First, a note or two:

This is the second of my stories, and once again, I beg those of you who know everything about the included series not to complain. I am not trying to be as faithful to the comics or TV series as possible, so if you want accuracy, I suggest you look somewhere else.

KEY:

'Blah' thought

"Blah" speech

I don't own the Teen Titans or any of the undermentioned items. Teen Titans is a trademark of some large comic company and Cartoon Network. Warning: Modifying the contents of this story may cause your computer to cease functioning. Not responsible for injury to skiers or snowboarders due to lack of control. Member FDIC. May cause cancer if taken in large doses.

Please review if you've read this story. I will not continue to update unless I get reviews.

Non notās rēs tibi hodie habēo. (Aaaah, evil Latin! Throws rock at Evil Latin Minions)

And now, on with the show.

Three very different young people sat around a table early one Saturday morning. One was large and partially metallic. He stared at the milk jug in the middle of the table glumly, as if daring it to make some snide comment. To his left was a quite attractive young girl, who would have looked perfectly human except for a slight green tint to her eyes. She was engrossed in a crossword printed on the back of her cereal box, and kept squealing with glee each time she found a word, attracting raised eyebrows from both of her companions.

The third person at that table was a young man who obviously had something else on his mind. He hadn't touched his breakfast, and the cereal was beginning to sink dejectedly down into the milk. His usually tidy black hair was a mess, and he was still wearing his blue pajamas. The young man stared forward at the table, contemplating.

"I'm sure she's fine, Robin," said the large metallic fellow.

"I know, Cyborg," replied the black-haired boy. "I just can't help thinking that whatever it was that, uh, possessed her won't stay away for long. And I have no idea how to even begin to stop it..." He trailed off, continuing to stare at the table.

"I believe we should attempt to return Beast Boy," interjected the green-eyed girl suddenly.

"Fat lotta good that'll do," replied Cyborg, somewhat more caustically than he meant. "No offense Star, but I personally don't want a possessed girl and a self-made outcast living under my roof. Plus, he may need time."

"Agreed, friend Cyborg," replied Starfire. "Having them both in their destructive states would be very disturbing. However, it may also be a risk worth taking. He may be the only one able to help her to control herself. She may give up too early on controlling her own body without his presence."

"Beast Boy?" asked Robin skeptically. "She just about barely tolerates him. She rarely speaks to him, and avoids him all the time."As soon as he finished speaking, Robin's mind made the connection. He knew what Starfire was about to say moments before she said it.

"No, dear Robin. That is only what she wishes us to think. I know for certain that the very opposite is true."

And for one of the few times since her arrival from a strange alien world, the attractive green-eyed girl astonished her friends by showing them that she knew more about some earthly customs than they did.

Raven was angry. Someone had been in her room last night, and she was going to find out. She slammed the door shut upon leaving her room, and it mocked her by opening again. She sniffed at it angrily, and headed down to the kitchen where the other members of her team gathered. She looked around venomously at them. Raven could easily read their minds and find out who had done the deed, but she was too busy controlling her anger to attempt such a task. So she spoke.

"Which one of you pricks invaded my room last night while I was sleeping? Tell me now, or I can read your minds and find out." She sat there puffing angrily, waiting for a response.

"Uh, Raven," began Robin timidly, "should you be this emotional?"

"Damnit, Robin, someone was in my room, my door is gone, and I don't care if the whole damn tower explodes before I find out who it was. Now tell me!"

Raven watched as all three of the Titans in front of her raised their hands slowly. She was shocked. Cyborg she might have expected: he had done it once before. Robin she could even have guessed, considering his reluctance to answer the question before. But Starfire? The politically correct one who would never dream of invading another's privacy?

"Why?" asked Raven incredulously, her shock causing her anger to ebb finally.

Starfire spoke up. "First, you may wish to know that there was a fifth being present in your room of residence last night. We do not know who this fifth being was, or how he arrived, but we do know that he was controlling you. We entered your room after hearing a scream, and proceeded to attempt to wrest what I believe you call the Magic Mirror away from your hands. When the mirror left your grip, you were no longer possessed."

Raven sat down in a fourth chair at the table and began to do what Robin had been doing before for the past half hour. She stared at the table, an expression of deep concentration on her face. Raven traced the wood grains on the table, touched the jewel in her forehead, and tried to find something to delay her speech. But she knew she'd soon have to say what she dreaded. Raven took a deep breath, and spoke.

"It's him," she said quietly, the smallest tone of sadness in her voice. She looked at Cyborg when she said this: Only he knew who she meant. "He's back. Damn him back to hell. He's back just when I can't handle him." She got up, and started to make her way back to her demolished room, her head drooped slightly as if she were walking thru a fierce, frigid blizzard.

Starfire, however, put her hand on the young sorceress' shoulder. "The Teen Titans do not allow their team members to bare such hardships alone. We do not understand fully all that is between you and this demon, but we must be allowed to help. Please."

Raven looked at the young Tamaranian Princess with a slight bit of awe. 'Starfire may be naïve about many earth customs,' thought the young sorceress, 'but I'll be damned if she doesn't know more about human – or Tamaranian, or Azerathian – inner nature than any other of us here.'

Raven turned back to the table, sat down, and sniffled slightly. She smiled, and, for the first time since she had heard Starfire's recount of the story of the mirror, felt safe.