"Michael?" my voice was raw as I said his name and I wanted so much to touch his face.
"Don't worry Rae I'll get you out" Michael said as he went around the beam to untie the ropes.
"How is this possible?" I asked him as I became free and threw my arms around his neck.
"What do you mean, Rae?" he asked as he pulled back and a confused expression came into his face.
"How can you be alive?" I asked him as I took his face in my hands and I caressed his cheeks in the tender way that I always use to do. In this old abandoned basement I felt as if life had suddenly been given back to me.
"What do you mean, Rae? I've been alive" he seemed unsure of what he said
"No, Michael you were pronounced dead after I destroyed half of our school because your body wasn't found." I told him in a tender way so he wouldn't take the news too badly.
"How is that…" he paused as he thought over the events he remembered, "well I remember you getting ready to explode but then after that, I don't remember. I woke up on an old deer trail in the forest about three miles outside of town." He recalled
"I don't know how you got there but before we do any more investigating, we should find a way out of here." I said and stood up to survey the basement.
'I don't like this Raven' intelligence said in my head as I walked further into the basement.
'What are you talking about?' I answered her and scowled at the broken light bulb in the socket above my head.
'It is too coincidental for Michael to be here as we are here as well' she paused and then a sigh could be heard 'Just be careful' intelligence warned before going back into the never never.
But why would I not trust Michael? I couldn't say that it was intelligence that didn't trust him because she was me; So that meant that a part of me wasn't trusting Michael for some reason. Something was off and if I didn't figure it out soon it would cause havoc.
"Is John going to be able to find Raven?" cyborg asked as he stood by Robin and watched John get prepared.
"He is the only chance we have right now" Robin answered in a grave tone.
"The instant he finds her, he will be able to unlock her powers and she will follow him back here." Batman said in a matter-of-fact tone.
Now all that was left to do was wait.
"How are we going to get out of here?" Michael asked as he touched the wall to try and find a hidden window or something.
"I'm not sure and with my powers locked, I am no use." I said in exasperation and leaned against a beam.
'Raven' John's voice came out of now where
'John?' I asked and looked around to try and see if he was spiritually in the room
'I'm going to unlock your powers and then I want you to follow the spirit trail I will leave for you.' He instructed and proceeded
It was strange for me to suddenly feel my body fill with energy since I had always had my powers. With the return of my powers also came the unstable nature of my emotions and the dark thing that I hid in the farthest part of never never.
'Now follow me' John instructed and his spiritual presence began to fade.
"Come on Michael, we have to go" I said and held out my hand to him as I summoned my soul self.
"I would ask what just happened but I'm sure I won't understand." He said as he walked forward with a smirk on his face.
John had returned and stood waiting with the others for Raven to appear. It took a couple of minutes before a dark circle appeared and two figures come out. One was Raven in her blue cloak and neutral expression. The other figure was a man who looked around suspiciously at everyone.
"Raven!" Robin couldn't contain the relief evident on his face as he saw that Raven was unharmed. There was a seed of jealousy in him when he saw the man but his emotions for Raven overshadowed his jealousy.
Raven smiled at Robin and walked towards him as he ran to her. Robin took Raven up in his arms and nearly wept as he inhaled her calming lavender aroma.
"I'm guessing you were worried" she stated sarcastically with a smirk on her face that relieved the tension in the room.
"Never again will I let you out of my sight" Robin whispered as he touched his forehead against Raven's.
"Careful boy wonder, people might get the wrong idea" Raven whispered back as she basked in Robin's touch.
"Frankly, I couldn't care less right now" with that said, Robin took Raven's face in his hands and kissed her in a demonstration of his love for her.
Everyone seemed to look away to give the two love birds some semblance of alone time. But no one noticed the jealousy and loathing that were etched on Michael's face. A look that resembled that of a sadistic maniac came onto his face and revealed the monster that had taken root in his soul.
"What happened?" Cyborg asked
Raven and Michael were in the debriefing room as well as the rest of the team involved in Raven's rescue.
"We were in batman's car and all of a sudden we were being attacked and the car was air born. Without my powers I was a rag doll in there and then we hit the water so hard I think flash over there went out cold upon impact. Then the car began to fill with water and…" Raven paused in her retelling of the story and looked down at her hands.
"Then, what Raven?" Batman asked as he leaned against the table.
"…" Raven did not seem to want to answer and a long silence consumed the room.
"You freaked out didn't you?" Michael broke the silence with his question and placed a hand over Raven's hands.
"Yeah" Raven answered and seemed to close herself off while the others just watched as she went through an inner struggle.
"Maybe we should continue this later" Michael suggested as he saw the small threads of Raven's control slipping.
"No, I'm fine there isn't much more to tell anyway," Raven took a breath before going on "after the water came flooding in I began to panic and trying to swim out but I ended up swimming up to fast and I knocked myself out with the roof of the car. Then I remember waking up in a dark, old basement, tied to a support beam. After a while I heard Michael and he untied my bonds and then John contacted me and got us out of there." Raven finished telling and leaned back in her chair.
"You didn't see who kidnapped you at any time?" Batman asked and looked at Michael to incorporate him in the question.
"I don't remember much of what has happened for the past couple of days." Michael confessed and looked at batman to begin his tale of how he got there.
"What happened to you after my loss of control at the school?" Raven asked with wonder.
"I don't remember, all I remember is you getting into an argument with my sister over something and she said something that went too far and you lost it. But everything went dark after the first initial burst of energy. Then I woke up in the woods a little outside of town without any idea how to get back to town. I took a random direction and headed that way for a good hour until I got to this old shack that Raven and I use to hang out in. I went to sleep and then ended up in the middle of town square. It was strange that it happened again but it was probably from some concussion I had from the explosion at school. So I made my way towards my house only to find out that my family thought I was dead. I didn't know how to tell them without freaking them out so I slept in the shed of my house. Then I woke up to the smell of smoke and I thought the shed was on fire but I was outside on the ground and a building was on fire. Freaked me out but then I went wandering to where I knew raven lived but found she had left. I thought you had gone far away so I crashed at your place. Later your neighbors told me that batman had taken you and I thought it was because they were arresting you. So I went looking for you and somehow ended up in that basement." Michael finished his tale and looked at all the people in the room. But he didn't care that some looked at him with disbelief, all that mattered is what raven thought.
Raven sat in her chair with her head bobbing as she was struggling to stay awake. Batman saw this and decided to let the kids go off to sleep since it had been a long day.
"We will look more into this later but right now I think you all need to get some sleep." With a nod to everyone, batman turned and left the room.
"Come on Rae" Michael grabbed raven's arm and was about to take her into his arms when suddenly robin put a restraining hand on his arm.
"I'll take her" he said in a firm and possessive voice.
Michael narrowed his eyes and was prepared to tell him to back off but then raven layed a hand on his arm.
"It's alright Michael," raven yawned "I can take myself. Robin can you give Michael a room please?" she turned pleading eyes on robin who smiled and nodded before kissing her on the cheek. She smiled lightly before engulfing herself in her soulself.
"Follow me" Robin told Michael in a cool professional voice. Just because he had told raven he would show Michael to a room didn't mean he had to be nice. He didn't like the way Michael looked a raven and there was something suspicious about his story but he would look into this guy later and without raven knowing because she would probably get mad if she knew.
"Hey how long has raven been here?" Michael asked after a while of silence.
"A little over a week" Robin answered and wondered why he wanted to know.
"When can she leave?" Michael asked
"Whenever she wants" Robin found that question odd as if Michael thought raven was here against her will.
"Okay good" Michael seemed dilated with this answer
"Well here's your room" Robin said as they stopped in front of a door and Michael looked around as if looking for something.
"Where is raven's room" Michael asked robin in a suspicious tone
"She is in the student wing, this is the guest wing" robin said in an irritated tone.
"No, I have to be near raven. What if she needs me or something causes her to lose control. I am the only one who she trusts enough to help her control herself." Michael argued with a hint of anger in his voice.
"She will be fine" robin said with a growing unease in the pit of his stomach at the possessive tone in Michael's voice.
"No she won't be" Michael said so sure that it made robin doubt. Robin was ready to fight with this kid but he was raven's friend and she wouldn't like it so he had to try to keep the peace.
"Look I'll ask her if she wants your room to be moved and I'll see if things can be moved around for you guys, okay?" robin said in his diplomatic way.
Michael only nodded and watched with narrowed eyes as robin walked away towards his room.
"You won't keep me away from her" Michael whispered harshly in a tone maliciously lower than his normal voice.
Robin stood outside raven's door not sure if he should disturb her since she was probably sleeping. But after everything that happened today all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms.
"You better come in before someone labels you a creeper" raven's voice came from within the room.
Robin smile broadly as he went into her room. She was on the bed in a t-shirt and some shorts.
"I thought you would be asleep" robin said as he took off his cape and put it on the foot of her bed. As he came to stand by her bed he took off his mask and put it on the table by her bed and sat on the bed.
"I know you were worried sick" she told him as she laid a hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. Robin dropped his calm demeanor and sighed as he let her see the worry and fear that had been holding him in a tight grip. He turned his face into raven's hand and kissed her palm.
"If anything had happened to—"
"Don't you dare do that to yourself. It wasn't your fault," raven interrupted robin's self-blame then sat up and took his face in her hands "I'm back and I'm safe"
Robin looked into her purple eyes to see the tenderness and care he loved. He took by surprise by suddenly kissing her and pulling her against him as if she would disappear at any moment.
"I won't let it happen ever again" he promised as he looked at and memorized every detail of her face. His hands gently caressed every part of her face and then buried in her hair.
"It's over now" raven tried to assure robin since the look of almost desperation on his face caused her to break inside.
They lay in bed for a while with robin's arms around raven's waist. Raven looked at the serene expression on robin's face. It made a bubble of happiness and giddiness to swell within her to know that she was the one to be able to bring him such peace.
Everything would be fine from now on as long as they had each other.
Michael felt a ball of fury forming in his chest as he watched robin go into raven's room but not come out. He had heard her tell him to come in without any hesitation. Raven would never let someone in like that unless it was him and that meant they had done something to her. She was not the same and she was in danger.
"I won't let them entrap you for long raven. I'll find a way to set you free so we can be together." He whispered and slipped into the darkness of the hall way to make plans for tomorrow.
A/N: hey guys sorry to keep you waiting for soooooo long but I'm back and I have some new ideas and I hope you like them. Tell me what you think of this so far. Remember the more reviews the faster I type.