A/n: I am so sorry it's taken so long for me to release this chapter, the beginning portion is devoted as sort of filler, and I hit sort of a block, not to mention the fact that I had no time working on it while I was gone last week.

Hints of close BB/Rae friendship / BB/Rae in the beginning of this chapter.

I don't own anything

"I'm a little surprised though; I thought you of all people would know that since you are one, Raven." Beast Boy drummed his fingers on the table, almost as if he were expecting a reply of some sort.

Raven almost choked on the piece of crust she was in the middle of swallowing, coughing slightly to force it down. "I don't know what you're talking about." She stated coolly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't even know who you are talking about."

Beast Boy was just not having it though, as he slammed his fist on the table. "Cut the bullshit Raven." He hissed under his voice. "Your appearance and your attitude may be different, but you completely reek of Raven." Raven felt her jaw drop, and was reasonably annoyed when Beast Boy reacted to her. "Yeah, that's right. I can smell you. I know your scent."

Raven slipped her hand beneath the table, her fingers searching to find the dial on the cuff. She felt it and switched it over to zero, feeling her powers flush through her body. The surge was strong enough for her to tell that she would not need to chant her mantra, so instead she threw her arms towards Beast Boy covering them both with the shadow raven. The shadow flickered for a second, and then was gone, the seats the two Titans had been occupying left empty.

"So what happened Raven? Enlighten me, because I would really love to know what it is that caused you to alter your appearance and just continue walking the streets of Jump City, as if you were hoping just to blend in with a civilian." Beast Boy raged, glaring at her. Raven sat on a bench in a secluded part of a park. She hated being yelled at, and certainly hadn't expected it to be from Beast Boy, though she couldn't say anything in return as all of his points were valid.

"I just need time alone to myself to think about things." She muttered, switching her cuff to full as she raised her head to look at him. "It's really difficult to be around Robin when he's like that. It's so…annoying to see him be so narrow minded." She slipped her sleeve over the cuff, concealing it from his sight.

"Yeah Raven, I'm aware." Beast Boy threw a punch at a nearby tree, sending a few birds flying off into the air from the sudden movement. "Robin hasn't left his room at all since the night this all happened. He's just locked himself up, refusing to talk to anyone. I don't even know if it had anything to do about you, but he's been going off on anyone who tries to bother him. Even Starfi-"

"Oh, Starfire!" Raven felt rage overcome her as she rose to her feet. Something clicked in her head. Slade's cuff completely cut off all of her magical energy, which meant she didn't need to worry about accidentally releasing it…which meant. "So this is about Starfire." Her voice raised slightly, her eyes widening. She didn't need to scream at him for him to understand the amount of rage that was going through her, the amount of rage she was conveying through harsh tones and body language. "Well let me tell you this Beast Boy. It has become very stale to me, listening to you and Robin worrying about 'Starfire this' and 'Starfire that'. There are five members on this team, and the majority of them worry about her."

Beast Boy did not allow Raven to have the last word, as he crossed his arms and shot a retort back at her. "You're just jealous of Starfire because she's nice to people, and they like her because of it." Beast Boy glowered over at her.

"I have a question for you Beast Boy. You only know my scent when you're in the form of a tracking animal. Why were you looking for me." Raven rose to her feet, her arms crossed as well. She knew it would have taken a good, conscious effort for him to search her. She was very curious as to the motivation he had while doing so.

Beast Boy took a deep breath, running a gloved hand through his hair. "Starfire is worried sick about you. She's off combing through the city for you. She still thinks you're…you. I can't take seeing her so upset anymore, and knowing you, I didn't want to take a chance." He pulled out his communicator, holding it in front of him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't contact Robin or Starfire right now."

"I'll give you a few good reasons Beast Boy." Raven flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Before that, I should warn you, don't threaten me. But anyways, trust. Trust and respect. I left because of the argument, but I stayed for my own reasons. I'll be back in the Tower the day after tomorrow. Depending on how things go, I'll either stay, or I'll take a few months leave."

"Months?" The word seemed to shatter the attitude Beast Boy had been giving Raven, a form of pain slivering through his glassy eyes as he stared at her. "Months?" His voice had gone from sarcastic demands to that of a kicked puppy. "Why months Raven? We're your friends. Why would you want to be away from us for months?" He took a step closer to her, but she responded by retreating the same amount. "And you replying with your own 'threat' only makes you hypocritical."

"Beast Boy I don't think you understand that I trust you with this information right now. I trust you not to go and tell Robin because it's not any of his business. You all let Robin leave when he felt he had to train with the True Master." Raven brought two hands to the bridge of her nose, pinching it. "Also, your little schpeel about telling Robin or Starfire was a threat. Threat's are often empty, they often don't happen. They're used in a way of scaring someone into negotiation and compromise. There is no compromise with my words. Me giving you a warning is giving you a reason to not tell Robin or Starfire, with a promise that I will follow up and make you regret it if you should ever do so."

Beast Boy's eyes bore into Raven's brown ones. They quivered slightly, and Raven had never seen such a serious emotion behind them since he had grown an attitude from the fight with Adonis. "Do you even care about us?" He asked her in a moment of silence. "Do you realize how it could affect the team if you were gone for two months?"

Raven turned her head away from Beast Boy, trying to avoid the emotions that radiated from him. Her empathy obviously didn't fall under the list of abilities blocked by the cuff. "Of course I care about you guys." She spoke softly. "Please Beast Boy. Can you just give me the benefit of the doubt. This is really important to me."

Beast Boy stared at her, his eyes narrowing as a silent eternity seemed to pass. Raven couldn't feel if Beast Boy was going to sway either way and this slightly worried her. Her entire act could be up before it even began, if she chose to let it begin. Finally, Beast Boy's shoulders relaxed and his eyes softened as he huffed a reluctant breath. "Fine." He muttered, his eyes dropping to the ground. "Don't give me a reason to not trust you though."

"I know." Raven nodded, allowing her body to relax. She ran a hand through her hair, scrunching at it slightly to let out the pent up stress that had accumulated from Beast Boy's visit alone. At that very moment she heard the sound of his communicator going off, she stared at him as he answered the call, and watched him closely.

"Beast Boy." Beast Boy muttered as he snapped open the lid to the communicator.

"Robin to Beast Boy. Where the hell are you?" Robin's voice was faintly heard over the minor static. He definitely did not appear to be in a good mood.

"I'm in a secluded part of Central Park." Beast Boy glanced around, as if to take note of his surroundings. His eyes landed on Raven and they rolled, as if to tell her that he was irritated by Robin's harsh tones.

"Okay well Mumbo's over at the bank, sucking the vault dry. Get over there! We'll meet you there." And before Beast Boy had a chance to even nod his head, the static got cut off. Raven stared over at Beast Boy, who was staring directly at her as he put his communicator away. The silence lingered for a moment, neither party speaking, before Beast Boy finally broke it.

"I'd better get going." He started to back away, his eyes not leaving Ravens. "If you're not back the day after tomorrow…" His voice trailed off, as if to imply that there would be a problem. Raven nodded her head, understanding of his words and the place she had put him in. It was a lot to ask him to keep information he hardly knew about from his friends.

"I will. Don't worry about it." She stated, almost as a promise. "I'll be there." She crossed her arms as Beast Boy nodded. With that, he leapt up into the air taking the form of a falcon, flapping out of sight.

Raven entered the dark chamber Slade had chosen to seclude her in. Having been nightfall, Raven decided it would be safe to return, she hadn't wanted to risk Slade getting enraged at an early return, and due to his vague request of 'getting lost for the rest of the day' she assumed 'the rest of the day' only extended until nightfall.

"Hello Raven." She felt her heart skyrocket at the sound of his voice, not due to some odd infatuation, like she often felt Starfire react to Robin, but rather the amount of sheer surprise and shock, having not known that he was around. She often felt Beast Boy react this way when she caught him red-handed snooping in somewhere that did not concern him.

"Slade." She returned the greeting, her hand reaching to the wall to flick the light on, as the entire room had been flooded with shadows upon her arrival. The first thing she saw was him standing at the doorway of the room he had told her not to enter. Once she saw him, it reoccurred to her that Beast Boy had figured out she was going around with an alias. "Oh, Slade…" She started, trying to figure out how to word how she would break what she believed to be rather irritating news.

"I know." He nodded slightly. "I'm working on it." His hands were behind his back, Raven couldn't tell if he was irritated by the situation, or he had even predicted it from afar. With Slade she never could tell, but it was only in this instance that she was relieved to be kept in the dark on his emotions. "Go to bed."

Beast Boy lay on the U-shaped couch with the other three Titans. Cyborg and Starfire had successfully managed to keep Robin from returning to his room after fighting off Mumbo. It hadn't occurred to him until after the fact that fighting the magician seemed to be an oddly difficult task without the witty sorceress, but not impossible. Cyborg had somehow convinced Robin to partake in a video game, Starfire sipping a large gallon sized bottle of mustard through a straw. Beast Boy hadn't been interested in battling it out with the boys; he had found himself preoccupied with the thoughts from earlier in the day.

His first concern was that he was betraying his friends. He felt skittish keeping the secret, but it was for Raven, and the fact that she had trusted him enough to reveal it to him did mean a great deal to him. For a while it had only been Robin that Raven seemed to confide in. Granted, she would occasionally submit to Starfire's constant pleas to go shopping, and on more than one occasion she was seen on almost sibling terms with Cyborg, and while he knew that she tended to confide far less with the two latter, it was still more than she usually ever chose to confide in him.

Beast Boy didn't understand this. He believed that he knew Raven considerably well. He was able to spot the difference when something was up with her, despite the fact that she was always in her room. There was always just an odd pit wrenching in his gut that he felt when something seemed to go wrong. That had been what provoked him to hide as a fly in her room when Malchior had bombarded his way into her life. That was when he had seen first hand that as cautious and emotionless as Raven was, she could love. That she loved to love, and that when she did surrender her heart to someone, she did most everything in her power, or beyond, to please them.

He very rarely had a meaningful conversation of any sort with her. Despite the fact that he had outlined, prepared, and memorized speeches on more than one occasion so that he would not say anything wrong to her, it never seemed necessary once he was standing outside her door with her staring back at him. With them, words seemed irrelevant, as both knew the way into a person's soul was through their eyes.

That was why, when Raven showed emotions of anger and what he believed to be the closest form of desperation that Raven could muster, when he saw how her all too familiar eyes, only daunting a different shade, yet quivering with emotion, he had to give her what she desired.

Raven awoke with a start. It was the day. The day she was meant to go home. She had spent her last full day just combining all of Slade's lessons into one. She rolled over to stare at the small watch Slade had provided her with, picking up the article and cupping it to attempt and read it. She shrugged at the time, realizing it was a reasonable time to wake, and grabbed her bath towel to shower.

As she stood in the shower, warm water pounding on her, drizzling down her, she couldn't help but wonder what it was that Slade had claimed would prove to be a 'hard day'. He'd probably make her spar him, or teach her something else. Raven couldn't hide her dismay as she remembered Slade hadn't really taught her much of anything as to how to harness her emotions in a more efficient way.

She re-entered her room, discarding the towel as she reached for some more appropriate clothes to train in. She pulled on a sports bra and a pair of shorts, finding that her leotard was quick to overheat when she didn't have flight or her cape to air herself out.

As Raven exited her room, snapping on the cuff and turning it to zero, she nearly stubbed her table on a rolling cart that had been placed close to the door. She glanced at the scribbled note that lay atop a few garments, her eyes scanning it.

Put these on.

-S

Raven rolled her eyes, crumpling it up and tossing it aside. She found an orange bandana, which she tied as a headband to keep her hair from her eyes. Next she found a mask identical to the one that Robin had sported as his time as Slade's apprentice. She stuck it on, amazed at how easy it was to see through the small yet abundantly poked holes through the white fabric that covered her eyes. Next were what seemed to be shin guards. She pulled off her shoes and slipped them on, strapping them on. Next were what seemed to be a sort of guard for her forearms, she strapped them on, looping her fingers through the opening, and slipping her thumb through the slot. Lastly were fingerless leather gloves. She took a second to admire the quality of the leather, instantly knowing its job was to protect her knuckles. These seemed to appeal to her the most, and she strapped them on eagerly.

Raven flexed her fingers in the gear, taking a step closer to the center of the mat. She couldn't help but see that it weighed her down, but only a little. Some padding and armor was always better than no armor.

"Semi-Exam. No magic." She heard an automated female's voice from the ceiling, and her first assumption was that Slade would fight her for some sort of Semi-Exam. She whirled around instantly, only to be met with the fist of Kyd Wykkyd. She flew back from the fist to face impact, her back hitting the mat.

Her eyes widened in horror as Kyd Wykkyd seemed to mount her, her arms lifting and rotating in order to act as a shield. She was just beginning to realize that Slade hadn't taught her much about ground game. Her legs kicked from underneath her, but she found them useless. They didn't stretch enough to coil around Kyd Wykkyd and she tried to knee him in the back, but that didn't seem to have the desired effect. She could see a small smirk in the often emotionless teleportation master as he began to throw punches at her arms. She was suddenly very thankful for the arm armor, and tried to rake her mind of ways to impact him.

She hesitantly threw an arm out to try and punch Kyd Wykkyd, but found it ineffective as he grabbed her wrist, slamming her arm onto the ground. She felt his other fist connect with the unguarded lower portion of her face, and she gasped, her hand flying to cradle her cheek. She was fortunate enough that her jaw hadn't shattered or been dislocated, and wasn't going to let it happen again. All she had been left with was a cut lip, and that's all she intended to take. She decided she'd play it defensive.

Then it clicked. Defensive. She had been taking it in the wrong approach. She had been searching of ways to impact the male, cause him pain. A smirk stretched across her bloody lip as she began to buck her hips. If she managed to get him off of her, then she'd be able to regain control. She felt Kyd Wykkyd slip slightly, and she jerked her leg up, slipping it through the space between her hip and his crotch. Raven sucked in some breath, kicking her leg out to hit him in the collarbone, throwing him off of her. She watched him teleport as he tumbled off, and she leapt to her feet.

He could be anywhere. That was the problem with him. She pulled up her fists in a boxer's stance and whirled around as he popped in front of her. He threw a fist at her which she quickly deflected, moving in to land a punch on him. She felt her fist connect with his jaw, but he popped out of sight just as quickly as he had appeared. Her instinct was to do a roundhouse kick in the chance that he was behind her. As her leg swung around her, she felt his hand grab her ankle. Her eyes widened slightly, remembering that she had spent almost an entire session with Slade devoted to not kicking things. She pushed off with her steady leg, raising it up to kick Kyd Wykkyd in the chest.

His hand released her leg and she felt herself flying across the room. Her back hit the wall of the mirror and she collapsed to the floor, pulling herself up instantly. His powers were seemingly unstoppable in a situation like so. That's when another light went off in her head. Immediately, her hand reached up to the key of the cuff, which hung on a small chain around her neck. She lifted her wrist to fit the key in the lock, twisting it into the keyhole as she snapped off her cuff. She yanked out the key and let it drop back with the slack of the chain, holding the cuff in her hand. Kyd Wykkyd was no where in sight.

Raven caught sight of a flash of darkness, as well as the connecting of a fist to her gut. She grunted, grabbing the wrist at its connection with her stomach, snapping the cuff around Kyd Wykkyd's wrist. The dial had been preset to "full" and she watched the look of disbelief run through his facial expressions as he found that he was unable to teleport. She felt what could've been a smile cross her face, but in such a moment, she didn't get to appreciate or give proper recognition to how genuine it was.

Raven knew better than to just sit idle-by. She had no idea if Kyd Wykkyd would be able to figure out how to manipulate the cuff, and she wasn't going to wait to find out. Her fist connected with the left side of his jaw and she smirked at the satisfyingly wonderful sound of his jaw cracking. His hands flew up to his jaw. Moving quick, her right leg hooked around the outer side of his right leg and she shoved him to the floor, mounting him like he had mounted her previously.

Her fists flew towards his face. She was quick with her fists, and out of all the insults and derogatory statements Slade had given her about her magic-less battle combat, she would in turn receive a few remarks about how her fist work was something to be treasured. Her fists connected with the sides of his face as his arms moved to shield his face. She watched Kyd Wykkyd's arm move from blocking his face to slamming his open palms on the mat, almost as if in defeat.

At the sound of the door behind her, Raven whirled around. She watched Slade emerge, his thick, gloved hands making slow contact in almost a sarcastic form of clapping. It was slow and perfectly incremented. It was at that moment that she knew the match was over, and that she could relax.

"Excellent." Slade remarked, his hands folding behind him. He stood before Raven now and she peered up at him. "Impressive show. Both of you. Now, remove the cuff from Kyd Wykkyd. His services are no longer needed." One of Slade's arms uncoiled from behind him in order to gesture from Raven to Kyd Wykkyd's wrist.

Raven gave a small nod, almost eager to get the control back. She lowered her head to Kyd Wykkyd's wrist, pulling out the chain in order to fit the key in the slot. She twisted the key and the cuff snapped off, Kyd Wykkyd disappearing instantly. The cuff dropped and she picked it up, snapping it around her wrist.

"So what was this? Just a form of entertainment?" Raven asked, rising to her feet. She brushed her shoulders off, crossing her arms to Slade. She had hoped he had at least some sort of good reason for making her endure such a surprise attack.

"Evaluation. I've seen what I needed to see. If I don't see you back here on Saturday by the end of the day, I'll assume we've parted ways." Slade answered curtly, giving her a small nod. He turned to go back to his room.

"Wait!" Raven called out, a hand reaching forward. There was a question that had been nagging in the back of her mind for the past day or so. "What about my powers?" She asked softly, submitting back into her usual mood. "You said you'd help me."

She was almost appalled when Slade's reaction to her question was a low chuckle. "Sweet Raven. Surely you didn't think I'd let you go with no incentive to come back?" And with that, he walked into the room, the door shutting behind him.

Robin sat on a large rock, grasping small pebbles as he tossed them out into the water. Neither Bruce nor Albert had gotten back into touch with him in the past few days, and Alfred hadn't picked up the phone at his constant, almost excessive phone calls to the Manor. The curiosity was almost killing him. He needed to know why it was that Bruce had been hacking into the Titan's database.

He knew that was his downfall. Needing to defeat someone or needing to know the reason behind something. Not knowing something or not being able to succeed at something was usually where his pride kicked in. That's when he let it get the better of him.

Robin had picked up an unusually large rock and had been thumbing the dirt off of it. All of his frustration and anger bubbled up into him and he pulled his arm back, throwing the rock forward with as much force as he could muster. When he released the rock, a pool of black magic surrounded it, holding it mid-air, exactly where he had left contact. He felt his heart skip a beat and his blood pulse through his veins as they often did when he was met with something that either shocked or surprised him. When the slow, female, alto voice spoke, it sent chills down his spine.

"I'm back, Robin."