--Chapter 5—

It was a lazy afternoon, the kind where you just wanted to sit back and stare at the TV like zombies all day. Even Raven, surprisingly, was in no mood to make her usual sarcastic comments.

Silence reigned throughout Titan's Tower, other than the occasional blasts and explosions from the game station, followed by Cyborg's trademark 'Booyah!' and Beast Boy's 'Aww, man!'

Raven sat, curled up on the couch behind the two boys, buried in her thick romance novel. (Of course, the cover was wrapped in a horror-novel book cover; she had a reputation to keep.)

Or at least, that was what she tried to do.

The loud blasts and groans were enough to drive her crazy, a vein pulsing in her forehead as she looked up to glare at the TV screen and the objects of her annoyance.

Somehow though, she found that she was incapable of glaring at Beast Boy for very long.

Every time she tried to, she would remember something about him that made her want to smile to herself.

The way he made light out of every situation…

The way he tried to make her laugh…

The way he thought her how to cry butterfly tears…

And the glare turned into a small, quick, smile underneath the blanket of her hood.

Hey-where did all of that come from! She had no emotion, remember?

Okay, maybe she didn't need to control her emotions anymore, but-

Uhh…I'm going all mushy on myself.

She blushed and averted her gaze, coincidentally to the flashing TV screen.

She fumed silently, watching half-heartedly as the characters leaped and ducked with amazing agility. One turned a double back flip and twisted somewhat impossibly to behind himself to fire a shot at the other, hitting the character in the process.

She blinked, wide eyed, at the precision-timed combos that she was sure even Robin could not do.

Wow.

If she could do that, she would be the most amazing Titan of all.

Her eyes and brain were beggingher to follow the characters on the screen.

She stubbornly refused, purposely shifting her gaze to a random spot on the wall, lips pursued in frustration.

But…

She really, really, really couldn't help glancing at the oh-so-inviting television screen ever so often…

And the glance turned into a look…

And the look turned into a minute…

And, well, one thing led to another.

She was getting engrossed…

Uh-oh…

This cannot be good.

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Raven Roth getting absorbed in a video game was something that the Titans were yet to see.

However, Raven Roth was currently sitting on the comfy couch, pretending to read her now uninteresting book, and mentally shouting out the instructions to the two players who were also concentrating on the game.

Of course, Raven Roth had never played one of these 'idiotic' games before.

But of course, she had observed the boys and even Star play these games before, and she had long ago memorized the buttons and stuff on the controller. She just never found any use for that kind of information before.

It was just a matter of time before she knew how to use those simple-looking buttons.

Raven Roth was an exceptionally fast learner.

It wasn't very long before she could play as well as anybody.

She knew Raven Roth didn't do fun…

But hey, she was free of her emotions, right?

So, she could be a little, tiny, bit freer with her emotions, right?

She took a little while convincing herself that she was indeed right and soon focused back to the game.

Beast Boy's character was getting pretty beat up, as he always did.

Cyborg smirked at him, making his character power up for the final move that would wipe out Beast Boy's character.

Raven felt like grabbing the controller out of his hands, still in her game world. Didn't he, the 'master of all video games', know the simple combination move that would turn the tables against Cyborg and give him a victory, for once?

R2 and L2 continuously then press X…

She grit her teeth and bit her tongue, hands twitching dreadfully. Must…abstain…from…ripping…controller…from…his…hands…

R2, L2 continuously then press X!

She watched, fidgeting, as he backed his pitiful character into a corner and whimpered pathetically.

She couldn't keep quiet anymore…

The words she had restrained herself from saying burst out of her mouth.

"Beast Boy! R2 and L2 continuously then press X!"

Again, this cannot be good…

The green changeling glanced at her in confusion. Raven, Raven Roth, telling him what to do in a video game?

He turned his head back to the screen.

Oh well. Better than nothing.

R2…L2…R2…L2…X! There!

Here goes…

He watched in complete amazement as his character did a move that knocked out Cy's, mouth slack-jawed.

Cyborg was no better off, mouth hanging open in shock and blinking dazedly at the TV screen that was currently flashing the words 'GAME OVER: PLAYER 2 WINS!" over and over again.

For a long, long moment, they gaped at the TV screen. Then-

"R-r-rae?"

She immediately pretended to be reading, pulling her hood up to cover her blushing face.

She wondered vaguely where Star and Robin was, trying to keep her mind of her slip of the tongue and to stop the blush on her face, which she was completely aware of.

Oh, yeah. Now she remembered.

Star, being Star, had asked the Boy Wonder to accompany her to the mall of shopping, as Raven had not wanted to go earlier.

Not surprisingly, the Boy Wonder instantly agreed, blushing almost as bad as she was now. She wondered precisely how long would it take for the two love-struck teens to confess and get together.

Raven was snapped out of her reverie somewhat reluctantly by Beast Boy's stuttering.

"R-r-Rae? Did you just tell me how to make that cool move that helped me win against Cy?"

"No." She answered firmly, using her trusty book to cover a deepening blush.

Cyborg decided at this point to cut in, smiling a little.

"Uh, Raven? Why is your book upside down, then?"

Huh? It is?

She then noticed that all the words on the page were the wrong way round.

...oh.

"That's because I was supposed to read it upside down." She calmly retorted.

Cyborg slowly nodded at her, still looking skeptical with a knowing smile.

Beast Boy just smiled goofily at her, knowing without asking that she was lying…he could sense it. Okay, maybe it was a bit obvious with the upside-down book and the blush and all.

No words…

He just got a good feeling because she had helped him instead of Cyborg. That meant a lot to him, even if it was just a teeny little thing.

O-kay, maybe he isn't just feel good, he felt so happy he wanted to dance to Saturday Night Fever and sing 'Hallelujah', but that wasn't really the point.

What did he just say?

He flushed unwillingly and looked away, hoping that the others wouldn't notice. If they did, let's just say he'd be at Cy's mercy for approximately a month.

He was in luck, as their communicators flashed and beeped continuously, bringing both Raven and Beast Boy back to their senses.

"The H.I.V.E. is robbing the jewel store by the river. Titans, move out!"

With that, the usual picture of Robin, followed unusually by Starfire, faded to static.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

xxxxxxxxxx

She blocked the wave of pink magic with a shield of black and too a quick glance around her.

Robin and Star were sparring with Mammoth while Cyborg and Beast Boy were taking on Gixmo.

That left her and Jinx.

No matter, really. She bore a grudge with Jinx, just like Cyborg and Gizmo, ever since she had insulted her cloak.

Unfortunately, her little look around gave the petite pink-haired witch that she was fighting an opportunity to send pink waves towards the unsuspecting girl.

"Hyaa!"

She ducked at the last moment and sneered at Jinx.

"Really, is that all you got?"

Her pinkish-purplish eyes flashed a shocking pink with anger.

"Hyaa!"

Jinx sent another, stronger line of bad luck towards her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

She blocked it with her own black magic, and slowly forced her magic towards Jinx. She pushed back, just as hard, with her pink-coloured streak of energy.

This was going to be one hell of a fight.

Raven felt the magic crackling all around her, and decided to put a shield around her for some means of protection.

Apparently, Jinx had thought of the same thing, as she, too, raised a shield around her.

Raven growled. If she did manage to raise a shield, she wouldn't get hurt, and might just win. That wouldn't do.

A swirling black mass enveloped the pink haired sorceress, pulling the pink shield of magic down.

Jinx snarled angrily, struggling to pull the shield up. Raven, on the other hand, struggled to pull it down, while trying to keep her own shield raised. Not a piece of cake. Especially when you are trying to hurt the other with something at the same time.

For a three-foot tall, pink-haired, tiny sorceress, Jinx's powers were actually quite powerful. Not a good thing, either.

She needed someone to help, a distraction, whatever…

And it came in the form of Cyborg's sonic cannon, blasting Jinx to the ground, out of her shield of electric pink.

In tug-of-war, when the losing team lets go of the rope, the other falls to the ground because of one of Newton's world-famous laws.

It wasn't going to be very much different in a telekinetic tug-of-war battle.

Raven fell to the ground. Hard.

Raven could make shields and shoot magic, but she couldn't make another's magic disappear just like that. Technically, Jinx's shield was still up, only it wasn't protecting her. Then again, Jinx could summon that particular part of magic back, and make another shield.

With that thought, she had kept a hold on Jinx's magic, even when Cy had knocked her down.

Unfortunately for her, she had lost just a tiny, weeny, bit of concentration when she fell to the ground.

That tiny, little, bit of lost concentration made her lose control over her magic and Jinx's…

It didn't take a lot of strength to pull a seemingly-weightless blob of magic, did it?

Raven got up to see a black-and-pink-coloured shield rushing towards her, plowing anything in its path. And when I say anything, I mean anything.

Move! Move, Raven, move your legs…

But…she couldn't budge.

Her magic, still holding desperately on to Jinx's shield, was not in her control anymore, after her momentary lapse of concentration.

And her magic, being, well, her magic, was finding a way back to its owner.

Even if she ran, her magic would track her down, destroying everything in its way. Worse still, it came with a dose of Jinx's magic.

What's a girl to do?

She could try absorbing her magic back, but Jinx's magic would be impossible to absorb.

It would only be destroyed if she overloaded it, or if it ran out of steam. Option number two was the most appealing right now, but if she let it fizz for a while, it would most probably ruin a big portion of Jump City before stopping. Not such a good idea after all.

So, then. Option number one. Overload it. That is, if she could do it in time.

Not going to happen, seeing the shield come closer and closer. She would need hell of a lot of energy to actually overload it.

Option number three?

Duck…and hope for the best.

What's a girl to do?

She threw her cape haphazardly over her, to provide some form of shelter, shaking slightly. She couldn't really blame herself for being scared.

Wait for it…

She could feel it come closer, crackling madly with unfamiliar energy. Jinx's magic.

Closer…

Closer…

She braced herself for impact. Closed her eyes…maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she closed her eyes…

..And instead, found a pair of warm, friendly arms knocking her out of the way, sending her rolling to the ground. Bruised, maybe, but safe. And her savior's arms felt so mysteriously warm…so familiarly relaxing…

She cracked her eyes slowly open, scared of what she might see.

Beast Boy was sprawled out on the ground beside her, panting hard.

Actually, she was almost on top of him.

Sweat rolled down his forehead as he propped himself up.

Don't stare…don't stare…don't…don't…!...Grrr…

Beast Boy definitely was not the scrawny little green titan she had remembered. Nope. Definitely not.

She had a full view of his six-pack from here…A very sexy-looking set of muscles, she mused to herself.

Wow…

Where did that come from!

Bad Raven! Bad Raven…must not think…bad Raven! Argh, stop thinking like that, mind! Dirty mind!

The way he was panting didn't make it easier for her to stop fantasizing, either. Neither did the close proximity between him and her…that they could just lean forward and-

She blushed fiercely and averted her gaze. Bad imagination…bad, bad mind!

She watched as Cyborg shot a beam of blue light at the ball of magic, successfully overloading it.

Thank god…

…While trying to convince herself she was not, and will never, fall in love with anything that resembled a certain green-skinned, pointy-eared someone.

Very, very hard.

Peace, calm, tranquility…

…Peace, calm, tranquility!...

Very, very, very, very hard.

Why did she have to like him? Of all people, of all her friends-why him?

Wait-did she just admit that she liked Beast Boy?

She groaned, still a peculiar-looking shade of pink, and made a move to get up, wincing. She felt sore in about a hundred different places.

Beast Boy, having finally matured over the year, helped her up instead.

"Thank you."

He flashed a handsome smile at her, one that made her knees turn to mush.

"Anything for a pretty Raven."

Her eyes widened considerably, cheeks redder in comparison to a tomato on fire. In other words, she was blushing…hard.

Okay. She did not, and I will repeat, did not just say that her knees turned to mush. That stuff was meant only, and I mean only, for the sappy romance novels that she would never admit she ever read. She also did not blush at that wonderfully pathetic attempt at flirting on Beast boy's part.

Wonderfully pathetic? Does that even exist in Beast Boy's meager vocabulary?

She groaned again. Everything she thought about led to him. Why…why did she have to be tortured this way?

Although it is very nice torture, she mused to herself.

Here we go again…

xxxxxxxxxx

"Tofu!"

"Meat!"

"Tofu!"

"Meat!"

"I say tofu and that's final!"

"MEAT. Do I have to spell it out for you? M-E-A-T."

Raven sat up, a vein pulsing in her forehead. As much as she missed their daily quarrels, this was already getting annoying.

"Why do you guys even bother? We always get the cheese pizza anyway."

"Actually, I have no idea."

Groaning, the masked leader turned to the amused waitress next to him and ordered the regular cheese special. And, of course, a little mustard.

Raven hid a small smile.

It was good to be back.

Still…

She couldn't help but wonder what Slade was up to. The voice in her head haunted her…tearing her up inside with desire to know.

Why?

xxxxxxxxxx

Darkness…smoky darkness…choking, suffocating black…surrounding a face…

A face the Titans learned to hate.

"Soon, my little Raven."

The voice burned with maliciousness…with loathing…

With…

Revenge.

"Soon."

And the sound of maniacal laughter filled the never-ending gloom.

A/N:Sorry for the long wait. A (Sucky) combination of writer's block and stuff….you do the math. Anyway, I'm trying to squeeze in this. I promise I'll churn out another chapter, but the fastest I can get it out is in about five days. Nothing less.

I found another author who used "Butterfly tears" in a similar concept. Pricess Starfire of Tamaran, if you're out there, please understand that I didn't copy you. All of chapters were inspired by songs, and as you can see, that particular chap was inspired by Mariah Carey's "Butterfly". (If you would like a list of the songs I use, jut e-mail me.)

The plot is slow…I'll have to say that. Sigh..I'm trying to figure out how to bring in the climax of my plot, but my brain is currently not listening to me. Oh, and this particular chappie is relatively short. Urm…sorrie! Don't KILL ME!

I'm currently looking for more constructive critism, or some suggestions, please. (This AN is LONG. Sorry 'bout that, just wanted to clear things up.)

Well…Merry Christmas to all of you!