Alright everybody! Here you go! The grand finale for Shadows of Love! And in this final chapter, loose ends are tied up with 'Todd', a temporary resolution is reached between our favorite chromatically challenged pair, and the Master (having Houdini-ed his way out of the Titans reach yet again) manages to salvage his otherwise horribly failed first efforts at renewing his work with a brand new underling . . . albeit, an unwilling one. That in mind, here's to hoping you read, review, and enjoy!

A/N: For the last time, at least for this story, I do not own Teen Titans. And now, onward with the fic.

Epilogue:

Meanwhile, back in Jump City, Raven was calmly waiting near the entrance to her favorite bookstore. Usually, she'd be visiting the bookstore for the sake of adding to her already sizeable collection of books. This time, however, she was at the bookstore for reasons more for business then for pleasure.

Considering the current circumstances at the Tower, she would probably have gone to the bookstore anyway even if she hadn't had the current business she had to attend to. The previous day, immediately after Adonis had been safely transferred over into the custody of A JCPD transport unit that had been arranged to deliver him to Belle Reve, the founding Titans had made a beeline for the exact location that the miscreant had said was the location where his hopeful future boss had set up shop. Unfortunately, upon arrival, it had taken all of three minutes exploring the very glaringly empty cave they'd found for them to realize that the mysterious Master had managed to slip from their reach yet again. To put it simply, Robin hadn't taken that well.

Therefore, at the current moment, while Robin was keeping himself holed up in his room to stew away and wait for his temper to calm down and blow over, all the other Titans were all hard at work with their own things. And on that note, Raven was starting to wonder what was taking so long for the person she was currently planning to meet up with outside the bookstore to arrive. "Where is he?" she thought to herself.

"Sorry I'm late."

Raven turned around in time to see none other than Todd come walking over from across the street. The boy looked mildly annoyed. Raven waited patiently for her goth acquaintance to reach the same area as her. The goth boy shook his head side to side vigorously as if irritated. "My dumb jerk supervisor forgot that I had off today, and it took me nearly an hour to convince him and remind him of that information." He looked over at Raven. "But nonetheless, I'm here now, and I'm sorry I'm late."

Raven nodded. "I understand." She sighed. "As I'm sure you may have guessed, there's something we need to talk about."

Todd thought to himself, and then nodded. "I'm listening."

Raven took a deep breath, exhaling calmly. She directed her purple eyes at the goy boy, her face cold and serious. "Two nights ago," she began. "That offer you made for me to go for a walk in the woods with you as a companion? Turns out, you were going to lead me into a trap."

Todd mentally winced, but let no outward sign show. "A trap you say?"

"Yes, a trap." Raven folded her arms across her chest. "A villain named Adonis, who also happens to be a very abhorrent admirer of mine, was lying in wait for me in the forest last night. He had very despicable plans for me, and apparently, he was expecting you to lead me right to him."

The goth boy thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "Might as well be somewhat honest with her," he thought to himself. He looked over at the sorceress. "I see," he said. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Well, to be honest," he began. "I didn't actually meet this Adonis person. However, one other guy I did manage to talk to the day before that other day did say that there was . . . a friend of yours, I think that's what he said . . . that wanted to meet up with you in the forest on Valentine's Day night." He hung his head. "I will admit though, if I'd known the truth about this supposed 'friend' or what he'd in fact had planned for you, then I'd probably have been much less likely to trust that other guy that quickly."

From a technical metaphorically perspective, Todd was telling the truth. He had indeed not known the full extent of what Adonis had been planning, and had indeed never once interacted with him over the course of the past few days. Raven's own eyes narrowed, for while her empathic radar could sense that Todd was indeed speaking the truth, she wasn't entirely certain that she could completely trust him.

"This other guy you talked to," she said. "Who was he?"

"Can't really say for sure," Todd admitted. "He didn't give me a name. And I can't say much about what he looked like. His eyes were the only things I could see thanks to a big heavy black cloak he was wearing."

"Black cloak huh?" said Raven. "Let me guess. Red eyes?"

"Yeah," said Todd, genuinely surprised. "How did you know?"

"My friends and I," Raven explained, clearly referring to the other Titans, "have reason to believe that this figure is potentially a wanted criminal." She pointed her finger at Todd. "That description you just gave about that cloaked figure? Adonis gave the exact same description about him. And it also matches a description given to us last summer by a fellow hero named Geo-Force who ended up being placed under mind control and forced to do acts of villainy by a figure of very similar description." She folded her arms across her chest once more. "Granted, none of the Titans have ever actually encountered this man in person before. And aside from Geo-Force, so far, apparently neither have any other heroes in the world. But the fact that you were apparently interacting on friendly terms with a potential wanted criminal does not look good for you."

Todd nodded in reluctant agreement. "No it does not," he admitted.

"Care to explain why you were interacting with this man?" Raven asked.

"I'm perfectly fine with that," said Todd. He nodded his head, and sighed in resignation. "You see," he began. "I'm not exactly in the best circumstances when it comes to money. I'm still 17 right now, my job doesn't pay that much, and I'm just barely getting by. Also, I'm trying to save up my resources to get some stuff I need." He nodded his head. "I happened to encounter this cloaked figure, and while I didn't trust him at first, he proved quite perceptive of my current circumstances. And over time, I don't know how, but I just let down my walls." As he talked, he found himself continuing to speak mostly the truth, but still omit a couple details or so.

"I see," said Raven. "And let me guess, he promised to provide you with the stuff you needed?"

"Correct."

"And let me guess, in exchange for that stuff, you were supposed to lead me into the forest for him so that Adonis could take me out."

"Well he didn't entirely use those exact words," said Todd. "But otherwise, yes. You've hit the nail right on the head."

Raven took a deep breath, exhaled, and then nodded her head. Her empathic senses, and the partial lie detecting abilities that came with them, were currently still hinting at Todd being somewhat trustworthy. She faced him once more. "And I believe you also were requested to work for him?"

Todd's eyes widened. "Work for him?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

Raven's eyebrow rose. "Well, on Valentine's Day night, we captured Adonis and brought him to the Tower. And we interrogated him yesterday morning. . ."

"You're allowed to do all that?"

"Depending on the circumstances, yes. And the amount of time we're allowed to keep any such villains in our custody before handing them over to the authorities varies."

Raven shook her head side to side. "Look, the point is, during the interrogation, we learned that the same cloaked figure you talked to was hoping to recruit Adonis into some army of supervillains he's trying to form. Adonis's efforts at carrying out those plans he had for me on Valentine's Day night were also apparently part of a unique test of worth that the cloaked figure was subjecting Adonis to. And apparently, Adonis, and perhaps even the cloaked figure himself, were under the impression that you were deemed a potentially worthy recruit as well."

Todd, eyes still wide open in shock, gulped. "I see," he managed to say. He looked off to the side, seemingly at nothing, parts of his mind still numb from the shock of the unexpected information. And considering how much he'd been trained over the course of his life, both before and after his first death, to keep his emotions hidden and in check, the fact that he was now very clearly and genuinely showing how shocked he was by the unexpected information he'd just learned spoke volumes of just how stunned he now was. Raven herself also detected this through her empathic radar, and thus sealed the deal that Todd seemingly actually could perhaps be trustworthy after all, at least for now.

"You didn't know about that?" Raven asked.

The goth boy shook his head side to side. "He never said anything about that kind of thing," he responded. And indeed, he remembered quite clearly that the cloaked figure had never once mentioned the possibility of recruiting him for anything. "What else has he hidden from me?" he thought to himself.

"You don't know of any reason why he might have wanted to recruit you?" Raven asked. At this point, the question was more of a formality than anything else now that she knew that Todd apparently hadn't even known that the Master wanted to recruit him for his supervillain army. But even so, she had to make sure.

Todd shook his head. "No idea," he responded. He looked off to the side. "Though now that I know what you just told me, I have a feeling I'd really better do some digging."

"Do you want us to help you?" Raven asked.

Todd shook his head. "No," he responded. "Granted, I appreciate the concern and willingness to help. But right now, I think it would be best that I take care of this on my own."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Depending on the circumstances, it may very well be a wiser idea, at least for the moment." Todd looked over at Raven. "We don't know for certain just how much this cloaked figure knows regarding how much you and your teammates know about his plans. But if he doesn't yet know that you've figured out his apparent plans for me, then if he catches me with you, or any of the other Titans, that could tip him off." He closed his eyes, and nodded his head up and down. "I appreciate the concern," said the goth boy. "But until I think it otherwise necessary, I think it's best that for now I pursue this little quest on my own."

Raven thought to herself. "If you say so."

"Thanks," said the goth boy. He smiled. "And hey, I'm not completely defenseless if things head south. I've managed to pick up a trick or two from the life I live. And besides," he indicated his cellphone. "I could always send you and the other Titans a distress signal."

Raven raised her eyebrow. "That's really not something you should joke about."

"I know," said Todd. "But seriously, I'll be ok. I should be anyway."

"Let's hope so," said Raven.

"Indeed." Todd thought to himself. "You know, now that I think about it," said the goth boy. He directed a curious look towards Raven. "Why did you end up going to the forest Valentine's Day night anyway without me?"

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Yeah, I was going to talk about that as well."

"I'm all ears," said Todd.

Raven took another deep breath, exhaling in a resigned sigh. "Remember that secret admirer I mentioned that I was supposed to meet up with the night before Valentine's Day?"

"Yes," said Todd.

Raven sighed. "Apparently," she began. "He did manage to show."

Todd's eyes widened. "He did?" he asked, half in surprise and half in genuine happiness.

Raven nodded her head.

"Well, where was he?" Todd asked. "How come we didn't see him?"

Raven sighed, and then looked up at the goth boy. "He showed up just far enough outside the rendezvous point to see me talking with you."

For a moment, the goth boy stared uncomprehendingly, then he put two and two together. "Oh," he said. He winced. "I'm starting to see where this is going."

Raven nodded her head. "Yes. Upon sight of us, he was overwhelmed by the initial shock of catching sight of the two of us together at the rendezvous point. So overwhelmed, in fact," she hung her head. "That he didn't even bother to stick around long enough to actually hear what we were talking about or likewise get the full picture."

"I see," said Todd.

"And as it turns out, my secret admirer turned out to be the very teammate that I was going to the zoo with on Valentine's Day."

"Oh," said Todd, looking over to the side awkwardly. "Ok, I'll admit, that probably screwed things up a little."

"Well not over the course of the trip itself no," said Raven. "But later that evening, he ended up finally unbottling his feelings on the matter in a very dangerous and horrifying fashion."

"Let me guess," said Todd. "The Beast?"

"Yes," said Raven. "I see you're among the mass number of the Jump City populace that is aware of the Beast."

"That is correct," Todd confirmed.

"So it is," said Raven. "Well anyway, after having a huge temper tantrum in the Tower, he went off into the forest to let out the rest of his rage, and I volunteered to go off to find him and make sure he'd be ok, and to help calm him down if he was still in the form of the Beast when I found him. Needless to say, I ended up going right into Adonis's trap as a result."

"I see," said Todd. He nodded his head up and down in sympathy. "For that, I apologize."

"Thank you," said Raven. She nodded her head. "And that brings me to one other thing."

"I'm all ears," said the goth boy.

Raven took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "Right now," the sorceress began. "Until me and my secret admirer get the chance to completely settle things between us and fully come to understand the exact nature of our relationship, or at least to some extent or other allow all that's currently happened to smooth out, it might be best that you and I don't spend all that much time interacting together."

"I see," said Todd.

"Look Todd," said Raven. "It's nothing against you. Honest it isn't. It's just that. . ."

"Hey, no need to worry about that, I understand." Todd nodded his head. "I'm ok with being sidelined for now. I mean hey, I already unwittingly screwed things up between you and your potential new boyfriend badly enough the other night. The last thing I need to do is to further muddy things up." He stared straight at Raven, an understanding smile on his face. "Trust me, I'm willing to wait for you and the changeling to work things out. Chances to do stuff with friends come up often. But finding love with someone, not to mention finding that one special person?" He nodded his head up and down. "That chance doesn't come very often. And when it does, you really should take it." He looked on over to the side, then back at the sorceress. "I guess this is goodbye then?"

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded her head. "Yes," she responded. "For now." She looked back at her apparent civilian goth boy acquaintance. "I'll see you around again some time or other in the future."

"I'll be waiting," said Todd. He smiled. "And if things do work out between you and that secret admirer of yours, feel free to tell me about it. I could probably use a tip or two from you in that event."

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded. "Goodbye Todd."

"Goodbye," said the goth boy.

The two dark individuals gave each other a companionable handshake. Then Raven nodded her head in a final farewell gesture and took to the sky. The goth boy waited for Raven to fully depart his sight and hearing range. Then he sighed. "I hope things do work out for her," he whispered out loud to himself. He turned around and started walking down the sidewalk in the direction of what would inevitably lead to his makeshift headquarters. "And as for me," he thought to himself. "I've got work to do."

. . . . .

Raven came to a smooth and quiet landing on the shore outside the Tower. She took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Well," she thought to herself. "There's one loose end tied up." She looked directly ahead towards the front door of the Titans' headquarters. "Now it's time to prepare for dealing with another."

"Hey Rae."

Raven's eyes widened, and she turned her head to her left. Sure enough, Beast Boy was sitting down a good couple feet away, staring towards the ocean, but with his eyes slightly directed towards his left at her. "Beast Boy," Raven managed to say, still too surprised at having unexpectedly seen him in his current position to comment on his use of the irritating, yet still now gradually becoming endearing, pet name. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here remember?"

Raven sighed, and shook her head with her eyes closed. "Really Beast Boy," she said. "Why are you here?"

"Honestly," said Beast Boy. "I'm not entirely certain myself." He looked over at the Tower. "Right now, Robin's still hasn't come back out of his room since breakfast this morning, Star's keeping herself occupied with Silkie while waiting for a time that either fearless leader leaves his room on his own or she deems herself to have waited long enough for it to be safe for her to enter there to convince him, and Cyborg's busy doing work on the T-Car." He looked out in the direction of the city. "Everyone else is likewise preoccupied. The Titans North guys are still out searching through the forest to see if they can find any sign of the Master or even a clue as to where he's gone now. The Titans South people are at the movie theatre and among the first in Jump City to watch the newly released MCU movie, which the rest of us had definitely best get to watching ourselves at some point in the future."

"Noted," Raven said dryly.

"Titans East is chilling out at their personal apartment suite," Beast Boy continued, either having not noticed Raven's dry remark to his earlier comment or just ignoring it for the sake of making his overall point. "Herald's hanging out there with Titans East, and Jinx and Kid Flash said they'd be spending a while at Youngberg Café." He looked directly at Raven. "To put it simply, I don't really have very much to do that I can think of right now."

Raven thought to herself. "Well I'm sure there's something that you could be doing right now other than just sitting around here. . ."

"I didn't say that there was nothing I could do that I could think of," said Beast Boy. "I said there wasn't very much I could do that I could think of." He got up on his feet and turned around to face Raven completely. "That doesn't mean that I couldn't think of anything to do."

For a brief moment, Raven was confused. Then her purple eyes widened as she noticed the look that was now in Beast Boy's eyes. "Is he. . .?" she thought to herself.

"We never did get around to discussing about the little matter of my . . . status," said Beast Boy.

In that moment, Raven instantly knew exactly what Beast Boy was talking about. She nodded her head. "Indeed we did not."

Beast Boy nodded his head, took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Well," said the changeling. "Now's as good a time as any."

Raven thought to herself, and then nodded her head. "Best get it over with," she mentally decided. She looked up at Beast Boy.

The two chromatically challenged friends stared each other down for several minutes, each of them waiting for the other to speak first. Then Raven decided she'd waited long enough. "Well Beast Boy," she began. "I will admit, I'm not entirely certain what to say." She hung her head. "I'm sure this may not be too much of a surprise to you, but I apologize in advance in case this does cause offense, but five years ago, or potentially some point or other in between now and the Titans' first year of existence, I could very easily have been disgusted at the idea of something like . . . that . . . existing between us."

"No offense taken," Beast Boy managed to say, though with slight tightness in his voice.

"But with everything we've been through in all the time we've known each other since," Raven continued. She sighed. "I will admit, right now, I am actually somewhat flattered that you've turned out to be my secret admirer."

Beast Boy let a small smile come on his face. "That's reassuring to hear."

Raven nodded her head. "But even so," she said. "I honestly don't know how to approach this situation, especially after the full information got revealed to me in the way it did." She lifted her hands as it to forestall any potentially negative reaction from Beast Boy. "Don't get me wrong," said the sorceress. "Like I said, I am flattered that you may or may not feel that way towards me. But me? Honest to Azar, I don't know how I really feel towards you myself anymore, let alone if I like you that kind of way." She hung her head, sighing in an almost resigned fashion. "And I know that might sound hard to believe because I'm an empath. But I'm telling the truth. I honestly don't know what to say in regards to how you feel, or how I feel for you." She looked back up at Beast Boy. "And I'm sure you can understand how that feels right?"

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "To tell you the truth," the changeling began. "Part of me is sort of relieved to know that you feel the way you currently feel regarding this situation."

Raven raised her eyebrow, partially in confusion and partially in shock. "Why?" she asked.

"Because to be honest," responded the changeling, "I still don't really know the exact nature of what it is I feel for you either." He nodded his head. "I used to think it was so simple to, the nature of our relationship, just like you did." He looked the sorceress back in the eyes. "But now, after everything that's happened, I'm not sure what to think, or how I feel." He rubbed the back of his head. "And really, I don't really have the experience I need to truly understand yet either. I never had anyone to teach me as to what love is, let alone the different types. I mean hey, you saw how long it took for me to realize that what I felt for Terra was actually more of a schoolyard crush then genuine romantic love." He nodded his head. "So yeah, I don't really know for certain how I feel for you any more than you know for certain how you feel for me."

Raven thought to herself. "Well," she said. "I guess, when you put it that way, it is kind of a relief to know that we're on the same boat."

Beast Boy nodded his head. "Indeed." The changeling thought to himself. "Are you able to easily identify an emotion in a specific way whenever you detect one from someone else with your empath mojo?"

"Yes," said Raven. "It's paradoxical really. Empaths like myself can so easily identify emotions when we detect them coming from others, yet sometimes have just as much difficulty as anyone else would in identifying them when we feel them ourselves. Honestly, it's like becoming so used to being aware of how to identify them coming from someone else that we get somewhat desensitized to the presence of those same emotions in us at varying extents."

Beast Boy thought to himself. "Ok," he said slowly, not entirely certain if he fully grasped what Raven was saying. "Would it be at all similar, perhaps, to what it's like to hear your own voice in a recording?"

Raven thought to herself, then found her eyes slowly widening as she realized the surprisingly valid similarities. "Actually," she admitted. "Yes, now that you mention it, it is somewhat like that, but in reverse."

"I see," said Beast Boy. "On that note, if you're willing, do you think maybe it would be ok for you to use your empath mojo on me and see if you can properly identify just how I feel in your regard?"

Raven gaped at Beast Boy as if he'd grown a second head. "I mean," said Beast Boy. "Like you said, you're able to easily identify many emotions, both common and otherwise, when detecting them coming from someone else. And, reasonably speaking, I'm almost certain that you've detected love and should be able to recognize it in that fashion as well."

Raven thought to herself. "That is true," she admitted. "Still, you've got such a large sea of emotions radiating from you now."

"I know," said Beast Boy. "But I'm sure that, if you focus hard enough, you could probably pinpoint one emotion or other out of them all and work on it further from there."

"Fair point," said Raven.

"And again," said Beast Boy. "I'm just offering a suggestion. If you don't want to, then you don't have to do this." He rubbed the back of his head. "But if you do, I'm willing to give it a shot, see if we can just get this all over with. And hey, maybe if you do go through with this and what I turn out to feel for you is that kind of thing, maybe it will even help you come to terms on your end of the issue."

Raven thought to herself, carefully considering what Beast Boy was suggesting. "Could it really be that easy?" she wondered. She looked over at Beast Boy, who was waiting patiently, then directed her head to the side as if thinking further. She had to admit, part of her actually did see the appeal in going through with the idea that the changeling had suggested. It would certainly get the entire business over with and out of the way.

She felt a small smile struggling to come onto her face as she continued to think the matter over. A good couple days ago, she had herself been feeling reasonably under the weather at the idea of being virtually the only single lady left amongst all the female Titans her age just as much as Beast Boy had felt about being one of the last remaining bachelors, and the only current one remaining out of the founding members. Also, and she could practically feel the giggling coming from Happy and Love inside her as she reached this thought, despite their initial first impressions of each other and how very different they were, all that they'd gone through over the past 5 years, not to mention the last few days alone, now had her thinking that it wouldn't entirely be all that unappealing for her to consider a relationship of such a nature with her green friend. After all, she knew that he was far better than Adonis could ever hope to be, and that, unlike Malchior, he was already her friend and genuinely cared for her. Plus, her talks with the other girls earlier the previous week had allowed her to open her eyes to seeing how she and Beast Boy were capable of being far more compatible together then she'd ever thought before. "Who knows," she thought to herself. "Maybe I actually do love Beast Boy that way." She surreptitiously directed another glance at Beast Boy. "And if that's the case, then it would certainly be helpful to know whether Beast Boy actually feels that way as well."

At the same time, though, she also couldn't help but hesitate at the idea of checking to confirm this possibility just yet. As much as she wanted to desperately find out if Beast Boy in fact did love her the way he appeared willing to think he actually was, and perhaps, through that, whether she herself felt that way, she also couldn't help but almost fearfully wonder, "What if he doesn't?"

At any moment before the current one, Raven hardly would have cared about such matters. But now, after everything that had happened and what she was now thinking, she now couldn't help but feel the same almost instinctive worry that she had often found herself rolling her eyes at other girls for feeling, about the possibility of a guy she potentially liked romantically not returning those feelings. "Now I know how Starfire felt all these years," she thought ruefully to herself. And unlike Starfire, this time she had it potentially even worse. For unlike Starfire, who had only ever truly loved Robin, she herself had once felt herself feeling what she herself could have sworn may have very likely been love one other time before now, and that had been with Malchior. And everyone on the Titans knew exactly how well that had worked out. And that incident, combined with the vile crusade that Adonis had placed himself on for winning her over, had several times made her feel as if the only people who'd ever find any remote form of attraction for her would be bad and horrible people. And the fact that Beast Boy, a genuine nice guy who actually had far more in common with her then met the eye, had now gone to so much effort and was now very potentially feeling that kind of way for her himself, now also made her doubly terrified at how she'd react and feel if it turned out that even he didn't truly love her that way. And at that thought, she could hear Rage chuckling and just barely detect an almost impossible to hear whimpering coming from Timid. She gulped, and just barely avoided hanging her head.

Eventually, Raven did hang her head, and she stepped back slightly. "No," she said, almost whimpering. "I'm sorry," she said. "I can't."

Beast Boy raised his eyebrow. "Can't?" he asked. "Or won't?"

Raven felt her heart sink. "Both," she whimpered.

There was a brief pause. "Care to elaborate?"

Raven took a deep breath, and then sighed. "Look," she said. "I know how potentially more awkward it could become if we let it stay bottled up instead of just getting the entire matter over with right here and now." She hung her head. "But I honestly don't know if I can handle getting a direct confirmation as to whether you feel that kind of love, if any, towards me at all just yet."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked, clearly far more curious then disappointed.

"Well," said Raven. "Look at everything that's happened. Azar, think about just how I ended up managing to figure out about you being my secret admirer. I mean think about it, I ended up finding out 2nd hand both that you were my secret admirer and that I'd accidentally caused you to think that I'd given my heart to another man on the very night that you'd planned to confess. After that, just getting together and starting a relationship like that, it would seem almost as if I'm only doing so out of pity for you. And that wouldn't be fair to either of us. You deserve better then that, we both do."

Beast Boy thought to himself, and then nodded. "Fair point." He looked back at Raven. "But that only explains why it might not be a good idea to just up and get together. Why do you think you wouldn't be able to handle using your empath mojo to directly identify what it is I feel for you?"

Raven took a deep breath, sighed, and then looked at Beast Boy, a mixture of guilt and almost apologetic sorrow now on her face. "Beast Boy," she began. "I had a horrible reminder of how unhealthily obsessed with me Adonis is just 2 days ago." She hung her head. "And three years ago, I felt what I am willing to believe was actual romantic love towards a boy who turned out to be a monster, both figuratively and literally, who never truly cared about me at all."

"Hey," said Beast Boy in a reassuring tone. "Just because you had those two bad experiences doesn't mean that the only guys to be either attracted to you or a subject of your own attraction will be bad guys."

"I know," said Raven. She looked up at the changeling. "But think about it. Out of all of us, but especially amongst the founding boys of this team, you're the nicest boy I've ever known." She placed her hands upon Beast Boy's shoulders. "I mean it Beast Boy, there's no boy I've ever known who could possibly be nicer than you. Even after all that I've put you through, or anything else negative that's happened to you, you've almost never stopped being nice to me or likewise being an overall good person throughout it all. And I'm grateful for that, really I am." She hung her head, sighing once more. "But with that in mind, think about this from my perspective in the current context. You are the nicest guy I've ever known. And in my history, both the only guy that I know for sure I've felt romantic love for and one other guy who's actively pursued me have turned out to be horrible and file beings. And with all that in mind, just think of how devastating it would be for me if I were to dig into your emotions and find out that . . . that . . . not even . . . you . . . actually . . . liked . . . me . . . that . . . way . . ."

In that instant, Beast Boy finally understood fully just what Raven's dilemma was, and he impulsively gave her a hug. Raven tensed up in surprise, and then relaxed, letting her green friend hug her, even returning the gesture. "It's ok Raven," said Beast Boy. "I understand. And like I said, it was only a suggestion. You don't have to do it now, not if you really don't want to just yet."

Raven sniffled, and the chromatically challenged pair reluctantly broke their hug. Raven wiped the area under her right eye, and shook her head side to side. She sighed. "I'm sorry."

Beast Boy placed his hand on her left shoulder. "Don't worry," he said with a small understanding smile. "Like I said, it's fine. Believe me, if you need time to prepare and get over recent romantic trauma, you go ahead and take that time. Believe me, I'm willing to wait." The changeling nodded his head. "I mean, hey, considering how long I've been as stunted as I am in being able to properly identify and realize the exact nature of some of the more complicated and harder to interpret emotions, I could very well have been feeling whatever it is I feel towards you ever since the day we first met and not even known." He chuckled. "And if that's true, and I've waited that long, then I can definitely wait a little while or so longer."

Raven sniffled, and nodded her head. "If you say so."

"Glad to hear it," said Beast Boy. "One of these days, we'll definitely figure this whole thing out. But for now, I'm perfectly willing to let both of us take our time." He looked back over to the tower. "And on that note," he said before looking back at Raven. "Think it would be safe for us to check to see if Star's managed to work her magic on Robin?"

Raven thought to herself. "I suppose there won't be any harm in that."

"Indeed," said Beast Boy. He and Raven started walking slowly towards the Tower's front door together. "I will admit though, I certainly hope that Robin's calmed down by now, and especially before tomorrow."

"Why?" asked Raven.

"Well hey," said Beast Boy. "Everyone else is going back home tomorrow. And I personally would like it a lot if we all got the opportunity to hang out and have fun together tonight beforehand. And knowing Robin, I highly doubt such hopes would come to fruition if he were still in his current funk over the Master pulling another Houdini on us for the entire rest of today."

Raven thought to herself. "I suppose you're right," she admitted. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "I guess we'd best go see if Star's managed to do her work then." And with that decision made, the two chromatically challenged friends entered the Tower to check on their fearless leader and see if his ever so cheerful Tamaranean girlfriend had managed to successfully bring his inner happiness back out from yet another one of his dark and brooding moods.

. . . . .

That evening, as Todd made his way back to his makeshift 'home', he was most certainly not in the best of moods, and one needed only take the briefest look at his face to know. After his meeting with Raven, the goth boy had spent virtually the entire rest of the day searching high and low for the Master, trying as hard as he could to find the shadowy being so that he could confront the dark cloaked mystery figure on the news that he'd just learned from the teen sorceress. But of course, as had been the case for the Titans not too long ago, despite all his efforts, he had found neither hide nor hair of the mysterious figure. His efforts at contacting the Master electronically had, likewise, proved ineffective.

Now, Todd was practically steaming with rage from both having had no luck at all in finding the Master and having just that morning learned about a plan the Master had for him that the goth boy knew, for a fact, had not at all been mentioned in their first discussion on the night they'd first met. "We never once said a thing about my potentially working for him," he angrily thought to himself. "That was never part of the deal."

The goth boy finally reached his home, entered, and proceeded to make his way over to the actual living space area of the building so recklessly in his anger that it was a miracle he made it there alive, let alone without any injuries. He stormed into his living space, slammed the door shut, practically forced the lock into position, and practically punched in the activation necessary to turn on the security precautions. He turned away from the door and stormed over to his bedroom, still fuming with rage.

"If he thinks I'm going to just up and work for him without even telling me about his wanting me to do so, then he's got a whole 'nother thing coming for him," he thought to himself. "I ain't working with anyone anytime soon. No way. Not after how hard I've worked to get my stupid life back together after my time with the League of Shadows, not to mention the fact that I was freaking resurrected. Besides, I've already got enough crime-related stuff on my plate right now as it is." He glared down towards his shoes. "Sometimes it feels like I can never trust anyone these days." With a growl, he practically kicked his shoes off his feet and sent them flying backward.

It wasn't until he heard the unexpected sound of shattering wood from behind him that Todd was jolted out of his angry mood. "What the?" he thought to himself, eyes wide from shock. He turned his head, and blanched at the sight that lay before him. On the wall that he'd knocked off his shoes towards, at the very area where the small barrier of wooden boards and planks had been located, was a gaping hole in the wall. And the fragments that remained were lying on the floor in front of it, with some of them lying directly underneath his cast-off shoes.

Heart in his mouth, Todd carefully made his way over to the now glaringly uncovered hole in the wall of his bedroom, taking great care not to step on any of the sharper or more potentially splinter causing fragments of wood. He reached the hole, gulped, and looked inside, leaning forward through the hole as far as he could. And sure enough, much to his horror, the small hidden area that the now shattered barrier had been hiding was empty.

Todd's heart plummeted with shock and horror. "No," he gasped. He gulped. "No, no, NO!" Of all the rotten luck, one of the absolute worst things that anybody could catch in his possession was gone. Somehow or other, despite everything being exactly as he was used to seeing it that morning, someone had managed to get into his home base and steal one of his most dangerous possessions.

Now even angrier then he'd been before, Todd clenched his right fist, lifted it up, and, with an inarticulate growl of rage, slammed it down on the floor of the now glaringly empty hidden 'vault'. "Jesus H. Christ!" he practically shrieked. "Where the Devil is it?"

"Looking for this?"

At the sound of the now very annoyingly familiar voice behind him, Todd scowled, his eyes narrowed, and turned his head to look behind him, glowering in a clearly annoyed manner at none other than the Master. And sure enough, dangling from the tip of the cloaked figure's left sleeve were the former contents of the empty hidden vault; the Red-X suit. "I should have guessed that you'd drop by sooner or later," Todd grumbled sarcastically.

"Indeed," the Master responded in a deadpan tone of voice, not at all missing a beat. He unceremoniously tossed the suit onto the goth boy's bed. "Sorry for stealing this. But I needed it present so I could know for sure exactly how to best provide you with the promised reward, and I wasn't entirely sure when you'd return and didn't want to waste any time in getting ahold of it considering how long you've been kept waiting."

"Thank you for your concern," the goth boy hissed in an almost spiteful tone. He pointed his finger accusingly at the cloaked figure. "But before you give me that reward, there's something else we need to talk about. You've got explaining to do."

The Master raised his eyebrow. "Those are some awfully bold words for you to say to me, boy."

"Yeah well, boohoo," said Todd. "Right now, I could care less about respect, especially now that I've learned that you were apparently viewing me as a potential recruit for your lame army just as much as you were hoping for that moron Anderson to join." The young boy clenched his fists. "Yeah that's right," he snarled. "I know about that little detail. Trying to hide it from me? Well guess what buddy, epic fail. I know all about that little plot now."

The Master, much to Todd's chagrin, seemed almost bored with the knowledge that had just been revealed. "So you do," he said nonchalantly.

"Is that seriously all you have to say?" Todd snarled. He leaned forward, jabbing his finger towards the cloaked figure once more. "I don't know about you, but I remember perfectly clearly that we never once talked about the possibility of me working for you. And I sure as Hell never agreed to work with you as one of your dumb recruits."

"And yet, neither did you disagree."

"Well I can't really disagree or agree on something that's never even discussed!" the goth boy yelled. "We had a deal! I help you out with your little scheme, and you give me a life supply of xenothium to power my suit with! Those were the terms! Fair and square! Only things we ever agreed to! Me working for you? That was never on the table! That was not part of the deal at all!"

The Master raised his eyebrow again. "Just this scheme?" he asked. "Clearly, your idea of what your part of the deal entailed was a world of difference away from mine."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"As I recall," said the Master. "What I said was that, in exchange for the xenothium, you were to help me out with whatever was necessary for you to help me out with until I was done with you. I never said anything about being done with you after just this one little scheme."

Todd growled, and clenched his fists. "Are you insane?!" he yelled. "That's cheating!"

"Cheating?" the Master asked. "Hardly. You're the one who wasn't specific enough in his wording. You didn't want to work for me? You should have been clearer on that."

"It was implied!"

"Oh please," said the Master. "Implications are such senseless drivel. Hate to break it to you, boy, but in business, you need to follow the Horton the Elephant route. You need to mean what you say and say what you mean. No more, no less."

Todd growled and snarled, keeping his fists clenched, too angry to even coherently speak anymore. After what seemed like an eternity, the goth boy managed to take a deep breath, close his eyes, and exhale. "Fine, I made a mistake," said Todd. "I'll admit to that." He opened his eyes and looked towards the master. "And if this means I have to work for you, even though I didn't even want to work for anyone, let alone you, in the first place, then so be it. Only right that I pay for my mistake that way considering that's what I've dug myself into."

"That's the spirit," said the Master.

"But first," said the goth boy, raising up his finger as if to both make a point and to signal for no interruptions or arguments. "There are two requests I'd like to make."

The Master raised his eyebrow, and then thought to himself. "Hmm, requests huh?" Then he nodded. "Well that's better than making demands, that's for sure." He looked directly at the goth boy once more. "Very well, I'll allow you your two requests. Whether or not I grant them will be another matter entirely."

"Understood," said the goth boy, mentally celebrating at having managed to regain at least a small ounce of control for the situation. "First request, before we leave and I officially actually begin my time in your service, I want us to talk and properly discuss exactly what's to be expected of me for the job. As you've managed to make quite clear, I agreed to work with you without even realizing it, and with no idea as to the exact nature of what would be entailed. And that's hardly fair, now is it?"

"A fair point," the Master conceded. He nodded his head. "Consider your wish granted. I shall allow us to have a proper discussion as to the exact nature of your job."

"Splendid," said the goth boy. "Next request." He held out his hand. "As both a reward for finishing what I initially believed to be my only task for you and as compensation, I'd like you to still give me the xenothium you promised."

There was a long pause. For the briefest of moments, Todd felt himself start to worry that he'd perhaps gone a little too far in his efforts at the current plan he had up his sleeve. Then the Master nodded his head. "Very well." The Master reached into a pocket within his robes and drew out what looked like a metallic sphere that seemed to glow with an eerie red light. "Here you are," said the Master.

Todd raised his eyes, clearly confused. "What the heck is that?"

"I'm surprised you don't already know," said the Master. "Considering how strongly you depend on the availability of xenothium for your activities within that special play time outfit of yours, I presumed you'd be at the top of the game in regards to any related news. But then again, this device was only successfully developed and made available two weeks ago." Todd narrowed his eyes.

"But nevertheless, I shall explain to you what this is." The Master lifted the sphere so as to allow the goth boy a practically guaranteed chance of getting a good look at it. "Within this device," the Master explained, "is a solidified cluster of xenothium."

"How's one little chunk of xenothium supposed to . . ."

"Do not interrupt," said the Master. "As I was about to say, also integrated within this sphere's mechanics, is technology designed for a mixture of suspended animation and radiation amplification." He extended his arm that was holding the sphere towards Todd. "With that combination of technology, and the xenothium core, this device is capable of serving as an unlimited source of xenothium radiation."

Todd was briefly lost for words. "So, in other words," he began.

"A life supply of xenothium," the Master confirmed. He nodded his head. "Exactly as promised."

Todd thought to himself, and then smiled. "Well in that case," said the goth boy as he gently accepted the sphere and took it out of the Master's hand, "thank you." He stood still, cradling the sphere in his hands and thinking to himself. "What do I do with it exactly?" he asked.

The Master hovered his right arm over the Red X suit and tapped the tip of his right sleeve against the small area on its belt that had a circle with a red x emblazoned on it, the circular area opened, revealing an empty compartment just big enough to hold the sphere. "Just place the device inside the xenothium core on your belt, and the device will do its work from there."

Todd nodded. "I see." He walked over to the bed, leaned over the Red X suit, device in hand. It took all his willpower not to grin ecstatically or likewise give away his current glee. "Things are working out perfectly," he thought to himself. "All I have to do now is just place this in and allow its radiation to spread throughout the suit, and I should be able to buy myself just enough time to escape." He placed the sphere into the empty core, carefully pressing on it to make sure it slipped in all the way. No sooner had the spherical device made its way entirely into the core, when the core closed, and the belt started to glow as the all-important radiation spread through it, powering up the suit for the first time in months. After what felt like an eternity to the increasingly excited goth boy, the glow faded away, signaling that the charging had finished. He fondled the belt. "Finally," he thought to himself.

"And now it's time we got down to business." Immediately after the Master said this, he drew out a strange cylindrical stick-shaped device with a bright red button on the top from seemingly out of nowhere and pressed down on the button before Todd even had a chance to react.

All of a sudden, Todd screamed in agony and collapsed to the floor, convulsing and howling as he suddenly found his vision become clouded with bright orange light with red spots. After what seemed like an eternity, the bright light faded away from his vision, and with it the agonizing pain that he'd felt while it was present. Panting and gasping, Todd eventually managed to get back up on his feet. "What the Devil did you just do!?"

The Master chuckled, his red eyes agleam with clear smug satisfaction and triumph. "Come now," said the Master. "Did you really think I wouldn't be expecting you to attempt to double cross me in some way?" He chuckled, shaking his hooded head side to side. "Well I was. And I set up the perfect insurance strategy." He lifted up the device that had triggered the agonizing pain and bright light in Todd. "I'm sure you're aware of that one local criminal who calls himself Slade."

Todd growled. "Hard not to be around here."

"No harm in checking," said the Master. "Well one thing I'm sure you're not necessarily aware of is how, five years ago, during the Titans' first year of existence in fact, he was quite keen on making the Titans' leader his own personal apprentice."

"What's that have to do with. . .?"

The Master lifted the device threateningly, the tip of his sleeve hovering over the red trigger button, and Todd stopped talking. "As I was saying," said the Master, "Slade hoped to have Robin, your predecessor from life under the wing of the man who raised you, his apprentice. Of course, he knew that he'd never willingly work for him anymore then you're willing to work for me. And so, to grant himself leverage over the Boy Wonder, he had the other four founding Titans infected with a series of ingenious nanoscopic probes designed to attach to their blood cells and, when activated, release a powerful blood poison that would gradually, yet painfully, obstruct the flow of blood to their hearts. Thus, the only way for Robin to prevent his friends from dying in agony while leaving him no other choice but to watch helplessly was to agree to work with Slade as his apprentice."

The Master nodded his head, his eyes seemingly closed in approval. "Admittedly, the four infected Titans managed to become aware of the blackmail and your predecessor eventually managed to find a way to use Slade's own leverage against him. But nonetheless, it was effective while it lasted." He looked straight at Todd, his red eyes open and narrowed ominously. "And as you've just experienced the hard way," said the cloaked figure, "it has inspired me to pull a very similar trick."

Todd's eyes widened as he realized just what the Master had done. "What?" he said. "You mean?"

"Oh yes," said the Master. "Right this very moment, you have a swarm of very similar nanoscopic probes inside you attached to your own blood cells."

"But . . . how?"

"Simple." The Master folded his arms across his chest. "Remember that immunization shot I gave you to allow you to spend as much time in the presence of the xenothium and its radiation as you would be able to with a life supply without running the risk of adverse health effects? Well suffice it to say, an immunization wasn't the only thing in that injection." He lowered his arms, the trigger device still gripped in his otherwise entirely concealed right hand. "The probes were inside the injection as well, and now they're inside your body."

He dangled his sleeve over the trigger button once more. "And as you can see, all I need to do is press this button, and you fall victim to the same obstructive form of blood poisoning." His eyes changed again as if indicating a grin on the Master's face. "And even better," the Master continued. "Unlike the batch that Slade used, this form of the poison is stronger, more potent, and much faster acting. The poison that Slade put in his batch of probes was designed to allow the victims to last at least 15 minutes, an hour at most if they were lucky, to live before their blood flow became obstructed enough to finally kill them. With this poison, however, the victim has five minutes' maximum to live before the poison spreads throughout the entire interior of its body, goes straight to the heart, and kills it." He lowered the trigger device. "You're lucky that I deactivated the probes inside you when I did," the Master continued. "Just one more second longer, and you'd have been beyond hope of saving."

For a brief moment, Todd was stunned speechless. Then his shock turned to rage, and he clenched his fists. "You can't do this!" he shouted. "This is blackmail!"

"How's that supposed to stop me?"

"You won't get away with this!" the goth boy growled, tensing himself up as if about to either lunge at the Master or snatch up a device from the Red X suit. "I'll . . ."

The Master lifted the trigger device into view once more, the tip of his sleeve hovering over the ominous red button, and the goth boy promptly stopped talking once more, his eyes widened in fear once more. The Master noticed the obvious abrupt silence and look of fear on the boy's face. "Are you really sure you're willing to take that risk?"

For what seemed like an eternity, Todd found himself in a desperate mental struggle, trying as hard as he possibly could to think of something he could do to get out of the current situation he was in or likewise turn things back around in his favor. "I can't let him make me go through with this," he thought to himself. "I can't!" And yet, what else could he do? He'd already seen how very inhumanly fast the cloaked figure had managed to trigger the probes and incapacitate him before he'd even had a chance to react. He looked up towards the Master, both physically and mentally grimacing. He didn't want to work for the mysterious shadowy cloaked figure. But at the same time, he didn't want to die. And he knew that there was very little he could do at the current moment, or very likely any other moment that would allow him to really do all that much against the Master before the figure either triggered the probes or likewise incapacitated him with something else.

Todd hung his head, his shoulders slumped, all the fight draining him from him in seconds. He had no other options, nothing he could do, no other choice. "What do I have to do?"

The Master chuckling, grinning triumphantly under his cowl. "Well for starters," he indicated the Red X suit. "Get changed. I want you dressed for work."

The goth boy looked over at the suit, then at the Master, and then hung his head. "Yes sir," he said in an almost lifeless tone of voice. He picked up the suit, walked over into his closet, and slipped himself into the familiar costume. He walked out of the closet, dressed entirely in the Red X suit, from the shoes, all the way to the mask. "Now what?" he asked.

The Master slipped the trigger device back into his pocket and summoned a shadow portal. "Now, you're coming with me. We've got a lot to do, and it's best we get started on it now." The Master walked over to the costumed goth boy, placing the tip of his right sleeve on the boy's shoulder. "Your days of alternating between lying low and raising Hell for your own personal amusement are over. Starting today, whether you like it or not, you're working for me." He removed his hand from the goth boy's shoulder and walked back up to the shadowy vortex. "From now on, the boy you've allowed yourself to become underneath the mask shall no longer exist; Todd Jameson is dead. The mask, and only the mask, is your one true and only identity." He came to a stop and turned his cowled head to face his new unwilling underling, his red eyes half agleam and half narrowed. "Starting now, for the rest of your life, you shall be known only as Red X. And its high time you returned to the world of darkness and villainy where you belong." He leaned his head forward ominously. "And this time, by his Malevolence, you are going to stay."

The End

And just like that, Shadows of Love is over. Just like with the other stories, I feel quite glad to have gotten this story completed, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I thank you full heartedly for all your support. Here's me hoping that you enjoyed, read, and leave plenty of feedback. And please feel free to leave as detailed or as simple a review as you wish (and comment on whatever element of this chapter, or story period now that you've reached the end, that you desire). That being said, I hope you are all somewhat ok with what I've chosen to happen in regards to BBRae for now. I know some of you might get a little annoyed and impatient with me for dragging this out. However, as you can see clearly on my profile, I have plans for how this element unfolds, and I need them to stay romantically unlinked with each other until the events of Beauty and the Beast Boy (which will come further down the line in the future). Also, feel free to comment on how I've resolved Raven's little loose end with 'Todd', and what ended up happening to 'Todd' at the end of the epilogue. All that in mind, once again, I hope you all enjoyed this story. Also, as of now, I shall be going on a small (at least it's intended to be somewhat small) hiatus from Teen Titans so as to cook up a project or two from the Glee fandom so as to satisfy my fans there that I've probably kept waiting long enough. However, once I've reached a point I deem sufficient for me to return to the Teen Titans fanfiction community, I will come ROARING back. And by the time I've reached that point, I require for there to be a minimum of one review for this epilogue in order to post the prologue for episode 6.04 of Teen Titans (and, by extension, the DCTTAU). Again, hope you all enjoyed! I hope I've left you all with plenty of reason to want more, and that you wait patiently for me over the course of my hiatus. And once again, thank you.

Next up on Teen Titans Season 6 (following the hiatus that is): Blackfire is back in action, and she's up to no good . . . with a vengeance. And she is more than willing to risk causing galaxy-wide warfare amongst various alien races just to spite her younger sister. However, the Titans find themselves fully aware of this only after a visit from an important person from Starfire's life on Tamaran reveals how Blackfire is hard at work in forming an alliance with an alien race so horrific that they make some of the worst alien races already known look like angels. And soon after the epic adventure that follows begins, the Titans, and with them the Tamaraneans, soon find themselves with only one choice of action that could allow them even the slightest hope of stopping Blackfire and preventing entire galaxies from falling to the terrible villainy of the rogue Tamaranean's sinister new allies. But as strongly as their chances of saving the universe now lie on this option, it is far from savory. The option in question? An alliance with the Gordanians, a race long viewed by the Tamaraneans as their sworn enemies, very dangerous personal old enemies of the Titans themselves, and apparently an unexpected mutual enemy of Blackfire and her new allies as well. With the fate of potentially the entire universe at stake, and countless innocent Tamaraneans and other noble alien races, will the Titans and the Gordanians be able to work together sufficiently enough to allow them to defeat their dangerous common enemy? Or will the entire galaxy be doomed to fall alongside them over the course of their continued bitter enmity? Find out next time, on Teen Titans . . . Season 6.