AN: I do not own Teen Titans

Chapter 7

"Five… four… three…" Adrienne counted down.

Raven looked at her four friends who were suspended in the air, gasping for breath, unable to move. She looked at Adrienne with pure hatred. It was keeping everything within her not to let the demon side of her get the better of her and destroy all of their lives. What could she do? She had no choice.

"…two…"

"Okay!" Raven called out.

Adrienne stopped counting and began to smile. "What was that?" she asked.

Raven slowly bowed her head and said, "I'll… I'll give you my voice."

"No, Raven!" Beast Boy managed to yell in a strained voice. "Don't."

"Hush you!" Adrienne ordered and squeezed Beast Boy's throat a little tighter. He grabbed at his neck and choked more. Adrienne smiled to herself then looked back to Raven. This was it.

Ravens shaking hand reached up and grabbed the necklace. Then, with one swift movement, she ripped it from her neck. She never thought she would feel it again, the pain. It felt as if someone had stabbed her throat with a knife, ripping out her vocal chords, and replacing it with fire. She fell to her knees from the pain and grabbed her neck with one hand, the other containing the necklace.

Adrienne smirked evilly and tossed the Titans to the ground. They had each been on the brink of unconsciousness and were now taking in as much air as they could, choking and coughing in the process. Adrienne walked over to Raven, feeling proud and victorious. She bent down and opened Ravens clenched hand. She plucked the necklace from her and chuckled to herself.

"You made the right choice," Adrienne whispered into Ravens ear. Then she stood up and yanked the other necklace that contained Ravens voice from her own neck. She smiled wickedly as she clasped her hands, bringing both orbs together. When she opened her hands she now held one necklace with a purple orb on a chain of entwined gold and silver. She was practically shaking with joy as she placed the necklace around her neck.

Raven couldn't even swallow her own spit the pain was so horrible. She felt tears pouring down her cheeks and she slowly looked up to Adrienne. Her eyes had gone back to blue and she smiled triumphantly.

"At last!" she cried out and laughed. "The Angel of Azarath's voice is mine!" She laughed menacingly.

Raven couldn't believe it. She hadn't heard her voice since it had been taken, and now it was coming out of this evil young woman. Her voice! She couldn't help but cry. How long she had wanted to hear her voice again, but she wanted it to be coming from her own mouth.

"Well, see you around, Raven," said Adrienne in her new voice. "And don't worry about your voice. I'll take good care of it." She chuckled to herself and prepared to disappear. But just before she did she looked over at Beast Boy, her eyes flashing green for a moment. She smiled wickedly then disappeared, off to another dimension once again.

It took a few minutes for the other Titans to regain their wits. Finally they slowly sat up and dizzily looked around. A few yards away they saw Raven on her knees and no sign of that young woman named Adrienne.

"Raven," Beast Boy coughed and he began to crawl over to her. Every bit of him was shaking and weak. But he kept his eyes on Raven, pushing past the weakness and his shaking limbs. And then, after what seemed like forever, he reached her. "Raven, you okay?"

Raven shook her head and placed her face in her hands, weeping. She was shaking as well. Her tears dripped down her palms and created small pools upon the pavement. Beast Boy put his arm around her and tried to console her.

"Hey, it's gonna be alright," he said, his own voice strained and raspy. "Don't worry. We'll get your voice back." He wasn't sure how they were going to do that, but he knew there was no way he was going to just let that crazy girl get away with his friend's voice.

The other three get to their feet and made their way over to Raven as well. Starfire fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around Raven, also crying.

"Oh, Raven, please forgive me," she wept. "I did not know that the necklace did the taking of your voice. Please, oh, please forgive me."

Raven did nothing, she just let Starfire hold her and the two girls wept. Raven knew that this was in no way Starfire's fault, but she had no way to tell her that. Not now. She was a mute.

"Beast Boy," said Robin. "Do you know what's going on?"

"Uh, why?" asked Beast Boy.

"Cuz you seem to know something," said Cyborg.

"No I don't," said Beast Boy. Suddenly he felt someone grabbed his arm. He looked down and saw that it was Raven. She looked up at him, her eyes streaming, and nodded. "You want me to tell them?" he asked. She nodded again then looked down. "But I promised I wouldn't. Are you sure?" She looked back up sighed, nodding once again.

The group went back to the tower so Beast Boy could tell the story that Raven had told him. He spoke of how Raven had once had a beautiful voice and that a jealous Adrienne had taken half of it away, leaving her with the unpleasant voice she had. They each listened intently, piecing it all together. All the while Raven just sat with her hood up, staring at the floor.

"…and so, now, Adrienne has Ravens whole voice," said Beast Boy.

Cyborg whistled and said, "That's one heck of a story."

"Raven, why didn't you tell us?" asked Robin.

"She didn't want us to pity her," said Beast Boy, speaking for Raven who could not.

"We would not have given you the pity," said Starfire, putting her hand on Ravens shoulder.

"She said we'd say that," Beast Boy chuckled. "But, she said that even if we say we'd never pity her, we'd never be able to look at her the same way again."

"Well, it doesn't matter now," said Robin. "We've got to get your voice back."

Raven shook her head. She picked up a pen and began to write on a piece of paper her friends had given her. "She travels between dimensions," she wrote. "To find her would be near impossible."

"I don't care," said Robin, once he and the others had read what she had written. "We're going to bring this girl to justice."

Raven just sighed, stood up, and headed out of the common room. This was all too much for her, and her throat still hurt horribly. She knew she would never get her voice back. And she knew it would take a while for the others to accept that as well.

"Oh, I feel so horribly," said Starfire. "If I had not bought that necklace then Raven would still have her voice."

"It wasn't your fault, Starfire," said Beast Boy.

"He's right, Star," said Robin. "How could you have known that that old woman was Adrienne in a disguise to take Ravens voice? She used you, which is just another reason for us to find her and make her pay."

"I can't believe Raved used to be able to sing," said Cyborg. "Man, do I feel bad for tryin to force her to do karaoke. Thank God you fainted, B, or I woulda dragged her there."

"Well, I guess I can tell you guys now that I didn't really faint," said Beast Boy. "I just did it to get you guys to leave her alone."

"Now it all makes sense," said Robin. "I just can't believe she never told us any of this."

"And now she has no voice at all," said Starfire. "How shall we communicate?"

"I could rig up some sort of artificial larynx to help her speak," said Cyborg.

"An artificial what?" asked Beast Boy.

"An artificial larynx," said Cyborg slowly. "It's a device she can hold to her throat and it creates vibrations that'll enable her to talk."

"I don't think she'll like that," said Robin.

"Yeah, but at this point what choice does she have?" asked Cyborg.

"None," Beast Boy sighed.

"Well, it's better than nothing," said Robin. "Get to work on one. I'm going to go research this Adrienne and see if I can find anything else about her."

"Perhaps I should go to Raven," said Starfire. "If she is feeling the upset then I can comfort her."

"Uh, Star, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you're still upset, too, and if you go to Raven I think you'll both just end up crying again," said Beast Boy.

"Yes… I suppose you are right," said Starfire, who began sniffling again, ready to cry.

"Star, why don't you go lay down until you're feeling better?" asked Robin. Starfire nodded and flew to her room, already crying again.

"I'll check on Raven," said Beast Boy.

"Uh, you sure that's the best idea?" asked Cyborg.

"Yeah," said Beast Boy, nodding. "This is sorta our thing." The other two boys just looked at him. Beast Boy sighed. "Look, you each got something with Raven. She helps you work on the T-car, Cy, and she has a bond thing with you, Robin. And she chose me to share her voice story with. She trusted me with it. So, you know, this is kinda our thing."

"Alright, that… kinda made sense," said Cyborg.

"Fine, you go check on her, but don't over stay your welcome," Robin warned. "The last thing we need is for her to feel even worse."

"Gotcha," said Beast Boy, going into the kitchen and getting Ravens teakettle out.

"Uh… what're ya doin now?" asked Cyborg.

"Her throats gotta be hurting, so I'm making her some tea," said Beast Boy. "Then, at least, she'll let me in her room if she sees I have something to make her feel better."

"There's some throat numbing spray in the bathroom," said Robin. "Bring her that as well."

"Thanks dude," said Beast Boy as he placed the teakettle on the stove.

Once the tea was done and he had retrieved the numbing spray, he headed for Ravens room. He felt so horrible about what had happened. Poor Raven had gone from owning one of the most beautiful voices ever to not having a voice at all. He cautiously knocked on her door and let his presence be known.

"Uh, Raven, it's Beast Boy," he said. "I got you some tea for your throat."

He heard the door unlock and he slid it aside. He looked inside and saw her sitting on her bed. Her knees were under her chin and he could see tears still falling from her eyes. He slid the door shut and went over to her.

"Here you go," he said, handing her a mug of tea. "And I got you this." He gave her the throat numbing spray.

She mouthed a, "Thank you," and took the tea first. She sipped it, but quickly winced as the hot liquid burned her throat.

"Uh, maybe you should use the spray first," he suggested. She sadly nodded and placed the tea on her bedside table. "Do you want me to do it for you?" he asked, kindly. She thought for a moment then nodded. "Alright, open up nice and wide."

She sighed and opened her mouth up as wide as she could. Beast Boy quickly read the directions on the spray bottle. He sprayed into the back of her throat twice. Within a few seconds Raven felt her throat go numb.

"Better?" he asked.

She nodded and took her tea again. He had never seen her so miserable. He had seen her angry, sad, and emotionless, but never miserable. He decided to push his limits and sat down next to her.

"It's gonna be okay," he said in a comforting voice. "You know that, right?"

Raven swallowed the tea and bit her bottom lip. She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly, attempting to keep the tears in. Her hands began to shake and the tea was very close to spilling. Beast Boy quickly grabbed it and set it aside once more. Then he wrapped his arms around her. She embraced his hug and wept openly in front of him.

"It's gonna be okay," he said softly.