"Because … I … I love you." Raven stammered.
Gar had already adopted a fighting stance, his arms raised, his fists balled in a back stance as Robin had taught him years before when he heard those words, and almost stumbled over himself in the process. He turned towards Raven, slack jawed and stunned after hearing her confession. Time slowed to a crawl as they locked eyes with each other. Raven watched as Gar's eyes were unable to conceal the surprise he felt. He opened his mouth as if to reply.
The changeling was knocked over by an unseen force which wrapped itself around him like a giant squid with a speed and fury that left him stunned. He was trapped and felt himself being squeezed to the point where he could no longer be able to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rouge's laughing face.
"I am so disappointed Dr. Logan, you were far to easy to catch."
Gar morphed into a snake and was able to slip out of Rouge's grip. As soon as he was free he morphed into a hummingbird. She reshaped her hands into nets and swung them repeatedly at him, as if trying to catch a butterfly but he remained a step ahead of her and was able to dart out of the way each time. Mallah joined her in the effort to capture the changeling, but he wasn't any more effective.
Meanwhile, Raven formed a dark bubble around herself while still clutching Nightstar. The robotic soldiers, which were about fifty in number, began to fire their laser rifles at her. Her dark energy held up, but barely. The child was scared and she buried her face in Raven's shoulder, while the sorceress attempted in vain to soothe her.
"Forget the changeling, Mallah, help me capture the demoness!"
Raven suddenly found herself completely surrounded. Mallah reached over his back and produced large laser cannon, which reflected a sinister gleam.
"Your shields will not protect you from my newest weapon, Raven. "
Raven heard the telltale hum of the laser cannon charging and panicked. She lunged to her left, in an attempt to dodge the blast. The beam of coherent light grazed her shield which tried to absorb the energy and failed, and her bubble collapsed like a house of cards. Raven winced and tried to raise it again but felt a searing pain in her abdomen and the dark shield refused to take form.
"Now I have you demoness. But do not worry, your death won't be in vain. When I mount your head on a plaque it will be the centerpiece in my study." Mallah chuckled as the cannon began hum as it recharged.
The robots were still firing at Raven from all anglesand she had to perform some impressive aerial acrobatics to avoid their lethal volleys. She tried to find Gar amidst the chaos but he was nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile the droids continued firing while Mallah and Rouge grinned.
Their smug expressions were short lasted, as a thunderous roar echoed in the jungle, shaking the foliage around the clearing and sending flocks of birds fleeing from its menacing but still unseen presence. With no warning a huge green leviathan emerged from the jungle and jumped into the midst of the robots in the clearing. Its powerful arms thrashed at the mechanical soldiers, which it began to rip to shreds with its razor sharp claws as if they were merely made of paper and not a titanium alloy. The robots changed their tactics and focused their weapons on the green intruder, ignoring Raven who was now able to focus completely on the cannon in Mallah's arms.
The giant gorilla aimed the cannon at her and she steeled herself, preparing for the blast. Mallah took aim at her. He then smiled maliciously and switched targets.
"Gar! Look out!" She screamed at him.
The Beast was too busy decimating the robots, of which only a few were left. He neither heard Raven's warning nor noticed when Mallah fired at him. The shot hit him point blank and the Beast roared in pain, staggered and collapsed.
"GAAAR! NOOOOO!"
Raven turned around just as Rouge hit her with a solid punch in the face, which sent her tumbling. She hit the ground and rolled a few times before stopping. Nightstar broke away from her grasp and landed about 20 feet away.
"And now, to finish her off!" Rouge shouted with glee as she reshaped her hands into razor sharp blades. "I have been waiting for this day, witch, waiting for a very long time." She gloated as she approached Raven's supine form. She raised her blades and a murderous grin appeared on her face.
A blast of blue energy hit the shape shifter in the face. She screamed in pain and the aroma of burned flesh filled her nostrils. Before she could turn in the direction of her attacker a second blue star bolt found its target. Rouge's hands resumed their default form and she clutched her burned face with them while she screamed bloody murder.
"Mallah! The child!"
Nightstar was now levitating above the ground where she landed. She was beginning to form another star bolt in her right hand as Mallah got her into his crosshairs and pulled the trigger. The cannon vomited its destructive blast as Raven began to recover and sat up. As she watched the scene unfold a yellow blur ran into the clearing and collected the young princess before the laser could hit its mark.
Kid Flash, with Nightstar in his arms, stopped next to the demoness.
"You OK, Raven?"
"I'm fine, take the child back to the bunker and wait for us there."
Wally nodded his understanding and in a split second he was gone. Raven then ran to Gar's side. The Beast was gone and he had resumed his default human form. His body was covered in burns and he was breathing laboriously and he began to cough up blood. Raven fought back the her own fears and could feel through her empathic senses the excruciating pain he was in. It was then that something snapped within her. It was almost an encore of the time long ago when Terra got her to completely lose her composure, except now Raven was older and had better control over her emotions. But there was no mistake to be made, seeing Gar in the condition he was in set off something loose in her, something deep, something protective … something Trigonic.
She turned towards Mallah and the still disabled Madam Rouge and she began to grow until she towered over them. Her four crimson red eyes appeared and dark tendrils sprouted from all over her body, crushing the few remaining robots with impunity.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!" She roared at them in a deep, guttural and otherworldly voice.
Mallah stared in horror at the monster that continued to grow in front of him. He considered firing his cannon at it but in a fit of cowardice he threw down his laser cannon and after tossing the still disabled Rouge over his shoulder he turned around and fled into the jungle.
Raven watched them flee and once she was satisfied that they were gone she approached Gar's still unconscious form. Tears of blood dripped from her 4 crimson red eyes and she began to transform back into her normal human form, slowly shrinking in size as the tendrils disappeared. She then kneeled next to him and began to treat his burns with her blue light.
After 15 minutes Gar opened his eyes and found himself staring into her indigo orbs. He smiled at her and opened his mouth to speak.
"Did … we … win?"
"We did. Wally showed up and took Nightstar with him back to the hidden base."
"Good ... Rae, did you … really ... mean it?" He struggled to speak.
"Yes, I did, and I still do."
Before he could reply he lost consciousness and collapsed. She was still kneeling next to him and caught his head before it hit the ground. She pulled him close to her; resting his head on her bosom and remained that way until Batman arrived 15 minutes later.
-(scene break)-
Gar moaned as he woke up. He was feeling both groggy and disoriented; his mind was confused by all that had happened. He recalled the pain he endured when Mallah shot him with the cannon blast, and as he reached form his wound he noticed that it was now gone.
He opened his eyes and saw the fluorescent lights on the ceiling and after a few moments he figured out that he was in one of the dormitory rooms in the secret base. He and Cyborg had returned after the time they defeated the Brotherhood and expanded the secret bunker when they added 3 large rooms to it.
As he gathered his wits he became aware that he was feeling much better and noticed that his burns were gone. He realized that Raven must have healed him using her powers. As he became more lucid he recalled Raven's words: "I love you."
He then remembered asking her if she really meant it, but couldn't recall her reply.
Suddenly he became aware that he wasn't alone. He gently rolled over and saw that Raven was curled up and lying next to him, snoring softly. Her cape was draped over a chair and he saw her boots on the floor.
Her words echoed in his mind. They had caught him off guard, he certainly wasn't expecting them. He knew that she loved him, as a close friend. But finding her sleeping next to him made it clear that her affection for him was now being taken to an entirely different and much higher level.
He ran his fingers through her hair and closed his eyes, letting his mind take him back to that fateful day that had happened only a month before, the event that had brought him home.
While word of his involvement in the creation of the miracle vaccine was kept secret from the general public at his request, the scientific community knew better. Even before commencement he began to receive professorship offers from schools around the country. Some were very generous in the area of compensation and more than a few schools even offered him tenure from the day he would start. There were also offers from some very prestigious east coast schools, including Gotham University, which he was ready to accept, except for one small matter.
The truth was that there was only a single University he had applied at for a teaching position and there had so far been no response: UC Jump City. As if by fate their offer arrived the day before he was going to accept at position at Gotham University. UCJC was a very good school, but Gotham University had a better biology department and was the obvious choice. Yet he waited, making excuses to defer replying to their offer. There was really only one reason why he wanted the job at UCJC, and it was sleeping next to him.
In hindsight he realized that was a foolish reason to choose UCJC over Gotham U. He and Raven had indeed become close friends during their final years as Teen Titans, and they spent a lot of time together during the final year, going out on "non date" dates, just two friends catching a movie or going out to dinner. There was a certain level of comfort they shared with each other that year and it wasn't until he moved to Fort Collins to attend Colorado State that he began to understand just how much she meant to him.
They kept in touch of course, through instant messaging, email and the occasional phone call. He visited her twice during his undergrad days and almost came back to Jump City when he completed his degree and only stayed in Fort Collins because UC Jump City didn't have a school of veterinary medicine.
That had been a tumultuous time for him. Working on a single doctorate was enough work already, but taking on a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the same time was pure insanity. His social life ground to a screeching halt and he spoke with Raven on the phone maybe 2 or 3 times a semester and had even less contact with the others.
But that was in the past now, and the present was all too much like their former lives. He didn't give supervillains all that much thought while in college, even though his peers constantly reminded him of his past life and he signed autographs during his 8 long years at CSU. Strange thing though, after being a student for 8 years it wasn't hard at all to go back in hero mode.
He continued to run his ungloved fingers through her hair, and it dawned on him that he was venturing into uncharted waters. He had been uncertain of just how much Raven felt for him. Sure, she had invited him to live with her in her home, but that didn't seem like such a big deal at the time. After all, they lived together in the Tower for years.
But now he knew it was more, so much more than that.
As he continued to stroke her hair she woke up. She stretched and yawned before she realized what had happened. She bolted out of the bed.
"I … I … I'm sorry. I must have fallen asleep while watching you." She stammered as she blushed deeply.
Gar sat up in the bed. He was only clad in his boxers and a T-shirt. He took her hand and patted the spot next to him, inviting her to sit down. She complied and joined him, clearly nervous about what was going to happen next.
"How do you feel?" She asked.
"Pretty good, thanks for healing my burns. Where's Nightstar?"
"You're welcome. She's with Jinx and Wally in the next room." She replied.
"Good, everyone's safe then."
"So far, yes, we are."
A silence permeated the room and the tension could be felt in the air. Taking the initiative, he broke it.
"Rave, in the clearing, you said you loved me."
"Yes … I did."
"Did you mean … you know … like a friend?"
She shook her head but did not reply.
"So more than just like a friend?"
She nodded and began to blush. "Gar, do you love me?"
He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. The first kiss was tender and gentle, but each subsequent kiss became more passionate. Raven reciprocated. They continued for several minutes, until they stopped to take a breather.
"Gar, forgive me if this sounds stupid, but I really don't have any experience with this sort of thing … this … this means that you're my boyfriend now … right?"
He gave her one of his old school goofy smiles before answering.
"Yeah, I am. And you're my girlfriend now, right?"
"Yes … I am."
Right after they resumed their smooch fest there was a loud knock on the door.
"I forgot, we're also super heroes." He sighed.
"Just for now. After this is over you're going to begin teaching and I'll catch up with back orders at the store."
"What do we do after that Rae?"
"I don't know. Whatever we want, I guess."
There was a second loud knock.
"Duty calls, Gar." She sighed as she slipped her cape back on.
-( scene break )-
Thanks to everyone for reading and especially to those who take the time to review.
I'm skipping the mailbag today.