Dusk Till Dawn

On their last day at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, they left Earth. The magical dream team took the entire mansion to a strange planet and created a spell so they could breathe properly. The mansion would serve as protection and had weapon supplies and other things they might need. The Dark Phoenix was nearly ready to attack Earth so they took the fight to her. She was the most powerful enemy the Titans faced since Trigon, but they all hoped staying together would somehow mean going home together, even though they hadn't come up with a better plan than Raven's.

"Maybe we should just try to take her down first. We might be able to beat her, all of us." Magik addressed Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch, and the Titans. "Maybe Starfire could help if she isn't needed on land. She can fly and survive in this atmosphere and she said Tamaraneans are resistant. Besides, we could use more fire power. If we hit Jean with everything we've got, then maybe Raven won't need to unleash Trigon. I've been thinking about it and we need to at least try."

"I would be more than happy to help you!" Koriand'r quickly said. She liked this plan a lot better.

Robin wasn't as excited about his girlfriend now also facing the most dangerous side of the battle, but he knew it made sense. Their priority and duty should be protecting the world. Even if it wasn't their world. He leaned in to whisper in Kory's ear. "Please, be careful. I can't lose you both."

Starfire held his hand and smiled reassuringly at him.

"I was going to say the same thing." Stephen spoke up. "There's no need to abandon hope until we have no choice." Then he looked at Raven. "Wait until there's no other way. We'll do everything we can to make sure it doesn't come to that."

No one had a problem with that. In fact, everyone strongly agreed. Deep down, Raven knew it wouldn't work. She had felt this power when her soul-self entered Jean's aura and she knew they couldn't take her, but she didn't want to give up yet either. If felt good to have so many people caring about her, so she nodded at them to indicate she was on board.

Robin was beat. It was the first time in his life his strategic mind couldn't come up with a satisfying solution and he didn't know what to do. He hadn't slept either, but you couldn't tell by looking at him. He looked as heroic and ready as ever. The fight on land would be enormous too and they weren't sure how many worlds Apocalypse had visited to gather this army. Robin and Cyclops were leading that fight, so he needed to stay sharp. The magical dream team had conjured a force-field around the mansion, but they knew it wouldn't hold for too long. Too many magical adversaries were on the way.

"Titans? We have something for you." Xavier wheeled in with a dignified smile on his face.

Storm and Nightcrawler walked in behind him with five more X-Men uniforms in very different sizes. The two female ones had different color schemes. One was green and violet and the other one was black and blue. Beast Boy's uniform was red and black like Nightcrawler's and Robin's and Cyborg's were yellow and black like the rest of the X-Men.

"We thought maybe you'd need something more fitting to wear to battle than borrowed casual clothing." Kurt smiled.

The Titans were touched by the gesture. The uniforms looked really nice on them too. It almost made Dick wonder if they should have a uniform, but then he thought about how unique his team members were and figured he was right to preserve their individuality. But still, they looked pretty cool. Raven and Starfire were praising each other while Garfield and Dick admired them. Cyborg praised himself in front of a mirror, because he did look good. Then Starfire went to say goodbye to Richard since she would be flying off with Raven and the others. That was when Beast Boy noticed Raven watching him and made a gesture implying he wanted to talk to her in private. She walked to a secluded corner and he followed.

Illyana went up to Starfire after she and Robin were done with their goodbye kiss. "Koriand'r, I must warn you. She'll get in your head. Jean is a telepath and the Phoenix is pure evil. We've all shielded our minds. Maybe I can shield yours while we fight…"

"Don't worry, I'll shield her mind. And I'll try to reach Jean as much as I can. If I sense a weakness, I'll communicate with you all." Xavier said confidently, receiving grateful nods from both women.

Meanwhile, Raven and Beast Boy were silently staring at each other.

"Did you want to talk to me?" Raven asked quietly. "Did I get that wrong?"

"No, I did! I just, now that I'm here I don't know where to start."

"Oh, okay."

A few more seconds of silence passed between them.

"You know, red is kind of a nice color for you." Raven said, looking at his uniform.

"Yeah?" Garfield grinned widely and stared down at his own body. "Maybe I'll change my regular uniform! I don't know about the black though…"

"Yeah it's a bit too dark for you." She teased.

He looked up at her and smiled a little but then his face suddenly got serious and his eyes filled with pain. Tell her you love her. Now. "Raven, I-"

"We've been noticed." Dr. Strange said in an urgent tone. "Get ready!"

Beast Boy's heart stopped. So did everyone else's. Raven gave him a hand squeeze and left to stand with Magik, Scarlet Witch, Starfire and Dr. Strange. Illyana summoned demons from Limbo who would fight for them on land and told them to do anything Cyclops or Robin said.

Stephen Strange glanced at Raven and whispered. "Good luck, kiddo."

Raven and Starfire looked at Robin.

Richard smiled sadly for a moment, but quickly hardened his face. "Titans, Go!"

The two Titan women looked confident as ever when they flew off with the sorcerers.

Kurt stood next to Garfield while they waited for the force-field to give in. Apocalypse's army was already working on it. "Hey man, are you still mad at me?"

Beast Boy looked at him and shrugged. "Nah. We're probably all gonna die, so what's the point?"

"If it helps I think she only kissed me because I reminded her of you." Nightcrawler chuckled.

Beast Boy laughed. He already knew that, of course. Raven told him. "Maybe."

The force-field caved, but every demon, Titan and X-Men on land was more than ready to fight. Beast Boy thought of Raven and transformed into the new and improved Werebeast. Nightcrawler teleported him from one place to another while he cause havoc. Rogue had learned to access every power she had ever absorbed with Magik's help, so she caused a lot of damage as well. Robin had his bo-staff in hand and was ready to lead on his front. Cyborg had his cannon arm set as he protected Xavier so he could shield Kory's mind and attempt to penetrate Jean's at the same time. Cyclops was leading on the other front. It was an intense battle of epic proportions and they all thought they were going to die at some point.

Meanwhile, the Dark Phoenix had nearly engaged in her own attack to obliterate the force-field, the mansion and everyone in it before moving to destroy Earth when she was stopped mid-air by spells, blasts and energy traps. She was stronger than them, but it was five against one. They would at least make her break a sweat. Dr. Strange conjured, Scarlet Witch – who was also holding back because much like Raven she couldn't afford to go all out – summoned chaos magic, Magik charged in with Soulsword, Starfire fired violent energy blasts and Raven manipulated darkness around them to try to contain her. It all held her back for a while – and made her even angrier – but it didn't weaken her.

"Enough!" The Phoenix summoned all her power, throwing her attackers in multiple directions.

They were back in a heartbeat to attack her again, but it was clear she had the upper hand. A giant dark raven battled a much larger fire bird in the sky while yellow portals opened and closed and blasts of green and scarlet energy mixed in a sensational power battle. And then someone opened a slight crack in Raven's mental shield to speak to her.

Raven. Jean is still in there. Barely, but she is. I felt it this time. Xavier spoke in her head.

The empath didn't have time to figure out what to do with this information, because Jean noticed what happened and took advantage of the wavering Xavier's telepathy cause in her mental shield to break it entirely. She easily expelled him and took over.

Hello sister from another world. The Phoenix spoke evilly in Raven's mind. I was eager to meet you. Mind if I take a peek?And then she saw everything. She saw Raven's childhood in Azarath, her meeting the Titans and growing to trust them, Trigon conquering Earth and Raven defeating him. She saw Robin pulling Raven out of Hell, Starfire holding her to sleep, and she saw Beast Boy and Raven together in Limbo. Then the Phoenix laughed wickedly. Raven had never felt this violated, not to mention the invasion caused her actual physical pain. Thankfully the others were still fighting, because right now she felt like she couldn't move at all.

Let me show you the future, sis. Let me show you what I'll do to them. The Phoenix's evil whisper echoed inside the Titan sorcerer's mind.

And then Raven watched every single Titan die. She saw Cyborg being dismantled before having his human brain crushed, she saw Starfire disintegrating with a direct hit from the Phoenix, she saw Apocalypse strangling Robin until the light left his eyes and she saw Beast Boy getting tortured by several demons while the Phoenix watched.

I think I'll keep that one alive as a pet. That'll teach you not to interfere. The cosmic entity whispered evilly to her.

Raven's eyes glowed white. The wrenching pain in her heart turned into wrath.

Time to release me, daughter. We're stronger than her.This time it was Trigon who spoke inside her head.

It was time. What the Phoenix made her see could not happen. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

Four red demonic eyes appeared on Raven's face. Her body healed fast while Trigon's power fueled her. Her humanity, her kindness, her love and her virtues were fading away. The others gasped and tried to contain the Phoenix as she charged at Raven hoping to stop her before she became a much worthier opponent. But then Raven felt something. Something…familiar. Before Trigon completely took over, she recognized a spark. It was the same spark that had fueled her when she defeated him. Raven painfully pushed her father back to his prison.

There's no time for that, child! I'm your only option! Trigon shouted in her mind.

Stop telling me what to do. The empath responded angrily.

Images of Beast Boy begging her not to die crossed her mind.

Let me out or she'll kill them. You saw what she'll do. It will be your fault. He taunted her.

There was no more time. I need more time.

"STOOP!" Raven shouted as time-manipulation magic erupted from her hands.

Time was frozen once again – but not for long. The mighty cosmic entity in front of her couldn't be contained and was already breaking free, ready to attack her and put an end to her mortal life. Raven still wasn't strong enough to take her. So she teleported out of her way, floated into her Lotus stance and closed her eyes.

The empath followed that spark. She found it in memories the Phoenix had ignited. Particularly, memories of Azarath and the Titans. Memories of them laughing. Memories of them protecting her. Memories of how they met and how they grew to know each other. Memories of stupid jokes and body swapping and fights over the remote and bonding time and birthdays. Memories of the X-Men welcoming her and the friends she made in this world. Memories of joking with Cyborg and meditating with Terra. Memories of Robin being supportive, of Starfire hugging her and memories of Beast Boy's adoring eyes looking at her and his warm body embracing her. Oh, that's how I do this. Duh.

Raven opened her eyes and smirked when she realized the Phoenix had given her the answer. Trigon wasn't her strongest version. This was. Time was unfrozen now and the Phoenix was slightly confused to find out Raven was gone from her previous location, but Wanda came in right after so she didn't have time to look around for the empath. Raven noticed her attack would have killed her for sure, but that didn't matter now. She knew what to do.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." Raven focused on all of her most positive emotions, her kindness, her humanity, her virtuous courage and most of all, she focused on all the love she had inside of her. She focused on friendship and home and everything that was worth fighting for. She focused on all the reasons she chose to struggle against her own nature every day because they were worth suffering for. She focused on everything she wanted to protect.

She was involved in a ball of light. This time it wasn't her cloak, but her hair that turned white. It was a complete transformation. The Phoenix was still struggling against her other attackers but still thriving with full force. Raven shot her with a blast of pure light to get her attention. It certainly did. Everyone was both confused and amazed to realize a whole new level of White Raven had joined the fight. That is, except for the Phoenix. She just looked intrigued. Raven tried to teleport to her side, but she couldn't. Jean still wouldn't let her.

"You think this will make a difference, halfbreed?" The Dark Phoenix hissed angrily. Then she attempted to penetrate Raven's mind again. This time she was frustrated though.

Raven thought about sending in her soul-self, but that wouldn't be enough. She needed full force. So Raven was by Starfire's side in a heartbeat, involving them both in a force-field.

"Get me close to her?" She asked her best friend. Then she looked at the others with glowing white eyes. "Cover us."

The alien warrior princess didn't hesitate. She embraced her half-mortal friend and covered her with her body flying as fast as she could to the cosmic entity's side. Raven kept her force-field around them but some of the Phoenix's hits partially got through. Starfire took them. The other sorcerers fired at their former friend with everything they had. It was a battle of legendary proportions. Then, before the Phoenix could stop it, she was enveloped by white magic. A gigantic white raven rose and struggled against the fire bird. And Raven's flesh began to burn when she pushed Starfire away and floated inside the Phoenix Force.

The empath screamed, but she didn't stop. She flew through the magical fire and found the girl who used to be Jean Grey and embraced her. Raven's white magic had been protecting her to a great extent, but she could smell her flesh burning as she transferred it to Jean. Everything she had in her, the white energy that turned her hair white, the positive emotions that enhanced her power, it all floated inside Jean Grey as the flames started to die down. At the same time, Raven's empathic abilities absorbed as much of Jean's pain and the Phoenix's anger as she possibly could without losing control herself. The empath's hair was gradually turning purple again.

He was right. I can sense her now. Jean was still in there. Barely, but she was. Raven could feel her. She detached her soul-self to look for what was left of her and pull her to the surface. It felt like pulling a friend from a precipice by the hand. The flames got weaker and Jean shouted. Raven didn't let go. If anyone could beat this thing, it was the girl whose life it stole. Raven knew from experience that when it gets personal, you get stronger. Jean battled the weakened entity and Raven's soul-self returned to her own body. The mutant screamed loudly as she expelled the evil force. Then she started to cry. Raven finally let go of her and fainted. Her final thought before it all went black was that these uniforms were extremely resistant, because her body was badly burned under it, but she wasn't naked.

Starfire caught her best friend's limp injured body and Wanda rushed to Jean's side and held her while she cried. Dr. Strange and Magik exchanged relieved looks and gave each other a quick nod.

Magik teleported to where Starfire was desperately trying to wake Raven up. "Here. Let me heal her."

Illyana Rasputin's magic was amazing. She was older than Wanda and Raven and the maturity in the way she wielded her powers showed it. Her healing powers ran through Raven's body at an impressive speed, floating her and enveloping her in glowing pure energy. Raven opened her eyes after a few seconds, feeling brand new. The first thing she thought of was how now she understood why Garfield abused her powers once. She had healed herself before, but this was different. This felt wonderful. Her wounds were gone and her skin was intact again. She looked at Starfire, who had a huge grin plastered on her face and happy tears in her eyes.

Raven felt her own eyes welling up too. "Hi Kor. I'm not dead." She said lamely.

Kory held her tightly and once again only remembered her strength and loosened the hug after Raven grunted in pain. The empath didn't care, she gratefully hugged her back.

Then Raven glanced at Illyana and whispered. "Thank you."

Magik just nodded at her with a smile. "Thank you."

Apocalypse was beat as well. Beast Boy's Werebeast charged at him and when he fought back, he was attacked by multiple Limbo demons. Beast Boy threw him mercilessly from one side to another. He had the awkwardly comforting feeling these demons recognized and remembered him. Nightcrawler helped. Some of the demons seemed to think he was one of them due to his demonic looks, which didn't bother him now as much as it would have before.

They were still engaged in battle when it ended. They saw the explosions from the magical fight happening high above them. They saw the fire, the red bird. Then they saw the white bird. Beast Boy's heart stopped because he knew; somehow he knew it was her. And then Apocalypse's armies stopped fighting the second they sensed the Dark Phoenix had fallen. The X-Men cheered their victory while their enemies retreated, but the Titans held their breath. Nearly half of them – arguably the better half, they would say – had been up there.

Robin was the first to spot them. His heart filled with relief and gratitude when he realized the love of his life and his kindred spirit had both somehow survived this. He ran to them and enveloped them in a tight hug, wrapping one arm around each of them. They hugged him back gratefully. When they pulled away his eyes were disbelieving and amazed. Before he could ask them what happened, Cyborg pulled all of them in an even tighter hug, lifting them from the floor. They started laughing in relief – except for Raven who was still tense, because she hadn't seen Garfield yet – and Dick pulled Kory into a passionate kiss.

Raven's eyes were still nervously searching for him. "Where's Beast Boy?" She asked eagerly. If he died on me I swear I'll bring him back just to kill him myself.

"He's alive." Robin assured her.

She relaxed immediately.

"Hey bro, look who made it!" Kurt smiled enormously at his green friend from where they had been guarding Apocalypse captive.

Garfield turned around and saw them. The tight grip around his heart was instantly gone. Raven. She's alive! And Kory too! His closed his eyelids and happy tears rolled down his face.

"Go to them. Go to her. I've got this."

Beast Boy smiled gratefully at him before turning into a falcon and flying over to his friends. Raven's heart soared when she saw the green bird. He landed on her shoulder and she smiled at him. Then he turned human and embraced her, lifting her and spinning her around. She just continued smiling at him, but he could swear there were fireworks. Dick and Victor didn't think much of it. They knew he was crazy about her and they figured under the circumstances she was letting him get away with spinning her around. Garfield didn't say anything either. He just smiled, cried and stared at her with utter and complete devotion. She sensed it and something exploded in the distance, making people shout. Garfield grinned at her and moved over to hug Starfire tightly.

Most of the X-Men were now gathering around Magik and Scarlet Witch while they soothed a broken Jean Grey wrapped in Dr. Strange's cape. Cyclops rushed to her side and held her while he cried compulsively. They took her inside what was left of the mansion to change and rest.

"Man I can't believe we all made it!" Cyborg shouted. "I mean, for a second there I was worried!"

"What happened?" Robin asked the female members of his team with that same amazed stare still plastered on his face.

Starfire squealed. "Raven's hair turned white! It was so cool!" She turned to Raven. "By the way, I thought it totally suited you!" Then she looked at their other friends again. "Then she hugged Jean and her hair turned purple again." Kory stopped and realized that didn't really explain much. She chuckled. "Maybe Raven should explain what happened, actually. But anyway, she saved everyone!"

"Well, Kory saved me. She totally had my back. I couldn't get to Jean without her." Raven stated simply.

Robin pulled his girlfriend in for a second kiss. Then everyone stared at Raven expectantly and she realized they still wanted the full explanation.

"Xavier spoke to me telepathically and told me Jean was still there. The Phoenix Force took advantage of that to break my mental shield and penetrate my mind. Then she…well, she saw everything. I couldn't keep her out." Raven shivered at the memory. "And then she said she would show me the future and I saw you all die." Raven hugged herself as they gasped. She glanced at Beast Boy and decided not to tell him about his alternate fate. "It was horrible and I couldn't let it happen, so I was about to unleash Trigon. But then I felt something. It was similar to what I felt when I took Trigon down. So I pushed him back and I stopped time…"

"Woah you stopped time again!?" Cyborg's eyes were huge with excitement.

"Yeah. It was an instinctive desperate act, just like last time. But it gave me a little time to understand it. White Raven, I mean. So I accessed it, hence my hair turning white, and everyone else distracted her and held her back while Kory got me close enough. I absorbed her pain and gave her my peace, hence my hair going back to normal…and then Illyana healed me, because I got burned really badly approaching that thing. The end." She exhaled.

They were staring at her with childish joy in their eyes.

"How do you access White Raven?" Robin asked her eagerly.

"Well, it's not easy and I can't do it all the time. But…" She rolled her eyes. She had known this was coming but that didn't make it less painful. "Do I have to tell you? It's really corny."

"Oh, yes. You absolutely do." Dick stated and everyone nodded in agreement.

"I have to focus on the positive emotions I have. I thought of you guys and stuff." Raven said it as if it made her feel a little sick, while looking up at the sky to avoid their gaze.

"AWWWW!" Cyborg shouted.

"That is SO sweet!" Starfire squealed again.

"Of course." Robin said plainly.

Raven got curious and glanced at Beast Boy, who was grinning stupidly and gigantically at her and tearing up again. She grunted and walked away from them, but everyone obviously followed her, teasing mercilessly.

"Fine, fine. I got it. Love conquers all and crap." Raven said stoically. "What about you guys?" She looked around and frowned. "It seems like this was a huge battle too."

"BB took Apocalypse down in Beast form!" Cyborg blurted out.

Raven turned her head to Garfield intently. He blushed under her gaze.

"Ah I mean, it wasn't just me…Kurt and the Limbo demons were there too." Beast Boy stared at his feet.

"That doesn't make it any less impressive." Raven said bluntly.

His head shot up and he thought he saw admiration in her eyes. Did she just say she's impressed? His cheeks blushed deeper and he scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks…"

Victor and Richard rolled their eyes at Beast Boy's lack of subtlety. Starfire just giggled.

"So…you work with demons now?" Raven nudged the shapeshifter playfully. "Isn't that, you know, spooky and creepy?"

Garfield shrugged and smiled affectionately at her. "They're not so bad."

The half-demon smiled sincerely at that.

Scott Summers suddenly walked up to them. "Hey guys. The sorcerers need to recharge before taking us back. People decided we're having a party tonight. You're all required to stay and celebrate with us before even considering going back to your world, obviously."

Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg beamed. A party on another planet, in an alternate Universe, sounded really cool. They looked at Robin with hopeful eyes.

Richard sighed. "I guess Jump City can wait one more day."

Raven smiled softly. She did need to rest before opening any more portals. Then suddenly she gasped because someone else was hugging her without permission. She realized it was Cyclops and rolled her eyes. "Scott, let go of me."

He did. "Sorry. It's just that…they told me what you did. I thought…I thought I'd never get her back. Thank you." Cyclops shot her an emotional smile.

The empath smirked and raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm glad I did the trick, though I know you were expecting someone more…well, more."

Cyclops smiled apologetically at her while the Titans chuckled. "Right, uh…I stand corrected. Obviously."

Raven nodded and softened her face. "You're welcome, Scott. And all I did was give her a hand. In the end she beat that thing herself."

Scott chuckled. "Yeah, she said you did a little more than that. So, thank you. You have no idea what it means to me." He turned to Starfire. "And you! You helped!"

Kory spread her arms wide and beamed. "I sure did! And I do like hugs."

They hugged in ecstasy and Raven and Robin rolled their eyes fondly.

"I gotta go back to her. But thank you again. To all of you, actually." Cyclops shot them all a grateful smile and left.

The party didn't start until much later, since everyone needed to heal and rest first. When Raven came down from her room, her friends were dancing with X-Men in the silliest, most gleeful way possible. Saving the world will do that to a group. Well, except for Beast Boy. He was assaulting the snack table. She smiled slightly and floated towards him.

When she was close enough for him to pick up on her lavender scent, Beast Boy tried to quickly swallow all the food he'd put in his mouth and wipe the crumbs off his clothes. It got clumsy and he choked a little. Then he wiped his mouth and turned around to grin at her. He noticed she looked amused, so he probably wasn't as smooth as he'd hoped. Raven stood beside him and ate some buttered popcorn.

"I didn't die." She stated.

Garfield smiled. "I noticed. Thank you." Then he realized that probably sounded smug. "I mean, not that I think you didn't die just for me or anything, it's just that, you know…I sorta begged you not to die so thank you for not dying even though you probably didn't even remember that wh-"

"I did remember." Raven said bluntly. Then she felt his gaze on her so she looked at him. "I did think of you. So…thank you for motivating me."

He stared at her wide-eyed. He wasn't expecting that. Beast Boy inhaled sharply as he fought against the urge to kiss her or at least touch her.

Raven turned her attention to the snacks again. "This alternate Universe thing…it was fun."

She's being so cute. Garfield smirked playfully. "Oh I had a lot of fun."

"You know it's only an alternate Universe thing though, right? I mean, us." She said.

All he heard from that was her using the word us.

"I thought I was going to die. But I guess if we just agree to leave it in this reality, it won't affect ours. Then I can go home and be your friend without endangering our world." She continued in her usual monotone, but there was a hint of anticipation behind it.

"Yeah." Beast Boy finally reacted. "Like a summer fling! Or Vegas. You know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

"Exactly like that." Raven agreed.

It wasn't ideal, but he didn't care. At least they were talking about it. He didn't think she would ever even address it, and he wanted her to. He wanted to remember.

"A summer fling that I'll never forget." Beast Boy gave her his sweetest smile.

Her heart fluttered and she cleared her throat. "Oh, by the way…when the Phoenix burned me, she burned that sketch you gave me." She said in a slightly sad voice.

"You had it with you!?" Beast Boy could barely contain his excitement at the thought she had actively decided to have it with her in her final moments.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Whatever."

Not whatever. His grin was gigantic. "I'll make you another one. No one needs to know. I'll slip it under your door."

The empath felt all warm and fuzzy and comfy. So she shook it off. "Thanks. I'd like that."

"It's the least I can do since you didn't die." Garfield chuckled merrily.

She didn't respond. They ate in silence for a while.

"You know…" Raven said hesitantly. "Technically we are still in an alternate Universe…"

Beast Boy swallowed loudly and started to smile while his heart raced and his skin tingled with excitement. Keep it cool, Beast Boy.

"Technically." He nodded in agreement, trying to sound nonchalant, which was useless because she could sense his excitement.

"Meet me in the main entrance in ten minutes." Raven said plainly before disappearing.

Beast Boy's heart skipped a beat. Did that mean what I think it meant!? He rushed to brush his teeth and put his amulet around his neck.

"You're late." Raven stated fifteen minutes later.

She was leaning against the wall with her arms folded, holding a few blankets and pillows. The curtains at Limbo were not comfortable.

"Sorry." I was giving myself a pep talk in the mirror. "I had to look for my amulet."

She relaxed. "Are you sure about this? It's okay if you d-"

"Stop asking me if I'm sure about this, Rae. I'll always be sure about this, okay?"

She bit her lip. What does that even mean?

"So…Limbo again?" He grinned excitedly at her.

She forgot her worries.

"No, I caused too much damage last time. I mean, I wrecked it." Raven shook her head at the absurd memory. "I asked Illyana to do me a different solid and repair the force-field around the school. She'll cover for us too."

Raven offered her hand for him to take. Garfield's heart soared as he took it and she teleported them to the other side of the planet.

"Ohhh." He grinned widely when he understood her idea.

"This is a big planet. And it's already wrecked." She stated plainly.

Beast Boy's eyes got wide and full of desire when he looked at her. And then Raven dropped the pillows and blankets on the floor and stared at him with the most seductive look that had ever crossed her face. She didn't need to say a word, because for once it wasn't difficult to read her at all. She wanted him and it was all over her face.

He lost it. Garfield brought his hands to her hair tangling his fingers in it and pulling her face to his. He kissed her passionately, sweetly, deeply and urgently all at once. He wanted to take in as much of her as he could because he knew he would never get to touch her like this again. She kissed him back eagerly and jumped on his lap again, wrapping her legs around his waist. Beast Boy held onto her hips and lowered them slowly to the ground until he sat down on the blankets with Raven straddling him, kissing her the whole time. And then a series of blissful life-changing moments began.

She ran her hands up and down his back and arms and through his hair. She kissed the tip of his ears to make him moan and she giggled against his lips. The waves of power that emanated from her didn't concern them. Beast Boy felt absolutely happy. And then he thought he would never be this happy again, so he wanted to make it last. The sky wasn't dark in this world. It had too many stars. It was purple and reddish and soft like a beautiful dawn or sunset, even though technically it was the middle of the night. They removed each other's clothes slowly this time, looking into each other's eyes. On the first time they stayed like that, with her sitting on his lap and looking into each other's eyes while they – as Beast Boy would say – made love.

They lay down after that. Raven got on top of him after a few minutes, chuckling freely and teasing him until he was ready again. Eventually, she collapsed beside him. Then they kissed sweetly for a while and she got on top of him again. It went on until morning. They lost count of how many times they became intertwined with one another, feeding on each other's warmth. Beast Boy made Raven moan several times. Their minds got hazy as they became a giggly bumbling mess. He nibbled her neck softly with his fangs making her arch her back and shiver. She kissed down his chest while looking up at him wickedly, making him feel like his heart would rip out his chest. And they were both sure they'd never felt joy like this.

At dawn, Raven's vision was blurry while she stared breezily at the sky. Beast Boy's head was on her chest and it was wonderfully warm and heavy. She took in the fact she would never feel this close to anyone again. She reminded herself this wasn't her life and he would eventually fall in love with someone who could love him back the way he deserved – someone who was as emotionally available and vulnerable as he was, who laughed at his stupid jokes and was joyful – and they would definitely be happy together. And she would be happy for him. But even though she knew all of that, none of it mattered now. Right now she was his world, and he was sighing peacefully against her chest.

Raven had finally escaped for a few hours to feel pleasure and to give in to her desires. She liked who she was and she didn't want to change it, but to never be able to escape yourself is a curse. And right now she was just a girl being irresponsible and free and impulsive with a boy she liked. And she did like him. She truly did. She had no idea what that meant exactly in her case and she wasn't going to try figuring it out since she couldn't do anything about it, but she felt something for him. Something…exclusive. She couldn't imagine being like this with anyone else she knew, so that was something, right?

Because Beast Boy was good. He was sweet. He was kind. His heart was pure. Sure, he was aggravating too. It could be cute, or just downright insufferable. But so what? She wasn't perfect either. All she knew was she wanted to protect him and she would miss his light terribly if she lost him. Raven liked the darkness, but she didn't want to be away from the light. Well, that was all she knew before. Now she also knew she wanted him. It felt good – to kiss him, to be kissed by him, to be touched by him and to touch him. The way he made her feel was…beyond. She would have to fix that, because that could be a problem. But not right now. Right now she could just lie here with him, breathing in sync.

Beast Boy suddenly fidgeted and pulled Raven's left hand to his lips. He planted tiny, sweet, wet kisses on each of her fingertips and then on the palm of her hand and on her wrist. Garfield proceeded to leaving a trail of devoted kisses up her arm.

"What are you doing?" Raven asked him quizzically. She knew he felt intensely about things, but this seemed too romantic for some reason.

"Worshiping you." He muttered sincerely against her skin.

She raised an amused eyebrow. "Okay. Why?"

"Because that's what one does if one is lucky enough to wake up next to a Goddess." The shapeshifter said as he moved so that his lips were now planting sweet kisses on her belly. Even her skin tasted sweet.

Raven closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation because it did feel nice and chuckled freely. "I think you're confused. I'm a Demoness. Actually, not even that. I'm a hybrid. Or a halfbreed, as the Phoenix so eloquently pointed out. But, certainly not a Goddess."

"Nope. Never in my life have I been less confused." Beast Boy looked up at her with adoring eyes. "Are you happy?"

She smiled at him. "What does it look like?"

He looked at her. Her cheeks were flushed, her hair was wonderfully messy from the steamy, sweaty, clumsy night they'd shared, her pupils were still dilated and she had a peaceful, satisfied smile on her face. Her breathing was steady and deep and she was absolutely comfortable with him. Beast Boy thought she had never looked more beautiful. He was so busy admiring her and smiling idiotically at her that he forgot to answer her question.

"Admiring your work?" Raven teased him.

That turned him on immediately. Garfield crawled up her body and kissed her passionately again. He deepened the kiss and pressed his body against hers. The empath's hands found their way to his back and shoulders, tracing his lean muscles.

"That was even better than Limbo." Raven whispered into the kiss.

Beast Boy smiled hugely against her lips.

"I see you're happy too." She chuckled softly.

Garfield huffed and pulled away so she could see his disheveled, flushed, blissful face. "Raven, this is the happiest I've ever been in my entire life." He said with utter sincerity.

That sent more waves of dark, destructive energy around. Raven wasn't expecting that. Sure, it was the happiest she had ever felt but that wasn't hard. He on the other hand was a happy person, with many happy moments to compare this to. And yet, she could sense he meant it.

"Are you surprised or something?" The shapeshifter frowned in confusion. "I mean, you know what you do to me, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "I mean, I don't know, you've done this before, so..."

"Oh, sex isn't usually like this."

"It isn't?"

Garfield shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, it's awesome. At least…it's always felt good for me, not that I have that much experience." He chuckled. "But…this was something else." His eyes sparkled and he beamed at her. "I mean, this was transcendental!"

Raven wanted to mock his exaggeration but instead she just giggled. She was too happy to be sarcastic right now. "Transcendental, huh?" She said playfully. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is a compliment. You're out of this world."

"Well, technically we all are." The empath laughed sweetly when he scowled at that. He's so fucking cute. "At the risk of feeding your ego too much, I should tell you I'm extremely satisfied." Raven folded her arms behind her head lazily and smirked. "You're good at this."

That did feed his ego a bit too much. He stared down at her with dark eyes before kissing her deeply, pushing his hips against hers and holding her shoulders down with his hands. Raven moaned into the kiss and then realized he'd been on top of her way too long and was now getting a little too bold for her taste. She used her powers to enhance her strength and spin them so she was now on top of him. Then she held his wrists and pinned them down on each side of his head.

Raven stared down at him playfully, but dominantly. "If you get cocky I'll have to put you in your place."

Well that really turned him on as well.

"Is that a promise?" The shapeshifter smiled up at her breezily.

He didn't struggle one bit. He let her pin his arms down and immobilize his hips.

"You look cute." Raven pointed out.

She didn't mean to point it out, but she couldn't help herself. He really did look cute all messy and flustered under her.

"Thank you." Beast Boy kept that stupidly merry grin on his face the whole time. "I don't mind it one bit, you know. This. You can pin me down whenever you want."

That turned her on. "Is that a promise?"

"Yup. I'm all yours."

Her eyes got dark and lustful again and she leaned down to kiss him passionately, but she didn't release his hands. Raven moved her hips against his teasingly and he moaned.

"You're really sexy like this." Garfield whispered against her lips. "You're sexy all the time. And you're cute too. I don't know how you do that."

"So I'm not creepy and scary anymore?" Raven joked.

Normally she wouldn't like being called sexy or cute, but under these circumstances she wanted to hear it again.

"No, you're definitely sexy and cute. And perfect. I'm unworthy. And completely bewitched. You will absolutely be my downfall. I'm helpless against you." Garfield said casually and truthfully. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he could regret being this vulnerable with her, but he couldn't help it. At least I didn't tell her I love her.

Dark energy exploded everywhere. Raven's lustful eyes got even darker. She almost said something stupid like I'm so not giving you up when we go home. But she stopped herself. Beast Boy smugly looked around at the damage his little declaration caused and felt stupidly proud of it.

"If you're going to say stuff like that, we'll have to go again." Raven said sensually.

"No objections here."

He tried moving his hips but she pressed down on them harder. Then she leaned in to kiss him, but stopped just before their lips touched. Garfield had his eyes closed already and tried to reach her but she pulled away just enough for his lips to never touch hers and kept his wrists safely pinned to the floor. He whined at the frustration the lack of contact caused and opened his eyes. She was smirking at him.

Beast Boy whimpered. "You're such a tease."

"Say please and you'll have me." She said sweetly, as if she had no idea what he meant.

"Pleeeease."

They did it a few more times after that. Raven was sure they were dehydrated by the time she suggested they should get back. Beast Boy didn't want to go yet. He wasn't done. He needed more time with her. But they had been here for hours, and he knew no amount of time but forever would feel like enough. So he reluctantly put his clothes back on. It felt like waking up from a really beautiful dream.

"Before we go back…" Raven said quietly.

She was almost back to her stoic self again, except for her pink cheeks and disheveled hair. Beast Boy appreciated the view while he still could.

"I don't want things to get weird between us. I want us to stay friends..." She continued.

"Me too."

Raven nodded slowly. "…so please don't make a big deal out of it, but I also want you to know that this was really special to me. I'll cherish this memory."

Beast Boy bit his lip and struggled to contain his emotions. His heart was still soaring and she wasn't helping bring it down. He shot her a coy smile and wondered how he was so bold with her a minute ago and now felt this nervous and awkward again.

"Ah, that's really sweet, Rae. Thanks for saying that." He scratched the back of his neck. "Obviously, so will I." He paused. "But, you knew that already."

She took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze then pulled him closer. "Goodbye kiss?"

Garfield beamed at her. She leaned in for one last soft, long, sweet, life-changing kiss. When she pulled away he'd kept his eyes closed as if that would freeze the moment somehow. Then he felt dark energy envelop them as she teleported them back to Xavier's School.

Robin and Starfire had slept in the girls' room, Wanda had slept somewhere else. Cyborg was sleeping in the boys' room. They looked like they had partied all night. Raven gently shook Starfire's body to wake her up.

"Morning Rae, where were you last night?" The Tamaranean whispered sleepily.

"Did Illyana say something?"

"Just that you were too tired to party. But your hair is messy. And you didn't sleep here."

When did she get this perceptive again? "Yeah, I rested for a while and then I went for a walk. I needed alone time. My hair is messy because it's awfully windy outside."

Robin grunted and shifted his position on the bed. "Oh. Morning, Raven. Did you get some rest?"

"Definitely."

"Then I guess it's time to go home."

Once Dick was up he woke up everyone else, including Beast Boy who had gone to sleep about ten minutes ago, as soon as he collapsed on the top bunk bed in the boys' room – in spite of Cyborg's snoring. Raven helped the other sorcerers take the school back to Earth and repair the damages – or at least most of them – through magic and began her goodbyes.

Dr. Strange and Illyana both ruffled her hair, which she wasn't that happy about, but they also praised her enormously. Wanda hugged her tightly and gave her some magic books to take with her, and then they both told Rogue about a potion they came up with that would help her control when to activate her powers so she could touch people. She was so moved she nearly forgot she hadn't taken it yet and hugged them. Gambit seemed hyped about it too. Jean Grey came in and spent nearly fifteen minutes thanking her, so eventually Raven grew tired of reassuring her and telling her no one could understand better and just hugged her. She would still need therapy for sure – she did destroy entire planets – but at least she was home. And then Raven said goodbye to Storm, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Xavier and the others.

Starfire took a lot longer to say her goodbyes. She had grown fond of Raven's sorcerer friends, not only because they were interesting but because they'd battled an evil cosmic entity together. She took her time saying goodbye to Storm, Kitty and Xavier. Scott and Jean also took their time thanking her. And she entertained her fans with stories of Tamaran one last time. Cyborg said goodbye to Colossus first, and then Xavier and everyone else. He got along with everyone, but his goodbyes were short and sweet. Dick and Scott shook hands in mutual respect, relieved that they'd lead their teams to victory against all odds. Then Robin said proper goodbyes to Xavier, the sorcerers, Nightcrawler, and everyone else that he felt played an important part in keeping his teammates alive.

"You kissed her, didn't you?" Nightcrawler whispered cheekily to Beast Boy when they were saying goodbye.

Garfield smirked joyfully. "I did a little more than that." Then they did some silly handshake thing they had come up with.

Beast Boy took even longer than Starfire to say his goodbyes. He wanted to say goodbye to everyone. His time here had been so immensely life-changing for so many reasons and he just couldn't find the words to express how grateful he was. He hadn't felt weird or different here because so many of them were as odd-looking as he was. Illyana whispered something about never giving up when she hugged him before giving him a knowing wink, and he beamed at her. He had befriended a lot of the younger X-Men too. And he also got a lot of praise for once. The Beast had really made an impression. When Robin said it was time to go, Garfield wanted to whine about it. He ran over to Xavier and told him this school was an awesome idea and he wished he'd had something like this. Finally, he told them he would now proudly call himself a mutant. There was so much cheering he didn't notice Raven smiling fondly at him.

The magical dream team worked together one last time before losing their youngest, grumpiest member. And that was to open a portal for the Titans to go home. At this point, tears were shed and it wasn't just Beast Boy and Starfire. Dr. Strange gave Raven an amulet and said she could use it to reach him if she ever needed help. They agreed opening this kind of bridge again would be too risky but he said he could always counsel her. The Titans walked through the portal back to their Earth, appearing on the same spot they'd left five days ago.

"Wow, you guys look awful!"

They all turned their heads to see Kid Flash tilting his head and frowning. Then he pulled out his communicator. "Jinx, Bumblebee, everyone. I found them, they're here. They're okay, just kinda gross and wearing other people's clothes." And then he ran out.

Robin sighed. "Well at least it looks like everything's in order here." He looked at their state and decided Kid Flash had a point, so he turned to Raven. "You think you got one more teleportation in you?"

"Sure. Let me try something different."

She brought her hands together and held two fingers up in the air with her left hand while making circular moves with her right hand. A bright yellow energy portal appeared, making them gasp. It led directly to their ops room, where they could see the Titans East also gasping at the strange portal. Raven walked through being followed by the others and the portal closed behind them.

"What the…" Aqualad's mouth hung open.

"I need a shower. I'll be in my room." The empath said after acknowledging everyone with a quick nod.

"Wait! Since when do you do that?" Jinx narrowed her eyes. This portal looked very different from Raven's usual magic.

"Oh, that?" Raven glanced over her shoulder before disappearing into the hallway. "I learned some new tricks."

Well we're finally back to Jump City! I'll try publishing one more chapter for you this week, but then I'm taking a few days off because I'm going on a surf trip this weekend! I'll be back next week though :)

Dusk Till Dawn (ZAYN, Sia)