It was just past ten when Raven and Damion got back to Titan Tower. It was quiet, the waves beating against the beach being the only sound. The bottom of the tower was dark, but there was a light from what Raven hoped wasn't the infirmary.
"Alright, last question for the night," Damion announced. They'd been playing 20 questions on their way back to the Tower. "What is your favorite TV show?"
Raven smiled and rolled her eyes at him. "You'll laugh."
"Oh, come on, how bad could it be? Just tell me," he said, taking her by the hand and pulling her closer to him.
Raven's heart beat a little faster as Damion laced their fingers together. Just as she was about to answer him, the front door burst open. She looked over to see Dove hopping from foot to foot frantically.
"Raven, Raven, we need your help!" Dove bit her lip and looked up at the window with the light, then back at Raven.
Raven followed Dove's glance, then narrowed her eyes. "What. Happened?"
Dove bit her lip and grabbed Raven by the wrist. As her sister dragged her away, Raven gave Damion an apologetic look and said, "I'll see you later, Damion."
"Good night, Raven." Damion waved and got into his boat to return to the mainland.
"So there's this new guy that came to the tower with this girl that's his partner, and he got injured by someone while in the city, and Terra and Blue Rose – that's his partner, Blue Rose – they brought him back here. He's unconscious, and he won't wake up. Jessie thinks he might be completely comatose and have brain damage beyond repair, but then I thought 'Surely Raven can fix him!'" Dove blurted. They were stopped outside the infirmary; Dove turned to look Raven in the eyes and lowered her voice. "You can fix him, right?"
Raven looked through the doorway to her fellow Titans and the newer faces surrounding the bed, then to the young man who appeared to be sleeping. "I'm going to try," she answered in low, determined voice.
Terra crossed her arms in front of her chest and pressed her lips together.
"How exactly will meditation help White?" Blue Rose asked, narrowing her eyes at the half-demon.
Terra's eyes nervously flicked to Raven. It was her own experience that Raven didn't take attitude well.
Raven, however, was calm. "I'm going to connect with his mind and search for any hint of consciousness. Once I find it, I'll pull it to the surface and hope for the best."
Terra looked back to Blue Rose, who still looked skeptical. She jumped slightly as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning her head, she found herself looking at Jessie. Jessie nodded her head toward the hallway and led Terra out there.
Closing the door behind them, Jessie said, "You're worried about him."
Terra fiddled with the necklace she was wearing. "Well, yeah, he's a friend from college." Jessie laughed and shook her head. Terra frowned at her. "What?"
"You're funny, Markov."
"Don't call me that."
"Oh, relax. It's not like you're the only one with daddy issues." Jessie tossed her red hair over her shoulder. "Anyways, you're not just worried about him. And he's not just a 'friend from college,' we both know that you probably never spoke to him before today, never really noticed him. But you did notice him today, for whatever reason."
Terra raised an eyebrow. "What are you getting at?"
Jessie scowled at her, annoyed at either being interrupted or having her would-be monologue cut short. "I'm getting at the fact that he's in love with you and you're interested in him, whether you realize it or not. It's actually quite predictable, really: the nerdy boy falls for the beautiful blonde party animal."
Terra looked down at the floor. "My party days are long over," she murmured.
Jessie sighed. "I'm sure they are. I'm also sure I don't really care." She crossed her arms. "Do you want to help White wake up or not?"
Terra lifted her face to look at Jessie. "What could I possibly do?"
"The biggest cliché in the book: a lover's first kiss."
"Isn't it supposed to be 'true love's first kiss'?"
"Well, yes, but in this case, he's not really your true love, from what I can tell, so we'll just call it 'a lover's first kiss.'"
Terra looked at the infirmary door. All she had to do was kiss White? 'But,' she thought. 'Beast Boy is in there… If I kiss White… will that destroy my chances with him?' She bit her lip. 'And now Damion is back…'
"Look, Rae can only bring him up so far. What he really needs is a reason to fight his way back to consciousness. Markov, you are the only one here that can give him a reason."
"Don't call me that." Terra paused, thinking. "We should go back in."
Jessie shrugged and held the door open for Terra. As she walked in, Terra noticed Beast Boy sitting in a chair, holding Raven, who looked exhausted. Her eyes narrowed.
"Tired, Rae-Rae?" Jessie asked.
Raven, not bothering to look at Jessie or shoot a comeback, responded, "It was really small. Hard to find. But – I think I brought him up far enough. Just needs … a push."
Jessie nudged Terra forward. The blonde walked over to the hospital bed, glanced at White, then Beast Boy, then White again. Jessie rolled her eyes. 'Just kiss him already so I can get this show on the road,' she thought impatiently.
Terra leaned over White, but hesitated. Jessie rolled her eyes and drummed her fingers on her arm. Finally, Terra kissed White. 'At last!' Jessie thought as her eyes began to glow a reddish color. 'Now just a little suggestion for them to fall deeply in lust for each other…'
Though it was clearly unnecessary, Terra continued to kiss White. She felt White kissing back, so she knew he was awake, and she felt everyone's eyes on them, which felt awkward. But more powerful than the awkwardness was her sudden lust for White.
Someone coughed. Now it was intensely awkward. Terra pulled her face away from White's and backed up, blushing. Dove was suppressing laughter, Blue Rose was rolling her eyes, and Jessie had a smug look glued on her face. Terra's eyes shifted around the room, taking in all of their faces. The only eyes that were not on her were Raven's and Beast Boy's; Raven had fallen asleep, and Beast Boy was staring at her intently. Finally, she noticed White staring at her through half-open eyes, a questioning look on his face.
Blue Rose walked over to him. "Rest, White. Don't want you over-exerting yourself. Night, partner." Blue walked out of the room with Starfire, the Tamaranian showing her to one of the newly fixed rooms. Jessie laughed and walked out of the room, Dove skipping happily after her.
Beast Boy stood up from his chair, Raven in his arms. He smiled at Terra. "I'm glad White's okay. You were friends with him when you went to college, right?" Terra nodded, not sure of what to say. "Well, it's great that he's alive. Honestly, I thought he'd be dead." He gestured to Raven. "Well… I'm going to put Raven in her bed and go to bed myself. You should get some sleep, too, Terra." He smiled again and walked out of the room.
Terra watched him walk out, then looked at White, who was deep asleep by now. She sighed and walked down to her old room. 'I could definitely use some sleep…' she thought.
Damion had arrived just before nine to oversee the work being done to Titan Tower. This wasn't his sole reason for being there, though. No, he intended to spend some quality time with Terra. If anyone knew how girls dressed for formal events, it would be her. He would have her help him pick out a dress for Raven. Not to mention that he hadn't seen his dear little sister for several years.
'Not that we're actually related,' Damion thought. 'The way we were in high school, though, makes it seem that way.' They'd been nearly inseparable in high school – until Damion's father forced them to separate, that is.
Damion, who had been pacing, now found himself in the kitchen. Though at first he had dismissed it as empty, he now noticed someone was there: none other than Terra herself.
"Good morning, Terra," he said pleasantly.
Terra, who had been staring off into space, snapped to attention and noticed Damion. A warm smile grew on the blonde's face. "Damion! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"Oh, overseeing the work being done to the Tower… Actually, I was hoping I'd run into you."
"You were?"
"Yes, I was going to ask if you'd like to spend some time catching up. It has been a few years, after all."
Terra's smile grew into a grin as she nodded happily. "Of course! Let me just go get dressed," she said as she popped up and jogged to her room. Damion chuckled. Terra always had such energy.
Not but a minute later, Beast Boy walked into the room. "Ah, good morning, Beast Boy," Damion greeted.
The green changeling raised an eyebrow at Damion, then mumbled a 'good morning,' turning his attention to the fridge.
"How is Raven?" Damion asked.
Beast Boy seemed to tense up, but he answered nonetheless, "She's resting. Last night was… difficult."
Damion took Beast Boy's body language to mean that he didn't want to talk about Raven. 'No matter,' Damion thought. 'I'll be seeing her soon enough.'
Finally, Terra returned to the kitchen, ready and eager to go. Damion smiled at her, then said, "See you around, Beast Boy." Beast Boy grunted a response as the duo left.
'I get to spend time with Damion! Maybe this time we'll…' Terra blushed and pushed the thought aside. They were just now walking into Jump City Mall.
"You know, Terra," Damion said abruptly. "The museum is having a gala soon. I happen to have two extra tickets on me. You could come and bring whomever you like."
'That must mean he has a date… But… It's Damion! He never asks anyone out! Ever!' Terra thought desperately. 'Wait, what am I thinking..? I love White! I mean, Albert… Last night, that kiss…' Terra's thoughts trailed off until she realized Damion was waiting for an answer. "Oh! Yeah that sounds fun! In that case, I'll need a dress, won't I?" She smiled, despite the fact that inside she wanted to punch herself.
Damion chuckled. As the two walked through the mall, Terra spotted a formal dress shop. She smiled at Damion and led him inside. She picked out a few dresses, tried them on, and put them back disappointedly. It was hard for her to find dresses that worked well with her scrawny physique.
Near the back of the shop was a section of quite expensive dresses. She found two dresses that suited her tastes; one was cornflower blue, a spaghetti strap dress that was bunched at the top, which would hide the fact that she was essentially flat-chested. It was floor length with a slit down one side. Then there was the other dress; midnight blue, form-fitting with a trail that faded from midnight blue to white, strapless with a ruby set in silver between the breasts. It was a dress for a woman with more curves, and Terra knew she would be disappointed if she tried it on. She simply had to try it on, though.
Ten minutes later, Terra emerged from the dressing room, victorious in finding a dress, but disappointed it wasn't the dark one.
"Did you find one you like?" Damion asked as she returned the darker dress to its place of honor in the back.
"Er.. yes," Terra said turning to him and showing him the light blue dress.
"It's lovely," he said. His eyes fell on the darker dress and he raised an eyebrow. "That one's nice."
Terra pressed her lips together and looked away from the dress. "Yeah, well, it's not quite my style."
Damion looked at her apologetically and reach out to take the dress from here. "Here, let me get that for you," he said, not really offering, but rather insisting to pay.
"Damion-" Terra began to protest.
"Say not a word, Terra. I'll meet you outside when I'm done."
Terra shot him a look, but exited the shop anyway. Several minutes later, Damion returned to her side, her dress in hand and a smile on his face.
The sun was setting as Nightwing walked up to the Tower. It had seemed like a long trip, filled with much sparring and gadget training and obstacle courses. While it had been nice seeing Bruce, and even Talia, he didn't enjoy seeing Tim or Damien; they were idealists, which made training difficult.
As he opened the door, Nightwing noticed a package. He picked it up and saw that it was addressed to Raven. 'Odd,' he thought. 'Who would be sending something to Rae?' He shook his head, took a deep breath, and opened the door. He was greeted by the smell of food – chicken, warm vegetables, and even though he couldn't smell it, he knew that BB was having his tofu.
He walked up the stairs and saw his friends – minus Cyborg –, Dove, and two new faces, sitting at a new-looking dining room table.
"Raven, this package came for you," he said as he approached. The group at the table turned to look at him. His friends smiled, and the two new faces – both female – eyed him. One – a girl no older than seventeen with blonde hair that had blue tips – looked at him with the eyes of a fan girl. The other – a beautiful redhead with eyes like rubies – looked at him with vague interest.
Raven stood and walked over to him. After welcoming him home, she took the box and went to put it in her room. Beast Boy's eyes trailed after her longingly. Nightwing rolled his eyes and sat down in one of the empty chairs beside Beast Boy. "So," he began. "Who're you two?"
The blonde spoke up first, "I'm Blue Rose! You are, like, my favorite hero! You're way cooler than Superman and The Flash and all those other heroes with powers!"
Nightwing held back a grimace. He was now going to be living with his number one fan, it seemed. He turned his gaze to the redhead. "And you are?"
The redhead gave him a catty smirk. "Jessie Roth. I'm the sister between Rae-Rae and Dovie in age."
Nightwing raised an eyebrow. 'Another Roth sibling? Wonder what her powers are…'