Chapter Six: To Fight the Strong

Robin lay there on his bed, his face luminatied by the glow of his alarm clock glowing, the demonic red numbers glowing onto not only him but his bed-spread and walls, leaving everything with a satanic feeling. Slowly, trying to avoid further harming himself, he sat up, leaning against the headboard for support in order to look at the numbers on the clock face.

Six o' clock? He found himself thinking, partually with slight shock that he had taken another daytime nap and partually with a mixed sense of disappointment and anticipation- Raven would be coming up soon with dinner and to eat with him, but the rest of the team, mostly Starfire, usually accompanied her.

At least I get to see her, he tried to tell himself, looking toward the bright side of things and failing to actually do so.

It was at that moment that the door flew open and rammed itself into the damaged wall where Starfire had been throwing it the past few days before running into the room and throwing her arms around Robin into a crushing hug that had redone of the the healed damange to his wounds, often making Raven sigh in fustration.

Today, however, violet hair falling into her amthyst eyes and carrying a silver tray about five inches off her pale palms, inglufed in a black cloud, Raven entered the small bedroom alone. The blue cloak swished around her, her face drawn and tired from the recent care, mostly that she'd been giving to Robin that last week. "Doesn't it hurt you to sit up like that?" She asked.

Robin paused for a few hesitent seconds, trying to figure out exactly what she meant. "No, not really," he said slowly, sounding rather stupid, suddenlly realizing that he was in fact sitting up in his bed without pain for the first time since the accident. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

"You still have to drink this," she muttered, pulling the small vial from her cloak and placing it into the piping hot mug of tea she had brought for him. Robin winced- He hated the pain-killer, but it had helped him, and so he took the mug and prepared to swig it. In the meantime, Raven began setting out silverware and waiting for Robin to finish in silence.

"...Aren't you going to ask me where Starfire is?" Raven asked after a few moments, slight surprise in her voice. Robin simply shrugged his shoulders and tried not to spit out the drink in his mouth at the time- He was afraid to make a fool out of himself in front of Raven again, because he often staggered in front of her and made himself seem like more of an idiot than ever.

"No," Robin stated simply. "It's not really important to me." The words, having just slipped out of his mouth, were sudden, shocking even him into a quick silence. Raven, clearly embarressed, simply picked up a fork and began to eat, trying to ignore the words that were now bouncing around inside her head. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

Instead of responding, she simply handed him a fork, and he began to eat with his head down to the plate. He found his appitite much increased, which was surely a good sign. Every time he looked up, he ended up locking eyes with the gothic girl, who had a slight smile on her face at some times, but she would quickly look away to gaze at something else in theroomevery time their eyes met.

"You're getting strong," she observed finally, which, for no reason, made Robin blush. "I know you can't stand being cooped up in here anymore..." She paused as if hesitating on what to say next. "If you'd like to go out for some light training tonight with me, you're welcome to it. You need to start working again if we're going to catch Past, Present, and Future. After all, a team is only as good as it's leader, and we've got a pretty good one."

This made Robin smile and blush, looking down at his still-covered feet. "I'd love to." He ran his fork over the last of the scraps on his plate and devored them, then lay it on top of Raven's plate, accidentally brushing her hands again, which sent a blush over her face that she tried to hide. "When can we start?"

"As soon as you can get up and ready." She smiled at him quietly. "I'll let you get dressed while I'm gone." Slowly, she got up from the small chair next to his table and prepared to leave the room.

"Raven?" He said quietly, his voice rather inquisitive, as if there was something he had to ask her. Don't blow it this time, he snapped at himself, annoyed.

"Yes?" She asked, holding onto the plates in between her hands, losing control over her powers suddenly and being forced to catch them in mid-fall as the startled look crossed her face. "Did you need something, or do you want to back out?"

"No... I just... wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me." At least it's a start, he thought, realizing that once again he had blown it. "You've helped me in more than one way."

"You're welcome." With that, the door shut, and Raven quickly ran down the steps. For some reason, though, the words made her heart feel lighter, and she was in the mood to see him again. "You've helped me too," she added, beginning to run the water in the sink to do the stack of dirty dishes.

Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire all stopped in the middle of their activities. They almost could have sworn they heard whistling from the kitchen. "That's Rae?" Asked a very confused Cyborg.

"She seems most happy," Starfire pointed out from her comfortable position, laying upside-down with her body draping toward the floor as if it were perfectly normal for her to sit that way.

"Well, it's better than if she were in here yelling," Beast Boy muttered, his head still on the race. And that was when he hit the 'Unpause' option, leaving Cyborg to curse and swear in his dust on the racing game they were playing, the clicking of their controlers rising above the mysterious, happy whistling.

"You're going to have to swing up higher," Raven instructed, moving out of his way easily as the bo-staff missed her left shoulder by only inches. "You're never going to hit one of them flying if you can't even hit me."

Pretending to groan at Raven's tough lesson, Robin swung at Raven, this time striking her in the shoulder. The hit was far harder than he'd intended, however, and the shoulder of her cloak ripped. The blood that began to pour forward shocked Robin, and he quickly, without thinking, took Raven's hand and began to babble apoligizes.

"I've caused you so much trouble, and now this... Raven, I am so sorry... I didn't mean to..." The words refused to come out cohearantly, however, and resulted in Robin looking like an idiot once more in front of the young girl. "I've been so much trouble... Will you be okay? Here, let me see that."

Relucent to have any contact with him, Raven lay her own hand over the wound before letting him see the now fully-restored spot on her skin. "That was much better. Nothing to be sorry for." He tried not to leave his hands on her, however, and quickly let go of her hand in his embaressment.

Raven did her best not to smile before raising her hands again. "Hit me with everything you've got!" She smiled at him, the attempt not to smile failing, and Robin also smiled before lunging back into training.

Both were bruised before the end of the night, but Raven and Robin both felt it was worth it.

The days passed slowly, and Robin was retaining himself after his injuries. He had adopted a new personal moto: "To fight the strong, take all you love and use it to become the strong."

It wasn't until the alarm went off that day that Robin realized it would never be enough. "Titans, GO!" Their leader shouted, enhralled to be back in command of his life.

He didn't realize that rushing into danger meant nothing, strong or weak- It was going to hurt the team, and him, in ways he could never imagine. Past, Present, and Future were waiting.

And as of now, they had the untainted record.

Raventhedarkgoddess: Shorter chapter than last, sorry. Hope you enjoy anyway. New chapter soon, or at least I hope- Read and review. Love writing this story- Thanks for all your support.