Guess I should take a break from all the robrae, eh? I have so much more planned for them... but I also have alot of other ideas for other pairings. That and the robrae event is coming up, and i'm super excited about that! A whole week of robrae filling my tumblr dashboard... this is gunna be a good march break. Enjoy and review!
One by one, the Titans followed into the Titans Tower, exhausted, and mentally drained.
It had been a long day, and their favorite villain, "you-know-who" who had shown up, once again.
Slade.
Nobody could truly understand it... after everything that had happend? They were sure that Terra had taken him down, and that would be the last of him. And it was, for quite some time-up until the time of the end of the world, things seemed to be okay. He came back, assisting Trigon by delivering a message to Raven, but the Titans didn't see too much of him, afterwards. Infact, after fighting the Brotherhood of Evil, things seemed to be at ease, for a while again. The Titans protected the city from less than threatening villains, and shut them down easily, putting them behind bars.
They had even taken on a new member, Jericho.
Initially, it was Beast Boy's idea to recruit him. They had fought side by side against the Brotherhood, and had developed somewhat of a bond. They were close friends, and Beast Boy had been weary of the fact Jericho lived alone in the mountains, secluded from everyone. Insisting that he needed to be around people, and that his powers and abilities could be quite usefull in combat, the Titans took him on.
The Titans had always rather adored Jericho-despite the fact that he was mute, they thought he was a total sweetheart. Quiet as he might have been, he was kind and accepting. He mostly kept to himself, playing soft tunes on his guitar not too far from the team, but always joined in on 'family' outings. He taught the team sign language, so they could always communicate with him, and Raven had even conducted a mind link, so the two of them could have actual conversations. Yes, he was sweet and harmless, but with this came one problem.
Right around the time the Titans took Jericho in, did Slade start to attack, again.
Never Jericho-but the rest of the Titans.
Beast Boy looked around the living room-his friends lay around, exhausted out of their mind. They were covered in bruisesl, and lounged to the side to try and rest up. Raven silently worked her magic away at her friends, healing their wounds.
And Jericho walked in silently, looking rather guilty for the damage caused to his friends.
Beast Boy glanced over to him, noticing he wasn't nearly as scared as the rest of his friends-but chose to ignore it. The blonde took a seat next to the greenette, keeping to himself, as he took note of the angered face on Beast Boy. He could only guess why he was upset-and he couldn't blame him.
Beast Boy clenched his fist a little tighter.
Jericho tried to ignore it, but he could sense just how mad Beast Boy was. He could sense the inner rage, building up, just waiting to explode. He could hear the low grumble building up in his throat, until he couldn't hold it in any longer. "I hate Slade!" He announced, causing the Titans attention to snap towards the greenette.
Starfire let out a sigh, as Robin looked away, his eyebrows caving in. "I must say I agree..." She mumbled, and reached out to touch Robin's shoulder in attempts to calm him. They all knew just how obsessive he had been to capture him-even going to the point of making up a fake alias to join his side, only to really end on his side as his apprentice, and try and exterminate the Titans.
It appeared he was not the only guilty one, here.
Still, Jericho found himself growing uncomfortable, as he gazed away, and put his hand against his mouth.
Beast Boy continued, with a scoff. "He's done nothing but hurt us all! I-I could have sworn, Terra put him in the ground... well, you know what? If he ever comes around here, I'll-I'll kill him." He said the last phrase with such certaincy and edge, it caused everybody to stop what they were doing to stare.
Robin espicially seemed on edge, if not Jericho a little more. "Woah, let's not go that far..." He mumbled, gaze shifting awkwardly. His eyes landed on Jericho, noticing the sweat gathering, and just how jittery he grew, though Beast Boy didn't seem to notice. Robin glanced back over to Beast Boy, anyways. "I know a thing or too of being obsessive-fantasing of murder will get us no where. We're supposed to be heros, remember? Heros don't kill."
Beast Boy scoffed again, rolling his eyes. "As if you're one to talk, Rob." he said, causing the bird to look away in shame. He failed to notice Jericho looking away fully, though the rest of the Titans attention was still fully on him.
"I'll turn him into Slade jello!" The greenette continued on and paused. "Him, and his family, if I ever catch them around here." More stares. More of Jericho growing antsy, more anxious-even to the point of tears. He never knew just how angry Beast Boy was-he had always sensed feelings of insecurity, and there were times where he knew just how much inner rage he kept inside of him-but to this extreme? He couldn't fathom it-he didn't want to fathom it. The blonde could understand the anger towards Slade, but why bring his family into this? After all...
"Beast Boy..." Raven cut him off, sending a hard glare towards the greenette.
He paused for a moment, seeming to realise just how harshly he was talking. "What?" His eyebrows scrunched together again. "I'm only being serious, here. You can't say you don't want him dead, either, after what he did to you. Right?" He growled. Raven's eyes were wide, and she backed down, as she continued to mend to her friends wounds.
"Dude, just relax." Cyborg tried. "After all... I think you're startling Jericho. Look at the poor dude!"
Beast Boy looked down to his blonde friend, noticing the shake of his shoulders, the tears threatening to spill from his eyelids. From what-he could not understand, but perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was just upset as Beast Boy was-if not more emotional about it. Jericho was always more peacefull, maybe he just wasn't used to the violence-perhaps being in the mountains for so long did that to him.
Beast Boy didn't understand.
Still, he loosened up a bit. "I'm sorry... you feel me, right, though? I know you're against all this violence, but seriously... Slade is just a really bad dude. I'm sorry you've had to be dragged into this-nobody wants to be involved with a guy like him, after what he's put us all through." He tried to justify, letting out a sigh. After all they've been through... Beast Boy was still a little upset about it.
First he had hurt Robin, blackmailing him and turning him against the Titans. That was strike 1.
He had never truly forgotten-or forgave Slade for what he had done to Terra. So full of potential, so bright and happy-again, turning her against the Titans. Poor girl barely stood a chance, and while Beast Boy could understand why she would want to forget the Titans to live a normal life, he still missed her, alot. That was strike 2.
And then, to mess with Raven, too? She already had enough problems of her own, dealing with her father. She didn't need anymore trouble-and Slade had been the one to try and deliver a message. To strip her of her pride and drop her off a building, to fall to her death. If it hadn't been for Robin saving her so many times-she might not even be here, still. But Beast Boy could remember all the nights where he could hear her screams, waking up from a nightmare in the middle of the night. He could hear her footsteps echo down to the hall, as she made her way into the living room to prepare herself for another all nighter because she couldn't sleep. Although Trigon was the main problem, Slade played a huge roll in this attack, too.
He had hurt all of his friends, and Beast Boy had had enough.
Jericho, however, meekly shook his head, as he pulled away from the greenette in fear, backing far away from him.
"Dude?" Beast Boy wondered, tilting his head slightly.
Jericho was acting awfully strange... he refused to meet Beast Boy's gaze, and quickly sped out of the room.
"Beast Boy, a word, if you could?" The greenette turned, to see Raven standing above him, glaring down at him. He gasped a little, and before he could say anything, her soul self was gathering him, before they sunk into the ground, transporting out of the living room to be alone.
They re-appeared just down the hall way-it wasn't too much, but it was far away enough from the titans to hear anything. Once released, Beast Boy stumbled back a bit, and Raven took a step closer to him. "You," She hissed, and he gasped ad she grabbed a handful of his uniform, using it to agressively pull him closer to her, so they were eye to eye. He could see the anger behind her eyes, the way her eyebrows crunched together-she looked almost as angry as he was. "You might want to re-think what you were saying." She suggested
To which, Beast Boy looked confused. And then a light bulb seemed to appear, and his eyes were wide for a split second. "What, you mean about Slade?" He asked, and scrunched his eyebrows together. "No way! I meant every word I said."
Raven just looked at him strangely, before releasing him. He stumbled back, and she crossed her arms. "I can understand why you're upset- we all are, Gar. However, there is no need to create threats. You saw how Joseph was acting, and why do you think that is?" She tried clueing on to the greenette.
He just shrugged. "I don't know!" He said on impulse, eyes shifting back and forth. "We all know how gentle he is, maybe being in the mountains for so long has done that to him. I'm sure it's just because he's just not used to fighting crime."
Raven shook her head. Having established a mind link with the blonde, she knew this was far from true. Beast Boy may have been the blonde's best friend, but that didn't mean he knew hardly as much as he thought he did about him. "Wrong, think again." Raven said. "He's fought before-have you forgotten the whole brotherhood deal? He fought quite well, as I recall you telling us all about. Joseph, too, was rather proud of his victory. I see no reasoning as to why he would be upset over fighting Slade, rather than he would be about your harsh words." She quirked her lips to the side, giving Beast Boy enough time to try and clue into what she could be talking about.
He seemed to consider it, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean... it's a possibility, I guess. Still... I'm not sure-" "You fool!" Raven shook her head, as she cut him off. Beast Boy's mouth dropped a little, and he looked at her in a confused manner. "That's not it, that's not it all!"
Scoffing slightly, Raven gently rubbed her temples to try and calm herself. Beast Boy always did this-he was rather good at annoying her. While it may have been harmless fun, at times, in this moment, he was not being funny about it. At all.
"Joseph... told me once that he was related to Slade." She spilled, and Beast Boy stilled immediatly, his words from earlier finally registering in his mind. No wonder he was acting so anxious! Raven sighed slightly. "He is Slade's son. By all means though, you should know that Joseph has not a single cell of bad blood within him-he is not like Terra, who came to spy on us for the sake of his father. He really is our friend. Do you see why, now, that this may have hurt him?" She challenged, her eyebrows caving in.
It was Beast Boy's turn to be anxious, now. "Wow..." He sighed out, clearly in shock. "I... had no idea." He confessed. If he had, he wouldn't have said such a thing! He fully understood now. Slade may have been the enemy, but Robin was right. Death threats weren't neccesary, espicially when bringing his family into this. Espicially if his family happend to be living with them this very minute, and he was in no way bad blood like his father. He knew Raven was right-Jericho could never hurt a soul. Thinking hard about it, Beast Boy could recall a time with the blonde had confessed being frightened to look into peoples eyes, just in case he accidently possessed them.
It was clear to him, now, that he had made a bad mistake.
And he had to make it better.
"Raven," He sighed, glancing back over to her. "I need to see him. Can you take me to him?"
She nodded, and her soul self swooped him up, as they transported through the building, until they were landing in Jericho's room. The blonde gasped slightly, upon seeing the dark shadow appear through his roof, and seemed to still a little more as he noticed it was Raven-and Beast Boy.
His expression stilled, and he set down his guitar to the side. Before they had arrived, he had been strumming on his guitar-nothing too heavy, but low, melancholy strums. Just to release the shame and guilt he felt, of being Slade's son. It was never easy-and he had never once assosiated with what his father had become. He had had other siblings-but didn't dare keep in contact with them, because they still stood by their fathers side. To him, they were not siblings. He couldn't call them this, anyways.
"Jericho..." Beast Boy reached out to him. The blonde was still, and after a moment, he signed out, "What do you want?"
Raven stayed away from the two boys, but didn't leave just yet. She could sense through their mind link that the blonde didn't want her to go just yet, just incase Beast Boy got a little too agressive, and he needed a quick way to get rid of the greenette.
"I came to apologize." The greenette quickly justified. Jericho said nothing more, but nodded for him to continue. The greenette let out a deep sigh, as he raked his fingers through his hair in distress. "Look, Joey, you know I didn't mean all that back there."
The blonde raised a brow, and signed out, "Then why would you say it?"
"I don't know!" Beast Boy blurted out, feeling sweaty and anxious. He had nevr been the greatest about expressing himself-he didn't like to admit it, but he was rather insecure about alot of things, though he would never admit it outloud. He hid is pain and anguish behind lame jokes, and always tried a little too hard to make people smile and laugh. So, when he'd manage to insult someone close to him, most of the time, he didn't know he was doing it. It was hard for him to think before he spoke, sometimes. "I just-I'm really upset about Slade..." His words trailed off, and he glanced back over to Raven, who minded her own business.
He sighed, again. "And I know you must not feel any better about him." He said this sincerely, making Jericho pause.
Beast Boy nodded on impulse then. "I, um-I know about your relationship with Slade. Know that, he is... your, uh... father." It was hard for him to come to terms with this-so he could only imagine just how great Jericho felt about it.
The blonde hid his face in his hands, and from afar, Raven could sense his distress. Still, she did nothing, because as of now, the blonde didn't seem to want either of them gone, and Beast Boy needed to be doing this.
"Hey, I'm sorry-" Beast Boy quickly rushed to his side, slinging an arm around the blonde in attempts to comfort him. Jericho peaked his eyes from behind his hands, glancing to the greenette. He did look rather sorry in this moment, so he supposed he couldn't stay mad at him forever. Saying the wrong thing or not, Jericho didn't want to be mad at him forever. He knew his intentions were in the right place, even if the things he said came out in an odd fashion. He understood Beast Boy was just upset-he was too. There were times where the blonde tried to stop Slade-and because he was his son, usually, it worked. Or atleast, Slade would listen. When Jericho first joined the Titans, he had begged his father not to come after them. Do what he must-just leave the Titans alone.
He knew where he stood, when he came after them anyways, within the next few weeks. As if he had forgotten all about it-sure, he never attacked Jericho, but he didn't seem to understand the value of friendship. He knew-if he truly loved his son, he wouldn't be hurting his friends, but he did anyways. From then on, the blonde just assumed he didn't love him enough to leave them alone. He knew that work would always come before the child's love, and that was where they stood it.
Maybe that was why it hurt so much to hear Beast Boy lash out.
He shook his head then. "Don't be," He signed, and dropped his head. "My father and I are very different people, so you don't have to worry about me turning on you guys or anything. So, I forgive you... but you should know that your words do have more of an impact than you might think." With this, the blonde gave Beast Boy a hard glare, to which the greenette grinned nervously.
"And I'm not gunna hurt you, either. I spoke out of terms, and for that, I'm so sorry."
A sincere smile came to Jericho's face, and he nodded. "I get it. I forgive you." He signed, and with that in mind, he leaned a little to pull his friend into a hug.
Beast Boy grinned, happilly accepting the hug. He glanced back over to Raven, who stared proudly at the greenette. Beast Boy did feel alot better, knowing that his friend knew he wasn't serious-it was deffinately a load off his shoulders.
With a final glance to the two hugging boys, Raven evaporated into her soul self, escaping the room, to allow the two their moment.
All would be well, once again.