Stuff Like That There
(Hugs)
by Em

A/N: ...the hell???

I swear I have no idea. The general idea of this came to me a few days ago and I wrote it down as a summary kind of thing so I wouldn't forget. I was looking at it today after work to send to Kysra and I started writing. I stopped three-fourths of the way through and came back to it after dinner and before bed. Then I finished it.

Still, as an author, my first thoughts on it are, "What the hell is this all about, eh?" Cause I have absolutely no idea. They're not young in this, obviously. They're not too old either, because they're both still with the Titans and living in Titans' Tower.

((shrug)) Iunno.

Not really a Crack!Fic Hug Series One-Shot in the traditional sense, since it isn't funny or wacky. It's actually very emotional and king of angsty. (I think Estranged has warped my brain...my lever is stuck in "ANGST" mode. Somebody, quick! Send me a link to some good romantic comedy! Abbie! Write Aphrodite's Kiss! My comedy, crack!fic writing may depend on it!!!)

Thanks: What do I do with the thanks to these, huh? Anyone remember? Aw, damn, gonna hafta look it up, ain't I? Okay, so I looked it up. If you've asked me something, I'll respond by PM. (But not tonight...like, tomorrow or something, k?)

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07: Hold Me Tight

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"I wasn't born to lose you."
- Bob Dylan, I Want You

Raven always waited up for him, regardless of what his reasons for going out were. At first, she didn't even know that she was waiting up for him, and it took her a good few months to correlate her sleepless nights and random insistence on finishing up a book or something she could theoretically do the next day with the nights he wasn't in the Tower.

The nights when it was his turn to run the night shift patrol were the worst.

That wasn't to say she didn't worry about the others being on night patrol at night, but it was only logical that she worry about him more than the others because the others did not hesitate to call for backup if things got out of hand.

He never did.

Hence, it was only logical that although if he was just out for his own reasons, she would be satisfied with hearing him enter the Tower, or his tread on the hallway outside as he went to his room while on the nights he was out on patrol, she wasn't satisfied by anything less than visual confirmation.

Around about the time she had realized that her sleeplessness was in direct proportion to his nighttime outings, he seemed to realize it as well.

They never said anything about it. That just wasn't their way.

Plus, it wasn't like he wasn't usually awake when she came back from her nights of patrol. More often than not, with a mug of Earl Gray waiting.

So, that night (almost morning), when he entered the Tower and found Raven sitting on the couch reading, he wasn't surprised.

She, however, felt her heart drop into her feet, even as she stood immediately, the book dropping onto the floor with a thud in her haste.

"What happened to you?" she demanded, something like fear in her voice. Her eyes were trying to take in every inch of his body, cataloging each of his cuts, memorizing every place where his uniform was ripped or torn and even how he limped just slightly as he walked across the room toward her all at once.

His look told her everything she needed to know, which was really, nothing. The details, she knew didn't matter. She could ream him later for doing something stupid again all alone. She wiped the questions away and stored them for later, putting a hand on his back and preparing to teleport them to the medlab. As soon as she touched him, however, he turned into her body, pressing against her and burying his head under her chin, his arms wrapping around her.

For a moment, she didn't know quite what to do and her arms stayed awkwardly spread away from her, her expression surprised until he tightened his grip and she felt the slight stubble at his chin rub against the side of her throat.

"I'll heal," he whispered hoarsely. "Just hold me."

Slowly, unsurely, she wrapped her arms around him, responding to the strength of his hold with strength of her own and she felt something strange when she did, something strange at the idea that she was allowed, at least for the time being, to clutch at someone, hold them close, press their warmth tight against her. She didn't have the experience or even the vocabulary to describe what that feeling might be, only that it felt right and comfortable, and like she suddenly wished there was a way to hold him tighter. "Robin," she whispered helplessly, feeling the warmth of his aura wrap around her as securely as his arms wrapped around her body. "What happened?" she asked, not thinking he'd answer.

He only tried to burrow closer. "I almost lost tonight," he whispered, his voice still hoarse, as if he'd been crying or screaming so very much. "They almost won, stupid mindless hoods, but they almost overwhelmed me, and when they almost had me beat, when I thought I wouldn't be coming home tonight, I had just one thought..." He trailed off.

"That you should have called us?" she reproved gently.

He pulled back enough to look up at her face, but he was so close. "That I couldn't lose you."

Raven's brows knit, "If you had called us, you wouldn't have--"

He interrupted her by shifting in her hold until he could reach her lips, stealing the breath from her argument.

Their first kiss was filled with need and desperation, the press of his lips on hers demanding her response, but his deepening of the kiss was tender the way she never could have imagined. When he finally broke the kiss, it was to tear off his mask impatiently and what she saw in his eyes made it impossible to regain her breath.

"Now do you get it?" he asked gruffly. "I almost lost you." His arms tightened around her and he brought his head down toward her again.

For a moment, she thought he might kiss her again and although she didn't have a clear thought in her head, she had absolutely no inkling of moving away. When she felt his forehead press against hers, the whisper of his longish hair falling against her cheek, she closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of him.

"I fought so hard because I couldn't think about dying without having told you how much I..." he whispered, his breath ghosting her lips. "I nearly killed them, Raven," he admitted.

"You didn't," she answered, her voice so low if he had been mere inches further, he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

"If they wouldn't have given up, I might have," he said plainly. "If it was between killing them or never seeing you again..."

Raven couldn't think of hearing those words from him. "Stop," she said, before she could think of it. She opened her eyes and pulled back, so that they were looking at each other again. "Don't," she spoke, her voice as close to pleading as it ever had been before.

He looked at her for a very long time, consideringly, almost fighting within himself. "No," he finally spoke, deciding. "I won't." He reached one hand to gently caress the strands of hair that always fell in front of her eyes back behind her ear. "I almost died tonight, Raven --"

She shook her head and tried to look away, but his hand on her face wouldn't let her. "--I don't want to hear that."

"--I almost died," he repeated, his gentle tone of voice belying the strength of his words. "And the only thing I could think of was you." He held her face in place. "The only regret I had, was never telling you how I felt."

She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek heavily into his palm. "Don't."

"You don't have to love me," Robin said. "And I'm sorry I kissed you before, I'll behave from now on, I promise, we can go back to pretending I never said anything--tomorrow," he said honestly. "But not tonight..." he caressed her cheek and it brought her eyes open to him. "Let me hold you tonight – let me convince myself that I didn't lose you."

"You have wounds--" she started inadequately.

"They'll heal."

"You're bleeding."

"It'll stop."

She met his eyes and exhaled, "I don't want you to be in pain."

"Then hold me tight," he answered.

She did.