A/N: The next chapter should be the last one. This story ended up being a bit longer than anticipated.
As always, I do not own the Teen Titans.
He gasped.
The pain in his back and his side and his shoulders and his head burst. Then, nothing.
"Beast Boy!"
He tried to open his eyes.
He heard someone call out his name. Again? Before? Her voice. He managed to groan, telling her he was okay. They were okay. He shivered. It was dark. Cold.
"Hold on!"
Another voice shouted. Not his name. Two voices? Had he fallen asleep? It was still dark and his body felt like it had been split apart and stitched back together with safety pins and barbed wire.
He remembered the ceiling like a bad dream.
He heard her mantra, a prayer just for him. He feared for a moment that he was only imagining it, but then he felt the pain in his back lessen to a dull ache. He could hear the rocks shifting around them. He kept his eyes closed.
"Garfield?"
He breathed in the whisper. He breathed out a sigh, relieved. This time his green eyes opened to a pair of violet ones and a halo of purple hair. It was still quite dark, but she was so light. Was he dead?
No, dead people didn't feel pain. Did they? He ached all over.
Another sudden pain in his arm, not really all that sharp, told him he was definitely still alive.
"You idiot," she scolded him. He could see her eyes were sharp now, but still worried. "Why would you do that?"
Beast Boy coughed. His lungs felt like they were full of cobwebs and even the simple movement made his body ache even more fiercely. Still, he grinned.
"Beast Boy strong," he grunted. He brought a hand up and pounded his fist once against his chest. He immediately regretted the action. "Save pretty girl," he managed to finish with another cough and a smirk.
Raven's face could not be any less amused. Honestly, he hadn't realized she could roll her eyes and still look so thoroughly concerned.
"Rae! How is he?"
"He's fine," she answered, briefly looking up behind Beast Boy.
He tried to tilt his head back, but couldn't make out anything but rock. "Um, what happened?"
"The ceiling fell on top of you. Most of it got trapped between those pillars," she nodded upwards and a bit towards his left. "You're lucky."
He nodded and stared at her, remembering only how she fell and the claw. "It got you," he whispered. "You…"
"I'm fine."
"You look exhausted."
Her lack of argument was agreement enough.
"You know, you look worse," she said after a moment.
"Aw, thanks."
She shook her head. "You're unbelievable."
He smiled. The rocks above them shifted again and their miniature cave rumbled. His smile faded and he glanced up, watching the debris anxiously until he heard Robin on the other side.
"I think we're almost through."
Beast Boy let his head fall back down against the ground. No wonder it was taking so long. He supposed there was still a chance they could be crushed, especially with Raven practically drained. She must've used up whatever strength she had left to heal him.
"Rae?"
She looked down at him. He realized that she was gripping his hand pretty tightly.
"You sure you're okay?"
Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"You're holding my hand."
She pulled the offending hand back like he'd burned her.
"No!" He started to sit up. "You don't have to—"
"Stop, you'll hurt yourself."
"It's okay," he winced, sitting up completely.
"Beast Boy."
"Rae."
"It's Raven."
"Rae."
"What?"
She stared at him, frustration and a bit of fear flooding her eyes. Her face was a little dusty now that he looked more closely. Her hair was a mess. Surely, their formalwear was ruined. Beast Boy wasn't torn up about the tux, but the dress…Well, she never would've worn it again anyway. Her shoulders were bare, perhaps a bit bruised. The shawl was probably buried somewhere. He couldn't help but bring the hand that she had been holding up to brush against her arm.
"You saved me," he said.
"We're even."
"Right."
It wasn't enough.
"So, in case we die anyways…" he began.
"Are you serious?"
"Totally."
A couple of rocks tumbled down off to their right. He heard Starfire heaving something large out of the way and Robin cautioning her.
"Beast Boy—"
"Rae."
She scowled.
He grinned a bit stupidly.
Then, he kissed her.
He felt her gasp. He may have taken too big a chance. After all, it wasn't very romantic. Another rock fell. There were pieces of ceiling all around them and there might have been a bit of dried blood in his hair, but the second she leaned forward and kissed him back, none of it mattered. His left hand found hers again and his right hand pulled her closer. She touched his face, sending a spark through his body and it was official. He was in love…or dead. He hadn't entirely thrown out that theory.
Another rumble sounded along with the crack of a fairly large stone hitting the floor. He felt Raven pull back suddenly and opened his eyes to find her staring back at him. She let go of his hand. The noise of the shifting stones was much closer now and when Raven's gaze left his, Beast Boy turned to see a large stone slab being pulled away.
"Are you two alright?" Robin asked, poking his head through to see.
"Just fine," Raven answered quickly, moving her feet to stand up a bit. She wobbled slightly, but ignored Beast Boy's attempt at a steadying hand. She had to crouch as she passed him and approached the newly formed door. Robin helped her step out.
Beast Boy followed, practically crawling to the exit as quickly as possible. He saw Raven float up to the staircase, or what was left of it, as Cyborg reached a hand in to help him up.
"You had us worried there for a sec, grass stain."
"Yeah, sorry," he replied. He let his friend lift him out of the rubble.
"You okay?"
"Way better now that I'm not gonna die in there."
Cyborg simply shook his head and rested a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder as the two headed towards the broken staircase.
Cyborg led everyone back up to the ballroom where the police had already gathered. Previously missing guests were happily reunited with loved ones, visibly shaken but thankfully unharmed. Robin moved to speak with the police chief, Starfire close by his side. After a few moments, Madame Parise, still sobbing softly, was led out the front door by a pair of police officers who looked especially uncomfortable. Beast Boy couldn't help but watch her leave, feeling sort of bad for the poor woman. It was obvious what she'd lost. For once, he kind of hoped she might get out of everything okay in the end, even though she'd almost gotten them killed. He shook his head, trying not to think about it too much, and turned to face Cyborg.
"So, what happened to you, dude?"
"What happened to me?" Cyborg exclaimed. "I had one of her goons trailin' me the whole time. Once I finally got rid of him, I was lost and this place is huge. Good thing ya'll were makin' so much noise, otherwise I'd never have found ya. How'd you two even get down there?"
"We got pulled in as hopeful souls," Raven answered, stepping over to join them.
"I thought it was because of the dancing," Beast Boy admitted, a bit confused.
"But Rob and Star weren't even dancing anymore when they disappeared," Cyborg pointed out.
"But, the waltz?" Beast Boy questioned.
Cyborg shrugged and Raven didn't offer an opinion. They were silent for a bit, each seemingly lost in thought.
"I was right about the ghosts, though," Beast Boy pointed out, a smug smile forming on his face.
Raven rolled her eyes.
