Always Part of a Team
by neptunesxdaughter
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Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
A/N: There are two numbered references through the one-shot that are explained at the second set of the one-shot.
"Actus Reus - Latin for 'guilty act'."
"So, where are you headed now?" asked Kid Flash as he looked at his younger friend, arms folded as he leaned back against the wall with one leg up, following the other teenager around the room as he went to pack up his stuff. The two young heroes were still in their uniforms. "The team isn't going to be happy about you randomly leaving, Dick."
Richard Grayson glanced up at the sound of his nickname, his expression hardening into frown behind his mask. "Look, Wally, I've always been part of a team. Back when I first joined up with Bruce, and now again with this team. I need to go solo for a little while. I'm sure Kaldur and the others will understand."
"Maybe, but will Bruce? You're basically abandoning the team here, Richard. You're fifteen years old, and Kaldur said that when he thought you were old enough, he would step down as leader so you could take over, and you're just going to throw that away?" he asked, annoyance rising in his voice as he pushed off the wall, untangled his arms as walked over to Dick. "What about Conner, M'gann and Artemis?"
Dick sighed in response. "I just need a break. You guys can still contact me; make it that I'm just going on sabbatical or something, I don't know." he said. Richard removed his domino mask from his face, blue eyes looking at his best friend friend with sincerity within them. "Why don't you come with me?"
"Dick, we can't just leave."
"Yes, I can."
"Where are you headed to, anyway?"
The black-haired teenager rummaged through the backpack which sat on the ground. Standing up with a small piece of paper in his hand, he held it out for Wally to see who in turn took the paper and looked it over. "Jump City?"
"Yeah, just don't tell the others. I'll call when I can."
With that, he smiled at his speedy friend, grabbed his bag and using his grappling hook, shot it and swung out the window without bothering to look back.
"Booyah! I win again!" Cyborg cheered, throwing his controller down onto the arched couch while he did a small victory dance while Beast Boy stared at the screen with his mouth agape in shock, before putting it down and sulking to himself.
"That is so not fair..."
"I told you I could kick yo' butt." Cyborg said with a large grin, turning off the game station and moving towards the kitchen. He ruffled Raven's hair as she read one of her many books while she sat on the ground, leaning against the kitchen bench. Starfire was cooking again with a large pot, and was adding a large amount of pink berries which seemed to come from her home planet.
"Almost done!" she cheered, slowly turning the spoon clockwise before pulling it out, and giving it a bit of a test. She swallowed, before a satisfied smile graced her features. "Glorious! Cyborg, will you please taste my pudding of sweetness?" she asked her friend merrily, holding up the spoon. "Come, please taste!"
He inwardly cringed, but not wanting to hurt her feelings, he walked forward anyway, taking a spoon from the draw and putting a little bit in his mouth. It was surprisingly good, tasting like a mix of cotton candy and one of those giant lollipops. "This is real good, Star." he compliemented with a smile.
She smiled in excitedly back, bringing him into a hug. "Oh, thank you, friend!" she said, clearly underestimating her own strength.
"S-Star, you're choking me!" he wheezed, his face turning blue from lack of air. His cheeks were puffed out as he tried to hold on to the remaining air.
The scarlet-haired alien gasped and almost immediately let go, apologizing instantly. "I'm so sorry, friend Cyborg!"
He had a hand on his chest but smiled in response. "It's okay," he said. "You've got quite a grip."
Rubbing her arm in embarrassment, she smiled back. "Yeah."
Raven smiled softly at her friend's from behind the book. Cyborg was like the older brother to the whole team, and it was nice seeing a proper 'family' interact, even though she couldn't really show much emotion, and also because her mother was back in Azarath and her father was the worst being to ever roam the universe(1).
"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked curiously, looking around. "Is he not with us inside the tower?"
Closing her book and standing up from her previous position, Raven began to walk out of the common room. "I'll go look for him." she said with a slightly annoyed sigh, the metal doors joining together as she walked down the dark corridor. She could sense he was near, even without using her powers because of the bond they shared when she had (guiltily) invaded his mind to find where her team's leader could be(2).
She soon stopped in front of another door, and looked up at the label which read in capital letters, 'ROBIN'. Hesitantly, she used her knuckles to gently knock on the metal surface, and waited patiently for Robin to answer the door. She turned to distract herself while she waited, and a bit of shuffling of feet and paper was heard. The door soon slid open, none other to reveal Robin, the former sidekick of Batman. "Hey, Raven. What can I do for you?"
He seemed slightly uncomfortable, his shoulders slightly tense and his lips in a tight line. His masked eyes bore into hers, as if trying to hide what he was trying to feel.
"You seem to forget that I am an empath, Robin." she responded with a raised eyebrow. "What's wrong?"
His shoulders relaxed, and he settled for leaning against the wall, and invited her in, not bothering to deny anything. Out of all his teammates, she was the one he could talk to the most, not only because he knew that she wouldn't tell anybody or that she was a great listener, but she wouldn't judge him. "Come on in, Rae."
She nodded, and walked inside the room, taking a seat on his bed and looked at him, waiting for him to begin. Glancing around the room briefly, she noticed a couple of boxes beside the bed, near his desk.
"I was just going through some of my old things, and it got me thinking. I used to be part of another team a couple of years ago which was run by the Justice League. I wasn't the leader, but I was going to be. But I left that team because I wanted to go solo here in Jump City. But, then I met you guys, and I find myself part of a team again."
"...I don't see the problem."
Sighing, he nodded, and walked to the other side of the room, this time leaning against the back wall with his arms folded and head down, his spiky hair covering his face. "I was supposed to be the leader of that team when I got old enough, but I always thought that I should've been the leader, no matter how much I knew Aqualad was a good leader."
Now she knew what he meant. Her eyes softened as she looked at him, sympathy reaching out towards him. She had always been by herself until she had become friends with Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and Robin, and so had gotten the chance to have friend's, even if she knew the danger she was putting them in.
"I abandoned that team, Rae, and I've hardly kept in contact with them. I dropped out of school to become a full-time hero, and Batman wasn't exactly happy when he found out that I moved. I don't want to do the same again, but I feel like I'm limited to what I can do here. I may be leader, but I'm not a very good one, am I?"
Raven stood up, and moved towards him, and went to stand in front of the black-haired teenager before her, taking one of his hands in hers, even though it was way out of her character to actually being this comforting. "You'll always be part of a team, Robin. Maybe not when you're older, but a team of friends also counts, not just a team of heroes." she explained in a soft voice, and his eyes, behind his mask, searched her eyes for a hint of doubt. He didn't find any.
Closing her eyes, a black aura surrounded the boxes on the other side of the bed before landing gently on the light blue blanket, and the lids removed themselves with themselves with the same aura.
Opening her eyes again, she watched as he led her to the boxes, kneeling in front of them and picking up a picture of his old team. It was at Kid Flash's birthday party back when he turned sixteen. Wally had cake frosting surrounding his lips with a big smile on his face with an arm around an annoyed looking Artemis with her arms folded, Superboy, or Conner, had a small smile on his face with M'Gann standing beside him while making a victory sign with her left hand as she grinned at the camera. Robin stood beside Wally, his sunglasses on to hide his eyes as he grinned at the camera as he leaned against his friend. Kaldur stood with a smile as he stood beside his friends as well.
"They're still your friends, Robin, and to them, you'll always be part of their team."
Sighing again, he let go of Raven's hand and turned to look at her. "Don't tell the others about this, please."
"You know I won't." she confirmed, standing up as walking towards the door. "By the way, Richard," she said, using his real name which she only found out about through the first time she entered his mind. "Go contact them."
He watched as her retreating figure left the room with a whoosh of her royal blue cloak and continued to replay her words in his head.
"...You'll always be part of a team, Robin. Maybe not when you're older, but a team of friends also counts, not just a team of heroes."
'Thankyou, Raven.' he thought, knowing she would recieve the message.
'Anytime.'
A/N: I actually sort of like this one-shot. It sort of doesn't make sense, towards the end, but screw it. I like it, because it holds meaning to Robin in this case. :)
Hasn't been proof-read (I read my work as I go, but don't go over the final product. I don't know why, I enjoy pointing out mistakes in other people's works, just not my own because I don't like re-reading my stuff unless I'm bored. I'll read over it eventually, and fix it xD).
Couple/s: None in this fic, unless you count the comfort-hand-holding bit between them, or Starfire's concern. :)
(1) As you can probably guess, this is set before the whole Trigon storyline.
(2) I included the whole bond thing in there because seeing as this takes place after 'Haunted', why not include it, so I chose Raven to give Robin a pep-talk.
Word Count: 1,708
Updated word count: 1,718
Update (15/10/16): I ended up doing a quick update since I was updating my new Tumblr blog where I am now uploading my stories. It's not much better than the original, so I hope it is better than it was, at least even in the slightest.
^ Not what I was aiming for, but close enough! xD Please, R&R!
~neptunesxdaughter