Something was troubling Beast Boy. You could only tell if you watched him when he was alone. When he thought no one was watching him, he'd get a very serious, almost angry, look of concentration on his face. With other people around, he easily slid back into that care-free happy attitude. But now Raven saw it for what it was. It wasn't obvious, so Raven wouldn't be surprised if the others hadn't noticed. If she was honest, she had only begun to notice recently.

Raven hovered just above her bed in the lotus position, quietly chanting her mantra. She had changed for bed, but couldn't get to sleep. It was concerning that the others didn't see that their friend had been uniquely quiet lately. She wanted to say something, but didn't want cause anything bad to happen. Robin could easily make the conclusion that Beast Boy was in some sort of trouble or something. Ever since "The Beast" appeared, Robin always jumped to the worst conclusion with Beast Boy, especially when he got angry or acted unusual. Even though Beast Boy had not had any incidents since. Robin meant well, but sometimes took his role as leader too far. Also, she didn't want to risk her friendship with Beast Boy.

It was true that Beast Boy often annoyed her to an outstanding degree, but he was also the first to come to her aid or even strike up a conversation. Beast Boy was always trying to involve her with the group while the others seemed to be content leaving her alone. Recently, they were even having more intellectual discussions, surprisingly about comic books and their connections to old folktales and legends. She had come to realize Beast Boy was actually surprisingly intelligent, and very knowledgeable. Mostly she ignored Beast Boy but she wondered how well she'd get along without him to help. Raven sighed and opened her eyes. She really needed something to soothe her mind.

After a minute, she dropped to the floor and walked to her door. She considered grabbing her cloak, looking at herself in the mirror, but she didn't really need it. She wore her sleeping attire which consisted of a dark blue fitted tee, and black boyshorts. She poked her head out into the hall, then, and after seeing the coast was clear, she began tiptoeing her way to the kitchen.

She first had noticed the change in behavior when Beast Boy had missed an extremely obvious opportunity to bother her. Not that she was complaining, but Beast Boy never missed a chance to cause some harmless annoyance. So she noticed, and began noticing more and more. He wouldn't make jokes if no one prompted him, he was quiet when he played games or watched movies, he didn't argue with Cyborg or Raven anymore. He still hung around with the team, would still go out, and when others were paying attention to him, he acted like his normal self. Raven saw though, when he thought no one was watching, he stopped pretending.

As she stepped into the common area she had to shield her eyes from the sun, just cresting the horizon. It was much later than she thought. She'd forgotten how late it'd been when they'd gotten back to the tower. She stayed up all night worrying about Beast Boy. Her face scrunched up at the implications of that. The last thing she needed was someone teasing her over nothing.

"It's not strange for me to be concerned." She reasoned, "He's a close friend."

"Are you gonna be fighting crime in that?" A voice said from behind her.

Raven whipped around to see Beast Boy, awake and also wearing his pajamas, a pair of loose fitting dark green sweatpants and tank top. She didn't say anything thing, just stared. Beast Boy was smirking, and casually brushed past her.

"It's nice. It's got a 'just got outta bed' feel to it. Very chic." He said, going over to the kitchen area and opening a cabinet.

"Beast Boy." Raven managed to say, "You're up early."

"Stating the obvious? Isn't that another hero's powers?" He replied with a grin, pouring himself a bowl of cereal.

"Are you...feeling okay?"

"Yea, why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I just...didn't you see much last night." Raven said.

"Duh, it's called sleeping, Raven." He gave her an odd look, "Do you feel alright?"

Raven blinked at this. Of course she felt fine, nothing had happened to her. Then she registered what he said about her outfit.

"I'm fine," she nearly stuttered, folding her arms across her chest. "Excuse me."

Raven phased through the floor and went to her room. She quickly changed into her cloak and leotard then returned to the kitchen. When she arrived she found the others had already gotten up and were fussing over breakfast.

Garfield was losing it, and not in the figurative sense either. He was actually losing control, and he wasn't sure exactly how. Everything had been fine, perfect even. He'd actually been doing better in practically every aspect of his life. Fighting crime had never been easier, he was keeping up with his chores, more or less, and Robin had finally stopped treating him like a kid. He was equal with Cyborg in almost all the video games they had, he was even getting along with Raven pretty well, holding civilized conversations and going for walks. It made him very happy. Garfield finished his last set of push-ups and rolled over, grabbing a towel to wipe the sweat from his brow. Next was two hundred and fifty situps. Positioning himself on the mat, he took a swig from a nearby water bottle and began. So things were going pretty well for Garfield, and were only looking to improve. That is, until that day, six months ago.

It had been a pretty normal day, the Titans were out doing their thing, fighting crime. These amateur criminals thought they had a pretty good plan to rob a bank, so good in fact they thought they could pull it off in broad daylight. The Titans made short work of them, subduing the would-be masterminds. Garfield was tasked with hunting down the last of the crew, and was closing in on him. He remembered seeing guy in the distance, seeing him duck into an alley, then the next thing he knew, he had the guy by the throat. The feel of the man's pulse in his hand, the tang of fear that permeated the air, the sound of the coward choking out pleas for his life. Garfield remembered the twisted grin on his own face as he contemplated exactly how he would kill this lesser creature.

It scared Garfield, how easily his mind had turned to murder, how casually he decided that this man would die. It wasn't a matter of if, or even when, but a matter of how. The man's life was already over, the rest of his time here was formality. The man, no older than Garfield, was begging, tears and snot running down his face, and all Garfield could feel was the thrill of holding another's life in his hands. His nerves were tingling, he felt electrified, more alive than anytime before in hisentire existence. He was the Alpha and this pathetic worm had gone against him, disrupted the order of things. He had to die.

Raven, of course, was the one to pull him back to reality. She didn't know the sway she held over Garfield, which is why it hurt sometimes being around her. He had always liked her, from the very beginning she bewitched him. What started as a crush quickly turned into something more, and as he grew he began to see exactly how serious it was. The sound of her voice calling his name, her scent on the wind brought it all rushing back. He couldn't kill this guy, he was a hero and heroes don't kill people. Before Raven turned the corner Garfield had the guy facedown on the ground, hands ziptied behind his back.

Six months ago Garfield had lost control, just for a moment he would've killed somebody without a second thought. If even one thing had gone differently he would've been a murderer. The source of this incident was quite obviously the Beast, he didn't doubt that. What was concerning was the suddenness of the incident, there had been no warning. One moment he'd been normal, the next he was squeezing the throat of some punk. There was no fighting it, he didn't even have a moment to consider his next action, it just happened in an instant. The thought was horrifying.

Garfield finished the last set of situps then hopped to his feet, stepping up to a treadmill to begin running. Since that day he had to spend every waking moment fighting his animal instincts. Anything, even the most insignificant moment, could be a trigger that sent him over the edge. He became aware of how much the Beast influenced his mindset and personality. His normally affable demeanor now had an underlying hostility. The smell of meat, especially raw meat, made him drool. Whenever pretty women passed by he had to force himself under control. The worst was when he was with Raven. He had caught himself more than once reaching out to her, and had to dig his nails into his thigh to rein in the impulse. Every day was an uphill battle, one that Garfield feared he was losing.

For a moment he forced the anxiety away, and focused on running. The hum of the treadmill was hypnotizing as he began to pick up speed. Running was one of the more relaxing things Garfield did these days as it allowed him to really let loose. Maybe it was because it appealed to the animal part of him. If he ran at his top speed he could get close to forty miles an hour, which is faster than anybody else could run by a large margin. It might be an unfair advantage he had, since technically he was part cheetah, but that's neither here nor there. Suddenly his headphones were yanked from his head.

"Beast Boy!"

Garfield tripped, then righted himself before slowing down to a halt. He'd been so caught up in his exercise that he didn't even notice Raven approaching. She was right next to him. I really need to get some sleep, my nerves are shot.

"Jesus! You really need to give a guy some warning before you start shouting in his ear."

Raven rolled her eyes before answering. "I did. You didn't hear me."

"Oh, right…" Garfield laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Well what's up? Did you need something?"

"We're getting pizza tonight. I came to check what you wanted, though I have an idea of what that might be." She said, placing a hand on her hip.

Yeah, I'd love a Meat Lover's Special, extra meat. He thought. Snapping his fingers, he gave her a wide grin and pointed at her with both hands. "Vegetarian!" He exclaimed.

"Of course. I'll tell Cyborg."

Putting his headphones back on, Garfield looked down on his phone to select a new song. He glanced up a minute later, and was surprised to find Raven still there, staring at him. She was making a face like she wanted to say something.

"Was there something else?" He asked, waving his hand from her face.

She started, then shook her head. "No, just thinking something."

"While staring at me? It was either mean, or dirty."

"I was thinking that you smelled." She said, quirking an eyebrow.

"Ouch. Well that's almost both, kind of."

"Right. We're going to put in the order soon, so come upstairs." She sniffed the air pointedly. "After a shower."

With that she turned on her heel and left, leaving Garfield to enjoy her scent. Like lavender and honey, but also a little spicy, it made him want to hold her. Instead he grabbed his towel and buried his face in it. This is getting out of hand, I was ready to take her right here. I need to think of something, and quick.

Raven found herself floating in the common room staring at the back of Beast Boy's head as he watched tv. She had been trying all week to talk to him about what she saw, but kept coming up against one fact no one had noticed anything meant that Raven had no way to bring it up. He could just laugh it off. As much as she wanted to confront Beast Boy, she also didn't want to get anyone else involved. It felt like it might be personal business, and he might get upset if it was made public. She didn't want that. She floated gently over the couch and sat next to Beast Boy, folding her legs underneath herself. He smiled at her and winked, then turned back to his show.

"Beast Boy…" Raven began, hesitating, " We're...friends, right?" She kept her focus on the television.

He didn't respond at first, just stared at her as she kept her eyes on the show. Raven grew nervous. What if he didn't think of her as a friend? What if he only thought of her as a teammate or colleague?

"Of course we're friends Raven. After all we've been through, I should hope so." He laughed, turning a suddenly awkward situation on its head, making all the tension in the air melt away.

Raven breathed a little easier. "Good." How does he do that?

A few moments passed with nothing but the sounds of the television, then Raven said, "You know you can tell me anything." She looked at him then, and their eyes met as he turned to face her.

"I know."

Raven's breath caught as they held each other's gaze. His eyes were absolutely captivating. The way the light reflected, highlighting the varying shades of green in his irises. She blinked once and quickly turned away, tugging her hood down further. That was strange.

The next day, Beast Boy was gone.

Hello, this is Mocha. For about two years now I've been obsessed with this pairing, and I've been reading this community's stories for about that long as well. I've had the inkling of this story brewing in my mind for a while now, and it's actually been blocking me from writing my other stuff as I'm aiming to be a professional writer. So I decided I might as well get this thing out of my head, and use it to work on my technique. I'll try to update as often as possible, and I think this going to be pretty short, maybe four or five chapters. Like I said, I'm mostly trying to get this out of my head.

Rated T for adult language and suggestive themes, probably.

I feel like it is unnecessary to state that I don't own Teen Titans, because if I did I sure as shit wouldn't be putting this down as fanfiction.