Cyborg had turned to walk away as Beast Boy went to Raven. He didn't want to hang around and listen to what happened next between the two of them. He knew Raven didn't like being coddled by them, but after the way they had seen her the night before it was hard not to coddle her a little.

They hadn't heard anything from Central City, so they were just in standby mode until word came that the big brains on Team Flash had any ideas to help them. He was about to go back up onto the platform where Felicity worked when he noticed Mockingbird sitting curled up in the corner alone and clearly in need of some kind of care.

"Hey, are you okay over there, kid?" he asked gently.

"Yes… I'm fine"

Cyborg knew before the full phrase left her mouth that it was a bold-faced lie. She wasn't Raven, at thirteen years old she was a kid, she wasn't going to come out of this unscathed as much as she wanted everyone to believe she did.

"Amanda, you don't have to pretend to be okay… we all know what happened. You don't have to put on a show for us… it's okay to not be okay." He said walking over to the younger girl.

"I'm tired of being treated like a child, Cyborg… I know I'm younger than the rest of you but… damn it! I am a meta! I have control of my powers as much as anyone… I am telepathic, telekinetic… I can heal people hell I can even astral project for some reason… I can't figure that out. Why am I still treated like a kid…"

Cyborg sat beside her on the floor.

"Come here…" he pulled her near, and he could tell Mockingbird felt restricted by her young age and their tendency to shelter her. In a way he understood her feelings, but he was as guilty as the rest of trying to protect her too much. She was so young; it was easy to forget what Amanda was capable of at her young age.

"I know, Cyborg, and don't think I don't appreciate what you guys do for me but…"

"Look, you don't have your powers right now so just relax… let us protect you." He said gently squeezing her shoulders. "We'll sit down as a team and talk about this when we get home, and you have your powers back."

"Okay" she sighed relaxing into Cyborg's embrace. She was beginning to understand the bonds in the titans were more like those found among siblings with the notable exception of those between Starfire and Nightwing and Raven and Beast Boy which had turned to romance somehow. She always felt like the baby sister that everyone wanted to keep safe no matter what.

She stayed silent for a few minutes, turning her head away from him.

"Cyborg, I have a question and… and I need you to be honest with me."

"Of course, kiddo…"

"Is Raven going to be okay?" she asked.

"Rae's going to be fine…" he chuckled not thinking she'd read his laughter the wrong way. Then she pushed away and stood.

"Please don't lie to me, Cyborg, I know I'm young but… I need to know my cousin is going to be okay… she's looked after me for so long now. She was the first one other than my siblings to take a chance that I could control my powers and I owe her for never giving up on me."

Tears gathered in Amanda's eyes and Cyborg could tell being powerless was having a bad effect on her, she was so emotionally raw, and he wasn't sure what he could do to help her. His attempts at levity were only undermining her ability to believe him. He stood and embraced her again.

"I'm not lying, Raven is going to be fine as soon as she gets her powers back… I get the feeling the process is already starting as we speak." He said pushing a lock of dark hair out of Amanda's face in a brotherly gesture of affection. "Don't worry so much."

"It's hard Cyborg… especially when you've seen as much of her mind as I have." Amanda replied "I know more than she thinks I do about how she grew up and… Cyborg…" Amanda's voice faltered so much that she had to stop speaking.

Cyborg sighed as he listened to what Amanda said. He could remember how Raven was when she arrived from Azerath, how much she'd changed since becoming a titan. She had been quiet and kept everyone at arm's distance. Some would have called her detached, but he quickly realized it wasn't that she didn't want to let anyone in, it was she didn't know how to let people in. She had grown up in veritable isolation and that was the only way Raven knew how to be, so it took time to pry her out of her room, out of her shell and people that were willing to invest that time in her. Today he was glad they had been patient enough to try to befriend the sorceress, she was a beautiful young woman and one of the best friends he'd ever had.

Amanda pushed away and Cyborg let her go, he knew she was still not in her normal headspace, and he was worried about her. She was one of the youngest active titans with only the twins, Mas and Menos of the Titans East being younger than her, but he realized she had her own issues she needed to work through. Her mother's death was a raw wound they still didn't know how to treat. Then there were other things going on in the Roth family that seemed to manifest in Amanda that they couldn't explain or understand. She was almost as close-lipped about her past as Raven and that made it hard for them to help her if they didn't know what she was dealing with. He would have to remember to message Madison and ask her if there were any traumas in Amanda's early childhood that they needed to be aware of that she wasn't telling them.

Oliver sighed as he returned to the foundry, the titans had been there all day and Felicity had yet to hear back from Caitlyn about how they were going to get them back to their Earth. He headed downstairs in his guise as the Arrow he was toying with the idea of just letting them know his real identity and see if perhaps Nightwing would do the same for him. Maybe relax a bit and get out of the bat headspace into something a little more natural for him. Truthfully, he understood why Nightwing was acting the way he was. The young man was a leader trying to keep his team safe in a strange world where he had no idea about anyone or anything. If Nightwing wasn't on guard, he would have said the young man didn't care about his team nearly as much as he ought.

He secured his mask before entering the room with the titans, he could see that they were beginning to get their feet under themselves. Raven particularly seemed a bit more with it than she had the night before and he was getting the feeling they would finally get a sample of who the young sorceress really was, sure he wouldn't see her powers, but he'd finally get to see her personality. When she arrived, she was too exhausted for them to get a feel for who she was.

First thing Oliver walked in on was an animated conversation, more like argument between Raven and Nightwing about the latter changing her bandage and her insisting it was fine even though it had been nearly twenty-four hours since Oliver put the bandage on her, and it likely did need changed.

"Raven, he's right… it's going to hurt I'm not going to lie to you, but that needs changed and he knows as much about doing it as I do so just let him." Oliver told her.

She glared at him, and he realized he'd walked into a bigger argument than he'd realized. That or the argument had been going on longer than he realized, and she didn't like he was on Nightwing's side.

"Take pain meds before he starts, and you won't have to wait so long for relief." He advised before walking away.

She glowered at the Arrow's retreating form as she realized she had no choice but to admit Nightwing was right, and the bandage needed to be changed.

"Fine… you win" she groaned in displeasure and followed Nightwing, who, to his credit, didn't give her the arrogant smirk she knew he wanted to. He knew better, even a powerless Raven knew how to hit and somehow he had a feeling the back of his head looked like an inviting enough target without pissing her off further by letting her see his satisfaction. He was lucky her empathy wasn't working, or she would have felt the smug sense of self-satisfaction he felt at having the archer take his side.

Raven took the sweatshirt off then laid back on the table and moved her shirt so he could get to the bandage. This was not going to be pleasant; she already knew that for a fact. She could tell he was trying to be gentle, trying to keep the pain to a minimum but failing.

"Raven… stop holding your breath!" he admonished in aggravation.

"It hurts…" she replied not even sure why she was holding her breath.

"No, I get it, but you need to breathe" he responded having stopped what he was doing to let her get it together and take a few deep breaths. "You aren't doing yourself any favors by holding your breath like that."

"I know… I just…"

"I know, just breathe deep… do you think trying to meditate would help?"

"No… already tried that trick, the pain makes it harder… I can't focus while you're doing that." She replied.

"Damn…" he muttered, he had to do this leaving the bandage left her open to infection especially since it showed no signs of healing. He went back to work pulling the bandage off thanking his lucky stars the Arrow did put something on there to prevent it sticking to the wound, that would have made it ten times worse. The problem was the tape was still extremely secure and pulling on it pulled on the gash itself.

"Raven…" he groaned "… breathe."

This was turning into a fight; Raven was mule headed as anyone on the team and she wasn't used to being the one getting medical attention, so she wasn't a good patient.

Nightwing looked up in surprise as Starfire stepped up taking Raven's left hand into her own.

"If it will help you may squeeze my hand…" she said softly "… You cannot hurt me I can take the highest pressure you can place on me."

"Starfire…" Raven looked bewildered at the other girl. It wasn't that she needed to be reminded that Starfire was tougher than any of them it was that she had thought of the idea that her action would help.

"Thanks" Raven said giving the Tamaranean's hand a test squeeze.

"Thanks Starfire…" Nightwing smiled and went back to what he was doing noting that the distraction did help, and he didn't have to continually remind Raven not to hold her breath.

Starfire watched as Nightwing worked, his hands quick as he went through the motions of cleaning and replacing the bandage on Raven's side. She could tell this wasn't a pleasant experience for Raven and did her best to be comforting. She spoke in soft tones, assuring Raven when she felt her hand tighten. Her words weren't always in English and while the meaning of the non-English words was lost on Raven the emotion behind them wasn't.

The gash was large, but it wasn't red or inflamed and Nightwing assured both girls that was a good sign, it meant there was no infection trying to set in. He had hoped her powers had begun to return enough for it to close so he could remove the stitches but that hadn't happened yet so unfortunately the stitches had to remain much to Raven's chagrin.

Nightwing closed his eyes as he finished and sat back. He'd have to thank Batman next time he saw him for drilling the need to maintain his gear, bird-a-rangs had to stay sharp and this was the benefit to that. They cut clean and anyone injured with them suffered little no permeant damage though Raven might have a scar.

He finished the new bandage and Starfire helped her back to a seated position. She had taken Arrow's advice and taken a dose of painkillers before he started, and they were finally beginning to kick in. She noticed to her relief they didn't make her nearly so drowsy this round, perhaps it was because she wasn't so exhausted to begin with.

She was worried about Amanda, really, they were all worried about her, she was very young, and this was all extremely stressful for her. She didn't know about the conversation Amanda had with Cyborg as he had done as Amanda had asked and kept the conversation secret between the two of them.

Raven looked up as Beast Boy entered the room. He had wanted to help with the bandage change, but word hadn't gotten to him in time thus why Starfire was helping instead of him.

He glared daggers at Nightwing but didn't say anything, he understood why this happened, but it didn't mean he had to like it. They could have come for him to help her through the bandage change, instead Starfire had to do it because he wasn't there for her.

"Look I'm not upset with the two of you I just need to know, why didn't you tell us sooner you two were together?" Nightwing asked as Beast Boy sat beside Raven.

Starfire stepped back silently, she knew Nightwing was concerned about them, but not for the reasons they had thought. He was worried because they were already wounded and if this went south it had the potential to make the situation so much worse especially for Raven who struggled with what he could only describe as bouts of depression though he was sure there was more to her issues than he could fit into any known label. She had subjugated all emotion for so long it was hard for her to now express it and it awoke anxieties that he didn't know how to help her with.

"Why didn't you tell us about you and Starfire?" Raven said spinning the question back on him.

Nightwing chuckled nervously, he should have expected that from Raven; especially after getting it from Beast Boy the night before.

"I didn't want it to be a big deal, it just slowly started happening." Nightwing replied.

"No for us it happened quickly…" Beast Boy said then looked at Raven as it appeared she was doing some analyzing of the events of the day they got together.

"Damn…" she muttered.

"What is it, Raven?" Nightwing asked in concern.

"That little…" she let the thought trail.

"Care to share, babe?" Beast Boy asked.

"I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out… how you ended up seeing one of my dreams…"

"Okay I'm lost." Nightwing admitted then Beast Boy filled him in on the events of the night they confessed their feelings for each other as Raven seemed to process her long overdue epiphany.

"Okay so what happened, Raven?" Nightwing asked.

"Mockingbird… she entered my mind and saw what was going on in my dream and used her powers to send it over to Beast Boy, so you saw what I did… that little… I don't even know what to do with her… I mean I can't be angry at her… look at the results of what she did. She gave me more happiness than I've ever known, but…"

"She invaded your privacy to do it." Nightwing supplied.

"I see you finally analyzed what happened hard enough to put two and two together." A tiny voice said from the doorway. "Raven, I am so sorry… I just… I saw the way you looked at him… and the way he looked at you and… and I had to do something… clearly the two of you weren't going to do anything unless someone gave you a substantial shove. So… I used my powers to… to give you both that shove in the right direction… Raven I am so sorry I should have just minded my own business but… but you were both miserable… I… couldn't help it I had to…"

Raven watched as her little cousin stuttered through her explanation of why she did what she did. She was anxiously playing with her hands as her eyes overflowed with tears, and Raven found herself unable to remain angry at Amanda. Sure, Amanda had massively invaded her privacy but with nothing but the best of intentions at heart and the results had put Raven in her first healthy romantic relationship with, of all people, Beast Boy.

Beast Boy had set a president that they would move this relationship at whatever pace felt the most comfortable for her which meant they moved slower than what he'd done with Terra and her with Malchior. Both of those were whirlwind romances that burnt out as quickly as they had ignited and left painful burns in their wake. Malchior had left Raven feeling used and, to an extent, unlovable. Terra had left Beast Boy feeling betrayed and hurt.

"Raven, I know what happened with Malchior… I know you didn't realize I knew about that, but I do… I saw him in your dreams, and I know how badly he hurt you, but I realized Beast Boy would never do that to you, he loves you too much, and… and he's been hurt too…" Amanda backhanded tears as she continued as she went back to wringing her hands "Beast Boy… I found Terra's old room and… and the psychic imprints I got there were of pain and b-betrayal the likes of which you didn't deserve but… but in those revelations I realized one thing you were both r-ready to try anew you just didn't realize what I knew… and that w-was that the other felt the same way. That is what I really don't understand, especially with you being an empath, Raven. So yes, I owe you both an apology, but I don't even know if I can genuinely say that I am sorry for what I did because I'd do it again in a heartbeat under the same circumstances because I want the two of you to be happy… you both deserve to be happy… and that was the only way to do that."

Raven was taken aback, she had thought those things long buried, Malchior and Terra. but she had underestimated Amanda and her knack for finding the things that others didn't want her to find. She also didn't need her powers to feel her cousin's anxiety spiking as she spoke, her tone getting louder, higher, and her stuttered words coming faster and faster until they almost ran together.

Then one by one the older teens realized that Amanda was beginning to hyperventilate.

"I… I can't breathe…" she said clutching her chest as her legs gave out from under her and she fell to her knees.

"Amanda…" Beast Boy trailed in confusion.

Starfire had been oddly silent through the whole speech, most of them had forgotten the Tamaranean was even there.

Raven was about to begin to reassure the younger girl she wasn't upset when she realized what Nightwing had already concluded, Amanda was in the middle of a panic attack.

Nightwing sprung to action as it dawned on him the younger girl was hyperventilating.

"Amanda… you need to slow down, you're hyperventilating…" he said grasping her shoulders.

The mood in the room was tense as Nightwing tried to get Amanda to breathe slower and calm down. Raven knew the tension wasn't helping and even Nightwing couldn't get Amanda to calm down. She took a deep breath then walked over and gently took Nightwing's place.

"Amanda… look into my eyes… focus on me… forget there is anybody else in this room, just focus on me…" Raven instructed her tone calm but firm "breath slow… deep like we do when we're meditating… in and out." She instructed "you're panicking and there is no need… no one here is angry at you for what you did. If anything, we're grateful for what you did."

Amanda nodded taking a deep breath through her nose.

Starfire approached Nightwing and he pulled her to the side to try to explain exactly what was going on with Amanda and her breathing. They watched as Amanda finally calmed down enough to breathe normally again.

"I don't know what happened… I just… everything started building and building like it wasn't just my own anxiety I was feeling it was like I had everyone's anxieties building up inside me and… and I couldn't control it."

"I know, I'm beginning to get my powers back too but it's slow and apparently you started with empathy a little too fast." Raven observed. "I can't heal any injuries including my own, but I can pinpoint anyone from our team in this building."

"Raven do you think you'll be able to heal soon." Nightwing asked.

"I don't know, Nightwing, I wish I could tell you I'd be able to heal this soon but so far nothing, I've tried."

Nightwing sighed as he saw Felicity peek in to see if they were okay. She had overheard what had just transpired and was concerned about the youngest member of the Teen Titans.

"I just wanted to make sure things were okay in here" she said softly as she passed a bottle of water down to Raven for Amanda to sip on.

"Thank you" Raven replied opening the bottle before handing it to Amanda who took a few small sips before reaching out a hand for the lid.

"Sorry, I… I guess I'm not as good as I thought I was."

"No… you were just not ready for your powers to return." Raven said gently.

To Be Continued…