Raven walked down the hallway, holding two mugs in her hands. She stopped outside of Robin's door and tapped her foot against it. After a few moments, a very disheveled Robin opened it. He blinked in confusion, then seeing the mugs, waved her in.
"Raven. I didn't expect to see you still up."
"I couldn't sleep. And I saw you were up, so I thought I'd bring you something." He took the mug eagerly, then frowned when he saw what was inside.
"Oh. Thanks."
"It's good for you. Just give it a try." He took a cautious sip, then a small smile formed on his face.
"What is it?"
"Da Hong Pao tea."
"It's actually delicious. Thank you, Raven."
"You're welcome." Raven peered over at his desk, and saw pictures from the crime scene pulled up on his computer.
"You're not going to find anything you know." Robin sighed.
"I know."
"You're taxing yourself needlessly, Robin. We're going to go investigate tomorrow. You can't do anything in the meantime, so why don't you get some sleep?" He blinked down at her, bemused.
"Sleep? What's that?" She rolled her eyes and poked him in the side.
"Don't give me that. You have to take care of yourself, Robin." His eyes crinkled.
"If you say so, Dr. Raven. But shouldn't you been taking your own advice?" She shifted, and looked down at her feet. Raven didn't want to admit how lately her nights had become shorter and shorter, wrought with restless sleep and dreams that made her shoot out of bed.
"I will. But you're the leader of the team. You're always looking after everyone else. But someone...someone has to look after you too you know." He smiled down at her.
"For someone who doesn't always like to speak, you sure say a lot of smart things when you do." Raven looked away, flustered.
"I try. But you have to admit, compared to something Beast Boy would say, anything that comes out of my mouth will sound good." Robin threw his head back and laughed.
"You got me there. Thanks for the tea, Raven. I'll try to take your advice. You should get some sleep too." She shifted, suddenly aware that she was intruding on his space.
"Thanks, I will." Raven stepped out, closing the door behind her. She padded down the hall in her slippers and opened her door with a sigh. After depositing her tea on her bedside table, she sank down into her bed and picked up the book she had left open beside her.
Raven settled back into her pillows and dove back in. Ever since her sleepless nights had begun, she had been making even more frequent pilgrimages to the local library. And yet more and more she found herself at a loss for what to read. So she had started taking out trashy crime novels and YA novels. Her current read was, ironically, a YA book about teenage superheroes. While fraught with inaccuracies, and tending to sensationalize the day to day operations, she found the relationship dynamics between the team members to be compelling. Especially the bond between the Ivory Dagger (aka Dana Harvey) and Moon Blade (aka Reggie Felton). It was cliché, but there was something comforting about the way everything in this fictional world was so black and white.
"Ivory!" She turned and saw Moon Blade standing behind her, holding out her belt.
"Oh. Thank you." She took it, shivering slightly at the contact of his hands.
"What's wrong?" He asked, peering down at her, his mask furrowed in concern. She looked away, heart racing.
"It's nothing."
"Something's troubling you. Is it...your mother?" She shook her head, gazing off into the night sky. The moon was full tonight.
"She chose her path."
"Then what? You look like you haven't slept in days, you barely eat. I...worry." Ivory stepped closer, looking up into his eyes.
"It's-I...Reggie..."
Raven nearly dropped her book as the tower's alarm went off. Footsteps thudded down the hallway. She jumped out of bed and raced to her wardrobe, throwing on her cape. She started at the sound of pounding at her door, but rushed to open it. Robin standing outside, breathing heavily. Before she could ask what was going on, he simply said:
"They're here."
A/N: I have no idea where this story is going to go, but boy am I excited about it. Drop your thoughts in a review, let me know what you think so far.
