Okay, this piece has been sitting around for years it feels like…and it might actually be. This is also going to be a rather heavy piece, nothing exceptionally dark but if you're looking for laughs, you might want to leave.

In a way I'm sad to see this piece took as long as it did and in other ways this is like a living timeline of all the different hours I spent working on it and growing as a writer-all the time in those periods I spent working on in it in one dynamic piece.

February 1st, 3:13 pm.

That's when it went from bad to worse, four different stores were being robbed by seemingly normal criminals. Robin looked at the monitors "Okay, we need one person at each, I'll take the R-cycle and take the first, Raven-you fly and take the second with Cyborg, Star-you get the third, Beast Boy…just keep them from getting away. Be careful, if I had another choice I'd keep somebody with you, or better yet we'd go all together."

The green man nodded, his white medical eye patch standing out starkly from his skin. In an accident Doctor Light shot a blast of light so intense it permanently blinded the green man in one eye. That had been nearly four months ago and the Doctor had told them that somebody had paid him to target the changeling.

The flyers took to the roof before launching off to their respective sites. Raven was particularly worried for the shape shifter, after all he had taken the beam in order to save her. Robin's last words before they took off were "Whenever you get done head to the nearest beacon on your communicator…Beast Boy, again you need to be more careful than ever."

Again the emerald man was silent as he nodded, one hand touched his throat where Doctor Chan's gas had burned his vocal chords, it would take another few weeks for him to be able to do more than croak. Again this villain had said that somebody had paid him to target the youngest of the group.

Raven and Cyborg finished first, the shop was being robbed by only two men both of whom surrendered instantly when the Titans appeared. As they rushed to help Robin both the boy wonder and Starfire's beacon's shut off. "Hold on" was all the dark girl said to Cyborg who crouched lower on the black disk and held on as they sped up to almost terminal velocity.

But even then they were too late. The entire room was a mess and seventeen men lay on the ground either unconscious or mewling in pain. There was blood too, and on it an unmistakable green sheen. A strange tint that matched the skin of their friend.

February 14th, 1:52 pm.

Raven and Rage had nearly spent the entire two weeks fused together. Every single time she had tried to go out to search another call had come in-she was quickly reaching the end of her leash and when she snapped she was going to destroy whoever stood in her way. Crime in the city was learning a harsh lesson: never mess with the Titans. Each call was put down brutally and swiftly so they could, therefore, get back to the search for their shape-shifting friend sooner.

Robin slammed down the receiver and turned to his group. Batman's protégé gave a relieved smile "They found a place…a warehouse…a few specks of green tinted blood were on the door and a sound of various animals were heard."

Robin grabbed his extra pouches of explosives, Starfire's eyes burned as bright as Sol with fury, Cyborg set his cannon to it's highest setting and felt his entire body tremble with power. But Raven's four eyes flared blood red and tendrils of black gathered her teammates, her family, before teleporting them to the location.

They had expected a fight when they got to their friend but the building only had three people, two guards who were bound, gagged and arrested before they could wake up from their naps. And their friend.

When they found him even Robin and Raven felt tears run down their faces. The boy had been strapped down to a old wooden chair , they could see no skin, nor his uniform across his arms or legs, bright silver covered them and his blind left eye flashed the same. When they got closer they could feel the acidic bile churn in their stomach and Rage completely left the dark woman.

Tacks.

Countless short silver tacks had been driven into his skin across his arms and legs and a nail had been driven into his eye with enough force to embed the head inside the eye but not so deep as to kill him or induce brain damage. Cyborg walked around the chair and gasped again, the others quickly rushed around. The every face of the chair fighting gravity had screws deeply embedded in them and into the flesh of their captive, the worst were those in the center of the back of the chair-there was no doubt that those bolts were embedded in his bones. A quiet moan had them rushing back around to see their friend, the eye lid that was nailed shut twitched and the other eye opened and he slurred something in a language nobody understood.

Cyborg hissed "We need to get him out of this chair" and he reached for the arm but the other started rushing in the unknown language. Cyborg only understood two words but it stopped him dead in his tracks. Grey Blood. The metal man growled "THEY FUCKING USED GREY BLOOD!" without thought one hand turned into his sonic cannon while the other clenched so hard it bent the metal his body was made out of.

Starfire timidly asked "Friend Cyborg…what is this 'grey blood' that has upset you?"

The man slumped to the floor and ran a re-morphed hand across his scalp "Grey blood in an old poison, traditionally a torture method. A nail is dipped into the poison known as 'gray blood' then dipped into a wax laced with low level toxins-generally just a painful one" he paused before continuing in a small voice "The blood washes away the wax and when the nail is removed th-…the poison binds with oxygen and ruptures red blood cells and binds to the nitrogen in the air turning the blood gray…it may take weeks to die but it's so painful everyone who hadn't died in one day was begging to be killed"

Robin's voice cracked "So" he cleared his throat "So we can't remove any of those…things until we get him back to the tower?"

"Rob…it ain't that simple" the metal man stood before putting his trembling hands on his best friends unmarred cheeks "We gotta do it slow otherwise he'll die of blood loss, we can't use anesthetic because his body don't take it well and if he moves and exposes any of the other nails to air he'll accidentally kill himself. When we get him back I'll get enough of the serum even if I have to threaten, maim or beat it out of somebody and we can get started tomorrow."

February 15, 8:08 am.

Some things quickly became apparent. That first night everyone slept in the infirmary and Robin laid down the rule that there was to be somebody with Beast Boy at all times. Then he called the Chief of police and told him in plain words "If you call us you're getting three of us. And you better not be able to solve the problem by putting a bullet in someone's skull" then he hung up leaving the Chief in a shocked state.

The boy wonder walked into the medical bay and watched the sleeping Cyborg wake up and meet eyes with his friend who tried to smile-which quickly turned into a grimace of pain. Quickly everyone was roused and Cy started his explanation "Okay, here's what we've got to do" a hologram of the changeling and his confinement displayed from his eye a red line appeared on their holo-friend's elbow "We've got to take off these two sections attached to his arm. Now I'm going to have to take them out quickly and that means…" he sighed heavily and pulled out a dark gray bar a foot wide by three long "I'll have to hold this magnet and jerk it and the wood away, after we do that it's a round of Raven's healing an a full cup of anti-venom." he paused again "and we've got to do his entire arm today…if we just did his forearm and it fell…" the hologram showed the shortening of the triceps and a gray line flooded the hologram as the tack heads got pushed against each other and came out of the arm "Game over"

Beast Boy, who had been seated in the middle of the impromptu circle, nodded and looked at his arm before taking a few deep breaths and jerking his head to the counter in the corner, Starfire walked over-no joy could be found in this situation "Friend, what do you require?" he snapped his jaw a few times and she nodded before pulling out a short metal bar with numerous teeth marks. Slipping the bar in his mouth he nodded to his friends-turned-doctors and bit down. Hard. The stainless steel had gouges from any procedure he had to undergo but everyone knew that these newest marks would be the deepest yet.

Cyborg turned one of his fingers into a length of stiff wire and ran in through the small space between his friend's elbow and the chair before dragging it back and forth to saw through the wood leaving the arm of the chair supported by one brace in the middle. The black man filled a syringe with a thick, deep blue syrup and set it on the table beside him and the alabaster girl let her dark powers fill her body. "Ready?" he asked the girl and his friend. They both nodded and the magnet was gently set on top of his arm and the metal man gripped the bottom of the chair arm and the top of the magnet.

And pulled. The only two sounds were one instant of ripping flesh then the continuous gritting of teeth against the bar, but almost instantly Cyborg dropped the things in his hand before stabbing the needle into his friend and backing up letting Raven heal the multitude of wounds across his forearm. After that was done everyone waited an hour for their friend to recover, the sweat on his body dried and added to the various layers of grime that covered him, his panting died down to occasional shuddering breaths and he blinked rapidly and slowly unclenched his body. Then Cyborg set up another syringe and used the wire to saw through the thin sliver of wood that was screwed to his friend's arm.

Starfire was in tears and Robin felt his own eyes prickle, Cyborg was falling to curses between the sniffles and Raven was trying her damnedest to keep stoic but when they had to pull off the second piece of wood the one whimper that slipped past the steel bar hit her like a hammer to the chest.

With one arm clear of all the metal Cyborg clipped a monitor to his friend's finger before looking at Garfield "O-Okay man, that's one arm. Four more days of pain and you'll be out of this c-chair" he tried to smile but it was a broken thing at best and he slowly turned to the rest of them "G-Guys I'm going to make some dinner, I'll bring it in here…"

Raven and Starfire left pleading the use of the bathrooms leaving Robin with Beast Boy. The two boys met eyes and the green head twitched slightly and the masked one leapt over to take the bar and listen to his friend croak "P-please call Batm-man"

For his friend to find this urgent enough to talk in his condition, his throat on top of this…pain. "I will. Beast Boy…listen, I know I haven't been the greatest friend but I…I just want you all to be safe, I know I push you too far but you know why I am what I am-" he was cut off when Beast Boy reached out and squeezed his friend's hand and gave a shallow smile and mouthed two words.

I know.

Batman picked up his communicator and blinked twice at the name "Robin. This is quiet a surprise."

The boy wasn't nervous as he met the steel eyes of his mentor "Batman. We have a situation. Beast Boy was captured. We got him back…but he asked for you to come here" he glanced off screen and took a few steps away and there was the sound of a door closing and the caller sighing deeply "To be honest we don't know if he'll make it. I know you weren't impressed with him last time. But please. Don't let him down."

The batjet left four minutes later.

The med bay door opened and the four heroes leapt in front of their friend when Batman held his hand up in surrender. Starfire nodded "Friend Batman, he has requested that he be allowed to talk to you in private" there was an unspoken threat from the princess: if anything happens to him you will be held responsible.

Slowly Garfield's trembling hand stretched out and Batman took it in his hand, but the green hand scrambled higher and pulled on his shoulder and the bat knelt before freezing. Here was this man, bolted to a chair hugging him. One arm was wrapped around his shoulders and the other held down by poisons and metal and pain. Batman knew what other attacks the green man had suffered but when the boy sobbed into his shoulder "Please keep them safe, don't let this happen to others. I don't know if I can survive. If I don't, promise me you'll keep them safe"

Even if he wouldn't have the steel that the boy had in his eyes was something that the man had felt before, when he decided that he would avenge his parents. That was the same steel was in this boy's eyes. If he had said no the boy would have ripped himself from the chair and with his last moments killed the bat. "I will" he grasped the hand between his own "I promise you that if they are in trouble I will be here."

Garfield gave a pained smile "Thank you. Now go back to your nest Bat, if I die you will know" he let his arm fall to the side and let out the breath he was holding and closed his un-nailed eye.

Batman stepped out and took off his mask to speak with the others "Beast Boy asked that I watch over you, Robin knows how to contact me…" Starfire, Raven and Cyborg went into the Med bay and Batman stopped his apprentice "I was wrong. That boy…no, that man is strong. I wasn't foolish for thinking him unimpressive, he puts on a mask that is nearly impossible to see past"

Robin stared at the door "A mask that fooled you…" his mentor nodded before he left.

February 19, 11:13 am.

Beast Boy had suffered through everything but this. There was to be no magnet to remove the seat and back of the chair. The bolts into his bones were thick and heavy. Batman watched with Superman. They had come to give their respect to the boy who had told them of his suffering through those days he was stolen from home. The chair was their kindest act to the man.

Beast Boy watched in silence as Raven wrapped her aura around him and Cyborg and Starfire gripped the chair. It took all their strength to free him from the metal trap and it caused him to let out only the second cry he voiced through his entire suffering. His bones and flesh would heal but even with Raven's healing scars would remain, his bones would be marked and his skin pocked. Metal again pierced his flesh to deliver the thick stinging cure that would free him from the bite of the poison in his veins. He growled harshly and shuddered uncontrollably for several minutes before he unclenched his jaw and his harsh breathing mellowed out into light panting.

Cyborg slowly touched his friend's shoulder "Do you want anything?" he asked quietly.

"S-shower" was the whisper. He looked down at himself and grimaced. Nineteen days of grime and blood and he smelt worse than a body left to rot in the jungle for a few weeks.

His best friend looked at him and asked the question that was more embarrassing then the time some of his exposed wires got caught in the fly of his tuxedo at the Jump Ball. "D-do you need help?"

Gar nodded, he couldn't even lift his arms to his sternum and only with a pain that felt like molten iron through his entire chest. Batman and Superman looked at the group with amused smirks as every ones' faces turned red. Minus Beast Boy-growing up in the underdeveloped tribal African villages he had an acceptance of the human body all but few Americans could even get close to. Robin watched as Starfire nearly stepped forward, he stopped her by a hand on the arm and a shake of the head. Cyborg couldn't as he wasn't water proof at the moment.

Raven, who's face was redder than anyone else due to her skin pigment, sighed as Beast Boy was leaving the room. With a glare at the others "You guys owe me" she growled before turning and stalking out and seeing the green man enter his room, following quickly she found him in the attached bath struggling to pull off his shirt.

For a moment it caught her off guard, it was obvious he couldn't tear the fabric in his extremely weakened state nor could he even lift his arms over his head. She stepped forward but he shook his head and took off a glove to reveal his hands, they were normal human hands until he shook one and like a cat his nails extended to razor sharp blades that he carefully but quickly ran across his body. In a flash his already ruined shirt lay on the ground in shreds and he groaned as he stepped into the glass enclosure. "W-what do you need me to do?" she stumbled out.

He whispered "Everything above my shoulders…if you do that now you can leave…" she nodded before he turned the water to, for her, a blazing temperature and stepped in. He kept his ruined pants on and leaned down so she could wash what she needed.

It took four washes before the water didn't run gray or brown.

The sorceress stepped into his room before calling out "I'll wait here for you to get out" he whistled two notes that signaled an affirmative. She sat on his bed and studied his room, the bunk bed was gone and a special bed was brought in, large enough for some of the largest land animals and tough enough that it could probably withstand a bunker buster. Looking at the sheets she ran a hand over it. Silk, a brilliant silver that stood out brightly in the near dark room without blinding her, the dark red carpet contrasted nicely and she glanced around the room itself. This was the first time she had been in it his eye had been damaged, they hadn't allowed him out of the tower and he had gone a bit stir crazy and overhauled his room. Now the only things in it were his bed, an old fashion writing desk with a computer on it and a few bookshelves beside the desk and on the other side of the shelf an easel and a small storage shelf for whatever he was working on. At the moment it held a partially painted sketch of the Titans sitting in front of the standing Doom Patrol, two people she didn't recognize sat in the center of the picture.

Shaking her head she glanced around the room to see two large sketches hanging on the wall by poster frames, one was an old world style map of Africa and the other was something that caused her to stare, a sketch of a hand holding a scorpion that was laying down. Before she could study it any further Garfield walked in with a semi-wet towel laying on his head and a loose set of shorts. Along with his ever present gloves.

As they entered the common room the caught quick goodbyes from the two visitors and stares from Starfire, Cyborg and Robin who said "They need to get back to their own cities…and we got a call from the police for a minor burglary…" Beast Boy turned, everybody knew where he was going. To his room to suit up but a hand on his shoulder stopped him "Beast Boy, you're in no condition to fight right now, I want you to stay here with Starfire."

The girl in question growled "No Boyfriend Robin, I have heard the report the same as you and Friend Cyborg is needed to disarm any mechanical devices they might have, you are going and I will go with you"

Raven watched the princess pin her boyfriend with a glare before she sighed internally "I'll stay, if you need me I can teleport there."

Cyborg shook his head "Won't get that bad, I'm gonna kick these punk's asses for draggin' me away from B like this" and like that it was settled and the trio raced to the T-car to deal with the problem.

It took all of four minutes in front of the monitor for the boy's head to start to fall, his dark teammate looked at him, one eye staying on the monitor with a few dozen cameras and a few lines of numbers below it "You can go to sleep if you want to. I can handle this…" with a thankful nod he shuffled to his room.

The trio had gotten back a half hour later and quickly fell asleep with Raven not far behind. But when the dark girl awoke she was in for a shock. Sitting at the counter was Beast Boy with the remains of a pot of coffee at his elbow and dark, heavy bags under his eyes. Barely lifting the cup in greeting he stared blankly at the stainless steel countertop for a long minute. He pointed a shaking finger without looking to a perfectly toasted and buttered muffin and a barely hissing kettle with a cup of tea already steeping. She was going to ask why he was up at this hour but the subtle nagging of her stomach convinced her otherwise and by the time she finished her breakfast Robin was there and the others trickled in until they all sat in the main ops room. Starfire and Robin chatting with Cyborg as he got out the stuff to marinate his standing rib roast with Raven reading and Beast Boy staring out across the bay.

At the end of the chapter Raven looked up to see her friend sitting without much of his usual energy "Beast Boy, what got you up so early?"

Immediately the other three darted over to hear him as well "Couldn't sleep" he croaked.

"Why? What happened?" Robin immediately shot back.

Beast Boy's shoulders started to tremble "W-when I'm alone I see it again…I feel it again"

Starfire put a hand on his shoulder "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I-I need to have somebody near me when I sleep…one of the pack that I trust with my back"

Cyborg smiled "Dude, just bunk with me!"

"M-metal floors"

"O-oh yeah…" the Cyborg was taken back by that. He would be put off of anything metallic for a long while after the torture he had endured. His best friend thought for a long moment "I take it you won't be sleeping in human form?" it was a very little known fact that when he wanted to the shape shifter could sleep in any form he chose although if he descended deeper than dreaming he would shift to human, though that was more than rare for him to do so.

The shifter nodded and Robin asked "What for do you sleep in after a nightmare?"

It was Raven who answered "He has nightmares almost every night and I doubt he changes at all, so more accurately it would be what form are you going to be sleeping in?"

He seemed hesitant "My strongest and most durable." he slowly limped to his room as they pondered that.

It was the resident detective who paled harshly at that "The Beast"

The others shuddered at the thought of their friend becoming that…thing again. He had told them that the experience with Doctor Light had shifted things around in his head. The Beast was now just another transformation.

But that thing still scared them, how could it not? Nothing they possessed could touch it, the first time they saw it after Trigon was in a truly desperate time, Brother Blood after brain washing the remnants of the HIVE had taken control of the changeling, the master thief and assassin. But he delved too deep and set the Beast free.

The HIVE was left in tatters as the students could only fight against that force of nature for so long and the touch of the creature had burned through Blood. He hadn't came out of the coma for a month and even now he was afraid of the boy like Light was to Raven.

Only there was nothing to laugh about with this situation. Light was a small time villain who would run to the hills at the sight of the dark mistress. Brother Blood was a serious threat to all of society and when he saw the green boy he would go into a paralytic shock.

But there was a small film took at the time that would later come back to haunt them. Control Freak didn't know it was Beast Boy. He thought it was a horror movie and unleashed the thing on Jump City. That was the last time they saw Beast Boy fly into a rage. There was no thought as he transformed into the Beast and ripped the false to shreds. It seemed the creature was livid at the fake not having flesh and blood to feast on. So it turned to Control Freak. Beast Boy got control back before the first bite was taken but they hadn't seen the fat man since then. A month later Doctor light had blinded him and rendered him in control.

Robin looked at Raven "To be honest I think you should do it…" she was too stunned to be angry but he continued in a rush before she got over it "I mean every time he's shifted it was to keep you safe, Blood being the exception because of his own powers, Control Freak sent the fake Beast after you…"

In his room Garfield allowed the agony that he had been holding back wash over him. It was a pain that was indescribable to anyone who hadn't been bolted to that chair. A very distinct tone filled the air as his floral counterpart called. Glad for the soundproofing in his room he flipped open his laptop and another green face filled the screen.

She looked at him before scowling "Tell me who did this and I'll kill them." she growled.

He gave a small smile before touching the screen with a hand "Ivy, don't worry. I'm out of it"

She ignored him in favor of ranting "Two weeks! You were gone for two whole weeks and you just want to let them go free!"

He gave a weak laugh "No Ivy, they aren't going free. I'm going to find who did it."

She snarled "If Harley hadn't stopped me I'd be down there right now!"

He rolled his eyes to the heavens with a smile on his face "Who'd have known, Poison Ivy likes one male creature on earth"

Her snarl changed into a cough as she laughed "Laugh it up green boy…but you can change into a girl" her smile becoming a bit brighter.

He nodded and quietly sighed "I can't wait until I can meet you in person"

She laughed "A villain and a hero, both green, one with plants, the other with animals…"

Glancing at the clock he grinned brightly "I've got to go, but I will see you later Ivy"

She laughed and closed the line.

Raven knocked on the door sometime later and the green man allowed the hulking metal door to slide open. He was quickly taken back by it being Raven, the empath sighed "They decided on me because the Beast hasn't hurt me" he nodded and scanned her quickly. She wore dark blue flannel that would keep her warm even with his room as cold as it was.

"Okay…" and she yawned almost as if agreeing with him. He motioned her to step back and he shifted before curling up on his bed although not completely, Raven tried to lay beside him but a huff and she looked up at him. He pointed to the hole in the wall where the window used to sit and she mulled it over for a moment.

"Fine but no funny business" he snorted and winched as it stretched his ribs further than he was comfortable with and she leaned against his side.

Raven would never admit it but she was more comfortable then she had ever been, the Beast was like a blast furnace and with him being curled like a 'c' around her she was warm all the way around. And contrary to the teams first thoughts the fur was very soft and his breathing soon lulled her to sleep.

Then came the awakenings. There would be a small sound, something she couldn't catch but the Beast would lift it's massive head and stare. Hard. Waiting for any other movement. The first night he had moved from one sound to another the entire night, his heart hammering in his chest at the thought of anything coming back to take him away again.

Raven woke whenever he lifted his head and with a touch of power flip the light switch and say something that calmed his fears "The wind moved that paper" or "It's just the tower settling down" he would eventually get back to sleep.

But in the morning they were both tired wrecks. He had gotten a few hours of sleep, a vast improvement on the previous night but he still needed an entire pot of coffee to operate.

Raven, though tired, went about her day as usual. When a call came in they all forbade Beast Boy from leaving, a precaution they said. But he could feel all the animals inside him clawing out for battle- the predators wanting the hunt, the prey wanting to help the heard. But all he could do was give them advice by what he saw out of the CCTV's and the like. It burned to know he could do so little for his pack.

As they crawled up the stairs he pulled out the first aid and opened it up on the table. Within twenty minutes they were lounging on the couch watching some mindless show.

For the next week things proceeded like that, sleeping became easier for the changeling and Raven would have to wake fewer and fewer times. Though she would not admit it her dreams also became less and less dark though she would never be the one to dream about skipping though a field of daisies with some picturesque man who wouldn't stop smiling at her.

She already had her favorite dream she could remember, a full moon lit the world in haunting clarity while she stood in the midst of a garden of deep blues, grays and violets, but what surprised her most was the person beside her. She couldn't see them but she could feel their eyes on her, they bored through her but were light across her skin. It was the oddest combination but she couldn't tell why it didn't bother her nor why she didn't feel the need to find out who it was.

Things were going well for Beast Boy as well. A week after he started sleeping next to Raven he fell into the deepest stage of sleep and transformed back into a human. Raven, who was much like a cat when asleep pressed herself into his chest there they woke, face to face and pressed against one another. He woke up not really caring if she threw him into a wall since this was the first time in a very long time he slept that deeply. Raven didn't do anything violent, she smiled and got up.

The next day Beast Boy decided to talk to Doctor Light. The villain sat across from him, the small table between the two held two coffees and a small radio playing soft classical music. There were no guards, no other titans, no other inmates. Just Beast Boy and Doctor Light. When he sat down the first thing the older man said was "Sorry about the eye…just…yeah"

"We're on opposite sides, though that's little consolation in here" he croaked.

"What happened to your voice?"

"Doctor Chan" was all the shape-shifter said before he slid one of the coffees over the table towards the man "I didn't put anything in it."

"You're taking this very well considering what I did to you"

Beast Boy was very quite for a long time "I don't think we're all that different…or rather you and Mento, you suffer from a phobia that leads to some destructive behavior. Mento was a psychopath who wanted to stop villains to the point that he was willing to sacrifice everyone he knew to do so. Both of you suffer from something. And I spent a long time with the Doom Patrol."

Light took a drink of the coffee in front of him before taking a moment to think about the few facts of the Doom Patrol he knew. "Why did you come here?"

Slowly the green man leaned back in his chair with a wince "Who ever paid you is still out there. Waiting. Targeting my family. I just want to keep them safe. In exchange for everything about him you know I'll get them to give you back all your assets and I'll get you help"

He blinked and peered up over the rim of the cup "Help? What type of help?"

"I'll get you a therapist"

Green eye met with the doctor's own and he sighed "I was working on a design on my computer when a box popped up. There was no name only some directions…and half of an amount of money that was absurd. I did what he said and got the other half…that's really all that I know. I can give you my laptop if that would help…" the younger stood with a nod "Hey…" the doctor thought for a moment "I did a lot for money but I couldn't kill anybody, least of all you"

The hardness in the green eye faded and Beast Boy smiled sincerely "Thank you Arthur Light. I will do all I can for you."

Arriving home had proven…interesting. Robin and Cyborg had been up in arms when he walked in the door, they were caught between reaming him for leaving by himself without telling anyone and begging him to be careful so what came out was an odd mix that Gar only understood by virtue of living with them for years.

Starfire had floated by, her hands clasped together under her chin and worry on her face "Friend Beast Boy…please be careful" she pleaded. He nodded and she gently hugged him before calming her boyfriend and hauling the two boys away.

Raven stared at him for a long moment before wrapping her arms around his chest. It was odd, the hug, it wasn't the middle of the night so he couldn't attribute it to her sleep habits but he did hug her back. It eased her trembling and she looked up at him with an apathetic mask, shattered by the tears that veiled her eyes "Don't just leave like that again"

"Okay, don't cry" she nodded at his hoarse whisper. She let go and they made their way up the stairs at a slow pace as the movement stretched his muscles that were still healing.

When they opened the door to the ops room they were met by the face of Batman who had just called "Robin…I hate to say this but I need your help in Gotham."

The stoplight was shocked "What? Why?"

His mentor clicked his tongue "A lot of villains have come here from Jump and the other heroes I know are busy with big cases of their own"

Cyborg butted in "Why not call Kid Flash and Jinx? They're not tied down with anything at the moment."

Gotham's hero shook his head "Quite a few of the Jump City villains are here…including the HIVE Five"

Robin nodded "We'll be there." he turned to see Garfield walking to his room "Beast Boy, I want you to sta-"

The green man turned with blazing eyes "My only living family member is living in Gotham. I'm going and if you try to stop me I will make my own way there." Robin numbly nodded as the green man walked away.

Cyborg turned to Starfire "Did you know he had family there?" the princess just shook her head.

March 14th, 9:30 am

The T-ship was making it's way across the skies at high speed but even then it would take another few hours before they reached the other coast and with it Gotham. At Cyborg's insistence he and Beast Boy had switched and the green man was now at the rearmost seat watching over the fuel gages and a few other reading while his friend dealt with all the capacitor and electronic components.

With nobody looking he was free to push his cells to regenerate to the max, the pain was great and his face turned into a silent snarl as his muscles ripped and mended themselves as the fibers stretched across the pockmarked bones. It was a trick he hated to use but if it would help him protect his family he would do it.

Raven turned back to see her companion gritting his teeth and closing down all of his emotions. She toggled the private com channel "Beast Boy, are you okay?"

He nodded and she cut the channel, if he wasn't going to tell her it was his prerogative. If there was one thing she learned about Beast Boy in the months since his first injury it was that the Beast Boy she knew was only one facet of the man.

The flight was a tedious thing and Robin and Cyborg ended up playing a hand-held racing game while Starfire read some magazine and Raven her own tomes. Beast Boy spent that entire time healing.

That all changed once they touched down. The Batcave was a wide open area and the owner of the cave immediately put them to work trying to find the villains who were causing havoc. Two alarms went off, drones were targeting a private home not far from the outskirts of the city and the other was at a bank.

To everyone's surprise it was Beast Boy who immediately took control of the situation "Batman, take Robin, Cyborg and Starfire to the bank, you'll need them to deal with Killer Moth, Fang and Kitten. Raven and I will take my Aunt's house" Batman's eyes widened but he took a moment and nodded before climbing into his car and roaring out of the entrance.

Raven started to lift herself off the ground when a green streak shot past her, darting after it she quickly found out what it was.

It was a very pissed off cheetah going down the back road at sixty miles an hour until they hit the forest that surrounded the property. Leaping into the trees as almost seventy he changed into a gibbon monkey and used his momentum to fling himself though the tree branches before hitting the top and transforming into a Harpy's eagle. The largest of all eagles stared for just one moment at the scene before starting a headlong dive into a pack of drones.

Six drones total and each one shaped like a cigar set on a small fan, they hovered and fired blue lasers out of their silver shells. Technology can be brittle or tough…but before nature everything crumbles, as he became level with the drones he became a giant squid and lashed out instantly crushing the flying drones and turning his attention to very small tank, only about two feet long that fired out very small caliber missiles.

Hitting the trees again he launched himself through the sky and changed into another bird, a peregrine falcon the bird with the worlds fastest dive at 200 miles an hour. Milliseconds before impact he shifted to an arapaima. One of the worlds largest freshwater fish with a skull made of solid bone that smashed through the metal like a hot knife through snow. The next shift was a slow one but it made the form all the more terrifying.

The Beast let out a howl daring anything to attack. The plants stopped swaying and the creatures fell to silence. The Beast snorted once before turning to face the house, it's ears always on a swivel and it's nose taking in short puffs to alert it if anything was coming. He shifted back still facing the building with Raven behind him. "Raven, scan the woods." as she was doing so she realized that it was an instinctual reaction. She hadn't meant to do it but she had. It was the tone, a voice that none would go against, it was taught to him by Mento and improved upon by the other members of the Doom Patrol and the Beast itself.

He glanced over his shoulder Raven shook her head "Negative, not even a machine"

He stepped forward and onto the smoking wreck of one of the drones and crushed it beneath his heel. To Raven she knew what was going through his mind. Rage. Pure rage that someone would attack his last living relative.

He hesitated before knocking, almost shyly then stepped back as a woman opened the door. Raven was unprepared for who opened the door. Pamela Isley, known as Poison Ivy opened the door time seemed to stop.

Both Beast Boy and Poison Ivy saw ghosts at that moment. Ivy saw Mark Logan, the man who had taken her sister as his wife, Beast Boy saw Marie Isley who later became Marie Logan, his mother. Both of who died in Africa.

Raven looked past the duo to see one other person just as confused as she was. Harley Quinn. The Joker's associate looked her dead in the eyes and shrugged in confusion. Raven returned the gesture before something caught her eye. Beast Boy stepped forward and hugged his aunt who returned the gesture.

Then came something Raven would have never expected-Beast Boy broke down and cried. Raven knew that Beast Boy could take physical and emotional abuse, psychological would stun him but he would stand back up. There had been two times she saw tears escape his eyes, the first was Terra the second had been in a nightmare soon there after.

Quinn looked more shocked then the dark bird. It was no secret that Red hated men…but here she was crying into one's shoulder.

Then came another boom. Another squad of robots had made it's way across the forest during their time. The women heard the growls and stepped back. "How dare they! What foolish human tries to do this to my family!" then the words were lost as a emerald dinosaur started to grow out of the boy. With amazing dexterity the 85 foot long creature dodged everything of his aunt's and put one foot on the tank-like drone. 65 tons against four inches of steel. The Dreadnoughtus schrani lifted his head and glared down at the four drones before him. His massive body took all the shots with little damage but every drone he crushed would never be repaired.

When he shifted back their hostess seemed to have regained her composure "Won't you come in Gar?" he nodded and gestured Raven to go first, a tug on his arm and his aunt whispered in his ear "it's very different meeting in person isn't it?" he nodded with a small smile before walking through the door.

She led both of them to a sitting room at the back of the house that held an amazing view of her gardens, Harley flopped onto a chair as Ivy sat delicately, Raven was perched on the edge, ready to fly at any minute while Gar slowly lowered himself fully back against the chair with a pained sigh.

Isley looked at the boy "Still healing?" he nodded.

Raven, however, had a much different reaction to that piece of knowledge "How do you know that?" she said as her eyes narrowed to slits.

"Because I told her. I've been talking to her for a few months" the sorceress turned to stare at Beast Boy with astonishment written all over her features.

Any retort Raven would have given was cut off by her communicator ringing, she opened it and stared at the screen for the other party to start "Robin here, you find anything?"

Beast Boy took it from her "Few drones, nothing else. Don't know who made them but I can send over what I saw"

Robin looked puzzled "Why don't you just bring one back?"

Beast Boy shook his head "Two things wrong with that, first I'm staying here, if you need me the communicator will be on and second…they're crushed. As is 65 tons."

Robin blinked rapidly trying to figure out what could do that much damage "Um…okay, if you're sure it's safe…" he trailed off.

Gar smiled "Totally. And besides this might be the only time I can see my aunt for awhile"

"Is that Robin?" came from the other chair. Gar nodded and a vine plucked the comm from his hand "Robin! It's been too long" she smirked as the leader blushed bright red at the sight of the seductress.

Robin turned to Batman who's face replaced the young boy's "Ivy, I'm surprised to know you had a nephew"

She smiled "So was I"

The faint up twitch of the bat's lips faded "You know the rules"

She waved a hand nonchalantly "Yes, yes. But he is staying here." Batman nodded without hesitation and snapped the communicator closed.

Tossing back the gadget to it's owner there was a moment of silence before Ivy realized that Gar was lightly snoring. All three women had to stifle giggles at the sight of the green man sleeping, his mouth was closed and he wasn't drooling, which would have been embarrassing, but his ears were twitching on their own accord as he gently sighed and continued to sleep.

Ivy smiled to Quinn "Harls, take him up to the Pur-no, let's make that the Blue room. I want to talk with Raven privately."

"Sure Red, just gimme a minute an I'll be outta your hair" and the jester woke the boy with a shake on the shoulder and they were on their way to the aforementioned room.

When Raven stood her hostess gestured her to stay seated. Then came a stiff silence. Raven knew she could overpower Ivy directly but the doctor was known for her hidden attacks and subterfuge which she used to devastating effect. Ivy's eyes changed from looking at her to pinning her down. It was uncomfortable for the younger woman who remained perfectly still even though she had grown used to looks similar to this one long ago.

But the words that came out of Ivy's mouth brought bright red to her face "So are you having sex with my nephew or not?"

"What?!" was the only word that came out of Raven's mouth.

Ivy crossed her legs and glared at Raven "Girl, let me share with you what I know of people." the final word was spat "People can sleep around with no qualms, but there are those like my sister, her husband and Garfield who won't share a bed with somebody they don't completely trust. I know about his insomnia, but that only explains him. You are the one unknown in all this." the Red's gaze changed again from harsh to deeply analytical, if Raven felt bare before then she was nothing but naked before this. "The question is what do you feel for him, and don't you dare sell me that you were forced into it or the 'he's just a friend' crap, you're way to closed off for that to be it."

Ivy was clearly waiting for an answer so Raven thought deeply, that was after all, her forte. It was true she didn't feel like he was just a friend, he had sacrificed so much for her. Not that the others didn't but his suffering was the loss of things that could never come back, his eye and the hope he had of not being a monster he willfully gave up to help her. Even the Beast would never harm her. But she didn't know how she felt about that. There was so much clutter in her head about it that she couldn't hear Happy, nor Rage, as an individual-they all blended together into a roar. "I-I don't know…I'll have an answer… soon but I have to think this over" Ivy nodded and allowed her to go to the same room as her nephew without hassle.

She quickly pulled out her mirror and delved into it's depths, since the connection was into a deeper part of her mind time meant nothing to those within Nevermore. She spoke to her emotions for hours in her mind yet still knew only a few minutes had passed on Earth. But she finally found her answer. So she climbed into the bed and watched the green man sleep for a few moments before pulling herself into his chest where his arms wrapped around her and allowing herself to fall into sleep as well.

The next day was filled with revelations, Raven now had confirmed what she felt and was feeling…jittery. Red caught her eye and smiled as the dark sorceress wandered down the stairs to the main floor. Gar was up cooking breakfast for the four of them, something that had surprised Ivy and Harley, usually the two either waited for lunch or ate some pre-made food.

But there was something to be said for the scent of fresh apple waffles wafting through the air with fresh honey and cinnamon biscuits. As they sat around Raven asked a question that had been plaguing her since the day before "Harley Quinn, why are you here?"

The woman shrugged "With Mistah J in the slam ain't much I can do by myself, Red here's nice enough to let me stay if I help around the house"

With that answered they went back to the meal. It was a testament to the green man's skill that nobody spoke during the meal and more conversation happened over coffee and tea as the dishes sat in the middle of the table. It was the carefree chatting of relative who hadn't seen each other in years. "I was here before" the boy said as he looked around.

His aunt nodded "You came here a long time ago, you were just a baby." Ivy giggled "You were precious, clinging to anybody who'd pick you up!"

Gar shrugged with a smile as Raven smirked "Not much has changed" she giggled and Beast Boy laughed at her comment.

The communicators ping and a blip appeared on the map of Gotham. "Got to run" was all the green man said as he and his partner darted out of the door ready to confront any villain who crossed their path.

Harley watched several emotions play across Ivy's face "Red…you think that girl likes him?"

The answer took a short moment to appear "I think so…it's hard to read that girl, she hides everything. But if she didn't then she wouldn't have hesitated so much when I asked her last night"

It was a quick flight to the target where Adonis was causing trouble, they were the only two as Cinderblock, Plasmus and Overload were causing trouble in other parts of the city. The man in red laughed "Oh, dark girl! Had to come see me again huh?"

Raven hissed but it was Beast Boy who stared at him and burned him with a response "Rae…do you want me to eat him?" both hero and villain spun their heads to look at him as his body grew to over twenty feel long and bones formed a hard shell around his back-an ankylosaurus.

Adonis growled and crouched into a wrestling stance ready for the dinosaur, now charging at him. Unfortunately he was lured into a trap, as he got closer Beast Boy instantly shifted into a bobcat and ducked between the mecha-man's legs before switching to a giant squid and jerking his enemy back where a black fist slammed into him the exact moment he hit the ground knocking him out cold.

"Now to get him out" the green boy sighed turning into a Indian Red Scorpion, the most lethal of the many species of scorpions, before climbing into one of the air vents and crawling throughout the suite before hitting the eject button. The helmet flew off and the chest piece split in half before flopping open exposing the tiny man within. Again he turned to Raven with a serious look "What now? Your call."

She paled before shuddering "L-let's just get him to jail" he nodded and jerked the man out the suite and slapping handcuffs on his wrists and dragging him to the station.

The yellow and black round at his hip went off and Beast Boy jerked it open to reveal Cyborg's face "Hey man, you doing okay?"

"Just got that creep to jail"

The metal man nodded "Dude, I took a look at Light's computer…the message was run through enough proxies and delays that it's impossible for me or Batman to get a fix on what continent it originated from let alone who sent it"

Seeing his friend's crestfallen expression he shrugged "I knew it was a long shot…but don't worry, we'll find out who did it and then we won't have to worry about them again" the note of finality wasn't missed by Raven or Cyborg who nodded.

"Well man, I gotta get back to the Cave, we're trying to find out who all's in this city from Jump"

"Send us a list when you get it. Beast Boy over and out."

Raven watched him closely for a moment before asking "Why don't we go back to Ivy's house?"

Rubbing his face the green man nodded and shifted into a seagull and taking off with her close behind. Raven had to admit that flying over the city was probably the worst landscape to fly over, everything was dark and grey, melancholy seemed to surrounded them with the smog.

But breaking past it to the outskirts was worth it-darks became beautiful green and the melancholy was washed away by tranquil joy. Even amongst these Ivy's house held the largest garden, flowers of every color were visible even from this distance, colors became even more vibrant as they landed and the view changed again as they walked through the rows of the plant mistress's kin.

Beast Boy was quiet as they made their way to the house, whether in thought or something else, she couldn't tell but he looked like he was in less pain then he had been in months.

Ivy greeted them cheerfully while Harley was passed out on the couch with her head in Ivy's lap, apparently having spent the entire night watching every single James Bond movie. Raven had to admit that it was odd to see these two hardened criminals so lax and…pure. In an odd way they were detached from what they used to do and it left them as blank canvases for whatever came next.

Settling down on the couch Raven allowed herself several deep breaths that unwound the coil of tension she always had when they got a call. Ivy watched her pointedly but said nothing as Gar kissed her cheek "Aunt Ivy, I'm going to my saline wash." he said and pointed to his throat.

Ivy let him leave before she turned to Raven "Have you figured it out?"

Raven nodded "It seems to be deeper than friendship…but I don't know if it could be called genuine love at the moment." Ivy seemed pleased with that and Raven found the courage to ask "Are you in love with Harley?"

Gently running her fingers through the other woman's hair Ivy let a tender smile show through "Yes. And maybe someday she'll realize it." Quiet contentment seemed to spread and fill the room in a way that Raven couldn't fathom.

Until frantic chirps filled the air as Raven jumped and ripped her communicator off her belt. Batman's face took up the screen but his face seemed paler than usual. He curtly ordered "Get Beast Boy." as he had been coming down the stairs that hadn't been a problem but the next words were "Somebody planted a megaton warhead downtown."

Raven gasped "How?"

Gritting his teeth Batman growled "No idea but there was a note sent out that said they had built the bomb and that Beast Boy needs to be at 1212 Main at noon…alone."

Beast Boy finally asked "Why?"

Batman shrugged with anger built into the lines of his body.

The streets had been evacuated and Beast Boy could honestly say it was quite the experience walking down the streets of one of the most crowded cities in America…all by himself. Main street had been derelict for many years now allowing many gangs and illegal operations to do their business there as well as shelter the city's homeless. 1212 in particular was a building long battered by both time and those around it-once it held a small laboratory where some of the best minds of Gotham had worked tirelessly to help better the world.

Now inside was a large bomb, capable of destroying much of the city.

Never slowing the shifter walked straight ahead until a voice he knew very well squeaked out pathetically "Finally! Turns out those morons couldn't kill you so I end up having to do it myself! Always by myself!"

Staring emotionlessly Beast Boy examined Gizmo "You targeted both Ivy and myself…I could understand me but why her?"

Snorting the little man looked at a screen on his wrist, infrared and thermals both showed them alone "Nature can't stand up to machines. It started with your stupid nature powers until I realized that everyone was saying how machines would never win against nature." pulling up his goggles anyone looking at the boy could see there was something deeply wrong, his eyes were bloodshot but manically wide and he wasn't really seeing anything leading a look of insanity. "All those idiots though that I couldn't win…then every time you showed up I always ended up dealing with that stupid cyborg leaving no chance that I could show them how I'd kick your ass! They started haunting me, keeping me up at night, but now I got you! You're gonna die and I'm gonna win!"

It was obvious that Gizmo had fallen off the deep end. There was nobody keeping him up at night. Just the voices in his own head.

Manically rummaging around in his pack the diminutive psycho pulled out a hand gun and snorted "So primitive but it'll have to do. Say good-bye you stupid ANIMAL!" and he emptied the clip.

Batman was leading the rest of the Titans deep underground, the vast pipes that once connected the various systems of Old Gotham to Main were empty save the five who cautiously crept every inch of the miles they needed to cover. Starfire asked hesitantly "Friend Batman…why are we in such a dark and gloomy place?" in her hand was a star bolt that light the area nicely.

The night vision in his cowl allowed Batman to stay ahead of them and navigate any obstacles that the flat light of Star's bolt couldn't illuminate "Using these tunnels you can come up anywhere you want on Main with little effort. Beast Boy is going alone as to not alarm or alert whoever planted the bomb while we sneak up behind and keep it from detonating."

Raven was nervous, not that thousands of unsteady tons hung overhead, nor the dark fetid corners that hid everything but by the simple fact that radio couldn't get through. Down here they would have no idea if Beast Boy was alive or…not. She couldn't even think it.

It felt like they started this crawl days ago and now she was so lost that she had no way of knowing where they were. No way of knowing where anything but 'up' was and no idea how far the surface was.

Then Batman looked back at them and tapped a gloved finger to his lips. Readying themselves for whatever may lie beyond the grate on the floor they were looking up through they heard the squeaking voice rambling for a moment before eight gunshots went off.

Each time they flinched.

Batman burst through the grate literally, bits of metal showered the air around them, Cyborg was next with a large EMP that fried the electronics of everything in the building including, what he now saw to his relief, was an electric control board to the bomb. Everyone else came out at once.

Time took place frame by frame. Batman knocked down the man standing by the bomb, Cyborg's mechanical eye had no readings of lead from the device-meaning it was dead. Robin took out the only other man guarding the room. Starfire punched through the ceiling and scanned the rooftops for anyone.

Raven let out a claw of ebony power to slam Gizmo into the ground, into the asphalt.

There stood Beast Boy. Eyes closed and perfectly unharmed. Guarded by two giant vines, each the width of a tire, wrapped around him gently and tough enough that the bullets did no harm.

As the Titans locked down the building Ivy and Harley came out of the tunnels where her plants had busted through the street. Ivy had come to protect her nephew and Harley to protect her- by virtue of a baseball bat and a shotgun.

Raven and Ivy both made beelines for Gar who seemed to sag with relief that his life wasn't on the line anymore. Neither of them took more than three steps as police flooded the scene and Commissioner Gordon started clean up.

Gordon walked up to Gar, his face trained on the young man "Son, that was a very brave thing you did." he praised as he looked between the eye patch and the eye.

Gar let out a weak, raspy chuckle "Brave? Not so much. Stupidly hopeful? Yes sir."

Gordon let out a chuckle in reply that quickly grew into full blown laughter "Well said son!"

Quietly the heroes and once-villains retreated leaving the police to their duties, Alfred had no problems welcoming everybody with tea and scones. Praise for Beast Boy hadn't stopped since they had left and now that they had settled in Robin finally stepped forward "Beast Boy, that was brave. We didn't tell you we had your back just that you needed to go there. You didn't know we were going to come from behind. I'm sorry. As a reward I'm putting you on vacation until you completely heal!"

A cheer erupted and Beast Boy smiled before looking at his aunt "Would you mind if I stayed with you?"

She beamed "I was going to…suggest it." she said tapping on Harley's baseball bat.

That got a round of laughter from the group and Robin stood up and shook his head as he meandered into the kitchen to get another drink. The sound of a cape brushing legs let him know that Raven had followed him "Robin, I need to ask you something."

Turning around he knew it was big, Raven looked nervous. "Okay, what is it?"

Taking a deep breath she slowed herself down to a measured pace "I'd like to stay with Beast Boy."

Robin's eyes widened before he nodded "Okay. I'll get Jinx and Kid Flash to cover for you and him."

Raven's two words had much more behind them than he would know "Thank you."

Batman looked at both Harley and Ivy "I take it you'll not be using this information to your advantage?"

Ivy rolled her eyes "So distrustful." she muttered before answering "No, we won't. Look, both of us are out of the game."

He nodded before the sound of engines starting forced him to turn his head. Beast Boy and Raven stood on his other side watching the T-ship as it started lifting off from the launch pad and roared out of the cave.

Raven turned to the owner of the home "We'll be getting out of your way. I know you want to get back to work as soon as you can." his nod was all the answer she needed and they were evicted from the cave post haste and made their way back to Ivy's home.

The ordeal had drained Beast Boy heavily and he had quickly retreated to the bedroom for a nap while Harley had sat, captivated, by the newest of the new Bond films on Netflix.

Raven stood beside Ivy in the gardens. It was amazing how comfortable they were with each other now. Ivy watched the dark girl beside her "You haven't told him yet?"

"No. I'll tell him when he wakes up. Go ahead and tell Harley."

Peeking out of the corner of her eye Ivy asked "Now why would I do that?"

"Because I think she might be a bit interested in Gar after what happened today." finally looking to her side Raven noted that the other woman was gone and allowed a smirk to crawl up her face at the simple lie "So easy to read." she commented as a humming bird drank deeply from a dark blue flower.