A scene in which Cyborg comforts his heartbroken sister after the events of 'Spellbound'.
Had he been there two seconds sooner, he'd have known he was interrupting something and promptly chosen to vanish from the hallway. As it happened, when Cyborg rounded the corner, he only saw his target standing a foot away from Raven with his mouth ajar.
In the instant before Cyborg made his next move, he prayed his friend hadn't spouted something as a means of comfort, only to make her feel worse. Whatever the case, the man quickly decided that, after the events of the day, his sister needed a reason to smile now more than ever.
A moment later, Gar was struck down by a steaming mass of dirty socks.
Though he got his smile, it wasn't quite the one he'd expected. When Raven lifted the wad from the boy's head and glanced his way, he was shocked to see her face take on a wicked smirk.
So he played along. They all did.
And Cyborg couldn't quite believe it was happening, but didn't dare question it. If a rowdy game of Stankball was keeping her from her dark, lonely room, he'd happily take it.
He probably should have known it was too good to last.
Raven didn't trust easily as a rule, but had let her guard down and left her heart an open target. That was a wound no fleeting distraction could hope to heal.
The magus spent the night in one of the guest rooms, and when she missed breakfast the following morning, an air of concern buried the kitchen.
"... You think she'll come to training?" the eldest Titan asked no one in particular.
There had been no comment made on the empty seat until then, though all eyes had granted it sad glances throughout the meal. When Cyborg finally voiced their thoughts, they all frowned and looked to one another for answers that none of them had.
"She knows when it is," Robin finally said, pushing around the bacon on his plate and staring into his coffee mug. "If she wants to come, she will."
There was a long pause where they all eyed each other again. Then the room fell back to quiet as each Titan thought on how they wished they could do more.
She was absent from training.
Cyborg was restless as he returned to his room that afternoon and began tinkering with some resistors at his desk. His brows creased as the wires sparked before him, and after ten minutes went by, he found himself dropping his tools with a sigh.
He should leave her alone. But how could he sit there messing with circuits when his dear friend's heart was breaking in two?
He raised his head, stared at the wall before him, then pushed off from his chair. His feet carried him with purpose back to the Common Room kitchen.
When he arrived, only Robin was present, having fixed himself a quick lunch and now scanning through The Daily Jump. Both men gave a simple nod, then Cyborg moved to fill up the kettle at the sink.
Robin said nothing, but watched him from the corner of his mask. The robot usually had one coffee in the morning, then drank water, soda, or juice for the remainder of the day. He looked on as his teammate proceeded to reach for a lower cabinet and pull out a familiar box of chamomile tea.
He didn't have to be a detective to know what was up.
He let Cyborg continue in silence, unsurprised when the honey left the cupboard next, then a ripe lemon pulled from the fruit bowl. It was only when Cyborg grabbed the chopping board and a knife to cut the lemon slices that his leader spoke up.
"Just… don't push her, okay?" he said warily. The knife slid easily through the lemon.
"I won't. Don't worry."
Robin found himself turning back to his paper with a heaviness in his face. He heard the kettle boil and the water pour, a teaspoon clinking a few times against the porcelain rim. Then the lemon and honey was added, the sweet scent sailing past his nose.
Cyborg tensed his shoulders and put the spoon into the sink, before lifting the mug and turning back to the exit.
"She's on the roof."
He halted then turned to look over his shoulder at his leader. Robin had shifted his paper to one hand and in the other was holding up his open communicator, a small red dot blinking to mark her presence. Cyborg offered a smile and a nod, receiving one back, then made to leave through the large sliding doors.
He tried not to think too much on what might come of this as he ascended the stairs, reasoning that as long as she knew he was there for her, she'd open up when she was ready. He braced also for the possibility that she would not wish to do so at all. And though he felt such a decision unhealthy, he knew he would respect it all the same.
When he stepped out onto the roof, he could see her sitting cross-legged at the concrete verge. He approached with careful steps, knowing she'd have been aware of his presence the moment he arrived.
"Hey," he greeted as he finally reached her side. She hadn't been meditating, as he'd feared. Instead, she was merely gazing out at the horizon through a vacant expression, her hands placed idly upon her knees.
"Hi…" she eventually returned, though if not for his attuned hearing, her voice might've been lost to the wind.
He saw her blink slowly before sitting down at her right, his outer leg folded whilst the other dangled limply over the edge.
"Brought you somethin'," Cyborg said, then held out the mug of tea as though it were a peace offering. "I tried to make it right - let it sit for two minutes and everything. I counted." He tried to sound in good spirits, hoping perhaps some of it might rub off on her, but as she accepted the drink with a sober face, he realised it was a lost cause.
"Thank you," Raven said softly, her slender fingers curling around the warmth of the mug. She had still yet to meet his eyes, easily turning back to the ocean view as a stronger breeze whipped the ends of her hair.
He had had some vague idea of what he wanted to say, but hadn't known his mind would go quite so blank in her presence. A fragile Raven was not something one often saw… How to even enter into a conversation like the one he'd turned over in his mind?
"Anyway, I… just wanted to check up. Y'know. See how you're doin'," he said, a gravity finding his tone. "But if you're… I can just catch you later, if you don't wanna be bothered. Okay?"
As he told her this, he felt himself shift and move to stand. He was halfway, with his hand on his knee ready to push himself up, when he heard her speak again.
"You don't have to leave."
For a second it shocked him still. But he quickly bounced back, returning to where he had been and trying to shake the tension forming across his shoulders. There was a brief quiet with only the distant cry of seagulls overhead.
"So…" He summoned his courage and braced himself. "You wanna talk about it…?"
"What's there to talk about?"
She said it like it was a nothing. It awoke something in him; a fierce need to protect. To comfort.
"C'mon Rae, don't do that to yourself." His frown deepened as he turned to look at her. Both his legs now hung over the roof's edge, and he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "There's a lot to talk about. But only if you want to."
It was a first attempt to reach out. To do what he'd set out to do and let her know he would be there for her through this betrayal, for as long as she'd allow it.
Another quiet swept over them as he waited patiently. He took her in, saw the subtle squint of her eyes as her dark brows knitted. With her next blink, her gaze dropped to her lap, and he saw what looked like remorse touch her pale features.
The next words that left her sounded frayed, as though they'd cut themselves on the shards of her heart.
"It was a mistake," she said. "That's all. It won't happen again."
He wanted to break for her. But she so persistently held herself together, even when he could see the fissures and cracks begin to splinter beneath the surface.
He stared her down a moment longer, then let out a long sigh and followed her eyes to the tide. "Look… I know what you're doing here. But I just want you to know you ain't foolin' me, Rae."
It was bold. Perhaps a mistake. Though, he supposed he'd know for sure in the near future. He ignored the way she peered at him from the corner of her eye.
"You can pretend you don't hurt like the rest of us, but I know you do. And that's okay," he stressed, turning to face her fully, lest his point be missed. "It's okay to let yourself feel hurt. Or mad. Or whatever you gotta feel to heal from it. You don't need to put on a brave face - not for me, not for any of us."
Her lips pressed together as she swallowed, a melancholy ghosting over her.
"I know," she murmured, and it sounded like something might've finally sunk in. He schooled his expression; made a point to lean back and grant her some space.
"So… if this is what'll help, then I'm not gonna pry. I know you can handle yourself," he told her, voice thinning to something gentle. "But if you wanna tell me what went down, then… you know I'm here for you."
She held his stare a while longer, turning the proposal over in her head. He studied her as, slowly, that crease between her brows smoothed and the firm press of her lips gave way to a sigh. She looked ahead once more.
"I just thought that…" The words felt like smoke, slipping from her grasp. "I thought I could trust him," Raven finally confessed, feeling that familiar stab of shame low in her chest. "I thought, maybe… we were the same."
Cyborg's lips pulled to one side. "Like he got you, huh?"
He hadn't been prepared for the look that granted him - her eyes, large and glassy, and a face awash with undeniable hurt.
He thought perhaps no one had ever seen the enchantress so vulnerable before today. A strained noise tore out from somewhere deep in his throat as he hunched forward.
"I'm really sorry."
"It's not your fault," she said. He shook his head, closing his eyes.
"No. I mean… I should've said it a while ago."
The weight in his tone pulled her brows up at the centre. She waited for him to explain, confusion bleeding into her face.
"If you were feeling alone, then I wasn't doin' my job as a friend," Cyborg began, joining his hands at his knees and pressing his thumbs together. Then he swallowed his guilt, bringing his eyes to stare intently into hers. "So don't go thinking this was your fault, 'cos none of this was your fault. Okay?"
She felt the vicious knot in her stomach unravel slightly as understanding passed between them. Her shoulders lowered a touch as another gust of wind rushed by.
"Okay," she breathed, assuaged. He gave a small nod before his features grew tense again.
"I'm not gonna lie to you Rae, it's gonna suck for a while." He knew his sister, and felt she would appreciate someone laying out the truth for her over any kind of sugar-coated coddling. She'd never been one to shy away from reality. "But I'm gonna tell you what I told BB. If you need company, or some distraction, the whole team's got your back. Say the word and we'll all be at some dark café in town debating Chaucer and chugging down tea like it's the nectar of Gods."
A sense of relief sank through him when he saw the subtle lift at the corner of her mouth.
"But if being alone is what you need, you know that's what we'll give you. Just as long as you come back to us soon, 'kay?"
Here, she felt the steady weight of a chrome hand find her shoulder.
"'Cos… we love you. You're our family." A warmth settled in his eyes as he offered her a large, earnest smile.
Where there had been a sense of dread, a vast, dark space where her soul should have been, Raven now felt the first traces of life breathe back into her lungs, like the glow of embers in a hearth.
The tension eased from her frame and she allowed herself a moment to think on the future, where sapphire eyes and papyrus hands would be but a faint memory lost to the past.
She smiled back.
"Thanks, Cyborg," Raven returned. He released her shoulder after a gentle squeeze.
"Anytime."
There was comfortable quiet for a minute whilst the ocean waves lapped at the bedrock below. Raven sipped lightly at her tea. When Cyborg spoke again, his voice had abandoned its gravity in place of his signature mirth.
"And hey." He gave her a nudge with his elbow. "For what it's worth, you can do way better than that creep. I don't care how 'totally dreamy' his la-dee-da accent was. You're smart, and gorgeous, and one of the two most badass chicks in the universe."
The grin he now wore was lopsided, a confident stretch of his lips. It dropped, however, the second he caught that modest roll of her eyes.
"He-heyheyhey— none of that, thank you!" he jeered with animated hands. "You know I'm right, and if ya' don't, you should. I'm just out here preaching the facts." The metal man held his palms out and donned an all-knowing pretence, with high brows, puffed chest, and a lifted nose.
She exhaled sharply, and he allowed for the disapproving shake of her head, knowing by her tone that she'd been reluctantly appeased.
"If you say so," the sorceress said.
They looked to each other once more and shared a fond smile.
Cyborg found himself jerking his thumb behind him, a small turn of his head over his shoulder
"So…" he began coolly. "Looks like you're gonna have that draft a little longer."
Raven too glanced behind, observing the very obvious, gaping hole through the Tower roof. The edges were jagged, and if one looked down, they would see several levels descending to the empath's room. Her lips pulled into an unimpressed pout.
"Robin's working on it."
"Man, he should just leave it to me. I'd get ya' hooked up with some triple insulation, motion sensor spotlights - the works," her friend crowed, leaning back and crossing his arms proudly over his chest.
"Just what I've always wanted," Raven drawled, and Cyborg perked up, not hesitating to throw his broad arm over her shoulders.
"'Eyyy, there's our girl!" he bellowed with a friendly shake, ecstatic to hear that familiar sarcasm drip from her voice.
She was completely helpless to the stubborn smile that tugged at her, shrinking to something smaller when he let his arm fall. Her mouth found the rim of her mug again.
"Any good?" he asked.
"It's not bad," she said honestly. Not bad was certainly a victory in his book.
"Well, alright! Ya' know, I'd do better fixing you up some food, if you wanted to come back inside…" His voice had begun loud but withered to a patient lull as he remembered he didn't intend to push her. His gaze became soft again. "You must be hungry."
She mused on how she'd skipped breakfast that morning, and now with the sun on its descent, she realised how much of the day had passed with her only having drank water and the tea that sat in her hands.
Azar, no person, dragon, or otherwise was worth such self-neglect.
"I'll be in soon," she said slowly. "Just… need ten more minutes."
Cyborg nodded, giving her one last pat to the space between her shoulders as he moved to stand.
"No prob, Rae," he told her. With a new sense of ease, he turned and made towards the door, only stopping to offer his parting words. "Take your time."
Then he was gone from the roof, and she found she was once more alone with the sea.
As another seagull flew by, she let her eyes fall closed and focused on the rhythmic hum of the rolling waves.
She inhaled deeply and the crisp air streamed through to her core. She felt how it fanned at the embers sitting buried in her chest, until they swelled to forge a smouldering flame, setting the darkness aglow.
Perhaps she was different from her friends, but their hearts were the same, and she took peace in deciding that, somehow, that was worth a great deal more.
Author's Note:
I didn't care to make this too complicated. I just wanted to write a quick, wholesome thing that read like a scene taken from the show.
I love that BB came to comfort Raven after the Malchior incident, but I also love Cy and Rae's brother/sister relationship. Just as Raven consoled Cyborg after what happened with Sarasim, it just seems right that Cyborg would've done the same for Raven.
And look, I know she didn't really 'tell him everything'. This wasn't meant to be about that.
It was meant to be about Cyborg trying to make her feel better and let her know that she isn't alone and that they're her friends and they love her and she can confide in any of them whenever she wants to without judgement.
At this point, with it being not even 24 hours after the event, I really don't think Rae would've been ready to pour her heart out to anyone. But in the episode, when she's talking to Beast Boy, I couldn't help but notice Raven focuses less on the 'heartache' side of things and more on the 'he made me feel like I wasn't alone when I felt alone' aspect, and I think that's exactly what made her fall for him.
She was vulnerable and Malchior saw that and took advantage of it.
So yeah, this was more to address friendships being strengthened. Our girl is strong and will heal from her heartbreak naturally. Especially now, knowing she has a family who loves her.