Welcome back. Did you take your CRANK like I asked you to? If not...well then, here's another helping. Once again, any and all comments welcome!

"He's dead."

The words had cut like a knife through the hearts of the Teen Titans on that day. These were the very words they had been dreading to hear, yet almost seemed to know that they were coming either way.

Starfire had turned away, her eyes brimming with tears. Cyborg had looked down at the floor, shaking his head as the memories flooded his mind. Robin, however, had simply swallowed hard. He had to be the rock for the team – now more than ever. Raven was visibly shaken. The young man had reached out to comfort her – only to see the darkness in her eyes. She let out a scream, and the building shook with fury as the Girl from Azarath unleashed her anguish. Finally, when it seemed as if the walls would collapse upon them, the noise stopped, and the broken girl fell to her knees. Only then did she allow them to hold her, hold her like the boy she loved would have…

The Boy Wonder's eyes opened, his reminiscing complete. Time was supposed to heal all wounds. Some wounds, apparently, were too large to ever truly close regardless of time. That day of mayhem had become a footnote in Jump City, a funny story people told to tourists when they asked about the sights and sounds of the budding metropolis. For the Titans, however, it was the single event that nearly drove them apart – and nearly drove one of them insane.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Robin wondered if he had made the right decision. The strain of that day had been hard on all of them. Nothing could ever compare to that fateful day, the day that the Titans suffered their greatest loss…

The day Garfield Logan died.

The hero closed his eyes, a faint smile on his face. Beast Boy had died fighting to save his friends from two madmen, men who were far more despicable than the hero ever thought. While his methods were brutal, it was the only way the violent tale could have ended. But then again, it never really ended.

Robin's eyes narrowed as he continued to brood. He was good at it, but he had gotten a little too attached to it recently. There was something that disturbed the young hero: after Blood's death, he assumed that the H.I.V.E., now leaderless, would slowly collapse inward on itself and be done with. For a few weeks, that seemed to be the case. However, it now seemed like the school was back on track. Try as he might, the Boy Wonder could not get any information on the new headmaster who apparently saved the H.I.V.E. from destruction. In fact, the only thing that seemed to have fallen apart after Beast Boy's final mission was the Titans themselves. The worst part about losing BB had been the lack of a body; despite a tireless search, he never appeared. Stories had been told of a mysterious truck that took off with the hero's corpse, but no evidence had ever surfaced and probably was drummed up solely for entertainment value. The additional strain of burying an empty coffin had driving Raven to the breaking point. She became inconsolable after the incident. One moment she was fine, the next she had hurled her bed across the room with a bat of an eyelash. She also began lashing out at her friends and became rather unstable and unreliable during emergencies. Finally, Robin had to let her go. True, he had suggested she get away from the city for a while to clear her head, but he now wondered if she ever planned on coming back. If she didn't, he couldn't blame her. He had appointed Ravager to the team in Beast Boy's place, so he only felt it right to give the open spot to her brother – the mute possessor Jericho. At least he had himself a full crew again…

The Titan sat up straight as her heard a knock at him door.

"Come," he said.

The door slid open, revealing Ravager. Of course, at this point the mask was off, so technically she was just Rose Wilson. It didn't matter: she had her skills either way.

"Well, you look cheerful," she said, leaning against the doorframe.

Robin sighed. "It's been a rough patch," he said, quietly.

"Indeed it has," Rose said, remembering the moment she watched Logan and Mento fall from the helicopter. She had whispered a silent prayer for him – that he would go on to a better place. Hopefully, she had been right. "I can't say when the pain will stop, but it will sooner or later."

Robin looked at the girl, a half-smile on his face. "I don't know whether to be thankful or frightened," he said jokingly.

"Be a bit of both," Rose said, returning the smile. "I'll be monitoring the streets if you need me."

With that, she was gone.

Robin leaned back onto his bed, and sighed. The pain would stop eventually. One day, the Titans would be whole again, ready to protect their fair city. Life would go on. At least, for the living…