The room was dead silent. It was as if everyone had fallen under a spell as they stared at what they once thought to be impossible. Cyborg was sitting up on the medical bed looking down at Raven who had fainted from exhaustion.
Robin had his jaw hanging from his head in awe. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"C-Cyborg?" He said cautiously under his breath. It was almost as if he feared speaking any louder would shatter reality.
Cyborg turned his head and locked eyes with Robin. Robins face had a story of disbelief written all over it. He smirked and began to reply to his friend, "yeah it's me. I'm still a little banged up," he said looking down at his exposed power cell, "but I should be able to fix it."
Robin relaxed a little seeing his friend was ok as if nothing had happened, "I'm sorry," he said with a sense of guilt, "I tried to get you repaired as fast as possible but-"
"Don't worry about it, man," Cyborg cut him off, "you did a pretty good job for only going over it with me a few times."
"But how are you... um... still functional?" Starfire said softly with a sense of confusion.
The rest of the room turned their attention to Cyborg. The elephant in the room had been addressed and everyone wanted answers.
"Hey don't ask me," Cyborg said raising his hands defensively, "I don't know what she did... But our girl here brought me back." He gestured towards Raven laying on the ground.
The room now stared at Raven's unconscious position on the floor. They were all extremely surprised that Raven could even do something like this. They didn't know the full extent of her power, but they always knew she had something in her that was laying dormant. Waiting to come bursting out of her to unlock her full potential.
"So then... She will be, ok?" Starfire asked still confused.
Cyborg stood up and walked over to Raven. He scanned her vitals then looked back at the team, "yeah she'll be fine. She just pushed herself a little too hard and fainted."
The team let out a huge sigh of relief. That's the second time the Titans had escaped death in just a few weeks. They seemed to be getting used to it by now.
Robin looked at the rest of his team one by one. Each member locking eyes with him. Everyone was alive. Everyone was in one piece. This was real. They won. They beat an indestructible army with all the odds stacked against them, yet again. The five of them looked back forth at each other. It was surreal. Like they could breathe easy for the first time in months. Terra leaned on to Beastboy where he knelt next to Raven and let out a massive sigh of relief and exhaustion. Everyone followed her lead and began to silently revel in their success and unbelievably good luck at scrapping by with their lives. It seemed as if the Gods themselves weren't ready to take them in yet. It was like a dream. A moment of victory. But how long would it last this time?
The room calmed down and the rest of the Titans began to feel the exhaustion as well. Time had slowly ticked on into the early hours of the next morning.
"Well," Beastboy said softly looking down at Raven, "I'm gonna get her to her room and put her to bed." He morphed into a sasquatch looking creature and picked her up like a bride and began walking out of the medical room.
"I'll help you!" Terra said as she sped up behind him. Beastboy turned to wait for her. As soon as she caught up they head towards Raven's room together.
Cyborg looked at Robin then back down at his exposed core, "I could use a hand putting the rest of me back together," he said with a smile to his leader.
Robin smiled back and gave him a nod. He looked at Starfire who had a twinkle in her eye. She was so happy the joy was radiating off her like a fire. Robin held out his hand to her. She reached out to him and they interlocked their fingers and began walking side by side following Cyborg to his room to finish repairs.
Beastboy and Terra walked into Raven's room. Terra ran over to Raven's bed and pulled the sheets and blanket exposing the soft and inviting bed Raven slept on every night. Beastboy put Raven down in a comfortable position on the velvet sheet that covered her mattress. Once he set her down he shape shift back to his original body and took the sheets and blanket from Terra's helping hand and placed them gently over Raven's shoulders, leaving just her violet hair and beautiful pale face exposed.
Raven moaned softly as a small smile spread across her unconscious face. She hripped the blanket with a tight fist and pulled it under the pale but soft skin under her chin. With a sigh Beastboy looked at Terra who had a giddy look on her face like she knew something he didn't.
"What?" Beastboy said feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Nothing," Terra said teasingly as she began heading for the door, "she deserves a guy like you, is all."
Beastboy chuckled, "what's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you two are perfect for each other," she winked at him and began to leave the room. Beastboy followed behind her before Terra turned around in the doorway blocking his exit, "you should stay," she said encouragingly, "she's gonna want to know what happened. And shes definitely gonna want to see you when she wakes up." She smiled big at him.
"Dude... Last time I went into Raven's room without her knowing, I was teleported into her mind," he said honestly, "I doubt she would want me in here."
"Things change, Beastboy," Terra said with a sense of nostalgia, "you've changed. The Raven you remember... she's changed too." With that, she left and the door slid shut behind her.
Beastboy was taken back to the day he tried to get Terra to come with him from her school. The words echoed in his mind just as she said them the first time at her school. But now... Now they had a different meaning. A positive and encouraging meaning.
Beastboy looked back at Raven's exposed face and perfect hair. He didn't want to leave her, now that he thought about it. He let out a big yawn as the physical and mental stress of the battle began to catch up with him. He approached the bed and morphed into a small household cat. He pounced up on the soft silk like blanket and made several circles in one spot as his feline instincts took over, before stretching his body out as long as he could and curling up in a ball and falling into a deep sleep at the feet of the woman he loved.
Smoke still rose above the city from the embers of extinguished flames. The firefighters and other service men and women worked through the night to save their home from turning to ash. The dawn in the distance was beginning to rise with the promise of a new day and the end of a nightmare. The Tower and a few other buildings were the only ones that seemed untouched from the man made apocalypse that just ravaged the city. The Titans could only hope their actions to stop the massive onslaught would make things right between them and the city.
The sunlight began to peek through the windows of Raven's room. It was early in the morning and everyone hadn't really slept from the night of chaos they just experienced but they were able to at least lay down and shut their eyes for a moment.
Raven was in a deep restless sleep. Her head was pounding and she didn't sleep well in her unconscious state. As the sun continued to glow brighter in her room she groaned and rolled over in her bed. Her eyes cracked open with her vision groggy and the pain in her head wasn't helping. She sat up putting the palm of her right hand on her gemstone, wincing as she closed her eyes tightly, trying to numb the pain. She let out a sigh and put her hand down. When she opened her eyes she nearly jumped when she saw something she wasn't expecting.
An extremely tired green cat was curled up in a ball at the foot of her bed, fast asleep. At first Raven was shocked but as the rest of the night started flooding her mind she remembered who saved her from herself. Who made her feel loved when she needed to feel it most. The pain in her head vanished as a small smile spread across her face.
She reached down to stroke the soft green fur of the hidden beast in front of her but hesitated for a moment... She's never had someone care for her the way he does. She's never even had a real boyfriend.
Is this ok? She asked herself. Will he be mad if I touched him?
This was all brand new to her. She had no idea what to expect or what the rules were. But her heart was screaming at her to do something. ANYTHING to show him she truly appreciated his actions.
She buried her negative thoughts and moved closer, taking the risk she feared so much. Her hand was shaking slightly and she began by stroking his head so gently as to not wake him up. Then stroking the back of his neck, following his spine down to his tail.
The green cat's head immediately woke and spun around to see the woman of his dreams smiling down at him with a warmth he'd never seen before. He leapt off the bed to the floor and changed into himself.
"Raven!" He said, shaking in his boots, "I'm sorry! I-I-I just... Didn't want to leave you alone! Not after everything we went through! I know I shouldn't have been sleeping in your bed but it's just that-"
Raven chuckled and waved a hand to silence him.
"It's ok," she liked this fear she was getting from him. It made her feel powerful but respected. Something she would want from a significant other, "it was... a nice surprise. Seeing you first thing in the morning, I mean." She smiled once more.
Beastboy blushed and put a hand on the back of his head, "so uh... you're... not mad? About last night?"
"Mad?" She asked confused. A rush of panic filled her heart. Her head filled with thoughts that Beastboy wasn't being honest when he talked her down.
"You know..." He hesitated, "that I uh... That we..."
"Kissed?" Raven said finishing for him.
"Well yeah," Beastboy said blushing bright red.
Raven could see her thoughts were betraying her. Beastboy's face held the look of a man at the mercy of a woman. He meant everything he said and did but she had never allowed it from anyone before. No one had ever done anything like that with Raven before. His concerns seemed to have a reasonable purpose behind them.
"No!" Raven said urgently trying to reassure him that she actually wanted that for a while now, "I mean, no. I actually kinda..." She trailed off.
"Kinda... What?" Beastboy said nervously.
"Well... I kinda... might have liked it." Now Raven's face began to blush.
Now the two of them had a hard time looking each other in the eye facing each other with an awkward silence between them and both their faces turned red. A long pause resonated through the room as neither of them knew what to say until finally Beastboy swallowed his nervousness and spoke up.
"So... does that mean... You'll... um..." He paused and looked at her, who in turn looked at him locking eyes as if trying to read each others thoughts, "you know..." Beastboy struggled to continue, "um..." He started getting frustrated with himself and began to wonder why it was so difficult for him to talk to Raven all of a sudden. He put his hand down, opened his mouth and tried to speak but no words came out. It aggravated him even more to the point his fristration began to boil over. "YOU WILL BE MY GIRLFRIEND?!" He shouted as he closed his eyes bracing for the worst. He didn't know how else to say it. He had to force the words out of his mouth and he was worried that he might have blew it in the manner he said it.
Raven's eyes went wide. She didn't expect that. Not this soon. It filled her heart with joy and panic all at the same time. She had no idea how to be a girlfriend. Love was still a relatively new concept to her. She began to think about everything she could do to ruin their relationship. But the more she thought about it... the more she realized... Beastboy didn't have much experience at being a boyfriend either. Maybe they could figure it out together. Maybe they could make it work.
All of her being wanted to say yes at the top of her lungs and yet, she had this lingering doubt in the back of her mind that grew stronger and stronger with each passing second that she thought about it. What if she lost control again like she did last night? Would he be caught in the middle of it again? Would she end up hurting him or worse by accident? The panic began to rush through her and she didn't know what to say.
"I..." Raven began, "I... don't think that's a good idea." The words left her mouth like blades. They sliced across her lips as if damaging herself. She wanted to be with him more than anything but she couldn't risk his life just for her happiness.
Beastboy's heart sank along with his ears. He began to question everything he thought knew and everything his friends had been saying.
"Is it... because of something I did?" Beastboy said with a heavy heart. He was trying to get some clarity.
"No! Absolutely not!" Raven spoke up trying to reassure him, "it's just that... I don't want to hurt you like I did last night. I remember everything."
Raven looked down at her hands. Even when Slades mask was on her she could still see and hear everything going on around her. She could see all the damage she did to him. It was the same with her dark side. When her dark side took control she could still see and hear everything. After all... that was her. She didn't want to risk going through that all over again.
"I'm sorry Beastboy," she said softly as her voice began to crack, "for everything... I just can't put you through that again."
Beastboy understood now. Raven said no not because of him... but because of herself and the power she had to contain within. He walked over to her bed and crawled on to it kneeling down in front of where she sat. He picked up her hands and held them before he spoke to her in the most soothing tone Raven had ever heard from him.
"I'd go through that every day for the rest of my life for you," Beastboy moved one hand to her chin and lift her head so she would look him in the eyes. Her eyes had began to water but it was unclear to him whether they were of joy or sadness or a mixture of both. "Listen Rae, I don't care about the dangers. I don't care about your flaws. I don't care about your past and what people think of you. To me, your perfect the way you are. And I will love every single one of your personalities no matter which one takes control. They are all apart of you. And I love every last bit of you."
Raven blinked a few tears away but a few still managed to fall from her eyes, "even if I'm creepy, and dark, and evil?" She struggled to get out.
"Even if you were the daughter of the devil himself," he said with a warm and inviting smile.
Raven wiped her tears and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in tightly forcing him to fall on top of her as she fell back onto her bed. Beastboy rolled to her right side and wrapped his arms around her waist pulling his body tightly against hers in return. He held her while she softly let tears come pouring out. After a long moment of silence in their passionate embrace, Beastboy tried to break the ice.
"So... is that still a no?" He chuckled.
"No." Raven quickly respond.
"Oh..." Beastboy said in a disappointed tone, "I uh... I understand. We can still be-" Beastboy was cut off as Raven gently nudged him as she pulled away to look him in the eyes.
"No, you idiot," she laughed, "I mean its a yes." She then gripped the back of his neck and pulled him in to her face where their lips connected in a scramble of emotions that lit up both of their worlds like fireworks on the 4th of July.
They shared this moment of passion for an extended amount of time, forcing them to take a deep breath through the nose, fearing the moment would end too soon if they pulled away for a breath of fresh air. When the moment finally ended they gently pulled away from each other and lay still looking into each others eyes. Beastboy looked as if he had bright stars in his eyes while Raven marveled at the way he stared at her.
"Wow," Beastboy said as he ogled Raven's beauty, "what Cyborg said makes a lot of sense now." He chuckled.
Immediately after he said Cyborg's name Raven sat straight up remembering what had happened the night before.
"Cyborg!" She exclaimed, "Is he ok?!"
Beastboy sat up slowly next to her trying not to worry her, "yeah. He's fine. He said it was all thanks to you?" He sounded confused as if probing Raven for answers.
Raven thought back to her memories of him without his mechanical half. The white empty space that surrounded them. Almost like a purgatory before you enter the unknown.
"I'm... not sure..." Raven said honestly, "it's all a blur. I remember speaking to him. The real him. Without his armor. Then I just... couldn't let him go..."
Beastboy smiled at her filled with pride, "come on. Let's go see him." He stood up and took Raven by the hand and led her towards the door.
They made their way into the living area where Cyborg could be seen making breakfast.
"Good morning y'all!" He shouted, happy to be alive, "I think every time we save the world we should celebrate with my famous french toast!" As he finished speaking he set out 6 plates of french toast where all the Titans sat at the table. Robin sat next to Starfire with Terra across from them. Cyborg took the seat next to Starfire as Raven and Beastboy approached the table.
Raven sat next to Terra with Beastboy sitting on Raven's other side. She locked eyes with Terra for a moment as Terra gave her a big smile as if understanding her and accepting her. Raven smiled back with a nod and turned to Cyborg where her eyes went wide.
"I can't believe it... I saw you... You were..." Raven dared not finish her sentence.
"Sure was," Cyborg said half joking, "if it weren't for you... I wouldn't be here right now."
"We are most thankful for your actions," Starfire said to Raven with the upmost gratitude.
"Yeah," Terra add, "you really pulled it off." She smiled again.
"So..." Beastboy chimed in, "does that mean you can bring anyone back from the dead? I had a pet gerbil back when I was a kid that was my best friend before he passed away..."
Raven's face immediately showed a heavy amount of irritation as her left eyebrow twitched. There's the annoying Beastboy she knew so well. But for some reason... this time around, she loved the annoyance.
"I don't think it works that way, Beastboy," Raven respond in her annoyed tone, "I don't even know what I did exactly... I could sense Cyborg's presence outside his body and just..." She trailed off. She truly didn't know what she did. In the moment she just let her emotions guide her and lead the way to get her desired outcome. Just as Starfire had told her.
"Well whatever you did, it saved the team," Robin said smiling, "I don't know what we'd do without you Raven." Robin sounded sincere and honest. Like the team would be lost without her.
They sat for a moment before Cyborg lead the table in their latest battle against the french toast in front of them by scarfing down everything on his plate in a few seconds. The rest of the team chuckled as they also began digging in. Everything seemed back to normal. The team was all together and they lived to fight another day. Until trouble called again...
In fact... More trouble came calling as the doorbell rang shortly after they finished breakfast.