And here's chapter 13. I hope you enjoy the read.
Changeling sat on his bed and took in some deep breaths. It's been two days since they called in on Raven and all he could do was worry.
Aside from being angry, that is.
Their battle with Adonis did help him with his hold on the Beast. He allowed the Beast to call the decisions on how to handle the metal suited villain. All the Beast did was toy with the poor fool, corner him and tease with him. Looking back, Changeling chuckled at the look of terror and disbelief that was on Adonis' face when he realized he was going to lose.
The changeling was lucky that the metal cladded man decided to open his mouth and spew out his egotistical nonsense like he always did. Adonis' words about being the best and never going to lose was mandatory for their battle. Then Raven's name came out of his mouth. The changeling wasn't the first to react to Adonis' obscene words about their missing teammate. That prize belonged to Starfire who charged at him with righteous fury and rammed him through a building.
While Cyborg and Nightwing were concerned with getting the remaining civilians out of the way of the debris, Changeling took this as his time to let the Beast take over and stalk their prey.
It was glorious.
But all the happiness drifted away as the battle came to an end and they all returned to tower where the memories of earlier that day struck the team hard. Changeling feigned that he was tired and retired to his room. He needed some time alone.
And he wouldn't come out of his room unless he was needed in battle.
The day after the Adonis fight, they had to fight against Mad Mod and that was exactly what he needed. He had to take his mind off of Raven and beating villains that thought they were better than him and always talked down to him always did the trick. Unfortunately, today was one of the days that the villains decided that they would give the titans a break. Now he couldn't focus on villains to distract him. His mind kept drifting to Raven.
And he was worried.
He wasn't lying when he said that Raven was the strongest person he knew, but that didn't mean she didn't have her weaknesses. It's what made her human as well as vulnerable.
And he hated whenever he couldn't be there to help her.
Sure, she had Arsenal there to help her on her mission, but that was the problem. Arsenal wasn't him. He had to be there. He knew, with guarantee, that if Raven was in trouble, he would be able to defend her from the worse of the worse.
He wished he was with her at that very moment. He missed her subtle facial expressions and her witty remarks. He missed being able to be near her, to ensure that she was safe as well as to take her soothing scent. He was sure that if she was beside him at that very moment, just her scent would be all he needed to calm the Beast. Even with the Beast having calmed down from the last two battles, it was still angry. It was more sedated than earlier, but it was still arguing with him. Growling that he was disappointed with its host. That if he was in charge, he would know that Raven was safe because he would be right beside her. It wouldn't allow another potential male who is known for his ways with a woman to be alone with Raven as its host has.
Then again, it also claimed that it wouldn't have pushed Raven away as hard as the changeling had in the first place. It would have picked up on her signs right away.
Changeling needed a distraction.
His body moved and he was out of his bed and heading out of his room. He couldn't tell you whether it was his doing or the Beast's, but his body was moving through the hallway and he was expecting for it to keep going. Maybe it was his body's way of telling him that he was hungry. He didn't pay attention to his surroundings. He's lived in the tower for years. He trusted his body to guide him safely. But then his feet came to a stop in front of a door that didn't open automatically.
He was confused, until that soothing scent began playing with his senses, calming him. It didn't take a genius to tell him where he was, but he focused on the nameplate to make sure. Raven's name stared back at him. And he allowed his head to rest against her door. He relaxed his body and took her scent and finally, the Beast was quiet.
This was what he needed.
He just wished that Cyborg hadn't decided to walk through the hallway at that moment.
"Hey, green dude. How ya hanging?"
Changeling never moved off from the door as he shook his head.
"I'm just waiting for tomorrow to come, Cy."
"You and me both, buddy."
He heard Cyborg heave a sign before he was hit with the smell of machine and meat and he felt a hand rest on his back. He could feel his friend's disposition, his emotions and the pain he was feeling. That moment, the changeling realized that he wasn't the only person to be worried. There were other people who were just as scared as he was for her. He wanted to comfort his friend just as much as he needed comfort, but he didn't know how.
"I'm gonna go get some shut eye. Make sure you do too. You know we're gonna call her tomorrow. You wanna look your best when you see her again. Don't want her to get her first look at you with boogers in your eyes. You're already snot colored as you are."
Changeling chuckled at Cyborg's attempt to cheer him up as the mechanical man gave him another pat on the back and walked away. He listened as the heavy mechanical steps faded with each step his friend took and he used the rhythmic steps and Raven's scent to sooth him to sleep.
He slept standing up with the grace of a flamingo, never once being bothered by the sounds of the alien floating by or his leader's soundless steps. He dreamt of nothing but blackness. There wasn't any pleasantries nor any terror. The Beast wasn't talking or trying to harm him.
There was just sleep.
He woke up to a hand on his shoulder that he was tempted to strike at until the familiar flowery scent of his extraterrestrial friend told his senses not to attack.
"Friend Changleling, you are in the same position as I saw you last. Have you been doing the staying here all night?"
He didn't respond to her.
"It is a new day, and a glorious one at that. We are to call Raven and Friend Arsenal today. Are you not happy?"
And again Changeling didn't answer her. There was a huff from beside him before the hand on his shoulder tightened. His body was forcefully turned and his back banged against Raven's door. For a split second, his instincts took over and he growled. His upper lip curled and his teeth snapped at his friend as her eyes glowed.
"You do not growl at me, Changeling. I am your friend and I do not deserve any of these unpleasant feelings from you." She held her head high as she normally did whenever she took command, but she didn't seem as strong as she normally did.
"You are being selfish. I know how you have feelings for friend Raven, but that doesn't mean I do not have the feelings either. She is my best and closest friend in this tower and…" Starfire's lip wavered and the glow in her eyes dimmed as tears began to form.
"I don't…I don't know…In Tameran, when a love one is in battle, we would hold a feast and speak of the good times we've had with our gone companion-"
And by that time, Changeling realized that Starfire was rambling. She was stressing and concerned for her friend and he couldn't take that. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a deep hug. With all her strength, she returned the hug and even with his back cracking, he didn't let go until she pulled away.
"I'm sorry Star. You're right. I was being selfish."
Starfire opened her mouth, possibly to apologize for her earlier statement, but he held his hand up and shook his head at her.
"No Star, you were right. I've been holed up in my room and avoiding you guys, and it's not cool. And I haven't been thinking about any of your feelings at all. I'm just worried and-"
"We are all worried Changeling, but we have to stay on the positive side."
She gave him a charming smile that he couldn't help but to return, and she took his hand.
"Now, we must make haste. Cyborg and Nightwing have already called our friends in the East tower and we should be calling in on our mission bond friends at this very moment."
As she flew down the hall, she drugged the struggling changeling behind her and into the living room. Nightwing stood in front of the screen with Cyborg beside him. The screen was split in two with Bumblebee and the twins on the right screen. On the left screen they were making the call. Starfire released his hand and she flew over the couch, waiting and watching on the left side.
Changeling took a look at the right screen and he could feel the apprehension coming from them. Bumblebee's body leaned toward the other screen and she held onto Mas' hands as she held Menos close to her. The normally hyper twins were gripping onto their leader and Aqualad was no where in sight. Then, the ringing stopped and though the screen was black, a male's voice could be heard.
"Hello."
The members of the East tower whole disposition lightened and their relief was visible. Bumblebee, being the leader, spoke first.
"Arsenal, are you okay?"
There was a pause from the other side before the sound of shuffling and a mutter that sounded like a cuss could be heard.
"Arsenal, can you hear me," Bumblebee tried again.
"Yeah! Uh, yeah. Yeah, I can hear you loud and clear. Is something up? Why am I being called?"
It was Nightwing who took over next.
"We called you on your communicator because Raven's won't connect. Do you know why?"
"Yeah. Rae's communicator was broken in our last battle. She hasn't been too happy about that."
As Changeling made his way to the couch, the Beast inside of him growled.
'He shouldn't be calling her Rae. He should never have the chance to get so familiar with her.'
That was something Changeling could agree upon.
"Hey man, is something wrong with your communicator? Why is the visual off?"
There was another pause and another shuffle before Arsenal responded, "No Cy. My communicator works just fine. Is there some sort of trouble? Is something wrong?"
'Something's wrong. The archer is stressing. He's hiding something, but more importantly I want to speak to Raven."
And yet another thing Changeling agreed upon. Sure, he was nervous for Arsenal but his main focus was on Raven. Not the visual being off and certainly not Arsenal stressing out. He needed to hear Raven's voice. Luckily Starfire managed to bet him to the punch again as she called out
"Not to be the rude for we are very grateful to know that you are safe, but where is friend Raven? Last we heard from her, she was in battle and it did not end so well."
There was another pause, this one longer than the others. Aside of some heavy breathing that was so soft the changeling was sure he was the only one to hear it, there was barely another sound. Changeling noticed as Starfire began wringing her hands, as Cyborg began tapping his metal finger on the control panel, and as Nightwing's body seemed to get even tenser with every second that the communicator was silent.
He didn't know how long his team could last, or himself at that matter. Then the visual came on from the communicator and Raven's face came on the screen.
"Friend Raven!"
Changeling could feel the intense anger that was oozing from Raven as she took her time and cut her eyes at each of her teammates. It was terrifying. She turned her eyes from her teammates to look to the Titans East and Changeling felt a shiver run through his body.
"Hello Bumblebee, Mas y Menos."
Mas y Menos, having seen Raven's glare, jumped behind Bumblebee, allowing her to talk to the sorceress.
"Hey Raven," Bumblebee started, her strong disposition shaking some as she spoke to Raven. "We, uh, we were just calling to check in on you and Arsenal. You two are okay and that's all we need, so bye." And Bumblebee turned off her connection, leaving the Titan West to the the mercy of Raven.
And this is chapter 13. I will admit, I feel as if this is a bit clumpy and rushed, as if two chapters were placed together but chapter 14 shall be better. I think we'll be in the viewing of Arsenal and Raven again so you can look forward to that. Thank you for reading this chapter and I hope you enjoyed.