Disclaimer: Teen Titans is the Property of DC Comics

Chapter 10

Saturday came and the children decided they wanted to go to the carnival on the pier for the day. And after a lot of pleading, crying, and promises to be on their best behavior, the adults said yes. Raven decided to stay back, afraid that something like a carnival would be a bit too much for her. Not to mention the fact that she still wasn't one for crowds.

"Raven, are you certain you do not want to come?" asked Starfire.

"Yes," said Raven. "I never liked the carnival all that much."

"Yeah, but you like caramel apples," Cyborg teased, knowing one of Ravens most hidden secrets. "Come on, come with us and I'll buy you one."

"As tempting as that is," said Raven, rolling her eyes. "I'd really rather just stay here. I've got a new book to break in."

"But do you think you should be here alone?" asked Beast Boy, doing his best to hide how nervous he was. "I mean, what if something happens?"

"Like what?" asked Raven. "Beast Boy, I'll be fine. Trust me."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Just go!" she said, shoving him out of the common room, along with everyone else.

"Alright, we'll be checking in," said Nightwing. "Keep your communicator near."

"I will," said Raven. "Have a good time."

Once they were all finally gone Raven made her way to her room to sit in her chair and read. But no more than an hour after they'd left she was in bed, so weak she couldn't even roll over from the position she was lying in.

"Figures," she said to herself. "I finally have a little peace and quiet and my body decides to start shutting down again. Damn unreliable pills."

Two hours passed and just when she was finally about to fall asleep she heard her communicator go off. As it rang she opened her eyes and tried to remember where she'd put the damn thing. It was on her dresser. She tried to move, to at least reach for it, but there was no point. She could barely even lift her head. It continued to ring annoyingly until whoever was trying to contact her got the point and it finally ended.

'Dear Azar, they probably think I'm dead,' she thought. 'I hope they don't all come back here just because I didn't answer.' Not too long after this thought she finally fell asleep. It was a relief on her tired body.

Beast Boy paced back and forth on the pier as he waited for Raven to answer her communicator. By the third ring he was wondering what was taking her, the fourth he grew nervous, the fifth he grew worried, the sixth he began to panic, and by the seventh he was quite sure she had died.

"She's not answering," he said nervously.

"Maybe she misplaced her communicator," suggested Bumblebee.

"I told her to keep it close," said Nightwing.

"Perhaps she is taking a nap," said Starfire.

"The communicator should've woken her up," said Cyborg.

"Well I'm gonna go back and check on her," said Beast Boy. "Can you guys keep an eye on Crystal?"

"Sure," said Bumblebee.

"Beast Boy, I'm sure she's fine," said Nightwing.

"But what if she's not?" said Beast Boy. "I'm not gonna feel right until I see that she's alright. I'll be back." And with that he took off into the air in the form of a hawk and made his way back to the tower.

He soon landed on the tower's roof and ran inside. As he raced down the halls his mind raced with only the worst. 'She's dead,' he thought as he ran. 'She died all alone here in the tower while we were having fun. She probably dropped dead in the kitchen. I knew we shouldn't have left her alone. God, what am I gonna do? I don't wanna find her dead! Please, God, please don't let me find her dead! Please be alive, Raven! Don't die on me now!'

He ran to the common room and found it empty. If she wasn't there then she must have been in her room. He quickly raced back through the halls to her room. He threw the door open and looked around. He could see her lying in her bed. His stomach dropped and his heart raced.

'Did she die in her sleep?' he thought. 'Just like she wanted? If she was just sleeping she would've woken up when I threw the door open. Oh God. She must have taken a nap and… and… passed away.'

He felt his throat begin to tare and he bit his lip as tears began to enter his eyes. He didn't want to go in any further. He didn't want to have his suspicions confirmed. But he had to. He had to know. Slowly he inched himself a bit closer.

"R-Rae?" he said shakily. To his horror she didn't move. "Raven?" he said, his voice barely even coming out now.

He could feel himself about to cry and he couldn't stop it. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, continuing to walk forward until he finally reached her bed. He moved around it and went to her side. She looked so peaceful; curled up on her side with her hands clasped under her chin cutely.

"Raven?" he said, full on crying.

Suddenly she groaned and began to stir, causing Beast Boy to actually jump. He looked down, shocked, as she opened her eyes weakly and looked around. Their eyes met and Beast Boy fell to his knees. She was alive!

"Beast Boy?" said Raven, a bit dazed from being asleep and shocked at his sudden drop to the floor.

"Oh thank God!" he cried and wrapped his arms around her. He held her close and as tightly as he could. "I-I thought you were dead! I thought you'd died in your sleep. I was so sure you were gone. I've never been more scared in my entire life!"

Raven could barely breathe he was holding her so tightly. She'd never seen him like this before. Weeping and nearly hysterical; he must have really thought she was dead. She must have been in a deep sleep.

"Beast Boy, I was just sleeping," she said, trying to calm him. "I don't feel well so I was taking a nap."

He slowly loosened his grip and pulled back. She was still weak and he had to hold her up or else she'd have fallen onto the bed. He took in a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself, but he found it to be very difficult. He looked deep into her eyes and found them to still be very alive, though also very tired.

Raven couldn't believe how upset he was. She could see the line of tears that had coursed down his cheeks and the tears that were still welling in his eyes. He was shaking all over and though he wasn't holding her as tightly as before he still had a damn good grip on her. He looked pretty shaken up about this and that really rattled her. That this was going to be his reaction when she finally did go. She'd never really thought about how her death was going to affect anyone else.

As weak as she was, she used all of her remaining strength to pull him back to her so he could embrace her again. "It's okay, Beast Boy," she said softly. "I'm not dead yet. I'm still very much alive."

He couldn't help but break down again and he held her tightly once more. He'd been so scared that she was gone. He wasn't ready for her to die. And he was certain that he never would be.

It took a while, but finally he did calm down and regain his composition. He left Raven to go back to sleeping and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He was still sniffling even as he splashed his face with cold water and washed away all of the salt from his tears. He took a look in the mirror and saw how horrible he looked. His eyes were bright red from crying and stood out brilliantly against his green skin. He knew he couldn't go back to the others looking like this. Not that he planned on leaving anyway. He wasn't about to leave Raven.

"Beast Boy, I told you I'm alright," said Raven as she still lay in her bed. "There's no reason for you to stay here."

"Are you kidding me?" he said, turning her chair by the window towards the bed and taking a seat. "After a scare like that I'm not going anywhere."

"I still can't believe you thought I was dead," said Raven. "Couldn't you see that I was breathing? Or how about your animal instincts, for that matter? If I were really dead you would've sensed it."

"I wasn't thinking straight, I'll admit that," said Beast Boy. "My mind was playing tricks on me I was so scared you were dead."

Raven sighed and said, "You know, this is exactly why I didn't want any of you knowing my condition. I knew it would make you all far too overprotective of me."

"Excuse me, I'm the one being overprotective," said Beast Boy. "Everyone else isn't nearly as concerned as I am."

"And you're proud of that?" said Raven.

"No, I'm not proud of it," said Beast Boy. "But don't say everyone when it's just me."

"You're ridiculous," said Raven, shaking her head. "You pick the oddest things to point out and get upset about."

"I do not!" he objected.

"You just did," said Raven.

"Oh, once," he said, rolling his eyes. "I don't do it all the time."

Raven sighed and snuggled into her pillow. "You're exhausting," she said. "And if you're just going to sit there and make odd points then I'm going back to sleep."

"Oh no, I took up all of your energy?" he asked, fearfully. "I'm so sorry! Is there anything I can do?"

"Beast Boy, though I'm currently unable to even lift my head, when I do regain my strength I'll hit you if you don't stop trying to make me comfortable," said Raven. "Now, please, go."

"Fine, I'll leave your room," he said, standing up. "But I'm not leaving the tower."

"What about Crystal?" said Raven. "You're not there to watch her."

"The others are taking care of her," said Beast Boy.

"Yeah, but what if she gets hurt and wants you?" said Raven. "Or what if she goes missing because the others are trying to keep an eye on the other kids?"

Beast Boy knew what she was doing, and it was working. He was beginning to grow nervous. "They know how I worry," he said. "They'll take good care of her."

"Yeah, until Cyborg thinks it's okay for her to go to the bathroom alone," said Raven. "Just think, she could be abducted three feet away from them and no one would notice until it was too late."

Beast Boy let this sink in and now he couldn't stop thinking of worst case scenarios. "Oh, you suck," he growled at her and ran out of her room. He quickly exited the tower altogether and flew back to the carnival.

"Thank goodness," said Raven, as she fell back to sleep.

Beast Boy arrived back at the carnival and found Crystal to be fine and having a great time. She'd even played a few games and won a giant panda that was bigger than she was! He felt like a fool for rushing back when it was clear she would be alright in his friends' care, but he knew Raven wanted to be alone.

"So why didn't she answer?" asked Nightwing.

"She was asleep," said Beast Boy.

"Is she not feeling well?" asked Starfire.

"Unfortunately, no," said Beast Boy. "She said not too long after we left she felt tired and weak. By the time I got to her she could barely lift her head."

"I'm surprised you didn't stay with her," said Bumblebee.

"I was gonna, but she tricked me into coming back," said Beast Boy.

"She tricked you?" asked Cyborg.

"I don't wanna talk about it," said Beast Boy. "Let's just say she used my undying love for Crystal against me."

"She made him think we wouldn't take care of her properly," Bumblebee whispered aside to the others.

"B, you're one of the most overprotective father's I've ever met!" Cyborg laughed. "Poor thing, I can't imagine what's gonna happen when she becomes a teenager."

Beast Boy shuddered and said, "Don't even get me started. I feel sick about it already."