Chapter 10

"Beast Boy banged him up real good, but... he should be able pull through."

"Good. I want him alive so I can find out what he wants."

"But why now after so many years?"

Robin scowled as he stood over his longtime nemesis, his arms folded anxiously; it wasn't unusual for Slade to come back from the dead.

But never before had they seen their oldest enemy stripped of his mask and armor completely. Instead, there laid a grey-haired man, beaten and shredded within an inch of his life.

Here he was, treated and chained to a medical bed, strapped to some high-tech monitors and IVs in their deepest holding cell.

"Still can't believe he has a pulse." Remarked Cyborg. "And considering that B almost feminized him..."

Starfire was the only who looked upon this foe with a sliver of pity, mainly due to his injuries.

"Perhaps Beast Boy went a bit too far... dealing with Slade?" The Tamaranian felt guilty once those words came out.

"It wasn't him, Star." Robin turned to hold her shoulders. "It was the beast that did this."

Looking at him with glistened eyes, she flashed her appreciation; there was a time once where he wouldn't have believed that.

"Besides, if he really went all the way, he would have actually killed Slade."

Cyborg tightened his fingers around his folded arms. "Still, that doesn't help his condition." He turned away from the cell and hung his head. "He almost died this time."

The other two Titans turned to their bulky friend with worry.

"But he can be saved... right?" Starfire questioned.

He nodded, though not as surely as she hoped. "Only if he avoids danger, or controls that beast... which he clearly can't."

"We have Raven, don't we?" Robin stated, hoping this will restore some hope.

"She can only do so much with her magic."

"There has to be something we can do for our friend!"

"I'm doing the best I can!" Cyborg cried, finally giving in to his stress. "But that's it!"

Before he could lose his cool completely, he stormed out, leaving the distressed Tamaranian with their leader.

Starfire tried to follow after him and apologize, but was stopped.

"Let him go, Star." Robin spoke softly. "He's just as stressed as we are. Just give him some space."

The alien princess relented and spun around to fall on her lover's shoulder. Robin held her ever so tenderly.

"I have a thought, Star." A sad realization hit the masked hero. "He won't like it, though."

"Will he still be okay?"

"Yes, of course."

She pulled away from him, still concerned. "Then what is it that we must do?"

Robin hung his head solemnly. "We'll have to convince him to retire."

Starfire widened her eyes — she didn't know what that word meant exactly, but she realized it had something to do with surrendering one's duty.

Robin continued. "If he keeps up this superhero life, it could definitely kill him."

"But where will Beast Boy go??" She began to fear the worst of abandoning their friend.

"He'll stay with us, Star." He assured. "Don't you worry about that."

Finally, it all clicked in the Tamaranian's head. "So he can stay with us?" Robin nodded. "But he can no longer resume his crimefighting activities."

Robin didn't need to say anything afterwards; they shared in this deafening silence.

(SCENE BREAK)

Once again, the tower had been deathly silent and out of order, even though most of the mess was cleaned up by now. A dark aura filled every room, unwilling to settle to ease the minds of its settlers.

Raven especially couldn't find any sleep, not as long as she was unsure of Beast Boy's wellbeing — she struggled to do anything anymore.

Whenever she would try to meditate, her powers would spark out of control like a livewire.

Whenever she would try to make tea, her hands tended to lose their grip on the cup more often, and she would either scald herself or end up having to wipe the kitchen floor.

What could she do?

How could she help?

Was there really nothing she could do for him?

The empath couldn't control her rapid paces through the halls, the common room, the rooftop or even her own room.

All this stress was going to compress her.

With every chance she had, she would pass by the medical bay just to look over at her green friend for a bit before carrying on — she couldn't summon the courage to actually sit in there with him in that grim state.

How much longer can you keep this up?

"Raven?" She turned to see Cyborg warily approaching her.

"What is it?" She replied.

"Nothing. I was just passing by. How are you holding up?"

In the past, Raven would have just brushed off a question like that with a bored I'm fine; she was now beyond that.

"Not well." She moaned dryly. "We could save an entire city from a criminal mastermind... save many other superheroes from the Brotherhood of Evil... and even save the world from my own father... and yet... we're almost powerless to help our own friend."

Cyborg sighed heavily, but decided to cut Raven some slack. "I know how much he means to you."

This time, Raven says nothing as she casts her gaze to the floor. Cyborg knew that look on the sorceress all too well.

"You gotta stop beating yourself up! Neither of us had any idea that Slade would just turn up and invade our home."

"But I had the choice to stay!" She cried. "Instead, I left him alone!"

"Raven..."

She clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes with fury. "Whatever it takes, I won't lose him!" Her hair rose to her swelling aura. "I'll find a spell that can cure him, however long it takes!"

When her surge settled, Raven stepped forward to wrap her arms around his metallic waist. Shocked by her endearing display, he noneheless held her like she was a little girl again; his towering size helped.

"Tell him how you feel." He said quite abruptly.

He then pulled away and left the stunned empath to contemplate her next move; she was now on her own with nothing standing between her and Beast Boy.

What was stopping her?

Fixing her hair, she entered the medical room and grabbed a stool to sit beside his resting form.

Her mouth empty of words at first, she just stared at his face, his last words to her looping in her head.

What could she really say?

With her silk fingers, she ran them through his hair and over his facial features; he stirred slightly to her touch, signs of life still apparent.

"Can you hear me, Garfield?" Finally, some words formed. "You can't keep doing this, okay?" She inhaled shakily. "You're such an asshole, saying such a thing to me just before dropping dead like that."

Beast Boy hummed faintly, but it was still unclear if he was listening or not.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there." Her throat swelled, eyes watering. "We're all doing our best to help." Her heart ached with pain. "I used to think I was alone... that no one could help me." She moves her hand to take his. "You never gave up on me, no matter how many times I tried to push you away."

The silent ambience of the room and the beeping of his heart monitor filled each of her pauses, and it was then that she remembered something that she brought along.

She fumbled under her cloak until she found that memento and placed it in that same hand she was holding.

"Remember this?"

It was his quarter, the same one he gave to her before they battled Trigon's army.

"I'm not sure it was the luck of this coin, but since I've had it, things worked out for me. Maybe it should work out for you as well, I don't know."

Soon, she got fed up with this deafening silence and decided to do something that one would consider radical for her character.

Pushing her stool away, Raven unclipped her cloak, letting it sink to the floor, and climbed onto the bed to nestle with him. She draped an arm over to once again rest her palm over his heart, with his coin.

In this intimate position, the sorceress felt sleep overtaking her, but she didn't mind in this case.

"I'm feeling something too, Garfield." She whispered ever softly. "I can't say what it is, but... I know it's something else."

A faint smile peered on the changeling's face, yet his eyes remained shut.

"This shield I always put up... I just don't know anymore. It seems like you've broken through. It scares yet thrills me."

She leaned her forehead into his, her gaze longing.

"But nothing will happen unless you wake up... okay?"

After another pause, a thrill went up her spine when she saw him nod ever so slightly.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Author's Note: After three intense chapters, I felt like slowing things down again to give you readers a chance to breathe. I won't make any apologies this time for taking so long. My life's become very busy now. Where will we go from here? Stand by for next time, and if you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave your thought and questions. Thank you!