The fierce heat of day seeped into the oil-stained dirt, bending the light just above the ground. Miles of broken metal and burnt trees scattered the clearing and the only building to offer refuge was a small, once-white building. The simple rectangular shape was made of metal walls with a single floor to ceiling height window next to the door. Within, a tall man with grayish-blue skin scavenged through the drawers behind the front desk. Different objects were flung behind him as he searched. Pencils, pens, scissors, wrenches. None seemed to grasp his attention until a loud "Aha!" Sounded through the room. His head lifted up above the counter a large smirk on his face as he held up a small glass tube with metal on either end. He observed the small object with awe in his gaze until he began to recognize reflections moving on the glass cylinder. Looking forward he noticed three figures had entered his shop and he promptly stood, shoving his newly acquired puzzle piece behind his back. At attention, he spoke to the approaching figures.

"Welcome, what can I help you with?"

The voice sounded from his mouth, the formality of telepathic speech lost to the strange man. The center figure stepped forward with their response, offered in true voice.

"Are you the one known as Jebediah?"

The blue man noticeably relaxed, his shoulders falling from their squared position and his hidden hands returning to his front as he continued to inspect his find. Only customers knew his name and while the three before him were certainly foreboding, he'd worked with shady people before. He quickly phrased his next statement.

"One and only. I assume you lot are looking to get off world, where are you headed?"

"A system in Orion-Cygnus."

The man nodded as he contemplated the trip.

"A lot of that area's unexplored. It will cost you. . ."

Before the man could finish his sentence the second of the three figures held up a large green gem which shone with its perfect cut. The mans eyes widened at the sight of it, recognizing its great worth.

"Alright, follow me."

—

"Fuck this."

A book went flying across the room nearly breaking the sound barrier before hitting he wall with a satisfying *thud*. The dark girl flung herself backwards to lay on her bed, her legs still tangled in a lotus position. She'd spent countless hours comparing dead languages to the inscriptions and she'd had no luck whatsoever. With a huff she turned her head to look at the laptop that sat on her nightstand. Up to this point she refused to utilize technology in her search as she constantly spoke out against it. She strongly believed that technology was one of the major issues of society, inciting laziness and complacency. Nevertheless she was prepared to accept defeat in the pursuit of knowledge.

Using her magic she levitated the laptop in front of her as she sat up. She simply stared at the aluminum rectangle and the logo of a partially eaten fruit for a few moments as she contemplated opening it. 'It won't do much closed I guess..' her thoughts prompted her to action. She reached out and lifted the thin screen from its place as the device lit up with life. A few quick taps and the empty search bar of Google looked her in the face. She furrowed her brow as she began to think of what to search for. Glancing to her right at the inscriptions she took note of one of the characters.

"ώ"

She sighed as she began to type on the computer.

"w with a dot above it"

She said out loud, questioning her own sanity at what she'd typed. Lo and behold as she pressed enter the screen filled with differing links describing what language it would be linked to. Latin, Spanish, Tagalog. All languages she'd compared and evidently found nothing. As she scanned the screen finally another language piqued her interest. Greek.

"Worth a shot I guess."

She briefly looked over her bookshelf before she stood and made her way to the closet, hanging her cloak on a wall hook as she went. She lacked any books on the Greek language as she'd never studied Greece, mainly for lack of interest. Her obsession with the medieval and Viking eras steered her toward Norse and English mythology while her love for the romantic renaissance drove her to learn more about Italy but she never spent time on Greece. She'd need to find a book to help her translate it and so she needed to venture into town to find said book.

She perused her wardrobe finding a plethora of uniforms and cuffed blue boots. While she may have been the dark one of the group, wearing her traditional attire would still draw attention she really did not want. Looking down in the corners of her closet she opened up a few brightly decorated boxes, Christmas gifts from a year prior. From within she pulled out a pair of dark grey denim jeans and an azure hooded sweater. With a shrug she slipped the jeans on over her leotard and donned the blue sweater. She continued to dig through the many articles of clothing she'd been gifted and never worn. Bright purple dresses and tank tops, blue shorts and a pair of yoga pants. A full bundle of socks with Beastboy's face sewn into them. She stopped and glared for a moment at the horrifying image before throwing it behind her with greater resentment than she'd thrown a pink t-shirt Starfire had given her.

Finally she found what she was looking for. A pair of distressed black leather combat boots. The boots had black soles and dark grey eyelets for the laces to weave through. As she placed the boots on her feet they reached about a third of the way up her calf.

Standing she made her way to her door stopping for a moment to look at herself in the mirror. She was hardly vain enough to spruce but she took in her image. It was always strange seeing herself in civilian clothes. She liked it because it made her feel 'normal', as if she weren't the daughter of an inter-dimensional demon. She shook her head from the thought and promptly made her way to the common room.

Beastboy and Cyborg sat on the couch playing video games on the TV, loudly shouting at each other as they bantered back and forth. Starfire sat on the back of the couch cheering on whoever was losing as she was ignored by the two oblivious teenagers. Robin sat at the table, headphones in and typing away at the keyboard of his laptop.

It had been another day and a half since she'd left her room and things seemed to still be normal. The 2 hours of 'sleep' she'd had over the past two nights only proved that this was an illusion. Her sleep was still haunted by painful nightmares, visions of a possible future, but only she knew it. Well, and Robin as well. Either way this was her issue now and she needed to deal with it.

Raven moved from her spot in the doorway to the kitchen opening the "random" drawer, finding and pocketing her library renters card. She looked back up and surveyed the room. No one had taken notice to her entrance yet. Perhaps she would be able to leave without any hinderance. She made her way back to the door when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She froze in place.

'Dammit'

She said internally. She knew the gloved hand belonged to her leader before he spoke.

"What are you all dressed up for?"

Raven sighed as she turned to face him.

"I can't just want to look normal?"

Robin raised an eyebrow at her, or at least raised one side of his mask. He could tell she was evading the question and he was waiting for an actual answer.

"I'm going into town and I didn't want to attract any attention."

Robin nodded in understanding, honestly somewhat confused by how forthcoming she was. Robin briefly glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the titans before looking back at Raven who was clearly annoyed by his interruption.

"Can I come with you?"

This time Raven raised a brow.

"What?"

She said simply, her monotone voice filled with a slight tinge of annoyance.

"I just need to get out of the tower for awhile. I can change into civies and meet you downstairs."

Before Raven had the opportunity to protest he'd passed her to make his way to his room. She stood for a moment wide-eyed and mouth open, confused by the spectacle of Robin looking to get away from the tower and its denizens. She briefly recalled the fight that had transpired between Robin and Starfire and decided that it must have been the catalyst for his request. Shrugging she made her way to the elevator at the end of the hall and descended.

—

"So. . ."

The two walked awkwardly together. Raven had lifted her hood to conceal her chakra and violet hair, dead giveaways to the people of the Jump, and walked with her hands clasped together in the large front pocket of her slightly oversized sweater. Beside her, Robin had decided to wear a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a red t-shirt with a black leather jacket on top, and black and white converse. To top the look off he wore a pair of curved black aviators, his spiky hair still in tact.

Robin had driven the two into town on his motorcycle, much to the protest of Raven, and had parked it in a garage near the bay in favor of walking around town. The trip had been silent enough to make even Raven feel uncomfortable. Before raven could continue her question, that she hadn't actually thought up yet, Robin interrupted.

"Have you had any luck with that inscription."

He said, a sense of awkwardness in his own voice as he spoke. Raven internally sighed in relief at the break of silence.

"Not yet, I think it may be Greek. We're headed for the library so I can grab a book to translate it."

Robin nodded. That explained her sudden desire to leave the tower. Silence ensued once again and Raven scrambled to think of a question opting for the first one that came to mind.

"So how are things with alien warrior princess?"

Each of her internal emotions screamed at and berated her for her personal question. She didn't mean to pry but she was honestly concerned for the well being of his heart. He was the one friend who really understood her and their mental connection only amplified the emotions of sadness that poured off him. Still she began to kick herself, wishing she'd not jumped so quickly into his personal matters.

"We decided to take a break. . ."

Raven was taken aback by both the statement and the fact the Robin had so quickly opened up to her.

"A break? What happened?"

All worries to the wind at this point. She figured if he didn't want to talk about it, he'd say so.

"I told her how I felt. . . And she told me that if I don't like being near her we can't be together. . ."

A moment of silence passed as Raven let the words seep in.

"Robin, that's not a break that's a full-on breakup."

Robin tilted his head down as he walked.

"I know. . ."

Raven felt her heart break a little bit. She knew how much he loved Starfire and how much she meant to him but she also knew that the very same love was more familial than romantic. She'd noticed it not long after Tokyo but decided it wasn't her place to intervene.

"I'm sorry."

The two simple words were all she could think of to provide any comfort to the young man beside her. She wanted to reach out and hug him, as much as she normally hated physical contact. She wanted to tell him it would be okay. She wanted to feel his arms wrap around her and hold her close. . . . She shook her head at the last thought, clearing her mind.

"Do you want to get some coffee while we're out?"

She asked, a feeble attempt to change the subject. Looking to her right, where he walked beside her she could see a somber smirk cover his features as he nodded to her question. She felt a smile tug at her own lips as she led the way to the nearest coffee shop.

After the brief stop for coffee, tea, and bagels the conversation between the two had slowly begun to grow into a light hearted sharing of different stories. The bulk of these stories mainly told by Robin as Raven, admittedly, didn't like to talk as much as she liked to listen. The added entertainment made for a quick walk to the library where Raven managed to find the book she needed. Shortly after they had made their way back to Robin's bike and back to the tower.

Raven swung her leg up off the seat of the bike standing beside it as Robin did the same, placing his helmet on the handlebars. He turned to her and spoke.

"Thanks.. for letting me come with you. I needed that."

Raven felt a slight warmth spread across her cheeks as she softly smiled at him.

"I'm always here Robin. If you ever need anything."

Robin returned the smile and stepped forward, quickly invading her personal space. Before she could step back and push away she felt his long arms wrap around her, pulling her to his chest. She stood for a moment in a state of panic, multiple tools in the room slowly raising with black magic before she finally decided to return the gesture, wrapping her arms around him as well. He'd grown taller in the last few years now standing tall enough that he could rest his chin on the top of her head. Her hands on his back barely reached his shoulder blades as she felt the strong, yet relaxed muscles of his back. It was strangely comforting to be there in his arms. Where normally she would feel claustrophobic and disgusted, she felt.. safe. She closed her eyes and the two stood there for a long moment, neither wanting to break the hug.

The choice was ultimately made for them as the alarm began to sound. Startling both of them. They pulled away quickly, redness marking both of their cheeks. Robin opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the ringing of his communicator. Pulling it out and opening it, cyborgs face appeared.

"Y'all gotta get up here."

Robin nodded and closed the communicator. He looked up to find Raven had already begun making her way to the elevator. Swiftly he followed and the elevator doors closed behind them as they ascended to the common room.