Insomniac Chapter 4: Nightmares and Strategies, a teen titans fanfic

Okay everyone! I feel extremely loved by the response from the last chapter so I decided to come right out with another! And you guys are extremely lucky this one is exactly 3172 words long, not counting the beginning and ending comments!

SPECIAL NOTE: One of my extremely dear friends has decided to illustrate this fic for me! So far there are ten pictures for the fic, and she plans on doing at least three and maybe four for this one. She only has five of the pictures posted, but that will soon be remedied, I promise! I think that her pictures are AMAZING and absolutely everyone should go and check the pictures out. She can be found on...

Deviantart. Her name is LongPaleSpiders, and the pictures are the only things in her gallery so they are easy to get. Her account can be found at h t t p / longpalespiders . deviantart . com /

Go check them out and leave them a note, it is definitely worth it!

Small rant: Have you guys ever noticed how Starfire is the only tamaranian who has trouble with english? Blackfire was fluent after only being there for not long. And when they traveled to her home planet, everyone there could speak it. Her nanny guy was excellent at it. Why is she the only one that has problems? Was it a mistake in her character or...something?

Any-way, sorry, here we go.

Anonymous review replies at the bottom.

Warning: Some intense scenes and some rather ridiculous scenes. A bit more plot a little less fluff. Sorry.

Title:
Nightmares and Strategies

Quote:
" I hear it fading, I can't speak it or else you will take my place."
Korn and Disturbed- Forsaken

Robin shifted his head and was faintly surprised when his cheek scraped against cold concrete. Where was he? He sat up and opened his eyes only to be blinded by the opalescent sunlight. He squinted through the brightness and his eyes alighted on Raven.

She was perched on the ledge, facing the city.

He stood up and stretched, taking a step towards her. "Raven?" he questioned, yawning and scratching his head.

She didn't answer.

"Raven," he said a bit louder taking a couple more steps towards her.

Nothing.

Robin moved all the way across the roof. "Raven," he said forcefully, grasping her arm.

Even through her sleeve Robin could feel how cold she was. He was startled, but then quickly swung around so that he was on the ledge beside her and could see her face.

Her eyes were wide open, tears dripping freely from her face and off the roof to soak the sand below. Her ragged breathing was ripped from her slightly open mouth and she seemed to be frozen in place.

"Raven!" he called, shaking her arm, struggling to wake her.

This served only to make her lean forward from her precarious spot on the ledge and he had to move quickly to keep her from falling. He held her in place using one arm while he wrapped her arms around his neck so that he could pick her up. Her arms seemed stiff, her body reluctant to move.

When Robin finally had her safely back onto the rooftop he put both his hands on her face and moved so that her face was aligned with his own. "Raven," he said insistently, peering directly into her eyes.

A few more moments passed and Robin really began to panic. What the hell was wrong with her? She was alive...wasn't she? She was breathing any-way...

His mind whirled with possibilities.

Suddenly Raven closed her eyes and winced, putting a hand to her head. Robin sat back startled. Then he breathed with relief. She wasn't dead.

Raven opened her eyes, pain and fear still easily discernible. When she saw Robin she pulled her knees in and rested her head on them, facing the other way, hiding her face. "Sorry," she choked, "It w-...It was another...nightmare."

Robin stared at her for a moment before taking one of her wrists in his, forcing her to look at him. "You were awake Raven. What's going on? Are these more visions?"

Raven stared at him with large wet eyes. "They are nightmares. It was a nightmare," she said.

After a moments pause Robin spoke again, realization in his voice, "You were sleepwalking."

Raven used her freehand to wipe the remaining tears from her face, her panic quickly receding, but she didn't close down. She could trust him. "I've been reacting violently in my sleep," she said, "You heard me the other night."

"You could have killed yourself, you could have gone right off the ledge," Robin said, in a slightly strained voice.

Raven didn't say anything. "How long has this been going on?"Robin demanded.

"They're just dreams, Robin," Raven said.

"How long?" Robin asked again.

There was a long moment of silence before Raven spoke again. "They started a month before my father came, and they've been going ever since."

Robin's eyes widened. That long? "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked.

Raven shifted uncomfortably. "They are dreams, Robin. What could you have done?"

He sat quiet, as though thinking it over. "I could have figured out something," Robin finally said.

The ghost of a smile played over Raven's mouth. Her tears were fully gone, and no trace of that morning's panic remained on her face. "I'm going to go make some tea. Or else Beast Boy might come searching again."

She got up and started walking away. Robin stood up too, "Hang on," he called, "I'll go with you."

They were at the doorway of the kitchen when Raven stopped suddenly. Robin who was following ended up smacking into her, but she managed to keep herself outside of the kitchen. "What was-" Robin began.

Raven gestured into the kitchen, an impassive expression on her face. Robin leaned forward so that he could peer over her shoulder. The site that greeted him was almost comical.

Beast Boy stood at the front of the room, a large diagram held by a tripod behind him and a combat helmet on his head. He had a pointer in his hand and appeared to be explaining something.

Starfire and Cyborg both sat at the dining room table watching Beast Boy. Well, Cyborg sat. Starfire floated a few feet above her chair, a combat helmet on her head, the strap locked tightly in place, her eyes wide and innocent as she listened intently to every word that Beast Boy said.

Cyborg on the other hand, was sitting and eating a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon, his helmet upside down several inches from his plate. He didn't seem to be paying attention to BB, instead he was immersed in the morning's newspaper. The sports section.

"Where did they get combat helmets?" Raven whispered to Robin.

Without taking his eyes from the scene Robin whispered back, "They're part of a game that Beast Boy bought."

Inside the room Beast Boy began another lecture, ignoring the fact that Cyborg was ignoring him, and also ignoring Starfire's expression of rapt attention.

"Okay troops," he said, pacing back and forth across the floor, "last night we received confirmation of a relationship between one Robin aka Boy Wonder aka Team Leader aka Walking Traffic Light," Robin started with indignation, but didn't say anything, "and one Raven aka Ice Queen aka Dark Girl aka Sunshine."

"Sunshine?" Robin whispered questioningly to Raven.

"Cyborg calls me that sometimes," Raven replied distractedly.

Robin smirked.

"Now it is understood," Beast Boy continued, "that a relationship inside the group is like a virus inside of Cyborg."

Cyborg glanced up at the mention of his name.

"One moment you are happy and fine, and the next you're full of green gunk and mind eating robot thingies, while munching on a satellite," Beast Boy paused for emphasis, "Which is not a good thing."

Cyborg snorted and went back to his paper.

Starfire raised her hand. "Yes?" Beast Boy asked.

"The 'relationship' represents the virus, right?" Starfire looked up questioningly.

"Yes," Beast Boy confirmed.

"What then does the satellite represent? And the robot thingies? Or the gunk of green?"

Cyborg snorted again.

Beast Boy ignored him. "That doesn't matter. So here is our mission; keep the two apart!"

Starfire nodded shortly. Outside the door Raven sighed. "I knew it."

Robin looked at her for a moment and then looked back to the kitchen.

"This brings me to the mission assignments," Beast Boy said imperiously.

"Cyborg!" Beast Boy pointed the pointer at the mechanical man dramatically, "You are good at watching people so I need you to be on constant security watch. I have my communicator, but the line may be tapped so if you need to contact me use the phrase, 'The Bird sent me.'"

Cyborg ignored him, turning the page of the newspaper.

"Starfire!" Beast Boy announced, bringing the pointer down on the table in front of her, startling her, "You are a girl. Raven is also a girl."

Outside the door Raven rolled her eyes, and Robin couldn't help but grin at her.

"The two of you should get together and do...," Beast boy seemed stumped for a moment, "girly things. Keep her busy. If she is busy with you than she cannot get together with Robin."

Starfire raised her hand for the second time. "Yes?" Beast Boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"But what about when we sleep?" she asked.

"We'll have to stay the night with them," Beast Boy announced.

Starfire became excited, "So I shall have a party of slumber with Raven and you shall have a party of slumber with Robin!"

Beast Boy stared at her. "Ah hello Starfire? Boys don't have slumber parties, boys 'crash' at each others places. Girls have slumber parties, boys crash."

Raven sent a questioning glance to Robin who shrugged.

Starfire nodded, serious once again. Beast Boy then turned to march back and forth in front of the diagram. "My job will be to do the same for Robin. I will spend the entire day with him, which I believe shows my devotion to this cause."

It was Raven's turn to smirk at Robin. But the smile quickly faded as she pulled him away from the kitchen door and back into the hallway. "Okay Robin, tell me," Raven said, "What do we do about this?"

Robin looked down at her with a slightly calculating expression on his face. She hadn't denied anything. And she didn't actually seem that upset. More...flustered.

"What can we do about that?" Robin questioned, "Besides it's just Beast Boy and Starfire, they're harmless."

Raven opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Beast Boy. He looked suspiciously from one to the other, before stepping between them and turning to Robin.

"Hey Robin," he said nonchalantly, "I was thinking that maybe we could do something today, like...um..." the wheels in his mind spun as he struggled to think of something they could do together, "Play video games?"

Robin began to shake his head, but Beast Boy hurried on, "Or maybe we could...do some...uh...paper filing, or record keeping? Or maybe you need to...um...go over some survellience videos, or catalogue the things in the evidence room, or maybe we could...complete criminal records or update your utility belt, or whatever it is you do," Beast Boy looked slightly stumped, "Or we could train. You like to train."

Raven smirked at Robin. "What an interesting life you lead."

Robin glared quickly at her before turning back to Beast Boy. An idea suddenly dawned on him. "Well you could join me for training. I usually start off by running about ten miles. You ready to go?"

Beast Boy seemed to deflate. "Oh. Yeah, running sounds...great."

Raven's smile vanished from her face as she heard Starfire's call from across the Tower. "RAAAVEEEEN!"

It was Robin who was smiling as they parted. "Your turn."

Beast Boy was dripping with sweat and took dragging footsteps from his weariness. "Well," he said tiredly, "We've gone running ten miles, went through the obstacle course seven times, went running another ten miles, sparred for a bit...without powers," he added rather bitterly, "went on another ten mile run, spent an hour in the battle simulation program, ran another ten miles, climbed the cliff a few times, and," he sighed, "we just finished running...ten miles."

Robin had been listening, and then nodded, "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Maybe we can do something else now?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin considered, "Well we could go get some food."

"Really?" Beast Boy asked hopefully, perking up a bit.

"Yeah, we should eat some carbs about now. We're halfway done. After this, I usually spend a couple hours in the weight room, practice some new battle techniques, go through the obstacle course some more, and then usually I wind down by going running for about an hour or two," Robin flashed Beast Boy a brilliant smile, "Ready to go?"

Beast Boy fought the tears in his eyes, "If you are," he sighed.

It was eleven o'clock at night and Beast Boy felt like hell. He could barely feel his body, and he struggled to keep upright. He turned shakily to Robin. "Okay, that's everything. What do you say we call it a night?"

"Sounds good," Robin smiled, tired, but not exhausted.

Beast Boy smiled weakly and began heading to the door, placing one rubbery leg in front of the other. He made it all the way to the door and had opened it before he realized that Robin was not behind him. "Aren't you coming?" he called listlessly.

"I'll be right there," Robin answered.

He looked up just in time to see Beast Boy collapse right outside of the doorway, in a deep sleep.

He chuckled lightly and stretched, as he walked into the locker room and changed into something that wasn't wet with sweat, grabbed a towel and headed back into the training room. He rubbed his sweaty head with the towel, and so he was startled when he heard Raven's voice.

"Good job," she commented blandly.

Robin jumped and looked over. She was standing just inside the doorway, wearing nothing more than a pair of girl boxers and a spaghetti strapped tank top which, Robin had the distinct impression, belonged to Starfire.

"Nice pajamas," he said offhandedly, "You got rid of Starfire?"

Raven smiled, "Starfire's been in bed since nine. I accepted her invitation to 'sleep over', and then I managed to convince her that when you 'sleep over' you just sleep. So that's where my story ends."

Robin stared at her indignantly. "So while I had to do all this work to get Beast Boy off my back, you and Starfire were sleeping?"

"Pretty much," Raven agreed.

Robin glared at her for a moment and then settled back on the training room mat and used the towel for a pillow. "Hey Raven?" he asked.

She said nothing, but tilted her head as a signal for him to continue. "I was thinking about your nightmares, and..." he faded off as her face became void of any expression, "Or are we pretending that the conversation on the roof didn't happen and that I don't know about your nightmares?"

There was a heavy silence and then Raven sighed and sat down on the mat, facing him. Her shoulders rolled forward in an unconscious movement that Robin realized would have made her cloak surround her, had she been wearing it. She was uncomfortable.

"I thought we decided that there was nothing to be done about them, so what is the point of discussing it?" Raven monotoned.

"That is what you decided," Robin countered.

Raven simply shrugged and looked at him. She was extremely uncomfortable. She pulled her legs in closer to herself, and hunched over even further. Robin followed her actions silently and hesitated before speaking again.

"Why don't you let me share one of your nightmares?"

Raven's head instantly snapped up and she stared directly at Robin. He couldn't tell what emotion it was that dominated her face, "What?"

"I could help you, like you helped me. Maybe if you shared them, then they wouldn't be so bad," Robin struggled to explain.

Raven was already shaking her head and standing up, voicing her dissent. "No, Robin. No-one else should see these. You have no idea what's in my mind."

He stood up and took one step closer and took her hand in his, turning her half-way around. He didn't capture her wrists, instead he grasped her hand loosely enough so that if she wanted to leave then she could easily pull away.

"Raven, please."

Raven closed her eyes and sighed. She opened her eyes again and looked straight on at him. She took hold of his other hand and led him over to the wall so that she with her back to a stack of mats, and then sat down cross legged in front of him. He took his cue from her and mimicked her motions.

She raised his gloveless hands until they were level, but not quite touching the sides of her temples, and then she placed one of her small hands right above his heart, long fingers splayed.

Raven looked at him from inches away, her expression somber, "Don't try and fight it."

Before he could ask what she meant by that a dark glow encased her finger tips and she pressed her fingers into his skin, the power jolting into his heart and then racing through his veins. He half-choked as her power ran through his body and then flew from his fingers, connecting him to her.

He was plunged into an iciness that tore through his body violently and stole his breath away, air so thick that it made him choke. A thousand images crashed down around him until his body faded away, his eyes faded away, his mind faded away, until there was nothing but thousands of experiences, of sensations, a growing panic. He felt the years being ripped away, his life; he saw his friends, his loved ones whither away until they were useless and faded.

He couldn't deal with this. He could deal with fear, and with fights, but not these emotions of pure fear and panic, the sensations and the mindless images. He couldn't fight that. There was no enemy to conquer. He needed out!

His eyes flew open and he gasped, a sob shuddering it's way through his body. He was pressed tightly against Raven, she was holding him to her, his head on her shoulder. He realized that she was crying.

"I told you," she said, crying softly, "I told you that you shouldn't see it. I'm so sorry, Robin," she almost lost control of her voice, "I'm so sorry."

Robin felt confused, slow, lethargic. He couldn't think right. He was so tired. So damn tired. His body was sore and his mind was exhausted. He let himself fall against her, barely holding onto her. He slowly patted her head in his dull need to comfort her. "It's okay," he mumbled into her shoulder, unsure of whether or not she had heard him.

Somehow he ended up with his head in her lap and she smoothed the few remaining tears from his face as he slowly lost consciousness. Once he was asleep she stroked his head for a moment or two before she stood up and walked a few feet away. She sat down and closed her eyes, a light meditation setting in. She needed to calm herself.

Her meditation was broken some time later by Robin's voice. "Why are you still awake?" he said sleepily.

He held out a hand beckoning for her to come closer. She crawled across the mats until she sat with him, against him. He gave her a sleepy half-smile and then he was out again. Raven shifted until she was more comfortable against him. Her mind scolded her, telling her that she shouldn't be sleeping with him...again. Especially not after what had just happened.

Robin moved in his sleep, allowing her to lie against his chest. She settled in, grateful for the warmth, and shut her mind off. She was tired and after all...why not?

Finally! The end has come...for this chapter any-way! Please review for me! I'm an insecure person, and I need constant...um...attention? Compliments? Love? Any-way, I need constant comments to fuel me. I love you all!

Flaming only encourages me. Especially for the pairing...:evil smirk:

Anonymous Review Replies!

(People that reviewed my earlier chapters get double replies, because I hadn't realized that I actually had done some replies before. So you are all lucky!)

Not telling: Thank you very much for saying that! I do have to say though that are a lot of other really excellent Rob/Rae fics out there. I have some personal favorites in my favorites list, so if you want to then you could check those out. I try keeping the characters in control, so I'm glad that you think that they are in character. I've continued it and there is a great deal of awkwardness :). Any-way thank you for reviewing!

Scarlett Ward: Yea! I love hearing from you! I'll give you an individual reply to each review! And I did continue it! Yea!
Secret: I did. Finally. I updated. And I will again. For you guys...and for me. It's a fun story to write. Starfire is the only one that doesn't know yet. But I will continue. Thank you for reviewing!

xASxRAVENxASx: I know, I love RaeVin for suggesting it. I enjoy trying different things so I really do like requests. I'm glad that you like it so much! I did decide to make it a multi-chapter mostly because I really like the name Insomniac, but you know it works. And thank you sooo much for reviewing, it's awesome to know what people think! And I do love hearing from you. Thank you!

Talenyn: Well thank you! My english teacher would beg to differ...but I will say that I've never let him see my fanfic...;) So I hope you don't mind a few more chapters yet. Thank you for responding!

rachel: Thank you, and I did decide to write some more chapters, so I hope that you like them! I hope to hear from you soon!

Raven&bbfan: Hey, it's awesome to hear a positive comment about a RobRae from a Raven and BB fan. I really appreciate that! I love Beast Boy immensely and I've been working to keep him in further chapters because I do love his character...: ) Any-way thank you very much for the compliment and the review!

Moving Mountains: Hey thank you! I'm really happy to find another person that enjoys the RobRae pairing! Welcome to my friendbase...lol. I'll keep it going. And thank you so much for reviewing and for actually liking this story!

666: Hey, thank you! I've continued it so I hope that you like it...why did you pick that for your name? Just something you thought of? Any-way I really appreciate you reviewing everything! Thank you so much!

Secret: Hey it's good to hear from you again! I updated and I'm working on it again, sorry for the long wait, I had to leave, but now I'm back and I'm getting it out! Thank you!

Charmnightskye: Thank you! I love challenges and requests, just to see if I can do it. And she said that she liked it so I decided to continue. And I love hearing that you think they were still in character. Raven's sudden rage is one of the reasons that I love her so much, so of course I'm going to keep her on edge...though Robin does seem to have a calming effect on her.

cara: There you go, another helping! Thank you!

dreamflyr: Hey dreamflyr, thank you very much! I love compliments.. : Teen Titans is an excellent show, although sometimes they try to teach you morals which pisses me off, but the intense episodes are great...the only intense episodes seem to come from Raven and Robin, hence my favorite characters. I hope the further chapters will make you happy!

xASxRAVENxASx: Hey! Yeah I did, I actually really love writing for this story, so I like it. Thank you! I would looove to read what you write and I would really love to be a beta for you...if you want one...(hint...?) I wish that I knew how to speak/read/write in Greek, I have so much respect for you. I really do think you should get an account. Isn't summer wonderful? It makes writing so much easier since your writing teacher is asking you to do ridiculous essays about nothing. That absolutely sucks that your best friend betrayed you like that! What's she going to do once they break up? It's only going to last for so long. I hope that things get better for you soon! I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you in so long, I hope to talk to you soon! Thank you!

Charmed night Skye: Hey it's good to hear from you again! I'm kinda getting into the habit of one liners at the end. Cyborg doesn't really mind either way. Cy and BB were staying up because they wanted to know what was going on, some sort of confirmation you know? Thank you very much!

ljo: Hey, you made it right before I was going to update again. I know, I wonder where BB got that book, I can't imagine him EVER understanding it. It's a hard book to follow. I did give you another one! And fairly quickly for you! Thank you for reviewing.

Scarlett Ward: Yea! I love hearing from you! I'll give you an individual reply to each review! And I did continue it! Yea!

Secret: I did. Finally. I updated. And I will again. For you guys...and for me. It's a fun story to write. Starfire is the only one that doesn't know yet. But I will continue. Thank you for reviewing!

RosaKu: Yes, I get my cookie, can you make it a sugar cookie with frosting please? I'm extremely happy that you like it so much! I got such an excellent response out of chapter two that I did decide to continue it! So thank you for reviewing!