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Title: And if it was?

Chapter: 4: Always

o0o

As days passed, Raven's condition got better slowly. Very slowly, as the bed-ridden girl became more and more agitated by each passing day.

It was nice to see how much her friends cared about her, to see Cyborg and Beast Boy give up on an hour of video games to check on her and make her smile. She loved them so much, and she thanked them for not fighting about dinner in front of her. Starfire came in with Bumble Bee and they sat on both sides, Bumble Bee reading some of Raven's more preferred literature pieces, and Starfire softly combing through raven's hair as a concerned mother would, "Thank you, thank you…" She'd tell them every day with a smile. Speedy would come in with Mas and Menos to make sure they didn't overexert her with their rapid speech. The brothers would ramble, and Raven would just give Speedy that sarcastic wiggle of an eyebrow that set them chuckling softly.

Yes, she loved them all so much, but at the same time, she worried all too much. About a month had passed, and no sign of Slade. She winced and had to look away every time Aqualad looked her in the eyes. But she just told herself she would soon forget. It would be something she would lock away in the back of her mind, in a basement of secrets she had kept all her life, and it would sit right next to her deepest and darkest of secrets, Her fear of falling in love… Even if she already was.

o0o

"Listen, you just watched over her ten minutes ago! Let her breath," Robin seethed through his teeth, as the rivalry between the normally calm and collected figures overwhelmed their barriers.

"Look, all I'm trying to do is make sure she is taken care of-"

"If anyone is going to take care of her, its me," Robin growled, glancing in both directions of the deserted floor.

"If you care for her so much, she would know it by now, wouldn't she?" It made the vigilante's anger fester from the pit of his stomach at the fact that the Atlantian could stay so calm.

"What? I- I don't-- What would you know anyway? Some hot-shit who comes and thinks he can take away something I've worked…" The flushed teen sighed and ran his slender fingers through his gelled ebony locks, "Just… Fine, forget it. I don't feel anything for Raven… It's a misunderstanding."

The jealous Atlantian watched the heated youth leave, and then hung his head with a sigh, "You don't deserve her..."

o0o

Robin slammed the door behind him as he sat with a heave next to Raven, "Woah, calm down Boy Wonder," She chuckled femininely and put a light hand on his shoulder, "What happened?"

He was breathing fire through his nose, and gave her that piercing gaze she took to heart every so often, "Nothing. I just… Beast Boy made a mess in the kitchen?"

Raven laughed lightly, "Are you asking me?"

"No," Robin was none too good at lying, especially to a Raven, "He broke the blender, trying to make a smoothie with blocks of chocolate and whole oranges…"

"Leave it to Beast Boy," She sighed tiredly, and gave another dry laugh, "I wonder what goes through his mind when he acts."

Robin snorted amusedly, lying next to her on propped pillows, "Something along the lines of 'how can I annoy the hell out of everyone around me today?'"

They laughed, and she responded, "Something like that, I suppose."

She knew he was lying. It was a fine lie, but he was Robin and she was Raven. They were above secrecy within their bond.

What was worse was that he knew she knew he was lying. Yet they played along.

o0o

Aqualad had nothing better to do, than talk with the one person he saw as his brother, "Hey, Speedy?"

Speedy was on the roof of the tower, shooting training arrows at booeys floating in the open sea. Aqualad leaned on the edge, letting the onshore breeze gust over his angelic features. He could taste the familiar taste of ocean, and longed to see his home, but he also longed to see another.

"What?" Speedy finally asked unconcernedly while grabbing another arrow from behind.

"Uh, well… You're good with women, right?" He didn't really know how to ask, so why not be direct?

"Oh, you could say that," He chuckled, and his next arrow swerved to the right, missing the booey completely, "Shit."

"Well, what do you do if you like a girl, a lot… And you think you have a chance, but there's another man who likes her, and she knows him better, and she trusts both of us, but he is the one who always gets to be alone with her and talk to her the most? He gets authority to do whatever he likes, and he knows how I feel…" He was rambling, he knew. But it had been years since he had realized how he felt, how she felt, what this meant. Maybe Speedy wouldn't know just exactly whom he was talking about. Maybe it was no real concern of his, but…

"Feelings arising for our resident dark girl, then?"

… This was Speedy, we were talking about here.

"Well," The normally casual youth choked up, his cheeks flushed, and he relied on the lull of the ocean to calm himself, "This never happened. Agreed?"

The redhead chuckled, "Everything is always so official with you hero people."

"Agreed?" There was still a tinge of red left at the tips of the Atlantian's ears that showed his frustration and embarrassment.

Speedy laughed once more, drew another arrow, launched it, and, "Bingo."

o0o

Starfire and Bumble Bee were practicing in the main training room, "Bumble Bee?"

"Yeah Star?" The beautiful teen aimed a few more lasers at a target Cyborg had set up. Wiping her forehead on her arm, she continued with their training by landing combos on the punching bag, her buns bobbing lightly up and down as she trotted to keep up with Starfire on the other side, "Another problem with a certain Leader?" The Tamaranian's cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she lost her footing, and plopped to the floor. After being help up by a hand they just sat on some of the benches that held the weights, "Hey, it's alright. You can tell me about it this time. I know you respect him, and I know you like him."

The foreign alien's features fell as she lowered her head and slumped her shoulders, "But I know he does not feel the same." It was an awkward situation to be in, they all knew she was right. Over the months when Raven had been abducted by their big enemy, Robin couldn't sleep, he didn't do anything except search for Raven. He would do the same for any one on his team, they knew. But there were differences, "He cried after the first month, and he wouldn't eat for another… We thought he killed her at first…"

"Star…"

What else could she say? The girl was obviously heart-broken, who wouldn't be?

"It is alright. I am eighteen earth years now, I know not to be childish and selfish," The woman stood, with her model-like posture, she glided back over to the target area, "If I love him, set him free, right?"

Bumble Bee smiled, and picked up her right arm, aiming.

"Bingo."

They knew the Tamaranian would never get over him fully, because this was her first love, but she would find some one else who would love her as much as she deserved it. She was kind, and loving. She was tall and gorgeous. She was any man's dream girl, any man except the man she wanted…

"Bingo."

o0o

"Robin?" A knock and a voice could be heard on the other side of the door, "It's been about eight hours…"

Robin stirred, but dared not move, as Raven had fallen asleep, and unconsciously draped her arm over his chest, and her head fit so well in his shoulder, "Uh… One minute…"

He looked at her serene expression. He loved the way her body fit with his, but he could never admit that. She had been through enough. Aqualad already suspected his immense feelings for her, and he wasn't even close to the truth of it, "ugh," He let out a small groan as he pulled his arm from under her frail neck, frowning, he stood from the bed, and walked to the door, "How's she doing?"

The Atlantian didn't even greet a 'good morning' to the ebony haired youth, he didn't even wait for an answer. He simply walked past in quick strides and gently shut the door behind him.

Robin leaned his forehead against the closed door, and heard the other man whisper to her, in a loving way… The way Robin wished he could, "You look beautiful when you aren't so worried…" Robin walked away, he couldn't take the fact that the calm figure now co-occupying the medical lab could make such obvious advances on her… The fact that they were alone in a room unnerved him somehow. He wanted to trust her, he did… But how could he be willing to give up his heart so easily if she might in fact, take it, and crush it all the same?

o0Author's Note0o

Yay! Updates. Hope you enjoyed.