Love Potion
By Amber Myst
Chapter Twelve: In The End...
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Silence permeated the streets and every thing was deathly still, like a city scene suspended perpetually within a glass globe. The luminescent setting of the blood-orange sun and its subsequent rays lent the scene a sense of the surreal as the streaks of light filtered in between the buildings, glinting off of shattered windows and cracked streetlights.
No one dared to move, to breathe, as Beast Boy's shimmering, emerald eyes were trained on one of the few objects that could cause such a scene.
Starfire was watching Beast Boy intently, worried as she tried to gauge his reaction and keep her own overwhelming temper in check. Cyborg's attention was split between their enemy, the stunned changeling, and the object of shock.
"Terra." Beast Boy's whisper was almost lost to the wind, an echoing, astringent note of pain evident in his voice. The stone statute of Terra, the blonde who had stolen his heart and his trust, stood behind Mammoth; her body was forever frozen, encased in a prison of the same matter she commanded nearly flawlessly near the end. Flawlessly enough to almost destroy his family, some of the few people he cared about most in this world. But she had redeemed herself, in the most extreme way he knew possible; he couldn't allow her to be treated like this. Like a bargaining chip. His fists clenched tightly, his blunt nails digging crescent moons into sweat-licked palms.
"Cinderblock." Mammoth called smugly.
The stone beast instantly picked up Terra's statue none too gently. Beast Boy started suddenly, his teeth bared in pulsing hatred at such disrespectful handling.
"If you Titans want to keep your friend intact then you will stay exactly where you are." Mammoth gave a feral grin, his teeth glinting menacingly in the dusky twilight. "And if you are cooperative then Jinx might find the time to resurrect her." He threw the comment out flippantly, as if he could care less but his gaze was trained on the nearly feral Beast Boy.
Cyborg growled a warning low in his throat, already deciphering the hairy villain's plan. "Don't listen to him Beast Boy."
Starfire advanced suddenly into action, swift as a humming bird as her jade eyes blazed with her hatred and fury. She was not quick to anger; she believed that it was a violent, festering emotion that could destroy one from the inside out. Robin, one of her best friend knew this from first-hand experience. But some transgressions were unforgivable.
In response to her sudden movement, Cinderblock let the statue slip between his fingers. Beast Boy let out a distressed howl as he started forward and Starfire hesitated, knowing she wouldn't be able to reach the statue in time. She closed her eyes and tensed in dreaded anticipation, waiting for their former friend to smash into the ground and shatter into a million pieces.
When the noise didn't come, she peeked out from beneath her lashes to discover that Terra was once more clasped securely in the giant's hands.
The titans stayed tense and stationary, uncertain of what their next move should be as their glares burned holes through their enemies. They were at a standstill, one that they could not allow to remain for much longer.
Cyborg was the first to realize the seriousness of their delay and what it could mean for their team leader and empath. He sighed grimly, knowing what needed to be done and not wanting to be the one to do so. "Sorry Beast Boy but something as to be done." The mechanical genius held up his sonic cannon and prepared to fire.
"Nooo!" Beast Boy tackled Cyborg as a rhinoceros, using his horn to lift his metal companion and throw him into a nearby building. No one was more shocked by the changeling's action than himself and he immediately changed back into his original form. "S-sorry Cyborg but I can't let you jeopardize Terra's chance at life."
If Raven had been present she would have made a caustic remark retaining to Beast Boy using words bigger than he was but she wasn't, something Starfire intended on reminding Beast Boy of.
"Friend Beast Boy, Raven needs our help." She prodded him gently, not wanting to provoke him into any more violence. She would not hurt her friend if she could avoid it even though he was acting like a diphomnack.
Beast Boy looked back towards the tall tower in the distance nervously, guilt racking his body. "Raven can take care of herself." He muttered his words sounding hollow, even to himself.
Cyborg had emerged from the building and now stood by Starfire's side, his voice harsh and cutting. "So, you're willing to trade Raven and Robin's life on the slim chance that Terra can be brought back?"
Beast Boy flinched as he paled. He began to tremble. "No…it's not like that, I-"
"It's not like that? I can't tell, cause that's exactly how it looks." Cyborg cut him off fiercely.
Cyborg's vitpertious words stung Beast Boy deeply, and his eyes started to shimmer. "But I…I can't."
Beast Boy whipped his head back and forth between the tower in the distance and the stone figure across the street. "I love her…loved her." He whimpered to himself brokenly, repeating himself in his grief. "There is still a chance, still a chance…"
His words tampered to a halt as his eyes hardened and he came to his internal conclusion. "I'm sorry."
Cyborg leveled his sonic cannon at Beast Boy, the grim look on his face twisted with remorse but determination. "Decide BB, we don't have all day."
The sudden sound of the wind whistling down the decimated street drowned out the whirling hum of Cyborg's charging cannon as Beast Boy turned into a tyrannosaurus rex. Cyborg closed his human eye and aimed. Suddenly, the king of all dinosaurs did an abrupt about face, as his long sweeping tail slammed Mammoth up into the seventh floor of a nearby sky scraper. Less than a millisecond later, Cyborg fired and the wide beam missed Beast Boy by centimeters, knocking Cinderblock away. He roared and hurled the stone figure at the titans. Starfire flew up, catching the figure and landing gracefully back down. She handed the statue to Cyborg and pursued Cinderblock, throwing punch after punch at him, pushing him backwards with each powerful hit. A blast with her eye beams and a roundhouse kick sent Cinderblock crumbling to the ground. Immediately, he shakely regained his feet.
The recalcitrant monster roared its defiance at the furious alien and surprisingly she screamed right back at him, her voice harsh and furious. Cyborg and Beast Boy watched stunned as Starfire picked up a dislodged street light and bludgeoned him with it several times, putting as much strengthen behind the blows as her heritage would allow.
Starfire was raging. Words punctuated every stunning blow.
"Don't."
Whack.
"Ever."
Boom.
"Threaten."
Crash.
"My."
Smack.
"Friends."
Slam.
"In such."
Bang.
"A devious manner."
Crack.
"AGAIN!"
Wham.
With a scream of tortured metal, the streetlamp finally cracked from the constant abuse and the concrete behemoth was down for the count. Her brightly glowing green eyes dimmed as she placed back down, her chest heaving in an effort to catch her breath.
Cyborg and Beast Boy inched away from her slowly, frightening and wary glances trained on her as if any sudden movements would be the end of them.
Gulp. "Uhh…are, are you okay?" Beast Boy inquired, his voice shaking with fear as he continued to inch away.
Starfire looked bemused as she tilted her head to the side. "Of course I am, and thank you for your concern. But why would you think otherwise?"
"Dude," he turned to Cyborg. "Did you just witness what I did or am I retarded?"
"While that question is debatable," He ignored Beast Boy's glare. "I think what he's trying to say is…how do I put this aptly?"
Cyborg cleared his throat searching for words to say. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?"
Starfire blushed as she replied solemnly. "Well, I don't believe he should have threatened us with someone so dear to our team."
"Well thanks." Beast Boy beamed. He turned to Cyborg who was over by Cinderblock prodding him cautiously with a metal boot.
"I think you killed him Star." Cyborg poked him some more.
Starfire gasped, a horrified expression on her face as she floated over to examine the downed behemoth. "Oh, I did not mean to murder him. Please, tell me you are doing the pushing of my arm."
"I think you mean the 'pulling of your leg', and yes he is Star." Beast Boy answered as Starfire expressed a small 'glorious'. At least he hoped he was.
"Well, I think we better go rescue the birds." Cyborg said grimly as they continued their trek across the city.
"How did you know that I wouldn't go over to the 'dark side' and all evil like?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg, his face twisting into an expression he thought to be appropriately 'dark side and 'evil' like as he wiggled his fingers and loped along next to him.
"I'm your best friend and despite of our daily 'food fights' I think we know each other better than you think. Besides, you knew you couldn't take me down." He boasted, ruining their small moment with male posturing.
"Hey! I'd kick your ass and eat you for breakfast; only meat is disgusting….and as far as I know so is metal!"
"It's better than tofu."
Starfire sighed as she followed the bickering boys. At this rate there would be nothing of Raven and Robin to save.
Her expression became grim and she quickened her pace.
"No!"
The scream echoed loudly, slicing through the tense silence.
Raven paused, her red eyes flickering briefly out of existence before reappearing and moving towards the source of the scream. "What!" She hissed menacingly, but the descending slab of marble did indeed stop.
"You can't kill her!" Robin said desperation tingeing his voice. No matter how much he despised Jinx, he knew Raven would never forgive herself if she killed the witch in this violent grip of rage.
Raven smiled lubricously. "Watch me. Anything's fair in love and war." And it was true that it was both.
"Raven!"
Jinx watched the exchange silently. Did Robin actually care for her? A small, barely felt flicker of hope surged through her empty soul but was buried so deeply beneath her despair that she couldn't even began to believe it. Her dull eyes flickered back and forth between Raven and her would-be rescuer.
"Robin." She said dryly although she was a bit impatient.
Raven's thoughts flickered back to that morning in the living room, but she pushed them away firmly before she softened. Jinx would never threaten what was hers again.
But he wasn't hers. With that abrupt thought, wide, violet eyes reappeared suddenly, her anger giving way to a more gripping emotion, sorrow and despair. She was emotionally unstable as the two emotions wracked her body suddenly and with a cry of anguish that originated from her soul and a burst of magic she didn't know she had left, the cold marble flew out of the window and into the dark, unforgiving night. She sank to her knees, falling as hard and as fast as the tears streaming down her face. Her sobs were heart wrenching as her body seemed to convulse.
"Oh, God. I didn't mean to fall in love." She whispered inaudibly to herself as she buried her face in her hands, the tears running faster as she trembled. She seemed to fold in on her self as she tried to draw her body into as small a ball as possible, the crown of her head meeting her knees. They couldn't be together. Ever. As soon as the spell was released, she had to do the right thing.
"Raven." Robin whispered quietly, appalled and worried. Her every sob ripped through him with swift agony and he knew that he would do anything he could and would stop at nothing if only she should stop this torture of his soul.
"Raven, please." He pleaded, his voice was hoarse, as if he spent the last few hours screaming. The consternation displayed on his face didn't even begin to match his internal feelings.
Jinx stared at the sight of the weeping, distressed bird in front of her. What in the hell just happened?
"I suppose I should free you." Raven intoned, her voice dead as she climbed haphazardly to her feet and approached the restrained bird. Her eyes were red and puffy, but her face seemed to be carved out of the same marble she tried to crush Jinx with. Her face was impenetrable and her veneer appeared that of indifference, as if she couldn't have possibly just collapsed in tears, despite the tears still running down the grime and dirt that had accumulated during her intense battle.
She approached him slowly on unsteady legs. Robin watched with pain and anguish twisting his face and soul. He couldn't stand for Raven to be in such obvious agony and not be able to do anything to diminish it. She was now standing in front of him and looking up at him, staring into his mask.
"Raven." He whispered once again. "What's wrong baby?"
"NO!" She screamed as she shook her head and crouched to the ground, her face twisting as she closed her eyes. Her hands were clasped tightly over her ears. "D-don't call me that. Please, don't. I can't, I'm trying..."
Her thoughts flickered unwillingly back to the day his had first used that pet name with her
*flashback*
"Raven….talk to me." He was still snickering, his hand covering his mouth as he pleaded with her.
Raven ignored him, still smoldering inwards at the nerve of him. She had told him what his kisses did to her and he had to gall to laugh!? She seethed quietly as she dismissed him as she would an annoying gnat. What had started out as his general teasing turned into an almost heated debate, which in turn led to the current situation.
"I hate him, I hate him, I hate him, I hate him….." She mumbled viciously to herself over and over, trying to drown him out as she walked away.
"That's not what you were saying a few seconds ago, baby!" He sang as he taunted her unmercifully despite the knowledge that his current health was indirectly proportioned to the amount of teasing he was doing. In other words, the more he said, the more painful her retaliation but her revelation made him giddy with happiness and he threw all caution to the winds. She hadn't said she loved him but she did say that he drove her crazy with his kisses and, after a lot of prodding, suggestions and even more mad libbing,, that she melted when he touched her.
She whirled around abruptly, fire burning in her eyes and for a second he thought that maybe, just maybe he had gone too far. However, she seemed to regain some control over her emotions and instead spat through gritted teeth, 'Don't call me that,' before she turned back around, her hands clenched by her sides as she attempted t walk away from him.
We just couldn't have that now could we?
His grin widened and he grabbed her by her wrist and swung her around to face him. Her rage and embarrassment gave way to shock and confusion and then horror and realization as he pressed his lips against hers. She punched his chest but he didn't step away from her and her knees buckled as he pressed her against the wall, his muscled thigh sliding between her legs against sensitive areas. To keep her from injuring him farther, he imprisoned both hands within his. He smiled against her lips and kissed her. Gentle caresses and nips turned into torrid, bruising kisses. She struggled to free her restrained hands and he complied without a second thought. A brief thought in the back of his mind told him she might push him away but he was pleasantly surprised when Raven wrapped them around his neck pulling him even closer to her.
His hands moved to her hips, to still them as she began to move against him. She whimpered but he didn't relent, his tight hold on them or his control as a bare leg curled around the thicker one trapped between her thighs. Robin ended the passionate kisses with softer, gentler ones, before pulling away completely from her. He smirked with male satisfaction as he stared into her dazed, cloudy eyes.
"Baby?" Robin inquired, as he ran his hands along her sides soothingly, pressing his forehead against hers. There was an amused lilt to his somber, husky tones.
"Hmm?" She replied dreamily, a soft look in her eyes. Her fingers were running gently through his hair.
"You were right."
It took Raven a few seconds for what he said to process in her passion clouded mind. Once it did her face darkened, her leg dropped to the floor and she growled, bringing her knee up where it was positioned conveniently between his legs. Robin's lighting quick reflexes allowed him to grab her knee just in time to avoid what would have been a very painful assault. But as he looked into Raven's stormy eyes he realized that he wasn't out of the woods yet.
He gulped.
That was the last time he saw Raven's face for hours. Come to think of it, it was also the absolute last thing he had seen at all. Period.
"...to forget."
Raven shook the memory from her mind as she stood, feeling every ache, cramp and wound in her body. Suddenly the last five hours caught up to her and she almost fell over from the strain and sudden pain. The adrenaline rush she received from the battle finally faded leaving her bereft. She trembled as she stared blankly at the shackles holding Robin to the wall. She refused to meet his eyes.
"Jinx, tell me where the key is." She demanded, her voice bleak and lifeless.
Jinx whimpered as she pulled herself up slightly. She thought about telling the dark witch to go fuck off but her life was just spared; she didn't want to risk it again. She pulled the key out of her pocket and spitefully chucked it at Raven's head.
The key stopped suddenly, as it turned black. It landed gently into Raven's open palm and she inserted it into the hole and turned. A loud 'click' identified the opening of the locking mechanism and the metal bracelet fell away. She repeated the process on the other one wordlessly and as soon as it fell away Robin grabbed Raven and pulled her into a gentle but firm hug.
"Are you okay?" He breathed anxiously in her ear as he held her close. He winced, the motion bringing him pain because of his broken ribs, but didn't pull away.
Raven nodded, but other than that she remained inert, her arms motionless at her sides. "As okay as I ever will be."
He knew she was lying but he wasn't going to push the matter, not yet anyway. However, he was wondering why she didn't return his embrace. He hesitantly took her hand, lacing their fingers together. Robin sighed in relief when she didn't pull away although she didn't immediately respond either. Her fingers were motionless for a few seconds before she curled them his own. They were freezing cold and his brows knitted together in confusion and worry.
"Raven?"
She shook her head and murmured 'another time' as she approached the immobilized teen sprawled on the floor. "Do you know the antidote?"
A crushed expression befell Robin as hurt swamped him, suffocating him and he had to remember how to breathe. He had to keep telling himself that this wasn't permanent, that Raven didn't really love him, in spite of the ache in his heart.
'Besides,' He thought harshly as he admonished himself for such foolish emotions. 'Why would she want me hanging around her all the time anyway?' He pulled himself together, schooling his facial features to express nothing but worry.
Jinx scowled despite her vow not to irritate the teen. "If I did I would have had him already, idiot."
Raven suddenly snapped, her eyes flashing a terrifying crimson as she took a threatening step forward. "Well if-"
She was cut off by a sudden explosion that rocked the very foundation of the building.
Raven stumbled as the building shook, throwing her into Robin and they both crashed onto the floor.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!"
Robin's arms tightened around her waist and he lurched out of the way as a bolt of energy crashed through the floor at the spot they occupied just seconds before.
Raven didn't have any idea on what was going on. "Move Raven!" She heard Robin demand above her, the urgency in his voice driving her, giving her the energy she knew she didn't have. She scrambled awkwardly to her feet, exhaustion and blood loss taking its toll on her. Robin held onto her waist as tried to desperately remove her from danger. Having no idea where the attack was coming from, her wide eyes scanned the dark room frantically as the hands gripping her waist dragged her along.
They stumbled behind the desk that at one point of the night had offered Raven minimal protection from Jinx's relentless attack, Robin pressed tightly against the curve of her spine.
"What?" She gasped breathlessly through the pain caused by Robin's agitation of her wounds and the sudden panic that had taken over her body.
"Gizmo," Robin proclaimed through gritted teeth. He too wasn't in the greatest of shape, his broken ribs from earlier causing him distress.
"Oh great." Raven muttered, shaking her head as much to clear it as to get rid of the dust clinging to her from the plaster that was raining from the ceiling.
"Could this possibly get any worse?" She muttered darkly under her breath before saying aloud, "So what in the hell do we do now?"
"I don't know but we better do it fast, the building is coming down." Robin said grimly as he also shook his head, spitting out dust that had managed to enter his open mouth. Peering from behind the desk, he could barely see through the constant fall of dust and dark, Gizmo standing over Jinx but he couldn't make out what he was saying to the severely injured teen. Either the rumble from the building covered what they were saying or the mini-nerd was whispering.
"Raven, do you think you can-" Robin was cut off suddenly by a high voltage beam of pure energy that sent him clear across the room and through the wall.
She just had to open her fat mouth didn't she?
Raven bit back a shriek as she scrambled to her feet, forcing herself to face her opponent. Her first impulse was to run after Robin but she reigned it in.
Gizmo had an extremely large gun leveled at her chest. "How DARE you?!" He howled at her before he pulled the trigger.
Raven flinched, her muscles tensing as the ammunition flew over her right shoulder. The heat from the passing beam scorched her cheek and a few strands of hair. "How dare I what?" The words barely reached her normal, apathetic monotone.
"How dare you hurt her so badly?" He spat out at the dark empath in front of him. "You were supposed to beat her but not try to kill her! Aren't you suppose to be the good guy?" He ranted as he waved his gun around impetuously.
Raven's eyebrows shot up in confusion, her eyes widening. "What?" Either she was missing something very vital or her hearing was shorting out.
Gizmo sneered at her. "Confused aren't you?"
Raven bit back a scalding retort. After all, it's imperative that you don't piss off the insane midget waving the gun twice his size. She crossed her arms under her chest in a move that said 'obviously' as she took a small, barely discernible step backwards. Shooting a furtive glance over her shoulder, she could see a motionless Boy Wonder several yards away.
Her small adversary was oblivious to her movement and she let out a sigh of relief as he continued to talk.
"Well, if you must know. I-I loved Jinx and I've been trying to sabotage her attempts the whole time." He confessed and a strangled gasp emanated from behind him. He turned towards Jinx's shocked form on the floor. "I even tried to tell you and you laughed in my face!" He screamed bitterly at her.
"Y-you were serious?!"
Raven retreated quietly towards Robin, using this distraction as the two argued to escape. So this explained the small explosion on the day Jinx used the spell.
A small explosion sent the pink witch flying back even farther. Raven managed to stop herself and turned back to Robin. She didn't stop to think about where the explosion came from because she knew she didn't do it.
She was a few feet from Robin when another explosion rocked the building. The unpleasant, screeching sound of tearing, grinding metal ensued and she abandoned subtlety in favor of diving through the wall towards Robin's side. She grabbed his arm and immediately released it, biting back a yelp of pain as currents of electricity followed over his body. The ceiling above them buckled dangerously and she gritted her teeth against the coming pain. Arms hooked under his armpits, she pulled with a desperate strength that hauled his body back through the wall just in time. A piece of the ceiling collapsed inward with the sound of straining metal and the floor above it fell in with it, a desk crashing and breaking apart on impact. An airborne shard of wood pierced her right shoulder and she barely managed to hold back a scream of pain.
"Robin." She hissed through clenched teeth. "Wake up, c'mon. The building's coming down around us." He stirred slightly but didn't make any other movements that acknowledge her presence or the fact that she had spoken to him.
She dragged him to his feet and stumbled under his dead weight, nearly falling back onto the ground. Raven gritted her teeth against her screaming, protesting muscles as she realized that she couldn't drag him to safety; he would have to help. "Robin!" She yelled into his ear.
He flinched away from the loud sound of her voice, letting out a small, painful groan. "Raven…" He whispered quietly, hesitantly, as if he wasn't sure she was there.
"Yes, it's me." She hoisted him up against her uninjured shoulder, and pulled him closer, her arm wrapped tightly around his waist. His arm was thrown loosely around her neck and she flinched every time the appendage brushed upon her wounded shoulder. Her entire left side was numb from the current of electricity leaping from Robin to her. "You have to walk for me. Can you do that?" She asked, deliberately pitching her voice low this time, broadcasting all the urgency and desperation of the situation. If Robin couldn't help her save him then they were both as good as dead. Leaving him was not an option.
"I'll…I'll try." He mumbled, as he took an unsure step forward. He stumbled over a piece of plaster and Raven quickened her steps, trying to use the momentum to keep him balanced and moving. If they fell it was over, her muscles would not have nearly enough strength to pull him back to his feet. She managed a small sound of relief as the paralyzing effects of Gizmo's bolt began to wear off and the intensity of the small, painful shocks began to diminish.
"Good," she crooned encouragingly as they stumbled from the room, unbeknown to the teens that were still screaming at each other.
Horror and desolation engulfed her and she struggled to take deep, even breaths. Her burden began to slip and she hoisted him back up against her, biting back a scream, her teeth sinking into her tongue unintentionally as he grasped her injured shoulder, fingers digging into ripped flesh. Blood began to seep from between her clenched teeth.
To her utter shame, her eyes began to shimmer with the imminent threat of unshed tears. Raven didn't know if it was from the pain or from the sight in front of her. The pair had made it to the stairway unimpeded only to go down two flights and find that four flights of metal steps were missing. Peering down, she could barely see the outline of the crashed, tangled heap of metal that lay on top of the rest of the descending steps.
"Raven." Robin hissed into her ear, his eyes closed. "Why have we stopped?"
Raven simply shook her head, sure that Robin had felt the action. She heard the screeching sound of straining metal issue from the stairs horror seized her heart. The stairs were about to collapse, they had to get off. The only way to go now was up.
"Come on." She whispered to him, almost as if any unnecessary noise would quicken the imminent destruction of the stairway. Craning her neck upwards, she saw that they were only four flights from the roof of the building.
They stumbled upwards together, one helping the other as they strained to make it up the stairwell. The couple had just rounded the second to last landing when a thunderous sound shook the whole building. Raven fell against the wall, barely managing to keep them both standing as they stairs began to rattle and shake, deafening booms resounding every few seconds. Looking over the railing, her eyes widened as she registered the source of the noise. The staircase was finally collapsing!
Pushing herself away from the wall she dragged Robin up the stairs with a desperate strength only hours before she would have sworn she didn't possess.
"Move, Robin!" Her statement and the urgency within it echoed the one he made not even twenty minutes ago. It was strange how situations seemed to go from bad to worse in such an infinitesimal amount of time. The clanging quickly climbed to a crescendo as the landing just beneath the one they were desperately climbing broke, falling nearly a hundred feet before crashing into the assimilation of twisted the metal at the bottom. As the steps began to shake, loosening their attachment to the wall, Raven crashed onto to the last platform before the roof, Robin slamming into her and they lost their balance.
"Fuck," She uttered, throwing herself forward. Her hand caught the railing, and she kept them from hitting the floor. Keeping her gaze trained on the door ahead of her, she ignored everything around her.
She ignored Robin's heavy breathing in her ear, his painful grip on her wounded body, the deafening screech of metal, the trembling structure beneath them, and her weary body. She ignored it all. Otherwise she would have collapsed and given up some time ago. Hating her weakness, she picked up her pace, making a nearly fatal mistake.
Misplacing her foot, she stumbled and they both crashed against the stairs, which lurched dangerously. Her labored breathing was coming out in short, harsh pants. Knowing she couldn't have climbed to her feet if she tried, she began to stumble, crawling up the stairs, dragging Robin up behind her, who made his own feeble attempts to assist her.
As she reached the final landing, her hand twisted into the back of his shirt, she turned around to drag him over the final step and gasped as suddenly Robin became heavier than she could hold. She lost her precarious stance on the landing and slammed heavily into the floor, her arms pulled taunt and dangling over the side still clenched around Robin.
The stairs had finally fallen.
Bracing herself, lest she was pulled over the side, terror filled her as she heard an unwelcome sound fill the air. The sound of Robin's shirt shredding.
"Robin." She hissed through clenched teeth, the strain more than her cramping fingers could take, even with her demon strength. "Grab my hand."
His hand gripped her forearm and her hands unclenched painfully from his shirt and clasped his forearm. They were in some deep shit as Robin dangled there. She knew for a fact that she didn't have the strength to lift him onto the landing and her bad shoulder screamed in vehement protest, the blood flowing down her arm and making her grip even more precarious.
"Can you pull yourself up?" The words were slow with pain and deliberate because she could barely spare the breath to repeat herself.
"I'll try." Robin grunted as he attempted to pull himself up, his muscles bulging with the strain. Half way up, his muscles began to shake with the strain and his ribs throb and his muscles went slack, unable to manage the strain put on them. The paralyzing effect of Gizmo's ray had yet to fade completely and it was still taking a toll on his straining muscles. He suddenly dropped as a result and Raven cried out as the sudden added weight dragged her farther over the precipitate. In a desperate attempt to save them, she twined her feet in the railing and muffled a shriek of agony as she felt her ankle wrench.
"Sorry." Robin uttered.
Raven couldn't respond, colorful dots were dancing across her vision and they were spaces of time where her vision blacked out. She tightened her grip on Robin when he began to slip, and she felt herself slip a bit farther over the side. She didn't know how long they laid there like that. It mostly likely had only been a matter of minutes but it felt like hours. The strain in her arms was becoming steadily worse, and it felt as if her shoulders would dislocate at any second. The steel of the platform they were on was digging into her upper chest, gorging a line from just below her shoulders and her clavicle bones where her arms were hanging over the side. A steady drip of blood fell from the platform, only to be lost in the darkness at the bottom of a sixty story drop. She had no idea how she was holding him up and didn't care to ponder it. One didn't look a gift horse in mouth, even if the horse seemed scrawny and barely capable of carrying her from point A to point B.
"You have to let me go."
The small whisper jarred Raven back into the awareness she had left in order to escape the incessant pain. "What?" Her words were slurred as she fought against unconscious and tightened her grip.
"If you want to live, you'd let me go," Robin uttered quietly, but determined as he began to wrench his wrist in her grasp. The only reason Raven was in danger was because he was too weakened to pull himself up. He didn't know how much longer Raven could hold on for, but he didn't want her to be killed because of him.
Raven gasped from the pain in her ankle as she snarled at him, her voice hoarse and harsh. "Stop it! Or I swear I'll untangle my legs and we'll both plummet!"
He stopped instantly, defeated.
"The others should be on their way, Robin." She whispered, her words sounding hollow even to her.
"But they won't make it in time, you're already weakened."
Raven gritted her teeth together, ignoring him as she began to chant her mantra in her head. Already her arms seemed to be numb, she could feel no sensation within them, something she welcomed wholeheartedly. "We just have to wait for them or for you to regain feeling."
Suddenly, another blast sounded and the whole building seemed to buckle inwardly as a horrible, ear-grating screech of metal filled the air and the platform they were on dropped several degrees. Raven screeched as she tightened her legs hold on the railing and the pressure on her arms increased.
"Raven, let me go!" Robin urged wildly, the desperation in his voice almost tangible. He would gladly give his life for hers. If only wishing the curse away was enough...
"Don't ask that of me!" Raven pleaded fiercely. She would never let him go.
She began to plead earnestly to whatever god might have been listening. 'Take this curse away, I don't want it anymore! PLEASE!' She implored desperately. 'I don't care anymore if he loves me or not…I want him to live! He has to live.'
The platform finally gave way and they began to plummet to their death, sixty floors beneath them. "I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE!" She screamed, barely able to hear anything beyond the rush of wind past her ears. She felt something within her snap, and leave her. It was the part of her essence that was Robin. The sudden feeling of emptiness didn't last long as she was filled once again, this time with an essence she recognized solely as her own. Without a second thought, she engulfed them both in a giant shadow just as the platform crashed against the amalgamation of steel at the bottom.
~*~
They resurfaced several streets away, Raven's soul self emptying them both onto the ground. Robin groaned in pain and rolled over, his breath harshly leaving his lungs. Raven's breath came shallowly, as her body worked over time to supply it with much needed oxygen. Moments later they could hear a thunderous crash in the distance. The building had finally collapsed.
The returning of pieces of their auras furnished them both with a feeling of incompleteness; the feeling making them both uneasy and wide awake, briefly masking their pain. Raven crawled over to Robin, too weak to do more than hover over him. She stared into his masked eyes and he into her unfettered ones as the world was forgotten and they both realized that the spell was no more, erased with the power of Raven's desperate emotions and Robin's acute desire to have it gone.
Raven's lips curved upwards, the small action holding more pain than he could bear. "Robin…" Her words trailed off, almost hesitantly as she stared into his eyes.
"Raven." His lips quirked into a small, unsure, tired smile as he tried to lighten the mood. He didn't know why she was so melancholy, well, other than their near death experience; she should be happy they survived. Something in him wanted to change her expression, to make her smile again. The spell was gone but that made little difference.
Since the day the spell started, she had been integral part of his life. He didn't need her anymore but that didn't change the fact that he did want her and he doubted that it would change instantly over night. His heart ached at the concept.
"I love you…" the whispered, agonized words sent an electrified and painful thrill through him. His heart pounded with the implications of it as he brain tried to wrap around the colossality of it. His first reaction was to smile until his face split in two. He wanted to pull her into his arms; that was, if he had the strength to and kiss her senseless. He barely managed to bite back those very same words. It was then that he realized he wasn't obligated to say those three words anymore, nothing was forcing him.
But he wanted to say them anyway. And that was what alarmed him.
He may not have been in full control of his emotions nor actions, but the real 'Robin' was aware of everything that was happening and somewhere along the way his affinity for her grew until…well, maybe he had actually fallen in love with her.
"You don't have to say anything." She told him, seeming to sense his inner turmoil. "I…I just wanted to say that to you before you forgot about all this."
His eyebrow shot up at this one and he seemed genuinely confused. He struggled to sit up and Raven fell back to her haunches to accommodate him. "What? What do you mean forget? I couldn't even if I tried!"
"I know." A frustrated noise escaped him as he tried to unravel her cryptic words.
She lifted her slim hands, placing them on the side of his head as they emanated a luminous, glowing aqua light.
His eyes widened in horror as he realized what she was about to do and he tried to jerk his head away from her grasp without success. "Raven, NO!"
She closed her eyes against the moisture falling from them as he went slack. Catching him about the shoulders, she lowered him gently, lovingly to the ground.
"It's better this way." She whispered, her voice breaking on a sob. "Bye…"
Suddenly, the night, its' activities, the strain, the pain and the whole world caught up to her, as the effects of the spelling ending faded. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed also, falling across his prone form. This was how the other Titans found them.
I have no excuses. Other than college, general life, and a cripplingly, genuine disinterest that I tried like hell to get over. There's one chapter left, I hope I do the ending of this story justice. I hate endings but this story has been going on long enough. Let me know what you thought. I don't believe I'll ever capture the essence of angst without it being overly dramatic, but I guess I did alright. You have no idea how many times I went of this chapter, agonizing but then I figured, no more. Enough is enough. Although, on a lighter note, I think I noticed a small improvement in my writing. That is, when I can bring, cringing in agony, to read over my older stuff.
I hope you enjoyed it,
Amber
Spread your wings and Fly…Butterfly
12/26/2008
