long chapter to compensate for a long absence

"Hey Boy Wonder. You need to keep better track of your team."

Robin rolled over and ran a hand over his eyes, trying to clear the sleep from them as the tinny voice on the other end of his communicator sounded sarcastically from his right hand. He sat up before answering, clearing his throat as the thing beeped insistently at him, the beeping that had woken him in the first place. Eventually, he managed to retrieve a t-shirt from under his bed and pull it over his head, speaking muffled through the cotton.

"Sorry, who is this?"

He squinted at the screen and turned on a light, glimpsing a bar, hearing muffled music, and taking in the woman with the short hair and piercings before Raven came into focus behind her, looking more than worse for wear.

"Ah…shit."

He was suddenly wide-awake, worry in his throat.

"It's Sal. Pleasure to meet you. We've never met, but your girlfriend here is an old friend and I'm not keen on the idea of her teleporting."

Robin sighed, running a hand through his hair and vaguely wondering how ridiculous it looked before things caught up with him and worry for Raven eclipsed his vanity.

"Sent me the address and give me twenty minutes."

He shut the communicator and rummaged for jeans, swearing under his breath. It felt like he had been swearing a lot lately. Raven didn't usually drink; she said hangovers messed up her meditation and besides poisoning your body was up there with the dumbest things a person could do. That was on a good day though, and she seemed to be having a string of bad ones.

He pulled up to the bar in a rental car that he borrowed in emergencies; as much as he loved his motorcycle, he doubted Raven's ability to maintain balance. She was there at the bar, arm draped over a woman's shoulders, presumably the Sal who had called him. She greeted him with a quick once over.

"I can see why she likes you. You've got a certain douchey charm."

Robin raised an eyebrow, uncertain how to respond. Actually, it was difficult to think about anything other than the 'Raven likes you' part.

"Um…"

Raven, focusing on him with apparent difficulty, suddenly smiled.

"Robin! Man, it's good to see you."

Sal removed the arm that was over her shoulder and handed it to Robin.

"Maybe I can get back to work now?"

She straightened her shirt, looking vaguely amused despite her annoyed tone.

"Take care of yourself, hon."

Raven nodded vaguely, then looked at Robin.

"You here to take me home? Shit, that means I'm going to be embarrassed in the morning, doesn't it?"

Robin shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

"'Fraid so. Beast Boy is never going to let you live this down."

She frowned sulkily.

"That's mean."

"Or, you know, Beast Boy."

"He is so not funny."

He laughed despite himself. This was perhaps the oddest situation he had ever found himself a part of, which was odd in itself. Villains smashing up the street was all in a day's work. Picking up drunk friends in bars…that was weird. Even as he thought it, said drunk friend swayed dizzily, looking as though she were about to pass out. Robin caught her hastily by the arm.

"Woah, woah, hey."

He wound up taking most of her weight, but she refused to let him carry her.

"I'm perfectly capable of walking…just not in a straight line."

He rolled his eyes as they made their slow way to the door.

"Right."

"And your sarca-ashm is not appreciated."

The street, when they made their way out of the bar, was quiet, cars wooshing silently by like the rush of the ocean. The light that bathed the street could be tracked to the street lamps, which flickered comfortingly. Raven, having shoved herself away from Robin, was smiling absently at the moon.

"It's a gorgeous night, isn't it?"

Not thinking, Robin stared at her face, which was lit by the moonlight.

"It really is, yeah," there was a pause before he cleared his throat and added that they should probably get home though, big day tomorrow. Raven turned to face him, stumbling slightly.

"What's tomorrow?"

Robin raised his eyebrows as he unlocked the car.

"So Star didn't tell you she's taking you shopping, then."

Raven, even in her drunken state, allowed a look of pure horror to cross her face at the thought. He laughed as he helped her into the car and crossed to the driver's side.

"You'll be fine. Besides, it's not like you can wear a band t-shirt to one of Bruce's parties."

She glared at nothing in particular and folded her arms across her chest.

"Watch me."

Robin laughed a little and turned onto the highway, glancing in the rear view mirror as he did so. There was a pause during which Raven watched the stars and Robin watched the road, trying and failing to avoid small half-glances at her face. Her eyes were rimmed in red.

"So…therapy didn't go well."

She sighed heavily and pulled one knee up against her chest.

"Why'd you have to bring that up?"

He stole another glance at her, then at the rear-view mirror, where he could see a black car switch lanes behind them.

"Thought you might want to talk about it."

"Well I don't. It's shtupid anyway. Doesn't m-matter."

There was a petulance in her voice that Robin rarely heard there, echoes of her childhood self.

"What doesn't?"

She was silent for a moment, swaying slightly in her seat as though to the tune of music only she could hear.

"Me. I don't."

Robin clenched his jaw.

"That's not true."

She put her fingers to her temples.

"I just…I'm so tired of everyone worrying about me all the time. I'm not helping anyone, I'm just a liability."

Her words, still slightly blurred as they left her mouth, had taken on the self-loathing quality that Robin hated to hear from her.

"And I get so tired of hearing you say that. Think that."

He shook his head, ignoring a remote part of his mind that noted the black car, still behind them.

"You're not a liability, you're our friend. I just…I just want you to feel like you can talk to me. I'm not going to judge you."

She looked at him, taking in his profile, the way his jaw was set, his eyes, the slight frown that etched his brow.

"He made me tell him what happened."

Robin exhaled, grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"All of it?"

She shook her head.

"All of it…every last detail…how many times he stabbed me…what he said…how many broken ribs, how many punches."

He felt his breath catch in his chest and heard hers take on ragged edges. Robin pulled over, partially to see if they really were being followed, and partially so that he could give Raven his full attention.

"Was it awful?"

She tried to smile.

"Nearly destroyed his office."

He raised an eyebrow, propping his feet up on the dashboard.

"But you didn't."

"No, but I cried a lot."

Robin shrugged, trying his hardest to make her comfortable. It seemed to be working; her body language was certainly less defensive.

"Par for the course, probably."

She spoke through breath that was laced with alcohol and ran her hands through her hair.

"Yeah…turns out I was tortured."

It was harder to remain casual at that; Robin felt his hands tighten into fists.

"You didn't know."

She shook her head slowly.

"I guess I did. I just…never called it that."

There was a pause during which he looked at her without pretense. She met his gaze unflinchingly, albeit unsteadily. He reached out to grip her shoulder.

"You going to be okay?"

She lowered her eyes.

"I don't know."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound the gentle hum of the engine and the occasional rush of a passing car. Eventually, Robin turned the key in the ignition and glanced again at the side mirror.

"You wouldn't have told me any of this if you were sober, would you?"

She smiled ironically.

"Probably not."

He let out a low breath and released his grip on the steering wheel to grasp her hand.

"I'm glad you did."

She returned the pressure.

"I'm…really drunk."

He laughed a little, relieving some of the tension in his chest as he put the car in gear.

"There's water in the glove compartment."

Raven sighed as she reached for the bottle, something in the back of her mind telling her that she would regret not hydrating in the morning. As she unscrewed the cap, several things happened in quick succession. Robin frowned and glanced at the rear view mirror, eyes narrowing, and Raven sensed a spike in his emotional energy. A jolt sent water splashing down her front and pooling in her lap. Robin's hands tightened on the steering wheel. Then something hit them.

The sound was there first, the grating of metal on metal piercing her eardrums like shards of glass. Then came the jolt, time catching up with her at an alarming rate as the violence of their collision with the cliff face sent her head into an airbag. She felt, suddenly, as though her stomach had been left behind somewhere on the highway and her limbs had turned to jello. There was a moment, just a moment of silence during which she remained stunned and Raven became aware of her unharmed body again. Then there was a surge of alarm. Robin.

She pushed herself away from the dashboard with sudden violence, and relief that was almost pain rushed through her when she glanced over and saw him cutting away his seatbelt, gritting his teeth in a painful grimace. Severing her own belt with a scissor strike of dark energy, Raven tried to clear her persistently clouded mind. You just had to drink, didn't you?

"Robin."

He glanced at her, relief washing briefly over his features.

"I'm okay. Are you – "

Then the roof of the car was ripped off and they were on them, wave after wave of robots, the same kind that had attacked days ago, some boasting gruesome repairs. Hands had been welded back into heads, leaving gaping sockets of wires in their wake. They sparked ominously, and Raven could see an endless sea of metal against the constellation-studded sky.

Reaction time slower than usual, she had to let Robin attack first while she remembered how to move. He leapt onto the roof of the car, staff suddenly extended, and began to cleave a path through the wave of murderous robots. Raven, once she regained control of her faculties, followed him and began to cut them to pieces, struggling with her aim.

"We're…outnumbered…"

Robin grimaced and ducked as something that looked suspiciously like molten metal shot past their heads.

"Any suggestions?"

Normally, she would have had one. She could have teleported, or summoned her shadow self, or, or, or. But she was drunk and it was all she could do to aim properly. Her vision was doing odd things, not quite blurred at the edges, but sharper in some places than others. Futilely, she attempted teleportation, but the distraction of the robots glinting in her periphery was enough to prevent her from accessing the intense focus that was necessary.

"Damnit."

She was forced to take to the air, pulling Robin by the collar as she did so. He alighted on a protruding piece of rock and fought alongside her, sweat dripping from his brow. They just kept coming; for every one that they destroyed, there was another, grimacing, armless, headless, wires protruding like so many needles from their chest cavities.

Raven aimed a rock at one gleaming, metal chest, but missed and barely had time to throw up a shield before the thing had grabbed her by the front of her shirt. She cried out, cursing her dulled reflexes as the thing slammed her against the cliff face.

"Raven!"

He turned towards her, turned his back on one of them, let it grasp his arm. His wrist snapped with a nasty crack. Raven felt an echo of his pain as his face drained of color, then his panic nearly overwhelmed her, combined with her own in a sea of red-tinged emotion as the robot threw him like a rag doll. The one holding her was gripping her hands: she couldn't have cushioned his fall even if she had been in full control of her powers.

He collided with the street.

His pain washed over her, bright red and all-consuming. She felt it, the blood coming to his lips, the limbs snapping.

A cry left her, one that was raw and animal, indicative of her loss of control. The robots around her exploded into masses of sparking wiring. She was at his side in seconds, kneeling on the pavement next to his alarmingly still body. His arms were bent at angles that made her stomach turn. There were times, usually when something was very wrong, when Raven's powers came fluidly, outside of her ability to summon or control them. Now was one of those times; instinct born of desperation was flooding her body. Praying to all the gods she knew, Raven enveloped them both in dark energy.

Thank you so much for reading, please review, etc. etc.

xxxx