TEEN TITANS

A Forbidden Love Story

It was a rather bleak and rainy night in Jump City, the storm was just over the Tower at the time. Cy and Beast Boy had just left at the turn of the evening, they had gone to the other end of the city for a party they had been excited about for the last two weeks. Originally the plan was to have the whole team go, but Robin was held back by his pressing desire to co tinge his search for Slade, who just last month, had slipped out of his grasp yet again. At this humiliating defeat, Robin was, of course, distraught with anger and frustration, and the only way he could find himself to cope with it was by shutting himself in his room and burying himself in paperwork, trying once more to comb and search through the information the team had gathered, lead by lead, clue by clue. It was obvious that Robin was not going to be available for anything for some time.

However, the other Titans, were not so occupied. BB and Cy, as polite and nice as they could sound, asked Raven in the living room, who also had her head buried in paperwork aka one of her many books, if she could, and I quote, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzz" go with them to the party, to which Raven of course replied with a simple yet stern "No.". That was all she needed to say, and Beast Boy knew if he and Cyborg pressed the matter, there would be hell to pay. And, as if that wasn't enough, it seemed even Starfire wasn't in the usual exciting and well, star-fiery mood that she is always in. This was disappointing, to say the least being that this party was in particular, one of the greatest parties that the Titans rarely were able to go to. Parties like this did not come around often at all, either being on the other side of the country, or in another country altogether! So to have something like this in Jump City itself, was nothing short of a miracle, to BB and Cy.

As Cyborg and BB were just about to leave, Star suddenly felt a change of heart. "Friends, wait for meee!" she squealed in her glee filled sing-songy voice. As they were all going out, Star, being the last one to leave taking her sweet time getting ready, she glanced back down the hall, saddened at the thought that she and the other Titans were going to have fun and happy times, while Robin was anything but happy. Deep down in her gut, she had a very odd, foreboding feeling, like something was going to happen, something very strong, very powerful, and whatever it is will be unstoppable. It reminded her of the feeling she would get when her and Robin were alone together, when they were close to each other. She dismissed this feeling as just some anxiety for the party to come, so she went back to joking and hanging out with Bb and Cy as they were on their way to the occasion.

Meanwhile, back at the Tower, the peace and quiet was quite a change, considering the ruckus that Beast Boy reaped on a daily, and nightly basis. However the tranquility was rather welcomed by both Raven and Robin. It's no surprise that Raven basked in one of the uncommon moments of calming peace, that's just Raven being Raven, but Robin, Robin normally wouldn't want to miss out on a good time as serious as he is, but this time was an exception.

Raven, after about an hour of reading through her book, she looked up at the clock. It's 10:48pm, perfect time for a nice tranquil meditation, she thought. Raven had been having a rather tough time of late, over the past few weeks she could feel herself slipping further and further into this awful depression, and it had to be no walk in the park. She rarely got the chance to meditate without anyone to worry about, and since there was a raging thunderstorm passing over, what better a time to do so!

Robin, after a whole day and almost half the night of thoroughly glazing over pointless and unreliable leads that certainly lead to nowhere, he picked his head up and glanced at the time. 11:02pm. He let out an unfulfilled sigh and got up to grab himself a cup of coffee. He knew BB, Starfire and Cyborg had been gone for a good hour or two, and to this he was struck with an unexpected feeling of relief.

'Odd', he thought to himself, usually he could find comfort in his fellow titans when he was down, but to feel comfort at their absence was an odd feeling to him. As he stepped out into the living room he looked around to see no one, 'Where's Ray?' he thought quietly, he knew Raven would definitely not be going to this party, especially since he himself wasn't going, because out of all the Titans, he and Raven both knew that they had an unseen bond between them, being that he was quiet, controlled and mature enough to meet her at her level, he understood her, and she understood him in many ways. So without him to help Raven deal with all the pointlessness of a ridiculous party, he knew Raven wouldn't go for a million bucks.

As he stepped out of the kitchen with his nice and hot cup of coffee, he noticed that on the couch was on of Ray's books, left open on the page she was reading. As Robin saw this, he heard a long, crackling roar of thunder roll through the sky above, he looked out the window and saw the rain pouring down, it seemed by the bucketfuls. At this, he smirked bit.. "The roof." He said aloud, knowing full well that Raven Roth wouldn't be able to resist the call of lightning, rain and thunder to soothe her sorrows. To Raven, things like that are like what a bottle of good whiskey is to an alcoholic, just another thing to drown your sorrows in to take away the sadness.. Robin knew this, he was actually the only one that really paid attention to Ravens feelings, she may be a Demoness, but she IS a girl, a girl with feelings and a heart.

On the roof, the rain pelts the ground and the the lightning pierces the air, cutting and crawling through the sky all around, this way and that. She tries her hardest to relax and focus on her meditation, but she can't stop her mind from throwing memories at her, almost like there is something making her feel this, this- whatever this is… She remembers the time Robin traveled to Hell itself to save her, and the time Slade dropped her off the cliff, she recalls the awful sensation of falling at high speed, the wind in her face pushing the air back in her lungs, making her unable to breath, she remembered what she felt in that moment of free fall, she knew death was coming, and she was afraid, so afraid and filled with fear of what it will feel like to die, to be slammed into the ground in such a way.. only to open her eyes to see….. Robin. She tries to remember the feeling of being held by him, how amazing and mesmerizing it was to be in his embrace as he carried her back to safety..The warmth of his body, the calming way he looked at her as he held her he was so-BOOOMMM! The sudden bout of thunder snaps her out of this trance. 'I'm blushing', Raven realizes.. 'What on earth was that..' she thinks… She begins to feel anxious and overwhelmed, her breathing becomes speratic and irregular, she's having a panic attack.

As Robin nears the door to the roof he can hear the harshness of the rain and the loud roar of the thunder, he's worried for her. He feels as if he can't stop himself from caring about her, it's as if every day he keeps his feelings locked away, he cares for this woman even more than the last. As he steps out onto the wet ground of the roof, he sees that Raven is not in her usual spot where she prefers to meditate. He sees one of her silken blankets lying there, but no Raven. He knows in his heart something is wrong, that Raven is not okay, and this sends a shock and chill through his body the likes of which he has never felt before. Robin knew of Ravens depression for the past few weeks, and had been worried about her for a while, he knows that she had tried to find her parents without the knowledge of the rest of the Titans, and he knew that ever since she had returned from what the others thought was a trip to the snow world, which was actually her journey to find her parents, Raven began to quickly sink into sadness and depression.. Robin couldn't have searched the roof quicker, when around the corner at the back of the roof, he saw her.

It didn't appear that she knew he was there, so he didn't want to startle her. As he carefully stepped towards her, he knew she was crying, as improbable as it was, because Raven just doesn't cry, it doesn't matter what it is, she just DOES NOT cry, never. So seeing her in this state made Robins lips quiver and legs weak, he just wanted to hold her and tell her everything was alright, but everything was not alright. He was so choked up, he could barely manage to whisper, "Raven?what's wrong.." as he almost touches her shoulder..

As soon as she heard his voice her heart skipped a beat. In a quick unnoticeable flash, she discreetly wiped her eyes and stood up, "What is it, Robin." She responds as she tries so hard not to look at him and keep her voice from breaking. At this point she had made a 5ft gap between her and Boy Wonder, facing away from him trying to keep her usual mean and dull attitude, her hood of course over her head.

"What do you want, Robin." she quickly states. "What's the matter Ray?" Robin says, the calm and caring sound of his voice sending warm waves throughout Raven's body, making her feel safe and warm and secure, even in the cold wind and the harsh rain.. She lets out a shaky exhale, "Just leave me alone Robin" she musters, "I don't want to be bothered.", she tries again to escape back to her stubborn ways to get Robin to leave, even though deep down inside she knows that isn't what she wants. "Raven, you and I both know you're not out here to meditate, I know you stopped doing it a long time ago, you don't need to anymore." 'He knows?' she thinks to herself, mouth open, in awe that he knows that about her, "Now what's the matter?" he asks again, as calm and soothing as ever. She hates that the very sound of his voice, every time he talks it makes her feel so relaxed and alive.. she snaps "WHY CANT YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALO-" Robin interrupts her before she can finish, "What happened, Raven." He says sternly, "Did you find them or not?". She freezes.. 'how could he have known?'she thinks, 'I made sure no one knew where I was going'. "You can't hide from me, Ray.." Robin tells her, "I won't let you.". Raven props her hand on a wall by a corner next to her, her breath shaky and her lips quivering ever so slightly, "H-How did y-you..", "It doesn't matter Ray" he says back to her, "You're what matters to me right now.", she responds "B-but why?" and before a second goes by he looks at her and says "You know why" as the rain relentlessly pounds down around them, "Now tell me." . Still propping herself against the wall with her hand, she feels as if she is going to collapse, she begins to feel her eyes become hot as she tells him, "They-They're..d-dead, R-Robin.." "They're dead.". Robin starts to feel her pain as tears begin to well up in his eyes.. He remembers a few weeks ago, a couple days or so after she returned from her journey…. He remembered what he did…he punished and reprimanded her after he thought she had left to the snow world, for at the time he did not yet find out where she really went.. at the time the reason Robin reprimanded her was because he felt she had betrayed and abandoned him and the Titans, because for the time she was absent, the Titans had tightened their grip on Slade, and when the Titans were defeated by him, the only explanation Robin could think of was because Raven wasn't with them. When she finally came back a couple days after the Titans defeat, Robin went almost crazy with anger towards Raven, and they actually got into a fight. Fortunately the rest of the Titans separated them before any serious damage was done.

And now, one month later, on the roof with Raven in the ever growing storm, he realized what he had done. "So… when you came back.. you already knew… you knew they were gone..", he sees Raven drop her head down in acknowledgment.. His voice begins to crackle and break as he growls to himself "And..and I beat you for it…" Robin sits down facing away from her on the stone bench right behind her, "I'm s-..so very sorry..Raven…I'm so sorry." he tells her as he looks to the ground, his mind filled with loathing hatred towards himself for being so ignorant. Raven feels her heart sink as she begins to break down, hearing Robins sadness as he apologized was too much, it made her feel as if her heart was being torn from her chest, seeing him in the same depressed state she was in, she couldn't take it anymore.. Tears begin to flow down her face as she is barely able to say "D-Don't.. you couldn't have known!" as soon as she says it her legs give out as she collapses to the hard and cold, wet ground curling up in the corner where the side walls to the roof meet. She can't hold it in any longer as she begins to sob uncontrollably.

As soon as Robin saw her collapse to the ground, he was on the ground with her in a flash. He sat against the wall on the ground as he held her as close to him as humanly possible, shushing her cries away, bit by bit, he whispered "heyy, heyyy, now.. shhhhhh, sshhhhhhhhhh, everything's gonna be just fine, don't you worry…", as Robin lay there on the wet, hard ground with Raven locked in his arms, her head lying on his chest, he thinks to himself that he wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world in this moment, holding the woman he could only find in his dreams…

Twenty minutes to a half hour had passed, when the rain finally stopped and the clouds began to settle, and Robin realized that Raven wasn't crying anymore. Raven still pressed against his body in his arms, he could feel her breathing had steadied and slowed. He looked down at her face, and she seemed okay. He began to slowly bend his leg up and pick her up off of his chest, when he felt her start to move, she gripped a tuft of his shirt, right where his famous 'R' logo was, kind of like how one grips a pillow as they try to sleep. She moves her head around and lays it back on his chest as she tiredly whispers to him with her raspy voice, "Don't go... don't let go." Robin looks down at her as she starts to fall back asleep, 'she looks so peaceful' he quietly thinks to himself, and decides to let her sleep, whispering to her, "Don't worry..I never will..".

Almost a full hour went by and Robin finally began to feel tired, and by this point, Raven was putty in his arms, a sleeping beauty. So, as gentle as can be, he slowly picked her up in his arms, and carried her off the roof of the Tower, and down to the living room, where he carefully set her down on the couch in front of the TV as he went into his room and grabbed his biggest blanket he could find. Robin took his blanket and went to her bed in her room and layed the blanket on Ravens bed. She could hear him from the couch in the living room in her bedroom rustling around the blankets, and she opened her eyes a little and saw him going back and forth from his room to hers with pillows and blankets. Ray closed her eyes back shut and pretended to go back to sleep as she saw him coming back down the hallway to the living room. Robin quietly knelt down and picked her up in his arms, and carried her back down the hallway to her room. In her bed was the most comfortable assortment of pillows and blankets possible, he knew just what to do. He gently set her down into the bed like a baby is set in a crib. She could feel him wrapping and tucking her in with all the blankets, and in that moment she knew she had never felt so good in all her life, it was almost a euphoric feeling for her as Robin carried her and tucked her in. As she started to drift back off into sleep, she felt a feeling she will never forget.. the moist, warm feeling of lips on her forehead, a feeling she had not felt since she was a young child when her mother would kiss her goodnight.. and when the sensation leaves she hears a whisper in her ear, "Goodnight, sweet Raven.. I love you", Robin tells her, and she hears his footsteps quietly recede as she peeks open one eye and sees Robin in the doorway. He goes to move his hand to shut the bedroom door, but she sees him hesitate.. he looks over his shoulder to check on her one more time, and thinks she's sound asleep. He shakes his head in disapproval at shutting the door to her room, and then walks down the hall back to the living room to sit on the couch and watch tv… 'He's worried about me' she silently thinks as she begins to blush, hearing him turn the coffee pot on and turn the sound on the tv down. Raven finally closes her eyes back and whispers to herself "I love you, too Robin".

Fin

For now…