Sorry it took me so long to update. I'm trying my best to remember, really I am! I was just busy… I had a trip up island and I've needed a few lazy days and what not. Nothing to worry about… now I'm updating again!

-Ventilating

Tai sat on his favourite rock by the stream, looking out into the deep pools of water. The urge to submerge himself in its depths wasn't lost on him… neither was the urge to feel his lungs burn with the need of oxygen.

He lowered a foot into the chilly waters, slowly sliding into the stream. Without taking a breathe he pushed himself beneath, grasping onto loose roots to keep him under…

He looked up towards the surface with green eyes, watching the crooked branches of a willow overhead… and a shadow?

Dark splotches danced across his vision as he shut his eyes again, the need for oxygen trying to betray him. He tangled his fingers deeper within the roots, keeping him there.

Soon enough the need for oxygen grew too great, and his mouth opened to try and suck it's life force from around it… only to pull water into his lungs. A sharp pain hit him as his body tried to rid itself of the liquid, only to draw more in…

That's when he felt himself being pulled back to the surface, and onto the bank of the stream. He coughed the water out of his lungs, water dripping from his blond hair.

Finally, when he was able, he looked up to his savior; a petite girl with shining red hair and crimson eyes, wearing a look of deep worry.

Never had he seen her before.

"Why did you save me?" he asked the girl, tears coming to his eyes. "Why didn't you let the gates of hell welcome me to where I belong? Why!"

"Because," the girl whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. "No one who is needed as much as I sense you are, should die of their own hand."

"Needed?" he hissed, struggling to a stand. "To be needed is to be loved, and I am not loved in this world."

Beast Boy stretched from his curled position, blinking open his eyes. He panicked for a few moments when he didn't recognize where he was, only to see the familiar forms of Cyborg and Raven in the doorway.

Slowly turning away from them, he saw Starfire dozing in a chair next to him. Cocking his head to the side in confusion, he reached forward to nudge her shoulder… only to stop. His hand was covered into a fine fuzz, and his fingernails had narrowed and sharpened to deadly claws.

He pushed himself to a sitting position as he continued to look at his hand, just to realize that he wasn't wearing his usual uniform. Somehow he had been changed into the thin robes he had only seen in hospitals…

Looking around again, he finally realized where he was: Jump City Hospital.

"Beast Boy!" Cyborg's cheery voice entered his mind, and his robotic friend came into view. "What happened to you? We were all worried!"

The shouting woke Starfire, who opened her tired eyes and offered him a smile, before she launched herself at him without warning, squeezing the life from him. "Friend Beast Boy! I was so worried you would stay in the sleep of the Coma for eternity!"

"Can't… Breathe…" Beast Boy gasped over his shoulder. "Need… Air…"

"Cut it out Star," Raven muttered, prying them apart with her powers. Beast Boy sent her a smile of gratitude, which she ignored, before looking at his hand again.

"Woah… what happened to your hand?" Cyborg asked, snatching the green limb to himself as he examined it. "It's all… different."

"You have grown up in a short time, Friend Beast Boy," Star nodded her agreement.

"Grown up?" the changeling blinked. "What do you mean? I'm still the same, aren't I?"

"What the-!" Robin's voice sounded from behind them, along with the clatter of objects hitting the floor. Beast Boy whipped around to look at their leader's shocked face. "Beast Boy? What happened to you!"

Not being able to take it any longer, he pulled away from everyone, standing on the hospital bed. He looked around quickly, spotting a small bathroom in the corner; transforming into a fly, he zipped into the bathroom, only to transform back and slam the door shut.

Taking deep, steady breathes, he turned towards the mirror with his eyes shut. His friends started to bang on the door, but that didn't matter. Slowly he opened his eyes to find out what he looked like now…

Only to see Tai.

"T-tai..?" he stuttered. "What are you doing here…?"

"I can't let you see yourself, Gar," the blond boy spoke from inside the mirror. "I know it seems cruel, and it probably is… but you have to do what I never got to do, and you can't make the mistakes I made… this is just… incentive. If you stay calm, you'll look as you always do, don't worry."

With a strangled cry he fell back, sliding down the wall behind him.

Raven walked up behind them as Star launched herself at Beast Boy. "Can't… Breathe…" The green boy gasped out. "Need… Air…"

"Cut it out Star," she muttered, summoning her dark magic to pry them apart. Beast Boy took a few deep breathes before turning to give her a smile, which she disregarded as she looked at him.

What had happened to him?

"Woah… what happened to your hand?" she heard Cyborg ask. Why stop at his hand? His entire being was different, from the aura around him to the features on his face. "It's all… different."

"You have grown up in a short time, Friend Beast Boy," Star agreed with him; she must have thought this as something like her transformation a few years prior… and who knows? Maybe it was.

"Grown up?" He blinked, and she couldn't help but think he looked almost cute when he did that... "What do you mean? I'm still the same, aren't I?"

"What the-!" Raven cringed at the sound of their lunch hitting the floor, accompanied by Robin's confusion… the look on their leader's face was no better. "Beast Boy? What happened to you!"

It turned out that was not what the changeling needed to hear, as he stood up on his bed and transformed into a fly. Before any of them out respond to his sudden reaction, he flew to the small bathroom in the corner, turned back to himself and slammed the door shut.

Quick as lightening the rest of the team were outside the door, banging and asking to be let in. With a sigh Raven closed her eyes, concentrating… with a mutter of, 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!' she cast a sound proof barrier around the room, leaving the walls shadowed and evil. She didn't really care as she pushed her way through her friends, slowly melting into shadows before creeping under the door…

Materializing inside the little room, she watched as Beast Boy slid down the wall, only to pull his knees to his chest as his shoulders started to shake. Her hands balled into fists as she silently blamed her teammates outside for his actions, and without thinking took a step forwards to comfort him…

She stopped when she saw the mirror.

From the corner of her eye she hadn't seen her reflection, but the image of a girl with shining red locks and crimson eyes looking back at them worriedly; but when she turned to get a better look, alls she saw was herself. Shaking it off as her imagination, she crouched down in front of the green boy, cautiously placing a pale hand on his forearm.

His reaction was immediate. He looked up at her with a growl, which soon turned to sadness as he realized she was no enemy. Slowly he looked back down at his hands, tears starting to fall down his cheeks.

Raven just looked at him.

His hair had grown long and wild, a lone strand falling into his eyes, which, though they remained their green hues, now had the pupils of a cat. His fangs were longer, and his face seemed as sharp as his new claws. His body had grown again, and she didn't doubt that he would even tower over Cyborg now… and that fine fur that lined all his features.

It took her a few moments, but she finally realized that he was muttering something under his breathe. Gently she picked up his chin in her hand, forcing him to look at her.

"Beast Boy?" she asked, her tone suggesting she thought he might break. "What's wrong?"

"I can't change back," he laughed. A shiver went up her spine as she looked into his dead eyes. "Do you know how long it's been since I've lost control? Never! I've never lost control! And now Tai tells me I have to be calm or else I won't look normal and that I have to do what he never did and-"

"Beast boy!" she silenced him with her voice, taking a deep breathe. "Okay… tell me now, who is Tai?"

"Tai is someone from my past," he laughed again, shaking his head out of her grasp. "Someone from my entire family's past… well, family on my father's side. He's more of a story really, told to us as a kid at bedtime to help us get to sleep, and then as we become older, we dream of him and his adventures, his family. I think I'm the only person in my family who ever took him for what he really was. A story. A figment of the imagination."

"Then why do you keep seeing him?" she asked, making him look at her once more.

"Why do you care?" he challenged. "Why are you even here?"

"Because I'm worried," she shot back. "We're all worried."

"Worried enough to ever ask me why I spend endless hours in front of the TV instead of sleeping?" his voice boomed as he stood up. Raven stood up also, only to realize he stood a good two heads higher than her. "Worried enough to notice how I never speak of my past? Worried enough to even care? Wow, I'm really touched."

"Calm down!" she yelled back at him. "Here I am trying to be nice and you criticize me?"

The silence that followed was deafening, but he seemed to shrink as they started to register in his mind… if she, the Ice Queen of all Ice, was worried about him, what about the others?

She caught him as he fell forwards, his eyes drooping to a shut, and witnessed as his body slowly started to take its regular form. Granted, his hair was still a little too long and his fangs still spouted over his lips, but they could worry about that later.

Shutting her eyes as well, she let her senses feel if he was okay, like they had almost 18 hours prior when he collapsed in the kitchen. She allowed a small smile when she realized that his heart rate, blood pressure and breathing were all normal, and slowly opened the door.