(A/N) BleachBurns, yes, abstinence, yes, I am serious, yes, really, yes. pimpofthetitans, just to explain a little, the main reason Raven couldn't handle what fusing with Affection caused was because she had almost zero experience in dealing with the emotion, especially in that way. Affection has been locked up as tightly, if not tighter than Anger. Just a fic before I go, a lesson to be learned, typing twice the speed of sound, it's easy to smash your keyboard to miniscule pieces.

Disclaimer – I don't own the Teen Titans, some guy with lots more money than me does. Lucky punk.

Tamed – Seeing Red – It's all about the love-hate relationship.

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A forest spread out in majestic grandeur. Tall trees of maple, oak, and various other deciduous varieties colored the summer landscape a deep, healthy green. A faint sound of a predator mercilessly attacking its prey echoed throughout the woods, frightening the birds from the treetops. In the distance Raven could make out the top of one of those trees as it toppled to the earth. Beast Boy's fighting training was going well.

Resisting the desire to go and watch him work, Raven drifted back to the ground and went into her hut. Her mirror was still in its place on the floor. The training she would be going in for today was probably the least appealing part of everything she had set out to do. Even though Anger was out from under Trigon's thumb, she still seemed like the worst part of Raven. As though every evil thing she could become was born from that one emotion.

Nevermore had changed so drastically that it looked more like a small, though sophisticated villa in the countryside. The path was now a cobble stone roadway that meandered over the low rolling hills. The buildings were now much closer together and there seemed to be an abundance of taller, dense bushes. The closeness of everything with the added cover of bushes convinced Raven that it was Timid's influence that had given this place so many hiding spots. The buildings were more varied now as well. The libraries were still there, though now large paintings relevant to what was contained in them decorated their walls. An art gallery of sorts, Affection's doing no doubt, was situated near the center of the tiny town. A smaller lake sat off to the side of the buildings, its waters forever mirroring the sky, it seemed no wind could disturb its calm surface. The largest building of them all, since the library was technically several buildings, was a miniature arena that sat before the forbidden door. Inside was a weight room, locker room, creature den (did she really need to have monsters still?), juice bar, and fighting area. It felt like she was in some ancient Greek city cultural center.

Raven sighed as she looked to the edges of the scene in front of her. Two arches in opposite directions were all that remained of her gateways. She could see Happy doing cartwheels outside of the gallery. After she had gotten too dizzy and fell over her laughter made its way up the hill where Raven stood. Happy stood and dusted herself off, then went into the building that housed Raven's most valued mental images. She smiled briefly to herself, but it quickly faded as she turned to walk towards the leftmost arch.

Her resolve locking into place, Raven touched the stones of the arch and waited. The glow had come and gone as usual, but Raven had little hopes the fiery emotion would answer her summons. After waiting for what she figured was a reasonable enough time, she stepped through the freestanding opening.

Anger's waste stretched out before Raven. The constantly smoldering volcano situated in the center of all the nothing left little doubt where Anger waited. The ground was dead and caked with cooled magma. Nothing grew here…nothing probably ever would. "Anger! I want to talk to you!" She had called out in as much volume as she could use without sounding like she was challenging the hothead. "Anger? Please, I want to listen to you!"

"Get out of my room."

Raven whirled around to find the red robed raging emotion fiercely glaring at her.

"No one goes in my room, or is that only OK for you? My freedom was just a scam, right?"

Raven kept herself calm. "I knocked and since no one answered, I came in. But I'll leave if that's really what you want."

Anger's eyes narrowed. "That is EXACTLY what I want."

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Raven flopped down on to her bed feeling tired and a little hurt. How was she supposed to work towards merging with a part of her that seemed like it wanted to stay separate? It was hopeless…no; there was hope…she just needed to not give in to that nagging depression that always wanted to bubble up when she dealt with Anger. Looking for something to cheer her up, she thought aloud, "I wonder if Beast Boy is back?"

Looking outside her bedroom door she saw the green teen humming to himself while he was making lunch. It looked like he was frying bananas, which seemed…wrong…to Raven. "Why're you frying fruit?" Her curiosity having carried her over to where he was happily fixing the food.

"It's a South American thing. I thought it would be fun to try something different." He continued his constant shifting of the pan over the fire so that the yellow fruit wouldn't burn. As soon as it was a nice caramel color he removed the slices and placed them on a couple of plates.

Beast Boy laid a plate in front of Raven and she watched as he took his seat next to her. She thought he looked a lot more excited about this then she could fake, but since he had suffered through her bad cooking at times, she would at least try his. The texture was a little strange for a banana, but Raven found the taste quite agreeable. It was almost like some kind of dessert. "This is good. Where'd you find out about this?" However, when she looked up from her plate to look at Beast Boy for the answer she saw him scraping his tongue with his fork.

"You liked that gross stuff? It was like eating something that sat under a bus!" He chugged his water to free himself from the flavor that clung to his taste buds. He would have continued if he hadn't caught Raven snickering behind her hand. "What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking that it was pretty ironic that you, the vegetarian, didn't like the fruit dish that I, an omnivore, did."

"What's an omnivore?"

Still smiling from everything, she answered, "It's somebody who eats meat AND plants."

Finally understanding what she had said, the humor of it all hit him. "That is pretty funny…but I need to go wash out my mouth with a hose."

He had stood and turned to leave when Raven called him back. "Beast Boy, wait…I want you to help me with something."

"Sure, Rae, what's up?"

She struggled to get the words out for a few moments, disappointed in her own feelings of weakness. "I tried talking to Anger this morning. It…didn't go very well. Can you come with me after lunch?" Her hands were wringing each other in her lap.

His smile calmed Raven's feelings of insecurity. "No problem. I wasn't looking forward to more combat training anyway."

"I think a few trees will be glad to hear that." She smirked.

A hand went behind his head self-consciously and he giggled nervously. "You saw that? I was…uh…trying out my claws and…they work!" He said half laughing.

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"Why can't we just go in?"

Raven paced up past Beast Boy and turned. "Because she's testing me. She didn't like that I came in last time without her permission, so this time, I'm going to wait her out."

Beast Boy slouched a little lower in his seat on the ground against the archway. "But we've been here a half hour already." He whined. "Isn't there another way to get her to come out?"

"Not without breaking my promise to her. It'd be forcing her to come here." She turned again in her pacing.

"Rae? Are these like normal doors, I mean, can you hear what's being said through them?"

"Yeah, why?" Raven stopped walking back and forth as she watched Beast Boy get up with a mischievous look in his eye.

Beast Boy took a deep breath and… "ANGER! ARE YOU EVER COMING OUT? RAVEN AND I ARE GETTING BORED!"

Raven just stared disbelievingly at him.

"What?" He smiled sheepishly. "It works with you…"

Raven didn't know whether to laugh because he thought it could work, or laugh because of why he did it. She didn't do either because of a voice behind her.

"Why're you shouting?" Anger had finally arrived.

Beast Boy let out a friendly smile. "I just wanted you to come out."

"I'm not going to talk to her. I refuse."

"Why not? I was the one who yelled."

"It's not because of the yelling, but shut up with that too." At least she wasn't screaming it…they should appreciate what she was doing for them.

Beast Boy's mind was racing, the hamster was getting tired and they were all out of food pellets, so he just said what came to him first. "If you're not gonna talk to her…will you talk to me?"

Anger eyed him suspiciously. "I'm not talking to you so that you can ask whatever she wants to know."

"I don't know what she wants to ask, so tell me what you want to talk about." It sounded like a good plan…keep her talking and he could maybe get her to relax. It was like talking to Raven on a bad day. He had gotten through a few of those safely, not all of them, but some.

"I'm too mad to talk." Raven snorted a little and Anger turned to glare at her, but she kept to her silent treatment and just shot daggers with her eyes.

"What're you mad about?" Didn't Cyborg tell Robin once that it was good to talk about your anger? It was probably after Slade had gotten away some time or other.

Anger snarled a little. "Her." She pointed at Raven.

Raven glared right back. "I didn't do anything this time, so you can just…" She only stopped because she saw Beast Boy waving for her to let it drop. She turned away in a huff.

"What'd she do?" He knew that it was the right thing to ask to get them closer to talking to each other, but he was also curious what an emotion could have against their creator.

Anger's face went from upset to livid. "SHE KEPT ME LOCKED UP FOR OVER HALF OF HER LIFE! She took the coward's way out to avoid her daddy." Anger was glad to see Raven fume at what she had said. "She's always being a coward. She was a coward when she ran from Slade on her birthday, she was a coward when she went WILLINGLY to daddy's side saying it was so you guys wouldn't have to suffer, she was a coward when Robin found her, and she's always been a coward about doing what wonder brat ordered her to do out here. The only reason she's here is because she's more scared of being kicked off the team then she is about trying to join with all of us." Anger stood as tall and erect as she could. "She's just a scared little girl who can't face life without someone holding her hand. That's why you're here, right, Beast Boy? Robin sent you so little Raven could feel accepted when she turns tail and runs away again?"

Beast Boy looked at Raven who was still standing her ground, eyes locked on the red-cloaked emotion. But…those same eyes had tears in them, tears that were slowly spilling down her cheeks. Her mouth was hard and set in a frown and her eyes looked fierce, but the tears came all the same. Beast Boy felt like a deer in the headlights. He had a couple of ideas of what to do, but he was caught in the choosing. Trusting in his first choice again, he walked to Anger and pulled her into a deep hug. "You need to stop. It's not going to help you to hate Raven. If you want her to be a better person, then you need to go back to her and not hold a grudge. If you don't, you're going to end up like Trigon. All hate…and defeated." Beast Boy kept hold of her for a little longer, she wasn't returning the hug, but she hadn't stiffened up or struggled. "I'm going to let go now…uh, don't hurt me."

Raven had watched everything in confusion and shock. She felt hurt that Beast Boy would go to Anger when she wasn't the one who had just been so cruelly insulted. A voice in the back of her mind told her to trust Beast Boy, but it was hard. She latched on to what trust she could muster and decided to listen to the voice. It didn't stop the pain inside her though.

Anger was watching Beast Boy closely. He had backed up by a few steps, but her was still looking at her.

"Are you mad at me?"

"…No." Seeing the doubting look on his and Raven's faces she scowled. "Stupid honesty promise crap." She mumbled under her breath.

Beast Boy decided to press his luck, it had worked out so far. "Are you gonna stay mad at Raven?"

Anger looked like she wanted to throw acid at Raven. "No." Seeing Raven's demeanor lighten up, she added, "but I want to."

Beast Boy smiled at Anger. "So you're not mad anymore?"

She turned to face him slowly. It was obvious that she didn't really want to answer, but her mouth opened all the same. "Yes, I'm still mad."

"At who?" Couldn't she just calm down to annoyance or slightly peeved once in a while?

"Robin because he manipulated us, Mumbo for turning us into a stupid bunny, Jinx for making fun of us, Slade for helping our father, our father, and…myself."

"Us means you emotions and Raven?" He wasn't sure, but the bit about Trigon made it sound like that to him. Anger nodded after rolling her eyes. "Why're you mad at yourself?"

Anger looked away from Beast Boy like she was ashamed. "Because I'm not mad at you…" Anger then quickly grabbed Raven and headed for her mountain through the arch. "You have to wait out here."

"Uhm…'K" And Beast Boy was alone. "Wish I'd brought a book." Laughter came bubbling out as soon as he realized what he had just said.

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As soon as Anger had let go of her arm Raven rubbed her wrist a little. "What's going on? Why'd we leave Beast Boy behind?"

"Because I don't want him here." Anger closed her eyes for a moment like she was trying to push down some rant or other. "I want to fuse, but I want it on my terms."

"Depends on what your terms are."

Another scowl scrunched Anger's face. "Fine, but I'm going to tell you why I'm doing this too…mostly because you won't like it." She smiled mirthlessly at Raven's glare. "What I want is a promise from you that I won't be locked up ever again."

"You know I can't promise that. It's too dangerous for me to let you out when you've got a full head of steam."

"That's why you have to let me out. If you don't, of course the anger will build until it explodes. If you let it out gradually, it stays manageable. Find some way to release it without destroying something or someone…like Cyborg does. He works on that stupid car of his. With our father gone, you should be able to handle your anger; it's time you started trying to. So…those are my terms. No more locking me out, find some other way than destruction to show me, and stop pretending you don't get angry."

This had to have been the calmest conversation Raven had ever had with Anger. It was like being in the eye of a tornado. Peaceful, but completely surrounded by chaos. "That sounds acceptable."

"Good, and just so you know, I'm not rejoining because of you. I don't think I could stomach that it if that's all there was." The look on her face mirrored her sentiment. "I'm allowing this to happen because of Beast Boy." Raven's confusion and shock was sweet to her. "I thought that'd leave you speechless. I'd like to point out that YOU have never been mad at Beast Boy…not really anyway. You've been annoyed, upset, and hurt, but never mad. It was our father who held such anger for him. Beast Boy sought your happiness, father would never have wanted that, so he exploited your annoyance and magnified it. I want that to be my last gift to you," she said, venom in every syllable. "You've treated him so badly for so long, when he never deserved it, and he still loves you. He sees something I don't yet…I'm willing to look for it."

Tears had stung Raven's eyes again, though she was able to keep them back. The most curious thing about what Anger had said was in the she made is seem like she valued Beast Boy's opinion. "Why couldn't you get mad at Beast Boy?"

Anger flipped her hood up before the blush she could feel starting would show. "I'm still part of you…Affection told you what it would mean to really be in love. That's why I'm willing to go back, because I want to see him too." Her annoyance resuming it's normal level of 'high' from seeing Raven holding in something that looked like a smile, she said, "Can we just get this over with already?"

Raven let go of her amusement and closed her eyes in concentration. Anger swung in a tight orbit around her as they rose skyward. Feeling like she needed to keep her focus more now, with Anger than she did for the others, Raven's face grew contorted with her efforts. After the red ring around her shrunk into place, merging the once separate emotion back within her, Raven kept very still.

She was afraid to open her eyes, afraid of setting off the now very present and aroused emotion. It was like holding a gun with the hammer cocked and the trigger half pulled.

"Uh, Raven?"

Her eyes shot open. "Weren't you told to wait outside?" She snapped.

He laughed a little strangely. "Uhm…I am outside. You just kind of appeared and everything went funny out here for a little bit."

Raven looked around and saw that he was where they had left him, except that the arch was gone. Looking around at the surroundings she saw that there was now a pair of mountains, one was majestic and snow capped, and the other was dark and smoldering. She couldn't figure out where the majestic one had come from…which of her emotions had influenced that?

Raven was shaken out of her thoughts by a giggle from behind her. She rolled her eyes and asked tiredly, "What is it, Happy?"

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(A/N) Hey y'all. Took a lot longer to write this chapter than it should have. And, it's not like I can use the excuse that I hit a block, 'cause I found this an easy and fun chapter to write. I'm just running out of steam right now. Missed another night's sleep the other day and I haven't gotten back into the swing of things still. My goal is to finish writing out the rest of the story before its one-month anniversary, which'll be the 5th of September. Here's hoping. Review, if you would be so kind.