Raven and Starfire walked out of the large building, each holding a black umbrella up against the persistent weather. The air was gray and hazy, but the day had given it's humble gift already. It was mildly warmer than had been normal recently, and it made the wet more bearable.

Raven walked a ways ahead of her companion, knowing that the other girl would not mind; both where eager to get to the car and be out of the rain. Under more regular circumstances, Raven liked rain. 'Hell,' she thought, 'storms can be much better than sunny days.'

This was not ordinary weather, however, and circumstances where even less normal. The constant wet had not only grown old and unwanted, but it made the dark lady feel more on edge. Her irritability was coupled with an odd feeling of isolation that, originally the product of a bad mood, had elevated itself to anxiety and despair.

"Oh no! Raven we have lost a dear soul to the earth's unwanted shadows..." Starfire's voice held the remorse of one whose suffering wavered beyond human comprehension. Though familiar with that sort of feeling, Raven was very certain that her friend would not lament her loss for too long.

"Let me guess..."

"Zmorg is gone! I don't understand, he was just here..."

Noticing that her friend was on the verge of tears, Raven sighed. She could hardly believe that such a mean trick had been played by herself, but it had been for the sake of her teammates.

"Let me tell you what geese do in the winter."

-----------------

"Where are they?" Robin asked, an incessant question on this particular day. "they've been gone for five hours."

"Dude, relax," Beast Boy looked bored as he read, a pastime saved for only the most dull of afternoons, "They're girls... at the mall."

"He's right. Besides, Raven will spend hours in clothing and book stores and Star will make a point of going in every single store at least twice." Cyborg was flipping through a magazine, equally bored.

"I know, they always do. But what if Raven has an attack?"

"Star is with her. Man, just relax," Beast Boy was mildly annoyed.

"I should have told them not to go. It's my duty to protect them."

"Like you could have stopped her," Beast Boy said, meaning Raven.

"Yeah," Cyborg agreed, "Besides, your duty is to the innocent people. Star is too smart and strong to be called innocent..."
"Yeah she only seems that way."

"-and Raven... as far as innocence goes..." Beast Boy and Cyborg both chuckled as Robin grinned.

"Still, I'd feel better if they-" but his speech was interrupted by the entrance of the two ladies of the tower. The hound silently bounded over, straight to Starfire.

"See." Raven said with satisfaction, mouthing 'I did it!' to Robin, "You don't need... a goose. The dog likes you."

'The dog' had become its unofficial name. Nobody had thought to name it yet, and there seemed to be no real reason. The creature was already blending perfectly into the lifestyle if the team. But, Raven noticed, it had taken particular fondness to her and Starfire.

"As you can see," Starfire's tone was sympathetic, sure that her friends would share the same remorse she felt, "we have lost a valued soul. I shall go make the pudding of sadness."

The guys shared with each other an odd mixture of feelings. Disgust for the mention of Tamaranian cuisine, sympathy for Starfire's hurt, and humor for the sheer absurdity of it all. She disappeared into the kitchen.

All eyes crept to Raven. "She'll be over it soon."

Beas Boy stepped forward and made a show of bowing and hugging the dark lady's legs, much to her dismay, "Thank you so much."

"Yeah..." Cyborg patted her on the back, "You saved us some trouble."

Raven made an effort to smile, uncomfortable with the contact.

----------

Later that evening, the group had split up in various places among the tower. Raven found herself having to be monitored still, however, and was miffed to say the least. She was getting sick, much as she loved her teammates, of the constant invasion of privacy.

At least it was Robin's shift. Raven could hear the sound of her own voice chanting the words she had used so many times. She had often though how odd they sounded, and at this point in her development, how useless. There was just something about that incantation that made her feel whole. Azerath had been where she picked it up, using it as a spiritual crutch until she had gained more control. Now, the girl could feel more connected to the place she had been a child in when she used those words... perhaps that was the reasoning behind them.

"Hey Raven," Raven was surprised. Robin was the one person who she could trust to NOT interrupt meditation. They where located just outside of Raven's room, sitting on the hall floor in the quiet of the tower. With anyone else, Raven would have ignored them or spoken tersely to relate her annoyance, but he was different. Convincing herself that it was just because this was the first occurrence of interruption, the dark girl answered.

"Yes?" Raven's tone was unusually thoughtful; certainly not the hollow voice Robin usually heard when she meditated.

"I wanted to know how you where doing..."

"Fine." Raven was about to go back to meditating when Robin grabbed her arm.

"You know what I mean, Raven. I told you I was going to help you, so I''m going to need you to make it less difficult." Both stared.

"What am I supposed to say?" Raven challenged.

"Nothing... Well, just acknowledge that there's a problem."

"Trust me, I have given a fair share of notice to this issue." Raven's voice was dry and a bit harsh.

Robin chose to ignore her moodiness, "Just tell me if something is ever wrong, okay?"

There was no answer.

"Raven?" Robin was peering into the empath's face as her eyelids snapped shut and her body slumped forwards.

Frantic, Robin grabbed the girl's shoulders. He had planned on calling for help but was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea.

"What's happening?" the boy wonder sputtered as he tried desperately to let go. The feeling got stronger and he could not help but fall under. Robin plummeted out of consciousness in an instant. He would join Raven the half demon, and two souls would face the terror of Trigon's reality this time.

-------

That was how they where found by a certain shapeshifter just a few minutes later. Beast Boy had stumbled upon the birds on his way to the kitchen and immediately shouted to the others. All three of them now stood over the two, unsure of what to do and utterly confused as to what had gone on.

Robin's fingers still clutched Raven's shoulders, and the two where slumped together against the wall: to the trained eyes of the team the two members where quite obviously alive. Still, their expressions where eerily blank.

"I do not understand," Starfire eyed Robin's clutched fingers, "Its like the contact made him go with her."

The idea seemed silly, but it was the only offer able explanation for Robin's lack of consciousness. The three looked uncomfortably at one another, worried. They had all tried to wake the other to, but to no avail.

"Maybe we should... move them to the infirmary," Beast Boy offered the grave suggestion.

The severity was realized then.

Sorry it's so short... I'm on vacation...