Chapter 32 – Raven's Return
January 9th 2012, 9:05 am
Four Titans had breakfast at the table, in absolute silence. The air was so dense it could be cut with a knife. Each one in its own world, two keeping secrets from the mates. Robin had a cup of coffee untouched in front of him, an arm laid on the table and the other one supporting his chin, his elbow on the table's edge. He didn't look at anything in special, but sometimes glanced at Terra.
The blonde, on the other hand, seemed oblivious to the friends' presence, poking a cereal that long ago had lost its integrity in a bowl filled with milk. She had big dark circles under her beautiful blue eyes and a frown, as if she was thinking about something important.
The other two, who suspected about the fact that the leader and the blonde friend had been keeping things to themselves, nothing said, their minds filled with concern for the teammate, usually life and soul of the Tower, that was some floors above them, sedated and tied to a bed.
Robin looked to his communicator. Besides the hour, it also showed him that Raven was on her way. Only four more hours. He didn't tell anyone about her coming, for a simple reason: he suspected Terra. He feared that warn her about the imminent improvement of Beast Boy's state would lead her on doing something stupid. He was also interested on the blonde's reaction to see the colleague again.
He only hoped it wouldn't be too much.
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January 9th, 1:15 pm
"Are you sure he is going to be okay?" asked Raven for the third time.
"Yes, Ms Roth, you can relax" repeated the brunette middle age woman with a steady attitude "This is the best daycare in Jump City! All children and mothers are satisfied with our services"
Raven sighed. She knew that very well, she had researched the best and safest place to leave her baby while she went to see her friends. But now she realized that separating from Caleb was harder than she had anticipated.
"Okay" she agreed. The bag with all the things Caleb would need was already on a locket, with a tag with his name on it. All she had to do now was give her baby to that stranger.
Concentrating on the anxiety to see her friends again, as well as the fact that they needed her help, she summoned Braveness and, kissing Caleb's green forehead, put him into Mrs Sanchez's strong arms. The baby let out a little insecurity scream and stretched his hands towards Raven. This broke her heart.
"How precious!" she said, smiling, and started to swing him in a little more intensely than Raven used to. She stretched her hand to stop her, but the baby seemed to like that, laughing and forgetting the fact that he'd been abandoned. "What a nice boy!"
"I know…" mumbled the empath, fighting against the urge of taking Caleb, go back to her little house and tell Robin and Beast Boy they could…
"Now go before he sees you again!" the woman ordered, pointing the exit.
"Right… I'll be back before nighttime" she informed again, walking slowly to with her back to the door.
"All right, see you then" answered Mrs Sanchez, in a business manner, while she arrange her purse on her shoulder and turned to the exit.
"Bye Caleb" she whispered, looking back once again "I'll be back soon… I promise"
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The daycare was relatively far from the Titan Tower. Without Caleb, Raven didn't bother to walk, teleporting herself directly to the little island. Grabbing her purse hard, she warned Robin she was there and identified herself at the elevator's doors.
After putting her index finger on the indicated place and let a scanner read her violet eyes, the familiar doors opened and she got inside, nervous. Conflicted feelings mixed inside of her. She was looking forward to see her friends, but hesitant to the questions they may ask. She also didn't know what to expect of herself to see Terra or Beast Boy. She felt resentful of the former teammate, but her true deception was towards the changeling. At the same time, she couldn't help feeling concerned about what Robin said about him.
Suddenly she remembered she didn't tell Mrs Sanchez that Caleb liked to sleep with the green dog. Before she could truly get worried about it, however, a sound indicated she reached the informed floor and the doors opened, revealing her friends waiting for her.
"Hm… Hi"
There was a brief moment of silence after her words, and she realized Robin hadn't informed anyone about her arrival. The leader had a smile and a hopeful expression, and was looking around, like he was expecting something. Starfire had her eyes wide open and Cyborg opened his mouth, both completely surprised. Terra, on the back, also had a shocked expression, but there was something more – could it be fear?
"Friend… Raven?" called Starfire, approaching her carefully, as to be sure she wasn't an illusion. Raven reminded she still had black hair.
"Yes, Star" confirmed the empath, her chest filling with affection to hear her friend's sweet voice. The Tamaranean held her breath, her eyes filled with tears and she walked to Raven, throwing her arms on her neck. Raven closed her eyes and waited for the ribs breaking sensation, which never came. She realized she was still breathing easily and opened her eyes. Starfire was hugging her gently, what was highly uncommon, indicating not happiness, but search for comfort.
"Thank you for coming back, Raven" said Robin, putting his hand on her shoulder, still attentive to something she didn't know what.
"Raven!" exclaimed Cyborg, approaching her, and Starfire released her, letting the robot man hug her too. Raven could notice something was very wrong. The reigning emotions weren't pure happiness, but something close to a hopeful relieve. Like when you're dealing with something really hard and someone comes to help you.
"How are you?" she asked, separating from Cyborg, and noticed none of them seemed rested. They all had tired, pale faces and a shaggy appearance.
"We've been better…" said Cyborg, looking down.
"Friend, why did you leave us without saying the goodbye?" asked Starfire, seeming hurt.
"We can catch up later" determined Robin before she could answer "Now, if you can follow us to the infirmary, Raven…"
"Yes" she agreed, following him. On her way, she passed by Terra.
"Hi Raven" she greeted her, uncomfortable, looking down and holding her right arm with her left hand.
"Hello" answered Raven expressionless. She felt again fear emanating from the blonde, and noticed she was in far worse state than the others. Almost purple shadows were under her eyes and the hair was poorly cared, pointing at all directions.
Something else came from her, but the empath couldn't discern what, due the big amount of emotions that took the room. What could it be?
"I really hope you can help BB, Raven…" said Cyborg, taking her of her thoughts.
"Is he really that bad?" she questioned, although she already knew the answer. It took something really serious to get the whole team that way.
"See for yourself" answered Robin's voice, opening the infirmary's door to allow her entrance. Raven took a deep breath and entered.
A nostalgic feeling broke into her when she step into the white and bright room, remembering that was where she agreed to be Beast Boy's girlfriend. This feeling soon was gone, however, when she turned her head and found him.
Beast Boy was unrecognizable. Tied to a white bed, still in his uniform, looking fixedly at the horizon, the mouth half opened, he looked almost lifeless. A shell with nothing inside.
Raven felt her heart squeeze. She thought she couldn't look at the ex boyfriend's face without wanting to punch him for kissing someone else, but it all was forgotten to the sight of the state he was.
"Beast Boy…" she muttered, letting her purse slid and fall, walking to the changeling "What happened to him?"
"I know is pretty shocking, but a lot of it it's just the sedative's effect" explained Cyborg, coming closer "He… gets too agitated without it. I reduces the dose, I can stop it if it's easier to you"
"What exactly has been happening?" she asked, turning to her friends, making an effort not to let her voice tremble. Terra fixed her look on the floor like she wasn't listening and the other three looked at each other with meaningful expressions.
"Terra found him unconscious, supposable by a hit in the head" explained Robin "Ever since, he has been having amnesia attacks more and more frequently"
"I wouldn't call it amnesia, Robin… Maybe delusions?" suggested Cyborg, his arms crossed "Sometimes he forget where he is. For instance, he thinks he's still in Africa, or at the Dooms Patrol. But sometimes… He also calls for people we don't know or looks for things in the Tower that were never there"
"Do you… have any idea what could be happening, friend Raven?" questioned Starfire. Raven didn't answer immediately, frowning, her hand on her chin.
"That sounds like…" she said finally "…A case of temporal instability of the mind…"
"Temporal? You mean like…" started Robin.
"He is, in lack of a better word, traveling in time, yes" she completed, examining the changeling's face closely now "But that's really rare… And usually is caused when the person tries to travel in time… Or when there's contact with a very powerful magic object!
"Beast Boy?" she called him, carefully. The changeling turned to her like he was dreaming.
"Raven… Here. For luck" he said simply.
"See? I told you he says things that make no sense" said Cyborg, frustrated. Raven, however, recognized those words. For an instant she relived the moment that Beast Boy put a penny in her hand, right before the battle against Trigon.
"Starfire" she said in a low voice "Call him"
"Hm… Friend Beast Boy?" the Tamaranean obeyed, her hands together in an insecure position.
"Starfire" he said again, like reading something "Sorry. But you have to admit it was funny"
The day Starfire got caught in one of Beast Boy's pranks accidentally.
"Hey BB!" called Cyborg when Raven pointed to him.
"Cyborg… Dude, you should ask her out…" he mumbled.
"Hm? Is he talking about Sarah?"
"Beast Boy" called Robin in a serious tone.
"Dick…" answered the changeling "All set for your bachelor party"
Robin blushed intensely.
"Oh! I just remembered something!" exclaimed Starfire, walking to the door "I'll be back in a few minutes!"
"That was weird… He was on the future?" asked Cyborg, scratching his head.
"A version of a future, yes" agreed Raven, still very serious "But this is worrisome. He's traveling at an alarming speed. It will exhaust his mind pretty quickly"
"Can you do something?" asked Robin in an urgent tone.
"I… can go inside his mind" she answered, a little hesitant "So I can try to restore his time notion, keeping him on present, like it's suppose to be"
"Do you need anything?" questioned Cyborg, since the empath didn't do anything after her words.
"No… No" she said, shaking her head. She was afraid of going inside Beast Boy's mind, afraid of what she might find. But she couldn't turn her back to him now. They were, after all, friends. He had been there for her when she needed. And she would there for him as well.
"Caleb, go get some milk…" muttered Beast Boy, pointing at something they couldn't see. Raven turned so fast she snapped her neck.
"What did you say?" she asked, not hiding her surprise. He had just said her baby's name. Could Robin…? No, she didn't remind telling the leader her son's name.
But Beast Boy had returned to mumble incomprehensible things.
"What is it, Raven?" called Cyborg, suspicious.
"Nothing" she said, calming down "You… need to stay near. I don't know how long this is going to take. Keep his body stable"
"Done!" agreed Cyborg, going to the monitors around his friend.
"I know you can do this, Raven" said Robin, encouraging her.
"I hope so… Robin… If I'm not back by the end of the afternoon…" she started, talking in a low voice so Cyborg couldn't hear them "Could you go… at this address?"
"Don't worry" Robin slid the daycare's card out of sight, understanding it all.
"All set!" exclaimed Cyborg, and they walked to the bed.
Raven sat with her legs crossed, floating some inches from the ground, so her head was at the same height as Beast Boy's.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos" she recited with her eyes closed, and a black energy raven came out of her chest, flew around the room and went to Beast Boy, penetrating in his head.
No one noticed Terra had left the infirmary.
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