Sitting at the desk in her room, Raven stared into the mirror. The white cloak was gone, replaced with the familiar navy blue. The long hair had been sheared off, now resting lightly upon her shoulders. Everything was supposed to be back to normal. The world wasn't ending, no one was going to turn to stone, and she was still alive. But she of all people knew that it wasn't.

It was all his fault. Damn Robin and his stupid heroics.

Raven sighed, rubbing her eyes. Things weren't supposed to happen like this. She had felt so vulnerable the time following her birthday, but now…she felt even worse. It was like someone putting a band-aid over a raw scrape or something; only temporary.

She placed her hands on the back of her neck, dropping her head. It was hopeless. In the past two weeks since her encounter with her father, her emotions were on the edge. She'd broken six windows, three light bulbs, and seven tea cups. Worst of all, He was avoiding her because he knew what he was doing to her.

She groaned in anger, dropping her head onto the desk and leaving it there. The others were oblivious. They figured the touchiness of her emotions was because of being upset or angry with her father, not being in love.

'Beast Boy…god, why couldn't it have been him? Why couldn't he have been my knight in shining armor? With all his advances, it would have made it so much easier,' she thought to herself.

She owed her entire being to Robin now, if not more. He had kept her from throwing the nine year-old body into the pit of fire. But he just kept saying he believed in her. Screw belief.

She inhaled deeply, trying to gain some sort of composure. She hadn't left her room in two days. She didn't want to see him, but most of all she was embarrassed that she couldn't control her emotions. He was just a guy! A stupid, pushy, egocentric guy! That happened to be her best friend. Who could relate to her in so many ways. And had shared so much with her about his past. And had now risked his life to save her. Not to mention he was gorgeous.

"Ergh, stop it, Raven!!" she called out to herself loudly. She lifted her head off the desk. Meditation, she ordered herself. It was the only thing that could help her. As she got into the lotus position above her bed with her eyes closed and her mantra beating through her head, the alarm went off.

She fell onto her bed with a thump, dreading the mission. With her emotions in a state like this, using her powers would be like driving a eighteen-wheeler drunk on black ice. Not good.

She grabbed her cloak off the back of her chair and threw it around her. She walked to the door, and before opening it, she placed her hand on it. 'Control' she reminded herself, 'that's all you need.' She put on her standard unaffected look As soon as she opened her door she saw the usual traffic light run past her, demeanor shattered to the floor.

She felt like an unathletic kid in gym class, keeping towards that back of the room, trying not to be seen. The other four were off fighting Jinx, Gizmo, Billy Numerous, Seemore, and Mammoth in a large warehouse, but she felt like she wasn't contributing.

She bit down on her lip, trying hard to disappear. That's when Jinx saw her. She slowly slinked out of the double team she and Seemore had going with Starfire to find her least favorite Titan.

"What's the issue, Raven? Giving up already?" Jinx taunted, whipping her arm around to release a number of hexes. Raven, instead of thinking to shield herself, couldn't think. Her mind felt muddled and in disarray. She placed her head behind her arms, and was greeted by the pink blast. She flew backwards until she slammed into the wall. Jinx laughed, cartwheeling over to where Raven had fallen.

Her eyes pink with glee, she smiled in amusement at Raven. Raven just stared back at her, an angry look on her face. But she didn't assault her in any way. Jinx had been waiting for that. "Come on, Raven. Hit me."

Raven's eyes became white as she got to her feet. Her hands began to glow and as she was about to hit Jinx, the magic shot off in all different directions. Raven stopped, her eyes returning to normal. She stared at her hands in shock. She had never experienced anything like this. Sure, she was obviously affected, but that didn't give excuse to why her powers shouldn't work. Unless it was because he and Mammoth were fighting right behind Jinx.

Jinx snickered, beaming. She had waited so long to beat the sorceress everyone knew about. She was the real sorceress, not Raven. "You're pathetic."

Raven felt so helpless. She couldn't even defend herself. As long as he was around, he had control over her emotions. They were too connected.

Jinx lunged at Raven, ready to unleash an unheard of amount of hexes and spell. Raven kept her eyes on her, watching her fingers glow. As she was ready to let loose, Jinx was tackled by a red, yellow, and green blur. Raven backed up, her hands shaking. As she watched Robin the crap out of Jinx, she couldn't breathe.

"Raven, what happened?" a voice said from behind her. She turned around slowly to find herself face-to-face with Beast Boy. His face had an questioning expression on it.

"I – I…I don't know," she stuttered quietly. She felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment.

Beast Boy's expression softened when he saw Raven's genuine response. "We saw you, and Jinx, and you weren't doing anything, it was like you were just waiting, and then Robin gone crazy…" Beast Boy drifted off. But Raven had heard enough. She couldn't stay here anymore. She turned out the door and ran away.

"Raven, Raven, are you there? Please, I wish to speak to you."

Raven removed the pillow from her face, and slowly got up from the bed. Although this was pretty much the last person she wanted to talk to, she owed her the time of day. Raven opened the door to a smiling Starfire.

"Hello, Friend Raven. Please, may I come into your room?" Starfire, asked, a large smile plastered upon her face.

Raven shrugged. "Sure."

The two of them walked over to Raven's bed and took a seat on it. Raven stared at Starfire, who was no longer smiling.

Starfire took Raven's hands. "Raven, I – I am your friend. You know we can tell things to one another that we can not tell others, correct?"

Raven took a deep breath. She was not having this conversation right now. Nodding, she bit her lip to try to stop herself from crying. Why did people have emotions?

"Then Raven, why will you not tell me what is wrong? Something is bothering you terribly. Ever since – ever since the encounter with you father you have been very upset. I can help you," she said, her eyes shining brightly.

'No, no you fool, no one can help me. The only one who can help me won't even acknowledge my presence. He thinks I'm of no use anymore. And you, you're in love with him. I could never tell you.'

Raven remained silent, still keeping a vice grip on her lip.

"You do not understand Raven; we are all very worried about you. Today when you were battling Jinx, it was hard to watch."

"I know, Beast Boy told me about it," Raven sighed.

Starfire still looked confused. Why was she not showing more remorse, or even anger that Robin had stopped her?

"But I am confused. Why would you do such a thing? We are your friends. We love you Raven. You would never need to do a thing like that," Starfire replied, tears pooling in her eyes.

Raven raised her eyebrows, now more confused than anyone. "Star, you lost me. What are you talking about?"

"Why would you ever want to have Jinx take your life?"

Raven froze. She thought back to Beast Boy's words. "We saw you, and Jinx, and you weren't doing anything, it was like you were just waiting, and then Robin went crazy…" They had all that she was using this as an easy way to kill herself.

Raven cleared her throat. "Starfire, I would never do that. You all mean too much for me to leave on such an awful note like that."

Starfire smiled, only to turn to a frown immediately. "Then why were you not fighting Jinx? She and you are what they call the 'mortal enemies', are you not?"

Raven smiled, amused by Star's attempt at common vocabulary. "Yeah, we are." She sighed. "The reason why I wasn't fighting her was because my powers aren't working the way they normally do. In fact, I'd say they'll do more harm than help."

Starfire jumped off the bed. "Is this your father's followers doing? I will kick them in the grobblertreks if they do no leave you be!!"

Raven shook her head, smiling again. "No Star, this has nothing to do with my father, it's all me."

Starfire, looking very intrigued, sat back down on the bed.

Raven looked at her. Grimacing, she realized she was going to have to spill the beans. "Well, you of all people realize that my powers are tied directly to my emotions. The less emotions I show, the more in control I am, and vice versa. However, the more powerful the emotion, the stronger the lack of control will be."

Starfire nodded. "If you were to laugh, that would be small, but if you were to run and scream, it would be larger?" Raven nodded. "So what is the strongest emotion?"

Raven paused before squeaking "Love."

"Raven, you are in LOVE?" Starfire shrieked, floating to the ceiling. Raven rolled her eyes, and jumped to grab onto Starfire's boot to pull her back down to the ground.

"Not so loud Starfire. I don't want all the guys banging down the door asking me about this. Besides, it's not that big of a deal."

"Raven, this is a very large deal. You are in love." Starfire froze. "Would – would one of the reasons why you do not want me to shout is because he is here in this tower?"

"Never mind. I should've told you this. Yes," Raven said very quickly, adding the last part in. Starfire grabbed Raven's hands and danced around.

"Do not tell me who it is. I want to figure it out," Starfire said, sitting back on the bed. She began flashing through thoughts of Raven with the Titans' boys. There was Cyborg, but he was dating Bumblebee, and he acted like an older brother, so Starfire said no. Then there was Beast Boy, who everyone thought Raven was already involved with. The two did share a strange bond, but Terra would always have Beast Boy's heart, and Raven knew that. That left…

"Friend Raven?" Starfire said quietly, a whisper of a smile on her face.

Raven looked up from her hands, looking extremely upset.

"Is the object of your affections Robin?"

Raven's eyes became wide before they were overcome with tears. She placed her head between her knees, sobbing. Starfire rubbed her back slightly, whispering comforting things in her ear. She ignored the shattered mirror and the commotion downstairs when there was glass breaking.

When Raven had finally stopped, Starfire handed her a tissue.

"I understand if you don't want to talk to me anymore," Raven mumbled, clutching the tissue in her hand.

Starfire shook her head. "Raven, that is absurd. Just because I had a 'thing' for Friend Robin does not mean you cannot. And is certainly does not mean we can not be friends any more."

Raven wiped her eyes.

"You must tell Robin, though," Starfire said.

Raven shook her head, getting up to throw the tissue out. "I think it'll be better for both of us if this remains between you and me," she answered with a bitter laugh.

"But you yourself said your powers did not work if your emotions…"

Raven took a deep breath. "I thank you Starfire. I could never repay for what you've done to help me. But who am I kidding? I can't stay here. I'm leaving tonight."

Robin panted, catching onto the punching bag. 'Why would she do that? Doesn't she realize?' He let go of the punching bag and turned off the stereo. Walking over to the weight bench to take a seat, he sighed. None of this made sense.

He thought he had proved his feelings to her. All through the things with her father and even the time before, he thought that there had been something there. And now, she was so angry. He didn't want to upset her or make her angrier, so he stayed away.

But today, today hit him hard. He had looked over at her and Jinx fighting. Jinx towered over her, ready to attack, while she did nothing. Was she really that miserable?

He wiped his forehead with the back of his wrist. He'd never felt like this before. He'd never been in love like this.

When she touched his skin or walked by him, he felt electric. She was beautiful, intelligent, and truly cared about him. The two of them shared so much in common, yet they were so different.

Why couldn't she see it?

A knock came to the gym door. He slowly got up and walked to it. He pulled it opened and was surprised to see Starfire. "Hey Star, what's up?"

"Friend Robin, I need to speak to you right now!" She grabbed onto his hand and pulled him into the gym.

Robin was surprised by what was going on, but then again, it was Starfire. "So, what's the big rush?"

"I talked to Raven a few moments ago," Starfire admitted. Robin immediately perked at the mention of her name.

"You did? What did you say? What did she say? What happened?" he asked, practically jumping.

"Robin, please calm yourself. Friend Raven is very troubled. She is deeply upset emotionally, but not for the reasons we think. And she was not trying to take her life this afternoon."

Robin stared back at her, stammering. "Then why…I don't get it…what had happened?"

"Raven's emotions have become very strong, too much for her too handle. Her powers are useless, and she could not fight off Jinx," Starfire answered, trying to hide a smile on her face.

Robin felt like he was going to burst. "Wha-what emotion would that be?" It couldn't be. She couldn't be. It'd never happen.

A smile broke out on Starfire's face. "Robin, Raven is in love with you."

Robin stayed silent, his face unchanged. 'She loves me'.

"You have to go and talk to her though, because she will not come and speak to you," Starfire added, heading towards the door.

Robin became confused. "Why?"

Starfire opened the door. "Raven is planning on leaving to tonight as she thinks of herself as useless. Only you can change her mind."

Raven threw her cloak into the closet, staring at her regular clothes on her bed. Her new uniform. With her emotions in such a volatile state, she couldn't risk being a hero anymore.

She started to unzip the leotard when the door swooshed open. She spun around and saw Robin standing in her doorway. Flustered, she grabbed the zipper and yanked in up.

"What gives you the right to open my door like that?" Raven barked, happy with the anger that was coming to her voice.

"What gives you the right to think that you can leave without telling anyone?" Robin shouted, slamming the door shut. Raven jumped back a tad, surprised by one – Robin's out burst, and two – the fact the he knew what she was planning.

Raven swallowed, staring back at an angry Robin. "I'm – I'm not leaving. What would give you that idea?" 'Lie Raven, yes, that's the only things that could get you out of this' her thought were telling her, but she even knew she was the worst liar in the world.

"So Starfire was lying to me? What would she have to gain from that?" Robin asked, crossing his arms, his expression remaining unbroken. He took a step closer to Raven. He motioned to the jeans and sweatshirt lying on her bed. "And these? You never wear normal clothes Raven."

Raven's tough exterior was crumbling. Why did he have to be so caring and compassionate? She rubbed her temple with her hand, trying to stop the pounding in her head.

"What did you come in here for, Robin?" she muttered quietly, embarrassed and upset. God, why did everything have to be so damn difficult? Why did she have to care for him so much? If it was anyone else, she'd continue what she was doing and walk right out. But that look behind his mask was stopping her.

Robin frowned, the look of anger fading. He walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He led her to the bed and helped her sit down before sitting down right next to her. He stared down at his hands before beginning to talk to her. "I guess that reason why I came in here was to stop you. And mainly to ask you why. Why would you ever do such a thing? How could you leave us? Leave…me?" he asked, voice beginning to falter at the end.

Raven listened, her mouth suddenly becoming dry. She looked at Robin, who looked up at her. His eyes were wide and emotion-filled. The two held each others sight before Raven jump off the circular bed. "Don't do this to me Richard!! You know that I can't do this!" she yelled, stomping a good fifteen feet away.

Robin sighed. Damn Trigon. "It doesn't matter Raven. I just want to know that how you feel. That I'm not the only one feeling this way. I would do anything for you Raven, and you know that, because you'd do anything for me. All that matters is that we're in this together and we both want it. As long as we have that, who cares?"

She stood with her back to him, hugging her body. He was right. She wanted it so bad. She had gotten to the point where she needed it, or else her power were rendered useless. This was never supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to feel, and Robin was supposed to be in love in Starfire. It was just…so wrong.

"I know what happened with Jinx today. Star explained the truth. It's just that from where I was…" Robin trailed off, coming up right behind her.

She turned around to face him. "How will I be able handle this after if I could barely do it before?" she sniffed, just now realizing that tears were streaming down her face.

He grabbed her face in his hands, wiping away the tears with his thumbs, a slight smile on his face. "The same way I will. You know I'm an emotionally attached person as well. We'll deal with this together," he said before pausing. "Raven, I love you more than anything. I would do anything to be with you."

Raven smiled, still in disbelief of what was happening. "This must be a delusion," she said sarcastically.

Robin laughed. "I'll prove to you it isn't." He pulled her face up to meet his, their lips touching. They parted after a moment, blushing. She smiled, only to pull him back for more.

There was a chorus of breaking glass, which Raven ignored. None of it mattered. Broken glass could be fixed, just like her broken heart had.