Allo everyone and welcome 'Silver Lining', ze sequel to A Time Again. I hope the wait for this wasn't too agonizing for people, but if it was...that somehow makes me smile. So sit back, blink a few times, and enjoy your read.
Disclaimer: Geez. No one on this bloody site owns Teen Titans (that I know of, and if someone does, I'm hunting them down) so this is basically pointless. Ohyah. And the song 'Silver Lining' will be later on, which I also fail to own. The lyrics will be in quotation marks (" ") because it will be sung.
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Silver Lining
Chapter One: Slipping
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Raven picked up the remaining wrappers and empty cups off the tables and stuffed them in the trash bag she was holding. Checking her watch, she wondered where the day had gone. It was only 7:30 and Aidan wouldn't be back from her friends' house until 8:00. Sighing, Raven sat down at a table, enjoying the small moment of peace. She smiled contentedly and looked around the shop, noticing odd little things that needed to be done before she left. There were several light bulbs needing changing and the St. Patrick's Day decorations had yet to come down, even though the holiday had been nearly two weeks earlier. Raven was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she failed to notice the short rapid knocks on the glass door. Jerking herself from her reverie, Raven looked up and grinned at Shannon's face peering through the glass.
Smiling, Raven let her friend inside, noting the warm cloud of air that hovered around her mouth. Though the days were warming up as time went by, the evenings and early mornings still remained quite cool, despite the fact that it was early April.
"Hey," Shannon greeted, welcoming the warmth of the shop as Raven closed the door. "You want to go for a drink?" She asked. Well, Aidan wouldn't be home for another thirty minutes and Richard would most likely get home shortly after that, so she smiled and nodded.
"Sure, why not." Raven responded, tucking a strand of her long mauve hair behind a pale ear. "Just hold on a second while I get my coat." She set the trashbag down against a table and walked into the backroom. She returned momentarily and they left, Raven locking the door behind her. "Hang on a moment." She added, walking down the alley next to the bookstore and disposing of the smelly trashbag in one of the large emerald dumpsters.
The bar they walked to was fairly decent, owing mostly to the fact that it was located on a pretty good side of town.
Seating themselves at a small table in a corner, the friends ordered their drinks and began chatting quietly.
"So where's Aidan tonight?" Shannon asked, sipping slowly at her margarita.
"At a friends until eight." Raven answered, also drinking her simple coke and rum beverage slowly.
Shannon only nodded a flicked some of the salt off the side of her glass. "So how are things going Richard?" She asked innocently. Raven groaned silently – she knew exactly where this conversation was going.
"Oh, perfect, actually." Raven answered nonchalantly, ready to zone out whilst Shannon indulged in her boasting. She did this on occasion. It was her mark of pride, her biggest dating accomplishment yet. And, unfortunately, it went to her head.
Her friend grinned. "Perfect? Wonderful. All because of me, y'know." Her grin widened. "Just think of it. If I hadn't bugged you enough to get you to come to that party, you may never have met him."
That was untrue of course, but Shannon didn't know that. All she knew was that Raven was her friend, Richard her boss, and she had set up a match made in heaven.
Neither one of them had ever revealed their past to anyone and had mutually agreed to never do so unless deemed necessary. And just because Shannon believed something other than the truth was by no means 'necessary'.
To tell the truth, neither Richard nor Raven believed that even if they did tell Shannon she would actually accept and believe what they said. So it was better for everyone, in the end.
After defeating Slade for the third time, everything went relatively back to normal in Jump City. The police were baffled, of course, by the sudden explosion of Titan's Tower and the abrupt ending of the warehouse bombings, and the citizens relieved.
By 'relatively normal', it's meant that some things, little things, changed. Raven, for the first time in a very long time, accepted her feelings for Richard and their relationship flourished happily.
They were married that April, in the tiniest of ceremonies possible with Shannon grinning with pride the entire time. The pictures were a riot to look at. Shannon had even tried destroying or stealing the embarrassing evidence, but she never succeeded. The happy couple tolerated Shannon's boastful reminders with secretive smiles hiding the truth of their past.
Their first child was born a little more than half a year later; something Shannon noticed with a mischievous smile and offhand behavior. Their daughter, Aidan, was in fact conceived that very night so long ago...Raven smiled slightly at the memory. In an ironic twisted way, Slade was almost to thank for.
Raven thought she was beautiful as Richard said so with a sharp elbow in the ribs. Of course, then she was just a slimy mass of bones and baby fat, but that didn't matter to them then. There was the smallest hint of hair, deep midnight purple in color, and Aidan's eyes were a strange yet entrancing mixture of mauve and swirling grey, resulting in a pale lilac.
Though the mere idea that Raven had gotten pregnant in one try was hardly ignored. She seemed to be outrageously fertile, a fact that Richard humorously commented on later.
And this brought them back to the present. Their anniversary was on the horizon, Aidan was healthy and happy, and Slade as good as dead. Raven smiled to herself as she tried to listen to whatever babble Shannon was rambling on about.
Life was good.
The pair sat, drinking and talking, for a while longer before separating and going home. Raven didn't even get her shoes off before the buzzer rang for Aidan to be sent up with her friend's mother. Raven greeted the woman, thanking her for having to put up with Aidan for so long and said goodbye. Aidan, her long dark hair tousled slightly, scowled and stuck her tongue out at her mother, but then laughed as she hugged her mother's legs.
"Did you have a good time at Jillian's?" Raven asked, combing her fingers through her daughter's hair. Aidan just nodded and smiled.
Raven noticed with a twinge of excitement that Aidan's chakra stone was beginning to appear. She would have to use the same magic to cover up Aidan's as she did to cover up hers. That way, no one asked uncomfortable questions and no lingering fans of the Titans recognized any of them.
"You go get your pajamas on and I'll fix you up a snack, alright?" Raven gave Aidan a gentle shove towards her room as she turned to the kitchen. Aidan's little feet padded cheerfully against the hardwood floors and Raven smiled, beginning to make the snack.
Aidan came skipping down the hall and jumped into the chair as Raven set the sandwich down in front of her.
"Where's Daddy?" She asked through mouthfuls of peanut butter sandwich.
"He said he would be home late, remember?" Aidan nodded, dragging her hand across her face in attempt to remove the sticky peanut butter. "But as soon as he gets home he'll come and see you ok?" Raven added, handing her daughter a wet paper towel to clean her face off with.
Aidan popped the last bit of sandwich into her mouth and rushed off to the bathroom, quite used to the nightly routine to get ready for bed. Raven settled herself down on Aidan's squishy bed and waited for her to come darting into her bedroom and jump onto the bed gleefully.
"Sometimes it's hard to remember
When the sky is cold and grey
That above the clouds the sun is shining down
In a golden day"
Little Aidan did just that, snuggling down into her warm covers and holding tight to her favorite stuffed animal, Huggles.
"So leave your troubles below
We'll look to the skies above
Together we'll find
The sunshine for our love"
"Would you like me to tell you a story?" Raven asked softly.
"And I will be your silver lining
When storm clouds hide the sun
And you will be my rainbow
When the storm is done"
Aidan shook her head forcefully, sucking on the yellow foot of Huggles. "Sing me a song." Raven smiled and complied.
"No one can see the future
We can only know the past
And the lessons we learn from experience
Are the ones that last"
Raven hadn't always liked to sing; she had neither the need nor the emotion that needed to be devoted to the songs to sing. It was something she had just picked up after leaving the Titans and found she had quite a knack for it.
"Together we'll weather the storms
That living will bring our way
Together we will
Find that golden day"
Aidan listened with rapt attention, mystified and entranced by the glories the song held, but her wide lilac eyes soon began to droop.
"And I will be your silver lining
When storms clouds hide the sun
And you will be my rainbow
When the storm is done"
Raven smiled as her daughter drifted further into sleep and she tucked the bedding closer and kissed her on the forehead. She left the colorful room still singing the last bit to herself.
"Yes, I will be your silver lining
When storm clouds hind the sun
And you will be my rainbow
When the storm is done"
Raven walked back to the living room and locked the door, yawning slightly. What was today? Wednesday? Thursday? There was a new shipment of romance novels arriving Thursday sometime...
beep
Raven snapped out of her thoughts and moved closer to the door. The intervals between the beeps shortened.
beepbeep
beepbeepbeep
Raven pulled away, realizing what the beeps were coming from. But she was too late.
The entire wall exploded, sending dust, drywall and an odd assortment of items along with Raven backwards with unparalleled force. Raven flipped through the air, collided with the wall behind her and fell to the ground, not moving. The bomb was small, but it packed the proper punch and rocked the entire building. Raven cracked open an eyes, her vision blurred as unconsciousness threatened to overtake her. A dark figure loomed overhead, mocking her, daring her to move.
Her attention was drawn elsewhere as a timid "Mommy?" came from her frightened daughter in the hallway. The figure walked away, towards the child.
Raven's mind screamed with uncontrolled fury and loathing as she fell into misty unconsciousness.
X
Richard pulled up to the lively apartment building just as the explosion rocked it. Several screams rang out as everyone around him stopped their activities and stared up at the building. Richard snapped out of his daze and sprinted up the stairs, fearing the worst.
The hallway was crowded with worried yet annoying onlookers when he reached it. Dust and chunks of wall lay strewn everywhere, and the entire wall to his apartment lay in ruins. Richard pushed past people in a desperate effort to get to Raven and Aidan.
"Did anyone call 911?" He shouted. Mrs. Tess, a crafty old lady from down the hall answered first.
"Yes, they're on their way."
Richard stepped over what was left of the front door, his heart pounding loudly. By the wreckage he immediately knew what had caused this.
A bomb, meant for small explosions and minimal damage in a designated area, had been placed, probably on the door, and detonated. No spark was emitted, so there would be no fire. He knew all of this because he made bombs such as this, only in exploding disks. But they were locked safely away, out of harms reach.
The destruction of the wall and the lingering threat of the bomb unsettled Richard, but the next sight over the threshold devastated him.
Raven lay, covered in debris and dust, unconscious before him. Her form was almost impossible to discern beneath the rubble, but the telltale trail of blood dribbling from some wound gave her away.
He rushed to her side, feeling for a pulse; it beat weakly ender his fingers. Tenderly, he brushed a dust-covered strand of hair from her face, smearing the blood that flowed freely from a large gash in her forehead.
Richard knew enough about medicine to see that this wasn't good. Reluctantly, he left her side to find Aidan. He called softly to her, expecting his daughter to be hiding in her usual spots whenever she was frightened. He checked his and Raven's bed, and then their closet. Nothing. She wasn't in the shower, under her bed or hiding in the laundry hamper. Beginning to grow worried, he checked in cabinets, in the dryer and behind the couch.
Nothing.
Frantically, he searched everywhere again. And again. Nothing...nothing...nothing
"Richard, the paramedics are here." The resident party-girl Emily called softly. Even her cheerful spirits were dampened by the recent events.
Richard faltered, torn. Raven needed him. Aidan needed to be found. He couldn't just choose. But he had to.
He couldn't ask for help in the search for Aidan, because somehow he already knew, deep down, that she wouldn't be found in the apartment or the entire building. No, for now, he would go with Raven.
The paramedics had already lifted Raven onto a stretcher and were carefully carrying her out. He followed silently after.
Nothing...nothing...nothing
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Holy wah. First off, I am so incredibly sorry for the horrendous wait, though I hope this chapter and the new story should make up for a least a little bit of it. I've been having a good summer, though.
Anyhoo, I realize a lot of questions have been raised, if not, start raising people; they're the only way you're going to get answers aside from my updating. xD And if you ask questions in your reviews, I'll only respond if I think they are exceptionally great. So ask greatly.
Ohyah, the song. We sang it in choir this past school year and I couldn't help but think of the Robin/Raven ship whilst singing it.
