At one in the morning Raven finally poured the rest of her tea in the sink and decided to walk back up to her room.
She had been watching the raindrops as they snaked their way down the window as she sipped her hot, herbal tea. It was quite relaxing, and a nice break from the hectic life of Teen Titan.
Her teammates had gone to bed long ago, so she tried to make as little noise as possible. She was way too tired to use her powers to sink through the floor. In fact, Raven was barely able to stand on her feet.
Earlier that morning, Mumbo had set off an explosion in his jail cell, creating a big hole in the East wall of the prison, and the five teens had spent the good part of the day tracking down everyone who'd escaped.
Groaning softly, the goth girl supported herself with the wall, and slowly made her way down a dark hallway.
"I hate magicians…" Raven muttered under her breath as she stumbled over her own feet.
"Especially blue ones…" Raven let a small, tired smile appear on her face. "With GIGANTIC noses…"
Raven let a small moan escape her lips. 'Why did I stay up this late again?' Raven thought miserably to herself.
Her room, conveniently the last one in the hallway, seemed so far away. In the dark, the hallway seemed to stretch on and on.
'CYBORG.' Raven read off the door as she passed it.
'STARFIRE.'
'BEAST BOY' Raven smiled, her door was now in view, just a few more feet and she'd be on her way to her nice, warm, cozy bed…
Raven had just made her way past Beast Boy's door when she heard a faint noise. Immediately, the tired girl moved into a battle stance. No matter how tired she was, she'd never let any intruder harm her friends.
Even though she didn't show it often, she cared for her teammates deeply. Some more than others…
Raven closed her eyes and began to chant, trying to locate where the noise was coming from, without having to trip on her feet groping through the dark hallways.
'So the intruder should be riiiight…HERE.' Raven opened her eyes to find herself facing her leader's door.
"SHIT!" Raven cursed under her breath. Millions of thoughts raced through her head—of Slade kidnapping Robin, or of any villain out for revenge, killing him in his sleep.
Hurriedly she typed in the access code to Robin's door, and rushed in as soon as the door was open wide enough for her to fit through.
"Robin!" Raven said in a worried tone, when she did not find her leader in his bed. Her violet eyes raced across the room, in a panic, trying desperately to find her friend.
Raven's hands lit up with black energy, as she heard the sound once more. Now that she was closer, she could finally identify the sound as—
'Crying?' Raven's eyes raced once more across the room to find a teenage boy, curled up in a small ball, in a corner of the dark room.
"Robin?" Raven questioned, and the shadowed figure just let out another whimper.
Raven quickly made her way to the corner of the room and sat down on the floor next to the trembling boy.
"Robin?" She said once again, in disbelief. She had never seen the Titan's leader look so vulnerable before—not that she minded it.
Robin, who had his knees up to his chest and his cape draped over his shoulders like a blanket, tried desperately to regain his composure.
He stood up, still shaking slightly, and turned his back to the girl who had just entered his room.
"Robin?" Raven questioned for the third time, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Is everything ok?" She asked with concern in her voice.
Robin immediately shook Raven's hand off his shoulder and walked toward his bedroom window, without saying a word.
Raven followed Robin and silently stood next to him, trying desperately to catch his gaze. 'I just want to know what's wrong.' Raven thought to the back of Robin's head, which was currently the only thing facing her.
'Robin?' Raven asked softly, using her powers to make her way into the Boy Wonder's head. 'Robin…Let me in. What's wrong?' Raven thought to Robin in a gentle tone.
Raven began to see images of Robin's past, and the team, as she searched for his thoughts inside his head. She also felt a terrible pain, the deeper she dove into her leader's mind.
It broke her heart to think that anything could cause Robin this much pain. She cared about all her friends, but she especially cared for Robin. They had a connection—a mental bond, and aside from that, it always seemed like he had hope. Hope for all of the team, when they had none.
Robin had helped her through her father's 'visit' to earth and helped her destroy him for good. With Trigon gone, Raven now had a better control of her powers, and she realized something.
She was in love with her leader. She LOVED Robin.
That's why it hurt her so much to see him this way. He was normally a mountain of self confidence, but now, he was a crying little boy.
'R-raven…Get out of my head…" A choked voice said.
'Robin?' Raven asked, shocked to find out that even the voice inside of his head was crying.
'Robin what's wrong?' Raven asked in a concerned, yet commanding tone.
'Nothing. Just go.' Robin ordered.
'If you don't tell me, I'll find it myself.' Raven threatened. She could feel that Robin wanted to tell her. He needed to tell someone. So many bottled up emotions that were just waiting to come out.
'You'd hate me for it.' Robin said in a voice that made Raven think that Robin truly did believe that she'd hate him.
'I promise I wouldn't!' Raven exclaimed inside his head.
'It's a horrible thing to think. You'd never forgive me.' Robin said in a voice so full of self loathing, it made Raven inwardly cringe.
'Tell me.' Coaxed Raven, using a bit of her powers to calm the shaken boy down. 'Tell me, and it will all get better.' Raven smiled as she felt the boy relax under the grip of her powers.
'Do you promise you won't hate me?' Robin thought to Raven.
'I promise.' Raven said, pleased that Robin would finally tell her what was on his mind.
'Some days…' Robin started, and she could feel that he was on the verge of tears yet again. 'S-some days…I…I…When I wake up…I don't see the point…'
'What?' Raven asked, confused.
'It's great and all…being a…hero…but…' Robin stopped, as if trying to find the right words. 'It's all a big circle…'
Raven listened to Robin quietly, still not understanding.
'We save the city, but what about the next day? We'll just have to do it again…and one of these days…I'm afraid that someone will…that we'll…and as leader I…' Raven listened attentively, still not sure what had gotten Robin so worked up, but trying hard to figure out.
'Someday, I'm afraid that one of us will get hurt. I'm really afraid that one of us will get killed.' Robin finally finished. 'And some days, I just don't see the point of being a 'hero.' It seems so much easier to…' Robin trailed off, and he began to break down once more.
'Shhh…shhh…It's ok…' Raven tried her best to comfort the Boy Wonder through her thoughts.
'When I was Slade's apprentice…' Robin continued. 'It felt…so…so…when I was stealing…I just got this rush, that I'd never gotten before…never when I was doing 'good.' And some days, I wake up and find myself wanting more... wanting that…' Robin stopped for a second, and shuddered.
'Wanting to steal again…I don't know myself anymore Raven! I look in the mirror, and I don't recognize myself! I used to see a guy who I knew was a hero someone I could trust…but now…I see someone who's like him...like SLADE, Raven…When I look in the mirror…I see Slade!'
Raven could feel tears rolling down her cheeks. Robin's memories of Slade danced like a movie in front of her eyes. She needed to break free from his mind before she saw anything else.
Breaking her concentration, Raven opened her real eyes. She found herself kneeling on the floor, with her arms around Robin, who was in a similar position.
She blushed, and gazed at Robin who was still silently crying. His mask drooped a couple inches lower on his face, having soaked up all the water from his tears.
Raven removed her hands from around his neck and raised his head so it was at her eye level. She slowly brought them up to his face so they grasped the edges of his mask gently and peeled away the tear soaked mask from his face.
Though Robin made no protest, his eyes remained screwed shut, only allowing a stream of tears to trickle down his face.
Raven brought her face close to Robin's and kissed both his cheeks, licking his tears away.
A surprised Robin's eyes fluttered open to find Raven still very close to him.
"You're not like Slade at all. You care for others! You save people's lives!" Raven stopped speaking to look into Robin's eyes.
His baby blue eyes were clouded with uncertainty as he listened to Raven talk.
"Listen, Robin…I was destined to do horrible things. There was a prophecy! I thought I was dirt—a burden to whoever I was aroundI thought I was pure evil. But you showed me I wasn't!" Raven leaned into Robin and wrapped her arms around him once more.
"You're my hero, and so many other people feel the same." She gave Robin a genuine smile. "And if you ever need proof, just ask me."
Raven sighed with relief as she felt Robin return her embrace. 'At last, back to the Robin I know and Lo...' Raven stopped mid-thought.
Embarrassed to the core, Raven pulled her hood up, once again, hiding her feelings from the world.
With Raven's help Robin stood up and climbed into his bed. Raven pulled his covers up to his chin, and brushed the hair out of his face. Then she turned to leave. "Goodnight Robin."
Raven gasped when she felt a hand on her wrist. She turned around quickly. "Robin?" She questioned, confused at why her teammate was stopping her from leaving.
"Raven?" Robin asked in a sleepy voice.
"Yes Robin." Raven asked.
"Could you please stay with me until I fall asleep?" Robin asked, then blushed.
Raven took a seat next to Robin's bed.
"And Raven?" Robin called out into the darkness.
"Mmm?"
Robin sat up suddenly in his bed, startling Raven. He brought his hands up to her head and brought her hood down so he had a full view of her face. His light blue eyes met her violet ones.
Robin moved his hands so that one of them pulled Raven toward him, while the other cupped her chin.
"I just wanted to say thank you…" Robin smiled and brushed his lips gently against Raven's.
Robin smiled, lying back down, and within five minutes, fell sound asleep.
Raven gazed at Robin, who was now sound asleep in his bed, smiling happily to himself. Blushing madly, she leaned down and parted his bangs, then planted a soft kiss on his forehead.
"I love you Robin…" She whispered quietly. Using the energy she had left, Raven used her powers to transport herself to her room.
Robin's smile grew even wider—he was still very much awake.
"I love you too, Raven."
