Raven stared down blankly at a sleeping Robin. He fallen asleep somewhere in the middle of meditation. Raven wouldn't have been surprised if he had dozed off some time ago. It had been a long meditation and Raven needed it. With all that had been going on, she was surprised Robin had the energy to stay awake as long as he did. Now she just had to figure out what to do with him.
A little part of her wanted to just leave Robin there and fall asleep herself. She was so tired and Robin did seem to help her the night before. Maybe she just left him on her floor, she'd have some sort of emotional protection. She sighed and shock her head. But that wasn't fair to Robin. The least he deserved was a good nights sleep in a comfy bed. Surely she could look after herself for a night without Robin having to babysit her. She was becoming pathetic. It just took some meditation to gather herself to realize.
Scowling at herself, she levitated Robin off the floor and took him down the hallway. She stopped briefly outside his door, closed her eyes and chanted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," and passed the two through his door.
Like his dining habits, Robin's room was control freak clean. Raven lay Robin down on his bed and only removed his shoes and utility belt. She wasn't about to make an elaborate gesture out of this, she just wanted him to sleep a little more comfortably. She briefly searched through his wardrobe but it didn't take long to find a blanket. She draped it across his still form and paused to look at the boy for a moment. He seemed so much more... innocent in his sleep. Raven often forgot that all of them were still young. Seeing him she was reminded her of her own youth. It left her pondering as she exited the room.
She often forgot her age; that she had so long left in her life. That was until... In the safety of her room Raven pulled back her sleeve and stared at the burn in the inside of her forearm. It had scared her so much but her father was defeated. She did that and sealed her future. Whatever this was, it was not her father. She was not going to let someone continue to mess with her this way. Like Robin, she was going to learn to carry on despite of everything.
Still too afraid to sleep and determination building in her, Raven floated to her books and began digging through them. She was going to get to the bottom of this. Pulling one of her sorcery books from the self, Raven sat cross legged in the air and used her magic to flick to a section on dream invasion. At least this was a good place to start.
It was just before dawn and Raven had made little progress. Through the night she had learned little more about her dream than she already knew. It was hard to find more without knowing who was behind this or what kind of abilities they were using. Raven growled, frustrated and overtired with no idea what to do about either. She fell back, dropping herself and her books onto the floor and closed her eyes briefly. Maybe if she just briefly closed her eyes then nothing would happen.
Her eyes couldn't have been closed for more than two minutes before she felt the burn on her arm. She opened her eyes quickly. But it didn't stop.
I'm coming Rae.
Raven darted her head around quickly but the male voice was coming from inside her mind. The burn increased like hands tightening around her wrists. She kicked and fought but the invisible hands kept her pushed to the floor. Her mouth opened wide with her eyes, only a silent scream coming through.
I'm coming for you. I need you. We need you.
The burns left her gasping as she summoned her energy and fired above her. But nothing was there. She only fired holes into her ceiling. Through her ceiling she could see the sky and the white flowered tree burning before her eyes.
You're going to do glorious things Rae. Can't wait to meet you.
Raven screamed and finally broke free. But her arms continued to burn. She ignored the pain, continuing to fire around the room erratically until her burning arms were too much to handle. She shot through the hole in the ceiling and before she thought, she crashed into the sea.
The water swallowed her, cold and icy in the early morning. It did nothing to ease her pain. It only slowed her reactions and calmed her mind for sensibility to creep slowly back through. She lay underwater, in the cold quiet calm until her breathe ran out. Reaching the air, she gasped and shook from the cold and fear.
Robin awoke from a brilliant sleep and entered the kitchen to find Beast Boy reading the paper.
"Dude! Half price to see Mega Giants Eleven tonight!" Beast Boy cried, thrusting the paper towards Robin, "we should totally all go!"
"We'll see," Robin replied cheerfully, picking out an apple from the fridge, "but it's your turn to clean the T-car first."
"No fair!" Beast Boy whined, continuing to sulk as Robin exited the room.
Robin headed to Raven's room and knocked twice on the door. When he got no response, he didn't press further. It had been a late night last night. Who knew how long Raven had been awake for after he crashed out? And after taking him to bed, she probably needed as much rest as she could managed. Robin instead headed to the roof to finish off his apple.
When he opened the door to the roof he was surprised to see Raven sitting on the edge facing out to the sea. He recovered quickly and put on a smile.
"Hey Raven, thanks for carting me off to bed last night," he said as he approached.
He stopped when he realized Raven was soaking wet. She didn't turn or acknowledge him at all, just sat still and quiet.
"Early morning swim?" he joked.
Again Raven didn't speak. She didn't move a muscle. Robin approached closer to her, growing concerned.
"Did you have another dream? Because it you did we could-"
Robin cut himself off as he got a good look at Raven. She was sitting, staring wide eyed out to the sea. With the water dripping from her, tears were running down her cheeks and dropping from her chin. But most concerning was the burns in the arms of her leotard. They exposed two red marks, now glowing brightly in the morning sun.
"Raven..." Robin gasped quietly.
But Raven didn't move; didn't react as her leader took in the marks of Scath in bright red light. She just concentrated on that sky above the water and thought of a place, of a life, far, far away.
