Things Change
Chapter 1
The Titans tower glittered in the light from the sun, throwing the Tower into sharp relief. The light passed through double-windows, shining onto a pale woman lying in her bed. The hooded woman awoke and groaned, feeling unbelievably stiff. She felt her shoulder, noticing it was still throbbing. Raven had a fight with Mad Mod yesterday and was unwilling to get up. She checked her clock and the little flashing light said 7:24. She slid to the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. Her feet had just touched the icy floor when she heard a knock at the door. Scowling, she shuffled across the room and the door slid open. She found Beast Boy standing there with a huge grin. The hair on the back of Raven's neck stood up as her anxiety rose.
"Hey Rae, I was just wondering…if u wanted to ….umm" Beast Boy mumbled as he rubbed his neck nervously. He kept that grin on his face but it grew slightly strained. A little bead of sweat trickled down his face. She hated it when she called him Rae. It's Raven and that's how it should stay.
"Yes, Beast Boy, what do you want?" Raven sighed as she wondered what trick he was trying to pull this time. He always tried to pull tricks and he just ended up with bruises on his face.
"Well I was just wondering…would you like to go for a walk in the park with me?" He blurted out, voice remarkably high pitched in his nervousness. Raven, shocked by the question, didn't have a chance to think, mouth widening in shock. Millions of thoughts ran through her head… is he worth it, should I go, I should slam the door right now …shouldn't I? I... I love him. She'd known it for a while now- it was hard not to when it was possible to speak to her own emotions. Suddenly she snapped back into reality realizing Beast Boy had been calling her name, but she didn't have a response. She opened her mouth, unsure of what she was going to say.
He'd been sitting there for hours trying to think of what to say…Hey Raven I wanted to know if you wanted to accompany me to the park where we could walk, talk, and get to know each other…no. Thinking of other possibilities, Starfire floated by, stopped, and stared at Beast Boy for a few seconds.
After a while she asked "Friend, what are you doing sitting in front of Raven's door?" Beast Boy, shocked to hear someone behind him jumped quickly and turned to her, looking at her strangely. He had thought about the question with intense concentration for a while and then responded, saying, "Hey, Star, umm I was just about to wake up Raven but then I decided not to because I wasn't sure if she wanted to be bothered after yesterday." Considering that she had gotten her butt kicked that was true in a way even if it wasn't the reason he was sitting before Raven's door.
Star considered it for a second and then whispered "It's best not to bother friend Raven, she has a lot of things to worry about." After saying that, she floated away from Beast Boy. Beast Boy looked after her in no small amount of confusion.
However, Beast Boy had to say or do something eventually, or else Raven would wake up to find him sitting right in front of her door for no good reason. He debated Starfire's words, wondering if he should heed her advice.
Making a sudden decision, he stood up; the sudden pain in his legs making him realize he'd been there so longs his legs fell asleep. His decision and courage wavered once he actually had a hand raised in front of Raven's door; he looked at the door for an eternity before he knocked on the door lightly.
He heard a slight bit of shuffling and then looked up to see the door had slid open to reveal a shadowed figure. Raven stared at him for a while with a tired, bored expression. Beast Boy noticed this and was deciding in his mind he shouldn't have bothered her, but it was too late now. He had to plunge ahead, consequences be damned. "Hey Rae, I was just wondering…if u wanted to ….umm" he whispered. She looked at him weirdly as if she were thinking in her mind.
"Yes, Beast Boy, what do you want?"
He had heard her words dimly, but in his mind all he could think was What do I do to convince her? How can I convince her to…Beast Boy sighed inaudibly. He loved her. He could do this. He had to do this. "Well I was just wondering…would you like to go for a walk in the park with me?" He had blurted out. In his mind, he was screaming You idiot you are so stupid, of course, she'll say no, what were you thinking! Say something mildly intelligent so you don't look like a complete idiot! He stared at Raven, and she stared back, but her expression was carefully blank. So blank, in fact Beast Boy started to panic, thinking that somehow she hadn't heard him. He started to call her name and suddenly it looked like something clicked in her mind. She blinked a little and then stared at him, opening her mouth-
The alarm went off and red lights started flashing. Trouble.
The group of five gathered in the lounge, Beast Boy and Raven the last to appear. "Who is it now?" Cyborg asked, clearly irritated. He was tired after fighting Mad Mod yesterday. Robin was quickly typing into a computer to find out what was going on.
Finally, he located it, in downtown Jump City. Robin turned to his team with a distressed look on his face. He whispered the name so low that everyone leaned in, he whispered, "Slade, he's… back." The team gasped in shock. He had escaped, but how? When? The Titans had put every security measure they could think of to keep him in his cell, and yet he'd still managed to escape. Immediately their hearts were thundering and breath quickening in response to Robin's statement.
Raven recalled the battle in her mind, the blood, and the tears; Slade's image was blazing in her mind, her own personal specter. Raven touched her shoulder where it had been shot, phantom pain flaring.
"Titans, go!" Robin yelled. Raven, coming back to her senses, joined the group as they headed downtown where Slade waited for their presence. Every Titan was completely and utterly focused on the coming battle.
Slade tapped his fingers on his chair, sending quiet echoes throughout the abandoned building. Each finger coming down louder than the last, but Slade was calm, even when the door to his right blasted open to reveal the famous Teen Titans. "Ah, I see you've found me." Slade said mildly.
"And now we're going to bring you to justice," Robin snarled in response, furious. A single thought rolled through him mind: You will not get away from this. He tightened his fist and glanced over at Raven. He wouldn't let her get hurt again like last time. I will not let that happen. Just thinking of it made him shiver, causing Slade to smirk under his mask.
"You're not going to make any witty remarks?" Slade asked deep voice unconcerned. "And I was so looking forward to your witty humor."
In response, Robin pulled out his Bo staff with a sharp clicking noise and bellowed, "TITANS GO!"
The team charged at Slade. Robin swung his staff at him. Slade did a back flip, getting out of the reach of Robin's weapon, dodging the staff's every swing without taking out his own staff. When Robin got too close, Slade tossed the young teen over his hip, sending him into a painful tumble. Cyborg jumped over Robin's prone form and charged at Slade, shooting punches of increasing strength. Slade dodged each one with ease, slipping between Cyborg's guard and sending the big man flying.
Immediately Starfire started blasting star bolts at him at her fastest speed, staying well out of reach of any potential hits from Slade's staff. Slade pulled out a staff and twirled it, knocking aside her blasts. Beast Boy changed into a pterodactyl and dived down at Slade, screeching his anger. Slade moved two inches away at the last minute and he dived right into the ground, and the impact sent rocks flying. When the dust cleared, the changeling lay on the ground with little stars around his head. Raven flew past him and chanting, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Ten cans of oil were picked up and thrown at Slade, the heavy drums incased in darkness. He jumped away from them, pulled out a bomb, and threw it Raven. Her eyes widened; she should have easily dodged, but suddenly her legs wouldn't move. Something was wrong. Really wrong. The last thing she saw was the bomb flying toward her and the ground coming closer and closer. She flinched by, throwing up her hands instinctually.
Right when she should have hit the ground, she felt someone's arms around her and her name being screamed. The arms were so soft and strong- they were warm so it couldn't be Cyborg, the voice was deep so it couldn't be Starfire. That was her last thought before she blacked out.
Beast Boy changed into a pterodactyl and dived down at Slade. Slade moved two inches away at the last minute and he dived right into the ground. Beast Boy had little stars around his head. He looked up to see Raven to see her pull up cans of oil and throw them at Slade. Just then, Slade pulled out a bomb and threw it at Raven. He stood up and looked at Raven waiting for her to move but she never did. Something was wrong, seriously wrong.
He saw her falling and changed into a cheetah, racing to get to her in time. Half a second before Raven hit the ground; Beast Boy changed back into a human and caught her, the motion sending them forward into a brief tumble. "Raven, Raven!" Beast Boy called, trying to get her attention. Motion stopped; everyone looked up to see Beast Boy holding Raven and tears slide down his cheeks. Robin shouted for Cyborg to help Raven and turned his attention back to Slade. They couldn't afford to have their wounded attacked; Robin would serve as a distraction. However, when Robin looked back, Slade was gone. I let him get away again, Robin thought, tension tight in his shoulders as they returned to the Tower, Cyborg and Beast Boy carefully taking care of Raven.
The dark haired woman was placed on the infirmary table; Cyborg was checking her vitals carefully. Robin was sitting in a chair on Raven's right. Starfire was pacing on her left, and every few seconds looking up at her white face, secretly hoping they would open and everything could go back to normal. Star had never wanted this to happen, and she hoped her friend would feel better. Raven was floating slightly above her bed in a trance, body working busily to heal itself.
Beast Boy was in the hall, furious with himself, going over every moment of the fight and wondering if he had missed some detail that would have allowed him to save her. He didn't deserve to see her, not when he could have done something. The love of his life had gotten hurt and he wasn't about to give up. He shouldn't have let Slade get away, he thought. Recalling what happened to Raven he put his head in his hands, heart clenching painfully.
Meanwhile inside the infirmary, Cyborg was looking at her vitals, and slowly started to frown, worried. The night passed without any change in Raven's condition, followed by the next day. Each day that passed without change in Raven's condition was a cause for worry, until three long weeks had gone by. "How's she doing?" Robin questioned Cyborg as he wandered into the infirmary. The corners of his mouth were tense and worried. Like Cyborg, he suspected that Slade had done something to her, but Cyborg couldn't find any proof of it.
Cyborg was checking her vitals, shaking his head. Coma, she was in freaking coma. Raven lay on the table unmoving, not even floating in her trance. Her body became so tired trying to heal her after the end of the first week it just stopped. The only movement she held was her chest slowly sliding up and down. She was still breathing on her own, but didn't respond to any outside stimuli, and Cyborg had been forced to feed her intravenously in order to keep from wasting away. He'd called in every expert in both superhuman and alien physiologies in hopes of figuring out the cause for Raven's coma, but no one knew the cause.
Starfire stopped by every day and stay with her and tell her stories about the so called "baddies" they fought, she would brush her hair, and do anything to occupy her.
Cyborg would come in and tell her how worried he was and check her vitals. The changeling stay in the hallway day and night, not even checking on her, just waiting outside the door. His heart was tight with grief. Slowly looking up from his hands he sees a masked figure.
"Robin!" Beast Boy whispered loudly. Shocked to see someone, he stood up. Robin looked at him, depressed. To see his friend in grief put more weight on his shoulders. Glancing again at Beast Boy his fists tightened. His team had still been victorious in the battles they fought but they needed Raven to track down Slade. Thinking over the fight, Beast Boy thought that Raven should have moved out of the way, which...wait, if Raven is able to move out of the way why didn't she? Beast Boy thought in a moment of inspiration, eyes widening.
"Beast Boy, are you ok?" Robin questioned. Wiping away his tears, Beast Boy stood up staring at Robin trying to configure a response.
"Ye-yeah I am." Beast Boy muttered. Was his conclusion crazy? Was he so tense that he was over thinking things? He was-
"Beast Boy, you're are not ok, you've been terrible in our combat practices and even worse in the battles," Robin yelled, frustration boiling over. "You're not okay, you're going to get killed if you don't start paying more attention to what's going on around you. If you were ok you would be visiting Raven every day and talking to her!" Robin proclaimed.
Beast Boy looked at Robin, shocked and embarrassed in equal parts. He sighed heavily; Robin was right- Beast Boy wasn't ok. He's been sitting here the entire time Raven was in a coma. He needed to talk to her. When Beast Boy quietly agreed with Robin, the leader nodded. Robin opened his mouth to speak, but Beast Boy began talking before he could say a word.
"Robin," Beast Boy said in a low voice. "You're right, I keep wondering if there was something I missed, something I could have done to have prevented this." His voice was a faint whisper at the end.
Robin regarded Beast Boy critically, and the tone of the green one's voice made Robin suspect more than ever that his friend might have feelings for the woman currently lying in a coma. So that's why he's so out of sorts; he thinks it's his fault. Robin looked hard at Beast Boy and then said in a quiet voice, "Beast Boy, go see her."
Inside the infirmary, Cyborg finished checking Raven's vitals and shuffled into the hallway. He noticed the tension between Robin and Beast Boy, and though he didn't know the cause, Cyborg quickly changed the subject saying. "It's time for combat practice ya'll."
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In Raven's Mind:
Raven lay on the ground as the other emotions gathered around her. Raven's face contained scratches and a few bruises.
Timid looked at her and scurried away hiding behind a rock. She had seen enough to give her heart palpitations of worry, and couldn't take it any more. She began to cry behind her rock and Happy ran over to cheer her up. She had seen enough too, and she couldn't afford to feel depressed like the others were.
Messy just stood there and looked at her, not knowing what to do or say so she just stood and looked among the others faces. Rage stood from afar, with a smirk on her face, knowing that this had been the best three weeks ever. Every so often she would taunt the other emotions, only to have Love silence her.
At the moment, Love had a frown on her face, wondering how she could wake up the true form of Raven; she had to get Raven up so she could tell her to say yes to Beast Boy. Thinking of Beast Boy made her giggle under her breath despite the desperate situation. The green changeling was so adorable she wanted to kiss him.
Rude stood off to the side disgusted by Raven, thinking, She's so lazy, just laying there like that, how could you leave the city unprotected you dimwit. Rude belched.
Courage sat next to Raven staring at her marks wondering if she would have scars.
Knowledge lay by Ravens side looking at her skin looking for scratches, bruises or any marks whatsoever. A messenger bird flew down to Knowledge whispering into her ear. She nodded slowly and the messenger bird flew off. Seconds after the bird flew away, Raven's finger began to twitch and then her chest. Suddenly, she was seizing, and Happy and Timid ran over while Rage let out a low, dark laugh.
Courage, Rude and Knowledge held her down hoping someone would help her soon.
Real World:
Raven lay on her infirmary bed, thrashing and turning all over her bed, knocking over the night stand and lamp. Down on the practice field, Beast Boy was getting his butt kicked by Starfire as they battled each other. Each hit that made Beast Boy flinch, Starfire immediately apologized. As Cyborg was watching, engrossed in the battle (enjoying Beast Boy getting his butt kicked), his arm began beeping noticing Raven heart rate off the charts. He stood up his heart racing, and let out a shout that caught the attention of everyone.
"Raven's having a seizure!" Cyborg frantically yelled. Everyone looked up at once and sprinted inside. Cyborg was the first to run through the door. Robin and Starfire second to come in. Cyborg ordered them to hold her down, making sure that she didn't bit her tongue as he injected her with medicine and checked her vitals. The more they tried to hold her down, the more she shook.
Beast Boy stood outside the door, unsure of what to do. Robin's voice ran through his head " You need to see her." Robin, while holding Raven down, yelled "Beast Boy get your butt in here, we need your help!" Beast Boys mind went blank he head felt heavy as Robin's words went through his head over and over. He felt his arm slowly raise and his feet stepped forward walking through the infirmary door. As he walked through, he looked at the chaos, things were knocked over all over the place. Cyborg was quickly injecting Raven with sedatives, hoping it would relax her. Robin was holding down Raven. Starfire was crying as she tried to hold Raven down.
Beast Boy felt his eyes begin to fill as he slowly walked over to Robin and put his hands on Raven, feeling her twitching body, but forcing her long limbs to remain motionless so that she didn't do further harm to herself. Eventually, Raven slowed to a stop. She lay there motionless. Beast Boy, calmed and sat in a chair next to her, holding her hand. Robin and Cyborg were discussing what could have caused the seizure. Starfire paced in the corner with tears sliding down her cheeks.
Raven's Mind:
Knowledge finally relaxed as Raven calmed down. Courage breathed heavily; holding down Raven was harder than she thought. Timid and Happy refused to return, scared of what may happen next. Rage left without the others noticing, and immediately began scheming silently in her realm. Rude sat down muttering disgusted comments under her breath about how weak Raven was. Worry looked confused not knowing what just went on. She sat next to Raven and Knowledge explained what happened. Rude and Courage got into an argument about how brave Raven was.
While this occurred, Raven's eyes started to blink and sat up looking around to notice she was in her mind. Oh no! She thought, confused and worried. If she was in her mind that meant she wasn't awake in the real world, which meant she could hear everyone else but she couldn't talk to them. One thought took precedence, however: she had to wake up and soon because she knew what Slade had done.
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That is the end of chapter one ! hope you liked it please review!!
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