Disclaimer: Still don't own Teen Titans.

A/N: There are always loopholes. No matter how absolute something might seem, there's always some way to try to get around it. Out of curiosity, did anyone see this coming?

Demon Hunters

Chapter 21: A Slight Exception

Beast Boy stabbed at his scrambled tofu with unusual malice.

"Whoa, what's wrong, man?" Cyborg asked, grabbing the fork from him before he could break the plate. "What happened? You usually love breakfast."

"I lost my appetite," Beast Boy grumbled, pushing his plate back.

"Ohh, I know," Cyborg teased, raising his eyebrows. "Something happened in Raven's room, right? You went in to get her, and you came out in a bad mood. You didn't fall into any alternate dimensions or anything, did you?"

"No, it's nothing like that," Beast Boy assured him, remembering their escapades with Raven's meditation mirror. "I just can't believe Raven would just give up her emotions."

"It is not as though she has a choice."

The two boys turned towards the speaker and remembered that Starfire was also at the breakfast table, and clearly able to hear their conversation.

"Star's right," Cyborg agreed. "Even if Raven wanted her emotions back, how could she get them? And can she even want them? Wouldn't that be an emotion."

"Agh!" Beast Boy threw his hands in the air. "I don't know. I just feel like there's something really wrong with all of this." He slumped down in his chair. "And it makes me mad that I can't do anything about it."

A light bulb shattered over the table, sending glass flying into everyone's food.

"What was that?" Robin demanded, jumping to his feet.

"I-I suppose it was me," Raven whispered.

They all turned to see her standing at the hall entrance to the dining room. Her fists were clenched in barely contained rage and she was trembling slightly.

"Raven!" Beast Boy jumped up and ran to her. "Are you okay?"

Immediately, Raven relaxed. Her face took on a look of concern. "Yes. I mean, I am now."

"What happened?" Robin asked, but everyone could hear the relief in his voice.

"I'm not sure," Raven replied slowly, but her voice echoed his relief.

Starfire drifted over and tentatively touched Raven's shoulder. "I am glad you are unharmed."

"I'm glad too," Raven said, smiling.

"Hey, you've got your emotions back!" Cyborg said, pointing at her smile.

"Not exactly." Raven closed her eyes for a moment, and shifted her power, dampening her empathy. Slowly, the giddiness Starfire was radiating faded. She frowned. "I could feel your emotions through my empathy."

"Whoa." Beast Boy's face matched the shock in his voice. "Does this always happen to you?"

"No," Raven replied flatly, massaging her temples. "I suppose my own emotions usually drown all of this out. I'm usually just aware of how you feel. I don't usually experience it." She drew her hood over her head and unintentionally scowled out at all of them.

"So…" Beast Boy said awkwardly, trying to fill the silence that stretched out after Raven's statement. "How about that breakfast?"

"I think our breakfast is a little cold… and full of glass," Cyborg said, poking some scrambled eggs that gave off a crunching, clicking sound.

"Sorry about that," Raven said, waving her hand at the breakfast table. Encased in black, the dishes swept themselves over to the sink, where Raven's magic began washing and drying them.

"Are you sure it's okay to use your powers like this?" Robin asked.

"I have better control over my powers than ever, Robin," she told him, sending another wave of magic to start a new batch of breakfast. "This morning was just… well, I wasn't prepared to feel your emotions that strongly."

"Is it possible that your powers are getting stronger?" Starfire asked, watching the adroit ease with which Raven manipulated the dishes and the food.

Raven nodded. "It certainly seems that way."

Breakfast was finished shortly, and the Teen Titans sat down to eat. No one was eager to continue talking about any touchy subjects (and risk losing another breakfast), so the conversation was restricted to a playful debate about the relative merits of scrambled tofu.

"It just does not make the sense," Starfire said, waving her hands in the air to emphasize her point, as she had seen Beast Boy do, on occasion. "Why not eat the scrambled young of the fowl? It is very tasty!" She sat down, concluding her speech with a nod to Cyborg, who quickly applauded.

Beast Boy scowled with feigned anger and waved Cyborg's applause away. With an ahem, he stood up and began a long, drawn out speech about the health benefits of tofu.

Raven snuggled into her chair and watched Beast Boy speak. It was nice of her friends to put on this show for her. Somehow, without actually talking about it, they had all somehow agreed to distract her from her problems, at least for a little while.

Beast Boy paused dramatically and his eyes drifted down to Raven's.

She felt her heart beat, thudding faster in her ears.

He held her eyes and stumbled over his next sentence.

"And that's why, uh, why it's, it's important to uh remember to eat tofu," he finished lamely, collapsing into his seat.

Raven blushed and then caught herself. She pushed her magic back into place, realizing that she had let it slip. You don't make mistakes like that anymore, she chided herself. Which means… she gulped, and admitted it. Which means that some part of you wants to feel something.

Raven stood up from the table. She gave her friends a solid smile; they deserved at least that much. "I'm going to go meditate for awhile," she told them.

The nodded speechlessly at her, and allowed her to run off. But instead of going to her room, she went to the rooftop of the tower. She sat on the edge and looked out across the water, hoping she would be able to resist this new temptation.

She had only been there a few minutes before she felt a fly buzzing near her.

"Drop the act, Beast Boy," she said without any malice. With a touch of her power, she reached into his mind and forced him to resume his normal shape.

He landed with a thud next to her. "Hey," he protested, "You haven't done that since that guy in the book-"

"I haven't done it lately," Raven interrupted, "Because I haven't had so much power, and so much control. So what brings you here?"

"You weren't in your room," he said, with a slight grin.

She let her walls slip, just a little. She looked into his eyes and felt a steady pulse of love. She reached out and brushed her hand against his. She felt his shiver of emotion.

Before she knew what had happened, he had thrown himself at her in a tight hug that rivaled one from Starfire.

"I really care about you, Raven," he said.

Raven dropped her walls completely and let herself be overrun by his emotions. She returned his embrace just as tightly. "I care about you too, Beast Boy."

Or at least I can now.