A/N:
TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: I'll admit I didn't make it clear. I just have a habit of calling him by nicknames. But for the sake of argument, this is the first time any of the others will learn his real name.
Sweet. Can you give me the winning lottery numbers for the next drawing?
THAT'S HOW I KNOW YOU! I READ A FEW CHAPTERS OF THAT ONE!
OdaStider: I don't know. Most of my friends have a love/hate relationship with me as well. And the next chapter and the one after that will probably be the last.
I know this is a quick upload, don't get used to it please.
Chapter 4:
"Apparently, one of the side effects of the genetic destruction is the recoloration of the pigments in the host's body. According to this, the virus turns-" he started.
"It turns the infected green," a voice finished from behind. Both of the Titans spun on their heels or chair to face the one who had cut off Richard. In the doorway, Beast Boy stood with his arms crossed in a very "I am not amused" fashion.
"How long have you been there?" Raven asked at the sudden appearance of her teammate. She had failed to sense his approach, but she chalked that up to being too invested in the findings to pay attention.
"For the last few minutes. You all tend to forget just how good my hearing is. Especially if I'm on the same floor looking to run through a few solo runs." Having said that, he walked up to the screen and started reading what Dick and Raven had been looking at, stopping at a photo of the scientists.
"Wait, so you're-" Dick asked, only to be cut off again.
"Yes. I am Garfield Logan, son of Mark and Marie. And almost everything you read is true. We were in Africa when they were looking for various cures utilizing animal genetics and other potential resources in the area. I got bit by a monkey and was infected with Sakutia. However, as you may now know, I survived the virus and the accident. Any questions?"
Raven and Richard gave each other a look that said they understood just how personal Raven's request had gotten. "Is that why you left for a week? Because your parents were found?" the empath finally asked.
"Yeah. Their corpses were unburied in some archeological dig near the waterfall. Apparently the peat around the waterfall was just enough to keep their skeletons in good condition for a DNA test," Beast Boy explained. "After that they did some digging, no pun intended, around the internet until they found Nicholas Galtry, my next guardian of kin who I had lived with for a few years. He told them about my 'distinguishing features' and eventually they put the dots together about my superhero identity."
"Why did you never bring this up? I'm not mad that you kept it hidden, but I just figured you would have told someone," Richard requested. He too had witnessed the deaths of his own parents, so he should have already known the answer.
"Well, I really don't see how I could bring up 'Hey, did you guys know I have an unstoppable killer virus running through my system? Oh, and I had to watch my parents die when I was six years old?' during dinner." Both of them flinched at the tone he answered with. Neither of them could actually remember ever hearing Beast Boy this offended before.
"Is that how you got your powers? Sakutia, I mean. It attacks the victim at the genetic level and your shapeshifts occur at the genetic level," Richard questioned.
"Not quite. As I said, my parents were working on using animal DNA to find cures to other ailments. It just so happened that my dad had procured one untested vial of a potential treatment. As you can guess, it worked to a degree. I don't know the exact science behind it, but from what I can guess my powers are a mix of allowing Sakutia to rip my genes apart and using the DNA from the serum as a reference to rebuild the structural base from scratch. Sort of like overworking a leg muscle, but telling it to rebuild with the shape of an arm muscle. Only all over my body at the same time," the green teen rambled.
"That's oddly descriptive. You're a lot smarter than you let on," Richard joked.
"Eh, I've never had a need to be a smart one. That's what you, Raven, and Jaime's scarab are for," Beast Boy retorted with a shrug. "Now it's my turn. First off, how long have you two been investigating my past?" the green changeling demanded.
"Only about ten, maybe fifteen minutes," Richard answered. The green teen gave a mean look at the empath, then asked a question just for her.
"What made you think it was a good idea to go sneaking around like this?"
"I, uh, felt your presence at the graveyard and saw the hearses leaving. You were alone in front of two graves, so I went to the library to give you some time. On the way back you had left, so I read the headstones," Raven replied with the best monotone she could manage.
Beast Boy rolled his eyes in a less than friendly way. "For someone who acts all secretive and mysterious, you sure had no issue sticking your nose where it doesn't belong. And before you tell me, 'well you do that too Beast Boy', that's who I am. I don't preach about privacy and all that jazz, but I can tell when to stop looking," he spat, then turned into a hawk and flew to another part of the tower. Raven went to go after him when a strong hand on her shoulder stopped her.
"Let him cool down. He has a point; we went digging where we shouldn't have," Richard calmly explained. He sat back down and closed the tabs on Garfield's parents and the virus. He put on a calm façade, but Raven could feel some self-disappointment stirring in his gut. Betraying trust was something Dick hated to do, and he felt like he should have known Raven's search was related to Beast Boy.
On the other hand, she herself wasn't faring much better. Getting called out for something like that hurt, especially when it came from someone who almost never held grudges. For the rest of the day he seemed to avoid everyone as much as possible; mostly spending time on the roof or by the rocks. Even when dinnertime came he filled a plate and walked out of the room as the others just watched.
"Did...you guys...do something?" Jaime nervously asked the other three.
"Raven and I got investigating and uncovered some, personal would be the best term, things about his past," Richard told him. Starfire gave a slightly disproving scowl at the two and got up from her chair, presumably to find her friend.
The first place she looked was his room. A few knocks on the door yielded no results, nor did a quick sweep of the area. The next place she checked was the training room, with no success there either. He wasn't hiding in any of the bathrooms or the pool room either. He wasn't even in the basement or the rocks by the water. The only other place he could be was in the city or on the roof. The alien girl silently flew to the top of the tower and was greeted with the sight of Beast Boy eating with his feet dangling of the ledge of the tower.
"Hey Star. What's up?" he asked between bites.
"May I sit with you?" the orange skinned woman asked, to which he relied, "If you wish."
She did wish, so she took a seat next to the green teen. She was close enough to be within the "friends only" gap that some people had, but was still far enough to give him some personal space. The only sound besides the noises from the city and the crashing waves was the sound of Beast Boy chewing and his fork scraping the plate with the occasional swallow. When his plate was empty he just placed it to the side and continued looking. What exactly he was looking at, Starfire couldn't tell. Maybe the city, maybe the stars just above the city lights, maybe the space in between.
The silence was broken by a drawn out sigh from the person next to her.
"I take it you heard about what happened between me and the other two," he stated, not needing to ask the obvious. His body flopped backwards and he was left looking up at the stars, or maybe something beyond the stars if some religions were to be believed.
"Yes, I did. I cannot say I am happy with what they did. It was clearly something you did not wish to talk about, or at least not yet. But at the same time, I am not sure if I am unhappy with it either. We have all been worried about you, and despite the disregarding of personal wishes, they at least know what you are going through and have a better idea of how to help."
"That's the thing. I was planning on talking about it soon. Maybe tomorrow, or the weekend at the latest. I don't think I'm necessarily mad at them for looking around, but more so the fact that Raven couldn't have tried to ask me first. Sure, the internet can't exactly tell you, 'drop it' when you have Richard's skills, but...well, I don't know. Maybe I don't even have a point with what I'm saying," the changeling tried to explain.
"Come with me," he requested before jumping off the roof. Starfire instinctively chased after him, only stopping when he turned into a hummingbird and zigzagged to the rocks. His little green body landed on a stone and expanded into that of a human. "Sorry if I scared you there," he apologized, which Starfire just waved off.
"I should have known better than to assume you lacked a plan," she replied. "But why did you want to come down here?" she asked as he started rummaging through the rocks.
"At times like these, I just find it easier to talk if I have something small and not to attention demanding to do." His fingers wrapped around a suitable stone and threw it at a shallow angle, getting six skips before the rock sank into the depths. He returned to searching and found two rocks. He handed one to his team leader and skipped the other.
He got seven this time. Starfire got three.
"Mostly, I think I'm most disappointed in myself," the teen admitted out of the blue. Kori stopped her search for flat rocks and gave him her undivided attention.
"You were right when I said it was something I didn't want to talk about, but it's not like I can just hold it in forever. And I know you all just want to help." He sighed again and took a look that said he was trying to put his feelings into words. "I guess I overreacted in a way. I just as easily could have calmly asked them why they went digging through what they, or at least Richard, didn't exactly know was my past. And it doesn't help that I not-so-nicely called Raven a hypocrite."
"I do not know myself. Emotions are fickle things. The slightest change can have large impacts on your actions. It only takes a pebble to start an avalanche," Starfire offered. She pushed a bunch of stones into a pile with her foot and tossed a rock she was holding at the pile. The upper half of the collection fell apart in a scattered fashion while those at the bottom shifted a little.
"Yeah. I guess I gotta apologize to Raven and Dick as well as fill you and Jaime in with the details," he replied, then skipped another stone.
"Do not worry about giving me the details until you are truly ready. I can wait."
Both of them skipped some more stones, neither saying anything to the other; just enjoying the silence and each other's understanding company.
"Hey Kori? Thanks. For everything. I know I haven't been the easiest guy to be around recently and it just means a lot to me that you let me take this at my own pace."
"Of course. You should never be forced to recover at a speed that makes you uncomfortable," the leader replied. The two resumed tossing rocks for a few minutes until she spoke again. "I'm going to head back inside. Would you like to come with me or would you prefer to stay outside?" she asked.
"I'll stay a little longer, but I'll be in soon," he replied. His leader gave a friendly nod and flew to the roof where she grabbed his plate and fork before returning inside the tower. By the time she had gotten back to the kitchen the others had finished and went to do their own things.
"How is he?" Richard asked walking into the kitchen.
"I believe he's better. He just needed someone who could follow at his pace," Starfire responded. "He's not terribly mad at you and Raven, just a little hurt," she added.
"I don't know what I'd prefer. Guess I screwed up either way though," Richard sighed. He knew from his own experiences that trust was hard to restore. Especially in situations like this one.
Just beyond the entryway, a pale figure took in what they said and left with the goal of amending her mistakes. Her signature portal opened in front of her, and stepping through it put her a few yards behind the changeling. His arm stopped mid-throw and his head turned towards the sound of her magic.
"What's up?" he asked, then threw the rock he was holding. The half demon stepped forward and took a spot beside him. Three rocks were coated in a dark hue and levitated into the green teen's reach. After a quick glance in her direction he grabbed them and skipped two of them.
"I'm sorry. I took it upon myself to uncover something that I should have waited for you to discuss and dragged Richard into my mess as well. And...you were right. For as much as I value and ask you to respect my own personal privacy, I was all too quick to have someone look into the two most important people in your life."
Beast Boy threw the last rock with a grunt, watching it travel until it splashed in the distance.
"I owe you an apology too. Starfire may think otherwise, but I could've handled the situation better. And in a way I'm a hypocrite myself; calling you out when I've been known to push my limits."
"But at the same time, I guess you saved me some trouble of explaining something that wouldn't have been easy to talk about," he added.
"Maybe. But that still doesn't make it right."
"True, but you can't always do the right thing. Sometimes the 'wrong thing' is the best or only option." Quiet overtook both of them as Beast Boy continued throwing rocks while Raven watched. His emotions were much calmer than before. There was still some churning anger and hurt from all those years ago, but talking was helping. She realized her green friend didn't have anything else to say at the moment.
"I'll be heading back. See you inside?" she let him know while opening a portal.
"Yeah. See ya in a bit," he added. The empath turned her back to him and was mere steps away from the portal when she felt a hand gently grab her upper arm. When she turned to Beast Boy she was enveloped in a tight hug. She both heard and felt him take a deep breath and let it out slowly, during which she awkwardly put her arms around him. It hadn't even been a minute when he pulled away from her.
"Sorry about that. Guess I kind of needed that though," he sheepishly offered.
"I understand. I can't blame you for having emotional needs like any other person. In fact, I'm kind of surprised you held out this long before looking for comfort," the half demon responded.
"Well, thanks anyway Rae. I'll let you be on your way." She shot him a puzzled look, which soon turned into a look of slight amusement.
"You're back to calling me 'Rae' now, huh?" she asked.
"Sorry, sorry, I just-" he started before a black band formed over his mouth. It stayed there until he fell silent, then disappeared.
"I'll allow it. It's kind of comforting in a way. It's like you're closer to your old self," she said. She disappeared into the portal, which closed into nothingness.
"Well, that went well," he muttered to himself once he recovered from his dumbfounded shock. He spent ten more minutes skipping and tossing rocks, soon enough ready to head back inside.
When he entered the main living area he was greeted by the others watching a movie.
"Hey man you're just in time!" Jaime called upon his entrance. "We just started 'Teenaged Titans: Contract of Judas'."
"Sweet," Beast Boy replied, then hopped on the couch next to Jaime. He joined in with the others in laughing, joking, and leaning forward in suspense throughout the movie. Any tensions between him and the others disappeared as they enjoyed to movie in front of them.
They all went to bed eager for the next morning.
After breakfast, Beast Boy called a group meeting. He took his time to explain to Jaime and Starfire exactly what Raven and Richard had discovered along with the extra details he had given the two. An impromptu group hug was initiated by Jaime that even Raven took part in.
The hug was cut short by the alarm. Starfire was quick to assess the threat and let the team know exactly what was happening. "It's Blockbuster. He's rampaging downtown," she explained.
"Let's go bust his block, shall we?" Beast Boy joked, earning a groan from Raven and Jaime.
"Dios mio, please work on your puns," Jaime pleaded as the scarab armor encased his body.
"He can focus on that later," Starfire interjected. "Titans go!" she ordered, and the group, minus Richard, was on the move.
"Eh, why not?" he asked himself. A quick change later he was weaving his specialized motorcycle between lanes, speeding below the four flying Titans.
A/N: So this is most likely the end of the story. I hope you enjoyed it, as I had a bit of fun along the way. See you all again somewhere!
Also, if you get this far, should I upload a MHA story I'm working on as a new side project?