The Fading Light

[bbissocute]

ANNOUCEMENT!!!: I have now reedited this story, so it has changed. I have completely changed the end to chapter 6 and I suggest that even previous readers reread it (chapter six atleast). I have added more BB/RAE fluff throughout the story and fixed many of the grammatical errors. If I missed any, please do tell me. I  hope everyone likes this version better. I'm sorry, I hope the previous readers aren't too mad at me. Please enjoy.

SUMMARY: “A sudden bang rang throughout the streets…There, lying on the pavement, was Beast Boy, with blood coming out of the back of his head.”
When Beast Boy is injured in a robbery-gone-wrong, the titans feel horrible. Is there a more sinister plot behind it, though, and, if there is, what is it?

CHAPTER 1

[Setting: Beast Boy is standing beside Cyborg and his car.]

“Hey, can I help you fix the T-Car, Cy? Please! Please! Please! Please! I won’t break anything! See!” Beast Boy picked up a wrench and started twirling it.

“Beast Boy don’t-” Cyborg began before Beast Boy lost his grip of the wrench and let it go flying in to the side of the car, leaving a huge dent.

“Beast Boy!!!! Look what you did to my baby!!! It’s gonna take hours to get rid of that dent!!!” Cyborg said, his head seemingly about to explode.

“Hehe. Sorry about that. Maybe I could-”

“NO!” Cyborg yelled, cutting Beast Boy off. “GET OUT OF HERE NOW! DON’T COME IN HERE AGAIN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?!”

Beast Boy solemnly nodded and walked out of the garage.

Beast Boy walked down the hall to see if Robin wanted to ‘hang’ with him. Robin was in the gym, as always. He began to walk up to him but decided not to so he wouldn’t get hit.

Beast Boy sat in the corner and waited. And waited. And waited. Robin still hadn’t noticed him. He tried to get his attention by clearing his throat, but Robin was too busy practicing his tactical moves to notice. Finally, a very annoyed Beast Boy walked down the hallway.

‘I could try Raven’, he realized. ‘Maybe, just maybe, she will hang out with me today.’ He walked over to her door and knocked. He waited for a minute and finally heard something shuffling around in the room. The door slid open, but just a crack.

“Hey Raven, I was jus-”

“No,” she said calmly and slammed/slid the door in his face. Beast Boy stood there for a minute without saying anything and slowly turned. Beast Boy felt defeated. Suddenly he realized he had forgotten one person.

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“Starfire! What are you doing? Could I ‘hang’ with you for awhile?” Beast Boy quickly asked Starfire as her door slid open.

“Yes, friend Beast Boy, come in, I welcome you!” Starfire shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Thanks Star, I was beginning to feel left out.” Beast Boy said gratefully.

“You are most welcome, friend Beast Boy. I too was feeling the letting out.” Starfire replied.

“So Star, what’cha up to anyway?” Beast Boy asked.

“I was just about to do the feeding of Silky. Do you wish to do the feeding of Silky also?” she asked, holding up a strange looking jar.

“Sure. Hey what’s this?” Beast Boy asked, picking up another jar and dipping his finger in it.

“Do not touch that friend Beast Boy!” Starfire shouted, a panicked look spreading across her face.

“Okay, okay I’ll put it down,” he said, setting it down. As he turned back around, he, unintentionally knocked the small jar over and let its contents spill all over the floor. Beast Boy’s eyes darted back up into her face and made an apologetic smile. If looks could kill, people would never be able to identify his body.

“Beast Boy, that was a gift from my Konorfka that was giving to me for the recognition of my passing of the Belfigastromon, a test that only few on my planet have survived!!! That substance is no longer in existence!!! And now I no longer have any!!!”

“Uh…sorry?” Beast Boy replied nervously.

“GET OUT!!!!” Starfire screamed. Beast Boy ran for his life.

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Beast Boy slowly walked down the street. ‘I know,’ he thought, ‘I’ll go visit Terra. She’ll listen to me. Maybe that will make me feel a little better.’

He started off towards the underground cavern Terra’s statue and plaque resided in. Beast Boy turned down a dark alley that held to a short cut to the cavern. Suddenly he felt something on his back he turned around to face a tall man with a small scar on his face. He was smiling.

“Hey buddy, how ‘bout ya give me all your loot and take off.” He said, still smiling.

“I don’t think you’ve thought this through completely,” Beast Boy said, with a smile of his own. Beast Boy shifted into a bear to try and intimidate the crook. But the crook was still smiling. Beast Boy was confused. Surly this would intimidate him. After all, bears are a lot bigger then humans. He shifted back into his human form, still looking confused. The man wasn’t smiling at him, he realized. He was smiling at something behind him. He looked and saw another man with a crazed look on his face. He had a gun.

“Okay guys, lets be reasonable,” he said, trying to reason with the crooks.

“How ‘bout, NO!” the one man shouted. As they both slowly advanced on him, he felt trapped. “If you won’t give us what we want, then we’ll just take then!”

A sudden bang rang throughout the streets.

CHAPTER 2

The titan’s alarm began to off and they all rushed into the living room, save Beast Boy, of course. Robin was already there. As they all gathered together, Robin began to tell them the reason for the disturbance.

“Beast Boy seems to need back up. I don’t know what he’s doing, but he’s pressed the button three times.”

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As the titans neared the area the signal was coming from, Starfire began to get concerned.

“What is wrong with friend Beast Boy? Why did he get this call with out us?”

“He’s probably just playing a prank on us, Star.” Robin explained.

“But why would he do these things to us? Make us worried for no reason?” Starfire asked.

“Because that’s Beast Boy,” replied Raven, in her monotoeness voice.

“The signals just around this-” Robin began, before noticing the broken figure on the ground. There, lying on the pavement, was Beast Boy, with blood coming out of the back of his head. Starfire immediately ran to his side and started shaking him as if he were asleep. The rest of the titans stood there, awed at what lay before them. Starfire’s pleads woke Robin out of his trance-like state, and he yelled,

“Starfire, get him to the infirmary. Raven, you and Cyborg follow her. I’ll be there in a few.”

They all took off, Starfire carrying Beast Boy, Raven hovering with Cyborg and Robin on his R-Cycle, and headed towards Titans Tower.

Raven could see Starfire was crying as she held Beast Boy to her chest. She almost felt like crying too. Even though he was annoying, he was her friend and she couldn’t stand seeing her friend in this state.

When they reached the infirmary, Cyborg took Beast Boy from Starfire and set him on the bed. He began to attach the life support systems to Beast Boy, when he noticed Starfire and Raven just staring at Beast Boy lying on the bed.

“Star, Raven, why don’t you step out of the room for awhile, okay?” Cyborg said in a shaky tone. Both girls nodded, but only Starfire left the room. Raven sat down in a chair in the opposite corner. Cyborg quickly finished setting up the machines for Beast Boy. A while later Starfire slowly walked into the quiet room.

“May I come in now, friend Cyborg?” Starfire asked in a low tone. Cyborg just nodded. He noticed her eyes were red and puffy from crying. “Will friend Beast Boy be-”

“Alright?” Robin finished for her. Cyborg, a little startled by the Boy Wonder’s sudden appearance in the room, answered slowly.

“I…I’m not sure. It’s difficult to tell at this point. He could be out for good.” Cyborg said in a very small voice.

The others sat down. It was going to be a long night.

CHAPTER 3

The room was quiet. Well, almost quiet. The unpleasant sound of Beast Boy’s life support system beeping every so often filled the room, letting them know that he was still alive, but barely. The sound of the computer constantly beeping and clicking was its constant companion. Cyborg was working on it to keep his mind off of Beast Boy’s condition. The soft and muffled sound of Starfire crying was registered in the corner where she sat. She hadn’t stopped. Other then those few disturbances, it was quiet. Robin was looking down, presumably thinking. But Raven’s face was the most shocking. She was just staring at him. At Beast Boy. She hadn’t moved since she sat down. Her eyes seemed almost…vacant. This ‘quiet’ seemed to go on for hours, yet it had only been forty minutes since the ‘accident’.

Starfire’s tears began to slow down. A loud noise woke the titans from their dazed state. It took them a moment for them to realize what it was.
It was the sound of the heart rate machine beeping crazily. Beast Boy lay shaking in jerky and uncontrolled movements and his eyes fluttered. Starfire quickly rushed to the bedside and began to attempt to hold him still. As Starfire held him in place, the young boy’s body went limp. The machine instantly began to emit a low and unbroken beep. Raven’s eyes became wide and she seemed almost paler then usual.

“Beast Boy? Beast Boy? Why will you not awaken? Beast Boy?” Starfire yelled as she gently shook him.

“Move Star!!!” Cyborg yelled as he pushed Starfire off to the side. He pressed the deliberator to the small boy’s chest. Nothing. He tried again. Nothing. His annoyance began to show itself.

“Come on, come on, work, WORK!!!” As he spoke this, a small tear appeared in his eye. He continued to use it on the small figure several times. Finally, Robin had to forcibly stop him. The small tear slowly drifted down his face. Nothing. Cyborg slowly shuffled over toward the wall. Suddenly he slammed his fist into it.

“Why!” he yelled to no one in particular. “Why!” he said slightly softer.

“Maybe it was his time. We did everything we cou-” Robin said began to say before Cyborg suddenly cut him off.

“NO!!! WE DIDN’T DO ENOUGH! I DIDN’T DO ENOUGH! If I would have……If I…..”

“Cyborg…” Robin said so quietly, it was barley a whisper.

Suddenly the heart rate machine began to beep again.

“Oh thank Gelfor, he is alive!!!” Starfire yelled with joy. Raven suddenly regained the little color her face had. Just as suddenly another loud noise racked the building.

CHAPTER 4

It took the titans a full minute of panic to realize that it was just the criminal alarm.

“Cinderblock is on the loose again. Teen Titans, GO!” Robin yelled.

No one moved.

“Robin, should not someone stay with friend Beast Boy?” Starfire asked.

“She’s right, Robin. Someone needs to stay just in case something happens,” Cyborg agreed.

Robin thought for a moment.

“Raven, you stay and watch him. Can we go now?” The others nodded.

“TEEN TITANS GO, again!!!” Robin yelled.

Soon Raven was left alone in the room with the small boy resting on the bed. She sat still, thinking. Thinking of earlier, of how she had not even cared, of how she slammed the door on his face. As she thought this, pain filled her heart. She wished she could go back, back before any of this had happened. But she knew it was ignorant of her to think these things. She knew that nothing could change the past and that she had to accept it. But she couldn’t. And she didn’t know why.

Suddenly, so suddenly that she in fact surprised herself, Raven stood and walked toward the bed. She stood there for a few moments before knelling down. Suddenly she couldn’t contain herself and she began to cry. She cried for what seemed like hours. Eventually, because she had finally run out of tears, she stopped. She looked up and reached for the small, limp hand that rest on the bed.

“I’m sorry, Beast Boy, I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice cracking as she softly spoke. She took her other hand and started to wipe her wet eyes when she felt a slight squeeze on her hand. She looked up and strait into Beast Boy’s face. It wore a weak smile. Slowly, and softly, he began to speak.

“It’s okay Raven, it’s okay,” he said slowly as he drifted back into unconsciousness. Raven continued to kneel by his bedside and grip his lifeless hand until the titans returned.

CHAPTER 5

“Raven, did something bad happen while we were out?” Robin asked, walking through the infirmary’s doors and noticing her position.

“No…he…he just…he just woke up.” She said slowly. Starfire instantly jumped with joy at these words and ran to the bed.

“He is cured?!?! Hooray! Dearest friend Beast Boy, please do awaken so I may greet you!” she yelled, standing over the small figure in the bed.

“Star, he’s not cured. He still needs time to recuperate. Let him rest for awhile, okay?” Cyborg said.

“Speaking of rest we all should get some,” Robin announced. Everyone gave him the ‘look’ from earlier.

“I’ll stay up and watch BB. I don’t need sleep,” Cyborg announced, saving Robin from being yelled at.

“Okay, see you in the morning Cy,” Robin said, mouthing the words ‘thank you’ to him. “Good night, everyone.”

Cyborg continued to do his ‘busy work’ to keep his mind off of BB. It wasn’t working. He knew if he had just let him ‘hang’ with him then none of this would have ever happened. What kind of best friend was he? Letting his best buddy in the entire world get it to this state. ‘If only I had been there….’ he thought. He was so deep in thought that he didn’t even think about his response when he heard,

“Hey, Cy, can I get a glass of water over here. My throat is killin’ me!”

“BB, get it your…Beast Boy?” his voice instantly softened. “You’re awake?!?!”

“Yah, and I’m thirsty!” he complained.

“Hold on, I’ll be right back!” Cyborg said, quickly getting up and running to get him a glass of water. He walked back in and handed the glass to the small boy sitting up in the bed. “Ya know, ya really should be restin’ BB.”

“Yah, and so should you.”

“I’m suposta be watchin’ you.” There was a pause while Beast Boy took a drink from the glass. He set the glass on the stand.

“…Cy, it’s not your fault…” he whispered quietly.

“My fault? My fault for what BB?” Cyborg said, happy to see his friend awake.

“For this.”

“Beast Boy…”

“Cy, I want you to promise me something. If I don’t make it out of this-”

“Beast Boy, don’t talk like that. You’re going to be fine,” Cyborg scolded.

“Cy, let me finish. If I don’t make it out of this you have to promise me you won’t blame yourself.”

“Beast Boy…”   

“Cy, it’s my fault. I was the one who left, I was the one went down that alley and I’m the one who needs to be blamed, not you!” Beast Boy said, almost yelling. “Promise me, Cy. Promise me.” Quiet filled the room. Slowly Cyborg began to speak.

“I…I promise,” he said slowly.

“Good,” Beast Boy said, slumping down in the bed, exhausted. He slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Cyborg, for some reason, felt a little more at ease.

[bbissocute]

CHAPTER 6

By 6 AM all of the titans were up and moving. Starfire was in the kitchen trying to cook something for Beast Boy. Cyborg was helping, or in other words trying to kill the creature Starfire called food.

“Robin, a little help over here?” Cyborg yelled, trying to fend off the beast. Robin was too busy typing to notice the battle taking place right next to him.

“ROBIN!!!”

“WHAT?!?!!?!” Robin answered, obviously very annoyed.

“Little help over here!” Cyborg answered in a matching tone.

“Busy,” Robin replied calmly. The creature emitted a loud roar as Starfire blasted the creature in the eye.

“But…”

“Busy,” Robin said, firmer this time. Cyborg gave up. No use in even trying when he was at that computer.

“Fine! Raven, could you…” Cyborg started. Suddenly the monster was encased with dark energy and thrown out the large window. “Uh…thanks Rae.”

“I’m going to go to my room, but I’ll check on Beast Boy on my way up. DON’T call me Rae!” Raven said in her usual emotionless voice. The titans had decided to let him alone so he could sleep without everyone watching him. At first everyone was reluctant to but Cyborg had reassured them that he had hooked up Beast Boy’s vitals to his arm so he could monitor him anywhere in the world if he had to.

With that Raven left the room and headed down to the infirmary. As she walked, her thoughts drifted back to the previous night. She had to admit she had felt better after their ‘talk’, but somewhere the pain just wouldn’t go away.

Before she knew it, Raven was standing outside the infirmary’s doors. Raven had originally planed to just peek in the door and see if he was all right. She stood outside the room for awhile until she heard a sound that instantly stired her from her thoughts. The sound of a struggle floated through the unopened door to Raven’s ears. Quickly, she blew the door of its hinges and ran into the room.

“Beast Bo-” Raven yelled, stopping mid-sentence and gazing at the site that lay before her. There was Beast Boy, hobbling around the room, trying to get dressed. What a site! He stood there with his shirt backwards and his head sticking out of the arm whole. Luckily, he did have his pants the whole way up. He had a slight blush, seeing that Raven had caught him out of bed.

“I was trying to get ready for breakfast.” He said with a silly grin on his face. Suddenly the other titans rushed into the room with worried faces. That is until they saw Beast Boy.

“Cyborg’s sensors started going off right after you left, so we thought…” Robin began as Beast Boy fixed his shirt.

“Friend Beast Boy, you have awakened!!!” Starfire yelled as she gave him one of her famous ‘death hugs’.

“Star--cant--breath!” Beast Boy choked out. Starfire immediately let go and continued.

“Friend Beast Boy, I am truly elated to see that you have awakened from your deep and quite frightening slumber! Friend Cyborg and I had prepared you a breaking of the fasting feast but it attacked us and friend Raven had to dispose of it.”

“Okay. I’m not that hungry, anyway. So, does anybody maybe want to go to the park later?” Beast Boy asked.

“Oh no you don’t. You’re not leaving anytime soon, BB. You need to stay so we can monitor your vitals,” Robin answered.

“But I feel fine. Besides a good stretch will do me good,” Beast Boy argued.

“I said no. Not until we at least find out who did this to you, anyway.” The room instantly got quiet.

“Alright,” Beast Boy complied. Truthfully he really didn’t want to go any way, and he was relieved. He was actually pretty nervous to go outside the infirmary. He knew the tower was safe, but all of those corners…anyone could be lurking behind anyone of them. He really didn’t want to chance it, even with his friends with him.

“So, am I gonna get the bed-and-breakfast deal or do I have to go out there and make it myself?” Beast Boy said jokingly.

“Hold on BB, I’ll go get some of that plastic you call food,” Cyborg hollered, exiting the room.

“I shall join friend Cyborg in preparing the brake fasting of beds!” Starfire said as she rushed after Cyborg.

 All of a sudden Beast Boy sat back on the bed. “Ohhhhh… I don’t feel so good.” For a split second worry filled Raven’s face. Then she put her hood up.

“Probably from all the bouncing around you did while you were trying to get dressed. You might want to lie down for a while,” Raven said as she left the infirmary.

A long silence filled the room after Raven departed. Beast Boy had a feeling that Robin needed to talk to him, but for what reason, that he didn’t know.

Robin began to get discouraged by the silence, so he got up to leave.

“Robin, wait.” A small voice in the back of the room spoke out. Robin instantly turned at the source of the voice. The small boy still sat on the small infirmary cot in the corner of the room. He wore a frown.

“Yes.”

“What’s wrong?” The small boy questioned.

“Nothing. I’m just still tired, that’s all.”

“That’s not it. Seriously, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” The Boy Wonder protested, but the changling saw straight through his lie.

“Come on, Robin. You can trust me. What’s wrong?” the older boy’s shoulders slumped down and he took a deep sign as he lent on the door frame.

“Fine. I am extremely disappointed with myself for not being able to prevent…this…from happening.”

“Why? You really weren’t there to stop it, were you? So why would you be mad at yourself?” the green boy asked.

“Because your part of this team. I’m the leader, so therefore I am responsible for all of your well-being. You getting seriously injured is all my fault. I should have prevented it somehow, but I didn’t. That’s why.” Robin was angry. Not at Beast Boy, but at himself. Another long silence filled the room before being broken by the young boy on the cot in the corner.

“Robin, you don’t need to feel bad. It’s not your fault. You weren’t there. There’s no reason for you to be angry at yourself. You couldn’t have done anything.”

Robin looked up for the first time since the conversation had started. Beast Boy couldn’t help noticing the pained look in his eyes--er--mask.

“You don’t understand, Beast Boy. I could have done something. If I had let you train with me, this would have never happened. But I didn’t, and I ignored you, and you got hurt. Because of my stuburness.” At this, he glance returned to the floor.

“Robin, I would have probably left anyway, because between you and me, I don’t like to train.” At this Robin gave a small smile.

“You know, you’re really good at making people feel better.”

“Hey, it’s how I get by.” Suddenly, a loud crash is heard outside the room. “I think you better go help Cy and your girlfriend before they blow up the tower or something.” Robin instantly blushed at the mentioning of that word. He opened his mouth to reply when loud shouting erupted from right outside the door.

“I’ll be back…” Robin replied in a mock-anger tone. He rushed out the door and the shouting ceased. Beast Boy just laughed.

CHAPTER 7

After breakfast the titans, save Beast Boy, met up in the main room.

“Will friend Beast Boy be all right in the depressing room of loneliness?” Starfire questioned.

“You mean the infirmary?” Cyborg answered.

“Oh. Yes friend Cyborg that is the place of which I speak,” Starfire replied, sheepishly. Cyborg smirked.

“Nah, he’s borrowing my game boy. He should be good for at least 7 to 9 hours.”

BACK IN THE INFIRMARY

Beast Boy tried to get comfortable on the unused bed. He had been trying to for hours. He wished his friends were there. Even if they were just coming to check up on him. He wished the door wasn’t open. He could see into the dark passage and it scarred him. There could be something outside the door, just waiting for him to turn his back and…‘No.’ he thought. ‘No ones there. It’s just my imagination…God I wish someone else was here with me.’

Stepstepstepstepstepstepstepstepstepstepstepstep

“Who’s there?” Beast Boy said with fear in his voice. The footsteps stopped. They paused for a moment and started up again, this time faster. His heart rate began to escalate. Soon the sound came to a stop by the door. Beast Boy’s eyes widened as he saw who it was. It was the man with the scar. And he was smiling.

“Good mornin’, sport. Mind if I take what I want?”

“No. You can’t. You’re not here. How did you get in here?”

“Jim took care of ‘em.” He stepped back reveling the other crazy looking man. “And now we’re gonna take what we came here for. Slade will be pleased, wont he Jim?” the crazy looking man nodded and smiled evilly.

“No. Get away. GET AWAY!!!” Beast Boy began to scream.

WITH THE OTHER TITANS

“Why is friend Beast Boy screaming?” Starfire asked, her voice beginning to shaking. The other titans were gathered around Beast Boy’s bed in the infirmary.

“I don’t know, Star. Maybe he’s just having a bad dream,” Robin replied.

“That’s no ‘bad dream’. Seems more like a nightmare to me.” Raven said, lowering her hood.

“Should we not try to wake him then? He seems to be in pain!”

“We don’t know what might happen if we do, Star. He might attack us. That’s why we’re restraining him.”

“Look, friends, he awakens!” Starfire yelled with glee as Beast Boy came to. He tried to reach his head to calm his horrible migraine but found that he couldn’t. It took him a minute to realize that he was restrained.

“You all are alright?!?!” Beast Boy yelled, relieved. Then he muttered, “So it must have been a dream…”

“What was the terrible thing that troubled you in your slumber, friend Beast Boy?” Starfire asked.

“Nothing, Star, it was nothing.”

“Beast Boy, that wasn’t nothing. Something’s wrong. Please. Trust us. We’re your friends,” Robin said.

“I SAID IT WAS NOTHING!” Beast Boy hollered suddenly. “Look, I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay?”

“Okay, BB, but I if there’s anything you need…” Cyborg started.

“I CAN HANDLE MYSELF!!!” he yelled again.

“Okay, sorry, just let me get you out of these restraints. There, is that better? ” Beast Boy sat up and looked around. His friends had worried looks their faces. He rubbed his head. It hurt so badly. It felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on it.

“Look, I’m sorry. I just got a really bad headache. Cy, could I get some Tylenol or something?”

“Sure, here.” He said as he tossed the bottle to Beast Boy. He really didn’t want to get near him right now. Something was definitely wrong. Beast Boy never acted like this.

Well, he had, but only once before. When he was affected by those chemicals at that animal testing lab. When he started turning into that ‘Werebeast’ that was trapped inside him and released when he lost control. It had defeated the entire team without breaking a sweat. He had ended up fighting another ‘Werebeast’ to protect Raven from it. That tired him out long enough for the team to take him to the infirmary and give him an antidote.

But what if the antidote was starting to wear away? If the ‘Werebeast’ was beginning to break free from its prison, it could do untold damage to the city with out having to even break a sweat with them. Cyborg didn’t want that to happen.

Not much of his concern was towards the possibility of attacks on the city. It was more focused on Beast Boy. He knew what happened last time. Beast Boy felt horrible after the whole ordeal was over with. He felt like it was his fault for not controlling that ‘beast’ inside of him. He felt like he betrayed the entire team. Cyborg knew he wouldn’t be able to handle it if it ever happened again.

“Alright, so see ya later. Get some rest, okay?” Cyborg said as he left the room.

“I’ll try,” Beast Boy replied. He knew that he wouldn’t be getting any, anytime soon.

He wished they had closed the door on their way out. Now he had to stare at the door to make sure that nothing snuck up on him. Even with his heightened animal senses he still felt that if he closed his eyes he wouldn’t be able to open them again.

He was really tired, though. He knew he shouldn’t be getting out of bed. In fact, it was practically impossible to. He barely had enough energy to stand up. He didn’t know why. He was just bouncing around the room, trying to get dressed not more then 30 minutes ago.

He slowly hobbled over to the door and pressed the button. It closed with a quiet ‘swish’ and he slowly hobbled back towards the bed.
Suddenly pain racked his body. Something was wrong. The only other time he had felt this pain was…

“No,” he whispered as he fell to the ground, passing out from the pain. Something had unlocked the ‘beast’. Now it was trying to get out. He tried to fight it, but it was too powerful.

A loud howl rang through the tower...

CHAPTER 8

“The plan is coming together nicely. I’ve triggered the device and the beast is coming to this location as we speak,” a man with a small scare said, looking up at the other man on the chair.

“Good, Mr. Johnson. I suppose I could allow a--short--family visit later this evening,” the man on the chair said.

“Thank you, Slade,” Mr. Johnson spat.

It had been 3 months since Slade had taken his family hostage in order to get him to do his bidding. He could only follow his orders, no mater how horrible they were. He had to do it to protect his family.

The first few months it was just stealing. But the newest assignment, that one was the one that chilled him to the bone.

He had to find a titan, Beast Boy was his name, and shoot him in the head with a Nanoe Gun. The objective was to implant a Nanoe Chip into the top of his spinal column so Slade could control him somehow.

He was partnered with another servant of Slade. He too had his family taken by Slade. Now that the chip was activated, the beast was to head to Slade’s lair. He didn’t care, though. He would be able to talk to his family for the first time in 3 months. He hoped that Slade would fulfill the promise he made and let them go after this assignment was complete.

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The beast rushed towards the door, feeling the need to escape. He heard yelling. The door slid open and four humans stood still with odd looks on their faces. One of them started to say something.

“What has happened to friend Beast Boy?” the one with red hair said.

“I think something is triggering that beast inside of him to come out. When I was examining his wound earlier I thought I picked up a small electrical current. But then it suddenly disappeared so I thought it might have been a glitch,” the shiny, tall one replyed.

The beast backed away, feeling cornered. He needed to escape. He needed to be free! He leapt forward and sprinted down the long hallway. He had to go somewhere. Somewhere in specific. He had to get out. Finally he exited the structure and stopped.

How was he to get across all of that water? He heard noises behind him and decided to chance it. He began to swim across. Soon he was out of sight of the tower. He made it to the land and dashed off.

He was being drawn towards an abandon building. Slowly and cautiously the beast entered, shaking the water off his body. He heard a sound in the corner. He sniffed the air. Someone was there.

He growled. Laughing erupted from the darkness. The thing was taunting him! He growled louder. The thing stepped out of the shadows.

“It’s about time you got here, Beast Boy.”

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“Where is friend Beast Boy going?” Starfire asked, as her and the other titans rode in the T-car.

“I don’t know, Star. Cyborg, what do you think?” Robin replied.

“I think we better find BB soon. Something’s wrong. We need to get him back to the tower so I can examine him.”

“How will we find him? His communicator isn’t with him,” Raven said.

“Yah, but you forgot the tracker on his wrist. It’s the infirmary’s tracker. Unless he can cut through steel, we can track ‘im,” Cyborg said, concentrating more on driving then anything else. “It says that he’s in this building up ahead.”

“But that building is condemned. It’s falling apart!” Robin said, with a tinge of worry in his tone.

“All the more reason to get him out of there faster,” Cyborg said as he parked the car.

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Slowly, Beast Boy attempted to get up. He didn’t know where he was.

He was in the infirmary and then….darkness. He felt a slight tug on his neck. He brought his hands up to see what it was and suddenly felt an electric shock.

“Tsk, tsk. You shouldn’t sleep for such a long time, ya know. Its bad for your health.” Slade’s voice rang around the room.

“Where am I? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!?!” Beast Boy yelled.

“That’s it, get angry. Release the beast.” His eyes widened as he registered what Slade had said.

“No,” he said quietly. “Cyborg gave me an antidote! It can’t get out!” he yelled.

“Au Contraire, my friend. You see, it can. Maybe not by its self, but with a little help…” he pulled out a small remote, “…it can.” He started forward. Tilting Beast Boy’s head up, he said,

“And now that it’s under my control, you are obsolete.”

[bbissocute]

CHAPTER 9

The titans raced into the dark, condemned building. As their eyes adjusted to the lighting in the small, dank room, they noticed a small figure in the center of the room. There stood Beast Boy, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain. As the other titans stared in amazement, Starfire was the first to speak.

“Friend Beast Boy?” she asked with concern. Suddenly his head shot up, revealing a collar around his neck. His eyes were filled with pain and tears.

“No! You guys have to get out of here, before---AHHHHH!” he said before screaming in pain. The sound of bones braking and reforming themselves and ripping clothing filled ever corner of the room. Soon those sounds died out and the sound of deep breathing replaced it. There, with its jaws clenched and its body in an attack stance, stood the beast. The other titans looked on in horror.

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As the beast stood before the humans in the room, a voice suddenly filled his head.

“Beast, I am your master. You will listen to my every command. And my first one is to come to the docks. NOW!” the voice screamed. The beast refused. He was not going to listen to some voice who said it was his master. No one owned him. He was his own master, and no voice was going to tell him what to do.

“Interesting. I see you are refusing to complete the task I have set for you. Perhaps you require some…persuasion,” the voice spoke in a sly tone.

Suddenly a painful shock racked the beast’s body.

“Now then. Come to the docks. NOW!” the voice said sharply. The beast obeyed.

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“Where’s he goin’?” Cyborg asked as he and the other titans followed the beast to the docks.

“I don’t know. He just hoped out of that building and started off here. But something’s definitely drawling him to the docks,” said Robin, quickly adding, “Don’t forget guys, don’t get to close. We don’t want to startle him; we just want to know where he’s going.”

“Gotcha, Rob,” Cyborg replied. Starfire and Raven followed in the sky and Cyborg followed in the T-Car while Robin led on his R-Cycle. The beast was currently out of sight, even Raven and Starfire’s. As they raced after him by following his tracking signal, they heard the sound of a splash and something crying out for help. When they reached the waters edge, all they found was ripples on the water’s surface. Cyborg instantly jumped into the water. Starfire stood back, confused.

“Why is friend Cyborg in the water splashing around? Is it the time of swimming? Should we not be searching for friend Beast Boy?” she asked.

“He is, Star,” Robin said hastily. “Maybe we should start to-” Robin began before being cut off by a high-pitched squeal.

 “Friend Cyborg! Have you located friend Beast Boy?” Starfire asked in an excited tone as Cyborg resurfaced. He looked like he was about to cry. Silently he shook his head and held up a small object.

“What is that?” Robin asked, although he already knew the answer.

“Its…it’s the infirmary’s tracking device. I… I found it caught on a twig down at the bottom…I didn’t find anything else…‘sept this,” Cyborg said quietly before placing the objects on the dock. His voice sounded like it was about to crack. He quickly turned his back so nobody would see him cry. Nobody noticed. They all felt like crying.

There, on the dock, lay a ripped piece of black and purple fabric.

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The titans spent the next two week searching not only the dock area, but every water source in the entire city. No matter how hard they looked, though, they always seemed to come up empty-handed.

After the second week of searching, Robin told them that they needed to start focusing on criminals and not on searching for a ‘lost cause’. They would try to continue searching, he said, but not every hour of the day.

Even though they were reluctant to admit it, the others knew he was right.

CHAPTER 10

Day after day Johnson watched as the small, green boy huddled in the corner, refusing any and all attempts of kindness. He had tried to give him food and water, but the boy just huddled in the corner and shook. Sometimes he would even sob. It was sad to see him in such a state. Sometimes Johnson felt like crying too. But he knew Slade would not approve of that.

Slade didn’t care if the green being didn’t eat. The way he saw it, if he didn’t eat now, he would eat more later. And what he would do for the ‘food’. Yes, his plan was coming together very nicely.

As the days passed, the green boy slowly grew thinner and sicklier. Johnson could barely stand to look him.

He was so thin you could probably see every single bone in his body. His hair was ratted and tangled with blood. His face…it was by worst to look at. He no longer had the once always cheerful twinkle in his eyes. They were dull and painful to look into now. He had dark circles around them, not only from lack of sleep and nutrition, but also from the beatings that Slade often gave him when he was bored or agitated. His lips were pale and chapped. His nose was obviously broken and had been for a while. He resembled an abused pet instead of a young boy to Johnson.

One day Slade called to him.

“Mr. Johnson, how is our little friend doing? I do hope that he is enjoying his accommodations,” Slade said, seemingly amusing himself with his choice of words.

“He’s doing fine,” Johnson said, quickly adding under his breath, “No thanks to you…”

“I don’t appreciate your rude comments, Mr. Johnson. You should learn to hold your tongue. Maybe you need to be taught a lesson.” As he said this, he flipped a switch, which in turn turned on the large screen in the back of the room.

“Ms. Bear, it seems Mr. Johnson needs to be taught a lesson about respecting his master. Please teach him that lesson.”

“And, how, may I ask, am I to do so?” Ms. Baer asked with a slight hint of attitude in her voice.

“Why, my dear girl, please accept my apologies, I thought you knew everything,” Slade said, sarcasm overflowing the statement. “Please lock the daughter of this disrespectful man is the dark room. If that isn’t too much trouble on your part, of course,” he spat.

Ms. Baer didn’t want to lock Johnson’s little girl in that ugly, dank, dark room for who-knows-how-long. She knew him and his family very well and she knew for a fact that his daughter was deathly afraid of being alone in the dark for twenty seconds, let alone what could be days or months.

She quickly glanced towards Johnson in the corner. She tried her best to give him a sympathetic look. She knew that if she didn’t do what Slade said, things would not only begin to get bad for Robert, her husband, and her 10, 7, and 5 year olds, Rebekah Maryann, Mercy Jane, and Darek Robert, but it would get worse for Johnson’s family. She lowered her head and began examining the ground.

“Well…?” Slade said, almost sounding impatient.

“…I will…” she mumbled

“Excuse me?” Slade stated, not only with an impatient voice, but also showed strains of agitation.

“I will,” she said with a slightly louder and faster tone. As she spoke, her eyes studying the ground with such intent that she could barely be interrupted for a moment to answer Slade’s question.

“Slade, please reconsider. Please don’t make her go through that. She-” Johnson stated as fast as he could, trying to change Slade’s decision.

“Baer!” Slade suddenly yelled, making Johnson jump.

“…y-yes?” she said hesitantly.

“Instead of two weeks…make it two months.”

“No, please reconsid-”

“Do we want to make it three, Mr. Johnson?” Slade said in an eerily calm voice.

“…N-No. Please forgive me for my absent mindedness.”

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Johnson knew what he needed to do. It was something he was contemplating for awhile, but hadn’t gone through with for fear it wouldn’t work and he or his family would be punished afterwards.

Well, it was too late for protecting his family. His daughter was going through an unthinkable nightmare at that very moment. There was only one thing he could do.

He needed to contact the titans.

CHAPTER 11

Robin sat on the couch, watching the news, as always. During an important interview with Doctor Hans Schidic, a quite renowned doctor in the field of Criminology, when suddenly the screen was filled with static.

“Oh man…not again…Cyborg, could you come here for a-” Robin began, before the static cleared and a face appeared in the middle of the screen. After a few moments Cyborg came sauntering into the room.

“Yo, what’s the prob, Rob? I was-whoa, who’s that?”

“Cy, could you go get the others? It’s really important.”

“O-okay, Robin. I’ll be right back.” Cyborg quickly raced down the halls and to collect the others. When Robin said it was important, then it was extremely important. As all the titans gathered in the Comp Room, Robin stood up and quieted the anxious teens.

“I was watching ‘Jump Report’ on TV when, all of a sudden, the screen filled with static. I was calling Cyborg when this face popped up on the screen. Before it started to talk I pressed RECORD on the remote. This is what it said.” Robin turned on the screen and a face appeared on it.

“Greetings titans. I have contacted you to let you know that you friend is not dead. Although he is in great need of your help. Meet me at Pier 17, during the hours 5 to 8 tomorrow. Come only with yourselves and no one else. Please, I beg you. His life depends upon it. --FUZZ--” The video ended. The room was quiet.

“That’s not the worst part,” Robin began, “look.” He pointed to a symbol at the bottom of the screen. “That’s Slade’s. This person was communicating through Slade’s technology.”

“But Robin, what if it’s a fake? What if it’s a trap,” Cyborg said with hesitation. “What if Slade has this man acting? Then what will we do?”

“But friend Cyborg, what if he is not ‘the faking’ the message? Then if our friend is not really deceased, will we not miss the opportunity to retrieve him and reunite him to the team once again?” Starfire asked.

“I understand your concern, Cyborg, but Star’s right. If he is telling the truth, and we didn’t go, we would miss the only chance we would ever have at rescuing BB,” Robin’s face suddenly turned dark. “If they are lying, however, we will make them pay for it. Don’t worry. Start getting ready for tomorrow. Make sure to rest as much as possible. We will need it if the meeting goes sour.”

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The room was dark again. Beast Boy guessed it was evening. Then again, he really didn’t know. He had been there so long it was hard to distinguish when anything was anymore.

He knew the one man working for Slade (the one that had shot him) would come in and bring him food every day. He had tried to make small talk, but Beast Boy didn’t want anything to do with him. To tell you the truth, he was scared of him. Even when he had introduced himself and told him about his family, Beast Boy was nervous even looking at him.

He had even said that he was sorry for what he had done. He tried to explain why he had done it, but he was cut off by the guard that stood in front of his room. He had said it was time to go, and that ‘the master’ had summoned him.

Beast Boy never ate the food, for he worried that it was filled with something that would just make his sufferings worse.

He guessed that somewhere in the depths of his soul he had forgiven Mr. Johnson, and he felt sorry for him also. But the rest of him was defiantly not in the position to ‘forgive and forget’.

Suddenly he heard someone coming down the hall with his unbattered ear on his beaten face. Moments later, Johnson stepped through the door and quickly shut it. As he slowly stepped towards Beast Boy, he started to speak.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he stabbed Beast Boy in the neck with a long hyperemic needle. As the world began to be engulfed in darkness, he thought he heard Johnson say, “Don’t worry, buddy, this will all be over soon…”
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The titans were at the pier at 4:00 sharp. They wanted to make sure they didn’t miss this man who claimed he had Beast Boy.

As they waited, they talked amongst themselves and kept a sharp eye out for anyone coming near that particular pier.

After what seemed like days, Cyborg’s clock struck 5:00. Time continued to pass and it seemed like the mysterious man wasn’t gonna show.

The titans were beginning to get anxious and irritated at their host for not being there. Suddenly, they heard a sound behind them.

“Sorry I’m late. Thank you for meeting me. My name is Monroe Johnson.” The titans lowered their weapons. “Let me explain why I brought you here.”

“No, not until we get our friend back,” Robin declared. He was obviously very tense and wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

“Very well, but I must warn you, he is currently in a horrible condition,” Johnson said as he turned around. The titans poised themselves, just incase he decided to pull something. As he turned around he began to speak again. “I had to sedate him. I was worried that he would, well, try to run away or freak out or something. Don’t worry, it should wear off soon.” He handed Beast Boy to Robin.

“Oh my god…” Raven stuttered as she saw what lay in Robin’s hands.

Robin gazed down to the object that he now held. He was shocked at how light the boy felt. His face was bruised and bloodied. One of his ears was bleeding from the inside. He felt literally like a bag of bones. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in years. Robin had to give him to Cyborg to get rid of the horror that now resided in his hands.

“Why? Why are you helping him? Why are you helping us?” were the first words out of Robin’s mouth as soon as he had handed Beast Boy, or what was left of him, to Cyborg.

“Well I think we should probably get your friend to a metical facility quickly. I do believe you have one in your tower.” The titans nodded and started off towards the tower.

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Once in the Med Bay, Cyborg set to hooking Beast Boy up to an IV.

“Hey Raven, could you-” Cyborg began, but Raven suddenly cut him off.

“Yah, I’m on it,” she said, quickly walking towards the cot on the other side of the room. After a few minutes of Cyborg monitoring the computers and Raven standing over Beast Boy, healing him, he was deemed stable. Robin set to interrogating the man that had giving Beast Boy back to them.

“Sooo…”

“As I said before, let me explain. I have been basically enslaved by Slade for quite awhile now. I have been forced to steal and torture people on his behave. I had tried to refuse when I was first ordered to do these things, but he then he started threatening my family. So I have done exactly what I was told to do, for fear of him torturing my family. I regret all that I have done on his behave, and I wish I could take it all back.

“Unfortunately about a month ago I was given a new assignment. This was to attack your friend and shoot him in the back of his neck, thus injecting a probe that could control him and force him to do his biding. I was assigned with another man, who is in the same boat as I am.

“Well, basically Slade triggered the device and had false clues left for you to fined, so that you would think you friend was dead. Slade kept him in a small room, with nothing but a small window in the highest most corner. If it were winter, he would freeze, that’s for sure.

“-sigh- He was constantly beaten when Slade was bored or agitated. He refused food from me. In fact, anytime I came into the room he would huddle in the corner. I suppose he was afraid of me.

“Eventually I made the mistake of talking back to Slade one day and he forced another good friend of mine to put my 6 year old daughter in a small dark room, which could drive a full-grown man crazy within a month. He put her in there for 2, and she’s deathly afraid of the dark. It was then I decided I needed to get in contact with you. I’m truly sorry for not doing it sooner.” All was quiet as he finished.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Johnson began digging in his pocket for something. “Aha! Here it is. This is the blueprints to that device that Slade had me inject into your friend. You should probably remove it now. But be careful. It’s attached to his spinal column.”

Cyborg quickly set to disabling the device and removing it. After he finished his attention turned back the man.

“I was wondering, how did you get BB out of there? I mean, you didn’t just carry him out…did you?” Cyborg said, intrigued.

“It was quit a predicament I had, yes, but what I did was inject him with a chemical that counter balanced his DNA and allowed him to transform into a mouse for a temporarily amount of time. This allowed me to get him out of the base and to the dock.

“Unfortunately his metabolism broke up the solution quicker then I had anticipated. So I had to decide whether to give him and possibly overdose him or to chance it. I gave him an extra dose, and he was fine. When you wanted me to give him to you, I injected him with the antidote. Luckily he immediately changed, just as I had hoped.”

“Well, I wish to truly thank you for all that you have sacrifice on our behalf. If there is anything we could do to repay you…” Starfire said with a sullen tone.

“Well…actually I was planning to break my family out and move to another country. I would appreciate it if you could help me.”

“I’m sure we could-” Robin began, before being interrupted by groan from the back of the room.

[bbissocute]

 CHAPTER 12

Everyone rushed towards the cot that held the small boy, including Johnson.

“Friend Beast Boy? It is I, your friend Starfire. Are you the ‘okay’?”

“Beast Boy, can you hear us? If you can, talk to us.” Robin was worried at how he would react to this sudden change. If what Johnson had said was true, then it may take awhile.

Beast Boy seemed to become smaller as he curled up into a ball and shuffled to the corner of the bed. Suddenly his eyes opened.

“What? Where am I? Why…what’s happening? Guys…is-is it really you?” he said as he slowly looked around the room. Then his eyes fell on Johnson.

“What are you doing here!” he demanded. God, how long had it been since he had spoken? Then his face suddenly softened. He understood now. It was just a dream. He tried to blink awake. Didn’t work. Then he tried to pinch himself. That’s when Dream Raven stepped in.

“Beast Boy, what are you doing?” she said in her usual monotone voice.

“I’m trying to wake up,” he said without batting an eye. Raven smiled. Oh ya, this was definitely a dream.

“Beast Boy, you’re not dreaming. Mr. Johnson rescued you.”

“Sure he did, that’s why he stabbed me in the neck with a needle. I’ll probably wake up right now.” He waited. After a moment, he looked back at the Dream Titans with an embarrassed look upon his face. “…Or maybe later…”

Soon a confused look replaced his embarrassed one. If he were dreaming, why couldn’t he wake up? Maybe he was dead. But that wouldn’t explain why he felt sore. Or why he felt the IV in his arm. Maybe they were telling the truth. Well he might as well try and enjoy it as long as he had the chance. Johnson suddenly stepped up.

“Um, about that, I sorta needed to sedate you to get you out of there. I know that you wouldn’t trust me if I walked up to you and said, ‘Here, let me stab you with this needle so you’ll turn into a mouse and I can smuggle you out‘a here’.”

“Good point.” He said, obviously evenly matched.

“Oh, friend Beast Boy, I am so glad that you are no longer the ‘dead’ to us! I can not wait until you can do the park and the mall and the pizza with us again! I am overjoyed that you are the ‘alright’ again!” and with that said, Starfire raced over and gave Beast Boy a gigantic hug.

“Star--need--air!” he struggled to say. Once she let go the titans proceeded to tell him what Mr. Johnson had told them.

“Don’t worry; I took the chip out awhile ago. How do you feel? I mean physically. Raven took care of most of the serious injuries and I patched up the lesser ones, but you never know. We could have missed something.” Cyborg questioned, dearly hoping he hadn’t missed anything.

“No, I’m fine. I guess I’m just tired. Um, Mr. Johnson?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

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“Slade…Sir the prisoner has some how managed to escape. Johnson’s gone too.”

“Thank you for informing me, Mr. Gray, but there is no reason for alarm. Everything is under control.”

“But what about-”

“Now, I don’t think you are the type to make me repeat myself, Mr. Gray. This issue will be dealt with easily.”

“But sir, they have removed the device!”

“Tsk, tsk, Gray. I always have a backup plan. Always. Never, and I mean never doubt me. Now go.”

“Yes sir.”

“And tell Samton to come. And make sure he brings the ‘back-up plan’.”

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Okay so does everyone understand the plan?” Robin asked, lowering himself into a chair.

“What about Beast Boy? I mean, he can’t go with us. He needs to stay here,” Cyborg said, eyeing a loudly snoring boy on the small cot. “Shouldn’t someone stay with him? He could need something.”

“Ohhhhh! I have a glorious idea! I shall stay and watch over friend Beast Boy! I will do the cooking of the meals and the guarding of him for everyone. I promise I will do a wonderful job! Please Robin?” Starfire excitedly yelled for the world to hear.

“I don’t know, Star. We might need your help with-” Robin started, but was cut off suddenly by Raven.

“Don’t worry, Robin. She’ll be fine. And someone does need to watch over Beast Boy. Plus we’ve got enough fire power to take down King Kong. We’ll be fine.”

“Fine, but if anything happens Star, we’re just a call away.”

“Okay Robin. I will make sure that I call you if anything goes the problem.”

“‘If anything goes wrong,’ Star.”

“Right! My apologies friends!”

“That’s okay, Star. Don’t worry about it.”

“Alright Robin. Goodbye friends. Enjoy your adventure.”

Soon the remainder of the titans and Mr. Johnson left the tower.

And Starfire began to think. A small tinge of guilt began to make its way to the top of her thoughts. Suddenly she was tired of thinking. She decided to make something for her snoring friend.

She had to attempt to create the perfect ‘waking up snack’ for him. Soon it came to her. She worked fast, for she didn’t know when her sleeping friend would wake. It was done within 5 minutes.

She stared at it for a few more minutes, admiring her work. She picked it up carefully, waking herself from her trance, and turned quickly towards the direction of the infirmary. Instantly she smacked into the small green figure standing behind her. Quickly forgetting about her masterpiece that had just been destroyed, she turned towards the boy.

“Friend Beast Boy! Are you ‘the alright’? I am terribly sorry! I hope dearly that you are not injured! Please, we must get you back to the infirmary before you expire!”

“Starfire, clam down! I’m fine.” Then noticing the sliced up vegetables all over the floor, he said, “Sorry about ruining your dinner. I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just coming out here to get a glass of water.”

“Oh, this was not for me, friend Beast Boy, I was making it for you, for when you would ‘wake up.’”

“Oh. Thanks. You know, you didn’t have to make me…” he started, and after quickly eyeing the substance on the floor, he finished, “…a…um…salad.”

“It was my pleasure, friend Beast Boy, but I did promise Robin that I would feed you and protect you from the dangers that surround us.” She started to pick up the beautiful food that now resided on the floor. Beast Boy started cleaning the mess up too. Starfire soon couldn’t contain the guilt that currently filled her soul and she broke the comfortable silence.

“Friend Beast Boy…”

“Yea, Star?”

“I am sorry.”

“What? What for?”

“For being a horrible friend.”

“What do you mean? You haven’t been a bad friend. In fact I think you’ve been a great friend.”

“That is a very kind thing for you to say, but the fact remains that that is what I have been.”

“Starfire, why would you say something like that? You’ve been a great friend, not only towards me but towards every single person on this team. And even people off this team. Every day you’re nice towards everyone and everything. You could never be a bad friend.”

“Friend Beast Boy, thank you. I am glad that that is how you feel. It makes me feel better.”

“Well I’m glad you feel better. Now hows about another salad. I’m starv-” Beast Boy suddenly screamed out as pain flowed throughout his entire body.

CHAPTER 13

“FUZZ---Robin---com---in---need---assistance---Beast Boy---FUZZ…” Starfire’s voice suddenly broke the silence that surrounded the rest of the titans as they made their way through the lowest level of Slade’s lair.

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The rest of the titans slowly descended into the depths of Slade’s lair. They were headed towards the ‘Throne Room,’ which happened to be on the bottom level. They had Johnson there, and Slade hadn’t changed any of his security codes, so the only part the titans had to worry about were the cameras and personnel. The cameras were easily taken out by Cyborg’s Electromagnetic Generation Beam.

Although they couldn’t predict exactly when they would come across someone walking down the hall, Raven was very quick at hiding them in her soul self and sliding into the wall before the personnel’s attention was drawn to their location. It was right about that time when Starfire’s call came. Luckily, while the personnel wondered who had just spoken, Raven quickly incapacitated him.

“Robin, why did Star call? Does she need help?” Cyborg quickly inquired.

“I don’t know. Her signal was all broken up. She said something about ‘Beast Boy’ and ‘assistance’. I think someone should go back and-” Robin was suddenly cut off by an eerie laugh that echoed from the darkness behind them. They instantly turned, only to see a figure emerge from the shadows.

“I’m sorry you have to hear this from me, titans, but it’s too late. Your friend is dead.”

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“FRIEND BEAST BOY!!!” Starfire screamed as Beast Boy crumbled to the floor. Quickly she grabbed her communicator and started to call Robin. Beast Boy still lay on the floor, crying out in pain. Starfire tried to soothe his cries.

“Do not worry, all will be well soon. I am calling Robin. He will know what to do.” Soon she got a hold of him, but static continued to interfere with the image of her friend. Nevertheless, she continued to report back to him.

“Friend Robin, come in. I am in the need of assistance. Friend Beast Boy is filled with pain and I am unable to assist him. Please send someone to-” Suddenly the screen went blank. Starfire was confused. Not on why it had gone blank, but because she didn’t know how she was going to help Beast Boy all by herself.

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“No. He can’t be. You’re lying!” Robin said, his voice filled with anger and sadness.

“Now why would I lie about something like that?” Slade said with a tone that revealed that he was smirking underneath his mask.

“Raven, I want you to transport Cyborg to the tower. I want to make sure Beast Boy’s alright.” Robin said, completely disregarding Slade’s comment, for the moment.

“Gotcha Robin. Cyborg, you ready?”

“Whenever you are.” Cyborg could see the worried look on both of the other titans’ faces. Raven had a strange look in her eye that he couldn’t decipher. Maybe worry? Or something else? Robin looked like he was about to rip apart the next thing he saw. And at the moment, he was staring directly at Slade.

Worry filled Cyborg as he prepared for the ‘trip’, not because he was worried that he wouldn’t make it there, but because of what he might find when he got there. Also because of what might happen if he left Raven and Robin there all alone. He knew they both could handle Slade by themselves, but still. It was always good to have backup.

“As soon as this is figured out, I’ll head right back over here.” Cyborg said, trying to give them some support.

“No. Stay with Beast Boy. If anything goes wrong here, send Star. You need to look over him.” Robin said, using his ‘leader voice’.

“Come on, Cyborg. Time to go. I’ll send you directly to the infirmary.”

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As Starfire was setting Beast Boy onto the infirmary’s bed, Cyborg suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

“Star, what’s goin’ on?” he asked, obvious worry in his tone.

“IhadbeenpreparingfriendBeastBoysomeofthe’lunch’andhesuddenlyfellandstartedscreamingand,and, and-” Starfire spoke so fast Cyborg couldn’t even decipher it even if he had the time. Since he didn’t, he just cut her off with a wave of his hand.

“Starfire, slow down. I can’t help BB if I can’t understand what you’re saying. Now say it again, only slower this time.” As he spoke he walked over to the cabinet and got out a small glass container filled with an amber liquid and a hypodermic needle.

He quickly filled it to the precise amount and tapped it a few times. As Starfire pondered on this, he took up Beast Boy’s arm and plunged the needle into his skin. Slowly Beast Boy stopped his screams of pain and his eyes closed peacefully.

“Friend Cyborg, what have you done to friend Beast Boy?” her voice filling with worry.

“Don’t worry, Star. That was just a sedative. It’ll just put him to sleep for awhile so he doesn’t hurt himself or us. It also has a numbing agent in it, so for a temporary time he won’t feel any pain. Now tell me what happened after we left.”

Starfire relayed all of the details of the afternoon to her friend. She told him of the salad, how he had made her feel better, and how she had tried to contact them after he began screaming out in pain. After she finished, she looked at Cyborg. He wore one of those ‘undecipherable’ faces on. After about one minute, Cyborg’s eyes popped open and he ran over to the computer.

“Friend Cyborg, what is the matter?” Starfire’s worried tone returning.

“Star, I think I just found the source of Beast Boy’s pain. I never thought to look for it in the initial inspection. God, how could I’ve been so stupid!” Cyborg said as he typed furiously at the computer. “Star, I need you to get out one of those needles I was using earlier. Could you bring one here? Thanks.”

“Why do you need it? Haven’t you already giving friend Beast Boy his ‘sedative’?” Starfire inquired as she handed him the needle.

“It’s not for the sedative, Star; I need to get some of his blood.” As he said this, he pressed his finger to Beast Boy’s arm to find a vein. He was just about to stick the needle in when Starfire yelled out.

“Friend Cyborg, does not blood belong inside the human body? Is it not the life source of all human beings?” Starfire said, and, if not for the current situation, she would have been very proud that she knew this. Cyborg let out a large sigh.

“Star, when humans have diseases or might have diseases doctors take a small portion of their blood and examine it.” Cyborg was starting to get annoyed with the alien princess and all of her questions.

He finally found the vein again and slowly inserted the needle. As the deep red substance filled the glass of the needle, he mentally urged it on. If his theory was correct, then he needed to hurry to get the antidote done fast. But first he needed to examine the blood.

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“What’s a mater Robin, can’t concentrate?” Slade mocked, following the statement with laughter. “There is no need to worry about your friend, Robin. He is already out of his misery.”

Robin was definitely not amused. He was not about to take this from Slade. For all he knew, Beast Boy was jumping around and eating tofu. But if he wasn’t, then Slade was about to get the worst beating of his life.

He yelled, even though only he and a very tired looking Raven were the only titans there, ‘TEEN TITANS, GO!’ He guessed that it was out of habit, but right now wasn’t the time for him to ponder it. Just as he said it, Slade began to laugh again.

“Another time, perhaps, Robin. I must get to an important meeting, but I will leave you a parting gift.” As he stepped back into the shadows, the hallway began to rumble. Raven glanced around, attempting to locate the source.

Suddenly a metal wall came from the ceiling on both sides of them sealing them inside the small section of hallway. A door slowly opened to reveal a small, balding man. He stood at the far end of the enclosed hallway in attack stance. Robin and Raven stood on the other end and Johnson stood in the far corner, out of the way.

The small man started to say something the others couldn’t understand, and suddenly launched a ferocious wave of energy, knocking the titans off their feet. They both stood up and began launching their own attacks at him. He avoided them every time. After awhile he launched another wave of energy, but Raven blocked it.

“Robin, I have an idea.” She whispered. After about a minute they broke and headed for the small man. At the exact time they launched their attacks, but somehow he avoided them again. Meanwhile, Johnson slowly walked across the hall and into the room the small man had came out of.

The titans didn’t realize what he had just done and were focused upon their opponent. Just as they went in for another attack, the man suddenly disappeared. As the titans stood in the center of the hall, completely baffled, Johnson slowly walked out of the room.

“What were you doing in there?” Robin inquired, still baffled.

“I turned off the machine.” He replied casually. After looking at the still confused faces, Johnson answered, “Slade has been working on a machine that can produce a hologram and still be a favorable opponent. I was helping with the project before I was…reassigned.” Robin was just about to speak when his communicator went off.

“FUZZ---Robin---Beast Bo---hold on---FUZZ……Okay, that’s better.” Cyborg’s voice suddenly filled the empty hall.

“What is it, Cy?” Robin asked, worry beginning to fill him.

“Okay, um, I took some of Beast Boy’s blood and examined it ‘cause I kinda had a theory on why he was in pain when I got here. I just got the results back and…-sigh-he has this ‘thing’ in his blood. It’s killing all of his cells. Slowly, but it is. Right now, or at least when I got here, it was working on his muscles. I imagine it feels a lot like someone lit a fire underneath his skin.

Right now I’m pumping him full of meds, but they won’t be able to stop the damage. I estimate in about an hour, hour and a half, the drugs I’m givin’ him will stop working as the disease gains immunity to it.

The weird thing is he couldn’t have caught it because it isn’t contagious, thank God, and it was apparently in some sorta container thing inside of him. It was dormant in the container, but something happened and it released it. I examined the container and it could only be opened by a remote activation.”

“Slade.” Robin was fed up. Enough was enough. Slade was going to regret this for the rest of his life.

“Robin, there is a cure. But I’m guessing Slade’s the only one who knows it. I’ll be working on my own, but I suggest you try to get it from Slade. I don’t know how long mine will take, and we only got about an hour. For BB’s sake, please hurry. I’ll continue to update on his condition, but right now I need to get workin’ on the cure.”

“Good luck, Cy. I’ll try my hardest. Robin out.”

[bbissocute]

 CHAPTER 14

After Robin had explained everything to Raven, there was silence as they walked. Johnson had over heard the conversation and couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt. It was his fault, after all. If he had paid more attention to Slade over the weeks that he worked with him, then this wouldn’t be happening.

Now that kid was slowly dieing in a horribly painful way, and it was because he hadn’t paid enough attention. Maybe if he had, he could have warned the other titans and they could have removed the containment unit. His thoughts were disturbed when Raven broke the silence surrounding them.

“So…how are we gonna get it?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cyborg worked vigorously. He knew with each passing moment that his friend was dieing. If he could just figure out a temporary solution, then maybe Raven and Robin would be able to get the cure from Slade easier than if they had to rush for it. It would also give him enough time to make a permanent antidote, hopefully.

He had sent Starfire to the titans a few minutes after the call for two reasons: one was so he didn’t have to listen to her constant chatter and questions, in turn letting him focus on the more important issue; and secondly, he had a feeling that Robin and Raven would need all the help they could get.

He knew Slade was no picnic and when Robin got into one of his ‘Slade moods’ Raven would definitely need help preventing him from totally obliterating Slade off the face of this Earth. Not that that was a bad thing, it’s just the fact that he sometimes went a little overboard.

His work continued painfully slow. He would occasionally wonder if he would ever get another chance to talk to the boy laying only feet away on the small cot. He would instantly push those thoughts away, but they would return only moments later. He knew if he could concentrate on finding a temporary solution then maybe the guilt and worry would leave him for but a moment.

After about thirty minutes working, Cyborg was starting to get impatient. The faster he worked the more mistakes he seemed to make. He tried to slow down, but he would start to unconsciously pick up the pace and end up dropping or spilling something. His hands began to shake as he realized what time it was. ‘15 ‘till. God I hope the others have it by now.’ He had almost come up with a temporary solution when his communicator rang.

“Cyborg, we have problem.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Raven didn’t know if Robin’s plan would work, but she trusted him. If Robin said it would work, that usually meant it would. Time seemed to be going extra slow and extra fast at the same time for Raven. She would occasionally glance over to Johnson to make sure he was keeping up, which he always was. Her thoughts, for some reason, constantly wandered to Beast Boy.

She wished that this was all a dream. She wished she could just wake up from the nightmare that was her life.

As they neared the doors that lead to the main room, Robin signaled and Raven glanced to Starfire at the right of her. She had come awhile ago, when Robin was explaining the plan to Raven and Johnson.

Raven began by transporting herself and Johnson in through the wall. Robin and Starfire burst through the door. They weren’t surprised when they were surrounded by Slade’s minions. They knew what they were suppose to do. They were just the distraction. Raven was the surprise attack, and Johnson was the goods retriever.

All hope seemed lost as Robin and Starfire were slowly overpowered by Slade’s pawns. Raven saw her opportunity.

She released Johnson silently and attacked. Johnson quickly got to work. He ran to the back of the room and into a barely noticeable door. Just as he punched in the code, the door opened. Johnson recognized the person immediately.

“Baer?” he asked, bewildered. She had a large scratch down the side of her face. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing,” she replied, a competeable Raven tone. “What are you doing back here?”

“I came to get my family. Well, we also came to get some cure for that one titan boy…Hey, do you want to come with us? We can get you and your family out of here and…” a sudden explosion racked the area.

“Okay,” her voice beginning to retrieve some of its original charisma. “Let’s find that cure and get the heck out’a here.” They both rushed through the small doorway and into the lab. Endlessly they searched, but were unable to find anything.

“This is hopeless. How are we to know what this cure looks like? What if it isn’t even here?” Baer was starting to get impatient. Suddenly a figure appeared at the doorway.

“Oh my dear, how correct you are. Unfortunately, my untrustworthy servants, you will not be able to relay this to the titans.” He slowly started walking towards the two, but when he was but 3 feet away, dark energy engulfed a nearby table and slammed into his side.

“WHERE IS THE ANTIDOTE?!?!?” Raven screamed at him, her eyes glowing a bright white.

“My dear, whatever are you talking about?” casually standing and brushing himself off.

“She means the cure to that disease you’ve infected Beast Boy with,” Robin said, not as loud as Raven, but loud nevertheless.

“Now why would you think I’d have one of those?”

“Tell us, now!” Starfire joined the congregation at the doorway.

“Very well. I do have a…cure of some sorts, but I will need something in return for my humble services.”

“First show us the antidote!” Raven said, slightly calmer now.

“Very well, here it is.” He said, holding a small vile filled with amber liquid.

“What do you want?” Robin snarled.

“Hmmm…let me think. I think I would like your friend in return for saving his life. After all, he will be in debt to me.”

“No. You can not have friend Beast Boy.” Starfire said, her voice slowly escalating and her eyes beginning to glow.

“Well unfortunately you don’t have a choice in the mater. If you want your friend to live, I suggest you call up the robot and tell him to bring him here immediately. If not, well, I guess I can just get rid of this-”

“NO! Just give us a minute to call him.” Robin said, shakily.

“Robin what are you doing?” Raven asked in a small whisper.

“Saving our friend.” He whispered back, getting out his communicator as he turned around.

“NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!” Starfire shouted suddenly, not hearing Robin’s whisper. “YOU WILL NOT TAKE FRIEND BEAST BOY FROM US AGAIN!” as she spoke, her hands glow a bright green and she threw a star bolt at Slade.

“STARFIRE, NO!!!” Robin yelled, but it was too late. It seemed time slowed as the star bolt hit Slade and he fell back with a low grunt. All eyes fell to the vile as it crashed to the floor. The amber liquid quickly soaked into the ground as if it were made of dirt.

All was silent. Suddenly a familiar echoing laugh filled the room.

“My dear, I am certainly surprised. You let your anger get the best of you and now look. The antidote is gone. Some friend you are.” As Slade continued to laugh at this, Starfire broke down.

“Now, now, child, don’t cry. You are extremely lucky. You see, I always have a spare.” At this Starfire stifled her tears. Her eyes once again glow. Her anger rising, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Star, don’t.” It was Robin. Slowly she tried to calm herself. Slade continued to laugh.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to complete this transaction as soon as possible.”

“Fine. Where is the spare?” Robin asked, still recovering from the shock of what had just happened.

“As soon as he arrives I will retrieve it. I don’t want another repeat of the previous events.” As he said this he seemed to glare at Starfire. She was currently trying to refrain from blasting him to bits.

“Okay, just let me call Cy.” Starfire could tell he was disappointed in her. That made her feel even worse. Knowing that in that moment, she could have ruined her only chance to save her friend, to save part of her family. It just seemed to eat away at her soul.

CHAPTER 15

After Robin had explained everything to him, Cyborg sat quietly for awhile. He knew it took a lot to tick Starfire off, but for her to suddenly risk what they were there for, was just really odd for her. He returned to reality when Robin’s voice continued.

“Cyborg, I’m sending Raven to retrieve Beast Boy and you. Get him ready for transport.”

“Okay, Robin. I really hope you know what you’re doin’, though.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Robin closed his communicator, Raven prepared herself for her small journey. Now, truthfully, it was not a huge feat, but it did require a lot of energy and concentration. When she did it herself it was not as strenuous, and even with one extra person it wasn’t that bad. Usually in those cases she secretly absorbed some of the other person’s energy, but she knew that wasn’t a possibility this time.

Beast Boy would need every ounce of energy that was left in his body to fight the battle going on inside him. Robin suddenly interrupted Raven’s trance in an effort to rush her.

“He doesn’t have that much time, Raven.” He said sarcastically.

“Well, if you would like me to utterly and completely destroy the time-space continuum I suggest you pull that stick out of your butt and sit still!” she replied in an obvious annoyed tone.

“Mgnsnam…I just wanted to help, god…” he mumbled under his breath.

“I’m not deaf, you know.” Raven said as he subconsciously cowered behind Starfire. Personally, Robin was glad Slade had left a while ago. He had gone to ‘spruce up’ for the others.

“Okay, I think I’m ready. I will be right back with the others.” Raven said after another 5 minutes.

“Okay. Please do hurry back, friend Raven.” Starfire spoke quietly, the first time since the incident.

“Don’t worry Star; I’ll be quick about it.” She gave a small smile to her friend before stepping through an ebony portal.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cyborg was about to call Robin to ask if something went wrong, when Raven stepped out of the ‘wall’.

“Is he ready to be moved?” she asked, with even less emotion in her voice then normally.

“Well, he’s stable for now. I sorta finished the temporary antidote. If I’m right, if I were to inject him with it right now, he would have about another hour before it was compromised. I haven’t injected him yet because Robin said that Slade had the antidote and to bring BB there. Why are we trusting Slade? Do you really think he is going to let us keep BB if he has the antidote?”

“No. He wants Beast Boy for himself. It’s a trade, Cyborg. Beast Boy for Beast Boy’s life.”

“And Robin’s allowing this!?!” Cyborg shouted, surprising himself.

“I don’t know what he’s planning, but I don’t think he is going to completely go through with it, ‘I hope.’” She added to herself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Why is this taking so long?’ Robin asked in the confines of his mind. ‘Raven must either really be tired or something went wrong back at the tower. I wonder if we should go and-’ His thoughts were suddenly cut short when Raven stepped through the wall with Cyborg. Beast Boy lay on a small bed in his hands.

“It’s about time you showed up for the party, Beast Boy.” Slade said, despite the obvious fact that he was unconscious.

“Now take us to the antidote, Slade. Beast Boy is here just like we promised.” Robin was obviously annoyed with his last comment.

“Patients, Robin. Didn’t your parents teach you any manners? Now if you all would be kind enough to follow me this way…” Slade said as he walked down the narrow hall. The titans followed closely behind. They came to a stop outside of a large door.

“Now only one of you may enter with your friend. Chose wisely.” He stepped through the doorway and closed the door. The titans looked at each other for a moment before speaking. They all wanted to go in, but they knew they weren’t in a position to bargain. Another quiet moment passed before Robin the silence.

“I have an idea. Cyborg, you go with Beast Boy. Raven, I want you to phase yourself into the wall connected to the room. Make sure you are not seen. Not even sensed. If something happens in there I want you to take care of it. Star and I will be out here.”

Both Cyborg and Raven nodded. Slowly Cyborg walked into the room.

“Please lie him down. There isn’t much time left before your ‘medicine’ wears off and he is completely susceptible to the pain again.” Slade said in a snide voice. Cyborg gritted his teeth, but did as he was told.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Well, I can’t hear extremely great, but oh well. At least I’m doing something.’ Raven thought to herself. She was literally inside the wall, listening to the muffled conversation going on the other side of the wall. Her thoughts, once again, returned to Beast Boy. Although she hated to admit it, she couldn’t imagine life without him.

A sudden crash brought her back to reality. She prayed that it wasn’t what she thought it was. She heard some cursing (that would force the rating of this story to be changed if added), and then quiet.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Robin?” Starfire asked hesitantly.

“Yes Star?”

“I wish to apologies for my previous behavior. I did not mean to get angry at Slade and destroy friend Beast Boy’s cure. I just did not wish for him to suffer more by his hands.” As she said this, her eyes fell to the floor and she seemed to be trying to see through the nine-foot slab of concrete. Robin tipped her head up enough for her to look into his eyes (which wasn’t very far).

“Star, there’s no reason for you to be sorry. You were trying to protect your friend. That’s plenty of a reason to do that.” Suddenly Robin regretted saying that. Not because he didn’t mean it, because he did mean every word of it, but because of the look on Starfire’s face. That look only meant pain.

“Thank you very much, Robin. I am feeling much the ‘better’ now!” Starfire said as she enveloped him in one of her famous hugs. Surprisingly, instead of crushing the life out of him, Robin felt comfortable in the hug. Then something flashed across his mind.

“Hey Star? Have you seen Johnson?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How much farther?” Johnson asked as they walked down the hallway.

“Not much. All we have to do is stop at the Dark Room and pick up your daughter. Then we can get out of this place for good!” Baer said, holding Rebekah and Mercy’s hands (her daughters, remember) while Robert walked next to her with Darek. Johnson’s wife, Melina, was walking next to him.

“Good, but before we go I think we should thank the titans.”

“Fine. Personally I think we should just scram and send ‘em a Christmas card.” They reached the door and typed in the code. Surprisingly no one was there. They had expected at least a guard.

When they opened the door a small girl walked out. She seemed dazed, almost like in a trance. Johnson immediately picked her up and gave her a huge hug. He began to cry.

They shut the door again and left without another word. ‘Now to go and thank the titans for bringing back my life.’ Johnson thought as he carried his little girl down the long hallway.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cyborg stood beside the bed as Slade took a long hypodermic needle out of the desk drawer. He picked up a small glass bottle from a nearby medicine cabinet.

As he drew the precise amount, a tile from the ceiling fell and smashed on to the floor. Startled by the sudden noise, Slade dropped the small glass bottle, shattering it instantly. Cyborg, seeing his best friends’ only chance shatter and melt into the floor, began shouting obscenities to adult for this rating. Slade just laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Cyborg asked angrily.

“You are making such a fuss over nothing.” Slade said calmly.

“NOTHING? NOTHING!?! MY BEST FRIEND’S LIFE IS AT STAKE AND YOU JUST DROPPED THE ONLY THING THAT COULD SAVE HIM! YOU CALL THAT NOTHING?!?” Slade continued to laugh.

“You are a complete fool, aren’t you? I still have the needle. In fact, it has more then needed.” And with that, he took the needle and pointed it up. A small stream of amber liquid shot up from the cylinder. Cyborg’s angered face was replaced with an extremely worried one at the sight of this. Slade smiled behind his mask. He loved making people hate him.

“Why are you doing that? That’s all we have left!”

“Okay, okay. Let’s get this over with.” Slade walked towards the bed.

“Oh no, I am going to give it to him. You might drop it again.”

“What, you don’t trust me? I’m disappointed, Cyborg.”

“I really don’t care what you think, Slade. I just want my friend to be better. And the only way to do that is if he gets this. Now hand it here.” Slade, strangely enough, handed over the needle.

“Go ahead, my boy. But it will not alter our agreement.” Slade said, almost sounding impatient. Carefully, Cyborg inserted the needle underneath the young boy’s skin. For a moment, he stood there and waited for something to happen. He didn’t know what he was expecting to see, but he figured something was going to happen. Slowly he turned to Slade and asked him,

“Can the rest come in now?”

“Why do they need to come in? Is there a problem with me?” he said, obviously trying to get on Cyborg’s nerves.

“I just think they would like to know their friend is alright.” Cyborg said, his tone dark and stern.

“Fine. You can go tell them his condition. But I expect you back in here within 5 minutes.”

Slade laughed to himself as Cyborg walked out of the room grumbling under his breath.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Friend Cyborg! How is friend Beast Boy? We had heard a crash of something breaking, and we feared for the worse.” Starfire was the first to greet the metal man at the doorway.

“He’s fine, for now. The crash actually was the antidote. Sl-“

“THE ANTIDOTE!” the others said simultaneously. Raven suddenly appeared with a worried look on her face.

“Yes,” Cyborg said, sounding a little annoyed. “Anyway, Slade is the reason. Don’t worry, BB is okay, luckily he had already drawn the correct amount in the needle before he dropped it. So far nothings happened, but I need to get back in there before-” suddenly he was cut off by a loud yell.

[bbissocute]

CHAPTER 16

Slade smiled to himself as the older titan left the room. Everything was going according to his plan. ‘Now that I had the younger titan in my grasp, I will-’ suddenly his thoughts were disturbed by a yell. He looked up into the painful eyes of the green boy. He was cowering in the corner and seemed to be frightened by something. ‘And that something is me.’  Slade thought to himself with glee.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He felt sore. All over. The pain was almost unbearable. Almost.

As Beast Boy lay in the cozy bed with his eyes closed, he remembered. The pain. Why? ‘I guess I better ask someone. Maybe they will be able to tell me.’ Reluctantly, he opened his eyes. The first image to appear was his worst nightmare, just sitting casually in the corner. Suddenly a scream erupted from his area. As it continued, he realized his own voice was creating the sound.

Slade looked at him. He slowly walked towards him. In that moment, he understood. It all was a dream. Waking up, talking with the titans, everything. Maybe Slade was experimenting on him or something. Maybe that’s why he was in pain. Yah, maybe that’s why Johnson had sedated him, to get him there easier. Suddenly Cyborg burst through the door.

“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!” he yelled, pointing at Beast Boy.

“Nothing, my good robot. Please calm down.”

“NOTHING?!?! THEN WHY IS HE SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS!” Okay, now things were starting to get confusing. ‘Why is Cy talking, not grabbing me and getting out of here?’  Beast Boy thought to himself. ‘I need to calm down. That’s the only way I’ll be able to figure this out.’

Cyborg rushed over to the bed that his friend was seated on and attempted to calm him down. Slowly his screams died and were replaced by deep breaths. Once he calmed down enough to talk, he turned to Cyborg.

“Cy, what’s happening?” he said, almost whispering. Cyborg glanced down, trying not to look at Beast Boy. An echoing laugh rang throughout the room.

“Why, my boy, you belong to me now.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Robin, should we not go into the room? Friend Beast Boy may be injured!” Starfire’s voice was filled with worry. Cyborg had just left to see what was wrong, and the room had quieted down since the screaming began, but it was an eerie sort of quiet.

“Cyborg seems to be handling it just fine, Star. I sure everything is okay.” Truthfully Robin was just saying this because he didn’t want to worry Starfire. His first instinct was to rush in there and beat the crap out of the person causing Beast Boy to scream.

But then common sense would kick in and tell him if he was to do that then he would only worsen the situation. Besides, if anything were to go wrong, Raven would be there in a heartbeat and take care of the job for him. “If anything were wrong, Cy would come and get us.”

Suddenly a dark shadow from the light on the wall became 3-dementional.

“Friend Raven! You have returned to us with good news, yes?” Starfire looked at her with pleading eyes.

“Raven, what’s wrong?” Robin asked, starting to panic.

“Beast Boy…he…well…I guess you should just see for yourself…” Both Robin and Starfire looked at each other once and glanced back to Raven. ‘What is she talking about?’ Robin asked to himself.

As they opened the door, there ears only received the sounds of Cyborg yelling. They stepped through and gazed at the scene that lay before them.

Beast Boy stood at the back of the room. In his right hand, he held a hypodermic needle, filled with some blue-yellow (not green) substance. He held it next to his neck, ready to inject it.

“What’s going on?” Robin yelled over the…uh…well…yelling. Everything seemed to stop.

Everyone turned to look at the newcomers in the room. As Robin looked around the room, he wondered where Slade was, but that was a question for another time. Ignoring Robin’s question for a moment, Cyborg turned back to Beast Boy.

“Can’t we just talk about this, BB? Aren’t you being just a tad drastic?” he said, his voice shaking slightly.

“Drastic? Drastic! You think I’m being drastic? I’m about to be givin’ to Slade like a freakin’ birthday present and I’m the one being drastic?” With that he replied with a mock laugh. Raven jumped up to help Cyborg.

“Just calm down, Beast Boy. Don’t do anything you will regret.” Raven, strangely, sounded close to tears.

“And how exactly am I suppose to do that, Raven? Huh? Got any bright ideas, ‘cause I sure don’t!”

“Friend Raven, what is going on?” Starfire asked, scared of Beast Boy’s behavior.

“You want to know what’s wrong, Star?!? Robin is planning on giving me to his buddy, Slade! That’s what’s wrong!!! But you know what? I’m not going with him again! I’d rather DIE!” As he spoke, his voice became a yell.

At the end of his rant, Starfire gasped so loud and long, the others thought she might suck all of the oxygen out of the room. Raven had a pained expression filling her face. She quickly covered it with her hood. Robin’s face was indecipherable. Cyborg continued to sport the same worried and frightened look he had on when the others had burst into the room.

“Beast Boy, just put the needle down. I promise, you will be going home with us.” Robin said reassuringly.

“No…I can’t believe you. Cyborg said that’s what you were going to do…he wouldn’t kid about something like that…your just lying!”

“Cyborg! What exactly did you tell him?!?” Raven said, resisting the urge to bite Cyborg’s head off.

“Well, I told him exactly what you told me, that we were going to take Slade’s deal and give Slade Beast Boy for the cure to his disease.” As he spoke, his words became nothing more than a whisper.

"You imbecile! That was just the plan! We weren’t really going to leave him here!” Raven said, her voice growing angrier by the second.

“We…weren’t?” Cyborg asked, trying to cover up his own stupidity.

“We weren’t? What kind of stupid question is that, ‘we weren’t’? You idiot, no of course WE WEREN’T!!!” Raven shouted with rage. As Robin looked at Raven scream at Cyborg for his stupidity, he cautiously glanced towards the slightly stunned Beast Boy.

“So, wait…hold up. You are telling me that this was one of Robin’s stupid plans?” There was a slight ‘hey’ expelled from Robin, but other then that silence. The two titans turned to Beast Boy and nodded.

“And you neglected to tell me this before because…”

“Because if they did, I would find out.” Slade said in a sing-song voice. He wanted to finish this deal as soon as possible. He knew that they weren’t planning to let their long-lost friend stay with him, especially after they had just gotten him back. But he also wanted their friend. And he always got what he wanted.

“What do you want with him, Slade?” Robin demanded.

“Why, haven’t we become pushy, Robin. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”

“Plenty. You don’t deserve them, though.” Robin said through clenched teeth.

“Well, isn’t that a shame. Oh well, maybe she can tell you the correct way to behave when you meet up with her again. In the graveyard.”

That was it. Robin rushed at Slade, fighting with all his might. All he could think about is making those his last words. The other titans, save Beast Boy, who was currently lying on the bed wrapped in dark energy, followed in suit. He insisted he could fight and continued to struggle, but try as he might he couldn’t break free. He was currently shouting obscenities from the bed in the corner.

Robin’s thought raced. They were so close. They just needed one more attack. He called to the others.

After he finished speaking, they all grinned.

Raven, Starfire, and Cyborg stood together against the back wall. Their leader stood beside the back wall. The first three shot their energies towards Slade at the same time. Robin threw a flash disk towards the mixed energies, blinding everyone in the room, and temporarily shutting Beast Boy up.

When the dust cleared the titans scanned the area, only to find the room empty, save themselves. Robin suddenly noticed a small device in the middle of the room. He slowly picked up the device, which released a small hologram of a person he knew all too well.

“Very well, titans. I will allow you to keep your small green friend. You might want to get out of here before I make my explosive exit.” With that, the hologram disappeared and the building began to shake.

“We need to get out of here before the whole building comes down on us.” Cyborg said, jogging towards the exit. The others followed suit, until someone cleared their throat in the back of the room. The titans immediately stopped. They turned and saw Beast Boy still being held down by dark energy. He was glaring. Raven looked down sheepishly.

“Uhhh, sorry ‘bout that.” She said as she released him from his dark prison. They resumed jogging to the door when they hit the object on the other side of it. Johnson stepped from behind the door.

“Watch i-oh, it’s just you guys. I was lookin’ for you. I think Slade might have set off an explosive to bring down the house, literally. We better get out of here before-“

“I’m way ahead of you,” Raven said as she conjured a dark portal. They all stepped through and the portal closed; just as rubble fell on the place they had been standing only moments before.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two days later

“I want to thank you for all you have done for us.” As Johnson spoke he gave each of the titans a hug. “You can’t imagine how much this means to me.” He smiled at the teens.

“A ‘thank you’ is also in order for you, Mr. Johnson. You, after all, are the one who restored friend Beast Boy to us.” Starfire said, her usual glee shining through.

“Well, nonetheless, you helped me recover my family, and they are the best thank you I could ever receive.” As he said this he looked at his small family sitting on the titans couch, watching a children’s program. He turned back as Robin spoke.

“Has Mrs. Baer already left for the plane?”

“Yes. I will be meeting up with Emily later. Speaking of which, we need to get going. Thank you, again.” Once again he hugged them. He knew the teens probably thought it was an awkward way of saying good bye, but they went along with it.

With that, the man and his family left to go to the airport.

“Well, now that that’s taken care off…” Raven said, walking over to the counter to make herself some tea. Glancing around the room, she noticed something.

“Um…where’s Beast Boy?” The other titans also glanced around, but he didn’t appear to be in the room.

“I think he’s in his bed room.” Robin announced. Raven began to leave, but Cyborg questioned her before she left.

“Raven, where are you going?”

“To go check on Beast Boy.” She replied casually. The rest of the titans looked at each other as she walked out of the room.

As she walked down the long hallway towards Beast Boy’s room, she thought of all that had happened within the past few months. Everything Beast Boy had went through, how the titans had practically died without him, how she had practically died without him. Wait; did she just think what she thought she just thunk? No…she couldn’t have…could she?

Suddenly she realized she was in front of his door. Hesitantly, she knocked. No answer. She knocked again. Still nothing. She was starting to panic. She was about to knock again, when the door suddenly swished open.

As Beast Boy stood there, Raven studied his figure quickly. The one thing she was immediately drawn to was his eyes, which seemed to be missing their usual ‘sparkle’, even though he wore his usual grin. After staring at them for awhile, Beast Boy tried to break the uncomfortable silence that had fallen since he had opened the door.

“You want to come in, Raven?” he asked, stirring Raven from her trance.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” She walked into the room, stumbling over her own feet.

“So what have you been up to, Raven? Did Mr. Johnson set off okay? Were you guys goi-“

“Beast Boy? Is something wrong? You haven’t been out and about the past few days. Is everything okay?”

“What!?! Of course everything is alright. I’ve never felt better!” To emphasize his point, he climbed to the top of his bed and did a summer-sault off the end and onto the floor.

“TADA!!!”

“Beast Boy, you forget, I’m empathic. I can tell your real feelings, and they are definitely not ‘fine’.” With that the young green boy sighed, dropping his hands to his side.

“Alright, fine. I’ll tell you.”

“Well?”

“mfaide”

“What?”

“I’m afraid.” he whispered.

“Of what? Your only just one of the best super heroes in the county.” He began to blush.

“That’s not true. For you, sure, but not me. I can’t even protect myself from a bunch of would-be-thugs. I mean, come on. They weren’t even real, just two ordinary people with a gun. What kind of super hero can’t defend himself from that?”

“Beast Boy, you are a good super hero. You’re just younger. You don’t have a lot of experience with those kinds of things. But now you do. If another situation like that were to happen, you would be fine.”

For a while, Beast Boy looked at his hands. Slowly he looked up. He wore his normal smile, and, once again, he had the special ‘sparkle’ in his eye.

“Thanks Raven.” he said happily. Before he knew what was happening, he bent over and gave her a peck on the cheek. He immediately realized what he had done, and he braced himself for impact. But it never came. He opened one eye, only to see something he thought he never would.

Raven was blushing. Before he knew what was happening (again) she bent over and gave him a peck, only this time on the lips. He sat there, blushing, while Raven got up and headed to the door.

“Beast Boy, the others are planning to go to the park today. Don’t forget.” she said, closing the door behind her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” a small voice whispered.


THE END

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--MUST--WASTE--OLD--CHAPTER--15--SPACE--

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--REFER--TO--ABOVE--(CHAPTER--16--THOUGH)--

[Lady Timedramon]

*applauds*

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Thanks. I was really worried that this story would be way to stupid for this site. I'm glad someone liked it. 
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[Chuchi]

Very nicely written! I liked it! Good job

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Thank you so much. I'm glad you like this story. I dont know if you read the above, but if you didnt, I changed Chapter 6, and edited the entire story, so I dont know if you might want to look at it. I think 6 is much better now. Thank you again,

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