Before the conversation could continue, though, the lights flashed red. Edward and Raven headed for the common area as the rest of the team arrived.
"Titans, Trouble!" Robin said, "Looks like Cinderblock and Plasmus are on the rampage again. They're on the other side of the city."
"Can you get a visual of the area?" Edward asked, "If that's possible, I'll teleport the team over."
Robin hit a few keys and brought up the TV helicopter footage.
"This is live," Robin said. Edward nodded and shapeshifted to his mini-dragon form and said, "Bus is leaving, hop on!" The team didn't need any further encouragement.
"Terra," Robin said, "Keep monitoring the situation and let us know of anything important."
"Will do, Robin!" she replied with a smile and sat down where Robin was.
Edward teleported to the scene and landed quickly. Raven and Starfire took to the air, as did Beast Boy in eagle form.
"Edward, Cyborg and I will handle Cinderblock. Raven, Star and Beast Boy take Plasmus. Titans, GO!" Robin said. Cyborg charged his sonic cannon.
Edward took to the air as well and headed for Cinderblock.
"Hey! Rocks for brains! Over here," Cyborg called out. Cinderblock looked at the group as Edward fired off his lightning breath, Cyborg fired his cannon and Robin let fly some explosive projectiles. All three attacks hit Cinderblock, causing minimal damage.
Cinderblock roared in anger and ripped out a chunk of pavement and threw it. Edward climbed out of the way and used his tail to throw the pavement back to the source. The pavement hit Cinderblock and staggered him for a second.
Edward let loose with the fire breath, forcing Cinderblock into a defensive position. Cyborg kept firing with the sonic cannon keeping Cinderblock from mounting an offense.
It took several minutes before Cinderblock finally threw up his hands and surrendered. Robin used his rope to secure the prisoner.
"Don't even think of running," Edward said, "I can just as easily encase you in ice."
Just then, Plasmus, seeing his partner giving up swatted Raven hard and she flew in an arc.
"Raven!" Edward and Starfire yelled at the same time. Edward took to the air as Starfire and Beast Boy (in hawk form) also raced towards the demoness. Edward's eyes took on a dangerous red glow as he poured on the speed and caught up to Raven just as Starfire arrived. She caught Raven.
"Take Raven back to the Tower, Star," Robin ordered.
"Plasmus is mine!" Edward snarled, turning around and heading towards the purple beast.
Beast Boy also turned around and headed for Plasmus.
"What's this bastard's weakness?" Edward asked.
"Freeze the goop," Robin advised.
Robin and Cyborg saw Edward's ridges start to glow a white color and as Edward got closer and landed, both passengers got down in a hurry.
They saw the angry red glow in Edward's eyes.
"Plasmus isn't going to be feeling so hot," Beast Boy quipped as he landed and returned to his human form. Robin groaned at the bad joke.
Plasmus turned towards the threat. By then, Edward's ridges were a bright white and the second they laid eyes on each other, Plasmus got Edward's full force ice breath and started to freeze solid.
A few moments later, Edward ceased fire and Cyborg shattered the goop, leaving a very cold human in the center of the mess.
"Let me handle this, Edward," Robin said. Edward snarled but complied, standing back as Robin handcuffed the villain.
Edward reformed his human form and looking straight into the guy's eyes said, "My girl best not be harmed…Or I'LL TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR HIDE! Got it?" He stormed off without waiting for an answer.
Edward was too upset to realize he let the cat out of the bag regarding himself and Raven, but, noticed the looks on the rest of the team.
Edward tried to contact Raven telepathically without success as he waited for the police to take Plasmus and Cinderblock into custody. That took a few minutes and gave Edward time to calm down.
His communicator beeped. He opened it to see Terra there.
"Edward," she said, "Raven's in the infirmary. From what I could get out of Starfire, she was swatted by Plasmus. We need Cyborg ASAP as Raven appears to be in a trance."
"I'll have the team back shortly," Edward said, "Cy knows more about Raven than I do."
"Ask Star to make sure that Raven's comfortable," Robin said, looking over Edward's shoulder.
"Will do," Terra replied and cut the connection.
"The police will need a statement from you," Robin said gently, "They'll meet us at the Tower later on, though. I told them you were concerned about a team member and that took priority.
"And, out of curiosity, when were you going to tell the team that you and Raven were an item?"
Edward blushed as his jaw dropped.
Robin chuckled, "It's all good. Raven needs someone to care for. But, I will tell you this: Hurt Raven like Malchior did and, immortal or not, I'll personally castrate you before letting the team have what's left."
Edward said, "That's supposed to frighten me? Listen, Robin…My intentions with Rae are a lot more honorable than this other creature were. I'm not going to intentionally hurt her. She knows that very well and is accepting my word. We're linked telepathically, remember? She'd know if I was lying."
Robin said, "Just take good care of her, that's all the team can ask. Let's go home." He smiled as Edward walked a short distance and shapeshifted.
Robin and Cyborg got back on as Beast Boy shapeshifted to a hawk.
"I'm teleporting back, BB," Edward said, "Sure you don't want a ride?"
Beast Boy flew over and landed.
"Hey, can't refuse a free taxi," he quipped after returning to human form.
Edward lifted off and a moment later teleported to the Tower's Infirmary.
As the others got down, Edward shapeshifted to human and went over to Starfire.
"Friend Edward," she said, giving him a hug, "Raven seems to not want to come out of her trance for some reason. She's unharmed."
Edward rubbed his arms where the young lady had squeezed pretty hard and replied, "Hmmm. I wonder what's wrong, then."
He walked over to Raven and felt her forehead. It was cool to the touch and she looked pale, even for one that was gray in color. The readouts showed a steady pulse and respiration rate. Her blood pressure was normal, so, there was nothing overly wrong physically.
[Raven, dear? Are you OK?] he asked over their link.
Silence was the answer.
He put both hands on either side of her face, using the known contact points and tried again to contact her telepathically. There was still no luck even with direct contact.
"Be careful," Cyborg said, "We're not sure what's happening in her mind right now. It's a wicked scary place."
Beast Boy shuddered, "It was scary. Cy and I were there years ago. She's got this weird mirror that is a portal."
"Can you get this mirror for me?"
"No one goes into Raven's room," Robin said, "She gets really nasty when that happens."
"If she's having trouble getting out, I think she'd overlook it. I'll take the heat if she gets mad," Edward said.
Robin said, "You and Cyborg can go in and get this mirror. Make sure it's covered up, though. Bring it back here, though."
Edward and Cyborg went to Raven's room and he entered an override code to get into her room.
"You see it anywhere?" Edward asked. Cyborg said, "Yeah, it's on her dresser."
Edward's eyes adjusted to the scene and saw a mirror sitting where Cyborg had mentioned and he stepped in to get it. He found one of Raven's towels and gently wrapped the mirror, face down.
They headed back to where Robin was and set the mirror down beside her.
"We'll wait 24 hours," Robin said, "Then, we'll decide if we need to use it."
"That's fine with me," Edward said, "I can stay up for 72 hours before any problems happen. I want to stay next to her."
"We understand," Cyborg said, "I'd want to stay near my girl too, if she were hurt."
"You and Raven are boyfriend and girlfriend, friend Edward?" Starfire asked.
"Well, this isn't the way I wanted to tell you guys, but, Starfire's right," Edward said, "Since helping Terra here, Rae and I have been more than telepathically linked."
"Glorious news!" Starfire said, grabbing Edward in a huge hug. Terra, who had arrived while Edward was getting Raven's mirror smiled.
"Wow!" she said, "Something good came out of my predicament. I'm happy for you." She also gave Edward a hug, but, far gentler than Starfire's hug. Edward returned both hugs.
Beast Boy turned serious for a moment, "I was there when the last dragon broke her heart. You treat Raven right or you'll see a side of me that none of the other Titans liked. Raven's like family to me."
"Folks," Edward said with a sigh, "I'm not Malchior! Get that straight, all right? He shattered her heart, hurt her in ways that I find repulsive. Raven's been in my mind telepathically and vice-versa. I'm not going to hurt her, not intentionally. She knows that. She knows my intentions are honorable as well. Please understand that. Telepaths and empaths can't lie, not to each other.
"Beast Boy, I know how you really helped Raven that time. Rae's not going to say it, but, I will: Thank you.
"Terra, you're a rather special teenager, powers or not. Without your act of redemption and sacrifice, Rae and I wouldn't have met. You've earned our respect and trust."
The Titans looked embarrassed and Robin said, "I'm sorry, man. We're all protective of Raven, especially after Malchior. But, we're going to stand with you regardless."
"You know," Cyborg said, "This calls for a celebration! But, we can't have any celebration until Raven comes out of her trance."
Edward felt a stirring in his mind from Raven. She was slowly coming out of the trance on her own.
"She's starting to awaken, I think," he said.
[Ugh! What's going on?] she complained.
[Well, Hi to you, too. You all right?] he replied.
[Yeah, I'm fine. Just want to sleep,] she stated, [Kind of hard with you guys talking about us.]
[You heard?] Edward asked with a blush.
[Some of it, smarty-pants,] she retorted, [It's all right. They mean well. Tell them that the feeling is mutual and then to get the hell out.]
"Titans," he said aloud, returning his focus to the team, "Raven's out of her trance, but, tired. She wants you folks to know she appreciated the love and protection…and that the feeling is mutual. She also said 'Get the hell out'. She needs to sleep."
"Yeah, that sounds like her," Robin said with a smile, "Let's go, Titans. Edward, you can stay, though. She'd appreciate the alone time with you."
Edward pointed at the mirror that was no longer needed. Robin got the message and carefully wrapped it up. Taking it with him, the rest of the team left.
[They're gone, dear,] he said via the link.
Raven sleepily replied, [Good for now. Wake me in a few hours, K? You can meditate as well. Hold my hand, if you would, though. I may need you to help me the rest of the way.]
[Should I get your special mirror?]
[No. I'll be fine without it. But, when the time comes, I want to show you something. That mirror's a portal into my mind and my emotions. They've been begging to meet you as well. Can we talk later?]
Edward took her hand gently and replied, [Of course we can. Get your rest. The others can wait a while.]
Raven yawned through the link and fell silent.
Edward grabbed a nearby chair and sat down.
"Azarath metrion zinthos," he started to chant, finding his "center" and meditating alongside his new love's sleeping form…