"How'd you get stuck in there too, bozo?"

Kyd Wykkyd shrugged helplessly before Raven glared him to the side. Yes, glared. Raven had a rather forceful glare, if she did say so herself.

"That doesn't matter. Get us out of here. Now."

Gizmo's enlarged face glared back at them from the enormous flat screen of the Titans Tower. "That'll take weeks, maybe months. I built the frickin' device so that no one could walk, teleport, blast, or dig in or out for years. Do you really think I'd make it easy for anyone to disarm it, snot for brains – gah!" The next moment, Robin was shoving Gizmo out of the frame, ignoring the sound of Gizmo's head thumping against the floor as the Titan peered into the screen.

"Are you alright, Raven? He hasn't tried to hurt you, has he?" Robin gave a pointed look over at Kyd, who scowled.

"Even if he had, it wouldn't have worked."

Now Kyd scowled at Raven. Raven scowled back. He stuck out his tongue.

Raven blinked.

"Can you fix this or not, dude?" Beast Boy's voice echoed from somewhere in the background.

"Yeah, but like I said, it's going to take a while."

"Then I'll help." This time, it was Cyborg.

"No way, scuzzmuncher! This is my tech. I'm not letting you get a peek at it."

There were some wrestling noises in the back. Raven wasn't surprised to see that Kyd looked as bored as she felt irritated. She turned her attention back to Robin.

"It's fine. I can handle it from here while you guys try and fix things on the outside."

"Are you sure? I'm sure we could try and – "

"I'm not a little girl anymore, Robin. I can take care of myself. Besides, I've handled him before when the Brotherhood was around, remember?"

After a moment, he sighed. "I know. Sorry."

"Don't worry about me." Kyd made a gagging noise here, at which Raven promptly hurled Beast Boy's video game controller at him, feeling quite satisfied when it smacked him right across the face. At least some of her powers still worked. "Just go and fix it."

Robin nodded. "You got it."

"Be safe, friend! Have a good night's rest. Do not forget to take care of Silkie, please," Starfire called out, her head peeking over the bottom of the screen before it flickered to black.

Silence radiated throughout the rec area before Raven turned and began floating towards the door. "Well, I'm going to my room. Don't try anything while I'm gone." After a moment, when she sensed that he was about to trail after her: "You'll sleep on the couch."

Kyd pouted.

"I still don't get how you were stupid enough to get stuck in there. You're supposed to be the one with common sense."

A shrug.

The screen sighed. "She hasn't mentioned anything about Jinx, has she?"

He shook his head.

"Okay. Thanks, Kyd." Click. Darkness, both inside and out.

When Raven woke up, she wasn't sure if the smell was still from her dream, or if she just hadn't cleaned up the candle wax yet.

But when after a minute or two the smell failed to fade, Raven realized that something was burning. Quite heavily.

Kyd Wykkyd.

In a flash, she was racing down to the rec room. Throwing open the doors, she focused all of her energy into stopping the villain from –

She stopped.

Kyd was frantically zooming around the kitchen, hurling water from what she recognized as Beast Boy's 'tofu bowl (or, at least, the bowl from which Beast Boy had put the remains of that one tofu alien into before running it down the drain)' onto the charred remains of a pan smoking on the stove. She watched bemusedly as he swiveled back and forth between the sink and the burning pan before deciding to put the bowl down and run the pan under the water. Her eyes widened.

"Wai – "

The very next second, a cloud of steam as big as the flat screen itself burst out of the charred remains of the pan and smashed against the ceiling, crawling across the tiles as the fire alarm screamed.

And just as she was about to actually go down and try to stop the situation from getting any worse, the sprinkler system went off.

As the water began to shower down upon them, Kyd finally turned around to find a very, very un-amused Raven staring down at him from the top of the stairs.

He cowered.

And Raven glowered.

"We're not getting off to a good start."

Kyd grinned sheepishly before shrugging and, with a last regretful glance at the smoldering wreckage, dumped the pan in the trashcan.

Raven's brow twitched violently.

Breathe, she reminded herself quickly. Closing her eyes, she slowly inhaled and exhaled, trying her best not to focus on the smoke or the water and the fact that her throat was itching terribly. Focus, Raven. Concentrate on finding your center. Do not get angry. Do not get out of control. Do not –

Poke.

Her eyes flew open.

Kyd Wykkyd was right in her face, peering into her eyes in a way that Raven could define as 'mildly concerned.' She noticed that his eyes weren't as red as she thought they were before (before being the time of the Brotherhood of Evil, of course). Instead, they were a rather pinkish shade of ruby, somehow glittering brightly in the smoke-filled room. His finger hovered in front of her forehead, nails chewed down to the nub.

"…what are you doing?"

He tilted his head to the side before shrugging and smiling. She scowled. He didn't even flinch.

"Do you just not talk or what?"

He tilted his hand back and forth a little bit before glancing up at the water raining down on them. Looking back questioningly at Raven, he jabbed a finger up at the sprinklers.

"Uh…I'll get it."

Kyd beamed.

As she began readjusting the sprinkler system, she glanced down at where he was curled up on the couch, knees drawn up to his chest as he observed her from below. "What were you trying to make, anyways?"

He tapped his chin for a few moments before gesturing to the trashcan.

She raised an eyebrow. "I'm not following."

Kyd frowned before hopping off of the couch and towards the trashcan, where he carefully fished out the remains of the pan. He jabbed at it furiously before dropping it back into the trashcan and, quickly, making a gesture with his hands that indicated to Raven that either he had been trying to make pancakes or the reincarnation of Starfire's friendship thing.

She took the former.

"I'm assuming you've never really cooked before."

Kyd smiled innocently.

Raven gave him a dead stare. "Don't even try that with me."

He pouted. Raven assumed that this was where her resolve was supposed to weaken. It didn't. "Any reason why you wanted to try?"

Looking at her doubtfully, he pointed towards his stomach. She nodded. "Was there anyone that cooked at your place?"

Kyd tapped his chin in thought before shaking his head 'no.'

"How did you guys survive for so long?"

The villain shrugged.

Raven stared, and then sighed. She wasn't supposed to be feeling bad for a villain, especially one who had attacked her during the Brotherhood's time. But, as long as they were stuck in this mess…

As the last notch was affixed in its proper compartment, she floated back down in front of Kyd. He looked at her warily.

"Stay here and, uh, watch movies or something."

He tilted his head questioningly. She pursed her lips.

"I'll go and try to make something."

Twenty minutes later, Raven was once again readjusting the sprinkler system while Kyd attempted to scrape off the crusty parts of the 'pancake' from the pan before, once again, throwing the pan into the trashcan. As he looked up at her curiously, she sighed and pointed to the fridge.

"Pizza takes two minutes to warm up."

Later that night, via the screen:

"Yo, Raven! What's up with all the smoke detectors going off? Did something happen with – "

"Don't. Ask."

"…what are you doing?"

Though it was dark, Raven could still see the red from his eyes glow as he spun around to face her. Behind him, she could make out an enormous mound of – well, she wasn't sure what it was. But if it were something bad, she would be sure to stop it.

She flicked the light on.

It was a mound of sofa cushions, ripped from the couch and piled onto the floor. As she looked closer, she could see that they were actually stacked on top of each other into something resembling a fort.

"You know what time it is, right?"

Kyd glanced around the room before tapping his wrist and shrugging.

Raven sighed. She had a feeling she would be doing a lot of sighing for the next few weeks. Not months. She refused to think that they might be stuck in here for months. "You should get some sleep."

Looking at her incredulously, he pointed at his wrist again and back at her.

"I was asleep."

The incredulous look stayed.

"I was."

He narrowed his eyes. Raven was very tempted to throw something at him.

"I don't even know why I have to try and explain myself to you." She floated down the stairs and towards the kitchen, where the smell of ash still lingered from the disastrous pancake incident a week ago. "Have you been doing this every night?" she asked, pulling out the tealeaves and kettle. From the corner of her eyes, she watched him tilt his hand back and forth before carefully stacking another cushion on the pile.

As the water began to heat, Raven floated over the couch. Normally, she would have kept her distance, but she was finding it increasingly difficult to be hostile towards Kyd. He was just – strange. Not like Doctor Light strange, but childish strange. As if he hadn't quite grasped the meaning of evildoing yet. Raven couldn't quite explain it.

And, just as she sat down on the (now naked) couch, the fort collapsed. Kyd jumped before looking at her accusingly.

"That wasn't me."

He gave her a look.

"Okay, maybe it was kind of my fault." She shrugged when he continued to stare accusingly. "It's not the end. You can always start over."

He tilted his head to the side, and then shook his head before pointing at her.

"What?"

He pointed at her again before pointing at himself, then at the fort.

"…you want me to help you?"

He nodded, a smile growing on his face. Raven suddenly realized that he was rather cute before quickly shoving that thought aside, as well as the rather fuzzy feeling growing in her stomach. She cracked a smile back.

"Okay."

"Do you think she misses us?"

He shrugged.

The screen sighed. There had been an abundance of sighs this past week. "Do you miss her?"

He paused a moment before shrugging another time.

It was hard to miss those who were already loved.

Raven was surprised to see that a pillow fort was still there in the morning.

It had been several weeks since they'd gotten stuck in this mess together (well, sort of together, anyway). She hadn't heard from Robin or Cyborg for a few days, and it was getting tougher to be patient while they wasted away inside the Tower.

It wasn't that she hated the place – far from it. It was just that she would rather have the freedom to move outside of it, or at least be able to open a window.

But the point was that because they had been living together (and yes, she understood the connotations of that phrase) for so long, she had a vague outline of his patterns. Wake up, eat something, wander around the tower for a bit before accidentally bumping into Raven, talking for a bit, and then bedtime. Only bedtime for him meant stacking cushions up on top of each other until ungodly hours of the morning and sometimes involved her helping him re-stack the cushions after they tumbled down.

However, by the time Raven would usually get downstairs in the morning, the cushions would be back in the proper places (i.e., the couch), and he would be curled up on them, snoozing. Either that, or he would be trying to scavenge something in the fridge that was still edible (Raven was surprised that they still had food at all, seeing as Silkie was trapped with them as well. Then again, neither of them ate very much in the first place, and Silkie still had an abundance of food in Starfire's room).

Not today. Today, the fort was still standing, looming over the rest of the room with Kyd nowhere in sight. If it weren't for the lone foot peeking out from under the pile, she would have guessed that he had simply vanished into thin air.

As she drifted closer to the fort, Raven could hear the faint sounds of purring. She raised an eyebrow. She wasn't aware that Kyd had been capable of purring.

"Uh…" She peeked her head in.

Silkie and Kyd looked back at her. Well, Kyd did anyway, peering at her from the top of a comic that she recognized as Beast Boy's. Silkie remained perched on Kyd's head, purring contentedly as he chewed on the edges of Kyd's mask.

"Comfy?"

He smiled, nodding. Silkie made a startled noise at the sudden movement, digging his stubby legs into Kyd's mask. Kyd didn't even flinch.

"Mind if I join you two?"

He scooted over, and she managed to crawl in without knocking anything over. Making herself comfortable, she gazed around the inside of the fort and hugged her knees to her chest. "Impressive."

Kyd beamed. She couldn't help but smile back. It was getting harder for Raven to resist smiling when he did. She made a mental note to meditate when possible. That would probably balance out everything going wrong in her system.

They sat there in comfortable silence for a few minutes (well, silence only if you ignored Silkie's purring and the rustling of comic book pages). Raven continued to glance around the fort, sneaking occasional glances back at Kyd.

At one point, their eyes caught each other's, and they both looked away quickly. Immediately, the silence turned embarrassingly awkward.

"So, um…" Raven cleared her throat. "What're you reading?"

He held up the book.

"The Hulk, huh?" Kyd nodded. "Is it good?" He tilted his head back and forth before making a face. She smiled. "Well, Beast Boy never really had good taste." He laughed a little bit, the sound dry and raspy.

"Any reason you're still under here?"

He shrugged, his eyes casting downward. Raven sensed that she was treading into deeper waters and slowly retreated. She reached up and stroked Silkie for a little while, who purred loudly and snuggled into her hands before beginning to nibble on her fingers.

Kyd's eyes flickered upwards to watch the scene unfolding on his head. Silkie snuggled back into Kyd's mask, still nibbling gently on Raven's fingers.

"You know, I never would have guessed that he was a moth larvae if I hadn't already seen him transform."

Kyd gave Raven an incredulous look.

"Long story."

Kyd nodded before leaning back slightly against the cushions.

The next few seconds happened so quickly that Raven didn't even have time to conjure up a shield. All of the cushions seemed to simultaneously collapse on top of them, knocking Raven forward and Kyd backward, Silkie shrieking in dismay as he lost his perch. She felt Silkie wriggling amidst the cushions as her face landed on Kyd's chest, eliciting an 'oof' from both him and her.

The most embarrassing part was that the very first thing she noticed besides the fact that this was the most contact that they had ever had was that he smelled like milk chocolate. This was particularly strange, because normally male villains didn't usually smell like chocolate at all. Not that Raven had ever smelled a villain before, but she imagined that they smelled more like disease and bloody things rather than sweet confections.

Kyd made a noise resembling a strangled duck.

"Sorr – " Quickly, she began throwing cushions to the side and sat up as fast as she could, only to hit her head on the edge of the couch. Stars bloomed behind her eyes.

Kyd's hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. She shook her head, squinting at his worried face.

"I'm fine, just – "

She stopped. Raven could feel a blush beginning on her face, and from the looks of Kyd, it wasn't that different on his side either. She quickly stood up, ignoring the sudden dizziness, and practically sped to the door. "I'll be in my room."

A serious bout of meditation was in order.

Via the screen:

"Hey, uh, dude? Your face is kind of….not gray."

"Indeed! It is of a rather lovely shade of barglenoff, or perhaps the shade of the delicious worms of gumminess! It suits you most well."

"Really."

"Yeah, it actually looks pretty good on you, Raven. Doesn't make you look so depressed all the time."

"…"

"Beast Boy?"

"Uh?"

"Learn to keep your mouth shut."

"Do you think about her sometimes?"

Kyd gave her a confused look. Raven wasn't sure where the question had come from either. It had sort of – slipped out. She made another mental note to check her chakras, because as it was, meditation didn't seem to be working. "Never mind."

Kyd tilted his head at her. Lifting his hands, he quickly made the shape of a girl with horned hair and then gave Raven a 'is that what you meant?' look.

"Jinx, yes."

He gave her another look. She shrugged. "Just wondering, I guess."

Kyd chewed his lip. Raven waited, watching him cautiously. They hadn't made each other tick so far, but there was still time for that to happen.

Finally, he nodded.

"What do you miss?"

Another pause. Then, he tapped the side of his head.

"Her smarts?"

He nodded, and then flexed his arms. She cracked a smile.

"Strength?" He grinned back. "Anything else?"

He stopped, thinking. The pause was much longer this time, and she knew that he was trying to think of a way to interpret this. She didn't move a muscle, waiting patiently for him to think it out.

Reaching out, he took her hand in his, sending a sudden electrical current down Raven's spine. Fighting the sudden calamity of emotions inside of her chest, she stared down at the hand, attempting to translate.

"Kindness?"

He tilted his head back and forth. So-so.

"Her diplomatic nature?"

Kyd laughed. She was getting pretty good at making him laugh now.

"…her loyalty."

He nodded, his face suddenly solemn. Releasing her hand, he turned to stare at the dark screen looming over them, as if Jinx's face would suddenly blink into existence. Raven didn't really know what to say.

Finally, she just sighed and put her hand on his shoulder. He turned, startled.

"Well…you've got me?"

Kyd tilted his head. Raven almost gulped. She hoped that she had just imagined that line coming out of her mouth.

But when he smiled, the biggest smile that she'd probably ever seen on him, she knew that that foolish line was worth it.

"Wait. She asked you about Jinx?"

A nod.

"That means she wants information."

He shrugged before looking out the window at the twinkling lights stationed outside of the tower. The metal man once known as Stone and Gizmo were near the rocks, gazing at a box that Kyd assumed was the device keeping them in.

"Do you think you can ask her anything about Jinx?"

Kyd shrugged again.

"Kyd…"

"It is best, sometimes," he suddenly said, forcing the words out of his throat, "to let go of things, Seymour."

Silence.

And then, the screen clicked off, just as the light in the tent below went out.

"Any luck?"

Robin shook his head. "We've been trying everything we can. Gizmo and Cyborg are still working on trying to disarm the system but can't figure out how to overwrite it. Which is ridiculous, seeing as Gizmo built the thing in the first place. How about you? Have you started working on the inside?"

"I've tried, but every trail kept leading me to a dead end." From the corner of her eye, Raven saw Kyd floating around in the kitchen, eying the pancake mix.

"Don't even try it. Remember what happened last time?"

He pouted. She raised an eyebrow. He stuck out his tongue. She smiled.

Robin raised an eyebrow. "It seems you two are getting along okay."

"Let's just say we have a truce." Raven shifted slightly on the couch (now re-cushioned), trying to forget what had happened just a few weeks ago. "Are you sure Gizmo's just not prolonging the process?"

"Positive. His teammate is in there with you too, you know. They wouldn't want him to be stuck in there that long."

"Seeing as how their leader abandoned them, I wouldn't find it unlikely that they wouldn't do the same."

Kyd had gone still in the background. She ignored him and focused on Robin, who was now frowning.

"That's different, Raven."

"Hardly."

"In any case, they don't seem to be rigging the system. We'll keep trying what we can. In the meantime, just keep that truce, alright?" The screen flickered to black.

Raven turned around to find Kyd looking down somberly at the empty frying pan.

"What?"

He didn't respond. She pursed her lips.

"Are you mad at me?"

Kyd turned away and began to float out of the room. Raven floated after him, unsure of why she was even doing so in the first place. She could feel tightness in her chest that had to do with frustration and an emotion akin to envy.

"I was only telling the truth, and you know it. You told me yourself about how she left."

The door closed.

When she opened it back up again, he was gone.

"She doesn't know what she's talking about."

Kyd didn't respond. The screen's voice grew in volume. "She cared! I know she did. You know she did. She only left because of that stupid Kid Flash and Madame Rouge." Still no response. "Kyd, come on – "

Kyd gave the screen a pointed look. It was difficult to live with Raven and not pick up on some of her signature quirks.

"Jeez, Kyd, snap out of it! Why do you care so much about what that witch says, anyways? Do you like her?" Silence. "You like her. Oh my God, you like her. Man, what's wrong with you? She's a Titan, and – "

Click. He lifted his finger from the off button and let the silence pour back into the room.

Everything was burning and she was running, running as fast as she could, away from the laughing demon in the sky. The ground was burning the soles of her feet, licking her heels and dancing on her legs as she scrambled for some place that wasn't ravaged by pain and death. Laughter rained down, pelting her as if tangible enough to slice her apart.

"This isn't happening!" she screamed, her voice lost amidst the groans and sighs of the dying. "I stopped this. I destroyed you. This can't be happening again."

"Foolish little girl." Slade stood before her now, his head tilted at a completely unnatural angle. "You can't stop this twice. You don't have that kind of power."

"I stopped you once, and I can do it again!" Raven cried, even as she realized that she was shrinking in size, her magic and mind weakening. "You won't get away with this."

"But I already have, my dear." Slade's eyes tilted in a way that let Raven know that he was smiling underneath his mask. "You see that the Titans are gone. Your heroes are vanquished." From behind him, she could see bodies floating in the lava – red, blue, purple, green, mixing together until she almost screamed. "And there is no one who you care about left in this world."

And then there was another body floating in the fiery sea, grey skin being devoured by the flames and hands outstretched in a silent plea and she was screaming now as Slade swung downwards, nonononoNOOOOOO

Poke.

She groaned.

Poke.

"Ow – " She gasped, sitting up. The figure kneeling beside her bed lurched backwards, arms flapping wildly before he fell on his back.

"Kyd?" Raven winced, putting a hand to her throat. It was incredibly, incredibly dry. Like she had been standing in fire –

She jerked. Kyd watched her with wide eyes as she coughed, her hand against her mouth as she rocked slightly. Control, she reminded herself, even as images of burning flesh continued to enter her mind. Control, control, don't get out of hand, I am not afraid, it was just a dream, I am not afraid.

Something grazed her cheek and she whipped around, prepared to –

Kyd's hand lingered in the air, hovering next to her cheek. She noticed that it was slightly wet, and she realized that there were tears staining her face. Immediately, she put her hands to her face, as if she could disguise the fact that she had shamefully been crying.

"Sorry," she mumbled. From between her fingers, she could see Kyd tilt his head in the way that usually made her smile, but didn't work now. "For what I said. About her."

He pressed his lips together and gazed at Raven as she continued to breathe slowly. Control, control, control.

And then his hands were grasping hers, gently prying her fingers away from her face. She looked up at him, acutely aware of the sudden role-reversal.

Kyd smiled and shook his head before releasing her hands and gesturing for her to scoot over. For a few seconds, she hesitated, but seeing that he meant no harm and feeling (at least, what she could feel in her state) that he was only trying to be nice, she moved over slightly. Immediately, he hopped in, burrowing under the blankets until only his eyes peeked out from under the covers. She laughed hoarsely before curling up underneath the blankets.

"How'd you get in my room, anyway?" she murmured.

The edges of his eyes curled in a smile before they closed. His hand found hers on the pillow, and she squeezed it, feeling the warmth seep back into her hands.

"That," he said, in the softest voice that Raven had ever heard in her life, "is a secret."

Raven closed her eyes.

"We've almost got it fixed now."

"Really." Kyd tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes in mock-interest. Raven bit her lip to hide the smile now growing on her face.

"Almost. Gizmo finally found a trigger that could undo the system and get you guys out of there. Do you think you can hold up until then?"

"Well, we've been holding up for about two months now. I think we'll be alright."

"Are you sure? We can probably – "

"We'll be fine."

Robin's jaw dropped. Raven glanced over in surprise before she broke out into a smile.

"We'll be just fine," Kyd repeated, lacing his fingers through Raven's and smiling a side smile over at Raven.

And Raven knew that he was right.

This turned out much, much sappier then I had meant it to. Somehow, I just can't stop myself from writing these two into a relationship (ish thing). Though I did manage to fix things that I had wanted to address for a long time - Kyd's relationship with Jinx (in a way), Seymour's reluctance to move on, and Raven's recurring nightmares about the Apocalypse that almost happened. What? If I had a demonic father who tried to use me as a portal to destroy everything I loved, I would have nightmares about it too.

If there are any concerns with it that you want to talk to me about (and there probably will be, seeing as I wrote it quite hastily), just leave it in a review and I'll try and respond when I can. Otherwise, feel free to review about what you liked and favorite it if you really enjoyed it, please. It keeps me going. Thanks for reading!