*Hello, beloved readers! I'm awfully sorry for the delay in the update but I was sick and loaded with a shitload of Uni work and seminars to attend so I couldn't really find the time to finish it… (FYI I'm studying Medicine and thought this year was THE perfect time to start taking driving lessons, continue German and get busy with student exchanges-.-) Anyway, a maaaaassive thank you goes to every single one of you who read and took the time to leave me a review. Thank you for your support and your feedback, it means the world to me. So, I hope you enjoy this!*

CHAPTER SIX

Cyborg cursed a bit when he took a look at the alarm clock by his sleeping place. He hadn't programmed himself to wake up at a particular time, leaving himself to sleep for as much as he needed, but he hadn't expected him to sleep for twelve hours straight. Sad for having missed breakfast but satisfied for being close to lunch, he marched inside the main room to see Raven floating mid-air, with a look of barely constrained anger on her face, and Beast Boy prancing around her, trying to give her something from a bowl he was holding. Raven was persistently denying.

"Wakey-wakey!" Beast Boy exclaimed when he saw his friend and moved his way, waving a spoon around. "You sure did sleep much!"

"Yeah…" Cyborg mumbled, trying to get his mind together.

"Here." Beast Boy said, approaching his spoon to Cyborg's face. "Try my new, awesome soy dough!"

"What?"

"Raven doesn't want to try it, but I tell you, it's amazing! Try it!"

Cyborg shook his head. "I don't think raw soy's the thing I wanna try first thing in the morning, Beastie… No offence."

"Hell of a morning it is, 3 pm…" Raven muttered in the distance and Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"Oh, man," Beast Boy said, hanging his shoulders down in disappointment, "why are you all so negative? I bet Starfire'd try it…"

"Compared to her planet's cuisine, your tasteless mud would indeed seem gourmet." Raven said, raising an eyebrow.

"She'll soon be here, I know it." Cyborg said, moving to the coffee machine. "Made any plans for today, guys?"

"We had someone make them for us, apparently…" Raven said.

"Who do you think Beast Boy's been cooking for?"

"I thought it was lunch time…"

"It is, but no. Robin will be coming here."

"What?!"

"Oh, yeah!" Beast Boy chirped from over the oven. "Things are sure moving fast!"

"Did you move already too?!"

"He's been here since seven…" Raven said, giving him a long, frustrated look.

"Boy, I missed some stuff…" Cyborg said, passing his hand over head and holding his coffee cup with the other. "Tell me about Robin."

"He's been in Gotham, as you probably knew." Beast Boy said.

"Yeah. Back with Bats."

"Seems like he'd been keeping an eye on things here too." Raven went on. "He sent in a message on your TV, saying that he noticed how the pagers had given out signals again."

"On the door?"

"Yup." Beast Boy said. "He has the signal tracker, remember? He got all of our gadgets out when we left."

"I know."

"And he saw how they were used, and gave us a ring."

"Cyborg, he was checking on here. Almost like he cared?" Raven said, half-smiling a bit.

"That's Robin for you, I'spose."

"Yeah!" Beast Boy said. "And well, on the message he said that this was the only device-your TV- he could trace to send his message to and he will be visiting the Tower today."

"Bet he saw the Tower all repaired through his satellite too…" Cyborg said.

"You can be sure." Raven commented. "He's Robin. Do you think he'd stop checking on his crewmates? Former or not?"

"Don't think so. Even for… filing reasons, he wouldn't."

"And so the group's getting back together!" Beast Boy exclaimed, pouring some milk in his frying pan.

Not more than half an hour later, the main entrance door opened and they waited for some seconds, before Robin came to the living room.

"Puberty stroke." Raven mumbled, earning a soft nudge from Cyborg.

Though it'd only been something less than a year, Robin seemed…quite different; definitely taller, with a manlier figure –broader shoulders, mostly, a little more profound facial characteristics and a lot darker costume. The three of them put on their warmest of smiles and Robin frowned upon seeing them.

"Long time no see…" He said, examining their faces. Though he suspected they'd be surprised to see how he had changed, he himself couldn't say they were same too.

"Welcome home, buddy." Cyborg said and Robin gave him a good look.

"Sure it's quite soon to call it that already…"

"Come on, man."

"It's always going to be home!" Beast Boy said. "All that's missing from it being exactly as it was, are the gizmos you took."

"So you're allied again?"

"Oh, my, how'd you figure?" Raven asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I just came here to check on things. See if it was actually you using the pagers."

"Who else would it be, Rob?" Cyborg asked.

Robin shrugged. "You could have disposed of your pagers and someone could have been using them to get inside the Tower."

"It was already occupied, Boy Wonder. The door's not the only way to get inside a building, you know." Raven said. "Bet you didn't check on the Tower too often this year, right?"

"Why would I?"

Raven shrugged and gave him a good look. "You'd have your reasons…"

Robin took some steps further inside, taking a look around. "You sure did make everything like it used to be, though."

"And the materials aren't the only thing to be made into how it used to be."

"Let's be a team again, Robin!" Beast Boy said, approaching his buddy with his bowl in hand. "Here, I even made you some cookies! My new, awesome, soy-dough cookies!"

"Um, thanks, but I'm not, um, hungry right now?"

"I'll leave them here for you, then!" Beast Boy went on, cheerfully as ever, placing the bowl on the coffee table.

"So, what do you say?" Cyborg asked. "Care to join us again?"

Robin folded his arms and sighed. "This is a bit sudden."

"Not too complicated, though." Raven said.

"I can't fully decide now. I've got another team on me. And it's not like things on here ran perfectly… That's why we called the thing off, in the end."

"It's not like we actually made an effort to solve anything."

"We needed that break."

"Exactly, man." Cyborg said. "You said it yourself! A break. Breaks end. And we took a hell of a long one."

"I honestly don't know. I can't decide now."

"Please, please, please give it some thought, Robin!" Beast Boy said, widening his eyes. "It won't be the same without you."

Robin sighed. "I will, but I can't promise you anything."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

-Five days later-

Raven, too bored to go through the entrance, turned into her black soul-self and slid inside the Tower from the eastern wall. She was done with her errands and ready to delve into her books for the afternoon. Inside, she found Cyborg, with a towel wrapped around his robotic neck, drinking some cold water.

"Hey there, witchy." He greeted, wiping some drops off his lips with the back of his palm.

"Hey."

"Done with your chores?"

Raven nodded. "How was the training?"

Cyborg shrugged. "Good. We're synchronizin' better."

"That's nice."

"Yeah… Beastie's in the shower now, so I'm waitin' for my turn."

"You might as well go sleep, have dinner and refurnish your room while you're at it…"

Cyborg snorted. "He sure spends his time showerin'…"

"And performing. What's on the program today? Phantom of the Opera?"

"I think it was the Titanic song but couldn't bring myself to listen anymore."

"He isn't Celine, that's for sure…" Raven mumbled, cringing at the memories of their karaoke nights, that she always vetoed but somehow ended up being dragged into them anyway. "So, do we have any news on-"

"Nope." Cyborg said immediately, somewhat disappointed. "It's been five days…"

Raven frowned and folded her arms. "What is taking him so long?"

He shrugged. "He's probably torn between us and the Batfam, I suppose."

"It's not like we're asking him to abandon them completely…" Raven said, floating towards the kitchen counter and sitting close to Cyborg. "He can balance everything, he's Robin."

"Yeah… is it really that hard to go back to how we used to be?"

"I wouldn't know. I don't have much life outside the team. He does, though, so I can't really put myself in his shoes."

"But, isn't he, like, missin' us at all?"

"He is."

"You're quite sure about it!"

"Indeed."

"How?"

"I saw him. That isn't really the way someone who didn't care would act. And I'm a psychic, which means that if he had negative or indifferent feelings, I would sense his aura differently, but I didn't."

Cyborg's eyebrows raised lightly. He wasn't aware of that aura-sensing ability of hers. Something agitated him; what if she could actually 'read' their feelings, even without her wanting to? That wouldn't be too good. And then he stopped that string of thoughts with another one. Why was he worrying that she'd find it how he felt at times? Did he have anything to hide? Did he really worry about...being exposed? Exposing what, really? Momentarily, he flicked his eyes to her, only to find her staring back and a surge of something quite intense ran through him, as he averted his eyes again and a small hint of panic made its presence known. "That's new…Auras…"

"Not really." Raven said. "I've always had it."

"Oh?"

"Yes. It's not that advanced, though." Raven said, to Cyborg's immense relief. "I can only sense basic things, like positive and negative, as I told you."

"No specific feelings?" Cyborg asked, wanting to find out more.

"Not exactly. For example, when I see you guys, I sense positive. You are my friends and your disposition is friendly. The most negative aura I've ever sensed was my father's. Do you see how it works?"

"Sorta. So," Cyborg said, indulging his more playful side, "can you tell what I'm feelin' now?"

Raven gave him an exasperated look. "I told you, I can't tell specifically."

"Try."

Raven arched an eyebrow. "You're playing with Raven's temper."

He gave her a sly look, smirking, thinking something along the lines of 'I wanna play with the whole of you', just to mess with her. He thought he saw a flash of red go through her almost grey cheeks and a strange shine on her eyes, but it was soon gone, as she left the counter and floated to the window.

"Where are you goin'?" He called behind her.

"Let's just say that my errands are not done yet." She replied, turning black and sliding out of the window again.

With a weird grin on his face, he turned around, only to face a dripping wet Beast Boy, with a baby pink towel around his body. "What's with that face?" The shape-shifter asked.

"Nah, nothin'…" Cyborg mumbled, making his way to the bathroom.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Gotham sure did seem quite a lot bigger than what Raven remembered. And definitely much, much darker. The whole city had a gloomy aura that made Raven feel tense and constantly on edge. No wonder Robin was a good deal broody himself. How could he not be, living in a city like that?

She had flown over the city for a couple of hours trying to find any sign of Robin but in vain, as she couldn't spot anything and, well, even if Robin was out on patrol or action, he was perfect in camouflaging himself. However, Raven was very determined to find Robin tonight and she wouldn't give up, so she thought that maybe it was time to try a new trick she had come up with. She did want to meditate before diving into unknown waters first, but she didn't have much time to waste. It was already getting dark and she had to fly home too. So, losing no time, she folded her legs, taking her meditating stance and floating several meters high up Gotham. "Azarath. Opinor. Metrion. Locus. Zinthos. Ostendo." She pronounced clearly and focused her mind on Robin; how he looked, how she felt him, how she thought of him and her mind felt as if it was a radar, working with psychic pulses, which, like dark waves, scanned the city. It wasn't too comfortable for her to feel like she was wheezing around the whole place in mere seconds but she was on a mission. She didn't know for how long she was scanning, but soon –she hoped, at least, most of the city turned black in her mind and the western suburbs seemed to 'shine', specifically a place at the north of them. She opened her eyes and let her head rest for a moment, to get rid of that spinning sensation. She was satisfied at how it had turned out; she didn't expect to be able to pinpoint him exactly, and the result she had was more than enough for the first time ever. As soon as she felt quite alright, she flew as quickly as she could towards the west and the place she had seen, losing height as she approached to see more clearly. Luck seemed to be on her side, as not much time later, her eyes spotted the familiar caped shadow at a barely-lit alleyway. She spiraled down, landing right behind him with a 'whoosh' sound and Robin, quick as ever, span around, shooting one of his 'birdarangs' at her. Luckily, Raven knew him quite well, so she had turned into her soul-self, allowing the weapon to shoot straight through her.

"Raven?!" He said in surprise.

"Robin?!" She replied in sarcastic surprise.

"What are you doing here?" He asked frowning.

"I'm here for a little chat."

"I don't have time for this, Raven."

"Make some." Raven ordered, her face telling him that she'd never take 'no' as an answer. Robin sighed.

In no more than ten minutes, they were sitting at the edge of a multistoried building, the wind gently shuffling their capes.

"So? What is it?" Robin asked.

"Oh, I don't know," Raven said ironically, "just came to see how's life."

Robin exhaled deeply and turned his gaze on the hectic avenue beneath his feet. "I know what you're here for…"

"Good thing you're smart."

"I haven't replied because I haven't come up with an answer yet."

"What makes it so hard for you to decide?"

"The fact that I'm torn exactly in half, with absolutely no idea of where to lean more at."

"Look, Robin. I'm not here to convince you to come with us."

"And what are you here for, then?"

"To help you."

"Help me?"

"Aren't friends supposed to do that?"

"…Yes."

"So I'm here to help you make that decision. We cannot spend any more days waiting on you, as you can't spend more days in pointless dilemma either."

"You're right."

"Say you came with us. Why would you do that?"

"Because…you're my friends. We've been a team for many years, and, it's true, we didn't do much to fix the issues. We just went ahead and split. Stupid. And yes, I've missed you. That too."

"Say, now, that you stayed in Gotham. Why that?"

"It's something like the family business, really. And it's so full of issues, I always have work to do, and within a group that functions perfectly together…"

"I see. Isn't there a way to fit everything into your schedule?"

Robin shrugged. "I will still need to give priority to something over the other, and that's where the problem is."

"Well, if I may say, you're not the only member of the Gotham Squad, Robin. I'd say the city's quite covered in heroes…"

"Yes, I know, but I still call the shots on many operations."

"Would those missions fail if someone else was in charge?"

"I couldn't know for sure. In some trials, though, Batgirl was satisfying in the leader part…"

"There you have your replacement, then. If you choose the Titans, that is."

"It's risky, Raven."

"I know…"

"What if it doesn't work? What if, even if we all come together again, we still can't function properly?"

"We functioned alright and at the first misstep we acted as if it was the end of the world."

"Yes…"

"It was stupid, because, well, we've faced the end of the world and we triumphed over it, really."

"Thanks to you." Robin said, giving her a warm but timid smile.

"Don't be silly. It was thanks to you and the whole team that we were able to banish Trigon. I would have done nothing without the Titans supporting me every step of the way…"

"I guess that was one good thing we did..."

"Among plenty of others as well."

Robin nodded thoughtfully. "So, are you living together well again?"

Raven shrugged. "Just like old times."

"You and Beastie are-"

"Not anymore but it's alright, really."

"I see. Talked to Star yet?"

Raven arched an eyebrow. "How?"

"What do you mean how?"

"You don't know, do you?"

"Know what? What aren't you telling me?"

"Starfire's not here. She's gone."

"Gone as in…?"

"Back to Tamaran. I thought you knew."

Robin's eyebrows shot up. "Why is she back to Tamaran?!"

"She said she didn't have anything else to do here on Earth, after, well, you split up too."

Robin muttered some curses under his breath. "I thought she was just living incognito somewhere, but she's not even on the planet!"

"I can't blame her."

"What if she's forced to something she doesn't want to?!"

"I don't think she'd take things like that anymore. She has become quite strong-willed, I'd like to believe."

"But why did she leave?!"

"Because, Robin! Did any of us do anything to keep her here? And most of all, you? I don't know what went on between you, but she didn't seem too happy when she came to see me for goodbye."

"Raven, I…I had to let her go. I was going through many rough things and didn't want to drag her down with me."

Raven made a disapproving sound. "Are you that dense?"

"Excuse me?"

"I know I'm no relationship expert, but when you're with someone, you're in it for good and bad periods. And you're not alone, you need to let that person be with you in every way. By sending her away for that, well, it's like she doesn't mean that much to you. That you face your problems alone and leave her out of your life."

"But I did it for her. It was for the best."

"Was it really?"

Robin sighed. "…I don't know."

"You should have let her be part of your life, even when problematic. Starfire lives to help others, and most of all you, her…special someone." Raven said in her monotonous, coarse voice, wondering how all this fluffy chat came to her so effortlessly. Maybe, subconsciously, she had given it enough thought when she was alone, and maybe, now that she was seeing things as an outside observer, she saw it more clearly than when she was involved and God knew, those romantic feelings were the ones that caused the biggest mess in her head. She knew that normally, she was in no position to ask or chat over her friends' love life, but she was aware that Robin and Starfire were very important to each other and their break-up had left them both quite hurt. She didn't like seeing her friends like that, not when they were trying to patch things up and make them work.

"We need to get her back." Robin said decisively.

"Oh, so we need to get her back?"

Robin gave her a look of happy defeat. "There are some things that you just can't help, I suppose…"

Raven half-smiled. "Don't worry, Robin. Everything will be fine."

"That sounds so un-Raven."

"I too have my good days. Don't mess it up now!"

Robin laughed shortly. "I had no such intention! I promise!"

Raven got up. "Seems like my work here is done."

"Seems like it." Robin said, following her up. "I need to head back, then. I guess I'll see you soon."

Raven simply nodded and turned around, to fly away. Right before she was about to head off, she spoke. "Robin?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad you're back. It wouldn't be the same without you."

"I'm…glad to be back, I think. And, Raven? Thank you."

Raven just huffed and flew off.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

When Raven glided into the Tower again, she found Cyborg and Beast Boy finishing up a video game, and a part of her was happy that nothing seemed to had changed.

"Raven!" Beast Boy exclaimed with shiny eyes. "I haven't seen you all day!"

"Yes. Luckily." Raven replied and Beast Boy stuck his tongue out at her.

"Where were you, Rae?" Cyborg asked with a warm smile, which Raven seemed to appreciate a little more than she used to.

"I was…Gotham-dwelling."

"Found anything interesting in Gotham?"

"Did you find Robin?" Beast Boy asked excitedly.

"I did."

"Aaaaand?"

"We had a talk."

"Come on, Raven!" Beast Boy urged impatiently. "Spill the beans already!"

"He's coming back."

"Oh, yeah!" Beast Boy shouted, jumping high and high-fived Cyborg, who smiled genuinely.

"Booyah!" He said giggling and felt a strange urge to hug Raven, but restrained himself. "How did you do it, Rae?"

"I didn't do anything. Just asked the right questions."

"It doesn't matter!" Beast Boy chirped. "Robin's coming back, Robin's coming back, Robin's coming back!" He sang.

"But…" Raven said and they turned quiet, "you'd better prepare for a trip."

"What trip?"

"A space trip."

000-000-000-000

A few hours later, Raven found herself swirling in bed, unable to find some rest. It wasn't magic the cause of her unrest, nor the fact that she had used her magic in a new spell for the first time. It was something different, other than her powers and her mind control. Or maybe…maybe it was about her mind control; her brain didn't seem to perceive things exactly as she did some months or a year ago. Something was just a bit…off. What horrified her a bit was the fact that she felt that this all was a bit too familiar -she had felt this way before, and she suspected when and…with whom. Yes! That…That was it. Her eyes were open wide, as her face was a mask of terror underneath her blankets. It couldn't be happening….Yet it was. And she would be an idiotic fool to pretend it didn't, as she knew better than to let her feelings loose or ignore their existence. She had been awake for quite some time now and never, not in a single moment, had her mind let the thought of a very specific robotic man drift away. She recognized the symptoms; it was a 'knot' she felt back when he had asked her to guess how he felt; it was fuzzy in her stomach when she saw him smile at her tonight; she did feel agitated whenever Beast Boy appeared when she was alone with him.

"Damn it to hell!" She shouted, shooting up, sending her blankets flying to the opposite wall. She brought her legs close, rested her head on her knees, purple hair falling around her, and took long, deep breaths. It wasn't that bad, right? It was, after all, only a fellow Titan, her friend and her ex's friend too…Who was she kidding? It was bad, and especially when she had no idea what to do, what to pursue and how to handle everything. Somewhere along her confusion, she sensed her pillows getting magically lifted without her doing it consciously, and so she knew she had to meditate.

"It's just a stupid crush, it's just a stupid crush, it's just a stupid crush…" She kept whispering to herself, taking her meditating position. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" She said clearly and drifted to the depths of her mind, hoping she could find some answers and put everything under control. For now.

*Yes, I know, not too much CyRae here BUT I wanted to have a Rob and Rae moment because I think their friendship is very precious and Robin will help Raven later on, so I didn't want to have that out of the blue… Yes, their feelings are getting a bit clearer, more and more as we go by. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please leave me some feedback! Thanks for reading!*