She felt quite uncomfortable with having her friends present while going through the drawers that housed her bras and underwear so she did those first quickly while everyone's attention was still being held by their job. Those all appeared to be fine thankfully. The last thing she wanted to do was go underwear shopping. It was the lower drawers that held her pants and jammies that sustained the brunt of the damage. Only a few leggings, shorts, and comfy wear survived, most of it ending up in the trash bag. She had suspected that would be the case, but it was still upsetting to see her favorite clothing pieces torn and ripped beyond repair that she could never get back.

Raven sighed as she took her clothes out of the dryer. She wasn't much of an outfit person to begin with so she didn't have many clothes, but now she was left with even less.

She clenched a sock at the memory of pulling her favorite sleep shirt out of the drawer, one of the first clothing articles she got on earth, ripped beyond repair.

'It's just a shirt.' She told herself. 'Just some fabric. It's not that big of a deal.' But it still hurt. Even if it was just a piece of fabric.

She teleported to Robin's room, not wanting to risk dropping anything that would cause her any embarrassment, but made a sound of surprise while Robin ungracefully squealed at the sudden appearance of his friend.

"Oh my god!" He clutched his racing heart, trying to get his heart rate to go back down. "I felt the tingle but, lord."

"Sorry." She flushed. "I didn't know you would be in here." She paused. "Well, nevermind. Guess I forgot for a second."

He shrugged. "It happens. I did tell you that I'd be here later after all. Just setting up a spot." He gestured to the floor in between his bed and the window, close enough for support and comfort but far enough so he wouldn't get stepped on in the middle of the night. He had many blankets. Some Raven made herself and others just whatever he found around the tower. One thing that all five Titans shared interest for, were blankets. So they had a surplus. What he forgot thought was his pillow.

Raven nodded awkwardly, arms full of laundry and nowhere to put it.

"Oh," Robin said as if reading her mind, "here, I have an empty drawer that you can use." He walked over to his dresser and opened one of the middle drawers. "I'll uh, let you to it. I'm going to get a few things and shower later."

"You can shower first." She said. "I don't mind."

"Then I'll make sure I take my sweet ol time in there." He teased and left in search of his pillow.

She watched him go to make sure he was gone before she started sorting and folding her clothes. She was very glad to have clean clothes that were her own. She appreciated Robin sharing his, and they were cozy, but these were her clothes and she was glad to have them back.


Making his way back from his office, Robin had a pillow under each arm. He was excited to spend some time with his friend, dare he say, a sleepover, but he knew it wasn't going to be an easy night. Just seeing the way she held herself when they had dinner made her look so vulnerable and sad. He was hoping it would be a calm, uneventful night but there was a small tug at the back of his mind that said otherwise.

He passed Cyborg who gave him a curious look at the pillows he held. "Where you going? Office to cramped?"

"My room." He stated.

"Raven's still there." It was a statement rather than a question said with a raised brow and crossed arms.

"Yes."

"And you're going to be in there because?"

Robin sighed, not wanting to go into too much detail because it was Raven's feelings to explain, not his. "She's had a hard time and didn't want to be alone tonight. She asked if I could sleep in there tonight."

"Alright. On the floor, right?" It seemed like he challenged.

"Yeah, where else."

Cyborg gave him a look that sent the spiky haired teen into a blush.

"Come on, I'm not like Speedy trying to jump into girls beds at any chance he gets." Robin defended himself.

"She's fragile right now. Very unstable. If you're not careful you could do much more damage than Malchior ever could."

"I understand." Robin nodded seriously. "I'm there strictly for emotional support. Nothing more nothing less."

"I know." Cyborg sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "This girl means a lot to me, and I know she means a lot to you, and I want to make sure you understand that."

"Trust me, I do."

"Good." Cyborg removed his hand and put them both on his hips, loudly and tiredly letting out a long sigh. "It's been a long week."

"It has." Robin agreed with a sigh of his own.

"Well, you go give some emotional support and I am going to zonk. Good night man."

"Good night." Robin bid as his metal friend sleepily made his way to his room and him to his.


Once Robin got in the shower, Raven went to sit at his desk to do the daunting task of writing in her journal. 'Just one page.' She told herself. 'It doesn't even have to be about today.'

Cats are my favorite animal. She began. I have always wanted one but there's no pets allowed in the tower. Except Silkie that is apparently. Beast Boy can turn into a cat but that's hardly the same. It's nice to have something love you unconditionally. Something to take care of.

She paused for a moment, unsure if she should continue or not.

I like the idea of having a cat, but I'm not so sure the reality will be suitable for it. There won't be any stability for it. We get calls at odd hours of the day and night and can be gone for days to weeks at a time. Who will be there when we're gone? No one. How will it eat? It won't. What will happen if the tower is under attack? It'll die. It's points like that where I'm hesitant to say I want a cat, because I know Cyborg will go out and get me one, she smiled in spite of herself at the thought of him bringing home a big fluffy cat with a giant smile on his face, happy to make her happy, but I don't think it'll thrive here. Not to mention I won't be here much longer. Well, neither will it I guess. But I can't have that on my conscience.

She took a break in her writing to doodle and scribble on the bottom of the page. Scratches of color here, a flower there, it looked like Robin's notepad after a phone call. Speaking of…

The bathroom door opened and she quickly shut her journal. It was more of a reflex than anything, but still.

"Bathroom's all yours." Robin announced as he put his clothes in the hamper but kept his mask on.

"Ok." Raven nodded and collected her things and headed to the bathroom, taking the journal with her out of habit.

She forgot how fast he was in showers. She liked to take longer showers and baths but he liked to be quick. In and out. It was no problem for either party normally since they had their own bathrooms, but she felt inclined to not take as long now that he was there.

The water was nice and warm and helped melt the chill that settled in her bones earlier. She envisioned it washing down the drain, never to be seen again letting her find her warmth once again. But it didn't go away completely. She was left with a stray shiver every now and then in spite of her skin starting to turn pink from the water.

Not wanting to get out but being polite, she turned off the water with a sigh and quickly dried off in hopes of the sooner she put on lotion the warmer she would be. It worked, kind of, but wearing shorts and a tank top defeated the purpose.

Opening the door and walking back to the bed, she deposited her journal on the nightstand, put away her clothes, and got into bed. Robin was on the floor wrapped in a heavy blanket over his sleeping t-shirt and long pants reading a book. Well, trying to it seemed. Even though he still wore his mask, she felt his gaze flicker from the book to her when he thought she wasn't paying attention.

After a bit of situating, she got herself comfortable enough and turned on her left side, facing away from Robin. She felt her face warm at the thought of him. She wasn't embarrassed persay, not completely. She was glad to have him help her, but she still didn't know what to think of it. This wasn't a normal request she asked of her friends. Sure, they spent the night together when they had overnight missions, but she had never asked one of them, Robin, to be an extra presence in the room while she slept.

"Are you going to sleep?" Robin quietly asked.

She clutched the blanket in her hand and matched his volume with a "yes."

There was some rustling behind her, a soft click and there was no more light. Some more rustling and moving around then it stopped.

"Goodnight." He said.

"Goodnight." She muttered softly.

Except she didn't sleep. She just laid there and started at the wall in front of her making images out of the patterns and markings on the wall. It was nearly pitch black thanks to the curtains, but her heightened night vision could let her see them just fine. She felt like if she closed her eyes, then something bad would happen. She wanted the day to be over, to get the rest she knew she needed, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She didn't know how long she laid there looking at the wall. 30, maybe 40 minutes? She didn't really care but her side was starting to get sore so she turned onto her back, doing the same to the ceiling. There was a fan though to keep her entertained. She would focus her eyes to see each individual panel as they spun and spun then zone out, the blades morphing together looking like a white record.

After a while she turned her head to look at Robin. He looked to be asleep but she wasn't certain. He had his back turned to her but had a slow rhythmic rise and fall of his torso. She reached out with her empathy to check his consciousness but wasn't completely startled when he spoke.

"I'm awake."

He must have felt her.

"Why?"

"Why are you still awake?"

She tisked and turned her attention back to the fan. Blades going round and round like a carousel. "I couldn't fall asleep."

"Couldn't or won't?"

She didn't respond, the answer unclear to herself.

She heard Robin sigh and the movement of fabric as he turned.

"Do you want me to leave?" He asked.

"No." She said quickly then tried to cover it up. "You're not bothering me. Am I bothering you?"

"No." He partially lied. He wasn't going to fall asleep before her. He wanted to be there for Raven and felt it would be shallow of him to zonk right then and there and leave her alone. So he waited. It wasn't necessarily keeping him up, his adrenaline tended to spike at night from his time in Gotham, but he would be lying if he said he didn't want to sleep.

"I don't know if I want to sleep." She admitted.

"Why?"

"I don't know what will await me."

"What if it's a nice peaceful rest?"

"What if it's not?" She challenged.

"You won't know unless you try."

A silence fell over them, both watching the fan as if they were learning the secrets to the universe through it.

"I have a noise machine if you think that'll help." He suggested.

"You do?" She asked, turning her head to look at him.

He turned to look at her as well. "Yeah. When my thoughts are too loud sometimes it's easier to focus on something else to help me fall asleep."

He could see the gears in her head turn as she tossed around the idea before agreeing.

It was stored in his nightstand so he didn't have to travel far to get it. Just an awkward shimmy and some rooting around before he placed it in the nightstand and plugged it into the wall, a soft whir noise filling the room.

"It sounds like the bathroom fan." She observed.

"Kinda, yeah. Is it too loud?"

"No, it's fine."

She turned on her right side, meeting his blue eyes and moved the blankets around her, finding a comfortable position as she was ready to attempt to sleep.

Robin didn't say anything, just watched her for a few seconds and laid himself back down facing her, waiting for her to fall asleep.

To their surprise it didn't take long at all. She was out in a matter of minutes having something else to keep her focus.

Robin wanted a few minutes more before he did the ultimate sleep test. Gently, he grabbed one of her hands, brought it up a couple of inches, and let it fall. She did not stir. He carefully put her hand back in its burrow hole in the blanket but gave it a small squeeze goodnight before covering it back up.


Robin awoke with a start, the sound of something heavy sounding dropped near him forcefully brought him to consciousness as he sat up within a second of hearing the sound. It was a book. One of his ungodly large psychology books. Very thankful that it didn't land on him, he turned to the source of the fallen book and felt all traces of sleepiness leave as he took in the sight.

There on the bed, expectantly, was Raven. But she wasn't lying down. She had sat up, knees bent, and hands grasping the fabric of the blankets as she tried to slow her ragged breath, tears slowly falling from her eyes.

Comfort mode fully engaged, he carefully sat down on his bed and was about to ask if she was ok before she spoke between gasps and quiet sobs.

"I never should have closed my eyes."

Robin resisted the urge to pull her into a hug, the fact that she leaned away from him didn't escape his notice. "I'm sorry." He replied, not really knowing what the right words to say were.

"I just thought, I thought-" the rest of her sentence was cut off by a wave of sobs, a barely audible "I'm so stupid," whispered.

"No, you're not." Robin countered. "You're one of the smartest people I know."

"No," she shook her head and angrily wiped her tears, a useless action seeing as more kept flooding but she didn't care, "I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"How?! How can you possibly say that after he, after I let him-" She threw her head in her hands.

"After he what?" This was news to him. Obviously something more than betraying her.

She shook her head.

"What did he do?" He repeated, his tone becoming more serious.

She shook her head again.

"I'm not going to drop it until you tell me. Whatever it is, it won't make me think less of you."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

She took a slow shuddering breath, turned towards him but kept her eyes on the blanket beneath him and squeaked, "He touched me."

Robin couldn't help the way his eyes rapidly blinked in shock. "He touched you? As in touched you touched you?"

"I guess." She mumbled.

"It's a yes or no question." He said sternly. "Did he touch you or not?"

"Yes, but I-"

"Where?"

She looked him in the eye this time, fragile purple meeting hard blue.

"Where did he touch you?" He repeated.

It was her turn to blink. At a loss for words, she shyly gestured with her hands at her legs, thighs, stomach, arms, and embarrassingly and reluctantly, her chest. She looked away again at the last gesture.

Robin took hard deep breaths, trying to keep himself in check. It wouldn't be any use if he lost his cool. "When did this happen?"

"Tuesday evening." She whispered. The day before she released him.

He nodded. "Did you consent?"

"I initiated it."

"Did you consent to him touching you?"

"No." She whispered again after a few seconds. "It was a mistake. I know better, but I let him do it."

"Do you realize that you were assaulted?"

"...No. I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"I let him do it."

"But did you enjoy it?"

"…No."

"Raven, look at me."

Reluctantly, she did. Her tear filled ones met his, both raw with emotion in different spectrums.

"This was not your fault."

"Yes, it was."

"How? Because if it happened to any of us you wouldn't be blaming us for it."

"Because I chose to be careless." She said in between tears. Books starting to fall off shelves littering across the floor. "I knew it was a bad idea from the start. I mean, come on. A talking book is a major red flag." She chuckled darkly. "I should have handed it over to you but I was…excited. That someone finally understood me. And we just talked and somewhere along the way I ended up wanting him. Or the idea of someone, and he was there, and I was there, and I chose to ignore all the warning signs and gave him what he wanted." She let go of what little control she had left and let her tears fall freely and the sobs shake her frame. "I know better than this, I know better. But I wanted to know what it felt like to have someone like and care for me. But it was all for show."

"I hope you know that there's nothing wrong with letting your guard down from time to time. That you're surrounded by people who love and care for you so much."

"That's why I'm upset with myself! I couldn't even bring myself to be with you guys but let him in without a second thought!"

"Sometimes, it is easier to do that with someone you don't know."

She balled the blanket she was under in her hands, droplets of water turning the color darker, her hair rising and falling as if it was caught in the wind. "Why did I do that? I don't deserve all this."

"Don't deserve what?" He asked gently, trying to hold back his own tears, waves of her emotions coming loud and clear through their bond with no resistance on her end.

"This." She threw her hand out to the room. "All your kindness and patience, letting me stay in here, all that you guys have done for me these past few days. You should be mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?" A few tears managed to slip from his control in addition to her feeling like he should be upset with her.

"Because I don't ever make mistakes like this!" She shouted in complete agony. "I let him out. I destroyed the tower. I'm the reason why this past week has been such a disaster, and I don't understand why you're not angry with me."

"I'm not angry with you because it was a mistake. You couldn't have possibly known what he was planning. If anything you did the right thing by helping someone. It was him that was in the wrong. He manipulated you. He played with your feelings. He knew what he was after all along, and you just needed some reassurance. He's the one to blame for all of this. Not you."

"But I-"

"No," he cut her off, "you did what you thought was the right thing. You had no intent of hurting anyone or anything. So please, stop blaming yourself for this because it was not your fault."

He was practically sobbing as hard as she was. Both blubbering messes feeding off of each other but one obviously feeling worse.

"Can you do that for yourself?" He shuttered, caving in and grabbing one of her hands gently, pulling it away from the other and towards him.

"I- I don't know." She was breathing hard and fast, trying to catch her breath and ease the tension in her stomach from her crying. "I don't know."

"I'm going to hug you." He let her know before pulling her to him.

She gave up and collapsed into him, not holding back any emotions as she threw her arms around his torso and held on tight. Robin in turn wrapped his arms around her, one on her back rubbing soothingly and the other behind her head holding tight for support, gently swaying side to side. They both threw out their control, not caring in the slightest about anything other than offering and receiving support from one another.

About half an hour of mumbles, rocking, and shushing later, he felt her breathing even out and with a final sigh, she was out. Occasionally she would take a shuddering breath but her tears had slowed to a stop and he could feel her slipping away into sleep.

Gently he loosened his grip on her head, gave her back a final rub, and carefully laid her back down onto bed, making sure to bring her blankets back up appropriately. He gave her a long sorrowful look and went to the bathroom, sat on the edge of the tub, and let out the remains of her grief.