A/N: Finally I finished this chappie and I feel...OK...about it. It's not an amazing chappie but I don't feel like it's a crap chappie either.

BTW, sorry for taking so long in putting this up, the summer has been a bit hectic and all so I've been a tad distracted.

Oh, yea, warnings:

-Characters are a bit OOC here (espesh Raven, man she is one tough cookie to write...but Cyborg is also hard to write, so yea) but I did my best! :GRIN:

-This chappie is VERY dialogue centred and not like the previous chappie's where they have been uber detailed, but I hope that you guys don't mind...this was a fun chappie to write!

So enjoy it and review, yea?

Chapter 7

"Well, well, well…look-y here." Vic grinned maniacally, shoving a magazine under her nose, "Look what we've got here."

Raven frowned for a moment before setting her cup of tea down to take a look at the magazine that he had been reading. It was JumpGirl, the newest issue up-to-date and it was currently opened at the gossip section of the magazine and it wasn't even just the gossip section—her brows rose as she continued to read—it was the section which welcomed comments from their readers. This was all done in typical teenage girl fashion, of course, with crude comments and brightly coloured panels but, not in typical teenage girl fashion, this month it featured a couple of photos of Beast Boy hugging her fiercely accompanied by a questioning headline.

"Beast Boy and Raven: Just friends…or something more?" Garfield read from over her shoulder, "Whoa! Check out how many comments there are, baby doll!"

Raven scowled, "This has been going on all week. Do people have nothing better to do?"

"Apparently not." Vic grinned and pointed to the caption that went with the photographs, "Though there hasn't been anything official from two of Jump City's superheroes, last week's fire showed us that Beast Boy cares a lot for his mysterious team mate and—this had us all surprised too!—she seems to share the love too by the way that this particular Titan, known for her cold demeanour and her indifference to others, is letting him hug her. How cute! So JumpGirls, what do you think? Are they just friends or are they something more?" He chuckled, "That is the funniest paragraph I have ever read."

"Ha ha." She rolled her eyes, "This is just pathetically idiotic. Why the hell would anyone care if I was dating Gar or not?"

Garfield pointed at a comment and read it aloud, "This girl seems to care; Well, duh! Of course they're dating! Just look at how he's holding her and how she practically melted in his arms. I mean, if they're not dating, they totally should...it would be the sweetest thing ever and we'd have another Titan couple alongside with Nightwing and Starfire. Go BBRae!" He grinned, amusement hitting his lips, "Well, she seems to be supportive. That's cool to know."

"Melted?" She gasped in horror, "Melted? I did not melt in your arms, Garfield Logan." Raven glowered at Vic and Gar's snickering faces, "And what is this 'BBRae' nonsense?"

Vic guffawed in his seat at the table, "Chill, Raven, at least she supports your relationship. Check this one out." His finger circled another comment and she looked at it closer.

"Ew! No way! I mean they're complete opposites to each other." She paused for a while before continuing to read it out loud, "I mean, he's way too hot for her and she's way too emo for him. He was probably just being nice to her, you know, since she's all creepy and gothic-like. She's probably hella ugly since she never shows her face to anyone coz its always hidden by her hood…the way I heard it, she has, like, four eyes or something and red marks all over her face, so why the hell would someone like Beast Boy date her!? He should date me!" Raven bit the inside of her mouth and felt an incredulous expression come to her face, "Looks like I have a rival." She stated dryly, "No, seriously, why don't you date her instead?"

"Looks like someone's jealous." Garfield teased, poking her shoulder for more emphasis, "I mean I totally get why she digs me…I'm totally hot. The ears, y'know?" He waggled his ears for her to see.

She rolled her eyes, pursing her lips at how crude the comment was, remaining silent to his teasing. She noted that even though Vic was laughing alongside with Garfield, he had one eye on her as if he was waiting and analysing how she was going to react to a comment made by Garfield about her potential jealousy and she was glad that she was good at remaining calm and complacent because—admittedly—she was feeling a tiny bit jealous that someone other than her had been paying attention to him, even if she was only paying attention to his super hero persona.

"I'm sure." She said with some satisfaction as Garfield's jaw dropped at the lack of reaction.

He pouted at her before it gradually turned into a fully fledged grin, "I wouldn't date her anyway." He kissed her hastily on the cheek, and she scowled in surprise, feeling the heat come to her cheeks, "I only date girls who have four eyes and marks all over their faces and I'm pretty sure she only has two eyes and normal skin."

"Sweet." Raven stated wryly before turning to look at Vic square in the eye, "Why are you even reading this junk anyway? Don't you have something better to do?"

He chuckled nervously at her question, "I can explain." She raised her brow incredulously, "Remember that photo shoot Kori had last week?"

Raven and Garfield nodded simultaneously, not really sure where this question was going. Vic, on the other hand, flicked through a couple of pages before pausing at the featured clothes section which had a couple of girls frolicking in snow while wearing jumpers, scarves, bobble hats, boots and some even wore knitted mini dresses.

"Your point?" Raven asked, not really understanding why he was pointing at one of the girls.

"C'mon now, Raven, look closer…she doesn't look that different." Vic sighed in exasperation.

She looked at the pictures closely, scrutinising the model that was pointed out to her and was surprised—though extremely pleased—to find that it was Kori amongst the other models, and she was also surprised because she hadn't caught on to the fact that it was Kori earlier on. Vic was right, she didn't look that different…in fact, you could say that apart from her eyes—which, if she wasn't mistaken, Kori was wearing specially made contacts so that only her irises were a peridot green and the outer parts white like a normal human being's—and the fact that she wasn't in uniform, she looked exactly like she did around the tower. The upper part of her flowing, auburn ringlets was stuffed in off-white bobble hat, her curvaceous body wrapped in a matching knitted mini dress which offset her golden-bronze skin and her feet were snuggled in a pair of Ugg boots…Raven realised that she looked extraordinarily happy, as if she was genuinely playing in the snow with a couple of friends and it surprised her because Raven knew that earlier on in the day, Kori was not smiling as brilliantly as she was smiling in the magazine.

"Kori." Gar gasped, "Wow…she looks kinda hot."

"BB!" Vic exclaimed, punching him playfully on the shoulder…or at least it looked playful to Raven, she was never sure when it came to guys…

"What!?" Gar asked cluelessly.

Vic sighed, "Man, your girlfriend's right in front of ya and you're tellin' her that her best friend's hot? Either you're really stupid or…oh, wait…no…I take that back…there is no 'or'; you're just a really stupid green bean, aren't ya?"

"I'm not stupid…Raven knows that there's no one compared to her…don't you, baby doll?" He nudged her.

"Hmmmm…" She rolled her eyes in reply.

"See?" Garfied sing-songed.

Vic laughed, "See what? That 'hmmmm' could've been anythin'!"

"You're just saying that coz you know that if you said that in front of Jinx, she would've beaten you up on the spot!" Garfield exclaimed triumphantly, pointing at him for more emphasis.

"No way man, she so would not. She ain't like that!"

"Would so!"

"Would not!"

"Would so!"

"Would n—!"

She interrupted them by slamming the magazine down on the table harshly, causing the dining table to vibrate softly, silencing them in an instant, "Will you two please shut up? Does it really matter if I cared or not what he thought?" She asked, blatantly referring to Garfield, "Though I do agree with him, Kori looks extremely attractive in these pages. She looks slightly odd though, doesn't she? Like she's out of place or something?"

"Well…she is a 6'4" Tamaranian princess with skin so golden bronze that it totally kicks the asses of those girls in the fake tan commercials, hair so perfectly auburn and curly that it would seem unachievable with a normal curling tong and a body to rival those girls in the Victoria's Secret fashion show. She also makes those other girls look hella fat and ugly and we all know that they're not fat or ugly at all…so, yea, of course she looks kinda out of place." Garfield spouted suddenly, earning incredulous looks from both Raven and Vic, "What now!?"

Raven bit her lip, exchanging a meaningful look with Vic and sighed, "As much as I appreciate your well thought out elaboration…well…that was a bit too much." A small smirk graced her lips, "Because…comments like those do make me wonder why I'm still in a relationship with you."

"HA! You just got burned!" Vic laughed, "Man, your relationship is way better than cable." His laughter grew even more under the not-so-amused gaze of Raven, "It's like watchin' one of those girly soap operas."

"Oh." She leered at him, "So you watch girly soap operas, Vic? I never knew." Raven traced the corner of her lips with her finger slowly, emphasising the sneer on her face, "I'll make sure to tell Kori that someone apart from her watches Gossip Girl."

"Ya know I don't watch those shows, Raven!" Vic complained in exasperation.

"I'm sure." She stated monotonously, pausing to take a sip out of her porcelain cup while flicking through the pages to look at the sections that Kori was in, "I remember she couldn't stop talking about the photo shoot for quite a while." Her voice dropped lower, so low that she wasn't even sure that even Garfield was capable of picking it up, "I'm glad that she found some fun in the Dick's absence. She deserves it."

If the other two had heard her, they did not give any outward sign, especially Garfield, despite his animalistic hearing. She continued to look at the images in the magazine, smiling softly at Kori's deliciously happy figure and wondered if Kori had once more found somewhere she thought that she belonged amongst all those skinny, beautiful and extraordinarily photogenic women, if she had found somewhere she fit in not because of her unique powers and their uses against the forces of—as much as she hated calling it this particular word because of how clichéd and corny it sounded, but she knew that there really wasn't any other word that could describe it—evil, but because of her appearance; her exotic, statuesque and exceptionally beautiful appearance from being a descendent of the Tamaranian race. Every member of the Teen Titans had…unique…physical features of course, but they never seemed to match the ones that she possessed and Raven knew that at times Kori felt too tall, or too voluptuous, or too muscular, or too…there were too many things that Kori felt 'too' of and it was ironic that on some occasions Raven had the opportunity of feelings Kori's jealousy and it was directed at her, at how—in these circumstances—she looked marginally normal compared to the Tamaranian. So, naturally, Raven felt glad that she had found girls who were equally as beautiful—well…almost as beautiful—equally as tall, equally as long-legged and equally capable of causing traffic with a mere smile.

Raven paused her thoughts as she swallowed the last of her tea—camomile today—and continued to listen to Vic and Garfield bicker about the merits and shortcomings of watching trashy TV; they both agreed that it was a good way to relax though they disagreed on it's educational values as Vic claimed that TV, despite how good it is, was only ever educational when it came to documentaries and news and yet Garfield claimed that you could watch anything—say, a sci-fi show, for example—and get some moralistic significance from it. However the statements were never said in those exact words because, sometimes, she wondered whether or not Garfield ever had any words in his vocabulary that contained more than three syllables in them.

"So…" she cocked a brow at the pair, a smile playing on her lips, "as enthralling as your conversation about trashy TV is, does anyone know where Kori is today? The last time I saw her as this morning and now it seems that she is missing. Dick is too." Gar opened his mouth for half a second and she knew that he was going to say something really suggestive regarding the two, so she glared at him and that—quite conveniently—shut him up, "And no, they're not alone in their rooms doing…" she squirmed inwardly, trying to cool down her hot cheeks, "whatever it is they do alone because I would've had headaches when I passed either one of their rooms and my head is perfectly fine, thank you very much."

"Didn't she say that she had some other photo shoot today? I think JumpGIrl wanted her for another issue." Vic said solidly.

"Oh…" Raven bit her lip unconsciously, "right. Didn't she just have a photo shoot yesterday?"

Vic nodded absently and started to pick at his sausages, "Um, yea, I think so. I think it was some fake tan company that wanted her for their ad or somethin'. God knows Kori looks like she lives in L.A 24/7."

"Ooooo…" Gar cooed in his seat, taking the magazine from her hands greedily, "Kori told me that she's got another photo shoot for some clothes catalogue the day after tomorrow. She was all hyped up bout how many clothes she was gonna try on and she said that the company told her that she could keep some of the clothes." He rolled his eyes, "Dude, I still don't understand girls' obsession with clothes…I mean how many pairs of the same style skirt could you possibly have?"

"Never mind girls and their obsessions." She waved her hands absently in a shooing motion, "That means that she's had three photo shoots this week. Isn't that a bit much though?" She questioned, her tone clearly worried, "I mean, now that she had a job, isn't it going to affect the way she fights? She doesn't seem to be tired now but gradually it's going to take its toll isn't it?"

"Nah, girl can take care of herself. I mean, Dick'll make sure she doesn't outdo herself and shit. That's probably why he went with her to the photo shoot today." Vic shrugged though Raven could sense pride under the thickly laid casualness; pride that Kori was capable of standing on her own two feet and being so successful at it.

Raven bit her lower lip, causing it to sting ever so slightly and as her lower lip started to swell with the pain, she felt her own feelings of pride swell up. Kori was a foreigner to this planet—still is, as a matter of fact—and her first few years living on Earth were filled with embarrassing mistakes and hardships caused by misunderstanding the culture here on Earth and now she was actually making a living separate from the income that came with being the guardians of Jump City and though—Raven knew indefinitely—the income wasn't too good and her jobs were small, she knew that Kori—being Kori—would eventually find a way to charm herself to the hearts of everyone in the modelling industry and would, eventually, become successful in her right; it would be a crime to look like that and not be a successful model.

"Ha! As if!" Garfield made a face to no one in particular, "Dick only went to death-glare at anyone who looks at Kori for more than two seconds…which probably would be everybody. There's gonna be more casualties at the photo shoot set than at any of our other missions." He did a weak imitation of Dick's 'death-glare' causing Vic to howl with laughter and Raven's brow to rise questioningly, "Y'know he hates the whole modelling thing, thinks it's a complete waste of time but he doesn't have the heart to tell Kori coz she loves it so much."

"Nah, he doesn't hate the whole biz, he's jus' jealous that there are gonna be male models that are better lookin' than him, man."

Garfield snorted dubiously, "Yea, right. God knows how many times Dick Grayson has gotten into the lists of most eligible bachelors. The dude is in there like every frickin' year."

"Well, so what? Roy Harper—y'know…Oliver Queen's ward?—gets in every year too and he's like the ugliest guy in the world." Vic scoffed.

"Ugly!? Dude, if I was a girl, I would totally do him!" Garfield challenged his best friend, a fist clenched tightly in front of him, "You're just jealous that every year those guys who get on that list get to take photos with the hottest models around and I bet you every single one of those models always gives their numbers to those dudes."

Raven shifted uneasily in her seat at the direction the conversation was apparently heading; there was nothing marginally threatening about the conversation but for some odd reason, she felt her heart lunge dramatically in a downward motion. It had been going on for the past couple of days—the odd sensation of the clenching of her heart—whenever she thought about Dick and her empathic abilities and her bond seem to feel anxious about touching upon his emotions for what he might be feeling. It was silly, definitely, as there shouldn't be anything there—apart from the usual angst and grief he harboured deep in his heart concerning all his losses—that should make her feel cautious around him but her gut instinct told her that there was something wrong.

Well…

It wasn't wrong, exactly, but it was more…unexpected…she was no fortune teller to predict the future but her intuition about how events would play out usually turned out right and there had only been three occasions up to now that caused her to doubt her intuition; the defeat of Trigon, the defeat—or at least, the dispersion—of the Brotherhood of Evil and the way things would play out between her and Garfield right before they had started dating and so…the fact that her intuition wavered when it came to Dick worried her. The fact that she was wary of this underlying—she scrambled around mentally for the right word—delight instead of glad made her worry.

"No way! I so have a cuter butt than Brad Pitt!" Garfield's comment interjected her thoughts forcibly, causing Raven to sigh both in relief and frustration.

Vic guffawed at the comment, slamming at the table with the amount of force the laughter induced, "You!? A cuter butt than Brad frickin' Pitt!? You wish!" He continued to chortle at her boyfriend's comment, "The only thing uglier than yo face is your frickin' butt!"

"Oh yea!?" Garfield retaliated, "How the hell would you know!? Do you check out people's butts all day or somethin'?"

"No! I know how ugly yo ass is coz it's the only green ass around this place that get's kicked by me every single frickin' day!" Vic stuck a tongue out at his best friend.

Garfield grimaced and reacted by shoving his middle finger in front of Vic's face, "You are such a lil' fuc—!"

"Vic has a point, you know." Raven interjected the crude comment that was just about to come out of his mouth, "And, please, try to refrain from swearing. I mean, I don't have anything against colourful language but it would be nice not to use it against our friends."

"You take all the fun out of life." Garfield pouted.

She rolled her eyes, "I do it for the sanity of others." She drawled, sneaking a peek to glance at the indignant look on his face.

He went on to ramble on about the perks about having such a good-looking comic relief on the team and how they would actually go insane if he wasn't on the team and how lucky they were to have him on the team and yet she didn't interrupt him. The mention of Dick had put such a downer on her spirit and despite how happy Garfield was feeling today, it did not affect her in any way, and if it did, the effect was temporary. It was such a waste, really, being an empath and not even being able to appreciate such an emotion and instead being distracted by an emotion about something that probably didn't even concern her…well…OK…that was a half-lie…it did concern her…but, really, it was his problem and not hers, whatever it was.

And yet...

"Gar…" she started as she realised that his monologue was getting a bit tedious, "can you please do me a favour and get me my spell book in my room? It hasn't got an English title but you'll recognise because its leather bound and the book is black on the outside but the inside of the cover is red. Oh," she pursed her lips before she continued, "it's also got a really intricate engraving of a rose and a sun on the front."

Raven watched carefully for his reaction and was relieved to find him grinning widely, "Sure thing, baby doll. I'll have it down in a sec." His brows suddenly contorted together, causing her to inhale sharply, "What's your password again?"

She sighed in exasperation at how long this was taking and with a single glow of her chakra; she sent her password into his mind.

"Oh…" his mouth seemed to work slower than usual as comprehension settled in, "thanks, baby doll." He leaned in and kissed her quickly to her disgruntlement, "See you in like two secs."

Frowning to herself, she watched as he walked out of the kitchen calmly, whistling to himself idly as he went off on his mission to get a book for her. She let her fingers rake through her hair subconsciously as she tried to gather her thoughts, taking in the peace and quiet that came with Garfield's absence. Raven put her lips to the edge of her tea cup and put it down once more as she realised that she had already finished all the tea that was in that cup.

"Yo, Raven, so what was that all about?" He raised a single dark brow at her curiously.

Raven paused for a while, "He was getting on my nerves."

"Aw, come of it Raven. You get pissed off by him all the time but you never once actually lied to him to get him to piss off." He cocked his head towards the door subtly.

"Well, what makes you say that I was lying?"

He grinned in reply, "If you really did want to read that book, you would've gotten it by yourself. You hate people comin' into your room…especially Gar goin' into your room."

Her instincts immediately told her to deny her lie but then after much consideration, she decided to let it lie between them. Vic was exceptionally perceptive sometimes and she wasn't being too subtle before when she got rid of Garfield a couple of moments ago and so it was all spelled out for him and she knew that any second now his brotherly ways would inevitably kick in and compel him to ask her what was wrong.

She really did want to talk to Vic; it was why she got rid of Garfield after all. Yet she didn't know if she was comfortable enough on approaching the subject that she needed to discuss with him, even if it was important. It was an embarrassing subject, awkward in every way and if she didn't approach the subject properly she would continuously be blackmailed by him…not in a horrible way, of course, just in an annoying way. Well, horrible or not, she didn't like to feel that she was literally owned by someone because of such a subject so she knew that she had to be careful with him.

Raven stood up from her seat and walked towards the kettle, "Do you want some tea?" She offered as she poured some hot water into her cup.

She continued to sprinkle a teaspoonful of camomile tea leaves into her cup and stirred it carefully as she felt his ever-watchful mechanical eye on her back. The fingers on her left hand carefully traced the rim as she counted how many seconds before Vic would interject the silence and reply.

"Nah, I'm fine thanks."

She turned, a small smile planted firmly on her lips as he replied just the way she knew he would. After placing her teaspoon in the sink, she went back down to her seat and took a long sip before looking Vic straight in the eye.

"I knew you'd say that, just thought I'd ask out of common courtesy, though." Raven stated, "So…um…"

"Yea?"

Raven drank a bit of her tea again, "So…I wanted to talk to you about something…" she started slowly, taking in his emotions as she physically took in the tea.

"And ya didn't want BB to know? He could've helped…maybe." Vic frowned, "OK, probably not. Apart from turnin' into animals, the green bean's a bit useless, yea?"

"Well…it's complicated. I just wanted to ask about…well." Raven bit her lip and shook her head slowly, "Never mind, I can deal with that later. It's not that important."

"Suit yourself, I'm jus' sayin' that if ya need someone to talk to, I'm here for ya 24/7…well…OK…not when I'm wit' Jinx…or wit my baby…or when I'm havin a meat feast or…"

"OK…I get your point. You're there for me 24/7. Except for when you're with your baby, that is…and I'm not sure which one you're talking about." She smirked slyly, looking at him from the corner of her eyes, "Anyway…" she started, not really sure what she was actually going to say, "Have you noticed anything strange about Dick? You know, since he's come back?"

Damn.

As much as she wanted to beat around the bush, why was Dick the first topic that came to mind!? She sighed, cocking her head to the side idly, mentally slapping herself for the stupidity that came out of her mouth. She could've asked about the weather, or about meat or about cars or even about Jinx but no, she had to bring Dick up into the conversation when she knew full well that as much as she wanted to avoid the real topic that she wanted to talk about, talking about Dick was not the solution. Mind you, it might make things a bit more complicated, even.

"Dick? What bout him?"

Raven quickly looked downwards in thought, "Just a thought, I just wanted to know if anyone else thought that there was something…off…about him recently. Maybe it's just me." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Hmmm…no, I noticed nothin' girl…sorry. He's still the same stubborn, antisocial guy that we all know and love." He laughed at his own private joke.

"He's been sucked into the whole fire thing, hasn't he?"

Vic grinned and eventually nodded, "Yep, and hell know's when he's gonna come out again and have fun."

"Dick Grayson's definition of fun is hanging out with the sexy, young socialites back in Gotham, whereas Nightwing's version of fun is solving cases and not coming out of the Tower until he solves it." Raven pondered on this for a while, "And he's definitely in Nightwing mode right now. Has he even taken a shower since he got back from Gotham?"

"No idea. I mean, the only person he actually sees for more than half an hour is Kori." Vic replied.

"But he's happy with her, right? I mean, I'm an empath and I feel some sort of…happiness…deriving from him."

"Dunno…but he should be…he's spendin' a lot of time with Kori, if ya know what I mean."

She rolled her eyes, "Yes, I know what you mean…doesn't mean I want to know what you mean." She shuddered visibly to emphasise her words, "He probably just…misses her a lot. Well, he must do by how sometimes he forgets to block the bond between us when things get…um…" her cheeks flushed uncontrollably and she tried to hide her face by lifting her cup up, "exciting."

Vic frowned for a while, digesting her words until she saw comprehension dawn in his eyes and amusement splurge out of him like an uncontrollable waterfall. It didn't help that her cheeks reddened even further as his booming laugh came out of his mouth and the slap of his hand on the table cause it to vibrate subtly. She noticed that the happiness that was emanated by Garfield—though it was as loud as his—was different in a way; Garfield's happiness was pure, sunny yellow whilst Vic's was more of a spring green colour…the type of yellow that had a hint of blue in it and was mellowed down by splashes of white. His happiness was still exciting to feel but when her empathic powers intertwined between the layers, she could feel elements of tranquillity, whereas when Garfield was happy, all you were able to feel was the contagious adrenaline coursing through him like some type of drug.

He chuckled in a teasing fashion and plonked the rolled up magazine he was holding gently on her head once, "Must be hard havin' him in yo head all the time. I wouldn't know how to survive bein' all moody and bossy because of someone else's emotions but then again you already know how to be moody and bossy." She threw him a glare but his chuckle didn't subside, "I'm kiddin', Raven, no need to have a total bitch fit."

"You're lucky that I actually like you." Her brows quirked, "Well, I guess I'm just being a bit paranoid and all about Dick. I just…there's just something that's bothering me but I just can't…" she pointed aimlessly in the air, "put my finger on it."

"Yea, you're probably jus' bein' a bit paranoid…I mean…Dick is Dick…nothin's ever gonna change bout him, I bet my life on it." He rubbed his chin in mock-thought, "He's been on the phone a lot though, recently, the man just talks and talks and talks and there's no stopping him. I don't even know who the hell he talks to."

Raven's head shot up to look at Vic as he said those words, "How would you know that he talks on the phone a lot? Don't we all share one phone line, so that would mean that every one else would notice it too? I certainly haven't noticed this particular change in his behaviour."

"That's where you're wrong." He shook his head, "I mean, yea, we have one shared phone line—and the phones sharin' this line are located in all yo rooms plus the Common Room, the kitchen and the training rooms—but Dick has his own phone line that is exclusively used to contact anybody in Gotham, jus' like I have my own phone line that goes straight to any S.T.A.R Labs branch I wanna call." He shrugged at the surprise that she knew she displayed broadly on her face, "And all phone calls are monitored through the computer in my room—which automatically connects to the computer in my brain every time I recharge—and also through the computer in the Information Lab downstairs. So, yea, as long as you look in the right places, you'll totally know that Dick's been makin' a lot of phone calls."

"Figures." She sighed, "Where exactly do these calls go to? Any specific location?"

"Well, I haven't really tried tracin' the exact location but I know that these calls all go to Gotham, one way or another. Nothin' suspicious though, he could be callin' Bats, right? Y'know since he did go back to Gotham to help out wit' the whole villains thing."

"But he didn't…" she stopped, realising that if she continued that sentence, she would be revealing Dick's real reason to going to Gotham, "Yes, I guess that must be the reason."

She sighed; that really didn't solve anything at all…he could've been calling anybody. He could've been calling his butler Alfred for some kind of sentimental value, he could've been calling Batman to exchange information on various villains that may have been jumping back and forth through Jump City and Gotham, he could've been calling the third Robin to make sure that he was handling his job well and he could've been calling Barbara to make sure that she was doing well and that she wasn't straining herself; he was probably offering her moral support and making sure that she knew that she wasn't any different despite her disability. It was easy to forget that Dick had another family in a completely different city to theirs, it was as if he had always been the leader of the Teen Titans and had not previously been Batman's sidekick but his new behaviour and emotions made her rethink her thoughts about him again and, frankly, all the conclusions she had made either did not made sense or did not end well. Frankly, she preferred the conclusions when they did not make sense.

She shook her head.

But…that wasn't what she wanted to talk to Vic about, so there was no point pondering about it. Embarrassing as it was, it had to be done if she was to take things even further than they were now. Oh, she hadn't told him that she loved him yet—she wasn't even sure of it yet either—but she had to take certain precautions because she didn't want to do anything reckless and completely out of character.

"Vic…" she inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the subject she was about to approach, "you do have all our medical files here in the Tower, right?"

"Yea, I've got a copy on the computer and in physical files somewhere in the Information Lab." He stroked his chin thoughtfully, "S.T.A.R Labs have a medical file on every superhero in some sort of team or another. Like…the Justice League, the Teen Titans—of course—Titans East and Young Justice. I've probably missed a few, but you get the point, yea?"

"Well, that's a little…disconcerting." She knew her tone was a little unsure but she managed to compose herself, "So…what does it say about me? I mean, you don't need to tell me the details…just a vague description of it."

He cocked a brow at her but didn't say anything about her surprising curiosity, "Well, it says somethin' bout you bein' a hybrid of a human and inter-dimensional being—I told them to stick the word 'demon' instead of 'being' but they said that they didn't want to be religiously affiliated or biased. I mean, man, the dude has horns for hells sake!—it has your physical description—the whole really pale skin thing, violet eyes, black-purple hair, etc—your eatin' habits, your involvement with the superhero biz—the whole high activity sports thing, y'know?—if you've had any severe injuries before. Um…description of your powers and…" he pursed his lips, "well, we usually would have your parents' medical history but seein' as one is an evil demon by the name of Trigon and the other…well…Arella isn't really her name is it? And she's livin' in Azarath so it's not like we can get her medical history either."

So, basically, they practically knew her physically inside and out. They probably knew things that she was yet to know and probably didn't need to know. They had regular check ups, of course, done by both Cyborg and also a scientist from S.T.A.R Labs because, apart from Dick, none of them were able to go to a regular hospital because of their…unique…anatomies. It was a hassle, really, not being able to visit a regular hospital because when it came to injuries, there were always a lot of them, and sometimes they weren't the ones that both Vic or Raven could heal and so they had to wait for S.T.A.R Labs to send someone over, and to send more equipment over.

So, in all technicality, they should have what she was looking for, shouldn't they?

"Well, Vic…I really don't know how to go about this but…er…" she watched as his brow rose at her obvious anxiousness, "they wouldn't have…um…each superheroes'…um…fertility condition, would they?"

She cringed as his jaw suddenly dropped, revealing her suspicions that what she was approaching was not something that Vic was comfortable talking about, especially to someone who he perceived as a little sister. She was conscious of his shocked emotions that just hit her in that second but decided to try to regain some type of poise.

"Fer…Fertility condition!? What the hell would you need that for?" His human eye widened even more than they did before and even without her empathic powers she could see the astonishment he was feeling, "Oh…my…God…Raven you're not pregnant are you!?"

He half-shouted that last question—it was quite loud actually, she wouldn't have been surprised if anyone standing in front of the kitchen doors would have heard him—and her cheeks immediately flustered a deep scarlet colour on her cool, pale skin. She felt a sudden jolt of power course through her as the delicate porcelain cup in front of her burst into tiny shards and the tea spilled out violently, staining the front of her uniform. There was no way she could recover from her reaction and she did not even bother trying to recover from it. She was embarrassed, deeply embarrassed, even though his conclusion had been utterly, utterly false. It was still disconcerting to know that your brother-figure would jump to the worst case scenario if she asked a question like that…though to be fair; it really wasn't something that two friends talked about.

Raven felt her chakra glow briefly, stinging at her forehead, "I am not…" she exhaled raggedly in discomfiture, "I am not…pregnant." The word lay distastefully on her tongue, "I am not pregnant." She repeated, this time firmer, "Really, Vic, do I look like someone who would get knocked up?" The last sentence had a bit of a laissez-faire tone to it, but she knew that he could tell there was some heat behind the words.

"So…why did you want to…I mean…what the hell, Raven!?" He seemed to be choking, his throat indecisive at what words he was to say to her, "This is just not…normal!"

"Well, the thing is—"

He interjected, "I mean I didn't even know you guys were…" he shut his eyes and shook his head frantically, "Man, I can't even say it."

"We're—"

"I mean, yea I knew you guys sometimes slept in each others rooms—I mean, I check the security cameras every day and all for blackmail material—but…but…I didn't think…" the poor guy, Raven though silently as he once again interrupted her, he seems a bit traumatised, "BB would have totally said somethin' to me, right? I mean…some type of…I wouldn't wanna know but he would tell me anyway…and…"

"For the love of Azar, Vic, Garfield and I haven't done anything." She hissed at him, frustrated at his reaction, "Calm down, please. And shut up!"

OK, so it was expected but…still!

"So, what the hell? Don't tell me that BB's been pushin' you for sex, coz if he is—and I don't care that he's my best friend and all—I will actually smack him up." He glared at nothing in particular, "So, has he? Has he? I mean, yea, he's a bit over flowin' wit testosterone but, damn, can't that dude control himself!? Especially wit you!?"

She raised her arms in protest, "No, he hasn't been pushing me or anything. I promise." She added hastily as he growled menacingly.

So, that wasn't a lie…well…not really anyway. Physically it wasn't a lie—it was true!—he hadn't been asking her for sex…there were always the innuendos and the cringe-worthy joke suggestions but it always stopped at that. He had never ever harassed her for sex, pushed her to do anything she wasn't comfortable with and he didn't even sleep in the same bed as her unless she personally asked. And he was sincere, completely sincere, when he claimed that he would wait for her until she was ready, that it wasn't the physical aspects that kept him in this particular relationship.

But…

He wanted it, badly. It was so obvious by his emotions that he craved for her, craved for every touch, every kiss every caress that she would give him. It was evident in the loud dreams he had…it was just…there. She didn't know if it was just male testosterones, or his love for her or even the primal state he feared so much—the Beast—but it was just there, his wanting, right under the surface of everything else. It wasn't a bad thing; really, it was probably natural for him to want to take their relationship to the next step after a year and a half together.

"I just want to be prepared, just in case we do decide to…" she glanced at him briefly, "consummate our relationship."

She wanted to be prepared, alright, because…well…she wanted it too. Not as much as he did, but enough that she would happily give in to his cravings. She thought she was ready, ready to accept that sex did not equal to rape and vice versa. Raven knew that she felt strongly for Garfield and even if it was not love—and it was actually just an extreme surplus of affection—she knew that if there was one person she would want to sleep with for the first time ever, she knew that he would be the only candidate in her mind. He loved her and she knew that he would be gentle with her and wouldn't hurt her if his life depended on it and maybe she'd come to enjoy it; her and Kori had talked about Kori's sex life—despite Raven's protests—numerous of times and the one thing that her best friend always emphasised on was that it was great and that she always felt complete when the deed was done. It wasn't the main reason why Raven decided that she might also want to take it to the next level, but it helped.

They had to talk about it together first, that was a must, she mused thoughtfully to herself. She had to know that when they did finally do it, the would do it because they both wanted to and not because they were pressured by each other, or because they were pressured by how short a time they might have with each other, or because it was just what normal couple did when they were together. She had to know that they would do it safely and not be reckless, even if the actions towards safety would completely destroy the whole moment.

However, before she talked to Garfield, she needed to find out about herself too, about how her own anatomy worked. It was embarrassing, Arella never gave her the sex-talk and the fact that she was half…demon…didn't really help that much either. Oh, she knew that her anatomy was similar—if not exactly the same—as a human's but she knew that there must be some minor differences in how her body worked due to the whole demon blood. She just needed to know a few things here and there, minor details that would usually be overlooked by others, but it bothered her that she did not know and the only person she knew that would know anything at all about this would be Vic.

Raven let her chin rest on the back of her hand, "I'm sorry about this but you're the only one I know who keeps track of these records. I just want to know how different my anatomy is compared to that of a…pure…female human's anatomy…especially in the…um…sexual organs." She couldn't help but let out a rusty laugh at the uncomfortable look on his face, "Vic, if you would stop making ridiculous faces and actually listen to me, you might actually be of some kind of service to me."

"I…man…Raven this is kinda weird." He gulped.

"Look, Vic, here's the deal…I'm not having sex right now," she stated firmly, looking him in the eye sharply, "but when I do decide to, I want to know everything there is to know about how I would react. I'm a hybrid, and if I were purely human I wouldn't be asking you this, but I'm not."

He sighed, "OK, Raven, I'm doin' this for you, even though it is still totally weird for me to be doin' something like that. Jus' don't go scarin' the shit outta me again like that, yea? I thought you were frickin' pregnant for God's sakes." He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, "So, what do ya want me to do bout it?"

"I want to know whether or not I am capable of getting pregnant," she paused as she saw that he wanted to interrupt and so she placed a hand in front of her to stop him, "and if I am capable, what are the chances? I want to know if I am immune to STD's because of my demon blood or if I'm actually vulnerable to it and I want to know whether it is even safe for me to sleep with someone and vice versa. I mean, I have regular periods just like any other human—"

"OK, OK, I get yo point…just stop right there, OK? I don't like talkin' bout…periods." He grimaced, before she felt realisation dawn on him suddenly, "The ones we have here in the Tower are detailed but I dunno if I can find stuff like that in here so I'll get S.T.A.R Labs to send over your complete files and I'll look over it." He shook his head to himself, "I'll tell ya if I find anythin' funny but if I don't, we are never speakin' of this again, agreed?"

She smiled slyly, "Agreed. Come on, it can't be that bad…I mean just think of me as a patient that you've never ever met before and you're just going over the files to check up on me. I mean, doctors do it all the time so it can't be that hard to detach yourself."

"Hard!? It's fuckin' impossible…man, I've known you since you were like fourteen or somethin'—and you're like, what? Twenty-one now?—so it's completely normal for me to think that this is the weirdest thing you've ever asked of me." He grinned wryly at her and crossed his metallic arms in front of his chest, "I mean, you've never been so bold about anythin' like this before and, I mean, are ya ready for it? I mean, duh, you should be since you're askin' me all these questions but still. Raven, you can tell me if he's bein pushy, yea? I mean, he's no nympho but I would've thought he'd have tried to jump you at least six months ago."

She shook her head, "I don't know if I'm ready yet. I think I'm ready." She tucked a stray lock of her hair behind her ears, "I mean, logically, if two people are in love—"

"Aw, lil' Ravie is in lurve wit' her stringy green bean." He cooed humorously but he grew quiet as soon as she glared at him.

"As I was saying, if two people are in love then logically they should be able to commit with each other completely in every manner, right? Both physically and mentally." She sighed thoughtfully, "It's not like I'm physically incapable of doing it, right? I mean, technically I have to do it some time."

"Well, technically not everyone has to do it some time…some people just…can't."

Raven looked up from the table as she felt his words wrap around her mournfully and found his usually cheerful looking face looking positively bitter. Of course, she sighed, she had forgotten, how thoughtless of her; he wasn't capable, he couldn't—not wouldn't—do it and once again, she knew from the sharp jabs at her chest, it was a reminder that he was incomplete. She had ever asked him what had caused him to have to replace most of his bodily organs with mechanical ones—though she thought that Dick and Garfield must know. After all, one of them was trained by Batman in his detailed ways and the other was Vic's best friend—and all she knew about it was that he had lost his mother in the accident and had caused some strain between him and his father due to his transformation and the loss. Maybe she would ask him about it, not now, but one day…

"I'm sorry, that was a bit inconsiderate of me, I wasn't thinking." With her powers, she pieced the broken porcelain cup together, letting her gaze trace the curvaceous shape of it.

"It's OK, I mean, six years in this get-up and I'm still bitter." He chuckled, though it was hollow of all merriment, "This jus' means that I don't have to worry bout all that safe sex shit." She saw him try to laugh again but after a failed attempt, he left it at that.

She shook her head, "No, really, I didn't mean to remind you of…anything." Raven let her fingers cover her mouth momentarily. "Does Jinx know?"

"Well…" He mumbled sullenly, "It's a bit obvious, don'cha think?"

"Oh. Well, have you talked to her about it?"

"Nah…it's not somethin' we really touch on when we talk, ya know?"

She nodded in understanding, "Right. Well—"

"It's kinda weird coz from how I heard it, she was pretty active wit' Wally and all…like apparently they couldn't take their hands off each other and shit." He grunted at the thought, resentment towards his artificial body growing even more by the second.

"Look, Vic." She interrupted firmly, her eyes locked with his normal and mechanical one, knowing perfectly well that the red one was recording everything that she was doing right now, "You're a great guy, I mean, I personally wouldn't date you, but still. Jinx knows this and she probably doesn't even care about you not being able to do it. If she did, she would've said something to you by now, or she would've broken up with you. So, you shouldn't worry about anything like that, it's not healthy to worry too much."

He laughed, "Hah! Says the person who worries about everything."

"Well, Victor Stone, I think it comes with the whole empathic thing." She shot back, "And as you kindly pointed out earlier…you don't have to worry about the whole safe sex thing. You don't even have to worry about getting someone knocked up." She smirked not too kindly.

"Great, coz that makes me feel so much better, lil' Miss Doom-and-Depression." He laughed and she smiled as she found some sincere glee amongst all his other emotions. He leaned forward to ruffle the top of her hair roughly, "You're really weird, ya know that?"

"Don't push it."

He grinned at her malicious tone and she closed her eyes momentarily as her empathic strands swam through the atmosphere of this room; it was a strange atmosphere filled with curiosity, bitterness, protectiveness, awkwardness and even happiness but it was better than feeling nothing at all. Without the emotions—even if the others didn't feel it in the atmosphere—this room would just be a kitchen with appliances and it wouldn't feel as comfortable as it did now and she would miss it, she would miss it a lot. Not just the kitchen, but the whole tower and all the memories and emotions it emanated. There was a saying that good things always came to an end and so far, she didn't want to believe it, especially since the good thing in mind was her family.

Sigh.

Vic disrupted her thoughts suddenly, "Raven, what the hell is takin' Gar so long, wouldn't he have come down by now?"

"Oh." She felt a little sheepish inside, but she maintained her cool composure, "That. Well, I think it's going to take him a little while longer."

"Huh!? How come?"

"Well…knowing him," Raven rolled her eyes at the thoughts that suddenly came to her head, "he would probably get a little distracted by looking at my underwear—he thinks I don't know that he does it, but I'm not completely senseless—and by all the magical amulets I keep in my room, so he'll probably be in there for a while." Suddenly, she smiled, "And, well, there's also the fact that…" she let her words trail off.

He cocked a brow at her, his face grim, "Raven, what did you do? Ya don't have one of your nasty creatures from Nevermore in there, do ya?"

"Oh no…nothing like that." A devious look suddenly lit up on her face as she turned to look at the door, "Well, it's just that the book doesn't exist, that's all."

"The book doesn't…?" He suddenly burst out laughing, his whole face lighting up with the amusement that she genuinely felt from him, the whole reverberating because of it, "Man, you're way too smart to be his girlfriend."

She shrugged nonchalantly, and let the small smirk she had on her lips grow into a gentle smile, "I know, Vic. Don't worry about it, I know."

A/N: So...what did you think?

Oh...I know that it's a bit mish mash but I hope you guys got the gist of it!

Love you all and I hope I see you next time!