Chapter 5: Gone

The team was seated at the table when Robin entered the huge main room of Titan's Tower. In automatic detective mode, he noted they had opted to forgo the comfortable semi-circular couch in favour of the harder kitchen seats. There was no sign of any snacks on the table, not even for Cyborg and a complete lack of drinks as well. Just serious and tired faces.

Robin had barely sat down before Raven had spoken up. "Alright, how do go about finding Beastboy?"

"We don't," the leader replied shortly.

The empath's eyes narrowed, never a good sign. Her voice was ice cold, "Excuse me?"

"Raven, if you have any idea of how to find him I'm all ears. But as far as I can see, we have no way of tracking him or predicting where he's going. Beastboy's most likely hundreds of miles away by now."

"What of his communicator? Can we not track it?" Starfire asked.

"I tried tracing it as soon as we got back to the tower. It's not responding. Beastboy most likely broke it." Robin said. "The only other way I had identified of finding him was through you, Raven. Is it possible for you to detect him?"

Raven looked down before answering, "Theoretically, yes. I could project my soul-self and rapidly cover a lot of ground, scanning for his mind's signature. However in my current condition, it would take a lot longer than usual and it would a shot in the dark to begin with. Added to that, his mind is quite animalistic at the moment, meaning it would be harder to identify."

"I thought so," Robin sighed, "All we can do is wait for someone to spot him and report it to us or wait for him to come back of his own accord. Meanwhile, we just hope nothing bad happens until he reverts back to normal."

Raven's gaze snapped up to focus on Robins eyes. "To him," she said in a dangerous tone. "Nothing bad happens to him."

If she had been able to see his eyes, Raven would have seen her leaders pupils shift upwards before falling back down to focus on hers. "Of course." He said, voice steady. Tired though she was and hard as Robin was trying to steel his mind, Raven thought she could detect a hint of dishonesty in his statement. Remembering the incident on the edge of the forest, she decided to call him on it.

"You don't trust him, do you?"

Starfire examined Raven for a moment before turning to a tensed Robin, awaiting his response. Cyborg shifted his gaze to him as well, interested in his answer. He too had been slightly disturbed at Robin's reluctance to give chase when Beastboy had gone after the white monster. Raven kept her eyes focused on the team leader, who shifted his feet beneath the table.

"Look Raven, I trust Beastboy with my life every time we go into battle together, you know that. But there's no denying he's not in his right mind when he's like this. He's wild and unpredictable and we have no idea of what he's capable of in this condition."

"You think he's just a wild animal?" Cyborg cut in, staring at the team leader, incredulity in his human eye and a light glow starting to emit from his red, robotic one, "That he'll just blindly attack anything that moves?"

"Not necessarily, we just-"

"What the hell does that mean?" A faint redness tinged the edges of Ravens eyes.

"Robin, we know friend Beastboy to be a protector of the innocent."

"That's outta line man. I mean come on-"

"Enough!" Robin said, raising his voice against his team for the first time in years. He looked around at their shocked expressions and realised he had to remedy the situation fast. "I just have some worries over his instincts while in this state, all right? nothing more. When he comes back, we'll sit down, I'll express these concerns and we'll talk it out. Okay? Let's focus on him for now."

This seemed to appease his team. Raven was still glaring at him, a coldness in her countenance in place of her usual bland expression. Cyborg looked troubled and Starfire seemed more confused than anything.

"Back to business. Anyone care to start?"

Silence.

"Fine, I'll go first. We found Beastboy back here yesterday afternoon after he deserted us in our pursuit of the white monster. He told us that he'd seen Terra, apparently alive and unharmed. Then the alarm sounded for a disturbance in downtown and he refused to come with us, saying he was going to continue searching for her. Good so far?"

The titans nodded, except for Raven who hadn't stopped glaring. Nothing he had said so far was untrue but she didn't like the tone with which he spoke. It seemed too positive, like Robin was trying too hard. He continued.

"If I'm right, this is the last anyone saw of him before he turned up at the recycling plant today, correct?"

"Yeah,' Cyborg confirmed, putting aside his analysis of Robin in favour of trying to find out what had caused his friend's condition. "I checked his room last night, he didn't sleep here."

"Right, so what happened between those two times to cause the… change in him? Any ideas?"

Cyborg spoke up tentatively, "You think he could have found her?"

Robin sighed before answering, "Anything's possible. Stranger things have happened."

"If so, could Terra have attacked our friend, leading to his transformation?" Starfire asked?

Cyborg quickly theorised, "It's possible Star, the combination of emotional turmoil, anger and physical pain could have instigated a reaction in him, causing his change. It's conceivable, but we have no real understanding of what prompts his transformation into the Beast so I can't be sure.

"I suppose the only thing to do is check Terra's tomb to see if she's still there. We can go from there." Robin stated,

The others accepted this and soon a heavy silence had fallen.

"I believe I was not the only one to observe the differences in our friend's transformation today, yes?" Starfire said in a worried voice. Raven answered.

"I think I have the best understanding of what state he was in, as I was able to observe his emotional form to some extent." She spoke in her bland monotone with her hood up, giving no sign of emotion on the matter. "As far as I can understand, Beastboy was somewhere between his normal state of being and that of the Beast."

Cyborg nodded, "I thought the same thing based on his physical appearance. It was like he was himself just bearing some of the Beast's characteristics. I took a snapshot of him after he first arrived at the factory today. Here." Wirelessly syncing with the Tower's basic functions, Cyborg activated the high powered projector built into the ceiling of the room which cast its light to the far side of the room. The titans used this as a screen for video messaging, television, movies and video games. Now however, Cyborg used it to display the image of Beastboy he had snapped earlier in all its high definition glory.

The image showed the green titan down on all fours in front of the gaping hole he had made in the side of the building, sunlight reflecting of the dust still in the air around him. Teeth bared and eyes tight with focus. The sight silenced the titans before Cyborg took the initiative. Analysing the image, he spoke, using a nearby laser pointer to aid his prognosis of Beastboy's state.

"He appears approximately two thirds the size of the Beast; I'd say 6'10, maybe 7 feet tall. Judging from purely visual calculations, his muscles were enlarged by several hundred percent and his limbs lengthened. His feet grew straight, 2 inch long claws and his hands bared 3 inch, slightly curved talons. Tracks of fur emerged along his forearms, legs and back and his hair had tripled in length. His jaw had become larger to accommodate lengthened teeth and fangs which look to be very similarly serrated to that of a great white shark. I think we all recognise his eyes."

Everyone indeed recognised the glowing green eyes of the Beast staring out at them.

"So his physical appearance was a combination of his normal form and that of the Beast." Starfire summarised.

"It seems so," Cyborg confirmed.

"His mental mind fell somewhere in between as well," Raven not wanting to elaborate. However, she wasn't left with much choice. Robin turned to look at her.

"Explain."

Briefly she considered ignoring the Boy Wonder, but decided she couldn't chance another argument. There was a high chance she'd do something she'd regret. Besides, it could hurt the chances of finding their lost friend. "My initial encounter with Beastboy as The Beast afforded me a small window to examine his mind in that state. At that time, very little of his consciousness remained, almost none. It was very much like the mind set of an animal, entirely involved in the present and acting purely on instinct."

She paused, considering how to phrase how Beastboy had been earlier that day. "Today it was different. When he first arrived, he knew what he was doing." She gestured to the picture of Beastboy still up on the screen. "Beastboy never even glanced at us. He had a target; therefore he had been thinking ahead, something he definitely did not do as The Full Beast.

Cyborg interrupted, "I think we need a name for Beastboy like this," he voiced, motioning towards the screen. "All this talk of full Beasts and partial Beasts will get confusing. How about 'Changeling'? 'Cause he was still able to shape shift? Sound good? Alright, back to you Raven."

Raven nodded and continued, "While Beastboy didn't have any individual thoughts today, part of his and I can't believe I'm saying this, intelligence remained. I'm sure that was how he was able to defeat the white monster. He recognised physical attacks didn't do anything and altered his approach appropriately. While he might not have consciously made that observation, his intellect was still somewhat present, albeit buried under animal impulse. As The Beast, I'm sure he would have continued blindly attacking until exhaustion.

"Putting it simply, his mind was somewhere between his normal form and that of the Beast. Just like his physical form, there were characteristics present from both states." Her analysis complete, Raven lapsed into silence.

"It was clever of friend Beastboy to determine a method to defeat our assailant," Starfire said smiling.

'Or he got lucky,' Robin thought bitterly, annoyed at Starfire's praise. Out of the corner of his eye he detected a glare from Raven and quickly spoke. "It's interesting how he retained his power to shape shift. He fought quite differently in the brief time we observed him. I was impressed." He turned and addressed Raven, "What happened when you followed him into the forest? We were quite some time behind you."

Raven resisted the desire to roll her eyes at his attempt to appease her by praising Beastboy. How blind did he think she was? Nevertheless, she answered his question as the others looked at her, intrigued.

"I eventually found him engaging the white monster alone, doing an admirable job I might add." Raven had to restrain a smile trying to force its way onto her lips at the sight of a clearly irate Robin. She continued, "You're right, he was fighting in a very different style to his usual approach, using his abilities like I'd never seen. However, none of the damage he inflicted did anything, the thing simply reformed. When he changed back to himself, he was in a bad way." Raven frowned, remembering his beaten and bloody body.

"What happened then?" Starfire asked, apprehension in her voice.

Raven considered telling them of the rest of the battle with her disastrous intervention and Beastboy almost killing himself to save her. But she still hadn't got around to examining that herself. Besides, there was really nothing to gain.

"Eventually, he took the form of a snake and bit it several times before being thrown off. After that the thing just…melted. I turned around and he was gone, that's when you guys showed up."

Silence descended again until Starfire spoke up, "Where you able to gain any insight into his emotions, Raven? How he felt?"

The empath inwardly sighed before answering in her monotone voice, "Remember what I said about his conscience Star? How he wasn't really thinking and had no clearly defined thoughts, but his intellect was still somehow able to function? Well, it was the same with his emotional landscape. There were no individual emotions, just a broad generality of feeling.

Raven tried to elaborate. "If I were to look into your mind right now Star, I would see emotion and thought; two separate things. At the moment, your emotions are dimmed as you are concentrating on what I am saying and therefore feeling takes a back seat" Starfire opened her mouth to question the expression and Raven quickly clarified, "Your feelings are in the background, pushed to one side as you focus on me, right?" Star nodded slowly.

"Well, this is how animals' minds behave. They always live in the moment with no real emotions, merely acting on whatever urge is compelling them at that instant in time. That's what Beastboy was like, focused entirely on whatever was immediately grabbing his attention, with emotion not really being present. Does that make sense? Raven felt relief at Stars cautious nod.

"So, in the shell of a nut, he wasn't feeling anything as he was always doing something?"

"He wasn't feeling much. It's impossible for any living thing to be completely devoid of basic emotions barring the plant kingdom and the very simplest of animals. But yes you're right. At the beginning-

"He looked pretty mad to me," Robin cut in, crossing his arms.

Ravens gaze snapped to him. She did not like being interrupted or contradicted. "A wolf does not feel rage or 'mad' when his pack is threatened; it merely feels the urge to protect, there is no emotion involved. This is what Beastboy was experiencing as Changeling. Do not question my abilities or experience as an empath." She delivered the last line with narrowed eyes and a subtle threat in her tone.

Robin remained still. Any other time he wouldn't have let that go, but he recognised now was not the time. Raven was clearly upset at the events involving Beastboy and was feeling particularly touchy. Best just to leave it be.

Raven continued as if the interruption hadn't happened, "When he first appeared at the factory, Beastboy was feeling just that; the need to protect. Robin's message to him asking for his help is most likely the reason for his feeling that urge upon arrival. This continued until we all confronted him and he started to change back when…"

"When what?" Cyborg gently prompted. It couldn't have been pleasant for the empath to look into his mind at that stage, especially when he freaked out when Terra had been mentioned.

Raven steeled her voice, "He became easier to read at that stage as his conscience started to reappear and his animal urges faded. He mostly felt confusion and fear as his transformation started. That was when something happened to trigger his conversion back into Changeling." Raven said, turning her eyes on Robin.

He didn't meet her eyes, deciding instead to take over lead of the discussion, "The mention of Terra acting as the trigger for his reaction lends credence to our theory from earlier that she-"

"You're just going to gloss over that? Not admit your mistake?" Raven's cold and dangerous voice interrupted, her eyes flashing.

"I made no mistake," Robin responded, turning to look at her, "I was perfectly correct in my deduction that Terra was in some way most likely the cause of his condition-"

"And you thought the most appropriate course of action was to mention the very thing you believed to be the source of his transformation?" Raven responded, voice getting louder with every word.

"Raven, calm down. He made a mistake." Cyborg pleaded, not wanting this to get out of hand.

"I have no problem with his making a mistake," Raven stated, eyes starting to glow blood red as they stayed fixed on Robins. "What I do have a problem with in his denial of it! Beastboy would be sitting here now if it wasn't for your blunder and I will not have you denying it!"

Robin capitulated, "Okay, okay I messed up! I thought the situation was in hand and I screwed everything up, I'm sorry!" Robin exploded, unloading his guilt and shame over the accident. It had been a pretty stupid move on his part.

Ravens eyes returned to normal and several objects included a toaster, plate, chair and the couch slowly returned to their places gently before the aura of black surrounding them faded. "It's okay Robin," She said, voice and face softening at the waves of previously submerged guilt flowed out of him, "I know you had no intention of inciting him further.

"But know this," Robin raised his eyes to hers, wondering what she had in store. "The reason this works, both as a family and as a team, is that we have trust in you. That we retain the right to question your decisions and influence you as a leader. When you don't admit your mistakes to the team, that faith dries up. Remember that. I don't need to remind you of Red-X."

Everyone cringed at the memory of that Robins deception. It had taken weeks and months for the entire team to get over it. Robin replied.

"You're right Raven. I apologise to you all, thanks for putting up with me," A guilty grin on his face as he saw his team nodding and smiling at him. "Anyway, back to Beastboy. Raven, you were talking about his mental state after my intervention of his transformation."

She nodded, pleased at his humbling and continued where she had left off. "At the mention of Terra, Beastboy's emerging mind immediately went into emotional turmoil. The main feeling that I was able to distinguish being overwhelming guilt. His consciousness then recoiled back from the pain of the emotion into animal instinct. Like he was shielding himself from the emotional pain by hiding underneath his animal side."

"Guilt, huh?" Cyborg wondered aloud. "Well, we all know what he was like after Terra died; it's just like him to blame himself over something like that as well. I didn't think it would be that bad though."

"Indeed, perhaps these feelings of guilt resulted from interaction with Terra yesterday, initiating his transformation."

"That's definitely a possibility Star, but we still don't know if it was the real Terra or if…"

Raven remained quiet as her friends kept on deliberating. She detested lying, but didn't feel that she was out of line keeping back what else she had seen in Beastboys head. She had no real idea of what that had been anyway and it definitely wouldn't have contributed to anything. She tuned back into the conversation as Robin was talking.

"…think that's about all for tonight guys, It's gone 2 o'clock. Best to get some rest. If Beastboy isn't in his bed tomorrow morning, we'll have to start looking for him. Cyborg, I want you to do a full chemical analysis and evaluation of that sample you have of the white monster. That thing didn't come from nowhere and it's likely to be the start of something. Thanks guys, sleep well."

The pale half-moon's light glinted off of a pool of muddy white in a scene of utter destruction. Without a sound a dark figure approached, head turning as they scanned the devastation with an observing eye.

Starlight glinted off a test tube container as the figure kneeled by the puddle of matter and a deep voice whispered to itself.

"Let's see what went wrong, shall we?"

So chapter 5. Thoughts, opinions, criticisms?
All reviews appreciated enormously.

Review Responses.
Waterfire98 – Sorry for disappointing you, I hope you won't be dissatisfied with Batgirl. Why did you think it was Argent, though?

FF8cerberus – Thanks for reviewing. I like in-team conflicts and after rewatching 'The Beast Within,' thought Robin was out of line but in a reasonable way and decided to integrated that into the fic. I'm going to try to fit in a character arc for him as well throughout this. As for how long BB will be away, you'll find out in a few chapters. Though I will say I spent some time working on the phrasing of that sentence ;)

Thanks for everything guys,
Peace,
CJB