Birds of a Feather

12

I hadn't left my room since coming in here this morning. Now as I looked out my window, I could see the sun setting and knew that I should have eaten something today. I just couldn't stand the idea of facing my friends knowing what I've done.

In my time alone it allowed me to think about what Richard had said and maybe he was right. Slade and the Joker had a button that could bring out my inner demon at any time that they wanted, and I wasn't willing to risk being out in the open when that happened. I knew that the lock system to the safe room was still in place from when I ended the world so surely, I could go in there and hide out for a while.

I looked around my room and started to take some things I thought I would want like books, pillows and blankets and some other small things. I picked them up and snuck quietly out into the hallway and down the stairs to the tower's basement. On my way back up the stairs I could hear soft voices coming from the doorway and stopped moving completely.

"She has not come out of her room all day. Surely I should go talk to her." I heard Starfire whine.

"Star you know if she's in there for more than four hours she doesn't want to see anyone." I heard Nightwing say.

"But Nightwing I must see if our friend is okay. It is what friends do. I must show her that I never meant her harm by returning to Tamaran." I cringed at the thought that I made everyone feel as though I was mad at them. Deep down maybe I had a bit of resentment for them leaving but I would never willingly admit to that.

"No Starfire. Just leave her be." I could tell he was trying to drag her away from going towards my room. I was in the stairwell which was a few doors down from my bedroom, so he had probably stopped her just before she reached my door.

"Then Nightwing you should speak to her. She will listen to you. She values your opinion most." I heard her say. I listened closely hoping to hear a positive response from Richard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He said back a bit more harshly than I would have liked. I knew that they hadn't ended on great terms but I didn't really want to hear them bicker.

"Nightwing I know you return feelings for Friend Raven. She may not see it and maybe you don't see it but you both care very deeply for one another. I think it's time one of you acted on it before it is too late." She said with a final huff and I could hear her stomp in the direction of the common room.

I took a deep breath and decided to phase into my room not wanting to run into Richard and make it seem like I was spying. When I entered my room I grabbed a small bag and put some changes of clothes in it along with my mirror to nevermore. I looked around at my room and tried to memorize it, not knowing how long it would be until I saw it again.

I knew that someone would have to lock me into the safe room because I couldn't do it from the inside. I decided to ask Cyborg, knowing that he would be the most understanding. It was easy to track everyone's movements as everyone was still rather emotional after what had happened. I could sense his frustration coming from the garage, most likely taking out his anger on my car.

I phased through the wall of the garage and found him fixing up some scrapes and dents in my bike.

"Not good enough for you?" I said from behind him. I watched him tense and then put the tools down. "I would have thought I'd taught you better than to leave your vehicle dented." He turned around raising his one eyebrow in a smirk. He looked at me and then saw the backpack slung across my shoulder and questioned me.

"Going somewhere?" He asked. I looked down and then back at him with a serious expression on my face.

"I need you to lock me in the safe room." I said confidently. He looked at me and shook his head before speaking.

"Raven I know you think we're all mad at you, but we aren't. You don't need to lock yourself up." He said walking over to me. I shook my head in disagreement.

"They can make me a demon whenever they see fit. They can see everything I see and hear everything I hear. Until we get this thing out of me, I need to be locked away. I can't hurt anyone but myself in there." I said sounding a bit more upset than I had meant to. He nodded and walked me to the stairwell.
"You know if you get like that you could just phase out of there right?" He said as we walked into the room where I had already set up a makeshift bedroom. I walked him over to the control panel and showed him the newest addition.

"When I get in there, turn this all the way up, it will essentially absorb my energy into the third layer of walls. Far enough that I wouldn't be able to reach them but if I were to need them you could give me back my power. It'll look like it hurts but it doesn't so don't worry." I said.

He looked at me with an impressed look on his face. "When did you learn how to do this?" He asked looking over the upgrade. I shrugged and started walking towards the room. "Four years' worth of books to read about containing my power. I've never been able to fully test it though, so hopefully it still works." I said sitting in the room as the door shut behind me. I took a deep breath as I nodded for Cyborg to turn on the power drain.

It didn't hurt much like I had anticipated. It felt more like I had just run a few marathons back to back and needed a good nap. When I felt the last bit of my power slip from me I looked up to Cyborg through the window and smiled. "Thank you."

He nodded and then pressed the button a few buttons on the panel. In front of me screens appeared with surveillance footage of the main rooms in the tower.

"Don't want you to get too lonely in there. I'll bring food and tea every so often and I'll come check on you. Do you want me to tell them?" He asked before he walked away. I didn't really want to face them at all especially now that I was weakened and prone to crying.

"Let them find me" I said. He nodded and then gave a small wave as he walked away.