Author's note:

Hey guys! This is my first Teen Titans fan-fiction. This story has been rolling around in my head for days now, so finally I'm getting it out. It turned out longer than I expected, but I guess that's just as well. I feel like some parts of it didn't flow very well, so you'll have to tell me if I did a good job or not. No flames, please. Oh and...

1) the OC is a girl

2) There is no slash here whatsoever. Period.

3) I don't own the Teen Titans. Trust me, if it did, "Things Change" would never have happened. Or it would have been dramatically different. And the series would have continued. Okay, I'll stop now.

IMPORTANT:

Thoughts (These should be read together, when in the same time-frame)

Present Events

Events not in the present (These may either be in the past or the future. I'll let you guess)

A Teen Titans Fanfiction

Comfort

I know there's nothing there.

It's a tough opponent. We've been fighting for what seems like forever, though I suppose once it's over with it'll turn out to have been less than twenty minutes.

That's close enough to forever, in this case.

The creature's long, gooey, snake-like arm whips out toward me, intending to snatch me out of the sky. I fly out of the way, shooting a blast of fire from my hands. It hits its target, and the creature roars with pain, curling its tentacle-arm back away from me and closer to the bloated, disgusting mass that serves as its body.

It has other "arms", though. Plenty of them. Another one rushes at me from my right, coming in from behind. I just see it out of the corner of my eye as it hurls toward me, but the fight's been exhausting and I'm already injured, so I'm not able to move out of the way fast enough. I let out a cry of fear and disgust as the monster's slimy, strong, snake-like arm hits my back and wraps around my midsection in a mushy, crushing, vice-like grip. With an enormous amount of force, I'm thrown from the air, traveling at least thirty feet before I actually start falling.

By that time, the monster's already moving in my direction, chasing after the other titans while simultaneously trying to fend off their attacks. Why'd it have to be in MY direction? Seriously, it's like this creature has it in for me, or something.

Pain slams into me as my body collides with the pavement at break-neck speed. I didn't break anything, thank God; I know this because I can still move my limbs. But my head hurts like crazy, and the pain in my arm and ankle sure makes it feel like I did. Gasping, I push up with my arms and bend my knees, bringing myself to a sitting position.

But my body's still reeling from the fall, and moving too much makes my head pound even more and the pain in my ankle and arm flair and black and white dots dance in front of my eyes, so I can only scoot backward two feet before I'm forced to stop moving. I close my eyes for a brief second and take a deep breath, then blink rapidly, trying to get those pesky black and white fireflies to disappear from my vision.

It is Raven we're talking about, after all.

Finally, my vision clears. I'm exhausted and my whole body throbs. Looks like I'm not going to be much help for the rest of this battle. Luckily, I won't have to be. I hear another roar from the monster and look up in that direction. The rest of my friends are already bringing the creature down; the fight is pretty much over.

Thank Heaven.

And another thing to be thankful for: my fall has not gone unnoticed. I hear one of the titans shout something. Too far away to hear clearly, and my mind is too fuzzy to tell who it is. Robin, maybe, or Cyborg? Not Cy; I'm pretty sure the voice was too high pitched to be his. Starfire? Meh…what's it matter, anyway…? Hey, where'd Raven go?

I let out a soft moan. I still haven't moved more than two feet from where I've landed. Maybe I should try to move closer to my friends…it wouldn't hurt to try. Scratch that…it might. But, like I said, my fall did not go unnoticed.

Before I can attempt to move again, I feel the air slightly stir. Raven lands behind me, her feet touching down on the pavement so softly that it barely makes a sound. She kneels down beside and lightly touches my shoulder, before she sweeps out her cloak, and I'm engulfed in dark energy.

But the way she wraps her cloak around me, and holds me close – it brings me comfort somehow. Maybe it's because I was hugged and held so much by my mother when I was a child. To me, there's something about hugs that say "I love you, you're mine, I want you close to me. I'm here with you, you're not alone; you're safe, and everything's going to be okay".

She travels in her form of a small, black bird – the raven that she is named for. She flies us toward the Tower, whizzing past buildings and maneuvering through a maze of skyscrapers. Taking us home.

But I know it's not that way here. She's only doing it for a practical purpose. It is Raven, after all.

I sit at the edge of my bed as I tell my story. Raven is sitting beside me, but I'm not looking at her. As I talk, I stare down at my feet, which swing every once in a while. I don't look up, and keep my head down, for fear of ridicule

because I don't know the borders. Most of the time I'm in my world, my small inner circle of interaction. I know the borders there – what can and cannot be said, what is okay and what is too far. And when someone enters my world, I have no problem kindly showing them what they are.

But I'm in Raven's world now, and I don't know the borders. I'm just so used to being alone, being by myself for so much of my life, that when I finally come out of my shell, when I step out of my world and into another's world, or into the public world where all my friends interact with each other, I have trouble navigating. Because when I go, I go in blind.

I can't see the borders there; I don't know where the lines are to see where I should move so I won't cross them. The boundaries that say how much I can talk about one subject before the others get tired of it and think I'm annoying, or how much another person is willing to help me and do things for me before they get frustrated or think I'm pathetic.

But Raven's still sitting here, just listening quietly and intently, while I stare at my feet, speaking my heart to her with stumbling words. Maybe it's because she's had a rough life and dark secrets, too; though mine are not as severe as hers.

That's why, when I'm talking with the rest of the titans, I'm sometimes very quiet, and on occasion, loud and out spoken.

We stand at the door of the living room, all six of us, talking and laughing. In reality, though, there should be seven of us. But I won't think about that now; the atmosphere is too happy for thoughts of her to sadden it. We just took down a super tough villain, one that's been on the loose and terrorizing the city for months, and now we're going to celebrate.

Because I've stepped out of my world and into the public world, and I'm not sure how to navigate it. I'm not sure what I can say or what I can tell them, and they be willing to listen and not think I'm strange.

I join in the joyful conversation, my words coming out nervously and hesitantly at times. I let Starfire hug me and twirl me around in her unbridled happiness. Not that I mind. I take a glance toward Raven. She's playfully arguing with Beast Boy about something

and I know I shouldn't want her special attention. Really, I shouldn't. Because I'm not special, not in any way that the rest of my friends aren't. I don't know why I look for it, why I want it so bad.

Maybe it's because I'm drawn to her, because, in a way, she's kind of like me – quiet and reclusive for the most part, happy to spend all day reading a book, doesn't always exactly fit in with the world; a social misfit, used to being alone.

Maybe that's why – I want to reach out to her, to let her know that she's not alone, that she has someone like her. I guess I want to be special to those I'm drawn to – those who are special to me. But I shouldn't, not really. Because then I'll want to get treated differently – I'll hope for it, I'll expect it. But at the end of the day, she'll just treat me like everybody else, and when she does, I'll be hurt.

I know, I know, I'm selfish, I'm selfish. And that knowledge makes me want to shrink back inside myself; say "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I'll go away now; I won't bother you anymore.

And maybe it would be best if I stayed inside my shell. I couldn't be a bother to anyone then, I wouldn't have to worry about finding my way through the booby-trapped social maze.

Or maybe not. I've been so used to being alone, but that doesn't mean I like it that way. Maybe…it's worth reaching out. I could always retreat, if it hurts – if I lose. Not like it hasn't happened before.

We're home now. Finally. Raven tells me that Beast Boy, Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin are out getting pizza, celebrating their victory against that…yucky excuse for a life-form. Anyone who had to get slapped around by THAT thing definitely deserves a pizza party, in my opinion. Hopefully they'll save some for us. I'm sure they'll get it from Raven if they don't. Or from me, once I'm up to it.

In the meantime, I lean back on the couch, and Raven places her hands on my fractured arm, then my badly sprained ankle, her hands glowing a dull blue-purple color as she heals each injury in turn. I sigh, relief washing over me as the pain disappears underneath her soothing touch.

I know there's no affection in it.

Now that the pain is no longer there for my mind to focus on, I feel…so…tired…. Maybe…I could just close my eyes…for a second. But I really, should…go to bed…. Hmm…what's moving me….?

It is Raven, after all – but even so. Really, there's something comforting about all this.

So...what do you guys think? Oh, and a question for the reviewer: if I added a section to this story with Raven's point of view, would you read it?