A low, waning gibbous moon hovered tenuously in the twilight firmament, bestowing a very dim light upon the land ❧

The ground below her was alive with lights, like someone had taken a handful of glitter and thrown it as far as the eye can see. From afar, it was too dark to make out individual buildings, but the lights were enough. 

"—veritable storms of devastating evidence against the Chief of Justice were unearthed alongside the investigation on the hooded assassin's extortion—"

I can't believe a person like that existed. Didn't he think about other people he'd kill?

"—These shocking revelations of seven cardinals in Rome with accounts in the Zurich Bank, accounts that contained almost three billion dollars in equity and assets after the assassination of Pope—"

Raven, always remember that there is a difference between using a vast terrible power for good... and using it for evil.

"—in the wake of the turmoil cause by the former four years ago, NATO forces have finally succeeded in ordering a cease-fire. Peace talks are underway after years of political unrest—"

thank goodness he's dead.

"—held a conference today in London to discuss Somalia's new democratic system after years of anarchy and war—"

Raven, if something was wrong would you do what you can to correct it?

Laws are decided by a majority vote. Morality is not all about how many people say that something is good or bad, or how many individuals favor and decide that a certain act is right or wrong.

What she had heard in the past, along her way back to the tower continually cycles in her mind, only pausing for a few seconds to recall the main gist of the news heralded.

"—abolished military junta, Myanmar has finally opened to the world which would greatly improve their economy—"

See? In the end, the world had finally experienced freedom and peace. You resemble him in a way, both of you want to do what is right in every turn in a way that you know.

"—The International Criminal Court filed lawsuits against Sri Lanka president over killings allegedly committed by the army during the civil war—"

If you do not get rid of that core... then that great, shining dream of peace... is just an illusion.

With a wistful expression on her face, Raven's eyes drift from the glass wall to her heeled boots, where she absentmindedly pulls her feathered cloak a little tighter around her body, hair strands bordering her face.

Almost all of the news had been about the aftermath of that horrible scene of calamity...the scene that Y/n started four years ago...one year early before she herself, defeated her father.

Every channel station Raven had heard were teeming with news about leaders, political or religious, who were suddenly placed under scrutiny or trials, their wealth and activities questioned and later revealed to be corrupt, not just this instance, but for years and if it hadn't been for his actions, their felonies could have gone undetected. In countries where there had been civil wars for decades, there were introductions of new forms of administration, their economies gradually improving and had gained independence...a new way of life.

So this is what Y/n was trying to do? Though justice demands that he die for his crimes, in just a short duration, he had accomplished in several months what negotiators and peacekeepers had not done in a decade. It seems too good to be true that all these government reforms, ceasefires and impeachment trials are happening in such a short span of time and almost simultaneously. 

What negotiators and peacekeepers had dedicated themselves to their entire adult life had not even reached the fraction of what Y/n had done.

Raven, there are times when what is moral is not always legal and what is legal isn't always moral...

Though the name of the mysterious cerebral assassin wasn't mentioned in most of the news, it's almost impossible that these events were suddenly cropping up after the massacre. The names of the hooded guy, and Y/n to her, were only tied to the fact that they were responsible for the carnage across the world. It couldn't be a mere coincidence that all of these things just happened after what he had done.

He used violence to fight violence with good intentions, but no one saw it that way... and they never will.

Raven flexes her fingers and her stare is slow to shift at her hand...her bandaged hand.

And she abruptly felt angry as she recalls how she had gotten it.

It was for all those girls that old man had molested previously; a good thrashing in payback for those girls who were afraid to say or do anything. Despite there was incontrovertible evidence that Raven had merely retaliated in provocation, the Chairperson still advised her -- one of their protectors, that she should have left it to the higher-ups to deal with instead of resorting in taking justice into her own hands.

As if that would make things even, Raven thought spitefully. 

Even suspending that old man's license and suing him will never be enough; he needs to feel what he deserved and besides, for him to be convicted with "proper" court proceedings, won't they have to schedule trials when it would take place, and won't that take days or weeks or even months? How long were those things going to take? 

It must be awful to be deemed in the wrong way without even knowing the real story behind your actions...Now Raven had a good idea of what it felt like being Y/n.

You're sick, you're twisted, and you're evil!

And those are just the words that define this world...

All of a sudden, Raven hears the door open, catching the sound of footsteps and so she lifts her head, staring at the glass window when suddenly, she sees Y/n's reflection on it, walking past in the hallway behind her. Raven looks over her shoulder; the living room was empty thus prompting Raven to dismiss it as a mere fabrication of her imagination. 

Another figure enters the threshold, but instead of Y/n, it was her best friend, her practical sister. Her hair was pulled into a side braid, deep hues of a fierce crimson chignon; a tress draped down the side of her face as a single lock, softly curling along the ends, gently caressed the soft translucent skin of her cheeks.

Damn, she was gorgeous. Her body is encased in black silk, pooled near her ankles and the one strap gave it a sexy yet elegant look. The sparkling jewelry around her neck introduced attention not only to her dress, or those swaying back and forth on her ears, but to the shapely frame of the woman it hugged. When she twirls, the dress would wrap itself around her ripe curves for a second then it would formally slide back in place, and if that wasn't sexy enough, the skin of her exposed leg contrasted perfectly with the pastels of the art piece that was her glamorous look, fitted perfectly for the evening. 

She had dark smokey-eye makeup, done to a tee. Remarkable leaf-green hues, set against a dark limbal ring; She had enhanced their appearance with mascara and black eyeliner applied in smudged dots, eyebrows looking like drawn on worms. A crimson tone of full lips soothing the lusciousness of her beauty until an embellishment of opalescent pearls flowing from her dark eyelashes to high cheekbones accentuated the perfection. 

Every detail, every cream, and concealer was done with such care and complexity that she looked carelessly flawless. And boy was she bathed in heady perfume...

Starfire: "There you are," she wore a lovely half-smile, beaming at her. "Dinner's ready, Raven!"

Raven: "Where are the others?" asked Raven, maintaining the wistful attitude that had fallen over her. 

Starfire: "In their rooms, I expect," her best friend replied thoughtfully. "Oh, there you are! Y/n, dinner is served. Could you please call Robin?"

The butterflies came in full force.

Raven follows Starfire's gaze and sees Y/n with Silkie at his ankles. The squishy larvae gurgle loudly at the sight of Raven, trots towards her, and starts rubbing himself against her legs.

Raven opened her mouth to say something at Y/n, but closes it immediately and she steals a sideway glance at Starfire; there was certain awkwardness in the air. How do you start off an apology to someone who you had wrongfully accused and undeserving of solid dislike? Ever since Y/n arrived in the Titans household, Raven had never had a drop of anything cordial towards Y/n, and his standoffish demeanor was not helping either.

Raven contemplates on the idea that she should wait a little later and starts rehearsing mentally what she should say to Y/n when she enters the main dining room and sucks in the smell of dinner being cooked. She finds Cyborg, donning a chef's hat and apron; the dining table is almost crammed with what looks like all the list of dishes available on a restaurant brochure.

Raven: "You two could've opened a sushi bar in the riverwalk with this," Raven smiled slightly, at the sight of the dining table, and it made her even more beautiful, to the admirers, it was a sight for the sullen eyes. 

Cyborg: "Eating always makes people forget horrible things that happened," replied chef Cyborg cheerfully, flashing a dazzling smile, beaming at Raven's compliment and at Starfire who couldn't contain her sheepish smile and the blush, as he slithers his arm around her waist, pulling her close and proudly pressed his lips to the side of her head. As if on cue, the rest joins the trio. "Now let's dig in and try to forget all of that, shall we?"

But dinner did not turn out to be a casual event as one had sought after; it was constantly marred by verbal recollection of the trouble that had occurred earlier that day. For the past five minutes, Raven's companions were in the midst of expressing their frustration and anger at the meeting that was held earlier.

"—I don't get it why the Chairperson said that she should've left it to the PTA or something," Beastboy finished several minutes later, stabbing the last sushi on his plate with his chopsticks, "Didn't you guys see what he did to her? He slapped Raven and called Starfire an effing retard! I'm wondering what bounces around in that old codger's twisted noggin to go about diddling around girls!"

Starfire: "Yes, well," said Starfire, frowning. "Perhaps we should talk about something nice and diff—"

Cyborg: "That sick-twisted freak simply thought he can get away with everything," supplied Cyborg with equal disdain. 

Raven silently bit the end of her sushi impatiently and feels her temper rising again. A heaved sigh slips through Starfire's lips and drops her head, folded her hands primly in her lap.

Robin glares pointedly at him, seeming to agree to divert from such a painful subject.

Beastboy: "Just because he's a graduate of some top university made him one damn cocky bastard!" Beastboy insinuates, nodding in agreement. "Anyway, why didn't any of those officers told Raven 'well done' for putting that creep back to his place?"

Starfire: "Fighting with your fists is deemed uncivilized by most people, that is why, Beastboy," said Starfire dryly with a rather surly expression; she apparently gave up all attempt to drown the subject.

Raven pulls her head up to see Starfire's expression. She's frowning at her plate, but it was tinged with sadness. 

And there, right there, Raven remembers, how just a while ago, that innocent face let tiny pearl-shaped tears roll down those beautiful cheekbones as it flings itself into her embrace with a strangled sob, wracked with the force of unvoiced cries...

Beastboy: "But they saw that video about him being a pedophilic perv!" Beastboy shot back, waving the remnants of his sushi impatiently. "He hit Raven first and it was only right that she hits him back! Besides, they should look at what he did first before they should start carping her! It's really frustrating that when you do what you can to get rid of idiots like that, people don't see it that way."

And they think they have a better way of handling it... 

Raven chose to voice all of a sudden.

Robin stops halfway of picking a smoked cod roe at the sushi boat and peered at Raven; Raven shoots a glance at her leader.

Robin: "Is it?" he said quietly as he slowly puts the cod roe on his plate. "What do you think they should do, then?"

Raven: "They should apologize," said Raven briskly yet defensively and she quickly averted her gaze to the large window; she knew where this conversation is steering towards. But Raven felt that she should explain herself first before anything else; if her leader had just told her beforehand what Y/n was really trying to do, then she wouldn't look like an idiot.

Robin: "You think so?" Robin said as Starfire's eyes slightly widen, for she is blinking back at her with slightly parted lips; Robin's tone was casual and the corners of his lips seem to be curling into a small discreet smile, unlike Cyborg and Beastboy who smiled in awe, as though this is a throwaway comment of no real importance. Whether it is intentional or not, Raven thought, it seems to achieve the right effect.

Raven: "Yes." replied Raven stiffly with a nod of equal rigidity. She then takes the soy sauce container and put it in front of Y/n. "I'm not picking a fight, but that tastes better if you try this with it."

Y/n, who had been noiseless for the entire duration of their litany of complaints and resentments towards those inept authority figures, paused in his meal and shoots her a glance; though his features did not betray any reaction. Raven's sudden comment on the food had surprised him. Raven scowls to hide her uneasiness and snaps her glare back on her left, she could feel them staring at her.

Robin's discrete smile broadened a bit; Cyborg beams and picks another sushi from the wooden container. He grinned across the table, at the Robin and Starfire. 

Cyborg: "Don't sulk, chicos. This turned out to be a great dinner!"

◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉

When Cyborg was putting back the dried dishes back to the cabinet, Beastboy left the kitchen with a 'night everyone!' going out to his respective room. 

Raven discreetly looks over her shoulder; Starfire was resting on their immaculate semi-sphere couch, watching some late-night talk shows with Silkie lay curled beside her, gurgling idly with his ears flicking, her long bare legs stretched across the coffee table, wearing a pink robe and a green mud mask, while Robin was stifling a yawn as he walks up the flight of stairs, clearly retreating to his bedroom. 

But Y/n was not there, and most probably he's out at the island's bank to be alone, like he usually does.

Raven had just noticed that even though Y/n seems to be developing a close relationship with her friends, he still kept his distance. 

Next to leave is Cyborg, who gives a big stretch of his arms and mentions something about wanting to run a security system update.

Maybe now would be the best time to have a private word with Y/n.

◉  ◉  ◉  ◉  ◉

Dark clouds mantle the night, studded with pulsing diamonds.

It was a cool crisp, windy night; the swaying of trees and rustling of leaves could be heard but not seen, as the encompassing darkness had blotted out all but the faintest light. Its shimmering reflection casts a silvery sparkle on the waters, the waves rhythmically crest in motion❧

Raven sees an outline, perched upon the rocks at a distance away, surrounded by a million little stars, twinkling in its moonlight; Listening to the sound of the water as the crest of the waves against the shore.

The last encounter Raven and Y/n had kept intruding her memory, and it rather heightened Raven's sense of embarrassment; her attitude towards him ever since he had started living in the Titans household was in utmost uncouthness. 

Raven lets out a slow controlled breath and attempted to loosen her body movements. She was walking rather timid and that was no way to be in her character or nature. She gives her shoulders a wiggle, lets her stride slacken to a more casual pace. It was a decent effort, enough to fool the casual observer. Her eyes move with the alertness that comes from heavy stress and her hands remain clenched by subconscious demand.

Raven crosses the shore noiselessly and kept walking to the place where solitude was ensured; when she was near him, she clears her throat, not only to make her presence known, but also to curb her feelings of discomfit.

Her lips slightly move as if to say something, the air was bitter and cruel against her face. Pulse beating in her ears, blocking out all other sounds.

"Hey, uh..." said Raven meekly.

The docile tone Raven used made Y/n subtly acknowledge her presence. Y/n's head did not incline towards Raven's direction. Despite bathed in dim light, Raven can see Y/n's dour eyes slowly roll her way; she saw a hint of his brow furrowing, sending a startling jolt through her limbs. 

Watching from the sidelines is a mysterious figure that had somehow slipped in unnoticed, like every single time when the light drains away and there is barely enough even for shadows. 

The hourglass shape was very likely of a young woman; her silhouette is sleek and fluid. The long, blonde locks curled down her back to rest in the mid-back area. Her ripe curves, beautifully encased in silver armor like a second skin, reminiscent of a female agent, complimenting her feminine shape, so voluptuous it feels just like a potter sculpted a vessel from raw clay with such great care. 

Moments ago, she had an admiring smile... however, seeing the magus asserting her presence pulls the corners of her mouth down and set her eyebrows tautly on her head to grant a curious look... or more of an irritated one.

She said nothing for now, simply watched the two of them.

Raven: "Listen...I, ah—" Raven started, but her voice faltered and she clears her throat, her arms folded defensively over her chest. The blush from her cheeks travelling all the way to the tip of her ears. She continues with caution and sincerity. "I finally get what you were trying to do and they were right...I should have been a little more understanding and I knew it was really unfair on your part that I hit you, called you names and... and for that I, Uhm..." her voice started to trail away. "I'm sorry."

Something seems to cross Y/n's features; His head makes an unnatural slow turn to the side, casting an incomprehensible look but said nothing. Raven waited for his reply, hoping that he would say something. 

Time stood still like never before. Raven waited for Y/n's reply, but he does not move a muscle and still stared at her with eyes that remained impassive.

"I do not need any apologies especially ones that came from the likes of you." 

It took several seconds before the whole sentence processed clearly in her head. Raven gapes; she leans her head forward as if trying to catch his words. Not only did it sound condescending, but it sounded demeaning.

Before Raven can formulate a proper reaction, Y/n rose suddenly to his full height, walks back to the tower without any more words and left Raven standing in shock in the chilly darkness of the island.

A huff of air escapes the watcher's nostrils as she cracked a lopsided grin with a sense of triumph.

Serves you right, you big-mouthed bitch. And like it or not, that man is mine! I beat you to him!

◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉

"So let me get this straight," said the mecha as he jotted down notes. "You said that our fella cussed at his guy, hit him and called him a psychopath because of what he did, but turns out he was doing the right thing?"

Raven tries to hide the guilt and kept an impassive face as she nods.

That didn't go unnoticed by Cyborg who looked at her inquisitively but decides to give his answer.

Cyborg: "And you really thought that whoever he is would smile and take the apology immediately?" said Cyborg exasperatedly. Then he adds in awed disbelief, "Wait, don't tell me that this is-"

Raven averts her gaze and slowly nods her head. 

Cyborg: "Raven, what the hell did you do?" asked Cyborg in a mixture of seriousness and concern.

Raven: "I told him that I was sorry." 

Cyborg: "No, like what did you do?" 

Raven: "I-" Raven persisted; she struggles with what she should tell the mecha first. "I told him that I know that I finally knew how it feels to be treated in such way, that I was really sorry for all the... stuff I bellowed at him. But did he take that apology?" finished the frustrated Raven, dropping her head.

Cyborg: "Was your voice a little loud?" Cyborg questioned again, this time raising an eyebrow.

Raven: "It wasn't." Raven replied hotly and defensively. "I was just telling him how sorry I was but he won't take it and I know why, and I don't want to look like the villain here!"

Cyborg: "The way I see it, both of you take so much pride in yourselves," said Cyborg casually. "But you're a grown woman, Raven. And if he doesn't listen, don't drill your sorry's in his system until he gets it. It makes you look like you were the one who was wronged, not him."

Raven growls and folded her arms across her chest. "Now that makes me look weak!"

Cyborg: "You're giving him enough attitude, you dummy." Cyborg replied, a smile waiting to be out. "It's obvious that he's really mad at you!"

Raven's expression was so desperate that the guilt forms a lump in her throat.

Raven: "What do you suggest what I should do?" Raven softly says, looks at him with hopeful eyes.

"Raven. Cyborg." a stern voice suddenly called from the front. "Any updates?"

Cyborg: "All clear." Cyborg said seriously at Robin, immediately straightening up and takes down notes in his gauntlet.

Robin: "Then our patrol ends here." The leader of the Titans peers over his masked eyes at Cyborg and Raven with hawk-like eyes before walking away, followed by Starfire and Beastboy, and resumes contacting Y/n who had been patrolling all alone. 

Without turning his head or appearing to communicate with her, he whispers his words to her. 

Cyborg: "That's exactly why he won't take your apology," hissed Cyborg, typing on the built-in screen. "You're only thinking about yourself about not looking like the village idiot. Don't make an apology all about you; you're not the one who was insulted. If you want to give the man a really sincere apology, let him show how sorry you are and you better mean it."

Raven bit her lip and scowls at the thought of just simply discarding her strife with Y/n. Just then, Cyborg looks sideways at her, one last time.

"But just so you know, if you keep insisting, it's probably gonna get worse," informed Cyborg.

◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉

"I know you're still mad." 

Raven faced Y/n determinedly, hoping that somehow he would at least give her presence some form of acknowledgement. 

Raven: "But you don't know about the full story yesterday. Believe me, I know how it feels like to be sneered at and insulted like that even what you were really doing was for the good of everyone. I'm so sorry for being so mean. I was hurting and I took it out on ones who didn't deserve any. Lashing out was wrong, so wrong, and I hope my apology goes some way toward healing your scars." 

Raven hopefully looks up at him softly, apologetic already.  

Y/n regarded the young woman from under dark eyebrows. He sensed the deep sincerity in her voice, the shapes of guilt glinted in her eyes and in the delicacy in her features. 

Y/n: "I could care less if you finally understand my reasons or not," said Y/n coldly. "As I've said, I do not need your apology or pity with regards to my intentions and actions four years ago."

Y/n sidesteps Raven and continues walking down the hall. Raven still could not believe what she had heard.

Raven: "Didn't you hear what I just said?" exclaimed Raven indignantly after Y/n. "I said I was sorry!"

But Y/n continues on his way without as though he had heard nothing. 

Which part of 'sorry' this idiot doesn't understand? Raven thought angrily; An annoyed expression painted on her face as she glared at the man in front of her. 

Y/n was the most asocial being she has ever met. He ignored any attempt on his part to talk about anything personal, and he had never accepted a single expression of sympathy.

She folds her arms and pursed her lips. Y/n was so taciturn it is already in the point of rudeness; his silence and paying no heed to Raven was too much to bear.

Raven: "Don't give me that attitude of yours!" burst out Raven. "I'm starting to get sick of your impassive face!"

Y/n still ignored her. 

Raven: "I know the truth!" Raven declared. "Robin told me—"

Y/n stops where he stands, like was instantly paralyzed; Raven realized that she has followed him all the way to the hall where both their rooms are. Raven was certain she saw Y/n's eye twitch.

She marches after Y/n.  

The young man's brows sloped into a haunting stare, his eyelids narrow slightly. His shoulders stiffened when he heard her heeled boots echo against the walls, shattering the silence.

Raven: "And I want to let you know that I'm sorry for all the things I've done to you."

He shifts his position, carefully, his head turns, too slow to be normal, eyes narrowing farther by the second until they were beads of black onyx. She walked past, muttering in a soft voice.

"Could you stop acting like a jerk and hear what I have to sa—

He snatched her arm and— BUMP!  

Raven's eyes welded shut for the whole movement, her world spinning before she comes to a still and her back thwacked down onto the cold press of the harsh wall. 

She feels pressure at her wrist - no, both wrists - and they were pinned to the sides of her head and when she opens her eyes, she sees that familiar face... far too close.

Their gazes met and locked. Dark, glittering eyes, forever hidden behind dark frames, locked with hers, sweeping her out of reality on a tidal wave of emotion, like always.

Y/n: "Do not make the mistake that you've understood everything or that it's all so simple," he whispered in utmost ire. "You know nothing."

She looks at him, wide-eyed, forgetting even to breathe. It seems only a second passed, nanoseconds, so fast she didn't know how she got there and didn't even consider analyzing it.

There has been an uncontrollable tremor in her body when she hears his voice, full of hostility. His teeth clenched around each word he uttered, drawing especially the last three out, sharp and cold, just like the rest of his facial features.

Raven's nails dug into her palms, shielding her eyes. Her midnight-purple lips only clung tightly to one another as if an invisible glue were applied to them. Her heart began to hammer against her chest, throbbing in her ears, loud and irregular. 

Y/n... the man who had completely ignored her presence throughout his 'welcome' to the titans household, leaning against her, his hand so close to her head, a vice-grip on her wrist, enough to bruise her forearm. She could have pushed them away if she had the guts. Bad enough that she couldn't even speak, swallow or hear anything outside of her own painfully thudding heartbeat. She must have looked like a deer caught in headlights.

Raven musters her courage to look towards the man filled with eyes she could only fathom to be filled with enmity. He continues to stare, pure disdain growing more evident with each passing second. His nostrils flare as his brows push closer. 

She dropped her eyes in a hurry, her face burning as if she is under the unforgiving heat of the sun.

Her breathing was so shallow, she couldn't piece two words together if she tried. Raven could no longer control her hands; they were shaking in an odd trembling rhythm. 

His outfit framed his form. The man is like a giant made of black twisted Gabbro. His shoulders were twice as wide as hers, his neck was long and thick, and his waist was lean and straight, akin to an elegant hound. She was ridiculous in comparison. 

Managing to swallow past the baseball lump in her throat, she chokes out. 

Raven: "I'm...I'm really doing what I can to say sorry to you...C--can you please, stop acting like a jerk, for once...? and will you stop treating me as if I'm dumb? I, I, I'm nervous... yes... huh, trembling, stop..."

She felt intense humiliation and couldn't bear to look him in the face anymore. It was too much of a feat in the first place; it is impossible for her to persuade him when she can not even speak properly. She might as well keep her mouth shut, she mused dismally. 

A mature woman wouldn't stutter like a fool. In the end, she felt as if she were standing naked in front of him.

She did not know how attractive her expression is at the moment. Her cheeks flush with shame and indignation, as if they were applied a fine layer of kohl. Her slightly parted lips were seductive, and her white teeth nibbled the lower lip while the eyes, as bright as purple grapes, were breathtaking.

A dark shade fell over her head. One large hand grasps her chin, forcing her head back to an indecipherable gaze. Raven took a breath of surprise out of fear!

As if it couldn't get worse, the young man's face became colder for some reason. He dips down slowly, bringing his eyes level with hers. Mysterious heat blossomed from his hard, penetrating gaze. His frown seems to intensify as he crowds her space more, his giant body dwarfing her. 

On the face of near perfection, his dark gaze held an eerie glow. A cold shiver radiated from Raven's chest, traveling down her spine into her legs.

Raven barely had time to sag against the flood of emotions that seem to drain right out of her onto the floor. The man's tight lips twist with cynicism. He looked down at her like one looking at a lump of raw meat, like a hound on the brink of biting its meal. 

At that moment, Raven was afraid her heart would beat right out of her chest.

He grabbed her, yanking her against him so hard her body reacted the way it would to a surprise punch...or something infinitely more erotic. 

She froze as their bodies meet within a hair's breadth, so close that intoxicating cologne drilled into her nose, the smell of leather, polished car interior, and of faint sweat piercing the tip of her nose, feeling his breath fanning her lips... 

Her wandering eyes search thoroughly. She couldn't figure out why he is looking at her like that. His masculine odor drill into her nose and flash across her mind, flaring at the added stimulant. He pulls her up until their lips held a mere breath away. 

Oh God, oh God! The thought made her feel both weak and revved. The distance between them was so close that their breath began to blend.

Just as suddenly, he let her go, shaking his head in self-disgust— 

The door suddenly slides open and Robin came striding inside in Y/n and Raven's midst; he looked up and froze on the threshold, gazing at the scene in front of him, which was also suspended in mid-action.

Robin: "What's going on here?" asked Robin, looking from their guest to his teammate.

Raven lets out a choked gasp; As she sank to the floor, she realized she was trembling violently.

Y/n gave her one last glare.

"Excuse me," said Y/n at Robin. With that he turns his heel, swept across the hallway, passed Robin and exits the hall without any further comment. The leader then shoots a glare at Raven, who was placing a hand on her heaving chest, as she drew herself up.

Robin: "Are you fighting with Y/n again?" demanded Robin angrily. "I've had it with you!"

Her head hung, and her cheeks burned, and her eyes were lowered.

She has had enough of Y/n's petulance. It is as if Y/n had stopped exactly in the spot where he could finally get rid of Raven and at the same time make her look like the aggressor. Except for today, she tested his patience too far...

Her mouth opens but words couldn't find their way out, finding that they had deserted her.

Robin throws his hands in resignation, shakes his head and gives another defeated sigh. Before her leader would do anything else, like giving her a lecture, Raven pulls her hood up, dodges his gaze, and swoops past him and hurries to her room.

◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉

Her face contorts in disgust and glowers at her reflection in the mirror, her cheeks blushing, as if they were dyed with the superior rouge. 

Why is it that I want to be in his good side for some idiotic reason? Raven thought gritting her teeth, firm irritation etching into her features. She was totally irritated. Do I need a guidebook on how to apologize properly? 

She expresses exasperatedly, putting her hand on the forehead subconsciously...

'Just forget it,' a part of her simply said. 'You already gave him an apology. It's his problem now.'

She rubs her temples but the headache persists. Since he doesn't want to acknowledge her apology, then it's just useless.

Raven sighs and brings both her hands to cradle her elbows in a show of vulnerability. With a small shake of her head, she decides she needs to meditate to clear herself from these emotions ❧

◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉

The door slides open for Raven, but when she is about to enter and do her usual night routine, she hears Robin speaking... at the top of his voice.

Robin: "...what are you saying that he..? I am not going to let that bastard go near my teammate again!... No, I don't think Raven did anything wrong; that man deserved what he got!...What's that?... Now he wants to sue her? For what?"

At first, Raven thought that he is having a heated exchange with someone, something that she had never seen before; she silently walks to the living room, to where the source of the noise is. Raven sees Robin holding something at the side of his face. When Raven takes a step closer, she realizes that her leader was engaging in a heated conversation over the phone.

"—four cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder? Brilliant! He deserved it! What's that?...And it took him almost a week to realize that he should sue my teammate?"

Raven had never seen her leader so furious. Robin fell silent and Raven can hear the faint static sounds of someone speaking at the other end; she listens intently. Raven had a faint idea of what was the topic that made her leader this furious.

Raven's gaze darts to the other door, where Starfire stood stunned, his crimson lips part into an O shape. 

Robin might have inflated in outrage.

"ARE YOU SOME KIND OF IDIOT?" He roared, holding the receiver a few inches from his face; he was shouting directly at the mouthpiece. "YOU IMBECILES ALREADY HAVE HARD EVIDENCE THAT THAT PIG HAD MOLESTED OTHER GIRLS BEFORE AND INSTEAD OF TAKING CARE OF HIS CASE THEY'LL DEAL WITH RAVEN WHO'S THE VICTIM?"

Another bout of silence; Raven can feel whoever was in the other line was already tense and tried to calm Robin down. 

Robin: "Tell me, is that prick dead?" snarled Robin through gritted teeth. "The rape did not occur? He hit my teammate and called her a whore, that was not enough?..So you mean to say that the rape needs to occur first so that Raven will be the victim?" Robin said in tones of outrage. He drew himself in full height, his eyes filled with fire. "And so he'll ruin both my teammates? That will never happen because it's him who'll I'll ruin first!"

And with that, Robin slams the receiver back onto the base so hard that Raven thought that the phone buckles down the console table.

"Robin?" Starfire called timidly from the hallway.

Whether Robin had heard Starfire or not, he must have chosen to ignore her; he immediately storms out. Raven stands rooted to her spot, cradling her hand against her chest, her stare still wide-eyed, indecisive whether she should go after her leader and ask what who he had been conversing with. But when Starfire finally decides to probe further about the heated conversation, Robin appears once again and this time he was clutching a small rectangular piece of paper that looks withered as an ancient map.

Robin was still in the zenith of his anger when he starts dialing, for he curses, apparently pressed the wrong number in the sequence, slammed the phone down and starts dialing once again. 

Raven's lips parted. She was about to utter his name, but this isn't the right time to assert her presence and her desire to know about the situation.

Robin: "Hello? Alfred? Yes, this is Robin..." said Robin in a controlled tone. He paused. "Why yes, I can definitely do it now...Of course...Yes...Risky? I don't think so; I'll shove that video down his damn throat if that's what it takes for that wimp to leave my teammates alone, even if it means selling my soul to the devil himself!"

Raven stares and so's Starfire. She observed Robin for a few more moments before he finally put down the receiver carefully. He hurtled past Raven without another word as he took his communicator and typed something; Raven follows him all the way to the tower's exit, where his R-Cycle awaits him.

"Robin?" This time, it came from Raven.  

Robin: "I'll be late," was Robin's only reply as he donned his helmet and slips one leg over his motorcycle. He still looked furious and this prevented her from really probing further.

Both young women stood on the entrance and watch their leader revving his cycle and takes off, set off out on the street.

From afar, Raven sees Cyborg and Beastboy calling after their leader and just like Raven and Starfire, Robin ignored them as well.

Raven: "I've never seen Robin so mad," whispered Raven. She turns to acknowledge the person behind her.

It was Y/n. He fixed an incomprehensible gaze at Robin. Robin's shouting match with someone over the phone most probably had attracted Y/n's attention.

Cyborg: "What on earth was that all about?" asked Cyborg at Starfire and Raven when he set down the grocery bags on the ground. "Starfire, your boyfriend looks like he's out for blood."

Raven slightly gaped at the mecha; she turns to the person beside her expecting help to find the right words. She meets his eyes hoping for him to supply her the right words.

This was the first time Raven sees Y/n's eyes in a different light; his eyes were deep e/c and they were united in uncertainty and concern.

However, Raven didn't linger on that contact for long for she immediately turns away.

◉ ◉ ◉ ◉ ◉

It is almost five in the morning when Raven hears Robin's cycle moaning to a halt nearby. She dashes outside to greet Robin; The leader of the team slips off his vehicle, taking his helmet off. 

Robin still looks livid yet there is a sense of triumph in his aura. He also looks like he had just run a marathon; he looks utterly exhausted.

Raven: "Robin?" her face stayed troubled. She went very still so much she looked like she was part of the mountain. She wanted to tell him how anxious Starfire was and everyone, herself included.

Robin: "They're never going to bother you again," says Robin with a triumphant smile. "Serves him right, trying to ruin your picture to the public."

Before Raven can give a comment, Robin's lungs abruptly suppressed any efforts he made to inhale; his breath caught in his chest, his hand clutches his neck and closes his eyes along with his mask as if a bee had stung the grasped area.

Raven: "Are you okay?" said Raven anxiously. Her leader's face was shining with sweat.

Robin: "I feel a little dizzy...I guess I could use some tea; I'm not feeling very well," mumbled Robin; his grip now on his chest tightened and he suddenly looks like every heartbeat sent a surge of pain, as if his body is being torn apart.

Raven: "I'll prepare some hot water for you," said Raven nodding, turned her back on Robin and as she strides towards the tower, she heard something drop heavily behind her.

Raven whips around; it is as if Robin had vanished on the spot—if she hadn't dropped her gaze on the floor.

"Robin?!" Raven exclaimed. She dashes towards Robin and drops on her knees; Raven turns her leader over, lifted his head and calls out in a panic-stricken voice, "Cyborg? STARFIRE!"