His bare feet sunk into the sand with each step he took. Gentle waves washed in and out, but he didn't avoid them. The sun was going down and taking its warmth and light with it, leaving a spectacular display before fully dropping into the horizon, but his attention wasn't on the sunset. It was on the ground and the next revolution he would take around the island.
Circling the beach before heading in had become somewhat of a ritual of his not too long after it happened. The monotony of it, the constant sound of the waves and knowing exactly what to expect with each step comforted him. Maybe he even felt like his ritual was somehow protecting the Tower as well. A guard on patrol ready to take out whatever intruder may come his way.
He should have been capable of doing that.
"Dinner is ready, Dick. Will you be joining us?"
He heard her steps coming from a while away. Kori didn't do much flying these days.
"Yeah, in a minute."
She came up next to him and took hold of his hand, joining him on his walk.
"Wally stopped by for a minute today. He didn't stay very long, only wished to inform us that he would be doing a much more thorough search of places he might be."
Dick nodded, registering what she told but not having much to say to it. He had gotten similar messages from multiple people; it still hasn't shed any light on their situation so far.
"Richard." The use of his full name had its desired affect and caught his attention. He stopped in his tracks and looked up at her.
"Please. You mustn't lose hope," she implored, his hand still held tightly in her own. He wasn't about to. He would cling onto whatever shreds of hope remained in him with all his might. It was, after all, the only thing keeping him motivated. If he didn't hope that they would find him, then there would be no reason to keep looking for him. Especially since even after all this time and they were no closer to getting him back than they were the night they lost him.
But even though he hoped they might find him, that didn't mean he anticipated they would.
"It's been almost three weeks," he simply reminded her. Taking his hand back he resumed his patrol on his own. She stood back and watched him for a bit before heading back inside.
His thoughts took him to that night, as they so often did.
It was only a few weeks ago, but it felt ages ago now. He could still recall every detail in perfect clarity.
It was movie night and they were watching the most recent installation of a science fiction action film series. The kind that one could just turn their brains off to and mindlessly enjoy. When it was over everyone had gone to bed except for him, as usual. He stayed up for a bit longer and when he finally decided to go to bed it wasn't because he was tired but because the time read 3:32 in the morning meaning he only had a handful of hours left before having to get up.
Dick closed his laptop and got up with a stretch, his back sore from sitting hunched over it for so long. Really, he wasn't even up to anything important like the others thought he usually was when he stayed up this late. Dick just couldn't sleep and had been spending the last few hours reading various articles and watching videos. It really was a bad habit he was getting himself into.
Resolving himself to go to bed, he left the common room and made his way towards his own bedroom which he had to pass by Raven's, Kori's and Gar's to get to. Vic was the only one that didn't sleep in the same hall as them, preferring his much larger and specially equipped downstair's room.
Dick himself had been thinking about moving into a perhaps larger room elsewhere in the Tower. God knows they had the space. But it was a thought he never delved too deeply into for he could never really bring himself to move too far away from the others. It was nice having them all literally just down the hallway from him. It was safer.
Walking silently down the hallway, he had to stop curiously as he got closer to Gar's room. The door was open, which was a bit unusual as they all slept with their doors closed. The young man had to beat away the paranoia settling into his head, assuring himself that it was probably nothing. It was out of the ordinary, but that didn't mean anything was wrong. Most likely Gar just got up to use the bathroom, or he simply fell asleep with his door ajar.
He approached his teammate's door and peeked in, just to make sure. Unfortunately what he saw made his blood cold and validated every paranoid thought he could've possibly had.
There was someone perched carefully at the foot of Gar's bed. His back was turned so that he could look at Gar making it impossible for Dick to see his face.
Like a child he simply stood there, paralyzed by fear. He was scared. A stranger had made his way into their home and let himself into his friend's room having gone completely undetected. It wasn't until he noticed that the man had his hand resting on Gar's thigh that he decided it was time to say something.
"Stand up now and take three steps away from him and put your hands up, now." He ordered, his hands itching for his baton or some kind of weapon.
'Stupid,' he berated himself. It was bedtime and he was in his pajamas, for fucks sake. He had nothing on him. It didn't matter that he was home in one of the most secure buildings in the state, a fact that Victor was very proud of. It still wasn't secure enough if this stranger could waltz in at night and let himself in to his teammate's room, going completely undetected.
"I won't say it again, step away from him or I will be forced to subdue you!" Dick said once more, his voice louder and more forceful.
The words may have as well have fallen on deaf ears for all Dick knew for the man remained as still as a statue. Gar stirred a bit in his sleep however, but was still not fully awake.
Not willing to offer the stranger any more warnings, Dick closed the short distance between them in a few quick strides and nearly struck him with a jab to the neck when the stranger moved inhumanly fast and grabbed his arm mid-swing. Dick's eyes widened at the stranger's touch, his hand as smooth and cold and hard as ice. He hesitated for only a second, but it was a second too long. The stranger's other hand was now smothering his face, pressed firmly over his mouth and nose, and Dick found himself sapped of all energy. His legs went weak and no longer able to support him, they gave out under his weight and the young man crumpled onto the floor. Darkness crawled in from the corners of his vision, the last thing he saw was the stranger standing over him, his face still masked by shadows.
"G-ar…," he mumbled, barely audible even to himself. It wasn't long before he succumbed to the induced sleep.
When he eventually came to he couldn't say how long he had been out. Minutes? Hours? Hell, it took about a split second for him to remember what the hell he was doing lying on the floor of Gar's room in the first place. Sitting up, he looked over on Gar's bed to find it… empty.
'No. Nonononono.'
Dread settled deeply into the pit of his stomach and surfaced to his skin as he frantically looked about the small room only to find that he was the only occupant.
"Gar!" He was yelling now. On his feet, he ran out of the room and looked down both directions of the hallway only to find it just as empty.
"Gaaaarr!"
Kori was the first to come out of her room, alarm etching her still sleep-bleary eyes anxiously.
"Dick? What's wrong?" She questioned gently, approaching him.
"Someone was in here! Someone was in here and I think they took Gar!"
Raven joined them next, already dressed in her regular garb somehow.
"I don't sense him, or anyone else, in the Tower. Just the four of us." She supplied, already caught up as she heard Dick's yells through the walls.
"Look for him anyway. You guys go high and I'll go low."
It was nearly dawn when the remaining four Titans had congregated in the Commons Room after a fruitless search. Despite only sleeping for a few hours, they were all much too worried and alarmed to be tired. And confused.
Who took Gar? What did they want with him? And how did he get in and out without tripping any alarms?
"Guys, look. I found something," Vic informed them from his place at the giant computer monitor. He was going through the security tape footage of that night hoping to find some answers. They were set up only on the roof, the garage, and at the entrance and exit of the tunnel leading out onto the freeway. It was at this one, at 3:57 a.m. that they saw Gar, still dressed in his sleepwear of an orange sleeve shirt and navy blue sweatpants, calmly walking into and at 4:09 a.m. out of. After that, he left the camera's view and walked down the shoulder of the freeway.
"What is he doing?" Dick wondered aloud, voicing the question everyone had on their minds.
"Maybe he's under some kind of mind control? Or possession? I don't know, but as of right now this is our only lead. He was headed south."
"So what? We just scan the freeway hoping we see him? He probably got into a car or something, he could be anywhere by now."
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Enough, please" Kori insisted, putting an end to their little shouting match, "Now is not the time to fight, not when our friend might be in danger."
Victor and Dick knew she was right, but Vic's question still demanded to be answered. Did any of them had any better ideas besides taking their search outside and turning the city inside out looking for him? And if they didn't find him in Jump, what then? Search the county? The state?
"So what do we do?" Vic asked once more.
"You could be quiet, and let me focus," Raven suggested, speaking up for the first time since they had been awoken. She was sat cross-legged, levitating in the middle of the living room, in her usual meditative pose. Only now she was covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
"Raven, be careful," Dick warned, realizing what she was doing. She was using her soul self to scan as far and wide as she could possibly spread herself, something that was taking quite the toll on her body.
"Quiet," she demanded once more, more gently this time.
"All right, well while she's doing that I'm heading out there myself to look for him. Dick, you and I can take the streets, Kori can take up to the sky. Agreed?"
Dick nodded. There was after all only one simple answer to what they had to do. And that was look for him.
They left as the sun rose and didn't return till long after it had set. One day passed and they came back with nothing. Raven was still at it, taking short breaks in between sending her soul self to a new location as far as it would go and then pushing herself to go further. She had also turned up with nothing.
Despite the exhaustion, hunger and hopelessness plaguing them all, none slept that night. Three days passed and Dick finally made a missing person's report with the police. Within hours almost all of Jump City was aware that their changeling was missing, but no one made a report of any recent sightings.
A week passed and nearly everyone in the superhero community – every Titan, a large number of solo heroes, the Birds of Prey, the JLA and even the Justice League – knew and were keeping their eyes peeled for him. When even Superman got in touch with Dick to admit that he simply couldn't find him was when the young man could begin to feel every last remnant of hope drain out of him.
One week turned into two and not a single person was able to come forward with any information and help them. It was as if their friend had quite literally vanished off the surface of the planet and they didn't have a single clue who, where or why they took him.
Their everyday lives had become consumed by Gar's absence. Their conversations, their thoughts, and any free time they had was spent looking for him or for clues of his presence.
And even though their world was temporarily put on hold, the rest of it certainly was not. They had to return to their duties and stop the robbers, thugs and villains prowling the streets. Pretty soon, they were back to a more or less normal routine. Only now they were one person short.
It was nighttime now. Dick ended up staying out there on the beach much longer than he originally intended to. The moon hung in the sky now and the stars blinked brightly at him. Another day had passed, another day without Gar or any clues leading to him.
Dick still hoped that they would find him. Like a man stranded out in the middle of the desert and dying of thirst hoped for rain.