This Year's Love
Chapter 2: Beginnings
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Disclaimer: I don't own anything…..
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Thank you to all my reviewers, I appreciate the reviews a lot.
deathofpreps
DarkSin
Angel Caida
Darkest Midnight
Raveninthedark
Here you go, chapter 2 of This Year's Love, Beginnings. Enjoy!
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Beastboy woke with a start. Lifting his head quickly, he was confused at first by his strange surroundings. His hazed vision finally clearing, it took him a small moment to remember where and why he was were he was. Sitting up straight in the comfortable medical chair, he smiled; unable to hold in the small glee he got from spending the night holding Raven's hand.
"Raven…….oh God!"
All traces of merriment gone as soon as the night's events flooded into BB's mind; gazing into the girl's eyes. He winced unwittingly at the huge gashes across her face, along with the smaller bruises, cuts and blisters that littered her once perfect skin. Yawning, stretching and regretfully letting go of her hand, Beastboy gained a small degree of relief in seeing that the rest of her body had healed significantly and only bruises were left, where once were terrible scars. This revelation brought much needed hope to the changeling. Slowly, he stood; contact breaking completely.
Unfortunately….this was a mistake…
Once their contact ceased, a low beeping from a nearby machine began. Walking over to inspect the source, the green titan moved further from his dark love.
All of a sudden, Raven relapsed.
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Screaming with a greater intensity than the previous night, she thrashed and turned in midair, kicking, screaming and scratching at her face. Unlike the night before, her screams were more eloquent.
"….BEASTBOY!...NO, no, no, no, no….get out….NO! DON'T! Stop it….please! PLEASE! HELP ME! Don't….DON'T LEAVE ME!... NO!..."
Rushing over to the bedside and the disturbed Raven, Beastboy quickly placed his hand's into Raven's own clenched ones. Gently, he pulled her clasped fists away from her eyes and back to her sides. The rest of the Team rushed in seconds later, as, slowly Raven relaxed and relapsed back into calm levitation.
"BB…..What happened?" asked a worried Robin as Cyborg finished conducting a few tests he had started as soon as he had entered.
"I don't know….I just woke up to check on the monitors. As soon as I got up…she started freaking…."
"Did you do anything to her? Touch her…..anything different than last night to cause her to change?" Robin continued to ask an obviously worried Beastboy.
"Dude….all I did was get up, then I heard this beeping so I went to check it and—"
A look of realization spread across his face,
"—and I let go of her hand."
Before Robin could get another word in, he was interrupted.
"Oh what ailment threatens friend Raven? Is there no cure?" on the verge of tears, Starfire leaned into Robin. Placing his arm over her shoulder, he held her close; the trauma of the moment loosening their hold on their feelings for one another. Still perplexed, yet another (this is a rare occurrence.) thought formed into Beastboy's worried mind.
"…It's almost like….me touching her is helping her get…better?" Forming it as an almost question, the rest of the titans stared at his rare moment of intelligence.
"You know…I think he may actually be right." Breaking the silence, Cyborg continued, "these readings," he said, pointing to the printout in his hands, "indicate that when he let go, Raven's pain and hear rate accelerated, while her overall health and improvement began to unwind."
Another moment of silence followed before Robin announced, half-heartedly that considering that they didn't know how to help Raven; they could do nothing of use by just standing around.
"BB, you stay here with Raven. Cyborg will make you some tofu breakfast….no questions asked, so that you don't go hungry. Star and I will get changed and I'll begin to repair the windows. Star, go to the mall and pick up some plates, glasses….that stuff. We only have some paper ones and that won't be enough."
Seeing that no one had any objections, BB sat down, back into his chair with Raven's hand in his hands, once again. All nodding, they departed quickly and quietly. Unable to take the quite and unbearable doubt and worry that stretched on as the minutes slowly ticked away, BB started to talk, releasing his worries through his words and freeing his mind.
"Hey Rae….so…Do you come her often? Ha…..I know it's a bad pick up line, but all my past jokes haven't been able to make you laugh or smile. Maybe my bad ones will…." He gazed at Raven for a second, half expecting her to bolt up and tell him in a drab, monotone voice that he should just 'get lost.' When it didn't come, he sighed and continued. "I guess not. You know…you gave me such a scare last night. You scared me to death. I was dreaming about….well I'll admit it, I was dreaming about you last night, like I do every night, and when I heard your scream…..my blood turned cold and I woke up instantly."
Icy shivers danced their way up his green back and back down his spine as he relived last night in a rare moment of eloquence.
"I ran as fast as I could, Rae. I want you to know that. I transformed into a cheetah and ran faster than I ever have. Faster than when Terra's life was at stake, faster than when my life was at stake. When I saw you, the blood….oh God Raven, I thought I had lost you for good."
He sat silently for a moment, his shoulders drooped and his chest heaving. Had anyone taken a closer look and listened, they would have heard the barely audible sobs that Beastboy couldn't help releasing.
"Rae…..pull through…please….for me? I couldn't—I can't—go on without you. You may hate me and don't think I'm funny but…I need you to be ok. There's……I—you. Raven I…care about you; more than Terra, more than anyone. More than myself. If I could take this away from you….I would. You don't know how much it hurts me to see you like this. And…and even when you're perfectly fine—it isn't fair. How you can't laugh or cry or show emotions or anything. Rae I…..would do anything to see you smile and laugh. I would even defeat your dad again…a hundred times over just for you."
The green morpher closed his eyes for a moment, squeezing tightly at his eyes and letting a few salty tears drip down.
"Rae…I……I love you."
'I would give up my life to make you free, make you free to feel. I would give it all up to make you feel like you did with Malchior….before he broke you're heart. I'dd do anything…"
Broken from his thoughts and monologue, Beastboy looked up as Cyborg knocked on the already open door; a breakfast tray in one hand.
"Here BB, your breakfast, Tofu and all." Cyborg indicated to the tray of paper plates and assorted tofu treats in barely over a whisper. At that moment, the green titan could not help feeling how weird it was to not have Cyborg shouting about the disgusting substance known as TOFU. Handing it over to Beastboy, the distraught titan placed it on a table.
"Listen BB, I didn't want to be rude or spying but……you know, hearing sensors. I kind of heard what you said…."
The hybrid titan had expected his green little counterpart to turn red or deny it or even make some pathetic joke or any combination of the three. What he hadn't expected was the response given to him by the changeling; the ordeal changing his actions and attitude.
"Yea well, it's all true."
Stunned for a moment, Cy placed his hand lightly on Beastboy's shoulder.
"Wanna talk?"
Gazing into his brother's eyes; one black and normal…human, and the other lit red and mechanic, he sighed. They were brothers after all. Neither of them had any family anymore and both had found an everlasting bond in friendship together. Now they were closer to each other than anyone…..except for BB and Raven. Although she didn't laugh or enjoy his jokes (seemingly) and he always annoyed her (seemingly), they shared a special, unspoken bond. Both had unsaid respect for their sacrifices and the parts of them they tried desperately to control.
BeastBoy: with his inner beast and Raven: with her emotions.
After Raven's dealings with Malchior, and the 'beast incident' The green and the dark titans understood each other and learned from one another. Beastboy had learned to tell how she really felt by the expression held in her eyes and she discovered, unwittingly when his jokes were all for fun, or to cover up embarrassment, unhappiness, sadness, or fear. The only time he had ever shown any of those feelings of sorrow was during Terra's betrayal and the time he had transformed into the beast and thought he had hurt her. (by then his love for her had already begun to blossom.)
"…BB?" Shaking Beastboy gently, Cyborg looked worried at his dazed friend. Realizing that he had become lost in thought, he responded quietly.
"I'm….I won't lie, I'm not fine. I'm worried about her, I care about her and I don't think I can survive without her."
Patting his shoulder gently and without word to console his green friend, Cyborg urged him to eat before he too, left the green titan to his chaotic thoughts.
With Cyborg leaving the room, Beastboy positioned himself on the edge of the chair, close enough to be able to sit close enough to hold Raven's hand. Beginning to eat with one hand, he awkwardly had to drop the fork each time he wanted to take a sip of the 100 soy milk, Cyborg had gotten him. Finishing quickly, he pushed the tray into the middle of the little table as he sat back comfortably on the chair. Losing himself in thought, admiration and worry over his dark love, his eyelids began to droop—and soon he was fast asleep.
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As Beastboy was immersed in his worry for Raven, the other Titans had been able to get a lot done. Cyborg, once finishing the tofu breakfast, had joined Robin in fixing the windows of the tower; even braving entering into Raven's room to fix her shattered, solitary window, and quickly sweep off the glass from the bed and floor. No one dared anymore meddling in the goth's abode. Starfire, having returned from "the mall of shopping" with the china, she expediently put them away and brought out a surprise for the remaining titans. Having found replacement dinnerware easily, she had stopped by "The head of Maiden's and baked, round, nut-of-dough- like mixture of yeast, wheat and grains."
Receiving heavy blank stars from Robin and Cyborg, they finally put together what she had meant, when she pulled out a big bag of bagels. (AN: maiden head's bagel……it's a bagel franchise, around here in jersey, anyways. Just in case u were wondering….) After a quick, impromptu breakfast break, the two male Titans went back to fixing the windows, while Starfire decided to clean the lounge, kitchen, her room and check on the worried green changeling.
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Thankfully, no crimes had occurred that day, a fairly rare occurrence; the odd silence greeted them as Robin and Cyborg finished the window treatments by 4:00. Cyborg, having the obvious technical skills, was just finishing a final diagnostic on the Tower's security systems, while Robin and Starfire plopped down on the couch, tired. Starfire cuddling slightly against Robin: she snuggled closer and sighed. The ordeal the night before had warded off some of their obvious embarrassment and shielding attempts at hiding their feelings for one another. For now, they were placid in their status.
"Today has been a day of most business…..has it not? With the cleaning and Tower fixing, and Raven's pain and friend Beastboy's reaction…….."
Stopping and perking up, she looked from the hall back to a slightly confused team leader.
"Can we please check on friends Beastboy and Raven, Robin?"
Nodding at the good idea, and puling himself from the couch, he and Starfie both got up and walked to where Cyborg was just finishing."
"Sup' guys?"
"Hey Cy….we're going to see how BB and Raven are doing. Want to come?"
"Course, though the last time I checked on them, Raven was still stable and BB had fallen asleep, hand in hand."
For some reason, Cyborg thought it wise to keep the events and conversation of the morning with the green titan, a secret; at leas for now.
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Walking into the medical room Cyborg, Robin and Starfire were shocked
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Gasping in surprise, Star flew over to the bedside where Raven was.
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Robin grabbed his communicator and called to BeastBoy
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Cyborg zipped straight to the machine readings on Raven's brain functions. By all accounts, if she lost contact with Beastboy, she should have relapsed.
'But then…what's happened?'
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Why were all the titans in shock?
….because Beastboy was not responding to his communicator, and raven had not cried out.
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Beastboy had vanished.
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AN
Ok ok ok ok ok, I know that no one likes cliff hangers, but this is a fairly weak one so don't worry. Sorry it took so long, but…finally…SCHOOLS OUT! Which means a little bit more time to update and write, so forgive me. Also, the past week has been mad finals and testing, so there was no time to update at all.
Anyways, I hope u guys liked this chapter. No real action, just a lil fluffiness. This is what I call a transition chapter, setting up for chapter 3 which is gunna be a lot better, and is almost done. So I can promise more action and...Raven waking up. Thanx to all my reviewers, I appreciate it all and hope u shall do so for this chapter
I am,
As always,
Fernnu