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Ch 34: Recovering and Loving
Starfire, Raven, and Terra sat around Blackfire in the infirmary. She was lying in bed in a state of rest. Raven had healed the many cuts that had littered her body and once again her skin was its flawless self. They had put a white gown on her which only served to make her look even more pale. Starfire had sat by her sister's side the entire time, holding her hand tightly, occasionally breaking into a quiet sob when her sister's body would shake slightly as whatever was going through Blackfire's head scared her.
Raven floated in the air in her lotus position trying to meditate but the waves of emotions coming off both Starfire and Blackfire were making that near impossible. Thankfully, with Blackfire not being awake, her emotions were slightly dulled. Raven did not want to feel the full extent of what was going through her. Feeling Starfire right now was bad enough. It was painful to feel the normally cheerful alien girl so sad, so depressed, so without hope. Raven slowly opened her eyes to gaze over at Terra who was sitting quietly next to where she floated. Both of them were a few feet back from the two sisters, providing them some private space. Terra's face was emotionless though Raven could feel the worry coming off of her. It was the same worry she felt from everyone in the tower, well everyone except Robin.
Her lover had closed off his mind to her, something he only did when he was brooding in his room. Something he only did rarely since they had been together but still on occasions it occurred and this was one of those occasions. Beast Boy and Cyborg were both easy to find in the tower because they both were radiating enormous amounts of guilt for allowing Blackfire to be alone this night, for allowing such a horrible act to occur to her. It was the same guilt that at one time had plagued almost all the Titan members, the time after the ending of the prophecy. It was a dark, heavy burden that the two young men now carried with them. Raven was pulled from her thoughts by a soft gasp from Starfire and rising feelings coming from Blackfire.
"She has squeezed my hand. I believe she is waking up." A quiet joy could be heard in Starfire's voice. Raven watched carefully as Blackfire's eyes slowly fluttered open. Raven could immediately see a very distant look in her eyes though a small smile made it to her mouth when she looked up at Starfire's smiling face. The voice that came from her was surprisingly strong.
"Hi Kori. This is the second time I've woken up to your shining face. It really is a nice thing to see when you wake up." Starfire could feel a few tears escape her eyes as she squeezed her sister's hand.
"How are you feeling sister?" Starfire spoke gently, doing her best to sound soothing. Blackfire seemed to think about the words for a few seconds and turned her head so that she was staring up at nothing. This time the voice that came out was softer.
"I'll…I'll endure." Raven understood the response perfectly. After everything that happened, that was really all she could do, something Terra understood as well. Blackfire turned her head again back toward Starfire. Her voice had regained some of its strength though it was filled with concern.
"Where is SoulBurn? Tell me what happened to SoulBurn?" Starfire slowly turned to look at Raven, the best person in the room to explain what had happened.
"My father has taken control of his body and with it, SoulBurn has been lost to a great darkness. Apparently my father was hidden within SoulBurn's lost consciousness and was released by all the hatred and rage SoulBurn felt toward the man who hurt you. I'm not exactly sure where he is right now, but my father in possession of SoulBurn's body and power has given us until tomorrow afternoon before he will start his destruction of everything. We will have to meet him to prevent this...there is no other choice. We will have to battle Satan himself to save all life." Raven let out a deep sigh.
"It is a very bleak situation indeed. In fact, I'm just amazed any of us are still alive right now. My experience with my father having a part of him inside me all my life is that had he been released, he would have wasted no time in reigning destruction upon the universe. It is strange that he would give us time to prepare ourselves, to evacuate the city, to save you." Raven was surprised when a small smile crept on to Blackfire's face at her last few words and felt a strange feeling of hope coming from her form. The next words spoken by Blackfire were strong, containing most of the confidence they had all come to expect from Blackfire.
"Raven, could you go get Robin. I would like to speak to him about something." Raven gave a nod though she was confused by why Blackfire wanted to talk to their leader. She quietly floated out of the room toward Robin's location.
Robin sat in the dark of his room at his desk staring at a particular object in his hands. The object was his private shame, a piece of his past that reminded him of all the terrible mistakes he had made yet he had been unable to rid himself of it. He had been unable to leave that guilt behind so the object had remained behind, though there were other reasons for him keeping it.
He quietly studied the object in his hand this time with a different purpose as he thought about what the Titans were up against. The true scope of what he was thinking about was slowly starting to sink into the most rational parts of his mind though it did not make it any easier to think about. His brooding was interrupted by a quiet knock at his door and somehow he knew it was Raven. Though he had closed his mind from her ever since he had gotten back from the police station, he knew it was her by the sound of the gentle knock. Only Raven knocked like that.
He placed the object back in its hidden compartment in his room and walked over to the door. It opened with a quiet swoosh revealing the small form of Raven. Robin couldn't help but smile at her. He sometimes forgot just how tiny she truly was. Robin allowed a few happy emotions to leave his mind as he stared into Raven's eyes and got the reaction he hoped for. The emotionless look on his girlfriend's face turned into a small smile as she felt what he was feeling. They simply stood there for nearly a minute simply staring lovingly at each other. Raven was the once who broke the trance they both were falling in to.
"Blackfire is awake." Raven noticed that Robin's face immediately turned into one that looked like he wanted to ask a question but couldn't figure out which one he wanted to ask so Raven helped him out.
"She is dealing well with the situation, better than one would expect. She has asked to speak with you."
"Why me?"
"She did not say but I had the feeling it was important." Robin gave a small nod. The two started walking down the hall, side by side toward the infirmary. Robin was surprised when he felt Raven's small hand grab onto his. He didn't say anything but simply enjoyed walking hand-in-hand with his love.
The two walked into the infirmary and saw Starfire pleading with her older sister who seemed to be trying to sit up.
"Please sister. You should not be trying to move." Blackfire seemed to dismiss Starfire's words as nonsense and once again tried to get up but found her sister holding her down. The struggle stopped when Blackfire realized Robin had arrived.
"Is there something you needed to tell me Blackfire?" Though it went unsaid, Blackfire could tell even with the mask blocking his eyes, that Robin was wishing her well and was filled with concern. Robin and Blackfire never really expressed emotions to each other as both were very private when it came to them but this was just another instance of the quiet understanding they had. He would not directly ask her emotional state or about her well being in a room of people, but he would find a way to let her know he cared.
"Yes there is Robin. Something very important. When I was being attacked, SoulBurn arrived to save me but as you know, a dark presence overtook him." Robin nodded slightly.
"I knew when it happened exactly who it was, remembering SoulBurn telling me of the 4 burning eyes of Trigon that would haunt him forever. That monster mocked me and then…then tried to kill me."
"How come he didn't?" It was a simple question but one could tell Robin was very curious for the answer.
"It was only for a moment but I saw those terrible red eyes disappear and saw SoulBurn's eyes return. It happened right before he tried to plunge a energy blade through my heart." Robin's eyes widened at this information though Blackfire continued speaking. "It was SoulBurn who saved me from the monster controlling him. SoulBurn is not lost completely. He was fighting against Trigon to save me and he won. He's the only reason I am still here." Raven was the next to speak.
"Everything makes sense now. That is why my Father didn't destroy us when he had the chance. SoulBurn's essence is continuing to wield some influence over my Father's decision. SoulBurn is still trying to protect us, giving us time to formulate a plan, to save the innocents of the city." An unusual amount of excitement was coming from Raven.
"When Raven said that the situation was slightly strange, I knew exactly why. I knew that SoulBurn continues to fight against Trigon. That is why I wanted to talk to you Robin. I want to ask you to promise me something." Robin noticed a very strange look in Blackfire's eyes.
"I want you to promise me that you will save SoulBurn. I want you to promise me that you will find a way to free him of Trigon's influence. He needs to be saved. He deserves to be saved. Please bring him back to us. Please bring him back to me." Robin was surprised by the rare emotional outbreak by Blackfire but understood exactly what she was feeling. This was the same mindset he had about Raven when her father threatened to overtake her. During that time, he never gave up on Raven, never once contemplated killing her to stop the prophecy. He knew that Blackfire was asking him to do the same for SoulBurn. She really did love him. Everyone turned to Robin awaiting his response. A very genuine smile formed on his face.
"I promise that I will save him Blackfire. I will make sure you get a chance to see him again, but I ask you one promise as well. I ask you to rest for now. I ask that you take it easy and allow us to fight this battle. A lot has happened to you and I don't think you will be able to handle any fighting right now." Blackfire seemed to grimace slightly but then smiled.
"Sure Robin. I promise I'll stay here." However, in Blackfire's mind, she knew this was one promise she would not keep. The conversation was interrupted by Robin's communicator beeping. He pulled it out and Cyborg's face appeared on the screen.
"Hey Robin. Titan's East should be here in about two hours. You should be ready to brief them on what's going on." Robin's eyes widened in shock.
"What time is it?"
"Its 3 in the morning Robin. I guess time flies when you have a lot on your mind."
"So little time left. All right Cyborg. I'll be ready. Robin out." Robin put his communicator away and let out a deep sigh. He looked around the room at everyone's faces and stopped on the beautiful face of Raven.
"So two hours then." He slowly walked over to Raven and picked her up throwing her over his shoulder. She let out a surprised yell.
"What are you doing Richard?"
"I've got two hours before I have to explain to 5 of my friends that they will be fighting against Lucifer, who is in fact the devil himself, who is in control of another Fallen angel Azrael who is in reality our friend SoulBurn that saved the universe once before. I've decided that before I have to do that, I want to spend the next two hours in my room with the most important person in my life who I love more than anything and I don't know why but I always wanted to carry you like this."
"Could you turn me so I can look at our friend's Richard?" Robin complied. Terra, Starfire, and Blackfire all looked at the emotionless face of Raven.
"I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to you all. I have a feeling we are going to be very loud and I hope it does not disturb anyone's time to relax." Smiles slowly formed on all the girls face except Starfire who seemed slightly confused. Blackfire was the next to speak.
"Oh I believe that is to be expected. Have fun Raven." Terra giggled at the response and Raven smiled wider.
"Oh I intend to. Now onward to your room my beloved." Raven slapped Robin on the backside like one would hit a horse to get it going. Robin jumped slightly from the impact.
"As you wish mistress." Raven gave a small wave to her friends as Robin ran out the room with Raven still over his shoulder. Starfire spoke next.
"Those two are a wonderful influence on each other. Before they coupled, they both were far too serious. Its nice to see them being playful. I wonder what they will do in Robin's room?" Terra and Blackfire's eyes almost popped out of their heads.
"Um yeah Star. I'd love to explain that but…well um…me and Beast Boy have to…yeah…laterz." And with that Terra was sprinting out of the room leaving a confused Starfire and her older sister who had pulled the sheets over her head. Starfire turned at her sister confused by her behavior.
"Sister, why are you hiding under the covers?"
"Blackfire is not hear right now. Please leave your name and message and I'll be sure to get back to you." Starfire giggled and clapped her hands together.
"You are being playful as well sister. I am glad to see you in such a mood." Blackfire slowly removed the sheet from her head and stared at the bright shining face of her little sister and smiled.
"You really are something else, you know that Kori." Starfire was again confused.
"How can I be something else other than me?" Blackfire smiled more and grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed.
"I really do love you sis." Starfire squeezed back.
"I love you as well sister. Now why don't you tell me of how you and SoulBurn have fallen in love. Was it like in the movies that I love to watch?"
"Well I can't really go into everything, but I think I have a few stories that you might enjoy." The two sisters spent the next two hours smiling and laughing.
After two hours, the members of Titan's East finally arrived. They were greeted at the door by the six members of the original Titans. Robin, Raven, Terra, and Beast Boy all have very satisfied looks on their faces. Starfire was extremely happy and hopeful despite everything that had happened and ran over to Speedy catching him in a surprisingly gentle hug. Cyborg immediately ran up and picked Bumble Bee up in a tight embrace. She quickly returned it and gave him a quick peck on the lips. After everyone settled down Bumble Bee began speaking.
"So what's the deal Sparky. Why was it so urgent to get us all out here? I heard that you guys evacuated the city. Is Brother Blood up to something major or what?" Cyborg scratched his head nervously not really sure what to say but fortunately Robin intervened.
"Why don't we all sit down. I have quite the story for you all and I think it would be best if none of you are standing up. The members of Titan's East were confused. What could possibly be that shocking?" They had no idea.
