Okay, folks! Yet another episode in Harbinger for your reading pleasure! Some evil stuff happens and some evil is revealed. But exposition won't happen until next chapter. In the meantime, enjoy!

Chapter 13: False Pretenses

Beast Boy reclined in his bed, staring up at the ceiling in the darkened room, hands folded behind his head. His mind churned with questions and concerns, confusion evident on his features. The police had taken away the rounded up cultists and the artifacts in their possession returned to their rightful owners. From the horrible description Harbinger gave, it seemed like they had likely saved the world from destruction. Quite a victory, indeed.

So why didn't it feel like a victory?

Those questions kept tugging at his peace of mind. Something just didn't sit well with him about this entire thing. The cultists seemed far too easy to take out. And Harbinger had left so abruptly. But everything was safe, wasn't it? Why did this feeling of oppressive dread remain?

The green titan was thrust from his thoughts by a knock on the door. Sighing, Beast Boy dragged himself up to a sitting position and called out, "Come in."

The door slid open revealing Raven, her cloak billowing behind her as she strode into the room. She said nothing, merely staring with those blank dark blue eyes of hers.

In the uncomfortable silence that followed, Beast Boy squirmed slightly, watching the other titan expectantly. "Uhm, yes?" he finally prompted, "Something you wanted, Raven?"

"I wanted to have a word with you," she stated flatly, "About Harbinger."

Inwardly, Beast Boy winced; he had been waiting for something like this for two days now. Reluctantly, the green titan slipped from his bed and approached his teammate, offering a tired smile. "Sure, what's up?"

"Do you like her?"

Beast Boy was taken mildly aback by the bluntness of the question, blinking several times before replying, "Dude, how can you even ask that? She, like, possessed someone I at least considered a friend. Made her do things. And she really bothered my other friends. Including you... I can't say I'm all that cozy to her, no."

"Do you hate her?" Raven probed.

At this Beast Boy hesitated, shifting his weight uneasily on his feet, "I... I donno, Raven. I honestly don't know. I mean, she helped us with the job tonight, so I guess she can't be all bad. But some of the stuff..." The shapeshifter shook his head slowly.

"She confessed to me that she wanted to make you happy," Raven stated softly, "Her exact words were that she would 'light fire in your dreams'. What do you think of that? Would you have gone for it had you known?"

A deep blush rose on Beast Boy's cheeks, again taken aback by the bluntness of the questions, "Woah, dude! Uhm... s-should we really be discussing this? I mean, what difference does it make, anyway?"

Raven paused briefly before replying. "None I suppose," she murmured in response, taking a step closer, "But I still would like to know."

"Then the answer is no," Beast Boy stated flatly, shaking his head, "Okay, I admit, she was kinda cute. But I would never do anything with anyone I didn't really care about."

A faint twitch of a smile curled up on Raven's mouth as she took another step forward, slipping her eyes half-lidded, "What about me?"

Something was very wrong here and Beast Boy could sense it. Still, he blushed vividly, eyes going wide, "What!"

"It's a simple question," Raven stated dryly, taking yet another step closer and idly wrapping a hand around the back of the green titan's neck, "Do you care about me in that way?"

Beast Boy raised his hands and placed them on Raven's shoulders, trying to keep the other teen at a distance, "Raven, what's wrong? You're acting weird."

"Nothing's wrong," Raven fairly purred in response, pushing herself closer to Beast Boy despite his protests, "I'm just asking some questions, that's all. Why all the shy-boy act, mmmn?"

The grip on his neck tightened and Beast Boy winced, "Raven... stop it. Let me go... what's wrong with you!"

"Fine!" The dark teen suddenly snarled, her eyes turning a solid red and her free hand flashing up to choke around Beast Boy's throat, "I had hoped to make your last moments on this world pleasant out of some misguided sense of mercy, but it seems you want to do things the hard way. So be it!"

Beast Boy gagged as he wind pipe was choked off, coughing and wheezing as he fought for breath. To his horror, he realized he was unable to shift forms. Eyes widening he managed to choke out, "Not... Raven!"

The figure grinned sadistically as black mist swirled around her, changing her appearance to that of Harbinger. "You finally figured it out, eh, chuckles?" she sneered, "I need you as a sacrifice. You could have had the time of your life before dying, but your misplaced sense of decency got in the way. So it looks like you chose the way of pain!"

The last thing Beast Boy saw before his sight dimmed was the wings from Harbinger's back extending and cocooning him in a demonic embrace.

A sudden, sharp tinkling sound was heard from the kitchen in the Titan's Tower. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg looked over to Raven and the broken cup of herbal tea. Raven whirled around to face her friends, eyes wide, "Beast Boy! Something happened to him. He's in danger!" She then raced through the tower, leaving the others to look at each other quizzically. Without a word, they all rose and ran to follow Raven through the tower.

Raven stopped outside Beast Boy's door then raised a hand, gesturing to it. With a grinding sound of metal, the door was ripped from the hinges and the dark teen stepped inside. The room was empty and innocuous except that the window was open, a faint breeze wafting into the room. "He's gone."

"Perhaps he merely stepped out for a moment?" Starfire offered, looking about the room curiously, "Maybe to receive some refreshing air from outside?"

"I'll check the roof," Cyborg stated and turned to head in that direction.

"He didn't go out the front door or we would have seen him," Raven stated flatly, closing her eyes and waving her hand in front of her cryptically.

"He also left his communicator and tracking device here," Robin reported, finding the nearly ever-present belt on the nightstand and examining it curiously.

Starfire flew out from the window and peered around the area curiously, "He does not appear to have fallen accidentally, or flown away in an avian guise that I can see..."

"He's not upstairs, either," Cyborg stated as he came running down the hallway, "It looks like he just disappeared."

Suddenly, Raven's eyes shot open, a gasp coming to her throat. "Harbinger! It was Harbinger. I can feel the residual markings of her here. She must have taken him."

"Why did we not detect her when she arrived?" Starfire asked.

"We've seen her do her little disappearing trick before, Star," Robin replied thoughtfully, "I didn't think about the possibility of her teleporting directly into the Tower. How could I have overlooked that?"

Starfire frowned slightly, "But why would she take Beast boy? For what purpose could this be?"

"It's not good, whatever it is," Robin stated firmly, "Okay, we'll have to fan out across the city and look for him. I'll start at Vivian's house--"

"That'll take forever, man!" Cyborg pointed out, "We'll never find him that way. At least, not before Harbinger does whatever it is she's going to do."

"I'll find them," Raven stated matter-of-factly, "I've been able to feel when Harbinger was near before."

"You're saying we should use you as a Harbinger detector?" Cyborg asked, arching an eyebrow curiously.

"More or less," Raven stated dryly.

"Sounds like the best plan we have at the moment," Robin remarked with a nod, "Titans, Go!"