If there was ever someone who could interrupt Raven's meditation and get away with it, it was Robin.

As it was, she had been pretty deep into it when his voice jarred her out of her trance. "So, what happened between you and Terra that spurred on such a quick change of heart?"

Refraining the urge to growl or otherwise send off any signals of exasperation, Raven cracked an eye open. She took in the common room for a moment, observing Cyborg and Beast Boy on the couch, Terra next to them, and Starfire in the kitchen. Finally, she lowered her gaze to find Robin in a lotus position not unlike hers, just in front of her in the spot situated between the breakfast nook and the living area.

Unable to look down at her leader, she lowered herself to the ground so they were on eye level. For just a few seconds, she took the Boy Wonder in, silently noting how much patience he must be expending to sit so still. Pausing to smile internally at his effort just to appease her, she shrugged.

"It wasn't so much a change of heart as it was a… heart-to-heart."

Even under the mask, she could see he arched a skeptical brow. "I left you two for a few minutes, and you were already working together when I got down there."

She allowed just the ghost of a smirk to make its way on her face. "It was enough, Robin. We're still in a…" she paused to search for the word eluding her fingertips, "an interesting place, I suppose you could say. But it can only go up from here."

"Isn't that always the case with you?"

She looked at him flatly. "Watch it, Boy Blunder."

He laughed in response. "Sure thing."

For a moment, there was a peaceful silence. Raven waited for him to say what was clearly still on his mind – he wouldn't still be there otherwise.

"So… nothing else happened like before we went after the worms?"

She frowned, trying to place what he could be referring to. "You mean in the Tower?"

"Yeah."

She nodded once, though it hardly answered his question. "No… nothing."

"Just what did happen?"

Looking up from her lap, she saw Robin gazing at her in earnest: a detective trying to get down to the bottom of things. She sighed and bit her lip before answering slowly, "It's… complicated."

And that it was. Raven herself could barely explain just what had happened in that split-second Terra ran by her. A vision of cracking goggles, a flash of yellow, and the looming presence of orange and black.

But she wouldn't dare tell Robin about the last bit – he hardly needed the reminder of Slade so soon after his most recent encounter.

"Raven?"

She shook herself from her reverie to find Robin looking at her with concern. How long had she been wrapped up in her own thoughts. Taking a moment to clear her throat, she shook her head. "I'm not sure what to tell you, Robin. It was there and gone so quickly… like it wasn't even real."

"You and I both know it's not that simple," he murmured.

She didn't answer for a moment. "No… it certainly isn't," she responded. "But I can't bring myself to worry over flashes, Robin – not when I can't be sure they didn't even happen."

He seemed torn between pressing her further or letting the issue drop.

He must have been in a good mood, because he finally stood with a sigh. "All right… just let me know if anything else comes up, okay?"

"Will do," she replied. She had almost closed her eyes and resumed her chant when his hand in her face made her stop. Refraining from the urge to recoil due to the intrusion of space, she didn't hold back a glare as she looked up at Robin. "Yes?"

One of these days, she was going to forcibly wipe that smirk from his face. "Dinner's ready: one of Starfire's recipes."

For a moment, she said nothing, holding his obviously-yet-hidden amused gaze with her resentful one. Finally, she took the offered hand, muttered as he hoisted her up: "You're so lucky we have Terra around to eat Starfire's cooking for us."

His laughter was all the answer she needed.


Inspiration was definitely watching Titan Rising. Particularly Robin's line just after Starfire, BB, and Cy realize the Tower is rising (the one about Raven finally working with Terra). Maybe I'm just looking for Rob/Rae stuff, but I definitely heard some pride in his voice when he told the team about it. This is what follows... Also: as much as I strongly dislike the title, I really like how this turned out. It's kinda pointless, but it really flowed well as I wrote it (which was about thirty minutes or so... I really should take my time more). I'm actually proud of the writing, and not just the dialogue... so.

You know where to click. ^^