HOME | DD

Description
“Whenever You Call”

“It is useless to run…you cannot escape me!” Monsieur Mallah cried as he chased Raven through the dense underbrush of the sweltering African jungle.  Raven’s heart pounded as she soared out over a wide but shallow river, disrupting the sparkling surface as she dipped closer to the water and then rose into the air again.  Looking over her right shoulder, Raven lost sight of her opponent and panicked, hovering a few feet above the water.  Turning to look the other way, Raven hardly saw Mallah’s heavy fist coming.  She was catapulted across the water like a skipping stone for several yards before slowing and ultimately falling into a shallow area of the chilly green water.  She came up for air coughing and sputtering and as she wiped the water from her eyes, Mallah was bearing down on her.  She rose out of the water, but not fast enough to get away, for Mallah was on her a second later, pulling her by the ankle and slamming her back into the water.  Raven choked on the sudden mouthful of water, and despite not being able to properly see her attacker, she fired off several energy bolts that Mallah easily dodged as he changed his grip to her shoulders.  Raven desperately kicked in an attempt to get free, finally making contact with the giant gorilla’s jaw.  The unexpected blow knocked the villain off balance, causing him to stumble backwards.  This gave Raven the edge she needed.  She sprang back out of the water and launched herself at Mallah, landing blow after blow to the monster’s face, each punch forcing him farther down the river toward the falls.  Mallah finally tumbled backward onto the shore and Raven wound up for her final blow.

“Azarath, Metrion —” Raven began.  Mallah reached for and swung a fallen tree trunk at Raven, sending the super heroine unconscious back into the water.  Mallah stood, took Raven by her hood and dragged her to the edge of the falls through the icy water, hurling her limp body plummeting over the roaring waters.  Mallah panted and grinned with sadistic pleasure as he watched her body vanish into cloud of mist below.

“RAVEN!” Beast Boy screamed, running toward Mallah.  The Brain’s henchman had led the Titans on a goose chase that sent each hero in different directions looking for him.  Beast Boy came onto the scene just in time to see Mallah launch Raven’s body over the falls.

“Finally, Mento’s little mascot has caught up,” Mallah taunted.  “You are even weaker than your friend—I will enjoy bringing you to your knees where you belong!  Beg for mercy from Monsieur Mallah!”  Beast Boy’s heart rate doubled and his eyes brimmed with angry tears.

“I’m not a child anymore, Mallah, and you’re going to pay for what you’ve done to Raven!” he growled.  Mallah roared with laughter as Beast Boy transformed into a large raptor and charged, his vicious, foot-long teeth gleaming and snarling with rage.  Beast Boy knew in his mind that Mento and Elastigirl had always taught him to respect the sanctity of life in all of its forms.  He knew that Robin expected the Titans to moderate their behaviors and show restraint and control in battle, but all of this was lost on Beast Boy in the face of a tormentor that had plagued him since childhood.  This monster had just vanquished someone Beast Boy cared deeply about, and he wasn’t about to let Mallah get away this time.

Beast Boy leapt into the air and landed hard on the massive gorilla’s chest.  Mallah roared and struggled to move, but Beast Boy wouldn’t budge.  Beast Boy leaned in and roared back, but didn’t waste any time before sinking his sharp pointed teeth into Mallah’s right arm.  The ape screamed in agony as the blood started to swirl and stain the river water.  Mallah rolled hard to the right, flinging Beast Boy a short distance but the shock from the wound was already setting in and weakening his reaction time.  Beast Boy knew this and charged again, this time using his tail to throw Mallah back onto the ground, where he leapt on top of him again and used the long, curved talons on his legs to carve deep gouges in the gorilla’s flesh.  Beast Boy went further now, using his fearsome teeth to break Mallah’s ribs and ultimately crush his heart and lungs.

Morphing back into his normal form, Beast Boy stared at the corpse of his adversary in shock.  He had never lost control that way before.  Numb from the adrenaline rush, Beast Boy kicked Mallah and panted as he growled through clenched teeth, “She’s more than my friend, you monster.” With this, he charged toward the falls and jumped out, spreading his arms and becoming a large condor as he descended and skimmed the shimmering lake below.  Scanning with the bird’s keen eyes, he spotted Raven face-down on the western shore of the lake.  Flying to her, he morphed back to his human form so fast that he nearly tripped himself getting to her and pulling her out of the water.

Getting Raven out of the water was just the beginning though, as he discovered that she had no heartbeat and was not breathing.  Beast Boy thought quickly, performing the lifesaving CPR that Robin insisted that the entire team learn.

“Please don’t die…please don’t die…come on, Raven…stay with me, Raven,” he muttered as he alternated between chest compressions and forcing long breaths into Raven’s lungs.  A minute passed like an hour before Beast Boy discovered that he had succeeded in starting her heart again.  Focusing on breathing for her, he panted as he forced breath after breath into her body before she finally gasped, coughed, and shook back to life.  Relieved, Beast Boy rolled her onto her side, gently patting and rubbing her back and encouraging her to continue to cough and breath.  As soon as he was sure that she was stable for the moment, he fashioned a stretcher and a harness out of available materials.  Carefully, he loaded Raven onto the stretcher and then looped the harness around his waist and neck.  Morphing into a pterodactyl, Beast Boy literally air-lifted Raven to a cavern high in the face of the cliff.  Once they were there, Beast Boy made a closer inspection of Raven’s injuries and discovered a superficial head wound from the battle with Mallah, and her broken left arm from the subsequent dive over the waterfall.  At least here in the cavern they would be sheltered from the encroaching chill of an African night.  Beast Boy covered Raven’s right hand with his left and she drowsily opened her eyes.

“My communicator broke during the battle, and yours shorted out when it hit the water,” Beast Boy said softy.  “We’re going to be here a while.  I spotted an abandoned sea plane about a mile from here and I’m going to go see if I can scavenge anything from it for us and get food and firewood.  Rest for now.  Go back to sleep and I’ll be back before you know it.”  Raven nodded quietly and closed her eyes.  Beast Boy felt a pang of hesitation to leave her.  He knew that she was helpless in her weakened state and he cared too much about her to feel comfortable leaving her.  On the other hand, because he did care so much, he knew he couldn’t let her down.

Beast Boy used his various animal forms to help him accomplish each task he had to perform.  He discovered edible fruit in the trees near the plane, firewood from fallen trunks, and the sea plane contained three blankets, a first aid kit, and the plane’s inflatable emergency raft.  By the time he gathered all of these things and hoisted them all into the cavern, night had fallen completely, and Raven was shivering violently.

“Hang in there, Raven, I’m here now,” he called.  She whimpered as Beast Boy started the fire and allowed the raft to inflate itself.  As the fire began to warm the air, Beast Boy knew that Raven’s wet clothes would keep the life-saving heat from her body and he swallowed hard as his eyes traveled the length of her body.  Her shapely figure and toned muscles were attractive, even if she didn’t think so.  Throwing his feelings for her aside in favor of saving her life, he went to her and unclasped her cloak, letting it fall in a soggy heap beneath her.  He pulled off her shoes, wrist guards and belt before she opened her eyes again.

“What are you doing?” she mumbled, feebly trying to prevent him from removing any more of her clothing.

“You’ll get hypothermia if I don’t get you warmed up.  Your clothes are too cold and wet to let you get warm,” he explained, continuing to undress her.

“No,” she protested weakly.  Beast Boy stopped just long enough to look her in the eyes and reply, “I will not let you die if I can prevent it.” She didn’t respond to this, but gave him no more resistance as he wrapped a large, heavy blanket around her before removing the rest of her uniform.  Lacking the energy to focus on anything, Raven once again slipped into unconsciousness.  Beast Boy laid out her clothes to dry and added his own uniform top to the spread.  With this done, he lifted her with a strength he didn’t know he had and placed her gently in the raft.  He brought the raft with him from the plane because he surmised that it would keep her off the cold, hard ground and the sides would keep her out of the wind.  Now that this was done, he decided, Raven would be able to recover faster.  He brought water from the lake for her and used the cup in the first aid kit to slowly convince her wake up and to drink.  He managed to get her to eat a little of the fruit to keep her strength up, but this sapped most of what little energy she had, and Beast Boy sat back against the side of the raft with Raven in his arms and draped another blanket over her.  Too wound up from the day to sleep, Beast Boy took a deep breath and stared out of the cavern into the star-studded night sky shimmering over the trees.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Beast Boy!  Raven!  Come in!” Robin barked into his communicator.  For the past several hours he had been fruitlessly trying to find the last of his teammates.  Starfire carefully rested her hand on his shoulder in unabashed concern.

“Could the Monsieur Mallah have defeated them?” she asked gingerly.

“Not together,” Cyborg muttered.  He faced away from them as he worked at repairing his circuitry.  “Rae and BB may hate each other but they’re a hell of a team.  Mallah wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Then where are they?  Neither of their communicators are even returning a signal!” Robin yelled, standing up and taking a step closer to him.  Cyborg looked up from his work when Starfire backed away from Robin.

“Look man, I know you’re mad, but takin’ it out on me and Star’s not gonna bring Raven and Beast Boy back any faster,” Cyborg replied.  Robin took a deep breath and nodded as he looked over at Star.  She was covering her left bicep and he watched blood seep from between her fingers and ooze out over her hand.

“Star…you’re hurt!” he said, his eyes wide with the realization that he hadn’t noticed it before.  .

“It is nothing…really,” she replied, averting her eyes, biting her lower lip and taking another step back.  Robin’s heart melted.  Here she was, listening to him rant when she was in pain and needed his attention.  Robin quietly climbed into the T-Ship and retrieved the first aid kit.

“Let me fix it for you,” he said gently guiding her to a soft bit of ground and kneeling down beside her.  She winced when he cleaned the wound and tears slid down her face, but she never uttered a sound.  Robin finished the bandage and slipped his finger beneath her chin, pulling her gaze to his.

“I’m sorry, Star,” he murmured, truly contrite.  “Forgive me?” A half smile formed beneath what was left of her miserable tears.

“Always,” she whispered, leaning against him.  Robin took her in his arms and held her as he knelt there, her head pillowed against his shoulder.

“Robin?” she said softly.

“Yes?”

“Do you think Beast Boy and Raven are all right?” she asked.  Robin smiled.

“I’m sure wherever they are, they’re together, and they’re just fine,” he replied.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

At daybreak, Beast Boy went about re-kindling the fire and then took advantage of Raven’s unconsciousness to set and splint her arm.  He cleaned the dried blood from her hair and made sure the wound had stopped bleeding.  Satisfied for the moment, he spent some time tinkering with the communicators and occasionally trying to lie down beside Raven in the raft to rest.  However, Raven would weep or cry out in her sleep, keeping Beast Boy busy comforting her and coaxing her back to sleep.

At regular intervals, Beast Boy once again attempted to use Raven’s moments of lucidity to convince her to eat and drink some water.  Without any other recourse, he used most of the extra time on his hands to keep quiet vigil over his friend, occasionally stroking her hair or her face to calm the terrors that seemed to keep her from resting comfortably.  Once such nightmare frightened her so badly that she threw her arms out and kicked her legs in fear, striking Beast Boy more than once and screaming for help.  Unable to wake her, Beast Boy endured nearly 30 minutes of scratches and bruises before she relaxed and finally went back to sleep.  Now wide awake, Beast Boy tended the fire that night and worried about his charge.  He felt that she should have awakened by now, and feared that despite his best efforts, he may indeed be losing her.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Robin stretched and sighed as he splashed water on his face.  His muscles ached from sleeping in the T-Ship and from searching through the long days.

“Rob, it’s been two days…we need help if we’re going to find Raven and BB,” Cyborg said weakly, joining Robin near the water.

“We’re not leaving without them,” Robin growled softly.  “I’m not giving up on them.”

“I didn’t say that,” Cyborg said, keeping his voice low to avoid waking Starfire, who still snoozed in her cockpit in the T-Ship.   “I’m just saying that we may need to call in the reserves.  Are any of the Honorary Titans nearby?  Call a few of them!  For Pete’s sake, let’s quit beatin’ ourselves up trying to do it alone!” Robin sighed.  He knew Cyborg was right.  The jungle was just too big to search effectively from the ground.

“If we don’t find something by noon today we’ll call in the others.  Kole and Gnarkk are bound to be around here somewhere and Kid Flash could be here in no time.  Will that do?” Robin asked weakly.

“Yeah,” Cyborg said in resignation.  “For now.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Beast Boy sat with his back to the raft, watching the sun rise and peek up over the horizon.  The fire was low, but when Beast Boy stood to retrieve the firewood on the other side of the cavern, he discovered that his legs wouldn’t hold him up.  Dizziness swept over him and seconds later he passed out, landing with a cold thud on the cavern floor.

An hour passed, and the sun warmed the cavern as it rose higher in the sky.  A drowsy purr emanated from the bundle of blankets inside the raft as Raven opened her eyes.  As the night wore on, her powers had recovered enough to begin healing her injuries, so by the time she awakened now, all but her arm were completely healed.  Slowly, Raven sat up, only to come to the realization that she was undressed, and that someone had set, splinted and placed a sling around her arm.  Lightly she fingered the material, thinking it strangely familiar.  The black and purple stripes immediately brought flashes of memory crashing back.

“Beast Boy?” she called.  She gasped as she discovered him face down on the ground and looked about to ascertain their situation.  She located her clothing in a neatly folded pile by the raft and summoned them, using her powers to assist her where her broken arm became an impediment to dressing.  Finishing quickly, Raven went to Beast Boy and knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder with her good hand.  When he didn’t respond to his name, Raven surveyed him for injuries but found none.  Upon checking his vital signs she was grateful to find that he was still breathing, but his face was flushed and to her surprise, hot to the touch.

“What happened to you?” Raven whispered as she looked around.  She saw the dying fire, the remains of the food and water he had collected, and the evidence that he had been trying to fix their communicators.  Raven swallowed hard as tears prickled at the back of her eyes.

“You did this…you saved my life but you haven’t taken care of yourself,” she muttered.  His uniform pants and shoes were still damp and cold and Raven discovered a small pool of fresh water dripping down from a place in near the back of the cavern.

“You almost gave your life for me…time for me to return the favor,” Raven said, wiping the tears from her eyes.  She used her powers to lift him off the ground, remove his shoes and the bottom half of his uniform and then she moved him to the raft, bundling him there just the way he had done for her.  As she did this, he opened his eyes and mumbled something nearly unintelligible.

“You just stay there…let me help you,” Raven gently ordered.

“You’re too weak…you need to rest…your arm is broken…hit your head… concussion…” he babbled.

“Shhh,” Raven whispered, losing the battle to keep from crying.  “I’m all right now…you saved me.”

“Communicators ‘r brok’n….don’t cry, Raven…we’ll make it…just…I need to…” Beast Boy continued to babble.  Carefully, Raven gathered water from the pool and the remaining fruit and prepared it for him.

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten, Beast Boy?” Raven asked.

“You were unconscious…in and out…two days…you need to lie down,” he insisted.  Raven gasped softly.  She brought the water and food to him and patiently convinced him to eat it.  When he’d finished everything, she swept her hands over his skin, healing the bruises and cuts.

“How many of these did I give you tossing and turning in my sleep?” Raven murmured.  She didn’t get an answer.  Instead, Beast Boy took a deep breath, shuddered, and relaxed into her arms.

“Beast Boy?” Raven called, shaking his shoulder.  “Beast Boy!  Answer me!”  Raven clutched him close and couldn’t seem to stop the flood of tears from her eyes.

“Don’t you leave me…Come back to me, Garfield…” Raven wept.  Her hands began to glow pale blue and she used all of her available concentration to seek out the source of his illness and drive it from his body.  When she was done, Beast Boy was breathing normally, and she gingerly set him in the bottom of the raft to rest.  A flash and a sharp crack-boom sound brought her attention to the weather as the wind picked up and revealed a thunderstorm brewing outside.  Any kind of search for the others wouldn’t be possible in a storm, so she would have to find another way.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The other Titans took ran to the T-Ship just in time for the heaviest part of the storm to start.  Wet and winded, the heroes piled into their respective cockpits and caught their breath before speaking again.

“Now will you call in reinforcements?” Cyborg asked Robin, exasperated as he poured rain water out of his various parts.

“No one’s going to be able to search in this weather.  We need to wait out the storm and—”

“You just don’t want to ask for help!” Cyborg shouted angrily.

“Please!  No more yelling!” Starfire cried.  She feared what a fight amongst the two would do to their already failing efforts to locate their friends.

“You think this is about my pride?” Robin shouted back.  Each of them was still situated in his or her own cockpit of the craft, but communicated through the microphone relays of the ship.

“BB and Raven are gonna die out there if they’re not dead already and it’s all gonna be because you couldn’t suck it up and ask for help!” Cyborg continued.

“Raven and Beast Boy cannot be dead!  I do not believe it!” Starfire sobbed, covering her eyes as her shoulders shook in misery.

“Stop it!  They’re not dead!” Robin yelled, turning to look at her.

“Don’t yell at her!  She’s not the reason we’re in this godforsaken place!” Cyborg shouted.

“Enough!  I’ve had enough of this!” Robin screamed, getting out of his cockpit in the ship and kicking the hull with his steel-toed shoes before descending the ladder and running further into the canopy.  The wind blew harshly against him, forcing the rain to go different directions as it whipped across the jungle.  Robin took a deep breath and screamed into the wind, “Where are you?  Why can’t I find you?  Help me, please!  I can’t do it by myself! Help me find you!”  The wind gusted again and Robin fell onto his back on the soft ground, his chest heaving and his heart pounding in his ears.  Then he heard it…

“Robin!”

“Man, where are you?”

Seconds later, Starfire appeared, falling to her knees beside him.

“Robin!  Are you hurt?” she cried against the roar of wind, rain and thunder.

“No!  I’m fine!” he cried back, his anger ebbing immediately.  She helped him up and threw her arms around him.  The warmth of her arms was a welcome change from the violence of the weather.  Cyborg stepped closer to them and wound a hand around each of them.

“We’ve gotta get back to the ship, this storm’s getting worse!” Cyborg cried.

“I thought you wanted to keep looking!” Robin cried, each of them having to shout to be heard.

“I was wrong to yell at you!  I’m sorry!  Let’s go back to the ship, catch a nap and maybe the storm will be over by then!” Cyborg said.  The three weary and now soaking wet Titans moved quickly to get back to the ship where Starfire stealthily slipped into Robin’s cockpit with him and snuggled into his arms.  Now weakly smiling, Robin wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep.  Cyborg was right.  Maybe a quick snooze to wait out the storm really was in order.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Beast Boy opened his eyes to a lush green field and a clear azure blue sky.  The trees were full of glossy dark green leaves and he immediately recognized this to be the park not far from Titans Island.

“How did I get here?” he muttered, sitting up.  His uniform was intact and clean, and the sun was warm on his face.

“We’re in your mind.  Not bad if I do say so myself,” Raven said, walking to him dressed in her white uniform and kneeling beside him.

“Why are you dressed in white? Am I dead?” he asked.  Raven smiled and shook her head.

“If you were dead, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.  As for my uniform, you must have chosen it for me.  We’re in your mind after all,” she said.

“So…you really are ok?” he asked.

“Yes, I am, thanks to you,” Raven replied, sitting down the rest of the way.  Beast Boy blushed and smiled back.

“What happened to me?  I’m not dizzy anymore,” he asked.

“You had a fever and you’re really hungry and dehydrated.  You need rest and more to eat, but you’re going to be fine, I hope,” Raven explained.

“Good,” Beast Boy said.  He looked up into Raven’s eyes and said, “I’m glad you’re okay now…It wouldn’t have been living without you.”   Raven seemed touched by this.  She leaned a little closer and slipped her hand into his.  “Do you mean that?” she whispered.

“Of course I do, Raven,” he said.  Here in Beast Boy’s mind there was nothing of the  hesitation and shyness that often comes with revealing deep-seated personal feelings.  He wasn’t lying to her and wasn’t covering anything up—he really did have feelings for her.  As her response, she pulled his face the rest of the way to hers and kissed his mouth, indulging him as he slowly slid his hand up through her hair, holding her close as he deepened the kiss.  When this kiss finally ended, they remained with foreheads touching for several seconds before Beast Boy said, “Wake me up…I want to hold you…kiss you for real…”  Raven absorbed this for a moment, letting him lightly caress her cheek and the loose strands of her hair that framed her face.

“You’re too weak,” Raven said softly, grazing his pointed ear with her fingertips.  “Your heart would give out if we tried it right now.”  Beast Boy thought about this for a while and then said, “Then don’t hold back.”  With this, he unclasped her cloak and let it fall from her shoulders.  “Make love to me here, Raven,” he whispered.  “Surely your powers can’t get away from you here in my mind.”  Raven smiled, but tears shined in her deep violet eyes.  Withholding her reply for a moment, she picked up her cloak and draped it over his shoulders.

“Get better for me.  I want our first time to be real,” she said softly.  Beast Boy smiled and lifted her chin with his forefinger.

“Then it will be,” he said with a heartwarming grin.  “But be with me now.  Keep me company while I recuperate.”  Raven nodded.

From then through the next several hours as the rain poured from the skies, a casual observer to the cavern would have seen two peacefully smiling and sleeping heroes, occasionally tugging each other closer, giggling, or weeping in their sleep as they shared what could only be imagined as a lifetime of getting to know each other in the space of a sunny summer afternoon in a Jump City all their own.

Raven opened her eyes and inhaled the cool scent of earth after the rain.  She was nestled in Beast Boy’s arms and a cool breeze blew over the top of the raft.  She lifted herself up on one elbow slowly to keep from waking him.  A smile played with her features as she watched him sleep.  The sun had returned and birds and animals created a cacophony of sounds as they emerged from their chosen shelters.  The sleeping changeling beside her took a deep peaceful breath and then opened his eyes, sharing a smile of his own as he ran his hand through her hair.

“I don’t feel sick anymore,” he whispered.

“Me neither,” she added.

“Your arm?” he asked.

“Good as new,” she replied, taking the make-shift sling from her arm and unfolding it to reveal precisely what she had suspected—Beast Boy had used his uniform shirt to make the sling.  As he blushed, she helped him put it back on and very slowly, the two sat up again.

“Kiss me,” Beast Boy said softly.

“We should find the others…they’ve probably been looking for us,” Raven said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“The rest of the world can wait.  I want that kiss so bad it hurts,” he teased.  Raven giggled softly as she leaned over and granted his wish, pressing her lips against his.  For a while, still wrapped up in blankets and sitting in the raft, the new lovers cuddled, kissed and rested, listening to the sounds of the world moving on with life around them.  Still unaware of how much time had gone by, Raven sat up, disengaging herself from his embrace.

“We have the rest of our lives to have quiet time.  The others will be searching for us and it’s nearly noon,” Raven said.

“All right.  I’m going to hold you to that.  This wasn’t a one shot deal?  We’re still together when we get back to the Tower?” Beast Boy teased.  Raven nodded and pressed a light kiss to his lips.

“I wouldn’t give up this feeling for the world,” she whispered.  With this, she assumed her meditation position and used her powers to search the area psychically—to look for something—anything familiar.  Seconds flew by and she found it.

“Robin!”

The voice echoed in his mind as if she had been standing right beside the ship.  Robin’s eyes opened immediately and he looked around, discovering that the rain had stopped.  Starfire was still dozing in his arms and he heard the voice again.

“Robin, can you hear me?”

“Raven, where are you?” he muttered, still half asleep.

“Listen to me; I’m going to read your mind to get your location.  Both of our comms are fried,” Raven said.

“Show me where you are and we’ll come to you.  We found Mallah’s body—do you have Beast Boy with you?  Is he all right?” Robin asked.

“Yes, and it’s a long story we’d both like to tell when we see you,” Raven replied.  Robin smiled at her tone.

“Are you all right, Raven?  You sound….happy!” he observed with a cheeky grin.  Raven smiled back.

“It’s part of that long story.  Wake the others up and come get us then,” Raven replied.

“How did you—never mind…I already know.  We’re on our way, Raven,” Robin replied, correcting his posture slowly to avoid startling Starfire.

When Raven opened her eyes, Beast Boy had put out what was left of the fire and disposed of what was left of the food and water.  He walked back over to her and waited for her feet to touch the ground before he folded her into a warm embrace.

“How are we going to break this to the team?” Beast Boy chuckled.

“They won’t believe it until they see it,” Raven agreed.  “Repeatedly.”

A minute later, the roar of a jet engine sent the two heroes running for the entrance of the cavern.  They emerged into the sunshine just in time to see the T-Ship cruising into sight.  The ship sailed smoothly up to the cavern entrance where the canopies popped open and their teammates spilled forth to welcome them.

“You’re all right!”

“We were so worried about you!”

“Welcome back, you two!”

With all five Titans securely in their cockpits, Robin and Cyborg fired up the engines and made for home.  Hours later, the team pulled themselves out of the ship, exhausted and a little run down, but still looking at one another with the satisfied grins of victory.

“Pizza?” Cyborg suggested.  The collective response was a jumble of ‘definitely’, ‘absolutely’, ‘oh, yes!’ and ‘half-veggie for me!’.  After dinner and a TV movie, most of the Titans retired to their rooms for the night.  As Raven did the security checks for the night, she mused that none of her teammates noticed her change in attitude toward Beast Boy.  Their relationship had never been cruel, but in the months that had led to this mission to capture Monsieur Mallah, she and Beast Boy had unexpectedly discovered common ground in broken families, broken hearts, and second chances—especially with each other.  As she finished the check and threw the locking switch, a shadow crept up the hall behind her.  Raven stopped and cautiously glanced over each shoulder.

“Beast Boy?” She murmured.  The shadow emitted a sound that, while it was not precisely a word, indicated that she had been correct.

“How’d you know it was me?” he said, coming up next to her as she continued to walk and taking her hand.

“You couldn’t sneak up on me if your life depended on it,” she teased with a grin.

“Oh yeah?  How’s this for sneaky?” Beast Boy retorted, pulling her in a half turn and ducking into an empty room.  He left the lights off but the pale moonlight through the window gave shape to minimal furnishings and a dark color scheme.

“The guest room?” she surmised.

“It’s not your room, it’s not mine.  Neutral territory,” he explained, resting his hands on her hips.

“At least until we have company,” she giggled quietly.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em,” Beast Boy ribbed good-naturedly.  There was a silence of several seconds before Beast Boy looked Raven in the eyes and grinned as he said, “Are you ready for this?”

“I love you,” Raven blurted.  Beast Boy smiled broadly.

“I love you, too,” he said in reply, stroking her face with his left hand.

“Well then…make love to me, Tiger,” Raven whispered, her arms draped around his neck.  Not one to need to need a second invitation, Beast Boy once again unclasped her cloak and then reached for the closure of her uniform, peeling it forward away from her neck and shoulders to reveal her smooth, inviting skin again.  Raven’s fingers fumbled with the buttons on Beast Boy’s vest and then moved to his waist to pull the shirt over his head.  With this done, they shared a series of deep, passionate kisses as he urged them backwards to the bed, leaving a trail of clothes in their wake.  By the time they tumbled to the sheets, there was no barrier left between his skin and hers and Beast Boy took advantage of this to liberally cover the area from Raven’s neck, shoulders, and collar bones down past her breasts down to her navel with kisses.

Raven, pinned to the bed sheets as she was, could do little else but allow it to happen, tangling her hands in Beast Boy’s hair as he ravished her one square inch of skin at a time.  Raven cried out in pleasure as he swirled his tongue around her nipple and lightly grazed his teeth over the soft, heavy flesh before covering it in kisses.  He repeated this treatment on the opposite side and then returned to her mouth to plunder it for the richness of her kisses.

“Do you hear that?” he panted.  Raven was dizzy from the adrenaline and serotonin cocktail firing through her veins but strained to hear what he was talking about.

*ka-rumble*

“A storm!” she replied as the distant din of thunder echoed across the sky.

“It’s raining, Raven,” Beast Boy murmured, aligning himself between her thighs.  As the first flashes of lightning split the clouds, he slipped effortlessly inside her, drowning in the sensation of his hardened shaft grazing the walls of her channel.  He moaned as he began to rock against her, slowly at first, gradually picking up rhythm and driving on until Raven whimpered with nearly every stroke and clenched the sheets in her nimble fingers as her heart raced and she nearly hyperventilated in excitement.

*boom!*

“Gar!” she cried out.

“Let it happen…baby, let it happen…”

*crack-BOOM!*

“Oh, Azar!”

“Raven!”

*crack-BOOM!*

The wind shifted suddenly, pelting the windows with sheet upon sheet of harsh rain.  Raven’s orgasm sent spasms through her body, her muscles contracting hard around Beast Boy’s member as he still fervently rocked inside her.  She cried out in short, panting breaths as she arched her back.  The added friction as she writhed in euphoric ecstasy sent Beast Boy over the edge and he came hard, filling her with his seed and crying her name again.  Weakly, the lovers stroked each other’s faces and hair, kissing softly as they collapsed together there and fell quickly asleep.  The sunny, rain-soaked morning would find the two tiptoeing out of the guest room, out of breath from stopping every few feet to kiss again, only to part ways to go back to their own rooms.  Who knew what this new day had in store for them!

Description
“Whenever You Call”

“It is useless to run…you cannot escape me!” Monsieur Mallah cried as he chased Raven through the dense underbrush of the sweltering African jungle.  Raven’s heart pounded as she soared out over a wide but shallow river, disrupting the sparkling surface as she dipped closer to the water and then rose into the air again.  Looking over her right shoulder, Raven lost sight of her opponent and panicked, hovering a few feet above the water.  Turning to look the other way, Raven hardly saw Mallah’s heavy fist coming.  She was catapulted across the water like a skipping stone for several yards before slowing and ultimately falling into a shallow area of the chilly green water.  She came up for air coughing and sputtering and as she wiped the water from her eyes, Mallah was bearing down on her.  She rose out of the water, but not fast enough to get away, for Mallah was on her a second later, pulling her by the ankle and slamming her back into the water.  Raven choked on the sudden mouthful of water, and despite not being able to properly see her attacker, she fired off several energy bolts that Mallah easily dodged as he changed his grip to her shoulders.  Raven desperately kicked in an attempt to get free, finally making contact with the giant gorilla’s jaw.  The unexpected blow knocked the villain off balance, causing him to stumble backwards.  This gave Raven the edge she needed.  She sprang back out of the water and launched herself at Mallah, landing blow after blow to the monster’s face, each punch forcing him farther down the river toward the falls.  Mallah finally tumbled backward onto the shore and Raven wound up for her final blow.

“Azarath, Metrion —” Raven began.  Mallah reached for and swung a fallen tree trunk at Raven, sending the super heroine unconscious back into the water.  Mallah stood, took Raven by her hood and dragged her to the edge of the falls through the icy water, hurling her limp body plummeting over the roaring waters.  Mallah panted and grinned with sadistic pleasure as he watched her body vanish into cloud of mist below.

“RAVEN!” Beast Boy screamed, running toward Mallah.  The Brain’s henchman had led the Titans on a goose chase that sent each hero in different directions looking for him.  Beast Boy came onto the scene just in time to see Mallah launch Raven’s body over the falls.

“Finally, Mento’s little mascot has caught up,” Mallah taunted.  “You are even weaker than your friend—I will enjoy bringing you to your knees where you belong!  Beg for mercy from Monsieur Mallah!”  Beast Boy’s heart rate doubled and his eyes brimmed with angry tears.

“I’m not a child anymore, Mallah, and you’re going to pay for what you’ve done to Raven!” he growled.  Mallah roared with laughter as Beast Boy transformed into a large raptor and charged, his vicious, foot-long teeth gleaming and snarling with rage.  Beast Boy knew in his mind that Mento and Elastigirl had always taught him to respect the sanctity of life in all of its forms.  He knew that Robin expected the Titans to moderate their behaviors and show restraint and control in battle, but all of this was lost on Beast Boy in the face of a tormentor that had plagued him since childhood.  This monster had just vanquished someone Beast Boy cared deeply about, and he wasn’t about to let Mallah get away this time.

Beast Boy leapt into the air and landed hard on the massive gorilla’s chest.  Mallah roared and struggled to move, but Beast Boy wouldn’t budge.  Beast Boy leaned in and roared back, but didn’t waste any time before sinking his sharp pointed teeth into Mallah’s right arm.  The ape screamed in agony as the blood started to swirl and stain the river water.  Mallah rolled hard to the right, flinging Beast Boy a short distance but the shock from the wound was already setting in and weakening his reaction time.  Beast Boy knew this and charged again, this time using his tail to throw Mallah back onto the ground, where he leapt on top of him again and used the long, curved talons on his legs to carve deep gouges in the gorilla’s flesh.  Beast Boy went further now, using his fearsome teeth to break Mallah’s ribs and ultimately crush his heart and lungs.

Morphing back into his normal form, Beast Boy stared at the corpse of his adversary in shock.  He had never lost control that way before.  Numb from the adrenaline rush, Beast Boy kicked Mallah and panted as he growled through clenched teeth, “She’s more than my friend, you monster.” With this, he charged toward the falls and jumped out, spreading his arms and becoming a large condor as he descended and skimmed the shimmering lake below.  Scanning with the bird’s keen eyes, he spotted Raven face-down on the western shore of the lake.  Flying to her, he morphed back to his human form so fast that he nearly tripped himself getting to her and pulling her out of the water.

Getting Raven out of the water was just the beginning though, as he discovered that she had no heartbeat and was not breathing.  Beast Boy thought quickly, performing the lifesaving CPR that Robin insisted that the entire team learn.

“Please don’t die…please don’t die…come on, Raven…stay with me, Raven,” he muttered as he alternated between chest compressions and forcing long breaths into Raven’s lungs.  A minute passed like an hour before Beast Boy discovered that he had succeeded in starting her heart again.  Focusing on breathing for her, he panted as he forced breath after breath into her body before she finally gasped, coughed, and shook back to life.  Relieved, Beast Boy rolled her onto her side, gently patting and rubbing her back and encouraging her to continue to cough and breath.  As soon as he was sure that she was stable for the moment, he fashioned a stretcher and a harness out of available materials.  Carefully, he loaded Raven onto the stretcher and then looped the harness around his waist and neck.  Morphing into a pterodactyl, Beast Boy literally air-lifted Raven to a cavern high in the face of the cliff.  Once they were there, Beast Boy made a closer inspection of Raven’s injuries and discovered a superficial head wound from the battle with Mallah, and her broken left arm from the subsequent dive over the waterfall.  At least here in the cavern they would be sheltered from the encroaching chill of an African night.  Beast Boy covered Raven’s right hand with his left and she drowsily opened her eyes.

“My communicator broke during the battle, and yours shorted out when it hit the water,” Beast Boy said softy.  “We’re going to be here a while.  I spotted an abandoned sea plane about a mile from here and I’m going to go see if I can scavenge anything from it for us and get food and firewood.  Rest for now.  Go back to sleep and I’ll be back before you know it.”  Raven nodded quietly and closed her eyes.  Beast Boy felt a pang of hesitation to leave her.  He knew that she was helpless in her weakened state and he cared too much about her to feel comfortable leaving her.  On the other hand, because he did care so much, he knew he couldn’t let her down.

Beast Boy used his various animal forms to help him accomplish each task he had to perform.  He discovered edible fruit in the trees near the plane, firewood from fallen trunks, and the sea plane contained three blankets, a first aid kit, and the plane’s inflatable emergency raft.  By the time he gathered all of these things and hoisted them all into the cavern, night had fallen completely, and Raven was shivering violently.

“Hang in there, Raven, I’m here now,” he called.  She whimpered as Beast Boy started the fire and allowed the raft to inflate itself.  As the fire began to warm the air, Beast Boy knew that Raven’s wet clothes would keep the life-saving heat from her body and he swallowed hard as his eyes traveled the length of her body.  Her shapely figure and toned muscles were attractive, even if she didn’t think so.  Throwing his feelings for her aside in favor of saving her life, he went to her and unclasped her cloak, letting it fall in a soggy heap beneath her.  He pulled off her shoes, wrist guards and belt before she opened her eyes again.

“What are you doing?” she mumbled, feebly trying to prevent him from removing any more of her clothing.

“You’ll get hypothermia if I don’t get you warmed up.  Your clothes are too cold and wet to let you get warm,” he explained, continuing to undress her.

“No,” she protested weakly.  Beast Boy stopped just long enough to look her in the eyes and reply, “I will not let you die if I can prevent it.” She didn’t respond to this, but gave him no more resistance as he wrapped a large, heavy blanket around her before removing the rest of her uniform.  Lacking the energy to focus on anything, Raven once again slipped into unconsciousness.  Beast Boy laid out her clothes to dry and added his own uniform top to the spread.  With this done, he lifted her with a strength he didn’t know he had and placed her gently in the raft.  He brought the raft with him from the plane because he surmised that it would keep her off the cold, hard ground and the sides would keep her out of the wind.  Now that this was done, he decided, Raven would be able to recover faster.  He brought water from the lake for her and used the cup in the first aid kit to slowly convince her wake up and to drink.  He managed to get her to eat a little of the fruit to keep her strength up, but this sapped most of what little energy she had, and Beast Boy sat back against the side of the raft with Raven in his arms and draped another blanket over her.  Too wound up from the day to sleep, Beast Boy took a deep breath and stared out of the cavern into the star-studded night sky shimmering over the trees.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Beast Boy!  Raven!  Come in!” Robin barked into his communicator.  For the past several hours he had been fruitlessly trying to find the last of his teammates.  Starfire carefully rested her hand on his shoulder in unabashed concern.

“Could the Monsieur Mallah have defeated them?” she asked gingerly.

“Not together,” Cyborg muttered.  He faced away from them as he worked at repairing his circuitry.  “Rae and BB may hate each other but they’re a hell of a team.  Mallah wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Then where are they?  Neither of their communicators are even returning a signal!” Robin yelled, standing up and taking a step closer to him.  Cyborg looked up from his work when Starfire backed away from Robin.

“Look man, I know you’re mad, but takin’ it out on me and Star’s not gonna bring Raven and Beast Boy back any faster,” Cyborg replied.  Robin took a deep breath and nodded as he looked over at Star.  She was covering her left bicep and he watched blood seep from between her fingers and ooze out over her hand.

“Star…you’re hurt!” he said, his eyes wide with the realization that he hadn’t noticed it before.  .

“It is nothing…really,” she replied, averting her eyes, biting her lower lip and taking another step back.  Robin’s heart melted.  Here she was, listening to him rant when she was in pain and needed his attention.  Robin quietly climbed into the T-Ship and retrieved the first aid kit.

“Let me fix it for you,” he said gently guiding her to a soft bit of ground and kneeling down beside her.  She winced when he cleaned the wound and tears slid down her face, but she never uttered a sound.  Robin finished the bandage and slipped his finger beneath her chin, pulling her gaze to his.

“I’m sorry, Star,” he murmured, truly contrite.  “Forgive me?” A half smile formed beneath what was left of her miserable tears.

“Always,” she whispered, leaning against him.  Robin took her in his arms and held her as he knelt there, her head pillowed against his shoulder.

“Robin?” she said softly.

“Yes?”

“Do you think Beast Boy and Raven are all right?” she asked.  Robin smiled.

“I’m sure wherever they are, they’re together, and they’re just fine,” he replied.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

At daybreak, Beast Boy went about re-kindling the fire and then took advantage of Raven’s unconsciousness to set and splint her arm.  He cleaned the dried blood from her hair and made sure the wound had stopped bleeding.  Satisfied for the moment, he spent some time tinkering with the communicators and occasionally trying to lie down beside Raven in the raft to rest.  However, Raven would weep or cry out in her sleep, keeping Beast Boy busy comforting her and coaxing her back to sleep.

At regular intervals, Beast Boy once again attempted to use Raven’s moments of lucidity to convince her to eat and drink some water.  Without any other recourse, he used most of the extra time on his hands to keep quiet vigil over his friend, occasionally stroking her hair or her face to calm the terrors that seemed to keep her from resting comfortably.  Once such nightmare frightened her so badly that she threw her arms out and kicked her legs in fear, striking Beast Boy more than once and screaming for help.  Unable to wake her, Beast Boy endured nearly 30 minutes of scratches and bruises before she relaxed and finally went back to sleep.  Now wide awake, Beast Boy tended the fire that night and worried about his charge.  He felt that she should have awakened by now, and feared that despite his best efforts, he may indeed be losing her.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Robin stretched and sighed as he splashed water on his face.  His muscles ached from sleeping in the T-Ship and from searching through the long days.

“Rob, it’s been two days…we need help if we’re going to find Raven and BB,” Cyborg said weakly, joining Robin near the water.

“We’re not leaving without them,” Robin growled softly.  “I’m not giving up on them.”

“I didn’t say that,” Cyborg said, keeping his voice low to avoid waking Starfire, who still snoozed in her cockpit in the T-Ship.   “I’m just saying that we may need to call in the reserves.  Are any of the Honorary Titans nearby?  Call a few of them!  For Pete’s sake, let’s quit beatin’ ourselves up trying to do it alone!” Robin sighed.  He knew Cyborg was right.  The jungle was just too big to search effectively from the ground.

“If we don’t find something by noon today we’ll call in the others.  Kole and Gnarkk are bound to be around here somewhere and Kid Flash could be here in no time.  Will that do?” Robin asked weakly.

“Yeah,” Cyborg said in resignation.  “For now.”

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Beast Boy sat with his back to the raft, watching the sun rise and peek up over the horizon.  The fire was low, but when Beast Boy stood to retrieve the firewood on the other side of the cavern, he discovered that his legs wouldn’t hold him up.  Dizziness swept over him and seconds later he passed out, landing with a cold thud on the cavern floor.

An hour passed, and the sun warmed the cavern as it rose higher in the sky.  A drowsy purr emanated from the bundle of blankets inside the raft as Raven opened her eyes.  As the night wore on, her powers had recovered enough to begin healing her injuries, so by the time she awakened now, all but her arm were completely healed.  Slowly, Raven sat up, only to come to the realization that she was undressed, and that someone had set, splinted and placed a sling around her arm.  Lightly she fingered the material, thinking it strangely familiar.  The black and purple stripes immediately brought flashes of memory crashing back.

“Beast Boy?” she called.  She gasped as she discovered him face down on the ground and looked about to ascertain their situation.  She located her clothing in a neatly folded pile by the raft and summoned them, using her powers to assist her where her broken arm became an impediment to dressing.  Finishing quickly, Raven went to Beast Boy and knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder with her good hand.  When he didn’t respond to his name, Raven surveyed him for injuries but found none.  Upon checking his vital signs she was grateful to find that he was still breathing, but his face was flushed and to her surprise, hot to the touch.

“What happened to you?” Raven whispered as she looked around.  She saw the dying fire, the remains of the food and water he had collected, and the evidence that he had been trying to fix their communicators.  Raven swallowed hard as tears prickled at the back of her eyes.

“You did this…you saved my life but you haven’t taken care of yourself,” she muttered.  His uniform pants and shoes were still damp and cold and Raven discovered a small pool of fresh water dripping down from a place in near the back of the cavern.

“You almost gave your life for me…time for me to return the favor,” Raven said, wiping the tears from her eyes.  She used her powers to lift him off the ground, remove his shoes and the bottom half of his uniform and then she moved him to the raft, bundling him there just the way he had done for her.  As she did this, he opened his eyes and mumbled something nearly unintelligible.

“You just stay there…let me help you,” Raven gently ordered.

“You’re too weak…you need to rest…your arm is broken…hit your head… concussion…” he babbled.

“Shhh,” Raven whispered, losing the battle to keep from crying.  “I’m all right now…you saved me.”

“Communicators ‘r brok’n….don’t cry, Raven…we’ll make it…just…I need to…” Beast Boy continued to babble.  Carefully, Raven gathered water from the pool and the remaining fruit and prepared it for him.

“How long has it been since you’ve eaten, Beast Boy?” Raven asked.

“You were unconscious…in and out…two days…you need to lie down,” he insisted.  Raven gasped softly.  She brought the water and food to him and patiently convinced him to eat it.  When he’d finished everything, she swept her hands over his skin, healing the bruises and cuts.

“How many of these did I give you tossing and turning in my sleep?” Raven murmured.  She didn’t get an answer.  Instead, Beast Boy took a deep breath, shuddered, and relaxed into her arms.

“Beast Boy?” Raven called, shaking his shoulder.  “Beast Boy!  Answer me!”  Raven clutched him close and couldn’t seem to stop the flood of tears from her eyes.

“Don’t you leave me…Come back to me, Garfield…” Raven wept.  Her hands began to glow pale blue and she used all of her available concentration to seek out the source of his illness and drive it from his body.  When she was done, Beast Boy was breathing normally, and she gingerly set him in the bottom of the raft to rest.  A flash and a sharp crack-boom sound brought her attention to the weather as the wind picked up and revealed a thunderstorm brewing outside.  Any kind of search for the others wouldn’t be possible in a storm, so she would have to find another way.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The other Titans took ran to the T-Ship just in time for the heaviest part of the storm to start.  Wet and winded, the heroes piled into their respective cockpits and caught their breath before speaking again.

“Now will you call in reinforcements?” Cyborg asked Robin, exasperated as he poured rain water out of his various parts.

“No one’s going to be able to search in this weather.  We need to wait out the storm and—”

“You just don’t want to ask for help!” Cyborg shouted angrily.

“Please!  No more yelling!” Starfire cried.  She feared what a fight amongst the two would do to their already failing efforts to locate their friends.

“You think this is about my pride?” Robin shouted back.  Each of them was still situated in his or her own cockpit of the craft, but communicated through the microphone relays of the ship.

“BB and Raven are gonna die out there if they’re not dead already and it’s all gonna be because you couldn’t suck it up and ask for help!” Cyborg continued.

“Raven and Beast Boy cannot be dead!  I do not believe it!” Starfire sobbed, covering her eyes as her shoulders shook in misery.

“Stop it!  They’re not dead!” Robin yelled, turning to look at her.

“Don’t yell at her!  She’s not the reason we’re in this godforsaken place!” Cyborg shouted.

“Enough!  I’ve had enough of this!” Robin screamed, getting out of his cockpit in the ship and kicking the hull with his steel-toed shoes before descending the ladder and running further into the canopy.  The wind blew harshly against him, forcing the rain to go different directions as it whipped across the jungle.  Robin took a deep breath and screamed into the wind, “Where are you?  Why can’t I find you?  Help me, please!  I can’t do it by myself! Help me find you!”  The wind gusted again and Robin fell onto his back on the soft ground, his chest heaving and his heart pounding in his ears.  Then he heard it…

“Robin!”

“Man, where are you?”

Seconds later, Starfire appeared, falling to her knees beside him.

“Robin!  Are you hurt?” she cried against the roar of wind, rain and thunder.

“No!  I’m fine!” he cried back, his anger ebbing immediately.  She helped him up and threw her arms around him.  The warmth of her arms was a welcome change from the violence of the weather.  Cyborg stepped closer to them and wound a hand around each of them.

“We’ve gotta get back to the ship, this storm’s getting worse!” Cyborg cried.

“I thought you wanted to keep looking!” Robin cried, each of them having to shout to be heard.

“I was wrong to yell at you!  I’m sorry!  Let’s go back to the ship, catch a nap and maybe the storm will be over by then!” Cyborg said.  The three weary and now soaking wet Titans moved quickly to get back to the ship where Starfire stealthily slipped into Robin’s cockpit with him and snuggled into his arms.  Now weakly smiling, Robin wrapped his arms around her and fell asleep.  Cyborg was right.  Maybe a quick snooze to wait out the storm really was in order.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Beast Boy opened his eyes to a lush green field and a clear azure blue sky.  The trees were full of glossy dark green leaves and he immediately recognized this to be the park not far from Titans Island.

“How did I get here?” he muttered, sitting up.  His uniform was intact and clean, and the sun was warm on his face.

“We’re in your mind.  Not bad if I do say so myself,” Raven said, walking to him dressed in her white uniform and kneeling beside him.

“Why are you dressed in white? Am I dead?” he asked.  Raven smiled and shook her head.

“If you were dead, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.  As for my uniform, you must have chosen it for me.  We’re in your mind after all,” she said.

“So…you really are ok?” he asked.

“Yes, I am, thanks to you,” Raven replied, sitting down the rest of the way.  Beast Boy blushed and smiled back.

“What happened to me?  I’m not dizzy anymore,” he asked.

“You had a fever and you’re really hungry and dehydrated.  You need rest and more to eat, but you’re going to be fine, I hope,” Raven explained.

“Good,” Beast Boy said.  He looked up into Raven’s eyes and said, “I’m glad you’re okay now…It wouldn’t have been living without you.”   Raven seemed touched by this.  She leaned a little closer and slipped her hand into his.  “Do you mean that?” she whispered.

“Of course I do, Raven,” he said.  Here in Beast Boy’s mind there was nothing of the  hesitation and shyness that often comes with revealing deep-seated personal feelings.  He wasn’t lying to her and wasn’t covering anything up—he really did have feelings for her.  As her response, she pulled his face the rest of the way to hers and kissed his mouth, indulging him as he slowly slid his hand up through her hair, holding her close as he deepened the kiss.  When this kiss finally ended, they remained with foreheads touching for several seconds before Beast Boy said, “Wake me up…I want to hold you…kiss you for real…”  Raven absorbed this for a moment, letting him lightly caress her cheek and the loose strands of her hair that framed her face.

“You’re too weak,” Raven said softly, grazing his pointed ear with her fingertips.  “Your heart would give out if we tried it right now.”  Beast Boy thought about this for a while and then said, “Then don’t hold back.”  With this, he unclasped her cloak and let it fall from her shoulders.  “Make love to me here, Raven,” he whispered.  “Surely your powers can’t get away from you here in my mind.”  Raven smiled, but tears shined in her deep violet eyes.  Withholding her reply for a moment, she picked up her cloak and draped it over his shoulders.

“Get better for me.  I want our first time to be real,” she said softly.  Beast Boy smiled and lifted her chin with his forefinger.

“Then it will be,” he said with a heartwarming grin.  “But be with me now.  Keep me company while I recuperate.”  Raven nodded.

From then through the next several hours as the rain poured from the skies, a casual observer to the cavern would have seen two peacefully smiling and sleeping heroes, occasionally tugging each other closer, giggling, or weeping in their sleep as they shared what could only be imagined as a lifetime of getting to know each other in the space of a sunny summer afternoon in a Jump City all their own.

Raven opened her eyes and inhaled the cool scent of earth after the rain.  She was nestled in Beast Boy’s arms and a cool breeze blew over the top of the raft.  She lifted herself up on one elbow slowly to keep from waking him.  A smile played with her features as she watched him sleep.  The sun had returned and birds and animals created a cacophony of sounds as they emerged from their chosen shelters.  The sleeping changeling beside her took a deep peaceful breath and then opened his eyes, sharing a smile of his own as he ran his hand through her hair.

“I don’t feel sick anymore,” he whispered.

“Me neither,” she added.

“Your arm?” he asked.

“Good as new,” she replied, taking the make-shift sling from her arm and unfolding it to reveal precisely what she had suspected—Beast Boy had used his uniform shirt to make the sling.  As he blushed, she helped him put it back on and very slowly, the two sat up again.

“Kiss me,” Beast Boy said softly.

“We should find the others…they’ve probably been looking for us,” Raven said, a hint of sadness in her voice.

“The rest of the world can wait.  I want that kiss so bad it hurts,” he teased.  Raven giggled softly as she leaned over and granted his wish, pressing her lips against his.  For a while, still wrapped up in blankets and sitting in the raft, the new lovers cuddled, kissed and rested, listening to the sounds of the world moving on with life around them.  Still unaware of how much time had gone by, Raven sat up, disengaging herself from his embrace.

“We have the rest of our lives to have quiet time.  The others will be searching for us and it’s nearly noon,” Raven said.

“All right.  I’m going to hold you to that.  This wasn’t a one shot deal?  We’re still together when we get back to the Tower?” Beast Boy teased.  Raven nodded and pressed a light kiss to his lips.

“I wouldn’t give up this feeling for the world,” she whispered.  With this, she assumed her meditation position and used her powers to search the area psychically—to look for something—anything familiar.  Seconds flew by and she found it.

“Robin!”

The voice echoed in his mind as if she had been standing right beside the ship.  Robin’s eyes opened immediately and he looked around, discovering that the rain had stopped.  Starfire was still dozing in his arms and he heard the voice again.

“Robin, can you hear me?”

“Raven, where are you?” he muttered, still half asleep.

“Listen to me; I’m going to read your mind to get your location.  Both of our comms are fried,” Raven said.

“Show me where you are and we’ll come to you.  We found Mallah’s body—do you have Beast Boy with you?  Is he all right?” Robin asked.

“Yes, and it’s a long story we’d both like to tell when we see you,” Raven replied.  Robin smiled at her tone.

“Are you all right, Raven?  You sound….happy!” he observed with a cheeky grin.  Raven smiled back.

“It’s part of that long story.  Wake the others up and come get us then,” Raven replied.

“How did you—never mind…I already know.  We’re on our way, Raven,” Robin replied, correcting his posture slowly to avoid startling Starfire.

When Raven opened her eyes, Beast Boy had put out what was left of the fire and disposed of what was left of the food and water.  He walked back over to her and waited for her feet to touch the ground before he folded her into a warm embrace.

“How are we going to break this to the team?” Beast Boy chuckled.

“They won’t believe it until they see it,” Raven agreed.  “Repeatedly.”

A minute later, the roar of a jet engine sent the two heroes running for the entrance of the cavern.  They emerged into the sunshine just in time to see the T-Ship cruising into sight.  The ship sailed smoothly up to the cavern entrance where the canopies popped open and their teammates spilled forth to welcome them.

“You’re all right!”

“We were so worried about you!”

“Welcome back, you two!”

With all five Titans securely in their cockpits, Robin and Cyborg fired up the engines and made for home.  Hours later, the team pulled themselves out of the ship, exhausted and a little run down, but still looking at one another with the satisfied grins of victory.

“Pizza?” Cyborg suggested.  The collective response was a jumble of ‘definitely’, ‘absolutely’, ‘oh, yes!’ and ‘half-veggie for me!’.  After dinner and a TV movie, most of the Titans retired to their rooms for the night.  As Raven did the security checks for the night, she mused that none of her teammates noticed her change in attitude toward Beast Boy.  Their relationship had never been cruel, but in the months that had led to this mission to capture Monsieur Mallah, she and Beast Boy had unexpectedly discovered common ground in broken families, broken hearts, and second chances—especially with each other.  As she finished the check and threw the locking switch, a shadow crept up the hall behind her.  Raven stopped and cautiously glanced over each shoulder.

“Beast Boy?” She murmured.  The shadow emitted a sound that, while it was not precisely a word, indicated that she had been correct.

“How’d you know it was me?” he said, coming up next to her as she continued to walk and taking her hand.

“You couldn’t sneak up on me if your life depended on it,” she teased with a grin.

“Oh yeah?  How’s this for sneaky?” Beast Boy retorted, pulling her in a half turn and ducking into an empty room.  He left the lights off but the pale moonlight through the window gave shape to minimal furnishings and a dark color scheme.

“The guest room?” she surmised.

“It’s not your room, it’s not mine.  Neutral territory,” he explained, resting his hands on her hips.

“At least until we have company,” she giggled quietly.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em,” Beast Boy ribbed good-naturedly.  There was a silence of several seconds before Beast Boy looked Raven in the eyes and grinned as he said, “Are you ready for this?”

“I love you,” Raven blurted.  Beast Boy smiled broadly.

“I love you, too,” he said in reply, stroking her face with his left hand.

“Well then…make love to me, Tiger,” Raven whispered, her arms draped around his neck.  Not one to need to need a second invitation, Beast Boy once again unclasped her cloak and then reached for the closure of her uniform, peeling it forward away from her neck and shoulders to reveal her smooth, inviting skin again.  Raven’s fingers fumbled with the buttons on Beast Boy’s vest and then moved to his waist to pull the shirt over his head.  With this done, they shared a series of deep, passionate kisses as he urged them backwards to the bed, leaving a trail of clothes in their wake.  By the time they tumbled to the sheets, there was no barrier left between his skin and hers and Beast Boy took advantage of this to liberally cover the area from Raven’s neck, shoulders, and collar bones down past her breasts down to her navel with kisses.

Raven, pinned to the bed sheets as she was, could do little else but allow it to happen, tangling her hands in Beast Boy’s hair as he ravished her one square inch of skin at a time.  Raven cried out in pleasure as he swirled his tongue around her nipple and lightly grazed his teeth over the soft, heavy flesh before covering it in kisses.  He repeated this treatment on the opposite side and then returned to her mouth to plunder it for the richness of her kisses.

“Do you hear that?” he panted.  Raven was dizzy from the adrenaline and serotonin cocktail firing through her veins but strained to hear what he was talking about.

*ka-rumble*

“A storm!” she replied as the distant din of thunder echoed across the sky.

“It’s raining, Raven,” Beast Boy murmured, aligning himself between her thighs.  As the first flashes of lightning split the clouds, he slipped effortlessly inside her, drowning in the sensation of his hardened shaft grazing the walls of her channel.  He moaned as he began to rock against her, slowly at first, gradually picking up rhythm and driving on until Raven whimpered with nearly every stroke and clenched the sheets in her nimble fingers as her heart raced and she nearly hyperventilated in excitement.

*boom!*

“Gar!” she cried out.

“Let it happen…baby, let it happen…”

*crack-BOOM!*

“Oh, Azar!”

“Raven!”

*crack-BOOM!*

The wind shifted suddenly, pelting the windows with sheet upon sheet of harsh rain.  Raven’s orgasm sent spasms through her body, her muscles contracting hard around Beast Boy’s member as he still fervently rocked inside her.  She cried out in short, panting breaths as she arched her back.  The added friction as she writhed in euphoric ecstasy sent Beast Boy over the edge and he came hard, filling her with his seed and crying her name again.  Weakly, the lovers stroked each other’s faces and hair, kissing softly as they collapsed together there and fell quickly asleep.  The sunny, rain-soaked morning would find the two tiptoeing out of the guest room, out of breath from stopping every few feet to kiss again, only to part ways to go back to their own rooms.  Who knew what this new day had in store for them!