All The Lies You Want To Hear

By

Teen Tyrant

Part 3: Lies and Truth

More time passed. It was night outside. Beast Boy continued to work on trying to adjust the communicator to send out a signal that would shatter the crystal. He would not leave Raven to her fate in this cave. Not alone.

The crystal continued to grow, until now it ended just below Raven's chin. Her voice was made raspy and her breathing heavy, as the crystal continued to slowly smother her.

Beast Boy's work on the communicator was becoming slower, less frantic. He knew he wasn't going to make it. He should have listened to Raven. He might have been able to get help before, but now it was too late. If he left now, Raven would be covered over by the crystal long before he ever got back. And the stupid bank robber hadn't even put in another appearance, so he'd had nothing to worry about on that score at all. He may have just doomed his friend to a terrible end. Still, he continued to try to adjust the communicator. He would not give up. He was holding on to a hope now.

Raven broke the silence. "I'm so glad that you finally told me Beast Boy. I've wanted to hear you say that since I've known you. When did you first know that you loved me?" she asked.

Beast Boy looked up at her, his expression unreadable. "I don't know exactly when it happened. It just did. It was the little things. I mean, I always thought you were beautiful, but that was just a physical attraction. You were so different that I just told myself you were off-limits, so I never thought about you that way for a while. But then there was that time you hugged me, after Malchoir. And the time after I kept changing into that beast. You said we were having a "moment".".

He looked up at her, a smile appearing for the first time in hours. "I think the first time I really started to like you as a person was after Cyborg and I got sucked into your mirror.".

Looking at his communicator, Beast Boy dropped the pointy rock he had been using on it and put the device away in defeat. Not looking up, he spoke to her.

"Raven? Did you really try to contact the others?" he asked.

Raven frowned in curiosity. "Yes. I told you that. Why?".

Beast Boy shook his head. "You're lying. I told myself that was ridiculous, but I know now that I was right. You lied. You didn't try to call the other Titans.". He looked up at her, then stood up.

"It wouldn't have made sense. Why would you immediately call them to come help with getting that crystal off of you. It would have made more sense to call me to help you with it.".

Raven nodded. "That's what I did. I tried to contact you, but it wouldn't work, so started yelling for you." she said matter of factly.

Beast Boy remained expressionless. "Then why did you say 'yes' just now, when I asked you if you had contacted the others?" he questioned.

Raven did not respond.

Beast Boy continued, starting to pace. "You were lying then, and you're lying now. Just like you lied when you said that you loved me." he stated sadly.

Raven blinked. "What I told you was true, Beast Boy. I do love you.". she said, her voice sincere.

Beast Boy shook his head. "You don't love me, Raven. You can't. You never have. I've watched the way you behave. I've learned what you're feeling, even when you're hiding it. I've learned because I know the way you hide each emotion, what you do when you're feeling a certain way. I saw how you hid love during the whole thing with Malchoir. But you never showed the signs of that around me.".

He took a breath and looked down, continuing. "I got the hint that maybe you were starting to like me a little. One small moment at a time. Maybe, in time, you'd come to love me, after a good amount of time spent together. But not now. You don't love me Raven. You were lying to me." he said plainly.

Raven stared back at him. "Maybe I told you that to make you feel better. Maybe I said it because its what you wanted to hear." her monotone voice cracked with the pressure of the crystal.

Beast Boy actually looked amused. "You're lying again.". He suddenly looked down at the gun he had picked up from the ground earlier. He bent down and picked it up again, examining it like he'd never seen it before.

"Strange, isn't it? How our friend the bank robber hasn't shown up once since that time when I was out of the room. How convenient that the one time he showed up, was when I was outside the cave, trying to contact the others. That was your suggestion, after you told me the first lie, about how you couldn't reach them.".

He looked back at her. "That is strange, Raven. Almost like he was waiting for you to tell me to go outside and contact the Titans. It's a good thing that you were able to summon that one bit of power right at that time to knock the gun from his hand. And its strange how failing at trying to call the others was the only thing that would make me leave you here. So that I could go get them.".

His face grew more stern. "Its also strange that his attack, at that exact, convenient time, would make me realize that I couldn't leave you here. Why do I feel like I'm being toyed with? Why is that, Raven?" he asked her, his eyebrows raise in genuine curiosity.

Raven shook her head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Beast Boy, but you're confusing me. I think you're confusing yourself, too. You're tired. Its late and you've been working to get me out of here for hours on end. I don't think you're thinking too clearly." she told him.

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah, maybe you're right.". Then he walked around her, to the other side of the open space, to where he had picked up the pistol earlier. He turned around and looked at her very closely.

"Is this the spot the bank robber was standing at?" he asked her.

Raven frowned. "Yes. He was standing there when he shot at me.".

Beast Boy also frowned, and had a look as if he was examining something. "Are you positive that he was standing right here?" he asked her, deadly serious.

Raven nodded nervously at his attitude. "Yes. Why?".

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed. "Because from here your body is blocking that bullet hole in the wall. That shot wasn't a near miss… it was right on target. You should be dead. The only way that bullet hole could have hit that part of the wall from this exact direction, without hitting you, would be if the shot was fired from where you are standing.".

Raven blinked. "Maybe he was standing a little further to your left. I can't be sure.". she answered him.

Beast Boy slowly shook his head. "That's another lie. Everything you've said to me since I found you here this way has been a lie. One lie after another, and for a while I believed them. But not anymore.".

Raven licked her lips and spoke. "Beast Boy… I can explain." she said.

Beast Boy nodded. "Yes. I think you should.". He flicked the safety on the pistol into the off position, and slowly raised it until it was pointed at her face. His expression was ice cold.

"You can start by explaining to me who you are and what you've done with Raven.".

With that, "Raven" suddenly smiled a very wicked looking smile, and all fatigue and pain at her crystal prison was gone. In one fluid motion, she and the crystal covering her melded together and became a new form, that of a woman of about thirty, with short black hair and blue eyes, wearing a red outfit.

Beast Boy's eyes narrowed. "Madame Rouge!".

The evil woman laughed. "Congratulations, Beast Boy, you figured it out. You are a lot smarter than your friends give you credit for. It took you a while, but then, you had some conflicting emotions." she said with a smirk.

Beast Boy kept the pistol trained on her, not sure if he would use it or not. "You were the bank robber we chased. It was you in disguise, all along. Why did you do this?" he asked between clenched teeth.

She laughed again. "Why, to find your weakness, of course. My mission was to discover the weakness of each of the Teen Titans. Your friends Robin and Starfire, they are each other's weakness. Cyborg, the loss of the life he could have had brings him such pain at times. And your friend Raven, doomed to never know true happiness for fear of destroying everything around her, as well as the fear that her dear father will return someday.".

"Which left only you. You were the hardest one. I suspected that Raven had something to do with it. And it turns out I was right." she said with an evil smile.

Beast Boy was tired of this. "Where's Raven?" he demanded.

Rouge waved her hand towards the tunnel. "In the back of the cave, in a sleep capsule. She is unharmed. The Brain's orders were quite clear. I was supposed to be a spy, not an assassin. You may go now if you wish. But remember, the Brotherhood of Evil will be facing you Titans again soon. And now we know all of your weaknesses.".

With that, she turned on her heel and began walking towards the exit of the cave, laughing maniacally all the while.

Throwing down the pistol, Beast Boy turned and began running to the back of the cave. Sure enough, he soon came to a dead end, where a long, cylindrical object lay on the ground. Pushing a flashing red button on it opened it up and inside lay Raven, in a sleep state.

Beast Boy shook her awake. "Raven? Wake up. Its me, BB.". he said softly.

Raven's eyes slowly opened. "Beast Boy? What happened?".

Beast Boy sighed. "It's a loooong story.".

------

Later, Beast Boy and Raven were sitting on a bench beside the road. Now that they were away from the cave, and whatever it was that Madame Rouge had used to block their transmissions, Beast Boy had been able to call the other Titans, who were on their way to pick them up.

Raven looked at Beast Boy, who was sleeping beside her, propped up on the bench. He had told her that what happened was that the bank robber had knocked her unconscious and then had run out of the cave. Beast Boy had followed him for a while, before realizing that Raven had not left the cave. He had abandoned his pursuit of the criminal and returned, only to get lost looking for her. He finally found her an hour ago, and he was quite tired from the whole ordeal.

It could have been true, but Raven doubted it. Beast Boy was never a good liar. She got the impression, however, that the lie he told her was what he thought she wanted to hear. Like the truth was something she didn't want to know.

Making a decision, Raven used her mental powers to scan Beast Boy's mind, and unlocked his memories of the last seven hours. She did not expect what she saw.

Withdrawing from Beast Boy's mind, Raven stared at his sleeping form, amazement shown on her face. Drawing her hood up over her head, she looked up at the moon.

What should she do with this knowledge?

She didn't have the slightest idea.

The End