Cyborg Raven...
Ah. A semi-ship of mine. Query for Nightlark because I keep forgetting. When will you put the Shipping Challenge replies in your C2? Now, on with it!
Training Room...
Cyborg was beating the hell out of the punching bag. He kept seeing Trigon instead of just a sack of weights. It was a favorite past time of his. He didn't know why, but he felt he had a personal vendetta against the giant demon. He didn't even hate Gizmo or Atlas this much! All he did was wish he knew why he wanted to be the one who had killed Trigon, not Robin. He felt envious.
Slowly, over the time span of a few days, Cyborg realized why he hated Trigon more than anyone else. It was because of what he had caused Raven. Somehow, he felt he should be pissed at Slade for what he did to Robin, Beastboy, and Terra. But, while he hated the guy, it didn't come close to his rage and fury directed at that hell raiser. Gradually, it hit him.
Raven. It was because it was Raven specifically. It didn't take him two seconds to realize that he loved her. He didn't know how it grew into this. He was certain, however, that it started when he entered Raven's mind. A place called Nevermore. Apparently, the empath really liked a certain Edgar Allen Poe. When he saw those emotions, the chaos of Raven's mind, he felt he could relate. He was half machine. His mind was supposedly orderly... wrong.
A machine's cold calculation was part of his mind, and one part only. The other part was devoted to many things. The current situation, the constant fear of being hated for being half-machine, his anger against Silas Stone, his father, for making him a cyborg, the pain of having to be a robot and having witnessed his mother being killed by some inter-dimensional monster. It was all too much. And now... Raven.
Beastboy walked in, smiling sneakily.
"Hey Cy! C'mere!" he called.
"Yeah, BB? Ya' got any idea if Rae shares my feelings?" Cy asked.
Somehow, Cy found out that BB was subscribed to Cosmo. He knew BB's reasoning was to, naturally, see into a woman's mind. It was wise, really. But stupid. Because no guy should ever be caught with a Cosmopolitan. So, he held it as blackmail enough to be able to tell his bud his recently developed feelings for Raven Roth. As a bonus, he made him do "spywork". With the info he gleaned from the minds behind Cosmo, Gar was the best possible person to figure out likes and dislikes. He had gotten rather sneaky about asking too.
But Raven was a hell of a nut to crack. But BB had a sledgehammer. Even if it was hard to bring it up, he could slam it down. And so he did.
"Go for it. She really does like ya' man. Love ya', I'd say," Beastboy said, wriggling his eyebrows.
"I don't understand, B. How can she love someone whose half-machine? Ya' sure it's not just a misinterpretation?" Cy asked.
"It's fine, Cy. I know this. And, come on! Don't play the angst card. You are just as much a man as any person on this earth, more in some cases," Gar said, slapping Cy on the back.
Raven's Room...
Raven walked to her bed and laid out on it, spread-eagled. She was slightly confused by Gar's recent behavior. All these bizarre questions. Some of them about various things, oddly though, most about Cyborg. Robin had made her take an oath not to use her powers for her own wants. So, she didn't pry into the changeling's puny mind to see why the hell she cared if Vic had a motorcycle or not.
She still wondered why she kept thinking about Victor Stone, anyways. Inside, she knew, she just didn't want to admit that she held love deeper for the machine-man than for anyone on the team. She was allowed to feel without taking out a whole block of California, sure. She was just afraid. Afraid of what? You may ask this. A girl who blasted Trigon back to hell. Someone who looked into Slade's eye without fear. Afraid of what?
Heartbreak & depression. These scared her more than Trigon ever could. More than Slade's haunting presence. And love could only lead to that, right? Happy endings are just stories that haven't finished! Disney movies are toned down lovey-dovey bull that's nothing but lies to give false hope to children!
This was her mindset, based on the little bit of real life she'd seen. Twasn't much, but it was enough to make her want to stay as far from love and all its curses as possible.
So she set herself away from others. She didn't want to get to know anyone. Didn't want to fall for whatever characterisitics she might actually be attracted to. But she screwed up. She became family with them. Starfire was that annoying little sister who wanted to do everything with you. Beastboy was the ultimate little brother, majoring in annoyance, although his jokes were actually funny. Robin was that over-protective older brother. Cy... well, she didn't want to think of him as family. Crush her hopes, it would.
Hallway, Raven's Door...
"Do you know how ridiculous this is?" Cy asked.
He had on a tux and in his left hand were flowers. His human eye... was twitching.
"Oh, c'mon! Just look nice! It might help," BB pleaded.
"If she loves me, she'll love me for who I am. Now because of this itchy tuxedo and flowers, c'mon!" Cy said, pulling off the tux and throwing the flowers to BB.
"Well, yer right, man. Sorry. Just, well, be yourself and all that jazz. You'll do great," BB encouraged, walking off.
Living Room...
"If they walk out together, you owe me five bucks," Beastboy said to Robin, sitting down.
"We raised it to ten, remember?" Robin shot back.
"In a few minutes, I'll be ten bucks richer!" BB said, laying back.
"You Eartherners... compete by determining the outcome and then giving money to who was right?" Star asked.
"Yea Star, it's called betting, also referred to as gambling when it's in an illegal form," Robin said, playing Uber Wham Sisters.
"I shall never understand your odd customs," Star said, pulling out Zorka Berries to munch on with Silkie.
Raven's Room...
Raven's loves-me-loves-me-not train of though was interrupted by a knock at the door. Having spent a while with Robin, occasionally picking up some things, and plain common sense, it was metal-on-metal... Cyborg.
"Come in," Raven deadpanned, trying to keep cool.
"Thanks, Rave, there's something I need to tell you," Victor Stone began.
"W-What would that be?" Raven Roth inquired, her voice breaking a second, but then she had managed to keep her emotions under rein.
"As hard as it is for me to say... I... love you," Cy said, hanging his head.
Raven floated over to Cyborg and looked up into his eyes, both mechanical and human. Her eyes reflected joy beyond joy. Her emotions, from Happy to Love were to a breaking point.
"I love you, too, Victor," she said, barely more than a whisper. Vic's human eye widened.
Raven then flew up to his height and covered his mouth with hers, letting out every emotion she held for him out.
Who is to say what is human and what is not? Who can decided what is evil based on origin? Mankind? No. Let love decide.