I wrote this a while ago… everything after this paragraph is what I originally wrote. But I've changed my mind… as long as any of you show interest, I'll keep writing. Talk to you soon.
Well, folks… I know I haven't written much recently, and I've got several stories started… I regret to announce that the things I load today will be the only things you're going to be getting from me until I get my grades sorted out… I'm going into temporary retirement. The benefit is, I've been working A LOT on Te Comic, and Brendt and I are considering releasing it on so any of you who've gotten interested in it through my rants are in luck. I'm sorry to any of you that were looking forward to new chapters from me, but I've had a rather chaotic summer… as much as I love writing these things, and especially reading your reviews (you guys are awesome, the few that do review), I've got to concentrate on the things that are more important to me: my grades, the business Brendt and I are trying to start, and, most importantly, an awesome young lady I was lucky enough to meet (again) this summer. I'll try to get more up for you as soon as I can though… thanks for reading. This (and the other fic I'm posting today) are dedicated to you… and to Mr. Winther, my English teacher from last year who gave me the courage and helped hone the ability to write that I'm hoping will someday allow me to support myself and my already-beginning family. You're all great.
Well, I guess this kinda goes back to my normal form… not exactly sad, but not happy, either. Its kinda how I feel, I guess. Anyways, the other thing I was going to write today was originally gonna be a separate part, but I've decided to make it a second chapter. I won't continue this story after that, though, and I won't write anything else for a while after that… but, as I said, its been awesome getting your reviews, and I WILL be back! I give you my word as a Parrothead, lol. So, keep an eye out for anything new from me if you're interested, and check fictionpress every so often if you're interested in reading the story version of Brendt's and my first cartoon (which is taking much longer than we've anticipated to animate), the Penguin War Chronicles… No, its not as stupid as you think… well, yes it is, but we've actually thought it all out, so there is a plot, and we've put more work into it than we've ever put into anything, so at least check it out please. See ya on the next chapter.
Now that I'm done with that, I guess I'd better get started with the important stuff. I don't own the song, and I don't own the characters… You should be able to tell by now what is mine and what isn't. The story takes place… I'm not sure when. I just know it takes place sometime at the moment… So lets just see how it turns out, shall we?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
The sun rose, bright as ever, over the dilapidated Titan Tower. The eerie structure, contrary to appearance, had not been abandoned for years… rather, it was merely a bad day at the home of the Teen Titans.
"DUDE, PICK UP YOUR CRAP!" Cyborg shouted in the ransacked living room. The large bay windows, blasted out by Slade's robots, allowed a cooling breeze to permeate the large room. Cyborg was pretty sure that, without the breeze, he'd have had a melt down by now for sure… and not just from the exertion of repairing their home after the battle.
"What crap?" Beast Boy hollored back. Both had been up all night in a vain attempt to make the room livable again, and tempers were high. The rest of the Titans were out cleaning the rest of the tower.
"This!" Cyborg said, lifting up a handful of comic books and tossing them at Beast Boy, who hurriedly caught them before they could hit the ground.
My dad chased monsters from the dark,
He checked underneath my bed,
And he could lift me up over his head.
"Don't throw my comic books!"
"Then don't leave 'em all over the tower!"
"Will you both please SHUT UP?" The boys spun quickly to see Raven glaring at them from the kitchen. Apparently she had come in during their shouting match. Bags shone beneath her eyes from the lack of sleep, and her eyelids drooped almost closed; apparently the lack of sleep had gotten to her, as well. At the moment, she seemed to be attempting to rectify the situation.
"Um… Raven?" Beast Boy murmured cautiously, slowly approaching her and looking into the cup on the counter, "Is that full of… coffee and energy drinks?" Raven nodded slowly, then took a sip. Within seconds her hand started shaking.
"I think you might not want to drink all of that, Rae," Cyborg said. The argument was long since forgotten.
"It's not that much… I'll be fine," she mumbled. Her words were much faster than usual, and her eyes were bloodshot as she stood, walking jerkily out of the room, the 2-liter bottle held tightly in her trembling hand.
"She's gonna blow up," Cyborg muttered in awe, "Even we've never drank that many energy drinks… and then coffee on top of it!" He let out a low whistle, an expression of amazed disbelief plastered to his face.
Beast Boy didn't seem so impressed. He stood and ran out after her, leaving Cyborg alone in the living room.
"Raven, wait up!"
"Can't wait!" she yelled back to him, words tumbling over each other as she practically ran down the hallway, "I gotta fix the roof… Slade really messedupthepacintee?" She was now in a full sprint, her words incoherent as she sped for the roof. Beast Boy groaned; she wasn't used to caffeine, what was she thinking drinking that much? He morphed into a cheetah and ran forward, stopping and changing back right in front of her, grabbing her arm. To his surprise, she just dragged him as she continued down the hallway.
"Calm down, Raven! You gotta put that down!"
"NOOOOOOO!"
Beast Boy turned into a python, wrapping around her arm and across her shoulders, wrapping around the drink and prying it from her caffeine-strengthened grasp. He turned back to normal, holding the drink away as she tried to grab it back.
"MINE!"
"No, Raven… NO!" he shouted over her cry, "Please, just calm down. Its not healthy to drink this much of this stuff, you could die from it."
"Why do you care? I'm just a demon… why do you hate me?" With that, she fled, slipping through a small hole in the ceiling above them and flying into the morning sky.
He could loosen rusty boltsWith a quick turn of his wrist.
Several hours later, Robin had finally decided they could stop working. Since the defenses and security systems weren't back online yet, the 4 remaining team members took turns staying up, two at a time, to stand guard. Beast Boy and Cyborg volunteered for the first shift, and the small group hunkered down in the living room.
It was about midnight, just before their shift was to end, when Raven returned. She flew into the room, still moving more jerkily than normal, but the bags under her eyes were now even more pronounced.
"Hey Beast Boy, I'msorryIranofflikethatearlierheyCyborg," she said, standing there. Both of them, pushed almost to their limits, looked blankly at her as she spoke. Seconds later, she opened her mouth to talk again… and fell over onto her face, snoring.
"Raven's here," Cyborg said, sounding bored and exhausted. His eye, normally glowing brightly, hardly emited any light due to his exhaustion. Beast Boy stood, picked her up, and stumbled out of the living room. Once they left, Cyborg looked back over at the couch; Robin and Starfire were sleeping on it, curled up together. He couldn't help but notice how peaceful they looked, or how happy.
"Robin, wake up," Cyborg said, shaking his friend roughly awake and causing Starfire to roll of the couch with a short shriek of surprise, "I'm going to bed… your turn."
He pulled splinters from his hand
And never even flinched.
By the time he reached the morbid darkness of Raven's room, Beast Boy was about to collapse. It wasn't that she was heavy; she seemed even lighter than she ever had, barely a hundred pounds. He was just too exhausted to go on much longer.
He set the goth gently in her bed, pulling the blanket up to her chin because of the cold. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw that her room, and what was visible of the hallway beyond, was in remarkably good shape after the battle. Apparently her protectiveness of her privacy had been enough to manage any robots attempting to demolish this part of the tower. And he was now invading that privacy.
"What are you doing in my room?" Raven murmured. As he turned back to look at her, she groaned loudly, "What am I doing in here, for that matter?"
He hesitantly approached the bed, then sighed, figuring she'd kill him now regardless of what else he did. He sat gently on the edge of the bed and looked at her, careful to make sure he wasn't too close.
"You passed out when the caffeine wore off… are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I guess…" her voice sounded strange, like her throat was desiccated as she continued, "I feel like I'm gonna throw up, though… and I'm cold."
Beast Boy had wondered why the bed felt like it was vibrating. Apparently her body had been even less prepared for the loss of caffeine than he'd thought.
"That's just the energy drink wearing off… you're going through withdrawals."
"You can't get withdrawals from energy drinks," Raven muttered. Beast Boy grinned at her, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten.
"Then why do you have all the withdrawal symptoms?" he poked her gently in the ribs, causing her to groan again, "You should be fine by morning… but I'd advise having another when you wake up."
"Another one of those things?" Her face was contorted in disgust, and she shuddered, "I never want to drink another one of those things again…"
"Trust me, Raven… its like drugs… if you go from a major amount in your bloodstream real quickly, you're not going to be liking life… but if you take a little bit and slowly ease yourself down from the high, you're not gonna be hurting as bad."
"And how do you know this much about drug withdrawals?"
In thirteen years I'd never seen him cry,But the day that grandpa died, I realized…
It was amazing… half the tower destroyed, Raven going through what was no doubt an uncomfortable crash from an energy high, both exhausted more than they'd been since Terra's betrayal… and yet they were getting along better than they had in quite a while. Beast Boy took a deep breath, then leaned over and gently kissed Raven.
The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on the ground. Raven was on her bed, looking at him angrily.
"I guess the caffeine wasn't entirely out of your system," he grunted as he stood slowly, rubbing his chest where she'd punched him.
"What the HELL was that?" she hissed. Despite her apparent rage, nothing was exploding, and her eyes looked normal; always a good sign when the demonness was angry with you.
"Sorry, Raven," Beast Boy mumbled, looking at his shoes, "I just thought… maybe…"
Raven didn't wait to hear what he thought, though. She sat up, pulling her legs in and hugging them to herself, eyes squeezed tightly shut as she trembled.
"You know I can't, Beast Boy," she whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, "It's too dangerous for me to feel anything."
Hoping he wasn't pushing things too far, Beast Boy sat back on the bed, setting his arm around her and holding the girl against him. Her body, strangely cold through her clothes, shook as he pulled her closer.
"Why is it too dangerous, Raven?" he whispered miserably, "Why can't you feel? Are you the one in danger, or us?" He turned her head gently, looking at her miserable face until she opened her beautiful eyes, and then proceeding, suddenly having massive difficulty speaking, "Because if its me, I don't care, Raven… and I know that none of our friends would care, either, if you were happy. Besides… we've fought Trigon before and won."
Unsinkable ships sink;
Unbreakable walls break.
Sometimes the things you think won't happen
Happen just like that.
Raven took a few deep breaths. She stopped trembling, and Beast Boy felt her warm slightly, though she was still far colder than a normal person.
"Beast Boy… its not Trigon that I'm afraid of."
A dark silence thickened the air until Beast Boy was having difficulty breathing… or, more likely, he was having difficulty breathing because Raven had suddenly laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arms gently around him and just holding him. There was nothing sexual in the act, nothing provocative; she just needed someone to hold on to, someone to give her the stability and the strength to face her biggest demon. Finally Beast Boy broke the silence.
"What do you mean, Raven? Then what are you afraid of?"
"You've been in my mind, Beast Boy. You've seen my emotions. They're grouped into three different groups, and these three are completely equal in power when they manifest themselves. Sometimes they even take form as Demons, and I have to fight them to regain control… but only single emotions can rise as Demons."
"Like Rage?"
Raven nodded slowly, remembering the time Beast Boy and Cyborg had fallen into her mind by mistake.
"Yes… Rage did that. My other emotions, for the most part, are calmer… with one exception."
He already knew what it was. He wasn't that stupid.
"Love and Rage are two of the groups… all of the others make up the third. Now you know why those two emotions are so dangerous; they have more power. But the problem is, they aren't equal like they're supposed to. Love is stronger than the other emotions I have, and it's the most dangerous, too."
"Why is it strongest? How do you know?" He was starting to get confused at this point. He hadn't even been aware that Raven had Love inside her… he'd hoped, but never known for sure.
"She's the Demon, Beast Boy." There was something close to fear in Raven's voice now. "I can't control her, and she's always a demon. If you thought things were bad when Rage took control, you're wrong…"
"I doubt it could be any worse than when the prophecy came true, Raven."
She just turned and looked at him, a slight smile playing at the edge of her mouth.
"Who do you think beat Trigon?"
There was another long, hard silence.
"If Love gets loose, I don't know what would happen… I couldn't stop her, and she'd destroy everything… maybe things wouldn't be that bad, maybe they'd even be good… but I can't take that risk. Not if you four might be hurt."
"But Raven, we could still be together… if you wanted to, I mean." Beast Boy blushed slightly, but she just sighed sadly.
"No, we can't Beast Boy… not without giving Love a chance to break free… its just… impossible."
Unbendable steel bendsIf the fury of the wind is unstoppable.
Now it was Beast Boy's turn to speak. As Raven stared at the wall, lost in her own world of evils and Demons, Beast Boy tried to show her the good things, too.
"Nothing is impossible, Raven… Think about what you're saying. Only half of your emotions can be counted as bad… and none of them can be, as long as you're in control. For every one of your Demons, you have an Angel, too. Don't get the two confused, Raven…" He watched her for a second, then stood and slowly walked towards the door. "I know that you don't want to, that you're scared… but I know you'll be able to someday… and I'll still be here when that day comes."
Sadly, silently, Beast Boy turned to walk back to the living room. Before he could take a step, though, he heard a small voice come from the room he had just left.
"Beast Boy? Can you stay here? Just in case Slade comes back? I don't want to be alone…"
Looking back in the room, Beast Boy didn't see the small but strong gothic girl he'd known. Her strength, her attitude that she needed nobody had suddenly dissolved. Instead, he saw himself looking at the small, frightened girl Robin had brought back from Hell during the Prophecy's fullfilment.
A small smile crossing his face, Beast Boy stepped back into the room. Maybe she couldn't love him… maybe he couldn't show her how he loved her. But he could be here now, when she needed him most. He'd always be here for her.
"Yes Raven," he whispered, crawling with her into the bed and holding her slight form to him comfortingly, "I'll stay as long as you need me to."
I've learned to never underestimateThe impossible.
The times changed, as times usually do. The years were kind to the friends; the city was safe and prospered. Slade had made the mistake of attacking again, only to be met with not only the Titans, but also their allies, the Titans East. In a glorious battle, he was defeated once and for all, and not even a pact with the devil would save him this time.
The team, making the most of the newfound peace, had begun to lead more normal lives… or, rather, to take their lives further, as is normal for people to do. They all still lived together in that tower, although that had changed slightly. Starfire and Robin, married the month after Slade's defeat, had nearly a quarter of the tower to themselves… unless you count the twins Starfire had given birth to a year after their marriage. Cyborg had also met a young girl who now lived in the tower. And as for Raven and Beast Boy…
"YOU ARE SUCH A PEST!" the goth shouted, throwing a cushion at her friend. Beast Boy dodged it… barely.
"Ah, come on, Raven! I just wanted to know if you wanted to play Stankball!"
"When have I EVER wanted to play Stankball?"
"Um…" the boy stood there for a moment, thinking, "I dunno. But do you want to play now?"
"GET OUT!"
Beast Boy walked out slowly, muttering to himself. He also made the mistake of saying many men's last words: "What the hell, is it that time of month again already?"
Needless to say, Raven's retribution was swift.
"I was just joking, Raven, I swear I was!" Beast Boy shouted, pinned to the wall by a large black-energy talon. Raven came out, her dreaded smirk on her face. Beast Boy winced; every time she gave him that look, something "interesting" happened.
"I know you were, Beast Boy," she hissed at him. Unlike before, this hiss carried a note of promise… this time of fun, rather than pain. "That's why I didn't blast you clear out of the city." Saying that, she let him drop to the floor, then quickly jumped atop him, laughing as he leaned up and kissed her.
"Out here in the hall?" Raven smirked at him, "Even Robin and Starfire manage to stay in their rooms, Beast Boy."
"Well, we're trendsetters," he laughed back, picking her up and carrying her to their room.
Of course this is when the tower's alarm went off… and they heard the cry ring through the halls once more: "Titans, trouble!"
"Figures, huh?" Raven said, sounding extremely disappointed. She kissed Beast Boy again quickly, then jumped out of his arms and grabbed her cloak levitating his shoes to him. "We'll just have to continue when we get back…"
And then there was my junior year.
Billy had a brand new car.
It was late, the road was wet;
I guess the curve was just too sharp.
"Who is this guy?" Beast Boy grunted, standing and rubbing his bleeding chin. The other Titans shrugged, all sporting injuries at least as bad. One of Cyborg's arms was crushed beyond repair.
"I dunno… I haven't been able to see him."
The Titans grouped together, facing away from each other. Their opponent was no where to be seen.
"I just saw a flash of red, and then he was gone and I started to get the crap beat out of me."
"Yeah? Well, that isn't anywhere near as bad as this," Cyborg said, pointing to his arm, "I can't even see him with infrared, either…"
Then Raven was flying through the air, grunting in pain as she slammed into the ground, tumbling a few feet away, and the rest of them were moving again.
Starfire peppered the area with starbolts as Cyborg swept around them with his sonic cannon, trying vainly to hit their invisible enemy. Robin and Beast Boy ran to Raven; Robin pulled out his staff and raised it, hoping to protect the two while Beast Boy checked to see if she was ok.
The goth didn't look to bad… her cloak was torn, and blood matted the hair at the back of her head, but she was conscious.
"You okay, Rae?" Beast Boy asked worriedly, reaching to help her back to her feet. She nodded, eyes slightly glazed as she took his hand.
"Yeah… just dizzy. He hit me in the back of the head."
"I could tell." Beast Boy smiled slightly, as he lifted her to her feet, "I thought you might've been hurt worse, though, because-"
He cut off, a look of excruciating pain on his face. A moan escaped him, and Robin spun around just as a long blade slid neatly through Beast Boy's chest from the back. A glimpse of their opponent- Red clothing, pale face- and then both the blade and the enemy disappeared.
"Beast Boy, hold on!" Raven shouted as he collapsed, slipping quickly into shock. Without waiting for an answer, or for permission from Robin, she grabbed him and they were away, flying to the Tower's medical wing…
Which was precisely what Robin had been planning on her doing; every explosive he had left detonated nearly simultaneously where they had been moments before. When the smoke cleared, there were bits of charred bone and tatters of a red shirt amid the rubble.
I walked away without a scratch.
They brought the helicopter in
And Billy couldn't feel his legs.
"Beast Boy, please, don't die!"
This was the whimper he heard, the words filled with loss and dread and hope. Beast Boy fought to come back. For an instant, one perfect instant, he glimpsed the hospital wing, Raven looking down at him. She was safe… that was all that mattered. And then he was gone again.
By the time the Titans got back, he'd gone into a coma. Starfire tried to take her distraught friend from the Medical wing, but Raven refused to leave. Cyborg quickly went to work, attempting to stabalize his friend's condition. Chelsea, his girlfriend, contacted the hospital and ordered a priority shipment of several medications to the Tower.
Two days passed with no change in Beast Boy's condition for better or for worse. Raven had finally allowed herself to be taken from the room, though she still spent most of her time with him. Noon of the second day found her in their bedroom, laying on their bed, and looking at a small ring on her finger; the ring she hadn't yet worn, that he had given to her the morning before the fight.
"Raven? Are you okay?" Cyborg walked slowly into the room. His destroyed arm had been removed, leaving him unbalanced, but he was more concerned about his friend's survival.
"Is he awake?"
Cyborg sighed, standing awkwardly in the room and looking at her hand. He recognized the ring… he and Chelsea had helped Beast Boy pick it out when they'd found out he was going to propose to Raven.
"No, he's not… and I don't know if he ever will, Raven," Cyborg hated having to say this. He didn't want to believe it, and he knew Raven, finally able to love, wouldn't want to hear it… probably wouldn't be able to.
They said he'd never walk again
But Billy said he would,
And his mom and daddy prayed.
"He'll wake up, Cyborg," Raven said. Her voice was back to its old, monotone norm. To Cyborg, it sounded like her soul had been ripped out… now he knew what Starfire had meant when she'd said Raven had "sounded different" when she went to the future with Warp.
"Raven, I want to believe that, and I'm doing everything I can… but I don't think its going to be enough. It's a miracle that he's alive now."
"I know you're doing everything to try and help him…" she stood and floated over to the window, looking out at the city sadly. She could see the pier from here. It was there, beneath the lights of the Summer Carnival, that he'd finally asked her to marry him.
"Are you going to be okay?"
There was silence. It wasn't the awkward silence you'd expect though, not one filled with anger and fear and despair; rather, it was a hopeful silence, one of friendship and comfort, one that brought Raven back from the brink of insanity and let her think clearly for the first time since she'd gotten Beast Boy back to the tower.
"Did you know that I never once told him I loved him?" She turned and faced him slowly, tears sliding down her pale cheek, "I sent the words into his head, and I even went into his dreams when he was sleeping and told him in them… but I never really told him in real life." With that, she walked past him, heading back to the Medical Wing.
And the day we graduated he stood up to say:
Unsinkable ships sink;
Unbreakable walls break.
Sometimes the things you think won't happen
Happen just like that.
He was lying there, just like before. His face was calm, not marked by the pain he had been undoubtedly feeling when he received the injury. Raven could hear him breathing, and she could sense his mind working… he wasn't gone, not far enough that there was no hope, at least.
"Beast Boy, can you hear me? I don't think you can… but maybe."
She sat silently next to him, reaching down to hold his hand.
"I'm wearing the ring you gave me, Beast Boy… Remember, I told you I would when we left our room? I didn't get a chance, because of the attack, though." She sighed. His mind was the same as before. He couldn't hear her.
"I just wanted to tell you that I love you, Beast Boy. I'm sorry that I never told you before, and that you can't hear me now… but I do, I really do, and I want to be with you forever."
Somehow, looking at his still form, her words seemed insignificant. Suddenly she didn't need to just tell him that she loved him, she needed to show him… and she'd lost that chance, for now.
Unbendable steel bendsIf the fury of the wind is unstoppable.
I've learned to never underestimate
The impossible.
"I know. And I love you too, Raven, and I'll be watching over you."
She heard these words in her head, and knew what they meant. Crying, she kissed him as the machines next to her suddenly came alive with alerts. His mind went silent, and his chest froze in mid breath.
"Beast Boy, no! Don't leave me, I'll find a way to bring you back, I swear! We can wake you up, just don't leave me!" Her words came out in a frantic rush, trying vainly to keep him alive when she knew there was nothing she could do.
"No, Raven… you can't wake me up. But don't worry, He said I could watch over you, so I'll always still be here. Be safe, Raven, and don't cry… there was nothing you could've done. It was impossible to bring me back."
So don't tell me that its over.
Don't give up on you and me.
'Cause there's no such thing as hopeless
If you believe…The sun slid beneath the horizon, the sky turning a deep crimson. As the rest of the Titans walked sadly back up to the tower, Raven fell to her knees, staring at the small mound of earth raised above her love's body.
There was no coffin, no tombstone. They had all agreed to those when they had joined. They would return quickly back to nature, and the team wouldn't mourn them.
That agreement had been before love, though. Before Starfire and Robin. Long before Beast Boy and Raven. It was the first day they'd been together as a team. And now it seemed harsh for Raven to not have some way to make people remember. She wanted everyone to remember the love that he'd had for her, and eventually hers for him, even in the face of the impossibility of her ever loving him back. She wanted them to remember Beast Boy as the hero he had been.
Still crying, she looked towards where his face would've been, and chanted a spell she'd learned long ago. Blackness spread over the grave, and then condensed into words, leaving an everlasting message on his final resting place.
"Unsinkable ships sink; unbreakable walls break. Sometimes the things you think won't happen, happen just like that. Unbendable steel bends if the fury of the wind is unstoppable. I've learned to never underestimate the impossible. Thank you, Beast Boy… Thank you for letting me finally see that I could love, and thank you for being my love. I will see you again… Someday."
Silently she stood, walking back up to the tower. He was still there. She could feel him now. It was comforting to know he was watching over her… but she still wished he was there in person. But he wouldn't want her to be sad… and so she tried not to be.
"I love you, Beast Boy… and I do miss you being here for real… but I'll be happy for you." A thought slid into her head, and she giggled slightly, her sadness momentarily forgotten, "I'll even beat Cyborg at Stankball for you… Race you to the tower!"
She wasn't going to forget him. And she would never stop feeling sad that he was gone… but she would live for both of them, as long as she could last.
And, down in his grave, Beast Boy's body remained as it had looked earlier that day when he'd finally died: with a smile on his face. Why shouldn't he smile? After all…
He'd done the impossible.