Dangerous Minds

Summary: Something's wrong with Raven and it's her friends who suffer. Can the responsibility of understanding Raven's strange visions really be left in the hands of a bewildered Starfire? It must. No one else will speak in her defense.

Prologue

Raven awoke to Starfire's piercing scream. Blinking, she looked out the window bleakly.

"Another sunny day," she said to herself. "Damn."

She slowly and sluggishly got out of bed, wondering why she was so unsteady on her feet. Feeling a sudden surge of weakness, she grasped at her doorframe to keep her steady. She shook her head as if to clear it of foggy mists.

"What's wrong with me this morning?" she asked herself.

It was then she remembered what had awakened her. Frowning, she called the Tamaranian's name.

"Starfire, what's wrong? Did you get another zit?" Raven's eyes widened in horror as she saw the Titan in question wheel around the corner and throw her arms gratefully around the astounded Raven.

"Get off me!" Raven ordered angrily. But Starfire would not loosen her death grip on the girl.

"Oh thank goodness you have not left me too!" Starfire was babbling. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Raven for not leaving!"

"What are you going on about now?" Raven asked, prying herself away from Starfire's arms. Starfire looked terrified as she trembled on the spot. "God, you look like someone just dumped a bucket of ice cold water on you!"

"Robin and Cyborg and Beast Boy are not in their rooms!" Starfire declared frantically. "What will we do?"

Raven bit her lip, and then held up a finger to Starfire. "We are going to leave Raven alone until she gets some aspirin for her headache." Raven pushed Starfire aside. The young alien was baffled by her detachedness.

"Are you not concerned for our friends?" Starfire sounded bewildered and possibly a little hurt, but all Raven could think about was the jackhammer pounding its way to the center of her brain.

"Not now, Star," she said, waving her hand to dismiss her.

After locking the door to the bathroom Raven looked at her blood-shot eyes in the mirror before opening the medicine cabinet to retrieve the sought-after aspirin bottle.

Two seconds after popping the pills in her mouth, she had a vision.

She hesitated before swallowing the tiny capsules.

Starfire's pounding on the door broke her concentration.

"Go away!" Raven called.

"No!" Starfire said defiantly. "You are going to help me find our friends!" Raven closed her eyes. When she opened the door, Starfire almost punched her in the face. Raven caught her arm before she did so.

"You're right," Raven said. "They are in trouble. Or they will be."

Starfire's arms dropped to her side and her green eyes widened. "You saw—"

"Yeah," said Raven. "And it wasn't pretty."