Two Birds With One Stone

Disclaimer: No, I do not own the Teen Titans. No matter how well I write them. Or whatever. The term "Sister-in-God" was borrowed from Tad Williams. I did not create it.

I was dreaming when I wrote this/ So sue me if I go too fast

Dedicated, once again, to mokoto the dragon tamer. And to sekai no yakusoku. Enjoy.

Chapter Eight: Emotion

Of course Alfred suspected something. Robin had never been fond of mistletoe. Especially since at the private school he attended, girls who liked him stalked him all day, trying to catch him underneath a stem. But lately Robin had been thinking that the only person he wanted to catch under the mistletoe was Raven. Her scent lingered, the feel of her fingers in his hair and her lips on his skin lingered.

Diagnosis: infatuation, he decided. Of course it bothered him. He had been so cruel to her when she first arrived. How would she react when he told her? If he decided to tell her, that is.

"I thought Master Richard despised the festive little plant," drawled Alfred.

"Despise? That's such a harsh word, Alfred."

"Perhaps something has changed Master Richard's mind?" the butler suggested. Robin could have sworn there was a hint of amusement lining that suggestion.

"Just put some up."

A smile twitched at the corners of Alfred's mouth, but he did as he was told.

Three days before Christmas, Sister-in-God came to visit Raven. They spent a brief hour in her room, and then Sister-in-God came to speak to Robin. He hadn't expected it. After all, the first time he had seen her, the woman spoke only one short sentence, and it was more to herself than to him.

"She healed you." It was not a question.

"How am I supposed to help her defeat Scath?" he asked, getting right to the point.

"We do not know," she said. 'We' seemed to mean the diviners of Azarath, Robin guessed. "We have been trying to see."

"Why does he want to destroy the world?"

"Such is his nature." She paused and studied him for a long moment. Robin was thankful for his mask. Even though he wasn't wearing his crime-fighting uniform, he always wore his mask. "I suppose I should tell you," she began. "Hundreds of years ago the people of Azarath worshiped Scath. He was known as Trigon to us."

Robin's eyes widened behind his mask. He'd read about Trigon… somewhere. An old file in the Justice League research office.

"We saw that his motives were evil, and we made sacrifices to free ourselves from him. We no longer worshipped him." Something about the way she said it told Robin the sacrifices weren't human. Animal sacrifices, maybe.

"But then… I was taken. It was painful," she said quietly. "The diviners knew that I would spawn a means of returning Trigon to this earth. They were afraid. But Raven was born."

"And they wanted to kill her," put in Robin.

Sister-in-God favored him with another long stare. "She told you this?"

"Yes." A thought suddenly occurred to him. "She said that you had a vision of her defeating him."

"The vision came to me the day we felt him awakening again. I've had similar visions since. Ones of two birds pecking at Scath's eyes. Of Raven wielding an energy I've never seen."

"Do you think it will happen?" he asked.

"Sometimes, our minds make us see visions we want to come true, Richard Grayson," she said, rising from her chair. "But I am not the only one who sees these things. So perhaps there is hope."

"Why is she so emotionless?" the question had been waiting forever in the back of his mind. "Is it because of her destiny?"

"It would seem so," Sister-in-God answered slowly. "She was trained to lock away her anger. Anger is her connection to Scath. If she lets rage consume her, he will awaken."

"What about joy? Happiness? Can't she feel those things?"

"No harm will be done if she shows she is happy. If she seems to be cold and distant, than it is because she chooses to be." She smiled gently. "She may not show it, but she is happy here with you. She told me that you have promised to fly with her when the time comes. Please do not break this promise."

Her words stayed with him the for the rest of the day. In fact, he was so consumed in them as he sat beside Raven on the couch that he didn't notice that just above them was a branch of mistletoe among the glittery red garland Alfred had put up. He stared at it for a full minute then looked at Raven, who'd put her book down to see what he was looking at.

"I'll kill that butler…" she muttered.

Funny, I was thinking he deserves a bonus... thought Robin.

She started to get up, no doubt to go in search of Alfred, but he caught her wrist and pulled her back. She glared at him, threw her book onto the coffee table, and looked him right in the eye. He smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"If you think I'm going to go through this again..." she began.

But Robin's lips were already on hers. For a moment she tensed, and Robin was afraid he had gone too far. But then her scent enveloped him and her fingers were in his hair. And somehow Richard Grayson found himself pinned beneath the object of his desire, not stopping to wonder at what point she had claimed dominance. All that mattered was the softness of her cheek under his fingertips and the warm curve of her waist. At some point, she moaned with pleasure and Robin was sure he'd never been as aroused as he was in that moment. But then she was gone, pulling her cloak around herself and muttering an apology.

Robin slowly pulled himself back into a sitting position, blinking in confusion.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," she finished, scooping up her book and fleeing to her room.

Holy Azar! She had kissed him!

Sister-in-God had been right. She was destined to fall in love with him. Raven groaned, sinking to the floor. She had practically thrown herself at him!

But you can't deny that you enjoyed it, crooned a voice in her head.

"Shut up, Lust," Raven muttered darkly.

Happy and Hope put their heads together and giggled behind their hands. Brave sat there looking extremely pleased with herself, Lust watched Happy and Hope with amusement, and Intelligence observed. Raven really wished her inner emotions would just leave her alone.

Nothing bad happened, Happy said, comforting Timid.

It was true, Raven realized. Nothing had exploded or broken or burst into flame as things often did when she was angry. Nothing bad happened. She stood up shakily and walked to the vanity, pulling back her hood, lightly touching the skin of her cheek that still burned where his touch lingered.

As for Robin, he sat on the couch, his fingertips running over his lips, the scent of vanilla still wrapped around him. He found himself comparing her to Starfire again. Starfire had never made any noise in their passionate embraces. There was never any sign that he pleased her. And she had never run her fingers through his hair in such a way, as though she wanted to pull it out. And certainly she had never claimed dominance, pinning him beneath her. Even though she was probably strong enough to do it. The fact that Raven had done all of that, had kissed him with such passion, such emotion... Robin tilted his head back and stared up at the mistletoe, allowing her to consume his thoughts.

Writer's note: As always, thanks to all those who read, reviewed, and are now waiting most anxiously for the next chapter.

Man, I'm good. Well, I hope you enjoyed these past two chapters, because things are about to get ugly. As in Slade ugly.

Go review already.

Signed,

The writer, you fools