Things may have changed... [Raven/Cyborg]

Clack, clack, clack.

The sounds of hard rubber against the steel and concrete floor. Raven was not very used to walking down this wing of the T-tower, the one near the infirmary. A wide band-aid clung to her side, covering the spot where the bullet grazed during the Museum heist. She was making her way towards a room at the end of the hall, where they kept gear and stored tech. Cyborg's place, naturally.

It was a rare enough thing, for Raven to come bother someone in their rooms. She enjoyed privacy and respected it in turn. But... the encounter could not escape her mind. They were in pursuit of a criminal, the trap was sprung, the fox was trapped, and then... blam. No warning, no hesitation, and no ... reason. Just a person with a grudge and a gun. And a narrow escape for her. Which was the reason the girl was here, right now.

The witch stood in front of the door for a few seconds, wondering if she was overreacting. The Teen Titans had brushed death and injury on many occasions, so it was not something unusual for them to be attacked. But, most of the times, their foes were known, and attacked in the open. Even Slade, who enjoyed using robot henchmen doing his bidding, preferred them fight up close and personal. Not from long distance. Raven found herself avoiding windows, since. But this could not go on, this had to end.

One person could help.

Sighing, Raven moved her hand, and the door slid open. Wrapping her cloak around herself, she peered inside.

"Anybody home?"

Awkward.

Cyborg was busy just doing some diagnostics and maintenance of his systems, one of his arms detatched as he poked and prodded it with his other hand. Like the others, Cyborg was trying to deal with all of these happenings the best he could. Sure all of the criminals had been broken out, and they were becoming more active now. That wasn't anything new in the time they've done this. But when one of his friends gets shot at, it becomes more personal. They had encountered all kinds of weirdos and psychos. But a random shooter was just... unnerving. It hit closer to home more than what they normally did.

"Oh, hey Rae. How's your side?" Cyborg asked over his shoulder, reattatching his hand and turning around in his chair.

"Sorry for the uncharacteristic visit."

With her presence acknowledged, Raven stepped through the door, which slid right behind her. Her pupils widened a bit, accommodating to the dark, lit up only by the neon glow of the various screens Cyborg has been operating. This place sure could use some redecorating... - a brief thought went across Raven's mind, as she surveyed the empty walls. But it was a safe place, kind of. Not a single window in sight. Her hand reflectively went for the side, feeling it, when Cyborg asked about it.

"Could have been worse. The sniper's aim was off, she missed." - the slight emphasis was on the last word. It was not through magic or skill she had avoided certain doom. It was that... the shooter missed. Lucky. For now. But what about next time?

Raven looked at the screen, over Cyborg's wide shoulder. Diagnostics and other technological stuff - she could not understand a thing. But she knew the purpose - it was to improve performance. In times of turmoil like this, her friend was blissfully single-minded. Never thinking of the bigger picture. Or was he? It was hard to tell, whether it was the man or the machine that gave him focus. The girl floated away, her attention briefly attracted to a random piece of equipment around the room.

"Ever gotten tired of it?" - Raven suddenly asked a sudden, open-ended question. Never specifying what was it she found so tiresome.

Everyone's rooms had their own little touches. It wasn't so much Cyborg had a minimalist design in mind so much as a matter of space for parts and the like. It looked alittle like the garage but on a more personal scale, more like a workshop than a garage.

Cyborg absently touched his own side sympathetically before acknowledging the fact that it was metallic, unlike Raven's. And then she asked him quite the question. He arched an eyebrow, or managed to do so in confusion. Tired of what? "Of what we do?" Cyborg asked curiously. He wasn't a telepath like Raven so all he had to go on his own intuition. "Sometimes- I'd be lying if I didn't think about what it'd be like to have a more 'normal' life I guess," Cyborg admitted seriously, looking at one of his robotic hands and clenching it a couple times almost nastalgically. "Of course, I don't think many of us had the chance to choose," he added thoughtfully.

This took an interesting turn.

Be tired of what they did? Raven never actually thought of that. Being a hero was more than a job or a hobby for her. She came to Earth escaping her father, and joining Titans defined her. The rest... they were similar. Different from the rest of the world. Misfits. An alien, a cyborg, a shapeshifter, and an ... orphan. The only options for them were to be who they are... or be on the opposite side of the spectrum. Fighting the society, instead of protecting it. But in Raven's mind, she never doubted that they made the right choice. She had different thoughts on her mind.

"I am tired of always being on the back foot." - she said, fishing out a small wrench, fiddling with it as she spoke.

"How villains always get the first drop on us. Every time, we narrowly escape defeat, and they get to go to a comfy prison, which they bust out of within a month. And then the same thing repeats itself, over and over again."

Raven's mouth thinned, as her hands slowly, slightly pushed against the wrench, as if trying to bend it.

"Until one day we fail."

Cyborg wasn't sure about villains always getting the drop on them first. Sure the competent ones were the worst ones to deal with compared to some of the weirdoes like Control Freak, or the pathetic Le Blanc. "When you put it like that it doesn't sound like we make a difference at all," Cyborg remarked seriously. "I mean we can't keep doing this forever, you're right. And it may not look like we make much of a difference. But we're not alone. I'm not just talking about the other teams. I'm also talking about the men and women who fight fires, work as doctors. They can't do everything, and I'd like to think that we give them one less thing to worry about so they can help others," Cyborg said in a sincere but kind of awkward way.

"I'm not saying we don't make a difference!"

Raven replied, the tone of her voice climbing to a bit of a high pitch. Rarely did she lose her cool, especially in what seemed to be an idle conversation. But, if anything, it showed she cared. The girl reclused a bit, after catching up on the fact that she raised her voice, and let out a sigh. "We are doing good. I just... want the difference we make to last longer. How many times we have fought the Hive Five already? Five, six?"

She lost count. And those fools weren't even the worst of them. But the first time they fought, the Hive drove the Titans out of their tower. Their own home. That humiliation was hard to forget. Her grip on both sides tightened. Her mind as full of thoughts, all of them upsetting, and it was getting harder to center oneself. Especially with a string of setbacks that seemed to have plagued the Titans since Fasilli staged all of the major breakouts, effectively nullifying all of their progress.

"How many times to we need to win for all these people to just ... give up?"

Now that was an interesting thought to consider.

Somewhere beyond the realm of comprehension, Fasilli sneezes. This has no baring on the matter at hand.

Cyborg understandably and visibly flinched, knowing full well that Raven had quite the temper. He and Beastboy got to see it close up when they accidentally got trapped in a magic mirror into her mind. Sounded like this had been building up for awhile. "I don't know," Cyborg admitted rather anticlimatically. It was an honest answer. Could anyone really answer that any other way? "But... and I know this'll bug ya- but look at Jinx. Can't say what happened but- something happened to change HER mind," Cyborg finished thoughtfully. This had turned into a deeper philosophical conversation that he had not been prepared for.

The conversation was moving about as smoothly as a rocks being dragged across the ground. None of them knew what to do about the situation - and that was a scary thing. To not have a plan for the future felt like sailing with no destination. And when that happened, no wind was favorable. Raven went silent a little while, as Cyborg mentioned Jinx. She frowned.

"Jinx changed when she started dating Kid Flash. I do not think we had much influence in that." - she shrugged. Another awkward quietness followed, with the two just looking at one another. The look in Raven's eyes seemed distant. Jinx was an exception to the rule. Raven doubted that marrying villains to turn them to the Light Side was the right approach either. No. To defeat Evil once and for all, they had to do something else.

Her eyes returned to focus. The wrench she held was bent.

"I need you to do something for me, Cyborg." - the wistfulness vanished from her eyes, now showing firmness and intent. "Make me a suit that would protect me from bullets. If the story of Raven is to meet its end someday... it sure as hell will not be at the hands of some punk with a gun."

Cyborg didn't know all of the details about what Kid Flash and Jinx, he had actually had a crush on her back when he infiltrated HIVE. Thinking back on it for a moment, it was an interesting look at how the otherside lived. It was also more complicated than one would think as to why anyone did what they did. Kid Flash just happened to figure out what to do for Jinx. He returned his focus to Raven when she asked him for something, which was probably the actual reason she was here.

"A suit of armor?" Cyborg repeated curiously. Didn't surprise him after what happened. "Are we talking full bodu armor or something like a bullet proof vest?" Cyborg asked considering the matter. He could do either that's not what concerned him. Based on what he learned of Raven's powers, she needed concentration. And if the armor was too heavy, she wouldn't be able to move around as easily without using her powers anyway. And if he tried to make something like Adonis, he didn't know how the armor's neural interface would get along with her powers.

A prudent question.

Raven had never worn armor before. Did not need to. Whatever the foes were capable of throwing her way she was able to take, either on her own or with the help of her teammates. But what would protect her from a sneaky bullet? Certainly none of those things. And yet, she was unsure of what kind of armor she could use, without compromising her powers and connection to Azarath. It made her think.

Another moment of silence, awkward. Raven was never much in terms of conversation. Especially asking someone to do something for her. Looking a bit away, she undid the jewel pin that held her cloak together, and let it slide off of her shoulders, into her hands. Without the cloak, the girl looked smaller than she usually was. Must have been the hoodie. She would fold it carefully, and place it on the table next to Cyborg.

"Make this capable of stopping projectiles. I only need to live through one shot. And I would rather not have you guys take a bullet for me.

Raven pulled a small, wry smile on her face.

"And I don't want to lose my second-favorite cloak."

Cyborg was still considering what he could do for Raven during the moment of silence. It was very likely Raven would overload power armor like Adonis' armor. Then again maybe they were thinking about this too literally. Maybe they didn't need to even use physical armor. Maybe Cyborg could instead create something small that would act as a personal energy shield for her. An electromagnetic shield would definitely solve the problem of projectiles.

Cyborg tried not to dwell too much on the thought of Raven taking her cloak off- it was very rare for her to not be wearing it all the time. So it was more out of that reasoning than any dirty minds would be thinking. He cracked a smile at Raven joking about losing another cloak. All she wore were blue cloaks! "I'll see what I can do. There might be a way you don't have to wear anything heavy. Should work with your powers too. Might need to do some tests after I get something together," Cyborg said brightly. He was fairly sure that the shield wouldn't impede her abilities any.