Seven Years' Bad Luck in One Day
Review Responses:
MoonHawke: Lust is in the still un-split Love. I'm still sort of debating which emotions will split, so it's hard to say whether Lust will show. Plus I'm bad at writing that sort of thing. I wanted to make it different, but I also wanted to give due credit to Happy-Raven for the splitting bit.
JulesFire: Thanks, I like that I can have the best of something. Yep, I worry from time to time that I'm making my point with a sledgehammer in that regard, but it does make for a fun story to have the emotions react to BB that way.
Fish Head The 3rd. This really isn't so much a review, but I wrote more in this chapter than in the previous two combined, so enjoy!
She-Who-Snogs-Weasly-Boys: Thanks!
Jade-Monsoons: K I'll update now kgr8r/rw00t
Nagaina: Glad you like it! Here it is.
Warprince2000: Here's the update, sorry for the delay.
Raidersrule76: Glad you like it! Yeah, Terra has her bad points, but I like how she makes Raven act, and I like to write her, despite her lack of characterization. Thanks also for reviewing my other stories, it's always nice to see people looking at an author's other work.
Change-Of-Heart: Glad you like it! Hope this next chapter is good as well.
Kestrel: Short and to the point! Glad you liked it, thanks for the review.
A/N: Right, so here's a long chapter. Set aside at least 20 minutes to read it :) Anyhow, the real author's note is at the bottom, so here I'll just say thanks for putting up with the long delay.
"Friends, I am worried about Raven. She seems quite sad." Starfire's voice was tinged with concern. She didn't like this; it was too strange to have multiple Ravens in the tower, and fighting Raven was disconcerting.
"She'll be fine. We need to go and stop her emotions from destroying the city." Robin looked at his communicator, hitting a button to display alerts in the city. He grimaced.
"Ok, we have three targets attacking three different parts of the city. There are alarms going off in Wayne Museum of Antiquities, St. Wallace's Cathedral, and... uh... the City Dump. We have to split up and capture the emotions so that we can put them all back where they belong."
Cyborg nodded. "I'll take the Museum. Rave--- Brave, you want to come with me?"
Brave nodded, looking fierce. "Yeah, time to go kick four-eye's butt!" Cyborg and Brave took off, running towards the T-car.
"Starfire, you come with me, we'll go to St. Wallace's and take care of that. Beastboy, you go to--"
"I'm staying here. Raven seems really sick, and someone needs to take care of her." Beastboy's voice was timid, despite his insubordination.
Robin started to interject, but Starfire cut him off. "That idea is a good one. If Raven is ill, it will be helpful to have someone who is not her around. Robin agrees, do you not?"
Robin sighed. She had a point. "Fine. Beastboy, you stay here. Whichever team finishes first will go after the one at the dump. Let's go Star!" Robin ran off, towards the R-Cycle.
Starfire smiled at Beastboy, then flew after Robin. Beastboy watched the two vehicles and one flying alien dart out of the garage, and sighed. He wasn't sure Raven would be happy with him staying, but someone had to make sure she was alright. He walked towards the elevator that led back to the rest of the tower. Just before he pressed the button to call the elevator, the door opened, revealing the familiar blue-cloaked Raven, and also Wisdom, the brown-clad one. Raven spoke quickly, as if she was rushed.
"Have they already left? I need to help; this is my problem." Raven's voice was forceful and irritated. Yet, there was also a hint of exhaustion in it. Beastboy nodded.
"Yeah, they're gone. But you can't go help; you're sick. Robin told me to stay here and take care of you, so you can't leave."
Raven scowled at him, while Wisdom looked satisfied. "It is prudent to stay, Raven, as I've told you. You cannot fight in your condition."
Raven sighed, then sidestepped Beastboy as he walked on to the elevator. "C'mon, it won't be that bad. I'll help you have someone besides yourself to talk to anyway."
The doors closed, and the elevator hummed as it drug the three people up from the underground garage to the common room at the top of the tower. The silence hung in the air oppressively. Raven was busy thinking of how her day would be, trying to keep all of her emotions under control, Beastboy was nervous about being so close to two Ravens, and Wisdom was carefully considering the best course of action for the trio. The elevator reached the top floor and opened, revealing all the emotions sitting around the common room, trying to amuse themselves.
Happiness was still playing videogames, and had coerced Timidity into joining her, though Happiness was easily winning. Rudeness was digging around in the fridge, and making loud munching sounds, taking bites out of random foods without even bothering to take them out of the fridge. Knowledge was reading a greenish book on the table, one that Raven didn't recognize. Love was still sitting on the couch, looking towards Beastboy and smiling happily.
Beastboy ran over to the fridge, trying to save what food was left. "Dude! You can't just eat one bite of everything! I mean, we have to have something to eat!"
Rude pulled her head out of the fridge, with a chicken leg in one hand and a cube of uncooked tofu in the other. She took a chomp of the leg and spoke as she chewed. "Yah, but I'm leavin' plenty. You won't starve."
"That's so not the point! I don't want to eat something that you've already taken a bite out of! That's gross!"
The emotion just grinned, a bit of chicken in her teeth. "Why not? You'd put your mouth all over ours if we'd give you half a chance."
Beastboy blushed deeply. "Dude! That's so not cool! Raven, can't you do anything about this?"
Raven was standing by the couch, having snatched the picture away from Love. She looked at Beastboy with irritation. "I can't control them like this. Just let her do what she wants until we can figure something out."
Beastboy walked over to where Raven was standing. "Hey, what's that? Is that the picture that Lo-- the purple one was holding?"
Raven handed him the photo, rolling her eyes. "Yes. I don't know why she likes it so much."
Love interjected, her smooth voice a far cry from Raven's irritated sound. "I like it because he's in it. He likes it because you're in it."
Raven looked at Beastboy, cocking an eyebrow. "Why DID you keep this photo?"
Beastboy shuffled his feet nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh... I... like the fair?"
Raven sighed, then watched as Love hovered over behind Beastboy, and hugged him from behind, her arms around his waist and her head on his shoulder. Beastboy's eyes widened, and he waved his arms in front of him, trying to convince Raven that it wasn't his fault.
"C'mon Raven, make her stop! Why is she always all over me like this?"
Love pulled her chin off of his shoulder and smiled at Beastboy. "Isn't it obvious? We all love you!"
Beastboy blushed deeply, and Timid put down the controller and covered her face with a pillow. Wisdom and Raven both sighed, and Happiness giggled. Knowledge just kept reading. Rudeness burped.
Raven focused for half a second, and Love went flying backwards from a short burst of power. Beastboy looked scared half out of his mind. Raven calmed herself.
"She is an emotion. You realize that Anger was angry at everyone, and that Happiness is always happy. Keep that in mind." Raven's tone was cold and angry, it seemed like she was only inches from blasting everything in this room apart.
Timidity was cowering under a pillow, still blushing deeply from what had been said. Wisdom clicked her tongue at Raven, speaking calmly. "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."
Raven suddenly felt light-headed from the exertion of using her powers with her emotions free. She sat down on the couch, carefully. Beastboy stopped being frightened and sat down beside her, a worried expression on his face. "Do you need some medicine or something? I don't like seeing you all sick like this."
Raven looked at him sideways. Why was Love acting like that towards him? He certainly didn't evoke the same emotion that she had felt earlier. He was being overly nice and concerned again, but now that it was perhaps deserved, she wasn't so bothered by it. She stammered out a response. "Um... some aspirin might be helpful."
Beastboy grinned at having something to do, and hopped up from the couch, heading into the kitchen to get the medicine. Raven still was unhappy with the affection that Love was showing Beastboy. Beastboy might be fooled, but Raven was fully aware that Love wasn't doing the same thing to Robin or Cyborg. She suddenly became aware of Timidity sitting next to her, blushing darkly and looking nervous.
"That was embarrassing. She told him that we love him!"
Raven scowled at the girl. "We don't though. Why are you embarrassed?"
Timidity looked down at the floor, scared by Raven's scowl. "I... Well, I mean.... Love does... and I-I'm sorry."
Beastboy sat down between Raven and Timid, smiling at Raven while handing her two aspirin and a small glass of water. Timidity looked up at him sadly, tears in her eyes. Beastboy's smile faded into worry.
"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Beastboy looked down at Timidity with concern. She was too much like Raven, and he couldn't stand to see her cry like that.
Timidity shook her head and blinked her eyes, trying to stop crying. "I'm... I'm sorry... Raven was mad at me and I don't like making people so angry."
"Hey, that's how Raven is, she gets mad. Don't cry, c'mon..." Beastboy stopped talking as Timidity hugged him gently. She seemed almost afraid that he'd push her away, so he carefully put his arms around her and patted her back lightly. "Uh... It'll be ok... Raven, what should I be doing?"
Raven looked at Beastboy holding her emotion. It was eerie to say the least. Timidity, like all of her other emotions, looked exactly like her. Seeing herself be held, comforted, by Beastboy was very strange. Still, she couldn't help smiling at Beastboy's discomfort. He really was a very nice person. "Just hold her. She will be less annoying if she's calmer."
Timidity did seem calmer, being held like that. She was no longer shaking, and she was actually smiling. Happiness, still playing the video game, giggled. "It's so cute the way you are hugging her!"
"Yes, you should hold the rest of us too." Love's smooth, calm voice floated over the room. Beastboy couldn't fight the redness in his cheeks, and Raven couldn't help but scowl. Love, seemingly trying to avoid Raven's anger, sat on the floor in front of Beastboy, leaning up against one leg, smiling and with eyes closed. Beastboy looked almost panicky, he often found himself wanting to be closer to Raven, but this was really getting weird.
"Uh... Raven... Don't get mad at me, I was just trying to help." Beastboy's voice was quiet and worried. Raven felt bad that he was so scared of her; was she really so creepy?
"I'm not mad at you, Beastboy. It's very hard to deal with these... emotions. I can't control them when they are outside of my mind, and it's very... it's embarrassing." Raven looked down at the couch, a slight blush creeping across her face. She felt drowsy and foggy, the aspirin having more of an effect than she'd intended. Timidity looked so happy and comfortable there... No! No, she couldn't go to sleep; the others were fighting for her. They were... they were fighting... there was something blocking her thoughts, making her drowsy. She would be vulnerable if she slept, but she couldn't help it. Who could influence her like this?
She looked around the room. The other emotions were yawning and blinking as well, as if they were feeling the same way. Something evil was going on, it had to be Trigon; he was making her tired so that she would be vulnerable. But she couldn't resist it. She felt like she was watching herself as she laid her head on Beastboy's shoulder, with the other emotions closing in as well. He was saying something... calling her. But she wanted to sleep.
Beastboy gave up trying to wake Raven, she was obviously very tired. He looked at the situation he was in, trying to make sense of what had just happened. All the sudden, everyone had gotten tired, and now he was surrounded by sleeping Ravens. He sighed. This was really very weird. He looked at the girls surrounding him. Even Wisdom had gone to sleep. He sighed again, not knowing what else to do. He laid his head back on the couch cushion and closed his eyes. He hoped that they all woke up before Robin and the others got back, it was going to be really embarrassing to be covered in women... maybe not SO embarrassing. He grinned as he drifted off to sleep as well.
The T-car barreled down the underground highway to the city. Cyborg felt weird, sitting alone with Raven in a car, more specifically, with a facet of Raven's personality in a car. He tried to make some casual conversation, as it would be a few minutes before they could get to the museum.
"So.. uh... Brave. What do you think about.. being out of Raven like this?" Cyborg was really at a loss for things to say to this person.
"It's great! She's always so careful about everything. I can finally just go and kick some butt without having her and the others worry about this and that. Especially that gray one, geez. She never shuts up about 'what if this' and 'what if that'. I can't stand her." The green-cloaked Raven was loosening her outfit, so that she could move easier.
Cyborg looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "So do y'all talk to each other in her head? I mean, how does that work?"
Brave shrugged, pulling her boots on tighter and tying them firmly. "Yeah, sometimes. We all have personalities... well, parts of a personality, that are grating to the others though. I don't like that Timid one, and Wisdom often gets in my way. I don't really mind four-eyes except that Raven hates her, so I end up hating her too. You know how it goes."
Cyborg shrugged. "Uh... Yeah, sure I do. We're getting close, can you tell which of the three red ones this will be?"
Brave seemed to be thinking. "It's Rage. We're in for a fight, Cyborg. This was always the most dangerous part of Raven's mind. But we'll be fine! I'm the best there is at combat, at least when it comes to Raven's emotions, and you're pretty good with a sonic cannon. Hey! We're here!"
The T-car skidded sideways, stopping roughly ten feet before the smashed entrance of the museum. The place was a wreck, the cars in the parking lot, the walls, the doors, and everything else seemed to have just been destroyed for no reason. Stepping out of the T-Car, Cyborg looked around himself in awe. Raven did all this? Bravery jumped out of her window and surveyed the area. "C'mon Cyborg! Let's go! We've got to stop Rage before she gets what she is looking for!"
Dodging the twisted metal, crumbled stonework, and burning debris, the two Titans stormed into the museum. Inside, the condition was no better. The precious artworks and ancient artifacts that had been housed here were all in multiple pieces, strewn all around the rooms. They heard crashing and the ripping of fabric from a nearby hallway, and dashed off in that direction. A few seconds later, they spotted the emotion.
Standing in what used to be an ancient writings gallery, was the blood-red emotion herself, Rage. As Cyborg and Bravery watched, the emotion brought a scroll telepathically through the air, and read it quietly. When she spoke, her voice sounded like she was barely able to control her anger. "The Ghaleon Scrolls. I've got what you want. I will meet the others to ensure your work is done."
"No way are you going anywhere with that! Bravery, go!" Cyborg fired a bright blue beam of sonic energy through the air, hitting the unaware emotion squarely in the side, knocking her down. Bravery jumped through the air, firing three blasts of black energy down at the emotion, knocking her powerfully against the stone wall. Rage slumped to the ground, apparently unconscious. Cyborg changed his cannon back into a hand.
"Uh... That was easy. I thought you said that--"
Cyborg flew backwards from the explosion of black energy from Rage. The blood-red girl stood, her eyes glowing brightly with anger. Bravery rushed towards her, throwing a flurry of punches and kicks, each deftly dodged by Rage. Giving a savage grin, Rage brought her fist up sharply into Bravery's stomach, knocking the breath out of the girl and tossing her to the side.
"This ain't over! Not by a long shot!" Cyborg fired another powerful beam of energy at Rage, only narrowly missing as the emotion dodged it. He deflected a bolt of power with his arm, and charged at the girl, swinging a heavy punch with his right arm. She was nearly able to dodge, but was still grazed by his wild punch. Not one to be worried, she simply focused, throwing Cyborg to the floor with a thought. She floated upwards a few feet, grinning evilly. Her eyes glowed brightly, and a moment later a beam of red energy shot forth, heading straight for Cyborg.
He looked up, in time to see the beams coming, but he wasn't nearly fast enough to dodge them. Suddenly, he felt himself jerk sideways powerfully, his body encased in black telekinetic energy. Bravery concentrated, turning him and standing him up quickly, before letting go. He grinned at her. "Thanks, Rae. I thought I was toast."
Bravery grinned back. "No problem! I need your help to defeat this gi--" Brave's speech was cut off as another red beam tore through the air and smashed into her, causing her to go careening through the air and into another stone wall. She landed on the floor, unconscious. The blood red emotion floated over her, ready to deliver a finishing blow, when suddenly she stopped, as if listening to something.
"Yes, I will obey as always. Consider yourselves lucky, worms, I am needed elsewhere." Rage bent down, picked up the Ghaleon Scrolls, and disappeared. Cyborg looked around, his scanners weren't picking her up. He knelt down and lifted the injured emotion from the ground, and carried her quickly but carefully back to the T-Car. Sitting her gingerly in the front seat, he buckled her seatbelt, then closed her door. Leaning against the T-car, Cyborg pressed the button on his arm to call Robin.
A few seconds later, Robin's face appeared on the screen, and he looked busy. "We're kinda in the middle of something Cyborg. Malice is no easy target here. What's the news on the Museum?"
Cyborg answered quickly. "Place is trashed, man. Rage really tore it up. We couldn't take her out, she teleported before the fight was over. Brave is out cold. I'm heading to the dump anyway, hopefully things will be better there. Cyborg out."
At the press of a button, the screen shut off, and Cyborg got into the T-Car, gunning its engine. "Here I come, Hate. You'd better be ready to go down."
Robin threw the communicator to the ground just in time to get both hands on his bo staff, blocking the shards of black energy fired at him from the evil, flying emotion. It had been doing little actual fighting, just trying it's best to injure any civilians caught in the way, knowing the Titan's desire to save them. Starfire and Robin had so far been successful, but they couldn't win forever.
"Starfire! You get Malice directly! I'll defend the civilians!" Robin watched as the alien immediately responded to his orders. She was an excellent teammate and an amazing fighter when she was angry enough. He knelt, picking up the little girl that had tripped in the rubble of the Cathedral, and ran towards a safer spot for her, dodging the errant Starbolts that were flying in every direction.
He set the crying five year old down next to her mother, nodding in response to the woman's heartfelt thanks. Looking back towards the fight, he saw that Starfire was being held still by tendrils of Raven's familiar black telekinesis. Star's eyes were glowing green, flames of power and anger flickering above them, but she seemed still unable to move. An evil, torturous laugh escaped the lips of the red emotion floating nearby.
"Aw, a pity. The alien princess has no way out. Perhaps your precious boyfriend will come to your aid?" The voice was unnatural, filled with the desire to harm and torture all living things. The very sound caused the remaining civilians to flee in terror, evoking another cruel smile from the emotion.
Robin ran forward, stopping twenty feet in front of Malice. The calmness in his voice hid the raging anger inside him. "Let. Her. Go."
A menacing grin spread over the doppelganger's lips. "Why Robin, I'm hurt. I thought you wanted to play. Starfire certainly seems to be enjoying herself."
Starfire let out a yelp as the darkness squeezed tighter around her. She felt dizzy from the pressure, it was unbearable, even to her. She strained to keep from screaming, knowing that it would only upset Robin further.
Robin's eyes narrowed. This had to stop. Now. "I said to let her go!" Robin let loose three discs of powerful explosives, timing the explosions so that they would explode just in front of the hovering girl. The explosions broke her concentration, dropping Starfire to the ground. Just before the smoke cleared, the emotion looked up to see Robin appear through the fog, smashing her hard in the head with the bo staff. She fell to the ground, and immediately found herself at the end of the staff, which was held an inch from her face.
"Do. Not. Move." Robin's voice was cold and even, his anger seeping through to the surface. Malice, despite the burning desire within her to torture and berate these fools, knew that she could not easily get out of this.
Starfire came forward, binding the emotion's hands with titanium airline cable, far too strong for even Raven's impressive powers to break. Malice snarled at her, cruelty in her eyes. There was little she could do at the moment, however.
Robin looked at Starfire carefully. "Are you ok? Did she hurt you?"
Starfire smiled. "No, she did not. I was squeezed, but I am still quite fine. Are you doing well? You seemed quite angry."
Robin shook his head. "You could have been hurt, or worse. I won't let that happen again. I promise. Now, take her back to the tower, I am going towards the city dump, in case Cyborg needs help. Will you be OK on your own?"
Starfire nodded. "I will be very OK. I will see you when you return with the others." She flew gently upwards, holding the free end of the airline cable, and pulling the emotion along with her. Robin straddled his R-Cycle, and the tires squealed as he sped off towards the dump.
Hatred looked back and forth, as she telekinetically threw bits of garbage away. Where was it? He'd said that it would be found here. She hated him. She hated Trigon. She hated the people that threw this garbage here. She hated the garbage. She hated that she was controlled both by some extradimensional demon and his pathetic daughter here on Earth. Finally, after lifting a junked refrigerator, the item came into view. A page from Rorek's book. Trigon needed this page for some ritual he was hoping to perform, and he wasn't to be kept waiting.
Hatred looked at the remaining trash in this place. Disgusting. Filthy, horrid humans dumping their garbage in a pile. Movement at the far end of the dump caught her eye. The T-Car. As she watched, Cyborg stepped out, then checked on something in the front passenger side seat. Leaving whatever it was there, he began to search the dump. She couldn't be found, she did not wish to fight, no matter how much she despised that half-machine.
She closed her eyes, focused, and teleported. An instant later, and she was once again at the base of Titans' Tower. She looked up at the structure. She hated the shape. It was too obvious, and too loud of a color. Phasing through the door, she looked around at the entryway. Mundane, droll, boring. She floated down the hallways, clutching the page tightly. She hated Trigon for making her do this pathetic delivery. Finally, she reached the common room. She forced the door open, relishing the creak of metal being forcibly bent by her telekinetic powers. Inside, she hated what she saw.
On the couch was Beastboy. On his left was Raven, her head on his shoulder. On his right was Timidity, held awkwardly in his arms. At his feet was Love, laying against one leg, and Knowledge, laying against the other, book held in her hand. Wisdom was leaning against the couch, between Beastboy's leg and Raven's. Happiness mirrored Wisdom on the other side. Rudeness, still wearing Starfire's skirt, was laying over the laps of Beastboy and Raven, with her head in Beastboy's lap and her feet dangling off the end of the couch. Such a peaceful scene. Hatred hated it.
She floated silently over towards the sleeping group. She looked them all over in turn. Raven, one of the people that controlled her. Timidity, such a coward. Happiness, mindless, overly excitable. Wisdom, such an elitist. Love was such a soft person. Knowledge, full of useless, inapplicable facts. Rudeness was so crude, disgusting. All of them, she hated. Beastboy...
Beastboy was... He annoyed them, so... His jokes were... Hatred paused. This was strange. Unheard of. She focused, black energy encasing her hand. She aimed at Beastboy. He was asleep; she could kill him with a thought.
She couldn't. She couldn't hurt him. She couldn't HATE him. How could she not hate him? She hated everything. The power faded from her hands, and she stepped gingerly forward. It was too peaceful here, she couldn't injure any of them. Not only that... but looking at them all lying there... she felt drowsy. She tucked the page from the book into a fold of her cloak, and sat down between Beastboy's feet, on the floor. It would only be a moment. She could rest a moment before destroying them. Only a moment...
A few minutes of silence passed. Suddenly, Raven's eyes fluttered open. Where was she? The common room. Her mind slowly focused. Her mirror had broken. She had been on the couch with Beastboy... She sat upright quickly. She'd fallen asleep on Beastboy!
Raven closed her eyes, settling the emotions inside her. This was embarrassing. She did not want to give Beastboy the idea that she thought of him as anything other than a teammate. Opening her eyes, she looked around at the rest of the group. They had all fallen asleep. How could they all-- was that Hatred?
Raven stared at Hatred. Why was she laying at his feet? Why wasn't she ripping them all to shreds? Raven looked again at Beastboy, who was smiling as he slept peacefully on the couch. All of her emotions favored him. They must know something that she didn't. Was Love right? Did Raven love Beastboy and not even know it?
She considered the idea. Beastboy was annoying in many ways. His jokes were juvenile and pointless, his voice cracked, he was short and skinny, not to mention green. Still, he was certainly nice. He'd been very attentive today, and even had tried to keep her emotions happy, despite the fact that Timidity would always be sad and lonely. He was careful to avoid embarrassing her too much, and... sleeping on his shoulder had been pleasant somehow. She shook her head. She didn't love Beastboy. He was a teammate. Her emotions were simply confused because they were out in the world instead of where they should be.
Raven looked down at her lap, Rudeness' legs were laying on hers, she couldn't get up without waking Rudeness, who would certainly wake the others, including Hatred. This was a mess. She focused, using a small amount of power to pull on Beastboy's hair. A few tugs was all it took to wake him, and she watched as his eyes widened.
"Uh... Raven? Why are all your emotions around me like this?" His voice was quiet, a whisper. She was glad that he at least had the presence of mind to keep it quiet.
"I'm not sure. Look at the floor. Hatred is sleeping here as well."
Beastboy's eyes widened as he looked down at the hooded girl. He didn't understand when Raven had started to like him, and she had to like him for all of her emotions to hang around him like this. He smiled a little at the grey-cloaked Raven who was sleeping in his arms. She was smiling, he was happy that she was happy. He looked over all the emotions again. They were smiling, they all seemed to content. It felt nice to have Raven so close to him, and even nicer that all the Ravens were smiling about it. He looked up to see Raven looking back at him strangely.
Raven had been watching him look at her other sides. He looked so compassionate, holding Timidity like that. Raven had noticed that all her emotions were smiling, certainly a rarity, especially for Hatred. Beastboy really was trying hard to be nice and helpful during all this mess. She smiled slightly at him, and felt a little happier as his eyes shined in response to her smile. She was still smiling when she heard Starfire's voice.
"Oh! It is so very nice to see you like this! Raven, Beastboy, you are both happy as well?" Starfire was wisely keeping her voice low, but the excitement in it was undeniable. Raven's smile immediately faded. Beastboy turned nearly brown from the blush.
Raven's face turned pink, then red. This was embarrassing. Beastboy seeing her like this was ok... for some reason. However, no one else should see it... it was too strange and too embarrassing a scene...
Everyone shielded their eyes from the sudden flash of light. Thankfully, there was no sound, so all the emotions weren't awoken. Only the three new emotions being held in Beastboy's arms were awake from the split. Timidity was gone, replaced by three others: a black-cloaked girl that was trembling in Fear, a dark-grey clad girl that was still blushing deeply from Embarassment, and a light-cloaked Raven that was biting her lower lip in constant Worry.
Fear was the first to speak, her voice quiet, but with an underlying tone of panic. "I... what is going on? Why is SHE here?"
When worry spoke, her voice warbled, as if she was uncertain she was saying the right thing. "This is bad, everyone will think that something happened with us and Beastboy. What if Starfire tells everyone?"
Embarrassment just pulled her hood down over her face and tried to hide her blush.
Beastboy and Starfire both looked at Raven wide-eyed. Raven just flinched, her head pounding in pain. Every time an emotion split, her headache got worse. This was getting bad. Raven tried to keep cool, tried to make it seem like everything was under control.
"Starfire, there is no time to worry about them. Do you have some means to restrain Hatred?"
Starfire nodded, and left quickly to fetch some more cable. Raven turned to Beastboy, about to tell him to try to keep the new emotions quiet, but stopped when she saw that he was already doing his best at it. He had continued holding them, as best he could with all three of them there. Embarrassment was hiding her face against his shoulder, Fear was curled into a ball close to him, shivering slightly, and Worry was staring into space while laying her head against his chest, doubtlessly thinking of all the problems that could come of such a strange sleeping arrangement.
Raven smiled, despite the pain her head and the bad situation. Beastboy was such a caring person; he'd probably make a good father someday. Raven's smile faded. Why was she thinking like this? Was Love's confession really such a big deal that she would start seeing things in Beastboy that she hadn't before? Beastboy smiled back at her, seemingly honestly happy that he could help at all. Raven's smile returned once more, and she whispered, quietly, "Thank you."
Beastboy's smile widened, and his eyes shined happily. "Welcome."
They were both still smiling at each other when Starfire got back. She looked at them from behind the couch and smiled herself. She had always thought that the two Titans had feelings for one another, but it had taken Raven's mirror breaking to bring them out. Starfire smiled further. Perhaps she could make a mirror for herself, and perhaps Robin would notice her then. She shook her head, focusing once more on the current situation. She floated silently over towards Hatred, and began tying the cable loosely around her, not wanting to wake her before all the knots were done. A few seconds later, it was done, and Starfire tightened the cable, waking Hatred in the process.
"What are YOU doing here? Get away!" Starfire was thrown backwards by telekinetic power, smashing against the windowpane, but not breaking the strengthened glass. Hatred stood up, her hands bound, but her mind still a viable weapon. She turned towards the rest of the group, then her arrogant grin faded.
All of the emotions were staring angrily, the peaceful sleep having been interrupted so rudely by Hatred's shout. A moment later, Hatred was laying at the base of the window, unconscious. Starfire pressed a piece of tape to Hatred's mouth, and smiled happily at Raven and Beastboy as she began carrying the defeated emotion down to the cell with Malice in it.
Rudeness stretched widely, accidentally hitting Raven's face with her foot. "Ahhh, that was a nice sleep! No better pillow than Beastboy's lap, eh, Raven?"
Raven's voice was thick with irritation. "I wouldn't know. Do you mind getting off of my lap?"
Rude shrugged, still laying across both Titan's laps. "I dunno. I'm fine here."
Wisdom held her head, as if she had a headache. "This was foolish. Why did we sleep here?"
"EEE! That was fun. Don't be such a spoil-sport, Wisdom. Beastboy liked it!" Happiness smiled up at Beastboy, and Love smiled at him as well. Beastboy winked at Happiness, while smiling back. Love giggled.
Knowledge simply opened her book and continued reading, as if nothing had happened.
The three splits of Timid stayed as they were in Beastboy's arms, trying to hide from the rest of the emotions in the room.
"--Oof! Oi! I almost wish I hadn't rubbed off on you so much!" Rude rubbed her rear where she'd landed, as she stood up from where Raven had pushed her to the floor. Raven stood sharply, looking very irritated indeed.
"Knowledge, tell me you've found some way to fix this problem." Raven's voice was as full of irritation and danger as normal, but it sounded almost forced, as if she wasn't really sure that she could manage to do anything at this point.
Knowledge looked up at Raven, through her thick glasses. Her voice was plain, matter-of-fact, like normal. "Well, I found out that this sort of fracture is uncommon but not unheard of. There is a fairly standard method of repairing the mirror, but all personality facets must be present at the time, though they need not be willing. Also, it will take some time to prepare the spell. I will begin gathering components." Knowledge stood quickly, then walked out the door into the hallway.
Happiness stood up, stretching luxuriously. "Woo! Well, now what? Want to play another game, BB?"
Worry let out a little whine, concerned that Beastboy might let go of her. The whine made Embarrassment press her face harder into Beastboy's shoulder, embarrassed by Worry's public display of dependence. Beastboy blushed slightly. "Uh, sorry Happiness, but I'm kind of tied down at the moment."
Love stood as well, smiling at Beastboy. "It's so sweet how you are taking such care of our other sides. It makes me lo-"
"Enough. We need to find Rage, so that we can get that mirror fixed." Raven was tired of Love's demeanor, it was too direct and overzealous. She wanted to figure out her own feelings for Beastboy without Love blabbering on and on about it.
"Cyborg mentioned that Rage escaped him at the Museum. Perhaps Malice or Hatred would know of Rage's location?" Starfire smiled, trying to be helpful in these strange times. Starfire was enjoying the flirty play between Happiness, Love, and Beastboy. It was unusual but fun to see Raven in such a situation.
Raven looked at Starfire. "Yes, that would make sense. We should interrogate them while we have the opportunity. The sooner the better, in fact."
As Raven was walking towards the elevator door, however, it opened to reveal Cyborg and Robin, with Cyborg carrying an unconscious Bravery. Beastboy turned around to see who had come in, then immediately jumped up and ran over to Bravery, concern in his eyes. Fear, Worry, and Embarrassment looked sad at his departure, and tried to console one another.
"Dude! How could you let her get hurt like this?" Beastboy took Bravery from Cyborg, holding her in his arms and looking over her carefully, trying to see how badly she was hurt.
"Yo, calm down, man. There was nothing I could do, Rage just overpowered us." Cyborg's voice was defensive, though there was a tinge of guilt, as he was unable to protect the girl properly.
Beastboy carried Bravery over to the couch, past Raven and the emotions standing nearby, and lay her down. He brushed her hair out of the way, trying to make sure she would be ok. He looked up to see Raven looking at him strangely.
"Uh... I don't like seeing you get hurt, and she looks like you. I mean, I don't like seeing anyone get hurt, especially you- I mean, uh, I just want to help." Beastboy was trying his best to keep his mouth shut, but it wasn't working.
Raven just cocked an eyebrow at Beastboy, while Love smiled happily at him. Beastboy focused again on Bravery, a worried expression on his face.
Robin spoke up, trying to ignore the weird atmosphere. "We can't do anything until we can find Hatred and Rage, and subdue them. We can't have emotions tearing up the city."
Starfire flew over to Robin, smiling at him. "Hate is already accounted for. She was here when I came back, and with the help of the many Ravens, I was able to capture her."
Robin looked impressed. "Good work, Star. What was Hatred doing here?"
Starfire smiled brighter. "It was quite interesting! Hate and the many other Ravens were all slee-mmph!" Starfire tugged vainly at the band of black telekinetic power across her lips. Raven glared at her.
"Trigon lulled us into sleep to make us more vulnerable. Hatred also succumbed to this. That's all that needs to be said."
Worry's voice broke out, low and quiet. "We're sorry, Star, don't hate us."
Embarrassment squeaked out a short sentence as well, blushing madly. "It's just too embarrassing to tell people things like that."
Fear covered herself with her cloak, hiding under it. "She's going to hit us with a starbolt! She's going to be angry!" She sounded panicked.
Wisdom lay her hand on Fear's hood, speaking calmly and powerfully. "Starfire will not attack us. We are safe here, this is Titan's Tower. These are our friends, do not worry, do not fear them."
Fear didn't come out from under her cloak, but stopped shaking. Worry scooted over on the couch to look at Bravery, hoping she was ok. Embarrassment just looked away, avoiding everyone's eyes.
Raven was only tangentially aware of all this, having already removed the telekinetic block from Starfire's lips. She was watching Beastboy tend to Bravery. It was strange how so simple a thing as an emotion's suggestion could make her see Beastboy in such a new light. How could she have never noticed how caring and nice he was? How could she have never noticed how much he favored her? It was so strange to see him like this. She couldn't help but notice now a slight, small flicker of that previously unidentified emotion inside her, as she watched him care for Bravery. She could allow it. She could allow herself to become attracted to Beastboy, just a little.
Wisdom spoke, her hand on Beastboy's shoulder. "Go with the others and talk to Hate and Malice. We will take care of Bravery."
Beastboy looked at her, then reluctantly started towards the elevator door. Starfire smiled at him, her heartwarming smile as charming as ever. He felt a hand on his back, and looked towards Raven with surprise. She smiled slightly, awkwardly.
"Thank you, for caring about me... about Bravery." Raven's voice sounded strange, softer and quieter than normal. Beastboy smiled back.
"You're welcome. I mean, I can't really help it, you know? I always care about you." He smiled awkwardly, a little unsure of himself. Suddenly, they both heard coughing from the couch. Bravery had awoken.
"Calm down. Stay where you are, I am unfinished with your healing." Wisdom sounded exasperated, unhappy with having to deal with Bravery's gung-ho attitude.
Bravery was not to be deterred. "No way! I have to go help Cyborg take care of Rage! You know he can't do it alone!"
Wisdom gave up trying to hold Bravery down. "This is foolish. You are in no condition to fight."
Bravery sat up, then winced in pain, sinking back to the couch and holding her side. Beastboy was beside her in an instant. "Hey, c'mon, lay down. You can't fight right now, we'll get it taken care of."
"You know that you can't beat Rage alone! Last time it took all of us, Raven, you, and Cyborg to beat Trigon. You have to let me come with you!" Brave struggled against Beastboy and Wisdom, who were trying to keep her down.
Beastboy kept struggling to keep her there for a few moments, and then realized something. She wouldn't ever just give up and stay, she couldn't. She was an emotion, just like the others. He had to accept her as she was and just deal with it. He let go of her, and gently but firmly pushed Wisdom's hands away as well. Wisdom looked at him strangely as Brave sat up painfully.
"Look, we can't stop you from going and I know that you won't ever just sit around while we fight, so..."
Brave's eyes widened as Beastboy leaned towards her. He couldn't be...
Beastboy reached out, put his arms around Brave, and moved closer. Then he pulled her arm gently over his shoulder; standing slowly. She grinned and blushed, a bit ashamed for thinking what she had about what he was doing. Bravery tried to stand independently, but her body just wouldn't do what she asked. She leaned heavily on Beastboy's shoulder, and smiled at him warmly.
Wisdom felt outdone. Here she had been trying to suppress Bravery's... well... bravery, and Beastboy had found the presence of mind to just embrace it. Being outdone was something that Wisdom was not accustomed to. She felt a jab of cynicism. Leave it to Beastboy to make Raven and her sides feel new things.
Beastboy and the green-clad emotion grinned up at Raven as they walked towards the door. To everyone's surprise, the empath smiled back, her eyes moist. Raven had never expected Beastboy to be so accomodating, so kind. It was really quite touching. She followed behind Bravery and Beastboy, who in turn were following behind the rest of the Titans; heading towards the Tower's holding cells. Interrogation of Rage and Malice would be difficult, but necessary. Behind Raven followed Wisdom, certain that her skills would be needed, Love and Happiness, smiling at eachother and quite giddy from the display from Beastboy, and the change in Raven's demeanor. Fear and Worry were both too scared and concerned to stay behind, and followed the others as well. Rudeness was still sort of tired, and didn't really care what happened down there, so she just stretched out on the couch and tried to sleep again. Embarrassment waited until Rudeness was asleep, then latched Rude's cloak around her top, so that her bra wasn't showing so obviously. Embarrassment sighed, then sat down and tried to think of ways to repair her reputation.
A/N: Long chapter, probably nearly 8000 words of pure text, even ignoring this note and the review responses. Sorry for the month-plus update time, but with school worries fics get pushed aside. Over Christmas break I hope to write some more, but with no internet access it might be a bit tough to upload them. Thanks again to Regrem for ideas, and thanks (hopefully) to the readers for their support despite the long wait. See you again soon(?) in another update!