A/N: another heads up, I'm giving this individual chapter an M-rating. I'm sure you can guess why. I tried to keep it T-rated, but I got carried away again and then didn't want to change it. So if you're worried, then please just read with caution and feel free to skip anything that makes you uncomfortable—otherwise I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Clearly, I don't own Teen Titans.
Robin stood at the window of the common room as the sun rose and slowly crept into the tower. If he looked down, he could see the training grounds sitting quietly below on the island. He closed his eyes and remembered back years ago when the tower had just been built. He and Cyborg had put the obstacle course together as a way of testing everyone on the team to see what they could really do. If they were going to be a team, Robin was going to have to know everyone's strengths in order to work together the best they could. He remembered watching Raven for the first time—really watching her. She had flown smoothly enough through the obstacle course. The way she tossed rocks around with her mind like it was nothing—he'd never seen anything like it, yet he could tell that she was still holding back. It was clear to him that she had been restraining herself, as if she trying to keep herself from getting too into it, while all the others had given the course everything they'd had. Her finish time was slower as a result, and Robin couldn't comprehend why she'd chosen to hold back. He didn't understand her back then, but something in him knew that he would with time.
"What are you thinking about so early?" Raven came up behind him and snapped him out of his thoughts.
"I was just remembering." She raised an eyebrow as if asking him to continue and he took the hint. "In the beginning, when we had just become a team, there was so much about you I didn't know. Sometimes it drove me crazy because I became so fascinated in you and what you could really do."
"Really?" She responded, surprised. "I thought you never seemed that interested in me back then."
He shook his head. "You were closed off. I could tell you didn't want to talk, so I tried to give you space. I didn't want to pressure you or make you think that I didn't trust you."
She placed her hand on the back of his shoulder. "I don't think you would have. Even back then, I never felt judged by you." The corner of her mouth turned up in a smile. "And now you know practically everything about me."
"Practically?" He smirked. "What don't I know?"
"If I told you everything now, there wouldn't be anything left to tell you later…"
He chuckled warmly beside her. "I love you." The words came out easier than he thought they would. He didn't know if it was the right moment to tell her, but it was all that had consumed his mind for the past couple of days and it was becoming harder and harder to keep it in. When he turned to see her reaction, she was giving him a serious look.
"Ar…Are you sure?"
He laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
"How do you know?"
He shook his head hopelessly before smiling at her. "I just know."
She gave him an annoyed look. "That's what they always say—that you just know."
"It's true." After a short silence she opened her mouth to respond, but he held his hand up to stop her. "It's okay if you don't feel the same. I don't want you to say it back unless you're sure about it."
She remained silent. If she said it back to him now, it would sound like she was lying. Would she be lying? She always thought that she cared just as much about him as he did about her, but now he was so certain that he loved her. How certain was she? According to Robin, if she really loved him then she wouldn't even have to question it, and yet here she was wracking her brain for the right answer. The realization that she might not be in the same place as him began to frighten her.
"Raven?" He asked after a little while. "Are you okay?" He gently shook her shoulder and brought her back to life.
"I…I wondered about you too." She said, not quite exactly sure how to go on.
He looked at her confused. "I don't follow…"
"In the beginning, before we really knew each other, I was curious about you too."
"You were?"
"I didn't know anything about you either. I think maybe I was even a little afraid of you at times."
"What? Why?"
"Because you were different. You had helped find me a home and accepted me into your life; I didn't want to do or say anything that would upset you. I didn't want to disappoint you. I think sometimes I even wanted to impress you. And I had never felt like that about someone before; I wasn't quite sure how to handle it." He pulled her in close and placed a kiss on her temple. She breathed into him. "Just like I don't know how to handle this." She sighed.
"Don't say that." He looked at her sympathetically. "There's no rushing it, Raven. I don't want you to feel pressured." He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."
"No, no. It's good you did. I just need some time to think."
"That's fine." He rubbed her back with his fingertips. "Take all the time you need." She stroked her hand down his arm as she turned to leave. "But don't be afraid to talk to me about it." He added quickly as the elevator doors closed behind her.
Raven roamed through Jump City. She had changed into jeans and black t-shirt and walked all the way into the center of town. It was easier to think when people didn't recognize her and attempt to make conversation. She continued to stroll down the streets and window shop. At one point, she saw a skirt she knew Starfire would like and decided to buy it for her. Anything to get her mind off the conversation she'd had with Robin. Why did she have this pit in her stomach? Why was she suddenly so afraid when she knew there was nothing to be afraid of? She didn't dream of ending her relationship with Robin. They were in a good place and they were both happy, so why did Robin confessing his love make Raven feel so anxious? She should be ecstatic; no one had ever told her they loved her before, and out of all the people in the world, she was lucky to have Robin be the one to say it to her.
As the afternoon began creeping up on her, Raven felt her stomach gurgler and growl inside her. There was a café across the street where she could easily grab a cup of tea and a bagel, but she chose to pass it and keep walking. She knew where she wanted to go.
The door of the diner made a little jingle bell sound as she opened it and the neon sign remained lit even though it was daytime. She was seated at a small booth by the window where she could look around and observe how different the place looked in the daytime than it did the night Robin had showed it to her. A waitress came up to her, brought her some tea, and took her order. The restaurant wasn't exactly impressive-looking, but there was a certain hominess to it that made her understand why Robin liked it so much. Perhaps it made him feel different, like he wasn't a Titan. When he came here, maybe he was just a regular guy with a regular life and a regular family. Perhaps that was why he usually came alone. Her food arrived and was placed properly in front of her, but she barely noticed as her mind began to connect the dots to the pit in her stomach. Perhaps the reason she was reacting so badly to their conversation was because she was afraid that Robin eventually wanted a regular life—something he'd never be able to have with her. It was the same topic they had talked about that night in the pool: she had known then that having a family of her own would be an especially difficult dream for her to obtain, and Robin had tried to convince her that she was capable of it just like anyone else. But was she really? It was something she could see so clearly in Robin's future, but what if she couldn't provide that for him? She hadn't bothered to worry about things like this before because they were just starting to sneak around, but him telling her that he loved her changed everything. Did loving her now mean that he would continue to love her, even if she couldn't give him a regular life?
Perhaps she was overreacting. It was still so early to be thinking about such things, but she knew she was going to have to talk to him about it eventually. Though there was something she did know for sure: she did love him. Of course she loved him. She cared about him so ardently that she wanted to give him anything he could ever desire, but whether or not she could actually pull that off was another story. Whatever their future was going to look like—whether it be a short, sweet romance or a lifelong partnership— Raven knew that they were going to have to make those kinds of decisions together. Whatever Robin envisioned for their future, she would try her best to give him, but she hoped that he would still continue to love her even if she couldn't.
After she finished eating, she paid her check and continued to walk through the heart of Jump City towards home. The sooner she saw Robin, the better. She cut through the park to walk along the river and watched some kids attempt to catch a fish with their bare hands. The fall breeze felt good against her face and the sun warmed the back of her neck. She began to believe that the day was taking a rather nice turn of events, until she heard sirens screaming from a distance.
That's a firetruck. She realized from the alarm and moved in the direction it was coming from. As she dropped her bags and ran out of the park, she caught sight of it just in time to watch it fly around a corner. She flew after it, allowing it to lead her to the scene. She followed it down a few more streets, but this became unnecessary after some time; she could see the smoke billowing up from a block away. She sped ahead of the firetruck, her heart pounding heavier and heavier as she witnessed how quickly the fire had already spread. When she arrived, there was a crowd of people surrounding the area with desperate looks on their faces as they watched their homes crumble into ash.
"Is anyone still inside?" She asked the woman next to her.
"I don't know," she said concerned, "but the whole thing went up so fast, it wouldn't surprise me if some people hadn't made it out yet."
Raven decided to take that as a yes. Attempting to ignore the hysteria going on around her, she focused her energy into her soul-self and guided it into the building to look around, leaving her physical body safely outside with the others. As quickly as she could, she flew into apartment after apartment looking for signs of anyone still trapped inside. It seemed that all the people on the lower floors had managed to escape, so she flew to the top of the building and worked her way down. When she reached the eighth floor, she began to hear screams coming from multiple apartments. She immediately flew back outside to reunite with her body and found that the rest of the Titans had arrived. Her soul reconnected with her physical self and she didn't waste time getting back into action.
"There are still people up on the eighth floor." She told the others. Starfire gasped and the two of them immediately flew back up into the building. Cyborg and Beast Boy worked from the ground, helping the firemen spread as much water across the building as they could while Robin decided to find his own way inside. He shot a grappling hook to the roof and used it to climb into a window on the fifth floor, covering his mouth to keep from inhaling the smoke.
Starfire continued to carry victims out quickly one by one until everyone on the eighth floor had been retrieved and Raven continued to work her way down in search of more people. Using her powers, she cleared a safe pathway down the stairs for people to follow and they flooded out in a panic. Eventually, she met up with Robin on the sixth floor who was trying to help two little girls that had gotten trapped hiding inside a kitchen cabinet. Raven carefully moved the fallen beam that had been blocking them in and Robin immediately ripped open the cabinet door and pulled them out. He had already suffered some burns and his uniform was starting to fall apart as they clung desperately to him.
The floor trembled beneath their feet and they could sense how unstable the building had become. "I can check the rest of the apartments if you can get those two out of here." Raven called to him through the smoke.
"I already checked this floor; this was the last apartment." He yelled back to her. "The whole thing's coming down any second; we have to go!"
Trying her best to focus in the chaos, Raven formed a small portal that would lead them out to the street. Robin carried the girls through it as smoothly as he could so as not to scare them and Raven followed close behind him, relieved to get away from the inferno. When they popped out onto the street, Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg were there waiting for them.
"Oh, there you are!" Starfire fretted. "I couldn't find you two anywhere! Are you alright?"
"We're okay." Robin coughed. The two girls still clung to him and kept their heads buried in his shoulders, unable to move. He carried them over to one of the crowded ambulances with the other Titans close behind and asked a paramedic to look them over.
"You guys should sit down too." The medic told him as he tried to get the girls to stop crying. "You and Raven look like you could use some oxygen."
"No, save it for the others." Raven told him, trying not to appear out of breath.
"It's alright, we've got plenty to spare." He cleared some room for them to sit on the back of the ambulance and began hooking the two of them up to breathing apparatuses.
Raven hadn't realized it until that moment, but she had gotten pretty burned up as well. As she looked over herself, she saw that her clothes looked just as burnt up as Robin's uniform did. She had scorch marks up and down her legs and arms and she was still slightly gasping for air from rushing around the building with smoke in her lungs. She closed her eyes and gave a large inhale into the cup over her mouth, allowing her dizziness to steady.
They all watched in relief as the two girls' parents finally arrived on the scene and were reunited with their children. Raven felt a hand lay over hers and give a gentle squeeze. She looked over to Robin and figured out that he was purposefully keeping his gaze away from her. She flipped her palm up in his and squeezed back, keeping their hands hidden between their legs so the others didn't notice.
As the excitement died down and the firetrucks began to take off, the Titans were thanked for their efforts and given permission to go home. Starfire and Beast Boy opted to fly home, while the other three hopped into the T-car. Cyborg climbed into the driver's seat while Robin and Raven crawled into the back.
"What is this, a limo service?" Cyborg joked. "No one wants to sit in the front?"
"Just get us home, Cyborg." Robin sighed. He was tired and wasn't in the mood for jokes. It was turning out to be a long day for him. Between Raven having avoided him all afternoon and now the two of them getting covered in welts and burns, he wasn't in the most pleasant state of mind.
"Alright, alright." Cyborg eased. "Let's go get you two fixed up."
He drove smoothly and silently through the city and Robin started to feel like he was going to nod off before they could even make it home. He closed his eyes and let his head loll back against the seat until he felt Raven's head pressing against his shoulder.
"I know." She whispered, looking up at him.
"Know what?"
"I just know." She smiled and Robin slowly realized what she was trying to tell him.
"Are you sure?"
She leaned her head back into his arm and closed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure."
He felt like a weight had been removed off his chest. His stomach twisted in delight. Before he could stop himself, he placed a kiss on the top of her head.
"Is there something you two want to tell the rest of us?" Cyborg spoke up from the front, his eyes staring them down through the rearview mirror.
Robin squeezed the skin on his forehead between his fingers. "Something tells me you guys already know."
They watched Cyborg smile and shake his head. "How long did you think you were going to get away with this?"
"Long enough."
They rode in happy silence the whole way back to the tower, where Starfire and Beast Boy had already returned and were talking in the kitchen.
"Do you guys need help?" Beast Boy asked, looking Robin and Raven up and down as they walked wearily through the common room.
"No, that's alright." Robin trudged over to the fridge and grabbed two water bottles before leading Raven out towards the med lab.
"Yeah they're fine. They've got each other." Cyborg laughed and the others smiled as Robin and Raven groaned their way into the elevator. Dealing with her teammates' attempts at humor over their relationship was something Raven was really not looking forward to.
They stepped into the med lab and Raven grabbed as much burn ointment as she could find while Robin filled up a bucket of cool water and began ripping up some cloth material into strips. She helped him pull off what was left of his uniform, leaving him in his boxer-briefs, and coaxed him into sitting down so she could take care of his wounds first.
Raven healed what areas she could with her powers, but some of the more severe burns still remained. Attentively, she dipped some of the cloth strips into the cold water and wrung them out before laying them down against his reddened, irritated skin to help soothe it. He closed his eyes and leaned into her chest as she wrapped her arms around him to place more strips against his back. Her fingertips ran back up the length of his spine and through his hair as she brought her hands up and petted the back of his head. She felt him nuzzle into her chest once again before he began unzipping the front of her singed jeans. Gently, he helped her shimmy out of them and ran his fingers lightly over the burns on the back of her thighs.
"Switch." He said, and slid off the cot to help Raven lie down on her stomach. Just as she had done, he soaked the strips in cool water before wringing them out and laying them down delicately on the welts lining the backs of her legs. For the smaller burns he uncapped the ointment and rubbed it smoothly into her skin in little circles. He tickled around the skin on the inside of her thigh for a few moments, and then worked his hand over the back of her knee and up her leg to rest on her butt.
"I don't think there are any burns there." Raven retorted.
"Don't you think we should check just to make sure?" He smiled and hooked his index fingers under the waistband of her underwear, teasing her. She moved her arm back in an attempt to swat playfully at him, but flinched in the process from a burn on her shoulder. "Careful." He told her seriously and tried to get her to relax on the cot again. He kissed the scorch mark on her back as lightly as he could before blowing on it and rubbing more ointment into it. Raven's body began to tingle with verve. Her scalp prickled as he brushed her hair away from her shoulder and began planting soft kisses up the back of her neck and around her cheek before arriving at her lips.
Raven lifted herself to sit straight up on the cot and pulled him closer to her body. She stroked her fingers around the length of his collarbone and moved them up to tug playfully at his earlobes. Trying to keep his arousal in check, Robin helped her pull off what was left of her t-shirt and watched as she continued to unhook her bra and slide it off her shoulders.
"Are we really doing this?" He asked seriously.
"Do you want to?"
"Yes," he blushed, "but it might hurt with the burns."
"Then we'll just have to try and be more careful." She pulled his head down to rest his forehead against hers and began peeling down the waistband of his underwear.
Raven leaned back against the cot on her elbows as he pulled her out of her own underwear and wrapped his arms beneath her thighs, bringing them to his hips. When he knew that she was ready, he gradually guided himself into her. She gave off a low moan to let him know he wasn't hurting her and he began slowly thrusting his body into hers. She began lifting her hips to meet him and he increased his pace more and more as they got into a rhythm.
After some time, Raven's body grew sore in her position against the cot and she stopped Robin for a moment so she could pull him onto the bed and straddle him. His hands rested on her back and slid down to hold on to her thighs as she began pumping herself up and down. Robin began to strain in keeping control. Even though she could tell he was struggling, Raven couldn't get herself to slow down. She started to breathe uncontrollably.
"Raven, I can't hold it much longer." He gasped beneath her.
Her body felt like an electric current and she knew it wouldn't be much longer before she lost it as well. Supplies started to fly and whirl around the med lab from her powers leaking out, but for once she didn't care. She just knew she couldn't stop. The wet strips had dried and fallen off their bodies in the process and now littered the med lab floor. Robin trembled beneath her and she could tell he was just as close as she was.
"I'm almost there." She panted into his ear.
With a new surge of determination, he tightened his grip on her body and began thrusting into her with vigor. He felt like his body was going to explode and his mind was turning to mush. He started grunting furiously against his own will. His jaw tightened and he let his head fall backwards as Raven's lips found his neck. Soon, something about her entire being went silent. Her whole body stiffened in his arms as he felt her start to throb around him, eliciting his own peak as he pulled her against him as hard as he could.
It was like they had frozen in time. Around him, it seemed as though everything had gone silent and still. Nothing was real but them. He held her and breathed in as much of her as he could, until a lightbulb popped. The lights cut out and time appeared to speed up again. Their bodies relaxed and fell limp as Raven collapsed on top of him and he lay them down on the cot. The only sound in the room was their heavy breathing, both of them too spent for words.
They lay like this for a while, allowing intelligent thought to come back to their heads. After some time passed, their bodies gained some strength back and they were able to get up and move about the room. Raven wrapped a sheet around her body and started levitating objects back to their proper places while Robin pulled on his underwear and cleaned up the glass from the broken lightbulb.
"I didn't get any glass on you, did I?" She asked concerned. "I didn't hurt you?"
"Far from it." He grinned and watched her cheeks begin to flush. He tossed the glass into the garbage and walked over to her, pushing her hair back and kissing her forehead. "It felt really good this time."
"I know." She agreed happily.
Once the room was completely cleaned and restored to normal, they separated to their rooms to change and clean themselves up. They reapplied their burn ointment and once they looked presentable, they met up once again in the common room where the others were all sitting on the sofa.
"What are we doing?" Robin asked, hopping into his seat on the couch between Raven and Starfire.
"We're gonna start a movie." Cyborg tossed a handful of popcorn into his mouth. "BB's turn to pick." Some kernels flew out between his lips as he spoke and landed on Raven's cheek, which she then wiped off unenthusiastically.
Raven tried to stay awake during the monster movie that Beast Boy ended up choosing, but the exhaustion overwhelmed her halfway through the film; not to mention the corny plotline had left her very uninterested. She raised her hood over her head so the others wouldn't notice her eyes drift shut and her shoulders slouch.
Robin felt her lean slightly against him as she fell asleep and was relieved to discover that he wasn't the only one about to pass out. He was still lightheaded— not only from his efforts in the fire that afternoon, but also from the efforts he'd shared with Raven afterwards. His eyelids grew heavy and refused to open as he tried to keep listening to the movie. It wasn't long before his head fell to the side and his cheek used Raven's hood as a pillow.
Raven stirred in the middle of the night. She sat up in her bed and looked at the clock to see that it was 2:30 in the morning. She must have slept straight through dinner. The last thing she remembered was the others attempting to wake her up at the end of the movie. She vaguely recalled Robin carrying her to her room after she refused to get off the couch.
Her body felt heavy and disoriented, like waking from a deep dream. Sweat clung to her forehead and neckline. She threw the covers off of herself and walked over to her dresser to change into her swimsuit. It had been a long time since she spent the night in the pool. Her muscles yearned to have some life put back into them.
She walked into the pool room and found that someone was already there doing laps.
"I thought this was my thing." She quipped as he stopped at the ledge to catch his breath.
"What, you're not willing to share?" Robin grinned up at her. "Or you just don't want to spend time with me?"
"Right, because we barely see each other throughout the day…" She retorted sarcastically.
He extended his arm and held out his hand to her. "Help me up." He whined playfully, extorting a very visible eye roll from Raven as she clamped her hand against his own. Before she had the chance to pull him up, her body jerked in his direction as he yanked her down and she fell into the pool next to him. He laughed and swam away as she resurfaced and began chasing after him. They spent the majority of the night messing around with each other in the water. They raced a few times before getting tired and quitting in favor of simply floating around together.
"Do you remember the conversation we had the first night you found me out here?" She asked him as he carried her towards the middle of the pool.
"You mean when you were having a mid-life crisis?"
She splashed some water up in his face. "Yes, in a manner of speaking."
"What about it?"
"Do you still want those things we talked about—a family, a more regular life?"
He stood silent for a moment as he thought it over. "Maybe someday." He looked at her cautiously. "Why do you ask?"
"I was thinking about it before."
He noticed that she started to look a little uncomfortable. "And…" He pressed.
Raven tried to remember exactly what she had decided in the diner. "And I'm still not sure if I'll be able to have those things too—not that I'm planning our future together or anything." She added, nervously. "I was just wondering whether or not you knew what you wanted."
He remained silently for another few moments and Raven's heart began to throb nervously.
"I know what I want right now." He stated, nonchalantly.
"Which is…?"
"That I want to be with you." He smiled. "And that I want to be with you for a very long time."
"Oh…" She knew she must have looked either very pale or very red in the face.
"I don't need to have a regular life Raven. Don't try and be something you're not just for my sake."
"I would try if that was what you wanted."
"But it's not what I want." He tried to convince her. "Maybe one day we will share a life completely, but it'll be our life—and it definitely won't be normal." He laughed.
"And you'd be okay with that?"
"All I know right now is that I need to have you in my life, so as long as you're around, I'll be happy." He gave her a tender kiss, allowing her to taste the chlorine on his lips. "Are you really still so worried about the future?"
"It's just… this thing between us—I never expected it to happen. If you asked me a year ago where I thought I'd be now, I would have never guessed that it would be with you—no offense." She smiled sheepishly as his face fell in response to her words. "It's all happened so fast and before we know it, the future will have already snuck up on us. And I still can completely control my powers…"
"Don't think about it like that." He frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Just take it one day at a time. When I couldn't get back in the water after my accident, I was afraid that I was going to live the rest of my life unable to swim, but you helped me take it one step at a time. We tried a little harder every day. And now I'm here floating around in the pool with you like nothing happened." She blushed as he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm here to help you—you know that right, Raven?"
"Yes, I know." She rested her head in the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. "I love you."
"Well obviously." He boasted jokingly. "I mean, how could you not?"
"You're very funny." She deadpanned.
"I'm also smart, handsome, talented—"
She rolled her eyes and pulled away from him. "Are you done?"
"—and I love you too." He grinned childishly before she slapped some water into his face.
He wiped off his dripping face and pulled her close again before she could get away. His cheek rested lightly against hers and he drew her legs around his abdomen as she settled into him. Raven pushed back the wet hair from his face and tickled the back of his neck while he palmed her thighs in his hands. The muscles were strong and tight beneath her smooth skin and he found that the more he touched her, the more charged he became. Not only physically, but spiritually as well. This was something he had always felt around her. Just her presence had provided a type of treatment that he had never fully understood, but always appreciated. And now that he could delve in it openly with her, he felt like his mind was finally finding the peace it had always been secretly searching for. As he let himself experience the enthrallment of her body against his, Robin knew that there would never be another person who could do this to him—to make him think so clearly and feel so whole. He was terrified of losing her, and infatuated by the idea of always having her. It didn't seem like the words I love you could ever actually convey that to her, but he knew that in some way she understood it without him having to try and explain it.
"Robin?" She whispered, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah?" He blinked.
"Are you okay? You're squeezing me a little tight."
"Oh, sorry." He loosened his arms around her and laughed. "I guess I just need you that bad."
"Not as bad as I need you." She held his jaw in her hand and smirked.
"That almost sounds like a challenge."
"Do you want me to prove it?" She eyed him seductively, her voice lowering into a purr.
"Maybe I do."
"Alright." She floated backwards to the edge of the pool and lifted herself out. "Come on then, what are you waiting for?" Her eyes began to glow white and her body seemed to vaporize as she transformed into a raven-shaped shadow and transported herself to her room, enticing Robin to come after her.
As soon as his brain grasped what was going on, he scurried out of the pool as fast as he could, leaving a trail of water behind him as he ran to her room dripping wet. He slid open her door without knocking and gazed at her from the doorway, determination and zeal outlining his eyes. "You have no idea what you've done to me." A grin plastered itself to his face and his heartbeat throbbed throughout his entire body as he stepped through the threshold to meet her.
A/N: Sorry this chapter was so late, but thank you all so much for reading. I really enjoyed writing this story so I hope you weren't too disappointed. I'm also considering taking requests for some one-shots, so if anyone has any prompts or themes they'd like to see involving RobRae, feel free to leave a review or PM me about it and I'd love to try expanding on it.
Happy reading,
TheMorningPaper