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 sekai no yakusoku, who always write me wonderfully long reviews. Enjoy.

Chapter Eleven: Bond

It was a wonder that he could still love her even as she tried his patience so. He learned to pace back and forth, back and forth in the hallway in front of her room. Not because he was waiting for her to come out. No. For he had also learned that she would never come out. If she so chose. No. He paced to think. And to not think. So while she sat in her room, cross-legged and chanting her mantra, he paced and muttered random things to himself.

"...doesn't know what she's doing to me..."

"How can she stay in there without eating anything?"

"...driving me insane..."

"...I'll kill Alfred for throwing away all the mistletoe..."

"...She's been in there for four days!"

"...How in the hell am I supposed to defeat him?"

"...Raven..."

The door to her room opened and her head emerged, hooded. Underneath, her eyes were narrowed. Robin stopped dead in his tracks.

"I understand your need to pace, Robin. But would you please do it somewhere else?" she hissed. "Your ridiculous shoes clanging up and down the hall are making it hard for me to concentrate!"

"I'm sorry."

She frowned and stared at him murderously for a long moment before opening her door wide. "Come in here."

Robin felt glued to the spot. He couldn't move. "In your room?" he asked stupidly.

"Don't get any ideas, Boy Wonder," she muttered.

Finally able to pry his feet from their current position, he followed her in. The room was rather large, but mostly dark, the heavy curtains blocking out the light of day. The furniture was simple: bed, desk, and armoire. Under said armoire and on top of it were a number of books. Heavy leather-robed tomes and thin volumes wrapped neatly in dark cloth.

"Sit down," she instructed.

"On the bed?" he asked.

"On the floor," she corrected. Robin mentally slapped himself. Of course the floor. She sat across from him, folding her legs in a lotus position. Robin mimicked her. Or tried to. The best he could do was a sort of Indian-style posture. He almost thought he caught a shadow of a grin on her face.

"I need to go into your mind," she said. Robin reacted in a manner that suggested she would like to look in his underwear drawer.

"I wondered if I might find something there," she explained, "That might reveal some inner strength you have that could help us defeat Scath."

"Trigon, you mean?"

She flinched. "Yes."

"Will it hurt? You going into my mind, I mean?"

"No." She paused. "Would you let me do it even if it did cause you pain?"

"Yes." She arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "I trust you." She looked down at the carpet as a great flood of emotion passed from him.

"Give me you hands," she said finally when she could meet his masked gaze again.

"Is it necessary to hold my hands?" he asked, remembering how she teleported them.

"No," she said. It was obvious she was trying very hard to resist his gaze. "But I want to."

Robin smirked in triumph.

"Don't get a big head over it, now," she muttered, taking his hands.

For a long while nothing happened. Raven closed her eyes and chanted to herself, and Robin sat there, trying not to enjoy the fact that she was holding his hands too much.

"You need to relax, Robin," she murmured. "Focus on something. One thing. Let your mind focus on one thing and don't stray from it."

Robin smirked again, as though to say, "Guess what I'm focusing on, Raven?"

She ignored him and closed her eyes again. Within a few moments, he felt her surround him, despite her being two feet away from him. Her scent was there, and the warmth me felt when she had pinned him to the sofa in a fit of passion. And he began to remember things.

The day Raven came.

Kissing Starfire for the first time.

Going with Batman to Justice League Headquarters.

All of that was in the past. But recent. But then...

He was a little boy again, and his father was teaching him a handstand.

His mother was reading a story to him about a patchwork elephant.

He was flying through the air under a big circus tent.

His parents were falling...

And then it was over.

Something inside him pulsed. Raven had entered his mind and left behind a powerful bond between them through those memories. He vaguely remembered her saying it wouldn't hurt. But then he also remembered that he had never specified. It was emotional pain he was feeling. He felt tears welling up and forced them back. He has relived that memory in countless nightmares. He could handle it.

And suddenly, her lips were on his again, and whatever he'd been thinking about didn't matter anymore. And even though he was the one pinning her to the floor this time, she was still dominant as her tongue explored his mouth and her fingers entwined in his hair, her thumb brushing over a sensitive patch of skin below his ear and her leg brushed his inner thigh. It was his own groan of pleasure he heard first, followed by Raven's soft moan.

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

A thousand apologies for the immense lateness of this chapter. I have been busy with a long, twisted sort of love letter for a week or so since my last chapter. And this one isn't too much longer than the last, but the next chapter will probably be the longest. What's going to happen?

Well.

Slade's back. The end of the world is near. Blah, blah, blah.

Go review already.

Signed,

The writer, you fools