Chapter 6: He's Back

Yes, yes, I got rid of that stupid Author's Note chapter that used to be chapter 5. It was basically an apology for super sappiness and out of character moments, which by now y'all should understand is just going to happen because that's how it goes.

Rymilu... couldn't have said it better myself. It's just a dramatic, cheesy love story haha. Gotta love that fluff.

Robin woke with a start from a restless sleep. Someone was coughing. He looked first to the door, but no one was there. The coughing stopped as he looked back towards Raven's still form on the bed in the medical ward. She had been asleep since last night's battle with Slade. Robin glanced up at the clock.

4:00 in the morning? Damn… Robin thought sleepily. He cracked his neck and stretched, sighing with satisfaction as he felt his sore joints pop and relax. Maybe he should have gone to his room… or at least used one of the open beds. Chair sleeping had to be a form of torture in some country. It was his own fault, though… No amount of persuading from Cyborg, Beast Boy, or a fuming Starfire had moved him. Cyborg shrugged and told him to at least sleep, Beast Boy didn't care, and Starfire had only walked off after Beast Boy had all but dragged her out with promises of mustard and her favorite show, 'The Wonderful World of Fungus.' She had been acting weird lately, and Robin liked her less and less. He sighed. She would get over it soon. She always did.

Damn where the hell is that coughing coming from? Robin thought, glancing yet again around the room. "Raven? Rae? Are you awake?" Robin said, gently pushing her shoulder. Her eyes slowly opened and she turned her head to look at Robin with bleary eyes

"Hey," was all she said. He bent down and hugged her gently. In turn she wrapped her arms around him, surprising both of them.

"How are you feeling?" Robin asked as he settled back on his chair.

"Just peachy," she mumbled while eyeing him. "The question is, are you okay? You look awful. Have you slept at all?" Robin grinned sheepishly.

"I'm fine. Just keeping watch." His hand moved towards hers, pausing just before their fingers touched. "You got pretty beat up last night."

"I'm aware," Raven remarked, trying to sit up a bit and coughing lightly. "Please tell me I don't have stitches or some god-awful scar forming."

"Nah, Cyborg fixed you up with some butterfly bandages. You do have a pretty nice bruise though. It almost matches your eyes." Raven reached up and gingerly touched the bump. Robin leaned forward to inspect the bandages, gently touching around her hairline as he felt the bruise. Frowning, he took off his glove and laid the back of his hand across her forehead.

"Hands off, Boy Wonder," Raven said sourly as her cough once again flared up. Robin put his glove back on and reached for a thermometer.

"You're burning up, Rae," he said. She waved his hand away.

"No thermometers, I'm fine."

"No, you're not, and if you don't put this in your mouth right now, I'm calling Cyborg."

"Put what in my mouth, now?" Raven smirked and Robin rolled his eyes.

"Now I know you're sick. Here." Raven took the white plastic and popped it under her tongue, arms crossed over her chest and knees drawn close to her as she sat propped up in the hospital bed. Robin watched her closely as they waited for the beep. Her chest heaved occasionally as she fought down a cough.

"Geez, 102.5." Robin's eyes widened in concern as he removed the thermometer and inspected the reading. Raven's hand flew to her mouth as the cough she had been holding in ripped through her. Tears sprung up in her eyes as her face turned bright red, body shaking as the coughing fit passed, leaving her wheezing a bit.

"Open the medicine cabinet," Raven whispered, wiping her eyes. "And get the bottle with purple liquid in it." Robin complied, knowing nothing about medicine. That was Cyborg and Raven's job. He quickly handed it over to her, watching her hands shake slightly as she twisted the cap off and filled the small plastic cup up with the thick purple medicine.

"Better?" Robin asked cautiously as she swallowed with a grimace. Raven sighed in frustration.

"I don't get sick. I never get sick… stupid Slade," she mumbled. "Usually I can catch anything before it gets bad and heal myself, but once something takes hold, there's not much my powers can do for the human side of me." Robin nodded.

"And your head? Hand?" Raven inspected her hand, the bruising noticeably down from earlier.

"I need more sleep. Good, normal sleep, not this sickness sleep." Raven frowned. "It's a vicious cycle. Can I go to my room now?"

"Well…" Robin began. Raven glared at him.

"Let me rephrase. I'm going to my room." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and slowly lowered herself to the floor, swaying slightly as she steadied herself on the bed. Robin quickly moved to her side, ready to help. Concern radiated off his body, and she sighed a bit, giving him a soft smile.

"You really should get some sleep, Robin. I can take care of myself."

"What if I want to help, Rae?" he responded, taking her hand and pulling her away from the bed. She placed her other hand on his shoulder, head spinning.

"I guess I can't stop you, can I?" she smirked, a shiver running up her back as he slipped an arm around her waist to help her to her room.

"There's a faster way to do this, you know." Robin shot a look at Raven out of the corner of his eye, and before she realized what was happening, Robin had her swept up in his arms, bridal style, and began walking towards her room.

"Put me down, Bird Brain! I can still walk. I'm not an invalid!" Raven punched his chest with her uninjured hand, struggling against his firm grip.

"Calm down, Rae. It's just a faster way to get you in bed."

"Well if I knew you wanted me that badly," she deadpanned, giving up and crossing her arms over her chest. Robin flushed but regained his composure with a cocky smile.

"Yep, that's exactly it, babe," he laughed. Her eyes flashed.

"You are so lucky I don't have the energy to send you to a different dimension right now."

"I know."

…

Robin rummaged through the fridge, his stomach grumbling. Once he had set Raven down in her room, he had gone back to get the purple medicine and extra blankets, but was sidetracked by hunger.

"Where did all of our food go," he mumbled to himself, pushing past the milk and juice for something more substantial.

"A certain empath threw it all at the grass stain earlier," Cyborg said, appearing over the top of the fridge. Robin looked at the clock.

"Why are you awake so early?"

"There was a blip on the security panel so I went to check it out." Cyborg shrugged. "Didn't find anything. I need to update the system this weekend anyways."

Nodding, Robin ducked back into the fridge. "How are the others?"

"Star sulked the rest of the night while BB played some video games."

"She's been acting weird lately."

"Eh she's just got an advanced case of the greenies, man. You know her giant crush on you and everything? You've been paying a lot of attention to Raven lately and she's just jealous," Cyborg said. Robin sighed.

"It's just so hard to be witty and handsome. The ladies are just crazy for me." Cyborg punched his shoulder with a laugh.

"The only one going crazy is Star."

"I wish it was Raven…" Robin grumbled, finally finding a leftover sandwich hiding in the back of the fridge.

"It's Raven, man. She's got her own way of doing things. You need to get some sleep though before the day really begins."

"Yeah, yeah."

"How is she, anyways? Awake yet?"

"I just put her in her room. She's got a cough and a fever though, so I'm really supposed to be finding some meds and extra blankets for her now." Robin closed the fridge and took a large bit of sandwich.

"You're a terrible boyfriend."

"Shut it," Robin said with his mouth full. "Want to help?" The two walked out of the room and back towards the medical ward to get supplies. They slowly walked back to Raven's room, Cyborg's arms filled with extra blankets from the linen closet, and the bottle of purple medicine as well as a bottle of aspirin and the thermometer in Robin's hands.

"She feels hotter than before," Robin whispered, removing his hand from Raven's damp forehead. She was shivering slightly in her sleep, the bruise on her forehead standing out in sharp contrast to her pale skin. Cyborg placed one of the extra blankets on her and piled the others at the end of the bed.

"Probably from the ocean or something. She really just needs some sleep right now," Cyborg whispered back, standing next to Robin.

"I shouldn't have let her continue on the mission. I should have told her to go back and wait for us." Robin scrubbed his face with his hand, sighing as he and Cyborg walked back out of her room. His shoulders sagged with exhaustion and frustration. Cyborg put a hand on his friend.

"You know she never would have listened to you. And you saved her life like three times last night. Stop beating yourself up, okay? We're a team, and we're all okay," Cyborg said, taking his hand off Robin's shoulder.

"But Slade got away. Again. What if he comes back to finish what he started?" Robin glanced back into Raven's room at her sleeping form. At least she wasn't coughing anymore.

"Dude, we're the Titans. We'll be ready. Now go get some sleep."

"It's five in the morning. More like a nap," Robin allowed himself a chuckle as Raven's door swished closed. Cyborg rolled his eyes.

"Go. I'll monitor the computer."

With a nod, Robin gave Cyborg a half-wave and headed down the hall to his own room. He really was quite tired.

"That's right, Titans, leave her all alone…" a voice murmured in the shadows.

Omg surprise he's back erryone freak out... =)