The subtle sound of dripping echoed dismally throughout the dead walls of Titan's Tower. Green eyes burned with tears as they slowly carved paths down bruised cheeks. The beeping of two heart monitors sung in seemingly perfect rhythm to the song of the girl's worried thoughts. Darkness consumed and all thoughts of joy or hope faded in the absence of a guiding light.
Starfire sat alone and wept as Cyborg and Beast Boy lay unconscious in the separate beds beside her.
Far from the confines of the infirmary, two dark Titans sat in deafening silence echoing from the walls of the main room. Robin's masked eyes lay blanketed by a gloved hand as he pressed his face against his fingers as if trying to draw comfort their touch. Raven sat across the room, slouched in a corner as she clutched her left hand, blotches of blood seeping through its bandage. Her eyes gazed at nothing as they held a sense of death, painting the hollowing feelings from within her.
A sigh fell from the lips of the black haired leader as he slowly lifted his head from the hold of his hand. He back rested against the comforting surface of the couch, a wave of warmth washing over him, his closed eyes tilted at the ceiling. Without turning to look at his teammate, Robin voiced a question.
"Y-You'll be able to heal them, right" the boy's voice shook. "I mean, once you're better and all."
"I'm not sure. Possibly."
"Can't you just heal yourself?"
Raven sighed; the weight of the dark room seemed heavy upon her. Her hand began to carefully caress the splotched bandages as she searched for her voice.
"It's not as easy as it sounds, Robin. If I could, I would simply heal myself and the rest of the team, but I can't. When I heal people, I take their pain away and put it into my own body where I can expel it. That's different when I get hurt because the pain is already inside me. My energy is already depleted from the injury so it takes me longer to heal myself. Once I regain my strength, I'll do my best to aid the others."
Robin didn't reply. His hidden eyes had reopened, focused on the stars that peered through the dark clouds. His legs ached, but the boy ignored their call as he stood. Confusion covered his body as his mind rapidly shuffled through the events that he had been through. Nothing was making sense to him.
Before the Titan could analyze much further, the main transmission screen flickered on. The blinding light caught the attention of the two occupying the area. Raven threw the ends of her cloak about her face in an attempt to hide herself from her contradiction as Robin simply turned to see who had called for them, thankful that his mask served as a decent shield from the sudden lamination of the room.
The presence that greeted him was most unexpected. A chilling white skull stared into the concealed eyes of the Teen Titans leader. The face of Red X painted an inerasable image of mockery into his soul. The shadow had returned in the presence of blinding light.
"Hey there, kid, miss me?"
"What do you want, X? Haven't we seen enough of you today?"
"Relax, Robin, I was simply checking up on all of you. So how are you doing?"
"Shut-up! Leave or I'll end this transmission myself!" Robin's hissed through tightly clenched teeth. He made his way closer to the transmission screen, mask furrowed into fine slits.
"Kid, you're getting angry at the wrong person. I'm not the one who knocked out half your team. You might want to think before you start pointing fingers. Why not try accusing the girl who helped bring you all down?" the criminal huffed as his gaze turned to the dark girl in the corner.
Robin's eyes followed the path of his enemy's where he found himself face-to-face with Raven. Sapphire eyes burned holes into his very being as he saw the pain and regret etched within them. Unable to gaze into such pain any longer, the leader turned back to the villain before him.
"Leave her out of this. She lost control and that's your fault!"
"Maybe, but I don't think so and neither does your old friend. He's pretty interested in her from what I can tell."
The black haired boy shot his eyes widely open as a new revelation sunk into his jumbled head. His shoulders began to shake as fear and anger racked his entire body. Though he tried to speak, open puffs of air escaped his parched lips. Taking a deep breath, Robin calmed himself, finding his lost voice.
"You're working for Slade? That's not like you, X, I always thought you liked working alone."
Before the shadow could answer, a small flash of color caught the Titan's eye. Robin smirked, venturing closer to the control panel before pressing a gloved finger down on a small red button. His grin deepened as three white letters appeared in the right hand corner of the screen: REC. His new finding was now on tape.
"He used his powers to recharge your suit, so I'm just doing him some favors as payment. See? I'm not such a bad guy."
"Sure, X, whatever you say," Robin's voice rose as his confidence did so to match the words in perfect unison. "Well tell you owner we'll be meeting him soon." And with that, the leader slammed his hand on the controls, ending the broadcast.
"Why?" a soft voice called out.
The young boy turned to face his approaching teammate as she slowly walked toward him, still holding her injured arm. Her question fell upon him and he found himself unable to clearly answer as her reasons behind such an inquiry were unclear.
"Why what?" he ventured.
"Why end the message before finding out where Slade is? If Red X is working for him, then surely he must know wh-"
Strong hands grasped her shoulders, slowing pulling the empath closer to boy before her. A soft smile grazed his lips as his hidden eyes took shelter in the endless see of blue he stared into. The dark girl's face was contorted in confusion as she wordlessly asked him for any feasible reason for his ongoing stare.
"Why do you think I hit the record button, Rae? There was a billboard behind him with a certain 6-letter word written clear across it. You were right; he's right where we thought he was."
A heavy sigh escaped frowning lips as Raven's amethyst adorned head bent down in deepening sorrow. Her heart pounded, its heavy rhythm haunting the thoughts in her head. Robin stared down at her, his hands still in place, as he wondered what could possibly have hurt her so suddenly.
"I guess we'll be leaving once I heal everyone."
Pain shot through the leader as he realized what he had done. Squeezing his eyes shut tightly, he berated himself for having been so cold to her earlier. He questioned himself, begging his mind for an answer as to why he had been angry at her for her flawed healing ability.
"Raven, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"No, you had a good reason. Red X is right; most of their injuries are my fault, so your anger was justly directed. Who else is to blame but the one who inflicted their wounds? But that's not what's bothering me."
"Then what is it?"
"I just- I'm not sure if I really want to find Slade again after he-"
Robin didn't let her finish, afraid of what she would say. He simply pulled her into a gentle embrace, his right hand combing her hair in an attempt to sooth the sorceress' wounds. He could feel tears soak through his scuffed uniform as the girl's shoulders shook slightly, overcome with feelings of fear.
"I won't let him hurt you again, I promise," the black haired knight whispered in the ear of the weeping broken angel. "I'll protect you, always. I'll be there for you, by your side."
Raven released herself from his grasp, a curious look playing on her face. Pale fingers reached up and she washed away the tears from her deep eyes as they continued to stare into the mask of the boy before her.
"Why are you telling me all of this?"
A small laugh rang from the black haired boy as her question entered his mind. "Why? Because you mean a lot to me, Raven, more than you'll ever know. You understand me, you know why I think the way I do, you know what I've gone through, what I'm still going through. When I'm with you," he whispered, his fingers reaching up and slowly removing his mask. "I don't feel the need to wear this anymore."
The dark girl was instantly drawn to his ice blue eyes, mesmerized by their beauty. She felt a wave of warmth wash over her as a hand caressed her cheek gently. As Robin leaned closer, she unintentionally followed, still locked in the trance cast by his mysterious orbs. In one breathless instant, their lips met and all the world melted away.
As the two birds became entwined by love's duet, the shadows concealed green eyes as strands of red fell across them, sinking slowly in the tears the replenished dried rivers stained upon a young girl's face.
Author's Note: Don't be stupid and flame me just cuz you don't like Robin/Raven! I'm personally a huge fan of both Rob/Rae and BB/Rae. Please keep in mind that just because they're together now, doesn't mean things will remain that way. For all of you readers who don't like this pairing, please don't stop reading the story because of this chapter!