Lunatic: May I just say, HOLY JUMPING CHILI BEANS.

I check my email this wonderful morning and find so many reviews that I fall out of my chair as they spill forward from the screen and swamp me.

Well maybe I exaggerated a little bit, but STILL. I never expected that many people to like this fic. It was just a… thing.

Thank you, to everyone who reviewed, you have left me with very little humility and I shall now become an arrogant bastard. (Grins) Not that I wasn't already.

Someone inside the haze of fog was crying, and he couldn't find them. He couldn't see anything through the heavy mist that surrounded him. It stretched upwards and fell around him like a cold, wet blanket.

Occasionally through the stillness and the stifled sobs, he'd hear the sound of birds taking flight as he walked, and sometimes ran. The jarring, raucous calls of indignant crows, or ravens being disturbed from their perches. He could see them, their black shapes distorted by the fog that had settled all around them.

A tormented sob echoed through the silence again, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once.

"Where are you?" He cried desperately. He had been searching for this person for some time, wanting to ease their pain. But no matter what he did, the fog wouldn't dissipate and he would only end up back where he started.

The sob became a terrible scream of sorrow and agony, the sound of a heart that was dying. From the sound, he felt that the owner of the noise was being denied their very existence. A heart that could never find peace because a piece of them was missing, tortured into submission.

He tried running toward the source before it ended. It seemed to go on forever, and he felt tears of empathy begin in the corners of his eyes. The tortured scream of his query was filled with so much pain, a last resort before the silence fell. His footsteps became urgent.

His own scream of frustration mingled with the fading sound of the last agonizing echo. He wasn't getting anywhere!

"Raven where are you?" He screamed angrily. He stopped, and stared into the distance. Raven?

Robin jerked awake with a stifled gasp, cold sweat making him shiver. He'd been dreaming the same dream for weeks.

Usually it ended the same way: with his last cry of frustration as he realized that he wasn't really going anywhere. It left him with a terrible sense of failure and a bad mood the rest of the day. But this time…

Raven had been hiding in her room ever since the welcome back party. They only saw her occasionally when there was trouble, and even then she would disappear once it was over. For the first few weeks he had given her, her space and told the others to do the same.

He understood people like Raven (sometimes) and knew that they wouldn't get her to come out by bugging her constantly. People like her went at their own pace; anything else would only push them away.

But now, close to a month later, he was beginning to doubt his own decision. It seemed that Raven planned on staying in her room, away from the others, for as long as possible. It was selfish and frustrating.

Her seclusion was affecting the performance of the team.

At the last encounter they had with a villain, some maniac who could control metal, Starfire and the others had gotten so distracted by Raven's appearance that they had all been injured by rogue streetlights.

But their bruises and various scratches were nothing compared to the hurt they all suffered when, after the battle, she said not a word and returned to her room. Robin was getting angry.

It was one thing to leave, but it was something else to come back and just hide. Robin wasn't a coward, and he didn't approve of cowardice within his team. Sometimes she didn't even show up for a battle!

Robin angrily pulled on the last of his outfit, hardly realizing that he had been getting dressed the entire time he was thinking. It was roughly around nine in the morning, and he could hear the others were already awake,

In the living room, the TV was playing Beast Boy's cartoons, Starfire beside him, asking various questions about the manner of the show. Cyborg was humming as he made breakfast.

"But why does the coyote pursue this 'Road Runner'?" Starfire asked quizzically. She would never understand the concept of earth humor.

"Because Star, it's funny." Beast Boy groaned.

Robin stormed past them, mumbling to himself.

"Robin! Joyous morning to you friend!" Starfire beamed happily. He ignored her.

"Dude! What's gotten into you?" Beast Boy asked shocked. Robin never blew off Starfire, at least not when he could help it.

Robin stopped and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry Star, good morning." He glanced at the couch where Raven usually sat, reading her book and ignoring the noise of everyone else. She wasn't there.

"Hey Rob, eggs and bacon for breakfast?" Cyborg held up the skillet he'd been lovingly attending to.

"Dude! What happened to my tofu sausages?" Beast Boy cried angrily, vaulting over the couch to make sure that Cyborg hadn't trashed his meatless breakfast again.

"Eggs and Bacon sounds great Cy." Robin smiled wanly. He'd wait until later to confront Raven, when everyone was finished with breakfast and his absence would be less noticed.

Inside her room, Raven floated motionlessly. She'd been meditating constantly, trying to suppress this foreign emotion. She couldn't leave the Tower again, knowing that Robin would pursue relentlessly just to stifle his own conscience if she did.

But she couldn't rejoin the team in their everyday activities.

Being among them inspired within her such a deep and echoing sadness, that Raven wondered if her next breath wouldn't be her last. It also caused various explosions as her powers eluded her control.

She had to restore the balance within her mind and find a truce between her and her newest emotion. So far, her heart had resisted any attempts she made to stifle it.

Sighing, Raven drifted to the floor, and decided it was time for another visit to Nevermore.

She levered herself off of the black carpet and went to the mirror that was resting lazily on her dresser, avoiding the debris of objects she had destroyed. The mirror seemed to glower sinisterly at her, its demonic appearance a reflection of her heritage.

When she gazed into its depths, she didn't see her reflection, but the cold world of her mind.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zhinthos." She felt the familiar sensation of vertigo and fell into the physical world of her mind.

Nevermore was largely unchanged, although the sorrowful crying that she had been hearing ever since the day she left the Tower was still echoing tearfully. Raven shook her head with scorn.

She started down the rocky path to the first realm of her mind, the land of Happiness. This place had suffered greatly since the new emotion had arrived. Happy was fading, her pink cloak tattered and worn. She gave Raven a mirthless smile as clouds drifted overhead, obscuring the sunlight that usually warmed the realm.

Intelligence was waiting for her at the exit, a book in hand.

"She's right where you left her." The yellow clad figure said gently.

"She hasn't broken through?"

"How could she? She may be suffering, but her will is still your will. The balance is failing Raven." She pushed her glasses further up her nose and gave Raven a sorrowful look.

"You know I don't have a choice in the matter." She said expressionlessly. Another in silver robes spoke from behind her.

"But isn't there just one small chance… " She trailed off hopefully, as she should, since this was Hope.

"No." Raven said sternly. "In the circumstances, we have no other option." She turned back to Intelligence. "I need to speak with her."

"She won't change." The yellow clad figure said gently.

Raven gazed levelly at the inner reflection of herself, unmoved. She already knew what Intelligence was telling her, and it didn't change her intentions. The other Raven sighed and turned, leading the way to the one emotion they could not control.

Robin finished his breakfast slowly. He wasn't looking forward to confronting Raven about her behavior, but he couldn't let her keep hiding like this.

He remembered his dream, and the agony-filled screams that he had heard within his mind. He shivered gently.

The others were talking happily around him, discussing their plans for the day. Cyborg wanted to upgrade the T-Car, and was stubbornly refusing to let Beast Boy help him. Starfire offered to go to the 'House of Moving Pictures' with the small green boy, and invited Robin to come with them.

"Sorry, Star. I have something I'd like to do today." He mumbled distractedly. Starfire seemed disappointed, but brightened quickly.

"My I inquire about your plans for the day?" She asked cheerfully.

Robin stood from the table, unable to eat more than he already had. "Raven. She's been hiding for long enough, I plan on talking to her about it."

There was a shocked (and fearful) silence from the table. Cyborg dropped his fork.

"Are you sure? I mean it was your idea to let her come out at her own pace… " Cyborg, who faced any opponent without fear, gazed now at Robin with a mixture of horror and admiration. "Besides, she'll tear you apart!"

Robin smiled dryly. "I think I can handle her."

Standing later, in front of her door, Robin wasn't so sure. There was silence emanating from her room, and it only made to heighten his sense of creepy danger. Raven was unpredictable, and had a decidedly nasty temper. Given that he seemed to be the reason she was in so much pain, he wasn't sure that he was as safe from her anger as he might have been a month ago.

He knocked gently on her door. "Raven?"

The figure chained by black energy to the monolith looked up sadly as Intelligence and Raven approached. She was dressed in a cloak of white gold, which seemed to have dulled since the last time Raven saw it. When she had first encountered this 'Love' within her mirror, she had been shocked, and blinded by the intensity of it.

"Are you the one that's been doing this to me?" She asked levelly, but screams of outrage echoed through the world of her mind. She could hide nothing here.

The figure stood quietly in front of her, watching like a cat watches the mouse. "Yes."

"Get out."

They both knew that that wasn't an order she was about to obey.

"I'm your heart."

Raven shook her head. "Then I'll tear you out myself."

"Still prepared to tear me from your own chest?" She asked mockingly. Love could be bitter.

"Feels like it." Raven muttered angrily. "How do I-?"

"Give me what I want."

"No." Raven said sternly. "That's not an option."

"Then we have reached an impasse." The figure slumped, dropping her chin to her chest. Her wrists were bound by ropes of black energy, holding her where she knelt at the base of the tall black tower.

"Don't you hate him?" Said another voice behind her. Raven turned, and saw the one voice she had no patience for.

"Leave. This doesn't concern you." Raven pointed angrily, indicating that the red cloaked version of herself head in that direction.

She growled angrily. "Careful Rae, you're just going to get burned."

Raven watched darkly as the four-eyed darkness left, trailing behind it an aura of evil and hatred. Raven sighed. The appearance of Hatred confirmed why she felt angry whenever she was in Robin's presence. Hatred was blaming Robin for the appearance of 'Love' and the following pain that they were all suffering from.

She knelt beside the golden shape bound to the monolith. "Why him?" She whispered desperately.

"Because," the reflection of her raised its head and looked at the true Raven, their noses barely touching. "He's everything… you are not."

She stared at the broken figure in front of her. Her face hardened. "You're dying." She stood, and watched pitilessly as the golden clad shape sighed.

"I know." She looked up after a long moment and smiled at the merciless face of Raven. "Knock, knock, Raven."

Raven's eyes widened. A rapping noise was echoing through her mind, followed by a voice urgently calling her name.

"Robin." She hissed. Love smiled happily while tears of anguish made new tracks in the dust on her face.

"Yes." She said eagerly. "He's come to save you from yourself."

Raven scoffed. "Stop it. He's angry because I haven't shown my face in too long."

Robin knocked until his fingers hurt. "Raven I know you're in there!" He growled. There was still no response.

"Fine. Have it your way." He used one of the many gadgets on his suit, and picked the lock on the door. It opened with a tired sigh, revealing a dark, creepy, and very empty room.

"Where-?" He stepped in, searching the shadows for any sign of his gothic friend. She was nowhere to be seen. He was shocked by the amount of broken debris scattered across the floor. It looked like a battle had taken place within the room.

Then again, he thought dryly, it probably had.

After standing in the doorway, completely undecided as to what to do next. Raven's room was always off limits, and he respected this. But he couldn't just leave. Finally he figured that he might as well explore some. There might be something there to indicate what was going on.

While Robin was genuinely worried for Raven, he was also fairly angry with her. Raven was one of the few on the team with enough maturity to earn his honest respect and admiration. The way she handled herself gave the impression of character and intelligence. Robin liked that about her.

But the way she was acting, hiding herself in her room, was not mature or logically intelligent. It showed a clear disrespect for the friendship that she had with the rest of the team and an inability to cope. He wasn't going to let her keep ignoring them and trying to do this alone.

A mirror caught his attention, mainly because of its dark, decorative design. He'd picked it up while he thought angrily about her actions. His own face glared back at him.

"Raven where are you?"

"Behind you." She grabbed the mirror from his hand and slammed it down on the dresser with such force that he was surprised it didn't shatter. "This," she indicated the sinister looking-glass, "is not a toy."

Robin felt a little less confident now that he was faced with an angry Raven inside her room. She glared at him expectantly. It took him a moment to realize she was looking for an explanation.

He took a breath, trying to remember what he had meant to say. "Look, Raven, I'm sorry if I hurt you but you can't keep hiding in here, " she turned away from him, and paced to the middle of the floor, as if trying to shun his words, " … and wait, where did you come from?"

She sighed and didn't answer. "I told you the mirror's not a toy." She said again suddenly. How had she known he was looking at it suspiciously while he waited for an answer?

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"No."

"Are you going to come out of your room?"

"No."

He growled, striding forward without thinking to grab her wrist and spin her around to face him. "Raven that's enough! I know that you're in pain, but that doesn't give you the right to hurt the rest of us!"

She glared at him and pulled away. "I'm sure my presence isn't that greatly missed." She said sarcastically. "Get out of my room."

"No!" He cried indignantly. "Stop pushing me away! I'm trying to help you!"

He knew he'd gone too far when the room got darker. "Help me? Help me?" She came toward him, and Robin backed away instinctively. "Was that what you were doing the night I agreed to come home?" She never raised her voice, but he winced as if she had shouted.

"Raven, I said I was sorry." He replied evenly.

"You're impulsive, careless, arrogant and stubborn!" She yelled. She seemed a little surprised by her own outburst.

"Raven, I know- and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She rounded on him.

"Stop saying that!" Blackness was curling around her as she gave into one emotion or another.

"What?" He hated to admit it, but Raven was scaring him. He remembered Dr. Light, and backed away from her.

"Stop telling me you're sorry for something that I wanted you to do!" She yelled. She sank back from him, the darkness abating. She put her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

"So you did leave because of me." He said sadly. He could see her emotionless facade wavering, and he caught a glimpse of the pain beneath it. "Raven, I'm sorry." He said truthfully. He reached out to her, wanting desperately to save her from her pain.

She pulled scornfully away from him, regaining herself. "Stop it Robin." She was looking away from him, off to the side. "You can't save everyone." Her voice was soft, vulnerable. Robin felt that same desire rising in him again, and drew away from her quickly before he made the same mistake twice.

"Get out." She said firmly, her monotone back in place. He nodded, his head spinning, and retreated to the light of the hallway. The door slammed shut in front of him.

On either side of the door, two stubborn teenagers leaned against it and sighed.

Lunatic: (Laughs hysterically) These kids crack me up.

I had so much trouble writing about Raven's pain. It's hard to convey it because it's got so many contradictions in it. Love is like that. If you've ever loved someone and been unable to show him or her, unable to have him or her, then you'll be able to understand how stuck she is. It hurts a lot, to deny yourself.