Night is a long and troublesome thing. Although they had a competent security system wired throughout the whole city ready to alert them at the hint of trouble, she decided to do it the old-fashioned way. She scoured the city for miscreants, sensing any disturbances in the air. Of course, this was Gotham City. She wouldn't have to waste her powers to search for any trouble. It was usually around the corner—like a bank or some jewelry store. As if on cue, an alarm went off. She glided down and surveyed the area within the shadows.

This had to be one of the corniest villains she ever had the displeasure to meet. He was a small, four-ft. being that seemed to annoy her every time he opened his mouth. His clothes were outrageously bright green and orange—something that would make even neon signs cringe in pain. No sense in delaying the inevitable end for this pathetic being. She stepped from the shadows and slowly made her way behind him.

"Fear me! Bow down to me! You peons! I will be your master! For I am...Master...Lord..." the offender in bright clothes scratched the back of his head. He furrowed his brows in thought.

When he was about to open his mouth, Raven whispered sarcastically, "It's usually a good idea to come prepared before you get your ass kicked."

"Stupid girl!" He screamed in surprise when he heard her voice coming from behind. He grabbed his chest where his heart was beating rapidly and backed up a few hundred feet. "Names are a trivial matter." He dug in his pocket and produced a small, green ball hidden from her sight when she started to fly towards him. "Maybe it's you who should have prepared for me!" With that said, he threw his secret weapon at her and earnestly waited for impact.

It was a split second, but that was all the time she needed in catching the ball with her dark energy. Her telekinetic powers threw it aside, and she headed straight for her victim.

"NO! No! No! No! No! No!" He kicked and screamed in her power's grasp.

She rolled her eyes and glared at him causing the imp to shut up. "Why do I always get stuck with the PATHETIC ones?"

Suddenly, the imp's demeanor changed and stared back with steady eyes. "It's the pathetic ones that always surprise the fools." He grinned a sinister smile and his body just melted into a puddle of greens, oranges, and skin.

'What did he mean by—' She didn't have to think long and hard. The green ball that she had thrown aside collided with her face, and it spread throughout her body. She tried to scrape the oozing liquid with her hands, but it was then she realized how much pain it was bringing to her body like a burning sensation.

Acid... It held fast to her, but she quickly tried to spread her powers around her body as a protective skin. It was too late. She could only get a slither of her powers to slip through the mess's hold on her.

"Hold still!"

As soon as she heard the command, she stopped fidgeting and left her fate to whoever said it. Besides, she could guess from the voice who it was.

It was a risky, but effective move. She felt something impact the ooze and it became frozen stiff. With her powers, she was able to break through that acidic covering. She opened her eyes and the street lights flooded them. She shook her head and kneeled, breathing heavily.

"Raven, are you okay?"

She blinked a few times and sensed the former Boy Wonder.

"I'm fine...Nightwing." She looked up and saw nothing. It didn't surprise her for him to pull a Houdini on her for the umpteenth time. She gave up in trying to trace or read his mind. He usually blocked her from it, anyways. As for the former villain she was battling, there was no trace of him left. The last drops of him were washed away with the sudden downpour that was unfelt by the woman in the dark blue cape.

Flight of the Dark Angel

Chapter 1

From the building she was perched on, she quietly settled down into a meditative position. Dark and gloomy skies, raindrops as big as quarters—a perfect match with her mood. She would have settled for night dreaming, but it would not come. Her mind was racing at the fact that she was so helpless tonight. She was so open for him to see her weak side. Her feebleness perfectly stumbled in at the wrong time. Why was she behaving so haphazardly tonight?

For someone so unaffected by anything, she was pained by everything. Well, that was her job. She was the healer of all pain. To affectively heal someone, she had to absorb all of it. Not only physically, but mentally as well.

A familiar alarm pulled her from her reverie and into her present situation. Her com link, which was placed beside her, getting soaked in the rain, flashed on and off—a signal that she had answered many times.

'Not now,' she thought.

"Titans! Trouble on Boulevard Ave.!"

That voice. The voice of their leader. Even though the former Teen Titans had split up (sans the couple of the group), there was still a way to communicate and call upon each other in times of need. There were so many emotions linked with their hailed leader, but now was not the time. Others' needs came first. She reminded herself, once again, that she was the healer of all pain.

In fact, anytime was not appropriate to meditate upon her emotions. She was warned that if she lost focus and gave in to herself, something devastating would happen; something truly disastrous. Did she herself believe in that tale? Nothing's happened, yet. Focusing is the key. That was why she was always flying solo, even though she fought alongside her friends. She had to choose the vast emptiness to protect them.

She arrived at the trouble spot, readying herself for what things may come. But no matter how much preparation time she gave herself, nothing could ever prepare her for what was about to befall her.

Upon landing, she glanced around noting that it was eerily quiet. Her eyes steadily took in the abandoned warehouse and the buildings with their blazing lights off. This was the busiest street, no matter what time of day it was, surrounded by food courts and shops—something definitely was off.

'Maybe they took care of it...?' she wondered. But it was a five-minute flying distance. Surely, no matter how much training they've received these past years, five minutes is not enough time beating the bad guys, taking them to prison, and cleaning up after themselves without leaving a trace—spotless, even. And the buildings, she added, were empty. Yes, there was something wrong.

One more look around finally answered her curiosity. She didn't feel it and she started to wonder if she was starting to lose her powers...or hearing. She knew she heard Nightwing summon them...

Standing behind her was an elderly man with white hair. But upon closer look, his face held a look of maybe late 30's. His deep, glowing red eyes were a great contrast against his white garments. The cape that was blowing about him was held in place by a red jewel on the right side of his chest. Certainly, he was not of this world.

"It's time to come home, Raven...my dear daughter."

"Daughter?" she said aloud. She wasn't sure of what she heard. The rain was pouring even harder.

"That's right. I've missed you and so has everyone else."

"That can't be...You're not...," she mumbled to herself. Her real father was the King of Demons. That ugly, sulfur-smelling, putrid, depraved monster who haunted her very existence was her father. This man was human...okay, she forgot about the glowing red eyes. If what he was saying was true, then...

"No! Stay away from me!" No matter how much she had grown up, her mind could not grow out of the fear that struck her soul from the images of the Demon King that she sometimes dreamed of. She hurled a blast of dark energy at him but was disintegrated by one of his own.

"Daughter...must we do this the hard way?" His eyes glowed even more sinister, and he formed a staff in his hand. On top of it laid a skull with a pair of horns perched at the side. He tapped gently on the asphalt which brought about a small earthquake and dark energy bursting through the ground behind her in the form of a giant demon.

One of his demon hands, she thought quickly. Even though they were almost impossible to destroy, there was still a chance she could defeat it—if she could hold onto her rapidly beating heart. Her heart beats were like loud drums in her ears. She was scared. She knew that. If only this was a figment of her imagination like before with that dumb horror movie she had watched. Her silent wishing was destroyed by the demon hand's first attack.

He swooped down at her. She could see that. But her body did not respond. It was like she was a deer caught in the headlights—too stupid to move. All that she could do now was to cross her arms in defense and brace for impact.

That impact never came. Instead, she felt like she was airborne in someone's arms sailing through the air. She opened her eyes and felt so pathetic when she realized who it was, again. Nightwing...

She remained quiet and they both landed on a rooftop 50 yards away from her father. Nightwing retracted his modified grappling hook and silently surveyed their current situation.

"What's the matter? You don't seem like yourself, tonight, Raven," he said with no emotion in his voice He didn't turn to face her.

She turned to look at his face, but she only stole a glance. If only they weren't fighting right now... She looked back at her father staring back at her. She froze at his empty stare. His coal-black irises resting within the red glow of his eyes—it sent shivers down her spine. Why is it, after all of those encounters with her father, that she's breaking down like this?

"Look out!" Again, Nightwing shoved Raven out of the way. 'Dammit!' She cursed herself for being so helpless. No more of this damsel in distress bullshit. She rolled out of the way and bent her knees in preparation for the demon hand's next attack. She pushed herself off the roof and flew towards the demon. Blades 18 inches long made of dark energy formed at her palms and she tried to slice through the demon, her dress's folds spiraling in the air as she, too, twirled to deepen the blow. But her actions were in vain. Her weapons dissolved in the air and she parried a clawed attack with a mental shield she conjured up.

Nightwing, seizing his opportunity, threw a few plasma bombs on the creature that held fast and exploded within a few seconds. He felt that Raven hated help, especially from him, all these years, but tonight, she was acting too strange. Something was distracting her from her usual steady concentration. Maybe this time, she would accept his help.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the familiar glow of Nightwing's plasma grenades. Three... Two... One... She jumped out of the way and into the air when they exploded. Smoke covered the place and Raven had to fly higher to get out of the smoke's perimeter. It was soon cleared by the rain and revealed a still-standing demon flapping its decrepit wings.

Of course, this wouldn't work. Why did she hope? Why did he hope? They both knew that things of the mortal realm could not easily defeat one from another realm.

A chuckle escaped from her father's mouth. "My, you children amuse me." He smiled and nodded at his minion. The underling cackled and resumed its work. It flew towards the woman and readied its arms to grab her. A few feet turned into a few inches, but before it could touch her, Nightwing had lassoed it from behind and swung him a few times around before throwing him down at the asphalt below.

'Now!' She thought. She dove in after the demon and formed a sword-like object with her powers which expanded throughout the demon's body when she pierced through the skin. 'For the safety of the people,' she thought heroically. Hell, for the safety of Nightwing. She felt her courage coming back and it energized her powers which produced an effect twenty times stronger than normal. After she lodged her energy in its body, she did a backflip out of the crater Nightwing's toss created. She stumbled a little, but regained her composure when the creature finally exploded in the rainy night.

'That was too easy...'

Raven's attention was brought back to her father's maniacal laughter doubled with something sinister. "Do you think that he can be defeated by your petty tricks?! Arise, my minion!"

The supposedly defeated monster rose from its craterlike grave and smoke escaped out of its smoldering, hollowed eyes. Maggots began dripping out of its mouth and the foul stench of death filled the air. Sludge and rotting flesh trailed after it as it made its way once again to its target: Raven. This time, it gained more speed and knocked the hooded woman back before she had a chance to dodge it.

Nightwing leapt off the roof of the building and bounded off a canopy onto the ground and caught her before she landed. He kept his silence when he saw the frustration in her face.

"I'm fine. Stop helping me," she whispered as she got up. "I don't need your help."

Again, she rejected him. But he stood firm on his decision—

"...I'm helping. Whether you like it or not..." He rushed towards the demon. 'I'm not leaving your side.' He jump-attacked it with the metal bow he always kept.

Okay, attacking it head on was not the best of choices. Yes, he was a little shaken by the demon's appearance...Yes, he was uncertain on exactly how to defeat it...but that didn't stop him from protecting her. This time...without anyone else distracting him...he will be there for her.

[To be continued...]

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A/N

Okay, here's a confession. I normally wouldn't make a fanfic of Teen Titans. Don't ask. I just wouldn't. But here it is. A Robin/Raven fic.

No, I don't hate Starfire. She just gets on my nerves.

As for the timeline, I screwed up the ages for everyone. (I just love AU's.) Nightwing, Cyborg, and B.B. are 21. Raven and Starfire are 20.

Hope you enjoyed?

-Knight.B.