Season Two! This season is an exciting one.
I want to thank all my faithful reviewers for their support and thank you to my twin AryaTindomiel for her reviews, which were in-depth and really helpful. Thank you, I love you, girl!
I didn't like the ending to this one so much, but eh, I couldn't think of a better one. Hope you like it, though!
How Long Is Forever?
Starfire woke that morning with a mile-long smile and a squeal of excitement. She had been awaiting the coming of one of her favorite Tamaranean holidays: Blorthog, the Day of Friendship. The cheery alien was aware of the team's subtle dysfunction. The Titans were not fully in sync with each other. Robin's time as Slade's apprentice and their enemy had taken its toll on all the members. Raven, especially, had not regained the relationship she'd had with their leader.
The effect could be seen in Cyborg and Beast Boy in the form of ridiculous arguments that escalated seemingly out of nowhere. The past week Beast Boy opened the fridge to see they were out of tofu and had blamed it on the android, who was more than happy to raise his voice and pick a fight with his green teammate. Robin had withdrawn into himself after various failed attempts to talk to Raven and interact with her as he had before. He joined them for meals because of a sense of duty, but most days he would lock himself in his room or the Research Room or the Evidence Room. It was not healthy and Starfire had tried to talk him out of his brooding, but he'd shrugged her attempts off.
Starfire was not deterred, though. She would use this wondrous holiday to reunite her friends. They couldn't go on pretending forever. There were things that had to be accepted and forgiven so they could all move on. Starfire took a quick shower, readying herself for the day. Then, she called Aqualad on his communicator to wish him a Happy Blorthog. Understandably, he'd been baffled. When she explained the occasion, he nodded and smiled tenderly at his girlfriend.
"You're thinking this will heal the team."
"It is a most necessary holiday. We are more than teammates. We are true friends. It is time we remembered this."
"Dearest, I know you want to help your friends, but you must take some things into consideration. Raven and Robin are introverted people, who keep their feelings locked up for as long as they can. At this sensitive time, they might not be open to this. Cyborg and Beast Boy are not introverts, but they can feel the tension between the others and they have both felt hurt by Robin's seeming betrayal. It is a hard time for all, you included. Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Boyfriend Aqualad, if not me then who?"
He sighed.
"You're right. I'm just worried about your feelings, that's all."
"And I thank you." She smiled sweetly. "You care very much for me and when Flaborg, the Day of Love, arrives, we shall have a pleasant time together."
He laughed.
"I can't wait. Good luck, dearest."
They hung up and Starfire rushed to her large dresser to search for the special necklaces she'd made for the holiday. Each necklace had twenty beads. The beads signified different things, like peace, togetherness, support, compassion, so on. They were meant to describe the bonds of friendship and how meaningful that friendship was. Starfire carefully grabbed five necklaces and flew to the living room.
The living room was chaos come alive.
Beast Boy and Cyborg were playing a violent combat video game, where blood and saliva were split in obscene quantities every which way. The boys had the volume at headache-inducing levels and would intermittingly shout above it to taunt the other over whatever happened in the game. However, there was one noise that overpowered the video game shout match.
Robin had his stereo on to the loudest decibel and stood directly in front of it, allowing the blasting music to blow his hair back with the force. Starfire didn't know the song or the band, but the lyrics were about solidarity and superiority. This was not a good sign.
The final Titan sat at one of the booths near the kitchen with a book obstructing any view of her face. Her knuckles were white from the pressure on the book and it was obvious the noise around her was bothering her. It was only a matter of time before she exploded.
And that was when Starfire decided to raise her arms and wish her friends a Happy Blorthog. No one heard her and she tried two more times to no avail.
Raven had noticed Starfire's entrance and saw her lips moving to form something she couldn't hear over a Metallica CD and Deadly Strike IV: The Final Battle. She slammed her book on the table.
"Make that louder, Robin, I can still hear myself think!" she growled and Robin, hearing the comment turned to glower at her.
He had grown tired of her cold sarcasm and the way she brushed off his presence as if it were meaningless. When she left the mayor's ball, he'd assumed she'd been upset and he'd given her time to herself. When he approached her again, she'd muttered rude comments until he left the room and this became her constant behavior around him. Robin didn't understand it. She'd said she cared about him, but then why was she rejecting him at every turn? How would he regain her trust if she didn't give him the opportunity?
"If I could make it louder and drown you out, I would." He snapped and Raven felt her hands darken with magic.
"Friends, do not fight." Starfire pleaded.
"Why are you playing that crap right now? Aren't Beast Boy and Cyborg loud enough for you?" Raven asked icily.
Robin turned to the other two and proceeded to scream at them for the noise.
"What is wrong with you?" Cyborg asked, pausing the game, and responding with unrestrained anger. "You think you can tell us what to do when all you do is abandon us for your own obsessions?"
Robin slammed his hand against the stereo and the room became eerily silent.
"I'm tired of all of you blaming your problems on my mistake. Get over yourselves!" he hissed and then the storm was unleashed.
The four Titans began screaming and several curses were mixed with insults. Starfire watched her friends tear each other apart and felt tears come to her eyes.
"STOP!" she shouted and the others instantly shut up at her exclamation.
Starfire wasn't one to lose her temper or her patience and she had been the peacemaker in the previous weeks of distance and false normalcy between the team. But, she had had enough of the bickering.
"Today is not a day of hate and anger and fighting. It is Blorthog. The Day of Friendship. We have not been acting like friends and I fear soon we will be nothing of the sort."
"What do you mean, Star?" Beast Boy asked.
"If friendship is not valued, a Rekma occurs."
"Rekma?" Cyborg inquired.
"The drifting of friends and the ultimate death of friendship." She let her head droop in sadness.
"Whoa, our friendship isn't dying. We're going through a rough patch, sure, but this Rekma won't happen." Robin said.
"Sure about that?" Raven muttered and Robin glared at her, feeling all his anger at her avoidance of him swell.
"No, I'm not. Being friends with you has become the hardest thing in my life. I'm starting to think it's not worth it."
Raven looked like she had been slapped. Her amethyst eyes were covered by a glossy sheen and she was surprised to feel tears forming. Robin winced at the effect of his words. He wasn't thinking straight. He hadn't meant that.
"Raven-
"Don't speak to me again. Have a Happy Blorthog." She said bitterly, using her magic to take the necklaces from Star and throw them at Robin, who managed to catch one.
The other necklaces hit the ground and broke, spilling beads in every direction. Before anyone could fully grasp what had happened, the alarm rang.
"Trouble." Starfire whispered, but she wasn't referring to the reported robbery.
She watched the beads she'd strung together with so much hope and saw them reduced to nothing on the floor between the team.
Aqualad had been right. And now Blorthog was ruined. Perhaps their friendship was as well.
The Titans were not mentally prepared for a battle, but of course they had no choice. They arrived at the technological museum in silence, entering in their rigid battle formation.
"Stop right there!" Robin commanded when a man in a gold suit, who had grabbed an antique clock from one of the museum display cases.
"The Teen Titans." The villain turned around with an arrogant grin. "My my, it's been a long time."
"We've never met." Cyborg said, holding his sonic cannon out threateningly, though the villain just laughed.
"Oh yes, I forget I am the one who travels through time."
"A time traveler!" Cyborg exclaimed.
"Warp, at your service." The villain bowed mockingly. "This has been fun, Titans, but I'm afraid I must go now."
"You're not going anywhere, thief." Robin growled. "Titans, go!"
The team rushed forward. Cyborg shot a sonic blast at Warp, but he moved out of the way and released his own blast from a small weapon in his suit. Beast Boy charged at him in rhinoceros form, but Warp smiled, seeming to expect this move and shot a blast of energy at him so the rhino's momentum faltered and he crashed into Starfire. Raven swept down next, chanting her mantra, and throwing marble stands at him.
"Ah, Raven, is it? It is particularly nice to see you now. In the future? Not so nice."
Raven frowned at the vague statement and tried to trap him in a black energy bubble. Warp dismissed her move as he had the others and blasted her back with his advanced weaponry.
"Ta ta, Titans." Warp grinned, opening a portal to return to the future with his stolen treasure.
"You forgot one." Robin said, kicking the villain to the side before he could enter the portal.
"On the contrary, Robin, I knew you'd be the last one standing, not that it will do you any good." Warp threw an explosive bomb at Robin, knocking him backwards and making him cough and swipe the air for visibility.
Warp laughed and jumped into his portal.
"You won't get away that easy!" Robin said, jumping after him.
"No!" Raven screamed.
She rushed forward to follow, but the portal shut before she could reach its entrance.
"Where did he go?" Beast Boy asked in the quiet of Robin's departure.
"Somewhere we can't reach him." Cyborg's head was bowed.
Starfire knelt next to her best friend and pulled her into an embrace. She didn't speak because she knew words were futile in that moment, but she held the trembling girl closer. There was nothing more she could do.
Robin knew he'd made a rash decision and hurling through the time space continuum with a futuristic villain was not his idea of fun. He hadn't concerned himself with being lost through time or dying along the way. He'd been so immersed in the battle, he hadn't thought of anything else. Robin was still reeling from what happened with Raven. He'd hurt her with his words, as if she hadn't suffered enough because of him. He hadn't had time to apologize because of Warp and he'd been pissed. Robin coped with training and fierce battle so here he was. Battling through the timeline of the world's existence.
Robin had tried kicking at the villain, but Warp would dodge and push him back. He seemed to be fiddling with a device on his armor. Robin examined it and assumed the advanced machinery was what allowed Warp to time travel. He thrust his body forward, knocking Warp to one side and gripping his arm to rip off the device.
"Fool! Do you know what you have done?!" Warp shouted but Robin did not answer.
The pulsating space around them was shifting and a portal opened underneath them. They were pulled down and Robin felt like a current was shocking him as he fell. He couldn't keep his eyes open and he felt his body go limp as the time continuum deposited him in a familiar city.
Robin woke up groggy and disoriented in a dirty alley. He assumed he was in Gotham because of the darkness of the air and the grimy streets, but when he stood to further explore the area, he was shocked to recognize it as Jump City. Where were the noisy civilians wandering the streets or teenage couples walking around holding hands to be romantic? Where were the honking cars and screaming children? It had to be late afternoon or so. Jump City was never this quiet.
"Oh my God." He murmured when he came across Jump City Park-or what used to be Jump City Park.
Everything was rubble and ashes. In fact, most of the shops and restaurants nearby mirrored the park. He'd been distracted by the unfamiliar silence to see that Jump City looked like a fire had decimated it. But if the city was burnt, where were the people?
He got his answer minutes later when he saw the first stone statue. By the two hundredth one Robin knew something horrible had happened. Far off in the distance, he saw Titan Tower, which stood almost like always with the exception of several missing chunks of the tower and the absence of the tower's illuminated exterior. It looked like no one was home. Where were the Titans? How did they let this happen?
"Hello?" Robin called. "Raven! Starfire! Cyborg! Beast Boy!"
There was no response.
"Where are you guys?!" he said in frustration.
"Robin?" an incredulous voice came from behind him.
Robin whirled in his position at the center of the decrepit living room and felt his eyes widen.
"Cyborg?"
The once shining animatronic body parts had grayed and Cyborg's entire body seemed aged and worn. He had deep circles under his eyes and he walked slowly as if he were carrying the weight of the world.
"It can't be. You disappeared, man. You… were lost forever." Cyborg had moved close enough that Robin could see why the android's speed had decreased.
He was plugged into an ancient battery pack with a mess of wires stemming from the pack.
"Cyborg, what happened here? Why haven't you repaired yourself or the tower? Why the city destroyed and the people turned to stone? Where are the others?"
The barrage of questions caused Cyborg to blink tiredly. It had been so long since he'd been in the contact of another human. He had lost all hope. Yet, there was his leader as young as ever, like two decades had not changed the course of Earth irreparably.
"Do you know where you are, Robin?"
"Jump City."
"Jump City in what time?"
Robin slapped a hand to his forehead.
"This is the future. When I tore the device from Warp's armor, I changed his destination. We both ended up here somewhere. How far into the future is this?"
"Twenty years have passed since you and Warp disappeared in that portal."
"Twenty years? Shit."
"The world's gone, Robin."
"What?"
"There are precisely two survivor on this planet, not including you and Warp. I don't know where the other survivor is."
Robin ran a hand through his hair, utterly confused.
"You have to explain this to me. How was the world destroyed? How did you survive it?"
Cyborg considered the questions and ruminated over what to respond. Robin couldn't know that Raven had a prophecy that brought about the apocalypse and her demon father as the ruler of the human race. He couldn't know that the Titans hadn't been able to save Raven from the prophecy and that she was lost to them forever. He couldn't know how hard the Titans, miraculously saved from death by a cocoon of Raven's dark magic, had fought and the weary alliance they'd formed with Slade to kill Trigon. He couldn't know how the team fell apart in his absence. He simply couldn't know.
"There are things I can't reveal because it could affect the time continuum and keep you from ever escaping this hell. What I can say is there was a battle for this planet against the very incarnation of evil and we lost."
"How did you survive?"
"We defeated this great evil. We almost sold our souls to do so, but we did."
"Then how did this come to be?" Robin gestured to the barren wasteland behind him.
Cyborg gazed out at the city he had once sworn to protect and remembered clearly how he'd failed the world. He had lost his little sister and along the way lost himself.
"We… lost one of our own and without her help there was no way to return the world to what it had been. Those of us that survived the battle were left with this as the prize. An empty, dead land."
"Wait. Her. Cyborg, where is Starfire?" Robin was forcing himself to stay calm.
"She went back to Tamaran after the battle. She was never the same after the end."
Robin's blood went cold and he felt his breathing speed up.
"Where…. is Raven?"
Cyborg glared at the floor and his hands tightened at his side, giving Robin the answer to his question.
"She's dead." Robin's face was blank.
"She didn't make it to the end of the battle. Without her help, we couldn't save the world."
The android's body crumpled up and he fell onto the dirty couch, putting his head in his hands. Robin didn't know what to do with himself. The future was something he had never been fixated on, but seeing it as it was left him breathless. Earth was destroyed, the Titans had disbanded and disconnected from reality, and the girl he cared for most in his life was dead. And he hadn't been there to help his teammates.
"No. I don't accept this. It can't be true."
"I wish it wasn't."
"No! No! It isn't true. It will not be true! I can fix this, Cyborg. I can turn back time and save us all."
"Warp's probably gone by now."
"No, I ripped a piece off his suit. He can't open any time portals without it, it's a regulator for the time vortexes. He needs to get another one, which means I know where is. The technology museum where this all began. We need to get there and defeat him so I can return to my time."
Cyborg sighed.
"I can't help you."
"What are you talking about?"
"I can't leave the tower anymore." He pointed to the heap of wires on his back.
"Repair yourself and come with me!" Robin growled.
"I can't, man. I'm sorry. It's all over now."
"It's not over until I say it is. Where's Beast Boy?"
"He went into hiding after the end, resorting to animal form to escape all this. I haven't seen him in years and we're the only people still breathing on this planet."
"Give me your communicator. I dropped mine in the time vortex."
"Robin-
"I refuse to live in a world where Raven isn't living, okay?! I will not resign myself to her death and the deaths of everyone on this planet. This is our home, Cyborg? Don't you want to save it?"
The android took a deep breath and then pulled out an old communicator, flipping it open and pressing the button to turn it on and connect it to all other communicators. He tossed it at Robin, who caught it and began speaking.
"Calling all Titans. Beast Boy, Starfire. I know the world's gone to shit and I know you're tired of it, but I need your help. I can change this future. I can save the world and I can bring Raven back. But I can't do it without you. We're a team but more than that we're friends. I guess it took the end of the world to make me see that again." He said regretfully.
He was thinking about Starfire's attempts to celebrate Blorthog day and the growing rift between the team because of his mistakes. And then he thought about his fight with Raven. Raven, who had been destroyed in an apocalypse and whose last encounter with him had been a biting argument, where he'd hurt her feelings.
"I'll be at the museum. If you're helping me good, if not, I'm not afraid to this on my own." Robin spoke into the communicator but kept his eyes fixed on Cyborg.
The older man rubbed a hand over his worn face but only sighed in response. Robin snapped the communicator shut and gave it back to Cyborg.
"Are you coming with me?"
"I can't." Cyborg looked at the wires tying him down to the tower, but Robin scoffed.
"Don't bullshit me, Cy. You're a technological wizard. A few wires wouldn't stop you if you really cared to help me."
Robin left the Tower the way he had come in, striding determinedly to the museum where his way home and his way to a still untainted world lay.
Beast Boy watched the dilapidated communicator vibrate and flash a bright red, but he didn't move towards it. He had resumed his human form after a year of living completely in the wild and he was already regretting it. Humanity was painful and lonely. The only survivor on Earth was Cyborg and seeing his closest friend no longer brought him joy. Cyborg had been broken by his little sister's death and the fact that Robin hadn't been there had led all of them into complete disarray and disbandment.
Starfire left first. She said she was sorry many times, but the others hadn't blamed her. The once radiant girl had dulled and her emerald eyes became a muted moss green. She had lost her leader first and then her best friend, along with the world she'd cherished and the man she'd loved and planned to marry. Raven had left enough residual magic to shield her teammates, but she hadn't been able to shield anyone else. Aqualad was a stone statute somewhere and Starfire couldn't bear to see that. She was ruling Tamaran as she was supposed to and maybe she'd found some semblance of happiness.
Beast Boy left soon after, regretful at abandoning the city and Cyborg, but too distraught to stay and see the consequences of his failures. He'd flown to Africa and spent his days wandering the land as a variety of creatures. When he resumed human form he hadn't meant to stay that way for long, but the ringing communicator had disconcerted him. Who would be calling? Cyborg? Starfire? There could be no one else… could there?
Pure curiosity prompted him to open his communicator and discover a voice he hadn't heard in two decades.
"Princess Koriand'r?"
Starfire turned mechanically at the official title.
"Yes, Master Friand'r?" she forced a smile at her trusted advisor.
"You are receiving a message from the planet we once knew as Earth but remains a wasteland."
"A message?'
Master Friand'r held up her Teen Titans communicator and Starfire gasped.
"It has been so long. So long." She spoke almost to herself and the master cleared his throat.
"Do you wish to hear it or should I remove this device from our palace?"
Starfire did not answer immediately. Did she want to remember the past she'd run from? She had virtually abandoned her friends, who had been suffering just as she had been. She felt guilt but more than that she felt an immense sense of lost. Raven was gone. Robin had never returned. Cyborg and Beast Boy had tried to make a normal life work, but she could not pretend any normalcy when the world burned around her. She had gone to Tamaran cravenly, but her home planet offered security and the presence of living creatures. It was something, at least.
"Princess?"
Starfire blinked and held out a steady hand.
"I will listen to this message."
She wasn't prepared for the voice that emanated from the communicator she'd contemplated destroying but could never bring herself to do. Starfire was and would always be a hopeless romantic, a dreamer, and a believer. She had lost most of herself, this was true, but Robin's message sparked the pure energy she'd once displayed freely.
"Master Friand'r?"
"Princess?"
"I will be departing for Earth now. You are in charge of the kingdom while I am away."
"B-but Princess?"
Starfire zoomed from the throne room before he could further question the decision.
Robin was losing. And he knew it.
Warp had regained his advanced technology and was seconds away from opening a portal to his own time when Robin slammed through the door, throwing explosive discs at him. Warp had been distracted, but not defeated. He knew Robin already and held technology and knowledge far beyond the average person due to his time traveling.
Robin had been blasted backwards with a ray that drained his strength and made him groggy and weak.
"Farewell, Robin, I trust you will enjoy this version of your precious city." Warp chuckled but when he moved to activate his time vortex, a sonic cannon slammed into his side.
"Boo-yah."
Cyborg blew smoke from his cannon and stood beside Robin, smiling down at him.
"You came."
"You were convincing, bird boy. And any opportunity to get Raven back is a necessary one."
"Fools! Even together you cannot defeat me! I am Warp, the time traveler, the vortex creator, the-
A feral lion attacked him from behind, biting off a sizable chunk of his lower suit.
"You talk too much." Beast Boy said, once in human form.
"Beast Boy!" Robin exclaimed.
"I can't believe it's you." The changeling gaped at his former leader. "We thought we'd never see you again."
"I know. It's my responsibility to fix my rash judgment and fix our future."
"Good. Maybe in a better future, I'll have my hair back." He pointed to his balding head and Robin grinned.
"No promises."
"BB." Cyborg nodded once.
"Cy."
"Glad to see you."
"You too. Sorry about-
"Don't mention it." Cyborg waved the apology off.
They'd all had mourning to do and each had different methods of coping. No one could be blamed for that.
"You think the shape-shifter changes anything?" Warp picked himself up and glared at the assembled group before him. "I still hold the time vortex and without, no one's going anywhere."
"I believe you are mistaken there. You are the one who shall not be leaving this place."
Starfire appeared from the skies like a furious goddess from Greek mythology. Her eyes glowed with green energy and she shot a powerful blast from her hands at Warp's feet, causing the villain to fall once again. This time, Beast Boy surged forward in leopard form to rip the time vortex off Warp's wrist. Starfire shot another bolt at Warp, rendering him unconscious as Cyborg fiddled with the device.
"Robin, it brings me great joy to see you again. The days have been difficult." Starfire pulled him into a tight hug that hurt his every bone but he didn't protest.
"I know, but I can change all this."
She gave a small smile at him and at her other teammates, but the four gathered together only made the absence of one Titans blaringly obvious.
"It's done." Cyborg's voice was weary but powerful.
A portal opened behind Robin and the three others stepped back to avoid getting sucked in.
"It is time for you to return to us." Starfire smiled.
"Yeah, dude, go back home and tell younger me that unless he keeps constantly active, he'd getting a beer gut." Beast Boy patted his belly.
"Go, Robin. Save us. Save Raven."
"Thank you, Cyborg. Thank you, all of you." Robin knelt next to the incapacitated Warp to retrieve the stolen clock and then turned to his teammates once more.
They watched him silently and he waved a final goodbye before jumping into the closing portal.
"No!" Raven screamed as the portal closed.
"Where did he go?" Beast Boy asked in the quiet of Robin's departure.
"Somewhere we can't reach him." Cyborg said sadly.
Starfire was pulling Raven into a comforting embrace when another portal opened seconds later and Robin appeared, looking exhausted as he clutched an antique clock in one hand.
"History said it was lost. History was wrong." His eyes searched Raven's and he forgot about clocks and time space continuums when he met her violet gaze.
"Dude, where did you go?!" Beast Boy flailed his arms in confusion and Robin knew he owed them an explanation.
"It's a long story." He breathed.
"That's incredible." Cyborg said after Robin finished the tale of his time travel.
"That the world went to hell?" Beast Boy asked, puzzled.
"No, grass stain! It's incredible what a time vortex can do. Warp created a horrible future for all of us, a future where we suffered through every day of our existence."
"Warp didn't do that." Robin said.
"What do you mean, friend Robin?"
"We created that future ourselves. Starfire was right. We were drifting apart and treating each other unfairly. The future reflected our behavior from the past few weeks. If we continued like that, we could have ended up with a future as bad as the one I saw."
"What do we do?" Beast Boy inquired.
"Well, we can start by celebrating Blorthog the proper way." Robin picked up the necklace he'd caught earlier and put it on Starfire's neck.
"Glorious! I shall prepare more of the bead necklaces!" Starfire flew to her room.
"I'll take care of lunch." Beast Boy declared, but Cyborg grabbed him by the collar of the uniform.
"Oh no you don't. We are not throwing up tofu surprise on a day like this one. I'm cooking. You can wash the dishes for me."
"Aw man!"
The two's familiar argument faded away behind the kitchen door and Robin was left with Raven, who sat on the end of the couch, hugging her legs to her chest with an almost painful force.
"I died." She finally spoke in a whisper Robin had to strain to hear.
"Yes."
"How?"
"I-I'm not sure. Future Cyborg couldn't reveal that information to me."
Raven nodded but her thoughts lay on her prophecy. In the future, the apocalypse had come and she had not survived it. Without Robin, she hadn't been strong enough to overcome the influence of her father and she had destroyed everything, including herself.
"Rae?"
"I'm scared." She admitted.
"So am I."
She raised her eyes to meet his masked gaze.
"When I saw the ruins of Jump City and the ruins of our tower, I was thinking the worst. And even then when Cyborg told me you had died, I wasn't prepared for what was truly the worst thing that could happen. That you were gone and I hadn't done anything to help you."
"You couldn't have, Robin. You had been stuck through time vortexes."
"It would still be my fault."
"No. This is on all of us, including me. What happened with you as Slade's apprentice hurt us more than we wished to believe. We pushed this issue to the depths of our souls but the problem remained. I picked fights with you and caused a stress on our friendship. I apologize."
"I wasn't exactly helping my case by faking the days and then snapping so horribly at you. What I said, Raven, was wrong and I'm sorry."
"I know. I understand."
There was a moment of silence before Robin stood from where he sat at the center of the couch and moved to where Raven sat.
"You can't begin to comprehend what I felt when I knew you were dead." He pulled her into a tight hug, stroking her hair with one hand as the other rested on her waist.
Raven had been initially surprised and almost flinched at the sudden contact, but Robin's warmth and the gentle push of his aura against her was soothing. She closed her eyes and breathed in Robin's scent, content to remain there forever.
She wouldn't tell him that she had felt a part of her break when he jumped into the portal and she thought he'd never return. She wouldn't tell him that the second she saw him safe in front of them again, she had forgiven and forgotten all that had happened with Slade. She could tell him at another time because now wasn't the moment for talking. It was just a moment to enjoy. The future and its problems could wait until later.
