Alright, so I swear I'm going to get back to my other story, but this idea has

been gnawing away my sub-conscious so I'm going to be writing this as well.

...

Bold text is the symbiote talking to Garfield.

Prologue

)0(

Beast Boy ran into the light of day, away from the blond-haired geomancer who refused to acknowledge their relationship and her ties to the Titans. Pushing the flood of grief that threatened to drown his heart, the shapeshifter rose to the sky in the form of a sparrow.

Following the signs and sounds of battle, he found his team attacking the mysterious white monster in a construction zone. He observed the battle as he perched on the side of a steel beam. The creature was roughly about the size of his beast and had an extremely fast regenerative power.

Some may think Beast Boy was stupid, but that simply was not the case. It was a part of the Jokester act he played. During his time in the Doom Patrol, Mento had embedded hundreds of militaristic protocols inside the changeling's thick skull. Follow that up with years of fighting experience and survival instinct, he was actually quite tactful.

He noted how the creature could turn into any material it made contact with, becoming liquid cement before hardening and trapping a cybernetic man's limb inside before turning itself into a titanium brute and ripping Cyborg's arm off.

How could his power's help against a creature who could turn its flesh into any material? These moments made him envy Raven's powers, though, he found a guilty pleasure in her struggle to bring down the monster as well.

Suddenly a dark, feminine voice spoke in his mind. "Shapeshifteeeerrr..."

The green boy paused with a bewildered look before shaking his head and vaulting down to the dusty ground below. A single thought sent his body into excruciating pain for no more than a few seconds as he switched to a stegosaurus and landed on top of the now concrete creature, shattering its left arm and cracking its back. It healed quickly of course but it was a spectacular display none the less.

"There you are friend Beast Boy, what a grand entrance." Starfire happily clasped her hands and enticing a smile from the now human Beast Boy.

His smile faltered however when the voice came back. "Heeeelp meeeeee."

The ominous hiss sounded desperate and Beast Boy found himself searching around until his eyes rested on the now fully regenerated and frost white creature.

"yessss... I'm being drained as weeeee... speeeeaak... Help meee." Its voice was fading and becoming distant.

Maybe it was his hero initiative, maybe it was the desperation in the entities voice, or maybe it was just his cat-like curiosity. Whichever it was, he found his arm digging into the creature's chest as its metal tearing screech emitted from its throat.

The creature reeled its arm back, prepared to strike the changeling but before it could, the arm in its chest expanded ten-fold as the changeling became a sasquatch, and the creature dropped its own arm onto the green limb embedded in its torso. He felt something warm and slightly slimy wrap itself around his furry forearm and a cry of excitement in his head.

The Titan's had been, confused by their teammate's sudden actions. However, they trusted their friend, so they came to help.

Starfire wrapped her arms firmly around Beast Boy's torso and began to pull with him. Had he been paying attention, he would have mused on the way her palms tugged warmly on his bare chest.

With a final monkey-like roar from the green sasquatch and an ecstatic "yes yes yes!" throbbing through his mind, both Starfire and him exploded backward and tumbled to the dusty ground together.

The creature let loose one final squeal before melting to the floor in a white puddle. Cyborg, Robin, and Raven ran to their downed teammates.

When the dust cloud cleared, the duo's position was of a very suggestive nature. Somehow, the Tameranian had ended up on top of Beast Boy and one of her knees were in between the now human changeling's legs. One hand rested on his chest as she looked up dazed. Her eyes found Beast Boy groaning underneath her with his green orbs closed. A faint blush reached her cheeks as she fumbled to get up.

This, of course, was seen by Robin who grunted in annoyance.

Beast Boy simply sat up and rubbed his head. When a tingling sensation reached his hand he looked at it and watched intently as a black sludge began to seemingly flow into his green skin until it was gone.

"How did you know that would kill it grass stain?" Cyborg asked while examining the white liquid on the ground.

"please don't tell them about me..." the voice which was now a lot less fuzzy and more cheerful than previously pleaded.

"uuuuh... I could smell a different chemical in the air so I just kinda went for it, dude."

while this appeased Starfire and Cyborg, Robin and Raven each gave him quizzical looks before nodding and turning away.

Beast Boy let go a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"why didn't you want to be known?" Beast Boy whispered so low even his own hearing had trouble picking it up.

"You can speak to me in your mind Shapeshifter, and because they would surely kill me for what I am."

"And what are you exactly?"

The entity hesitated and Beast Boy quickly reasurred it. "I won't kill you." He then placed his hand over his heart, "Scouts honor.

A humorous, almost serene laugh massaged his conscious and he had the strangest feeling deja vu, like he had heard that same angelic laughter in a past life. "I appreciate your humor Shapeshifter... I am a symbiote called, venom."

"Venom, huh?" The green boy thought for a moment then decided to address the elephant in the room. "Why did you enter my body, and where are you now?"

Again the voice hesitated. "I want to offer a proposition..." Beast Boy's silence prompted the creature to continue. "I need a host to live... and I have quickly scoped through all of your teammate's minds and found you to be the most suitable.

"Me?! Suitable? Ha, this must be a joke."

"As funny as it may be, this is not the punchline, merely the line-up... You have proven to be loyal, honorable, humble, and strong. It would be an honor to have you as my host." Its tone was earnest and Beast Boy was taken back by the compliment. His surprise turned into curiosity.

"So I know you get to live and that is enough for me to help... but tell me, what do I get out of this deal?"

"Well, for starters, I offer a general boost to anyone's powers and give overall increases in agility, strength and cognitive function. Now, with your already impressive arsenal, I can also add the powers of my last host, which involved sticking to walls, super strength and a sort of sixth sense to alert you of danger."

Beast Boy whistled and Raven gave him a dirty look, to which he responded with a very out of character scowl that surprised the empath and prompted her to look away. When the others motioned for him to get moving and Robin said he was calling a team meeting, he became a falcon and flew towards the tower.

"We'll continue this conversation later... but, I just want to know. Is that voice who I think it is?"

"Yes, it's your mother, I hope you don't mind... I was looking for a more... soothing voice before I called for help." The voice paused for a second before continuing, "For what it's worth... I'm sorry about what happened."

The shapeshifter's falcon head nodded as he flapped three times. "It's ok... and thank you, it is strangely soothing. I had forgotten what her voice sounded like."

Once he landed on the top of the tower, he switched back to human form and looked at the now setting sun. The brilliant array of reds, oranges, and yellows floated through the air and creating a barrier of pink between the swirl of tones and the blue sky. Tears prickled his eyes and he didn't try to stop them. He let them fall, he let himself feel the day's effects, and he allowed himself to remember simpler times. Times before he had attained his powers... when he still had his parents to look out for him. When he wasn't alone in this cruel world.

"You aren't alone anymore...Garfield."