Leave Out All The Rest pt.18

Leave Out All The Rest
Chapter Eighteen: One More Night
She tied the laces on her shose and stood back up straight, putting one hand behind her shoulder and rolling the muscles, wipping her head from side to side and making her neck pop out any kinks, her hips swayed to the sound of the music dripping from the ear buds in her ears and the muscles in her abdamon rolled as she continued to flex and pop her joints and muscles, "That's some dance you've got going on there," at the sound of the voice the blond jumped and pulled her ear buds out of her ears, turning around and blushing at the smirking woman leaning against the wall, "Um, Raven, hi," she said, "Hi, where are you going so early in the morning?" she asked in her usual monotone, although it was clear that she was quite amused by having caught the highschool girl in the midst of her strange little dancing, "I uh, I signed up for photography camp about a month ago... it's a day camp so I'll be gone all day but I'll be back at like, around five or six," she said, Raven stared at her for a moment, she had hoped that one of the benifits of having Crystal living in the tower was going to be being able to monitor her and see if she really had any connection to Terra, but the empath knew that keeping her under their thumb would probbably only worsen the situation, they were in a delicate place with these two girls and if they made the wrong move they could end up in an even worse place than they were already in, "I mean, that's ok right?" Crystal asked hopefully, Raven sighed, she new she couldn't treat the girl like a prisoner when she didn't do anything wrong- not that they were aware of anyway, "It's fine, I'll let everyone else know, just remember to be carefull on your way home alright? Navigation is tough out here, don't get lost," she warned, pushing off of the wall with her foot and walking towards the kitchen, Crystal smiled, "Right! I'll be carefull! Promise! I cross my heart and I hope to die," she said happily, Raven just nodded vaguely and Crystal gripped the straps of her backpack, watching the dark Titan for a moment, "Mm.... so why're you up so early?" she asked curiously, she had only gotten up so early to get out of here before anyone could ask her where she was going, she had a few minutes to spare now that her secret was out anyway, may as well, "I'm always up this early, I like being up in the mornings, it's the only time when things are quiet," she replied as she began making her tea, "Oh..." she mused quietly, "Why didn't you tell anyone about photography camp?" Raven asked without needing to look at the girl, "I just... mm... I feel kind of bad about going off to do this when you guys are being nice enough to let me stay here.. I feel like I'm running out on you or something," "Not at all, in fact it's best if you have something else to do, that way we won't be so concerned if there's an attack on the tower," Crystal hopped up onto one of the bar stools by the counter and put her arms on the counter, "By this Terra girl right?" "Terra, Slade, anyone," Crystal nodded slowly, "I have my communicator on me so if there's trouble I can call," "That's good," Crystal tilted her head, putting it in one hand, "I guess she tore you up pretty badly huh?" she turned around instantly and stared at Crystal coldly, "What do you mean?" she asked in a slightly lower voice than usual, "Terra, I mean, I know that Beastboy had a crush on her and so it's really obvious that he was hurt.... that out of everyone it was hardest on him..... when I first met him it was really really obvious.... but for you, I think you had it just as bad," "Why do you say that?" she replied, "Because you keep being all hot and cold with me, it's like... you start to like me and then you get scared of yourself and back off, you don't know if I'm your freind or your enemy, I can tell Raven, you don't hide it too well," Raven sighed and went back to her tea, "You're right, it isn't easy to deal with, your resembalence to her is absolutely uncanny, not just your looks but the way you sound, the way you move, I see you as your own person Crystal, but every time I start accepting you I get reminded of Terra and just want to be as far aways as possible, for that I apologize," "It's ok, we just have to make our own freindship, I promise, I'm nothing like her," she said gently, Raven looked at her over her shoulder and gave a slight nod of understanding, "I was thinking, maybe later you and I could go do something, hang out you know? Did you ever hang out with Terra?" "No, I didn't," "Then see? That'll help you to accept me!" she said excitedly, Raven turned around with her tea and took a sip, "Let me guess, you want to go shopping or boy hunting," she said dully, "Um no actually I was thinking we could go to a museum or something like that," she replied with a shrug, "A museum?" Raven said skeptickally, Crystal laughed once, "Raven, I AM a photographer, and I love history and all kinds of art and things from the past... yeah," she said, Raven gave a short nod, "Maybe.... we'll see what things are like here when you get home," Crystal nodded excitedly and got down from were she was sitting, "Thanks Raven, I know this is hard but you won't regret anything- I cross my heart and I hope to die," she said, clutching her backpack again and running for the doors, Raven shook her head once she was gone and had the urge to splash the hot tea in her face, groaning to herself quietly, she wasn't sure what to make of any of this... taking another sip of tea, she concluded that she was going to have to look to other sources for help

~+~

"You... what?" Raven asked quietly, Robin crossed his arms over his chest as he stood in front of the rest of the team, "I want to let Crystal have Terra's old room, for a wile anyway, it's become clear that she won't be staying for just one more night or two or three, she can't keep sleeping on the couch," "So what do you expect to do with it? In case you forgot it was all wrecked and stuff during the attack," Beastboy commented, "We'll clean it up and turn it into a guest room," "I believe it is a glorious idea!" Starfire said enthusiastically, "Hey Rob, you think maybe we should put security cameras in Crystal's room? I mean, you know, just in case somethin' happens," Cyborg suggested, Robin shook his head, "That's an invasion of privacy," "But we don't even know if we can trust her or not yet," "I know but it's a risk we're going to have to take, I mean we can't just go installing cameras in peoples' rooms like that, it's too much of an invasion of privacy," he relied, Cyborg nodded slowly, "So what do we do now?" Raven asked, "Well, we'll clean up her room and hopefully it'll be done by tonight, in the mean time I'll need someone to run to the home repair store and pick up some things, any volunteers?" everyone was quiet, it was never a task anyone enjoyed when it came to reconstructing the tower, well, except Starfire but no one ever let her decorate... Raven sighed, "I'll do it," she said

~+~

Raven adjusted her sunglasses as she walked down the street, she had the convience of the T-Car with her but had parked at the home repairs store, she had other buisness to take care of wile she was out and the others wouldn't get suspecious, she was just lucky that the home repair store was close to her other destination- she would pick up the paint and other equipment as she was supposed to, but there were heavier matters at hand, she opened the door and took her sunglasses off as she entered the building, looking around for a few moments before putting her sunglasses in the pocket of her flowey blue skirt wich was pooling around her ankles as the fabric swayed with the movement of her hips as she walked, her plain, lavender t-shirt stayed pressed against her skin as it clung to her body and she continued looking around the shop, "Raven! How are you?" she heard, turning around and smiling softly, "Hey Julie," she said with a soft smile, "It's been so long! You used to come in here every week, has everything been alright?" she asked with concern, Raven rolled her shoulders slightly, "Things have been rough, that's why I'm here actually," she said, "Ofcourse, how can I help you?" she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "I need something.... but I'm not entirely sure what it is... it's..." she sighed and shook her head slightly, "I don't know how to describe it... I need something to alert me to bad omens, to keep them away," the woman named Julie tilted her head, "Don't you have plenty of those?" "I thought so, but I need something stronger, something much stronger.... I don't know what I need," she admitted solmenly, "I don't understand it, nothing is working, stones, charms, pendulums, nothing, not even my own powers are failing to react the way I want them," she said with a frown, the woman nodded slowly, "I see, and what is it that you're needing to do exactly?" Raven glanced away for a moment, "I... I need to distinguish my relationships a bit more... there is someone who I want to trust but who I don't think I can... and there are just many things that my empathy should be helping me with but it isn't, additionally, it feels like .... my emotions themselves lately have been out of control, not badly enough to effect my powers but... I've been feeling strangely," "Perhaps something to strengthen your empathic and psychic powers?" "No... I'm sad to say that recently my room was robbed and all of the stones I had were put to a negative use, I need something to repel negative energies completely if I have something like that," Julie nodded slowly, "I'm not sure what to tell you Dear... you know Noel is here, maybe you should talk to her?" Raven's eyebrows raised slightly, "Noel is here? ....Yes, I think I need to talk to her," she smiled and nodded, "I'll go get her then, I think this could be good for you,"

Raven stared at the room for a moment as the young brunett walked across to the side of the table and sat down, "So you're having trouble with emotions lately?" she asked, Raven nodded slowly, she and this girl, Noel, a psychic intuitive, had been freinds for some time, ever since Raven first found the New Age shop that they frequinted, and the two often went to eachother for advice and readings, Noel, in fact, was one of the few people who Raven was willing to help empathically, "Yes, I.... have had some issues lately with not knowing who I can and can't trust and not knowing to what extent I can trust them, in addition I have had trouble containing my emotions, it's almost as if there's some sort of defect in my powers, can you find it?" Noel smiled, "I can try," she said, taking in a deep breath and closing her eyes, the room was silent for a moment before she spoke again, "The person you're having trouble with.... was she a freind in the past? Or does she remind you of someone in the past?" "Sort of... it's a bit of both," she nodded slowly, "And most of the emotional unravelings you've felt.... have they been surrounding the same person? Or.... two people?" "Yes," "Is one of them BB?" she asked with a smirk, opening her eyes, Raven flinched slightly, she tried to keep her relationship with the Titans out of the buisness concerning the New Age shop although she was sure that many people knew she was the same Raven that was on the team, she tried to refer the Titans with nicknames, when she first became freinds with Noel she had picked up on a problem she and Beastboy had been having at the time and Raven looked for something to call him, she had thoguht about calling him Gar but felt that that may be a breach of their trust so she went with his nickname, ever since he had appaered frequently in her sessions, "Yes," she relented, she nodded slowly, "I know this is going to be hard for you to hear, and I'm not saying that you should let go of control completely or anything, but these emotions coming to light are the beginning of something new- something GOOD, you'll be happier if you let them happen instead of fighting them, I know it'll be hard, but if you can let go just enough to accept these new emotions then you'll find it's alot easier to control them from now on," Raven nodded slowly, "I understand," Noel, she had found, was very rarely wrong, if she told her to trust her emotions a little more.... then maybe she should, she had learned that emotions aren't ALWAYS a bad thing due to her time with the Titans, maybe this was one of those times... she hoped so, "As for the other person..." she inhaled through her nose, closing her eyes again, "....Is she one of those people who's.. you no.. on and off all the time? One minute she'll be one way and then completely different the next?" Raven felt a chill go down her spine and she nodded, she wasn't sure if Crystal was like that or not... but Crystal and Terra were two completely seperate personalities, weather they were different people or not.... that was another story, "Don't trust her completely, be wary, but be her freind, just be very cautious," she warned, Raven nodded slowly, "Do you have any advice on how to deal with this ... hot and cold issue?" there was silence for another moment as Noel tried to concentrate, "I think she might need some sort of ... healing... spiritual healing, psychological healing... I'm not sure, it's something to do with her mind being ... messed up, almost as if it's split in half," Raven leaned forward a bit, "Do you think she might have a psychiatric condition? Like .. schisophrenia?" "It could be but .... I'm hearing that it's more of a ... more of a traumatic sort of issue?" Raven shivered internally and nodded slowly, deciding to ask Noel about a few other things that had been bothering her lately and consider this information herself, "Raven, you might want to get some Reiki done too," she suggested, Raven nodded slowly, "I think that's exactly what I need,"

~+~

"Ah FINALLY, where have you been Raven?" Beastboy said with a sigh as the doors to the main room opened, "Sorry, am I late or something?" she replied, walking into the tower with several bags from  the home repair store, "Not really, we've done as much as we could with the room given what we have so far, what took so long?" Robin replied as he took a bite of the sandwitch he was nawing on, "I had to make a stop, sorry, it's a personal thing," she said, putting the bags onthe floor, Beastboy's eyes widened and his mouth opened a bit, "What's that on your wrist? Is that. ... is that a TATTOO!?" he shreiked, she shook her head, "No, it's Henna art, it's like a tattoo, but not perminant," the other three Titans all abandonded what they were doing and crowded around to see the tribal raven art on the inside of her wrist, "Henna... what is that exactly?" Robin asked, "It's a type of dye, it comes from plants, it's for art, fingernails, skin, it's even used in hair dyes, I've been considering getting a tattoo lately but I'm not that impulsive so I decided to get this done first, to see what it would be like to have this image stuck on my body like a tattoo, if I like it I'll try it a few more times until I get it just right before getting the tattoo," she explained, "Why would you want a tattoo? Dude, that's SO bad for your body," Beastboy said with a wrinkled nose, "It's just.... something I've wanted to do for quite some time," "Is this what you want to get Raven?" Robin asked as she pointed to the ink, "Likely not, I haven't decided quite on what I want yet, this is just a test, remember?" she replied, withdrawing her wrist, "Is that what took so long?" she shook her head, "No, I haven't been feeling in sync with my powers for quite a bit of time, so I had some reiki done to improve it," "Can we see it?" Beastboy asked, Raven frowned, "You can't see reiki, it's energy healing," "Oh..." he replied, she wasn't sure yet how much she wanted to tell them about Noel's insight on Terra and Crystal, she wasn't sure wat to make of that information at all, so she decided to just hold off, wait until she was sure how and wat to say about it, "Are we gonig to get the room back in order or what?"

~+~

"Alright, I give, why do you keep staring at me?" Raven asked with a frown as she looked over at Beastboy, Beastboy's paint roller had been paused in the same area for the last five minutes and his eyes were plastered to her, "I was just thinking, that's all," he replied, going back to painting the room, "Carefull BB, don't hurt yourself," Cyborg teased with a snicker from across the room, Beastboy's eyes narrowed and his ears pressed against his skull as a big fat frown crossed his face, deciding not to comment on it for the time, "So I've been thinking about adjusting my tracking system," Cyborg said after a few moments, "Carefull Cy, don't hurt yourself," Beastboy chimed in with a victorious grin, "I won't, I'll be working alone and not with you so I should be in the safe zone," he replied, this sent Beastboy fuming as he streaked his paint roller across the wall again, "Why do you want to upgrade the tracking system?" Robin asked curiously as he continued painting the other side of the room, "'Cause, I think I've been gettin' some wrong coordinates lately," he said, Raven paused, "What kind of coordinates?" "Well for one thing you said earlier that you went and got that tattooy thing, but according to my tracker the T-Car AND your communicator were both at the home repair store, parked, the entire time, and a few days ago I tracked BB's communicator at being in a BOOK store of all places! And last night I tracked Crystal's as being outside when she was actually in her room," Raven paused, "You're SURE she was in her room, you SAW her?" "Well... I didn't SEE her, but I pciked up on her vital signs and..." the room went silent, "What time was this Cyborg?" Raven asked, Cyborg frowned, "Oh about... five in the morning," Raven twitched, "I spoke with her at five thirty, she was already dressed and about to leave for camp," the room was tensely silent again and Raven put down her paint roller, "I need some water," she said, cleaning off her hands on a rag and walking for the door, "Me too," Beastboy said, following her out of Terra's old room

"Why did you follow me? I get the feeling that you don't really need any water," Raven commented as she walked briskly into the kitchen, "That's true, what are you hiding?" he asked, she paused, her hand on one countertop, and slowly turned her head, "Excuse me?" "What are you hiding Raven? I know that Cy's trackers aren't wrong, but more than that I know what you look like and what you act like when you're hiding something, after all these years, I've learned your tell," "My what?" she asked, now turning around fully to face him as she leaned against the counter, he took a few steps towards her, "Your tell, every poker player has a tell, it's their facial expression, their body language, a change in their voice, that alerts to the fact that they aren't being completely honest, and you, Raven, if anything, are an expert poker player, but even the best has a tell," "So what is it then? What's my 'tell'?" she asked with slightly raised eyebrows, not really taking him seriously as he approached her, he smirked, his bottum fang becoming more visable, "I could tell you.... but then you'd probbably stop doing it and then I'd have to look for your new one so it wouldn't be fun anymore, come on now, what are you hiding?" he asked, putting his hand next to her's on the countertop, "I'm not hiding anything," she persisted, "Raven, don't you think I know you ANY better than that by now?" he asked with a sigh, his hand slowly inching a bit closer to her's, "Listen Beastboy, it's nothing important you understand?" she said, he shook his head and his hand snaked it's way on top of her's, "You and I go hard at eachother like we're going to war, but this isn't a war zone Raven, we're allies, we're team mates... and you and I are freinds, you need to tell me, please? As a freind- forget being my teammate for a minute here, just be my freind," she sighed, looking away from him, "Beastboy.... I don't know alright? I don't know what I know, I just... it's nothing concrete, it's not even decently hard evidence it's just a minor speculation," "Yeah, because this entire time we've been going on cold hard facts," he mocked, she sighed, 'I try to tell you no but somehow I keep telling you yes...' she thought, biting her lip, "Beastby," "Please Raven, I know that you and I ... we get so dysfunctional we stop keeping score sometimes, but when it comes deep down into it you and I are closer than anyone here, if you can't tell me who can you even trust anymore?" she sighed, "Beastboy sto-" "Please," she broke, she tried to tell him stop but he had her so out of breath that she couldn't anymore, "Alright, I went to see a freind of mine earlier who has psychic gifts," "And?" "......She...... the subject of Crystal and Terra came up... I didn't drop names or even bring any indication of the crissis at hand.... but she....." there was a long silence, "She.... what Rae?" she sighed, "She suggested to me that there may be something psychological going on here rather than something.... out of a science fiction novel, something .... something we're overlooking or maybe something that we've thought of before but that we just aren't concentrating, and the point is, we need to keep an eye on Crystal, we need to do everything we can to connect her dots to Terra's and see where she fits in so we can get this over with.... before something terrible happens," she admitted, Beastboy nodded slowly, "I see... and I can get why you wouldn't want to tell the others, but don't worry, I'll keep it in my vault," he said, giving her the "OK" symbol, "I can keep it between us for a wile, just keep me updated ok?" "You... aren't surprised or anything?" "Why would I be? I believe in psychics and stuff ya' know," he replied with a smile and a shrug, "I'll go back now, let you get your water," he said, smiling and running off, she sighed and closed her eyes, slumping against the counter, "I stopped using my head and let it all go.... and now I feel guilty as hell...."

~+~

"Wow you guys are really doing up a room just for me?" Crystal asked in happy disbeleif as she strared at the other Titans, Robin smiled back at her and nodded, "Yes, it seems that you'll be staying with us in the tower for longer than anticipated and more importantly... we needed to renovate this room, it looks like it should be done by late tommorrow so you should only have to sleep here on the couch one more night," he commented, she nodded happily and smiled brightly and leaned forward, wrapping the Boy Wonder in a tight hug, "Thank you guys SO much! I know how much of an inconvience this is, and it must not be easy since I look like that... Terra girl..... but I promise! Some day I'll make it up to you!" she said, Beastboy, who had perched himself on the counter wile chewing on an apple, shrugged simply, "You don't have to do that Cryssy, we're here to help," he commented, "But still... thank you," she said, looking over at Raven, who was leaning against the wall preoccupied with her thoughts, "Hey, I've got just the idea!" Crystal said, "The photography camp is going to have a big party at the end of the summer for all the students to display their work, we're not sure how it's gonna be yet but I'd be honored if you guys would come," Robin nodded slowly, "I don't see why not but we'll have to see," she nodded again, still smiling brightly, "Thank you all... thank you so much,"

~+~

*nocknocknock* Raven cracked an eye open and slowly sat up in her bed, raising her eyebrows and slowly getting out, grabbing her cloak from her desk chair and sweeping it around herself to cover her pajamas, she opened the door a crack and sighed slightly at who it was, "Crystal? It's after midnight, why are you up?" she asked sternly, the blond looked down and her foot skidded around on the carpet nervously, "I-I ... um... I was hoping.... that... um..." "You want to stay here tonight, correct?" she sighed slightly, "I know I said it a million times but I'll only stay with you one more night, please Raven? Pretty please?" Raven inhaled through her nose, this was becoming a habbit, Crystal had been staying in the tower for five days now.... and this was the third night that she requested to sleep in Raven's room.... "Pretty please?" she said with a pout, Raven rolled her eyes and opened the door, "Oh thank you Raven! I promise I won't bother you tonight!" "How is that possible when your snoring could rival Beastboy's....?" she muttered under her breath, not caring if Crystal heard her or not, the girl knew she snored like a freight train, the first night that Raven had had to have her as sleeping buddy she woke up- for the third time that night- and wacked her with a pillow, growling that she better wake up and control herself before Raven developed insomnia, Crystal had tried.... and failed, "Thank you again Raven! I cross my heart and hope to die that I'll only stay with you one more night!" she said, rushing for the bed with Miranda close behind, making Raven wonder for a breif second when she invited the dog as well... "Hold it," she said, jetting her arm out in front of her and causing the taller girl to stop dead in her tracks, "Before we continue this little ritual I have a request," she said, Crystal nodded slowly, "Sure, what is it?" Raven sighed, "Why me? Out of all of the people in this tower, why do you want to sleep in MY room? Out of all the people in this tower why have you attatched yourself to ME? Out of all the people in this tower... why me? I mean.... I'm the creepy one, the dark one, the SCARY one, why didn't you latch on to Starfire? Or Robin? .....Or Beastboy?" she asked, flicking a strand of hair behind her ear, Crystal stared at her for a moment, incredably puzzled, before smiling softly at her, "Well... I don't know, but I'm just really.... DRAWN to you Raven, you and Beastboy but alot of it is you, it's like, I feel SAFE around you," "I'm the LAST person you should feel safe around Crystal," "But I DO! I feel CONNECTED to you... like... like we had some sort of magnificent past life together or something! Do you believe in that kind of stuff?" "I do, but still, you're the kind of person who suits Starfire and Beastboy better, you're..... bubbly....." she said, "So then we fit perfectly! I'm the yin to your yang right?" "That pretty much describes Starfire," Crystal smiled softly, "Look... it confuses me too, when I first met you guys I was sort of...creeped out by all of you, especially you and Beastboy, but over time that changed.... it became an affinity for you both, I mean, I'd be just as likely to ask to stay with Beastboy except that... well, he's a BOY, that'd be kind of weird don't you think?" "Trust me Crystal, you're safer with Beastboy in your bed than me," she said, "Don't put yourself down like that, I know you THINK you're dangerous, but you're just a big teddy bear underneath, I can feel it," she said with a bright smile, Raven stared her dead in the eyes for a moment and sensed absolutely no deception at all, only innocence, "Your empathy needs some serious work if you think I'm a teddy bear under ANYTHING," she said with another sigh as she let her pass, "Thanks Raven!" she said as she darted for the bed, "And another thing, you're getting nasel strips- TOMMORROW, your room is between mine and Starfire's, if I have to listen to your snoring one more night I'm going to shoot myself," she threatened, "Not a problem~ I can stop by the drug store on the way home from camp~" she said as she snuggled into one side of the bed, Raven shook her head as she hung up her cloak and trudged back to bed, "No, I will be getting them for insurance that you don't forget," she said as she took her side of the bed and stared at the opposite wall, 'I'll be waking up in the morning probbably hating myself....' she thought as she glared at the wall, she felt stupid for all of this, for letting Crystal so easily persuade her, she could have some connection to Terra and be snooping in her room at night, she could be plotting something, she could be planning Raven's death..... or she could just be a teenage girl who's scared of the world around her and who's lonely, wanting someone- ANYONE- near her to comfort her and allow her a place to feel at home, worst of all wasn't even her connection to Terra, it was that Raven felt very much like Crystal veiwed her as an older sister type figure and THAT scared the living daylights out of her, it was bad enough that Melvin, Timmy, and Teether admitted to her more than once that they veiwed her as a mother, and the others veiwed her more or less as a sister, she didn't want all of these attatchments, she was scared to death of letting people get close to her much less DEPEND on her... and yet.... as awkward as she felt around Crystal.... she also felt somewhat responsable for her, somewhat.... as if she just NATURALLY assumed that roll of being her older sister, as if it were nothing new, as if Crystal NEEDED her.... and as much as Raven HATED getting close to people, she never turned down an obligation or a case where she was needed, the familiar sound of Crystal's snoring started and Raven sighed, closing her eyes and rolling onto her back, she wouldn't get any sleep tonight, she resolved, there was too much on her mind right now