Title: Reasoning
Rating: T
Characters: Beast Boy, Raven, Robin
Overusedness: Coma
Notes: So I've read several fics where either of the two are in a coma, and since it's usually BB that's how I'll do it here. Sometimes they can see, like if it's Raven with her soul-self or BB just the ceiling where he's facing. I won't be doing that. They always, always hear what's going on though. And since that's key to the fluffiness of the stories, I will most certainly be doing that here. I'll also let him feel, because I'm nice like that.

The last thing I remembered before an empty, heavy sleep was a distressed call that I heard but couldn't quite make out. A black shape fanned across my closing vision as it dived towards the H.I.V.E. 5. The first thing I knew when I woke up was that my vision was blank, I felt painfully numb, and I heard a mixture of awful noises. The first thing I registered was a piercing, drawn out ringing like the kind a person with tinnitus suffers.

Next was the fear-worthy ambience of the medical wing. To my left, various hums of standard equipment. To my right, the monotonous bleeps of a heart monitor. It seemed I was alone, because even after what I knew was a solid ten minutes – I counted every second – I heard nothing but low hums and beeps.

Of course, Raven has informed me multiple times that my powers of observation are near non-existent. I heard a jerk of a chair on tile, as if the person in the seat was startled. A staggering breath told me two things. One: the person was of the female gender based on the tone. Two: she just woke up from a bad dream.

I wish I could see who it was, reach over and offer reassurance that it was only a dream. I seemed unable to do so though, and it gripped at me in a completely unpleasant manner. After a bit, though, I heard a sigh and the scratch the chair on the floor as she pulled it closer to my bed. A hand lightly fell on my arm, and from that very spot spread a feeling of electric warmth that overpowered the numbness.

The cool temperature of the small, delicate hand told me why I experienced that feeling. I always did when she touched me. Whether it's bare skin, which I realize right then that I was wearing a hospital gown and she was touching my skin, or through multiple layers of cloth, I always get a burst of warmth and a rush in my heart.

Cheesy, yeah. Made-up, not even.

"It's been ridiculously quiet, you know," she told me softly. "The boys are playing videogames without really winning. They can't get past level one of anything." Her hand tightened, enough where I could feel the tips of her nails just barely pressing into my skin.

"Starfire's been walking everywhere. She only flies in a fight, and even then it takes her a lot of effort." Raven relaxed her grip and slid her hand down to mine, playing my fingers with hers. "Me? I've been alright, I suppose. I volunteered to stay here and watch over you while everybody goes off to do the real work. I just sit here and watch you, and I tell you all of this every day. You've probably gotten tired of hearing it."

This is the first time hearing it, but I could never get tired of listening to you, I thought lightly. Of course, it made me wonder how long I'd been there.

"I've only left to shower, really. And as I keep telling you, I'm watching you because this is all my fault. If I'd been there sooner… I saw him coming at you but I figured you had too so I didn't do anything but then I saw you falling and… sorry. For the run-on and letting you get hurt."

Raven…

"If you were awake you'd do one of two things, I think. Either you'd agree with me and tell me all about teamwork and having each other's back, and tell me that I didn't have yours or you'd yell at me for taking all the blame."

I pick door number two.

She sighed, the tone telling me that she had a soft smile on her face. "Probably the latter of the two, based on how you usually behave. But I still don't care. My other reason still stands."

Other reason? What other reason?

"I'm sure you'd badger me for days trying to figure out what the reason is, but I'll die before I let you know."

Well that sucks.

I heard Raven move her chair closer again, to the point where I could hear her every exhale. Her hand was still in mine, and she moved it to link our fingers. "Let's hope even then you don't know."

That's just not fair.

"Selfish, I know. But… I don't think it's something you'd want to hear. It would only makes things different between us, most likely in a bad way." She lifted our hands for a spell, then let them fall back to the hospital cot where they bounced slightly. "I'm not going to lie, I kind of like holding hands with you. We fit, our hands I mean, and it just feels… right."

Well, you're not alone.

I heard a knock on the door, or it's frame or the wall or something because I guess the door's open from the footsteps I hear. "Raven?" Robin's voice said softly.

"Already?"

"Yeah, it's been four days." His voice grew closer. "You've showered I think twice in the fifteen days he's been out. Let's make it three? You look awful."

"Thanks," she said flatly. Her hand left mine slowly, though, and I heard her stand up.

"I'll watch him," he reassured her, "until you get back."

Yep, I feel it. I feel the love.

She sighed, "alright."

It was silent for a couple more minutes, and I figured Robin just up and bailed. Of course, the last time I figured I was alone I quite wasn't.

"She hasn't been doing so well."

That's not what she told me.

"The only things she's had these past two weeks are tea and a few breakfasts. Even then we have to force her because she doesn't think she's hungry. Don't worry, though. We don't let her go a day without something."

I swear if she's a quarter of a pound thinner than when I last saw her…

"She really cares about you, y'know. At this point the real reason I want you to wake up is so she stops moping."

If I could I would.

"The two of you are so clueless."

Coming from you?

"I swear if she doesn't tell you sometime soon that she l-"

"I thought you were watching him, not telling him about trivial things you shouldn't entangle yourself with."

He sighed and stood up, and if I could move I would've been floundering around and shoving Raven out the door. Tell me what?

"Sorry, Raven. But I'm serious, you guys really need to sit down and talk when he wakes up. It's called communication.

She sighed impatiently. "We talk plenty, and now you have permission to evacuate my seating area."

He cleared his throat and his footsteps traced away from the chair and towards the door. "I'll be back with some tea for you."

He left, and then came back as promised with her tea. A few words were exchanged and then I was left in agonizing silence as I listened to her finish her tea then fall asleep. I was stuck with my boring, overused thoughts for several hours after that. Turns out I can't sleep in a coma.

Every time the clock in the med bay reaches midnight and noon, it makes a loud clicking noise. I heard it in the middle of the song that never ends as it looped around my brain. I decided to count the seconds, minutes, and I determined the time to be twelve twenty-two when I felt an odd tingling crawl over my limbs.

The maddening nothingness that filled my vision gave way to a searing light, and I felt like closing my eyes and shying away from it. Of course, the fact that my eyes were already closed and I couldn't move only served to make it that much worse.

Then… it all went blank.

.:..:..:.

"Stable! He's stable!" Cyborg's voice cut through my senses, offering relief I never thought possible. "It looks like brain activity's increased as well, so he should be waking up very soon."

I expected Raven to retort back with, 'What brain activity?' When she said what she did though, I felt my heart stopping again. "If you're lying to me, and he doesn't come back to me by tomorrow, you will pay with what matters to you most."

Apparently, my heart really did stop. The monitor missed a count and made the noise of a flat line for a spell in which I heard a spark of Raven's dark magic course through Cyborg's circuitry.

"You said he was fine!"

"H-he is! Just a minor technical difficulty, it missed a beat is all. Calm down, Raven."

She took a ragged breath, "You calm down."

In response, he sighed and headed towards the door. "Alright, I'm going to report back to Robin and Star. Sit down, calm down, and tell him a story or somethin' to pass the time."

"Alright," she slumped into the chair, making it screech as it moved backwards with the thrown weight.

I heard the door close, and as it did she sighed again. "Beast Boy, you scared the hell out of me. What is your problem?"

Would you be mad if I said it was you?

"When you wake up, I'm punching you right in the gut. Wake up soon so I don't forget."

That's encouraging how?

"I just…" she sighed and stood up to stand beside me, tracing her fingers over my arm, up over my chest and then trailing up my throat. Her hand came up under my chin, moving along my jaw and resting against the cheek farthest her. Her thumb played over my cheek bone, the bridge of my nose. "I don't know what I'd do without you," she whispered hoarsely.

That voice, it told me she was trying not to cry. How dare she cry, crying for me was unacceptable. I reached up, wiped away a lone tear.

She gasped, and that was the same moment my eyes shot open.

I was awake, I could move, and I could quite clearly see that she looked god awful. Seriously, the first thing I notice are the bags under her eyes. But waking up now. It was the most pleasant site I ever could have wished to open my eyes to. While sickly looking, she would always be radiant to me. In this very moment, she looked absolutely beautiful.

"Beast Boy…" she breathed.

"Raven, man is it good to see you."

A smile cracked over her surprised features, and she lunged forward to envelope me in a hug as I tried to sit up. I managed to avoid falling back over with effort, and as her arms were secure around my neck I wrapped my own around her waist.

She climbed on the bed next to me, head buried in the crook of my neck. I slid one of my hands up the back of her head, holding her as if she was the last precious thing on earth. We were still like that for some solid time until she pushed away abruptly.

As promised, she threw a heavy punch to my midsection. "You've been out for weeks. Why didn't you wake up sooner?"

"If I had a choice, Ravey, believe me. I would have waken up a long time ago."

"You have no right to call me that after what you put me through," she scolded.

"I know."

"No, you don't know. You have no idea that I've-"

"Refused to shower, sleep, and eat? Yeah. I know. And Raven, I can't believe you had to be forced to have tea."

She blinked, her previous expression of anger dropped in place for a look of shock and growing concern. "You could hear everything?"

I smiled, "Yeah. I heard all about your little reason."

"You still don't know what the reason is," she said. I could tell though, she wasn't quite positive about that. "There's no way you do."

I shrugged. "You could always tell me."

"Or I could always not. You don't know, nor do you need to."

"Well then, maybe I should start saying what I do know," I suggested as she stood up. She halted, hesitated, then sat back down. Smirking, I adjusted my position so I was resting against the wall at the head of the cot. "I know that you care about me, probably almost as much as I care about you. I know that you stopped everything to watch over me. I know that you don't want to tell me anything. And I know that you really don't want me to know what it is."

Whit each statement, I leaned closer to her. Right now we were nose to nose, and even with a clear view of her eyes I couldn't read her. That is, until she lunged at me again. This time was different though, as instead of hugging me she rather slammed her lips onto mine.

And instead of putting more of my efforts into staying up, I put that enthusiasm more into kissing her back. I guess somewhere along the way, the tubes hooked up to me snapped off because I could hear a flat line in the background. We ignored it though, far too preoccupied at the moment.

Today must be my unlucky day, though, because we were so rudely interrupted with the team skidding into the doorway. "Raven! What's going…"

Cyborg's words died as he gained vision of Raven and I hastily splitting apart, smacking our foreheads together in the process.

"Ow," we said in unison, raising our hands to cradle the injury.

"Oh, I have been waiting so long for this moment! This is most glorious, do you agree Robin?"

"Yes! Now I don't have to put up with the moping and utter cluelessness."

Raven huffed, "You're one to talk."