Raven sat in Starfire's room, deep in thought as the alien girl talked about her last trip to the Mall. Her confrontation with Beast Boy had raised some questions in her mind. Why exactly did she care whether or not Beast Boy was educated? Certainly, she cared for her friends, but what the Doom Patrol did to him made her absolutely furious.

It was always like this with him. She worried about him far more than she did the rest of the team. She didn't know why; despite appearances she knew he was capable of taking care of himself. Raven and Beast Boy often had long talks when they were alone, and she'd heard a lot of his life's story. She knew better than anyone how strong he was mentally and emotionally. And physically...she blushed slightly, remembering a recent trip to Jump City beach, and how she'd spent several minutes noticing his new muscles before he'd wrongly accused her of…staring…. No.

Oh no. NO! Nononononononono! Damn it. She had a crush on Beast Boy. Fantastic.

Starfire paused in her talk to see Raven sitting with a blush on her face and a vacant look in her eyes. "Friend Raven, of what are you thinking? Or perhaps..." a sly look crossed the alien girls face "...of whom?"

Raven's first impulse was to deny everything, but Starfire was her best friend. Raven wasn't some immature girl who believes all her crushes are top secret, and she trusted Starfire more than almost anyone. She told Starfire her suspicion that she had a crush on Beast Boy. She expected surprise, she expected glee, she expected hugging. She did not expect the alien girl to nod her head and say "yes, friend Robin thought you might not be aware of it"

"Excuse me?" Raven said, thoroughly thrown by this "do you mean to tell me Robin knew of my crush before I did?! Wow. That's actually just a bit creepy"

"Oh Raven" Starfire said, rolling her eyes "It has been most apparent to all that you and Beast Boy share the attraction. You speak to him even more than you do to me, and he is always the first to receive the healing. Also…do you remember august?"

"We swore never to discuss that again." Raven said with a glare. That august, Beast Boy had gone to visit the Titans South in Atlanta. Pantha, Jericho, Herald, Argent and red Star had contacted the Tower, and specifically requested that the green boy come to help get them started. He'd been gone a month and a half. 45 of the worst days Raven had ever experienced.

At first things had been wonderful. Peace and quiet for more than an hour at a stretch. Meditation sessions that were guaranteed to be free of interruption. Breakfasts that did not include the meant-tofu war. Best of all, no more bad jokes every time she sat down in the common room. Bliss. For about a week. After a week had passed Raven noticed she was lonely. No one came to talk to her, assuming that if she wanted to talk she would. But Raven had never been good at starting conversations, and so the best she could do was to have a few discussions with Starfire about earth culture. Beast Boy was usually the one who drew her into conversation, and had often surprised her with his depth.

No one tried to bring her out of her shell- Beast Boy had earned too much pain that way for anyone else to even consider it. She was no longer included in the Tower's activities. Everyone assumed that Raven wouldn't want to do anything "fun"- just look at how Beast Boy had to whine and beg and risk his neck just to get her to join in. Raven couldn't just walk up to the team and ask to go bowling (or whatever) with them- she had an image to maintain after all. But she COULD give in to Beast Boy, and have a good time, without losing face. This had been her strategy for years.

In short, Raven went from being one of the team to being a co-worker. They were all still her friends- she could feel the friendship radiating off them- but without Beast Boy forcing her to hang out with them, raven found herself spending more and more time alone in her room. She discovered that the enjoyment she usually got from this had mainly come from its rarity- she so rarely got to be alone in her room that each moment was bliss. When she was alone in her room hour after hour, day after day, it felt less like bliss and more like solitary confinement.

"Regardless" Starfire said, drawing her back to the here and now, "you were most unhappy when friend Beast Boy was gone. It is most obvious to all, save Beast Boy, and him only because Robin says he is..um… Robin said 'as thick as a brick sandwich about love' but I have never seen such a sandwich so I cannot say I understand this."

Raven simply sat there, absorbing the twin shocks that (a) she was romantically interested in Beast Boy and (b) everyone else knew about it before she did. "I can't feel this way about Beast Boy. I just can't"

"Friend Raven I do not understand. Is there something about Beast Boy that I do not know, some reason you find these feelings so unacceptable? Is he cruel, or untruthful, or selfish?" Starfire seemed to be asking sincerely, but nevertheless Raven was suspicious. In her opinion, it was obvious to all that the shape changer was none of these things. "Then what is the problem?"

"It's just...we're so different Starfire. How can I hope to have any sort of relationship with him? Even if I wanted to." She finished hastily.

Starfire tapped her lip, thinking. Finally she began speaking, slowly, as though she wanted to be sure she was understood "There is a saying on my planet: t'gark xha nfaraak du. It could be translated as Two Halves Make A Whole, or as Opposites Attract. Neither one is truly correct, for it is a concept of much complexity- indeed it is one of the keystones of Tamaranian culture. It means that each of us- every person in the universe- is incomplete. We possess weaknesses and gaps that we cannot fill, no matter how hard we may try. Yet, for every one of us, there is another- one who possesses the strengths we lack, who balances us. Who makes us whole. May I speak freely Raven?"

Raven nodded. She'd always known Starfire was deeper than she seemed but rarely was it made this obvious. 'Just wait until she gets a handle on Earth culture. I doubt the place will ever be the same...'

"You seem to fear closeness to others. You are often dark and pessimistic, and are shy even around we who are your closest friends. You have much of the knowledge of books, yet fear to leave them to explore the real world. I think, if you were to be with someone who is like you, this would be made worse, not better. To truly be complete you need balance. Perhaps Beast Boy is that balance- that completeness. You have little to lose by trying- and much to be gained. T'gark xha nfaraak du"

"Wow that was very...deep" Raven said "and here I thought Tamaranian culture was all glowing food and long poetry"

Starfire smiled, understanding her friends need to break the moment. Perhaps when she found completeness, the need would pass. "Perhaps then, you should initiate the dating? There is being no time like at present, yes?"

Raven snorted "This from the girl who's been dancing around our leader for the last few years"

Starfire blushed, but not in a happy way. Raven could feel waves of sorrow radiating off the girl. Was Starfire ashamed? "Starfire, if Robin's done something..."

"No. No friend Raven. I... not long after our return from Tokyo, Robin asked to speak with me in his room. I was most joyous, for I assumed we would begin the dating. Instead, he told me he could not. He said that, as leader, he could not allow himself to form such a bond with a teammate. He said that it was already hard enough to place me in jeopardy- and that if we were to begin the dating he would not be able to trust his judgment. He asked me to please move on and find someone else."

Raven was stunned. She'd known the Boy Wonder had issues but this... What had Batman DONE to that boy? "Starfire that's...that's insane."

"Yes. I know." the orange girl replied, her emerald eyes downcast "But I cannot think how to show this to him. And please, do not tell anyone. It would do no good."

Raven sighed. She knew of only one way to cheer her alien friend up. 'The things I do for my friends... there'd better be a heaven.'

"Starfire? Maybe, you could help me think of how to ask him out? And, maybe help me change my look a bit for the date? A little bit. Maybe."

Starfire knew that Raven was only trying to cheer her up by allowing her to perform a makeover. However, just the fact that her friend was willing to make such a sacrifice to cheer her up improved her mood greatly.

-+-+-+-+-+-+

At a small airfield on the outskirts of Jump City, the Titans waited for their new arrival. Officially, they were sheltering a young girl who was to be a witness against Black Mask, and Robin had taken care to make sure each Titan knew the story flawlessly. IT was important that her cover be maintained, at least in front of the Waynetech-1 flight crew- who Robin knew for a fact often sold info to the various Gotham gossip rags. Bruce considered it useful in spreading the playboy fop image, but Robin didn't want the world to know who Batgirl was.

A petite, short haired girl with a vaguely Asian cast to her features stepped off the plane and walked towards Robin solemnly. She wore a black tee-shirt and green pants, and acted every bit the frightened girl- eyes twitching from side to side, body language very closed, her pace erratic. Without a word, Robin led her to the T-car and helped her inside, as the others entered. Only when they reached the tower did the girl break into a smile, wrapping the Boy Wonder in a warm hug "Hello Tim. Nice to see you."

Now, the Titans had exchanged secret identities on the first day. They knew Robin was Timothy Drake, and had even seen him without his mask on. Robin had been insistent that there be no secrets between them- he'd seen how the Protocols incident had damaged the Justice League. Batman had been sensible to make plans to disable League members (after all how many times had heroes turned bad for whatever reason?) but the fact that he'd hidden this had caused almost irreperable harm to the League. But still, no one ever used it. It seemed...sacreligeous somehow.

Robin unfolded himself from the hug gently (causing Starfire to unclench her fist) and said "Its Robin now, Cass. I'm ONLY Robin now."

Cassie frowned. "Not healthy. Tim know that. Can't do forever" Honestly, though, the comment had her worried. She knew what had really driven Tim from Gotham; the death of Stephanie Brown aka the spoiler aka the girl Robin. After her torture and death at the hands of Black Mask, Tim had felt guilty for his girlfriends death. Tim hadn't been able to stay in Gotham, claiming it held too many memories. She'd expected him to have moved on;but instead she found him hiding behind the mask.

Robin laughed and replied "well, we'll see about that. Lets get back to the Tower, and we can introduce you to everyone properly."

Cassie smiled and nodded but inside she was very worried.

A/N

Its been pointed out that the conversation between Raven and Starfire could be interpreted as 'all women need a guy'. This was not my intention- I merely think we're all part of a puzzle and need others to complete us.

This may be the last of my superfast updates. My leave is over, and I return to duty on sunday. So I want to see LOTS of reviews people. How am I doing so far?