Ordinary
A Teen Titans One-Shot

She had found him on the rooftop where he always was during the sunset. The wind had been gentle; the sky painted in pale yellow, purple, and gold, blotted with light artistic clouds, surrounding a blazing red sun sinking into the sparkling ocean. It had been an ordinary day, just like any other – a few robberies here and there, a freak accident involving tofu, the remote, and Cyborg's leg, and mounds of pizza boxes – just the way Raven liked it, and probably Robin too.

She sat by him, on the edge of the tower, slightly sighing while staring across the ocean and towards the sun. Shrugging her cloak around her shoulders, she glanced over to him. Despite the mask, the uniform, and the array of weaponry around his waist – attributes that would make him unusual for many – he was ordinary to Raven. The same thoughtful, determined, loving Robin, the one she greeted every morning as she hovered groggily across the kitchen in search of her tea; the one she spent her day fighting crime with, put her life on the line with; the one she joined each evening on the rooftop to watch the sunset. It was just the way she liked it.

But as he looked to the sky, watching a flock of seagulls pass, she knew something was different that evening. He was thinking of something new, something different from the usually brooding Robin. While taking a break from his obsession to enjoy the merging of day and night, Raven knew his mind was still strategizing, calculating Slade. But tonight, with the gentle breeze and picture-perfect sunset, he was thinking on a different plane, in a different light. The slight, peaceful smile and the abnormally relaxed posture told her so. The urge to question his mood arose, but she silently decided against it with a small smile of her own. She looked back out to the sunset. There was no need to spoil it.

"Hey, Raven," he asked suddenly, breaking the silence. "… have you ever wondered…?"

She glanced at him expectantly. His eyes followed the seagulls, in perfect formation, which began to fade into black against the blaring sun. For a moment, it almost seemed as if he had forgotten his question, lost yet again in the endless boundaries of his mind, but he finished his thought. "Have you ever thought… of what you would do if you didn't… if we weren't who we are?"

It was not a question she had expected. "Sometimes," she replied as she returned her gaze yet again to the ocean. "Have you?"

"… Sometimes." A thick silence hung in the air, save from a distant siren echoing across the bay, before Robin continued. "What would you do? I mean… occupation-wise."

Raven had never thought about it. During the night, if she escaped threatening nightmares, she would dream of an ordinary life. School, friends, and loving parents – she had once even thought of what it would be like to stress of homework. She had, however, never made it past her teenage years. She took some time to think about it as the seagulls faded into the distance, mere black dots like freckles on the sun. "A writer," she decided. "I would probably be a writer." Interest arose. "And you?"

"I'm not sure," he replied after a moment. "I've never really have had the chance to think about it." Chuckling slightly, he said, "The first thing that comes to mind is the circus but…" An uneasy silence. "… it just wouldn't be the same."

Raven had some idea of what he spoke of, but it was not nearly enough to gain a full understanding. While the others took many personal days, Robin only allowed himself to skip under two conditions – illness and the circus. Whenever one came to Jump City, no matter the troop, no matter the size, he always insisted to go. While Starfire and Beast Boy were eager to join, Raven and Cyborg would be much happier staying behind – and they usually did. A year and a half after joining the Titans, however, Raven had been convinced to go by Starfire. It was not because of her begging, her sweetness, or her natural innocence, but instead it was something she had said: 'It excites me greatly to watch the silly, dancing elephants, eat the candy cotton, and gasp at the blowers of fire, but I love to see friend Robin so happy the most!' Raven was driven to go by curiosity – to see what about a circus made their leader so joyful. She was never able to figure out, even after attending several times afterwards, but she had felt his sense of belonging as they watched the show.

It struck her odd that he would not run away with a circus (he already had a streetlight uniform to use) but silently decided not to question it. She hated it when someone pried into her life – she was sure Robin felt the same.

"The other thing," he said, distracting Raven from her thoughts, "doesn't really sound like a job…" When she raised an eyebrow questioningly, he smiled and replied, "I would like to see the world." He looked off to the distance, towards the slightly darkening sky. "Someone once told me that looking at the birds made them want to go on a journey." He paused for a moment before laughing at himself. "I haven't thought about this in years. Not since…" Another pause. "Not since I left Gotham."

"Who told you that?" she asked. "The phrase about the birds?"

"I forget," he responded simply. "But it's one of the only things that has really stuck with me."

The sun disappeared behind the rolling waves, leaving the sky a darkened blue, the clouds almost black. The lights on the rooftop flickered on. "Maybe," he mustered aloud, "I can travel after retirement." Disbelief suddenly covered his face. "I cannot believe I just put the words I and retirement in the same sentence," he said dully.

Raven chuckled. She could not imagine Robin ever retiring, and she was usually the logical one. She would not be surprised, in sixty years, to find the Boy Wonder still in the business – the same black mask surrounded by wrinkles, clenched dentures, perhaps a cane and a nasally voice; just the thought made her smile. He was just about as stubborn as Batman who had to be in his fifties to sixties around now and, from the looks of it, he was not quitting anytime soon. Knowing Robin, he will mark the day his former mentor retires just to make sure he exceeds him. Raven decided then that she would work even longer just to tee Robin off. It would be a challenge, something Raven liked.

The lights flickered, leaving Robin in the shadows, but quickly forcing him back into the light. The way it reflected off of his skin and hair reminded Raven of a shooting star. At that moment, it really did seem, to her, that she had known him for more than a year – like she had watched the sunset with him all her life.

"Would you come with me?" he suddenly asked.

Her eyes widen a bit in surprise. Jumbled with uncertainties, questions, and multi-coloured emotions, her mind concluded a response, but she had taken a second too long to decide it; Robin blushed, though slightly, and ran a nervous hand through his hair. "I mean… if I ever, you know, go," he stumbled. "The rest of the team can – I mean, I would want the rest of the team to come, but…"

"I would like to see the world," she replied calmly. Her smile increased though Robin was unable to see it. He still had his stare fixated towards the ground below.

Just as Robin was going to reply, the rooftop door was swung open and Cyborg, his mechanical parts highlighted by the lights, poked his head out. "Hey, pizza's here," he called. A large smile graced his face as he advised, "You better get down here before Beast Boy and I get all of it first!" With that, he disappeared, not bothering to close the door behind him. His footsteps echoed as he raced down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

"Oh no," Raven muttered dully, "all the pizza might be gone. Whatever shall we do?" She looked to Robin, who had leapt off the edge and onto the metal titles, and saw he was set on getting his fill.

He took a few steps towards the door but then stopped. Silence pursued, but after a moment he fended it off by saying the phrase that had started their conversation. "Hey, Raven?" he asked.

She perked up slightly. "Yes?"

"Even though… I sometimes think about things being different – even want things to be different, I always come to the same conclusion." He sighed slightly, looking to the ground, but then turned his gaze back to her with a smile. "I'm happy where I am right now; with everybody here. I'm doing something I believe is right and I'm having fun while doing it. I don't want this to end." He flashed a grin, the first she had seen in a long time. "Because without you and everybody here in my life, my future doesn't look too bright – hero or not." He walked over to the door, grabbed the doorknob, and was about to head downstairs, but stopped yet again. A sincere smile was sent Raven's way. "Thanks." And with that, he disappeared, much like Cyborg, down the stairs in hopes of not having to eat leftovers from Starfire's lunch to fill him up.

Raven sat, in the semidarkness, for a few minutes alone; reflecting. She would still having the occasional dream of going to school, having normal friends, returning home to loving parents, and maybe now about becoming a world-renowned author, but she would wake up to these ordinary days – with a few robberies here and there, a freak accident involving fake-meat, a remote, and one of Cyborg's limbs, and mounds and mounds of disgusting, greasy pizza boxes. And during those mornings, she would greet a certain Boy Wonder groggily while searching for her teabags in the kitchen; during the day, she would fight along side her very different friends, saving her city and even the world several times over; and, during the evenings, she would join an ordinary boy fixated on the birds in the sky

And, in that moment, she decided she did not want it any other way.

Fin.


Though it seems concluded, it is actually an excerpt from a larger Teen Titans fan fiction I hope to start soon. It'll be changed slightly, but yeah… I hope Robin and Raven were in character. If not, dearly sorry.

Please review! It would mean the world to me!

Shiming-star