Hey yo, author here! I know it's been a while, but honestly, it's because of re-wrriten this chapter so many times. Took me a long time to be happy with it. Anyway, it's the longest chapter so far, so please forgive me :). As always, thank you to anyone who's favorited/reviewed/followed Not much to say this time, hope ya'll enjoy!
Ch. 20 Acrimony
There was no true way to describe the silence that was reigning around Titan's Tower after the night that had just occurred…and if there was, Starfire didn't know the words to describe it. On her planet, an opponent retreating was seen as admission of defeat…that the other side was too much and the conscious decision had to be made to fall back, with the knowledge that one side had been bested in the minds and hearts of both sides. Such a victory would normally bring about wild celebrations and large banquets with parties that would extend deep into the night. Starfire felt none of those rampant emotions of victory or joy right now. She flew over the ruins of the outside of her home, heading for the GPS coordinates that her communicator had received. The once undisturbed island that the Titans called home was now closer to the surface of the moon than what she was familiar with, purely based on the sheer number of craters that had been left in it's surface alone. That didn't even begin to take into consideration the actual state of the Tower itself. Starfire was aware that it had been badly damaged, but she didn't need to take that in…not right now. She had more important concerns to address.
Starfire couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when she spotted Raven leaning against the incline of one of the many craters that now dotted the island of Titan's Tower. Beast Boy had unknowingly gathered quite the audience with his heroics and while the Titans that had seen the Beast launch itself directly into the fire, everyone had lost sight of it afterwards. Moments later, with the Titans still almost too stunned to move, the tornado had disappeared, alongside every major villain and Deathstroke's robots had fallen into retreat. No one knew whether Raven had been lost, killed, kidnapped or whether Deathstroke had been bested. As Starfire eyes locked onto Raven's form, she found herself thinking that the answer was probably somewhere in between.
She gently landed a few feet from Raven, who's eyes were trained on the horizon, clearly not aware yet that she had been joined by another. She was leaning against the slope of the crater, almost like she was angling her body to curve with the earth. Starfire noted the communicator she held in her hands. She was rolling it over in her hands absentmindedly, which was something Starfire had never observed Raven doing before. Starfire approached slowly, unsure what had her friend in such a state.
"Raven?"
Raven didn't respond, her eyes still fixed firmly on the horizon. She seemed to sag a little lower into the wall. Starfire approached gently, placing a hand on her shoulder as she tried again.
"Raven…Raven are you okay?"
Raven jumped ever so slightly at the contact on her shoulder, but otherwise didn't look away from the horizon.
"I'm fine Star…just…tired."
Starfire nodded gently, aware there was far more too her friends demeanor than what Raven was letting on, but she let it slide. She had her own questions to move onto.
"Raven…what happened? We saw you engulfed by those flames and we had no way to get you out. I don't know if you are aware but…Beast Boy…he was here and he tried too-"
"He was successful."
That caused Starfire to fall silent. She knew how much Raven cared about the changeling, probably more so than anyone else. She was afraid to ask her next question, but in all honesty, she had to know for herself.
"So what happened Raven? Where is Beast Boy?"
Raven finally looked away from the horizon, back down at the communicator in her hands. For the first time, Starfire realized she wasn't holding her own communicator. Raven was incredibly careful with her belongings and her communicator was in as good condition as the day that Cyborg had handed them out. The one she was holding was battered and scrapped, but not from a single night's fighting. It looked like the device of someone who had spent days flinging it around without much care. Raven looked up at the horizon again, her eyes searching for a moment before they concentrated on something. This time, Starfire followed her gaze. She squinted her eyes as she gazed in the direction of the early morning Winter sun. Initially she was confused as to what Raven was looking at. They had all seen the robots retreating and while there was some talk of following them, Nightwing was quick to the push that idea away, saying that Deathstroke could wait while they had a brief moment of respite to assess the damages and any injuries. But then…she saw it. Trailing the robots, nearly obscured by low-floating clouds, a solitary eagle flew, it's green coloration standing out against the whites and blues of the early morning sky.
Starfire watched with Raven in silence as the eagle disappeared from view just a few seconds later. She had been prepared to try and get Raven to talk again so she was startled when Raven cleared her throat.
"He saved me…drove Deathstroke off…and left…again."
Starfire's heart sank. She would not be afraid to admit that her own heart had soared when she saw Beast Boy fighting Deathstroke. Her excitement had been so prominent that she hadn't been able to resist screaming his name as he had turned towards the tower. Despite the grim nature of the scenario they had been facing, their missing member had returned. She felt like they had found the missing piece of a puzzle…a brother returned home. But the tone of Raven's voice made it clear that the situation was not that simple.
Starfire gently looped one of Raven's arms over her shoulder, with the empath not resisting her efforts in any way.
"It is okay Raven…if he is here to stop Deathstroke, then he must still be in Jump City. Once we assess how everyone has fared, we can go looking for h-."
"People come…people go…it's pointless to be upset about Beast Boy."
Starfire faltered. She had heard Raven say that exact phrase before and had known she'd been lying. There was something different here…an edge that Starfire couldn't quite put her finger on.
"Do you truly believe that Raven?"
Raven responded almost instantly.
"Yes…I've tried everything to get him to think rationally…and just there…he barely had the ability to look at me. So no, I'm not upset about Beast Boy…but we are going to find him…because I'm going to send him to Outer Perdition if he will not listen to reason."
Starfire grimaced, even as the two of them kept moving slowly out of the crater, where Starfire would be able to assess how best to fly Raven back to the Tower. Starfire knew this meant more to Raven than anyone else…but she also knew Raven wasn't a liar. Beast Boy had left them again. Raven was furious at him for it. Cyborg and Nightwing still had no idea what was going. Starfire just wanted her friends to all be back together again.
Despite Starfire's ability to fly the pair of them back is she wanted too, she decided against it, something which Raven seemed more than okay with. Starfire was worried that Raven still needed time to process the night and walking would give her more time to do that. Raven, for her part, seemed silently thankful as the two walked in amicable silence. The slower nature of their movement allowed the two girls to take in their surroundings in a way they normally wouldn't be able to when they were flying around a battlefield. Starfire had pointed out Aqualad to Raven, who was riding a current of water in the distance, sending jets of in different directions to put out any rogue fires. Raven had spotted Argent from some distance away, who was using her powers to hold portions of the Tower in place, while presumably someone else was securing them from the inside.
The Titans island wasn't a massive space and despite their slightly limited movement, it only took a few minutes for the pair to finish traversing the battlefield, arriving at the front entrance of Titans Tower, in front of the platform that Raven had said goodbye to Cyborg on the night before. Raven's eyes scanned the platform when they arrived and her face exhibited the ghost of a smile for the first time that morning at the sight of the cybernetic titan absentmindedly tinkering with his arm, leaning against the side of one of the cannons he had used so effectively the night before.
Cyborg heard the girls approaching before they had called his name, and his face went from concentration to a warm smile at the sight of the pair hobbling towards him before he closed the lid on his arm and hurried over to the pair, concern evident in his eyes. He crouched over to as to put his arm under Raven's other shoulder, but Raven waved him away.
"I'm okay Cyborg…just completely drained…I knew I didn't have the energy to fly back."
Cyborg stood back up and nodded, only slightly placated by Raven's words, his worry still evident on his face.
"You scared the hell out of us Raven. We all saw you get trapped inside that thing and none of us had any clue what to do…well except…"
Cyborg stopped talking when he noticed Raven's expression visibly darken and he couldn't help but feel his own heart sink. His head had practically exploded when he had locked eyes with Beast Boy across the battlefield and even though they were plenty of distance apart, Cyborg couldn't help but feel like they might as well have been standing right in front of each other. Even with the dire nature of the situation they had been faced with, Cyborg couldn't help but wish Beast Boy had shown him any sort of acknowledgment…a nod…a head tilt…anything. But the changeling had simply looked away, as if he hadn't seen anything worth acknowledging…or someone worth acknowledging. Based on the look on Raven's face, her encounter with Beast Boy hadn't gone much better.
Cyborg looked at Raven, apprehension in his eyes, knowing that he was about to ask a question that he wasn't sure he wanted the answer too.
"Beast Boy…we saw him dive straight into the fire, but then the two of you were both just…gone…what happened?"
Any trace of a smile that had been on Raven's face had vanished at this stage, replaced with a completely impassive expression. Cyborg knew that couldn't be good.
"He saved me, and then he left again. There's nothing more to it."
Cyborg frowned. "It can't be that simple though surely…the dude has been missing for months. He wouldn't just show up out of the blue and –"
"Well that's what he did! He said about twenty words, handed me his own communicator and he left. If he's still in the city and I intend to find him and force him to listen to reason."
Starfire, who had been a quiet observer of the conversation so far, cleared her throat.
"Friend Raven…I'm sure coming back in the manner Beast Boy had too today was a lot for him to take in…perhaps it would be for the best if we…give him time and space?"
Raven's expression didn't change and her eyes didn't leave Cyborg, almost as if she was daring him to argue with any of her responses.
"He had plenty of time to consider what it would be like to come back here. Whether he decided to do that or not, is not my concern. If we had known where he was over the last few months, we would have gone and got him. Now we know he's in Jump City and you want to give him time…no…he's taken enough time."
Cyborg grimaced. In all honesty, he agreed with some of Raven's points. If he had known where Beast Boy had been during the last few months, he would have gone there himself to try and bring the guy home and now they knew for a fact that he was in Jump City right now. But he knew the situation was delicate. Beast Boy helped them in their fight against Deathstroke, which hopefully meant that he still cared about them enough fight alongside them…but that didn't mean he would be receptive to the four of them trying to track him down and then…talk it out? Force him to come back to the Tower? Cyborg wouldn't claim to know the best plan of action…but maybe giving Beast Boy some time was the best approach.
Cyborg was interrupted from his thoughts as group of small figures barreled past his legs, headed directly for the empath. Raven's gaze dropped from Cyborgs to the oncoming mob and her entire expression changed. Removing her arm from around Starfire's shoulder, Raven gingerly got down on one knee and was sufficiently braced for when Tommy and Teether smashed into her, tears streaming down their cheeks.
Tommy sniffled, burying his head into Raven's cloak. "I thought you…you were…you were in the fire…and we…we…"
Raven wrapped her arms around the boys, bringing them close, gently stroking their heads. "Don't worry, everything's okay…I'm okay…see? I'm right here…"
Cyborg and Starfire looked at scene before them warmly. Cyborg wasn't entirely sure when Raven's relationship with the youngest members of the Titans had become, what he thought, was clearly so much more, but he was happy for everyone involved. Cyborg sensed a presence behind him and turned around to find Nightwing approaching, with a tired looking Melvin beside him. Nightwing eventually came to stand beside the cybernetic Titan, while Melvin continued to move forward until she was in front of Raven.
The empath looked up from the two boys, neither of which had removed themselves from Raven's cloak, at the young girl. She noted that she covered in soot and grime with a couple of minor cuts and bruises…but nothing serious. Raven couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. Melvin took in Raven and her brothers for a split second before joining the group embrace. While far more subdued, Raven could detect both Melvin's relief and the dampness from her tears on her hand, which she had moved from Tommy's head to stroke the girls cheek, which Melvin leaned into.
"Bobby kept telling me not to worry…that you were fine…but sometimes I feel like he just says what I wanna hear…"
Raven held Melvin's face in he hand, using her thumb to gently dry the tears on her cheek. "I don't know…Bobby is very smart…I would find it hard to not believe something he said was true."
Raven could feel Melvin's cheek move under her hand as the ghost of a smile appeared on her face. Raven responded in kind by pulling all three of kids just a little bit closer. After a few moments, Raven pulled back and allowed the three of them to back up as she got to her feet. Melvin looked up at Raven, a nervous expression on her face.
"Raven…that was Beast Boy who saved you, wasn't it?...Where did he go?"
To her credit, Raven face remained unchanged, still glowing at the girl before her. Raven turned to Starfire.
"Star…would you be able to bring the three of them inside and make sure someone gives whatever injuries they have a once over? I need to have a word with Nightwing if that's okay."
Starfire nodded, still smiling from the wholesomeness of the scene she had just witnessed. "Of course friend Raven, I will make sure they are attended too and I will be the "cool aunt" until you have returned! Come along little ones, the infirmary is just upstairs inside."
Raven looked at Melvin slightly sympathetically. "I don't know Melvin…but I'm going to try and find out, okay?"
That seemed to placate the young girl and after a few more goodbyes, Starfire was able to lead the group away and inside the Tower doors, which at this stage had been fixed and put back in working order by Red Star. Raven watched the group go until they were completely out of sight before turning to Nightwing. Any trace of the happiness she had before was gone, replaced entirely by a look of determination. Nightwing and Cyborg both recognized the look immediately. Raven was entirely about business now.
"Beast Boy has gone chasing after Deathstroke's robots by himself. I'm going to take some time to gather my strength and them I'm going out to find him."
Most people would have crumbled under the pressure of Raven's gaze, but fortunately or unfortunately, Nightwing was not like most people. He knew this was going to be a tough conversation, but since the fighting had calmed down he had prepared for it, anticipating that Raven would want to act immediately.
"Raven…we've just survived an onslaught like no other…the tower is in ruins, we have Titans injured inside. We can't drop everything right now to go looking for someone who…doesn't want to be found."
Raven raised an eyebrow, clearly not backing down. "That someone is the reason I'm standing in front of you right now and the reason Deathstroke retreated."
Raven reached into her cloak and withdrew Beast Boy's communicator, tossing it to Nightwing who caught it in one hand.
"That someone is a Titan…no matter how stupid that Titan may be…but a Titan who answered when you sent out a call for help…and you intend for us to sit back while he tries to find Deathstroke alone."
Cyborg's eyes darted from Raven to Nightwing. He honestly didn't know what to think. On one hand, there was nothing he would rather be able to do than go looking for his best friend…to have a chance to try and set things right…but on the other side, they needed time to recover. Beast Boy would take time to find, while there were Titans who had also fought sat inside the Tower right now. That didn't even bring into account the damaged tower itself, which while unrepaired, left the Titans massively exposed.
Nightwing had no such indecision, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Raven, we all want to find Beast Boy, and we will, but I'm not going to send out a search party for someone who voluntarily left…not right now anyway. Titans are hurt…our home attacked…we have to prioritize right now, surely you see that."
Raven didn't back down. "Then I'll go, I don't need anyone else. With the connection I share with him, I have the best chance of finding him regardless."
Cyborg finally decided to cut in. "Raven please…Deathstroke's whole plan was to try and get to you, and now your suggesting that you should go off on your own, without backup? That would be playing right into Deathstroke's hands. Also, we've got injured Titans inside and your one of the best healers we have…they answered the call as well…"
Raven turned to look at Cyborg, her defiant expression dropping ever so slightly at the pleading look on Cyborg's face. She knew that he was desperate to go looking for Beast Boy too. She turned back to Nightwing.
"I'll heal anyone who needs it…then I need to rest...but I'm not waiting forever Nightwing."
Nightwing looked at Raven with some concern, but also with a certain authority.
"Raven…you can't go out looking for Beast Boy alone…once we've fixed up the tower and all Titans have been tended too, we can look at what to do next. But before then, I'm not making any promises."
Cyborg picked up on the air of finality to Nightwing's tone meaning, which meant that Raven definitely detected it as well. She looked up at Nightwing darkly, before adjusting her cloak, pulling her hood up.
"I'm heading inside to heal Titans…I'll be in my room after that if anyone needs me."
Raven brushed past Nightwing, not looking at either him or Cyborg as she left, a certain confidence in her stride as she left despite the limp. The two boys watched her until she disappeared behind the front Tower door. Nightwing let out a breath that he didn't realise he had been holding.
"She won't wait long Nightwing…you know that, right?...In all honesty, I don't exactly want to be standin' around here either."
Nightwing turned to Cyborg, taking in the larger Titan as he did so. Cyborg was probably the Titan he trusted the most to make the right decision at a time like this.
"I know…I know…but we have injured Titans and a broken home to deal with. A search party is going to be a hard sell right now."
Cyborg's forlorn expression didn't go away. "I know…doesn't make it easier…definitely not for Raven."
Nightwing seemed to sag for a moment before he straightened himself up. "Look, I know how hard…this…has been for Raven, and for you. If Raven really wants to do something…there's not much that any of us can do to stop her, besides from putting her in the containment room and that's not an option. We just need to keep an eye out for each other at the minute. We will find him, I swear but…I have to give priority to the Titans who are here."
Cyborg stared at Nightwing for a few seconds before the slightest of chuckles escaped his lips.
"You're getting better at this leader thing every day."
Nightwing smiled back at him, but it was bittersweet. "Yea…if only I'd bothered to learn and trust my teammates sooner…"
Cyborg put an arm around Nightwing's shoulder and pulled him close. "Hey, none of that talk, we're the closest we've been in months to being able to fix our little group, and we'll all have all the time in the world to put some wrongs right…as long as Raven leaves a piece of Beast Boy when she's finished with him."
Nightwing nodded, slightly reassured by his friends words. "When did you get so…wise?"
"Hey…I've always been wise, you just been too stupid to appreciate it until now."
"….Shut up, Cyborg."
Despite the nature of the onslaught the tower had faced, Nightwing couldn't help but be slightly surprised at the state it was in. He wasn't worried about the island itself, that was a problem for another day, but the tower was in far better shape than he had been expecting it to be in after only a few hours or work. However, he did realise how much easier it was to complete repairs when you had over a dozen titans milling about to get things back in working order. Miraculously, no Titans had been killed during Deathstroke's assault. A handful had received nasty injuries no doubt, with Gnarrk being a standout with the burns he had received, but when you willingly chose to go into battle as exposed as he did, it could have been far worse.
Gnarrk, along with a few others were up in the medical bay, being tended to by those with medical knowledge, which was primarily Bumblebee and Argent. Cyborg would have been more involved, but he'd committed himself to making sure the tower was fully operational. He'd argued that there was no point having several patients in a medical ward with no power, something Nightwing had no choice but to agree with.
The loss of power in some areas of the Tower during the battle did lead to some points of concern. During the initial assessment of the building, Nightwing's blood had run cold when the Herald had informed him that all power had been lost to the lower floors, including the containment cells. He didn't know why he'd rushed down as if he would be able to change anything. In the end, he just confirmed it to himself and the Titans even sooner that Phobia had escaped, as he stared at her cell, the door wide open, the key pad dull and powered-off. That would have to be a problem for another time, but it certainly persuaded him to go along with Cyborg's thoughts that tower functionality had to be a priority.
The other main medic of the Titans was Raven and well…Nightwing wasn't quite sure how to bridge that gap just yet. True to her word, she had expended every last drop of energy she had to heal up any Titan that came her way. From burns to bruises, breaks to sprains, she had methodically moved through all those that came her away, before disappearing from Main Ops without a word. Starfire had followed her, but was only presented with Raven's door sliding close and a murmured sentence.
"Need to rest."
It had been about nine hours since then and most Titans were resting themselves at this stage. Some titans had returned to their own homes because as Nightwing could well understand, crime in their areas didn't stop because he needed help and if the need arose again, they could be back with a single call. Now, the tower was near silent as the exhausted Titans that remained had pretty much collapsed wherever they could find a place to lie down. Even Nightwing himself had managed to grab a few hours of sleep, before he woke up with way too much on his mind to even consider trying to roll over and sleep again.
That's how he found himself sat at the kitchen island by himself, nursing one of the strongest cups of coffee he had ever made, mulling over his own thoughts, mainly in relation to Beast Boy, the green titans communicator placed on the table in front of him. In all honesty, he had no idea how to handle the situation before him. On one hand, if Beast Boy had wanted to stay…he would have. Did the Titans even have the right to ask more of him and work with them again? But on the other hand, Nightwing had to admit, Beast Boy's fight against Deathstroke and his control of the beast had been…god damn incredible. If they wanted to beat Deathstroke, Nightwing knew that their best odds would be if they worked together. After all, they clearly wanted the same thing…and yet Nightwing couldn't help but hope that if they could work together on Deathstroke, maybe there would be room to talk about Beast Boy coming home after.
He rested his heads in his hands for only a split second before he was jolted from his thoughts as a an orange-gloved hand slammed down on the table beside him. Nightwing looked up at the figure who had come to join him and he couldn't help but feel his brow furrow. If there was one thing he hadn't been expecting the night before, it was for Jericho to show up with his "sister" who would then proceed to calmly explain that they were Deathstroke's son and daughter.
Nightwing hadn't said it to anyone yet, but he had actually immediately taking a liking to the daughter of his sworn enemy. He saw a lot of himself in her. Someone who had been trained from youth, whether they wanted to at times or not, someone who was constantly keeping their emotions and thoughts behind a stoic façade and yet…someone who clearly cared…and felt compelled to do what was right. However, that didn't mean he had entirely figured the girl out either.
Ravager looked at Nightwing for a second before grabbing a chair from beside him and dragging it around to the other side of the island so that she could sit opposite him. On the way, she grabbed the pot of coffee that Nightwing had brewed a while earlier, and poured herself a steaming mug. She took a long sip and seemed to revel in the bitterness of it, before she cupped the mug in both hands, resting it gently on the table.
"Didn't think you'd be able to sleep."
Nightwing let out a sharp laugh, but there was no humor in it.
"Not a chance…too much on my mind."
"Is this about your green friend?"
Straight to the point, another reason Nightwing had taken a liking to Ravager. Completely the opposite of her father, who would happily speak in riddles, Ravager couldn't be more blunt even if she tried. Nightwing glanced at the Beast Boy's communicator on the table.
"Not only him…but definitely the main thing."
Ravager leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest and giving Nightwing a once over, almost like she was analyzing him, something Nightwing picked up on immediately. He had done the same to her when Jericho had introduced them.
"Fair, but it seems pretty obvious to me that we need to get him working with us. Kid was a beast today, and that was not a pun."
Nightwing sighed. "I know and trust me, there's nothing I want more than that bu-"
"Starfire gave me the brief history lesson…you screwed up with him, sure, but if he hated you or didn't care, why would he even bother coming back?"
"To stop Deathstroke, he even said it before they fought each other in front of me."
Ravager raised an eyebrow. "Of course he said that in front of Deathstroke. Assuming Deathstroke doesn't know how he actually feels, Beast Boy would be an idiot to proclaim in front of him that he came back for friends or family. That's just giving Deathstroke another angle to potentially exploit in the future. If he can make Deathstroke think he doesn't care, or that he has nothing to lose in this fight…well that would be a far more scarier opponent in my opinion."
Nightwing thought on Ravager's sentiment. Her thoughts on the matter were impartial and to the point. She wasn't invested in the situation like Nightwing or any of the other Titan's were but if anything, that almost gave her view on it more weight than others in Nightwing's eyes. She was looking at it tactically, trying to find a way for the Titans to gain another advantage. Nightwing took a sip of his coffee.
"You do have a point…at the minimum, being able to coordinate with Beast Boy…working together is our best option for beating Deathstroke…we both want the same thing."
"Yea you do, and if I were you, I'd get on finding him quickly. You seem to know my father almost as well as I do, but in case you didn't know…he doesn't like to lose and he will absolutely see last night as a loss. He'll bide his time for the moment, but knowing him…when he does strike again, he's going to rain down like fire."
Nightwing looked at her with a bemused expression. "So was this whole chat just to see if I was gonna try and bring Beast Boy back?"
Ravager held up her hands, her face showing slight amusement as she pushed her chair out and finished her coffee in one mouthful.
"Hey, I've never done this whole team shtick before and I don't think it's gonna be my thing in the long-run, but while I'm here…I want the best players on the field…and acting like a team."
Nightwing paused for a moment, wanting to chose the phrasing of his next question carefully.
"Why did you join us now…I mean, you could have avoided being in this entirely…and yet you chose to reach out to us…why?"
If Ravager was phased by the question she didn't show it. "My father is a bastard…and I know exactly what he's capable of…what he's willing to do to succeed…what he's willing to do to people that resist him. In all honesty, part of me wishes I had reached out sooner but…you do what you can. There was time when I worked with him, not against him and well…helping you fight against him…it won't balance the scales, but…it's a start."
Nightwing simply nodded, as he had the insight to realise this was a line of questioning that the girl in front of him didn't want to go down. Ravager sensing that Nightwing was dropping the subject put her mug in the sink and headed for the main door.
"Don't waste time with Beast Boy, you have a window now…don't make me come up for another pep talk."
Nightwing couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Ravager left, the Main Ops door sliding open and closed to signal her disappearance. He gave himself a few minutes to finish his coffee as he mentally prepped himself for the conversation he was about to have. Once his mug was empty, he placed it in the sink beside Ravager's and left Main Ops, letting his feet carry him like he on auto-pilot down the hallways of the tower towards Raven's room. Starfire had tried to talk to Raven several times since she went to her room to rest, but as far as anyone knew, the empath hadn't emerged once. If they were going to start looking for Beast Boy, Raven deserved to be the first to know.
Nightwing soon found himself outside Raven's door. He paused only for a moment before taking a deep breath, steeling his nerves and giving the door three sharp knocks.
"Raven? I was hoping we could talk about the plan for finding Beast Boy…I think we can start setting something up and I want you to be involved."
Nightwing waited a few seconds before his patience turned to concern. Raven was a light sleeper and would normally give some acknowledgement of whoever was at her door almost immediately. She never went into healing trances in her room, as she had agreed to only enter one of those in the medical bay, just in case something went wrong. Nightwing gave it a full minute, before knocking again, this time with more force.
"Raven?"
Another minute and no response and Nightwing was becoming worried. He hated doing this but he felt this was a time for it. Looking down at the keypad to Raven's room, he entered the manual override for the Tower, eliciting a quiet beep, before Raven's door slid open. It took Nightwing's eyes a second to adjust to the darkness, but when he could make out the room, he felt his blood run cold. The room was in immaculate condition, the bed made, the bookshelves neat and pristine and the floor completely free of any clutter. The only problem was that Raven was nowhere in sight. Starfire had sworn that Raven hadn't left…or at least left by her door…
Nightwing suddenly found himself running down the hallway in search of Cyborg, a pit forming in the bottom of his stomach.
"God Raven….what have you done?"
Raven pulled her jacket around herself tighter in an effort to protect herself from the cold. While California was normally a relatively warm place nearly all year round, Raven found it in line with her luck recently that this December had been the coldest month in years. Raven had stuck to her word and healed several titans before retiring to her room. However, she never had any intention of waiting for Nightwing. As soon as she was in her room, she had gone into a healing trance. She didn't have time to simply rest…she was ready to go and there was no stopping her.
Her idea was to simply portal herself out of the tower to the mainland and to try and use her connection with Beast Boy to find him. It sounded simple and in concept it was…practically, not so much. She knew that Deathstroke would have eyes all over the city, so there was no way she could just fly out in the open. As much as she had hated to do it, she had abandoned her standard outfit of her leotard, cloak and boots for a selection of the very few normal clothes she had. Raven had never exactly been a fashionista, but she knew enough to know the she looked well…normal. Dressed in a simple grey hoodie and leather jacket, grey skinny jeans and a pair of black combat boots, she looked just like any other civilian of Jump city once her hood was up.
That's how Raven now found herself walking along a noticeably quiet main street in Jump City following the connection in her head, like an invisible compass. While the city was still on high alert from Deathstroke's assault the night before, it was Christmas Eve and there was clearly nothing that would stop last minute shoppers from picking up gifts for the holidays. Following the connection was an odd sensation. She didn't know where he was or how far away he was, it was more like she was being…drawn in a particular direction. Part of her wondered if Beast Boy was able to experience the same thing she could…a smaller part of her wondered if she actually wanted that to be the case.
Raven hadn't been putting on a show for Nightwing and Cyborg. It had been a long few months, in which time Beast Boy had repeatedly blocked her out, she'd nearly died potentially trying to save his life and then for him to show up like he did and immediately disappear…it was safe to say her patience with the changeling had officially run out. She was going to find him and maybe not drag him back to the tower like she'd said earlier, but they were going to talk it out and she wasn't going to take no for an answer. If he tried to get out of it this time, Raven would have no issue knocking some sense into him with her powers.
Raven continued onwards down the street, her hood up and her eyes cast low, so as to not attract any unwanted attention, gently tapping into her connection with Beast Boy so she knew she was going in the right direction. It was so subtle that Raven almost missed it, but she felt the compulsion in her mind for her to turn off the road to the right. Raven looked up from the sidewalk and glanced right. Raven would hardly have classed it as a side street. It more of an alley way, with several over-flowing garbage bins and trash bags lining the walls of the buildings. She gently probed at the connection, and she couldn't shake the feeling that this was where she should be heading. So with a sigh, Raven shoved her hands in her pockets and began heading down the lane.
Soon, Raven had left the small amount of hustle and bustle of the main street behind, the noise replaced with the hum of ventilation units and power generators from the buildings around her. The alley continued onwards for quite a while, eventually widening out into a slightly more passable road. But still, Raven hadn't seen a single person since she'd made the turn and part of her couldn't help but feel uneasy. It was too quiet…even for her. Raven increased her pace, still following the link in her head, but now also trying to be aware of her surroundings. There was a sickening feeling settling at the back of her mind…like she was being watched.
Suddenly, Raven stopped moving. She closed her eyes, focusing entirely on her surroundings. Then, without warning, Raven abandoned all pretense of hiding who she was and levitated into the air, just as a ball of fire blazed through the spot where she had been standing. Raven turned around in mid-air and turned around to face her attacker, her skin crawling upon recognizing who it was.
Adonis looked smug as anything, snug in the centre of his mech-suit which had clearly been juiced up by Deathstroke's. The suits fists were encased in flames but Adonis himself didn't have that same look in his eyes that she had seen in Rancid, Psimon and Kid Wykkd. Raven guessed thatb Deathstroke had poered up the suit, but not the pilot, meaning Adonis had managed to keep his truly terrible personality.
"My my my, look what we have here…the goth chick of the Titans…and just the girl I was after…oh and Deathstroke is looking for you too."
Raven ignored his comments and stayed levitating in the air. "I should have known that out of all of the criminals Deathstroke could brainwash, you'd be the one person who'd keep their normal personality…lucky me."
If Adonis realized that he'd been insulted, he played it off incredibly well. "What can I say? Not even Trigon's blessing can mess with the mighty Adonis. I got all the perks and none of the baggage and when I bring you to Deathstroke, I'm just gonna get rewarded again! So don't make this harder than it needs to be sweetie, why don't you just come a little closer and make this easy for me. If you do, I promise…I'll be gentle."
Adonis finished his little tirade with a wink and Raven had to fight the urge to gag, before her hands became encased in her dark magic. On any given day, Raven was not in the mood to deal with Adonis. With the mood she was already in…she was tempted to send Adonis back to Deathstroke in a body bag.
"Just try and come closer…see what happens."
Adonis smiled back at her. "Playing hard to get…I like it. If that's how you want to play it, I can dig that."
Without warning, Adonis pointed both his fists at Raven and sent a massive plum of fire her way, which Raven levitated out of the way of. Forming a ball of her powers between her hands, Raven sent a tendril of her magic towards Adonis, which slowly wrapped itself around his suit, pinning his arms to his sides. Adonis merely glanced down with amusement on his face.
"The mighty Adonis wouldn't have needed to Deathstroke's powers to break out of this…but now that I have them…"
With a shudder, the arms of Adonis's suit jolted outwards and Raven's magic disappeared into the air.
"I'm not going to say no."
Raven couldn't help but look on in surprise at how easily he had managed to escape her magic but quickly refocused. All of the villains she had fought with Deathstroke's blessing had been stronger than before, so she shouldn't have been surprised that Adonis was the same. Not giving him time to settle himself, Raven pushed forward, using her powers to launch one of the few lamp posts on the road at Adonis. Raven, hoping that would provide a decent distraction had allowed herself to get a little to close, so when Adonis caught the lamp post and promptly sent it back her way all she could do was let herself drop to the floor to get out of the line of fire.
She quickly wheeled around, to find Adonis approaching her at speed.
"Well this has been easier than I thought it would be…maybe I don't know how strong I really am!"
Raven didn't have time to counter his point as she was still directly in his line of fire. Quickly, getting to her feet, all she had time to do was create a shield of her powers as Adonis came barreling towards her. She dug her feet into the ground and braced for the impact, squeezing here eyes shut as he came within a few feet…but the impact never came.
Raven opened her eyes and looked around in confusion only to spot Adonis's legs in the air, as it looked like he had been blasted through the large rubbish bin that he was now haphazardly splayed across. Raven allowed her eyes to track from the bin to in front of her to where the impact must have come from that had sent Adonis flying and she could almost feel her heart skip a beat.
Beast Boy was stood, shaking out his fist as if it were in pain, his eyes glancing around until they finally locked with Raven's amethyst ones. Beast Boy's jaw promptly dropped ever so slightly for a few seconds before he realized he was staring. He shook his head and approached Raven.
"Where are the others? This could get messy if we don't keep the fight here."
Raven, still in shock at having the target of her search appear in front of her and slightly annoyed that once again he had swooped in to make the save like she was some kind of damsel in distress, needed a few seconds to process the question.
"…at the tower. I'm here alone."
Beast Boy's attention, which had drifted to the recovering Adonis, promptly snapped back on Raven.
"What!? Why are you out of the tower alone!? You're all Deathstroke needs to essentially end the world and you've gone for a stroll? Why are you even out here?!"
With hindsight, Raven would be able to realise that Beast Boy's tone had been laced with concern and worry. He was surprised that she was by herself and in all honesty, Raven could admit that that made perfect sense, knowing what Deathstroke was after. But in the current moment, she only picked up one slight undercurrent in his questioning…annoyance. Raven stared at him slack-jawed for a few seconds, and in that time frame, Beast Boy's expression of disbelief turned to one of fear as he came to realise he had actually just lit the fuse for a bomb.
Beast Boy didn't even fight the black tendril of power that slithered in the air towards him and covered his mouth, preventing him from putting his foot in it any further. Raven, for her part, still only had two eyes as her face had not taken on the appearance of her red emoticlone. In her mind, that meant she was so showing exceptional restraint.
"I'm out here because you decided to show your face in Jump City for the first time in months only to leave us all standing there like fools as you ran way AGAIN!" Raven hissed at him, before taking a deep breath. "I was out here looking for you…and you're not running away this time."
Beast Boy held up his hands as a sign of surrender before pointing back towards Adonis who had managed to dust himself of from his unexpected collision with two weeks old trash. Raven looked from him back to Beast Boy who was now motioning at Raven's power holding his mouth closed. With a sigh of annoyance, Raven removed her hold on him, with slightly more force that she needed to too, leaving Beast Boy rubbing his face, where a red mark was already forming.
"Well that hurt."
"Good…now stop whining and focus. As much as I don't want to deal with Adonis of all people, we don't have a choice in the matter"
Beast Boy stopped rubbing his face and got into a fighting stance as Raven allowed herself to levitate slightly off the floor, her eyes glowing white as she summoned her powers. In front of them, Adonis' cocky expression had been replaced with something far more angry and dark. Beast Boy risked a glance at Raven above him, who had her eyes fixed firmly on their enemy opposite them and for the briefest of moments, a thought flickered across his mind. Here he was, in Jump City, fighting Adonis, with a fellow titan…just like old times.
Beast Boy cracked his neck as Adonis approached, limbering up for the fight ahead as he tried to ignore the Beast in his head, who was going crazy because of who he was fighting alongside. The Beast had been less than impressed when he had left the tower earlier and clearly wanted Beast Boy to not mess it up this time. Still Beast Boy tried to push it's presence of his head for the moment so he could focus.
Adonis looked at Beast Boy with pure contempt. "Adonis had heard that you'd returned to Jump and couldn't help but wonder why…surely you got the message that you're not wanted…filthy little street dog."
Raven internally winced at Adonis' remarks but Beast Boy was unfazed. "Can we skip the part where you talk about yourself in the third person…it's been a long few days and I want to get this over with quick."
Adonis sneered at Beast Boy, before glancing at Raven. "There is nothing quick about Adonis…once this is over, and before I bring you to Deathstroke, I'll show your little girlfriend a long time…and a good one at that."
Beast Boy's nostrils flared and in almost an instant, his shape had been replaced with that of a lion, his claws prominent, a low growl emanating from deep within his throat. Adonis let out an obnoxious laugh. "Oh, does the kitty have a soft spot for the goth chick? I'll make sure to take my time so."
At this stage, Raven herself had heard enough and with a flick of her wrists, she sent two beams of her powers at Adonis, who brought his mechanized wrists up to block the blow. However, Beast Boy had taken the initial distraction as his chance to move, closing the distance between himself and Adonis in a matter of seconds, before launching himself at the villain, fully intent on tearing his suit to shreds. He managed to get a swipe or two in before he recoiled with a yelp of pain, launching himself backwards off the suit and returning to his human form, clutching his hands. Raven looked down at him with worry as Adonis, now fully recovered, let out a laugh.
"Adonis has always been pretty hot…but Deathstroke had let me take that too new levels!"
Raven eyed the claw marks on Adonis' suit and noted how deep within the cuts, flecks of flame could be seen swirling. It seemed like the Adonis' very suit had been imbued with Trigon's hellfire, as Beast Boy had found out first hand.
Beast Boy ignored the villains jibes, taking the form of an Ankylosaurus, his tail swishing menacingly in the air. Raven quickly came up with an idea as she looked at Beast Boy's tail clubbed tip. She closed her eyes for a moment, projecting a thought into Beast Boy's head.
"Get ready to swing."
She saw him freeze up for a second before he adjusted his body, and indication that he'd received the message. Raven felt her eyes glow as she put her hands out in front of her before raising them up with force.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"
Adonis had been expecting a projectile or a direct shot from Raven's power, so was caught completely off-guard when the very concrete beneath his feet began to rupture. In a split second, the section of road Adonis was standing on pitch forward at an angle, sending the villain careening towards Beast Boy, who promptly rotated his entire body, bringing his heavily armoured tail crashing into Adonis' side. The sound of crunching metal filled the air as Adonis' was sent flying into one of the walls of the buildings lining the road. The villain slumped to the ground, leaving a noticeable humanoid shaped imprint in the wall.
Raven was about to push forward, when she felt Beast Boy's voice enter her own mind.
"Home-run?"
She disregarded him for the moment. She had no idea where they stood and didn't think that now was the time for jokes regardless. Raven pushed forward, intent on pressing their advantage, when she felt a desperate surge of panic…that was not her own.
"Raven!"
Maybe she was pre-occupied with Beast Boy's comment, maybe she had been too focused on finishing the job, but she had missed Adonis' slowly building up a fireball in his slumped form and she could only watch in horror as he sat back, sending the projectile her way. Raven didn't have a chance to react before something collided with her side, sending her careening down to the road. She only had a split second to look back up and her face took on an expression of horror as she looked on at what looked like a green eagle get blasted by the flames. The bird was sent flying, before crashing through one of the windows of the building lining the street.
Raven turned to follow where Beast Boy had gone, when she felt something grab her ankle. Raven only had a split second to understand her predicament, before Adonis yanked her ankle, pulling her towards him. She had to stifle a gasp of pain when she felt her ankle give a small pop from the force that Adonis had pulled on it by. Adonis released her, sending her tumbling across the ground, coming to a stop amidst some loose garbage bags.
Raven tried to stand up, but couldn't help but give a cry of pain when she put weight on her ankle, knowing straight away that it had been dislocated. Using her powers, she hovered in to the air. One of the benefits of her abilities was that she never had a need for crutches. Adonis, although slightly scratched up, appeared to be enjoying himself, looking on at the injured Raven with amusement.
"You know I've never been a fan of hurting women…but Adonis can make an exception when they're being…difficult."
Raven's eyes glanced at the broken window that Beast Boy had been sent sailing through as a result of him putting himself in harms way for her. That was all the motivation she needed, as she felt her powers manifest beneath her fingertips. She felt the air whip up around her as she came as close as possible to losing control to her anger. She took some satisfaction in the change of expression on Adonis's face from amusement to apprehension.
"Oh I can be difficult."
With that, Raven sent a tendril of her power forward, intent on connecting with the gashes Beast Boy had already made in the Armor's chest area. Adonis attempted to swipe them away, but the tendrils simply maneuvered around his efforts. Raven felt the heat of his suit as her powers entered his suit, slithering through the machines internal mechanisms before eventually making contact with the teenager within the suit. Raven squeezed her fists, commanding her powers to constrict around his lanky frame, with the full intention of ripping him straight out of the cockpit of his own suit.
Adonis, who had come to understand what Raven was trying to do, in a panic, charged at Raven, who in response, rose higher into the air. However, she shad underestimated the athletic capabilities of the suit and as Adonis approached, he took a final massive stride before he launched himself skyward, just high enough to desperately grab at Raven's jacket. The jerk on her neck caused her to break her concentration and the two of them went crashing down to the street below. Raven landed with a sickening thud and before she could move, she felt a massive hand pin her down to the ground, while another covered her mouth.
Raven looked up in the smug, but relieved looking face of Adonis, mere inches from her own. "You had Adonis worried there for a moment…but that was nothing I can't handle…now what was that about being difficult?"
Raven didn't have time to process his comments, before she began with writhe under Adonis' grip as the hands holding her down began to heat up, the metal beginning to burn her skin. Adonis' face lit up with glee.
"There's fight in you…Adonis likes that…and will be more than happy to break you fi-"
The weight around Raven's chest and mouth was gone in an instant, allowing Raven to take a gasp of air, before entering a coughing fit. Through watering eyes, she looked around to find the Beast on top an absolutely terrified Adonis. Raven watched in a combination of awe and fear as the Beast completely savaged Adonis' suit, tearing the metal the shreds, before reaching one massive fist deep into the scalding hot metal and pulling the boy within out by the scruff of his neck. Raven could see the burn marks on the Beast's hands and arms and couldn't help but wince. The Beast held Adonis up to his muzzle, before promptly letting out on of the loudest roars Raven had ever heard into the teens face.
Adonis had lost the ability to formulate. Unlike the others, it very much seemed like Deathstroke's blessing was simply an upgrade to the suit Adonis wore. Without it, he was still very much a greasy teen trying to compensate for something. The Beast looked at the villain in his grasp, desperate to finish the job. Beast Boy had always hated Adonis and the Beast knew it. This one time…they didn't need to let him go… they could finish him of-
The Beast swung around as it felt contact on it's shoulder to come face to face with the empath of the Titans. Raven was looking at it impassively, although there was a hint of concern in her eyes. When she spoke, it was calming but also with a certain degree of force. This wasn't a negotiation.
"Put him down Beast Boy…he's harmless now…the fight's over."
That was all it took. In a matter of moments, the Beast was gone, replaced with the changeling, his hand still holding onto Adonis' by the scruff of his neck.
He closed his eyes tightly before taking a deep breath and exhaling out a few seconds later. "You're right…he's not worth it."
"No…he's not."
Beast Boy put Adonis down beside one of the lamppost's that was still rooted into the ground, where Raven immediately proceeded to use her powers to wrap the lamppost that she had used as a weapon around him, effectively restraining him in place. Beast Boy glanced over at his suit, which now had a closer resemblance to a mechanics junkyard than any kind of working tech. He shrugged before turning to Raven.
"We can't stay here. If he was able to communicate to anyone else in Deathstroke's crew, there could be someone else on us any minute now."
Raven nodded, taking a step forward to begin moving when she collapsed to the ground with a cry. Beast Boy looked at her in alarm, moving to her side. Raven swore under her breath, answering Beast Boy's silent question. "I'm fine…I think it's just dislocated…I just need somewhere quiet so I can heal it."
Beast Boy looked pensive, before a look of resignation crossed his face. "…I know somewhere we can hide out while you heal that up. Then, you can head back to the tower."
Beast Boy ignored the burning glare Raven shot him when he implied that she'd be returning to the tower without him, instead choosing to stare at someone particularly interesting trash while he helped her to her feet. "Can you fly? We only need to go like two streets from here."
Raven's glare hadn't subsided.
"Lead the way."
Of all the places Raven had been expecting to bring her, the building before her was certainly not on that list. She watched in slight bemusement as Beast Boy's walked up the flight of stairs ahead of her to a landing area, where he walked three doors down and proceeded to fumble with a set of keys that he took out from a pocked of his new uniform. With a click the door opened and Beast Boy, held the door open for Raven who gave him a slight nod, before heading inside, Beast Boy following right behind her, closing the door behind him. Once inside he drew the blinds while Raven stared at the room in disbelief.
"Jump City Motel…really?"
Beast Boy turned away from the last set of blinds and looked at Raven with annoyance. "What? I've been in Jump City half a day. You try finding a place to stay on Christmas Eve in California."
Raven could acknowledge that he had a point, although she had to resist from pointing out that he absolutely already had a place to stay on the island he had left her on that morning. The room was bare. Two double beds were separated by a single wooden bedside table with an old digital alarm clock being the only accessory. A TV sat, covered in dust, on a large table, with the remotes lined up neatly beside it. To the side of the room, the bathroom door sat slightly ajar, but Raven could already make out that it was nothing special. She noted that some of Beast Boy's thing were already in the bed nearest the door, so Raven floated over to the other bed, allowing herself to land on it gently, before propping her injured ankle up.
She was about to start healing herself when she felt a nervous presence beside her. Looking up, she found Beast Boy, looking unsure of himself, holding a drawstring bag, which after a few seconds, he placed beside Raven on the bed. She tilted her head at him in confusion.
"It's the few bits of medical supplies I have…I know it won't do much for your ankle, but you had have a few burns as well and if you won't want to exhaust all your powers well…it's there."
Raven looked at the bag and then back at him, once again, giving him a curt nod.
"Thanks."
Beast Boy nodded and stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before clapping his hands and wandering away. Raven went back to assessing her ankle. In all honesty, the injury wasn't that bad. Ten minutes of healing herself with her powers and then maybe an hours rest and she would be good to go. Beast Boy, who was now sat on the other bed, was twiddling his thumbs and looked like he was about the throw up. Eventually Raven looked up from her healing process and spotted Beast Boy's state of disarray. She was about to ask him what was wrong when it suddenly hit her like a tone of bricks. For the first time in months, Raven and Beast Boy were in the same room. No talking through connections, no outside interference from villains trying to end the world…no distractions. Raven found herself feeling sick as well.
Beast Boy looked up at her, meeting her gaze for a moment, before he averted his eyes downwards again. Raven analyzed him, as he looked like he was psyching himself up for something. After a few more seconds, Beast Boy looked up at Raven again. Green eyes met amethyst. Beast Boy held his nerve.
"So….how have you been?"
