Chapter 3

Raven and Beastboy

Soon after Cyborg left, Raven and Beastboy decided to go out. It was universally acknowledged that there was something between them, just as there was between Robin and Starfire. Raven wanted to be outside when she died, she always had, it gave her a sense of freedom, and if Beastboy went with her, they could be alone. And so could Robin and Starfire. They decided the place was to be the cliff overlooking the city. They flew together over the lake and reached the cliff by nightfall. They sat side by side on a ledge, their legs dangling over the edge. The moon shone beautifully, surrounded by stars, hanging over the lights of the city. In the quiet calm of the night, you could hear noises like boats passing. It made them feel like the only two people in the world.

"How've you been, Rae?" he asked.

"Fine"

"Doesn't seem that way to me"

"Well, you know, pregnancy and all that"

"Yeah, what really happened with that?" Beastboy asked. Raven sighed deeply,

"Why do you care?" she said. He shrugged,

"I don't know, I just do." There was a pause, and Beastboy thought she wasn't going to answer at all, but then she began to speak.

"I met him in law school. We fell in love, or at least I thought we did. We got jobs, everything seemed to be going great, he proposed, I accepted. Then I got pregnant. He was overjoyed, at first. He took me to meet his parents. His mother was this religious nut, and the minute she laid eyes on me she freaked. Started screaming about the devil, she even tried to exorcise me. Anyway, he wanted to know what was going on, obviously, so I told him about my father. I mean, how was I to know that the holy can sense my demon side? He didn't like it, it seemed he took after his mother. He disowned me, and our child. He said if he ever saw us again, he'd hand us over to the black-bible groups."

"That's awful." said Beastboy, he wanted to just put his arm around her and shield her from the world. Raven just "mmm"-ed.

"You know what I regret the most?" she asked.

"What?"

"I'm never even going to get to see her, my baby." She looked down at her stomach and put her hand on it. Beastboy hadn't even thought of it like that.

"You know what I regret the most?" he said quietly.

"What?"

"Back when we were still the Teen Titans, I never told you I loved you." He wasn't looking at her, but out at the horizon. Raven didn't say anything for a while, then she gently slid her hand along so that it was touching his. He turned to look at her,

"Beastboy, I-" She didn't get to finish her sentence, because a man came up behind her, and wrenched her to her feet. He was dressed all in black, holding a switchblade in his free hand.

"Hand over your wallet Mrs and maybe you won't get hurt" he growled. Beastboy was about to step in when he saw the familiar black energy fill Raven's eyes.

"What the -" the man said.

"Oh man, did you ever pick the wrong woman to mess with…" said Beastboy, grinning and crossing his arms over his chest. The man stared in disbelief as his fingers were prised from Raven's arm by the black energy. Then he was tossed up into the air and flung backwards into the cliff wall. He fell to the ground unconcious.

"Idiot" muttered Beastboy who went to stand next to Raven. "Are you alright?" he asked. Raven looked at him, her eyes were wide.

"Um, BB? I think I'm gonna get to meet my baby after all." Beastboy took a second before what she meant sunk in. And when it did, it was like the Titanic. He half-collapsed before catching himself and grabbing Raven by the forearms.

"You're going into labour? Now? Here? Are you sure?" he stuttered.

"Pretty sure" she said sarcastically.

"Well, we gotta get you to a hospital, come on." He made to lead her

to the edge, so they could fly to the hospital, but she doubled over as the first contraction hit her.

"Did I ever mention that demon births are notoriously fast?" she joked.

"No….."

"Well they are." she said as another contraction hit her. "I don't think I'm going to be flying anywhere anytime soon."

"Aw Jesus…" Beastboy was fast approaching frantic. He didn't know how to handle women in labour, a dog maybe, but not a human. Just to make the scene complete, rain started to fall. To make things easier to handle, his mind arranged things in steps, to be taken on one at a time.. Step one was to get her out of the rain and off the ledge. He stepped towards her and put one hand on her arm and another on her back. They only got about half-way to the path before Raven collapsed, holding her stomach and groaning through gritted teeth. Beastboy bent down to help her stand and he saw that she was starting to shiver. A rock dislodged from the cliff behind them and broke as it hit the ground.

"Alright..." he bent down and scooped Raven up in his arms. She was heavy, but he could hold her. He hoped the heat from his body would keep her warm as he walked as fast as he could up the path to the outskirts of the city. Her contractions were getting closer together, and her whole body spasmed with them, to the extent that Beastboy couldn't hold her any longer. The rain was falling thick and hard, they would have to stop now. Beastboy saw a derelict house nearby and decided it was better than nothing, he kicked his way in.. He gently put her down in the middle of a room that could have been the living room. He looked around as she squirmed on the floor, trying to get comfortable. There was no furniture, except for a single arm-chair and an old wall-clock. Everywhere was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the only light was the thin rays of moonlight that fought their way through the boarded up windows. He stood up and got the detachable cushions from the arm-chair to lay Raven on. Once she was as comfortable as he could make her, he took her hand and knelt by her side.

"Beastboy, thank you" she said, then bent over as another contraction wracked her body. The floor-boards against the far wall turned to splinters.

"It's the least I could do." he said smiling.

"Don't be so sure, Beastboy, I think you're going to have to deliver this baby."

"What! But I can't… I don't…"

"You have to! You're the only one here, you have medical training, don't you?"

"I'm a vet! I can't do humans."

"How different can it be? Please, Beastboy, I need you." He looked down at her beautiful, imploring, violet eyes, and he crumbled. He nodded and looked down her body. His attention was drawn back to her face as she doubled over again, this time a chunk of plaster from the wall came flying across the room.

"Beastboy, there's something else I need to tell you…"

"What is it, Raven?" he asked, worried and fearing even more bad news.

"My powers have been getting stronger, and my control is slipping. I don't know if I will be able to keep a hold on it, in fact I probably won't. If things get too bad, I want you to cut out, I don't want you getting hurt."

"Raven, I won't just leave you here…" He said, shaking his head. Raven opened her mouth to say something else, but she could only scream as another contraction hit. Beastboy moved to sit at her feet, he took a deep breath to steel his nerves. I've done this before, cats, dogs, how different can it be? His hands shook as he gently rolled her skirt up. Raven sat up with the force of another contraction and screamed, the beams in the ceiling groaned.

"Holy Jesus, I think I see a head." He said, then he realised just how unreassuring that must have sounded. He cleared his throat and tried to sound like he knew what he was doing, for her benefit.

"Okay, Raven, push." She took a deep breath and groaned as she pushed, then she fell back on the cushions panting. "One more, and I think we'll have it, come on Raven, one more," He kept talking as she gave one long, hard push, expelling the child from her body. The walls fell apart, and the ceiling began to creak dangerously. Beastboy took off his t-shirt from under his jumper to wrap the baby in, hoping it was dry enough, then he handed it to Raven. She held the baby in her arms as it cried. Her emotion was taking it's toll on the building around them and plaster flaked from the ceiling and hit the floor.

"Beastboy, get out of here, the whole building's about to come down."

"I'm not leaving, Raven"

"You have to, or we'll both die." she said.

"Then you're coming too."

"No, I can't stand, let alone walk."

"I'll carry you."

"Beastboy, give it up. You can't save me. Even if you could, why bother? Everyone will die in a couple of hours, I'd rather go now, from my own decision."

"Then I stay too."

"Beastboy…"

"Raven, I love you, I always have, and I would rather die here, by your side, than in a couple of hours alone. You're everything to me, leaving is not an option."

"Beastboy… thank you, for everything. You were the one that held me together when I was falling apart. I love you" she whispered softly. The ceiling gave a huge groan and a beam fell to the ground, startling them. Beastboy put his arm around her,

"What are you gonna call her?" he asked Raven, referring to the baby.

"I'm not going to, what's the point?" she said sadly.

"Don't think like that, she deserves a name." he said. Tears welled up in Raven's eyes and they heard the floor above collapse. "What are you gonna call her?" he said again, loudly, to keep her attention on him. Raven sniffed and touched her daughter's face gently,

"Joy" she said, and the old house finally gave way.