Robin sat quietly on the chair, reading a martial arts magazine, aptly named "Modern Martial Arts". He scrunched his nose as he flipped the pages, until finally, with a snort of disgust, he tossed it aside. Starfire was also sitting nearby in a rocking chair, reading a science journal. She looked up just as the magazine plopped on floor.

"Your magazine, it does not please you?" She asked.

He shook his head.

"Whoever publishes it has no clue. They're a bunch of wannabe amateurs, posers."

The princess giggled.

"My boyfriend, you have trained with the True Master. Any normal martial artist is a 'wannabe' when compared to you."

Robin smiled.

"You know what I like about you Star? You know just the right thing to say."

The princess returned his smile.

"I was under the impression that you like me because I can conjure starbolts and because I am very strong."

Robin snickered, remembering the time they were stranded on the alien world with the strange sonic monster. A lot had changed since then … especially since he finally admitted to Starfire, to himself and in fact to the whole world that he was in love with the Princess from Tamaran.

He had almost lost her because he was so pig headed and stubborn. He took her for granted, that she would wait for him until he was ready. That was unbelievably foolish of him and it only was out of sheer luck that he didn't blow it and lose her forever.

He looked at the bed with the headboard that looked like a hood. A young gray woman was asleep in it, and unlike with him, lady luck had not smiled upon her. She waited too long … and lost. Starfire noticed that he was looking at Raven.

"Robin, what is going to happen with our team?"

"I don't know … I just know that Raven and Rachel don't get along … I don't think they'll ever get along."

"It is unfortunate that she was not honest with her beloved."

Robin dropped his head.

"I'm no one to criticize her … I could have lost you, had someone else come along while I was being an idiot."

The princess cupped his face in her palm.

"Robin, you could never lose me."

The teen wonder took her hand and kissed her palm. Sometimes he couldn't believe how lucky he was. When his parents died he was adopted by a billionaire, and became the Dark Knight's original side kick (Babs recently told him that Bruce was training a replacement for him, a young boy named Jason Todd, and that Bruce would soon be telling him that he could no longer be Robin). He established his independence and founded at team of adolescent super heroes. But the biggest feather in his cap was that he, a circus brat, had a genuine, bona fide princess as a girl friend. And it was even better than that … Starfire was the most wonderful girl in the world, if not the whole damn universe … and she was his girl.

He looked back at Raven's still sleeping form, and he felt his heart break. Raven was a dear friend … he sometimes wondered that if he had never met Starfire, that maybe there might have been something more between them than just friendship … who was he kidding? Robin loved Raven … just not as much as he loved Starfire.

Raven was in a no win situation and Robin felt for his friend. In so many ways they were so much alike: dark, brooding, emotion hiding, unapproachable. And yet she lost her love to another while he did not, and it was all because of luck. Luck which he felt he didn't deserve.

He looked back at his girlfriend. She was so devoted to him and he knew that he didn't deserve it. It was one of the reasons he originally balked at moving forward in their relationship. He simply felt … unworthy.

Robin had a sudden revelation. He and Starfire had been a couple for years, ever since he came to his senses when they were in Tokyo. Things moved slowly again after that, and it was at Starfire's insistence that they became physically intimate, and at his insistence that was kept a secret.

Seeing his dark friend who was wallowing in her loss made him realize that he was making the same mistake, all over again.

"Star?"

"Yes, my beloved."

"I've been thinking …"

"Yes, I know, you do he thinking a lot. What are you thinking about? Where Slade ran off to after abandoning his lair on Santa Angelina Island?"

He smiled and kissed her hand again.

"No, I wasn't thinking about Slade … I was thinking about us, about our future."

Her eyes became heart shaped.

"You were?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I was."

"And what kind of future were you thinking about?"

"Well … one where we're always together."

"Yes?" She inquired anxiously.

"Where we share everything."

"Yes? What else? Is it a future where will have our own bumgorphs?"

He gulped.

"I hadn't thought of that … but yes … Star … what I'm trying to say is …"

He paused again, swallowing hard.

"Oh for Azar's sake, just tell her you want to marry her!"

Robin and Starfire did a double take towards the bed, from where a now awake Raven stared back at them.

"What are you waiting for, Boy Blunder?" Raven snapped at him in her signature monotone.

Robin tugged at his collar, but it provided no relief. He then locked eyes with his girlfriend.

"Robin, is Raven correct? Do you really …"

Robin placed his fingers over her lips, gently shushing her.

"Starfire, will you be my wife?"

The princess beamed happily. "Yes! I will!"

"See, it wasn't that hard." Raven chided him. "And after I blew my only chance at happiness, I sure wasn't gonna let you make that same mistake."

Raven sat up in her bed and noticed she was wearing a power cancellation collar.

"Robin, I'm sorry about what happened. There's no excuse for what I did, I acted like a spoiled brat … I promise I'll fix everything."

Robin placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's OK, Cyborg has it all under control … but Raven … what happened?"

She dropped her head, clearly ashamed of what she had done.

"I lost my man to another woman … and yes, I know he was never mine, and not because he didn't want that. I know it's my entire fault, but that doesn't make it easy … I behaved like a child and you know why? It's the same reason why I hated Terra … I thought she was going to take my place, that she was going to replace me … and before you say anything, if anyone can replace me, it's Rachel. She's absolutely right; she's a better Raven than I ever was. I guess she's Raven 2.0 … all the butt kicking and one quarter the bitch."

Starfire gasped. "Raven! Did she really say that?"

"She did, but I had it coming. I said some rather terrible things to her, and I said them because I was jealous … jealous that she could be for Gar what I could never be. It hurt; it hurt a lot, so I lashed out at her, calling her a lab specimen and a bad copy of me. I … I owe her apology. She never asked to be my clone, to have Slade download my memories and personality into her. It must be horrible being her, every time she sees me it's only a painful reminder that she was screwed, that instead of having her own life she inherited someone else's past. And to top it all off, she even tried to be nice to me, at least until I went all Trigon on her … I'm so ashamed of myself."

She choked back a sob.

"I'll pack my things and I'll be out of here by the end of the week."

Robin wiped away a tear from her face with his finger.

"You aren't going anywhere. You're our sister and this is your home. You're staying with us."

"But what about her?"

"I know, we can't just throw her out, but I have an idea."

"You do? What is it?"

"I need to discuss it first with Bumblebee."

"You're sending her to Titans East?"

"No, not that." He said as he reached over and unlocked the power cancellation collar. "I'm sorry we put this on you, it was a necessary precaution. We can discuss the future after dinner, but Raven, you do know that no one can take your place?"

Starfire smiled, remembering hearing similar words on the Tower's rooftop after the incident with Blackfire and the stolen Centaurian moon gem. Sometimes Robin could say the right thing.

Raven wrapped her arms around the teen wonder. "Thank you, friend."

-( scene break )-

Rachel and Beast Boy sat on the Tower's rooftop. It was a breezy day and her long violet hair billowed in the breeze while she fondled the collar the changeling had just removed from her neck.

"So we brought down the roof over the common room, and destroyed everything in it … oh Gar … I'll never be able to show my face here again. My short tenure as a Titan is over, I can't believe I allowed myself to be provoked like that, I should know better."

"It's OK, Rach, Cyborg already fixed everything … well … except for the couch, he had to special order a replacement, it won't be ready for six weeks."

"I behaved disgracefully; I should resign my commission as a Titan."

"Don't be silly, Rach."

"Silly? Gar, we could have hurt you! We were fighting like a couple of high school girls over a crush, except that we have terrifying superpowers. Gar, I lost all control, all I felt was rage. What if I had killed you by accident?"

"Did you say 'Rage'?"

She slapped her forehead.

"Oh Azar, I'm more like her than I thought. And yes, I know I never met Azar, but I do remember her from Raven's childhood memories."

"You are different from her."

"That's what I've been telling myself, to justify keeping you for myself … but now … now I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe I should give you back to her."

Beast Boy snorted. "Hey, I'm not a football."

"I'm sorry, that's not what I meant, what I'm saying is that when all is said and done, I'm just a copy and I should step aside."

He shook his head.

"No, you're not just like her … Rach … you were never ashamed of me … you never put me down or made fun of me. You've never told me I'm stupid …"

"Actually … I did."

"You were, joking … but you know what I mean … she'd go out of her way to make me feel stupid, like I was dumb … what did I ever see in her?"

She placed her hands on his shoulders.

"She wasn't ashamed of you, she was ashamed of herself. She pushed you away because she thought she didn't deserve you … Gar … when I still thought I was Raven and when I confessed to you … I felt dirty, unworthy of you. Learning that I wasn't her, it was such a relief. Sure, finding out that I was her clone put a damper on that self discovery, but once I accepted who I was it was such a relief, and then I was ready to get close to you. But now, I'm not sure about anything anymore, well, except that I love you."

"Then what's the problem?" He asked.

"The problem is that once again I don't know who I am. She said that I was just a doll, and … maybe she's right, maybe I'm nothing more than a Raven doll, pull the string on my back and I'll say that I love you."

"That's a lie! You aren't a doll, you're a person!"

"Who happens to be just like Raven."

"So you're her twin sister."

"I'm not her twin. Take away all her memories from me and what do you have left? Nothing! Just a blank slate."

"Rachel, why are you doing this?"

"Because Gar, it's Raven whom you love, everything you love about me was copied from her."

"No Rachel, you're wrong. You're better than her."

"I wish."

The changeling shouted in exasperation.

"Is that what you really want!? You want me to dump you and go back to a woman who has never shown me any respect or love? A psychotic woman who can't even kiss me because she might lose control of the demon inside her? Why? Just because she's the 'original' Raven? You listen to me! I love you Rachel Roth, and not because you're a better version of Raven, because you're not, I love you because you're you!"

The gray girl lunged and wrapped her arms around her lover.

"I love you, too." She whimpered.

The two lovers remained in tender embrace until their communicators chirped. Beast Boy flipped his open. Robin's face appeared on the screen.

"Dinner's ready, I had it catered, nothing from Cyborg's cookbook, so it should be vegetarian friendly for you guys. And after we eat, we have to talk about what happened. Robin out."

-( scene break )-

OK, I'm going to stop here so I can post this before it gets late again. Also, I hope you RobStar fans enjoyed the proposal.

And this time ... the mailbag is back.

Anon

So wait Starfire and Beastboy both basically told Raven, that Rachel is like her only better?! That's so mean, I feel hurt for her. Update soon please.

Not exactly. Star did tell Raven that she should let Beast Boy go, but only Rachel actually said that she was a better Raven

Titan18Gamble

Wow. Slade, that was quite the number you did on them. Amazing job.

Even though he didn't win, as usual, Slade left his mark.

Curse you Perry the Platypus

NO mail bag!

My apologies, my liege!

Rosalind du Coudray

At this point, if I were Raven, I would just leave! She's like a stranger in her own house. :( I really wish Raven and BB would be together haha! Keep it going! Can't wait for the next update!

Well, Raven was going to leave, but Robin would never hear if it!

The Nightrage Beast

Raven does double leg takedown, IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE! Though I got a bad feeling Raven will be in it for the worse and Gar gotta do a mercy killing on her like Wolverine did to Jean Grey.

I don't think BB could do that.

SladeRavenFan

Awww, poor Raven. I hate that clone, she stole her boyfriend, has her looks, and wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Raven. Please say Slade has some sort of plan to do with Rachel making Raven feel low, then making her fall against the team because Rachel's evil. C'mon, don't you hate her? And can't one Titan try to really understand the pain Raven's going through? Cy? Robin?

Robin can understand, he and Raven have a lot in common.

bluedog197

Now that's what i call a battle to the death. best chapter yet lol might as well get terra in this fight well anywho great work hope to see more of this and fluffyness

I have been accused of bringing Terra into stories where she has no business, but in this story all she gets is a flash back in Raven's bathroom.

The Cretin

Well thought out drama. I have to wonder the long term effects. A clone can be unstable. Hope Gar isn't setting himself up to shoot himself in the foot. I understand Raven's anger she should've kept control. Rachel likewise is becoming brazen. Trigon Spawn...she's gonna learn quickly that those are "fightin words". Though she can't help how she was created, she best be careful. 3 weeks is not 5years. I'd say the Titans (except maybe BB) would take the original's side should circumstances allow.

Kudos on an original, interesting, and intriguing storyline. Can't wait to read more. Hope you are well. Keep rockin

Thanks, and as I shared with you in private, a spoiler: Rachel won't deteriorate or die prematurely.

Dezarulordoftwilight

Wow, I guess both of them are bee-otches rach insults rave rave insults rach, I'm not sure who to side with hear, its got me all sad and confused. But this is a great chapter and I really liked it, even though it was kind of sad.

Well, they both want the same guy and feel they are entitled to him.

FelynxTiger

no, no , no nononononono no noNOOOO ahhhhhhh why?! noooo Ravennnn! TT , Don't worry Rae, We still love you -n-)/

nice cat fight btw

Poor Raven, I'm being so mean to her in this story. Someone mentioned in review that maybe polygamy is the answer. I don't think the ladies would be open to that (I did once have BB married to Star and an OC in Beast Boy's gambit). Still I am curious as to what the readers think of that (BB being with both of them)

Jason9000

Hm...why am I getting this vibe that this clone isn't going to live long? Not from Raven killing her per say, but because she wasn't "built" to live a full life by Slade. I wouldn't be surprised if her entire structure starts to fall apart after some internal clock hits its limit.

Nope, as I already spoiled above, Slade built Rachel to last.

gabylokita41

Wow that was awesome i can just imagine them fighting haha thatd be an awesome sight

LOL. Robin had to stop them or they would have flattened the Tower.

nicolemda

I think that raven gets so fed up (sorry for the bad spelling) that she goes and teams up with slade out of anger.

Now that's wicked!

MelonLord28

Yeah cat fight, Whoo! A little raven on raven action. I don't presume the characters motivations, but I'd say Rachel being essentially a raven willing to put out probably didn't hurt her and BBs chances, at best.

Actually, Rachel isn't a slut. She does love BB.

MickChick125

So who does Robin think won? I MUST KNOW!

Why Raven, of course!

discb

Lmao

I live to entertain!

titanfan45

Great job on Raven and Starfire's conversation. Poor raven, she owes Slade big time for all of this trouble in her life. Great cat fight. I can't envision that there will ever be any sisterly love between those two.

You never know, they might reconcile in the end. Or maybe not.