AN: I do not own Teen Titans. Please refrain from reviewing until the end of the story. Thank you.

Chapter 14

The sun was shining brightly and the clouds were sparse. The wet ground was slowly drying and the mud caked on their clothes was crumbling off. It had been hours since they'd last spoken and there was no sign of train or help. Raven had ceased weeping and was now lying as still as possible, lest she aggravate her injuries. Beast Boy's behind had gone numb from sitting for so long looking up and down the tracks. He never looked away unless he heard her squeak with pain after adjusting herself on the ground. He'd never say it aloud but he'd grown quite bored and was beginning to nod off. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before and after all they'd been through he was more than understandably fatigued.

"Why do you have such an issue with Aqualad?" she asked out of the blue, startling him.

"Huh? Oh. Well…because…I don't know," he shrugged. "It's complicated."

"Considering what you've put me through I think I deserve an explanation, no matter how complicated you think it is."

He sighed and rubbed his neck. "I just…I guess I can't stand how much everyone likes him."

"Are you saying that you think we should dislike him?"

"Well…no."

"Then why don't you like that we like him?"

"It's…well…argh! See? This is what I mean. It's complicated."

"Then explain."

He wasn't sure what to say. He'd never had to articulate his disdain for Aqualad before. "I guess I just hate the thought of people comparing the two of us. When they look at him and they see a big hero who can take care of himself. People look at me and they see…well not that. He's got good looks, a good personality, and is an amazing hero. The only flaw he has is that he doesn't have any flaws. He's practically perfect and I'm so not. I'm scrawny and green and notoriously as sharp as a wet rag. And I hate the thought that everyone will always choose him over me."

"When has he ever been chosen over you?" she asked.

"Well…," he did have to think about this, "…never officially, I guess. But, take when we first met him, he got you to smile within seconds. You never smile for me no matter how much I try. But this tall, dark, and handsome guy shows up and all of sudden you're nothing but grins. So you chose to smile for him instead of me. How can I not feel bad about that?"

"So what if I smiled?" she said. "It's just a smile, it doesn't mean I like him better than you. And I have smiled for you before so that argument is invalid."

"Yeah but you've never smiled for me the way you smiled for him."

"What does that matter? Are you jealous because I gave a guy other than you a smile?"

"No! But…But why him? You could have smiled for any other guy on Earth and I wouldn't have cared. But you had to smile at him."

"Now we're back to where we started. Why do you dislike him so much? What does he have that you're so envious of? Is it his good looks? Is this about vanity?"

"No," he said a little too quickly. "I mean, I don't know. Everyone else thinks he's handsome and…well you don't ever see girls swooning over me like they do for him. I might as well not even be in the room when he's around."

"So you think that means he's better looking than you?"

"I might not be smart but even I can put two and two together," he began to pout.

She was quiet for a moment; not a very long moment, but long enough for him to notice. Then he listened as she took in a deep breath and released it. "You two look nothing alike. But that doesn't mean one of you is more attractive than the other."

"Yeah but-"

"And let me point something else out," she said, cutting him off quickly. "You're far more useful a fighter than he ever will be."

"Aw come on, you're just saying that to make me feel better."

"I couldn't care less about how you feel. What I'm saying is fact. Aqualad is powerful but the circumstances need to be right. How useful would he be if he were fighting in the middle of the Gobi Desert or in the Grand Canyon? Or was battling on a platform suspended far above the Earth? He'd be as useful as the two of us right now without our powers. You have an amazing ability, Beast Boy. No matter where you are you can use your powers and for nearly any situation you face. Aqualad's not perfect. He's only as perfect as you make him out to be."

He'd never considered that. And he felt incredibly dense to have never figured that out. Perhaps this rivalry really had been in his head all this time. He'd always thought that everyone else considered the Atlantian perfect but, seeing as Raven could clearly see his flaws, maybe it was his insecurities that made him think this way. "Wow. I'm an idiot."

"That was established long ago," she said and tried to adjust herself, whimpering as she did. "But I should add that that doesn't mean you're unintelligent, it means you're foolish."

"Oh," he said, surprised to learn this. "So…you don't think I'm stupid?"

"You're smart when you want to be. I'm going to leave it at that."

"Wow," he smiled softly and shook his head. "I should've just sat down with you to talk instead of doing all of this just to win a bet that was my fault in the first place."

"Of course you should have," she said flatly. "Or, at the very least, you should've come clean with me the moment you burst out of my travel bag. If I had known you were going through all of this trouble I could've helped you, you know."

"Helped me? You mean tell Aqualad the truth?"

"No, helped you get to that stupid concert."

He wasn't quite sure he'd heard her correctly. "You would've helped me get to the concert? Why?"

"Because I know better than anybody how you feel."

"You do?" he asked, quite shocked. "But I thought you liked Aqualad."

"I don't feel that way about him," she sighed. "But there is someone in my life who I've felt constantly compared to. Of course it's mostly in my head. At least that's what I keep telling myself."

"Who?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

"Well I can't think of anyone who could make you, the queen of not caring what people think of her, feel bad about yourself."

"I don't feel bad about myself I just…well to use your words, it's complicated."

"Well who is it?"

"It's not that hard to figure out. I mean, there's only one other girl I'm constantly around."

"Wait a second…this isn't about Starfire is it?"

"Ding ding, we have a winner."

"Whoa whoa, hold on," he said, turning away from his view of the tracks to look at her. "You feel like you're compared to Starfire? Raven there's no comparison between you! You're as different as night and day. Heck, you two are like night and day! I mean, me feeling like a freak compared to Aqualad is understandable but you and Starfire? You can't compare a ruby to a sapphire!"

"I don't exactly feel like a ruby when I'm next to her."

"Actually I was saying that you were a sapphire. But that's not the point, the point is that you have nothing to worry about."

"Well, to quote you again, I feel like I might as well not even be in the room when she's around."

"Wow. I didn't know you felt like that. You've always seemed so confident in yourself I never thought that you'd feel bad that Starfire always gets so many compliments. I thought you liked not being the center of attention."

"Of course I do but…I don't know. It'd be nice for someone to say something about me once in a while. Something other than the fact that I'm creepy."

"Well…for the record, I think you're attractive." He looked away from her as he said this. It was so odd to admit this but he felt she needed to know. "In fact, I think you're just as attractive as Starfire. Just in a completely different way."

"The same goes for you and Aqualad," she stated, as though that was her point all along. "You two couldn't look any more different but that doesn't mean one of you is more attractive than the other. He is to Starfire as you are to me. You and I aren't conventionally beautiful because we don't look like your average Joe Shmoe on the street."

"Aqualad and Starfire don't look like average people either," he pointed out.

"Their exoticness is socially acceptable because it's subtle. Ours…not so much. That's why people point out how attractive those two are so regularly and we often get overlooked."

"Oh." As much as it was hard to believe, it did make sense. When people looked at him the first thing they saw was green. He often forgot how strange it was for people who'd never seen him before. And he'd never realized that Raven shared the same handicap that he did or that she knew how he was feeling. "So you really would've helped me get to the concert and proven him wrong?"

"I only would've gotten you to the concert but why not?" she shrugged then regretted the movement as she felt sharp pains flash throughout her body. "Even I have to admit that there is something smug about Aqualad."

"Seriously?! It's not just me?" he asked, brightening up.

"And for you to prove him wrong would have been a great accomplishment," she continued, ignoring him. "By the way, what terrible thing was supposed to happen to him if he lost the bet?"

"He had to wear Starfire's uniform for a month," he admitted sheepishly. "Of course if I'd known that he was going to bet my spot on the team I would've made it a whole lot worse." Raven let out an odd muffled snort that made him jump. "What was that?"

"Sorry. I was just picturing Aqualad in Starfire's outfit," she said, trying to hide how much the mental image was amusing her. "Although, with your luck, he'd probably look amazing in it and start a new fashion trend."

"Ugh, you're right," he said and leaned back so that he could lie down for a bit. "And I'd get none of the credit. Story of my life…well where he's concerned, at least."

"Stop sounding so down. It doesn't look good on you."

"How do you know how I look? You're staring up at the trees."

"You know what I meant."

It went quiet between them. A nice breeze passed over and rattled the leaves high above. It was dry but cool and felt rather refreshing.

"Hey Raven?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

"Good."

He could hear the anger that was still boiling within her. He wished he could make her understand how sorry he was. He'd said sorry before but this was the first time in a long while he actually sincerely meant it from the bottom of his heart.

"Hey Raven?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry."

"I heard you the first time."

He still wasn't getting through. Was he ever going to make her believe him? Granted it was a little soon to expect forgiveness but that didn't mean he shouldn't keep trying.

"Hey Raven?"

"What?"

"I'm sorry."

"I said I heard you."

He listened as she tried to lift her head a bit, her neck was probably growing very stiff, and she hissed with agony. It seemed her pain was just getting worse as time went on.

"Raven?"

"I swear, Beast Boy, if you apologize again…"

"Can I still call you Pollywog?"

She obviously hadn't been expecting him to say that. And after a brief moment of silence he was amazed, and delighted, to hear her start to chuckle. And he smiled.

"You're such an idiot," she stated lightly.

"Yeah but that doesn't mean I'm stupid, right?" he smirked.

"Whatever you are you're one of a kind," she sighed. "For better or worse there's no one like you, Garfield."

He shuttered at his name but knew he deserved it. "Hey Raven?"

"I'm sure I'm going to regret this. What?"

"I'm sorry."

She went very quiet. He was actually pretty sure she wasn't going to respond. But then, in almost a whisper, she said, "I know." She then gasped and said again, "I know. I…I know!"

"Uh, are you alright?" he asked, sitting up. "Cuz you're starting to scare-"

"I know! I know how you're feeling," she said, shocked and excited. She then closed her eyes and let out a long and relieved moan. "My powers are coming back. My injuries are starting to heal and the pain's fading. Oh thank Azar."

"Your powers are coming back? Sweet! That means mine must be to!" he exclaimed and instantly tried to change his form.

Raven managed to turn her head towards him and saw nothing but a green kitten…giving her The Face.