Chapter 9 (A/N: This chapter is partially inspired by my own illness. I'm pretty sick. *sniffle*)

"Aah-aaah-aaaah….ahhhh…..ACK-CHEW!!!!" Raven blew her nose into the tissue, and tossed it onto the overflowing waste-basket. It was her second box of tissues, her third dose of Dayquil, and her fifth glass of orange juice. And she was still sneezing and coughing her brains out.

"I bless you, Raven."

"Thangs Starfire." She muttered groggily. Raven sniffled again, and blotted her nose again. She hated being sick, almost as much as she hated her friend, which was thankfully over. But it was replaced with this bizarre cold. She just couldn't have a peaceful time anymore could she?

With an angry scowl, Raven let out a loud cough. Cyborg and Robin had left for a local fighting tournament, so it was just her, Starfire, and Beast Boy; who was, according to Raven's calculations, on his third cup of herbal tea. She supposed it was nice of Beast Boy to try something new, but it was so unusual that she spent almost an hour yesterday contemplating the reasons why he was drinking it.

And today, here she was in the Main room, getting some more orange juice to wash down more Dayquil, and to her uncomfortable shock, Beast Boy was sitting at her place in the room, sipping some tea, and reading the sequel to 'The Wizard and the Light.'

"Beast Boy? Why don't you read that in your roob?"

He didn't listen to her; only turned a page. "Beast Boy?" His eyes were speedily shifting across the pages. Not really in the mood to argue with him, Raven just downed the Dayquil and the orange-juice, and stomped to her room.

Making her way to her bed, Raven accidentally kicked something in the middle of the floor. There was that book again! If it was Beast Boy who kept on taking it down as a joke, he was in for it.

But at the moment, she was too tired, and really wanted a nap. Bending down, she picked up the book, and put it back on the shelf. This process was really getting old. It was the third day in a row that she had to put that book back in its place. She was really going to get Beast Boy for making her bend like this with such a runny nose.

Exhaustion taking over, Raven stripped off the cloak and booties, and then crawled into bed.

(In the Main room.)

Beast Boy looked up from the book, and glanced around, seeing only Starfire, watching some weird show on toe-fungus. "Hey Star, was Raven trying to talk to me just now?"

Turning away from her show for a moment, since she was too polite to ignore someone, Starfire responded, "Well, yes. But you were reading and did not listen."

Feeling a little guilty, Beast Boy marked the page in the fascinating book, and downed the rest of his herbal tea to go talk to Raven. He tossed the book in his room before going to visit Raven. He knocked on the door, and upon hearing nothing, pressed the button to slide it open automatically. By now, he was used to sneaking into her room, for no reason other than to visit the Feminine Raven. But now, he was greeted with the sight of a panting Raven lying in bed. Worried, he walked over to her, and knelt down, shaking her arm. "Hey, Raven, wake up!"

Her sweating face burrowed deeper into the blankets, disheveling her hair. She didn't even open her eyes "Rrr! Dot dow!"

He blinked. "Say what?"

"I said, dot dow! Let be get sobe sleep!"

His brows furrowed, then his eyes snapped open. "Oh! You're sick!"

Lowering the blanket to her chin, Raven looked up at him, an over-exaggerated smile on her face. "How could you tell?"

He wrinkled his nose, and instinctively leaned forward.

Her eyes widened in fear, and Raven scooted further back into bed. "Hold still," he murmured softly. Impatient, he put his hand behind her head, and held her in place.

Raven watched as Beast Boy's lips pursed. Oh no, hadn't they agreed to let that go? Why was he trying again? And more importantly, why were her lips puckering? Why was she closing her eyes?

She felt his chin on the bridge of her nose. Confused, she opened her eyes, and looked up. Beast Boy's lips were on her forehead. Even more confused, Raven's eyebrow raised. "What are you doin-k?"

He let go of her head, and backed off, putting his chin on his arms. "You've got a pretty high fever."

Raven remembered reading somewhere that a more effective way to check for fever when lacking a thermometer was to use the lips on the forehead. Thankfully, Beast Boy's eyes were closed as well. So he couldn't see her pucker up for a kiss.

Beast Boy looked at her flushed face, and was apparently mistaking the blush for the effects of her fever. "Wow. You're burning up. Stay right here!"

Sinking her head back into the blanket, Raven said under the covers, "Dot like I could go adywhere else!"

After a few minutes, he came back, armed with a washcloth and a jar of something. Setting the items on her night-stand, Beast Boy gently lifted a wordless Raven, and propped up the pillows behind her. When he set her back down, she was sitting up against the pillows, and he tenderly placed the damp washcloth on her forehead.

Blushing a little, but knowing Raven was too weak to protest, Beast Boy lifted Raven again, and slowly unzipped her leotard. Her eyes widened, but other than that, she couldn't do anything. "What are you doin-k?"

He stopped a little below her shoulder-blades, and, for the first time in another person's presence, Beast Boy stripped off his gloves. Her eyes widened. The gloves revealed to be quite deceiving as she saw his well honed fingers and knuckles. His fingernails weren't dirty underneath like she'd expected. In fact, his hands were well-groomed and confirmed great strength. He caught her eyeing his hands, and said, "This doesn't leave the room okay?"

She looked up at his eyes, and nodded dumbly while blushing. He unscrewed the lid of the jar, and scooped out a little bit of a jelly-like substance. His face almost as red as hers, he started to rub her collar-bone with the jelly. Raven's lashes batted, and she really didn't know what he was doing. Since she couldn't breathe through her nose, she panted out through her mouth. "Hey, close your mouth. This stuff only works if you breathe through your nose."

Tempted to argue, Raven closed her mouth, and sucked in a small amount of air through her nose. A pungent odor arose in her nostrils, but her nasal passages started clearing, and she suddenly recognized the pleasurable smell of the Vicks VapoRub. She was surprised that Beast Boy was able to find it. Perhaps he had it in his room and that was why she hadn't found it.

Giving in to the soothing smell, Raven's chest rose and fell to embrace the soothing heat on her collar bone. VapoRub usually didn't have this kind of effect on her. It just opened up her nasal passages and burned her chest. Currently, she was feeling completely relaxed, and her senses radiated bliss.

Beast Boy's other hand started rubbing it in, and Raven closed her eyes to absorb the feel. She let out a moan of satisfaction as he massaged her upper chest. It definitely wasn't just the Vicks that had her feeling so good. It was the magic of his hands. He really ought to let them out of those colossal gloves more often. Her eyes opened in slumberous pleasure to watch his face. Again, his face lacked the friendly glow, and his eyes were concentrated.

He caught her staring again, and this time Raven didn't feel that she should be blushing. He should be the one with a red face. He was the one rubbing her chest; just a few inches above her breasts. But why wasn't she trying to stop him?

His hands moved up to her shoulders, and began a frontal shoulder massage. Raven sighed, and her head rolled, the cloth sliding off her face as she embraced the rising temperature of the Vicks on her shoulders. She looked up at him again, and noticed that his face was closer than before. "Still kinda stuffed?"

Brain-dead, she nodded again. The VapoRub had helped a little bit, but she was still getting only minimal amounts of air into her lungs.

His eyes changed to a look of sadness. "I'm sorry you don't feel good." He leaned forward, and hugged her, ignoring the stickiness of her upper body. Touched, and having no control of her actions due to medicine, Raven hugged him back. It was just like the other night. Warm, and reassuring. But this time, it was a little bit different.

He kissed her cheek.

It wasn't like before when he had checked her forehead for fever. He was actually kissing her cheek. It was probably a brief moment, but it felt like it was going on forever. His cold lips contradicted with the hot of her fever-ridden face; calming and sweet. He pulled away, and smiled sympathetically. Placing the cold washcloth back on her face, Beast Boy said, "I'll leave you alone so you can get some sleep."

His consideration was so heartwarming. Raven looked down modestly. "Thank you." The jar of Vicks VapoRub burst apart, the jelly splattering a wall or two along with her and Beast Boy.

Curse him! How the hell did he manage to get her so riled up??? She thought her hormones had let up!? "Beast Boy…GET OUT!"

A little hurt, Beast Boy's shoulders hunched, and he said, "I was just trying to help."

She crossed her arms. "You've done enough. NOW GET OUT!"

(Later, in BB's room.)

Beast Boy dried up, and slipped back into his uniform. Since he'd already visited the Feminine Raven today, and had made a poor attempt at making the real Raven feel better, he felt he had done his duties for the day. Thankfully, after Cyborg and Robin came back, Cy had challenged him to RaceX20, and who was a hero of his prodigious gaming prowess to refuse?

Soon, he found himself pouting on the couch. "Aw Yeah! BOOYAH! I'm bad! I beat ya! That's the tenth time in a row BB! You betta quit while you're behind!"

Beast Boy wrinkled his nose at Cyborg, and before he could challenge the half-machine again, the Titan Alarm went off, and the big screen TV automatically turned into a map of the city and the stats of the criminal came up. Any previous battles were registered in the computer, so any repeat-offenders were able to be displayed. And this time, a photograph revealed the bothersome twerp: Gizmo.

A voice sounded behind Cyborg and BB. "Titans! Go!"

(In the Mall.)

"Alright you scum-sucking sleaze-bags! Open all the cash registers!" Gizmo was perched on the tallest fountain in the center of the mall, talking into a loud-speaker attached to his back-pack. His mechanical spider-legs were raising him to the near ceiling of the mall, but he was sitting on a large vacuum hose, and once he had confirmed that all the registers were opened, he pressed a button, and the dollar bills started to fly towards his machine.

"Not so fast Gizmo!" Robin shouted. Since Raven was sick, Starfire wanted to stay home and look after her. And this being just Gizmo, it really wouldn't be a problem only having three Titans. "Give back the money, and no one gets hurt."

"And what makes you think you can stop me with just two of you?"

"Ha! And they call me dumb!" Beast Boy boasted. He hitched his thumb at Gizmo. "This little freak can't even count."

"Take another look Crud-ball! Can't you even see what this machine does?"

His arms crossed, Cyborg said, "sucks money, so?"

"EGGH! WRONG! This baby sucks up green." And he was right. Several plants, green lamps, chairs, and other green products were being sucked up.

A little worried, all heads turned to an oblivious Beast Boy. "What?"

The next thing they new, BB was being sucked up into the giant vacuum.

(Later, back at the Tower.)

Beast Boy coughed up some dust, and frowned. Growing bold, he walked right into Raven's room. She looked like she was sleeping, so he didn't worry. Picking out the book, he opened it, and jumped right in.

But little known to poor Beast Boy, Raven had seen him…

(In Raven's mind.)

"So, tell me what happened." Raven said reassuringly. Beast Boy leaned back in the chair, and swiveled so the back of the chair was facing the table.

"Let's just say my day wasn't so hot."

Raven reached around the chair, and massaged his shoulders. Her touch was definitely enjoyable, since his muscles had tensed and become as hard as the supposed muscles Raven had come to adore so much. "Aw! Well, tell me about it. Maybe I can…make you feel better?"

He pretended to ignore her obvious innuendo. "I got in a fight with you…AGAIN, Cyborg whooped my tail in RaceX-20, and what's worse, I got even more whooped by a little guy who was the first kid to have 'crud,' as his first word."

"Life is so stressful isn't it?" Raven's arm's slid lower down his chest…lower…lower…did she crawl on the table or something?

"Uh…it can be."

Her hands were beginning to get a little too low for Beast Boy, so he grabbed them, and so he wouldn't offend her, gently kissed her fingers. "Tell me about your day," he said, his voice unusually high, yet understandable, given the uncomfortable situation.

"I was so alone today. It felt like…I don't know, everything was empty, all of it was a blur."

Beast Boy felt the stir of pity deep in his stomach. "I'm sorry. How come?"

Raven swiftly flew around so she was facing Beast Boy, and in the instance of a blink, Raven was straddling his lap on the chair. "I didn't have you."

Shrinking back, Beast Boy chuckled nervously. Raven's Feminine side was being unusually affectionate right now. "Well, you had me for part of the day, hehe…"

His words fell on deaf ears. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and was leaning in quite close her reddish cape was enveloping his face as she tried to lean in for a kiss. He put a finger on her lips, knowing he didn't want this. Her eyes opened, and she leaned back, her eyes shining with disappointment…or was that tears?

"What's wrong Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy tried to think quickly. He should be able to get out of this! As a jokester, he had an instinctively quick wit, and it got even quicker when he was in battle since he had to think to transform. But now, his mind was boggled.

"Uh…Raven? This isn't about you, it's uh…" He looked down, trying to look at his lap, but instead, he saw Raven's smooth thighs, and in a bizarre way, a thought finally popped into his head. "It is you actually…you see…I can't kiss you, until I kiss you…morally it just doesn't seem right…get it?"

Raven smiled, and giggled as her hands slid down his chest, this time, thankfully, stopping at his pecs. "I get it sweetie. Just make sure you kiss me very soon."

She leaned in, this time, to his ear. "Because I can't wait much longer."

Beast Boy chuckled nervously. "Hehe…yeah…neither can I."

Suddenly, Raven disappeared, just as a wide door opened. "Beast Boy! Finally!"

He blushed, hoping his new guest saw only him. "Sorry Raven."

She looked around suspiciously, and a delicate purple brow rose. "I've been looking all over for you! And I thought I heard someone talking. Was one of my emotions in here?"

Blinking, Beast Boy's eyes rolled up. "No…I don't think so."

Raven looked skeptical, but she dropped it. "Look, I've told you over and over…stay OUT OF MY MIND!"

Raven was quite mad at him now, and it was quite refreshing, since she'd been doing nothing but dote on him lately. "Now come on, before one of my other emotions end up visiting you."

Beast boy rose from the chair, irritated. "I already to you, I wasn't talking to an emotion! I was talking to myself."

Raven blinked. "You're more of a weirdo than I thought," she said, and made an abrupt about-face as she left. "Let's get out of here, and maybe you can explain what's going on!"

Then again…

Beast Boy turned his head towards the shadow, where the other Raven was hiding. She smiled at him, and blew a kiss from her darkened position, and mouthed, "Soon!"

Maybe it wasn't so bad being doted on…

He blew her a kiss back, and winked before he left.