1Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to the Teen Titans so don't even try suing me for the minuscule property I have
Ch 31:
Starfire had come home with the largest of smiles on her face proclaiming that Speedy was the most perfect man in the Universe. She had been so happy to see most of her friends and her sister awake when she arrived home, and she quickly transformed into a whirlwind of giggling, bone-crushing hugs.
She was so happy that she almost didn't notice that one of the couches was missing, a window was broken, Beast Boy had no eyebrows, Cyborg had a very large red bulls-eye painted on his back, her sister was unusually hyperactive zipping around the room, and Terra was occasionally hitting a large black blob next to her with a bat that seemed to occasionally move. It wasn't that she didn't notice all these unusual things its just even she realized that some things were best not known though she did catch Terra mumble under her breath something about lots of caffeine and chocolate and aliens not mixing. The only person who seemed to be the least bit normal was SoulBurn who simply seemed to shake his head and occasionally try to get Blackfire to sit still.
Starfire had gone over the details of the date and all the guys were happy that Speedy had indeed been a perfect gentleman. They were willing to let the good night kiss slide because Cyborg made a point of saying that Starfire watched so many romantic movies she probably would have felt bad if Speedy hadn't given her the expected goodnight kiss.
Eventually time passed and it was midnight and everyone went to their rooms, but not before jamming the black blob down the garbage disposal ensuring it wouldn't be bothering anybody. Blackfire who was far too energetic after consuming somewhere around 10 pounds of chocolate and a case of pop was the only one to stay awake as she decided she needed to go work and burn off all her energy. She tried to convince SoulBurn to spar with her but he wasn't feeling all that suicidal this evening so he had politely declined claiming he was exhausted. The sounds of Blackfire hitting a punching bag could be heard late into the night.
Terra and Beast Boy retired to her room and Terra spent a little while assuring Beast Boy he was still cute even without eyebrows before falling asleep comfortably in each other arms. In Cyborg's room, he decided to make a late night call to Bumble Bee, telling her kind and wonderful things that he would never say in front of the rest of the group. Starfire had changed into her pajamas and regaled Silkie with the details of her date. The little insect only squeaked happily as she spoke. Eventually she settled down and finally fell asleep with dreams of perfect happiness in her head.
In Raven's room, him and Raven were currently laying in bed catching their breaths. Some music had been playing in order to block out the ridiculous amount of noise that had plagued the tower since they had gone up to her room. Plenty of times Robin had wanted to get up and go regulate his teammates who were most likely destroying the tower but Raven had somehow managed to convince him to stay. Heck she probably could have convinced him to try fighting the entire H.I.V.E by himself with the things she was doing. Robin slowly pulled Raven into his arms, smiling at the feeling of her soft, smooth skin. He gently nuzzled against her and he whispered into her ear.
"You are the most perfect being in this entire universe. I never want to let you go. I love you so much." Raven could be heard giggling slightly at the comments.
"I love you too Robin. Always and forever. He gave him a gentle kiss on his lips and the pulled back with a slight smirk on her face. "Well now that proclamations of love are out of the way, I think its time to get back to business." Robin's eyes widened for a second before he relaxed and grinned.
"You are so lucky I'm an exceptional human being." He immediately started kissing Raven's neck who melted at the touch as one final thought went threw her head.
'I'm lucky because I have you.'
It was several hours later that SoulBurn laying in bed, heard his door quietly slide open. He hadn't really been asleep though he was considerably comfortable. It was hard to really fall asleep when he knew what would happen every night. He felt the bed shift as Blackfire climbed into bed. He felt her wrap her arms around him as she arranged herself. SoulBurn could feel her bare legs slide against him which caused him to shudder. He was still a little nervous around intimate human contact. She was still slightly wet, the sign that she had probably just gotten out of the shower after burning off all her energy in the training room. SoulBurn made no move to show he was awake though Blackfire knew he was. As she snuggled closer into him she could feel the slightest of movements. She whispered into his ear.
"Thanks for waiting up for me." SoulBurn turned slightly so that he could see Blackfire's face with a look of worry in his face.
"Are you sure about this? You know what's happened before and I'm afraid something worse could happen." Blackfire pressed her finger against his mouth.
"Shhh. You ask the same thing every night. I'm willing to risk it." SoulBurn smiled ever so slightly.
"Thank you." He kissed her gently on the forehead. As he settled into sleep finally, Blackfire laid awake for about an hour watching SoulBurn sleep. It looked like this would be one of the good nights.
It had been the day after they had revealed themselves to each other that Robin had quietly talked to everyone in the tower. He had warned them to be especially careful around SoulBurn if they were around him when he was asleep. Apparently if SoulBurn was awoken from a nightmare there was a chance he would lash out violently at anyone who woke him up. Robin had first-hand experience with just how dangerous it could be.
It was that very night that Blackfire had found herself awake late as usual and was passing by SoulBurn's door. She was surprised to hear him talking in his sleep in his room, pleading for it all to stop. It almost sounded like he was crying. She had wanted to rush in there and wake him up but remembered what Robin had said. Very reluctantly she went to her room though the guilt she felt prevented her from falling asleep.
It was almost three hours later when she heard a scream that she knew to belong to SoulBurn. She flew as quickly as she could to SoulBurn's room once again hesitating at the door. A second scream of fear and agony erupted from the room and throwing all caution aside, she forced the locked door open with her strength and went it. In bed covered in sweat was SoulBurn thrashing about fighting invisible enemies. The look on his face was one of immense pain as he continued to rant in his sleep.
"Stop! Leave me alone! Ahhhh! I'll kill you Trigon! I swear it! I will destroy you!" Blackfire was simply amazed no one else had heard him. Refusing to let him continue to suffer as he did, she had tried to wake him up. Almost instantly, SoulBurn shot up and Blackfire found herself thrown back by a blast of energy from SoulBurn's hand. She found herself slamming into the metal of the wall denting a good foot into it. Thankfully she was Tamaranian as normal human would have died instantly. Blackfire managed to clear her head to see a now fully awake SoulBurn with a look of complete shock on his face.
"I'm..I'm so sorry. You weren't supposed to try and wake me up. You were supposed to leave me alone. I could have killed you. Why didn't you leave me alone!" Blackfire could almost see anger on his face at his last words. She found her quietly walking over to the shaking young man and gently pulled him into a warm embrace.
"It's okay. I don't care about what you did. I won't let you suffer alone if I can stop it. No one should have to suffer alone."
"But I could have killed you. I couldn't live with myself if I killed another person."
Blackfire pulled away slightly to look into SoulBurn's eyes. She gave him a confident smile.
"You forget I'm Tamaranian. It will take a lot more than that to even scratch me so don't worry about hurting me." Her voice became quieter and more soothing. "Just let me help you SoulBurn. Just let me help you."
That was how it started. Every night Blackfire would come into SoulBurn's room and sleep next to him. She would always be by his side to wake him up when the nightmares would come despite the great personal risk it put her in. In only a week she had already been treated by Raven for a few burns and even a cut across her stomach but never once did she think of stopping what she was doing.
She only knew him for a week but she had so much respect for this great man that she could not leave him alone. After everything she knew he had done to protect those around him, to ensure the continued happiness of so many, he didn't deserve to continue suffering the way he did. As Blackfire finally drifted off to sleep, she could feel a very strange emotion rising in her that up until her return to her sister's side, had been completely absent from her heart.
Eventually everyone fell asleep in Titan's Tower. Each and every person content and happy with their lives. Finally, after everything that had happened to each and every one of them, peace had finally come. It was a single perfect moment for a group of 8 young men and women who had suffered so much. It was a single perfect moment that none of them wished would ever end. However, hidden deep within the mind of their leader, despite everything, paranoia continued to whisper silently to him. It warned him that something terrible would come, that is always would and despite him being as happy as he had ever been, he was starting to believe that voice.
