Hey yo, author here! Thank you for all the reviews! Was nervous for the last chapter, kind of the main point of the first part of this, and seemed to go down well! This was probably the hardest chapter to write so far, cause it's moving from Act 1 to Act 2, but I'm setting this up for a long one, so if you're looking for sketching in this, bare with me, cause it's probably coming! Thank for all the favorites and follows, and the reviews means a lot. Will start trying to reply to them all now as they come in! As usual, much love!

I don't own Teen Titans or any DC characters, otherwise this would be a script, not a FF!

Ch. 8 Aftermath

It can sometimes be hard to recognize an event that's going to change everything in real time, especially when it's unplanned. In so many cases, it's difficult to gauge the true impact of a single defining moment until after the fact, where time has allowed the fallout to settle, and repercussions can seem clear as day, with new provided clarity.

This was not the case this for the four titans who still stood outside Titans tower, rain gently starting to come down around them, almost as if the sky was weeping, joining them in their pain. It was nearing midnight and yet none of the Titans had made to move back inside and they all knew why. Moving inside confirmed reality. If they stayed where they were, frozen in the moment, they could put off facing what had happened just a little longer. But the second they moved indoors, with one less member than they should have, and Cyborg confirmed the presence of the chemical in their systems…then there would be no denying reality any longer.

Surprisingly enough, it was Starfire who was the first to rise. Eyes puffy from crying, and still favouring her leg from her encounters with the vision of the beast. Her hair hanging down across her face from the rain, she hardly looked like her usually confident self. And yet her eyes were ablaze, full of determination…she had something to say.

"Friends…during the battle with Malchior, I would have been grievously injured if it wasn't for friend Beast Boy pushing me out of the way of Malchior's fire. I was distracted by the dragon's knowledge of my past".

Cyborg and Robin had turned to look at Starfire, while Raven was still staring numbly at the ground. Seeing this Starfire walked over the Raven, and gently placed a hand under her chin. She was a little unnerved to see that not only had Raven stop crying, but she was the vision of stoic. Starfire, usually excellent at reading emotions, had no idea what was going through the empaths mind. She turned back to the others.

"Beast Boy reminded me that it didn't matter what happened in the past, what mattered was what was happening then and there. We had people depending on us and he made me realise that. We have made a horrible mistake, and we will live with it, but we are currently in the now. Standing in the rain will do us no good. We must go inside, make sure we are all okay, and then we will make a plan, find Beast Boy and get him back".

Robin rose to his feet at the end of Starfire's speech. "You're right Star…Gar wouldn't want this from us...we're done sitting here feeling sorry for ourselves."

Cyborg pushed himself to his feet slowly, as he was still lacking an arm. "…we owe it to him".

The three standing Titans looked to Raven, who still hadn't said a word. "…friend Raven please…we must stay together…none of us should be alone right now".

"….I realized too late…I should have stopped sooner…I should have trusted Garfield…I sho-"

A firm gloved hand on her shoulder broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up to Robin, who's eyes were stern.

"No Raven…absolutely none of us are to think like that. We all fell for Deathstroke's ploy but I will not have anyone of us taking the blame themselves. We're going to find Beast Boy and that kind of thinking will take you down a path I will not watch a Titan go down. We stay together, we take blame together, we find Beast Boy together and we defeat Deathstroke together, got it?"

Raven looked up at Raven with wide-eyes before giving the most imperceptible of nods and rising to her feet. "Cyborg could you just take a quick look at my throat here. I would like to go straight to my room if that's okay".

Cyborg nodded and smiled at her sadly, "Sure Raven". Cyborg activated the flashlight on his shoulder and conducted a quick scan. "Nothing too major, looks irritated, but you should be fine to heal it on your own. I might still have to check on you for your concussion tonight".

"That's fine."

With that, Raven disappeared into one of her portals, the three reminding Titans watching it disappear in silence. Cyborg let out a heavy sigh. "She's taking this the worst out of all of us".

Starfire felt like she knew the answer, but kept that too herself, now was not the time to divulge her theories on that matter to the others. "Let us return inside friends…we will figure this out, I swear it on X'hal."

The three remaining titans made their way towards the ground floor entrance of the tower, the rain coming down harder than ever, drowning out the rest of the world too the teenagers as they went inside. Cyborg almost didn't want to power down for a recharge. Something told him that the the scene outside of the tower would only hurt worse in the daylight.

Raven knew she should try and get some sleep, she really did. But how do you just sleep after something like that. She could still see the dent in her door from where she'd collided with it just a few hours ago. The imprint was fixed there, directly across from her bed, almost screaming at her that the events that had just occurred were real.

Sleep would have to wait though. She needed to get back in control of her emotions. She was hoping none of the other Titans had noticed, but there was point down there where she was a split second from losing it. She thought Starfire had realized when she had lifted her chin-up, but if she did she didn't say anything. Raven had almost thought of going straight to the room they had built for during Trigon's invasion, just so she could let everything loose, but had decided against it. However, that didn't mean she didn't have a journey to make.

She looked down at the mirror she had been turning over and over in her hands. She needed clarity and she needed it badly. With an exhale of breath, Raven firmly gripped the mirror before being sucked inside.

The landscape in Raven's mind had never exactly been a joyous environment. Sure, there was Happy's field of flowers, but the landscape connecting the different aspects of her personality had always been a relatively barren place. However, it now looked like a tornado had casually decided the pass through. It seemed appropriate for how she was was feeling right now.

"Hello?! Are any of you out there?!"

She waited for a response; for Happy to bound up to her, giggling like a child or for Brave to come in from the sky, ranting about their battle against Malchior. Instead, there was an almost deafening silence. Raven tentatively started to make her way through the wasteland, looking for any signs of her emoticlones. "Maybe this is it…maybe I don't feel anymore…it would make sense-".

She abandoned her line of thinking when she came over the crest of a hill, only to be greeted by Timid's maze, but simply calling it maze at this stage was probably an understatement. The structure towered everything else in her mindscape. Raven couldn't say she was surprised. "I deserve this…I should have stopped….I could have sto-"

"You can't think like that Raven, Robin was right".

Raven whipped around to find a green emoticlone staring back at her. Bravery lacked her usual fiery spirit and outgoing nature. She looked almost shrunken in on herself, but there was still passion behind her eyes.

"And why can't I?"

"Because you don't get to have a pity party for yourself when I'm still knocking about…whatever "this" is." Bravery gestured at Raven. "It doesn't look good on you, so cut it out".

Raven looked at the emoticlone as if she'd just smacked her upside the head. Bravery gave a heavy sigh, and walked up to Raven, put a hand on the side of her face. "Listen to me…being brave isn't always about charging headfirst into battle or standing strong in the face of danger. People are brave everyday in so many different ways. Yea, you and the Titans…you majorly messed up today…so you know what's the brave thing to do right now?…Acknowledge what happened and make every effort out there to fix it, goddamn it!"

Bravery ended her monologue by lifting her hand and giving Raven a light slap on the cheek. Raven could only stare at Bravery, not even registering the contact. She'd never seen this side of the emoticlone before. "Suppose I've never been in a situation like this before either".

"No, you haven't".

Raven turned to the emoticlone at that comment with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, they're your thoughts and we're in your mind, what do you expect? Now come on, everyone else is in Timid's stupid maze, and as you can see, it's gonna take us far longer than normal to get to the middle".

It took Raven a few seconds to register what had been said to her; and by that point Bravery had already started walking towards an entrance to the maze. Raven didn't even think to float, instead jogging to catch up with the emoticlone.

"What do you mean everyone else? Why is everyone in the maze? …and why aren't you?"

"Everyone else is in there because basically every aspect of yourself is feeling…well…timid right now. I'm not because at least one of us had to not give up. You can thank me for you not losing control a while ago".

Raven nodded at her response. She was prepared to walk in silence for a while and mull over what she'd learnt when Bravery threw a curveball at her.

"Oh everyone's in there feeing sorry for themselves, except Affection to her credit. She's in there trying to rally the troops. You should be able to help with that".

Ravens head snapped to the green emoticlone. "Affection? Why is she so steadfast right now?"

Bravery looked at Raven like she'd just asked her what color the sky was. "Oh honey…you know what?…I'll leave that conversation for you and Affection…although it might involve me at some point in the future," Bravery finished with a wink. Raven could only stare in disbelief at her emoticlone as she led them deeper and deeper into Timid's maze.

Robin was the first up the next morning as always. He hadn't even set an alarm, but his eyes had still snapped awake at 6am…force of habit he guessed. He wondered for a brief second how he had forgotten to set an alarm, when everything from the night before came crashing down on him. The sudden memory was enough to make him feel physically nauseous. Nevertheless, he went to get up when he became very aware of the weight lying across his chest. Robin looked down and felt his heart rate increase tenfold when he lay his eyes upon a sleeping Starfire. A quick look around the room confirmed that he wasn't even in his room, but on a couch in his office…

Robin knew he should have gone to bed after Cyborg gave him the all clear. Between Malchior and the visions of the Beast, he'd been tossed around like a rag-doll and needed rest. He knew he wouldn't be of any use to anyone if he wasn't at one hundred percent…if he didn't give the best he could. And yet….he couldn't wait till the morning to start working. A member of his team…his family…was MIA…not only because of Deathstroke….but because of him. This was his team to lead, and yet he'd so easily thought that Beast Boy was out of control. For the second time, he had failed Beast Boy, except this time….

Robin slammed his fist off his desk and put his head in his hands. He'd let Trigon use Raven as his portal, Cyborg had nearly left because Robin had only seen how his desire for leadership affected him and not what one of his best friends wanted and Starfire…well he was letting her down everyday at the minute. Robin could only watch as a tear fell onto the papers he had in front of him. Maybe it was time he flew solo for a while, because clearly he wasn't cut out for leading a team.

"You should be in bed."

Robin shot up from his desk, sending the stack of papers to the floor. He had been looking for anything recent that referred to a Deathstroke but was yet to come up with anything. He turned to face the voice. Starfire was leaning against the doorframe, clearly waiting for Robin's response.

"…I know I should be, but –"

"So why aren't you?"

"…I'm sick of letting my teammates down Star…I should have been able to trust that Beast Boy had-"

Starfire had floated into the room and put her hand over Robin's mouth. Robin looked at her confused, but the look in Starfire's eyes was enough for him to know he should let her say what she wanted too.

"If I recall, you had a conversation with Raven only a few hours ago saying that that line of thinking was unacceptable".

She removed her hand, but the look in her eyes was still there. Robin swallowed.

"I know Star…but I'm the leader…it's my job to have faith in all of you…and yet when it comes to Beast Boy…I let him down…over and over. I failed him the first time the Beast came out, I dismissed him originally when he said he could fix Cyborg when he had a virus and tonight…if there's a word worse than fail, please let me know".

Starfire's eyes softened. She pulled Robin into a hug, and for once, Robin didn't hesitate in hugging her back, burying his head into her shoulder. "Robin…we all failed tonight…and we will take the steps to fix what happened…but just this once…allow yourself to be sad…allow yourself to express sorrow…I am not going anywhere."

And Robin did. The pair moved away from Robin's desk to the sofa at the back of the room, where the pair of them cried together. Starfire listened to what Robin had to say and then when it was his turn, Robin did the same. Neither of them knew what time they feel asleep, but they had both agreed…neither of them wanted to be alone that night…

Robin looked down at the spread of red hair currently across his chest. He wanted to wake up like this everyday…but even he knew now was not the time for such a moment. There was too much work to be done immediately for him to be selfish like that. That didn't mean he was going to play off what had happened. He allowed himself another thirty minutes…to just enjoy the moment before stepping into the horror show that awaited him out in main ops. He tried to gently move out from underneath Starfire, but couldn't avoid waking the Tamaranean.

He couldn't help but smile at the look on her face when she woke up. She rubbed her eyes before looking around and making eye contact with Robin. She could see the confusion on her face and if it were a different time, he would find it unbelievably cute, but unfortunately he knew what came after the confusion. Starfire's face morphed into one of shock, as she recalled everything that had happened, just like he did right before her. She then looked up at Robin, clearly feeling a little awkward.

"We should probably go out and deal with what awaits us".

"Yea, you're right Star".

Starfire moved herself off of Robin and off the couch and was about to walk straight out of his office, when Robin grabbed her by the hand, Starfire turned around surprised…a surprise which increased tenfold when the normally reserved leader of the Titans pulled her into a bone-crunching hug.

"….Thank you for last night Star….I needed that…badly".

Starfire wrapped her arms around Robin, returning the affection.

"It was my pleasure…I will always be there for you friend Robin".

For a brief second everything was okay, as the two teenagers shared a moment that was for no one else's eyes. Then without another word, the two separated, and walked out of Robin's office into the light of a new day.

Cyborg was on five percent. He was plugged into his power source. He knew he was as good as useless if he let himself run down to zero…and yet, he couldn't turn himself off. It seemed like something people should be jealous of. When so much has happened in the blink of an eye, and you have the ability to turn yourself off manually…to be able decide when to leave conscious thought behind, if even for a moment…who wouldn't want that? And yet he couldn't…because then in the blink of an eye, tomorrow would simply be here. Making the conscious decision to turn off also brings in the conscious decision to wake up, and Cyborg could not simply sleep for forever.

Cyborg was on four percent. Why hadn't he trust Beast Boy? Simply because he hadn't been acting himself? Maybe Beast Boy was acting himself, it just wasn't the Beast Boy Cyborg had always known. The Green Bean had the audacity to grow up, and Cyborg missed it. He had every right to be annoyed at him for that…at least that's what Cyborg told himself. He couldn't even tell if he was mad Beast Boy, mad at the circumstances that caused him to miss it, or mad at himself for not embracing his friend's new character.

Cyborg was on three percent. He knew that he had the Beast under control. He'd watched him turn Malchior into a pile of scales not five hours earlier…how calm he'd acted towards Raven. All the signs were there that Beast Boy was in there. He was so conscious of himself after the first incident…after him, Robin and Starfire had made him out to be a mindless monster. He'd watched Raven go down to talk to him on the rocks. He could remember his thoughts so clearly. " Please Raven…please get through to him…we've already done enough." He'd been so thankful that Raven had got him to smile...and not they'd blown it all again.

Cyborg was on two percent. He'd been the one to hit Beast Boy first tonight. He'd been the one to rally everyone else, to "finally land a hit". He wanted to be sick. How could he not feel like it was his fault. He was ashamed to say that the thought there was something else at play had never even crossed his mind. He'd heard Raven's call to stop…and he hadn't cared. What kind of friend was he? Even if the Beast was out of control, he had been ready to launch from the top floor of the Tower…there was only monster in the room tonight and his mind, and it was him.

Cyborg was on one percent. He had no right to feel bad for himself though. How dare he feel like he should get this time to mope. Tomorrow, he'd get up and he'd put every fibre of his being into finding his best friend, no matter where he was, whether he was injured…or the far more likely possible that he now hated him. He owed him that much. He didn't know if he could make things right, but he could certainly do right by Beast Boy.

Cyborg turned himself off. There was always a slight delay between him powering down, and his conscious thought stopping. It was always a bizarre feeling…being fully aware of your eyes slowly closing, not being able to move your limbs and not being able to do anything about it. But still, no matter how close he got to zero tonight, he'd made the choice to power down…and tomorrow he'd make the choice to better than he was the day before…he owed that much.

Raven and Bravery had been walking in silence for what felt like an hour. She had never taken the time to quite work at the difference in time between her mindscape and the real world. It wasn't like being asleep, it was kind of like a half and half state, like the quality of sleep you get when you spent the whole night tossing and turning. But also, she was in no rush to leave her room again. She'd come out when she was ready…Starfire would be able to cover for her…a fact that she still wasn't okay with, but the Tamaranean was clearly not clueless about some of Raven's private thoughts.

Finally, the two emerged into a a large circular clearing. The other emoticlones were gathered in a huddle, with one light blue emoticlone floating around them on the outside. She was the first to spot Raven and Bravery's arrival. She turned to the group, and while Raven couldn't hear what she said, it clearly drew the huddled groups attention to their arrival. If it wasn't for their colored cloaks, Raven would never have been able to guess who was who. The same expression was on all of their faces, the same slumped posture, the same inability to keep eye contact.

When Bravery and Raven got within five feet of the group, Timid emerged from it's centre. If possible the emotion looked even more reserved than normal. She was practically shaking, her arms wrapped around herself and her hood pulled over her face. "There's no fixing this Raven, we messed up too badly, and we were just starting too-"

Bravely cut across her. "Oi! Less of that! I didn't buy into your pity party at the start and Raven isn't going too now, not while I'm here anyway!"

Raven had never seen her emotions grouped like this. Normally, she would have to travel to the realm of who she wished to consult with. Seeming them all together, mirroring Timid was disconcerting to say the least.

"Starting to what?"

Timid looked up at Raven, before quickly averting her eyes. "…sorry…nothing…it is not my place to say…but I've spoken with the others…the situation is beyond fixing…Beast Boy's go-".

Bravery suddenly rushed up to Timid, grabbing her by the shoulders. "Don't you dare finish that sentence! I don't care that you've convinced the other it's too late and in all honesty, I'm disappointed in all of you!"

Affection had moved to the side, allowing Bravery to address the remaining group as a whole. "Giving up?…that's so easy! What's gives us the right to have the easy option right now? If not for ourselves, we at least owe it to Beast Boy to find him!"

"This assumes that Robin's logic stands up to scrutiny."

Raven watched as a yellow emoticlone stepped forward, the only one with another defining feature besides the colour of her cloak, in the form of a pair of glasses that adorned her face. "Even with us abstaining from the attack of the others, and despite a body not being found, the sheer impact of the attack, alongside the secondary impact of breaking through the window could be enough to kill…this doesn't even take into account whether he hit the ground or not. I am not giving up, I am simply evaluating the odds".

"That sounds like a long-winded justification for giving up", Bravery snapped. "And what about the rest of you?"

Happy perked her head out from the huddle. "What is there to be happy about right now? What am I supposed to do?

"Stand up and fight!"

The group, Bravery and Raven all turned to Affection, upon her outburst. The emoticlone covered her mouth at her sudden exclamation, but quickly steeled herself. "It's taken us so long to be able to connect with others…to really FEEL…to feel like we could be loved by others…by friends…and maybe more. In the last few weeks, our situation with Beast Boy has changed, and not a single one of you can say that it wasn't to our benefit. We felt different, we were BETTER! And now, yes, we messed up…but we were also the only one of the Titans to realize in any capacity what was happening was wrong…and now you all want to give up…", she turned to Happy, "because you have nothing to be happy about", she turned to Knowledge, "because the odds aren't in our favor…how about this…let's go and FIND the one who was making us happy, let's go FIGHT the odds!"

Raven hadn't said a word since she'd been brought here, but she hadn't needed too. She'd never seen one of her emotions so…well…emotional. So when Affection turned to her, Raven didn't know if she was prepared to input. "So Raven, what'll be?…there's only so much we can do...and if you stand up and fight, the others will follow…if you don't…well Bravery and I did our best".

Raven only didn't know how to react. The majority of her emotions were on the side of Timid…and there was certainly some appeal to that. She remembered when Cyborg had first left the titans when he had had a fight with Robin. "People come, people go". That ability to detach herself from emotional connection was something she used to price herself on, and clearly a part of her still though like this in some way…old habits die hard.

But Bravery and Affection had spoken with such force. She couldn't remember a time when her emoticlones showed as much fire as the two of them had in the last while. She was terrified of feeing this strongly…but in the past few weeks; it had been happening more and more and it always involved Garfield Logan.

Then there was the man himself. Who was she to give up? What right did she have to hide herself away? He spent so long trying to draw her out of her shell, and now it was over just as they were getting somewhere? That wasn't fair on her, and by Azar it wasn't fair on him. Even if she was at fault…if the Titans were at fault…he didn't get to disappear, he didn't get to get away that easily.

Raven took in the group, before addressing them all. "We are better than this…I am better than this. Timid, the situation is not beyond fixing…we owe it to ourselves and to Beast Boy to try. Happy, you think there's nothing to be happy about. Imagine that moment when we find him…when we can apologize…when we can make things right. Even if he hates us after that day, there will be more than enough to be happy about. Knowledge…for once…screw the odds".

"Yea, go Raven!"

Everyone turned to look at Rude. "…what? …Raven never uses language like that, she should do it more. I'm on her side now just because of it!"

For the first time, Rage spoke up, ignoring Rude and turning straight to Raven. "About time you laid down the law, I didn't know how much longer I could stand being here."

Lazy turned to Rage and yawned,. "Who do you even have to be mad at anyway?"

"Deathstroke! The other Titans!….ourself..." Rage finished in a subdued manner. Rage looked lost for a second, before shaking her head, and looking up with a stare that dropped the temperature of the environment by ten degrees. "And I hate that it's something that happened to Beast Boy that made us feel like this, stupid elf!"

Raven had heard enough. "Okay listen up. We are not hiding ourselves away. I am better than this…we are better than this! Tomorrow, I'm putting everything into finding Beast Boy…I have something I want to talk to him about."

Happy smiled for the first time since Raven arrived. "I'm glad you figured it out Raven…now I can look forward to the future…while I might not be happy now…the hope will drive me on".

Raven nodded at the emoticlone, happy to see to that there were some signs of her normal self.

"…do you really think there's a chance we can fix this?"

Raven turned to Timid. "I don't know…but if this was the other way around, Beast Boy or any of the the other Titans wouldn't give up on me…so I'm not giving up on Garfield."

Timid looked unsure, but nodded slowly. "Okay…let's try".

The ground lurched and Raven had to adjust her footing as the walls of Timid's maze began to shrink down. The entire structure returned to the size Raven was normally accustomed took. She could even make out the Forbidden Door over the top of one of the walls.

Raven turned to leave for the Forbidden Door, when she was embraced by Affection, catching her off guard entirely. "Thank you…I knew you had it in you". Raven recognized the the tone of voice she spoke in. "You're the emoticlone I heard when I hugged Beast Boy when he got me for dinner". Affection and Raven started traversing the maze, leaving the other emotions behind.

"I was wondering when you were going to figure that out", she smiled.

"But why? Everyone seemed so affected by this situation revolving around Beast Boy. I feel like if this had happened to another Titan, the reaction wouldn't be the same".

The pair arrived outside of the maze in a matter of minutes, the Forbidden Door just a few feet ahead of them. Affection stopped walking and turned to Raven, smiling warmly. "Raven, I am simply a representation of your feelings of affection, if I know why the other emotions reacted this, you do too".

"But then why? Why do I feel like this around Beast Boy?"

Affection stepped close to Raven and put her hands on her shoulders.

"….Spoilers".

With that, Affection pushed Raven backwards causing her to stumble and fall through the Forbidden Door. Raven was ejected back onto her bed, scaring Cyborg, who was sat at her bedside half to death. Once Raven gathered her senses, she locked eyes with Cyborg who had fallen to the floor, and raised an eyebrow.

Cyborg raised his hands. "I'm sorry! I was originally coming into check in your concussion, but you'd be in the mirror for so long, and the others were starting to worry and –"

"How long have I been gone?"

"-it's nearly 9 in the morning".

Raven swung herself out of bed; and grabbed her cloak of her bedside table.

"You can check my concussion in main ops…we have work to do".

Beast Boy wished he hadn't regained consciousness, cause he wouldn't have to deal with the overwhelming pain that came with it. He was aware that his breathing was labored, and that no matter how hard he tried, his left eye would not open, but he still couldn't bring himself to move. The entire world around him was blurry, and there was something irritating around his neck. He was brought to sense as a cold sensation covered his entire body.

"Rise and shine Mr. Logan".

The shock from the cold water hitting him caused his body to jolt, causing him to scream out in pain. His open eye swiveled to where the water had come from, dragging himself into a sitting position at the same time. He glared at the figure that stood before him, separated from him by a set of metal bars.

Deathstroke laughed, "You know Beast Boy, I always thought you looked better in a cage…is it not where an animal like you belongs?"

Beast Boy mustered all his strength to spit at the bars. "So what…this was your great plan…influence the Titans…to capture me?…seems a bit unambitious".

Deathstroke laughed, "Oh Beast Boy…I don't care about you…I care about the power inside you…I care about the monster".

Beast Boy didn't show it, but his blood ran cold. He didn't know where he was, he had no back-up, and he had no way of…Beast Boy froze for a split second, and then resumed his vigil of Deathstroke. His communicator was still in his back uniform pocket. All he'd have to do would be to send a Titan S.O.S to someone and they could come help.

Deathstroke hadn't noticed Beast Boy's epiphany, "I have to say, I was expecting to have to enter the tower to retrieve you, but the Titans made it so easy for me…my boys simply collected you out of the air, left one of your gloves behind for good measure".

Beast Boy was silent, but his mind was racing. Who did he contact? Deathstroke could probably kill him at any time he wanted (he still had no idea what was around his neck), a rescue operation, could go wrong so quickly, he'd need someone who could get in and out quickly, without Slade even –

"And best of all…your beloved friends…if you still think of them as that…believe you to be dead…they're not coming for you".

Beast Boys stopped thinking. He knew this was Deathstroke talking, a master manipulator…but the Titans had turned on him so quick when they thought the Beast was free. Raven had…had…Beast Boy closed his eyes, blinking away tears, but his hand stealthily reached for his communicator.

"Oh? Have I hit a nerve? Does the animal show…sadness?"

Beast Boy didn't need to act. His tears were very much genuine. However, it was also the perfect distraction, as Beast Boy's fingers moved across his communicator screen. There was no need for him to see the screen, he'd navigated it a thousand times. He knew exactly who to message, and hopefully, they'd understand the severity. A final push and if he'd gotten it right, an S.O.S had just been sent. He'd know if he was right in a matter of seconds

"You know Deathstroke, for someone as meticulous as you, it's incredible that your still so stupid."

Beast Boy knew it was early to brag, but if his idea did work…well he'd regret not taking the opportunity. Deathstroke marveled at the boy's confidence.

"Oh is that so? And what makes you come to that conclusion?"

"…because if you'd done some research, you'd know I've got more than one team of titans now".

Deathstroke was about to laugh, when a swirling portal emerged behind Beast Boy within his cell. Deathstroke had no time to react as a hand covered in a metal gauntlet emerged, grab Beast Boy by his collar and pulled him through the portal, which promptly collapsed in on itself, as if it was never there at all. Deathstroke could only stare in amazement for a moment, before allowing himself a wry smile. "Hmm…I continue to underestimate you Beast Boy…I'll make sure I don't make that mistake again."

Beast Boy had no idea which way was up as he was pulled through the portal. He briefly remember seeing a white sky, covered in splotches of red and black, dotted with purple rocks, before going through another portal, only to appear in what looked like a relatively standard apartment. Beast Boy had never been able to do well with portals, even Raven's versions of them, so upon his body realizing that he had stopped moving, he promptly vomited onto the floor, before rolling onto his back, to stare at a white ceiling dotted with lightbulbs.

"Mal? I didn't think you'd be back for another couple da-…oh my God, Beast Boy?!"

"Toni, go get a bed ready, and all the first aid equipment you have, I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to bring him!"

Beast Boy looked up at the blurry figure of the Herald, in what he was now assuming to be Argent's place. He could see the Heralds mouth moving through his one good eye, but he couldn't here anything anymore. For the second time in the same day, Garfield wasn't quite sure of the moment he passed out.