Déjà vu, a teen titans fanfic

This ficlet is dedicated to BlackShield, who has been the best editor and writer-buddy ever. Read her stuff, it's fabulous. :-)

Title: Déjà vu

Genre: Suspense/Action/Adventure

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Déjà vu? I don't think so, Raven… A girl awakens from a horrible nightmare, only to find herself forced into another, much more real one... Read and Review, please. CyRae

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.

Author's Note: Please, enjoy, I'm extremely proud of this.

Déjà vu

It was night. Only a cluster or two of brilliant stars, tiny pinpoints valiantly trying to illuminate the dark atmosphere, lit the black heavens. The moon was a perfect crescent hanging in the sky, tilting slightly as the Man in the Moon swung on its tip, vaulting upwards and into the swooping nook in which he slept. Metallic clouds floated drearily along at the push of the chilly wind, and their intimidating presence pushed back the timid stars into seclusion.

Offices and skyscrapers reflected the clear moonlight on their shiny, endless vertical plains of windows, only allowing views of the monotonous gray office cubicles inside when the occasional automatic light flipped on, letting a yellow glow filter dully through the windows. The streets were quiet and solemn, inactive and deserted during this foreboding midnight hour. Only periodic streetlights let small, blurred circles of dirty orange light glow on the pavement, attracting late mosquitoes and gnats that hovered and buzzed about the sizzling colored light bulb. Houses and buildings were lightless as the rest of the city, lamps off, blinds pulled down, and curtains shut tightly. Some bedrooms held nightlights, gentle, reassuring heroes to fend off the monsters of the night.

The sky boomed in a threat of rain, and in one house a girl sat up suddenly, out of breath as if she'd been running a marathon. Her shaking hands clenched the bedspread and her frightened violet eyes darted around in the darkness of the room, frantic. A thin sheen of sweat covered her skin, and small wisps of her ruffled purple hair stuck to the back of her neck, wet with perspiration.

The girl stared into the darkness blankly, her heavy breathing slowing down as she sat there, trying to recollect what had scared her so awfully. She'd dreamt something horrifying, scary, and painful, but she couldn't remember just what, and it seemed strangely familiar….

"Déjà vu…" She muttered to herself, placing a hand on her forehead over her jewel and exhaling loudly. The nightmare was fading away slowly, and she felt herself relax more as the memory of the event slipped from her mind. She slumped against the bed pillows and closed her eyes once, trying to return to sleep, but a ground-shaking crash made her eyes snap open.

Her forearms reflexively shot up in front of her face as the wall of her bedroom exploded inwards with an impossibly loud detonation, dust and debris showering her body and covering all her possessions with gray powder. The girl winced as chunks of the wall pounded her, not quite hurting but hard enough to stun her. As the cloud dimmed, she coughed and wheezed, scrambling out of her bed and promptly tripping over the saggy bottoms of her purple pajamas, scraping her bare feet on sharp debris and banging her knee on the hard rocks of it. Her short purple hair fell into her eyes and she brushed it away with a dusted hand, coloring the dark hue a light one with the fine particles. Her fall stirred up a bigger cloud inside the already massive one, and she squeezed her eyes shut, unable to see through the gray smog. It was very dark…

FLASH

It was dark. Red stars dotted the endless meteor-littered black.

She was resting on a floating rock, legs crossed, eyes closed and hands upward. She breathed in deeply, and exhaled audibly. She was calm. She was peaceful.

What?

FLASH

Loud footsteps clomped heavily toward her, and she winced in surprise as a strong hand grasped the top of her arm and heaved her upwards, pulling her to him and supported her when she wobbled on shaky knees. She coughed again, squinting up at the tall person and waving her hand around to clear the air and see who had helped her up, and a half metallic, half brown face came into view. He was a tall young man in his mid to late teens, around her age, she suspected.

"What…?" She began, but he cut her off.

"C'mon, girl, we ain't got much time." He said harshly, and his grip on her tightened. He stalked hurriedly through the demolished wall, taking care not to trip over anything with his fellow teenager in tow. The dust cloud thinned and they emerged in a long hallway. They ran, skidding into an elevator at the end of the corridor, and the boy grunted as he pulled the elevator doors shut, desperately jamming the ground floor button and tapping his foot impatiently when the elevator finally started moving. The two leaned on the cool silver wall of the box, catching their breath. The girl stopped, realizing her companion was still holding onto her, and wrenched her arm from his grasp. She turned to face him, adjusting her overlarge t-shirt so that it didn't fall over her shoulder and pulling her baggy pajama pants up so as not to tread on their cuffs.

"Who are you?! What's going on?!" She demanded, panicking and glaring at him with piercing eyes. An explosion erupted in the distance, and the older boy's mechanical eye whirred, ignoring her question. She grabbed onto his metal arm and tugged hard with unexpected strength from such a small teen, roughly grabbing his attention and staring into his eyes.

"What. Is. Going. On?" She said slowly, deliberately emphasizing each word. Her amethyst orbs were burning in their intensity and she kept her gaze trained on his. The strange, half-machine young man's face fell and the corners of his mouth turned down in disappointment and some other emotion she couldn't identify. He brought his hand tentatively up to her pale cheek and she stiffened as he gently traced her cheekbone, a look of pain arising in his eyes.

"You really don't remember…" He murmured softly.

The elevator made a loud and melodic "ding", much too upbeat and out of place in their situation. The boy ran out, looking behind him to make sure the girl was still following.

Another bomb went off, closer this time, and they could feel the ground shake beneath them. The boy grabbed her and dragged her along, but she dug her heels in and glared at him.

"Tell me what's happening." She said ferociously.

He frowned, then his mouth opened in fear and surprised, he let go of her as the ground shook a second time, harder. The young woman lost her footing and fell backwards, a second from bashing her head on a jagged, hard piece of wall with rusted nails angrily sticking upwards at evil angles, but in a quick movement the boy caught her. Another tremor burst through the building.

He scooped her up though she protested and he ran, shielding her body with his as he dodged to the side quickly, seconds from being crushed beneath the falling ceiling. Shouts and screams echoed, and roars and explosions deafened the two. The girl squirmed against his metal chest, desperate to get away from him, but he held her close, refusing to drop her.

"Who are you?!" She screamed above the noise.

But the young man holding her didn't answer; a boy of about the same age was approaching, running toward them, waving his gloved hands in the air to catch their eyes as he did. The metal-man stopped short, pausing in front of this newcomer, who was finally close enough to see clearly. He was tall and with a slight tan, and dark black hair that spiked upwards and was currently salt-and-pepper due to the powder that coated it. His mask was white and black, surprisingly untarnished. The boy was sweaty, grimy, and covered in dirt and dust and numerous red bloodstains, and the side of his head was burgundy and crusted with the dark dye of dried blood.

"Cy - borg, - " He panted, wiping a mustache of sweat from his upper lip. "Did you – get her?"

The girl huddled closer to the strangely comforting metal chest of the tall boy holding her, shying away from yet another strange character. "Cyborg" squeezed his arms around her reassuringly, and looked at the other boy, then nodded down at her. The masked boy nodded in response, offering a half-smile, which faded not long after it appeared.

"Good." He said, businesslike. He had an aura of a leader, and the girl found herself trusting him though she'd never met him before. He addressed "Cyborg". "Beast Boy is gone looking for Star…"

FLASH

"Okay, lemme try again, lemme try again!"

"No." She said shortly. "You can't make me laugh and you never will."

The green boy's face fell.

"Aw, Raven, you take the fun outta life."

"Beast Boy, go away."

Beast Boy frowned, looking sincerely hurt this time.

"Raven, I –" He stopped, hesitant, but plunged onward. "You're – You're sort of like the older sister I never had.... Aren't I like a little brother to you?" He asked seriously, an uncharacteristically calculating look in his emerald eyes.

Raven paused, than on a sudden impulse, she put her arms loosely around him and gently squeezed his shoulders in a half-hug. He froze, uncertain at this very un-Raven act, then smiled gratefully and pulled her into a tighter embrace. Raven was the first to let go, and she did so quickly, pushing him away in jest.

"An annoying little brother." She joked dryly.

Beast Boy burst out laughing.

FLASH

"Has she remembered anything?" The teen's breathing had returned to normal, and he was still speaking. "Is she better?"

The dark-skinned boy kicked a rock and shook his head despairingly.

"Not yet, Robin… She didn't even remember me."

The masked eyes widened, the dominoes becoming close to ovals.

"Not even you?"

"Not even me."

The young woman suddenly squirmed, her pajamas twisting as she struggled to get free. Surprised, Cyborg dropped her, and she fell in a heap on the ground. She scrambled to her feet and bolted, running off in the opposite direction away from the two boys. Both gasped, and Robin quickly took out his grappling hook, running after her, but the earth shook with another tremor and eruptions and explosions echoed, thundering and making both Cyborg and Robin fall to their knees. Both tried futilely to stand and catch the runaway girl, but the ground brought them mercilessly down each time.

The night sky wasn't black any more; the dust and gunpowder had burst upwards and was hanging in the sky, sticking to the clouds like a second skin and coating the atmosphere. Now slate gray and heavy with scratchy particles, the air hung thick and hot around everyone, compressing and claustrophobically close. Buildings were crumbling now; the town was being destroyed.

Cyborg's eyes widened as he saw the vivid violet hair of his charge swing behind her as she ran and fell, crying out in pain as her ankle twisted into a disturbing angle. She rocked back and forth, grasping her injury, and screamed as a slab of concrete broke from a withering office building behind her and landed heavily on her leg.

"RAVEN!" Cyborg yelled hoarsely, but his voice was lost in the turmoil, just barely reaching her ears. He uselessly reached his hand out to her as if he might reach and save her, stretching the chrome muscles.

'Raven?' A small part of her thought through the throbbing pain.

FLASH

Attack cries, fierce assaults that sent the enemy crashing to the ground, the chime of Starbolts, and the roars of a tiger echoed all around. Green lights flashed and ice blue glows shot here and there in her vision, but the place was a blur, the colors mixing with one another in a strange, messy watercolor, and the people in the vicinity were colored smudges on the worn canvas that seemed to hold this scene. The girl was fighting someone, and it was taking a toll on her. All she could see was her attack and withdrawals, her martial arts making no progress in the battle and a strange darkness seeping from her fingertips and aiding her combat. Sweat dripped down her back and her breathing was heavy, and her cloak whipped around her as she darted back and forth across the sky, backing away in realization that she would not win. Could not win. To fight would be pointless now.

"RAVEN!" A voice yelled hoarsely. "LOOK OUT!"

She turned sharply.

"What?!" She exclaimed, only to cry out as her body erupted in pain and the world faded into darkness.

FLASH

As the distraught teenager watched her, a fog drifted over her eyes, clouding the purple irises, and slowly moved away.

Her brilliant eyes widened in shock and fear, and stared with unabashed fright at Cyborg, who met her gaze and watched helplessly as the myriad of broken emotions flitted one after another in her amazing optics. She suddenly shook her head, grimacing and letting out an anguished whimper as the pain of her leg shot upwards into her limbs. Silent streams of tears trickled down her ashen cheeks and she feebly clutched at her leg, unable to move the gargantuan piece of ruined cement off of herself.

A woman screamed, a frighteningly familiar sound. Unable to move, the lavender-haired lass turned her head and saw a beautiful redhead wince as a fallen windowpane slammed down onto her stomach.

"Robin!" The girl cried before her breath was knocked out of her.

FLASH

Raven was sitting at the kitchen table drinking her herbal tea when the alien girl waltzed in happily, joyously offering a "Happy Morning!" to all those present.

"Robin!" A pretty girl spun around daintily, twirling on the tiptoes of her incredibly tall boots. Her crimson tresses fluttered behind her. A young man was sitting on a horseshoe couch, dressed in traffic light colors and wearing a mysterious black and white mask. He smiled gently, resting his arm on the back of the couch and looking over it at his friend.

"Yeah, Star?"

FLASH

The impact sent her from flying down into the ground with a loud thump. A moan came from the indentation in which she lay, and Robin rolled, using the tremors to his advantage and making his way to the young redhead's aid in at a painfully slow pace.

The ground was still shaking angrily, ferocious and terrible. Cyborg was desperately trying to stand, horrified at the thought of the girl injured, but the earth below refused to let him rise. The heavy smog was dense and growing with the airborne rubble, tingeing the black night sky a grungy brown and covering the cheerful stars, which unknowingly mocked the crowd caught in this horrible circumstance. Cyborg coughed, falling down yet again, and he angrily slammed his fist on the pavement, throwing all his frustration into the movement. Instantly, he realized this was a very bad decision.

It started with a miniature crack that grew bigger, its edges crumbling into dust and falling into an endless abyss. It grew two feet, then three, then seven and then ten, widening as it expanded, cracking and swallowing innocents into its cavernous mouth. Cyborg's eyes widened as the fracture opened deeper and he teetered on the edge, staring down into the cavity. It seemed alive, seething and desperate to eat after centuries hungry and starved.

"YAHHH!" Cyborg yelped. He slid off of solid ground and dangled, gripping the edge of the chasm with his metal fingers, only to end up with two fistfuls of crushed dust. He gave a surprised scream and fell downwards.

The girl gasped, half at the sight of her rescuer enveloped by the earth and half through the pain in her lower body. Her leg was numb, and through the ripped pajama pants she could see her skin purpling. The tears that had brimmed in her eyes were falling as fast as Cyborg.

"VICTOR!" She screamed, not even knowing the name that came from her mouth, uninvited.

FLASH

"Hey, Rae."

The girl looked up from her novel at the sound of the deep, good-natured voice, giving a half-smile to the African American cybernetic organism. She shut her book, invoking a tiny whirlwind of dust from the pages, and scooted over, wordlessly offering him a seat beside her.

"Hello, Cyborg."

He smiled warmly, taking the seat.

"You can call me Vic if you want." He said, leaning closer as if sharing a secret.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Your real name?"

Cyborg laughed.

"Full name's Victor Stone."

"What about Robin's statute of secrecy?" Raven asked incredulously. "You just broke rule 37, section 4B."

Cyborg let loose another hearty laugh.

"Yeah, but he doesn't have to know that. I trust you enough to let you call me Victor, any how, so what does it matter?"

Raven smiled sneakily.

"Okay… Victor."

FLASH

His eyes widened even more and he yelled out to her, voice filled with hopeful desperation as he tried desperately to grasp better holds.

"VICTOR!" She screamed again, sobs racking her body now. She reached out with her hands, snatching at the air and trying to pull herself forward before letting loose a muffled shriek as pain rocketed through her legs.

"VICTOR!" Her throat ached as his name tore from her throat.

The terrain crumbled away under his fingers and he was swallowed into the dark.

"NO!"

The air around her grew black with a sudden surge, and the dirty air parted as a sphere of ebony energy surrounded her. It threw the slab of rock off of her lower body and a frigid wind began to blow, wiping the area clear of rubble and dust. The whips of black danced around her in a ritual of power, crackling and flowing together and apart again seamlessly. Her eyes were white diamonds now and a bubbled mass of shimmering lavender energy hovered over her legs, sending tingling sensations all over her body and tickling the very bone.

She fell to the ground, the darkness evaporating. Tentatively, she moved her ankle, then her legs, surprised and horrified to find that they were good as new. Quaking, she brought a hand up to her face and inspected it, trying to see her pale, bony fingers though they shook more violently with fear than due to the earthquakes racking the city.

FLASH

"Look, I'm just not in the mood to talk right now, okay?" The girl was saying impatiently. She was half hidden by her door, ready to slam it shut. She blew a piece of purple hair from in front of her matching irises.

"Raven, something is wrong. I know it is. Tell me." The boy was saying insistently. He ran a hand over his bald head, sighing in defeat. "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

The young woman's glare softened.

"Yeah…" She muttered.

FLASH

Fires were sprouting up, wild and licking the soiled air with their orange tongues. Their flames jumped higher every moment and their smoke wafted upwards and mingled with the clouds, covering the silver lining and looming intimidatingly above. The already warm night was growing hotter, becoming an inferno of heat and destruction amongst the ruins of the city.

The Man in the Moon packed his bags and drove off, flicking the metaphoric light switch of the moon to "OFF". As said sphere blinked out of existence, overrun by smoke, the girl crawled on her hands and knees toward the fissure, the only thing playing through her disoriented mind was the picture of this boy who she felt she knew so well who she knew she had to help. She didn't even notice the tattered state of her baggy nightclothes, and paused only once to pull them up on her hipbones where they threatened to slip down. She shakily wiped sweat from her forehead, running her fingers over the jewel that was there. Why was it there, anyway?

The fire tongues licked at her saucily, showering her with bits of their sparking saliva. Part of her overlarge pajama pants caught and burned, the soft fabric curling and searing the skin of her calf before she could put it out. With an "oof!", she was knocked to her side as the Mother Earth retched. She tumbled once, twice, and ended up right at the ledge of the crack. She squinted inside, her voice foreign and cracking.

"V-Victor?" She called. There was no answer.

"Victor!" She yelled again. She felt tears of frustration, confusion, and misplaced anger pour down her face. She didn't know anything, couldn't remember anything…

"Victor," She began loudly, coldly. "If you don't come out, I'll just have to go in there and find you!" She threatened.

FLASH

"Look, Raven," Cyborg began, exasperated. "You have to come outta there sometime! Ya can't lock yourself away."

"Cyborg." Raven said in frosty monotone. "Go. Away."

Cyborg groaned.

"Raven, if you don't come out, I'll just have to go in there and find you!" He yelled, banging on her door.

FLASH

She scooted to the edge, sticking her feet in first, and squeezed her eyes shut as she shimmied downwards with her fingers still tight on the edge of the crack. With a yell, she let go and slid downwards against the side of the rift, wincing each time she hit the sharp points of earth and protruding rock. She felt the slashes as cuts etched into her pallid skin, leaving her with little red brushstrokes on her skin.

She came to a sudden stop, landing heavily on a hard slab of rock. It was almost pitch black here, and only a sliver above showed a faint sift of light, which barely lit the dim space. She stood shakily, reaching out to steady herself on –

"V-Victor?" She stuttered. She pulled her hand off his cool chest and backed away.

He let out a small laugh.

"Ya think a little fall coulda hurt me?" He said, jokingly. He was dirty and bruised, and as he stepped he limped painfully. He sobered a moment later.

"Raven…" He said, serious now. He moved closer to her and she tried to back farther away, only to find her back against the wall of the chasm. She looked at him apprehensively, but he stayed where he was. "Are you okay? Do you remember anything?"

She slid to the ground slowly, wrapping her arms around her legs and hugging them to her chest. She buried her face in her knees.

"I don't – I mean, I just – I – What – Nothing –" She stopped, her sigh audible. "What happened…?" She faded off helplessly.

A memory hit her.

FLASH

Strong arms picked her up. It seemed that gravity had pushed her from the sky just a little too violently this time...

"Get outta the way! I said get out! She's hurt, y'all!"

Everything was a blur. Her eyelids flicked once, twice, and shut. Darkness… sweet darkness… just fade away into the darkness…

"Robin, c'mere!"

Noises… so loud…. Head aching…

"Check her pulse, check her pulse!"

"Oh my! Friend Raven is bleeding!"

"Get some water!"

"Hurry, she's fading fast!"

Voices... too many... voices...

"Damnit, don't you leave me, Rae. I swear, ya better not leave me."

FLASH

Through half-sleep the voices filtered in…

"When do you think she'll recover?"

"I don't know if she'll recognize us, even…"

"They attacked her with everything they had, it's a miracle she survived…"

FLASH

Two blurry male silhouettes hovered outside the door, which was half open.

"Robin, I've never been more scared for someone in my entire life," A deep voice confided in a quiet whisper, causing the other muddled figure to put his put his hand the speaker's shoulder, a macho but intimate and reassuring gesture.

"She'll be okay. I'm positive."

The girl drifted off...

FLASH

They didn't know she was awake, but she could hear their voices blearily…

"Let her rest, friend Cyborg. If something bad happens to you can just come and get her."

"Ah, you're right…"

FLASH

It was all coming back to her…

She squeezed her eyes shut, desperate to remember.

FLASH

She pulled back the covers, sitting up and leaning forward to scratch whatever bug bite was irritating her, only to stare.

Her pajams were ripped and torn, dirty and muddy, and covered in still-warm ash and scorch marks...

THE END

Author's Note: This is a current one-shot and will most likely stay that way, but I might consider adding more chapters if I'm in the mood.

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