I do not own anything relating to the Teen Titans.

Opening the Closet Door a Crack – Chapter 8

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Although Starfire was, reluctantly, willing to wait, she was unwilling to move ahead blindly. "Very well, since I agree to wait until we have 'proof', where do we go next to find this proof?" The other two titans looked at each other in some puzzlement. This excursion to find the missing page of the Necronomicon had not turned out quite according to plan.

Robin sighed. "Well, Carter was ultimately on his way to Innsmouth..." At that name, Dr. Warren gasped aloud. "I take it you know something about it?"

"Robin, at this stage, I'm not entirely certain I should help you titans any longer. You've destroyed the safeguards we have on the rare book repository and DESTROYED a priceless piece of literary and cultural history. I'm seriously trying to decide whether to simply sue the titans for damages or have you all arrested, or both."

"Doctor," replied Robin mildly, "the titans will make restitution for the destruction of the safeguards. We will also replace your equipment with more advanced versions."

"And the Necronomicon," replied Dr. Warren with a sarcastic voice, "Will you be replacing that as well? If so, I'd like to know how. This was the ONLY complete copy in existence. Do you often go around destroying irreplaceable works of art and learning? Maybe you should head to the Louvre, you could roast marshmallows over the Mona Lisa's ashes. I understand that the Statue of Liberty would make a lovely green pretzel. You could write your names over the Sistine Chapel ceiling, I'm sure the Pope wouldn't mind."

Robin put his hand against his temple and rubbed his forehead. Starfire's impulsiveness, although understandable, had put them in a very precarious situation. The president would be well within his rights and within the law to have them all arrested. "I don't suppose financial restitution would help?" he asked without much hope.

"MONEY? If I wanted money I'd go to our insurance company. I want that page restored! I want our collection put back in the condition it was in before you hooligans destroyed my library! What chance do you think I'll have of that?" Dr. Warren was getting angrier by the moment. "I let you kids in the library on good faith! Trusting that you would show the PROPER appreciation for works of literature. This was NOT something that I would EVER had allowed if I knew what you had planned."

"Dr. Warren," interrupted Robin, "by NO means was this planned. It just….happened." He knew how inadequate this sounded. He could see their situation sinking deeper with every passing second. At the moment, he was genuinely stumped by their predicament. Fighting criminals was one thing, property destruction during a battle could be covered by a variety of available funds. This was a deliberate destroying of a historical artifact. It couldn't be covered up.

Squaring his shoulders, Robin faced the university president. "Very well, what would you have us do? If you want us to make financial restitution, we'll do it. If you want us to replace the page, please tell us how and we will. If you want to arrest us, we'll wait quietly for the police and go without incident." During this response, both Starfire and Cyborg started, concerned with very different things, Starfire with the restoration of the page, Cyborg with being arrested. Robin motioned both of them to silence.

"Dr. Warren, we will accept anything you decide."

This caught the president off guard. Generally, he was used to young adults trying to avoid their responsibilities, shifting blame, not accepting the consequences of their actions. This was somewhat new to him.

"Uhhhh, well, I, uhhh, don't think we need to go as far as arresting you. But I do want a replacement for the university's security system."

"As you wish," responded Robin. "I can have the entire matter arranged with one phone call and, with some luck, we can have the entire system replace, and upgraded, within 48 hours."

looked somewhat surprised at that. Still, his anger was still evident. "And how about my copy of the Necronomicon? Do you intend to replace that as well?"

At that, Robin's face fell. He knew this was irreplaceable. "How would you like us to make restitution?"

The president's face fell to match the Boy Wonder's. "Look, I realize that to find a new, complete copy of the book is impossible. I would settle for a replacement for the missing page."

Carefully choosing his words, Robin replied, "In that case, Dr. Warren, perhaps you should assist us in locating Carter. I imagine he is probably the only person alive who could locate the page."

Warren's face looked even more defeated. "I'm not sure where he has gone. I know, generally where he was heading. You said he's disappeared, there's no way to know where he is now. But you are right, if anyone could track down another copy of the missing page, Carter could. He only used our resources because they were the most convenient. His sources are far greater than ours are."

While his face remained serious, internally, Robin leaped for joy. He had just extricated the titans from a very precarious situation and had enlisted a well connected man to their hunt. Unwilling to push his luck, Robin continued. "Doctor, it's late in the day, it has been stressful, to say the least. Two of our team are missing, we're all tired. I would suggest we call it a day. I'll call my contact to begin the process of replacing the system here..."

"And the broken door and broken window." Warren interrupted.

Robin looked confused. He saw the door, but what window. Cyborg filled in the missing blanks.

"Rob, BB broke through SOME window when he ran out with Raven. At least we heard glass breaking."

The leader of the titans put his face in the palm of his right hand. "Very well, add that to the tally. I'll call our contact to replace it all. Meanwhile," he continued, "I think we should retire for the moment. Would it be acceptable to you to meet tomorrow morning at 10 in your office? That way you can see the evidence of our good will and we can discuss the next steps to locate Carter."

Dr. Warren nodded his agreement and let the three remaining titans downstairs. At the front desk, he spoke to the librarian once again. "Danforth, no need to lock up the repository. The door's been smashed. Would you call school security and have them place two guards outside the room? I'm told," at this, he looked at Robin questioningly, "that repairs will begin immediately. Still, until everything IS repaired, I don't want anyone going in that room."

"Yes sir."

With that they left the building. Parting, the president said, "I will see you in my office at 10 tomorrow. I expect that actions will already be underway for repairs as per your words upstairs. If not," he warned, "I am still well within my rights to press charges." He then made his way back to the administrative building.

Before doing anything else, Robin got out his communicator. Pressing one very select button, he made a connection with Gotham. "Alfred, please be there," he whispered.

"Yes Master Richard?" the voice of the aged but hearty butler came over the communicator and his face, bearing a trace of a pleased smile, appeared on the viewer.

"Thank God! Alfred, I'm in a real mess here." Briefly, the Boy Wonder explained the situation. "Can you get someone up here to begin repair work, like, NOW?" The butler smiled again.

"Certainly, I have a number of excellent contacts in Boston, not far from your location. They've done work for us before and understand the need for reticence and speed. I can have them there within the hour. Now," he continued, "what do I get in exchange?"

Robin looked stunned, "Exchange? Uhh, what do you mean?"

"Well, Master Richard, we've not seen you for over a year. I believe that a visit to the Manor is long overdue, wouldn't you?" A guilty look passed over the teen's face.

"Has it been that long?" He had honestly forgotten.

"Yes, so, WHEN will you be visiting?" It wasn't really a request.

"As soon as this case is over, I'll be there. I hope it won't take more than a week or so."

"Very good, I EXPECT you here within two weeks. I'll notify Master Bruce. We shall see you then." With that Alfred signed off.

While Robin was speaking with his butler, Cyborg was attempting to track down the two missing titans. Knowing that Raven was the one stricken, he first tried to contact Beast Boy. Unfortunately, there was no signal, nor was there one when he tried to contact Raven. Either both had been turned off or both had been smashed. Most likely turned off. This was not a good sign. Once Robin was done with his call, Cyborg spoke.

"Bad news, Rob, I can't raise either BB or Raven on their communicators. So, either we search the area for them or we wait until they come home." He thought about it for a moment. "You probably didn't see it from your vantage, but Raven looked really shaken up in there. When I talked to Warren, he told me some of the books they've got. Didn't understand much of it except this, this is the largest collection of evil writings in the world. If a partial, torn up Necronomicon had that effect on her back home, a whole one, along with other works probably knocked her out."

Robin nodded agreement. "It makes sense. I'm sure BB is guarding her while she's weak. If they're not back in a couple of hours, we'll start searching. Meanwhile, let's go back to the T-Jet and set up camp. We can get something to eat as well."

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Meanwhile, regarding the titans in question, several hours had passed since Raven had lapsed into unconsciousness. With the sun sinking lower in the sky, while it was not yet dark, dusk was beginning to spread throughout the copse. Beast Boy had not moved from his position propping up Raven's head, but he had laid back and fallen asleep.

After a few hours, Raven began to stir as the strain of being exposed to the malignant effects of the various works in the rare book repository. Lifting her head up, she looked around. "Where am I, how did I get here?" she thought. In the fading light, she saw what she had been laying on. "Beast Boy, what's he doing here? What am I doing HERE?" She got up suddenly.

"OK, let's not panic. The only way to find out is to wake him up. I'm not sure I want to find out. We need to find out what happened to the others. I need to find out where we are. I NEED TO FIND OUT WHY I WAS IN HIS LAP!" Moving over to her green compatriot, she began to shake his shoulder.

"Gme 5 mr mnts" he mumbled.

"Beast Boy, wake up." Raven said.

Hearing Raven speak woke Beast Boy up quickly. "Rae, are you all right? Can you walk?" He got to his feet, his face full of concern. This surprised the grey sorceress.

"Certainly I can walk, what happened? Why are we here? Where are we?"

Taking a deep breath, Beast Boy told the story of how he had extricated her from the library and brought her to this quiet place. "I thought this would be out of the way. I always find nature quiet and peaceful, especially when under stress. I hoped that it would help you. After you threw up, you kind of collapsed again and I wanted to keep your head up, so I put you in my lap." He blushed and mumbled, "must have fallen asleep after that."

Giving him a small smile, Raven gently said, "Thank you." The brightness from the green teen's smile could have lit up the entire forest. "Now, do you know what happened to the others?"

"No, I turned off both our communicators. Didn't want anything to disturb you after that."

"YOU TURNED THEM OFF? WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED?"

"Look, it was Rob and Star. Nothing happens to Mr. Perfect and his girl," there was a great deal of bitterness in his voice at this. "Neither one of them has been affected by this book. I figured that they're ok. Besides, YOU'RE the one I was concerned about."

"Oh," Raven heard the bitterness in his voice regarding his teammates, as well as the concern in his voice regarding her. "Well, we should find out what happened to them." She opened the communicator to turn it on and then paused. "How are YOU feeling? Are you still hearing the voices and wings?"

Beast Boy hesitated for a moment, as if considering the best way to describe his situation. "I won't lie to you, I can still hear them very faintly. No wings, just murmurings in the background. I still want to spend some more time as a wolf, that seems to work the best at fighting off these influences. Probably tonight I'll sleep outside again."

"Thank you for being honest with me." Raven paused again, as if she was going to continue. Then, she opened the communicator. "Raven to Robin, come in."

After a moment, Robin's image appeared on the screen. "Robin here. Raven, are you all right? Where are you?"

"I'm fine. Beast Boy got me to a place of safety. Where are you and is everyone ok?"

Robin quickly recounted the events that had happened after the two titans had left. Even being brief, it took a few minutes. "So, we've set up camp next to the T-Jet. Get back here as soon as you can. Robin out." The communicator went black.

"Wow," remarked Raven, "I would have paid to see that. Starfire going ballistic is a rare event. Come on, we'd better get back." She turned to the changeling. He had a surly look on his face. "What's up?"

"How are you? Are you ok? Where are you? Gee, do you think it would have killed him to say 'Is Beast Boy with you? How's he?'"

At that, Raven began to realize just how deep Beast Boy's resentment of the Boy Wonder was. She also realized that Robin had not ONCE mentioned the shapeshifter. She began to get a deep foreboding regarding the situation. While the two were friends, it was becoming more and more evident that there were stresses in that friendship and that Beast Boy was no longer the hero-worshipping sidekick. But why was Robin so inattentive towards Beast Boy.

"Let's head back, we can find out the situation when we get back to the T-Jet." The two made their way slowly back to their starting point. They both walked rather than flew, as if to extend their time together, even though neither consciously realized it.

"Maybe, Robin's jealous?" Raven thought, "After all, it was Beast Boy who pulled everyone out of trouble during the Brotherhood episode. Maybe, he's seeing a rival. Still, that doesn't quite seem right. And Beast Boy's never been the 'good soldier' type. Probably because of his Doom Patrol training, he didn't seem to be the 'good soldier there either."

The more she considered it, the more she realized Beast Boy not only marched to the sound of his own drummer, he actively resented being forced into a role he didn't want. Consequently, he was the team jokester, the prankster that played counterpoint to Robin, to basically thumb his nose at authority. This led to an entirely different view of her green friend than she had previously had.

"How much of what I know and see of him is true? I've made assumptions over the years regarding his abilities, we all have, yet, each time a situation arises, it's Beast Boy who breaks our assumptions and turns out to be more than he seems."

Raven pondered this line of thought the entire way back to the T-Jet. Beast Boy's thoughts remained his own.

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OK, originally, I promised that the titans would head for Innsmouth this chapter. It seems like next chapter, although how this story is taking off, I refuse to promise. I have an entire scene ready when the titans reunite and it will be interesting, to say the least. Thought I would get to it this time but the interlude with BB and Rae started my creativity flowing and I'm delaying it.

I also realize that the update was slower than normal. It will continue to be slower than normal for the next month or so two. My 'busy season' at work is upon me and, quite frankly, I'm exhausted many nights when I would normally be writing. I'm sorry for the delays. Hopefully, I'll make it up in quality (haha) what is lacking in quantity.

Meanwhile, it appears that whining works (as well as the recommendations of some good friends). While not approaching earlier stories, the hits have improved. They'll never be as good (nor should be) as Force's Joker's Shadow, or any of his other stories, or Novus' Collateral Damage (WHERE IS THAT LAST CHAPTER? I CAN'T WAIT!) I'm gratified that the hits have improved on my little homage to the master.

Onward to my very generous reviewers.

Thingone – I'll always answer a question, usually in excruciating detail. This is a homage. I will be making considerable usage of Lovecraft's work. I've already said that we are heading to Innsmouth next. This is based on 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth', one of his greater works. Basically, this will be a four part story. The first arc, which we are in now, is based on the influences of the Necronomicon, one of Lovecraft's recurring themes. The second will be making considerable use of the Innsmouth story. While not putting the Titans directly in the original, there will be plenty of overlap. The final two arcs will involve two other major stories of his, one of which I will not mention, the other, I suspect, readers already have figured out, "The Call of Cthulhu." Neither will replicate the stories, but I will, ah, borrow liberally from them. Yes, it seems this story will be far longer than I originally anticipated. Melding Lovecraft and the titans, in addition to my predication for character interactions seems to be expanding the scope of the story. Like I said, I haven't even finished the FIRST arc of the four and we're up to Chapter 8.

Force Is Strong With This One – Ahhh, we'll find this missing page crop up again later (maniacal laughter in the background). For now, the hunt is on. And as for the relationship between BB and Rae, here's another taste. Believe me, the relationship will build. How can I help it, these are my two favorite characters.

Novus Ordo Seclorum – Glad, as always, that you are enjoying this. You know, I've been wondering how limiting the categorization of stories truly is. I've got some horror, some action, a great deal of suspense, later there will be romance (wow, I gave something away, big secret) and one more category that I REFUSE to mention until it happens. But then, in any story there should be elements of all. Huck Finn is GREAT and, while I deeply admire Lovecraft, Huck Finn is one of the pinnacles of American literature. Finish that definitely. Afterwards, Lovecraft awaits. As I said earlier, he is considered one of the two major American horror writers (Poe is the other). Even Stephen King (who I find uneven) gives utmost kudos to Lovecraft.

Crimson Black – Wondered what had happened to you. Glad you came back. Keep an eye on Starfire throughout the storyline. She will have THE major role in the finale and epilogue. Hey, just because BB and Rae are my favorites, that doesn't mean I can't utilize the titans to their best. Remember, Starfire is from an older, wiser race. Something to consider.

Ok, enough clues and hints. Until next time my friends, and, once again, my apologies for the delays in updating. Unfortunately, it will continue for the next month and a half.