REVISED EDITION

Chapter 1

A Plan and a Briefing

Grief is a natural process that every human being will experience at some point in their lives and the way in which it is dealt with varies from person to person. Some will retreat into themselves and will never talk about it with anyone. There are those who will continue with their lives as if nothing has changed or even happened. And worse still, are the people who simply wallow in their grief, pitying themselves and their own emptiness.

The two years following the tragedies of the 'Jump City Center Blaze' had been a trying and life changing period in the lives of the Titans. They nearly lost faith in themselves, their abilities and their very mission to protect the city. To the eyes of the public, they remained the ever strong and constant pillars that kept the city from sinking into an abyss of crime and discord; though only the team and those close enough to be trusted knew this to be a lie.

The very foundations on which they had built the basis of their own personal missions had been shaken; they were weakened and would've toppled over like unbalanced dominos had it not been for the support and encouragement from Titans East, honorary Titans and the more supportive members of the Justice League. Each member had dealt with the distress in their own way, wanting to cope in silence and remain strong and stable for the sake of the team.

In a way, all heroes must overcome this obstacle to complete every hero's dream; peace and justice throughout the universe. Because although death may be sad, traumatic and sometimes untimely, it must be remembered that death is only another turning point in one's journey.

Each member of the team had overcome the guilt of the failed mission and it had changed them. They had taken on new ideologies and perspectives on life. Robin, or Nightwing as he now called himself, spent less time in his office and more time in the arms of his girlfriend, believing that at any second, either one of them would be gone in an instant. Changing his habits had brought about a happier and relaxed Nightwing which made for a happier and more relaxed tower.

Speaking of girlfriends, Starfire had stopped waiting around for her beau to make a move and instead started making rather blatant passes at him until he could no longer ignore them. Starfire was no longer the innocent alien who questioned Earth's strange customs; she was a smart, skilled warrior who had seen the hardships of those in war-torn countries. She still retained her loving heart, but the naivety of a foreigner was gone.

Cyborg had taken some time away from the team to gather his thoughts and clear his head. He visited his father who now lived in Metropolis, working at a branch of Wayne Industries that specialized in prosthetics. Cyborg, after witnessing the calamity of the blaze and the lives it claimed, had decided to see his father while he had the chance. He now stayed in regular contact with him, which made both father and son very happy.

Raven had continued to live her like normal for a few weeks, but it soon began to fall apart at the seams like an old bag or a much loved toy. Just like Nightwing, she realized that life is precious, especially in the hero business. Your teammate could be alive and well one moment and then entering Death's door the next. Coming to that conclusion, Raven had slowly dropped her defensive walls that barred all who wished to get closer to her. With her walls coming down, and her control of her power growing each day, Raven could express herself a great deal more than she used to, it wasn't what was considered normal as of yet, but she was making progress. In recent years, she found herself in less meditative trances than ever, and more in the arms of a certain green-skinned changeling.

The changeling in question had taken the traumatic events to heart more than the others. Not only had he witnessed and heard everything, the woman who had perished in the fire bore a striking resemblance to his mother. This fact pushed plenty of upsetting memories to the forefront of his mind; his parents in their last moments before their boat went over the waterfall and the happier moments he had shared with them. Beast Boy understood what death was, what it meant and what it could do to a person. He realized he never wanted to experience it again if he could help it. He treated every day like a gift and, as such, didn't waste it. Following this new perspective, he managed to scrounge up the courage and ask Raven on a date and pleasantly surprise everyone when they officially became a couple a few months later.

It had been five long years since the near downfall of the Teen Titans, now they were as strong as ever and a true force to be reckoned with. Beast Boy, or Changeling as he had come to be known, bounded down the steps to the garage that housed all the Titan vehicles. I'm gonna do it today, no backing out. This is it! He enthused while a grin began to form on his face. He pushed open the steel door and immediately his sensitive ears were greeted by the sound of metal against metal.

He gritted his teeth against the jarring sound and ran toward his cybernetic friend who lay beneath the T-Car, offending object in hand.

"Cy! Hey Cyborg!" He wasn't getting anywhere with this. He took in a deep breath and yelled at the top of his lungs, "CYBORG!"

The drilling immediately stopped and Cyborg's bald head poked out from beneath the vehicle, a smudge of grease on his cheek.

"No need to shout, B. I was just down here."

"Cy, remember it's not Beast Boy anymore, it's Changeling. Say it with me, Change-ling." He pronounced each syllable slowly as if talking to a small child.

Cyborg stood up and wiped his grease stained hands on a nearby rag. "Whatever, you'll always be Beast Boy to me." Seeing that his green friend was about to protest he quickly changed the subject. "So what can I help you with?"

Changeling's expression of mild annoyance changed to a sheepish grin.

"Well...I was wondering..." Cyborg narrowed his eyes at his friend, taking note of the obvious hesitation in his question. And having been his friend for five years, he knew that a balking Changeling was never a good thing.

"If this is about asking me to be an accomplice in another one of your 'master plans', it's gonna be a no. As much as I'd love a good prank, it took me two weeks to get rid of all the itching powder in my circuits from the last ingenious scheme we pulled."

This is turning out to be a lot harder than I thought. Changeling sighed. He'd planned it all out before he even got down to the garage, although now he had no idea what his brain had done with it.

"It's not anything like that! I just wanted to know if you had any advice on how I should propose to Raven." There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

The taller of the two broke out in a huge grin that stretched from ear to ear. "I thought you'd never ask." He chuckled at his friend's indignant expression. "Come on, it was obvious as soon as you guys became serious."

"Okay, I get it, so do you have any advice?"

"Straight down to business then. Well, you should take her to her favorite place for dinner. And make it all about Raven. Treat it like a normal date, but, of course, you've got a bit of a surprise for her at the end."

"Okay, that sounds easy enough. I think I'll take her for a walk after."

"Have you got a ring? You can't plan all of this and not have a ring."

"How stupid do you think I am Cy?" Cyborg shrugged his shoulders, but he had the decency to at least look sheepish. "Of course I have a ring! It belonged to my mom. She would have wanted someone special like Rae to wear it."

Changeling settled into a state of melancholy; memories only he could see flashing in front of his unblinking eyes.

"Hey B? You alright?" Cyborg's booming voice snapped Changeling's attention back to the present.

"Huh? Uh yeah, I'm fine." He smiled, back to his boyish self. "Thanks for the advice! I better go and ask her now before it gets too late."

"Anytime, B." Cyborg waved and slid back under the T-car.

Changeling raced down the halls the Tower eager to ask his girlfriend out on the most important date of their lives. He finally reached her door; he remembered times past when he used to find the simple structure intimidating and much like the object of his affections. It was outwardly cold and emotionless and it had many secrets beyond its entrance that he had yet to discover.

He knocked three times and waited patiently for her to welcome him in. He heard some light shuffling before the door slid open to reveal her petite form. She looked a little thin and tired today.

"Hi Gar." Raven said in a tone of voice that would sound monotonous to anyone else but him and his well tuned ears. He heard the slight change that meant she was happy to see him.

"Hey Rae," He grinned and leant down slightly to peck her lightly on the lips. "How are you today? Did you get much meditation in?"

She sighed tiredly and he took note of the slight bags beneath her eyes. She hadn't slept well last night, he knew it. Gar knew that she had taken on a new meditation regime in recent months to better control her powers and while it had been working, the side effects of the treatment meant poor appetite, which explained why she had dropped a few pounds, constant fatigue, hardly any sleep and what little sleep she managed was constantly interrupted by nightmares.

He and the rest of the team had tried to dissuade her from continuing with the regime when they saw the toll one month's worth had had on their friend. Raven wouldn't change her mind though, standing firm that this is what she needed and wanted to do and if a few sleepless nights was the cost of complete control, then so be it. Gar knew that she wouldn't be easily put off from something she wanted so much, it was one of her qualities that he admired, but he knew that it wasn't good for her. He was still trying to discourage the treatment that she was self-administering but he still wasn't getting anywhere with her.

"Not a lot actually. I got distracted by one of my books instead." She smiled minutely at him before turning and heading inside her room. He followed closely behind her.

Gar looked around at his surroundings and again he was hit with the same sense of melancholy from just moments before. His eyes took in the new decor of her room. It still retained the darkness and mystery like it had before, yet, like its resident, the room seemed a little brighter and happier. Some of her more macabre figurines had been placed in storage and so had the chest that held Malchior's book. Now that Gar was a frequent visitor, Raven had taken to opening her curtains so that natural light could flood the room. In addition, a small, orderly stack of comic books and graphic novels sat on her bookshelf amongst her ancient tomes and scrolls.

She sat on her bed where he quietly joined her.

"So what book captured you this time?" Gar asked with a boyish grin plastered across his face.

"I got caught up in "To Kill a Mockingbird". I barely did any meditation at all today." The briefest mention of meditation brought Raven's problem to the forefront of his mind.

"You know Rae, I really think you should give up with that meditation. It's not good for you." He could see she was getting annoyed with him, but he paid no heed and continued. She needs to hear me out. "You hardly eat now. I mean, you were pretty small before but you've lost at least ten pounds. And you don't sleep well, actually, scratch that, you don't sleep at all. I know, I've heard you awake in your room. Just trust me on this, okay? Please Rae, the team and I have been worried about you."

Her face was stern, her lips were set in a straight line and her brow was beginning to furrow. "Gar, I want this control, I need it. I want to know that I can feel things without them making something exploding, I want to be able to show emotion when I want without the possibility of my power killing anyone." Her eyes softened, as did her voice. "Gar, I want to be able to kiss you, make love with you with all my heart and know that I will not kill you."

Gar simply sat, gazing into her endless amethyst eyes. He knew how important this was to her. They hadn't taken that step in their relationship for two reasons; one, Raven believed her powers weren't stable enough and that in the heat of the moment, she could kill him or someone else who just happened to be close by. Two, they both wanted to wait until they were sure that it was what they wanted and they both were ready for it.

"Isn't there something else you can do? Anything at all? I don't want to see you like this. You're always tired and you hardly eat pizza with us anymore. Please Rae, don't do this to yourself. I know how much this means to you but there's gotta be another way of learning to control your powers." Gar hoped that the emotion that was sure to be displayed across his face was enough to convince her.

Raven sighed and Gar was again reminded of how tired she was. "I wish there was Gar, but as far as I know, there isn't." She offered a small smile to which Gar returned half-heartedly. She hoped some light-heartedness would divert his attention to something else other than her meditation regime. Her smile morphed into an animalistic grin, "Until I find another method that will allow me to solve my problem, is there some way I can make this up to you?"

Gar's smile grew considerably. "As a matter of fact there is. You have to join me for dinner for tonight. But first..." As the words left his mouth, Gar pulled the small girl seated beside him onto his lap and pressed his lips against hers in a smouldering kiss that took her by surprise. Both participants melted into each other, forming one cohesive being. Gar just couldn't get enough of the empath who had stolen his heart the moment she had told him that he was 'kind of funny' that day they had fought the Gordanians.

Just as the moment was beginning to get more heated, if that was even possible, a loud trilling sound filled the room, seemingly originating from Raven's bedside table and Gar's utility belt. They broke apart reluctantly and Changeling pulled his communicator from the clip on his belt. Flipping open the yellow device and seeing Nightwing's stern face on the small LED screen ruined any hopes Gar had of resuming his make out session with Raven.

"Gar, Raven, I need both of you to come down to the common room now for a briefing."

"Now? I was just about to take a nap!" Whined Gar with a childish pout.

"Yes, Gar, now. It's important. I'll see you in five minutes." The transmission ended and the screen faded to black.

Raven leant across Gar's lap and pecked him lightly on the lips. "Come on, I'm sure it won't take long. If we're lucky, we might be able to continue where we left off." A coy smile made its way onto her face. I like the sound of that! Gar's sulking expression vanished instantly and a large grin replaced it instead. Standing up, he led the way to the common room.

"Shall I pick you up at six thirty?" He asked while extending his arm to her, which she gladly accepted.

"Sure. Where are we going tonight?"

"Ah, but it is a surprise, ma chérie. You'll just have to find out tonight." He said in a faux French accent that made her smile again. I love that smile, it's so beautiful. Gar thought while gazing at her profile as the common room doors came closer with each step the both of them took.

As the doors slid open to reveal the rest of their team, the pair noticed Nightwing's hardened expression that he'd rarely worn since he and the resident Tarmaranian started dating. Whatever news he had to share couldn't be good at all. They also saw their other friends' equally bemused faces.

Raven and Gar took their respective seats on the semi-circular couch and waited patiently for Nightwing to begin.

I really hope this doesn't take too long. Gar's expression of mild confusion hid his disdain for having to be present at the briefing exceedingly well, but, he was Changeling after all, so everyone knew he hated briefings almost as much as meat.

"Gar, I know how much you hate these types of meetings, but it's really important that you pay attention." Nightwing threw his teammate a pointed look before standing in front of his assembled team. Clearing his throat, he withdrew a small remote control from the confines of one of the many compartments on his standard issue Bat Clan utility belt. "According to recent police reports there have been a few missing persons and robberies of the top secret variety."

He pressed a button on the remote and six faces appeared on the large screen behind him. Starfire eagerly raised her hand. "Richard, is this not a job for the authorities? I do sympathize with their families, but do we not have the frying of bigger fish to do?" Starfire's eyes had always been very expressive, and right now, they betrayed her feelings of indecision.

Cyborg nodded his head in agreement, "I agree with Star on this, Rob. I feel bad and all, but I don't think that it's our job. First of all, like Star said, there are worse criminals out there, ones who are trying to take over the world. Second, we have absolutely no training in that area."

"Believe me when I say that I raised all those points and more when I was informed that Detective Sampson was handing this case to us. It wasn't until I read the brief that I understand why." He stepped to the side of the screen and gestured to all of the faces that were displayed in stunning HD quality. "All of these people are metahuman or in some other way linked to metahumans," He pointed to a middle aged man, "Stanley Oaken, a support counsellor at Jump City Meta-Help Center," He then motioned to another face, a pretty young woman, "And Maggie Thomas, a spokesperson for MetsTogether. At first there had been no connection made between any of these disappearances other than that they were perfect. No evidence left behind at all."

"Which was the most recent abduction?" Raven asked. Her brows knitted together in thought.

Nightwing clicked his remote again and one of the images enlarged to full screen size. It was a young girl, possibly a few years shy of 17. She was attractive, something that the bland school photo failed to conceal. "Emily Young, 16 years old and lives with her parents in Hazelton. Reported missing on June 15th by her mother when she didn't come home from a party."

"Are there any ideas as to why they're being taken?" Gar queried.

"Not yet. There have been theories of hate crimes, murder and other things along those lines. But I think it's something bigger than that." Nightwing took the opportunity to glance over his team. He knew this would be a tough assignment for all of them; they were metahuman after all. It was sure to hit close to home. Starfire looked deeply concerned, her round green eyes were thoughtful as she mulled over the information she had just heard. Cyborg also looked deep in thought as he stared at the screen; his one human eye staring determinedly at only something he could see. Raven, well, she looked impassive as always, but, having been around her so long, he knew her tells. And right now, she was concerned as much as anyone. Her brow was furrowed slightly as she pondered. Gar looked...angry? His eyes were clouded over with something that Nightwing just couldn't discern.

"I know that taking on this case will not be easy seeing as it's so personal. But like I've said many times before, we cannot get emotionally involved with this. It will cloud our judgement." Nightwing turned to switch off the screen when he heard Gar behind him.

His voice was low and came out almost like a snarl, "How can you say that Nightwing? Those are real people in real trouble. This is not some made up scenario that Batman put you through so you could be his perfect little sidekick. We take on a case like this and you ask us not to make it personal? I can't believe you! But then again, I shouldn't expect you to understand. You're not a metahuman; you wouldn't understand the anger, the fear or the hate that people have toward us. You could just take off your mask and you'd be normal and be able to blend in with them," He marched up to Nightwing and looked him straight in the eye, "You don't understand and you never will, so don't ask us not to take it personally."

He turned on his heel and stormed out of the common room, leaving perplexed teammates in his wake.

*The Meta-Help Center is my idea of a support group for metahumans that is similar to the 'Isis Foundation' from Smallville.

*And the MetsTogether is an organization that supports metahumans and is against the Metahuman Registration Act, again, an idea burrowed from Smallville, except they called it the Vigilante Registration Act.

I don't know if it's obvious, but I've been watching a lot of Smallville recently. (I miss it so much!)

Anyway, here is my rewritten first chapter; if you remember my original then you can see that I'm following the same storyline without too many changes. But the point of this rewrite was not to change my original story, just to fix up my appalling writing which, I hope, has improved since I started writing.

I really hope I captured the essence of an angry Changeling correctly; I was afraid it might've been a little OOC.

The Cretin –"Hey, great opening. Glad to see you back. I think your beginning starts off strong and clear. Hope to read more soon. Keep rockin"

Hey, happy to be back! Thanks for your review!

Guest – "I don't even care which version of this you update, BUT I NEED TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS. PLEAS, I'M BEGGING YOU. IT HAS SUCH A GOOD PLOT. UGHHHHH. I LOVE YOU"

Thanks! I'll try really hard to update more regularly. Thank you!

I'll try to get the next chapter up by next week, I'm on holidays so I have a lot of time on my hands!

Sincerely,

CB xox