Teen Titans: The Only Way
Chapter Eleven: What Happened?
Disclaimer: If I owned the Teen Titans, Raven and Robin would have gotten together prolly around the first episode and would have had a litter of cute little kids running around the tower by now. It is pretty evident, looking at the current episodes on TV, that this anomaly has not yet occurred. Key word there...yet...
Raven and Cori barely got any sleep that night, or any of the nights following it. Neither could bring themselves to telling their friends and their lovers what was to transpire in their lives shortly. Robin and Charlie caught on when the two started their new training sessions, which consisted of intense sparring in the training room and outside by the rocks. By evening of the first day, the two boys confronted the twins and sat them down to talk while Cyborg, Beast Boy and Terra joined Starfire and Aqualad for some ice cream in the city.
"Come on now," Charlie gently murmured, taking Cori's hands in his own. "Something is majorly wrong, so why don't you girls tell us?" "Yeah Rae," Robin said, forcing Raven to look into his soul searching amber eyes, full of concern and love. "We just had the most wonderful weekend and you, we, were so happy. And now, you're acting almost as if someone was going to die or something." Raven chanced a glance at Cori and Cori sighed, accepting that she would have to be the one to speak first. "Someone might," Cori whispered, almost inaudibly, as she stared at the floor with tears pooling in her eyes. "What?" Charlie demanded. "What do you mean by that?"
Cori took a deep breath and faced her boyfriend. "Someone might die," she said slowly. "Raven and I are trying to deal with our next task and we are not too overjoyed with it. We did not want to burden you or the rest of the titans, because it is not your problem and there is nothing any of you can do about it." Robin's mouth was hanging open as he took in Cori's words. He had hoped she was telling a lie, some horrible, awful lie, but when he looked to Raven, her expression was of the same glum defeat. "I don't understand," Robin muttered, shaking his head slightly. "What is this next task? And why is it so hard to accept? And why can't we help? Anything that troubles one of the titans, let alone two, deserves to be troubled about by the entire team. So what gives?"
At this, Raven lifted her head up and looked into Robin's confused eyes. "Our next and final task is to battle and defeat our father, the demon Trigon," she started calmly, but the shakiness in her voice and the already forming tears betrayed her own bravery. "We do not want to accept it, because he is very powerful and it means that one, or maybe even both, of us may not return. You cannot help because it is not your problem; only Cori and I can travel to his lair and no one else." Raven lowered her head once more and Robin couldn't take it. "No!" he huffed angrily, standing up abruptly and storming around the living room. "No! I won't accept that! There cannot be nothing we can do. There has to be something! After all these years, I finally have you Raven, and I am not about to lose you so soon. It's not fair. There has to be something we can do!"
Raven's tears started to silently slip down her face and she couldn't hold back her feelings anymore. A blast of her emotions hit everyone in the room; her sadness, her fear, her hopelessness, her anger, her timid-ness, and her love swept out to the other three in the room and Robin turned around shocked at everything his love was feeling. I never considered how she might be feeling about all this, he thought forlornly as he watched her cry. I was so stupid thinking of only how I felt about this and I never thought how this might be affecting Raven. Man, I must be the worst boyfriend ever. She didn't know what was coming and she is probably just as sad as I am. Robin made to move towards her, but as soon as he took a step, Raven got up and looked at him. "You think I am happy about this?" she asked, anger choking deep in her throat. "Do you really think that I want to do this alone? That I don't care that I am going to lose you?" She paused for a moment and construed Robin's silence as his stubbornness. "Maybe you only care about yourself then," she began rather calmly. "Maybe then, I didn't wish that you could come with me. Maybe it will be better I am going alone." She spun around and ran to her room, leaving Robin to stand there dumbfounded by the window. Robin took her actions the wrong way though, and tried to follow her. But when he reached her door, she wouldn't unlock it and so Robin felt that maybe he had blown it majorly; he tried everything he could, but she would still not come out. Sadly, he gave up and slumped back to his room, crying for the first time since his parents had died. Robin felt like there was nothing he could do and he was going to lose his Raven.
Meanwhile, back in the living room, Charlie seemed to be in a daze about everything that had transpired and he was still sitting across from Cori. He had let go of her hands a while back and he would not look at her. "Charlie," Cori sighed, hoping to break him out of his trance-like state. "Sweetie, what's wrong? Please look at me?" When he wouldn't say anything or look at her, she tried to get in his face to make him look at her, but he just kept turning his head and finally he got up and stood by the window. Cori dared not follow him and watched with wet eyes as he stood there with his back to her. "Charlie! Please say something, anything! Please!" Cori thought he was going to continue ignoring her, but suddenly, after what seemed like forever, he spoke softly, but loud enough so Cori could just barely hear him. "You knew," he quietly spat out.
"What?" Cori asked, somewhat bewildered. "What are you talking about? I knew what?" Finally, he turned around to face her and Cori gasped as she saw and felt his anger, his heartbreak, and his sadness. His eyes seemed cold and uncaring and Cori was almost scared by the hushed angry tones in his voice when he spoke. "You knew," he began again, rather icily. "You knew all along what was going to happen. You knew you would have to fight your father. You knew only you and Raven would be able to go. You knew Robin and I wouldn't be able to do anything. You knew the whole time and you didn't tell me! What kind of person doesn't tell the person they love? I would have told you if it were me in that position. I would have been honest from the beginning. What? Was I not good enough to know? Or maybe this has all been a big lie. Maybe you really don't love me and maybe you never intended to tell me. So what was it, Cori? Huh? What was it that made you lie to me all this time?"
Cori sat there, stunned, as she flinched with every word that came out of his mouth. Every word was like an icy dagger, stabbing her time after time with every accusation. How could he not believe me? She thought. How could he think my intentions evil and my emotions false? How can he not understand? Cori stumbled through her thoughts, trying to find the right words to tell the boy she had loved since she had met him. But she could not tell him the truth. There was one perfect reason she had not told him everything and even now, as her feelings were brought into question, she still would not tell him so as to spare him the heartache she had been living with since her mother had told her the truth.
She looked up at him and hated how he was glaring at her. "I never told you," she said. "Because I was not ready to accept the final step myself." That was all she said and she hoped it would be good enough for Charlie. "Because you weren't ready to accept it?" he questioned harshly. "That's bullshit Cori and you know it! You know what? Forget about this. If you didn't want to tell me the truth from the beginning, I don't know what made me think you would start now. Forget about everything, ok? You can even forget about us, too. I don't want anything to do with someone who would lie to me about something this important. We're though, understand? You obviously don't love me like I loved you, so I'm not going to love you anymore. The titans still need me since you and Raven are going to be out, so I am going to stay, but I am moving my stuff into another room. After your little battle with evil is over, don't bother coming back to Metropolis. I'll find someone else to take your place. I'm sure you can find a spot here with people, that for some reason, still care about you and don't care about all of your blunt lies."
Cori watched as he stalked out of the room; at that moment, her heart broke into a million tiny pieces and she let the tears rush down her cheeks and the grief washed over her. Why didn't you just tell him the truth? Her mind yelled at her. Why couldn't you tell him the truth from the very beginning? Then none of this would have happened! Cori began sobbing violently as she already knew the answer to her mind's probing questions. I never told him, she thought to herself. Because I knew that would hurt him a thousand times over and I didn't want him to be in pain. I just never thought that keeping this in would have hurt me so much. What have I done? Maybe it's for the best in the long run, but it still hurts all the same. I lost him... forever...
Cori cried herself to sleep on the floor and she was still there two hours later when the other titans returned from their excursion into town. They only found her when Beast Boy jumped over the couch to play his gamestation and nearly crushed her. "Whoa!" he cried, jumping back onto the couch after he saw her lying there. "Cori! Oops, sorry! I didn't mean to almost squash you. I really am—Oh, wait a tic. She's sleeping." Cyborg came over and kneeled down next to her and was going to wake her up. "Don't you even dare Cy!" Terra glared at him. "She's sleeping, leave her alone." "What should we do with her then? I don't wanna wake her up." "Maybe you should just put her in her room," Aqualad suggested form the other couch where he was sitting with his arm around Starfire's shoulder. "Good idea Al!" Cyborg exclaimed. Aqualad and Terra rolled their eyes and Star quietly laughed at them. With that, Cy bent down and picked Cori up, heading down the long hallway to put her in her room.
When he set her down upon her bed he noticed the room seemed a little bare; all of Charlie's stuff was gone and the room seemed almost empty. He quickly remembered seeing the other guestroom occupied on his way here and he figured Charlie must have moved. Wonder why? Cy thought to himself. That's kind of weird. These two are damn near inseparable. And why was Cori sleeping out there anyway? Usually she's with Charlie or Raven. It was then that he noticed how red and puffy her eyes were. Wait a minute, he thought. She's been crying! Uh oh. I wonder what happened while we were gone. I better not mention anything to anyone, in case I am putting the pieces together wrong. But if my guess is correct, then something big went down here and I think it might have involved a breakup. Cyborg silently slipped out and walked back into the living room, mulling over what could have happened to warrant such an extreme shift of moods in the tower's newest inhabitants. He was so involved in his thoughts that he actually turned down a game (!) and went instead into the kitchen and sat at the table thinking.
About half an hour after the other titans had arrived home, Robin came out of his room and went once more to try and talk to Raven. He approached her door slowly and pushed on it, seeing if it was still locked. Fortunately, it was open, so he walked in and saw Raven staring out the window with red-rimmed eyes. "Rae?" Robin asked quietly, hoping she wasn't still mad at him. At the mention of her name, she turned her head slowly towards him and surprised him with her next action. She flew off her window bench and nearly toppled him over as she held on to him, crying once more into his chest. "Robin," she managed to choke out in between sobs. "I am so sorry. I didn't mean to over react like that. I didn't mean it; I didn't mean anything. I am so sorry. I love you, Robin, I love you so much!" Robin was entirely perplexed by what had just happened, but he wasn't going to screw it up any further. She wasn't mad at him and he wasn't going to try and make her. "I love you too Raven," he said, kissing the top of her head and holding her just as tight. "And I'm sorry too. I was being selfish and I was wrong for thinking like that. Can you forgive me?"
"Only if you can forgive me too," she replied meekly, pulling away to look into his handsome eyes. He kissed her gently on the lips. "Consider us both forgiven," he said with a small smile. She smiled back, kissed him again, took his hand, and led him to lie down on her bed next to her. She snuggled up to him, draping herself across his chest and he brought his arms up to ensnare her so as never to lose her again. They stayed like that for a long time, neither one moving nor saying anything, just reveling in their silent love. Finally, Robin decided to break the silence and he hoped his words wouldn't upset her again. "Raven?" he asked. "Yes Robin?" she queried back, shifting to look up at him. "I hope you won't get mad at me for asking this," he said nervously. "But, what exactly changed your mind to forgiving me? I mean, just earlier I didn't think you would ever talk to me again." Raven stayed silent for a moment, then moved to sit up next to him, dragging him to sit up as well. "Because of them," she replied gently. She motioned to the window, so Robin got up and looked out.
Charlie was sitting on top of the waterfall Raven had created so long ago (A/N: Remember the episode Transformation? When BB had to pee and one of the things he saw was Raven shifting rocks and water spilling out? Well I turned that into a waterfall. FYI), throwing little pebbles into the water surrounding the tower below. He looked a combination of pissed and sad. "I don't understand," Robin said, turning back and walking over to sit next to Raven once more. Raven looked as though she was going to cry again, but she composed herself well and took a deep breath. "After you left my door earlier, I needed someone to talk too, so I went to find Cori." She paused and took another deep breath. "I was walking towards the living room when I heard them from the hallway, so I stopped and I listened. I know I shouldn't have, but I just couldn't leave. Charlie was... he was yelling at Cori almost; he was mad that she knew all along and never told him. He, he said some pretty hurtful things. Cori told him why she didn't tell him, but he figured out that she wasn't telling him the whole truth, and even I could tell. He got even angrier and he—well, he—"
Raven seemed unable to continue, but Robin grabbed her hand and urged her to go on. "Come on, Rae," he soothed. "What happened?" Raven took a deep breath and continued. "He made some accusations and then told her not to come back to Metropolis. He... he broke up with her. Oh Robin! Cori was crying so hard and he didn't even flinch, it was like he didn't even care! He stormed out and he even moved into the other guestroom. Cori was just so sad, it made my heart break for her and I found myself unable to move. I just stood there, listening to her sob, feeling her heart being crushed, and I couldn't do anything. I knew nothing I could say could make the pain go away. She finally fell asleep and I ran back here. Charlie showed up a few minutes ago and I found myself just staring at him. I don't know whether I should feel sorry for him or hate him! That's when I decided I couldn't be mad any more; I love you too much and I was so afraid of losing you like that!" She threw herself at him again and he latched on to her, stroking her back to calm her down. "I feel so bad for my sister, but I don't think there is anything I can do. I knew I had to talk to you, and you came here just as I was about to come find you. I don't want to lose you Robin, not like that." "I don't want to lose you like that either," Robin said, holding on to her like she would fly away if he let go. Like Raven, he was torn between hating Charlie and feeling sorry for what he had done. The couple stayed like that until Cy came some time later and told them dinner was ready.
Everyone sat at the table while Cy dished out the pizza he had ordered because no one felt like cooking. He noticed the solemnity in Raven and Robin and he still had Cori on his mind, but he said nothing, in case whatever had happened was none of his business. "Mmmm, what glorious food!" Starfire exclaimed. "Pizza is among my favorites of your earth food. Especially when topped with pickles, mint frosting and served with a nice jar of tangy, yellow mustard!" Everyone sweat-dropped at her choice in food, but Aqualad just chuckled as he picked up his own pizza topped with just cheese, ham and pineapple. He stared as Cyborg dove into his own pizza covered with pepperoni, ham, pineapple, olives, sausage, peppers, onions, and... Sardines. "How can you eat that?" Aqualad questioned, glaring at Cy stuffing his face, prompting BB to give him a disgusted look as well. "What Al?" Cy questioned, looking utterly confused. "Don't tell me you're a tofu-loving freak like that little grass stain too?" "Hey!" Beast Boy cried indignantly. "I'm not a freak! You're the freak, Tin Man!" "Whoa, cool your jets Beast Boy," Aqualad chuckled. "No, Cyborg, I am not a vegetarian. But I do have a reserve against eating fish and any other creatures of the sea."
"Fish?" Cy questioned, looking even more confused. "What are you talking about? I don't eat fish on my pizza." "Umm, Cy..." Terra tried to point out his pizza toppings. "Oh Yes!" Star cried, clapping her hands with sheer delight and pointing to Cy's pizza. "I see it! I see the fish of tininess! It is right there by the unusually large chunk of pig meat shaped like an Uthervis Bollwasit! Oh this is a fun game! What else can I find?" She turned to Aqualad, who just laughed again and explained it was not a game; Star was disappointed, by quickly forgot as Cy completely freaked out. He glanced at his pizza and jumped up, turning green. "EWWW!" He cried as he ran over to the sink and spit out everything he had eaten. He threw the rest of his pizza down on the table and grabbed another piece carefully inspecting it. "Sorry Al, but I don't do fish on my pizza. Some little booger must have put it there by mistake." After checking his slice for the sixth time, he began to slowly eat it, positive that it was fish-free. Everyone became involved in their own conversations that no one even noticed that Starfire had gotten up and taken Cy's last pizza slice over to the counter. Raven noticed, though, and she nudged Robin when Star went back to sit down. The two began to laugh as they saw what she had done. Terra and BB followed their gaze and they too began to laugh, with Cyborg and Aqualad following suit. "What," questioned the naive Starfire. "Is so funny friends? Did I miss the joke?"
"Sweetie," Aqualad said, kissing her on the cheek. "Why did you do that to Cy's pizza?" "Oh," Star replied, blushing a little. "Is that not where it should belong? Was I wrong in putting it there?" "Well," Terra said, interrupting. "I guess not Star, but you're kinda late if you think that's going to save it. It's already dead." Star blushed again and Aqualad hugged her while everyone, including Starfire, began to laugh once more at her childlike actions. After everyone was done eating, Terra and BB started to clean up the pizza. "Hold on a sec," BB said, stopping everyone from leaving. "How come we have so much pizza left? Usually there's only like two pieces left, if any." "Hey," Terra asked, realization suddenly dawning on her. "Where's Charlie and Cori? I feel bad; I didn't even notice they weren't here." Cyborg went quiet and Raven focused at her hands in her lap. "Oh I wouldn't worry Ter," BB said. "They probably just wanted to be alone if you know what I mean? Those two are like a couple of rabbits man!" "BB, man," Robin said sternly, ridding the atmosphere of the jokes floating around. "Now is not the time to joke around like that. Seriously." Starfire and Aqualad suddenly noticed the downcast looks on Cyborg and Raven. "Friends," Starfire asked softly. "Did something happen today? Something bad?"
Raven got up and left, leaving everyone to stare at her. Robin let her go, knowing that she was only dealing with her sister's turmoil and he figured he would go and let her have her peace now. "Did I say something wrong?" Starfire asked nervously. "Have I upset Raven in some way? Does she feel it is not our business to worry about Cori and Charlie?" Robin sighed. "No Star. It's not that. Raven's had a tough day today. Maybe you all should sit down; this might take a little while." Everyone sat back down at the table, waiting anxiously for Robin to begin. Robin took a deep breath and told them everything. He told of how Raven and Cori were upset and of what their final task was. The group gasped and was angry with that, but none of them said anything, not wanting Robin to stop talking. He told them how he overreacted and him and Raven left the room. When he got to the part where Charlie had broke up with Cori, Cyborg couldn't take it anymore. "Damn it!" he screamed, pounding his large, cybernetic fist on the table. "That bastard! I can't believe he did that to her! I knew something was up earlier! Couldn't he see how much she didn't want to hurt him? How much she was hurting? What an insensitive prick! Where is he? I gotta find him. 'Cause when I do, he's gonna want to make sure his little nickname of 'Speedy' sure comes in handy when I get to him!"
Aqualad, BB and Robin all got up and sat him back down, making sure he wouldn't get back up and try to murder Charlie. They all calmly asked their questions and Robin answered them the best he could; he didn't know all the details and he wished Raven could have been here. She knew more than he did, but he knew she did not want to face what had happened to her sister and, almost, to them as well. The titans all cleaned up quietly when they were done talking and afterward, no one felt like doing much of anything. Aqualad decided to stay the night in Starfire's room and BB and Terra retired to her room as well. Cyborg went to bed, even though he wasn't tired, because he was afraid of what he would do if Charlie came back into the tower and no one else was up. Robin was the last one in the kitchen and as he was leaving, he heard the door whoosh open and he watched Charlie walk in. Robin didn't say anything and neither did he. Charlie walked over to the fridge and took out a couple of slices of pizza and began to warm them up in the microwave.
Robin thought he was out of the clear by the time he reached the door, but just as he was going to open it, Charlie called to him. "Rob?" he asked. Robin turned around, but focused instead on the table instead of his friend. "Yeah?" he answered back. "What's with the sardine?" Charlie asked, pointing to Starfire's confusion earlier as he watched the sardine floating on top of the water in a fish bowl on the counter. "Oh," Robin replied, not finding the situation all that funny anymore. "That was Starfire." "Oh," Charlie said, getting up to place his food on the table. "Gotcha." Robin was just about to turn around when Charlie spoke up again, this time a lot quieter and somewhat forlorn. "I take it everyone knows?" Charlie asked as he picked at his pizza. "Yeah," Robin said, turning around and walking back down the hallway to Raven's room. "They know." He didn't bother to stay and listen or talk to Charlie because he still didn't know how he felt towards him.
When he finally got to Raven's room, he found her there lying underneath the comforter, wearing only an old tee shirt of his and her underwear. He quickly undressed into just his boxers and slid in behind her, placing a soft kiss on her neck and slipping his arm around her waist. She grabbed his hand and turned around to quickly kiss him on the lips before turning back and snuggling against him. "I teleported into Cori's room," she said matter-of-factly. "Oh yeah?" he asked, surprised she had even bothered. "Yeah," she said. "She was still sleeping.... Did Charlie come back in yet?" "Yeah," Robin replied simply. He waited for her to say something, but instead she just turned over and faced him, running a hand down the side of his face and stopping on his chest. "I never want to lose you," she said quietly. "I don't know what I would do with myself. I don't think I could go on living." He kissed her softly and brushed a stray hair out of her eyes. "I never want to lose you," he said lovingly. "I don't think I could live anymore either. I think we're pretty much stuck with each other for good now." He smiled and so did she. She kissed him passionately and the two got lost in their own little love-filled world. They kissed and groped for a good hour before they fell asleep, comforted in the thought that their love would prevail over anything, including the impending nightmare that loomed on the horizon.
A/N: Whoo HOOO!!!! I updated! Go me! Review Please! Only a few more chapters and this will finally be complete!! Yay!!! I just love completed stories!!! Hope ya like this one! Any suggestions and comments are always welcome!!!