Disclaimer: I used to own teen titans. I also had a personal jet, great writing skills, and super powers. But my shrink took them away too.
Summary: Ravens been feeling depressed for a while. Beast boy decides to find out why.
Warning: This story is very OOC. Please don't commint on that.
AN: I decided to do this out of sheer boredom. Despite that it turned out rather well, I believe. Eight whole pages long! I wrote it on the plane on the way to Arizona to visit my Grandparents. I think this one is actually better than my last two. Well… maybe not the last one I did, but much better than chain mail was, but I suppose its not really hard to get better than that. A drunk monkeycould write a story better that that. Anyways, hope you like it.
"You haven't eaten anything for days. Are you absolutely sure you're alright?" Robin asked.
The titans sat at the table, eating their dinner, which Cyborg had cooked. Well, most of them were at least. Raven had yet to eat a single bite, opting to simply push it around a bit.
"Yes. I'm fine." Said the young telepath, stabbing her fork into a meatball "Just… not hungry…"
"You sure you don't want anything? We can get you something else if you don't want spaghetti." Cyborg sounded worried.
"No. Thanks for the offer but… I'll pass." She stated. As she stood she pushed her plate toward Starfire, who had been looking hungrily at it all through dinner "Here Star. You can have it."
"Are you quite sure you do not want any?" Starfire asked.
Raven nodded before announcing that she was going to her room.
"Maybe we should go see what's wrong…" Beast boy suggested "She seems… sad."
"Let's let her be alone. If there was something wrong, she'd tell us." Robin said, putting his hand on Beast boy's shoulder.
"Yeah… I guess so." He said, though he wasn't convinced.
He excused himself a few minutes later, saying he was going to bed early. The others raised their eyebrows at this, but said nothing. Beast boy walked quietly down the hall, toward his dark friend's room. He swallowed hard when he got there, but rapped on the door with his knuckles.
"Sorry. I'm in no mood to entertain. Please go away." The girl's voice was muffled, making it hard for him to trace any emotion in it.
Curiosity getting the best of him, he placed his ear to the door, listening for any sound that may lead to a clue about Ravens strange behavior over the past few days. After a minute or so he heard a sob. Beast boy could hardly believe his ears. Raven was… crying!
"Raven?" he called, knocking once more on the large metal door "Raven, talk to me!"
"Go away!"
Something large hit the door, making a loud crash, and than shattering.
"Either talk to me, or I'll come in." Beast boy threatened.
"Go away Beast boy! I don't want to talk to you!"
"Tell me what's wrong." Beast boy replied.
"Please… leave me alone."
"No. Now let me in."
There was no reply. Slightly annoyed, Beast boy slid the door open and walked in.
As always, the room unnerved him slightly. He had been in here countless times, but it still made him uneasy the way that the statues glared at him. He desided it best not to think about this and instead set his goal to find his friend. This task was quite easy t acomplish. Raven was on her knees in the corner, crouching over something, her back facing him, so both her and whatever it was she was watching were hidden from view.
"Raven…?" he said questioningly, striding over to her.
"Your good with animals… right?"
Beast boy was slightly taken aback by this question. He paused for a moment before answering.
"Yeah…" he said hesitantly "Why…?"
"Promise you won't let Robin or the others know."
"Why? Raven, what's this all…."
"Promise!" she asked him again.
"Yeah. Yeah, okay, sure. Now what are you going on about?" he asked, slightly appalled
"Do you think you could fix him?" she moved over slightly, just enough for him to see a pile of cloth.Heleaned over to see what it was she had beenwatching over, andhis gaw droped as he saw what it was.Lying in the center was a sleek black cat.
"What's wrong with him?" Beast boy asked, dropping quickly to his knees beside her. Raven shrugged, and pressed the heel of her hand to her eye.
"I don't know." She said "I came home and he was like this. I tried healing him, but I can't do anything. It hurt me too much, and it didn't help him at all…"
Beast boy bent down putting his ear to the cat's chest, searching for a heartbeat.
"His heart rate is irregular, and his breathing is causing a lot of stress on his lungs." He said, avoiding eye contact with her "I… I don't think he's gonna make it…"
Beside him, Raven covered her mouth with her hand, choking back a sob. Tears trailed down her face, hitting the carpet lightly, leaving little wet marks where they fell.
"No…" she cried "No. He can't die... Helios can't die!" her crying got harder, each sob shook her thin shoulders voilently.
Beast boy pulled her into a hug. She gasped slightly, but didn't to push him away, and sobbed into his chest. After a few minutes she had calmed down enough to speak again.
"What should I do?" she asked quietly, her voice hoars from crying."No one can know about him… Robin doesn't alow pets..."
"Maybe it would be best if… you… you know… put him out of his misery?" Beast boy said just as softly "He's in a lot of pain."
"Yes. That would be the best thing to do for…" she choked on her words, a lump rising in her throat.
"We'll go to the vet and have them do it."
"We?" she asked curiously "What do you mean by we?"
"You think I'd let you go by yourself?" Beast boy asked, holding her out at arms length so he could look her over "I'm going to go with you of course. Is that all right?"
"Yes. I just didn't think that you would do something like that for me."
" 'course I could Rae! Let's go now…"
"Are you going to come in Rae?" Beast boy asked.
"Yes." Raven swallowed hard, clutching Helios to her chest. The sleek black cat was wrapped in one of her old cloaks, and was mewing weakly.
"Come on. It's okay." Beast boy put his arm around her shoulder, and led her into the office.
"Ms. Rachel Roth? Ah, yes… Right this way dear." Said the young womanat the front desk. She looked about mid-twenty, and had dark skin. Her curly black hair was tighed up into a pony tail, on the top of her head, that bounced as she moved.
Raven stopped short, staring down at Helios.
"Do you suppose I could say good bye to him first?" she asked hopefully.
"Sure Hun. I'll go tell the doctor that you're here."
"Raven, it's going to be alright. It's best for him." Beast boy said, scratching the cat behind the ears as he spoke.
"I know its best for him but… I'm not sure what I'm going to do with him gone." She said. She was fighting to keep back the tears that had so freely fallen just half an hour ago. "I've had him since I joined the titans… I got him as a kitten, he's like my baby. Beast boy… what am I going to do?"
"It's alright… I'll wait here with you if you don't want to go in and…"
"Miss Roth? The doctor is ready…" said the nurse solemnly "Do you want to come in, or stay out here and wait?"
Raven gave Helios a hug before holding him out towards the nurse. Not trusting her voice she simply nodded for her to take him.
The woman wrapped her arms around the cat and patted Ravens arm.
"It's okay dear. He won't feel a thing." she said soothingly.
With that she turned, cradling Helios in her arms, and walked through a pair of doors. Raven looked ready to burst into tears, but Beast boy once again pulled her into him, resting his chin on the top of her head. She clung to him tightly, digging her fingernails into his back in an effort not to scream. Her stomach ached with the guilt of sending her cat to be killed by strangers. She shouldn't have let them take him… or she should have at very least gone them. Her powers were going haywire. Things all over the office exploded with the dark girl's uncontrolled magic.
"I know how you feel Rae… It hurts like hell." Beast boy said quietly. His voice was full of understanding "but there's nothing you could have done. He got sick. You wouldn't have been able to save him with out killing yourself in the process."
"…" she didn't reply, so he continued.
"When I was younger… before my parents died, I had a huge Labrador named Kiwi. One day while I was at school, he got hit by a car… when I got home my mom was crying. Dad wouldn't tell me why. When my mom calmed down she took me for a drive. We drove for an hour or two before mom pulled over at this weird restaurant. Then she explained how things die and sometimes there's nothing you can do to stop it. Than she said that when things like this happen, even if it isn't someone close to you… isn't someone you like, if their close to someone you know, it hurts you as much as if the person that had died had been really close to you too." He paused running his fingers through her hair "She told me what had happened to Kiwi… and it confused me trying to figure out why she was crying because she had hated him. I didn't really get what she said… until now."
"Miss Roth? We need you to sign this before you leave."
"Yes. Of course."
She stepped back from Beast boy, and took the pen from the woman, signing Rachel Roth on the bottom of a sheet of paper, not even bothering to read the print on the page.
"We should go before the others start wondering what we're up too. Come on Rae." Beast boy said, grabbing her hand. Slowly the two of the walked home.
Two week had passed since then, and neither had mentioned anything about it to anyone. Beast boy walked into the living room, holding something behind his back. Raven looked up, as he stopped in front of her.
"I got you something Rae." He said.
The room went silent, Cyborg and Robins game, pausing, and Starfire stopped stirring whatever random alien dish she had been making.
Raven raised an eyebrow, tilting her head to the side, trying to see what Beast boy was hiding. He pulled it out from behind him and set a box carefully on her lap.
"It's a present. Just don't shake it." He said, grinning foolishly at his own joke.
Raven set her book on the floor, and looked cautiously at the box, debating whether or not to open it.
"Well? Lets see what you got girl!" Cyborg pestered.
Raven carefully removed the lid from the box, wondering what in the world Beast boy had gotten for her. A small noise broke the dead silence that had fallen over the room. Raven gasped and pulled a tiny ink black kitten out of the box, and holding it out at arms length to see it. It was a girl. Her ears perked up, and it blinked a few times, than brushed her face with the back of her delicate paw.
Ravens eyes widened, than she pulled the kitten to her chest, stroking her silky black fur.
"For me?" she asked Beast boy perplexed by his kindness "Can I name her?"
He nodded and grinned at her.
"Your name's Gemini." She said, a note of pleasure in her voice. She chuckled slightly as Gemini purred and rub her head on Ravens cheek.
"Oh she is cuter than a glorbdorf!" Starfire said, rushing over and petting the kitten.
"Do you mind if I keep him?" Raven asked their leader. Robin sighed, but nodded slightly. Starfire squealed delightedly, giving Robin on of her infamous bone crushing hugs. Everyone quieted down, watching Raven. She stroked Gemini gently, looking mesmerized.
"Beast boy… you… I mean… this… that is to say..." she stuttered, trying to find the right words to say "She's beautiful."
"I'm glad you like her." He said, still grinning "I thought you would, but I mean, with you its hard to…"
Raven stood up as Beast boy was talking to her. Setting Gemini down on the couch she walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"You're the best." She said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek "I don't know what I'd do with out you."
She picked up Gemini and made her way to her room, leaving Beast boy and the others in a state of shock. Beast boy blushed furiously his fingers touching his cheek where she had kissed him.
Cyborg glanced over at Robin, looking shocked.
"Anyone know what that was about?"
AN: flame all you want. But flame the story. Not the pairing.