Chapter 3: Eyes in the Dark

Beast Boy glared up at the ceiling of his room, his hands folded behind his head where he lay on his bed. He was angry. More than angry, he was fuming. Why did Raven have to be so insensitive?

There came a small knock on his door. "Beast Boy? It's Raven. Let me in."

"Go away, Raven. I don't want to talk to you."

"Suit yourself." Beast Boy felt his heart sink a bit more. In truth, he did want to talk to the gloomy girl. He wanted to know why they always fought. Why she refused to give him a break, ever. But he also wanted her to work for it. He sighed heavily, frowning.

Then Beast Boy heard something in the hallway and turned his head to look at the door. It was a heated conversation, but even his sensitive ears could only pick out bits and pieces. Soon Raven's voice came again, a mild note of agitation in it, "Come on, Beast Boy, open up. Please? I just want to talk."

A smile flickered up on his lips and he sighed again, drawing himself into a seated position on his bed. "Okay, fine. C'mon in." The door opened and Raven stepped through, her features as always tightly controlled.

"I've come to... apologize," she murmured as the door closed behind her.

"Cy made you, huh?" the green titan asked with a knowing smirk.

"Bingo," Raven intoned, moving over to sit on the bed, "But. I suppose he's right. I should apologize. What I said was probably uncalled for."

Beast Boy raised an eyebrow, "'Probably'?"

"Okay, it was uncalled for. Happy?" Raven asked dryly, "I am sorry. But... you do have a habit of bringing strays in."

Beast Boy felt the anger rise inside him again. "Gee, you sound so sincere," he grumbled with a voice dripping in sarcasm.

Raven sighed slightly and closed her eyes for a moment. "Beast Boy," she finally said, "I'm not good at... expressing my feelings. I have to keep myself under tight control at all times, you know that. You have to admit that what she said was certainly very odd."

"Okay, I admit Vivian has a bit of a problem communicating," Beast Boy replied with a nod, "She coulda chose her words more carefully. But then again, so could have you. I don't... I don't think she... does well with other people. I think she gets made fun of a lot."

Raven quirked an eyebrow curiously, "And you know this... how?"

"Just... something she said when we were talking," Beast Boy stated evasively, "And look at how shy she was. No one's that way who hasn't had really bad experiences with people, y'know."

Raven pursed her lips tightly, frowning.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked, noticing the tight expression on the gloomy titan's restrained face.

"Nothing," she stated quickly, standing, "I gave my apology. I'll leave now."

"Oh, no you don't!" Beast Boy stated, standing as well and crossing his arms over his chest, "I know you better than that. Something is bothering you. Tell me."

Raven paused, considering. "All right," she finally said, "Tonight, when I met Vivian... I felt a strange... sensation. I couldn't quite place it. It was both alien and familiar. A contradiction in terms."

Beast Boy stared for a while before breaking out in uproarious laughter. After several minutes he managed to calm down enough to grin widely, "You're jealous!"

"What?"

"You're jealous of Vivian!" Beast Boy stated, still grinning like a madman, "Oh, dude! If I would have known you felt that way about me..."

"Oh, please," Raven stated, rolling her eyes exasperatedly, "I certainly was not and am not jealous of Little Miss Doom and Destruction. Especially not over you."

"So you say," Beast Boy stated slyly in a teasing tone, "But you're lying. Not that I could blame you. I am a hunky-hunk of one hundred percent grade-A manliness!"

"In your case I imagine it's all tofu," Raven replied in a voice as dry as a desert, "Believe what you want. I gave you my apology. I'm leaving now. I have to go meditate." Without a backwards glance, Raven moved towards the exit.

"Raven, wait, I--" But Raven was gone, leaving Beast Boy alone. "Arrrgh!!" He cried out in frustration, "Geez, why can't she take a joke?! And why is it even when she comes to apologize to me, I always end up being the one saying I'm sorry! And why am I talking to myself?!"

Before Beast Boy could ponder those questions further, an alarm klaxon blared to life.

"Okay, team," Robin said as the five stood outside the Jump City museum, "Someone tripped an alarm in the museum. We don't know who it is or what they're after, but it might be related to the disappearing artifacts at Gotham and Metropolis. We'll search floor by floor. Beast Boy, you and Cyborg take the basement. Star, you and I will search the first and second floors. Raven, you take the third floor. As soon as you find the criminal, report your position to the rest of us. Everybody ready?"

Starfire stared at the building. "Is this not the location where we went earlier in the day, Beast Boy?"

"Yeah, it is," the green titan replied, nodding, "Same place I met Vivian. Looks like you'll get your tour today after all."

"No time for reminiscing right now," Robin stated, "We have to get in there before who ever is inside gets out. Everybody ready?"

Everyone nodded.

"Then, Titans, go!"

Raven walked through the darkened hallway, her hood pulled up to overshadow her face, cloak billowing out behind her. She walked calmly, each step echoing through the empty hallway. She stopped near a doorway leading into an Ancient Civilizations exhibit and peered around the corner suspiciously. Her instincts turned out to be correct; a black figure stood hunched over a smashed glass case, a clawed hand running over the surface where stone tablets once sat.

She quickly activated her communicator and spoke in a hushed tone to the receiver, "Robin, I found the--" The rest of Raven's words were cut off in a gasp as the figure suddenly turned and stared straight at her, eyes glowing a blood red against the dark. They narrowed slightly before the shadow began running straight at her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven called out, her eyes glowing white as several stone sculptures were encased in black energy and hurdled towards the approaching shadow. The shadow hissed slightly and jumped up, slicing at the sculptures and easily reducing them to a jumbled mess of stone. The figure then did a graceful, flying leap and savagely kicked Raven in the chest, sending her flying back and into a display case. Dazed, Raven stood, shaking off the broken glass and managed to recover just in time to form a dark energy shield as the shadow's claws raked across. The figure followed up with several quick and precisely timed punches and kicks, Raven struggling to keep up with the constant flurry. The figure suddenly performed a leg sweep and knocked the dark Titan off her footing, sending her onto her back and knocking the wind out of her. Before she was able to recover, a hand closed around her throat, the nails long and razor sharp, though, oddly enough, painted a bright red. Raven felt herself being lifted up by her neck then slammed against a wall hard, next to some floodlights used to illuminate the descriptive text printed there.

"Azarath, Metr—urgh!" The hand tightened around her throat, choking off her words. Raven's own hands moved to her neck and tried to pry the choking hand away, but to no avail. Pinned to the wall and defenseless, Raven forced her fear down and decided to take stock of the situation.

With the better light she could see her captor. It was clearly a woman, rather tall and complete with a voluptuous figure. The skin was black and iridescent, completely smooth and shimmering with purple and dark blue highlights. Jet black hair fell in rolls from the top of her head, billowing behind her like some kind of cape. Perhaps the most strange thing where the two large bat-like wings that sprouted from her shoulder blades, the leathery skin thick with veins and sinew and topped with claws. The red eyes were pupiless and seemed to flicker along the top as if flames sprouted from the sockets. The most disturbing thing, however, was the mouth. Pleasant and human-looking enough when closed, but when smiling – as the figure was doing now – it looked most dangerous. Pearly white, jagged teeth set a contrast against the black skin, two of them elongated into fangs. That smile was like a dagger halfway unsheathed; vicious and ready to strike, yet containing a small bit of amusement.

"What have we here?" she purred in a pleasant, melodious voice, yet still sinister and deriding, "Mmm. How nice. I caught myself a playmate. I hope you don't break too easily. My previous toys didn't last long."The figure paused and leaned close to Raven's pinned form, sniffing lightly at the air around her. "I know that scent..." she murmured thoughtfully, a long forked tongue slipping from her lips and lapping against Raven's cheek, the girl shuddering in revulsion. The figure paused again, considering before the red eyes widened. "Trigon! You're the daughter of Trigon, aren't you my pretty little thing?"

Raven narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth, "Never call me that."

A cascade of mirthless laughter rose form the demonic form, "But it's true, isn't it? You are the daughter of Trigon. Interesting." She flashed another of those dagger-like smiles, "Well, then. Since I like to hedge my bets, I think I'll let you live. This time."

"Don't do me any favors," Raven hissed back.

"I'm not," came the cryptic reply.

"Raven!" Robin was standing in the doorway with the other titans, a birdarang in his hands. The dark figure looked over and smirked lightly, "It looks like it's time for me to leave. I'll be seeing you... daughter of Trigon." Having said that, the dark figure pulled Raven away from the wall and tossed her at the other titans, giggling melodiously before bowing graciously and enfolding herself in her wings. Her form swirled in a black cloud, the wisps quickly disappearing and leaving no trace.

Raven frowned slightly as Cyborg caught her. She watched the dark figure dissolve and felt... something.

It was that same feeling she felt from Vivian.