Hey all, Split here with her very first story evar!!! I know, I'm way excited about it, too, since I've been a FF lurker since the beginning of time. It's about time, right? Well, this is a RAE/ROB pairing, in case you didn't read the summary, so if you don't like it, do me a favor and don't tell me about it. Just don't read it.
Disclaimer: ...You know, I could think of something real witty, but I'm too lazy, so nope, don't own TT. :( *sad*
Chapter 1: A Wonderful Day to Die
The day dawned. The yellow disk that was the sun rose over the horizon, throwing exotic colors onto the sky. Pinks, reds, and oranges shone above all others in the near vicinity of the sun, and the other side of the sky was a blanket of indigo. The first rays of light raced across Jump City and came to rest on Titan's Tower. The windows sparkled in the brilliant light, and the Tower was reflected in the glassy lake. Lacy clouds scudded across the sky, marring it. They would most likely be gone before morning really set in. Oh, yes; the beautiful sunrise foretold the beautiful day.
On the roof of the Tower, a small, blue-clad figure was sitting on air, statuesque in her stillness. Her violet eyes were closed. Her hair was the same dark shade as her eyes, clipped to her shoulders with a steep rise to the back of her neck. She had pale grey skin, and a lithe, lean frame. Her usual uniform, consisting of a black leotard, blue cloak, and boots, was absent. The black shorts and tanktop that served as pajamas were in its place, allowing her a luscious freedom of movement that the heavy cloak just couldn't match. Her hands were in the air, palms open, and the light, morning breeze ruffled her hair and gently caressed her face. She spoke the three strange words that so often made up the story of her life; Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos.
Her name was Raven. She was meditating, and she liked it. No Starfire to harass her about shopping. No Beast Boy and Cyborg trying to make her laugh or play video games. No Robin hounding her about, well, anything. Thankfully, they seemed to understand that it wasn't that she didn't like them, but merely needed some quiet time, and let her alone.
And Raven needed to be alone more than ever before; her emotions were running haywire. She knew why, too, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. Or irritating, for that matter. Whenever she walked into the room with him in it, her heart would skip a beat and the butterflies in her stomach would start to dance. He triggered it, and then something would blow to pieces. Her friends would ask her what was wrong, and she couldn't tell them, because if she did, there would be too many problems, too many risks, too many broken hearts. And all of that was unacceptable. She had been up since very early this morning, long before dawn, to make triple sure that her emotions were completely under her control without the slightest chance of anything happening when she encountered him again. And they had better stay that way.
Soon, the sun was almost fully above the horizon. Raven, satisfied that her emotions were very well in check, opened her eyes and lowered her feet to the ground. With a quick glance to ensure that no one was watching, she stretched her fists to the sky, arching her back and feeling it pop. She groaned in satisfaction as she relaxed, standing still for a moment to let the morning calm soothe away the last of her bed sores before turning and heading towards the door.
It was time to start the day.
Raven walked languorously to her room, enjoying her previous relaxation too much to discard it completely just yet. She felt, dare she admit it, happy. Jump City had been surprisingly quiet for the last couple weeks, giving the Titans a much-needed holiday from crime-fighting. Of course, that meant that Raven had to spend more time around a certain someone and had less excuses for things just randomly exploding. However, that issue should have been solved only moments ago, therefore meaning that she could read a book in peace.
Once in her room, she flung open her closet doors and pulled out a hanger on the left side, which was where all of her uniforms were. The right side housed a few short, black cocktail dresses or dressy slacks and shirts for when the Titans were invited to a city party, as well as a long, blue ballgown for any strictly formal occasions. Being a Titan wasn't all about fighting. There was a good deal of diplomatic socializing along with the package, and contrary to popular belief, Raven could at least function in a social setting. And walk in a pair of stilletos, if need be. She thanked Starfire for teaching her that particular skill.
Throwing the clothes over her arm, she walked to the bathroom on her floor and climbed into the shower. Hot water rolled over her, loosening taut muscles and giving her a few more precious minutes of relaxation. With a slight wrinkle of her nose, she picked through the various body soaps and conditioners that belonged to Starfire to find her own brand of shampoo. A simple bar of soap was enough to clean her body, and a small amount of one of Starfire's unscented conditioners kept her own hair soft and managable. Once clean, she stepped out of the water and dressed quickly before sweeping back into her room to make sure it was tidy before breakfast.
Once picking up her dirty pajamas and tossing them in the hamper, she rested all of her weight on one hip and scanned the tall bookshelves before picking a thick, leather-bound tome in pristine condition. Raven, unlike some other collectors, took great care of every book on her shelves.
Putting the book under her arm, she turned and went back to her door.
"Raven!" Beast Boy screamed just as Raven slid her door open. Raven leaped in surprise, dropping her book. Glass shattered back in her room. The girl looked back over her shoulder, scowling at the broken picture frame. She turned her scowl onto Beast Boy, boring a hole through his eye sockets with her gaze. He smiled at her sheepishly, his green eyes nervous. "Uh, sorry about that, Rae. Um, breakfast time," he said awkwardly to her glaring face. When the glare did not soften, he beat a hasty retreat.
Once the rambunctious teen was out of sight, Raven sighed and cleaned the shattered glass from her carpet, hoping she wouldn't spear herself in the foot the following morning. She set the picture of her mother on her desk for the time being and walked down to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Raven. We didn't think you would be joining us," a voice said. Raven turned to the speaker, which was Robin. She glanced in the direction of the stove, where Beast Boy was standing in a green apron with the words "Green guys get girls" printed on the cloth, before raising an eyebrow at Robin. He was leaning against the back of the couch with Starfire nestled in the curve of his arm. The Tameranian looked simply starstruck. Raven looked away, easily suppressing the emotions that threatened to overwhelm her after her long meditation. They made dime-a-dozen romance novels look believable. Unbidden, an image of a much curvier Starfire in an obscenely low-cut dress swooning into a much more muscular and half-naked Robin's arms popped into her mind. She shook her head to erase the disturbing image and busied herself by setting her book on the counter, digging out her tea kettle, and filling it with water. She placed it on a back burner, pulled her hood up and hopped onto the counter. She crossed her ankles as she waited for her water to boil, looking everywhere but at the new couple. Suddenly, Beast Boy cavalierly presented a plate to her.
"Why do we even let you near cooking utensils?" she asked, raising a sculpted eyebrow at the mess of tofu eggs in front of her. Beast Boy thrust the plate onto her lap, forcing her to either take the plate or dump its contents into her lap. With what she figured was supposed to be a dashing smile, Beast Boy returned to the stove. She cast a pleading glance at Cyborg, sitting at the bar, who quickly made a cross with his fingers.
"There is no way I'm eating that!" he protested to her unspoken question. Raven's gaze turned to the alien clinging to Boy Wonder like a human-sized leech. Much as she would prefer to just not look at either of them, Starfire would usually eat anything.
"Starfire?" the girl asked, offering the plate to her. The red-haired beauty flew over to her and took the offered plate without complaint. On the contrary, she had an enormous smile on her face.
"I thank you, friend Raven! On my planet, offering food is a sign of undying devotion!" Starfire announced with a twirl, nearly upsetting the eggs on the plate. Raven frowned a little. While the dark girl considered Starfire a very good friend and could often muster enough tolerance to go shopping with the girl for the sake of sheer entertainment, she didn't really do undying devotion.
"Um, right," Raven muttered, turning her attention to the shrill whistle of her kettle, which helped her avoid any further discussion of undying devotion. She pulled a blue mug out of the cupboard and quickly made up her breakfast of herbal tea. The steam blew into her face, making her mouth curve in a small, pleased smile. Nothing like tea to counteract the morning dose of Beast Boy.
"You are what you eat, Raven. Or in your case, drink. You should consider trying some of this. You know you want to," Beast Boy said, waving another plate beneath her nose.
Then again, maybe tea won't cut it… Raven thought. She could feel herself turning green from the smell of tofu that forced its way up her nose.
"I gave away the first plate for a reason," Raven replied, turning up her nose and retreating to the far side of the room, as far from the smell she could get. She quickly breathed in the slightly sharp tang of herbs from her tea to flush the tofu out of her system.
"An herb would be way more useful than a plate of tofu," she heard Cyborg mutter.
"What did you say?" Beast Boy snapped, whirling.
"I said an herb would be way more useful than a plate of tofu!" Cyborn repeated loudly. Beast Boy growled and leaped at the other Titan, and fighting ensued. Starfire laughed joyfully as she flew above the pair to referee the match, leaving Robin alone by the couch.
Raven cradled her mug, and Robin caught her eye. He smiled sardonically and rolled his eyes. Raven's mouth twitched into a half-smile before, to her horror, she felt her cheeks heat. Panicking, she tried to squelch the unruly emotions, only to have them leap from her control. With a shout, her mug burst in her hands, spilling hot tea down her front, and the entire pan of tofu exploded. Her black energy dissipated, leaving her sopping wet with tea and Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire splattered with tofu egg.
Silence followed, and four pairs of eyes swiveled to the disheveled Raven. She lifted her own gaze to each pair, trying to be defiant and ending only in embarrassed, before sighing and dropping her arms. Suddenly, Cyborg shot her a thumbs up, and though Raven was relieved that Beast Boy's ideas of breakfast were firmly stifled, she was quite upset that her emotions, after all of her careful meditation, had managed to spiral out of control once again. And it was all Robin's fault!
"I need to be alone," she murmured just loud enough for everyone to hear her, and turned. Another long meditation session and a change of clothes were definitely in order.
Before she could take a single step, however, a loud, garish alarm started to pierce through the room. Robin flipped open his com unit, all business.
"Cinderblock. Titans, go!" he announced. Raven sighed. As uncomfortable as her wet clothes were, she'd just have to deal with it until they returned to the Tower. Determined to ignore the unsavory conditions, she flew from the room.
"Dudes, can't these guys just stay locked up?" Beast Boy muttered as the door whooshed shut behind him.
***
Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy took to the skies while Robin zoomed along on his R-cycle and Cyborg in the T-car. They made no use of any tracking devices; just follow the trail of overturned cars, broken sidewalks, and screaming people and you've found Cinderblock. It seemed to Raven that there was really no point in the destruction; Cinderblock never tried to steal anything, anyway. Apparently, one wasn't destined to be the brightest crayon in the box when one's head was several times too small than one's body and one was made primarily of stone.
The Titans drew level with Cinderblock soon enough. Starfire wasted no time in shooting starbolts near the dumb creatures while the boys parked their transportation in a relatively safe area. Robin let out a shrill whistle with a characteristically cheesy taunt that made Raven sigh in resignation. Cinderblock lumbered his heavy body around, tiny eyes searching for the source of the commotion. Cyborg's arm shifted to his sonic cannon, which he quickly brought into the air and fired. Beast Boy the Eagle swooped down and shapeshifted into Beast Boy the Monkey and began to climb Cinderblock's craggy body. Raven looked around the street to find ammunition.
"Starfire, watch Beast Boy," Raven warned, flying past the Tameranian to find bigger, better debris. Starfire gave a quick nod, her eyes glowing like bright green crystals. Raven finally found three overturned semis lying across the street. Deeming it sufficient ammunition, she raised her arms. Black energy crackled about her palms and her eyes started to be shot through with the same blackness.
"Azarath Metri—" she began, but she was cut off when a barrage of stones came hurtling her way. She moved nimbly through the air, dodging the stones with ease. With a grimly triumphant smile, she raised her arms again, but she hadn't even spoken when a large piece of skyscraper came her way.
Raven would have had to have the reaction time of a supercomputer to have moved in time. The mass of stone hit her full force, slamming her into a glass window behind her. Chunks of glass and stone ripped through her uniform like it was so much rice paper. She hit the ground hard on her back, knocking the wind from her. Without thinking, she leaped to her feet and dived back out the window to help her friends...and nearly fell from the sky. With a loud shout of pain, she managed to get herself righted in the air long enough to set herself on the ground, where she crumpled.
The world began to get blurry around her. She forced the darkness back through sheer willpower, assessing her injuries. She noticed vaguely that her cloak was gone, torn to shreds. With a grunt, she pulled at the brooch, dropping the rest of the fabric from her neck. One eye had red vision, seeing the world through a haze of blood. Her left side felt like it was on fire, and she wasn't really sure how decent she was anymore. Only years of meditation kept her powers from going crazy from the enormous pain. Despite it all, her eyes began to glitter black as she fueled all of that pain into the emotion she would need to finish this battle.
Raven was now, officially, pissed.
Still sprawled across the concrete, she raised her free arm.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" she screamed, throwing her hand in Cinderblock's direction. The three semis followed her hand, sparkling black. They slammed into the beast, exploding on contact and knocking him dangerously off-balance. Starfire had already picked up Robin. She turned in three quick circles and released the boy, sending him hurtling into the criminal. Cyborg added a long burst from his sonic cannon and Beast Boy, as a yak, slammed into the back of Cinderblock's knees, sending the creature toppling.
Before Cinderblock could rise again, Raven raised her arm with a loud shout of pain and twisted fallen support beams and light poles around Cinderblock's rocky limbs, effectively holding him until the police arrived. Only then did she allow herself to fall back against the concrete. The world spun in lazy circles as the other Titans busied themselves getting Cinderblock into the police transport, and when they realized that Raven wasn't helping, they realized that she hadn't risen to her feet for a reason. With a final heave, Cinderblock was in the transport and the Titans were racing to their fallen friend.
"Raven! You are badly injured!" Starfire called, seeing the blood splatter the street where Raven was lying. Raven felt like Starfire was very far away from her, and wondered idly how that could have happened. Calmness settled over her shoulders, finally numbing the crushing pain. The world became blurry and muffled once more, and with her friends out of danger, Raven just couldn't find the willpower to force the darkness back a second time.
"She's going into shock. Raven, you'll be alright. We'll get you back to the Tower," Robin said urgently, miles away. She felt her back leave the concrete, held in strong arms, and her head flopped back, turning the world upside down. Then, only an instant later, she was inside the T-Car, laid carefully across the backseat.
"It's a wonder she could even fight for as long as she did," she heard Cyborg say just before the blackness finally claimed her, sending her into beautiful silence.
***
Cyborg raced home with his precious cargo unconscious in the backseat. Truly, it was a miracle she was alive, but he just didn't have the heart to admit it to himself. He forced himself to think of driving and not his long-time friend and surrogate little sister. No point in getting into an accident. That'd kill her for sure.
He drifted into the garage, situating the backseat door right next to the door in the Tower. Robin zoomed in after him, killing the power on the R-Cycle and letting it just clatter to the ground. Cyborg reached in and took the unconscious Raven from the backseat and carried her to the hospital ward.
Starfire dressed Raven's wounds behind a curtain, worrying silently. Her friend Raven was clothed in bandages; her entire torso was sterile white. Star knew in the back of her mind that that pristine shade would soon be red. After a moment, Raven subconsciously levitated herself six inches off of the hospital table as her own unique healing powers went to work. Star draped a blanket over her lightly bandaged hips and legs for decency's sake, though the bandages themselves would have sufficed, and drew the curtain around the bed back.
The four quickly set up shifts to keep Raven constantly monitored and informed the city police that the Titans would be out of commission indefinitely due to Raven's extensive and life-threatening injuries. Robin wisely refused outside medical professionals; being half demon, half Azar, Raven's physiology was different from that of a human's, and only the Titans were aware of what these differences were and how to deal with them.
Despite their around-the-clock care, infection that they fought to prevent set in, and Raven developed a fever that kept climbing. Human medications for fever proved ineffectual and trying to sweat it out of her made things worse, leaving them with only the option of packing her bandages with ice to try and bring the fever back down from dangerous levels.
For the next five days, Raven was curled into her subconscious, firmly out of reach of all outside help. Occasionally, she heard the sound of her friends and sprang to life, running towards the vague noise she'd heard, before finding herself lost in the ineffable darkness once more and curling into the fetal position to wait for the next sign that she wasn't alone.
Once night, Robin was dozing in a chair when there came loud, alarming beeping. He jerked awake, alert instantly as he ran to check the instrument panel with encroaching dread. Raven was crashing.
"Get me a crash cart!" he roared, slicing through the silence of the Tower in the early morning. He rushed to her side, trying to take her vital signs. Precious moments later, Cyborg rolled around the corner with paddles, prepping them. He pushed the Boy Wonder away from Raven forcefully, accidentally sending him sprawling as Starfire shot a green line of light from her eyes, searing the bandages away and exposing the pale skin of Raven's chest. Cyborg pressed the defibrillator paddles against the skin.
"Clear!" he shouted, sending over 700 volts to Raven's heart. She bucked on the table, but the beeping didn't stop.
Cyborg desperately tried again, and again, and again, and on the seventh attempt, Robin laid a hand on the titanium alloy arm.
She was gone.
Starfire dissolved into loud tears, Beast Boy's face fell, and Robin felt dumbstruck. Raven wasn't gone. She couldn't be gone. She'd been alive only moments ago!
"No!" he raged, slamming a hand against her chest before collapsing against the grey skin. He shook uncontrollably, not wanting the remaining warmth in Raven's skin to die away. He willed her chest to rise beneath his hands, but there was no movement.
He wasn't sure how long he lay there, his forehead pressed resolutely against Raven's collarbones, before gentle hands on his shoulders pulled him away. Tears dripped from his chin. Starfire wiped the tears away.
"We couldn't have known--" she started, but Robin shook her off roughly.
"I'm the leader! I'm not supposed to let anyone..." He couldn't finish, and instead stormed from the room. Starfire looked sadly at the remaining Titans and back to Raven's body. She remained there long after Beast Boy and Cyborg left.
Stubbornly, as though Raven would not be able to beat the unbeatable unless she was Raven in every way, Starfire retrieved a clean uniform and dressed the dark woman's now-cold body in it. She pulled the hood up carefully over Raven's violet hair and folded the large blue cloak around her limbs, hiding the woman's imperfections caused by Cinderblock. She nitpicked over details into dawn, and only when Robin came down, calmer, and made her go to bed did she leave her dead companion's side.
A/N: R&R, thanks, bai! *3*
A/N Edit: Thanks, Colorado, for letting me know about the error. ^.^