Raven stirred a little as the warmth of the sunlight tickled her back. She opened her eyes slowly and pulled the covers off her. She stood and stretched her body, shaking off the remaining exhaustion. On the nightstand was a handwritten letter from Bruce. Assorted items were neatly piled underneath it; items such as her mediation mirror, the book she was recently reading, several changes of clothes, her antique hairbrush, her toothbrush, and her journal.
Quizzically, she read the note, wondering how he had gotten all of her belongings.
Dear Raven,
Robin brought these over late last night while you were asleep. If you want, you can take a shower in the bathroom to the right. This will be your room for as long as you stay. You are allowed to go into any chamber of the mansion you wish. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, or get Alfred to make you something. I want you to feel as comfortable as possible; my home is your home. If you wish to talk to someone, feel free to come to me. Also, please accept this money, go to the mall, and buy whatever you want. I will be gone for some of the day, but should be back before lunch. You may do anything you like, just don't talk to the press or invite anyone over. Have a good morning!
Love,
Bruce
She held the note in her shaking hand, staring at it dumbly. The very thought of Robin made her cringe in fear. He had been so angry with her. Slowly, she grabbed a change of clothes from the stack and her hairbrush and toothbrush and timidly walked into the bathroom. There, after rummaging through the cabinets, she found two fluffy towels and placed them on the counter. She turned the cold water on full blast and stripped herself of her clothes. Using her powers, she threw them away in the garbage, never wanting to see them again. She had six pairs of the same outfit, anyway.
She felt so dirty as she stood under the cool water. She scrubbed herself vigorously, trying to rid herself of the feeling. Finally, after an hour of intense showering, she felt clean again. She dried herself off, and then towel dried her hair. She put on a dark blue leotard and a black cloak. She placed her usual belt on her hips and began to brush her hair straight. Once that was done, she brushed her teeth half-heartedly and looked herself in the mirror. "Good…I look much better…"
Cautiously, she stepped out of her bedroom and into the long corridor. She looked around for any sign of life, but was surprised to find none.
"Where is everyone?" She asked aloud.
"Well, Master Bruce and I are the only ones living in this house now that Robin moved away." A voice behind her answered. He gave her a questioning look before turning to walk down the corridor. She followed him, keeping a safe distance behind.
She found herself in a massive kitchen, bigger than the one in Titan's Tower. Nervously, she glanced around the large room, looking at all of the pantries that lined the room.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" Alfred asked generously. He grinned a little, bowing slightly.
"Just show me where everything is please. I can fix myself something." She said, voice barely audible, avoiding eye contact with Alfred. He nodded and gave her a small tour of the kitchen, pointing to pantries and cupboards and telling her what was in each.
When he was finished and left, she summoned her powers and telekinetically moved the loaf of bread onto the counter in front of her. Then, she summoned for the toaster. It gracefully flew to her, electrical cord trailing behind the rest of it. She plugged in the toaster and placed two pieces of bread in the slots. She pulled down the trigger and watched as the bread slowly tanned. (A.N.: I know; I'm such a loser for talking about toast. I was hungry when I wrote this. And I know bread doesn't tan, per se, but it turns that nice brown color, you know? I didn't know how to say that without going "she watched as the bread turned brown". So don't bug me about that!)
"So that's how your powers work." Bruce stated, apparently amazed. She turned around to see the man sitting at the dinner table, watching her intently. She nodded several times before retrieving a plate from the pantry. At that same moment, the toast popped up, dark brown. She walked to the fridge and got the butter out. Grabbing a butter knife with her powers, she buttered the toast. Putting all the materials back in their place, she sat down at the table with her breakfast.
"Good morning." He tried to start a conversation with the teen, but she was afraid. Afraid of him. Afraid of all men. Distrusting.
"Good morning." She replied her voice slightly louder, but barely. Silence filled the room as she began to eat greedily, hungry stomach still growling when she was finished.
"Why do you live all alone?" She broke the silence between them. Glad for the opportunity to talk, he began chattering away.
"I always found living by one's self the best way to live. No one to bother you; no one to come barging in on you. You can concentrate and think clearly." He stared at the attentive young girl.
"Don't you ever get lonely?" She was full of curiosity about this man. About Robin's father.
"Eh, sometimes I do, but I've got Alfred, and every once in a while I get a wayward teen to deal with." He chuckled lightly, eyes sparkling brightly. Her face brightened a little as this. He seemed to be a good man, but she was still unsure about him.
All of a sudden, she felt a wave of sadness hit her. Tears formed in the empath's eyes.
"What's wrong?" Bruce asked concernedly.
"What makes you so sad?" Her voice was cracking as she asked this. He glanced sideways at her, appalled at her ability to cue in on his emotions.
"How do you know I'm sad?"
"My powers. I feel other people's emotions, along with mine." Bruce nodded, and raised his eyebrows slightly. He was interested in her abilities; they were strange, unique, and probably made a good fighter out of her.
"I'm always sad. I lost my parents when I was a young boy." He got up from the table and stared out the window sadly.
"I also lost my parents. I was born in Azarath, when my father, a demon known as Trigon, married a human. She had me, but a prophet prophesized that I would bring the end of the world when I turned a certain age. My father destroyed my whole dimension, my whole world, and then he came to this world through me. He took over the world, turned everything to stone; I had to kill my father to bring this world back to life." (A.N.: I have no clue about the whole demon marrying a human thing; I'm guessing! It's not a very well known subject with me. They never seemed to touch on that topic throughout the TV series, so I will never know about that side of her. Especially since they cancelled the show! Darn Cartoon Network!)
Bruce stared intently at the girl. She had been through so much at such a young age. Yet, here she was, still standing tall, able to talk about it. But now, she had to go through this rape as well. He couldn't imagine what emotions she was having to conceal.
"Wow, Raven. I'm sorry. Words cannot express the sadness I have for you." She giggled at this and immediately apologized.
"I'm so sorry. It's just that I never loved my dad, so his death was a good thing. But my mom. It was so long ago that I saw her. I didn't even get to say goodbye…Bruce, I'm sorry that I was so inconsiderate. Here we were talking about you and…" Bruce stopped her from saying another word.
"No, my child. Do not be sorry. One should only be sorry when something is done wrong. And you, my dear, have done nothing wrong." He smiled lightly at her, trying to catch her eyes. So far, she had not looked anyone in the eyes since he found her. (A.N.: I know that is not something the Batman would say, but oh well! It's my FanFic!)
The silence had once again grown between the two, quickly unnerving Raven.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to be alone for a while." Surprised that she had said so much, Bruce tried again to look her in the eye. She evaded his gaze, not wanting to look into them, knowing that she would see into his mind. No, she was not ready to see his mind; she needed to deal with her own problems right now. He gave her a quizzical glance. (A.N.: Why is everyone so OOC! I really don't mean them to be, but come on, Raven just got dumped by some dragon dude and now she's been raped! Of course she's going to be OOC. As for Batman, I have no reason why he is OOC, but I apologize. It's all my fault!)
"I just need to be alone…" She explained hastily. He nodded in understanding and allowed her to go into her room.
Once there, she crossed her legs and began clearing her head. She held the meditation mirror arm's length away and stared into it for several seconds. A dark, clawed hand pierced through the glass, grabbing her and pulling her into the mirror. Into her mind.
She fell into her land of Nevermore; the sky was black, with cold, red stars. Twisted, grotesque trees lined a small, rocky path that seemed to lead to nowhere. Strange crows with piercing, red eyes cawed at her softly.
"I'm here!" Gently, she called for her emotions. One by one, they all flew to her, each in a robe of different color.
"Ravey, are you okay!" Happy asked. Upon seeing the look in Raven's eyes, Happy drooped a little. She already knew the answer.
"No! First, I the only love I ever had left me; he had been using me. Then, I finally realized how much my friends really hate me. And now, some horrible men have raped me and rid me of my virginity!" Rage appeared among the emotions circling Raven.
"Let's rip their throats out." Her four eyes all sparkled evilly; Raven sniffled a little, then scoffed at Rage's wickedness.
"No! Let's not!" She threw her hands up, signaling that she would not hear anymore from the emotion. Rage backed away out of the circle that surrounded Raven, a bland smile plastered on her face.
"Raven is right, Rage. Violence is not the way to go. Right now, Raven needs to open up a little and allow someone to help her." Knowledge piped up, sounding very intelligent. Rage gave her a scornful look and muttered something under her breath.
"Raven doesn't need help! She just needs to be courageous and put the past behind her!" Bravery forcefully said, signing ferociously with her hands. She had her fist raised to the sky looking as if she had just given a power speech. (A.N: You know when people are in the middle of a really important speech and they all of a sudden kinda punch the sky? Imagine Bravery doing this!)
Raven's emotions were now all fighting with each other, all except Rage. She merely watched with pleasure as her sisters all argued with one another.
"Stop it! Stop it all of you! So far, none of you have helped me!" Her emotions quieted down, and Timid was the next to speak.
"We are sorry, Raven. Terribly sorry." The frail emotion burst into tears, gaining the attention of Raven and her emotions.
"It's all right. Please don't cry." Raven gently patted the girl's back, calming the emotion greatly.
"It may help you if you talk to this man…Bruce, I believe his name was." Knowledge once again got back on the subject of talking to someone. Everyone groaned, including the Dark Girl.
"Oh yeah, sure. Not only will he think she's weird; he'll think she's insane as well!" Rudeness screamed loudly, full of sarcasm. Knowledge glared at her, but Rudeness did not back down.
"What do you know? All you can do is criticize others and burp!" Knowledge was screaming in fury, causing Rage to step back in the circle. Raven, seeing this, jumped in.
"Stop it you too!" They stopped abruptly, both wearing apologetic expressions on their faces. Rage stepped away again, a look of pure hatred on her face. But that's all she could do. Hate.
Raven nodded towards Knowledge.
"I think I'll take your advice. Thanks." The emotion nearly bubbled over with happiness, and with that, Raven teleported back into her room in Bruce Manor.
A wave of exhaustion hit her as she returned to the comfortable room. Going back and forth between her mind and the real world always took a lot of energy. She plopped on the large bed and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Her thoughts were free to wander; she expected to find several shattered objects when she woke up.
Robin stared at his friends who were all slightly shocked at what he had just said. Each of them had their mouths wide open. Excluding Starfire who had a look of puzzlement on her face.
"What is this 'rape' you speak of, friend Robin?" Her voice was filled with innocence, and Robin hated to corrupt her naïve mind.
"Well, Starfire, um…when someone is raped that means that they were…well…" Cyborg cut the stammering Boy Wonder off.
"It means she was forced to have sex against her free will!" Anger and rage filled his voice. Starfire's jaw dropped immediately after hearing the blunt explanation. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she began to sob pathetically.
"We must find the horrible people who did this to her!" Even though she spoke between sobs, her voice was strong and stern. Cyborg and Beast Boy both nodded vigorously. Robin simply sat there on the couch, clenching his fists together.
"Where is the friend Raven? We must go get her and bring her back here." Robin shook his head slowly.
"No, she wants some time away from the tower. A friend of mine in Gotham is looking after her. She just needs some time to herself. She'll be back here in a few weeks or so…" Soaking it all in, the Titans all nodded their heads in understanding. Not another word was uttered as Robin turned and walked back into his room.
"Let's all go get some sleep…" Everyone got up and filed into their room, awaiting the next day. The next week. The next time they'd see Raven. It was going to be lonely in the Tower without her.
A.N: So what did ya think? Did you like it! PLEASE R&R! I really like it! And I guess, if you want, you can flame...