Chapter 9 – Switching Roles
He slammed the other man against an animal's cage. He proceeded to lift the man's shirt and trace the X-shaped scar on his side.
o-o-o
While Raven remained unconscious, her mind continued to drift to a night she lie awake in her room.
She couldn't fall asleep that night, for whatever reason. She tried to think of something that might be keeping her up, something bothering her, but she came up with nothing.
It was closing in on three in the morning, but she didn't even feel tired.
She thought about just getting out from under her covers and reading a book, but then she heard a slamming noise from somewhere in the Tower.
Now curious, Raven began to consider what it might be. It seemed a good idea to investigate; it was most likely nothing, as the noise wasn't very loud, but at least it would provide her with something to do.
o-o-o
She wandered the halls of Titans Tower certain that she'd find nothing, giving her an excuse to patrol the entire Tower once or twice before going back to bed. To her surprise, however, she heard another sound; this one was louder than the one before.
Smaller bangs followed, and she headed in their direction.
Her curiosity had peeked, and as she got closer and closer to these noises she began to wonder if she ought to alert the others. But when she reached the source of where these violent noises were coming from, she was standing right outside Robin's bedroom door.
Slowly she opened the door and looked inside.
His bed was a mess and his dresser knocked over. Though feeling a sense of fear, she looked towards the direction of the noise to see Robin slam himself against the wall.
He fell to his knees and began slamming his fists into the floor.
For whatever reason, Robin was fueled by some sort of rage.
Finally he fell over and stopped moving, save his labored breathing. He had tired himself out through his fit.
Raven had always been labeled the creepy member of the team, but she felt this situation fit the word perfectly. She was at complete unease standing in the doorway, but she felt unable to move and she was thoroughly afraid to speak.
Suddenly, Robin began tugging at his hair. He pulled so aggressively, pulling out knots. He quickly shot back up and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He looked at himself as if he wanted to kill him. Slowly he walked up to the mirror, brought his arm back, and prepared to crash his fist into it when all of the sudden she spoke up.
"R-Robin?"
His eyes widened as he now saw her in the reflection. "Raven?"
"Are—Are you okay?"
Robin fixed his hair which was messed up after he had pulled on it. "Yeah, I'm fine… Just…training, that's all. I'm sorry I woke you up."
That wasn't training. "That's okay; I was still awake, anyway…"
"Is something wrong?" He sounded genuinely concerned.
Raven took a step into the room, "No, I just couldn't sleep."
He sat down on his bed, "If something's bugging you, you can tell me."
She sat next to him, "It's good to know. But I'm okay, really."
They remained in awkward silence for a number of seconds.
"How long were you standing there?" Robin asked.
"…Long enough to know you weren't training."
He slowly ran his hand through his hair; she noticed that when he reached the top of his head he clenched his fist to finish by pulling at it. He removed his hand and shook off a strand of hair that had come out.
"Robin, what's wrong?"
"…I don't know."
She just stared at her friend.
He laughed a little, "I know that sounds stupid, but I really don't."
"Do you do this every night?"
"What? No—No, of course not. This is the only time I've ever done anything like this, honest."
"Is something bothering you? Slade?"
"Maybe… No—Really, I have no idea why I did this. I couldn't fall asleep for some reason and—I don't know." Robin looked towards his feet.
"I'm sorry I can't help," she said as she stood up.
He raised his head to meet with his eyes in the reflection.
"Goodnight." She took quick steps to get out of the room.
"Wait, Raven."
She stopped in the doorway and looked back, "Yes?"
"Let's not tell anyone about this, okay?"
"O—Okay."
"Thanks; goodnight."
o-o-o
Raven's mind continued to wander.
