? He couldn't remember, which meant it wasn't recently.

He'd have to remedy that as soon as he got out of this blasted goop.

A whistling sound filled the air, drawing his attention to the side. Speedy had arrived out of now where. Although the archer was completely out of breath, he was still firing arrow after arrow at Plasmus. His explosive attacks were relentless, blowing off whole chunks of the creature at a time every few seconds.

By the time his relentless assault had reduced the toxic creature to half of its size, he had used up more than half his quiver. He pulled out another arrow and thumbed the feathers of it, casting his glanced skyward.

"Starfire!" He called out. "When this one goes off, get his real body!"

"I understand!"

To Speedy, this moment played out in slow motion. The smell of the city life, the sounds of battle, the feeling of the breeze wafting through his gelled hair, they always set him at ease. This is what he was born to do. He set the thermite arrow into his bow and pulled the string back. He inhaled and slowly exhaled, counting his heartbeats for the perfect moment. When it came, he released the projectile.

It struck Plasmus dead on and detonated less than two seconds later.

The explosion blasted the creature apart, its screeching shattering windows. In came Starfire like a living thunderbolt, barreling through the remains of the monster and grabbing his human center. She tossed him out like a living ragdoll and boxed him between the ears, sending him into bliss unconsciousness.

The goop around Robin immediately released him and he shook off the ooze. Starfire landed next to him and set the villain down. Speedy sauntered up to watch his friends pull globs off of themselves, a grin on his face.

"Wait till I tell the other Titans I saved your butts." He chuckled.

"I appreciate the help enough to overlook that, Speedy, but what the heck are you even doing here?" Robin raised an eyebrow at his counterpart.

The archer just smiled. "I was in the area."

"Boyfriend Robin, I will do the fetching of our bumgorf, please go assist friend Beast Boy." Starfire floated into the air.

"BB is fine, I helped him with Cinderblock before I came here. He was headed to help Raven with Overload last time I saw him."

Robin and Starfire exchanged worried looks before the boy wonder turned back to his friend. "How was Beast Boy? Was he….upset?"

Speedy shook his head, a grimace on his face. "If you call being ten feet tall with claws like swords being upset, I'd hate to see him pissed off."

Robin cursed and ran for his bike, Speedy at his heels. Starfire took off for her child, worried beyond belief.

I do hope friend Raven is alright. X'hal help Overload when Beast Boy arrives.


Raven was anything but alright. Her left arm was useless, it was that badly scorched from a surprise attack by the electrical being. It wasn't an injury she couldn't heal, but that was impossible when she had to protect Emelia as well as herself.

Presently, she was using on one knee, her good arm thrust in front of her as she forced herself to maintain a shield of dark magic to protect herself and her daughter from Overload. The electric being was blasting the entire area around her and his attacks hadn't ceased in well over ten minutes. She was positive he was draining the surrounding area of electricity to fuel his attacks, whereas the pain in her arm was dangerously close to making her pass out. She grimly hung on, furious with herself for letting her guard down and for letting suck a low class villain get so close to Emelia. The little girl was cowering under Raven's cloak, screaming for her father to save her and her mommy.

Her breathing ragged, Raven watched more cracks form in her shield. It wouldn't be long before it broke and then they were-

A howl of rage filled the air of the park, drawing Overload's attention and making his attack falter.

Raven smiled as the Beast arrived on the battlefield, his wild snarling startling the villain. There was no reason in the changelings' eyes, only hate filled rage. Someone had threatened Raven and Emelia.

Someone was going to die.

He howled again and charged. Overload roared back and began to blast the Beast, who shrugged off the burns and shocks as he barreled forward. His claws and fangs ripped through the villain over and over again, but did no damage. Overload, however, became frightened when one attack came precariously close to the chip that he originated from. A single swipe from those claws would shred the chip and effectively destroy the electric being.

The Beast, snarling and foaming at the mouth with sheer, unadulterated rage, pressed his attack. Overload was forced back many steps as he pulled the core of his being out of the line of danger many times. When the Beast's attacks suddenly ceased, he paused. The verdant behemoth in front of him almost smiled before darting forward and down. Overload's eyes followed his foes' path down to a fire hydrant at his 'feet'.

The Beast ripped the hydrant from the ground, instantly blasting Overload with a water pressure that instantly fizzled him out.

Raven, who had collapsed on the ground the moment her shield dropped, looked up from where she was lying. Damn, that boy certainly knew how to make an entrance at times. She had no idea how she'd repay him for this particular rescue but the more she thought about it the more she really, really wanted to wrap her arms around Beast Boy and kiss him.

Her eyes widened in shock at her thought. I want to what?!

As she shook those thought from her head, she saw the R-cycle pull up, followed very shortly by the T-car. Robin and Speedy jumped off the bike as Cyborg and two girls jumped out of the car. They all started to run up to Raven, only to be stopped when the Beast jumped over them and stood protectively over Raven. His deep and menacing growls reverberated throughout the whole park, inviting them to their deaths if they dared approach Raven and his cub.

"Beast Boy…it's us. Your friends." Robin started forward slowly.

Starfire set down on the ground by the T-car and strapped Martin in before flying over to her teammates "Oh, friend Beast Boy, you must let us get Raven somewhere to heal! She is injured badly and requires medical assistance!"

Cyborg eased to the left. "Com'on bro, don't make me hurt you to help her. You gotta calm down, BB."

The Beast only growled again and shifted his stance wider, fully able to react in time to any attack they threw at him. This he knew. He had fought his pack before and knew their every weakness. The little red one would come in low and fast, striking at his legs. The flying red one would come in from above, using her strength to try to pummel him downwards. The big metal one would come straight at him, attempting to do the same. He flexed his claws as a line of drool oozed from his jaws.

"Daddy!"

The Beast looked down at his cub, who was standing in front of him and glaring at him like her mother does. Slightly confused, the Beast leaned down and sniffed his child. She was frightened but not by hi-

Whack!

The Beast pulled back in surprise. His cub had struck him on the snout!

"Bad daddy! Be nice! They want to help mommy!" She shouted at him.

The Beast looked at her like she was insane as he leaned down to inspect his cub again. She growled at him and grabbed his face. As he stared at her, he noted that her eyes split into four and were glowing a deep, dark purple.

Why was he fighting again? This was his pack, not someone else's. Raven was hurt and they could help her. He needed his pack to help her. Raven needed help. Raven…

The other Titans watched as the Beast sighed, took two steps back, and began to shrink. The crackling of his bones filled the air, sending shivers down Jade and Rose's spines. His fur receded back into his body, his claws shrank down into the smaller ones he hid underneath his gloves, and his fangs too shrank.

In a span of five seconds, Beast Boy had returned to them.

Then he promptly collapsed next to Raven.

The empath turned her head to look at the pained expression on his face. He looked back and shrugged slightly, implying that 'he might have gone a little overboard' . She could only roll her eyes and barely shook her head as if saying 'only you would do that'. Beast Boy chuckled weakly and Raven gave him a small smile. Their eyes met and they knew they were having another moment. It was nice.

Until Rose suddenly pounced on Beast Boy and started bombarding him with questions about his transformation.

Raven could feel the waves of affection rolling off of both teens as Beast Boy tried to answer her questions. Somewhere in the pit of her stomach, Raven felt a ball of rage forming. Who was she to interrupt their moment? Who was she to take her hero away? Who was she to be so damned affectionate with her best friend?!

The trees in the immediate area simply exploded, showering the occupants with leaves and splinters of wood. All faces turned to Raven, who looked at them blankly.

"I'm in an immense amount of pain while Beast Boy here is canoodling with his girlfriend. Excuse me for being mildly annoyed." She said monotonously.


Twenty minutes later, Raven was being carefully strapped to a stretcher to be loaded into an ambulance. She didn't technically need to go, but she was so spent from fighting she wasn't sure if she could heal herself anytime soon. It made sense to go to the hospital, at least for a little while.

Of course, Beast Boy was there with Emelia in his arms, fretting over her wounds like a mother hen.

"Beast Boy!" She shouted. "For the last time, I'll be fine! Take Emelia and go home!

The changeling paused. "But Rae…"

"It's Raven not Rae." She said, irritated. "Go say goodbye to your girlfriend and go home."

Beast Boy nodded sullenly as he set Emelia down for a moment. He bid her to wait with her mother and walked over to Rose, who was watching Speedy and Jade chat quietly to the side. Cyborg and Robin were out with the police, ensuring the other two restrained villains cooperated.

"He thought I didn't know who he was." She chuckled as the green teen came up to her side.

Beast Boy laughed too. "Yeah, he told me to keep it a secret from you. Not that it matters after tonight."

"Yeah…look, Beast Boy, there's something I want to talk to you about." Rose shifted her stance nervously. Beast Boy started to panic.

"Look, Rose, if it's about what I turned into I swear-"

Rose placed her finger on his lips to shush him and looked him in the eye. "It's not about that. I was in a relationship with a metahuman before, so I've seen some weird things. This is about …us."

He winced. "I screwed up, didn't I?"

She shook her head. "Not at all. You being protective of Raven and Emelia is an incredible thing. I admit to being a little envious, but that's not the point. The point is that Raven isn't the first one to think we're in a relationship."

The hesitant look on his face was all Rose needed to see to know he had wondered about this topic as well. She sighed and broke it to him gently. "As much as I like you, Beast Boy, I'm not looking for a relationship right now. I still have strong feelings for my ex."

The green boys' ears drooped adorably before she flicked him on the head. "Let me finish."

He nodded and she started speaking again. "Look, the time I spend with you is great, it really is. But with these feelings I have, it wouldn't be right for me to enter a relationship with you. But…I still want to hang out with you and go on dates with stuff."

"You do?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

"Yep. Time heals all wounds, Beast Boy." Rose smiled. "That means one day I'll be able to move on, so you should stick around until then."

He smiled and shook his head in amusement. She and Raven were alike in some ways. The irony would kill him before long.

"Alright Rose, I hear ya." He chuckled and looked over at Raven, who was being loaded into the ambulance. After a moment, he turned back to his white haired companion. "If that's the case, Rose, I need to go. My family needs me."

The girl nodded. "See you later?"

"It's a date." He winked and dashed off.

Inside the ambulance, Raven was dreading the ride. It would be terribly boring in the hospital without any books. She sighed, wishing she had paid more attention instead of spending her time lost in thought about-

Whump!

Her eyes popped open to find her green teammate in the passenger seat of the back of the ambulance, her daughter in his lap.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed. "You were supposed to-"

Beast Boy placed his hand over her mouth and eyed her sternly. "Rae, we're family. And family sticks together, no matter what."