Oh my gosh I'm so sorry guys my mind has just been all over the place lately and I realized a while after posting the latest chapter that I actually forgot to answer a couple questions posted from the second chapter. Oh, and may I just say that you guys have written some of the most amazing comments and feedback on this story! Seriously you have no idea how helpful your comments are. Us writers really live for that sh- stuff.
Max927: Omg okay again I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to answer your questions! I don't really have specific ages in mind for the Titans in this story, so let's just say their all at least old enough to legally drink. I know in the previous fic "Don't Screw This Up" Beast Boy and Raven went to high school for a short time and I said they were about 17, but I actually regret saying that now because even in that fic I think I wrote them all to be much more mature than that. So let's just go with the idea that they were about 21 in that fic as well and Beast Boy used the hollow-rings to look younger and Raven's petite stature also gave her a younger appearance and made it easier for her to enroll in a high school. She was really only attending high school so she could quickly pick up Earth culture and get an idea of the environment she was now living in anyway. Does that make sense?
Also, in regards to your other question, as both an avid reader and writer, I'm not a big fan of characters getting together too quickly. I love tension and build-up and most of the time I enjoy watching that process unfold much more than the characters actually being together. So, if I can help it, I like to prolong my characters getting together as long as possible, possibly to the point of my readers wanting to strangle me out of frustration. Long story short, don't expect Raven and Beast Boy to be making out anytime soon. Heheh.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans or anything even remotely related to the Teen Titans.
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Not even a half an hour later, Raven was interrupted by a familiar and cheery, though hesitant, voice. "Umm, Raven? I am most apologetic to interrupt your meditations, but I was wondering if I could maybe sit and converse with you for a few minutes?"
Reluctantly, Raven blinked her eyes open. Starfire stood but a few feet away from her, neither close enough to be considered imposing upon Raven's personal space nor distanced enough to be considered noncommittal to the conversation in question. They were still in that stage of friendship where both were wary of confiding in each other for fear of being a bother or a burden. Well, it was mostly Starfire who felt that way, she supposed. Raven just never really confided in anyone at all.
Raven didn't quite have the heart to be openly curt with her teammate today. Besides, it was bad enough she'd already sent one teammate to the infirmary and another away from her room frustrated. It was typical that if Robin's efforts to talk to Raven failed, they'd usually send Starfire. And if for some reason Raven was able to deflect Starfire's questions, they'd send Cyborg, and then maybe even Beast Boy as the last and final resort. The logic behind this chain of command still eluded Raven to this day.
Raven gestured to the spot next to her. "Go ahead."
Gratefully, Starfire took a seat on the ledge next to her. Neither of them seemed to have an outstanding fear of heights. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" Raven asked calmly, though they both knew exactly what this was about.
Starfire stared down at her hands in her lap, watching as her fingers anxiously laced together and then un-laced. It was unusual for Starfire to be so tentative about something. Usually she dove right into conversations and pummeled ahead until she got an answer she was satisfied with. "Well, if I am being honest," she began slowly. Automatically, Raven felt her mental walls going up.
"The boys and I are admittedly most worried about you, Raven." Starfire looked up at her, her small raspberry brows furrowed. "You seem very...different after last night."
Raven felt her lips purse together then bit the inside of her cheek to stop it; it was becoming a tell for when she was annoyed or reluctant. "How so?" she evaded.
Carefully, Starfire scooted closer to her. "If you wish for me to provide the examples, then I suppose I must first point out the ferocity with which you fought Beast Boy this afternoon. You two seem most particularly tense around each other today, even more so than usual."
Was Raven imagining things, or did Starfire's impossibly green eyes light up at the mention of her and Beast Boy?
"Sooo, I kicked Beast Boy's ass in training today. What else is new?" Raven remarked in her usual dry manner, hoping to deter any further concerned inquiries from Starfire.
Starfire sighed. Obviously her teammate would not be convinced so easily. "You are not seeing the point, Raven. You knocked Beast Boy unconscious. Can you not see how curious that is to your teammates? The Raven I know does not act that way in training."
"I didn't mean to knock Beast Boy unconscious," Raven admitted quietly. Her head still smarted from the blunt contact with his head.
Starfire had a special way of getting others to open up to her. She had this way of being so compassionate and so gentle with her voice and words that somehow one couldn't help saying things they meant to keep hidden aloud. Raven didn't know if this was Starfire's way of intentionally manipulating people, or if the Tamerranean just couldn't help being so softly persuasive. She hoped it was the latter.
"Is there something that is weighing heavily upon your mind?" Starfire asked, her voice edged with concern. "Did something happen between you and Beast Boy?"
There were two options now placed before Raven: she could either open up to Starfire about everything and deal with the imminent fallout; or she could close herself off and reassure Starfire that there was nothing wrong and she was just feeling a little less zen than usual. In her mind, Raven imagined choosing the non-existent third option, the one where she steps off the ledge of the Tower and flies to another place where she doesn't have to worry about such great people worrying about her.
With reality knocking on her door however, Raven decided on the second, less messy option. "It's nothing, Starfire. Beast Boy saw me a little inebriated last night, so I guess I'm just...taking it out on him today."
Starfire's lips quirked into a coy smile. "Hmm...are you sure that is all this is?"
Now Raven was truly lost; Starfire seemed to be embarking on another topic entirely. "What?"
"If I am not mistaken, it seems to be the popular Earthly notion that when two people share an affinity for one another they quarrel more often than usual."
Raven's jaw fell slightly open. Was Starfire insinuating what Raven thought she was insinuating? "Starfire, please tell me you don't mean what I think you mean."
Her alien teammate giggled. "Do you mean to imply that you 'plead the fifth', Raven? Surely I am not the only one who has noticed the way you and Beast Boy interact with one another!"
Raven stood quickly, an unsettling blush growing on her cheeks. "We are not talking about this."
Starfire blocked her path; she was practically giddy now, her eyes alight with shameless glee. "But, Raven-"
"'But Raven' nothing!" Raven nearly snapped. It was too ridiculous, really, what Starfire was suggesting.
Wasn't it?
It was quiet between them for a little bit, Raven's almost-outburst somehow stunning her teammate into silence. Then, Starfire's eyes widened with genuine curiosity. "Is it somehow possible that you have not noticed...?" she wondered aloud. Raven wasn't even sure to whom Starfire was speaking.
Raven's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
As Starfire opened her mouth to respond, the familiar ringing of the Teen Titans tone interrupted her. Forgetting their conversation, the two female heroes pulled out their communicators and flipped them open. As expected, their fearless leader Robin was waiting on the other end.
"Team meeting in the control room in five minutes," he told the both of them. The serious tone of his voice told them that this was something important.
"Right," Starfire agreed, while Raven simply nodded to the screen.
The screens on their communicators went dark as Robin cut the feed. The two girls were alone once again. Raven licked her lips distractedly as she listened to the pounding of her heartbeat. The feeling was back again, the intense pressure hollowing out her sanity, the red flag warning her that something had already been set in motion.
She looked up suddenly, meeting Starfire's steely gaze. Being the only two female members on this team had no effect on either of them in their sense of duty or ferocity; when push came to shove, they were both more than ready for the fight, just as the boys were.
"Shall we?" Starfire asked resolutely, gesturing to the door that led back downstairs. It was all business between them now, the conversation prior to Robin's call long-forgotten as their bodies began to hum with the familiar adrenaline rush that accompanied the announcement of these clandestine team meetings.
Her teammate's confidence was too infectious. Raven felt her lips stretch into a smirk. "We shall."
Down in the control room a few minutes later, the Titans were gathered around waiting for Robin's announcement. Save for one Titan, of course.
"Where's Beast Boy?" Raven inquired to no one in particular.
"He's still in the infirmary," Cyborg told her kindly. "We can fill him in later."
"Oh."
Robin cleared his throat. "Alright guys, if I could have your attention for just a moment. Lately there have been a string of subtle break-ins all around the city."
"What do you mean by 'subtle'?" Cyborg asked.
Robin turned to the computer panel and pounded on a few keys. Immediately a screen popped up displaying a map of Jump City. At various points on the map, there were specific markings, perhaps to indicate the sites of the previous crimes.
"The break-ins have been considered subtle by the Jump City Police because they were so well executed," Robin explained. "No fingerprints or DNA found, which means no plausible suspects. And the time and ease in which they were able to disable the security systems is almost laughable because of how unprecedented it is."
"So how come we're just finding out about all this now?" Raven wanted to know.
"I've spoken with the chief, and the JCPD has expressed their extreme regret in not involving us sooner. They just thought this was one of those run-of-the-mill cases committed by a common thief. But, as the file they sent over shows, this is hardly a common thief."
A second screen illuminated next to the map of Jump City. This one showed the details of the case-file.
Cyborg let out a low whistle. "Wow. This guy was able to bypass all these systems? And in that much time?"
"It could just as easily be a female," Raven pointed out. Starfire flashed her a grin.
"So what is the criminal in question guilty of stealing, Robin?" The Tameranean asked.
"That's another reason why these break-ins are considered subtle. The objects reported missing are all considered objects of minor relevance in comparison to what the criminal could have taken. It's almost as if the criminal was more bent on mocking the authorities than actually stealing something," Robin said. He seemed more focused on the screens in front of him rather than the conversation at hand. It was easy to see that even he was a little stumped by all this.
It was quiet in the control room as they absorbed this information. Finally, "So what's our first move?" Cyborg's expression was a combination of excitement and apprehension. It'd been a while since they'd had such a complex case involving thievery.
Robin turned back to face them once again, his hard gaze immediately falling upon Raven. His voice was serious when he spoke. "Our first move is to get Beast Boy healthy again. Raven, are you well enough to heal up his more serious injuries?"
Raven felt herself straighten at Robin's words. She knew it was her fault for Beast Boy's current condition, but the guilt still smarted. She decided not to make a big deal out of it. "I'll go see him right now."
Robin nodded in approval. "Do that. The rest of us will discuss a plan of action for dealing with this criminal."
Raven rolled her eyes as she exited the room. Robin was obviously in his army-general state of mind right now and couldn't be persuaded otherwise.
The air inside the infirmary was chilly and sterile. Her memory flashed back to a time when she had woken up in the very same room, under very different circumstances. She hadn't known who Slade was back then or what he had planned for her. She'd been naively lucky, then.
Beast Boy was lying down in a bed in one corner of the room, right next to a curtained window. Of course Cyborg knew which view he'd like the best. Since Beast Boy was sleeping right now, however, the curtains were drawn closed, leaving the room very dark and shadowed.
It was a little scary seeing her teammate in this state. Raven always got a little uneasy whenever one of her teammates had to spend some time in this room. It would always be hard for her to watch the people she cared about get hurt.
Quietly, Raven pulled a chair over next to Beast Boy's bed and sat down. She checked his monitors and saw that everything was normal, nothing out of the ordinary. He was still sleeping, which she admittedly did find a little strange, but maybe if she started the healing process he'd wake up.
As she looked over his chart written up by none other than Cyborg, Raven's heart sank when she found she had cracked a bone in his chest during their brawl. She'd definitely gone a little overboard in her aggression.
She decided to start with his concussion first despite his bone injury, as she figured the health of the brain was much more important than some pain in his chest. Healing a concussion would take more concentration than healing bones, though the latter certainly took more energy out of her. It'd be easier to heal his concussion while he was asleep, then deal with his bone injury after.
Raven took a deep breath and focused, placing her hands gingerly around Beast Boy's cool head. At her internal command, she felt her healing powers begin to flow from her hands. She concentrated on finding the epicenter of the concussion and easing his head injury from there. As she waited for the injury to subside, her eyes ghosted over his face and body, mesmerized as she watched his chest rise and fall slowly, transfixed as she noticed how tranquil his expression was in this state. He almost looked nothing like his usual self, who was all toothy grins and light eyes. He certainly didn't look like a little boy. He was broad-shouldered and toned; loyal and unassuming.
Briefly she wondered if she herself looked as adult as he and the rest of her teammates did, then quickly brushed the thought away. This was no time to be speculating on her maturing cup size.
The remnants of the concussion were finally beginning to fade away just as Beast Boy stirred. Raven automatically stiffened, feeling a little awkward around him now that he was waking up to witness her gentle hands on him. She wanted to back away a little bit but didn't for fear that she'd screw up her healing process.
Beast Boy groaned as his eyes slowly blinked open. He was disoriented.
"Try not to move," Raven advised. "I'm almost finished." She felt Beast Boy's dazed eyes on her as she spoke. She didn't dare look at him.
"When the hell," Beast Boy mumbled. "Did you learn to fight like that?"
Raven couldn't help herself. She smiled.
Softly, Beast Boy chuckled. "Am I on a lot of painkillers, or did I just make you smile?"
The smile instantly vanished from her face as she glared down at him. Beast Boy only chuckled even more, though. Suddenly, his face pinched with agony and he grabbed at his chest.
"Damn, Raven, what'd you do to me?" he moaned.
"Stop laughing," she admonished sternly. "You have a cracked bone in your chest."
When he got quiet all of sudden, Raven stared down at him. He was watching her. "Are you here to make me all better, Dr. Raven?"
Her cheeks felt hot as she shifted away and refocused on Beast Boy's head. "That's the plan," she said. She didn't know how else to answer such a peculiar question.
A few awkwardly silent minutes later, the concussion had finally healed. Carefully, she removed her hands from his head. "How do you feel, now?" she asked him.
"Much better," he smiled up at her, his single goofy fang poking out. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet, I still have to fix the bone in your chest."
Beast Boy gulped and nodded, well aware of how much this was going to hurt. Healing bones hurt just as much as breaking them because it meant Raven had to set them and put the bone back to together. It was exhausting and painstaking work, and nearly a suicide mission when she had to do it on herself.
"Ready?" she asked.
Ever so slightly, he shifted away from her. His eyes fixated on her questioningly. "Are you ready? I know doing this takes a lot out of you, Raven. You can rest a little if you want."
Raven bit her lip. "No. It's better if I just do it now and get it over with."
Beast Boy paused to absorb her words. Finally, he closed his eyes. "Alrighty, then. Ready when you are."
Delicately, Raven placed her hands on Beast Boy's chest. It was firm and muscled, and Raven felt so awkward a part of her wanted to laugh. Thankfully, she didn't. Instead, she exhaled calmly, focusing her energy on the wound and resetting the bone. As the magic began to work its way into his system, Beast Boy grit his teeth and fisted his hands. He was trying not to move or make noise so he wouldn't distract Raven, but she knew he must have been in a lot of pain. And it was all her fault.
Luckily, she'd only cracked his bone, and not broken or splintered it, so the healing was done in a matter of minutes. He gasped audibly when she'd finished, nearly surprising her.
"Sorry," he panted. He was breathing heavily, and there was sweat on his brow.
She stood and reached to hand him some water. "Don't apologize. It's my fault you had to go through this in the first place," she admitted quietly.
Gratefully, he took the water from her and gulped it down. "I shouldn't have egged you on like that," he said. "Me of all people should know how you get when people piss you off."
Suddenly, Raven remembered something else from their fight, though she was almost too embarrassed to even bring it up. "About that," she struggled to say. "Umm, are- are there any other..."
She looked down at the floor, mortified. Azar help her if he made her spell it out for him.
Beast Boy stared at her expectantly. "Any other what, Raven?"
She nearly glared at him. "You know..." she huffed in exasperation.
He was smiling, now. He liked watching her get flustered about weird things. "No, I don't know."
In desperation, her hands gestured downwards, south of her naval. "Injuries! Do you have any other injuries you need me to heal?"
It took about a second for Beast Boy's mind to click with what she was implying. "Oh... OH," he grimaced, throwing his hands protectively over his groin area. His expression was horrified.
"Please say no," Raven nearly pleaded, closing her eyes in humiliation. She had only asked in the first place out of guilt. Now she just felt like an idiot for bringing it up. What if he said yes?! There was no way she was putting her hands anywhere near... that.
Beast Boy shook his head with wide eyes and crimson cheeks. "No! No. I mean, thanks for the offer," his voice cracked. "But no."
Raven swallowed as she tucked a strand of hair behind her hair. "Yeah, well- okay," she wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible. "Well, now that you're feeling better, when you're ready, Robin wants to talk to you."
"Why, what's wrong?"
Finally she looked at him. "We have a new team project," she informed him dryly. Somehow, her composure had found its way back to her.
Beast Boy's eyebrows quirked as he sat up in the bed. "Really? Huh. How serious?"
"At this point, it's hard to tell," Raven said. She tucked her hands behind her back, hoping they wouldn't fidget so much there. The air in the infirmary suddenly felt thick, and a nagging part of her told her to get the hell out before she embarrassed herself any more.
"Take it easy for a while and try not re-injure yourself anytime soon," she suggested a little distractedly. Her mind was still buzzing from everything that had just happened. "It'll take time for the wounds to heal completely."
As she turned away, Beast Boy reached out and stopped her. His warm hand was wrapped around her wrist, just like in their previous fight, but this time it felt cautious and gentle, rather than aggressive and threatening. "Raven."
Out of habit, she pulled her arm away. "Yeah?"
Beast Boy paused, choosing his words carefully. "I don't know exactly what happened last night or what's bothering you today...but I am sorry."
Raven's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't sure what to say or how to respond to someone who pissed her off to no end but also made her feel like the most unworthy person in the world. Sometimes Beast Boy's seemingly endless capacity for kindness made her feel like an emotionally-challenged supernova. It was hard to understand how someone who had lost so much could still be so open and so caring. It made her head hurt.
Walking away from him and towards the door was a lot easier than talking about things that mattered, so that's what she did. "Thanks," she whispered. "Me too."
Back in the control room, Cyborg was pounding away at the buttons on the game controller in his hands. He was intently focused on some kind of online game by the looks of it, one where the objective was to beat his opponent in a type of tag-team brawl. For the life of her, Raven couldn't fathom how he and Beast Boy devoted so much of their time doing that stuff. Sometimes Beast Boy and Cyborg tried to get Raven to play with them (mostly Beast Boy), but she just didn't see the point of the whole thing.
She flopped down on the couch next to Cyborg just as he was defeating his opponent. Immediately she regretted sitting so close to him.
"BOO-YAH! TAKE THAT YA LITTLE PUNK!" he proclaimed viciously, his face beaming with pride. His character on the screen was performing an obnoxious victory dance.
"Another twelve-year-old playing for free on his parents' Wi-Fi?" Raven inquired wryly.
At that, Cyborg's posture deflated a little. He sat back, keeping his eyes trained on the large TV screen. "Maybe," he grumbled.
Raven smiled, watching as her teammate was taken back to the game's main menu and placed in the pot once again for another round of online gaming. "Hey, a win's a win," she conceded.
Cyborg snorted, flashing her a grin. "It most certainly is."
Things had always been this easy between her and Cyborg. For reasons neither of them really understood, they just clicked. While Cyborg definitely had a light-hearted side that consisted mainly of teasing and messing around with Beast Boy, he also had his protective, older-brother type of side, and there was rarely a moment that felt awkward between him and Raven. He was one of the few people in this world she found easy to talk to.
"You wanna play?" he asked, casually offering her the plastic controller.
Raven shot him a look.
"Suit yourself," Cyborg simply shrugged. His focus zeroed in on the screen once again as he was pitted up against another fierce opponent that went by the screen name URM0M_203.
Raven watched as the two animated characters went back and forth in the game, throwing over-dramatized punches and kicks this way and that. "Haven't you had enough fighting for one afternoon?" she wondered aloud in disdain.
"Well, some of us didn't get to actually fight today," he reminded her lightly, grunting as his online character managed to dodge his opponent's special attack. Raven just rolled her eyes. She didn't particularly want to rehash the details of group training right now. Or possibly ever.
When she didn't respond, Cyborg glanced at her. His single eyebrow was furrowed with concern. With him distracted, his opponent took the opportunity to deliver an explosive final blow to Cyborg's character. The match was over and Cyborg was defeated, but he didn't really seem to notice.
"Anything you need to talk about?" he asked patiently.
Raven met his gaze with tired eyes. "If one more person asks me that today I think I might actually combust spontaneously."
Cyborg smiled in understanding. "We're just worried about you, is all."
"That seems to be the order of the day," she exhaled.
"Can't really blame us."
"I can try."
Cyborg set his game controller down on the coffee table in front of them. Raven waited as he threw his arms up and straight back behind him in some kind of effort to stretch. She wondered if parts of him actually still needed to be stretched or if this was just a leftover habit from his previous non-Cyborg life. "So, how's Beast Boy?" he yawned lazily.
"He's awake," she replied, grateful for the change in subject, even though a part of her already suspected where this was all heading. "I took care of his concussion and chest injury."
"Did you tell him about what Robin told us?"
"No, I thought I'd let Robin brief him."
Cyborg shook his head.
"What?" Raven demanded.
"Nothing, it's just, you and BB have been acting weird around each other all day. I mean, first there's all that weird awkwardness at breakfast, then you two practically maul each other in training, and now you're back to avoiding each other again. Any particular reason why?"
With a sigh, Raven crossed her arms over her chest. She hated when she was right. "Ugh, no, not you too."
At that, Cyborg's eyebrows quirked with curiosity. "Care to clarify on that?"
Maybe she and Cyborg did share a special bond, and maybe he was easy to talk to. But Raven was just not having it today.
"Let's just say you're not exactly the first person to bring this up today," she stated tiredly, pinching the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger.
Her teammate grinned down at her. "You know, not talking about it, doesn't really make other people want to stop talking about it. If anything, it just makes them want to talk about it more."
"Anddd that's my cue to leave," Raven remarked sarcastically. Wasting no time, she stood up from the couch and headed for the door to the hallway.
"Y'all know it's the truth!" Cyborg called after her teasingly. "You can't hide those precious feelings inside!"
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This chapter was a lot more fun for me to write than the last one, so I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!