Chapter 9
"What happened?" Johnny asked, as soon as Beast Boy ran up to him. He was surprised to see the green boy panting very, very lightly. It wasn't possible for ghosts to get tired, was it? It had never happened to him.
"It's done! The second task is done!" Beast Boy replied excitedly.
"Really? That's great! What'd you do?" Johnny asked.
"Nothing."
Johnny's face screwed up with confusion.
"What do you mean, 'nothing'. You must have done something."
"I didn't do anything. I was talking to Raven-"
"You were talking to Raven! I didn't think you were serious! What if you just completely ruined your chances?" Johnny exclaimed, holding back several cusses.
"Calm down, I didn't tell her anything," Beast Boy assured him, holding up his hands. "But we were just talking, and all of a sudden I started changing! Did Gizmo decided to change after I left?"
"No," Johnny replied, thinking back. "Almost right after you left, the police came and helped take those guys down. They had to drag Gizmo into the truck while he was swearing and threatening the other Titans. After that nothing else really happened. The Titans went back to the tower, I saved this little kid-"
"You saved a kid?" Beast Boy asked, cutting Johnny off. "Who? How?"
"You know how I told you that I was knifed during a rumble? Well, the guy that got me has a kid, named Jason, and his ball was rolling onto the street while a truck was coming. So, I ran out and pushed it out of the way for him." Johnny finished his story, puffing his chest out proudly.
Beast Boy stared at him with wide eyes, before leaping forward and pulling the rebel into a hug.
"What are you doing, man? You're going to ruin my hair," Johnny grumbled, lightly returning the embrace with a pat on the back.
"You were the second task," Beast Boy told him, pulling away. "You were on the wrong path, and when you saved that kid you went back on the right track."
"I really helped you?" Johnny asked, smiling and looking down at his feet.
"Yeah," Beast Boy replied. "You done good, kid."
"Should I remind you that I'm almost thirty years older than you?" Johnny joked, punching Beast Boy in the arm.
They laughed, and began walking back to the tower. After a while of silence, Johnny spoke up.
"So, are you going to tell me what you and Raven were talking about?" he asked, looking over at Beast Boy. The green boy looked down.
"I dunno if I should," he replied. "It was pretty personal."
"Tuff enough. Can you at least tell me how it went?" asked Johnny, looking ahead.
"It went… kinda… I don't know. Raven told me she loved me, but I didn't tell her how I feel… so, I don't know."
"Why didn't you tell her?" Johnny didn't sound accusing. If anything he sounded… guilty?
"I would have, but then I started to change," Beast Boy replied. Johnny winced. "But that's not all. I couldn't tell her without spilling everything. I just know it. I would have started babbling about how I love her. Then I would start talking about how I came back to do all these tasks, because I love her, and then she would know, and I would never get to come back and-"
"Beast Boy, stop. You're babbling now," Johnny broke in.
"Oh, thanks," Beast Boy replied, laughing lightly. They continued to walk in silence.
"So, I can't help you do the last task," Johnny said after a while.
"Why not?"
"I think I'm going to stick around Jason. In case he gets into more trouble."
Beast Boy nodded. "Like a guardian angel, right?"
"Something like that," Johnny replied, smiling.
Beast Boy stopped. They had reached the tower.
"So, I guess this is goodbye?" he asked, turning to his friend.
"I guess so," Johnny replied, shrugging. "Make sure you finish that last task."
"I will," Beast Boy nodded. The two boys smiled at each other. After shaking Beast Boy's hand, Johnny turned around and walked back to the city.
-
Raven groaned and wearily opened her eyes. Her eyelashes were caked together with dry tears, and her legs had cramped up from the position she had slept in. Slowly shifting into a more comfortable position, Raven looked around. She had fallen asleep in the cemetery.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, making the mist around the graveyard sparkle with deceptive beauty.
Sighing, Raven looked down at her stretching legs. She had had the worst dream, after spending the night by Beast Boy's grave. She could still remember it clearly.
She had come to Beast Boy's grave and read the engraving repeatedly. That had been real. The rest must have been a dream, because there was no way it could be real. Beast Boy wasn't a ghost. She had never told any semblance of Beast Boy that she loved him.
Maybe that was why she felt so hollow inside.
-
"Good morning, Raven." Robin greeted, looking up from his bowl of cereal. Cyborg and Starfire looked up and smiled as Raven silently walked across the room to the kitchen. Their smiles faded when she didn't reply. Instead, she quickly made her tea and left the room to walk aimlessly around the tower.
"I'm worried about her," Cyborg sighed as the door closed behind her.
"We all are," Starfire replied. "She has been doing this for the pastfive days; since she returned early in the morning after that last battle with the HIVE."
"Do either of you know where she went all night?" Robin asked, looking at his two friends.
"No, but I have a hunch," Cyborg replied, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "More like a guess, really."
"Where?" Starfire asked.
"I think she spent the night by Beast Boy's… grave," Cyborg replied. He choked on words like 'grave', ever since he lost his best friend.
"Why do you think that?" Robin asked, dropping his spoon in his cereal bowl with a small clang.
"When she came back, there were small pieces of dry flowers on her cloak. I think they came from the ones we left at his grave," Cyborg explained.
Starfire nodded. "It would make sense, I suppose. Every day she seems to miss our lost friend even more. Her mourning seems to be growing."
"Yeah," Robin agreed. "I'm beginning to think it's getting too hard for her to handle. It scares me."
-
Raven walked slowly around the halls, taking small sips of tea. She had been doing this for the pastfive days, since she had returned from the cemetery. Walking around the tower, with no specific destination, made her feel… well, she didn't really feel anything. Not feeling anything was better than feeling sad.
As she walked, she wondered: when had she begun to let herself feel? When she had first joined the Titans, she hadn't felt anything. As she grew to know and care for them, however, she had slowly let her emotional guard slip. That's where the problem lay. If she had never begun to feel, she never would have gone through this pain.
Suddenly, she stopped. That aura was so familiar. Slowly, she turned, and looked at the door in front of her.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she was vaguely aware of the sound of breaking glass. She had avoided this room for so long, why had she stumbled across it today? Hesitantly, she took a step forward. Automatically, the door slid open. He never had liked locking his door.
Without thinking, she placed a foot in the room. Then another. The door slid closed behind her, but she didn't notice.
She took a deep breath, and his familiar scent and aura filled her senses.
Despite popular misgivings, his room did not smell bad. True, the carpet was barely visible through numerous articles of clothing and various pieces of junk, but it didn't smell bad. It smelt like him. Like a mixture of fresh air, pizza, a slight hint of musk, and surprisingly, peppermint.
Unconsciously, she walked over to the bed and climbed onto the top bunk. The covers were unmade, exactly the way he had left them. Slowly, she lowered her head onto the pillow.
Burying her face in the soft pillow, she breathed in deeply. His aura clung to it still, like a thick layer of mist, creeping across the surface like a ghost. Letting the feeling of his aura take over her, Raven fell into a peaceful sleep.
-
Beast Boy walked through the halls. He had been following her around for five days now, trying to find a way to make her happy, but all she did was walk around the tower. Today, however, he had gotten distracted by some of the things the other Titans had been talking about, and he couldn't find her.
Where had she gone? Turning another corner, he stopped. Shards of a broken coffee mug covered the floor, surrounded by a pool of tea. Looking ahead, he could see why.
His bedroom door stared at him. He stepped through it and looked around his messy room. He was surprised to find her asleep on his bed. Smiling sadly, he walked over and sat down next to her.
Laying down, so that he was hovering above the mattress, he closed his eyes and listened to her breathe in and out.
I hope you liked this chapter, because it was a real pain in the butt to write. Not really sure why, either. I suppose it turned out pretty well, concidering how oddly hard I found it to write.
Anyway, for those of you who grew found of Johnny, I'm sorry to say that he won't be coming back. His part in the story has ended, and it's time to move on. I'm kind of sad, actually. I like writing him, but I guess I'll just have to deal with it.
Oh, and in case anybody is wondering, or counting or something, Beast Boy has fifteen days left to finish the last task. He finished the first two pretty quickly, but don't expect the last one to be that easy. ;)
Tammy Tamborine
