PSI-Triforce: LMAO I'm SORRY I do like being unpredictable, but I never meant to traumatize you lol! Also, of COURSE YOU'RE SMART DUDE! And THANK YOU! XD
TheAlienHeart: THANK YOOOU! XD
A315: THANKS THANKS THANKS! Also ME TOO I DESPISE HIM! Hehe I can't wait for them either, we're so close...
TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne: Oh YES I agree it would! But noo, not if Raven (and Gar) can help it! xD Thanks for reading! xD
I can't believe there's only 5 chapters left aaaaahh! Happy reading xD
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
Something quite unsettling woke Raven up at four in the morning. A disturbance in the Force, Gar would call it. She was warm and comfortable in his arms when she sensed wicked auras nearby. Slightly familiar, twisted, treacherous auras.
Her eyes shot open and widened. "Oh, no."
Garfield woke up from blissful sleep when Raven swiftly moved to sit up. He grumbled at the sudden loss of contact. "Come back here…"
Then his own instincts set off an internal alarm. They heard Krypto barking in the ops room. Salem was gone, probably hiding somewhere.
"I need to check something." Raven announced in a worried voice, already floating towards the door in a silky black nightgown.
"Wait!" The Changeling sat up straight and hurried to at least put on some pants and follow her. She was more pregnant than ever and he didn't want her to go barging in on whatever this was alone. "I'll come with you!"
Raven slowed her pace slightly so he could catch up, but she didn't stop. When Gar ran into the ops room after her, he stopped dead in his tracks at the sight. There were six demonic-looking creatures standing there. Well, one of them was lying on the couch and one was eating everything in their fridge, but the others were just standing there. They all had four glowing red eyes on their faces and his heart nearly stopped at the realization. Raven was frozen in place with an incredulous frown plastered on her own ashen face. Krypto was slightly calmer now that they were there and he could hear the other heroes getting up because of all his barking. He proudly flew over to the Changeling's side.
"Ah…your brothers, I assume?" Gar walked up to them, getting ready to jump in front of her and protect his family should he need to, because these guys didn't look friendly. Still, Raven wasn't in a defensive stance, so she probably didn't sense hostility from them.
"Hey there, two eyes." One of the demons greeted mischievously. He had an abnormally long face, long wavy black hair, and sharp teeth.
Raven sighed tiredly and placed her hands on her hips. "What are you doing here?"
Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Cyborg and Superboy stepped into the ops room and immediately stopped, glancing back and forth between Raven and the demonic-looking figures with quizzical, questioning looks.
"We're here to meet our little nephews, of course." Another demon smirked, smiling greedily at her belly. This one was in formal wear, complete with suit and tie, and had a square, strong jaw and short hair. "Good job continuing the bloodline, by the way." He glanced at Garfield. "It seems you found the one creature who could assist you with that."
Raven just glared at him. "If you think I'll let you anywhere near-"
"Now, dear sister." The one on the couch mumbled. He was thin and had long, straight hair and pointy ears. "Can we skip the part where you try to get us to leave?"
Raven rolled her eyes. Sloth had a point. She didn't have the energy for this and didn't want her team to risk their lives fighting her brothers. "Titans, meet the Sons of Trigon."
The Titans standing by the ops room's entrance had figured out who they were already, but the heroes were still too shocked and confused to respond.
"Nice to meet you." The one in a suit said politely, but still wickedly. "I'm James."
"Greed. That's Greed." Raven corrected, floating towards the kitchen to keep Gluttony from eating everything they had and make herself some tea to clear her thoughts.
Starfire, Bumblebee, Miss Martian, Robin and Ravager joined the other Titans and watched the scene in front of them with curious eyes and morbid interest.
"What is this?" Kory whispered to Donna.
"Raven's brothers." Wonder Girl answered through another whisper.
"Now, that's not very nice." James addressed Raven, faking outrage. "You get to use a real name, don't you? I don't see people going around calling you Pride."
"That's because she thinks she deserves special treatment." The one with a long face stated bitterly. "Ain't that so, Raven? You think you're somuch better than us, don't you?"
Raven calmly sipped her tea and leaned against the wall, raising an eyebrow at her friends. "And that's Envy."
They let out intrigued ohhhhs of comprehension that annoyed Envy to the core.
"The name's Jesse." Envy hissed.
"James? Jesse?" Garfield frowned, mostly recovered from his shock now and finding his wit again. "I would have expected something more demonic."
Unfortunately, that made all of Trigon's sons intently avert their attention to him. The shapeshifter suddenly felt his palms sweat and his breath catch in his throat.
"So you're the one who knocked up our sister, huh?" Another demon said in a low, lascivious voice. This one was rather attractive, despite the four red eyes on his face. His body was lean and muscular. He looked the Changeling up and down and smirked, knowingly making Garfield absolutely uncomfortable. "Interesting."
The shapeshifter suddenly became very aware of the fact that he was shirtless and resisted the urge to cover his body with his arms, because that would probably amuse this…guy? …even further.
"Let me guess." Cyborg said, pointing at the attractive demon. "That's Lust?"
"Jacob." Lust clarified, still smiling mischievously at the shapeshifter.
The Changeling swallowed dryly, realizing Lust's hungry stare might be making him uneasy, but it wasn't nearly as menacing as the angry glare from Raven's most monstruous brother – a massive giant made of muscles. "I-I, uh…" He stretched out his hand, unsure of what else to do under their amused gazes. "Well, I love your sister." He cleared his throat. "Nice to meet y-"
"You don't need to impress them, Gar." Raven said pointedly, lowering his arm before Lust could shake his hand. "They're awful."
Gar sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck while her half-brothers either scoffed in disdain or grinned wider. Right, duh. And then he heard a low growl and realized one of them wasn't grinning or scoffing. The monstruous one was still fuming.
"Cool down, Wrath." Raven practically ordered, actually interfering and bringing him into a calmer state. Her brothers could all manipulate their own sin in others, but she could manipulate all sins, in all of them. One of the perks of being the firstborn.
"Again, he has a name…" Greed pointed out in a cool voice. "It's Jared."
Raven rolled her eyes. "Excuse me if I want my friends to know exactly what kind of problem each of you represents."
Nightwing finally recovered enough to react. "Okay…so…" He pointed at James in his suit. "Greed." Then at Jesse with his long, wavy hair. "Envy." Jared, the menacing pile of muscles in the back. "Wrath." Jacob, his lean body, full lips and high cheekbones. "Lust." And the one still lying on the couch. "Um…Sloth?"
"Jack." Sloth said lazily. "But whatever."
Richard shook his head, an incredulous frown still plastered on his face, and turned to Raven's larger brother, who had found his way back into the kitchen. "Gluttony, right?"
Raven nodded.
All their eyes landed on the creature devouring food by the counter, expectantly waiting for him to correct them like the others. He noticed and shrugged. "You can just call me Gluttony, I don't care."
"This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen and that's saying something. I'm never leaving this tower." Donna Troy whispered to Starfire, who had to suppress a chuckle.
"You know, sis…" James grinned and pointed at her pregnant belly. "That makes you look a lot less menacing."
Gar instinctively took a protective step in her direction, but it wasn't necessary. After having her tea, she felt much more awake and her mind was sharp again. In fact, Salem even felt confident enough to come out of his hiding place and jump onto her shoulder.
"Don't tell me." She stated intently, walking up to her brothers and ignoring James' comment. "You're all here to make sure I deliver, then take my children from me as soon as they are born, use them to free Trigon from my grip – probably by blackmailing me – and get back into dad's good graces?"
The Changeling's face immediately hardened and his muscles tensed up. Well there's no way that's happening.
"I thought you said she wouldn't figure it out." Lust smugly pointed out to Greed.
James crossed his arms over his chest, slightly irritated because she'd just worded his whole plan. "Yeah well what are you gonna do? Kick us out?"
Garfield's eyes narrowed and he rolled his shoulders back, getting ready to attack.
"Tell your boyfriend to relax or we'll make him." Envy said wickedly.
The Changeling suddenly felt his wrath deserting him and being replaced by inappropriate sloth. He tried to fight it, but it just made him nauseated. The sons of Trigon chuckled evilly. And then he felt Raven's hand on his arm and turned to look at her.
"I got you." She whispered, freeing him from their influence.
Garfield exhaled in relief, reclaiming his anger. "Thanks."
She turned to her brothers and glared. "Do that to him again and I'll kill one of you."
Even with the pregnancy and the human eyes, it was intimidating, because they knew it was no empty threat. Her wrath was nearly matching Jared's.
"Hey, you're the one who went and let some mutant freak knock you up, two eyes." Envy said bitterly. "If we do nothing and he eventually gets out…well, you know our father."
"Better than any of you." The empath hissed. "And much better than you know me. I'll never let that happen. You won't lay a finger on my children."
"Yeah well we still have to try, don't we?" Sloth mumbled from the couch. He actually preferred not doing any of this, naturally. It all took an insane amount of energy. But the others were right, Trigon would resent them profoundly if they didn't try. Their sister would finally have a very vulnerable weak spot in the form of babies. It was their duty to take advantage of that. "Why don't you just join us? It'd be much easier. Dad would take you back, he's like, obsessed with you."
"Who isn't?" Envy muttered resentfully under his breath.
Greed rolled his eyes. "Forget it, she'll never join us. She has no ambition."
Nightwing had approached Raven and Gar, because now the empath had her eyes closed, tiredly rubbing her temples, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Rae?" He whispered, exchanging a concerned look with Garfield. "Do we, uh…fight them?"
She sighed loudly and opened her eyes, addressing her brothers. Why do the most embarrassing things always happen to me? Is it punishment for the Pride thing? Because I didn't choose that. "Will you give us a minute?"
"Sure, we'll have plenty of time to catch up." Gluttony said with his mouth full of food. "You still have, like, three to four months left, don't you?"
Raven rolled her eyes and gestured towards the exit. That's surprisingly accurate actually. "None of your business."
They grinned, shrugged and left the room until she could no longer sense their presence.
The empath turned to her friends as they crowded around her with equal parts of desperation and curiosity in their eyes. "I don't want you to engage against them. If Wrath alone manipulates you…" She shot her boyfriend a quick glance. "It could lead to disaster. I hate to admit it, but…I'm not strong enough to shield you all right now."
Nightwing nodded. "Right. But still, we can't just let them…"
"…take your babies!" Starfire whispered in an exasperated manner.
"No, we can't." Garfield agreed pointedly.
"They won't do anything until I give birth." Raven pondered calmly. "I'll figure something out until then."
There were a few moments of silence while they nodded slowly and let that sink in.
"What are they, anyway?" Gar frowned at her. "Like, are they half-human like you? 'Cause their eyes…"
"They're half-human, yes. They just decided to follow his footsteps instead of rebelling and becoming superheroes."
The Changeling couldn't help but smile at her.
"Right. So we just…" Dick said unsurely. "…let them stay?"
The Titans stared at Raven with high eyebrows and expectant faces. Garfield bit his lip.
The empath sighed again. "I mean…it might be our safest option for now."
No one disagreed with the logic in that, but as interesting as the whole thing was, no one was looking forward to having the tower once again taken by absolute chaos.
Regardless of that, absolute chaos was installed, as they would find out two days later…
Conner sat next to M'gann by the kitchen counter. "Seems we're never alone anymore."
Miss Martian shot him a coy smile. They had gotten much closer after Darkseid. They were just keeping it in the down low because there was enough excitement going around, Raven's pregnancy had been one scare after the other and Jinx still wasn't okay. "I mean…technically we're still not alone."
She glanced at the only other living being in the ops room and he followed her gaze and chuckled. Silkie was lazily crawling over the couch.
"Right, well, I don't think Silkie would tell on us."
She bit her lip. "You know, Starfire seems to think she can understand that thin- mmph…"
M'gann's line of thought was interrupted by his lips pressing against hers. She immediately kissed him back, softly but passionately, bringing her hands to his muscled back. Conner cupped her face in his hands and tried to pull away, but they were both suddenly taken by an indescribable urge, their desires maximized to a painful peak. They deepened the kiss.
In the back of their minds, they knew they should stop. It was getting heated and someone could walk in on them; this wasn't appropriate. But their reasonable thoughts weren't in control. At the moment they were both being completely ruled exclusively by their need to keep touching each other. They stood up so more of their bodies could touch. Their minds got hazy and while they thought about moving to a private room, that would require them to stop touching each other.
Conner harshly pushed her against the wall, digging a hole in it. The loud sound from large pieces of the wall crashing to the floor made Krypto fly in and watch them in confusion for a second then start barking to get the others. They hardly noticed, because their surroundings were all a blur right now. They clumsily continued kissing and stumbling across the kitchen until they fell over the counter, destroying it and lying on the wrecks on the floor.
"Mmm sorry." Conner mumbled against her neck, trying to clear his mind. He didn't mean to be this rough. He certainly didn't mean to ruin the furniture. It was a good thing M'gann was invulnerable, because he wasn't doing a good job at controlling himself.
"No it's fine, just don't stop touching me." She whispered, desperately tangling her fingers in his hair.
Nightwing and Cyborg ran in first, closely followed by the others – except for Raven and Gar, who were meditating on the roof. Dick and Victor gasped in shock and covered their eyes, turning around and pushing the others, trying to spare them from the same sight.
"Shit. Guys, what the fuck?!" Cyborg squeaked.
They didn't seem to listen. At this point the other Titans had seen them and let out outraged sounds of indignation of their own.
"Jeez, get a room!" Rose complained.
"I think this is Lust's doing…" Robin muttered, making the others sigh in realization. "I'll get Raven."
It wasn't necessary, because she had sensed them and Gar had heard them at this point. She teleported them to the middle of the room, raising her hands towards the sweaty couple on the floor, helping them regain control. M'gann immediately made herself invisible when she snapped out of it, being too mortified to face anyone.
"Fuck…" Conner panted as he sat up and held onto his head.
"Jacob, where are you?" Raven snarled.
Lust phased through the wall and grinned innocently. "What?"
"What did I say about manipulating my friends?"
"So we're not allowed to have any fun at all?"
Raven angrily opened her mouth to respond, but the crime alert sounded first. Miss Martian turned visible again, but kept avoiding everyone's eyes.
Nightwing turned to the only hero who seemed to hesitate. "Changeling, are you coming?"
His tone wasn't demanding. He wouldn't give him a hard time for saying no. Gar looked at Raven with a worried frown. She was all better, but he still hated leaving her side.
"I'm okay, Gar." The empath said surely, nodding at him.
"Yeah, dear brother-in-law." Jack mockingly greeted, walking in and stretching, heading for the couch. "We'll watch her." He yawned as he comfortably lay down.
His brothers walked in after him. They were done plotting for the day.
"Yeah we can't let her get hurt with those world conquerors in the oven." James grinned.
"Actually, this is ridiculous." Raven stated. She was sick of them. "I don't need six bodyguards. Some of you should go with them."
Everyone – Titans and sons of Trigon included – stared at her quizzically.
Raven shot all her brothers a fierce look. "Well, you're staying in our home, you might as well help. If any of my friends die, there will be a fight. I can't imagine what dad will have me do to you if it costs him his grandchildren."
There had been a silent mutual understanding between them to avoid confrontation, because it wouldn't benefit any of them. Trigon's sons didn't want to risk Raven being harmed and she didn't want to risk them harming her friends. Coexisting was the path of least resistance for everyone for the time being.
"Well I'm staying." Sloth pointed out from the couch.
"Me too." Gluttony said, heading for the kitchen. "Hey, who destroyed the counter?"
"What a surprise." Greed said, folding his arms and rolling his eyes. "And you can thank Jacob for that." He turned to Raven and raised an eyebrow.
She huffed quietly. "Look, just leave Jared here and I'll be fine."
Wrath growled menacingly under his breath and nodded to let them know he was more than ready to stop whatever broke into this tower after her. It was very convincing.
"Robin and Ravager shouldn't be spending this much time around him anyway." Raven added, glancing at her massive brother.
Damian and Rose rolled their eyes, but if they were being completely honest, they did feel extra angry after staying in the same room as him.
"Okay, fine." Garfield gave Raven's cheek a peck, ignored her brothers' teasing, and ran to the Titans' side along with James, Jesse and Jacob – as in Greed, Envy and Lust.
The empath sighed heavily when they left. She was tired of not being able to go with them. In the last five to six months bringing Gar's consciousness back had been the only heroic thing she'd done and it was getting on her nerves. Sure, taking care of herself right now was a noble job of its own, but it wasn't quite as exhilarating as fighting the Dark Phoenix, banishing Slade, cursing Lex Luthor, absorbing Eclipso or even terrifying minor villains.
"You need to learn to relax…" Sloth said, sensing her uneasiness.
Raven rolled her eyes and turned away from him, only to frown at Gluttony grinning at her while he devoured her stock of strawberries. She had been eating a lot more now that she was carrying twins and Gar always made sure to satisfy all her cravings – strawberries being the most common. But ever since her brothers came in, they'd run out of them all the freaking time.
"What?" Gluttony asked with his mouth full, pushing her a small plate with five strawberries on it – while keeping an enormous bowl to himself. "Here, have some."
The empath grimaced. "Thanks, I've lost my appetite." She stood up to go find a good book to distract her or meditate some more, but Wrath got in front of her. She placed her hands on her hips and looked up at him. "What?"
"You can't be alone."
Raven rolled her eyes again. For someone who enjoyed solitude as much as her, her current condition was extremely aggravating. He was right, though. Most villains would love to get their hands on her right now – each with its own nefarious purpose. "Fine. Come with me, then."
Jared was a little confused at first, but followed her as she floated to the roof. She hovered in the air in a lotus stance to meditate and he sat down and watched her quietly. Truthfully, just being around Raven made him a little calmer. He was a deranged monster most of the time and it could be quite exhausting. She had a lot of wrath herself, but she had managed to tame hers somehow and was mostly a pacifist. Her aura was soothing.
Meanwhile, the Titans enjoyed the praise from civilians as they clapped in awe at how quickly the superheroes handled Mad Mod and his new minions. Once the public dispersed, however, they eyed each other in a rather bitter way.
"What?" Cyborg asked Nightwing. "What are you staring at?"
"Nothing…" Dick muttered, feeling unusually jealous of his teammate's technological enhancements and easy social skills.
Damian scoffed, rolling his eyes and folding his arms, making his brother shoot him a questioning look. He wasn't sure why he did it, he was just annoyed at him.
"Yeah, right." Victor said, frowning.
"Maybe I was staring because you hogged all the attention." Richard found himself blurting out before he could stop himself.
"Oh, that's rich." Damian chuckled. "This coming from Boy Wonder."
"Yeah, some of us aren't perfect and need to actually be nice, you know?" Cyborg narrowed his eyes at their leader.
"Perfect, me?!" Nightwing asked in outrage. "Oh, no, no. I'm sure no one even notices I'm here anymore with freaking Superboy around."
They all turned to Conner at once with hostile looks on their faces.
Superboy huffed and joined their petty discussion.
"What's going on?" Bumblebee frowned.
"Like you don't know." Ravager spat out. "Aren't you all smart and stuff?"
Karen scowled. "I'm not the damn mind-reader!"
They both looked at Miss Martian. Rose folded her arms. "Yeah, how about letting other people do their job, huh?"
"Yeah, you just got here." Karen stated pointedly, narrowing her eyes.
M'gann gasped. "Me? No matter what I do, people like Rose better because she's cool."
Bumblebee glanced at Ravager and huffed. "She's right, you know?"
"What is happening?" Donna Troy asked, feeling slightly bitter towards Starfire for some unknown reason, but fighting against it.
Garfield and Koriand'r weren't as affected. The Changeling had experienced these feelings before, too many times and for too long, and spent too much time figuring them out and working through them to let them get a hold of him again. And Kory was very in touch with her emotions and these were very unusual feelings for her. They exchanged a look in mutual understanding then turned to Jesse. He had a wicked grin plastered on his face.
"Guys!" Starfire shouted, interrupting the boys' argument – and actually pushing Conner away from Dick – while Garfield got between the girls and directed their attention to the Tamaranean as well. "Don't be dumb. Look!" She pointed at Raven's amused brother. "That's Envy right there. HE'S doing this to us."
The Titans grunted in annoyance while Jesse smirked smugly and James and Jacob laughed. They had been helpful minutes ago, but they couldn't resist messing with people.
Before anyone could start apologizing for something that wasn't really their fault, Nightwing glared at Jesse. "I should have known."
"Yes, you should." Envy nodded then rolled his eyes at the heroes' outraged expressions. "Oh, what are you gonna do? Tell on me to my sister?"
"Exactly." Garfield answered firmly before Dick could, folding his arms.
James walked up to him and put an arm around his shoulders, grinning at him. "Seriously, man? We're practically family. By the way, how did you manage to drill through that thick wall of Pride, huh? What are you, some demon whisperer?"
Jacob and Jesse shared a nearly hysterical giggle and approached them, because they were quite curious about this too.
But Garfield just pushed Greed's arm away. "Get your hands off me."
"Oh, c'mon, that's not what you said to our sister." Lust teased, bursting into laughter along with his brothers this time.
The Titans sighed tiredly and the Changeling rubbed his temples.
"The sooner these guys leave the better." Dick grumbled under his breath, getting an emphatic nod from Cyborg and Wonder Girl, one on each side of him.
Raven looked up from the pages of her book – which she was reading on the floor since Sloth kept hogging the couch – when her friends returned, and smiled at the sight. None of them were even injured. They did seem slightly annoyed, but that was probably her brothers' fault. "So?"
"It ended a lot faster once Miss Martian here read Mad Mod's mind and saw all his plans." Damian stated, discreetly reaching out to hold Rose's hand.
Raven's soft smile got a little wider as she looked at M'gann, who was a bit flustered at all the praises. "Thank Azar we have someone else who can do that now. I actually had to use my soul-self and it's awfully unsettling."
Miss Martian beamed at her.
"You're amazing." Conner said lovingly.
M'gann immediately turned to him, her cheeks flushing rapidly. "Ah…thanks."
"By the way…" Nightwing said in an amused voice, raising an eyebrow at Superboy and Miss Martian. "I'm happy for you."
"Yeah, we all are!" Bumblebee shouted happily as she opened the fridge to find some food – only to find out it was empty. Thanks, Gluttony.
"Totally, about time." Gar stated breezily, folding his arms and nodding approvingly.
"Yes, fiiinally!" Starfire giggled.
"I already knew." Raven shrugged nonchalantly, going back to her book as Garfield sat down next to her and planted kisses on her shoulder. "But I'm happy for you too."
M'gann blushed even deeper and Conner smiled in an uncharacteristically coy way.
"Ah…thanks."
"We're not as happy for you, cause, you know…we don't know you." Jack said languidly.
Jesse grinned. "Yeah and also we don't really care."
"But, hey…" James raised a can of beer. "Cheers."
The heroes rolled their eyes, but Conner and M'gann just smiled at each other. Even these Deadly Sins half-demons couldn't upset them now.
Days passed by and Raven found herself struggling more and more to do simple tasks. Her motherly instincts were wide awake, but a part of her still hated this part. Gar loved every second, though. He'd help her find a comfortable position every night and sleep with a loving hand over her stomach, gently caressing it. He'd get up early to make her waffles and tea. He'd pick up his ukulele and sing to her until she stopped worrying so much and he'd try harder than ever to make her laugh, because this pregnancy put her through a lot.
"Hello my ray of moonlight." He pulled her hood down to peck her cheek while she read on the couch – since she'd found her way to it before Sloth did for once. She frowned and blushed and he grinned, handing her a bowl of strawberries. "Did ya order these?"
Raven gasped and immediately picked up the bowl. "Oh my Azar, thank you."
Gar hopped over the back of the couch and sat next to her, watching her with a breezy smile. "Still can't believe you're having my babies."
The empath nodded while she bit on a strawberry and hummed in satisfaction. She swallowed before answering in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Honestly, me neither."
He faked outrage. "Hey!"
Raven tried not to smile at her goofy boyfriend, but it simply wasn't possible. "What? You didn't see this coming either. If someone told you this would happen years ago, you would have shivered in disgust."
The Changeling frowned. "No, I wouldn't. Maybe in fear. Never in disgust."
"Okay, love." She shrugged, knowingly teasing him. "Whatever you say."
"I wouldn't! I would have thought I was being pranked. But…you?" He smirked, teasing her right back. "You would be totally repulsed at the idea."
"Would not."
"Would so!"
"Hey, you're the one who called me creepy." She calmly had another strawberry, fighting back an amused smile. This is still fun.
Gar's voice rose to a squeaky, nearly desperate tone. "I said I'm sorry about that a million times, I was an idiot! But I wasn't repulsed, I just wanted your attention!"
"I'm not upset, love, I'm just saying." She gave another nonchalant shrug.
Gar huffed and playfully folded his arms. Two can play this game… "Hey, you're the one who asked if I had a brain and said no girl would ever want me. If anyone would shiver in disgust it would be you!"
Raven's brows furrowed in confusion. "Okay, I'll apologize for the brain joke." She smirked. "You always had a brain; you just didn't always choose to use it."
He gasped loudly again. Oh, she's good. Kiss her. No, wait. Not yet. "Hey!"
She chuckled cutely and he cracked, chuckling too.
"But I never said no girl would ever want you, you imagined that one."
"Sure you did. In Tokyo!"
She frowned in confusion again. "No, I didn't."
"Okay, maybe you didn't." He admitted. "But you totally implied it."
"When?"
Garfield narrowed his eyes and folded his arms again. "You said my skin is green, and my ears are pointy and I have fangs."
"Those are all facts, love."
"Riiight but…it…there was context!" He claimed. Teasing her was more fun when he got her worked up, not the other way around. "I mean, I was talking about getting girls with a stain on my shirt and you were like, are you really worried about the shirt?!"
"Well maybe I was just trying to spare you from possible heartache and disappointment." She had another strawberry. "Maybe I was worried about you."
The shapeshifter sat back down – because he had practically stood up on the couch. "Oh. Well I thought you thought I was hideous!"
Raven rolled her eyes. "Like you cared what I thought."
He narrowed his eyes again and leaned forward. "I cared more than you knew."
"Well you got two babies in me Garfield, so I'd say you're pretty much avenged." The empath said casually, pointing at her belly. "I obviously don't think you're hideous."
He fought back laughter, but he couldn't keep a cheeky grin from spreading across his face and his cheeks from flushing. "Ah…that…that wasn't revenge."
Raven chuckled, finally dropping the nonchalant act entirely and reaching out to pull him closer by his arm. "Come here."
Garfield happily scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her.
She looked into his eyes. "I was more irritated than usual and you seemed unable to take anything seriously. I could have been more patient. But, the world isn't always nice and you were so…innocent, so…trusting. I didn't want you to get your heart broken again and…it came out all wrong. I am sorry."
The shapeshifter was taken aback, because he wasn't expecting her to be serious all of a sudden. "Rae, I thought we were just joking around. I'm not actually upset, that was ages ago, we were teenagers. You're carrying my babies, for the Red's sake! You're the love of my life. So, like, I'm totally over all of that!"
"No, I know." She gently stroked his hair and cheek. "It's just that I did kinda owe you an apology for that. I could sense you forgave me without one back then, so I left it alone. I'm sorry, I never thought you were hideous. And yes, I realize trying to protect you from mean girls by being mean to you was a bad method. And completely unnecessary since every girl we met there was part of your fan club. The irony did not go unnoticed to me, trust me." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, now I'm ridiculously in love with you, so there's that."
That brought a blissful, toothy grin to his face. The whole thing tugged at his heartstrings. He didn't need an apology from her, but he appreciated it anyway, especially when she touched him and looked at him like this while doing it. "You're ridiculously in love with me?"
"You know I am." She shrugged again, going back to her strawberries.
"Well I'm ridiculously in love with you." He said breezily, nuzzling her bare shoulder.
"You better be. Do you have to train today?"
"If I don't want Nightwing to fire me." Garfield chuckled against her skin.
"He wouldn't."
He lifted his head and analyzed her face. "You want me to stay? I'll stay, just say the word. Though I do need to check on the Red."
"I mean…what I really want is to train with you."
The Changeling chuckled again. "Well that's gonna have to wait a while, love."
She grunted in frustration and leaned her head on the back of the couch, staring at the ceiling.
"What is it?"
"I just…I feel useless."
Garfield gasped. "Are you insane?!" He waited for her to tiredly avert her gaze to him and took her hand, looking her straight in the eyes with utter devotion. "Rae, you're carrying life. You're the furthest thing from useless."
There was so much sincerity in it, it instantly made her feel a little better. She bit her lip.
"Tell you what." The shapeshifter stood up and stretched. "I'll go take care of the Animal Realm real quick and then I'll spend the rest of my day with you, okay? Okay."
She opened her mouth to tell him that wasn't necessary, but decided against it. Truthfully, she did want him around.
"Cy?" Gar raised an eyebrow at his robotic best friend. "I gotta go to the Red. Can you-"
"I'll watch her!" Victor said quickly, heading for the couch. He'd been dying for a chance to redeem to them for the last time he watched her. "You got it, dude. Don't worry."
The Changeling nodded at him and leaned down to give her one more sweet kiss.
"I miss going there with you…" Raven whispered.
"I miss taking you with me." He whispered back. "But it's only temporary, love. And this way I can surprise you when you can go again. I'm connecting more easily to more life forms each time. You'll love it."
They had mutually decided it was better for her to not visit the Red until she delivered, because dimension-traveling wasn't all that safe.
Raven sighed and squeezed his hand. "I know. Be careful, please."
"Always." Gar said breezily, walking away and only letting go of her hand when holding it was no longer possible.
Her arm fell flat on the couch and she watched him leave. When she turned around again, Cyborg was way too close and too intense. It startled her. "Oh, Azar!"
"Are you okay?!"
"Cy, relax." She uselessly tried to push him away before deciding to move a bit to the side herself instead. "I'm fine."
"Last time you said that you weren't fine."
"Right. That's fair."
"I'm not letting anything bad happen this time."
Raven sighed, glancing over at the ops room's entrance where Gar had disappeared.
"Do you worry about him?"
"Mm?" She turned at the half-robot's voice.
"BB." Victor clarified. "Do you worry about him spreading himself too thin between all those animals and worlds?"
Raven took a deep breath, feeling her heart tighten a bit. "Of course I do. But…he'd never refuse them. And he can handle it. He was made for it. All I can do is support him."
Cyborg smiled at her. "You two are stronger than ever, huh?"
The empath just smiled back and confirmation was all over her face.
"By the way, it's time for another ultrasound."
Later that day, the Changeling and Raven once again waited as Cyborg rolled the transducer over Raven's belly. As usual, Raven was a bit distracted while Gar excitedly held her hand and stared at the screen.
"Let's do this fast before my brothers find out. I don't want them looking at my children, even if it's just an ultrasound." Raven stated, staring at the ceiling.
"There they are!"
The Changeling let out an emotional squeal and choked up. Raven calmly turned her head to glance at the blurred images, but this time, she gasped softly. This time was different. This time, she could actually see them. Clearly. Her babies, their big heads and little feet and tiny hands. Her eyes filled with tears and the power went out.
"…sorry." She whispered in the dark.
Garfield chuckled breezily and leaned down to give her an extremely sweet kiss, being perfectly able to see her emotional face in the dark. "Don't worry about it, love."
"Yeah." Cyborg smiled fondly. "Let me get the power back on so we can do another one and I'll take a picture for you."
Raven smiled against Gar's lips. He was right. They're perfect. "Okay. I'd like that."
A few days later, Nightwing opened their fridge to make himself some eggs for breakfast and frowned. "We're out of food again?!"
Raven sighed tiredly from the kitchen counter. "…Gluttony." The Titan leader straightened up and she shot him an apologetic look. "I'd conjure some, but…to be honest this whole thing has taken a toll on me." She pointed at her huge belly. "They keep getting stronger and I can sense them more intensely and…it's been harder just to stay in control."
Dick shook his head. "No, Rae, don't apologize, I'd never expect you to-"
"It's just that I know having them here is a lot for everyone." She rested her elbows on the counter and rubbed her temples.
Richard tilted his head. "Well, yeah, but…no one blames you. I'm just worried about you."
I'm worried about me too. She opened her mouth to reassure him she would be fine, but the ops room was suddenly taken by loud conversations, confusion, heated discussions and barking as the others barged in, arguing with her brothers.
Dick bit his lip and watched her with concern as she closed her eyes and furrowed her brows in distress. He decisively turned to the others. "Guys, stop this."
Richard approached his teammates, because no one seemed to listen to him. Raven tried taking deep breaths. She couldn't even tell if her brothers were manipulating her friends anymore, all she knew was the excessive emotions and hostility were making her mind hazy and she thought for sure it was making her babies distraught. So, she made a bold and reckless choice. She teleported to the roof for some solitude, air, peace and quiet. It would only be for a few minutes; she just needed to meditate for a little while. And there was no way any villains would-
"Alone at last."
Raven turned around at once at the familiar, but strangely vicious voice. It was Jinx. But there was something…off. She didn't just sound different. She looked different. And she felt different. Resentful. Troubled. Suspicious. And she was staring at Raven's abdomen in a rather hostile manner. She hadn't been okay since they fought Darkseid again, but now it seemed like she'd completely spiraled out of control.
The empath instinctively brought a hand to her belly. "Jinx. What's wrong?"
The enchantress let out a wicked and broken chuckle. "As if you didn't know! See, you always knew! But me, I figured it out now! Yeah, I finally see it!"
Raven frowned worriedly. Even with her powers falling short and the physical distance between them, she could tell Jinx's mind was shattered. "Listen…let's just go downstairs. Then we can-"
"NO!" Jinx shouted, immediately shooting a misfortune blast at the empath so she wouldn't teleport or phase through the roof. "Don't you DARE leave!"
The bad luck magic made Raven fall to her knees and squeeze her eyes shut as she got a painful contraction. "Jinx, please stop."
"I CAN'T stop, I have to save the world! I know everything, Raven. Perfect Raven…" She spat out bitterly. "You get everything, don't you? But I see it all clearly now. You're with HIM. You have been all along."
The empath looked up in confusion. "Him?"
"Darkseid." Jinx's eyes glowed pink. "You and those aberrations you carry, you're all on his side. You've been serving him from the start, haven't you?"
Raven realized she was beyond reasoning and tried to teleport, but a second bad luck blast stopped her. All the exhaustion from having her brothers around and resisting Trigon – even with the curse enhancement the others had cast – while protecting her children and sharing a body with them without losing it was making her lose focus. She tried to detach her soul-self to go call for help, but it couldn't be done. And then Jinx hastily pulled her to her feet. The empath saw tears in her friend's deranged eyes.
"Jinx, your mind is poisoned." She panted. "Let me help you."
"Shut up!" Jinx sobbed, her eyes glowing pink again as she tightened her grip on Raven's cloak. "Stop trying to confuse me! I have to end this. I have to kill you. All of you."
Meanwhile, Gar had stepped into the ops room after Salem and his instincts urgently interrupted his morning push-ups and he nearly immediately turned around to leave, because he'd walked into a chaotic, distressful mess. Even Krypto was engaged, barking at Jared while Kory tried to hold Superboy back as his anger escalated dangerously fast. But Garfield didn't leave, because his eyes swiftly and promptly scanned the room for her and she was nowhere to be found.
"WHERE is RAVEN?"
It was the angriest anyone had ever heard him sound and it did make the room fall silent. Jared grinned at him, Raven's other brothers raised their eyebrows and his friends just widened their eyes in shock. The Changeling's face was severe and demanding and his words made the Titans' blood run cold, especially when they looked around and didn't see her anywhere.
"Wait..." Conner said. Now that all the yelling stopped and his emotions weren't being manipulated, he could hear whispery voices on the roof. He paid attention to them as the others waited expectantly.
And then his eyes widened. "Oh, fuck."
Krypto seemed to hear it too, because he flew towards the roof in super-speed. Gar didn't wait for an explanation, turning into a Kryptonian dog and following, along with Superboy.
Jinx had her hands on Raven in a rather aggressive manner, eyes and hands glowing as pink energy entered Raven's body, making her writhe in pain. But Raven also had her hands on both sides of Jinx's head now, and they were glowing white. Magical energy surrounded the sorcerers and made it impossible for anyone else to approach them. The other Titans got there just a few short seconds after the speedsters and gasped in shock and worry at the sight.
"What's happening?!" Nightwing asked, raising an arm to his face, because the wind from their magical battle was growing stronger.
"Jinx thinks Raven is siding with Darkseid. She's out of control. She wants to kill her." Conner answered in a serious, slightly desperate voice.
Everyone was in agony – even the sons of Trigon, because letting her get killed was not the plan – but Gar, Gar felt his whole world turn upside down once again. He tried to get to them by turning into small creatures, strong creatures, magical creatures, but the pink and dark mist kept pushing him away. He tried shouting to tell her to let him through but she didn't seem to hear him. Despair filled his chest and weakened his knees. The only thing that kept him sane was the fact that Raven's eyes were glowing white now too, and she wasn't writhing anymore. She had a fierce, determined frown on her forehead.
"C'mon, love, c'mon…" He whispered pleadingly. "You got this…"
The wind slowly ceased. The sorcerers' eyes and hands stopped glowing. And they both fell to the ground. Raven held onto her belly with one hand and urgently shook Jinx's body with the other while she panted, trying to catch her breath. "Jinx?"
"Love?!" Gar cradled the empath's face in his hands, kneeling next to her and searching for signs of distress or injuries, making her look away from the enchantress.
Raven realized her friends were crowded around them and Cyborg was tending to Jinx as she woke up while he called Kid Flash, so she gave Gar her full attention. His eyes were watery and pained. Fear and concern were pouring out of him. She placed one hand over his left hand on her cheek. "I'm okay…"
He glanced at her pregnancy, his eyes still frightened and urgent.
"They're okay too." She whispered soothingly.
The shapeshifter looked up at her tired, but peaceful face and sobbed in relief, pulling her into a tight and careful hug. "Why would you come up here alone?!"
"I'm sorry." Raven said, stroking his hair. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I just wanted some peace and quiet."
The Changeling sniffled, buried his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply. She's okay. They're okay. Everything is okay. "Next time just come get me first…"
"Raven?"
They turned their necks at the sound of Jinx's voice. She looked like herself again. She just looked…sad. And regretful. And a little confused.
The empath stared at her intently. "Did it work?"
The enchantress nodded, her eyes filling with tears. "I-"
"JINX!" Wally West shouted as he got there, looking around and trying to make sense of the scene in front of him.
Jinx stared up at him and smiled through the tears. "Hi, babe. I missed you."
The speedster's eyes grew huge, because he hadn't seen her smile since Darkseid. He realized she looked more stable and less confused too and sobbed. "What happened?"
"I healed her mind." Raven said quietly, standing up with Garfield's help.
The Titans gasped and looked back and forth between the two girls in awe.
Jinx allowed the tears to fall as she shot Raven a grateful look. "Yes, you did."
"It was only right I should find you after you got lost defending me."
Jinx chuckled freely, sobbing slightly at the same time. Before she could say anything else, she was pulled into a tight, desperate hug by Kid Flash. She melted into it, finally being able to enjoy his warmth again.
"How did you manage to do that?" Nightwing asked Raven through a smile. "I thought your powers weren't responding as well."
She brought both her hands to her large stomach, glanced at it then back up at her friends. "I had a little help."
Their faces lit up in realization – especially Garfield's.
Wally looked at Raven over Jinx's shoulder, with teary eyes. "Thank you."
The Titans cried, cheered and celebrated in awe. Raven's brothers shrugged and mocked the sentiment, but were still rather relieved their sister and her offspring were okay, because if someone else killed her and Trigon broke loose without their help, they would just seem incompetent. Gar was busy staring at Raven with a mysterious expression on his face. She glanced at him, sensing he was conflicted, and she frowned, because his face was…strange. It was like he was utterly happy and grieving at the same time.
"What is it?" The empath asked him, holding his hand. "I'm okay, I promise."
"I know." He shook his head, swallowed his tears and smiled at her. "It's nothing."
It wasn't nothing. He was thinking about how much he loved her and how happy he was, and then he thought about the fact that he still hadn't found a way to save her soul.
So later, he reached out to Radiant one more time. Gar dropped to his knees and bowed his head as soon as her light appeared before him. "I'm sorry to call you again."
The Spirit of Mercy watched him with kind eyes. "I'm here, child."
"I just…" He took an intake of breath to keep his voice from trembling. "I…please help her." It was a whisper, a desperate plea, a refusal to let go of hope. "Please."
"I've told you-"
"I'll do anything." Garfield choked up, unable to hold it in any longer. His whole body shook while he cried, not daring to look up, because as long as he didn't, he could imagine she was being persuaded. "Just, p-please, I…I need to s-save them, I need to. I-"
"Child." Her firm, gentle voice interrupted him. Garfield couldn't quite stop weeping, but he did it more quietly so he could listen to her. Radiant smiled softly. "Look at me."
The Changeling's tortured face looked up. His chest and eyes were burning and his cheeks were soaked with tears. She was smiling slightly, though. He dared to hope for a brief moment.
"I cannot help her, sweet child." Radiant said calmly. She raised a hand to stop him from speaking again. "But you can." Her smile grew warmer when his eyes widened. "You have what you seek."
Garfield frowned and stayed still for several seconds after she vanished, feeling more confused than ever. Wait, what?! "…Huh?"
It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) (R.E.M.)