Chapter 2: A Twitch in the Right Direction

It had been nearly a month since Raven had become confined to a wheelchair and the Titans had fallen into a state of normalcy once again.

On this night Starfire, Beastboy, and Cyborg had gone to the carnival while Robin elected to stay home and rest because it had been a long week, and Raven didn't want to go – for obvious reasons.

The two heroes had not crossed each other's paths in the first few hours of their evening alone, so Robin was momentarily startled when he walked into the living room to find Raven, in her chair, staring out the window at the big Ferris wheel in the distance.

Not wanting to disturb her, he quietly rummaged through the cupboards looking for something to eat. He saw Cyborg's waffle iron on top of the cabinets, far out of his reach. That didn't stop him from reaching upwards and grunting as he tried to extend his slightly less than average length body to reach the machine. The iron suddenly moved from its place up high and floated down to the countertop, surrounded by an unmistakably black aura.

Robin turned toward Raven to thank her but she was still staring out the window. He started looking for ingredients but gave up when he realized he didn't have much of an appetite anymore.

Walking over to the window by Raven, he said, "Nice night huh?"

She didn't respond, her gaze unchanging at the lights in the distance.

Robin looked at her; she looked out of place on Cyborg's high tech wheelchair, grounded, possibly forever.

"So… your powers seem to be improving," he commented.

"They have." She agreed, but continued her stare. Robin was surprised he got her to talk.

"Have you been practicing?" He continued.

Raven sighed, "They are all so happy," she said sadly, ignoring Robin's question, "Their joy feels good, it's the only thing that feels good, but I shouldn't be taking it from them. They are the ones who deserve it." She swerved around in her chair and began to roll away.

"Raven-" Robin grabbed her limp arm and she stopped and turned towards him, her eyes were slightly bloodshot, and her hair was a mess, "You deserve it too. You of all people-" he began to fix her disheveled hair, "-deserve some happiness. Especially since-"

"What? Since the incident?" she backed away from him, glaring accusingly, "What about losing nearly everything makes me any more deserving of happiness than I was before? Nothing." She turned to leave again, but Robin stood in front of her.

"Stop it, Raven."

"Get out of my way. If I had control of my arms…" She grumbled.

Robin would not move. He grabbed Raven out of the chair and carried her to the couch, laying her down on it and sitting beside her.

"There," he said, "Now you can't run."

Tears started to roll down Raven's face, "Why?" She started, "Why do you have to make this worse for me than it already is? Can't you see that I want to be alone?"

"Believe me," he said, "I know the feeling. I know the feeling that only you can comfort yourself, the feeling that you don't want others to feel your burden. I know it, but it isn't healthy. You have to talk to me, and I would like to talk to you."

"No." she said, blinking away thee tears, "Just stop being sorry for me. I don't need you to be."

"Raven," he wrapped an arm around her and tilted her head so she could see him, "That's not what this is. It isn't pity, I care about you, I want you to be happy, can't you feel it?"

"I don't want to! If I seek out your intentions I'm afraid I'll be disappointed."

He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest, "Feel me now," he said.

Raven closed her eyes tightly, "I- I can't" she said, on the verge of letting go again.

"Then I guess I'll have to prove it in the only way I can think of," he said.

Ravens looked at him suspiciously, "And how do you mpphh…" He cut her off with his lips.

It was the only kiss she'd ever had, and already it was the most awkward. Raven's body was still, but in her head she could feel her hands gripping his neck, as if they were really there. She could almost feel her legs wrapping themselves around his waist, but when their lips parted and she opened her eyes, her limbs were exactly as they were before, hanging loosely off her body. Her short and labored breaths were now even more so and Robin's face was still only a few inches from hers.

The expression on his face was surprisingly hard, "I hope you didn't need powers to feel that from me. I swear, I am going to find whoever did this to you and make them pay."

"Don't." She protested.

"I have to. This is something I need to do." He whispered to her.

"No, I mean don't lose yourself in this. Don't throw away your time hunting down whoever did this."

"I can't let them get away with this!"

"I'm not asking you to. I just don't want to lose you, while I'm here, helplessly trying to find myself."

Robin held her face in his hand, "I promise you won't lose me while I try to find this guy."

Raven squinted at his mask, "And after you catches them?"

Robin was silent.

"BOOYAH! Wasn't that the greatest game of ring toss you've ever seen?!"

Robin quickly sat up and propped Raven up beside him. He grabbed a magazine off the coffee table and pretended to read for a second before tossing it down and turning to the three who had just walked in.

"I take it you had a good time?" He said casually.

"Oh yeah!" Beastboy shouted, "We rode all the rides – twice! And then we played so many games that we ran out of arm space to carry our prizes!"

Cyborg noticed Raven fall over on the couch. Starfire was quick to her friend's rescue and carried her back to her chair.

"What have you two been up to?" Cyborg asked suspiciously.

Robin frowned and glanced at Raven, "Uh-"

"Robin was reading me the news. Now I'm going to my room." She rolled off to the elevator.

"I shall join you!" Starfire proclaimed, "You will be needing help to change into your 'gown of the night'"

"Great," Raven mumbled, as the two disappeared behind the sliding doors.

Robin stretched and cleared his throat, "Well, I guess I'll just be going to bed now. It's getting late."

Beastboy and Cyborg's faces deadpanned.

"Dude," Beastboy said.

"It's only eleven. We all know you aren't going to sleep."

"Actually," Robin said as he stood and headed for the door, "I'm in need of a good rest."