Hey guys! :) How's everyone? I hope good. I'm good too.

Sorry for the long wait for this one. I've been very busy lately and it's going to get worse, but I won't neglect my fellow fanfiction readers and writers, I'll update as often as I can. Now then... Chapter 5. Fair warning, this one's dark.

Enjoy!

Chapter 5 - Nightmares

After finishing dinner, Beast Boy put the dishes in the sink, the leftovers in the fridge and proceeded to washing the dishes. Raven felt awkward just sitting there without doing anything. She figured she should help, but she didn't exactly know what to do.

"Umm... Do you need any help?" she asked after a few moments.

"No, I got it." he said putting the last plate aside to dry. He took a kitchen towel from the counter to dry his hands and then placed it on the back of a chair. "Well, that's done." he smiled. "So..." he continued. He felt his cheeks burning as he thought about his next sentence. "How about we get some sleep? Been a long night." he said still blushing. She blushed too and looked away for a second. 'Now what?' they both thought at the same time. Beast Boy decided to move and get it over with before their faces would need fire extinguishers.

"I'm going to assume you haven't slept in a proper bed for some time... So... " he said as he led them towards the bedroom. "All yours..." he said stepping out of her way. She gave him a skeptical look. 'This is too much.'

"And no, I will not have it any other way..." he said smiling at her. "I'll just take the couch..." he said making his way to the bed and getting a spare blanket out from one of the two drawers under it. He left the room and left Raven standing there with a tiny smile that she didn't even know she had on her face.

"You can leave the door open if you want!" he called from the other room.

"Umm... " how exactly should she respond to that?

"Only if you're comfortable with it. Just make yourself at home, Raven." he said as the light was turned off and she could hear the weak rustle of fabric indicating that he really did just go to bed and wasn't going to change his mind.

'Might as well get some sleep... I can't say I don't need it.' she thought. She crawled under the covers and closed her eyes. 'I didn't to close the door...' she thought as her eyes snapped back open. She didn't move though. She just took a deep breath and noticed how the covers held a slight earthy scent to it... Something similar to a forest actually. 'Door. Open.' was the last thought going through her mind as she fell asleep, curled up in the warm blanket.

Unknown to the two peaceful sleepers, somewhere on a distant planet, a young alien woman with long red hair and bright green eyes was sitting alone in her room, daydreaming about all sorts of nothings. This was a rare moment of silence in which she managed to sneak away from the strategy meetings her parents made her attend. Her planet was at war and since she was the successor to the throne, she had to learn how to defend her home, both with and without weapons and warriors.

Sadly, the time for diplomacy had long passed. Now was the time to defend their beloved home through battle. Her people were a proud civilization of skilled warriors. They could withstand the harshest environments and most importantly, their race was able to harness solar energy to get the ability to fly and create bolts of energy to attack or defend themselves. And now was the time to put all those skills to good use and protect their home and way of life from the savage brutes trying to subdue young alien princess was just about to return to the gathering of strategists and military officers when her older sister burst into her room with a strangely satisfied look on her face. She had long black hair, tied in a ponytail on the top of her head, to prevent it from getting in her way during battle.

"How may I be of assistance, sister?" the younger sibling asked.

"It's your time to shine, sister dear." her sister said. "The Gordaneans are preparing for a massive attack. The two of us are in charge of defending against it. Are you ready for the front line, little sister?"

"W-What? I'll be ready in a few moments..." the redhead said darting back into the depths of her room to get her armor. She had to wear a special outfit when she entered battle. As a member of the royal family, she was one of the highest ranking military officers, second only to her parents, the king and queen.

'Aww... Look at her... So determined... First and last battle, sister dear... You won't be coming back to the palace.'

'What if I'm not good enough? What if I fail? What a nightmare!'

'I'm going to get you... Gem... You're going to surrender your power... You'll make me the most powerful being...' came a sweetened voice from the shadows.

'You wish!' Raven snapped as she tried to figure out her surroundings. She was completely engulfed in shadows. She had no idea where she was and even worse, she had no idea where her enemy was.

'Aww... That's really cute, dragon boy... But you're not getting any of that power... I will!'

'Amusing. You know you can't defeat her alone... You need me...'

'I'm using you...'

'Are you? Or is it the other way around?'

'We'll see, won't we, dragon boy? Right now... It would be more fun to get some exercise done, no?'

'Hmm... Shall we play a game of cat and mouse, Gem?'

A strange feeling surrounded her. It was like pressure building up.

Raven's eyes widened. Outnumbered. She didn't know where she was... And she didn't know who she was up against. Wait... Dragon boy? It couldn't be... There was only one known dragon with the Hunters... The most vicious member of their organization... The worst of the worst... The Dark Dragon Malchior.

She could swear she felt someone's breath on her neck... A strange shriek came from behind her... A giggle from the right...

She had to get away from here. She had to run. Hide. She couldn't deal with this alone... Not now... Not anymore...

Suddenly she was falling... And then something slithered along her arm... And the pressure from before was back...

'I'm going to get you, Gem... You're going to be all mine... RAVEN!'

"NO!" screamed Raven as she shot up in bed. Her eyes were wide, glowing with power and she was covered in cold sweat. 'Run! Run now!' was the only coherent thought she had.

"Raven!" came Beast Boy voice from the door. Her shouting woke him up. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't freaked out right now.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted letting her dark power lash out in fear.

"It's ok! I'm not going to hurt you!" he said raising his hands out of instinct to protect himself.

"I don't believe you! You're playing mind games!" she said backing away.

"No I'm not... If I didn't want to help you, we wouldn't be talking right now..."

"Run. Run. Run. Get away!"

"They're too many! Retreat!" shouted someone behind her.

"No! We have to defend our home! We cannot let it fall! We can do this!" shouted the princess sending another bolt towards an enemy and hitting one of the two engines his pod had, setting it ablaze.

"I am sorry, your highness! But we have been ordered back to Tamaran. This battle is theirs!" another warrior said.

"I will not let The Citadel take over Tamaran!" she screamed as her eyes started glowing. "We cannot let them gain any more ground!"

"The princess is right! We should keep fighting!" came her sister's voice from behind. "If she thinks she can win this, then she probably can."

"Thank you, sister!" she smiled at her older sister, who shot down one of the enemy warriors coming right at her.

"Don't thank me... We should be thanking you for your devotion to your people, princess Starfire." said her sister smirking. Starfire thought something was off about her sister, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it... She would have to figure it out later... Right now, she had a battle to win.

Raven was scared. She couldn't let herself be tricked by one of the Hunters. That would be the end of the line for her. It would be the end for... NO! She wouldn't let that happen!

"Raven! Please! I'm your friend remember?"

"You're a Hunter!" she spat trying to form a barrier of dark power between them. She had trouble focusing. She couldn't even see straight.

"No... I'll help you defeat them! Like before!" he tried to reason with her. 'What could possibly make her this scared? What is she really up against?' Beast Boy thought as he tried to make his way to her. She was sitting in the corner of his bedroom, with her arms extended and trying to force more and more energy to build up between them. The room was half destroyed by now, but that could be fixed... If only he could get to her... Maybe he'd manage to calm her down. That was the most important. Only a few more steps.

"Leave me alone!" she whispered trying to make herself as small as possible. Beast Boy finally reached her and he looked at her closely. Her eyes were unfocused... 'She's still dreaming? What kind of a nightmare could do this to someone?'

"Raven! Raven, wake up! You have to wake up!" he said shaking her a bit. She had to wake up before she lashed out again.

"Go away!"

"No... I'm trying to help! Wake up! Please, wake up!" he insisted a little louder.

"Why... just... leave... leave..." she said slowly before falling limp in his arms.

Well... This was quite the plot twist... I'm actually surprised that I wrote it like this... I was thinking of some fluff for this chapter... I guess we'll leave that for the next one. Update soon... I'll do my best, guys!

Tell me what you think!