Ok, this is my first teen titans fic. I was working on my Harry Potter fic, but I keep coming back to this idea and I just can't finish those stories with this idea in there. It is causing major writers block so here it is. I love reviews, they make my day.
Summery: Raven is working on becoming more shudder approachable. Cyborg wants a chance to develop a relationship with Bumblebee so Raven and Bumblebee trade towers for awhile. Now the boys in Titans East have a dark empath to deal with and how will our Boy Wonder deal with the loss of a teammate and friend? I am not sure about pairing yet. Might be Rae/Rob but not sure yet.
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own any of it. Would be nice though. Sigh Oh well, if wishes were fishes, there would be no room in the ocean for water. (Wonder if anyone knows what book that one came out of.)
XXXXXXXX
Bringing about the end of the world changed a person. It happened slowly and subtly, but she was changing slowly everyday. After defeating her father, Raven had felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders. All of a sudden the thought of her birthday did not fill her with fear and dread. For the first time in her life she did not know what the future would bring, so she made a vow to herself. She was going to start on the development of Raven.
That was how it started. She had decided that she would no longer seek the solitude of her room. She was making an effort to be more a part of the group. That was how she found herself down in Cyborg's garage. Beast Boy and Robin were upstairs playing their new video game. Their new, very loud videogame. It was something full of death, destruction, and mayhem and the noise was enough to drive a person up the wall. Add to that the voices yelling good natured insults and proclaiming their superiority and the sound was deafening.
Raven had tried for half an hour to read. She had even gone so far as to try and watch the game, but it held no interest for her. Honestly what do boys see in this stuff? She had wandered out of the main room towards her room. It would be so easy to just push the button and sit in solitude. Her hand was actually on the door when she heaved a sigh. Raven was not one to back down. She had said she would not hide away in her room and she would try with the others, so she walked off again.
She knew she could not go to the living room again. The noise was really getting to her, and an empath with a migraine was not a good thing. A grumpy empath with powers controlled by emotions with a migraine was really not a good thing. She thought about going to the roof for a few minutes of peace, but she decided that was the same as hiding away in her room.
Raven had made strides with being more involved with her friends. She and Starfire did 'the hanging out' at least a few times a week. They would meditate together, wander the mall or the park, or sometimes just sit in the main room. However, the thought of the overly enthusiastic alien made the migraine pound even harder. Raven knew her limits, and she did not want to snap and say something that would hurt Star's feelings.
That left only one place where someone would be. Raven's eyes went dark and she phased through the floor. She reappeared in the garage. There stood Cyborg working on his T-car. The radio was on and he was humming along with the music. He was even singing aloud a bit. Raven was silent as she moved forward. Her shadow came into the view of Cyborg. The titan turned and looked up in surprise at seeing Raven there. He cleared his throat as he realized he had been caught singing a bit. His embarrassment was quickly covered up as he realized who was there. Within in seconds he was ready to run off to help fight whatever bad guy was out now. "Hey Rae, is something wrong?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Does something have to be wrong for me to want to spend time with my friends?" Her voice was quiet and unemotional as always. Cyborg returned her look. The music was still blaring in the background.
"No, but it isn't something you have ever done before. So what really brings you down here?"
Raven sighed. She was debating how much to actually reveal. She decided that a partial truth would work for the moment. "I didn't want to sit in my room to read my book and Robin and Beast Boy are playing their new video game." Raven spotted a stool over by the work bench. An idea hit her. She turned back to Cyborg. "I was hoping you wouldn't mind the company. I thought I could just sit and read while you work."
Cyborg gave her a confused look. "You want to hang out in the garage…and read?" Raven nodded. Cyborg looked at her, trying to figure out if she was serious. Finally he shrugged. "As long as you don't mind the music." Raven gave him a small smile. It didn't even lift the corners of her mouth, but her friends had come to know that the softening of her mouth was really a Raven smile.
"Trust me, you could have the radio at full blast and you would still be drowned out by the noise those two are making." Cyborg chuckled and went back to work. Raven walked to stood and sat, opening her book. It was silent between the two, but not uncomfortable. Every once in awhile Raven would glance up to see what Cyborg was working on before glancing back down at her book. Cyborg would glance up to see a peaceful Raven quietly flipping pages. The feelings in the room were quiet contentment and the empath felt her migraine slowly leave.
They were like this for some time before Raven felt the feelings change. At the sound of Cyborg's stomach Raven smirked. It didn't take an empath to know he was hungry. She did know that he didn't want to stop working to run up and get food through. Without waiting for him to say anything Raven set her book on the workbench and she phased out of the room.
Cyborg glanced up smiling to see that Raven was gone. He frowned. He had not even noticed her departure. With a shrug he went back to work, but he had to fight off a little irritation. The least she could have done was say goodbye. He was surprised that the dark girl's presence had not distracted him like he had though it would. In fact, he could say that he enjoyed having her there. Raven was naturally quiet and in this tower that was sometimes needed, badly.
He had gone back to working when a plate was pressed into his line of vision. He blinked and looked up. There stood Raven with a plate of food. On it sat his left over Chinese, his turkey leg he had been saving, and a can of soda. Dumbly he reached out to take the plate. After a moment he smiled. "Thanks Raven. How did you know?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Empath." He chuckled and followed her to the workbench. She sat back down and picked up her book. Next to her was a cup of herbal tea. He grabbed the turkey leg and began to munch, feeling his hunger subside a bit. He wiggled the leg of meat in front of her.
"Sure you don't want a bite? It's meat tastic."
She lowered the book to look at him. "No." The book raised again. A second later the book again lowered to reveal amethyst eyes. "But thank you." Again the book was raised. Cyborg chuckled and finished off his snack before going off to work on the car again.
XXXXXX
That had been the start of it. Soon Raven found herself down in the garage more and more frequently. They still did not talk a lot while down there, but they were becoming closer. One day Raven had walked down to sit on her stool to find that it had been replaced with an overstuffed chair. The chair was perfect for curling up with a good book. Under the workbench Cyborg had also installed a small bookshelf for Raven and he had taken the liberty of placing a few books there. Raven had stroked the titles, a small emotion blooming in her chest. Neither said a word, but she turned and smiled. This time, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly and Cyborg winked at her all the while grinning like an idiot.
Another day she noticed that the music was your typical Cyborg music. Jazz was playing instead. When she raised an eyebrow at him he just shrugged.
"I heard you listening to it the other day. I figure it's only fair you get to have a choice in music too." They had never said anything else about it, but after that the music was a mix of what they both enjoyed. Soon Cyborg would glance up and ask Raven for a tool. He would patiently wait for it, helping her when she didn't know which one he was talking about. Raven was a quick learner and soon she could use her powers to send the proper tool to Cy.
Slowly she learned what each tool was used for and she would ask questions about what he was doing. Soon, the books were forgotten when she was down in the garage. The two friends would work together for hours and that was how they first started to talk. As they worked on the various vehicles and gadgets they would ask each other questions. Soon it became a game as to who could ask the toughest or most embarrassing question. This was the first place Cyborg ever heard Raven laugh.
It was comfortable place and their friendship blossomed. Even the team was noticing that the two were closer. When fighting, Raven could almost anticipate Cyborg's moves and he was the first to high five her when the fight was finished. When they went to eat or when they went out Raven and Cyborg seemed to know what the other would order. This caused some raised eyebrows, but they chalked it down to becoming closer as a team.
No one bothered them at the tower however. No one intruded on their garage time. They didn't ever ask where the two went. It was like they knew that the two didn't want to be disturbed and yet no one would have guessed that little Raven was slowly becoming as good as Cyborg when it came to the electronics of the tower. They assumed that she continued to read down there with him. (It had not escaped Robin's notice that a bookshelf and chair had found their way down into the garage.)
This was her safe place. She was slowly starting to reveal more of herself to Cyborg. He was someone who knew a lot about her thanks to their questioning game. She was starting to smile more around him and she had even given him an awkward hug once or twice. He was placing an arm around her shoulders more and more often. It was a really strong friendship.
In fact Raven and Cyborg were developing a deep enough relationship that they even began to discuss love lives. Raven had of course rolled her eyes at him. "What love life?" But Cyborg had pressed.
"Remember the rules; if I answer a question, you have to answer a question of my choice. So I want to know who has Raven's interest." He wiggled his eyes suggestively at her. Raven had rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. Then she smiled and Cyborg felt his heart drop. That smile could not be good.
"Ok, I'll answer your question. If you answer me this, when was the last time you got a piece?"
"Excuse me?" His ears must have heard wrong. Quiet little Raven did not just ask him that.
She looked at him with arms crossed, waiting. It was always unnerving to see how she didn't move. There was always a stillness with her. Even levitating she did not bounce about, but remained perfectly still. "Well, I have to assume that you have not gotten any from Bumblebee lately and that is why you are now so obsessed with my love life. Do you need to live vicariously through me?"
He was at a loss for words. "What? No! My love life is perfectly fine and you do not need to know when I last got a piece thank you very much."
She shrugged. "Fine, then I don't have to answer your question." Raven slowly exited the garage.
It was then that it dawned on him that she had just won the round. He chuckled to himself. Oh she would not win forever, he knew that.
XXXXXXXXXX
Ok, that's the start. I promise the pairings will come out. The next chapter will have some more development on the relationships between Raven and some of the other Titans. It isn't exactly what I envisioned so far, but I think it came out ok. Let me know.