Disclaimer: I haven't even see the whole series yet. How on Earth (or Tamaran) could I own Teen Titans?
If you were to ask her how she ended up in this situation, she probably wouldn't be able to tell you. Partly because she wasn't sure herself, and partly because she was at a high risk of dying from embarrassment.
The last thing she clearly remembered was the T-ship navigating through the murky skies. Its destination was not specific, as the forest area they were sailing over was deceitfully large. When they first traversed the location and first encountered Thunder and Lightning, she had assumed they had seen the whole forest. Obviously, this was incorrect, for if it was so small, she could not have gotten lost. The relevant detail was that there had been a Slade sighting somewhere in the woodland, and Robin had been insistent on investigating.
Over time, the miserable sky grew darker, and trickles of water began to fall. This did not discourage Robin at all, of course. The rest of the team... A different story.
"Robin, can't we just turn back?" Beast Boy had whined. "He's not here!"
"Yes, I am doing the agreeing with friend Beast Boy; I do not think we will be doing the finding of Slade." Starfire rubbed her green eyes tiredly. Her sleepy, drifting mind was starting to stagger her English even more than usual.
However, Robin's masked eyes were set in a determined glare. "No. He is here, and we will find him. I can feel it."
"C'mon Rob, it's late," sighed Cyborg. He wasn't as tired as the others due to his bionic enhancements, but the human half of his brain was growing fatigued.
"No!" the boy wonder repeated firmly. "We're not stopping until we find Slade."
"Which we will not do in this storm," interjected Raven, enforcing her monotone even further to hide her own tiredness.
"Yes, we will!"
"Robin, we can't even see the forest properly. How on earth would we see Slade?"
He glared at the empath from his pod. "We'll see him. Stop doubting me."
"I'm not, I am merely-"
"Friends!" interrupted Starfire quickly, fearing an argument. "May we please cease the unpleasant disagreement?"
Both of the accused Titans sighed, relaxed back into their seats, and uttered something of an apology. While not completely satisfied, Starfire decided this would do, and also settled into her seat again.
We're still finding him," Robin muttered under his breath.
The whole team groaned, as his quiet comment had still travelled over the speaker system between the pods.
"Rob, this is insane," chided Cyborg.
"Yeah, dude!" Beast Boy yawned. "It's late and it's pouring down!"
"Please, Robin?" begged Starfire sweetly. "May we resume the searching for Slade tomorrow?"
"...Fine." Robin sighed in defeat. "Okay, we can go back."
"Thank you!"
"Booya!"
"Glorious!"
Raven didn't offer a response, but allowed a tiny smile to grace her lips.
Thanks, she whispered through her telepathic link with the boy wonder.
Whatever.
She gently bit her lip, purposely looking away from him. You'll find him, Robin. Don't worry.
How can I not worry? Slade's a big deal!
I know.
And we have personal scores to settle with him. He tortured you, he's responsible for Terra's demise-
He's tormented you all these years, she supplied. And he's doing it again now. He was probably never here in the first place, Robin.
Robin said nothing in return, although Raven could've sworn there was a look of gratitude on his face when she briefly glanced over.
Cyborg turned the ship around, and they set their course for home. They sailed in silence for a little while, struggling to stay awake. The storm picked up around them, rain lashing against the windows and wind rattling the aircraft. Raven pulled her cloak a little tighter around herself, shivering slightly.
Cyborg noticed, and grinned at her. "Don't worry, Rae; we'll be home in-"
But he was abruptly cut off when a strike of lightning shot towards the ship. It cracked through the air violently, making contact with Robin's pod.
"Robin!" shrieked Starfire, her voice laced with terror.
"I-I'm fine," he assured her in a shaky voice. The intercom crackled, damaged by the hit.
The half-robot gasped. "You might be fine, but your pod ain't. It's come loose!"
"Loose?" repeated Robin, clearly back in leader-mode. "What's that going to mean for the rest of the ship?"
"You're in the centre pod, Robin. If yours disconnects, the whole ship's gonna separate!"
A roll of thunder resounded, causing Beast Boy to squeal in fear. Raven raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?" he exclaimed. "It's the animal in me! I can't help it!"
Another burst of lightning struck, this time catching Raven's pod. The empath cried out, shielding her face with her hands as broken glass rained into the compartment. Someone shouted "Rae!" over the speakers, but she didn't know who it was.
She blinked rapidly as the rain spattered against her skin, stunned.
"Raven!"
"You okay, girl?"
Blankly, she nodded, not trusting her voice to conceal her fright.
"Cyborg, we need to get back now," demanded Robin.
"I know, I know, but this thing's flying as fast as it-"
Starfire's scream cut him off this team. "Friends! My pod has started the detaching!"
True to her word, Starfire's pod was rattling scarily, and was beginning to break away from the rest of the ship. Raven swallowed a slight squeak of terror when she noticed that her own pod was starting to disconnect too.
"Okay Star, just hang in there and prepare to-" began Robin.
"Dudes! Mine's coming apart too!" shrieked Beast Boy. His pod was trembling nearly as much as him.
"Oh dang, same here," reported Cyborg, tapping frantically at the controls.
Suddenly, the shaking stopped. Not completely, but the pods no longer seemed to be at risk of falling apart.
Robin titled his head curiously. "Everyone alright?"
"Yeah, Rob."
"I'm good."
"I am also the good."
"What about you, Raven?" asked Robin. Upon receiving no answer, he turned his head and gasped. "Raven!"
The empath had her hands clenched tightly into fists, with her head lowered and eyes screwed shut. She appeared to be concentrating very hard. It was only then that Robin - and slowly everyone else - noticed that the edges of their pods were outlined in an obsidian aura.
"Uh... Nice job, Rae...?" said Beast Boy hesitantly.
"Yeah..." Cyborg glanced back at her. "You sure you're okay there, lil' lady?"
Raven just nodded, still focusing.
The storm began to pick up again around them, seemingly determined to rip the ship to pieces. The sorceress growled slightly under her breath as she desperately tried to hold the ship together, though the wind and rain creeping in through her broken window weren't helping at all. Not that the team were, either. Starfire screamed again, Robin barked some orders at Cyborg who shouted something else in return, and Beast Boy continued to whine at every groan the thunder made.
"Cyborg, there's no way Raven can hold this for long!" snapped Robin.
"You think I don't know that? Robin, the circuitry's damaged from the lightning. I can't control the ship properly!"
"Well, find us somewhere safe to land then!"
"I'm trying to!"
In perfect sync with a low growl of thunder, the thinly-stretched elastic band that was Raven's concentration snapped back into place, and her hold on the ship diminished. She immediately collapsed, her unconscious forehead slamming straight into her pod's fried control panel. The pods barely held together for the seconds it took Robin to order a regroup ASAP, before surrendering to the storm and breaking apart. The elements dragged the pods apart, sending them spiralling away from each-other.
Beast Boy, noticing Raven's unmanned pod tumbling on a doomed course towards the trees, urged his frazzled pod to follow. Thankfully, luck seemed to be on his side, as the wind was propelling him closer. However, no amount of luck would have allowed him to actually prevent Raven's pod - or his own, for that matter - from falling. All he could do was fall beside her, and hope that he would be near enough to protect her.
Pain. Searing, unbelievable pain. Located in her forehead, if she was correct. Oh, wait - maybe it was the back of her head. Or both. She wasn't sure. Actually, it could be her hip... Possibility. Then again, she couldn't rule out her wrist, either... Or the entire left side of her face. Though, there was something incredibly soft and warm against the right side of her face, which was nice.
"Rae... Come on, Rae... Wake up..."
The voice was speaking into her right ear, but to her relief she could also hear it through her left. Okay. No apparent hearing damage. Good start.
"Rae-Rae?" Fingers gently stroked down her arm, stopping against her aching wrist. They locked through her own, but apart from an initial stab of pain, it didn't feel like any loose bones had moved. So, probably no breakages. Nice.
Next, the fingers wandered down to her hips. Tender, but nothing moved. Cool. Most likely in tact too, then. "Raven?" The owner of the fingers carefully lifted her up, twisting her somewhat awkwardly. A flutter of embarrassment and fear lighted in her stomach, but she didn't feel her powers spike. She groaned slightly, realising she had probably exhausted them - and herself - holding the ship together.
"Raven?" gasped a hopeful voice, before her forehead collided with something and blinding pain overtook her senses. Okay. Alright. Definitely a problem in the forehead area. Almost certainly blood trickling down across closed eyes. Okay. Sure. Fine.
"Oh, man! Sorry, Rae!" the person apologised frantically. She was whipped to the side violently, probably the person getting her away from the danger, and more pain cut into her. "Gah! Sorry! You're right; I'm stupid!"
It finally clicked: Beast Boy was holding her. Then it really clicked... Beast Boy was holding her.
Her eyes instantly popped open - thankfully, Beast Boy possessed the common sense to tilt her head back when she started bleeding, so the blood wasn't dripping into her eyes any more - and met frantic green orbs.
"Rae!" he exclaimed in relief, pulling her in close and inhaling her scent.
"Raven," she corrected, cursing how weak and shaky her voice was. "And personal space, please."
Beast Boy just pressed closer, completely disregarding her words. "Thank goodness you're okay!"
She winced as another prick of pain came from her head. "Wouldn't quite say 'okay' just yet."
Gently, Beast Boy lowered her to the ground, lying her down flat and supporting her head with his knees. Out of the corner of her eye, she could glimpse the remains of her pod smoking a few feet away. The metal was crushed and crumpled, and the glass was destroyed. She smirked slightly; Cyborg would have fun trying to fix that up. Just as the panic of being separated from her team was beginning to set in, Raven spotted gruesome smears of red staining the shattered glass. Presumably, she had slit her forehead against it at some point in the crash. Raven was then distracted by the same feeling that had graced her cheek earlier, only now it was stroking along her forehead.
Her eye twitched a little. "Beast Boy... Why are you licking my head?"
"Because you're injured," he slurred against her skin, his tongue still pressed to the edge of her wound.
"And that means you should lick me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He frowned, retracting his tongue at last. "Rae, saliva helps heal. It's not magical heal-y stuff, but it's the best we've got."
Unable to find sufficient fault in his logic, Raven sighed in defeat. "Fine. But as soon as my powers are back to normal-"
"You're healing yourself and blasting me into the nearest bay," he finished. "Yeah, I get it, Rave."
He then resumed tentatively licking her gash, cleaning it out and praying that he was actually helping. The metallic taste of his team-mate's blood in his mouth wasn't exactly welcomed, but the thought that he was aiding her recovery allowed him to persevere.
"I think you just have a thing for foreheads," decided Raven, after a few minutes of silence. "You're just getting some sick, sick pleasure from this."
"Trust me, Rae," he sighed, "I'm not getting any pleasure at all from this."
She shifted around in his accidental embrace, trying not to think about the possible implications of that. A small stirring of guilt in the pit of her stomach made her uncomfortable, but she didn't apologise. Apologising wasn't her thing; deadpan remarks were. Although, typically she wouldn't let Beast Boy's tongue near her face, so maybe today was just Opposite Day or something.
"Sorry, Beast Boy..." she muttered.
Green eyes widened. "Huh?"
"Nothing." Raven stared straight ahead.
Normally Beast Boy was the one to drop things, but an apology from Raven was so ridiculously rare, there was no way he was letting it go! "I could've sworn you said something, Rae-Rae," he sing-songed, leaning down to press his cheek to hers.
She blushed heavily. "Well, as usual, you were wrong."
"Hmm... Was I really...?" he hummed into her ear teasingly. "'Cause I could've sworn there was something... Was it... lorry? Borry? Torry?"
"Okay, I said I was sorry," she admitted bitterly. "Originally, it was for embarrassing you, but now I'm not exactly feeling comfortable."
He smiled, snuggling into her and lifting her up to his level again. "Don't worry, Rae-Rae. Your secret's safe with me... And so are you."
Astonishingly, she didn't pull away. "Thank you, Beast Boy."
It was only when a drop of rain collided with her shallow wound that she actually realised it was still raining. Beast Boy seemed to notice too, because he scooped her up bridal style and began to walk.
"C'mon, Rae. Let's find somewhere to stay the night," he advised, walking through the trees.
She shot him a pointed look. "I can walk."
"No, you can't." He returned the stern glare. "I won't let you. You're still drained, Rae."
A groan slipped from her mouth. "Whatever..."
She couldn't be bothered to keep track of how long they had been walking for (which was insanely unlike her), so she had no idea how much time had passed before they finally discovered a medium-sized cave in the rock-face.
"There we go!" he announced cheerily, ducking down unnecessarily to make sure she didn't hit her head on the way in.
He very carefully set her down on the ground, smiling sweetly the whole time. Raven eased herself onto her side, tucking her arm beneath her head to act as a pillow. The green boy stood for a few minutes, just observing, before settling down beside her.
"What are you doing?" she demanded.
Beast Boy looked confused. "Uhm... Resting...?"
She gestured around the cave with one arm, holding her cloak around her with the other. "There is plenty of space, Beast Boy. Why are you so close?"
"It's cold, Rae." He even added a shiver for good measure.
"...Oh, fine," she seethed, releasing her hold on the cloak.
Beast Boy gently seized the edge of Raven's cloak, lifting it enough for him to enter its warmth. She raised a questioning eyebrow at him, but didn't push him away. A few moments later, he yelped in surprise as he felt hands at his hips, pulling him further into the cloak. Grey arms wrapped around him, holding him against Raven's stomach. He glanced at the empath quizzically.
She blushed. "Shut up. It's cold out."
Beast Boy took a deep breath, steeling himself. "Well then, it's a good thing I'm in."
"... In what?" Raven finally asked.
He twisted around in her embrace to look at her face.
"In love."
The empath's eyes widened, betraying her shock momentarily. However, she quickly recovered, and forced a neutral expression into her face.
"Goodnight, Beast Boy." She calmly closed her eyes, apparently settling down to sleep.
He blinked. "Rae? Rae! Oh, come on! You can't just leave me hanging after a confession like that! Rae! Raven!"
He continued to pester her, clambering up on top of her. The cloak fell off them both as a result, but Beast Boy didn't notice. Over and over he shouted her name, desperately wriggling around to stay in her sight as she placidly averted her eyes from him.
"Raven!" He grabbed her shoulders, securing her in one place. "Please! Even if you're mad, just say something! Anything!"
Raven took a deep breath. "Beast Boy?"
"Yes?" Hope shone in his green orbs at her less-than-irate tone.
"Beast Boy, you... you're..."
"Uh-huh...?" He leaned in so close that their noses touched.
"You're... sitting on my cloak."
For a few seconds, the boy was frozen. Until slowly, his eyes narrowed, and his teeth glinted. "What?"
Still emotionless, Raven gently lifted the green teenager up, depositing him down beside her. She then retrieved her blue cloak and draped it over them both again.
"Oh, and one more thing?"
"What now?" snapped Beast Boy, not bothering to turn.
A shudder tore through his body as he felt warm breath on the back of his neck, followed shortly by soft lips. "I think I'm in, too."
Eagerly, he rolled over, only to find that Raven's eyes were closed and her body was relaxed. But still, he smirked. He knew her better than that.
Gently, he leaned in and placed a careful kiss on the corner of her mouth. "Night, Rae-Rae."
"Night..." she breathed quietly.
Cautious green arms encircled her thin, leotard-clad waist, pulling her in close. Much to his surprise, grey arms wrapped around his neck, lessening the distance even more.
"I like being in," decided Beast Boy.
"Me too..." came the most minuscule whisper of a response. But Beast Boy's sharp animal ears detected it, and he smiled into the girl's violet hair.
And with the storm raging on outside their little cave, both Titans slowly drifted off to sleep, holding each-other tightly. Even in their sleep, they held their grip.
"Man, that storm is insa- Wait, is that Rae and BB? 'Cuddling'?"
Which effectively proved bad when their teammates discovered them a short while afterwards.
Starfire squealed with joy. "Oh, glorious! Friends Raven and Beast Boy are engaged in the dating!"
She moved to wake them, but Robin grabbed her wrist. "Hang on, Star. I don't think they're, uh... dating."
"But, as Cyborg stated, they are doing the cuddling?"
"Well..." Robin cast another glance at his sleeping teammates. Beast Boy's legs were starting to copy his arms, securing around the empath, though she made no move to stop him. "Maybe. But I don't think we should make assumptions, or bring this up. Okay?"
"Okay," agreed Starfire reluctantly, moving away from the couple. "May we do the resting here?"
Robin shrugged. "I don't see why not. Cyborg?"
The half-robot glared at the changeling, who was nestling his face between Raven's chin and chest in his sleep. "Yeah. There's no way I'm leaving my little sis alone with a guy in a cave."
"The guy is Beast Boy," pointed out Robin, with mild amusement. "And I hardly see why he'd think a cave at night was the place to 'make a move'."
"But look at what he's- Oh, no. No. BB, don't you dare- Keep your little green paws to your-"
"Shush, friend Cyborg!" whispered Starfire. "We do not wish to awaken them!" A sly smirk that looked remarkably out-of-place on the alien girl formed. "Besides, if friend Raven discovers his head against her grebnacks, she will do the punishing of him herself."
"I guess..." grunted Cyborg, slumping down in a corner near the duo.
As the half-robot began to mutter to himself about "thinking you know a guy", Robin made his way over to Starfire and lay beside her.
"Hey. You don't mind if I stay here tonight, do you?"
Starfire shook her head, smiling. "Of course not, friend Robin. Please, stay beside me."
They curled up next to each-other, both blushing when their knees touched. This being said, neither moved away.
"Robin?" inquired Starfire.
"Yeah?"
"Do you believe that they 'are' doing the dating?"
The boy wonder sighed. "Honestly, Starfire... I'm not sure. But, really, I don't need to be. They're the ones making the decision, if it happens, so I have no input at all." A moment of consideration. "Unless they ask for it. Or it affects the team. Or-"
"Thank you," interrupted Starfire. "I was curious as to your opinion."
"Why?" He titled his head. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."
Another small, this one soft and innocent and hopeful, blossomed on her face. "I was wondering how you felt about teammates doing the dating."
"W-well, Star..." He cleared his throat. 'Don't get awkward. Do not get awkward.' "If it's not disrupting the team... Then I can't see anything wrong with it."
Starfire beamed, subconsciously snuggling up to Robin. "Joyous."
So... Review? :)
EDIT: For the record, I'm not taking credit for the cover image. It belongs to Indigo417 on Deviantart, and it inspired this story, so thank you :)