Late Night Talks

Raven sighed as she wiped the sweat from her pale forehead. She had woken up screaming again. She was sitting up straight in her bed staring at nothing in particular as she attempted to wipe her memory of the horrid nightmare she just lived through. She slowly began to calm her breathing as she held a hand to her chest. She read the electronic clock on her nightstand and wasn't surprised when the bright red numbers read 2:13. She always woke up around two in the morning. Lately her nightmares had been more sporadic, but not completely gone. Raven didn't even fully understand why she was still having nightmares. Her father had been defeated ages ago, Slade was no where in sight, and things seemed to be going fine around the tower. Raven's pondering was soon interrupted by a quick knock on the door.

"Raven?"

Raven knew that voice. It was the same voice that told her at least three terrible jokes a day. The same voice that had been there for her, even if she was particularly rude to him. It was Beastboy, only tonight his voice sounded different. It was stained, almost like he had been screaming earlier himself.

"Hey, Rae?" He asked again, searching for an answer. Raven slowly stood to her feet and made her way to her large bedroom door. She cracked the door open to see the green changeling, clad in only a dark red towel. He was soaking wet.

"Beastboy," Raven sighed. "What are you doing up? And did you just... get out of the shower?"

"I... heard you screaming and got kind of worried." He said, looking straight into her eyes. Raven stayed silent, waiting for him to address her second question. "And uh, showers help me think is all."

"At two in the morning?" Raven further questioned.

"I've been having a lot of nightmares lately. Either nightmares or sleepless nights."

"Do you... Want to talk about it?" Raven mumbled. She knew it was unlike her to invite Beastboy into her room so willingly, but he looked more shaken up than she did. She wasn't used to seeing her teammate like this. Quite frankly, she didn't like to.

"... Okay," He answered after a moment, before he looked down and realized that he was still unclothed. "Just let me put some clothes on, alright?"

"I'll leave my door open."

Moments later Beastboy had returned, now clad in a baggy pair of black sweatpants and a red tee shirt. He came into the room silently, shutting the door behind him. Raven was back in her bed, waiting for him patiently. Beastboy stood respectively by the side of her bed.

"You can sit, you know." Raven explained. Though the room was dim, Beastboy could hear the eye roll in her voice.

"Thanks." He smiled slightly as he walked to the other side of the bed and took a seat to Raven's left. As soon as he sat, Raven turned her head to glance at him.

"Well, what's up?"

"No, let's start with you."

"Me?" Raven questioned. "I'm completely fine, I assure you."

"You're not fine." Beastboy sighed from beside her.

"And how would you know?" Raven was now curious. After all, how would he know about her countless sleepless nights?

"You talk in your sleep," he explained. "You talk and you scream. Usually it's nothing, but tonight it's something."

"What do you mean?"

"Raven, I can hear you from my room. No, it's not because you're loud. It's because my hearing is just ridiculously sensitive... Anyway usually you let out a scream or a moan, then your breathing slows back to normal. But tonight you just sounded different. Even more scared. You're still breathing hard."

"I'm okay."

"Don't lie to me, Rae. I know you. I know you lie to us to keep us from worrying, but that's never worked on me." Beastboy didn't sound mad, he seemed more worried than anything. He grabbed her small hand. "You can tell me."

"I'm afraid." Raven admitted.

"Of?"

"I... Don't know."

"Well, what was your nightmare about?"

"My father... Slade... You."

"Me?"

"You... You were hurt and the team blamed me. They blamed me because I was the one who hurt you... I was evil." Raven choked out slowly as she dropped her head.

"Hey, Rae. You know you're not evil. We all know you're not evil. I'm perfectly fine, see?" Beastboy said as he tilted Raven's face up gently, forcing her to look into his eyes. He smiled gently at the small girl in front of him. She slowly nodded.

"You're right. But what if my dad comes back somehow?"

"Then I guess we'd just have to kick his ass all over again." Beastboy chuckled. "Listen, you know the team wouldn't let anything happen to you... I won't let anything happen to you."

Raven would never admit this to anyone, but she secretly found an absurd amount of comfort in Beastboy's laugh. As long as Beastboy was laughing and smiling, all was right in the world. If he was quiet, that's when there was a real problem.

"So, you?" Raven changed the subject.

"Alright," Beastboy sighed. His smile left his face as fast as it had come. He shifted uncomfortably as he racked his brain for ways to explain his dilemma.

"It's about Terra."

"What about her?" Raven raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Hey, don't give me that look Rae," Beastboy sighed. "I can't control my dreams."

"I'm not judging," Raven shrugged. To be fair, she wasn't lying, but she didn't particularly enjoy speaking of that traitor either. "Just tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help."

"Well, I miss her. I thought I loved her, but now I'm not sure. She was a big part of our lives you know? The first girl that ever showed any interest in me... and I don't know, I kind of feel responsible for how things went down, I guess."

Raven's blood began to boil. It wasn't an unknown fact that she never trusted Terra. Nor did she ever like her. For someone to come into her home and disrupt the lives of her friends, her family... Terra was just lucky Raven wasn't the one who ended her pathetic life. A few books immersed in Raven's dark energy and fell off of her bookshelf, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"You okay, Raven?" Beastboy gasped as he quickly touched her forearm.

"I-I'm fine. Thanks. Just got a little angry, that's all."

"I know the feeling." Beastboy murmured as he took a look at Raven's fallen novels.

"You do?"

"Well sure, dude. I don't want to like her anymore. I don't even want to think about her anymore," Beastboy grunted as he started playing with his hands, a thing that Raven noticed calmed him down. "It's just that, for that short period of time she really felt like the only one on the team that got me, you know? Or saw me as more than just some annoying kid."

"Beastboy, you may be an annoying kid fifty percent of the time, but you're also much more than that. You know that."

Beastboy nodded silently before he relaxed back onto one of Raven's large dark purple pillows. They were way more comfortable than his. Raven laid back as well, staring at the ceiling as she went deeper into her thoughts.

"Look, I know it's hard, but Terra was evil. She betrayed us, Beastboy. She betrayed you... I wish I could have saved us... Saved you from all the pain she caused you, but I didn't. For that I am truly sorry." Raven sighed.

She didn't apologize often, but every time she did she felt a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders. This time, it was no different. She slowly turned her head to see Beastboy's reaction only to find him peacefully snoring beside her. In her bed.

"Of course," she rolled her eyes. "I'm only letting you stay here because I'm too tired to put you back in your room." Raven grunted as she rolled over, facing away from Beastboy, knowing all too well that he didn't hear her.

...

"ROOOOOBIN!"

Robin rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, groaning from Cyborg's monstrous roar.

"What... Is it?" He yawned as he shuffled out of his pristine room.

"Well, I went to go get the friend Raven because she is sleeping far later than normal," Starfire began to explain.

"AND BEASTBOY IS IN HER BED!" Cyborg interrupted, clearly unsatisfied with how Starfire was explaining things.

Robin was shocked. Raven, letting someone into her bed? And that someone being Beastboy?

"I've got to see this," he almost giggled as he pushed past his two teammates.

Once Robin reached Raven's door, he was surprised to see it wasn't even shut completely. What had happened last night? He shook his head as he opened Raven's door a little wider and peeked inside. The Boy Wonder had to put a hand over his face to keep from gasping too loud.

There, in Raven's bed, were indeed Beastboy and Raven, but that wasn't all. Raven's body was facing the door as Beastboy's body was snugly against her's and facing in the same direction. Beastboy's long arms visibly held Raven close with his forearms sitting across her chest while Raven's tiny hands held Beastboy's arms close. Raven's small pale face was buried in Beastboy's warm forearms. Robin looked on for a second or two longer as he felt Star and Cyborg onlooking from over his shoulders. The Boy Wonder was stunned and somewhat jealous. Why didn't he have the guts to hold Star that way?

More importantly, what the hell happened last night?

Thanks for reading! I know it's been a while but I've just been so freaking busy. Anyway, what do you guys think so far? Any suggestions for future BBRae shenanigans? I'd love to hear what you guys come up with!