The Nature of the Beast

She was far more beautiful when she was unconscious than when she was spitting fire at me. There was something to be said about how a woman looked while she slept in your bed. It was past the point of treating her injuries, I had already clean and mended and wrapped all of them. Now, I touched her for the sake of keeping the lie that this was a dream at bay. Never had the urge to be so close to another been so great. She pulled me to her without meaning to. She locked me up inside a dark shadow of her soul no other could come close to.

And as I watched her sleep I wondered when the Titans would bust down my front door and steal her away from me. To take this woman into their world of justice and light, to force her into a life she'd never be able to live. I knew it wasn't meant for her. She was my shadow, not theirs. She was not like them.

Her eyebrows twitched and the thought of her screaming at my face made me pull away from her quickly. I wouldn't be able to let her go. I couldn't. Some unseen force was now locking us together. Not such a terrible fate, in my opinion. This woman was darkness in the breathing sense. Slowly she began to slip into consciousness. It was captivating the way her eyes opened and focused on an unfamiliar ceiling. She didn't blink in confusion; she merely was awake in the span of a couple seconds.

"Tell me," but her voice was harsh and cut across my skin, "do you want to die slowly, or do you want it to last?"

TheNewAbomination

I stared at the beast in the infirmary with a mixture of concern and bitterness. Cyborg was trying to figure out why Beast Boy hadn't changed back. Soon the test results would be printed out and Cyborg would say that he couldn't figure it out. He'd say that everything was "physically" fine with the guy. He'd say if he could talk to him than perhaps Beast Boy could tell us what was up. He'd say this was all the changeling's choice. I knew all this before anybody else did.

I even knew this before Raven. She hadn't left Beast Boy's side during all the testing and she was trying to make some kind of mind connection with him. Something else I knew wouldn't do us a bit of good. She already knew it was a hopeless endeavor, she couldn't lock with animals. But since it was Beast Boy, it couldn't hurt to try. He wasn't just an animal, after all.

The beast growled as the suction sensors were detached from his fur. I grit my teeth. If this was all Beast Boy's choice, then what was he thinking? How could he choose to leave us for the solitude of a beast's life? Why would he choose something like that anyway? I tried to think if it was because I had said something. Did I push him too hard? Did I encourage his beast more than Beast Boy himself?

As I watched the beast flinch away from Raven's touch, again, I wondered if I should try looking at different angles. Maeve was the one who demand for his transformation at the piers. Beast Boy hadn't wanted to do it, but she said he was the only one who could. She was the one who pressured him to use his beast more than any of them. But the changes in Beast Boy's life weren't a short-term one. Maeve hadn't been here long enough to have caused some kind of life changing alternative for the changeling. But maybe she was the final straw?

I turned away from the glass and found Starfire staring at me with a small look. She had changed too. Not but a year ago, she wouldn't have looked so scared in all her life. I sighed inwardly before I spoke to her, "Beast Boy will be fine, Star."

"It is not Beast Boy I am worried for." She said quietly without breaking eye-contact. When all I did was raise an eyebrow she continued, "I am afraid my time to leave this planet is approaching faster than I would have liked." Finally she turned away from me. There had been a time she wouldn't have done that. "Beast Boy's condition concerns me. However, I have another planet of gagillions of my people who are looking at me to take up the crown."

What was she looking for? I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. It was why I pulled away from her attractions. It wasn't hard to figure out how Starfire felt about me. When she told me she would have to leave and go rule her planet, I was the one who enforced that we never grew too intimate with one another. I couldn't love someone who couldn't give me all of them. And an alien princess was a problem.

"Tell me not to go." She turned back to me with tears in her big, green eyes. I could feel something growing ice-cold inside my chest. It hurt but it wasn't unpleasant.

"No, Star." The look on her face from those two words could have lead some to believe I had killed her. "You're people need you. Much more than I do." And because I couldn't take it anymore, I walked past her and out of the infirmary.

I kept going. Until I got into my evidence room. Where the villains of Jump City stared at me through newspapers and mug shots and crime scene photos. I slammed my fist on the one desk and grit my teeth at how cold my chest felt. It still wasn't unpleasant, but – Christ! – how I wish it was!

TheNewAbomination

"Well, Raven, there aren't anymore test for me to do." I said as I looked at the beast curled up by the woman's feet. He appeared to be asleep but I knew tigers were capable of that same trick. I glance at Raven, wary of her next sentence. She had been so irritable since we got out of that cavern.

"And he still looks like this." She gestured to the mass of fur and her eyebrows betrayed her anger. I noticed the way Beast Boy shunned from Raven, while at the same time staying as close to her as possible.

"We just have to wait for the results, ok?" There wasn't much to do now. I already cleaned everything up and put all the tools away. I didn't want to leave BB with an angry Raven, but as far as I could tell she was justified in all her irritation.

"If this is your entire fault I'm going to kill you." I cringed away from how dead she sounded but when I realized she was talking to Beast Boy, I sighed and began to feel sorry for the guy. Girls were so complicated. Which reminded me…

"I need to go check on some things. The result will be printed from there." I pointed to the appropriate machine and she nodded. "Go easy on him, he has to have his reasons." Even though Raven never showed that she heard me, I knew she did. When the time came, she would listen to me.

In my room I called Bumble Bee for the third time. The first time I didn't have anything prepared to say and that would have made me look real bad. The second time I forgot what I wanted to say and I had to hang up before I looked even more stupid to her. So when Speedy answered on the first ring, I wasn't surprised with the look of unhappiness he gave me.

"Hey," was all I could manage.

All he did was glare at me. When I figured he wasn't going to say anything, he moved out of my line of vision. He didn't turn the visual off, so I guess he wanted me to wait. Prick…

I could hear her muttering as she came closer to my view. She looked tired and unhappy. She sat glaring at me with her arms and legs crossed. For a long while I just took in her appearance and thanked God I could still see her. I hadn't thought about saying anything yet, I just wanted to savor this moment for a little while longer. It wasn't like there were many moments when we weren't fighting.

"What is it, Cyborg?" She pressed and it was so close to a growl I had to take a moment to thank God that we weren't in the same room right now.

"I wanted to apologize Bee." I said looking her in the eye. I always got flustered when I talked to her and that was probably why we always ended up fighting. I tried to cover my flustered state with defensive comebacks and deliberately try to pick a fight with her.

"Go on," she quirked a brow at me. She loved to savor my humiliation more than anyone else I could think of.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you. I shouldn't expect you to drop your team for me. I haven't done the same so it was childish of me to think you would do it." She nodded and uncrossed her legs. "I've been under a lot of stress. Raven's sister crashing in, the end of the world possibly, you know. But I've been completely unfair to you." I took a deep breath, "I'm sorry Bee."

For a long while she didn't say anything. Slowly, though, she began uncrossing her arms and she smiled at me without showing her teeth. "Ok. But I'm not letting you off the hook so fast. You've been an ass to me Cy."

"I know. And I want to make it up to you." She quirked her brow again but didn't say anything. "I was thinking of reassigning myself." Her face lost most of its emotion. "I was thinking of moving to the East." I waited for a reply.

Suddenly Speedy, Aqua Lad, Mas, and Menos were all yelling and laughing and approving and become on entire background noise as I watched Bumble Bee's face begin to change. Her poker face melted in the next second as she screamed for her teammates to disappear. When we were left alone, she gave me a very small smile before saying, "I'll have to approve that one, you know? Since I'm going to be you're boss and all."

TheNewAbombination

I stared at the test results with mild humiliation. I already knew what it was going to be. Even though he didn't want me touching him, Beast Boy allowed me to scan him with my matter to see if there was anything I could do. I already knew that he was physically fine.

With a heavy sigh I let the paper float to the floor. "You should let me in." My voice was subdued as I muttered at the beast crouching next to me. He was so close I could feel his body heat, but he wasn't touching me. "If you'd let me into your thoughts I might be able to see what's going on. At the very least I'd be able to talk to you." When he didn't do anything I looked up at him.

Six hundred pounds and then some of hard muscle and coarse fur sat next to me with sharp fangs and a vicious fury. But right now, he seemed more like a lost puppy than a scary predator. I could sense that his emotions were a fury of confusion and something strong that overtook all other feeling from him. It wasn't entirely negative, but it did seem to scare him.

"Would you talk to me? Please?" I tried again softly, catching myself from petting him. I didn't want to feel the sting of his rejection.

Beast Boy gave me a small "hmph" of a reply and began to stand carefully. No pain was visible on his face, but maybe he was better at hiding it now. When he got to the door, I realized he wanted me to open it. Where was he taking me? We walked through the halls and past the living room. No one was around to question us. After a moment I understood he was trying to show me something and that it was in my bedroom. As Beast Boy waited patiently next to the door I began to grow unsettled.

"Ok. I'll bite." I opened the door and stepped into my room. Beast Boy entered much more quietly and gingerly than a beast his size should have; he was still respecting my space. I sat on my bed as the beast began sniffing the air to find what he was looking for. It didn't take him long. The rune Maeve brought to me that belonged to my mother was sitting on my desk and Beast Boy picked it up with great care with one clawed hand.

"What does the rune have to do with anything?" I asked as he brought it to me. "It belonged to my mother but -" I was cut off when Beast Boy shuddered violently and the rune began to glow. The metal was purer than gold and rarer than any metal on any planet, but it is not supposed to glow. Then Beast Boy shifted back to human. His clothes were gone completely and I looked away in a moment of shocked embarrassment. That never happened before.

He panted as if he were in serious pain and my heart ached at the sound. I stood slowly and unclasped my cloak to give him as use of some form of clothing. After a moment of the sound of fabric rubbing against skin filling the room, did I finally look back at him. Hunched over his own form and still panting, the changeling looked far too pale and sweaty. Did he have a fever? But the test said…

Beast Boy grabbed my hand that held the rune. He gave me a smile that almost made all the pain nonexistent. "It means 'Guardian,' I'm your guardian, Rae." My eyes widened in understanding. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. But I didn't even know until a second ago. It told me so." His eyes dropped to the rune in our hands before meeting mine again. They were shining. "I didn't change back because it was talking to me, kinda weird huh? A piece of metal talking to me? But I swear, that's what it did. Not really with words, or anything, but it told me that I was your guardian." His boyish smile was back and it really did look like he wasn't in any pain at all. Had I imagine it all?

"Why did you flinch away from me?" The question was out before I could stop it. I hadn't meant to say it. I didn't want to complicate things, really. But now that it was out there, I couldn't feign ignorance either.

He looked away with a frown and I wished desperately for his smile again. "That was because… The pull to protect you was overwhelming me. It was like supercharged or something when you touched me. I wanted to rip Robin's head off when he sat next to you. I wanted to throw Cyborg out the window in the infirmary. See, I knew they wouldn't hurt you, but I didn't care." He shook his head and his messy hair flew everywhere for a second. I put the rune next to me and grab hold of his head and forced him to look at me.

"You're my guardian." I stated it with such surety that I almost laughed. After a minute of silence where we simply stared into each other's eyes, I did start laughing. Beast Boy hesitated for a moment before joining me. We laughed for what could have been hours.

Finally, my mind began to clear. "It would be selfish of me to keep you all to myself." I said quietly. Without warning Beast Boy tackled and had me pinned to my bed in less than a second. I didn't even have enough time to prepare myself.

"I don't want to undo it, if that's what you're thinking." I was reminded again of a lost puppy. "It's ok now, Rae. I'm ok with this. I've always wanted to be the one to protect you." He dropped his head and laid it on my stomach. "Don't undo it," he whispered.

It was then that I realized that I always wanted Beast Boy to protect me too. Sometimes I was tired of being the one fighting. Sometimes I just wanted someone to protect me. No, not just someone. Beast boy was special to me on levels that none of the others could contend with.

Robin was special but he had priorities I couldn't understand. And there were times when his world would be eons away from mine. Beast Boy was solid. He was dependable. He wouldn't leave me nor find anything more important than me. I watched one of my hands move to pet his dark green hair.

"I'm not going to undo it. I doubt that I can. Runes are old majick." His hands fisted into my sheets at my sides. "I'm honored if you would be my guardian Beast Boy." He turned to look at me with that smile again and I felt something warm explode in my chest and rush through my bloodstream. "What I meant about being selfish is that I doubt we could be apart of the Teen Titans with our situation."

A slight frown disrupted the smile as he slowly moved to hover over me. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to get off my bed. "Yeah. Robin will be pissed." He looked at the floor as he thought that one over. Then he suddenly looked at me, "Would you miss it? Cause if you don't want to leave, I'll figure something out."

The warmth inside me grew warmer and spread to the tips of my fingers and toes. "I'll miss it. But maybe our time is over anyway." I slipped my hand against his face and he leaned into it. "It'll be fine. We can set off somewhere else. Be a team of two. Watch each other." I smiled and it wasn't forced in any way.

Without hesitation Beast Boy kissed my palm and I felt the warmth in my face abruptly. The gesture didn't seem to bother Beast Boy at all. "I'll be the one to tell him. There are so many places I want to take you Raven." He grinned and showed me his fangs, "Just promise me you won't get bored with me." There was a slight glint to his eyes that told me he was worried.

"I would never get bored of you, my guardian." I pushed myself up and hugged him tightly.

"Uh, Rae?"

"Yes?"

"I need to go."

"Why?"

"Just let me change…"

It was like he had burned me. I pushed him off my bed on accident and he rolled into a crouch a moment later. "Sorry," I muttered but he only grinned at me.

"I'll be back, ok?" And then he was gone.

TheNewAbomination

I watched Robin and Beast Boy talking outside the green one's sleeping chambers. He said that he and Friend Raven were bonded by some form of "old majick" and that they were no longer capable of being impartial to each other. He told Robin that they were going to leave.

And Robin didn't do anything to stop them.

Robin didn't try to speak to them to reverse their decision. He didn't try to convince them that the two of them were a valuable part of the team. He only stood their listening to the green one then giving them his blessings.

Which was more than what he did for me.

Robin accepted my resignation from the team with far less passion than I had hoped. I had expected him to tell me to stay. To tell me the team needed me. To tell me he needed me. But I'm not needed at all. Not here.

On my planet I would be welcomed home like the royalty I was. I would rule my planet with the justice I learned from this planet. And one day, I would be married to a proper partner who would live by the same justice I lived by. Never again would I be allowed back to Earth. Not for a friendly visit, not for negotiations, not for any reason at all. Robin knew this. I knew he knew. He knew that I knew too.

Yet, he still did nothing to keep me with him. Did I mean so little to him? Had our time together not meant anything either? How could he simply let me leave? How could it be so easy for him?

Now Beast Boy and Friend Raven were leaving. The Titans were falling apart like the old part of Jump City. And Leader Robin was doing nothing to prevent it. Where had the man I once known gone? He told me we would always be together. But we aren't.

I must leave to uphold my duty. Beast Boy and Friend Raven must leave because the bonding would not allow them not to be too enthralled with the other to keep them focused. The Sister of Raven was missing, in the hands on the bad guy too.

The world I made in Earth was slowly being ebbed away like the sand on a beach. Soon there would be nothing left to remind me of the world I made. Not even the friends I have and cherish would be left. They would be off in other worlds with other lives. What else could be done by me? There was no longer a place left for me here. I should not have put all my hope on the man who no longer could feel love for me.

TheNewAbombination

The apartment was a complete and total, chaotic mess, like a whirlwind had come in through the window and attack the place. Then a tornado joined the onslaught just for kicks. I stood with my back against a wall and across from me stood Red-X as he nursed his shoulder. The bruises I left it would be ugly for at least a month. In between us was the chaos. The couch was tipped over and there were pieces of broken furniture everywhere.

Both of us were breathing heavily and I wondered where – in the name of Siber – the exit was. I had been able to escape from the man's bedroom, but I was too unfamiliar with Earth's housing layouts. I didn't know which door would lead me where and now I was stuck, with my back to a corner, in the living. There was a TV and a couch and that was similar to the Titan's living room. But I could be wrong.

The second I woke he tried to tell me to lie back down and I couldn't handle that. Having Red-X – the man I swore I was supposed to keep my distance from – tell me to lie back down, it was too much. He shouldn't be the one nursing me. He wasn't supposed to be the one I would wake up to. Granted, I had no idea what any of those things were supposed to be, I only knew that Red-X was not it.

When I saw him in the cavern playing with the doppelganger, something inside me exploded and I wanted nothing more than to have him all to myself. But reason had come back to me since then. There was no possible way that Red-X should have walked out of that cavern with me in his grasp. Raven would've seen too it. She would have rid his head from his shoulders. She would have… wouldn't she?

As we glared at each other, my faith in my little sister was beginning to dim. There were so many other things happening before I passed out, maybe she didn't know what happened to me. Maybe… but I found it highly unlikely. I still had the bleeding cuff on, and they all knew Red-X held the third one. If I wasn't with Raven or Robin, then they had to know who else I would be with.

And that made me worry. What if they thought I chose to go with Red-X? I had made it a point for them not to delve too deep into my history; maybe they thought they were doing me a favor. Oh, Siber! What a fine mess this had all become.

My arm was stinging in time with my pulse. Damn that doppelganger. His spear hook had done its job to the utmost capability. I had ignored it during the battle and during my tussle with this man. But as we simple stood still, facing each other down, I couldn't stop thinking about it. At least it was the worst of my sores. My back felt terrible but that was how bruising was supposed to feel. I would've been more worried if I had felt great.

Red-X glared at me with a heated passion I did not understand. There was something different about him than all our other confrontations. An animalistic, primitive passion. Like the kind I saw when he went up against the doppelganger. Pure and raw, it was something I doubt I'll ever truly be able to fathom.

Then, without any warning, Red-X brought his hand to the edges of his deformed mask. I didn't have time to prepare myself; suddenly a man was standing in place of a shadow. He had shaggy, black hair damp in sweat. It didn't have so much spike like Robin's did, his looked far more soft and feathery, even wet. His eyes were so dark it was hard to tell what color they were as they glared at me. His skin was a soft tan: natural, but without much sun to it. A strong jaw and high cheekbones, he was far too…human now.

"What are you doing?" I asked without meaning to. He was showing me who he was without any provocation. Why was that making me feel so uneasy? The desire to not be here any more grew into an almost impulse to jump out the window.

"I don't want to wear this all the time. It's just a costume." I glared at him, just a… what was he saying?

"Isn't it apart of who you are?"

"It doesn't matter what I wear, I know who I am." He tossed the mask to the side without seeing where it landed. Then he unclasped his cape and draped it over the upturned couch. Never did he take his eyes off me.

My body was screaming for action now. The pain in my arm was becoming unbearable and I needed a distraction. Also, I wanted to test his theory now. The Titans wore their uniforms twenty-four/seven. Although uniforms had never been apart of my life before I came to Section Seven, in my time with my sister and her team I had learned that uniforms stood for something far greater than one person. A symbol, a uniform was a symbol. What that symbol was, I had yet to understand.

Red-X believed his uniform had no purpose other than what it was: just a costume. So was he still the same shadow-man now that he no longer had his costume? I needed to know. I rushed him in an instant and he blocked my first and my second blow. Faster than I could follow he kicked me in the side and sent be back a couple of steps. Well, he hadn't gotten slower by any means.

I faked him out and jabbed him in the ribs twice before he tried to push me back again. I ducked out of his reach and moved in to strike his face. He caught my hand. That was something he hadn't let me know about. I mean, one second he wasn't expecting a thing, in the next he has a death grip around my fingers and hand. How did he do that? I try to get away but he won't let me up. Two more strikes in the ribs, they should be weeping with all the bruises they've received.

Red-X shifts, he's gone. I slowly turn in a circle to find him. A breath against my ear tells me I'm not as smart as I think. Dammit! How does he do it? How is it that I'm struggling to keep up?

"I told you, you need to lie down." Gloved arms wrap around my torso as his face nuzzles against mine. I've never been so close to anyone in such a long time. Never had the idea to be so close to any one been so intriguing before. I'm not a Mother. I don't have an army to lead. I'm only Maeve and this is a man who should belong to the shadows.

The pain in my arm travels to my head and I let out a groan in defeat. "You best me." I state now because I'm not going to state it again, ever. Slowly I begin to lean into him. I don't know why. I had never wanted any one but Raven to come close and yet this man creped into my defenses like the shadow he was.

"That hadn't been my intention," he murmurs as if he's going to fall asleep. Sleep doesn't sounds so unappealing to me anymore either. "However, I'll take it humbly." His dark voice promises things I don't understand and I follow him through his trashed home and back into his bedroom that looks a thousand times worst. He leads me to the bed and sits there for a moment longer before he grasps my hand and brings me to lay with him.

TheNewAbombination

They aren't just words, it's more than that. Something is trying to tell me something, something very important, but it doesn't use speech and I can't completely make out what it is or what it wants. It gives me images and they are all filled with Maeve. I don't think whatever is communicating to me is bad. Nothing hurts and most of the images are pleasant enough. When I first decided to become Red-X, the first time I met Maeve, bits and pieces of my time in Gotham, seeing Maeve in the bakery, the showdown in the cavern, Maeve in my arms. And these images weren't entirely pictures, they were feelings and sensations. Not all of them were mine though, that was freaky.

The ones with Maeve in them were by far the most pleasant and unsettling. I could feel everything intensified by a billion. An instant before it became too much, I would see something else and feel something else. I couldn't shake it off, even though I knew it wasn't a threat.

More than words came to me, like whispers and like waves. I couldn't tell what anything was saying or what it wanted. I didn't even know what "it" was. I knew it wasn't me though. I knew it was some foreign object or person that desperately needed to tell me something – something very, very important. Something as important as life and death; what could it be? What did it want? What was I supposed to do?

So it had to do with Maeve. Ok? Did it think she was going to get hurt? Was she in danger? I couldn't understand. Too many sensations… A woman's hands as they stroked my cheek… A clam voice speaking in a different language that left me in complete peace… Protect... Protect…what? Maeve? Was I supposed to protect Maeve?

Another image flooded my senses, Maeve standing across the street from me, but there were no cars and no pedestrians and no Titans around. She was alone on her side of the street as she stared at me with her haunting violet eyes, still as if all her muscles had frozen. Desperation…I had to get to her. I wanted to be next to her, to have her against me. But I couldn't go to her, she was the one who needed to make the choice; that's what I told myself when I saw her at the bakery. Yet in this image, I ran to her and held her close. She brought hands up and wrapped them around my neck and it was like we'd never be broken again.

So, you think I need her than badly?

Another image, I'm in Gotham and… Dear Lord! Really? Why'd you have to bring that up? Batman? Really, some figment you are, to bring up old wounds like that. I didn't need Batman and he didn't need me. I couldn't be a good guy. I killed the man who murdered my mother and sister. The only mercy I gave him was a quicker death than I wanted. It hadn't been the old man's way, he was so… Upset… yeah, yeah he was. But Batman is no longer a part of my life. What does he have to do with Maeve?

Ah… Belonging…

I wanted to stay beside her, but deep down I wanted her to want me more. Yeah, ok, I got it. So, what now? How does it work?

A red ribbon, that's it? That's all you're giving me? A red ribbon attached to my wrist, well that's helpful. It leads off into no where too… Do you want me to follow it? I do, in whatever kind of state I'm in I do follow the red ribbon. It seems to take forever there are times when I just want to quit and times I just want to run in the other direction. But I don't do anything but follow the ribbon.

Soon, I see her. A small circle of light envelopes her and I want nothing more than to settle in that light with her forever. The ribbon ends at her wrist and a grasp her hand tightly. I feel something tight inside my chest, like something is trying to escape from it. Not creepy like in that movie Alien, but something else. Not a monster or something evil. What is this feeling? I don't understand? I want to be with her. I want to stay with her. Is this more than that?

Maeve puts her free hand on my chest, right over my heart, where the feeling is coming from. "Will you stay with me?" she asks and I'm not sure how to answer. Is this real? Is she really asking this of me? I don't say anything out of fear. Yeah, I'm afraid of this woman. She could crush me completely without having to lift a finger.

An animal walks toward us and I push her behind me, the animal…it's wolf-like…it nods at me. It. Nods. At. Me… I look back at Maeve behind me. Ok, so I'm getting closer. Another wolf-like animal appears behind the first. Like a mirror? The wolf nods again. Ok, getting warmer.

"I'm to protect her, like you?" It nods. "Like her guardian angel or something?" It sighs as if it's getting sick of me. "Ok, I am a guardian." I say sure as anything else of my being. The wolf stares at me with hard eyes. I think I finally understand, until the wolf attacks me.

I stand as tall as and strong as I can to absorb most of the blow. I'm on my back an instant later, as if the dream can't be bothered to show me how I got there. Maeve is leaning over me, there's blood all over her, but it's not hers. I know it's the wolf's. I killed it. To protect Maeve I killed it. I hope that's the right answer.

Something is pulling away from me, something warm and soft. Parts of reality begin filtering back to me slowly, until I realize the something was Maeve. "Leaving so soon?" I try to sound cool, calm, and not at all freaked out by whatever just happened to me. I sound like I'm about to either laugh or cry, so I guess I needed to try harder.

"A shower." Not… Leaving? I can't begin to understand how relieved I am. I get up slowly and stare at her for a long time. She looks so beautiful with her cheeks flushed that way.

I'm sore mostly on my left but I manage to stand fluidly enough and move around the bed, "Through that door. There are towels under the sink." I eye her bloodied and tattered uniform, "I'll get you something to change into and wash that if you like?" She stares at herself with a mild frown before she shrugs. "Alright."

I watch her move into the bathroom and have to keep myself from following her. It's not like I'll die if I'm not in the same room with her. She's capable of taking care of herself too. I know what happened in my head wasn't just in my head. Something supernatural happened; somehow the two of us were linked in some cosmic way I could never understand. But I didn't have to understand. I knew where I was in the cosmos. I was her guardian, and she was mine.

Alright, so I know I have some readers out there. What do you think? I thought I was going to end it here, but now I want an epilogue because this kind of ending just seems unsatisfactory. What do you think? Let me know! I have to know!