Chapter 5

Upon their return to the tower, Beast Boy was immediately rushed to the medical bay to have his wounds properly cleaned, stitched and bandaged; Cyborg, being the technical expert of the group, did most of the dirty work while Robin stood by to hand him whatever tools he needed.

Starfire waited right outside, pacing back and forth through the hallway anxiously, spouting her emotions like a lawn sprinkler, which irritated Raven to where she sealed herself in her room to meditate; she understood fully where her alien friend was coming from, but she could only tolerate it so much — panicking wasn't going to help either.

Once Cyborg finished patching him up, he had his friend rested on one of the beds where he hooked him to a cardiac monitor. Standing over him, he reached one robotic hand out and converted it into what appeared to be some sort of scanner.

"I need you hold still for a minute."

The changeling raised a brow. "Dude, what are you doing?"

"Do as he says, Beast Boy." Robin commanded, standing in a corner with his arms folded.

"And also, just relax."

"How long is a minute?" Beast Boy asked, which earned him a look from both the older guys. "Okay, sorry." He giggled nervously.

Shutting up, he did as instructed and relaxed his muscles while he allowed Cyborg to roam him scanner up and down his body, mainly his torso where the problem truly dwelled.

Only when he was done with that bit did Beast Boy open his mouth once more. "What is that thing, Cy?"

"A built-in CT scanner." Cyborg replied as he walked over to the big computer. "Self-made."

"Rad!"

Ignoring his comment, the half-robot activated the machine typed in his usual codes to display the results with his DNA molecules — what he analyzed ended up flooring him.

"Well? What is it?" Their patient demanded.

Robin joined Cyborg by the screen and too was silenced by the display.

"Hello? Am I just imagining my own voice?"

(SCENE BREAK)

About two days after the incident, Beast Boy was allowed to roam free within their headquarters after having to be stuck on that medical bed for ages; things should have been back to normal then, but not really.

Raven was the first to notice his change in demeanor. Whenever he passed her in halls, he would simply wave to her instead of making any futile attempts at humor, which often had her side-glancing him over her shoulder.

In the common room, things were supposedly alright, except he became less prone to his goofy antics. At first glance, it could have been mistaken for blossoming maturity, but the empath detected that there was something off; from the way he now carried himself, he looked as though he was just going through the motions, even while playing videogames with Cyborg.

Speaking of which, even Cyborg and Robin were quieter than usual, like they knew something that she didn't. She figured that whatever reasons they had, they would tell her eventually, as well as Starfire.

When Beast Boy went over to the kitchen table where Raven was sitting with her face in one of her books, she watched with one eye off her page as he took out some tofu, cooked it and sat a couple of stools away from her on the opposite end; there, he began eating quietly without sparing a glance at her.

She had to wonder if his mind was still looping over the gruesome actions that his beast form unleashed on that berserker — he's had more than enough rest to use exhaustion as an excuse.

No... this was something else.

Within minutes, the two were joined by the tamaranian princess, though it took Beast Boy more than a couple of seconds to realize she was right behind him.

"Oh, hey Star, what's up?"

"Have your feelings improved?" She asked. "It has been roughly forty-eight hours since you last cracked one of your jokes."

"R—Really?" He stuttered. "I thought you were getting sick of them."

Raven chose to say nothing to that.

Starfire then sat down next to the young man and lent a tender hand on his shoulder. "I can tell that you are troubled, friend." Beast Boy took another spoon of his tofu, unsure of how to respond. "Whatever is troubling you, you can share with us."

"Thanks, Star, but I'm fine." He lied.

"That's become one of the oldest lies in the book." Raven chimed in. "I'm fine."

This was where he got annoyed. "It's not that simple, okay?"

"Maybe it would be if you just talk to us."

Beast Boy flung his mouth open, ready to spit fire, but then sealed it again and stormed out of the area without bothering to bring what was left of his food; he wasn't in the mood for a verbal spar.

As everyone stopped to watch him leave, Raven's frustration softened quickly as she closed her book and too got up to leave. Whatever was wrong with him, she was more than determined to get to the bottom of it.

(SCENE BREAK)

In his room, the green Titan paced around the small space before he ripped his top off to examine all the bandages wrapped around his body; he looked like a sickly green mummy, and he wished he could take them off right now — then again, if he did that, he would instead wind up resembling a zombie with all the stitches.

A quiet knock on his door rushes him to put his shirt back on before he answered it. When the door slid open, Beast Boy's eyes widened into rings when they laid upon Raven standing outside.

"Raven?"

Clearing her throat, she offered him a pile of books she had in her hands. "I thought you might want these."

Taking the hardcovers, he shuffled them around, and it took him no longer than half a second to recognize that she had given the same ones that were lying around his childhood bedroom. He looked back up at her in astonishment.

"It was sad to see them just strewn about, unloved."

A sparkle returned as he smiled to her gratefully. Setting them down on his bed, he returned to lean against his doorframe with his serious expression again.

"Listen, I'm sorry about before."

"No, it's fine."

"No, it's not." He shook, and he stepped out into the hallway to face her again properly. "I know you and Star were just worried about me, and I acted like a dick."

This caused Raven to smirk. "Well, I can't give you a hard time for that — that's what I do to everyone else all the time, you especially."

Beast Boy raised his hands apologetically. "Guilty as charged."

After sharing a small laugh, an awkward silence loomed over the two superheroes for about a minute until the male one scratched his head to carefully organize the words of his next question.

"Look, um... I was thinking of going out to get some air." He fidgeted with his fingers, to which Raven picked up. "I'm planning on going to that fair on my own. I don't suppose you want to come, huh?"

The empath just liftted her eyebrow at him and stared for felt like another minute.

The changeling sucked in a breath, expecting her cold rejection at any second, only to be blown back by the answer she gave him.

"Sure."

(SCENE BREAK)

Throughout his life, Garfield Logan never believed he would have ever reached this point. Here he was, travelling through the city lights to the pier where Jump City's theme park dazzled in the early evening... with Raven of all people.

"This is not a date, just so you remember."

"I know." Beast Boy assured. "We're just here as friends."

Side by side, the two superheroes entered the amusement to find that it wasn't as packed with people as they anticipated, which was a refreshing change.

"Where are most of the families and lovey dovey couples?" Raven asked, genuinely curious.

The changeling shrugged and made a guess. "Probably staying up to finish last-minute assignments. It's a weekday, remember?"

"Of course."

As they ventured on through, Raven felt waves of uncetrainty rippling off her friend, and she knew it had something to do with her. Regardless, she figured it was best to not prod him for the time being.

On another hand, she couldn't quite figure out why she agreed to come along with him to such a joyous environment. Was it out of worry? Was it just to stick by her friend? Was it out of boredom?

No... there was something more to this.

Shaking it off, Raven cleared her head, wanting to enjoy Beast Boy's company. Strangely enough, she didn't seem to mind being with him alone — while he wasn't looking, she chanced a few seconds to gaze at him, admiring his flair that she never used to appreciate before; to her, it illuminated more than the decorative lights surrounding them.

Beast Boy pulled her around the carnival to show her many games they that played; some of them she detested due to their shady nature, others that she actully enjoyed and dominated, with a little assistance from her powers so that she wouldn't lose like they rigged her to.

On the rides, she kept a straight face, whether it was bartelling down a roller coaster or having those oh-so-scary animatronic monsters popping out at them in those haunted mansions — she was more perplexed that her green friend didn't suffer a heart attack, considering the circumstances.

What that returning the front of her mind, she now wanted to find somewhere quiet.

(SCENE BREAK)

Finding a serene shore with no people around, Beast Boy and Raven trotted along the sand, their bare feet squishing into the cozy surface with every step and pushing the grain up between their toes.

Although she loved the comforting warmth of her bedroom, the empath had to admit how satisfying this was.

"We should have come here instead." She commented, her tone brighter than she intended.

"Note taken." Beast Boy agreed, taking no offense.

Finding a flat stone, he quickly picked it up and brought Raven to the edge of the lapping water.

"What are you doing?"

"Ever skipped a stone?" He questioned while offering it to her to try.

She shook with a pout but took the hard object anyway, deciding to humor him. "Should be easy." She said.

Glad that she accepted, he procceeded to demonstrate the motions as he explained. "Stand sideways like this and make sure the hand holding the stone is behind you; you can pick whichever side suits you."

"Okay." She nodded.

"Once you have your stance, bend your knees a bit. Finally, as you throw the stone, make sure to flick your wrist to give it that good spin. If you're successful, you should make it past at least two bounces."

"You wanna bet?"

"Oho! We're doing that now, huh?"

Raven bounced her eyebrows, challenging him.

"Okay, fine!" Putting his hands on his hips, he stepped aside to give her a shot. "What will I get if you lose?"

Raven squinted hard to think. "Another not-date, I suppose."

"Sweet!" He fist-pumped.

"But if you lose... I get an explanation."

"For what?"

Smiling, Raven readied her stance. "You'll just have hope I win if you want to find out."

"No fair, Raven."

Folding his arms to mock annoyance, he observed the woman as she stood to her side and practiced waving the wrist with the stone.

She was good — he wanted her to fail so he could get another potential date with her, whereas he also wanted her to succeed.

After a few deep breaths, she planted her feet, she rotated her waist, reeling her arm back, and like a bow, catapulted the stone across the water — it made four bounces before plonking out of view.

"Oh no!" Beast Boy fell to his knees, losing the bet.

Raven did her best to contain the joy she was feeling from this achievement. "I win." She declared, holding back her grin.

Shortly, she turned around to see the green Titan, still in the sand, now wearing this somber far-away look as he gazed across the sea; he must have worked out already what she was about to ask him.

Sitting closer to him than she initially intended, Raven waited until Beast Boy could look her in the eye to finally pop out the question.

"Are you going tell me now what's been bothering you?"

Holding his chest, a trait that was now becoming common for him, he inhaled steadily until a burst of courage was finally unearthed.

"I need to tell you something about my health." He began. "I told Robin and Cyborg not to tell you and Starfire until I was ready."

Raven feared where this was going, but encouraged him to continue.

"There's a reason I rarely ever transform into that beast. It's not just because I could lose control. You know how my DNA is always unstable?"

Raven nodded, kind of wanting him to make his point already.

"Well... after that mission in Africa, Cyborg scanned my anatomy."

"And?"

Beast Boy turned back to the horizon where the half-moon sheened. They both shared his boiling anxiety, which now had Raven's heart doing a marathon.

Swallowing a lump that felt hard as another stone, he drew out the news.

"Apparently, when I last transformed into that monster, it caused some serious high blood pressure, which made my heart swell up."

"W—What are you saying?"

"It means that my heart's enlarged... and it's at risk of failing."

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Author's Note: This chapter was intended to slow things down and give readers time to breathe. I've loosely based Beast Boy's condition on that heart symptom that athletes commonly get when pushing themselves too hard. There's nothing more to say, so if you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review or question, and I shall respond to them in the next entry.

Oh, and Happy New Year!