Prologue

Her senses came to her slowly.

It was warm, wherever she was. Her body felt heavy and numb, like it had been positioned into place and she couldn't move it. Vaguely, she realized she was laying down. The fabric beneath her was soft. There was a steady beeping noise coming from her left, but she could still hear the sound of rain falling, tapping against the glass of a window.

With a jolt of realization, she bolted upright, eyes opening wide. She squinted against the light, trying to make out the room in front of her. The beeping intensified.

She was in a small bedroom of sorts, with a big picture window to her right. It was the only source of illumination, casting gray light over the utilitarian room.

She jerked her head, ignoring the pounding headache it gave her, to identify the source of the noise. It was a heart monitor. There was all kinds of equipment around the head of her bed. She lifted her arm, looking at the IV taped against the inside of it.

I'm alive. The images swam through her head, playing like a sped up movie. Her on her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks, looking into his dead eyes as she cradled his body. They closed in on her, fists raised. The last thing she remembered was the heat of the fire.

Yes, she was alive, but the man she loved was dead.

She choked, like she was dry heaving. It felt like every muscle in her body was shaking as the memories poured into her. They killed him, she thought, disbelief taking hold.

The sense of loss was overwhelming. It was pervasive and agonizing, tearing through her and leaving her breathless. They killed him. She repeated it again and again.

The girl wrapped her quivering arms around herself, letting the tears come again. She had no idea where she was, but she didn't even care. She had lost him. She had lost everything. The people she had thought were her friends, it turned out they were nothing but monsters. She'd trusted them, and they'd lied to her. They had betrayed her in the worst way you could betray a person.

The grief was unbearable. It felt like she could drown in the sorrow that ached like a hole in her gut. She had tried so hard to protect him, but she had failed. No matter what she did she couldn't get the image of his dead, glassy eyes to leave her mind.

She gasped against the sobs, nails digging into the skin on her arms. She could still see his face, could still hear his voice. She could still picture the future they would have had together, the one they were planning.

She was so consumed that she almost didn't notice the door at the far end of the room slide open slowly. As soon as the man walked into the room, her attention diverted to him.

He turned, closing the door behind him gently. He had silver-streaked hair and a patch over his right eye.

She watched him with caution, frantically wiping at her eyes. This man did not look like a doctor, and this was not a hospital. She set her jaw and sent energy to her hands, hoping that if they glowed she would look more intimidating than she felt. Looking down, she was surprised to find them merely clenched into fists.

"My powers," she whispered in disbelief. She turned on the stranger, anger alight in her eyes. "What have you done?"

He held up his hands in front of him defensively. "I apologize. I did not mean to frighten you," he said in a deep, almost melodic voice. "I don't want to hurt you, and I didn't take your powers away. I'm here to help you." He walked towards her slowly, stopping at the foot of her bed. She relaxed considerably. Something about him seemed trustworthy. She believed him when he spoke.

"S-sorry," she all but whispered. "I just, I don't know what happened to me."

He gave a soft, sad smile. "I'm rather confused about what happened as well. May I start from the beginning? Perhaps you could help me understand." She nodded. She took a few shaky breaths and wiped at her eyes, trying to compose herself. "You're..." he hesitated.

"My name is Raven," she said slowly.

He nodded. "Right. Raven of the Teen Titans." He walked a little closer, taking a seat in a chair by her bedside. "This is my house," he began, gesturing around the room. "One night, I heard an explosion come from down the street. I'm a doctor, you see, so I thought I might be able to help. I ran over, but when I got there I saw the Titans." He paused, gauging her reaction. "You were there Raven, on the ground, holding a man. He looked injured. I was about to run in and offer my assistance when the Titans began to attack you."

Raven tried to keep her expression neutral as the memories flashed before her eyes. "They said, 'You betrayed us Raven. And you have to pay for it,'" she whispered slowly. "Robin, he... he threw that disk at me. There was another explosion..." she trailed off, remembering how everything went black. "How am I not dead?"

"Your powers, I believe they protected you. After they left I tried to help the two of you. The man, he was already dead, but you were just barely alive. I brought you back here instead of a hospital because I was worried they might find you and finish the job. You lived, but not without scars," he said, looking down from her eyes and landing somewhere on her neck.

Looking down slowly, Raven brushed her fingertips against her neck. There was a burn there, spreading from her collarbone to her jaw along the right side of her neck. It felt old though, like it had had time to heal.

"I'm so sorry," he began to explain, as if reading her thoughts, "but you've been in a coma all this time. That night... it was almost a year ago."

Raven blinked. "A year ago," she whispered. She felt numb at this point, like there wasn't anything he could tell her that would come as a shock. She had lost everything. Why not a year of her life?

"It seems your powers are gone as well," he added, walking beside her to look at all of the monitors she was attached to.

She clenched her jaw, staring down at her hands. "Maybe I'm just in shock. Maybe they'll come back." She could at least be optimistic about it. Her powers had failed her before, but they had always returned eventually.

"Perhaps," he said with a nod.

Raven looked up at him suddenly. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. I don't know how I can repay you," she said, trying her best to muster a smile. He returned it with a smile of his own. "I still don't know your name."

He looked at her for a moment before he spoke. "My name," he said slowly, looking her right in the eyes, "is Slade."

Slade. Raven didn't know why, but something sparked when he said it. She had never met the man before. She had never even heard of anyone called Slade. It wasn't a positive feeling or a negative one. It was indescribable; a tiny rush of adrenaline.

"Well... thank you again, Slade," she drawled slowly.

"Of course. I'd do anything to help one of our city's heroes," he replied, looking at her with narrowed eyes, like he was appraising her. "If you don't mind me asking," he started after a moment, "Why did your friends attack you? That's the one thing I'm afraid I still don't understand."

"I..." she trailed off, brows furrowing. The memory of the attack seemed so clear, but the lead up was fuzzy in her mind.

"Here," he said, rising from the chair and moving towards a counter. He returned with a steaming mug, the tag of a tea bag sticking over the side. "Perhaps this will calm you and allow you to think more clearly."

Raven took the mug with a nod, inhaling the scent. She couldn't quite identify the type of tea, but it was herbal. "Thank you," she said earnestly, taking a sip. The drink made her feel warm and safe, as it always had. She continued to drink.

"Now, can you remember why they attacked?"

He was right: the tea made her memories feel clearer. She could suddenly see all of it.

"Do you remember that man you saw? The one they killed? He... he was my fiance. We had just gotten engaged." She paused for a moment and grit her teeth. "I never told them about my relationship. That night was the first they found out about it. I brought him to the tower and made the announcement, but instead of being happy they told me it was dangerous. That I couldn't love because I'm..." she paused, unsure if she should reveal herself to this man. There was a kind, patient look in his eyes that convinced her to continue. "I have... demonic blood. They told me I was unstable, that I would destroy them if I was in love. It isn't true," she whispered, shaking her head vigorously. "I would never hurt them." She set the empty mug on the table beside her. "But they didn't believe me."

"I thought they were your friends?" he asked, a cold edge to his voice.

Raven let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a sob. "They never liked me. They never trusted me. They said so all the time. They only pretended to be my friends." The more she spoke, the truer it sounded, and the more angry she became. "I guess they decided the easiest thing to do was to get rid of him, and of me."

"I'm so sorry Raven," Slade murmured, looking right into her eyes with his head cocked at a sympathetic angle. A few moments passed between them in silence. "If I may ask, what was his name?"

"My fiance's?" she asked, voice almost a whisper. He nodded. "His name was Grant. Grant Wilson." He seemed oddly satisfied with her answer.

"So," he began after another minute, "what are you going to do now?"

It was a simple question, but it still took her by surprise. What was she going to do? There was so much anger and pain and grief twisted up inside her, she felt like she was going to burst. She balled her hands into fists and clenched her jaw, fighting against the tears that threatened to consume her again. One defiant tear spilled over, tracing a path down her cheek.

It was a simple question, and in her eyes it had a pretty simple answer. She couldn't move on. She couldn't sit around and let the emotion consume her. She needed action, and the way she saw it there was only one action that could come close to making this right.

She lifted her gaze, staring Slade right in the eyes. "I'm going to kill the Titans."