Hey everyone! Here's Chapter 15! Sorry that it's been about 10 days since my last update; I was on fall break and computer-less, but now I'm back and can update regularly again!
RPGPersona: I thought showing how they got together might be a nice thing to show, and this seemed like an appropriate place. I hope you enjoyed that flashback. And definitely, yeah. As for how they used to do previously, I chose not to specify. But here, they definitely decided to go further, which lead to that discovery. There has definitely been progress, but perhaps not enough for the situation. But, progress is progress no matter how slowly it comes. :)
Bbrae-4ever fanfics: It's definitely a turning point in the story, Raven's discovery of his self-harm. As for if/when he'll stop, only time (and chapters) will tell! :)
BartWLewis: Thank you! Glad you're enjoying the story :)
Blurble: I'm glad that the story is captivating; it's hard to tell if my stories are able to keep peoples interest or not. And things will definitely happen! :)
Please keep reading and reviewing! I really appreciate it! :)
Morning light began to filter through her windows, the glass panels steamed from the previous night's rain. And like the floods that came from the downpour, the memories of last night flooded back to her consciousness. She opened her eyes, expecting to see a sleeping changeling resting next to her, but rather found the spot vacant. She sat up and rubbed her eyes as she looked around her room.
"Beast Boy?" Raven asked, trying to locate him. No response came, and there was no evidence to suggest that he had recently been active in the room. She stood up off her bed and retrieved her rumpled cloak from off the ground. Smoothing down her hair, she left her room with the intention of finding the missing changeling.
The first place she looked, and perhaps the most obvious, was his room. She knocked on his door, calling his name, but there was no response. After a moment, she phased through to find an empty room. Phasing back out to the hallway, she decided to head down the hall towards the Main Ops room. Not long after approaching the shared living area, she heard a familiar battle taking place. She neared the doors.
"Why can't you just accept that bacon and all of its sizzling goodness will always reign supreme?" she heard Cyborg say.
"Dude, tofu will always, and I mean always, be better! You're just in meaty denial" she opened the doors to find Beast Boy and Cyborg going about their normal quarreling.
"I think you're the one in denial, grass stain. All that fake meat must be going to your head, jumbling up your thoughts," Cyborg laughed as he tended to the searing bacon in the frying pan.
"Nope! Not in the slightest!" Beast Boy countered. Hearing the doors to the Main Ops room close, he turned. "Mornin' Rae!" he beamed as the empath neared him. As she got closer, she could see that he had a plate of the spongy meat-free substitute and a glass of soy milk. She took a seat next to him, giving him a peck on the cheek.
"Good morning," she said, continuing to inspect the green teen. He had a wide grin covering his face, his fang joyfully protruding from behind his lower lip. "You're up early," she continued, eyeing him suspiciously. Whenever they shared a room, she was always the one having to force him up from his deep slumber. He was never, ever the first one awake.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Thought about waking you, but didn't want to disturb you," he replied, still smiling. He extended his plate of tofu towards her. "Want some, Rae?"
"No thank you," she said, declining his offer. Although she had tried tofu in the past, it wasn't a taste or texture that really appealed to her much.
"Okay!" he beamed, returning his attention to his meal.
At least he's eating, Raven thought. Beast Boy's appetite had been lacking, to say the least, since they returned from the mission.
She got up to brew herself a cup of tea. As she waited for the water to boil, she studied him some more. He was continuing another banter with Cyborg about God knows what, and they were both getting really into it. He was so smiley. Even under normal circumstances, he would always change his expression up. It would never remain in this extreme state of happiness. And she knew from last night's conversation that these were not normal circumstances. He was up to something.
Her tea soon finished and she joined Beast Boy back at the table. He and Cyborg had finished their debate, and he had resumed to his meal.
"You seem quite cheery this morning," Raven said, observing the changeling.
Before Beast Boy could speak up, Cyborg added to the conversation.
"Yeah, grass stain. Haven't seen you this happy or energetic in, what, weeks?" Cyborg joined.
Beast Boy stared at the two of them, formulating a proper and safe response in his head.
"Yeah, just in a good mood, I guess," he said, that overly-excitable smile covering his face. Before Raven or Cyborg could continue to question him, the Main Ops doors opened up again.
"Good morning, friends!" Starfire beamed as she and Robin walked through the doors. Although Starfire and Robin weren't officially a couple yet, they might as well have been. The two were inseparable, and would often be caught stealing kisses from one another.
"Morning Star, Rob," Cyborg said, flipping his bacon on the pan.
Starfire flew over to where the three Titans were situated, particularly focusing her attention on the green changeling.
"Friend Beast Boy! You are awake! You have not been out of your sleeping quarters for most of our time back. I am most pleased to see you here!" the overjoyed alien squealed, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.
"Yeah, good to see you out here. You have been somewhat secluded since coming back. How are you doing?" Robin asked. As was everyone, he was concerned about his friend's well-being since the mission, especially with Register's death.
"I'm fine," Beast Boy said, his smile somewhat faltering, but quickly correcting itself.
"You sure? You haven't really been yourself lately," Cyborg added in, transferring the bacon to a plate and joining them at the table.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Promise," he responded.
Before anyone could question him further, the alarm blared overhead.
"Ah man! Why does that always go off as soon as I'm ready to eat my bacon?!" Cyborg groaned, shaking his fist towards the ceiling as the alarm continued.
Robin walked to the main computer and started typing away.
"It's Cinderblock. He's escaped from prison again and is wreaking havoc downtown. Titans, GO!" Robin shouted, and the team took off towards the city.
The Titans soon arrived downtown, and sure enough, Cinderblock was causing chaos. While most civilians were running for their lives, there were a few who decided to stay and take pictures for their various social media accounts before being concerned over their own safety. As soon as Cinderblock removed a light pole and started swinging, though, they decided that perhaps their safety was more of a priority than Instagram likes.
"Okay, team, you know what to do," Robin announced.
"Yeah, let's take down rocks-for-brains here so that I can get back to my bacon!" Cyborg said, still upset about having to abandon his bacon.
"Titans, GO!" Robin shouted, and the teens sprung forward.
Raven and Starfire immediately took to the air. While Starfire shot her starbolts at Cinderblock, Raven encased the light pole in her black energy and attempted to remove it from his grasp. It was more of a tug of war battle, though, and one that ended with Raven being flung around. After regaining her grounds, she encased the pole once again and made it explode, rendering it useless for the villain.
Cyborg shot at him with his sonic cannon, acting as an effective distraction while Robin ran towards Cinderblock. Robin propelled himself up Cinderblock's body and threw smoke bombs at his face. As Cinderblock swatted at the smoky cloud around him, Robin landed unharmed on the ground.
Beast Boy ran up as a ram and rammed into Cinderblock's knee. Since the rocky villain was already disoriented from the smoke attack, he easily tripped to the side. Before he fully fell to the ground, though, his leg kicked up and smacked into Beast Boy hard, sending him into a nearby building. The changeling landed awkwardly on top of a dumpster, his thigh hitting the sharpened corner of the metal contraption.
As soon as Cinderblock was on the ground, Robin threw a reinforced netting over him. The three other available Titans assisted by helping to spread the netting over his body while he was still stupefied. Soon, he was covered and unable to get up. He grunted and tried to wiggle his way out, but it was no use.
Beast Boy soon rejoined with the Titans. He had a small gash on his thigh where it had hit the dumpster edge. It wasn't anything critically deep or threatening, but it was an injury nonetheless.
"Friend Beast Boy! You are injured!" Starfire shrieked as she flew over to her friend.
"I'm fine, Star, really. Just a small wound," he said, trying to console the girl.
"But you are bleeding. Are you not in pain?" she asked.
"Not really, no. It's not that bad. I'm fine, Star. Promise," he said again, smiling this time to show that he was fine.
Robin had called the Jump City police to inform them that the situation with Cinderblock was taken care of; they would soon be down to escort him back to prison. Soon, he and the other two Titans joined with Beast Boy and Starfire.
"Beast Boy," Raven started, "are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. It's really not a bad injury. It's all good," he said, trying to smile again to prove his point.
Cyborg bent down to look at it briefly.
"Doesn't seem too deep. He's right; it's not really a bad injury. He'll be fine," Cyborg announced, standing back up.
"In that case, let's head back to the tower," Robin said as the JCPD arrived and took care of Cinderblock. The Titans headed back to the tower to resume their breakfast activities.