*A/N: Hello, dear loyal and stood up readers. Again, have my apologies for the tremendous delay. I had a storyline in mind and began writing it but I realized I came to a dead end and had to start from scratch, but I'm keeping that idea in mind. Anyway, this fic is coming to an end sooner than I thought. It was a fun journey and thank you for your support! I hope I'll come to the CyRae pairing again, with a better and more interesting story, and that I'll see you all there again. So, with that being said, here it goes. Happy reading!*
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Most of them still sleepy or seriously upset for the post-midnight alert, they stood in front of the large screen. Robin showed them some security footage from downtown, where a combination of heavily armed men and large androids were rampaging and heading towards the city's Labs.
"I am guessing why they are targeting the Labs and we need to stop them now." Robin said. "The Labs have been running some top secret experiments on alien technology that should in no case fall in the hands of those who are smuggling the Apokolips weapons here."
"Are we getting any League support this time?" Cyborg asked. "This isn't just local, Rob."
"Batman said we should handle it for now and we'll get in touch with the big League as soon as possible for better coordination. They are all tied up elsewhere now."
"Yeah…" Raven mumbled, taking a look at a smaller monitor. "Several similar outbursts have been noticed all around the globe."
"Then let us hurry, friends!" Starfire said and Robin nodded.
OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO
As soon as they reached the city center, Robin ordered them to circle the assaulting group from all directions, so that they wouldn't move any further. Cyborg was to scan them and see if they had any weak spots like that other time.
Starfire was placed in front of their way, holding them back. Her blasts seemed to be working well against the Apokolips rays of the weapons, so she was placed in charge of their defense line. Beast Boy, turned into a large species of dinosaur, was stationed in front of the androids, lessening the amount of soldiers moving forward, so that the girls had enough time to deal with the incoming ones.
"Cyborg! Quickly!" Robin shouted, swinging over some armored men and dropping a few small-range bombs.
"It ain't easy!" Cyborg shouted back, jumping to avoid an incoming ray. These new androids were much better crafted than that other robot they had fought with Raven. The armor gaps had been filled in and his sensors had serious trouble finding a new opening. If his calculations were correct as well, their rays were at least two times stronger than previously too.
He kept on running around in an attempt to scan more androids but the incoming barrage of rays made it harder to get going. With the corner of his eye, he saw Starfire flying up, blowing a dozen of men away, turning their weapons to dust and yelling out, before diving back down again, to repel more. Beast Boy's dinosaur cries and the debris falling sounds filled the air around him. As he kept on running, he saw an android trying to shoot Beast Boy's head. He readied his beam in his canon and was just about to shoot it, when a ray hit him just below his heel and he fell down with a loud thud. He tried to get up, but another ray hit him on his leg and he fell down again. He heard more rays being aimed his way, but fortunately for him, Raven arrived just in time to create a dark magic force field around them and shield them from the rays.
"Are you okay?!" She asked, trying to maintain her field.
"Sorta!" He replied, quickly pulling himself up. This was maybe the first time he was inside of one of Raven's fields. It felt….eerie. And then he noticed something. The way they were seeing the objects outside the field was peculiar. The magic wasn't like a tinted window, or a glass or anything. It felt more like a…filter. "Can you keep it up a bit more?" He asked, approaching the edge of the field.
"I guess!" Raven replied, as a surge of magic reinforced their bubble and she panted lightly.
Cyborg reactivated his sensors and the result was, well, amazing. For some reason he couldn't really pinpoint, they were able to find the only gap in the armor, as it seemed to be 'shining' through the magic layer. "Raven, this is it!"
"What?"
""Their only weak point! Just below their calf, there's a small opening! If we shoot there, they should be immobilized!"
"Are you ready, then?!"
"Yes!" He said nodding and Raven let go of her shield, storming up.
Cyborg had readied his canon once more and fired two rays with incredible precision at the back of the legs of two androids, which simultaneously fell to the ground, unable to move. Their weapons were still operating, of course, but they wouldn't move any further than that. He ran to Starfire and Robin, to share the news.
Raven had flown over to Beast Boy Dino, who had been doing a great job keeping many androids at bay, to the expense of his own well-being for the time.
"Knock them down for me, will you?" Raven told him.
Beast Boy let out a loud roar and span around, smashing the androids with his long tail. As they fell, to the ground, Raven flew over them, throwing black orbs at their calves, and pinning them down. Beast Boy turned back to himself and grabbed his torso, kneeling down. Raven quickly flew to him, signaling Starfire to come and take care of the rest. She grabbed his hand, passing it over her shoulder and easily flew them out of the road, putting him down.
"Thanks." He said, catching his breath.
"Good job." Raven commented and he grinned at her, raising his hand for a high-five. Raven high-fived him and grinned back, flying off to Starfire and Cyborg, to neutralize the remainder of the androids. In a couple of minutes, they were done. Robin had tied the men with his ropes at the columns of the buildings around and the androids were laying on the ground, smoke coming out of most of them. The sound of police sirens echoed around, as they arrived to collect the criminals. Cyborg grabbed the torso of an android and Robin signaled them to move out.
OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO
Starfire ran the warm cloth over Beast Boy's wounds. "I have no intent to hurt you, Beast Boy. I am very sorry, but the tending of these wounds might cause you some pain."
"It's okay, Star." The shapeshifter said, wiping some blood off his chin.
"I think we can all agree," Robin said, popping a bottle of energy drink open, "that this was the most efficient we've ever been. Kudos for that, Titans!"
"Let's keep it up." Raven said, in an unusually cheerful tone for her.
"This is getting serious, though…" Cyborg said. "I mean, yeah, we were pretty awesome but these things aren't messin' around. Rob, what has the League said about this?"
"We are going to get a call from Martian Manhunter today, with the latest intel and missions we are to work on."
"I had the impression that we were an independent group." Starfire said, wrapping some gauze around Beast Boy's forearm.
"We are, but this is an issue we cannot handle alone, and they are much better informed and prepared than us."
Cyborg shrugged. "They are 'the world's best superheroes', after all."
"So, we're going swimming with the big fish now, uh?" Raven said, half-smiling.
"Who said we were ever small?" Robin said, winking.
OOO-OOO-OOO
A couple of weeks later…
"This?" Raven asked, levitating a blue cable.
"No." Cyborg replied, from his workbench.
"This?" She asked now, with a thicker, red cable.
"No, the other one."
"This?" She asked with a slim, green one, starting to grow agitated.
"No, Raven, I said, the one with the round ending."
Raven's hands turned black, and her eyes red. She levitated all of the cables lying around the lab's floor and had them shoot to him, like vicious snakes ready to bite. She froze them an inch away from him.
Cyborg had instinctively placed his hands over his head. He slowly opened his eyes and sighed, giving Raven an exasperated look.
"Pick which one." Raven said through her teeth. Cyborg took a look at the cables and grabbed the one he was looking for. The rest fell on the floor again and she flew towards him. He connected the cable to an opening inside the dissected android torso and a weird sound came from one of his monitors.
"Hm… Interesting." He said, rubbing his chin.
"Yes. So interesting." Raven said ironically, not following Cyborg.
"See this?" He pointed at his monitor and Raven nodded, not really knowing if she really saw what he pointed at or not. "The android's circuits have assimilating abilities."
"Obviously." Raven replied ironically, again. "A blind man could tell."
Cyborg rolled his eyes at her. "This is an important find, Raven! That means, they can convert other circuits, foreign to them, and make them their own!"
"UUh-ah…"
"This technology is so much ahead of what we have…" He said troubled. "It could be a big problem."
"Don't baffle your mind too much. Everything will work out in the end."
Cyborg gave her a weird look. "You seem… too blissful for the Raven standards."
Raven shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe I have something to be blissful for. I don't know…" She said, nudging him and smiling.
Cyborg snorted and dragged her into his arms, planting a small kiss on the crown of her head. "I'm kind of scared." He said lowly.
"What for?" Raven asked, not moving her head from his chest.
"This new mission. It's much bigger than anythin' we've ever done before."
"We'll be done with it before you can say 'boo-yah'."
Cyborg huffed. "I just hope you're right."
"Me too."
He lowered his head till he reached hers and inhaled her hair's scent, thinking how much he'd miss her now that they were going to be apart for as long as it took to properly monitor the weapon smuggling from around the galaxy. Somewhere along the string of his cheesy thoughts, he unconsciously blurted out a thing he never thought he'd say so soon. "I love you so much, Rae…"
His eyes shot wide open and he lifted his head up, feeling his cheek burn up. What the hell was that? Why had he spoken? Where did that come from? Why?!
Raven slowly lifted her head too, searching for his. She nodded slightly. "Me too."
Cyborg tightened his grasp around her and exhaled in relief. "We'll make it out of this mess. I pr-"
"Hush." Raven said, pushing her pointer on his lips. "No more talk." A kiss sealed his mouth for good.
OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO
On another occasion, Cyborg would have been excited. Seeing the inside of the League's satellite was always on his 'do before you die' list but he couldn't enjoy it, not when he was about to bid goodbye to his friends for only God knew how much time. However, they all had their priorities straight and knew this was for the good of the planet. Still, he couldn't shake that ugly feeling away.
Some meters away, Zatana Zatara was having a talk with Raven, probably about magic stuff and teleportation. She needed to be prepared for her trip. Starfire and Robin were speaking with Batman and Green Lantern for the particulars of the diplomatic strategy Starfire would need to follow once she reached her home planet and he… he was just waiting to see them off. Beast Boy was deployed a couple of days ago and so there were just the four of them.
Raven burst the bubble of his thought by tapping lightly on his shoulder.
"So, are you ready?" He asked, trying to be cheerful.
"Yes. Zatana explained the details quite well." Raven replied, sensing his foul mood.
"Did she say how much you're gonna stay there?"
"No. She can't possibly know."
"I see. This is goodbye then…"
"Don't make it sound so…final. We'll be back here before you know it."
"I hope so."
Raven caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. "We'll speak every night, okay?" Cyborg nodded sadly. "Come here."
She wrapped her hands around his neck and he snaked his over her small waist. He wished he didn't feel so miserable about it, but he just couldn't help it. When he held her like this, she felt so…fragile. He knew; he knew how she was one of the strongest psychics and witches the League had right now, and that she was more than capable to protect and defend herself. Yet, he would sleep more easily if he was sure that someone was with her. Would the Azars and her mother be protection enough for now? He couldn't be certain but he had no choice other than to leave it be. It had to be done.
"Please be careful." He said, burrowing his head at her neck.
"You too. Your job isn't easy, Cy."
"At least I'll be around here somewhere…"
"Stop it, please. You make me feel-"
"You're right. No more whinin'."
"Much better." Raven commented, tightening her grip around him.
"Raven!" Zatana called from near the teleporter. "It's time!"
Raven let go and took a long look at Cyborg's face. He cupped hers and planted a small and gentle kiss on her lips.
"I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
"Please take care of yourself, friend Raven." Starfire said, as they approached them.
"Our Raven can handle everything, don't worry, guys!" Robin said, grinning widely. Raven hugged them both and walked towards the teleportation device. She turned around and waved at them.
"See you soon!"
"Have a safe trip!" "Bye, Rae!" "See you!" She heard the voices of her comrades fade, as she went through the tornado of flashes and whipping energy rays, till she reached her destination.
Back at the satellite, Cyborg watched as Raven's outline became more and more unstable, till it completely vanished. She was gone.
Robin patted his shoulder. "Come on, man. We got work to do."
Cyborg nodded and followed his friend out of the room.
*I hope you enjoyed it.
With the action scene I wanted to show how they are working towards being better as a team, and succeeding. Plus, no hard feelings between BB and Rae too.
The next chapter will be the epilogue. I have a thing in mind about them and I hope you'll find it… interesting.
As for this mission I keep mentioning, I have a couple of ideas in my head that I think I might come back to write a complimentary fic on this one with them, considering the time skip between the end of this chapter and the beginning of the epilogue. I'll see.
So, please leave me a small review on how you found it and I will try my best to bring you the epilogue in the coming week if everything works out. As always, sorry for any unnoticed typos.*