Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans
Weeks had passed since the bombing in town and Jump City had suddenly become crime-less. The Titans hadn't picked up a single hint of a terrorist attack or robbery, not even a single mugging. Even Beast Boy was starting to get bored with the time off, when eventually the computer picked up a signal of a potential mudslide warning up in the mountains.
"Potential?" Cyborg read off the screen. "So there wasn't even a mudslide, there just might be one? Man that's lame."
"It's not like we have anything more serious happening lately." Robin reasoned. "We could go up and secure the area. It wouldn't take too long."
"Or we could stay and go camping." Beast Boy sprung up as the idea popped in his head. "We're going to be up there anyway to confine the area, so why not stay a little while longer and camp? It'll be fun." He squeaked, but Robin looked at him unimpressed. "Oh come on Robin. It's like you said – we don't have anything more serious going on anyway."
The more the others talked about it, the more excited they became. Starfire had never been camping before and wanted to see what Beast Boy was making a fuss about. After some thought, even Robin had to admit that it wasn't the worst idea and that it would give the team a little fresh air out of the tower.
"Fine, we'll go." He said. "But only for the weekend." He didn't like the idea of being away from the city for too long.
"I can stay and watch over things here if you want." Raven added. She wasn't gung-ho on the idea of dealing with the boys the whole weekend, plus she preferred the comfort of her own bed rather than a sleeping bag on the cold ground.
"Oh no, you have to come." Robin wagged a finger at her. "Besides, it'll be a good team-building experience."
"Yes!" Starfire clasped her hands together. "We can all get to know each other better!"
"We live together 24/7, how much closer are we supposed to get?" Raven crossed her arms. She knew that Robin was only making her come along because he wanted her to spend more time with the others so she could work on controlling her powers more. His intentions were good, and he was probably right, but Raven still couldn't get excited over the idea of stumbling around in the mountains.
After the decision had been made, Starfire pulled Raven into her room and asked her to help her pack since she wasn't sure what "camping attire" included. Raven searched through her draws and pulled out the warmest clothes she could find, which wasn't much considering most of Starfire's wardrobe consisted of skirts and sleeveless shirts.
"I can withstand cold temperatures. Warmth will not be an issue for me." She explained.
"I know, but you don't want to get ticks."
"Ticks?"
"It's a type of parasite that'll clamp onto your skin and can give you diseases, and there are lots of them in the woods, so you don't want to show a lot of exposed skin."
"Oh." She held up the leggings and sweater that Raven picked out and frowned.
"Do you want to borrow some of my clothes?" Raven asked blandly, attempting to be nice. "I have some things that'll probably fit you."
"Alright!" Starfire's eyes lit up at the idea of getting to share clothes with Raven as if they were sisters. She grabbed Raven and dragged her upstairs to her room where she started looking through her closet excitedly.
"I know it's probably not your style." Raven commented as Starfire breezed through all her dark colored clothing.
"I think Robin would like this." She said, pulling out a dark red v-neck sweater.
Raven's heart flipped. "Yeah, he might…" The idea of Starfire trying to impress Robin unsettled her, but she couldn't very well tell her not to. Starfire could do what she wanted and it wasn't like she knew anything about how Robin and Raven's friendship was starting to evolve. "That would look good on you." She said, trying to be supportive.
"No, I meant for you."
"What?" She blushed as Starfire walked up to her and held the sweater up to her torso as if to preview it.
"Well, you two are around each other very often. I thought maybe you'd want to wear something he'll like."
He heart did another flip. Had Starfire really caught on so easily? "I spend a lot of time with you guys too, but that doesn't mean I'm going to start dressing like you." She tried to distract her from the topic. "And what's wrong with the way I normally dress?"
"Oh, nothing!" She said hurriedly. "I just thought –"
"– It's fine." Raven cut her off, praying that Starfire would forget the whole thing. It wasn't that she was ashamed of what she and Robin were doing, but something about the idea of the others knowing about it worried her. She could already imagine them butting their heads in and causing trouble, which was something Raven didn't know if she could handle at this point. She watched Starfire's shoulders sink as she turned back to the closet to pick out more clothes. Raven sighed guiltily, knowing that she had just blown up at Starfire when she was only trying to be nice. "Let me help you." She breathed shamefaced and tried to make amends by helping Starfire browse through her hangers.
Once everyone had packed up and gotten ready, they loaded up the T-ship and punched in the coordinates. Beast Boy and Cyborg chattered giddily the entire ride, which eventually began to drive Raven over the edge. She rested her head against the glass window of the ship and tried to occupy her mind for the rest of the flight. Part of her was still embarrassed and confused from her conversation with Starfire. She knew that the Tamaranian had always been fond of Robin and was closer to him than she was with anyone else on the team, so Raven had always assumed that she wouldn't be happy to learn about what he'd been doing with Raven. But she didn't seem too upset when she mentioned their closeness. How much did she really know? And if she did know everything, would she still be supportive? Raven didn't like to think about it. It made her nervous to imagine the others responses to her private life. A part of her did truly want their approval, even if it wasn't the most important thing in the world.
They landed a few miles upward from the danger site and began hiking around to look for a good spot to set up camp. Beast Boy transformed into a hawk and began searching from the skies, leaving Cyborg shaking his fist and yelling for making him have to carry both of their stuff. They finally settled on a spot by the River with lots of shade and level ground. As soon as they dropped their luggage, Cyborg and Beast Boy darted straight for the river, leaving the others to set up camp. Robin growled in annoyance, but Raven didn't mind. She could probably get it done faster without them anyway. She used her powers to unfold the tents and put everything in place while Robin hammered in the pegs. Starfire began chattering about how cute everything looked after it was all set up.
Robin called the boys back from the river. "We have to go take care of this mudslide thing, remember? It's why we came in the first place."
"Yeah, yeah, keep your tights on." Cyborg mocked, smiling. "I've already got the location locked." They followed Cyborg downhill and eventually arrived at the spot. "The ground is pretty heavy here from all the absorbed water. We need to lighten it and raise the land to keep it from giving off a snowball effect if it were ever to collapse."
Robin began putting together a plan. "Beast Boy and Cyborg start digging into the ground and draining out as much water as you can. Starfire, you fly around and see if you can find some heavy foliage that we can dig up and replant here to use as a sort of blockade. Raven and I will work on raising the land further downhill."
Everyone agreed to their roles and went to work. Beast Boy morphed into a mole and began digging a large hole into the wet ground, which then slowly filled with water, while Cyborg used some of his equipment to suck the water into a vacuum and deposit it elsewhere. Starfire used her strength to pull out some large bushes and replanted them at the bottom of the slope while Robin instructed Raven on where exactly to raise the terrain using her powers. After many hours and much progress, the area had begun to look much safer. Cyborg secured some yellow tape around the site to keep people away from it before Robin finally agreed that they could go back to camp.
"Raaaveen," Cyborg called out as he a Beast Boy skipped back into the river. "You're gonna play water stankball with us right?"
She nearly smacked her palm to her forehead. "You brought dirty clothes on this trip just so you could play stankball?"
"Of course!" Beast Boy chimed in.
She groaned in response, but she could practically feel Robin's eyes boring into her back. He wanted her to go on this trip so she could work on having more fun around the others. If she wanted to make him proud, then she was going to have to play. "Alright." She grumbled and rolled up her pant legs to go in the water.
Cyborg and Beast Boy began cheering in delight as the three of them began sloshing through the water and throwing Beast Boy's rolled up socks at each other. Gratefully, Raven was able to use her powers to make sure the balls never actually touched her, but she played along regardless. And after a few games, she realizes that she was actually having more fun on the trip than she thought she would. She liked sharing these moments with the others, even if they were activities that she wouldn't usually choose to participate in on her own. When the games came to an end, the three of them walked back to the tents together where they found Robin attempting to teach Starfire how to fish, though she didn't appear to be understanding the attraction to it.
They all relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Raven and Starfire meditated on the bank for a good amount of time while the boys continued to fish, although Beast Boy made them throw back anything they caught. Later on, as the sun went down and everything grew dark, they started a campfire and pulled out the materials to roast s'mores.
"This is the best part of camping Star." Beast Boy told her and slid a marshmallow onto her stick for her. "You've never tasted anything like this before."
"I am very excited. Camping has proven to be most enjoyable so far." The others laughed along and agreed with her. Robin was glad that they had chosen to stay. Raven seemed happy, which in turn made him happy as well. He was even starting to consider allowing the team to stay a little longer than just the weekend. He chuckled silently as he watched Raven inspect her marshmallow to see how brown it was while Cyborg sat next to her and immediately lit his on fire.
The night grew older and one by one the Titans began to yawn. As the others began to prepare for bed, Robin made eye contact with Raven, trying to signal to her that he wanted her to stay up for a little while longer. It didn't take her long to get the message.
"Are you guys coming?" Cyborg looked between them.
"Yeah, in a little while." Robin answered, poking the fire and putting another log on.
"Well make sure to put the campfire out before you do."
"Yup." He began to grow impatient. He'd been hoping for them to go to bed hours ago so he could be alone with Raven. When the others finally crawled into their tents, he snuck over to where she was sitting. "Finally." He whispered.
"What's the matter Robin?" She teased. "I thought you were all excited about bonding as a team."
He smirked in response and placed his hand gently on her thigh. "I wouldn't mind having a little one-on-one bonding as well."
"Shhh." She quieted him so the others wouldn't overhear. She listened to the random crackle of the fire as he took her wrist and slid up the sleeve of her sweater before skimming his fingers up and down the inside of her arm. Her skin tickled from the contact, but she remained silent and kept her breaths steady and focused. Robin apparently didn't want to make it any easier on her as he dragged his lips over her bare neck and down towards the exposed skin on her chest. Eventually, when he heard the others snoring and heavy breaths from the inside of their tents, he pulled Raven onto his lap so she was facing him.
"Maybe this isn't the best place for practice." She whispered.
"I can't help it." He dug his face into the crook of her neck. "I know it's risky, but I've wanted to do this all day."
She could feel the heat of the campfire radiating against her back as he pulled her tighter. "Maybe just a little bit." She whispered in his ear. "Nothing that's going to send me overboard." She could feel his arousal growing fast as he lifted his head at her words. Without a sound, he cupped her jaw and brought her face closer to his before catching her lower lip between his. Her lips were soft and dry and he kept himself attached to them as long as he possibly could before having to break away. She wrapped one arm around his neck while the other hand reached underneath the hem of his shirt and began stroking his muscular stomach.
Every few seconds they had to pull apart so Raven could attempt to refocus her energy. As he waited for her to regain her composure, Robin thought he felt a few drops of rain hit his head, but it didn't stop him in the slightest. He didn't care if there was a hurricane rolling through; he was too absorbed in being with her. The fire started to sizzle as the rain beat down harder and began snuffing it out.
"It's raining." Raven whispered.
"I don't care." He reached his hand under her sweater and unfastened the bra she was wearing, running his fingertips up and down her spine and making her shiver.
They continued to quietly touch each other until the drizzle of rain turned into a shower and completely drowned out the fire. Their clothes were soaked through and Robin started getting goosebumps everywhere.
"I think it's time to call it a night." Raven said, pulling herself off his lap.
"If you insist." He watched her pull a towel from her tent to wipe off her dripping face. "You know you can sleep in my tent if you want." He teased.
"Goodnight Robin." She smiled before crawling into bed.
Robin awoke the next morning with a stiff neck. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep and the rain had made him shiver all night even after he'd changed into dry clothes. He had desperately wanted to crawl into Raven's tent and sleep with her, but he knew he'd already pushed his lucked far enough that night, not to mention that the rest of the team would have questions if they found them crawling out of the same tent in the morning. He could tell the others were already up from the smell of sausage cooking outside.
"Robin, you have finally awoken." Starfire greeted him warmly as he ducked out tiredly from behind his tent flap, but frowned when she saw his appearance. "Did you not sleep well last night?"
"Not really." He wiped some sweat from his head. "The rain kept me up for a while."
"Man, I must have slept right through it." Cyborg grinned. "And from the looks of it, it must have poured."
"Actually I think this provides a good chance for us to look back at the work we did yesterday and make sure it's holding up."
"Oh come on Robin." Beast Boy moaned. "We already did everything we could. Just because you like working more than having fun doesn't mean we have to."
"A true hero if I ever saw one." Raven droned at the changeling.
"Fine. You guys stay here if you want." Robin muttered. "I'm going."
"I'm going with you." Raven stated and took a bite of her eggs. "If you guys came along, we could always just go hiking once we're done."
Beast Boy seemed to mull it over for a moment. "I'm alright with that." He smiled and the others soon joined in agreement.
They finished their breakfast and cleaned up the site before making their way back downhill. Raven didn't really want to go hiking, but if it got the others to do what they were supposed to be doing, then she could bare it for a little while. As they hiked, she noticed that Robin still seemed frazzled and irked. He was breathing heavier than usual and kept wiping his forehead. He also seemed paler than normal. Perhaps the rain really did do a number on him last night.
Once they reached the area that Cyborg had secured with yellow tape the day before and inspected it, Robin seemed pleased that their work had seemed to hold up well even with all the rain they'd gotten.
"Alright." Cyborg rubbed his hands together. "Let's go adventuring." He grinned and the others prepared to follow him, all except for Robin.
"I'm gonna head back to camp."
"Robin, why?" Starfire asked disappointed.
"I don't feel good enough to hike. I kind of just want to rest more."
"Yeah man, you don't look so good." Cyborg rubbed his chin. "Maybe we should take you back."
"No, no. I can handle myself. You guys go and have fun and I'll meet you back at camp later." The others shrugged, but Raven grew worried.
"Are you sure? I can go back with you." She said.
"Yes Raven, go." He swatted his hand back at her as he turned to start walking in the opposite direction. "Go have fun."
She watched him begin to hike back towards camp. She didn't want him to be alone, but she also didn't want to argue with him in front of the others. Concerned, she watched him until he walked completely out of sight before turning and rejoining the others.
When Robin returned back to camp he was heavy with sweat and starting to get dizzy. He gulped down a bottle of water before stripping off his clothes and wading into the river to cool off. He dunked under water and popped back up, shaking out his hair. The fact that he was making himself vulnerable in a deep, rapidly flowing river barely even occurred to him. He felt hot and cold at the same time and he just wanted it to stop. After a few more dunks underwater, he pulled himself out of the river and wrapped a towel around his waist. He ducked into his tent and fell asleep almost as soon as his face hit the pillow.
"Robin…" He was stirred out of his sleep. "Robin, wake up." He heard Raven's voice and started upright in confusion. He looked around, nearly forgetting where he was.
"What's going on?" He shivered uncontrollably.
"I want you to take this." She said handing him a couple of pills. "Lucky I even thought to bring it along."
"What is it?"
"Ibuprofen. You've got a serious fever." She handed him a water bottle to help him swallow down the pills and put her palm against his forehead to try and feel again just how hot he was. "Probably from sitting out in the rain all night."
"I thought as much." He groaned and collapsed back down on his pillow.
"Sorry I had to wake you, but the sooner you took the medication the better."
"It's fine." He watched as she began shuffling through his duffel bag. "What are you looking for?"
"Clothes." She stated. "You shouldn't be lying around in a wet towel when you have a fever."
"Oh." She pulled out a pairs of boxers and sweatpants, along with a long-sleeved shirt he'd packed. Still lying on his back, he slid on the boxers and pants underneath his towel before removing it and Raven helped him pull his shirt on over his head. "How was the hike?" He asked.
"I don't really know. I came back early to check on you."
"You did?"
"I was worried." She explained.
"I know. I'm sorry."
She gave a small smile and pressed a hot towel to the back of his neck. "You can make it up to me by promising to rest for the next couple of days. No working, no fighting, no training. Just soup, juice, medicine, and rest."
"That's kind of asking a lot from me." He smiled but she didn't laugh. "It's not like there's any work to do out here anyway."
"We're not staying here. I'm taking you home."
"What? I'll be fine here. I just have to wait for the fever to break."
"Absolutely not. I'm not letting you sleep outside in the cold with a fever for the entire weekend. As soon as the others come back, I'm loading up the T-ship and we're leaving."
"But–"
"–No buts." She said sternly, practically chastising him. "I don't care if you're the leader of this team; this time you're going to do what I say." He could tell how serious she really was and for a moment he was almost turned on by it before his mind straightened out again.
"I just don't want to ruin everyone's weekend simply because I got sick halfway through."
She thought for a moment. "The others don't have to come back with us. I can fly us back home in the T-ship and then send it back to the others by punching the coordinates into the autopilot."
Clearly, there was no arguing with her. "If you insist." He sighed and closed his eyes.
"I don't just insist – I order you." She smirked and smoothed his wet hair back before pressing her lips softly to his forehead.
She sat by his side and watched as his chest began to rise and fall with steady rhythm. She covered him with an extra blanket from her own tent and when she was sure he had fallen asleep again, she left him to nap and began packing up her things. About a half-an-hour later, the other Titans returned just as she finished tying up her belongings.
"What's going on? Is he okay?" Cyborg asked, observing that she was all packed up to go.
"He's got a pretty high fever. I need to get him back to the tower to get some actual rest."
They snuck a peak into Robin's tent and saw how pale and weak he looked as he slept.
"Oh, poor Robin!" Starfire exclaimed. "What can we do to help?"
"You can help me pack up the T-ship. I'll fly us home as soon as he wakes up and then send it back to you guys before the weekend's over."
"So what, we're not coming with you?" Beast Boy looked confused.
"He said he doesn't want to ruin everyone's weekend. He wants you guys to stay and have fun so he doesn't feel guilty."
"What about you?"
"I don't mind taking care of him." She looked back towards his tent and allowed herself a tired smile. "I don't really trust him to do it on his own."
"Are you sure? We don't mind cutting the trip short." Cyborg picked up her bags and started carrying them over to the T-ship. "We were all supposed to be together this weekend."
"I know, but there's no point in everyone going home when he really only needs one person to look after him." She placed her hand on Cyborg arm gratefully. "I can keep you guys updated if you want."
"Yes, please do." Starfire said dejectedly. "We will miss both of you tremendously."
"We can hang out again when you guys get back." Raven tried to lift the mood. "Something that won't drive Robin to near-exhaustion."
They nodded sympathetically in agreement as Robin came out from his tent behind them.
"You don't look too good, dude." Beast Boy told him. "Practically as green as me."
"I don't feel too good either." He gave him a tired smirk. "I take it Raven filled you all in on her demands?"
"Are you sure you do not want us to accompany you back home?" Starfire asked.
"Positive. You guys were so excited for this weekend; I'm not about to cut it short." She pulled him in for a tight hug as the others began taking down his tent and putting away his things for him. "I'll see you all again soon when I'm back to being healthy." He told her.
They said their goodbyes to each other before Raven and Robin climbed into the ship and started for home. Thankfully the flight didn't take too long or else Robin probably would've gotten motion sickness. As they arrived at the tower, Raven lowered the ship onto the landing pad and filled it up with fuel before sending it back to the others on autopilot.
"Okay you," she addressed Robin, "time to go back to bed." She led him into the tower and down to his bedroom where he crawled under the covers. "I want to run out and get some groceries for you. Will you be alright for a little while?" She asked.
"Uh huh." He moaned.
"When you feel up to it, you should take a hot shower." She whispered and he nodded into his pillow. "I'll be back soon." She petted his head before leaving. As much as she hated seeing him like this, Raven had to admit that she liked taking care of him. It made her feel needed. She liked this feeling that suddenly he was hers to take care of, like she had a right to watch over him even if he told her not to. Almost like he belonged to her – and she belonged to him.
She ordered a variety of soups and comfort foods over the phone for pick-up since she knew she couldn't cook anything good herself and wrote up a list of vitamin filled products to stock the fridge with. Beast Boy would probably have a field day when he found out how many vegetables she was going to load up on. Not wanting to waste any more time, she teleported herself into town.
When Robin woke up once again, it was already dark outside and it took him a few seconds to figure out what day it was. I slept the entire day? He realized as he looked at the clock and it was already past dinner time. He stretched his limbs, already feeling ten times better than he had that morning, and decided to take a hot shower like Raven had recommended. Then he brushed his teeth to get the sick taste out of his mouth and changed into fresh clothes. When he walked into the common room, he found Raven sitting on the couch and reading.
"Hey sleepyhead." Her voice came out in the usual deep purr that he loved. "Hungry?"
"Starving now that I think about it." He opened the refrigerator and was surprised to see how filled it was. "I don't think we've ever owned this much food at once." He called out.
"There's soup hidden in there somewhere if you can find it." He ladled himself a bowl and heated it up in the microwave before sitting down on the couch next to her. She wrapped a blanket around his shoulders. "So how are you feeling?"
"Much better. Still a little achy though."
She responded by rubbing circles into his back and he bowed his head in pleasure from the ease it gave him.
"Swimming around in a cold river this morning probably didn't help, you know."
"I know, but I was so hot. I had to cool down somehow."
"Were you scared at all?" She inquired, curious. "I know it's not the bay, but it's still a pretty big body of water."
"I don't think so." He rested his head against her shoulder as she continued to scratch ovals into his back. "I was kind of delirious, but even if I wasn't, I don't think I would've been frightened."
"That's good." She told him. "I'd almost go so far as to say that you were completely over it already." She really was impressed with how much progress he'd made in such a short amount of time.
"I don't know if I'm completely over it. Every now and then I'll have a bad dream or some sort of flashback, but at least I know for sure that none of this is going to be permanent." He raised his eyes to look at her from the comfort of her shoulder. "I guess I have you to thank for that."
"Don't mention it." She uttered nonchalantly and reached for the remote to turn on the television. "Not that you even really needed me."
"Of course I did." He piped up, somewhat offended. "If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even be here right now, let alone attempt to heal on my own. I know I tend to go off and try to fix things by myself, but even I'll admit that I wouldn't have been able to do any of this alone." He grabbed her hand and began rubbing it between his palms. "You do know how much I need you, don't you?"
Raven couldn't keep herself from smiling at his words. That nice feeling of belonging began to heat up inside her again. "I do now." She reddened gratefully.
