The Beast Returns Ch. 7 - The Chemicals Between Us

Beast Boy and Raven decided to head to their favorite pizza place downtown Jump City. They were inside this time since they were doing renovations on the exterior. The inside smelled of burnt cheese and green peppers and the walls were a stained beige color with vintage Italian posters on every wall. The restaurant was slammed packed in the entire place since the outside shut down, all the red booths were filled with every teen and college kid in the city, but the waitress was able to sit them down in the smallest table in the back corner of the building. It was still loud, but hopefully no one would be able to notice that two Teen Titans were sitting there.

The waitress placed their medium cheese pizza in the middle of their table. Both Beast Boy and Raven grabbed a slice and placed it on their plates in front of them. Beast Boy immediately began to dig in while Raven patiently did the same.

"So, Beast—," she stopped herself, but Beast Boy still looked up, "I mean, Gar."

"You know you don't have to call me that if you don't want to," he mentioned to her.

"No, no, I want to. It's just…I've been calling you Beast Boy since the day I met you, so you're going to have give me time before I get used to it," she said taking a small bite into her pizza. Beast Boy smiled and went back to his.

"How's your hand?" he asked sincerely. Raven looked down at her hand, and for a moment forgot that it was still wrapped up; she hadn't tried to heal it since the last time she was in the infirmary.

"It's fine…hurts every now and then, but…it's nothing I can't handle," she replied softly placing her good hand underneath her chin.

"I'm so sorry about that. Really, I am," he said sadly, guilty. Raven showed him a small sympathy smile.

"You don't need to worry about me. We're here to talk about you," Beast Boy tensed up a bit at that. Of course he was afraid of the upcoming conversation, he still wasn't sure if he was ready.

"So, why don't we start from the beginning? Tell me about your childhood," she asked him. Beast Boy side glanced her.

"Oh, you don't want to hear about that. That's where all the bad stuff started," he replied.

"We don't need to discuss the bad things. You mentioned that you use to live in Africa. I mean that in itself had to be an incredible experience. I bet you had adventures everyday," she leaned forward to listen better. Beast Boy smirked and put his pizza down, so his food wouldn't distract him.

"You'd lose that bet. It wasn't as exciting as it sounds," he commented. Raven didn't believe him.

"Oh, come on, I'm sure you at least saw all sorts of interesting animals," she paused, "But, maybe it wasn't as exciting to you because you were born there, right?" He smirked again at her curiosity.

"Actually, no, I wasn't born there," he said, "I was born here,"

"Really? In Jump City?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually, my parents have a house here and…that's where I was born and raised…for a short period of time," he mentioned.

"So, do you know where your house is?" she asked. Beast Boy's smile faded.

"Um, no…I…don't know where it is," he said sadly, "but, I know it's somewhere around here,"

"Have you ever tried to look?" she asked. Beast Boy thought about it for a moment, trying to think if he ever did attempt to do so, or even in that matter, thought of it.

"No, I…don't think I have. I mean, after my parents passed, life just seemed to…whirlwind out of control and it hasn't stopped since," he said. Raven listened.

"How so?" she asked. Beast Boy didn't like this part. A little sad smile plagued his face; he looked down to break eye-contact with her and twiddled his thumb inside his fist.

"I…thought we weren't going to talk about the bad stuff," he mentioned. Raven smiled softly at him.

"We're not, you don't have to tell me about it, just tell me how you got back here," she replied. Raven hoped that this would keep it simple, she just wanted him to open up a little bit.

"Well, that involves some bad stuff…but don't worry about it," Raven opened her mouth and was about to interrupt him, but he reassured her then she closed it and let him continue.

"Um…well, after my parents'…um…passing, the chief of the village that I was living at took me in, and…I thought things would be okay…for a moment. Then this scientist who was working for my Mom and Dad took me away from the village to live in his private lab just up the river. I didn't like it at first because…I really liked living in the village. Any lab just reminded me of my parents. But…I didn't have a say in it, I was still too young.

"His name was Samuel Register…" Raven eyes grew wide at the sound of his name. The memory of her with the phone in the Tower with his card in her hand ready to call was fresh in her mind. Suddenly, things starting clicking together like magnets. This might just give her the answers she'd been waiting for.

"My Mom and Dad trusted him like family, so they told me to call him Uncle Samuel. He never did like me calling him Uncle Sam, since that was easier to say when I was a kid; apparently he didn't like the original Uncle Sam. I remember my Dad would call him that just to get a rise out of him," Raven smiled a little when he chuckled softly. He continued.

"Anyway…I lived with him for a good while. And…I almost loved him as much as my Dad and I would always appreciate him for taking me in...But…," Beast Boy's thoughts continued to sway way off course when he thought more about the mad scientist that was after him now.

"But?" Raven said.

"But…as I think about it now, back then…I think he just wanted to…use me," Beast Boy stopped telling his story. He was reliving his past in that moment, in those short years that he stayed with his Uncle Samuel; all those times Register gave him these "check ups" to make sure he didn't get anymore African diseases. He remembered how many times he was stuck with a needle and everything was starting to connect in his mind. Sparks were going off in his head, and flames grew higher with hate in his heart when he thought about the man who had done this to him. He didn't love him; he just wanted to use him, even back then when he didn't know it. He had zoned out for only a few moments when Raven called out his name again and snapped him out of it.

"You okay?" she said with a soft concern. Beast Boy's eyes snapped to hers and a thought popped into his mind.

In that instant, he realized that he could not do this by himself. He needed someone to be there for him no matter who it was, and the only person who was willing was sitting right there in front of him. He realized he did not have to be alone. His breath quickened, almost like he was about to cry, but this was just how he tried to hide his anger when it was too much for him.

"Raven…," he started, "…I need your help…and…I think you're the only person I can trust to help me,"

"Okay," she responded without hesitation, but with mild bit of question, "what is it?"

Beast Boy swallowed any remains of moisture in his throat out of nervousness. He took in a deep dry breath and blew it out slowly.

"I'm going to tell you everything," he said softly.

"Everything?" she asked.

"Yeah…everything. From who attacked me on the cruise ship to why I've been acting like…um…uh…,"

"…a total jerk?" she finished with emphasis. Beast Boy threw her a look, Raven just shrugged.

"Um…I was going for animal, but, yeah, total jerk works too," he said.

"Gar, what's going on?" she asked getting somewhat impatient. He sighed.

"My Uncle is in town," he said in all seriousness.

"What?" she asked disappointed, and annoyed at him for putting her in suspense because she already knew that, but then immediately realized that she had the wrong reaction to that answer. He didn't know that she knew.

"My Uncle…Dr. Register…he's here, and he's the reason behind everything. He's the reason I've been acting this way, the reason why I'm always angry, the reason I keep transforming into the beast, and he's the one who attacked me on the ship."

She didn't know that. Raven began to make sense of all the things he was saying, and she was glad for trusting her instincts when it came to calling the doctor for help. Suddenly the waitress came to fill their drinks, Raven and Beast Boy stared at her for a few moments and the waitress gave off a rehearsed smile and then walked away.

Raven suddenly realized the danger of this information and decided to get up from her seat across from him and sat down right next to him so they could whisper to each other.

"You're serious?" she whispered to him, and getting closer to him. Beast Boy stared at her in fear. Raven pulled her plate of pizza to her side and started to tear bits off of it.

"Yes…he's been contacting me for the past few weeks, I first saw him on the ship…when I went down below,"

"How…," she stuttered a bit, "…I mean, that doesn't make sense. How was he on the ship?"

"He's the one that started the fire. He knew that I was a Titan and he did it to grab my attention. He thought it would be funny to him if he attacked a type of boat that day," he said in disgust. Raven was confused. Beast Boy saw her face chewing a small bit of pizza in her mouth, and told her quickly.

"Oh…uh…my parents died in a boating accident…fell down a steep waterfall," he said softly. Raven gave him a look of sympathy.

"Gar…I'm sorry—," Beast Boy interrupted her with a wave of his hand.

"S'okay, it's fine, um… he felt it was necessary to attack me on that particular day, since the day of the cruise ship was the same day that they died," he went on.

"…that's…horrible…what an evil thing to do," Raven whispered mostly to herself. Beast Boy saw her expression and felt comfort that someone felt the same way as he did. But after all, she is Raven; emotional catastrophes are her specialty, "what…what did he do to you?" Beast Boy took in a deep breath. Raven popped another small piece of pizza inside her mouth.

"Well…um, he knew that I would already be upset that day…and he knew I would be on the verge of self-pity. So, he attacked me to rile me up some more," he said.

"Why was he trying to rile you up?" she asked.

"He wanted me to transform into the beast," he said simply, "and it worked. Apparently…ticking me off makes me change when I don't want to. So, he wanted me to transform so he could try out his new cure on me," Raven's eyes widened with shock.

"What? He's the one who's been injecting you?" she shouted faintly in a whisper.

"Yeah, you'd think I would do that to myself?" he asked. Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing. She took a small pause to re-group herself momentarily.

"Well, yes, I did think you would do that to yourself, we all did," she stated, "It just made sense…you were angry all the time and we thought you were juicing yourself up to be better out in the field," Beast Boy shook his head.

"No…I know better than that," He said. Raven sighed in frustration.

"So…one thing doesn't make sense…," she whispered, "why was he…injecting you with these untested cures in the first place?" Beast Boy sighed deeply and thoughtfully looked straight at the book that Raven originally sat at.

"Samuel's…been kinda obsessed with finding a cure for sakutia…ever sense my Dad used his serum on me the day that I was bitten," he explained. He took a small sip of his drink to clear his voice so it was easier to talk at a lower volume.

"Samuel's been unable to recreate what my Dad just stumbled on. So, he's been trying to find cures to this disease and then use it to find the secret to universal immunity. So, he's been making all these serums to test out, but the only person to try it on was himself."

"Himself? So, now he has your powers?" she asked fearfully. Beast Boy hesitated. Raven finished her slice and gently took another one from the pan and took a generous bite out of it. Beast Boy stared at her curious for a second, but then went on.

"Yeah…except his is a little more extreme than mine. For one, his skin is all…scaly and purple instead of green, and now his blood is basically unusable for new cures…so, he needed a new test subject, which was when he thought of me. And…I guess he just figured out the beast thing on his own, and thought it had something to do with his research….he was in for a surprise though…none of his tests worked and all it did was piss me off even more."

Raven rivaled in her head over this new information from Beast Boy. She was still surprised about the connection with Dr. Register, but the same time she didn't expect anything different. However, there were still some facts that clouded her mind from her experience throughout this whole ordeal.

"Gar, last night before you woke up…Cyborg and the rest of us were digging around trying to figure out what was wrong with you…,"

"And…?" he asked. Raven swallowed the bite she was chewing on.

"…Starfire and I found a box of syringes underneath your bed. If he was injecting you with cures…then why was that there?" Raven asked softly. Beast Boy pondered on the memory of injecting that green medicine in him. That time that he was first injected with a serum Register had created.

"I was…using the syringes to inject myself with the antidote that Cy made for the first time I changed," he said, "basically I was trying to cancel out the cures that Register injected into me first. When he did inject me, I was in terrible pain, I couldn't control what I would transform, so my body was transforming on its own without me. Taking that antidote calmed it down a bit, but I still have this wild animal-like instinct inside me. I'm so afraid that I'm going to lose control over it anytime. I tried to give it what it wanted by eating some fresh meat, but that didn't do anything,"

"That would explain the pile of dead fish at our shore, and why you wouldn't eat with us," Raven said with a grimace on her face. She couldn't forget the horrible stench. She took another bite.

"You found that?" Raven nodded…Beast Boy sighed, "well, I didn't really hide it well. So…the antidote was the only way, I took it as often as I could without any of you seeing. I think…I became a little addicted to it,"

"A little?" Beast Boy gave her a small mild glare. Raven ignored him by focusing her attention on the pizza again.

"I don't do it anymore, I have no reason to," he said, Raven swallowed and ate again, "I've been more down in the dumps then angry. Plus, Cyborg ran out." He laughed once sadly.

She looked down at the table and started to roll up a small piece of napkin between her fingers and started to think. Finally, while realizing that Beast Boy was the innocent party in this situation brought a strange enormous feeling of relief. However, thoughts of Register trying to take her teammate away were swirling around in her mind. She was concern because she knew that he could still try again, and she believed that he would. Her friends were the most important priority in her life, and she wasn't about to let some crazy scientist get in the way of that.

"You need protection," she said and then gently held his hands in her own on the table looking deeply into his eyes to convince him. She saw and felt how fearful and pathetic he felt, but it didn't matter. It was the right thing to do.

"From what? Him? Nah, he can come if he wants, I'll be ready," he said with a strange like confidence.

"Beast—Gar, Register already contacted us," she whispered. Beast Boy's eyes widened.

"What?" He didn't feel the need to tell her about the name thing, what she just said clouded his mind with a sudden wave of anger.

"When you transformed last night, Cyborg and Starfire went after you and found you in a warehouse with Register leaning over you and he changed you back into your human form. He gave Cyborg his card, and Robin is considering his help to cure you,"

"That evil monster has no intention of curing me! Only to kill me so he can get some stupid glory. We can't let Robin go through with that!" Beast Boy shouted very quietly.

"I know, I know. You have to tell them what's happening. We can't let this continue without this information. And when we do, we'll fight him as a team," Raven explained to him. Beast Boy looked down at the table contemplating, and finally noticed their hands. In that moment he internally laughed and thought about what an interesting scene this moment was with Raven comforting him. A smile escaped and grew on his face.

Then he noticed the bandage around her right hand. The guilt suddenly consumed him. He still could not believe how uncontrollably evil he was that night. Beast Boy slowly removed his hands from hers, and this in turn made Raven to retract as well. The smile was gone, and he was thinking again. He still wouldn't forgive himself for that.

"What about me?" he asked her softly. Raven looked confused when he looked up waiting for her to answer.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Putting Register away doesn't change the fact that I'm still dangerous," he stated looking down and away from her.

"Do you think we wouldn't help you? We'll find a way," she said simply. Beast Boy still continued to look down.

"Yeah, a way that involves chains and tranquilizer guns," he said crudely. Raven sighed and took her hand away from the table and placed them neatly in her lap.

"Alright, fine, we may have to do that, but we're going to try not to," she said softly. The corners of Beast Boy's mouth curved slightly.

"I need to tell them then," he said slowly. Raven nodded in agreement. Raven asked for the check and they quickly left to head back to their home.

When Beast Boy and Raven came back to the Tower is was late-afternoon and the Tower was uninterestingly quiet. The two of them walked slowly out of the elevator on the top floor inside Titans Tower, they were both heading towards the Operations room to tell the others about Register and his terrifying psychotic plans for Beast Boy. Raven walked beside him, fanning herself with her undamaged left hand along the way and was dripping with sweat. Beast Boy noticed this and felt comfortable enough to ask.

"You okay?" he asked with his hands in his pockets. Raven looked over to him with a sardonic look.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly had this huge heat wave come over me," she explained. Beast Boy raised his brow.

"Does that happen often?" he asked again.

"I guess," She said, "I think Cyborg turned up the heat in here, that's all."

"I'm not hot," he said as a matter-of-fact. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Lucky you," she said sarcastically. Raven quickly glanced over her damp leotard and groaned. "Ugh, this is ridiculous, I'm going to shower."

"Wait, Raven," Beast Boy gently grabbed her arm to stop her from heading to her room. Raven looked at him with question.

"I…don't know what I should say to the team…um…I would really appreciate it if you were there with me…to tell them about…um…," he stuttered on his words, he was turning slightly red for asking this, but it didn't feel right without her there. Raven impassively side-glanced.

"You want me there when we talk about Register?" Beast Boy gulped when she said this.

"Yeah," he said defeated. Raven shrugged.

"Alright," she said nonchalantly, and Beast Boy smirked.

"So, dinner's good?" she asked and Beast Boy stared at her confused.

"Didn't you just eat like four slices of pizza?" he asked. Raven rolled her eyes.

"No…I was asking if we should tell them over dinner. You look a little shaken to tell them now," she said softly.

"Oh," Beast Boy muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck embarrassed of what he just said. Then he smiled a bit and said, "Yeah, dinner's good." Raven agreed and then she suddenly grimaced.

"What?" he asked reacting to her disgruntled face.

"Well, now that you mentioned it, I am suddenly hungry," she said bluntly. Beast Boy laughed.

"I swear, Raven, you don't eat enough. What are you made of again? Herbal tea and incense?" he laughed again. Raven glared.

"I'll have you know, that my eating habits are perfectly normal," she said to intimidate him, but he didn't feel that effect. Beast Boy raised his brow at her again. Raven stared at him and licked the inside of her mouth at his reaction, annoyed.

"Alright fine, my appetite's a little whack, but it's nothing to be concerned about. So what if I have to eat two bowls of cereal in the morning and two extra pizzas at lunch? It's nothing," she tried to explain to him. Suddenly, Beast Boy's smile faded into a frown of realization and fear.

"Do you have mood swings?" he asked her worriedly. Raven pulled out her signature death-glare at him for that remark, as if he didn't already know. Beast Boy rolled his eyes.

"I mean, are you moodier than usual? Do you feel more annoyed than you usually do, especially these past few days? Or Angrier?" he asked her seriously. Raven, this time, raised her brow in confusion. She thought about the past few days, quickly went over the events and silently shook her head.

"No," she muttered. Beast Boy sighed in relief, Raven didn't know exactly what he was thinking but she definitely knew what he was feeling. Self-guilt, she swears, has been the emotional choice of the month for Beast Boy. If that was the only thing he was feeling in that moment she wouldn't have noticed it. However, now he felt afraid and worried and it wasn't for him it was…for her?

"Okay, well, enjoy your shower," he said and then he left her in the hallway to go into the Operations Room. Beast Boy was off to find the others. Usually, he would be going into the Ops. to watch television or play video games, but he just didn't feel like doing those things today. But, if Cyborg was playing he figured he might as well join him for the sake of sanity. However, he knew where his mind would be the entire time he was playing and that would be replaying the upcoming conversation about Register to his other teammates. He kept wondering how to start off, he wasn't sure if he should start it by having Raven speak first or him, or if he should start snapping at Robin for considering the psycho's help.

Turns out, when Beast Boy walked through the door to the Ops, Cyborg was in fact sitting on the couch, but not playing video games. Instead he was watching the evening news. Beast Boy decided not to ask questions but just join him on the couch. He sat down on the far right end while Cyborg was somewhat in the middle with his feet propped up onto the yellow circled coffee table.

"Hey man," Cyborg said to him as he sat down.

"Hey dude," Beast Boy replied back. He crossed his arms and his legs and just watched what was on. It almost felt like everything was back to normal.

Later in the evening, all five Titans pulled apart the black couch to make five individual seats for each of them and elevated the coffee table up for dinner. Tonight, the five teens felt that they should take a break from pizza and try something a little more cultural on the other end of the earth, and that was…Chinese food. Each of them were eating silently and keeping mostly to themselves. Robin kept his eyes to his food, while Starfire sat on his right side eating happily even though she was not talking. Raven sat to her right eating sesame chicken and lo mein with a steaming cup of herbal tea and using her left hand since her right was still wrapped up and in a throbbing pain again. Beast Boy sat next to her, and then Cyborg sat next to him eating a dumpling in one bite.

Beast Boy had barely touched his tofu fried rice when he glanced over towards Raven who was sitting to his left side. He was hoping that they would make eye contact and wishing that she would have some sort of last minute insight of wisdom for him before he began.

Raven caught his glance in mid-chew. She swallowed then tilted her head towards the middle of the table, gesturing him to go ahead and start. Beast Boy took in a deep breath through his nose so that no one, except for Raven, would notice. He sat up a little more and began.

"Um…hey…guys," he said insecurely. Jeez, it was like standing at a Press conference! Beast Boy can imagine him standing behind the podium forgetting his notes. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, why it was so hard to say the right words. It was his friends…his family…the four greatest people he's ever known, and even though one of them already knew, it was still hard. But, he still continued.

"I, um…need to tell you guys something. Uh, something important…important for all of us. But, first…I wanted to thank all of you guys for putting up with me and all my beast-craziness," Beast Boy smiled when Cyborg chuckled shortly. Raven smiled too.

"I wanted to tell you how much I truly appreciate all of you, and…how very happy I am to have you guys as my friends. And um…I'm very sorry for everything I've put you through, I really am," he finished. He felt a cool metal hand pop him hard on the back.

"Apology accepted, man," Cyborg said with a grin. Beast Boy again smiled at Cyborg's easy-going mood. He looked at Raven and saw that she was still smiling at him. Starfire had a wide grin on her face as well, and clapped her hands together. Last, Robin looked…impressed. Beast Boy guessed that Robin thought he would never apologize for what happen, even though it wasn't his fault at all. Which reminded Beast Boy, and he cleared his throat. However, before Beast Boy could speak…

"Well, Beast Boy, it's alright. We forgive you and everything, but we're still not out of the woods yet," Robin said to him. Beast Boy was about to agree, but Robin continued.

"You are still sick, and we need to make sure that none of this will happen again," he said. Beast Boy nodded.

"I promise it won't, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that it doesn't," Beast Boy said with determination. Robin nodded his head earnestly.

"Good, that's what I wanted to hear. So…it's time for the next step," he said and looked to Cyborg. Cyborg nodded softly. Raven stared at the two of them confused, and then she looked to Starfire who was also looking at Robin and Cyborg, but it seemed she was in on it.

"We've decided to suspend you from the team and put you under house arrest," Robin stated. Cyborg and Starfire looked down in guilt. Beast Boy was surprised.

"What?" he exasperated. Raven was also shocked.

"What?" Raven shouted as well, "Why wasn't I included in this decision?" Raven demanded. Robin looked at her.

"You weren't around, this decision involved immediate action. We knew what you would have said."

"I would have said no!" Raven argued. She paused, and then said, "This is unnecessary. He's done nothing wrong."

"This is in no way permanent," Robin said. Beast Boy finally relaxed into his seat, but Raven was still steaming, "we can't afford Beast Boy to be out fighting right now when he is so unpredictable and unstable. He cannot be in public either, we don't know what triggers his transformation and until we do, he stays here in the tower, for the safety of the city."

"Also, I'm gonna be working on him," Cyborg cut in. Beast Boy and Raven looked up at him, "I'm gonna be working to find anything to help Beast Boy control this. Whether that means, harnessing it, taming it, or destroying it, I don't know. But, I will find way. And finding that way may involve testing and experimentation for days. Even if Beast Boy wasn't suspended, he still wouldn't be allowed to leave."

Raven felt a little reassured after this, but it still didn't wane her anger and frustration, especially at the fact that they did not include her into the decision-making. The news of Beast Boy's suspension was finally settling in each of them, and there was a short moment of silence. Robin, then, sighed.

"Also, Cyborg may need some help, so we've also decided to call in a specialist in sakutia," Robin mentioned, Beast Boy and Raven both immediately froze, "His name is Dr. Register and he's the—,"

"I'm sorry, Robin, but I need to stop you right there," Beast Boy held up his hand to him. Robin a mildly taken aback by this motion, but he did compose. Beast Boy put his hand down. Beast Boy's nerves were shot with anxiety after realizing that he interrupted Robin.

"I know who Dr. Register is, and if you value my life on any level…You. Will. Not. Call. Him," Beast Boy emphasized. Robin raised his right brow. Beast Boy continued, "Dr. Register use to work for my parents, and was my guardian for a time way back when. Ever since I got my powers he's been obsessing to find a cure for sakutia—."

"Dr. Register is the one who attacked him on the ship," Raven helping out before Beast Boy started to ramble. She looked at Cyborg, "he's also the one who's been injecting him with radioactive chemicals. All those times Beast Boy disappeared were the times when Register attacked him."

"Are you serious?" Cyborg said softly. Beast Boy nodded and then turned to Robin.

"You can't call him, Robin. He's the bad guy! He's just looking for another chance to get to me, to find ways to control my powers and everything. And if he doesn't, then he's definitely going to end up killing me!" Beast Boy interjected. Raven touched his shoulder with her bandaged right hand to relax him.

"We need to go after him fast. He also has the same powers as Beast Boy," Raven said softly, "we're sure Register's trying to find a way to get to him again, and he's crazy enough to hurt innocent people."

When they finally finished, silence was spread out again. Cyborg's face was penetrated with shock and fear, his eye was wide and his lip slightly quivered. Starfire had the same expression as Cyborg, except the only difference between them was her hand covered her mouth. Robin had stayed absolutely still through out their entire piece. His brows were furrowed the entire time, but he did not move. Beast Boy and Raven were looking at him with earnest, wishing he would say something. More or less, he would say something close to the lines that involved them immediately going after Register within the next 24 hours.

"And you two are the only ones who this for sure?" he asked randomly. Raven furrowed her brow.

"Yes," they both answered. Robin looked down and sighed.

"I guess we're not calling Register," and with that Robin got up with his plate. He walked towards the kitchen area to the sink and rinsed off his plate. Then he started to walk towards the side door.

"I need to think," Robin said and then disappeared. The other four Titans watched him leave and then turned to each other.

Beast Boy bowed his head then got up and took his plate to the sink. He left to go into his room in silence. Raven saw Beast Boy leave the room and was beyond irritated. She wasn't irritated with Beast Boy, no, in fact she felt the same way he did for him, defeated. Raven was irritated with Robin. She didn't understand why Robin left the way that he did, and she questioned why he needed to "think" about the situation with Register.

What was there to think about? There is an evil scientist with super powers on the loose and is threatening one of his teammates. If he cared at all, Robin should have immediately ordered an attack or at least fashioned some sort of plan that would start in the morning. If Robin was the kind of person she thought he was, he should have immediately heed their warning. This was strike one, for Robin.

Later on, it was a very dark and dank two o'clock in the morning. Everyone in the Titans Tower already went off to sleep in their own rooms. Usually, they slept in a uniform; they always did this just in case some criminal was idiotic enough to rob a bank in the middle of the night, which happened quite often. Crime never sleeps.

However, because of recent events with the cruise ship and Beast Boy's violent attack in downtown Jump City, the Teen Titans have been getting less and less calls that involved any sort of trouble or crime. This new revelation scared Robin, he feared that the city would rebel against its protectors, toss them aside like a bunch of old newspapers. With this new fear, he didn't find a need to wear his uniform to bed anymore. Robin still wore his mask, but his uniform was replaced with pin straight red t-shirt and a pair of dark grey sweat pants. He also felt really overstressed these past few weeks, and a good night sleep in comfortable clothing was Robin's antidote. Robin slept in his double bed above his white sheets; he was still and straight as if he was locked away in a space capsule. Robin's breathing was slow and relaxing, it was if he had trained himself to breathe quietly so his ears could pick up the sounds around him.

However, his ears could only detect so much, and the trick was to understand what the sound was and to distinguish them from stealthy criminals or creaks in the Tower. Suddenly, he did hear a sound that didn't sound like a creak; it was more of a rumble or a growl. It grew louder and louder, Robin rolled over in reaction to the sound, he assumed that he was just hungry, but he didn't feel like getting up to satisfy it.

The loud growl got even louder in the silence; soon Robin opened his eyes wide when he realized that it wasn't his stomach. He didn't even have a chance to take a guess when a giant claw swiped clean through his bed after he jumped out of the way. His sheets were thrown behind the giant green beast, and then Robin jumped off the opposite wall and kicked the beast in his chin sending the massive monster into the other wall. Suddenly, Cyborg and Starfire opened his door and witnessed the giant green beast attacking Robin.

"Robin!" Starfire shouted, she quickly flew over the beast towards Robin to protect him from impeding attacks. The beast started to swipe his massive claws at Robin and Starfire, but Starfire threw a starbolt at one of his hands. The beast howled in pain, and then suddenly Raven came through the door. Cyborg grabbed a hold of the beast's neck from behind, and the green giant growled with anger. Raven stood there surprised.

"C'mon, Raven! Help us out!" Cyborg shouted over the beast's loud growling. Raven quickly fanned out her hand and sent out another mind pulse to knock him out. The only problem was that the beast didn't fall to the ground.

"It's not working!" Raven shouted. Cyborg still held onto his neck as Robin and Starfire grabbed his huge fury green arms and braced him against the closed door. Raven flew in front of the beast to see if she could get a clearer shot then from the back of his head. Once again, she fanned out her hand and tried again. But, the beast still struggled against his teammates straining him. Raven was getting frustrated and angry. Raven levitated closer to his face, and tried to touch his head hoping that will send the best shot possible and a more powerful mind pulse. The beast saw her getting closer and then snapped his enormous mouth at her incoming hand. Raven quickly drew it away before he had a chance. This in turn made Raven even angrier.

"BEAST BOY!" She shouted in maddening annoyance at him. Raven felt the sudden need to punch him in the face; she had her hand pulled back ready for the attack. She was planning to knock him out and worry about the mind pulse later. However, at the sound of his name, the beast's eyes opened wide and he froze, Raven saw his pupils moving rapidly from side to side and then suddenly stop. The beast immediately began to shrink in size and his hair began to disappear beneath his green skin. After a few seconds the mad beast turned back into the green human teenager. Beast Boy quickly sucked in a massive breath and started to breathe difficultly. Cyborg quickly realized that he was choking him and let go of his neck as Robin and Starfire let go of his arms. Raven was standing in front of him, showing an expression that was beyond aggravated. Beast Boy's breath started to slow to a soft pant and saw Raven in the dark. He was confused.

"Raven?" he asked. He looked at the others "Guys?" He rubbed the top of his head since it was throbbing, like it usually does when he transforms into that monster. Suddenly, he realized what he had done when he saw that he was in Robin's room, standing over a pile of ripped sheets.

"Oh no…what have I done?"

Cyborg was standing in front of a few computer monitors off to the side wall inside the infirmary. Beast Boy was sitting on the nearest bed closest to Cyborg. Robin was sitting in one of the chairs on the opposite end while Starfire rubbed one of his shoulders to ease his stress. Raven leaned against the wall beside the bed which Beast Boy sat on, still irritated from what happened. Beast Boy looked past guilty and more on the lines of devastation. He had his hands in his lap and his legs were hanging off the side of the bed. Wires were attached to his forehead, and to his bare chest where his heart was beating furiously. Occasionally he would pick at his white t-shirt that was lying next to him. Cyborg tore himself away from the large screens on the wall and grabbed something from the black cabinets next to the window above the countertops. He then turned to Beast Boy holding a sphygmomanometer in his hands. Beast Boy held out his left arm in assumption. Cyborg wrapped the blue pressure wrap around his arm and loosely tightened it. He started pumping up air pressure while checking the gauge.

"170 over 110," Cyborg said as he relieved the pressure in the wrap. Then he sighed, "That's not good, man. Not good at all," then Beast Boy sighed.

"So, what's going on with me, Cy?" he asked concerned. Cyborg bowed his head and placed his hands on his metallic waist.

"I'm not sure," he said. Cyborg then placed a hand underneath his chin in deep thought.

"Gar," Raven called him. Beast Boy turned his head behind his left shoulder to look at Raven in surprise. The others stared at her confused about the name she just gave Beast Boy, but she ignored them. Raven was still leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and her blue hood down, so Beast Boy could see her pale face in the bright light.

"Did you go to sleep feeling bad or upset? Were you angry with Robin about the suspension?" she asked. Robin furrowed his brow at her and growled softly. Starfire started to massage his other shoulder. Raven glared at him. Beast Boy was in thought then he answered.

"Um, I don't think so. I was…sort of…bummed about it, I guess. But, at the same time I was feeling alright after I went to sleep. I thought Robin's decision was the best idea, even though I don't really like being shut in," he said. Raven sighed and muttered to herself something incoherent.

"Did you have any nightmares?" Cyborg asked. Beast Boy turned back around to face him.

"No, I was having a pretty dreamless night. I didn't wake up until I heard Raven calling me, or more yelling at me," he chuckled once at looked over his shoulder at her again, "thanks for that." Raven shrugged. Cyborg's face went back into think mode. After a long pause of silence, Cyborg turned towards the window and threw his hands up in the air in surrender.

"Well, then the only thing that I can think that would make this happen is another trigger," he said and then turned to face the others, "Your mind is more vulnerable at night when you are asleep. So, the infected serotonin has a better chance to take over your head. Therefore…," Cyborg paused.

"You transform unwillingly in your sleep." Beast Boy looked at him with fear.

"That explains why my mind pulse wouldn't work. You were already unconscious," Raven explained leaning her head back against the cold metal wall of the infirmary.

"So, what do we do now? Or…what do I need to do? This has gotta stop, Cy. I don't know what I'd do if I hurt any one of you guys again," Beast Boy asked desperately. Cyborg shook his head and shrugged. Raven could tell that Cyborg was feeling very frustrated and upset. Suddenly, Robin spoke up.

"You need to be contained again," Robin said bluntly, and possibly offensively. Everyone in the room could tell that he didn't have a real good attitude towards Beast Boy. Robin's answer actually made Beast Boy feel really bad, not for the idea that was given, but the tone that it was given in. He felt so terrible attacking Robin. Raven on the other hand…

"No! That is ridiculous. He didn't do it on purpose, Robin," she said arrogantly at Robin getting up from the wall, "He's perfectly in control when he's not upset or sleeping. We don't need to lock him up after one hiccup in his recovery."

"He is dangerous, he has no control," Robin argued tiredly, he felt that he already said this way too many times, "he's going to be contained."

"Maybe it's not Beast Boy at all, Robin. Didn't you tell us to keep Beast Boy calm at all times? Maybe you should take some of your own advice," Raven argued right back in an aggravated tone. Robin sighed frustrated. Cyborg started taking off the wires from Beast Boy's head and chest.

"Beast Boy said that he wasn't upset with my decision to suspend him," he said.

"Maybe not consciously, Robin. But, subconsciously he's still very angry with you, and you keep encouraging it with your rash decisions about him. Perhaps, you need to watch—,"

"Raven, he's right," Beast Boy said defeated. Raven stopped to look at the green changeling. He was standing up from the bed right next to her. Raven stared at him stunned.

"You're agreeing to this?" she asked in disbelief. Beast Boy nodded his head with a sad frown.

"I need to be contained. He's right, I have no control over it, and I don't want to hurt anyone else here, especially you," he smiled at her and then softly tapped the underside of her chin with his fist, "I would like it better if our friendship grew without me ripping your head off," he chuckled a bit at his lame attempt at a joke. He then rubbed her upper-arm, "thanks for sticking up for me though," he whispered.

Raven still did not want him to go through with this, they were the Teen Titans, and they should be able to find a way to fix this, like they always do in these situations. Beast Boy should not be locked up like he's some kind of animal. She knew why he was agreeing to this, and that thought in turn made her a little mad at Beast Boy. She knew that he just agreed to this because of this guilt he has building up inside of him. Raven wished he would just man up and stop being such a pansy about it. He had nothing to be guilty for! She wouldn't believe it.

"Come on, B. We need to do it now," Cyborg placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him out.

Raven saw them leave and quickly followed after them; she didn't want to be left in the room with Robin. The things that Robin said to her just moments before were going through her mind like an angry tornado. Too bad Beast Boy didn't rip his head off, she thought, might as well do it herself, she definitely felt like doing it. She stopped at the door.

"I warned you this would happen," Raven stared directly at him with vicious eyes and an angry frown. Strike two for Robin, she thought.

Beast Boy saw her following and smiled softly at her. They reached the end of the hallway and stopped in front of the large thick doors again. This was the third time Raven has seen these doors. First time was when she was confined to hide away from her father, even though she knew the inevitable. The second time was when she was going in to take away Beast Boy's pain, which she successfully did, but he took a small piece of her with him. Raven subconsciously rubbed her bandaged hand. Now this time is the third time, Raven was now witnessing Beast Boy's second time in being confined. This was so wrong, she felt. Cyborg pressed a button in the wall and the familiar keypad opened up. Cyborg placed the metallic key in the key hole and then typed in his personal code. The keypad shined "Hello, Cyborg," and the large metal lock began to move away from each other and the doors opened widely again.

The three of them moved inside the room again, Beast Boy and Raven walked in the middle of the blank room. Raven got a huge chill go through her body. Cyborg pressed a small square in graved into the walls. Suddenly the floor opened up in the middle, and Beast Boy and Raven quickly got out of the way. Out of the floor came a small flat metal table with a white cot attached to it. On the left and right sides of the metal bed were industrial-sized chain mail titanium straps. There were eight of them on each side, and they hung on the side like seat belts released from the buckle in the car. Raven looked at the bed, stunned again.

"What is this?" she exasperated. Cyborg kept his eyes focused on the button he just pressed.

"It's an industrialized hydro-pressured restrictive table. The titanium cuffs that we used to first contain Beast Boy were destroyed when he transformed, so I needed to find another way to control him," Cyborg turned around walked to the table and picked up one of the straps to show them, "these straps are very strong and very durable, the core of the straps are chromium layered with a carbon and titanium metalloid. They will also be able to stretch and keep the restraint on you tight if you transform at all. We'll have you hooked up to the monitors, so we'll be alerted when you do change. Also, I figured a bed would be more comfortable then standing up, since this time…we don't know how long you'll be in here."

"Was this here before?" Raven asked. Cyborg turned to her.

"Yeah…it was here when I first built it. I wasn't exactly sure what would happen with you, just preparing for anything. I added the straps about a day ago," Cyborg gave her a smirk. Raven just looked away.

Without thinking, Beast Boy immediately jumped onto the table-like cot and laid down straight. Cyborg sighed softly and walked towards the table to begin strapping him down. He began buckling Beast Boy's legs; he fastened the first buckle around his ankles in loops, so his feet would not slip out. Cyborg continued to loop the belts around his calves and thighs until he got to his waist. Once he got to the waist he simply strapped the buckles across his body and his torso. He looped his arms with the remaining two straps. Then lastly, Cyborg strapped one more buckle across his head. Raven watched this in disgust. Cyborg caught her steady glare with his red eye, but quickly looked away just wishing he knew what to say to her. He pressed a button on the side of the table.

"Whoa, what's that?" Beast Boy asked feeling something move slowly beneath his cot, rolling up and down his entire body. Cyborg kept his non-emotional expression at Beast Boy's surprise when he answered.

"Bed massager, it will prevent bed sores and you won't be so uncomfortable lying down. Also, the table's voice activated. So, if you want to speed up the massager or change the angle of the table just say so," he explained.

"So, if I want to change my angle, what do I say? 'Up?' Whoa," once he said that his head began to lift up while his feet went down only about three inches. Cyborg gave a small chuckle.

"Yeah, just like that, but when you say that it only moves so much, if you want it to go higher say the degree number like 'angle 85,'" Cyborg said. The table then moved all the way up into a vertical position where Beast Boy felt like he was standing up, but still at a slight slant.

"Okay, so going back to lying down would be 'angle zero?'" the table moved back to its original position. Beast Boy then gave Cyborg a questionable look.

"So, what if I'm hungry or suddenly nature calls?" he asked wistfully. Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"You're going to have to call us. One of us will always be watching from the red room," Cyborg enlightened, he pointed to the red window above them. Beast Boy showed a bit of doubt.

"What about missions?" he asked unhappily. Cyborg presented a sad smile.

"You know we haven't been getting a lot of those," he said miserably. Beast Boy nodded.

"Yeah…right," he said in a soft whisper. Cyborg nodded in response and then said…

"'Night, B," and then he turned and walked out with Raven behind him. Raven turned around and saw Beast Boy slowly dozing off with his eyes drooping shut and then Cyborg started to close the large metal door in front of them. It turned and jeered loudly in the quiet hallway and finally closed. Raven looked up to Cyborg and he gave off another sigh and bowed his head.

"I don't like this anymore than you do you know, but it is for the best," he said to her. Raven scoffed.

"Whatever," she muttered. Cyborg expected her to walk off, but she was still standing there.

"I'm gonna keep first watch on him," he whispered. Then, Raven walked off.

"Fine," she called softly behind her. Cyborg then went inside a smaller door to the right of the large one and disappeared. Raven took the elevator up to the top floor, she assumed Starfire and Robin did the same, and retired to her room for sleep.

Next morning, Raven, Starfire and Robin were up and already sitting down at the yellow dining room table on the left side of the Ops. Robin was reading the newspaper barely picking at his ham and eggs, Starfire was munching on mustard pancakes, and Raven was reading the ending of a book after she finished her eggs, ham, 3 pieces of toast, 3 pancakes, and glass of orange juice along with her herbal tea to complete the all-star meal.

The main doors automatically opened letting in Cyborg. He walked down the small set of stairs, stretched and yawned loudly.

"Mornin', y'all," he said rubbing the back of his metallic neck. He walked over to the refrigerator.

"Good Morning, friend," Starfire said politely. "Morning," Raven said at the same time. Robin just got down to business.

"So, did Beast Boy transform anymore last night?" Robin asked Cyborg. Cyborg turned his head.

"Sort of…he was going in and out of transformations, morphing from human to animal and back again…I know he didn't sleep very well. But, I guess that's just normal for now," he finished. Raven watched Cyborg for a few moments. He was pulling out pans and things that she assumed were for his breakfast. Then he pulled out an ingredient that he never uses for himself.

"Are you cooking tofu?" Raven asked in surprise. Starfire and Robin looked at him strangely. Cyborg looked up and then back at the frying pan to realize what they were talking about.

"Oh, yeah, it's for BB. Since he can't leave that room, I figured I'd go ahead and make'em his specialty," he explained, the others shrugged and went back to their own business. Cyborg started to concentrate on his breakfast making. He flipped a small piece of tofu by tossing it in the air and it landed neatly back in the frying pan. Cyborg finished making the meat-free meal and placed it on a white plate. He then opened up the small yellow fridge inside the cabinets.

However, before he bent down his head, he and Robin caught each other's sight. Cyborg gave off a stern stare as if he was waiting for approval. Robin nodded at him, and Cyborg continued with his business.

"Hey, Raven," Cyborg called nonchalantly into the refrigerator, Raven looked up, "you're up for the morning watch. Can you take BB's food to him?"

Raven nodded, she took her breakfast plates and got up to place them in the sink. She picked up his plate, and then Cyborg pushed a tall glass of milk towards her.

"Soymilk," he said. Raven nodded again, and grabbed the glass as well. She walked up the stairs and the pressured doors opened and closed behind her. Cyborg stared at the door for a few moments and then turned his head slowly towards Robin.

"I hope you know what you're doing, man," he commented. Robin continued to read his paper.

Beast Boy could hear the large metal doors opening slowly. Unfortunate for him, he couldn't turn his head to see who was coming, so he had to readjust his position.

"Angle 60, rotate 90," he commanded, and his table moved accordingly. He was slightly leaning back, but he was now facing the door, so he could see who it was. Raven entered and saw him up and about…sort of. Beast Boy grinned at her and the plate of food she had in her hands.

"Thank heavens, I'm starving!" he exclaimed. Raven rolled her eyes at him. Then he saw what was on the plate and gave off a mild repulsive reaction. Raven looked confused at the plate.

"What? It's your favorite, tofu eggs and bacon," she said.

"Well, if you guys want me to get this under control, I don't think meat-free substitutes are the answer," he replied with a smile. Raven just stood there, curious.

"I thought you were under oath to not eat other animals," she said. Beast Boy frowned softly.

"The people that I care about are more important than my principles," he said directly. Raven slowly nodded and she could feel his concern and guilt consume him.

"Well, that's very thoughtful of you. But you might just need to suffer this time," she said. Beast Boy rolled his eyes, but he faded into confusion.

"So, how's this gonna work? I'm kinda unable to use my hands," he waved his hands back and forth, and then he smirked, "unless you are planning to feed me."

"You don't have that kind of luck, Gar," Raven smarted. Beast Boy laughed. She opened up the touch screen keypad to the right of the large door. Her finger skimmed the many buttons until she found the one she was looking for...she pressed "dining." Suddenly, a flat blue metal surface table top popped out of the wall along with L-shaped metal pieces on either side of the metal surface on the right side of where Beast Boy was facing.

"Angle zero," she commanded. Beast Boy looked at her confused. Raven placed his food on the metal table and then she walked over to Beast Boy and started to un-strap him from his insanity slab, she thought.

"Raven, you shouldn't stay here," Beast Boy said fearfully. Raven looked up at him confused.

"Why not? I thought you could use the company," she said continuing to unbuckle the straps around his legs, "Plus, I have the next watch, so you're going to have to deal with me anyway."

"Okay, but Cyborg just watched me from the red room," Beast Boy defended. Raven looked down displeased at him, thinking that he didn't want her in there for a short moment.

"Well, I prefer here. It's a little stuffy in there, at least in here there's some room to breathe," she unbuckled the strap around his waist after she was done un-looping his legs. Beast Boy stared at her fearfully.

"Raven, please…I-I don't want to hurt you," he begged. She gazed at him curiously for a long moment, knowing that he was so afraid but wondering what he was thinking. She wondered if he didn't think that she couldn't handle him. Raven leaned down towards his face so she could reach to unbuckle the last strap around his head. Beast Boy stare at her desperately and pleading to fulfill his logic. Raven just let off a small smug smile, to prove to him that she was fine. She unbuckled the last strap.

"Get up. You're breakfast is getting cold, and I can't imagine what tofu must be like cold."

Raven spent her entire watch inside with Beast Boy, and she did not keep him restrained no matter how much he tried to reason with her. Beast Boy ultimately decided to give up and he took the opportunity to simply talk to her. They talked throughout the morning until it was the middle of the afternoon. Beast Boy didn't even notice that he missed his lunch; it was just nice to have someone there with him and he could be himself, like before things went crazy.

"So, how's life on the outside?" he joked with her. Raven rolled her eyes.

"You say it like you've been in here for years," she remarked, "it's only been a few hours."

"Try more like half a day, I know it hasn't been that long, but I guess just knowing that I'm gonna be here for a while…" his words faded away into silence, and then he sighed, "I don't know what I'm feeling…"

"Guilt, regret, frustration, anger and a little clusterphobic," Raven named off. Now it was Beast Boy's turn to roll his eyes.

"I didn't need a list!" he chuckled a bit, "I don't understand how you're still sitting with me if you feel all that too," Raven shrugged.

"Well, the main one is serenity, and that's the most important," she said, "but still, it's not like I could meditate in here. I could if I was able to anyway." Beast Boy furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean? You can't meditate anymore?" he asked innocently.

"It's nothing, I just haven't done it in a few days, so my emotions are a bit unstable," she explained. Beast Boy started to worry.

"How come you haven't been meditating?" he asked softly. Raven smirked.

"Cause I've been concerned over you, what else?" she said. Beast Boy was not amused. He paled, Raven could feel his shift in his feelings, and she did not like where he was heading. She exhaled noisily.

"Actually, most of the time I've been frustrated at Robin," she placed her good left hand over her forehead. Beast Boy bowed his head to look at the table.

"That makes sense," he muttered, "you were against this in the first place."

"It's not just that…he doesn't trust you. I'm worried that he would do something drastic just to stop you altogether," Raven admitted. Beast Boy was taken aback.

"He doesn't trust me?" he repeated. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, it radiates off of him every time I walk into a room. It's so poisoning that I'm shocked you don't feel it," she responded. Beast Boy knew Robin had some sort of problem with him, but the way he was feeling now affected his outlook on their leader.

"Well, at least he has good intentions, can't blame him for that," he reasoned. Raven stared at him in disgust with her mouth hung open.

"Good intentions! He's making your life miserable by making you stay locked up in here for no reason," she said a little louder than normal. She suddenly felt a wave of anger wash over her.

"No reason?! He has every reason to lock me up! I attacked him!" he yelled, standing up and towering over her as if he was about to strike. Raven stared back at him, ready to take him on, her fists started to glow her soft black aurora. Beast Boy glared back at her for several moments of silence, then his look of hatred began to soften, his muscles relaxed, and his eyes began to open wide with shock. Frightened by what had just happened he stopped breathing for a second. He was so terrified by the intentions for Raven that were flowing through his head that he didn't even notice the large metal door in front of him slowly opening. Raven turned and saw the door as well.

Robin quickly walked through before the door was finished opening. He stared at Raven's glowing fists and waited for her to calm them. Raven did just that, and Beast Boy sat back down, Robin stared at both of them unsure of what to make of the situation that was in front of him. He decided to take the high road, in his state of opinion.

"Beast Boy, please get back on the table," he commanded him. Beast Boy nodded and turned to do just that, Robin turned to Raven.

"Your morning watch is over, you may go," he said so orderly that Raven groaned in disgust. She aggressively got up and stormed pass Robin. Robin stepped towards Beast Boy to begin to buckle him down.

"Raven," Beast Boy called. She turned towards him, Robin kept buckling. He started with Beast Boy's head, so he was unable to look at her.

"Please…try to meditate," he pleaded. Raven's frustration softened, and gradually turned to walk out.

Once Raven left the room she phased up through the Tower into the main hallway that her room was on. She could feel the frustrating feelings peaking inside her, she could feel the slightest thing might set her off, and someone could get hurt. Raven stood in front of her door, just letting the emotions flow through her for a moment. It felt so good just to think about the relief afterwards, and she was dying to burst and just let it out. But she knew that she couldn't, she wouldn't. The lights in the hallway began to flicker, she noticed. Suddenly, the light bulb above her popped, sending small shatters of glass towards her. Raven stopped them telekinetically. Glowing black pieces of glass circled around her head frozen. Then they disappeared, along with her.

She decided to not go into her room, but instead go up on the roof to get some fresh air. Raven opened the door to the roof and saw the sun was behind some clouds, creating overcast. The wind was light, and the waves were bashing against the island. The sound soothed her, and then she decided to heed Beast Boy's plea and try to meditate on the roof.

Raven sat in her lotus position, closed her eyes, and slowed her breath. She the last thing she saw was the city. The last thought she had was about Beast Boy. Then all the troubled weight of the stress she was feeling slowly began to fade away…

…the still blackness of her mind was waning before her. The darkness behind her eyelids began to brighten only just. Suddenly, she felt a droplet of moisture on the tip of her nose, and her eyes opened fully. It was evening; the only thing left from the sun was the bright glowing border around the dark clouds that hovered over Jump City. Raven relinquished her lotus position and touched back down to the roof of the Tower gracefully. Judging by the night beginning to form around her, she guessed that she had been meditating for at least four hours.

If she could call that meditating. Her emotional state was no better off then when she started, she might have done better sleeping. Worry, anger, and all the negative energy swirled inside her, desperately trying to take control. Raven wasn't sure what to do; she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold it in.

She decided to see where the others were, first. Then she wanted to check up on Beast Boy to make sure Robin wasn't doing anything worth her compressed emotional explosion. Raven phased through the roof into the Ops. Once her glow faded she looked around. No one was here. The television was on the News again, but it was muted, but the main story was about them again. She saw the sky outside through the window, the clouds were getting darker, and she assumed it was about to rain. Raven decided that she could find the others later. She was more concerned about Beast Boy.

Once again she phased. Her black raven-like aurora melted through the floor all the way down to the first level of the building. Raven phased back inside the hallway of the infirmary and the confinement room. She turned to head towards the confinement room where Beast Boy was.

Shock and surprise consumed her as the confinement room door was left open, and she could see Beast Boy's bed inside, empty. An extremely bad feeling suddenly came over her. Raven's frustration over the failed meditation transformed into anger. She turned back and barged right through the infirmary doors, hopefully able to find some answers.

She definitely found something. Raven gasped at the scenario that had fallen before her. Beast Boy was unconscious in a bed still restrained with straps. Cyborg was over by the monitors examining them, now he was surprised at Raven's sudden burst. Robin was leaning against the wall staring at her with the same expression as hers. Starfire was standing next to the man she now loathed. But her friends were not the problem, no; it was the greasy haired man in the white coat drawing blood from her friend's arm. Which from where Raven was standing, he was on his 8th vile of green blood.

"You must be Raven," Dr. Register said to break the intense atmosphere, "Your leader, Robin, has told all about your situation with this," Raven glared at Robin with dangerous eyes. Her anger now grew into a deadly rage, and she started to hyperventilate. Dr. Register continued, "You shouldn't worry, your friend is in good hands."

Raven continued to stare in silence. Dr. Register was staring too, waiting for a response. Raven's glowing eyes was the last thing he saw before he was catapulted across the room and smashed into the opposite wall. Starfire gave a short scream; Cyborg went to help Dr. Register up, while Robin went for Raven, but he wasn't fast enough. She had already phased out.

Raven opened her door and immediately went into her room without a second thought. Her palm was stretched out and she slammed it into the button that closes her door. The sudden impact caused the door to delay and was strong enough to leave a small crack on the surface of the button.

Her feelings were out of control, and she was doing everything in all her strength and inner peace to suppress them. Her books were flying off the shelves and hitting the opposite walls, imbedding themselves within it. Her bed sheets flew off and started to rip themselves in mid-air. Her lamps started to explode leaving her in the darkness, the light outside didn't help because it started to pour rain.

Raven didn't care what happened to room, she was lucky that she was keeping it controlled inside one room. She couldn't handle it, the rage was too much. Raven grabbed her hair pulling at the ends, tortured between suppressing herself and letting herself go. Finally, she had enough. Raven yelled and smashed her fists into the wall leaving imprinted images of her hands inside it. She didn't know she had such strength to do that, but she didn't care. The release felt so good, she welcomed the pain.

A round of pounding came off her door. Raven was distracted and everything flying around in her room froze in place. She pressed the button to open the door, not really thinking about what she was doing. She opened it and saw Robin, the last person on Earth that she wanted to see. Robin saw her profusely sweating and brow furrowed, he demanded an explanation as to why she so rudely left the room. She couldn't believe the way he was treating her like a child. She reasoned the best she could but failed because she was having trouble controlling this irrepressible rage.

"Explain," Robin demanded.

"There's no need for me to explain my reaction, Robin. You should know me well enough to know why I left that room the way I did," she said.

"Well, if that was the case I wouldn't be standing here knocking on your door asking for one," Robin knew that this was about him not telling her about Register, "I wouldn't have done this if I had no other choice; this is for Beast Boy's own good."

"How dare you?" she challenged him. He stood his ground. She continued.

"How dare you have the audacity to treat Beast Boy this way? After he has been nothing but loyal to this team and to you? How can you stand there and tell me that and then give permission to some mad scientist to poke and prod him? Even more so, you don't even include me into the decision? ...And you're asking for an explanation!" she finished. Robin showed no emotions, but that didn't stop Raven from feeling the frustration and anger swooning off of him.

"I didn't include you into this decision because I knew that you would be against it! I decided to take matters into my own hands for the sake of Beast Boy. So, don't tell me that I don't care about him! I realize who this man is, and why it is crucial that we keep an eye on him. However, he is the only sakutia expert alive. So, right now he is the best option for Beast Boy, and I'm going to do what it takes to make him better! And if that doesn't involve you, then that's just fine by me."

"Robin…," Raven was hyperventilating again as she mutters his name through her grinding teeth. Her hands began to curl into tight fists.

"Now, let me give you a warning, Raven," he walked closer to her to get in her face, "You are not doing him any good by being apart of this. And if you do know what's good for him, then you will do the right thing and stay away from him. When it's all done, I'll let you know what the next step will be."

Strike three.

Raven punched Robin in the face to knock him out cold. Raven's punch was so forceful that he slammed into the wall across her door. Blood started to drip from his left nostril; his left cheek was turning purple at a quick rate. Raven shut her door with one push of the button beside it, and she leaned her back against its coolness trying to calm her self down. But, it was no use. She was growling, the anger she felt was like none she had ever felt before, even when she was under the influence of her father. She could not understand it! Frustration turned to anger, and the anger turned into rage and the rage felt like it was exploding out of her skin.

Raven felt now that this was in the more literal sense as her body began to expand. Her leotard slowly started to rip, and she began to scream in pain. The bandages wrapped around her right hand ripped apart and fell to the floor when her hand began to swell. Raven looked down and saw the green bruise enlarge underneath her pale skin. Her entire hand started to turn green, and then it spread until it covered her entire arm. In just a few seconds, her arm was covered in fury violet locks, the same pigment as her hair. The pain was excruciating, she could feel her teeth grow larger, her muscles growing in strength and mass, her spine curling, her throat throbbing as her voice changed from screaming to roaring. Until, by some miracle from the heavens above, she blacked out.