On the other side of the city, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Robin were still searching for the girls. They had started with the only lead they had: Raven's favorite café. When she wasn't there, their only remaining option was to split up and search the city one sector at a time. Robin gave the T-Cycle a little more gas and loosened his grip on the clutch. The bike revved and seemed to beg for Robin to release the clutch the rest of the way and go. Cyborg nodded from where he sat in the T-Car. Robin had insisted that the search would go faster if he wasn't on foot and returned for his cherished bike. Cyborg now nodded at Beast Boy as he transformed into a hawk and launched into the air. Robin dropped the clutch and took off like a shot. Cyborg gunned the T-Car and went the other way as Beast Boy took to the skies. All three understood that if they didn't find the girls fast any number of their villainous enemies could find them first.

Nearly an hour into the search, Robin's locator finally went off. It had finally found the signal emanating from Starfire's locator chip. Seconds later, Cyborg's voice interrupted his thought process.

"Yo Rob! Did you see that?"

"Yeah, I did! We've got a lock on Starfire! Meet me there!" Robin replied into the built in walkie-talkie in his helmet. When they reached the middle of town, they were elated to find that indeed, Starfire was there, and so was ShadowFox.

"At least she wasn't alone! What's ShadowFox doing out here in this weather?" Beast Boy said, morphing back into human form. Parking the vehicles, the boys ran to their teammate.

When Starfire saw the boys, she nearly wept happy tears. She flew the rest of the distance between she and Robin and launched herself into his arms. Robin was so relieved to have found her that he held her tight and swung her in a circle.

"Don't you ever do that to m—I mean, us again! We were so worried! You could have been killed!" Robin cried. Starfire hugged Robin again and then hugged Cyborg and Beast Boy.

"We must find Raven! I believe that she may be in grave danger!" Starfire cried. She described to them how she planned to find Raven and avenge the wrong done to her by acting as her sister and defending her, and Robin's eyes narrowed.

"Have friends ever defended a girl in situations like this?" he asked, determination written in his handsome features.

"How about big brothers?" Cyborg added, squeezing his fists and punching one fist into his open opposite hand.

"Or boyfriends?" added Beast Boy, the hair standing up on the back of his neck as his lion form was just barely restrained beneath his being. ShadowFox offered to come along and help them, but the Titans graciously declined.

"You've sacrificed enough of your own mission time to come this far. We can find Raven on our own," Robin replied.

"Because I see that you care for Raven so much, I cannot forsake the rest of this mission. To do so would not be fair to her. You may find her faster with my help than without it," ShadowFox insisted. Robin nodded and commanded the team to split up and cover the city again.

"All right!" Beast Boy screeched, the last half of his cry drowned in the roar of a large lion. Cyborg dropped back into the T-Car and yelled, "Rock and Roll, baby! We're comin', Raven!"

"Starfire, you're with me," Robin said, climbing back on the T-Cycle. Starfire followed him by air and ShadowFox took off to the shadows again. All the teens saw was her jumping to a fire escape in a flash of lightning and then she was gone.

Far away, on the other side of town, Raven continued to walk through the city. Her eyelids were getting a little heavy, and she was beginning to wish she had planned her departure a bit better.

"There must be somewhere we can go," Raven murmured out loud. She stopped suddenly as though a thought had struck her and spoke again, "There is somewhere I can go but I just don't want to have to face them! I don't want their pity! I don't want their special treatment! I don't want the looks of 'oh Raven I'm so sorry!'! I...I..." Raven knelt down in the middle of the sidewalk and clutched the baby to her as she started to cry again.

"I just want my life back! I want my friends! I want to help Cyborg fix the car! I want to go to the mall with Starfire! I want to train with Robin! I ..." Raven shouted to the rain falling on her upturned face. The baby shrieked and started to cry along with her. "I want my boyfriend back! I want to see that look in his eyes again!"

Raven sobbed a while, letting the rain further soak her clothes and plaster her hair down on her head. "I guess I answered my own question, didn't I little one?" Raven sniffled. "Come on, let's go home."

When Raven arrived at Titans Tower, it was dark and empty. Raven called out to her friends but no one answered. "They must have been called away to a late night mission," Raven murmured. As she ascended the stairs to her room, her cloak dragged on the floor and finally pulled itself from her shoulders. She stopped for a moment and looked at it, but decided that right now, the baby was more important. She thus abandoned the cloak where it was, proceeding into her room. She pulled a soft blanket from the closet and rewrapped the baby in it. She laid out his wet blanket on her desk so that it would dry and then crawled in bed somewhat awkwardly, trying to accommodate both herself and the baby. When she finally found an equilibrium Raven fell easily asleep. As she drifted off she murmured, "I sure wish I knew your name...it would help to know what to call you."

Sunrise came sooner than the heroes anticipated and ShadowFox accompanied the exhausted Titans back to Titans Tower. Robin looked at their brave new friend and asked, "What is it you were looking for? Maybe we can help?" When Robin said this, ShadowFox turned away, hiding hot tears that slipped down her fair skinned face.

"What is wrong?" Starfire asked gently.

"It is my son," ShadowFox began. "He was kidnapped from his babysitter's home before my shift ended yesterday." The Teen Titans blinked in surprise.

"You're a mom?"

"You see, Robin, when I told you that in order to understand something you must feel it yourself, I was speaking from experience. I myself was attacked last year and my son, my Nicholas is the result. He is the reason I fight for young women and children in danger. I can't stand to see it happen to another person!" ShadowFox told them, fighting the anger from her voice. As the kids sat and quietly absorbed what ShadowFox just told them, she told them to go to bed and that she would stay and watch over the Tower. Too tired to argue, the kids complied.

As the group trudged up the stairs, Beast Boy turned back to fix ShadowFox with his shining green eyes and said, "Will you tuck me in again?" The Titans chuckled and ShadowFox managed a weak smile as she agreed. When they approached the bedroom level, a flash of dark blue caught Beast Boy's attention.

"Raven's cloak! Raven never leaves her stuff lying around! She has to be here! What if she's hurt again? She could be--" Beast Boy cried. Then, as if on cue, the sound of a baby sneeze echoed into the hallway. Daringly, Beast Boy opened Raven's bedroom door against his teammates' protests, letting light flood across the room and illuminate the bed, where sure enough, Raven was sleeping so hard that the light didn't seem to bother her. The Titans approached the bed and found the baby tucked in Raven's arms.

Behind them, ShadowFox gasped. "It can't be!"

"No way!" Beast Boy muttered.

"My son!" ShadowFox wept, breaking down as the Titans gently maneuvered the baby out of Raven's arms. They just barely managed to do so without waking Raven.

"Jinx and Gizmo took him from his babysitter and must have enlisted Genesis' help in distracting me while they got away," ShadowFox surmised.

"They saw us coming and left Nicholas there, maybe planning to come back for him later," Cyborg added.

"But Raven found Nicholas first and she took him with her," Starfire added proudly. The Titans bid their friend good bye and she left them, still cuddling her baby. Carefully, Beast Boy crawled up onto Raven's bed and touched her. "She's still so cold...she was out in the rain so long she wore herself out...Why did she think she had to leave anyway?" Beast Boy whimpered. The others followed suit and curled up on or around Raven's bed.

The sunlight and warmth woke Raven the next morning to find a large dog curled up protectively against her abdomen. The animal took up most of the space between her shoulders and hips and had soft green fur. It only took Raven a second to register what, or more precisely whom, it was. Looking beyond the dog, Raven noted an arm around her shoulder, holding her securely from the other side. Glancing toward her feet, a shock of long red hair and a purple uniform met her eyes. Over the edge of the bed she noted the back of a partly mechanical head resting against the side of her platform bed. Deeply touched, Raven took a deep breath and softly blew it out.

"How can they still like me after everything I've put them through?" she thought to herself.

Sensing that she was awake, the dog awakened, whimpered softly, and began to lick her face. Seconds later, Beast Boy rematerialized beside her. "You're okay!" he whispered. The others slowly awakened around her, taking turns hugging her and welcoming her home. Raven explained the events of the previous night: fearing the worst, leaving the tower, finding the baby, wandering with nowhere to go, then finally deciding to return to the tower. Beast Boy slid his arms around Raven and hugged her again.

"I'm glad you came back. We'd still be out there searching for you if you hadn't," he said.

"But why? I'm more of a danger to the team like this than I ever was," Raven murmured.

"No you're not, Raven, and even if you were, we wouldn't just abandon you!" Robin replied.

"Yes, Raven, do not despair. We will work through this together as a team...as a family," Starfire added.

"A family..." Cyborg repeated, "and a family never gives up on each other. They trust each other. We care about you, Raven and we need you to trust us to help you through whatever it is you need help getting through."

"Be proud, Raven. You, like your mother, chose life. She did not abandon you, and you did not abandon your child." Starfire commented gently.

Raven smiled softly as she looked at her friends. She was awed by their loyalty. She had never felt so loved. Raven leaned into Beast Boy's shoulder and laughed quietly.

"What is it, Raven?" asked Robin.

"I just realized something," Raven murmured. "I feel like I've had my first slumber party." The kids laughed with her and Raven accepted their hugs all over again. Cyborg was the first to sit back.

"Breakfast!! Who wants waffles?" he cried with glee. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg left the room quickly, bound for the kitchen. Beast Boy squeezed Raven's shoulders and took a deep breath as he held her for a while.

"I missed you," Beast Boy murmured, looking into her eyes.

"I missed you too," Raven replied, reaching up to caress Beast Boy's ear with her right hand. He leaned into it a bit and then covered her hand with his. He kissed her palm and then looked her in the eyes again.

"All I could think about out there was that all I wanted was one more day. One more chance to tell you..." Beast Boy seemed to ponder the wisdom of his words.

"Tell me what?" Raven whispered.

"I love you,"

Raven stared in shock. She took Beast Boy's face in her hand, pulled him to her and kissed him.

"I love you too!" she murmured. "I didn't realize it before now, but I do! All I wanted when I was out there was to be in your arms again. To see the look in your eyes again. I'm in love with you, Beast Boy!"

Sitting in contemplative silence, the two held each other until the happy sounds of their teammates making breakfast lured them downstairs into the sunlit kitchen. The sun had finally returned.