The sound of an electric toothbrush broke the silence that blanketed the room. Humming as it diligently fought its never ending war against plaque buildup. Raven stared into the mirror as she methodically cleaned her pearly whites, which matched the white leotard she was wearing. Soon enough, the sonic toothbrush signaled with a couple of beeps that she was done and after shutting it down and rinsing it she restored it to its charger.

She emerged from the bathroom, barefoot and saw that Beast Boy was still sound asleep. There was a late mission the night before, a routine break in robbery at an electronics store and they didn't return until 3 AM. Terra's team had returned to their dimension the day before, leaving Raptor behind as previously agreed and would return for her in three weeks.

Seeing Gar still snoozing peacefully brought a sense of both relief and contentment to Raven. The knowledge that Raptor's spouse was killed during what was supposed to be a routine mission still unnerved her and during last night's job one of the robbers pulled out a gun and was able to get two sloppy and poorly aimed shots off before Robin disarmed him with a bird-a-rang.

This wasn't all that unusual, criminals often used firearms against them. Raven had her shields, Starfire her superhuman strength and Cyborg his armored body, so firearms weren't a real threat to them. Robin only had his speed and cunning to protect himself from harm and they never failed him.

Beast Boy of course was vulnerable to bullets in his human form as well as most of his animal forms. Like Robin he used speed and cunning to avoid the deadly projectiles. His favorite tactic was to morph into a hummingbird, whose tiny size and lightning fast reflexes made it nearly impossible for a shooter to hit the target. Raven had grown accustomed to this tactic over the years but also knew that if a shooter ever got lucky and was able to hit the tiny green bird it would mean instant death for the changeling as the bullet would destroy the tiny hummingbird's body. Raptor's Gar was proof that a Titan's luck could run out and this worried Raven.

Raven walked over to the side of their bed, where he was still sleeping. He was no longer the spindly teen he used to be now that he had achieved manhood. He was still short but now had a more muscular body that matched his now 22 years of age. She delicately ran her fingers through his hair and he slowly opened his eyes.

"Is it time to get up?" He murmured.

"No, not yet." She replied as her hand sparkled, sending a mild sleeping spell his way and he closed his eyes, falling back into a deep slumber.

Raven kissed the crown of his head and left the room. Her footsteps were as soft as snowflakes falling on the ground, making no sound as she walked her way to the common room to prepare her ritual morning breakfast. Raven was a woman of routines and rituals. They provided stability to her, a bulwark against the untamed forces that still waged war in her mind. Raven hid it well; her calm exterior seldom betrayed the fact that her psyche was a battlefield, where her human and demonic halves waged war with each other. The battle was often pronounced and Raven's human half was often barely able to keep things under control, and this was especially true during physical intimacy with her fiancé, which each half enjoyed for slightly different reasons.

One problem was that both her human and demonic halves enjoyed mating with Gar and sometimes the line between the two became blurred during their more passionate moments. Nevertheless, even then the battle was being waged. Raven's human half had to fight to resist her demonic half's desire to engage in acts that at best could be described as sodomy and at worst as demonic perversion. It was for this reason that she and Gar had only mated 4 times during their now almost 3 month old engagement. Each time Raven found herself staring into the abyss, where the temptation to give in to her demonic desires tantalized her with the promise of indescribable pleasure and she found the urge to jump in to be nearly irresistible, and that was something she could not allow to happen.

The doors to the common room slid open and Raven saw that she wasn't the first to get up that morning.

"You're up early."

"I couldn't sleep, not after last night's mission." Raptor replied.

"You mean the gunman?"

"Yes … I'll never see them again in the old light … you do know that I was shot once myself, in my case it was a security guard."

"I was unaware of that." Raven replied.

"That was when I finally won Beast Boy over."

"What?"

"I almost died that day. It's a good thing that Cyborg is such a good medic. I was lucky though, the bullets missed hitting any vital organs. But yeah, something happened with Beast Boy that day, I don't know if it was pity or if it was something else, but he stayed at my side until I recovered and once I did we started dating and …"

"Stop, I already know how that ended." Raven interrupted. "I don't need to be reminded."

Raptor gave Raven a contrite smile.

"Sorry, so how are things between you and the green bean, you have been living together for over a year now right?"

"I don't call him that. I don't like that nickname."

"Aw c'mon Raven, loosen up, it's a cute nickname … so what do you call him? You gotta have something you call him when you guys do it."

"I just call him by his name."

Raptor grinned.

"So you two are intimate! Good! I was worried that you'd never touch him."

Raven glared at her.

"It's none of your business."

"Sorry, maybe I need to stop … living vicariously through you guys."

"At least you're willing to keep it vicarious. Terra, on the other hand … she scares me sometimes."

"I don't understand … how does she scare you?"

Raven didn't answer immediately and instead walked into the kitchen, filling the electric kettle with water. The silence in the air was heavy and Raptor could tell that Raven was very disturbed with the geomancer. Raven turned on the electric kettle and turned to face her twin, who followed her into the kitchen.

"I've been able to reconcile with Gar's brief romance with you. You were correct of course; we are the same person, even if our facets differ slightly. Gar loved you because he loved me."

Raptor nodded her head, understanding where Raven was going with the conversation.

"But he loved Terra … because she was Terra." Raven finished her sentence.

Raptor placed a hand on Raven's shoulder.

"She's just an old flame Raven, and from what Gar told me nothing really happened between them, it was just puppy love, you shouldn't worry about it."

Raven pulled away shaking her head.

"No, that's not true. He was devoted to her. When we had all given up on her he refused to do so. He remained faithful to her until she tried to kill him and even after that that he forgave her."

Raven placed her index finger on Raptor's chakra stone.

"I want to share a memory with you."

Raptor nodded and closed her eyes. The smell of sulfur filled her nostrils. She opened her eyes and saw that she was inside a volcano. She could hear the magma bubbling nearby, spewing its noxious and deadly gases. The ground shook and an explosion was heard, from which she involuntarily shielded herself and her teammates and heard Raven's voice say "We need to get out of here." Robin, Starfire and Cyborg were at her side. She quickly searched for Beast Boy and found him tightly hugging Terra.

"You're the best friend I ever had." The blond whimpered before releasing the changeling and sending him away from her. Cyborg grabbed him and the Titans fled the volcanic cavern.

Raptor snapped back to reality with a jerk when Raven removed her fingertip from Raptor's chakra.

"I see what you mean." Raptor commented. "So what are you going to do?"

"I need to go to Nevermore … and I want you to come with me."

-( scene break )-

They entered Raptor's room, which was one of the Tower's guest rooms. Raven made a stop at her room on the way, where Beast Boy remained asleep, and retrieved her meditation mirror, which she handed to her twin, who examined it carefully.

"Azar showed this to me once. She said that when I was ready she would give it to me. I guess I never was ready since she never gave it to me."

"The meditation mirror is a tool to get into Nevermore. I don't really need it anymore, but it does make it easier for me."

Raptor nodded and Raven handed her the ornate and somewhat macabre looking mirror.

"Are you ready?" Raven asked her.

She nodded her affirmation.

"All you need to do is gaze into the mirror and meditate. The mirror will take of everything else. Since it's my mirror it will take you into my Nevermore. Once you're ready we can make you your own mirror."

Raptor looked into the mirror. To her surprise she saw Raven's scar free face reflected back at her. Recovering from the surprise she began to recite the mantra.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azara…"

She stopped midsentence when she found herself standing in the middle of a dark landscape that appeared to float in a void.

"Raven? Raven, where are you?"

"I'm over here."

Raptor turned around and saw stars as her face encountered a gray fist. She fell to the ground, landing face down.

"What the Trigon was that for?" She howled as she leaped back to her feet in a fighting stance.

Raptor froze as she found herself facing several Ravens, each attired in a different colored cloak.

"OK, what's going on, Raven? You never said anything about this. And who the hell are all of you?"

"We're Raven!" They replied in a chorus.

"If you think you're funny, I'm not laughing. Now how about you tell me who you really are?" She growled at them while she wiped the blood off her face.

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you Raptor, but they really are me." Raven said as she materialized next to Raptor.

"What are you talking about?"

"They're anthropomorphisized versions of portions of my psyche."

"You mean they're your emotions, in human form?"

"That's one way of putting it. I have to apologized Raptor; I didn't realize that there was this much latent animosity towards you still harbored in my mind."

"Animosity? More like you're still majorly pissed at me!"

"Damn right we are!" Anger hissed at Raven's twin. She was the one who punched Raptor in the face.

"Where you really expecting us to be as Starfire would say 'the OK with what you did?" Envy seethed at her.

"You really think we don't care that you stole our Gar from us? We didn't touch yours while he was stuck with us. Why couldn't you keep your mittens off of ours?" Possessive howled.

"He was ours and you deflowered him, you took that away from us … you whore!" Love and Jealousy shrieked in one voice.

"That will be enough." Raven shouted at them.

"No Raven, we won't back down! She doesn't deserve our friendship!" Fury responded. "It was only out of respect for you that we left Rage chained up in her dungeon, but don't think for a moment that we didn't consider letting her out."

"That's not true!" Another voice called out. "Raptor is our friend!"

"You stay out of this Sympathy, the last thing we need is a pity party for Raptor!" Anger shouted at her.

Raptor turned to Raven.

"You weren't kidding when you said there was a war going on inside your head!"

Raven saw a grey cloaked version of herself hiding in the shadows.

"Timid, take Raptor away from here while I sort out this mess."

"M-me?" She stammered.

"Yes, you. Just take her someplace quiet and I'll be there soon."

-( scene break )-

Timid quietly led Raptor away from the fracas that Raven was trying to calm down. The very gray girl was as quiet as a mouse at first and didn't say anything while Raptor looked around at the alien landscape that was Raven's mind.

"You don't say much, do you?" Raptor grilled her.

"Well … I don't know … I mean … I'm sorry that I tried to beat you up when we first met."

"You're sorry? Have you forgotten that I was sleeping with your boyfriend at the time and I didn't want to give him back to you?"

"Well, that was kind of my fault."

"Your fault? Are you nuts? How could that have possibly been your fault?"

Timid literally appeared to shrink before Raptor before replying.

"If I had been more assertive the accident would never have happened."

Raptor froze as she remembered the accident from her side of the rift. They had stolen the teleportation gear from the Doom Patrol and Raptor wanted the Hive-5 to use it to its fullest potential. Unlike Raven she couldn't use her powers at the time to teleport her entire team, she could only take one "passenger" with her and that was usually Gar and later Beast Boy. The teleporter was going to change the game, tilting the playing field in their favor. She recalled being excited over the prospect of being able to beam into a bank vault, emptying it out and escaping before the Terra and her team would even show up.

"I'm just as responsible for that accident as Raven, maybe even more so. Raven tried to stop it, I actually encouraged it."

"I should have tried harder, if I had it never would have happened and maybe your Gar would still be alive."

Raptor shook her head.

"No, it was my fault. Gar is dead because of my greed."

Raptor paused.

"Raven, I'm so sorry for everything. Please forgive me for what I did to you. If I could undo it I would…"

"I know … that's why I have forgiven you." A gravelly monotone spoke from behind her.

"Oh, it's you … so is everything under control now?"

"Not quite, I still need to visit with Rage."

-( scene break )-

Raptor look perplexed as Raven led her done the eerie path in that strange realm known as Nevermore. They passed through several lands in Raven's mind. One was a forest, another was a seascape. There were also others that looked like jungles, the North Pole, and other places that defied description. Their final stop was an ominous looking castle, where they stopped before entering.

"Your mind looks like Disneyland Raven, it even has a castle."

"I expect that yours looks pretty much the same. Hopefully next week we can visit your own Nevermore."

"Are you sure I have one?"

"It is certain that you do. Our minds are a lot more similar than they appear on the surface."

Raptor looked doubtful, but did not challenge Raven's assertion.

"So this 'Rage' lives in here?"

"Again, everything we see here is an abstraction that is created for our benefit. The castle represents the mental safeguards I have created to contain Rage."

"So I take she's bad news?"

They crossed a lowered drawbridge into the castle while Raven replied.

"Her name is really a misnomer. She represents everything that I inherited from father: his anger, his fury, his lack of concern for others ... his evil."

"And this is why you keep her locked up."

"Correct, some years ago she almost was able to take over my will. It was with Gar's and Cyborg's help that I was able to subdue her. She has been problematic lately…"

"What do you mean by 'problematic'?"

Raven paused and Raptor could sense her uncertainty.

"This is very personal, so please don't share this with anyone, not even with Gar … each time we've made love … she came close to breaking free."

Raptor became wide eyed upon hearing Raven's confession.

"That's rough, so what are you going to do? I though you guys were gonna get married in a couple of months…"

"I have been working on some new meditative techniques that are giving me even more control over her than before."

By this point they were walking down a spiral staircase which clearly was headed towards a dungeon. It was lit with torches and it felt like the real thing, even though Raptor understood that it was a mental illusion. As they reached the bottom of the stairs a loud shriek in Raven's voice echoed in the hallway followed by cursing in a guttural and strange language that Raptor recognized, the language of the cult of Scath.

"You said you have her under control? She sure doesn't sound like she is."

"Follow me, you'll see."

The women walked down a foul smelling and dank hallway. Raptor could see that there was a cell at the far end of the hallway. As they approached it her nostrils were assaulted by the smell of feces.

"Do I have something like this in my mind?"

"You probably do, but she is probably nowhere nearly as strong as mine."

Finally they reached the cell and the stench was overwhelming. Raptor had to clench her teeth to fight back against the gag reflex that that threatened to overwhelm her.

Rage had the same crimson red outfit she wore when Raven first subdued her years ago, except that now it was in tatters. Raptor had to suppress a gasp when she got a good look and the caged monster. Rage was covered in sores. Her violet hair was greasy, overgrown and unkempt. The nightmarish Raven turned towards her and grinned.

"You must be Raptor." It spoke to her in an otherworldly voice while staring at her with her 4 crimson red eyes. "I've wanted to meet you for some time."

"You have? Why?"

Rage's grin grew.

"I wish Raven was more like you. I saw your memories, the ones where you took our green idiot and made him a man. I have to thank you for that. Had you not done that I think Raven would still be a virgin."

Raptor stared in horror at the monster behind bars while another rainbow colored Raven entered the chamber they were in and briefly spoke with Raven who suddenly was sporting a frown on her face.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back. Just wait here."

Raven darted out of the dungeon, leaving Raptor alone with Rage.

"What's the matter Raptor, don't tell me that you're afraid of me? I thought you were the Raven with balls."

Raptor narrowed her eyes.

"What do you want from me?"

"Want from you? I don't want anything from you." She grinned with a mouthful of serrated teeth. "I want to give you something."

"What could I possibly want from you?"

Rage began to laugh maniacally as she grasped the cells bars with her hands, swaying like an ape.

"You mean you don't know?"

Raptor crossed her arms.

"In case you've forgotten you're imprisoned in a cell and you smell like shit. You're in no position to offer or deliver anything."

"Oh no Raptor, you're quite wrong about that. I can give you something that you want, something that you really want."

"What?" Raptor challenged her. "What can you possibly give me?"

Rage's grin grew even bigger.

"I can give you Beast Boy."

-( scene break )-

OK, we've been overdue for a cliffhanger for some time now.

And thanks to those that continue to read an review!