The Titans stood overlooking the defeated form of Mumbo Jumbo, his wand broken and appearance changed back to that of an old man. The battle had been long, but in the end the Titans were victorious once more. Robin put him in handcuffs and pulled him so he was sitting down, looking dejected as he was caught once again. The sound of police sirens grew closer and closer, until eventually the police force for supervillains appeared. They threw him in the back of the van, closing the doors and driving away.

"Thanks once again, Titans. How he manages to get his equipment back all the time, we'll never know." One of the police officers said, his voice filtered and robotic sounding due to his mask. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have his mess to clean up." The officer motioned behind the five teens, and the Titans turned to look down the road.

Mumbo's chase had (of course) left buildings with holes punched through them, ATM, newspaper stands, street signs, and various other objects in states of disrepair or flat out broken. Some of the collateral damage had been the Titans own doing; Cyborg's sonic cannon had left a burn trail along the ground, and his and Starfire's attacks had left small craters wherever they impacted. Beastboy and Robin had left holes and scratch marks along walls, and Robin's non-explosive birdarangs were left lodged into telephone poles and scattered along the ground.

"Don't worry about it; Raven will take care of everything." Robin said. "With her powers, it'll only take a few hours. Besides, if we'd acted a little faster there wouldn't so much to deal with." The officer nodded at Robin, then turned around and started making sure to keep civilians away from the group of heroes. "Alright, we'll see you later." Robin walked away, and the rest of the Titans followed him. A few seconds later, the T-Car could be heard revving up and heading back to the tower.

In retrospect, Raven had been too blinded by her anger to really consider the consequences of her actions.

A few days after she'd lashed it in anger, the Titans had a meeting to discuss what should be done. They were in agreement; Raven was becoming far too difficult to live alongside. She was in control enough during battles (this battle with Mumbo had proved that beyond a doubt), but when they returned home she was either extremely distant or upset with everyone over the smallest of things. They were also in agreement that she wouldn't allow help from anyone. Everyone had approached her several times, but she was closing herself off from the others. Attacking one friend and nearly coming into a fight with another was the final straw.

Starfire had suggested they should stop trying to help and go straight to punishment. She was understandably angry, and managed to convince the others of her line of thought. However, they were uncertain what kind of punishment should be appropriate for her. Starfire and the others were upset, but they didn't want to kick her out of Titans tower. Everyone knew she had nowhere else to go.

Robin had convinced the rest of the team of an appropriate punishment: If she was angry, she could take that energy and do something productive with it. And if she wanted to be alone, all the better. Raven had been saddled with all the chores around Titans tower; she'd also been sent out on patrol during the day and monitoring the security of Jump City at night. It came as no surprise to anyone that Robin would make her clean up after the villains when they were done fighting, too.

After being called in two months ago to meet them and informing of her of what to expect, Raven had simply nodded and started to work with a detached gaze. The others hadn't caught on, assuming her reaction to be the carefully controlled apathy she'd mastered over the years. But Robin had noticed the lack of light in her eyes, devoid of all emotion, leaving the normally brilliant amethyst lifeless and dull.

It was why he turned around to look at her when the Titans were heading to the car. She was floating up in the air, hands raised as she repaired the damage done during the battle. On the outset, she was calm, cool, and collected, just like usual. But Robin saw the… the weakness of her movements, the almost-laziness in the way she used her powers. She could clean up the battle ruins and arrive at the tower just a few minutes after they did. But it was almost like she didn't care. Not in a depressed sort of way; she wasn't sad. No, it was more like the acceptance of the inevitabile she'd carried with her before Trigon; like there was nothing she could do and she just accepted what came her way.

Robin got in the passenger seat and kept his eye on Raven in the rearview mirror as Cyborg took them back home.

~Hollow~

Raven sighed as she finished the last of her work. The buildings had been fixed to their original state; not even a crack remained. Raven gave her official statement of the events to the police officer, then headed home, ignoring the crowd as she flew back to the Tower. They called out to her for an autograph or a picture, but she was already out of earshot.

The sun was starting to set by the time she got home. She landed on the roof, where Robin was waiting for her. She took her hood down and walked up to him. "Hey, Cyborg's cooking hamburgers tonight; you want to eat with us?" He asked, cape flapping lightly in the breeze of the setting sun.

Raven shook her head. "I'll be fine. I want to shower and nap before I go on monitor duty tonight." It looked like he wanted to say something, but decided against it. The two headed to the stairwell and down the hallway.

When they reached the fork in the hallway, where Robin would go to the common room and Raven would head to the bathroom, Robin got her attention again. "I'll put your plate in the fridge, okay?"

She nodded, and started towards her room to grab fresh clothes before walking to the bathroom. Raven undressed, turning on the water and washing all the grime and blood from their battle with Mumbo down the drain. She closed her eyes, leaning against the wall and gripping her arm with her hand. The dull impact of water against her body barely registered as she spaced out, closing her eyes and unwinding after the long battle.

The door burst open, and someone started to spit in the sink. "Friend, I am sorry to burst in on you, but Beastboy tricked me into eating his tofu!" Starfire cried out. "I must commence with the brushing of the teeth!"

There was no way of seeing through the shower curtain, so Raven said, "Go ahead." She heard Starfire grab her toothbrush and started to clean the nasty taste of Beastboy's tofu from her mouth. It amused Raven to know that Starfire ate really exotic alien food that normal people couldn't handle, but still cringed upon seeing and smelling tofu. Go figure.

Starfire left the bathroom a minute later, and Raven turned off the water and dried herself, putting on a clean pair of pajamas and walking to her room. She didn't want to nap in the leotard, and so decided to put on her regular uniform upon waking. She grabbed her alarm clock and set it for eleven p.m., setting it on her bedside table.

She placed it down, but didn't let go it immediately. Her attention was drawn to the framed photo of her and Robin beside her hand. Raven grabbed it and looked it over. She hadn't understood why he'd wanted to take a picture with her. A photo served no purpose; at least that's what she'd said to him when he asked her to put her book down.

"It'll make for a good memory."

That's what Robin had said. She hadn't understood at the time, but she did now. Looking at the photo reminded her of the peaceful day it had been, of the stupid grin on his face as he tried to convince her to pose. Yes, she remembered that day fondly and clearly. Beastboy didn't do anything to aggravate her, Cyborg made a fantastic lunch, Starfire hadn't interrupted her meditation, and no villains had attacked either. It was a mundane day where nothing had been accomplished, but nothing had gone wrong either.

Of course, Robin had been there too. After he'd taken the photo, he turned on the TV and put the volume on low, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. She wondered why he didn't just nap in his room, but the feeling of warmth beside her as she read left Raven feeling serene and peaceful as she returned to her book. A few days later, he'd brought the photo to her and told her to she could do what she wanted with it. Raven decided to frame it; after all, that's what one is supposed to do.

Robin had been right. The photo had made for a good memory.

She set it back down beside the alarm clock, then rested her head against her pillow. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep as a warmth blossomed in her chest.

~Hollow~

A few hours later, Raven's alarm went off and woke her up. She sat and up and turned it off, stretching her arms over her head and standing. Putting on the cloak and leotard, she headed to the common room to heat up her leftovers. Even microwaved, Cyborg's cooking was fantastic. She devoured her dinner in just a few minutes, preparing a pot of tea before she headed down to the monitor room.

Monitor duty was very simple. As the name implied, one of the Titans would use Jump City's massive camera network to keep an eye any criminals that were tempted to try anything at night. When the Titans had been officially registered as heroes of the city, they went on a lot of daytime patrols and thus, the crooks and supervillains that normally acted during the day went to work during the graveyard shift instead. Since the Titans lived on an island, most bad guys figured that if they were fast enough, they'd be able to get away with their crime before the Titans showed up in the city. It happened more than anyone would care to admit.

To deal with their poor response time, Jump City had upgraded its police force with better equipment and technology, courtesy of Cyborg working with STAR Labs and Wayne Enterprises. Now, if villains attacked, whoever was on monitor duty would send an alert to the authorities. The police could get to the scene of the crime much quicker than they could, and if they weren't able to stop the bad guys, they could delay them enough for the Titans to show up and take it from there.

Normally, the duty would fall to a different Titan each night. However, Raven found herself stuck with it every night after she'd succumbed to her anger. There could be worse punishments besides being forced to sit in a chair and watch monitors all night. It was quiet and peaceful. Raven often enjoyed monitor duty simply for the solitude it provided. The quiet hum of computers and the comfortable couch were often something she looked forward too. It was boring, but it was peaceful.

Raven made her way to the elevator and down to the monitor room. She set her cup of tea down on the desk in front of her, then sat on the couch and started… monitoring. The cameras were often on building corners: one overlooking the main street, one pointed down the alley, one pointed up at the rooftops, and another pointed straight down to cover the blind spot. Jump City was massive, but the camera system was also very good: it's facial recognition software was top notch, and scanners similar to the one's Cyborg used were implemented to identify drugs or weapons.

The only sounds were the occasional keyboard click as camera's were cycled through. That, and the occasional sip from the tea cup. The clock read midnight, and only four hours of her duty remained. Raven yawned, still tired from her nap, though not out of exhaustion. If there was one thing she didn't like about monitor duty, it was how it messed with her sleep schedule.

The door swished open, and Raven turned around. "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep." Robin said. "So I decided to come down here and hang out."

Raven turned back to her screens. "Well, you'll fall asleep pretty quickly doing this. Nothing's happened at all so far."

"That's good. Means it's peaceful." Robin said, walking over and sitting beside her. "Hopefully, Mumbo won't interrupt that peace like he did earlier today."

"I'm sure he'll be back soon enough. We left him frozen and on the other side of the world, but that didn't stop him from coming back."

Robin laughed, and Raven allowed a smirk to grace her features.

"Honestly, how does that even happen?" Robin asked.

"I'm sure if we'd assigned someone to make sure they stayed frozen, we wouldn't be having this conversation. It was a fools mistake to leave them unguarded in the first place." Raven said.

Robin stretched his legs up and placed them on the desk in front of them, leaning back in his chair and putting his hands behind his head. "True. But we all assumed that the ice was, you know…"

"Permanent?"

"Yep." He chuckled. "But lo and behold, ice melts." He turned to face her. "Who would've thought?"

Raven giggled, and Robin smiled. He turned back to the monitors. There was a pause, but then he said, "It's nice to hear you laugh."

In his peripheral vision, he saw Raven tense.

Robin pursed his lips together. The situation suddenly seemed very delicate. "Just like old times, you know? We always used to do this together." Raven didn't respond, and he continued. "One of us would be up, and somehow or another we'd always find each other. Down here or up in the common room or even on the roof; we'd always meet up late at night." He sighed. "Those days seem so long ago…" Though he was looking at the monitor, his gaze was focused somewhere far beyond them. "Before you became so distant." He finished quietly, turning to look over at Raven once more.

She was crying.

Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks, along her soft jawline and falling silently from her chin. "Raven!" Robin exclaimed, reaching forward and gently cupping her cheek, brushing the tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "What's wrong?" He asked, shifting so he was facing more towards her.

Her eyes widened at his touch. She slowly reached up, grabbing his gloved hand in her own. How long had it been since she'd felt his warmth? "I'm sorry." Raven said, voice cracking. "I didn't mean to…"

Robin instinctively pulled her into a hug, and she buried her head into his chest.

"I didn't mean to become so distant. I didn't want to hurt you." Raven said, wrapping her arms around him. She clutched at his uniform, fisting the material as she tried to get closer to that warmth she'd long forgotten. Even now, after locking all her emotions away and barely talking to him for months on end, he could still make her feel so much, and at the same time soothe her so easily. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Raven. I forgive you." Robin murmured, rubbing comforting circles into her back as she continued to cry quietly. This was the second time he'd ever hugged her. She might've tried to hide it, hide herself, behind a facade of apathy and darkness to scare others away, but she was still human, and she wasn't as strong as others believed her to be. Now that he was so physically close to her, he realized just how fragile she really was.

"I'm sorry." Raven muttered again. Her breathing came in quick, light gasps, and she struggled to make it even.

"I forgive you. I forgive you." He whispered. He ran his fingers through her hair and wrapped his arm around the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. Robin wanted to ask what had caused the distance between them to form, but right now he knew that that wasn't important. What was important was the realization that Raven herself hated that chasm between them almost as much as he did, and for the first time in a long time they were coming closer again.

Robin comforted her for a long time. Her breathing had evened out and she relaxed slowly into his embrace, all the tension gone from her body.

Raven hadn't realized how cold she'd felt all these months away from him. It wasn't merely a matter of temperature; Robin's warmth soothed her very soul, calming her down until she was completely at ease in a way meditation could never hope to accomplish. His embrace was gentle, as though he were afraid she might break if he held her too tightly. Raven shifted herself to rest more comfortably against his chest, turning her head slightly and adjusting her arms around his torso. She couldn't stop the content sigh from escaping as she remembered how much she loved him.

Even after everything, she still loved him. Raven still yearned for these moments, the quiet moments in the middle of the night or away from teammates just between them. And now that such a moment existed, she forgot about everything; about him being with Starfire, about her fight with Robin, her depression… all of it faded as she leaned further into his embrace.

Just for a moment, she was with Robin again.