Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans; all rights are reserved by DC Comics.

The Songbirds Series

By Ryoko Porter

When Two Become One

Part One – Apart

Trigon was gone, his threat history to the world and to the Teen Titans. With only a few days gone by, the Titans worked on getting past the ordeal. The repairs to the tower were minimal, but they took the time to heighten the security. And as if the villains had some sort of decants, there were no crimes that called for their specialties.

Each of the Titans dealt with the ordeal in their own ways. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg all continued on as if nothing more than a hard battle had occurred. They worked hard to improve whatever needed to be improved. But honestly they worked harder to enjoy life even more than they had been before. Robin was a bit of a mystery to the others, though not horribly so. He was even more aloof than usual, much like when he was on a "Slade binge". The other Titans figured that he had been affected slightly by whatever had happened when he went in search for Raven. Understandable since he'd gone to hell and back.

However it was unexpected how Raven would react to the battle with her father. They of course anticipated her to change in some way, but nothing so extreme as abandoning her own room. She spent all her time in the common room, close to the others. It seemed that she was afraid of being alone, or at least enjoyed being with her friends like she never had. But what was even stranger were her new sleeping habits, or at least the others assumed that they were "new" sleeping habits. She now slept through the day, waking only around six or seven at night. Each day camped out on the couch, content to be near to her friends yet still ignoring them.

Raven's odd and constant presence was not the strangest shift in her habits though. Her most shocking new habit was discovered one morning not six days after Trigon had disappeared. Beast Boy was quite happy one morning as he came into the kitchen for breakfast, when Raven was not present. He boasted that he'd found her in his arms when he'd awoken, and that she was still in his bed asleep. The others would not believe his claims until they all went and snuck a peak at her curled up on his bed. Beast Boy's excitement wasn't to last though, as Cyborg admitted that he'd found her curled against him in his "bed" a couple of days before. When she later returned to the common room, none of them was bold enough to ask her about it.

A couple of days after Beast Boy's admission, Starfire related to the others of how Raven had entered her bed the night before. Of course being teenage boys, Beast Boy and Cyborg commented on how "hot" that it was. But it made them more curious and observing of her sleeping habits. The girls never were close together when they slept in the same bed. With Cyborg, Raven would always sleep almost atop him in consideration of space. And Beast Boy would always be spooning her when he "had" her.

There were days when they would come into the common room, and Raven would already be asleep on the couch. This of course confused the three inquisitive Titans to no ends. Was she spending the night alone on those nights before they found her? Or was she leaving their rooms before they awoke?

What they never guessed was that every time they found her on the couch in the morning, she'd spent the night before with Robin. Unlike the others, Robin never spoke about Raven's new sleeping habits. He acted interested only enough so that the others wouldn't think that he would know anything. On the morning of the day after the Trigon battle, when he'd first discovered her, he was surprised, but there was also sympathy. He understood that she simply needed to be with someone she trusted, a need born of her natural abandonment issues, and the confrontation of he who'd created the feeling. Raven probably wanted to be sure that he would not leave her.

The second night Robin sat awake in his bed, waiting for whatever would occur with Raven. It was around three in the morning when she appeared in his room, looking tired and in need of assurance. The two birds looked at one another for long silent moments, each silently begging for something of the other. It was when Robin made a slight nod of his head that Raven finally came to him. The dark empath then through her cloak off and over a chair, silently moving into his bed and arms. As equals they rested within each other's arms, both glad for the comfort the other would give. Raven soon fell into slumber, her face buried in Robin's neck. Robin though did not sleep that night, but enjoyed the gentle body in his arms.

The two dark warriors lied together for hours of perfect content. It was not until just before the sun would rise that Robin made to get up. Slipping from Raven's grasp, he went to shower and change for the day. When he was finished, Robin took the time to observe the resting woman closely. The lazy fine purple hairs that fell over her face. The gentle rise and fall of her womanly chest. The luxurious curve of her feminine hips. Then as he had the day before, he took her into his arms as a princess. And grabbing her robe, he took her to the common room with him. The other Titan's never suspected a thing; for it was usual for him to be the first awake.

Admittedly Robin was slightly surprised when he learned that Raven was crawling into the other's beds. He tried but couldn't ignore the slight twinge of jealousy he felt. Yet as he observed, he realized that she spent many more nights with him, which filled him with relief. He never before thought that he would ever be so concerned over who Raven was sleeping with. That special place in his heart, Robin had always assumed was reserved for Starfire, just as everyone else had. And some part of him still thought that he would end up with the fiery alien girl.

The first day that they got a call for help was over two weeks after the renewal of the world. It was comparatively small to anything they usually fought, but still was a bit of a challenge. They'd gotten a call about a hostage situation occurring in the "low rent" district of town. When they came to the small strip-mall bank, they realized that the culprits were no great menace that they usually fought. Four poor and desperate men endangered nine innocent people that were in the bank by way of guns. Raven quickly used her power to take their weapons from them, and after seeing the threat of the other Titans, three of the men quickly surrendered. But one who was in a back room, surprised them and shot at the dark warrior. The bullet only grazed Raven's side, but the others had never seen Robin so angry. They too were upset, but Robin raged. When it was over, only one of the wounded had any need for a hospital. Raven only needed a new costume.

'Dude! What was all that about?' Beast Boy questioned later. 'I thought that you'd kill him, you were wailing on him so bad!'

'C'mon man, you know you wanted to do it too,' Cyborg defended.

'Yeah I know, but,' Beast Boy hesitated.

Robin never gave his two debating friends an answer. The girls weren't present, and he still felt no need to explain himself to anyone. It wasn't until later, when Raven came into his resting arms that he said anything at all about the matter. Whispering his reasoning in her ear as she was loosing herself to sleep.

'No one will take away your second chance.'

After a month, Raven reclaimed her room, all but absolutely halting her new sleeping habits. She still slept during the day it seemed, but always it was alone. What was never reviled was her continuing habit of entering Robin's room on the occasional night. The affection between the two grew, but continued to be peculiarly platonic. And even more mysterious was their refusal to ever talk about it with each other. It became an unspoken term to their friendship.

Most of the battles that the Teen Titans fought for a while seemed like child's play. There were times that one of them would get hurt, but nothing felt as hopeless as fighting Trigon had. Each of them had their own adventures, and for a time it seemed that no one would directly threaten Raven's new life.

Usually when there was a squall over the city, the crime was little enough that the police could care for it. Few people, including criminals wanted to be pelted with cold rain. Plus it always made whatever crime it was much harder to pull off. Only the rather stupid, or the insane geniuses would work with bad weather. And even those lawbreakers usually chose a clearer night to work under. But sadly it wouldn't be so on this dark and stormy night.

The night had started out calm at first, with only the usual noises of two particularly loud Titans and the storm outside. Beast Boy and Cyborg played a new game that they'd brought home for the Game-Station earlier. Starfire entertained herself with Silky, feeding the worm some strange mustard concoction she'd made up. And the two wise birds played a quiet, but edgy game of chess. The habit of the Robin and Raven playing chess together had only started a few days before, but it quickly became another thing that the two shared exclusively. It began when Raven had discovered him playing on his computer, and offered a better challenge. And though the games were always played in silence, they both always learned something of the other.

However everyone's games were interrupted by the very abrupt distress of Raven. The empath suddenly tensed up, and looked as if there was a monster in front of her. At first only Robin noticed, but as he asked her if she was all right, the others also took notice of her grief. Then just as sudden as Raven's reaction, the alarms to the city went off. Something was happening in the city that they needed to be apart of.

With the rain, everyone rode in the T-Car, everyone but Raven. She'd altered into her dark bird form and flown off in a hurry. As the other Titans headed into the city as fast as they could, they got a call over the emergency line from the police. The police told them to expect a woman with super-powers terrorizing the west side. And that she was distinctly calling a challenge out to Raven.

They knew that they had arrived at the battleground when a city bus suddenly fell to the road ahead of them. Screeching to a swerving stop, the four quickly exited the vehicle. Looking up they saw their Raven and another woman standing off each other high in the sky. Starfire picked up Cyborg as a green pterodactyl did the same for Robin, flying them up to the roofs of a nearby building.

'So these are the friends that you fought to protect? They don't seem all that special to me,' the new woman commented bitterly. She was pale like Raven, but her long hair was as white as milk. She also wore a costume much like Raven's, but it was white also. The only color she appeared to have were her eyes, which were the same color as Raven's. She was pretty, but seemed to be broken in some way.

'What are you doing here Ghost?' Raven asked in her controlled monotone.

The other woman only smirked. 'Why sister, I'm here to kill you,' she chuckled. The two women appeared to be sizing each other up, as they continued their odd conversation. They circled in the air, every once in a while throwing an object at the other.

'Just because Trigon sired us both, it doesn't make us sisters,' Raven spoke with a bit of edge. 'Now tell me, why are you here Ghost?'

'Like I said sister, I am here to kill you. The price on your head is quite high after all,' Ghost said, but with more power behind her voice. The bizarre woman's mood seemed to shift to the bad, as did her powers. 'Do you know what you did when you banished daddy? He took out his anger on Poltergeist and I!' the woman cried as she threw a car at Raven.

The two "sisters" obviously shared powers, and it made the battle quite a spectacle for the Titans. Raven charged at Ghost, who reacted in the same way, starting a hand-to-hand battle. They both used their dark energy to strengthen their punches and guards. And soon they were diving around in flight, after one another.

'Poltergeist is dead because of you!' Ghost screamed, as they pulled apart for a moment. Tears fell down her white cheeks, though they were hard to see. 'You just had to fight against daddy! You just had to save your world! You just had to piss him off!' she raged even further, her powers growing more and more erratic. 'And do you know the worst part of it? I CAN'T EVEN FUCKING HATE YOU FOR IT!'

Robin and the others were in shock over the turn of events. The battle between the two magic users had lasted well over an hour already, and didn't seem to be slowing down. Even worse was the horrible feeling of uselessness they felt. Raven had long ago told them not to interfere, an order they accepted quite readily. Well, most of them anyway.

When the "sisters" had created a barrier of smoke and debris around their battlefield in the city streets, Robin took it upon himself to enter it. The others tried to stop their brazen friend, but he didn't even turn to hear their complaints. Starfire even tried to catch up to him, but was amazingly blocked by the apparently solid barrier that her friend easily jumped through.

Waiting was all that the three remaining Titans could do. The two boys went to check on their fallen friend, and they themselves reached out to feel the barrier. Cyborg tried to use his equipment to analyze it, but his scanners showed nothing but static. So they stood back to wait and see what would happen. Worried for the safety of their friends, and curious as to how Robin was able to enter.

It wasn't at all long before the barrier fell, and they watched as a white figure flew away. The smoke started to clear, and they saw a distinct figure walk towards them. When Robin was in clear view, Starfire took no time to throw her arms around him.

'Robin! I am so glad to see that you are unharmed!' Star beamed happily, until she noticed that no other was coming out. 'But where is friend Raven?'

End Part 1.