Sorry it took so long! I honestly didn't mean to procrastinate on this! It was just... I found my old character profile on an MMO game called Star Wars: The Old Republic. And long story short, I increased from level 38 to level 50 in three days. All while kicking Sith butt.

I won't leave you all hanging though! So here's the next chapter!


Mailbox Time!

Scarease: Sigh, unfortunately, that's in Part Two.

Golem XIV: There isn't likely to be much snorting of coffee this chapter friend :(. Sorry bout that.

shugokage: Your welcome :).

Foamsatmouth: Not sure what you mean there Foamy.

Captain Ea Rayos: It will all be worth it in the end :).

HornedGoddess: I'm glad that you've loved it ;). Along with my other story.

alfred19: It's all fine friend. And yes, I do know about Jillian. I don't think I might be using her though. I'll wait and see what I think up. It's okay to dream about them :). Just make sure to write it into your stories.

EchoInTheDark: I knew you'd like it :). As to what happened to Terra, you'll see why next chapter. That's one of the last things I'm resolving.

FF8cerberus: Oh, it will come up, but not in this part. It is, however, a necessity. I'm making him become closer to the animal in him. And what is almost every animal known for? Mating season! Other than that, I like potraying the crazy yet daring part of him.

RPGPersona: Don't worry, I'll make sure to explain the sinkhole thing soon. And yeah, when I get back, I'm gonna embarrass the hell out of Raven :).

Bluedog197: That's just fine dude. Like always, I get a smile reading your reply :). I do hope you like this chapter and don't find it too bland.

blonde1998: Here it is.

jweaks2016: Wonder Woman's fate will be revealed next chapter. And yeah, I wouldn't feel sorry for saying that either :).


Since Last Time: 3 more favorites, 1 more follow (Total: 133 favorites, 164 follows)


Updated: January 7, 2017 11:55 P.M.


Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans (And I'm too tired to make this disclaimer interesting)


Chapter Twenty-Eight: What do I do now


Raven tossed and turned on her back. The mattress she had been lying on before was no longer soft for some reason. It was like she was lying on cold hard rock. And it was damn well uncomfortable.

Raven moved her head, hoping the comfort of her pillow would help her to fall back asleep. But it was just as hard as the rest of the mattress. And her neck was really starting to ache.

Raven groaned, and opened her eyes blearily to figure out why she was so uncomfortable now. She blinked down at the mattress beneath her, trying to get her eyes to focus. When it did focus though, she saw she definitely wasn't on a mattress.

It was ground. Cold, hard ground.

"What the…" Raven got up off the ground wide awake and stood floating in the air. She looked around herself with her hood down then, and saw the wide abyss full of red stars surrounding her rock.

She was in Nevermore.

"But… I was asleep… I didn't even use my mirror." She said uncertainly to herself.

A giggle came from her right. Raven looked and saw a stone pathway form in front of her. It led off out over the abyss that was her mind.

Raven shrugged to herself and followed it. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. She floated along as the pathway formed off into the distance.

How long she floated above the pathway, Raven didn't know. But eventually, she saw the pathway connect to a larger island. And as she got closer, she was able to see all the different cloaked versions of herself sitting on the large rocks jutting out of the ground like chairs. Something looked weird about them though, as if their auras were somewhat stronger than before.

Raven shoved it to the side of her mind for now. She was probably seeing things or something. She heard the giggle again, and saw it had came from the pink cloaked version of herself.

Happy.

Raven floated onto the island, and the pathway disappeared behind her. "It's about time ya visited us Rae Rae. Do you have any idea how long it's been since we talked to each other?" Happy said to Raven in a colorful tone of voice from where she sat.

"Don't I hear you enough in my mind alone?" Raven asked monotonously.

Happy made a pouty face, before she grinned again. "Aw, you know you wuv us Ravy!" Happy said happily.

Raven had already turned to Knowledge, who was sitting by Happy with a book in her hands. She was already a little irritated when she spoke.

"Explain."

Knowledge briefly looked up to glance at Raven, then returned to the book. "Explain what? Happy?" She asked.

Raven shook her head. "Hell no. I'll never be able to explain Happy. Explain how I'm in here and not on the jet." Raven told Knowledge.

"Technically, your body is still on the jet." Knowledge replied over her book.

Raven had to grit her teeth inside her mouth before she spoke. "Then why am I here?" She asked a little heatedly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Knowledge replied.

Before Raven could reply, a groan came from her orange cloaked emotion. "Can we just tell her already Knowledge!? Leader bitch is obviously never going to get it unless we flat out tell her, and I'm missing out on nap time with Sloth!" Rude shouted angrily.

Sloth in her brown cloak snored in agreement beside her.

Knowledge let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose between her big round glasses. "Fine. To put it simply, we dragged your mind out of your dreams into Nevermore so we could talk face to face." She said tiredly.

"So technically, this is a dream?" Raven asked.

"Yes. In a sense. It is." Knowledge said.

"Why not just talk to me from my mind like you normally would?" Raven asked.

"Because it's something really important silly! So we wanted to talk to ya face to face!" Happy said in a giggling voice.

"Well duh! We all ****ing know that pink!" Rude bellowed at her.

"Why is everyone being so loud?" Sloth groaned out on her rock.

"Did we have to do it with these hard rocky chairs though?" Rage asked in an irritated voice.

"M-Maybe this w-was a-a b-b-bad idea." Timid stuttered as she curled into a ball under her gray cloak on her seat.

"No, this was a great idea!" Brave shouted in her dark green cloak.

"It was better than nothing." Wisdom commented in her light yellow cloak.

The emoticlones started to clamor over each other. And Raven felt her irritation rising in her. She was about to shout for silence...

"Rage shall consume you all!" Rage suddenly bellowed as she floated above the crowd.

Everyone instantly stopped talking and yelling to look at her in fear. Even Raven looked at the emoticlone a little wide eyed. But then Rage smirked widely, and chuckled a little bit. She floated back down onto her seat, finding a different position in it to sit.

"Sorry. Couldn't resist doing that. But now that we're all nice and quiet, Knowledge, if you would."

Knowledge was silent for a moment more. "You know, that was quite evil of you sister."

Rage rolled her four eyes. "Yeah yeah, I can't help it if I need to fulfil my demon side every now and then. Blah de blah de blah. Now can we please get to why we brought Raven here before she wakes up from her sleep and we miss our chance to make sure she actually listens to what we're saying?"

Knowledge sighed again, but then looked to Raven again. "Alright. I guess there's no use in delaying this any longer. No matter how uncomfortable it might make you to talk about it."

Raven stayed silent, waiting for Knowledge to speak. "We brought you here because we need to talk about-" Knowledge was saying.

"Beast Man! We want to talk about-" An emoticlone hidden behind Brave shouted.

Brave instantly turned around and gagged the hidden emoticlone. "I'm sorry about that, carry on please." Brave said to Knowledge before she began to whisper angrily to the hidden figure.

"As I was saying. What we wanted to talk to you about was-" Knowledge was saying.

"Beast man?..." Raven interrupted.

Knowledge groaned to herself. "Wait, you all want to talk to me about Gar, don't you?" Raven blandly asked.

A collective sigh was heard all around at the name. Raven thought at first that it was a sigh of annoyance or somewhere along those lines, but instead she saw a smile spread along all of their faces instead of frowns. Even Knowledge was smiling a little now. The look of irritation had come off her face.

"Yes. He is the person we wanted to talk to you about." Knowledge admitted with a small blush.

Raven's left eyebrow raised. "Okay… What is there to talk about our friend that you guys haven't screamed at me about for the last month?" Raven asked.

"Well Raven. That is because the topic of today, that we haven't spoken to you about involves a couple things. One being our growing attraction to our 'friend.'" Wisdom said with emphasis.

"Growing attraction?... to Garfield... you're kidding, right?" Raven asked monotonously.

Knowledge's small smile disappeared. "We're dead serious Raven."

"Completely." Rude said after her.

"... Nah, this has to be another one of your riddles." Raven said.

Knowledge stood up from her seat then, her book held to her side. "No Raven. This is me, being as straight up as I can possibly be. Your feelings for our 'friend', have grown. To the point where I can tell you we have fully ventured out of what would be considered crush territory in our mind."

Raven shook her head. "No, you have it wrong. I know I still like him as a crush. But I don't, like like him like that. That's impossible." Raven said quietly.

"You don't sound sure of yourself Raven. Are you really sure we might be lying to you?" Happy pointed out this time. Her voice curious.

Raven's face hardened. "Yes, I am sure. Hell, I am absolutely positive about it. I already said once I'd never act on those feelings for him. So it makes no sense that I would have my feelings for him grow when I'd never act on them. No more. End of subject. Next." She growled out.

None of the other present emoticlones spoke.

"Funny you should say that."

An emoticlone that had been behind Knowledge stood up from her rock. Raven didn't recognize her at first, since her cloak had taken on a darker shade of purple than before. Then she turned around to face Raven, and she saw the same soft look on her face that was almost always there.

"Because your body tells me another story entirely." The emoticlone said softly.

"Affection?" Raven asked.

She softly smiled. "Yes Raven."

Raven felt a lump form in her throat. Why did Affection look so… different? More, powerful. That couldn't mean they were right, right?

"Um… uh… what do you mean… I'm the master of my own mind... I mean I was right about it still being only a crush… I have to be right... right?" She asked her emoticlone.

Affection shook her head, and Raven felt the lump fall into her gut. "You can already tell how I look different Raven. I'm more powerful, stronger, and that doesn't come from having feelings fade away." Affection spoke in her soft, yet powerful voice.

"B-But I th-thought I kept it under c-control-" Raven was stuttering.

"It doesn't matter what our minds might think Raven. It isn't the convictions of the mind that settle our feelings. Rather, it is our hearts that will choose for us in the end. And right now, your heart is calling out for Beast Boy. " Affection said in a soft wise voice.

Raven felt herself take a step back, as what Affection said rang true in her mind. She felt like the carpet had been taken out beneath her feet. She fell back into another emoticlone. The gray cloak showed it was Timid.

"W-Why d-d-did I ch-ch-choose him s-so qu-qu-"

"I know big sister, I was s-scared of it wh-when I first found out t-too. What if h-he was to h-hurt us? Or be hateful th-that we didn't r-rescue him sooner. I had a-all these d-doubts on this t-too." Timid whispered quietly, but comforting to Raven.

Raven looked back at the shy part of herself. Though she was shy, she didn't look scared right now. "But he doesn't hate us."

Timid let go of her. "Yes. I found that those doubts of mine that tried to fill my mind had all been unfounded from your memories. So I did the hard thing for myself, and I accepted it." She simply said.

Raven looked back to her. She hadn't stuttered once when she spoke. Raven looked all around, and saw all of her emoticlones nodding their heads. Even Rude was nodding hers.

"We cast a vote earlier leader bitch. And we all agreed that we're ready to put that ****ing dragon and what that monk did to us into the waste dump of our memories and move on with our abnormal lives." Rude said.

"We're all ready to move on Raven. I am done with grieving over that vile dragon. And with Lust back, you have proven to yourself that you are ready to move on from your past. We all want to move on. Your body is ready to move on. So the question is, why aren't you?" Affection asked.

Raven was silent. "It's just… I still see him as..." She was saying.

'What do I see him as?… An annoying little green brother? Sure, he can still make me want to send him to hell at times. And I think he might have pulled a prank or two since we left the Tower... But… he's also been… nice, and kind… and oddly mature for himself... but...'

"Do not worry so much Raven." Raven looked to the emoticlone who had spoken. It was Affection.

"What?" Raven said confused.

"We can all hear what you're thinking Raven... I believe Knowledge told you that once before. What I wanted to say though was that you don't have worry so much about what you think of him now. It will reveal itself to you in time if you merely study how you react to him." Affection said.

"But if I'm growing more attracted to him, than shouldn't I know about the why now?" Raven asked.

"Perhaps… or perhaps not." Knowledge said.

There was the riddle she had been waiting for.

Raven still groaned when she heard it though.

"Again, it feels like you're keeping things from me." Raven said to herself.

"We are. Since as I've told you before, there are some things you need to discover for yourself. The fact that you are becoming more attracted to him was important for us to tell you, since it affects your psyche along with ours. But as to how you think about him, if we were to tell you all that now, you would downright reject it, or try to block out your feelings like before." Knowledge said.

"And what's to say I won't do that again if you don't tell me?" Raven said irritably.

"Because you've become too dependent on him to do that." Knowledge said.

Raven was silent for a moment, confused on her words. "Dependent?"

Every present emoticlone nodded their heads. "Why do you think we've been so darn happy as of late!" Happy yelled happily before doing a twirl in her spot.

"Or why we haven't been as sarcastic and rude lately." Rude said after Happy.

"Or why we kicked that evil blonde bitch's skinny ass for hurting our brave courageous Gar!" Brave shouted next.

"Or why I'm not as sh-shy as before." Timid said quietly.

"That's also why we stayed near him after his capture, despite the risks of us getting caught for staying in the manor." Affection added on.

"He's even gotten you to laugh a couple times! I mean c'mon, we never laugh at anything!" Rude shouted.

Raven was again silent for a moment. Considering their words.

"There are many more examples we could pull up. But they all point to one thing Raven." Wisdom said.

"Whether you want to admit it or not-" Knowledge was saying.

"Okay." Raven spoke.

"The more we've been around him, the more you've been expressing all of us. And to just cut us off like that would… wait, did you say okay?" Knowledge said in surprise.

Raven shrugged her shoulders. "You guys brought up to many facts for me to try and refute them. I have to agree that I have been growing more… attached to him in more ways than one. Even though I don't know why."

"Oh, I can think of another way that we'd like to be attached to him-" The voice behind Brave's cloak started to say again.

Brave instantly turned around again to slap a hand over the hidden emoticlone's mouth. "Shut that trap or I'll keep it shut for you, with my fist." Raven heard Brave whisper to the emoticlone.

Raven raised her left eyebrow at that. "Anyways, as I was saying, you guys are right. Even though the monks and Azar would frown down heavily on my recent behavior, I have been letting myself express you guys to Gar more and more. I've been meditating less and less than I have been in the past couple weeks. It's like I need to spend more time with him that isn't training. Be it just watching him draw, or playing a round of stankball with him. I need to be around him. I just didn't really think much on it till now."

Raven paused for a second, as if she was pondering her next words. A small smile came onto her face. "And I just can't cut all that ground I've gained back, now that I've seen there are ways for me to express you all. That would just be cruel to you on my part. And it would be cruel to Gar in turn if I just closed him out again without telling him why."

All the emoticlones gaped at that. Was this really the Raven they had spoken to almost a month ago? That one had been so defensive and closed off. And now...

"My my, you really have matured on us Raven. I'm surprised." Knowledge said in a calm tone of voice.

Brave let out a loud 'whoop whoop' after that. "I don't believe it! You're finally admitting that you're accepting us to our faces! That takes some serious balls Rae!" She screamed in utter happiness.

Timid said nothing. But she was smiling a little under the hood of her cloak.

"Well, this was unexpected. But not unwelcome." Rage said in an odd tone of voice for herself. But she was smiling when she said it.

"Does this mean she'll actually nap more?" Sloth groaned out in her chair.

"Yes! Azar ****ing yes!" Rude shouted to the abyss around them.

"Mmm! Mmmmmm!" A muffled voice behind Brave spoke.

Raven tried to keep herself as calm as possible at seeing all of her emoticlones being so happy with what she had said. But on the inside, she felt their happiness licking at the edges of her own psyche.

'I really have started to become one with them. Maybe this will help to strengthen me for the challenges ahead.' Raven thought to herself.

Even though Knowledge heard the thought, she didn't comment on it. She merely smiled to herself a little wider, and put down the memory of what had happened on a blank page in the book she was still holding.

"So you mean you'll always allow yourself to smile around BB!" Happy screamed enthusiastically as she felt all her sisters using her.

Raven dropped the smile at last when Happy spoke. "No, I still won't smile all the time. I have a reputation to uphold as the Dark Titan. And no, since I know you're going to ask, I will not wear pink either. Blue is still my favorite color." Raven said monotonously.

Happy sulked in her spot, while Rude was smiling widely. "Way to tell her off sister." She told Raven.

Raven smirked back at Rude. "I may have had practice with that once before with someone." She said to her.

Rude laughed at that. She still remembered the time all too well. "Good one!"

Raven chuckled a little more. And all the others chuckled with her.

"So Raven, we were wondering if-" Wisdom had been starting to say.

Then Raven started to feel drowsy. Extremely so. She staggered on her feet, trying to keep her balance. Brave reacted quicker than the others and moved forward, getting to Raven just before she fell. She helped to set her down gently on the rocky ground.

"What's going on with me now?" Raven asked tiredly.

"You're starting to wake up girl." Brave said sadly to her.

Raven groaned to herself. "What do you mean? If I was waking up, wouldn't I feel better?"

Knowledge came forward to look down at her. "You have rested a little bit now. However, you need much more rest after all the energy you've expended. The past few days really took it out on us."

Raven sighed to herself. "So I guess that we're done for now?" Raven asked.

Rage appeared over her face. "Yes. You have made more leaps and bounds today than we thought possible." She smiled. "I'm happy to cut it off here before we jinx anything."

Wisdom also appeared, smiling above her. "I guess that I'll have to wait until you recover a little bit before I ask my part."

Raven rolled her eyes at that. But then felt her eyelids drooping.

"Whoa! Girls, she's escaping!" Brave shouted in the background.

'Who's escaping?...'

Raven closed her eyes, and then her Astral body disappeared from Nevermore. She'd probably find out later.

An emoticlone barreled around Brave to look down at the spot Raven had been. She was dressed in a dark pink cloak,hiding what she was wearing underneath, but her hood was down. Showing a face identical to Raven's, except it had tears running down from her violet eyes.

"No! You all got to talk to her! Why didn't I get to!? I haven't gotten to talk to her face to face in five years!" Lust screamed in her sorrow.

Brave, after a moment, patted Lust's shoulder. "I'm sorry sister. But we were already overwhelming her with what we had to say. We thought if she were to really see you now, she would have had an aneurysm." Brave said to her.

The other emoticlones gathered around their sister. "But… but-"

"Your dirty jokes from before weren't exactly helping your case either Lust." Wisdom said wisely.

"Yeah, we know you just got back today and all that, but c'mon! You didn't even sound like you were trying to think of something other than sex!" Rude yelled incredulously.

Lust sighed to herself. "I can't help it. I haven't been able to attain my form for years. Now that I can, I just wanted her to, feel me again." She said quietly.

"Well sister, it's fine that you want her to feel you. You need to be careful with that though." Knowledge told her in a soothing tone.

"Why?" Lust asked curiously.

Knowledge started to lead her away from the group. So she could talk to her in private. "Let's just say a lot has happened here in the five years that you were gone sister, and a lot of what you know about Raven from before is drastically different."

The two walked off to talk, while a few others portaled away back to their realms. Leaving only two emoticlones standing on the rock.

Rage turned to Affection. "I just realized, now that we no longer have Lust inside us, does that mean we no longer have to… you know…" Was she blushing under her red hood?

Affection smiled softly under her hood. "Well I know I won't have to do it anymore." She said to Rage.

Rage sighed in relief. "Oh thank Azar. That near daily task was really starting to get annoying and embarrassing for me. I just want it to stop until we get the real thing." She said in relief.

Affection's smile became a mischievous smirk. "Oh, I only said I wouldn't have to do it anymore."

It took a moment for Rage to process what Affection had meant, and when she did, she paled. "Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

Affection opened up a portal in front of her. "Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually sister. Hell, maybe by the time you do, Lust might be ready and willing to join your little… sessions."

Affection laughed lightly before she stepped into the portal back to her realm. Rage stared at the spot she had been standing slack jawed.

"You mean… I… still have to… you **********ing piece of horse****!"


Real world

Raven blearily opened her eyes for what felt like the second time that day, and instead of the rocky abyss, she was met with the sight of a white, fluffy, and very comfortable pillow. Instead of rock, all she felt was the soft melting feel of the mattress beneath her. Her mind was also silent for once, giving her a silence that almost felt mythical.

'Azar… how long was I asleep… I still feel like hell ran over me with a vengeance…' Raven thought groggily to herself.

Raven rolled over, buried her face back in the pillow, and tried to go back to sleep. She was still feeling so tired, and she just wanted to sleep all her days away on her heavenly mattress.

Urkkkkkkkk!

Her stomach though, had other plans.

As well as her bladder which she shortly realized soon after.

'Are you kidding me. Can't you two wait a little longer! I'm trying to sleep!' Raven thought in disbelief to her body.

Pain laced through her gut, and a pressure like a thousand submarines was added to her bladder. How long had she been out of it? Raven groaned to herself.

'Alright, fine, I'm getting up. Geeze.'

Raven used her powers to float up off the mattress, and looked around the small jet for the bathroom. 'Wait, is there a bathroom on this thing… I didn't see it before… oh please let there be one. Azar please!'

Luckily, she found a door with the airplane bathroom label on it it near the cockpit. She rushed into it and closed the door behind her.

A moment later, Raven came out. Her face was as calm as ever, but her insides were singing hymns of praise from the loss of all that pressure.

'Okay, what's next?'

Urkkkkkkkk!

'Oh yeah, I have to feed the whale inside me.' Raven thought sarcastically to herself.

Raven started to look around the plane again. 'Um… where is all the food?...' She didn't even know if this jet would be like the ones that have something other than packaged overly salted pretzels or nuts on it.

She looked to the pilot seat. "Gar, please tell me there's food on this… Gar?"

She floated up to the front and looked into the pilot seat. There was no one in it. She looked back to the side door, it was wide open. Letting in a cool, yet not chilling breeze. She looked through the front window last. There was a couple trees in front of it.

Raven facepalmed.

'How in the nine hells did it take me this long to figure out we already landed… I mean c'mon, am I really feeling that groggy?!'

Well, without the sound of the engine running, or the fact that the pressurized door was wide open, you'd think it would have been quite clear to her before.

Raven floated out of the plane, and looked around to try and guess where she was at. There was a lot of trees around her… a lot of them…

'Well, doesn't that just help. Another ****ing forest. What is it with us always being in forests!... wait, if this was a forest, than how the hell did we land here?'

Raven looked behind the plane, begging inside that there wasn't a trail of destruction. She only let out the breath she was holding when she saw that they had merely landed at the edge of a large, mostly flat meadow in the middle of the forest. There was also a dark cloudy sky up above.

As if luck would have it, she saw Beast Boy himself a good fifty feet away from the plane. He had the two small electric stoves out on a large flat rock, and was cooking with pans over both of the stoves. As Raven approached, she was able to see him cooking eggs in one pan, while the other held some… wait... was that… bacon!?

"Hey Rae. You're finally awake." Beast Boy said to her without looking up.

Raven floated next to him, unsure about what to say at first. "How long have I been out?" She finally asked.

"Oh, I'd say about fourteen, maybe sixteen hours." He answered. Raven stayed quiet after that for another moment as he cooked.

'No wonder why I'm so hungry…' Raven thought to herself.

After a moment of silence, Beast Boy took the cooked eggs and bacon off the stove and put them on a plate. He looked up at her then with a smile on his face.

"Here ya go Rae. One nice, hot breakfast from your favorite handsome green shapeshifter." He said.

Raven finally rolled her eyes at him as she took the plate. "I don't know if I'd say you're my favorite…" The smell of the bacon down below hit her nose then, and her stomach did belly flops inside herself. "However, I think a few more strips of bacon might help your case." Raven tried to say as calmly as possible, though the drool almost made her slur her speech.

Beast Boy smiled gently at her. "Of course Rae. All you have to do is ask." He said, before he pulled more bacon strips from an open package by him. Then set them in the pan over the small stove to fry.

Raven was staring silently at him almost the whole time. 'Wait… did he just... put more dead meat on a pan… for me?' She thought in amazement to herself.

For once, she didn't receive a reply from her mind.

She sat down, plate in hand, and started chewing on one of the strips almost mindlessly. Even though she was starving, she didn't want to show it...

However, when the full taste of the bacon had finally registered in her taste buds, she looked down at her plate. At the small pile of delicious goodness.

Urkkkkkkkk...

Her mind and belly were in agreement, as she threw all manners out the window and started devouring all the bacon and eggs as quickly as she could with her hands. Beast Boy's eyes widened at the sight.

"Whoa Rae. Be careful now. You don't want to upset your stomach." Beast Boy said to her with a smile, even though he was starting to feel a little sick to his stomach on the inside.

'Seriously! Why does everyone else like eating dead meat so much!'

'You know master, if there's a majority of people that do or like something, and if you aren't part of that majority of people because of your views. Wouldn't you have to assume that you're wrong?' The Beast asked.

'You just want me to eat meat, don't you?'

'The mighty lion was not a grass eater.' The Beast replied sagely.

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, and then he turned off the stove. 'Just drop it Beast. I'll cook it to make Rae happy, but I won't eat it.'

'We'll see about that master.'

Beast Boy took the pan off the stove, and turned to put the bacon inside on Raven's plate. Only for his eyes to widen in shock.

Raven was licking her plate clean. As in, she had lifted it up to her face, and she was dragging her sharp pink tongue all across it. Getting all of that taste that her body craved. Beast Boy openly stared at her for a few seconds.

"Um, Rae, I made you some-" He tried to say.

Raven snatched the pan from his hand, and moved the plate away to drop all the hot fresh bacon comically into her mouth. Along with a little grease that had been in the pan. She couldn't fully close her mouth over it all, so he was able to see as she chewed every individual strip of dead meat over her sharp canines.

'My eyes!' Beast Boy thought exaggeratedly.

'So beautiful.' The Beast said in awe.

'... I don't know how many times I've said it before. But there is something wrong with you Beast.'

'Says the person talking to a part of himself.' The Beast said teasingly.

'Gah!'

Beast Boy turned away. The vegan friendly breakfast he had made for himself earlier churned in his stomach.

It took Raven a couple moments, but then she had finally swallowed down all the bacon. She set the plate Raven brought her greasy fingers up to her pale lips and started to suck them off.

'Holy Azar that was good.' Raven thought to herself in bliss.

Then she realized she was still licking her fingers, and promptly took them out of her mouth. 'Okay… maybe that's going a little too far.'

She turned to look at Beast Boy, who was facing away from her. He was curled over, and gagging. Raven looked away again.

'Azar, I just grossed out the boy who lived in a dump of a room for three years... I definitely went too far.' She thought to herself.

"Gar, are you okay?" Raven asked.

He shook his head. "No, I just saw my five little piggy friends go down your gullet. I'm going to be sick for weeks." He said exaggeratedly and childishly.

Raven rolled her eyes, but a smirk was playing on her lips. "Hmmm, I actually wonder what a live little piggy would taste like." She said to herself curiously."

Beast Boy looked up at that, his eyes wide with shock. "What!?" He yelled in disbelief.

Raven couldn't help it but to lightly chuckle at his comical expression. "Relax Gar. I was only kidding."

Beast Boy was silent for a second, then he humphed and sat down on the cold wet ground with a pout. "Don't kid about pig slaughter Rae. It's one of the biggest problems in our country today." He tried to say in an angry pouty voice, but failed to hide the amusement that mixed into his voice.

Raven almost laughed at how cute he looked in that moment, but she managed to keep her face straight. She sat down crossed leg an inch above the air across from him, staring blankly.

"Do you mind telling me why you were cooking bacon while I was still asleep?" She asked.

Beast Boy shrugged. "I heard you moving around in there, and realized you were hungry. So I kind of grabbed the first things that came to my hands when I reached into your pouch." He said, pointing at the pouch that Raven finally saw by the two small stoves. Which also had an empty bacon package wrapper, and a carton of eggs.

"How did you know I was hungry though?" Raven asked, a little curiously.

He looked to her and smirked. "Well Rae, it was a little hard for me to tell at first if you were actually hungry, or if your stomach was just practicing a whale's mating call." He said teasingly.

Raven turned red in the face, and she turned away. Beast Boy laughed to himself. She looked so cute when he caught her off guard like that.

"Well, um… thanks for the meal… it was… good." Raven had to say slowly to keep herself from stuttering.

"You're welcome Rae." He said genuinely.

The two were silent for a moment after that, listening to the sounds of nature. Raven thought her mantra to herself several times to help calm herself down during that time. The peace she felt also helped a little bit.

Then Raven finally took a look around herself, and noticed something off.

"Wait, where's all the snow?" She asked.

Beast Boy gave her a blank look for a second, then the spark of realization lit his eyes. "Oh yeah, I guess I forgot to tell you. I landed us just a little west of Seattle. This area doesn't really get cold enough for snow, but it does get quite wet from rains." He said to her.

Raven looked back to him, then to the plane which she barely saw thanks to the reflective surface panels that were still over it. "Why didn't we just land at the airport then? " She asked.

"After seeing our luck over the past couple weeks, I was afraid that I'd end up hitting another plane in the air above the airport." He said while twiddling his fingers.

Raven looked back to him again. "And how do you expect this jet to get back in the air without a smooth runway?" She asked flatly.

Beast Boy opened his mouth to speak, then closed it as his brain worked it through. 'She does have a point master.' The Beast said to him.

Beast Boy finally sighed. "I guess I just wanted to land us as close to the coast as I could." He said.

Raven softened her look. "It's fine Gar. I have an idea to fix our problem anyways. Besides, I'm just glad you got us on the ground in one piece in the middle of the forest." She said in a mostly monotonous, yet sincere voice to him.

Beast Boy smiled back to her. "Alright, thanks Rae."

'Our mate has no clue just how close we were to becoming many pieces.' The Beast said inside Beast Boy's mind.

'Oh shut it, it wasn't that scary.'

'A grizzly bear trying to maul off our face would have been a better experience than that landing master.'

Raven looked at him a moment longer, and then floated back up into the air. Beast Boy got up with her. Raven still felt a little tired, and the warm meal in her belly was making her a little drowsy. Judging by the way the clouds were gathering up above them though, she knew a storm was imminent.

"How far away is the coast Gar?" Raven asked.

"About two miles." He answered.

Raven thought on it for a moment, then nodded her head. "Alright. Let's go."


A moment later

The two stood on the sand of the beach, looking out over the great length of the Pacific Ocean. The clouds up above were even thicker up above here than back where the jet was still parked in the forest. Lightning could be seen over the ocean, though it was too far away.

The two figures recognized it as the incoming storm though. They knew they had to do this quick.

"Alright Rae. Do you know what to look for?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven nodded her head, her hands already up in front of her and glowing black. "Superboy said it was a line of mystic energy from Zatanna on the water. I just have to find out where it is…"

Raven was silent for a moment, letting her powers slowly scan over the surface of the water.

Beast Boy fidgeted in his spot after five whole minutes had passed. He looked up above them at the ever darkening sky. He felt exposed out in the middle of the beach. Sure, he knew the Watchtower wouldn't be able to find them in this area thanks to the clouds. But he felt unsafe out here in the open. So close to the verge of something extremely dangerous.

"Gar, you're messing with my focus." Raven said flatly to him.

"Oops, sorry Rae." Beast Boy chuckled out nervously.

Raven rolled her eyes whilst keeping her powers reach going forward as slow as possible. Being cautious to not miss whatever it was Zatanna had laid out for her and Beast Boy.

"Just stay calm Gar. I know what I'm doing… I think." She said calmly.

Beast Boy remained silent.

In front of her, about twenty yards offshore, Raven finally felt something, almost on the surface of the water. It was so faint, yet so evil, that Raven almost missed and went over it.

Almost.

Raven immediately stopped the advancement of her senses and stilled, as if she was standing on a landmine. Figuratively, that was the case magic wise. One wrong move and her senses alone could activate whatever spell Zatanna had placed.

Beast Boy saw her tense up, and a look of worry came on his face. "Is everything alright Rae-" He started to say.

Raven raised a hand up, silencing him. She took in a deep breathe, then she let it out slowly. Finally, she gently moved her senses back from the spot over the enchanted line millimeter by millimeter. A bead of sweat traveled down the side of her face as she concentrated her mind.

After her senses had moved from over it, Raven let out a sigh of relief. "That was too close." She whispered to herself.

"What was?" Beast Boy asked, looking out over the water for something different.

Raven didn't answer, and instead moved her senses underneath the water. Then she gently prodded forward with them at where the line had been.

She came against a long curtain of shifting energies. The colors of which in her mind's eyes were so ever changing and unique that they almost entranced her. Raven knew though that a line of energy under the water wouldn't be out here for no reason. It had to be a spell of some kind.

Raven used her senses to gently probe it, studying it with an expert eye. She saw how long it extended to either side, how other people traveled over it all along the ocean around the continent without any harm. It was awe inspiring just how long it was, a true aspiration of the mystic arts… but it wasn't a spell, it was only energy. Pure coagulating energy.

It just didn't make sense why this was there, or why it was important. Why put all this energy along the coast if it did seemingly nothing. Yet Raven probed deeper into it, trying to find its purpose.

Then in the middle, she finally saw the reason for all the energy. It was feeding a line of almost invisible dark energy in the middle of it. But this one was different, almost malevolent in her eyes. That was the spell she had been looking for.

It only took that one look, and she recognized it.

Raven's senses snapped back into herself, and she stumbled back from the shock.

"Whoa, Rae. Easy now." Beast Boy appeared behind her. Keeping her on her feet by putting his hands on her sides.

Raven took a moment to relax her mind, and think over what she had seen. She got her balance back, and stepped forward out of Beast Boy's hands. She felt a curious heat gather in the areas where he had touched. A heat that almost made her blush.

"Did you find it Rae? Do you know what's out there?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven nodded her head after a moment, the weight of her discovery drowning out everything else that had happened.

"Yes…" She whispered.

"Sweet. Than what is it?" He asked curiously.

Raven took in a breath to calm herself. 'I guess going off coast isn't an option after all.' She thought to herself.

"I don't know the name… but I do know it's purpose… Gar, we can't go off the coast of North America. Anywhere." Raven said.

Beast Boy took a moment to process it. "What do ya mean Rae?" He finally asked.

"I mean we can't leave this land mass, period. Not through the air, not over the water, not under the ground. Not even by magic. Zatanna… she placed a sort of tracking spell over the water all around the continent. And if one of us were to go over it… then we'd never be able to hide from her again. No matter where we went." Raven said as calmly as she could.

Beast Boy stood in his spot a moment more, digesting what she had meant. Than it hit his mind full force.

"You mean, if we cross that mystical line in any way, we have magic trackers placed on us?" Beast Boy asked shocked.

Raven nodded her head, a tear was forming in her eyes. "Yes… and that means we won't be able to save your old family either Gar. Since they're in South America." Raven said quietly.

Beast Boy was still for a moment more.

Then he turned around, his face on the verge of falling apart. He fell onto the beach and started beating his fists into the sand. Even though he hadn't really thought much on it since the trap, he had still wanted at some point to save his old family. Maybe see if they could still provide him and Rae some form of safety. Now, to hear that that option was a death sentence for him and Rae.

'Master…' The Beast trailed off unsurely inside his mind. Worried about all the images Beast Boy was thinking about simultaneously.

Beast Boy just wanted to scream out his frustration. To take out his anger on something other than this malleable, yet unmovable sand beneath him. He wanted to… to...

Beast Boy felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned around to see Raven up close to him. Almost a foot away from his face.

She said nothing, but bent down and pulled him in for a hug. After a moment, Beast Boy wrapped his arms around her as well. His sudden burst of anger started to diminish, and he silently shook against her. Refusing to cry this time in front of her.

"It's going to be okay Garfield." She said.

"How can you be sure?" He croaked.

Raven took a moment to answer.

"Because we're heroes Gar. Things might seem down for us at times, our lives might seem like hell against a greater enemy, but we always find a way. No matter how high the odds are stacked against us. We find a way to fix it. I promise that we'll find a way to save your family." Raven said gravelly, just like her voice normally was. Yet Beast Boy was still able to detect the sincerity in it.

He finally smiled, and let the images in his mind go. Raven sat down on the ground next to him, still hugging him. A part of her didn't seem to want to let go.

"Alright." He whispered to her.

There they were, hugging it out on the beach.

Beast Boy felt something in him. Something that wanted to cup Raven by the cheek, to bring her face closer to his. For… what? In his mind, he wasn't sure why, but he slowly brought his head back to look at her face. Her pale, round, yet beautiful face. She looked back into his. His hand was unconsciously starting to raise itself...

Ksssch!

The sound of thunder appeared in the distance, and the two quickly separated at the sound. Twin blushes were appearing on their cheeks at the thoughts that had been going through their minds.

They both looked away at ocean again. The beautiful, yet unreachable ocean. That had the signs of a storm appearing just a mile away. Another flash of lightning appeared in the distance.

Ksssch!

No more than three seconds later, the sound of thunder hit them again.

Well, there went another moment.

Beast Boy took in a deep breath, trying to relax his racing heart. Raven did the same thing beside him.

'Holy crap… did I almost... kiss Raven?' Beast Boy thought to himself.

'We were so close…' The Beast said sadly inside his mind.

'Beast, was that you who did it?' Beast Boy thought to himself.

'No master. I was doing nothing there.'

Beast Boy realized it then. 'I… I wanted to kiss her.' He thought in awe.

The waves crashed more strongly on the beach, and a strong breeze started to come in from the ocean.

'I wanted to kiss Raven… Beast wasn't forcing me to do it… and I didn't want it out of lust… I wanted to do it because I… wanted it… like a lot.'

The Beast smiled inside his mind. But didn't speak for once.

His features calmed, as if he was slowly changing on that beach in the face of the storm.

'Did she, perhaps, want to kiss me too?… ' Beast Boy thought to himself.

Ksssch! Plip plop Plip plop...

Beast Boy's thought processes stopped at the sound of more thunder and the rain coming down in front of them. 'I'll think on it later.' He thought to himself, and then he turned to face Raven.

"Let's head back." He said to Raven. Before he morphed into a cheetah and ran back into the forest.

Raven stayed in her spot a moment more, looking at the rain hitting the ocean.

'What do I do now?'

She turned around and floated back into the forest. That one thought ringing in her mind.


Author's Notes:

Well, second to last chapter I'm going to be able to do. Next chapter is going to tie up this part, and set up for Part Two.

I have several ideas for what to wrap up, but I'd like your guy's thoughts on what you all want to know as well. The Doom Patrol's fate? Kid Flash and Artemis? The third party in this? Etc.

Hopefully I can fit it all in.

Till Next Time

Allen