Beastboy jumped up and down on the couch, waving a brightly-colored letter in his hands.

"Dudes! Titans East has invited us to the annual Titan Reunion! Titans North and South are gonna be there too! Listen, it says

The Teen Titans East would like to cordially invite Starfire, Robin, Beastboy and Cyborg to the Reunion, this February 5th. There will be sweet tunes, free food, and lots of babes. Hope you can make it! Sincerely yours, Speedy."

Starfire clapped her hands delightedly, her face glowing with excitement.

"Oh, wonderful!" She cried. "I shall get to see our dear friends and partake in the kissing of the turning bottle!"

Robin cracked his knuckles menacingly. "And I've got a score to settle with Speedy over who's the most agile. Which is a ridiculous thing to even argue about, as I obviously possess superior honed skills which compared to his are—"

"Boo-yah! There's gonna be a pool and all you can eat burgers! Man oh man, they make some good burgers in Steel City." Cyborg said blissfully.

Raven noticed the absence of her name from the invitation Beastboy had been reading from.

"Beastboy, was my name on that letter?"

"Uh… nope, Raven... your name's not on here."

"It was probably an oversight on their part—" Robin stepped in to do damage control.

"Nah, dude, they just think she's weird and creepy and it makes everyone uncomfortable," Beastboy interrupted him honestly.

There was an awkward silence and everyone looked anywhere but at Raven. Her face was unreadable, as emotionless as always.

Inside her, rage and sadness conflicted, one pounding on the walls of her chest while the other curled up in a sniveling ball.

"It's fine," Raven said to them. "Someone needs to stay here in Jump and keep an eye on things."

"Raven, I'm sure they would really miss you if you weren't there—you can come with us—" Robin attempted cautiously, stepping toward her.

Raven cut him off. "No, really. I don't do parties. I'd rather stay here." It was true, but it still stung that she was considered an exclusion at Titan events.

"But friend, it will not be the same without—" Starfire spoke.

"C'mon guys, don't push it," Cyborg muttered. "Let her do what she wants."

Raven forced a smile for them. "You guys have fun," she attempted to inject cheerfully.

Starfire flew over and hugged her friend tightly, expressing her joy at the "resolving of conflicts".

xxxx

"Evening, Bluebird."

Raven made no move to turn around, looking out toward the setting horizon.

"X," she acknowledged in her monotone.

"What?" He asked in mock surprise. "No running to fling your arms around me, no adoring kisses to shower me with?"

"Don't you have a museum you should be robbing right now?" She quipped sardonically.

"That's not scheduled till later tonight. I have some time to kill," X responded.

"Go kill it elsewhere."

"Bad day, huh?" he clucked reproachfully.

Raven glowered at him. "I don't know how much of an idiot you take me for, but whatever you think you can get out of me, forget it."

Red-X bowed his head for a moment, as if crestfallen.

"Damn… so I won't ever be able to have Starfire's recipe for Mustard Pudding?"

"I'll give it to you right now. Take two gallons of mustard, add a bottle of wasabi, and inject directly into your veins. Now get lost."

"Geez Princess, what's eating you?"

Raven remained silent.

To her surprise, X sat himself down, leaning back into a comfortable position.

"That's fine, I can wait," he said loftily.

A few minutes passed like that, neither speaking. The silence filled in around them like a shared possession.

"Where's the rest of the dope squad?" Red-X suddenly asked, his voice synthesizer turned off.

"At a party in Steel City," Raven said softly, unsure why she bothered answering.

"And you were left here?"

"Obviously."

A sense of understanding settled on Red-X's shoulders. He got up, walking over to where Raven stood statue-still.

"I'd rather be in Jump here with you than at a stupid super-ego party in Steel," He told her quietly.

The familiar feeling of clenching fear and nausea returned.

Stop it before you become sucked into the same trap again.

"You need to leave, X," she said flatly. "Go commit a crime. I don't care. Just… stop trying to do what you're doing."

Red-X looked at her for a moment, and the sorceress almost thought she could detect a touch of sadness radiating off of him.

"Alright Raven," he murmured, stepping back. "I guess I'll see you later then. When I rob that museum, I mean."

Raven didn't reply, turning her head away from him.

Red-X didn't rob any museums that night. He spent it sitting at end of the pier, contemplating the black waves that lapped against the shore of the distant island where a dark little bird lived.

X

X

Ah, the aches of spurned love. Poor X! ;_; Thank you for all the kind reviews! I really appreciate it.