Disclaimer: I do not own teen titans or the words to Bare Grace Misery by Nightwish.

+Bare Grace Misery+

Chapter One: One Of The Lost Ones

Day One

9th February

A cinnamon bed,

For your unashamed appetite.

Robin was beginning to think that taking Starfire hiking had been a bad idea. She just didn't seem to grasp the concept of it and was floating somewhere up ahead while he struggled on after her. It was supposed to be a bonding session, they had only started dating a few years ago and all the dates they went on were all disasters. First off they kept getting interrupted by villains, or by practical jokes from Beast Boy, secondly Starfire didn't really know what to do at all the places he had taken her, he paused and shuddered in the memory of the theatre trip, and finally, no matter what he tried Starfire always ended up getting distracted! It was infuriating and even thinking about it made his head hurt.

He had decided early that morning that he would take Starfire up the mountains, that way they were alone and had minimal distractions. Of course, it didn't take that much to distract his girlfriend. He had left Cyborg and Beast Boy in charge of the T-Tower and he knew that Raven was off meditating somewhere.

A perfect opportunity for them to spend time together.

He looked up and realised that he had been left on his own again. He sighed, and taking a deep breath he sprinted up the steep hill. He could feel the sharp stones through the soles of his boots and it pained his feet to run but he persevered. He made a mental note to wear ordinary trainers next time instead of boots, and shorts instead of jeans, because he was getting very hot.

He reached one of the lower rises of the mountain and skidded to a stop. He looked out across the horizon to the midday sun that cast golden rays down on Jump City. If he squinted hard enough he could make out the silhouette of Titan's tower.

He looked around to see if he could see his redheaded girlfriend. No luck. He pursed his lips, he loved her, he really did, but sometimes it was like looking after a curious child. He cupped his hands to his mouth, "STARFIRE!"

He cringed as his voice echoed around the mountain side; he seriously hoped he hadn't caused a landslide. He waited for a second, but he could hear no falling rocks. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He raised his hands again, "STAR! WHERE ARE YOU?" he let his hands fall to his sides, if she hadn't heard that then she must be long gone.

He strained his ears for a moment, trying to catch any tell tale sounds that she was approaching. Nothing. He took a deep breath and counted to ten, telling himself not to get annoyed or angry. She'd probably stopped to talk to another hiker…what if someone had tricked her into going with them, what if she'd been kidnapped? Killed?

Wild thoughts zigzagged through his head without stopped, and he slapped the side of his forehead with the base of his palm and told himself to snap out of it.

A breeze whipped past ruffling up his dark hair, absentmindedly he wondered if she could get it cut. It hadn't been trimmed for months and was almost reaching past his ears. He banged the side of his head again, now was not the time to be thinking about his appearance.

"…in!"

He whipped his head around as he heard the shout from far off, he recognised the voice immediately, it was Starfire, but she sounded panicked, almost worried. He looked around trying to see her.

"Robin!"

Wherever she was coming from, she was quickly gaining on him, but still he couldn't see her, he looked up into the sky, just in time to see her feminine shape dip down out of the suns rays and speed towards him.

"ROBIN! YOU MUST COME QUICKLY! THERE IS A BOY AND HE IS INJURED!" she shrieked at him.

He heard that, with deafening clarity and yelled back, "Where? You'll have to take me there!"

He didn't even have time to adjust his backpack before Starfire's hands grasped him about the shoulders and lifted him high into the air. The sudden loss of the ground beneath his feet startled him and he let out a surprised yelp, he managed to muffle it by ducking his head thus avoiding embarrassment. He looked down at the trail as Starfire flew, it was a good job she was carrying him, it would have taken hours to walk the distance she had covered in a matter of seconds.

The wind was like ice around him, and he took back the mental note he made about shorts. He narrowed his eyes as he spotted a small rocky outcrop appear below him from behind one of the overgrown hedges. Starfire turned to fly towards it; the hedgerow was littered with brightly coloured flowers, a mixture of pastel pinks, yellows and blues.

Robin smiled, no wonder Starfire went down to investigate.

The two of them began to descend rapidly, the ground rushed up to meet them, Robin kept his gaze focused upon the outcrop searching for signs of the injured boy, then he saw him. A pale human figure sprawled out across the rock face down.

Starfire dropped Robin to the ground gently, and he bent his knees upon impact, springing right back up afterwards. He rushed over to the boy and dropped into a crouch.

Starfire landed next to him a moment later, and she too bent over the boy.

She looked at Robin who shook his head; he reached out one of his hands and touched the boy gently on the shoulder. He grasped it and pulled the boy over onto his back so that they could see his face.

The first thing that Robin noticed about the stranger was his age, when Starfire has said 'boy' he had been expecting a child, maybe ten at tops, but the person before him was no child. He looked to be about the same age as them, perhaps even a year or two older.

The second thing that Robin noticed was the boy's appearance. He had long hair. It was white. It fell across the boy's forehead messily but that could just have been accounted for by his current unconscious state. The boy was pale and had feline eyebrows that ended in a sharp point and incredibly long eyelashes.

Robin felt a bit jealous looking at him, but he banished the green eyed monster when he realised that he had found someone possibly more attractive to girls than Aqualad. Ha. Aqualad wasn't all that. He shook his head to free himself from those silly thoughts.

"He wears such strange clothes." Murmured Starfire next to him and he nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah." He looked down at the boy's garments. The boy had a long dark grey scarf wrapped around his lower face, obscuring his nose and mouth from view; it was tied neatly at the back of his neck, though the ends, slightly torn lay tangled underneath him. He appeared to be wearing what looked like armour. Robin reached out and tapped it with a forefinger and listened to the resonating 'ting'. Definitely armour. Underneath he appeared to be wearing some sort of black long sleeved shirt and some black trousers. He was wearing knee length armoured boots that looked deadly and elegant at the same time.

"What do you think that signifies?" asked Starfire pointing to something on the boy's chest.

Robin followed her line of sight. There was a mark upon the breast plate of the armour. It was black, and seemed to be a gothic yet slightly warped 'M'. He shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe it's his initial or something."

"He is not well."

Robin looked down at the boy, noticing for the first time the unpleasant expression that marred his features, his arms were covering his abdomen as if in great pain, even though he was out cold.

"You're right. Let's take him back to the tower, a hospital would ask too many questions, and Raven could heal him quicker." He bent down closer and scooped the boy up into his arms; he was incredibly light considering all the armour that he wore. "Star you'll need to fly us back, but first ring ahead and let Cyborg know we're coming."

Starfire nodded and pulled a T-Communicator out of her pocket. She flicked the left button and pushed the antenna upwards. For a moment there was static. "Cyborg?" she called into the device.

There was a moments silence and then / Hey Star, what's up? /

"We are bringing a boy back with us. He is injured and is dressed strangely."

/ Okay, I'll get the medical room set up, what's wrong with him. /

"We do not know, he is not conscious but he is in pain." Starfire said a bit louder than she wanted to. "We are returning to the tower now."

/ Okay. I'll get things sorted. /

Starfire clicked the device off and shoved it back in her pocket, wasting no time she grabbed her boyfriend around his waist and lifted him up into the sky. If the weight of the extra body was hard for her to carry she did not mention it as she turned and sped back towards titan's tower.

"Cyborg said Rob and Star are bringing back an injured boy! You wanna go see?" Beast Boy asked Raven hopefully hopping next to her as she calmly turned the page in the book she was reading.

Raven didn't even look up, "If he's injured they should take him to the hospital." She turned another page, "We don't need a little brat running around."

"Aww, Raven." Moaned Beast Boy, "If he's injured then he won't be running around! Cyborg told me that Star said he was dressed funny."

"His personal tastes are none of my concern." She said monotonously as she turned yet another page.

Beast Boy made an exasperated noise; he opened his mouth to say something but they he heard the humming sound that meant the main door was opening. "They're here!" he declared, "C'mon Raven you can't tell me you're not the least bit curious."

"I'm not the least bit curious." Another page.

Beast Boy's eyes ticked slightly, "Fine, stay here and read your book, I'm going to see the injured boy!"

"If you must." Another page.

Beast Boy shot the purple haired girl a dirty look and then changed into a green cheetah; he pawed the ground once and then shot off down the halls towards the medical room.

It didn't even take him ten seconds to get around the corner, go down the stairs, through the kitchen, past the living room and into the medical bay. He skidded to a stop next to the door, only marginally avoiding colliding with Cyborg.

"I'm here!" he announced as he slipped through the doorway, "I heard you were bringing back an injured boy with you?" he stood on his tip toes and peered over Starfire's shoulder. He spotted the strangely clad boy on the bed and pushed past her, making an obvious show of looking him up and down. "Whoa." He looked around at the others, "So, what's wrong with him?"

Cyborg nodded to the screen behind the bed which currently displayed an outline of the boy's body and had differently coloured lines snaking back and forth across his abdomen and rib cage. "He's been poisoned. It's severe, I'm not sure what it is, its either arsenic or belladonna which is similar in effect. He ingested the pure toxin; it would have only taken a few moments for him to feel the pain." Cyborg turned back to Robin and Starfire who were gazing at the screen worriedly. "Are you sure there wasn't a cup or something near him when you found him?"

Robin shook his head, "There was nothing, just him on a bare piece of rock." He rubbed the back of his head with his hand, "He was just lying there. I thought he was dead."

Cyborg frowned and shook his head, "By all accounts, he shouldn't still be alive the amount he's consumed. I just don't see how's he still breathing and recovering remarkably well; his antibodies have already started fighting the poison as if it's a virus. It's clearing up on its own. It's a good job you didn't take him to the hospital; the media would have had a field day."

Robin blinked, "So all we have to do is wait for him to wake up?"

"Yeah, one of us will have to wait here, he's bound to have some questions when he comes to, and I have some questions of my own." He indicated to a solitary chair next to the bed, "And it can't be me, I've got to recharge."

Beast Boy suddenly sprang into their view, "Me! I'll do it! Pick me!"

Robin stared down at the bouncing green changeling, even though Beast Boy was maturing in looks, he was still as immature as ever. He nodded tiredly, "Okay, okay. You can stay here. I'll go on a pizza run, what do you want?"

Beast Boy squared his green shoulders and looked serious, his eyes narrowing, "I would like…a large tofu pizza, a large cheese pizza, a large order of fries, a side portion of onion rings, two colas and a box of doughnuts." He ran the items off quickly checking his fingers off as he went.

Robin nodded, "Good, you're thinking of our guest when he wakes up."

"The guest? Oh! Yeah, sure. The guest." Mumbled Beast Boy grinning innocently and backing away a bit to drop down into the chair.

Robin nodded and taking up Starfire's hand he led her out of the medical bay and the two of them walked off, murmuring to each other.

Beast Boy watched them go, amazed at the length of Starfire's hair, she had decided to let it grow two years ago and now it was almost to her knees. Usually she braided it, but today she had left it long. Beast Boy loved long hair. It was the reason he had started growing his own. Though his small dark green pony tail hung to half way down his back. It paled in comparison.

Cyborg waved a hand and then started out towards the recharge unit, though just as he was about to walk out the door he looked over his broad shoulder and grinned, "You weren't thinking about the guest were you? All that food is for you."

Beast Boy grinned, "You know me too well dude." He stretched with exaggeration and settled into the chair, keeping his arms bent behind his head as he leaned back to wait.

Cyborg snorted and then continued on his way, "Whatever."

It took less than five minutes for Beast Boy to get bored when everyone else was gone. He fidgeted in the chair, twisting his body to make it comfortable, but nothing he did could please him. He scowled and wiped a strand of green hair out of his eyes.

"I'm so bored." He moaned to himself and checked his watch. Six minutes had passed. Was time really going that slow? He scowled to himself and then looked over at the strange boy.

Beast Boy stared intently at the sleeping face, the guy looked almost feminine. A smile curled onto his features, it was a hobby of his to try and imagine what animals people were most like, Starfire would be like a little kitten, all curious and eager, and Robin would be an Alsatian or some other type of dog, running around defending people being loyal. Cyborg would be a bear of course, due to his size, strength and the fact that the entire girl population thought he was cute. Raven would be a raven, that was pretty obvious and he had decided ages ago that Aqualad would suit being an otter.

He looked over the strange boy's features, they was something decided feline about him, he would suit being a white elegant cat, or perhaps a white tiger. Damn, how come a stranger got the cool animal?

He leaned forwards and rested his elbows on the edge of the bed and took in the boy's long eyelashes, "Not even Star has lashes that long." He whistled.

Another hour ticked by.

"Here's your pizza BB." Declared Robin as he appeared in the doorway, tossing the steaming boxes at the green elf, "Enjoy. We're going to eat in the main room. So we'll see you later. Okay?"

Beast Boy nodded and opened the first box that came to his hand, inhaling the smell of heated tofu on pizza bread and listening to his stomach growl in anticipation.

Robin smiled and then looked back over to the stranger, "Any change in him yet?"

Beast Boy shook his head and took a bite from a slice of pizza; he chewed on it and then swallowed it quickly, licking his lips to savour the taste, "Nah. He's just laid still, y'know?"

Robin nodded again, "Oh well, hopefully he'll wake up soon, then you can both come and join us in the main room. We were gonna play charades later, so if you want to join in…" he trailed in and a nervous expression crossed his face as he watched Beast Boy start shovelling food into his mouth as if his life depended upon it, "I'll just leave you to it." He decided wryly before he turned and walked away, clicking the door closed quietly behind him.

Yet another hour ticked by.

Then another.

"I'm sooo bored!" he whined in desperation, he looked at the empty tray of food longingly, he really should have saved some, but he was hungry. The pizza had come back hours ago and he had eaten all of it in less than ten minutes. The others had been in and out of course, except for Raven, and suffice to say Beast Boy was getting irritable.

Another hour passed.

Beast Boy leaned over the boy and placed his own green hand upon the stranger's armour. He shook him gently, "C'mon. Wake up."

A quarter of an hour passed.

Beast Boy sighed. At present he was in his cat form, crouched upon the strange boy's chest, staring intently at the closed eyes, willing them to open. He was sooo bored. He had never been this bored in his life. He needed to be doing something.

He meowed plaintively.

The closed eyes snapped open.

Beast Boy found himself staring into cold blue eyes.

In surprise he leapt backwards off of the boy, changing back into his human form as he hit the floor. His eyes went wide and he backed up against the wall as the boy sat up slowly, a hand grasped his stomach as he winced.

Beast Boy pushed himself back off the wall and forced himself to edge closer, "Um, dude. Are you okay?"

The stranger looked over at him. The boy stared blankly for a few seconds before the scarf shifted over his face as he spoke, "What time is it?" his voice was muffled and his voice was croaky but beast Boy managed to pick out the words.

He looked at his watch, "It's just turned half seven, why?"

The boy blinked, as if what Beast Boy had told him meant nothing, "How long have I been here?"

"Nearly all day."

The boy's eyes closed and an expression of despair crossed over his face, he lifted his eyelids slowly and gazed over at Beast Boy, "I do not have long left."

Beast Boy flopped back down into the chair, figuring he could talk to the guest for a while before he contacted the others, "Dude, its okay, the poison's not going to kill you. You're going to live! You'll be fine!" he informed him brightly.

The boy lowered his eyes and stared at the blanket that was covering him. "You don't understand. I've got seven days to…" he trailed of remembering what the hag had told him, he wasn't supposed to speak of his deadline, "Let's just say, in a week or so, I'll be dead."

"Man, that sucks." Commented Beast Boy, playing a long with the strange conversation, who knew, maybe the guy was ill or something, and he didn't want to seem rude by prying or anything, "I don't know when I'm going to die. I mean I've heard snippets of the future and stuff, but nothing is set in stone, every time I wake up, I think, hey I could die today. But you know it doesn't matter right?"

The boy winced in pain, "You have a positive outlook. I envy that."

Beast Boy shrugged, "I get by. Besides in my line of work, you can't afford to always be thinking of yourself."

"Oh? And what is your line of work?"

Beast Boy's chest puffed out, "I'm a hero. I save the world."

The boy sighed, "I used to be a hero. I lost my fight when it mattered though. I lost the girl I loved to an idiotic creature of darkness."

Beast Boy's chest deflated as he took in the stranger's dejected expression, "Sorry." He mumbled, not knowing what to say, how often does a complete stranger just blurt out the problems with their life and everything in between. It had never happened to Beast Boy before, that was for sure.

"It's not your fault. I was…blinded by my own thoughts, I couldn't see what my enemy was planning until it was too late, and when my love banished him to the dark, I was dragged down with him." His hands clenched the sheets around him tightly. "But I am here to try and change that, I am here to win her back!" It sounded like a very honourable declaration and the green elf's chest swelled with patriotism just by listening to it.

Beast Boy grinned and clapped his hands like an excited youngster, "WOO! That's excellent, I hope you succeed!"

The boy's eyes snapped to him, as if he had forgotten that Beast Boy was there, he stared at the green changeling for a moment and then nodded. He didn't smile, knowing that if he did, his scarf would hide his expression, "Thank you."

Beast Boy's grin widened, "It's no problem." At that moment his stomach rumbled rather loudly and he blushed, "Sorry, I hope the guys fix dinner soon. I'm starving, you must be hungry too. I'll get Raven to bring you something up later."

The strange boy stiffened when he mentioned Raven's name and he looked at him in concern.

"You alright?"

The boy didn't answer for a moment and then he nodded slowly, "Just a sudden pain. I wonder, could you tell me about your group? I am most interested."

Beast Boy nodded, still too naïve to notice the sudden change in topic, besides he never got to brag about the titans, so now was a glad reprieve, "Sure, well there's me, Beast Boy, I'm kinda like the joker of the group, I used to have short hair, but I'm growing it out now, and I can turn into any animal at will." He demonstrated by quickly turning into a beaver and then back again, "See? There's Robin our leader, he's human but he kicks ass at martial arts. No one knows what colour his eyes are though not even his girlfriend. His girlfriend is Starfire she's an alien girl from the planet Tamaran, she has orange skin and fire red hair that's almost to the floor! There's Cyborg. He's half robot half human, kinda obvious though. He's an awesome technician and really strong and then there's Raven, she's really quiet, even more so after her father, a demon named Trigon tried to get her on his side. She's very gothic but she has the most beautiful shoulder length amethyst coloured hair. We patrol Jump City and make sure nothing bad ever happens. We fight the bad guys!"

The boy nodded thoughtfully, "The teen titans. Yes. Raven told me a lot of about you the last time I was here. Though I had imagined you to be shorter." The information slipped past his lips before he could stop them.

Beast Boy did a double take and then peered at the strange boy on the bed, "You know Raven? Why didn't you say so sooner? What's your name?"

The boy ignored him.

Beast Boy watched as the stranger lifted up his left hand and pressed it tightly against his side, his hand glowed green for a split second, before the glow faded away. The poison, marked upon the screen behind the bed faded from view and the blood pressure levels returned to normal.

He gaped in confusion, "What! Dude, what happened!"

The boy brushed some white hair from his eyes and flung his armoured legs off of the side of the bed; he stood up in one graceful movement and turned his eyes back to Beast Boy. "You wish to know my name?" he asked slowly turning his body to face the same direction.

Beast Boy stared at the stranger in front of him; something did seem awfully familiar…

"My name…is Malchior."

A figurante,

This dance will hurt like hell.