Chapter Ten: Tell
(In the Infirmary)
"How is she?" Robin demanded as he stared at a badly injured and unconscious Starfire, "who DID this?" he asked himself but everyone heard it.
"She's stable but still close to the critical stage," Cyborg stated, "whatever happened to her," he said, "really banged her up REALLY bad."
"How did this happen?" Robin asked in a snarl and turned instinctively to look at Beast Boy.
"Hey dude!" Beast Boy cried in defensive anger, "Raven brought her back here like that not me!" he shouted.
Robin turned to glare at Raven.
"It was an accident," Raven said in a small voice, "she followed me somewhere and we ended up getting into a fight," she explained, "then she punched me and I…" she continued but stopped and buried her head in her hands.
"Starfire punched you!" Beast Boy cried in disbelief, "what did you do…?" he started to ask but Cyborg placed a hand over his mouth to silence him then removed it.
"Tell us why Raven," Cyborg asked his eyes staring straight at her bowed head with no emotion.
Raven looked up, her eyes filled with tears. She saw Beast Boy's shocked face, Robin's serious on and Cyborg's…. There was no emotion in Cyborg's face. It was like looking at stone. So Raven looked into his human eye. The eye that would show her what she needed to know. Why was Cyborg staring at her this way? Then his emotionless stare turned within a blink of an eye to a glare then back to its original stare. But Raven saw it in time and knew.
Oh my God. He knows. I saw the emotion pass quickly through his human eye but there's no mistaking it. It was a quick look of outmost contempt. Looking at something worse than garbage and more evil than Satan. Oh God. He knows. And he HATES me for IT. Oh God. What am I going to do? There's no way to avoid telling now. This has sealed my fate. Whatever that may be. (Raven's thoughts)
"Because of Slade," Raven responded her head hanging in shame.
"Slade!" Robin cried, "What does he have to do with this?" he demanded and his voice sounded almost scared.
"I went looking for him," Raven told him, "to tell him to bring you back," she said as her voice started to crack, "to make him let you go home," she concluded.
"But how could you do that Raven?" Beast Boy asked in confusion, "how could you make Slade…?" He continued to ask, "wait," he said suddenly, "you KNEW where SLADE was!"
Everyone else in the room looked at Raven with open shock and disbelief.
"Is that true Raven?" Cyborg asked in her in a voice that made her want to run and hide, "did you know where Slade was this whole time and didn't tell us?" he demanded his voice not hiding his anger.
"Tell us you're lying Raven," Robin said shaking his head, "tell us that you're mixed up or that you're sick…."
"I'm not lying," Raven responded in her usual monotone voice, "but I didn't know Slade's location,' she continued, "not his exact location," she added and looked away.
"You knew somewhere he COULD be?" Beast Boy asked her, "why didn't you tell us Raven?" he asked his innocent eyes pleading for the truth.
"I had to see him alone," Raven told Beast Boy.
"Why?" Robin asked suddenly, "why did you need to see him without any of the other titans with you?" he asked her seriously.
"Because he's my father," Raven responded and you could hear a pin drop with the sudden silence that took over the room, "I am his daughter," she added as her words sunk into the minds of three male titans.
"Starfire so called was really a memory wasn't it?" Beast Boy demanded angrily after nearly five minutes of dead silence, "you knocked her unconscious and let Slade escape that time when she had injured him and nearly caught him!" he accused.
"WHAT!" Robin screamed, "Starfire nearly caught Slade before he kidnapped me?" he demanded.
"Yes," Raven confessed, "but if I had known what would happen…" she started to explain.
"They're no excuses Raven," Cyborg spoke up, "it doesn't matter that Slade's your father," he continued, "it MATTERS that you allowed your dedication to falter and allowed him to get away by harming a fellow Titan," he stated, "worse your action allowed him to get away and also taking away one of our own," he told her, "what if we never found Robin," he asked Raven and her eyes widened in fright and a nearby chair exploded causing Beast Boy to yelp and Robin to jump back in surprise but Cyborg was unaffected, "what would you have done THEN Raven?"
"What do you mean never found me?" Robin asked darkly, "do you really think that Slade could me locked up and away from my friends forever?" he asked Cyborg.
"I'm being realistic Robin," Cyborg responded, "anything could've happened after you were taken."
"Anything is right," Robin muttered and made it a point now to stare intently at his shoes.
"Dude!" Beast Boy cried suddenly, "what do you mean Raven being SLADE'S daughter doesn't MATTER?" he demanded, "Slade's our worst enemy!" he reminded Cyborg, "who needs to have an extra pair of eyes for him right here in the tower!" he cried incredulously.
"Excuse me?" Raven asked in a serious voice that didn't hide her displeasure at his comment, "what EXACTLY do you mean by 'an extra pair of eyes for HIM'?" she asked Beast Boy staring him straight in the eye.
"Exactly what he said," Cyborg stated, "you can't blame him for lacking faith in you," he told her, "we're all uncertain how much we can trust you now," he added.
"Uncertain!" Beast Boy cried incredulously, "we can't trust her at all!" he shouted, "HELLO," he said, "she's SLADE'S child," he pointed out.
"I know I'm Slade's child," Raven exploded and unfortunately the bed that Starfire was on exploded along several other miscellaneous items, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" she cried when she realized what she had done.
Starfire flew up into the air and Cyborg barely caught her before she landed on the floor. Beast Boy glared at Raven as Robin grabbed Starfire from Cyborg's arm and held her close to him.
I'd advise you to be EXTRA careful with your emotions and powers right now," Cyborg told her coldly, "we don't need another problem that involves you being the cause."
"When were you planning to tell us?" a voice asked softly and the voice turned out to be Robin's, "when were you planning on telling us who your father really was?"
"Never," Raven responded, "I was too afraid that you all wouldn't understand," she started to explain, "Robin…"
"Don't you DARE call my name," Robin said in a soft but extremely fierce voice and his face was contorted with contorted, "how could you?" he asked, "how could you team up with Slade?" he asked her.
"What…?" Raven started to ask since Robin's question hadn't fully sunk in, "I didn't team up with Slade!" she cried when she realized what he was insinuating.
"How do expect me to believe that!" Robin shouted at her, "How do you expect us to BELIEVE that!" he demanded and motioned his head to the other male titans," how do expect Starfire…?" he started to ask more softly but then stopped and hung down his head.
"Starfire was angry when she first found out," Raven told them, "she attacked me because she thought that I was in league with my father," she said.
"Do you really blame her?" Cyborg asked frankly.
"No," Raven responded sadly, "but when she punched me my powers went out of control," she said, "and then I came to my senses outside the building and barely made it back in and out with Starfire's body before the entire structure came crashing down."
"Crashing down!" Beast Boy cried, "what the hell did you do in there?" he demanded.
"It wasn't my fault," Raven said firmly, "it was an accident."
"ACCIDENT!" Robin exploded, "you call severely injuring Starfire almost to the brink of death an accident!" he shouted at her.
"I would never purposely harm Starfire!" Raven cried in her defence, "If you guys were ever my friends you'd know that!" she shouted.
"Don't you DARE mention friendship," Robin snarled, "friends tell the truth," he told her, "you lied to us," he said, "you betrayed us," he continued, "you even betrayed the job entrusted to you as a Titan," he told her, "you're NO friend of MINE," he hissed hatefully.
"Do you truly believe that I wanted this to happen!" Raven exploded, "that I wanted Slade to kidnap you and Starfire to be injured!" she screamed and more things exploded in the room.
"Calm down Raven," Cybrog instructed.
"Do you know what your father did to me?" Robin asked Raven who stared at him head on and refused to show any pity at this point, "he raped me Raven," he said and his voice came out in a small whisper.
Everyone else's mouths fell open.
"What?" Beast Boy asked his voice coming out in a small croak.
"I said he raped me," Robin said and tears were now seen flowing below his sunglasses, "and it's all YOUR fault," he told her and stormed out of the Infirmary with Starfire still in his arms.
Beast Boy gave her a look of contempt and left as well.
"I'm really disappointed in you Rae," Cyborg told her and left.
Raven stood by herself in the Infirmary. She picked up a blanket and sat down a chair. She decided that it was best to spend the night there and away from the others.
This can't be true. I couldn't have just lost everything because Slade's my father and he raped Robin. I just…. (Raven's thoughts)
Raven started to sob softly in her hands. Not noticing that this time her powers didn't cause anything to explode despite her burst of emotion.
End Chapter 10
Reggae: So Raven has told the truth and each Titan has reacted to it. What will happen next? Will update this month (March). Please Review.