“And she’d rather play with her saliva than play stankball with us.” BB said.
“I don’t think that’s right!” Cy scratched his head.
“I know!” BB said.
When I agreed with BB, I knew it was never going to be good.
“Saliva?” I asked, leaning on a tree. The obstacle course was 500 meters to my right, where BB and Cy were playing ultimate version of stankball.
“A widely distributed plant of a genus including the sages, especially a bedding plant cultivated for its spikes of bright flowers.” Raven’s dry voice rasped out, as if quoting a manual. With her memory, she probably was.
Robin had been at his desk, going through reports from all the Titans. The North Pole. The east. Underwater. Then he over hears BB complain about Raven not wanting to hang with him. So its a regular Wednesday. But then whats this about spit?
He stood up, dumping the pen on the desk, put the com on sleep mode and rubbed the back of his neck. Maybe that was it. Raven was finally as crazy as he was.
What a pair they were.
He should check on her though. A good time for a break anyway. His body was stiff and that would not do.
The reports were informative and Robin was glad for the network of Titans. They had no mention of Slade or any demonic activity. That was not conclusive of anything.
Brother blood seemed to be a closer threat.
Walking to the elevator, Robin still wasn’t sure whether Slade was alive or if the Hat had somehow gotten a hold of his deepest fear. - Slade in league with something worse than him. Someone he would swear fealty too, who Slade would bargain with.
And what was this Deathstroke business?
At the chime, Robin followed the bond, a slight tug of intuition, that led him to Raven tending flowers the colour of her eyes.
He’d once thrived on the rush of adrenaline that came with the chase. After years with Batman, he’d thought of going solo. Somehow he was a de facto leader of the Titans.
Raven was the strongest, magic, portals, constructs, brains and empathy all rolled into one beautiful package. And she consumed knowledge like a dragon with gold. Could usually keep a level head. But something was up with her lately.
Star was definitely one of the strongest Titans. A warrior with compassion. She didn't let her captivity make her bitter. Which was not always the case in their cruel world.
Cyborg was a natural elder brother, a team player used to leading. A close contender for team leader. But sports didn't translate to batter strategy the same way. There was no point system. The opponents they faces did not play by the same rules the Titans did. And if it was between hurting people and jail, the criminals would happily use human shields.
Beast boy was the most versatile. Large, tiny, flight, land water. Amazing at information gathering, if a little immature. But that was how he chose to navigate life and Robin wouldn’t rag on him, until BB hurt the Team, or or Raven.
Gar seemed to have it in for her a little. Was it her aloofness he wanted to conquer or something else.
After Terra Robin’d been worried about him. Raven too. She was a hard nut to crack, but once she did, Raven was all love and understanding, and mysteries.
“Sage huh?”
“To ward off pests.”
Robin laughed. He couldn't help himself, she was funny. And mean too. And cautious. That comes with history, baggage for sure. And he hoped the sarcasm and witty humour helped.
When her eyes got all stubborn and calm as if the caustic tough was logic and not her lashing out coz she knew best, well he was all for it.
He loved a girl who knows what she wants. A calm inner fire that she works to control. It just hits all the right buttons. Not getting in anyones business, but ready to lend a ear? He just kept falling harder and harder.
Something was going on. More than Stankball and even Malchior. And they had a bond. He knew from car trouble, that every time she enveloped something in her magic Raven used a piece of her soul.
Raven’s soul had been in him, seen through his eyes. They, he and Raven had connected to the deepest level. There has been no secrets with them then. Just pure soul to soul harmony. a sync. She saw him and he saw her.
Raven had a bond with the whole team. They all had their own relationship with each other. BB and Cy. Rae and Star. But him and her, he thought Raven was his. She knew him, the real Robin, part of him that he hadn't told anyone, and it went without saying, obviously, but if he wanted Raven to trust him, he had to say those things, he had to trust her.
“Raven?” He said. His voice serious and filled with more longing than he wished to reveal.
Raven dropped the gardening tool, stood up turned to him. After a beat she raided her hood so her could see her face.
“Yes Robin?”
Oh! Wow. He really was into this girl. She said his name and he was dizzy.
“Dick,” he offered, compelled to go to her. Breathe her, feel her warmth.
“Excuse me?”
“Right. Um Richard Grayson actually.” He stammered whispered to her.
Shit dick!
“The flying Graysons,” she mused softly.
“Dick for short,” he said and wished he knew how to speak with this girl. He was sixteen years old. Not twelve.
“Dick is short,” she teased. Blushing.
Dick blushed too. He got the double entendre. Was delighted Raven would joke with him.
Raven moved her hand as of to cover her face in embarrassment, then at the last second, her fingers pushed her dark hair behind a now red ear.
And she stayed where she was.
“Yeah. My family, we were acrobats. Before.”
“I lived in an other dimension. Azarath.”
“Is that where your mantra comes from?”
She nodded.
They were so close. He swayed towards her. As if pulled by her magnetism. He was but an iron filling against her power.
It was daylight but Robin felt as if they were in a world of their own. Only a mile away was a city teeming with people but here in this garden Raven created, flowers and trees of all colours and scents, Robin felt primal.
Raven, with smudges of dirt on her face, her face open to him. How could beast boy ever call her creepy?
Robin understood routine and obsession better than anyone. He understood ravens near religious need to meditate. The team had first hand seen. What could happen if Raven didn't keep strict control of her temper.
And the times she failed, the little things, like when Cy left them in a huff. Ms. “People come and go. Im not bothered”. Yeah? Then why did they need a new wall of screens?
Then there were times when he wished Raven would jump the gun. Like with Terra. Raven had her suspicions. It was clear. But she held back. Gave Terra a chance. For all her aloofness and bluntness Raven was honest with Terra. And she understood him. With three rock diggers she understood that Slade was not to be left to him devices.
There were a hundred million little things and he hoped for a million more, but maybe not only as a teammate.
There is nothing we won’t do for you, Raven his eyes said.
She frowned.
He moved his gloveless hand to hers. The connection was there! He hadn’t imagined it.
So he showed her all the times she saved him. The little things. The time when Slade wanted him as his apprentice. The whole team was concerned about him while Raven found the location. She trusted him, even when he was stealing and attacking them. The gratitude he felt was immense.
And more. Her power left him in awe. Her compassion towards BB after he found out of his potential for violence.
Startled, Raven pulled back. Shock and a sort of vindication warred on her face. Then the flow of images stoped. Raven covered his mind in someway. A laptop that is airgapped and protected.
He waited, content.
So now she knew.
And when Raven didn’t say anymore Dick filled the silence with his life story. He wanted Raven to trust him, but with an empath you can’t be anything less than brutally honest.
Holding her gaze, having her solely focused on him he began “we traveled with a circus. But in the off season we're home schooled and trained….”
As I stumbled into the darkness, I was too busy contemplating, on a scale of one to ten, the pain I might have to endure in the near future.
“You look well rested. I can see the trip to Gotham was rejuvenating.”
“Oh don’t worry Alfred had a go at me.” He could still hear Alfred over the ringing in her ear, how many fingers am I holding? How bad does your head hurt on a scale from one to ten?
Raven’s frown eased a bit. But, when I sat near her after getting a cup of perfectly brewed tea, she didn't reach over to heal me.
That was new.
Unless there was a lot going on, in the past Robin noticed Raven seemed compelled to heal us. The sarcasm was sass, wit and a defence mechanism rolled into one.
Watching Raven sip her tea, blow on it and peer into her cup as if it held all the secrets, her shoulders hunched made Robin uneasy.
Raven asked before she’d put her hands on you, but she’d healed you before you realised what was happening.
The clinking sounds of metal on china, the wind buffeting our T-shaped building, Raven’s breathing quickly faded. In my minds eyes I saw a younger Raven. She knelt behind me, and her hands hovered and when our gazes met. When she read the consent in my eyes, Raven lightly placed, warm and soft palms, along the side of my face, on my cheek, above my heart. My senses went into overdrive. Heartbeat accelerated, breathing increased and I felt lightheaded.
My mind stewed in confusion, but one memory floated to the surface— even as Slade seemed to appear out of nowhere and punch me, the voice of my teammate, my partner, Raven: “let me see, through your eyes”
The pain began to retreat from my body, thoughts, and heart like some quiet sea breeze pulling the tide back. I heard myself make a small sound of protest.
Raven looked down at me, her eyes concerned. "Worse than we suspected.”
“The toxin is out of his system,” Cyborg said from his right.
“And left behind more bruises and cuts than I can count. Not to mention internal bleeding. You didn't even realise how much pain you were in, did you?”
My chest had heaved and I let out a quiet relieved sob. The warmth had me, and the sheer weight of the difficulties I’d faced down, suffocating me, faded.
Slade was dead. It had all been in my mind, just as Raven said. But she was mistaken if thought it was over. Someone was out there. Someone had activated the hallucinogen. But that, with Raven’s body holding mine, was a mystery for another day.
And now it was another day.
I kept delaying. First I’d needed to heal. With the whole med bay at my disposal, somehow I’d also needed Raven.
And then Malchior the evil dragon happened.
While Raven healed, she pushed us all away. But then she did heal. She played stank-ball. She meditated with Star. Who actually managed to take her on a fun day at the mall of shopping. Cyborg and Raven worked on the T-Car. We all each of us fell into a routine.
We never discussed what Raven saw in my mind. I experienced my memories as if a movie playing on a screen with Raven. I’m not even sure how it happened but after she saw into me, and helped me save myself, I just kept falling.
Is there anything sadder than a team leader pining over his teammate. Who up until then shared morning musings with him?
And so, when punching my sandbags didn’t stop me from being miserable, which I hadn’t thought was possible, I grasped for anything to distract me.
Cyborg’s words “The reagent in Slade's mask didn't trigger itself. Somebody triggered it from outside the tower.” Were my salvation. This was something to be done, which I’d neglected.
So I left to find Slade’s accomplice, apprentice, grasshopper, whatever.
It led me to Gotham, and after a week of jumping every shadow, I was back home. Just in time to watch the sunrise with Raven.
It felt so good to share tea with her, it hurt. Even with Raven looking anywhere but at me. This was still better than being away. And now I knew.
Comparing any moment I thought I had, with the goth boy at the club, with Malachor, with three minutes spent looking into a pair of Pacific blue eyes made her wonder for a hot moment, if responsibility, sense were all they were cracked up to be.
Their spiky haired leader made her wish for a different electricity, excitement, danger, no care for the consequences…
With the prophacy.... was it possible, to steal a moment to myself, to know…. before it was time ?
