Raventhedarkgoddess: I am bored. Bored is insperation. So here we go.

Chapter Eight: Unafraid

Raven staggered down the steps, still in her black nightgown. She was trying hard to ignore the tear stains on her face from crying all night over her fight with Robin. Her sleep had been troubled and jumpy. Making sure the other Titans weren't awake to see her and question her, she crept into the living room.

Raven stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Lecita and Cyborg. One of Lecita's hands had clutched around one of Cyborg's, and both looked peaceful. Raven, for the sake of Lecita, decided to wake her up before she woke herself up in Cyborg's arms. Raven shook her arm lightly. "Lecita," she called in a whisper.

Lecita's eyes fluttered open. She looked around, wondering why she wasn't laying down on her corner of the couch, and then looked down to see that one of her hands had wrapped itself around something: Cyborg's hand. She looked up into the face of her sleeping crush and quickly slipped backwards, moratly embarressed. Raven soundlessly motioned her into the kitchen.

"So, what happened back there?" Raven asked when they both stood in the kitchen of Titan Tower. Lecita stared at her rather blankly. The enchantress waited patiently, fixing two mugs of tea on the low counter.

Lecita finally found her voice and began to sputter weakly. "Excuse me? Was that implied or something? Raven, nothing happened." Her face blushed at what she now realized to be an implied tone in the other girl's voice. "I kinda fell asleep and Cyborg must have..." She trailed off, unsure of what she wanted to say.

"Well, Lecita, at least you know he cares about you at least somewhat," Raven said, fighting to keep the cold monotone of her voice from becoming bitter. Unlike me and Robin, she thought in her head anyway. Robin's face flashed into her mind and she let out a half-hearted sigh. She thought of him in the rain the previous night and regreted saying anything to upset him.

"Yes, now I have to tell him..." How, she thought, do I think I'm gonna do that? "Er...Thanks for everything, Raven, you saved us both a lot of embarressment." Lecita, feeling nervous and yet feeling better than she had in weeks,grabbed her mug of tea and took the steps two at a time to dress for a new day. Raven sighed and took her own mug slowly up the steps, knowing that she needed to dress and meditate for the day ahead, which would prove difficult.

Cyborg blinked twice, cautiouly sitting up and finding that his arms were positioned as if he'd been holding someone all night. Then he remembered that Lecita had been there when he went to sleep because he had tried to comfort her. Shit, he thought to himself. What if she thinks I'm a freak or something now? Wouldn't be the first time, he added as a bitter afterthought. Deciding not to think about it, he crept past the sleeping Anna and out of the living room to make breakfast for the team, absentmindly making pancakes and bacon.

Breakfast that day was chaos. "Dude, where's my tofu? Cy, what are you thinking about to forget my tofu?" Beast Boy stared at him demandingly. Starfire put one hand on Beast Boy's shoulder, trying to tell him without talking to calm down.

"Calm down," Robin said vaugly, his head down, pouring over the notes Raven had given him on Slade. "Raven, this is fantastic. How did you figure this all out?"

Raven gulped deep in her throat. She had no real intention of talking to Robin and already he was trying to get back in her good book. Feeling close to having a slight breakdown, she spoke carfully. "Nowhere, really. It's just mapped out on the leads you told me about." There, maybe I can do this, she thought to herself.

"I'm sorry about the tofu, man," Cyborg said, not really paying attention to anything. He was staring at Lecita, who was talking to Anna quietly. Lecita caught Raven's eye with worry, and Raven returned it soundlessly. Cyborg saw the whole team falling apart quietly. Raven and Robin have got to get back together, he thought to himself. And I need to quit relationship obbsessing, he told himself.

"Well, I think we're going to wait until tonight to get started. If you need me, I'll be in my room," Robin said, and sulked off. As soon as the door to his room shut, he dropped his calm look and fell upon the bed, tired from lack of sleep. Talking to Raven is so hard, he thought. Everything she said about me... She had it all right. She sees what I don't want to. He groaned. Don't think about her, he told himself sternly, then saw her face clearly as ever in his mind.

Raven sighed at about the same time Robin had groaned. This is pointless, she thought. We've got to work this out. But.....I can't. Emotions flooded her where she stood. She was confused, upset, and feeling faint, but she would not be able to let him know that.

Fearless, she thought. That's what people think of a hero as. Fearless. Unafraid. Well, I don't think they realize that we all get scared sometimes. She reclined her head back agenst her seat at the breakfast table and ate her breakfast pickily, leaving an almost full plate when they she finally left the table.