Her days were quickly spiraling into routine. She'd get up, make a cup of herbal tea, get in a quick glare at Beast Boy, shrug off an over-eager Starfire, and occasionally mutter a one-worded reply to a random question from Robin or Cyborg.

She hated it.

Once upon a time – not that she'd ever admit it – she had enjoyed life as a Titan. The companionship, the knowing that every day she helped protect the world from some other obviously self-named villain. But now, it was all too easy. The villains were easier to defeat – seeing as they'd probably fought and beaten all of them ten times apiece – and she couldn't fight off the feeling that she wasn't needed anymore. On a lucky day she'd get as far as 'Metrion' before the battle would already be over and said villain would be hauled off by the police. She wasn't needed anymore. If she didn't even show up, no one would probably even notice.

She felt her emotions bubble within her, Grey surfacing highest. Fighting to shove down the infernal emotion, she quickly stood up. Brushing the wrinkles off her her cloak, she swept out of her room and down the hallway. Emerging in the living room, she prayed that the other titans would leave her alone. Pouring herself some hot tea, she sighed, gripping the mug tightly.

"Hey, Raven!" She winced as the excited voice broke into her thoughts. Thus began the routine. "Wanna play a game with us?" She didn't need to turn to see the hopeful grin plastered on Beast Boy's face.

"No."

"Please? Cy's busy fixing the T-Car, and Starfire's off at the mall. Come on, you know you want to!"

"No."

"Pleeeaaaase?"

"No."

"With a cherry on top?"

"No."

"Aww, come on, Rae! I know you're upset that you didn't get a chance to get a hit on Control Freak yesterday, but come on, it's not like we really needed your help anyways, so –"

"NO!" Raven's yell was almost drowned out by the explosion of Beast Boy's controller, the food in the refrigerator, the slamming cabinets, and the shattering of the mug in her hands. Beast Boy cowered at the red glow in her eyes; evidently she had turned to tower over him at some point amid the chaos.

"Raven!" She froze at the voice, the red glow disappearing with a blink of her eyes. She slowly turned her gaze from the shuddering green form below her to the masked hero standing in front of the couch. She felt her hands unclench to fall limp at her sides as her eyes met Robin's mask. She suppressed a shiver as she remained silent. How she wished she could see the expression beneath the mask. Disappointment, no doubt.

She stiffened as she shoved Grey back into the dark abyss of her mind for the second time that morning. This time, though, seeing Robin's obvious disappointment in her was too much. Grey overflowed her system, escaping through her eyes in two identical tears that she couldn't suppress. Seeing the outline of Robin's mask widen through her blurry vision, she made a run for it. She couldn't handle pity. No, she wasn't going to witness Robin's pity for poor Raven. Poor Raven – can't even control her emotions anymore – we don't really need her on the team. Not like she's helpful at all, anyways.

Running through the door before either of the boys could say a word, she locked herself in her room for the next three days, ignoring the knocks on her door and only emerging at night after the other four titans were asleep.

She spent most of the time meditating, trying to keep order among her emotions. She was accustomed to having to subdue Red, but Grey was an entirely new experience.

She was in the middle of a fourth day of chanting when she was jerked out of her reverie by the blaring alarm.

"Titans!" She could hear Robin's shout from the living room. "There's some sort of new villain attacking the city! Let's go!"

She sighed. Still not in the mood to deal with the others, she called out quickly, "I'll meet you there!" Not waiting for a reply, she let her black aura overtake her, the raven shape disappearing into the floor. In a split second she was deposited within the streets of the city. Glancing around, she could see the other titans had yet to arrive. Focusing on the scene of destruction, she analyzed this 'new villain' that Robin had mentioned. Some type of giant, metallic humanoid, it flung out shards of metal and glass at shrieking citizens. Raven rolled her eyes. As several shards sped towards a group of the slower citizens, she used her powers to throw a car in front of them, protecting the group as the side of the car was sliced into pieces.

The creature roared as its head whipped around, searching for whom had prevented its shards from reaching their intended destination. Green's cocky grin broke through her facial expression as she lifted another car nearby, flinging it at the creature. It let out another roar, its head finally stopping to rest on Raven's small figure. Both of its hands flew out, creating two arcs of fatal shrapnel. Growling, Raven threw a shield over another group of shrieking citizens. Her eyes darting back to the creature, she gasped as she realized that the second arc of razor-sharp rain was directed at her. Without enough time to protect herself, she ducked feebly. Her mouth opened in a earsplitting scream as large pieces of glass drove themselves inches into her back.

Her mind immediately began to black out, the only defense against the indescribable pain. Somehow in the distance she heard her name, felt her body being lifted. Her half-lidded eyes met a mask, the infernal mask. Her voice choked in er throat, and she coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her eyes sliding the rest of the way closed, she could only gurgle out one word before falling limp in his arms.

"Sorry."

~ Brief flashes. Colors. Voices.

Blue blasts.

Green flashes.

Movement, body lifted.

Draped over something hard.

Wind in her face, blowing back her hood.

Ground flashing past her.

Pulled up, tossed around.

Uncomfortable bumping, something digging into her stomach.

Past the doors of the tower.

Hallways.

"Hold on, Rae! You have to make it!"

The cold metal of the medi-lab table against her skin.

Fingers ghosting of her back.

"This'll hurt – "

Shrieks – her own?

Renewed pain.

Fading.

Vision fading.

Senses fading.

"Fight it, Raven! Damn it, fight!"

Gone. ~

She woke up in her room. Taking in a shuddering breath, she weakly used her arms to roll herself onto her back. She yelled as pain suddenly shot through her body, and her back arched off the bed, avoiding the several points of intense pain. She quickly rolled over onto her side, gasping in the remnants of pain. Of course. How could she have forgotten?

Taking deep breaths, she suddenly became aware of another presence in the room. Stiffening, she waited a moment before managing to gently maneuver herself into an upright position with only brief sparks of pain. Searching through the darkness for signs of life, her eyes settled on a crumpled figure leaning against the wall by the corner of her room.

"You've been out for a week," came the hoarse voice. Her eyes widened as she realized that the balled up, vulnerable figure was actually her leader. He was silent again, and Raven shifted uncomfortably in the tense atmosphere.

"How could you -" he cut himself off, shaking his head. Beginning again, her tried, "You should have -" He growled in frustration as he couldn't phrase what he was trying to say. Raven felt Red rise within her, piecing together his broken-off phrases.

"What?" she snapped, wincing as she paused to clear her throat, weak from disuse. "How could I have been so stupid? I should have done better? Yeah, Raven screwed up everything again. You obviously should kick met out, seeing as I just make everything more difficult -"

"No!" Robin yelled, shocking her into silence as he suddenly jumped up. She recoiled at the wild look about him. His hair was a ragged mass, his usually immaculate uniform ripped and obviously slept in. The only thing about him that didn't scream 'worn out' was his mask – white and intimidating as ever, she knew the eyes behind it glared at her. "No, how could you think that you could handle him on your own?" He paced closer to her, standing stiffly next to her bed. His hands lifted to pull at his black hair. "You should have waited for us, to fight as the team that we are!" He sighed as his voice decibel lowered to something much less painful. "We almost lost you, Raven." She stared at him. Angry Robin she could handle, but this? She remained silent as the Boy Wonder kneeled on the floor beside her bed. She sat still, stiffening as her confusion deepened. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Her trance was broken by the knock at the door. Her eyes flashed towards the door, grateful for the first time at the intrusion.

"Robin," came the muffled voice, "may we now see friend Raven?"

Robin jumped up, seeming just as excited for the interruption. Striding quickly towards the door, he called out, "Sorry, guys, she just came to. We don't want to overwhelm her." Pausing as he turned back to face her, he hesitated before muttering, "Get some rest. We don't know when the next attack will be." With that, he slipped out the door and was gone.

Raven sunk back into her pillows, avoiding pressure on her back. She regretted yelling at Robin, if only she could have asked him for the details on her condition and what had happened.

Sighing, she closed her eyes to focus. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted. If Robin wouldn't tell her, she'd find out herself. Letting herself sink into her aura, she continued to chant, searching for her center. She could find out exactly how injured she was and heal herself in the process. "Azarath Metrio -" she choked suddenly, her eyes popping open. Caught somewhere between earth and Nevermore, she couldn't complete her chant. The words stuck in her throat, she couldn't summon them. She couldn't move. Adrenaline rushing, the wings of her soul form pumped furiously, trying to claw her way back to safety on Earth. Gasping, she collapsed on her bed, her chest heaving. What had happened? Her arms wrapped around herself fearfully. Why couldn't she access her mind?

Shivering, she curled up in a ball underneath her sheets. She couldn't tell the others. That would surely mean the end of her time as a titan.

Hey!

So, as you can probably tell, this is my first story on the site. This was somewhat of a random inspiration, and out came four pages of writing - which, for me, is a miracle in itself. I'm not completely sure where this'll be heading, but I like it so far. Hopefully, you do too. :]

On a side note, I'm looking for a good beta reader. If you know of anyone, or you'd like to be mine, let me know and let them know. I'd really appreciate it!

R&R! All authors love reviews, and I'm no different.

And of course, the teen titans don't belong to me.

Thanks for reading, guys! 3

- Nadine