For those of you who got review responses from me, you know that this is an earlier update than I'd planned. If you didn't get a review response from me, you just know that this is a very speedy update, and are rejoicing. Hopefully those response things worked! Uhm…keeping this note short, because I don't have much time to type. So basically, enjoy this chapter that I wrote in under two hours—I was mad, so I felt like writing.

DICLAIMER – If you seriously think I own Teen Titans, I feel sorry for you. But let me tell you, if I was god of TT, there would be a season six, and Kid Flash would be a series regular.

Porphyria

Chapter Four—Confirming

Ready? How could he ever be ready for something like this? Beast Boy's silver hand paused on the door handle, vice gripping it. This door was the only thing between him and the proverbial final in his coffin. He knew that if it really was Raven laid out on that cold table, he might as well just give up and let his demons overtake him.

Briefly he recalled some half-forgotten and, until then, trivial memory. It was from one of those dull, scientific shows, the kind that he usually skipped right over—but this one had caught his attention. The theory was basically that if you had a box with a cat inside, until you opened and checked, the cat was both alive and dead at the same time, stuck in limbo until the box was opened and the genuine truth discovered. Maybe it was the same way for Raven, too. Until Beast Boy worked up the nerve to open this door, she'd be suspended, both living and dead. The longer he waited, then, the more time he was giving Raven, because it had to be better to be just a little bit alive than not alive at all.

But all of this waiting was killing Beast Boy, and if he didn't have the guts to do this now, he never would. No matter how long you wait to open a box, you can't bring a dead cat to life. Quickly, before he could lose his resolve, Beast Boy turned the handle and pulled the door open.

The sight that met his eyes made his blood run cold.

00000000000000000

An hour earlier

00000000000000000

"They think it's her."

Robin might as well have punched him—Beast Boy felt those words just like a physical blow. The shock of that simple sentence nearly sent him staggering backwards. Instead, he caught Robin's mournful gaze and shook his head.

"No," Beast Boy said firmly. "It isn't her—it can't be."

Starfire had covered her mouth to stifle a gasp, but pulled her hands away now. "Are they certain? Perhaps a mistake has been made." Her voice shook as she spoke.

"That's why they need one of us to identify the…body," Robin explained. "I'll go," he added, almost unnecessarily.

"I can go, if you need me to," Cyborg said gently.

Robin shook his head quickly. "No, I should do it."

"I'm coming with you," Beast Boy said suddenly. He was met with his friends' sad and troubled gazes.

Robin frowned. "I don't really think that's a good idea."

"Yeah, BB, he's right," Cyborg added. "Just stay here with me and Star."

"Why?" Beast Boy retorted. The shock and stress was boiling up inside of him, and he had to let it out. "Because you don't think I can handle it?"

"It's not that," Robin said hastily, "it's just…if it is her, do you really want to see her like that?"

"Do you?" Beast Boy shot back. "You feel like you have to be because you're the leader and that makes you responsible. But this is my fault, and my responsibility. I'm the reason she's gone!"

His outburst was enough to stun the already shocked Titans for a few minutes. Finally, their silence was broken when Cyborg spoke up.

"Look, BB, this isn't your--"

"Don't," Beast Boy cut him off, his voice low and almost dangerous. "Don't even say it."

Once again silence befell the rest of the team. By now, the shock had started to fade, and full blown realization crept in, and Beast Boy sagged under the weight of his sadness. A moment later Starfire approached him, and wrapped her arms about him a gentle hug.

"Dear friend Beast Boy," she said softly and sadly into his pointed ear, "I am sorry that you have taken this burden upon yourself, and I wish you would not try to walk this dark path alone. You are stumbling."

It was Beast Boy's turn to fall silent. Starfire lingered a moment longer before releasing him and stepping back, wiping a tear from her eye as she did so.

"Thanks, Star," Beast Boy murmured finally. He turned to Robin and added, "but I'm still going. I have to see for myself."

"I know." Robin nodded. "I don't think I could stop you if I tried."

Another five minutes found the pair of them on their way to the opposite side of town—Robin on his R-Cycle, and Beast Boy in the skies as a green and silver bird. The silent trip was unbearably long, and seemed like an eternity before a medical assistant led Robin and Beast Boy to a closed steel door, and asked if they were ready.

At first sight, the girl beneath the white sheet could have been Raven—it wasn't until Beast Boy came closer to the still form that he could see the distinction. There was no chakra, for one, and the shape of the face was wrong, and her lips too full. What caught Beast Boy's attention, however, were the dark bruises on the girl's pale neck. He grimly realized that he had nearly done exactly this to Terra just two months earlier.

"It's not her," Robin murmured from just behind Beast Boy, snapping him back to reality. The white sheet was replaced and the pair was ushered out into the hallway, where they were met by the coroner.

"When I was told you were here to I.D. the body, I knew this was worse than I thought," he said gravely, nodding to the two Titans. "Is that girl your—?"

"No," Robin told him quickly. "We don't know who she is."

"Well, if your friend matches the same physical description as the girl in there, I'd be more than a little worried," the coroner confessed, crossing his arms across a folder. "She isn't the first we've seen."

"What do you mean?" Beast Boy asked, looking the man in the eyes for the first time.

"The purple hair and eyes, the pale skin—she's the ninth girl that's turned up like that. They were all between ages 15 and 18, set up like they're still alive, and not a mark on them, except for their necks."

"When did this start?" Robin questioned. The coroner appeared to have expected this question, as he opened his folder and pulled out a stack of files.

"Five years ago," he explained, handing the papers to Robin, "with a girl named Lucy Kove."

00000000000000000

Slade watched the footage from the manor for the hundredth time, his disappointment steadily growing. Hours after his initial conversation with the girl, James had returned and calmly strangled her. His entire demeanor was disturbing, even to Slade, and his final words to the girl were puzzling, almost poetic.

It was crucial to the plan that Raven be kept alive, and it would be impossible for Slade himself to keep her. Unfortunately, the only available candidate also had the unfortunate tendency to strangle girls with their own hair. Slade had spoken to James in person more than once, and clearly emphasized that the only way he would receive this perfect and moldable girl he desired was to let her live.

Still, there was too much to lose for Slade to take this lightly. Sighing, he realized that he would probably have to sink down to a petty last resort—threats. He turned his head to the form standing silent in the shadows behind him.

"Terra, arrange a meeting with our good friend James."

TBC

I'm hoping you liked the coroner's last line, because it was so much fun to write. Ah, and as for the cat in the box thing, that's in reference to Schrödinger's cat, which has something to do with superposition—look it up, it's really interesting. I too saw it on TV, so there was basis in that part of the story. I'm not sure if the next update will be as speedy, but I will work on it. Thanks for reading, and please review!

Child of a Pineapple