Chapter 18

He couldn't feel the kiss fully, but what he could feel sent him soaring.

The faintness of her lips, the warmth of her breath, the closeness of her body, he could feel all it and yet he couldn't.

It was frustrating.

It was maddening!

And he could understand why the Beast was so angry with him.

The Beast's rumble of a purr that was normally in the back of his mind was now in the forefront. It was deeper than normal and echoed from all around. He wasn't used to these feelings that were coming from the Beast. Sure, he's felt when it was frustrated and annoyed with him. Anger and disappointment were such prominent emotions from the Beast. There have only been a few times when he's felt the Beast's purrs. He knew the emotions it emitted when it did wasn't in the rage category, but he didn't have the exact emotion down as he did now.

The feeling of pure and unadulterated bliss.

It surrounded and filled him. It overtook him, overwhelmed him, then settled around and soothed him. He noticed all the tenseness leaving the Beast when they first set eyes on her after days of worrying. He sensed the relief that filled it when it placed his hands on her. He understood the excitement that rippled through it when it placed his lips on her.

And they had a sense of completion when they felt her kiss back.

He would've been happy to stay like that forever, but then the Beast spoke.

"I can't stay out any longer."

What?

The high he was riding came to a crashing stop and he could feel as the Beast slowly relinquished control.

"I am not strong enough to have complete control yet."

Yet echoed through his mind and body as the descent of the Beast drained through him. Well...that was an unsettling thing to hear.

He felt as all the Beast come together to a singular point in the front of his mind, stopped, and waited. It was looking at him, sizing him up, and judging him as it shifted to the beastly form that he recognized. There was a pause before a rush of wind blew pass him and with a blink, the Beast stood mere inches away from him. He almost grabbed his chest as his heart jumped. The Beast peered down at him and snarled.

"Fix your mistakes before I get stronger."

He felt a push and his mind surged forward. He slammed into full control of his body.

His lips were still on Raven.

He wanted to enjoy the rush he, himself felt as the full of Raven took over his sensory. To savor the softness of her lips and cradle the warmth of her being. To continue breathing in her scent, the only thing that's been able to calm him and get him to sleep through the night. But there seemed to be a shift coming from her. She still kissed him, but it seemed sadder. Not reluctant, but almost desperate. As if she felt when the Beast released control and she knew she was kissing him…

And she didn't think she would ever get to do this again.

He tightened his hold on her. He wanted to pull her closer and never let go. To break away from the wonderful kiss they were sharing only to let her know all he was feeling for her. How he was sorry he took so long to realize. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, but the nagging sounds of footsteps were distracting.

Footsteps…

He pulled back, knowing that their time was limited, and he opened his mouth.

BANG!

The roof's door opened sooner than anticipated. He jumped back and away from Raven as he turned to see Starfire hoovering at the door.

There was a pause before a giant smile graced her face as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Friend Raven!"

She zoomed pass him and scooped Raven into her arms, pulling her into a tight hug and nestling her head on top of Raven's.

"I am so glad you are the okay."

There was a hitch as Star spoke, and he smelled her tears falling. While he couldn't see Star with her back to him, he had a clear view of Raven's face. Her face red from embarrassment at Starfire's sudden appearance. Her mouth was gaping like a fish out of water, and her eyes were so wide, he could see the whole of her pupil.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the magic around the ship flicker. That can't be good.

"Hey Star, you might wanna-"

His ears twitched again, and he turned in time to see his team and East trying to cram their way through the door.

"Raven!"

"You're back!"

"Rae!"

They all managed to fall through the door. Some of them rolled on the floor and some of them scrambled to their feet, but all of them charged towards Raven.

He saw the magic flicker again.

"Hey guys," he tried. They pushed pass him and surrounded themselves around her, and even he knew they were beyond her comfort zone. Mas and Menos each held onto one of her hands as they jumped up and down, the only English word he could catch was "Arsenal." Cyborg hugged her from behind and nuzzled his head on the opposite side of Starfire while wailing about missing her. Bumblebee hovered to her left and Aqualad stood on her right, both asking where was Arsenal. Then there was Nightwing. He towered in the middle, asking for every detail of the mission and why they weren't where they were supposed to be.

It had to be too much for her.

He saw her eyes begin to glow and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He could feel her power building up, strong and not as controlled as normal.

She was gonna blow.

"GUYS!"

BOOM!

Her magic exploded. It jumped pass their teammates and attacked the pod it was already encasing, shooting it through the air at a dangerous speed and height. There was no way it would survive the fall. Changeling turned his attention back to the group. Everybody reacted differently to the sudden boom. Some were startled and had jumped some at the sudden noise. Others were battle ready, ready to strike at whatever trying to sneak up on them.

Then there was Raven whose whole body was in full panic mood as she stared at her pod and cried out, "Arsenal!"

That sent everybody in full panic mood.

"Arsenal's in there?"

"He's gonna die!"

"We gotta save him!"

Before a plan could formulate, Raven opened a portal and flew through it faster then he'd ever seen. Though the pod was too high for normal eyes to see, Changeling could and he locked onto the pod. There was still magic trickling around it, building and he yelled:

"It's going to explode!"

A collective gasp rang around him and he looked at his teammates. Nightwing took charge.

"Star, fly up there as fast as you can! Aqualad, see how far up you can get a tidal wave to slow its fall. Where's Raven!"

"There," Cyborg yelled as he pointed back to the pod.

Changeling turned his attention to the pod. He watched as a portal opened below where it somewhat stopped in the air as its momentum tip and it was readying to fall. She emerged from the portal a torpedo heading straight toward the falling pod. As he stared, she phased her body and shot right through the pod, coming out with Arsenal lying on a disk of her magic.

Good. She was safe.

"It's gonna smash into us!"

His ears perked up at Cyborg's cry and he shifted his view to the hurdling pod still encased in the pulsing magic.

They were going to die.

"TITANS, MOVE!"

Nightwing's order seemed to wake everyone from their stupor, but it was too close. Changeling tensed, both frozen in fear and ready to leap in front of his teammates. He couldn't think of what animal to take that would survive something that intense. It was coming and it was coming fast.

Were they really about to die?

As that thought ran through his head, a black portal opened in front of them and Raven emerged. She threw up a dome of magic just in time. The pod bounced against it and exploded in a fiery rage. Shrapnel shot off in different directions and at breakneck speed. Even tinted black, the brightness of the explosion still burned his eyes. There was no way they would've survived that.

As the last of the debris settled, the dome started to melt away and Changeling turned to Raven. She was tired. Visibly tired. Sweat rolled on her forehead and though she tried to control it, her breathing was harder. But there was a sense of relief that took over her body as she allowed her arms to drop and took one final deep breath.

"Raven...Rae, what happened?"

As she turned to answer Cyborg, Changeling was able to see humiliation on her face before she threw her hood up.

"Emotional overload. Too many different emotions at the same time."

Mouths opened. He knew many questions were going to follow, but the first sound to break the silence was a deep chuckle. All eyes looked up to land on Arsenal dangling his feet on a disk of Raven's magic.

"Rae, if I truly annoyed you during the mission, you could've just said something instead of trying to kill me."

He leaped down and landed in a deep squat before standing. Though he hid it well, Changeling could see the small nuances of a man in pain and trying to play it off. He probably fooled everybody else except for Nightwing, who notices everything.

That didn't give him an excuse to touch Raven.

Arsenal hugged her from behind, his arms hanging around her neck as he rested his head on her crown. He had a goofy smile like he could get away with anything and it almost seemed like he could.

Why hadn't she thrown him off yet?

"Arsenal!"

While all the Titans seemed happy to see him safe, Titans East's emotions were stronger as they raced to him.

"We were so worried!"

"Are you injured?"

"Estas bien! Estas bien!"

Channeling stared in disbelief. Did they forget what happened just a few seconds ago? How they all barely survived? There was no way he was going through that again. He opened his mouth to tell them to chill when Arsenal held up his hand and spoke up.

"Guys, what did Raven just say about emotional overload?"

Even though he smiled, there was a seriousness about Arsenal that made his team freeze. Either that or the reminder of before did. Which…baffled Changeling! Or maybe he was more jealous. Jealous that in the same situation, Arsenal was able to get people to listen to him before things escalated.

"Now I know you guys have questions," Arsenal began as he moved so that one arm was still wrapped around Raven's shoulder. "And while we'd LOOOVE to be bombarded with your barrage of questionings, we got places to be and things to do, right Rae?"

And still, she didn't throw him off.

Instead, she let out a soft sigh with a light head shake before taking his wrist and starting to walk away. They would've left straight out if Nightwing hadn't stepped in front of them. His arms were crossed and he had his interrogation face on.

"Not until you tell us why you were miles away from where you were supposed to be."

Changeling could feel Raven's irritation rising.

"Like Arsenal said, we'll answer you later."

"Raven…"

"You know, technically this is a Titan East mission, so I have to answer to Bee, not you. If we decide to tell you, you'll be the first to know. Now, move."

There was a glare off, heated and intense. If anybody walked between them, they would melt from the intensity. But Nightwing did move. There was a huff and a subtle glance in Arsenal's direction, but he did move.

The two began walking again and Changeling finally found his voice.

"Rae!"

He saw Raven tense up, but it was Arsenal who answered.

"Later Changeling. Rae Rae and I have somewhere to be."

There was a slight wince at the end of Arsenal's response and Raven summoned her magic. They phased through the floor, leaving everybody confused.

Especially Changeling.

Wow, it's been a while, but like I said, I will finish this story. Thank you for sticking with me for so long!