Drunken Dilemma
A BB/Rae FanFiction
Early Morning
September 21st
The Titans had made it back to the tower. Well, Titans minus Beast Boy and Raven.
They were on their way to Jump City Memorial, a hospital near downtown that had just finished repainting and replacing windows from the devastating tornado unleashed by Warp just twenty-four hours before.
Raven was in an ambulance, Beast Boy at her side. Heavy bay traffic couldn't stop the ambulance, as it was guarded by a huge police entourage, invoking curiosity in the civilians and the press alike. Everybody had the gut feeling that it was a VIP in the ambulance or something… the worst-case scenario in their minds? One of the Titans had been 'downed in a fight'… and the Titans would definitely want to keep that illusion steady.
Raven kept taking deep breaths along the ride, and even though the paramedics said she wouldn't make it to the hospital… suddenly, the hospital hit the brakes.
"We're there?" one of the paramedics asked, as one of them openned the back end to see, but they jumped back as they weren't staring at pavement. They were floating over traffic.
The police entourage stared up from in their cars in surprise, as the ambulance zoomed over speedily.
And then, it started moving even faster… like, crazy fast. Finally, the ride was over, as the ambulance abruptly hit the pavement in front of the hospital.
Nearby, as the crew in the ambulance got their wits about them and began moving Raven out of the ambulance, a cackle came from within the still-tattered bushes.
"Consider it a favor," Slade whispered, a remote control linked to two thrusters coyly planted under the vehicle.
As Slade walked away in plain sight yet unnoticed, Beast Boy stared at the paramedics rushing his teammate into the hospital.
They burst through the front doors, as the attendant at the desk gasped, seeing who it was. She quickly patted her assistant on the shoulder, causing the heavyset woman beside her to twirl in surprise.
They rushed her down one of the many halls, and into the delivery room. The late police entourage burst in afterwards, as almost three quarters of the entire police department were there.
They asked the dumbstruck attendant at the desk which way they went, and then continued down the hall to guard the outside of the room, as more of them took post at the entrances.
"Ok… you need to breathe," a nearby nurse told Raven.
Raven sharply yelled out, "I am!", as more nurses moved in to try to calm her down.
Beast Boy just stood there grasping her hand. He had a feeling anything he said would upset her further, so he just stood there.
They had nearby machines on Raven in nearly an instant, measuring her heart rate and so on.
Suddenly, the room shook terribly, and the nearby monitors flickered. One of them even shut itself off, prompting the staff to quickly attempt to turn it back on.
Raven shouted out again, as Beast Boy suddenly realized what was going on.
"Her powers…" he whispered, as a nurse took a quick glance in his direction after hearing that, before immediately whipping her view back to Raven.
"Come on, honey, you need to calm down," the nurse said calmly in the background, as the main doctor rushed in.
Again, the room shook, as a glass cover for the light built into the ceiling came loose and nearly hit a nurse in the head, causing them to duck down with a squeal.
"What's she doing?" one of them asked, as the doctor leaned in now.
"Come on, come on, breath," he instructed her.
"I'm trying," she faintly gasped with a strain, as Beast Boy moved back in the hold her hand.
And then… the glass doors and glass windows nearby began to rattle enormously.
"Are these tremors?" a policeman could be heard yelling down the hall, as Beast Boy turned to look at the windows.
Suddenly, the glass shattered, showering all over the outside hallway. Then, tiles on the ceiling began having dust pour out of them, causing nurses to contemplate moving Raven to another room.
"No, no, she's doing fine!" the doctor commanded, as a tile fell and hit the nearby countertop.
"Steady breathing, steady breathing," he added, as Raven finally began calming down… for a few seconds. She then groaned with another strain, and the room began shaking even more intensely.
"This is her," a nurse announced, as if it wasn't already obvious enough.
"Steady, steady, nothing's wrong, just keep doing what you're doing," the doctor continued… but finally, Raven couldn't control her powers anymore.
The entire hospital went dark. Monitors flickered off, lights went off, and the rattling eerily stopped dead.
"… Raven?" Beast Boy asked, as she could be heard moaning still.
The backup generator cut on, causing the hospital staff to breathe a sigh of relief, and the nurses to get back to their jobs.
But suddenly, the police could be heard shouting down the hall. Most of it was inaudible, but one loud shout was unmistakable.
"EVACUATE THE BUILDING, NOW!" one of the policeman could be heard saying, as another separate doctor rushed in.
He gasped for air from rushing, and got at the doorway.
"… The entire north end of the hospital just collapsed," the doctor announced.
"Ok," the main doctor finally said, "everyone that doesn't have an absolutely vital place in this room, evacuate."
Most of the non-essential nurses then ran out the door, unhesitant, and the doctor that announced the news of the collapse went with them, leaving the main doctor, Beast Boy, Raven, and four other nurses.
"Steady breathing, dear, steady, steady," a nurse told Raven, as she kept straining.
But then… the shaking began again. Suddenly, the sink behind the main doctor ruptured, sending water shooting up into the air. Two of the nurses almost lost their balance and fell, and the hospital began shaking terribly.
"Clear out, now! It's about to collap-" one of the policeman yelled, but suddenly shouted out in a scream of terror, as the a eerily calm sound came next. It was almost like pouring sand into a bucket, or pouring a bag of flour into a bowl. And as the a nurse was about to take a look, the floor between them and the doorway to the room broke off and fell downwards, sending parts of the room going down into the several floors underground including the parking structure below.
The nurse that was gunning for the entrance slipped on the buckling floor tiles, and turned on her belly and grabbed helplessly at the floor. The main doctor saw this and left the rattling bedside to grab the nurse's aim.
"Help!" the nurse shouted anxiously.
"I've got ya" the doctor said, as Beast Boy was split between holding Raven's hand and helping the nurse.
He let go and began to run to the nurse, but Raven shouting "No!" to him leaving caused him to hurry back and hold her hand.
The doctor finally grabbed the nurse's other arm, and struggled to pull her back up.
She then ran away from the edge and ran back towards the ruptured sink, and the doctor went back to Raven.
"The baby's coming!" the doctor said, as the nurses suddenly rushed back towards her.
"Come on, breath breath," they repeated once more, as she strained intensely.
"So… do you think the press found out?" Cyborg asked, getting a drink of cola.
"I'm not sure… there's one way to find out," Robin grumbled, as Starfire floated over and sat on the couch next to him.
Robin grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV, still on CNN.
"And as you can see, a massive collapse in the downtown area, as Jump City Memorial was rocked by a five point seven scale earthquake… Even though that may not seem very big, officials believe that the damage from yesterday helped lead to this massive collapse," the newswoman reported, as all three of the Titans' eyes widened.
"I knew we should have went," Cyborg muttered self-sparingly, as Robin and Starfire had about the same idea.
"We should go help her," Starfire replied, as Robin also said in unison, "We should go."
It was unanimous, as the look on Cyborg's face obviously pointed to that fact.
And off they went again, boarding the T-Car, buckling their seatbelts, and taking off out of the garage towards downtown, in flight mode.
Only several minutes later, the Titans arrived. They were just sixty seconds after the south end of the hospital collapsed, and expecting the worse.
But as the dust began to just barely clear… a surprisingly good sight was there to behold.
Patients and doctors were standing in rooms that had fallen down around their ears, Raven's signature black-aura energy covering them and the floor beneath their feet.
Starfire quickly flew up, Robin jumped up piles of debris, and Cyborg got back in the T-Car and into flight mode to search for Raven's room.
The lobby was safe, as almost the entire police department was covered in black… from both soot and Raven's powers.
They searched several different rooms. Robin pried a jammed door off its hinges, as less than a few yards away, Starfire pulled another door off effortlessly.
Terrified patients were both in the rooms, but not the ones they were looking for.
"I've got them!" a fireman shouted, since the firefighters had already arrived on scene. Robin and Starfire traded surprise looks at the fact a Jump City firefighter had randomly appeared from within the dust and found Raven and Beast Boy.
They ran over, but it was simply a misunderstanding. He was rescuing an elderly couple from their room, as he picked up the elderly woman in his arms, and another nearby fireman carefully trekked back up the piles of soot to reach the man.
Both Starfire and Robin watched the scene for a moment, then continued to search for them.
After nearly 30 minutes of search, they found the room piled under several debris. Raven's powers had completely encased the room in a cube shape, leading Robin to bang his fist on the barrier.
The last time Robin's fist was banging on one of Raven's barriers, Raven's life was ending.
But as the forcefield openned up and Robin dropped in followed by Starfire… a new life had begun.
Raven was holding a baby girl affectionately, as Beast Boy on-looked with watery eyes.
"She's…" Robin began, as Starfire jumped in to finish his sentence with an enthusiastic "beautiful!"
Cyborg finally dropped in, and his face went from downright exhausted to a huge grin, and he said loudly, "Well alright!"
Starfire was getting teary eyed next, and clasped her hands to her mouth.
Robin had a warm smirk and walked over to Beast Boy, as Starfire jumped up and hugged Cyborg tight, causing Cyborg to have a quick 'Ow!' and Starfire to quickly reply 'Sorry!'
Robin meanwhile put his hand on Beast Boy's right shoulder, and whispered, "Not so bad after all, huh?"
"Yeah…" Beast Boy replied, "Could've done without the collapse though…"
Robin had a quick chuckle, and added, "Yeah, I bet."
"So… what's her name?" Cyborg asked, as Starfire wiped her eyes while laughing a bit.
"… Well…" Beast Boy began, about to say he hadn't thought of a name, but Raven took the question herself.
"… Arella," Raven replied… with two things that she never had before…
A daughter…
And quite possibly the most touching bright-eyed smile that anybody on the team ever had… and with Starfire included… that's big.
With Trigon and Slade, the two most-hated individuals in her life, both giving her an easy break and even being somewhat sympathetic, things would soon turn easy in one way…
Sure, being a hero never goes without warning, without sacrifice, without duty, or without danger, so Slade would eventually toss aside the nobility and begin his plotting again… though he would actually, for the first time in his mere existence… keep a promise. Over the years, Slade didn't touch Raven's daughter at all… nor did he attack Raven while she was with her daughter. Of course, Robin and Cyborg were at the ready, expecting Slade to go against his word like Slade would normally do… but the day never came.
Raven's monotonous voice wouldn't come back, nor would her unemotional state. She'd be more emotional, more caring, and… well, even more kickass. All thanks… to a very difficult, very strenuous, very challenging, very moving, and very… unpredictable road of twists and turns, each pivotal decision effecting her outcome...
And to think… the decision to go to that hotel room had so profoundly changed the course of the rest of her life, and the life of those around her. And looking back… there was a thought that popped into her head… a thought that drove her decision to go to that hotel… and set in motion the chain of events leading to the birth of her daughter…
1.5 weeks ago
September 11th
Raven shook her head, kicking herself for getting drunk.
As Raven exited the building to wait for Beast Boy… she looked around back down the street at the tower, its lights gleaming in the distance, and muttered sarcastically…
"Oh great, now we have to go home and try to cover up our little…" Raven began to mutter, but suddenly sneezed twice in a row, then turned to see Beast Boy making way towards her, she finished her sentence…
"Drunken Dilemma…"
Then Beast Boy reached her wobbly, and she announced…
"Ok, I just realized, we can't go home tonight."
THE END... for some.