Wow, so many reviews! I am so happy! Thank you so much, I really appreciate every single one of them!

Shards of Distortion

Chapter Three: Shattered

Two weeks had passed since that smile at the mall. They had been counting. Since then, the girl had rather rapidly fallen into her own dark shelter, seemingly unable to find her way out. Even her friends had clued in. Most of them, anyway. Starfire noticed; she realized how thin Raven had become, and how sad she seemed. Beast Boy had noticed, even though sensitivity was not particularly his strong point. Cyborg had noticed, even though he was less than perceptive about those things. That left one…

"Robin, do you not notice that the clouds and stars and moon make a beautiful picture tonight?" Starfire said, staring out the large window. She loved the spectacular view of the Titans Tower.

"Uh… well not particularly," he said, joining her. He smirked. "I've been distracted by something even prettier…"

Starfire's eyes lit up. "Are you intending to mean myself?" she practically squealed. He merely smiled back. "Oh, Robin. You are doing the flirting with me!" She jumped with joy, never afraid to conceal her happiness.

"I guess I am," he said in his cocky manner. He clasped his hands over hers. However, the intimate moment was interrupted.

The huge glass wall revealing the gorgeous night sky suddenly shattered, spraying glass all over. Starfire shrieked, as Robin dove and threw her to the ground with him, shielding her from the crystal shards.

Raven gasped from her place, cloaked in the shadows of the hall, unseen up until now. She quickly fled to the safety of her room.

"Yo, what happened here?" Cyborg and Beast Boy came running, hearing the ear-splitting crash of glass. They skidded to a halt as they saw their living room glittering with glass pieces. The giant windows were all empty, with the bits of remaining glass hanging dangerously from the frame.

"The windows just suddenly… shattered," Robin said, bewildered. He carefully stood up, shaking thousands of pieces of glass off of his cape. He offered a hand to Starfire and helped her up.

"Star, are you okay?" Genuine concern was in his voice.

"I am fine." She suddenly gasped. "Robin! There is a chunk of glass placed in your head! …Several!"

Robin slowly turned, revealing many glass pieces embedded in his jet-black hair. Crimson seeped through.

"Oh, dude!" Beast Boy said, astonished. Cyborg ran to Robin and began to pick out the large chunks of glass from his spiky hair. "So… how did the windows break?"

"We… did not see," Starfire said, blushing slightly.

"I see… busy?" Cyborg smiled, as he carefully extracted pieces of glass from the boy's hair.

"Shut up and get the glass out of my head."

"Aye aye, captain," Beast Boy mock-saluted. "Any ideas as to how they broke?"

A short silence ensued. "It may have been… Raven…" Starfire said softly.

The girl shook as she sobbed into her pillow. She hated being this way, but couldn't help it. Tears rolled down her cheeks, as she gasped for breath. She was dangerous… She had hurt them. She might go even further, next time…

She had tried to hide it from herself, but could no longer deny it. She liked Robin. She really liked him. Had she known what love felt like, she would say she loved Robin. She was deeply in love with this boy. And she didn't know why. No, she did – he was everything she admired. Everything she wanted in herself. But… why did she have to do this to herself? Why did she love the boy who didn't return the affection? Why did she put herself through the torment known as unrequited love? Why did it have to be him?

She knew he liked Starfire. But when she had seen them together… in the way she knew she would never be a part of… she had lost control. She lost control of her powers for a split second, and… there went the windows. She longed for a feeling of belonging, a feeling of happiness. It was so far away, now. She was falling faster, and couldn't be saved.

Star and Robin were drawing closer, and Raven got weaker. She had lost so much weight she looked like a skeleton. A skeleton, just like her soul…

She heard a knock at the door and immediately tried to stifle her loud sobs. She hid under her covers with the childish hopes of nobody seeing her.

"Uh… Raven?" No. Not him! She managed to quiet her sobbing to a silent stream of tears through the immense factor of fear. "They sent me to talk to you. Well, actually, I got the short straw. Can… I come in?"

He ignored the silence, and entered her room. He saw the form under the covers, shaking. He slowly lifted the cover, revealing her pale face. Tears streaked it, and continued to fall. "Raven?"

She stared at the bandage wrapped around his head. Bits of red soaked through. She grimaced. "Oh, uh… it's not bad, really. Cyborg got all the glass out. Nobody was hurt badly, this is the worst," he said, pointing to his head. "Must have been some kid playing baseball… or a bird…"

"A bird. Me, Raven," she said quietly.

"Can I, uh, come under?" Robin asked. He was still holding the covers up to see her face, which she presently buried in her knees.

There was some sort of muffled noise, which he took as a 'yes'. He sat beside her on the large bed, under the covers. "Don't tell me you've been under the covers this whole time… how can you breathe?"

"You get used to it," she said distantly. "Those were pathetic excuses. A baseball?" The usual sharp tone was gone. It was more out of habit. Her voice was soft and slightly hoarse from the crying.

"Whatever. Look, are you okay? The whole window-shattering thing… They're all really worried about you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. But the use of the word 'they' as opposed to 'we' kept coming to mind. She couldn't help herself. "They? How about yourself?"

Robin stared at her in the eyes. They were so beautiful, yet looked sad and empty. "I…" His mind went blank. "I… Raven, I don't know," he blurted. "You… you're doing something to me, and I don't know what."

"Sorry… I'm not trying to, really… as you probably could tell, my control over my powers is slipping," she murmured.

"Well, yeah… but it's not your powers, Raven. It's you. Something about you…" Those indigo eyes held their gaze. "Anyway, I'm not here to talk about me. How are you feeling?"

"Feeling like… I want to know what you're feeling," she replied. Robin stared at her. She was being almost as direct as Starfire! "I share if you share first."

Robin sighed. "Deal. But… can we get out of under this blanket? I can't breathe…"

"Fine," she said. Robin lifted the covers, and got up.

"Want to go for a walk outside? Don't worry, nobody will see. It's after midnight – nobody's out there right now. Just you and me…"

She stood up in response. The two walked silently out, Raven taking precautions as to not be caught by the other Titans. He seeing her like this was bad enough. "They're all asleep, if you're wondering," Robin said. "Which you don't look like you've had a lot of at all."

Seeing her in the light showed him just how pale and weary she looked. Her skin was almost chalk-white, and she was drained of any colour she may have had. The tears had made stains upon her cheeks. Her hair hung limply from her face, like life had left it. "You're right," she said emotionlessly.

"And food, you haven't eaten much at all. You didn't even eat anything today," he remarked.

"You've been keeping track?" she asked dryly.

"It's hard not to notice when you skip most meals, and when you do eat with us you eat hardly anything," he retorted. "Raven… take off your cloak."

She narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

"Just do it," he commanded.

"I…" she stopped, sighing, realising it was futile to argue. She slowly unfastened the blue cloak and let it slip from her shoulders, revealing her skeletal figure. Robin's eyes widened underneath his mask.

"God, Raven…" Now even he could see just how wasted away this girl had become. The skin-tight uniform clung to her bony frame. Her bones jutted out substantially. She had been beautiful before. Now, her wiry figure looked weak and feeble. She looked as if she would collapse any minute.

She put the cloak back on. He was still staring in shock. "Why don't you eat?" he asked.

She stared at him with those haunting eyes. "I can't," she said shortly.

"Why not?" He looked frightened.

"No, you promised you would talk first," she said. They headed outside, down a path in the park.

"Tell me… am I your friend?" she asked. Her voice was like that of a five-year-old. It was rather creepy, like she was a possessed child. Maybe her past, the childhood she had never gotten the chance to experience… Her eyes shone brightly in the glow of the streetlights.

"Of course you are," he responded. "And you can tell me anything." He watched as she quietly shook her head.

"No, you're wrong…" She was fragile and could break at any point. She probably had already…

"Why?" He looked slightly hurt.

"There are some things I can't tell anybody," she whispered. "But… we're talking about you, aren't we. What are you feeling right now?"

"Uh…" he scratched his head. Feelings weren't his strong point. "Sad, I guess, because you are too. You look even more unhappy than usual. And frustrated because you can't tell me what's wrong. And also sort of…" he trailed off, smiling.

"Sort of what?" she asked.

"Never mind," he said quickly. "It's nothing."

"Nothing…?"

"Yeah. Well, okay, I suppose it's useless to try and hide anything from you, with your powers and all. And you know already…" He looked away, hand on the back of his neck. "You shouldn't care about it, it's sort of stupid and unimportant to you. But I… well, I like Starfire. You know? I mean I really like her. She's just… I can't explain. But you know. And I don't know how to tell her, but I… I love her…"

Raven bit her lip, trembling slightly. She had paled, and looked unwell indeed. She stopped walking.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked cautiously. He grabbed her hand, though not in the way he had held Star's.

"Feeling… really dizzy… and weak…" she suddenly fell forward, unconscious. He caught her instinctively, and saw the tears leaking down her face as they shone in the dim lights that illuminated the park path. Her skin brushed against his arm and felt cold and clammy.

He knelt, tenderly brushing the dark hair from her face with his glove. "Raven," he whispered, holding her closer to his chest in an embrace. Tears leaked from her closed eyes, down her pale face. She was hauntingly beautiful lying unconscious and crying in his arms…

"She is moving!" Starfire exclaimed. The Titans rushed to Raven's bedside immediately. She lay in their private hospital wing, uncloaked. Cyborg had hooked her up to a bunch of medical devices that the rest of them had no idea how to work or what they were for. Raven moaned softly, stirring ever so slightly.

"Raven! Are you okay?" Beast Boy asked.

"Where… am I?" she asked quietly. She opened her eyes slowly, as the scene gradually came into focus. "What happened?"

"You sort of suddenly lost consciousness in the park two nights ago. Remember?" Robin said. She stared at him blankly. "We were talking… you were asking me questions. And I was answering them…"

It suddenly hit her with the force of a truck. The memories flooded back, and the darkness surrounded her inside her mind. "Two nights ago…?"

She wished she hadn't woken up. She couldn't escape… She wished she could end it all right now. Was there any way out of it? All that would happen was she would either hurt them, or it would consume her. It being the darkness… a part of her she could not escape. It was her loneliness, her longing for comfort, her wanting to belong… And she would never find that. It would never be satisfied. The more she wanted help, the stronger it became…

"Yeah… you've been out for about thirty-six hours now," Cyborg said.

"And you've been here for thirty-six hours?" she asked, surprised. She glanced around at them. They all bore smiles, telling her that they indeed had waited 36 long hours for her to wake up. They cared. A ghost of a smile appeared on her face. "…Thanks," she said quietly.

No, she knew that they were her friends. She knew they were here for her, just like she would always be for them. So then what was it that she needed? She needed more…

She slowly made her way out of the white bed. "I'm going to my room," she said, but four pairs of hands stopped her.

"Raven, you are not. Instead you are coming to the kitchen to eat," Starfire said.

"Yeah, you're scrawnier than BB and Robin combined!" Cyborg teased. Under any other circumstance, they would have viciously beat him. However, they were too concerned about Raven at the moment, so gave only nasty glares and reluctantly nodded.

She looked at them, with an expression of almost fear in her eyes. Her eyes were like a deer's, large and dark. "But—"

"But what? You're like, freaky skinny, Rae!" Beast Boy blurted out. "Sorry, I didn't mean… it's just… you were beautiful before," he said softly, placing a hand on her arm.

Cyborg nodded vigorously, grinning. Starfire nodded, smiling, though she was a terrible actor. Robin said nothing. Raven mirrored him.

"Raven, we… think you have a problem," Cyborg said. "We think… you might have… an eating disorder."

"Now we know how hard it must be, but really. You're not fat!" Beast Boy tried to convince her. "You're not even close to fat! You were skinny before, and well now…"

A slight smile formed upon her face. It grew, and she started laughing. It wasn't a pleasant laugh, though. It was downright scary. It was at an inappropriate time, and was mocking yet sad.

"It goes deeper than that," she said harshly. "I don't even fully understand. But it can't be fixed, believe me. Because there's no solution to my problem. There is no way out. I'm trapped. Now leave, before it gets you too. Leave me alone before I accidentally hurt you!"

Tears threatened to spill, despite how hard she tried to contain them. They had never seen her like this. Her life was crumbling; her stony fortress walls were caving in, right before their eyes. She ran before they could see her cry, leaving them in silence.

"Guys, this is seriously bad. She needs help," Beast Boy said. He didn't dare joke; even though in the worst situations he could find something light-hearted to say, this time he couldn't. His friend was hurt, and he was sad too.

"But we can't do anything," Robin said. "There's nobody who can help her! She's not a normal person."

"That is true," Starfire remarked. "But we must try!"

"We need to get her a doctor. She's physically wasting away!" Cyborg exclaimed. "I think it's some sort of disease, that's making her sick."

"I don't think it'll be any normal disease. She has strange powers… We don't understand them. I think they might be contributing to it. Like the window spontaneously shattering," Robin said. "Maybe her powers are sort of taking over her body, causing her to physically deteriorate. She said that she was losing control over them."

"Or maybe it has to do with some bad guy," Beast Boy suggested. "Maybe they did something to her."

"Why do we not get her a veterinarian?" Starfire asked. "Do they not take care of Ravens?" The others sweat-dropped.

"Uh, I don't think they'll do much for her," Robin said. Starfire shrugged.

"I think that although it has physical signs and that her powers are not under control, I think it is emotional," Starfire said. "If she is sad, her powers will not be under control. That is why she has to meditate, to keep her emotions in the check. And if she is sad, her mind is sick too. So when her mind is unwell, her body is unwell too."

They stared at her briefly, taking it in. What she said made sense.

"Okay, guys. As much as I really want to figure this out, we need to sleep," Robin said, yawning. "Well, I do, anyway. I haven't slept in exactly fifty-four hours now… Doesn't make for good crime-fighting." The others nodded, and they left for their quarters.

Raven sat alone at the kitchen counter. Just as they had told her to… They had managed to replace the large glass wall. And the drinking glasses, too. She merely sat there, staring into nothingness. She didn't notice the soft footsteps approaching her.

"Raven," Starfire's voice came. Raven looked at the girl who stood beside her and turned to face her. "Raven, since the doctors cannot help you, and the veterinarians cannot help you… I wish to help you," she said. She gently placed a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

Raven accepted the gesture, as Starfire pulled her into a hug. "My friend… it is okay to cry," Starfire said softly. And so she did.

END OF CHAPTER

Please review! Thanks!

Penguin Pop