Last chapter, my beautiful readers! I'm a little sad, but excited. Thank you again, for this wonderful journey. For one last time, I don't own the Teen Titans (I realized I've been forgetting to put in the disclaimer), but I do own this story. Enjoy it's final chapter!
The vibrations still shook her from the door when she noticed a certain green teen dive underneath a table and cower.
Serves him right. She thought smugly. He should be afraid for entering my mind without permission.
She did notice, however, that his look of abstract and total terror wasn't focused on her. Instead, it was focused on different hooded figure. She frowned. Since Trigon had been defeated, Hate shouldn't had had enough power to warrant such complete fear from Beastboy.
Hate looked strange, though. Her cloak looked faded, as if she had dipped it in purple paint and didn't quite get the stain out.
"Hate!" She patronized. "Stop antagonizing Beastboy. I can punish him myself for invading Nevermore."
The emoticlone tugged her hood down and turned to face her with a smirk. Although she looked identical to her sisters, there was no way that was Hate standing in front of her.
At the same time, the actual Hate interjected as the strange new emotion spoke. "But punishing him would be so fun."
"I haven't done anything!"
Bewildered, she frantically tossed her head between the two. Hate was standing off to the side, next to Happy, while Brave and Love stood valiantly in front of the table Beastboy was cowering underneath. She noted, with a touch of admiration, that although Timid was also underneath the table, she crouched in front of her friend.
She finally redirected her attention to the mystery emotion facing her. The emoticlone's amused smirk had merged into a look of predatory delight.
"Who are you?" She spit out between gritted teeth.
The doppelgänger simply batted her eyelashes and giggled a high-pitched, fake laugh in return. "Oh Raven," she clucked in a sickeningly sweet voice. "You know exactly who I am."
"I'm warning you," She growled . "Tell me your name."
"You're no fun." The new emoticlone faux-pouted. She advanced slowly to Beastboy's sanctuary, delicately placing one foot in front of the other. She thought it looked like the stranger was wearing invisible stiletto heels.
"I said, what's your name!" She shouted, growing restless. She finally decided to approach her herself.
She stopped an inch away from the doppelgänger, blocking it's path. Her hand fisted in the velvet, burgundy cloak, and shoved the it's owner to the ground.
"Raven, I'm disappointed in you! You don't know who I am? I have many names-"
She stepped on her back and cut off her speech. "Skip the theatrics."
"Ugh, you really are not fun." She huffed. "If you must know, I choose to go by Obsession."
She felt her blood turn to ice within in veins. The world spun and she staggered, hardly able to stay standing. Obsession. She repeated in her mind. It felt wrong. I am not obsessed with anyone or anything. She thought defiantly.
"Liar!" She hissed.
Obsession shrugged her shoulders with nonchalance. "Oh, but you are. Who's that one person that keeps you up until odd hours of the night? Who can make or break you day with a few simple words, or one small action? You know exactly who I'm talking about." Obsession purred in satisfaction.
"Bu-but, that's not obsession!" She protested. "It's- it's- it's-" Affection, admiration?
"Obsession." She smirked victoriously. With that statement, Obsession wiggled out from under her foot and darted forward, knocking Timid out of the way and snagging Beastboy's collar.
The sensory and fear overload must have taken a toll of the changling's brain, as he promptly passed out. With a bit of noticeable effort, Obsession hauled him through the gap between Brave and Love's legs.
The two emoticlones' fingers were half an inch too late. Obsession had already pulled her victim out of reach, now on her feet. She loosely gripped the back of his shirt, while Beastboy laid near-comatose on the floor. His head lolled to the side, limp as a hail-beaten plant.
She didn't have an inkling of what Obsession's plan was, but it couldn't be good, especially now since Beastboy was in her grasp. When the desperate had a taste of what they wanted, they only became that much more ravenous.
"Guard the door!" She hissed. Love and Rude rushed to obey her command, while Happy tagged along.
Obsession waffled between heading for the exit and fleeing. Her eyes glanced skyward, perhaps in some sort of prayer, when she spotted an alternative exit- the skylight.
She glimpsed Obsession's salvation- and everyone else's demise. She made eye contact with the deranged doppelgänger, in one last but futile attempt to reason with her.
Obsession grinned wickedly in return, lunging towards the nearest bookcase and dragging Beastboy along like a sack of potatoes.
She winced and snagged Beastboy's ankle. Obsession turned back to glare, only meters from the nearest shelf. In response, she tugged him back towards her.
Obsession tightened her grip on his collar and glowered. "Let go! He's mine!"
"He isn't some toy." She retorted.
Obsession rolled her eyes, and mistakenly let go of him to give her a rude gesture. Seizing the opportunity, she yanked the green teen out of reach. With a stab of guilt, she kicked him further behind her and advanced on Obsession.
"You aren't making it out of here." She declared boldly, hoping to portray more confidence than she felt.
"I'm a part of you." The emoticlone taunted. "I exist as long as you do."
"I've told you. I'm not obsessed with Beastboy!"
"Brave words, but they are lies. You are fixated with him, just admit it!"
His head throbbed painfully. His side felt bruised. Where am I? He struggled to remember. With what felt like a herculean amount of energy, he opened his eyes. A beautiful blue sky greeted him, rimmed by a strange tan and crossed with thin black lines.
Groggily, he pulled himself into a sitting position. It seemed he was surrounded by hordes of books.
Two people arguing caught his attention. "I'm not lying. Just because I care for someone, doesn't mean I'm obsessed!" Raven spit out between gritted teeth.
"Well, tell me then, how do you really feel?" Obsession laughed.
"Beastboy is the sweetest, bravest person I've ever met." She replied, her usually uncaring voice thick with emotion. "He is a light in the dark. I admire his courage. Even after his parents died, and his world had fallen to pieces, he can still smile. He smiles so beautifully, and brightly, it blinds me. And it makes me jealous, positively green with envy, because I know I'll never be able to return any of the smiles he gives me. That doesn't stop him from trying, though. I swear, he devotes several hours a day to trying to make me laugh. It never works, but secretly, I think quite a few of those jokes are kind-of funny. My unreceptive-ness doesn't ever discourage him for too long, even after years worth of rejection. I'm not sure why he keeps trying, but I appreciate it anyways. Despite his act, he really is an intelligent and thoughtful person."
He had to blink away a few tears. He never would have guessed that Raven though so highly of him. He always assumed he was just some pesky kid that got on her nerves.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Brave scaling a near by bookshelf, two or three rows away from them, and perch defensively at the top. He finally realized the blue sky he had seen upon awakening must have been a giant window. So that's how she had planned on escaping. Did she really think she could drag me up there? He wondered.
Obsession eyed him wishfully. "You just described why you're fixated with him. He's everything you're not and wish to be. I'm not always such a bad thing." Her voice softened at the end.
"It's different." Raven insisted.
"What is the difference?" Obsession laughed, and without giving her a chance to respond, darted forward to catch him once more.
Reflexively, he curled into a tight ball on his side, as to give minimal grabbing opportunities. He didn't wait long before a loud crash echoed in the library. Hesitantly, he looked up.
Raven looked every bit the avenging warrior. Somehow, with her petite frame, she managed to loom menacingly, dark energy still crackling from where it toppled the nearest bookshelf. Fallen volumes speckled the ground, and Obsession struggled vainly from where she was pinned.
Raven's demeanor dropped for a few moments, clutching her head in what appeared to be pain. "I think I just gave myself brain damage." She chuckled dryly. Taking a few steps closer, she replied, "Respect is the difference. He is a person, not some object to be obtained and kept forever. He has his own free will. He makes mistakes. He annoys the hell out of me, and he can be rude, insensitive, and lazy, just like every other person on this planet. I don't see him as some perfect god, who can do no wrong. I see all of his flaws, but chose to care anyways, imperfections and all."
As silently as he could, he got to his feet and approached Raven. Something about her words had caused Obsession to fade away, dissipating into purple and red mist.
Raven turned to face him, but her expression fell when she saw him already standing there. "You heard?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah." He managed to remain serious.
"Beastboy I-"
He cut her off by pulling her into a hug. She melted limply into his arms, neither embracing him or rejecting him. "If it makes you feel any better, Rae, I probably have one of those emoticlone in my mind, dressed head to toe in the amethyst color of your eyes, unable to think of anything but you, because of how much I care for you." He joked weakly.
"You really mean that?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah, I wouldn't put in the effort if I didn't care, Rae." He responded in an even softer tone.
He felt her tentatively return his embrace before straightening up and facing her other emotions. "Why did she do this?" It was obvious the question was directed at Knowledge.
"It's anyone's guess, really. Obsessions are irrational, and dehumanize their objects of affection. We may never know what her plan was, but the sincerity of your emotions must have destroyed any hold she had. You really need to start being more honest with yourself. " Knowledge clucked disapprovingly. "If you hadn't tried to delude yourself into thinking you didn't have positive feelings for him, and you thought only of him like any other team mate, or even that you actually severely disliked him, this would have never happened. Didn't you learn your lesson from 'Wicked Scary?' I would have thought seeing the new house would have tipped you off that something was wrong. And don't you dare try to act like nothing happened here; deal with it." Knowledge ranted.
"When did you turn into a cranky old grandma?" Rude snorted, and Brave nodded in agreement as she slid back down her shelf.
"This is her common sense talking!" Knowledge retorted angrily.,
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, it's thankfully over with now. Come on, Beastboy, let's get back to the tower."
"Gladly." He replied.
It was only a matter of minutes before Raven led them to what looked like an infinite wall of mirrored glass. He assumed it must be the 'exit' as the rock paths had vanished. True to his assumption, Raven began to step straight through the barrier, when he noticed her wrists.
"You're bleeding." He muttered, bringing her wrist closer to his face.
"It's nothing." She insisted quietly. "The scabs must have broken, that's all. "
He realized, in her haste to escape and find him, she must have completely neglected to heal herself. Very gently, he brought each wrist to his lips and softly kissed the skin.
"You're kissing it to make it feel better?" Raven had one eyebrow raised in amusement, despite her emotionless tone.
"Of course." He smiled, but then said more seriously. "Raven, I'd kiss your ass if it meant making you feel better. "
"Now you're being ridiculous." Raven chuckled dryly as she towed him though the glass with her.
There was an unpleasant twisting feeling in his gut before they both stumbled out of the mirror. Raven immediately bent down, and set it back atop of her dresser, before exiting to the main living room.
He followed her, and waited while she paused glance around for something he was unsure of. He was surprised to see the majority of the destruction cleaned. She must have stopped to pick up a little before coming after him.
"You know what I realized still doesn't make sense?" She asked rhetorically. "That random bout of giggling I had why you were in my mind. It was almost like I was being ticked." she remarked.
"Hehe," He scratched the back of his head. "That's kinda my fault, but only because you started it. "
"Explain." She demanded curiously.
"Well, Happy discovered that I was ticklish accidentally, and started a tickle war." He stated cautiously. "I, having no choice, retaliated by attacking her stomach with tickles.
"So that's what it was..." She trailed off, and broke into a positively evil smirk.
Oh no! He thought. "Rae, let's not be hasty." She continued stalking towards him. "I'm bruised and battered Rae! You wouldn't tickle the injured, would you?"
Her hand snaked out and pressed against his side, enveloping it in a cool blue aura.
"You're not hurt anymore, so you're fair game." She countered in a very serious voice.
Before he could start running, he was too late. Raven methodically thrummed her fingers against his ribs, positively incapacitating him with laughter.
"You're going down." He choked out between giggles and feathered his hands down her spine.
Ravens out burst of laughter was enough to knock her off her feet- she promptly collapsed to the floor. He knelt down beside to her, grinning. He stole a few glances around. The tower was still completely in tact. Her happiness must be too innocent to cause destruction. That, or the more she worries about her emotions wrecking things, the more she subconsciously will destroy things. He thought smugly.
"Rae, when I said 'you're going down', I didn't meant for you to take it literally."
She elected to ignore his remark. "That was... Fun." She said tentatively. He pulled her to her feet.
"Hey, thanks for saving me." He remarked.
"Well, it was kind of my fault. It was mainly your fault though, for going into my mirror. Plus, passing out when she grabbed you didn't exactly help me rescue you."
"It was an accident!" He protested. "I accidentally stepped on your mirror when I went to look for you in your room, and this morning wasn't your fault. The new emoticlone must have been just putting your mind all out of whack. "
"Fine, I was referring to how I almost let her get the better of me, but you still passed like a scared little girl." She countered.
"I wasn't that scared." Even he knew that was a blatant lie, but he hoped Raven wouldn't call him on his bluff.
As usual, he was wrong. "Please, you were completely terrified and hated her." She remarked.
"Alright, I was frightened, but I didn't hate her." He defended.
She peered at him curiously. "You didn't? I did."
"She might have been scary, and waaay creepy, but she was still made up of pieces of you, so I knew she couldn't be all bad. I couldn't hate any part of you." He answered sincerely.
Raven didn't answer, but he could have sworn he saw a pink blush paint her cheeks. "How did you get into my room; I never gave you the password." She tried to change the subject, so he played along.
"I weaseled it out of Cyborg. The team was genuinely concerned for your well being, and since I was the only other one here, the job of overseeing your safety fell to me. " he replied innocently. "How'd you even remember your password anyways? I never could remember a bunch of random letters."
"That's because their not random." She mumbled.
"What is it then?" He was sincerely curious now.
"It's a simple word scramble that separates out into two words. Starfire guessed my original password 'Black bird' a year or two ago, and I originally changed it as a joke, but kept it after I realized how unexpected it was." She replied carefully.
"Just tell me what it is Rae. I promise I won't laugh too hard."
"Fine! It's 'Beastboy Logan' backwards." She buried her head in her hands, but he could still see the burning pink of her cheeks.
"Aw Raven! You've had it bad for the Beastman for a while now." He teased. "So, I'm 'a light in the dark?'"
"You also annoy the hell out of me." She countered, finally removing her hands.
"My smile is 'so bright it blinds you?" He grinned for emphasis. "And my jokes are secretly funny? Knock, knoc-"
"Just shut up and kiss me." She griped.
"Just a sec." He quickly found the remote to the iPod doc and flipped on a song.
"Sometimes, I hate every, single, stupid word you say. Sometimes I wanna slap you in your whole face. Wa-o-oh. There's no one quite like you, you push all my buttons down. I know life would suck, without you. At the same time, I wanna hug you, I wanna wrap my hands around your neck. You're an asshole, but I love you, and you make me so mad I ask myself; Why I'm still here, or where could I go? You're the only love I've ever known. But I hate you, I really hate you. So much, I think it must be true love, true love."
Raven stared in disbelief. "Talk about cheesy mood music."
"Oh come on, Rae! It's like you wrote this song for us." He laughed, placing his hands on her waist and pulling her closer. He pulled off his gloves, and tucked them in his pocket before lacing together their fingers, her cool hand secure in his larger, warmer one. They swayed for a little while, before he bent over to kiss her barely smiling mouth.
However, leave it to their friends to be a total buzz-kill. Cyborg must have broadcasted onto the tower's network, because sure enough, a little flat screen with the other thee Titans' images upon it dropped down.
"What is up with you guys? You haven't been answering your communicators-" Robin trailed off, sounding horrified.
Both of them snapped their attention to the screen. Robin looked like he might be ill, and Cyborg was retching in the background.
"Uhh," they both winced.
"Oh joyous day!" Starfire exclaimed "Friend Beastboy and Friend Raven are doing the dating!" The orange alien looked positively exuberant.
"We'll give you two some privacy." Robin finally managed to choke out, before the screen abruptly went black.
"Where were we?" He asked playfully. Raven hummed in content and pecked his cheek.
"Why do you rub me up the wrong way? Why do you say the things that you say? Sometimes I wonder how we ever came to be, but without you I'm incomplete. I think it must be true love, true love. I think it must be true love, 'cause no one else can break my heart like you." She sang along softly.
He couldn't agree more.
Yay! Story done! :) Raven probably jumped to a 10/10 on the OOC chart, but I can't bring myself to regret it. I just loved telling this story, and I'm even happier I had such a wonderful audience. I would like to thank you all, for sticking with me. I hope this over 3500 word chapter helped make up for all of the shorter ones. I MIGHT make a sequel for this, if I'm inspired, but no promises. For one last time, let me know what you guys think I the reviews! (I sure hope you guys liked it :)