A/N: Hello, this is my first story so please be nice lol. Even though I know the real Teen Titans has aired in over a decade, here I am writing a story about it. Raven has always been my favorite character. I remember I wanted to grow up to be just like her ( I succeeded. I am now the brooding angsty girl I was destined to become lol) so this story is going to be about her. This takes place starting from the Birthmark. I'm basically going to write my own, more adult and graphic version of the Raven-centric episodes. This is going to be rated M for rape. When Slade had Raven at the top of the building and was delivering the prophecy to her, it seemed like he could have raped her. But, it is a children's show so obviously they weren't gonna do that. But I am because I make everything angsty and more mature than it needs to be.
So this will follow along with the actual plot as well as some add ins about Raven coping. The only difference I am going to make is when Raven stops time. Instead of having Robin come out of that frozen state, I'm gonna keep him in there. Some hinted Rob/Rae perhaps but nothing too serious. Another quick disclaimer, I have not read any of the actual Teen Titans comics or watched any of the movies. So this is based solely on what is presented in the cartoon and whatever headcanons I decide to come up with. Anyways, sorry for the long monologue. Hope you enjoy! Please write some reviews if you would like to make any suggestions for future chapters. Thanks for reading! 3
"I'll see you back at the tower," Raven said turning away from her friends. They had just detained Dr. Light, fairly quickly as it seemed he still had quite a bit of fear left in him from his last run in with the powerful titan. They had just decided on getting donuts, suggested by Cyborg, as a way of celebrating their victory.
"But Raven-" started Robin.
"You do not wish to enjoy the nuts of dough? It is like eating sweet, tiny wheels!" Starfire said cheerfully.
"I just want to get home before tomorrow comes," Raven said mysteriously as she floated away.
She did not expect her friends to understand her dread for the day that was coming. It was her sixteenth birthday. Unlike normal teenagers who would normally be up all night with anticipation waiting for the big day, Raven was counting down the minutes before it would finally be over. Raven wasn't a normal teenager, that much was obvious. She was a teen titan. While she was not the leader and was often looked over, her powers far succeeded those of any of her fellow teammates'. She was not a high schooler who was ready for all the excitement their sixteenth year brings. She was not looking forward to the upcoming junior prom or getting her driver's license; Raven was looking towards her last few months as a human. Her last few months alive for all she knew.
As soon as she got home, she immediately retreated to her room. It was almost midnight, but she knew she would not be getting sleep any time soon. Her nerves would surely keep her up all night. She felt as if something were going to jump out and get her any second, she would not let her guard down for anything.
Around 1:30am, she heard her friends come shuffling back in. Beast Boy and Cyborg were arguing over who could eat the most donuts, while Starfire giggled along. It wasn't long after did she hear her friends retire to their rooms for the night. However, she could still hear Cyborg tinkering around in his room. He usually was the last one asleep anyways and he was mostly machine; charging didn't seem to take as long.
But Raven did not drift off until around 4am, and that was only after hours of intense meditation did she let her guard down. Even then, her sleep was one that was not sound and did not last very long. She could hear Robin stirring around 6am and she shot up immediately as her first thought was of danger. However once she realized who it was, she relaxed a little, but not enough to get back to sleep.
For the rest of the day Raven sat with her legs crossed on her bed with her alarm clock in her hands. She did not get up to eat, drink, and she did not even feel the urge to use the restroom. Her nerves were too much. She could hear the rest of her teammates up to their usual shenanigans. Cyborg and Beast boy sounded like the were in the middle of a multiplayer video game of some sort and she could hear Robin and Starfire talking about something, though she could not make out what the conversation was about, but she was certain she heard her name pop up a few times.
The conversation must have had something to do with her, because it wasn't long after before Raven heard a knock at her door.
"What?" Raven responded in a tired tone. She had not even bothered to get up.
"Raven? You haven't been out of your room and it's almost 3 in the afternoon. Is everything alright?" Robin asked from the other side of the door.
"I'm fine. I don't feel well," Raven lied. Once she realized that might make her friends want to check on her more she added "I'd like to just be left alone to feel better."
"Alright. Just let us know if we can get you anything to feel better," Robin said before Raven heard his footsteps as he walked away.
Other than that brief moment, Raven had no more interactions with any of her roommates that day. All the while, Raven sat and watched her clock tick.
Tick, tock, tick, tock. Raven felt every second she watched the thin red hand move on her clock. The hours she spent staring at the clock felt like an eternity of an anxiety. It felt like any time the clock when tick the tower would suddenly come crashing down. Raven flopped back onto her bed.
"6:00pm. Only six more hours and will be over," Raven sighed.
Suddenly, she heard something at the door. Raven gasped and rose to see what was outside of her room, fully expecting the worst. She reluctantly came out of her room to see that nothing was there. Well, at least it was not a demon informing her of her impending doom like she had expected it to be. She looked around and made her way down the dark, empty hallway towards the living room. She never realized how big their tower was until now, how wide open it was and how easy it would be for someone to come grab her or one of her friends. As she made her way into the living room, she looking around carefully. She could hear her heart beating and her hands began to twitch with anticipation. Then, the lights suddenly switched out and and "Happy Birthday!" banner was waving overhead.
"SURPRISE!" shouted all of her friends.
Raven screamed and disappeared into the floor.
"Uh, Raven?" said Cyborg slowly.
"It is merely us, your friends! With warm wishes for the day of your birth," Starfire tried to explain. Starfire did not quite understand why her friend reacted in such a way. She would have been elated if her dear friends did such a thing for her.
"I told you a surprise party was a bad idea…" Robin grumbled. He was the group's leader but did they ever listen to him when it came to stuff like this? No, of course not.
After realizing she panicked for nothing, a slightly embarrassed Raven came back up out of the floor. She appeared right behind a very confused Beast boy who jumped as he was startled from hearing an irritated voice behind him.
"How did you know it was my birthday?" demanded Raven.
"Uh, remember last night how you made that big deal about tomorrow?" Beast Boy started nervously. "Well, we started wondering what tomorrow was so we did some snooping," Beast boy then felt the angry glares of his friends on him which convinced him tim immediately come clean of his small lie, "Okay...I did some snooping."
Raven could see that her friends clearly put a lot of work into the planning of her party, Beast Boy motioned to all of the decorations they had put up and Cyborg brought out a massive eight-layered cake with three different flavors and frostings. Starfire even showed her this odd meat crown the people of her planet wore for their birthdays. As nice as this all was, Raven did not appreciate it. They had no idea what they were actually celebrating. Surely they should understand that she did not bring up her birthday for a reason. It was not an accident that she had hidden her birthday from her friends for so long. Robin, seeming to sense her irritation said something in hopes to break the tension.
"I hope this is okay-" he started awkwardly. He could tell the dark titan was unhappy even though she tried to hide her irritation.
"No, it's not," Raven said harshly. She winced internally as she could see that her words hurt her friends. She sighed and continued "Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do here, but I'm not interested." She didn't like hurting her friend's feelings, but they didn't know anything about what she was going through. She was rarely ever in the mood for parties as is, the stress she was feeling now made her even less likely to want to participate.
Her friends began to protest, as she expected. Starfire was the first to try and stop her from turning back to her room. "We have the iced cream and a strange game that involves pins and the behind of a donkey!" she said excitedly to try and get her friend to change her mind.
"We have a pinata shaped like Beast Boy! C'mon Rae, you know you want to hit it," Cyborg teased and Starfire nodded along in agreement.
"I said no," Raven said firmly. She was losing her patience. Not only was she anxious about what horrors this day would bring, she also had gone over 30 hours without any proper rest. She was getting a little testy.
"C'mon Raven, I know you hate fun but this day is special!" Beast Boy tried to reason. He began reaching for her wrist, "you can't let this day end without-"
The slight physical contact was enough to send Raven over the edge. "No!" she shouted with her eyes glowing. Her emotions controlled her powers, the more emotional she was, the less likely she would be to control her powers. Soon all the decorations that had been put up were torn to shreds and all the food Cyborg had worked hard at preparing was spilled over the floor. Without saying another word, Raven stomped back to her room.
She told them, and they did not listen. She was a little ashamed as to how she acted. She felt a little guilty at reacting so harshly, but they had no idea what was happening. This was not a time to be celebrating. As she was turning to stomp back to her room she could hear Beast Boy's quiet "I told you a surprise party was a bad idea...:"
Robin followed her out to the hallway. "Raven, what's wrong?" he asked in a concerned tone. He knew she probably would not be too thrilled about the idea of a surprise party, but he thought she might at least put up with it. She did not often lose control of her emotions like that, only when something was really wrong.
"I just don't like parties," she lied, not even turning around to face her concerned friend.
"It's more than that," Robin saw through her lie immediately. He didn't have to be looking at her in the eyes to know that she was lying. "I can tell. We have a bond, remember? You've been inside my mind, now let me inside your's." The time Raven entered his mind was something that brought the two's relationship much closer. It brought a level of intimacy to their friendship. Not in a sexual way of course, but they had a deeper connection than any of the other's.
Raven turned her head to look back at Robin. She knew he only wanted to help, but there were some things that he did not need to know."Robin, you know me better than anyone. You should know that there are places in my mind where you shouldn't go, where no one should ever go," she said turned her eyes towards the ground.
"I'm willing to try if-"
"I can't."
"Tell me what's going on," Robin said firmly. He didn't like having to pry and he knew Raven didn't like being questioned either. If this had been any of his other friends, he wouldn't have to be so careful and gentle.
"Just trust me. If you knew anything about the day of my birth, you would know it's not a day to be celebrating," Raven said finally before walking off. Robin knew at this point there was nothing he'd be able to get out of her.
Raven stomped back into her room and went back to what she was doing before; watch the clock tick. She knew keeping things from her friends would eventually catch up to her. In truth, there were a few reasons Raven didn't want to tell her friends about her troubling origins. For the most obvious reason, she was worried about the dangers it would bring to her friends. She feared they would be targeted more so than any other mortals by being associated with her. Even living with them for so long was a risk and it was selfish of her to stay. She knew she should never have gone with them. It's not like she could leave them, she knew how persistent her friends could be. And even if they just gave up, doom would still follow them. The only thing she could do at this point was sit and wait and hope that nothing happens. There have been predictions about the world ending before, but nothing ever came of it. She hoped that is what it would be like this time, that eventually she would see the long hand on the clock tick to midnight and have nothing happen.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Raven sighed anxiously. "I just want this day to be over."
Raven's leg was bouncing rhythmically in tune with the ticking of the clock. She sighed. "Relax. It might not even happen. Focus, meditate," she said as she closed her eyes. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Azarath Metri-" she was cut off by a short but harsh coughing fit. She opened her eyes to see her entire room engulfed in flames, her bed frame falling apart and her cape blowing furiously in wind in which she did not know its origin.
"No….no!" she began to panic. She was so close to the night being over, she had started to believe that maybe this prophecy of her's was no more than a paranoid cult prophecy. She should have known better than to be so foolish as to hope for that.
"The portal must be open," a deep, powerful voice echoed in her mind. She knew that voice, and she knew who it belonged to. Her father was always in her head. His demonic influence was the reason she possessed the powers she had. As much as her powers were a blessing, they were also a curse.
"NO!" Raven shouted, springing up from her bed, panting as if she had just run a marathon. Just a dream? Before she had time to think about if what she saw was a dream or a vision, she heard knocking at her door.
"I heard you scream?" Robin said urgently with a worried expression. Before they could really get into what he wanted to ask, the alarm went off.
"Trouble," was all Raven said. She was somewhat relieved. While it's not good that someone is causing problems in Jump City, perhaps this will be a much needed distraction and will make the time go by faster. Besides, she wasn't exactly looking forward to talking to Robin about why she was screaming.
