Chapter 12! Ok, so this one isn't as... graphic... as the last one, but you gotta have plot somewhere. ;3 Thanks, again, for the reviews, I'm proud of those I got.

Warnings: Yaoi!

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Raven picked herself off the ground slowly. The woman had put up a reasonable fight over the past few minutes. Starfire was only just beginning to come too when Aqualad had to leave her and stand in front of Raven, prepared to fight in order to protect her. The woman stopped her stride towards them long enough to let out a small chuckle at the sight of Aqualad trying to be tough. When she started to move once again, Slade called from the tower, stopping her dead.

"Enough! Give me the antidote for the child." Slade commanded in his normal, monotone voice.

"What?" The woman yelled back, not so much a question as shocked disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Hand it over, dear." Slade said calmly, motioning his right hand for her to come to him.

"No way, Slade! We have them right where we want them!" The woman denied Slade what he called for, causing him to ball his hands into fists.

"..." Slade said nothing as he walked up to the woman, taking her face in his hands. "You will do as I say..." Slade then grabbed the arm that housed the purple liquid and ripped it painfully from the woman's body. "Whether you want to or not."

Slade threw the arm over to Cyborg, who stood in the open doorway of the tower. Cyborg caught the arm, but was left stunned by Slade sudden action. After a few more seconds of looking at him in awe, Cyborg turned around and ran back to the bathroom to give Beast Boy the cure.

The woman fell to the ground in anguish as her limb was torn from her. Even though she was robotic inside, she still could feel the pain. As she was kneeling on the ground, Slade knelt down and took her chin in his hand, rasing her face to meet his. His eye stared at her, her face covered in sweat.

"This is the second time, dear..." Slade began, the whole time making her stare at him. "... that I have had to take action because you disobeyed me."

"Slade..." The woman attempted to speak, but stopped as Slade's grip on her chin increased.

"You're done... I don't need you." Slade told her coldly, letting go after he finished.

"What? What do you mean?" The woman asked, still on the ground as Slade stood upright.

"You are not my apprentice. You are nothing to me." Slade said, walking away as he did.

"No, Slade, please..." The woman got up and ran towards him. "I'm sorry!"

The woman reached Slade and stood in front of him, preventing him from leaving. Slade looked down an the woman, her hair askew and all over her face, her outfit now tattered, her numb from where her arm once was. Slade didn't think twice when her ran his hand through her chest, then pulling out her battery. The woman didn't feel much, for as her battery was removed, she was down. Slade stepped over the body sprawled over the ground and continued on. As he reached the far edge of the island, he brought her battery up and crushed it with one hand for the Titans to see. The Titans could only watch in pity-filled shock at the scene before them. Once Slade was gone, they all walked over to the corpse of the woman, Robin being supported Starfire as they walked.

Cyborg ran through the tower in a heated rush. On the way, he took the vile with the cure inside out of the arm, dropping it on his way. The halls seemed to stretch on for miles and his legs seemed to move like he was running through molasses. Moving at the speed of light wouldn't have been fast enough for Cyborg at that time. His mind was so filled with worry that he couldn't help but complain to himself.

As he reached the bathroom, he could feel a new surge of urgency, like Beast Boy was at that moment withering away. As the door opened, he could see the green boy still in the tub, motionless. "B, I'm back!" Cyborg yelled at the top of his lungs, trying to arouse him. The sound made Beast Boy open his eyelids just enough to show the glazed orbs underneath them.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, Cy... I think I'm getting better." Beast Boy said softly.

"No, babe, I'm here now, just drink this." Cyborg said, knowing the loss of pain was the worst sign other than being dead.

Cyborg unscrewed the top of the container and lifted Beast Boy's head, allowing him to drink the liquid. He drank every drop and still said how he was fine, how he could get up if he wanted to. Cyborg felt Beast Boy's forehead with the skin he had left of his face. Still burning.

"B, I'm gonna take you to the med-lad now, ok?" Cyborg not so much as asked as he told Beast Boy, bending down and scooping the smaller boy into his arms. "Not much longer till you are better."

"Dude! I'm tellin' ya! I'm fine..." Beast Boy argued, but dozed off in the embrace before getting his whole statement out.

"Sleep, B." Cyborg said softly, holding him closer as his head rested on his metal chest. "Now I know why Ma always held me when I was sick. It feels so good to care over someone..." Cyborg talked to no one as he walked slowly to the lab.

As Cyborg walked, he thought about the woman, and Slade. He watched as Slade tore her arm off. He could remember once loving her, the joy she brought with every smile and kiss. Now, for all he knew, she was crawling around outside and he couldn't care less. She did this to Beast Boy, and for that, Cyborg wouldn't mind if she died. Unbeknownst to him, however, she was indeed that. Her battery taken from her body, her corpse lifeless on the shore of the island. All that mattered to Cyborg now was helping Beast Boy get better, so they live normally, for once.

Aqualad carried the body into the tower's main room while Starfire flew Robin to the couch, cautiously, so as to not hurt his new injuries. Raven looked at her cloak once she got into the tower, seeing the holes and tears made from the battle she had to go through. She hurt all over, her muscles aching from the strain she put them through. She could already see bruises forming on her arms and legs. With a simple snap of her raven pendent keeping her cloak up, she took it off and let it fall on the floor below her. Raven made her way over to Robin and prepared to heal him, her hands already at his ribs, but he stopped her.

"Not this time, Raven." Robin told her, holding her wrists before she could summon up the healing magic. "I can't rely on you to fix my mistakes, let me tough it out this time."

"It's no big deal, Robin. If you let it heal naturally, it'll take months." Raven advised him, trying to change his mind.

Robin shook his head, dead set on seeing the pain through. Raven gave in and left the leader alone on the couch. Starfire was in the kitchen filling a bag with ice to help ease Robin's pain, while Aqualad left the woman's body on the ground in front of the couch. Robin told him to bring it up, but once he thought about it, he didn't know what they could do with it. Helping himself, Aqualad went into the kitchen to get a glass of water while Raven left the room in search of Beast Boy and Cyborg.

She checked the bathroom first since Cyborg said that was where they were, but when she found it empty, headed towards the medical room. The tower was so quite. No Cyborg booming music, or dropping weights. No Beast Boy aimlessly running around, giggling. No Starfire, with that invisible stream of twinkly happiness behind her. Everyone was so tired of fighting, that once the woman was out of the picture, things calmed down. Even if Slade was still on the loose, his retreat made it obvious he was done for the time being. Back to living day by day, instead of alarm to alarm.

Raven stood outside the medical room door for a few seconds, listening to the sounds of Cyborg walking around, and the sounds of the monitors that were running. She didn't know why she couldn't enter right away, but whatever the reason, she didn't care. Raven opened the door and walked in, startling Cyborg with her sudden entrance.

"So, how's he doing?" Raven asked, standing next to the green boy who now laid in a hospital bed with the covers up to his stomach.

"He was really bad for a while there... luckily I gave him the stuff to make him better before he got worse." Cyborg answered, fiddling with bottles in a nearby cabinet. "Thanks for holding her off."

"She's dead now." Raven said, cutting to the chase. "Or at least her batteries are."

"Slade killed her after I left?" Cyborg turned away from the cabinets and stared at Raven.

"I guess, if you call pulling out her battery and crushing in your hand, killing her." Raven stated emotionlessly.

"She actually could be brought back, if what you say is true, but..." Cyborg started, starting with the fiddling again. "I don't think she deserves it."

"..." Raven didn't give a comment for a few minutes as she looked down at Beast Boy, touching his flushed cheeks, and feeling the heat that hadn't broken. "She told us... Slade was alone with you two..." Raven's eyes drifted up to Cyborg, who was now visibly uncomfortable.

"I see. What happened, Cyborg? Can I ask?"

"A deal was made to save Beast Boy's life..." Cyborg walked over to the bed as he talked, pulling the covers farther up over Beast Boy once he got there. "Just a deal. What happened didn't mean anything." Cyborg tried to end the subject, but only got himself deeper into it.

"What deal? Or, is it what I think?" Raven looked in Cyborg's human eye, already knowing the answer.

"... It hurt so much... I felt like I... failed Beast Boy when I did it." Cyborg talked, now playing with the sleeping Beast Boy's hair. "I could have just as easily fought Slade off and taken the cure myself, but I gave in..."

"Cyborg, did you..." Raven asked, not feeling the need to say anything else.

"Raven... I did the worst possible thing I could have. I had sex with Slade in order to get the cure." Cyborg confessed, feeling bile come up his throat as he said that word.

"..." Raven turned her head in slight shock.

"I'm scum..." Cyborg whispered. "Scum..."

"Cyborg, you had no other choice. You are the strongest one here, but even if you took on Slade alone, he would have won. You did what you had to." Raven tried to ease his mind, her eyes looking at his once again.

"The things is Raven... I liked it." Cyborg felt his knees shake. "The power and force he had over me, it like, flipped a switch. I was hard through most of it." Cyborg told her, not caring about softening the details.

"Cyborg, you still love Beast Boy, right?" Raven asked, seeing him nod his head. "Then liking it doesn't matter. If you didn't feel guilty for liking it, then that would be the issue here. The fact that you are hurting on the inside because of what happened means your feelings are still true."

"Rae..." Cyborg listened to her words, a calming sense covering him as he believed her. "I didn't think of it like that... I guess that makes sense.

"You need to tell Beast Boy this when he gets better, you know?" Raven told him. "It will ease his guilt of what happened to him, knowing that you too had it happen."

"I know, but do I have to tell him right away?" Cyborg questioned, looking down sheepishly at the resting Beast Boy.

"No, but you do have to tell him, so don't try and let it slip by." Raven talked to Cyborg like she was the sister he never had.

"Anyway..." Cyborg said after a few minutes of silence between them. "I think I need to have a quick recharge. Will you watch over Beast Boy while I'm gone?"

"...Sure..." Raven answered, tired herself, but not too tired as to say no.

Cyborg left the room, the door sliding closed behind him. Raven watched him leave, and once he was gone, she looked down at Beast Boy. "I know you're awake, Beast Boy..." Raven said to the boy who seemed to be sleeping on the bed. For a few seconds, he tried to play her off, but she didn't budge. He gave up, opening his eyes lightly. Even though he was awake, he was still sick, even if he wasn't as delirious as before. Raven knew he was conscious when Cyborg was talking, that's why she made him talk about it more, so he could confess to Beast Boy without meaning to. She could sense Beast Boy's emotions as he heard everything.

"So, how does it make you feel, Beast Boy?" Raven asked him, placing her hand on his chest so he could sit up. "Rest."

"I swear, I'll kill Slade." Beast Boy retorted groggily. "It makes me sick that Cyborg did it because of me."

"I told Cyborg, if you remember, to tell you about this later. I expect you to keep this to yourself until he brings it up, which he will." Raven told to boy, moving away her hand, and then putting it back to keep his body down for a second time. "Stay down!"

"Ok, and when he does, I'll tell him everything, too. It's no fair for him to carry all the guilt." Beast Boy said as he was forced down on his back. "Will you let me up, already?"

"No, if you wanna get up, you have to rest. The more rest you get, the sooner you'll get well enough to move around."

"I just wanna sit up, geeze... Is that such a crime?" Beast Boy whined, already coming back to himself after such a short time of having to cure.

"Fine..." Raven moved her hand and let Beast Boy sit up.

"Thank you kindly!" Beast Boy teased, sitting up quickly then laying back down as he had a head rush. "Whoa, dizzy."

"Told you." Raven smiled.

Cyborg made his way to his room quickly. He didn't feel like talking to anyone else for the rest of the day. He wasn't as upset as he was before. Raven eased his mind of the torment Slade had delivered. For now, all he wanted to do was sleep. All the emotional strife he had been put through was enough to knock out the toughest of minds. He stood in the darkness of his room before plugging himself in and laying on his bed-table. Cyborg did this often, staying in his room with all the lights off. He considered it peaceful. Eventually, he closed his eyes and drifted off into a heavy sleep that was followed by a dreamless emptiness. He was to tired to even do that.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been out when he woke up. He unhooked himself and looked at his arm to see the time. 3:02 A.M. He was up early. He was still sleepy, so he wouldn't stay up for very long, but for the time being he wanted to get some food. They had a pizza last week, and he saved half of it for himself. Cyborg dragged his feet through the halls of the tower all the way to the kitchen in the main room. He pulled out the pizza box and looked at the slices inside. They looked old, and they were hard. Cyborg didn't care. He simply took them out and heated them in the microwave. After the timer dinged, he took the pizza out and walked over to the window looking over the city. Cyborg lifted a piece to his mouth and as he took a bite he saw her.

The woman's body stayed neglected in the middle of the floor. Cyborg was surprised to see that Robin didn't take care of it, by getting Starfire to take it to the authorities, or something like that. The sight of her body disturbed him, but she was the past, a symbol to help him grow stronger by. He continued to eat the pizza and stared out at the moonlit city.

From then on, things moved quick. He finished eating, put the plate in the sink, left, walked through the halls again, stood outside the recovery room, entered it. Cyborg then noticed everything. The sounds of the machines. The smell of the room, sterile with the scent of Beast Boy floating around. Then Beast Boy, by himself, sleeping in the hospital bed. He looked content, lost in a deep sleep. Cyborg walked up to him and watched him breathe. He decided he'd spend the night there watching him. Cyborg sat in a chair that Raven had used when she was watching him. Cyborg fell asleep after an hour of watching him closely.

The sound of the door hissing open woke Cyborg up. He slowly opened his eye and noticed a blanket was placed over him. He then saw Raven stand next to him, a cup of tea in hand. She gave him a light smile and he returned the favor as he stretched his robotic arms and legs.

"Morning." She whispered so as to not wake up Beast Boy.

"Mornin'..." He whispered back, yawning. "Did you give me this blanket?"

"Yeah, not too long ago." Raven answered, sipping her tea afterwards.

Cyborg thanked her as he stood up. He looked over the monitors hooked up to Beast Boy just to have something to do. They were normal and the screen also said his temperature had gone back to regular. Beast Boy, sensing the two people in the room, woke up. His face that was previously drowned in the pillow, came into view with a wide mouth yawn. Raven looked at Cyborg and gave him a silent 'I'll leave you two alone' look. As she left the room, Cyborg looked down at the sleepy face plastered on Beast Boy, happiness flooding his heart at the sight of the green boy doing well.

"Cy? Hey, man." Beast Boy said with a grin.

"Are you feeling alright, B?" Cyborg asked, feeling his forehead even though he knew he wasn't hot.

"Yeah, dude. I feel fine." he answered, sitting up. "I can even sit up without getting dizzy!"

"..." Cyborg just smiled happily at the younger teen.

"Well, I'm waiting. I know you wanna give me a good morning's kiss, Cy." Beast Boy kidded the metal Titan, flashing his fang unconsciously.

Cyborg chuckled at the boy's remark and bent down to put his face next to his. Beast Boy closed his eyes as Cyborg's lips met his. The kiss was innocent, no tongue or lustful nibbles. It was good to have a kiss like that every now and then. It kept everything in line. If there was a relationship with only kisses that involved one person's tongue down the other person's throat all the time, they centered too much on their sexual needs. They knew the boundaries, Beast Boy and Cyborg, as if they had been married for years.

They broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes. "Dude, you need to brush your teeth." Beast Boy mocked before they kissed again. Cyborg rubbed Beast Boy's cheek with his thumb as they kissed, giving Beast Boy goose bumps. Even when your mind is clouded with doubts and apprehension, and you fear what you may feel, a kiss is the true judge. It never lies.

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Chapter 12 is over. OMG, I like, updated on time. Anyway, well... yeah. Review like the good lil' kiddies you all are. Chapter 13 is in the oven as you read.