Chapter Text
She’d been alone in the living room when Robin approached her. It didn’t require empathy to sense his determination, but his intention remained a mystery. He had something to ask of her, something more significant than a trivial question.
“We don’t really know the properties of your soul-self,” he said, his face unreadable. Raven, having not known what to expect, was already a little uneasy. “We know how Star’s star bolts work, Cyborg’s machinery, Beast Boy’s DNA. But your soul-self—”
“I understand,” Raven said, if just to get him to stop talking. Though she didn’t know where this was coming from and loath though she was to admit it, she did understand. When it came to their meta human abilities, the team was intimately acquainted with Starfire’s needs, Cyborg’s limitations, Beast Boy’s scope. What Raven was and what she could do was beyond anything any of them had previously known or perhaps would ever know.
But Robin had never been very satisfied with such conundrums.
Normally she wouldn’t begrudge him for it. In this case, she could find no concrete reason to shoot him down, but as with anything having to do with her powers, she had a vague sense of foreboding. Nevertheless, she couldn’t refute his logic—the team ought to know what they could rely on her for and what they could not.
“Why now?” she asked.
Sheepish, he rubbed a hand along the back of his head. “After what happened with Cyborg, I thought it would be prudent to learn the ins and outs of your powers.”
Raven felt that he was refraining from emphasizing that it was her powers especially that required study. He’d definitely been prepared for this.
“Fine,” she said. “What do you want to do?”
“A series of training exercises,” he said, “to see what you can really do.”
Raven looked at him skeptically. “Is this going to hurt?”
He gave her a small, amused smile. “Will it?”
She took a moment to seriously think about it. Pulling her hood up, Raven said, “For your sakes, I hope not.” Her face once again shrouded, she turned away from him, intent on ending the conversation.
As she began to walk away, Robin said, “10 AM tomorrow, on the roof.”
The door slid shut between them. Robin let out a breath.