Teen Titans – Heart's Word

When Two Worlds Collide –

A/N: In this chapter, more of a romantic spin is put on the relationship between Beast Boy and Raven, although, not very much. It also sets up some for some stuff to happen in the next chapter.

Robin walked into the Titan Tower with the rest of the Teen Titans. He was making his wrist go in a circular motion.

"I told you to take it easy on that last guy, man," Cyborg said, just a little concerned for his friend, "You could have easily finished him off with a nice kick."

"Yeah," Robin said, sounding slightly irritated, "you were right this time. I seri—"

"What do you mean 'this time?'" Cyborg asked suspiciously, "I'm always right, man."

Robin looked in Cyborg's direction and was glaring silently at him for a moment, making Beast Boy shift his weight from one foot to the other. After the brief moment however, Robin gave Cyborg a very sarcastic look and said, over doing the irritation in his voice, "Yeah...haha..." Robin fell back into a nearby chair and gave a more serious look, "Anyway, as I was saying...I seriously think I might have broken my hand." Seeing the concerned look cross Starfire's face, he immediately forced himself to ignore the pain that was radiating off of this small area of his body, forcing a grin to come over his face. "I'm only joking, Starfire."

Raven rolled her eyes in irritation when Robin had made this feeble attempt to comfort the emotional, green-eyed girl. As far as she was concerned, the whole mushy business between Robin and Starfire had been going on for far too long. True, Robin was getting back to his old self for the most part, but he was so emotionally attached to Starfire now that he would never be completely the same as he used to be, ever again. As for Starfire, her emotions were usually uncontrolled, but ever since the collapsed mansion incident, trapping her and Robin together, she had been a nervous wreck, constantly hoping that nothing would ever happen to Robin. Raven had guessed that the way she, Cyborg, and Beast Boy had found them down there, Robin leaning on Starfire's chest, was about the way it had been for the entire time they were down there...but she couldn't be sure. She didn't feel like asking, however, thinking that this might trap her into a long conversation with Starfire about the emotional girl's current love life. Instead of watching another sickening episode of "Devoted Girlfriend Fusses About Her Boyfriend," she decided to retreat to her room which was so peaceful and unchaotic, compared with the rest of the Titan Tower these days.

Raven had just begun to chant the words that would allow her the peacefulness of meditation, when someone walked into her room. Silently dreading Starfire's voice she kept her eyes closed. But when the person in her room spoke, it wasn't Starfire's voice...or even Robin's voice that reached her ears.

"Raven?" Beast Boy called softly.

Confusion raced through Raven's mind as to why Beast Boy would be in her room when Starfire was not there as well. She opened her eyes and looked around.

"Beast Boy?" She asked, trying not to sound too confident about knowing his intentions. As an automatic reaction to his presence there, she asked curiously, "What are you doing in here? I would have thought that you would be out there enjoying the love ship between Starfire and Robin."

Beast Boy nodded seriously, "It was fun to watch...for a while. But I miss the old Robin and Starfire. Instead, they both seem to be completely wrapped up in each other. I can't even get Starfire to laugh much anymore because she's so worried about Robin. As for Robin's commando personality...it's still there...but it's softer now. I liked it when he had more of the 'no one can break me' attitude, you know."

Raven nodded wearily, "I know what you're talking about."

"Now..." Beast Boy continued, "All anyone has to do to see him break inside is watch him while Starfire cries in front of him. It's like watching him die slowly...it bad. It's like a soap opera that's gone bad to the core, with time."

Raven smiled involuntarily at this completely accurate description of something she had been seeing and disgusted by for days now, coming from someone else...particularly, someone that was as much of a joker as Beast Boy was. Beast Boy, even as frustrated as he was, couldn't help but smile too at making Raven feel at all moved by his irritated humor.

"So, what was the reason you retreated into here...other than, it's your room?" Beast Boy asked.

"Same as yours," Raven answered fairly swiftly.

Beast Boy smiled wide for a moment, then seeing her look away, back at the window, he got the uncomfortable feeling that he was not very welcome in her room.

"Err...Raven, if you want me too...I'll leave," Beast Boy said, thinking that she would almost certainly say something like, "Please...get out."

However, she did not. She simply shook her head, then looked at him, beginning hesitantly, "No...I...it's actually been a bit...lonely...without Starfire being in here all the time."

Beast Boy knew that it was taking her a great deal of courage to admit that she wanted him to stay. Knowing this, he decided not to make any move to jest her in any way...not the way he usually would. Knowing just a tiny bit of Raven's personality, he viewed her sudden openness to him as a huge step up in there relationship, hoping it might turn into a nice friendship...like the one he usually had with Starfire. All the same, that didn't stop his curiosity, "Lonely? I would have thought that you liked being by yourself..." As soon as he had said this, he wished that he had said it differently or not at all. To him...it sounded almost accusing.

Raven, however, seemed not to notice the way he said it, "I like quiet..." she hesitated, "but I've also grown accustomed to noise. Without a little of it now and then, the world seems a bit empty."

Beast Boy cocked his head slightly, then straightened it again, "Huh...well, I've always loved noise. Whenever its quiet, like when Starfire and Robin were missing, it gives me the creeps. It reminds me of a cemetery," He let off a slight shutter to indicate his discomfort by the idea.

"I never thought about it that way," Raven said quietly.

There was silence for a moment. "Well," Beast Boy said, breaking the stillness, "It sounds like Robin and Starfire are done out there."

Raven nods, "Good." Getting up from her cross-legged position in the air, she made her way across the room towards the door. She stopped momentarily next to Beast Boy, just enough to lean over and kiss him on the cheek. Smiling, she silently made her way out of the room, leaving a startled and blushing Beast Boy to stand in it for a moment.

It was dark and the Teen Tower was quiet, as were its occupants, when Robin left his room and went out to the lake. He couldn't sleep, besides...he needed some time to clear his head. He left his Teen Titan cloths and his mask on a chair in his room and had instead, resorted to shorts and a T- shirt. A light breeze greeted him in the summer night air as he sat down near the lake that was so nearby to the Titan Tower. All of the Teen Titans had gone there at sometime just to get away from reality...or just to get away from each other. He took a smooth, round, gray rock in his palm and stared at it, as if completely fascinated by it. He frowned, as what Cyborg had said that afternoon came back to him, 'Ever since the mansion incident, you and Starfire have been inseparable. Now, I'm the last one who would complain, but, Robin, you've gone soft. Starfire is always so worried about you that she hasn't been able to do her Titan duties right. She's already changed so much...don't you change too. Raven won't be able to take your place as a leader forever. It wears her down. The Robin I know, wouldn't let anyone else do his job for him. He would step up to the plate even if he was on his last lifeline. You've changed...and not for the better. You need to sort this thing out with Starfire and get back to business.'

Robin stared at the rock for a minute, in silence. "Have a really gone that soft?" Robin asked himself aloud. Then, as if to tell a friend something he began talking, "When I saw Starfire that night...without my mask on, it was like every bad thought and feeling had left me. It was, as if, the world had suddenly stopped becoming so evil. I guess...I've been living in the fantasy world ever since. I really don't know why, but she, makes me feel safe somehow. Not only that...I always feel the need to make sure that she's safe, that no one hurts her," He paused, "But, maybe, it's me...who is hurting her the most...by changing who she is..." He choked down a sudden bout of tears that threatened to engulf him. He stared at the rock for another second before allowing it to drop from his hand. With a swift motion, both of his hands covered his face, his elbows resting on his knees. He was fighting so hard to keep himself from releasing the tears that were trying to come over him, but in the end he lost. He started sobbing...letting go of everything emotion that had taken him since he had walked into the mansion over three weeks ago. He wept for the innocence in the world, for the people who died in that mansion, for being off guard when he was on a mission, and most of all...for the thought of hurting Starfire. It was a thought so painful to him that he would have never let himself think it, had no one suggested it.

His weeping continued for a long moment until, suddenly, an arm circled around Robin's back, pressing him to something cool and soft. "No, Robin," a soft voice said in his ear, "You could never harm me."

He opened his glassy eyes and put his hands down, to see something like purple cloth in his vision. The scent of violets founds it was to his nose, and he knew instantly who was holding him. "Starfire?" He said, his voice rather hitched from the tears still threatening to come over him. He could feel her hold tighten a little, just to let him know he was correct.

"How did you know I was here?" Robin asked after a moment.

"I couldn't sleep either," Starfire explained, "I was in the living room when you came out of your room, so I followed you down here. I'm so sorry if you feel like I intruded."

Robin was silent for a moment, taking in the fact that she had heard everything. Then finally he shook it off, "No," He said hesitantly, "I'm glad you're here." He put his arms around her as well, to show that he was accepting her being there. He felt shocked, relived, safe, tired, and in a way...happy, all at the same time. A feeling of security and comfort swept over him as Starfire continued to hold him in the intimate way she was. It was enough to make him not want to let go...to never move onto another moment. 'But then...how could anything ever happen? Bad or good.' Robin gently released Starfire as she gently loosened her grip around him, slowly letting go.

"Are you going to be alright, Robin?" Starfire asked, looking into his glassy, tear-stained eyes.

"Yeah," Robin said quietly, looking to the side slightly. He didn't bother to wipe the tears from his eyes, he didn't mind her seeing him cry as much as he would have minded any of the other Teen Titans. After a few moments of Starfire looking at Robin and studying his face, Robin stood up and turned away, towards the Titan Tower. Starfire rose too, but just looked at him with his back turned to her.

"You should get some rest, Star..." Robin said after a long moment of silence, "All these nights that you haven't been able to sleep...or that you've spent with me, they're probably taking a toll on your body."

"I could say the same for you," Starfire said quietly.

Robin looked around, "Huh?" He had a confused look on his face.

"You haven't had a complete, undisturbed, restful night's sleep since you got sick. I've watched you leave your room every night before I go to bed. You sit in the living room for hours, thinking up plans for future missions, cleaning and repairing your equipment—some of which doesn't need to be cleaned or repaired anymore—or just sitting there, thinking about stuff. That's why I worry so much about you. Usually, you have no problem sleeping at night...and your calculations are accurate, but you haven't gotten a good night's sleep in a long time. What's more, you miscalculated about a foot on our last mission. That was enough to hurl you over the side of a building. It makes me worry what might happen if you miscalculated something by that much, again. I mean...what if—"

"Star," Robin interrupted heavily. His voice was serious, "Listen. I missed that ledge because my body wasn't ready to jump the way I wanted it to. I had been out of training for so long...that my muscles weren't trained to calculate the distance anymore. And as for the lost nights of sleep," Robin explained, "I've learned to work around them. I just get what little sleep I can and work the rest of the time. One of these days, I'll be so tired that I will get a complete, restful night's sleep. You don't need to worry about me."

Robin saw the first gray light coming over the horizon as he turned around again to look at the Titan Tower. He suddenly felt Starfire's hands close around his waist, with her head resting on his shoulder. He blushed at this and leaned his own head gently against hers. He closed his eyes, feeling content that he was near her. He felt every muscle in his body relax as he gently leaned back, against her. She did the same by leaning forward. They knew that if they didn't return to the Titan Tower soon, the other Teen Titans might get suspicious of something. For some reason this idea sounded rather funny to Robin, making a white-toothed grin come over his face. Starfire's head moved slightly.

"What are you grinning about?" She asked softly but teasingly.

Robin involuntarily started chuckling. Slowly, he opened his eyes straightening his neck, as he leaned forward into a stable standing position again.

"What?" Starfire asked with a confused kind of humor in her voice.

Robin shook his head, "Nothing. I was just thinking what the other Teen Titans would say if they saw us like that," He chuckled slightly again. Starfire broke into a giggle and walked forward to stand next to Robin.

"Yes, that would be jocular to hear," Starfire said, nodding her head in agreement.

"Come on. Lets get back before they think we're doing something," Robin said with a smile on his face.

Beast Boy was up early making his favorite breakfast, tofu waffles. Raven was in the living room reading a book when Robin and Starfire came in the door to the Teen Titans Tower. Each were in there most casual cloths, not their Teen Titan clothes. They were also laughing and talking with each other, which seemed rather unnatural, considering how they acted around each other lately.

"Look who's back," Raven said, not looking up from her book.

"Sorry, Raven. We couldn't sleep," Robin explained.

"Don't apologize," Raven said, turning the page of her book, "It looks as if you two are a bit happier now that you've spent an entire night together," Raven's sarcastic voice was not normal for her. It was obvious, however, that she didn't mean offense by her statement. Robin blushed. "We have a mission tonight. Someone is robbing jewelry shops," Raven said dryly

Robin's joking face suddenly faded and became very serious. His hand, which had previously been in Starfire's, had let go and fallen to his side. He took a step forward, "How many people are we going to be dealing with?"

Raven looked up, surprised that Robin was taking this much interest in something that he hadn't been too happy about hearing for days now, "I don't know. We didn't find much information on it."

"I see," Robin said quietly, looking down at the floor. After a moment he spoke again, "I should get my equipment ready then. I'll see you both tonight."

With that, he left Starfire and Raven staring after him in surprise. They didn't know what had suddenly triggered Robin's battle, controlling side to make an appearance, but it felt in a way different than it had before. It was as if Robin had just noticed the world around him and was going to try to take back a part of himself that he had left behind long ago. The sun set and a dark sky blanketed the city, as the Teen Titans prepared for there mission.