Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Robin grabbed his girlfriend by the elbow while he covered her mouth with his other hand. There was a small bush that partially hid their outdoor table, which is why Raven and Beast Boy had not seen them when they arrived. Robin slowly guided her inside the coffee shop, where he finally released her while lifting his index finger to his lips. She understood the Earthly gesture and remained silent while Robin continued to spy from the café's entrance on the chromatically challenged couple while they continued to chat.

"Maybe?" Beast Boy asked nervously.

Raven bit her lower lip. She actually enjoyed caressing her green friend's hand, but was afraid to admit it. Afraid to admit it to Beast Boy, but even worse she was afraid to accept it herself. Clearly embarrassed, she turned away from him, consumed in self consciousness.

"I don't want to talk about it now" she blurted out.

"It's OK, we don't have to. I just wanted to tell you that I liked it. I liked it a lot."

Robin and Starfire continued to spy on their friends. Robin was slack jawed while Starfire was suppressing squeals of delight. She had long hoped that someday Beast Boy and Raven would become a couple, and here was the proof that it had indeed happened or so she thought.

"OK, Star" Robin whispered "Now we just need to leave quietly and they'll never know we were here or saw anything."

Just as they began to stealthily step away their communicators began to chirp with their unique ring tone, which gave them away as Raven and Beast Boy still had their communicators on vibrate mode. It only took the sorceress a split second to realize what had happened and had it not been for Cyborg's frantic voice heard over the 4 communicators there is no telling how she would have actually reacted to being spied on, or how she might have punished her teammates.

"Yo! Get your butts down to the docks! Our favorite monster's just been sighted there!" The tin man's voice echoed through the four communicators.

Raven glared at the couple while Beast Boy cringed, wondering which dimension she was going to banish them to.

"You're dead meat on a stick." Raven growled at them. "Lucky for you it'll have to wait." She flung her cape around herself and Beast Boy and they vanished into a black hemisphere, which itself sank into the ground and disappeared.

"Crap!" the Boy Wonder groaned as Starfire's face was a portrait of shock and regret. He turned to the orange skinned beauty. "Let's get going, we don't want the monster to escape this time!"

She nodded as she opened her communicator. "We are on our way!" she shouted into its microphone, after which she shut it and lifted Robin by his underarms as they flew away together.

-( - )-

Robin and Starfire were the last to arrive and it was obvious that the battle was already well underway. There were several smashed cars in the street along with a burning bus lying on its side. Raven was trying to subdue the monster with her dark energy and was having trouble as the creature kept changing its nature. The sorceress was sweating profusely, and was quickly becoming exhausted. Just as the monster broke free Beast Boy morphed into a Triceratops and slammed into the creature. His two horns were jammed into the monster's body, but the creature didn't even flinch. It came into contact with a puddle of water and melted away, escaping from Beast Boy's massive horns.

Cyborg pummeled it with his sonic cannon, but that only caused the creature's liquid body to ripple and Starfire's star bolts were equally ineffective. Robin thought quickly and threw a few of his freezing disks at the monster and it quickly crystallized into clear ice.

The five Titans surrounded the frozen monster, which now resembled a small ice rink more than a monster, and stared at it.

"Ok, now what do we do?" Beast Boy asked.

"Get it back to the tower before it thaws." Robin replied.

"Shouldn't we remove the box with the eyes?" Raven asked. "Something tells me that's what controls this thing."

"I see it!" Beast Boy chimed in as ran over the monster's body, rushing to pluck the strange box out of the ice. As he approached the box Raven saw the frozen puddle begin to vibrate. Beast Boy lost his footing and fell down and before he could get back up the creature had thawed completely. Part of it was touching a manhole cover and its body quickly tuned into iron and it resumed it biped morphology.

Beast Boy fell to the ground as the monster sat up, oblivious to Starfire's bolts and Cybrog's sonic cannon. With its right hand it grabbed Beast Boy, its huge palm easily wrapped around the green teen's torso, which it began to squeeze. Beast Boy initially howled in pain as the sounds of his ribs cracking could be heard.

"Garfield!" Raven screamed. She levitated with her eyes glowing red and using her dark energy she forced the creature's hand to open and Beast Boy's now unconscious form fell away like a rag doll. Starfire caught him and carried him off to a safe distance, followed by Raven who immediately tended to the changeling's injuries. Starfire joined Robin and Cyborg in fighting the monster, which once again assumed a liquid form and escaped down a drain.

Having failed once again to capture the creature, the three Titans joined Raven who was still busy with her blue healing light.

"I've stabilized him, but we need to get him to the infirmary immediately." She said in her monotone drawl, which failed to conceal the worry in her voice.

"Can you teleport him to the infirmary?" Robin asked.

"Yes" she replied.

"Good!" Cyborg replied. "Get him changed into a hospital gown and start an IV. As soon as I get there I'll run some tests. Also check his SpO2, if it's under 97% put an oxygen mask on him. And get a 12 lead on him as well. Now go!"

Once again she swept her cape around herself and the changeling and they vanished in a swirl of dark energy.

-( - )-

Raven quickly deposited the still unconscious Beast Boy into his personal med station in the infirmary. She turned on the ECG and placed the SpO2 sensor on his index finger. She then quickly removed his shoes and socks, tossing them aside. She glanced at the ECG monitor which displayed an SpO2 value of 100%. His blood was fully oxygenating, much to her relief. Now to the get 12 lead on him. She grabbed some scissors and cut away his shirt and pants, leaving him in his boxers. If Cyborg wanted those off, he could remove them himself. She connected the 12 lead cables to the ECG, and using the cheat sheet Cyborg made she attached the 12 electrodes to his chest. The ECG displayed a normal sinus wave and Raven once again sighed in relief. She then pulled a fresh gown out of a bag and carefully slipped it onto her friend. She was preparing the IV as the others arrived, rushing into the infirmary.

Cyborg quickly scanned the ECG display and it was obvious he was pleased with what he saw.

"Raven's blue light special once again saves the day." He crowed as he checked the IV catheter. He lifted the gown to check the electrodes, which were all firmly planted and in the right place. He lowered the gown and reached under it and with a pair of scissors cut up the boxers and removed their remains. He then covered Beast Boy with a blanket.

"I see you skipped your chance to take a peek, Raven." Cyborg teased the sorceress as he threw the remains of the boy's clothes into the trash. Raven first blushed and then gave the tin man one of her better death glares.

Beast Boy regained consciousness. He didn't open his eyes but didn't need to. He knew he was in the infirmary. He tried to ask if they had won, but all that came out was a moan.

"He's gonna be sore, so I'm gonna give him some painkillers in his IV. He'll sleep for a while. You can stay here with your boyfriend if you want to, Raven."

"He's not my boyfriend!" she snarled.

"But Raven." Starfire interrupted "I heard you say at the café that you and Beast Boy were the 'intimate'."

All eyes were on Raven and nobody noticed that Beast Boy was now wide awake, taking everything in.

"I am not intimate with Beast Boy! Why in the world would you think I'm having sexual relations with him? I don't even love him! Why he's just an immature …"

Raven stopped dead in her tracks mid-sentence as she noticed that Beast Boy was staring at her, tears welling up in his eyes. She turned around and fled, phasing through a wall as she escaped from the infirmary.

-( - )-

Five days passed since the incident with the monster. Cyborg discharged Beast Boy from the infirmary but still hadn't cleared him for active duty, and he spent most of the morning playing video games by himself. He hadn't touched his Lord of the Rings books and they were lying on the coffee table, gathering dust. He also hadn't spoken with Raven since she bolted from the infirmary, as she barricaded herself in her room, and only came out to eat or for missions. He decided that he had some unfinished business with her and tossed the game controller aside as he lifted himself from the circular couch and headed off to her room, with the Lord of the Rings books in his hands.

The hallway was as quiet as a mausoleum as Robin and Starfire were training in the weight room and Cyborg was puttering in the garage. He walked slowly, with some hesitation. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, all he knew was that anger was welling up in his chest. While it was true that he wasn't her boyfriend, she didn't have to be so vehement about it. As he stepped in front of her door it opened. She had sensed him coming down the hallway and was waiting for him. Her face was blank, as always. He had so much to say to her, but didn't know how.

"Thanks for saving my life." He said in a dull voice.

"No problem."

He handed the books to her. "I believe these are yours."

"No, they're yours."

"I don't want them anymore." He turned and began to walk away.

"Garfield, wait."

He stopped, but did not turn around.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I don't know why I said that."

He turned around and stared her in the eyes. His eyes looked dull, unhappy, devoid of life. He didn't say anything until he turned around and resumed his departure.

"She was never ashamed of me Raven. Terra was completely messed up, she betrayed us and broke my heart more than once, but she was never ashamed of me."