Authors Note: Originally this was going to be a one-shot but I kinda had a bet on with my sister that no one would review and if more than five people did then I would continue (I hate keeping my word). Not that I mind... this story just won't leave me alone... So a big thank you to...
Omnidolor- You have no idea how much it means to me that my first ever reveiwer was as insightful about my writing as you
GIRL IN STORY- Thank you! That's possibly the greatest compliment I could have got
AinoMinako- It was meant to be
cheeseshirt- Sarcasm rocks!
evilsangle- thank you
Setsuna Mudo- more bonding will come
PsychoMindGames-'A Quest of Scales takes a bow'
Disclaimer - Despite what the blue furry monkey people from Heshreel 7 may have told you I do NOT own the Teen Titans! And if you actually listen to those guys you are seriously weird (no offence to any blue furry monkey people or any one from Heshreel 7)
Throughout the Tower the alarms blared and lights flashed red. The Titans ran from their respective rooms… all but one…
In the living room Robin was leaning over a computer screen, quickly typing the instructions he had memorised to find out the cause and location of the disturbance. He barely looked up as he heard two other sets of footsteps, Cyborg and BeastBoy, the only others that couldn't fly. He knew that his team was awaiting instructions and confidently started to give out his orders before turning around.
"Titans! There's a robbery at the north-east jewellery district…" The Boy Wonders voice trailed to a halt as he realised one of his friends were missing. "Where's Raven?" The others swiftly turned around as if expecting her to walk through the door. Cyborg frowned, "Weird! She's one of the first here…"
With a worried expression behind his mask Robin pulled out his communicator.
"Raven? Raven where are you?" For the instant before she answered Robin felt panic flow through his veins. Which disappeared as soon as the ivory skinned sorceresses face appeared on screen, her trademark emotionless façade in place.
"Robin. Where's the trouble?" came her voice, with a suggestion of annoyance in her otherwise normal monotone. Robin felt himself answer automatically to her query.
"Castle Lane, North-East…" his voice stopped as he once more assessed the situation. "Raven where are you?" Robin almost winced as he heard the plea in his voice. Her eyebrow rose at his question before sarcastically replying.
"I do know people out of the Titans Robin… I'll meet you there," she cut of the call.
Robin turned to his team and shrugged, it was Raven and he didn't have tine to press the matter. "Let's get going."
As they walked out the door Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg, "Dude did she tell you about sneaking off?"
Cyborg shook his head unconcerned. Raven was smart enough to take care of herself and if she needed help she would've talked to him about it… he hesitated for a second. Wouldn't she?
Slade rose from his chair as Raven started to apologise.
"We'll have to finish the game tomorrow," Raven nodded as she prepared to phase out of the room. "Have fun," before she fell into her soul self Raven graced him with a small smile.
"Till tomorrow then," Slade smiled to himself as he collected her cup but left the game as it was. He paused as a thought entered his mind unbidden. What if she got hurt? The villain roughly pushed such thoughts out of his head. Raven was strong and even if she was injured she could heal herself… he almost jumped as a crash echoed throughout the room and prepared for the oncoming attack as he looked around. There was no one there… he looked at his feet. The mug was shattered, her undrunk tea pouring over the floor.
In an elegant twirl of his staff Robin sent the thug flying against the wall. He smiled slightly in satisfaction as he saw the thief slam against the wall and pass out. Perfect. He spun to see how his teammates were doing. Raven had just finished tying up one of the petty crooks with a lamppost, Cyborg was still blasting at two of them and was in no hurry to finish the job. Starfire and Beast Boy were watching from the sidelines, their victims already knocked out. Six normal criminals were no match for the Teen Titans, this was target practice… Robin shook his head as Cyborg took out the remaining crooks and shouted his catchphrase.
"Booyah!"
Robin started to walk towards the rest of the team as Raven used her telekinesis to bring the unconscious thugs together… or mostly unconscious…
"I told you we should've listened to Slade…" At the sound of his arch-nemesis's name Robin turned, grabbing the floating thug out of Ravens magic he slammed the attempted thief against a wall.
"What? What did Slade tell you?" Behind his mask Robin glared at the criminal, who obviously wasn't a complete imbecile from the way he flinched at the teenagers hostility.
"N-nnoo… he'll kill me…" Robin took a step back allowing the thug to fall to the floor, the man whimpered as the teenager extended his staff and pointed it at the villains throat in one smooth, calculatingly threatening move.
"Slade isn't here right now… I AM!" Robins voice had turned cold, measured… and far more threatening because of it. His friends nervously glanced at each other… they all knew who that tone reminded them of… Slade.
"… please don't hurt me!" the man was reduced to pure terror as Robins voice struck a chord that he thought only Slade could. The teenager wasn't satisfied with breaking the guy and repeated his question in an even colder cadence.
"Tell me what Slade told you…" the Boy Wonder left the 'or else' unsaid, his instinctive skill at threats not going unnoticed by the other Titans. The man completely broke, no longer caring that he had three feet height and a lot of muscle over the teen hero.
"H-he sent out a message… the whole community…" Robin shook his head dismissing the mans attempt to please him with excess information.
"What did he say?" Robins voice was barely a whisper but the thug shuddered at the anger behind it.
"He said that if anyone did anything between 4 and 6 in the morning they'd answer to him… e-especially if they attracted the Titans attention… no one who's anyone goes against that big shot but we thought… if we're careful… you wouldn't get called and he wouldn't get angry…" the criminal continued to blabber on only stopping at Robins curt gesture to stop.
"When did he say this?" His voice began to return to normal as he gained the information he wanted. Sensing this the gauy began to relax, believing for the first time that he might survive this interview.
"About a week ago I think…"
"You think?" The thug squealed from Robins anger at his vague answer and hastily tried to repair the damage.
"A week! It was a week ago! Please don't hurt me!" Robin stood up and with drew his staff. Without looking at his horrified friends he started to walk away from the crime scene, before he'd gotten a few steps he remembered his duties and called back instructions to his second-in-command over his shoulder.
"Cy take these guys to jail," the teen nodded at his friend and screwed up his courage enough to ask the million-dollar question…
"What about you man?" Robin walked over to where his red stood balanced on its kickstand and in one practised move threw himself over it and turned it on. He other circumstances he may have smiled at the engines immediate roar but this time merely scowled, not even bothering to turn round at Cyborgs concern.
"I need to find out what's so important about the early morning." He answered in a monotone that could have rivalled Ravens. Alas the only team member foolish enough to argue with Robin in this mood spoke up…
"Dude it's Slade!" came Beast Boys emotion fuelled cry. Cy winced as Robin slowly put on his helmet, his voice clearly cutting through both the headgear and the roar of his motorbike in a voice holding only the merest of threats.
"So?" Even Beast Boy could take a hint some times and nervously laughed with one hand running through his hair.
"ehh… good luck?"
Robin didn't bother to answer and tore along the street, his motorbike rearing up on its back wheel as the boy wonder recklessly accelerated.
Cyborg turned to the dark empathy, his pleading clear in his one human eye. She nodded once,
"I'll make sure he gets home," Raven smiled slightly at her friends' obvious relief. "Don't worry…"
Despite the fact that her soul-self didn't have lungs Raven sighed. She'd been watching Robin ride around on his motorbike down roads she'd never seen before for the last hour and she was getting very fed up of watching the Boy Wonder aimlessly race through half of Jump City as if Slade was just around the next corner. She winced at that thought, she knew exactly where Slade was… maybe she should tell her friends? No they'd never understand. She just needed to spend some time in company that wasn't raging with hormone-induced emotions, someone that understood silence wasn't always bad… granted it was a little weird that someone was Slade but… Raven was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts as she know longer heard the familiar roar of Robins motorbike beneath her.
Franticly she looked around, hoping that she hadn't lost him in her reverie. She was startled to find they were no longer in the city and almost turned back before she spotted Robin by the side of the road. She phased down to the field gate he was leaning against. Robin didn't even glance in her direction and stared up at the barely visible stars. She walked over to his side waited for him to start talking.
"Are you going to stop following me?" Raven risked a glance at her friend. His face seemed almost peaceful as he starred up at the night sky but she knew him far too well to miss the storm of emotions behind his words. Without thinking she placed her hand on his shoulder and felt him relax slightly at the comfort he so desperately needed.
"What's wrong Robin?"
"Raven…" she felt his pain, shame, hatred and anger as it poured off him in waves. Gently she encouraged him.
"Yes?"
"Sometimes…" Robin drifted off once more,
"Robin I'm here, you can talk to me." Raven kept her voice soft as she berated him for not trusting her. Robin continued to stare at the sky, his expression not changing as his voice faltered.
"…sometimes I think I'm turning into that bastard…"
Raven understood. She knew what it was like to fear you were turning into someone you hated. She also knew what Robin was really afraid of and how to reassure him.
"Robin we are your friends. We care about you. Nothing will change that," the two teenagers stood for a few minutes in silence. Till Ravens internal clock informed her of the time. It was getting late… the others would start to worry… The young sorceress glanced at Robin
"Do I need to drag you home?" Robin winced as he remembered the reason Raven had followed him here and hung his head in shame.
"… was I that bad?"
Raven gently shook her head, there was no need to tell him who he had resembled when he was angry... especially after his confession.
"They worry too much…" For the first time in their conversation Robin looked at her, feeling some of his confidence creep back into his spirit at the sight of her amethyst eyes. He smiled as a thought crossed his mind… and walked over to his bike.
"Want a ride home?" Raven paused, if she said yes then she could ensure he would make it home without any possibility of him losing her... on the other hand she'd seen him drive that thing...
Robin grinned beneath his helmet at Ravens hesitation, his confident facade once more in place. He knew exactly how to make her agree…
"I promise I won't go too fast…" Raven scowled. How dare that mortal imply she was afraid!
Without thinking she stormed over to the bike and sat down behind him keeping her arms carefully by her sides. Robins grinned widened beneath his helmet as they sped away. Instinctively Raven curled her arms round Robins chest to stop from falling off. She tensed as she realised who she had grabbed… then relaxed, letting her head fall against his back as she realised she trusted him to get them home. Robin felt the days tension drain from him as the girl behind him relaxed.
All thoughts of hatred slowly left as the universe shrank to just the two birds, both of them perfectly content for one of the few times in either of their tragic lives. Both at ease in each others company, the only sounds the dual roar of motor and wind, both allowing the walls surrounding them to fall, leaving them unguarded, defenceless and neither caring... the ride home didn't last long enough for either of them…