Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, but I do own the idea for this fanfic.
Note: I'm giving you a forewarning right now: you may not like me too much at the end of this chapter, but please still read it? I put a lot of effort into this chapter, so I hope you all enjoy it... Any questions, feel free to e-mail me, okay? In fact, I encourage you to do so.
Chapter 8: Bloodstained Reality
When the other three Titans arrived in the common room, all was quiet. Raven had not moved from her place in front of the window, although she now appeared to be meditating. On the counter, a cup of cold tea sat, half empty. Last to be noticed was the communicator that lay off to the side of the table. It all seemed unmoving, as if the room had been frozen in time.
Starfire took in the scene with worried eyes before taking a tentative step forward, and then breaking the silence. "Raven," she began quietly, but did not continue when she felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found the Boy Wonder shaking his head, wordlessly telling her not to say anything more.
Keeping his voice low, Robin stated his opinion, "It might be better to leave her alone right now." He removed his hand slowly from her shoulder, allowing it to linger for a few moments, possibly as a show of comfort for her concern or perhaps it was something else which he had yet to admit to himself. Then, the three left the room in order to talk quietly out in the hallway.
"I'll look over some evidence on my own," Cyborg offered, thus giving the empath the morning off.
"Sounds good. We'll head out to do some research," the masked Titan replied, thus volunteering for the Tamaranian as well.
However, she said nothing to the contrary and simply nodded her response before adding, "I just hope our friends are okay..." She voiced this in part because none of them wanted to bring up the possibilities of what could have occurred that morning. Best to wait until Raven offered up the information rather than pry for it.
No other words were exchanged as the three departed the tower, hoping that answers to their questions would come if they waited.
–
It was a cooler night than the last one, probably because it was windier. The day itself had been a bit chilly and overcast, which meant that there was a definite possibility of rain that night. Regardless of that, patrolling the city was still something that needed to be done, and so, she found herself once again walking around the wharf.
In all honestly, she felt that she owed a lot to her three friends for putting up with her that day. They had done this by leaving her alone, which was how she had wanted it. There was a lot of things that she had needed to think about, and that had required long sessions of meditation. Starfire may have initially tried to speak with her, but it had only been one time that morning and Robin had stopped her. None of them had said another word to her, except when it was she who initiated the conversation. Still, she had chosen not to fill them in on the early morning's event. They had known it involved Beast Boy somehow, seeing as he was nowhere to be found in the tower and had left his communicator on the table. Beyond that, they knew nothing about it.
She had not left the common room that morning, until the others had returned for lunch. Choosing to eat a meager meal in the privacy of her room, she had tried to escape from reality for a bit by reading a book. However, that had not worked. The idea of getting away from it all had only served to remind her of the very person she did not what to think about. Making another cup of tea had not helped, either, as it brought back memories of that morning's conversation. Thus, she had once again found herself meditating, yet even that failed to help her. Most of her emotions had refused to say a word to her concerning the situation, unless she confronted the one she refused to admit was there again. In other words, she had not made much progress in confronting any of her problems that morning, whether it dealt with her powers or Beast Boy.
When it had been time to go on patrol, the missing Titan had still not returned. Despite wanting to focus on the case, the cloaked female had begun to grow worried, although she chose not to voice her concern. Starfire had vocalized her similar feelings many times that day as it was. Nonetheless, she had found herself going over the different possibilities in her mind, most of them becoming a worst case scenario. After all, it was doubtful that he had eaten anything after they got back from patrolling the night before, so he had left on an empty stomach. It was also unlikely that he had taken any money with him to buy anything to eat, so he was probably quite hungry by now. When would she see him again?
Biting her lip as an outward sign of her concern, Raven pulled the cloth of her cloak closer to her body. Her whole form was tense and oddly anxious, although she tried her hardest to suppress it. Why was she reacting to his disappearance this way?
A familiar voice began in her mind, "Because you l–..."
"Shut up," she immediately cut it off, not wanting to even begin arguing with herself right then.
"But Raven," it started again, imploringly.
Gritting her teeth outwardly, the empath replied in an irritated tone, "I said, shut up!" All was silent after that. It seemed that not even her own emotions dared to speak out against her when she was aggravated.
She stopped in the middle of a street, taking a few moments to recollect herself and calm down before continuing on her search. It was a bit difficult to put forth her best efforts right then, considering her current inner conflict. Sure, her emotions were all quiet, but that did not mean that she did not question herself. All day she had been arguing mentally, constantly inquiring as to why she had not even heard him out when inwardly she had wanted to. She had wanted to hear those words... "No, I didn't... I couldn't have..." So, what was it inside her that had tried to encourage her to listen? It had to have been that troublesome emotion, but she refused to hear her out. The last time that had happened she had ended up in a great deal of pain.
"But he was the one that was there for you that time," that annoying voice whispered, tentatively venturing to speak out once more.
"... it doesn't matter... I can't," Raven held her ground, although she at least thought more than two words this time.
"Why not? He understands," the voice persisted, gaining a bit more confidence.
"What makes you so sure?", she asked, already knowing what its answer would be.
"You were there when he went through it himself," came the foreseen reply.
"Still...," she trailed off briefly, "... just leave me alone."
There came no response, and she left the conversation at that. She did not wish to dwell on the subject anymore, although she was aware of how difficult that would be.
Nonetheless, she managed to get her mind off of him, but the next topic was almost as troubling. It was her powers. She had still failed to say anything to the other three concerning her powers' decline, and now, she found, things had worsened. Cyborg had driven her to the wharf in the T-car that night before going to his assigned area. She had used the excuse that she did not feel like levitating that night, and true to what she had expected, he did not question her. (This was most likely because of the day's events.) The truth of the matter was that she could barely summon enough power to hover a few inches above the ground, even when focused. It almost felt as if something, or someone, was holding them out of her reach. She had once thought that perhaps this was connected to her current situation with Beast Boy, but as quickly as it had come to mind, she shoved it aside.
Pulling her hood up over her head as an additional wind swept by her, Raven forced herself to continue her search, albeit she was still distracted by her confusing thoughts.
–
It had gotten a lot colder since the sun had set, Beast Boy decided. He began to wish he had thought to bring a coat or jacket of some sort, but he would allow himself to return to the tower for one. She would be out on patrol right now anyway, but what is she should come back early? He could not risk running into her just yet; he was not ready.
There it was again. That pain in his chest. Ah yes, he remembered this feeling from a long time ago, but it had eventually subsided for the most part. He could only hope that this time around it would be the same. It would be very prominent for awhile, he knew, but maybe if he could still remain friends with her... that would be enough.
"Who am I kiddin'? I can't hope to go back to what we were," he mentally berated himself. "I shouldn't have said anything. I should've just kept my big mouth shut, at least then I would still have her as a friend... That would've been better than this..."
His stomach growled loudly to let him know how hungry he was, but he ignored it as he had done since he left that morning. He had no money to buy food nor did he care to stop and beg. That was not important right then. What was important was that he try to recollect himself enough to eventually return to the tower. He could not and would not desert his friends like that, even if it meant being so close yet so far from the one who had rejected him.
"She wouldn't even listen," he stated mentally with an air of agitation. "... no, I can't blame her for my stupid mistakes, that would only make things even worse...," he continued, tone growing softer at those thoughts.
Kicking at a loose pebble, he watched disinterestedly as it hopped, skipped, and jumped along the broken sidewalk. Broken, like his heart was right then. How he wished he could go back in time and not say anything. "No," he reprimanded himself immediately, "it needed to be said. I just don't like how things turned out."
He kicked at the pebble again, sighing outwardly as he watched it move. He could faintly see his breath, so it must've been colder than he originally thought. Maybe he was becoming numb to it by then, who knew. As much as he did not care about it right then, he knew that it would be best to find somewhere to get out of the cold, even if only for a short while.
Looking up from the ground, he quietly surveyed the area and noticed that all the nearby shops and other businesses were closed down for the night. Of course, there was not much in this part of the city anyway, seeing as how he was right on the outskirts of it. However, he did catch sight of a rundown hotel. Perhaps he could just wait in the lobby for an hour or so? After that, he could start the long trek back to the tower and hopefully arrive by sunrise. Having made that decision, he began to walk slowly in the direction of the rickety-looking building.
As he moved closer, his thoughts wandered to another familiar topic, aside from his heartbreak. He began to think over the consequences of what had happened. According to Raven, he had made a lot of progress in the past two weeks, and without the conversation that morning, it would have been likely for him to have gotten over his conversion(1), as she called it, within a reasonable amount of time. Now it looked like it would be a long while before he was able to shape-shift again. Or would it? He did not deny what had happened that morning, nor did he aim to avoid it or trivialize its importance. This left him unsure. Although he was still making headway when it came to coping with the case, would that be at all affected by his new emotional state? Probably, even if they were not directly related. He felt like such a mess right then, mentally and physically.
He sighed once more, this time inwardly, and began to rub his arms in order to restore some warmth to them. Thankfully, he was not too far from the hotel now... There may not have been heating, but at least he could find some shelter from the wind.
Finally approaching what he thought was the main entrance, he lifted a stiff gloved fist to knock on the door. However, he paused about an inch away from the chipped, wooden door when he thought he heard voices coming from within. Maybe this was someone's room? Looking up and down the row of other doors on the outside of the building, he did not feel up to checking every one of them. He wanted to be sure that this was not the lobby before he checked elsewhere. So, he noiselessly pressed a pointed, green ear against the door to listen in on the conversation that was taking place on the other side.
"Tonight's supposed to be the last one," he heard a gruff voice speak up, seemingly somewhere at the far corner of the room.
The changeling heard footsteps walk heavily across the wooden floor, stopping a few feet away from the door. "He must be a real mental case," the owner of the footfalls stated in a sneering tone, "I mean, going after one of the Titans like that."
Beast Boy had to keep himself from gasping out loud and blowing his cover. "After one of us? Could they be talking about...?" His train of thought was cut short when a third person broke in.
"He is a mental case, that's what makes this all so easy for us," the man crowed in a deep voice. "He's done all the work for us."
"Yeah, and they never could catch him," the first voice sounded again, "He's given them the slip every time so far."
"This time they'll pay for what they've done, and we don't even have to lift a finger," the third one gloated. The shape-shifter heard a noise that sounded like flesh hitting flesh, which most likely meant that he had pounded his fist against the palm of his other hand. "How is he sure he can get this one?"
"You kiddin'?", the second voice jumped in, "He's only been watchin' them for the past few weeks. He knows exactly where each one patrols."
The green Titan felt his blood begin to run cold. It was easy to figure out who the three men were talking about, not to mention he recognized each voice from somewhere or other. The serial killer... They had to have been linked to him and he was going after one of his teammates that night, or himself. Knowing that he needed to find out which Titan they were referring to, he continued to bide his time, forcing himself to remain silent even if he wanted to take off right then.
One of the room's occupants started walking around again, but it was not the same person as before. "So," the third voice started, pacing around, "why wait so long?"
"He would've struck last night," answered the one with a sneering tone, who seemed to be the most knowledgeable of the three, "but the green one was with her."
Beast Boy jumped back from the door as if suddenly scalded, heart feeling as though it had just stopped in his chest. "...no... Raven...," his mind could only formulate those two words as he moved several steps away from where he had been standing, breath catching in his throat. There was no time to deal with the three men right then, so he glanced at the door, making sure to remember which one it was, before she dashed off in the direction he had come from. Whether they heard him leaving or not, he was not sure, but no one pursued him. One thing he was thankful for was that he had walked by the wharf that morning, so he knew exactly how to get back to that area.
His heart was pounding and his adrenaline was pumping, almost deafening his ears. Hunger long since forgotten, he pressed forward, running faster than even he knew he could. Fear gripped his heart and held fast. His breathing quickly grew heavily labored, but that did not matter in the least. His adrenaline kept him going, and he refused to allow himself to give in so soon.
He had to reach her before the unthinkable happened. It was not that he doubted her ability to defend herself, but he could not take the chance. Even when he had left that morning, he had still been aware of the fact that she was struggling inwardly, even if it was just a little. He knew her powers were affected by her emotions, so if something was wrong, who knew how much or how little power she would have access to. He could not and would not take that chance. There was no question in his mind; he had to find her, even if she ended up being able to handle it all herself.
Unfortunately for him, he remembered that he had left his communicator sitting in the common room. That decision came back to haunt him right then. If he had taken it, he would have been able to contact the others, who would certainly be able to get to the wharf faster than him. However, if he had taken it with him, they might have convinced him to return to the tower before now and he never would have overheard such a vital conversation. Either way, he was on his own for the time being. If he happened to come across one of his teammates, he would quickly seek their aid, but he did not have the time to go out looking for them. The killer could have left at any time and thus, could be anywhere at that very moment.
Despite the cold, Beast Boy could feel sweat beginning to form from all of the running he was doing. He was starting to feel short of breath, but he still refused to stop. The muscles in his legs began to ache and his throat was beginning to burn from the rate at which he was inhaling the chilled air. He ignored it, setting his mind on the task that was at hand.
A thought occurred to him as he dashed through the streets. Even though he did not wish for the conversation he had heard to be real, he had to accept it and try to put a stop to what was being planned. He did not want it to be reality, but nonetheless, he knew it was. "The murders were all real... they happened, and I can't change that... It's all real...," the changeling tried to drill this into his head, repeating the last phrase several times. The case was real and he had to accept that, as well as the fact that Raven was in danger. If he did not come to grips with it, he would not be able to regain his shape-shifting ability, and worse still, he might not be able to help save her...
Eyes narrowed against the blowing wind, he concentrated hard and tried to imagine himself becoming an animal, any animal. Still, nothing happened. "It's all real. I know it is," he firmly admitted mentally, hoping that a breakthrough would occur. Something had to happen, or else... No, he would not even allow himself to think about it. That was one reality he was unwilling to live in; one where Raven no longer existed... He had to do something, anything... Again he tried, but nothing changed. He could not give up...
Fear tightened its grip, reminding him even more how urgent the matter was. He could hear his rapid footfalls thud loudly against the ground, still he put more effort into each quick step.
Beast Boy was no longer aware of time, only that he had grown quite close to the wharf, although he was not quite sure of how he had gotten there so quickly.
Just a little further and another try...
–
The empath could feel another argument with herself coming on. Rubbing her temples to try and drive away a headache, she exhaled an exasperated sigh as she continued on with her patrolling, trying to ignore a nagging voice within her mind.
"Okay, Raven," it began, determination in its tone, "I think you know perfectly well who I am by now."
"I do?", she questioned, disinterest heavy in her voice.
"Yes," the voice answered. "I'm Love."
"... as if that wasn't obvious...," the girl replied sarcastically.
Love was only quiet for a moment before continuing, "At least you admit that I'm here... and I know you know why I am."
"Look," Raven started, irritation evident in that one word, "I'm no where near my mirror, so it should be obvious that I don't want to talk to you."
"Too bad," the emotion replied firmly, "because I need to talk to you. About Beast Boy."
Allowing herself to sigh outwardly, the empath asked with a hint of impatience, "Are you trying to tell me that he is the reason you're back?"
"I told you that you knew why I was here," Love said a bit more cheerily. "Of course it is because of him."
"Not interested," the Titan responded, pulling her cloak tighter around herself as the wind began to blow harder.
"Yes, you are," the complex emotion countered, "I know you trust him, just like you did back then."
"This is different," Raven answered, passing by an alleyway still heavily immersed in her own thoughts.
"Why," Love questioned, "... because instead of trusting him to understand your heart, you're trusting him -with- your heart?"
Before the cloaked female even had a chance to respond, a sharp gasp passed through her lips as she felt a sudden sharp pain in her side, which soon spread across her stomach. This caused her to reflexively grasp her side and take a step back in pain, only to bump into someone else, whose arm wrapped itself around her waist.
Suddenly, a sweet-smelling cloth was suddenly placed over her mouth and nose as she continued to breathe heavily from the pain in her side. She began to struggle despite her situation, but her movements started to slow and her eyelids slid shut.
She had been an easy target without her powers...
–
Letting out a low moan, Raven forced her eyes to open, unsure of where she was or how much time had lapsed since she had been knocked out. There was only a small amount of light wherever she currently was, but she was able to make out a large form looming a few feet in front of her and a yellow object laying by their feet. Great, they had taken away her communicator. Attempting to move, she felt a surge of pain coming form her side, where a rough rope was cutting into an open wound. With the pain, memories of the few seconds before she passed out came flooding back to her, although this also came with the knowledge that she was in great danger.
Trying to move once more, she found her legs were tied, like her arms. There was also something stuck across her mouth, probably to keep her from speaking the words which helped to activate her powers. Not that she could right then if she wanted to...
"You're awake," the figure spoke from the shadows, voice laced with what Raven felt was sick pleasure. She could now tell that the other person was male. "Good."
She struggled again, only to have the ropes cut deeper into her sides. Still, she narrowed her violet eyes in a threatening glare aimed at her captor.
Evidently, he ignored her expression, since he began talking again. "You might be wondering why I went through the trouble of knocking you out, seeing as it would have been just as easy to stab you while you were in your own world," the masculine voice started, still seeming too entertained with the whole situation in the Titan's opinion. "It's simple really...," he added, taking a step in her direction.
Raven persisted in her glaring, watching his movements like a hawk. All she could make out right then was that he had dark hair, was decently well built, and held a slim object in his right hand.
"... I wanted you to be awake when I killed you, to feel the pain," he finished icily, moving down to stare straight into her still-defiant eyes. Holding the knife up so that she could see it, a deadly smirk spread across his facial features that matched the lust for murder in his dark eyes. Then, without warning, he stabbed the blade into her other side, being careful not to slice the ropes as he did so.
Another wave of pain flooded her body, but her only reaction was to tightly shut her eyes in attempt to block out the pain. She knew she could survive those wounds. The second one had pierced her side, but with only one edge of the blade.
Upon feeling him rip the sharp object away from her form, now surely dripping with her blood, she began to feel uncertain. That had only been a warning, but what about the next time?
Reopening her eyes, she took notice that, to her horror, he was poised to strike again. This time, the knife was positioned about a foot away from her heart...
–
Note: (Dodges random objects that could be thrown at her after such a cliff-hanger) Sorry about that, but it all had to happen! Really! I hope that, despite the ending, you all still liked the chapter...? Remember, the reason why Raven was so easy to attack was because of her loss of power and the conflict going on between her and her emotions... I hope that seems realistic. I tried my best with this chapter... The next chapter should be up soon!
(1) conversion - subconscious conversion of stress into physical symptoms (definition found at http // changingminds . org / explanations / behaviors / coping / coping . htm ... so I didn't make it up!)
Tammy Tamborine - Glad you liked the last chapter, and I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long for this part! Thank you for the review!
WickedWitchoftheSE - Hmm... I definitely think I'll have BB get them back for it... Hehehe... Still, I needed it to come out to move the storyline along, unfortunately... Thanks so much for the review!
Water and Fire - I try to write the characters as in-character as I can, while still putting them in the situations that I've created, so... from what you say, it seems like I'm doing an okay job. I'm glad you liked the last scene! It was hard for me to write, and I also felt bad for BB... Thank you for the review!
SxstrngSamurai13 - Wow, I was flattered by your long review! I especially appreciate you commenting on how I paced the relationship. It seems that it has come across how I wanted it to. In other words, not too fast but realistic. The introspection is something I've definitely worked on a lot, seeing as how one of my own characters (which I created for my own storyline) is extremely introspective sometimes. This chapter was full of information to some of the topics you brought up in your review, so I hope you like it! Also, I'm glad you like how I've written it out so far (at least up to this chapter), and I can't thank you enough for the review!
TDG3RD - Yeah, Raven was a bit harsh, wasn't she? Still, you're right again. I tried to convey that what she said and did -was- difficult for her... I tried to have the conversation be hard on the both of them. Also, I had attempted to put some humor in the conversation between the three guys, and it seems it worked (at least some). I loved writing Robin's reactions; I just couldn't resist... Thanks you so much for another review!
Note: Please R&R! (Also, I am once again asking for three reviews before I update again, alright?)
