40I do not own Teen Titans, rights go to respective owners.
Twisting horrors laughed at her as she ran, fighting to move with deadened legs through the sludge of her nightmares. Words echoed sickeningly around her while faces floated around, blurry in the dimness.
Who cares how creepy your face is?
All you ever do is stay in your room!
Look how pale you are! Freak!
Mommy why does that girl look so weird?
Hush sweetie don't point.
"No…no...stop it please." Raven whimpered to herself, sinking down to her knees and clutching at her head. "I'm not a freak…I'm not a freak!"
"No Rae…you're not a freak, please wake up!"
The familiar voice echoed to her, causing her to look up at the blurry face of Beast Boy. He looked tired and worried, dark circles under his eyes and his hair more messy than usual. It was only then that she realized that her eyes were opened and she wasn't dreaming anymore, she was finally awake. That's when the pain hit her, causing her to wince and curl onto her side with her back to him.
"Go away Beast Boy. Just leave me alone. Please." She added the please as an afterthought, knowing it wasn't his fault what had happened to her.
"No way Rae. I've been sitting here for two days waiting for you to wake up. Do you really think I'm going to just leave now that you're up?"
Two days? She had been in her own nightmares for two days? This caused her to pause a moment and sigh softly. She wasn't stupid, she knew that if she pushed them away now that they'd only be more annoying later so it was better to let them be near her now so she could avoid that headache.
"Fine. But could you at least be a cat or something? You'll be less weird for staying here" Came the quiet response, giving in to what would be a monumental argument if she chose to ignore him.
This seemed to be appropriate enough because the next thing she knew he was padding across the covers to curl up next to her face, purring softly as he stared at her. Idly she reached out to run her fingertips over his head, taking small comfort in the softness of his fur. This was strange, lying here with Beast Boy quietly after what happened. Though it did cause her to wonder what happened, all she really knew was that there had been pain..fighting..and then someone had held her so gently before she blacked out.
Eventually Robin came in to check on them, seeming relieved to find Raven finally awake.
"Hey Raven, how do you feel?" He asked cautiously, tiptoeing around what he thought would be a landmine.
"Truthfully? Like crap Robin...like crap." She admitted as she slowly sat up, movements cautious due to the lingering pain she felt. "Nothing like having some scumbag steal away your first time." There was her dry humor again, though this bordered more on dark and self-deprecating than dry. It must have been obvious because their leader frowned at her retort.
"Raven we're just worried about you and Beast Boy."
"Beast Boy? Why are you worried about him?" She looked down at the now napping form of her teammate who had shifted back to his usual self, drooling and snoring away on her bed.
"Crud he didn't tell you yet did he?"
She tossed a suspicious glance his way, violet eyes narrowing with intensity.
"No one has told me anything Robin…now spill while he's still asleep."
This seemed to displease him but he sat down anyways, folding his hands together and propping his elbows on his knees.
"Beast Boy has apparently gotten really possessive of you Raven, he followed you guys up and sat outside the room. He wasn't sure what to think the first time you cried out but the second time, he didn't care anymore. He heard you whimpering and crying…begging that guy to stop and I guess he just..snapped Raven. He broke down the door and found you lying in a puddle of blood, he completely lost his mind. He called us for help after he beat the living shit out of Zabrathian. When we got there all that we saw was blood, from you and from him nearly gutting the guy for what he did. Cy tried to pick you up but Beast Boy almost ripped Cy's arms off, growling something about not touching someone that belonged to someone else."
Robin pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed softly. Obviously stressed out before he sat back in the chair and gazed over at the sleeping changeling who was now clinging to Raven's left leg, murmuring something about tofu dogs.
"Raven, you're not going to be able to get rid of him for a while. He was more enraged than when he fought Adonis and the Beast came out. You obviously mean something to him, find out what is going on and figure out how to help him keep it under control. If he loses control like that again..he'll be an endangerment to the team. And to Jump City."
Raven stared down at the green teen, emotions roiling inside her as she watched him drool. Why did he get so upset? He went on dates all the time with girls so why did he get so bothered when she went out on one? Furthermore why did he follow them? Why did he get so jealous? Wait..jealous? Her eyes widened slightly, understanding flowing through her met immediately by denial. There was no way he could…could he?
Later that night…
Two days was a long time to go without anything to eat, even for Raven. After several hours of restless sleep she found herself wriggling out of bed and transporting to the kitchen, shivering at the feel of the cold tile on her bare feet. The chilled light spilled out from the refrigerator, illuminating her form despite the thick sweater that she wore over her comfiest pajama pants. She was hyper-aware right now, long hearing the soft shuffling of her teammate as he entered the kitchen sleepily.
"Hungry Rae? I could make you something if you want." Came the sleepy mumble from Beast Boy, rubbing his eyes while moving to stand beside her. "Seriously Rae let me help, besides I'm kinda hungry too..I could make you my soy pancakes!" He said in a sing-song voice, resting his head on her shoulder with a cute begging expression.
She had to smirk, it was a bit funny that he was actually volunteering to do work at all.
"Sure Beast Boy, pancakes sound nice. I'll make some tea."
One pancake montage later..
"So, how are you feeling? You up for that veg place you agreed to go to with me?" Beast Boy waggled his eyebrows at her enticingly, causing her to indulge in his childish attitude by sticking out her tongue at him.
"I'm obviously fine, you guys don't need to coddle me. I've been through worse remember?" She waved a fork at him that had a hunk of syrup covered pancake on it, flecks of the sticky syrup flinging onto the table. "Oops…"
"Don't worry about it, I'll clean it up." He said, reaching over with a rag to wipe it up. "I'm not coddling you Rae…I just don't want to push you if you wanna stay home and meditate or do whatever it is you do in your room."
This surprised her, the thoughtfulness that he was displaying. What happened to the annoying pesters to join the world? Continuous attempts to play Stinkball? Suspicion rose as she eyed him.
"Really? So if I wanted to stay in there to meditate for three days you'd leave me alone?" Came the challenge.
"No, I'd sit in there with you but I'd keep myself busy so you could relax." His response was unexpected.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to leave you alone. Never again." He looked up at her, eyes intense with emotion. She didn't even need to use her powers to understand what it was, this emotion that made her heart speed up and her cheeks to heat.
"Well.." She began casually, downing the last of her tea. "If that's the case then I guess I'll have to come out of my room more often won't I? You'd starve if I didn't. So I guess we'll be going out to that place for lunch tomorrow." Quickly she snuck a peek at him, both visibly and emotionally with her abilities.
Both skyrocketed with joy and hope, a wide grin on her teammates face.
"Great! In that case!" He began gathering up the dishes. "You go get in bed and I'll wash these up, I'll be in there in a sec." When she raised her eyebrows at him he held up a hand, blushing slightly. "As a cat of course..nothing creepy or perverted!"
This was satisfactory, Raven nodding and going into her room to curl up under the covers. Soon she was joined by a green cat that curled up and fell asleep by her instantly; causing her to smile as for the first time in a while she fell into a happy sleep.
Tell me what you think in the comments! Sorry for the long wait! We're back in business! New chapters coming! Keep posted!