Read through some of my old shit and good God is it terrible. The reasoning sucked, timeline was way over the place and ugh the CRINGE.
One of these chapters mentioned Damian while Dick was still 17….Damian would've been one year old at the time, which meant only the Al Ghul family knew he existed ffs
And don't even get me STARTED on the text messages (*μ_μ)
The dual set of eyes were more than just an unorthodox fashion statement.
They radiated evil, but also power and authority. Whenever Raven let herself go enough for the glowing red display of demonic energy, Robin oddly enough found himself almost mesmerized.
His base instincts during those times were and always would be defensive, Batman's training and his own rational thinking not so clouded that he couldn't sense the blatant amount of danger he and everyone else within the vicinity were in the moment she lit up, but that wasn't all. There was the natural worry - because for some reason, Raven was the one Titan to get his mind and heart racing more than the others when in danger - but then there was the pull, the fascination, and if he were a lesser man or hadn't planned his priorities ahead, she might have just killed him or at least someone during one of her spiels.
The only way for this to make any lick of sense was to blame it on his curiosity. Robin was and always would be naturally curious; it was something he was born with, and simultaneously something Bruce had warned him about more times than he was willing to admit, but it was a core trait of his that would likely never leave.
And so, his naturally curious nature was what led him back to his dark goddess each and every time.
Robin reached for his communicator, masked eyes narrowed and focused solely on the scene before him. "Cyborg, Beast Boy, evacuate the area. Starfire, you're with me."
While the two in charge of damage control gave twin confirmations of 'copy' and 'on it', Starfire didn't reply. She merely dived down from the sky, glowing green eyes lined with worry as she reached for her leader's hand and flew ahead without any further prompting on his end. Robin was no empath, but he didn't need to be one to sense the heavy concern coming from the distressed alien. The longer the team went on, the stronger her relationship with the half-demon had become, until the alien herself had readily declared Raven to be a better sister to her than Blackfire ever was; a sentiment that Raven surprisingly enough had taken in stride, followed by one of her rare, genuine smiles.
It didn't really come as a surprise, then, to see her this upset over her newfound sister's current state.
With a sinister grin and her second set of eyes blazing on full display, Raven was, for lack of better word, causing straight hell on the uncharacteristically quiet streets of Jump.
But even on a quiet night there were enough civilians wandering around to make a difference.
She'd grown in size, her cloak either defying the laws of physics itself or having been blessed by some type of otherworldly energy seeing as it grew with her. The black tendrils that the Titans had regrettably enough learned to grow accustomed to were pooling at her feet, occasionally locking around a poor person's ankle and trying to draw her victim back into the darkness, only to be foiled by either a blast of green or blue, and if not that then a green cheetah rushing in to pull whoever she'd caught out of danger before she could get a tight enough grip; Robin's own little gadgets helping where he could.
It all happened a little too fast for the Boy Wonder to fully comprehend, too fast for even his analytical brain, but from what little he did manage to catch he could safely say that it had been Jinx's new toy that had rendered his enchantress beyond her normally lucid state. A book of sorts, not one he personally knew but one that Raven had reacted strongly to regardless; strong enough for her to urge him of its importance and that it needed to be taken from the witch immediately.
Clearly not something they'd managed to succeed in, but they could at least try and fix whatever damage had been done.
As Starfire neared closer, Robin still in tow, she turned, and he found himself breathless once again.
It wasn't just the eyes that enthralled him, though he wouldn't deny even the slightest glimpse of her going feral was enough for his heart to start racing, it was rather the way her entire aura seemed to change around a single emotion. Raven had always claimed that her powers were heavily linked to her emotions, something which had been proven many times through the chance explosions she caused and even little things, like her daily routine, but actually seeing- no, feeling the change from up close was another thing entirely.
Robin didn't know if it had anything to do with her being an empath, or maybe even their bond, but the moment her temper slipped for even a second, he felt it almost as strongly as she did. As such, his curiosity, and subsequently his fascination, couldn't help but grow. His desire to protect, however, would always be the victor.
Dear God he hoped this wasn't some weird sort of kink.
"I'm going to try and talk to her," Robin said, voice controlled despite the fact Raven had them in her sights and was nearing closer. He clicked his staff back into its smaller form, keeping it within close reach just for good measure. "I want you to stay close by in case I can't get through, but make sure you stay out of sight. We don't know how she might react if she spots you." Robin paused. "Again."
Starfire bit her lip, uneasy for more reasons than just the half-demon causing chaos. Robin knew she hadn't liked his order before she even opened her mouth. "I...do not want to hurt another friend."
He sighed. "Look, I'm not too happy about potentially hurting Raven either. I hate the thought as much as you do but right now we don't have much of a choice," he motioned towards the carnage in front of them. "We can't let her go on like this. Not only for the city or because it's our job, but for her too."
Starfire still didn't seem too sure, the conflict evident in those large green eyes of hers and Robin's face softened. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to try and get through to her without having to resort to anything drastic, but I need you to be there as my backup, just in case. Can you do that for me, Star?"
The alien bit the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit she'd seen them occasionally do and had subsequently adopted, but at the sharp cry of another civilian being caught in the half-demon's grasp, she gave a determined little nod and flew off with a demanded "Friend Robin, bring her back as soon as is possible."
Certainly a demand that Robin intended to fulfill.
With careful, calculated steps, Robin approached her. He kept a safe distance, much like the way he used to approach the lions back at the circus he grew up in; confident, but cautious. Lions smelled fear, he was almost certain demons did too.
"Raven." Her name wasn't a question, it was a statement, and when she turned with a guttural snarl and a flash of red, Robin made his damndest sure he didn't flinch. "Raven, I think that's about enough."
She hissed again, the sound alien; predatory. Both sets of eyes narrowed, the tentacles at her feet skittering and lashing out in what was likely a mixture of rage, interest and distress. Raven didn't speak. She circled him slowly, as if waiting- waiting for the familiar whiff of fear she wouldn't be getting from him, waiting for him to let his guard down for just a moment.
He never gave her the chance. Robin followed her as she circled him, never giving her the chance of having his back exposed to her, another move that was more instinctual rather than tactical. Living in Gotham for the majority of your life did that to you.
"Listen, I don't know what that book did to you," he started, voice as even and firm as he could manage. "Nothing good, clearly, but I still need you to remember where you stand."
Raven didn't answer. She nudged closer, the black tendrils becoming more aggressive the longer they went without a target. She did bare her teeth though, growling and snarling at him much like a wild animal would; worse than what they'd seen from even Beast Boy.
Slowly, Robin reached for the compartment hidden at the back of his belt, fishing for a little something Raven herself had given him a little while after the first time she'd lost control like this. "This isn't what you want, Rae. This is exactly the type of behaviour your father would expect from you, exactly the type of behaviour you've been running away from your entire life. Didn't we get past that already?"
At the mention of her father, the color in Raven's eyes intensified to a much deeper, darker red, the rage evident on her face even in this form. It seemed that no matter what, even during her darkest moments, Trigon would always be a sore spot for her.
"This isn't what you want, Raven," he repeated, stare even, something he knew she could sense even with his mask covering his eyes."This isn't where you're supposed to be."
With a low-pitched screech, Raven lunged, stopping right in front of him, face close enough for their noses to almost touch and Robin had just enough clarity in his mind to look up and signal at Starfire not to attack.
"And where," she growled, the tone in her voice enough to send Death itself running down Robin's spine if he hadn't been close friends with the concept already. "Should I be according to you?"
"Here in Jump, with us." Quicker than she could react, Robin reached out, gloved hand locking behind her enlarged neck and bringing her down to eye level. "With me."
He plunged the syringe in, the clear liquid she'd given him so long ago draining itself into her body and like clockwork he could see their Raven coming back to him. She stilled, the red in her eyes disappearing, along with that enticing second pair and the demonic energy at her feet, her large, overbearing posture shrinking back into her petite yet sturdy form.
The syringe she'd given him that fateful day almost two years back had been filled with a drug the monks at her home dimension had invented and taught her how to make, a drug that would essentially drain her energy enough for her powers to lose their force for a certain amount of time. The drug rendered her main body sluggish too, so as Raven's legs gave out and she fell into Robin's waiting arms, he was happy to welcome the drowsy orbs of amethyst staring back at him.
"Where's... where's the book?" She asked, words barely making their way out of her throat through the panting.
"I had Cyborg collect it after Jinx ran off." Robin answered easily.
"Burn the damn thing."
And even through the mess, through the exhaustion, Robin could see she was back to normal, that special sense of dry sarcasm and wording something only partial to her. He gave her a relieved little smile, his forehead bumping lightly against hers. "Will do."
