Hey everyone! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews from the last chapter! It was really fun to see your reactions! Hope you enjoy this one as well!
Chapter 22 – Chance
September 20th 2009, 3:13 pm
"Beast Boy?"
The changeling turned slowly, finding his best friend's eyes.
"What?"
"I'm calling you for like forever! Where was your mind at?"
"Nowhere" he answered quickly "Just… Letting it wander"
"Well… It's your turn" informed Terra, throwing him a control. He sighed and started his battle against Cyborg, without really caring. He accepted to play video games to try and empty his mind, filled with last night's memories and very anxious.
"I like you" he said, next to her ear, the lavender and incense scent filling his nostrils and inebriating him. He couldn't take it anymore. He leaned his head and she lifted hers, in a perfect synchronized move.
When his lips touched hers, he felt an explosion of emotions like never before. His chest expanded and a warm sensation spread all over his body. He led his hands to her delicate neck and felt her tremble and hold his arms firmly, like she was afraid they went away.
"Raven" he said, interrupting the kiss, but still close to her face and holding her hands "Be my girlfriend"
The empath stared at him, and he knew there was something in her eyes, but her face showed him sadness.
"Beast Boy…" he had the feeling she was going to say something bad, so he kissed her again.
"You can think if you want" he mumbled, leaving her lips again. She bit her lip and nodded. She got away from him, sliding out of his reach, and before he could say or do anything, she was already gone. After some instants just standing there, disappointed, he realized that for some reason all of the spotlights were on and pointing at him.
He hadn't seen Raven all day, had barely slept at all and felt a weight in his belly that stopped him from eating too much. He was sure now that the empath felt something for him. If not, she would have sent him away for kissing her. The fact of not only letting him, but kissing him back was a proof that she reciprocate his feelings. But he still was afraid of being rejected.
That was when the alarm started to ring.
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Raven hadn't slept. Since she came back from the ice rink, she was in a serious emotion instability. She would lay on her bed, close her eyes, and all she would get was relive that moment, hear Beast Boy's voice in her ears and her lips tingled to remember the kiss they shared. So she would feel guilty for letting it go this far, to then try to think how to tell the changeling gently that no, she would not be his girlfriend. Her mind focused in his beautiful emerald eyes and she remembered the kiss, and it would start all over again.
She didn't want to go to Nevermore, because she knew Affection and Happiness would be nagging her to accept it. When the last book went flying out of her bookcase, however, she decided that going inside her mind was the most appropriate thing to do.
Then the damn alarm started ringing.
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September 20th 2009, 3:35 pm
"Doctor Light?!" questioned Cyborg, a little disappointed "You again?"
"Yes, it is me, Titans!" exclaimed the villain, from the top of a covered in glass mirror building. All the team let out a depressed moan.
"Girls, let's go up!" ordered Robin, pointing towards the building. Starfire and Raven flew ahead and the rest of the group came up right behind in a big piece of floating earth.
"You really are bad at learning with your mistakes" said Raven, with black energy discs on her hands. She wasn't in the mood to deal with Dr Light. However, her discs were repelled by the villain's shining armor and disappeared.
"I'm ready for you this time, witch!" he answered, arrogant. Before she could do anything, Starfire threw a rain of green lasers at the man.
"Nice job, Star!" complimented Robin, arriving to the scene. When the dust settled, Dr Light raised himself, and this time his armor reflected a green light, that hit everyone, knocking them down to the ground.
A million little rocks threw themselves in the villain's direction, but he disintegrated them with a ray of light that came out of his right fist. Cyborg got up and shot his sonic blast, but Dr Light's armor merely reflected the blue light and hit the robot man, who fell from the building.
"Cyborg!" yelled Terra and Starfire, running to help.
Meanwhile, Robin, Raven and Beast Boy were already on their feet and attacking. The boy wonder threw five birdarangs at the same time the changeling attacked in the form of a bear. Dr Light turned the birdarangs to dust with the shining ray of his right fist and directed a light beam to the green bear's eyes, which screamed with pain and put the paws on his eyes, turning blind. The villain prepared to push the bear off the building, but was stopped by a black tentacle.
"I think you need another scare" said Raven in her usual tone of voice. Dr Light started to scream, and Robin ran off to help Beast Boy.
If Raven wasn't going through such stress in the last eighteen hours, or if she had slept even a little bit, she probably would have noticed. But she was tired, with a dilemma eroding her mind and sleep deprived. So she didn't notice it.
Dr Light screamed, but the desperation didn't reach his eyes. He waited until he was pretty close and pushed the hug button on his armor's chest. All the sunlight the building reflected was transferred to it, which started to shine in an incredible intensity.
Raven was thrown back, her eyes hurt and not being able to see nothing besides a shining white light. Putting the arm in front of her eyes, she managed to see the shape of a man pointing something at her. Then, a bunch of green fur blocked her vision.
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When Beast Boy was hit by the light, he felt a piercing pain in his eyes and covered them by instinct, bellowing and walking without direction. He felt two hands stop him and went back to his original form, massaging the hurt eyes.
His vision was coming back when he heard Raven's voice. He turned, and then Robin yelled and pushed him to the ground. Something extremely bright was in the building with them.
The changeling lifted his head, trying to block most of the light with his hand, and saw Raven laying on the floor and Dr Light approaching her with one of the weapons on his fist pointed at her. He turned into a snake and slid to the girl, putting himself in front of her and turning into the Beast in the exact moment Dr Light activated his cannon.
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Fortunately to everyone in that building, as soon as Cyborg was saved by the girls from a considerable fall, he started to pay attention to what Dr Light was up to with that armor.
The cybernetic man managed to deduce what the cables that linked the building to the villain's armor and find out how they worked as the other ones fought. He was delayed when Dr Light activated the button on his armor's chest, but before he could liberate all the energy, Cyborg was almost turning the device off.
That's why Beast Boy received less than half of what he would if Dr Light shot in total power rating. After examining him, Cyborg assured a tearful Raven that he would be awake and fine the next day.
Robin, Starfire and Terra took Dr Light to jail, who unfortunately didn't projected the armor that well and ended up being hit by part of the energy destined to his target, and was currently passed out and no longer a threat.
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September 21st 2009, 5:15 am
Beast Boy took his time to wake up, not really knowing where he was or any specific memories. He saw a white ceiling and got confused. Then the image became more distinct and he recognized the Tower's infirmary.
"Beast Boy?" called a low voice, and he turned to the side, finding Raven standing next to his bed, looking desolated.
"Hey Rae" he tried to smile, but it ended up as a pain grimace, and the empath's small hands delicately pushed him back to bed when he tried to stand up.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking worried.
"A little sore" he said, then he suddenly remembered something far more important "Did you think?"
"Beast Boy!" she sighed, exasperated "Is that what you're thinking about now? You got really hurt!"
"I guess…" he reminded the fight as some distant memory "So, do you have an answer yet?"
Raven looked at him with the saddest expression he had seen. He put out with the pain and sat on the bed, staring at her properly.
"You know very well my answer" she muttered, not looking at him. The changeling knew that wasn't a good sign, but decided to risk.
"Yes?" to that, he received only a disapproval look.
"I cannot date, Beast Boy" she said firmly "This kind of relationship involves a big amount of emotions and that is not allowed for me"
"Why?" he asked stubbornly.
"Beast Boy, you know me for six years!" she reminded him, running her fingers through her hair. "You know emotions make my powers release and the energy causes destruction."
They remained silent for some minutes, Beast Boy with a serious expression.
"So you don't like me" he said, looking at his own hands.
"No!" Raven almost yelled without thinking, then covered her mouth with her hand "That is not the point."
"You don't have to hide behind your powers to dump me Raven" he informed her calmly "If you don't like me, you just don't"
"Why are you being like this?" she asked through teeth, frustrated. She didn't know why she cared, anyway. It would be easier to just agree with him.
"We've going out for a month" he shrugged "I suppose if during this time nothing exploded and no one was eaten by some other dimension monster, is because you have no feeling for me"
"That was different" she argued "We went out as friends"
"How is that different?" he questioned, opening his arms "I like you. I felt emotions every time I was around you, especially alone"
Raven had no answer to that. She opened her mouth, but had no words.
"Every time I touched your hand, I felt this electric thing through my arm" he continued very serious "Or when you laughed, I felt like super happy. And every time you were wearing something different, my heart would race. When you looked embarrassed, I wanted to hold you and not let you go"
"Beast Boy…" she whined, as if begging for him to stop. She felt his hand touching hers.
"Did you? Do you feel this?" he asked, taking her hand to his lips and kissing it.
"Of course I do" she replied, in verge of tears.
"Nothing exploded Raven" he informed smiling "We're still here"
"We are" she agreed, frowning. Then she shook her head and rubbed her eyes. "Even if we can deal with this, Beast Boy… You won't want me as your girlfriend"
"I think I told you I do the other night!"
"Beast Boy, I can never be like you" she insisted "I don't laugh nor tell jokes and I can't accompany you to places too crowded…"
"Why do you think I planned our dates so carefully?"
"Is that really what you want, Beast Boy? To plan everything in the minimal details for ever, constantly be so careful because you have a girlfriend that can blow up everything at any moment?"
"I don't care about any of that; I just want to be with you! My best friends are yours too, who cares about anyone else?"
"I'm not what you're used to, Beast Boy! I can never be like Terra" Raven regretted her words the moment they left her lips. For the first time in this conversation, Beast Boy looked really annoyed. He opened his mouth, closed it again and took a deep breath.
"In case you haven't noticed, Raven," he said dryly "Dating a girl 'like Terra' didn't really worked out for me"
"Sure… Sorry" she mumbled, embarrassed. The changeling's expression got softer.
"It's okay. Raven…" he called, and she looked at him "Give me a chance. Despite all you're saying, you gave other people a chance before…"
She moved, uncomfortable, remembering Malchior.
"…And, despite everything, I think you gave me a chance a month ago when I show up at your door and asked you out. And I think… I didn't screw it up…"
She shook her head. He had done perfectly.
"So… So give me a chance of making you happy. I feel you're the right girl for me, and I want to try my best to be the right guy for you. I never felt like this about anyone before. Anyone." He emphasized, before she could ask "And I know, cause I know you, you would never break my heart."
Raven smiled lightly, reminding about Affection and her green sunflowers. She ran her fingers through her hair and expire all the air off her lungs. When she inspired again, she had a decided expression on her face.
"Oh, Azar… How are we gonna tell this to the others?"
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