Author's Note:

Hello to my readers. For those of you who read my version of season six, labeled "After Things Change," you know that I've hinted this story may be my next project. Now, after several weeks of brainstorming and writing, here it is. Please remember to review; your feedback is appreciated!

This story is based on a cannon idea from the original comics. I do not own the comics or Teen Titans.

Important Side-note:

There will be a sneak peak for my next major BB/Rae story (with some RobStar) entitled "Growing Up" in the author's note before the last chapter of this story. I plan to have this entirety of this fic posted in under two weeks. Keep your eyes peeled!

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The first time Raven felt it was when she was on the roof. The first time was gentle.

As always, meditation was a practice that involved her complete attention and control in order to achieve properly. On her best days, Raven found she could mentally leave the Tower itself, and instead journey to another dimension. This particular meditation session proved to be difficult for the empath, for she could not seem to shake the distractions of her environment.

The feelings and visuals that riled her so came in flashes, in whispers. A ghost of breath on her neck. The tip of a finger tracing up her spine. Her eyelids, still closed, crinkled up in an expression of discomfort, signaling the unease she felt from these strange sensations.

Flashes of colors came next. Red. Then purple. Then green. There was always green. Feelings of anticipation and excitement filled Raven, causing her breath to come out in shallow gasps. It wasn't until the backs of her legs touched the Tower's roof did she realize her concentration was completely lost.

She grunted, gingerly placing a hand to her temple. Her jaw became tight with tension as she tried to make sense of the feelings that overwhelmed her. She knew instantly they didn't belong to her. They couldn't, really, because she had never felt anything quite like what she was feeling now.

Hands tangled in hair. Bodies shifted. Lips parted, releasing a surprised gasp. Raven emitted her own pant, her eyes flying open as she discovered whose feelings these were and why they caused a thick pool of heat to settle in the lower part of her stomach.

A cold dread entered her body, easily overtaking the wanton feelings churning within her. These sensations may not have been her own, but that didn't mean they didn't affect her. Being an empath sure did come with some startling realities.

Sweeping her cloak around with her arm, Raven rose from her spot, finally admitting defeat in her attempt to meditate. Her footsteps echoed softly down the hall, as she made especially sure to redirect her route, so she was as far from Robin's room as humanly possible.

So two of her closest friends had finally become intimate. It wasn't really a surprise. Robin and Starfire had been dating for close to a year after all. Following Tokyo the two had become nearly inseparable. Raven had been pleasantly surprised in the shift in Robin's demeanor as a result of their courtship. The Titans' leader had become more easy going and understanding. He still held all of them to the same standard as before, but the others could recognize that Starfire's gentle and caring influence had started to seep into his actions.

Raven sighed, a little annoyed with herself. She didn't like to make a habit of reading through her friends' feelings, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. When there was a dramatic shift in their emotions, it was almost impossible for Raven not to feel it. That being said, everything she felt was at a surface level. She had never gone digging into her friends' emotions, and she didn't plan on it either. After all, how could she ask her friends to respect her privacy if she couldn't offer them the same courtesy?

Raven suspected that because these emotions radiating off of Robin and Starfire were new and so different from anything her friends had experienced before, they were much harder for the half-demon to block out. Very well. She may have to deal with a few weeks of discomfort on her end, but it was worth it if it meant allowing two of her closest friends this form of happiness. Then again, the first time was gentle.

The second time was powerful.

She was in ops about a week later, making a cup of herbal tea when it happened. It was late afternoon and the team had returned from battling Cinderblock earlier than expected. Cyborg and Beast Boy had begun a rousing match of whatever loud rendition of video game they enjoyed, while Robin and Starfire had disappeared without an explanation. As Raven rested a teabag into her drink, she glanced up when she heard Cyborg's victory cry, signaling Beast Boy's usual defeat.

Raven watched with mild curiosity as Beast Boy's face became a mixture of mild annoyance and disappointment. She couldn't fathom why failing at such an immature activity could be worth such a reaction. As she raised the steaming mug to her lips, she sensed a mild shift within the changeling. His ears twitched and his expression became even more troubled, although at the time Raven had chalked it up to his dramatic reaction to losing the game.

Only a moment later did the wave of emotions slam into her chest, the force causing her to drop her cup full of tea onto the floor. She barely heard the mug shatter as she gripped the countertop, gritting her teeth. Flashes of green-gloved hands filled her vision along with strands of sweaty red hair trapped to an orange neck. Raven's breath came out in soft pants, a combination of discomfort and extreme pleasure coursing through her body.

He was kissing her neck, sweeping her curtain of hair out of the way as he did so. Those blasted green gloves finally came off, revealing pasty skin. Layer by layer colored clothing tumbled to the ground revealing orange curves and a pale muscled back. He was moving and she could practically feel him and-

"Raven? Everything okay?" Cyborg asked, snapping her back to reality.

Raven jerked back violently, drawing her hood up in front of her friends for the first time in years in order to conceal the redness of her cheeks and perspiration on her forehead.

"I'm fine," she muttered, knowing her lame response would not settle her friend. Deciding she needed a distraction, she used her powers to clean up the shards of her mug, plunking them into the trash bin.

"Ya sure?" Cyborg pressed. "You looked pretty spooked. If you're coming down with something I could run a couple tests-"

"I appreciate it, but I just need some rest," she assured him, moving in the direction of the door. "The battle with Cinderblock must have tired me out more than I thought."

Cyborg nodded, not entirely convinced, but Raven was thankful he didn't push the topic. As Raven exited ops she caught a glimpse of Beast Boy, watching her with the same curiosity she had had while watching him only moment ago.

For once he's rendered speechless, she thought with a smirk. At least there was a small upside to this.

The third time was heavenly.

Raven had been in her room reading a rather mundane scene in her book when she began to feel lightheaded. There wasn't any unpleasant dizziness or nausea that accompanied this feeling, rather she felt like she was levitating even though her body still lay on her bed. She felt feather like touches running up her body, and she sighed in contentment, not even realizing her book had fallen from her grasp onto the floor.

She felt phantom lips at her jaw, fleeting enough to remind her none of what she was feeling was her, but enough to keep her trapped in this trancelike bliss. The heat pooled in her stomach; once it had used to feel so foreign but was now beginning to feel like a familiar friend. Raven's head lolled back onto her pillows, her hair fanning across her cushions. Her body became tense.

The emotions were the best part. She could tell she was filtering Starfire as a wave of happiness, comfort, and peacefulness from being loved by someone else washed over her. When the sensation eventually left her, Raven felt colder than she ever had before.

She sat up, suddenly ashamed of herself for not being able to control these lustful images from entering her mind. Even more startling she realized, was that after this latest session she wasn't sure if she even wanted to be rid of them. She felt dirty. She felt wrong.

Which was probably why the next day when Robin addressed her, she couldn't look him in the mask without reddening. Raven hid her emotions well, but nothing escaped the attention of the Boy Wonder. He had prodded her relentlessly until Cyborg had taken pity on her and advised Robin to give it a rest.

Raven was no fool. She knew hiding something like this from her friends could have consequences, but could one really blame her? What would she tell them? What would she expect their responses and solutions to be? She could confide in Starfire, but it was unreasonable to suggest the Tamaranean not be intimate with her longtime boyfriend. Raven was willing to bear the burden of these conflicting emotions so as not to upset the balance of her friends' romantic relationship.

On the other hand, she did not want these feelings she absorbed to affect her own relationship with her friends, especially Starfire. The redhead was able to feel so strongly that her emotions were usually the ones to consume Raven first. This unfortunately meant that when she and Robin made love, Raven would often take the place of Starfire, living through the girl's feelings and physical reactions. She would hate to think of herself as coming between Starfire and Robin in such a way, so this was her main reason for not confiding in the girl.

Deciding that focusing her powers was the only way to combat these visions, Raven made a point to repeat her mantra tirelessly in her head whenever they began to arise. Sometimes she was even successful in expelling them. Most of the time she was not.

Three weeks had passed at this point, leaving Raven to feel flustered, shameful, and completely sexually frustrated. After a particularly passionate session, she found herself in the training room of all places. She figured if boys could theoretically release their anger by punching a bag, then maybe she could find a similar catharsis.

Raven raised her fists, feeling a little foolish as she jabbed at the punching bag a few times. Her punches weren't very strong, and the bag barely moved as a result. Her fingers, on the other hand, were already sore. Frustrated, Raven let out an angry grunt and enveloped her fists in black energy, swinging her arms again and using her powers to knock the bag right off its hinges. It was cheating, but it had the desired effect.

Panting, Raven pulled off her hood and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She had to admit; she did feel a little better. That was, until she discovered she was being watched.

"Woah," a voice said from behind her, causing her to freeze, "and I thought I had some major freak outs."

Raven whipped around and sure enough the changeling was there, leaning against some training machinery, his eyes filled with amusement.

Raven tried to compose herself, not wanting to admit that she was embarrassed someone had been watching. "I'm sure you could benefit from your own workout instead of spying on mine," she quipped, watching with mild satisfaction as his cocky expression faltered.

He shrugged after a moment, seemingly unbothered. He glanced down at the fallen punching bag and then back up at Raven. "Why are you in here anyway? Robin hasn't scheduled any training 'til tomorrow."

"Maybe I just wanted to work out on my own," she replied, aggravated that he couldn't just leave her be. Beast Boy gave her a skeptical look but thankfully didn't press any more. He morphed into a gorilla and hosted the punching bag to the ceiling again. He returned to his normal form, grinning at her as he did so.

"Anyways, I came in to ask if you wanted to watch a movie."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Are the others already in ops?"

She watched in fascination as Beast Boy's normally confident demeanor shifted to one of uncertainty. "Ah…well, no. Robin and Star are kinda MIA, and Cy's on the phone with Bee…aaaaaand I don't think that's going so great."

Raven nodded. Cyborg had gone on a couple of dates with the Titans' East leader, but the two were beginning to realize their personalities might be too similar to work well together, at least romantically. While she hoped her friend worked out his romantic troubles, she knew it wasn't her place to get involved, nor would she want to.

Raven paused; her attention being drawn to the first part of Beast Boy's statement. "Robin and Starfire aren't in the Tower?"

"Yeah. I think they went to dinner or a movie or something."

Raven wanted to grunt in frustration. So the workout may not have been cathartic at all. It was true that the farther she was from someone, the less she could feel his or her emotions. That being said, it wasn't very practical to be forced to leave the Tower every time her friends were feeling passionate. Especially during the night.

She must have been silent for a while, for Beast Boy took the opportunity to continue his rambling. "So would you wanna hang out or…?"

Raven considered the changeling. "You want to spend time with me. Just the two of us." They were statements, not questions.

Beast Boy's ears drooped a bit, and he raised his hands in defense. "Yeah, I mean, I just thought it would be cool 'cuz I'm super bored and everyone else is busy…"

Raven tried to ignore the slight stab of hurt she felt from his statement. Of course she was a last resort. She already knew this, so she didn't understand why it bothered her so much, especially coming from Beast Boy.

She turned away from him. "I'm sure Cyborg will be finished soon. You'd have more fun with him," she said, a trace of bitterness leaking into her voice.

Her shoulder twitched as she felt his hand rest there. "What do you mean? I always have fun with you. That's why I asked."

Raven stepped out of his reach but turned around so she faced him again. "So," she said after a few moments of silence, "a movie?"

The green Titan's face lit up. "Yeah! Come on, I've already got a few choices picked out!" He grabbed her by the forearm and dragged her from the training room. As they approached ops, Raven noticed she had never actually accepted his offer, but found she didn't mind his assumption. She never understood how out of everyone, he was always the one to try and get her to do activities. She wasn't exactly receptive most of the time, so it was a wonder he never tired of attempting to involve her.

As she sat down on the sofa in ops, she found a large bowl of popcorn placed under her nose. Clearly he had made enough for two people, another indication of his confidence that she would join. When she declined his offer of food he seemed a little put out, so she took a single kernel from the pile and placed it into her mouth. It was salted but unbuttered due to his vegan appetite. Raven had to admit it was pretty good, so she slyly took another kernel to chew.

Beast Boy put on a flick neither of them had scene before, something about a detective solving a murder mystery. It wasn't necessarily Raven's cup of tea, but it far better suited her tastes than some slasher film. Beast Boy was quite vocal throughout the duration of the movie; often citing whom he thought was the murderer. He also asked Raven about her input, something that surprised her. She didn't expect him to listen almost as much as he talked.

About halfway through the picture, Robin and Starfire popped their heads in to let the two Titans know they had returned. Raven nodded at them while Beast Boy made some distracted noise, his attention far too focused on the screen in front of him.

Raven expected the couple to join them, or at the very least raise eyebrows at the fact that she and Beast Boy were watching a movie together, but they did neither of those things. They instead disappeared almost as quickly as they had arrived. Raven didn't really think anything of it, for she was admittedly having a nice time with Beast Boy. As one of the more quiet scenes of the movie played before them, Raven began to feel something familiar.

Oh Azar, please not now.

She could practically hear Starfire's giggle in her ear, could almost feel the spandex of Robin's gloved finger trace up her thigh. Raven's fingernails dug into the arm of the sofa. Her heart began to beat quickly, and she wondered if it would seem suspicious if she left the room. She snuck a glance at Beast Boy, expecting to find him still absorbed in the movie. Instead, a troubled frown graced his features and his ears began twitching again.

He's probably trying to figure out the crook in the movie, Raven concluded, biting her lip as another wave of emotion swept over her. She was proud of herself; she was actually controlling her powers fairly well this time around. And while she still felt discomfort, it was not as powerful as the other times.

That was until she caught Robin burying his face between orange legs.

Raven let out a gasp, partly due to the sensation, but also because she was able to see Robin's closed eyelids in her vision. It wasn't a surprise he had removed his mask for such an intimate act, but it was a shock for someone like Raven to see. This of course revealed another problem Raven hadn't even considered. What if she were to see Robin's identity before he was ready to reveal it to her? Was that not invading his privacy further than she already was?

She shot a glance at Beast Boy, thankful he was too distracted to pay any attention to her gasp. She was also grateful he was a few feet away from her on the sofa. The last thing she needed was for him to notice her like this.

Raven shuddered as Starfire's passion overtook what little control she had. She sunk lower on the sofa, doing her best to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. Her chest rose and fell with little, fast breaths. Her legs began to twitch as that feeling rose higher and higher in her stomach.

Please no, she thought, the shame and revulsion with herself already making its way into her mind. Her toes began to curl. She bit her lip so hard she could taste blood.

Beast Boy bolted up beside her, nearly making her jump out of her seat. "Let's call it a night," he said, seemingly out of nowhere, and then left the room with the movie still playing.

His sudden absence felt like a cold bucket of water had been dumped on her. It was true these visuals of Robin and Starfire often left her frustrated and unsatisfied, after all it wasn't really her with the Boy Wonder, but the transition from pleasure to frustration was always gradual. This time it had been as if someone had flipped a switch, and it unnerved her to think it had anything to do with Beast Boy.

Sighing, she got up and turned off the movie. They would have to finish it another time. As she made her way back to her room, she pondered what could have spooked Beast Boy so much as to leave without an explanation. Could he have somehow known what was happening to her? Her blood chilled at the thought. Talk about completely mortifying.

As she shut her bedroom door for the night, she glanced over at her bedside table where her mirror lay. She would certainly have to visit Nevermore, and soon, but tonight she was simply too drained. She was about to unfasten her cloak and get into bed when she heard a knock at her door. She opened it, only slightly surprised to see Beast Boy on the other side.

He looked at her sheepishly. "Sorry I had to leave like that."

"It's fine," she replied cautiously.

Beast Boy scratched the back of his head. "We could finish the movie some other time if you want."

Raven cocked an eyebrow, not expecting him to want to take the time to complete their activity together. "Okay."

Beast Boy grinned a little. "Okay, cool. Well, night Rae."

"Good night."

She watched him begin to walk down the hallway before she shut her door. As she walked to her bed again, it occurred to her that Beast Boy's room was located in between Robin and Starfire's.

She shuddered at the thought.

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Author's Note: More relationship building to come! As promised, action will take a backseat to romance in this story. That being said I still think it's important to include a bit of action, as was the style of the show. A villain who was in the fight with the Brotherhood of Evil but was not in any of the episodes will make an appearance for the subplot in this story. That's all I'm revealing for now!