Lunatic: I re-watched the Apprentice series and Aftershock, just to get a better feel of Robin's personality. I think I've been writing him a little more emotional and a little less authoritative than he typically is. Must fix. Anyways, Raven isn't going to stick around.

Cyborg rummaged in the fridge, throwing away the moldy food along with some of Beast Boy's horrible tofu. He was sure it would cause an argument in the morning, but the less BB had to sneak on his plate, the better.

He checked the time piece built into his arm. Almost twelve. He should start re-charging, if he didn't then he would be up late and Beast Boy would have a perfect opportunity to make breakfast. Him or Starfire, Cyborg couldn't decide which was worse.

Yawning, he turned on the security system, and headed for bed. The door opened from the living room and he nearly walked into a small dark figure.

"Oh, sorry- Raven!" He was genuinely surprised to see her. He smiled. "I was wondering when you snuck out to eat."

She gave him a bland look. "I haven't been."

He stared at her. "You mean you haven't-?"

"Time doesn't pass in Nevermore." She walked past him to the kitchen. "Why else do you think I'm here now?"

He followed her, shrugging. "Makes sense." He watched her as she began gathering all types of food from the fridge. His eyes widened as she gathered more food than he usually ate in a day.

"Uhm… are you going to eat all that?"

She placed it all on the counter, kicking the fridge shut behind her. "What else am I going to do with it?" She knew he was wondering why she gathered so much. Raven usually ate what she had to, and not much else. But like he said, she hadn't been eating much at all the past month.

Her argument with Robin had left her shaken. It wasn't because she feared she had hurt him, it was because her admission that she actually enjoyed the kiss had sent her emotions into a frenzy. Stating the truth was different than knowing it.

Stating the truth was the same as accepting it.

She sighed, staring blankly at the food in front of her. She wasn't hungry anymore. "Never mind. You can have it."

He stopped her before she could get very far. Cyborg's face was unusually serious. "No, Rae. Sit down. I'll make you something."

A few minutes later she was reluctantly eating the biomechanical athlete's best dish of bacon, eggs, and toast. She nibbled the crust, feeling an unmistakable ache where her hunger should've been.

Cyborg watched her. "Raven, what's up?"

"It's nothing." She didn't look at him, only continued to nibble half-heartedly at her meal.

"It's obviously something." He let the silence stretch between them, until he realized she wasn't going to elaborate. "You may not think it, but we all miss you. It's not right, someone locking themselves up for weeks at a time. I know Starfire's been standing outside your room, waiting for you to come out." His one human eye was filled with so much concern and compassion, that Raven feared she might break down and tell him everything.

She was so tired of being alone.

But she didn't have any other choice.

"I know. I've felt her there." She didn't answer his question. Cyborg knew that if Raven didn't want to tell you something, you weren't going to hear about it.

"Will you be here in the morning?" He asked. "Will you come out of your room for me?" He smiled at her.

She sighed. "I'm not making any promises."

Raven stood and left for her room, thinking quietly. Cyborg was right, and so was Robin, as much as she hated to admit it. She couldn't stay in her room, hurting them with her absence. This cowardly hiding from them wasn't like her. She always faced the truth and did her best to accept it; it was one of her strengths.

She stared resolutely into the mirror on top of her dresser. It was a normal mirror, showing her, her blank reflection. She was pale, her short violet hair limp around her face from lack of care.

"I'm in love with my team leader. And I can't hide from it forever." She said sternly. She felt the blood in her veins rushing violently, like the roar of an angry crowd. Vertigo followed shortly after, followed by nausea and a spinning discomfort in her head.

She groaned, putting her hands on her temples to make the room stop spinning. She could hear someone laughing in her mind, laughing and crying together. Black energy spread from her shaking fingers and spread around the room, finishing off anything that wasn't already broken.

She started to fall, weakness spilling through her legs and making them useless. "Should've… eaten the dammed… food." She gasped and fell into unconsciousness.

Later that morning, Cyborg decided he would get Raven himself. She may not have made a promise, but he wasn't going to let her hole up in her room anymore. Robin seemed to have survived his encounter with her, and it had gotten her to come out that night. Maybe that meant he could convince her to come out and spend time with the rest of them.

He reflected briefly on the fact that Robin hadn't left his thinking room since his argument with Rae. Everyone knew they'd been fighting, their yells could be heard all through the tower. Beast Boy had wanted to go and find out what they were fighting about, but Cyborg recognized a moment when it would be fatal for the little green dude to get involved.

He knocked on Raven's door. "Rae? I know you didn't make any promises but…" The door swung open gently at his touch.

"Uh… " It wasn't like her to leave her door unlocked. Maybe she was already in the living room?

Just as he turned to leave, he noticed the terrible state that the room was in. Everything was broken, the bed sheets were torn, even the walls sported unhealthy cracks.

"Whoa." He stepped into the darkness, reaching to turn on the light until he realized that that too was broken. As he surveyed the damage, he noticed a soft shape collapsed in front of the dresser.

"Raven, no!" He went to her, kneeling down beside her limp form. "I told you, you should eat." He scolded gently. Beside her was the mirror to Nevermore, whole and unbroken. It glimmered slightly and Cyborg shivered, remembering the darkness inside her.

"Come on, let's get you to the Med. Lab." He picked her up, one arm beneath her shoulders, the other in the crook of her knees. He was a little startled by how light she was.

Robin stared, unseeing at the wall, arms folded in front of his chest. Slade's mask hung in front of him, mocking his inability to sort his own emotions.

Why did he feel like he had to be close to her, had to take her in his arms and-

He shook his head, growling. This happened every time he thought about how vulnerable she looked, with her eyes full of emotions. She was Raven. She was his teammate, nothing else.

He had no right to abuse that.

His communicator startled him as it beeped lazily from its position on his belt. He was greeted by Cyborg's worried frown when he answered.

"Cyborg, what's wrong?"

"Raven, I have her in the Med. Lab." He turned to look at something behind him and there was a ruffling noise as double-checked something. "I thought at first it was because she told me she's been eating sporadically, if at all, but Robin, her vital signs aren't right."

Robin straightened from where he'd been leaning on his desk, worry creasing his face. "Is she all right?"

"That's the weird thing. According to the machinery, she should be walking and talking, not laying comatose on a hospital bed." Cyborg said frantically. "I have no idea what to do."

"I'll be right there." He turned off the communicator, heading at a run to the living room.

The side door opened, revealing a quieter-than-usual main living area. Starfire and Beast Boy were listlessly watching TV. They caught his worried expression.

"Friend Robin, what troubles you?" Starfire asked gently. Robin shook his head, he didn't want to stop and explain.

"Follow me to the Med. Lab, I'll tell you on the way."

Five minutes later, they arrived, out of breath from running down the stairs, at the entrance to the white, sterile room. Robin continued to where Cyborg was standing next to Raven, taking her pulse for the hundredth time.

"I don't understand it." He mused quietly. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was faking it, but this is Raven, she doesn't pull stuff like that." He glared at Beast Boy, who had once done something similar as an April Fools' joke.

Beast Boy grumbled something about people who couldn't take a joke.

"Are you sure the machine's are working?" Robin asked. He was already taking control of the situation, thinking of solutions and possible answers. It was that trait in him that made him the leader.

Cyborg nodded helplessly. "I even took them apart to check the circuitry. There's nothing wrong with them."

Robin glanced at the unmoving shape of Raven, her hair and cloak spread around her as she lay lifelessly on the hospital bed. There were a few wires here and there, the accused vital monitors. Her face was blank, her eyes closed.

Robin began to get that strange feeling again, the one that had made him kiss her the first time. The edgy Raven, always ready with a blank stare or witty remark was left defenseless. He frowned deeply at himself.

Raven was a teammate, and a friend. They'd never been very close. He didn't think anyone was close to Raven. They were the two levelheaded members of the team. She was his responsibility as a leader of the team, but she wasn't anything more than that.

He glanced out the door at Starfire, who was looking in with a concerned expression. He'd had this debate before, when Starfire had arrived, ignorant to all the customs of Earth. He had shown her and taught her what she needed to know. Her naiveté charmed him, as did her innocent belief in the goodness of other people. But he couldn't cross that line between friend, and something more.

He sighed. "Is there any way we can wake her up?"

Cyborg started to shake his head, but stopped suddenly. "Wait… there may be a way we can reach her… "

Beast Boy entered the room, pointing an accusing finger at his mechanical buddy. "Oh no you don't, Raven said it's not a toy, and for once, I agree with her. That place creeps me out."

"What?" Robin shifted between looking at Cyborg, who was glaring, and looking at Beast Boy, who was also glaring.

"Raven's mirror." Cyborg said, still challenging Beast Boy with his gaze. "It's a portal into a physical representation of Raven's mind. If BB can find her there, we might be able to help her."

"What? ME! No way, I am not going back in there!" Beast Boy raged sullenly.

"Come on man! You know where to go, since we've been there before, it may be the best chance we have to help her, and I have to stay here and work the equipment!" Cyborg gestured to the unconscious Raven, her contradictory vital signs drawing themselves on the screen beside her.

"Uh-uh, you are not getting me in there!" Beast Boy cried.

"No." Robin interrupted their argument, a level of guilt and responsibility spurring him into action. "I'll go."

Both of them stared at him. "Robin, it'd be better if we-"

Robin cut him off. "No. This is my fault to begin with. I'll help her."

Cyborg stared at him, thinking. He knew he wouldn't be able to change Robin's mind. And Beast Boy would probably screw up anyhow, given his reputation and relationship with Raven. He sighed. "You sure?"

Robin nodded.

"All right BB, go get it." Beast Boy, looking immensely relieved, headed back up the stairs.

Robin stood beside Raven, determination on his face. "What do I need to know?"

Lunatic: Heh, since this feels like a climax, I guess I'll make it the climax. And so it starts DUN DUN DUN.

Hm should I leave the next chapter until I get back on the 29th or shall I put it up for all of you? Hm, choices choices…