Authors Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. :) Your reviews are truly appreciated.

Robin played with his slice of pizza, picking the topping off and dropping pieces onto the plate. Starfire sat across from him, chatting on about the exciting moments of the film they had just seen between mouthfuls of pizza. Robin couldn't say what was considered exciting. The movie hadn't held his attention for the whole two hours. Penguins waddling through the snow to the dull narration of an academic wasn't necessarily what Robin would call exciting. But Starfire didn't seem to notice his lack of enthusiasm. As far as Starfire could read in her oblivious way, their date was going swimmingly. Robin was just sitting in his usual silent appreciation as she regaled him with the highlights. What Starfire didn't realize was that Robin's thoughts had not been on this situation all afternoon.

He wondered how Raven was going. Since the end of their 'sleepover' Robin hadn't been able to ask Raven anymore about that dream. How much trouble was it causing? Was there something about it she wasn't telling him? Was it bothering her right now? Was it just a nightmare or something more? Robin itched to be able to solve his friends problems. He felt trapped sitting there but also pressured to fill what he agreed to. Starfire was his friend too. He couldn't just abandon her. But that couldn't keep the worry for the other Titan out of his mind.

He reached for the hundredth time to that bond in his mind, feeling Raven's presence lingering there. There were other things, other information floating and lingering through but Robin didn't know how to interpret it. He didn't know what any of it meant. He couldn't help but feel like he was missing out on miles of leads, which frustrated him. Who knows if that particular spike in his mind held the one answer to it all? Simply, he just hadn't been taught. He knew no better. So he tried to console this frustration with the fact that Raven was still there. No matter what, lingering in his mind, Raven was still there.

"Robin?"

Robin snapped out of his mind to see a quizzical Starfire staring down at him.

"I just inquired if it was time to see our friends again?"

Robin glanced down at the table to see the whole pizza gone, his only slice picked to pieces on the plate. That was fine, he wasn't hungry anyway. He nodded in agreement and rummaged through his wallet to drop a tip as Starfire glided out the door. His R-cycle sat outside waiting. He had driven there while Starfire flied. Now Starfire stood patiently in front of it, hinting for a ride. Robin pulled out his own helmet without acknowledging her and swung his leg over. With no cue, Starfire climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Robin didn't say a work as he pulled away back to Titans Tower. In fact, neither of them said a word the whole trip back.

It wasn't until Robin was pulling his R-cycle back into the garage that he remembered Starfire's presence. As he pulled off his helmet, she stood uncomfortably close to him. He stared back unsure until Starfire bent her head closer to his. Then he knew. She wanted to kiss him. Thinking quickly, he simply turned his head to the side and lowered it so Starfire's chin bumped his forehead.

Looking back up to the hurt eyes of the alien girl, he stumbled, "I'm sorry Star... uh, maybe next time?"

Robin didn't realize the reasoning behind Starfire's now enormous grin as she nodded enthusiastically and bounced away. A next time implied another date. To Starfire, Robin had practically asked her out again. What a gentleman! Inviting her on another date rather than grabbing what he could. She always knew she had picked it right with Robin!

Robin ascended the stairs to find Cyborg waiting with his arms crossed. The seriousness of the situation was immediately translated to the leader as he straightened up formally.

"There's been an accident," Cyborg informed him, "with Raven."

Raven couldn't fight the scream from her mouth as the pain in her arm seemed to burrow like a worm deep within the skin. She wanted to rip the claw away from her skin, with the fear of touching it keeping her away. She felt her black energy pickle around her, snapping other flickers of flame away. She could keep the other flames from approaching her. But it just seemed so impossible to make that simple action to be rid of the main cause of her pain.

Eventually, as if the worm had finished feeding, the strand of fire retracted into the mass of an inferno and Raven was left to gasp air, any air she could. She clutched her burnt arm and wildly attacked the flames around her with the dark energy shooting from her raw emotions like electricity. Everything seemed like such a mess that she couldn't focus her resources or her power to one single strategy to get out. Everything just burned before her eyes.

A prick in the inside of her arm caught her attention and suddenly a large source of light flowed over her from above. The medical substance was harsh, causing a screeching sound with bright clinical white to envelop her. She didn't care about its negatives. Someone was taking her out of this nightmare and she scrambled for the real world.

Cyborg explained to Robin how he had found Raven in the training room, has taken her to the Titans emergency room and brought her out of unconsciousness with a syringe. He explained how she appeared panicked and clung to the bed. He described how when he had come back from retrieving her some water she had grown ten shades paler and asked not to talk about it. About anything. And how she had been in her room ever since, rocking Titans Tower with extremely loud music.

Robin approached her newly fixed door and, realizing she could not hear him knock, punched in the override key and entered her room. He found Raven sitting on her bed, facing a stereo that blasted Talking Head's 'Wild Wild Life' at full volume. He didn't even know Raven listened to music and then realized it was his own stereo sitting in front of her. The CD must have come from Cyborgs collection. He studied her for a moment, her hair moving from the force of the music and sensed the similarity in the situation. It was what he often did when he was upset. And he could tell by the black energy crackling around Raven that she was upset now.

"Raven!" Robin yelled as loud as he could, approaching Raven to place a hand on her shoulder.

Raven didn't move but the energy around her hit him like a slap and sent him stumbling back. He stared shocked as it dawned on him, this isn't how you help Raven. Trying again, he simply walked around her and sat next to her, not sitting and not touching her. He just faced the stereo with her and let the music drown over him. Raven didn't move either, didn't speak but felt the presence of Robin next to her. She clung to it to help her fight through the spinning of everything around her. She couldn't put what she felt into words. She felt everything and nothing all at the same time. The music helped to wash her with emotion where she couldn't comprehend anything to put into words for Robin.

What she did know was that she would not tell him about the burn; the burn from her dream that marked her wrist with the mark of Scath.