(Guess who is back! I've been meaning to post this for a few days, kept getting sucked into other things. Enjoy this new story while I struggle through my block on the other one, I hope to update this one at least monthly. As always, reviews are lovely. ~RavensMind~ )

For The Excluded

"Behold the tower of memories for the daughter of Scathe. Each hallway is sparkling with a spellbound mixture of hope and despair. Even so, she retraces her steps for the sake of several bright new additions, in hopes that she can find a proper place for them. Her congregation of emotions watches on from afar in intrigue and caution, too aware of the rooms she passes. For this place was not always hers alone. Now that she owns it, she desperately wants to redecorate it, but is afraid to, and hadn't known where to begin… until he gave her what she now clings to as she rushes to the newest area of her tower…"

Chapter 1: Urgent Awakening

"Seriously?" Raven rubbed her eyes sleepily and stretched out across her bed before rising reluctantly. A fierce knocking at her door had woken her from a deep sleep she desperately needed. Rising with an annoyed sigh, she snatched her cloak and draped it around herself. Not bothering to turn on a light, she went to her door and opened it a slight crack.

"Robin," she said drowsily.

Robin's appearance jolted her awake. He was wearing a pitch-black uniform with a gash across his side. He held his wrist and looked to her with a tired, desperate expression.

"Can you look at this?" Robin asked her, indicating his wrist.

"Yeah, come in," she said, opening the door for him and closing it behind him as he entered. Something was off, something about her voice, she didn't seem like herself – then again he had woken her up.

Turning on the lights, she directed him to her bed and sat with him, turning his arm over, and bending his wrist a little. As she checked it out, he looked around her room. It hadn't changed much since he was last here, there was another bookshelf and it was already filled. Something about her room always made him feel like he escaped the tower through a crack in the floor and wound up in a sanctuary. You could easily get lost in your own activity here.

Robin winced as she bent his wrist inward and looked to her for some idea as to how serious it was.

"It doesn't look like it's broken, but even if I heal it – it'll take a few days to completely mend," Raven said.

"Damn it! Shouldn't have let her get the drop on me," Robin said.

"So…are you going to tell me what happened? Or will I be looking forward to more of those cryptic complaints?" Raven asked, looking him over again.

Robin frowned, he expected she'd ask that, but hoped he'd have a better way to explain the situation by now. He sighed and turned to her.

"It's a long story but…I need you to keep it between us," Robin said.

"Why?" Raven asked.

Before either could say anything else, Raven's communicator rang as the lights on her belt flashed. Her eyes went wide in the sudden realization of why he had the wound and his suspicious behavior. She gave him a sad, disappointed expression and answered the communicator.

"What's going on?" Raven asked as Cyborg's face appeared on the screen.

"We had a break in at the research center, someone stole some blueprints of a new reactor core. Starfire and Beast Boy were in the area and chased the thief, they fought, but he – I think - got away. Do you know where Robin is? I tried to call, he didn't answer," Cyborg explained.

Looking to Robin, Raven shook her head and looked back to Cyborg.

"He just called me, he… had an accident on his R-Cycle, he's being checked out – he should be back in a while…" Raven explained.

Robin smiled a little and nodded to Raven in appreciation, but felt like he'd regret doing so. She just glanced over to him with a blank expression, with a hint in her eyes that she resented what she was doing.

"Man, I just helped him tune up the engine the other day…I hope it wasn't something I did…" Cyborg said.

"It wasn't his fault as I understand it… Do you need me to help with the thief?" Raven asked.

"Not right now, just be ready to go if we find him," Cyborg said, "I hope Robin's alright, we need him here."

"I'm sure he'll be fine…" she said, shooting Robin an annoyed look.

"Yeah. I'll keep you in the loop, Rae," Cyborg said.

"Thanks Cyborg," Raven said.

Raven closed the communicator after Cyborg hung up and glared at Robin. Crossing her arms, she considered what she wanted to say, what she should say, and what the priority was. As annoyed as she was that he conditioned her to lie for him, she knew he had a reason.

Still holding his wrist, Robin looked off to the side before he returned his eyes to hers. He hadn't decided how he was going to explain this to her. Fortunately for him, she was less inclined to storm off or blow up over this type of situation, unlike the others. It was something he appreciated about her as a friend and as his second in command.

"Thanks for…well, uh-," Robin started.

"Lying for you? Oh, no sweat, I live for it," she said dryly.

"Sorry, I really am, but I needed you to. You think I'm happy doing this undercover work? I hate it," he said.

"I know, but after that 'Red X' mess, you promised to tell me before you ever did something like this again. Finding out this way is just…look at this situation. If Starfire or Beast Boy had caught you, they would have been all over you about this, whoever you're working for would disappear and-" she said, annoyed.

"You're right," he said, interrupting her, "I should trust you more."

Raven paused, her expression softened somewhat, and her gaze shifted from his eyes to his wounds. Reaching out, she placed her hand over his wrist as a blue magical aura surrounded the area she touched. Robin smiled at her as he felt the pain in his wrist subside to a point.

"Thanks," he said, placing his other hand over hers.

"You can repay me by telling me about your undercover mission… Then I'll help you more, if I can, or… if you even want me to," she said, looking down.

"Hey," he said, squeezing her hand, "I wouldn't have made it this far leading this team without you."

The rarest smile of hers spread across her face as she returned her gaze to his.

"That means a lot it's…sweet, this actually reminds me of something a character in my favorite book said to his friend…" she said.

"Oh? Wait… whoa, I don't think I know what your favorite book is…I'm sorry," he said.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked.

"You're my friend, I should know something like that," he replied.

"Should you? I don't know what your favorite book is either," she said.

"I guess…we spend more time together talking about the city and criminals than ourselves…" he said.

"…We can do that if you'd like. After you fill me in about your mission…" she said.

He sighed and explained that he had infiltrated what he suspected was an associated criminal outlet of an organization from Gotham. In so many words, he told her that he couldn't say what had tipped him off about them showing up. Part of getting close to one of their higher-ups was collecting that prototype reactor blueprint.

Once he was in their good graces, he would find out what their agenda was, and whether or not they were a serious threat. When that was clear, he would pass what he found to his old partner, and that might be the end of his involvement. She asked what she would need to do and he said that she would know when he knew.

As they spoke, Raven cleaned up his other wounds and had his wrist laying on a pillow until they found a window of time where they could get it in a splint without the others noticing. She was more understanding of the situation than Robin had expected, but she was still irritated at him for not trusting her with this to begin with. He felt better with her onboard with this, he wasn't on his own.

"How long do you think we'll have to wait until we can get my wrist in a splint?" Robin asked, feeling it aching.

"A few hours, we need to be sure they're asleep," Raven said.

They sat looking at each other for a few moments awkwardly. She was uncomfortable having him in her room for this long, the whole situation separated them from anyone else and she felt pushed closer to him. He picked up on that feeling as well, choosing to distract them both from it.

"Um…so, have you read all of these books?" Robin asked, looking around at the various filled bookshelves.

"No, there are a few that I bought when I was at the bookstore last week that I haven't had a chance to start reading," Raven said, frowning a little.

"My fault, right?" he asked, laughing a little.

"Mostly," she said, giving a playful smile.

"What are they about?" he asked.

"Two are fiction, one is almost a modern ghost story, and the other is a crime thriller that follows a serial killer. The last one is a collection of poetry and short stories," she said, her eyes lighting up as she described each one.

"It's been a while since I read anything, but I like the sound of the last two," he said.

"…You… like poetry?" she asked, surprised.

"Some…don't tell Cy or Beast Boy," he said.

"I won't," she said, giving a small giggle, "I'd have never guessed you ever read, much less liked, poetry."

"I had an… interesting life growing up, I was exposed to a good amount of culture…among other things," he said.

His expression changed as he seemed to think of something and she could feel that he was far from her in his mind. His face darkened and to her, he was as deep in his own emotions as she could be. As this sense of him was dangled before her, she wouldn't press him for the sake of her curiosity. That side of Robin was denied to her and the team, though she felt that it was much deeper than she had suspected.

"You…keep a lot from us, don't you?" she asked softly.

"Yeah…" he said solemnly, "…you do too."

Raven only nodded as her emotions swam in synchronicity within her mind, keeping her calm as her past roared and nearly blinded her mind's eye in a streak of red flame. Her father was gone, but her memories of his acts and influence were not. Too often had she accidentally stumbled into those rooms of her mind.

"I um…actually wrote a few poems when I was younger," he said, pulling himself back to their conversation.

"…What's keeping you from doing it now?" she asked.

"Nothing, I just stopped," he said.

She rose from the bed and went over to a chest next to one of the many bookshelves. From it, she pulled out a thick notebook and a set of pens. She brought them over to Robin and handed him one of the pens. He took it and smiled at her.

"This…is just for us," she said with a small smile.

"What do we write?" he asked, returning her smile.

"Anything, but…I think it'll help us trust each other more," she said.

"It's a really cool idea, Rae," he said.

"You really like it?" she asked.

"Yeah, it sounds fun…" he said.

"Yeah…" she said, her voice trailing.

What he thought he had heard in her voice earlier had returned and it carried a certain weight that he could feel in the pit of his stomach. It ran through his body and struck his mind, and her emotions stretched through their bond to latch onto him.

"Are you okay?" Robin asked, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"I just haven't been myself the last few days. When you woke me up…I was…sleeping through the worst part of something I've been dealing with," Raven replied sadly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Later…" she said softly.

The look on her face as she responded banished any happy thoughts he may have had at the time. Whatever problem she was dealing with had enough power to exude from her in waves. He scooted closer to her on the bed and put his arm around her, his injured wrist resting on her shoulder.

"…You might want to leave before moving at all looks pointless to you too…" Raven said, slightly moving away from him.

"Not gonna happen…" Robin said, gently pulling her tighter to him.

She didn't resist or pull away this time, instead she gave a long sigh and sat quietly with him. It hadn't occurred to him until now, he realized that before and after she got the notebook out, she was being herself – emotions and all. He wondered how long it had been since she'd shown her true self to anyone.

Aside from weathering a tempest of despair in her mind, she was more than a little uncomfortable. Robin was reaching out in sympathy, she guessed, and while she appreciated it – she wasn't sure what it meant, or what to do. Combined with how she was feeling and what they'd discussed, she couldn't relax and she sensed that he could feel it.

"Have you been…feeling this way for a while?" Robin asked awkwardly.

Raven gave a slight, reluctant nod and shifted against his side. Her silence said more than enough to make him more concerned. Despite that, he knew better than to push her further for details.

"I'm…going to go get what we need from the medical ward. Stay here and-," Raven said.

"Don't touch anything, I know, I won't," Robin said with a reassuring smile.

With a small nod, Raven stood and left her room, being careful to close the door quickly behind her. Once he was sure she was gone, Robin put his head in his hands and took a few deep breaths, along with a few groans as his body reminded him of his injury. Breathing in long, steady breaths he felt like the air had gotten lighter in the past few seconds since Raven left. Maybe what she was dealing with was heavier than he had thought.

Glancing around, Robin looked back towards her pillow, and his gaze fell on a small unmarked bottle of pills. If he hadn't been worried before, he was now. He couldn't just ask her what she was dealing with, she'd shut down any attempt of his to offer his help. The thought made him chuckle – he'd do the same if someone tried to talk him down from getting too into a case. Raven had been the one to try more often than the others. He was almost sure he knew why…but he wanted to hear her say it.

Still, he had to do something…

Picking up the pen and the notebook, Robin opened to the first page and wrote. Such a relief that his injured hand wasn't the one he wrote with. Carefully choosing each word, he wrote a note for Raven. Satisfied with the message, he closed the notebook and set it on her pillow.

Sitting on the edge of the bed once more, he saw the door open and Raven entered quickly, sliding it shut behind her. She went straight to him and splinted his wrist inside a few minutes silently.

"Thanks, Raven," Robin said as she finished, smiling warmly to her.

"You're welcome," she said simply, in her typical monotone.

Raven raised her eyebrow slightly at his expression.

"What?" she asked.

"Just happy to have your help with this and the mission," he replied.

"Of course," she said with a small smile.

"…We should talk more, if you want to, um…let me know," he said, trying not to make it sound like he was worried about her.

There was a long pause before Raven said anything, considering his request and what it meant to her to be more open, she looked away for a second or two before focusing on him again.

"…Maybe. For now, I need to sleep – and so do you. The others went to bed, so it's safe for you to head to your room," she said.

He rose and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her another warm smile that made her uncomfortable, in a positive way.

"Thanks again, Rae, I'll see you in the morning," Robin said.

"Good night Robin," Raven said, managing to return a subtle smile.

Robin went to the door and scanned the halls before leaving her room. After the door closed behind him, Raven turned off the light and went straight to her bed. Hanging up her cloak on the bedpost, she got into bed and rested her head on her- …notebook. She was exhausted and nearly drained by the dark tangle that made a temporary home in her mind.

Giving a small groan, wanting to sleep, but curious to see what Robin had written – she switched on the lights with her powers and opened the journal to the first page:

"You've had to deal with worse; you can fight whatever you're feeling. Stay strong, we're here for you. Please let me know if you want my help." –Robin.

Raven smiled and set the notebook down on the floor by her bed, planning to revisit it in the morning. She slept well for the first time in days, undisturbed by her mind, and calmed by her friend.

Tomorrow, she would need to be the one to keep him out of his head.