Fight or Flight XIII

"RAVEN!"

"Huh? What." Raven said as she nearly jumped out of her seat. She looked around the common room and noticed that her friends were staring at her. She instantly blushed, knowing that she had missed something that was directed at her personally. She had been distracted ever since Star had brought her down for breakfast, she just couldn't conquer enough strength to concentrate on the topic at hand. "What was the question?"

Robin and Cyborg exchanged sideways glances with one another. "We were asking about your new uniforms." Robin said as he stood up and walked over to her, she could feel a mixture of confusion and worry flow thorough him as he put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you are okay? You seem kind of out of it."

"Yeah. I'm okay, just wasn't able to recover fully yesterday." She lied as she offered her leader a fake smile in hopes that it suffice is worries. It must have because Robin dropped his hand and headed to the kitchen.

"So I will put in the order tomorrow and they should be in before the end of the week. Is that okay?" Cyborg said as he shot her a confused glance unsure if she was listening to him.

"Yeah that would be great, thanks." She replied to her metal friend. He nodded as he returned to his pile of meat that had been neglected until now.

"So tell me friend, what place did you like the most?" Starfire asked taking advantage of her attetion.

"That's kinda hard. If I had to pick I would say Africa." She answered honestly. Just then the doors to the Ops room opened and in walked a fully dressed Beast Boy, wet hair and everything. Raven had thought up until now that his shower excuse was just a ploy, but her assumptions were incorrect.

"Good Morning." Beast Boy said cheerily as he walked to the fridge in hunt for food.

There was a general mumble of good mornings as Starfire continued to ask Raven her unanswered questions. "Why did you like Africa the most friend Raven?"

"I learned a lot there, and it was beautiful. So peacful." Raven replied with a smile.

"Yeah Africa is great. I always loved the animals." Beast Boy added as he sat at the kitchen table. His voice startled her a little, she was instantly brought back to the moment on the roof she could still feel his body heat against her skin.

"You have been to Africa?" Cyborg asked with a mouth full of bacon, it was barely reconcilable but Beast Boy was able to make out his question.

"Yeah, I grew up there. I thought you guys knew that weird." Beast Boy replied as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. Before the tribe in Africa, Raven had no knowledge of Beast Boy's past. She was told very little while spending time with his tribe, but was given the basics of his time there. She knew her family was as close to the tribe as outsiders could get, Beast Boy was already green when he arrived. The tribe had told her that something tragic had happened but Raven was not told exactly what.

"Huh you learn something new everyday." Robin said as he sat back down at the table with his team, not phased by the new information. Raven rolled her eyes at his hidden lie. She knew that he had to already known about this, he had always made it a point to know everything about the people he worded with and had files on all of them.

"So you have yet to tell me if you had any "abroad flings." The Teen Magazines say that this is all the rage." Starfire seemed a little too eager to ask the question.

"What is an abroad fling?" Raven asked confused, was Starfire really asking about her sex life?

Starfire blushed as she clarified "I am sorry for my terminology." She took a deep breath and asked, "Did you find a boy on your travels?"

******

"Did you find a boy on your travels?"

Beast Boy nearly spit out his mouth full of tofu. He felt his stomach flip at Starfires intrusive question. He never thought that Raven would find a boyfriend while away, but it made sense. She was perfect, any guy would be lucky to have her.

His blood began to boil at the thought of another guy holding her hand, kissing her and telling her how much he cared. His heart began to race as he waited for her answer. There was no way he could stand anyone else with his Raven.

"That's a little personal don't you think?" Raven asked blushing slightly. For whatever reason she had became fascinated with her tea. Beast Boy kept his gaze on her, afraid if he looked anywhere else he would melt into his chair.

"Come on Rae, you can't tell us you didn't break any hearts while away." Cyborg taunted.

Raven chuckled. "Your kidding right?" Beast Boy's heart skipped a beat, he couldn't take much longer of this, he needed to know.

"No, come on heart breaker, you can tell us. We're all friends here." Robin taunted, Raven just rolled her eyes. Beast Boy thought he was going to burst with anticipation, this was getting to be to much, he needed her to answer.

"No, you should be happy to know that there will be no long lost lovers showing up on our door step any time soon." Raven finally responded. Beast Boy let out a quiet sigh. He was relieved to that his anticipation was let down. She never found anyone else, she could still be his.

"I am sorry to hear that Freind." Starfires said sadness straining her voice. "I only wish for you to have the happiness that me and boyfriend Robin have." With that Robin placed his hand in hers as if to glorify her words.

"It's okay Star. Maybe I will someday." Raven offered her sad friend a small smirk before she stood up and took her cup to the sink. The rest of the team changed to subject to something more light, Beast Boy did not allow himself to be drawn into their conversation. Instead he chose to watch his beautiful maiden in the kitchen, without her knowledge he watched as she placed her cup in the sink and proceeded to slump her shoulders.

Something Star had said must have gotten to her because she then let out a small sigh and shook her head slightly still oblivious to his gaze. Beast Boy could not help but watch in awe at what he was seeing. She was showing her vulnerability, she had not done this in years. He wanted to stand up and comfort her, wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be okay but his body wouldn't react to his brain. He was forced to sit there and watch, watch as she allowed her sadness to flow freely. He could feel worry grow in his stomach.

"-yes and I am most excited for Raven's welcome home party, tell me did-" Starfire was cut off by by Cyborgs metal elbow in her ribs.

Raven's head perked up to Stars words. "What did you say Star?"

*****

"What did you say Star?"

The Titans at the table were silent, not one moved a muscle. "Please tell me you didn't?" Raven asked with a tone of frustration. She wanted them to tell her that it wasn't a lie, that this wasn't happening but no one did.

"Titans East agreed to make the arrangements," Robin replied casually "It was suppose to be a surprise." He then shot a glance towards Star, she proceeded to turn red at his sight.

"Look guys I appreciate the thought-"

"Nope. Stop." Cyborg cut off her generated response. "This is happening. No need to argue."

Raven's stomach did a back flip at his words. She hated crowds, and hated parties even worse. A party in her honor was a bad idea, nothing in her honor went the way it should and this would be no different.

"Cyborg-" She began

"Raven, you know that this is going to happen no matter what you say." Robin pointed out, she groaned with the realization that he was right. Contrary to belief, the Titans love parties and would use any excuse to throw one.

"Who knows besides Titans East?" She regretted the answer but had to know how big of a party they were talking about.

"All honorary Titans have been invited, and a few close personal friends." Robin responded. "Everyone wants to see you Raven. We all missed you,"

Raven rolled her eyes, she wanted more than anything for them to be telling a lie, but deep down knew that they were telling the truth. There was going to be a party in her honor, and she was going to be forced to go. Although angry she couldn't help but feel relieved. Relieved that her friends cared enough to do this for her, cared enough to force her to go.

The party was going to be two weeks from now, and will be held at Titans East. When Raven opened her mouth to object Cyborg informed her that this was Bumble Bees idea. They figured that Raven would prefer to have the party away from home, to help with the stress. She could not help but agree with Bees reasoning. Having the party planned out and executed away from her would be best for everyone.

The rest of the day went by in a blur, there were not distress calls so she was forced to answer all the question Star forced on her. Although she knew this was coming, it had taken a lot out of her. Raven was happy to spend time with her friends, she was also grateful for the distraction from Beast Boy. They had not spoken more than a few words to each other the whole day, she could not help but feel worried about this. She was scared that she had put a damper in her friendship and that was the last thing she wanted.

Once she was allowed to go to bed Raven fell instantly asleep. Although falling asleep was a blessing to her, keeping asleep is what truly evaded her.

Raven woke up with a startle. She shot out up in her bed in an instant, and could feel the tears falling from her face. She watched as they stained her sheets, she was shaking uncontrollably. This time the nightmare had progressed much further than before. She was forced to watch her friends actually make an attempt on her life, when it came down to it Beast Boy was the one who made the final blow.

A shiver ran up her spine at the image of her green friend that had reappeared in her nightmare. She shook her head vigorously trying to force the image out of her mind. Raven knew that she needed to calm herself down, and a cup of tea could help her with that.

Raven rolled herself out of bed looked at the clock. It read 4:45, she sighed in relief, there was no way anyone would be up this late. After quickly putting on a pair of socks she made her way to the kitchen.

After the doors opened she instantly noticed the faint light of the TV. Her heart instantly sank, she was wrong, someone was awake. And that someone was the one person she wanted to avoid. He turned his body on the couch and shot a toothy smile to her. His green hair was a mess and there were dark circles under her eyes.

"Hey Rae. What are you doing up?"