This will be an exciting chapter, but I don't know how long it will be. Next one I think will be terribly short unless I add something else, but this one is should be average. This one gets Beast Boy into the action and other characters as well.
Hopefully, I'll be able to finish this chapter within a month from the last.
Thanks again for being patient and for reviewing so faithfully.
Enjoy!
Kree
The early morning light was an ally to the green skinned teenager as he hurried down debris covered streets. Moments ago, the sun had ventured into the terrifying place Jump City had transformed into. It was easier for him to scan the city this way, even though he could have just as easily turned himself into a creature with nocturnal vision, he preferred to search on foot as a human. After all, there was nothing like being human.
Even now, he walked without the consent of his mind. His legs moved forward, taking him to some preposterous situation that the heart desperately and insanely desired. There was one goal, one image that stuck strong before his eyes. One name that seared across the tip of his mouth: Malchior.
"Malchior!" Beast Boy screamed, stepping from side to the side of the ravaged town. "Malchior, where are you!" His voice was tired from yelling for so long. It cracked with his occasional syllables in a cursed name. "Malchior!" he called out again. "Come out! Come out and face me!"
Crazy. Yes, he had gone completely crazy. Driven with rage, a passion that could not be quenched, and envy no one on earth could handle with sanity. "You must be the infamous Beast Boy," Malchior's voice chanted in his brain. Black eyes, burning with such detestation, such triumph, stormed his mind with clarity. The battle the day before had churned his reason and rattled his spirit. There is but one intention in the identity of chaos: to destroy. And as far as Beast Boy was concerned, he would destroy the obsidian dragon and the only person who stood between the green changeling and the girl he…
He stopped in his tracks, his animal instinct taking over. There was breath, a lung taking in oxygen, an eerie presence in the air close by. Someone was close! The sense in his head strove to return, attempting to drag him away from an unwise situation. But because he was so close, a reckless and passionate determination kept him steadfast and tall where he stood, holding his breath until he could see someone.
A white mist glided across the street, blanketing the debris on the streets and sidewalks and the smashed cars that lay in haphazard rows. Had the whiteness always been there? It was quickly parted, however, as a shadow streaked the thick paleness. A humanlike figure stepped forward, halting his stride just outside the mist. The morning sunlight glimmered against the armor clad young man, his long white hair and black scarf, stationary, for there was no wind existent in the air. The wizard stood about fifty paces away from Beast Boy, upright and proud.
Beast Boy clenched his fists at the sight of Malchior. An explosion cannot be withheld for so long and he was not used to repression anyway. He was exhausted, fatigued from the time of the day, the battle the day before, and walking around in search of him for so long. However, the adrenaline renewed his body as his eyes were set on the wizard as well as his fury and hatred.
"Are you lost, Beast Child?" Malchior mused from afar. "Why so far from your friends?"
"I've come to kill you," he grit his teeth.
"Are you serious?" the white haired teenager cocked an eyebrow, stifling a laugh.
"Of course I'm serious!" he snarled, suddenly transforming into a creature he had never even attempted before. He felt himself growing larger, stronger, and what awed him was the power he felt in his newfound claws. The fire in his heart could be transferred through his breath and the wings on the back of his great back, lined with tiny emerald scales, could take him as high as he wished. He stood taller than the buildings in Jump City and although he was exhilarated by the power in his new body, he was almost frightened by what he had become. No longer stood the awkward green teenager, the insecure jokester of the Teen Titans, but a terrifying dragon in all shades of viridian.
"You are serious," Malchior said quietly, staring up Beast Boy from the ground below.
"Let's settle this now!" Beast Boy roared, slightly surprised with himself. There were not too many animal forms where he still possessed his human speech.
Malchior paused with a small smile. "You've never transformed into a dragon before, have you?" He asked with the answer already in his head. "You must be overwhelmed. There's nothing in the world like the feeling of being a dragon. The power…the strength…you feel practically naked when you transform back into a human."
"We're wasting time," he snapped. "Let only one of us will see the stars tonight."
"If you insist…" his voice trailed into oblivion as four beams of light broke apart his human body and his shadow grew to monstrous size…
She shot up from her bed, drenched in sweat. It had not been two hours since she had crept into bed and then was jolted awake by horrifying images. Her slender fingers grasped the ends of her blanket, staring into the silent darkness of her room. She guessed that it was around early morning, only slightly earlier than she usually woke up. Barely rejuvenated from two hours of sleep, she forced herself out of her bed quickly. Her hand motioned for her dark blue cape to wrap around her shoulders, obscuring part of her clothing as it fluttered with her movement. The bedroom door slid to side to let her through as she glided hurriedly through the hallway. She stopped at one of her teammate's doors.
It was Beast Boy's.
She did not stop to knock on his door. She waved it open with one hand, holding a ball of generated light in the other. Scanning the room carefully, realizing the empty bed, she froze.
Her vision had been correct: Beast Boy was challenging Malchior.
"Don't jump to conclusions," she snapped at herself, rushing down the hallway into the main room. "Maybe he's up already…he could be anywhere in the Tower…"
But she couldn't believe that, even if she wanted to, nor would she even go and check. Beast Boy was fighting Malchior and she had to stop her green friend from getting hurt. Never mind that. She had to stop him from getting killed.
Closing her eyes, she whispered, "Azareth, Metrion, Zynthos!" Her body dissolved into the wispy black raven as the sable smoke rose to the ceiling. She felt herself rocket through the air, past walls and buildings and across the city in the blink of an eye. It was incredible sensation, to teleport, skimming across the world in seconds, watching her setting blur into a mass of color. She suddenly felt her body begin to take form once again and as she opened her eyes, she stood in the deserted streets of Jump City.
Nothing had changed much from the day before, but an eerie tremble blanketed the ground she stood upon. She instantly looked in the direction the tremors were traveling from and caught sight of two dragons, one of obsidian and the other of jade, slightly obscured by the wearied buildings in front of her. So it was true: her dream had been true.
Raven shot up in the air, high above the city walls and towards the two battling dragons. She watched the green creature swipe at the other, missing and falling forward, off balance. Beast Boy's breath wandered from side to side, up and down, in attempt to burn his enemy. Malchior needed only to use his wings to dodge Beast Boy's slow attacks in the air. Raven watched Beast Boy try to fly and prove a formidable opponent in the air, but Malchior struck him across the torso with his knife-like claw. As red glitter jumped out of Beast Boy's wound, a deafening roar filled the air, slipping through Raven's ears, penetrating her heart.
She watched Malchior toy with him the way he did with all of the Titans the day before. Malchior let Beast Boy make the assaults, tiring the inexperienced dragon, and then slamming him down with his own great attack. Senselessly, she stood spectator as Beast Boy's wounds multiplied, Malchior's attacks grew more fierce and fervent as he passionately took down the changeling Titan. The black dragon even used his fiery breath to injure her friend.
What was she doing, standing around like an audience member of some spectacular show? She raised her hands, black energy bursting from her palms.
It was then that Beast Boy caught sight of Raven in the distance as she prepared to shield him from Malchior's fire.
"No, Raven! Stay out of it!" he bellowed, dodging Malchior's attack for the first time.
Malchior tried to dig his claws into Beast Boy's flesh in one violent movement but the green dragon slipped under him and blasted his own flaming breath at the black dragon. Malchior growled in pain and with his magic, he threw Beast Boy at one of the city buildings, a small amount of debris ineffectively crushing him.
Beast Boy would not give up too easily. He rose from the parts of city walls and ceilings, exhaling a menacing gust of flame. Malchior created a shield to stop the fire just in time, sending the fire back at its creator. He launched himself in the air, traveling with the fire to hit the green dragon with a terrible impact: one of fire and brute force.
Enough was enough. Raven teleported in front of her green friend creating a black wall to protect both she and Beast Boy from Malchior. Malchior stopped in mid-flight as Raven's shield absorbed his blazing breath. "Stop this," Raven hissed at the two of them and then cast a menacing stare at Beast Boy. "Transform back."
"Get out of the way, Raven!" Beast Boy snapped. "The fight is not over until one of us is destroyed."
"Are you daft?" Raven shouted. "What part of transform back do you not freaking understand?"
And so he did, shrinking in size until a beaten, teenage boy sat on the hard ground, his clothes torn in slashes. Cuts lined his skin line like the scales on his dragon body, blood trailing the length of his face. Gashes and burns, slapped on his skin every few inches or so, he hung his head in shame. His usually lively and buoyant green eyes had lost his luster and his hair hung haphazardly in all directions. Raven flew to the ground where he sat, instantly beginning to heal some of his wounds with her powers.
"Who in God's name gave you permission to go off challenging dragons?" she reprimanded fiercely. "Have you no sense, Beast Boy? Have you a brain at all?"
The black dragon also transformed back into the familiar young wizard they all detested. He approached the two of them, slowly, but quite confident in his strides. "Raven, your friend is terribly lucky to have you going around and saving his life just in the nick of time."
"Let me fight him, Raven," he struggled to his feet but she shot him down with a burst of her power.
"Don't you dare even get up, you fool," she barked, keeping her hold on him with a black fist.
"You have such a way with the male population," Malchior clucked in amusement. "Go on home. I'll let you nurse this pitiful worm back to his full health so I can battle the Titans as a whole once again."
"I guess I feel some sort of gratitude for what you are doing," Raven glared at him. "But not much."
"I only hope our fight today has knocked some sense into that friend of yours' thick, green head," he mused.
"No need to talk to him as if we were old friends discussing someone who is not present," she said cautiously. Helping Beast Boy to his feet, he could feel the tension in his movements, as if he would blow a fuse at any moment. She let him put an arm around her in order to support his weakened legs.
Malchior took no notice of it as stared into the eyes of the boy in her arms. "I never liked him. From the first time you described him, I never liked him. When I saw this pathetic, cowering creature for the first time I didn't like him, and I still don't like him now."
"Enemies don't have to like each other," she responded coldly.
"No, I suppose they don't," he said softly, his voice blurring with the wind.
She took Beast Boy closer into her arms. "I'm gonna teleport you home. Just stay close to me. You might feel a little weird, but--"
"Don't waste your energy. Permit me the honor," Malchior raised his arm towards them. Before Raven could refuse him, she and Beast Boy were surrounded with an explosion of blinding light. As the illumination decreased, they found themselves in Beast Boy's room. Same messy room, clothes scattered across the floor, a blanket tossed to the side of his bed so that it hung midair. So Malchior had teleported them home. Whatever, saved her some energy.
With Beast Boy still in her arms, she started walking with him to the living room. "Wait!" Beast Boy protested. "I wanna go to sleep."
"Don't be ridiculous," she snarled. "You'll bloody up your bedsheets. I have to heal you more and wrap your wounds in bandages. We're going to the living room."
"But I don't wanna go out there!" he exclaimed. "Not yet, anyway. I don't want them to know what happened."
"What are you gonna say about the cuts and bruises? That you wrestled with a pillow in the middle of the night?"
"Please, Raven," he begged, clinging to her arm. "Don't make me go out there yet. Let them see me later. Can we just stay in here? I don't mind bloodied pillows and sheets."
She gritted her teeth and then levitated her friend onto his bed. She stormed out of the room and into the empty kitchen. The Titans were not up yet to her relief. With the wave of her hand, a few items from the medicine cabinet, pills and bandages glided towards her. She filled a basin with water and grabbed a white cloth with her levitation as well. As she walked down the hallway, these items followed her into Beast Boy's room in an awkward sort of train. They set themselves in the air as Raven dropped to Beast Boy's bed and sat beside him. She took the cloth out of the water basin and began washing the cuts on his nearest arm.
He stopped her with a hand for a moment. With his hand, he tore off the shirt part of his uniform to make it a little easier for her. Dipping the wet cloth back into the water basin, she moved it across his chest, wiping the blood from his chest. They sat in silence, feeding off of each other's rage, for they both knew very well of the terrible demon of an emotion that inhabited each other's heart this morning. Raven, especially, drowned in her frustration as she cleaned the cuts on Beast Boy's legs. How could he do this? How could he go out so carelessly and get himself nearly killed? Beast Boy had been a joke to Malchior, she assumed, and Malchior would have probably killed him in the end?
How could he do this to her? How could he hurt like this, drive her completely insane?
It had suddenly occurred to Raven that she didn't know whether or not it was Malchior or Beast Boy she was thinking about.
A white bandage snaked around Beast Boy's arm in a vigorous motion, her slender fingers giving it direction. Repression was failing and words began to form in her mouth. No! She jerked herself back into control, but only for a moment. Her voice threw itself out of her throat and into the air. "You fool," she shook her head, her voice quiet and monotonous. "You thought you could fight a full fledged dragon, the most powerful wizard on Earth? What were you thinking, Beast Boy?" she demanded.
"I wanted to kill him," Beast Boy said softly.
"I want to kill him too, but that doesn't mean I go around challenging dragons by myself!" She scolded.
"I had to, Raven!" His tone grew a bit more confident. "After what he did to the city, to us, and to you! I had to kill him!"
"Well you certainly did a good job in doing it," she retorted acidly, starting to levitate the bandages around his chest. "Now tell me, why did you feel so obligated to go around slaying dragons?"
"I told you, I wanted to kill him!"
"I'm asking why."
"I wanted to kill him for you!"
"Now why would you do something stupid like that, even with the brain of a bird?" she snorted. "We were to fight Malchior as a team. One of shouldn't be going on some crazy and worthless kamikaze mission like you pulled."
"Raven, you're being the stupid one now," he shouted.
"Enlighten me." She cocked an eyebrow.
"Well if some dumb bastard took over the city, insulted me, and broke the heart of the girl I liked, twice, I think I have a good enough reasoning to want to kill him," he shot back.
Raven stared into his green eyes, her mind still processing his last statement. What? What was this crazy boy saying now? He liked her? How was that possible? So she dealt with it like most things that didn't make sense to her: she denied its truth and put it in the back of her mind.
"Something must have hit your head, hard, or you really are as imbecilic as you sound right now," she said coldly.
"All right, Raven!" He stood up from the bed, waving away the bandages that were wrapping away at his legs. "Do you know what really bugs me? It's that even though that bastard, Malchior, hurt you so much, you're still head over heels in love with him! Here I am-"
"I don't love Malchior!" she cried out. "I never loved him!"
"Would you just listen to me for one second?"
"Why should I listen to this bullshit?" she turned around, heading for the door.
"You don't know what it's like to be jealous like this!" he yelled, stopping Raven in her tracks.
She turned around slowly, but a ravaging beast thundered out of its cage finally in her heart and her eyes did not fail to show her murderous fire. "Jealous?" she breathed. "Jealous? I don't know what it's like to be jealous?" The objects in the room were levitating with black energy. "Let me tell you something, Beast Boy," her voice was booming. "Let me tell you about jealousy. I have been jealous of every person who's been able to show their emotions freely without killing someone. I have been jealous of every person who was just plain normal and were able to lead normal lives. I have been jealous of all of you because you're wonderful and likable people while I'm just a half-demon freak from another world!" She leaned in towards her friend. "And you know what? I was even jealous of Terra! Do you know why, do you have the slightest, tiniest idea why?" she rambled. "It's because for the longest time I really liked you. So don't you dare tell me that I have no idea what it's like to be so jealous you wanna tear a person apart!"
The door slid to the side in a violent fashion and she hurried out, a flurry of black energy close behind. The levitating objects dropped to the floor, leaving Beast Boy to the silence and the darkness of his bedroom.
It was clear to Robin and the rest of the Titans that they needed reinforcements. Robin called up Titans East and asked them to come over. They, Bumblebee, Aqualad, Speedy, and the Mas y Menos, arrived promptly at noon in their own ship. The Titans had even called up Hot Spot and Wildebeast to help them out. So twelve Titans arrived at tower in order to prepare to battle the most terrible enemy they had ever seen.
"Nice to see ya guys again," Cyborg greeted Titans East, slapping hands with Bumblebee.
"We appreciate all of you coming here," said Robin with a smile.
"We wouldn't want to miss the action," Speedy grinned.
Hot Spot and Wildebeast arrived shortly after Titans East and they were warmly let in by the ten Titans. They were led upstairs and into the central room of Titans Tower where they had all gathered together. A large, circular table had been set up to accommodate the twelve teenagers. However, Cyborg carried five additional chairs, two with one arm and three with the other. He set them around the circular table, which still had a lot of room left.
The others were confused. Finally, Starfire came up to him and asked, "Friend, who else is coming to this meeting of allies?"
A loud buzz rang through the room. "It's me," said an oddly familiar voice belonging to a girl.
"I'll go bring them up," Cyborg hurried through the sliding doors. The eleven Titans took their seats, however, while waiting for Cyborg to come back. Raven, who was to lead the session, sat beside Beast Boy and Robin. Starfire sat on Robin's right and there were six empty seats next to Beast Boy. Bumblebee took the seat beside Starfire, Speedy beside Bumblebee, Aqualad, Mas Y Menos, Hot Spot, and Wildebeast. Raven had several books in front of her, including the white book that had once been Malchior's prison.
"Should we wait-" Raven began but was interrupted by the sliding of the double doors. Cyborg entered the room…with five of the HIVE members as well: there was Jinx, Gizmo, Mammoth, Seemore, and Private Hive, standing quite comfortably in Titans Tower.
The Titans were immediately startled. They jumped up from their chairs in fighting stances, horrified that Cyborg had brought five villains into their midst.
"No, no, wait!" Cyborg jumped in front of them. "They're gonna help us!"
"Help us what, die a little faster?" Beast Boy snapped.
"Oh come now," Jinx's soothing voice inched their necks with her steps. "I hope there's no hard feelings between us after all we've been through together."
"Cyborg, what is this?" Robin demanded, glaring at each and every one of the Hive members.
"I told Jinx about the situation," Cyborg explained.
"Me and my teammates talked it over," Jinx began grabbing an empty seat and motioning to Cyborg and the rest of HIVE to come sit down. Cyborg sat in between Beast Boy and Jinx. "And we decided that although we usually like to show up you Titans, Malchior is a great threat to us as well as you. So we will team up with you for this cause for just this once."
"One question, before we go on," Robin interrupted. "Why did you tell Jinx in the first place, and privately, for that matter? If you thought asking HIVE was a good idea, why didn't you bring all of us to ask them?"
"Eh," Cyborg flushed, his chocolate skin tinged with a strawberry shade. "Actually, Jinx and I have been seeing each other for more than the past two months."
"You what?" Beast Boy slammed his hands down on the table. "You? And Jinx? Going out?"
"That's usually what seeing each other means, Beast Boy," Raven cut in.
"And you didn't mention this before because?" Robin cocked an eyebrow.
"The same reason I didn't tell you about Malchior," Raven responded before Cyborg could speak. "Who would approve of one person from one side falling for someone on the opposite? Listen, it's been more than two months and the Earth still hasn't exploded. Forget about Cyborg keeping her a secret. Why don't we give Cyborg's pink haired girlfriend and her friends a chance to help us fight Malchior, all right?"
"Even though I know nothing of the HIVE, she's right," Hot Spot spoke up. "Put aside the issue of their identity and let them help us. There is a strength in numbers, is there not?"
"Look," started Cyborg. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about us before. I was just really worried that-"
"It's all right, Cy," Robin interrupted. "We need all the help we can get. So, Raven, you wanna start the meeting?"
Raven nodded, standing up, as everyone rested comfortably in their seats. Capturing their attention in their somberness, she began to speak. "We face two great enemies that have jointed together: Malchior and Sagira the Ageless. Together, they are nearly unstoppable, but if we take them down one at a time, it's possible that we can defeat them." She lifted up a book. "They have also created an army of Gostulings, ghost like creatures, to help them take over the city. Although they are formless, you can destroy them by forming some kind of shape around them with anything, fire, water, earth, paint, and strike them. But they are a terror to look upon and you must keep in control. The atmosphere is one of being doused in the dreary dead, so you must control your fear."
She passed around the book where she had found information about the Gostulings. The Titans looked at with interest and she started to talk again. "I do not know how we could destroy Malchior for good, but I have an idea in stopping him temporarily." She lifted the white book up with her hands. "Malchior was trapped in this book for over a thousand years. After I let him out, I was able to put him back in…" she paused. "I'm hoping that I can put him back in the book with the same curse. It will be difficult to trap him again for a third time, however, and we must find dragonfire in order to destroy the book. I know not of any dragonfire but I believe that this is a gamble that we must take."
"There's dragonfire at the Hearth of Draco ," said Jinx. "Its fire came from one of the earliest dragons and its priestesses tend to it and keep it burning."
"Of course!" Raven could have slapped herself for not thinking of it. "So Cyborg has found himself a smart girl," she mused, forcing a small smile at the witch. Jinx flashed a crooked smile as well. Perhaps the two of them could get along.
"Having taken down Malchior, he can focus on Sagira and the Gostulings. Some of the Gostulings will disappear after Malchior is gone for I believe that it is he who powers most of the creatures. Sagira does not have enough power to do it herself without using her magic to keep her looking youthful. Sagira may be powerful, but not enough to face all of us. Worst comes to worst and she disappears because she cannot win the battle. We'll have to improvise after that."
"Exactly what sort of creature is Malchior?" asked Aqualad.
"He is a young wizard who has the ability to transform into a dragon," Raven explained. "He is extremely skilled in magic so do not underestimate him. He toyed with the last time, but when he gets serious, we'll have an uncomfortable brush with death."
"Where will we fight tomorrow?" came the next question from Speedy.
"Most likely in another city. We'll have to listen to reports and travel quickly to stop them from taking over."
"What is to happen," Starfire began, "if you cannot trap Malchior in the book again like the previous occasion?"
"We have to hope that it works," Raven said uneasily. "And if it doesn't, we'll have to make a new plan. Fight him a little longer, but ultimately, hope for another day to prepare fighting him."
"Jinx, you sure we're on the right side?" Gizmo elbowed her.
"Of course we are," she snapped harshly. "Are you stupid? We can't let Malchior or Sagira take over!"
"It would have been a whole lot easier if we joined them," he grumbled to himself but was halted by a sharp kick from the pink haired witch.
"I would suggest that you train, get a good rest, and eat well for tomorrow." As Raven said these words, she couldn't help thinking that she was talking as if they were preparing for a simple sports competition. Who knew that theses grim circumstances could be so similar? "I'm finished rambling away. We have some rooms prepared, so let us know when you want to go up to them and we'll take you there."
The Titans and the members of HIVE stood up and began to separate ways. Most of them were interested in training immediately, so they hurried in the same, general direction towards the double doors. While the Titans mingled among themselves, the HIVE made an effort to keep the group away from their short-term allies. Only Cyborg and Jinx walked together, breaking the boundary the two groups created. Raven started picking up her books with levitation while Beast Boy remained in his seat beside her.
"Raven," Beast Boy put a hand on her shoulder as she began to stand up. "Could I talk to you in private for a sec?"
"Sure," Raven replied with a quiet nod. The situation earlier this morning had made them awkward for the rest of the day, but she refused to show it verbally. They walked over towards the black couches by the windows, setting themselves down in the center of its comfort. Pushing the books to the side, they sat a considerable distance away from each other, beginning the conversation with a silence that was setting the stage for an explosion.
"First off, I'm really sorry for this morning," Beast Boy fiddled with his hands. "For running away without telling any of you, saying all the things I did… and never taking the chance to thank you for saving my life."
"And I hope you'll forgive me for my last outburst as well," Raven nodded stoically. "The both of us were pretty heated this morning. I don't think we really meant what we said."
"Yeah, but I also wanted to talk to you about something else," Beast Boy's expression shifted. The drum in Raven's heart came to a horrifying standstill. She knew what was coming, or at least she was pretty sure she did, and though she did her best to fight it, she could not stop the inevitable.
"What, Beast Boy?" she asked quietly, keeping her droning tone consistent.
"Raven, I really like you," his voice swayed with sincerity as he gazed into her frozen eyes. "You were always there for me, and especially after Terra-" he swallowed. "And I guess since she's been gone, I really started to like-"
"Don't let me be a rebound, Beast Boy," she stated coldly.
"What?"
"You only think that you like me, but you don't," she shook her head. "Don't do this, Beast Boy. You're still too much in love with Terra to like me. I won't let you disappoint yourself in chasing someone like me."
"That's not all that it is, is it?" Beast Boy looked at his hands, his voice trembling from her frigid aura. "You still love him, don't you? You still love Malchior."
"I won't get into this again, Beast Boy," Raven murmured, wincing in the couch. "I never loved him."
"You still won't give it up, will you," he laughed weakly. He moved his hand up in the air, a hesitant bird first learning how to take off into the sky and then drifting downwards in a shaky motion. His hand found her hand and she almost flinched at his touch. He grasped her slender fingers gently until she finally gave in, holding onto his, her head wanting nothing more but to run away from these emotions. She was falling, falling for Beast Boy, but she clung to anything to keep herself from hitting the ground. Something inside of her wanted her to jerk away from him, let him know that this was not right, but her friendly notions kept her from doing other wise.
"Do you think that you could ever like…" Beast Boy's voice trailed into a hushed breath, barely scraping through his vocal cords, "…love me?"
She pulled away from his grasp, her tearful eyes tearing away to the side. A rush of black energy filled her surroundings, but she quickly regained control. With a stifled sniffle, she said sternly, "I could not promise such a thing." Her voice slipped into pleading. "Please, Beast Boy. Don't do this. To both of us."
His nodding was robotic, more of a movement to keep him from crying himself. But he broke through the barrier they had unconsciously set and he stood up, approaching her, and finally bending down. His soft lips found her cheek and he planted a kiss. "I'll wait for you, Ray. If I have to, I'll wait for you."
Oh what twisted ironies life does weave.
Muhaha, I'm finally done with this chapter!
Sorry for the delay. I hope you guys forgive me and enjoy.
Please review!
Kree
