Snow

She could see him leaning against the roof entrance/exit door breathing slowly; he was exhausted and close to losing consciousness. He seemed to pay her no mind as he gazed at the moon, which still illuminated the night brightly during the snowfall that now encased Jump City. Then he spoke seemingly to the moon, "Why do I get the idea that you're not the only one watching, huh, Rae?"

How had he…? "How on earth did you smell me out here, it's -10C and it's snowing?" she walked out of shadows of the generator she had been using for cover for all of 30 seconds. She had somehow been able to maintain her monotone; she had hoped she would be able to surprise him and force some easy answers out of him. Garfield was evidently better at defending his secrets than she thought. It didn't matter though she knew why she was here and what she had to do.

"I didn't, I heard you," he said scratching his ear, not turning to meet her eyes, "it's just no one else can get up by moving through the roof, can they?" So, that's how he had known it was her and not the others. "So, why have you come up here? I can't believe you heard me while you were sleeping, not forgetting it is 3 a.m." The question was valid, however, she was the one who deserved answers and she could tell he didn't want to give them. She would force him if she had too, but for now…

"What about you, Garfield?" she chose to cut to the point, knowing that his name would provoke a reaction. She moved in front him as she continued her argument, in the hope to state her point with eye to eye contact, "Since when do you stay awake past one o'clock in the morning, or wake up before eleven o'clock to make sure you're fully conscious for noon training just to avoid Robin's scolding?" She took a serious note that he still refused to look at her.

"Two things Rae. One: you know I don't like that name. Two: you avoided giving me an answer." Was his retort, his breathing was heavy and he couldn't put any force to his voice despite his efforts. His fatigue proved great enough to force him to sit in the cold snow, still while leaning against the door behind him. Yet, he still believed he could avoid explaining himself!? Fine! If he would refuse to accept his fault she would make him realise the consequences of his actions.

"I felt someone I care for in serious pain!" she snapped, his reaction was instant and exactly what she desired: he looked her directly in the eyes. She let her feelings be relayed to the bright emeralds he called eyes by her own amethyst eyes, if he didn't see her concern he truly was the idiot he portrayed himself as. "So, what the hell are you doing up here that would cause yourself so much pain!?"

Garfield evidently had to think over his to answer her question; she had hoped he was debating with himself over whether or not to tell her the truth, but then she noticed a flicker of an inner victory within his eyes. She instantly knew he wasn't debating whether or not to let her in, but still what would be the best way to keep her out. She was losing her patience; she levitated and moved forward quickly toward his seat in the snow, while he was still formulating his denial. His stubbornness was really beginning to test her.

"What are you tal- OW!" he started his lie, but squeaked when she brought her fist down on his head, "What the heck was that for? Hell, since when do punch people?" He couldn't even shout, let alone stand to argue with her, as a result of his fatigue. How dare he!? Did he really care this little about how she felt, or was he just a stubborn idiot!? How could he think he could escape giving her an answer!?

"That was your worst lie in the whole seven years since we met, Garfield! I thought it deserved a new calibre of punishment." She could not and would not let him have his way on this. Rage was becoming unmanageable and had started to yell, "JUST KILL HIM" within Nevermore, how she held both her glare towards him and the monotone in her voice was beyond her.

"First off that was only an attempted lie, you didn't even let me finish. Second, how is it that worse than when you threw me through a window for pulling your hood down!?" Garfield retorted, his anger beginning to overpower his fatigue more and more with each word. Wait, was it affecting her anger?No, that wasn't possible, she had enough control to keep other people's emotions from affecting hers, but both of them were definitely feeling frustration. "And third, don't call me Garfield!" His voice had become low and deadly, and his eyes diverted back to the ground.

The threat added a new volume to Rage's yelling, but the instant regret Garfield emitted after it gave her the control to override Rage, partly anyway. She let her contempt for the green changeling out in a low sigh as she stood over him. "I think you know perfectly well how it is worse. It's personal!" she almost yelled it, and she heard the predictable outburst of aura cause an avalanche over the side of the roof, but it hadn't been as bad as she expected.

She had nearly lost control and now took the time to calm Rage's voice from Nevermore, and return to her normal neutral demeanour. She would need a definite council later, but now she had to make Garfield see just what kind of reactions his actions had caused in her. "I was in extended meditation as a result of our battle with Rag Doll. Then, two minutes before I came up, I sensed that you were in pain excess to what I experienced during my father's resurrection. But, that is not what worries me the most: I could sense you were happy during that pain!" she couldn't help the emotions that crept into her voice, nearly all of the inhabitants of Nevermore were creaming for their opinions to be heard, but at least Rage remained silenced. "I realised where you were and instantly came here out of concern, and what do I find!?"

"'Concern'?" he was trying to distract her with embarrassment, but she could not and would not be stopped now by such petty tactics. He had been so sure of himself he had looked back into her eyes, one very serious mistake; she met his eyes with a look that she knew could only be described as demonic.

"I find you staring at the moon, close to passing out in sub-zero temperatures during a heavy snow fall! And you have the audacity to think you can avoid explaining why!?" The very concern he had tried to use against her was now her greatest weapon, she saw defeat in his eyes, but she could tell he wasn't giving in yet. Damn him!

"'Audacity'?"

She snapped.

"STOP IT!" This time she let her anger and annoyance take control of her voice, Rage was less than silent, but she was in control of everything now and wouldn't allow him to dismiss her concerns as if they were nothing. She picked him up with her powers and pinned him to the door, and levitated herself so their faces were within inches of inches of each other. Her eyes now told him she was in control and he would pay if he dared to ignore that statement. She didn't care how he felt about the idea, she was in control. "I want, and I if I have to, I demand, an answer from you, Beast Boy!?" She gave him something to bite in the hope that his pride and ego would be satisfied.

She heard a low growl in his chest, as he acknowledged the situation, and then she took the image of him in.

He was soaked from the snow fall, just as she had become, but he showed no signs of shivering or hypothermia or any other responses the human body normally had to the cold. He had no ordinary body. After the inevitable growth spurt he had at 15 he surpassed her in height by half a foot, however, after a second he now stood a considerable 6ft 3in, one inch shy of a foot above her natural height. His body was something to be praised even though she never would, and she was constantly irritated by the comments of Affection on the subject. However, she would instantly dismiss the rebellious emotion to be silent. His dark green hair had been allowed to grow, after the Starfire's warning of his bald future, it was now half way to his shoulders and it now gleamed in the moon light. His eyes were the equivalent of ancient emeralds in colour, but they were not what defined him even though they were part of what did. His face was what defined him: the green skin, the stray fang that pointed out from behind his lips, the pointy ears, the sensitive nose, and the emeralds of his eyes completed the picture. When he smiled it would make others want to smile, even her, no matter what kind of smile it was he could lighten anyone's mood, even if they didn't show it.

Her eye contact with him hadn't broken at any point, but now Garfield's eyes then became focused; he was finished with his decision, and she knew he was serious. "Tell me something, Rae," his tone was nothing short of serious either, "I've seen you painting. Tell me, how do you paint? Does the picture grow in your mind as you paint, or do you start with the picture in your head and paint towards it?" This confused her, was he still stubborn enough to refuse to answer? "Rae, I will tell you what you want to know." Thank Azar for that.

She released her hold on him, he did not run, as she finally returned to her normal monotone, "The first."

"I use the second," his eyes remained locked with hers, "you're probably thinking 'Wait a minute Beast Boy can't paint', right?" he added with a grin. "You're right I can't. I sculpt. You know like clay. Every time I sculpt I want to be better than before. I'm happy, even excited like when I beat Cy at a new game, every time I succeed in carving the image I have in my head. So, I keep on sculpting new and more complex things, in order to be that happy again as well as to be better. Until recently I obeyed a rule: never sculpt something you haven't seen in the flesh. But tonight, I broke that rule and moulded the clay to a shape I only imagined, all so I would be better. I was very happy when I did it, but there's a side effect to all good hobbies. You sensed the side effect of me carving and setting the clay, which I always experience, but tonight it was stronger due to the new nature of the image I wanted to create."

All that she heard during his paused was what every emotion, even Rage and Rude, gasped in disbelieve at his words, as it rung through Nevermore, "What did he just say?"

"You probably want me to quit this hobby, but all I say is this. The end product is worth it, and I am not saying that because of the happiness I mentioned, I say it because I need to be better." His tone had remained completely serious, but now it changed to something beyond that. It was if it expressed an unbreakable rule, or… a way of life?

"I refuse to be weak anymore, Raven. This is how I become stronger," then he smiled at her, that smile she had basically come treasure, that true and genuine smile. Ever since she had first seen it she would have given anything to see it again, but now… why did he smile now? "Don't worry about what you sensed tonight Raven. This will be the only time you see behind the mask."

It was as if she had been cut off from the world, all that existed to her were his words and the snow, and she couldn't even hear Nevermore, or the words he said before leaving her alone on the snow covered roof. The snow continued to fall around her.

His words may have been in metaphors, but she knew exactly what he had said, she could believe it and accept it, what she couldn't believe or accept was the fact he had never said it before to any of them. Mask? He even called it that himself!? How could he live like this, hide everything that ever pained him? Never have someone to share the burden with him. It would not make him weak to share it, it would make him stronger to have his loved ones by his side, didn't he learn that from the battles the team shared? Wait, did he think they would not help him? No. She knew him well enough to know that wasn't a possibility, he probably had some kind of deluded idea of not hurting her and the others with his burden. He was such a hypocrite!

However, her most troubling concern was his 'sculpting' it obviously meant his powers, but to think every shape shift caused him pain, possibly as strong as she sensed earlier, was terrifying to her. Furthermore, he was trying to gain more control on his powers even though doing so caused him that much physical. Not to mention it made him happy!

The voices in Nevermore finally broke through, as snow flake tickled her nose, "Raven! You need to meditate, now. We must hold a council on the issue that troubles you so." It was Wisdom. She had to agree. She would keep this from the other Titans, for now, to respect Garfield's wish for secrecy but she would not stand idle. How she would act would be determined when she entered Nevermore.

She phased through the roof, leaving the snow fall behind, and placed her feet on the floor of her room. She looked out the room length window before closing the curtain on the snow, silently wishing her task would be easier than looking through the falling white.

She sat on the floor, in the lotus position, and began to chant, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She entered Nevermore with new resolve. She would not let Garfield suffer alone, because she was not weakandrefused to let him bear such a burden alone.

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A/N: Once again this is meant to be Raven's viewof the events inControl, in this case the chapter Clay. I apologise if anyone notices plot holes, pls inform me if there is. Apologies if crud and/or boring and if OOC. Irestate the truth ofme having no realunderstanding of the female mind and pray to a god, I made up, that I was half right. Pls inform me of misinterpretation you think I may have Another thing: the poll on Control's no.of chapters does't apply to this, only the ending of this will be affectecd. R&R.