I do not own Teen Titans or any of the characters.
Too Far
The city was safe. The world was safe. They had somehow managed to stop Trigon. Raven was back to her normal self, Cyborg had bought a new video game to whoop Beast Boy at, Robin had found a scroll filled with ancient martial arts techniques, and Starfire was...well...Starfire. There was only one downside. Raven was back to her old self.
That meant that, even as the power remained out for three days with the humidity in the tower unbearable, and the sublevels flooding, all thanks to a hurricane, the titans also had to put up with Beast Boy and Raven's constant bickering. And the longer the titans remained in the tower, the worse it got. It was bad enough now that, while the volume wasn't exactly very high, there was a constant tension in the air, and the smallest things could set them off.
At the moment, it was movie night. However, without power, it was now game night. Which meant that the pair would be arguing about what to play. And they were.
"We should play Scattegories," Raven said flatly.
"No way!" Beast Boy argued. "That game's boring. We should play Sorry!"
"Scattegories is better," Raven said. "You just don't like it because you always lose."
"Yeah well you only want to play it because you always win!" Beast Boy accused.
"Maybe if you would read a book once in a while you would know enough vocabulary to beat the alien that knows almost none," Raven said gesturing at Starfire, who did infact, usually beat him.
"Oh yeah!?" Beast Boy snapped, suddenly very angry, the days of constant bickering seeming to have finally broken him. "Well maybe if you would read less Malchior whould have never been able to manipulate you so easily!"
The room went deathly quiet. Even the storm seemed to have gone silent. It had been months since the incident with the dragon. But still, no one spoke of it, because no one wanted to reopen those wounds.
"Raven... I didn't mean-"
"You know," Raven interrupted, voice even but still more unsettling than seeming her with four glowing red eyes was. "It's no wounder Terra dumped you."
Everyone stopped breathing. No one, including those who had never met Terra, mentioned her anymore. The last time had been Slade. And it had caused Beast Boy to transform into the Beast and beat Slade into a coma before Raven and Cyborg together had been able to incapacitate Beast Boy.
Everyone watched Beast Boy, readying themselves for a fight, if necessary. Beast Boy slowly stood, head bowed hiding his face as he trembled. Then, in a spiral of green and red, he transformed into a humming bird, zipping out of the room in a blur before anyone could react. Everyone stared after him in silence before Raven grit her teeth and stood, all of the cabinetes being blasted open as everything inside them exploded. Everyone turned to look at Raven as she sank into the ground.
"Um...so...now what?" Cyborg asked.
Raven sat in her room, fuming. She felt a little bad for being so rude but he had started it by bringing up Malchior. Especially since he had specifically meant to hurt her by saying it.
Someone knocked on her door and she remained silent.
"Friend Raven," Starfire called out. "Will you please open your door so we may do the talking in private?"
Raven sighed, using her powers to open the door and Starfire walked in. She stopped standing in front of Raven, arms crossed.
"That was not very nice," Starfire stated.
"He wasn't exactly polite either," Raven said flatly, a hint of bitterness in her voice.
"No, but he is nothing but kind to you, normally," Starfire said. "I understand that you two have been arguing lately but normally he goes out of his way to try and make you smile and you are cold and uncaring to him."
"That's not..." Raven trailed off.
Starfire was right. Raven was rude to Beast Boy on a regular basis.
"You have moved past Malchior," Starfire said. "Friend Beast Boy is still in pain from what friend Terra did to him. What you said was much more cruel and uncalled for than what he said. You need to apologize."
"He said something rude first," Raven growled.
"Yes, but you hurt friend Beast Boy intentionally," Starfire said. "Friend Beast Boy simply mispoke."
Raven's face fell to the ground.
"Go apologize," Starfire ordered, leaving no room for argument.
Raven sighed, standing and floating out of her room then down the hall to Beast Boy's. Even as she approached the door she could feel his pain, depression, and anguish. She pulled her hood up as the flood of emotions caused her eyes to water, guilt pushing the tears down her cheeks.
She stopped at the door, raising her hand to knock.
"Leave me alone," he said from inside before she could knock.
"Beast Boy, can I come in?" Raven asked.
"No," Beast Boy snarled. "I've had enough pointless arguments."
"Beast Boy, I don't want to argue," Raven said.
"Just go away Raven," Beast Boy said. "I'm not unlocking the door."
"Beast Boy, I just came to say..." Raven sighed and passed through the door, coming out in a dark room.
It was a mess, as always, and Beast Boy was lying on the bed, facing away from her. He sighed sitting up as she entered.
"I just came to say that I'm sorry," Raven said. "What I said was wrong and uncalled for, and I'm sorry."
Beast Boy turned toward her, revealing his bloodshot eyes, the skin around it a darker green than usual and puffy.
"What do you care?" Beast Boy asked. "I'm just and annoyance."
Raven's chest seemed to compress painfully but she remained silent for a moment.
"You obviously don't care, so why bother apologizing?" Beast Boy asked.
"You're wrong," Raven said softly, sniffing, making Beast Boy stare at her in confusion. "You're not an annoyance. You're caring, and brave, and enthusiastic about everything, and...and...you're my best friend."
Her shoulders began to tremble as she began to cry, hand reaching up and covering her mouth. Beast Boy climbed off the bed, walking over and pulling her into a gentle hug. She wrapped her arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder and he sighed, backing up to the bed with her, lifting her into his lap as he comforted her.
"I'm sorry for what I said," Beast Boy said after a couple of minutes. "You were right. I didn't want to play because I didn't want to lose."
"I'm sorry I always act like I hate you," Raven said, still crying but not actively sobbing. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was lying. I can't understand why she did that. You're the kind of guy that anyone would be lucky to be with."
Beast Boy smiled.
"Thanks Rae," Beast Boy said.
"Beast Boy?" Raven asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Hm?"
"Am I really creepy?" Raven asked.
Beast Boy blinked in surprise. She was thinking about that again? It had been months since he had called her that.
"No," Beast Boy said. "You're not Rae. I used to think you were, but you're not. I just don't understand you, or your powers. You're not creepy, you're just different. Not that I'm one to talk. You're special. You're the strongest one of all of us. You beat your father. You're also smart, brave, caring, beautiful..."
He stopped, blushing as Raven did the same.
"You...you think I'm beautiful?" Raven asked.
"Yes," Beast Boy nodded. "The most beautiful giel I know."
Raven blushed even darker but smiled.
"Thanks," Raven said.
"For what?" Beast Boy asked.
"Always being there to brighten my day," Raven smiled.
Beast Boy blushed a dark green again but nodded. Then, he leaned forward. Before Raven could even react, his lips met hers. Instantly, everything and anything glass in the tower completely exploded. Beast Boy pulled back, startled as Raven simply stood there, face impassive, the storm sending rain in through Beast Boy's window and outside they could hear the T-car's alarm.
"S-Sorry," Beast Boy stammered, worried she was mad. "I shouldn't have-"
He was cjt off when her lips met his. Instantly, the sound of metal screeching against metal reached their ears but they ignored it. After several minutes, they pulled back, breathing hard but smiling.
"I love you Garfield," Raven said.
"I love you too Rae," Beast Boy smiled. "But, out of curiosity, what was that last-"
"Raven!" robin shouted from the hallway, running toward her room. "All the windows shattered and then the refrigerator exploded. Is everything-"
The door opened, Starfire apparently having told them she was in Beast Boy's room, and the other three titans froze. Beast Boy and Raven were still siting with their arms around each other, too surprised to separate. After a moment, Robin smiled, Cyborg grinned from ear to ear, and Starfire squealed in excitement and sped off, undoubtedly to spread the news.
"Um...sorry," Beast Boy apologized as he separated from her. "I guess I had forgotten to lock it after all."
Robin and Cyborg burst out laughing and a moment later, Raven joined in, then finally Beast Boy. After a couple of minutes, Raven lay her head on Beast Boy's shoulder and Cyborg and Robin managed to make themselves stop.
"I should get to work fixing the windows and the fridge I guess," Cyborg sighed.
Before he could, Raven's eyes lowed white for a moment and the damaged repaired itself. He blinked in surprise then smirked and shrugged.
"So, you guys gonna come play a game with us or not?" Cyborg asked. "We're playing Imagine If."
Raven nodded and Robin and Cyborg left. After a couple of minutes, Raven and Beast Boy followed hand-in-hand.
Read and review.