Well guys, I had a nice long vacation this week. Didn't really spend as much time with writing as I have done before. But I managed to get this thing out. Since so many of you have left such wonderful comments on the last chapter. See this, leaving comments helps my brain to think! Shocking, right?

To those reading The White Stick, I'm sorry to say I didn't work on it much this week. So I think that will be updated not this Sunday, but next Sunday. For now, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!


Mailbox Time!

AzarathMetrionWrinthos04: Nah, I didn't have to watch the Episode. I just pulled up images from the internet that showed up close and personal views of the Beast. Then at least it stays still so I can study it. And thanks for the congratulations on the Test! I hope you enjoy this chapter Jake!

Golem XIV: I can only imagine what last chapter helped you to figure out. And I like your idea for a flashback to describe the Beast and Rage's coupling. I'll be sure to have it in the near future soon! Hope that you enjoy this chapter!

NATSUxEZRA 123456: I do that since in the show, since he's still a young teen, he didn't have that ability. I do think I can have him work on it though. As to changes in the Beast, I'm not sure. He's already epic enough as it is. Don't want to make him too powerful here, since he outsped a freaking speedster! I do plan on having Beast Boy himself master control with the Beast. Enjoy the chapter! And thanks for the ideas!

mochafraptor: Seriously? One spelling error slipped past my guard! I will have to find it after posting this! But thanks for saying the chapter was excellent! Hopefully there is no spelling mistakes this chapter!

swemanD47: This chapter resolves what you told me in your review. I hope you enjoy the resolution I gave.

Foamsatmouth: Yeah.

Azraelean: Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

JustAnotherStranger: (I know the name is different, but it kept on deleting your original every time I tried to save it) Thank you! I'm glad that you're enjoying my writing! Here's the next update for you to enjoy!

Wjso: Okay, I did a little more than say sorry here. There isn't really any tearfest or anything like that, but there's definitely some fluff. Enjoy the chapter!

Bluedog197: Your eyes don't deceive you. Rage in fact called the Beast mate. I kind of went over what kind of control happened to Artemis. It was more of a way of pulling from the prologue what I had meant by friend's fears being manipulated by supposed friends. And thank you for signing in :). Here is the next chapter for you to enjoy!

RPGPersona: His bite is still worse than his bite? Raven does seem thousands of miles away, after an earthshattering revelation like that. That will make for an interesting question in the future. Hopefully he doesn't flip when he hears Batman in the sentence. Trust me, the Artemis moment makes more sense if you search up her family. And you never know, Beast Boy is quite exhausted by this point. I'd say it was because she was the main target, and because she hurt Artemis. I might show what happened in the future with how the Beast stopped Wally. I didn't realize I was taking a page from Foamy here. I just like to think of the two as that :). And this chapter focuses on what happens when they wake up. Enjoy the chapter dude!

Azarath Cat: Eh, Rage is no longer clouded with Rage. So in my mind, she actually becomes less evil from this, and is allowed to experience the other emotions she couldn't have. Like... cough, cough, colust, cough, cough. Anyways, so because of this, she actually cares more for Raven's wellbeing. Along with her mate's. She knows that killing someone would destroy Beast Boy, so she stops the Beast in time to keep that from happening. Hope this helps answer some questions you had ^_^.

CyberKoby: Yay! I was wondering what happened to you! Glad to see you're still going along with the story! Also, I finally took a good look at your profile picture. I was laughing so hard when I finally recognized Starfire and Raven! Well I'm glad you liked how I upplayed the box of condoms, may it rest in pieces. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

Lowar: Oh yeah, I was definitely one of those guys, so I know what to write! I'm glad that you said I was able to masterfully portray their embarrassment! I hope that you will enjoy this chapter, along with the rest of the story!

Thedas743: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I'm sorry I made you laugh so hard that the neighbors complained... eh, not really! Don't worry, I'll be including some more interaction, at least in flashbacks soon! Here's the next chapter, and it's okay, I was able to understand you!

Luna Willows: Well, now I'm glad I waited till tonight to update. I was just able to catch your review in my alerts! I am thinking right now that you didn't expect the next chapter to come this quickly! So I hope that you especially enjoy this treat!


Since Last Time: 5 more favs, 3 more follows (Total: 81 favs, 94 follows) (C'mon, we're almost to 100 people!)


Updated: September 17, 2016 11:05 P.M.


Disclaimer: Yeah, I wish I could say I owned this, but then I risk the chance of getting sued, so for now I don't.


Chapter Fourteen: Fixing the Break


Raven's Pocket Home, about twelve hours after the fight.

Raven let out a small groan of pain as her heavy pale eyelids finally started to open. Revealing a pair of groggy looking violet eyes. She brought a hand to her head, marveling at the headache that was coursing through her brain. The room around her was a blur.

It took a few moments of her chanting her mantra under her breath, but then the pain finally abated somewhat. Raven was able to somewhat focus her eyes to see she was in her room. She had laid down diagonally on her blue comforter on her bed.

'Azar, what the hell happened… I feel like I got hugged by Starfire, and then ran over by Johnny Rancid's robotic bulldog.' The half demoness thought to herself. Her head was still pounding like crazy, despite the quick meditation she did to focus her mind off the pain, and she couldn't tell why she was having it.

Finally, after a few moments, the pain started to fade away completely. Raven wasn't sure why it happened, but she was grateful for the relief anyways. Now that she didn't have any pain in her head, she could think again.

Raven remembered the fight she had with the two members of the Young Justice, wait, it was only one. She had knocked out the girl from the get go. It was the speedster that had been her downfall. She remembered being in the middle of a swirling vortex, being unable to breathe.

'That explains the headache, anyone's brain would hurt if it had been deprived of oxygen for a while. But what about after that. When the vortex suddenly stopped?'

A brief flash of sending the girl away with her powers appeared in her mind, but she couldn't think of anything after that since everything went dark. Surely with where she teleported the girl, it wouldn't have used that much energy to make her pass out. Would it?

At that moment, a convenient whale call filled the air. Raven looked down in slight shock at where it had came from. Her abdomen. Now that she thought about it, it had been a while since she last ate. Since before they had even left the cave.

'You know what, I'll eat first. Then I'll try to figure out how I got to my room later in such an exhausted state later.'

With that thought, Raven had started to get out of bed. She set her still booted feet on the green carpet.

MEOWWWWW!

Wait, that wasn't a green carpet. That was a green tail.

Raven was somewhat shocked by the noise, and her pouch was enveloped by her powers and sent flying into a wall. Raven quickly calmed herself and looked over the bed where the sound had came from… only to find nothing at first. Her eyes wandered the room, trying to find where the sound had came from.

She finally looked over to the corner of the room. There was a shivering small green kitten huddled in the corner. It was caressing it's tail between it's paws, and it looking around the room first, then its eyes settled on her and went wide.

A quick check on its emotions showed it wasn't cold. Rather it was afraid, and deathly so. Raven was quiet at first, as she was still trying in her mind to calm herself down from what had happened. First she woke up exhausted and hungry with a large headache, then she found Beast Boy in her room… wait, why was Beast Boy in her room?

Raven felt anger at seeing the green kitten in her room. How dare he invade her privacy! She hadn't even apologized to him, and he was strutting around her room like he owned the place! Who knew what he could have done to it in the time he was in here! If she had half a mind, she would send him to another dimension right now! Her hands were covered in her black magic, and the kitten looked away in fear.

She sensed something else coming off the kitten, other than fear. Confusion. Wait, did that mean he hadn't expected to wake up in her room either? Had something happened after the fight that neither of them remembered?

Raven then realized what she had been thinking before, and she felt like facepalming. She was already doing it again, getting mad at him without thinking. She didn't know why she was in her room, and obviously Beast Boy didn't know either. It made no sense to get angry at him over what was probably nothing. She really had to stop jumping to conclusions.

Her stomach looked like it would have to wait.

"Beast Boy, it's fine. I'm not going to hurt you." Raven said to the scared green kitten in her normal tone. The black magic disappeared from her hands.

The green kitten briefly turned its head around to look at her with wide green eyes. It let out a small pitiful meow. Raven almost rolled her eyes. Not this game again.

"Yes, I'm being serious Beast Boy. I don't want to hurt you this time. I just want to talk. So will you please turn back into your normal form before I make you." Raven said to the kitten.

The kitten looked at her for a second longer. It briefly pondered its chances at being able to resist Raven's powers to forcefully morph it, then it decided it would be better to comply. The kitten morphed back into Beast Boy. He looked mostly normal, though his eyes still held a bit of fear in them. "You… want to talk?" Beast Boy asked in a confused voice.

Raven sighed. "Yes Beast Boy, I just want to talk."

"Oh." Beast Boy said, before he became silent. He sat down cross legged in the corner of the room. On the opposite side where the fire was still burning. He tried his best not to imagine what hell might look like if Raven chose to send him there through the fireplace. "So… what did you want to talk about?" Beast Boy asked in a nervous tone after a short silence.

"First off, do you know what happened to us during the fight?" Raven decided to ask, since she needed her curiosity for that settled.

Beast Boy thought on it, since he had just woken up because of someone stepping on his tail. "I remember that Wally and that archer girl, Artemis I think, were trying to interrogate me about where you were hiding after trapping me in this weird foam, but Artemis was acting… strange. I think Wally noticed it too, because he stopped the interrogation and said something odd to her… then she seemed normal again, like she was about to say something else when you came in… and knocked her out with a large stick."

Raven nodded her head. "Alright. I remember that. Anything after?"

Beast Boy thought a little more, when a smile spread across his face. "You… Dude, did you really smile at me out there when you saved me from that foam?"

Raven's face stayed stoic. "Stay on topic Beast Boy."

Beast Boy's face became thoughtful again. "I remember getting knocked out for a few seconds there after you got me out of the foam, and when I finally came to and looked up… Wally had you trapped in a vortex."

Raven nodded her head. "I was confused about what he was trying to do at first, but when I finally realized his intentions, I didn't have enough energy to escape the vacuum he created. All I could try to do was try and hit him with my powers, and that didn't work."

Beast Boy nodded his head at that. "I tried to stop him too, but nothing I tried worked either. The dude was going to fast for me to hit him. And then when I tried to get past him, he punched me back like I was nothing." Beast Boy paused, and his face became harsh. "I was so tired, and when I looked up, I saw you reaching out to me… … … and then I just snapped." Beast Boy's eyes took on a far off look as he said those words.

Raven raised her brow. "Snapped?" She clarified.

Beast Boy thought on it a little more, now that he had said it, the sensation had been familiar. The feeling of rage that had engulfed him, the way everything blacked out… except for a claw… a fist... a pain filled scream… then blackness...

Beast Boy paled. There was no way. He thought that he had finally listened to him. He thought he was finally going to leave him alone!

'Beast… did you… did you take control!?' He thought to himself, but for once, he didn't receive a reply. Either the Beast was finally listening to Beast Boy and leaving him alone, or he wasn't going to admit what he had done without his master's permission.

"Beast Boy, do you know what happened?" Raven asked him.

"My Beast…" Beast Boy couldn't answer, and he became ashamed. He turned away from Raven, while still sitting on the floor. He faced the corner of the room. "I let him take control, I saw you trapped in that vortex, I just felt so helpless and angry, and I let him take control. I was like so, so angry that he was suffocating you to capture you." Beast Boy's shoulders slumped. "No wonder why I can't remember. It's like the Adonis incident all over again."

Raven felt the shame coming off her teammate, a shame she knew all too well. She had a side of her that she hated to give control to as well. "Your Beast was the one who saved me." Raven stated matter of factly. Even though Beast Boy was turned away from her, she could still see him nod his head. He didn't feel like talking now.

Raven was able to click some things in her mind, now that she knew the Beast had been involved. It was likely it had chased Wally off with it's menacing appearance, and then brought her to her room sometime after she had passed out. That meant once it had known Raven was safe, it would have let Beast Boy take back control, and he would have passed out on the spot. No wonder why he had been in her room, he had had no energy left when he had been given back control.

Raven felt even more guilty for the thoughts that had filled her mind earlier.

Raven walked over to him, crouched down, and put a hand on his shoulder. He turned around at the slowly at the unexpected contact. He was a little startled, and his eyes were sad, but she looked stoically at him.

"Don't be sorry that you let him save me Beast Boy. When Adonis attacked me in the Tower, you two saved me from something horrible. Even though I had treated you like crap mere hours earlier on both occasions. You two still saved me."

Beast Boy wanted to turn away at that, but she wouldn't let him. Oddly, she liked the feel of Beast Boy's hard shoulder beneath her hand. How did she not realize this before?

Beast Boy let out a sad laugh. Snapping Raven from what she had been thinking of.

"You know, it's kind of funny… that wasn't even me you were talking to earlier that day." Beast Boy said in a sad voice.

Raven hid her confusion well. But Beast Boy still saw the look in her eyes that betrayed it. "Yeah, back outside, when all that **** went down, that like, wasn't me who spoke to you. I never wanted you to see that box of condoms Chrome Dome left for me as a joke, I never wanted you to know that I go into heat in the spring. Hell, there was a lot of stuff I didn't want you to know about there, but my Beast side took partial control, and he told you all that. It made you say some things I guess you didn't want me to know too in your fit of anger. And now I wouldn't even blame you if you sent me to another dimension." He bent his head to the floor as he finished, not daring to look into those purple eyes of hers.

Raven was confused, and a little saddened that he hadn't really told her all that. It had only been his Beast, but then why would she feel saddened by that? She should have been relieved that it hadn't been him who had said all that to her, right?

Then she realized where most of his guilt was coming from. Not only was it from waking up in her room, but for what he felt the Beast had said to her earlier. He felt that Raven was still angry with him now. The last few days had been so stressful to him, with the fleeing, their constant arguing, and so many other stressful factors, like his missing pocket home, lack of food and water, fighting off two people all by himself. And now he was feeling guilty that his Beast had come out not once, but twice.

He was expecting her to be completely angry at him, and that after this, she would leave him to fend for himself. He didn't want to be alone again, not like the time before he met the Titans. Raven saw all that in those green eyes as they had peered at her behind his veil of sadness.

His jokester persona was falling apart at the seams. The one thing he used to attract people to him.

'Azar, he's reached his breaking point.' Raven thought in realization.

She had to fix it! Her emoticlones were screaming at her to fix it! And by hell she wanted to fix it! Beast Boy may have been annoying and immature, but he was her friend! Crush or no crush, she couldn't bear to see her friend not acting like himself!

Her pale hand grabbed his chin, making him look up at her. Even though she had done it earlier, and despite the chances of the world ending in her mind, she allowed a small smile to come onto her face. If Beast Boy wasn't shocked by this, then the hug she pulled him into after the smile definitely short circuited a few areas of his brain. He couldn't even say anything as Raven hugged him softly. Beast Boy's guilt was being replaced with confusion.

After a moment, she pulled away. "Beast Boy, I don't want you to feel guilty for what the Beast did. Sure, I was shocked, and I got a little angry and said some stuff, but after I put in some time to think about it, I realized I was grateful to you both for what you told me. And I'm glad that he told me, even if you aren't." Raven said to him.

Beast Boy finally found his will to speak. "But... he told you that I was literally going to rape you every time I got horny." He said in a small voice.

Ironically, Raven laughed a little at that. Shocking him a little more. "Funny, I had the exact same thoughts at first. It took a scolding from my emoticlones to realize how wrong I was about it though."

Beast Boy was confused, and Raven was able to sense it. She pulled back farther, so she could look him in the eye. "Let me ask this Beast Boy, and answer me truthfully. Would you ever truly, under your own willpower, rape me, or anyone else?"

Beast Boy looked shocked. "No! Of course not! I would never want to do that to you... or like, anyone else for that matter!" He added at the end.

"So when you go into heat, would you really be in control of yourself?" She asked him.

Beast Boy was about to say yes, when he realized what she had said. He glumly shook his head as he tried to look away out of shame. But her hand was back on his chin, keeping him looking right at her.

"It's okay Beast Boy… can I ask you one more thing, if that is alright with you?" She asked in a careful monotone. Beast Boy could only nod his head, as he didn't want to speak.

"I know you still feel guilty for what the Beast said, but I need to ask you this as well. Would you rather have not told me about this problem, and let me figure it out on my own when you did go into heat?" Raven asked.

Beast Boy blinked at that. He briefly imagined the two scenarios going on in his mind. One was of a Raven who knew what was happening, and had taken the proper precautions to restrict him and stay away. While the other was of a scared Raven who had no clue what he was doing. He shuddered on the inside, and he felt his stomach twist itself into knots. The Raven his hormone filled animalistic self was forcing himself onto looked so scared... so helpless.

"I… would rather… you had known beforehand Rae…" He was barely able to say. As the image being shown in his mind disgusted him.

There was silence between them for a moment.

"What's wrong with me?" Beast Boy asked himself.

"Why would you ask that?" Raven asked back, a little perturbed at the question.

He sighed, as he put a hand through his hair. "Well, ever since we left the Tower… I don't know, it's like nothing can really go right. We keep on arguing… we get on each other's last nerves… I can't stop doing or saying anything that pisses you off… ... on the team, all I had to do was be the immature jokester… the person who always had something to say to ease a tense situation… sure, I annoyed you a little now and then… but now… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do anymore when all of it seems to like piss you off one way or another... I can't help but feel that you hate me now that you're stuck with me 24/7."

Raven closed her eyes, as if she was deep in thought. Finally, after a couple moments, she opened them to look into his. "I don't hate you Beast Boy… I just don't understand you."

Beast Boy looked at her oddly. So she elaborated. "I'll admit, I always thought that you were rather annoying back at the Tower. With your lame jokes, your immaturity, your seemingly lack of brains and all that. Heck, annoying would be an understatement to what you did back then." Beast Boy heard her pause, so he assumed the worst.

"But then, I've found out a few things about you since then too. Like the fact that you seem to have enhanced senses in your human form. Something that I've been wanting to ask you about for quite some time actually."

Beast Boy glumly nodded her head at her. So she decided to continue.

"And for someone who acted so stupid before, you actually seem to know how to take order in a situation. Otherwise, we would have never gotten out of that Tower in the first place. When Trigon was about to come to destroy the world, you stood strong with the others to protect me. It's like the past week, I've been learning more and more about you. And I can't really handle some of it… the fact that you can be mature and dare I say leader like at times is one thing… going into heat and dealing with animal senses as a person is another one." She said in a small tone to herself at the end.

"That is a really big understatement right there Rae." Beast Boy said as he finally chuckled to himself. Raven gave a harsh glare at him, while on the inside, she was secretly smiling. This was a glimpse of the Beast Boy she knew. Beast Boy couldn't help but laugh a little more, before he went silent.

"So… you don't really know anything about me, other than the way I acted on the team, don't you?" Beast Boy said to Raven. Who nodded her head.

"And everything I keep on learning, just keeps on leaving me more and more confused. And I'm not sure how to react when I'm confused." Raven said back to him.

Beast Boy thought on it a little. "How about we start over."

Raven looked at him oddly. "What do you mean by that?"

He smiled a little at last. "All we really know about each other is from our time together in the Tower, or when we were out on missions. Where we were surrounded by others and expected to do stuff. Out here, all alone, we're bound to act differently than before. Now that we have the freedom to do things we never did before. And learn stuff about each other that we never knew about... So how about we start from the beginning again dude. Back at square one with each other."

Raven thought on it a little, and actually found sense in his idea. "Alright, I guess doing that could help with me avoiding any more dangerous explosions of anger in the future." She said to him.

His smile grew a little more, and he put his hand in front of him. He knew the perfect way to start then.

"Name's Garfield Logan, AKA Beast Boy of the Doom Patrol, nice to meet you."

'Garfield, eh… I am so getting a lot of mileage out of this one.' Raven thought a little evilly, as she took his hand with her own. "Raven, nice to meet you Garfield."

Beast Boy looked at her weirdly, and Raven thought it was because of the use of his real name. "Don't you have a last name Raven?" He asked after a moment.

Raven had a straight face. "The monks of Azarath gave me that name. I never did receive a last name from them."

Beast Boy looked at her sadly. "You're saying that not even your own mother gave you a name?" He asked.

Raven's face became a little harsh, and Beast Boy put his hands up for calm. "Sorry, I didn't mean to press. New stuff, remember?"

Raven took in a deep breath, and calmed herself down. "Maybe some other time… Garfield." Saying the name, despite it being new, felt easy to do.

Beast Boy actually smiled at her, glad she hadn't teased him about his name… yet. "Yeah, let's just try to get along for now. We can learn more about each other's pasts later on."

Raven smiled a little at that. As silence came between the two.

Suddenly, two enormous whale calls filled the air.

Both of them looked down at their abdomens where the sounds came from. It was almost like they were saying 'Congratulations, you two have finally made up, now will somebody please feed us!'

Beast Boy and Raven shared a chuckle. "It's almost like they're trying to tell us something." Beast Boy joked, Raven gave another small chuckle at that, and they went and got their separate meals ready. With Beast Boy being in mild shock that he had made her laugh.

Again.

In the room itself, there was no longer an air of hostility, or mystery, or anything of the sort. Rather, it seemed to finally be filled with a sense of calm. Now that the guilt from before had been erased.

As the two ate their meal together, and made small talk with each other, they knew there was bound to be more fights later on. More things that the other simply couldn't believe about their companion. Who knows, maybe they might even have a fight bigger than what happened over his heat problem. Who knew just what they would learn about the other while they were together.

But now, they knew they would make it. Now that they were no longer thinking of themselves as Titans.

Rather, they were finally, and truly thinking of each other, as friends. As plain old Garfield and Raven. On the run from the Justice League and their former friends. And they were going to fight through it all together.

After they had ate, and despite the two having just woken up, both were still tired from the events from before. Beast Boy let out a small yawn. "Well Rae, looks like I'm going to hit the hay." Beast Boy said, as he started to walk to the door.

Raven almost felt sad to see him go out. Now that she thought about it, Beast Boy wasn't really that big of a pest really. He had even shown a hint of his intelligence when they had been eating. She didn't really want him to leave... 'Azar, what am I thinking?! It's just a small little crush, I'm sure I can live without seeing him for one night…' Raven thought to herself. Besides, she could also be feeling bad about how she still didn't ask him some questions. Maybe her crush didn't even have anything to do with her line of thinking.

"Whoa! Where the hell are we!" Beast Boy said as he suddenly slammed the door shut. Raven looked at him weirdly from her bed, why hadn't he gone outside, and why was he shaking?

Raven checked his emotions, and there was no longer any fear. Rather, his body was starting to work overtime in the heating system, as if…

Raven used her powers to open the door again, and looked out to see a massive blizzard. Beast Boy instantly screamed at the cold gust of wind that hit him again, before he slammed the door shut. Within seconds, he was in front of the fire, shivering like an icicle.

"Isn't it February?" Raven asked.

"Yes, but that doesn't explain how we ended up in the middle of a massive blizzard!" Beast Boy chattered through his teeth. His body was still trying to get used to the very sudden temperature change. Neither seemed to find it weird how their pocket home was in the middle of a massive blizzard.

"Now where the hell am I supposed to sleep!?" Beast Boy yelled in frustration.

Raven was about to sarcastically reply that he could change into a polar bear. When a seemingly random thought hit her. "You could sleep on the floor as a kitten again… if you wanted."

Beast Boy looked up at her weirdly. "Really?"

Raven just looked at him flatly. "If you can behave yourself, then yes. One wrong move though-" Raven started to say.

"And you'll throw me out into the cold dark storm." Beast Boy finished for her in a sarcastic tone. Raven's face took on a thoughtful look.

"Nah, I think I'd just send you to the third pit of hell. It'd be a lot warmer than it is out there… you'd also be able to meet a few of the punished souls of the dead while you were there too if you wanted..." Raven said, almost as if to herself.

Beast Boy's face took on a look of fear. And Raven chuckled lightly at him. "I'll think of something Beast Boy, I'd rather not send you out to either place."

Beast Boy let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Alright." He said in relief.

Raven used her powers to set a pillow on the ground at the foot of the bed. She then looked flatly at him. "Remember Beast Boy, one wrong move, and this will never happen again." Raven said to him.

"Yeah, yeah." Beast Boy said in a childish voice. He was about to morph into a kitten again, when he realized he still had one last thing to say.

"Oh, and Rae." Raven glared from underneath her comforter at the nickname.

"Thanks… for you know… saving my life out there against those two…" He said in a small voice this time.

Raven's glare softened. "And thank you for saving mine... and I'm sorry that I threw you into a tree." She said in a timid voice.

Beast Boy smiled, before he finally morphed into a kitten and jumped onto the pillow she had put on the floor. He curled up on top of it and stuck his small claws in a couple times to fluff it out. He felt good and full, and he wanted to sleep for a whole moon if it was possible. Just before he settled in though, he heard Raven's breathing slow, and within minutes, the kitten knew she was asleep.

Beast Boy quietly climbed onto the foot of the bed, a task that seemed gargantuan to the small kitten. But was still done within a minute of hearing the sound. The bright green eyes of the kitten looked up from the foot of the bed, past the lump that was Raven's body, all the way to her face.

As it watched, a small smile came onto her pale sleeping face. The same smile it saw while she had been meditating.

The kitten sighed in content to itself. 'What I'd do to see that smile every day… it's only a crush though.' It added as an afterthought. Even though as it thought it, there seemed to be less force being put behind the thought.

The kitten gazed at Raven for a few seconds more, before it hopped back onto it's pillow. It fell into a deep content sleep.

The Beast was deep in his master's mind. Smiling at the sight he had witnessed today. He let out a nostalgic sigh of his own.

'Now that Garfield, is what I call a step in the right direction towards our future mate.'

What neither seemed to realize as they fell into a deep sleep that night was that during the course of their whole encounter, despite what had happened, not one item, besides the pouch, had been hurled by Raven's powers. She had expressed herself a little more, and nothing bad had happened.

Sure, she would be back to normal in the morning. And she would likely do some more meditation to keep herself calm. She might not have that small smile on her face. She might even try to keep her emotions at bay again. But needless to say, the memory of this encounter would stick out to her own emoticlones over the next several weeks.

Raven could allow herself to feel. If to feel meant only the throwing of random items. And not large buildings and the world.

It seemed like Raven had found the person who could finally lead her out of her shell.


One day after the fight

Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…

Artemis sat in a chair, next to the white cot that was holding up a severely injured Wally. Artemis had her hands over the cast that covered his hand.

Wally had a cast on both of his arms, one of his legs, and a tight bandage over his chest. He also had a contraption set over his nose to set the broken bones in place. In the areas that weren't covered, you could clearly see black and purple bruises from the many things he had hit, or been hit with. It was hard to believe that Rage had even tried to heal him. He still looked so broken.

Not that they knew of course. Well, one was thinking on it.

Artemis had awoken about an hour after being knocked out about ten miles outside of Central City. She had been confused as to how she had gotten there, but hadn't had much time to reflect on it when she had found Wally's beaten body on the ground next to her. She had immediately called in for help, and Flash had answered the call. They had been very fortunate that he had stopped in Central City to resupply. The two of them together had gotten Kid Flash to a Zeta Tube, and from there, the Young Justice medlab.

They would have used the Titan's medlab, but it wasn't as advanced as the Cave's. Plus, someone had another reason why she didn't want to go back to stay in the Titan's Tower.

If Flash had wanted to question why Artemis had brought him there to heal, instead of at Titan's Tower, he hadn't shown it. It was only after he had gotten Wally as fixed up as he could that he went back out again. Intent on meeting up with Wonder Woman and Hal Jordan at the original site where the fight had happened.

He would phone in hours later, telling Artemis that there was no trace of them. Artemis barely responded to it. Flash had hung up after he had been done telling her what he had found. Which had been close to nothing.

Now, Artemis was one of three people in the room. The second person being Wally, who was unconscious from his injuries. And the third being Red Tornado, the team's caretaker, and the member of the Justice League who she was giving her briefing to.

"Artemis, do you know how the two fugitives, Beast Boy and Raven, were able to get away from the two of you?" The red robot asked her in a robotic voice.

Artemis shook her head as she continued to gaze at Wally.

"Do you know how they were able to injure Wally so severely? When his speed should have far outpaced theirs. While you remained uninjured, besides a mild concussion." Red Tornado asked, despite her icy demeanor.

Again, Artemis just shook her head.

"Can you tell me if you found out where the two were hiding beforehand? Or where their next hideout may be?" Red Tornado asked.

Another shake of the head.

"Were there any weaknesses that you two discovered while fighting them?"

Shake of the head.

"Any secret disguises or transformations that we should know about?"

Shake of the head. Red Tornado paused, before he said his next words.

"Were you the one responsible for the state of your boyfriend's injuries?"

Artemis slammed her hand on the railing of the cot. "How the hell would I be responsible for this!?" Artemis shouted at the red robot, as she pointed her fist to her unconscious boyfriend.

Red Tornado's face remained the same. "Sorry, I was only trying something to get a reaction out of you that wasn't a simple shake of the head." Red Tornado said in the same voice to her.

Artemis breathed in and out really heavily for a few seconds, before she calmed down. "I'm sorry, but I can't help but feel this was my fault." She said, before she looked back to her boyfriend again, and tears fell from her eyes. "I was knocked out in the middle of the fight, so I didn't get a chance to save him from whatever did this…" Red Tornado saw her tears.

"I am sorry if I made you upset. But I must ask, do you want to be sent back out into the field to find them?" He asked.

Artemis shook her head at him. Red Tornado got as close to confused as a robot could get. "Are you sure? My databases have shown me how fond you were of capturing the demoness in the past in your searches."

Artemis again shook her head as she gazed down at Wally. Red Tornado turned away. "Okay then, I will give you two some time to recover. But I will expect a full debriefing from you and Kid Flash soon after he awakes." With that, Red Tornado walked out of the med bay.

After Artemis heard his footsteps recede away, she finally collapsed into a fit of tears as she let her face gently fall onto Wally's chest. Even as she did this, random thoughts filled her mind of what she had learned earlier.

The Justice League had searched the surrounding area of their fight for where the two could have been hiding. But they had found no evidence, besides a destroyed tree, and an imprint of something large and square in the space beside it. They had also found traces of latex with some unknown chemical all over the tree, but they couldn't identify what it was to. They were still going over it, but were having no luck identifying what it could have been. Or if it was important to know.

Artemis had, of course, received a scolding from Robin via communicator earlier. For one, not calling in on Miss Martian's mental link when they found Beast Boy and Raven, and two, letting the two of them get away. His lecture to her had lasted hours, and when he finally did hang up, Artemis had thrown her communicator at a wall.

Truth be told, she was kind of glad she hadn't caught the two, despite what had happened. Artemis felt more of her tears fall as she came to realize just how much Robin had been brainwashed of his two former teammates. Family even, as he had said to her back in the Tower. Starfire was even worse, and Artemis couldn't help but feel how their relationship was so fake. Even Cyborg, though he seemed the most unchanged, was as fake as she had been. To even mention one name or the other brought a scowl on his face. Too think that she had been so easily duped.

Artemis wished that she knew who had magically manipulated her mind. Even though she had been aware of it, it hadn't been until Wally had mentioned her family that her mind had finally recognized the unknown thoughts and emotions that weren't hers. She hadn't been under anyone's control, per say, it was like her mind had been manipulated into a line of thinking and trapped in it.

Artemis wondered what the best course of action would be now. Wally was going to be out for two weeks, even with his advanced healing abilities helping him to heal. And that was if he were to wake up in that time, as his mind was now in a coma. Then there was the fact as to what had happened to her. And now that she was free of that line of thinking, she wondered how many others had been compromised like she had been.

One of the more peculiar things Artemis had learned while she and Flash had been checking for internal injuries was that he had had locations in his body where several life threatening injuries should have been. Like an area that suggested a punctured lung, an area where bone had cut the main artery in his leg and one of his arms, heck, with the way his right arm had been so shattered, he should have never been able to use it again without one very extensive surgery.

Yet, they weren't there. Instead, they looked to have been healed up. Or healed up to the point where these life threatening and crippling injuries wouldn't be problematic in the future. Something that further cemented into the young archer's mind a theory she had been going over ever since Wally had finally snapped her out of the haze she had been in.

She knew for certain that the original three Titans were being manipulated. Albeit, a much more powerful form than she had been. Which was why she refused to see them now. Which was why she was here in the cave, instead of at the Tower, where her old gang still met up with them and various other Titans.

Artemis then remembered the new set of Titans that had came in the morning before she and Wally had left. How a group of five had said they were from Titans East. Wherever that was supposed to be. The other two had been even more unfamiliar.

One had looked a lot like a bull with his appearance, while the other had been this blonde riding on a boulder. She couldn't really place the two's names. She just knew that Robin had welcomed the two as Titans.

Artemis couldn't help but wonder if they had now been manipulated like she had been.

In her mind, she now had several options. She could either A. Have both her and Wally stay on the team, and help in hunting down two people who she now knew were innocent. B. She could request to join with some of the Justice Leaguer's in finding the missing demon army offworld. C. Try to expose to the Justice League that she had been magically manipulated by someone… though she didn't know who. Her memories on some activities seemed blurry the past... she wasn't sure how long. Week?

Or D. Go through with her and Wally's original plan before the end of the world. And go into retirement so they could stay in college full-time.

'Two weeks, that's how long I'll give myself to make this choice.' Artemis thought to herself.

The last choice held the most merit to her. There was only one thing keeping her from making it.

'If me and Wally were to go into retirement, would that stop the mystery someone from before from coming and trying to manipulate me again?'

Fortunately, at that thought, Wally's heart rate started to pick up, indicating he was coming out of the coma. Artemis finally smiled for the first time that day. She didn't have to wait two weeks for him to wake up.

'Well, at least whatever happens, I can count on Wally being there to support me. Impecible timing as ever.'


Watchtower, one week after the short rise of Trigon

The Man of Steel was finally waking up. His eyelids opened, revealing pupils as light blue as a clear sky.

His brain was working overtime, accessing his body for any injuries. He found none though, and then he looked around himself. Expecting to see the burned land that now signified Rann.

He was a little shocked to see that he was in the white healing chamber of the WatchTower. There were several other white cots around him, and the room was filled with a pulsing light. It was here where the Leaguer's would be put in case of severe injuries, and things of that nature. It could heal most anything short of death just by resting in there if they didn't have a healing factor, except for diseases.

Many a Leaguer had wished for that part for when the Common Cold would hit them all. Somehow, the slippery virus even managed to find its way into the WatchTower.

Then he realized, he was in the Watchtower! Rann had been destroyed! He had to go and warn everyone!

His body started to rise from the cot he was lying on, when a black gloved hand pushed him back. Superman's eyes followed the hand up to a blonde haired woman, who was calmly looking down at him.

"Dinah, I need-" Superman said in a scratchy voice. Before he started to cough.

"What you need is more rest Clark. You're lucky Batman sent Oliver when he did. Otherwise who knows what state you would have been in when we found you." Black Canary said, as she pushed Superman the rest of the way down onto the cot.

His strong hand suddenly gripped hers. "I need to tell the Bruce… what I found… cough cough, on Rann." Superman said, in a commanding voice.

"We know Clark, Rann got overran by a large fire demon horde. It was completely destroyed. We have league members out searching for the demon horde as we speak. You don't have to worry about it or-" Black Canary had started to say. When Superman's eyes widened.

"No! You can't have League members searching out for that horde! That's suicide!" Superman yelled in fear, before a severe fit of coughing overtook him. Black Canary looked down at him confused.

"It's not like we're going to engage it head on. Not after we saw what it did to you Clark. We're just trying to find it and track it." Black Canary said to him.

Superman tried to steady his breathing. "Dinah, you don't understand. This isn't just some big horde I took on. What we faced with the other hordes were minor compared to what I found."

Black Canary looked at him confused. Superman took a steady breath. "On those other planets, there might have been a lot of them we had to face Dinah… but on Rann… it was like all those we had faced up till then were mere scouting parties."

Black Canary's eyes started to widen. "But I faced a horde of about five hundred thousand with the warlords of Okaara." She said in a stunned voice, before a long silence came. "How much more?" She finally asked.

Superman could only sadly shake his head. "Dinah... I lost count on Rann... but to my eyes, and my x-ray vision, there appeared to be several billion in that horde... probably even more." He took a breath. "And I'm sure that one of Trigon the Terrible's Generals was leading it."


Author's Notes:

Well, ain't I just a sucker for fluff and cliffhangers.

Raven and Beast Boy have made up, and are finally moving on from their time as Titans. But now things are starting to become a little more interesting. Will Raven ever tease Beast Boy about his real name? Will Raven open up to Beast Boy about her past? Will things be interesting when Beast Boy goes into heat?

Let's not forget, mind manipulation? Who could possibly be behind that with Artemis? Was it actually Zatanna? Could it have been someone else? How many other people could have possibly been victim to it? And let's not forget the biggest question of them all.

Where in the vast expanse of the universe is that demon horde?

Till Next Time

Allen