(Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.)
Raven sat at the kitchen table, listening to Robin chew Shadow out.
"You had to break the rules, didn't you? I told you that if you had any contact with her I'd kick you out, so get packed."
Shadow smirked his condescending smirk. "Chill, Boy Wonder. Why don't you go ask her whether or not she appreciates the rules?"
"Get out," Robin growled.
"Wait," Raven said quietly. "What did you do to her, Shadow?"
Shadow's black eyebrows rose. "I didn't do anything to her," he answered after a deliberate pause. "We just talked about a name."
"Robin, Moonlight slept last night. Do you realize that's the first time she has in over a week?" Raven stood slowly. "I don't trust him any more than you do, but Shadow didn't hurt her. What's the harm in letting their paths cross occasionally?"
"The harm? Raven, have you forgotten that he's here to take her away?"
Shadow shook his head and tisked at him. "Robin, Robin, Robin. Last night alone, I was behind her twice before she noticed, and I wasn't even trying." He plopped down into a chair and stretched lazily. "I'm going to take a vacation."
"Take it somewhere else," Robin snapped.
Shadow smirked. "I can't up and leave her unattended. I may not have a deadline for taking her in, but considering her history… I can't. As long as she's staying here, you're stuck with me."
"Then I'll stick you back in that cell."
"How many times have I gotten out now?"
"Four," Moonlight answered as she entered the room with a yawn. "Once before Chaldor, twice before the fight, and then again last night. What are you two squabbling about now?"
"Robin has this interesting new rule," Shadow began.
"The alarm went off last night," Robin interrupted. "Do you know anything about it?"
"No. Rae already asked me about that." Moonlight glanced at her cousin, who looked both annoyed and amused. "Why do you ask, Robin?"
"Oh, I, uh…"
Shadow smirked and met Moonlight's silver eyes. "She was with me, Boy Wonder. We weren't here."
"That was after the alarm went off," Moonlight corrected, not realizing Shadow was trying to enrage Robin enough that he mentioned the no-contact rule. "When the alarm went off, I'd already been on the roof for hours. Beast Boy found me there."
Raven raised one of her eyebrows. "Is that why I couldn't find you? You where somewhere with him," she asked, nodding to Shadow.
"Sorry, Rae. I-"
"You shouldn't leave without telling someone, especially not with him," Robin scolded harshly.
Moonlight's face darkened with anger. "You can't tell me when I'm to go where or what company I'm to keep," she snapped.
"Shadow's not even supposed to talk to you! To take you somewhere-" Robin stopped, realizing that was a mistake.
"You selfish, self-centered, egotistical jerk," Moonlight growled, hands curling into fists. "You're just a silly boy in a mask," she spat. "You don't get to make the rules that govern other people's lives."
As she stormed past him, Shadow grabbed her wrist. "Moonlight, wait." She tried to jerk out of his grasp, but his hold tightened. A knife formed in her free hand. Before Moonlight could swing at him, Shadow slipped the knife away and released her. "Thanks." The blade easily cut through the cast on his right arm. He held the knife out to her, hilt first.
"Add it to your collection," Moonlight said sarcastically. She flashed away before she could see Shadow's smile. He did collect her knives. Because they were part of her, they made it easy to track her – that, and, as knives went, they were the sharpest to be found.
He suddenly noticed Raven was looking at him oddly. It seemed like a good time for him to make his exit. As he passed by the bathroom, the shower turned on. Soft humming was barely distinguishable over the noise of the water, but Shadow knew it was Moonlight. She had a beautiful voice, but she almost never used it except when she was bathing.
It had been a beautiful night, only three days after his first encounter with her, when Moonlight stopped for a bath in a remote lake under the full moon. He'd heard the singing and had been completely entranced. He'd only seen three flashes of silver when he'd arrived at the lake: two the identical glows of her eyes and one the moonlight reflecting off the knife that just caught his right arm. He'd been unprepared for a fight. Since then, he'd made a point of being just barely in hearing distance when she bathed.
He wondered what song she was humming. That had become his game as he had waited for her all those nights, to guess the name and world of the songs she sang. He'd become very good at it, but he didn't recognize the one she was singing at all.
"What is that most enchanting sound?"
Starfire's voice shook Shadow out of his thoughts. "Moonlight's singing," he answered quietly. "Say, Starfire, you and Robin are friends, right?"
"Oh, yes," Starfire replied. "Why do you inquire about our relationship?"
"It's just that he's seemed really stressed lately. Maybe, as his friend, you should suggest a vacation to help him relax a little."
"Marvelous idea! I shall inform Robin at once!" Starfire zoomed off just as the bathroom door opened.
Moonlight stopped in the doorway, holding her robe tight around her slim form. She and Shadow just looked at each other for a moment. Then, she started walking back to her room. Shadow fell in step with her.
They walked in silence to her room. She opened the door, but Shadow barred the doorway with his left arm. Still, there was silence. Shadow cupped her face in his right hand and kissed her lightly but lingeringly. A moment later, she had ducked under his arm and closed the door behind her. Shadow stood there a moment longer, shaking his head. What was she afraid of?