Raven opened her eyes with a start, and stared up at her ceiling. After lifting her head and looking around her room she noticed it was the middle of the night and the rest of the room was completely empty.
All except for the person sharing the bed beside her.
"Peter?" She said before gently shaking him awake. "Peter!" She hissed.
"Hey beautiful." He said with a compassionate smile that shook her to her very core. "Everything okay?"
"No." She hissed, her heart rate rising with anxiety. "What the hell are you doing in here?"
"What do you mean?" He chuckled leaning up on his elbow. "You invited me, remember?"
She looked off in confusion and wanted to get up immediately, feeling a panic begin to build. Then his hand reached out, gently caressing her cheek. She instinctively muzzled into his warmth, incapable of pulling away.
"Are you okay?" He asked with concern in his eyes.
Her eyes met his she found herself lost in his pools of brown. She reached up, gently brushing her hand along his muscular arm. She told herself that she shouldn't be doing this. She told herself that she should just kick him out and be done with it. However, she couldn't deny how good it felt to feel his touch once more. Her heart soared in a bittersweet way that she had come to miss all too much in the last two weeks.
"YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD HAVE SOMETHING LIKE THIS?" a thunderous demonic voice echoed through her room.
She gasped in shock, before feeling the breath retreat from her lungs. She reached her hands up, trying desperately to force the tightness away, but it was no use. She looked back and was shocked to notice that Peter was no longer there. Instead replaced by trickling flames that quickly spread around her room, engulfing every book, curtain, and even the walls themselves.
"YOU WERE MEANT TO RULE OVER THESE PATHETIC CREATURES." Trigon's disembodied voice bellowed again.
Raven gasped for air as the thick smoke quickly filled the room. "You'll have... to kill me."
"FOOLISHNESS, DAUGHTER." He replied with a cruel laughter. "YOU'RE ALREADY ALONE. YOUR DESTINY IS TO DESTROY. ONE DAY, YOU SHALL FREE ME FROM THIS PRISON. JUST WAIT AND SEE."
Raven covered her ears, trying to block out her father's voice as it became harder and harder to breathe. The smoke felt as though it was beginning to squeeze her lungs.
"NO!" She cried out in protest. Suddenly the air cleared and she was left alone in the darkness of her room. Th flames and smoke were gone, as if it never happened. She let out a sigh of relief. "Just a dream."
The words her father said to her still rang in her head. These dreams were becoming more frequent in the past week. Often times Peter would be there, smiling and affectionate as if nothing ever happened between them. Of course, that wasn't wasn't case in real life. Peter had stopped begging her to talk things out with him. Raven could feel the pain he was inflicting on himself through his desperate pleas. Now, whenever he was around her he would put up a noticeable front of a friend. She could feel the hopeless longing radiating from within him every time he saw her. The tension was alway extra thick with them in the room together. Raven couldn't help but to allow herself to enjoy his presence. Although the conflict this built within her made her require extra meditation as of late.
Not that it made these feeling go away.
"What am I supposed to do?" She groaned to herself as she rose from her bed and made her way to the kitchen.
As she left her bedroom she was startled when she nearly ran right into Peter on his way back to his room. She shivered with delight as he took a polite step back with a smile. Her eyes trailed up his freshly showered, slightly damp abs and around his waist where his towel was wrapped around him.
"Oops. Sorry." He said with a wide grin.
"It's okay." She breathed out, still struggling to pull her eyes away.
She noticed the various bruises across his body and knuckles. He had been going on patrol almost every night since their breakup. She could tell that he was keeping himself busy and distracted, which only made her feel worse and yearn for him even more. Finally she managed to look back at him into his eyes, her breath going shaky as she struggled to keep her hands off him.
"Excuse me." She said after taking a deep breath, then brushed past him, leaving him standing there in confusion.
His eyes lovingly trailed up and down her as she walked away, taking in her silhouette before she disappeared around the corner. Raven cursed herself as she walked into the kitchen. No amount of meditation was making it any easier to stay away from him. She would often find herself distracted when she should have been meditating, instead thinking of all the ways she wanted to love him.
As she waited for her tea to steep, Starfire walked in with a sleepy yawn. "Raven! You are out of your room!"
"Eh." Raven shrugged, still deep in thought. "I've been going a little stir crazy in there lately."
Starfire gave a bright smile in response. "It is most wonderful to see you smiling again!"
She felt herself blush at that in shock. Even though Starfire couldn't read minds the wa she could, she still felt as though she had been caught fantasizing about the boy she had been trying so hard to avoid. She didn't even realize how much she had been smiling as she reminisced about Peter and herself holding each other close. Thinking of all the magnificent ways she had let him touch her.
"Thanks." She replied awkwardly looking away as she pulled the tea bag out of her cup and tossed it into the trash.
"We were all going to have one final beach day for the earth summer!" Starfire chimed. "Please, you must come with us!"
"Ugh!" She groaned, "Do I have to?"
Starfire nodded, her hands clasped together with a hopeful smile. "Oh yes! It will be most enjoyable!"
Raven rolled her eyes, feeling herself wanting to retreat once again to her room. However, she was still shaken up by her nightmare so she ultimately gave a reluctant nod.
"Okay..." she sighed. "But just know I'm not in the mood for swimming."
Starfire wrapped her arms around Raven with a tight, joyful hug. "Wonderful! I am most overjoyed to do the hanging out!"
"Yeah, whatever you say, Star." Raven strained, before Starfire set her down and skipped away joyfully.
She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. Maybe taking the day off for some normal fun wouldn't be so bad. Not like Starfire would have let her decline the offer.
Normally being out in the sun with everyone else being as high energy as they were would have sounded awful. However, after being locked up in her room for two weeks, she had begun to feel herself going stir crazy. Her every cell yearning for the warmth of the sun. Her mind yearning for a break from the constant meditation she had been doing. She had grown frustrated with her work as of late, feeling the warmth her practice once brought her slowly fading away. She would work for hours in a deep trance daily, and yet at the end of it she still felt just as tense and downtrodden as she had before.
The next day, the Titans all met outside the tower around midday. The sun was high in the sky and not a cloud was in sight. Raven curled up underneath the shade of a tree overlooking the shore as the other Titans flocked to the sand. As she cracked open her book, Raven caught herself stopping to state as she spotted shirtless Peter walking by alongside Cyborg and Terra. Raven didn't notice herself clutching her book tighter as her eyes scanned up and down his rippling muscles.
"Friend Raven!" Starfire's cheerful voice chimed from beside her.
Raven was startled and nearly jumped and screamed where she was sitting. She felt as thought she had been caught in her more intimate moments. Her face went red and she grumbled back in annoyance. "Hey, Star."
"Are you okay?" Starfire leaned down.
"I'm fine!" Raven snapped, swatting her friend away like a fly. "It's just a little hot out here is all."
"You should try the surfing with us!" Star chimed excitedly. "Peter, Terra, and I were going to try it for the first time and-"
"HARD pass." Raven interrupted, feeling her heart race at the thought of swimming with Peter. The closeness that could bring. She shook her head and buried her face behind her book bashfully. "Just go... have fun." She waved her away. "I'll watch from here."
"Oh." The alien girl nodded in slight disappointment. "Very well."
Raven rolled her eyes with a tinge of guilt. This was one of many of Starfire's attempts to do the hanging out. However, the thought of having to talk to people sent dread through her. She didn't want to have to deal with the anguish that came with seeing Peter. She couldn't speak to him without the intrusive thoughts that plagued her mind of late. She pictured herself jumping into his arms and kissing him passionately, often at inappropriate times. During training, at the dinner table, even when they would all lounge around in in living room.
As she watched Peter near the shore, she couldn't help but watch him. Like a lioness hunting her prey.
Meanwhile, Peter stared nearvously at the massive waves that crashed in the distance.
"You nearvous?" Robin smirked with his arms folded.
Peter let out a scared breath and gave a quick nod. "Yeah... needless to say, arachnids don't do too well in the water."
"You've never been surfing?" Terra chuckled in amusement as she watched Beastboy eagerly unwrapping a brand new lime green board.
Peter scoffed at that. "Dude, I'm from Queens."
"New York has water." Beastboy replied with a teasing smirk.
"Hah!" Peter scoffed again. "I DARE you to go swimming in the Hudson. I double dare you." He laughed aloud.
"Don't tempt me!" The green Titan shouted as he dove into the water and began paddling into the water, "cause I'll do it!"
"Go Beastboy!" Terra cheered as the green Titan prepared for a wave.
Peter's attention, however didn't last long. As he clapped and cheered for his friend, he couldn't help but glance back at Raven. There was no reason for it, instead, at this moment, he couldn't help but wonder what she would have to say. Raven, however, paid no mind to the antics of the other Titans, and instead kept her face buried behind her book. Peter's eyes softened into a smile as he took in the beauty of her face and her stunning purple locks, soaking it in as much as he could. His gaze trailed up and down her legs and he could clearly remember how smooth they felt.
"Beat that!" Beastboy laughed.
Peter's attention was snapped back to the others as the green Titan shoved the board into his arms. He looked back to the others who were quietly staring at him, making the atmosphere quite awkward.
"Why don't I show you how it's done?" Robin replied, patting Peter on the back as he went into the water.
"Yo, Raven!" Beastboy waved from a distance, but she didn't look at him. "You're missing the fun!"
Peter glanced over his shoulder in amusement, flashing her a crooked smile as she peeked over her book.
"You're lucky I'm even here, Beastboy." She grumbled in response.
The green Titan Deadpanned and turned back around to watch Robin. Terra chuckled and patted her team mate on the back. "Her loss."
Peter chuckled at the exchange and made his way across the field to where Raven sat in the shade under her tree. His eyes trailed back to he water and watched in awe as Robin was picked up by a massive wave and began riding on the top of it. As Peter reached the tree, Raven briefly glanced up at him, before burying her face in the book deeper.
"Hey." He grinned, nearvously awaiting her response.
Raven took a deep, shaky breath, before replying with a blunt. "Hey."
Peter glanced back to Robin as he still glided along the massive wave, the other Titans cheering all the while. He searched for something to say. He yearned for any excuse to speak to her, and tried any chance he got, however his attempts were constantly shot down.
"How are you?" He finally asked.
"Fine." She snapped, allowing a strong silence to build between them.
"No, I mean, how are you really?" He added with a knowing smirk.
Raven snapped her book shut with a huff and glared at him in annoyance. "I'm FINE."
"Oh come on!" He snapped, his heart aching from her demeanor. "How long are you gonna be short with me?" Raven rolled her eyes at the question and looked away. "It's been two weeks and I haven't even gotten any closure. How can you expect me to just leave it alone?"
Raven shut her eyes tightly and shook her head, the conflict within her becoming very apparent. "You'll just have to try harder." She replied shakily as she rose to her feet and started back towards the Tower.
"Raven, please don't go." He pleaded, following closely behind her. "I miss you."
Raven shut her eyes tighter as she reached the door. Her heart aching; begging her to stay. She could feel the door in front of her begin to shake from her powers. "Peter, please stop!"
"I can't stop!" He argued, reaching out for her hand. "I love you too much to just give up!"
That stung to hear.
Raven clenched her jaw, feeling as if she was about to break down. Instead she spun around. "I said, enough!" She shouted, giving him a hard shove.
As she did so, a small explosion of dark energy enveloped them. In an instant, they were both overtaken by it, before they both disappeared within it with a loud snap. Then, both Peter and Raven were gone, leaving only an empty doorway where they once stood.
"What the heck was that?" Terra jumped with a start.
Beastboy gave a simple shrug and Cyborg peered to the source of the sound. "I don't see anything."
"Where are friend Raven and friend Peter?" Starfire asked with concern.
"Guess he chickened out." Beastboy chuckled, before taking the form of a chicken.
Meanwhile, Raven opened her eyes with a groan to an unfamiliar setting. She was in a small bedroom with a twin sized bed with no bedding. The rest of the room was filled with small boxes stacked on top of each other. The bustling sounds of a city at night could clearly be heard from the other side of the single window in the room. She shot up to her feet on immediate alert. She didn't remember casting any spell, which brought immediate unease to her. She slowly crept between the stacks of boxes over to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Outside she could see rows of skyscrapers with streets below, practically gridlock with traffic. Pedestrians filled the sidewalks below, brushing past one another.
"Ugh, my head." Came a familiar voice from behind her.
Raven snapped her head around and noticed another person lying on the floor in the closet doorway. She peered through the darkness as the figure sat up with a groan until his face could be seen in the moonlight that peeked through the curtains.
"Peter?" She called out.
Peter peeked up at her, rubbing his head in pain as he pulled himself to his feet. "Oh, hey Raven." Then he glanced around the room in confusion. "Where are we?"
"I don't know." She shook her head, peeking back out the window. "It doesn't look like Jump City to me."
Peter shuffled across the room and peeked out the window beside her, then gave a confused look. "You brought us to Queens?"
"I did not!" She argued, with her hands on her hips.
"You're the one who shoved me." He replied with a teasing smirk.
Raven huffed in annoyance at that. "Keep it up and I'll shove you again." She grumbled with a roll of the eyes.
"Ouch. My feelings." He replied with a sarcastic tone.
Raven grabbed Peter by the hand and shut her eyes tightly before chanting. "AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
After a few seconds she opened her eyes once more and was surprised to see that they were still in the strange room.
"What'd you just do?" Peter asked in confusion.
"Nothing." She replied with irritation. "That's the problem."
She peeked through the doorway slightly and checked to see if the coast was clear. Then after a few seconds she motioned for him to follow as she stepped into the hallway.
Suddenly, Peter stopped in his tracks and his eyes locked intently at a painting of a sailboat on the wall. "Wait."
Raven paused and pressed her finger to her lips. "Quiet." She whispered. "What are you doing?"
She went to his side and stared at the painting with confusion. Peter, said nothing in response and just kept staring at the picture
He looked to the other pictures on the wall along the hallway. "It can't be." He mumbled to himself as he wandered aimlessly down the hallway.
"Peter, wait!" She whispered with a hiss as she followed him down the stairwell.
Suddenly he stopped at the mid point of the stairs and knelt down overlooking the front door. Raven did the same and watched in confusion at the scene below. One couple stood inside the doorway with a young boy beside them. Knelt down in front of the boy was another couple with tears in their eyes.
"Peter, we need to go." Raven whispered in his ear, but Peter simply shushed her and kept watching.
"You're gonna be staying with your aunt and uncle for a while." The father said with his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"When are you coming back?" The boy asked with a saddened tone.
"Soon." The father replied. "I promise."
"He sometimes needs a nightlight when he goes to bed." The mother sniffled as she caressed the boy's face.
"It's them." Peter whispered to Raven as they watched the couple hug their son one last time.
Raven looked back at him and could feel a great sadness building inside him. "Who?"
Peter hung his head for a moment and took a deep, shaky breath. "It's my parents."
"Your parents?" She replied in confusion, then looked back to the little boy. "So is that...?"
Peter gave a simple nod. "It's me."
Raven looked back to the younger version of Peter and immediately wanted to hug him to comfort him, but held herself back. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He breathed out, heavily. "Just not something I like to think about too much." Then he gave a simple shrug. "So what is this? A memory?"
"It seems like it." She replied with a shrug. "I'm honestly not sure."
"What do you mean, you're not sure?" He replied.
"I told you," she snapped, "It wasn't anything I DID. My best guess is I lost control and pulled us both into your mind." Then she peered at him disapprovingly, "because of you."
"Me?!" He argued. "What did I do?!"
"If YOU hadn't pestered me, none of this would've happened." She replied harshly.
"Well I'm sorry." He huffed in frustration. "You just didn't really give me any closure. What did you expect?"
She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head in frustration. "I don't know." Then she looked back to Peter. "But it seems my powers won't be enough to get us out. We'll have to find an exit. Come on."
She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him down the stairwell, sending chills of pleasure through them both.
"Wait, they'll see us." He stopped in his tracks and watched in confusion as his younger self passed by him with his Aunt and Uncle as if they didn't even see him. "Or... not."
"It's just a memory." Raven explained, flatly. "Now come on."
She pulled him again and went through the front door. They both expected the door to lead to the streets of Queens, but instead it spat them out in a dimly lit laboratory. They both crept into the room, cautiously looking around at the various tanks of spiders under glowing blue lights.
"Okay. This place doesn't make ANY sense." He said with an exasperated breath.
"Does any of this look familiar?" Raven asked as she and Peter wandered around the room.
"Vaguely." He replied, peering around the room into the dark corners of the room. Then he stopped when he noticed a drawer full of empty beakers, all with blank tags that said the name of the company on them. "Alchemex." He whispered to himself.
"What's Alchemex?" She replied, before they both froze in place as the door to the room opened.
They watched quietly as the figure crept into the room, looking very frightened, as if he wasn't supposed to be there. Finally, he walked into the light and they were able to see that it was a younger version of Peter, no older than Fourteen.
"You again." Raven remarked with a flat sarcasm.
Peter watched as the younger version of himself crept into he room and began eyeing the glass containers of Spiders.
"I think this is when I got my powers." He said, watching himself curiously.
The younger Peter kept peering into the containers, his face mere inches away from the glass. Suddenly a shuffling of feet could be heard from outside the door and the young Peter shot upright, causing one of the containers to fall and shatter on on floor.
"Nice one, butter fingers." Raven mumbled to him under her breath.
Peter chuckled in response and shook his head as his younger self winced in pain from the spider bite. Then he turned to the door, "and the rest is history." He waved for her to follow him. "Come on, lets keep going."
"Good thing it wasn't something pathetic." Raven remarked flatly. "Like a Radioactive goat."
"I know right?" He replied in amusement as they walked through the double doors.
They both looked around in confusion as they once again were in a completely different environment. They stood now in another bedroom. Different this time, with light blue wallpaper, and much higher up than the last place.
"Your mind is a complete mess." Raven grumbled as they entered the room and spotted young Peter sitting on the bed with another man standing in front of him. His hair was dark and he had a neatly trimmed goatee and a nice suit on.
"Yeah well." He shrugged. "I had someone tutoring me for a while." He flashed a mischievous grin at her disapproving sneer.
"So whos that?" She asked with a nod to the older man. "Your uncle?"
Peter gave a slight chuckle and mused at the thought, before shaking his head.
"No no. He wished, but no." He replied with laugh. "That's Tony Stark. He was kind of my... mentor, I guess you could say."
Raven gave a simple nod, then looked back to the younger version of Peter with curiosity.
"Why you doing this?" Tony asked plainly. "I gotta know, what's your MO? What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?"
Raven had a pretty good idea, from what Peter had told her, but was still curious to see how much different it was whe he was younger. The younger Peter looked to the floor, his knee bouncing nearvously as he gathered the words to say.
"Because..." he stammered, nearly stumbling over his words. "Because I've been me my whole life... I've had these powers for six months...?"
Tony nodded, his attention fully fixed on the younger boy. "Mhmm." He nodded.
"I read books. I build computers." The younger Peter stammered, his eyes trailing away from Tony. "And-and yeah I'd love to play football... but I couldn't then, so I shouldn't now."
"Sure, cause you're different." Tony nodded.
"Getting off topic, huh?" Raven quipped flatly.
"I was nearvous, hush." Peter hissed with a slight grin.
The younger Peter nodded. "Exactly, but I can't tell anybody that so I'm not." He looked down to the floor. "Look when you can do the things that I can... but you don't... and then the bad things happen... they happen because of you."
Tony, didn't say anything in response and stared off in deep thought. The words struck Raven as well and she immediately glanced at her Peter. Even at such a young age, he had such a strong sense of duty. She felt the same way about herself and her own powers.
"Come on." Peter tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to follow him. "Let's keep going."
Raven followed behind him and went back through the same door they entered through. This time, instead of going back to the lab, the door lead them outside with the sun shining brightly overhead. They were no longer in New York, but rather standing near a landing strip at an airport. They both made their way towards the airport terminal and as they got closer they saw two groups of people facing off in the middle of the landing strip. She could recognize Tony along with many other people she didn't recognize.
"What's going on here?" She asked in confusion as they passed by the crowd.
"Oh, right." He nodded pointing to the crowd of people. "That's Captain America, the Winer Soldier, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Ant Man, Black Panther, Vision, War Machine, Black Widow, and you know Tony. He's Iron Man."
She nodded her head. "The Avengers? I assume?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "This is what Tony was inviting me to help him with." He explained. "Though now that I think back... it feels a little weird."
Raven glanced back to Peter, "What?"
"I mean I understand why this all happened." Peter replied with a shrug. "I just can't help but feel like he hired a fifteen year old to help him beat up his friends." He explained as the continued toward the terminal. "I mean I wouldn't do that to you guys, regardless of the reason."
"Guess they weren't that great of friends." Raven nodded as they reached the door.
They walked through, expecting to be lead into the airport, but instead they were sent to the roof of a massive building overlooking the water outside New York City. Metal scaffolding sat beneath their feet and wrapped around the edge of the roof. On the other side of the roof a younger Peter in a different Spiderman suit sat on the edge as Iron Man slowly descended from the sky behind him. Rave and Peter immediately made their way to the other side.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Raven asked timidly.
"No." He replied quickly, still continuing on his way. "I'm just hoping we'll find the exit once we catch up with the present."
"I should've known you'd be lost without me." She replied with an amused roll of the eyes.
"Ouch." He replied with a crooked, knowing grin by at Raven as they reached the other Peter and Iron Man.
"Previously on Peter screws the pooch." Iron-Man said with a sarcastic quip. "You hack a multi-billion dollar suit, and sneak around behind my back, doing the one thing I told you NOT to do."
Raven's curiosity rose at the words as she noticed the other Peter not looking back at his mentor; instead hanging his head in shame.
"Is everyone okay?" The younger Peter asked with a shameful tone.
"No thanks... to you." Iron-Man replied, still levitating slightly off the floor behind him.
The other Peter snapped his head around immediately, his face twisted into one of anger and frustration. "No thanks to me?" He jumped down from the ledge and faced Iron-Man head on. "I tried to tell you those guys were out there, but you didn't listen! None of this would've happened if you would just listen to me!" He got even closer to his mentor. "If you even cared, you'd actually be here."
Iron-Man's helmet immediately flew open, revealing Tony Stark, who immediately stepped out of the suit. He took a step toward Peter and the young teen immediately took a step back. Raven could feel a tinge of intimation permisting from the young Peter.
"You look scared." Raven quipped with a flat sarcasm.
"Hush, you." Peter hissed with a slight grin.
"I did listen, kid." Tony replied. "Who do you think called the FBI?"
"Come on, let's keep going." Peter said, giving Raven a nudge as he continued along the catwalk.
As they neared the next door, her eyes trailed back to to young Peter and his mentor. Even now, it all made sense to her. Peter was the kind of person to put too much on his own shoulders.
Everything that went wrong always had to be HIS responsibility to fix. If there was trouble he HAD to help. She would often see how this would weigh on him in his day to day life. Missing sleep because he felt like he could be going on more patrols. Forgetting to eat, because he's been in the lab too long. Even with the Titans, Peter had trouble working with a team at first. Seeing him struggle with such things even at such a young age somehow made sense to Raven.
"Powers still not working?" Peter called over his shoulder as they neared the door.
Raven stopped and lifted her hands, trying to create a portal to her room. However, like her previous attempt, nothing happened. She let out a sigh of frustration the shook her head.
"Still nothing." She replied to Peter.
"How do you not know how to get out of here?" Peter asked with an amused smirk, holding the door open for her. "Surely you've taken a peek or two in here before."
"No!" She hissed with a sneer. "It's not exactly an ability I enjoy having. It takes enough focus just to stay OUT of people's head."
"Ooh. That must've been SO hard with me." He replied with a teasing smirk.
"Ugh! You have no idea." She groaned before going through the doorway, followed by Peter.
Once they entered the space, they were immediately greeted by a plain looking empty office with Navy Blue carpet and Pale Orange wallpaper. The room before them had no furniture, or decorations and stretched on for for few yards, before making a sharp left turn at the very end. Peter cautiously entered the room, his senses listening into every detail.
"I have no memory of this place." He said with worry.
"Really? With the movie quotes?" Raven replied sharply with an eyebrow raised.
"No, seriously." He replied as they crept further towards the end of the room. "I've literally never seen this place before in my life."
"Maybe an early memory." Raven suggested flatly.
Peter's breath was shaky as he rounded the corner. "Yeah... maybe."
As they rounded the corner, the room continued to stretch on in front of them before abruptly stopping, with no door in sight. Instead stood a circular hole in the floor sitting in the middle of the walkway, the carpet curlingnover the edge into the black abyss below. Peter and Raven cautiously approached the hole and stood at the edge, peering into it. The space below quickly opened up into a much larger space with lights coming from unknown sources. Platforms of land floated in the darkness with familiar settins from Peter's life, held together by thin webs.
"Now where were we? Hmm..." Peter hummed to himself, touching his hand to his chin. Raven glanced at him in slight confusion before he finally nodded. "Ah yes. In the pit of dispair."
Raven let out a deep sigh and rolled her eyes. "I don't want another... single... pop culture reference out of you for the rest of the trip." She hissed. "Understand?"
"Come on." He chuckled. "That was a good one."
Raven rolled her eyes and kept scanning around the space below them for a few more moments, before finally pointing into the distance.
"There!" She shouted. Peter followed her finger to where she was pointing and saw an archway floating on a piece of rock with stone bat wings on top of it. A portal spiraled in the middle with dark crimson energy.
"That looks like the one from YOUR mind." Peter pointed out with confusion.
"My powers create an exit whenever I go into ANYONE'S mind." She explained with a roll of the eyes. "Though I'm not used to a mind being so... scattered."
"I'm not scatter brained!" He scoffed incredulously.
She gestured to the other structures floating in the hole below. "Your mind is hanging on by literal threads."
Peter deadpanned at that before giving a reluctant shrug. "Okay. You got me there."
"Come on." She said, grabbing him by the hand and slipping his arm over her shoulder to fly them both.
Feeling the warmth of his body against hers after what felt like ages, sent shivers of delight all throughout her body. She considered waiting there for a moment, letting herself enjoy the moment a little longer. However, she shook such thoughts out of hr head and took a step over the edge into the abyss below.
Once her feet left the carpet and they descended into he pit below, she expected herself to lift into the air and fly straight for the exit. However, she had failed to remember that her powers weren't working and they both dropped straight down into the darkness, screaming in terror as they fell. Everything went dark and they couldn't even see two inches in front of of face as memories from Peter's life passed by them as they fell. Peter could recognize many of them as the inside of his Aunt's house and even Midtown High.
As they fell, Peter frantically tapped his wrist, activating his web shooters. With a flick of the wrist, he pulled Raven into his arms, before webbing the nearest structure. They landed on a large stone surface that looked like a chunk of the moon freely floating in space. Raven's hands lingered on his torso for a moment as they landed. She bit her lip, admittedly enjoying the feeling of his muscles on her hands once again.
Peter's eyebrows raised with a satisfied smile upon noticing her. "You good?" He chuckled.
Raven's face went beet red and she immediately snapped her hands to her side. "Yep."
Peter looked up into the spaces above him, held together by webs. His eyes scanned the spaces until finally spotting the exit gate, created by Raven's powers.
"I see it!" He pointed into the distance. "Up there!"
Suddenly the rock beneath their feet began to rumble beneath them. They looked down as they saw a crack begin to snake its way before them before opening up wide, creating a massive hole in the rock, throwing dust into the air. From out of the dust came a massive muscular purple skinned man dressed in golden armor and a golden jeweled gauntlet on his right hand.
Peter's heart rate immediately rose at the sight and he was forced to swallow the sheer terror that nearly took him over.
"What is that?" Raven asked, trying to think of a way to handle the situation without her powers.
"Thanos..." Peter breathed out shakily, mentally at the point where he was starting to want to break down. He couldn't allow it, though. He needed to keep it together, for Raven's sake. "Come on!"
He took Raven by the hand and charged in toward Thanos as he raised his gauntlet.
"I AM... INEVITABLE!" Thanos roared as he pointed his fist at the two of them.
Peter immediately threw Raven onto his back and leaped into he air, webbing them over Thanos's head as a powerful beam of colorful energy blasted through the rock where they once stood. The beam followed after them as Peter swung between the floating platforms, dodging the blasts from below them.
Suddenly a blue portal opened in front of him and Thanos emerged, with his fist pointed at him.
"Peter watch out!" Raven shouted as they drew closer to the villain.
"I'm working on it!" He stammered, webbing another platform nearby and swinging them around Thanos.
They swung past Thanos, dodging three more quick blasts, before dropping onto another large surface below. This was another rocky surface, this time with towering stone pillars piercing the sky like swords. They landed with a roll and took cover behind a rock and peeked up at where Thanos had been before, however, they only saw empty space.
"Whew." Peter breathed out, backing away out from behind the stone. "Thank god."
He turned around with Raven's hand still in his, but as soon as they did they came face to face with another person. This time a man clad in green with a long flowing cape and a smoky glass dome over his head. Peter fell backwards onto onto ground and scrambled to his feet, his hands held out as he kept himself between the figure and Raven.
"Mysterio." Peter mumbled under his breath.
Raven glanced past Mysterio and spotted the exit, floating on a distant stone above the far end of the one they were on. She quickly grabbed Peter by the hand and ran around Mysterio.
"Come on!" She shouted.
Before they could get too far from Mysterio, a giant shard of glass descended from the sky. Peter managed to pull Raven back just in time before it impaled the ground in front of them. Mysterio continued to slowly approach them, now dangerously close.
"You are just a scared little kid in a SWEATSUIT!" Mysterio shouted with a viscous tone.
Suddenly, Mysterio appeared in front of them in a puff of green smoke. Peter grabbed Raven tighter in his arms and flipped backwards and dodged as another giant shard of glass shot horizontally at him.
"I don't think you know WHATS real." Mysterio continued as Peter backed away shakily. "You need to WAKE UP!"
The villain raised his hands and Peter followed his Spider Sense, leaping into the air and webbing a nearby pillar. He swung himself and Raven over Mysterio's head. He flipped them to the left and dodged a giant shard of glass, followed by three more.
"How do you do this much flipping?!" Raven shouted as she hugged onto him for dear life.
"Sorry!" Peter panted as they swung over the pillars, finally putting some distance between themselves and Mysterio.
"Almost there." Peter panted.
He kept swinging between the towering stone pillars, toward the exit that was now clearly in sight. As they neared the far edge of the stone, Peter breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it was all finally over. Suddenly his Spider Senses tingled and he noticed a small orange ball with a flashing green light flying toward them. Peter immediately threw Raven below and caught her safely in a web. However, he wasn't quick enough to save himself and took the full force of the blast, blowing him into a clearing below.
Raven gasped in shock and immediately struggled with a her might until eventually breaking out of the web. She ran over to him in a desperate panic. Her heart ached as she spotted him lying face down in the dirt, slowly picking himself up again.
"Peter!" She shouted.
He stood up with a stumble, his face and bare torso charred and covered in fresh cuts. Raven slipped his arm over her shoulder to help him.
"It's gonna be okay." She assured shakily, guiding him to a nearby stone to sit down. "Here sit down." She placed her hands on his chest and took a deep breath. "Come on. Please work." She whispered to herself, before closing her eyes. "AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
However, nothing happened and Peter's wounds still covered his body. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes again, tighter this time.
"AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
"Raven." Peter groaned as he stood back up again with a limp. "It's not gonna work." He groaned.
"I know!" She snapped, running her hands through her hair with a stressful huff.
They both stopped in their tracks as they spotted another figure standing between two pillars. The man wore a green armored suit and a torn purple hood over his head. His hair was curly and red and his lips curled into a wide, sinister smile. As he spotted the man, Peter gulped with fear, but stepped between him and Raven nonetheless.
"Goblin..." He mumbled under his breath, his heart racing with terror. "Raven." He breathed shakily. "Run!"
"Are you nuts!" She shouted in response. "Let's get out of here!"
Peter ignored her and charged head on, his teeth bared. He charged in with a flurry of punches and kicks, whilst dodging and blocking the Goblin's attacks.
"Still fighting!" Goblin shouted, landing a heaving blow, knocking Peter onto the ground with a painful thud. Raven went to his side and immediately helped him t his feet.
"Raven, get to the exit." Peter panted as blood trickled from his mouth.
"I'm not leaving you!" She snapped with frustration.
"You should do as he says." Gobin replied with a wide toothy grin at Raven. "If you think he's going to protect you... you're wrong."
Peter gritted his teeth and charged at his enemy again, limping all the while. Peter ducked Goblin's first strike, landing an uppercut as he stood up. Peter gave a powerful kick and staggered Osborne back. Goblin ducked Peter's next kick, sweeping him off his feet and landing him flat onto his back. Raven looked around, frantically thinking of how to help against an opponent so formidable.
"Still fighting, Peter." Goblin sneered, his foot planted heavily on Peter's chest as he tried gasping for air. "You weren't strong enough for to keep HER safe... no wonder your little girlfriend left you! Hahahaha!"
Suddenly the Goblin was knocked onto the ground as he was struck from behind with a large rock to the head. He picked himself up and looked to see Raven standing between him and Peter.
"I said I'm NOT going anywhere!" She said with determination.
Then her eyes started to glow white and her feet lifted off the ground. Her hands lifted as she rose into into air. Goblin stood up, an eyebrow raised in confusion.
Then before he could take me than two steps, Raven chanted. "AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
Peter lifted his head in pain and watched as the ground beneath the Goblin's feet begin to crumble, before breaking away completely. The sounds of the Goblins screams echoed through the air as he fell into he dark abyss below, until finally the area was filled with silence.
Raven turned around, back to Peter and ran over to him hastily. An aura of white energy surrounded her hands as she placed them on Peter's chest. With a deep breath she spread the energy over his entire body, slowly closing his wounds and clearing his charred skin.
Peter let out a deep sigh of relief as he felt the pain slowly fade away. He lied his head back against the stone and took another deep breath.
"Thank you." He breathed out.
"You okay?" She asked with a worried tone, helping him to his feet.
"Yeah." He panted as he tried to calm himself. "Just pretty scary is all... are you okay?"
Raven gave a simple shrug at that. She wasn't hurt in any way, but it wasn't the fight, nor Peter's mind that had her troubled. Her powers were working once more. Initially she thought that being inside of Peter's mind caused them to stop working. However, now it seemed that wasn't the case. It wasn't until she was truly desperate that they decided to start working again.
She pointed up at the exit floating above their heads and held out her hand.
"Come on... let's get out of here."
Peter took her hand and immediately felt the strong upward force of her flight. They soared upward with great speed until they finally landed in front of the arch way, the red energy shimmering against them.
"I'm not gonna lie." Peter said with his hands on his hips. "I wasn't sure if we were gonna find an exit... so this is a relief." He chuckled.
Raven rolled her eyes at that and shook her head in amusement. "Just go through the portal."
"Ladies first." He said with a slight bow.
Peter followed closely behind her and they walked closer to the portal.
Suddenly, Peter felt a tightness around his ankle, pulling him fiercely toward the blackness below. They both looked with a gasp as they saw the Goblin hanging over the edge, trying to pull Peter in by the ankle.
"Hahahahaha! Your weakness. Peter!" Goblin laughed as Raven wrapped her arms around Peter's waist and started pulling against him. "Is morality! You'll never have what you want!" Peter kicked at Goblin's other hand with his other foot as he panted in sheer shock and terror. "And you'll never be rid of ME!"
Finally Peter and Raven managed to over power the Goblin's grip, sending them both flying backwards through the portal. They both landed on on otherside with a hard thud and finally they were back in the hallway of Titan's Tower.
"Woah, what are YOU guys doing in here?" Terra's voice sounded from the end of the hallway.
Peter and Raven looked up to see Terra's knowing smirk as she stood beside Beastboy, who simply looked confused. Raven's face went red as she noticed the position they landed in; her on top of Peter, who had only been dressed in swim trunks the entire time with no shirt on.
"Long story." Peter groaned as Raven got of him and helped him to his feet.
"Don't ask." Raven added.
Beastboy threw his hands up, awkwardly. "Whatever you say," before going on his way with Terra.
Peter looked back to Raven with a sigh of relief, but her eyes trailed away with a hint of shame.
"Im... sorry." She finally said with a sigh. "About all of that."
Peter gave a simple shrug in response. "You didn't mean to." He replied. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm just glad you're not hurt."
"Just surprised." She shrugged. "I just never realized how bad off you REALLY are."
Peter gave an awkward smile in response. "No need to call me out." He replied, then pointed over his shoulder. "You maybe wanna grab some cozy tea?"
Raven hesitated for a moment, initially wanting to retreat back to her room. However, after such an encounter, she was still pretty shaken up.
"You read my mind." She groaned, following him down the hall.
"No that's YOUR thing." He quipped with a teasing smirk.
They both went side by side into he kitchen. This time she felt different being around him. She wasn't thinking about how she needed to get away from him. This time it felt like unwinding after a long mission. She couldn't tell if it was the promise of herbal tea or his presence that had her so fluttery at that moment.
They stood in the kitchen, patiently waiting as the water started to heat up.
"I'm sorry... by the way." Raven finally said.
Peter blinked with confusion. "You said that already."
"No!" She snapped. "I meant about... the OTHER thing."
Peter then realized what she was talking about and his face lowered into a saddened one. "Oh." He said, "right. That."
They were interrupted by the whistling sound of the tea kettle and both paused to pour their cups. They remained in the kitchen, both of them leaning against the counter, steeping their tea. Their eyes locked onto one another with desperate wanting.
"Peter..." Raven finally said, not looking up from her cup. "I never meant to hurt you. I'm just... scared." She admitted with a sigh.
"I know." He nodded.
"I just." She set her cup down and buried her face in her hand with a stressful sigh. "I don't know what to do anymore."
Peter blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"I'm with you and I lose control." She sighed, throwing her arm up. "I'm without you, I lose control. I just..." she sighed again. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore."
Peter nodded, staring into his tea, deep in thought. He didn't have the answers any more than she did. All he knew was that he wanted her.
"I don't know either." Peter replied, his voice breaking a bit.
Raven sighed heavily and shook her head. The more she thought about it, the more stressed she became. With a single step, she wrapped her arms around Peter's shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. He slipped his arms around her and they both held each other for a few moments. Raven's breath slowed and she nuzzle her face into his neck, enjoying his warmth against her. Despite her daily longing and pining for him, it still came as a shock to her that embracing him was so soothing. His warmth reminded her of sitting in front of of fireplace on a cold night. She quickly let herself sink into the embrace for a few moments more.
"I want to help you figure this out." Peter finally said. Raven looked back at him and opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "You need help more than anybody I know. I want to face this together, and if we fail, then we'll do that together too."
"Peter." She sighed. "I told you we cant-"
"You thought that." He interrupted her again. "But then you lost control so much you sucked us BOTH into my head." Raven didn't respond, maintaining full eye contact with him. "And when did your powers start working again?"
Raven looked off and thought about it for a moment. "When I decided to stay." She nodded and hung her head, allowing it to rest against his pecs.
"Peter... I've missed you so much... I've wanted nothing more than you back.... but... What if it makes it worse?"
"I don't know..." he replied with a disheartened gaze. "All I know is that I'd rather die than let you go through this alone."
Raven's heart fluttered at the way he was speaking. Having the destiny she had, shelter thought one person could feel such a way about her. She didn't even feel she deserved it, and yet Peter was willing to give her the world.
"Why do you care so much?" She breathed out
Peter simply gave a crooked grin, then replied. "Its the right thing to do. I love you, Raven."
"I love you." She replied with a soft smile.
That broke her defenses and she found herself pulling him into her with desperate passion as she locked lips with him. Their hands reached up, caressing each others face as they kissed with burning desire. Suddenly the sound of the other Titans chattering alerted them both as the others entered the living room next to the kitchen.
Raven and Peter looked back to each other with heavy breaths, before she finally broke away from him. Their eyes locked on each other, undressing one another with their eyes.
"My room." She ordered with a pat on his chest, before floating out of the kitchen toward her bedroom.
Peter slowly walked out of the kitchen, his mind racing, and his heart fluttering. His spirits soared as he wet over their conversation again and again in his head. He almost didn't notice the others as he passed by them.
"Yo, dude." Beastboy chuckled, giving him a nudge in his side. "So you chickened out after all."
"Huh?" Peter stopped in his tracks and looked out the window behind him. "Oh , right." He hadn't even noticed it was already afternoon, the sky pierced a brilliant orange. "Maybe next time." He chuckled, absently as he trotted up he stairs.
"What's with him?" Terra asked.
"More pouting, probably." Cyborg chuckled.
"It is a shame Peter missed out on the earthly fun of the surfing." Starfire added.
Peter went down the winding hallways until finally reaching Raven's room. He stood outside the room, his heart racing with joyful anticipation.
"Okay, Peter." He whispered to himself. "Be cool."
He opened her door and paused as he saw Raven sitting cross legged on hr bed facing him. She gsve a light grin at him and motioned him to her with her finger. Peter backed into her room, checking to see if the hall was empty before closing it promptly behind him.
A/N:
Updated on January 15th, 2024.
HEY! Before you go, there's one thing I forgot.
I can't believe I forgot about this, but it happens.
I am of course talking about the fan cast for not only Peter's parents, but also for uncle Ben.
So first off, as Richard and Mary Parker, I've decided to go with.
Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Yeah... i guess that ones alright.
Next as Uncle Ben, we have...
Michael J Fox!
Hey, Mcfly! You're Uncle Ben now!
Lmao.
Alright, that's it, thats all I had to do. Lol.
As always thank you to everyone for all the love and support on the story so far. Shoutout to all my followers and I will see yall in the next chapter!