Please read and Review

I do not own Teen Titans

Blood.

Changeling smelled it long before they reached the site.

Growling, he pushed his already strained muscles to move faster.

He was currently in the form of a cheetah, racing alongside the N-Cycle. He and Nightwing were dodging cars, pedestrians, and several other glorified obstacles, trying to get to the girls as fast as they could.

They hadn't bothered with GPS coordinates. As soon as they had left the tower Changeling had caught Raven's scent and was tracking it.

The Beast roared in his head. It was taking too long to find her. It was taking too long to reach her. There were so many things that could happen or go wrong in the time it took them to reach the girls.

Changeling growled.

He never should have let her out of his sight. He should have never let her out of the car. He never should have left her side. Was that controlling? Yes. Was it unrealistic? Probably. Would Raven have allowed it? Absolutely not. But he didn't care. All he cared about was finding her and telling her how he felt. He would worry about everything else later.

It wasn't long before Changeling's heightened sense of smell picked up the scent of blood.

The Beast roared again, this time it was so powerful that it rattled Changeling's skull.

The smell was so strong that Changeling could tell that there was a lot of blood and it was all from several different people. He could also tell that some of the blood was Raven and Starfire's.

The Beast snarled.

He ran faster.

'Dude, what happened to "throwing a tantrum does us no good" and "our interests are aligned" and all that other bullshit?' Changeling questioned angrily.

"Now that we know where our mate is, we need to get there faster and since you will not allow me to be the one to pursue her scent at my fastest possible pace, then I am forced to use methods that have proved successful in the past to motivate you to move faster." The Beast growled.

Changeling merely growled back in response. But he did push himself to go faster.

When they finally reached the construction site Changeling reverted to his human form. For a moment he and Nightwing both stood there, shocked by what they were seeing.

Starfire flew awkwardly and sporadically to dodge arrows and other flying weapons. Her movements were stiff and slow, her star bolts were growing weaker and her aim was less precise with each throw. Blood trickled down her leg and there were a few other small tears in her clothes showing where the assassins' weapons had landed a lucky blow.

Raven was on the ground fending off her attackers with a pipe.

Changeling grit his teeth.

'Why in God's name is she using a pipe? What happened to her powers?'

He frowned, studying her movements. With his enhanced sight he could see her arms and legs shaking from exhaustion. He could see the sweat dripping from her forehead. He could see the blood from her side forming a large stain on the side of her shirt. He also noticed several other little scratches that were bleeding as well. There was a really nasty gash on her shoulder that looked like it was only getting worse.

'Why isn't she healing herself? Where the fuck are her powers?'

A low growl began at the back of his throat. He could feel the blood in his veins boiling. His jaw ached from his clenched teeth. His nostrils flared, his muscles flexed and he rolled his neck. He was ready. He was more than ready for a fight.

Adrenaline coursed through him, making him bounce on his toes.

Usually, all of the animals that were in him had different instincts, and often those instincts conflicted with each other. One animal wanted him to hibernate, while another wanted him to fly away. Some wanted to hunt at night, while others wanted him to get up with the sun every morning.

This caused so much confusion and chaos that he was forced to walk a very thin line of sanity, finding ways to appease most, if not all, of the different demands. He struggled to find compromises so that he could have some peace, and not constantly feel at war with himself.

Raven always seemed to make that fade away. Every time he was around her, she seemed to calm not just the beast within, but all of the animals within. Her calm, quiet, peaceful presence made him feel more balanced, less...unhinged.

And now, every animal, every instinct, was in agreement. Raven, their mate, his mate, was in danger and it was his job to protect her.

Someone was coming up behind Raven.

She didn't see them.

He couldn't make it.

He would be too late.

"Raven!"

It was desperate.

But it worked.

She turned, swinging the pipe like Babe Ruth, nailing the guy right in the side. He crumpled and she looked up.

For a moment time stood still as their eyes met.

He saw the quiet fear in her deep purple eyes. She had been terrified, but now she looked relieved and somewhat hopeful.

He caught how her breath hitched and noticed the clear pain that she was trying to hide. He saw her sway and her eyes glaze over.

She was fading fast. He needed to get her out of there and to the infirmary. She needed to use her powers and heal herself.

He ground his teeth together even harder. So many thoughts were swirling in his head about her not using her powers that he didn't know where to start. He couldn't even pick one to form a complete thought. As soon as one started, another one popped up to replace it before the first one was finished.

One thing was clear.

They would be having a conversation about her using her powers in battle.

He saw her gulp and if he wasn't so angry, he would have smirked. He had an effect on her. He puffed out his chest a little, proud that he had such an effect on his mate.

Movement on her other side shifted his focus. Another attacker was coming at her from behind and she wasn't paying attention.

Before he could say anything she started to turn but it was too late.

One quick blow to the head and she crumpled.

She lay there, unconscious with blood trickling down her face and from her side onto the ground.

Whatever thin string of calm patience that had been holding him back snapped.

Rage boiled over.

One thought, one instinct.

'Kill.'

Changeling saw red.

Releasing a deafening roar, he surged forward allowing the Beast to take control.

Teeth bared, claws extended. Torn flesh, drops of blood.

Screams of terror.

Without care for anyone else, he ripped through his enemies to get to Raven.

A distant cry drew his attention upward. Starfire, the alien, was diving head first into the black sea that was the assassins.

He growled.

At this rate, the alien powerhouse would reach Raven before him. Normally that would be tolerable, but not today. No, today he needed to get there first. He couldn't explain it if he tried, he just knew he needed to get there first.

He was close. Almost there, just a few more feet.

The assassins converged on Raven.

Starfire dove headfirst into the crowd.

He took a giant leap.

A loud pop.

A flash of light.

The Beast landed where they had been, slipping on loose gravel. He scrambled to regain his balance, asphalt scraping across his legs creating a nasty road rash in the process. But he didn't care. Because Raven was gone.

Raven, Starfire, and all of the League of Assassins' goons were gone.

He began to sniff the area, trying to pick up their scent so he could track them.

Nightwing and Cyborg, who had finally arrived, came running up to him, shock on their faces.

"Dude, where did they go?" Cyborg asked.

Beast snarled back at him, not in the mood for stupid questions. Cyborg had the decency to look sheepish.

"That's an excellent question Cyborg, why don't you help find the answer by scanning the area." The cybernetic Titan mumbled to himself.

Beast huffed and glared at him but went back to searching. There had to be something, some sort of scent for him to trace. He searched desperately for Raven's scent knowing that it would be the easiest for him to track.

Nightwing frowned, in full-blown leader mode.

"Everyone spread out. Look for clues as to where they went."

Cyborg was busy looking at his arm console, and Beast growled at the team leader's useless order. They were already looking for anything that might be helpful. Gar reminded him from the back of his mind that Nightwing's mate had disappeared as well and barking orders was how he was dealing with the worry.

A softer growl of acknowledgement rumbled in Beast's throat and he continued with his search. Or at least he tried to. No matter where he went in the construction zone the only smell he could pick up was the stench of tainted magic.

It was awful. It smelled like burnt asphalt, gasoline, melted bubblegum, and rotten eggs. The more he inhaled the stronger and worse it got. It smelled nothing like Raven's magic. Her magic usually carried the smell of brimstone, sage, incense, and a slight hint of lavender. Her magic's scent wasn't the most pleasant, but it didn't make him want to burn his nose off like this magic's scent did.

He quickly became more agitated and tried to shake and rub it out of his nose.

"Changeling, what is it?" Nightwing shouted from across the construction site.

'Okay dude, you need to let me back out, now.'

"Very well, but you had better find her."The Beast growled.

'Why do you think I want control?' Gar growled back in response.

A moment later he shifted back to his human form and for once Gar almost wished the Beast hadn't relinquished control. Between the pain in his legs and the smell of the magic, he could barely see straight.

'No wonder he didn't put up more of a fight for control.'

"Changeling!"

"Yeah!" Changeling shook his head, trying to focus. "It's magic. It's different from Raven's, and it reeks."

Finally getting his bearings, Changeling made his way back over to Nightwing and Cyborg who had regrouped at the spot where the girls and their attackers had disappeared from. He stumbled most of the way, but he could feel his accelerated healing start to kick in and knew that the pain in his legs would go away soon.

"Anything else?" Nightwing snapped, clearly frustrated. Once upon a time, this tone would have rubbed Changeling the wrong way, especially under the current circumstances. But he knew Nightwing a lot better now and knew that their normally calm and collected leader was starting to panic.

Changeling's own heart felt like a huge fist was slowly squeezing it as though it wanted to wring out all of the blood inside. His lungs refused to expand. His fists clenched and every muscle tensed. His stomach turned at the image of Raven's blood on the ground. Of her laying there, pale, bleeding, and helpless. There was a ringing that was slowly growing louder and all he could hear was the Beast inside, roaring, screaming, trying to claw his way out.

He grit his teeth and growled, low and deep.

"Their scents are gone." Was his simple response to Nightwing intense stare.

"Fine. We'll wait until the air clears and then you can try again. In the meantime, Cyborg-"

"No."

Nightwing froze, anger radiating off of him. He turned, and Changeling could tell that Nightwing was giving him the death glare even through his mask.

"No?" Nightwing asked in a dangerously calm voice.

"No, because that won't work," Changeling said through clenched teeth. He was trying hard to keep both himself and the Beast under control. Losing control and going all primal on Nightwing's ass would not help them find Raven any faster. If anything it would delay the process.

Nightwing closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Changeling knew that he was trying to stay calm just as much as he was and that it was getting increasingly more difficult with every moment they wasted standing around talking. Nightwing opened his eyes and raised a brow, silently demanding an explanation from Changeling.

"It won't work because their scents are gone. They aren't just covered up by the stench of magic, their scents are gone as in vanished. No trail to follow, no-" he stopped, unable to finish his sentence. A sudden sob was caught in his throat. He couldn't handle this. It was just too much.

Nightwing seemed to understand and his glare softened just a little. He could sympathize with the green man's pain.

"I'm not picking anything up either. There's no trace of them as if they vanished into thin air." Cyborg chimed in.

Tired of trying to keep it together, Changeling kicked a slab of cement nearby.

Nightwing's jaw clenched.

"We keep looking. I don't care if it takes all night, We search until-"

"Wait." Changeling held up a hand calling for silence.

The wind had shifted and he could smell something just underneath the horrible smell of magic. Sniffing, he shifted into a Blood Hound and followed the scent. A few feet away there was a pile of debris next to where Raven had been when they had disappeared. The smell was coming from underneath it.

Changeling quickly shifted back to human form recognizing the scent.

Starfire's scent was stronger and more potent than anyone else's on the team since she was always wearing perfume and used scented soaps, lotions, and hair products. She smelled sweet, like an odd mix of strawberries, peaches, and flowers like gardenias.

He quickly dug through the pile of debris to see where the scent was coming from. Whatever it was, maybe he could use it to track Raven.

After a moment he stopped, finding the object that had Starfire's scent on it.

It was a pregnancy test.

'Oh God, please no...' he silently prayed.

Gulping, he picked it up.

It was positive.

He so did not want to be the one to deliver this news.

"Changeling was is it? What did you find?" There was an edge to Nightwing's voice, making him sound frantic.

"It's a...pregnancy test." Gar couldn't believe this was happening. He could tell that Nightwing and Cyborg had both dismissed it as nothing. After all, it was a public construction site downtown, anyone could leave anything lying around. But they didn't have his nose. They didn't know who it belonged to.

Gar turned around, heart thudding against his chest. Never had the stakes been so high for them before, and now this? He felt like someone was playing the world's cruelest prank on them. He looked up at his friends, in so much shock and disbelief that all he could do was stare at them.

They had gone back to looking for any evidence or clues as to where and how the girls had been taken. Completely ignoring their stunned teammate. They stood there like that for several minutes, Gar too numb to say anything.

Cyborg noticed him first.

"Yo Changeling, you comin man?"

When Gar didn't respond, Cyborg frowned and moved closer to him.

"Gar? You okay man? You look...pale."

Gar looked up and met Cyborg's eyes. He couldn't do it. He didn't know where his voice had gone, but it had abandoned him. His brain was in overload. Too much information, too much emotional stress. He just couldn't do it. He silently pleaded for his best friend's help. Cyborg seemed to get the message and placed a firm, reassuring hand on Gar's shoulder.

"Yo 'Wing, get over here."

As Nightwing made his way over, Gar silently handed over the pregnancy test to his cybernetic teammate. Cyborg glanced at the positive result before looking at Gar confused. A few more seconds ticked by before understanding seemed to dawn in Cyborg's eyes. He paled and his eyes grew wide, but before he could ask for more details, Nightwing arrived.

"What is it?" Nightwing asked gruffly. He wasn't in the mood for interruptions.

"You need to see this," Cyborg said handing over the test.

Nightwing examined the small object for a moment before looking back at his teammates.

"It's positive."

There was no verbal response, but Gar and Vic exchanged an uneasy look. Their leader was a great detective, but sometimes he struggled to pick up on emotional and social cues. He was far better now than he had been when they had first founded the team, but he still had blatantly oblivious moments.

"Why is this important?" Nightwing pressed. A heartbeat later he seemed to understand as well.

"Who?" He croaked.

The look on his face, the croak in his voice...he already knew.

He just didn't want to believe it.

"Who Garfield?" Dick snarled. He grabbed the front of Gar's uniform and tried to pull the green man forward, but Gar's weight and height difference made it difficult. Dick managed to pull Gar forward a little, but not by much.

"Who's is it, Garfield?!" Dick shouted.

"Dick, take it easy man," Cyborg tried to separate them, but Dick had a death grip on Gar's uniform. It was as if that was all that was holding him up. Both men ignored Cyborg, locked in an unrelenting staring contest.

"It's Starfire's," Gar said quietly.

Vic's eyes widened.

Dick's grasp on Gar's uniform weakened and Gar gently pulled himself free.

"You're the father," Gar whispered.

Not that there was any doubt, but he felt as though it wouldn't be real, for any of them, unless he said the words out loud.

Dick fell to his knees, masked eyes unfocused.

Gar and Vic exchanged a hopeless, desperate look, sharing the same thought.

'What now?'