It was well past midnight. The moon was low in the sky, and Raven had her curtains pulled back.
She'd had a nightmare. Her arms were still covered with goosebumps from it. But she couldn't remember what it was about.
She sighed. Looking out the window, trying to meditate.
She heard a thud. It wasn't loud by any means, but it was the middle of the night and everyone else should have been asleep.
She portalled through her floor into the room below. The records room.
It was pitch black.
Raven heard the noise again.
She conjured a ball of light in her hand and moved towards the sound.
"Robin?" He was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands, muttering soft curses.
"Raven? Did I wake you?"
"No, your slewn papers and books did." She landed beside him, taking a seat on the dusty floor.
"I'm sorry. I just, there's this case. I just can't crack it." Robin looked at her through her light-ball. "Didn't know you could do that."
"Oh." She stared at it, "I guess when your power is darkness it doesn't seem normal."
"That's not what I meant. I meant it's like magic. You know. Like circus magic."
She rested a hand on his knee. "You should sleep."
"I tried, but I can't."
Raven dispelled her light. "You don't want to talk about it?"
"Sorry."
"It's okay. You don't have to apologise." She shuffled next to him and laid a head down on his shoulder. "Your trauma is valid and important, but it doesn't define you."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "Quoting me to me?"
"You said it. And it helped. A lot." Raven hid her face in his arm. "Come to bed." she mumbled against him. He felt the reverberations through his arm.
"Okay."
…
Robin looked at Raven, her body gleaming in the moonlight. It complemented her. The cool tones of the moon with the paleness of her skin. She looked radiant. Like a goddess out of a Greek painting or a stunning Roman sculpture come to life. Ethereal.
He could write a thousand anthologies about her beauty. He could write thousands more about her. How she was perfect and imperfect and dark and light.
It played in the corner of his mind. A frightening thought that she wouldn't always be there. A terrifying thought that Slade wasn't done with her. Wasn't done toying with him. It kept him awake at nights. It made him do stupid and crazy things like not sleep for a week or become stuck on the tiniest detail in a case that might be related to Slade.
Raven was humming something in her sleep. A tune, familiar but he didn't quite know it.
Robin pressed his lips to her forehead and covered her with her blanket.
He exited her room as silently as possible, taking care with each step not to wake her.
If Slade was out there, Robin would find him. He would find Slade, and he would end Slade with his own hands.
…
"When did you get up?"
Robin turned to see Raven, peeking her head through the door of the records room. Her hair was wet and he caught the faintest scent of jasmine from her. And, as per usual, she had a book tucked under her arm.
"A while ago, why?" He turned back to the cases in front of him. He had stuck the three cases onto three whiteboards, drawing connections and re-reading information about the primary suspects.
"Nothing, just missed you at our early morning breakfast date," Raven walked into the room, tiptoeing through the piles of newspaper clippings and books.
"Oh," He turned to face her again. "What time is it?"
"It's almost eleven, Robin." She steadied herself with a hand on his shoulder. "How long have you been in here?"
"I'm sorry, Raven, I just… these cases, I can't help but feel like they are all connected to Slade. I know, he's gone but there's something here." Robin slumped onto the desk. "It's just that I'm just too stupid to see it."
"A fresh pair of eyes, or four, might help."
Robin side-eyed her. She'd been humming that tune for the past few days, the one he couldn't quite put a finger on. He could hear the strain in her voice when she talked.
"I was going to go visit Melvin, Timmy, Teether and Bobby today. You could come with?"
Robin glanced at the disarray on the desk and the whiteboards. "Sorry Raven, I just… I have to do this."
"It's okay. But I will put Starfire on your case if you don't take a break."
Robin let a small smile. "I'll take a break."
Raven eyed him.
"I will!"
"Okay." She kissed his cheek. "I'll see you tonight, then."
…
Robin looked up from his desk.
He fished around the papers for his communicator and checked the time. 9:45pm.
Raven should have been back by now.
He tripped over a heap of books on the way to the door, and tumbled into the corridor.
"Robin? What are you doing on the floor, man?" Cyborg said as he turned the corner and spotted him.
Robin stood up and dusted himself off. "Nothing, is Raven back yet?"
"Raven? I haven't seen her all day. She did leave a note saying she was going to visit the kids at the Monastery, though. Hey! Where are you going? She specifically left a warning for no one to try to go into her room!"
Robin headed straight for the roof.
He spotted her from his vantage point, hidden behind the rocks on the cliff. Precariously close to the edge.
…
"So, how'd it go?" Robin asked.
Raven was not surprised. She waved him over to the rock she was sitting on. "It was nice. It was sweet, kind of like having a family."
"Family, huh? Yeah, family dinners were nice. Once, my mom was on a diet and decided to make mash out of sweet potato instead of actual potato, and it was hilarious because both my dad and I hated it. But neither of us told her. Ever, actually."
Raven smiled. "I don't really remember much of any dinner. I spent the majority of my childhood trying not to feel anything at all, so…"
Robin took her hand. "Your emotions are valid and important, but they don't define you."
Raven laughed. "It's so strange and wonderful. Being with you, just makes everything better. It's like…"
"Magic?"
Robin tugged Raven up, and off the rocks, onto the flat land of their island.
"Yeah, something like that."
"Call it magic, call it true." Robin sung, pulling Raven closer to him. He whispered in her ear, "I know you've been humming it for days,"
"Call it magic, when I'm with you." She pressed a feathery kiss to his lips.
"Well, I call it magic, when I'm next to you," Robin twirled her around, catching her in his embrace. "And I don't, it's true,"
"No I don't, want anybody else but you,"
Raven and Robin whispered the lyrics to each other as they swirled around in their silly little waltz at the corner of their island.
"Can I open my eyes yet?"
"No! Not yet, Friend Raven. You must not. Preparations are yet to be completed."
"This is silly." She said, crossing her arms. It was her birthday. She expected balloons and cake and decorations. But felt none of that aura from anywhere.
"Okay, okay! You can open your eyes, now." Cyborg said.
She blinked, adjusting to the bright lights of the living room and saw an interesting scene.
There was a round table.
Cyborg, dressed in grey slacks and a white shirt with a loosely hung tie, sat beside Starfire, who was in a pretty pink dress and an apron. Beside them, on the floor was a furry green cat, and sitting on the second last chair was Robin.
"What is this?"
"Family dinner!" They yelled, merrily.
Raven eyed Robin and sat down, unable to retract the smile from her face.
"Thanks," she whispered in his ear.
"My pleasure."
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