The Raven Tap, Tap, Tapped on the Dance Floor

Chapter Four

Disclaimer: The lyrics bits featured in this chapter are from "Someday" by The Strokes and "Let Go" by Frou Frou. I have no affiliation with bands or the songs. I also do not own "The Nutcracker" or related entities.

"AHHH!" Raven shrieked, fishing the ice cup from out of her shirt.

Kristana hovered over her, covering her mouth to prevent any obnoxious teenaged laughter from leaking out. Raven opened her eyes and gave her an I'll-get-my-revenge,-you-just-watch glare. Kristana held up a glass of water and three pain relievers. "For the hangover that you're gonna get," she explained.

Raven scowled. "What han- ohhhh!" She snatched the water and pills and downed them quickly. Damn her for being right. She shivered, her still-damp clothes were met with the arctic wind that blew in from Kris's air conditioner.

Kristana squinted to see the time on her old-fashioned Felix the Cat wall clock. "It's 7:25," she murmured, trying to remember what significance that particular time had. She gasped. "I've got to get to school!" she shrieked, desperately searching through her incredibly messy room for her backpack.

Raven eyed a bright red bag of some sort. She gestured toward it. "Is that it?" Kristana exhaled in relief and silently thanked her friend for her help. Raven pushed herself up from the floor and dusted herself off, picking off several furry fragments of the shag carpet. "I think I'm going to go home," she announced quietly as Kristana was hurled into a lunacy fringe. Kristana nodded in acknowledgement and continued in her quest for her school supplies. Raven grabbed her bag and headed home.

Raven scouted the hauntingly empty Titans hallway for any awake life forms. Finding none, she released an exasperated sigh and journeyed to her room. Robin's door opened, freezing Raven in her tracks. Several visible bags came to rest under Robin's eyes. He seemed to be muttering to himself. Raven strained her ears to hear, "Maybe Slade got her..." She dared to come forth. Robin snapped out of his trance and focused his tired eyes on Raven's form before him. "RAVEN! Where were you?" he interrogated, involuntarily half-yelling.

Raven cringed at the high-pitched squealing that infiltrated her ears. "I...stayed over a friend's," she replied nonchalantly.

Robin furrowed his brow in confusion. "But I tried to track your coordinates and I kept getting an error message that said your device was out of order!"

Raven reached into her dampened jeans pocket and withdrew her T-Comm. She pushed a random button and was treated to a spark-laden light show. Oops... "I was in the rain last night-"

"You mean that storm?! What the fuck were you doing in the rain last night, Raven?" Robin's mouth shriveled into a stubborn grimace as he snatched away the device.

Raven narrowed her eyes. "What the hell has gotten into you?" she growled.

Robin dropped the T-Comm, causing a moderately sized fissure to form on the hard plastic shell. "What's wrong with me?!" he yelled. "What's wrong with you?! It's like ever since you enrolled in that ballet class, you've been a different girl. What the hell happened to you? It's like I don't even matter to you anymore!"

In Beast Boy's room, a Hot Hot Heat album donned an eerie black luminance and exploded, littering his room with jagged hard plastic shards.

Raven was livid. "First of all, you wanted me to continue, so any repercussions are on you...-" Her voice trailed off as what Robin had just said sunk in. She calmed down a bit, much to the benefit of Beast Boy's CD collection. "What- what do you mean you don't matter to me?"

Robin turned away so Raven wouldn't see him blush. His voice became lower, calmer. Vulnerable. "I-I-I didn't mean it like that," he stammered. And with a flourish of his bright yellow cape, he disappeared into his room.

Raven's mouth was left agape as her eyes traveled from the metallic exterior of Robin's door to the disrupted yellow device that lay broken on the crimson carpet. She picked it up and turned it over, inspecting every crack and protruding wire. She placed it in front of Robin's door and went to her room. Robin, however, was sitting on the other side, his chin resting in the palms of his hands. He ran a hand through his spiky midnight hair and stood up.

"Raven," he started as he opened his door. He looked around, disappointed to see no one standing there. He looked down. "Her T-Comm," he mumbled as he squatted to study its exterior. Suddenly, Cyborg's door opened, startling the young hero. Robin shot up quickly and presented the hybrid with the broken communications device. "Can you fix this?" he asked, his neck craning upward to meet Cyborg's eyes.

Cyborg gave it a once over. "How did it-"

"The cracks were my fault. And the water damage... That was also me," he lied.

Cyborg cocked an eyebrow and pointed to the serial code. "But this is Ra-"

"I said it was my fault," Robin interrupted.

Cyborg flipped the device over. "I'll see what I can do," he said, turning around to return to his room.

Robin sighed and lightly knocked on Starfire's door, his small frame leaning on its metal exterior. "Can I talk to you?" he asked, twiddling his ungloved thumbs. The flame-haired alien opened her door and Robin stepped inside.

You say you wanna stand by my side
Darling, your head's not right
You see alone we stand, together we fall apart
Yeah, I think I'll be alright
I'm working so I won't have to try so hard
Tables, they turn sometimes
Oh, someday...

Raven lie across her bed, her violet-coiffed head swinging over the edge. "Who am I?" she asked the lingering gloom. The darkness did not reply, which was a shame- Raven wish it had for it was a question she herself could not answer. "I'm going to get hurt," she declared. She sat upright and stared into the shadows. Why do some fear the dark? she pondered. After a moment, she came to the conclusion that it was because they simply dread the unknown. Raven sunk deeper into her bed, wishing she had the time to fear something as petty as "the unknown". She let her fingertips wander along the wooden surface of her headboard. She shared that peculiar quirk with someone else- she just couldn't remember who.

Robin's fingertips roamed the pale pink plastic surface of Starfire's nightstand. "I just don't understand sometimes," he mused.

Starfire was engulfed in an enormous stuffed animal- Robin guessed it was either a koala or a wallaby- chair. One of her long legs were drawn into her chest, the other was crossed beneath her. "Perhaps you have feelings for Friend Raven," she suggested, grinning.

Robin fell back onto Starfire's oversized pink floral bed. "This is difficult," he muttered.

Starfire seated herself beside the confused teenager. She ran her slender fingers through his jet black hair as she smiled. "Friend Robin, do you perceive it as difficult because you do not wish to have feelings for Friend Raven?"

Robin considered this for a moment. He shook his head. "It's just..." He sighed. "It's definitely not like when we were dating," he confided.

Starfire giggled. "I do believe that is because Friend Raven is more complex." She looked down at the Boy Wonder. "We had a most glorious time together," she grinned.

Robin glanced up at Starfire's toothy grin and couldn't suppress a chuckle. "You've been a great help, Star. Thanks," he said as he rose from the bed.

"You are most welcome, Friend Robin!" Starfire called after him as he left.

Robin positioned himself beside Raven's door, drinking in the hauntingly intoxicating melodies that came from within.

So let go, jump in
Oh well, whatcha waiting for?
It's alright
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown
So let go, just get in
Oh, it's so amazing here
It's alright
'Cause there's beauty in the breakdown...

The words motivated him, rousing him to tell the dark beauty just how he felt. "Raven!" he announced as he knocked on her door.

He waited for a reply.

When none came, he knocked again, this time screaming, "I'm sorry!"

Silence.

Determined to talk to the empath that lay on the other side, he opened her door. Blinded by the darkness, he flicked the light switch. The room was empty, the stereo playing for an audience of spirits and posters. Robin sighed and plopped down on Raven's bed. He sat on the edge of the spacious bed, his forehead resting in his hands, the siren song pervading his ears.

Hang your head, your head high
Hang your head, your head- mmm hey yeah yay
Hang your head, your head high
Hang your head, your head- mmm hey yeah yay...

"Today we will further practice for the upcoming recital. I want the Chocolate Dancers and the Candy Canes over here..."

Raven turned to Kristana with questioning eyes. "What recital?"

Kristana arched her back and sat up. "We're performing 'The Nutcracker'," she replied, rubbing her head.

Raven nodded and sunk further down the wall.

"...Clara, come forth," Ms. Von Catania demanded.

Raven watched as Kristana rose and dragged herself toward the instructor. She moaned, holding her stomach. Ms. Von Catania ignored this and continued to bark instructions.

Then, just as Ms. Von Catania was to tell Kristana where to go, Kristana fell backward, unconscious. The oft-grimacing instructor screamed and tried to revive the fallen dancer. Raven rushed over to where the crowd gathered and gasped. She checked her pulse- she was still breathing. Raven placed her hands over the paper thin skin that housed her ribcage. Her palms glowed a pale blue in an attempt to revive her friend.

Nothing.

Raven clenched her teeth and tried again.

Nothing.

Frustrated, Raven shook Kristana's limp head in a last ditch effort.

Nothing.

A salty tear splashed on Kristana's pale cheek and snaked down to her elongated neck. Raven wiped the remainder from her eyes. She watched, helpless, as the paramedics loaded her friend onto a black stretcher and lugged her outside to the waiting ambulance. Raven sighed, grabbed her belongings, and flew home.

The next chapter will be up soon. Please review this and other chapters. I'd greatly appreciate it.

-Ariel