Author's Note: Somewhat of a slightly shorter than usual chapter for you all today, but it's required as a sort of set-up for future events. There's no need to worry, though; He won't be getting much screen-time next chapter, but he'll be back before too long. Promise. Also, some pre-departure fluff for everybody, to tide you over until they're reunited. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

Chapter Six
Meetings

Raven was rolling out of bed and pulling her emergency cape from the wall before she bothered to register which alarm was blaring through the tower. After many a prank by Beast Boy, as well as a few genuinely accidental incidents, Cyborg had installed a series of alarm sounds, each one corresponding to a different event. There were alarm sounds for emergencies in the city, an intruder alarm, and even a few specific tones for some of their more high-profile villains, like the Brotherhood or Slade, despite how rarely they were needed.

This one in particular was an urgent meeting alarm, which meant she at least had a couple minutes to wash her face and curse whoever was calling a meeting at- a quick check of the clock revealed it was barely after three in the morning- before she actually entered the common room. Cyborg and Robin were already there, as well as Beast Boy; that was a surprise, as he was normally the last to show up.

Starfire flew into the room shortly after Raven herself did. Once everyone was present, Robin and Cyborg turned to the changeling.

"So, mind telling us what the heck you called a meeting for at three in the morning, BB?"

"I gotta go."

"What, to the bathroom? Man, if you woke us all up for somethin' stupi-"

"No, I mean I gotta go. Away. From the team."

These words were followed by a full minute of pure silence. The alarm had long since been turned off, of course, so now there were four pairs of eyes locked on Beast Boy's face. The changeling, for all that he normally thrived on attention, was still starting to find it to be uncomfortable.

"N-not forever, or anything! Just a while. I got some things I need to…do."

"How long? And why isn't it something you can do here, with our help?" Robin, naturally, was the first to recover, though he still looked somewhat shocked.

"Don't know. A few months. No more than a year. Look, I know you guys are gonna miss me, bu-"

"What is wrong, friend!? Why can you not rely on us? Is it something we have done?!"

"No, Star. It's not you guys, it's just…You saw what I did to that rabbit. I'm not safe around people, even you guys. At least until I have this under control."

It was that which confirmed Raven's suspicions. He was afraid of hurting one of the others because of that incident the other night. So now, not only had she forced something he didn't want on him, now it was her fault he had to leave the team. As if she didn't already have enough to feel guilty about already. Though, that thought in and of itself made her feel worse, because she was still better off than he was. At least she could stay in the Tower.

"D'you know what's causing it, B?"

"Not really. Probably puberty, or something. Hey, Rob. Have you ever had a really strong gut feeling, like you gotta do something and if you don't you'll just explode?"

Raven's head snapped up at that. 'Probably puberty, or something?' He was covering for her? Maybe it was just repaying her, as she'd done the same for him the other day, but…No. She was not going to get emotional, and she certainly was not going to cry, pressure behind her eyes be damned!

"Yeah, I get that feeling sometimes. Why?"

"Well, imagine that you had, like, a million of 'em instead of just one, and they were all pulling you in completely different direc-Raven?"

Without even realizing what she herself was doing, the empath had turned and started levitating towards the door. She needed to be alone. To meditate, before all of this got out of hand. She could almost feel her control slipping away. This was not happening. Not here. She spoke, keeping a tight rein on her tone, to make sure it stayed nice and flat; maybe too flat.

"If that's all you had to say, I'll be going now. This was not worth getting up at three in the morning." Pausing before the open common room door, she turned her head partially. She could feel the mixed negative emotions flooding towards her from the other end of the room. "But, Beast Boy? Don't stay gone too long. You're…needed here. We aren't a team without you."

She was out the door before anyone could respond. The solid walls couldn't completely stop an intangible thing like emotion, obviously, but it did help. The indignation and mild anger at her coldness had turned into warmth that she couldn't quite put her finger on, though it was certainly a positive emotion. Returning to her room, she removed her cloak and climbed back into bed, intent upon making up for lost sleep.

Feeling tears in the corners of her eyes, she instead moved into a sitting position. Perhaps an hour of meditation wouldn't be amiss, to ensure that nothing broke in her sleep. Reflecting on her current emotional state, she decided two might be more appropriate.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

She was awoken prematurely yet again, this time by a pounding on her door. A glance at the clock read eleven in the morning. Quite a bit later than normal, but the interruption earlier that morning along with what turned out to be three hours of meditation following, she wasn't all that surprised.

"Raven, wake up! BB is about to go. He wanted everyone to see him off. Meet up on the roof."

That voice belonged to Cyborg. Rolling somewhat unceremoniously out of bed- she was prone to relaxing and a surprising amount of laziness when she was alone and without a reputation to uphold- she snatched a cloak out her closet and, with only a few moments to rearrange her clothing from sleep, headed out the door. Cyborg was already gone by the time she did, so she went ahead and phased through the ceiling to her destination.

Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy were already present, with Star standing solemnly and Beast Boy and Robin off a yard or two away, conversing quietly. Beast Boy was dressed in his usual outfit, though he was carrying a duffel bag across one shoulder, with who knows what inside. Cyborg came through the door a moment later, spotting Raven and grumbling something about magicians and wanting teleporters for the Tower.

Raven stood back while Beast Boy did his more active goodbyes, including back breaking hugs from both Starfire and Cyborg alongside a solid handshake and even a one-armed 'bro-hug' from Robin. When Beast Boy turned to her, though, something of a sad sort of look came across his face, and he lowered the arm he'd been raising, presumably to wave. Instead, he settled for words.

"Bye, Raven."

For such a simple sentence, it had far more of an effect than two words had any right to. She felt a strange sort of sadness welling up from her chest, leaving a lump in her throat and, once again, pressure behind her eyes. Not wanting their parting to be on such a melancholy note, she acted entirely on impulse and surprised everyone present, including herself.

Lowering her hood, she moved forward to close the few feet that separated them and wrapped her arms around the changeling in a simple hug that spoke volumes at the same time. For a couple seconds, he seemed far too shocked to react, much like the last and only other time he'd received a hug from Raven. Unlike that time, he managed to recover quickly enough to return the gesture.

"Be safe."

The two words were whispered far too quietly for anyone else to hear, and she thought she saw his ear twitch rapidly from the feel of her breath across it. Realizing then that the embrace had lasted a little too long to just be friendly, she moved back from him and flipped her hood up yet again, to hide what she was sure would be a blush that reached her ears.

Turning away so that she wouldn't have to see the knowing smirk on Cyborg's and Robin's faces, along with whatever star-crossed expression might be on Starfire's, she quickly retreated from the roof. Once again, she returned to her sanctuary, her room. Surrounded by her four walls and a locked door, she felt safe.

Safe enough, at least, to let her tears fall.