Birdcage

Chapter 19

On his way down the hall, Robin stopped outside Raven's room and knocked lightly on her door to see if she was still awake. There was no answer. He really hoped she wasn't upset. After cleaning up and changing into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt he dropped onto his bed. His entire body had ached for this comfort but for whatever reason his mind still raced. He wasn't sure how long he'd been gone but it definitely felt like several days. Maybe there was some weird time lapse he didn't know about. Regardless of that, reuniting with his warm blankets and comfy pillow should have left him snoring in minutes.

But sleep didn't come so easily. He found himself revisiting the argument from earlier over and over again while staring at his ceiling for no particular reason. He turned onto his side and then shifted more under the covers. Nothing seemed to work. Concluding he wasn't going to get any sleep, he untangled himself from the sheet before getting up and leaving his room.

The roof was always the best place to go if you needed to clear your head. Of course he wasn't expecting to find Raven up there as well. Not wanting to sneak up on her he cleared his throat as he walked over and took a seat next to her.

"Guess we both had the same idea," he said lightly.

"Busy night, couldn't sleep," she said back staring out at the moon over the water.

"If you want me to leave…,"

"No, you're fine," she stretched out some before pulling her knees to her chest, "was not expecting everyone to show up all of the sudden like that."

"Yeah, it's been so long since the whole team was together. I'm not really sure what our next move is from here," he admitted.

"I don't think you have to make that decision all by yourself."

"Yeah, that's true," he agreed, shifting closer to get more comfortable. She could tell he was deep in thought. She could only assume it had to do with Starfire. She'd never dealt with something like this before, it had certainly been in plenty of books she'd read. While she was Starfire's friend she also knew that her being here was making things difficult for him.

"It's a lot to process," she said quietly and he knew she wasn't talking about the team anymore. He sighed deeply.

"I didn't even bother to find out why she came back, she probably had nowhere else to go. I know I could have handled things better," he said. Before he could get too caught up in his self imposed guilt Raven leaned her head against his shoulder.

"You know, you beat yourself up too much," she said barely above a whisper. He leaned his head on top of hers letting his breath out slowly.

"Glad someone else noticed," he replied in a hushed tone as well. Raven closed her eyes enjoying the quiet. Several minutes went by before she heard a light snore from Robin and she carefully shifted, scooting over to bring his head down on her knee. She couldn't help but watch him sleep. He was always pushing himself to the limits, never making excuses along the way. She admired his drive but also knew the toll it took. When it was just the two of the them he didn't seem to take all the burdens on by himself. Her fingers reached down to brush strains of his black hair away from his face causing him to settle more against her. She wanted him to be happy and feel like he could actually relax for a change even if that wasn't always easy for him.

After so long, the sky started to lighten and the sun would soon peak over the horizon. She decided to move him back to his room before going to the kitchen for breakfast.

As she entered the kitchen she noticed Cyborg and Starfire making food and talking quietly. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not considering how early it was.

"I have missed such simple tasks while I was away," Raven heard Starfire say as she set several plates on the counter.

"Nothing like some home cooking," Cyborg answered. Raven moved quietly for the kettle on the stove. She could feel the Tamaranean watching her out of the corner of her eye. Once she had the kettle full of water and back on the stove she turned to face her directly.

So, you're just going to keep staring me down while avoiding me?" Star was taken aback some. Obviously she had gotten used to acting however she wanted back home and not being questioned about it.

"I am just trying to figure out what happened while I was away," she narrowed her gaze and crossed her arms.

"I have a feeling that they don't handle break ups very well on Tamaran, do they?" Cyborg inserted himself between the two of them in a panic.

"Ladies, no need to start a fight now. Not gonna solve anything with violence," he told them.

"Don't we solve most of our problems with violence," Raven brought up. Cyborg raised an eyebrow to her statement but didn't comment, knowing she had a point.

"Aaanyway, breakfast is almost finished, do you know if Robin is coming down soon," he tried to change the subject.

"And why would she know when he is coming down," Starfire asked. Cyborg's eye started to twitch. All he was trying to do was keep the peace but they were making it really difficult.

"Because I was just with him, that's why," Raven said matter of factly as she grabbed a mug from the cabinet above her head. It was hard to tell if the whistling was coming from the kettle or if it was Starfire's temper rising. "Neither one of us could sleep so we were up on the roof talking. He fell asleep and is back in his room. Shouldn't jump to ridiculous conclusions." Starfire continued to glare in her direction as she finished making her tea. "Out of curiosity, why did you come back?" Starfire clenched her fists by her sides at the question.

"I came back because this is my home."

"But you left to go save your home, right? Things didn't go well while you were there and Robin left."

"What is this point you are trying to make?"

"Just that if this is still your home and you didn't come back because of him, then why didn't you leave Tamaran with him before?"

"I...I could not, we were fighting a war. There was no way I could leave with him," she dropped her gaze towards the floor. "It is not fair that you think I just came here to hurt him. I did not feel right with how things ended between us."

"But he's happy with how things are now, maybe you should just leave it alone then," Raven suggested. The room became oddly silent. Starfire turned away from the conversation, unsure of what else to say. Cyborg slid a platter of bacon in front of her.

"Comfort bacon," he squeaked in a hesitant tone. The alien grabbed a handful, crunching it in between her fingers. Raven finished pouring water over her teabag and let out a deep sigh.

"I'm not trying to upset you but it took a lot for him to travel back to Earth all by himself, overanalyzing everything between the two of you for hours," she explained.

"Did he tell you all that," Cyborg asked as Starfire ate the meat she was clutching onto.

"He didn't have to and I didn't have to pry either. That kind of trip would be hard on anyone, but we all know how he is about these things." It got quiet again except for the muffled sounds of bacon meeting its end. Starfire finally swallowed her bite.

"I did not think about that," she stated in a hushed tone.

"If you still care about him you should think about what's best for him," Raven suggested before moving over to the couch to enjoy her tea. Once again after several quiet minutes, Starfire left the room. Raven could feel Cyborg's gaze on her once the alien was gone. She took another sip of tea before turning towards him. "Questions? Comments," she asked him sarcastically.

"I know you're not gonna stir this pot more than it already is," he told her.

"Trust me, I already know about all the emotions going on since yesterday, it's enough to give me a headache. If she came here assuming he's just going to take her back after everything they went through, someone needed to set her right."

"Sounds like pot stirring to me. You're gonna break up the team if this keeps going on." Raven narrowed her gaze not so much at him but at the situation.

"She kind of already did that when she left the first time. I'm not worried about keeping the team together at the expense of our leader's mental health." Cyborg's mouth pulled to the side.

"I'm sure none of it has anything to do with your feelings about him?" She actually seemed to be blushing at his statement before dropping her gaze to the mug in her hand.

"I think we can agree that he doesn't need the distraction and based on how he was last night I'd say they both are going to have to compromise or someone has to leave." Cyborg let out a heavy sigh,

"When did things have to be so complicated?" Raven really didn't have an answer for him. She hadn't asked for any of this to happen but she certainly wasn't going to back down just because Starfire changed her mind about her relationship with Robin.