Chapter 5: Stay the Night

Beast Boy, Robin, and Cyborg ran down the hall to where Starfire was standing. Beast Boy was the first to reach the room. His heart broke as he looked inside.

"No." he said in such a low tone.

He was trapped in the doorframe as Robin and Cyborg pushed by him to aid Raven. Cyborg gently lifted her into the air as Robin examined the room.

"What the hell happened here?" Robin asked out loud.

Beast Boy gulped as he looked to Cyborg who was still holding Raven.

"Starfire I need you to come with me." Cyborg instructed her and she followed him out of the room.

"I don't like the looks of this at all." Robin said as he started to clean the room.

Beast Boy just stood there uncertain of what to do. He slowly crept out of the room so Robin wouldn't see him and went back to his own. When he got there Cyborg and Starfire had just gotten into the bathroom.

"Star, I need you to clean Raven up." He said as he lowered her into the tub and then turned to leave.

"I do not understand, why must I do it, what if I hurt her. She is covered in a lot of blood." Starfire answered biting her lower lip.

"It would just be more appropriate if you did it." Cyborg said.

Starfire nodded as Cyborg shut the door and went to Raven's room to get her some loose fitting clothes to weat. When he came back he waited outside.

A few moments later Starfire came out and Cyborg handed her the clothes. Starfire took them and went back into the bathroom. A couple minutes later she emerged with Raven in her arms. She flew her back to the Medical Wing where Robin had just finished cleaning up. Cyborg grabbed Raven's torn leotard and followed Star.

"Lay her on the bed." Robin instructed her.

Starfire flew over and laid her down gently.

"Something happened here tonight." Robin stated as he grabbed the leotard out of Cyborg's hand and looked it over.

"Robin, do you think someone attacked Raven?" Cyborg asked staring at his unconscious teammate.

"I don't know, this just doesn't make sense. I mean it's our first fight in five days. Raven doesn't come, and we come back to find her like this." Robin said while his hand rubbed his chin.

"Well did you check the surveillance footage?" Cyborg asked.

"That's the interesting part. All cameras go down the minute the titan alarm went off. They're back up and running now, but it shows nothing. System interference shows up." Robin said.

They both stared at Raven as Beast Boy came back in the room and stayed out of sight near the doorframe. Raven's fingers started twitching and shortly after she opened her eyes. Her fellow Titans looked at her in dismay. She was sore in many places and her arm throbbed. She coughed a few times and no one said a word to her. They continued to stare, and she just couldn't take the silence.

"Why are you all staring at me?" S he asked in a weak voice.

"Raven do you remember what happened to you after Cyborg and I left?" Robin asked.

"Nothing happened." Raven responded almost as quickly as Robin had asked her.

"You were laying on the floor covered in blood. Something must've happened." Cyborg added.

"Oh, I fell." She said trying to make them buy her story.

"You fell?" Robin asked suspiciously as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"But your monitor was knocked to the floor, and the blood from you was everywhere." Starfire added.

"I had a nightmare. I lost control of my powers. I must've knocked over the monitor in the process." she said hoping they would stop questioning her.

"Then why were your clothes ripped Raven?" BB said in the corner and everyone turned to him not knowing he was there.

"I… I told you, I lost control of my powers." Raven stuttered.

"What happened to the surveillance video?" BB asked not giving her a break.

"I don't know." She said.

"Raven, tell them the truth!" Beast Boy yelled.

"That is the truth." She said sternly an eyed Beast Boy.

"Alright, that's enough." Robin said, "It's been a long day, let's all just go to sleep." He said, as he pushed everyone out of the room, and shut the door behind him.

In the hallway Beast Boy pulled Robin aside.

"Dude, you don't really believe that messed up story Raven told you, do you?" Beast Boy said pissed off.

"Not entirely, but Raven obviously isn't ready to talk about it, so we all need to respect that." He said.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes as he stormed his way down the hall and back into his room. Robin watched as he walked away and looked back into the room where Raven had just gone back to sleep. He knew something was definitely not right.

About three hours later Raven woke up in a cold sweat. She was petrified. What had happened between her and Slade was eating her alive. She needed to talk to someone… she just had to. She swallowed her confidence and left the Medical Wing. She crept down the hall quietly; she didn't want anyone to see her. When she reached her designation she knocked on the door as softly as she could.

"Beast Boy," She called out quietly.

When Beast Boy heard Raven's voice he tensed up. He didn't want to see her. He planned on opening the door and telling her to just go away. She was lying to him and to everyone else and he just couldn't understand why. Knowledge had told him everything and honestly he didn't see the issue. Raven and Slade fought in the woods and he really hurt her, but she must have healed herself. They all knew how dangerous Slade was.

He couldn't take the lies or rejection from her.

He crossed his room and lent against the door.

"What Rae?" He asked bitterly.

"Can… can I come in?" She asked in a voice that sounded nothing like her own.

His heart ached for her. He couldn't stay angry at her.

"Of course you can." He said as he opened the door and motioned for her to come in.

She walked over towards his bed and carefully sat on the corner away from the window. She kept looking over to it an eyeing it as Beast Boy walked over to her and sat beside her. He leaned back in his bed as he waited for her to say something, but he wasn't ready for what came next. Raven turned and fell on top of him. She buried her face in his chest as she started to silently cry. Beast Boy pulled her up closer. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"You were right." She said

"What do you mean?" He asked confused.

"I'm not okay. I'm terrified Beast Boy. Slade wants something from me, something more than what he already took. I'm afraid. I don't want him to hurt me again." She whimpered.

Flashback

"Hello Raven." Slade said as he lurked over her fallen figure.

Raven backed up as Slade walked closer until her back hit a tree.

"Don't take another step." She said as she focused her powers on a log and lifted it into the air.

Slade stopped as Raven positioned it over him. He chuckled to himself and took another step towards her.

"I told you to stay back!" She screamed and the log dropped, but missed its mark entirely.

"Make me." He said taunting her.

"Azerath Me-" She started to say, but froze when Slade knelt down and crawled on top of her.

In one swift movement he had lifted his mask and pressed his lips to hers.

Raven froze; she didn't know what to do. She finally realized Slade was kissing her. She tried to turn her head to break the kiss, but he wouldn't allow her too. Her eyes were fixated on him. When he finally stopped he readjusted his mask in place. Raven was in shock and didn't have a chance to see who he was beneath the mask.

"What… why did you do that?" She managed to ask.

"I needed to know." He said.

"Know what?" She asked still utterly confused.

"If what I was feeling for you was real." He said as he knelt back down to her.

"I don't understand." She said as she was trapped beneath him and against a tree.

"I've had this weird feeling lately Raven, and I think I possibly might have an attraction for you." He said.

Raven was scared, she could hardly breathe, she tried to focus in on her powers but they wouldn't work. She was essentially defenseless. She felt Slade's body weight pressing heavily against her. Her mind was racing.

"Please, please get off." She stuttered.

End Flashback

"Raven, hello… can you hear me?" Beast Boy said as Raven snapped out of her daydream.

"I was just thinking." She said as a cold sweat dripped down her face.

"Raven, I won't let him hurt you again. I promise." Beast Boy said as he hugged Raven tightly.

'I wish he wouldn't promise me things he can't control.'

Raven stood up abruptly and walked toward the window as Beast Boy grabbed an extra pillow from the floor and put it on his bed beside his own. Raven looked back from him and smiled slightly.

"Raven, I would feel a lot better if you slept here tonight." Beast Boy said as he blushed.

Raven let out a sigh of relief.

"I'd feel a lot better too." She said as she walked back toward Beast Boy.

He had already gotten under his blanket and was waiting for her. She crawled in beside him and nestled her face into his pillow. She looked up at the window one final time and Beast Boy stared at her oddly.

"You okay, Rae?" he asked.

"I am now." She said as she shut her eyes.

A few moments of complete silence passed before Beast Boy spoke.

"Rae, why are you so afraid of Slade? We've gone up against him so many times in the past. I know he's beaten us time and time again, but…." His words trailed off.

"I thought Knowledge told you?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, she said he hurt you Rae, like he beat you up?"

Raven felt fresh tears well up in her eyes and she blinked rapidly to rid herself of them.

"Beast Boy. He-" She swallowed the lump in her throat as she tried to say it.

He moved in closer and wrapped his arm around her.

"It's okay Rae."

The next three words that fell from her lips corrupted and destroyed his entire world.

"He raped me."