Authors Note: I just want to let you all know that this is irregular. I do not usually write so quickly and updates may slow down. I'm sorry, but I've found that if one tries to rush their Muse, then the Muse will give one a small burst of creativity, then just leave for a while. Like wise, when the Muse gives you inspiration, it is bad to ignore it. Thank you for all the reviews!

Disclaimer: Still own nothing.

Chapter 3

His head hurt… a lot. His eyes stung with salt and water stood in his ears, pressing painfully against his ear drum. He was wet, but some of the salt had begun to crystallize on his skin, sapping the moisture from it. Gingerly, he pushed himself up, rubbing his pounding hand with a wet, gloved hand. What happened? The last thing he remembered was opening his window for some fresh air and hearing that crazy music again. Now he was laying on a particularly uncomfortable rock somewhere on the West side of Titans Island, soaking wet, with a strange craving to go out and swim. If his wetness was any indication, he had already done that, so maybe he should just call it a day and go sleep in his bead. He was really tired.

"Hold it Gar!" he yelled at himself as he stood up, throwing his arms out in front of him as if to catch an invisible wall speeding at him. "You're outside of the tower, soaking wet, and have no clue how you got here! Doesn't this qualify as slightly strange at least?" Beast Boy, thought about it for a moment, the gears in his brain turning abnormally slow, probably flooded with salt water and rusted by fatigue and disuse. He wasn't stupid, but simply found no reason to exert himself when he knew people would give him the answer if he pouted for long enough. Yes, this situation could be considered slightly strange, even by super hero standards. Hadn't he promised himself that he would go see Raven if something like this happened? No, that was only if something weird happened, and he had been known to sleep walk before.

'Only to the refrigerator or couch,' a voice in his head pointed out, causing him to frown slightly. True, but he could have taken up swimming in his sleep. Yeah… not likely, but still perfectly possible, right? 'Right' He snorted at the voices resemblance to Raven.

'Isn't it enough that I'm always thinking about you? Do you have to be in my head too?' Beast Boy was only mildly surprised that he was answering "The Voices" as he started walking towards the front door. He couldn't help it, not when it was almost like talking to Raven. They never did that, at least, not on a regular basis, and when they did talk it was never for a long time.

'You do realize that it's only a little past dawn?' He frowned dramatically, partially because she had completely ignored his sentimental statement, and partially because she was right, as usual. The sun was just above the horizon, strangely red, staining the world with crimson as it reflected off the ocean's surface. His eyes moved up to the glace paned surface of Titans Tower, each shining with ruby light bright enough to hurt his eyes, forcing him to look away sharply. After a few seconds of blinking to clear the shadows from his vision, he looked back, his eyes immediately finding the dark spot that was his window. Funny, shouldn't the glass be reflecting the dawn light too? Or had he opened his window last night? Was that how he got out to begin with? Well, if that was how he'd gotten out, then why not go back in the same way? He found no reason why not, so he morphed into a seagull and took flight.

The next thing he knew, he was back in the ocean treading water about 20 feet away from the shore, back in human form. "Wha…" he said out loud, spitting saltwater out of his mouth and making a face. For some reason, he could taste the things beneath the salt, the fish blood and seaweed and dirt. They were far sharper than usual, difficult to ignore, and rather disgusting. Frowning, he swam back to shore and tried again. The second his form began to shift, he felt the water pulling him, tempting him with promises he couldn't quite make out. He clenched his jaw… beak, fighting the urge to just fly out to sea. Instead, he forced himself into the air, focusing harder than he ever had in his entire life on getting to the open window. That was a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. There wasn't any physical pain, more like an emotional loss, like being pulled away from something very important but he couldn't quite understand what. He couldn't understand this feeling, like he needed to be going somewhere but wasn't. Where? Where was he supposed to go?

He landed on the window sill, teetered a bit, then fell into his messy room, panting from an exhaustion that didn't make sense. Slowly, he inched along the wall, away from the opening, trying to push himself up. Yellow eyes snapped open in his mind, silted pupils boring into his sole. Pain exploded in his head and ears as a horrible screeching filled the room. He grabbed his head, biting back a cry and crumpling to his knees again. It was like the song he kept hearing, but twisted and angry… with him. Yes, it was angry with him for…what? 'You didn't come!' a voice, not his or the Raven-like one, but still familiar in some way. 'Return to me!' Then it stopped, leaving him panting and drenched in sweat and sea water. The Yellow eyes closed, reseeding to the back of his mind. Well, if that didn't qualify as weird, he didn't know what did. He needed to go see Raven, regardless of what time it was.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Had he been in any other mood besides scared out of his pants, he would have been amused at the similarity between the Raven in his head and the one staring daggers at him from the crack in the door.

"4:30 in the morning?" He was digging his toe into the floor behind him, nervous beyond all reason. It wasn't just that she was more likely to throw him out the window than listen to him; there were a billion other reasons. The most prominent being that he was planning on asking her to go into his head and find out what was wrong with him. But there was another, not-so-small voice, blushing like crazy at the idea of spending any time alone with her and stuttering like a child who had broken a vase. "But Raven-"

"Go away, I'm meditating," she hissed, trying to close the door. Beast Boy thrust his hand into the crack, forcing it all the way open. "What do you think you're doing?" Raven looked ready to kill, her violet eyes seeking his emerald ones. He refused to meet her gaze, he couldn't, the yellow eyes were to close to the surface, very close to opening. She sensed something, perhaps the presence in his mind, and slid one pale grey hand beneath his chin, forcing his face up, though his eyes still refused to meet hers. "Beast Boy, why are you here?" Her voice wasn't soft, or warm, but not sharp like it had been before.

"I-I need your help," he managed to get out, blinking furiously, his eyes darting anywhere they could find that wasn't hers. Though her face remained smooth, blank as a white sheet of paper, he could tell she was concerned. He could always tell.

"Come in," Raven said flatly after a few seconds. He started at her voice, and almost fell over backwards at the sensation of her hand gripping his elbow. "Unless you'd rather continue feeding the puddle you've made at my door. He turned scarlet at that, glancing down at his shivering, dripping, salty form. She took the chance to pull him into her room and close the door, grabbing a spare cloak from her closet and throwing it at him. "If you drip on my carpet, I'll kill you." He didn't doubt it, she'd threatened to do worse to him before, and carried them out. Not pleasant, but more often then not, he had deserved it. He would never admit it, but he was aware of when he had gone to far, and always let her catch him after such a stunt. Regardless of the painful punishments that followed, it was always worth the tiniest twitch he saw at the corners of her mouth before she started to hunt him. He could tell when she was trying not to smile too.

"Right," Beast Boy said, scrubbing his hair fervently with the cloak. "Thanks."

"You're going to wash that later," she stated bluntly, gesturing to her bed. He went to sit down, received a glare, and but the dry part of the cloak onto the blanket and then sat down. She followed suit, letting her hood down and staring at him. He was still avoiding her gaze, fidgeting uncomfortably. He hadn't been in her room since he and Cy had accidentally been pulled into Nevermore and that had been… memorable. Not memorable in a bad way, he had learned a lot about Raven that day, and had become all the more determined to make her laugh, but there had been some seriously scary stuff in her head. Her father stuck out as near the top of his list, even more so now that they had met in person. "Uncomfortable," she asked, noticing his anxiety. He nodded sharply, then opened his mouth to take it back, his eyes wide at the possible reactions she could have. And he couldn't afford to get thrown out. But she held up a hand to silence him. "I understand, it's not quite as homey as your room or the living room. But I assume you'd rather do this in private."

"Yeah," he said, attempting to grin, but failing miserably, his features twisting into more of a grimace. This was rather personal, it was actually really personal. Yellow eyes in his head, not exactly a walk in the park. Robin would probably have kittens if he found out. And the singing… if anything that had gotten worse since yesterday. And then there was the media. If they found out that one of the Titans was hallucinating, they'd be all over it like a pack of starved hyenas. No, he would see if Raven could fix it, quietly, privately. "Are you always up this early?"

"Is that what you 'need' me for? To tell you what time I got up at?"

"No, I just thought we could talk a bit before-"

"Before you ask me to go into your head," she finished, never moving her gaze from his bright green eyes. "So you're just stalling for time."

"I'm sorry to ask you to do this Raven, but… I don't know what else to do."

"Robin already asked me to do the same thing. I was just waiting for your consent." Beast Boy's eyebrows raised slightly, a slight look of disbelief coming into his eyes. "Surprised?"

"Yeah," he replied truthfully, swinging his legs rhythmically… to rhythmically. "I mean, I saw Robin back in the infirmary, and he was pretty freaked out. I can't imagine that he would have just said 'Well, if Raven doesn't want to, I guess I can't make her! So lets all go have ice cream!' That just seems so…" he trailed off, glancing up at her for the first time, then looked away before her eyes found his.

"Anti-Robin," she offered, thoroughly shocked to find herself trying to make Beast Boy feel comfortable in her room.

"Yeah." He nodded his head sharply, his wetness creating a large ring on her deep blue cloak. It would soak through to her sheets soon. Silence descended between them, as it had back in the infirmary, thin and brittle. And in that silence, he could hear music in his head.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Raven's voice pulled him back into reality like a dart thrown at a balloon. "Like why you're so obsessed with the sea all of a sudden?" He blinked a few times to clear his vision and found himself staring at Raven's window longingly.

"Huh? Oh, I didn't realize,"

"I know." Beast Boy looked quite confused by this. How could she know that he didn't know? Wait, that was confusing. She know that he knew that she couldn't know that he didn't know? His head hurt. "You broadcast your emotions loud enough for any telepath and gypsy within 5 miles of you could hear them." He bit his lip, chewing it for a second, flushing slightly.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, almost too quietly to hear. That blindsided her, throwing her off guard for half a second. In that moment, she felt his sincerity slipping through her mental walls. "It must be hard for you, always having to know what I'm feeling. I think I'd go crazy if there was someone else in my head."

"I can put up a barrier around my mind so that doesn't happen. You're not in my head." He looked both relieved and hurt by her words, but she ignored it. They'd spent enough time talking. "So you're going to have to just tell me what's wrong."

"I can't explain it." He was struggling to get the words out, almost as though it was some type of physical challenge. "It's like, I hear this music and… I have to follow it, like I have no choice." His voice faltered, as though caught in his throat. Beast Boy swallowed and closed his eyes as Yellow ones opened in his mind. "And I don't want one, Raven, that's what scares me." That's when he looked at her, his emerald eyes snapping open to gaze pleadingly into her violet ones. His emotions hit her like a brick wall, but she didn't break eye contact. Confusion. Need. Desperation. Loneliness. There was something underneath these emotions though, something not-Beast Boy.

"So, why do you need me? Sounds like you already know what's wrong, so why don't you go tell this to Cyborg?" She broke eye contact before Beast Boy pulled her too far into his mind. She had to be in control of the link, if they even established one today, or risk becoming a part of him. If she just let his consciousness envelope hers, she might never be able to separate them again. Not something she wanted to experience, especially not with Beast Boy.

"If you need a reason for me to come to you and ask for help," he said sharply, the slightest hint of bitterness in his voice as he pushed himself to his feat, his body swaying dangerously for a moment.. "Then maybe you should consider the fact that I woke up this morning on the shore, drenched in salt water with no clue how I got there. And that when I tried to fly up to my room, I just found myself back in the ocean." He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax a little before continuing. "Raven, Rae," he used her nick-name, grabbing her full attention the second the sounds left his mouth. "Cyborg can't go into my head and see what's wrong with me. He can't explain the music or this pulling thing or my lack of memory and reason. You can. So I'm asking you to help me, just this once. I know you don't want to be inside my head, but I really, really need you." He resembled a child begging for help with their two days late homework. Raven sighed in defeat, gesturing to the soaked cloak to her left. Beast Boy sat down again, looking embarrassed by his outburst.

"I can't promise anything, but I'll try to find out the reason for all of this." Beast Boy nodded his thanks, too focused on her fingertips on his temples to say anything. "I'm probably going to regret this," she muttered, then slid into his mind.

He was swimming. The water was cold, and salty against his scales, but the fish didn't care. It was used to such things; after all, it was a fish. How long had it been since he had hit the water and taken off as fast as he could swim? How long had it been since he had realized that it would be smart to turn into a fish before he drowned himself? How long had it been since the music started? That didn't seem particularly important at the moment, but he couldn't help but wonder. All that mattered was finding the source of the song, which had been getting louder ever since he had opened his window. He was close.

He wasn't too deep, maybe 20 feet, but he felt the pressure like it was 10,000. Every nerve in his body was tingling, every sense heightened, increased in sensitivity 10 fold, even as a fish, he could feel the change, the flood of energy and strength, the sound waves shooting through the water to swirl about his body, the driving need to reach his destination. The music was feeding him, enticing him to follow its call, and he responded readily. His muscles were beginning to ache even as he shifted into a new form, he didn't care which one, forcing himself on

'On to where?' A tiny voice had awoken inside of him, forcing its question into his conscious, if you could call it that, mind. Try as he might, he couldn't push it away, couldn't forget those three little words.

'Not important,' answered another, almost feral in nature, its voice a mere growl. 'Music. Follow. Find. Need. Follow. Voice.'

'Follow to where,' the little voice asked innocently, genuinely confused by the others desperation.

'Need. Follow. Song. Find.' Was all the other would say, forcing the body forward.

'To where?'

"To me," a new voice said soothingly. The song stopped and he almost cried out in remorse, but he had no vocal cords. There was a shape up ahead, a type of giant bubble, shining golden in the gloom of the night water. A woman sat inside it, her hands and feet three toed talons, their scales running up to her elbows and knees, her eyes yellow and her pupils slits of black. Her skin looked as though it had once been darkened by the sun, but long since bleached by the dark depths of the ocean. Long, dusty brown hair fell all around her, pooling at her feet as she stood, her scalp dotted by long sparrow feathers that stuck out at odd angles. "You didn't drown," she observed in a mesmerizing voice, holding him spell bound as when she sang. "I've been waiting for you, but I fear I am not yet ready." She placed one bird-like hand on the transparent wall between them. "Return to me."

Author's Note Cont: Wow, longer than I expected, but that's my Muse for you. Feel free to guesses as to who this woman is, but you won't find out if you're right until later. I'm not sure how much later, but what fun is a mystery if you're not allowed to guess who did it!