Chapter 3

Raven was meditating in her bright room when the alarm jolted her back to reality. She stood up quickly, only to fall down just as quick. Looking down, Raven realized that she hadn't changed out of the long black dress she had worn for Beast Boy's funeral.

A surge of anger coursed through her body at the sight of the dress. To her it was just a reminder of Beast Boy's death. Looking up to make sure her door was closed, Raven stood up. Closing her eyes, she focused all her power on the dress. The unfortunate piece of material fell to the ground as ashes after being burned by a magical fire. Raven quickly grabbed a leotard from her closet and pulled it on. Grabbing her cloak, she left her room, fastening it as she ran.

When she got outside, Robin and Cyborg were just leaving on the R-cycle and in the T-car. Starfire had already started to fly across the water. Raven quickly lifted herself into the air and followed Starfire.

The girls dropped to the ground near the ports. Plasmus was creating havoc. Two men in special uniforms huddled together near a white van. They had been transporting Plasmus to a better jail cell on the other side of town, but he had somehow escaped from the van.

People screamed in terror as Plasmus spat green goo at random citizens who had yet to run away.

"Titan's, go!" called Robin, jumping off his motorcycle and throwing freeze disks at the monster.

The disks exploded on Plasmus's left arm, causing that limb to be encased in ice. Starfire and Cyborg started to help Robin by throwing starbolts and firing sonic blasts.

Raven hung back, evaluating the situation. Actually, there wasn't much to evaluate. Plasmus had hit three cars with his radioactive spit, and someone had left a jacket on the ground, which had been ripped off hastily after being hit with his mud. The Titans were currently taking down Plasmus, quite quickly. Suddenly, Raven looked to her right to see a large billboard falling after the metal beams holding it up were hit by Plasmus's goo. As the billboard fell, Raven noticed a little girl underneath it.

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Beast Boy followed the Titans when the alarm sounded. He followed them and watched as they fought the monster. He felt kind of useless, to tell the truth. He hated standing there, watching as they fought Plasmus, and not being able to help.

As he watched, a young girl caught his attention. She looked to be about two, as she stumbled onto the road, chasing a butterfly. She seemed oblivious to the screeching monster being taken down only twenty feet away. Beast Boy began running towards the girl, momentarily forgetting he was invisible in daylight. He stopped as he heard a hissing sound to his right. Plasmus, trying to defend himself, had spit, but he had missed and the loogie had hit the metal supports of a billboard. The acid in his spit was slowly eating through the metal. Beast Boy looked from the billboard to the little girl. He knew if she didn't move soon, the billboard would crush her.

Thinking quickly, Beast Boy ran to the nearest alley. In the darkness, he knew the little girl would be able to see him. Never taking his eyes off of the girl, Beast Boy turned into a small green puppy. He barked shrilly and the girl looked away from the butterfly she had been chasing. She smiled and began walking towards Beast Boy. The green puppy jumped up and down, beckoning her over.

Beast Boy barked even louder when he heard a loud creak as the metal began to give away. He was vaguely aware that Raven had turned her head at the noise, but he remained focused on his task. He jumped higher, spinning around in the air and doing tricks. The little girl laughed and began running as fast as her short legs would carry her. As she ran with her arms outstretched, the billboard fell.

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Completely forgetting her powers, Raven flew towards the young girl as the sign began to fall. As she flew, the young girl started running towards an alley, away from the billboard. Looking up to see what had caught the young girl's attention, Raven gasped and stopped in the air abruptly. A green puppy was yapping wildly in the shadows of the alley.

Raven pulled her eyes away from the green canine as the billboard hit the ground, lifting a large cloud of dust. Raven frantically searched for sign of the little girl. Had she gotten far enough before the billboard fell? As the dust settled, Raven let out a strangled gasp of relief. The girl was standing right beside the billboard, suddenly aware of the large piece of metal that had come close to crushing her. Taking deep breaths to steady her rapidly beating heart, Raven looked up at the alley. It was empty.

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Beast Boy ran forward as the dust was kicked up. He knew he wouldn't be seen in the light, but he needed to make sure the girl had gotten away. As the dust settled he smiled at the sight of the girl. She looked startled as she stared at the fallen billboard only two feet away. Looking up, Beast Boy saw that Raven was staring, white faced, at the alley. He frowned as he realized that she had probably seen him. Was that a good thing, or not? He wasn't quite sure.

As he stood there, considering the information, he felt a shock travel through his body. Looking down at his hand, he saw dim sparks of energy wrap around his arm. Suddenly he felt… a bit more alive. Leaning down he tried to pick up a rock on the road. His hand passed through… but it seemed to go slower than usual. Like the energy that made up his ghostly body was thicker. That was when he realized that he had just saved a child. The first task was complete.

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On the way home, Raven and Starfire took the T-car with Cyborg, and Robin drove the R-cycle. Starfire sat in the back, and Raven took the passenger seat. As they drove, she looked out the window, thoughts racing as fast as the passing terrain.

"You know, you didn't have to come," Cyborg informed her solemnly.

"Why not?" she asked, looking away from the blurring scenery.

"Well, we know you're pretty torn up about Beast Boy… not to say that we aren't, but…" Cyborg trailed off, feeling tears burn at the back of his eyes.

"But what?" asked Raven, looking at Cyborg suspiciously.

"Well, it's just… you've been holed up in your room for a week now, and-"

"I've been in my room for a week?" Raven interrupted incredulously.

"Yes. You would not join us for the meals, nor would you accept the food we left outside your door. You have not spoken to us since we entered your room last," answered Starfire.

Raven turned to look at her as she spoke, but once the alien was finished, Raven looked forward again, thinking about the past week. The last thing she remembered was opening her curtains and then sitting on her bed to meditate. Had she really been meditating for a week? She knew she had been meditating for a long time, but… a week? She had just continued to meditate for as long as it took her to get her emotions under control. In fact, she probably wouldn't have stopped yet if it hadn't been for the alarm.

Raven shook her head and looked back at the window, trying to clear her mind from the fact that she had meditated for seven days straight, because of Beast Boy.

As she sat there, her thoughts returned to the battle with Plasmus. She knew she had seen a green puppy. The little girl had as well, so she wasn't just seeing things. But when she had looked again, the puppy was gone. Groaning, Raven closed her eyes and rubbed her temples.

"What's wrong?" asked Cyborg, noticing her frustrated movements.

"It's… it's nothing," Raven replied, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window.

They drove in silence for a while before Raven spoke up abruptly.

"No, it's not nothing," she admitted, voice low. "I think I've been seeing Beast Boy."

The T-car screeched to a halt at the side of the road, and Starfire and Cyborg looked at Raven with wide eyes. In front of them the R-cycle stopped as well, and everyone knew that he had been listening through the communicators. He walked over and stood outside Raven's window. Cyborg opened it automatically, so their leader could hear.

"What do you mean?" asked Cyborg carefully, searching her face. Starfire looked at Raven too.

Raven sighed, looking down at her hands.

"When I screamed earlier today- I mean earlier this week… it was because I saw Beast Boy sitting on the corner of my bed," her voice began to grow louder and tears glinted in her eyes. "And then today during the battle with Plasmus… a little girl was about to get crushed by a billboard, but she got out of the way in time because of a puppy yapping at her from an alley… a green puppy… it was Beast Boy, it had to be!"

By now, Raven was almost yelling, and tears trailed down her cheeks. There was silence as her friends took in her story.

"Friend Raven," Starfire broke the silence. She didn't say anything else, but pulled the crying empath into a soft hug. Soon Cyborg leaned over from the driver's seat and wrapped his arms around the girls, at about the same time as Robin leaned in through the window and joined the group hug.

They all knew without speaking that Raven's story was true… they just weren't sure what to do with the information that Beast Boy's spirit was watching over them.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

This chapter was kind of short... oh well. I'll try to make the next one longer. Anyway, I know there's a lot of jumping in between Raven's and Beast Boy's POV, and I hope it wasn't too confusing or stupid or whatever. I'm not sure how long it will take me to update, I'm consistantly inconsistant about that.

-Tammy Taborine