Robin and Beast Boy staggered from the water with Raven's arms slung over their shoulders. Her cloak had been lost on the journey across the bay and they were forced to lay their unconscious friend on the dirty sand of a seaweed strewn beach before collapsing on either side of her. For a long time, the only sound was their heavy breathing.
"I…That was…that was…" Beast Boy tried but failed to find words that could express his thoughts. Robin understood him regardless. They both lay flat on backs looking up at the night sky. "Who were those guys?"
"I have no idea. All I saw was the three helicopters."
"Boeing AH-64 Apaches," said Beast Boy and Robin turned his head to stare at him. "What? I play Call of Duty, yo."
Raven moaned and shifted beside them. Both boys moved to help her sit up as she came to. "Wha—what?" Raven looked around bewildered. "Where?"
"We were attacked. The tower was destroyed." Robin kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her steady as he described as best he could had happened. "I think you hit your head in the initial hit. You had blood on your face when I found you." He carefully began parting her hair with his fingers and immediately found a gash just above her hair line. "It doesn't look bad, but you're definitely concussed. Let me guess: Headache? Nausea? Feeling kind of foggy?"
Raven nodded, slumping forward and putting her head down on her bent knees. "Where are Cyborg and Starfire?"
The silence fell like dead weight between them. "I looked for them." Beast Boy's voice cracked. "I swam all over. I swear I did."
"We know you did, Beast Boy," said Robin.
Raven took a couple of deep breaths and looked back up at her friends. Beast Boy was sitting cross legged beside her looking miserable and exhausted. On the other side of her, Robin was shivering in his wet clothes and trying pathetically to brush wet sand from his bare feet. He had half a dozen small cuts across both soles of his feet.
"What happened to your shoes?" asked Raven.
"Lost along with my cape and belt."
"Just like John McClane," said Beast Boy.
Robin pushed back the wet hair that was plastered flat to his forehead. He would have laughed if everything hadn't been so awful. He felt numb with cold and wanted to get off this miserable strip of beach. "Raven, can you teleport us out of here?"
"No."
"No? Why not?" Robin tried to remain calm but he couldn't stop the frustration from creeping into his voice.
Raven's normally stoic face couldn't mask her despair. "My powers take a lot of mental effort and total focus to control."
"The concussion," said Robin to show he understood her.
"It's okay, Rae," said Beast Boy putting a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, where would we even go?"
The night was one of the longest any of them had ever experienced. To ease the cold, Beast Boy curled his Kodiak bear body around his two friends as if they were a couple of cubs. None of them slept. Instead, they sat watching the waves roll up on the narrow beach.
The rising tiding forced them off the beach with the grey light of pre-dawn. Robin walked while Raven rode on Beast Boy's small but sturdy Shetland pony back, her toes only clearing the ground by inches. The sound of Beast Boy's hooves on the pavement rang through the empty city streets.
Although the streets were deserted now, Robin knew that the city would start waking up and it would be dangerous for them to be out in the open. Walking around in costume was certain to get them noticed. It was a safe bet that their attackers would be after them again once they found out that they were still alive. If they didn't know already.
"This is stupid." Robin flopped down on a bus bench. "We can't just keep wandering around. We need a plan."
"A plan to do what?" asked Beast Boy sitting down beside Robin with Raven next to him.
"Yeah, typically a plan leads to an end goal," said Raven.
Robin screwed up his eyes and clenched his fists. "The end goal is to find our friends and bring our attackers to justice."
"Find our friends?" Beast Boy looked at him confused. "Cyborg and Starfire are probably d—"
"We don't know that!" Robin cut him off. "We don't know! Not what happened to our friends, not who attacked us, not why they attacked. We don't know anything!" He put his chin on his fists and leaned his elbows on his knees. "We have to presume that they are alive and we have to try and find them. They would do the same for us."
"You're right. We don't know anything. So, step one of the plan should be to do something about that." Beast Boy put his hand on Robin's shoulder. It made a wet slapping sound. "Actually, I've got a better idea for step one."
"I change my mind. I don't like this idea," said Beast Boy. He was standing next to Raven in a back alley keeping a look out. Robin was working on picking the lock to the back door of a thrift store with a broken fork they had found.
"We're going to pay them back," said Raven.
"I know, but what if we get caught?"
"Really, Beast Boy, grow some backbone."
"We're not going to get caught," said Robin over his shoulder. "This place doesn't have any cameras and only a local alarm. When it goes off, it will make a lot of noise but that's about it. No one is around to hear it. Raven and I will run in, grab what we need, and run out. We'll be long gone in less than five minutes."
"Well not if you can't open the door," said Beast Boy. "It was stupid to think you could pick it with an old fork."
"I had it open before we started having this conversation, I'm just waiting for you calm down so you can focus on keeping a look out for us."
"I'm calm! I'm focused!" Beast Boy planted himself next to the door so he had a clear view down the alley. "You guys just go do what you need to do."
Robin looked at Raven. "The alarm is going to be really loud and it's going to make your head hurt. A lot. Are you sure you can handle this?"
Raven scowled at him. "Whatever. Let's just get this over with."
"Okay, ready?" Robin looked at each of them. "On three. One. Two. Three!"
Robin yanked the door open and the alarm sounded. Together Robin and Raven disappeared inside, while Beast Boy held the door for their escape.
Beast Boy waited with his heart pounding in his chest and the alarm ringing in his ears. It was so loud that it seemed like the whole city would hear it. The minutes ticked by and he started to wonder if he should go in after them. He just poked his head in the when Robin came barreling out the door clutching a bundle of clothes with one arm and pulling Raven along behind him with the other. Raven was ashen faced and reeling, but still managed to come out with a backpack full of clothes. Beast Boy stood ready as a stallion while Robin boosted Raven onto his back before leaping up behind her. Together the three Titans cantered off down the alley.