I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.

Smell

Beast Boy dropped his comic. He sniffed, then wrinkled his nose. She was back. And it was worse than usual. He had never been particularly fond of his sense of smell. It was always too strong. But with Raven, it was worse than he ever feared. That smell filled his nostrils and he resisted the urge to plug his nose. It wasn't always this way. Used to be the only thing he couldn't stand to smell on her was that ridiculously intoxicating perfume. But then, she had started having that smell too. Then others had joined it. She still wore the perfume. Even now he could smell it, if he really concentrated. But the other smells, they were so much worse. Beast Boy didn't know how the others couldn't smell it, or maybe they did and they chose to ignore them. After all, Beast Boy usually pretended to ignore them. But that smell. The one he so hated. The only thing about Raven that he truly hated. All of them were bad really. Well, almost.

The smell got stronger. A lot stronger. She was in the tower. Those smells threatened to make him gag. Alcohol, cocaine, sweat. Those weren't bad. Well, yes, two of them were bad. One illegal. And neither were anything that Beast Boy had ever wanted to smell on her, or any of his friends. And sweat never smelled particularly great on anyone. But he was used to sweat, he smelled it daily, especially after fighting someone. Alcohol and cocaine he could smell all around the city, so it wasn't necessarily as bad as maybe it should have been. But the last smell. That smell. He couldn't stand it. Just the faintest whiff of it from Raven was enough to send him over the edge. He had had to leave the tower, and then the city, the first night he smelled it. The Beast had gotten some exercise that night. Now, Beast Boy was able to keep that contained, and simply avoided her as much as he could, for everyone's safety.

He grimaced as she reached their floor. The smell was so bad. It was suffocating, and she wasn't even at his door yet. She would be soon. She had to pass it to go to hers. At least, she did whenever she came back at night. She never simply teleported in, or even used her powers. Instead, she'd stagger down he halls, barely able to keep on her feet, and then would pass out in her room. And while she did, that smell would keep him up all night, just bad enough to keep him angry but not enough to suffocate. And it wasn't any secret, at least to him, where that smell came from. He knew exactly where. The one building that he'd be okay with a super village obliterating. Not that it would change anything. He knew she would go someplace else for that smell. Most people probably didn't notice it. She probably covered it up with her perfume, just like everything else. But he knew. And sure, that smell could have come from just about anywhere, but that building was the only place that he could smell her at. She was there. A lot. Enough that even on the rare days that she didn't go, the place still smelled like her.

Raven had reached his door now. He had to hold his breath. If he didn't, he might lose control. That smell was overpowering. It was horrible. Anyone else would say maybe he was wrong. But he wasn't. The smell wasn't hard to imitate or recreate sure, but he knew. Even if every person in that building had the same perfume, drank from the same bottle, snorted the same line, and had that smell about them too, he still would know that she was there. Of course, even as much as he hated that smell, he'd never say anything about it to Raven. Or anyone else. He didn't want to talk about it. He couldn't talk about it. He could barely find the will power to force himself to crack jokes anymore. And he hoped the others didn't notice, but maybe they did. Maybe they chose to ignore that too. Maybe they didn't want to talk either. But if they knew what he smelled, oh, they'd talk. Everyone would talk. And he'd be stuck there. And there would be so, very, much talking. And that smell.

Raven was still outside his door. She had stopped. She never stopped. What was different? More importantly, why was that smell so much stronger than normal? Beast Boy felt a growl forming in his throat and swallowed it. He had to act asleep. That was how he always avoided it. If he was asleep, there was no need to talk. No reason to deal with the smell. But still she was outside his door. Maybe she had passed out early. She didn't smell like she had any more alcohol or cocaine than normal. He couldn't smell any other unpleasant substances. Just that smell. So strong and overpowering, and so much worse than any other night.

Beast Boy moved to his door, looking through the peep hole. She wasn't standing in front of the door. He opened the door. That smell hit him like a freight train. He had to squeeze the door frame to keep from staggering backward. He covered his nose and looked down. There she was, lying on the floor, unconscious and in dire need of privacy. He had never seen her when she came back at night. Good thing too. The growl he had fought back returned. He held it in. The growl wasn't his. He knew whose it was, and they were forbidden from coming out in the tower.

Beast Boy gently picked her up, barely breathing, trying not to smell it any more than he had to. He made his way to Raven's room, opening the door and setting her on her bed. She moaned tiredly and mumbled something, rolling away from him. He closed and locked the door. He did not need the others coming in right now. Now when her perfume had long worn off. When anyone could tell what had happened. He had to be careful. If he wanted to never talk about this, he had to make sure she didn't know what he had done. As gently as he could, he unclasped her belt. He unclipped her cloak, sliding it out from under her and dropping it on her floor. He didn't need to worry about a dirty clothes basket. Her room was almost as bad as his now. Her gloves came next, then her boots. Next came the hard part. Though, in her current state, he doubted if she'd wake up if a nuclear bomb had gone off outside the tower.

Beast Boy carefully pulled down the zipper on her back, then pulled the leotard down her body. He was actually impressed. It had always looked tight, but he hadn't actually expected it to be nearly impossible to take off. She shifted and Beast Boy let go, backing away. Had she woken up? No. She was just shifting in her sleep. He sighed, instantly regretting it as that smell hit him. The growl found its way out before he could stop it, and he clapped a hand over his mouth, cutting it short. Raven sat bolt upright, looking around through eyes that, in all honesty, weren't really open. Then, she flopped back onto her bed again. Beast Boy silently walked back to the bed, finishing taking the leotard off of her. It was easier to pull down her legs than her body. His eyes lingered longer than they should have. Actually, they never should have seen to begin with. Beast Boy got a clean outfit, walking back to the bed and just as carefully as he had removed the last one, began to pull this one onto her. It went slightly easier than the last, or may he had just gotten the hang of it, or got lucky. Finally, she had a clean leotard on. He gently zipped it closed then lay her head on her pillow, pulling the blanket up over her.

He swallowed, covering his nose and took a breath, unable to hold it any longer. This close the smell was truly suffocating. And the Beast was desperate to get out. But Beast Boy was able to control it. Maybe because of his worry for her, maybe because of something else. But he was able to control himself. He lowered his hand, deciding he had to deal with the smell eventually, even if during a fight. Especially during a fight. He grit his teeth, inhaling. The thing that surprised him most wasn't the fact that he literally gagged. Actually, he had assumed that might happen. What surprised him was the fact that he didn't feel anger like usual. Instead, he felt defeat. Sorrow. Depression. Suddenly, before he could move off of the bed, where he had sat beside her, she rolled over, taking his hand. His breath caught in his throat. She was awake. He had been discovered. She sat up, eyes still closed and mumbled something even his hearing couldn't make out.

Then, she kissed him. He sat there, unmoving. That smell. That awful smell was threatening to gag him again. He could taste alcohol on her breath and her lips. He could smell all of the things that he had been suffering from so much to the point that it blocked out even the feeling of her kissing him. Not that he was actually enjoying it. She was drunk. And high. And still asleep. It was her empath side. She was sensing his pain and trying to make him feel better.

She mumbled something about cheering up then slumped against him. He set her on the bed again, jaw clamped tightly on another, much angrier growl, then quietly pulled the blankets back up over her and left. He went out his window, flying to the clearing where he had had to let the Beast out before. Then, he landed in the center, turning back into himself. Within seconds, he had turned. He began to rip up trees, claw the ground. He snarled and roared and growled and tore at anything he could get his claws on for what felt like hours.

Then, he turned back. Not because his rage was over, but because he had smelled that smell. It was on him now. It clung to him like a parasite. Suddenly, he was crying. Sobbing. His forehead pressed to the ground, hands curled into fists beside his head, forearms supporting his weight. He slammed his fists down, trying to get angry. Trying to bring the Beast back. To do anything to forget the pain, to not feel it. Anything was better. Even him. But the Beast had gone. It was there, deep inside, but its anger had been crushed out of existence this time.

Suddenly, he stiffened. That smell. She was here. Again. She had found him. Except, she had cleaned up, it smelled like. It wasn't so strong now, and he couldn't smell the alcohol or cocaine anymore. And that perfume was back. Oh how he had missed smelling that perfume.

Tears still fell from his eyes. He hadn't stopped crying. He just was holding back his sobs. That smell denied him even that form of release, it seemed. He slowly sat up, wiping his eyes, the tears stopping, then stood. He knew she was standing behind him. He knew she was crying. He could smell the tears, hear them hitting the freshly shredded ground at her feet. But he couldn't turn around. If he did, he would break.

But he did turn around. And he broke. Both he, and his heart. He couldn't bear to see her cry, any more than he could stand to smell that on her. He wiped her tears, even though he knew it was pointless, and she wiped his. Their eyes met for less than a second and both understood. She understood his pain, and what she had done to him for so long now. And he understood why. But there was something else, too. Something both understood. Something that took his pain away. He wouldn't smell that again on her. She was done. She had quit when she saw how much it was hurting him, and when she had realized he cared, when he took care of her and changed her into something not ruined from her night activities, so that no one else would know. When he had hidden the secret that caused him so much pain, rather than let the world know.

She kissed him again, this time in full awareness of her actions. And he kissed her back. It was gentle. Loving. Both simply wanted to show the other how they felt, and to show them that they would always be there when needed. Neither wanted, or needed, anything more than that. When they pulled away, she flew them into the air, heading back to the tower. He rested his head on her shoulder and inhaled. And for the first time in so long, he was bathed once again in her ridiculously intoxicating perfume. The one that made him want to hold her. That made him die inside when she wasn't sitting in his arms. The one that had finally returned to replace that smell. Beast Boy smiled as they landed in his room and lay on his bed. Neither wanted to smell it, or deal with it now. That was a task for another night. For another time, when they weren't both ready to pass out already. When they weren't sleep deprived and exhausted from emotions. For when the others weren't walking down the hall to make themselves breakfast.

THE END

Read and review.