The Next Generation

Raven appeared at the entrance to the gym a short while later. She had been sensing things about Neal lately that left her concerned... she sensed frustration, much frustration. He wasn't talking about it, either, which was also disconcerting. It wasn't good to keep those frustrations bottled inside... at least for anyone who wasn't likely to give into their demonic evil side if they didn't.

"Neal?" she said, walking into the gym. She shut the music out so she could concentrate solely on him. Regardless of how loud it was, she could drown it completely if she wished. "May we speak for a moment?"

Neal thought that he heard someone coming into the room, but he assumed that perhaps it was Cyborg coming to train as well, he had never guessed that it would be Raven. She obviously wasn't someone that came to the gym that often. It wasn't until she began to speak and shut the music down that he turned his attention towards her. He listened to her and gave a quick nod, placing the weights that he had been using down.

He got up, stretched for just a moment before turning to face her fully. "Of course, what's up?" he asked as he looked right towards Raven. He hadn't even considered that Raven might be feeling everything that he was feeling right now.

Raven sat down on the seat next to him and reached out for one of his hands, holding it softly. "You are... troubled, aren't you? I can feel it," she said, glancing up into his eyes. "I have been able to sense it for a while now... is it anything you wish to talk about?"

Neal let Raven take his hand, something that he wasn't foreign to anymore over the past few months. He heard her question and gained the tiniest of frowns. How could he forget that she was capable of reading emotion like this? After all that time they spent together he should have realized that this was the reason that she came over. "I don't know what good talking will do for it", Neal admitted as he looked towards the ground. "You and the public all call me a Titan, but I don't feel like I belong here yet, I don't feel like I've earned my place. All I can do is distract people, I can't take out twenty men without being seen like Nightwing, I can't fire pure energy like Starfire and Sarah. I don't possess magic like you do, nor do I have the strength that Beast Boy can summon", he said before slowly glancing up and looking towards her. "What have I really done whenever a major threat has shown up.......I'll admit I was able to help you with Trigon, but you did all the major work in that"

"I just feel useless right now, and I hate it. I always stay in the back, I'm never in the action because I can't stop people like the rest of you can"

Raven frowned a little as Neal explained what was bothering him. He didn't feel like he belonged as a member of the Titans? Even after all they'd done together, he was worried about not being able to do as much as the others could. It was a silly, though understandable, notion. "Neal," she said, lifting his chin with her finger. "Just because you aren't as flash as others or don't deal with particular threats as directly as others doesn't mean that you are any less useful. Though you're still learning, you've done so much for the Titans as a whole, and for each individual in it. You've already progressed leaps and bounds from when you first arrived here, and you continue to advance everyday. Believe me when I tell you that you are important to this team." She then reached down to take hold of his hand once again, a little mroe firmly this time. "And you're important to me."

Neal turned to look at Raven as she used her finger to make him turn and look towards her. He listened to her explain about how much he had progressed and how he had helped the Titans as a whole. "Perhaps I'm just being silly," he admitted as he looked towards her. "I just saw what Sarah did today and I could never be capable of something like that. We were both made Titans at the same time but I feel as if she's much more useful than I am. I almost feel like a liability," he admitted. "Maybe I just need to keep training, just because I'm not there yet doesn't mean I never will be right?" he asked with a smile as he looked towards Raven.

It was when she took his hand firmly and said those last words that the smallest of blushes came to his face. "Uh, thanks Raven. You're important to me too", he said as he gave a simple smile. The frustration and anxiety that Raven was feeling from Neal would suddenly be gone, instead it would be replaced with something else entirely.

Raven smiled slightly at Neal's reaction, then cleared her throat and sat up a little straighter. "Well, we do all help out in different ways," she said, taking in a small breath. "But, if you truly are that concerned... I could teach you something. It won't be easy, even for your adaptive learning, and may at times be very frustrating. But if you would be willing to give it a try, I believe you would find it rewarding."

She could sense the new emotion that had taken over inside Neal, she knew exactly what it was. But she didn't quite know how to react or feel about it. She had to... think on it. She was not accustomed to people feeling this way, not about her. And on the rare occasions it did happen to her, it always ended poorly. She didn't want to go through that again... to open up to someone like that again. But with Neal... she didn't know. It was different with him. Different in a good way.

"I suppose that's true, I guess when I'm not the one who ever takes out the bad guy I just feel weaker than the rest of you," Neal admitted. After all, he never did have that rematch against Beast Boy. Perhaps if they faced each other one again things would feel differently? He raised an eyebrow as Raven explained that there was something she might be able to teach him if he was truly concerned. "Well I'm willing to learn if you think it'll help me, what is it exactly though?", he asked curiously.

He tried to focus on the question at hand. He knew that his mind was drifting towards thoughts about Raven, but he wasn't sure how she felt about him either. He was important to her, but even Neal knew that she cared about all the Titans. He didn't want her to get angry because she suspected something else on his mind. He did his best to suppress it, but Raven would still be able to easily detect how he felt.

"Well... as you know, I can manifest my spirit to physically attack my opponents," Raven explained. "My soul-self, as it's called. This comes naturally to me, simply because of my... nature." She was of course referring to the fact that she was half demon and raised in an alternate dimension. That would come naturally to anyone in that particular situation, really. "But... it can be taught. Rarely, and with great difficulty... but it can. I believe that you have the aptitude and a strong enough mind to accomplish this ability."

Neal listened for a moment as he heard what it was that Raven was offering to teach him. Attacking with his soul self? He didn't think that such a thing was possible, he assumed that it was a gift that only Raven had, he had no idea that it was possible to teach him such a thing. He thought about it for a moment after she stopped speaking, contemplating the words that she had said. "If you believe that I am capable than I wish to learn it. I'll do my best to accomplish the feat", he said with seriousness. Raven could obviously tell that he was serious. He wanted to get stronger.

Raven nodded. "Then I will teach you to the best of my ability," she said. "We will begin tomorrow, early. For now, get some rest... I feel this training will be highly strenuous, not just to your body and mind, but your very spirit." She then stood up along with him and let out a small breath, letting go of his hand. She looked back at him for several moments, before suddenly moving in slightly kissing him briefly on the cheek. "Rest well, Neal..." She then moved away from him and exited the gym.

A short while later, Beast Boy suddenly came sprinting into the gym, skidding to a halt when he was inside. "Neal, Neal! Dude, you have to come see this! Come on!" he then practically dragged Neal off throughout the tower, their destination being the security room.

Nela returned the nod as Raven told him that he was going to have to rest as the training would tire him on several levels, more than anything else he had done before. He was going to have to be really ready for this, and put his whole heart into it. That much would be easy though, he wanted to be more useful for the team. It was only than that the kiss made the impression on Neal's cheek, stopping him dead in his tracks. He touched his cheek before looking up against to try to stop Raven. She was already gone though. "What.......did that mean?", he asked himself.

He made a vow right there, tomorrow morning when he went to go train with Raven he was going to ask her. He couldn't keep hiding from it and he needed to just be a man and ask her! That was it! That was all he needed to do...........and hopefully it wouldn't backfire.

Neal was still sitting there and thinking when Beast Boy suddenly showed up, telling him that there was something he needed to see. "You know man I'm not really up-" but Beast Boy would have none of that as he began to drag Neal towards their next destination. "And what exactly is it that I'm supposed to see?"

Cyborg was already sitting in the security room with a box of popcorn and two liters of soda standing by, some snack food for the show. "Hey guys, help yourselves, plenty to go around. Now, check it out." He clicked a button on the panel and suddenly the multitude of screens all displayed one giant image in front of them. It was a feed from the medical ward, where Sarah and Starfire were currently becoming.... reacquainted."

"Man, I have a new found respect for security cameras," Beast Boy said, taking a long sip from his cup of Pepsi.

As they were dragged into the security room Neal still had too much on his mind to begin to figure out what it was that he was about to see. Considering that it was Beast Boy and Cyborg in the room he really should have found out sooner. "Help myself to what exactly?", Neal said before looking at the screens as one giant image popped up on the screen. Well, at least he didn't have to guess why they were here anymore.

"My god, even with a broken arm she's really capable of doing all of that? They are really going at it right there", Neal said stunned.

"That's got to be the Tamaranean blood," Cyborg said, munching on a handful of popcorn. "Lot of stamina and all."

"It's so nice seeing two people in love expressing themselves so... vigorously." Beast Boy too reached for the popcorn, then sat back in his seat with his hands folded behind his head. "I admire the creativity, too... I've never even imagined half the stuff they're doing."

Several minutes later, Cyborg leaned forward. "Damn! Well, I guess someone's feeling good, huh?" He laughed, reaching for another handful of popcorn.

"I guess so, Starfire always could take a beating, I guess this really isn't all that exhausting compared to fighting people all of the time", Neal admitted.

At the time that Cyborg leaned forward Neal couldn't help but have his eyes widen up as well. "My god, I did not even know something like that was possible between two people. This is the kind of thing that'll keep me up at night.........but in a good way", Neal added with the tiniest of laughs before taking a handful of popcorn for himself.

Beast Boy burst out laughing at Neal's comment. Whether or not he meant to have humorous innuendo, it certainly did, and it was funny as hell. "I hear ya," he said, giving Neal a pat on the back.

"You know, I never noticed just how ripped Sarah was until now," Cyborg said, sipping his soda. "Starfire, sure, she shows it all the time, but damn, Sarah's all muscle, it's pretty amazing." And so it was. She certainly didn't have large and gross muscles that female bodybuilders had, but her muscle tone was insane, even more so than the last tiem they saw her. Apparently, her training on Oa had really added to that. It was almost difficult to tell who was in better shape, her or Starfire.

They continued watching for what seemed like forever. Sarah and Starfire could really go at it... and for a long time it seemed. They really knew how to please one another, that much was certain. About two hours later, it finally seemed like they were coming to a close, falling back on the bed into each other's arms and not moving, just laying there exhausted, breathing heavily.

Neal smiled as Beast Boy at least got the innuendo that he was going for. He really was going for it, but he wasn't sure if any of the others were going to take a laugh at it or not. Thankfully it didn't get uncomfortable.

"Yeah you have a point, her training with the Lanterns must have gotten her really ripped. I mean she was in good shape before but never anything like this," Neal admitted as he saw the point that Beast Boy had made. There was little room to argue with it after all, they had her on film!

Eventually the two girls wound down and eventually fell asleep, ending the guy's fun as quickly as it had started. "Bet they'll be doing a lot of that over the next few days though," Neal said with a laugh as he stood up and began to head for the door. "I have training with Raven tomorrow morning, I'll catch you guys tomorrow," he said before heading off to his room in order to fall asleep. He would heed Raven's warning, if she said it would be difficult than it most certainly would.

"Oh yeah," Cyborg said, finishing off the last of the popcorn. "I'll be sure to make some recordings of all the security feeds. I'm sure we'll catch a lot during the next few days." He chuckled again, then sucked down the rest of his soda and stood up. "I'll you ladies later, peace out."

Beast Boy let out a long yawn and got up to leave as well. "Yeah, see ya all later. Have a good night, guys."

Neal was walking down the hallway that lead towards Raven's room, meeting her as she said that they would. They would begin the training, but Neal had to admit that there was something he wanted to get out of the way before they began the training. If he didn't get it out of the way it would be bothering him the entire time. He promised himself that before they began he would talk to her, and that's what he was going to do.

He allowed a small knock to be placed on her door, waiting to see if she was going to answer.

Raven opened her eyes slowly when the knock came at her door. She sat cross legged on the floor, having still been meditating since the night before. She didn't even sleep, though fortunately she didn't need to when meditating this deeply. It doubled as a mind and body refresher. She knew who was at the door, the only person it could be. Taking in a deep breath, she stood up and walked over to the door, opening it.

"You're on time," she said, stepping aside to allow him to enter into the room. Her candles were already lit, though they burned low since they'd been going all night. "Good, come in. We can start right away."

Neal gave a nod of thanks as Raven opened the door and allowed him to come in. He appreciated it, she always kind when it came to how she treated and how she spoke to him. He heard her say that they could start right away, however he didn't quite take his usual meditative stance yet.

"Before we begin, I was hoping that I might ask you something," Neal began as he looked right towards Raven. He took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head. "May I ask what your feelings are towards me Raven?", he finally spoke.

And there it was, the question that she knew was coming. She still wasn't sure exactly how to answer it, but she'd have to come up with something now that she was on the spot. She stared back at him, her expression turning thoughtful. Her gaze eventually rolled off to the side and her lips pursed.

"I... I don't know, if I'm being completely honest," she said. She took in a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I don't... I don't normally consider many of those kinds of feelings towards others. I spend so much time controlling my emotions, it very rarely comes up. But it has in the past, a few times, and... it has never ended well."

She sighed again and held a hand to her forehead. Her romantic history was a mess, to be quite blatant. Those few men she had tried to get close to, something always happened to screw it up. Usually, it was her own inexperience in opening up her emotions that created problems, sometimes even dangerous problems.

"I'm afraid I'm not very good at these things," she continued. "When it comes to, well, romance, I am... quite terrible."

Neal listened as Raven explained how she usually didn't open up about these kind of things, and how in the past her romantic interests didn't normally end up well. He hoped that she wasn't referring to Blood, because that dude was just a nut. It wasn't her fault that he forced her to be his wife or something like that. Neal had to admit that he had no idea what the fullness of the story was. He figured it wasn't one that he would really bring up anyway.

"Well, I can't deny that I've felt something for you.....obviously you know that," he added with a chuckle since she could read emotions anyway. "Listen, I don't want things to become uncomfortable between us. I'd be willing to give it a try, but if you think that'll just make things strange than I'll do my best to drop it.........I wouldn't want to lose you as a friend ya know?"

Raven took in another breath and paced across the floor a couple of times, arms folded. She could almost sense deep down that opening herself up to another individual would be a bad idea, and yet she was determined to get past that worry, that fear. She knew she couldn't be afraid of it forever, and if there were anyone she were willing to give it a try with, Neal definitely would be it. He was closer to her than anyone else; they'd shared their minds and their deepest, inner most thoughts with each other on a regular basis.

Closing her eyes, she swallowed and slowly let out her breath. Then, she turned and walked up in front of him, taking his hands in hers. "If you truly feel that way... then I would be willing to give this a try, as well."