Rage - Chapter 3

It had been so long since Raven left the tower to search for the Changeling. And she had found nothing. The moon glowed in the night sky, the rain poured and continued to do so right now, and still nothing. What was she missing?
“B-Beast Boy? G-Garfield?” she called for what felt like the millionth time that day. And again for what felt like the millionth time that day, she received no answer. Her body shivered. Not at the cold of the rain, but at the thoughts of what could have happened to Beast Boy.

Raven shook the thought out of her head and soared across the city faster. She wasn’t giving up until she found him, no matter what state he could be in.

Dead end. Dead end. ANOTHER DEAD END.

No matter where or how hard she looked, she could not find any sign of him. It was dark, it was cold, and her body couldn’t handle the stress. Objects around her like trashcans and cardboard boxes would occasionally blow up whenever she flew near them. She wasn’t calm. Her emotions were spiralling out of control. She needed to find him now, for both of their sakes.

“Raven!” a soft voice suddenly yelled from behind her. The empath instantly spun at the sound of it, hoping to find an alive and well Beast Boy. She didn’t.
“What is it, Starfire?” she growled before turning back around, unwilling to waste any time.
“I came to help!” the alien quickly explained and glided next to her.
“Then don’t follow me. We’ll cover more ground if we split up.” Raven said and quickly pointed to her left. “Go look around there. I haven’t been there yet, but I’m still going forward.”
“Will do… Raven?”
“What?”
“We will find him, okay?” Starfire said as she slipped her hands through Raven’s and gently squeezed it. Raven wasn’t so sure. Despite that, she still managed a soft smile of thanks before  pulling her hand out of the alien’s grip and speeding ahead.

The rain continued to pelt. Raven’s cloak was absolutely soaked, and her body trembled in the cold. She wasn’t going to give up though, not yet. Not until she found-

The gasp escaped her mouth before she could stop it.
“G-Garfield?” she called and darted towards the limp green body that lay far below her. She had finally found him, but not in the way she wanted to. All she saw was blood.
“Azar,” She breathed in shock once she reached his bloodied body and got a closer look at his form. He was curled into a ball, clutching his bleeding belly. He wasn’t moving. Raven dropped to the ground, the rain water splashing beneath her feet, and rushed towards the Changeling. There was so much blood.
“Garfield, what happened to you?” she whispered under her breath and gently tilted his head up so she could look at it. His eyes were shut, and his skin was alarmingly pale. Her other hand smacked over her mouth as she bit back a sob.

Things were NOT looking good.

Slowly she eased her hand away from his cold face, and forced herself to search for a heart beat. Her fingers rested against the soft skin of the side of his neck. She felt nothing. This time she didn’t bother to hold back her sob, nor her tears. Raven didn’t say anything, only leant down and wrapped her arms around his chest, gently pulling him upwards so she could hug his lifeless body one last time. She buried her head into the crook of his neck, and cried. The rain hit her skin like thousands of bullets. The cold enveloped her body like a gust of wind. His blood stained her clothes. But she didn’t care. She should have been here sooner. She should have known something was wrong the minute he called her. He never called her.

But apparently someone else did. Her phone suddenly rang beneath her cloak, and continued to do so until Raven ripped it out and hurled it at the brick wall behind her, screaming out in rage and grief at the same time. She was in no mood for talking. The phone however miraculously managed to survive the impact, and went straight to message.
“Raven, pick up!” it was Robin, “Cy and I managed to track Beast Boy through his phone. We already told Starfire, and-“ the phone curled into itself and snapped, thanks to Raven’s out of control emotions. She was in no mood to talk, nor listen to anyone else talk. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice seconds later.

“Raven!” Came Starfire’s voice, “you’re already here! Robin and Cyborg ju-“ her voice suddenly faded away into silence. Raven could hear a gasp escape her mouth, and the water splash as she slowly approached. She didn’t look up, only hugged his body tighter.
“Is he…?”

Raven looked up then. She locked her watery eyes onto Starfire’s wide green ones, and said nothing. Starfire understood.
“X’hal” Starfire cried in disbelief and rushed towards the two and dropped to her knees before them. Her body trembled as she stared at the green changeling in disbelief.
“It w-was m-my fault,” Raven stammered, “I should have realised - I should have been here-“
“But Raven,”
“I should have saved him-“
“Raven.”
“I should have-“
“You’re choking him!”

And just at the sound of the alien’s words, Raven began to feel a slow rise and fall in Beast Boy’s chest beneath her arms. She instantly loosened her grip.

He was breathing.