Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. Sigh...
Notes: Okay, here it is! It's only been about four days, but I know that was a horrible cliffhanger. Hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Chapter 9: Knife's Blade
Slowly, she bit her lip, watching the man in front of her as he pulled the knife back, getting ready to begin its descent. The moments felt like hours, and during those moments, the empath tried several times to summon even a small bit of her powers. This was to no avail. She felt the blood pounding in her ears as she saw the sharp object begin to draw closer, starting its plunge.
Something sounded off to her right, something like padded paws against pavement, but she could not bring herself to look away from the blade of the knife. That is, until her assailant was suddenly shoved to the ground, a dark form effectively pinning him on his back. Turning toward where they had landed, she blinked to clear her vision, and to her surprise, saw that what had saved her was a green jaguar.
His front paws were pressing down unyielding on her attacker's shoulders while his back paws were firmly placed on the other's legs, causing him to be in a somewhat crouched position. His mere weight made it hard for the killer to move. Head lowered toward the man's face, the animal growled dangerously, beginning to bare its teeth as if daring the man to make a move.
Unfortunately, the brown-haired man shifted his right arm just enough so that he could reach up, the knife tightly in his hand. It seemed that he had been able to regain his composure fairly quickly for someone in his position. Without waiting, he moved to try and strike the big cat in its side. Although he was unsuccessful in completing a full-fledge stab wound, he did manage to create a gash across the jaguar's rib cage.
In response, the animal let out a loud cry of surprise mixed with pain and jumped back. However, in doing so, the claws on his left front paw dug in and trailed across the man's right upper arm, effectively tearing through some of the muscle that was there as well as eliciting a shout of pain from him.
Due to this injury, the human male was forced to release his grip on the bloodied knife and allow it to fall off to the side. Unable to put any pressure on his right arm, he shifted his weight to his left one and both of his legs as he tried to scoot backward, away from the obviously angry animal. His feet scuffed the ground noisily, but he found himself struggling to stand up due to his current condition. He knew he had to get far enough away from the green cat before he had enough time to get to his feet, seeing as how it would take him several precious seconds which he did have the luxury of right then. This was not to mention the fact that his mind was racing everywhere at once, so that made it a bit hard to focus.
Moving back a few steps himself, the jaguar suddenly shifted easily back into his human form, clutching the bloody gash to his left side with his right hand. That did not seem to change his intentions, however. Beast Boy's green eyes were narrowed threatening and his teeth were still gritted together, a low growling sound seeming to come from the back of his throat. He did not change into another animal. No, this fight had become far too personal for that.
Without a word, he stepped forward and bending slightly, reached down with his free hand to grab the larger man's shirt in a tight fist. Pulling the other up to his eye level, the changeling allowed his words to come out in a foreboding hiss, "How dare you..." His grip tightened noticeably as he stared the man down, teeth remaining bared.
The culprit tried to regain his footing, but found it difficult seeing as how he was being held at just the right angle so that everything but the heels of his feet was off the ground. Nonetheless, his mind told him he needed to try and get away from the Titan who was currently threatening him. Thus, he made a last ditch effort and swung a punch with his left hand, aimed for the shape-shifter's face.
It connected, but Beast Boy failed to flinch. The punch had been weak because of the fact that the man had not been able to put his whole body behind it. Despite that, a trickle of blood started to trail away from his mouth, yet he paid it no heed. Instead, he reacted by lifting his bloodied right hand away from his open wound, making it into a tight fist, and using it to send a hard punch right into the other's jaw. At the same time, he released his hold on the man's shirt, allowing him to go flying backward, right into several half-empty aluminum trash cans.
The trash cans fell over and the killer lay sprawled out on top of them, blood dripping heavily from his mouth. It appeared that the punch had been powerful enough to break his jaw and temporarily knock him out.
Keeping a watchful eye on him for a few moments, the changeling stood still, unmoving. Then, seemingly satisfied, he turned to look toward his still captive teammate, eyeing her with concern. Ignoring his own injury, he moved to kneel down in front of her, a noticeable frown across his features upon seeing the wounds she had received.
Reaching off to his left, he grabbed a familiar yellow object, Raven's communicator. After pressing a button to call the others to their location, he laid it down next to her. He knew it would take them five to ten minutes before arriving, seeing as how they were all off in different corners of the city. Then, wordlessly, he used his left hand to remove the tape that was stuck to her face, keeping her from making any noise. He did this gently, since the adhesive was unwilling to let go easily.
That only took a minute or so, but it seemed that during that time, his true condition was beginning to show through. His breathing was quite labored and, due to the close proximity that they were in, Raven noticed that he was paler than usual. This made the dark circles under his eyes even more noticeable. He was obviously exhausted. More than likely, this was caused by his lack of food and sleep, she reasoned.
"... you're alive," he murmured as if he was saying it to reassure himself, relief evident in his voice. When he had been removing the tape, he had allowed his fingers to linger momentarily against her pale cheeks before pulling away. It did not occur to him at the moment that the girl had failed to even try to pull away at the touch. He was much more focused on the fact that he had managed to get there before... well, he did not even what to think about it at the moment. It had not happened, and that is what mattered.
The changeling opened his mouth as if to say something else but stopped short when he saw the other Titan's eyes suddenly widen. Her gaze was directed at something behind him, but before he could fully turn to see what it was, a fresh new pain began to flood his whole left side.
Without warning, at least to those outside of herself, the empath's eyes began to glow white and a surge of power burst forth from her body, stopping time right at that instant. Everything simply stood still, except for herself.
Breathing heavily as her eyes returned to their normal violet shade, Raven took a moment to take in all that had just happened. She had seen the form of the other man hovering just behind her green teammate, knife in hand. (How he had gotten there so fast or without either of them hearing him was unknown to her, but that did not matter now.) Her breath had caught in her throat, disabling her ability to speak. It was at that moment, where the sharp blade of the knife neared its target, that a sudden realization had suddenly struck her. The fear that gripped her heart right then felt greater than when her own life had been threatened. Perhaps, this was because she had foolishly thought before that he would not have cared, seeing as she had given him the pain of rejection. Regardless of why, all she knew was that in that instant, his life became more valuable to her than her own. Then, something had snapped and caused time to stop.
The knife was stuck a few inches into Beast Boy's previous wound, having gone a little left of its target when he had begun to turn around. She had to remove the blade first, then worry about the enemy. However, first things first, she had to unbind herself.
The female Titan felt faint from all of the blood she had lost thus far, but she refused to let that slow her down right then. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos," she whispered and focused her power on the ropes that surrounded her arms and legs, soon feeling the rough material fall away from her form. With that done, she unsteadily rose to her feet, taking care to not make the wound in her side bleed anymore than it was. Feeling slightly dizzy, the placed her left hand on the wall to brace herself for the moment.
Then, shifting her gaze toward the offending object, she murmured the three words again and allowed power to slip out of her right hand and consume it, pulling it out of her teammate's flesh carefully while also removing the handle from the culprit's grip. When it was safely away from Beast Boy, she moved the weapon off to the side and let it fall to the ground.
Now, on to the last task at hand: taking care of her attacker. Once again speaking her usual words, the cloaked Titan sent power from her fingertips to the man's chest, forcing him back against the wall with a resounding thud. He would be feeling that when time resumed. To make sure that he would not be able to get away, she formed a wall out of her powers with the simple wave of a hand. It was in the shape of a half-circle, holding the killer firmly against the hard brick wall with barely any room to move. Unless he had powers of his own, which was definitely not the case, he would be trapped there until she let him out or until she passed out.
Starting to feel blood slide off of her leotard and onto the skin of her legs, she tightened the material of her cloak around her wounds, hoping not to worry her teammate any further. After all, he was bleeding badly as well. The empath moved to kneel in front of Beast Boy before allowing time to begin again.
It was as if he blinked and it was over. There had not even been time for a significant cry of pain to pass over his lips. One moment, there had been a knife going through his side and now the wielder of that weapon was effectively pinned against the wall, trapped there by Raven's power. Although obviously confused, the man was struggling as best as he could, but it was to no avail. Looking toward his friend, the green Titan noticed her gazing worriedly toward where he felt his injury was located. She was no longer bound by any ropes and it looked as though she had bled even more, seeing as how her blue cloak had even larger stains of the crimson liquid. Something similar had happened before, when he felt like it was all over in a mere second. Had she stopped time again?
The changeling was jerked out of his thoughts when she took hold of the bottom of her cloak and began to tear a strip off from the rest of the garment.
Sitting up a little more, the female Titan reached out and wordlessly slid the piece of cloth around his back. Careful to minimize the pain, she pulled it against the open wound and tied the ends together around the right side of his form. "That should help a little with the bleeding," she murmured, still not looking up to meet his gaze.
Apparently, that was not all she intended to do, since she began to move a hand toward the injury with a slight glow emitting from it. However, before she could use any more of her power, he placed his clean gloved hand over hers and gently pushed it away. "No," he began, having to look down at her since her head was drooping forward, "save your power." It was obvious from his tone that he was more concerned for her well being than his own.
She was silent for several seconds, not moving at all. Then, she replied with noticeable determination, "Beast Boy, you're–..."
"I'll live," he cut her off, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips despite the pain he was in at that moment. "You've lost a lot of blood," he added after several seconds, eyes once again focused on the growing stain on her cloak.
"I'll heal," was her brief answer, not directly replying to what he had said. Then, without warning, she leaned in closer, resting her head against his shoulder almost tentatively. She said nothing.
Blinking in surprise at her action, he was initially unsure of how to react. Sure, she had hugged him before, but somehow, this felt different. "Raven...?", he asked, tone showing his uncertainty as well as his concern.
"... you're alive," came her response, far softer than was usual for her. Without another word, she wrapped her arms loosely around him, being mindful of the wounds he had received in the past several minutes. She continued to lose blood, and thus, she was beginning to feel herself growing more and more faint. That could have been part of the reason for why she was reacting the way she was, but she admitted to herself that there was more to it than that. She could only hope that her earlier rejection of him did not change how he felt. Although, she was quite doubtful that it had. However, why did it have to take something so drastic for her to finally acknowledge why one of her most extreme emotions had shown up once again? She could not deny it anymore. Next time, they might not be as lucky...
He blinked once at her answer but did not say anything in reply. Instead, he chose to wrap his own arms around her form, both to comfort her and reassure himself that she was in fact there. Although he remembered her earlier rejection of him, it was becoming quite clear that her actions had been a cover up. He understood, though. After having his heart broken, it was difficult for him to admit that those type of feelings were returning, albeit for a different person.
When he moved to return the embrace, he felt her begin to relax a little, although it worried him that her loss of blood would soon render her unconscious. Speaking of which, he himself was beginning to finally feel the effects of his exhaustion. Up until then, the adrenaline pumping through his body had kept him going in such a time of crisis. Now that things were settling down, his body was not producing those natural chemicals anymore. Thus, he began to grow quite tired and slouched forward.
Feeling this, the empath looked up from where her head rested on the his shoulder to take note of his growing fatigue. "Beast Boy?", she asked, watching a smile slowly become more apparent on his lips.
"Ya know," the shape-shifter began a bit awkwardly, "I never did get to tell you what I wanted to..." He met her violet gaze with his green eyes for a few seconds before turning to rest his forehead against her shoulder.
She continued to hold him, trying to put off her own faintness from blood loss. One of them had to keep consciousness until one of their friends arrived. "And?", Raven finally voiced, as though she had been waiting for him to finish, although she did have some idea about what he was going to say.
"Heh...," the changeling breathed, a smile still on his slow moving lips. "That I...," he continued, although it seemed that he was fading quickly from lack of energy, "... love you..." As soon as he had whispered the last word, his whole form went limp against her.
Turning her head to look over at him, she allowed a small smile of her own to grace her features, despite the pain and fatigue that was causing her muscles to ache. She knew that she could not keep this up much longer, but...
"Raven!", a familiar voice sounded from the end of the alleyway, concern and worry heavy in that one word.
Shifting to look over at the newly arrived Titan, the cloaked female felt her eyes become half-lidded as she slowly leaned backward along with Beast Boy, soon resting against the brick wall that was a few inches behind her. "Starfire," she started, voice soft and letting the other know that its owner was slowly slipping into unconsciousness, "it was... him..." Her violet eyes then closed as she blacked out.
At the same time, the assailant found himself released from his temporary prison and fell to his knees, a bit surprised by the sudden disappearance of the wall. Unfortunately for him, the Tamaranian had readily heeded her teammate's warning and landed softly on the ground behind him. She could have simply fired a warming shot to make him stay in place, but she did not know if he was still armed or not. So, leaning down and taking advantage of the man's slight disorientation, she grabbed both of his wrists, careful of the horrible injury on his upper right arm.
He tried to pull out of her grip while muttering unintelligible words, but her alien strength easily prevented him from breaking free.
Behind him, the redhead's eyes were glowing a dangerous green, although she knew better than to attack him. No more offenses actions were needed, and killing him would not be the answer. However, this did not keep her from speaking at least a few of her thoughts. "So, you are the one who caused all this badness to happen, and then you hurt my friends...," her anger was evident in her voice, although her tone grew softer as she spoke the last word.
Eyes returning to normal, she glanced worriedly toward her two friends, noting that time was currently not on their side. Thankfully, it was at that moment that she heard the distinct sound of the R-cycle's engine, followed shortly by that of the T-car. In the few short seconds that followed, both Robin and Cyborg quickly rounded the corner to the alleyway. They stopped a few feet away, wide eyes taking in the scene around them.
"Starfire," the masked leader began, eyes shifting from his badly injured teammates to the Tamaranian who had an unfamiliar man in her grasp, "what happened?" He looked hard at the likely attacker, who was still speaking unintelligibly under his breath. It seemed that he had convinced himself that any struggling would only put him in more pain. Smart move.
"I do not know, except that this man hurt our friends," she replied, the last part of her answer coming out in a harsher tone than was characteristic for her. After a few moments, she added, "I think they are simply passed out. Raven was awake upon my arrival."
"They both need medical attention, and fast," Cyborg stated the obvious, resting on one knee beside both of the unconscious Titans.
"Alright," Robin started, in the tone he always used when he was giving out orders, although this time around there was an apparent note of concern. "Cyborg, take Beast Boy in the T-car, and Starfire, you take Raven. I'll wait here for the police."
The partially-robotic male nodded as he reached out to pick up the changeling, being careful of his injuries as well as the empath's. "I radioed them on the way here, so they should be here soon," he stated, straightening back up.
"Good," the leader responded, moving to take the Tamaranian's place as she moved toward the unconscious female. For some reason, the man he had a hold of had become oddly quiet, but that would be something to question later. It was evident that Raven had been the one who had been the target, since this was her patrolling area. Judging by the discarded ropes and piece of tape, this had been planned by someone who knew she could not summon most of her powers without saying a few words beforehand. That left one question: how had Beast Boy known where to find her? The masked Titan doubted that it was just a coincidence.
Bending down, Starfire gently wrapped the blue cloak around the other female Titan's form, hoping to apply at least a minimum amount of pressure to the wounds for the time being. She lifted her easily into her arms and began to hover a few feet off of the ground, all the while gazing down at her friend's relaxed features. When Raven had looked up after she had arrived, those same features had been mildly contorted from pain, although the redhead was sure she had been hiding most of it.
It was then that the three Titans could hear sirens blaring nearby, obviously headed toward their current location.
"Go," Robin ordered. Then, he watched wordlessly as both Cyborg and Starfire left the alleyway, one by air and the other by land. He figured they would take the two unconscious team members back to the tower. After all, they had the right medical supplies to tend to the wounds and familiar surroundings when they woke up would probably be more settling. He unconsciously gripped the guy's wrists tighter out of frustration for all he had put them through, only noticing this when the other male let out a grunt of pain. Relaxing his grip to where it had previously been, he watched thankfully as several police vehicles pulled into sight. It would be easier to ask questions with others present...
–
Note: Alright, what do you all think? This chapter was a bit difficult since I had to take a few characters somewhat out of character while still keeping them in character. That make sense? I know there are still loose ends and unanswered questioned, but that will be taken care of in the next chapter. Anyway, only one more chapter to go and then the epilogue... After that, on to a new fic, but I will miss this one... Oh yeah! I seriously need a beta reader; ya know, just someone to proofread my chapters before I officially post them. If you're interested, let me know via e-mail or review. Thanks!
Tammy Tamborine: I know the time between updates was longer this time, but I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for the review!
rovak: I have a very difficult time killing off series characters. In fact, I don't think I've ever done it, so it's highly unlikely. Thank you for the good review!
WickedWitchoftheSE: Yeah, sorry about that cliffhanger... but the chapter was one of my longer ones and I needed somewhere to end it. Hope this chapter came out soon enough and thank you for the review!
SxStrngSamurai13: I know there are still some questions left unanswered, especially about the murderer and whatnot... Answers will come in the next chapter, I assure you. I noticed that I seem to write a lot of introspective times with the characters... I guess it helps me add in details. I feel like Beast Boy gets out of character sometimes, but I try my best to keep him as in-character as I can... Raven's realization about her feelings (or rather the beginning of) was sort of a fluke in some ways, so I'm glad you liked it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and thanks so much for your review!
Note: Please R&R! (Once again, three reviews before I update, okay?)
