In hindsight, she knew why she liked Bret right away. The obvious aura of a devoted, socially-clumsy nerd with enough daring to pick her out of a mournful crowd and say what had to be said...well, it was all Alvin Draper. She just failed to put her finger on it at the time, though the idea had not been so elusive as to be unnoticed.
Raven had never really known "Alvin," but from her meaningful time with the Titans she had picked up enough from the team to piece his existence together. Feelings of memories all cobbled together in quiet left-over emotions.
Bart gave it a form, his thoughts always on his sleeve. There when he first sees Robin, and then lost before he even registers the concept. Raven had absorbed it unknowingly as a sort of feedback for months before it had real weight.
Kon-El mulled on the concept the most, at odd moments turning it over or dragging it out to the front of his thoughts. He both greedily desired these moments, as well as shamefully detested their presence.
This had tripped Raven for understanding, until she looked at Cassandra's way of handling Alvin in relation to Tim. Her sharp, righteous judgement kept itself expertly concealed (and often personally overpowered) from the others, but Wonder Girl had always possessed a level of distrust regarding Tim. Nothing personal, Raven realized. Just professional, which made-sense considering that the two had a history of subtle, competitive leadership. Perhaps being who she was, Cassandra could not see Tim as both a leader and a friend, with trust involved.
And Kon refused to admit to himself that Tim had lied to an unknown degree through Alvin. Or could still be consciously lying about himself, before the time in which Kon had died.
Bart had never noticed, and unwittingly had seen through it all--feeding Raven the most complete picture of the Alvin of the past.
Bold and shy, at the same time. Clever when it came to tricky-things, and eager to show it if anyone revealed the slightest shred of interest. Willing for social-companionship, yet also wary of it. Fearing rejection, from more than just the "friends" he sought to make and keep, to the degree which drew in others. Bret fit the concept, and Raven admired that.
In hindsight, that is.
Is that her way of wondering about the Tim that she had failed to know? Is she just being foolish now, due to her recent run-ins with the leading Titan? Could this be the start of something she will only realize in future hindsight?
Questions for a later period of meditation. She draws out of her trance and stares across at the dark room, aware that she's still the only one within it.
The shadows will always and forever welcome another.