A Slippery Slope, A Green Horizon.

Family, as narrated by Morgan Freeman

Robin had left them alone that day, seeming to withdraw into himself and go about the daily routine with automated, unfocused movements. Beast Boy was worried they had somehow offended the Boy Wonder but figured there was nothing he could do until Robin himself brought the issue out into the open.

Raven was concerned about him too, but for different reasons.

"He's never this distracted." She had confessed to Garfield as she helped him prepare dinner, "Help" in Raven's case meaning very little contact with the food and a great deal of handing Beast Boy the utensil needed for specific tasks. "Even when he was moonlighting as Red X he wasn't this scattered."

"Maybe we shouldn't have told him about us." Garfield frowns, not noticing Raven's surprise at his use of plurals. "It's obviously caused his brain to short circuit."

"I don't think this is about that, not really." The empath disagreed. "His emotions aren't directed at anyone. He feels the same around Cyborg and Starfire as he does around us. If it was anyone else I'd think he was blocking me or giving off false signals but with Robin that's..."

"Impossible, yeah." Beast Boy nods, knowing their psychic bond was something neither Raven or the Titan's leader liked to speak about. "He'll figure it out, I'm sure."

____________________________________________________________

It took him three days to do so.

Beast Boy and Raven tried their best not to impede on his contemplation, even Starfire seemed more suppressed, speaking loudly rather than exclaiming, and Cyborg tried his best not to influence whatever decision Robin was grappling with, despite his strong suspicion it had to do with the youngest Titans and their relationship.

On the third day, when Raven rose from her room into the common area, Robin was already awake and seated at the table. She had known this of course, but seeing him was something else.

His usual morning edition of the Gotham Times was nowhere to be seen, he sat there nursing a coffee and when she arrived he nodded to her as he always did, but his attention did not waver from the sorceress as she prepared her tea.

She sat and for the first time in years, Robin was the one to break their silence.

"Raven." He began, his eyes flicking from her face to his coffee cup as she went to meet his gaze. "Were you and Beast Boy afraid of telling me about your relationship?"

The other chairs at the table shot out and toppled onto the floor as Raven's eyes widened. "I... We were worried, but I wouldn't say afraid."

"There was an element of reluctance though?" The Boy Wonder pressed. "Why?"

"Well, at first it was because I wanted privacy, we weren't sure if it was going to last at the beginning and I didn't like the idea of people getting a private drama show." Raven revealed, toying with the edge of her teacup. They were both out of their comfort zones. "After that... We thought you might decide it was too dangerous for the team."

"You thought I'd forbid it?" Robin asks incredulously. "Even though Starfire and I-"

"Starfire won't destroy a building if her emotions get away from her." Raven cut him off, locking eyes with him across the table. "She's not dangerous like I am, or like Beast Boy is."

Behind his domino mask, Robin frowns and sits for a moment in consideration. Energy was high between two of the most laconic Titans, and between their link flowed an understanding that under different circumstances, Robin would indeed criticise romance between a woman who needed balanced emotion, and a man who barely contained his feelings. Raven regarded this as logical, but Robin was aghast at the revelation.

"Are we really so cut off from each other?" Robin asks, a note of unease in his voice.

"We're professional, it's how the team functions." Raven supplemented, her monotone answer seeming to hit the Boy Wonder like a physical blow. He pushed back from the table and stood.

"I'm going to miss breakfast, tell the others to meet me in Room 15 at noon please Raven." He walked to the elevator, passing Raven as she gave a curious nod.

He was gone for ten minutes before Starfire awoke and she tapped the table out of habit, realising too late that she was signalling to an empty room.

____________________________________________________

The other Titans were unnerved by Robin's even stranger behaviour today, eating breakfast in relative silence and going about the morning with questioning glances at one another. A message came through on their communicators at 11am that just raised more questions.

[Robin] ROOM 15, 12:00, UNIFORMS PROHIBITED.

"What does he mean, "Uniforms prohibited"?" Cyborg looked around at the others, who all shrugged.

"I suppose we have to go in civilian clothes." Beast Boy inferred, squinting at the message. "Maybe it's some kind of... espionage test? To see if we can blend with regular people."

"Robin is the only one that can blend with regular people." Raven stated. "At least without holograms or full body make up and contact lenses."

"Okay, good point." Garfield nods.

They all parted, heading first to their rooms to change out of their heroic gear and into casual clothes. Beast Boy came out of his own room in cargo shorts and a Hawaiian shirt opened over a Gorrilaz t-shirt. He was feeling great about this choice, especially when Raven came out of her room wearing black jeans, black boots and a black hoodie. She eyed his outfit for a second, struggling to stay straight faced until he braced an elbow against the wall, put his opposite hand on his hip and leaned towards her with a cheesy "How you doin'?"

She lost it, covering her mouth with a hand as she laughed, the empath doubled over and let herself be taken by the fit of glee. Overhead the lights flickered in time with her giggles, but stayed strong in their endless task of illumination.

Garfield waited for her mirth to subside before stepping closer, watching her register how close he was before touching his lips to hers. He let out a chuckle of his own when they came apart and headed for the elevator. "Y'know, I don't think there's a single thing I like to hear more than your laughs."

"That's because they're rare." Raven said with a touch of playfulness. "Like diamonds."

"You know those aren't actually rare." Garfield told her as they stepped into the lift. "The De Beers Corporation artificially inflated their price by withholding massive amounts of them back in the late 80s until people decided they were valuable because of rarity, then the corporation was found out and just increased quality standards for jewellery grade diamonds so that they could still profit off of one of the most common gem varieties. It's all just bullshit designed to make money."

Raven blinked repeatedly. "How do you know all that?"

"Ever heard of Blood Diamonds?" Beast Boy asks, leading them out of the elevator when the doors opened. "I've seen them being mined."

Processing this, the sorceress all but ran into the back of her emerald boyfriend when he stopped stock still in the doorway of Room 15. "Gar! What the hell are you-"

She caught sight of Robin, or more accurately, Dick.

Inside Room 15 was a circle of chairs, each of them an equal space from one another and each of them innocent enough in design. Yet given the sudden revelation, they appeared grave to the contrasting couple.

Dick was dressed in blue jeans, a red hoodie and converse shoes. He looked up at them, and for the first time they met his pale blue eyes.

"Holy shit." Garfield whispers.

"Uniform prohibited." Raven murmurs, pushing Beast Boy forwards gently. They took their seats in the circle, Raven on Robin's left and Beast Boy to hers. Starfire came into the room next, her eyes widening at the sight of her boyfriend without his domino mask and a thousand questions springing to her lips. Dick held up a placating hand and gestured to the seat at his right.

"Hold on Kori." He said, a smirk curving the edges of his mouth. "I'll explain everything when Victor gets here."

Beast Boy shifted in his seat. No one called Cy "Victor" among the Titans, even Sarah hesitated to do so.

When the metallic man arrived in his grey tracksuit, he saw the chairs first and let out a guffaw. "What is this, an AA meeting? Hi everyone, my name is Cy... borg..."

His mouth dropped open at Robin's exposed face, something akin to fear came over his expression, before he schooled himself and chuckled easily, trying to bring levity to the room. "Jeez Rob, I should have worn my tuxedo for this."

"That wasn't the tone I was going for." Dick smiled back at him as the bigger Titan took his seat between Garfield and Koriand'r. "And please, call me Dick, or Richard."

"Richard it is." Victor said, nodding. "What this all about man?"

"It's about us." Their leader said with a gesture at his friends. "I realised the other day that we can't keep going like we were, with people afraid to tell each other secrets, with all this doubt between us. I've already done the whole stoic, controlling leader deal, I don't want that to be how we remember this, ten, twenty years from now. Someone told me recently that we're a team who acts professionally with each other, but I don't want that, I walked away from that. We're more than just a team."

Raven fiddles with the hem of her left sleeve, unsure if this meeting was somehow a punishment for what she had said that morning.

"Of course we're more than a team Dick." Garfield said, doing an admirable job of not laughing at the Boy Wonder's name. "We're friends."

"No." Dick shook his head. "We aren't."

Raven's anxiety spiked as Kori's eyes turned on the Boy Wonder, flaring a violent green. A nearby filing cabinet was encompassed by black energy and exploded, the light overhead burned brighter than a small sun before shattering into a thousand pieces and a crack broke open along the wall behind Dick, who remained unfazed.

Beast Boy lurched towards Raven and pulled the empath into a soothing embrace, his eyes flashing angrily at Dick before he spoke in a deadly calm voice. "Explain."

"Yes." Koriand'r said in a clipped tone. "Do quickly the explaining."

"We're more than friends." Dick said, his voice calm and his eyes sincere. "I'm not great at- at articulating my feelings, but I've tried to think of any other word for the five of us and come up short. I'm sorry about the stress Raven, but I wanted to prove something."

"What?" Raven asks quietly, patting Garfield's shoulder so that he knew she was fine. "Prove what?"

"We're intertwined, every one of us." Dick says, meshing his fingers together. "What you felt right now is how I feel about the Titans, I can't lose any of you. I wouldn't keep you and Garfield apart, or Victor and Sarah, or Kori and I. I wouldn't keep you from Victor's garage out of fear that your emotions would break his equipment, or Garfield from Kori's room in case Silkie reacts badly to his scent... No family should be kept from one another, and that's what we are. I've lost my birth family, like Garfield. I almost burned my bridges with my adoptive family. I will not lose this one, not because I was afraid to reveal my secrets, and not because people were afraid of revealing their own."

The others stayed silent, waiting for whatever was swirling underneath that tousled black hair to reveal itself.

"My name is Richard John Grayson." Says Robin, evoking a gasp from several of the Titans. "I was raised in a circus as part of a flying trapeze act with the rest of my family "The Flying Graysons" until a fire claimed their lives. I was taken in by Bruce Wayne and shortly after became Batman's partner in justice, Robin."

Several heartbeats passed before he looked up, the others seemed frozen for the longest moment, until Beast Boy shook it off and smiled at him. "So you've always had a thing for tights?"

Cyborg snorted, then laughed when he caught sight Dick's involuntary smile. Starfire joined in from sheer relief, glad that the severity had passed and emotions lightened.

"If we're going to be open with each other, we should do it completely and in the right setting." Dick says lightly, wanting to keep things from becoming dark again. "So if you all agree, we'll start having these meetings every fortnight or so, like group therapy, were we can reveal as much or as little as we need. We have to trust each other."

"Is that why you're not calling us by our hero names?" Garfield questioned.

"Yeah. Outside this room we can keep the masks on, but in here that only builds boundaries." Dick explained.

Raven smiled lightly. "What about me? I don't wear masks or use a different name."

"What name do you want to use?" Garfield asked, a fang peaking over his lip as he gave her a crooked smile. "If no one knew who you were, and you could pick something else, what would you be called?"

Raven considered, her amethyst eyes staying on Garfield's instead of going down. Who would she choose to be?

"I've always liked... Rachel." She confessed.

"Then that's what we'll call you." Dick said simply.

_________________________________________________________

After three hours of them talking, about regular everyday things, in regular everyday clothes, and with regular everyday names (Though Garfield still chuckled under his breath at Robin's real name) Kori's stomach growled menacingly, signalling that it was time to end that meeting.

They filed out of the room and into the elevator, Dick exited at his and Kori's floor, uncomfortable with being unmasked for so long, he was itching to be Robin again.

The others stayed in their regular clothes, cooking up snack foods and piling on to the couch to watch a few episodes of The Office. A few episodes became many, which became almost an entire season. By the end of it the sun had long sunk from the sky and things were muted in their small part of the world.

Beast Boy rose from the couch with a stretch and gave a slight sigh. "Well, not to love you and leave you, but I've got a hot shower and a documentary on moray eels that I've been dying to watch. Peace out hombres."

He vaulted over the couch and made his way into the elevator, all without realising that Raven had risen after him and floated into the lift as well. He flinched massively when he caught sight of her, before letting out a gasp and clutching at his chest. "Again?! Rae, you're cute and all, but I'm going to have a heart attack at this rate."

Raven rolled her eyes at his drama and reached a hand out to request their floor. "I need a shower too."

"Oh, fair enough." Garfield nodded. "How do you wanna do this? You first and then I'll grab mine, or do you want to meditate a bit while I have one?"

"I'll meditate." Raven says, smiling at his thoughtfulness. "I haven't gotten the chance today."

Their floor arrived and the two went separate ways, Garfield to grab his towel and Raven to embrace the quiet of her room.

Beast Boy tried to bathe as quickly as he could, forgoing his 5 minute hair conditioner and shaving routine. However he couldn't bring himself to skip brushing his teeth, and it was as he scrubbed his fangs that Raven came into the tiled room with her towel and bed clothes over her arm. Beast Boy spat into the sink and looked over at her apologetically. "Sorry for taking so long, I tried to hurry up but there's only so much-"

"Garfield." Raven said, holding his face gently between her hands. "It's fine. Take as long as you want, I don't mind."

She left him to his brushing and set her clothes and towel down neatly on her washing hamper, before lifting her jumper over head and throwing it in. Garfield caught a glimpse of her bare back in the mirror and nearly choked on his toothpaste. "What are you doing?"

"Taking a shower." Raven said, shimmying out of her jeans as Beast Boy averted his eyes in an attempt to give her privacy. The glass door of the shower opened and closed before he turned back to the mirror and started brushing his gums. Raven's voice came from behind the smokey glass of the shower door. "Can I watch that documentary?"

"Huh?" Beast Boy squeaked, caught by surprise again. "What?"

"The one about eels." Raven clarified, even though her form was blurred through the glass, Garfield still blushed fiercely at the glimpses he caught from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, sure." He said, his voice strained. "Just ah... Just come on by when you want."

He spat into the sink and rinsed, scrambling to get out quickly, tossing a "See ya then!" behind him as he rushed to leave.

Under the steaming hot water of her shower, Raven smirked proudly. On Azarath the acolytes bathed in communal spaces, thinking nothing of their nudity, Raven too considered bare skin no more of a taboo than being bare faced. Being able to turn the tables on her boyfriend and frazzle the green Titan had felt oddly satisfying, giving him a taste of how she felt.

Garfield for his part, had to open his door with shaking hands and brace himself against the raised base of his bed, running a hand though his hair the changeling laughed a little at himself. "Come on man, pull it together."

He went about preparing his room, loading the documentary up on his TV and arranging his blankets into a small nest that the shapeshifter expanded as an afterthought. He made an effort at cleaning some of the clutter from the corners, but this just seemed to make the problem worse, so he abandoned that line of thought quickly. After a small eternity, Raven's footsteps came down the hall to his door and Garfield opened it as she had raised her hand to knock.

"Fancy meeting you here." He said nonchalantly, hoping to move past the fact that he may or may not have seen her naked only minutes before. "One ticket for "Creatures of the Deep – Moray Eels" narrated by Morgan Freeman?"

Raven's eyebrow twitched upwards as she came into the room, her blue camisole and pyjama shorts matching the room quite by accident, yet she looked natural within Beast Boy's sanctum and he couldn't help but appreciate that. She levitated up on to his bed and settled into the nest he had made with only a small amount of amusement. "This is what you had to prepare?"

"Hey, it takes a lot to get just right." Garfield complained, leaping up onto the bed with feline grace, managing to avoid making the mattress shift as he took his place beside the empath and wrapped them both in blankets, hitting the play button on his remote and getting comfortable. "I didn't think you were interested in eels."

"I'm not, really." Raven admitted, shifting closer and smiling smugly when Garfield put his arm around her in response. "I haven't slept great for three nights and the only thing that I can think of that helps is you."

"I'm like codeine and bourbon." Beast Boy agreed, before frowning. "Don't actually drink those together, Cyborg and I watched a late night infomercial about it that scared the green off my ass."

"Noted." The sorceress assured him.

"So you're here purely for my company?" The changeling asked after the documentary's introduction was over. "I think I can live with that."

"Can you now?" Raven asked drily. "I'm not too much of a burden?"

"Never that." Beast Boy said gravely, gripping her chin gently and tilted her head towards him. "Want me to prove it?"

"I could think of worse ways to pass the time." She teases, weaving her fingers into his hair and pulling him down to her.

At first it was gentle, a chaste kiss between lovers, then she bit down on his lip gently and something shifted between them. Garfield pushed her down and the hand she had in his hair balled into a fist as her tongue flicked across his lower lip. Raven gasped when the changeling's hand ran down her leg and hiked it up over his hip, his lips trailed down across her jaw and travelled down. The sorceress's hands both found their way to Garfield's back and when she felt his teeth against her neck and his claws raking gently over her hips, those nails dug into him.

His alarm clock squealed, jolting them apart just before the black energy surrounding it obliterated the device, shards of plastic and wiring littering the room. From the TV still came the dulcet tones of Morgan Freeman's voice as he described life for a Moray Eel in Australia's great barrier reef.

Beast Boy breathed deeply for a moment, before chuckling and helping Raven sit back up with him against the wall. They replaced the blankets from where the two had thrown them in the melee.

"Sorry." He grinned at her. "Primal urges got the better of me."

"I don't recall being innocent in that exchange." She said, somewhat out of breath. "Maybe we should leave next time for my room though, where I can't kill your expensive flat screen by accident."

"Next time huh?" He looks sideways at her.

"You're missing the part about them making tunnels in coral." Raven told him, smiling as his attention jerked back to the TV. She yawned and nuzzled into his side, enjoying the warmth of another person, and of his steady emotions. Garfield reached to his side and flicked off his bedroom light, wincing slightly at the vibrancy of the TV until he adjusted the picture setting and sound with his remote.

Raven faded into sleep, the weight of her against his side soothed the animals within, his restless energy forgotten for to move was to wake her, which was unthinkable.

Morgan Freeman's voice crooned on, Raven dreamed of grass colored eels.