Last time I checked, I still didn't own the Teen Titans. I could check again, but... well, it's my day off, so I reserve the right to be lazy ;)

Beast Boy stared in confusion at the spot where Raven had been not a moment ago. Her powers had acted up, she turned bright red, and then she was just gone.

Something was wrong with her.

He almost went after her, but the unconscious form of Adonis at his feet reminded him that he had to wait for the authorities to arrive. Hopefully they'd be quick.

The villain began to come to, and Beast Boy let out a groan of exasperation as he lifted Adonis to his feet and held his hands firmly behind his back.

"What happened?" the now-suitless villain grumbled.

Instead of gloating like usual, Beast Boy merely growled in response. Robin really should have given his teammates some sort of restraint to manage the villains after battle. Holding the dudes wrists together made the creep a little too close for comfort.

Adonis turned his head to try to get a look at the changeling, and groaned when they made eye contact.

"Where'd that creepy chick go?"

Beast Boy stifled another growl as he glared at the villain. "I have no idea who you're referring to," he deadpanned, unconsciously digging his nails into the man's wrists.

Adonis merely hissed in pain, before continuing his explanation. "You know, the hot one with the scary powers."

The shape-shifter felt his skin crawl as he realized this villain was even worse than Raven's fan-boys when it came to "complimenting" her. "You mean Raven, the girl who kicked your butt?" he sneered, pulling the villain towards the road in the hopes that the cops were almost there.

"Yeah, her! Doesn't she usually wear that big old robe thing? Is she changing up her look?"

Beast Boy ignored the creep's question as he glanced up and down the road, praying for the flashing lights and straining his ears to hear the sirens.

"'Cuz she might want to rethink that - if she's dressed like that all the time, she's only gonna encourage me to make more trouble; especially since it'll give me the excuse to pin her down - "

Beast Boy felt something inside him snap as he pushed Adonis to the ground and knelt beside him, rejoicing in the villain's pained look as he tried to pull his face off of the concrete.

"Listen here, jackass," Beast Boy growled, baring his teeth. "You don't talk about Raven like that. You don't think about Raven like that. And you sure as hell don't look at Raven like that, 'cuz if she doesn't kill you for it..." He leaned in close to the villain's ear as his instincts, primal side, and even his human side begged him to rip the guy's throat out.

"I will," he finished with a hiss.

Adonis only nodded in response, and Beast Boy could smell the fear radiating off of the villain. He knew he should have felt a little bad, since it was against Robin's code of conduct to hurt or threaten a villain after they apprehended them, but he couldn't let that creep get away with talking about Raven like that.

Plus, he knew Robin would do the same if he had been talking about Starfire.

Though Starfire was Robin's girlfriend.

Beast Boy felt himself blush as he realized he was acting like Raven was his girlfriend. He knew she'd be pissed that he even felt the need to stand up for her, since she could "take care of herself", but the aggressive way he went about it was sure to raise a few eyebrows, especially hers. He took Adonis's comments a little to close to heart, it seemed.

Not wanting to make a scene, Beast Boy hauled Adonis off of the ground, electing a sigh of relief from the villain. It seemed as though the changeling's hostile behavior caused the suit-less man to rethink anymore taunts as he stood silently, waiting for the authorities to arrest him.

About ten minutes later, Beast Boy was flying back to the tower in the form of a raven, laughing to himself at the slight irony. Adonis had gone quietly, and he was fairly certain the villain wouldn't bring up the empath again.

Landing on the roof, he morphed back into his human form and made his way into the tower. As he descended the stairs towards their living quarters, he felt an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He knew Raven was most likely meditating, and he didn't want to interrupt her. But he also knew Robin would expect her to come to training, and she was obviously having some trouble with her powers.

And he really didn't want her to hurt herself during training again.

He slowed his pace as he neared her door, trying to sort out his feelings before he bombarded her with worry and anxiety. Instead, he pushed forward a sense of calm, so that when she did pick up on his emotions, they'd hopefully help her relax. She had confided in him once that sometimes she'd be influenced by other's strong emotions, his and Starfire's especially. He was embarrassed at first, as well as a little outraged that she was invading his privacy, but she had explained that it was unintentional. She also pointed out that he was guilty of physically invading hers, which he acknowledged with a sheepish smile.

It wasn't his fault he was burdened with an unhealthy amount of curiosity, and her secrecy was just begging him to pry. It also didn't help that she was a pretty girl and he had been a nosy little fourteen year old when they first met. And it really didn't help that she was still a pretty girl, who his more primal urges had taken a liking to.

Shaking away those thoughts, he focused on feeling serene as he knocked on her door.

Meadows; think about meadows, he told himself as he strained his ears to hear Raven through her door. Trees... grass... clouds... He felt his heart race quicken at the sound of her approaching footsteps. Hills... flowers... he continued, still attempting to feel calm as she opened her door.

"Lilacs..."

Beast Boy hadn't realized he had spoken aloud until the empath was staring at him with a blank expression.

"Lilacs?" she repeated, and though her face remained placid, he could tell she hadn't appreciated the interruption.

He couldn't stop himself from blushing as he stared at her. Why had he knocked on her door again? To embarrass himself?

"Uhm..." he started slowly, trying to come up with a plausible reason for why he had just said lilacs. "You smell like them..."

Raven rolled her eyes at his excuse. "You came all the way to my room and interrupted my meditation to inform me that you've yet to stop sniffing me?"

"Heh, n-no..." He laughed sheepishly at her conclusion, rubbing the back of his neck out of habit. He always said the stupidest things in front of her. But as he looked into her tired eyes, he suddenly remembered his actual reason for coming to her.

"What's wrong, Rae?"

He knew he should have planned out a better approach as he watched her physically shy away from him.

"Nothing's wrong," she stated flatly, and if it hadn't been for the slightest twitch of her lips, he might have believed her. But Raven didn't twitch unless something was wrong, or if she was lying, or if she was lying about something being wrong.

"Raven," he began slowly, hoping to coax her into sharing with him by using her preferred name, "you've been a little... off lately, and I... I'm just concerned for your, uh... well-being."

Her eyebrow raised the slightest, but other than that, she gave no indication that she was listening.

"And, uhm..." he continued, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the situation. He was prying, and he knew it. And Raven hated it when people would pry. Especially when he would pry. And he was doing just that. Prying.

"I'm just worried that there's something you're not telling me," he admitted, giving her a pleading look.

She merely blinked in response.

He felt himself scratch the back of his neck again as he stared into her eyes. "I-is there? You know - something you're not telling me?"

The silence that followed was almost unbearable as he watched the slightest look of contempt cross her otherwise expressionless features.

"I wasn't aware of my obligation to share every minor detail of my life with you," she drawled sarcastically.

He knew she wasn't trying to pick a fight, but her harsh tone really rubbed him the wrong way. Biting back his initial retort, he gave her an innocent smile. "Well, I'm glad we've got this all sorted out then," he laughed awkwardly.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Thank you for enlightening me."

They stared at each other silently for a few moments longer, before she made a move to close her door. Reacting quickly, he stuck his arm out and pulled it open wider, taking a step closer to her.

Her eyes widened slightly, and he could see her internal debate of whether to stand her ground or take a step back.

His heart rate quickened at her decision to remain rooted in her spot, causing him to be barely a foot away from her. He told himself it was from fear of what she'd do to him, but that didn't explain the tingly feeling he got in his stomach. Was that... excitement? What was he excited about?

He felt his eyes move over her face as he soaked in any and all indications of emotion that passed over her features. He had never been this close for this long, and he felt his eyes grow hungry for anything more she could offer with her expression.

"I don't want to talk about it."

His heart nearly leapt from his chest at her confession. Raven had just confided in him. She had admitted to something. She was acknowledging her problem. Reluctant to talk about it, maybe, but she had confirmed that not all was well in the vast paradox that was Raven.

His head pounded from pain as he scrambled for an intelligent response. A part of him was in utter shock that she had even said anything, while another part was jumping for joy at his progress. She was opening up to him. This was amazing.

"Okay..."

He felt as if he had given away the winning lottery ticket as his voice agreed with her. Did he really just willingly give up the chance to have an actual conversation with Raven about her emotions? What the hell was wrong with him?

She was apparently just as surprised as him, tilting her head slightly in bewilderment. "Okay..?" she repeated, and he got the distinct feeling that maybe she wanted him to press further.

But that was just crazy - like she'd ever want to discuss something like that with him. She was the team therapist, and he was the goofball.

Beast Boy nodded slowly, not trusting himself with the conversation any longer. "I can respect that," he began, not believing that his voice was actually saying this. He was supposed to push her - cause her to throw him against the wall for prying.

And yet, all she did was stare at him with a dumbfounded look on her face.

"But," he continued, feeling a little better as his nosy self returned, "I want you to... I need you to let me know if it's something... you know... that I'd need to... know."

Wow, Beast Boy, you have such a way with words, he thought bitterly, cringing internally at the lack of intelligence in his statement.

"I..."

He was torn from his thoughts as she began speaking again, and he suddenly found himself hanging on her every word. After all, she was almost confiding in him. And that was a big deal.

"I will," she finished lamely, giving him the teensiest smile of gratitude, which caused him to feel on top of the world. Raven was grateful for him.

"Sweet," he breathed, a strange cocktail of emotions brewing in his stomach - relief, curiosity, worry, fear, anger, and satisfaction, just to name a few. But also an underlying hint of something... sort of familiar. Something he hadn't felt in a while, so he wasn't able to name it. Something... strange. And tingly.

He kind of liked the feeling.

What could this mystery feeling be? And can Raven detect it? Will she be able to offer some insight? Hmm...

Anywhoo, leave a review? That'd be pretty freaking sweet!