Hi. This is my first fanfic so please be nice. I know the first chapter sux, but I'm just doing all the introductions for those who don't watch TT and introducing the problems and stuff. It IS an important chapter though, so stay with me here.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN TEEN TITANS OR ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS STORY.

Chapter 1: Raven's Morning

It was a normal day. Well, as normal as any day could get around here, Raven thought as she stretched and got out of bed. She looked at the alarm clock. It said 5:30. She was up early, which wasn't unusual considering that she was usually one of the first few awake. Raven ran a brush through her short violet hair and brushed her teeth. She then telepathically drew her dark blue cloak into her hand, draped it around her shoulders, and fastened it to her black jumpsuit via the jeweled brooch she kept with the cloak at all times. Raven raised her hood and walked out of her room, the automatic door sliding shut behind her. The slightly gothic telepath levitated, then flew down the hallway towards the living room and breakfast.

Just before Raven reached the double doors leading to the living room, she paused and took a deep breath, to make sure that her destructive emotions were in check. She put an indifferent look on her face and fazed through into the room. Robin was already at the computer across the room from her, typing away, to the right of the giant flat screen television that doubled as a window outlooking Jump City bay and the half circle couch that probably contained a couple of remotes, dirty socks, and various other misplaced items deep within its cushions. She looked to the right side of the room, but no one was looking through the mini-fridge ridden with spoiled food and various unknown life forms, cooking on the stove, or riffling through the cabinets. The left side of the room was deserted, too, with no one sitting at the tables or fiddling with the dials on the central power source for Titans Tower. Robin was the only one up besides her.

She flew over to the back of him, he oblivious to the fact that she stood behind him because he was so immersed in his work. "Slade again?" she guessed.

Robin jumped, then whirled around in the chair. "You scared me," he said sheepishly as he saw Raven standing there with a puzzled smirk on her face. "I didn't hear you come in. Yeah, I'm trying to figure out where Slade went after, um, helping, us with the defeat of Trigon. He must be about to pull something off…he has to. Hey, I'm not as obsessed as you think," Robin said as he caught the look on Raven's face.

"Yeah, right. That, and Beast Boy has a brain." Raven muttered as she turned around and started walking toward the kitchen area.

"And," Robin called out as she continued walking, "You really shouldn't sneak up on someone like that, Raven. You almost gave me a heart attack." Raven snorted as she made it to the kitchen and started to brew a pot of herbal tea.

As she was getting the water ready to boil, she glanced out the window and saw that it was about the time of morning when the sky is graying with the approach of the Sun. Dawn. Her favorite time of day, except, of course, for sunset. When Raven had the teapot full of water and heating up on the stove, she walked over to the couch and chose her favorite spot, the cushion on the very left, also the only one without a soda stain or old piece of gum stuck to the fabric. This is where she sat every morning to watch the sunrise unless the roof was free. The roof wasn't often free because during battles close to home and such it was often destroyed. It was always the roof, and no one knew why. Today they had construction work going on so it was off limits, even for those of the titans who could fly and steer clear of the debris. Robin and his rules, she thought as she settled down in her little niche in the couch.

Fog was drifting over the water of the bay as the sun finally peeked out from the horizon. It turned the water a bright orange with a red tinge spattered around every now and then over the rippling waves. So nice, she thought. The peace, the quiet, the tranq-"AAHH!" she screamed as a deafening whistle filled the air. A lightbulb above her head shattered, and the little shards of glass fell onto Raven's head and shoulders, some landing on the floor and the couch. She clapped a hand to her mouth, realizing it was just the tea kettle reminding her that the water was boiling. Raven turned up a corner of her mouth sheepishly at Robin as she telepathically gathered the pieces up and tossed them in the trash can.

He had spun around in the computer chair when he heard her shriek and was now looking at her with a mixed expression of surprise and confusion. She was usually the most level-headed of the bunch, so any emotion displayed by her often meant trouble was afoot. "Are you okay, Raven? You're acting a little strange today, is anything the matter?" he said. "N-no, I'm fine, it's nothing," stuttered Raven, still slightly flustered, who was now getting up from the couch to silence the pot and drop in the teabags to steep.

It was a good thing the room was soundproofed, because Raven knew that the sound would have woken up the rest of the team and she didn't want to do that and ruin the tranquility of the morning. The truth was, she was a little unsettled this morning. Last night, she was up tossing and turning for hours because she had been hearing voices in her head. She had been hearing those voices ever since she and the team had defeated her evil demon father, Trigon. Lately, however, the voices had not just been in her dreams. She had started hearing them during waking hours as well.

A prophecy had been made before her birth that she was to become a portal for Trigon after her 17th birthday, so he could come to Earth, and then destroy it. She was born and raised in a dimension called Azurath, where she learned to control her emotions and her impressive mental powers so that Trigon's evil would not take her over, and she may have some control over her life before it came time to fulfill the prophecy. At age 15, she was sent to Earth to live with the Teen Titans, who quickly became her friends. They went through tough times together, fighting crime, but managed to make it through everything. She and her friends were nearly defeated when the prophecy was fulfilled and Trigon came to power almost a month ago, but Raven had found her power again and blasted him into another dimension.

Their arch nemesis, Slade, whom had tried to finish off the Titans on several occasions and usually came close to succeeding, had helped them defeat Trigon. As much as Robin, the leader of the Teen Titans, hated to admit it, he had been a big help to them. Robin was, out of all the Titans, most determined to hunt down Slade, sometimes becoming overly obsessive on the subject. He had hurt the team a few times in his attempts to bring Slade down. Almost all of them had something personal against Slade, though Robin had it the worst. Slade had beaten him within an inch of his life on a few occasions, and by threatening Robin's friends Slade immediately became enemy #1 in Robin's mind.

He had been trying to find where Slade had gone ever since that fateful day that had been destined to be the end of the world, and looked as if he desperately needed sleep. Raven and the others had tried countless times to force Robin to get some sleep, to no avail. His will was just too strong. Raven could sense that just by looking at his face or honing her senses into his aura. If he had chosen the path of evil early on instead of good, he would have been a definite problem.

As Raven sipped her tea, she stared out into the ever brightening sky, contemplating what those voices meant. Was she losing her grip, or was she just unsettled because of the near brush she had with losing her friends and the Earth along with them? She decided that later she would consult her books to see if there was any helpful information in them. At that time, Starfire flew into the room, giggling and shouting "Friends! I trust that the morning is good, Raven and Robin?"

"Good morning Starfire." answered Raven in her monotone voice. "Good Morning" yelled Robin brightly, though he just mumbles his response to the others' questions when he's still wrapped up in his work.

"It is 6 and 45 of the morning; our friends should be up soon. Shall I prepare the morning nourishment?" Star asked. "Sure, Star," Robin said. "Just don't make any of that Tamuranian food today please. My stomach is still settling from forcing down that Glorg or whatever it was you made last week." Robin said that last sentence under his breath. Starfire had sensitive feelings, and none of the Titans wanted to upset her. Her cooking was horrendous most of the time because she often made recipes from her home planet, Tamuran.

Starfire had fallen to Earth after being kidnapped from Tamuran and put under experiments which made her powers of flight and firing of energy blasts, named "Starbolts" very powerful. The Titans found her and taught her the ways and languages of Earth, then recruited her as a member of the team. She looks just like a human except for her eyebrows, which are small and round and the same color as her fiery red hair, and her bright jade eyes, which have no whites. Her powers are run by her emotions, and she is not a hard book to read. Her facial expressions tell all, and Star is always trying to keep the peace and brighten everyone's mood.

She tries very hard to make Raven go to the mall with her and do her hair or get makeovers. The two girls are opposites, like day and night. Star is also very naive and innocent. She is a little confused still on Earthly ways and customs, and speaks using absolutely no consonants at all. She also has cravings for the strangest foods. Star once wanted to order a pizza with pickles, bananas, and mint frosting. The Tamuranian also has a huge appetite for mustard, smothering everything she eats in it and drinking it, but not in front of her friends anymore because she knows from experience that it makes them want to puke.

Raven turned her attention to Starfire as she started to prepare breakfast. The alien girl hummed an unrecognizable tune as she worked, getting out a large stack of waffles from their seemingly harmless mini-fridge and stifling a scream as the blue fuzz covering most of the contents started to tremble and growl. Setting the waffles on the counter, she rummaged through the cabinets for the waffle iron, which she had seen Cyborg use before. Due to her short attention span, she had gotten about as far as watching him take it out of the cabinet before becoming bored and skipping off to watch World of Fungus (her favorite TV show). Finding it, she swung it out and cautiously asked Robin whether or not the "iron of waffles" worked like the "iron of clothes". He, of course, answered her with a cheery and amused no, then proceeded to walk over and show her how to manage the "iron of waffles".

Raven smirked. It was beyond obvious that Star and Robin liked each other, but neither had the nerve to say it. Even complete imbeciles like Cyborg and Beast Boy knew that. At that point, one of the little voices in the back of her head said, in its sweet, sugary voice, "But they're not complete imbeciles. You know that! At least…" Raven stifled off the voice by attaining the meditation posture for a moment, regaining complete control over her powers. She had found that doing that helped control the voices, for the moment at least. Raven still wasn't sure exactly why they were plaguing her yet, but was determined to find out.

Raven was startled out of her thoughts as the double doors slid open and Cyborg clomped into the room. As always, he was right on time for breakfast at 7:00 sharp. His sensors woke him up at precisely the right moment so that he could be on time coming in. He greeted them with a "Hey, everybody! I smell waffles!"

His last sentence ended in a half-groan as he saw who was manning the waffle iron. Cyborg edged his way over to Robin, who was now standing just outside the kitchen area, then whispered, "Are they safe? Or am I going to have to fake a stomachache again to get out of eating that toxic waste?"

"Yes, they're fine. I showed her how to use the waffle iron and asked her to make Earth food today. Happy?" Robin whispered back.

"Somewhat" Cyborg whispered. Star silently popped up behind them.

"What are you whispering about, friends?" She whispered innocently. "AAAII!" Cyborg yelled. Robin, sharp-minded as always, came up with a quick answer. "Nothing," he said.

"Oh." Star said. Then, suddenly totally understanding the situation, she cleverly asked Cyborg "Why do you look so sick, Cyborg? Perhaps I should abandon the waffles and make you some delicious Eyock soup? I know for a fact you looooove it."

Looking very surprised and confused at her statement, Cy simply dropped his jaw, trying to decide whether she was actually asking him in ignorance or if she was becoming cynical. He knew that Star knew he got much sicker after eating that meatloaf broth-type substance. Robin looked at Star with an equally surprised expression on his face, and she simply smirked and flounced off to continue her waffle masterpiece.

"Whoa," Robin finally managed. "Where did that come from?"

The boys, in their stupor, did not notice Raven sitting on the couch. Her eyes were obscured in black energy and she looked empty, as if sleeping. A cautious black shadow drifted from Starfire's back to Raven's prone form on the couch, lighting her up with an eerie glow. Her hand twitched, and her eyes snapped to their normal violet hue. A faint smirk crossed her face, and she turned her attention back to her book.

At 7:15, Raven was promptly shoved off of the couch to make room for the video-game crazy boys. Pulling controllers out from under the couch, (what don't they hide in there?) they started their favorite game, Crash'n Brash'n Turbo Racers. Hiding a frown of annoyance at not only their rudeness but the tongue twisting game name that was being chanted over and over, Raven drifted over to the separate chair to read.

With 7:32 came the soft swoosh of the air-ride automatic doors and the shuffling of half-asleep feet. Raven, from everyday experience, knew without looking just what this meant. She immediately assumed the meditation posture and began chanting; "Azurath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azurath…"

Her need for composure was based on the fact that her everyday tormentor, Beast Boy, had walked into the room. With him she had no tolerance because she was sure he just loved to torture her and his sole purpose in life seemed to be antagonizing her and threatening the delicate state of balance in her mind. Knowing within the sanctity of her powerful mind that he was drawing near, she braced herself for an explosion of noise or something of the sort. None came.

Opening one eye, she glanced in his approximate direction. The little green changeling was silently creeping towards the back of Cyborg's head in the form of a cat. Oh, no, she thought. Here comes the racket. Forcibly closing her mind to disturbances, she chanted louder. "Azurath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azurath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Through her closed mind drifted noise, though. First, tiny, padded paws leapt off of the carpet in tandem to the irritatingly loud GameStation music. Next, a screech of terror pierced her serenity. Skidding tires and Robin's cry of YESSS! accompanied the sound. Knowing an insult match was about to occur and there was no way she was drowning it out, Raven released the protective shield around her mind, stopped chanting, and waited for the feud.

All too soon it came. Cyborg started it by screaming, "Look what you made me do! I was WINNING!"

"Well, sooorry!" Beast Boy retorted. "I was just trying to wake you up cuz ya looked a little tired! Plus, it was funny!"

"Not for me!" Cyborg retaliated. "I LOST the game and I was about to go on to the 4th level!"

Robin stood up and grinned, walking in between the yelling friends. "Oh, Cyborg, give him a break already! I'm not complaining about your loss!" Chuckling, he ruffled Beast Boy's hair, messing it up even worse, and started off to boot up his level 4 race. Shoving Robin's hand off of his head, BB pushed past and walked up to his furious buddy. Twanging his finger against Cy's chest plate, (which was up to his shoulders) the elf wannabe started the name-calling match.

"Metalhead!" "Grass stain!" "Tin can!" "Boogerface!" These infantile comments continued on for a few minutes before the boys exhausted their vast stores of titles. After that, they simply laughed and shook hands.

"A fair match, my friend," Cyborg announced. "Likewise," the changeling replied.

Rolling her eyes at the seemingly bipolar guys, but glad for the cease in yelling, Raven returned her eyes to her book and once again became immersed in the story.