Hope y'all are enjoying the consistant updates. I enjoy this story alot, especially because I get to mess with the character's heads. And yes, there will be a sequel. I'm a hopeless optimist, would I really let this story go downhill without doing something about it?

Disclaimer: Same as always. Did you think it changed?

Chapter 15

Her heart was racing as she moved closer to him, hoping against hope that what he was going to say would be what she was going to say... Perhaps it would be better if she spoke first. Putting a finger to his lips, she grinned as broadly as she was comfortable doing, then said, "I have to tell you something too, Robin, and I think you'll like it!"

His eyes widened, and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand down a bit, his expression serious. "Raven, I don't think you and I are thinking along the same lines here..."

She smiled. It must be about his emotions. He was getting sweaty and nervous. "I, but I think we are! Robin, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, and I think I finally made up my mind."

His frown turned to a grimace as it was his turn to put a finger to her lips. "Raven, listen. I don't want to hurt you. You're my best friend and I don't know what I'd do without you. But the thing is..."

She winced. "Please don't be heading where I think you're going," she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He smiled weakly, brushing the tears aside with his ungloved hand. It was warm to the touch, and she was comforted somewhat by the gesture. "I'm sorry, Raven, but I think I made up my mind too."

The implications of his words hit her like a cement truck, and she felt the sadness in her heart become overbearing. "Please. No..." she said, her voice almost nothing in the air as the tears continued their course down her cheeks.

He shook his head. "I didn't want to hurt you, Raven. I didn't want to get your hopes up and then crush them. That's why I never talked about my feelings before. I didn't want to hurt you or anybody else. And then when I finally opened up, I did just that." His own mask was becoming damp along the edges.

A sudden sob escaped her chest and she lurched forward a bit, grabbing his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise as she suddenly pulled him closer to herself. Their lips met, and she attempted to rectify the mistake he was trying to make. Her heart was racing, and her world dissolved around her as they kissed, and she made a mental note that he was making no attempt to break free, or was that mere surprise?

The kiss ended much too soon for her tastes, and her tears were blazing fiery trails, now staining her cloak. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open. Now to drop the last bomb. Choking back sobs, she said, "Now tell me you didn't feel anything!"

His mouth worked furiosly as he tried to make sense of everything. "You know I can't do that, Rae."

Her eyes blazed with an unquenchable fire. "Oh, so I'm Rae now?" she spat, her voice rising.

He held up his hands defensively. "Look, Raven, you're just making things even more confusing..."

"So you did feel something?" she asked, her temper dropping a bit.

"That's not what I said-"

"But it's what you meant!" she shouted, tears still flooding her cloak.

"How do you know that's what I meant!" he shouted, throwing down his glove that he had been wringing. "Raven, I was trying to make this as painless as possible, and then you had to complicate things! Why can't you just let it go?" By this time, his voice was almost a sob.

Her voice dropped. "Because I can't. I won't. I finally found someone, don't you understand?" she said, blinking back her tears so that she could see his reaction.

"But, Raven, I found someone too!"

Her anger rose up within her throat and she almost choked on it. "So I mean nothing to you? Everything you did for me? There were no special reasons for it?"

"That's not what I'm trying to say, just that now things are different-"

"What's different, Robin? I finally gave up on the idea of you and Starfire, and now you choose to finally go through with it now that you've crushed my hopes? I don't think that's quite fair, Robin!" she said, stating his name with as much contempt as she could allow herself.

"Rae..."

She whirled on him, eyes blaring their dangerously red color. This time she wasn't even going to try to keep it inside. He deserved it. "Don't call me that anymore! I don't even want to see your face anymore! GO AWAY!" she shouted, and her anger took over. As if in a dream, she saw herself blast him off the edge of the roof.

Part of her wanted to go make sure that he was okay and to apologize, but the anger inside of her was currently in control He deserved what he got. With a stiffled sob, she turned on her heels and ran down the stairs.

As she rushed through the hallways, she ran right into Beast Boy. He looked surprised, then pleased to see her, then surprised at the tears blazing down her cheeks. "Raven, what's wrong?" he asked, concern apparent in his voice.

Her sobs broke loose, and before she knew what was happening, she had pulled Beast Boy close to her and was crying into the changeling's shoulder uncontrollably. Surprised, it was all he could do to keep from smiling. She felt his hands running through her hair and heard his words of comfort, but they weren't registering. All she could feel was this heavy pain in her heart.

When she had finally cried herself dry, she pulled away from Beast Boy and wiped her tears. "Thanks. I needed that." With that, she rushed away from the surprised boy and into her room.

He was still staring at her door in surprise when she walked away into her room. What had happened to rattle Raven so badly? At first all he had known was shock at the fact that Raven was hugging him, then the realization that it meant nothing to her, but rather she simply needed a shoulder to cry on. He could still feel the wet tears that had stained his uniform, but he didn't care- she had hugged him!

He realized that there must have been a reason behind all of this, though, and his elation was short-lived. She had been running from the roof. Something must have happened up there, something horrific. As he climbed the stairs, he heard a feminine voice behind him call out, "Friend Beast Boy, where has Robin gone? And why are you attempting to reach the roof?"

He smiled. It was Starfire. He would be happy for some form of company, and besides, the two of them were experiencing similar woes with the whole Robin and Raven thing. Maybe they could get to the bottom of this. "I'm trying to find Robin too. I think he might have had something to do with why Raven was crying."

"Raven was doing the crying her eyes out?" Starfire asked, concerned.

He nodded, not wanting to go into detail. It would hurt him too much to get his hopes up about the incident and have them brought back down again. Still, he couldn't get the image of those beautiful eyes glistening with tears, leaning on his shoulder for support. "Let's just say that that's putting it mildly, Star. I think something happened between the two of them."

It was an evil thing, really, what occurred next. Both present grinned silently at each other, realizing what it would mean if the competition had been eliminated. They regained themselves, presently, to their rightful, "sorrowful" state. "That is...too bad," Starfire mused.

"Yeah..." Beast Boy echoed, barely concealing his own grin.

Starfire opened the door to the roof; it seemed heavier than normal. They soon discovered the reason why. Raven's emotions must have gone haywire. Anything that may have once been in an orderly fashion on the roof was now either on the shores below or strewn across the roof. A large metal something that had been bent so horribly out of shape that it was no longer recognizable had been covering the entrance.

"Robin?" Starfire shouted into the darkness. When she tried to listen for an answer, though, she heard nothing but the pitter-patter of rain and the sudden clap of thunder that signified the beginnings of a storm.

"Looks like those two sure went at it," Beast Boy mused, realizing how bad the situation could be for Robin.

"ROBIN!" Starafire shouted, having come to a similar conclusion. It was no use. Even if Robin had answered, she would not have been able to hear his reply due to the storm that had gained momentum and was now soaking them both.

With concerned glances at each other, they both voiced the same thought. "Split up and find him!" they both screeched at each other, each knowing that if they were the ones to find the Boy Wonder, there might not be much left.

His entire body was on fire as he strained to hold on to his grappling hook. He was lucky that his reflexes had been so perfectly honed, or he would have fallen all the way to the ground below. When he heard Starfire's voice, he wanted to cry out to reassure her that he was okay, but his teeth were gritted so hard that he felt he was going to bite through his gums.

He slipped down another few inches, his hands finally hitting the bottom. He grimaced. Another slip and he'd find out what it felt like to collide full-force with the pavement below, and that wasn't something he would look forward to after his previous experience.

Raven had seemed really upset, almost too much so for her. Normally she would be able to control such anger or sadness, but this was just abnormal for her. He had expected her to be angry and heartbroken, but not to lose control. Even after what she had done to him, kissing him, knocking him off the edge of the roof, he was still worried about her safety. She couldn't be mentally stable after that.

He felt his arms beginning to give way, and he finally opened his mouth as he let go to pierce the air with a scream as he fell. His body twisted in the air and he landed with a resounding crack.

He groaned and turned over with a wince. First xinothium, then attack of the angry girlfriends. What a day this was turning out to be. When he tried to move, pain shot up his arm. It was broken. Great. Mental note to self: Never break up with a superpowered girl with unstable emotions on the roof of a twenty and some-odd foot tower in the middle of the night.

It was his fault, he knew. He shouldn't have said anything to Raven about his emotions when he still was unsure of himself. Now things were even more confusing than they were before. When she had kissed him... He sighed. He couldn't tell her that he hadn't felt anything. When they'd kissed, he'd been on Cloud Nine. It was the most wonderful thing he'd ever experienced. But he couldn't tell her that. It'd mean he'd have to tell her about those deep pools of green that some people called Starfire's eyes and being lost in the Tamaranean voice... No, that would only bring more confusion.

"Robin?" asked a voice, and as he opened his mouth to respond, a clap of thunder interrupted him once more and the rain began to pour in turrents down on him. Great. Juuuust great. Now he was cold, depressed, hurt, AND wet. But, he was happy to note, the voice was Starfire's and it was coming nearer.

"STARFIRE!" he shouted, exerting much energy and rendering him very weak, gasping for air. (and often breathing in raindrops as well as air)

"Robin!" her voice answered with a questioning tone. He wanted to tell her where he was, but his arm was killing him and he couldn't breath. He hated being in this position. He was supposed to be the rescuer, the knight in shining armor, not her. Truthfully, he didn't mind the pain. It was his pride that was killing him.

"Star, I think he's down there," said another voice. It was a higher pitched voice, though still a boy's. Obviously Beast Boy.

"(gasp) Do you suppose he has fallen?"

"Maybe."

He sighed impatiently. Talking was not going to help anything. They needed to hurry up and come get him. He was soaked and he could feel another coughing fit coming on. Not pleasant.

It came. And it wasn't pleasant, as he had predicted. His entire body jerked upright and shook with his coughs as his white hospital clothes were stained with red once more. On top of that, his arm was jutting out at a peculiar angle, and Raven was currently -ahem- unavailable to help.

He laid back against the ground. "Hurry up," he moaned.

She heard his voice, but she could not find him for the rain was too dense. He sounded to be in much pain and she detected a bit of urgency in his voice. Sighing, she spoke tersely to Beast Boy. "Go and get our friend Cyborg. He will want to know that he has yet more injuries to address. Robin has taken quite the beating, yes?"

Beast Boy grinned at Starfire's attempt at mastering English, however feeble the smile may have seemed. "Sure thing Star. Hurry up and find him. I don't think it's very pleasant for him right now."

She smiled at him, then began her descent to the ground below. As she was, something that was hanging on the roof caught her eye. Upon further examination, she discovered that it was Robin's grappling hook. Gasping in surprise, her eyes followed the length of the wire. It was frayed in several areas where he had obviously been slipping on the edge, then it ended part of the way down. At the bottom of the tower, on the ground, was a red figure. ...red?

Now thoroughly concerned, a thousand thought filled her mind in the seconds that followed. Red? Hadn't Robin been wearing his hospital clothing? And wasn't that white? And why had he fallen off the roof in the first place? What had he said to Raven that had angered her so?

She reached the bottom faster than she could realize and was at his side in an instant. His breathing was erratic and he was wincing badly, but he still managed a large smile when he saw her. "What has happened, Robin?"

He grinned that beautiful lopsided grin that she had grown to so love. "Nothing much, just got thrown off a roof, broke my arm, and starting coughing blood again. Any particular reason that might worry you?"

She giggled, and when she did, she noted that he sighed contently and relaxed a bit. "Robin," she said, her tone growing more serious. "We must get you back to the hospital."

He groaned. "Again? I'll never escape that place at this rate!"

She giggled once more. "It is necessary so that you might regain your strength."

He smiled broadly. "Doesn't mean I have to like it," he replied.

"But it does mean that you are required to go," she gently admonished.

"Fine, but only if you do something for me," he said, and she noticed that his cheeks were bright pink.

"What is it that you require?" she asked.

"When you carry me this time, try not to touch my arm, okay?"

It took her a moment to realize that he was giving her permission to carry him at all. This was a rare occassion that he would surrender his agency to be carried around. "Of course," she smiled.

"Stupid boys!" Raven shouted at no one in particular, throwing a pillow across the room and screaming in frustration. Behind her, a mirror shattered. "I hate him! Why do boys have to be so irritating! ARGH!" This time, several books flew across the shelves. "I HATE HIM!" she screamed, and this time, every bit of furniture fell right over.

She sighed. Okay, now that she had gotten that out of her system, she was not feeling hatred anymore, but sadness. It was a roller coaster of emotions for her now, and she stumbled across the hall to the bathroom and cried her eyes dry once more.

She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was plastered to her face in sweat and tears and she looked as if death had warmed over. Biting her lip, she wished that she could just run away...

Then she realized just how bad she was. Her emotions were taking control, and they were winning. The sooner she started meditating again, the better. Taking a deep breath, she snuck back across the hall. Upon entering her room, she cleared a space in the rubble and levitated in midair. Even that was hard, though, with all her raging emotions. Breathing slowly, she began to chant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

She landed with a thud in the middle of a group of Ravens. Looking around, she identified Intelligence, who had now floated up to her and was perched on her shoulder, Confusion, who was standing off to the side and often received angry glares from the rest, Happiness, whose size had dimished somewhat to only six and a half feet, Bravery, who was the only one standing beside Confusion, the orange-cloaked Rude, who was busying herself with tickling Bravery every two minutes, and the grey-cloaked Timid, who had grown to about twelve feet in size since her last visit.

"Glad you finally decided to join us," Rude said, giving her a hard stare.

"I was...busy," she replied, looking away for a moment, not wanting to talk about it.

"What did you do? I SHRUNK!" Happiness shouted, but was then distracted by a bright red butterfly and Bravery had to go after her.

"Yes, and I grew. But I actually know why," Timid said quietly.

Raven glared. "Where's Confusion?" she growled.

"To your left, cowering in the trees. She knows what happened too," Intelligence whispered in her ear.

"Thanks," she muttered, then stormed in that direction.

"Um, hi?" Confusion mumbled, afraid, as Raven stepped in that direction, a murderous look on her face.

"This is all YOUR fault!" Raven screeched, throwing the brown-clad girl into a tree with her powers. "YOU said that you had a part in all of this love stuff, YOU blinded me with confusion so that I didn't see that he was leaning the other way, YOU prevented me from telling him earlier!" She was about to continue, but the other emotions grabbed her arms and held her back.

"Fighting and violence will solve absolutely nothing, Raven," Intelligence admonished.

"I don't care. Do you know what I just went through!" Raven shouted, still snarling.

"I'm sure breaking up is disastrous, but all you're accomplishing right now is to enlarge Anger, and that is certainly not a positive thing. Perhaps the two of you should put aside your differences for the time being," Intelligence continued.

"Yeah, and then you can thrash her. We'll help," Rude added.

Raven grinned. "Can't we do it now?"

Bravery shook her head. She had finally recovered Happiness. "As much as we'd love to, we can't."

"Everyone's fighting, and we're getting nothing done," Timid observed sadly in as quiet a voice one could manage at that size.

"I would adore being able to begin, but unfortunatly size is quite a hinderance in initiating such a movement, and it seems I am not very well listened to," Intelligence muttered.

"Um, hello?" called a voice from the trees.

The Ravens strained to see who it was. "Who is it?" Raven shouted.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Rude said at the same time.

"HI THERE!" Happiness screeched at the same time.

"What are you doing here?" Bravery shouted, her fists held high.

"Who are you?" Confusion asked, puzzled.

Intelligence spoke up quietly. "I do not believe you will quite enjoy this encounter," she whispered.

"What, do you know who it is?" Raven whispered back.

"Perhaps I should not divulge that information at this time," Intelligence said, looking down at the ground, which was quite a long way for her.

"What are you talking about?" Raven whispered back.

The voice interrupted again. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to help!"

Happiness beamed. "Help is welcome!"

Raven cocked an eyebrow. "Depends. Who are you?"

A light-pink-cloaked Raven stepped out, her hair done up in a fancy way, and a beautfiul complexion. Immediately, Raven knew who it was. "LOVE?"