A/N: EDIT: 6/30/12: Edited the fight scene. Not much, result is the same. Also, I apologize about how long the update is taking. Life, you know.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or locations of the Teen Titans or Batman.

Fully Alive

Chapter Four: The First Step to Recovery is Admitting You Have a Problem

Robin perched solidly on a heavy wood rafter, hunched to keep his head from hitting the abandoned building's cieling, completely hidden in the shadows despite the brightness of his uniform, watching his prey. His mentor perched two feet to his left, equally serious, equally focused, equally hidden.

Nine feet below the beam that held them, recent Arkham Asylum escapee Dr. Pamela Isely, popularly known as the villian Poison Ivy, bent over a table of plants and chemicals, herself highly focused on her work with a precision that belied her insanity plea.

They had been observing her movements for over half an hour, and although he would never disobey a direct order, Robin itched to take action. True to his training, though, he did not complain, or even fidget in his position.

Suddenly, as Ivy stepped back from the table to check on a plant on the other side of the room, Batman raised his fist, catching Robin's attention. Batman counted off three fingers, knowing that although Robin did not turn or in any way acknowledge the signal, he noticed and would follow the silent order. Sure enough, when his black-gloved hand pointed forward, both the Batman and his sidekick jumped down on either side of the red head.

"Hello, Ivy. I see you've taken another break from life at Arkham," Batman greeted the villainess.

Shocked but not slow, Ivy aimed her right forearm, equipped with a small yet lethal crossbow at Batman before her, saying, "Yes, I found Arkham very restricting. I needed some fresh air to grow." Meanwhile she searched her person for a vial of whatever poison she could find.

The search took her too long, and while both her hands were occupied and her aim was on the Batman, Robin moved forward to strike, saying, "Ivy, weeds like you can grow anywhere."

As he closed in on Ivy he ducked, narrowly avoiding a green boot to the head as she spun to kick him. She heard, "Not your best line, Robin," from behind and realized that defending herself from Robin a mistake that left her back exposed to the greater threat.

Before she could open the vial she had finally found, Batman grabbed the wrist that held it and twisted, letting it fall harmlessly to the ground. In half a second he had also grabbed the other wrist, the one with the crossbow, and subdued her completely. As he restrained the struggling villian by the wrists, he gruffly ordered Robin, "Check out what she's been doing. Take samples."

Robin immediately did as he was told, taking samples of all of the plants and chemicals on Ivy's laboratory table. He had to admit, Dr. Isely was an incredibly intelligent woman. If Poison Ivy chose to waste talent on obsessive fanaticism and whatever other loose screws always put her back in Arkham instead of Blackgate Prison, well, that was her loss, and more work for him and Batman. Thinking of the weeklong investigation that had lead them to Ivy's hideout, Robin shook his head, wondering what the police would do with these 'super villians' if 'super heroes' weren't around. With a sigh, he took one last leaf off of a scary looking vine and put it in a vial, backing away from the table to turn to his mentor.

And felt glass crush under his foot.

It wasn't his fault really. He was following orders and one of Ivy's roots had peeked up from the dirt floor and gently nudged the dropped vial into his foot path when his back was turned. He hadn't done anything wrong to cause the situation.

But that did not change the fact that because he had stepped on the forgotten vial of poison, some unknown gas was starting to surround him.

Of course, training with the Bat and working in Gotham City lent more than a little presence of mind to the Teen Wonder, who had a gas mask on in three seconds flat. One second too slow, and one breath of poison gas entered his lungs.

Not immediately feeling the effects, he ignored the threat for the time being and turned to his partner. In a moment of worry when the gas had started to surround the boy, Batman had called out, "Robin," in worry. The moment of hesitation allowed his grip to loosen minimally, but Ivy used that for all it was worth. She yanked and pulled and kicked and scratched and bit and clawed her way out of Batman's grip, screaming that "You won't get me tonight," and once her right hand was free she shot him in the arm with her crossbow. It only grazed his bicep and he did not react in pain, though it must have hurt.

Ivy started fleeing the Dark Knight's vicinity, fearful of what could happen if he got his hands around her again. Focused on escaping with one eye on the pursuing vigilante, she didn't see a flash of red and green football tackle her from the side until it hit her. RObin pinned her to the ground, trying to push down her shoulders as she resisted. Suddenly, his ankle was in a vice and he was pulled away from the red-head. A quick study showed him that a vine had done the damage, but he violently hacked it off of him with the razor-sharp blade of a batarang and it retreated like a wounded puppy.

He spun his attention back to the fight to find Batman offering him a hand up. Confused, he took it. On his feet, he looked up into his mentor's eyes in question, to which the Batman replied, "Her vines baracaded me as she made her escape. But don't worry. We'll find her again. Villains are always sloppier with their second lair; she doesn't have as much time to find it and set up, and she'll need to set up her supplies from scratch, since we'll be disposing of this," he finished reassuringly, nodding to Ivy's work.

Robin knew what Batman was doing; he was reassuring him after he had botched a mission, and suddenly Robin felt ten years old again, on one of his first campaigns against a real rogue, and failing time and again. At sixteen, he didn't want to feel like a kid holding back the Big Bad Bat.

"Yeah, right," he responded, and continued to beat himself up inside.

Even through the domino mask, a father knows when his son is brooding, so Bruce put a gloved hand on Dick's shoulder and intoned, "Every mission has unexpected turns. You know that. You also now that the important thing for us to do is to deal with it and adapt. You did that."

Robin looked up at Batman with unchanged eyes, so he continued, "We got Ivy's research, we scared her out of her base, and she knows we're on her tail. I never expect that we'll capture a villain the first time, do you?" Robin shook his head honestly, starting to feel better with his mentor's reality check. "Good, you're being realistic. So even if we didn't get Ivy back to Arkham tonight, this portion of our mission went as smoothly as expected. So let's head back to the cave; I might need a few stitches, and I want to make sure that gas you inhaled isn't slowly killing you." Robin nodded again, then paused in thought.

"Yeah, about that gas," Robin started, putting a hand to his chest and coughing slightly, "I feel a bit weird."

Batman looked alarmed, moving quickly to check his partner's temperature. Robin looked up at him with eyes slightly unfocused. "Hey, Batman," Robin whispered a little too close to Batman's ear than the vigilane would have preferred, "Has anyone ever told you how good looking you are?"

Batman shoved Robin back immediately away from him, looking him in the face for a long moment, while Robin stared right back with a suggestive smirk on his face. Until, of course, Robin's acting broke off and the boy began laughing hysterically, pointing at Batman's shocked and uncomfortable face. The prank seemed so funny to him, but obviously not to Batman, whose angry and serious visage redoubled Robin's laughter just as he seemed to be getting it under control.

Finally managing to stand up straight, laughter calmed to sporadic chuckles, Robin wiped a tear from his eye and caught up with the caped crusader, who had started walking angrily back to the Batmobile ahead of him.

"I'm sorry," he claimed unbelievably, considering the amusement still in his tone, "But your face was just priceless. You seriously thought I was going to jump you or something."

Batman tensely settled into the driver's seat of the Batmobile as Robin sat on the passenger's side. The drive was silent most of the way. As the car started moving towards the secret entrance to the Batcave, and home, Robin asked, "Hey, how do you think Raven would react if I did that to her?"

"Don't." The firm command was the most Robin had gotten out of Batman the whole drive, so he asked, "Why not?"

"Because that girl's emotions cause buildings to collapse, and you should not start toying with them. Now or ever. It's sad to say, but she will probably never be able to have a romantic relationship, and although your intentions may be only to make her laugh, or to make yourself laugh, she can't have any past experience with boys, and you should not confuse her," the Dark Knight lectured in the same tone he used to discuss villains- serious and uncompromising and unquestionable.

Robin started, "I hadn't even thought about-"

"I know," Batman interrupted. "You shouldn't dwell on it. Just don't," here Batman sighed in worry, "Just don't do anything stupid like become romantically involved with a girl who can destroy buildings when she's upset. You'd never survive an argument."

Robin felt like the last comment was meant to be funny, in a tongue-in-cheek way, but he couldn't help but feel more of the severity of the statement for it's intended humor. He had never intended to be anything more than friends, Hell, even family with Raven. But Batman's comment reminded him that they were two people of opposing genders, of the same age group, sharing a good deal of common ground, trusting in each other when neither were used to trusting many others. From what he had seen in his short life, in real experience, books, and movies, such circumstances often led to romantic entanglements, and Robin knew that his guardian was right. They couldn't afford that. It couldn't happen.

Not that the revelation particularly upset him. But he did feel odd thinking that a range of emotions in a particular area were off limits. He had never felt a need to control his emotions, prevent them from manifesting, or stop them from showing clearly. He wondered if this unnatural restraint was what Raven had to force herself to hold every day, and suddenly he sympathised much more with how much of a struggle her powers were. And suddenly, he wanted to talk to her and tell her that, and tell her that they would find her a teacher, no matter what it took.

As the ride ended in silence, Robin felt Batman look at him in concern. He knew Batman hadn't wanted him to take the comments so seriously, and most certainly did not intend to start a full-on brood-session. So Robin grinned as him and hopped out of the Batmobile with a double backflip, a silent sign to his mentor that nothing was wrong and he was just as cheerful as usual.

Robin cleaned the crossbow wound on Batman's arm, decided it was shallow enough to not need stitches, and wrapped the wound tightly yet confortably enough for movement (read: fighting). In turn, Batman gave Robin a quick scan for toxins, but found that Robin had long since been inoculated against the common poison that Ivy had used, and therefore had suffered and would suffer no ill effects. Once so assured of their health, the Duo set to work testing the samples from Ivy's lab.

This was the part that bored Robin. He loved detective work, but no love for results could make a computer's 'scanning' screen more interesting. It was like watching paint dry. Enter a plant leaf, wait approximately seven minutes to get the entire genetic makeup, all areas of natural growth, all known uses, all legal and illegal sellers of the plant if it so happened to be a tradable material, any recent news concerning the plant or the areas in which it grew or the ways in which it could be used, and absolutely anything else the computer could think of to tell them and print out on a long strip of fax paper. The computer may have been Wayne Enterprises' best and fastest, but with so many samples to test, it added up to a lot of boring waiting with nothing to do except wonder what Poison Ivy was up to this time.

For these reasons of extreme boredom and impatience, Robin was, in a vague way, a bit grateful to hear Raven screaming bloody murder from three floors up.

Raven woke up screaming. The high-pitched sound of pure terror echoing down the hallway of the manor could make blood run cold. Her throat finally became raw, and the scream rasped to a stop, and she started panting, falling back on her sweaty sheets to catch her breath for a moment.

After a brief repose, she swung her legs over the edge of the guest bed she occupied and rested her bare feet on the cool hard wood of the bedroom floor. She focused on the chilling sensation, as well as the feel of the soft cotton sheets in her clenched fists. With deep breaths through her nose she managed to slow her pulse to a normal speed.

Of course it had been too much to hope for a week without nightmares. There had been a few dizzying, yet comfortable days free of the horrid visions after she decided to stay in Wayne Manor, but her father would never leave her alone for a whole week together. The nightmares were often fuzzy as she tried to banish the images, tried to convince herself that they were figments of her imagination dredged up by fear, but the booming voice he used to plague her sounded so real, so resonating, it seemed to shake her soul. The fear was paralyzing; she was immobile in her bed while her mind was tormented.

He told her what little she knew about her powers. Still, she tried not to believe what he said; she could not trust his word. He seemed to want her to be comfortable, familiar with her powers. Raven could not ever imagine that her 'gift,' as he called it, could feel like a part of her. They felt foreign, like a transplanted arm.

Drenched in a cold sweat, she shivered. Nearby sat a knee-length robe, so she pulled it on over her tank-top and pajama pants, all of which Alfred had inconspicuously placed in her closet a few days ago, along with several other sets of clothing.

She hoped Alfred hadn't heard her scream. It could have given the grandfatherly man a heart attack.

However, she could sense that he was asleep. The constant awareness of others' emotions could not be shut off. Try as she might, Raven could never figure out how to supress that sixth sense. As long as she was not on an emotional rampage, or completely exhausted, she could sense the emotions of everyone around her. When she tried not to be disgusted with her entire existence, she used the sense to her advantage. Now she could feel the peace of Alfred's sleeping subconscious, vague against the worry and urgency of Robin, whom she could feel approaching, and the muddled worry, frustration, and determination of the Dark Knight, several floors below.

Raven ran a few fingers through her sweaty hair so it wasn't so matted down and followed Dick's progress. She sighed. He was going to wonder what had happened. What could she tell him to reassure him without leading to more questions? Nothing, she thought. The boy wouldn't stop without answers.

Still unsure of how to proceed, she heard the rap on her door. "Raven," he called through the door with an urgent voice, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she called.

"Can I come in?"

Refusing would only raise his suspicion. "Sure."

The door opened swiftly and his unmasked eyes turned immediately to her sitting on the bed. He took in her sweaty brow, her tangled sheets, and the marks on the sheets where she had clenched her fists. "What happened?" he asked, stepping forward slowly.

"Nothing. I just had a nightmare." Maybe she could get away with just half-truths.

"Must have been some dream," he subtly pressed for more information. He sat next to her on the bed.

She shrugged. It was none of his business.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She gave him a withering look. He held up his hands inoffensively. For a minute they sat in silence, until he broached the subject again, in a more personal way. "You know, after my parents died, I had nightmares for a long time. And, with Bruce as my guardian? Well, I didn't think he would want me crawling into his bed at two AM." Dick's eyes softened in rememberance, and watching him, Raven didn't mind as much that he was pushing her to reveal her secrets.

"Anyway," he continued, "I had nightmares for a good couple months, even after I had started training as Robin- I always saw my parents falling from the trapeze, just remembering the day they died. That was horrible enough for a kid who was still reeling from his parents' murder. I always woke up a second before they hit the ground, and I woke up reaching out to catch them," his voice way trembling, Raven noticed. "Then one night, I didn't wake up, and I watched them hit the ground, and I heard the- the impact, and when I went down to their bodies, my mother's bloody hand grabbed me, and she asked, 'Did you forget to check the wires again?' and then my dad asked, 'Why didn't you catch us?'"

Dick took a deep breath to calm himself, and Raven surprised him by placing a calm hand on his. He managed to smile warmly at her, and was able to continue his story. "I woke up screaming and crying, and Bruce came in. He held me," Raven raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, I know, who would've thought he had it in him? I told him about the nightmares, and he told me about the nightmares he still has about his parents. He told me that I should have come to him if I was having nightmares. After that, they slowed down, but whenever I had one, I went and talked to Bruce about it. It helped a lot."

He flipped his hand over to hold hers warmly. "You can talk to me, you know. What could go wrong with telling me? Why are you so afraid to trust us?"

Raven's expression changed from calm to affronted in no time flat. "I am not afraid. I don't do fear."

"So why not talk to me?"

She looked at him expressionlessly. "I've learned that if people are willing to be kind, or even civil to me, it is best not to tell them the truth. It scares them."

"I'm a big boy. I'm pretty hard to scare, you know."

"You think so, do you?" she asked condescendingly.

"Hey, you're looking at a guy who has stood in front of the Joker and punched him in the eye. I'd say that's pretty damn scary, so try me. What was your nightmare about?" he challenged.

Raven looked at the costumed boy disbelievingly. He was so obviously trying to goad her, to trick her into telling him by comparing her greatest fear to a homicidal clown. She had to admit, though, her pride rose to the challenge, and he succeeded.

"My nightmare, if you must know," she answered him in a clipped tone, "was about my father." She said the word as if were a nasty bit of something on the bottom of her shoe.

Blue eyes narrowed in confusion. "Your parents are dead, aren't they?"

Raven sighed and admitted, "No, not exactly."

Dick nodded, prompting her to continue. She did so, mostly out of guilt for lying to him. "When I told you I have no parents, maybe it would have been better to say that I have no parents that I should be associating with. My mother is alive. My father is... a long story."

"I have time," Dick offered.

"I don't think so. By the way Batman is brooding downstairs, I'd say he's waiting for you," Raven countered.

Impatiently, Dick whipped his communicator out of his belt, pressed a button and said into it, "Batman, I think you should start without me. This may take a while."

"'This' being?" Batman's voice responded clearly through the device.

"Raven has a 'long story' to tell me about her parents."

Raven knew that the boy beside her somehow had communicated something to his guardian with just the tone of his voice, but didn't know what as she sensed Batman below choose between finding more about her or Poison Ivy. After a moment, his voice confirmed his decision.

"Fine. Is she alright?"

"Yeah, she's alright, don't worry Bruce. I'll be down later. Robin out."

He turned back to Raven as he stowed the communicator back in his belt. "Now will you tell me?"

Raven thought for a moment. Did she really want to tell this boy what she had never told anyone except her mother? While she decided, he waited patiently, looking at her with a steadfast gaze. God, why did he have to look like the most trustworthy boy in the world?

"Wait," Dick suddenly said, "How did you know Bruce was brooding?"

Raven made a split second decision. She rarely made those, but she had always wanted to unburden herself, trust in someone and tell them everything that made her life almost unbearable. She couldn't with her mother- she knew Angela had her own pain and she didn't want to add to it. But Dick was sitting next to her, willing to listen, after he had seen the damage her powers could do, after they had accidentally attacked him, after she had been so very cold to him. He was still sitting there, willing to listen.

"I can sense emotions," she answered without skipping a beat. Dick was shocked by her answer- not so much that she had such a power, but just that she had answered at all.

"What do you mean, do you like read auras or something?" he wondered.

She shook her head. "No, it's a sense. Just like you can see, hear, or smell me sitting here, I can sense your curiousity, your underlying concern and care. I can sense Bruce's determination and focus clear as day through three floors. It's one of the powers given to me by my father." Again she spat the word.

"Your father, the one with the long story?" he pressed, though not so much to make her pull back.

Raven, for the umteenth time that night, sighed. "His story isn't too long, but to explain to you my origins, my powers, and my, eh, personality... That story is long."

She shifted and moved to sit with her back against a pillow at the head of the bed, supported by the wood headboard. She patted the spot beside her. "We might as well get comfortable, because when I say it's a long story, I mean it's a long story."

A/N: Next chapter will begin the divulging of Raven's story. That will take a chapter or two. After that we will get some more plot movement, some more crime-fighting, other such fun stuff. The next chapter won't take so long, I hope!

Review with your thoughts!