Bete Noire (n) – a person or thing especially disliked or dreaded

Raven woke up so fast it took her brain a few seconds to catch up. She stared around her room wildly, running a shaky hand through her hair. The dark room seemed to crowd her, and the shadows seemed to move. She couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Mentally, she reached out for her friends.

As always, Robin was the first to find. Their bond made finding his aura the easiest. She took a few deep breaths, matching his even rate. He was sound asleep in his room.

Starfire was next. The alien was hyper-emotional during the day, and only slightly less so at night. She too was in bed, as was Beast Boy. His aura was equally bright, and Raven for once was grateful.

Cyborg, being only partially human, was always the hardest to find, especially at night when he was usually offline. Raven reached out farther, her panic growing when she realized he wasn't in his room. The wind picked up and a few books began to levitate. Raven reached for her communicator to sound the alarm when she found him in the garage. The panic faded almost immediately. Raven glanced at the clock – 4:37 AM. She chewed on her lower lip, debating between going back to bed and going to the garage. Sighing, she flipped the sheets off and left her room.

Down in the garage, Cyborg worked happily underneath his baby. He had reached full charge around 3 AM, and decided his car needed some TLC. He heard the door swish open.

"Hey Rae. Couldn't sleep?" He asked, not moving out from under the car.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked, peering under the car at him. He grinned at her.

"Only you would be up in the middle of the night, plus no one else really comes down here unless they need me for something. And they could easily call me" Cyborg said, finally sliding out from under the car. He sat up and faced Raven as she leaned against the counter. Her hood was down and he could see she was tired. Raven wouldn't meet his eyes, and she folded her arms. "Want to talk about it?" he asked her.

"No." she said.

"Fine." Cyborg shrugged. "There's some old shirts in the drawer to your left. We need to fix the engine, and upgrade the fuel cells. Might get messy." He pushed himself back under the car and heard Raven pull a shirt over her head. They worked in relative silence for a while, only talking when necessity dictated it. True to his word, grease and oil got all over both of them.

"I want to repaint my room" Raven said, after a while. Cyborg nodded.

"We can do that. What color were you thinking?" He asked, glancing over at her. Raven shrugged. Cyborg had lived with the dark girl long enough to know that it wasn't paint color that had brought her to the garage at 4:30 in the morning. "What about light grey?" he suggested.

"I think that would work," She said. "Do you think…" Raven trailed off, deciding not to ask whatever question was on her mind.

"I think we can definitely get it done before Beast Boy wakes up, so he won't bother you. Or get in our way." Cyborg said, ignoring the question she hadn't asked. "And if we start before Star notices, she won't badger you into getting pink walls."

"Thanks Cyborg." Raven said softly. Cyborg tightened one last bolt, then stood back.

"How about we go fix some breakfast? I'll make ya some waffles and tea, and then we can go to the store." Cyborg glanced down at his little sister, covered in grease, but smiling slightly. Raven nodded, and Cyborg put an arm around her shoulder. Together they walked into the kitchen.

A few hours later, Raven was covered in grey paint in addition to the grease stains, but the smile on her face couldn't be denied. Cyborg grinned back at her as he wiped paint off his arm.

"Looks great guys." They turned to see Robin leaning against the doorframe. "Need any help?"

"Nah we're good bro. But maybe you could fix us some lunch? I didn't realize it was almost noon!" Cyborg responded. Raven rolled her eyes. Robin smiled and shook his head.

"Lunch is coming right up. Then don't forget training after that!" He reminded, then walked away. The two Titans turned back to finish up their work.

Cyborg hoped the new paint meant there would be fewer nighttime visits from his little sister. As much as he loved her, he hated knowing that nightmares woke her up at odd hours.