Doom and Gloom

by PSI-Triforce

When the Doom Patrol are reported dead - albeit not for the first time - it's up to Beast Boy's friends to pick up the pieces and support him in the aftermath. But as Raven finds out, it's hard to help your friend achieve closure when he can't even be certain that the people he's mourning are really gone. Beast Boy/Raven, one-shot.

Whether you were a teenager unwinding after a difficult day of school, an adult recovering from a hard day's work, or part of a superhero team who had just thwarted – for the third time that week – a bank heist by the HIVE Five, all humans inevitably face a soul-crushing task that not everyone is capable of accomplishing. Some give up immediately, while others at least put on a façade, even convincing themselves that they will succeed, before falling prey to the onslaught of mediocrity. Only the dedicated few with the skills required to persevere can see it through to the end, and they do it with the battle-hardened grim determination of a veteran.

Channel-hopping.

'-Sterling rides out the tackle, but can he find Agüero in the penalty-'

"Seen it," Cyborg muttered. *click*

'-team, your ingredients are chicken, garlic, olives, and maraschino cherries. You have thirty-five-'

"Seen it," Robin mumbled. *click*

Raven glanced up from her book, frowning at the distractions. She genuinely enjoyed the company of her friends; less so their indecisiveness and seemingly inability to choose a channel to remain on for more than three seconds.

'-as the majestic sea otter slowly rises from the depth of the river, and – oh no, it's just a dog-'

"There's gotta be something on…" Cyborg grumbled. *click*

'-already know that your head bartender is wanted for arson, but that still doesn't explain where your tips are going-'

"Seen-" Robin started, preparing to press down on the remote control, before it was wrested from his control by a powerful dark energy, and flew into the hands of a now rather impatient and eye-twitching Raven.

"Either find something to watch or turn the damn thing off," she commanded through gritted teeth. "You're worse than Beast Boy."

Beast Boy was not taking part in the team's channel-hopping escapades due to his inexplicable talent to change channels faster than any mortal being could perceive them. More than once, Raven had heard him say "Seen it," before the channel that he had changed to had even appeared, and he instinctively continued to switch. It was around the time that her eyes turned red and she appeared to be preparing to smack him in the head with her book that Robin had intervened and told him that if he left now to spend thirty minutes cleaning his room, he could pick which film they watched on the next movie night. Beast Boy wasn't wholly convinced, but a chilling glare from Raven quickly persuaded him that this was a good idea, and he departed swiftly. That same glare was now aimed at Robin, letting him know that he and Cyborg were getting on her last nerve.

"… Sorry. We'll just find something and stick with it." He solemnly vowed, as she reluctantly handed back the remote control. He quietly changed the channel again, only to notice in horror that it had landed on a cookery show.

"Ooh!" squealed Starfire in excitement, as she loved these shows. And she loved them even more ever since the team had come to a consensus that she was forbidden from watching them, ever since her latest attempt at earthly cuisine had resulted in 'The Rooftop Barbecue Incident'. In the aftermath, Robin had been forced to personally apologize to the Mayor of Jump City, make several reparations to local butchers, and they still occasionally received invoices from psychiatrists for treating the pilots of any nearby aircraft at the time who were suffering from PTSD. With a glance at his teammates, it was agreed; they could definitely skip this channel too.

"Uh… seen it!" Cyborg half-shouted as he changed the channel, stopping to give Starfire a sympathetic look. "Sorry, Star." She pouted, but accepted this. However, as the next channel appeared…

"Seen it," Raven blurted out, then slapped her hands over her mouth in horror. Blushing under the eyes of Robin, Cyborg and Starfire, she mumbled "Well, I have…" and returned to her book. The rest of the team smiled to themselves as they changed the channel again.

'-not yet known how the mission ended so poorly for the Doom Pat-'

Robin changed the channel before he could stop himself, but sat bolt upright at the mention of the last few words. Starfire and Cyborg hadn't realised the significance, but Raven lowered her book quickly, having been half-listening just enough to catch the importance.

"Robin, go back."

"I'm trying," he replied with an uncharacteristic hint of panic, frantically pushing the button to return. It wasn't used very often – most people only channel-hop in one direction – but it eventually started to work, and the news report they had caught an excerpt of returned to their screen.

'-possibility of survival. A real tragedy. Now, speaking of tragedies, Tracy, when is this weather going to change?'

"Damn it!" Robin snapped, startling those who had yet to figure out what they had missed.

"You want me to rewind?" asked Cyborg with some concern. It had hardly been the most pressing use of his powers, but Cyborg had a habit of tinkering with virtually any electronic device the team used, and as a result, they could rewind any television channel, the dishwasher started and finished within seconds, and he had successfully installed DOOM on the microwave.

"Yes, please," replied Robin immediately, too rushed to put effort into sounding grateful. Cyborg promptly began to rewind the last thirty seconds or so, until Robin commanded "Stop there," before adding another small 'please' as an afterthought. Cyborg obeyed, and the news report that would change everything began to play.

'-successful winning streak came to an end this weekend as they were defeated at home by the Star City Strikers. That about wraps up sport, back to you, Debbie.

Thanks Tim. A reminder of today's international news headlines; efforts to neutralize a terrorist threat in the region of Liberia hit a disheartening setback that has resulted in the reported deaths of the superhero team known as the 'Doom Patrol'.'

Cyborg dropped the remote control. Raven dropped her book. Robin's brow furrowed, while Starfire raised a hand to cover her mouth in shock. The newsreader continued.

'The goal of the mission has understandably not been made public at this time, but it's a sad day for the country – and the world – when a team of heroes is taken from us in this manner. Sarah Vikes is on the scene with more details. Sarah?'

The team, sans Beast Boy, sat dumbstruck and silent, as the report described how a mission gone wrong had led to the death of the Doom Patrol. It was supposed to have been straightforward, albeit slightly more dangerous than one of their usual missions. They had discovered a base that the Brotherhood of Evil were operating out of and planned an assault in the middle of the night. The kind of mission they had undertaken dozens of times before, and never left with a casualty. This time, they never left at all.

The entire building – a complex half-underground structure around a quarter of the size of Jump City itself – was a trap, rigged to explode from the very beginning. The Brotherhood of Evil had sacrificed billions of dollars' worth of construction, and the lives of many of their underlings, who they had left the defend the base, scared that the Doom Patrol would sense it was a trap if the place wasn't packed with soldiers. It had cost them dearly, but they had won. The Doom Patrol were dead. Once they had reached the centre of the complex, every building – every room – every inch of the place exploded. Once the dust had settled, a device underneath the structure, with power comparable to that of a nuclear bomb, had detonated, leaving nothing but wreckage, an irradiated crater, and the charred remains of anyone inside.

The Doom Patrol had many powers, but teleportation wasn't one of them. There was no way they had made it out alive. The newscaster continued with more sympathetic angles; locals in the area had set up a shrine to their heroes, and the Justice League were preparing to make a statement in which they would announce their intention to hunt down and deliver justice to the Brotherhood of Evil, but none of that mattered right now. What mattered was that Beast Boy's surrogate family had been vaporized in an attack, and none of the Titans even knew if he was aware of it.

Cyborg put the television on mute while they sat there silently, each trying to comprehend what they had seen. He was the first to break the silence, not in a meaningful way, but in a manner that echoed everyone's sentiments exactly.

"Damn," he whispered, rubbing the back of his head. He sounded as if he'd just watched one of his own heroes die.

"This is horrible," Starfire added quietly. "Truly horrible."

"Do you think Beast Boy knows already?" asked Robin. He didn't need to turn his head or say her name for Raven to know he was talking to her. Her empathic abilities would've surely sensed if Beast Boy was mourning people this close to him.

"No," Raven replied morosely. "I would've felt something like this. He has no idea."

Everyone was silent for a few more moments. They all knew what needed to be done, but nobody wanted to be the one to say it, until Robin broke the silence.

"Well… we're going to have to tell him, then."

Nobody wanted to. Nobody knew how. But Robin was right, they needed to let Beast Boy know that the Doom Patrol had disbanded, permanently.

"He… he should be proud," Starfire thought aloud. "They died noble deaths. Fighting their enemies, and…"

The door to the Common Room slid open and Beast Boy walked in, wearing an oversized American Football helmet and with an oven glove on each hand.

"Uh, Rob, do we have any stronger trash bags? The thing from my wardrobe is-"

All four of the Titans screamed. In the confusion, the remote control was dropped, and a desperate struggle began as each Titan – save for an extremely confused Beast Boy – tried to turn off the television as quickly as possible. Robin dove for the remote control, only to miss when it levitated out of the air, seized by Raven. Spotting that Starfire was the closest, Raven flung it towards her. In fact, she flung it with such force that it collided with Starfire's chest and sent her tumbling backwards over the couch.

For a second, all was silent, until Starfire rose again, righteous fury glowing in her eyes, and with the remote control safely in hand. With a furious war cry, she pressed on the remote with all of her strength… which, unsurprisingly, caused it to immediately shatter into thousands of tiny, useless pieces. The TV remained on, and running. Panicking, Starfire formed a bolt of energy in her fists and fired it straight at the screen, which cracked, fizzled, and promptly went out.

The room was silent, except for Starfire's heavy breathing, and Cyborg's distressed cry of "My TV!" as he rushed to the device, assessing the damage.

Beast Boy may have gotten the subtle hint that something was wrong. "Uh, guys? What's going on?" he asked, removing the football helmet and oven gloves.

The Titans didn't know how to respond. They knew that they had to tell him, but they would have very much appreciated a little more time to discuss and agree on how. Still, it wasn't as though they could put it off, especially after what he had just seen.

Robin took a deep breath. "Beast Boy, why don't you sit down? We need to tell you something." He was trying to sound comforting, which in contrast with his hardened leader persona, only made Beast Boy more unsettled. It didn't help that Starfire and Raven were also looking at him as if he were an injured puppy, and the only reason Cyborg wasn't joining them is that he was trying to repair the broken television.

"… Ok…" Beast Boy cautiously took a seat on the sofa, and suddenly found himself flanked by Robin and Starfire, who each placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We just heard some… rather sad news, that we think you should know about." Robin tentatively breached, before the television sprang back to life.

'-history of active duty in the area, the Doom Patrol may be gone, but they are not forgotten. We spoke to several locals to understand the impact that the Doom Patrol have had on the area, and the impact that their death will have on the community.'

Cyborg manually muted the television. While they were horrified to hear the news being repeated – in Beast Boy's presence – there was a unanimous sense of relief that none of them had to be the one to break the news to him. Now, all of their focus was solely on him, their friend, who had just been informed that his previous team and surrogate family had been killed. None of them were sure how he would take it, and from Raven's empathic abilities, she wasn't sure if he was really reacting at all.

"… Oh… so… the Doom Patrol… you…" Beast Boy had never been particularly eloquent, but he was especially struggling to find the right words now. "… Oh."

"We are extremely sorry for your loss, friend," Starfire softly spoke, embracing the confused boy in a gentle hug.

"Yeah… that's right," added Robin uncertainly, who was also struggling to find the right thing to say.

"And we're all here for you, no matter what you need," Cyborg added forlornly. He knew well the pain of losing a family member, surrogate or otherwise.

Raven wanted to add her part, but she was distracted by Beast Boy's complete lack of reaction. He could easily have been in shock, but she could have sensed that, and it certainly didn't feel like it. It felt more like he was feeling nothing, or rather that he was having a hard time processing exactly how to feel.

"Beast Boy? Are you okay?" she cautiously asked. It felt like a foolish question, but she just couldn't get a read on his emotional state. Grief, she had expected. Or confusion. But right now, he was like a blank slate.

"… Guys, I…" For the first time since the news had broken, Raven felt a pang of emotion. Guilt. "I'm not sure how to say this."

"You don't need to say anything," Starfire reassured, having released him from the hug.

"No, you don't understand, it's…" and then, Beast Boy did the most peculiar thing. He laughed. It was completely hollow and humourless, but still, as if he was appreciating some hidden irony, he couldn't help but do it.

Closing his eyes, Beast Boy took a deep breath and began to explain. "They've done this before."

No one was quite sure what he meant. Had they died before? Did the Doom Patrol possess some kind of regenerative ability that they didn't know about?

"I mean, the news. I-I was still with them the first time they-we did it. It's a tactic to… we used to…"

"Beast Boy," Robin interrupted calmly. "Start from the beginning."

Beast Boy nodded, took a few seconds to compose himself, and then revealed everything. "Back when we were trying to make headway in a case one time, we just couldn't find any leads. We knew that the Brotherhood of Evil were near, but they were just too careful. Then, Mento had an idea." It did not escape anyone's notice that whenever Beast Boy talked about Elastigirl, he always addressed her warmly as Rita, but Mento was always referred to strictly by his codename.

"We bribed a local news station, and the story ran; Doom Patrol, dead. All died in some tragic accident on a failed mission. We had to stay underground for a while, but… it's not like any of us knew anyone who would be affected by it, so we didn't really give it much thought. A few weeks later, we were trying to get some more intel, and boom; the Brotherhood had completely given up hiding. Not, like, totally, but they were way more blatant about what they were doing. It was a lot easier to track them down, and when we did, we had the element of surprise. We took down a whole operation, it would've taken us months – years, maybe – to get that kind of work done. And all it took was that one announcement."

"… You've faked your death?" Robin asked, a strange mixture of apprehension at the Doom Patrol's techniques, and admiration of their dedication to the mission.

"Yeah. Once," replied Beast Boy. "But I know they've done it again since I left."

"How?" Robin was the first to ask, but far from the only one who was curious.

"I still have my old Doom Patrol communicator. A few years ago, I got an alert on it that the team had… well, you know." Despite the lengths the Doom Patrol had been willing to go to, Beast Boy didn't seem overly fond of explicitly describing them. "Then a few weeks later I got another alert to let me know that the last one had been a false alarm. They must have thought that someone was monitoring their communications. I don't know if it worked, but knowing them… probably."

"That is…" Starfire hesitated, "good news, then? This report, it may also be an untruth?"

"Yeah," responded Beast Boy unsurely. "It could be."

"Could?" Robin replied, alarmed. "Is there any way you can find out?"

Beast Boy shrugged half-heartedly. "Not really. I could try to contact them, but… if they are trying to fake their deaths, they probably won't appreciate that at all. Could ruin the whole thing."

Robin rubbed his forehead in frustration. "So… not to be a pessimist, but… this news report, it could…"

Sensing Robin's hesitation, Beast Boy cut him off "Oh yeah, they could totally be dead." Nobody was particularly happy with how casually and breezily he had just said that.

For more than a few moments, the room was filled with an uncomfortable silence. No-one was sure what to say – or if there was even anything to say. How could you help your friend commiserate their loss when you weren't sure if they had lost anything yet?

"… That's horrible!"

To everyone's surprise, especially herself, Raven had spoken up in a somewhat forceful manner. And before she knew what she was doing, she found herself marching towards Beast Boy in a somewhat agitated manner.

"Uh… Raven, I-" he was cut off as she abruptly enveloped him in a warm hug. "Oh… um, ok," he quietly added, confused, but hugging her back. It felt strange to see her so concerned on his behalf, but when she quietly pulled away, he could see how unhappy she was with the situation.

"So, there's no way to know? They're just leaving you in this… limbo?"

Beast Boy nodded, and while she was certainly relieved to see that her friend wasn't upset, the fact that he seemed less concerned than she did unnerved her.

"Yeah, I guess. But… I'm kind of used to it. It's just how they operate."

Raven looked to her friends and saw that they all shared the same expression of concern. If she had to be the one to say it, she would.

"Beast Boy… what if they really are…" she didn't want to have to be explicit, and luckily, she didn't have to be.

Beast Boy smiled so naturally that she could barely tell it was forced. "Nah, it's… there's really no point in worrying about it now. I – I know that it sounds stupid, but… I can kind of tell. They're not. So… there's no point worrying about it." No-one was happy with his explanation, or the unfortunate circumstances he had found himself in. But they couldn't exactly disagree.

"Well… if you're sure," muttered Cyborg, quiet and subdued.

"I am, really," Beast Boy reaffirmed. "Hey, if I haven't heard anything in a couple of months, we can talk about this again, but right now, I think I just want to watch some TV. Hey, do I still get to pick the movie tonight?"

Everyone was simultaneously relieved to see that he was taking it so well, and quickly returning to his upbeat, chipper persona, while also feeling extremely worried that he was taking it a little too well. Beast Boy seemed to pick up on this, and felt the need to clarify. "Thank you, though. All of you. If the worst comes to the worst, then… I'm sure I'll need your support. Okay?" It felt odd that he was the one reassuring them.

With the news received and the worst over, the Titans reluctantly returned to their regular schedule, although they all paid a little extra attention to Beast Boy. Raven couldn't sense any unusual spikes of emotion, Robin couldn't notice any tell-tale signs that he was concealing anything, and Cyborg and Starfire felt like they couldn't read him at all. Still, he was right. The only thing left to do was wait until they heard anything.

If they heard anything.

.

It is commonly said that a frog that is placed into boiling water will immediately try to jump out, but a frog that is placed into lukewarm water which is gradually heated to boiling will die, never noticing the fatal change until it is too late, because it happened slowly, over a longer period of time. Cyborg would tell you this had no scientific basis. Starfire would not understand the principle of the statement. Robin would tell you that this was untrue. Beast Boy would ask, horrified, why anyone would want to boil a frog in the first place. Raven had given much thought to the saying, but over the next few months, she realised that grief could work in a similar way. There was no one day when she noticed that Beast Boy's mood had changed significantly, but over the months, there was an undeniable shift.

More moments when she caught him staring into the middle distance. More moments when Robin had to ask him "Beast Boy, did you catch that?" during the run-downs of missions. More moments when he would just zone out in the middle of a tense gaming session with Cyborg, and the smile would slowly fade from his face. And the worst thing was, they all knew that there was nothing they could do to help. Nothing, except wait.

.

One Month Later

.

Starfire was the first one to bring it up. She had waited exactly one month to ask, as if she had been keeping track of when it would first be appropriate to say. She was no empath, but she was also an expert on reading emotions, and she could see as well that Beast Boy was slowly but surely breaking under the weight.

"Beast Boy, have you… heard anything regarding your former team?" She tried to ask as innocently as possible. The rest of the team were horrified, and froze in place. Even Cyborg, who was mid-bite into a stack of pancakes, paused completely, as syrup dripped from his forkful of food onto the table counter. The only one who didn't seem to be affected by Starfire's question was Beast Boy himself.

"Nope," he replied casually, still munching on his cereal, without even looking up at the others. "That's not-" (crunch crunch) "-super-unusual though. I'd give it a while."

Another few seconds passed, everyone except Beast Boy and Starfire still frozen, until he glanced up and noticed their shock. "… What?" he asked, as if he thought maybe he had something on his face.

"… Nothing." Cyborg replied, still wide-eyed and not taking a bite of the delicious pancake stack he had prepared for them this morning.

Beast Boy laughed softly at their apprehension and went back to his cereal. The team breathed a collective sigh of relief that he hadn't appeared to be upset by the question at all. The fact that he still hadn't heard anything, however, was troubling, even if he wouldn't admit it.

.

Two Months Later

.

"Beast Boy?" Robin asked confusedly, walking into the Common Room where Cyborg and the changeling were deeply invested in a racing game. Raven was sat in the corner, reading yet another book, while Starfire was playing with Silkie.

"Mmm?" Beast Boy acknowledged without looking up, still focused on the game.

"You have a letter here, and… it looks important."

Beast Boy glanced at Robin, who appeared genuinely concerned, and then back to the screen, only to find that Cyborg had paused the race in a display of unusually good sportsmanship. Robin handed the letter to Beast Boy, and he could immediately see what had caught Robin's attention.

It was a letter from a solicitor, addressed to Garfield Logan.

With the eyes of the rest of the team on him, Beast Boy ripped open the letter and scanned the contents quickly. Another uncomfortable laugh came from him shortly afterwards, and Raven couldn't tell if it was forced, insincere, or just inappropriate.

"Oh… heh, well, I guess that's the next logical step."

He would have preferred to keep this to himself, but with the rest of the team staring at him, he knew that wasn't an option. He laughed awkwardly again.

"It's, uh, the will. Mento and Rita." Once again, they noticed that it was Rita for Elastigirl, and… well, just Mento for Mento. "We didn't have to do this when I was there because… we didn't really have anyone else, but I guess it would go to me, huh?"

"What would… go to you?" asked Robin cautiously.

"Oh, you know. They weren't like, loaded or anything, but I'd get a pretty big payday. See for yourself," he finished, casually passing the letter to Robin.

Despite knowing that the entire team wanted to know the contents, Robin resisted the urge to read it out loud. '-Steve and Rita Dayton, being of sound body and mind, hereby do pledge that our savings and assets, material or otherwise, will be transferred to our adopted son, Garfield Mark Logan. Management and ownership of Dayton Enterprises and all future earnings are also hereby-'

"Wait," asked Robin, "You're going to own a company?"

Beast Boy idly scratched his head. "Oh yeah, Dayton Enterprises. Uh, I don't know. There's a board of directors or something. And it would take months to go through. I reckon they'll be back by then."

Nobody was sure how to respond to Beast Boy's continued belief that the Doom Patrol were still faking their deaths. On the one hand, he knew them better than anyone there; they had never even met the Doom Patrol, it had just come out some time ago that Beast Boy had previously been a part of them. Robin remembered the conversation well as he had been completely blindsided by it; the Doom Patrol were more of a serious, detached, black ops team. Certainly not the kind of activity he would associate with Beast Boy.

"Hey Tin Man, ready to lose?" Beast Boy carried on, going back to his video game. He didn't sound as if the news had affected him at all, but Raven knew better, and she wasn't the only one.

.

Three Months Later

.

The evening's training session had been brutal today. Raven felt exhausted as she slowly made her way back to her room, in desperate need of a shower and a nap. She still couldn't tell if Robin's insistence on 'no-powers' sparring was some sort of ego boost for him, being the best hand-to-hand fighter, or whether he genuinely thought that they would ever be in a situation in which she would need to know Tae Kwon Do, but right now, she was too tired to care.

However, she made an effort to walk past Beast Boy's room on the way to her own. He had taken a haymaker from Starfire during their own spar, and while he had assured the horrified Tamaranean that he was fine, Raven had noticed him wincing for the rest of the session, and he had even been allowed to leave a few minutes early. Raven desperately wanted to retire to her room, but it wouldn't hurt to check on Beast Boy as she passed by.

As soon as she approached his door, she almost collapsed. A wave of pure, unrestrained grief hit her like a tidal wave, washing over her being until she could feel every ounce of his misery. So overwhelmed she was with his own emotions, she could barely feel her own; a hint of relief that it had finally arrived, and the dread and acceptance that it was here.

She knocked on the door, not to ask permission, but to let him know that she was about to come in. She could hear his sobbing before she phased through, where she saw him sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding something in his hands. As she approached, making no secret of her footsteps but trying not to disturb him further, she could make out what the item was. It resembled a dull, grey version of the Teen Titans communicator, with a solitary 'DP' in the corner. A light in the other corner was intermittently flashing red. She could tell what it was, and what he had tried.

She sat down next to him, and guided his head onto her shoulder. She didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything. She just joined him on that bedroom floor as he cried his eyes out.

Even though she knew, and even though he knew that she knew, he still felt the need to say it. When the tears had slowed just enough that he was able to speak, he held the communicator up shakily.

"I… I tried to call them…" he wept. "I really tried, I…" he collapsed into another fit of sobs as Raven threw her arms around him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she consoled him. It wasn't just the possibility that they were dead, but the fact he didn't even know. It could be months, or even years until he got closure. All she could do was apologize, so that was all she did, holding him for hours as he cried and cried and cried until he had no more tears left. Several times he began to slow, only for a new wave of grief to emerge. Raven wished that she could do more to help, but while the process was slow, she could feel him gradually calming. The sadness remained, and would never quite go away, but it was returning to safer levels.

Some hours later, when he had finally stopped, Raven gently released him. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose was runny, and he still looked unnaturally miserable – there was something so uncanny and off-putting about an unhappy Beast Boy that made Rage boil inside Raven's mind; if the Doom Patrol truly weren't dead, she wanted to kill them herself – but she could tell that the worst had passed.

"… Sorry," he sniffled, "I know that wasn't-" Raven lifted a hand to his mouth to stop whatever apology was coming.

"If you feel like this again… please, come and find me. I don't know if it'll help, but… I can't bear the thought of you feeling like this alone. Please."

Raven had a way of delivering stoic but meaningful messages when Beast Boy least expected it, but this was easily the most openly affectionate he had ever seen her, towards anyone, let alone him.

"I-"

She silenced him again. "Promise me. Please."

He was silent for a second, and then nodded. "Okay. I promise."

"Good." There was almost a smile on her face, but that still wasn't what the situation called for. Summoning a small portal, she reached inside and pulled a cold bottle of water from the Titans' fridge. "Drink some of this. Then sleep. It's been a rough day."

Beast Boy followed her orders like an obedient pet, and shakily took several gulps of the refreshing water before she helped him to his feet and led him to his bed. Just before he could lay down, she pressed her palm against his forehead and he could feel the tension leaving his body… along with most of his remaining energy. She left him just enough to fall onto his bed of his own volition, but it was clear that he was seconds away from falling asleep.

With barely enough energy to roll onto his back and half-pull up his duvet, he used the last of his remaining strength to mutter "Rae… thank you…" before his eyes closed and he entered a deep slumber. Raven remained behind for another hour, meditating to pass the time, occasionally pausing to check that he was still asleep. Only when she was sure that he would remain so did she depart for her own room and retire to bed for the night.

The next morning, Beast Boy entered the Common Room in just as high spirits as he had ever done. There was no outward sign of the anguish that had plagued him the day before, and while Raven could still detect it beneath the surface, she saw no need to comment on it. Not unless he wanted her to. As days turned into weeks without another incident, she still sensed spikes of low mood from him, but none so serious to require her intervention. Not that she wasn't tempted.

.

Several months after the news report that had caused all of this, the Titans were once again gathered in the Common Room, watching a film. Robin and Starfire were cuddling at one end of the couch, Cyborg was in the middle, with an egregiously large bucket of popcorn, and Beast Boy sat on the other side with Raven, who was only half-watching while still mostly engrossed in her novel. A soft beeping sounded from Cyborg's arm, and he glanced at it, then stopped what he was doing and paused the movie.

"Something wrong, Cy?" Robin asked, noticing the look of confusion and concern on his second-in-command's face.

"One of the rooftop sensors. Says that something's up there."

"Just one? Couldn't it be like, a bird or something?" Beast Boy offered, and his explanation was perfectly plausible, until Cyborg explained further.

"You don't understand; we have like, a hundred sensors up there. A bird would've been picked up by dozens of them and written off as not a threat. The fact that something only set off one of them…"

"… You think someone's trying to bypass our alarms?" Robin asked, concluding Cyborg's train of thought. Not that it mattered, because the next second, the door to the Common Room opened behind them and they leapt to their defences. Robin was first, three bat-a-rangs at the ready, then Cyborg, with his sonic cannon locked and loaded onto the entrance. Starfire and Raven rose, hands aglow with power at this potential threat, and Beast Boy, unsure which animal form would be most effective, simply stood back, waiting for more information to determine how he should transform.

The intruder took a few non-threatening steps forwards, unintimidated by their battle stances, but also making no moves to attack of his own. He was dressed in a similar uniform to Beast Boy's, except under the uniform, he was covered head to toe in bandages.

"So… this is where you've been staying, huh kid?" The mysterious figure silently looked around the room and somehow, despite the bandages, managed to let out an impressed-sounding whistle. "Gotta say, it's a hell of a lot nicer than our usual digs."

The rest of the team were stunned, still unsure if this man was a threat or not… except for one.

"LARRY?!"

Beast Boy had screamed in surprise, relief, joy, and a few other emotions that Raven was having a hard time getting a solid read on. Before any of them could ask who exactly 'Larry' was, Beast Boy had leapt towards him and embraced him tightly in a hug that could have rivalled Starfire's in sheer force.

'Larry' didn't seem to mind, and hugged the grinning boy back with one arm, ruffling his hair with the other. "Yeah kid, it's us."

"… Us? You mean…" Beast Boy's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas, and before he could even ask, the heavy, stomping footsteps from the hall indicated the arrival of another.

"Did you find him? Did you-" a huge robot with a simpler, more primitive design than Cyborg barged through the doorway. He had to stoop down just to fit through, and even then, his shoulders scraped the frame. It would take Cyborg more than a few minutes of buffing and several angry comments under his breath to fix them up again, but that would be at a later date.

"Cliff!" Beast Boy yelled, leaving the bandaged man to hug the second intruder, who had to kneel down just to come face to face with him.

"Hey little guy, glad to see you too!"

"Are you all here?" Beast Boy asked excitedly. "Are you-"

Beast Boy's face fell, and the atmosphere in the room immediately tensed up at the arrival of the next visitor. With a face like thunder and a stance that suggested that he would rather be anywhere else, Mento commandingly strolled into the Common Room and unhesitatingly shot Beast Boy a look of disapproval as if his adopted son had already done something to personally offend him.

"For the record, I advised against this meaningless excursion," were the first words he deigned to say upon being reunited with Beast Boy for the first time in years. "Unfortunately, I was outvoted."

Beast Boy couldn't help but smirk. Mento placed such value on his own opinion that it was worth two votes in any team discussions, and he also used himself as a tiebreaker. This must have meant that the entire rest of the team had voted against him, something that brought Beast Boy no small amount of satisfaction.

"It's good to see you too, Dad," he shot back, half-spiteful and half-sarcastic.

Mento scoffed at his response and moved forwards, scoping out the location like an uninterested buyer inspecting a property. It was the first time the rest of the Teen Titans had met him, but they could instantly tell that he was the kind of person who could suck all of the joy out of a room by entering it. After all, he had been kind enough to give them a demonstration.

"Steve? Did you find them?"

Fortunately, the effect could be reversed.

A young-looking woman with long brunette hair walked through the door and was the only intruder to immediately acknowledge the team whose tower they were trespassing in, with a friendly wave, despite all of them (except for Beast Boy) still being ready to attack. As soon as she spotted the changeling though, her demeanour softened immensely – not that it was hard to begin with – and she beamed the biggest smile possible.

"Gar…"

"Mom!"

They ran to each other, and for the first time, a member of this team returned Beast Boy's display of affection just as strongly. With his head muffled into her shoulder, it was hard to tell, but they could catch snippets of what they were saying to each other. "I'm so happy to see you," "I knew you'd be okay, I just knew," "I know sweetie, I'm sorry we couldn't tell you." By the time they let each other go, Beast Boy was crying again, but for a whole new reason.

Suddenly remembering that his friends had never met these people, Beast Boy wiped his eyes and hastily turned to his teammates.

"Oh! Um, Teen Titans, this is the Doom Patrol! That's Negative Man," the man in bandages casually waved to the team, "That's Robotman," the large robotic man nodded to them, "This is Mento," Beast Boy's voice became a lot less energetic and a lot more professional, while Mento continued to observe them impassively, "And this is Ri- I mean, Elastigirl!" he finished, his joy returning as he squeezed Rita's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Rita said with a smile, squeezing Beast Boy's hand back affectionately.

The team were stunned. Not only were the Doom Patrol alive, they were here in the flesh, and they had also gotten past almost all of their defence systems, something which caused Robin and Cyborg no end of worry. But they were also Beast Boy's surrogate family, who they had previously suspected dead, and here they were, alive and well. The effect on their friend was undeniable, and he was smiling more purely and genuinely than they had ever seen him do since he first heard the news.

"This is…" Starfire began, no-one quite sure how she would finish. Unpredictable? Inconsiderate? Shocking?

"… wonderful!" she squealed as she flew towards Elastigirl and embraced her and Beast Boy in a bone-crushing embrace. She had only been aiming for Elastigirl, but since she and Beast Boy were still holding hands, and neither seemed in any hurry to let go, he was dragged into the hug as well, not that he minded. "It is truly wonderful to know that you are alive and well!"

"A-and you guys came all the way here!" Beast Boy added, clearly touched by the effort they had gone to.

"Well, we have some business to clear up in the States, and when we saw that you tried to call us last month, we-"

"A call that could have jeopardized the mission if it had been intercepted," Mento interrupted strictly, clearly upset that Beast Boy would dare commit the unthinkable sin of… wanting to know if they were alive or not.

"Oh, Steve! Hush!" Rita ordered, more like a strict librarian than the drill sergeant personality they had seen from Mento. Still, it seemed to work, and Mento grumbled to himself, kept his arms folded and didn't interrupt further. It was nice to see that someone was capable of putting him in his place.

"Well, anyway, we finished up a few weeks ago and thought it would be worth dropping by just to let you know that we were alright." Raven's eyes smouldered in rage as she heard one detail in this story, but she kept it to herself. 'A few weeks ago?!'

"And I have to say," Mento continued, Rita's tongue-lashing having only made him temporarily less insufferable, "the outfit you're running here is shambolic to say the least. It was a joke getting past your security measures."

"You can take that up with me. And you still triggered a sensor," Robin replied, somewhat competitively.

Mento stared at Robin as if he had grown two heads, then looked at Beast Boy in disbelief. The expression of borderline-disgust on his face was clear. 'You aren't even in command of this unit?' The rest of the Titans were quickly piecing together exactly why Beast Boy had left.

Returning to Robin, Mento's eye twitched. "Impossible. Our cloaking system is impenetrable. There must have been an error on your end."

"You tell us how you hid from our alarms, and I'll tell you how you set off the one that you did," Robin replied, arms crossed and nonplussed by Mento's intimidation.

"Listen, boy. Unlike whatever kindergarten you're running here, the Doom Patrol deals with matters of global importance-"

"That's cute," cut off Robin. "Ever had to visit another planet?"

Mento frowned. As their row continued, conversations broke out across both teams. Starfire was asking Negative Man every question she could think of, and he was doing his best to answer them. Cyborg and Robotman immediately began comparing tech tips; Robotman was amazed at how much power Cyborg could generate in a smaller model than his own, while Cyborg was surprised by the raw strength Robotman could generate, being composed of technology from an era twenty years prior to his own. Beast Boy was attempting to moderate the discussion between Robin and Mento, simultaneously trying to prevent the conversation from getting too hostile, and watching in awe as these two egos went head-to-head.

That only left one Titan, and one member of the Doom Patrol.

"You must be Raven," Elastigirl introduced herself with a warm, motherly tone, walking towards the empath with a hand outstretched. "I can't say we know much about you, but it's wonderful to meet you," she continued, and Raven could feel that she meant it. In contrast to Mento, who seemed to have all of Robin's negative traits amplified by a factor of hundreds, Rita was a truly friendly and welcoming individual, with an aura quite similar to Starfire.

Raven stared at the hand that Elastigirl had offered, and the decision that she made next could not have been easier.

Raven extended her hand back to Elastigirl.

…

Raven pulled her hand back as far as she could go while retaining the element of surprise, clenched it into the tightest fist that she had ever made, and extended it with all of her energy, straight at Elastigirl's face, with every ounce of strength she could muster.

*THWACK*

Raven was no martial artist, but the punch was good, and her aim was true. Elastigirl was immediately floored, and her cry of surprise and pain interrupted every other conversation in the room. Raven glared at her fallen adversary as she felt her eyes begin to turn red, and rarely enough, she was letting them.

"MOM!"

Beast Boy's distressed shout snapped her out of her daze, and the red quickly faded as she turned to her friends and their visitors. Beast Boy looked horrified at Elastigirl, but when his gaze moved to her attacker, his distress was replaced with only confusion. "… Raven?"

Before she could answer, she was flung backwards several feet until she collided with a wall. Arms and legs immobilized, she struggled to get a glimpse of her attacker, but through the messy psychic waves that in addition to keeping her locked in place were beginning to give her a headache, she could make out the furious face of Mento.

"Would you care to explain yourself?" he demanded through gritted teeth, in a way that seemed both furious and utterly impersonal. Raven could feel the red returning, and tentatively swallowed her rage. If it got out of control while she was saying this, the consequences could be disastrous… not that they didn't deserve it. Eventually, reasonably confident that she was only as furious as she should be, she spat out her response.

"Explain… myself? Myself?! Why don't you explain what the hell you think you're doing, showing up here, four months after he thought you'd died?! Why don't you start with that, you sick freaks, and then maybe I'll explain myself!" she snapped, her voice growing louder and more intense the further she got.

Mento scoffed, which just made her angrier. "I told you, I was outvoted, I never even wanted to-"

"SHUT. UP!" screamed Raven, her two eyes briefly transforming into four and glowing crimson with rage. "I don't care about that, I care that he-" she pointed accusingly at Beast Boy with such venom that for a second he feared that he was the target of her displeasure – "thought that you were dead, and you just let him! He mourned for you! He cried for you! You knew that he had heard, and you just let him feel it. All of it." Her eyes glowed red again, and her gaze fell again on Elastigirl. "Weeks ago? WEEKS AGO?! I should kill you all right here!"

Mento showed a complete lack of intimidation that was either fearless or reckless. "Now listen here; I don't know what kind of playgroup you kids think you're running, but the Doom Patrol do not compromise missions concerning matters of national security on the basis of feelings." He barked back like an army commander.

"You could have let him know." Raven asserted back in quiet fury.

Mento rolled his eyes impatiently. "As I said, we do not jeopardize-"

"You could have let him know!" she snapped, eyes red again. "All your fancy technology and – and – national clearance, there would have been some way to get the word to him, and you didn't."

Mento stubbornly folded his arms. "No. We didn't. Are you done?" he asked, as if witnessing a child throw a temper tantrum.

That was the last straw, and Raven finally let herself be fully consumed by her endless rage. Floating off the ground as multiple limbs of dark magic emerged from under her cloak, she was no longer Raven, but Trigon's daughter, queen of demons, and heir to hell itself.

"KILL YOU. I'll kill you. For his sake, leave now if you value your lives, and don't return unless it is crawling on your hands and knees, begging for the forgiveness that you don't deserve. He has suffered enough under the burden of your cruelty. He does not deserve you, and you certainly don't deserve him, you craven, pathetic, wretched-" Mento fired another psychic blast in her direction, but she was ready this time and wordlessly summoned a shield, which cracked in places, but held. It was hard to tell who was more surprised; Mento, whose power had just been held off by a moody teenager, or Raven, who, even with her vast reserves of unspeakable magic, had to put considerable effort into blocking the attack.

Smiling at her newfound superiority, she continued her breaking speech. "You caused unspeakable cruelty to my friend. He does not deserve to have a so-called family who believe this is an acceptable way to treat someone. He does not deserve to be caused any more pain than that which he has already endured, on behalf of you. He… does not…" she could feel her rage dwindling into something else, but she wasn't sure what. "He does not deserve to be treated like this… by those who claim to care for him." She could feel tears in her eyes – not Raven's, but Rage's – which she hadn't known was even possible. "He doesn't deserve any of this; he… he is kind, and he is considerate… and… and… pure…"

Her fury all-but evaporated, for the first time since losing her temper, Raven looked at the boy who she had been defending.

Unsurprisingly, Beast Boy was helping Rita to her feet and had a steadying arm around her. When he looked to Raven, she could clearly see the look of horror and fear on his face, shortly before tears began to form in his eyes. The same tears that she had gone to great lengths to avoid falling.

As her rage completely dwindled, Raven returned to her normal form, breathing heavily and backing away from the Doom Patrol and from her teammates until she felt her back hit the wall. Knowing that her powers were not stable enough to even teleport to the safety of her room, she ran through the nearest door, didn't look back, and kept running until she had reached her sanctuary. She didn't know when the tears had started falling, but by the time she had arrived, they were well and truly underway.

Shutting the door behind her, Raven flung herself onto her bed and cried into her pillow. It felt oddly ironic; at several times in her life, she had wished that she had been born without her powers, and gone through life as nothing more than an ordinary teenage girl. Now, she had gotten into a fight with one of her friend's parents, embarrassed herself, and fled to cry in her bedroom. That definitely felt closer to the average teenage experience than the superhero life that she was used to.

She didn't know if she was angry at herself, angry at the Doom Patrol, angry at Beast Boy for not being angry at the Doom Patrol, angry at herself for being angry at Beast Boy… all that she knew was that she was angry, but instead of wanting to blow something up the way she was usually tempted to when her temper flared, for some reason, this time, all she wanted to do was cry. Not even the sound of faint footsteps approaching her door could convince her to try and stop. Not even when the door opened and someone cautiously entered.

She couldn't sense who it was, but she knew that Beast Boy wouldn't want to see her, and Cyborg's footsteps would have been a lot louder. That left either Starfire, who she knew meant well but she did not want to talk to right now, or Robin, who she knew would be here in his capacity as team leader rather than as her friend.

"Go away," she muttered quietly, angry but without energy. "I don't want to talk to them, I don't want to see them, and I am definitely not apologizing to them. Not even if Beast Boy wants me to. In fact, you can tell them that I hope their ship crashes and they all-"

Beast Boy quietly cleared his throat.

Raven's head spun around, shocked that he had been the one to visit. For a second, it threw her off, but only for a second.

"Fine. Whatever. This changes nothing," she lied, wiping her eyes as she struggled to face him. Whether it was from her own chaos or his own confusion, she had no idea how he was feeling, and she hated it. He wasn't making it easy either, seemingly in no hurry to say anything to her.

"You want me to say sorry? Well fine. I'm sorry that they're all such a bunch of callous, selfish jackasses who couldn't even give a damn about the wellbeing of their own son. I'm sorry that I ever met them, and most of all, I'm sorry that I didn't punch her, and every other stupid member of that stupid team even harder. Happy now?"

Beast Boy remained silent, only taking an apprehensive step closer to her bed.

"Seriously? The silent treatment?" she growled petulantly. "Could you be any more immature? In fact, you – you want me to say sorry and mean it? Well, I am. I'm sorry to you. I'm sorry that you had to go through this, and whatever else they've done. I'm sorry to you, and no-one else. And if you think that's going to change, then you're even more stupid than you-"

"Raven!" Beast Boy rarely raised his voice, especially to her, but the occasion was nothing if not rare, and she fell silent. His face as inscrutable as ever, she conceded defeat, huffily collapsing back onto her bed and turning away from him as she curled up. Anything he had to say, he could say it like this. She neither needed nor wanted to look at him, whether out of shame or misplaced rage. For a few moments, he said nothing, and then she felt a weight on the end of her bed, where he had chosen to sit, facing away from her too. She ordinarily hated people making themselves at home in her room, but she supposed she had just punched his adoptive mother.

"Raven… I… I don't know what to say." It frustrated Raven to no end that the boy who had previously been so brazenly open as to broadcast every iota of emotion he felt, was currently still so impossible to read. But everything about his tone, his manner and his behaviour pointed towards one feeling in particular; disappointment.

"I just… God, I'm sorry, I'm just having a hard time, trying to…" he continued, and now that she had decided that he was disappointed, it was all that she could hear from him. Like a parent scolding a naughty child. Raven buried her head into her pillow; with no small effort, she had managed to hold back her tears, but knew that as soon as he said what he had to say, they would be back, and she didn't want him to see her cry. "I'm just…" Beast Boy sighed. "I'm just gonna say it." Looking at his hands, he idly twiddled his thumbs and worked up the nerve to eventually tell her. It was barely audible, but she heard every word.

"… That was probably… the nicest, most awesome thing that anyone's ever done for me."

Raven had been prepared for anything but that. Cautiously turning back, afraid that she had genuinely misheard, she saw Beast Boy's face brimming with tears of joy, stress, relief and sadness all at once.

"That was…" he sniffed loudly, and just as Raven had stopped having to try to hold back tears, he seemed to be having trouble. "God, that was amazing Rae. You're the best."

Raven was in the process of slowly sitting up when he flung his arms around her again and squeezed tightly. There was a tornado of emotions inside of him, but more than anything, she felt an overwhelming sense of… gratitude? And pride? She was too disoriented to return the hug, but just enough of her faculties had returned for her to say two words that she never thought she would ever be saying to Beast Boy.

"… I'm confused."

Beast Boy let out a restrained laugh, struggling not to lose control as he began to wipe his eyes. Raven understood now; he hadn't been hiding how he was feeling, he had simply been feeling everything. Overjoyed that his family were alive. Distraught that they had let him think otherwise. Proud, disappointed, furious and relieved all at once. In all of her years, she had never known anyone who was capable of feeling so strongly, and it was probably one of the things that she would never admit fascinated her the most about him.

"I'm sorry, I know," he replied, still half-laughing and struggling to stop crying. Raven came to her senses just long enough to throw him a box of tissues from her bedside table. He nodded with a tearful smile and tried – and failed – to regain his composure. "Today has just been such a complete screw-up. I'm sorry, I'm kind of all over the place."

"I don't think you need to apologize for that," Raven uttered softly, sounding more concerned for him than she was angry at the Doom Patrol, which perhaps she always had been. Beast Boy smiled at her again and then, somewhat awkwardly, turned away to loudly blow his nose in one of the tissues. Not wanting to risk missing the throw into the wastepaper basket in Raven's room and land it on the floor, he screwed the tissue up into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket to throw away later.

"I know. It's just… they're my family."

Raven caught herself just before she was about to say 'I', and quickly adjusted her response. "We could be your family…"

Beast Boy laughed again and shook his head. "Nah, not like that. Besides, you guys are better. You're my friends. That's like the family you get to choose." She knew it sounded like a clichéd Saturday morning cartoon sentiment, but Raven would be lying if she had said it didn't still make her feel warm inside.

"It's just…" he continued, with a touch more remorse than before, "They are my family. And I love them. But I still left them." Beast Boy nearly never talked about his past, and it was quickly becoming obvious why, but Raven had never been more curious. "I didn't like the way they did things. I couldn't stand the way we were supposed to treat each other. The mission always came first. It felt like… we didn't really have each other's backs." He sniffed again, eyeing the box of tissues in case he would need another shortly. "One night, I got into a huge fight with Mento, and he said that if I wasn't comfortable following his orders, I should just leave. So, I did."

Raven had never thought about it too much, but she suddenly realised how truly, deeply hard it must have been for him as a nervous and desperately lonely child with no one else to depend on in the world, to still have the fortitude to walk away from the closest thing he had to a family.

Beast Boy's fang popped out of his mouth as he started to smirk, the way he always did when he had thought of something that he shouldn't say, but was going to anyway. "But hey, I don't need to tell you what it's like to fall out with your Dad."

Raven quickly decided that she was going to let him get away with that one.

"Sorry," he giggled immaturely to himself, and she was at least happy to see him returning to his usual self. "Anyway, my point is…" Beast Boy gently placed his hand over Raven's own, and she let him. "What you did in there was, without a doubt, the nicest, coolest, most kickass thing that anyone has ever done for me." Raven half-raised an eyebrow, as if to sarcastically question Beast Boy's high opinion of someone punching his surrogate mother, but he didn't take the bait.

"I-I know that if I had wanted them to, any of the others would have stood up for me too. But you're the only one who didn't care. You just… you knew that they hurt me, and that was enough for you to let them have it. And you were right. And it was super-badass. Thank you, Raven. Seriously." He squeezed her hand softly and, working up the nerve to add one last thing, quickly slipped in "I'm really lucky to have you as a friend."

Raven was beginning to feel guilty that Beast Boy – Beast Boy – kept dropping all of these meaningful remarks her way, and before she knew it, she had placed her remaining hand on top of his own, clutching it even tighter.

"I'm lucky to have you. And I meant every word I said in there."

Beast Boy smiled as one last tear rolled down his cheek, and Raven didn't need to be an empath to know it was of joy. The moment was perfect… until Beast Boy's face fell slightly.

"I should, uh, get back to them. They're going to be leaving soon." Beast Boy stood up, and held out a hand to Raven. "Wanna come?"

The sincerity of the question stunned Raven. "Seriously? I don't think they want to see me. Especially Rita."

"Oh, are you kidding? Rita loves you!"

Raven's head slowly glanced up, glaring at Beast Boy as if she was impatiently waiting for him to reveal that he was obviously joking, but he never did. Eventually, she formulated a succinct but thoroughly profound response.

"… What?"

"She thinks you're great," he carried on, implausibly genuine. "She still worries about me, probably the most out of the whole team, and now she knows…" he paused, struggling to recollect her exact words. "'I'm happy to see that you have friends who care enough about your wellbeing to always stand up for you, no matter what.' That was what she said, and she's right. I have friends who stand up for me without even being asked to."

Even though she could tell from his tone, she still felt the need to confirm.

"You're serious?"

Beast Boy nodded happily. "Yeah, so… you coming?"

Raven did not want to see the Doom Patrol again, but she could hear the hope in his voice. So, before he even had the chance to add "I mean, only if you want to… you don't have to," then she stood up from her bed and nodded nervously.

"Great!" Beast Boy grabbed her hand and walked her out of her room and back to the main hall. Raven frowned at the unnecessary action; she wasn't a child who had to led around by the hand. Still, she made no attempt to break away from him, not even when they re-entered the Common Room, in full view of her team and the Doom Patrol, who seemed to be wrapping up their conversations and preparing to depart once again.

"Oh, Raven!" Rita called with a smile, oddly happy to see her, and strolled towards the pair, ignoring the judgemental glance of Mento as she did so. It seemed that Beast Boy hadn't been lying, as the first thing Rita did when she was close enough was grasp Raven's hands in her and smile appreciatively. "Gar, why don't you say goodbye to Cliff and Larry?"

Beast Boy clearly didn't want to miss what these two were going to say, but didn't want to disobey his mother either. "… Ok! Um… well…" looking back and forth between Raven and Rita, he panicked at the prospect of thinking of something else to say, and with a quick "Eep!" darted away to say his goodbyes to the two other members of his former team that he was still on good terms with.

Rita didn't look back, but waited until she could hear that his footsteps were far enough away before she released Raven's hands and wrapped her in a hug instead. Raven was startled, but Rita simply said "Sorry, I'm a hugger," with a small laugh, and continued holding on. Raven couldn't deny it; she was still angry at the Doom Patrol for what they had done to her friend, but… if Beast Boy was watching…

She reluctantly returned the hug, albeit with not nearly the same amount of enthusiasm. It was more than enough for Rita though, who let her go and continued to beam happily at her, even with the growing bruise on the left side of her nose. Half an inch higher and Raven could have given her a black eye.

"I know that we didn't exactly get off on the best start," Rita whispered – oddly diplomatic, considering that she had merely introduced herself to Raven, who had punched her in the face – "but I really can't tell you how happy it makes me to see that Gar has found himself a friend like you. Dependable. Reliable. Loyal." The utter sincerity of her words was baffling to Raven, but she could at least understand it.

"And… you're right," said Rita, a crack appearing in her happy façade for the first time, as she glanced back at the boy this had been about. "He is kind. And considerate. And he doesn't deserve any of the things that have happened to him. And… sometimes, that includes us." Beast Boy was saying his goodbyes to Negative Man and Robotman, and when he saw that Rita was looking his way, he waved excitedly. The crack in her façade disappeared as she waved back with a hearty smile, but Raven could tell that there was more beneath the surface. "I suppose that's why he's with you now," Rita said to Raven, and to herself.

As she turned back to Raven, her face became serious for the first time, and she clutched Raven's hands again, not in affection, but not in anger either. But as a plea.

"Look out for him, Raven. Please."

Raven felt about as much loyalty to this woman as she felt for the rest of the Doom Patrol, but considering the request… she nodded. "I will."

"Good," Rita smiled gratefully. Looking back at Beast Boy again, she saw that as Mento began to leave – without saying goodbye to anyone, of course – Beast Boy took a stop towards him and hesitatingly held out his arm for a curt handshake. Mento looked at his hand, then at Beast Boy, and then silently left without acknowledging him. Beast Boy's face fell slightly, and so did Rita's. Without turning back to face Raven, she admitted sadly, "He needs a friend like you." She turned back to Raven, and added solemnly, "He… he's very special. And vulnerable."

Raven watched as Beast Boy's open disappointment at Mento's rejection was replaced – or rather, hidden under the surface – as Starfire approached him to comment on his former team. There was no outward sign that he was anything but happy.

"I know," whispered back Raven. "I'll keep an eye on him. I promise."

Rita's sincere smile returned. "Thank you, Raven." And with that, she released the empath, and returned to Beast Boy to say their final goodbyes – for now – before she joined the rest of her team on their ship.

And just like that, as quickly as they had appeared, they were gone. The Titans gathered together as Cyborg watched the one alarm they had triggered disappeared. No arranged plans to see Beast Boy again in the future, they had just… vanished. Raven had always known that she had found a good group of friends, but only upon meeting the Doom Patrol had she realised how much worse things could have been.

"So…" Beast Boy began nervously, apprehensively approaching Raven. "What did you two talk about?"

She was tempted to lie, before realising that there was simply no reason for it. "She asked me to look out for you."

"Oh?" It wasn't a surprise, but Beast Boy was pleased. "What did you say?"

Raven smirked. "I said 'What do you think I've been doing?'." She didn't need to tell him the whole truth.

Beast Boy laughed, as the rest of his friends – other than a few sparse positive comments about meeting his old team (none of them mentioned Mento) – slowly began to return to the film that they had been watching. Only Beast Boy paused.

"This has been a pretty big evening, I think I'm just gonna hit the sack," Beast Boy announced, to the half-hearted protests of his friends, who encouraged him to stay, but ultimately respected his need to process the recent turn of events. All except one.

Raven grabbed his hand with no hesitation. "No. Stay with us. Please," she smiled warmly. The other Titans were staring at her uncharacteristic display of affection, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care.

"Oh… um, ok," Beast Boy answered sheepishly, taking his seat next to her on the couch as the movie restarted. Although she didn't need to, Raven kept a hold of his hand for the entire rest of the evening.

.

"… Not even the leader of the team…" Mento grumbled to himself as the Doom Patrol made their way to their next objective.

Rita lightly slapped him on the back of the head. For all of his faults, she knew that he would never retaliate, and also that he would take the hint to give it a rest. Behind them, Robotman and Negative Man were making an interesting bet.

"Twenty bucks says next time we see them, they're dating." Negative Man proposed flatly.

"That's not fair, who knows when we're gonna see them again?" Robotman countered. "But fifty bucks says they're an item within the year."

"Are you two betting on my son's future?" Rita accused, probably playing along but with just enough of an edge in her voice that they weren't entirely sure.

"… No?" Negative Man and Robotman replied in unison, each as unconvincing as the other.

"Well, good." She glared at them both before cracking a smile. "And also… a hundred bucks says they're married in the next five."

"I'd take that bet," Negative Man deadpanned. Robotman looked concerned about something. "Does this mean I'm going to have to wear a suit?" "Good luck finding one in your size, Iron Giant." "Oh, can it, Invisible Man." "Just saying. I don't think Optimus Prime has a tailor, that's all." They continued to bicker in good nature as the Doom Patrol continued on the way to their next mission.

Rita said no more, but she smiled. After all, she had every confidence in her son. And in her future daughter-in-law.