It had been several hours since the debacle in Noctis's mind, and Raven was practically begging for anything to do to keep her mind occupied. She was so distracted by the memory of Slade killing Noctis's teacher that even in meditation, it was all that she saw. The slowly falling bloodmist was gruesome, to say the least, but it wasn't what bothered her. The only thing she could focus on was just how much she could feel her demonic blood seeking that exact same situation. It was a soft, persistent drive to kill that lurked on the edge of her conscious thought.

A hiss from behind her drew her attention. Glancing up, she saw Robin enter the room and make a beeline for the kitchen. Setting her book down, Raven rose to her feet and followed him.

"I reviewed the tapes with Cy," Robin said, noticing her presence behind him. "There's no way he wasn't trained, but there's not enough to go on to even narrow down a teacher."

Raven said nothing. It wasn't her place, was it? He had respected her privacy the night they met. Was it really only five days since they'd met him? It felt like it had been much longer. "Are you really going to go behind his back?" she asked, taking the low road. At least, it certainly didn't feel like the high road.

"He's not exactly the most forthcoming person we could have met," Robin retorted.

"Neither am I," Raven countered. Honestly, Robin could be so pigheaded sometimes.

"Yeah, but you've been with us for a long time. You've got our backs, and we've got yours. We don't know about him."

"And when are you going to give him the chance to prove he's with us?" Raven icily questioned. "You're not trusting him because you're not even giving him the chance to earn your trust. If anything, he shouldn't trust you. After all, you're just using him."

She paused, as if struck by a realization. "Or is that why you don't trust him?" Robin glared at her, but otherwise said nothing.

Noctis looked around the room, really seeing it for the first time. It was the room that Cyborg had set up for him the night after Noctis had accepted Robin's invitation, so it was basically his first time inside. It was practically identical to the guest room, with the exception of the walls being a neutral grey color, rather than a welcoming shade of peach. Stretching, he decided that he was hungry and stepped out of the room, heading towards the kitchen.

He was about to enter the Ops room when he heard voices. More specifically, Robin and Raven talking to eachother. He briefly considered greeting them, but dismissed the idea when a more enticing one came to him. Crouching, he placed his ear next to the vent that he was hearing their voices through.

"...we could have met." That was Robin's voice, no doubt about it. Still as arrogant as ever.

"Neither am I." Raven, for sure. He was still slightly frustrated with her, but he had forgiven her. After all, it was initially for good intentions that she entered his mind.

"Yeah, but you've been with us for a long time. You've got our backs, and we've got yous. We don't know about him." Damn, Robin, that stung. Can you really blame a guy for not earning your trust before even giving him a chance to earn it?

Apparently Raven was thinking the same thing. "And when are you going to give him the chance to prove he's with us?" You go, girl. "You're not trusting him because you're not giving him the chance to earn your trust. If anything, he shouldn't trust you. After all, you're just using him."

Wait. What?

"Or is that why you don't trust him?"

What the hell does that mean? Noctis realized with a start that there were footsteps approaching and threw himself into the shadows, willing them to conceal him. The door hissed open, and a very irate Raven strode through, muttering some choice words about Robin. She suddenly stopped just before turning to enter her room. Noctis noted with some surprise that her room was the one across the hall from his.

She stared at Noctis's door, then approached. She raised her fist to knock, but just before making contact with the door, she let her fist fall. Slowly, she turned back to her room and phased through the door.

What did she mean when she said Robin was using him? Frustrated and curious, he entered the Ops room, hoping to settle the matter. The first thing that he saw was Robin, standing by the fridge with a look that was half frustration, half shame plastered to his face. The second thing he noticed was the jagged crack that ran along the entire length of the kitchen wall.

"What happened here?" Noctis asked, gesturing at the crack.

"Raven," Robin said glumly. Noctis's eyes widened in shock.

"What do you mean? What did she do?"

"She felt too much."

"Care to elaborate?" Noctis pushed, confused.

"Not really. It's her you should ask," Robin replied.

"Oh, so you do care about people's privacy. Shocker."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Robin angrily retorted, eliciting a laugh from Noctis.

"You truly don't see it, do you? The way your obsessive nature refuses to accept that it's possible for someone to not have it out for you. Let me guess. You have several plans to take care of your teammates if they ever get in your way, don't you?" Robin refused to answer.

"Your silence is telling, Robin. There's a discussion we've been needing to have, you and I. Why don't you and I go and have that discussion right now?" Noctis grabbed the fabric covering Robin's shoulder and twisted it into his hands, pulling the Boy Wonder close.

"Let go of me," Robin darkly threatened.

"I know you don't trust me, Robin. But there isn't a reason for it. So, I was thinking…" Noctis's eyes narrowed, wispy tendrils of black magic drifting out of the corners of his eyes. "Maybe I should give you a reason not to."

"But," he continued. "Then, I overhear this very interesting conversation between two birds. About how maybe the red bird should worry more about being trusted than trusting someone. Sound familiar?"

Robin's eyes narrowed and he glared at Noctis. "I don't have to justify myself to you," he shot coldly.

"Maybe not," Noctis agreed. In a much more dangerous tone, he continued. "Except when it involves me. You're using me, Robin. This conversation won't be over until I find out what for." Robin growled.

So intense were they that they didn't notice the arrival of Starfire and Cyborg, who were having an animated discussion until they saw the two literally at eachother's throats. Cyborg and Starfire beheld the scene before them with no small amount of shock, their jaws hanging slightly open.

"Dang, Beast Boy said that Noctis was scary, but dayum," Cyborg commented. "This is crazy."

"Friends, please!" Starfire shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "There is no need for such malice! Can we not discuss our issues in a manner of civilization?"

"I am being civil," Noctis growled darkly at her. "Robin, would you care to explain how, exactly, you've been using me and or plan to use me? Your continued good health depends greatly on how you answer my question."

Robin grumbled something incoherently. "Try again," Noctis demanded. "And make it understandable."

"Slade's after yo-"

"OF COURSE SLADE'S AFTER ME!" Noctis roared vehemently, so loudly that the windows shook. "HE'S BEEN AFTER ME SINCE I WAS TWELVE!" Noctis heaved a great shuddering breath, as if trying to restrain himself.

"So I, that is, we-"

"Don't drag us into this, Rob," Cy interrupted. "You didn't listen to me, so this is your own grave you dug." Robin shot him a withering glare that did nothing to cow Cyborg, who had a smirk on his face.

"Right. I figured that maybe I'd use you as… bait… to draw him out."

Silence rang at Robin's admission. Starfire seemed extremely cross with Robin, flying over and slapping him in the face. "That is very deceitful and underhanded and cruel and untrustworthy and unscrupulous, Robin! I am very disappointed in you! You will deceive our friend no more, or we will be friends no more."

Robin hung his head, quickly realizing that he would find no support from his teammates. This became especially apparent when a dark circle appeared on the floor and Raven emerged from within, dragging a struggling Beast Boy.

"Ugh… I hate that," Beast Boy complained. "You know I don't like teleporting, Raven."

"This is important, Beast Boy. Take something seriously for once in your life." It was then that Beast Boy noticed Noctis and Robin practically staring eachothers heads off.

"For someone who talks so much about trust, you seem to only value it when it suits you… Robin." Noctis spat the words acidly, mustering as much vehemence and condescension as he could. "Raven was right. You should worry less about trusting others, and more about earning their trust."

With a twirl of his cloak, Noctis spun and stalked out of the room, his hunger from before forgotten in the intensity of the moment. The other titans, minus Robin, stared after him. Robin, for his part, simply glared at the floor, trying to justify has actions to himself.

"I told you it was a bad idea, Robin," Cyborg muttered quietly. "When are you going to realize that you're not always right?"

"When are you going to hold yourself to the same standards you hold others to?" Raven continued, adding her own input to the conversation.

"I didn't tell him because I didn't want him to run. I thought if he knew Slade was after him he'd just book it," Robin retorted weakly.

"There's no one in the world who wants to destroy Slade more than Noctis," Raven murmured, surprising Robin. "Not even you, Robin. Noctis wants to take from Slade what Slade took from him."

"His sense of safety." Raven turned and started to walk away as well, but paused at the door. "You should apologize. Admit your mistakes, at least this once. Before the opportunity passes."

Robin sighed deeply. Why did his team have to bully him into this? It wasn't entirely his fault that Noctis figured out he was using him. It was also Raven's fault, wasn't it?

Currently he was standing in the hallway between Raven's door and Noctis's door. Raven was probably on the other side of her door, paying very close attention to Robin, if for no other reason than Cyborg and Starfire asking her. Making sure he actually did apologize.

Grumbling, Robin raised a fist and banged it into the door. He waited for Noctis to open up. And waited. And waited. And waited. His patience wearing thin already, he knocked against the door a few more times, not expecting Noctis to open up. So he was surprised when the door slid to the side and revealed a very weary looking prophet.

"What?" he pointedly asked. "Haven't you done enough?"

Robin sighed internally. This was hard enough without Noctis deliberately antagonizing him. Looking Noctis in the eyes, Robin took a deep breath. "I need to… apologize, for my behavior. I was wrong and acted like a child."

Noctis's eyes narrowed. "And who convinced you to apologize? Because you sure as hell didn't decide to on your own."

"Can we just quit it with the hostilities and start with a clean slate?" Robin irritatedly asked. "We evidently got off on the wrong foot, and that's primarily my fault. Can we agree to start over?"

Noctis silently stared Robin down as he considered the proposal. The hard look to his eyes softened as he made a decision. "Very well," he said as he extended his hand. "My name is Noctis Umbra. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

Robin grasped the proffered hand and shook it as he replied. "Robin. Nice to have you onboard." Inwardly he released a sigh of relief. This interaction could have gone much, much worse.

Raven let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding on the other side of her door. She hadn't expected Robin to be so… humble. Humility and Robin mixed about as well as oil and water. Noctis, though normally composed and therefore somewhat predictable, had been infuriated, to say the least. She had worried that he might snub Robin, which would only serve to make the situation worse. Thankfully, he was at least amiable enough to respond to Robin in a respectful...ish manner.

The conversation in the hall had managed to successfully trail off into a long and awkward silence. Robin's gaze wandered around - the floor, the walls, the little bit of Noctis's room that he was able to see, almost everywhere except Noctis's face. Noctis, for his part, stared straight at Robin with such intensity that it was unnerving for even Robin.

"Sooo," Robin started, trying to break the awkward silence. "About that… thing, that happened in the Ops room…"

"What about it?"

"What happened? Why did the lights go all screwy?"

"That's something everyone's gonna want to know about, and it'll be easiest to deal with it as a group," Noctis answered without explaining. Raising his voice, he continued. "Raven, would you mind gathering the others and telling them to meet us in the Ops room? It's storytime."

Silence met his words as they echoed down the hall, but it was not to last. A dark ovoid abyss appeared on Raven's door and she stepped through, giving a curt nod before disappearing into the floor. Robin glanced at her as she disappeared before gesturing towards the Ops room.

"In full, this is the prophecy. 'The Daughter of Earth approaches. With stony heart must choice be made, to grind to dust or train with blade; wandering exile self-imposed, for fear she runs from friend and foe; primordial power in her veins, wild destruction be her bane; cursed by nature - doomed by fate, her soul be burdened by great weight; titanic courage see her plight, titanic action cure her blight; born of stone and weather tempered, dark or darker be she mentored.' Not the flashiest of prophecies, but certainly not the least," Noctis stated.

"So what does it mean?" Robin asked, straightforward as ever.

"I don't know," Noctis evenly replied. "There are many possible interpretations, but I don't know which is right. Only time will tell."

"So what do you think it means?" Robin pushed. Noctis sighed. Before an argument could start, Raven's calm voice interrupted them.

"Why don't we analyze it one line at a time?" she suggested. Robin stared at her as if she had just provided the cure to cancer. Or stubbornness. "The daughter of Earth approaches. It definitely sounds like a warning."

"It also doesn't have a companion phrase. The rest of the prophecy is organized in couplets, but not this," Cyborg added.

"That's unlikely to be excessively important," Noctis interjected. "Most of the time, the organization of a prophecy is simply energy forming into an elegant shape. If I had spoken in a different language, it would have a different format, but it would flow just as well. But I do agree - it does sound like a warning."

"With stony heart must choice be made, to grind to dust or train with blade," Raven continued after a brief nod. "It's building on the Earth theme, though what it means I can't tell."

"What if it's a meta who controls the Earth?" Robin suggested.

"Dude! That'd be sick!" Beast Boy exclaimed excitedly. "Imagine what someone could do with that kind of power…" Beast Boy's eyes glazed over as his imagination seized his mind and he fell into the land of daydreams. Raven sighed.

"It's not unlikely," Noctis murmured. "Wandering exile self-imposed, for fear she runs from friend and foe. If the prophecy is foretelling a meta who controls the earth, then she's alone by her own choice."

"Primordial power in her veins, wild destruction be her bane," Raven quoted. "Supports the idea that we're predicting a meta with power over rocks and dirt."

"Initially, I thought it might be referring to Cinderblock, but he's not female, and it specifically refers to this meta as female," Cyborg muttered. "Cursed by nature - doomed by fate, her soul be burdened by great weight. That doesn't make much sense, other than that maybe she feels responsible for something."

"I don't like this next part," Robin said. "Titanic courage see her plight, titanic action cure her blight. I feel like 'titanic' has multiple meanings here, more than just a ridiculously large amount."

"That may be correct, but we will not know until the time comes," Noctis agreed. "Born of stone and weather tempered, by dark or darker be she mentored. She may be untrained and not in control of her powers, which might explain her self imposed exile."

Robin slowly shook his head. "So you think it's predicting a meta with power over the earth, but little control over those powers?"

"I can neither confirm nor deny that interpretation - events have yet to unfold, and speculation on the meaning of the prophecy is a trap for me," Noctis murmured.

"So we're basically back at square one?" Robin irritatedly asked.

Noctis shook his head. "Yes and no. Yes, we're back at square one. No, because we have several maps that might lead us through the maze ahead of us. We'll be able to eliminate maps as the maze disproves them."

Robin sat back with a hand on his chin. "So we have the words figured out as best we can right now. Can you explain what happened after that when Raven was with you?"

"That is a very complicated topic, Robin. Not one I wish to speak about right now. However, in a symbolic olive branch, I will tell you this, since you've been so curious. The man who trained me was an old man named Shui."

Noctis rose to his feet with a loud groan. "Now if you'll excuse me, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning, and would very much like to banish this feeling of emptiness in my stomach." He swiftly walked into the kitchen, only hesitating in front of the fridge when he reached to open it. With a deep breath to steel his resolve, he opened the door.

Immediately there was a menacing growl as the sentient blue fuzz reacted to the sudden light. Noctis let out a yelp of surprise before encasing his hand in shadows and reaching into the fridge to grasp the mold. Releasing a piercing battlecry, he forcefully ripped the blue terror from its perch on the shelf of the fridge. It screeched its defiance, but nevertheless was placed in the garbage bag - the only object in said bag, given the messy nature of the Titans.

Noctis promptly proceeded to seal the garbage bag and its lone occupant before throwing the bag into yet another garbage bag, which he also sealed. Looking up from his handiwork, he realized with a jolt of surprise that there were four pairs of eyes staring at him, seven of them wide with shock.

"What?" he demanded, slightly unnerved by the unwarranted stare.

"Did you actually just do what I think you just did?" Cyborg asked in disbelief.

"That depends entirely on what you think I just did."

"He's asking if you actually just got rid of the blue mold that's been terrorizing the fridge," Raven dryly explained.

Noctis lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. And these are superheroes? "Yes. Yes, actually, in fact I did."

"And you didn't hit it with starbolts and cause it to explode and get everywhere?" Robin asked, looking at the kitchen.

"No, I didn't. And why would you ask that? Isn't it pretty obvious that didn't happen?" Noctis answered.

"I believe that he is making 'the reference' to the last time the sentient fuzz of blue was removed from the machine of refrigeration by me," Starfire spoke up.

Noctis just returned the blank stares at the group, trying to wrap his mind around this new information. "Let me get this straight. You guys are not only lazy enough to let this blue mold grow uninhibited within your fridge, but you're lazy enough to let it grow twice?"

"Three times," Raven corrected him.

"Thrice? What is wrong with you people? Is sanitation an unknown concept to you?" Noctis shook his head in shock, somewhat awed by level of disinterest he was seeing. "Regardless," he continued as he grabbed a pot from the cupboard and started washing it. "I'm going to cook now. And if I get interrupted while cooking or eating by any of you, I'm going to be extremely displeased."

Slowly, the titans dispersed across the tower, doing their own personal titan-y things. Cyborg and Beast Boy immediately flopped down on the couch, turning on the tv and gamestation. Robin made a beeline for the Evidence room. Honestly, it was like there was something in there besides the tools they confiscated from their enemies with all the time he spent down there.

Raven disappeared into a black portal, going Raven knows where. Starfire… vanished, having left the tower. Noctis just busied himself in the kitchen, cooking himself a soup of some sort. He had just settled down to eat when a loud alarm blared out, surprising him and causing him to flinch and nearly knock over his soup. Red flashing lights emerged from hidden compartments in the wall and added to his disarray.

"You… have got to be KIDDING ME!" the shadow prophet screamed in defiance as he vehemently shoved a spoonful of soup into his mouth.

Robin bolted into the room, preparing to shout his usual line when he noticed the look of unadulterated rage and defiance on Noctis's face. He was swiftly joined by Raven, Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy in staring at their companion's visage.

"Y'know, maybe he could sit this one out," Cyborg suggested. The others merely nodded mutely.

"Wouldn't hurt to keep him in reserve in case things go south," Robin agreed. Oh man, would things go south though.

A/N: I fell into the trap of "I need some inspiration. I'm gonna go read this fanfic for inspiration. Oh, this is a pretty good fic, so lemme finish it before I get back to mine. Man, I really like this author, do they have anything else? Oh, they do, and it's only 350k words? Lemme read that. Holy, this is good, gotta finish before I work on mine. Damn, now I'm feeling really bad about my work. Compared to this, I'm absolutely terrible." All in all, feeling like this chapter is low quality at best. Like, 144p.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. It's probably for the best.

Not sure if subtlety is working. Reviews are appreciated, folks.