Chapter One

Disclaimer: I own nothing of great value.


Raven ran for the bathroom, it was the third morning in a row that she had woken up like this, at exactly five am. Luckily there wasn't a high demand for the bathroom this time of day, otherwise Cyborg would probably have quarantined her already. Although she was starting to wonder if maybe he should, she could convince herself that one morning was eating bad tofu, she was still mad at Beast Boy for talking her into that one since tofu had to be the worst thing she'd ever tasted on the return trip, but three was really pushing it. The thing was that she always felt fine again before nine am, and surely is she were really sick she'd feel sick for more than a couple hours.

"Are you okay Raven?" Robin asked, slowly pushing the door that she had accidently left slightly ajar half open.

Raven sighed, she'd known it was too good to be true that no-one had noticed. She turned and sat on the floor with her back against the toilet, head resting against the reservoir. "Fine, I just ate something that didn't agree with me that's all."

Robin leaned against the door frame and raised a brow, "Three days running?"

Raven kept her face carefully blank, as did Robin as they tried to stare each other down. "Are you pregnant?"

Raven chocked, then promptly had to spin back around to the toilet. "What the hell would make you ask that?!" Raven asked as soon as she could, her head still over the bowl.

"It's the only thing I can think of that makes you sick for a couple hours each morning." Robin said uncomfortably as he wet down a wash cloth and handed it to her.

"That a stupid assumption. There are plenty of things that can make you sick for just a few hours." Raven said sitting back again and wiping her face with the cool cloth.

"Every day?"

"It's only been three. Besides, I'm essentially a mule, it's very unlikely that I could get pregnant."

"I'd say that it's equally unlikely that you ate bad tofu three nights running."

Raven glanced up and started to respond, but Robin was already closing the door behind him. She sat there for a moment before reaching up, flushing the toilet, and pulling herself to her feet. While the water for her shower heated up she held the thermometer in her mouth, waiting for it to tell her what she already knew: that she didn't have a fever.

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Beast Boy landed in the small alleyway, he didn't really have time for this. But he knew his old team, and knew that they wouldn't have come to the city if there wasn't something that he needed to worry about. Besides, Raven would understand. "Hey, what's up?"

Elastigirl looked over at him, "What are you doing out here alone?" she asked sharply. She had worried about him ever since their last visit where he'd come in complaining that Raven was trying to kill him, and that Cyborg was her accomplice. He'd said he was joking but he'd acted very strangely during that whole visit.

Beast Boy sighed, "Patrol." he said shortly. "Look, you aren't still thinking about that thing a few months ago are you? Cause like I said, I was joking. Raven may threaten to kill me at times, but she'd never really attempt it. She's just a really bad driver." And why Cyborg continued to let her borrow the T-car was a mystery Beast Boy had yet to solve.

"You really trust her?" Elastigirl asked, studying his face. Even she knew there was something about Raven that none of the titans were willing to discuss with them, but pushing Beast Boy on the subject did no good.

"I wouldn't still be here if I didn't, I wouldn't put the team in danger like that." he told her sincerely.

Elastigirl nodded, "Madam Rouge has escaped, it looked like she could have been headed this way." she told him, getting to the reason they were there.

Beast Boy glanced at the others, Negative Man and Robot Man nodded, confirming Elastigirl's warning. "Thanks for the heads up. Not that I'm complaining or anything, cause hey, no lecture, but... Where's Mento?"

"He's trying to figure out how she could have escaped that deep freeze without anyone noticing that she was gone." Robot Man told him.

"That is weird." Beast boy muttered. "Let me know what he finds out okay?"

"She didn't." Mento said from the alley's opening. "She's still there."

"Then who did we see?" Robot Man asked, "Ah hell, a distraction. But from what?"

"I don't know. Beast Boy, where are your teammates?" Mento asked the young former patrolman.

"Cy, Star, and Robin planned on staying in the tower tonight. Cyborg is updating the systems. Raven... She's on patrol with me tonight, probably near the park across town by now. Why?"

"Our first move would be to warn you that Madam Rogue was loose, and we'd do it in private..." Elastigirl muttered.

"Separating you from your team... Defenseless." Negative Man added.

"Not defenseless unless you guys have gotten really old in the past couple years. I'm not likely the target." Beast Boy pointed out.

"So, who is most defenseless if you're distracted?"

Beast Boy laughed, "I wouldn't call any of my teammates 'defenseless', with or without me there." he said, but one look from Mento quieted his amusement. "Raven's routine is the only one that might be disrupted by me talking to you guys tonight, the rest of them are busy with the system upgrades at the tower and aren't likely to go anywhere unless it's an emergency that Raven and I really can't handle on our own. But Raven is hardly defenseless, and not a fool. She can take care of herself."

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Raven frowned thoughtfully as she scanned the streets below her for anything that might require her attention, but only half her mind was on her patrol. The other half was on her conversation with Robin the other morning. Could she be pregnant? The possibility hadn't even entered her mind, nor had it entered Beast Boy's as they had both assumed that one: she couldn't conceive with anyone, and that two: the virus and treatment that had made him able to change form had killed off all his 'little soldiers'. But what if they were wrong? Could she deal with bringing another one of Trigon's children into the world? And more importantly; could she live with herself if she didn't give whatever life might have already been created the chance to live it? Abortion was banned on Azarath, a fact she owed her very life to, how could she betray that law now? She couldn't. If she was pregnant then the baby would be born.

But how would the father react? She knew that Beast Boy trusted Raven, but did Garfield share that same trust with Rachel? Or would he think that she had gone to someone else? Damnit! She'd never intended to be a mother at all, but certainly not a teenaged one! Okay, so she wasn't technically a teenager anymore, but she still had no paying job, no family besides the titans, and a house that was frequently attacked by super-villains. She stopped over the edge of the park as a realization hit her; if she was pregnant, and she kept the baby, then she'd have to quit the titans. She couldn't be a super-hero and a mother. She couldn't put her child at risk like that.

She started moving forward again, automatically scanning the ground even though her mind was no longer even partially on the job now, another thing slowly dawned on her; she was planning for something she had practically called impossible just a couple days before. Before she could consider that too closely a bright light blinded her, she threw up an arm to shield her eyes as best she could as she stopped moving. A moment later she recovered from the shock enough to consider putting a dark shield between herself and the source of the light, but before she could try it she felt a sharp sting on her hip and recognized the trap. She was reaching for her communicator even as she fell.

Raven tried to stay awake as she lay on the cold concrete at the edge of the park, she didn't think she'd broken anything in the fall, but she was so groggy she was having trouble being certain. She fumbled her communicator out, trying to hurry because she could hear footsteps getting closer. She finally freed it from it's pocket and pressed the panic button without withdrawing it from her cloak as she felt rough hands grab her and start carrying her somewhere. Her communicator fell from her grasp as she lost consciousness.


Author s Note: I think I m going to continue, just cause the third one should be a blast to write. But I ll probably only work on them when I have writers block unless I start getting some serious reviews.