Beast Boy went straight to his room. He'd given Cyborg his sample, that god damn sample they were all so interested in for their god damn tests they so desperately wanted to run, and he'd left. He hadn't expected Cyborg to come after him and his excellent hearing confirmed that expectation. As he moved his nostrils flared, confirming that his other teammates were not nearby either. His footsteps seemed to echo in the empty halls and, for all rational purposes, he was quite alone. Just as he wanted. Only he wasn't alone. Not at all. In his mind the whispers were drowning out his own thoughts, agitated, insistent. They didn't understand why he'd come back at all; they'd wanted to stay with the Children of Herne. That wasn't what Beast Boy wanted. He didn't want to be a god, something to be worshiped, he just wanted to be a Titan. A hero. So why was he so angry that he'd come back to that life? Was it his anger boiling inside him, or the whispers'? Was there even a difference anymore? And if there was, for how long would it persist? Beast Boy wanted to go to the infirmary, to where they were running the test and seeing that something was wrong, and confess to his friends. Yet, still, stronger than before, the whispers kept him silent. So instead he went to his room.

The effort of staying in the Tower was starting to weigh on him and as soon as he was over the threshold and the door had slid closed behind him, Beast Boy pressed his back to it. Gasping breaths he'd been fighting to control broke free over his lips and his eyes ached with relief, his dilated pupils welcoming the darkness of his room. He left it that way, didn't turn on the lights. The blanket was still over the window where he'd left it a few days ago and only a rim of pale light from the still bright moon seeped in. It was enough; the cones and rods in his eyes adjusted and showed him a monochrome image with perfect clarity. The small bookshelf in the back, all but hidden where no one could see, so no one could know his secret. Romance novels tucked under comic books. The bunkbed with both sets of sheets in a messy mound. The pizza boxes and dirty laundry that littered the ground. It was a monument to the person he'd been, and now felt so alien to the animal he was becoming.

His stomach ached and sweat broke out across his face, a response to the sensation of something literally crawling under his skin. Beast Boy pushed himself off the door and stumbled into the bathroom. Left the lights off. Gripping both sides of the sink hard, he bent over the basin and for a moment thought he was going to be sick. Hot air passed over his lips. His stomach clenched, but in the sense that it was digesting itself more than a foreshadowing of sickness. The moment passed, broad and much longer than any moment he'd felt before, and then he felt dizzy and disoriented. The whispers were a liquid in his head, buzzing like insects. He turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face, cupping the liquid in his palms and bringing it to his cheeks. The contact was jarring, hot flesh and cold water, and for a moment it was quiet inside his mind. Beast Boy did it again, letting his fingers linger over his aching eyes. Breathing deeply. The third splash brought water up into his hair and he froze. Beneath his palms, on his forehead just above each eyebrow, there was a… bulge. About the size of a quarter. Gingerly, he lifted his head and probed them with his fingertips. They were tender and hard, mounds of bone beneath green skin.

He straightened and looked his reflection full in the face. The bulges weren't visible yet, but as he inspected other things were. His eyes were pale in his black and white vision, whereas before they were a dark shade of green, and the pupils, dilated as they were, looked like the edges tapered into slits. But not vertical slits, like a snake, horizontal, like a horse or- or a deer. His teeth, though, were not herbivorous. The little fangs that poked out from his lower jaw had grown, as had his upper canines, until they didn't really fit in his mouth. Beast Boy brought a pointer finger to one, his upper right canine, and ran the tip over the tooth. Its point was sharp and, along the back, the enamel had grown ridges. Serrations. His gaze traveled downward to his neck and shoulders, where the muscles were distended, thicker than they'd been before. Bulkier than before, like a male cat or dog, connecting his jaw to his shoulder in a single muscular sheet. Not lanky at all. Cautiously, he brought his hand to his jaw, then around to the back of his neck. The muscles attached there, and the vertebra had grown larger to accommodate them. The ridge of his spine was pushing through his skin-

"Beast Boy," came a voice from the hall. He was much too busy trying to keep his hyperventilating under control to answer and after a moment it came again. "I'm coming in."

He heard the door open and smelled her come in with a potency he'd never experienced before. Sniffing the air, he closed his eyes for a second and let his mind wander. It was the best thing he'd ever smelled; so good it made him dizzy. She waited for him out in the main room, by his bed, but when he didn't come out she pressed.

"You need to come with me to the infirmary. There are anomalies in your blood work; Cyborg says he needs to take a closer look."

"Raven?"

He asked even though he knew it was her. Something inside him was… hungry, past desire, past lust, and again he sniffed the air, bringing his hands to the sink and gripping it tightly. She was here, so close to him, and for a moment he went out of his mind. He spun around, making himself lightheaded and grasping at the door frame. Looking out at her with wild eyes, his chin dipped to his chest. Raven looked back at him, well, at her best guess as to where he was. At the sounds of his labored breathing. She couldn't see him like he could see her, but hadn't turned on the light. Her face was passive as usual, mouth downturned, dark eyes searching for his. His nostrils flared- he was so hungry… Then he remembered himself and went to her.

"Did you hear me," she asked, trying and failing to sound more annoyed than worried. "Cyborg needs to see you."

"Raven," he repeated, swallowing hard and blinking.

He needed her to know, but the whispers wouldn't let him speak. So instead he grabbed her hand, snatching it from the darkness, and brought it to his forehead.

"What are you-" she protested but he cut her off.

"Do you feel that," he asked, running her fingers over the bulges. Then he took her hand to the back of his neck. "And there?"

She didn't know he could see her lips part in shock. Nor hear the imperceptible gasp that slid over her lips. Wordlessly, she pressed her hand into his neck, running her fingers from the collar of his jacket into his hair. Her other hand reached into his jacket and around his trunk, her fingers pressing into his lumbar, where no doubt the bone was sticking out and stretching his flesh. The action brought her body close to his, and although he knew it was just an inspection, the hunger inside him was overpowering. Beast Boy brought his hands to her back in kind and wrapped them around her delicate waist, pulling her into him. He pushed his face into the curve between her neck and shoulder and inhaled her intoxicating scent.

"You smell good," he murmured into the folded cloth of her hood. She'd let it down about her shoulders. Left herself exposed.

"Beast Boy," she said, indignant, pulling her hands back and trying to get away from him. He tightened his grip around her, his nails digging into her flesh. She shrank away from him in pain.

"You smell really good," he repeated. "What is that?"

His lips pulled away from his teeth and he pressed his fangs into Raven's flesh, poking her through her cloak. She grabbed his shoulders and shoved as hard as she could and he released her. He stumbled back, bringing a hand to his mouth and looking at her in horror. Even in the dark she could see it, the fear, sparkling in the gloom of a waning moon. Raven was in control of her emotions, but she, too, was feeling fear. With wide eyes, he stepped around her, then backed up to the wall by the window.

"Garfield," she tried, taking a step towards him. But he retreated, shaking his head.

"It's fear," he whispered. "You're afraid. Of me. And oh god you should be because I was going to-"

He broke off with a grunt, pressing his back into the wall by the window. One hand reached for the drywall, his nails curling into it, digging in and drywall dust raining onto the ground like sand. The other caught the blanket over the window and pulled it down. A stream of moonlight illuminated the room and Raven could see Beast Boy in all his glory. Hunched and snarling. As she watched his face elongated, his jaw lengthening into a snout. His breath was ragged and he moaned, a low sound that came from his chest. More animal than human, like the snorts that punctuated the stillness. She took a step towards him but he swiped at her, snapping his teeth and cutting through the air with fingernails that had sharpened into claws. His bones cracked and Raven knew she had to do something now.

"Azrath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted, sending out a telekinetic hand to encase him, to restrain him, and ultimately to bring him to Cyborg for the tests that so clearly needed to happen.

The black energy responded to her will, materializing into a bird-like claw that wrapped talons around his body. Pinning his arms to his sides. Beast Boy's pupils had finally constricted in the moonlight, horizontal and boxy like a goat, black pits in an amber matrix, and in them she could see a wild terror and a boiling rage. An animal's response to being cornered. Her telekinetic power glowed around him and she squeezed his flailing form, praying that he would submit, that this could be over quickly. That Cyborg would find what had happened and that whoever had done this to him would pay. Beast Boy was not compliant; he snarled and snapped his jaws at her, pulling his lips away from half-inch long fangs. And his body squirmed in her grip, testing her fortitude. Then something happened, something that she should've expected but didn't. Inside his mind the whispers gained momentum, then they lashed out at Raven with a telepathic fury. Her black energy barrier shattered, releasing Beast Boy to crouch on all fours beneath the window. Raven crumpled, catching herself with her hands and letting her hair fall across her face. Her ears were ringing and the room was spinning, but over it she could sense more than hear Beast Boy skitter back, away from her. There was a low growl in his chest and she knew she was not safe. Exhaling to recenter herself, Raven pushed herself up and reached for her communicator.

"Cyborg," she called in a low voice. "I need you in Beast Boy's room. Bring that tranquilizer."

"Is he okay? What's happened," Cyborg's chiseled face appeared on the little screen, both cybernetic and human eyes burning into her.

"There's something with a telepathic hold over him. It's… changed him- he's been altered. He's not in control. I'm going to try and enter his mind to pacify him but I need you ready. If we don't do this right we're going to end up hurting him."

"I understand. I'll be right there."

Raven replaced the communicator on her belt and searched the room with her eyes. The moonlight was bright and it gave the room a monochrome sharpness. He was behind the rays of pale light, in the shadows where only his outline was visible. He'd crawled on top of the bookshelf and was crouching there, splayed knees pressed up into his chest. His hands reached between them and gripped the wooden edge; she could hear that wood splintering under his grip. The light caught in his eyes and the pits of his pupils cast it back in a green-orange glow. If he recognized her anymore, if there was anything left from just moments before, she couldn't see it. All she sensed from him was an insane fear and rage. And hunger, unbridled. But still it was Beast Boy. He was in there, she just had to reach him. Levitating her body and folding her legs, she closed her eyes and… left. In the form of a raven she flew across the room, reaching her talons towards Beast Boy's chest. There was resistance, like a static barrier, and fire in her mind, but her will was stronger than the whispers. Beast Boy flung himself back into the wall, digging his fingers into the drywall and leaving deep gouges. His teeth gnashed and his voice strained in a high-pitched whine, but the process only took at most a minute. Then she entered his mind.

Raven would never admit it, but she sometimes wondered about the minds of her colleagues. Her own was labyrinthine, filled with subdomains under a vast, star-filled sky. She'd been there many times to confront herself and, much to her displeasure, Beast Boy and Cyborg had been there too. It had been then, in that moment of vulnerability, that she'd really bonded with Beast Boy. He'd needed to see her and, though he still didn't understand fully, she got the sense that he at least respected her efforts a little. It had gotten her thinking, intrusive thoughts while she meditated. Would Cyborg's mind be as organized as a computer? As she understood it, he'd been quite brilliant already before the transformation. And Starfire, could an alien mind be visually represented like a human's? Would it be colorful? Surely it would be colorful. She'd been inside Robin's mind, but just the surface, those fears that simmered there, just barely under his steel control. She remembered people… falling. Beast Boy's mind had been the source of some amusement for her. She pictured it as empty as he acted, just this void of half-formed jokes and vegan recipes. Or perhaps a crescendo of animal calls, like a living library. Surely it was chaos of some form. But that wasn't what greeted her.

There was blackness, just a vast, velvety blackness, and growing through the blackness was a pale white, fungal mass. Not the sort of fungus one might encounter in the wild; but gigantic and arching, spiraling around pathways in the darkness to form pulsating tunnels. As she watched it continued to grow, extending its mycelial mass out into the black. It whispered, loudly, but in overlapping tones, a thousand thoughts at once. Far too much for her to understand, just noise and intention. It, too, was hungry. And its prey was Beast Boy's mind.

"Beast Boy," she called, taking a step into the gloom. "Garfield?"

The whispers greeted her, the chaos she'd anticipated, but over them, in response to her call, she could hear something else. A child crying. It was coming from deeper in the blackness, through the fungal mass. Raven tensed her mouth, contemplating. The deeper she went, the more intimate they'd become. Already she knew that Beast Boy had… an affection for her. And she, as much as she didn't want to admit it, had something more than affection for him. Her worry surpassed what was becoming of a teammate. He had been right, she was afraid, and yes, part of that fear was for her own safety. But more than that, she was afraid of losing him, of never seeing that smile like sunlight again. He carried burdens like the rest of them, but unlike the rest of them Beast Boy pretended he didn't. Part of what she saw was a persona, they all knew it; so what would she think if she saw the real him? What would their relationship become if he was as exposed to her as she was to him? Deep into the darkness where his pain was sleeping. Where the child was crying.

Raven took a breath. She couldn't let something as trivial as the fear of intimacy stop her. Whether either of them liked it or not, she had to find Beast Boy and bring him back to the surface, even if it was only for a moment. Just long enough for Cyborg to tranquilize him. Her footfalls made no sound as she pressed forward, through the arches of fungal mass and into the gloom. The sounds of a child crying echoed all around her, and as she moved others joined them. Rushing water and screaming, gun shots, Terra's voice, Mento's voice. There was pain in the air like a scent or a humidity, something she felt on her skin rather than in her heart. And hunger like an insanity. It was all there to drown her but she continued to press forward. She had to find Beast Boy. All around her the fungus pulsed, growing, expanding. Every second was a second too long.

"Garfield," she called again, closing her eyes and trying to focus on the crying over the rest of the noise. Over the whispers. "Garfield, please. It's me, it's Raven. Show yourself."

Raven…?

It was just a breath, almost more of an impression than a voice, but it came from her left. Turning, Raven started down a new path, one that sloped downward, deeper into the darkness. At first she wondered if it was a wild goose chase, a diversion. Then the crying got louder, pitching over the screams, gunfire, and whispers. Then she saw him. Not the him she was used to though, a little him, before he was the way he was. Vulnerable. His hair was blond and unceremoniously cut, apparently by someone unskilled with hair. And his eyes were blue, leaking salty wetness down pale cheeks. But that square face, softened with youth, and the massiveness of his eyes were unmistakable. He was squatting with his knees pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. Weeping quietly. Afraid. She knelt down next to his small form and placed a grey hand on his shoulder. He didn't respond, just continued to stare into the blackness.

"Garfield," she asked softly. "What's wrong?"

"Do you see it," he whispered back, never taking his wide, leaking eyes from the black.

"See what?"

Raven followed his gaze but could find only blackness. The little Gar lifted one arm and pointed. Into the black, the void, where the screams were. They pitched, high and terrified, then were silent. Everything was silent, still, and wire tight. Gar tensed under her hand, going from taught to stone hard, and as she looked into the inky stillness she got the impression that something was looking back at her. The "it" to which he was referring. "It" was there, along the length of Garfield's extended finger. "It" was watching. "It" was hungry.

"Do you see it," he repeated, low, afraid. Still he didn't look at her.

"What is it," she asked, keeping her own voice low. Her ribs were tight around her held breath and, not for the first time today, she got the sense that she was not safe.

"It's coming," Gar whimpered, fresh tears pulsing down his cheeks when he blinked. "It's coming now!"

There was the sound of something moving, fleshy, hairy, first just a shift of weight. Then more, muscles constricting in the darkness, running, feet pounding on the ground. Whatever "it" was, it was massive. Roaring like a large cat, loud and close enough to reverberate in her bones. Raven stood and put herself between the monster and little Garfield, holding out hands alight with black energy. Her eyes burned white in the darkness and all around her the fungal mass shrank away from her power. What happened next happened fast. The Beast in all its glory emerged from the gloom, hairy and snarling, with clawed paws and bulky shoulders. It was at least twice her height and growing across its chest was the same fungal whiteness that had infected Beast Boy's mind. In its eyes there were amber irises and black pupils, not like when it had been let out before. Not like when he transformed because this wasn't a transformation. It was him, Beast Boy, his demon. Massive like hers and wrathful like hers. Raven waved a hand between them and a barrier of black energy materialized. The Beast rammed into it with one shoulder, cracking it on impact. It- he, snarled, standing on its back paws and slamming into the barrier again. White, hooked claws punctured the black, curling in towards her. Raven grunted with effort, holding both hands out between herself and the Beast. It was all she could do to keep him at bay, let alone fight back. There was no recognition in those amber eyes, no knowledge that he was a person and not an animal. Just… hunger. She dropped to one knee and bowed her head as it pressed in on her, snapping its jaws and growling.

"On your left," came a voice she did recognize, though she was much too focused to look up.

Out of her peripheral vision she saw a green hawk swoop through the arching fungal growth and towards the Beast. His talons reached forward, wings spread wide, and he clawed at the beast's face. A red line of blood welled up on his snout and he howled in earnest, pulling away from Raven's barrier and whirling around. The hawk landed and transformed into an ankylosaurus, slow and armored, with white eyes and green plating. The dinosaur postured sideways, swinging his whole body threateningly. The Beast's eyes went to the bone club at the tip of his muscular tail and, when the dinosaur chose to strike, dodged nimbly out of the way. It jumped onto his armored back, biting and clawing at the plating, trying to get to the soft underbelly. Beast Boy, because who else could this be, let out a low bellow, rocking his body in an attempt to dislodge the Beast. Raven checked the little Garfield, who was sobbing hysterically but at least sitting still, then stood again. Her eyes glowed once more and, holding her hands together and in front of her, she made a swiping motion of her own. Black energy surrounded the Beast and threw it from the dinosaur. Beast Boy didn't waste the opportunity; within a second he was a grizzly bear and on top of the Beast. His claws made deep gashes across its green chest and his teeth sank through its thick fur. The beast howled, but Beast Boy was too quick for him. Transforming into a giant sasquatch, Beast Boy punched the Beast in the side of his head, sending him stumbling. Snorting and disoriented, the Beast retreated, slinking back into the darkness from which it came.

Beast Boy let out a bellow at his retreat, banging fists into his chest in a display of dominance, then a deep huff. An irritated growl echoed back from the black, but nothing more. The sasquatch transformed back into a human, one with whom she was quite familiar. His green hair and skin, his purple and black uniform, this was her Beast Boy. Or a version of him. Neither a helpless child nor a monster. The hero. He was breathing hard, his shoulders moving up and down, and Raven wanted to go to him. However, with little Garfield now standing and clutching her cloak, peering past her to see if it was safe, that was quite impossible. So she called out to him instead.

"Beast Boy? Is that you?"

He didn't answer her… verbally. He turned, still panting, his forest green eyes burning with an intensity she hadn't seen since Terra's betrayal. But this time the fire wasn't a painful one; no, he was looking at her with… something else. He wasn't smiling. Facing her fully, he took four or so long steps, grabbed her face with both hands, and pressed his lips to hers. Desperately. She could sense, or maybe smell was a better word, the smog like hunger on him. The infection. And for a moment he gave in and kissed her passionately. Raven didn't know what to make of it. On the one hand it was deeply uncomfortable, her eyes were wide and her hands went to his shoulders. But she didn't push him away because, it seemed, she was a little out of control too. There was this warmth in her stomach that she'd only felt once before, when Malchior had run his paper fingers through her hair. A sort of satisfaction, acknowledgment that she was desirable. The subject of someone's passion. And yet this was Beast Boy! She was in his mind, she shouldn't be taking advantage of him like this! Indulging him. Another version of the changeling was hiding in her cloak right now, giggling as they kissed. Before Raven could decide what she thought about it he broke away for air. Slid his hands to her shoulders.

"Raven," he breathed, looking at her intently. "Get away from me."

"No," she refused flatly, putting one hand on little Garfield's head and reaching up with the other, pressing her hand to his forearm. "I'm not leaving you. I came here for you."

"You don't understand," he insisted, breaking eye contact and frowning. "I'm not… strong enough. I can't hold it back much longer. Raven, listen, I don't want to hurt you."

"Beast Boy, this isn't about strength. Look around, surely this isn't normal. Something has a telepathic hold on you."

"It's more than that."

"It's okay to need help," she said, trying to catch his eye.

When he didn't respond she did something radical. Removing her hand from his forearm, she instead pressed it to his cheek.

"Please don't go," said little Garfield, reaching up and curling a fist around her belt. "Don't listen to him. Don't leave me."

"I won't," she reassured, though her attention remained fixed on Beast Boy. "I'm not going to abandon you to this."

Beast Boy sighed heavily, removing one hand from her shoulder and instead pressing it over hers. His eyes flicked to her, then down again, then he grabbed her hand and brought it to the back of his neck. To the place where the vertebra were pushing through his skin.

"That thing we just fought," he said, now looking at her again. "He didn't start out that way. Can you feel that?" He moved her hand down to his lower spine, where there was something squishy growing beneath his uniform. The fungal mass that had spread parasitic through his mind, through his body… "And down there? It's everywhere. It's happening to me too and soon I won't be safe. Neither will that little dude. So please Raven, please, just this once, listen to me. Get away."

"Garfield," Raven sighed, rolling her lips and swallowing. "I'll admit this is new for me. But I'm here now; you don't have to be alone anymore. I'm going to fight with you now, and not just me. Cyborg, Robin, Starfire, we're all here, and we're not going to let this thing take you away. So stay with me, fight with me, just for a little longer."

Beast Boy gave her a sorrowful look, filled with despair and completely out of place on his face. Little Garfield looked up at her, clinging to her. And Raven stood firm between them, hard and unyielding. He released her hand and brushed his fingers over her cheek, lightly, with a restraint he hadn't showed earlier. Despite herself, Raven leaned into his touch.

"Okay," he nodded, licking his lips. "Okay."

The sight that greeted Cyborg when he entered Beast Boy's room was best described as odd. Raven was at the center, apparently meditating, her cloak draped over her folded legs. And Beast Boy was standing next to a little bookshelf, asleep on his feet near as Cyborg could tell. Then he opened his eyes and instead of green or amber they were indigo. Raven's eyes. She looked at him using Beast Boy's body and gave a single nod. Cyborg nodded back, picked his way through pizza boxes and dirty cloths, and gripped Beast Boy's jaw. Tilted his head carefully and slid a small needle into his neck. The process of injection took several seconds, but Raven held him statuesque. When it was done his eyes closed and Raven, in the form of black energy, exited his body. Beast Boy went slack and Cyborg caught him, hoisting him carefully over one shoulder. Raven came up behind him and gave him a meaningful look. They said nothing as they took Beast Boy to the infirmary.