The New Guy
Disclaimer: Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
A/N: Ohhhhh, some of you people are going to kill me for this one… I will accept flames for this chapter, but only this chapter. Well, I know that at least a few of my reviewers will be pleased with this new turn of events. You will know who you are.
Chapter 5: A Raven Uncaged
"Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah, I got her back here no problem. Her condition is stable, and she seems perfectly fine physically… yeah, that's what I thought. I don't know what else there is to do until she wakes up. I put her on the couch for now, and gave her a blanket… because I'm not dumb enough to go in Raven's room without her permission, that's why! Hmm? Oh, I'm fine. I told you the burn looked worse than it really was. Don't worry, I'll stay with her. Happy hunting, Fearless Leader."
Spider-Man closed his communicator, glancing at his charge. Raven was much the same as when he'd gotten her back to the Tower a few minutes ago: out like a light. The Titans had been dealing with some new crook that had joined the school of thought that said Hmmm… I have all of this high tech equipment, so maybe I should use it to rob banks and stuff! No hero could stop me, because all of the other guys the Titans beat were total idiots compared with my brilliance!
Admittedly, this guy had proven fairly competent at his chosen trade. Now, all semi-super villains (crooks who were beyond the scope of what the police could bring down without major backup, but only minor annoyances to super heroes) have some sort of gimmick. Mumbo Jumbo had magic, Dr. Light could, obviously, bend light to his will; this guy used a wide variety of potent gas and chemical weapons to incapacitate his targets.
You'll notice I said incapacitate, not kill. This thief had a few things going for him; first among them was his refusal to lower himself to murder. He also had the advantage of some real smarts, not just technical smarts. He could think through plans, rather then busting in and wondering what was next.
And on top of it all, he hadn't come up with some stupid-ass name as an alias. This, of course, left him wide open for Spider-Man's suggestions (How about Skunkules? Limburger Man? Captain Sweat Sock?).
In any case, this wielder of toxic fumes had thought through a decent escape plan for if and when everything was shot to hell. Which occurred about the same time the smartass in the red underwear had said "So, what's your secret origin? No, really, I'd like to know. Unless it involves gaining superpowers from a serving of irradiated beans. 'Cause if that's the case, then please spare me the details!"
An extremely powerful knockout gas charge to one Titan would leave the others to worry over their fallen friend, providing an excellent distraction. The plan worked better then he hoped, the young heroes too interested in affirming that Raven was alright to notice his flight with two sacks of loot.
Spider-Man had been lightly wounded in the exchange, so Robin had asked him to be the one to take Raven back to the Tower to rest. He naturally agreed, and so there he was, bored out of his mind while the others hunted down the criminal.
Spider-Man silently flopped across a chair, doing his best to not wake Raven. Sure, they wanted her to return to consciousness, but that didn't mean she'd show any mercy to the cause of a rude awakening. He flipped the TV on and lowered the volume, then began channel surfing in a vain attempt to alleviate his boredom.
CLICK!
"And now, we add a pinch of oregano, adding more or less to fit your taste… Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! What? I like oregano."
CLICK!
"We now return to 'Barney Meets the Crocodile Hunter'…"
CLICK!
"So on today's show, our topic is 'Schizophrenic cat-loving librarians with halitosis who think their spouses are cheating on them with their other personalities'…"
CLICK!
"And now for everyone's favorite game show, 'WHERE'S THE LLAMA?'"
CLICK!
"Tonight at eight, 'When Rodeo Clowns Attack'! Don't miss it!"
CLICK!
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
"'Sissy Ninjas' will return in a moment…"
CLICK!
A soft moan from the couch drew Spidey's attention away from the TV. Immediately, he was at Raven's side. "You okay? Need anything?"
Her eyes opened ever so slightly. "Mirror…"
"Uh, I meant more along the lines of something to drink or an aspirin or something, but whatever you say…"
Raven gave her head a tiny shake, and then winced at the pain the maneuver caused her. "My room… take… to room…" She fell silent again.
Okay, this was a new one. Raven only ever mentioned her room in the context of "I'm going to" and "Stay out of." Now she wanted him to take her there? That would require going in, and she had major issues about that. Oh, well.
Spidey gently lifted Raven off the couch, and a moment later set her down on her own bed. "You okay now? Need anything else? Or should I run like a squirrel before you become conscious enough to realize I'm in your room?"
"Mirror…"
"Again with the mirror. Since when do you worry this much about how you look?" There was only one mirror he could see, an ornate hand mirror sitting on the dresser. He grabbed it. "This the one?" A frantic nod. "Well, here you go." Spider-Man held the mirror before Raven's face. She stared into the glass like she would find the meaning of life in its depths, if only she could look hard enough. She reached up weakly, laying her fingers across her reflection-
And then a fair approximation of all hell broke loose. Spider-Man found himself holding a portal to destinations unknown, watching in stupefied horror as Raven disappeared into it. Oddly enough, his spider-sense hadn't spiked, but he was a bit too preoccupied to notice that. He could have sworn he saw what looked like a massive black talon dragging her to… wherever the hell it is you go when you get sucked through a mirror. All Spidey knew was that she probably wasn't in Wonderland.
He set the mirror on the bed, and backed away, not having a clue what he should do now. He could imagine the call to the other Titans now: "Guys! Raven just got eaten by her mirror!" "How many sodas did you have today?" What he didn't know was that two of the others would have understood exactly what happened, as Cyborg and Beast Boy had both been sucked through that same mirror already, and come back a little wiser with regard to why Raven acted the way she did.
Suddenly, the surface of the mirror swirled with a mind-boggling array of colors and shapes, before a pillar of the same dark light that signified Raven's powers surged outward. It seared through Spider-Man's eyes, leaving him with a glittering corona across his vision. It was like looking directly into a light bulb.
As the light receded and finally faded, Spidey could see a blurry form hovering over the bed. As his vision cleared, he saw that it was the shape of a person in a cloak- Raven!
"Raven? Wha…what just happened?! Where did you… why… why are you wearing purple?"
"It's my favorite color," The girl said as she lowered her feet to the floor. That was when Spider-Man noticed the next odd thing about Raven: she wasn't injured. And… was that an actual smile on her face?
"Uh… Raven? Are you feeling okay? You're acting kind of… different."
"Actually, I always act this way. And I always wear purple."
"…"
Pseudo-Raven smiled a little wider. "Kind of slow on the uptake, aren't you, bugsy?"
"You aren't Raven!"
She sat on the bed, kicking back a bit. Spider-Man was astounded by how this imposter was identical to his teammate, yet acted totally different. Why wasn't she setting off his spider-sense? The real Raven had to be in danger… She waited until she was entirely comfortable before answering him.
"Not bad. You are correct, to a certain extent. I am not the Raven you know, yet I most certainly am Raven."
"Would you care to explain that, or should I just skip ahead to full-blown panic?"
"I am one of Raven's emotions taken form. You understand why she does the whole 'emotionless' Goth' thing, right?"
"Because her powers are sensitive to emotion. Any emotional stimulation, and stuff starts blowing up."
"Yeah. But the thing is, you can't be entirely emotionless, it can't be done. That mirror is a portal to the inner reaches of Raven's mind. She's out here, but we, her emotions, exist within there. The separation lets her live without continuously blowing up stuff."
"So why are you here now?"
"That gas grenade was too potent. Raven Prime will be out of it for hours, so we figured somebody should take over while she recovers. I'm Fun, nice to meet you face to face."
"Uhhh… likewise, I'm sure. Wait, fun isn't…"
"Emotion may be the wrong term. More accurately, we're states of mind."
"Oh. That makes sense, I guess… wait, no it doesn't. I'm talking to a mirror image, literally, of somebody who just got sucked into a mirror that is really a portal to that somebody's innermost psyche, and I'm worried about whether fun can be classified as an emotion. None of this makes sense!"
"Who cares?"
"Good point."
"Listen, in a few hours Raven will recover. Until then, I'm here. In the meantime, you want to get something to eat? I'm starving."
##########&&&&&##########
Shortly thereafter, after Raven (for all intents and purposes, that's who she was) and Spider-Man had gotten themselves situated with some sandwiches, Spidey started questioning her a bit more deeply as to how this whole separated mind thing worked. Across the course of their conversation, Spider-Man learned of the unexpected intrusion of Cyborg and Beast Boy through the magic mirror, and the battle against Anger.
"It was our combined might that finally locked anger away. Within the mirror, we can temporarily combine into one being and pool our strength. But if Cy and BB hadn't covered for us, things could have gotten really… bad."
Spider-Man blinked at hearing her use their nicknames, but didn't mention it. "So, it took all of you to beat back all of Raven's repressed anger? Huh. I heard bottling stuff that up was unhealthy, but I didn't realize it could get that out of hand. …Wait a second. You can combine?"
"Yeah. It doesn't last long, though."
"Why not?"
"Well, to tell the truth, I don't know. We rarely need to do it, and it takes a lot of concentration and effort to last even that long."
Spidey stopped to think for a few minutes before speaking again. "In theory, could you do it longer? If you concentrated hard enough?"
"…Maybe. What are you getting at?" Raven was starting to get a bit uneasy.
"Let me ask you something. Okay, so regular Raven blows up stuff when she loses her cool, right? Well, what about the rest of you? Happy, Sad, Angry, does stuff blow up around them? Nothing has while you've been here, so I bet it doesn't."
"You're right so far…"
"Okay, what if one of them were to feel some emotion other then the one they represent? Like if something made you angry, would stuff begin to explode against your will?"
"I would think so. Nothing like that's ever come up."
"But the combined you… a mixture of all emotions… could experience everything without…"
Whatever he was getting at was suddenly cut short by the arrival of the other Titans. While four of them looked pretty pleased with themselves, the leader looked absolutely miserable. Whatever had happened, Robin was not happy with it.
Spider-Man rose. "Back so soon? Did you catch him? And why does Fearless Leader look like somebody told him capes were out of style?"
"Don't call me Fearless Leader!" he snapped.
"Would you rather be Rocky the Flying Squirrel?" It was only after Raven said that (beating Spidey to the punch) that the others realized that something was not quite right with their resident Goth. One quick and rather simplified explanation later, Terra took it upon herself to explain why Rocky the Flying Squirrel was so P.O.'ed.
"Well, we almost had the guy, y'know? Robin was about to grab him, then he turned and used another one of his stupid gasses. Well, whatever it was, it apparently made whoever breathed completely panic. Robin ran screaming. It was hilari… terrible," she quickly amended, noticing Robin's glare. "Well, anyway, Starfire managed to catch the guy. But Robin won't stop sulking. And calling him Fearless Leader kind of adds insult to injury."
Robin muttered a string of curses that would have made a sailor gasp.
Spider-Man sat next to his leader and spoke seriously for once. "Boss, we're you're friends, and we don't care. We don't doubt your bravery. I was a chemistry ace in high school, and I know how easy it can be to screw around with a person's mind. Don't worry about it, okay?"
Everyone stared at him. They had never heard Spidey like this, and between that and the way Raven was acting, things seemed seriously messed up in the Tower. But the spell was broken when spoke next.
"On the other hand, as your friends, it is our sacred duty to make you feel as miserable about this as we possibly can." He turned to Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Come along, Patsy and Concord. I, being the genius that I am, have already devised a cunning plan to annoy the boss." The pair shared a worried glance, but followed him as he left the room. And within a few minutes, the Cyborg's stereo was booming a little ditty from a popular movie loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the Tower.
"Brave Sir Robin ran away,
Bravely ran away, away,
When Danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled
Brave, brave, brave, brave Sir Robin…"
"Okay, I'm really getting annoyed now…"
"Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly, he chickened out.
Bravely taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat,
Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin.
He is packing it in and packing it up
And sneaking away and buggering up
And chickening out and pissing off home,
Yes, bravely he is throwing in the sponge..."
##########&&&&&##########
A few hours later, the original Raven was fully recovered. She remained within the mirror, knowing what would happen when Fun returned to the realm that was their collective thoughts. As soon as she did so, Raven called a meeting of the minds.
"You all know why we're here." Raven was right, they did all know. They shared knowledge, if not personality, whatever the one on the outside did the others knew about.
"Do you think it would work?" Happy asked cheerfully (like she could any other way).
"It's worth a shot," Brave pointed out.
Lazy sighed. "Too much effort."
"Oh, you would say that…"
The conversation went on like that for a while, before Raven and her emotions turned to the one who had thus far remained silent, yet who would be best able to determine if "it" would work: Intellectual.
"In my opinion… yes. Yes, in theory, it could be done. How stable would it be? That I couldn't say."
The minds all turned the original, the Raven in the blue cloak. There was a long silence as she thought. Eventually, she looked up and said quite simply "We'll do it. We have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. It may be a long shot, but I think the payoff would be worthwhile." She sighed. "I want a chance to live a normal life…" she caught the amused looks of the others. "…Relatively normal."
With that decided, the minds conferred and agreed to make their attempt that night. They would have begun then and there, but Raven said she had a few preparations to make before they could start. She left and asked Spidey to make sure the others knew she was not to be disturbed for any reason until she left her room.
The sun was beginning to set when Raven returned to her mirror. She and her emotions gathered into a circle, and the realm within her mind echoed with a droning chant. Azarath Metrion Zinthos…
##########&&&&&##########
Waking up hurt. When Raven regained full consciousness, she found herself in her room; unable to remember how she had gotten there. She looked around, seeking clues as to what time it was and what had happened to her. Out the window, the edge of the sun was peeking above the horizon. That meant it was either dawn or sunset. Raven glanced around her room, and froze as she realized there was someone with her. An unknown individual in a white cloak stood staring back at her from within the folds of a deep hood. Raven raised her arms and summoned her powers to attack the interloper, and only barely managed to stop herself from destroying the full-length mirror that hung on her door.
A mirror… that's me! She was wearing white. Her cloak was white, her clothes were white, there wasn't a shred of the blue she always wore normally. Did Beast Boy try to do the laundry again? Wait, a mirror… Everything came rushing back to her now, the battle, the gas, the time in her mirror realm. What they had attempted. Raven brought her gaze back to the mirror and realized what she was seeing.
Raven sifted through her memories about everything that had happened since they went after the thief with the gasses. She thought about getting gassed, and felt a faint surge of anger. She remembered seeing the others crowded around her before she blacked out, and felt a tinge of sadness at how worried they had been, combined with a vague sense of pride and happiness that they cared.
She considered the uncountable wisecracks Spider-Man had unleashed against the easy target, how he'd easily dodged several chemical sprays while keeping civilians out of the way. She thought about how carefully he'd returned her to the Tower, how he made sure she was completely safe before tending to his own wounds. He'd do that for any of us! she growled mentally, dismissing the errant train of thought.
The sight of Robin's face as he heard the song Spidey had chosen as punishment floated before her mind's eye, and Raven laughed as she thought about his latest prank.
Raven clamped a hand over her mouth and froze. She had laughed. She had expressed emotion, and nothing had been damaged. The hell with that, she had been expressing emotion. It worked. It worked. It worked! More laughter bubbled from between her lips as she realized that the plan she and her personalities concocted had proven successful. She reveled in the alien sound coming from her own mouth. With the greatest effort and concentration she could muster, Raven had joined her other minds into one whole, able to safely experience a full range of emotions. If they were right, she would stay a unified being for an extended period, needing only her normal routine of meditation to maintain the spell.
She didn't need to be the Goth, the ice queen, the stone wall. She could let others know how she felt without fear. And it was thanks to Spider-Man, who had pointed out the one thing all of the Ravens had overlooked: there really wasn't any reason she couldn't combine for more than a few minutes. They had all taken it for granted.
Raven looked out the window again. The sun had disappeared, meaning that it was late evening. Wow, that didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would… Raven suddenly realized how hungry she was, but decided to change into one of her many blue cloaks before venturing out. After all, she should really ease her friends into the new her. Appearing before them acting cheerful and wearing white would probably inspire a round of heart attacks.
##########&&&&&##########
All activity stopped as Raven entered the living room. She looked at the lounging Titans, and they stared back at her wide-eyed. Ease them into it. Act normally for now. She rolled her eyes. "What did Spider-Man tell you?"
"That anyone bugging you in any way for any reason would end up with a webbing enema."
"…Right. Well, I'm glad he got the message across." I bet he meant it, too…
"You're glad?"
"…It's an expression." Close one.
Starfire gave her a curious look. "Friend Raven, is all well?"
"Uh… wh-why do you ask?"
"It has been three days since you last left your room. Are you certain all is well?"
Raven's jaw dropped. "Th…three days?! I thought it was only an hour or so…"
Robin looked up at her from his seat. "You didn't know? What were you doing in there?"
"…Meditating." In a manner of speaking it was the truth… "Where's Spider-Man? I need to talk to him," she said, hoping to change the topic.
"He went out to the city. Said something about the view reminding him of home," Cyborg answered.
"Oh… I'll go find him. I won't be too long." She grabbed an apple from the fruit basket for the road (Three days without food? No wonder I'm so hungry…).
##########&&&&&##########
It was a big city, and there were many places an individual could remain hidden. Especially if that individual could climb walls with his bare hands. It would be nearly impossible to hunt such a man in the concrete jungle, which of course is the reason Spider-Man had done so well in the Big Apple. He was good at making himself scarce, and it was hard to find him even if he wasn't hiding.
Of course, he'd never been tracked by an empath. An empath who knew his mental signature rather well. And who had, in case all else failed, a communicator with a built-in tracking display linked to the homing devices in all Titan communicators. For Raven, finding Spider-Man was laughably easy.
##########&&&&&##########
The woman was frightened. No, actually, scared witless might have been a better way to phrase it. Her companion (Husband? Boyfriend?) was trying valiantly, but he was no match for a half-dozen street thugs armed with a variety of crude- yet lethal- weapons. A few had switchblades, one had a length of pipe, and one had a gun. A cruddy little peashooter of a gun, but weapon quality was really only a cause for concern when the other guy was armed as well. The goons were demanding everything of value, and were making a few lewd remarks about the woman. This wouldn't end well.
Raven hovered twenty feet above the dark alley where this little urban drama was taking place, ready to plunge in and teach these punks a serious lesson in moral values. The only reason she hadn't already intervened was because she could sense Spidey close by, and she wanted to see him stopping a mugging in action. Reportedly, it was always a good show.
This instance proved no different. The first sign of his presence was his arms snaking out of the shadows, ready to clutch at the heads of two unlucky goons. It was rather amazing that somebody in such a bright uniform could be that stealthy... "At the sound of the gong, the time will be…" He smashed their heads together with a resounding CRACK! "…Time to get into a safer line of work!"
It was over in a matter of seconds. Spidey leapt from his perch in the shadows, landing a kick on a third thug's face hard enough to slam him against the alley's far wall. Three down. Two more lunged forward with pipe swinging and knife stabbing. Spider-Man twisted around the knife and bent over backwards, a move that left the pipe whistling over his head. He snapped one boot up, catching the pipe wielder in the chin with a heavy blow. At the same time, he attached a webline to the knife-fighter's leg, and one jump later the punk was dangling from a streetlight. The last thug turned and ran, not even bothering with his gun.
Spider-Man helped the victims to their feet, checking if they were okay. They thanked him profusely, but noted that one mugger had escaped. "Oh, he hasn't escaped. When they catch me in a good mood, I sometimes like to screw with their heads and let them think they've gotten away. Now, if you could call the police and give them a statement, I'll have the runaway slaphead all gift-wrapped for them by the time they get here." With a hearty shout of "Tallyho!", he fired off a webline and zipped down the alley.
The thug staggered through the maze of alleys as fast as he could manage. His head was turned to watch over his shoulder, which is a really bad idea when the guy who's chasing you is really fast and can swing above you without your notice. The would-be mugger only realized this when he ran straight into somebody's chest, and the guy didn't even stumble back. "Oh, shi…"
"You really ought to watch your mouth." WHACK! The thug was out cold, and a moment later was piled on top of his fellows and bound with silvery webbing.
From her vantage point high above, Raven smiled. He really is good at this.
##########&&&&&##########
Spider-Man sat on the edge of the tallest building in the city, pondering the various mysteries of life. He was rather oblivious to the world around him, his mind a million miles away. So much so, in fact, that he didn't notice as Raven sat next to him, letting her legs dangle over the roof's edge. She found this rather amusing, and leaned as close to him as she could. He didn't react. Approximating where his ear would be, she took a deep breath and… "BOO!"
"GYAAH!" He was so startled that he jumped too his feet… and off the roof. It was like something straight out of an old cartoon, Spidey even managed to look down and see what he had done before he started to fall. Raven leaned over to watch his descent, surprised that he was so high-strung. A moment later he was nearly back up to the roof, muttering loud enough for whoever had spooked him to hear.
"So there I am, plummeting to a squishy doom, right? And then just before I turn into street pizza, I remember that I have these nifty spider powers. And then I save myself. And now I'm going to find out who thought it would be a good idea to scare me out of my tights, and I'm gonna… Raven?"
"Hi! Just thought I'd drop by, but it looks like you have that all taken care of."
"… Oh, I get it. You're another one of Raven's emotions. Why are you here? Is regular Raven in trouble or something?"
"If I was just an emotion, why would I be wearing blue?"
"If you aren't just an emotion, how could you act so cheerful without blowing up stuff?"
"Maybe I took your advice."
"What advice?"
"What you were starting to say when my fun side was in control. A combined Raven could experience a full range of emotion without any problems. You didn't get to finish what you were saying, but I realized you were right. What you said helped me realize the one thing I had overlooked: there was no reason why I couldn't stay combined for a long time. I had always just taken it for granted."
"You mean it? You can feel emotion now?"
"Yes. And it's thanks to you. And… well, I just wanted to thank you for it." She scooted a little closer to him.
"Uh… you're welcome…"
"… I was hoping to thank you properly…"
Slowly, hesitantly, dealing with emotions she had really never experienced before, she drew closer to him. It was starting to percolate through Spider-Man's mind what she had meant by thank, and he shifted towards her. Raven lifted a hand to his face, lightly caressing a cloth-covered cheek. He seemed open to her advances (though it would have helped if she could see his face), so she took the next step. She raised the mask to the level of his nose, and leaned in for a soft kiss. He met her halfway there.
They were both nervous and inexperienced (one being a former ice queen and the other a high school chemistry nerd), but they managed themselves rather nicely. After a few seconds, they drew apart. They just looked at each other. Raven could feel that she was blushing heavily, and Spidey had a fairly goofy grin plastered on his face. She had a feeling that a similar smile etched upon her own visage.
They remained that way for a moment, silent, both of their minds screaming say something you dummy! No words were necessary. At some unseen signal, they both leaned back in for another kiss, this one deeper, longer, a bit more passionate. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and his arms did likewise around her waist. Eventually, the need for air forced them apart. Damn you, respiratory system…
After a long pause, Spider-Man was the first to speak. "Y'know, I may be able to sense actions before they happen, but I did not see that one coming."
"Truth be told, I actually hadn't planned on doing that when I came out here. I was just going to thank you, but you just looked so cute sitting here… and it's not like I have a whole lot of control over my emotions yet." Raven suddenly started giggling, and it seemed she couldn't stop.
"Uh, yeah, I kind of noticed. What's so funny?"
"Sorry, sorry, I… I just realized how silly this is." Spidey's ego deflated a little bit. "That's not what I meant! I mean, I finally can experience emotions safely. I found a guy I really like," she blushed slightly. "And all signs point to him liking me back," He blushed slightly. "I and I just realized I had a make-out session with a guy whose face I've never seen. Not that there's any thing wrong with that, but it seemed kind of funny at the time."
He gave her an amused look (she could tell by the grin) and said "That is kind of funny." He hopped to his feet, careful to avoid falling off the roof this time, and retreated a few feet back from the edge. Raven was worried that she had angered him, but quickly realized he just wanted to be out of sight of anyone below.
"You want to fix that?" He pulled off his mask, revealing his identity for the first time.
Raven gave a soft gasp. She hadn't expected him to do this, but she was glad he had decided to trust her with something of this magnitude. Not only that, but he was damned cute! Soft brown hair that fell past his eyes, and his eyes were a chocolate brown that made her want to melt.
He gave her a shy smile, and stretched out his hand. "Hi. I'm Peter Parker, nice to meet you…"
##########&&&&&##########
They sat there for another hour or so, Raven asking Spidey- no, Peter- about his childhood and life back in New York. He happily complied, telling her about his two real friends from back home, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborne. He told her about his Aunt May, about how he got his powers, and about a few of the villains he had thrashed (and occasionally a villain who had thrashed him). She didn't know it, but he avoided mentioning the death of his Uncle and his vow to never let something like that happen again. He didn't want to ruin the mood.
Raven was enthralled by his tales, and delighted in seeing a side of the team's sarcastic jackass that he rarely revealed. At the moment, though, she was laughing, a phenomenon both of them still found weird. "I still can't believe it. A spider? You got all of this power from the bite of a radioactive spider?"
"Radioactive, genetically engineered, and hopped up on experimental Super-Soldier serum. I'm just lucky it was a spider, though. What if it had been, I don't know, a mosquito or something?"
"You'd just be more annoying then you are now."
"Meany."
"Well, it's your fault."
"Hey, I gave you the idea, but that doesn't mean you need to go around hurting people's feelings."
"I learned from the best."
"Aww…"
"Yeah, Beast Boy is really good at that. Good thing he's around."
"What?!"
"Just kidding, you spaz! You're the funniest guy I know."
"Damn skippy I am."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. "Hey, Raven?"
"Hmmm?"
"Can I ask you a question now?"
"You just did, but I'll give you another." She hid it well, but she was truly afraid that he would ask about her past, a topic that she really didn't want to delve into. (A/N: Neither do I, because I'm no good at making that stuff up)
"What's it like to fly?"
Inwardly, she sagged with relief. "Oh. Well, you would have to ask Star or Beast Boy about that. I don't fly, I hover, and yes there is a difference."
"Maybe, but it still must be incredible to hover the way you do. Hundreds of feet above the ground, only your own force of will to keep you from falling… it must feel awesome."
"Well, it is fun, but the thrill starts to wear off after a while. But what about what you do? Now that's amazing!"
"Huh?"
"When you go webslinging! Swinging over the city, only your reflexes and a rope the size of a strand of yarn to keep you from falling, it must be incredible!"
"Well, yeah. I can do it on autopilot most of the time, when I need to think about something, but when I focus on what I'm doing I still get a rush, even after all this time."
"I wish I could try that…"
"…You want to? Like now?"
"…Sure. Why not? But how?"
"C'mere." He picked her up like he was going to give her a piggyback ride. She put her arms over his shoulders, and he webbed them in place as a safety measure. "Welcome to Air Spidey, the only way to fly. In the very likely event of an emergency, exits are here, here, here, here, pretty much everywhere…"
"You have done this before, right?"
"Of course. In the event of a water landing, I can be used as a flotation device, and I must ask that all passengers refrain from using portable electronics and the power to fly during the trip as they could really throw me off balance and get us both killed. And by the way, I lied about doing this before. Reassured? Too bad. Off we go!" He crouched low and leapt at least thirty feet in the air, performed a triple-somersault, and dove off the edge of the tallest building in a city of tall buildings.
They gained speed quickly. Raven's cloak was flapping wildly behind them as the streets below grew larger. She didn't make a sound, but Spider-Man could feel her nails digging into his skin. They could see individual cars now. Raven was starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. They could make out individual people. Okay, this was definitely a bad idea. Rave was about to kick in her powers despite the warning not to when she heard a soft thwip, and then they weren't falling, they were swinging…
They were swinging along the center of the street. For a moment, they were pacing a car as they traveled along the long arc of the web, and Raven could see a little boy in the backseat look at them curiously. He seemed to be mentally debating whether he should bring this to his mother's attention, but thought better of it.
Spidey had cut it close. His butt was only a foot or so above the asphalt, but he could handle it. He had expected a shout, a yell, even a squeal from Raven, but she remained mute. Time to see if he could fix that…
They came to an intersection. As it happened, an 18-wheeler was crossing the street ahead, so Spider-Man used a second webline to make a course adjustment, and they slipped through the gap between the cab and the trailer with inches to spare on either side.
As their arc carried them back up, Spidey released his web-line and catapulted forward nearly the length of a football field. As they flew, he performed some of his best acrobatics (borrowed from the Spider-Man 2 game). The Daddy-Long-Legs Dance, the Roving Reporter, the Spinneret, and more. Still no response. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure she hadn't fallen off, fired off another webline, and continued deeper into the concrete jungle.
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Ten minutes later, they returned to the roof they had begun at. Spider-Man landed softly and turned his head over his shoulder to check if his passenger was all right. Well, she was intact, that's always a good sign… He drew a small vial from where it was tucked in his sleeve. It contained a chemical of his own invention, a solvent for his webbing that didn't damage skin or clothes. BB and Cy had made a huge uproar when he had revealed its existence. (Cyborg: You pasted us to the ceiling and said you couldn't rip us down! Why didn't you use that stuff then? Spider-Man: How would that have been funny?)
He used the vial's contents to free her hands, and gently let her slide off his back. Her knees buckled a bit, and he had to catch her before she collapsed. She leaned against his chest for support, staring at him with wide eyes. She still hadn't made a sound since they had begun their little trip. Spidey was getting a bit worried. Maybe going through a parking garage at sixty miles an hour was overdoing it a little…
"Raven? Are you all right?"
"You're crazy."
"Haven't we already established that?"
"You are one hundred percent, certifiably, completely out of your mind and you belong in a rubber room somewhere."
"I know. Does this mean you didn't like it?"
"Are you kidding? Of course I didn't like it- I loved it! That was incredible!" She jumped up, wrapping her arms around him.
"Oof! Glad to know you appreciate a little insanity now and then." She held him that way for a while, and he wasn't in any hurry to get her off. "So… what did you tell the others?"
"I didn't tell them what I did. I thought seeing me acting like a normal person would inspire cardiac arrest."
"Good move. So… they don't know…this could be fun."
"I'm thinking we tell them nothing and see how long it takes them to notice."
"Great minds think alike. Uh… would… would like to go see a movie sometime? My treat?"
"Why, Spider-Man, are you asking me on a date?"
"I… yeah. I guess I am. Believe it or not, I've never done that before."
"Really? Well, I'd be happy to go out with the smartest, funniest, cutest guy in the city…"
"You only say it because it's true."
"…Know where I could find him?"
"You're turning a real comedian, Rae."
"Ah, but you're assuming that I'm joking this time."
"…"
"Of course I'll go with you. I'd love to."
##########&&&&&##########
It was fairly late when they got back to the Tower. Suffice to say, it was late enough that their five teenage roommates had decided to go to bed. That's so late it's almost early.
The young couple (a rather novel-and strangely frightening-thought when applied to them) paused on the roof a moment longer and indulged in one more kiss before entering their home.
Spidey chuckled softly once they had reached the living room. "How long do you think it will take the others to notice?"
"I'm not sure. But let's not do too much to help them along, okay?"
"Sounds good to me."
"Well, I think I need some sleep if I want to avoid being a total zombie all day tomorrow. Good night."
"Hang on." He pulled her close and gave her one more long, deep kiss. "Good night."
She smiled at him, and disappeared down the hall to the bedrooms. Spidey watched her go, then flopped down on a chair with a happy sigh and an ear-to-ear grin. How lucky could a guy be? Well, the law of averages dictated that he had to stumble bass ackwards into a happy accident sooner or later…
##########&&&&&##########
A/N: Huh. That wasn't as bad as I had feared. This was only my second attempt at romance ever, and my first was rather forced and poorly done. I think I was able to establish a decent flow for this chapter.
Though I decided to hook Spidey and Raven up a long time ago, the reviews supporting the thought helped affirm that it was a good choice, assuming I could do a romance scene justice. I think I did, but that doesn't count because I wrote it.
I hope that at least some of you are happy with this.
The song was from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, for those non-nerds reading.
Oh, yeah, sorry I didn't have a decent fight scene in this one. There will be next time. And now, responses:
Metgear5: Thank you for your supportive words, and I like the way you think. In, fact I had already mapped out for a little "friendly visit" from our favorite overweight crimelord in the very next chapter, so I guess great minds do think alike.
Wyld Stallions: Maybe. If memory serves, I saw that comic in a store and had to leave before I finished it. By the way, if you could care less, doesn't that mean you do care?
Lordofpies: Well, thank you muchly! Don't worry, I plan on having Venom, Green Goblin, Black Cat, Doc Oc, Harry, and MJ all make appearances at one point or another. Black Widow, I'm afraid not. I've heard of her but I really have no idea who she is. See, I was never a huge fan of comics when I was younger, I only recently returned to them, so I've missed a lot.
X-Over: The Hulk is a pretty good idea. Daredevil isn't bad either, though I don't know why he would… I just realized how I could work in a cameo for him while I was typing this. No, really! I'll have him make a minor appearance in a later chapter, and we'll see about a larger role later. Blade… no. Sorry, but no. Truth be told, I've never seen the movies (please nobody review just to say watch the movie) so I really know nothing about him. If I feel inclined to watch the movies later and I like them, then maybe.
Well, that's one more whacked out idea taken care of, only a few billion more to go. See you next time!