Disclaimer: Me no own Teen Titans... Darn it...

Note: I apologize for the long wait, but the chapter is the longest one yet so hopefully that makes up for it? Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Questions and Answers

The purring of the engine beneath him seemed to calm his tense muscles, despite the fact that he was having his own race against time. This may not have been a life or death situation but it was important to the case. If word got out about the arrest, it would be all over the news. He could not have that happen just yet. Hopefully, he could get there before any reporters got wind of it. Feeling the need to go faster, he upped the speed on his R-cycle, racing quickly for the outskirts of the city. Behind him, a cop car followed, barely keeping up with the more maneuverable machine.

It had not been easy, Robin recollected. Having a broken jaw, it had been difficult to get answers out of the injured man. Nonetheless, he had managed. He had kept the number of questions down to a minimum, putting in assumptions every now and again to see whether or not they were in fact truths. Raven had been the one to be attacked and the changeling had only arrived later, as he had suspected. From there, he deduced that Beast Boy had to have gotten a tip somehow about the whole event, otherwise his appearance would have been far too much of a coincidence. He had asked the culprit if others outside of himself had known about his activities, to which the man nodded. Knowing that it was, to some extent, possible to talk with a broken jaw, he pressed as to the whereabouts of his accomplices. That was how he had found out where to go.

Something still troubled him in the back of his mind, however. Why would the man so easily give up such information? Usually, partners were not as willing to give up specifics as this man had. There was still a piece missing from the puzzle, and he intended to find out the answer. The uninjured people he sought would hopefully provide him with the facts that he lacked right then, if he could get there in time. If they were to see a news station broadcasting the recent arrest, they would most certainly flee. The masked Titan hoped to avoid any unnecessary searching, having already put in quite a bit of work on this case.

Gritting his teeth in anxiousness, he caused the engine to let out a low roar as it once again picked up speed. The clock was ticking.

Fortunately, the rundown building soon came into view. As he drew closer, it seemed that he had made it in time, seeing as how there was a light flickering dimly in one of the windows. That had to be where they were hiding out. He forced the R-cycle into an abrupt halt, just far enough away so that the sound of the engine would not alert the people he was seeking out. Hopping off of the machine, he covered the rest of the distance in many quick strides, only slowing down when he was a few feet away from the door.

Leaning in close, he waited to see if he could hear any voices from within before he made his presence known.

The talking was all done in low tones, as though they were starting to be far more cautious about who could be listening in. There was also a lot of shuffling around, and by the sound of it, all of the footsteps sounded rushed. Focusing more, the leader of the Titans thought that he could make out the muffled sound of a television. The news must have just reached them recently, otherwise they would have been long gone by then. Hearing a few louder voices, he could tell that they were all male.

"Wait a minute," Robin thought to himself, "I've heard those voices before..."

Casting one last glance behind him, he noticed that the authorities had also arrived in order to make any other arrests that were deemed necessary. With that done, he turned back around and took a few steps. One firm kick and the door would go crashing down, and hopefully, the end of the case would be even more within sight.

One, two, three... There was a sudden thud as the door fell to the inside, revealing the room's several occupants.

Two of the Teen Titans lay unmoving atop two beds in the medical room, or what acted as the medical room in the tower. Both seemed unconscious and each had another teammate standing beside their bedside, bandages and other supplies nearby. The changeling stayed where Cyborg had placed him on the white sheets, but the empath was floating a few inches above her bed.

"She went into the trance when we were half of the way home," the Tamaranian informed her only conscious friend that was in the room.

"We still need to finish cleaning up the gashes," the male Titan answered, beginning to carefully set about his work on Beast Boy's injuries to his left side. Their work was almost done. All that was left was to lay gauze over the wounds and bandage them.

"They will be okay," the redhead began with evident concern and hesitation, "right?" As she was speaking, she was laying some clean gauze gingerly over one of her friend's injuries before moving to do the same to the matching one on the other side.

"'Course, Star," the partially mechanical male answered, still tending to the shape-shifter's deep gash. His back was to the alien girl and a dividing curtain was also between them, so she could not have seen the worried expression that had crossed his features. In all truth, it was more for the empath than his friend that lay in front of him. Beast Boy may have been exhausted and lost blood, but Raven had appeared to have lost more.

"She lost her consciousness right after I got there," the female stated, although she knew that Cyborg already knew that. "I should have made more with the haste," she continued, finishing with the gauze as well as spreading a layer of ointment over the less serious cut across the unconscious girl's stomach.

"Don't blame yourself," the other responded, starting to wrap the bandages around his friend's form, being careful not to jar him too much.

The Tamaranian sighed aloud, starting to apply the bandages as she did so. It was a bit easier for her since Raven's body was not directly in contact with the bed. "I know I should not, but it is difficult," she voiced, tone expressing the concern that was also written across her features.

There was silence between them for a few moments as they continued tending to their friends' wounds, but this only served to make the two of them even more tense. It was obvious that both were worried, as it was something that went without saying. No words seemed appropriate right then, so neither spoke until finished.

Setting the unused bandages and gauze aside, the male Titan stood back to look over his work, making sure that there was nothing else that needed done for now. Turning slightly, he asked, "All done?"

"Yes," the redhead murmured just loud enough for him to hear before setting the medical supplies she had been using on a nearby tray. Looking up at the sound of the curtain being pulled back, she met the other's gaze for a brief moment before moving to lean up against the wall, situating herself so that she could easily see both of her unconscious teammates. "When do you think they will awaken?", she asked softly after another few minutes of quiet.

"I don't know," came his honest reply as he cast his line of vision toward the beeping machines, not to mention the several other machines and monitors that were lined up against the wall behind the two beds. "I mean, Raven's body needs to work to replenish the blood she lost, and by the looks of it, it was more than a few pints. BB may not have lost as much, but by lookin' at him, he seems to have over exerted himself."

Shifting her emerald eyes more toward the changeling, Starfire questioned, "How are we to know that he did this?"

"His skin is paler than normal and he has dark circles under his eyes, which means he either had little sleep or that he didn't sleep well," Cyborg started as he moved to stand beside the conscious female Titan. "All we know is that he left before we got up. He probably hasn't eaten anything since then, and the kitchen area didn't look as though it had been used much afterward, so I doubt he even ate breakfast," he continued, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"This is true," she responded, still looking very troubled by the whole situation. "Perhaps, then, I should retrieve some nourishment for when they awaken?"

Turning his head to look over toward her, the partially robotic male nodded. "That would be good, Star," he affirmed, beginning to walk back toward the unconscious shape-shifter, "but only clear liquids."

Starfire had already started for the door but stopped to glance back at the other Titan. "What is it that you are doing?"

Bent over his green friend, he answered, "The talk about food reminded me..." As he was speaking, he carefully forced Beast Boy's mouth open in order to look inside for a few moments. After that, he opened one of the other's eyelids. "I'm checking to see if he's dehydrated," he continued, gently pinching some of the green skin on the Titan's right forearm.

Hearing this, the Tamaranian worried her lip slightly as she turned to walk out of the door. "I shall be right back," she informed him before exiting.

Starfire returned a short while later, carrying several bottles of clear liquids in her arms. When she walked in, she noticed that the changeling had an IV in his right arm and that Cyborg had moved onto checking both of their vital signs. Wordlessly, she walked over to the tray beside Raven's bed and put down all of the bottles before turning to glance back at the male Titan. "What are you doing now?", she asked calmly, although her facial expression betrayed her tone slightly.

"He's dehydrated," the other explained, gaze still fixed on several of the monitors he was currently standing in front of. "Since he is unable to drink anything, I needed to get fluids in him with an IV."

The alien female turned fully, nodding as a way to show that she understood what he had meant. "He will not need any other fluids then, correct?", she questioned, beginning to move away from the empath's bedside in order to walk around toward her partially mechanical teammate.

"Nope," came his answer, turning around to face her. "Whenever he wakes up, we'll know if he can stomach anything else or not," he continued, moving to once again lean against one of the room's walls.

"So," she began, scuffing the front of her shoe slightly against the floor as if hoping too much by what she was about to say, "he will wake up then?"

"Yeah," Cyborg responded with certainty in his voice. "I looked over both of their brain waves when you were gone. He's no longer unconscious, just in a state of exhaustion. I didn't notice earlier because it was more important to make sure he was breathing and to fix up the wound so that he didn't bleed anymore."

"How long until he wakes up?", she asked, peering over toward where the green Titan was laying. "Soon?"

"Dunno, Star, but probably by tomorrow morning," he replied, once again crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"And Raven?", she pressed, concern switching from one friend to the other.

"Her brain waves show that she is somewhere between unconsciousness and sleep, but she should wake up around the same time as BB," her male teammate answered, eyes watching her as the Tamaranian came to stand beside him. "Heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration have pretty much returned to normal for both of them, so I think we're in the clear for now," he finished, letting the information help to calm his nerves.

"Even Raven's blood pressure?", she inquired, a bit uncertain.

"Well, no," Cyborg responded, "but it is rising at a good rate."

Starfire nodded, choosing to take a seat on the rather cold floor and watch her friends from that position. After a few moments, she decided to change the topic, "Have you heard from Robin?"

"Only long enough to know that he'll be back soon," the partially mechanical male stated, exhaling a sigh as he did so. "He said he had to question a few people."

"At least the badness should stop now," she commented, hugging her legs close to her chest.

"Yeah," he agreed, changing his line of vision to look down at her. When he spoke again, he had changed the subject back to their two injured teammates. "Ya know, even if they're stable, we'll still need to watch them for any changes."

"Should we then do the taking of the shifts?", the alien female asked, head tilted slightly to one side as she awaited his answer.

"That's probably best," he nodded, looking back up at the figures lying on the beds. "I'll take the first shift if you want to go and wait for Robin."

"Alright," she consented, rising back to her feet and once again making her way over the door. "I will take the second shift," Starfire said before leaving the room to go await the masked Titan's arrival on his R-cycle.

The engine slowly quieted as the Boy Wonder parked his vehicle and turned off the machine, thankful to finally return home for the night. After turning off the headlight, he dismounted the bike and pulled off his helmet, shaking his head a few times as if to move his hair back into its usual style. Placing the helmet on top of the R-cycle, he turned to head inside the main part of the tower, only to stop short when he heard footsteps moving his way.

"Robin," a familiar voice addressed him, coming closer in the dim light, "I am glad that you have returned."

He approached the female Titan so that they met about halfway. "Starfire," he started with a slight note of confusion in his voice, "why are you down here?" It was then that he took note of the fact that her eyes and the skin around her eyes were all slightly red, but he credited this to her being tired and possibly rubbing her eyes. There was a part of him that knew otherwise, but he did not want to see her upset.

"I was waiting for you since Cyborg is watching over our injured friends," she explained, facial expression noticeably downcast. "Tell me," she continued, "have you acquired any new information?"

"Yes," he responded, shifting his weight mostly onto his right foot as if expecting to stand in that place for at least a few more moments. "I tracked down his accomplices since he had a hard enough time talking with that broken jaw," the masked Titan continued, his tone cold as he recalled the men who had been behind that door. "It seems that the actual murderer was only their pawn."

"But he caused all of the badness, yes?", the Tamaranian questioned, tilting her head to the side.

"He did, but they put him up to it," Robin answered, crossing his arms in front of himself. "According to them, the serial killer has a mental disorder. They said he had more than one personality (1), the one who murdered and the one who they admitted to pushing around to get what they wanted."

"Oh," was all she said, not sure what else would be appropriate to say in response to the information that he had told her.

"The authorities have to bring in someone to confirm his psychological state, so we won't know anymore until then," the leader of the Titans informed her, his tone only a bit less tense than it had been before. "I recognized those men, though. We've arrested them before," as he was speaking his left hand balled up into a tight fist, "To think that all of those murders were because of their petty revenge..." His whole form appeared rigid by the time he finished speaking.

Starfire had heard what the other was saying, despite the fact that she did not reply or acknowledge that she had been listening. Her head was hung low and her red bangs hid most of her features from view.

Upon calming down a few moments later, Robin noticed the posture of his female teammate and ventured to ask, "How are Raven and Beast Boy?"

She did not answer verbally. Instead, she wordlessly took a few steps forward and moved to lean into him, her head resting against his shoulder (2).

In response, he brought his arms up to embrace her as well as offer her some form of comfort. "Starfire," he started in a softer tone, "how are they?" He did not necessarily want to upset her more, but he was worried about his friends.

"They are... doing better," she said quietly, leaning into him a bit more.

It was obvious that there was still something that she was holding in, seeing how he could feel how tense her entire form was. He tightened his arms around her slightly as he turned his head to look toward her, worry written on his features. "What's wrong?", he questioned, although he had a good feeling that he already know the answer.

Tears slid out from underneath her eyelids, shortly coming in contact with the material of his cape. He may not have been able to feel that she was crying, but it soon became evident in her voice. "He... almost took our friends... away...," she choked out, her body trembling slightly from her acceptance of such a fact.

"I know," were the only words that he could think to say to her right then. Slowly, as though uncertain of how she would react, he began to rub one of his gloved hands against her back, trying to soothe and comfort her. "... but he did not succeed," he added, trying to remind her of the positive side even if it was a bit hard for him to see at that moment.

Her muscles seemed to relax a little when she felt him rubbing her back, and after a few more seconds, her tears stopped flowing and she pulled her face away from his shoulder. At his words, she nodded and a slight smile appeared across her tear streaked features as she turned to face him. "Yes," she agreed, "and for that I am most thankful."

Offering her a similar smile, he gently released her from his grip and made a brief motion toward the door that led to the rest of the tower. "Why don't we go and see how they're doing?", he asked, personally wanting to check on his friends.

In response, she gave him an affirmative nod before following him, wiping the drying tears from her cheeks as she did so.

Somewhere in the distance she could make out the sound of a persistent beeping. "Not another mission," she groaned inwardly. However, that thought did not last long, as she soon became aware of the presence of pain around her stomach area.

"Wait," she thought as her eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring up at a somewhat familiar ceiling. She sat up slowly and reached up to gently rub her left temple, trying to remember where she was and what had happened. Looking down at herself, she noticed the bandages that were wrapped around most of her stomach and sides, not to mention the dulling pain that she could feel underneath them.

The memories of what she thought to be the previous night came flooding back to her, causing her to suppress a noticeable shudder at what could have happened...

In an attempt to drive these thoughts from her mind, she cast her violet gaze to one side and noticed the several bottles of water and other clear fluids that Starfire had set out for her. Come to think of it, her stomach was rather queasy but she was also thirsty... Barely hesitating, she reached out and took hold of one. As she did this, she noticed that there was light coming in from a nearby window, so it had to be at least the following morning.

After taking a few sips, she let out an audible sigh as she replaced the bottle, thoughts still wondering over the whole situation. Her major concern was that she did not know what had happened to him. "Beast Boy...," she murmured aloud, placing her head in her hands.

"What?", came a familiar voice from several feet away, although it sounded less energetic than usual.

Blinking in surprise at having received an answer, she turned her head as quickly as she dared, staring at the dividing curtain. Wordlessly, she peeled off any wires and whatnot that had been used to monitor her brain waves and carefully rose from her bed. Taking it slow, as to not reopen any of her wounds, she walked toward the sound of the voice, soon pulling back the curtain.

Raven found the changeling sitting up in his own bed, a bowl of cooling broth in his hands. His gaze was focused on her, though, even as he moved to set the warm liquid aside for a later time.

"You finally woke up," he said, smiling at seeing her standing there. However, that expression soon changed to one of worry. "... but... should you be moving around?"

"I'm fine," she answered, hesitating for only a moment before moving to take a seat on the end of his bed. "How're you?", the girl questioned, as though searching for an appropriate topic of conversation.

"Exhausted," the shape-shifter replied honestly, a lopsided grin partially in place on his lips. Silence reigned for several moments after that, with him watching her while she looked straight ahead. He let this continue, not wanting to disturb her and thereby possibly upset her right after she woke up.

Unnoticeably, she fidgeted slightly with her hands in her lap as she sat near him. She was not sure what to say or how to even broach the subject that was currently on her mind. At the very least, she was content with knowing that he would be okay and those feelings appeared to be mutual by the worry he had shown for her. Straightening up a bit, she braced herself and ventured, "Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?", he responded, unsure of what she was talking about. The green Titan studied the expression on her face but found it to be more or less unreadable, although she did seem a bit more tense than before.

"What you told me last night," she elaborated easily enough, although she herself had not felt too confident with saying it.

At hearing her answer, Beast Boy found himself once again smiling in an almost characteristic way. Before speaking, he carefully shifted his position so that he was sitting beside her, although he did leave enough space between them so that she did not feel uncomfortable. "'Course," he finally spoke up, still watching for any reaction from the empath, but he was not expecting what came next.

Without saying a word, Raven leaned against him, head resting on his shoulder. "Good," she said, her eyes partway closed.

He forced himself not to stiffen from the surprise he felt, but he could not stop the blush that suddenly found its way to his cheeks. "I-I... th-thought...," he began, stuttering slightly over the two words.

"That I'd reject you?", she finished for him, tone pretty close to the one she usually used. "I only did that because–..."

"Last time was so painful," he chose to cut her off this time, fixing his gaze straight ahead. There was once again silence for several moments before he chose to add, "I understand."

Taking solace in those words for a few minutes, she contemplated whether or not to tell him how she also felt the same way. She knew that somewhere in her mind Love was cheering her on. Just like her to do that, too. Upon exhaling, she started softly, "Beast Boy, there's something that I should tell you..."

"I...," he began, "already know." As he was speaking, he gently placed an arm around her, being careful of her wounds. Then, he waited for her reaction.

Instead of pulling away like he was nervous she would do, Raven leaned against him a bit more, although she said nothing about it. When she did speak again, she had changed the topic. "How did you know where to come last night?"

He blinked at her question and thought for a moment, still looking across the room from where they were sitting. "I kind of overheard a conversation by some guys who knew what was going on. I knew where you were patrolling, so that part was easy," he finished, thinking that his answer had been sufficient.

"You changed," she stated, referring to the fact that he had initially entered the scene as a jaguar. "How?"

"Dunno," came his honest answer, scratching his head with his free hand. "All I remember is that I had to get him away from you. That's it." When she did not respond after that, he went on to ask, "How did he get you?"

She seemed to almost wince at the thought of how the whole situation began, but she did owe him an answer. "I couldn't use my powers, so I was an easy target," the empath explained, eyes closing all the way when she spoke.

"You used them later, though," he pointed out, a bit confused by what she had said.

"For the same reason that you could use yours," she elaborated further but then left it at that, as though the rest was obvious. Again, there was silence.

"So...," the shape-shifter started, swinging his legs slightly from where they dangled against the side of the bed, "I guess all that's left is to tell the others."

A barely noticeable smile tugged at the corners of the female's lips before she replied, "That can be your job."

"Heheh," Beast Boy laughed uneasily, one arm behind his head as a nervous grin became plastered across his features, "thanks."

Note: That's the last chapter! Now, only the epilogue is left... What do you all think? I worked hard on this one and suffered from major writer's block. I added in the little Robin and Starfire moment at the last minute before I got to that point, and I hope the interaction between BB and Rae was to your liking. Also, all the medical information and whatnot is accurate. (I asked my aunt who is a nurse.)

(1) A vague description of Dissociative Identity Disorder

(2) I'm assuming that Robin had probably grown at least a few inches within the past few years, so he's probably at least as tall as Starfire...

WickedWitchoftheSE: After coming this far, I don't think I could make myself tear them apart. Thank you so much for the review!

Tammy Tamborine: Glad you thought so, and I hope this chapter was worth the wait, too. Thanks for the review!

SxStrngSamurai13: I did mention that BB was training more (at Raven's suggestion), but his adrenaline was also pumping, so that added to whatever physical strength he already had. It took me awhile to like the interactions between the two during the parts of the scene they shared. I was getting rather picky... but it seems like it paid off, hopefully. Those lines they shared was a coincidence which ended up working out quite well in the end. Glad you liked it! Thank you so much for your review!

Note: Please R&R! (Three more reviews before the epilogue, okay?)