Chapter three

As soon as the door to titans tower opened, the sound of giggling was heard radiating down the hall. Raven cringed, looking down. Starfire grabbed the girls arm and pulled her along.

"Star," droned Raven, calmly. "Please let me go."

"You wish to not make it obvious?" whispered Starfire, her eyes darting from side to side. "Then do not stand there looking as if a Glorthanian has speared you."

"I…wasn't," Raven answered feebly. Starfire raised her eyebrows.

"Yes you were," she confirmed, nodding. "Now, you must face it. Come."

"I don't want to," Raven whispered, feeling her knees start to crumble. Why was she feeling so pathetic? She was the strong one, but she felt so vulnerable. She swallowed as the Tameranian gave her a hug. Raven didn't respond.

As Starfire began to walk along again, Rae trailed slowly behind, trying to remember how to act normal. She folded her arms beneath her cloak and tried to have a blank face.

As she entered the main room, she blinked twice to clear her head then held her head high and walked straight in. Terra and Beastboy were hugging on the sofa and whispering, occasionally giggling together.

Raven looked to the side and wandered over to the kitchen area, as Star hummed and got some stuff out and began to clang around pans. Rae perched on one of the stools coolly, occasionally risking glances at the two.

"Friend Raven," Star said, cutting into her thoughts. Raven looked up. "Would you wish to help me?"

"Uhh," Raven eyed up the mess which Star was pushing around and raised her eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

"I am making a cake for Robin! He has been so busy recently that I have not seen him for so long."

"Well, I guess that's alright. What do you want me to do?"

"Fetch the mustard and the pepper!"

Raven masked her gagging reflex and did as she was told. But the pity took over as she handed the ingredients to the happy alien girl.

"Umm, Star?" she said evenly. "Are you sure that you should put those in a cake?"

"Why not? Mustard is most delicious, and surely Robin will appreciate this."

'Robin will appreciate anything you give to him,' Rae thought wistfully. She nodded and leant against the back counter as a peal of laughter came from the couch. She looked sideways at the two and felt her grip on the counter tighten.

Starfire's pot of mustard exploded all over her. The pepper flew up into the air and disintegrated, causing the girl to sneeze with horrendous results.

The whole of the counter was covered in soot as Star rubbed her nose gently, and Raven looked up, mustard all over her shoes.

There was a ripple of laughter from the couple.

"Star," Beastboy spoke for the first time since they had entered the room. "You aren't supposed to squeeze the bottle that tightly!"

"I…did not," Star whispered, turning around and looking at Raven, who had pleading in her eyes. The alien took pity on her.

"I mean, yes, I was terribly stupid. It shall not happen again!" exclaimed Starfire brightly, and very convincingly. Beastboy chuckled, and slung his arm casually over Terra who patted him gently.

"Hey, Rae," Terra cut in. "You might want to help her clean up."

"I'm not a maid," shot out of Ravens mouth before she could stop it. "And don't call me Rae."

"Wow, ouch. I think I hit a nerve," mocked Terra, in a sickeningly sweet voice. "Sorry!"

Raven's face was hot and she felt the throbbing of her temple. But she held herself together. "Yeah, whatever. Come on Star, lets go."

"What? Where are we—"

But before she could protest, Star was dragged out of the room. As the door closed behind them Raven heard the voice of Terra.

"What's her problem?"

"Who knows," Beastboy answered, showing no trace of concern. "She's just like that sometimes. You have to accept it."

Raven had heard enough. She pushed Star out of the way and walked off down the corridor, leaning against the wall and sinking to her knees.

"I need to go meditate. It's no good."

"Raven, do not fear. That was handled…well considering your predicament."

"Well!" Raven growled, sarcastically. "I nearly blew up the kitchen!"

"That is not your fault."

"It is. I just can't stay here anymore. I have to leave. I have to leave the Titans."

Starfire froze as if she had been slapped around the face. "Please repeat yourself?"

"I have to leave. Go, disappear."

"NO!" Star gushed, picking her friend up and hugging her. "Why should you leave? You are part of our team! Part of us!"

"But I might blow them up," Raven protested, shaking her head. "It's no good. They're my powers, they're my problem. There is no reason why I should jeopardise their happiness. That would be both pointless and unfair. Who am I to dictate their lives?"

"You are our friend! You are part of our team," Star reiterated. But Raven wouldn't listen. "I'm sorry, Star. Tell Robin and Cy I'm sorry."

"I cannot let you leave!" Starfire wailed, tears in her eyes. "Beastboy would never forgive me."

"Of course he would. He won't even notice I'm gone."

Star knew he would. And she knew that the titans would never be the same again. But she also knew Raven was her own person and had a right to leave when she felt like it. So she submitted and stepped back looking defeated.

Without another word, the goth girl stood up, pushed her titans communicator into Starfire's hand and strode away, her bedroom door closing for one last time.

-

Okay, I know that this is moving quite slowly, still I hope it will get better. Here's some replies for the people I value most! The reviewers! And if you don't review you won't get a reply, will you now?

Replies:

Greenlobster7878: Thanks! (:

X37: Thank you for your support. Yeah, it's a pretty bad situation at the moment. I just wish I could be what I can't – sort of like Raven does I suppose in this chapter.

Beastboyluver: SURE SURE SURE! (:

Aurora Maryte: Thanks for saying you like the story…but…it's a Raveast – which means it has BBxR type stuff going on. I respect your opinion on the whole TxBB thing – I personally am not a TxBB fan. Nevertheless I will not portray her as something she is not. I hope you still read anyway. Thanks for the review! (:

Porymon: Wow..thank you very much for your kind words (:

Moonchild10: Gracias! I love the storyline and the way that this story is unfolding in my mind. I appreciate the reviews!

DarkRavenna: Hehe! Your review made me laugh! I hope this chappy wasn't as morbid as I'd anticipated! It's all part of the story remember (;

Jackdaw: No problem. Review!

Dana1313: Thanks sweetie!

Cheryl: YEAH:lighter:

Gladdecease: I think you put a really long review up but it didn't show up (only on my mail) so I'm doing this out of memory. There wil be a later chapter based on BB, I promise. But at the moment, I need a few chappies to get readers to grips with Raven. Okay? Well thanks for the review anyway! Always appreciated!

Phew, well keep on reading! And sorry to any reviewers who I didn't reply to – these were the ones which showed up on so these are the reviews! I love you all, truly.

x Chibi x