Doesn't Mean I Don't Know How
Wow, I only got a few reviews for this…maybe I should change the summary…..Anyways! Here's you're new chapter!
Chapter-Two
Embrace
We never know how high we are
Till we are called to rise;
And then, if we are true to plan,
Our statures touch the skies.
The heroism we recite
Would be a daily thing,
Did not ourselves the cubits warp,
For fear to be a king.
-Emily Dickenson-
The rain poured down outside as the Titans decided which movie to watch.
"Okay!" cried Beast Boy, taking full command of the vote, "Here are the movie choices!" He cleared his throat. "Titanic, the epic thriller about two lovebirds who nearly lose each—"
"Beast Boy, cut the summary crap and get on with it."
"Oh, right! Sorry. Titanic, Misery by Stephen King, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Sphere, or Finding Nemo."
"What! No way! Their all sci-fi!" yelled Robin.
"Uh, technically speaking, the Finding Nemo and Titanic are not sci-fi because of their plot and setting."
Robin rolled his eyes.
"Whatever…"
"All who vote for Titanic, raise you're hands."
No arms went in the air.
"Okay, I guess I can get rid of that one…." The box went flying behind him.
"How about Misery?"
Raven raised her hand at that one.
"One for Misery!"
"For Christ's sake, Beast Boy! Will you stop treating this like a friggin' national election!" Robin yelled. (A/N: Speaking of which, Kerry should have won….)
Beast Boy sighed.
"Finding Nemo?"
Starfire eagerly jumped up and waved her hand around so everyone could see.
"Okay. Terminator?"
Robin and Cyborg raised their hands.
"Action!"
"And sci-fi!"
"Awww man! I wanted Sphere! There's all kinds of awesome squids and jellyfish!" complained Beast Boy.
"Too bad. Majority vote."
"Fine, fine…." Beast Boy put the tape in and sat down while Starfire fetched the "non-cotton candies" and popcorn. When she returned she sat the treats on the table and looked for a spot on the couch, preferably next to Robin. She noticed that Raven and Robin were sitting next to each other and Beast Boy had the other seat next to Robin. There was no way that she could fit in between them. She sighed, disappointment shadowed on her face. Raven saw it. Then she did something that surprised Starfire and Robin; she scooted over. Starfire stared at her, surprised and then mentally kicked herself for not sitting down right away. She hurried and sat next to the Boy Wonder. She grabbed a pillow and held it close to her.
'Why am I even watching this movie?' thought Raven, 'Stupid machines. They'll never become self-aware. And I've already seen this anyway!'
"Hey, Raven. You okay?" asked Robin, seeing the look on her face.
"I'm fine."
"Because you look like you saw a ghost or something."
She turned to look at him.
"I'm fine."
And at that, she got up and left the room.
'Why did I get so mad?' she thought, scolding herself as she walked rather harshly to her room. 'It was just a stupid movie.' She rolled her eyes at herself.
When she got to her room, she locked the door and then sat against it.
She looked for her book. 'I need to meditate,' she thought when she found it, and set it back down.
The pouring rain caught her eye. 'I've never done it in the rain before….Well, there's a first time for everything.'
She unlocked the door and glided up to the hallway leading to the roof.
'Why did I have that emotion attack back there? It didn't feel like annoyance, and it certainly wasn't anger. So why did I snap at him?'
When she reached the elevator, she got in and punched in the code. The doors slammed shut.
'Maybe it was the seating arrangement,' her conscious invaded.
'Oh shut up. It's not like I have a thing for Robin. He's way too self-indulged.'
'I'm just saying that you saw the look on Starfire's face and you did what was right. But, that doesn't mean you have to be happy about it.'
'How would you know what being happy is?' she asked. That shut it up. But, not for long.
'And like you would know?' it retorted and left.
'Ugh, this is pointless, I am not arguing with myself!'
She walked up the steps to the roof and suddenly realized that she didn't want to be there at all. She stood before the door that led out into the rain. She could hear it thundering.
'That rain is freezing. Why am I doing this? And don't you dare answer,' she warned, addressing her conscious.
'Remember, it's something different. You'll like it,' she thought, pacifying her mind.
"Suddenly not so sure are you?" asked someone. She whirled around.
Robin stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"No. I'm sure," she said and opened the door, stepping out into the almost hurricane like weather. She saw the look on Robin's face.
'He's not going to come after me,' she thought.
He did.
The rain took immediate effect. She could feel its unceasing beating on her waterproof cloak. Her hood was up, luckily, and since she was facing downwind, it didn't get her wet. Robin, however, followed her right into the gale. The rain plastered his jet black hair to his forehead and made it curl around his ears.
"What are you doing!" he yelled. Raven's cloak billowed in front of her. She stared at him, and then glided to the shelter where they first defeated Jinx. It was reconstructed now and looked ten times better.
"Raven!" he yelled again and followed the Goth into the storm. It was extremely difficult to see.
"Raven! You'll catch pneumonia! Come back!" But his attempts were useless. She continued on, and he followed her only by her dark cloak against the gray sky.
Finally, they reached the steel shelter. The storm pounded down on the metal roof like a drumline doing a cadence inside a gym.
He caught up to her.
"What are you thinking?"
"Why did you follow me!" she said loudly, raising her voice and turning towards him.
"I wanted to make sure you were all right. You seemed pretty bothered back there. Anything you want to talk about?"
"You followed me into a hurricane to see if I was alright?"
He didn't answer.
"Raven," he said instead, "If we're going to get through this, we need to talk. You know, open up to each other."
"I am not bothered. And even if I was, I have meditating for that."
"Then why are you up here?"
"How do you know what I'm up here for?"
"Well, it wasn't that hard. The sound of the rain is soothing. Everyone knows that."
"Everyone?"
They stood in silence as Raven turned toward the rain. She could see the thick sheets coming down and streams of water coming from the top of the shelter, which had been lowered.
"You're soaking," she said. He looked down.
"I guess so."
"Hold still," she ordered, and chanted her words. Thick, red energy poured from her fingers and made its way to the top of Robin's head. He stood completely still. It covered his body and after a few more seconds, disappeared. He was dry, but his hair was still hanging down.
"You're full of surprises."
"You have no idea," she said, levitating to meditate.
"Do you think I could try it?"
"Meditating?"
"Well, yeah. But, if you want to be alone—"
"Of course you can," she said gently and fell to the floor.
"Why are you doing that?" he asked.
"I just figured you'd be more comfortable if I sat on the ground with you. It might feel awkward if I'm levitating and you're sitting on the floor."
"Thanks," he said and sat cross legged beside her.
"Find your center…" she said, almost chanting, "Let go of your emotions…."
They sat in silence. But not until—
"This is harder than it looks."
She winced.
"How do you do it all the time?"
She winced again.
"I mean, it has to get boring."
"Robin! You are destroying my concentration. Do you mind?"
"Oh, I'm sorry." He shifted and sat down again.
She sighed, "Azarath……….Metrion…………Zinthos……" She added a heavy pause in between the words.
The rain poured down. Robin could literally feel the emotions vibrating from Raven as she released them the only way she knew how. They sat up there for nearly half an hour before Raven turned towards Robin and said, "Hey."
He jerked out of his trance.
"I'm done. Do you want to come back inside?" she asked.
"No. Stay out here."
"Why?"
"We need to talk," he said. She sat down in front of him, hugging her ash colored legs.
"Let's talk."
"How do you feel about Red X?"
That was like a slap in the face. She was not expecting that. At all.
"A-about Red X?" she stuttered.
"Yes."
"I think he's you," she explained, measuring her words, making them worth something, "When I saw you take the mask off…in the vault…the image of your face emerging from underneath it, I didn't know how to react. And when he returned, almost a week ago—" she rubbed her bruised ankles "—I was scared that it still was you. Even though I saw you fight him and knew it wasn't a hologram."
He looked at her and saw the pain in her eyes.
"We were all scared."
"I didn't know it effected you that bad…."
"Just—the thing is… Red X reminds me of Slade. And Slade….Slade reminds me of you."
"What?"
"I remember how obsessed you were with catching him. You remember it too," she said, looking at him.
"But—I remind you of….him?"
She nodded. He looked down.
"I'm so sorry. I should have told you guys. I should have told you. My head was just crammed with ways to exterminate Slade. I became so blocked out from the world…."
"When you started locking yourself away after X came back. It just—it just reminded me of when Slade was still around…." she ended, somewhat lamely.
"What about Slade?"
"I think he's the worst threat of all."
"Why is that?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
"….Because we might lose you again. This team would fall apart without a leader. And the mere fact that we lost you once was too much to bear. You know what would happen if you became reclusive again. Eventually, you'd end up pulling another X, and then I'd have an even harder time trying to trust you. We all would," she said, her voice trailing off.
"I don't know how many ways there are to say this, and I'm not much of a sap, but I'm sorry."
"I know you are," she concluded, forgiving him.
"Aren't you going to ask something about me?" asked the masked character in front of her.
The rain started to die down, but still poured inexorably.
"Tell me what you think about us. All of us."
"All of you?"
"And yourself," she added.
"Well, who should I start with?"
"Just pick someone."
Quite frankly, I could end this chapter now…..and I think I'm going to. Please review! Thank you! A new character will be introduced next chapter so stay tuned!
