To Comfort a Fallen Dark Angel

by Erin Salvatore

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I'm just borrowing. Only the story belongs to me.

Note: The idea for this has been rattling around in my head for a while. It takes place after "Birthmark" and it deals with Robin comforting Raven and trying to make sense of what happened. I just hope this sounds as good written as it did in my head.

LET THE SHOW BEGIN!

Robin punched and kicked the wooden dummy in the gym. He wasn't able to sleep and thought some training would help relax him. What the hell happened tonight? Why would Slade suddenly target Raven when he was never interested in her before? After the fiasco with both him and Terra, Robin doubted it was a third attempt at recruiting another apprentice. And what was the deal with the strange markings on his head? These and other questions plagued him as Robin continued to deliver blows to the dummy. Finally, he administered a punch so hard, he smashed it to pieces, cutting his face in the process.

Robin stepped back and when he felt his cheek, he saw the blood. He bit back a curse and went to wash the wound and put a bandage on it. That done, he cleaned up the debris as best he could before deciding to try and get some sleep. As he headed to his room, however, he decided to check on Raven to see how she was feeling. While it was true that she was strong and could bounce back from anything, like him, but he couldn't help but be concerned about her.

Making up his mind, Robin headed to Raven's room. He arrived at her door and before he could knock, it opened and Raven stood there before him.

"I guess you knew I was coming?" He saw that she had cut her hair. "Back to your old self, I see."

Raven nodded. "If you could call it that. I'm probably not going to be able to shake off what happened tonight, no matter how hard I try." She shivered a bit, remembering every moment of the night. "Do you see now why I hate birthdays?" She stepped back, allowing him to enter the room. "Come in."

Robin nodded and walked into her room, glancing about at the interior. "You know, you're not the only one who hates their birthday. Back when I lived with Bruce, I hated when my birthday rolled around."

"Was it because you're an orphan? I saw the memory of your parents' death when I entered your mind."

"That was a big part of it, yes," said Robin. "But, the other part was that Bruce was never home much. The only one who really acknowledged it was Alfred." He chuckled. "He even had a cake for me and everything." He cleared his throat. "So, yeah, I know what it's like to hate your birthday."

There was a silence for a few minutes and Raven sat on her bed. Robin joined her and it wasn't long until Raven spoke again, noticing the bandage on his cheek.

"I take it you tried to relax by doing some training in the gym?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. Too much on my mind," he said. "Of course, having been in my mind, I'll bet you know what I was thinking about."

"More like a who. Slade."

"Why was he after you? He never targeted you before."

Raven shook her head. "I don't have the answer to that question. We both know I'm too powerful for him to recruit as an apprentice, so we can rule that out."

"Yeah, I've already ruled that out," said Robin. "And I don't know why he had that weird red symbol on his forehead. It seemed out of place with the orange and black. I also couldn't understand where he got those powers."

"I don't know where he got them either." That, of course, wasn't true. Raven did know where he got them, and from whom. She didn't want to tell that to Robin and the others, not wanting to put them in danger. Given what happened tonight, I think they were already put in danger. "Knowing you, you'll no doubt investigate it until you find the answer."

"Damn right I will," said Robin. "It might take time, but I will."

Another silence until Raven said, "Aside from not being able to sleep, how are you holding up?"

"I've been through worse, trust me," said Robin. "If I can take on the criminal scum of Gotham City, I can handle just about anything."

Raven smiled. She admired his ability to bounce back. Hell, she admired all of his abilities, as well as the abilities of the other members of the team. Though, their abilities may not be enough.

She saw that Robin getting up and grabbed his hand. "Could you...stay with me?"

"Are you sure?"

Raven nodded and as she did so, tears began to roll down her face. Robin immediately sat back down and hugged her, running his fingers through her hair as she sobbed into his shoulder. She must have really been through hell tonight, especially if she asked him to stay with her. He hated to see her like this and he silently vowed that he'd punish Slade for it, no matter what the cost was.

Note: Thus ends my one shot. Hope you guys enjoy.