This is it cats, the final chapter of "A Little Fear.." I hope the ending's
to all of your likings, but if not, hey, what can I say, I tried. Thanks a
lot for reading and reviewing, since this was my fist fic, it really meant
a lot to me. Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing this story, so I've decided
to do a sequel. I can't promise when, but I'll get it up here as soon as I
have most of it worked out in my head. This one took a little under a week,
so hopefully I'll have the same luck with the sequel. Anyway, here we go,
Chapter 8, the last chapter.
It had been two weeks since Robin left the Titans. To make it worse, it had been two SLOW weeks. No meta-human activity, no super-villains or arch enemies. Just a few robberies here and there, two-bit crooks with pistols and knifes. One of the robberies turned out to be just two kids with water guns, hopped up on some new drug.
The Titans themselves were managing, as best they could. Beast Boy did his best to try and lighten the mood here and there with a joke, but he was reasonable about it. Starfire wasn't necessarily full of her usual energy, or flitting about, but she had, more or less returned to normal. In Robin's absence, Cyborg had taken over as the team leader, and was doing his best to keep his team's morale up. Most of the team anyway.
It had been two weeks since Robin left, and two weeks since Raven had last left her room. It's not as though she wouldn't have helped the team with the robberies, they just never called on her. Three super-powered crime fighters were more than enough to handle two armed robberies and one not-so armed one. Raven's friends didn't feel like they needed to bother her for that. Starfire and Beast Boy would visit her now and again, just to see how she was doing. It always ended the same way though, she would tell them she was fine, and kindly ask them to leave. Cyborg brought her meals to her, and she thanked him warmly each time, but still didn't feel like talking to him about her feelings.
Raven used her time alone to make up for lost meditation, and to try and catch up on some sleep. She didn't have much trouble meditating, and in no time, had her powers and emotions under control, and seemingly back to normal. Sleep however, did not come so easily. Raven would lie awake for hours, wondering when her love would return.
Her bed had always been the most comforting place Raven had known, but now, it felt different. It felt...empty. The warm embrace of her blankets and sheets used to be enough to lull her into a blissful sleep. Now, her blankets felt cold in comparison to the warm embrace she longed for. Robin's embraced. She wished he could be lying there with her, and until he was, her bed would continue to feel empty.
Raven sighed, she missed Robin and this was a big deal, because, other than her mother, Raven had never really missed anyone before. The Titans were the only people she ever allowed herself to get close to, and even still, Robin was the only one she ever truly let into her heart. And Robin was the only one to ever leave. For the first time in her life, Raven felt what it truly meant to miss someone she loved, and it was not an easy thing to do.
It was near midnight, and it was raining outside. Raven sat on her bed, she had already given up on sleep for the night. Her lights were off, but she kept the room alit with candles. She found that in the absence of light, she seemed to miss Robin even more. Raven reached over to her nightstand and opened the middle drawer. She searched around inside it, until she pulled out an object wrapped in velvet.
It was a different object though, this one was flat, and rectangular, and the velvet was purple instead of black. Raven unwrapped the object. It was a picture, in a thin, simple frame. There was a Christmas tree in the background, and in front of it, was Robin. He was wearing a Santa hat on his head, and smiling a big goofy grin. He had his arm around Raven, who was looking rather disgruntled. Her arms were folded over her chest, her hood was up, and what little of her face you could see, was in a scowl. Hanging above them, was a bit of mistletoe. Raven smiled a soft, sad smile as she looked at the picture. It was taken on the Titan's first Christmas they spent together, and although she never showed it to anyone, it was her favorite picture. In fact, it was one of the only ones she kept.
As she stared at the picture, Raven found herself thinking back to the time that she actually fell in love with the masked hero. She remembered it well.
It was two days after Cyborg and Beast Boy had traveled into Raven's mind, and she was still feeling exhausted from the ordeal. She had locked herself away in her room, not wanting to deal with any of the others while she tried to pull herself back together.
Cyborg had pretty much kept to himself, when it came to what happened the other day, but Beast Boy on the other hand, did not. After hearing the story told at least three times in excruciating detail, Robin started to worry again, and decided it would be best if he went to check up on Raven. He gathered up his courage and walked down the hall, towards her room. When he got there, he hesitated once more, and then knocked. He had always respected Raven's privacy, and never bothered her while she was alone before, but this time, something inside him just wouldn't leave him alone until he did.
"Go away." Raven said through the closed door.
"Raven, it's me. I need to talk to you, it's important."
The door opened slightly, and Raven stood in the small crack she had made between her door and doorway. "Ok. What is it?"
"Uhm...Raven, don't you think this is kind of...awkward? Think I could maybe come inside, or something?"
Raven sighed, "Fine, whatever." She muttered, and let him in.
Robin looked around, it was the first time he had ever seen the inside of Raven's room. He thought it would be gloomy and depressing, but instead... 'This is...kind of nice.' He thought.
As she watched Robin stand there and look around her room, Raven started to get annoyed. "I thought you said you wanted to talk. So start talking."
Robin snapped out of his trance. "Er... Right! Well, first off Raven, I wanted to see if you were doing alright, you know, after what happened the other day and all."
The girl sighed, "Is that ALL you wanted to say Robin? Because I've got a lot of meditating to do and I really don't need to be wasting my time with your idle chit-chat."
"No, I, I mean, that's not the only thing I have say. The other thing is, well, it's like this Raven. Ever since we fought the Puppet King, and you and Starfire switched bodies, you've been more...open, I guess, to her. And then now, after this thing with Cyborg and Beast Boy, you seemed to have opened up to them too. As the leader of this team, I've always felt that I really need to...know my teammates, before I can really trust them with my life, and the lives of the rest, you know? I mean, before all of this, the distance you kept between yourself and the rest of the team didn't really bother me, I just assumed it was the way you are. But now that you've opened up to everyone else...it just made me realize how much I don't know you. At all. I guess I'd just feel...better, about the whole situation, if we...kinda, got to know each other more."
Raven looked at her team leader. She sighed, but not an angry or annoyed sigh like before. It was a pretty reasonable thing to ask, there was just something about Robin that made it difficult for her to start. Luckily, he picked up on it, and she didn't have to.
Robin saw the doubt in Raven's eyes and said "Why don't I go first?" Raven nodded, and then, suddenly, her eyes went wide. Robin did something she never expected him to do.
Robin brought his hands up to his face, and slowly peeled off his mask. "My name," he said "Is Richard Grayson..." He told her everything, his parents, the circus, he even told her about Bruce. He wasn't planning on it at first, he swore he'd never tell anyone Batman's secret, what kind of sidekick would he be, if he did? But there was just something about Raven. He knew the secret would be safe with her, and he found it...easy to tell her.
Raven was surprised. She never thought the 'Boy Wonder's origin would be so...dark. She looked into his eyes, they really were nice. She was starting to feel a connection to Robin, something she had never felt before. But now it was her turn. "My mother," she started, "was a woman named Arella. My father...was a great demon, named Trigon the Terrible."
When she finished, she had tears running down her face. She looked up at Robin, and saw tears in his eyes too. His beautiful eyes. He slowly reached over, and wiped Raven's tears away. Then he lifted up her hand in his own, and said "Rae...you're amazing. You're the strongest person I've ever known." He gave her a warm smile. "And I know Batman. AND Superman." She smiled at him, not only for saying she was strong...but he called her "Rae". He had never done that before. She liked it.
'Maybe,' Raven thought, 'it wouldn't be so bad to open up to these guys after all.'
A tear fell onto her picture, as Raven slowly came out of her memory and back to reality. Picking up a corner of her blanket, she carefully wiped the tear off the glass, and put the picture up on her nightstand. 'Maybe I should try and get some sleep after all.' She thought. Raven blew out her candles and wrapped herself in her blankets.
The rain was really coming down now, and it helped put Raven to peace. She was just about to drift off to sleep, when she felt another presence in her room. Powers flaring, she quickly sat up and shouted "WHO'S THERE?!"
"Relax, Rae. It's...it's just me."
"...Robin?" Raven reached over, and lit the closet candle to her. Sure enough, standing over her bed, was her lover. Robin. She leapt from her bed and into his arms. "Rich...I've missed you so much."
Robin smiled as he brought his love in for a kiss. She was the only one who called him "Rich". Everyone else on a 'real name basis' with him just called him "Dick", but mostly "Robin". He never minded being called "Dick", hell, when he wasn't being Robin, he'd even introduce himself that way. But for some reason, the nickname never really sat well with Raven. She'd only call him that when she was joking around with him, in that icy sarcastic tone of hers. "I missed you too Rae...and I'm sorry. Sorry for leaving you like that."
"Where did you go?"
"Back to Gotham. I needed to get my mind straight, but still, it was a cowardly way to do it. Believe me, Raven, I feel awful."
She smiled at him, "I knew you'd come back. I waited for you."
Robin smiled back, "I knew you would. But this is the last time you'll ever have to wait for me. Because I swear to you, Rae, I'll never leave your side again."
The two Titan's embraced as if it were their last, neither ever wanting to let go. "C'mon Wonder Boy," Raven said, "it's getting late. Lets get some sleep."
Robin smiled, and kissed her, as they both climbed into bed. "Rae?"
"Mmmhmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Robin. Now go to sleep."
They both smiled, and laughed softly. Robin leaned over and kissed his girlfriend again before pulling her close and drifting off to sleep.
When Raven awoke, there was no sun shining brightly in her face, no knocking on her door, and no guilt to cause her to panic. For once, she was able to wake when she was fully rested, and enjoy the feel of her lover's embrace.
"Morning, beautiful." Robin said as he saw Raven open her eyes.
"Mmm. Morning. How long have you been awake?"
"I don't know. Half an hour maybe."
"And you just stayed here?"
"I didn't want to wake you. Plus, you're really cute when you're sleeping."
Raven laughed, "Oh, so what are you saying? That I'm hideous and grotesque when I'm awake? I'd better go back to sleep then!" And she pulled the blankets off of Robin and over her body.
"Hey!" Robin laughed, "Gimme that back! And get out of there!" He got on top of the blanket-lump and gently started to wrestle with it.
"Mmmfgh!" it said.
"What was that?"
Raven poked her head out from the blankets, "I said, No!" and then quickly drew it back in.
"Well, fine. There's more than one way to get those blankets off of you."
"Oh yeah?" Raven asked, once again poking her head out from her blanket- cocoon, "And what's that?"
Robin extended both of his arms out at her, and started wiggling his fingers. "Azarath, Metrion, Xinthos!"
Raven stared at him in utter silence before breaking out in a fit of laughter. She unwrapped herself from the blankets and climbed on top of her boyfriend. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"...So, you know, these past couple of weeks, I haven't really left my room. The guys have been checking up on me now and again, but they don't really bother me if I don't answer them when they knock."
Robin raised an eyebrow at her. "So...what are you saying?"
"Well, the Titans don't know you're back yet, right?"
"Yeah."
"So they won't be looking for you. And, well, they'll be leaving me alone so..."
"So what you're saying is, we can stay here all day and no one will bother us?"
"Exactly."
"Sounds great, Rae."
"One more thing though, Robin."
"What's that?"
"Remember what I told you, that night before you left? About taking it slow?"
"Of course I remember Raven, you don't have to worry about that."
"Yeah well, we do need to take things slowly..." Her low, monotone voice had that sultry tone in it again, "but maybe, we can start taking it slowly...tomorrow."
The End!
(Well guys, that's it. Some of you might be disappointed that I opted for the happy ending, but hey, I LIKE happy endings. But, for all of you masochists out there, don't worry, things aren't going to stay this happy forever. I'll be writing a sequel soon, with a whole crap load of things happening. Phobia returns, and Raven wants payback, but she isn't alone. This time she's got Plasmus with her, as well as newcomer Houngan! All that plus, Starfire and Robin try to pick things up where they left off and build their friendship back, and romance finds...Cyborg? That's right kiddies. All that PLUS the introduction of...Eric Forrester! As much as I like the happy couple, don't expect me to leave them in peace. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review! -JustAnotherMutant)
It had been two weeks since Robin left the Titans. To make it worse, it had been two SLOW weeks. No meta-human activity, no super-villains or arch enemies. Just a few robberies here and there, two-bit crooks with pistols and knifes. One of the robberies turned out to be just two kids with water guns, hopped up on some new drug.
The Titans themselves were managing, as best they could. Beast Boy did his best to try and lighten the mood here and there with a joke, but he was reasonable about it. Starfire wasn't necessarily full of her usual energy, or flitting about, but she had, more or less returned to normal. In Robin's absence, Cyborg had taken over as the team leader, and was doing his best to keep his team's morale up. Most of the team anyway.
It had been two weeks since Robin left, and two weeks since Raven had last left her room. It's not as though she wouldn't have helped the team with the robberies, they just never called on her. Three super-powered crime fighters were more than enough to handle two armed robberies and one not-so armed one. Raven's friends didn't feel like they needed to bother her for that. Starfire and Beast Boy would visit her now and again, just to see how she was doing. It always ended the same way though, she would tell them she was fine, and kindly ask them to leave. Cyborg brought her meals to her, and she thanked him warmly each time, but still didn't feel like talking to him about her feelings.
Raven used her time alone to make up for lost meditation, and to try and catch up on some sleep. She didn't have much trouble meditating, and in no time, had her powers and emotions under control, and seemingly back to normal. Sleep however, did not come so easily. Raven would lie awake for hours, wondering when her love would return.
Her bed had always been the most comforting place Raven had known, but now, it felt different. It felt...empty. The warm embrace of her blankets and sheets used to be enough to lull her into a blissful sleep. Now, her blankets felt cold in comparison to the warm embrace she longed for. Robin's embraced. She wished he could be lying there with her, and until he was, her bed would continue to feel empty.
Raven sighed, she missed Robin and this was a big deal, because, other than her mother, Raven had never really missed anyone before. The Titans were the only people she ever allowed herself to get close to, and even still, Robin was the only one she ever truly let into her heart. And Robin was the only one to ever leave. For the first time in her life, Raven felt what it truly meant to miss someone she loved, and it was not an easy thing to do.
It was near midnight, and it was raining outside. Raven sat on her bed, she had already given up on sleep for the night. Her lights were off, but she kept the room alit with candles. She found that in the absence of light, she seemed to miss Robin even more. Raven reached over to her nightstand and opened the middle drawer. She searched around inside it, until she pulled out an object wrapped in velvet.
It was a different object though, this one was flat, and rectangular, and the velvet was purple instead of black. Raven unwrapped the object. It was a picture, in a thin, simple frame. There was a Christmas tree in the background, and in front of it, was Robin. He was wearing a Santa hat on his head, and smiling a big goofy grin. He had his arm around Raven, who was looking rather disgruntled. Her arms were folded over her chest, her hood was up, and what little of her face you could see, was in a scowl. Hanging above them, was a bit of mistletoe. Raven smiled a soft, sad smile as she looked at the picture. It was taken on the Titan's first Christmas they spent together, and although she never showed it to anyone, it was her favorite picture. In fact, it was one of the only ones she kept.
As she stared at the picture, Raven found herself thinking back to the time that she actually fell in love with the masked hero. She remembered it well.
It was two days after Cyborg and Beast Boy had traveled into Raven's mind, and she was still feeling exhausted from the ordeal. She had locked herself away in her room, not wanting to deal with any of the others while she tried to pull herself back together.
Cyborg had pretty much kept to himself, when it came to what happened the other day, but Beast Boy on the other hand, did not. After hearing the story told at least three times in excruciating detail, Robin started to worry again, and decided it would be best if he went to check up on Raven. He gathered up his courage and walked down the hall, towards her room. When he got there, he hesitated once more, and then knocked. He had always respected Raven's privacy, and never bothered her while she was alone before, but this time, something inside him just wouldn't leave him alone until he did.
"Go away." Raven said through the closed door.
"Raven, it's me. I need to talk to you, it's important."
The door opened slightly, and Raven stood in the small crack she had made between her door and doorway. "Ok. What is it?"
"Uhm...Raven, don't you think this is kind of...awkward? Think I could maybe come inside, or something?"
Raven sighed, "Fine, whatever." She muttered, and let him in.
Robin looked around, it was the first time he had ever seen the inside of Raven's room. He thought it would be gloomy and depressing, but instead... 'This is...kind of nice.' He thought.
As she watched Robin stand there and look around her room, Raven started to get annoyed. "I thought you said you wanted to talk. So start talking."
Robin snapped out of his trance. "Er... Right! Well, first off Raven, I wanted to see if you were doing alright, you know, after what happened the other day and all."
The girl sighed, "Is that ALL you wanted to say Robin? Because I've got a lot of meditating to do and I really don't need to be wasting my time with your idle chit-chat."
"No, I, I mean, that's not the only thing I have say. The other thing is, well, it's like this Raven. Ever since we fought the Puppet King, and you and Starfire switched bodies, you've been more...open, I guess, to her. And then now, after this thing with Cyborg and Beast Boy, you seemed to have opened up to them too. As the leader of this team, I've always felt that I really need to...know my teammates, before I can really trust them with my life, and the lives of the rest, you know? I mean, before all of this, the distance you kept between yourself and the rest of the team didn't really bother me, I just assumed it was the way you are. But now that you've opened up to everyone else...it just made me realize how much I don't know you. At all. I guess I'd just feel...better, about the whole situation, if we...kinda, got to know each other more."
Raven looked at her team leader. She sighed, but not an angry or annoyed sigh like before. It was a pretty reasonable thing to ask, there was just something about Robin that made it difficult for her to start. Luckily, he picked up on it, and she didn't have to.
Robin saw the doubt in Raven's eyes and said "Why don't I go first?" Raven nodded, and then, suddenly, her eyes went wide. Robin did something she never expected him to do.
Robin brought his hands up to his face, and slowly peeled off his mask. "My name," he said "Is Richard Grayson..." He told her everything, his parents, the circus, he even told her about Bruce. He wasn't planning on it at first, he swore he'd never tell anyone Batman's secret, what kind of sidekick would he be, if he did? But there was just something about Raven. He knew the secret would be safe with her, and he found it...easy to tell her.
Raven was surprised. She never thought the 'Boy Wonder's origin would be so...dark. She looked into his eyes, they really were nice. She was starting to feel a connection to Robin, something she had never felt before. But now it was her turn. "My mother," she started, "was a woman named Arella. My father...was a great demon, named Trigon the Terrible."
When she finished, she had tears running down her face. She looked up at Robin, and saw tears in his eyes too. His beautiful eyes. He slowly reached over, and wiped Raven's tears away. Then he lifted up her hand in his own, and said "Rae...you're amazing. You're the strongest person I've ever known." He gave her a warm smile. "And I know Batman. AND Superman." She smiled at him, not only for saying she was strong...but he called her "Rae". He had never done that before. She liked it.
'Maybe,' Raven thought, 'it wouldn't be so bad to open up to these guys after all.'
A tear fell onto her picture, as Raven slowly came out of her memory and back to reality. Picking up a corner of her blanket, she carefully wiped the tear off the glass, and put the picture up on her nightstand. 'Maybe I should try and get some sleep after all.' She thought. Raven blew out her candles and wrapped herself in her blankets.
The rain was really coming down now, and it helped put Raven to peace. She was just about to drift off to sleep, when she felt another presence in her room. Powers flaring, she quickly sat up and shouted "WHO'S THERE?!"
"Relax, Rae. It's...it's just me."
"...Robin?" Raven reached over, and lit the closet candle to her. Sure enough, standing over her bed, was her lover. Robin. She leapt from her bed and into his arms. "Rich...I've missed you so much."
Robin smiled as he brought his love in for a kiss. She was the only one who called him "Rich". Everyone else on a 'real name basis' with him just called him "Dick", but mostly "Robin". He never minded being called "Dick", hell, when he wasn't being Robin, he'd even introduce himself that way. But for some reason, the nickname never really sat well with Raven. She'd only call him that when she was joking around with him, in that icy sarcastic tone of hers. "I missed you too Rae...and I'm sorry. Sorry for leaving you like that."
"Where did you go?"
"Back to Gotham. I needed to get my mind straight, but still, it was a cowardly way to do it. Believe me, Raven, I feel awful."
She smiled at him, "I knew you'd come back. I waited for you."
Robin smiled back, "I knew you would. But this is the last time you'll ever have to wait for me. Because I swear to you, Rae, I'll never leave your side again."
The two Titan's embraced as if it were their last, neither ever wanting to let go. "C'mon Wonder Boy," Raven said, "it's getting late. Lets get some sleep."
Robin smiled, and kissed her, as they both climbed into bed. "Rae?"
"Mmmhmm?"
"I love you."
"I love you too, Robin. Now go to sleep."
They both smiled, and laughed softly. Robin leaned over and kissed his girlfriend again before pulling her close and drifting off to sleep.
When Raven awoke, there was no sun shining brightly in her face, no knocking on her door, and no guilt to cause her to panic. For once, she was able to wake when she was fully rested, and enjoy the feel of her lover's embrace.
"Morning, beautiful." Robin said as he saw Raven open her eyes.
"Mmm. Morning. How long have you been awake?"
"I don't know. Half an hour maybe."
"And you just stayed here?"
"I didn't want to wake you. Plus, you're really cute when you're sleeping."
Raven laughed, "Oh, so what are you saying? That I'm hideous and grotesque when I'm awake? I'd better go back to sleep then!" And she pulled the blankets off of Robin and over her body.
"Hey!" Robin laughed, "Gimme that back! And get out of there!" He got on top of the blanket-lump and gently started to wrestle with it.
"Mmmfgh!" it said.
"What was that?"
Raven poked her head out from the blankets, "I said, No!" and then quickly drew it back in.
"Well, fine. There's more than one way to get those blankets off of you."
"Oh yeah?" Raven asked, once again poking her head out from her blanket- cocoon, "And what's that?"
Robin extended both of his arms out at her, and started wiggling his fingers. "Azarath, Metrion, Xinthos!"
Raven stared at him in utter silence before breaking out in a fit of laughter. She unwrapped herself from the blankets and climbed on top of her boyfriend. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"...So, you know, these past couple of weeks, I haven't really left my room. The guys have been checking up on me now and again, but they don't really bother me if I don't answer them when they knock."
Robin raised an eyebrow at her. "So...what are you saying?"
"Well, the Titans don't know you're back yet, right?"
"Yeah."
"So they won't be looking for you. And, well, they'll be leaving me alone so..."
"So what you're saying is, we can stay here all day and no one will bother us?"
"Exactly."
"Sounds great, Rae."
"One more thing though, Robin."
"What's that?"
"Remember what I told you, that night before you left? About taking it slow?"
"Of course I remember Raven, you don't have to worry about that."
"Yeah well, we do need to take things slowly..." Her low, monotone voice had that sultry tone in it again, "but maybe, we can start taking it slowly...tomorrow."
The End!
(Well guys, that's it. Some of you might be disappointed that I opted for the happy ending, but hey, I LIKE happy endings. But, for all of you masochists out there, don't worry, things aren't going to stay this happy forever. I'll be writing a sequel soon, with a whole crap load of things happening. Phobia returns, and Raven wants payback, but she isn't alone. This time she's got Plasmus with her, as well as newcomer Houngan! All that plus, Starfire and Robin try to pick things up where they left off and build their friendship back, and romance finds...Cyborg? That's right kiddies. All that PLUS the introduction of...Eric Forrester! As much as I like the happy couple, don't expect me to leave them in peace. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review! -JustAnotherMutant)