Chapter 7:

"Hey, Raven. Open up," Beast Boy said knocking on her door.

"What?" she said comming to the door.

"I just want to spend some time with you since the whole Shadow thing."

Raven sighed.

"Just because I said that, it doesn't mean that we should spend every waking minute together."

"Why not?" he pleaded, still remembering their kiss.

"Because, she is still out there. And if she knew, she would use us to her advantage," she said, trying not to sound too cold.

BB frowned.

"I guess you're right," he said. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt again."

Raven's heart dropped. She opened the door. He turned.

"Beast Boy, I would give up everything to be with you. I want to feel. I would give up these powers to have you. And if I lost you, I don't know what I would do."

BB ran over to her. Raven pulled up her hood, but he just pushed it down. BB wiped a tear from her cheek.

"Now, you know how I feel," he whispered, pulling her face towards his.

Starfire, already seeing the first kiss, hid behind a corner as they kissed again. She saw a few lights sizzle and go out.

'This is the way it is supposed to be,' she thought.

"Starfire."

The Tameranian stepped out. Raven glared at her. BB blushed. Starfire smiled.

"Hello, friends. I wanted to see if you were okay, Raven," she said, scratching her arm.

"I'm better than fine," Raven replied.

"Oh! Joyous!"

Starfire flew over to her friends.

"Robin has asked me to find you. He says that it is important."

"What for?" BB asked.

"I do not know. He sounded a little angry."

"Shadow," Raven and BB said at the same time.

Starfire giggled as they began to blush.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There have been reports of minor thefts in the city."

"And?" Raven asked. "What does that have to do with me?"

"They say that a girl comes in, she takes what she wants, then disappears like a-"

"Shadow?" BB asked.

"Yeah."

"So, what are we going to do?" Cyborg asked.

"This is my problem. I'll handle it," Raven said standing.

"No, we will all handle it," said Robin.

"I caused this. I am the only one who can stop her. You don't know what she can do."

"We would if you told us, Rae," Cy said.

Raven grew silent.

"Tell us, Raven. Please?" BB pleaded.

"I can't," she whispered.

"You have to open up!" he yelled.

"I can't open up, Beast Boy."

"How are we to know how to deal with you?!"

"There are some things that are best kept in the past."

BB grew angry.

"Not all things, Raven! Just because they were awful, it doesn't mean for you to keep them inside!"

"What would you know! I can't feel because of her! If I told you everything that happened, I could destroy you and the whole world!" Raven yelled, trying to hold her rage.

She stormed off. Everyone looked at BB. He sighed and sat on the blue couch.

"Awe man! I always screw up. I always make her angry. Now, she has to lock herself in her room for hours and..."

"Not everything is your fault. You just want to know things about her," Robin said. "We all do, but you keep pushing her. She'll never talk if you do."

BB sighed.

"I'm going to go apologize."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He stood outside Raven's door, his hand inches away. He sighed. Then a song caught his ears.

"I linger in the doorway...of alarm clock screaming...monsters calling my name...let me stay...where the wind will whisper to me...where the raindrops...as their falling tell a story. In my field of paper flowers...and candy clouds of lullaby...I lie inside myself for hours...and watch my purple sky fly over me..."

It was Raven singing. BB stopped and pressed his ear to the door.

"Don't say I'm out of touch...with this rampant chaos - your reality...I know well what lies beyond my sleeping refuge...the nightmare I built my own world to escape. In my field of paper flowers...and candy clouds of lullaby...I lie inside myself for hours...and watch my purple sky fly over me..."

There was a short pause.

"Swallowed up in the sound of my screaming...cannot cease for the fear of silent nights...oh how I long for the deep sleep dreaming...the goddess of imaginary light..."

Then, everything went silent.

"Raven?"

No reply.

"Rae?"

"What?"

"I just wanted to say...that I'm sorry."

"No, I should be the one to say that," she replied, opening the door.

"Why do you say that?"

"If I tell you, will you keep it a secret?"

"What? Sure," he said as she let him in.

Raven closed and locked the door. She walked over to her window. BB sat on her bed. It looked like she hadn't made it in a while.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I began training Shadow seven years ago. I was about ten and she was eight. We became friends quickly. She was like me. We both had dark powers."

She paused.

"Go on."

"One day, I was with a boy. His name was Angel. I knew that Shadow had a crush on him. I just didn't think about her feelings."

BB didn't like the sound of this.

"We were standing on top of a tower. He was told to meet his trainer. I was going to meet Shaodw. I was twelve and I wasn't thinking. We ended up kissing with Shadow comming up the stairs. I don't know where she went. All I remember is a letter telling me to meet her in the soul room."

"Soul room?"

"It was a room where we had our souls. If our soul container was destroyed, we would either die or we couldn't control our powers and we'd have to give up something in order to contain them."

"She destroyed yours, didn't she."

"Yes."

"And that is why you can't feel."

"Yes, I lost the most important thing to me, but Shadow didn't stop there. She took Angel's container and threw it on the ground. Angel died three hours later."

Raven turned to look at him.

"I was blamed. Me! I was blamed for killing him. They wouldn't listen to me because I didn't cry. I couldn't cry. I couldn't show any emotion. I tried to tell them that my container was destroyed as well. Nothing I said would work. They got tired of me and put me in a cell. They were going to take my powers. Then, they were going to kill me."

Raven sat on the ground and leaned up against the window.

"I should have let them, but I had to get Shadow. I had to stop her. She was taking containers and smashing them. Then, she would blame it on me. She said that I had control over her and I was making her do it."

"But you didn't."

"So, I escaped. I went after her. I forgot about controlling my emotions. I grew so angry. I found her. She had my mother's container in her hand. She told me that if I didn't want her to die, that I had to give up everything, including my life. I don't remember much after that. Only when I woke up seeing many people on the ground did I learn that I lost control. Shadow laid in front of me laughing. Her words still haunt my mind. She..."

BB stood.

"She...she said that I had killed them all. She said that they were going to come after me. I grew frightened. Shadow just laughed. So, I did the most unthinkable thing. I used my dark powers to pull her into my mind."

"Like you almost did with Dr. Light?"

"Yes, except I put her deep inside of me and never let her go. She was supposed to stay in that darkness. She was supposed to die."

"Why?"

"I was going to give her to the police. I was going to lie about it, but they know better. So, I had no other choice. I ran. I ran to my home. My mother was sleeping. I wrote her a note telling her what I did. Then, I teleported myself as far away as possible. I came here."

BB just stared at her. Raven was a murderer.

"Raven..."

"No, this is why I wasn't going to tell. I am not a true Titan. I killed people. I was lucky to get here. This has been the best thing that had happened to me in four years."

"Raven, I would accept you even if you did those things. But, I still don't believe you did. Shadow kept your mind locked when she first came out. I think she did it to you then. It wasn't your fault."

"No, I did it! I have recently been able to get into Shadow's mind. I forced my way to her nightmares. She tried to stop me, but I killed them. I lost control. I let her win."

BB dropped beside her. He took her hand.

"It isn't your fault that you can't feel. Sometimes, we can't control our emotions. It isn't something we should be afraid of."

Raven smiled. BB smiled back, rubbing her hand.

"I love you, Raven," he said.

"I love y-"

Raven tried to finish her sentence, but Shadow appeared.

"Thanks for the info, Raven!" she yelled as she grabbed BB.

"Raven!"

"No!" she screamed.

She was too late. Shadow had disappeared.