Hey again! I've gotta say, it's truly been a blast working on this story ^^ And reading all of your overwhelmingly nice comments are seriously making me blush!

I hope this chapter is also to your liking, because now is when my real plot really begins ;) There's going to be more actual episode analysis here! But I'm hoping I can lay off of it after the next two chapters or so. Background information like the episodes is really fun to work with...but in the end, the real fun is in creating your own pure story ^^ So look forward to that!

Here we goooo.

I remember the first time I thought of Raven as someone who could make a good partner – a special partner, you know what I mean…just not mine. Not then.

That was also the first time her powers stopped obeying her since the fall of Trigon.

…

It was early sunset, and the sky was so yellow that the sun appeared white in comparison. I wasn't in any condition to pay attention to this, though.

"Beast Boy!" I yelled. "My communicator's ringing! Answer it for me!" The little tune beeped from my pocket as I narrowly dodged a huge, metal arm. The ground shook violently as the iron monster trampled after me.

It was another one of the Brotherhood of Evil's giant robot minions, sent to destroy young superheroes. The organization consisted of almost every villain we'd ever faced and aimed to annihilate those with supernatural abilities before they could become potential threats. Beastboy and I had found this robot in a canyon, stopping it before it could reach its intended target – and Raven happened to call me in the middle of our battle.

The Teen Titans theme continued to buzz endlessly from my communicator as I flipped and dived away from my enemy, who had now begun to shoot red lasers from its arms. Beast Boy, now a T-Rex, suddenly came up from behind and lifted the minion into his jaws as I jumped back to my feet. He bit down hard, but the metal was resilient. In addition, the robot began shooting its lasers into his mouth. The great T-Rex's eyes soon became watery from the pain, and he spat out the metal monster, causing it to skid against the rocky ground.

Beast Boy retreated back some 15 feet before returning to his human form, and he tenderly rubbed his tooth. "Owww…" he groaned as the robot stood back up and began to fire at me again, "What is that thing made of?"

"Never mind that!" I shouted as I ducked away from a laser beam, which had come so close to me that I could feel its heat. "My communicator! Answer it!" It was still ringing.

Before Beast Boy could reply, I whipped the circular device out of my pocket, hurling it towards him as the robot threw its arms towards me. I jumped away before it could trap me within its grasp, however, barely having enough time to glance back at Beast Boy. He'd caught the communicator and appeared to be grinning at it.

"Robin's communicator," said the changeling, in an obnoxious tone that I knew was meant only for Raven. I couldn't hear much from the distance as I continued to dodge the rampaging robot, but it seemed like he said something along the lines of "Um, he's busy right now…"

Dashing behind the metal monster as it fired some more lasers, I grabbed my bo-staff from another pocket. As soon as the steel rod elongated, I leapt into the air, kicking off of one of the robot's arms to lift myself higher. When I was close enough to see its face, I whacked the enemy square in the head. The clang of metal echoed loudly throughout the canyon. The robot reeled backwards, partially disoriented by the blow. This was my chance to strike.

Right as I pulled out a disc grenade, however, the sound of Beast Boy's carefree voice diverted my attention. "HEY ROBIN! Raven says she doesn't want to look after those kids!"

"What?" I yelled back as the robot regained focus and grabbed hold of my staff, yanking it from my hands. Scowling, I threw the disc grenade towards the arm that had taken my weapon. As it exploded, the robot's fingers loosened their grip, and the staff clattered back to the ground.

"Raven told me to tell you she doesn't babysit!" Beast Boy yelled even louder as I snatched my staff swiftly from the ground.

I groaned loudly out of my irritation. "TELL HER SHE HAS TO!" I barely had time to finish my sentence as the robot began to fire missiles from its back. The bullets cracked open the ground all around me as the deafening explosions filled the air. I was narrowly escaping instant death, and Raven wanted to call me to complain about babysitting?

"Robin says you have to," Beastboy replied simply to Raven. He was still standing a good 15 to 20 feet away. He finally stopped chatting when the robot decided to fire a missile in his direction. Making a sound similar to "Doh!," he finally closed my communicator and rejoined the battle.

O/O

Beast Boy and I sat down upon some boulders, trying catching our breaths while examining the ruins of the robot in front of us. We'd finally managed to pin the thing down after I'd disabled its limbs after attaching disc grenades on all of them. Beast Boy was the one who ended up tearing off its head, in the form of a grizzly bear.

"Aw, shoot…" I finally realized that a small piece of shrapnel was wedged in my forearm. I winced as I pulled it out, and blood began seeping from the wound.

"Dude Robin, are you okay?" Beast Boy watched me worriedly, his eyes wide as I pulled out a pocket first-aid kit.

"I'm alright. It's just a little wound," I replied casually, cleaning off the area with a small sterile cloth. As I began to unroll some bandages, I added, "Can you go see where the next target is?"

I'd logged the areas where the Brotherhood of Evil had sent their minions to attack in my communicator. After handing it over to Beast Boy, I continued to tend to my injury as he read through the notes. "Uhhh, the closest one is about 180 miles from here. We can actually stay in the same country for a change," he replied.

"And how many enemies are there supposed to be this time?"

"3. Or maybe 4…I think." Beast Boy squinted at the small screen for a better look.

"3 or 4?" I repeated in alarm. "If they're all going to be like this one…" I motioned towards the dead robot ahead. "We'll need backup. Call Raven. She should be done taking the kids to the temple by now."

"Okay!" Beast Boy responded cheerily. He'd probably gotten bored of being stuck around me this mission. Though I didn't think much about it, it's not like I was trying to be boring on purpose…It's just that I don't really pay attention when he's telling jokes.

The communicator beeped, indicating that a successful connection had been made. I glanced over while wrapping the bandages around my arm. Raven's face had appeared on the screen, her bright eyes looking very surprisingly…cheerful. "Raven, is everyone safe?" Beast Boy asked her.

"Yeah, we're all fine," she replied, smiling. I raised an eyebrow.

"Good!" Beast Boy grinned. "'Cause Robin needs you right away for another mission!"

Raven's face was suddenly twisted with worry. "I can't. I've gotta watch the kids!"

Beast Boy and I stared at each other as my communicator began to pick up a conversion between her and the children she'd just escorted. "Raven, it's okay!" said a young, innocent voice. "You can go. Your friends need you."

Raven seemed to forget that her communicator was still on. She was still holding it, but the camera was focused on some random patch in the ground. "But what if the Brotherhood of Evil comes back?" she asked, with almost motherly concern. "I can't just leave you kids all alone!"

"Dude…" Beast Boy whispered to me before losing himself in a fit of snickers. "I'll never let her live this down!"

For some reason, I'd already gotten over the shock. I was actually smiling to myself as I listened. "We're not alone!" the childish voice replied again. "Bobby's here. And we've got each other."

"And you've got me." With that last sentence, Raven finally closed her communicator, disconnecting it. She'd probably just given it to the kids to keep.

Beast Boy was slapping his knee with a hand by now. "Oh, man! I didn't see that coming. And she said she doesn't do babysitting."

I simply smiled smugly as I finished securing my bandages. "Told ya I wasn't crazy for assigning her that mission," I remarked.

"Really?" Beast Boy asked incredulously. "I thought she was going to kill the kids before the Brotherhood of Evil does!"

"Nah, she'd never hate them that much." I took my communicator back, wiping off the screen before putting it away. "I told her to look after them for a reason. Aside from the fact that she can make force fields more powerful than our whole team, she'll protect anyone who needs it. She says she's not a people person, but I know it means a lot to her when they care." Beast Boy began to watch me curiously. "The kids were probably annoying, but they liked her sincerely," I continued casually. "So she liked them back. She's honestly a kind person, if you think about it."

"Not to me!" Beast Boy piped in, frowning. "She insults me all the time! I thought it'd be even worse with kids! How come she's nice to them?" He suddenly paused. "And how come she's always nice to you?"

I was taken aback for a moment. Quickly composing myself, however, I logically replied, "You know she cares about all of us, Beast Boy. It's just that no one else in the team tries to annoy her like you."

"Humph." Beast Boy leaned over on an elbow, his face still frowning a little.

O/O

It was late night when Raven finally appeared to us in a flurry of dark energy. Since she'd teleported, she appeared to materialize out of thin air and nearly scared us to death.

"Dude!" Beast Boy yelled, jumping back. "A little warning next time?"

"Get used to it already," Raven sighed, rolling her eyes as she pulled back her hood. She turned to me. "So what's the mission?"

"We're just going to take down some more Brotherhood minions," I answered.

Before I could say another word, Raven pointed sharply at my arm, which stood out because of its thick white bandages. "What happened?"

"Oh, I just got hit by some shrapnel a while ago, and…"

She was already standing right in front of me. "Here, let me see it." She gently lifted my arm and cut open the bandages in a single stroke of dark energy.

I could only watch awkwardly as Raven stared intently at my injured arm, hovering a palm over it. Hazy white energy soon engulfed her hand and began to spread over the wound. It felt cool and soothing, and the brightness seemed to illuminate her amethyst eyes. Seeing her face so close, so concerned, so focused…it suddenly made me realize what a caring personality she truly had. Well – I always knew she cared, don't get me wrong. But it somehow felt deeper during that moment.

When Raven withdrew her hand, the wound wasn't completely healed, but it had been reduced to more of a large paper cut. "Wow," I remarked, turning my forearm back and forth. "Thanks!"

Raven began to smile, opening her mouth to speak, but Beast Boy beat her to it. "What about me?" he declared, throwing his arms up.

She turned sharply to him, narrowing her eyebrows. "How am I supposed to heal you if there's nothing to heal?"

"There is too!" insisted the changeling, pointing to one of his canine teeth. "My favorite tooth's been aching really bad ever since I tried to bite that robot thing, and I think it's starting to become loose! Do you have any idea how bad I'd look if I lost this tooth?"

Raven rolled her eyes again, sighing loudly as she strode over to Beast Boy. She practically slapped a hand over his mouth as the white energy returned. She quickly took it off after a few seconds, wiping it on the fabric of her cloak. "There. All better." Her expression was completely different than before. Full of skepticism, irritation…well, it looked the way she usually looks at Beast Boy.

"Thank you, Raven!" Beast Boy grinned widely to show off his cured teeth.

"Whatever…" she muttered back.

He ignored her cold remarks, as usual. "Man, I'm hungry. Now I can finally eat again! Want one of my tofu burgers, Raven?" he asked, turning towards our T-ship in the distance.

"I think I'll pass…" she replied dully, also as usual.

Raven and I remained standing behind. After a few seconds though, I quickly remembered our mission. "We should probably head back to the ship too. We have to beat the Brotherhood of Evil to the next target," I declared. She nodded as we began to follow our green friend, trailing several feet behind him.

I couldn't it back any longer. "Sooo…" I began. She looked up at me. "I see you've grown pretty close to the kids?"

Raven's cheeks flushed the slightest hint of pink as she quickly lowered her face. "You heard that?" she asked softly. She relaxed a little when she noticed me smiling, however. "Well…yeah, I guess I kind of do like them."

"There's nothing wrong with that!" I stated simply, watching Beast Boy hop into the T-Ship in the distance. "It's good that you care a lot about them. You can heal and take care of people, and protect them too. You'd do great if you had your own family."

Both of us were shocked when we realized what I'd just said. "F-family…?" Raven stuttered, her eyes slightly widening. "Why would I have one of those?"

I stopped wishing that I hadn't brought up the topic for a moment. Why did Raven look so bewildered? "Isn't that what most people want?" I asked, my face turning puzzled. "To find someone special and have a family?" I thought for a moment, not noticing how Raven was trying so hard to hide her face from me. "Or at least, most people want to find someone to settle down with. You told me once that you thought you felt that way…when you met Malchior…so I thought…" I slapped myself hard in the forehead when she suddenly stared at the ground. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring that up."

Raven quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing. I just…didn't think I'd actually…with someone..." A strange shadow suddenly came over her eyes.

Her response confused me. I knew that she would only talk to me about these things since I usually understood her…but even I was lost this time. "With someone?" I asked casually. "What do you mean? You've never thought about being with someone? You'd…" You'd make a good partner. I stopped myself from saying it out loud. I had no idea why I was even talking to Raven of all people about these things. Maybe it was because there was really no one else to talk to at the moment. Maybe it was the way she'd looked at me so tenderly while healing my arm. Maybe it was because I couldn't figure out why she suddenly looked so…somber.

"No. There's no reason to think about that," Raven dismissed, still staring at the ground as we reached the T-ship. "Not for me. Not going to happen." She stepped ahead of me and opened the door before I could question her again. She then turned to me one last time, her face looking more indifferent than ever. "Robin, this is awkward. Go back to hating on the Brotherhood of Evil."

I would've laughed and agreed, had the door Raven was holding onto not suddenly become engulfed with dark energy. Confused at my alarmed expression, she didn't realize what was happening until she turned back around. She gave a small, shocked gasp as she jumped backwards, watching in horror as the glass crackled beneath her own power. I instinctively started asking Raven what on earth she was doing, but it was clear that she had no idea either. She could only continue to watch in terror, her hands shaking as the black energy tore the door straight off the ship. It continued to break apart and further distort itself on the ground, and by the time the energy finally faded away, the door was nothing but a giant pile of debris.

"Raven…?" I asked cautiously. She didn't seem to hear me, staring instead at the ruined door as if it were alive. Her eyes were panicked, and her breathing was uneven and shallow.

Beast Boy came running out from inside the ship, a half-eaten tofu burger still in his hand. "DUDE!" He yelled. "What was that? Did the Brotherhood of Evil find us?"

Raven couldn't find any words to reply. I knew it was better to keep Beast Boy calm in this sort of situation. "Uh – yeah, it turns out they planted some kind of complicated tracking device inside that door," I told him. "Raven just took care of it, though." After thinking about it for a split second, I quickly added, "It was hard too hard to pry it off the door, so she just destroyed the whole thing."

"Wow." Beast Boy stared at the hunk of glass and metal on the ground. "I can't believe they even managed to get to our T-ship. They just don't stop at anything, do they?" He shook his head.

"Yeah, I can't believe it either…" I carefully watched Raven as I spoke, who had pulled her hood down far over her eyes. "Well, we're just going to have to fly without that door. Raven can use Starfire's compartment for now. We still need to continue our mission. Let's go."

Beast Boy agreed without protest, his anger at the Brotherhood of Evil having been provoked again. I waited until he had disappeared back inside the ship, then slowly approached Raven again. Her back was turned to me, but she heard me coming. "Robin…I don't know what…I…how…?" She stared down at her hands.

"Raven. It's okay," I reassured her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "We've all been pretty stressed about this whole Brotherhood of Evil thing, and you've probably had less time to meditate – especially with those kids around. You should rest. Beast Boy and I can steer the ship."

She still looked frightened, but her face became hardened with furious determination. "It won't happen again." With that, she stepped into Starfire's compartment and immediately crossed her legs, closing her eyes as her thumbs and index fingers made rings. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"

Raven meditated the whole trip to our next mission. And as she promised, her powers stayed put.

…For a while.