Hey, this is chapter 12… and I know this has taken ages to write, (over two years…) sorry! The last few years have incredibly busy, and I had a MAJOR writers block with this fanfic - but it's the holidays now :) Hope you enjoy it! Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans - only the idea of this fan-fic.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
"So… this is Germany, eh?" Robin dropped his bags on the ground. They had just gotten off the coach which had taken them straight from Paris to Berlin… it had been a long journey, taking over 10 hours. Most of their journey had been spent sleeping, chatting, eating snacks, or watching the scenery.
"It appears to be. We need to find a hotel now though…" Raven trailed off, her eyes searching for any signs of a hotel nearby the drop off point where they were stood. They had been dropped off in central Berlin, right nest one of the landmarks; the TV tower.
"Okay, let's go look around."
After half an hour of hotel hunting, they began to get tired. All the hotels they had already tried were fully booked as this was the busiest time of year in Germany. Raven spotted a bench and went to sit down, her legs tired from walking around so much. Robin came and sat down next to her, resting his bags next to hers by their feet. He sighed,
"I'm sure we'll find one Rae. It can't be that hard to find a hotel."
"If you say so… and when we don't find one, it's your fault, okay?"
"My fault? How is it my fault?"
"Because, Richard, you know how hard it is to find a hotel in central Berlin at this time of year… we should've started in the suburbs or somewhere…" Raven said, and folded her arms across her chest.
"Alright, I'm sorry. I'll find a place for us Rae. Don't worry."
"You said that an hour ago, and I still don't see any places – "
Raven was cut off when a swarm of flying daggers flew past her. Immediately, she stood up and span around to the direction from where the daggers came from and saw Vandal Savage standing 30 feet away from them, with Despero floating in mid-air beside him.
"I see you're hot on our heels, titans," hissed Vandal Savage.
"All we want to do is stop you from wreaking havoc, and the only way we can do that is by following you," Robin replied, sounding slightly irritated.
"Clever children; you certainly know how to give a good cat-and-mouse chase then, don't you?" Despero snarled.
"It doesn't take a genius to work out how to chase down low-lives such as yourselves," Raven answered, her tone deadly.
"Low-lives? What foul language coming from such a young woman… Didn't your parents ever teach you manners?" Despero grinned, knowing he was pressing buttons.
"My mother taught me everything I ever needed to know," Raven said as calmly as she could.
"Charming… you should have paid more attention to your father's teachings though as he is one of the most inspirational – "
Raven didn't let Despero finish his sentence as she flew up and launched a full on attack on him, throwing black disks of energy at him. She didn't stop once, so he didn't get a chance to defend himself or attack back. Seeing his partner unable to attack back, Vandal Savage threw a number of knives towards the half demon, which she dodged, but couldn't dodge all of them. One knife stabbed her leg, stopping her violent attacks on Despero.
"Raven!" Robin shouted, running over and catching her before she fell to the ground in pain. He held her in his strong arms as she writhed in pain from the stab wound in her leg, biting her lip to stop herself from screaming. Robin set her down on the ground gently saying,
"Stay there."
He began to charge at Despero and Vandal Savage, and could hear Raven's pained voice reply,
"Well it's not like I can go anywhere right now anyway!"
Ignoring her comment, Robin took aim at Vandal Savage and threw half a dozen smoke bombs at him, so that he would be blinded temporarily by the white clouds. He threw a bird-a-rang at Despero, who was levitating 5 feet in the air, and narrowly missed him.
"You're gonna have to try harder than that bird boy," Despero laughed. Robin grinded his teeth together and began to toss bird-a-rang after bird-a-rang towards the evil being. He could not dodge all of them though, and was brought down to the floor as three bird-a-rangs hit him. Once the smoke surrounding Vandal Savage had cleared, he opened his eyes to see Robin's fist collide with his jaw. He fell back in pain, giving Robin enough time to go and check on Raven.
Raven who had been busy trying to heal her leg looked up when she heard footsteps running towards her. Robin kneeled down beside her and touching the wound lightly said,
"Rae, is it still hurting as bad?"
"Not as much as before but it still kills," she answered through gritted teeth as the searing pain was still causing her agony. She glanced at his face and gasped as she saw how much emotion he was displaying on his face. He truly was concerned about her injury, and not just because he was her leader but… for another reason too, but she couldn't figure out what the reason was.
A moment later however, a blast of energy was being aimed at Robin who back flipped out of the way. Being a good acrobatic, he landed the back flip on Despero's shoulders and knocked him out by pinching a sensitive point on his neck. They both fell to the floor, but Robin cleverly jumped off him in time to save himself. He wheeled around to face Vandal Savage who was still staring in shock.
Robin initiated a combat battle with the armored enemy, but after a minute, Vandal Savage leapt backwards and hissed,
"This is pathetic; there's no point in staying here any longer!"
That being said, he picked up Despero, throwing him over his shoulder and then ran off, leaving Robin to tend to the injured titan. She was still healing herself but the wound was still visible and there was blood on the ground underneath her leg.
"I'm gonna get you to a hospital because it isn't right that you have to heal it your – "
"No, Robin. I can heal it. It just takes a bit of time, that's all," Raven interrupted. Robin kept quiet for a moment and as she continued to heal herself, he said to her,
"Well they're leaving Germany… and we just got here. Wanna stay the night or just leave straight away?"
"I don't mind. I think we should keep following them but it's going to take a while to get out of here. Do you think we could rent a car or something, then see how far we get?"
"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan… but who would let us rent a car that we wouldn't be able to return?" Robin inquired. Raven didn't answer as she was finishing up healing her leg so all her attention was concentrated on that. Just then, Robin had an idea, "I suppose we could get Batman or someone to lend us an undercover Justice League vehicle that they use for missions…"
Raven had finished healing her leg as much as she could – she would let nature take its course and finish the job. Looking up at Robin, she sighed, "Then why don't you call and ask?"
Robin held out his hand to help Raven up from the ground, which she willingly took. Once she was up on her own feet, she swayed a little, but she soon steadied herself as she put a hand on Robin's shoulder to keep her balance. Trying desperately to ignore the fact that her hand was resting on his shoulder, Robin took out his communicator and dialed the Justice League headquarters.
After a moment or two, Superman's face appeared on the screen. He looked exhausted, as he had been holding meetings all week and had been busy making sure everyone was happy with any new arrangements. Slightly surprised to see the two teenagers, but nonetheless quite happy, he greeted,
"Hello there Robin and Raven. How can I help you?"
"Hey Superman, we were just wondering if you could lend us one of your undercover cars for a day or two – if that's ok with you," Robin added quickly.
"Yeah that's alright, which model would you like? A Mercedes, a Range Rover, a Corvette, a Porsche, a Renault, a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, a Honda, a Volks– "
"Any would be fine," Robin smiled, trying to save Superman the trouble of remembering all the models of the cars they had.
"Are you sure? Well in that case, would you like a Corvette? Seeing as it is a really nice car…"
"That'd be great, thank you."
"Anytime, I'll send it down to your co-ordinates when this call ends. By the way, how is your progress coming along?" Superman asked, intrigued.
"Well, we've been on a wild goose chase from England, to Spain, to France, and now we're in Germany," Raven replied, talking for the first time since the conversation had begun.
"And you still haven't caught Despero and Vandal Savage yet?"
"We've encountered them many times, but they always escape just before we defeat them," Raven answered.
"Oh, I see. Well, they're going to run out of places to run to soon, so it should all be over soon."
Both Robin and Raven felt a slight disappointment when Superman had said 'so it should all be over soon', because in truth… they were both strangely enjoying themselves. They both smiled weakly at Superman, trying to seem happy about the fact. Superman could see right through their efforts, however, but said nothing.
"Yeah, well I guess we have to go and follow them now, so they don't get too far ahead…" Robin trailed off.
"Good idea, I will send the car down, as I've traced your co-ordinates… you're right in the centre of Berlin. I bet the scenery is wonderful. Anyway, goodbye for now, and good luck."
"Thanks," both titans smiled, before the call ended. Sure enough, as soon as Robin closed his communicator an electric blue flash appeared beside them, before disappearing and in its place was a red Corvette, the newest model available.
Rushing over to the car, Robin began to inspect every inch and angle of the vehicle, his smile growing each time he found something impressive. Raven watched him in amusement, as he grew excited over an instrument of speed and aerodynamics. Maybe the simplest things in life did bring the greatest pleasures...
"Rae, this car is amazing!" Robin announced, walking up to her once he had spent the last ten minutes examining the vehicle.
"I can tell," she remarked with a small smile. Robin returned the affection, before saying,
"C'mon, let's load up the car with our luggage, and get the heck out of Germany."
"…but where are we headed for?" Raven inquired.
"Well, how about you load up the car and I track them down, then?"
Raven nodded in response and began to open the car boot with her powers, before levitating each item of luggage into the car. Meanwhile, Robin was trying to get a signal and trying to track down the villains. Two minutes later, Raven had finished packing up the car and was waiting for Robin to conclude on where they were headed. He still hadn't found them yet, and deciding that she should rest her leg, she climbed into the passenger seat, which was actually really comfortable. She relaxed into the seat, closing her eyes to enjoy the moment…
The sound of Robin seating himself in the driver's seat forced Raven to open her eyes and look at him with a question lingering in her eyes. Answering her silent question, Robin said,
"They're nearly at the Swiss border… it will take about two hours to drive there, so we're quite far behind."
"Well at least we know where we're going," Raven monotoned.
Her leader started up the car and revved the engine, causing him to grin… he sure was going to enjoy this journey. Seeing a clear stretch of road, he maneuvered the car expertly and once he was in the right position, he pressed down hard on the pedal and they sped off into the distance.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
Thirty minutes into the journey, Raven decided that this was a good opportunity to have a meditation session. Seeing that Robin was concentrating on the road, she decided it was best to not say anything and distract him, so crossing her legs in her seat, she closed her eyes and began to chant her three famous words in her head.
Robin noticed how quiet it was in the car and looked over to see Raven meditating. 'No wonder…' he thought, continuing to drive down the motorway. They were 40 miles away from Berlin already, but still a long way away from Switzerland. It would probably take all day to get there even by the speed Robin was doing. He weaved in and out of other vehicles on the road easily, and his speed never faltered once. People may call it speeding, but to Robin, it was a reasonable speed. He had driven faster before, but that was on his R-Cycle, and this wasn't his own car so he didn't want to damage it.
Another hour had passed and they were now about 180 miles away from Berlin. Robin had turned the radio on a half hour ago because he had been fed up with the silence that rang throughout the car. However, he had turned the radio down to a quieter volume, as to not disturb the dark beauty beside him.
Raven opened her eyes and uncrossed her legs, finished with her meditative session. She looked over at Robin who was still driving at ridiculously fast speeds. However, even though she knew they were driving dangerously fast, she knew that they would be fine, because she trusted Robin, and knew that he was a really good driver. She coughed, signaling that she was done meditating, and trying not to astonish Robin too much.
"You're finished," Robin looked over at her.
"Yeah, I needed to catch up with my meditation, and I haven't had many chances recently."
"You could have said you were going to meditate… I thought you were giving me the silent treatment before I saw you were meditating," Robin told her, keeping his eyes on the road.
"I was going to but I didn't want to disturb you. So, how are you finding the car? Does it match up to your expectations?" Raven smirked.
"As a matter of fact, it does."
Raven laughed airily at his reply, with a smile remaining on her face afterwards. Robin felt his heart nearly leap out of his chest as he saw that smile graze her face. He loved it when she smiled…
"Robin, keep your eyes on the road! We nearly went into the back of a lorry then!" Raven exclaimed, interrupting his daydream. Turning three shades of red, Robin took his eyes off Raven and reluctantly placed them back onto the road. Raven felt a blush rising in her cheeks, 'He was actually looking at me, and it wasn't in disgust!' she thought.
Just as Robin was about to start up another conversation with Raven, his communicator began to ring. Before he could pick it up to answer it however, Raven beat him to it and flipped it open so see Speedy's face on the screen. He looked slightly worried as he greeted her,
"Hey Raven, is Robin there by any chance?"
"Hi, and he's driving at the moment, why?"
"Uh, well Starfire kind of followed Chronos into a time portal and – "
"She what?!" Robin shouted from the driver's seat, his attention turning to his red-headed friend on the screen.
"She followed Chronos into a time portal and I was wondering, just, oh you know, HOW THE HECK DO I GET HER BACK?" Speedy yelled.
"Time traveling is a very serious issue," Raven told him, "And it could be seconds or even days before she came back to this dimension of time."
"When did she follow him?" Robin cut in.
"Just before I called you! As soon as she vanished I called you, hoping one of you two would know what to do," Speedy rushed.
"Well she's time travelled before, and she came back within seconds last time," Robin said, continuing to speed down the motorway.
"But – oh my God, she's back!"
Raven and Robin watched as Speedy ran over to Starfire and hug her in delight. Their embrace lasted a little longer than what was classified as a 'normal' hug. When they parted, Speedy laid a kiss on Starfire's cheek and started whispering into her ear. Raven raised an eyebrow at the affection that Speedy and Starfire were sharing and wondered briefly if there was more to the two than just friendship. Robin also seemed to notice this as his eyes widened and he looked at Raven to confirm his thoughts, and she nodded with a smile. He smirked, and then focused on the road once more.
When Speedy finally remembered that he was still in the middle of a call with Robin and Raven, he sheepishly took Starfire's hand in his own and looked at his fellow teammates.
"Uh, me and Star are kind of..." He began.
"Dating?" Raven offered, trying to keep her smile from growing too big.
"Yes, friend Raven. A-and we know it may be inappropriate but – "
"Starfire, it's ok. Cyborg and Bee are going out as well, so you're not the only ones. It seems as if nearly everyone is falling in love with each other on this mission," Robin said, cutting off Starfire mid-sentence.
Speedy laughed and winked at Robin, who blushed and pretended to have his full attention on driving. Raven looked between the two confusedly, before giving up and saying to the red-heads,
"Well I'm really happy for you guys. I can see that this relationship will last for a while."
"Oh thank you Raven! And I can see that you and – " Starfire was interrupted yet again by Speedy's hand covering her mouth, in an effort to stop her from saying too much.
"Yeah thanks Raven, but we'll let you go now because we wouldn't want Robin to crash that car of his…is that a Corvette by the way?" Speedy asked.
"It is, and it's got quite good handling," Robin answered. Speedy nodded saying,
"I've always wanted one of those… anyway, we're gonna go now, good luck with Despero and Vandal Savage."
"Thanks, and good luck with Chronos and Brimstone," Robin returned. With that, the call ended, leaving the two birds to only each other's company once more. Raven put Robin's communicator back down and mused aloud,
"They really do care a lot about each other… and they've only been together for about a week or something."
"Yeah, it's amazing how strong love can be in only a matter of time."
"Well love is amazing…" Raven muttered to herself, but Robin still caught it. He didn't reply though, as he wasn't supposed to hear her in the first place.
Raven still wasn't sure if she was mostly happy because of her two friends finding love in each other, or for the fact that all the other girls in the Teen Titans were now dating, leaving Robin free for her… But he would never want to date her, would he?
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
They had been driving for hours, and it was nearing 10 'o' clock at night. They'd just entered Switzerland and were still chasing down the two villains. Despero and Vandal Savage were somewhere in Switzerland but Robin and Raven weren't sure of where they were exactly. Robin cleared his throat and said,
"Rae?"
"Yes?"
"I'm tired."
"So am I."
"Do you wanna stop in a hotel for the night?"
"Well it would be comfier than sleeping in the car," Raven replied. Robin nodded and pulled up beside the information centre of the town they were in. They sat there with the engine off for a minute, before Robin looked at Raven and smiled. She smiled back and then realized that he was waiting for her to get out of the car and go and ask about hotels at the information desk because she was the only one who could speak all of the three languages spoken in Switzerland; French, German and Italian.
"You're coming with me though," she told him.
"Why?"
"Because I don't know what your preferences are."
"Then you need to learn," Robin smirked, opening his door and getting out of the car. Raven met him at the front of the car and they walked into the information centre.
Seeing as they were in the German part of Switzerland, all the posters in the building were in German. Reading the long words which each seemed to be at least 15 letters long made Robin shudder, as he couldn't bear to speak a language so complicated and difficult. He was so busy with his thoughts that he hadn't even noticed Raven speaking to the blonde haired man behind the desk.
"Ja, einen Hotel," Raven confirmed.
"Wie viele Sterne würden sie es gerne haben?" the man asked. Raven looked over at Robin and repeated the question in English,
"How many stars would you like the hotel to have?"
"Preferably 5 star, but anything with a bathroom is fine," Robin replied with a cocky smile. Raven rolled her and eyes and told the man that any hotel would be fine.
Taking out a map, the blonde began to point out all the hotels in the local area and told Raven which ones were the best ones. After narrowing it down to two, Raven asked if he had any pictures or images of what the hotels looked like. He pulled out a few sheets of laminated paper from a folder under the desk and fanned them out for Raven and Robin to look at. Finally having decided Raven chose one of the hotels and then asked for directions to the hotel.
"It's about two kilometers away," Raven told him as they got back into the car. Robin turned on the engine and revved it, enjoying the purring sound it made. Reversing out of their parking space, he said,
"That's not too far then, and besides, it's a five star hotel, so we're going to be relaxing in style."
"Yet again…" Raven muttered. Robin winked at her before they drove off in search of the hotel they had chosen.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
Reaching their room, Robin put the key into the lock and turned it, opening the door to reveal a luxurious suite. The big difference in the rooms that they'd had previously and this one, however, was the fact that instead of one double bed, there were two single beds.
"Well this is new," Raven remarked dryly, a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Yeah, but at least we get our own beds this time – for once someone hasn't mistaken us for a couple," Robin said, putting his suitcase down on his chosen bed, which was the one next to the window. He walked up to the window and looked at the view, which beheld the sight of many lit up buildings. "Maybe in Italy we'll get a view of the beach or something…"
Raven nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her, and began to unzip her suitcase. Even though she had finally gotten a bed all to herself, she felt a slight bit unhappy that she wouldn't be sharing a bed with Robin, and she didn't even know why. If this was a week ago, she would've been leaping in joy at the fact that she didn't have a bed buddy, but now that she'd gotten so used to sleeping in the same bed as him, she didn't particularly want to have a bed all to herself.
The half demoness had just gotten changed into her pajamas and was climbing into bed when Robin finally looked away from the window and pulled his top off, revealing his six pack, and making Raven's heart flutter in arousal. He quickly made his way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind him, leaving Raven to release the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
'If only I could touch his beautiful body with my bare hands and – whoa – what the heck?' Raven thought, frowning as she realized what she had said in her mind. She laid her head back on her pillow and closed her eyes in an attempt to calm her mind.
The opening of the bathroom door forced her to open her eyes and stare at her teammate, who was now wearing a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a grey t-shirt. He grinned at Raven as he walked past her bed and towards his own, unaware of the fact that this simple motion was making her heart beat a hundred times faster than normal.
"Night night Rae-Rae," he sang, getting into bed and turning off the light.
"Guten Nacht Robin," Raven replied.
"That's German right?"
"No it's Japanese."
"…"
"Of course it's German, Robin!" Raven sighed.
"Ah, I knew it," Robin said with a smile in his voice. Raven groaned at his childish behavior and rolled over to face the opposite direction, wishing her leader goodnight again, but in English this time.
"Okay, night Rae," Robin answered, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
Robin's eyes snapped open as he heard the loud screaming coming from Raven's bed. He sat up and ran over to her, examining her to see what was wrong. Her eyes were shut, and she was shaking with her mouth wide open projecting her screams. Instinctively, he got on top of her and pinned her arms down with his hands, and straddled her hips with his legs to reduce her kicking.
"Raven!" he yelled, attempting to wake her up, but it was no use, so her tried again, this time placing his mouth right beside her ear. Since his face was so close to hers, it was hard to resist the temptation of kissing her… Raven's eyelids flew open and she sat up, throwing Robin off her, but luckily his quick reflexes helped him to land gracefully on his feet.
"Are you okay?" Robin asked Raven cautiously, as her chest heaved from breathing so heavily. As she caught her breath, she nodded slightly before she gave up her control and let tears flow freely from her amethyst eyes.
"Shh, don't cry," Robin said softly, sitting down beside her and wrapping his arms tightly around her. As she sobbed, she told him,
"It w-was awful… I-I don't know w-what I would do if… Oh Robin."
"Rae, it was only a nightmare, don't worry."
"It seemed s-so real though!"
"Well it wasn't… Shh, it's fine," Robin whispered, resting his head on top of hers. A few more minutes passed before Raven finally began to calm down and her river or tears ceased.
"Thank you," she told him with a small smile, "Thanks for being here for me."
"No problem, I don't like seeing you upset," he replied, kissing her forehead. Raven shut her eyes contentedly after he did this, feeling much more secure than she had moments ago. She could only wish that he had kissed her lips instead, but any kiss was better than nothing, and that was all she was ever going to get from him in her opinion.
Instead of leaving her alone in the single bed, Robin adjusted himself into a lying position, as Raven too slid back down under the covers. He kept his arms wrapped around her protectively, as she buried her face into his chest, and that was how they fell asleep, cradled in one another's arms.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
Raven stirred silently, and opened her eyes slowly, only to find herself staring into Robin's face, which was only inches from hers. Since his eyes were closed, she assumed he was still asleep and decided she could get away with kissing his lips and not waking him up. However, as soon as she tried to steal this kiss, she realized how tight his arms were around her, not allowing her to move at all. In a way, she loved being held by him, but in another way, she wasn't too happy that he was holding her so tight that she couldn't kiss him.
'Whoa, why do I even have this intense urge to kiss him?!' she wondered, and then shook her head, attempting to literally 'shake' away those thoughts. She sighed aloud, knowing it was no use, but as she did this, Robin woke up.
Raven stared into his eyes, and watched intently as he tried to figure out where he was and what was happening when he opened his eyes. After a couple of seconds, he had registered what was happening and smiled as he saw Raven staring at him,
"Hey."
"Hey sleepyhead," Raven giggled. When she realized that she had emitted a girlish laugh, she stopped right away and cleared her throat, "So, uh, did you sleep okay?"
"Yeah… it's funny how even though we're finally given separate beds, we still end up in the same bed," Robin laughed.
"This had better not become a habit, or else we'll have problems when we get back home," Raven joked. Robin chuckled in agreement, although they did both secretly wish that it would become a habit. A moment of silence passed, before Raven decided to wriggle out of his grasp and get out of the bed. "Come on, we've got to find Despero and Vandal Savage."
"Well, not right now! I mean we haven't eaten yet or – " Robin began.
"Robin, you're usually the one who will go without food or sleep when chasing criminals… what happened?" Raven interrupted. It was true though, Robin seemed to be far more laid back recently.
"I honestly have no idea, but it may have something to do with the fact that once we do find them, the mission will be over and we'll have to go back home."
"And that's a bad thing…?"
"No, it's not – but I'll admit it; it has been quite nice that we've had a lot of 'alone' time and it's just been the two of us," Robin responded honestly.
Raven stared at him in disbelief – he actually was enjoying spending time with her. She was about to reply and say that she felt the same way, but just then, her communicator began to ring.
"What's up?" she asked, answering the call to Bumblebee's face.
'Why do they always ring at the wrong times?!' Robin pondered, quite annoyed that another moment had been ruined. He had threatened to turn off their communicators before, but now he actually would as soon as Raven was finished talking to Bumblebee.
"… so hopefully we'll find them before they get into Italy," Raven was saying.
"Ooh but Italy is such a lovely country!" Bumblebee replied.
"I know, but this chase has been going on for so long, and we're getting tired."
"Well at least you're still alive and you're helping each other."
"Hmm I guess so…" Raven trailed off.
"Look on the bright side – you have each other, what more could you want?" the African-American winked at her. Raven's cheeks turned crimson as she gave Bumblebee a glare and fought hard to keep her face void of any emotion.
Robin, who had overheard the entire conversation noticed how red Raven's cheeks had become at that last comment, and decided it was time he stepped in before Raven became super angry towards Bumblebee.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked, a serious expression on his face, taking the communicator from Raven's hands after he leapt from the bed. Bumblebee continued to grin at him, which began to break down his steely exterior.
"You know what I mean," she answered him.
"N-no I don't," he argued, although he found it difficult to lie and so his façade was beginning to wear thin, and Bumblebee could see right through it,
"Oh boy, you do make me laugh!"
"How?" Robin inquired as now he truly was confused.
"Man, never mind… but yeah, just don't lie to yourself, it ain't gonna get you anywhere… but anyway, Ares and Chemo have been captured and they're in the Justice League's custody, so I guess Sparky and I are heading back home."
"That's fantastic news! You guys have done a good job. Soon everyone will be back at home apart from Raven and I," Robin joked. Bumblebee's initial reaction would have been to laugh or make a cheeky comment, but she kept herself in line and said,
"Well an extended 'vacation' is always good, so enjoy it while it lasts."
"Yeah… we will don't worry," Raven answered, joining in the conversation once more.
"Good to hear. Once we're back at the tower, we'll call you again to let you know we're safe, but for now I've got to go and help Cy with the packing... take care," Bumblebee said, ending the conversation.
Neither Robin nor Raven had the chance to reply to the African-American girl as the screen turned black since she'd ended the transmission. Raven shut her communicator and placed it back into her pocket. She looked up and was surprised to see Robin only inches from her face, staring at her face and not looking away, even when she looked right into his eyes.
"Uh… Robin, are you okay?"
"Huh? What? Oh yeah, I'm fine – I was just… never mind."
"You were just what?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, don't worry," Robin returned, walking away from her.
Raven thought about following him, grabbing him by the wrist to stop him and ask him just what was going on, because now she was concerned about what he was doing. 'Oh no, what if I have something on my face?!' she voiced in her head, worrying that a pimple had formed without her knowledge. She sprinted to the bathroom and checked her face in the mirror, only to find that the only difference on her face was that she was wearing no make-up; this only made her more nervous. Perhaps Robin was grossed out by how plain she naturally was?
She was shaken out of her negative stream of thoughts when she heard Robin humming to himself in the hotel room. Quietly, she poked her head out from behind the bathroom door and looked into the bedroom, only to see Robin's back to her as he hummed a familiar tune and shook his hips as he danced. Raven smiled as she watched the scene unfold before her, and then finally decided to join him in his dancing.
"Other dancers may be on the floor…" she sang, swaying her hips as she made her way towards the Boy Wonder. He span around and smiled, before startling her by taking her right hand in his left, and holding her waist, exactly as they done a few days ago in Spain.
"… Dear, but my eyes will see only you," Robin sang in response, his voice in tune and having a velvet smooth texture. Raven almost melted at his singing voice, but instead danced with him around the room, moving in perfect sync with him. "Only you have that magic technique…"
"…When we sway I go weak," Raven continued, as Robin dipped her, making the words have more emphasis as the dance became more lyrical. As quickly as he had dipped her, he brought her back up to her feet and began to twirl her, as they both carried on singing, but this time with each other and not as soloists.
Soon enough, the song had come to an end, as did the dance. Both were buzzing with energy and a mixture of emotions, as they had not danced together since the competition they had in Spain, and it was only now that they realized how much they had missed that bond and talent they shared together.
"We should dance together more often," Robin remarked, winking at Raven who was still holding on to him.
"Sure, and when will we get the chance to do that blunder boy?" Raven retorted sarcastically, knowing that once they were back at home, everything would go back to normal.
"Simple - we'll make time. We can give up an hour every day and just dedicate it to dance."
Raven rolled her eyes, "As if that would ever happen. You know as well as I that as soon as we're back at the tower, everything will go back to how it was, - "
"It won't," Robin interrupted.
"How do you know?" tested Raven, finally releasing her hold on him.
"I'm the leader and I choose what we do, and I'm saying that the Titans, or if not, then just us, will spend more time relaxing and dancing rather than playing video games or reading or – "
"Excuse me, reading is not a bad thing at all! How can you compare video games and reading?"
"Come on Rae, you know what I mean."
"I happen to love reading!"
"Even more than dancing with me?" Robin asked, and suddenly he feared the answer, losing confidence in his side of the argument. However, he felt it come back to him as Raven hesitated for a moment longer than she should have.
"…no."
Robin grinned, pleased that she had openly admitted that spending time with him was now more important than reading, which is something that she would have never said before.
Something had definitely changed between them, and Robin hoped it was for the best, as he didn't want to lose this connection that he had built with Raven during their time in Europe together.
The past week had been one of the greatest times of his life, and he was slightly fearful that it would all be over soon - he could pray only that things would not return to how they were because if that were to happen, then the team would never see Raven since she would always be in her room, Robin would be training by himself, and the others would be doing various things ranging from gaming to shopping to eating. That was the life that he did not want to go back to, and he was quite sure that Raven felt the same.
"Come on, let's grab something to eat," Robin suggested, heading out of the hotel room. Raven followed after him, still going over what had just happened in her mind. She had actually told him that she preferred dancing to reading – was she going insane? She believed so. Although… she'd barely picked up a book since she'd arrived in Europe, meaning that Robin truly was keeping her occupied, and even though she would have thought this as being bad a few weeks ago, now she only saw it as a good thing, because it meant that she was closer to Robin, and that maybe she was capable of loving someone after all.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
The two birds had left the Swiss hotel and were now racing down a highway which cut straight through the numerous snow-topped mountains which made up the Alps. As Robin drove at dangerously high speeds, Raven gazed out of the window in awe at the natural beauty that she couldn't even describe. She had heard that the Swiss Alps were gorgeous, but seeing them in person was the only way that she could fully comprehend how incredible they were.
Mountains of vast heights and of all shapes towered over the valleys beneath them, shielding them from the rest of the world. All of the small towns which resided on the mountainsides looked fragile and miniscule compared to the entirety of the Alpine mountains.
"Robin, I can't get over how… stunning this country is."
"Well, it is famous for being a lovely place," Robin replied, never taking his eyes off the road. Despite the highway being quiet, the road was unfamiliar to him, so he had to keep his full attention on driving.
"Yes, but you can't fully understand it's true magnificence until you actually see it with your own eyes."
"I know, and we're really lucky to be able to see it all in person. We'll have to take pictures," Robin laughed. He knew that they should have been taking pictures all around Europe whilst they had the chance, but they had been too preoccupied with the mission and other things. Also, this gave him an excuse to take a picture of Raven, so he could finally have his own copy of a picture of her to keep with him, as he was realizing that he was falling for her.
"I hate taking pictures!" argued Raven.
"We can't go back home without any pictures though Rae."
"I know but I won't be getting in any of them, I'm telling you that now."
Robin pouted and took his eyes off the road for a second to show her his best 'puppy-dog eyes', trying to convince her to change her mind.
"Richard, that won't change my mind," Raven laughed, knowing that he was only making a complete fool of himself. Whenever Raven said his real name, Robin felt butterflies in his stomach, because he thought it sounded so… perfect. It was almost as if she was the only person who was meant to call him by his first name, because it sounded so right, and she was the only person he had ever felt this for. If Starfire said his name, it would sound out of place and incorrect, despite his previous crush on her years ago. With Raven, however, it was like it was 'meant to be'.
"I'm sure there are other ways I could get you to change your mind," he smirked.
"Oh really?" Raven answered, matching the playfulness in his tone.
"Yeah I am, but I won't be able to do any of them right now," Robin told her with a laugh hiding behind his words.
"Ah, what a shame," Raven smiled sarcastically, although secretly she wouldn't mind him trying to change her mind, as she could tell that he had a few ideas which were not suitable for children from the emotions she could sense radiating off him. Most teenage boys thought those kind of thoughts, but Raven was fairly surprised to see Robin doing the same, as usually he acted mature, and rarely immaturely. She had to admit it was a nice change from his usual serious demeanor, and seeing this side of him made her hormones go slightly out of control.
"But yeah, please Rae, I'll even stand in the picture with you! It won't be that bad. Plus, you're not ugly or anything so I don't understand why you wouldn't want to take a photo."
"I hate the way I look though – "
"We've been through this Raven. You're positively stunning."
"No, Starfire is - "
"Starfire is pretty, but you're beautiful. So stop doubting yourself and hating your appearance, because personally, I love the way you look." Robin's eyes widened as he realized what he had just said, shocking not only Raven but also himself with his words. Raven was too astonished to reply, and could only stare at him with her mouth hanging open.
'Damn it, can't I just learn to keep my thoughts to myself?!' he reprimanded himself after Raven still hadn't replied despite it having been twenty seconds since he'd told what he thought about her. He frowned, angry at himself for not thinking before he said something. 'Now she'll think you're some kind of freak and – '
"Thanks Richard," was the quiet reply which interrupted his train of thoughts. He briefly glanced her way and saw her timidly looking down, a tinge of red resting upon her pale cheeks. Feeling somewhat relieved, he answered with,
"No problem, it's the truth after all."
"So, uh, where are we actually going?" Raven changed the topic after a couple of moments of silence.
"Towards the Swiss-Italian border, and hopefully we can catch Despero and Vandal Savage before they reach it themselves."
"Oh I see, clever thinking."
"Well I am the leader of the Titans, so I should be quite clever," Robin laughed.
"Hmm, true I suppose. I knew there must have been a reason why you were the leader…"
"What does that mean?" Robin inquired with a frown plastered on his features.
"Never mind," Raven smiled. Robin shrugged and carried on focusing on driving. Raven cast a sideways glance at him, trying not to be obvious about it. She had gotten used to seeing a mask-less Robin, and she preferred seeing him without the mask, as his bright eyes were enchanting. All she wanted to do was stare into those sapphire pools for eternity, because they captivated her in a way that even her precious books could not compete with.
However, this task of gazing into his eyes without him noticing was highly unsuccessful since it would require him to look directly at her so she could have a clear view of his spectacular visual instruments. So whenever she was lucky enough to have him look straight into her own eyes, she tried to memorize every detail.
"What's wrong?" Robin questioned her suspiciously, breaking Raven out of her trance.
"Uh – what?" Raven spluttered, struggling to form a sentence in her state of surprise.
"You've been looking at me for five minutes out of the corner of your eye… what's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing," she replied, highly embarrassed for being caught in the act. A rosy tint had found its way onto her cheeks once more, but it did not go unnoticed by the Boy Wonder. Sighing, he repeated the question again,
"Raven, tell me what's the matter?"
"I was just thinking about what you were saying the other day," Raven lied smoothly, but then realized she had to think of something to back up her answer – and fast.
"What did I say the other day?"
She had anticipated that he would ask that, so she decided that anything would be better than admitting that she was thinking about his eyes. A question that had been bugging her suddenly sprang to mind and Raven asked,
"About how you had a crush on some girl…"
Once the words had left her mouth, she regretted it instantly for she suddenly realized that actually, she did not want to know the answer as it would mean that her false hope in thinking she had a chance with Robin would truly cease to exist since it would be coming directly from Robin's lips. 'Oh those lips… if only I could taste them…'
Frowning at her thoughts, she casted them away. She knew she was stupid for thinking there may be a slight possibility that he returned her feelings, but she didn't want to face the truth – not this soon anyway.
"It's more than a crush," Robin corrected, but then inwardly scowled, because it meant that he was going to have to tell her about his feelings towards her. He couldn't wait to tell her how he felt, but there were two things stopping him: one, she most likely didn't feel the same way; and two, if he was going to tell her, it would have to be in the perfect place at the right time – and driving down a motorway did not count as being the perfect time.
"Well, who is the lucky lady?" Raven asked nonchalantly, although there was a lump in her throat, as she anxiously awaited the answer.
"Do I really have to answer right now?" he groaned.
"No, but you will tell me sooner or later Richard," Raven told him, feeling somewhat relieved that her hope hadn't been crushed…yet.
"Okay then," Robin replied with a small smile.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…
After having passed through passport control into Italy fairly quickly, the two young adults drove towards a small town named Omegna (1), which lay upon on edge of a magnificent lake. Whilst Robin attempted to find signal in order to re-connect their portable computer to the internet, Raven sat down on a bench near the car, and looked out over the lake.
It was breathtaking, and she had never seen anything like it before. The deep blue coloured water flowed quickly in the light breeze, and a family of ducks quacked merrily as they swam past. Raven wasn't sure what it was about the Alpine regions, but the almost magical sense of it all transfixed her immensely. The towering mountains, vast lakes, fascinating wildlife and tranquil towns made her realize that there was a place on earth where life could be spent without constant worries. It certainly was a contrast to the crazy city life which she had grown accustomed to.
She breathed in a great gulp of fresh mountainous air, and sighed contentedly, feeling slightly rejuvenated; it was almost as good as meditating. A barely audible click could be heard from behind her, and she span around to see the cause of the noise to find Robin with a camera in his hands and a crooked smile on his handsome face.
"Tell me that picture wasn't of me," Raven narrowed her eyes.
"It was of the lake, you just happened to be right in the middle of the shot," he laughed in reply.
"Robin! Delete it!"
"Sorry Rae, that's not happening. I want to treasure these memories!"
Sighing in defeat, mainly because she couldn't be bothered to argue with him, Raven returned to staring out over the clear water. After a couple of seconds, she said, "I wish we lived here."
"I know, its wonderful. But the crime here isn't as bad as Jump City, and if we were to stay here, we would not be busy people," Robin reasoned.
"Well when we retire we can live here," Raven mused.
"Who? The titans? Or me and you?"
"Uh, anyone…" Raven returned, realizing how vague she had been about who she planned on living with here.
"Oh I see," he answered, still not completely sure who she was referring to. "Anyway, I got a new lead – our targets seem to have stopped at the top of some mountain, just a few miles from here."
"Alright, let's go."
Raven got off the bench, took one last look at the lake, as if trying to permanently remember the view, and walked to the luxurious car with her leader.
Scaling the mountain via narrow roads with hundreds of sharp turns proved to be very difficult whilst keeping up a high speed, as Robin discovered very quickly. If it weren't for his quick reflexes and great control over the vehicle, it could safely be said that both the teenagers and the car would have been flung off the side of the mountain very soon.
"Sorry about this Rae, but I promise, I am not trying to kill us," Robin apologized to his companion, as he saved them from going off road yet again, "but we have to get to Vandal Savage and Despero as soon as possible; and these roads are absurdly dangerous!"
"Your driving is 'absurdly dangerous'," Raven replied, her stomach churning from the numerous mini heart attacks she was suffering through, due to her strong belief that at any second the car would slip and they would be catapulted straight off the cliff-side.
Robin shot her a sour look, not appreciating her snide comment about his driving ability. Choosing to ignore it, and focus on apprehending the villains instead, he continued his daredevil-ish route up the mountainside. It was a wonder how large trucks and coaches managed to safely find their way through the winding roads up here, but Robin guessed the northern Italians were used to these insanely small roads as they lived in the area.
Another ten minutes passed, when finally Robin slammed on the brakes, preventing the car from sliding off the side of the mountain and also managing to shock Despero who had been standing nearby with his eyes closed, seemingly concentrating on something.
"How did you get here so fast?" the telepathic criminal asked Robin and Raven as they ran in his direction.
"Obviously not the same way you did," Raven remarked dryly, noticing that their enemies didn't have a vehicle of their own parked anywhere close by.
"Enough chatter, and more action!" a loud voice announced from behind the two teens, and as they whirled around, they found it belonged to Vandal Savage.
Not even a second had gone by, as a plethora of sharp knives soared through the thin air towards the titans. Raven flew up instinctively, whilst Robin rolled to the side, both of them evading the attack successfully. Chanting her mantra, the Azarathian sent a wave of black energy towards the knife-thrower, making him freeze his current actions as she gained control over his body. Holding him near the edge of the mountain, she flew nearer to him and smirked at his struggles.
Robin noticed that Despero had began to focus on whatever it was he was doing before the heroes arrived, and aimed a powerful kick into his back since he was unaware of the young man's ninja-like advances. Growling, Despero opened his eyes and sent a wave of evil power in Robin's direction, who back flipped out of the way.
"What are you trying so hard to do?" the boy wonder questioned, his eyebrow raising in genuine curiosity. Despero laughed mockingly and replied,
"Had you not interrupted me, the landslide that I've initiated would have been much bigger in size, but it is still of a great strength and will wipe out all the tiny towns which reside on the edge of that lake down there."
"Landslide? What land – " Robin began, but stopped speaking as soon as he saw a massive mound of earth, or a rather an enormous chunk of the mountain crumble away and begin to fall freely, picking up both speed and more earth on it's way. Robin's eyes widened, and knowing that Raven was the only one who could stop it now, he immediately yelled for her attention.
"RAVEN! Stop that landslide before it hits the bottom of the mountain!"
The empath grudgingly let go of her hold on Vandal Savage and threw him towards Robin who was already prepared with his bo-staff, and teleported herself 100 meters away to where she was floating in front of the mountain, and thus having better access to controlling the not so natural disaster.
Summoning all of her physical and mental strength, as well as a silent plea for the help of Azar, Raven managed to wrap her powers around the vast array of rocks and dirt that was tumbling down the side of the mountain at a quickening pace. Shutting her eyes in concentration, she managed to open up a portal to an empty dimension, and threw the broken mounds of earth inside, hurriedly closing it before Despero managed to gain control of it.
Robin, who had been attacking Vandal Savage to the point of severe injury stopped his powerful punches for a moment in order to flash a smile of gratitude at his teammate. Raven returned the gesture, before rounding on Despero and narrowed her eyes angrily.
"Clever little birdie, but next time you won't be there to save the day," Despero taunted, sending a powerful wave telekinetic power towards the young woman. Due to her recently sapped energy, she was a second too slow to dodge the attack, and subsequently she fell to the ground. Gritting her teeth, the gothic girl stood up and began to fire bursts of black energy relentlessly towards the telepathic alien.
With Vandal Savage successfully knocked out and tied to a tree, Robin decided to aid Raven in defeating Despero. He aimed a powerful kick to their enemy's abdomen, making Despero stumble backwards. With his attention now on the acrobatic teen, who was performing a series or flips in order to confuse his opponent, Despero didn't notice Raven controlling a massive rock, the size of the T-car, and aiming it in his direction. The half-demoness drummed the rock straight into the villain, causing him to fall to the ground, lying underneath the boulder.
For a few moments, there was nothing but silence, as the two teenagers looked each other in the eye, unable to recognize that they had won, and their mission was complete… or so they thought. Just as they were about to contact the League, the rock began to move, ever so slowly, and a tree flew past them, landing near the edge of the mountain.
Vandal Savage stood behind them, seething as he had managed to be rendered unconscious by Robin. Before either of the titans could do anything, Despero also got up from under the rock, covered in wounds, but still full of energy.
"Uh-oh," Raven muttered, knowing that these two were going to be livid now after what had just happened. Robin and Raven subconsciously walked closer to each other as the two criminals advanced on them, staring them down, as if daring them to make a move.
"This isn't good…" Robin told her as they stood back to back, each facing one of the fuming and slightly insane villains.
…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae…robxrae… Oh my, I am so mean, not updating for years, then leaving you with a cliffhanger like this! Sorry dudes, but this was going to be way too long of a chapter otherwise! (1) Omegna; the town mentioned here does actually exist, and I have been there myself on numerous occasions – it truly is a gorgeous place, and they have extraordinary firework displays on the lake there at night :)
Anyway, review please and hopefully I manage to get the next chapter up before this year is over… xD
Sorry again for the looooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooong wait!
raerobgal
