Author note: I'm really sorry about how short all the chapters are, but I have very little time to write. My weeks are so hectic and offer me miniscule leisure time. Just to give you a proper reason for my stinginess: Right now I'm travelling across Canada with a youth program for ages 17- 21 so…right now I work 9-5 Monday to Friday, usually end up doing a few hours of volunteer work afterward, try to maintain a social life for a few hours a week, and then there are all the add-ons like executive counsel meetings, Food not Bombs every Sunday, PL blocks, KCC, volunteer and 2nd language counsel, making as many calls as I can make back home to my family, and household chores. I made this chapter a little bit longer to try and make up for it but, just so you know, they'll probably keep on coming at the length they've been at. OR you could let me know if you want me to keep submitting short ones frequently (like I've been doing) or write longer ones and submit them at longer spaces of time…???

Let me know,

-Kinabee

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Chapter 5:

"Beast Boy, why is your file empty?" Robin asked harshly.

"Why are you going through my files?" Beast Boy returned.

"I can't. There aren't any." He shot back sarcastically, "I unlocked them so I could update your information. Why didn't you fill yours out when the whole team was doing it?"

"I don't give in to peer pressure." he retorted, matching Robin's sarcasm. "Maybe I don't think my life story has any relevance to protecting the city."

"That's not the point." Raven cut in, "We do these things so we can get information if past rivals show up or, say you get hurt or die on the field, we need to know where and who to contact. There's information on everyone in the city here and that should include you."

"What about villains who break into our tower and use that information against us?" he reasoned. " and it's easy for you guys because your backgrounds are so obvious. Starfire's an alien from Tamaran, everyone knows Robin was Batman's sidekick-

"Apprentice."

"Fine, apprentice, Raven's from Azarath, and Cy used to be a football player until the accident. None of that information has ever done us good, so why do we need it? And what were you adding to my file?"

"We may need it at one point so it's still useful to have. And I was trying to add information about your… condition." Robin said, searching for the right word to end with.

"It's not a condition; it's a symptom from a condition." Beast Boy mumbled.

"What?" The titans asked in unison.

"Aargh! Will you please stop asking so many questions?!"

"Beast Boy," Robin said gently, "you need to tell us what happened. We're more than just a team; we're your friends."

"Robin is right. We care for you very much and wish to know more about the former you." Starfire added brightly

"Former me?"

"Yes. For instance, I know now that you eat vast amounts of tofu, and you enjoy the video games when your car is earlier than Cyborg's," she started listing things off on her fingers, "and you are an avid reader of the comic books. But, I do not know about the Beast Boy of the past. Only that you were teaming with the Doom Patrol."

"So what? You want me to recite my life?" Beast Boy asked incredulously

"No. Right now we just need to know about this." Raven said, touching his arm lightly.

Beast heaved a sigh, "Yeah, alright, but that's a long story too."

So much for secrets. But then again, he supposed he owed it to them. By now, he had uncovered most of their deepest, darkest secrets. He knew about Starfire's family struggles and had even been to her home. Cyborg had often confided in him about his life and the whole thing about his infiltration of the Hive had also opened some doors. He probably knew more about Raven than she would ever admit. He'd been inside her mind and helped take down her father. Everybody knew Robin's story. His parents had been killed at a young age and Batman took him under his wing. Now it was only fair that he revealed his story too.

But what would his friends think once they knew the truth. Eventually they would have to know everything. They would look at him differently, this he knew. His heart was speeding up as nerves rose inside him. He looked up from the table into the inquisitive eyes of his team mates.

"I'll try and shorten it a bit. This is the story of how I became green!" He said, in his normal comical tone and he smiled widely.

The team's expressions did not change. They might not have known the story but, somehow, they knew it was an unpleasant one.

"Okay…I guess I was around 5 or maybe 6 years old when it happened. My parents were biologists and they were sent on a work placement in Africa for a few months so they had to take me with them. Of course, I had nothing to do but play with kids from tribes nearby and explore in the jungle. My mom and dad wouldn't let me play in the jungle though so I would have to sneak away. One of the times I disobeyed them I got bit by a monkey. I-"

"You got bit by a monkey?" Cyborg asked with a small smile gracing his lips.

"Yes and said monkey ended up giving me a rare disease called Sakutia." Beast Boy replied.

The smile vanished from Cyborg's face, "That's not possible. If it were you'd be-"

"Dead. I know. However, my parents, like I said, were biologists. They were working on isolating the genetic combination linking animals with humans. So, while the disease was slowly killing me and turning my skin green, they worked on finding an antidote using the genes that allow animals to carry Sakutia without dying."

"Oh, like the monkey, yes?" Starfire asked

"Exactly. As you can probably guess, they found it but it wasn't perfect. There were side affects. My skin and hair remained green and, after a snake tried to attack my mother, we discovered that I could shape shift into different animals."

"What did you do?" asked Raven curiously.

"Turned into an emu." Beast Boy replied simply.

"But if changing shape causes you pain, why did you keep doing it?" asked Cyborg.

"Well back then it was only a small tingling feeling and with biologists for parents, animals were pretty much my life so why wouldn't I try being any one I wanted?" Beast Boy released another resigned sigh, "It was only after I started changing into larger animals that it started hurting me, but at that point there were more important issues requiring my abilities. I-"

"Hold up!" Cyborg interrupted, "Size matters?"

Beast Boy couldn't help but smile broadly at the question while Robin snickered. As the joke dawned on Cyborg he turned a light shade of pink. Raven simply shook her head and Starfire continued staring intently at Beast Boy, waiting for the question to be answered.

"Yes, it does. There are a lot of complications and limitations to my abilities. It depends how drastic the size change is, how long I stay in a form, how often I'm morphing, how different, structurally, it is from my regular shape, etc. There's a lot that gets in the way but I can deal with it."

"So if your parents discovered this half-cure for Sakutia, why haven't they introduced it to modern medicine?" Raven asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

Beast Boy sunk low in his chair and his ears bent down slightly. When he spoke his voice was just louder than a whisper.

"During that same trip there was an accident. One of the villages was being ravaged and some oil was spilled in the water and caught fire. Me and my parents were on a boat in the river and got surrounded by flames. I-uh…my-my mother and father told me to fly away and wait for them at home. Instead…I flew to a tree branch on the other side of the river. I watched them talking and fighting. The fire got close to our gas tank and I watched them hold hands as they jumped into the river. But they were too late… as soon as they were in the water the gas tank exploded…and stole them away from me." Beast Boy paused, taking a moment to mentally compose himself. "I didn't go home after that so their research was lost with them." He finished with new, forced pep in his voice.

Nobody said anything.

"I have never met my parents but yours, you loved them very much, yes?" Starfire asked quietly.

Beast Boy smiled slightly in recollection, "Yeah…I did."

"If you did not return home…where did you go?"

"That's another story Star. Another long story." Beast Boy said tiredly, "One that can wait for some other time."

Beast Boy could feel it as he looked into the eyes of each of his team mates. Worry and pity adorned each of their faces; he could even make out traces of it on Raven's usually mute face.

"Such a sad story. Well we can't have him feeling down. Perhaps we should do something to take his mind off things." Slade turned his back to the now silent monitors and faced his usual line-up of underlings: Overdrive, Cinderblock, and Plasmius. "But this time we'll do things right."

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One more note. I won't be able to write or update any new chapters until the Monday after next at least. I'm so sorry for that but, starting Saturday, I'll be living at a ranch for 9 days to train sled dogs. There are 150 dogs, no hot water, and no electricity...aren't you jealous? (Don't get me wrong, I love dogs- they're my favourite animal- but that's a lot of dogs to train in 9 days. The rest of this week is filled up with work and a variety of other time fillers (probably from the list at the top) and I hope you don't hate me. Bear with me and I'll get writing and posting as soon as I can.