And now, Chapter 1 finally arrives! I know, I know, everyone is upset because I didn't put it up in time, everyone thought that I was leaving it for dead, ha! No way! Never! I shall finish this, no matter how much it sucks. I don't think it sucks, I think it's a good story but I've had flames already, and I haven't even put up the first chapter yet! (until now)

NOTE: For those from the last chapter were wondering what the heck "omniscient" meant, well it means "all knowing." So in the last chapter, Raven did not know everything in the last chapter. Using "omniscient" narrator allows you, as the reader, to know what all the characters are thinking and feeling at that moment, it helps in foreshadowing as well. That way, letting all the characters know what they are thinking spares me some time and less confusion for you, as the reader, if I switched narrators around with different characters or just leaving as Raven. I believe you, as the reader, would have been left in the dark, which is what I don't want.

So here's chapter 1 at last, action shall begin in the next chapter, I'm so excited! I can't stand it!

The Beast Returns: Chapter 1

The next day came and the Titans were all up and about getting ready for the day. By getting ready for the day meant a hardy breakfast and a crash course run in the danger room, the gym, and the obstacle course for Titans' traditional combat practice. It was a little thing Robin cooked up to sharpen their skills, and to have the ability when you expect the unexpected and to do all their exercises all in the dawn of the day so they could be ready for anything. So, the Titans were usually flat out tired in the afternoon, which meant they got a lot of down time.

However, Beast Boy was no where to be seen at breakfast. This did not concern most of the Titans; Robin figured that Beast Boy was still in his bed snoring the night away, he knew that Beast Boy was not a morning at all. Starfire, well, she was always concern. Cyborg however felt a little bad about last night and how he suddenly blew up in his face for his constant joking. But then, he did feel that Beast Boy was being a little unreasonable too. After all, Cyborg was only joking! He didn't honestly think that Beast Boy would get together with Raven, that's why he was joking about it. It was so outrageously impossible that it was funny enough, in his view, to be joked about; he thought the two would get a kick out of it. Unless…they really were in love with each other.

Cyborg suddenly stopped eating his eggs and froze. He just realized something, what if they were in love? Oh, the irony of it all. They're in denial!, he thought. That's why Beast Boy can't stop bugging the girl. That's why Raven insults him constantly. That's why they seem to despise each other's guts when they argue over the tiniest things. That's why Beast Boy was so touchy on the subject last night, and that's why Raven looked like she was about to strangle Cyborg and have him lying under the pendulum of death. They liked each other, and maybe Cyborg was on to something about Beast Boy having a Raven shrine in the back of his closet. He'd have to sneak in there to find out later. Heh, heh, this is great! No wonder B got into my face last night, and I don't blame him either, I wouldn't want my secret love to come out. Maybe this is why he's in such a depressing funk lately, he can't figure out how to get Raven out on a date! Ha! Oh, how the tables have turned…Well, I guess I'll have to do what B said and lay off the jokes for awhile and let fate have its own way, since it actually is true. But that doesn't mean I can't push them along…hee hee.

"You okay, Cyborg?" Robin asked him. Cyborg finally snapped out of his train of thought, he didn't realize that he was grinning ear to ear with such a suspicion that frightened even Robin to ask.

"Wha--? Oh, yeah, I'm cool," he said, and he definitely was "cool." The door to the Ops. opened and Raven stepped in and walked down to the counter and stove to prepare her breakfast. She bid the Titans a good morning with the silent wave of her hand and went about her business. The other three Titans, Cyborg, Robin, and Starfire continued their breakfast in anticipated silence. Mainly waiting for the arrival of Beast Boy, and expecting the hell that may come with him. They all hoped he was in a better mood this morning; the thought of a good sleep would do him good.

But he never came.

Raven finally sat down and ate her morning meal, the Titans finished up their breakfast, but no Beast Boy. It was almost noon and the others were concerned. None of them had the courage to go to his door and knock to see if he was up. They all had a knowing look that he would get angered by them. He has been doing that lately. And just to get rid of the awkward silence that hung through the air, Raven finally spoke up.

"So, does anyone know where Beast Boy is?" she asked them. Cyborg shrugged his shoulders. Starfire and Robin shook their heads no.

"I hope he's just in his room still asleep," Robin said.

"Should we start combat practice without Beast Boy?" Starfire spoke. The Titans pondered on this thought for a moment.

"One of us should tell him what we are doing before he gets the wrong idea," Raven spoke with the rim of her mug between her lips.

"Good plan," Robin complimented, "any takers?"

Silence, no one wanted to unleash the animal upstairs.

"No one?" They all stared off into space. Cyborg was whistling.

"Starfire?" Starfire gave him a fearful side-glance.

"Raven?" She kept drinking her tea.

"Cy—never mind," Cyborg let out a breath of relief. Robin looked around the table at each of them. He personally didn't want to do it himself, but he knew that he is the leader of the team and the bravest one out of all of them. Plus, it's not like he had faced danger like this before, but the situation was unpredictable. Robin quietly drummed his gloved fingers onto the table thinking intensely. He felt beads of sweat rolling down his face as he prepared himself for the battle that was upstairs. He looked around the table one more time. Knowing that no one else would take the job, he gave Starfire a squeeze of her hand to let her know that he was saying his final good bye. He slowly rose up from his seat…

"I'll get him," Raven aroused.

"Okay! That's good, I'm going to use the bathroom," And Robin quickly ran out of the room to take care of business that would have fearfully gone on the floor if Robin wasn't fast enough. The others just stared on.

"To think that Beast Boy was the reason to have Robin scared out of his wits just because of the mood he has been in recently is almost too frightening for words," Raven got up from her seat, crossed the room and opened the door into the hallway. She started down the hallway as she heard plates clank together from the others that were cleaning them behind her. Taking a right on the hall that dead end in the back, she walked forward to hers and Beast Boy's rooms. She passed the bathroom that was next to her room and she heard the rushing water inside the room that Robin had just flushed. Rolling her eyes she continued on, passing her room until she ultimately stopped in front of Beast Boy's room. She stood in front of his door for a brief moment, she was contemplating if she should really go in or leave him in his silence.

"He probably needs the quiet," she thought, Raven didn't want to disturb him especially if he is in one of his stupid moods. She didn't want to walk in to the storm realizing that she just missed the eye. The last thing that Raven wanted was to be yelled at for no reason. She felt he was being a little selfish, but to know if he is truly alright, she decided to knock on his door.

"Beast Boy?" she called him. Silence was her reply.

"Beast Boy, it's Raven. Robin sent me to get you. We're about to begin practice," Raven tried knocking again. There was still no reply.

"Beast Boy!" annoyed by the fact that he was ignoring her she knocked harder. Raven finally gave up on the knocking when she couldn't feel her hand anymore and decided to let herself in, "You better be decent in there, I'm coming in,"

"Whoa," was her only reply as she opened the door into his messy room. Raven was surprised at the state of his room, it was not it's usual messy self. In fact, it was far worse than what an animal could live in. When she walked in, the first thing she noticed was the stench of his room, it wasn't dirty laundry or old moldy pizza. No, it smell like…blood. She continued further in and she noticed claw scratches, teeth marks, and stains of crimson everywhere. His desk along with his computer was destroyed, his bed was surprisingly still standing, but claw marks on it. His television was releasing electric sparks, his closet doors were torn off, piles and piles of clothes were ripped and scattered across the floor, carpet was torn off the floor at it's seams, all his lamps and ceiling lights were busted, glass was everywhere, and Raven stood in the middle of the horrific scene completely petrified.

"Beast Boy…," she whispered. In fear, she started moving things around with her powers to try to find Beast Boy, if he was still in here. Her mystery was solved when she saw the opened window behind what use to be his desk. Her intuition was telling her to call the others for help, but her instincts were telling her to find him now before it's too late. Raven quickly flew out the opened window from his room to the outside. She immediately looked down, but she saw nothing but the base of the Tower. She looked up and quickly thought of any place he might be. Since thinking about it wasn't working, she decided to track him. She pulled out her communicator and discovered that he was on the shores of the ocean on the north side of the city. But before she could fly off to find him, the alarm on her communicator went off.

"Oh, what now!" she opened her communicator again, "A boat accident?" she sighed, "the others can handle it," And she flew off into the distance in search of Beast Boy.

Back in the Tower, the others were gathered around the main computer to see what the problem was. Robin quickly typed in a few buttons and got their answer, he felt confused.

"Well, what is it, Rob?" Cyborg asked.

"A boat accident," and Cyborg was just as confused.

"A what? That's not breaking any laws, shouldn't the National Guard get it?" Cyborg attempted.

"Since when do we let the national guard do anything?" Robin replied with a smile, he turned back to the computer and typed few more times to get more details, a sudden worried expression crossed his face, "this is more than a boat accident,"

"What else is there?" Starfire asked.

"There's someone on that boat that's not supposed to be there," Robin replied severely.

"So, what's the plan, Rob?" Cyborg asked.

"We need the T-ship," Robin replied, "Raven, get the—uh…," he looked behind Cyborg and saw nothing but air, "is Raven still with Beast Boy?"

"Uh, with? More like, never has been," Cyborg replied, "or, doesn't wish to be, or maybe will slit your throat for suggesting that she wants to be,"

"Never mind, Starfire go get Beast Boy and Raven, please," Starfire nodded her head and flew off into the hall. Robin shook his head at Cyborg and silently started to snicker.

"Ooh, you thought that was funny, good that means I won't get put down for making a joke again," Cyborg said. Robin continued laughing.

"I can't believe you seriously think that those two may actually get together," he laughed again.

"Aw, c'mon, can't you have a little faith?" Cyborg asked, "We both know well enough that it would be good for the both of 'em."

"True, but it can't happen, there's just no way. But that was a good one, not the best timing, but still funny," Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"I cannot locate Beast Boy or Raven," Starfire flew back into the room, "and I do not know where they have gone, but…,"

"What is it, Starfire?" Robin was suddenly worried, he noticed the color draining from Starfire's face.

"Something happened, Beast Boy's room has been destroyed, it looks like the bomb has been ignited inside and exploded," She finished.

"Great," Robin groaned, "Jeez, I'm getting sick of his mood swings,"

"So what should we do now?" Cyborg asked.

"Raven, come in," Robin spoke into his communicator. There was a silent pause, as he waited for an answer, Starfire took this time to silently land on the ground.

"Raven here, over," Raven's voice echoed through the speaker. Robin felt slightly relieved.

"Where is Beast Boy?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out, I'm sure you already found the state of his room,"

"Yes, we have, do you have any known whereabouts of his location?"

"I tracked him on the shores on the north side of the city close to the outskirts of town next to the city reserve,"

"Good, can you handle Beast Boy on your own?"

"Yes, I'll call for back up in case anything goes wrong, if not I'll see you at the sinking ship…with Beast Boy,"

"With," Cyborg giggled under his breath, Robin glared at him.

"Very well, the coordinates to the location of the ship are on your communicator, Robin out,"

"Okay, everyone to the T-ship!"

Raven flew across the sky over the tall buildings that was Jump City below. She kept flying as fast as she could to the other side where the outskirts were and hopefully where Beast Boy was. His location was near the oceans waters, so she assumed he was on a beach over there…somewhere. Raven finally reached the end of the city, now her only dilemma now was to find him. She pulled out her communicator to see if she was close, and she was very close.

Beast Boy was just over one hill that Raven had landed next to, she once again levitated into the air and stood at the top of the hill to look down at perhaps any kind of hell unleashed. But the was nothing, no fighting, teeth grinding, claw swipes, roaring, or anything, if anything Raven was expecting his primal beast form again, that was the worst case scenario. This was the polar opposite of what she was expecting. She saw Beast Boy at the foot of the hill sitting on the top of a small cliff where the water met the land, he had his feet dangling below the open waters. Raven was furious. He made her worried that something had happened to him, that he may have been hurt. Oh, he was gonna get it now, how dare he just sit there when he has his whole team worried that he might have been killed! And now, when there was a mission to go on now, did he not even have the heart to pick up his communicator to see what was going on? Raven started marching right down to him to give him what's what, she was ready to go all demon dimension sending up his ass. Raven looked straight at him, ready to give it all, but she glanced at his face and the emotional turmoil that it was giving off, and then she calmed down. Raven stopped without him noticing her, he was sitting where she had his side facing her, he kept focusing out into the ocean. But the look of his eyes drew her attention, she noticed that there were heavy dark bags under those eyes, in fact his entire face looked tired. He must have not slept at all last night, she thought. The emotion that he was giving off, as she read, was a mix of sadness, anger, and annoyance. But what was throwing her off was that he kept his look neutral, and it wasn't a Raven-neutral face as some would expect, it was as if he didn't care about anything anymore, like he gave up.

Giving in herself, she slowly walked up to him. Raven knew that he was aware of her presence, his precise sense of smell would allow him to guess, and that Raven doesn't exactly have the smallest of feet. He never looked up to greet her as she stopped by his side, she had her arms folded and he felt like she kept analyzing him. She felt his annoyance grow inside of him.

"You've got some real nerves leaving the Tower like you did today," she commented. Raven sat down next to him, Beast Boy tensed up and turned his head in the opposite direction. The last thing that Beast Boy wanted was to hear her sarcasm, especially today.

"And then not answering your communicator was a good one, I must have called you about three times," Beast Boy huffed out a frustrating sigh, he buried his head into his recently folded knees. Out of all the Titans that had to come to retrieve him, it just had to be Raven. She was the only member of the team that hated his guts like it was hobby of hers.

"Alright, Raven, I'm in no mood for you to sarcastically pick out my mistakes," Raven kept her face straight, "so, let's just skip this part and cut to the chase, what are you doing here?" Raven shrugged her shoulders.

"I just thought that maybe you'd like some company," That's right Raven, don't force him into coming with you, just take it slow she told herself. Besides maybe just sitting here with him would give him a chance to speak what's on his mind, and why he keeps on acting the way he is acting. This mystery will finally be solved. Beast Boy was slightly surprised when she said this, usually this was the other way around, he wanted to stay to try to talk with her. She had to be doing this for a reason. He let out a mocking like sound.

"Why? So you can shove my--,"

"You know, I may not show them as often, but I do still have feelings, Beast Boy," Raven interrupted him, "And some of the things you do sometimes hurt me a lot more than you think they do." Beast Boy lowered his head slightly ashamed.

"I know there is something that is bothering you, I can sense it," she began, "and I also know that I'm not the person you really want to deal with right now, but," he was still focused on the sea in front of him, "I'm not here to talk, but I'm willing to listen," she finished. Beast Boy understood what she was saying, but he did not understand why Raven was saying it. He wasn't sure if he could trust her enough with his secrets, but he also realized that there's probably no other way to get rid of her either. Then he thought that maybe speaking his mind would help ease his troubles a bit even if it was Raven he was talking to. He sighed.

"Shouldn't we leave on the mission?" he asked, taking a short cut to avoid this conversation.

"You can't save people unless you're willing to do so," she commented, "And you're definitely not willing to do so, I feel it. The team can handle it until you're ready,"

"What about--,"

"I'll take responsibility with Robin," Beast Boy was a little reluctant to talk, but Raven seemed to have everything under control, like she always does. It gave him comfort on some level that she was willing to listen to his problems. It felt like she put the world on hold so he could have his say.

"Raven, why are you doing this?" he asked curiously.

"Honestly," she replied, "you seem to me that you need a good friend right now, and putting all differences aside I thought maybe I could be a good friend to you now, since I never have been before," Beast Boy looked up at her, she was fidgeting with her cloak, "and considering what happened with you last night, I guessed you didn't want to talk to Cyborg," Beast Boy huffed.

"You've also changed over the past few weeks. I haven't seen much of your comedic self lately, it's been so quiet in the Ops. that I still can't read in there,"

He laughed lightly, catching Raven off guard.

"And that's…probably the first time I've heard you laugh in a month," she said, "and at me no less,"

"Sorry, I guess I thought it was funny that you miss me," he said. She sat there and thought about it for a moment, and then she looked up at him.

"Yeah, maybe I do," she replied. He looked up with mild surprise and realized that she was serious. Raven relaxed her shoulders back and avoided his eyes, "I just don't like the fact that one of my friends is feeling down. Especially when it's so unnatural for you that it feels like you're turning into me," she said jokingly. Beast Boy was saddened that she still degrades herself to be so low.

"Look, Raven, I appreciate the gesture, but…I'm just not in the mood to talk right now," he replied. Raven looked at him with sad eyes, but she understood all the same.

"Alright, I won't pressure you," Raven stood up next to the edge of the cliff, but then she turned around to Beast Boy who was still sitting, "hey," he looked up at her, "don't feel like you have to battle whatever it is you're battling by yourself. You have four good friends who all care about you, you can talk to one of us when you're ready. We will listen," Beast Boy let off a faint smile, he felt touched.

"Thanks Raven," he said.

"Anytime," she replied, "So you ready to go? The team probably needs us now," Beast Boy nodded and stood up next to her getting ready to take flight.

"So, what's the mission?" he asked as he crouched down getting ready to transform.

"A boat accident," Beast Boy froze, "50 miles off shore from the north side of the city, it's not far from here. The others took the T-ship ahead," she turned, "I've got the coordinates so you can follow me," Raven looked up and saw Beast Boy's fearful stare, he was pale like he had just seen a ghost.

"You okay?" she asked him. He swallowed some air and slowly tried to regain his composure.

"Y-yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he squeaked, he was holding some kind of pain back, trying to fight it off so Raven wouldn't feel it. It was a failure that Raven didn't want to tell him now.

"You sure?" she asked again, "because we don't—,"

"I said I'm fine, Raven, I'm fine," he raised his voice slightly. Raven was silent, she took a side-glance and waited for him. Beast Boy looked at the ground he felt completely vulnerable and insecure in front of himself and Raven as he pushed thoughts in the back of his head. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

"Can we talk later?" he asked. She looked up and slowly gave off one of the biggest smiles she could offer, which was a tiny curve at the end of the lips.

"Of course, come on let's go," he nodded as she gracefully took up to the sky. Turning into an eagle, he followed her to the scene of the crime.

To be continued...