She's so High

"Multiwhat?!" Beast Boy squeaked.

"Multiverse." Raven explained for what felt like the millionth time. "The energy I felt didn't come from our world."

"So it's from another planet? Like Starfire!?" Garfield pointed at the Tamaranean energetically.

"No, it's from Earth, just not our Earth."

"You mean it's coming from a parallel Universe?" Robin asked calmly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Beast Boy was familiar with the concept because he had seen this in science fiction, of course. But now that it was happening in real life, it was wrinkling his brain.

"So wait. Will there be other versions of us there?" Cyborg joined the conversation.

"I don't think so." Raven shook her head. "This world feels entirely different from ours. It vibrates at a completely different frequency."

"Oh, sick." Victor Stone nodded excitedly.

Robin and Starfire seemed a bit more cautious.

"Do we absolutely have to go? I already left one world…I really like it here…" Koriand'r said.

"I know, Kor…" Raven smiled sadly at her alien friend. "All I know is that someone needs help and innocent people will definitely die. And for some reason, I heard their call. I can go alone if you guys don't want to, but I need to go."

They all looked at her like she was crazy for even suggesting going on her own.

"Then it's decided." Richard spoke up. "We'll ask the Titans East to look after Jump City and we'll all go. We're the Titans, we're not separating. We're not making that mistake again."

"Hooold up!" Beast Boy blurted out and everybody stared at him. "What should I pack?!"

He was met with eye-rolls and grumbles.

"Cyborg, can you ask Kid Flash and Jinx to work on a way to get us home just in case we need help?" Raven asked the half-robot, ignoring Beast Boy's question.

"Yeah, I'm on it." And with that, Cyborg left. He didn't love the idea of giving them an assignment together, but their powers were better suited for this task.

"I'll tell the others to keep an eye on things here while we're gone." Robin said as he also left, with his communicator in hand.

"I'll help you set everything up for the opening of the portal!" Starfire joined Raven as she walked out of the ops room.

"…what do I do?" Beast Boy looked around the ops room exasperated for a few seconds before running after Raven and Starfire hoping they had a task for him.

It all happened really fast after that. Raven followed the energy she had been sensing to the place where it was strongest. In their world, it was just a wasteland. A few hours later, they were gathered around her while she floated in her Lotus stance and reached out to whoever had been calling. There were crystals and candles to enhance her powers while she chanted her mantra and moments later, a bright spot began to form beside her. Raven's eyes glowed white and her hair and cape flew around violently. And then her voice wasn't just her voice. She sounded like several people chanting together. A mixture of red, black and bright yellow energies transformed the bright spot into an enormous symbol that spread wider and wider until it became a portal someone could walk through.

Beast Boy was already walking towards it like he didn't have a care in the world when Robin gripped his arm. "Wait for her to stabilize it."

A few minutes later, Raven lowered herself to the ground as her eyes became violet again. "It's safe." She whispered.

The empath walked through the portal, being followed closely by Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg. On the other side, they were face to face with an odd group of people. Robin quickly noticed that some of them looked human, but others had a rather strange appearance. So, not that different from my own group. There was palpable tension in the air.

Raven looked around for the presence she had felt. She tilted her head when her eyes landed on a young woman in dark clothes and a red leather coat. "You. You reached out to me. And…" She turned her head to an older man who wore the same symbol that formed their portal around his neck. "And you."

"I believe so." The woman said, slowly approaching and studying Raven. She could tell she was powerful, but she had hoped for someone older. This purple-haired girl seemed even younger than her. "Are you…a witch? We reached out to anyone who could help us."

The empath nodded silently.

"How do we know we can trust these people?" A beautiful black woman with white hair asked the older man while observing the Titans suspiciously.

"I think we can. Look. They have a mutant too." A young girl said from where she was hiding behind a blue guy as she pointed at Beast Boy.

Every Titan's heads turned towards Garfield.

"I guess technically…" Raven began.

"I'm not a mutant!" The shapeshifter gasped in outrage, though he wasn't quite sure what it meant. And then he quickly realized his indignation seemed to offend a lot of these people. "I mean uh…unless that's a good thing?"

"Forgive us. Hello. My name is Charles Xavier." A stately bald man in a wheelchair came forward and spoke in a gentle, but firm voice. "And these are the X-Men."

"Hello. I'm Richard Grayson. Or Robin. This is my team, the Titans."

"I believe you are very far from home. We want to thank you for answering our call. Scarlet Witch and Dr. Strange have been trying to find us some help." Xavier gestured towards the woman in the red coat and the older man with the symbol around his neck.

Raven gave them both a quick nod. She definitely recognized their energies.

"No offense, but…I was expecting someone more…well, more. This is a bunch of teenagers." A guy with a visor over his eyes said while folding his arms.

Robin was just about to point out that so was most of their group, but Xavier spoke first.

"Whose help we would greatly appreciate, Scott." He shot the visor guy a warning look.

Raven took a minute to sense their energies. They were mostly afraid and anxious. There was also a lot of heartache and grief for some reason. Xavier's aura was calmer, wiser. She decided she liked him.

"Hi. Stephen Strange. Or Dr. Strange." The older man shook hands with Robin. Then he turned to Raven. "Wanda and I would like to apologize in advance for pulling you here. We had no other choice."

"I saw the fire bird. Is that what you need help with?" Raven asked him intently.

The X-Men exchanged shocked and hurtful stares amongst them. Raven realized that whatever this was about, it was personal for them.

"Yes, it is." Wanda – or Scarlet Witch – came closer. "Thankou for coming."

Raven narrowed her eyes at Wanda. Her energy was…chaotic, but very powerful. Raven felt her magic was stronger than Strange's, but less stable too. It was interesting. She gave Scarlet Witch a slight smile.

"We are mutants, all of us except Strange." Xavier addressed Beast Boy now, so he could explain the term. "It means we were born with the X-Gen. It gives us our powers."

"Ohh…yeah I definitely don't have that." Garfield muttered awkwardly.

"Well, that's not your mutation but you do have mutated DNA. You just weren't born with it." Raven pointed out.

"Interesting." The woman with white hair spoke again. "I'm Ororo Munroe. Or Storm. Welcome to our world." She said warmly. Ororo had decided to trust them at this point. "May I ask what you can all do…?"

"I don't have any powers, but I get along fine without them. You can count on me to fight." Robin began. "This is Starfire, or Koriand'r. We call her Kory. She's an alien princess from Tamaran. She's strong and she can fly and shoot powerful blasts of energy." He waited a little while the X-Men reacted to Starfire's amazing abilities and she smiled warmly at them. He cleared his throat when they started asking if she was single. "Anyway, this is Beast Boy, or Garfield Logan. He has the ability to turn into any animal." He waited for them to react to that too. The blue guy with pointy ears came in to high-five Beast Boy childishly. Great, now there are two of them. "This is Cyborg. Victor Stone. He's…well, he's a Cyborg. He's a tech expert and he has some powerful weaponry." One more pause for a moment of teenage euphoria. "And this is Raven Roth. She's…" He looked at Raven, a bit unsure of how much he should tell them. "…she's good with magic."

Raven raised an eyebrow at him. "It's all right, Dick. We can trust them." She turned to the X-Men. "I know that because I'm an empath. And yes, I have magical skills too. And telekinesis. And astral projection. Darkness manipulation, teleportation, intangibility, that kind of thing. I can fly, obviously. Also healing. Oh, I was raised in Azarath." She said blankly while counting her powers on her fingers.

Beast Boy chuckled at their wide eyes and put an arm around Raven's shoulders. "Yeah, she's scary, but impressive."

Raven didn't move an inch. She just glared at him and muttered under her breath. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I dunno." Garfield removed his arm and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly while Robin stared at him quizzically.

The X-Men started to crowd around Raven to ask a million questions like they had done with the others, so she quickly spoke again. "Also my father is a demon and if I get overwhelmed I can accidentally unleash a terrible power and kill everyone here."

They stopped and decided to praise her powers from afar.

"Yeah. That's definitely who I felt." Scarlet Witch folded her arms and smiled.

Ororo looked at Wanda. "So, she's like…?"

"Kind of. But in a way, so am I." She answered.

"You're talking about what we came here to fight. You're talking about that fire bird. Tell us more." Raven needed to know what that was. It was so destructively powerful.

"I think we should have lunch first. You all must be exhausted. Please." Xavier gestured for the Titans to follow him.

Beast Boy and Cyborg were already on their way. They were starving.

Raven was tired from working on the portal. And everyone seemed to want to socialize. She looked at Robin, who nodded at her. "Sure. That sounds great. Thank you."

Everyone headed to another room and Starfire was about to pull Raven close and ask her if Robin got jealous of the cute bandana guy talking to her, but someone else got to her friend first.

"What kind of magic do you practice? I think I heard a mantra, what does it mean?" Wanda asked Raven.

The empath immediately engaged. Kory had never seen her engage in a conversation so fast. The two witches left together talking about spells and reality-bending powers. So the Tamaranean sighed and followed the others to the dining hall instead.

Beast Boy and Cyborg had no manners. They ate so much that now they had to save these people's Universe. Garfield grinned excitedly while filling his plate yet again. "This is the best vegan food I've ever had!"

"A lot of the students are vegan." Ororo stated plainly, frowning at how much food he was putting on his plate.

"So this is a school? For kids with powers?" Robin asked politely as he had another bite. He actually liked this place. "I'm sorry, I mean mutants?"

The conversation became light-hearted as Scott – or Cyclops – and Ororo explained to Robin and Cyborg how the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters came to be and told the Titans what most of the X-Men could do. Beast Boy was talking to a girl who apparently could phase through walls – Kitty was her name. Starfire kept looking around for her best friend while she answered questions about Tamaran.

"What is it, babe?" Robin asked her, much to the disappointment of every male X-Men who had been hoping she was single.

"Where are Raven and Wanda?"

"They're talking magic stuff." Beast Boy answered with his mouth full.

Starfire frowned. Still? It's been forever.

"So can you turn into any animal?" Kitty asked him.

"Yup!" Garfield said proudly.

He then got up and proceeded to demonstrating his powers as a small crowd gathered around him.

"A jaguar! A hawk! A gorilla! An elephant!" Kitty was beyond excited. At that last one, Garfield stopped and looked at her questioningly. She chuckled. "Right. Better not to turn into an elephant inside the cafeteria. But can you be one?"

"Of course! I can be a T-Rex too." The shapeshifter answered breezily. That got him a loud and enthusiastic response from everyone and he grinned excitedly. "I'll show you later!"

"Yo, BB! Stop showing off and come here, they're about to tell us what we're going to fight!" Cyborg shouted.

"Oh! Right." Beast Boy left his new fans and went to sit back down with the others, and then he realized Raven and Wanda were back and still engaged in their own conversation.

"So what's Azarath?"

"It was a pacific interdimensional realm. It's…gone now."

Garfield was still euphoric from being such a hit with this crowd, so he made a bad judgement call. "Heeey sexy witches!" The shapeshifter said as he squeezed in between Raven and Scarlet Witch.

He knew it was a mistake the second he did it, but it was too late to take it back. He didn't look at her but he could feel Raven glaring at him. Fortunately, someone else came in to save him from her wrath.

"Hi, sorry I'm late." A tall blond dignified woman in a black uniform with an enormous sword kept in the back of her armor said as she came in with Dr. Strange. "I was taking care of some things in Limbo." She smirked.

Beast Boy thought she seemed even more arrogant than Raven. Speaking of Raven, she was in awe with the artefact on the woman's back.

"Is that…?" The empath tilted her head as she gazed at the sword. "It's…full of magic." She whispered. Raven almost didn't want to go home. She hadn't even talked to Strange yet, and she definitely wanted to. There were so many interesting things around.

"Oh, this?" The woman said as she smiled smugly and turned around so Raven could admire the sword properly. "That's Soulsword. It's what makes me ruler of Limbo. You're the witch, right? Nice to meet you. Illyana Rasputin. Or…Magik." She shook Raven's hand.

"You rule over Limbo?" Raven's eyes were sparkling. She was practically beaming.

"Another witch?!" Beast Boy squeaked, earning a glare from all three women. He shrank in his seat. "Nothing wrong with that, witches are awesome and were totally wrongly persecuted and all that. Yay witches…" He said quietly.

"So what's Limbo like?" Raven ignored Beast Boy's rambling and turned her attention back to Illyana.

"It's not what you think, not exactly." Magik sat down next to Dr. Strange. "It's not that Limbo, it's not Purgatory. It's just one of the many magical demonic dimensions."

"So what's it like?" Raven wasn't less interested.

"A mess." Illyana chuckled slightly. "But I'm working on it."

"This is very interesting, don't get me wrong, but…I think we should talk about what we came here to help you with." Robin suggested.

"Yes. Well…" Storm was the first to speak. "…you see, there's this ancient force called the Dark Phoenix…"

Raven sensed hurt pouring out of Cyclops.

"This force, it's a cosmic entity, but our friend…she was the host." Ororo continued.

"Jean. Her name is Jean." Scott interrupted.

"I know that, Scott. I was getting there." Storm continued. "Anyway, it stayed dormant for most of her life. Xavier helped her with that. But then recently…it broke free. It's been destroying worlds…entire planets. She stays until she recovers full strength and then moves on to wreck another world."

Ororo's eyes welled up. Raven almost had to leave because of the grief and sorrow she sensed from everyone. The room was quiet now.

"Entire species have been annihilated. And Xavier, he's a telepath…he saw a glimpse of her plan. She's coming to Earth next. And she's joined forces with this incredibly powerful mutant called Apocalypse. He's travelling worlds and gathering an army to keep us busy while she feeds on the planet." Storm finished.

There was absolute silence for a while.

"How long do we have?" Robin asked sternly.

"Based on her patterns…about five days." Another blue person who had been somewhat quiet until now spoke up. He was furry and had glasses on.

Everyone shivered slightly at the severity of the situation.

"Is there any of Jean left?" Raven asked quietly. She could relate all too well with all of this. No wonder she got their call.

"Yes." Cyclops answered.

"No." Xavier said at the same time. "I'm sorry Scott, but…Jean is gone."

Cyclops got up and left hastily, dropping the chair on his way out.

Ororo sighed. "Please forgive him, he l-"

"Loved her." Raven said.

"Yes…how…?"

"Empath. I can read people's emotions." Raven said plainly.

"Interesting." The blue guy with glasses said. "Well, you read him right. But at least he stayed. Logan left when Jean turned; it just broke him too badly."

"Who's Logan?" Starfire asked.

"Wolverine. He loved her too." Ororo said sadly.

"Wait, sort of like Professor X reads people's minds? Can you control people's emotions too?" The blue guy with pointy ears asked Raven, trying to change the subject and lighten the mood.

"I can." Raven said and all her friends' heads turned to her in shock. "But I don't. I don't use that power."

"Did we know about this?" Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg, who shook his head negative.

"Anyway, I think I can probably help you. I can relate a bit. I'm daughter of Trigon. You probably don't know him. He's an interdimensional world-conquering demon." Raven continued, eager to get the conversation back on track.

"You're half-demon?!" Blue guy with pointy ears squeaked. When she said it before, he thought she was exaggerating, but now he realized she was serious. "But…are you like, good?" His catholic self couldn't help but feel a little weird about this.

Raven frowned. "No. I'm actually here to kill you all."

Robin sighed and rubbed his temples at the same time Storm elbowed the blue guy.

"She's very good and very selfless, thank you very much." Starfire went to Raven's defense before Beast Boy could.

"Let's not overreact." Raven said, but she gave Kory a grateful look.

"Sorry!" Blue guy said regretfully, with his hands up in the air. "I didn't mean to offend you. I'm Kurt. Nightcrawler." He leaned forward and playfully winked at Raven. "Hi, there."

She just rolled her eyes at him.

"I see you two share more than pointy ears and colored skin; he also has your subtlety!" Cyborg chuckled and ruffled Garfield's hair.

Beast Boy had noticed their similarities. They'd gotten along really well. Nightcrawler was fun. He just didn't love that he winked at Raven.

"Yeah man, chicks dig the ears!" Nightcrawler laughed and pointed at Beast Boy.

"Hey! That's what I said!" The shapeshifter grinned. Okay, I like this guy again.

They fist-bumped.

Illyana frowned at the two boys. "Right…anyway, can we maybe go back to the interdimensional world-conquering demon?"

"Yes, certainly." Raven agreed. "Trigon can destroy worlds, too. It's actually his pastime. He did it to our world when he used me as a portal. It's…it's sort of what I was born for."

"But then she defeated and killed him off then turned everyone back!" Beast Boy flailed his arms around. "Because you know, everyone had turned into stone." He explained when he saw the confused looks on their faces.

"Impressive." Illyana smirked at Raven.

"I mean, he's immortal. I can't kill him. I just trapped him." The empath explained.

"Where?" Scarlet Witch asked.

Raven cheekily pointed at the gemstone on her forehead. "In here."

Illyana and Wanda grinned widely as if that was the most entertaining thing they had ever heard.

"The thing is, I think this Phoenix Force is stronger than me." Raven spoke seriously again. "Or at least this version of me. So we need a plan."

Storm nodded. She had heard enough. "Well Strange, it looks like you got your magical dream team. You'll work with Illyana, Wanda and Raven on a way to fight her. The rest of us will work on our defenses against Apocalypse's army."

"Sounds good. Starfire and Cyborg have a lot of fire power." Robin said.

"Yeah this Apocalypse dude won't know what hit him!" Cyborg joked.

"Beast Boy, do you think maybe you can control your Beast form?" Richard asked. "It would be really helpful."

The shapeshifter stopped mid-way with his mouth open about to receive another bite of the tofu burger. He bit his lip. "I uh…"

"I'll help him." Raven told Robin.

They turned to Beast Boy to see that he now had an idiotic and dreamy smile on his face.

The empath sighed. "Well, I'll try. He might be beyond help."

Dick nodded and turned to Storm again. "Do you guys have a training room? If we only have five days I'd like to get started."

"Yes, I'll show you to it." Ororo got up.

"Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire. You come with us. Raven, we'll see you later?" Robin asked her.

"Yes, I'll find you." Raven said, absolutely distracted by what Dr. Strange was saying. She hated the circumstances, obviously, but she was kind of excited about talking to other sorcerers.

They trained to exhaustion that day. Robin knew he was pushing them, but he couldn't afford to lose a single member of his team – or more importantly, his family – in this endeavor. Beast Boy was absolutely exhausted. And Robin still wanted him to work on his control. But at least that was with Raven. He smiled to himself as he approached her temporary room. They didn't have private rooms here, so she was sharing with Starfire and Scarlet Witch. When he got closer, he heard Raven and Wanda's voices inside.

"So you've been evil too?"

"In a way. I brought my father to Earth, but that was a prophecy. But sometimes it's just…me. Sometimes I feel evil inside me. It's a daily struggle. And now that Trigon is bound to me, he keeps pressing me to join forces with him and let his power run through me so we can rule the worlds together. Honestly, it would suit me better to be a villain, but…choices, I suppose."

"Well, at least you manage to keep it under control. I've lost control of my powers and succumbed to evil before. I actually did become a villain for a while."

"That's why you don't want to fight her, isn't it? Jean, I mean."

"I can relate. I wish we could bring her back like they brought me, but…I don't know."

"Maybe we can. We'll see."

"How do you stay in control? Your power rivals mine or even Jean's. How do you not cave?"

"I keep my emotions under control all the time." Really, Raven? ALL the time? "I mean, I try to. Meditation helps."

"My magic is…well, you felt it. It's chaotic. Do you think it could help me?"

"Yes, I do. Beast Boy, come in. We know you're listening."

Beast Boy jumped at being caught. Why did I think I could eavesdrop on them? He walked in sheepishly. "Er…hi!"

"Hi." Both girls said in unison.

"Tomorrow I can teach you how to meditate, if you want." Raven told Wanda.

"I'd like that." Scarlet Witch smiled at her.

"Hey, why don't we all meditate together? Since I need to learn control too." Beast Boy suggested.

"Last time you tried to meditate you nearly drove me insane. I need to try something else with you." Raven said stoically.

Wanda chuckled slightly, then got up and walked out giving Garfield a quick pat on the back.

"Sit down." Raven said firmly while pointing at the floor.

"Whatever you say." Beast Boy said charmingly. He then turned into a puppy and sat down, wiggling his tail.

Raven felt a delicious and painful aching in her heart. Why did he have to act all cute?

"Stop that. So, I've been thinking, you need to gain control inside your mind first and then we can worry about the real world." The empath calmly sat across from him on the floor.

Garfield turned back into his human self. "Okay…"

"I'm inducing a deep concentration state on you. Then I'll make you face some of your fears. I won't know what they are. Your own mind will come up with that. But then you can practice control in a safe way."

Beast Boy bit his lip. His own mind? His fears? That didn't sound so safe.

"I know what happened when Adonis drugged you was traumatizing for you. But I promise all the struggle will be in your mind. Your body won't be affected. I'll pull you back after a while."

"And you'll stay here with me? The whole time?"

"Of course I will." She told him sincerely, looking into his eyes.

"…okay."

The first thing his mind came up with was himself, of course. A taller, better looking, and incredibly mean version of himself. It kicked his ass. Then Raven strutted in looking all perfect. Her skin had a pearly glow to it. She looked down on him where he was lying on the cold floor.

You think I could ever want YOU? Why would I? Why would anyone? I mean, look at you.

Garfield shook his head, staring at the floor.STOP!

Raven squatted next to him and pulled his head up by his chin, making him look at her. You're a pitiful excuse for a man. You're nothing. We all just tolerate you because you're too pathetic to destroy. Because we feel SORRY for you.

He pushed her hand away and cradled his head with his hands. NO! PLEASE STOP!

And then suddenly he was back in Raven's temporary room at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. Garfield touched his face to wipe his tears but there weren't any anymore. His heart was still broken though. "Did you pull me out? Is it over!? Is that it?!"

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. You crashed." When she saw the baffled and hurt look on his face, she softened up. "That's okay, though. It was only the first try."

"NO!" He shook his head violently. "I'm not going back in there!"

"Beast Boy..."

"NO! I mean it. I don't want to! I…I mean, you! You are so mean."

Raven looked offended but only for a split second before she connected the dots. "I was in there?"

"Yes! You were so mean!" The shapeshifter squeaked indignantly.

"It wasn't me, Beast Boy."

"Huh?"

"It was you. It's your own head. It's not real."

He frowned. Right. I knew that. Of course I knew that. But…I forgot. "Oh…right."

"We should try again…"

"NO!" Beast Boy hastily stumbled backwards. "I mean it Raven, I don't want to."

"Garfield, it's only your mind, you don't need to be afraid of-"

"Please, Raven. Don't make me go back in there!" His voice was strained.

The empath stared at him blankly. "Well, I'd never make you do anything."

Beast Boy relaxed a little. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply…it's just, that was awful."

"It's over now." Raven said softly, pulling her knees to her chest and staring at him while he calmed down. "What did I do?" She suddenly whispered.

Garfield looked at her and tilted his head in confusion.

"In your head. What did I do?" Raven knew she shouldn't ask, but she couldn't help it.

"Oh." He buried his face in his hands. Great job looking like an idiot in front of the girl you like. "Nothing. I shouldn't have said anything." His voice came out all muffled.

She knew it wasn't nothing. She wanted to press, but she held back. He had the right not to tell her. "Garfield?"

Beast Boy looked up at her.

"I don't know how mean I was in your head, but I know I've been mean outside of it too at times. So, if it helps…I'm really sorry." Raven spoke softly while looking into his eyes.

He stared at her in utter disbelief and felt trapped in her gaze, but it was a nice trap. What is even happening right now? She's apologizing. She didn't even do anything. She cares. She cares so much. My head is wrong. She would never think those things. Beast Boy smiled widely and his heart involuntarily filled with hope. "You have no idea how much it helps."

At dinner, Dr. Strange told everyone their plan. They'd take the fight to her instead of waiting for her to come for them. Between him, Illyana, Wanda and Raven, taking the whole school to another planet was a very viable plan. Illyana once took the school to Limbo, so it shouldn't be a problem. Apocalypse would most likely divide his army and attack on two fronts but the major fight should happen where the Phoenix was since he'd want to protect his strongest ally. Besides, Earth would have the Avengers to defend it.

"Who are the Avengers?" Garfield whispered to Cyborg.

"I think they're like, this world's Justice League." The half-robot whispered back.

"Would you two like to share something with the group?" Stephen Strange raised an eyebrow at the two boys whispering and disturbing his explanation.

Garfield and Victor looked down sheepishly.

"Nuh-uh…"

"Sorry…"

Robin shook his head and smiled slightly. It was nice to take a break from being the one making the plans and scolding people.

"Anyway, we still need to figure out how to beat her, but at least this way a lot less innocent people will get hurt." Strange concluded.

Once everyone started chatting again, Starfire smiled at Raven. "Friend, do you want to train together tomorrow?"

"Oh, I promised Wanda I'd show her how to meditate. And then Stephen is teaching me about time manipulation since I still don't know how I stopped time that one time. And I'm going to Limbo with Illyana. I can probably get some demons on our side."

"Oh…okay." Starfire replied sadly.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked his girlfriend.

"Yeah…I mean, I'm okay if you are." She smiled at him and he kissed her troubles away.

"For you, Rae." Beast Boy had folded his napkin into a rose and he handed it to Raven. He knew he wasn't supposed to flirt with her, but he really wanted to.

Raven picked up the napkin rose and stared at it. Okay, maybe apologizing to him earlier was a mistake. "Ahh…okay." She placed it on the table in front of her, looking as nonchalant as she could. "Where did you even learn how to do that?"

"I didn't. I just thought of you and it came out like that." Garfield smiled dreamily at her. He had actually learned it from Jinx, but who cares?

Raven's whole body stiffened. Trouble. We're in trouble. He's openly flirting. Shut him down, Raven. NOW. She opened her mouth to say something harsh and end this nonsense, but then she glanced at his hopeful face and nothing came out. Raven resumed to eating her dinner quietly.

Cyborg and Robin exchanged concerned looks and the half-robot nudged his green best friend and whispered to him. "Dude, what was that?"

Garfield was on cloud nine though. He shrugged breezily. "What was what?"

On the morning of their second day at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Beast Boy found Raven sitting on a bench looking out a window with one leg pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on her knee. Since none of them packed anything like he'd suggested, they were all wearing borrowed clothes. And at the moment Raven was wearing jeans and a black strappy top. He watched her for a while and noticed her hair was shoulder-length now. He admired the way the sunlight that came through the window touched her face. She looked like a painting. Raven moved and crossed her legs on the bench, then absentmindedly brushed her fingers up and down her neck. It drove him crazy. She was so completely absorbed in thoughts she didn't even notice him. Garfield cleared his throat.

She snapped out of it and looked at him. "Oh. Beast Boy. Morning."

"Morning, Rae." He nervously walked up to her with his surprise safely hidden behind his back. The shapeshifter scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. "So um…I wanted to give you something."

"Oh?" Why is he nervous?

"I know I'm not…and you are…but still…uh…here, this is for you." Beast Boy handed her a sheet of paper.

Raven took it and nearly gasped. It was a drawing. Of her. A very flattering drawing of her, as a matter of fact. It was just a sketch of her stoic face but the way it was nicely framed by her hair, the glint in her eyes, the glow on her skin, the shadowing, it all made her look kind of really beautiful. Wait, who made this!?

"What am I looking at?" She asked him bluntly.

"A drawing…" Garfield looked at his feet and made circles on the floor with his right foot. "I made it last night."

HE made it. HE drew this. She glanced at it again. First the napkin thing and now this? Since when was Beast Boy an artist? She could love this drawing. It was absolutely beautiful. The only problem was what it meant. Why is he doing this to me? She hardened her face and looked up at him again. "Why are you giving me this?"

"I…you know why." His face was turning red now and he was painfully aware of it. "I like you, Rae. I tried not to, but…I really do."

Raven hardened her insides so none of it would get to her. She couldn't believe he was just saying it out loud like that. "Well, try harder."

"But I just wanted t-"

"What are you doing, Beast Boy? What is this?" She gestured between the two of them. "What do you expect from me?"

"Well, I was thinking that since I can't stop liking you, I'd try to woo you. I know you don't like me like that, but I thought maybe I could try to change that?" Garfield was so nervous he felt like he would faint. His heart was pounding in his ears. "And you don't have to like me back! I just, I don't want to pretend that I don't anymore. Like you, I mean. I don't want to pretend I don't like you like that anymore, that's all."

If she hadn't meditated already, things would be blowing up for sure. Fuck, why is he so sweet? Raven stared at him for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and stared out the window again. "You're wrong."

"About?"

"Liking me. You can't like me."

"Well." Garfield frowned in confusion. "I'm pretty sure I can because I do."

"Beast Boy this makes no sense!" Raven stood up exasperatedly. "Stop wasting your feelings on me. I'm emotionally stunted, remember?" Her voice was slightly higher than usual. "How would this even work? You like carnivals and I like walks on cemeteries. What do you expect we would even do together?" She gestured around, hoping it would make him realize how ridiculous the whole thing was.

"Well, I…I guess we could alternate between going to the carnival and the cemetery." The shapeshifter said plainly, because if that was her biggest concern, that wasn't a problem at all. "Unless you're not willing to, because then we could just go to the cemetery, I don't care!"

Raven stared at him incredulously. "No. Beast Boy, that…it's not that simple, okay?"

"But do you like me? Even just a little bit? Is there any part of you that could like me like that?"

Yes. "I…" She bit her lip.

"Yeah…?" Beast Boy's eyes got wide and full of hope.

Tell him no and give that sketch back. You know you have to. Don't give him hope. "I…it doesn't matter what I feel." Raven couldn't make herself return the drawing. "I need to go."

She basically ran out, leaving a half-disappointed, half-excited and entirely confused Beast Boy behind. That day, Raven studied the mystical arts with Stephen Strange. She visited Limbo with Magik. She meditated with Wanda. And she read everything she could find on the Dark Phoenix. The more she learned about it the more worried she became. They tried to find or create a spell that would weaken her, with no success.

"So, you said this version of you can't take her. Is there a version that can?" Dr. Strange asked the empath. He liked Raven. She was eager to learn and full of raw talent. And he couldn't help feeling that she was the answer. He knew there was a reason she heard their call.

"White Raven is when I'm strongest, but I've never done that on purpose. It happened when I defeated Trigon, but…it's the same with time control, I'm not sure how I did it. Then there's Trigon…if I were to let his power run free through me I'd be much stronger, I mean technically I am the destroyer of worlds, but…if I did that, there would be one more evil thing for you all to fight. Me."

Meanwhile, Starfire was missing Raven. She had made new friends too and she really liked them. She'd actually been training with Ororo and Scott a lot. She also enjoyed hanging out with Beast Boy and Nightcrawler – at least for a little while, too much of those two was too much. But she missed her best friend. The truth was Kory wasn't used to Raven having so many close friends. She felt selfish for disliking it. Raven had found people with common interests here, she should be happy for her. But maybe that wasn't what really bothered her. Maybe she was just scared to find out Raven was only friends with her back home for lack of a better option. It was confusing because she would usually talk to Raven about this, but she was translating some ancient book with Illyana at the moment. Not even her many new admirers could cheer her up. Not even Robin. Well…maybe Robin.

"Hey, babe."

Speaking of the devil. She smiled at him. "Hey, babe. How are the battle plans? Are you and Scott getting along?"

"You know…that guy is kinda bossy."

"Oh, really?" She raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Yeah, but…you know, it's his Universe, so…I caved."

"I'm so proud of you." Kory leaned in to kiss him sweetly.

Then they heard familiar voices around the corner. Beast Boy and Raven's voices.

"You could never."

"Then you've got nothing to lose!"

"That sounds like trouble." Robin smiled at his girlfriend before they went to find their friends. When they turned the corner, the other three Titans were there. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"I told Raven I can go a whole day without talking. She says I can't, but she's not willing to bet." Beast Boy smirked.

Robin looked at Cyborg, who just looked concerned.

"I'm not willing to bet because you're a sly cheater. I've learned my lesson. You probably have some trick in mind for this already." Raven folded her arms.

Cyborg and Robin exchanged puzzled looks. They both knew what she was referring to of course, but now they were wondering how Beast Boy cheated at chess.

"Oh c'mon RaeRae, that's no fun. If you win I'll leave you alone for the rest of our stay here in X-World." Garfield did have a trick in mind already, obviously. He was planning on staying in animal form all day.

Raven stopped moving. Part of her was tempted. The sensible part, the one that knew she needed to concentrate on taking down the angry cosmic entity that was out there eating worlds. The other part – she was calling it the weak and soft part – was terrified at the prospect. "What about if you win?"

"You give me a kiss." The shapeshifter shot her a cheeky grin.

Cyborg slapped his own face, wondering what could have driven his friend to such wildly reckless actions. Robin's eyes widened. Dick had to admit he admired Beast Boy's boldness.

Raven scowled. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I know you can. You won't destroy the world because of one tiny kiss."

Don't be so sure. "Can I talk to you in private?" Raven suddenly sounded serious.

"Ah, sure…" Beast Boy was pulled by the arm towards a very secluded corner. Part of him dared to hope she was pulling him there to kiss him, but he quickly crushed those hopes before they could wound him.

"What are you trying to accomplish here?" Raven hissed.

"To prove that you could kiss me without killing everyone!" He flailed his arms around.

"Garfield." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "First of all, who says I want to?" Well, I do want to but he'll never know. He opened his mouth to speak but she cut him off. "Secondly, that would mean nothing. I still couldn't be in a relationship or do much more than kissing. So what would that even prove?"

"No but if your powers have those limits then we just wouldn't cross them." Garfield said as if it was the simplest, most obvious solution in the world. "I mean, I…I wouldn't mind." He shrugged and blushed a little.

"You're being absurd. You would mind it, Garfield. Of course you would mind it. You would mind it if all you could ever do in this so-called relationship was to kiss me for a few seconds."

Beast Boy flushed deeply and beamed. "No I wouldn't! I promise. I really wouldn't. I mean sure it would be hard but it would be better than nothing! Like, way better. I mean, kissing you for a few seconds sounds amazing!"

The empath stared at him incredulously. Is he actually in love with me? Raven hadn't forgotten what he said to her on Halloween, but she'd convinced herself that surely that had just been the alcohol talking. "I need to go. Stop talking nonsense."

Raven disappeared into the wall, so Beast Boy walked back to his friends with a dreamy smile on his face.

"Dude. What are you doing?!" Cyborg practically squeaked.

"What?"

"You're flirting with Raven." The half-robot stated the obvious.

"Oh…yeah, I am." Garfield smiled again.

"Why though? I thought you knew that was a bad idea."

"Yeah man, I mean, what are you expecting to get out of it? You don't think she reciprocates, do you?" Robin asked in a sympathetic voice.

"I mean, she's kind of giving me some mixed signals! She could like me. Maybe. Maybe I could win her over. I've been told I'm an acquired taste." Beast Boy started arguing with himself.

"Or maybe she's just trying to be polite and you're reading it wrong." Dick said bluntly.

Beast Boy turned his head to Cyborg, but he just nodded in agreement with Robin. Starfire bit her lip, but luckily Beast Boy didn't notice.

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Garfield said sadly. "But still, I can't deny how I feel. I dated Terra and it didn't go away. What am I supposed to do?"

"What are you planning to do? Pine over her for the rest of our lives or just until she tosses you out of a window? Stare at her longingly from afar until it earns you a restraining order?" Cyborg chuckled a little and ruffled Beast Boy's hair, trying to lighten the mood.

Beast Boy fixed his hair and shrugged. "Well…yeah, kinda."

That caught both Robin and Cyborg off guard.

"Seriously BB, why would you do this to yourself?" Victor frowned.

"Look. I know it sounds sad, but…there's nothing else to do, okay? I really like her." Garfield answered pointedly, shocking his friends with his bluntness.

"Oh leave him alone, you two." Starfire suddenly pulled Beast Boy by the arm. "Don't worry about them, friend BB." She walked away with him to get some dinner before going to bed. Starfire knew if Raven's heart ever had a soft spot, it would be this boy.

She's so High (Tal Bachman)