hello ! thank you for taking your time to read my project. just a couple of notes before we start.

WARNING !

this project includes angst, post traumatic stress disorder, depression, trauma, anxiety.

NOTE !

i am not a medical professional by any means. the circumstances in this work is based off of research i did online, and i tried to fit symptoms as best as i could into the world of BBRAE.

again, reader discretion is advised.

happy reading !


raven's perspective


"Nope. Not today, sorry, B.B." Cyborg put down a yellow 'Draw Two' card.

"WHAT! You can't do that. I already had to draw two because of Star." Beastboy's eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, I can, Green Machine, rules of da game." Cyborg grinned.

All five of us sat in the Common Room playing a game of Uno. We had just finished eating the regular Titan meal: pizza. There hasn't been any attacks in the city for a few days. Everyone has done recreations on their own or like now, we would all come together and do a team activity.

Beastboy miserably drew two cards and pouted like a toddler.

I was next. I looked for a yellow card to put down but didn't have one.

"You're bleeding." Beastboy whispered next to me.

"What!?" I glanced frantically over my body.

There was no reason for me to be bleeding right now.

Not even female reasons...

Beastboy burst into laughter, "Not bleeding-bleeding, Raven. That's what we say in a card game when you are showing your cards."

"Am I showing my cards, or are you being nosy?" I always kept my cards close to my chest.

"Hehe." Beastboy leaned away shyly.

I picked up a card and glanced at it.

Blue.

"Your turn, Robin." I said.

Robin put down a yellow card with a seven on it.

"Uno." he smiled pridefully.

"Uno Out!" Starfire triumphantly slammed down a yellow card.

Just then the Crime Alert blared and we rushed to the Crime Screen.

"Who is it?" Starfire questioned.

"A couple of crooks trying to loot the City Bank." Cyborg answered.

"And we'll be the couple of un-crooks to stop them." Beastboy cornily pumped the air with his fist and I shook my head in annoyance.

"Titans, Go!" Robin ordered.

The Sun waved the day goodbye and began to rest of the other side of the Earth. When we got to the scene, people were screaming and sprinting out of the bank. Glass windows were shattered and four money-hungry men threatened bank tellers.

"For somebody who wants to be rich, you're making a decision that's pretty poor." Robin announced.

"Give me every cent you got punk." a robber yanked a man by his collar.

"Hhrrahh!" Starfire blasted the robber with her eye beams, causing him to fly into the wall.

"I do not understand how you can be simply fine with threatening another person!" the alien princess wrestled with the man.

Cyborg swung a punch at a heavyset robber and missed. The robber tried to return the gesture but ended up striking metal instead.

"Ooow! Who are you, the upgraded version of Tinman from Wizard of Oz?" the criminal winced and dropped the bag of money on the floor.

"Yes." Cyborg gave the guy a stinging uppercut.

Beastboy and Robin took on the third guy, who hacked into the vault.

By the time I had observed what was taking place, I realized I hadn't taken any action yet.

Just then at the corner of my eye, I saw a culprit run out the back door.

"Hey! Get back here!" I ran after him.

The soles of my boots crushed the pebbles on the ground. I zipped through people and kept my eye on the thief. A car honked as I dashed across a green lit street. He made a left into an alley but I was on his heels. I grabbed his black hood and attempted to take him down.

"Did you really think you were going to get away with this? If you're going to try and pull off something like that, at least make sure there isn't a superhero, vigilant teenager with peripheral vision who's quick on her feet." I grunted as the guy resisted my grip.

I swung my neck to the right, dodging his punch. I singlehandedly snatched the bag of cash from him, but some of the content splattered on the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that, little girl."

The guy aggressively grabbed my hand and twisted it backwards.

"Aghhh!" I shrieked in agony.

His fist cracked into my jaw, the blow sending me backwards.

"I don't have time to play around with an amateur." my blurry eyes adjusted to the criminal's hand.

He was holding an item that was dark, but gleamed under the streetlight.

A gun.

The trigger cocked, sending chills all over my body. I glanced up in complete fright. My eyes trembled as the dark silhouette targeted me.

Raven, if you're going to do something, do it now.

Or else you'll die.

My world shrank to nervous wheezes, a racing heart, and a shaking yet paralyzed body.

Pop.

I held my breath.

Maybe my last one.

Perhaps this was it, how I would go down.

I was too much of a coward to fend for myself.

All I managed to do was watch the smoke disperse from the release of the bullet. Bullets move at the speed of lightening, but my mind somehow slowed it down. It was like my brain wanted me to drink it all in. To savor the last possible moments of life. To torture my heart of wanting the safety that I could not get.

The skies crashed on top of me. I could no longer trust my feet to uphold such a fragile temple. I was dumbed down into a vulnerable, useless, horrified existence. My nerves went into blackout. Seventeen years of my life rushed through my head in one millisecond.

'I don't do fear', I once told my teammate.


with love,

Dee.