Raventhedarkgoddess: I don't own Teen Titans, that's all I have to say... This is not one of my better works... ((Then again, none of them are.)) Just another warning, contains spoilers from Birthmark, plus it won't make much sense. Anyway, on with the fic.

Happy Birthday

"I hope we have made happier the day of your birth, friend Raven" Starfire called, standing between Beast Boy and Cyborg as she prepared to head up the nearby staircase for the night. "Are you sure that you require no assistance in the 'cleaning up'" The alien gave her a quizzical look, but she still smiled, indicating that it was just another friendly gesture.

"Thank you, everyone. I appreciated the party." She looked around the room, from the walls and the pins stuck into the small donkey on the wall to the plates that were left on the table, a small piece of icing still clinging to the nearby plate, an H that had once belonged in the word 'happy' on her cake.

"So you require no assistance, friend Raven" Starfire asked her again, just trying to be helpful. "After all, you are not the one that made the mess, and therefore it is not your fault and you should not stay and remove our mess..." Her long red hair danced in the light, and her green eyes seemed to sparkle when she looked at Raven.

She can't be seeing what I see when I look in a mirror to still like me that much, Raven thought soundlessly to herself, feeling her own hair with a pale hand unknowingly, happy to have it back to it's original length and shape as opposed to the heavy mass of purple hair. "I'll be fine" she insisted softly, wishing she really would be fine.

Starfire did not respond, but instead shrugged her shoulders and headed up the stairs with the two boys. Robin got up off the couch, startling Raven somewhat: She had not even noticed him there, thinking he had gone up to bed long before. "I hope you don't mind if I stay to help, but somehow I don't think you want to be alone right now." He gave her a tense smile and moved his boot through the remains of the Beast Boy-shaped pinata she had smashed. "Besides, I think it will go a lot quicker with two of us, don't you"

Suddenly the room felt much cooler, with the music and laugher gone, and she hugged her hands to her arms, feeling alone and cold without the warmth of her friends. "I guess you can stay. I could use the help." She tried not to let on to how she was feeling inside. And the company, she added in her head.

She began to gather up the plates, hoping her face gave nothing away, not the fear or the way she was feeling inside. She sighed, her violet eyes turned away from him as she moved the plates toward the sink, prepared to get ready for bed as soon as possible, to lay down and think things through.

As the green-gloved hand took hold of her wrist, she jumped, sending the plates back to the ground. "Didn't mean to startle you" Robin pulled her from her thoughts, bending down with her to help her pick up the plates from the floor. "I just wanted to know if you feel any better about... About what happened." She looked up into his face and saw... Concern? Fear for me instead of fear of me? It was impossible for her to tell, but suddenly the jumpy feeling was gone.

"It was great of you guys, trying to make me feel better after... After what happened and all... With Slade..." She stopped for a second, feeling the symbols on her arms begin to burn, but refused to touch them. I refuse to be reminded about him, about all that happened...

"That's what we're here for. We're your friends, Raven. That's all it is, because we're going to be here for you regardless." He gave her a warm smile, and the lines around his masked eyes softened. He's concerned about me...

"Thank you. You guys are the greatest friends anyone, least of all a girl like me, could ever have had..." She moved away from him, cleaning up some of the mess, washing the fallen silverware, trying to make her quick escape.

"Could have had? Raven, you're talking nonsense." His black hair fell across his line of vision for a moment, and all he could see was Raven, her cloak pulled around her as if it were protecting her, protecting her from truth and the darkness at the edge, at the very heart of her life, the darkness that was somehow the cause of all her unhappiness. "No one's abandoning you! We're all still your friends, and we're not going to let Slade take you."

"It's my fault. You're all in danger, and I shouldn't have come. I knew the prophecy... I knew that I was going to be forced to kill and destroy, so I should have stayed away... Then you wouldn't have gotten hurt because of me." Her eyes met with his, and for a second they were fine, their eyes locked on one another, understand flowing between them easily as an unseen liquid.

"Don't say things like that. No matter what you want to believe... We're all really happy you were born. And we can change something. Just because it was foretold doesn't mean it has to happen. You can save the world rather than destroying it." He tried to keep his voice from shaking but failed, the fear there for both of them to hear, for her to take a hold on.

"Robin..."

"Shh... Don't say anything. You'll feel better if we just don't talk about it for awhile." And so the silence came between them. It's not cold in here anymore... Raven looked over at Robin and smiled, knowing somehow that she could not make it through without him.

They managed to get the room clean before Robin fell down onto the couch. "Raven... You know what you said earlier? That there are some places in your mind that even I, the person who knows you best, can't go" He looked at her, wanting to know if she followed, wondering if she understood.

"Yes..." She sat down beside him, unsure of where he was going with this statement, her violet eyes on him calm, trusting. "I didn't mean to offend you with that or anything, and you know me better than anyone, but..."

"No, I was just wondering... Am I ever going to understand? Do you want me to understand, or would you rather that I didn't... That I just left you alone" His hand covered hers again, it's gentle warmth being taken in, covering the hand that could have destroyed him, making her the person he was willing to protect.

Instead of answering him, she took him in her arms, as shocked at her own daring as at anything that had happened that night. "I want you to understand more than anything... I never meant to pull you into anything... I really don't want you to get hurt..."

"No one's going to get hurt. It's okay now, and we're with you. Slade can't have you..." Robin's face came toward hers and she closed her eyes, willing to accept the kiss. She felt it gently coming on, relieving the stress of the night, and it was all she could do to hold down the emotions coming through her heart, coursing through her blood...

They pulled apart, her head still resting on Robin's arm. "Happy Birthday, Raven."

Maybe I can get through this alright.