Author's Note- Sorry for how long this has Taken. When I wrote this chapter initially, I disliked it as soon as I posted it. I couldn't finish the next chapter because that had been bugging me. Now I am going to rewrite them both.

Chapter 5- The Qualities of A Hero

Beast Boy landed on the rooftop of Titans Tower as an eagle, transforming back into himself immediately. He walked toward the door, cracking his neck in the process; he was tired. Right now there were three things he needed, sleep, food and S-

"Beast Boy!" Raven's voice cut him out of his deep thought as it bellowed out the door in front of him even before she did. Raven stormed through the door on the roof as Beast Boy neared it and walked straight up to him.

"If you want to be a jerk about all this, you can, but I for one am not going to be charged with not supporting a teammate. No matter how dumb he can be at times." She said, extending a piece of paper in her hand.

Beast Boy looked down and studied it, it was just some handwritten things that she had scrawled down; what good could it do?

"What is it?" He asked in a manner that was nothing more than confused. Raven sighed, lowering her voice,

"They're notes I wrote on the Hero Trials. I did a little research, just to see what happened in the past. I had to use some of my magic books, and a few of the Tamaranian ones we got from Starfire's wedding, but its solid information." She handed the papers over to him.

Beast Boy accepted the papers, looking from them up to Raven. Why does she care all of a sudden, and then completely turn her back on me? What the hell is her problem? He wondered, not realizing that by the time he'd come back to reality, she'd already been in the process of going through the door.

"Wait." Beast Boy called out, but she didn't hear him as she phased away. "I never said . . . " He stopped, realizing that she couldn't hear him anymore and that it was no good. He didn't really need to apologize anyway, she'd only given him the information because she felt guilty he'd caught her in a lie.

Unless the information was all lies again to make him want to quit the Trials. Beast Boy looked down at the paper, scanning it as he started toward the door himself.

The term hero so b-

Beast Boy couldn't even start it, he wasn't a big fan of informational reading. Instead he just continued to walk down the stairs and toward the kitchen. Raven was in the kitchen, he could tell. He could smell her as he continued toward the main room.

Beast Boy entered the kitchen to find Raven sitting at the table, calmly drinking her signature mug of tea. She didn't look up as he entered, but he knew she knew of his presence. She tensed up when he stepped in: he could feel it.

His senses were edging up lately, he'd been able to sense more than he normally could, and feel more than he should. It was like when animals knew a storm was coming, only this storm was in his life, and this storm might end it.

"Rae." He started, walking toward her.

"Raven." She corrected. She didn't even turn around.

"Raven." He corrected, he'd play her little game.

"Yes Beast Boy?"

"I'm sorry."

"Well, you should be."

"And I am."

"Good."

"Okay,"

"Fine."

Silence. He stood there. He was behind her, and unable to figure out what his next move was. Raven was driving him crazy. She was wishy-washy, hot-cold, on-off and confusing. When he was around her he didn't know how to feel. He knew what he was supposed to feel like when it came to everyone else, but this one was different. This girl was different.

"Raven." He started again. She faked exasperation, but he could tell it was over exaggerated.

"What Beast Boy?"

"Do you think I can do it?" He already knew her answer. He already knew she'd say that it didn't matter because what was done was done, and the important thing was preparation. He knew she'd give a callous, logical response, but maybe that was what he needed.

"Yes." He hadn't expected that.

"Y-you do?" He was bewildered. Raven turned toward him to face him completely.

"Beast Boy, the more I get to know you, the more I realize there's a lot I don't know about you. However, I have learned that in times of need, you have intellect, courage, strength, honor and love on your side. Those are true qualities of a hero."

"Aww shucks Raven, you're going to make me blush." Beast Boy grinned, maybe he could do this.

"You're still not funny though." She added. Beast Boy walked over to the table and sat down across from her. She sipped and read, and he sat. The two were in complete silence for a few moments that seemed to last forever when he finally broke it.

"Whatcha readin'?" He asked, looking at her leather bound book. He glanced over the top of it.

"You wouldn't know it." She said, her eyebrows arching with surprise. Beast Boy sighed, she could've had some faith in him.

"Try me. Maybe I know more than you do." He teased, wiggling his eyebrows to counter her arch. Raven shook her head.

"I doubt that highly Beast Boy. It's a novel called Ouroboros. It's about a man who travels to a small country in Africa with a team of scientists, and slowly the team begins to eat away at itself while trying to counter a villainous creature with supernatural powers."

That sounded kind of good. He wouldn't read the book, but as soon as it turned into a movie he was there! Besides, he was from Africa . . . well, kind of from Africa anyway.

"Would you mind reading some of it to me?" He asked casually, as if a request from a teenager to have a book read aloud was normal. Once again Raven looked over the top of the book, eyebrows arched.

"I doubt you'd understand it. This chapter has someone from Africa speaking and I don't even understand all of the language." She replied quietly, as though ashamed of admitting she wasn't all-knowing. Beast Boy just looked at her; it was his thing. If he continued to give Raven this look she'd eventually give in and then anything he wanted wa- "Fine Beast Boy. Be quiet and listen. If you interrupt me, you leave." Yes! See, the look always worked!

"Yes Ma'am!" Beast Boy chimed, saluting Raven.

She frowned. He stopped, scratching that incessant itch on the back of his neck.

"Okay, now, where was I? Jared and Mallory stood outside Chief Watoda's house, their guide, Olude, was speaking with the doorman. She read aloud and Beast Boy's ears perked, listening intently.

"Dag Omante."

"Dag Olude. Utoto visu uman ominde?" Jared didn't understand what the two were saying, but the glances toward he and Mallory were unnerving. He didn't really Trust Olunde that much.

"Kisu macho jiso chisu." Olunde responded to the man. Jared tensed. Kisu meant weapon in their language.

"Watu mto-"

"You pronounced it wrong." Beast Boy cut Raven off. Shit! He regretted it instantly. She'd ask how he knew, and he'd have to tell her. Then again, maybe it was time to share some of his past, he knew more about all of the others than they knew about him.

"Beast Boy, how would you know if I pronounced it wrong, you don't speak Somali." He chuckled, for once in his life he knew more than Raven!

"You're right, but it's not Somali, its Swahili. Mtu is what you were trying to say. "

"How would you know that?" She challenged, setting the book down on the table. Beast Boy grinned.

"I speak Swahili. I mean, it's been a little while, but I'm pretty sure I'm still fluent."

"How prêt ell, did you learn Swahili?" She doubted him. He didn't blame her.

"I grew up in Upper Lamumba, a country in Africa." He said. Raven's face didn't move; didn't portray surprise, but he knew she was. He sighed, he was about to tell her things he hadn't told anyone before. "I wasn't always green you know. I mean, I was normal before. I was bitten by a green monkey that was infected with a disease called Sakutia."

"That is where your powers originate from?" She asked. Beast Boy shook his head.

"No, actually the disease was killing me. My parents were bio-geneticists, and we were on an extended study in Africa. They tried a radical experiment to treat me. See, only animals could survive Sakutia, so my dad infused my DNA with that of many different animals. I was cured, but the side effect was that my skin and hair turned green."

Beast Boy breathed a little easier now, this wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be. Raven was listening intently to him now, her eyes focused on him, so he continued his story.

"A little while after that fiasco, my mother and I were near a forest when she was attacked by a snake. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't know then, but it was a Black Mamba, the most poisonous snake in the world. "He scratched his chin a little, sniggering to himself. "Before I knew what was happening, I had turned into a Mongoose, which is a snake's worst enemy. I killed the snake and saved my mother. To be fair though, it freaked mom out a lot; especially since I didn't turn back right away."

"And why is that?"

"I couldn't, at least, I didn't know how to. See Raven, when I transform into animals, it's not just me in there. I become that animal in a lot of ways. My joints move differently, my sight changes. My hearing changes, and my urges change."

"Urges?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I become instinctual, and it's not easy to fight those instincts." He shrugged a little. Maybe he wasn't explaining this correctly.

"So you're saying it's like having two people in one body, you're not in control?" Raven asked, one eyebrow arching. He wished those damn eyebrows would stay in place!

"No, I mean like, okay let's say I transform into a dog, I am in completely control, but if I see a cat run by, I wanna chase it. It's an impulse. Or, let's say I become a hyena, I get a taste for meat, even though I don't eat meat. It's just certain urges that come up that are difficult to fight. "

Raven looked down for a moment; she seemed to be deep in thought. Beast Boy wasn't sure how she'd take this, he'd never shared this much with anyone before.

"Beast Boy, does it hurt?"

"What?"

"When you change?" Her voice was quiet and hesitant, this was unlike Raven completely. She seemed scared even.

"No one's ever asked me that before." He said, somewhat bitterly. Three or four years on a team of people and no one has ever asked you if transforming your body is painful. Maybe none of them were interested in it at all.

"Well, I'm asking now." Her voice was strong again, maybe he just imagined the momentary weakness. She reached behind her head and pulled her hood up, no longer meeting his gaze.

"Don't . . " Beast Boy reached out to her wrist with his gloved hand, "Leave it down, I like it better when you leave it down." There they sat, frozen in an awkward position, their eyes purposely not locking.

Beast Boy moved his hand gently up her wrist and interlocked his fingers with her own. Her grip tensed, and then loosened. Gently he pushed her hand and the hood back down. His hand slid back toward him, but then he hesitated. He'd always wanted to do it, so he reached out with one hand and ran it through a small strand of Raven's hair.

"There, now you look beautiful." The words left his mouth before he knew it. His lips widened and he smiled brightly; idiotically even.

"Y-Y-You really think I'm beautiful?" She asked. Beast Boy leaned in closer to her.

"The most-"Beast Boy started, but the door opened and made them both jump.

"Friends! It is time for the trials of fateful consequences!" Starfire entered the room. Beast Boy looked up at the alien and laughed a little. Perfect timing Star, really.

"See ya later Rae." Beast Boy stood up and walked toward the door, tension mounting upon tension with every step. He passed Star and got to the door before Raven's voice called out to him.

"You didn't answer my question."

Should he tell her the truth, or lie to her? He decided to go with the truth.

"It's agonizing." He went through the doors.

Author's Note- Sorry it took so long, this chapter was so hard to write, so I basically took it out. All this stuff was supposed to be one chapter away, but I couldn't write the earlier piece. It doesn't matter, I'll have a MUCH better chapter for you guys in two weeks okay, Thanks for reading!