The first chapter of my sequel! If you're picking this up stone cold, you had better read book 1, Apocalypse, otherwise this will make no sense at all.

I tried to focus more on the characters' emotions in this book, so give me feedback (on that and more)! I got lots of author subscriptions for the chapter "Disaster" of my last book, so it seems that people want to see what happens next, which makes me happy.

Disclaimer: I'll only say this once now, though in caps for a more dramatic effect: I DO NOT OWN THE TEEN TITANS AND NEVER WILL!

Phew… on with the story, then.

At the Hospital:

"I don't understand it."

Dr. Mariana rubbed her eyes, trying to stay awake. It was getting very late, the sun had long since set, and all of the other Titans, along with their new, unexpected visitor, had been cleared to leave, and were now at Titans Tower, probably lodging in whatever rooms were still intact. They had been very reluctant to go, which wasn't surprising. Their close friend had just died, after all. And that was the strange part.

"How did it happen?" the doctor asked the air, staring at the sheeted body of the young woman laying on the cold, metal bed in the empty, drafty morgue in the hospital basement. "We checked everything! Sure, when she came in we were uncertain, but she was stable for multiple days." She rolled her eyes a bit. "Well, as stable as possible, with all of that demon blood in her veins."

A scruffy, dark haired young adult quietly knocked on the door and opened it, waving a few papers in his hand.

"I've got our results of the most recent readings for…" he checked the name. "Raven."

"And?"

"The sensors on her head have revealed that, just before she died, she experienced a rush of emotions and stress, greater than is ever present in a normal person, even at their most emotional, the defining one being that of… rage." He showed her some graphs and charts.

"So… she got mad. Does that prove anything? She wasn't even completely human."

"Yeah," he shrugged. "But what else do we have to go on?"

"True…" Dr. Mariana massaged her pounding temples. Today had been seriously bad. First, everything had been going perfectly, the Titans were healing and people were starting to move back in to the city. But then a mysterious girl had pretty much broken in out of nowhere, and their most severely injured patient had gone from ready to leave in a few days to… suddenly dead. And they hadn't even been able to get into the room in time. This wasn't just a medical mystery; she considered this a personal failure. Everything had been fine, but why hadn't they had any nurses stationed nearby, or even on the same floor? It was terrible, truly, and Dr. Mariana hated herself for it. This girl had saved the entire city, possibly the entire world, and now she was gone.

The younger doctor gently put a hand on her shoulder. "It's really late, we should leave. Sleep on it."

Dr. Mariana slowly stood up. "Okay," she rubbed her eyes and yawned so wide her jaw popped. "It would be so much easier if we could perform an autopsy, but the Titans want her undisturbed."

The younger man shrugged and walked with her to the door, turning out the lights as he went.

"Maybe they know something we don't."

At the Tower:

Beast Boy sat on his makeshift bed in a spare room, since his was bombed out, and held his head in his hands. His tears had dried up long ago, but there was an empty space in his chest that made it hard to breathe. It felt as if part of his heart had been torn out and stomped on.

Raven… was she really gone? She couldn't be…

But he had seen her. He had witnessed the light leave her eyes, and it was a scene that replayed over and over in his head.

He choked, and quickly grabbed the basin beside his bed as he coughed up more blood. The doctors had released them, saying that they would heal fine off the hospital campus. Cyborg had received a machine that would help him move and function until he had new limbs constructed. Robin was planning on working on designs for a new arm the next morning. However, Beast Boy didn't think the Titans were healed, not anymore. They were 1/5 incomplete.

Well, not really, he thought. Terra's back.

And he felt happy about it, happier than he had ever felt before. But… he wasn't.

No. He, at least, wasn't healed. But he doubted that the hospital could cure grief. Could anything?

He remembered back a few days, when Aqualad had come into the Tower bearing news of Apocalypse, and Raven had taken him in and helped him, given him some spells and potions. But who would do that now?

The door behind him slid open with a quiet hiss. Beast Boy's sensitive ears recognized the tread, the sound of her breathing.

"Terra…"

She quietly walked over and sat next to him, giving him a hug. Her face was stained with tears. Beast Boy put his head on hers and stroked her hair, twirling it around his finger absentmindedly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "This wasn't supposed to happen."

"It wasn't," Beast Boy agreed. "But I'm so happy you're back."

"Under these circumstances? I can't help thinking it's my fault. Raven didn't have to show me everything in person, using her powers might have pushed her over the edge."

"It's not you. I was watching, using her powers couldn't have had anything to do with it."

Terra sighed. "All of the evidence in the world won't help. I feel so bad."

She hung her head, tears slowly dripping onto the floor beneath her.

"We all do," Beast Boy said sadly. He felt terrible for Terra, she had returned to her friends after three whole years of nothing at all and one of them was snatched away from her less than an hour after. And as for him… Raven was his best friend, really, even though they always fought. Sure, he always hung out with Cyborg, but with Raven, he could be… honest. More or less. Was there something more? He didn't know.

He hugged Terra even tighter. They had saved Raven once, he decided. They could do it again.

Robin slowly took off his new, false arm and laid it carefully on a table that was clear of rubble. He would have loved to set the Titans on cleaning the Tower as soon as possible, but he couldn't. Especially not after what had just happened.

He clenched his fist in anger, anger at himself. Why couldn't he have done something? Raven had saved his life more times than he could count on that single day that Jump City was attacked, not even considering all of the other years he had known her. And when Raven really needed him then, he had failed. He felt so low.

I managed to rescue her from her satanic, all powerful demon father, but then when a heart attack comes along I'm stuck. I can't do a single thing. If it even was a heart attack.

The little, logical voice in his head reminded him that there really wasn't anything he could have done, but Robin didn't feel any better for it. He hated being in situations where he couldn't change the outcome. And many moments in his past where that had been the case, he had still changed it, against all odds.

Not now. She's gone forever.

Robin felt like throwing something, smashing something, breaking something apart with his hands. He took a deep breath and suppressed the urge.

This is what separates you from Slade, he thought to himself with a bitter taste of pride. You can control your anger.

The Boy Wonder sank onto his bed, sending up a light cloud of dust. He felt so useless. He couldn't go on like this.

"I have to do something," he said to the ceiling. "But what? This isn't like before, this is…"

Different? Perhaps. Batman prided you for a reason, you'll figure out a plan. You always have.

Clinging on to this last piece of hope, Robin slowly drifted off into a troubled, dreamless sleep.