Slade's clones had changed. They were more advanced, in both fighting and thinking. Before, Beast Boy was able to strike five of them at a time. Now, he could hardly knock two unconscious. What bothered him the most was that he could barely touch them. Their blows were as painful as ever, though. The other Titans seemed to be having the same trouble. Cyborg was firing his sonic cannon randomly, being careful not to strike one of his own. Starfire was wrapped in the grasp of three enemies, unable to knock them off. Robin, knocking two fighters over with a kick, ran to Starfire and played hero as he wiped out her attackers. She gave him a warm smile before awakening a green light in her hands. "… trion Zinthos!" Beast Boy caught the final words of Raven's chant as she lifted several clones by their feet and smashed them against the wall.

"Enough!"

At once, all clones froze, as well as the Titans. Slade appeared from the shadows (his usual entrance.) He walk was slow as was his speech, though he was certainly not dumb. "Once again, I have underestimated your abilities. But in order for my plan to work, I need you all to be destroyed. Now. And since my workers have been unable to kill you the fair way, I will now do it MY way." And with that, Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were all jumped. A small tick was placed on their foreheads. Beast Boy and Raven, who had avoided getting caught, stopped fighting to watch the horror. Before the Titans had a chance to breathe, the ticks started to beep a loud, high-pitched repeat. Raven screamed with her low cracked voice, and Beast Boy covered his eyes.

BOOM!-BOO-BOOOMMMMM!

Cavern rocks fell from the ceiling, and the exploding body parts of clones whipped Beast Boy in the face. He grabbed at his cheekbone, forgetting that his hand was what kept him from seeing the scene. And now he could see it very clearly. Smoke curled from the floor, making a hissing sound as it rose to the mouth of the cave. He could not see his friends anywhere, but he knew that he would never find them in one piece. He did find Robin's belt, and Cyborg's arm. One look at the two items, and Beast Boy fell to his knees. Slade was nowhere in sight. He had blown up his friends. The only people in the world he had ever cared about.

Something warm awoke Beast Boy from his sorrows. He turned to see Raven, undamaged, with her hand on his shoulder. She crouched down and stared at him with a pale face and deep black eyes. Neither could begin to find words. The green changeling's eyes leaked a stream of tears, and his mouth released the whimper of a broken child. Raven lightly touched his arm, planting herself on the ground. She pulled his head to her lap, and he started to whisper. Raven's voice was sketchy, and for a moment, she seemed to repeat the beginning of a sentence over and over. Finally, she gave up and bit her lip. Beast Boy reached for her hand. But he couldn't touch it. Opening his eyes, the boy watched as Raven started to fade. The smell of her cloth coat and the warmth of her leg to his face were also starting to vanish.

"Raven?"

"Goodbye, Beast Boy."

"What? Raven, NO! COME BACK!"

"It's all over," her voice was growing quieter, and her body was now translucent. "With the Titans gone, I have no reason to stay around."

"What about me?... Raven? Raven? RAVEN! COME BACK! PLEASE! I NEED YOU!" His screams grew louder; his tears rolled faster, his cries became more desperate. "I DON'T WANT T BE AALLLOOOOONNNEE!" Beast Boy grabbed at his hair, and began rolling around recklessly. He continued to scream and cry.

O O O O O

Raven felt her heart jump at Beast Boy's shrieks. She leaped from her bed, and dashed out to the hall. Robin and the others were on the next floor down, so either they couldn't hear him, or it was taking them longer to arrive at his room. Either way, when the goth arrived, she was alone at her friend's doorway. He was screaming cries of pain… She could hear his words distinctly. "They're gone! Oh, god! Please Raven! Please! Don't go!"

Raven blinked, no longer rushing. He was dreaming. Suddenly, fury boiled through her veins. Couldn't he dream QUIETER? But as she listened more, Raven realized that he was not just having a dream. By the way he hollered her name, he sounded as if he was screaming for his life. The blue titan considered her options, with the help of her emotions.

Happy: "Aww, he's screaming for you! That is so sweet!"

Angry: "Whatever! He's screaming at 2 AM. He's more annoying at night then he is during the day!"

Knowledge: "You need to go make sure he is okay, Raven. It is not normal to have such reactions to a simple dream. By the way he sounds, he could hurt himself, even in dream state."

Rude: "HECK NO! Why is it our job to play nurse? I say we walk in there, wake him up, and tell him to shut up!"

Timid: "It sounds horrible! Oh, what he must be dreaming! I feel so bad for him!"

Affectionate: "Raven, go help him. He needs you."

Raven grabbed her head. "BE QUIET ALL OF YOU!" She screamed. She almost hoped it would have awoken Beast Boy, but his shrieks overpowered hers easily.

Logic: "Just go wake him up, and see if he's okay. He'll say he's now fine, you warn him to be quiet, and we all go to sleep."

The real Raven agreed. She did her best to shut out the bickering of her emotions, and stepped inside Beast Boy's room. She took one look at it, and sighed. It was extremely untidy, smelled like vegetarian pizza (there were several boxes sitting by the door) and the floor was buried with old clothes and toys. Yep, that was Beast Boy for you.

But instead of insulting the room, Raven was focusing on the tossing figure in the king-sized bed. "They can't be dead! NO! It's not fair! Starfire, where are you? Robin? Cyborg? You guys aren't done yelling at me yet! Raven? Please, don't leave me! I still have to make you laugh. PLEEEEEEAAAAASE!" He broke out into hysterical sobs.

Raven felt her fear return. He looked so terrified, even with his eyes closed. He lashed around on his bed, with the covers so jumbled, they squeezed his sides tightly. He continued to call the Titans, and only when Raven heard Beast Boy scream a phrase when she realized his dream. "Slade, you can't do this! NO! It's too horrible! You blew up Starfire and Robin and Cyborg. MY FRIENDS!"

What about me? Raven couldn't help herself from wondering. Shut up, Raven. This is no time to get cocky! The blue-robed beauty approached her friend and shook him. He rolled from her grasp. She tried again, "Beast Boy, wake up. You're screaming really loud, and I can't sleep." Suddenly, the green boy stopped moving, but his eyelids did not open. "Raven? Raven, you came back! Where are you? I need you!"

The words chilled Raven's spine. She gulped back whatever had just tried coming into her mind, fearing what a certain emotion would say about Beast Boy's sentence. "Wake up!" She shook more aggressively. "You're dreaming!" But her friend was not responding to her calls. "Raven, show yourself! I can't deal with their deaths by myself! I'm scared! I know you don't like me that much, but our friends are dead! Can't you be compassionate for one minute!"

Raven wanted to shout in frustration. How dare he think she wouldn't help him! "Nobody is dead! We are all fine. You are dreaming. So, wake up!" Raven wrapped a black fog around her friend and lifted him towards the ceiling. When he started to scream for her again, she tried hanging him upside-down, sending him back and forth through the air, even spinning him around quickly; but nothing could arouse him. Her actions only made him more terrified. "Raven. I'm sorry."

The girl stopped with her magic. She froze, realizing that this had been the first statement he made that hadn't been a scream. "Sorry about what?"

"Whatever I did to make you ignore me now." He was getting quieter, which made Raven place him on his bed.

"I'm not ignoring you. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Beast Boy took a moment to respond. "Then why won't you laugh at my jokes, or let me see you right now? You are the closest person in the world to me, Raven. I know I've never told you that. But, you've been through so much, and it makes me enjoy my life more….. Dang it! That was the wrong thing to say, I didn't mean it like that. I just mean that you sort of… I don't want to waste a second of my life when you are around."

Raven was absolutely silent. She couldn't have spoken words if they had been written in front of her on a neon-sign. She felt a 'certain emotion' racing to her brain. More then anything, Raven wanted to block her out. She took a moment to clear her head.

"So, please let me see you." Beast Boy ended.

"You are dreaming, Beast Boy. Wake up, and you'll see me!"

The changeling started to jerk. "COME ON, RAE! PULEEASE! Our friends are dead. They're gone. I'm alone, you're alone. It's never going to be the same again! I have lost almost all of the people that mean so much to me, and now I'm losing you! PLEASE! PLEASE!"

He was starting to scare her again.

"RAVEN!"

The girl was now as terrified as he was. He was certain that the Titans were dead, and his hallucination was causing him to panic in real life. He continued to turn and scream and cry….

And then it stopped.

All together, he stopped. Stopped moving, stopped talking… Stopped breathing.

"Beast Boy?" Raven shook him vigorously. "Beast Boy?" Her face grew paler. She leaned over him, unsure of what to do. Should she call Robin?- By then it could be too late.

The titan girl frantically took Beast Boy's hand. "Beast Boy, it's okay! I'm here! Come on, I'm here! I'm not going to leave again, I promise!"

Nothing.

"I'M HERE! I WILL NEVER IGNORE YOU AGAIN!"

Somehow, her words had gotten through. Within a few long seconds, she heard him exhale loudly. It took him many more seconds to breathe in. "Never? Ever?"

Shutting out her emotions, except for the one that had been annoying her from the start, Raven reached out and took Beast Boy in her arms. She cuddled him very tightly and buried her head into the line in his neck.

"Rae." He sounded far away. "I can feel you… but I can't see you." He placed his arms around her and relaxed them.

An hour passed where the couple just hugged each other. Raven fell to sleep with Beast Boy's shoulder as her pillow. Beast Boy's screaming had died, as had his nightmare.

Together, they formed a bond that was oblivious to even them. It would take them time to figure it out how special they were to one another.

But with Beast Boy and Raven, there would always be time. Even through the crude jokes and exasperated insults… The time would come.

THE END