Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, the song 'Undisclosed Desires' by Muse, or the song 'First Date' by Blink 182.

Previously:

Don't breathe.

The rumble purred slightly, rattling against my hold on it.

Don't lose it.

Settling in its place with turbulent kicks, my center held strong, bearing the upheaval down to the last lick.

Lastly; I met with calm and rewarding silence. Allowing a breath once I felt it safe to move.

Too close, I gasped mentally. Have to regain control… I reigned in my thoughts… my emotions… and my mind pulled inward…. I... could not... afford another lapse….

xXx

Undisclosed Desires

First Date Pt. ll

Robin POV

I watched Raven as she watched me, frozen in place, and slumped forward. Her gaze bore into my own.

Not a moment had passed when our waitress, Madeline, left us to our own devices. It had only been a moment. Hadn't it?

I felt angered by that silly Madeline with her snide comments, and then worried as I was sure she had ruined our dinner. I hadn't seen Raven's reaction to Madeline, but I didn't need to see Raven with my eyes, to know how she was feeling. Not for the last few days at least.

I had felt Raven's curiosity grow as she had watched Madeline's figure walk away from us, with her artificial red hair bouncing down her back. I observed Raven's sharp, deep eyes shift in their curiosity, calculating and mysterious as she digested Madeline's words.

What had she seen? Could she picture Madeline's arms wrapped around me, as they had been just a couple weeks ago? Could she feel my unease with being so near the girl? I hoped yes and no.

I allowed myself a breath as Raven's expression relaxed, and she moved her gaze back to her mug. Just as I'd started to relax, relieved Madeline hadn't been able to rile either of us, Raven's curiosity morphed into unbearable anxiety. The kind that stabbed at your skin. The kind that left one trembling in a fetal position.

Raven's fear flashed in her eyes, widening and filling with dread. I panicked as I felt her panic mix with confusion, feeling as it began to well in my chest.

Nothing had happened. Not physically anyway. We'd only just ordered our food. Had Madeline managed to bother her that much after all?

I searched her eyes ardently, hoping that our connected gaze would give me some inclination as to what or where the danger was. I needed to understand her mounting fear.

Her eyes seared into mine, her pupils dilating, her skin glowing a vibrant alabaster before me.

Then I felt it.

It hit me harder than any punch to the face. I thought I'd imagined a whirlwind of energy, pushing, and clawing at my chest once our eyes connected. The pressure shot through me, and I felt myself begin to lift from my chair.

An icy chill, like fingers weaving through my hair, scraped their nails across my neck. Prodding their way down my chest.

I'm free falling through ice, I realized. And I'm blind.

My chair and the building around me were nonexistent. The sound of people, glasses clinking, had turned muffled as if I'd entered some other universe. Or I'd entered a blackened mirror image of the café, I was at. And I felt nothing but ice.

I was only aware of the sensation of weightlessness and the cold hands on my chest. They hovered over the elevating power pulsing inside my chest, where my heart must be. Though this sent a spasm of panic in my mind, I was alone. So alone.

My blindness could have lasted for hours, and all I could do was surrender to it. I felt the chill begin to spread, pulsing from my heart in spurts. It wasn't until it heightened, that I realized it was burning me from the inside.

It wasn't cold. No, it wasn't cold. It was igniting, like molten lava in my chest!

Then as quickly as the heat manifested, I felt Raven's presence, a beacon to my right.

Her energy rose from nothingness, somewhere far off in the cold universe I floated in. I felt talons scratch at my skin, and then the talons enveloped me, snatching me from the darkness. I could feel the warm talons of a bird as they wrapped around me, comforting and powerful in their grasp.

The talons brought me back into the light. The smell of roasting meats, sautéed vegetables and fragrant wines filled my nostrils before I slammed back into my chair. I sucked in a ragged gasp of air.

My eyes remarkably were still connected with Raven's, and she drew a deep breath as the pressure dissipated within my chest; my lungs expanded again. Our mutual breath of fresh air gave Raven the strength she needed to shut down her inner self. As for myself, I regained the strength to speak.

"What the hell was that?" I gasped, unable to contain my stupor.

Raven ignored me as she attempted to regain her control again. Her eyes glanced to the other patrons of the café, before shutting in focus. Raven's pale, delicate hands trembled on the table before her.

In the pit of my stomach, I felt Raven focus all the energy around us into motion again, forming it into a tight ball -stronger than I expected it to feel- and promptly shoved it away inward, to a cage. The sensation left me nauseated. It had been too close of a call.

"It felt like a bomb." I identified in my shock.

I pressed my own hands to my chest, where I had felt the fingers the sharpest, "There was a bomb inside of me."

The thick ice of that world had paralyzed me, but in the moment, I realized the absence of Raven's presence couldn't compare. Through the pressure of the massive energy that had centered in my chest, Raven had vanished. As if she'd disintegrated before me for the second time in both of our lives; the first time being the day she fulfilled her destiny as her father's portal.

The searing memory of it, tied with the burst of energy a moment ago, caused my fingers to grasp my white shirt as my breath slowed. Static sparked at my fingertips.

I moved my fingers away at once and set my hands down to my side in the same motion.

Deep in contemplation, Raven did not react to my words or notice the spark I'd felt on my fingers. I felt her influence around me, like a type of thick mass attempting to taste and calm my unease and confusion, with no success. The mass made my hair stand on end, but I ignored the intrusion and kept my expression frozen in place, my gaze centered on the table between us.

I wasn't sure whether to pretend I didn't feel her fluttering tendrils glide along my legs or the sickly effect they gave off. Instead, I watched as she took another deep breath. I felt a brief surge of electricity in the air as her emotions faded and her tendrils receded; locked away for the moment.

Her amethyst eyes connected with mine and the light I'd seen in them only moments ago had dimmed significantly.

"I almost lost control." She admitted to me, in a small quivering voice.

I watched the muscles in her pale face twitch with every breath, "I almost lost control." She murmured softer to herself.

"What?" I asked breathless, still clutching aimlessly at my chest.

She hesitated before speaking in a whisper, "I usually have a better handle on it."

My answering silence gave her words the weight they needed.

Reading Raven's perplexed expression and the line of worry between her brows, it dawned on me that Raven might have mistaken the bomb as her doing.

Could she not feel the power had pulsed from within my chest? Did she not feel me floating in nothingness? If it weren't for her, yanking me out of the darkness with one claw in desperation, I wasn't sure where I'd be.

I looked to her, intent on making it clear to her that something was wrong. And that something was me! If only I could form the words with my mouth to say it.

It's not you! I screamed mentally.

As if on cue, a server swiftly dropped our dishes in front of us. Completely oblivious to the atomic bomb sitting before him and politely asked if either of us wanted fresh pepper on our entrees.

Get out of here! RUN! I nearly exclaimed, but I waved off the boy with an anxious hand instead and then hastily thanked him in unintelligible grunts and half words until I clamped my mouth shut. The server walked away with a curious glance behind him before disappearing around a curtain.

In that one curious glance, I could imagine what he saw. Two young Titans enjoying a dinner; an unusually startled and sweaty Robin, with Raven, white and still as a statue.

I attempted to calm myself, but the realization of Raven's words lodged in my stomach, they grew in jagged and amorphous shapes with a touch of impending doom.

The aroma of our food sent a sharp pang to my stomach, but I moved to examine Raven in her silence and inaction. She hadn't moved since our food arrived, but her eyes, her eyes screamed.

I felt frighteningly in sync with her, in ways I wasn't sure I understood. The amount of control she exerted day to day, felt like a noose tightening. Not around my neck as one might think, but just around my eyes instead. The noose slid around my face, blocking my vision, affecting my hearing, or finding its way just over my mouth to gag me.

I figuratively struggled to free myself with this noose sliding all around my head, and I was surprised to notice I was winning the battle. Which could only mean disaster for everyone else? I wasn't sure.

To sit calmly before me, all Raven's emotions were locked up tight under her careful latch. With the absence of her emotions, and -though I could plainly see men and women nearby- the void of the civilians around us, felt strange to me.

I couldn't feel Raven as strongly before the eruption in my chest. Now?

Now I felt Raven's internal struggle in rhythmic waves. The latch on her powers had rusted over. Turned brittle from the bomb she'd saved us from. She would have to take great care not to rattle the latch too much.

After a few beats of silence, Raven calmly picked up her fork. She brought cheesy noodles to her lips and chewed slowly.

Though I sat unmoving, I could taste cheese mixed with soft noodles and lobster pieces in her mouth. Her delight of the flavor peaked in my senses before she stifled the emotion immediately. Her chewing ceased for a moment, before resuming at a faster pace, and she began gulping down the noodles quickly.

Even food could rattle her control, I realized soberly.

My eyes widened as she gulped down the rest of her herbal tea, tossing the tea bag aside in the same motion. The delight I'd felt from her, no longer there. She shoveled the last remnants of the noodles in her mouth and swallowed before being able to appreciate the flavor again.

Glasses clinking in the distance brought the voices of other patrons back to my attention, and it reminded me of an earlier concern. Curious, and remembering we were Titans sworn to protect others from evil, I couldn't help but ask.

"That bomb I felt." I began gravely, "If you hadn't stopped it, everyone here would be dead."

"In some form." She answered flatly, her severe eyes focused on her empty bowl, "It would certainly feel like death, but death isn't as horrible as people imagine."

"What you felt would have you begging for death." Her statement sent chills down my spine, but my face stayed smooth.

Raven grimaced slightly. Her dark eyes glazed over for a moment before refocusing on her bowl.

I raked my mind for anything I could do to help her in this moment, but the noose of her control constricted me of air; I felt empty inside and out. I couldn't remember the last time I felt her so strongly, her presence wafted like an icy chill through the air around us. It felt devoid of anything alive. It felt like silent death.

"Say something." Raven requested abruptly, her dish nearly clean of food, "I can't take your silence. It's suffocating."

I considered her request for a moment, examining the effort it took for her to breathe and speak calmly. I decided now was a good time as any to address her line of questioning from earlier. At least we could get everything out in the air while it was already unpleasant, and I did have some explaining to do. I used her emotionless state to gather my courage.

"It's me." I confessed.

Her lips twitched as she suppressed her curiosity, but she could not stop it from reaching her eyes. Tilting her head to the side, her violet hair shifted slightly over her face, her eyes blazing but her face stayed smooth.

"The struggles with your meditation. It's me." I took a deep breath, letting Raven digest my words before continuing.

"I'm not sure what the cause is, but I've been experiencing it all with you." Her bright eyes widened a fraction at my words, "It's like a one-way mirror. I can glimpse into your mind, feel what you feel, and sometimes I can see things too."

Her expression broke for a fraction of a second, pure horror and rage flashing across her brow and lips, before she promptly closed her eyes. Forcing a smooth expression. Her latch wriggled slightly, but she held it fast, slamming down on it before it could creak open.

Raven remained silent, and I paused to give her a moment, and then continued, choosing my words carefully.

"I wanted to tell you. Ironically, because of everything going on at the tower, I thought it best to keep my distance until the right time." An abrupt sharp jab to my gut and heart had been expected as I said this. The feeling was not real, but a memory.

The moment Starfire had said the words that ended our relationship, the pain had been constant and unyielding. Starfire was not cruel and could never be so. But if words could draw blood, they'd have bled me dry.

I was not strong enough to say the words 'because Starfire dumped me'. The words didn't seem to give, what we had, justice. They sounded trivial, superficial, as if it were a mere crush. Speaking the words to Raven yesterday had been a feat, and I figured that despite my inability to speak candidly about it, Raven would understand what I meant.

The recognition in her eyes gave me some inclination that she knew what I spoke of. Heartbreak is a funny type of pain. The fact I was the cause to my own pain, surged anger in my veins in a way nothing else did.

The blame I put on myself, was the only way I could move forward when I felt the lowest. Anger helped bring life into my limbs, as it did now. Though, strangely the anger pulsing in my chest disappeared. Whisked away faster than I could acknowledge the feeling.

"Control yourself, please. If you can." Grimacing through her words, Raven's brow furrowed in sympathy.

I blinked, and the steady anger I felt in my chest circled its way back and settled into my gut. This anger, without a doubt, did not feel like mine. It sent scorching tingles where I felt the jab in my gut and drifted away losing heat from where it manifested. It left a cool and residual imprint in my stomach; a promise of where future fires would burn.

I blinked again, "You felt that?"

"You seem to be blocking my powers somehow," she huffed, "but when you let your guard down, we appear to be feeding off each other. When you allow it." Raven grabbed her glass of water with too much force, and tossed it back in one gulp, appearing unsettled.

"The bomb you mentioned," Raven began, "I think it's reignited something between us; because right now I can feel your frustration, and your pain." She paused thoughtfully, her lips frowning slightly at the jab I felt in my gut. Her words cut, and she could feel it too.

Her cold drink sent feathery chills in my throat, the sensation tickling down my esophagus.

"I can taste the water you're drinking." I observed audibly, watching as she stared at her empty glass.

"Get out of my head!" Raven snapped. Her eyes glowed and her glass shattered in her grasp in the same moment.

Her words startled me, but I made no motion, and the glass crumbling between her fingers caused her glowing white eyes to shut immediately.

Again, the cold death cloud swathed in her effort to regain control, and it sent an acute icy kick to my gut; I nearly doubled over from the force. Tears welled in my eyes from the internal pain, and a part of me wondered if it was as real as it felt. My hands clamped into fists as I suppressed the urge to cry out.

Raven's eyes opened, and she robotically gathered the glass remnants into a pile next to her mug. Her expression inscrutable as I attempted to breathe slowly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, her brow creasing with chagrin, "I know this is all new for you, but you've been an emotional blackhole to me for weeks. I've never had this happen before."

I've never had this happen to me. I heard her voice whisper as if she'd bent down next to my ear.

This voice I did not react to, and I kept my face smooth. An easy reaction to suppress as I recovered from her icy blow to my stomach.

Gauging Raven's reaction, I clearly had frightened her. Her energy felt rigid, a remarkable contrast to the steady ripple it was earlier tonight. Her guard doubled in strength, and the stress it caused her was my fault.

Unbeknownst to her, I'd been hearing fragments of her mind flit out in streams of consciousness for some time. I'd considered it a side effect of her mind melding. As time went on, it had dissipated. Only recently had it come back stronger than ever, and then I'd begun to see things from her mind as a result. Strange things, things that couldn't be real.

"Robin, you know me better than anyone. You should know there are places in my mind where you can't go- where no one should ever go." She'd once warned me. At the time, I hadn't heeded her warning properly.

My dreams had warped into horrifying images of demon-like figures, always surrounded by pitch darkness, or engulfed in flames, and feeling my way on the ground never helped. I'd always felt a sense of protection in the dark, but this was something else.

Nightmares were a usual occurrence throughout my life, despite the added demon-like figures that surrounded me. For years, I'd suffered from insomnia since the loss of my family; the demon figures and inferno were just a fun new addition to my reoccurring nightmares.

Still, anything I could do to lessen the burden of her fear now, I would do it and deal with the consequences later.

I suppressed my reaction to the sound of her mental voice, and I looked down to my now cold, uneaten salmon. Confused by her verbally spoken words, I decided to try and lighten the mood. The heavy could wait for now.

"What's an emotional blackhole?" I risked a glance, surprised to see her smile faintly.

"It's exactly what it sounds like." She continued when I didn't smile back, "In space, a blackhole has a gravitational field so intense, it sucks up anything nearby, and not even light can escape it."

"So, I'm sucking up all the emotions in the room? Including yours?" I proposed.

"Maybe it's a little more complicated than that." Raven conceded, her faint smile still dancing on the edges of her lips but not quite reaching her eyes, "I'm an empath, and you're affecting me more than I ever could have imagined."

As she spoke, her eyes kept darting to my uneaten food and untouched water. The direction of her thoughts turned to desire, a silent wish that I couldn't ignore if I wanted to.

I promptly pushed my water closer to her, catching a glance of muted gratitude as she grasped my glass and quenched her thirst.

In return, I began to shovel salmon and pesto into my mouth, setting to work to clear my plate. Her clear-cut glance to my food gave me a glimpse into her impatience, aside from her thirst, I felt her desire to go somewhere with less people and fragile objects.

Though I hadn't eaten anything except coffee and buttered toast at dawn, my stomach felt oddly full as I chewed and swallowed bits of salmon.

Upon reflection, I realized it was Raven's stomach that I was sensing, full of lobster, mac & cheese, water, and tea.

Ugh. Perturbed at this realization, I chewed my food slowly, shoving the thought to the back of my mind, and contemplated what else I had to confess while I had the moment.

"I'm guessing since my emotions have been so… troubling-" in my failure to find an appropriate adjective, Raven cut me off.

"-you've been a walking hurricane." She interjected in her monotone.

"Ok, since I've been a walking hurricane," I repeated, applying her correction with a wince, "I guess you didn't know I made the call to Kidd Flash and Jinx to take over for us?"

At this Raven paused, "You did?"

Her eyes met mine, and I could feel them probing with another question: Why would he do that? Her mental voice asked with muted surprise.

"I've been a mess." I answered truthfully, no longer interested in my half-eaten salmon as I pushed it around my plate, "I haven't been in the right mindset, so I asked them to take over for a while."

I needed to take a deep breath before I continued to divulge through my teeth, "But it's difficult stepping away; Kidd Flash is a trooper for dealing with me." Kidd Flash's constant smile and impeccable patience were the only things keeping me half-sane.

As controlling as I have been, Kidd Flash never let my bad mood bother him, except when Jinx was involved. This reminded me of our unpleasant interaction earlier this evening before dinner, and the innocent comment Jinx made. Right before Raven entered the garage.

********Flashback - Titans Garage

The buzz of my communicator had surprised me, a silent distress message from Jinx.

It hadn't taken me too long to change into street clothes for my dinner with Raven, and Jinx's request in the message wasn't too difficult to complete. I figured I'd call Raven from the intercom while I helped Jinx with her inquiry.

I pulled my communicator out as soon as I logged into the computer in the garage.

Jinx's pale face and pink hair popped up on my communicator screen after a couple buzzes, her pink irises sharp and focused on me.

"Robin, evening. Did you gather the information I needed?"

"I did. But I must ask, why do you need me to pull security footage from these coordinates? There's no reported break ins from the security on those premises."

Her pink eyes never blinked, and only did so before she responded, "I have a couple sources that say otherwise."

She continued when I glared at her, "Jerry with port security asked me to investigate this personally while we're helping, a temporary alliance. He said after my investigation, he'll send in an official report with all their evidence and access to their systems."

I couldn't help the sharpness of my tone, or the chiding effect of my expression as I responded, "That's not how this works Jinx. We can't give intelligence without the record of a crime. They need to go to the police."

Jinx didn't bat an eye this time, "I'm sorry Robin, but this is a gray area, and I've already lent our assurance to my source. We are going to help them."

There were many things I wanted to say to her, but I could only narrow my eyes in silent outrage.

"Where's Kidd Flash!" I barked.

At this, Jinx's eyes blinked once casually as she handed her communicator over to her patron, his smile visible at once with part of Jinx's hair still in frame.

"Robin?"

"When I asked you to take over patrol, this was not what I had in mind." I growled through my teeth. Jinx's expression and his, remained unchanged.

Kid Flash sighed before responding, his smile tensing.

"Hear her out. Jinx has a lead. A big one. Queen consolidated, Lexcorp and Wayne enterprises have reports of break ins and theft, but they haven't gone to the police yet. Her source is telling us it needs to be investigated before he can come forward. We trust him."

Complete disregard for orders, insubordination, and mutiny! I screamed internally. I felt my anger bubble, the seething and frothing at the mouth type. I couldn't help my reaction, and I couldn't help the venom from seeping out.

"Kidd Flash, you and I both know there is a process in place for a reason. Are you entirely sure that you aren't letting personal interest affect your purpose?"

Kidd Flash's smile vanished, and his eyes hardened in the same moment.

His usual jovial voice dropped to match my biting tone, "Okay Robin. For the sake of time, I'm going to ignore that incredibly disrespectful question and ask that you please do as Jinx asked."

Kidd flash continued uninterrupted, "We are handling this case, and we will be responsible for the investigation, including the consequences. Can you help us or not? If we need to go to the League, we will, but we're coming to you for help."

My hand's morphed into fists, I could have broken everything within reach of me, if I wanted to. Instead, I exhaled in resignation. I didn't have the fight in me, Kidd Flash was the last person I wanted to argue with. And frankly, I regretted my cutting words the minute I'd said them.

"I want updates the minute you have something." I demanded.

"Agreed." Jinx answered, moving into view of the camera again.

"I don't like this." I spat in response.

"Noted." Jinx responded in a matter-of-fact tone, and my teeth clamped together.

I didn't respond, instead I began furiously typing at the keyboard, widening the time frame Jinx asked to give her more footage to review, and some extra data she might actually appreciate. A horrible attempt to make amends without having to say the words 'I'm sorry'; I'd have to circulate back to it later.

"Thank you, Robin. We appreciate this." Kidd Flash said, his smile returning with feeling.

I could tell he meant it, but I didn't have the energy to be friendly anymore.

I realized after some time elapsed that my data collecting would take a minute. Without a second thought, I reached to the intercom and announced out loud to the speaker, "Raven, meet me in the garage."

Jinx moved into frame at this, her pink eyes finally examining me with purpose before asking with genuine curiosity, "Why are you dressed like that? Are you and Raven going on a date?"

Her question had not been intended as ridicule. I knew this. Her tone only implied innocence and unfiltered shock.

Fully aware, I still spit out, "That is none of your business!"

My scathing tone would have earned a reproachful glare from Bruce himself. From Batman, I would have been awarded a raised eyebrow and a rightfully earned glare.

Jinx didn't react at all, not to my tone or my black expression, and merely held a hand up to a furious Kidd Flash before he could interject with coherent words. Regret burned through me, but I shoved it aside and continued typing, just slightly increasing the speed.

Thankfully an alert of two break-ins broke the awkward silence, and Kidd Flash and Jinx separated to handle them both.

I used the opportunity to dig into Jinx's data, focusing on the past week, and noticed several silent alarms had tripped at Wayne enterprises and Queen consolidated, and no police called.

Very strange indeed, and highly suspicious. Proof that I am, indeed, an asshole.

Kidd Flash kept the line with me open while he took out some would-be cat burglars. Directing his frustration with me, towards the criminals he apprehended. It was quite impressive to witness, despite the shaky cam point of view.

I thought I could hear him muttering my name a couple of times during a punch, or during a tackle, but I couldn't really be mad at him either way. I just wished I could suck up my pride and apologize, but there was only so much I could do now, and apologizing could and would have to wait.

Just as I was about to send off the information to Jinx, another alarm blared, and another! Right at the locations she'd asked for. What luck!

"Kidd Flash, when you're done go to these live break-ins - I'm sending you the coordinates to Wayne enterprise's docks, the alarms just tripped."

"There's something I should mention," He began hesitantly, "we don't think those alarms are real. Can you just send them to Jinx?"

My anger spiked again, "Kidd Flash, go check the alerts. That is an order."

At this power-wielding demand, Kidd Flash gave me the blackest look I'd ever seen on his boyish features. The look of pure disdain was all too familiar.

At one point or another, everybody on my team had given me this look, Raven and Cyborg more than anyone. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing my shoulders to relax and ceasing my typing for the moment.

Again my ever present anger flowed through me, and I let the waves crash over me, waiting for them to pass before I spoke, "Look, I understand I spoke out of line earlier, but you and I both know that if we keep going off on hunches without going through the process, it's not just you that will have to deal with the consequences if this turns out to be nothing." I paused for emphasis, and continued, "Please, just do as I ask, and I'll back off."

"Nice apology." was all he snapped.

Kidd Flash had his fill of me for the day and did not want to respond any more than he absolutely had to. Our interaction was strained for the next couple of moments as he asked for the coordinates, what the description of the alert said, etc. It felt like talking to an angry robot; stiff and mannerless.

I could handle anger or frustration, but it was upsetting to have Kidd Flash so irritated with me. I wasn't sure what lengths I'd have to go to remedy this clearly seared bridge.

It was at this moment I felt Raven's presence coming down in the elevator, her mind buzzing with alarm and concern. It had only been at least 10 minutes since I'd called her, and it was unfortunate that I clearly had the ability to ruin a good friendship in record time. I hoped she wouldn't ask what was wrong.

Knowing Raven, she wouldn't.

The elevator doors opened, and Raven deftly sprinted toward me. I had to focus intensely on what I was doing to ignore the blasts of Raven's emotions from behind me. A futile effort.

Her emotions felt like a colloidal scope: alarm, determination, focus, righteous fury. Each of them slammed into me before morphing into another.

Her feet skidded to a stop and the buzzing in her mind changed to confused shock. In the back of my mind, I realized that had I been paying proper attention, her determined sprinting might have unnerved me as she was within punching distance of me.

If I saw a strange figure dressed in street clothes typing on a Titan computer, I'd make sure they didn't hear me coming too.

Through my distracted thoughts, the alarms I researched abruptly scattered, and I focused entirely on my task at hand.

******* End of Flashback

I was supremely grateful Raven hadn't been present for my unpleasant interaction with Jinx, or Kidd Flash.

It was not Jinx's fault I'd taken her innocent question so horribly, and Kidd Flash was in his right to be angry with me. Although, considering Jinx' comments about my dinner with Raven being a 'date' and Kidd Flash's strained patience with me, I figured an apology was no longer acceptable. At least not by itself.

"I honestly thought Jinx and Kidd Flash volunteered." Raven admitted wistfully, breaking me out of my memory.

"For what reason?" Honestly confused by her confession, I stopped shoving my salmon around my plate to look in her eyes.

Raven squirmed in her seat nervously, a first genuine emotion surfacing from her tightly locked cage. The sensation gave me butterflies in my stomach, and I grew curious each moment she considered her thoughts carefully. The butterflies intensifying.

"For the team." She began, resolute and defensive, "To give us a day off, I guess, would be one way to say it." Her words were carefully devised, and I felt her hesitation.

A window opened for a moment to her mind, and a strange mass formed as she spoke. The subject felt oddly 'forbidden' when I translated it in my mind. The mass took shape and the image shown to me was none other than Starfire herself.

I understood immediately that Raven was trying to avoid mentioning her at all, in every way possible. Instead of feeling pain, my body shook from a startled laughter.

Hearing Starfire's words spoken through Raven, I could not help throwing my head back at once and laughing- a first in weeks.

Raven blushed; a bright rose blossoming on her cheeks. She seemed startled by my reaction, and surreptitiously glanced to the table.

"Raven, when have we ever had a day off?" I managed to ask after attempting to compose myself.

"Well, it's not that funny." She accepted, her lips pursing in carefully guarded irritation.

"Day off." I repeated sourly, my humor darkening; the phrase even felt wrong saying it, "As if we're normal. What would my father think?"

Like tunnel vision, Raven's mind flashed a picture of the Batman, and his familiar symbol in the clouds of Gotham behind him, bright as the moon.

The image brought me to a memory, when Bruce last visited on a business trip to Jump City, during an emotionally calmer time.

He'd strutted through the Tower entrance in his bat suit, and his apathetic demeanor had confused and rattled everyone except me. I learned my brooding from someone, and I couldn't tell if Bruce had been proud to see what the team and I had accomplished or if he really was there for a business meeting. His solemn approving nod before departing told me all I needed to know.

"Hm." Raven responded, her words matching the pinpricks of unease from her memory of Bruce's cold gaze. I guessed she had found Bruce intimidating, a common reaction. The rest of the team felt the same.

Raven's eyes drew downcast at the table, and then moved toward the window to gaze at the setting sun. She felt calmer, and the latch on her cage felt much stronger as well. I thought it safe to finally ask.

"How are you feeling?"

She looked to me, and her eyes moved to her hands before decidedly meeting my eyes again.

"Not normal." She responded with a funny expression, and then her eyes refocused on me, "The food helped, and now that we've cleared the air, it's getting easier managing our link -or whatever this is."

"You're wondering how long I've been able to read your thoughts." I stated this firmly, echoing a faint thought of hers the same moment it passed, and confirming her worst fear in the same moment.

I didn't want to frighten her, but I also didn't want to keep lying. If the argument with Kidd Flash had taught me anything, it was that I needed to be honest, true, and respectful. If I didn't tell her now, it would be harder to broach the subject later. She could handle this.

I rightfully earned a reproachful look from Raven, then her eyes widened in surprise, realizing I heard her in real-time, and then she blinked before nodding her answer, her skin turning pink. Her discomfort made my stomach turn in ways I didn't know was possible.

"I'm not sure if I'm even reading your thoughts," I elaborated, feeling briefly nauseous, "it feels more like an inclination. I'm just filling in the blanks; correctly it appears." I paused a moment, considering how long the wisps of consciousness have been active.

"Well?" Raven prodded reluctantly, waiting for my answer.

"I can't be positive, but I'd say it started when you entered my mind so many years ago. I think it's a mental bond. But it's different now, it's evolved."

Raven stared wide at my words. Before I could prepare myself for the electric jolt to my gut, the glasses and dishes on our table shattered and crumbled to pieces. This time, I felt the faintest tug in my chest through to my spine, the remnants of the bomb but weaker.

In complete synchronized movements, Raven and I closed our eyes, and we took an even, deep breath together. Air went into her lungs, and I breathed it out through my nose.

It occurred to me that we were meditating, finding the center of our being, and focusing our inner energy to flow in unison. We rid ourselves of the negativity and turmoil inside us, letting our thoughts drift away, and leaving our bodies with pure positive energy.

I felt calm and peaceful, and my eyes opened to Raven's amethyst ones in the same moment. Neither of us said anything, and it occurred to me we had company.

Madeline stood silently nearby to my right, and I made no motion to acknowledge her. Raven was much nicer than I.

"I apologize." Raven began respectfully, "Your manager can charge the costs to Titan's tower for the damage." Raven gazed up at the girl lightly and motioned to the broken dishware, and I watched Raven's eyes as they roamed over Madeline's face thoughtfully.

Madeline said nothing in response to Raven and she impassively placed a check for our meal on the table. I felt her jade eyes on me again. Her imitation eyes glared daggers, their intention slashed at my skin. My anger surfaced in response, but Raven reacted first.

"Thank you very much." Raven stated firmly, conjuring a cold cloud of death, creating goose skin to erupt on my arms.

Madeline yelped and grasped at her arms, retreating at once and disappearing -I hoped- for the last time.

I gave Raven a look of gratitude, and I felt her overwhelming curiosity regarding the girl.

Well, I'd be lying to myself if I could have believed she would ignore the pointed glances, the disdain and anger from the girl were unavoidable. Besides, from what I knew of Madeline, and it was virtually nothing, she was anything but subtle.

I sighed, wishing to avoid the subject and forget that girl completely, but I couldn't dodge the subject forever. Nothing but honesty, right?

"Let's get out of here." I suggested.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple twenties, placing them on the table. In the event of Titan misconduct, I left a business card, detailing Titan amnesty and a phone number where damage and costs could be applied. I wrote 'sorry' on the tab as well, as an afterthought.

Following Raven as she led me through the café back to my R-cycle, her unstated question hovered in the air, prodding around my head, and resting as an image of the girl in my mind.

Raven's thoughts lingered on the imitation eyes of Madeline, and her dyed red hair. An unmistakable question mark added to the image; I knew then Raven would not let it go, and her expression confirmed it.

"You don't want to go home." Raven affirmed, echoing the state of my indecision and my resistance to acknowledge the image I'd seen.

Her words might have unnerved me, had I felt a strange probing in my head and chest. Instead, finger-like and featherlight, her persistence to reach my mind tingled near my temples and centered in-between my eyes, and it continued down my neck to my chest.

I felt now Raven searching for something, and my eyes connected with hers before she looked away, embarrassed at being discovered. Her mental apology tantamount to the level of mental invasion I received, and the probing receded.

I shrugged off the intrusion attempt; it was really my fault after all. That girl brought a certain level of guilt and shame I wasn't used to and having to explain myself to Raven wouldn't be easy. Though I knew she wouldn't let it go unless I caved, so an idea crossed my mind.

"Come on, there's a place I'd like to show you."

After a thorough examination of my expression, Raven reluctantly acquiesced and we were off. Her frustration grew with each passing moment, but I let it simmer in the back of my mind.

Operating a motorcycle was freeing in a way like nothing else, the speed and wind in my hair and face, and the power of the engine ignited a fire in my heart.

A night drive could heal the stress of a day and calm a troubled mind. But driving with a passenger was not an easy task, and I rarely had to ride with anyone. Depending on the passenger, the level of distraction wasn't usually a problem.

The warmth of Raven's elegant arms around me, felt vaguely foreign but comforting. And I eventually began to feel her lean with me, ever so slightly, to be helpful. Raven was certainly distracting in her own way.

I yanked my attention to the road ahead. I pressed forward, with a rev of the engine I commanded, and embarked into the night.

We'd spent some time at the café, and dusk had settled on the horizon. The place I had in mind was on the edge of the city limits, and we pulled off onto the familiar dirt road I'd taken so many times. An electric current of alarm pulsed through Raven as she looked around her surroundings, but she made no attempt to voice her concerns.

I knew the path well, and I memorized each mound and curve through the darkness. I learned to follow the position of the trees above us, and the twinkling night sky the tree branches framed.

The sharper the bends became, the closer we were to our destination. I could detect a faint hint of salt in the air, and I revved the engine up the last steep hill to a small opening in the trees, where the path cut off.

Raven locked her arms around me, and the length of her body formed along my back. Her breath matched mine, even and soft.

I marveled in the feeling of being so in sync with Raven, and physically feel her body against mine at the same time. I found my thoughts wandering, and shamefacedly, pictured my first sight of her tonight in her outfit; an exquisite sight.

Her cloak often hid her frame, or really any aspect of her figure. Her hood kept her startlingly amethyst eyes hidden, and her expression shadowed. Seeing her tonight in thin, fitted clothing, showing off her curves and slender legs… my brain stuttered as it processed what I was seeing.

"Shit!" I slammed hard on my brakes and leaned forward to spin the back of the R-cycle's rear, to touch down to a full stop. In my reverie, I'd forgotten how the dirt path cut off into thicket, and much too small for the motorcycle to manage.

Raven's grip tightened around my midsection, and with one arm I held us both to the handlebars, my hand firmly on the brake. The other, I secured my hand over hers, and locked them in place.

I maintained our balance, leaning to the left once we stopped moving, and Raven's muted shock blasted through my body.

After a moment of stillness, I removed myself from my motorcycle and Raven's clutch, facing her and waited.

Whenever Raven looked to me, the trust reverberating in her eyes always surprised me. The amount of assurance and nobility she radiated always gave me the strength to lead. Her alarm overtook that trust from our abrupt stop, and our years of service together did nothing to stop her veiled rage she directed towards me.

I felt the creeping sensation under my skin of her black tendrils manifesting before I saw them. Frightened animals squealed and scattered. The tendrils struck out at nearby trees, sparking at the ground, and slicing a tree in half beside us. The sound of wood bending and snapping branches, reverberated in the darkness, until the final slump to the ground.

My eyes never moved from Raven's, and the cool, lifeless aroma of her powers reached my nose. They sent an electric current of fear to my spine, but I paid it no mind, and waited for it to pass.

Eventually the black tendrils receded back, enveloping Raven's figure, and submerging out of sight. The birds and the insects around us remained silent, nothing except for the waves in the distance made a sound.

"You are an asshole." Raven distinguished flatly, removing herself from my motorcycle, and promptly began dusting herself off from the kicked-up dirt.

"I'm sorry," I responded with a forced smile, dusting myself off too, "Frankly, I'd forgotten we were dressed so nice. I probably could have stopped without the skidding."

"So, you did do it on purpose."

"It was an accident. I was… distracted." I tried to reason, thankful for the darkness as my cheeks warmed. I wasn't sure if she could feel my embarrassment, and I couldn't imagine what she would say if she knew why I'd been distracted.

She made no more comment, and I looked forward to our destination clearing my throat, eager to fill the silence.

"The opening to the cliff isn't wide enough for a bike. We have to walk the rest of the way; it's not far." I motioned to the thicket, and the tiny dirt pathway that led into darkness, hoping her eyes could see my gesture in the dark.

Raven stiffly motioned with her hand in the same direction, allowing me to lead the way. Her pale face smooth with muted indignation, as her sharp eyes shifted from me to the path ahead of us.

I moved quickly and slowed once I heard her small steps fall just behind me.

We walked in silence, though I thought I'd heard her mutter to herself once or twice. I couldn't be too sure if it was really her speaking out loud, or the whisper of her consciousness. She seemed remarkably silent both mentally and audibly.

With the sky taken over by nighttime, a blanket of darkness swallowed the forest ground. But I'd made this journey countless times at night, and the path itself is relatively straight with just a few bends and predictable uneven terrain. With a few calculated steps, my feet found their way on the old stone-steps that led up the steep hill.

Raven stumbled on a step behind me, and I felt her hand reluctantly grasp my right shoulder, bunching up the fabric in her grip as she fought to stay upright. I slowed my pace to keep her anchored to me, waiting for her to regain her footing before moving on. She sighed her frustration but said nothing.

I couldn't speak to her ability to see in the dark. But my balance adjusted quickly to her weight, and I closed my eyes as I continued on the familiar trail. Years of training with Batman taught me to never completely rely on one sense, like sight. Utilizing the rest of my senses, made up for any sense that might have been rendered useless.

Through the years of fighting Scarecrow or Two-Face, The Riddler and Penguin, I'd been maced, gassed, electrocuted and whatever contraption the Riddler decided to throw me in, once Batman and I followed his breadcrumbs.

A pitch-black forest with a predictable trail is nothing compared to being hog tied and thrown into a death contraption minutes before it's activated. Then again, I've never had Raven distract me before.

"We're here." I announced the moment a breeze of sea salt hit my face.

Raven huffed in response and moved around my right side, letting go of my shoulder and moving near the edge of the cliff. I couldn't help but notice her rapid breaths as she fought to slow them, but I figured bringing any attention to it wouldn't go well.

I hid my smirk and made a mental note to ask Cyborg to add a stair master to the gym. I kept my breaths smooth and even but admitted to myself that we could all use it.

The familiar view of the water and the night sky always filled me with joyous and tender memories, some painfully fresh. I breathed in deeply and evenly as salty wind blew lightly from the ocean water into my face again. Trying not to picture my emerald-eyed alien, to no avail.

"It's beautiful." Raven said as she studied the stars, surprisingly her previous irritation towards me put aside for the moment.

I moved closer to the edge of the cliff, and sat down, letting my feet dangle over the side. The wind blew with a little more force at this spot, and the sounds of the waves were amplified. Waves crashing underneath me with a constant rush of cool aromatic wind grounded me better than any amount of meditation could.

Raven moved next to me, taking a seat, and allowing her feet to dangle as well.

Our hands touched momentarily as she shuffled, and the movement brought the memory of her subtle touch from earlier in the evening, in the garage. Her soft hand had rested on mine, reassuring in her light touch.

We had a moment; maybe I had imagined it, but I felt her desire to connect. She needed to balance herself, so she reached her hand out, and touched mine in an act of selflessness and empathy. It felt like ages since anyone tried to connect with me in any way, and it was comforting. But wrong.

I'd pulled away after gazing into her amethyst eyes, searching for the credence I craved from her. All I saw was sympathy and confusion. I couldn't think properly, so I turned away from her, possibly a slight, to her, in the same motion.

Everything brought me back to Starfire and the day that ruined me. The sympathy and confusion in Star's eyes that day were the same as Raven's, but Star's fear had been palpable. Starfire was beginning to see the real me; the cold and calculating mastermind trying to be good and failing at every choice. I knew that was what she was scared to say.

I should be happy. I had a team of friends. I'd achieved becoming a renowned leader of this team and earned the approval of my father. I had a beautiful girlfriend, with a bright future of potential lasting love. Years of fighting evil, and saving the world countless times, and yet… something just didn't feel right.

So, I'd turned back to brooding, and I turned back to being silent and simply just there in the moment. I should have known Starfire would be the first to notice, but even I didn't think she would do what she did.

And here we are, at the root of my stubbornness. And Raven, despite watching me crash and burn, had never wavered in her resolve. That same trust in her eyes had grown from that first day I'd smiled to her when we met, accepting her for who and what she was.

I had to be fair to Raven. She deserved that.

"I found this place during one of my tantrums." I admitted through a sigh.

Raven's eyes drew downcast while her mouth twitched in an odd way, as if she were suppressing a chuckle. My choice of words probably sounded funnier than I intended, but I knew what the team called my moods. I wasn't the only one who had them, and Beast Boy had a bigger mouth when he wanted to be heard. My tantrums were just 'a little frightening' as Starfire described it once.

Raven's lips pursed when I didn't acknowledge her stifled laugh. Raven remained silent, and I gathered my thoughts to continue.

"I normally go for patrols around the city. But one day I decided to get lost, literally." Again, her mouth twitched at my choice of phrasing, "So I took the road all the way past the city limits and decided to enter a random turn off; this little spot of paradise took all day to find."

The salty air cleared my thoughts, and I watched from the corner of my eye as Raven's hair danced around her face. Her hand laid just inches away from my own.

I could almost feel her energy humming, pulsing in gentle waves from her hand. The shape of it formed to her, encasing her small frame, and vibrating out into the air surrounding her.

As in tune as I felt with her energy, her jumbled mind was too much for me to follow. Each thought tangled and spun into different webs of emotions and memories, each threading deeper into other stronger emotions. Emotions that were squashed immediately before I could discern them.

Her dark eyes flickered from the water to the stars as I attempted to listen to her mind again. The stillness she presented made me wonder just how she was able to appear so calm.

"How often do you come here?" Raven asked as her eyes moved to the water again.

She'd spoken sharper than intended, her thoughts humming with a wince. I took the hum as genuine curiosity, even as a tiny drip of unease coated the overall tone.

I smiled, attempting to hide my wonder of her strange and fascinating mind, and she glanced to me, her pools of violet searching my expression. I considered her question carefully, and met her eyes reassuringly, no offense taken from her tone.

"Maye once or twice a week; in the past few weeks, almost every day." She didn't appear surprised by my answer.

"I try to get here for sunset. If I miss that, I'm here for sunrise. It really depends." If I was being honest with myself, it really depended on how much sleep I managed, something I didn't want to highlight. Lately, due to Raven's powers and my own issues - like depression for one - I'd been sneaking out to my hideaway religiously for weeks.

I repositioned myself on the cliffside, adjusting to a particularly gusty wind as it blew from below, blasting air into our faces. Raven moved closer to me, an attempt to use my body to block as much of the wind as possible.

I froze as strands of her hair, unbeknownst to her, blew in my face. My eyes instinctively blinked, but the hint of smokey lilac from her strands ignited my curiosity. The lilac held something else I couldn't discern. Eucalyptus?

The urge to move closer and to catch a strand of her hair to inhale deeper, weighed heavily on my mind. I did not move, instead I took a deep therapeutic breath, and had to remind myself that we were here to talk as friends.

In the brief moments of my indecision to touch Raven's hair, her small frame brushed against my shoulder, and I couldn't help extending my arm around her, pulling her toward me as the wind roared. The action I made was all too familiar, except these shoulders felt much smaller and frail than I was used to.

My pulse quickened and a jolt of energy shot through my temple. This did not feel painful, just uncomfortable. I recognized this spark as a manifestation of Raven's surprise from my arm around her. She angled her eyes to connect with mine, much closer to each other than we'd both anticipated.

Our eyes met, and a strand of her hair whacked me across my face. A blast of indisputable Eucalyptus assaulted me.

"Sorry, damn wind." Raven blushed and attempted to control her strands.

As much as I tried to help it, in my years of adolescence and becoming a gentleman, my masked gaze often was my aid during moments such as these.

I did not often gawk openly at women under my mask, and it certainly wasn't a hobby of mine. I just didn't want to appear too keen, and I wasn't sure what Raven's reaction would be. I didn't think she would throw me off the cliffside, but her powers had been unpredictable. At least, more than usual, and I didn't want to find out what she could do to me.

My swift hidden eyes carefully roamed over Raven's thin clothing: her dark blue button up, conservative midriff exposure, and thin black cotton jeans hugging her skin. I wondered if she might be cold. It wasn't too chilly during the summer nights in Jump City, but I couldn't imagine her outfit giving her much defense against the weather.

And honestly, has she always been this small and fragile looking? Or was it my own imagination taking over? I frankly couldn't tell, and our proximity gave me wisps of the lilac & eucalyptus in her hair. Dizzying, and soothing. Undeniably a distraction.

My left hand twitched in another moment of indecision.

In my mind, I could picture the motion of my hand lifting to brush her hair from her face, holding it back against the wind for her and looking her deep in her amethyst eyes.

My curiosity bloomed at the notion of brushing my ungloved fingers against her cheek. Hoping beyond hope she would lean into my hand, the trust and warmth reverberating from her eyes. And upon staring into her infinite eyes, I would wonder if they were as cavernous as her mind.

My hand twitched again, its decision made, and the wind died the instant I'd decided to lift my hand. I let it fall to the ground.

I took a deep, much needed breath and looked out towards the ocean. An attempt to clear my mind, with no immediate success.

I'd wanted to kiss Raven, to feel her warmth, and bury my face in her lilac scented hair and breathe in her eucalyptus embrace.

Part of me ached for it, in my muscles and my chest. But it also filled me with an icy breathless guilt that left frozen burns of shame. Heartbreak is a funny type of pain.

Raven remained completely unaware of the direction my thoughts had taken me and preoccupied with holding her hair in place.

I shoved my own melodramatic thoughts aside and tried to listen to her. I wasn't sure if I could do it with purpose, and her thoughts often came like waves. Gentle and undisturbed or a violent tsunami that could only be braced for before it swallowed you whole.

This time her waves felt consistent, not strong, or turbulent. It was as if she was unaware, I was tuned into her frequency. Then I heard wisps of her mental voice echoing, much louder than I'd expected and I fought to keep my composure.

Her thoughts danced with sensation, the heat of my body alongside hers tingled in her mind and I found myself aching to appreciate the feeling as well.

The comfort of being so near her and the ease of it, I wanted nothing more but to share a genuine moment of affection. I felt numb as I nursed my frozen burns.

I faced my eyes downward and spoke truthfully without looking at her, interrupting her musings at once, "I used to bring Starfire here all the time."

One measure of stark physical and mental silence torched my icy burns, melting away my pinpricks of frozen flesh and setting them ablaze.

Ah. That's why he brought me here… I heard her mental voice whisper as clear as if she had spoken it.

Quicker than I thought it could, the tingle of our close embrace dimmed and vanished. The sensation filled with unease to near repulsion, but not directed at me, it had turned inward; she felt repulsed with herself. I froze with my arm still wrapped around her frame.

The anguished emotion behind her mental words struck deep inside me. In one aspect, her being slighted felt like an answer to a long and awaited forgotten question asked years ago. The other pained her that I had decided to bring her to a spot I used to bring Starfire. As if I'd potentially orchestrated it with intent.

Did she really believe I could be so cruel? How could she believe I would use her in this way? Was I using her?

The overwhelming urge to turn to her, grabbing her by both shoulders, and deny the claim burned deep in my stomach. Not an ache, a demand to help her see I meant no ill intent by bringing her to a place I shared with Starfire once. I had to be honest, and I could be honest.

Despite my resolve, I waivered.

A sudden reaction would frighten her. Though, ignoring her mental anguish for however many moments rattled an anger within me.

I forced an even slow breath and I fought to keep myself and my face smooth, against my better judgement.

A reaction would confirm the extent of how much I heard from her mind, and it would also open a door I wasn't ready to consider opening. At least, not yet.

Regardless of my actions today, I would not drag Raven further into my personal problems, if I could help it. The Titans had enough of my drama as it was. Raven deserved an explanation, and I thought of a reason as close to the truth as possible to quickly placate her mental pain, while trying my best to shield my alarm and intensity.

I rushed through my words as calm as possible, "I didn't plan on taking you here. It was just dinner. I planned on asking you since the other's had left."

The moment my words came out, it dawned on me that it didn't matter what the reason was for bringing Raven here; I'd damaged her ego.

Her steady and alarming silence made me grind my teeth.

I am the problem. Honesty is the only thing that I can provide, so honesty it is. Incapable of beating the problem senseless, my hands balled into fists and released.

"What if I'd said no?" Raven asked abruptly.

Catching me short, my eyes widened, and I responded with unfiltered thoughts.

"I would have continued moping in my room." I admitted, attempting to catch her eyes. Hoping to at least show her that I was in earnest.

Raven's brow furrowed and her jaw strained at my response; I'd been too honest. Her lips set into a firm line, and I found myself wanting to run from this moment. The once comforting heat of our proximity began to chill, and she leaned away from me in our embrace for an instant.

Like pushing two magnets together that would not bond, I stayed firm with my arm frozen in its place around her rigid frame. More honesty, but be conservative, I warned myself.

I turned her to face me, and her dark eyes answered mine, firm and defiant in their gaze.

I didn't know what I turned her to say, I couldn't find the words that could encompass everything I needed to, and wanted, to convey. But nothing came out, and her eyes softened in surprise.

Her thoughts mirrored mine in a way I hadn't expected.

Her skin tingled where my hands gently grasped her arms, and her features relaxed with intent, her lips pursing involuntarily. Her body reacted in a way that wasn't in her control, and I found my body eagerly responding to hers.

We were not thinking but reacting to a bond between us. The bond felt conscious and instinctive, singing softly to merge, to become one being.

I wanted to answer this call, but another part steeled in its defiance, wanting to pull away and deny myself the indulgence. But the call became too strong as the scent of Raven's hair filled my senses, and I pressed my lips to hers before I could stop myself again.

Raven POV

I've never experienced a time where I truly felt in sync with the world.

The moment I set foot on Earth, I knew I'd never live a fulfilling life, and that I would always be alone.

Finding Robin, Starfire, Beast boy and Cyborg, was a sign from Azar that good things do happen to those who need it the most.

I never once dreamed I would find friends, and I certainly never believed they could become my family. Even during the bad times, if we all had each other, we could get through anything, always and forever.

I hadn't expected our friendship to slowly die like it seemed to be, and I don't know what my actions would mean for the future.

All I knew in this moment, the moment I felt Robin's lips press to mine, the world made sense.

All the pain I'd experienced in life, all the sorrow, all the bruises to my body and soul were instantly worth it. If I had to experience it all again, just to get to this moment, I would endure it all with fervor. Gladly.

Robin's strong hands felt firm against me as his left arm wrapped around me, cradling me against his chest, and his right hand wound in my hair. My pulse quickened, and I tried to slow my breath to match his, but my mind buzzed with sensation, too much sensation.

His mind opened completely to me, instead of crushing me with the pressure equivalent of the blackhole I'd become accustomed to, his energy mingled with mine. I could feel my touch on his skin, and the excitement of his body reacting to my hands as they roamed under his jacket along his back and shoulders.

I could see him the way he saw me, and the feeling felt as though we were staring into each other's souls.

Instead of being affronted by the blinding light, we stayed firm, never wavering in our gaze. I felt the energy grow between us, burning brighter and commanding more, and I couldn't resist its authority.

I leaned my head back to breathe, and I felt Robin move to kiss my neck softly, moving from the hollow to my collarbone. This made it harder to breathe, and the energy between us skyrocketed, but still, it commanded more. More, more! MORE!

My breath caught in my chest, and I moved to meet Robin's lips again, but I felt his hesitation.

"Did you hear that?" He asked breathy, his masked eyes unfocused and disoriented.

"Hear what?" I responded, moving to kiss his neck, lightly biting along his jaw.

"Hmm." He murmured softly in response.

He shivered in a way that made me wonder if I was hurting him, but the answer in his mind and the sensation I felt tremble through his shoulders brought a smile to my lips. I breathed in his musky scent, brushing my face against his cheek. Meeting his lips, I tasted them softly before Robin took my face in between his hands and pulled me against him.

We could not be physically any closer, but we desired to be. We both desired to mold together if we could, but again, that gnawing sensation of something wedging between us caused us to latch onto each other in our embrace.

My hands lost themselves in his hair, and his hands cradled my face gently as we gasped in unison.

MORE!

Robin jerked and pulled away from me, looking around alarmed. Shaking his head, trying to clear his mind, he took a deep breath.

"I know you heard it that time." He stated after a hesitant moment.

My head swam. I could only feel the imprint of Robin's lips on mine, how soft and firm they felt. I could barely register his words.

"Raven? Tell me you heard it." Robin demanded.

I looked to him, feeling the command again, feeling the urge to be closer.

I put my hands on both sides of his face, tracing his bottom lip with my thumb. His attention distracted but alert, under his mask his eyes blinked, and he spoke with his eyes closed, "Something's wrong. Tell me you feel it too."

"That's your imagination Robin," I heard my voice speak aloud, "Nothing about this is wrong."

"I guess I just didn't expect this to happen so soon." Robin admitted, his eyes opening and his expression softening, "I just can't help myself." His head dipped again to meet my lips, and we rolled onto the ground.

His back to the ground, he draped me against his chest. His hands roaming along my back, I tossed my hair to the side, focusing my attention on his lips.

I wanted him, and I wanted more.

Beepbeepbeep! A familiar musical tune buzzed from Robin's hip, and we froze in place.

This time I pulled away.

"I definitely heard that."

x X x

AN: I started this story years ago when I was an itty bitty teen, suffering from an ailment known as a hopeless romantic and chronic procrastinator. I know it's been a long time coming, but I promise, I'm still working on this. I work now, and I'm currently in college too… but this is always on my mind.
Now, I recognize people have liked the direction of this story so far, and I, as a person, can't please everyone. So, I'm going to continue to work on this until I've finally completed Robin and Raven's journey in this story! That is all.

Happy holidays!