AN- A slightly smaller chapter, but I think you might enjoy it. From this point on all I've got is an outline, so updates won't be quite as quick. Also either FanFiction is being weird or my computer is messed up (though it's probably the lattermy laptop is 6 years old.) and it won't copy-n-paste right, though i tried to find all of the mess ups and fix them, I may have missed some. I'm also not known for my punctual gramar, but I do my best. I apologise for any errors in advance. If you have any questions feel free to PM me. Other than that please enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: Last time I checked I don't own the Teen Titans. Then again I haven't checked in a while... I'm gonna go check that out. Meanwhile, feel free to entertain yourself with the next chapter of this story. Review! Constructive criticism welcomed, and no flames, please. I also don't own the song 'Monster,' I think Skillet owns it. I mean they do sing the song.
The Solution
"Will Raven and Beast Boy please report to the Ops room." Robin said over the loudspeaker.
Beast Boy gave one last punch to the punching bag, breaking the chain and sending it flying into the wall.
"Oops." He cringed as it hit the floor with a bang.
"I guess Robins not the only average guy who can do that around here." He turned around to see Cyborg leaning on the doorway.
'I'm not average,' he thought glumly. "What's up, Cy?"
"Just here to wish ya luck with Gell-Head." Beast Boy smiled.
"I'm gonna need all the luck I can get. Who knows how Robin's gonna punish us. Walk with me." Cyborg nodded and the two began to walk up to the ops room.
"So what's going on with you and Raven?" He asked after a while.
"I don't even know. Its like all of the sudden she just couldn't stand to be around me."
"But Ravens always been that way to you."
"Not true. Sure she got irritated sometimes but its like something in how she thinks about me changed. Before she would threaten to throw me out a window or two, but now she actually does it! Gee, Cy. What did I do to deserve this!" Cyborg remained silent with a smirk on his face as he pieced it all together. "What? You know whats going on with her, don't you! C'mon, Cy. Help a brother out here." Cyborg stopped, turned to face Beast Boy, and said in the best feminine voice he could manage.
"You have arrived."
"Huh?" Cyborg pointed to the door they had stopped in front of. It was labeled 'Ops Room.' He received a playful glare from his short green friend. "Thanks, Siri," he said before entering the room.
Raven was already there, seeming to have a staring contest with Robin as they waited for him to arrive. Even though he had a mask over his eyes, Raven seemed to be winning.
"Ahem," he coughed.
"Ah, Beast Boy. Punctual as usual." Robin's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Please, take a seat." He cleared his throat before beggining.
"Your constant bickering is having a negative effect on the dynamics of my team. I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but it needs to stop. There's part of me that just wants to stick you two in a room until either one comes out alive or you settle your differences. Preferably the latter but both would work." He said with a smirk. "Another part of me wants you two to take over all of the tower's chores for a month for all of the trouble you've caused, excluding only the jobs that require Cyborg's mechanical knowledge. I really like that idea. But that won't solve the problem. What needs to happen is that you two need to be more understanding of one another. So here's what I'm going to do. Until you can prove to me that you understand each other enough to respect one another you will be doing all of the chores that don't require Cyborg. On top of that you must be in the same room at all waking hours. From 8:00 in the morning until, we'll say 10:00 at night, you two will be in the same room doing any chores that must be done. I want an oral and/or written report from each of you on the other proving to me that you understand one another. Your punishment starts tomorrow, though I suggest you at least talk before then. By the way Beast Boy, its your turn to do the dishes. You are dismissed. Oh, and Raven, you can't write Beast Boy's report for him." The two sat there unmoving as they tried to process what Robin had ordered. Stuck together until Beast Boy gives a report on Raven, and vice versa. They could be stuck with this for weeks! They turned to one another and wordlessly got up and left the room.
They walked silently with one another until Beast Boy worked up the courage to say something.
"So, how exactly are we going to go about doing this thing. We can't seem to be able to talk without fighting, so maybe you can 'magic' up an alternative." Beast Boy proposed.
"I would have to speak with Knowledge about that, and even then there's no guarantee." She replied, ignoring the fact that magic is not a verb. "Though I think we should start with an apology or two." They were facing one another now.
"You're totally right... well, uhm, I'm sorry for being obnoxious and annoying the heck out of you."
"You are forgiven. I apologize for my sarcastic remarks, most of which were uncalled for, and the windows I've broken with your skull," he laughed a little at that. "And the outright insults I've been throwing your way. And..."
"Raven, its ok. I forgive you. You sounded a little like, uhm, whats-her-face... you know, your weepy emotion."
"Timid?"
"Yeah, Timid." An awkward silence claimed the air until Beast Boy decided it had gone on long enough.
"Well, I'm gonna go start washing the dishes while you have that talk with your smart side, or uh, whatever," he said awkwardly as they walked into the commons room.
"Whatever," she replied.
With that she walked over to the window and got down into the lotus position.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She began to levitate as her chanting cleared her mind. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She opened her eyes and found her soul self in a huge library. When she used this method of accessing her mind her soul self was present in her mind while her body remains motionless and repeats her mantra. However she can still hear everything that's going on out in the real world. Her mirror is for when she wants to be able to interact with the environment her emotions live in. She brings her entire body into her mind, and her only tie to the outside world is her mirror. She looked around to see where in Knowledges library she was.
"Looking for something in particular or are you just here to browse," Knowledge asked her from behind.
"I'm looking for anything that could help Beast Boy and I understand one another," she replied, unphased by her emotion's sudden appearance.
"One way to understand why people do the things they do is to understand where they are coming from. Metaphorically, as in understanding their perspective..." she drops a spell book on the table in front of her, "or literally." She opened the book up and fingered through a couple of pages, adjusted her glasses, and "Try this." Raven read the spell, and then she reread it and muttered "Perfect."
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She finished as she opened her eyes and stood up. Beast Boy was washing a plate and dancing in place as he sang along quietly to the song 'Monster' by Skillet. At first she thought it was cute, bobbing his head and moving his feet as his hands finished washing another plate, even do-daing and humming the guitar part. He put his whole body into the dancing, as the music flowed out of his mouth. In a word, he was adorable. Judging from what he was singing he had just started the song over, or maybe it was on a loop; she made a mental note that when he thought no one was looking, his singing voice was not that bad.
The secret side of me
I never let you see
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
So stay away from me
The beast is ugly
I feel the rage
And I just can't hold it
'Does he listen to this song because it relates to the Beast Incident, or does he just like it,' she wondered.
It's scratching on the walls
In the closet, in the halls
It comes awake
And I can't control it
Hiding under the bed
In my body, in my head
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!
'I wonder if becoming The Beast hurts him.'
I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
'Does he think about himself this way?'
My secret side I keep
Hid under lock and key
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
Cause if I let him out
He'll tear me up
And break me down
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!
'I've heard this song before, and I couldn't help but relate to it. But when he sings it, its almost as if he believes it.'
'He probably does. The real question is why.' Wisdom said. Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts when Beast Boy's voice ceased to sing. She looked up into his eyes, which were wide with fear.
"How much of that did you see?" He asked.
"Enough to know you have major self image issues."
"Huh?"
"Never mind, I have an idea." She said, almost sounding excited.
"Really, I'm all ears." He smiled and wagged his ears to prove his point. She bit the inside of her lip to silence her smile.
"Anyways, Knowledge brought up that the best way to understand someone is to understand where they're coming from," she began.
"I don't follow."
"Well, one way we can know where someone is coming from is to talk about why they do things."
"You mean we'd be like playing psychiatrist with each other?"
"That's one way to put it."
"You said there was more than one way, right?" She nodded. "What is it?"
"We can talk about our pasts."
"No."
"No?" She repeated. "Why not."
"I am not going to talk about my past. I'd sooner become Robin's personal flying monkey."
'This could really throw a wrench in my plan,' she thought.
"Why don't you want to talk about it?" He was quiet for a long while.
"I don't want to have to relive it. I've tried so hard to put it behind me and I don't want to go back." For the first time since The Beast Incident Raven felt as though she was seeing the real Beast Boy. Then she smiled inwardly.
"What if I told you we could both learn about one another's pasts without ever uttering a word?" His ears perked up.
"Do tell," he said, curious.
"Knowledge informed me of an enchantment that would allow us to experience one another's key memories."
"Hold on, what do you mean by experience," he asked quickly, his face full of worry.
"It would be a third person experience."
"..."
"You would be like viewing them like a movie."
"Oh, ok." He let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding. "That, I think I can do." 'I would not even think of letting her go through what I went through.' "Wait, would this mess up my head at all?"
"Well, here's how it works. I enchant a stone and when that stone is pressed against two people's foreheads the two will be linked for as long as the stone if enchanted. This link will force each person to dream the other's memories."
"What do you mean by force?"
"We will both have to sleep at the same time. It will be an enchanted sleep, so if one person falls asleep the other will as well."
"Ok I think I get it. Just one thing though, if I have any questions, I can ask you, right," he asked.
"Sure, but only if you extend the same offer to me."
"... Fine."
"Well then, its settled. We can start tomorrow."
"I'm good with that."