One quick thing I forgot to mention. Jinx and Kid Flash have been stationed in Steel City and Bumblebee checks in with them from time to time. It's not relevant to the story exactly, but I forgot to put it in so I figured I can just tell you guys here. OK, carry on!
Six
Raven's dreams had become more convoluted with Speedy's recent confession.
Again she dreamt she was on the roof of Titans Tower, inches away from Robin's lips, about to kiss him when a dark figure reached over and pushed him off the roof. Raven screamed and jumped after her leader, flying with flurried speeds only to reach the ground and see no one there. She called out to Robin but received no reply. There was a touch on her lower back and she whirled, powers at the ready, to see Speedy-sans mask- smiling down at her.
"I can give you everything, angel. Everything." He leaned in to close the distance between them… and then she woke up.
If her subconscious was trying to tell her something, she wasn't getting it. The only thing she knew was that even in her dreams, she wasn't allowed the intimate notion of a kiss. Robin leaned in but was thrown off the roof. Speedy leaned in and her dream faded to black. Was her mind telling her she would be dying a virgin in every sense of the word?
"Raven! Training time!"
The voice was higher than Robin's sensual timbre, which made the wake-up call worse than the previous day's. At least the sun was out, though 6:30 was still an unthinkable hour for people like Cyborg and Beast Boy, who was still calling her name from the hall.
"I'm coming." She replied in the eerie deadpan she'd reserved only for the changeling.
"Gotcha. Leaving now!"
Raven entered her bathroom for a quick shower and face wash before slipping into a clean uniform and teleporting to the Main Room, where she sensed the Titans gathered. Though the aura of the room remained the same, three pairs of eyes fell on the purple-haired empath when she appeared. She felt the weight of those stares, knew who they belonged to, but chose to ignore it and took the available seat between Beast Boy and Starfire.
Robin cleared his throat, an action meant to grab the attention of the room (and one person in particular) as he introduced the day's events.
"The training today will consist of a battle blitz."
There was a murmur of anticipation at his words and the Boy Wonder grinned.
"By the end of this month, we will have individual battles to test our prowess and abilities, but for the moment we will fight in teams. Team coordination is an important skill to gain and I'll be nice this time and allow you to choose your own partner."
The room buzzed as the Titans moved from their settled spots to choose a teammate for the battle blitz. Raven, still avoiding Robin's gaze, grasped Starfire's left hand.
"Partners?"
The alien girl was stunned at Raven's initiated contact, but recovered quickly with a bright smile and nod.
"We shall certainly be triumphant in this blitz of battle, Friend Raven. Together, we are quite powerful."
Raven smiled and made the mistake of looking up from her friend. Her eyes met with the white of Robin's mask. She didn't have to be an empath to tell he was confused and hurt by her actions. His brow was furrowed and he hadn't stopped watching her. Raven fidgeted, turning back to the effervescent alien, attempting as best she could to ignore Robin's presence.
The battles were to be held outside, where less furniture and valuable objects resided. Terra had once totaled the Titans obstacle course and Cyborg was able to repair it in mere hours so Robin hoped no battle would be too destructive. Of course, Starfire still forgot her strength and Cyborg didn't always think before he blasted his cannon, but Robin was an optimist.
"Okay, Titans, here's how this is going to go. There are four teams and each team must get a chance to battle the other three teams. Each battle won scores a point for that team and at the end the team with the most points wins, which should be easy to calculate. The teams are as follows: Bumblebee and Speedy, Cyborg and Aqualad, Starfire and Raven, and Beast Boy and I. The first battle will be Cyborg and Aqualad versus Beast Boy and me."
The two teams gathered on opposite sides of the field, facing their intended target. Robin was focused on Cyborg while Beast Boy gave Aqualad strange looks that were supposed to be challenging but actually made him look ill.
"Ready?" Bumblebee addressed the two teams and received nods. "Fight!"
The four sprang into action, Cyborg aiming his cannon straight for Robin's incoming figure. The Boy Wonder flipped over the sonic blast and landed a kick squarely in the taller man's jaw, knocking him backwards. Robin continued with a synchronized melee attack, keeping Cyborg on the defensive and unable to use his sonic weapon again.
Beast Boy had morphed into an elephant, trumpeting loudly as he stampeded towards Aqualad, who evaded the move and summoned water from the nearby lake to form a colossal wave he slammed down on Beast Boy and Robin along the way. The opposing team didn't surface and Cyborg and Aqualad regrouped, thinking themselves the champions already.
There was a ripple underneath the pooled water and suddenly a green shark flew from the wave, its razor sharp teeth armed to bite into Cyborg's arm. The android cried out in pain and surprise, but before he could smack the shark away, it became a five ton whale and crushed Cyborg with its weight, rendering him unconscious.
Aqualad had moved forward, surveying the water calculatingly, knowing Robin had not submerged yet and was probably planning an attack. And he was right. Aqualad met the end of Robin's titanium alloy staff as he leaped from the water with ease and knocked the Atlantian prince on his back. Beast Boy hit Aqualad with the back of his triceratops tail, causing the teen to land on top of Cyborg in a grand defeat.
"Robin and Beast Boy win this one!" Bumblebee announced and the waiting Titans clapped.
Cyborg was grumbling good-naturedly but Aqualad was glaring murderously at Robin. The brunt of his rage was intense enough to penetrate Raven's mind and she gasped, feeling the kindling wrath there. No one else had noticed the moment and Aqualad framed his features into unaffected blankness again. Raven did a quiet probe of his mind, careful not to alert the other telepath of her actions. She caught disjointed words and emotions, but she understood the gist of it. Aqualad knew about her feelings for Robin and his own feelings were clouding his rationality. He was harboring hatred for Robin and hate was a dangerous sentiment. It was what Trigon had stood for and what Raven had fought against.
"Friend, we are up for the battle." Starfire touched her shoulder and Raven snapped out of the brief contact with Aqualad's mind.
"Right. Sorry, I got distracted there. Let's do this." She followed Starfire onto the field and took her place across from Bumblebee.
When the two male teams had been fighting, Raven had discussed battle strategies with Starfire to make preparations for each of their battles. Starfire had suggested a very intelligent move for Raven to subdue Bumblebee and Raven had been momentarily surprised by her friend's tactical knowledge. It was usually up to Raven and Robin to create battle plans and analyze their enemies prior to battles. Starfire may not seem it but she was also clever and a quick-learner so Raven was glad she'd chosen her as a worthy partner.
"Are you girls ready?" Cyborg asked and Speedy gave him the finger while the other three nodded their assent. "Then… go!"
Starfire and Raven took to the air. Bumblebee followed suit and the Titans West girls shared a grin, knowing this would be her first move. Speedy was on the ground, whipping out arrows and aiming them at both targets. Bumblebee was shooting yellow blasts of energy at them, but the female team evaded arrows and blasts effortlessly, not attempting any offensive maneuvers. Bumblebee was confused by this but increased her attacks, shrinking down to her smallest size to fly faster and reach the evasive empath and alien.
"Now!" Raven shouted and Starfire grinned, shooting a green starbolt at Bumblebee who dodged it with a cocky smile.
"You missed!" the Titans East leader jeered but Starfire's expression didn't change.
"Did I?"
Bumblebee then heard Speedy's groan and realized the starbolt had caught him off-guard. The instant Bumblebee turned to assess Speedy's condition she was met with a black barrier. She had been flying at a speedy fast enough that had built up her momentum and the smack with the barrier sent her hurtling to the ground. She had enough time to catch herself and revert to her normal size as Speedy was standing up and going to notch an arrow. Neither was fast enough, though.
Raven had appeared behind Speedy, black tendrils of energy wrapping around his bow and arrow, pulling them away from him and throwing them aside. He was turning to raise a defensive block when a burst of Raven's power threw him onto his back. She held him down with her power and looked up to watch Starfire's final move. The alien had used Bumblebee's clumsy fall as time to build up a green orb that she launched. Bumblebee cried out as the orb hit her head on and caused her to hit the ground where Raven was waiting to spread her power over the opposing team.
"Starfire and Raven win!" Beast Boy shouted and the girls shared a celebratory high-five.
Raven stepped back, releasing her hold on Speedy and Bumblebee.
"Congrats, angel. You had really smart moves there." Speedy said as he stood, wiping the dust from his bright uniform.
"Thanks." She murmured, not meeting his masked gaze as the memory of his dark blue eyes ran through her mind.
Starfire pulled her back to the other Titans, anxious to see the next battles.
After another half hour of battle, the points went like this: Robin and Beast Boy 2, Cyborg and Aqualad 0, Raven and Starfire 2, Speedy and Bumblebee 1. The final battle would be the most interesting one. Raven and Starfire would be facing their team leader and their close friend. On the other hand, Robin was facing his ex-girlfriend and the dark sorceress who was causing irregularities in his heartbeats and pulse rate. Beast Boy was just happy to have made it to the end on the winning team. He had hated working with Aqualad on that obstacle course. Man, was that guy pushy. Robin was pushy too but he was nicer about it so Beast Boy could deal with it.
"Are you guys ready?" Cyborg asked and the four Titans on the field nodded.
Raven took a deep breath as she stared across at Robin, who was using his mask to remain completely blank. His mind was closed off from her and she knew it was about more than just keeping her out of his head and revealing his battle tactics. Robin, being the intelligent man he was, had realized something had happened to close Raven off from him and he recognized her evading and avoiding tactics for exactly what they were. Raven suppressed a groan. He would corner her when she wasn't expecting it and force the truth from her. He'd done it many times before. In fact, he was the only one who could. She would always give into him and reveal her problems, no matter what they were. But, this time was different.
She wasn't sure of why she was acting semi-cold towards Robin. He hadn't done anything wrong. She couldn't expect him to whip off his mask and reveal the identity he'd protected for so long just because Speedy had done it. Besides, Speedy loved her and Robin just saw her as a close friend. A friend and nothing more. Raven refused to dwell on the fact that this thought bothered her more than it should have.
"Go!" Cyborg shouted and Raven concentrate on the battle plan she and Starfire had concocted.
She and Starfire were running full-speed ahead, charging at the respective males in front of them, both of which seemed confused that the girls hadn't taken to the air. Robin was suspicious and Raven could tell he was analyzing them to discover their intended plan as he pulled out his Bo staff to attack. Seconds before the four would charge, Raven and Starfire took flight and did a maneuver in mid-air to land behind the boys and shoot energy blasts at their backs. Robin hissed as the black energy pushed him forward but he rolled and flipped to his feet in seconds, prepared for the same trick the next time.
Beast Boy wasn't so graceful and he fell onto his face from the force of Starfire's green starbolt. Raven used this opportunity to pull open the ground beneath his feet so that he began falling through the floor without enough time to prepare his change to an animal with flight. Robin was forced to rush over and grab the changeling. When the two were on solid ground again they were met with a powerful blast of alien power and thought they ducked, successfully evading it, they were met with another blast from Raven. They managed to evade the second blast as well but were slower in readying a battle stance.
When Robin turned, three explosive discs in hand, he was met with empty space.
"Where'd they go?" Beast Boy asked and his answer came in the form of an underground explosion that shimmered with black energy.
Robin's discs hit the ground and they exploded, causing the two to cough and wipe the air to remove the smoke and regain visibility.
"Game over." Raven's smooth voice declared and Robin knew that this attack would be the last one.
He felt the pulse of Raven's magic and was unsurprised when a fused energy bolt of Raven and Starfire's powers struck them. He rubbed his head as Beast Boy groaned in pain.
"You will admit defeat, correct?" Starfire asked with a glowing hand pointed at Robin, Raven's stance mirroring hers as she aimed at Beast Boy.
"We do! We do!" the green Titan exclaimed, putting his hands up.
"Wonderful! We are truly victorious!" Starfire dropped her hands and jumped up and down in excitement.
"Yay." Raven said emotionlessly though inside she was smirking at Robin's defeat.
He was a strong opponent but she had still done it. Well, she and Star. It had been Starfire's idea to begin their battle on the ground and then take to the air. Seriously, the girl deserved more credit for her brains.
"Congratulations, Starfire and Raven. You have won this battle blitz." Robin said formally, extending his hand to the alien first.
Starfire squealed joyfully again, returning the handshake with enough force to cause Robin to wince. She had once again forgotten her strength. As Beast Boy shook hands with Starfire (yelping at the alien girl's overexcited handshake) Robin moved to grasp Raven's slender hand. Her palms were warm, probably from the recent use of her crackling energy, and the contact with her soft skin sent a spark through his body that had nothing to do with the power he'd been hit with before.
"We need to talk." He whispered, his words hidden under Starfire and Beast Boy's loud exchange.
"I know." She said in the same tone, her hand still in his large one.
"We can take the patrol tonight."
"Fine." She said, ignoring the déjà vu of the scenario.
Another night alone with an attractive masked man on a mysterious, dark night. She knew it was silly but she wanted Robin to grant her the same privilege Speedy had. She'd meet Roy Harper. Who was Robin hiding underneath his mask?
Curiosity killed the cat, Raven. It was Intelligence's voice.
You know I hate cats. Raven told her yellow-cloaked emotion.
Plus, birds of a feather flock together. Use this opportunity to get some juicy dirt on our resident hottie.
Raven almost rolled her eyes. That was a combination of Happiness and Lust she was sure.
"Meet me in the garage at 8." Robin said, finally releasing her hand.
She raised an eyebrow.
"I figured you've flied enough for one day." He grinned and Raven couldn't stop the small smile that followed his.
Robin was just… Robin. He brought something special out of her, he always had. From the moment they'd met, Raven had placed her faith and her trust in him. The more time they'd spent together and developed as a team, the stronger she'd felt for him. She didn't have a name for that feeling (or if she did she was refusing to acknowledge it yet) but it was powerful. She had watched Robin's relationship with Starfire with a concentrated numbness. She wanted her only female friend to be happy and she did want Robin to find some
Raven may have been more emotionally free than in the past and as close to normalcy as she could handle, but there were some things that wouldn't change. She still ran from overwhelming emptions and situations or tried to as often as she could and this… thing with Robin was bringing out her "pull on hood, lock self in room, never come out" instinct.
What exactly did she feel for Robin? Did Robin share this feeling for her? If she and Robin ever formed a relationship would he trust her enough to reveal his identity and take off his literal and figurative mask? What would happen between her and Roy? She could admit to herself that she felt some connection with Roy Harper, but she also had to admit the feelings she had for Robin were stronger and ran deeper than those for Roy. Furthermore, when did Raven's life become such a soap opera? She hadn't forgotten about Aqualad and his veiled, pseudo-psychotic rage towards Robin earlier or the Atlantian's quiet obsession with her.
You're more of a slut now, which is totally fine by the way. Embrace it.
There was no question which emotion had spoken up.
Shut up, Lust, or I'll lock you in a dark part of my conscious.
That's an empty threat. You'll need me when you and the Boy Wonder start having some real fun if you know what I mean.
Unfortunately, we all know what you mean. Intelligence said with a sigh.
We could go for the muscly archer too. Or better yet both!
Raven allowed Intelligence to slap the gold cloaked Lust for that comment.