I am not the owner of Teen Titans or affiliated with Katy Perry.
Dark Horse by Katy Perry
Raven was not happy. She stood there, arms folded across her chest, with her expression set in a permanent glare as the revived geomancer chatted away excitedly to her friends. Sure, she was grateful her old teammate had saved them from impending doom, but they wouldn't have been in that situation if it wasn't for her insecurity and overall betrayal.
Not to mention, the blonde was fawning over her green teammate like a party girl would over vodka. The demoness felt her insides boil dramatically as she lifted her hood to conceal her face, which, thankfully, shielded her expression from the others.
"Beast Boy, that's so funny!" Terra laughed heartily, draping her arm over his shoulder. It was as if she never left, never joined the enemy, never tried to kill them.
The changeling grinned triumphantly, shooting a glance back at Raven, "See that Rae? Someone thinks I'm funny!"
"At least someone does," Cyborg chuckled.
"Hey!"
Unamused, the demoness rolled her eyes before picking up her book from the counter and heading out of the room without a word.
"Is she okay?" Robin raised an eyebrow.
Beast Boy shrugged, "You know Raven, she just gets weird sometimes."
Robin rubbed his chin contemplatively, "Usually not without reason, though."
The resident Tamaranean shook her head and smiled, wrapping the geomancer in a bone-crushing hug once more, "Friends, please, let us enjoy the celebrating of friend Terra's return to us!"
"T-Thanks," Terra barely managed before being released, finally able to breathe.
Raven walked into her room, shutting the door with the swish of her hand, and leaned back against it. She let out an incredulous laugh, shaking her head, "You've got to be kidding me."
It had been about a year since Beast Boy attempted to bring Terra back to the tower after her miraculous revival, so for her to suddenly show up at the tower, unannounced, didn't sit well with the empath. After the geomancer broke her friend's heart, the green teen had found comfort in Raven and the two had become much closer friends. Over time, the empath could sense the loneliness and longing within her friend slowly evaporate - Beast Boy was healing. How could Terra really come back after all this time? After all the pain she put the team through? Raven didn't see this ending well, but then again - though she'd never admit it - she'd been wrong before.
Shaking her head to clear the raging thoughts, Raven pushed off the door and balled her fists. She and the changeling didn't spend the last year together, bonding, for Terra to suddenly reappear and disrupt it with whatever she had planned for the Titans. The geomancer may have saved them, to which Raven was initially grateful, but a year's worth of thinking brought new revelations: Terra had betrayed them. No matter her reasons or the fact that she redeemed herself, the geomancer had put them - put Beast Boy - in harm's way, and for that, Raven could not forgive her.
Or are you just jealous? A sultry voice cooed in her mind.
"What? Of course not," the demoness narrowed her eyebrows. She recognized the voice, which belonged to one of her many color-coded emotions, but failed to lock it away in the depths of her psyche.
Come on, Rae-Rae, admit it.
"There's nothing to admit."
Oh, please. We all know how you feel about Beast Boy.
"No-"
You're not mad because Terra betrayed you. You're mad because you were this close to winning him over and now it's all for naught.
"You don't understand, it's not like that," Raven denied half-heartedly.
No, Raven, it's you who doesn't understand.
The empath gripped her head and shut her eyes tight, as if blocking out the physical world would save her from what was inside, "I'm-"
A knocking on her door silenced the voice and startled the empath nearly out of her cloak. She had been so absorbed in the conversation that she hadn't noticed the approaching presence of someone outside her door. Expanding her powers just a tad further, she recognized the radiating optimism to be that of Beast Boy's. Of course it'd be Beast Boy.
"Hey, Raven?" three more knocks sounded, "You in there?"
Grudgingly, Raven turned and slid the door open.
Open your eyes, Raven.
Beast Boy's cheeky smile brought out a small one of her own, "We're all going for pizza. Did you wanna come, too?"
"I…" she hesitated, before nodding.
"Great!" the changeling's eyes lit up and he reached for her hand, promptly pulling her out of her room and eagerly down the hall.
A blush lit up her face as she looked down at their joined hands, fingers surprisingly intertwined. Beast Boy was holding her hand! The thought made her stomach do somersaults. It wasn't that Beast Boy had never done so - oh, no, he'd held her hands plenty of times in the past few months - but the fact that Terra had returned and he was still willing to commit such acts of innocent intimacy bewildered her.
Raven was so distracted that when her teammate came to a halt, she nearly crashed into him. Looking around to see if anyone had noticed, she was relieved to see they were only are the door to the elevator and that nobody but the changeling was present. She sighed in relief.
"You okay?" Beast Boy stepped into the elevator, inspecting the panel to his right.
The empath nodded, noticing that he was still holding onto her hand. Blushing even more, now, she reached up and pulled her cloak farther forward so as to better conceal her face.
"Aha!" the changeling exclaimed triumphantly, pressing the button that would take them to their friends in the garage. He leaned back against the railing of the elevator before looking over at his teammate, "So…."
Raven did not reply, opting to remain in silence. There were too many things going on in her mind, especially with Terra's return.
Terra.
The name caused Raven drop her hand from the changeling's, hiding it beneath her cloak instead.
Beast Boy raised both eyebrows, "Rae? Did I do something wrong?" The empath had become so much more open with him that her sudden act of coldness was abnormal - at least to him.
"I'm fine, Beast Boy," she deadpanned, making brief eye contact to sell her lie.
But the changeling knew her better than that. He glanced at the control panel and hit a button, promptly halting their descent, before challenging her, "No, you're not. Ever since Terra showed up you've been in a bad mood."
"I have not," she drawled, "and you do know that I could just phase out of here, right?"
The changeling paused, "Uh… yeah, I knew that. I did it because…" he fought to think up an excuse.
Raven shook her head, "You're an idiot."
"Thanks, Rae," he grinned, then crossed his arms stubbornly. "Now what's wrong? Don't tell me somethin's not, 'cuz you almost threw me out the window earlier and you haven't done that in months."
Realizing he was right, Raven had no idea how to continue the conversation. She could tell him the truth - but what was the truth? That she was jealous of Terra and had feelings for him? Were they even feelings?
"Raven?"
She looked down at the floor, weighing her options. "Do you really want to know?" the empath shifted her downcast gaze to the elevator doors in front of them.
"Yes! I just want you to talk to me," he reached for her hand again, daring to push aside the hem of her cloak, as he had countless other times.
The demoness crossed her arms instead, "Terra, she- I... don't know, exactly."
Liar. Just tell him.
"What?" the green teen raised an eyebrow, "Whaddya mean?"
"Like I said, I don't know-"
Look at him.
Beast Boy reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand, guiding her eyes to face him. The act was so surprisingly bold, Raven couldn't help but take a step back - to which the changeling stepped forward.
"Beast Boy? What are yo-" the demoness was interrupted as his lips crashed into hers suddenly, throwing her off balance and forcing her to grab the fabric of his uniform to keep steady. Startled, she pushed him away and automatically brought her hands to her lips.
"I like you," the changeling, face bright red, stared her head on. "If that's what you were worried about," his eyes widened suddenly, "w-was it?"
Too dumbfounded to respond, Raven just stood there staring at him with a look he couldn't quite place.
"R-Rae? Oh God," Beast Boy panicked, stepping away from her, "I'm sorry! I-"
She closed her eyes and lowered her hand, "Beast Boy-"
"I'M SORRY!" he squealed, hitting the resume button on the control panel rapidly
A hand of black energy whacked the boy upside the head as Raven rubbed her temples, trying to clear her restless mind. Beast Boy wobbled from the impact, slightly dazed, before registering he was still in the elevator with the, presumably, livid half demon.
"R-Raven?"
"...Did you really mean that?"
"Mean wha- oh, that. Uhh," Beast Boy gulped, "yeah. Yeah, I did."
She opened her eyes and made eye contact, "Are you sure?"
The changeling raised an eyebrow at her question, "Uhh, duh?"
Raven shot him a pointed look at his lack of eloquence, to which the changeling flinched nervously, "I mean yes! Yes, I'm sure!"
"..."
"..."
Biting her lip, Raven asked the question she was least eager to know the answer to, "What about Terra?
A silence drifted between them as Beast Boy mulled over her question.
Finally, he spoke, "Terra and I are a thing of the past. She wasn't there for me when I needed her; you were." Taking a tentative step towards her, Beast Boy reached up to lower her hood so he could read her facial expression.
Raven attempted to stop him, catching his wrists halfway there, "She's back, though, and I'm… well. I'm who I am. Are you sure about this?"
Beast Boy let out an endearing chuckle, allowing her hands to keep a hold of his wrists so as to feel the contact, "Yeah, Terra's back and yeah, you're Raven. That's why I like you - because you're you."
"But I can't… I can't be like her," Raven protested, one of her hands instantly releasing him so as to touch her lips. "It's too dangerous," she explained, "I can't be so carefree all the time."
"Whatever happens, we can work through it like we always have. We're a team," Beast Boy reached up with his free hand to finally lower her hood, revealing the enticing ash-gray skin and mesmerizing violet irises he had come to adore, "right?"
The empath hesitated before nodding slowly, "Yeah. We are."
Leaning in quickly and pulling her down to his height, the changeling planted a quick kiss on her forehead before shooting her his signature grin, "So…."
She broke eye contact, blushing furiously, yet made no attempt to move away from him.
"Does this mean you like me too?" the changeling wriggled his eyebrows.
Raven glanced back at him and suppressed a smile, though the sparkle in her eyes gave away how delighted she really was, "You're a dork."
"Buuuut I'm your dork~"
"Whatever."
A/N: Wow this song was hard to write for! It kept bringing me back to my high school homecoming dances and I couldn't focus on the pairing itself. Hopefully I did alright - a majority of this oneshot is actually just setting up for the song inspired portion. After researching what a "dark horse" actually was, I realized it would fit Terra/BB/Rae quite well from Rae's standpoint (had they actually been canon in the show). A dark horse is basically an unexpected victor, which would be Raven if she were to ever face up against the Terra x Beast Boy pairing. I didn't include the reactions of their teammates because, honestly, it was just too taxing and after listening to Dark Horse on replay for more than an hour for inspiration, it wasn't too inspirational anymore. Just know that nobody expected Raven to win BB's heart, which is why she's the dark horse.~
Rate & Review? Stay tuned 3