Okay, this chapter took me way too long to write (the second scene in this one went through 4 or 5 drafts before I could get it to work), but I hope it's worth the wait. I have the rest of the story mapped out in my head now, so I can't wait to write and share what's coming up. There's a lot of craziness before this is over. :)

Robin hesitated, unsure how to address the unfamiliar entity watching them through Raven's eyes. He exchanged a glance with the others, then relaxed his stance a bit. "Raven?"

"Yeah?" she answered, giving him a cool look.

"Can I ask who we're speaking to?"

She frowned at him. "You just did. Did you have something more important you wanted to know or did you just do this little experiment to ask stupid questions?"

Robin faltered, looking to the rest of the team for reinforcement. "Did it work or not?"

Cyborg shrugged. "I don't know. Still sounds pretty much like normal Raven."

A flash of hurt and anger crossed Raven's face. "Really?" she demanded. "After all the years we've known each other, that's still how you all see me? Just because maybe I get more vocal time than some of the other sides doesn't mean they're not there!"

They all stared in surprise.

"Okay, not normal Raven," Cyborg said.

Robin cleared his throat. "So, what do we call you?"

She rolled her eyes. "What did I tell you? Just Raven. We're all Raven, just different parts. Look, it's only a matter of time before the drugs wear off or one of the others gets pushy and tries to take over. What do you want?"

"Actually, you've already kind of proved what we were looking for," Beast Boy pointed out. "So I think we're all good."

Raven turned a dark glare at him, snorting. "Right, you made it abundantly clear you're 'all good'. You know, you've got a lot of nerve even talking to me after what you did the other night."

He jerked back, flushing slightly. "You know about that?"

"We're all one mind in here. Believe me, we all saw." Her voice dripped with disdain.

Beast Boy was acutely aware of the others watching him with pointed curiosity. "Well, it's not like I'm used to you showing up at my room in the middle of the night acting like…that!" he sputtered. "What did you expect me to do?"

She sneered at him. "I'm sorry, was I too subtle?"

"Okay!" Robin interrupted, having to clear his throat a bit. "As…educational as this is, let's move on."

"What? But I want to hear about how 'good' BB was!" Cyborg protested.

Robin glared briefly at Cyborg, then focused on Raven again, who was rolling her eyes. "Beast Boy's right, you've definitely helped confirm for us what's going on with Raven. But however this got started, you have to know it can't keep happening. It's not right and it's just going to lead to trouble. Can you convince the others to stop taking control while Raven's sleeping?"

Raven snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that. Some of the others almost never see the light of day. Now that they've finally found an outlet to stretch their proverbial legs, you think they're going to let go of that any time soon?"

"So what can we do to help her-slash-you fix it?" Starfire asked.

"Don't look at me," Raven shrugged. "I didn't set up this whole arrangement. I'm just along for the ride."

"Then maybe we need to talk to someone who did." Robin nodded. "Thanks for your help, Raven. Uh…" He paused, wondering how to broach the next request politely.

But Raven held up her hands in mock surrender. "Don't worry, I know my place," she said dryly. "I'll show myself out. Oh, one last thing." She swept a warning finger across them, eyes even more serious. "I know this has been fun and games so far, but it's freaking Raven out a bit, so, you know, try not to treat this like a joke with her, all right?"

Beast Boy realized everyone was looking at him. "What? You think I'm that insensitive?"

"I'm just gonna leave that one there," Raven drawled, eyeing him coldly. "All right, nice talking to you," she said with sarcastic two-fingered salute as she lay back down.

"Sleep well, aspect of Raven," Starfire waved back.

Raven tucked a hand beneath her head, relaxed, and was sound asleep again almost alarmingly abruptly.

"Okay, I'm chalking this up as one of the weirder days in our job," Cyborg commented.

"Dude, everything dealing with Raven is weird," Beast Boy grumbled, plopping down on one of the empty beds.

"Which reminds me," Cyborg grinned, "I want all the details on this midnight visit you had."

As Beast Boy turned red again, Robin spoke up firmly. "You heard what she said. I think Raven's scared enough about the fact she's been doing things outside her control without you two gossiping about things she might regret doing if she knew about them."

Cyborg looked abashed, relenting immediately. Beast Boy got a vaguely hurt expression, but it disappeared before Robin knew what to draw from that.

"You're right," Cyborg said, walking back over to his equipment and picking up a syringe. "Well, let's wake up Sleeping Beauty and give her the news."

He gently picked up her arm and injected the stimulant into it, then stepped back to check the sensor readouts.

Gradually, Raven stirred with an annoyed grunt, shifting her face away from the overhead lights. She frowned, opening her eyes blearily and staring at the hand that had been resting beneath her head in confusion.

"Raven?" Robin asked, knowing now, though, that this wouldn't tell him with any kind of clarity which personality he was speaking to.

She propped herself up on her elbows, looking to the others with just a hint of concern in her otherwise emotionless eyes. "I take it it worked?"

"Seemed to," Cyborg said.

"Do you remember anything of our conversation after you fell asleep?" Starfire asked.

"No." Raven sat up fully. "Dare I ask which one came through?"

"We're not exactly sure," Robin said, scratching his head. "She wasn't that different from how you usually are, just more…defensive?" he hazarded.

"With words," Starfire explained quickly, "not as if in combat."

A bit of tension seemed to drain out of Raven's body then and she nodded thoughtfully. "Good. Probably Indignity or Sarcasm, then. They sort of blend together."

"How do you keep all those other you's straight in there?" Cyborg asked.

"I don't, always," Raven said, but turned her focus back to Robin. "Did you learn anything?"

"She implied the other personalities were doing this intentionally to find ways to be expressed. And that they had no intention of stopping."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Is that so? We'll see what they say after my next meditation."

"Perhaps what they did is not such a bad thing," Starfire suggested, soothingly. "All they seem to want is a little more freedom."

"They're taking control of my body without my permission!" Raven retorted. "Emotions aren't supposed to conspire against me behind my back! This isn't a game! They know as well as I do exactly how dangerous it would be if I wasn't in control, but they're too single-minded to care!"

"Your other self suggested that the system you have in place to manage things in there is flawed," Robin said, reining in her anger by giving her a question to focus on. "Could you talk to whoever it was who taught you how to do it?"

Her temper faded away into a sadder tone. "No. Azar, the priestess who trained me in Azarath, passed away before I came to Earth. My mother learned from her, and none of the other monks have her power or worked that closely with me. Besides, Azar developed the technique specifically to handle my…situation. If I don't know about it, I don't think anyone does."

"Well, then I guess we'll let you try and handle it your way for now," Robin said definitively, with a nod. "But you know if you need us, we're glad to help you however we can."

Raven nodded in return, pulling her hood back up over her head. "I know. Thank you. If we're done here, I'll go meditate and remind my emotions who's in charge."

The others stood back and let her leave for her room. Cyborg looked back at Robin. "You're really gonna let it go at that?"

Robin continued to lean back against the cabinet, staring thoughtfully at nothing. "If she can sort this out herself, that's best for everybody. But I still think I'm going to do a little research of my own."

Cyborg sighed in relief. "Finally something normal today."

OOO

By two in the morning, Robin accepted he was going to have to admit defeat for the night. He had searched every resource he had access to, even the old legends he could find on Trigon, and nothing talked about Azarath or a priestess named Azar beyond what little Raven had told them. There was a glut of research on metahumans with specialized mental abilities, but each seemed to be unique to the individuals' origins and none took into account the effect of demonic lineages. Raven was probably right: her own mental organization was most likely absolutely one of a kind. Not that that really surprised him any, for a number of reasons.

As his eyes were burning too much to focus on any more of the nearly-indecipherable hand-written notes on patient files, he decided it was time to get ready for bed and start fresh in the morning. Unless, of course, all went well and Raven managed to set things right over the course of the night.

Strolling down the hall to brush his teeth, he figured it was too late to bother Starfire by ducking in for a visit. Still, as he walked through the girls' wing of rooms, he found himself pausing, listening carefully. Walking back, he stopped outside Raven's door and leaned his ear against it. He wasn't imagining things; inside he could hear the distinct, if very out-of-place sound of sobbing.

"Raven?" he called quietly.

The sobs were interrupted by a startled gasp. "Go away! Leave me alone!"

While the phrase was familiar coming from her, the raw emotion in her voice wasn't. "Raven, I'm coming in," he warned, reaching for the controls to the door and entering the emergency override of her lock. He hated intruding like that, but they had all learned that there were times Raven's need for support had to outweigh her habit of trying to handle everything herself.

As the door swished open, he just made out her backlit shape curled in the bed, facing the window. He took the lack of any barriers of dark energy as indication she didn't really want him to stay away. Walking carefully across the room, sidestepping the books and candles cast about by her emotional outpouring, he rounded the bed to sit gingerly beside her. "Raven, what's wrong? Was it a nightmare? Or a vision?"

She remained tightly wrapped in on herself, turning her head into her pillow to try to stop him from seeing her tears, but it was undeniable. The moonlight cast a faint shine to drying streaks on her face suggesting this had been going on for a while. "No. It's nothing."

"'Nothing' doesn't leave you crying yourself to sleep," he coaxed gently, running through possibilities in his head of what she might have seen in her meditation to trigger this.

She closed her eyes as new tears welled up in them and a swirl of dark energy rattled items around her room like a dust devil. "I shouldn't be doing this. It's too dangerous. You should go."

He frowned, puzzled. "Doing what?"

She sniffled. "I know better. It's not worth the risk of our power getting out of control. I just never get to be expressed and with all the chaos in there and everyone arguing, I decided to sneak out and grab my chance." Her voice was cracking and the wind had gotten stronger. "It was selfish and if you don't get out you're going to get hurt!"

It dawned on Robin then who he was talking to. He put a hand on hers, getting her to look at him. The Sadness in her eyes made his heart ache. "It's okay. I know you didn't sneak out to cause trouble. Things must be pretty bad in there if you were willing to risk losing control to express yourself."

Her eyes squeezed shut again and he could almost feel the weight of depression emanating off her. "I'm supposed to be used to it. Everything just builds up so much sometimes and the meditation's supposed to help, but…I saw an easy way out and—" Her voice choked off and a glass ball rolled off her shelf with a thud. She jumped slightly, Shame swirling through the energy buffeting them and increasing its turbidity. "I'm going to do bad things again."

Robin thought it was a non sequitor at first or a dark premonition, but she continued, her eyes looking up at his with a shadow of Desperation and Fear. "I didn't mean to stay out here this long, but I don't know how to pull back and put Raven back in charge. There's too much emotion. I can't stop it. I messed up and it's getting worse and now I'm going to hurt somebody."

He gripped her hand firmly. "No, you're not."

"I already destroyed the world once!" Her voice was edging toward hysteria. "What if it happens again? I don't think I can stop this!"

"Then don't." Robin got off the bed and knelt down in front of her, forcing her to look at him. "Maybe whatever's going on with your mind that's letting all of you emotions escape is trying to tell you something you need to do. If the pressure is building up that badly, then it has to come out. It's okay. You're in the Tower. If anything breaks, we'll fix it."

She shook her head, fighting it. Even when it had free rein, her emotion was trying to suppress itself. "I'll hurt you, or the others."

"No, you won't." He wished for once his mask was off, but knew her empathic senses would pick up the intensity of his belief in her even without being able to see his eyes. "I trust you. And I'm here for you. We all are. Even if it's just this once, it's time to let it out, Raven."

He felt her starting to give in and on an impulse leaned forward, sliding his arms around her in an awkward, but sincere hug. He braced himself slightly, knowing that if normal Raven was in charge she would reject the gesture, but his instincts were rewarded when he felt her initial surprise pass and her arms latched around his back in almost desperate relief, pulling herself more upright so she could bury her face in his shoulder.

Her body shuddered as she finally accepted his permission and a sudden wave of energy poured off of her like a dam breaking. He felt like someone had doused him with ice water as it passed through him, the lingering empathic bond between them filling with an almost crushing surge of pain, grief, regret, depression, and a myriad of other related sensations. He clung to Raven harder, dizzy in its wake as the raw emotion swirled out to join the now-raging winds whipping through her room.

While the furniture remained standing, everything on it was overturned, sent aloft, or scattered across the floor. Pages of books fluttered, but did not tear. A few candles, braced in sconces or heavier holders, flared to life in defiance of the wind, but the flame did not spread. Robin noticed he had left the door open when he entered, but he was proud to see the effects of Raven's powers seemed to stop at the doorjamb.

In the eye of the tempest, Robin held Raven securely, one hand instinctively moving to protect the back of her head, even though he doubted her powers would really let any of the flying objects hit her. He didn't know anything else to say to her in the face of her outburst, so he simply tried to be there for her, letting his physical presence absorb as much of the pain as he could take in. This kind of comforting wasn't something that came naturally to him. While Alfred had been very nurturing to the young orphan when he had come to Wayne Manor, Robin had quickly decided he would rather follow Batman's example, focusing on the job to distract him from the emotions that could have so easily overwhelmed him in those first years following his parents' deaths. It wasn't until he met Starfire that he was reminded how powerful physical contact, even in as simple a form as a caring hand on the shoulder, could be. While he knew he would never be able to impart as much emotion into a hug as she could, he tried his best for Raven.

Over time, the dark energy flow died down, gently depositing the various objects in random places around the room. Robin felt Raven's arms relax and droop around his back, her breathing still hitching slightly, but becoming more regular again. He thought he heard a murmured "Thank you", but when he twisted his neck to look down at her, she was asleep.

Robin sensed a presence watching him and looked up to see Starfire in the doorway, eyes dark with worry. It's okay, he mouthed, gently shifting Raven off his shoulder and laying her back down. She stirred slightly, but settled quickly into undisturbed sleep. He pulled her blanket over her then tiptoed carefully through the debris now covering her floor. For a moment, he debated whether he should try to clean some of it up, but wouldn't know where to start, so he decided he would just have to explain it to her in the morning.

He stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him, and let out a sigh as his tension lowered slightly.

"Everything is all right?" Starfire asked quietly.

"As all right as it can be with Raven like this," he said. "I think she'll actually sleep the rest of the night. She should be pretty worn out after that."

"It was the Sadness?"

"I think so. There may have been other emotions sneaking in too. But that was the main one."

Starfire looked back at the door, wrapping her arms around herself as if she were cold. "I heard a noise like a terrible storm, but when I woke the sky was clear. Then I heard Raven's voice. I have never heard her cry before. Not like that. Not even when the Trigon was here."

"I know. I think that was long overdue."

Starfire turned to him, eyes soulful. "Robin, how do we help our friend?"

His eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure, but I'm going to find out."

She nodded in determination. "In the morning, we will make a plan. But please promise me tonight, Robin, you will at least capture a few z's."

He smiled in spite of himself. "Yes, ma'am."

They leaned in for a good night kiss, then Robin found himself wrapping her in a hug, trying to soak in all the warmth, love, and peace she radiated even in the dead of the night. "Star, thank you for being here."

He felt her start to float a bit as she embraced him just as tightly in return. "I always will be, Robin. I promise."

He stayed there for a few minutes, letting her light chase away the remaining darkness in his heart.

OOO

Robin returned to his room filled with new purpose and a clearer head. Ideas were racing through his mind, but he forced himself to sleep for a few hours anyway, both to keep his promise to Starfire and to pass the time until he was sure it was after dawn in Steel City.

Still, when Bumble Bee answered his call, it was obvious he had woken her up.

"Robin?" Her eyes were still half-lidded, but focused quickly on seeing him, ready to act. "What's wrong? Do you need us there?"

"No, Jump City's safe. I just need to ask your help on something."

"It's not an emergency, but you're calling me first thing in the morning?" she asked, her voice conveying exactly how much she appreciated that decision.

He grimaced slightly, but continued. "The city's fine, but we're dealing with something that's a bit out of our team's league. I called to ask your help, but I need you to be discreet about it."

Bumble Bee seemed more fully awake now, her interest piqued. "Sure thing, Robin. What's up?"

"I'm looking for someone who has experience with psychic abilities, preferably one who won't be intimidated by the supernatural."

"You've already got Raven there, how bad—?" Her eyes widened. "Oh. Is Raven all right?"

"She will be. And ultimately I think she can handle this issue herself, but I thought having someone to consult with might help. None of us exactly know a lot about telepathic powers. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on who I could ask."

"Gotcha." Bumble Bee leaned her chin in her hand, thinking. "Raven know you're asking me?"

Robin winced. "Not yet. And you know how private she is. That's why I want to keep the options within the Titans, and only talk about this with whoever we pick. I was thinking about Jericho, since Raven actually seems to like him and he would never betray someone's confidence, but he's kind of hard to get in touch with and his powers aren't exactly the same as psychic ones." Plus the thought of sending that gentle soul into Raven's mind when it was unbalanced seemed too big a risk to take.

"Yeah." A smile crept over Bumble Bee's face. "Don't worry about a thing, Rob, I think I've got just the person in mind. So, how soon should I have them drop by?"