Hi, I'm back again! And in my most recent episode of story ADD I started writing this! I remember years ago seeing a story based on this principle but it was never taken past chapter 1 (I think). I wanted to do my own version of this premise and here it is! It's Rae/Rob with some one sided Slaven (maybe). Read and let me know what you all think!
Found
She ran. Motivated by fear, she ran for her life. The thing that was chasing her knew nothing of exhaustion; she had been trying to outrun it for hours. The blood, now dried, marked where the beast had struck when she had been slow enough to encounter it. She did not relish the thought of combating the beast another time but her strength was draining, she could feel it.
The beast was enormous, with spikes protruding from every visible surface. It was caked in old, dried blood from when the spikes first broke its skin and it smelled of rotting flesh. Its eyes were black and held the glimmer, the intelligence that most creatures did not have. Its fangs were long and covered in an oily, black venom that would decompose anything it came into contact with. Such a demon was rarely, if ever, seen and most were not so particular about their prey.
The girl sighed, the only way to avoid this creature would be to go somewhere it could not (or would not) hunt her from. Sadly, that meant leaving her home, along with everything she held dear, behind. Using the last reserves of her strength, the girl created a small tear in the sky. She quickly leapt into the portal and saw the portal close on the beast before unconsciousness overtook her.
"Dude, that's got to be her."
The voice sounded like it came from an adolescent boy. The girl decided to pretend to still be unconscious in order to gather more information on these people...the ones, it seemed, who gave her a place to stay while she healed.
"Yeah, man. She just must have been delayed is all."
This voice sounded different than the one who spoke before. His voice was deeper.
"Glorious! We shall have a new friend!" Came the cheery voice of a bubbly girl, naive yet kind-hearted.
"I don't know. Why would she be covered in blood from her trip? Bludhaven is not far from here."
This person's voice indicated a point of authority, of leadership. His tone was soft, his words were used sparingly. It seemed to her that he had thought for awhile about exactly what to say. He did not condemn her, not yet with his friends automatic acceptance, but he seemed more reluctant.
"I just...I don't know. What if she's another Terra?"
She could, without even applying her powers, sense the tension that permeated the room. Apparently Terra was a sore subject for each of them. The room grew incredibly quiet.
Just then, the second voice she'd heard piped in, "Yo, we can't be sure of that. We can't be paranoid about every person we come across. We're supposed to protect this city and all of its civilians."
"If she's going to be our maid, I would like to know why she was delayed and how she got injured. I don't like this, something just seems ...off," replied the stern voice, "Like something's wrong. I can't explain it."
Deciding that there were no others in the room, and knowing their purpose for sheltering her, the girl decided to go along with the ruse. She had nowhere else to go, no way to earn a living in this foreign place and a job had just presented itself. The only job she was like to get. And being a maid couldn't be so bad, she'd cleaned the temples when asked and surely this place would not be bigger or dirtier than the temples. Her mind made up, the girl made a small groan as she stretched, pretending to wake up from a long slumber.
When she rubbed her eyes open, she saw the four people in the room staring at her. The slender girl with the firey hair and emerald eyes was the innocent girl she'd heard earlier. The next one she was able to place was the green, scrawny boy. He was skinny and appeared barely taller than herself. His eyes were big, his green hair was ruffled into a mess. He looked like a young teenager.
Before she could assess the other two guys in the room, the one with the domino mask had removed a staff from his belt and held it pointed at her, his stance ready for battle. He wore...an ensemble, yes that was the only way to really describe it, of yellow, green and red. Clearly, this one has no problems with being noticed. An 'R' insignia was emblazoned on the right side of his chest. His short, ebony hair was perfectly spiked and matched his countenance at the moment.
"What is your name and why are you here?" he snapped.
Ah, so here is the heroic leadershe mused.
"My name is Raven and I was sent to be your maid," she began tilting her head in an attempt to convey innocence, "Were you not told?"
She hoped her amethyst eyes conveyed confusion, however, seeing as she rarely showed emotion she could only hope that her face conveyed the adequate expression of confusion.
He glared but made no motion to speak. She resisted smiling, it was a simple tactic designed to fool a simple mind. Most people could not stand awkward silences and would break them by talking about themselves in an attempt to cover the silence, as if the awkwardness was somehow their fault. She would not be fooled.
After a brief moment she added, "Also, I would appreciate it if you put that away and stop treating me as though you're interrogating a criminal."
His mask narrowed. She saw however, in a brief flash of surprise, that this was not the answer he had been expecting.
"Why are you covered in blood?"
It was at this moment that Raven was glad she was wearing a nondescript black dress instead of the usual monastic robes. She had no idea why she chose that morning to try and look pretty, but her clothing appeared normal enough. She hated the idea of having to explain to this inquisitor why she was in monkly attire.
"I was attacked on the way here."
"By who?" He nearly snarled, "Slade?"
"You mean by whomas in 'by whom were you attacked?' and I cannot say. If he is an angry bear then, yes, it was him."
"I don't believe you," he spat, "you're too quick and too rude to be a maid."
She smirked, "Have a lot of experience dealing with maids, do you? Let's get this straight. I am here to do a job so I don't care if you believe me or not. I have told you the truth."
She could tell that he was not expecting this...professionalism. But it was something he respected and responded to, as evidence by him unconsciously lowering his staff slightly. But a brief moment later, it was back to her throat. She held back the reactionary sigh.
Seeing the argument about to pick up again, the adolescent boy jumped in.
"Dude, I think she's telling the truth. She's from Bludhaven, how would she know who Slade is? He's only ever been sighted in Jump," he squeaked, obviously fearful of his leader's reaction.
"Friend Beastboy is right," added the red-haired girl.
"Yeah, Slade is gone, Robin," the half-robot continued, cutting Robin off from what he wanted to interject with, "And even if he wasn't, we have no proof that she's connected with him. We can't treat her like an enemy without any reason."
Robin growled, "Fine. But she is not to be given any passcode of the tower. She will always be in someone's sight when in the evidence room, the control room, or any of our rooms."
"Wonderful," drawled Raven, "I feel so welcome by the loving guardians of Jump."
She did not know how they protected this city but she hoped invoking Cy's words from earlier, when he referred to them as protectors, would sting the boy. She would not have known that it had if she were not an empath, he hid his anger and hurt well. She knew that she ought not exploit his sense of righteousness by reminding him of his faults- of the faults that his own teammates felt-but she wanted him off of her back. He just needed to stay out of her way or shut up. Clearly, he wouldn't do either and that bothered her.
He raised the bow staff closer to her throat, "Just because we're letting you stay here doesn't mean that I trust you. It's either you stay under these conditions or you leave. Make your choice."
She sighed, "Alright, you've made your point."
He then retracted his staff and left the room with no further word.
"Is he always so...charming?" asked Raven.
"Ah, you'll get used to him. He always takes himself wayy too seriously," replied the cyborg, "The name's Cyborg, by the way, but you can call me Cy if you want."
She nodded.
"Friend whatisyourfavouritecolour?yourfavouritefood?doyoulikeshopping?doyouwanttobefriends?" asked the redhead in one large breath.
"Um, blue. Noodles. Don't know, haven't really had the chance to do it much. Sure," she replied, unsure what a shopping was like but hoping she gave a satisfactory answer. Azarath did not have the same consumer culture that Earth had, this she knew. But shopping-going out specifically to waste money-seemed inconceivable.
"Dude, that's impressive, how'd you follow that?" asked the green boy.
That was the only way to really describe him, thought Raven. Green. Almost everything about him was green. He almost looked like he was constantly sick, though his eager expression pointed out to anyone that this was untrue.
"I have more than half a brain," she replied.
"BAM! She got you, grass stain!" yelled Cy happily.
"Friend, my name is Starfire and that is friend Beastboy," said Starfire.
"Dude, I'm sure she already knows our names and our powers and stuff, we're like famous," countered Beastboy.
"There's a big difference between knowing and actually getting to see you in person, though," replied Raven, vaguely, hoping a shred of admiration came through despite no context to feel such, "Do you mind showing me your powers in person sometime?"
"DUDE! Yes! I'm totally the coolest, you'll see!" Called Beastboy, "To the training room!"
He then bounded off, leaving the others to follow behind. She gave a sigh of relief that her statement didn't reveal that she, in fact, had no idea who these people were or what they did. Or that they were famous.
Raven was ushered into a glass room that overlooked the training stadium. Apparently Cyborg was not just half-robot but also was very skilled with technology. He built simulated training areas with guns, rays, small robot armies among other obstacles. He told her that there were several programmes to train different areas and that each of them had their own training programmes to help them learn their weaknesses and to focus learning them.
Today, however, they planned on just using the general course.
"I just fixed it so don't go too crazy guys," warned Cy before Starfire was chosen to go first.
In a spectacular display of light and power, Starfire took out her small army with ease. Her bolts of energy shined green, almost a lime green. Her angry eyes matched her bolts when casting. She could also fly. Raven made mental notes of what she was learning.
After Starfire returned, Cy looked like he might strangle her or cry. Or, possibly, both.
"It's gonna take forever to rebuild those!" he wailed.
Beastboy was up next, this time he was up against several rays and he had to make it to a checkpoint without getting hit. By morphing into several animals, he was able to fly, crawl, and stomp his way to the checkpoint. So he is also aptly namedshe thought.
Finally, Cyborg took out his training dart guns with his own 'sonic cannon' and with the strength having some robotic limbs afforded him.
"So who did you like best?" asked Beastboy eagerly, "I bet it was me."
"You're never rated first, Grass Stain," retorted Cy playfully.
"I knowww," he whined, "All of the magazines put Robin first even though he has no powers! All he can do is jump around and do some cool martial arts...which is cool but not cooler than turning into a dinosaur!"
To prove his point, Beastboy morphed into a velociraptor and strutted around the glass room.
Raven shook her head, smirking. They're all so different and yet still close mused Raven while on the walk back to the common room. The loud rumble from her stomach pulled her from her musing.
"Oops, forgot to show you the kitchen...and the rest of the tower," remarked Cy.
"For now the kitchen should be sufficient, I didn't realise until now that I'm hungry," she replied carefully, not wanting to appear as an ingrate.
"No problem."
The band of four hurried to the kitchen, which was a small counter area just behind the main common room. The common room was dominated by a large screen that, apparently, could be used as a television, a communicator, or a monitor for a computer. It was one of Cyborg's proudest objects. The kitchen consisted of a small island with four chairs and a refrigerator and more cabinet and counter space lining the wall. The area was small, indicating that they did not spend much time in the area.
Sure enough, when the refrigerator was opened, multicoloured mold decorated the few items that were in the space.
"On second thought, who wants pizza?" asked Cy.
They all quickly agreed. Starfire went to invite Robin, but came back alone, a clear indication that he would not be joining them. Beastboy, oblivious to the tension and Starfire's lack of enthusiasm, whined "What are we waiting for? I'm so hungry, I could die."
"A shame that would be," remarked Raven, causing the others to laugh and Beastboy to sulk playfully.
They set off in good spirits, eager to show Raven their pizza place. Raven, as the guest, was given the passenger seat in the T-Car.
"Nice car," she commented monotonously.
"You like it?" Cy asked Raven before turning to face the car and crooning "Hear that, baby? She likes you." He patted the dashboard in satisfaction.
Raven couldn't surpress her smile.
They arrived to the pizza place a few moments later due to the speed modifications Cy had apparently added. The rest of the team seemed as surprised and as unsteady on their feet when getting out as she did.
The building was nondescript except for the triangular shape of the place and the orange coloured accent walls and decorations. They were immediately recognised and taken to their usual spot on the roof and were told that the pizza would be out soon.
"I take it you come here often?" she asked.
"All the time, man," replied Cy in a lighthearted manner. When the pizza arrived, it was so enormous that it nearly took up the entire table. The pizza was divided into four sections- veggie, meat lovers, Cheese and what appeared to be mustard slathered all over a Hawaiian.
They instantly rotated the pizza so they were aligned with their favourite sections and dug in. Beastboy was veggie, Cy the meat-topped pizza, and Starfire the mustard covered one. Raven knew what pizza was, she had been taught about Earth extensively since it was predicted she would need to seek shelter there for some time. However, she had never tasted the concoction. She picked up a slice of the cheese, the only untouched section indicating it must have been Robin's, and ate the slice. It was nothing compared to the delicacies of her home but, surprisingly, she really enjoyed it. She could see the beginnings of a lovely tradition.
Before they left, Starfire ordered an extra small cheese pizza to go, presumably for Robin. Sure enough, when they got back to the tower, which she could now see was oddly shaped like a 'T' on a small island, Starfire proclaimed she would run the pizza to Robin.
"Star, let Raven do it. It might help," advised Cy.
Raven was grateful that Cy wanted Robin to change his mind, but she was not happy about talking to Robin more than was purely necessary.
"A wonderful idea, friend! Good luck friend Raven!" Exclaimed Star, giving Raven the take out box.
"Where, exactly, is his room?"
"Take the elevator just outside of those doors," explained Cy, gesturing to the main entry into the common room, "Go to the second floor and take a right. Should say 'Robin' on the door."
Raven gave him a small, grateful smile before setting off. It wasn't until she was on the lift that she recalled that she was always supposed to be accompanied by a Titan. She was already breaking his one rule and had only been at the tower, conscious, for a few hours. She would have gone back and asked one of them to accompany her, except Raven recognised fear as her motivating thought behind this. And she was not afraid of anyone, especially the spiky-haired teen with an exceptionally bad attitude. No, she would confront him.
She hesitated, taking in a steadying deep breath, before knocking on his door. The door swung open to reveal a disgruntled, disheveled version of the leader she had seen earlier. His face seemed to be lined with stress and his hair looked as though he had fallen asleep on his desk. His uniform was slightly rumpled. Upon seeing her at the door, his countenance changed. He stood straighter and his scowl deepened. Fantastic.
"Here," she said, offering the pizza.
"I'm not hungry," he snapped, retreating to his room. Raven quickly put her foot between the door and the wall, nearly tearing up when the door collided firmly against her foot.
"Star got it for you, she wanted you to eat," she commented, slipping the pizza box in the crevice her foot made, waiting for him to take it, "It makes no difference to me if you eat it but I won't go back to them with this. Star was already sad when you did not accompany us earlier, don't worry her more."
He took the box. She could not see it, his room was dark and the curtains were closed, but she felt the weight taken from her hand.
She then turned to leave, thankful she had gotten no reprimand for being alone when his voice stopped her.
"You're alone," it was a statement, not a question, and it was said darkly. She cursed silently to herself. She had almost gotten away with it.
"I was instructed to drop off the pizza as the first act of my work," she began, "I was doing as I was told."
"And I told you not to wander around alone. What happened to listening to that?" he snapped.
There was no placating him. She sighed, reigning in her anger. Thankfully, she'd had a lifetime of controlling her emotions. She wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face and unleash her powers on him. A fearful Robin would be better than antagonistic Robin. However, she dared not let on that she possessed abilities like the others, he would only grow more suspicious of her.
"Sorry, didn't think about it."
"Be sure to next time," he threatened.
She bit back a growl, she did not take kindly threats.
Pizza box in hand, Robin stepped out of his room.
"What are you doing?" she asked, honestly perplexed.
"Walking with you back to the common room," he replied, leading the way back.
Raven rolled her eyes and followed along.
Upon entering the common room, Starfire floated toward them, an enormous grin plastered on her face. Behind her were the shouts from Beastboy and Cy playing videogames.
"Friend Raven, do you need to do the shopping?" she asked innocently.
Oh no...
Robin turned to look at her, his mask narrowing.
"How come you didn't bring anything with you?" he asked sourly, suspicion permeating his voice.
She could hear Cy and Beastboy quiet down...hopefully they were ready to intervene if Robin went too far.
"I told you I was attacked."
"And you didn't try to go back for any of your things?"
"I ran, got hurt, and got lost. I only knew the right way to go because I could see your 'T' tower. I was not going to risk being delayed more and another encounter with this beast for a few clothes," she replied forcefully.
"Why did the bear leave you alone? Are you sure you were attacked by a bear and not a person?" he snarled.
"Yes, Robin. Believe it or not I've had basic English classes. It was a bear," she said, deadpanned, "And as to what happened to it, I'm not sure. I limped as quietly and stealthily as possible. Maybe it found something else to hunt-who knows, who cares?"
Robin flushed in anger and indignation. He really needed lessons on controlling his anger- not that she dared offer.
He sneered before leaving for the kitchenette to eat his now cold pizza.
"Would you like to do the shopping, Friend Raven?" Star asked, hope brimming in her eyes.
"Sure," replied Raven nonchalantly, as though she had done this before.
"Friend Cyborg, will you drive us?" she asked, again her eyes were shimmering with hope- a hope that no one dared to crush.
"Okay Star, let's go in a bit though. I still have to kick BB's butt!"
This comment prompted argument from Beastboy and, soon enough, their arguments were filling the main room once more.
R&R please and tell me what you think so far!
Thanks!
~RukiaRae