The T-Car's interior was as gloomy as a the dark sky was overhead, which began to pour rain down on Jump City. The traffic was light on the Bayside Expressway, yet most drivers pulled aside, giving the Titan's signature car a wide berth, even though it didn't appear to be in any hurry as Cyborg drove it back to the Tower.
The Tin Man looked stunned, as he carefully drove the car and mumbled to himself "This didn't happen, please God, let me wake up from this nightmare."
Nightwing sat stoically in the front passenger seat, his face betraying no expression, though his hands, both resting on his lap, were clenched.
Starfire was in the back seat, weeping in disconsolation, she said no words, but her body language spoke volumes. This was not a glorious day.
Raven was also seated in the back seat, with her eyes closed and her head bowed. Tears dripped down her cheeks. Her hands were also in her lap, but unlike Nightwing's they were not clenched. But they were restrained, as she was handcuffed.
The T-Car continued on its course. Cyborg stopped mumbling as they reached the entrance to the island's access tunnel. Moments later he parked the car in the Tower's underground garage. They sat in the car without speaking for several minutes, the silence broken only by Starfire's sobs. Finally, Nightwing unbuckled himself and opened his door. Cyborg promptly did the same. Dick opened his wife's door and extended his hand to her, which she accepted and she egressed from the car, still weeping. He hugged her and she returned the gesture.
Cyborg opened Raven's door and she looked up at him. He took her hands and helped her out of the car, and hugged her.
"Yo, Dick, does she really have to be cuffed?"
Nightwing walked around the car and slowly shook his head.
"No … she doesn't." He said as he removed her restraints, as if she couldn't have removed them herself.
"Of course I should wear them. I'm a criminal now." Raven finally spoke.
Nightwing looked her in her amethyst eyes, and suddenly the nightmare replayed in his mind.
-(-)-
About an hour before...
The crime alert had gone off as it did so many times before. It was the Hive and they were robbing a museum. It was so routine. The Titans would show up, the Hive would put up a good fight but in the end they would lose and be arrested. Then a few weeks later they would escape from prison, lay low for a while, and then try to rob something else. It had become the epitome of routine.
The Titans arrived just as the Hive, which was once again led by Jinx, was packing their swag into canvas bags. Nightwing stood in his best superhero pose and pointed at them.
"When are you guys ever going to learn that crime doesn't pay?" He shouted.
Of course, the Hive didn't surrender, they never did. So the fight began and proceeded as usual, meaning that at first it appeared to be even, but the Titans eventually gained the upper hand. Billy tried multiplying himself, but Cyborg had a sonic weapon that countered that and the red suited yahoo found himself an army of one, Nightwing appeared out of nowhere and knocked him out with a single punch. Changeling became a huge Sasquatch and was toying with Mammoth, but quickly took him down and reverted to his human form, triumphantly placing his right foot on the now unconscious Mammoth's chest. Starfire easily took out Kid Wykkyd, who like everyone else present wasn't an adolescent anymore and then quickly dispatched See-More with a star bolt. Her aim, unlike during her teen years, was now perfect. Nightwing and Raven then teamed up to take on Jinx and Gizmo. The annoying midget, who now sported stubble on his unshaven face, charged at the two Titans, using the ubiquitous spider like legs that were attached to the pack he wore on his back. Jinx followed him and raised her hand, firing one of her bad luck hexes at Raven.
It was all too predictable and Raven raised an obsidian shield with time to spare to block Jinx's hex.
What happened next was not predictable, nor part of the "script".
The deflected hex hit Gizmo, and his spider legs began to horribly malfunction, and they swayed him back and forth uncontrollably, like a drunkard.
"I surrender! Someone help me!" He shouted.
The five Titans grinned at Gizmo's panic, until the spider legs collapsed. The bald villain fell to the ground landing on his back. He groaned in pain as he rolled over. His tech pack was sizzling with Jinx's hex and it spontaneously fired a tiny missile. Gizmo looked dumbfounded, as it was clear he had nothing to do with the missile's launch.
It was a new weapon, unfamiliar to the Titans, whose collective expression turned to one of surprise. At first the rocket seemed to fly around randomly. Its speed was blinding. Then, somehow, it found a target. It appeared at first to be headed towards Raven, but it zoomed past her. She turned her head as fast as she could to visually follow it, and she saw it hit Changeling's chest and explode.
Gar fell to the ground, crumpling as he hit it.
"Noooooooo!" Raven screamed as she ran to her spouse's supine form. Cyborg reached him first and briefly examined his wound. Raven shoved him aside and conjured her healing blue light, but her hands fell to her side when she saw the gaping hole in his chest. His heart was gone, there was nothing left to heal. She carefully lifted his head.
"Garfield … Garfield." Her voice warbled.
He opened his eyes and locked them with hers for a moment, he then blinked and gave up his spirit. His lifeless eyes now stared into infinity.
Gizmo had risen to his feet. Jinx stared in disbelief at the scene in front of her. They both stood petrified, until the midget genius found his voice.
"It was an accident … I didn't … I'm sorry."
Raven kissed her dead husband's forehead before gently laying him down. She stood up and faced the two Hive members. Her eyes split into four crimson orbs and her skin turned red. Jinx saw red tears of blood sliding down Raven's now red face, which was framed by her now white hair.
"Sludge, what do we do now?" He whispered to Jinx.
"I don't know. Pray?" She murmured back to him as she began to shake uncontrollably in fear.
-(-)-
Starfire leaped over the car and hugged her friend.
"You are not a criminal, you were the temporarily insane."
Vic nodded. "Star's right, no jury will convict you."
Raven stepped back, violently shaking her head.
"No, that's not true, I knew what I was doing and if I could do it again I would."
Nightwing placed a hand on her shoulder. "What you did is perfectly understandable."
Raven shoved his hand away.
"Understandable? I killed them, I killed all of them. I killed them as they begged for mercy … and I enjoyed it."
She extended her hands back to Grayson.
"Put them back on, I'm a criminal. A murderer."
Starfire again pulled her into a hug. "Had you not killed them, I would have. They killed my beloved brother."
"Me too." Cyborg added as he wrapped his arms around them. "They killed my best friend."
Dick stared stoically at the them.
"Had it been Star, I don't know what I would have done."
Raven raised her head, tears were streaming down her face.
"What am I supposed to do? He's gone … I'm alone again." Her voice warbled. "I'll never be whole again, never."
"You will not be whole." Starfire whispered. "And we will never be whole again. But you are not alone Raven, and you will not go to the prison. I will take you back to Tamaran before allowing that to happen."
A very weak smile appeared on her face. "Thank you, Starfire. But I cannot run from justice. If I am convicted, I will serve my sentence without protest, even if I have to spend the rest of my life in prison."
-(-)-
Two months later …
The Titans stood solemnly while the city's mayor delivered a long eulogy for Changeling. A thirty foot tall monument, a pedestal with a statue of him standing and pointing at Titans Tower on the top, had just been completed. His grave was covered with a slab of gleaming marble with a "eternal flame" burning next to it.
Raven was not charged with murder by a Grand Jury, and there had been an outpouring of support for her by the local, national and world press, as well as the local citizenry, who were outraged when they learned that Changeling died from one of Gizmo's weapons. She noticed that half the city had turned out for the funeral, which was held in a large bay side park. It was a solemn occasion and there was little ambient noise from the huge crowd, ho were treating this death as a family death.
Once the mayor was done speaking a priest sprinkled holy water over the grave and said a prayer. Then, one by one, the Titans approached his grave.
Nightwing was first. He stood and making a fist he crossed his right arm over his chest.
Cyborg was next, he dropped onto his right knee. A tear came out of his human eye and he whispered sub-audibly before getting back up.
Starfire knelt on both knees and placed a bouquet of Tamaranian flowers she cut from her private garden on the island. She also bowed her head and whispered.
After Starfire rose Raven approached the grave and also knelt on both knees. She placed two roses, one violet and one green, on the slab. She then lowered her head until her chakra stone made contact with marble, which she then kissed.
"Wait for me … I'm coming." She said as she continued to press her forehead against the stone. "Please, wait for me."
-(-)-
I have been asked to continue this story. Be prepared for a lot of angst.
