I am not dead! And neither is Herald's Vision. I just needed to get back into the swing of writing again, so I wrote this. It's complete, so no worries about long waits. I'm just waiting for the rest of the chapters to be betaed. I hope you enjoy it.

As usual, I do not own Teen Titans. "Thinking Out Loud" and the other songs mentioned at the bottom of each chapter are the properties of their respective artists. Most of the songs are not related to the plot in any way; I just thought they went with this fic, specifically their respective chapters.

The project started with Melvin, Timmy, and Teether. When Raven protected them from the Brotherhood of Evil, she grew attached, and she soon started to wonder what would happen to them when her protection was no longer needed. They hadn't mentioned any family other than each other, and, as young as they were, there had been no cries to go home. None of them had talked about a home of any kind, so where would they go?

In their case, it was back where Dick found them: was an overcrowded orphanage in Bludhaven. Raven was infuriated when she learned this, and she hounded Dick and Vic for months to get them transferred to California. Eventually, they were put in a much nicer foster home in Jump City, and Raven visited them weekly. Afterward, Raven started thinking. What if she hadn't found them? What would have happened to them then? What happened to other children like them? They were too young to effectively fight crime, to be a part of a team. Where did they go?

After a lot of thinking, Raven finally figured out her answer. They ended up like Terra. They ended up stumbling around trying to good, but with their lack of control, they harmed as much they helped. Eventually, they either got themselves hurt or killed, and all the while, they never truly belonged anywhere. Raven realized then how lucky she'd been in finding the Titans. Any one of them, with the exception of Dick, could have ended up like Terra. Melvin, Timmy, and Teether definitely could have ended up like Terra if Raven hadn't found them, and as far as she knew, there could be hundreds more metahuman kids just like them that she didn't know about. She knew that they needed a place to belong.

Raven didn't know how she could provide such a place, especially if others hadn't done it already, but she decided she wanted to try. Little by little, she worked towards that goal. She bought a large house in a mostly abandoned suburb outside of Jump City. With Vic's help, she fixed it up and outfitted it to house people with a variety of abilities, and they set up security measures. Raven then asked Jinx how the H.I.V.E. Academy went about finding their students, and then she and Vic tried to replicate their system. She set up a mission statement and began letting people outside of her acquaintance know what she wanted to do. Her goal wasn't to groom future heroes or villains. Instead, she wanted to provide a safe place for metahuman children and teenagers to stay. She also wanted to help them learn to control their powers, and she asked every hero she was in contact with to help her with that if their particular skills were needed. Nearly all of them supported her efforts, and Raven even started getting calls from members of the Justice League, offering to help. She'd put a lot of work into this project, and after eight years, it was finally becoming a reality. In two months, the Jump City Home for Metahuman Youth would open.

She only had to get through this gala. The mayor, who'd been opposed to the youth home until about two years ago, insisted on throwing it. Dick insisted that Raven go. This project was her baby after all, and her refusal to attend would send the wrong message to the press. He'd never been able to give her a straight answer when she asked what exactly that message was; he'd just assured it would be the wrong one. After an argument that went on for several days, she finally agreed to go, thinking she could simply sit at a partially hidden corner table until it was all over.

Dick had quickly disabused her of that notion however. This was her project. She would be the one interacting with the press. She would be the one soliciting benefactors. He promised that he and their teammates would help her, but she would be the one everyone really wanted to talk to, and she wasn't allowed to hide from them. She was to talk and smile and dance with a bunch of complete strangers who had no respect for her privacy and most likely thought that the youth home she'd worked on since she was seventeen was some kind of political statement.

She would honestly rather pluck out her own eyeballs and eat them in front of a live studio audience.

What worried her most, as ridiculous as it was, was that she would be expected to dance. She could answer questions. She could ask for money. She might not be particularly charming about either of those things, but she could do them. And she would even try to be charming if it meant helping the youth home. However, one thing she could not do was dance. Period. She never understood the point of it, and so she never tried to learn.

In two months however, she would spend most of a night dancing with some very important people, and while she doubted their decision to donate to the youth home would hinge on her dancing ability, she still wanted to make a decent impression. She was a professional with an important goal, and it would be hard to get that across to someone if she was stumbling around like an idiot. She had to take...dance lessons.

Her first idea was to find a studio in town and pay an instructor. However, the idea of staggering around a dance floor in front of a complete stranger was not an appealing one. And the possibility that said stranger might sell stories of her incompetence to the media made the entire thing unpalatable. Raven would much prefer to do this in house.

Dick was the most obvious choice. He frequently attended events like this, both here and in Gotham, and he had a very privileged upbringing. Obviously, he would know how to ballroom dance. However, Raven would rather pick the most gossipy dance instructor in Jump City than ask Dick to teach her to dance. As far as she knew, there was only other person in her acquaintance who knew how to ballroom dance.

"Rita wanted to make sure her boy could waltz," Gar had told her once, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

However, she didn't think she wanted to ask Gar any more than she wanted to ask Dick. Gar had only recently returned to the Tower after nearly a year in Atlanta, where he'd been leading the Titans South. Though she hadn't liked the idea at first, Raven agreed now that the assignment had been a necessary one. Things were better between her and Gar, but it was still awkward between them, at least to her. She wasn't sure how she felt about spending extended periods of time alone with him, even if it was for something as stupid as learning to dance. And that was assuming he'd even agree. Raven really wasn't sure he would.

For the better part of an afternoon, she thought it over. Dick was not an option; that was for sure. Part of the reason their argument about her attending the gala had taken so long was because she still couldn't tolerate being in the same room with him for more than a few minutes at a time. Just looking at him was enough to infuriate her sometimes, and she knew she wouldn't learn anything from him until she got past that. She knew she would forgive him eventually, but it would not be soon.

She considered the outside dance instructor more seriously once she realized who her options in the tower were, but the idea was soon discarded. There was simply no way to ensure confidentiality...not unless she was in the mood to pay a lawyer to draw up a confidentiality agreement, hunt down an instructor willing to sign it, and then pay the instructor watch her embarrass herself. She was not in that particular mood.

So, that left Gar. She wasn't mad at him, he wouldn't sell the story for the press to make fun of, and he could dance. She only hoped he wasn't mad at her. With some reluctance, she finally left her room and made her way to the ops center. She found him in the kitchen area, making some kind of tofu dish.

"Gar," she said, making him look up. Resisting the urge to turn and leave as quickly as dignity allowed, she greeted him. "Uh...hey."

He looked slightly puzzled for a moment before giving a little shrug and smiling. "Hey, Raven." He focused on his cooking again.

"You know that, uh, Dick is making me go to that party...er, gala...thingright?" She cursed her lack of eloquence.

"Yeah, for that youth home you've been working on." He looked up at her again, still smiling, and her breath hitched a little. "I've been meaning to congratulate you, but...I'm kinda spacey, I guess. So, congratulations! You worked really hard, and you're doin' a great thing."

Raven felt something tighten in her chest, and she took a deep breath, trying to be discreet about it. He was being so nice. For some reason, that made her feel guilty. She almost wished he would act angry.

"Thanks," she said, pushing her strange feelings aside. "It, uh, means a lot to me. Enough for me to go to this party thing anyway. And actually, I um, need to ask you something."

Gar stopped stirring his food. Now, he looked kind of cautious. "Okay...?"

"Dick says I have to dance. I can't dance, but I have to, and I was wondering if you would teach me, because I remember you said once that you knew how to ballroom dance, or at least waltz..." She was so caught up in her rambling—and hating herself for rambling—that she almost missed his answer.

"Sure, Raven."

She stopped babbling. "Really?"

He shrugged. "Sure. I'm just surprised you asked me though. Seems like Dick would be the better choice."

"I didn't want to ask Dick."

"How come?" he asked curiously.

"I just didn't want to," she replied, hoping he would leave it at that.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he shrugged and went back to his cooking instead. After a moment of silence, Raven figured their conversation was over. She turned to leave, and he suddenly called her name.

"Yes?" she asked, turning back around.

"When did you want to start?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "When do you think we should?"

He looked thoughtful. "It's probably best to get as much practice as you can," he said after a few seconds. "Is tomorrow okay?"

Tomorrow?! She shrieked internally. On the outside though, she was calm.

"Tomorrow is fine."

"Okay," Gar said. "You still, uh, meditate around five?" He rubbed the back of his neck.

Raven felt the tightness in her chest return. He remembered.

"Yeah."

"Then how about we meet in the gym around three? That should give us plenty of time."

"Okay," replied Raven. "I'll see you tomorrow." She tried to make sure it didn't sound like a question.

"See you tomorrow," Gar confirmed.

"Vegas Skies"- The Cab

"I Never Told You"-Colbie Caillet