The day came quicker than anticipated, thankfully a dreamless sleep. He came out from his room and into the kitchen. The place was completely empty.
Peter was confused at this and poked his head into the living room. Still nothing. Suddenly something on the refrigerator caught Peter's eye. He picked it up and read the message written aloud to himself.
"Peter, we're all in the training room right now. Eat your breakfast and meet us in there. Robin." Peter nodded as he bit ino an apple and tossed the crumpled note into the trash from across the room.
He wasn't used to training by any means. Even the Avengers didn't care about teaching him to be a part of the team. In the past he had always been relying primarily on his Spider sense, so this was actually quite nice and excited Peter a bit.
He quickly put on his suit without wasting any more time. He wandered the halls a bit, trying to find this training room. He still hadn't gotten a chance to get a tour, so he did get a little lost at first. He was pretty annoyed at his absent mindedness, bit eventually came across the room clearly labeled, training room.
He pushed the button on the wall and the door slid open to reveal a dark room inside. Peter strained his eyes as he slowly crept inside. He peered into the distance, trying to make out his surroundings, but all he saw was darkness sitting on top of the floor. He felt a chill that stopped him in his track.
He closed his eyes to try and listen in on his spider sense, but was met only with the same ringing in his ears and the thought of never going home. It was no use, and that scared Peter.
"Guys?" He called out into the darkness, but there was no answer, send a chill up his spine.
Peter continued further into the room, throught the dark void. He stuck his arm out, feeling for anything he could. The room continued its blank setting as Peter inched closer and closer into the room until he looked down and noticed his foot touching a red line on the floor. He scratched his head in confusion and peered into the distance again.
Suddenly he was hit with a heavy kick to his ribs, knocking him back a few feet. He turned to fight back, but couldn't see his opponent. Suddenly, his tingle decided to kick in just in time to catch a small blade thrown at his torso.
"Impressive." Came a voice from the darkness. The lights shut on, stinging Peter's eyes a bit and he saw the Titans standing in a mostly empty room, with white metallic walls and several computers. A huge red square sat in the middle of the room, which Peter was standing in.
Peter looked at the blade and recognized it as Robin's. "Hey! What gives?" He said, flinging the blade back at Robin who easily caught it.
"I just wanted to test out that tingle thing you were mentioning." Robin explained as they all gathered in the circle.
Peter was relieved by that, initially thinking they were actually attacking him. "Yeah, well it's not as useful as it once was. Its... broken or something. I don't really know, exactly."
"We'll get you there." Robin replied casually. "Okay. So today is your first day of training, so here's this." He handed Peter an ear piece, which Peter put on under his mask. "Mostly what we're going to be doing is getting used to all of us working together. We need to get into the flow of things."
"Makes sense." Peter nodded
Robin pointed at him, "I know you probably haven't, but have you ever done something like this before?"
"Oh yeah, totally!" Peter said proudly. "I was a part of this superhero team called the Avengers, well kinda as a temp I guess."
"Cool, so this should come easy for you." Robin grinned before nodding to Cyborg who pressed a button on the wall and the scene changed around them.
The white walls faded away and changed to that of the ruins of a city. Flames trickled in the rubble and smoke rose into the sky, but other than the Titans was completely empty. It was pretty cool to be sure, but Peter was a little caught off guard.
"Woah, what happened? Where are we?"
Cyborg chuckled and patted Peter on the back. "Just a hologram."
"This simulation will be a team effort." Robin explained. "The opponent will be a giant monster. Starfire and beastboy, I want you to do what you can to keep him looking up. Cyborg, you focus your fire on his chin. Peter, you and I focus on his legs, try to trip him, bring him down to our level.
Finally, Raven, you deal the finishing blow. Everybody got it?"
They all nodded and turned around. Peter clapped jokingly. "Break." Beastboy laughed at that.
The monster appeared through through smoke, towering over them like a sky scraper. It's red eyes glowed and it growled a rumbling growl. Peter took a step back, honestly a little nervous, but ready nonetheless.
"Titans go!" Robin commanded.
The team sprang into action. Starfire flew over the monster's head and began blasting him in the face with a bright green energy beam. Beast Boy took the form of a pterodactyl and began flying around the beasts head, with it trying to swat him out of the air. Cyborg assisted Starfire, shooting a powerful energy blast at the face.
"That is so cool." Peter whispered to himself as he and Robin ran for the legs.
Robin began spinning around the feet, wrapping a cable around as he did while Peter jumped and began wrapping webs around the shins. He went around about three times, before he was knocked out of the air. He fell to the ground as he and Robin ran straight into each other.
"Sorry!" Peter said in a rush. He looked up and his eyes widened to see the feet break free and lift up to crush them both. "I got it! I got it!" Peter shouted as he webbed himself and Robin away, before quickly going back into battle.
He went for the legs again, narrowly dodging the giants kicks. The monsters giant hand came down in a fist straight for Peter, but he managed to dodge it and attach his web. The he swung from the hand and began swinging around the monster, sticking its arm to its torso. Suddenly he was knocked from the air again, slamming into Beastboy who turned back to his human form. Peter grabbed him shot a wall near Robin to catch him.
"I got you!" Peter shouted as he swung back into battle.
"Ew gross!" Beastboy groaned, still stuck to the wall.
Peter swung upward to the beasts head, ready to just knock it down with a punch. Once he reached it he found himself getting hit again. This time it felt hard, super hard. He was slammed against the monster's forehead, causing it to come tumbling down. Peter looked and saw he was about to be crushed by a car that was thrown. Quickly he pushed off as they fell and managed to catch the car over his head as he stood atop the beasts for head.
Suddenly the weight was lifted from him as the scene faded away an returned back to the all white training room. Peter was still in fight mode, so he was confused at first. The other Titans all gathered in front of him, mostly looking concerned.
"I'm so sorry, guys!" Peter pleaded. "It was a accident!"
"It's okay." Beastboy said with a casual shrug.
"It'll just take time to get used to working as a team is all." Robin explained, reassuringly. "You did pretty good, all things considered. Just gotta work on your situational awareness."
Peter was annoyed at that, since normally that wasn't a problem for him. Though Robin believed that Peter simply needed more practice, that wasn't true. Peter had gotten truly skilled with his abilities, and now his Spider sense only seemed to work inconsistently. Training went on like this for the next few days. The plan would always be solid, thanks to Robin, but Peter kept finding himself getting in their way over and over again. He could tell the others were starting to get a little annoyed and that just made Peter feel worse. He briefly considered retiring. That perhaps this was a sign that he was losing his powers.
He didn't know what to do, so he automatically went to Raven. He didn't know why, as he was sure she probably didn't want to talk to him. However, he found himself yearning for company. For some reason he felt himself gravitating toward her for such things. Though he hadn't gone through with it, he had been thinking about it since they last spoke. Then finally he gathered up the courage and knocked on the door next to his.
"Hey uh, Raven?" Peter called out. "It's Peter. Could we talk for a sec?"
He expected a long pause or no answer, but to his surprise the door flew open on its own. Peter saw Raven in her dimly lit room, floating cross legged over her bed before gently setting herself down. She didn't answer and instead silently gestured for him to come in, so he did. The door closed promptly behind her and Peter approached the bed and sit down.
"What's up?" She asked flatly.
"Um." Peter began nearvously, her piercing gaze staring into his soul, causing him to get extremely flustered. "I-I was just... wondering..." he felt himself staring again, taking in her stunning gaze, no matter how cold it was. "If you had... found anything yet?"
Raven gave a sigh and shook her head. "So far, no... I still haven't looked through all my books... but I'm staring to think I may not have anything like that... sorry."
Peter shook his head, "its okay. I was just checking."
Peter looked around the room, eyeing all the strange relics scattered around the room amongst the normal stuff. It reminded Peter of a Halloween store, if those places had massive budgets for authentic texts and relics.
"You seem to be having a hard time... aren't you?" She asked, snapping him out of his snooping.
Peter chuckled sheepishly and bobbed his head. "Training you mean?"
Raven shrugged. "In general."
Peter nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, but I'm hanging in there." He shrugged. "It just sucks that I can't be of more help during training... I kind of feel like a liability."
"You're not." Raven argued. "We were all new once, and we all had to get used to a team dynamic... it's completely normal."
"I know." Peter nodded, feeling himself smile a bit from her reassurance. "It's just that... this isn't me. I mean I've never had this hard of a time since I first started being Spiderman."
"So you're worried that you may have to stop?" Raven guessed intuitively, much to Peter's surprise.
He blinked in shock. "Well yeah."
"Look..." she said. "You mentioned that you were a part of a team before, right?" Peter nodded in response. "So maybe you didn't abandon your world."
Peter furrowed his brow. "What do you mean? It's my city, my responsibility."
"Not just yours, though, is it?" Raven argued, staring intently at him. "Like you said there's lots of heroes. I'm sure they're perfectly capable of picking up the slack... you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."
Peter shook his head in frustration. "I did so much just so I can be Spiderman, and now-"
"You're still Spiderman." She replied sharply, and Peter looked back up from his lap. Feeling his heart flutter once his eyes met hers. Then she continued. "The people of this world... they're real too... so... maybe you haven't failed at all... Doesn't it count as long as you save somebody?"
Peter stared off, pondering what she said. He knew she was right, he couldn't argue that. The thought was still there, but it honestly made him feel a lot better. He hadn't thought of it like that, nor had he even considered this place as real. Although it was just as real as his world. He wanted to hug her, but could tell that wasn't exactly welcome.
"You're right." He nodded. "I didn't even think of it like that."
"You make a difference." She continued, placing her hand on his shoulder. "We all do, that's why we're here... even Beastboy." She grimaced.
Peter chuckled at that and nodded. "I'm just sorry I keep getting in the way."
"It's okay..." Raven reassured. "But... don't you have some sort of... sixth sense... or somthing?"
"Well yeah, but it's just... broken I guess." Peter shrugged. "Every time I listen to it my ears start ringing and... it's just... really hard to concentrate... and I don't know why."
"Hmm..." Raven hummed to herself, staring off in deep though. "Well have you tried meditating?" Peter thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. He couldn't recall ever meditating. "Well I'm not sure exactly how your powers work... but I think your problem might be... emotional."
"Emotional?"
Raven nodded. "I've seen some of the others in a funk before... Starfire was depressed once and couldn't fly for a week... they had the same problem... I think you might just be a depressed and anxious mess."
Peter chuckled at that, because he knew she was right. "Yeah. I guess so."
"Well..." Raven began, glancing away from Peter before shaking her head. "Nevermind."
Peter lifted his head with a hopeful gaze. "What?"
"Nothing... just forget it." She shook her head.
"Come on." Peter insisted with a grin.q "I'll listen to any advice you give. any at all."
For a moment he thought he could see her blushing under her hood, but he couldn't exactly tell.
"Okay." She began. "I was thinking that maybe I could help you... meditate, I mean, I know it's kinda MY thing... but I think it might help you."
"You think so?" Peter shot up, still unsure as to what mediation entailed, but excited to have her teach him anything. Honestly, he found himself strange excited for any excuse to spend time with her.
"Yeah but..." Raven sighed then leaned forward with a pensive gaze. "Look, you don't know this about me... but I'm an empath. So the emotions you feel... I do too."
Peter suddenly felt like a jerk as he realized the implication that he was making her uncomfortable since the moment they met. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. Don't apologize." She assured with a mild chuckle. "It's nothing new, but... *sigh* look I will help you sort all this out, but if things get... out of hand... I'll need my space then."
"Yeah. Yeah." Peter shook his head. She didn't even need to ask. "Of course."
"Okay." Raven nodded, then adjusted her sitting position. "First get into a comfortable position." Peter promptly followed her instructions. Feeling a warm tingle in his chest as he scooted closer to her. "Okay, we'll just start on some breathing exercises, then we'll move on to affirmations, okay?"
"Okay."
"Close your eyes." Her voice gently commanded him and he immediately did as she said. The warmth in his heart grew as her voice danced around in his ear drums in an all too soothing way. "And breathe... in through your nose..."
Peter did as she said, feeling the strange comforting sensation begin to build as he voice softly guided him.
"Out through your mouth." She said.
Peter let his breath go in a slow, steady stream and felt his heart rate begin to steady.
"And once more." She instructed, "In through your nose..."
Peter drew another deep breath as he listened eagerly for another word of her soft, gentle, albeit flat voice.
"Now I want you... to repeat after me." She continued slowly and softly. "I am strong."
"I am strong." He repeated.
"Inside and out." She added.
He repeated her again. "Inside and out."
"I forgive myself..." she continued.
Peter took another deep breath, before letting it out again and repeated her. "I... forgive myself."
Saying the words felt like a lie to him, but he said them anyway. Her voice guiding him along like the world's sweetest siren song.
"I am worthy." She said
He repeated again. "I am worthy."
"Of all of life's happiness." She said.
Peter smiled a bit at that, the warm tingle inside his chest hugged him like the softest blanket.
"Of all of life's hapliness." He finally repeated.
"Now one final time." She softly said to him, causing him to shiver almost with delight. "In through your nose."
Peter drew in one final breath. He didn't want it to be over. In fact he wanted to stay suspended in this moment forever. It was as if all of the worry that plagued his mind as of late had temporarily gone to sleep.
"Out through your mouth." She instructed as he immediately followed hr direction, almost hypnotized at this point. "Okay... open."
It was a strange experience. Strange because he didn't expect it to work all that much. Raven, however, proved to be a far bigger help than he expected. With her guidance he found himself more relaxed than he had been in months. All he had to do was follow her directions, but it felt nice. She had him saying affirmations that he was worthy and strong and a miracle, stuff like that. It felt goofy at first, but that too helped.
He felt a fluttering in his chest as she instructed him to finally open his eyes. He couldn't help but smile. Every insecurity, for that moment, was far from his attention. It was just him and Raven in the room, and he felt safe because of that. He felt safe because of her.
"Feel better?" She said flatly.
Peter smiled widely and nodded his head. "Yeah, actually, much better. Wow!"
"Told you so." She said with the slightest of grins. "I know what I'm taking about."
"No kidding." Peter chuckled.
"Those nightmares shouldn't be a problem tonight." She assured as she picked up a book from the bedside table and cracked it open.
Peter was confused in a slight panic. "How did you-"
"Your rooms next door." She interrupted, flatly. "I hear you every time you have one."
"Oh I'm so sorry." He said quickly as he got up from her bed and took a few steps back towards the door. He felt terrible for keeping people up with his nightly antics.
"It's fine." She assured, reaching for a book on her bedside table. Suddenly she found herself being squeezed by a hug; it was Peter. "What the hell are you doing?!" She replied in shock.
Peter's face grew red as he realized what he had done. His arms wrapped tightly around her in a warm embrace. His heart pumped faster as he felt her body through her cloak. Even her back was enough to send shivers of desire into him as he took in the hug a bit longer.
"Hugging."
"Hugging... me?" She replied in disbelief and slight annoyance. "I guess its fine... I'm just surprised I didn't explode anything."
"Thank you." He said with utter gratitude of how much she had helped him. He felt like maybe the hug was a bad idea, but it was mostly an impulsive move out of excitement.
"Yeah... sure... just don't make these hugs a habit okay?" She replied, and he nodded at that. "And... if you're feeling bad again... feel free to join me, I guess."
"Really?" Peter replied in disbelief, his head now the only thing visible to her from behind the doorway. She nodded, burying her face behind her book. "Thanks, Raven. I owe you one."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Peter left her room and slipped into his room, his heart soaring as he slowly sunk into his bed. No worries plagued his mind, just peace and joy. After being so scared and intimidated by her, Peter now found himself smiling at the mere thought of Raven. She helped him in a way that he never expected her to. She may have been different, but she proved herself to be a better friend than he originally realized.
The image of her face hung in his mind evermore as he lied there on top of his blanket. He traced over her features in his mind, from her chin to the crown of her head over and over again. He thought about her stunning eyes, like amethysts, sucked him in like a whirlpool.
Perhaps he would take her up on her offer after all.