Flesh will heal and pain will fade
As nature and time repair,
But when the heart is bruised and torn
The scar-still lingers there
-Caire Richcreek Thomas
Slade stood before her, a grin upon his face. Amethyst eyes narrowed angrily.
"I told you I am not afraid, Slade." She said, her usual monotone was filled with emotion. Her hair, which was several inches longer than it should be, blew behind her, violet strands catching the fire light. A fire circled around them, the smoke was strangling but Slade did not seem to notice.
"And I know that you are, Raven." He raised his hands into the air, and a searing pain coursed through Raven's body, causing a scream to escape her lips.
"Raven!" she could hear Robin's voice in the distance.
"We will meet again, in the near future, my gem." He said snidely and disappeared, leaving Raven kneeling in the center of the fire ring. A hand reached out, grasping her wrist, which burned from the scars Slade had left. Starfire pulled her from the flamed and set her down beside the other titans. Raven used her power to remain standing. Her eyes were half closed, but her strength had already begun to return.
"Raven…are you alright?" Robin asked quietly, surveying her expression carefully.
"Yea, lets just…" she looked up realizing that they were home. This was Slade's first recent attack on their home. The Titans tower. At least nothing was destroyed. The ring of fire had been located in their practice arena. Beast boy turned into an elephant and filled his trunk with ocean water, he quickly doused the flames.
"Go inside." She finished, and headed towards the door, a defeated expression upon her ashen face. The other titans looked after her as she went, a kind of sorrow settling over the group.
Raven entered her room and fell onto her bed, coughing from the smoke she had inhaled. It was nearly dawn. She eventually drifted into an emotional overload induced sleep.
"Raven." Robin stood outside her door, listening. There was no answer. He had been knocking for about ten minutes before he heard stirring on the opposite side of the door.
"Yes?" returned a slightly more subdued version of her gravelly voice. It sounded weak and wearied.
"Are you alright?" he asked, putting an ear to the door. He heard a sigh and the door slid open. The scars Slade had left had all faded save for the ones on her wrists.
"Yes, Robin, I am fine." She said, leaning her aching head on the door frame. Her hand rose to her mouth in order to stifle a cough. Robin raised a brow.
"You sick?" he asked.
"No…" she began, shaking her head. "the smoke… from before. I inhaled too much." Robin nodded and took a step back. Raven's head lolled forward for a moment before snapping back up.
"I think-I'm going to sleep." She said, trailing off. The door closed before he had a chance to reply. Robin gave a halfhearted smile and returned to the kitchen.
"Is friend Raven well?" Starfire asked brightly, stirring some sort of substance over the stove top.
"She's just a bit tired, Star." He replied solemnly.
"So…what was that all about?" Cyborg asked, an expression of puzzlement stealing his features.
"Isn't it obvious?" Robin said, making a fist and resting his elbow on the counter. "Slade's trying to break her." An ominous silence followed, enveloping the four in a sense of dread that could net be shaken.
Raven rose, in a dazed fashion, from her bed and dragged her feet to the door. She knew that she needed to meditate…badly. No one knew better that she what her powers, uncontrolled, were capable of. But right now, she needed to eat. She took no pleasure in the overly human process of consumption but since she was half human, it was necessary.
"Hey Rae." Beast Boys's greeting was jolly but cautious. Raven's eyes were empty of even controlled rage which was unnerving. He had already prepared tea and an assortment of food for her. She gave a weary half smile, refueled herself, and turned to head to the rood for meditation. She passed Robin in the hall as if she had not seen him. He followed her, wondering why she did not sense his presence. When she arrived on the roof, he peered through the crached open door at Raven.
She had fallen to her knees, the look of frailty had settled uneasily upon her. Raven was not usually seen weak. She shook slightly but her eyes remained dry.
"Concentrate Raven." She whispered harshly. "Please…" it seemed she barely had the strength to speak. She rose about five feet into the air, whispering her chant of 'Azarath Metrion Zintos'. In a few moments, she shook no more, and her emotions, even the frailty she had previously shown , receded back to where they should be…in her mind.
Robin turned his back against the door leading to the roof, leaning against it.
"How does she contain…everything?" he asked himself, mourning for what she must feel like. With a sigh, he trudged back down to his own quarters.
Raven remained on the roof for the remainder of the day. When the sun began to fall, she realized that she had been meditating more than a sufficient amount of time.
"Oh, Raven." A horribly carefree voice called. Slade stood barely feet away, his arms crossed over his chest. The symbol of her father was burned onto his forehead. She descended back to the roof top, balling her hands, ready…or at least willing to fight.
She was, though, somewhat surprised that he would launch attacks this close together. He did not seem like the type of villain to play such a cheap trick. But then again, time with her father could change anyone, even Slade.
"Oh, don't worry Raven, I can't hurt you...physically." His voice was smooth and clear, but there was a tint of rage to it that was terrifying. The voice of Slade had, since she had heard it, bewildered her.
"What do you…?" she began.
"I'll save you the trouble. This is just a vision. Your father has given me some very interesting abilities, Raven. They're quite useful. Pity you're the only one this one works on. But then again, your whole world can be destroyed from here…your subconscious. Much simpler than destroying Robin…I merely have to-" Raven sprang forward only to watch Slade spring back.
"Don't talk about him like that." Raven growled, raising her hands, which held dark waves of energy. Slade laughed.
"When I told you I can't hurt you physically, Raven, it goes both ways. The only thing you can do with your powers is waste them trying to battle someone who isn't really there." Raven's eyes widened in anger.
"Well, this is thrilling but I think I'll leave you with this little…teaser to coming events." A blinding flash occurred and Raven watched as waves of blue fire hurtled towards her friends. They merely stood, resigned to their destruction. She looked to see the person who dared threaten her friends and she screamed. It was a shrill cry. The person she saw destroying her friends, was herself.
When her eyes opened, she nearly fell off the tower roof, but instead leapt backwards, landing flat on her back, on the roof top. She was grateful that apparently none of the titans had heard her scream. Raven contemplated what she had just seen and was greatly confused. Surely Slade had to be just toying with her. He seemed to like doing that to the Titans. Finally, a defeated expression fell upon her ashen features and she let her mind go blank.
"Raven, want some dinner-?" he opened the door and stopped, a brow quirking at Raven, who lay motionlessly on the roof. She had not heard him coming and cringed. It was now that she needed to be alone. She merely wanted to sleep…for an eternity if it was at all possible.
"Raven?" he said again, inching closer.
"Ever have one of those days?" she said with a dry laugh, attempting to make him forget the condition he had found her in. He sat down beside her, and she rose into a sitting position.
"Do you want to tell me something?" Robin asked seriously. Raven shook her head. Did he find her so…unapproachable that he couldn't have a conversation without playing counselor. She needed a friend, not a therapist. Or maybe he thought that she was that mentally ill. Maybe she was that mentally ill.
"It was a joke." She said, brushing the would be conversation aside.
"But Raven-" Robin only got two words out before Ravens hand lashed out. She only wanted him to be quiet. Maybe he saw the action as something more when her hand covered his lips. His masked eyes widened in surprise but a small, bemused smirk came to his features. She pulled her hand back, only to have him grab her wrist.
"What are you afraid of." He asked, not really sure himself of what he had meant. In the blink of an eye she had disappeared.