Fan Fiction ❯ Birds of a Feather ❯ Chapter 4
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: King Cheetah 
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.16.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 417 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 08.16.2004 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.2K | Visits: 417 | Status: Completed
Birds Of A Feather...
Part Four- Third Eye Open
by King Cheetah
I don't own any of these characters,
so don't rub it in...
Kinda sorta Robin/Raven pairing; you've been warned....
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------
Morning brought a new day to Titan's Tower, though it could hardly be said to be much of an improvement over the previous day. The thunderstorms had given way to a steady gray drizzle which chilled both flesh and spirit, and with any luck, thought Robin, the criminal element will be smart enough to stay home today. Another rough night in the world of dreams, and he began to seriously regret his decision to let Raven sleep in Starfire's room. The dream was worse than the first time and having her here would have... would have what? The feelings again. What was going on between them? He lay in bed for another twenty minutes just thinking of her, and being with her and being without her. He couldn't get thoughts of Raven out of his head, and yet he was still fond of Starfire. Fond. Just fond. And that's how it'd always been. A young teen crush had grown into comradeship... but nothing more. Merely friendship... until he merged with Raven.
Now it seemed to be a mixture of his feelings for Starfire and hers, culminating in a new fascination. He felt stronger about her, but not as strong as he felt for Raven.
Raven. She not only filled his thoughts, but his dreams as well. He'd never been given to flights of fancy, having learned the sort of down to earth pragmatism a good detective needed from the best there was. His mind wandered back to that night in the docks, the lifeless forms of several dead policemen littered around Batman's feet. They were ghastly parodies of humanity, almost as if some arch prankster had dressed several mummies as cops. He trembled at the sight but his mentor sensed his unease and said, "Everything in the universe is subject to rules of one sort or another, even the fantastique. Learn their rules and a winning strategy is within your grasp..." Over the course of their time together, they battled witches and ghouls, werewolves (twice) and a vampire, and good as his word, they always prevailed. There is nothing unbelievable, merely poorly understood. Had he not had this training, memories of Raven's tortured childhood would have driven him to suicide. Now, he only felt an iron resolve to give her the best life possible. Daughter of a demon, I'll carry you to heaven myself if need be, he thought.
Raven. Dark beauty, luscious temptress, and delicious distraction that you are, mirrors hold only disappointment for you. You used to find yourself guilty of crimes against beauty before the judge and jury of self. He smiled to himself. Now she began to see herself as he'd always seen her, and set aside feelings of doubt. She still had a daily battle with those dark forces of her own nature, but now she no longer fought them alone. That shy, uncertain girl was gone, replaced by a mature young lady. And he loved her. Why had he been so afraid to admit that? He loved her. Shuffling off to the bathroom, he began his morning clean up. Showered, shaved and dressed, he pass on his costume in favor of his sweats and a muscle shirt. No matter what, he wasn't leaving the tower so even the mask was unnecessary. Hair brushed back, he headed down to breakfast thinking about Raven in a thong bikini and some new training simulations... in that order.
To heaven, Raven. Pack a bag...
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------
The omelet furnace also known as Cyborg sat idly stirring his coffee even though he'd added nothing to it. The previous night, he and Beast Boy had paid Robin a late visit, the results of which were... interesting. He'd greeted them well enough and sat patiently as they said their piece...
"Um, look dude," began BB a little shackily, "We may... y'know, give you a hard time and all, but you know we got yer back, right?"
"Yeah, all the kiddin's just buddy stuff. But if it ever gets too heavy for you two... well, you know... we're on it" added Cyborg with a crocked grin.
Closing his eyes, Robin sighed and said, "Thanks guys, we knew we could depend on you two if things got tight. You guys are nails. Absolute nails."
"Uh yeah, well not a lot of people know that me and Cy... um, well a few years back we... kinda ended up inside Raven's head... accidental like. So.... we kinda know what yer goin' through." smiled Beast Boy.
Robin nodded, "Yeah, I remember."
"Huh? Oh yeah... I guess you would. Just between you and me, Pink Raven was HOT"
"Yeah, whatcha think of her dad? Talk about in-laws!" Grinned the big man.
They'd talked a while longer, but as Robin looked genuinely beat, they made their good-byes and took off. Neither said much during the walk down to the rec room until finally Beast Boy said, "Cy... Robin's not dealing with this too good, is he?"
Now, after a night to think it over, he had to agree. Robin was becoming consumed by Raven's inner struggles. His coffee now both cold and stirred to a froth, Cyborg got up to get a fresh cup, and hopefully an idea of what to do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------
Of all of then, it could be argued that Donna Troy truly deserved the title of Titan. Sleek and graceful, she was the epitome of the Athenian ideal, with the added benefit of brains to back up the muscle. And while no one would openly admit it, she was prized as the one Titan who could match Robin blow for blow in hand to hand combat, and thus served to both keep him humble and keep him striving to improve himself. And so it was that morning, as Raven stumbled ever so quietly from Starfire's room, she found herself facing her tawny friend as she desperately tried not to wake the still sleeping Tamaranian. Seeing Wonder Girl, she quickly held a finger to her lips then gestured for them to move further down the fall. A safe distance down the hall, Raven smiled, "Morning Donna. What's up?"
Wordlessly, the Olympian merely held up her palm and quickly blew a fine green powder into Raven's face and hissed, "Be silent!" Instantly, she felt her vocal cords seize shut, and looked up just in time to see Wonder Girl catch her in the jaw with a roundhouse punch. Sprawling backwards, instinct kicked in and she deftly landed on her feet, battle ready. With out another word, Wonder Girl pressed the attack, giving Raven little breathing space. Dammit, she thought, I can't use magic, I'll have to duke this out by hand. Surprisingly, she was able to easily deflect and parry all of Donna's blows, and slowly the tide began to turn in her favor. Finally, she spotted an opening and caught her attacker in the solar plexus with a viscous up kick, which flipped her head over ass. Landing upright, she held up a hand in pause. Gesturing with her other hand, she said, "Sing little bird." at which Raven felt her throat free up.
"Okay Rave, I'm really sorry about clocking you, but I really needed to see that for myself." said Wonder Girl with a genuine air of concern.
"See WHAT you brainless ninnie?!" said Raven in a hoarse whisper, still afraid of waking Starfire.
Grinning slyly, the amazon placed her hands on her hips and said, "Girlie, do you really think that in a million, jillion years you could take me on in a fair fight? Yet there you were! That's why I had to take magic out of the equation in order to see what you'd do on instinct..."
Raven was stunned at the revelation. "I... I did keep up, didn't I?"
"Yup," grinned Wonder Girl, "Your muscle tone is lousy, and you could polish up your reaction time, but no doubt about it, you've got all Robin's moves. You might want to seriously consider keeping your skills up."
Raven was both stunned and delighted, but quickly turned a dark eye on her punchy pal, "That's still no excuse for whopping on me."
All smiles, Donna said, "I'll make it up to you. What's say you, me and the fireball go out this evening? My treat. Whattaya say?"
After a broody moments thought she said, "Okay, but we eat someplace nice, NOT THE FOODCOURT! Savvy?"
"Deal. Let's hit breakfast, I can't wait to tell Robin that now there's TWO girls who can beat him up..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------
Armed with a breakfast burrito big enough to choke a horse and Kid Flash's legendary four alarm salsa, Raven took a welcomed seat next to Robin, who had herbal tea at the ready. She was both stunned and delighted by his bare face. "Hey handsome." she whispered.
"Morning beautiful. How was the slumber party?" he asked, unable to take his eyes off her.
Frowning, she finished her first massive mouthful of burrito and said, "It was exactly that; a slumber party." Robin's eyes shot wide open.
"... yer kidding." he whispered.
Raven just fixed him with a cross look and said softly, "She made popcorn, talked about you until the wee hours, and she painted my toenails. Oh, and let me thank you again for not letting me stay in YOUR room last night. This was SO much nicer." and she pinched him under the table for good measure.
Stifling a yelp, he sighed and whispered, "Oh well, at least it's over with. I'll help you set up a new room today."
"Wait for it, the best is yet to come..." she said softly.
As if on cue, Starfire burst into the kitchen sporting a hairdo composed of a series of awkward and ill executed braids which stuck out in all directions, easily leading one to believe she'd just been struck by lightning.
"Glorious good morning to you all Titans!" she beamed, clapping her hands together.
Barley able to contain himself, Beast Boy grinned, "...but scarecrow, I think I'll miss you most of all!"
"BB, you have no idea just how glad I am that I'm bald..." sighed Cyborg heavily.
"Please friend's, Raven gave these braids her best effort and I think we should..."
"Hold on, " cried Beast Boy, "RAVEN did this to you?! Note to self, stay on Raven's good side."
"Too late..." growled Raven as she took another bite of her burrito.
Wonder Girl stepped forward maternally, "Um Starfire, Raven and I were going to take you out this evening, and perhaps this hairstyle is... um..."
"Unfashionable?" added Starfire helpfully.
"Well, I was going to say unfit to be seen by other human beings, but let's go with yours. What's say we get you cleaned up after breakfast and try a few styles that might turn some heads... in a good way." smiled the amazon.
Frowning, Starfire turned to look at Raven, "You don't mind do you? Please tell me that you are not upset."
"You girls go ahead," she sighed, "I didn't have any real career plans as a stylist..."
Turning to Robin, she whispered darkly, "Okay, let me make something clear to you. This is NOT going to happen again. If by some chance we don't get my bedroom set up today, I'm staying with you tonight. Got it?"
"Yeeeeeees, MA'AM!" he grinned.
Slowly, her scowl was replaced by a sly smile, "All right, cut that out. You just watch yourself, mister. Your drop dead gorgeous eyes are only going to get you so far with me.
Looking at her softly, he said I love you with those eyes, and turned his attention back to his tea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------
To be Continued...
Next time; The League of Extraordinary Mallrats
Part Four- Third Eye Open
by King Cheetah
I don't own any of these characters,
so don't rub it in...
Kinda sorta Robin/Raven pairing; you've been warned....
------------------------------------------------------------------------ -----------------------
Morning brought a new day to Titan's Tower, though it could hardly be said to be much of an improvement over the previous day. The thunderstorms had given way to a steady gray drizzle which chilled both flesh and spirit, and with any luck, thought Robin, the criminal element will be smart enough to stay home today. Another rough night in the world of dreams, and he began to seriously regret his decision to let Raven sleep in Starfire's room. The dream was worse than the first time and having her here would have... would have what? The feelings again. What was going on between them? He lay in bed for another twenty minutes just thinking of her, and being with her and being without her. He couldn't get thoughts of Raven out of his head, and yet he was still fond of Starfire. Fond. Just fond. And that's how it'd always been. A young teen crush had grown into comradeship... but nothing more. Merely friendship... until he merged with Raven.
Now it seemed to be a mixture of his feelings for Starfire and hers, culminating in a new fascination. He felt stronger about her, but not as strong as he felt for Raven.
Raven. She not only filled his thoughts, but his dreams as well. He'd never been given to flights of fancy, having learned the sort of down to earth pragmatism a good detective needed from the best there was. His mind wandered back to that night in the docks, the lifeless forms of several dead policemen littered around Batman's feet. They were ghastly parodies of humanity, almost as if some arch prankster had dressed several mummies as cops. He trembled at the sight but his mentor sensed his unease and said, "Everything in the universe is subject to rules of one sort or another, even the fantastique. Learn their rules and a winning strategy is within your grasp..." Over the course of their time together, they battled witches and ghouls, werewolves (twice) and a vampire, and good as his word, they always prevailed. There is nothing unbelievable, merely poorly understood. Had he not had this training, memories of Raven's tortured childhood would have driven him to suicide. Now, he only felt an iron resolve to give her the best life possible. Daughter of a demon, I'll carry you to heaven myself if need be, he thought.
Raven. Dark beauty, luscious temptress, and delicious distraction that you are, mirrors hold only disappointment for you. You used to find yourself guilty of crimes against beauty before the judge and jury of self. He smiled to himself. Now she began to see herself as he'd always seen her, and set aside feelings of doubt. She still had a daily battle with those dark forces of her own nature, but now she no longer fought them alone. That shy, uncertain girl was gone, replaced by a mature young lady. And he loved her. Why had he been so afraid to admit that? He loved her. Shuffling off to the bathroom, he began his morning clean up. Showered, shaved and dressed, he pass on his costume in favor of his sweats and a muscle shirt. No matter what, he wasn't leaving the tower so even the mask was unnecessary. Hair brushed back, he headed down to breakfast thinking about Raven in a thong bikini and some new training simulations... in that order.
To heaven, Raven. Pack a bag...
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------
The omelet furnace also known as Cyborg sat idly stirring his coffee even though he'd added nothing to it. The previous night, he and Beast Boy had paid Robin a late visit, the results of which were... interesting. He'd greeted them well enough and sat patiently as they said their piece...
"Um, look dude," began BB a little shackily, "We may... y'know, give you a hard time and all, but you know we got yer back, right?"
"Yeah, all the kiddin's just buddy stuff. But if it ever gets too heavy for you two... well, you know... we're on it" added Cyborg with a crocked grin.
Closing his eyes, Robin sighed and said, "Thanks guys, we knew we could depend on you two if things got tight. You guys are nails. Absolute nails."
"Uh yeah, well not a lot of people know that me and Cy... um, well a few years back we... kinda ended up inside Raven's head... accidental like. So.... we kinda know what yer goin' through." smiled Beast Boy.
Robin nodded, "Yeah, I remember."
"Huh? Oh yeah... I guess you would. Just between you and me, Pink Raven was HOT"
"Yeah, whatcha think of her dad? Talk about in-laws!" Grinned the big man.
They'd talked a while longer, but as Robin looked genuinely beat, they made their good-byes and took off. Neither said much during the walk down to the rec room until finally Beast Boy said, "Cy... Robin's not dealing with this too good, is he?"
Now, after a night to think it over, he had to agree. Robin was becoming consumed by Raven's inner struggles. His coffee now both cold and stirred to a froth, Cyborg got up to get a fresh cup, and hopefully an idea of what to do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------
Of all of then, it could be argued that Donna Troy truly deserved the title of Titan. Sleek and graceful, she was the epitome of the Athenian ideal, with the added benefit of brains to back up the muscle. And while no one would openly admit it, she was prized as the one Titan who could match Robin blow for blow in hand to hand combat, and thus served to both keep him humble and keep him striving to improve himself. And so it was that morning, as Raven stumbled ever so quietly from Starfire's room, she found herself facing her tawny friend as she desperately tried not to wake the still sleeping Tamaranian. Seeing Wonder Girl, she quickly held a finger to her lips then gestured for them to move further down the fall. A safe distance down the hall, Raven smiled, "Morning Donna. What's up?"
Wordlessly, the Olympian merely held up her palm and quickly blew a fine green powder into Raven's face and hissed, "Be silent!" Instantly, she felt her vocal cords seize shut, and looked up just in time to see Wonder Girl catch her in the jaw with a roundhouse punch. Sprawling backwards, instinct kicked in and she deftly landed on her feet, battle ready. With out another word, Wonder Girl pressed the attack, giving Raven little breathing space. Dammit, she thought, I can't use magic, I'll have to duke this out by hand. Surprisingly, she was able to easily deflect and parry all of Donna's blows, and slowly the tide began to turn in her favor. Finally, she spotted an opening and caught her attacker in the solar plexus with a viscous up kick, which flipped her head over ass. Landing upright, she held up a hand in pause. Gesturing with her other hand, she said, "Sing little bird." at which Raven felt her throat free up.
"Okay Rave, I'm really sorry about clocking you, but I really needed to see that for myself." said Wonder Girl with a genuine air of concern.
"See WHAT you brainless ninnie?!" said Raven in a hoarse whisper, still afraid of waking Starfire.
Grinning slyly, the amazon placed her hands on her hips and said, "Girlie, do you really think that in a million, jillion years you could take me on in a fair fight? Yet there you were! That's why I had to take magic out of the equation in order to see what you'd do on instinct..."
Raven was stunned at the revelation. "I... I did keep up, didn't I?"
"Yup," grinned Wonder Girl, "Your muscle tone is lousy, and you could polish up your reaction time, but no doubt about it, you've got all Robin's moves. You might want to seriously consider keeping your skills up."
Raven was both stunned and delighted, but quickly turned a dark eye on her punchy pal, "That's still no excuse for whopping on me."
All smiles, Donna said, "I'll make it up to you. What's say you, me and the fireball go out this evening? My treat. Whattaya say?"
After a broody moments thought she said, "Okay, but we eat someplace nice, NOT THE FOODCOURT! Savvy?"
"Deal. Let's hit breakfast, I can't wait to tell Robin that now there's TWO girls who can beat him up..."
------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------
Armed with a breakfast burrito big enough to choke a horse and Kid Flash's legendary four alarm salsa, Raven took a welcomed seat next to Robin, who had herbal tea at the ready. She was both stunned and delighted by his bare face. "Hey handsome." she whispered.
"Morning beautiful. How was the slumber party?" he asked, unable to take his eyes off her.
Frowning, she finished her first massive mouthful of burrito and said, "It was exactly that; a slumber party." Robin's eyes shot wide open.
"... yer kidding." he whispered.
Raven just fixed him with a cross look and said softly, "She made popcorn, talked about you until the wee hours, and she painted my toenails. Oh, and let me thank you again for not letting me stay in YOUR room last night. This was SO much nicer." and she pinched him under the table for good measure.
Stifling a yelp, he sighed and whispered, "Oh well, at least it's over with. I'll help you set up a new room today."
"Wait for it, the best is yet to come..." she said softly.
As if on cue, Starfire burst into the kitchen sporting a hairdo composed of a series of awkward and ill executed braids which stuck out in all directions, easily leading one to believe she'd just been struck by lightning.
"Glorious good morning to you all Titans!" she beamed, clapping her hands together.
Barley able to contain himself, Beast Boy grinned, "...but scarecrow, I think I'll miss you most of all!"
"BB, you have no idea just how glad I am that I'm bald..." sighed Cyborg heavily.
"Please friend's, Raven gave these braids her best effort and I think we should..."
"Hold on, " cried Beast Boy, "RAVEN did this to you?! Note to self, stay on Raven's good side."
"Too late..." growled Raven as she took another bite of her burrito.
Wonder Girl stepped forward maternally, "Um Starfire, Raven and I were going to take you out this evening, and perhaps this hairstyle is... um..."
"Unfashionable?" added Starfire helpfully.
"Well, I was going to say unfit to be seen by other human beings, but let's go with yours. What's say we get you cleaned up after breakfast and try a few styles that might turn some heads... in a good way." smiled the amazon.
Frowning, Starfire turned to look at Raven, "You don't mind do you? Please tell me that you are not upset."
"You girls go ahead," she sighed, "I didn't have any real career plans as a stylist..."
Turning to Robin, she whispered darkly, "Okay, let me make something clear to you. This is NOT going to happen again. If by some chance we don't get my bedroom set up today, I'm staying with you tonight. Got it?"
"Yeeeeeees, MA'AM!" he grinned.
Slowly, her scowl was replaced by a sly smile, "All right, cut that out. You just watch yourself, mister. Your drop dead gorgeous eyes are only going to get you so far with me.
Looking at her softly, he said I love you with those eyes, and turned his attention back to his tea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------
To be Continued...
Next time; The League of Extraordinary Mallrats