Well surpriseeee! Update! :)
This is the final chapter of "The Hunted and the Haunted".

I want to thank all of you for your support and for not giving up on it even when I took forever to update. Thank you guys! :) I hope you all liked the story as much as I liked writing it...

Well... Enough of my ranting... Enjoy :)

Chapter 18: Battles to come

Beast Boy woke up with a terrible headache.

"What the heck happened?" he asked himself. The last thing he remembered was everyone cheering and celebrating their victory. His eyes snapped open.

The Titans were all out of it. They, like him were only now waking up. He looked around only to notice that they were still out in the streets of Jump City. Yes, the debris were gone and it looked in one piece... But there was something seriously wrong going on. And Raven was nowhere to be seen. This scared him.

"Everyone okay?" asked Robin trying to stand up.

"I believe we are unharmed, but I do not know what happened." answered Starfire running a hand trough her hair.

"Where's Raven?" asked Beast Boy desperately.

"Uhh... Guys? We have a problem..." they heard Cyborg say. He was the only one standing and he pointed towards the nearest block, more precisely the roof.

"Didn't I warn you, children?" asked the Collector. "I told you I was going to take over this world, did I not?" he taunted. "You are all weakened after battling Trigon, but I didn't fight at all. Defeating you now will be easy." he laughed.

"You monster!" shouted someone. "You attack us when we have no fighting chance! You're a coward!"

"You don't need a fighting chance! You will never attack me..." shouted the Collector in response. "You're going to do exactly what I say, or else.." he barked.

"If you think we're giving up without a fight... " started Robin, staff in hand already.

"You have another thing coming." finished Bumble Bee taking out her stingers as Speedy got ready to fire two arrows at a time and Argent's hands lit up.

"We never give up without a fight!" shouted Kid Flash. Starfire nodded as her eyes started glowing and Cyborg recharged his sonic cannon.

"And risk destroying this little beauty here?" asked the Collector as he raised her with his right hand around her neck and a sword in the other.

"RAVEN!" everyone gasped. Beast Boy almost lost it. The world around him started to spin. Raven...

The heroes took a step back... As if going forward meant that Raven was done for. They couldn't risk it.

"Let her go!" screamed Starfire with tears in her eyes.

"I won't. She's the one thing that keep all of you at bay." he said smiling evilly. "And there is nothing you can do about it." he finished turning around and walking away laughing. Raven was still out of it... She probably never got the chance to even try and free herself. Or maybe she did fight him... How did they not see this coming?

They let their guard down.

Nobody seemed to notice that Beast Boy was gone. He was having none of this. Nobody was going to take Raven away from him again. He morphed into a dragon fly, as it was the fastest flying insect and hard to spot and chased after the madman who was threatening Raven's life. His Raven.

'You just wait... Wait until you lower your guard for a millisecond... Because the second she's out of danger... You're going to regret coming here.' he thought.

He followed the Collector to the outskirts of the city where he entered a cave. Beast Boy followed him inside. He saw him throwing Raven to the side as he entered a different tunnel. She grunted as she hit the stone floor. It was obvious that lunatic didn't know he was followed. Beast Boy morphed back and was at Raven's side in a second. Without making a noise, he gently wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. He could hear that the Collector was tinkering something just around the

corner. He couldn't stick around, as he heard the man's footsteps returning. He had to take Raven out of there. Fast. He ran as silently as he could back to the exit... But just before he could escape with her he heard a maniacal laugh.

"You think you can get away that easily... You thought you can just save her... Just like that? And defeat me all alone?"

"Who said I'm alone? Robin, NOW!" shouted Beast Boy smirking now. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg launched their planned attack and the Collector backed away.

"Did you really think we were going to let her go that easy?" asked Robin narrowing his eyes... mask... You get the picture...

"You thought you won and let down your guard..." said Cyborg.

"Well Titans... I'm impressed." said the Collector. "It seems I can always find a formidable opponent when I face you... And after all this time... So many battles... And you still can't defeat me."

"What?" they gasped in unison. Impressed? Many battles? Still can't defeat him?

"Who the hell are you?" asked Robin frustrated.

"Now Robin... You don't recognize me?" asked the Collector as he removed his mask. Strange... They never noticed the mask... But behind it...

"No way..." whispered Cyborg.

"This cannot be..." gasped Starfire.

"You!" shouted Robin.

"Impossible..." growled Beast Boy.

"Should I give you a minute to get over the shock?" asked Slade.

"How...?" asked Robin shock still audible in his voice.

"I took his identity shortly after your first encounter with him... I have to say his weapon arsenal is admirable... It was easy really... But that's it's not important... I lured you here for a different purpose..." he explained in a mocking tone.

"What do you want?" asked Robin eager fight.

"I bring a warning Titans... I told you already that I will take over this world... And you will not stay in my way again."

"What makes you think we're going to surrender?" asked Beast Boy trough gritted teeth as he held Raven close. He wanted nothing less than to rip him to shreds for hurting her.

"You won't... You'll try to stop me... But you won't... I didn't tell you all of this for nothing... It's just... Boring... To achieve a goal without any... Obstacles..." laughed Slade. He just loved messing with their heads.

Almost a week later...

"I can't believe it... How does he keep coming back? Ugh... I just wish we could catch him already." said Cyborg mirroring Robin's frustration.

"This is so messed up... Just when you think the war is over... There we go... New threat comes up." said Beast Boy. He punched the couch cushions in anger. "Don't we ever get to just... Take a break?"

"But it's not like Slade... This just isn't like him... " said Robin. "It doesn't add up." he said pacing in front of the couch in the Ops. Cyborg and Starfire were sitting on the couch and Beast Boy just got up and turned to the door walking away.

"I'm going to check on Raven." he said as the doors slid closed. Starfire's thoughts wandered away from the topic for a few moments... She hated seeing Beast Boy in this depressed state... And she was worried sick about Raven. They all knew that healing took time... But never before did it take this long... She had yet to wake up...

"Well... He's gone for now..." said Cyborg. "But I'm sure we'll see him again."

"But why? Why would he want to tell us? If we know he's planning something... He knows we'll have our guard up." thought Robin out loud.

"What do you think he is planning?" asked Starfire.

"I don't know..." answered Robin. "This is all so confusing..."

"It is... But it was also easy for him to plan all this while we were fighting Trigon... He had months... Almost a year to plan his move... And I don't think we'll have a vacation any time soon... Now we have to stop him, don't we, Robin?" asked Cyborg.

"Yes." confirmed Robin sternly.

Beast Boy stopped at the door to her room. She was still asleep. He smiled bitterly. He walked over to her and sat down next to her. Raven had a peaceful expression on her face, void of emotion.

"Hey, Rae." he said. His voice was only a little above a whisper. "We miss you..." he said reaching out and stroking her hair. "I miss you..." "Please, Raven... Wake up soon..." he whispered placing a gentle kiss on her lips. He stood there for a few minutes just thinking about all they've been trough together.

Beast Boy couldn't sleep well lately. He kept waking up in cold sweat after a nightmare that kept repeating itself... He couldn't stop thinking about how vulnerable Raven was right now... He wanted her to wake up so much. And it wasn't only him... Everyone on the team missed her. It wasn't like their first year... When they got on each others nerves for nothing... They were so united now... And when one of them was down... It felt like all of them were... That saying one for all and all for one applied perfectly for them.

He was currently sitting on the shore of their little island thinking about the good and bad times. He was so caught up in his train of thought that he didn't notice the figure slowly making it's way towards him.

Raven smiled to herself. She made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders sitting down behind him. This took him by surprise.

"Hey.." she said softly.

"Raven!" he whispered. He shifted and took her in his arms. "I was afraid I lost you."

"I'm sorry." she said cupping his cheek with her hand. He leaned into her touch smiling as if to say don't worry about it.

"Well I guess we have some catching up to do." he said leaning in. She met him halfway closing her eyes. He smiled into the kiss. Only now did he realize just how much he missed her.

"I love you, Rae!" he whispered once they broke apart.

"I love you too, Gar!" she said resting her head on his shoulder. "So much..." she added almost inaudibly. But he heard it... And he smiled.

"Rae... I don't know if you know this... But..."

"Slade's back... I know... " she said. "But don't worry... We can take him..."

"Yeah... Just wait until we see him again... He won't know what hit him."

"I bet... "

"Well... When the time comes we'll defeat him just like the rest of the bad guys... But right now... I think we have a more pressing matter..."

"What would that be?" she asked intrigued.

"Do you want to go see a movie tomorrow?" asked Beast Boy grinning at her. She laughed.

"I'd love to!" she said smiling, a full smile that made his heart melt.

The End

Bet you didn't see that one coming... :)
There it is... I hope you liked it... Let me know if you want... Reviews are always welcome :)

Thank you for reading. :)