I'm baaack! Okay so the extrovert in me is very happy I was able to catch some waves this weekend. As BB would say, the water was AWESOME! Now the introvert in me wants to make sure I publish a few more chapters before I go on vacation (because I'll be taking three weeks off then) because I wanna leave you with something sweet/satisfying before I leave :D
Omg and thank you so much for the new favorites/follows and the new reviews! I'm gonna try not to get in my head about disappointing anyone because I really am just shamelessly sharing this as it came to me and I don't wanna overthink it, but I love that you're enjoying it so far! I apologize in advance for every time I break your hearts but I promise to heal it after a while lol
Miskwi that is soooo sweet of you thankou so much! 3
Spider-Menace76 I honestly had so much fun reading your reviews. Awesome guesses too!
LordShel86 first review in almost a decade? Wow what an honor! Yeah, some chapters were definitely harder to write, but my head seemed to think they were necessary hahah. And thank you so much :)
Rewrite the Stars
Nightwing had invited so many young superheroes to train and prepare with them it almost felt like being back in the X-Men mansion. This alien invasion would be huge and they figured they all had a better chance of saving the world if they worked together. It was fun, but it was absolute chaos. Beast Boy loved it. He especially loved how much it distracted him from pining over Raven. Everyone who helped them fight the Brotherhood of Evil was there, and a couple of powerful new allies. And it was different this time. He was different. He was taller, stronger, faster, better. And he was getting a lot more attention, which he definitely appreciated.
"Do we really need to patrol? Nothing ever happens on Halloween." Conner Kent – as in Superboy – leaned against the wall.
"It's more of an excuse for going out, really." Terra shrugged.
Conner shot her a charming smile. "Ah, I see. Well, in that case..."
"Friend Raven, are you sure you don't want to wear a costume?" Starfire asked expectantly as both she and the empath – who was in her new armored uniform – approached the others.
Raven pulled her hood over her head. She didn't love the chaos and the crowd as much as everyone else. She'd had to keep people from going inside her room three times already. She also asked the Titans to cancel her birthday this year, because she didn't want this many people involved. "I'm going as Trigon's daughter."
"I'm not wearing a costume either." Damian pointed out as he walked past them.
"Hey, Starfire." Conner smirked at the Tamaranean. She had definitely caught his eye.
"Oh hello, Superboy." Kory said politely.
Raven rolled her eyes and began floating away. "Are we going or what? I have a feeling this Halloween won't be as quiet as the others."
Once they were out on the streets, they scattered without going too far. Wonder Girl, Pantha, Terra and Bumblebee were watching and cheering with civilians while Starfire and Supergirl arm-wrestled. Jinx and Cyborg were making out somewhere. Kid Flash and Beast Boy were taking pictures with kids and teenage fangirls and signing autographs. Superboy went around hitting on every single girl available and Damian grumpily sat down on a bench, complaining about something. Most of the others were chilling and having fun at the moment. Nightwing and Raven were on edge for some reason, though.
"Do you have a bad feeling?" Dick asked her.
"Mmm…more like a theory." The empath answered.
The Titan leader raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"Our tower is currently hosting the most powerful young superheroes in the world and could potentially ruin Darkseid's plans. If we know that, they know that. And Cyborg's data has all this secret personal information on us. Not to mention what one could find sneaking around. My power-blockers are in my room, for one thing. I don't know how to destroy those things. I still have no idea how he made those." Raven said calmly. "In any case, we left it all there unsupervised tonight. If you were a villain, where would you be?"
"Right, I thought about that. I asked Cyborg to enhance security." Nightwing crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "I was actually hoping we could catch someone trying to break in. You know, make a trap out of it."
"I thought the same thing. But I used magic."
"What?"
"Our tower is a little bit cursed right now. Don't let anyone go home early."
Richard stared at her in utter disbelief. "You cursed our home without telling me!?"
The empath shrugged nonchalantly. "Just a little."
He opened his mouth to scold her, but he couldn't find it in him. After all she'd gone through, he'd let her get away with nearly anything. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"The oldest of us are in our twenties, these people gossip. If I told someone it would get out and we'd catch nothing."
"You could have told me." Nightwing elbowed her playfully.
Raven rolled her eyes. "I just did."
"So…you and BB have been…different." He said carefully.
She nodded slowly. "Is there a question in there?"
"Is it…over?"
"You were right, it was irresponsible. So, yes. Whatever it was…it's over now."
"I didn't mean to be unsupportive, you know? I was just worried."
"You were right to worry. It messed me up."
"But it isn't fair…"
"Life isn't fair, Dick. We just do our best with our lot."
"I know, but you sh-"
"Someone's in the tower." Raven suddenly stated.
And then Cyborg came rushing in. "Hey dude! The alarm went off!"
"Someone broke in, we know." Richard nodded urgently.
But before he could tell them what to do, Raven frowned at something else and turned her head. "Guys? We have company."
"Okay." Dick said decisively. "Raven, teleport someone to the tower with you an-"
"Not necessary. Whoever is in there isn't going anywhere, trust me." The empath told him confidently. "But what do we do about this?"
They looked around as several villains suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began attacking the distracted heroes.
Nightwing turned to Kid Flash. "Wally, get the kids out of the streets. Now."
"On it." The speedster ran off.
Dick turned around just in time to defend himself as he was attacked. Everyone was attacked. Raven floated into the air and worked on making force-fields where they were needed. She did pay extra attention to Garfield, but he didn't need any help this time. Beast Boy was changing from a T-Rex to a fly and then into the Werebeast at an impressive speed and taking down a whole bunch of enemies. The empath smiled slightly at the sight and focused on keeping the others safe. Blackfire aimed at her, but Kory got in the way.
"Hello, dear sister." Starfire greeted sarcastically. She was so sick of Blackfire.
"Hey sis, did you miss me?" Komand'r spat out cynically.
Kara, help Kory.
Supergirl stopped at once when she heard Raven's voice in her mind as her soul-self reached out to her. She looked around and found the Tamaraneans, immediately flying to Starfire's side.
"What's the plan here, Blackfire? I thought you were waiting for the boss to arrive." Kara asked as she fired at Kory's sister.
"I suppose we should take as many of you down as we can before he gets here." Komand'r answered poisonously before charging at her.
Supergirl's eyes widened slightly when she saw Blackfire's weapon shine a bright green color. She fell down when a direct hit from the Kryptonite wounded her. Starfire caught her and Raven teleported to make a force-field around them.
Donna, they have Kryptonite. Raven spoke into Wonder Girl's mind this time.
Donna Troy quickly found them and fought alongside Starfire while Raven looked around for Conner. Obviously they meant to kill at least the Kryptonians tonight and…and then she saw him. Her breath caught in her throat. Slade. He and Rose were eagerly fighting Nightwing and Robin. Her muscles tensed up at once. Protect your friends first.
"Terra, take care of her. I need to find Superboy." The empath pulled her fellow Titan to Supergirl's side. "She'll be better soon; just don't let Blackfire near her."
Raven appeared in front of Conner Kent to create a force-field just before Dr. Light shot at him. Superboy smugly placed one hand on his hip and rolled his eyes.
"You're a doll, destroyer of worlds, but go where you're needed; I can take care of mys…" Conner trailed off at the realization it was Kryptonite Dr. Light's weapon was shooting.
Raven sent Arthur Light to some far away desert island through a portal and turned around to glare daggers at Superboy. "If you ever call me doll again, you'll wake up with Kryptonite down your throat."
Conner just looked her up and down and smirked. That's kinda hot. "You know…"
I don't have time for this. Raven floated to Starfire and Wonder Girl's side again to fight Blackfire. With Jinx firing her misfortune blasts at her on top of it, Komand'r felt the odds were against her even with all her extra power, so she fled. So did the alien armies that followed her and most of the villains who'd participated in this ambush, realizing they'd have to do better to take these kids down. Raven quickly turned her attention to the Robins. Deathstroke and Rose Wilson were still fighting them in an impressive and exhausting battle of skill.
Slade's sudden scream echoed through the night as he fell hard on the ground, making Nightwing back off. He realized Slade was being contained by dark energy tentacles to the floor. Rose immediately stopped fighting and held her breath and Damian stopped as well, because he wasn't going to attack her with no reason after she'd helped them find Raven.
The empath appeared out of thin air beside them and shot Rose a meaningful look. "Leave."
"Are you gonna fuck him up?" Slade's daughter asked, earning a subtle nod back from Raven.
Deathstroke turned his head to glare at his daughter, but then loud, ferocious roaring got him to turn his head back. A huge green mountain lion glared at Slade. Beast Boy approached him slowly, growling menacingly. Raven shot him a warning glance to remind him Slade was hers and he turned human again, but he still looked furious. Terra joined them, then Starfire and Cyborg did too. Most of the others kept some distance, all expectantly holding their breath.
"Hello, my dear. You look much better than the last time I saw you." Slade said mockingly.
Truth be told, he'd felt his blood run cold when she was rescued. But now he knew she hadn't removed the bracelets for a while and he figured it was because they'd damaged her too badly. He could use that. He could mess with her head.
"I feel much better too." The empath spoke even lower than usual.
Deathstroke smiled evilly. "I heard it took you a while though. What happened? Did I give you nightmares?"
Beast Boy clenched his fists and took a deep breath. You promised her you'd just watch.
"What you did was fail miserably for over eight months." Raven calmly folded her arms. "Do you really think Darkseid is impressed with you?"
Slade glared at her. And then she allowed all the memories to flow back in. The endless torture in his hands. Every whip, every punch, every disdain, every evil laughter, every hungry stare, every mind game, every cut and burn and mockery and every attempt to break and enslave her. And she let him see the pain on her face. She wanted to play with him.
It worked.
Deathstroke smiled wickedly again. "Oh, but you're still scared, aren't you? Or maybe you want to go back. Maybe you were starting to enjoy the pain. Maybe deep down, you know you deserved it."
Raven purposely loosened her grip on his magical restraints and he broke free. She also glued her friends' feet to the floor so they didn't interfere. They frowned in confusion, but only for a second. Slade pulled out his sword. He was very fast, but he was being fooled. She just wanted him to think he'd escaped. Like she had so many times. When Deathstroke was brought to his knees again, he was being held by much stronger energy tentacles. They slowly fed on any positive feeling and memory he'd ever had. His eye widened in fear this time.
Raven's eyes darkened and she leaned forward to stare at him menacingly. "Did you really think you'd escape me now? Did I not warn you to make sure I never got out?"
"You insolent, insubordinate, little brat you won't do anyt-Mmph!"
His lips had been glued together with a quick hand gesture from the sorcerer.
"Enough! You speak when I tell you to speak." Raven looked at Rose. "Leave. Now."
"I'm staying." The younger girl said, defiantly staring down at her father. "By the way, dad." She spat out the last word sarcastically. "I told them where she was."
Deathstroke clearly didn't expect that. He struggled and protested muffled cries in vain, glaring angrily at his daughter. Raven made his head turn towards her again.
The empath was pacing calmly. "You see, Deathstroke. You did give me nightmares. Very well played." Her head suddenly turned to him as her eyes glowed white. "My turn."
Slade felt sharp, blinding pain run through his body and squirmed.
Raven unsealed his lips and smiled. "Oh yes, I'd like to hear you scream."
Deathstroke realized she looked insane again, so he made a desperate move. "Raven if you kill me you'll be like your father! And your friends will hate and fear you! Think about this!"
Raven was completely unfazed and slightly amused. "Oh, who said anything about killing you? I'll do much worse. And I'll be fine. And they would never." Her creepy smile faded away and she rose to the air with her hair and cloak floating around. "There is no more forgiveness."
The dark energy around him twisted causing him vicious pain and he screamed. Her soul-self entered him and saw everything. Every memory, every emotion, every thought. He felt lost and vulnerable in the dark and he was absolutely terrified. Her eyes glowed brighter.
"Allow me to put you in your place for everyone you've ever hurt." Raven's voiced echoed in a sinister way. "This is for Nightwing." Slade screamed again and Richard looked at her with wide eyes. "This is for Beast Boy." Another scream escaped his tortured lips. Beast Boy wasn't watching Slade, though. He was busy intently watching her. "This is for Terra." This time Slade's body fell down, squirming in anguish. Terra had a satisfied smirk on her face. "This is for Rose." He let out his most chilling scream yet. Rose's wide eyes shone vengefully. "Oh." Raven smiled. "And this is for me." She stretched out a glowing hand.
Deathstroke felt himself being pulled into a portal, into nothingness. He glanced at it and looked at her again with wide terrified eyes, because he knew what it was. "No…"
"Have you ever heard of the Phantom Zone, Slade?" Raven asked wickedly. "Eventually, I'll allow you to die. When I feel like it. But as you said to me once, that will take years. Unless I die first or forget about you, then you're set for eternity, I guess."
"Raven NO! WAIT! PLEASE!" Deathstroke desperately tried to hold on to anything that could keep him in this reality, but nothing could save him now. "NOOO…" He was swallowed by the portal on the floor and disappeared entirely.
The portal closed. The wind ceased. Raven's eyes turned violet again. And there was absolute silent for several seconds.
"Well that was brilliant." Damian Wayne was the first to speak.
"Fucking brilliant." Terra agreed.
"What's the Phantom Zone?" Aqualad asked Speedy, who shrugged in confusion from where he was frozen in place.
"Are we sure these are the good guys?" Donna whispered to Kara.
"All right everyone, there's nothing more to see here!" Cyborg chuckled awkwardly. "Just your regular evil dude being banished to another dimension."
Someone went to grab Rose and Raven was about to stop them, but Nightwing beat her to it.
"No, let her go. Rose, our debt to you is paid."
The white-haired girl gave him a quick nod and a smirk and ran out. Damian watched her leave intently.
"Well, that was satisfying." Raven stretched out then sighed and turned to face everyone. "If you don't mind, I'd like to enjoy the rest of Halloween now." She said casually as she walked towards the club.
Nightwing, Beast Boy and Starfire ran after her. Everyone else waited a little while.
"So…that was a little scary, right?" Hotspot finally said.
Jinx smirked. She had absolutely decided to practice with Raven after this. "I guess that's why she goes as herself for Halloween."
"Look, you guys didn't see her when we found her. Trust me, whatever she did to him, he had it coming." Cyborg pointed out.
Terra and Damian agreed emphatically.
"I guess it was scary. But it was also kind of awesome." Bumblebee said.
"I'm sure he deserved it." Pantha nodded.
"I thought it was hot." Conner smirked.
Aqualad nodded slowly, the others rolled their eyes at both of them.
"Think you could get her to teach me that trick?" Jinx whispered to Cyborg.
"So what's the Phantom Zone?" Aqualad asked again, this time to everyone.
Supergirl cleared her throat. "A prison-like interdimensional realm outside the space-time continuum. It's the ultimate punishment purgatory. When the entity Aethyr is asleep, it's nothingness without escape. When he's awake, it's basically living nightmares."
"So…bad." Aqualad concluded.
"Very bad." Kara Danvers nodded.
"Slade is very bad. You don't know the half of it." Terra said pointedly.
No one said anything else for several seconds.
"So…are we going to party or what?" Superboy followed after Raven and the others.
That seemed to break the tension and make people snap out of their funk, as most of them followed his lead.
"Hey Rae, wait up!" Nightwing shouted after her in the crowded club.
The empath turned around calmly to look at Richard and Kory. "Sorry. I wanted to get away from…not everybody understands."
"We know. But Rae, it's okay. It's just us." Dick said kindly.
She smiled at them. "I know. And don't worry, I'll pull him out and send him somewhere less cruel…eventually." She narrowed her eyes in thought. "When I'm completely over what he did to me, then I'll send him somewhere boring."
Richard chuckled and Kory just carefully hugged her.
"Kor, I'm fine. I really am." Raven promised. "I just want to sit here and judge people's costumes for a while."
Starfire rolled her eyes. "You should at least dance with me."
"Not tonight."
"You always say that. Ever since that one karaoke night whe-"
"I'll dance at your wedding. Promise." Raven said, making them both blush.
"I'll hold you to that." Kory said playfully before squeezing her friend's hand in support and heading to the dancefloor to meet the others.
"You should go. Conner is all over her since he got here." Raven raised an eyebrow at Dick.
Nightwing rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I think you're right…are you really okay?"
"Yes. And I know where to find Radion."
Nightwing's eyes widened in shock. "Shit! I'd forgotten about that! You saw that!?"
"I saw everything. But don't worry about that now, go dance with your girlfriend."
Dick smiled gratefully at her and left. As soon as he did, she smirked.
"I know you're here, Gar."
A tiny green fly turned into a sheepish Beast Boy. "Right, uh…I just wanted to check if you were really okay."
Raven turned to face him. "Are you scared of me?"
He looked at her with adoring, sincere eyes. "Not even a little bit."
She gave him a soft smile. "Then I'm really okay."
Garfield beamed. "You destroyed him. It was so cool."
The empath rolled her eyes playfully. "Thanks. Aren't you going to go dance with everyone?"
"But…you're not going."
"No, I'm not going."
He stared at her for a while, hoping she would suddenly change her mind about them. She just watched him with that blank, mysterious expression on her face. If he stayed, he was going to flirt. Or get hurt. He glanced at the dancefloor and the others having fun, even Damian. And then Flamebird smiled and waved at him. He smiled back absentmindedly. It did look fun. And it could definitely distract him from…
"Go."
Raven's voice brought his attention back to her. She looked amused.
"But…"
"Go have fun right now, Garfield Logan." She demanded. "That's an order."
Her tone sent good shivers down his spine. He ignored them and grinned at her. "Okay, okay. Since it's so important to you, I'll go."
Raven watched while Flamebird pulled him close and danced with him. She was definitely attractive. Cute, fun and blond. She made him blush. Then she made him laugh. Raven sat on the couch and smiled sadly. He was the one in the Donnie Darko costume over his uniform this year – Cyborg brought it to him because amazingly enough he had been careful to remove it before the fight so it didn't get ruined – which she thought was an odd choice for him at first but she had to admit he did look cute. This is only going to hurt for a while. Feelings don't last forever. Eventually, it won't hurt anymore. Besides, he's happy.
Raven sighed and turned her attention to the room to notice she had some fans watching her from afar. Teenagers who loved Halloween usually had a soft spot for her. She waved at them and they got a little desperate and tripped over each other when they came close to ask for pictures. Raven signed autographs and praised their costumes then stared stoically at the phones while they took pictures with her. They kept her busy for a while after that, asking a million questions about her demonic heritage, hellish dimensions, witchcraft and sorcery. They were genuinely interested and she answered everything patiently. She really did like Halloween.
Garfield couldn't remember having this much fun since…well, since he got with Raven in that alternate world. This wasn't as fun as that, but still, he felt a little tipsy and he'd been dancing all night. And there were cute girls checking him out. Mostly fans – he'd actually gotten a few numbers tonight. And then there was Flamebird – or Bette, she was definitely flirting with him. This costume really did work. It all felt a little empty, but certainly distracting enough for him to enjoy.
The shapeshifter playfully elbowed Terra once Speedy finally left her side to go talk to Richard on their way home. "Is that a thing now?"
The blonde smiled slightly. "Mmm…maybe. We'll see."
"Well, you look cute together." Beast Boy grinned at her to let her know she would get no awkwardness from him.
"Thanks, BB."
"I actually think that – AHHH!" The shapeshifter jumped behind the blonde when they stepped inside the ops room and he noticed a stealthy figure moving in the shadows.
Terra folded her arms, a little annoyed, but she didn't turn around to glare at him because she'd noticed the figure too. "Who's there?"
"FINALLY!" The figure stepped out of the shadows. It was Red-X. "What the- something is going on here! Every time I try to leave I walk right back into this stupidly-shaped tower of yours!"
As everyone else walked in as well they all gasped at the sight of Red-X and several of their personal items and weapons – not to mention all the files on them – all scattered across the ops room.
"Hello, X. I guess you got caught in Raven's curse." Nightwing smirked at his old frenemy.
Starfire rolled her eyes. "Of course it's you, X."
"Were you stealing from us?" Kid Flash ran from one side to the other, picking up random stuff he'd taken from people's rooms and Cyborg's computer.
"It's what he does best. His whole persona is stolen." Dick folded his arms.
"I thought we were past that, Robin." X said in a friendly tone.
"It's Nightwing."
"I see." X pointed at Damian. "And that's Robin now, yes? See? I'm not the only one recycling your stuff."
The young Robin took a step forward but Kory held him back and addressed their thief. "Tell us who you were collecting these for. Was it Blackfire and the others?"
"I see they failed to eliminate…" Red-X looked around. "Wait, they didn't take any of you down?"
"You've bet on the wrong horse, man." Cyborg frowned. "Besides, you know they're siding with Darkseid, right? Do you want the world to end?"
"Well, if Darkseid is coming it will end anyway, so I'd like to be on the winning side. Besides, Slade was going to pay me a lot of cash for this stuff. You see, as usual, this isn't personal. No hard feelings."
Raven's power-blockers on the floor became encased in dark energy and flew to her hands. She held them up and glared at X. "No hard feelings?"
Red-X turned to her. "Ah, well, you see, I actually wasn't going to give them those."
"Really? Then why are they here?" The empath asked sternly.
X nodded. "Really. I know what they did with those. I was going to tell them I couldn't find them and…well, I was going to keep them."
"For what?" Raven hissed through gritted teeth.
"What do you mean for what? Who knows?" Red-X looked her up and down and smirked. "For if I ever got a chance to use them. I'd be nice though, I promise."
The sorcerer let out a loud and frustrated sigh. "Not you too."
Beast Boy suppressed the urge to grunt loudly in frustration. Can these people stop chasing her?! She'll end up liking one of them. Like Malchior.
Red-X chuckled and pointed at the artefacts in her hands. "Oh, c'mon. You have to admit those things are tempting."
Raven addressed the entire room. "The next person who touches these or even looks at them funny will join Slade in the Phantom Zone." She floated away to her own room as soon as she finished talking. Enough socializing for one day.
"She's kidding, right?" Aqualad asked no one in particular.
"I wouldn't test that theory." Terra answered plainly.
Red-X frowned. "Wait, Slade's what now?"
"Definitely not paying you." Nightwing said through a smile.
"Phantom Zone. He's in the Phantom Zone." Supergirl said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Red-X wasn't less confused. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, S."
"Yeah apparently there's a lot you don't know." Damian pointed out. "Like what the winning side is."
"Yes, well…I have to admit it's a bit discouraging that they couldn't take down a single one of you. And I guess I would prefer it if the world didn't end…" X pondered.
Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Are you changing sides right now?"
"Well, honestly, I didn't think you stood a chance. But maybe…"
"Dude, I'm Superboy." Conner said smugly. "Of course we're gonna win."
Supergirl rolled her eyes.
Red-X stared at them for a second. "I guess I could stay and help out."
Richard narrowed his eyes and whispered to Kory. "Get Raven so she can read him."
She did so quickly. Raven placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes while Red-X explained his reasons once again.
"He's being sincere." Raven said blankly. "But should we reall-"
"Glorious! Now you can tell us all about my sister's weaknesses." Starfire grinned at X. She really did need some inside information on this.
Nightwing gave Raven a look that meant Red-X might be a necessary evil at the moment.
The empath sighed. "Ugh, fine. Just…" She glared dangerously at the intruder. "Don't ever go inside my room again."
The next few days went by quickly. Raven told Nightwing where to find Radion and obviously it was in a top-secret laboratory and getting it would be extremely hard. So Dick, Damian and Red-X were gone for a few days on a mission to retrieve the substance that could win this war. Meanwhile, everyone else had been recruiting, training – and competing with each other in the process – and flirting like a bunch of super-powerful attractive young people crowded in a house would. Raven often found herself taking long walks after detecting other people's lust. Barbara Gordon had joined them and was a little disappointed to find out Dick wasn't there. Starfire felt tense from the moment she got there.
And then there was Beast Boy. He meditated without Raven now, because she had been keeping her distance and it did help him get in touch with the source of his powers – whatever that was. He could control it better and faster now and he started turning into animals from other worlds, which got him a lot of positive attention. He wanted to enjoy it, but he missed her. So Garfield decided to go up to the roof to talk to her.
"Hey, Rae?"
She lowered herself from the floating Lotus stance. "Yes?"
"Can we be close again?"
She turned around to look at his eager face. Azar, I miss it so much. How long does it take for this to get better? "We are close."
The shapeshifter just stared at her as if that was the stupidest thing she had ever said.
The empath looked into his eyes. "Okay, fine. Are you over me?"
Beast Boy stopped dead in his tracks. "I…you know I'm not. You can sense me." He waited until she looked away from him. "Is that what it's gonna take? Isn't it enough to promise not to act on it? You need me to be completely over you now? I can't turn it off that fast."
"I just don't want to lead you on." She said quietly.
"You wouldn't be. My hopes are all successfully crushed, okay? And I'm not over you yet, but I'm working on it. I have a few…options. I just haven't called them yet."
Raven ignored the pain in her chest. "Yes, I noticed."
"Do you think I should go on a date?" Garfield asked her expectantly. He couldn't help but hope she would say no and suddenly realize she couldn't let him go.
"Yes, of course you should. Why wouldn't you?"
Ouch. "Oh. Okay. I wasn't sure…okay, I will."
"Then yes, we can be close. We could meditate together again if you want." She suggested, trying to ignore the fact she could sense he was hurt.
"Yeah, I want that. I do." Beast Boy nodded. "Just…not now." He gave her a small sad smile before leaving to tend to his broken heart.
It was complete agony for her. He went on a date with a party girl called Jill Jackson and she posted a picture on social media. It was a picture of Garfield laughing breezily while she kissed his cheek. When Terra showed it to Raven, her phone literally exploded in her hand. The empath apologized and told her she would buy her a better one if she promised to keep the whole thing between them. Raven didn't like seeing someone else kiss him. She really didn't like it. Who posts something on the FIRST date anyway!? So now here she was, meditating thrice as much once again.
"Hey, Rae? Wanna watch me go against Blue Beetle?" The shapeshifter asked her, doing a decent job at sounding casual.
He asked her to watch him train every day. He'd been doing a lot better and he was proud of it. He still wanted to impress her. She never went, but then again she never watched anyone compete. Raven's training methods involved more sitting and floating for hours or reading magic books. She found the whole competitive vibe the others had going on quite grotesque.
"She doesn't need to watch, she knows who the best one is and it's neither of you." Conner Kent smirked.
Garfield wrinkled his nose. This Superboy thing had been bugging him too. He hit on everyone – well, except Kara, for obvious reasons. But that definitely included Raven. She brushed him off every time, but he wasn't intimidated by her. In fact, it seemed the less she cared about his advances the more interested he got. Beast Boy was starting to worry. It doesn't matter, she doesn't like him. But…she COULD like him. She could like him so much more than she ever liked me. And then maybe she could decide he's worth the risk and…
"I simply don't see the point in watching a barbaric display of testosterone that won't help us one bit." Raven stated pointedly, interrupting Garfield's little panic attack.
The shapeshifter decided to run off before she could sense more embarrassing emotions out of him. "Right. Well, your loss!"
Flamebird did watch him. And she cheered for him. It massaged his ego nicely.
"Kor?" Raven said softly once they were alone in the Tamaranean's room later that day.
"Yes, Rae?"
"Ah…do you know if Gar went out with that girl again? The one with pink hair. Or…do you know how it went? Did he talk to you about it?"
Starfire frowned. "Yeah, he did." She chuckled a little. "He bragged about it to me and Cy."
"Ah." Raven became lost in thoughts. "Tell me. I mean, unless I'm not supposed to know."
"I'm pretty sure he just didn't tell you because of the awkwardness."
"Then tell me. I want to know."
Kory bit her lip, searching for the right words. "Well…he said the date was nice. I think they made out, but that was it. I don't know if he's going out with her again though. But…he also went on a date with Bette."
I knew it. "Flamebird?"
"Yeah."
"Oh. And how was that?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me about that one."
That night Robin, Nightwing and Red-X came back – with Radion. So everyone got drunk and decided to celebrate. Richard and Barbara laughed together like the long-term friends they were, but there was obviously something more there. Starfire didn't really need Raven to confirm her suspicions. The empath frowned worriedly at her alien friend and made a mental note to talk to her about this later. Then she tried reading a book on the couch to avoid watching Beast Boy dance with Bette. She'd had a drink or two and this was a tricky situation.
"Why do you always sit alone on a corner?" Superboy brought her another drink.
Raven quickly dismissed it. "I never have more than two, thanks."
Conner sat down next to her and leaned back on the couch. "Whatever you say. So…is it true about you and the shapeshifter?"
"What have they told you?"
"That you did it in some alternate reality. Twice."
"Then it's true." The empath said bluntly.
Conner chuckled. "Damn. Lucky guy."
Is he? Raven looked up from her book. Garfield was still dancing with Flamebird, but now it wasn't the friendly, silly dancing from before. He had his arms around her waist and she had hers around his neck. Raven took the drink from Conner's hand and downed it in one go. "Conner, I'm not interested. Why don't you go hit on Babs? I think she's in the mood."
Superboy hesitated for a moment. He kind of liked the challenge. But then he glanced at Batgirl who was quite hot and figured Raven had a point. "That's not a bad idea, actually."
Beast Boy had pulled Bette closer and wrapped his arms around her the second he'd seen Raven talking to Conner on the couch. It made his heart drop and he needed to soothe the pain. The shapeshifter had been focusing on the pretty girl in front of him, but then Animals (Neon Trees) started playing and ruined his plans, because it was absolutely impossible not to think of Raven with those lyrics. When the song got to the first chorus, he couldn't resist stealing a glance at her. But then he nearly completely gave himself away at the sight.
Conner wasn't on the couch anymore, but that wasn't what made Beast Boy gasp. It was the fact that Raven was staring directly at him. It wasn't a coincidence their-eyes-accidentally-met kind of thing, because she didn't look away. She had her legs crossed and her arms folded and her eyes were surely, deeply and confidently piercing through him. It wasn't a glare. It was just a long and unapologetic stare. Flamebird almost turned her head to see what had made him all flustered, but then he pulled her real close, as in he hugged her while they danced, which meant she couldn't see his face and he could look at Raven, who didn't even flinch.
When the verses started again, the empath was still silently and intently eating him alive with her eyes and Garfield was deeply flushed and confused with his heart pounding in his chest as he danced with another girl and stared at her. Actually, he couldn't quite sustain it like she did. He kept looking away coyly and then averting his gaze right back to her all the time. This is so wrong. What is she doing? Why is she staring at me? Is it because of this song? Does this mean anything? What is happening!?
Beast Boy excused himself to go get a drink when the second chorus came up and he forced himself to look away from Raven. He felt his face so hot he was certain no one could even tell he was originally green right now. He got himself a drink and went back to Bette while staring at the floor. And then Flamebird hugged him again and danced against him right when the slower verse came up. He kept staring at the floor, but the lyrics were begging him to steal another dangerous glance.
Look up. Look at her. You know you want to. Just look. Beast Boy looked up at Raven and his heart nearly stopped. She was still staring right at him with that same intense, indecipherable look on her face. Am I hallucinating this? Is that a smirk? Is that desire in her eyes? No wait, don't be crazy, of course it's not desire. He wasn't sure why Raven decided to torture him like this but it wasn't helping him get over her. Then nearly at the end of the song, Flamebird suddenly turned his face towards her and kissed him.
Garfield instinctively and half-heartedly kissed her back and then weakly tried to pull away, but she just deepened the kiss. Then he searched his mind for what to do. Raven was watching. But Raven had told him – or rather demanded him – to move on, and this was a step in that direction, right? And she had been talking to Conner just a few minutes ago. And she ended their…whatever it was. She said they could be friends again as long as he was getting over her, so she definitely didn't want anything more from him.
Beast Boy knew she had her reasons, of course, but he couldn't help but feel like if she really wanted to be with him, they could find a way. She probably just didn't like him that much. She probably just liked him as a friend and liked having sex with him. It was a nice coincidence, but it didn't mean she felt about him the way he felt about her. Well, duh. Of course she doesn't. I mean, as if she would love me. She's a Goddess and I…I make jokes. He hugged Bette tighter and kissed her deeper.
And then the entire tower shook. The power went out and the ops room's floor cracked underneath their feet, making everyone scream or jump.
"What was that?" Flamebird asked, holding onto Beast Boy.
That was Raven. Garfield immediately pushed her arms away from his neck and turned into an owl so he could see in the dark. She wasn't on the couch anymore. She was gone. He quickly flew around the tower looking for her. And then he turned into a dog and sniffed her. The shapeshifter finally found her sitting by the rocks outside the tower. He turned human again and cleared his throat.
"Leave me alone." Raven whispered dryly.
"No, I want to know what that was." Beast Boy started walking towards her.
The empath turned her head so he couldn't see her face. "Me too. That was unnecessary."
"Wait, you sound mad. Why are you mad?! What did I do?"
Raven stood up and turned around to glare at him. "You're kidding me, right?"
Garfield raised his voice to an indignant, high-pitched tone. "You're the one who tells me to date people and then stare at me while I'm dancing with someone and then blow up the tow-"
"Okay, Garfield! I got it! I'm so sorry, all right? Azar, I'm doing my best. But you didn't have to do that. You didn't need to suck another girl's face in front of me."
The shapeshifter stopped dead in his tracks. There was silence for a second or two, other than for Raven's annoyed sighs.
Beast Boy frowned. "Wait, are you…jealous?" He spoke the last word quietly, as if he was afraid to even insinuate it.
Raven glared incredulously at him. "Of course I'm jealous, you idiot! What is wrong with you?!"
His eyes widened and he flailed his arms around. "I don't get you! You told me to move on and get over you, it's the only reason I even-"
"Yes well that doesn't mean I want to watch you do it! I mean, how cruel are you?"
That made him stop again. His heart started fluttering involuntarily. She IS jealous. She is…and I hurt her. I…shit. He wasn't sure whether to feel excited or guilty. "I…I didn't mean to…hurt you or anything." Beast Boy said quietly. "I mean, not that I'm implying I hurt you, I jus-"
"I was right there. You saw me looking. You knew I was watching. How cold-blooded do you think I am? Of course you hurt me!" Raven hissed angrily.
Excitement and guilt. Making his stomach turn. Beast Boy stared at her with huge regretful eyes. "I-I…I'm sorry. It's just that…she kissed me!"
"I know."
"What was I supposed to do? Did you want me to push her away and stop it?"
"No."
"Then what did you want me to do!? Just tell me what to do, Raven!"
"I don't know, okay?! I…I don't know." She exhaled loudly and then frowned sadly. "You're right, you didn't do anything wrong. It's fine, forget about it. Just go back inside. I want to stay here." Leave me alone to pine over you in peace, please. Maybe I'll find my dignity's remains smashed on the rocks.
"No, Rae wait…why were you staring at me?" The shapeshifter asked softly.
"You know why."
Heart flutter. Butterflies. Whenever she did something like this he got pulled back in like a hooked fish. "Why would you tell me to move on if that's not what you wanted!?"
"Because it's the right thing to do. It doesn't matter if I like it or not. I want you to be happy, I just…I don't want to see that. Okay?" Raven took a step backwards and gestured for him to stay away from her.
"It does matter if you like it. If you don't like it, I won't do it." He said sincerely.
"Don't be silly. Nothing's changed. We're done. So…go back inside and kiss her again."
"No, I don't want to."
"Fine, then…kiss her, don't kiss her, I don't know, Garfield. Just go away." Raven said coldly.
Heartache. She may be jealous but that doesn't mean she wants me. He felt his eyes well up. "Rae…I…okay. I'm sorry about…I didn't think. It won't happen again."
"No, that…just…if you could avoid doing it in front of me, I'd appreciate that. But I'm sorry about…I really wasn't trying to sabotage you."
"I know." Garfield said quietly.
"But please go back. I want to be alone. It's okay, I just…I want to be alone."
Beast Boy miserably dragged himself and his heavy heart back inside.
Rewrite the Stars (The Greatest Showman)