Alright, just so you all know, this chapter gets a little dark. Just a little warning here for you guys. This is the last thing I need to add to my theory of Raven learning to suppress her emotions. Most of you tried to guess it, and sad to say, most of you actually got it wrong. There is something much worse than confronting Rage. And there is a reason why you haven't seen me use this emoticlone specifically. Just having her act up now and then inside of two of them.
So to those of you who like dark… enjoy the chapter!
Mailbox Time!
Latisha McPeanuts: You know, I really like it too when they chat with each other. Hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Twilight Sigma: Well, don't forget to leave the reviews then Wyatt! Also, on a more serious note, hope you like this chapter ^_^.
Golem XIV: We get soooooooo close this chapter, yet so far. Yes, I do have a chapter for that planned :), though I'm also dedicating a chapter to why he likes to draw. It will be the precursor to him opening up about his past. But first, we get some action! Enjoy the chapter!
httydmaster: Well I'm glad you stumbled upon this fabulous work! Hope that you'll enjoy this chapter!
alfred19: Don't worry, we're closing up that rather gaping cliffhanger in this chapter here! We get to see what happened to Raven! I do have another chapter planned later though for Beast Boy opening up about himself though. Hope you enjoy the chapter, reader with a great imagination!
bearhow: So sad to say that those three guesses weren't it. But the guess you sent in the PM was correct! Enjoy the chapter! And make sure you don't read this during General Conference!
NATSUxERZA 123456: Ah, dude. Got it. And sorry, but it doesn't have anything to do with her mother. There's going to be a little more bonding this chapter as well... but next chapter, expect a heck of a lot of action!
Azarath Cat: Kind of right, Rage does make an appearance. But the original emotion is not her, it is someone else. We'll see about the team up, or maybe something else.
RPGPersona: Yep, Farenheit. Sorry, I should probably label that, since I'm American. We run on farenheit and miles here... And nope, no washer, no dryer. Makes for the perfect set up though if you ask me. Who wouldn't love a good old game of stankball. I think it would be Affection and Rage who would be the most vocal. I figure in reality, Raven would actually be the first to open up. Since most of her past is now known. But you do realize, that was how she was raised. It showed especially in the episode where she said she didn't do fear. She had to suppress everything, even the admittance of it! Sorry, you had your guess wrong. It was a good idea, but nope, I had this planned! Sorry, no tomorrow, this is happening now! Enjoy the chapter!
RocioRoth: Don't worry, I have no plans of stopping! Here is the next chapter of my masterpiece!
Bluedog197: Hi moose. Sorry man, but you got the wrong emoticlone here. It is not Rage, but someone else. Someone else I haven't even had shown throughout the story in Raven's mind. I have the reason for it here though in this wonderful chapter! Don't eat those snacks while you read it, because you might spit them out onto your phone when you read what she had to go through. But enough of that, enjoy the chapter man!
CyberKoby: Nope, sorry, not Rage. Also, I had that theory in my mind as to how she was trained, and I felt it was appropriate as to how her realms formed. Enjoy the chapter!
Since Last Time: 1 more fav, five more follows (Total: 87 favs, 106 follows)
Updated: September 30, 2016 11:55 P.M.
Disclaimer: Did you know people can practice kissing with an orange? Oh, and I don't own this. Guess that's important too. But random people kissing oranges is so interesting...
Chapter Sixteen: My Most Suppressed Emoticlone
Titans Common Room
Robin stood in front of the Titans screen in the Common Room. His hands typing away on the keyboard in front of him. He was the only one in the room. It was early in the night, but he was likely to be sitting there with a pot of coffee until early in the morning if need be. On the big screen above him was a digital map of North America.
Parts of it were in green, while others were in white. As the minutes slowly ticked by, the white parts on the map gradually expanded in a certain direction. Covering up the green, but it was so slow that you'd have to be looking at the enlarged map carefully to see where the progress was being made.
Robin glanced up at it every now and then, before he'd look back down at the screen in front of him. On it was the latest newspaper article of an incident in Mexico. Two cloaked figures had managed to rob a bank in a town north of the capital. But a heroine named Pantha had caught the two before they could escape. The two cloaked figures were revealed to be...
Robin growled in frustration as he got yet another dead end. The two cloaked figures had been a pair of normal poor men who had been trying to make some quick easy cash. This was yet another of a series of dead ends the Boy Wonder had ran into.
Robin closed the article, moving to open up yet another of hundreds that Cyborg's search engine filter pulled up. Just before it opened though, the bat symbol appeared on his screen. Which was followed by a familiar dark cowled face. With the familiar sight of the Watchtower behind him.
"Have there been any sightings yet Dick?" The dark Batman on the Titans screen asked.
Robin shook his head. "Not yet Bruce. I have several teams combing through North America right now. But we haven't managed to find them just yet. I'm trying to see if the news has found any sightings of them, but so far, no luck."
The dark figure clenched his jaw on the screen. "It's been four days Dick. Are you sure they're still even hiding on the same continent."
Robin nodded his head. "I'm positive Bruce. Doctor Fate and Zatanna have both been working on making sure that the two felons stay limited to North America. As of right now, if they were to even set one foot in either ocean, they would have a magical tracker attached to their auras. We could then Zeta near the location immediately to apprehend them."
The dark figure gave a sigh of frustration. "Well, that only narrows it down to about five billion acres of land to search through for two criminals. Unless they happen to step foot off the freaking continent." The dark figure said with slight sarcasm in his voice.
Robin barely nodded his head. "Don't worry Bruce, we're going to find them eventually. Cyborg tells me that there was only enough supplies in their packs to last them three weeks. Once that time hits, if we haven't found them by then, they will have to go into a town to get supplies. And Cyborg and Blue Beetle have themselves hooked up to every security camera in every town and city in North America. If they so much as enter into the coverage of one in any town or city, the two will be alerted to it. And then we can all move in."
Bruce grabbed his chin in thought. "I guess that does help some, but what about isolated areas? Security cameras don't cover everywhere, Robin."
Robin smirked. "They are the first places being searched through. Team Alpha is currently combing through northern Canada. Team Beta is going through the deserts of Arizona and up. Team Gamma is searching through the Alps in the East. And teams Zeta and Delta are going north and south in the Great Plains. If they don't find anything suspicious in these areas, they have orders to move on to gradually less isolated areas until only the cities are left."
Batman raised his eyebrow underneath his cowl. "Just how many people do you have on each of these teams?"
"Three. I'd spare more, but there are still villains here in Jump and in other cities causing trouble. Just yesterday me, Starfire, and Cyborg had to go take Cinderblock down. Even though the changeling and the demoness are our main concern, we still have to protect civilians against other villains."
Batman nodded his head. "Alright, I just hope you're remembering what the main goal here is."
Robin nodded. "I am."
Batman nodded his head once more. "Alright then, I will continue to operate from up here. Batman, out."
With that, Batman cut out. And Robin let out a small sigh as he went back to the screen. For some reason, talking to Bruce always made him feel weird. Like it wasn't actually him talking to him. If that made any sense.
Robin shook it off for now. He still had hundreds of articles to search through. Just as he was about to click on the article again though, another transmission came in. Although no individual showed up on it this time. Robin looked up at the screen with a scowl on his face at being interrupted again.
"KSSCH… KSSCH… This… Alpha team… reporting in… found… strange… orders?" A staticy voice called in.
Robin raised his eyebrow at that. He pressed a button on his keyboard as his scowl became a small frown. "Team Alpha, your message was a little warbled, please say that again."
There was silence on the other end for a moment. "... In Nunavut… found magical black blizzard… could be… and the demoness inside… orders?"
Robin smiled. Looks like he finally had his sighting.
"Team Alpha, please go in and investigate. But do not engage, I repeat, do not engage."
There was silence on the other end. "Okay... we will investigate… and engage if sighted… Alpha out."
A loud click was heard. Robin gaped at his screen in shock at first.
"No! Team Alpha! Come in! I said do not engage! I repeat! I said do not engage! Come in!"
"KSSCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH…" He received only static.
Robin slammed his fist down on the keyboard. Ironically closing all the articles and other icons on his screen in the process. "Damn it! They must have entered that blizzard and lost the signal!"
Then a sudden realization hit him. He pulled up the map of Canada on the Justice League server. "Crap! The nearest Zeta Tube is in Vancouver! Crap! Crap! Crap! Damn it! They're going in without reinforcements! Don't they remember what happened to Kid and Artemis! ****!"
He opened four separate channels at once. This was serious. "Teams Beta, Gamma, Zeta, Delta! This is Robin calling in! Team Alpha may have found something in northern Nunuvat! Get to the nearest city with a Zeta Tube and meet up in Vancouver as fast as possible! From there we'll make our way to northern Nunuvat! We need to get there in time to help them if they find and engage the two rogue Titans!"
After he had received an affirmative from all the teams, he shut off the channels and then the computer. Looks like he wasn't going to sit there for the whole night after all. Robin walked out of the sliding doors of the room and turned off the lights behind him. Thankfully Cyborg had installed a Zeta Tube into the Tower, otherwise he would have had to travel all the way to Star City to get to Vancouver. And right now, time was ticking away.
All he had to do now was wake his fiance and Cyborg and they would be off.
From a corner of the room though, a strange silhouette appeared from a panel on the wall to the side of the computer. You could hear the squirming it made as it slowly moved across the floor. It took it a couple minutes, but then it got to the bottom of the computer. It saw a loose panel, and crawled into the machine. Seeing enough food inside it to last it a long time.
The silhouette let out a happy gurgle as it started to eat away at the Titan's mainframe. It just tasted so good to the little thing, and after an hour, it finally crawled out of the machine and back to where it came from. Now that it's appetite was satisfied for a good while. Hopefully the robot would bring it more food soon. The panel it had been in before had long since ran out of things for him to eat.
Shortly after its meal, a distress signal with the letter A on it came in. The distress signal showed up on the screen, but it never registered on the communicators of the teams making their way towards Nunuvat. Thanks to what Silkie had done to the Titan's mainframe.
Inside the Pocket Home while Robin was at his computer talking to Batman
The green kitten tried to relax as it fell asleep. But even on its short journey to dreamland, it didn't feel quite right. That feeling of tension never leaving as his body tried to rest.
Within moments after he fell asleep, he was awoken by a loud scream.
Beast Boy was instantly wide awake, feeling the rush of adrenaline that coursed through him at the sound of the scream. He was in his normal form and on his feet within seconds, looking frantically around the room for where the scream had come from. Suddenly, a book encased in black collided with the back of his head. Knocking him right back to the ground.
'Ow, okay, didn't see that one coming… much like that ceiling from before...'
He tried to get up again, but was almost hit by another large book. This time though, he saw the blackness it was encased in. At that same moment, he also heard a gravelly whimper behind him instead of a scream. Beast Boy's eyes widened.
'No, it can't be…'
When Beast Boy looked up, he saw the maelstrom of items surrounding him and the bed. Some of which were exploding or being torn apart. All of which were encased in the familiar black aura he knew all too well. From his position, he couldn't see the empath lying on the bed, but he could still hear her whimpering over the explosion of items.
'What could she possibly be feeling to cause this much damage?'
Beast Boy morphed into a kitten, using his small size to run under all the chaos along the right side of the bed. As he ran along the side of it, he could hear the whimpering get louder and louder. The kitten increased its pace, keeping an eye out for any objects that came hurtling towards the floor at it.
Once he was all the way to the wall, he used his small claws to climb up it. The nanobots that made it up gave way to his claws, providing holds from which he could pull himself up.
Finally, he was on the bed, directly across from Raven's distressed face. Her skin was far paler than normal. The muscles in her face were taut. An endless cascade of tears was falling from her eyes. But the worst thing seemed to be the whimpers that escaped from her pale lips as she tried to curl into herself. She just looked so… helpless.
Beast Boy meowed as he came up to her face. Even though it was suicidal, he rubbed his fur up against her face. Trying to calm her down from the nightmare she was most likely having. But it didn't work. It only seemed to make her cry all the harder.
Beast Boy looked at her with wide green sad filled eyes. The little green kitten had no idea what to do. It didn't know whether it should try to wake her up, or continue to try and comfort her.
A random thought, one he didn't recognize as his own, came into his mind. What if he tried touching her chakra? How the hell that would do anything, he had no clue. Yet the urge to do it was so strong, that he didn't think he should ignore it. Not when it had the possibility of him helping Raven, or to help him understand what she was going through.
So the little green kitten pressed its little nose against the red gemstone. Unsure of what exactly would happen.
It felt like a hook had sunk into the back of his mind when he did this. On the edge of his peripherals, he could have sworn he saw multiple images of Raven around him. But they were all wearing different colored cloaks. Before he could process what he had seen, Beast Boy blacked out.
Beast Boy opened his eyes to a blinding white light. His brain was feeling so sluggish, and he tried to figure out what had happened to himself. He put his hand down onto the floor, but instead of a soft bed, he felt hard rock.
His eyesight cleared a little bit, and he saw he was facing a startling white floor. Beast Boy's eyes widened as he suddenly jumped back from it. His brain still felt sluggish, but he knew for a fact that the floor in the pocket home hadn't been white. And had been covered in carpet… nor had it smelled this good... Beast Boy was looking all around him now, trying to figure out where he was.
Finally, the glaring light faded away completely.
Beast Boy gaped in shock at the sight that was all around him.
He was standing in a startling white room. Not only the floors were white, but so were the walls, the tables, vases with white flowers, chairs, and other furniture. Even the ceiling and chandelier were a startling white.
Beast Boy walked over to one of three balconies in the room. From it, he was able to see white buildings like Towers all around him. Though none were as tall or grand as the one he was in. It was a truly beautiful sight for the changeling to behold.
Beast Boy went back into the room, and saw on one of the couches a white cloaked girl. She looked to be around ten or eleven, though he couldn't tell since her hood was up, hiding her face from view. She was in the lotus position on the couch, chanting under her breath. The only reason why he could even tell she was a girl was because of the slight curves of her body revealed under her cloak.
'Geeze, she kind of reminds me of Raven.' Beast Boy thought to himself.
"Hey, you." Beast Boy said, trying to get the girls attention.
The girl, however, stayed in her meditative trance.
'Odd, maybe if I try a little louder.'
"Hey dude! Lost, confused, and green changeling over here!" He shouted this time.
Yet the girl stayed in the lotus position on the couch. Chanting as if she was dead to the world.
"Um… well I think just need to ask this… WHERE THE HELL AM I!? WHO ARE YOU!? AND WHY DON'T YOU SEEM TO BE ABLE TO HEAR ME?!"
The girl just continued to ignore him, as if he wasn't even there. Beast Boy let out a small growl as he moved to stand in front of her.
"Okay dude, I don't know what your deal is! But I was just with my friend and all, and now I'm here! So where the heck am-"
Beast Boy trailed off all of a sudden. He saw a white vase filled with white roses rise at the end of the room. It was, however, encased in black. A very familiar black. Beast Boy backed away, thinking he was the cause, yet the girl didn't even act like he was there.
The girl started to chant faster, as if she was starting to hyperventilate. Beast Boy suddenly realized the words she was saying.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
'No way… how can that be… there's only one person I know who says that...'
The vase suddenly exploded, and the girl let out a small cry of shock as she stood up straight. The action made the hood fall from her head, exposing a very familiar violet A-cut style of hair. Only, the girl it was attached to was much younger. If not, a little older than a time when he had seen her at a younger age before.
It was Raven. A smaller, pre teen, scared version of Raven. Beast Boy remembered what he had done before, with touching her chakra. She looked to be about eleven, maybe even twelve.
'Does this mean I'm in her nightmare? Dude! This is actually kind of cool… although I am in her nightmare… but what is it she's scared of?'
A set of double doors at the other end of the room opened. A group of young and old men alike, all dressed in the exact same white cloaks as Raven came in. Raven took a step back from them. Fear filled her eyes, but the rest of her was expressionless.
Beast Boy took a close look at them. There didn't seem to be anything evil about them. In fact, that very thing seemed to be lacking from them. Why was she so scared of them?
The men didn't even look at his direction, all they did was look to the fearful little girl in front of them. Another vase was encased in black from her emotions.
"Child, you must control your fear for today. You still have more you will need to control." The lead and oldest monk spoke.
The girl shook her head, even as another vase became encased in black and glided alongside the other one in the air. "No! I can't! I won't do this!"
The little girl tried to move past the monks, but they were like a wall to the only exit in the room. The girl backed away, visibly shaking in fear now. Beast Boy carefully studied her, and then the men. Was this the nightmare? He didn't see how, since these men looked peaceful.
"Raven, you have need to be taught to suppress all emotion. Even when at their most extreme. Otherwise, the evil in you could overwhelm you and destroy everything. Even this emotion is important since one day, you can and will feel it." The monk said. Even as another one stepped forward.
He was almost average stature and build, with blonde hair and blue eyes. The only thing that Beast Boy saw that distinguished him from the others was his sad eyes. As if he was about to do something he didn't want to do.
Raven stepped back fearfully from the man. Her violet eyes were wide with fear. "No! Please Teras! I'm begging you! I'll learn to suppress everything else! I swear! Just don't try to put me through this one!" Raven shouted. The two vases collided together, and the pieces were shot everywhere throughout the room.
Beast Boy was staring at the scene in shock. What was going on here? He had long since deduced these were the monks that raised Raven. But why was she all afraid all of a sudden? She had seemed to be calmed and composed before. He thought she had learned to suppress her fear in a maze… unless...
"We're sorry Raven. We hate to do this as much as you. But all emotion must be suppressed. And the best way to suppress it is if you experience it first hand… even if that emotion is…" The old man turned away, his eyes becoming sad as he said the last word.
"Lust."
Beast Boy's heart seemed to stop at that word. He gaped at the monks in front of him, then at the scared little girl. Raven had went over almost all her emotions. Except for two… the first one being Rage… and...
'Holy Azar…' He took a line out of her book.
The man walked towards her, his steps hesitant, yet his orders clear. This emotion had been trying to escape through Raven for quite some time. So she had to learn to recognize it, if she wanted to suppress it properly. The man didn't want to do it, but it was for the greater good. So he had to do it.
"I'm sorry Raven." The man said in a sad voice. "But you have to suppress all emotion. And the only way for you to recognize it is if I bring it to the forefront of your mind for you… I hope you can forgive me for this Raven."
Beast Boy was gaping at the man.
When the man was almost to Raven, Raven tried to run past him towards the balcony this time. But his hand reached out, grabbing her by the arm. Raven screamed in fear as she tried to beat his arm off. But she was small, and he was much larger than her, despite his own size.
"No, please don't! I don't want to do this! Please!" Raven screamed in fear.
But then she was pulled close to him. And Beast Boy watched in shock as the man restrained her with one hand, while his other hand…
"Hey! Let her go!"
Beast Boy dived forward. What the man and the other monks were trying to teach Raven to suppress. And how they were going about in doing that.
But the poor changeling lunged right through them. As if they weren't even there. Only, as he had come to realize, it was because he wasn't there. How could he stop it? This wasn't just a nightmare Raven was suffering from, it was the memory that had come up when she had been talking to him. His own dumb questioning had brought up this horrid memory. Why else would she be so afraid? Why else would no one could see or hear him. He wasn't even there.
That didn't keep him from trying though. His ghostly hands tried in vain to hit the monk that was touching the younger Raven on her small chest now.
"No! Just stop! I thought you were my friend Teras!" Raven cried to the man. Tears fell from her eyes onto the white floor.
He sadly shook his head. "You need to face this Raven. You need to learn to suppress this feeling."
Despite Raven's cries for him to stop. Even Beast Boy could tell through his anger that the way the man was touching her was making her lust act up.
"Stop it!" Raven cried, even as her body failed her.
"You need to suppress it! The sooner you suppress it, the sooner I can stop! Find your center and make it stop! I don't want to continue doing this Raven!" The man shouted.
Raven was helpless. And Beast Boy was so enraged, he was surprised his Beast side hadn't come out yet. Raven was weakly trying to pull herself away.
"Stop… please… Teras." Raven said in a weak pitiful voice. She was crying uncontrollably, even as the man continued to touch her.
But the man didn't stop. He couldn't stop till she suppressed the desire. The lust that was coursing through her system. Even though they both didn't want to do this. Items were flying in the air all around them.
The man continued to touch her, caress her, against her will. Putting more and more lust and fear into her. She just wanted this to stop, she didn't want to go through with this. She never wanted to go through something like this ever again!
The man's hand finally went a little too low, touching a spot that made Raven cry out as she lost it. What little concentration she had had to hold herself back shattered. Her eyes split and turned red. She didn't want this! She didn't want this puny mortal's hands on her! No, this mortal would pay for daring to touch her!
The man was suddenly thrown back by a large burst of black power. The shock wave from this sent the other monks onto the floor. A loud, deep, guttural voice filled the room.
"I said… STOPPPPPPPPPPPP...!" The young demonic form of Rage bellowed at the man in front of her. Whose eyes were now filled to the brim with fear.
"Raven! You have to find your center! You can't allow him to take control-"
A dark tendril came out from the darkness beneath her. Suddenly clutching the man in the air by his throat. Rage smiled evilly at the man.
"You dared to touch me with your puny little hands against my will! You dared to bring something to the surface that you didn't want! I told you to stop! And you wouldn't listen Teras! You! Wouldn't! LISTENNNNNNNNNNNNN…!"
The man's face was starting to turn blue. And all Beast Boy could do was gape at the sudden change in events.
"Raven, you must stop this! You could inadvertently bring your father here if you don't!" The old monk from before shouted.
All Rage did was laugh. "Hmmm… that does sound interesting... how should I go about this… choking you all seems too little a punishment for what you all did to me… how about I-" Rage had started to say.
Suddenly, she clutched her head, as if in great pain, and the tendril that was holding up the monk in the air disappeared. He dropped gasping onto the ground. Rage let out one last scream, before she collapsed onto the ground. It was Raven again, and she was curled up into a ball as she cried.
The monks stood there frozen, unsure what to do. When a womanly voice spoke up behind them. "What is this?" It was old, but harsh. Filled to the brim with suppressed fury.
Beast Boy, and every monk in the room turned to see the old form of Azar. She walked right through the stunned monks, before she bent down near Raven.
"What have you done?" Azar said in a harsh voice.
"But mother Azar. She has to learn to suppress all emotion. Trigon can't have any more foothold on her than what he has already-"
Azar angrily turned her head to them. They all became silent at her intense gaze. "And look where your efforts got you now! Tell me! Was this good and necessary for her! Did this help to keep Trigon's influence away from her!" She spat, her old hand pointing out the broken crying girl on the floor. Even as the monks watched, her cloak was starting to change, from her old white, to a dark blue. Even as items continued to swirl above her. Outside, a tower was encased in black, and sent crashing into the ground.
Azar looked down at Raven. Her face turned to that of a serene one. "Come here little one. Let's get you out of here." She said as she pulled Raven from her little ball to her. Raven cried into Azar's shoulder, even as Azar showed a surprising amount of strength for her age. She turned to glare at her monks one last time.
"You will continue to teach her… but she will have a long break before I trust her with you alone again. You might have no trace of evil in you now, but that doesn't make what you did here today right. And if I ever hear one word of you trying to teach her to suppress her lust again against my orders… I will personally throw you into Trigon's prison myself!" She snapped at them.
The men stumbled back at this, shame in each of their eyes at the scolding. Azar quickly moved Raven to leave the room, even as she continued to cry. It would be the last time in Azarath that she ever allowed herself to cry.
"I'm sorry Raven. I'm so sorry." A weak voiced Teras was heard, almost like background noise.
'That's the last time I'll ever trust someone with blonde hair and blue eyes.' The thought sounded in Beast Boy's ears.
It was as if in that moment watching her disappear that Beast Boy was truly looking through Raven's eyes at what had happened. She had lost control, she had almost killed a man, all because of emotion. This lust that had been coursing through her. Lust that she hadn't wanted, yet her body had produced it anyways.
It was almost like he could see it. The way that Raven was subconsciously burying this emotion deep inside herself. Breaking it apart into many different pieces so it could never truly reform and harm her again. He saw these pieces get trapped in the bodies of two purple and red cloaked emoticlones that appeared beside little Raven's walking form. So that way she herself would never have to worry about having to be faced with that again. Not until the day she allowed herself to be whole and balanced.
The monks would never have to teach her to suppress her lust. Because she had suppressed it to the point where she even denied she herself would ever feel it. After all, you can't suppress something that you don't think you have.
Beast Boy stared sadly at the retreating blue cloak of the small Raven. His vision started to go black again. Beast Boy wondered what he was going to say to her when he came to.
Beast Boy blinked open his wide green eyes. He was small and furry again, and he had his small nose still pressed against the same red chakra from before. He had no idea how much time had passed. He just knew he could never forget what he had just seen. He moved his nose back from the chakra.
He heard a small gasp of shock, and turned his small head down to look into Raven's shocked eyes. Raven's thoughts were going haywire, even as she tried to regain control of herself. She still had tears falling from her face. Tears she was trying desperately to stop.
'Why is he here! Did he… no! He couldn't have seen that! I haven't allowed myself to even think about it till now! There's no way!'
Then Beast Boy morphed, not into himself, but into a savannah cat. The biggest house cat known to mankind. Well known for their large size, their ability to be trained as easily as dogs, and especially for their ability to provide comfort to those who needed it.
It's green furry body rested over Raven's, and it gently licked Raven's cheek comfortingly. It also let out a sad and comforting purr from its chest as it did this. Sending the sad vibrations into Raven's chest.
Raven couldn't help it then, and she pulled the big cat close and allowed herself to cry into its fur. She wanted to yell at it for being so close, for making her want to cry, for… everything! For even making her lose control of her powers as they appeared around her!... But she couldn't. All she could do was cry over what had almost happened to her almost five years ago. She had trusted her caretakers, and they had ripped away that trust with what they had done that day.
The items continued to swirl around in the air above them as Raven cried into Beast Boy's fur. Beast Boy changed from purring to a slight humming, filled with comfort. The vibrations from this echoed into her body. Causing her shaking to gradually decrease as time went on.
Finally, after what was ten minutes, but what felt like several lifetimes, Raven's crying abated. The items that had been in the air had settled down into heaps on the ground. The memory was still there in the back of her mind, but it didn't feel as… omnipotent as it had before.
Beast Boy lifted his head to look at her, seeing she was finally calming down somewhat. The big cat meowed at her, before it licked her cheek again.
Raven gently pushed his head away, though she had kind of liked the feel of his tongue on her cheek. She even had to stop the smile that had been about to come onto her face. "Yes, I'm fine now Gar. You can get off me now."
Beast Boy's green eyes looked at her for a second more, before he jumped off the bed. As he hit the ground, he turned back to human form. He turned to face Raven again. Raven expected his face to be sad, but instead, he looked serious. Raven almost felt shocked at how serious he was looking at her.
"Don't blame yourself." He said in a rough voice.
Raven looked at him confused. "What-"
"Raven." He cut her off. "I saw what happened. I know that you still feel responsible for what happened."
Raven sighed. So he did know after all. "Beast Boy, you saw what happened. You know I almost killed-"
Again, the interruption. "You what? Protected yourself. Defended yourself against what you didn't want. Punished the man who tried to do it to you."
Raven glared at him. "I lost control!"
Beast Boy glared back. "And you took it back! You punished him for what he did Rae! And then you took control again before things got too serious!"
Raven became silent, and the changeling seethed in front of her. "I would have killed that man for what he had done Rae! But you didn't! Those monks tried to teach you all about control back then! And you don't even realize you had it all along!" He yelled at her.
Beast Boy seemed to realize he was yelling, and took a deep breathe to calm himself. "Look Rae, I get where you're coming from. I've seen too much in my life… and I wish I could say I haven't seen your situation Rae. But I have."
Raven was silent, pondering the meaning of his statement. Beast Boy let out a sigh. "I don't expect you to talk to me about it Rae. Most of those girls I saw it happen to were too scarred from their experiences to want to even think about it… much less, talk about it… but if you ever feel like it… I'll always be here for you Rae. You don't have to be alone. I'll help you in any way I can if it means you can move on from it!" He said with conviction at the end.
Raven didn't say anything, but her eyes were staring widely at him. And he met her eyes with his own dead serious ones.
Finally, to his shock, Raven jumped forward, squeezing him in a massive hug as she started to cry into his shoulder again. Beast Boy didn't hesitate when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Hugging her close to him. The scent of lavender filled his nose as he breathed in.
Beast Boy looked around them again as she cried. And he saw to his relief that nothing was flying around them. He held her a little closer. 'See Rae. There really is nothing to be scared of. You just have to stop fearing about losing control.'
Eventually, he pulled back to look Raven in the eyes. Even though she still had a couple tears leaking from her eyes, she was smiling a little at him. And he smiled back. Raven could feel her emoticlones cheering within her, and for once, she felt like cheering with them in the form of a smile.
"You okay now?" Beast Boy asked Raven.
She nodded. "Yes… and thanks Gar."
Beast Boy smiled a little more widely at her. As the Beast inside him howled with victory.
"Your welcome."
All seemed right in the world. As the two seemed to stare entranced at each other.
Kaboom!
Until an explosion happened outside.
Just like that, the moment they had been sharing in ended as the two heroes ran to the door. The highly emotional moment they had just shared was already in the backs of their minds at the sign of danger. Beast Boy's face was melancholy, while Raven's was deadpan. The two opened the door, ignoring the blast of now 10 degree air that hit them as they ran out onto their porch.
Through the lightly falling snow, they could see three figures emerging from the trees. One of them was arguing with the other over hitting a tree because they thought it had been them. The argument was so loud, that even Raven could hear them.
"I guess we can't hide from them forever Rae." Beast Boy said sadly.
Raven's reply was monotounous. "Doesn't mean we can't beat them into the ground and make our grand escape again."
Beast Boy smirked at her. "Hey, there's one upside to this fight at least." Raven looked to him, as he spoke in a serious voice once more. "This time, we're fighting together, and not apart. We're not letting these people get the drop on us this time."
The two nodded their heads at each other. Then Raven enveloped the two of them in a shadow Raven and sneaked them over to the three unsuspecting heroes.
Author's Notes:
So… dark enough? Too dark? Just right?
Also, cliffhanger time! And I need your help for this one readers! I actually have no idea who I want to be part of this group of three unfortunate heroes! I'm thinking I could have Speedy and Aqualad, but I'm not sure. The first two could be any mix of Titan, or Young Justice. But whoever the third person ends up being, it has to be an actual member of the Justice League! Just so the fight actually turns out to be interesting!
So call out who you want the three members of Alpha Team to be!
Till Next Time
Allen
