Warning: Mixture of angst and happy feels.
They'd been building up to it a long time. Of course, she would never acknowledge that; they were friends. Two troubled teens brought together for an altruistic cause.
"Whoa! You think I'm funny?! Dude, I totally know some jokes!"
They weren't even supposed to be friends. She didn't deserve friends. She wasn't just the daughter of Trigon… she was his portal. A harbinger of disaster for all mankind. That was her destiny.
"Admit it! You were totally scared!"
… And still he kept pestering her, day in and day out. So much like the others, and yet so not like them. Robin became the brother that made sure they were all fit and healthy because the bad guys could pop out of their holes at any time; out of all of them, he possessed the most experience with crime-fighting, and he was the one to normally lead the charge into battle. Starfire… Starfire was the naïve sister that was so childlike and yet behind that exterior lied a sharp intelligence; she worked so hard to keep them all together over the years. And then there was Cyborg – he was definitely the impulsive, competitive eldest brother, who looked out for the rest of the family and had the most life experience; as such, he was someone to lean on when the stress became so overbearing. In the grand scheme of things, Raven identified herself as the eldest sister that was relatively distant from everyone else, yet harbored affection for their makeshift family. Because that's what the Titans were to Raven back then – a temporary thing that would likely not last very long, at least as far as her membership with the team went.
Raven wasn't sure where the green changeling fit in at the beginning, when the Titans were first becoming a family. At first, Beast Boy seemed to be the typical annoying youngest sibling, who just kept coming back for more. His bad jokes and pranks got on everyone's nerves, and his tofu-eating ways definitely made him… unique amongst the five of them.
Yet Raven was an empath. She knew that beneath Beast Boy's goofish exterior lied much emotional turmoil. Why he insisted on wearing a mask to fool them and the rest of the world Raven did not know, and in the beginning she suspected that she did not want to know. Raven already had an incredible burden on her shoulders that she didn't want the rest of the team to know; she didn't need to know the secrets of someone else that was likely going through something similar… and yet not, because really, how could Beast Boy bring about an apocalypse like she could?
"You think you're alone, Raven, but you're not."
But Beast Boy was stubborn. Regardless of her wishes to remain distant, the changeling tried time and again to get her to open up. He was there to comfort her, and he was there to protect her. Against her better judgment, Raven did open up. The Titans were her friends, her family. They were there to help her defeat her father, and they stayed by her side afterward. In the following months, she learned more about Beast Boy than she ever wanted to. Beast Boy had left one family and ended up discovering another because he couldn't 'follow orders.'
But was that really so bad? When push came to shove, Beast Boy had his priorities straight. That much Raven could attest to on his behalf. His heart was in the right place; if he couldn't be a hero and save his family, then what was the point of becoming a hero in the first place? Two times Beast Boy could have gone after the Brotherhood of Evil to stop them for good, and he didn't take either opportunity. After all, there would always be someone to replace the Brotherhood of Evil, eventually, but family is irreplaceable. Beast Boy knew that.
More time passed, and the Brotherhood of Evil was brought down. The Titans were no longer a group of five superheroes in Jump City. They now had members all over the world, fighting the seemingly endless battle of good versus evil. Years had passed since that initial triumph against the Brotherhood of Evil, and still the original five Titans had stuck together.
Starfire and Robin were still trying out the whole dating thing. Bad guys would come and go, but those two seemed to be a permanent pair. Cyborg kept his relationship private, but it wasn't exactly a closely kept secret that he was in fact in a relationship with some girl; they just didn't know which one, even after all these years.
But to be fair, they had kept their respective distance for the robotic Titan's sake, as curious as they were.
That left Raven and Beast Boy. To this day, Raven wasn't sure when it all started, falling for the changeling, that is. He had just asked her out one day, out of the blue, and she had said yes. From there it was like a domino effect, one date after another. It wasn't as if they didn't have other options, what with their fans all over the world; it's just that, living in the same tower for years, it was kind of hard not to end up in a relationship when you've known each other at your best and at your worst.
It came as a surprise that they were the first pair to be married, in their mid-twenties no less. Beast Boy, of course, wanted a family. Why wouldn't he? Losing his birth parents at a young age, being kicked out of his foster family, finding a family amongst a group of troubled teens that surprisingly stuck together… It really didn't surprise Raven at all.
Raven had reservations about that aspect of their marriage – the child of a half-demon couldn't be much better than the child of a pure demon; her father might try to return through that child. But as usual, Beast Boy proved tenacious and vowed to always be there for her and their child.
That vow did hold up to the test of time. They became old, and their daughter matured, eventually marrying a young man she fell in love with. But despite how long Beast Boy kept his promise, it couldn't really last forever.
"We both knew I'd be the first to go, Rae… But y'know, I don't have a single regret!"
Indeed, even in his dying breath, Raven could tell that her husband died happy. The changeling had a long, rewarding career of fighting crime, and managed to retire from the business peacefully. Something that was very rare in their line of work. He got to see their daughter grow up. He got to spoil their grandkids. And he spent every waking hour trying to make sure that Raven felt loved. They'd have their typical arguments – they were Raven and Beast Boy, after all. But that never stopped reconciliation; surprisingly, their marriage really was for the long haul.
Yes, Beast Boy had been the very picture of contentment when he passed on. But as happy as Raven was for the changeling, she couldn't stop the niggling depression and other similar negative feelings that came with being a widow. Raven might have been able to move on, but that didn't mean she wanted to.
"Could you promise me one thing, though? I know you're gonna be all sad and miserable when I'm gone, but could ya stay strong? For me? You don't have to marry again or whatever, but don't go into seclusion again. We worked hard to get ya to come outta your shell, and it was totally worth it! Your smile's still the most beautiful thing ever, Rae; don't deny the world such a gift."
To his dying breath, Beast Boy was as corny as ever. But he was sweet and caring, and everything Raven could ever hope to find in a lifelong partner. To this day, Raven could feel his spirit clinging to her. He'd always been clingy, even as they matured through the years. She could also feel him watching over their children and grandchildren – in that way, he was keeping his vow as best as he could.
Due to her half-demon heritage, Raven ended up living a much longer life, but she was by no means immortal. Her time eventually did come, and she'd never been happier, ironically enough. Feeling Beast Boy's lingering presence was one thing, but it was entirely another to see and talk with him again. Of course he had to ruin that, too; instead of a welcoming hug or kiss, or saying something incredibly wise or cheesy, he had cracked a joke.
"Why'd the Raven cross the road to get to the Other Side?"
He was so exceedingly childish, even in death… And yet Raven wouldn't have had it any other way.
Author's Note:
Blegh. That turned out waaay too sweet. Saccharine, man. I wanted to try angst, and my muse was like, "lol nope." So yeah. Hope you enjoyed that bit of reflection on Raven's part. I might do more small stuff for the Teen Titans in the future, but I dunno. Keep in mind that it will be small like this, if I do publish more stuff…
About the only reason I didn't declare the pairing for Cyborg was because that'd set one group of shippers off one way or another. I personally lean toward CyJinx more, but I just didn't want to deal with the backlash when I won't be writing too much for this series. So, just imagine whatever pairing floats your boat for Cyborg in this tiny thing; I won't be vegging this one out. All the same, I hope you enjoyed this on some level.