Unconventional

by PSI-Triforce

When Starfire asks Beast Boy for help on how to select the perfect present, she decides to test his advice - that it should be desired, but not expected - on Beast Boy himself, leading to him receiving a most unpredictable gift; security camera footage of the medical bay from the night he became the Beast. In particular, Raven's reaction when she woke up. BBRae, one-shot.

"Oh, hey Starfire! What's up?"

Beast Boy was rather surprised that Starfire was knocking on his bedroom door. When she had something to ask, she normally went to Robin. When girl-talk was required, Raven was obviously the primary candidate. When neither Robin nor Raven were available, or if she wanted to ask something without Robin knowing, she would go to Cyborg. She certainly didn't avoid communication with Beast Boy, but for her to seek him out certainly felt a little unusual, and that made the changeling worry. "Is everything okay?" he quickly added.

"Yes, I hope that my presence does not cause any alarm! I merely wished to ask your advice on a matter."

Beast Boy stepped out of his room. "And you came to me?" he asked, not meaning to put himself down, but unable to hide his genuine surprise.

Starfire nodded. "Yes Beast Boy, I believe that you are an expert on this topic."

"Well… shoot!" Beast Boy replied, feeling oddly proud. "Fire away, Star."

Starfire's face fell. "You wish for me to leave?"

"No no no," Beast Boy hastily overcorrected, "I just… I meant, ask me anything you want!" He was honestly quite curious what was on Starfire's mind that had led to her coming to him rather than Robin or Raven.

"Very well!" Starfire beamed, her smile returning instantly. "I wish to discuss… the art of presenting a gift."

"Oh," Beast Boy replied in mild confusion. "Like… wrapping paper and stuff?"

Starfire firmly shook her head. "No. Beast Boy, I have come to you because I believe that you are the most talented in the tower at acquiring gifts for special occasions."

Beast Boy blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Thanks Star, I'm glad that you feel that way."

"I do not feel that way," Starfire disagreed, "It is simply the truth. Need I remind you of the previous Christmas?"

Starfire did not need to remind Beast Boy of last Christmas, but he was happy to recall it anyway; especially the huge smiles on his friends' faces when he presented his gifts. Well, mostly huge smiles – Raven had managed a very small but seemingly sincere one, and from her, it was more than enough to let him know that he had done a decent job.

Robin had received a framed newspaper clipping of the Gotham Gazette, reporting on a bank robbery that had been foiled by a then-unknown superhero and his young sidekick. It was the first time that Batman and Robin had been mentioned together in the press, and while Beast Boy half-heartedly admitted that he thought it was likely that Robin already had a copy of it somewhere, Robin's smile, stunned into silence by his teammate's consideration, told him otherwise. Or that at the very least, he appreciated it nonetheless.

For Cyborg, he had arranged a daytrip to the Carroll Technological Institute in Keystone City, which Cyborg was pleased by, but just assumed that it was a regular trip to see a speech given by an expert on modern technology. It wasn't until he had noticed that the keynote speaker on the day was Dr Silas Stone that tears formed in his human eye and he grabbed Beast Boy in a bone-crushing hug, torn between thanking him and asking him how in the hell he had even found out about this.

Beast Boy had reasoned that Cyborg deserved an extra-special gift due to the help he had provided in preparing his gift to Starfire; a seemingly ordinary, if fancier-than-average, telescope, which could easily be set up in her room. Beast Boy shyly explained that she could use it to observe the night sky, or thanks to Cyborg's help and the connection to various satellites (Robin had asked Cyborg later how they had done it, and the only response he had gotten was "If anyone from NASA calls, we're not in right now.") then she could also use it to observe a particular planet. Starfire had looked into the telescope, and then shrieked with elation and surprise before Beast Boy could explain fully, and tackled him with a fiercely enthusiastic hug, while also bestowing a kiss on his cheek that lasted no less than thirteen seconds. Robin had been less enthusiastic about that, but he at least understood why, when Starfire had paused to explain that the telescope was providing her with a live view of Tamaran, a reconnection with her home that she hadn't even known was possible.

Raven had been the trickiest to buy for, and while Beast Boy didn't believe in quantity over quality, he did even the odds slightly by presenting three smaller gifts that he hoped she would enjoy. A bouquet of twelve blue roses, a leather-bound compendium of the works of Edgar Allan Poe ("It seemed way too obvious, but… I had to try," he had explained,) and sculpted from pure black obsidian, a small figurine of a raven in flight. He watched, on edge, as she handled the small sculpture, fingers carefully running over its smooth surface. She frowned, and for a second he was terrified, until she had also smiled, explaining away the frown with, "… This is too much, I only got you a comic book."

In return, they had expected maybe some light teasing or bragging over how vastly superior his gift-giving skills were compared to theirs, but to their surprise, Beast Boy handled his success with humility, seemingly content just to have brought a little happiness to his friends. The art of giving presents was a matter that he took very seriously, and handled with maturity. To Raven's chagrin, it seemed to be one of the only things he treated with maturity.

Back in the present, Beast Boy prompted bashfully "So, how can I help?"

Starfire cleared her throat as if she had prepared the wording of her request in advance. "In a few weeks, it will be a year since Robin officially asked me to be his friend who is a girl. I would like to do something special for him, but… special in a meaningful way. Something that surprises him. And I believe you are the best person to approach for advice on that front."

Beast Boy was flattered, but also a little perturbed; surely any ideas he gave to Starfire would make her gift to Robin a little less personal. "I mean… I can try to come up with some ideas and let you know-"

"Oh no," Starfire cut him off with an anxious smile, "I do not wish for you to simply tell me what to purchase; I merely want to gain insight into your process. How do you approach such a task? I'm afraid I find the prospect rather daunting."

"Oh!" Beast Boy exclaimed in relief. "Well, I can do that! And that's a good start! The key to a good gift is that it has to be personal; something that only you could have thought to give them. So you're on the right track already!" he encouraged, and Starfire smiled at his positive affirmations.

"Thank you, friend," she acknowledged, "But I fear that I am still missing some steps. I find it most difficult to…" she moved her hands as if struggling to come up with the right words, but Beast Boy understood her struggle entirely.

"Hey, say no more!" he finished for her, striking a rare contemplative pose as he wondered how best to guide Starfire through this process. He remained silent for longer than she was expecting; although given that it was Beast Boy, staying silent for more than three seconds at a time was unexpected.

"Hmm… I think I've got some tips," he revealed, and Starfire nodded at him in eager anticipation. It wasn't often that he got the chance to play the role of teacher, and while he wanted to help his friend, it felt unnatural to him.

"Well, the two most important elements of any present – and this is why it's so difficult to find the perfect one – are that it has to be something that the giftee wants, but it also has to be something that they're not expecting." Beast Boy calmly delivered his thesis. "Which is a problem, because… well, most people know what they want. It's easy to find something that someone wants, but they'll probably be expecting it. And it's easy to get something that they won't expect, but they might not like it."

Beast Boy had highlighted more hurdles than solutions in his approach, and quickly noticed that Starfire's expression was becoming doubtful; not at his advice, but at her belief in her ability to follow it.

"Fortunately! There's something else that I like to rely on. See, gifts generally come in two categories; the practical, and the emotional." Beast Boy didn't really know where this lecture was coming from, but Starfire seemed engrossed. "Practically speaking, you could just get Robin ten pairs of socks. But from an emotional perspective, you could get him just one pair of socks, but you could knit them yourself, and they could have little Batman and Robins on them," he explained in a manner that he hoped was coherent.

"I… see," Starfire replied slowly. "So… you think that I should knit Robin a pair of socks?"

"Well… no," Beast Boy hesitantly replied, "But if you put an emotional spin on something practical, then I'm sure that he would like it!" He paused and looked at Starfire in sympathy. "Honestly, Robin is one of the hardest people to buy for. Even emotionally, he's so obsessed with justice and stuff. I kind of went all-in on that Batman clipping last year, I don't know what I'm going to get him next time…"

Starfire smiled sadly as they both shared a moment of uncertainty, both unsure what their next present for the Boy Wonder would be. "Thank you, Beast Boy. I…" she sighed. "I would like to think that I can get Robin something that he wants, but I am not sure. You are correct in stating that it is difficult to think of something that he would like, that he would not be expecting. Please, how do you know when you have found the right idea?"

Beast Boy somehow found a way to shrug sincerely. "Honestly? It's always kind of a risk. I'm never a hundred percent certain on any of them. But whenever I'm having doubts, the key question that I keep coming back to is always; when I think of them opening the present, do I think that it would make them smile? Whether it's for a day or just a moment, if it makes them smile, then it's a good present, I think." It was hardly Shakespeare, but Beast Boy could be surprisingly poetic when he wasn't trying to be.

"I see…" Starfire replied contemplatively. "You have given me much to consider! Thank you for your assistance, and-oh!" Starfire caught herself. "I… would actually like to request a second favour, if such a thing would be acceptable," she asked, slightly nervous.

"Of course, Star!" Beast Boy reassured her immediately.

"Well, perhaps I could test my ability to present a meaningful gift on you, and you could let me know if I was successful?" She was making it sound as if he would be doing her an act of extreme kindness just by allowing himself to receive a gift.

"Oh! Well… sure! I mean, if you get an idea then you can just tell me, you don't have to go to the trouble of actually getting me anything."

"No, I would prefer to be thorough," Starfire explained simply. "And besides, it would be the least I could do to repay you for your patience and kindness." The warm and fuzzy feelings inside of his heart, brought on by the sincerity and gratitude of her words, were kindness enough for Beast Boy, but before he could even tell her this, she was hugging him. Lost for words – and that didn't happen often, Beast Boy accepted the hug, grateful to her in turn that she was restraining her strength so as to only give him mild bruising where she embraced him.

When she released him, she simply smiled and said "Thank you most kindly, friend!" and then turned on her heels and flew down the corridor before he could protest, and long before he could have recovered for long enough to tell her not to bother. Smiling himself at the pleasant exchange, Beast Boy retreated back into his room as his mind wondered what strange and unexpected present she may end up giving to him to test her theory.

"What a weird start to my day…" he thought to himself as he closed his bedroom door.

.

Truth be told, after a few minutes of idly thinking about the conversation he had just had – followed by twenty minutes of lying on his bed, playing something silly but enjoyable on a handheld console – the discussion had slipped his mind entirely. The rest of the day proceeded as normal; the Titans were even fortunate enough not to have been called out on any active crime alerts, and while consecutive days of this could leave them feeling antsy and cooped up, a free day here and there was always appreciated. The matter had left Beast Boy's conscious consideration so thoroughly, that when the team were eating breakfast the next day, and shortly after he entered, Starfire made an excited "Eep!" sound before grabbing a small gift-wrapped package and walking over to his seat to present it, it took him several seconds to recall what she was doing.

"… Oh! Um… thank you, Star!" Beast Boy accepted the present awkwardly, unable to ignore the three curious glances in his direction from their teammates who had not been privy to his conversation with Starfire, and judging from the looks of confusion on their faces, had not been informed by her.

"You are most welcome, Beast Boy! I truly hope that this gift fulfils the most helpful criteria that you laid out for me. Please do let me know if you enjoy it!"

No longer able to withstand the inquisitive glares of his friends, Beast Boy struggled to explain what the Tamaranean was talking about.

"… She-she was asking me for help about buying presents yesterday, and she wanted to try getting me one to test it out."

The three glares in his direction were now less inquisitive, but more judgemental, with Robin and Raven verging on displeasure, suspecting that he had somehow manipulated her into doing something nice for him for no reason.

"Sh-she asked!" Beast Boy protested, attempting to feign offense but withering somewhat under their disapproving glares. Starfire looked at her friends in confusion, unsure why they seemed to be so suspicious of her actions, and why that suspicion was being targeted at Beast Boy.

"Oh! Yes, I personally requested if I could test Beast Boy's advice on this gift. I have attempted to make it unexpected, but extremely pleasurable!" Beast Boy could feel the sweat forming on his brow at Starfire's use of the word 'pleasurable'. Robin bore his eyes into the changeling as if he had just kissed Starfire right there and then.

Sensing the tension in the room, and trying to dispel it somewhat, Cyborg decided to chime in. "Well… hey, can he open it here?"

Starfire clapped her hands together with glee and hopped up and down in anticipation. "Oh! That would be most wonderful. It is a rather personal present, but there should be nothing wrong with him opening it here. Would you be comfortable with this, Beast Boy?"

Starfire had asked it as sincerely and innocently as almost anything else she said, and yet there was still something about the curious looks he was getting from the others that made him feel as if he was being forced into this. Still, he knew that the questions would only get worse if he refused.

"Sure thing Star, let me just…" he rotated the object in his hands. It was thin, and in the approximate shape of a CD. Starfire had lovingly picked out a beautiful pattern of wrapping paper… and promptly attacked it with a small mountain of tape. Searching for an opening and finding nothing – and feeling increasingly scrutinized as the others continued to watch him – he eventually extended a talon from one of his fingers and carefully sliced through the tape and the paper, taking extreme care not to damage whatever was inside. He had to make two more cuts before he was finally able to extract the gift from its packaging.

"Ta-da!" Starfire exclaimed proudly. "I hope that you enjoy it!" Beast Boy stared at the object blankly. It had indeed been a CD case, but inside it was… a completely blank CD or DVD, with no label or identifying qualities of any kind. He couldn't conceal his confusion as he returned Starfire's excited glance, but before either of them could comment on it, Cyborg spoke up again.

"So… what is it, Star?"

"It is what I believe is known as a digital video disc, containing footage that I believe will be pleasing to Beast Boy in an unexpected manner!" The blood drained from Beast Boy's face.

"What… kind of footage, Starfire?" Robin asked through gritted teeth. He didn't want to suspect his teammate of anything… improper, but Beast Boy was a single young man, and Starfire was famously beautiful and… sometimes struggled to understand earthly customs regarding appropriate behaviour.

"That is for Beast Boy to discover," she answered innocently, in a way that only made the poor changeling blush even harder. His face was rapidly turning from green to red.

"Can we put it on now?" Cyborg asked, partly out of a curious desire to see it himself, but also in an attempt to ascertain the contents of this unknown disc.

Starfire finally seemed to show some alarm and restraint, as she covered her mouth with her hands, and then lowered them, shaking her head quickly. "Oh… no, no. I do not believe that it would be for the best if this was viewed by us all. I believe that it might make some feel uncomfortable, and that is not what I wish."

Robin's eyes were darting from Beast Boy to Starfire and back again, before he rose from his seat, strode towards his not-not-girlfriend, and whispered something in her ear. Starfire listened attentively, and then burst into laughter.

"Robin!" she giggled. "Oh, you silly goose. It is nothing of that sort." She suddenly took on a pensive expression. "Although… do you think that would have been an appropriate present? I can certainly understand that it would have been both unexpected and enjoyable, so if you believe that I should have-"

"Nope!" Robin interrupted, red-faced, grabbing Starfire by the arm and dragging her away to have a very awkward conversation about boundaries. Leaving just Beast Boy, Cyborg and Raven in the Common Room. With the DVD.

"… Should we watch it?" Cyborg asked, still curious, but with a hint of trepidation. Who knew what Starfire had put on there? Raven was looking at the disc in mild curiosity as well, which for her was anything but mild.

"I… I don't think so," Beast Boy answered after some consideration. "I mean, if she said it was for me, and it might make us uncomfortable. I'll…" he paused before clearing his throat and announcing his decision. "I'll take it back to my room, and I'll watch it later, and I'll let you know what it was." He paused again. "As long as it's… suitable to let you know what it was."

Cyborg was unhappy to be kept in the dark, but reluctantly accepted Beast Boy's reasoning. Raven had either never cared that much to begin with, or just didn't want to reveal if she had. And so, Beast Boy retreated to his room, and just as he said he would do, he placed the case containing the disc on his bedside table, left his room again, and tried his best to forget about it until the end of the day.

He did not succeed.

The thought had returned to him several times that day, but each time he fought it off; helped by the fact that the Titans were called out on three separate crime alerts during the day. Billy Numerous was trying to rob an electronics store, followed by an unexpected team-up of Mumbo Jumbo and Dr Light targeting one of Jump City's lesser-protected banks, and finally, they were called down to a retail store to deal with Control Freak, who was refusing to pay for a Space Trek boxset, and was more than ready to bring several of the posters to life in an attempt to avoid the twenty-dollar fee. The Titans were more than physically capable of taking him and his temporary helpers down, but felt so mentally exhausted by that point that Robin simply took out his wallet and asked "What if we just paid for the boxset?"

Tears welled up in Control Freak's eyes as he blubbered, "You would do that for me?" Robin rolled his eyes, slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the table and began to walk away, while behind them, Control Freak thanked him profusely. "I knew it! I knew that we were friends; or at least, that we had that kind of 'villain respect' thing going on." As the rest of the team trailed out, the supervillain (?) continued loudly, "Hey, if you ever want to watch it, then like… I'll hit you up! Or you could hit me up; my email address is 'Titans Greatest Foe' – all lowercase – at-"

By the time they were finally ready to retire for the night, Beast Boy was tired enough that he almost didn't spot the tell-tale DVD on his table, but as soon as he did, he knew that he wouldn't be able to sleep until he had seen its contents. Too tired to work up the energy to be nervous, Beast Boy cautiously removed the DVD from the case, turned on the laptop he kept in his room, and slipped the disc into the CD drive.

For a few seconds, there was nothing, and the build-up gave Beast Boy just enough time to gain the awareness to begin to become nervous again, but suddenly there was a brief burst of static, before the picture became clear again. It was a video of Starfire, but sat on a chair in the medical bay of the tower, looking distracted. Someone else was there with her, but they were not currently conscious; Raven lay motionless, hovering a few inches over the bed.

"Is this from our security cameras?" Beast Boy wondered to himself, unsure why exactly Starfire was under the impression that he would find this enjoyable. His eyes wandered to the date in the corner of the screen, and the blood ran cold in his veins.

The date was October 30, 2004. It was a date that he would never forget.

It was the date that he became the Beast.

.

Starfire couldn't even pretend that she was paying attention to the magazine whose pages she idly flipped through without reading a single word of the contents. But at least it was something to do. Ahead of her, Raven remained hovering in her healing trance, unnaturally silent, even by her standards.

How had everything gone so wrong, and so quickly? She was sure that there had to be an explanation; that her friend – their friend – had not attacked Raven, as Robin had theorised. But they had all seen him transform right there and then, and watched as he immediately went straight for Raven in single-minded obsession. She just couldn't understand, and if she was honest with herself… she wasn't so sure that she wanted to. Putting the magazine down, she wandered to the foot of Raven's bed and picked up the clipboard, eyes once again scanning it without really taking anything in.

So distracted was Starfire by these intrusive thoughts that refused to disappear, that she didn't notice when Raven's levitating form slowly lowered itself onto the medical bay bed. But when Raven groaned and sat up, lightly clutching her head, Starfire was by her side in an instant.

Speaking through gritted teeth as if attempting to communicate through a migraine, Raven spoke only two words. "… Beast Boy."

Knowing that Raven wasn't a fan of overt physical contact, Starfire restrained herself to a single hand on the recovering empath's shoulder. "Rest. You are safe." The words stuck in her throat, but she forced them out. "He can no longer harm you."

Raven was not yet conscious enough to be irritated, but her confusion shone through immediately. "He didn't hurt me. He saved me."

The hope in Starfire that had been subdued when she had seen the way Beast Boy had lunged towards Raven in his primal form briefly rose again for a second, but Raven's answer had only raised more questions.

"From what?"

Raven tried to sit up, putting too much pressure on her right arm and stumbling immediately; Starfire wrapped a strong arm around her and helped her into a more comfortable – and steady – seating position.

"I'm not sure. It was red, and… similar to Beast Boy. At least, the way Beast Boy looked when he showed up to help. I don't… Adonis, maybe? Didn't they both get covered in those chemicals?"

Starfire tried to keep her relief concealed – the situation was still rather bleak, after all – but couldn't help but hover several feet in the air in uncontained glee. Of course Beast Boy hadn't attacked Raven! Of course it had all just been a misunderstanding, and the blame lay squarely at the feet of Adonis, or whoever was responsible for attacking Raven in the first place. The world made sense once more, and any hypothetical splitting up of the team, or having to arrest a former member in the worst-case scenario, was completely off the table again. As it should have been.

Reeling herself back in, especially as Raven was staring at her rather pointedly, Starfire lowered herself to the ground and audibly breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Apologies, Raven. There has been some… confusion today, and it is a comfort to clear these things up."

"What kind of confusion?" Raven asked with unhidden suspicion, before glancing around at the otherwise empty room, which had clearly been the scene of no small altercation. "And where are the others? Where's Beast Boy?" It was a little unlike her to single him out specifically.

If Starfire hadn't already regained solid footing on the medical bay floor, that question would have brought her crashing down. Communication was never her strong suit at the best of times, but… this would not be an easy matter to explain.

Trying to remain as vague as possible while still being truthful, Starfire began "… Well, we heard you scream, and when we arrived then both yourself and Beast Boy could not be located." Raven nodded impassively. "And… given the way that he has been acting lately, and the signs of a struggle, then… we assumed-"

"Wait, you thought that he attacked me?" Raven cut her off, more impatient than cold, but cold nonetheless. Starfire shamefully nodded and Raven rolled her eyes with an exhausted sigh.

"He's not himself for a day or two, so you assumed that he attacked me. Brilliant." Starfire gulped, unsure how to explain herself, but Raven moved the conversation forwards. "So, where is B- where are the others now?" she corrected. Starfire wisely decided not to comment on it.

"Beast Boy's whereabouts are currently unknown. Robin and Cyborg are trying to locate him."

Raven took the information in, then glanced back at Starfire with an inquisitive frown.

"… They're trying to find him so that they can help him, right?"

Starfire's nervous silence was a more damning answer than anything that she could have said.

"… Right?" Raven wasn't one for repeating herself, but decided that it was warranted on this occasion. Starfire rather hurriedly grabbed her communicator and decided – with non-verbal encouragement from Raven – that now would be a good time to check in with the boys and update them on any… new information that had come to light.

"Tell them that they should be looking for Adonis," Raven advised impatiently as she closed her eyes and began to meditate, accurately predicting that her healing powers may be required later that night. Starfire's communicator rang for five interminably long seconds, all while the Tamaranean could feel the immense disapproval radiating from Raven's direction. Eventually, the call was answered.

"Starfire? Are you- now's not a good time!"

"Cyborg, it is Adonis! The one who you need to be searching for, it is Adonis! I am with Raven, and she has awoken, and-"

Starfire was cut off by a loud roar from Cyborg's end, but this was followed shortly by another, deeper roar. It was clear that they hadn't just found Beast Boy, but also someone – or something – else.

"There's two of them! Starfire, there are two Beasts! At the moment they're fighting each other, but we might need back-up, we might- ROB!"

The line went silent as the call was disconnected, either due to an error, or Cyborg taking a hit, or even just that he felt he could no longer afford to give any attention to the call. Starfire hoped that he had understood the brief message that she had been able to impart, but at least it sounded as though they had located both Beast Boy and Adonis. And knowing now that Beast Boy had only been trying to protect Raven, that could easily turn the fight into a three-against-one situation… if the boys were smart enough to figure out that the green beast was a potential ally, and not another enemy to be taken down.

"Am I to assume," Raven asked dryly, but with a hint of concern, "that my healing powers may be especially required upon his-" Raven interrupted herself, with a small cough, "upon their return?"

Starfire nodded, and while Raven didn't seem too happy, she accepted it, and crossed her legs where she sat, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath before slowly beginning to hover over the bed again, once again in a meditative trance, but this time fully conscious. Conscious enough that she could have still heard anything Starfire had to say, but right now, her friend had nothing particularly pressing to say to her. Starfire was more than happy to allow Raven to continue in silence, while she eyed the communicator in her hands, hoping for an update from Cyborg or Robin.

Several minutes later, with no update in sight, Raven was well-recovered enough – or possibly, as unlikely as it sounded, sick enough of the silence herself – that she cracked one eye open again to see if Starfire was still there, and now that she had recovered her faculties, she noticed the state of significant disarray that the room was in.

"What happened in here?" she asked. "Adonis attacked me outside of my room. Did the fight spill all the way here?"

Starfire froze again. She didn't really want to explain that Robin's interrogation had led to Beast Boy losing control again, nor that they had attacked him a second time, under the impression that he was trying to harm Raven. She wouldn't have wanted to explain this at the best of times, but especially not when Raven was trying to focus to conserve her energy; energy which she – and the team – may sorely need when the boys returned.

Raven, who had shut her eyes after asking the question, peeked one open again to look at Starfire.

"It's just basic energy conservation at this point, I'm past the worst of it. I can still talk. And listen." She explained, a hint of impatience in her voice. Starfire hesitated, and then decided that it was best to just get it over with.

"Well… when we located yourself and Beast Boy, then he was still transformed, and we were still under the impression that he may have been dangerous. He was… carrying you, in his teeth." Starfire hesitated at the admission. Raven opened her eyes with a frown and quickly scanned her arms and legs for tooth-marks. "No, not like that," Starfire quickly corrected, "but, he was carrying you by your cloak."

Raven glared at Starfire with a barely-concealed anger that was usually reserved for Beast Boy himself, and in a way, it still was. "And nobody thought for a second that if he had wanted to attack me, he would have been… you know, attacking me?" Starfire suppressed her anxiety, but fortunately, Raven seemed content to just mutter "… Unbelievable…" to herself and then close her eyes, refocussing her efforts on regaining her energy and letting Starfire continue.

"W-well… anyway, we fought, believing that he-"

"You attacked him while he was holding me?" Raven accused without opening her eyes.

Again, Starfire failed to respond without a significant delay, signalling to Raven that she knew full well that her answer was not going to be satisfactory. Choosing to just rip off the band-aid, Starfire acknowledged, "… When we began to approach, he laid your unconscious body down on the ground." Starfire stared at the floor in shame. "Rather gently, actually. We… we should have noticed." Raven said nothing, but very noticeably did not disagree with Starfire's poor assessment of their behaviour in retrospect.

"Anyway, there was a small… skirmish, during which he reverted back to his normal form. He was rather confused, as were we." Starfire began tentatively. Raven remained hovering in place, eyes closed and arms outstretched in the lotus position. If she was reacting at all to the news, it was internally.

"We brought you both back here, where you entered into a healing trance, and that was when Robin… questioned Beast Boy about what had happened. He was certain that Beast Boy must have had some idea what had occurred, but he couldn't remember. This continued until… Beast Boy lost his temper, and transformed into his primal form for a second time."

One of Raven's eyes opened again, and Starfire wished that it hadn't; the look of obvious displeasure was plain to see. At least she kept it restrained to just a look, and resumed her meditation shortly, allowing Starfire to continue.

"Beast Boy's form rushed towards you, and based on what we knew, we assumed that he was…" Starfire didn't need to finish the sentence to feel Raven judging her. Beast Boy had obviously rushed towards Raven in concern and nothing more, and in response, they had attacked him. Again.

Raven seemed to be breathing more heavily, as if trying to calm herself, but remained in her meditative trance, seemingly satisfied – well, not dissatisfied enough to take action – with Starfire's answer. There was only one detail that she was curious about. Regardless of her opinion of Beast Boy's impulsiveness and immaturity, she couldn't imagine him losing control without a good reason.

"What made him lose his temper?" she asked, eyes still closed.

Starfire remained silent, which only made Raven more worried. And impatient. "… Starfire."

Starfire quietly cleared her throat. "Well… Robin was extremely persistent in pushing Beast Boy for answers. He said that if Beast Boy did not know how you were injured, then… we would have to assume that he was responsible." Raven frowned, but said nothing. Starfire debated just leaving it at that, but if Raven found out the whole truth later, and realised that Starfire had kept it from her…

"… Robin said that we may have to send Beast Boy to jail, if he did not-"

While rarely used, the medical bay was home to multiple ventilators, which Cyborg was especially proud of. He would have been upset, then, if he had been present to watch one spontaneously explode in a burst of dark energy as Raven fell back onto the medical bay bed, a look of pure outrage and hatred in her eyes.

"He said WHAT?"

Starfire began to backpedal both verbally and literally, stammering her response while taking several cautious steps backwards. "He- I do not believe that he meant it! He was merely trying to encourage Beast Boy to remember, so that-"

"So-" Raven pinched the bridge of her nose as she cut Starfire off, struggling to contain the displeasure that each and every facet of her psyche was feeling right now, "-Beast Boy didn't really lose control, as much as he was threatened and antagonized under threat of arrest, by his own closest friends – supposedly – while it was blindingly obvious to everyone that he was confused and vulnerable. Did I get that right?" No-one could fault Starfire for her courage, but at that moment she felt a strong urge to throw all of the blame onto Robin. He was the one who had pushed Beast Boy until he had snapped, after all. Although… Starfire was also extremely grateful that Robin was not currently present, primarily out of concern for his physical wellbeing.

Starfire's communicator buzzed again and Cyborg's voice cut through the tension. "Star, I'm arriving back at the tower. We need another medbay bed set up, stat. If Raven is awake and well enough, we might need a round of healing."

"Understood," Starfire replied into the communicator. "Raven is awake; I will begin to prepare the bed now." Starfire lowered the communicator again, and then grimaced in awkward anticipation as she looked back to Raven, who had swung her legs over the side of her own bed and was clearly preparing to assist her. Overruling Raven was a contentious task at the best of times, but…

"Raven, stop!" Starfire commanded firmly, but sympathetically. "You are still recovering yourself and have not been awake for long. I will set up the bed myself.

"Oh, please," Raven replied sarcastically, trying to confidently land on her own two feet without issue, and immediately wobbling slightly as she touched the ground, grabbing the side of her bed for support. "I'm fine," she lied obviously.

"Raven!" Starfire ordered again. She knew that it was a low blow, but it was probably also the only way she would possibly listen to reason right now. "If Beast Boy requires healing, then it would be best for you to be as fully-rested as possible, yes?"

Raven scowled, recognizing the cheap shot for what it was… but also reluctantly acknowledging that it was undeniably true, and clumsily climbed back onto her own bed, emphatically not asking for assistance. Starfire set about preparing the medical bay for another visitor; heart monitors, emergency oxygen supplies, and while they had never been used, equipment for emergency surgery, if such a thing was necessary.

Cyborg burst into the room shortly afterwards, and to Starfire's relief and horror, he didn't appear to be carrying Beast Boy at all; the figure cradled – and mostly obscured – in his arms was covered in so much red, with dark hair barely visible beneath Cyborg's huge frame, that it had to be Robin. It was only when Cyborg had placed the body down that she was able to confirm it. Robin didn't wear Beast Boy's gloves, or Beast Boy's boots. Robin hadn't been injured in the fight with Adonis. Robin wasn't lying unconscious in the medical bay. But, that would mean… the red…

Starfire rushed to Beast Boy's side and immediately had to resist the urge to gasp, to cry, and to vomit. The parts of his body that weren't covered in blood were dark with bruises from injuries that ran far below the skin. The top half of his uniform was shredded, and his hair – usually a vibrant and easily-recognizable green – was slicked back with dark dried blood. Without knowing beforehand, she wouldn't have even thought that he was still alive.

Cyborg single-mindedly set about treating Beast Boy as promptly and efficiently as he could, and it wasn't until thirty seconds later, when he heard a stifled sob from Starfire as she tried to wipe the blood from Beast Boy's hair, that he realised that he should probably say something.

"It looks a lot worse than it is, I promise." Cyborg explained, turning to the girls and trying to reassure them. "Once he's cleaned up, then…" he trailed off, not yet sure how to accurately outline the boy's many injuries in a way that could still be described as 'reassuring.' "One arm is fractured and the other is broken, but both legs are fine, other than some sprains. Ribs are good… mostly. And he's still breathing by himself. All things considered, he's looking pretty steady right now."

Cyborg tried to sound more confident than he felt, but his words were truthful, and they had the intended effect. As bad as things looked, at least Beast Boy was on the road to recovery.

"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked quietly.

"Stayed on the scene to explain things to the police. It was Adonis, by the way. That was the other-"

A clattering from Raven's direction distracted them both. She had observed them both fussing over their injured teammate, but they hadn't asked for her assistance in any urgent healing, so she had assumed that it was not required.

As it turned out, it hadn't just been Starfire who had seen the abundance of red and made an assumption.

"THAT'S BEAST BOY?!" she snarled in alarm and hostility as she hoisted herself off of her bed. Starfire once again prepared to persuade her to rest, but Raven raised a single finger to her and pre-emptively stated a strong, harsh, "DON'T." that told Starfire that the matter was not up for debate. This time, she didn't stumble when she landed on the floor – adrenaline possibly making up for what she lacked in recuperated strength – and she made her way over to Beast Boy and immediately covered her mouth in horror.

Pausing only to glare at Starfire and Cyborg with extreme hostility, her expression changed instantly into cautious worry as she placed her hands on Beast Boy's broken arm and closed her eyes, focussing her healing powers more intensely than she ever had before. Her right leg wobbled slightly as she pushed herself to the limit of her abilities.

"… Raven, you should not-" Starfire began, genuinely concerned for the wellbeing of her friend, only to find her mouth covered in a shield of black energy that prevented her from continuing to speak. Cyborg opened his mouth to speak up on her behalf, and then quickly decided that it would only result in him being silenced too, and meekly gave up.

Thirty seconds later, Raven was satisfied enough with her progress on Beast Boy's arm, which was still rather badly bruised, but definitely no longer broken. Taking a deep breath – as if that alone could recover her reserves of magical power – she leaned over to begin work on his fractured arm, as well as his ribs. When she touched his chest, however softly, Beast Boy unconsciously flinched, and when Raven's healing magic went to work, she gasped again and then turned to scowl at Cyborg. Apparently, Beast Boy's ribs being 'mostly good' had meant that three of them were fractured, and two more completely broken. It was only due to dumb luck that he wasn't suffering from a pierced lung.

With one hand on his fractured arm and one on his chest, she closed her eyes and began to mutter something as the power once again flowed through her hands and into his injuries, shifting bones back into place, sealing up sufficiently-healed wounds, internal and external, and amplifying his body's natural healing ability. Starfire and Cyborg assumed that this was another of her meditation mantras, although they didn't quite recognize the words. It was only when Starfire leaned a little closer that she could make out what Raven was actually mumbling,

"I'm going to kill them… I'm actually going to kill them… I'm going to-" Starfire didn't think that she needed to hear any more.

After two minutes of non-stop focussed healing, Raven sat back and let out a deep breath. Starfire tentatively stepped forwards and Raven snapped her head towards her in disdain, only to see that the Tamaranean had brought her a small disposable plastic cup of cold water. Raven was still in no mood to accept help from any of her teammates, but she reluctantly took the cup and drained it quickly without acknowledging its provider. She knew on some level that she was being unreasonable, and she also knew that Starfire, of all people, probably held the least blame for what had happened out of the three Titans who had earned her ire. But just the thought of Beast Boy's broken, bleeding and beaten body before her filled her with a righteous fury that she was having trouble holding back.

"How is he?" Cyborg asked quietly. Any number of sarcastic, spite-filled retorts filled Raven's head, but she was frankly too exhausted to entertain them.

"Broken arm is healed. Fractured arm reset. Ribs are all intact and back to where they're supposed to be." She paused. "Haven't started on his head yet. Probable concussion. Then I can get to work on the cuts and bruises."

"Raven," Starfire sniffled, "Please do not push yourself too hard."

Raven turned to throw another remark in Starfire's direction, but the sight of her silently shedding tears caused her to hesitate. Starfire was already one to blame herself for any woes that the team were going through; not quite as much as Beast Boy, or as herself, but enough that Raven already knew that this must have been one of the worst days of Starfire's life. Sighing as she allowed herself to show mercy to the teammate who had done the least damage, she acknowledged Starfire with a nod. The Tamaranean smiled in relief at the non-hostile interaction.

Just because Raven wasn't going to overexert herself didn't mean that she couldn't make a start now. Placing both hands on Beast Boy's forehead – and frowning again as she felt his rising temperature – she tried firstly to alleviate his pain, and then to speed up the recovery of any head trauma. As much as she joked that Beast Boy barely had a brain to begin with, a healthy brain was the fastest route to a healthy Beast Boy.

Cyborg, who had been observing Raven's hostility towards Starfire, then made a critical mistake. He didn't know what the girls had discussed, but it seemed that her ire was, for some reason, mostly directed at Starfire and not at him. And so, he pushed his luck just a little too far with his next question.

"Is he well enough to move, do you think?"

Raven opened one eye as she glanced back at Cyborg in suspicion, before returning her attention to the injured changeling. "I suppose so. But I wouldn't advise-" her eyes narrowed as she cut herself off. "Why?"

Cyborg gulped, internally weighing up the potential dangers of disobeying the orders of the team leader, or hypothetically pissing off an irritated Raven. Half-heartedly concluding that Raven seemed too exhausted to protest – and while he knew that they were friends deep down, she had never seemed to harbour any particular fondness for the changeling – Cyborg proceeded to make what he would later ruminate on as the single greatest mistake of his life.

"Well, if it's safe enough to move him, then… Robin actually wanted us to take him down to the holding cells, just for the time being."

Raven froze where she stood. She did not scream. She did not protest. She did not lose control. There were no errant black tendrils of dark magic. There was no strongly-worded verbal reaction. Raven's response was so slow and so quiet that watching it back, Beast Boy wondered if the sound had gone out in the footage.

What Raven did do… was very slowly, methodically turn towards Cyborg with the most ice-cold, venomous, furious glare that he had ever seen that hadn't been directed towards one of their most wretched villains. And when she finally did speak, the single word was so laden with animosity that he was surprised that the weight of her hatred hadn't caused it to take a physical form, and plummet through the floor.

"… What?"

Cyborg raised his hands in surrender, realising the depth of the mistake that he had made, and then foolishly tried to bargain.

"Just temporarily! And-and only if he's well enough. It-it's just a precaution, Rae."

"A precaution against what?" Raven spat the words so harshly that it was entirely plausible that she was actually trying to poison Starfire and Cyborg with the venom she was lacing them with. Cyborg stuttered, stumbled, and generally failed to form a coherent response, so Raven continued. "A precaution against the person who saved my life?"

Cyborg's eyes darted to Starfire for help, but she was just as much at a loss for words as he was. With no way to adequately justify the situation, he wisely decided that the best course of action would simply be to admit total defeat.

"… We're not moving him. He stays here." He conceded to Raven in the hopes that this would calm her rage. From the persistent hateful glare to her restrained but heavy breathing, he could tell that it had absolutely failed to calm her, but at the very least, she didn't appear to be getting any angrier.

And then, Cyborg's communicator went off. He scrambled to answer it with uncharacteristic clumsiness, desperate to warn the person on the other end of their current situation, but not entirely sure of how to do that. Unfortunately – or fortunately, from the point of view of taking the heat off of him – the caller spoke first.

"Cy? I'm back from the station, in the lobby now. I think we could all use a team meeting… a debrief, really. Is Raven up yet? I'd like to-"

Raven's glare shot to the ceiling of the medical bay, where a black portal instantly appeared, and moments later, an extremely surprised Boy Wonder fell through it, recovering in time to land on the floor without injury. While Cyborg and Starfire both knew and trusted that she hadn't intended to harm him (… probably,) then she didn't seem particularly relieved to see that he had managed to achieve a safe landing.

"What the- oh! Raven, you're up. Good." Robin started, looking at her and not at his teammates, who would have tried as hard as possible to signal that he had just walked into the den of a very angry and demonic metaphorical lion. Robin made a move to walk towards her, and then stopped immediately. "You're angry."

'Oh, really?' 'What gave that away?' 'Excellent deduction, detective.' Starfire and Cyborg would have ordinarily expected a sarcastic reply of that tone and calibre, in response to what Robin had deduced. The fact that Raven remained perfectly silent, but still clearly seething with rage, just worried them further.

Robin's eyes wandered to the unconscious changeling in the bed behind her. "You're angry that he's here," he concluded, and as Raven continued not to deign his words worthy of a response, Cyborg and Starfire desperately hoped that he had come to the correct conclusion.

Raven could easily have been angry at the sight of one of her trusted teammates – especially the one who they all knew she had something of a hidden endearment for – seriously injured, unconscious and clearly in a lot of pain, and she may well have known by now that at least some of those injuries were the result of her other teammates; the trusted friends and surrogate family of both herself and Beast Boy.

On the other hand, while Raven had a well-hidden affection for the changeling, she also had an extremely open… disaffection for many of his habits; the frequency with which he bothered her to join in their social activities, which she would more often than not decline, eventually with mild force when he wouldn't stop pushing her. His insistence that she – more than any of the other Titans – simply had to try the latest tofu recipe he had uncovered, which always appeared just as slimy and unappealing as the previous. The distracting volume at which he had to play his video games. And while it was likely that she was upset to see him injured, it seemed just as plausible to Robin that she did not know by now that Adonis was responsible for the attack on her, in which case, the sight of him would be distressing for an entirely different reason. 'Why is the monster who attacked me sitting in the medical bed directly next to me?'

Like Cyborg before him, Robin had to make a choice. And, like Cyborg before him, he chose poorly.

"Ah, right… I see," began Robin, trying to slowly approach Raven in a way that appeared sympathetic. "Well, I can understand why you would be upset to see him here, but… actually, we don't think that Beast Boy was the one who attacked you."

Raven's expression finally changed as her scowl became a full-on snarl, furiously biting her lip at Robin's delivery of 'actually'; as if it should in any way come as a surprise to her that Beast Boy hadn't hurt her.

"Currently, the evidence points towards Adonis, who was covered in the same chemicals as Beast Boy during that recent fight. We think that they unleashed something primal from inside both of them. Anyway, while we can't be sure, all signs actually point towards Beast Boy trying to defend you from Adonis."

Even with her mouth closed, they could hear Raven grinding her teeth as Robin continued to dig his own grave. The surprise in his voice, as if proposing something outlandish, when outlining how Beast Boy had protected her. 'We can't be sure.'

"But anyway, I can understand why you wouldn't feel safe around him right now." Ignoring that Raven seemed ready to explode, Robin frowned as he glanced back to Cyborg, and was momentarily confused by the expression on his robotic friend's face, as if he was pleading 'Oh God stop, stop this, you idiot, please stop this right now before she kills us all and-' before continuing, "I actually asked Cyborg if we could move him to the holding cells for the time being, just so that we could finish establishing-"

That was enough.

Dark energy burst forth from Raven's entire body, consuming everything – the room, her friends, and a decent chunk of the entire Tower – as she finally let her fury loose. Anyone observing Titans Tower from outside would assume that an explosion of black magic was occurring inside, and they wouldn't have been entirely wrong. A hurricane tore through the medical bay, leaving its occupants reeling from the impact and the debris. And in the eye of the storm, completely unharmed, was an extremely furious Raven, and the unconscious Beast Boy at her side. The team had seen Raven lose control of her powers before, but there had always been an undercurrent of her fighting back. She didn't seem to be fighting this feeling at all.

It was hard to see – darkness on top of darkness – but tendrils of energy slowly emerged from Raven's being and seized her so-called friends tightly; Robin perhaps a little more tightly than the others. Unable to contain her rage – beyond the single (yet considerably-challenging) limitation of not utterly annihilating everything in sight beyond repair – Raven continued to breathe heavily, currently incapable of calming herself to the point where she would be able to articulate the exact myriad of ways in which they had displeased her.

Robin was starting to get the hint that he may have possibly said something wrong.

"YOU… ARROGANT," Raven's grip on Robin tightened as she brought him closer, so that he could more clearly see the full extent of her wrath, "IMBECILIC, RECKLESS, UNGRATEFUL IDIOTS!"

"N-now now, Raven," Robin started, completely unsure of how to calm Raven down, but knowing full well that he was failing.

"YOU ATTACKED HIM. YOU THREATENED TO THROW HIM IN PRISON. YOU FORCED HIM INTO LOSING CONTROL, AND THEN YOU ATTACKED HIM AGAIN…"

Robin was silent. In his mind, that was a decidedly one-sided version of the events that had transpired, although he doubted that telling that to Raven would go over well. Also, strictly speaking, everything that she had said was technically, on a purely definition-based level… one hundred percent true. "Raven, please! You have to fight this! I know that you can get Rage under control, I know-"

Rage's eyes went wide in surprise, something that nobody on the team had ever seen before; albeit, only two people on the team had ever met Rage, and one of them was currently unconscious.

"Do… DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT I AM HERE BECAUSE SHE LOST CONTROL?" she shouted in disbelief at what she perceived to be Robin's arrogance. "I AM HERE BECAUSE SHE WANTS ME TO BE HERE!"

The thought that Raven had willingly surrendered control of her body to Rage, for the purpose of tearing into them, because there was no other way to adequately demonstrate just how incredibly furious she was with them… didn't exactly fill Robin or the others with confidence that this conversation was going to go well.

"… Raven, I understand that you're upset, and we-"

"SHUT UP! WHEN YOU WERE PRANCING AROUND AS RED-X, DID ANY OF US THREATEN TO TURN YOU IN?"

"Th-that-" Robin started, before stopping abruptly. He had been about to say that his escapades as Red-X were different, but the main difference was that he had clearly been in full control of his faculties when he had consciously made that decision. The same could not have been said for Beast Boy. "I'm sorry Raven," he changed tactics, "But… you were in his teeth when we found him! All signs pointed towards-"

"SIGNS?!" Rage shouted back. "Starfire told me everything." She finally lowered her voice, although her tone was anything but calm. "He was carrying me by the hood. GENTLY. And before he- before you attacked him, he placed me down on the ground. Softly." She folded her arms, which ordinarily made her look a little less threatening and a little more sulky, but the fire in her eyes remained as fierce as ever. "Tell me, detective, do those seem like the actions of someone who was trying to harm me?"

Robin paused, unsure of how to answer, and knowing full well that no answer would have been satisfactory… but no answer at all would have been worse. "No. In retrospect; but we had to act fast, and… you were injured! We were worried about you, and-"

Rage was shouting again. "YOU WEREN'T WORRIED ABOUT HIM?"

There were no wrong answers to that question; only incredibly wrong answers. "… We were," Robin stated, not sure if he was trying to convince Raven or himself. "But you were unconscious and he was… fine, at least by comparison."

Rage lowered herself to the ground, each answer only making her angrier, but that was to be expected. She approached Robin intimidatingly as if she was about to strike him, but in his defence, he resisted the urge to falter or flee. She did strike him, but verbally, although that didn't make it any less vicious or cause it to sting any less.

"… Does he look fine now?" She asked quietly, which only made her more terrifying. "Was he fine when Cyborg dragged his broken, bleeding carcass in here, arms and legs and ribs all broken? Was he FINE when he was sat in this room, scared, and confused, and so, so alone, and you pushed and prodded at him until he BROKE?" Not that he ever would have mentioned it, but Robin could have sworn he saw tears almost spilling from Rage's eyes, only for them to sizzle on her red-hot skin and dissipate into the air. "WAS HE FINE THEN?!" the entire room began to shake under the weight of her anger.

"R-Raven," Starfire interjected with a desperate wail. Rage reluctantly tore her piercing gaze from Robin to glare – only slightly less hatefully – towards her best friend. When she did, she could see that Starfire was indicating behind Raven with no small amount of urgency. With a quick glance behind, Raven could see that despite being entirely consumed by her powers, the medical bay bed on which Beast Boy lay was barely disturbed. Even having completely lost the ability to control herself, she still couldn't harm him, even indirectly.

Just as he had done.

Raven's expression of pure rage faltered towards sorrow for the briefest of moments as she once again took in the sight of his broken, unconscious body. It only made her want to verbally tear her alleged friends apart even harsher, but as her anger grew, she finally noticed that a single leg of his medical bed had started to shake softly. Raven had unleashed her dark magic across the entire Tower without blinking. The mildest shake of the bed on which Beast Boy was recovering immediately convinced her to stop.

All at once, the darkness that engulfed the medical bay, ensnared her friends, and threatened to spread to the foundations of the tower itself, came to an abrupt halt, and then began to travel back to the source. Raven did not gasp or shudder as the dark energy returned back into her body, where she would once again have to expend considerable effort keeping it in check – especially after the events of this evening – but she somehow knew that it wouldn't be any trouble for her. Because despite the anger, despite the disappointment, despite the urge to verbally rip and tear her so-called friends to shreds for their treatment of her not so-called friend, she also knew that if there was even the slightest risk that her dark energy would interrupt Beast Boy's recovery, every single one of her emotions would fall in line without question for the sake of his wellbeing.

She had never quite been able to say that about the rest of her friends, but she especially couldn't say that right now. As the last vestiges of her demonic power returned under her control, she took a deep, meditative sigh, and then raised her hood and turned back to face the one person in the room she wasn't furious at right now. And then, as if she hadn't just nearly destroyed the entire room, much less the Tower, she strolled slowly over towards him, and… gently stroked his hair.

Beneath her cowl, Raven sniffed loudly, and then quietly announced, "… He doubts himself."

No-one was quite sure that they had heard her correctly, but she continued regardless. "He questions his worth to us. Sometimes he doesn't think that he deserves to be here. I… I don't know why. He's proven himself again and again, but…"

She sniffed again as if sobbing. No-one was brave or foolish enough to try to comfort her, not in her current mood. She smiled sadly to herself as she realised something. If Beast Boy had been awake, he absolutely would have tried to comfort her, regardless of the risk. He would have seen that she was upset, and he would not have cared one iota whether it would result in him being flung out of a window; he would have wrapped his arms around her immediately, without question, and instinctively told her that everything was going to be okay.

"He scrutinizes himself constantly. Not as strong as Starfire, not as smart as Cyborg, not as skilled a fighter as Robin. I can feel it, whenever he's at his lowest. He thinks that he's holding us back. He-" Raven choked out a sob, "He sometimes thinks that we would be better off without him. That… everyone would be better off without him. He thinks that he's being selfish by staying. And he loves it here. He loves us. But he doesn't love himself. He's happy here, but he doesn't think that he deserves to be happy."

Raven hastily wiped her eyes and turned back to face her friends, her face still mostly hidden, but making no effort to hide the traces of the tears that had been running down her cheeks.

"What you did today…" she closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head in a mixture of disbelief and despair, "You took his biggest insecurity, and you shone the world's brightest spotlight on it. And you told him not only that it was true, but that it was much, much worse than he ever could have imagined."

While the other Titans had felt remorse for their behaviour, Raven's words were certainly taking them to a new low of shame.

"You… you told him that he lost control, when the truth couldn't have been anything further from that. You told him that he attacked his friends, when he actually saved them. You told him that he was nothing but an animal who needed to be locked in a cage, when you know that's what he's terrified of becoming the most."

"Raven-" Robin weakly tried to intervene.

"You – for God's sake, Robin – you told him that you were going to send him to prison. Prison." Her disbelief was so great that it almost outweighed the sheer anger and disappointment she felt at them. Almost. "How long do you think a sixteen-year-old with superpowers is going to survive in prison, Robin? You- you might as well have just told him that you were going to have him put down!" she snarled through furiously gritted teeth. "How do you think it felt for him to hear that, from his friends? His family? The only people he has left in the world?" More tears cascaded down Raven's cheeks, and she made no effort to stop them.

Robin, usually one of the faster thinkers of the team, was having trouble coming up with a justification; probably because there simply wasn't one. "… We… it wouldn't have been a normal prison, obviously-"

"Oh, fantastic," Raven interrupted sarcastically, but there was no sense of humour or wit to her words. More than anything, she was frustrated by his lack of accountability; the refusal to just admit that he had made a mistake. "So you would have treated him like a supervillain instead. Call the Justice League and have him locked up in a cell with Slade. What could possibly go wrong?" she spat venomously. Robin had no response, but Raven wasn't even close to finished.

"Theft and property damage; your little stint as Red-X. Starfire is an intergalactic fugitive. Half of Cyborg's body is technically the property of the lab that it came from. And I'm the daughter of the King of Hell. So… when are you having all of us locked up, Robin?"

He couldn't respond. He couldn't meet her eyeline. He doubted he could have said anything, even if he was capable of formulating a response.

"… Why him, Robin? Why just him? Why was he the only member of the team that you would treat like this?" She sounded calmer than she was, but only because she wanted her words to sink in. She wanted him to know how badly he had acted. Suddenly aware that she was focussing all of her ire on Robin, when there had been two others who had watched everything and not intervened, she expanded the scope of her rage again. "And you," she continued, glaring at Starfire and Cyborg. "Why didn't either of you stand up for him? For your friend?"

None of them could answer, and they knew it. Eventually, Robin said the only thing that he could. It wasn't a justification, but it was all that he could say. It was the truth.

"… I wasn't thinking about him. I'm sorry. I just… wanted to get answers."

Raven was not satisfied with his answer, but acknowledged that at least he was directly admitting the truth. "No. You weren't thinking about him." She turned back to her best friend, unconscious on the medical bay bed. "And how did that work out for you?"

The sight of him brought her down from her anger ever so slightly. How could she stay consumed with rage while looking at him, the boy who had risked his own life for hers again and again, even when she didn't feel like she was worth it… which was much more frequently than she would have liked to admit? She let out a deep, disappointed breath. Her anger was dwindling, but she was by no means finished.

"You told him that you didn't trust him. That he wasn't one of us; not really. That he wasn't worthy of the same respect, or faith, or benefit of the doubt that you would have given to the rest of us; any of us." She was speaking to all of them now. You told him that he would always be one bad day away from a monster. And you…" Raven's voice broke as she imagined how he must have felt, and then immediately tried to stop imagining, for her own mental wellbeing. "You told him that at his lowest and most vulnerable, when he needed his friends more than ever to reassure him, to support him, to believe in him, just as you've done for me – and just as he's done for all of you - … that they would abandon him completely. And that he would deserve it."

Raven held her head in her hands in exhaustion, frustration, and surprisingly, indecision.

"… I don't even know how I'm going to begin to try to fix what you've just screwed up." And there was the worst tone of all, the one that opened a seemingly bottomless pit in all of their stomachs. Raven's rage was finite. Her disappointment, however, was immeasurable.

"… We." Robin quietly spoke up. Raven glanced in his direction, too tired to even glare at him. "We are going to fix this, Raven. Not just you. I mean… it's our fault. Not yours."

Raven very pointedly did not object to this statement one bit. She didn't sound any less disappointed in them, but at least her temper was in check again. For now.

"When he wakes up, you are all going to apologize to him. And you are not just going to tell him that you are sorry; you are going tell him why you are sorry, and how you screwed up every single step of the way. And you are going to assure him that every single one of these screw-ups is on you. Not him. And you are going to keep going until it looks like he's starting to believe it, and then you are going to keep going some more, because we all know that deep down, he won't believe it, and he probably never will. And when he tries to forgive you," Raven sniffed softly, "like we all know he will, because he is kinder than you – than we – deserve, then you are not going to let him. You will not allow him to let you off the hook for this."

"You are going to provide him with a safe place to heal; a warm, kind, supportive place, like the kind he should be in now, not in some goddamned hospital bed, because he was so weak from fighting off the friends that he was putting his life on the line to protect!" Raven's eyes glowed red once more, but only for a moment, as rage subsided again into guilty misery.

"… If, after all of this, he wants to leave, then you are going to let him. And you are going to know that it was your fault." Raven lowered her hood again, glaring at Robin with four tearful but furious eyes. "And if he does… then you're going to need to find replacements for two people. Understand?"

None of them had even considered the possibility that Beast Boy would leave the team after this – they still didn't, truly, knowing that what Raven was saying would have been a worst-case scenario and extremely out-of-character for the happy-go-lucky boy, but they nodded anyway. Raven seemed to sense their acknowledgement without even looking.

"… Good."

She left them to stew in their silence, then sighed. There was no point saying anything further to them; she had said what she had to say, and kicking them while they were down – no matter how well-deserved the kicking was – wouldn't accomplish anything. It wouldn't make her feel any better. And it certainly wouldn't get Beast Boy out of that bed. Another tear welled up in her eye as she gazed at him. He looked almost peaceful.

"… Now, get out."

None of them wanted to disobey her, but none of them wanted to leave her alone while she was clearly in no small amount of stress.

"Raven, please," Cyborg began. "We know we screwed up, but we still want to help."

"We only wish to assist in our friend's recovery… and I do not wish to leave you alone," Starfire added, the only one brave enough to openly state their intent to comfort the half-demon who was so mad at them. Raven appreciated that, even if she didn't show it. Robin remained silent, estimating that he was the person she wanted to hear from the least. She appreciated that too.

"No, just… please, get out."

They were all shocked to hear 'please' coming from Raven's mouth. For the first time, she sounded more tired than exasperated. She had given them all such a dressing-down that it was easy to forget that not too long ago, she was unconscious in a medical bay bed, just as he was.

"I… I need to clear my mind, and I need to focus. I'd really rather just be by myself right now." She glanced at Beast Boy again, knowing that she wouldn't really be by herself, and also correctly predicting that no-one would dare to call her on it.

"I'll clean up this mess too. Please… just-"

"Okay. Okay," Robin agreed, nodding as he signalled to the rest of the team to join him outside. He knew that they had a lot to discuss regardless. He held the door open as first Cyborg left the room, and then Starfire, a look of remorse and uncertainty on her face. Robin hesitated before leaving.

"Raven… I know it doesn't change things, but I'm sorry," he offered.

"Don't tell me," Raven replied, cold but not hostile. "Tell it to him."

Robin looked silently at Beast Boy, his teammate and friend, unconscious and unmoving – both things that were entirely preventable – and for the first time felt truly, deeply guilty. He let the door close shut behind him as he left to discuss the situation with Starfire and Cyborg.

Raven immediately exhaled, then grabbed a chair and sat next to Beast Boy, placing her head in her hands, not to cry, not to grieve, and certainly not to meditate, but just to catch a second to herself. After several long, exasperated breaths, she raised her head again and observed the room around her. It had been a mess even before she had come close to losing control, but it was undoubtedly worse now. She raised a hand and idly began to telepathically seize and lift the broken glass from the floor to place inside the medical bin, when she paused. Although she had healed the worst of Beast Boy's injuries, she supposed there was a chance, however slim, that he would require more urgent healing. Healing that could require her full strength.

Sighing outwardly, but secretly grateful for the opportunity to occupy herself with something tedious, to keep her mind from what had transpired, she rose from her seat and walked over to one of the cupboards that had exploded during her outburst. Kneeling down, she carefully picked each and every piece of broken glass from the floor, rising only to place them on a side table, where she would sweep them all into the bin when finished.

So grateful was Raven for the distraction that she didn't notice when Beast Boy's left hand twitched for a moment, and then subsided. She continued to methodically clean up the floor by hand, when he weakly coughed.

In an instant, she was by his side, one hand on his forehead and another on his chest. He had a nasty temperature, but nothing worse than she had felt before, and he was breathing steadily, albeit weakly. He coughed again, hacking as if there was something stuck in his throat, but lacking the energy to clear it.

"Beast Boy? Beast Boy, do you hear me?" Raven asked professionally, concealing her concern – and her gratitude – in a world-class display of acting. Her patient moaned, and she gently rubbed his chest, probing with her powers to see if she had missed any internal injuries. Eventually, his right eye peeked open, unfocussed. His left was still half-glued shut with dried blood, and Raven cursed under her breath, summoning a damp cloth to her side and quickly beginning to wipe it. With Raven on his left side, his right eye couldn't see her.

"Wh…" his voice croaked even more weakly than she had been expecting. "Whar… Rae… whar's… Rave…" he coughed again, finally gaining the energy to clear whatever had been stuck in his throat, but exhausting himself even further in the process. "Whaur's… Raven?"

She gave up cleaning his face and darted back to the other side of the bed so that he could see her, not that it immediately helped. His one available eye seemed to look straight through her.

"I'm here, I'm here Beast Boy," she comforted, unsure if she should grab his hand, or if he would even feel it.

"Where… Raven," he sniffed softly, appearing to be getting more distressed. That settled that matter.

"I'm right here, Beast Boy. It's me," she stated a little more firmly, grabbing his hand with both of hers and holding it tightly. He finally seemed to focus on her, his one open eye widening in surprise and relief.

"R… Raven?" he asked childishly. She brought his hand up to touch her face.

"It's me. I'm here. I'm okay,"

For a second, Beast Boy smiled – a smile so pure, so innocent, so happy to see that she was okay – and Raven's heart almost melted in her chest. Even after what had happened, she was still his number one concern. But his smile turned into a grimace, and then an expression of grief, as he tried to wrest his hand away from hers. He was too weak to even do that.

"N-no… no, no, no," he mumbled, tears welling in his eyes.

"Beast Boy? What's wrong?" she asked, not holding his hand too tightly but refusing to let it go as he tried to escape from her grasp.

"No, no, not… not safe, not safe," he whispered in alarm. Raven stroked the top of his hand in response.

"I am safe. And so are you. We're back at the tower, and-"

"No!" her assurance didn't seem to be helping. "Not safe, not safe," he repeated, tears now slowly falling down his cheek. His other eye opened, his tears and Raven's hasty attempt to clean him up having loosened the dried blood.

She gripped his hand tighter, but not tight enough to hurt. "You are safe, Beast Boy," she spoke firmly.

"No, no," he sobbed. "… Raven. Not safe. Raven, not safe."

Raven frowned. "I'm safe, Beast Boy. I'm right here, and I'm safe."

"No," Beast Boy gasped weakly, lacking the energy to cry, but also lacking the energy to stop.

"Not… not safe from me." He wept.

Raven's frown intensified, and for a moment, she was tempted to abandon Beast Boy, seek out her three other teammates, and throw them out of the nearest window. One look at Beast Boy's distraught expression, and the temptation faded.

"I hurt you… I hurt Raven, I hurt you," he sobbed to himself.

Raven placed her hands on either side of his head and leaned over him to speak face to face as clearly as she could.

"You didn't hurt me. You saved me. You saved me, Beast Boy."

"Hurt you," he continued to cry. "They, they said… said I hurt you." His tears were getting into the small injuries on and around his face, which only made Raven more impatient. She leaned closer, held him tighter, and emphasized her words harder.

"You. Didn't. Hurt Me," she stated a little more forcefully. "You saved me."

Beast Boy looked back into her eyes for the first time. "Wh… what?" he asked in disbelief.

"You saved my life, Beast Boy. You didn't hurt me. You didn't attack me. You saved me."

Hoping that this would force him to accept what she was saying, she leant in closer and kissed him gently on the forehead. She hoped that something so un-Raven-like would force him to acknowledge that she was telling the truth. She tried to smile gratefully and found that she didn't need to put any effort into it at all, even feeling tears prickling in her own eyes.

"You saved my life, Beast Boy."

"I… huh?" he asked in confusion. Raven smiled and nodded.

"You saved me." Without consciously deciding to, she reached up and gently wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"I… saved you?" he repeated. On any other occasion, and with anyone else, she would have gotten tired of repeating herself by now. But she would tell him as many times as he needed to be told. She nodded, still smiling, and Beast Boy finally seemed to relax.

"… Oh…" he added quietly, his eyes suddenly drooping, before he fell back unconscious in her arms. She could tell that it had only been the brief panic and adrenaline of not knowing if she was alright that had kept him conscious for that long. But even as she slowly reclined back to her seat, she grabbed his hand and held it gently.

"… You saved me," she repeated again, more to herself than to him. So much emotion was packed into those three words; guilt, relief, admiration, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude, and a very special kind of fondness that Raven didn't quite recognize yet. Before she could stop herself, she leaned forwards and kissed him softly and quickly on the lips, before pulling back, looking suddenly embarrassed.

It was only then that Raven realised how monumentally exhausted she herself still was, and she glanced back at the medical bed that she had been positioned on not too long ago. Looking down at Beast Boy's hand again, still refusing to let it go, she sighed as she leaned forwards, choosing to rest her head sideways on Beast Boy's chest instead. The sound of his heartbeat was comforting to her, and she felt fatigue slowly take over as she began to close her eyes for longer and longer periods.

Briefly glancing back around the room, she wordlessly summoned all of the debris and destruction and deposited it in a medical waste receptacle; having spoken to Beast Boy, she knew that he had recovered enough that her powers would be more than sufficient to heal him if needed. As her focus returned to him, ready to use his chest as a pillow once more, a blinking red light in the corner caught her eye, and she froze on the spot.

A security camera.

She shot up in her seat in alarm, looking back to Beast Boy, and then to the camera again. Frowning in impatience, she fired a bolt of energy at the machine, frying its internal circuitry and causing it to fail in a burst of harmless sparks. Raven would have assumed that the footage would be destroyed along with the camera. Raven was incorrect. As the feed died, she lay her head on Beast Boy's chest once more, and almost immediately fell asleep.

.

To say that Beast Boy didn't know how to respond was an understatement. There were so many conflicting emotions running through him at that moment; after all, he had just relived the worst night of his life… from the best possible perspective. He had always known on some level that his friends had let him down that night, but it was buried under so many layers of guilt and doubt – both of which had been there long before the Beast incident – that he had never really addressed it. His friends… had really failed him. And that hurt. Or it would have, if it even mattered at this point. Because there was one friend who had never failed him.

He had also always known on some level that Raven had been responsible for everyone being especially nice to him, following… the incident. When they apologized to him, they always did so while she was in the room, pretending to read a book, but observing them carefully. And when Beast Boy hastily tried to forgive them – just as she had predicted he would – wanting to put the entire debacle behind them, then they would glance to her and boldly insist that no, they had to apologize, because they had truly wronged him, and they were very sorry for that. It meant a lot to him that she would look out for him like that, even if she was hiding the fact that she had done it. He knew that if asked, she would claim that it was to help him keep his dignity and avoid robbing their apologies of both the sincerity and attention that they deserved. They would both know that it was because she was embarrassed. Not that he cared about that right now either.

All that he cared about was the look on her face when she had rested her head on his chest, after kissing him and reassuring him that he had saved her. He recognized that look well. It was the same expression he sometimes caught himself making when he glanced towards her in the Common Room, when he was sure she wasn't looking, and when she caught him, the same expression that he shamefully hid, sure that she would never feel the same way. She would never look at him like that. Until he saw with his own eyes that she had.

He told himself that he was making assumptions, that he was mistaken somehow, that maybe he wasn't as good at reading faces as he thought he was, or that enough time had passed that maybe she didn't even feel that way about him anymore. None of it changed anything. None of it mattered. Raven loved him back. Raven loved him back. The only question was… what the hell was he supposed to do with this information?

Reasoning that it was far too late to make an informed decision, Beast Boy reluctantly went to bed, still grinning like an idiot at what he had seen. He was only lying down for thirty seconds before he decided to watch the footage again – and copy it onto his PC in case anything happened to the disc – one more time before falling asleep. He told himself that he was only watching it again to make sure that he hadn't somehow hallucinated the entire thing. But he knew that he was watching it again because seeing Raven get upset on his behalf, defend him to their friends, praise him so sincerely and reassure his worries filled him with a contentment that seemed to reach into the depths of his very soul. Raven loved him. He was beginning to feel lightheaded.

The third viewing was simply to try and get the jitters out of his system, and when exhaustion finally threatened to overwhelm him, he played the video one more time and lay down with his eyes closed, drifting off to sleep to the sound of the woman of his dreams standing up for him in a way he could have never imagined.

.

When Beast Boy didn't appear in the Common Room until eleven o'clock the next morning, no-one found it especially unusual. It wasn't unlike him to sleep in, and that was exactly what he had done; waking up at ten, remembering that he had fallen asleep feeling incredibly content, but not sure why… and then recalling why. He watched the footage again just to make sure he hadn't dreamed it. He still got those nervous flutters in his heart when he saw Raven defending him.

When he did eventually make an appearance, the team greeted him normally. Robin and Cyborg nodded his way before mostly returning to the video game they were playing, while Starfire watched them, cheering on Robin without really understanding which one of them was winning. Robin's eyes lingered on Beast Boy for a moment longer, as Beast Boy realised that his own expression had changed. Even though it was in the past, even though he had forgiven and – until now – forgotten, then watching back the hurtful display of Robin's leadership – or lack thereof – had certainly resulted in some uncomfortable feelings being dredged to the surface.

Recognizing the slightest sign of distress on his friend's face, Robin didn't even pause the game – and Beast Boy knew how competitive he could get – as he asked, "Morning Beast Boy. You okay?" And Beast Boy could tell that he meant it. Even a detail as tiny as that was enough to tell him that the Robin who walked on eggshells around him, who he hadn't made a connection with – and seemed in no hurry to do so – and who had threatened to arrest him, was long gone. And in his place was a mature, responsible leader, who cared about him as a teammate, but also a friend.

"Yeah, all good Rob. Thanks for asking."

Beast Boy's voice got the attention of Starfire, who tore her eyes from her beloved's game to look at the changeling, possibly to see if he had gotten the chance to see her gift. Beast Boy didn't notice, however. He was looking at her.

Sat on a stool at the kitchen counter, Raven casually continued reading her book with her hood down. It had taken her years to grow comfortable enough around them even for that. Beast Boy knew that it was unfair to her; if she had known what he had seen, then she probably would have killed him – and possibly Starfire for showing him – but he could never unsee the glimpse behind the impassive veil. The caring – loving, even – empath beneath.

She lowered her book slightly and noticed him staring. "Why are you looking at me?"

Ordinarily he would have been lost for words, or stuttered some kind of joke in response, and while he still felt like that, the words flowed out almost automatically.

"I like looking at you."

Raven lowered her book a smidgen further in surprise, glaring at him as she started to blush, and then hid her face behind the novel once more. She didn't know what kind of stupid prank that he was playing but she wanted no part in it.

There was an empty cereal bowl in front of her, along with her second mug of herbal tea that morning. Beast Boy idled over towards her and picked up the empty bowl, taking it to the kitchen sink for her. She lowered her book ever so slightly again as her eyes narrowed at his unusual behaviour.

Starfire took the opportunity to chime in. "Oh! Good morning friend Beast Boy! Might I ask if you have had the chance to look at my present?"

He most definitely had. But how to explain it? Unlike the words that had instinctively formed his reply to Raven, he had to think long and hard about his response to Starfire. And as he suddenly realised that a long and awkward pause would probably fill her with doubt, he made the risky decision to just speak without thinking. He wouldn't normally consider it risky; he did it every day, after all.

"I liked it, Star." He watched her smile in relief, although it was rather subdued. "I… really liked it, actually. Loved it. Definitely, uh, one of the best presents I've ever gotten in my life." Starfire clasped her hands together in joy.

"Oh, wonderful! I am so glad that you enjoyed it, friend. I had a feeling that you would."

"I did, I really did," Beast Boy emphasized, before he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I… might need to have a chat with you later about… uh, privacy and stuff," he wasn't sure how to phrase it without giving away to the rest of the room that the gift had been footage of them, "but overall, I loved it." Starfire had grown a tiny bit concerned at Beast Boy's addendum, but the smile returned to her face as he emphasized how much he had appreciated the present.

"Definitely fulfilled both of the criteria too," he added. "I loved it, and I definitely wasn't expecting it. It was…" Beast Boy paused for a moment. "Unconventional."

"Unconventional?" Raven deadpanned, doing a wonderful job of hiding her own curiosity at just what this present had been, unlike Robin and Cyborg, who were much more openly intrigued. "That's five syllables. That might be a new record for you, Beast Boy."

There was no real venom or ill will behind it, but she definitely still meant it as a barb, expecting him to respond sarcastically, or fire back with a poorly thought-out jab of his own. Maybe she was even hoping that he would do so, to offset how strange his comment earlier had made her feel. Not unpleasant, just… strange. And yet, he couldn't bring himself to rise to the bait.

"Heh. Good one, Rae."

She lowered her book all the way to the countertop this time as she glared at him suspiciously.

"… it's Raven," she commented, to see how he would respond more than anything else.

"Okay." He continued to smile at her. She didn't like it. Or rather, she didn't understand it.

"… Why are you smiling at me?"

Once again, the words came out of Beast Boy's mouth before he knew what he was saying.

"Because looking at you makes me smile."

The slight embarrassed tinge of red on Raven's cheeks became much more pronounced as she glared at the boy, who just kept smiling dumbly. "Well," she began, standing abruptly from her seat, "At least we all know the present that Starfire gave him; a concussion, apparently."

Beast Boy said nothing, but giggled at her joke. That was enough for her.

Storming over to him as if he had done something to upset her – and in a very roundabout way, he had – she drilled holes into his eyes with her own. "What the hell is up with you this morning?" she murmured in discontent, and while Beast Boy wanted to correct her, he spotted something else in her eyes. She wasn't just annoyed at him; she was genuinely, sincerely concerned that something was wrong. She had never stopped being concerned over his wellbeing. God, he loved her. Which is why he did something some would describe as incredibly stupid, verging on suicidal.

With Raven so close, peering directly into his eyes for signs of brainwashing, mind-control, or just the concussion she had suspected earlier, Beast Boy leaned forwards, and before she could react, kissed her on the nose.

"Eep!" Raven let out a very un-Raven-like squeak of shock and embarrassment, before her whole face began to turn red. She placed a hand over her own heart and felt it beating out of her chest. Beast Boy wondered for a second if he had gone too far, even if it had just been a quick smooch on the nose. Unfortunately for Raven – well, Raven's dignity at least – then when Beast Boy wasn't sure if he had gone too far, he had a very unusual philosophy that he lived by.

Make damn sure that you went too far.

While Raven was still in shock, he leaned forwards again and kissed her several times on her left cheek, "Mwah, mwah, mmmmmmwah," and then peppered her right cheek with kisses too "Mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah," before standing on his tippy-toes and planting a kiss right on her forehead. "MWAH!" By the time he was finished, she was glowing redder than a strawberry, and the single "Eep!" she had made earlier was now a constant, high-pitched squeal. For just a moment, Beast Boy feared that he had gone too far… before deciding that if Raven was going to kill him for this, he may as well go all in. He leaned in one more time to give her a very brief kiss on the lips; lips that she immediately raised a hand to in surprise, her other hand still stuck over her heart, pumping so fast that she thought it would burst. Beast Boy could have sworn that he saw smoke coming out of her ears.

Cyborg, Robin and Starfire watched slack-jawed in horror. Cyborg and Robin both thought that Beast Boy was committing suicide by Raven, while Starfire watched in terrified guilt, fearing that her gift to the boy had led to this reckless behaviour. She was most certainly correct.

When five full seconds had passed, and Raven had still neither moved nor spoken – high-pitched squeal notwithstanding – then Beast Boy finally began to think that maybe he had gone too far.

"Um… I'm sorry about that," he confessed shyly. "I shouldn't have… yeah. Sorry," it seemed that his involuntary ability to perfectly express his feelings to Raven in words had been temporary, but they came back for one last hurrah. "I just… couldn't help myself. God, you're so beautiful, Rae."

If Raven hadn't already been blushing with the glow of a heavy-duty foglight, that would have pushed her over the edge. She opened and closed her mouth a few times as if she had forgotten how to speak. Her legs trembled as if she was about to collapse. She glanced slowly at her friends as if only now realising that they were there.

Internally, Raven's Emoticlones were frantically running around Nevermore, several of them screaming while waving their arms in the air. Some were angry, and some were flattered, but all of them were extremely confused. Rage's voice cut above them for a second, "That insolent, presumptuous little toad! Kissing us? Embarrassing us in front of our friends! Make him pay, Raven!" Despite having extremely mixed feelings about Beast Boy right now, Raven worried for his safety if Rage was truly upset, pondering what agonizing torture awaited him. "Oh, I have the perfect punishment in mind for him; kiss him in front of everyone! Harder! And for even longer! See how he likes being humiliated!" "I agree," chimed in Knowledge, "It would certainly make the punishment fit the crime. Definitely the best course of action, for that and… no other reason."

Trying desperately to shut out the voices in her head, all of which seemed to be arriving at similar conclusions but in a variety of ways, her legs wobbled again and she stumbled backwards, almost falling over. Continuing to stare red-faced at Beast Boy, and then her friends, she hesitated for a second, and then very slowly continued to step backwards, like a new-born deer learning how to walk. She said nothing for the entire time. When she finally arrived at the door, she glanced at Beast Boy again and opened her mouth to say something that died on her lips. Desperately trying to locate the button for the door behind her back, she finally found it, heard the door open, and turned and fled from the room as quickly as possible. She was in desperate need of some meditation.

For a moment, nobody spoke. Until "Um… Beast Boy?" Robin was the first to recover his senses enough to ask. "What the hell was that?"

Beast Boy sighed happily, then shrugged casually. "Just couldn't help myself, I guess."

Cyborg, who had predicted – along with the others, who had all independently come to the same conclusion – that Beast Boy had something of a crush on the reserved empath, stepped forwards and placed a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "I don't know what came over you, but…" he pretended to wipe a tear from his eye, or maybe he wasn't pretending. "It was nice knowing you, buddy. I can't guarantee it, but I promise I'll try to persuade her to give you a quick death."

Beast Boy chuckled, and then, as if he hadn't irreversibly shaken the dynamic of the team forever, chirpily asked "Hey, is it too late for waffles? I could really go for-"

The door, seized by black power, was flung back open hard enough that the wall cracked.

Raven, looking as though she was channelling Rage, entirely red and with two (cute, in Beast Boy's opinion) horns sticking out of her hair, stomped back into the room furiously, eyes filled with cold, calculated hate. Or possibly worse; cold, calculated love.

"YOU!" she screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at Beast Boy "WHAT IN THE… YOU… THE HELL WAS… WHEN YOU…" she stuttered and stumbled over her words, clearly having many thoughts fighting for the right to be said at once. "YOU… OOH, WHEN I-… IF YOU THINK… YOU!" It didn't bother her that her friends were staring at her as she struggled to string a sentence together. It bothered her that Beast Boy was still smiling dumbly as he looked her way, as if happy to see her, as if unafraid of her wrath. It was almost as if he was confident that she wouldn't hurt him, which only made her want to prove him wrong… except he wasn't, and that just made it worse.

"… AAAAAAAAAUGH!" Raven furiously stamped her foot on the ground before storming back to her room, where she would remain for the rest of the day, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened, and how to make Beast Boy pay for it, ignoring the multitude of suggestions from her Emoticlones which always seemed to conclude in more kissing.

Beast Boy sat down at the kitchen counter, waiting for Cyborg to recover enough to make those waffles. As soon as he had shaken the shock out of his system, Cyborg gathered the ingredients and got to work, sighing occasionally at the inevitable impending death of his best friend.

"You know that as soon as she can string a sentence together again, she's going to kill you, right?" he asked.

"Nah," Beast Boy rested his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands as he continued to stare at the door with a hopelessly lovestruck expression on his face. "She wouldn't do that." He sighed in contentment. Starfire's gift may have been unconventional, but it had provided him with confirmation of what he had wished to be true more than anything else in the world.

"Raven likes me."