What did I say? Chapter 3, ready for no one to read! Enjoy!
The storm had only worsened for poor Beast Boy. The torrents of rain soaked through the hood of his sweater, making it entirely useless. He tried to find shelter in a large cardboard box, but even that had soaked through. No matter what he tried, Beast Boy was only getting wetter and sicker. He already had a nasty cold, and it was getting a lot worse.
Beast Boy had spent the day alone, wandering with only his thoughts. Somewhere, deep down, he had become more level headed, had started thinking clearer but he was still mad at her. She had taken away his home, cast him out, back to where they found him. Now, when he could have been curled into his warm bed, sleeping gently with dreams of his secret crush filling his head, he was huddled under a piece of wet, leaking cardboard, cursing her name.
He didn't hate her, not in the slightest. He was still deeply infatuated with the dark beauty; he had been since the moment she revealed herself to him. The moment of that first glimpse of her played back in his head even now. Her skin was so perfectly pale that she seemed to glow like a star in the night. He never understood how any cloak could contain such beauty. As he slowly had gotten to know her, he realized how smart she was, how funny she could be, how sensitive to others she was, and caring she could be.
Despite all his feelings for her, she didn't return them. Her words last night proved that. She couldn't care less if he lived or died. As the rain worsened, Beast Boy felt the latter becoming a distinct possibility. Death's bittersweet relief was looming on his horizon and for the second time in his life, he wished for it. And, for the second time, he would be denied that wish.
A chill ran down his spine though not one inspired by cold. He felt like all his emotions had exploded at once, only to be drawn out of his body just as quickly. He looked around the alley, feeling that he was no longer alone but he couldn't see anyone. The rain was too thick and despite his enhanced eyesight, he could only see a few feet away. He left the false safety of the box and walked into the alley. Still, no one was there. Then, he heard her voice.
"Hello, Garfield." Beast Boy whipped his head around to see none other than Raven slowly floating down towards him. She had her soul self wrapped around her, forming a sort of raven-shaped umbrella, keeping even her cloak from getting wet. Raven landed silently, then walked over to Beast Boy with the slightest smile possible on.
"How did you know my name?" Beast Boy asked, having no idea that Raven ever knew, or what her plan was.
"Well, we HAVE met before, or do you not remember?" responded Raven, still smiling. "I would hope you would remember someone who saved your life, no matter how long it has been." Beast Boy's eyes lit up with clarity and Raven felt that her plan was working. She would convince him she thought he wasn't Beast Boy, then coerce him for information, bring him to a comfortable level with her, then confront him.
"Oh! Of course I remember YOU…I just…er…didn't think you would remember ME!" Beast Boy's grin appeared for the first time in days. His mind formed his own plan, similar to Raven's. He would use this identity to find out Raven's feelings for "Beast Boy." He snapped back to reality when he felt a slight pressure on his shoulder. He saw Raven, lightly placing her hand on him, looking into his eyes.
"Well, I have been worried about you a little. When we left you, you weren't exactly in the best of conditions. It doesn't look like you have improved much either. How have you been?" Beast Boy sensed legitimate concern in her voice. It wasn't like her to worry about people, at least not openly, what was she doing?
"Not too good really. The first time you met me was my first night on the streets. I suppose you could say it has only gone down hill from there, not that the hill was ever really tall."
"Well," said Raven, sitting down on a wooden crate, "Why don't you tell me why you were on the streets?" Inside, she grinned like crazy, he had walked right into it. The only question would be if she would get the full story, or part of it. Raven patted her hand on the spot next to her, indicating Beast Boy should sit down.
"Um…OK." Beast Boy walked over and sat, very confused as to why she was so curious. "Well, my life started out happy enough, I suppose. I had a loving mom and dad. They were genetic engineers, traveling the world, gathering samples, trying to unlock the secrets of evolution. It was some of the happiest times of my life. Then, I got sick. Some rare virus, really horrible, should have killed me. I don't remember much about being sick except that my Dad cured me, though there were side effects…" Beast Boy stopped and thought. He might have revealed too much already, he couldn't risk saying anymore about this.
"While trying to find a cure for the side effects, my parents died, killed. For a while, I lived with a tribe in Africa but I was taken away a short time afterwards. I was adopted by a couple who couldn't have kids. The wife was OK, though she was very selfish and stupid, but the husband…Galtry. I hated him. He would make me commit crimes, stuff like that." Beast Boy looked a Raven with guilt and saw her looking at him with utter shock. "Nothing ever very big, but I hated doing it. If I didn't, he would hit me.
"The only good thing that ever came from living with them was when I got a chance to do some acting on a TV show. I loved it so much, having a chance to be someone else. A chance to forget my parents were dead and my adopted parents were jerks. It paid well, though the show didn't last long. I was going to use the money I got from it to pay for acting school, you know, become a professional. I guess Galtry and his wife had different plans…since they were my guardians, they had cosignership on my account. They emptied it completely…so I ran away, then you guys saved me." The process of recalling the events of his life had thrown him further into depression than he already was.
Next to him, Raven's eyes were still wide in utter shock. She didn't know… the death of his parents…the abuse of Galtry. Now, though she couldn't see, Raven could have sworn that Beast Boy was crying. It just didn't seem right to her, like all the world had ended because she saw him cry for the first time ever. She wanted to comfort him, wanted to make him happy. She wanted nothing more than to make him stop crying. Like a flash, the answer to her question came. Deep inside, a long cloaked emotion pulled back her hood and strolled into the center of Raven's mind. Raven knew she had been there all the time, but cloaked, even from her. Now, the emotion had come into the forefront. Raven wasn't, however, ready to admit it fully, especially not to Beast Boy or Garfield.
Slowly, Beast Boy returned to reality and saw Raven looking at him with so much concern, he decided it was time to press her for answers. He was about to ask when he felt a sneeze coming on. Knowing he would change form suddenly when he sneezed, he needed to get her eyes off her.
"Hey, what's that over there?" Beast Boy yelled, causing Raven to turn with a jolt. Beast Boy gave a powerful sneeze. He felt the wonderful pain of transformation as his body changed. As soon as the transformation was over, he changed back to human, just in time to have Raven turn back, smile slightly, and bless him.
"So, how have you been? You guys found that Beast Boy guy, right?" Raven stared at Beast Boy for a second. What did he want? It didn't matter, she just needed him to admit his identity to her. She would go with it, for know.
"Yes, we found him."
"You guys like him? Is he a good member of the Titans?" Beast Boy's eyes twinkled under the hood. He was getting close to the true question he wanted her to answer but he needed to warm her up to it.
"I suppose so," Raven said, having a funny idea where this was going. "He is a good enough guy, though as annoying. He can be somewhat stupid too. But, he was a good friend…"
"What do you mean 'was?'" Beast Boy asked with a confused look on his face. "Did something bad happen to him?"
"No…well, yes, sort of. Last night I got mad at him, and said a lot of things I really didn't mean. Now he hates me." Raven looked up slightly at Beast Boy, he eyes full of her sorrow, searching for forgiveness.
"What makes you think he hates you?"
"He quit the team, he yelled at me…he's never yelled at me before."
"Raven…I don't…I mean, I am sure he doesn't hate you."
"Well," Raven pulled her hood back, revealing her face to Beast Boy, her face seeming on the verge of tears…the same face she made when Malchior betrayed her, "he must think I hate him."
"Do you hate him?" Beast Boy got slightly closer to Raven, no longer thinking about keeping his identity a secret.
"No, I don't hate him," replied Raven, looking back up into Beast Boy's shadowed eyes. She noticed he had moved closer, and was leaning into her. A sudden urge came over her to kiss him, but she had to hold back, she wasn't ready for it.
"D…do you love him?" He was so close to her now that her natural aroma filled his nostrils even with the rain. He had smelled it a few times before and it drove him insane. That smell was magnificent. Not a perfume, flowers, anything like that. It was a smell unique to her, and Beast Boy loved it. It drove him forward to push for an answer. He wanted nothing more than to be able to be around that smell all the time.
"I…" Raven stopped mid thought. Why is he asking this? I can't answer this…I can't stretch this any longer, I need to end this now. "I don't know if I can love, not after being used like I was…" Beast Boy squinted and snarled under his breath, partially due to his frustration that she dodged his question, and partly because that he hated the dragon for doing that to her. He sighed to himself, he still need that answer.
"I don't blame you, Raven. I know what it's like to be used like Malchior used you." He looked at her with comfort, only to see what he could only describe as a mischievous confusion. It didn't make sense to him.
"The Titans never revealed anything about Malchior to the public," Raven responded, "so you could only know about it if you were a member of the team."
"Oh…well…I…um…er…heard…it from…" Beast Boy was screwed. She had caught him. Soon she would know whom she was talking. He desperately tried to think of something to say, some excuse he could make that would explain it, but he couldn't. He was screwed.
"But then, you are a member of the team, aren't you, Beast Boy?" Raven reached up to Beast Boy's hood, and slid it back to reveal his face. He looked shocked and embarrassed. He clearly thought he was going to get away with something. "Don't look so surprised Beast Boy, I have known that you were Garfield Logan since the day I met you."
"You did?"
"Yes, but don't worry. I understand why you lied, especially now that I know the truth about your past. That's why I pretended to think you weren't you…it was the only way I would get anything out of you." Raven put a hand on his shoulder. Beast Boy looked at her, very confused. She was touching him.
"Why did you want to know my past?" None of this made any sense.
"I did not understand where your powers came from. There was a chance they came from a force of evil, though you did not know it. I suspected it since the Adonis incident." Wonderful cover Raven.
"Oh…yeah. That makes sense." Beast Boy sighed inside. I almost thought she wanted to get to know me for because she liked me. "My powers were the side effects of the treatment. They turned me into a green monkey using this gene altering ray and kept me like that for 24 hours, then changed me back. Humans can't survive Sakutia, but any other animal can. The process left my DNA unstable and my skin green. Happy now?"
"I am satisfied that you will not pose a threat to the team." Raven looked up at his big green eyes and gave him a slight smile. She was going to tell him to rejoin the team when she noticed that his eyes were starting to glaze over. Concern filled her mind as she gently placed her hand on Beast Boy's head and recoiled instantly. He was burning up. She had been so focused on her goal of finding out Beast Boy's history, that she didn't think to provide him shelter from the rain. He had begun rocking back in forth, his strength about to give way.
"I…don't…feel so good…" With that, Beast Boy fell over. Raven caught him in her arms and carried him up into the sky. She went straight up, holding Beast Boy bridal style. She rose higher than any of the buildings in the city and looked straight at the large "T" in the bay.
"Don't worry Beast Boy," Raven said, "I will get you the help you need." She was trying to reassure herself more than boy in her arms. He was completely passed out, most likely couldn't hear a thing. Her dark energy began to flow, warping the time/space continuum around her body, then shooting her forward faster than she had ever flown. The acceleration was so sudden, that even the buildings below her warped slightly, only to repair themselves when the wake of Raven's energy. Such was the power when Raven was in love.
My friends tell me they really like that last sentence. I think its cool. Raven turns out to be a LOT more powerful than she thought, and she doesn't realize it either. I may right something about how powerful she becomes...lets see if people read this! R&R!