A/N (DarkGirlRavenGrayson): I want to put this as a crossover, but I know it won't be seen. So just know this is a Teen Titan and Batman/Batman Beyond crossover. Questions will be answered. Plot will be revealed. Time to get going. It's been two years since the last update.

Disclaimer: We don't own any of the DC characters.

Chapter 2: What Lies Ahead

"Bruce…?" Richard murmured to himself as he continued to stare up at the stranger, leaning forward slightly in his crouch, as if shielding Raven. "How do you know Bruce, what do you mean 'bring me back'? And who are you?"

"Look, we don't have time for questions. If you want to know who's after you and your fiancé, and more importantly who's behind the… interesting string of killings you've been keeping track off, you'll follow me. We have to get to safety."

At this Richard perked up, eyes widening slightly as the figure turned his back and made his way to a small portal in the wall to the side of them. How did he know? The man glanced back at the two birds momentarily, Richard staring into the cowl intensely before his eyes dropped once more to the red bat insignia.

"Okay, we'll come," he finally spoke up, just as the costumed man glanced away again with a grunt and walked into the portal. Richard watched him before shifting his focus to a section of the Bat Cave that held his gadgetry, springing up so not to lose time. His hands flew to a drawer and he pulled it open swiftly, eyes searching before landing on what he needed. He pulled out a tracking device and put it on the inside of his boxers on the waistband. If anything was to actually happen and this man couldn't be trusted after all, Tim or Connor would find their whereabouts. He was not about to be unprepared.

"Richard?"

The soft whisper from Raven jogged his thoughts back, rushing over to her side and stooping down. She looked up at him in a confused state. "Richard, what's going on," she mumbled inaudibly, reaching up and touching his arm softly. He carefully scooped her up in his arms bridal style and cradled her to his chest as he made his way to the portal with her.

"I'm not sure yet, but we're going to find out. I'll make sure nothing happens to you, I promise." He placed a gentle kiss on her temple before stepping forward and making his way through, unknowing of what he would find on the other side.

What happened next Richard could barely comprehend; his vision blinded by light and his body going numb. He clung to Raven nevertheless, shutting his eyes tight and hiding his face in her hair as they were transported, the two tumbling to the ground together seconds later. Richard curled around her so to break her fall, feeling lightheaded and disoriented, unable to open his eyes. His breathing was staggered and pained as his body shuddered. He could feel it, how he didn't have strength or control over himself now. The portal had affected him.

Suddenly he felt cold hands gripping him, and Raven was pulled from his arms, so easily and swiftly. Panic seized him. He couldn't feel her, couldn't see her. With everything he had left, he forced his eyes opened.

A sickening feeling twisted inside him as his blurry vision attempted to focus. Flowing violet hair, silk white tank, a black suited body. The man. He shifted slightly as he watched the strange figure pull away with her. Footsteps. Richard's eyes widened as he tried to follow their intruder. How? Why? Where were they? He couldn't see, couldn't think straight, couldn't tell. A new voice broke the silence.

"Put her on the examining table, Terry. We have to make this fast, we don't have much time."

Time? Time for what? And that voice. He couldn't mistake it anywhere. But how? Richard's tense body managed to shift him enough once more to glance in its direction, eyes widening. The black suited man was resting Raven on a cold, metal table. She shuddered slightly but didn't open her eyes. Behind the table, Richard saw him. Bruce. Confusion flooded over him. It couldn't be. The sound of a drawer opening was heard. A needle came into view, Bruce tapping on it lightly. A clear liquid moved inside. He looked to Raven. Richard's shaky body went weaker as he put the pieces together.

"No!" he suddenly cried out, rage and adrenaline jogging sudden strength from within him as he forced himself up in one sudden, jerky motion, running frantically towards the trio. Bruce's eyes went from the dark woman to him but didn't falter in their calm stare. The black suited man simply looked to Bruce silently in an instant, and with a mere nod from Richard's once mentor, leapt at Dick and fluidly knocked him away. Richard kept his balance after hitting his back to a wall, eyes never leaving Raven's figure. Bruce was lightly touching the skin on her arm, searching for a vain. Richard's teeth clenched as he screamed and charged again, only to be once more blocked by the black bat suited person. Without thinking or even trying to connect, Dick sent punch after punch in his direction, only to be dodged with ease by his opponent.

"Calm down, Dick. Even if you did manage to hit him, you'd probably just hurt your hand," Bruce said as he stuck the needle into Raven's forearm swiftly, pressing down on the syringe, the fluid entering her system. Her eyes opened suddenly and she gasped, a look of fear and confusion overtaking her features. Richard went numb; a familiar feeling of helplessness overcoming him, and before he could try going to her again, the dark suited man looped his arms under Richard's own, joining his hands at the back of the Boy Wonder's neck, effectively subduing him. He thrashed and fought against the hold to no end, but it did no good, and he watched as Raven's body went still and her eyes shut once more, head tilting to the side so her cheek pressed to the cool metal. Bruce looked up from her body to him with the same complacent expression and sighed, "All will be explained."

"What have you done to her!?" he cried out, his body wrought with fear. His mind was starting to ease again, his body not feeling as restricted and out of control, but his anger was there. As the affects waned, he slowed his breathing and his vision also cleared up once more. He watched as Bruce began walking towards them, eyes widening from what he saw in the dim lighting.

"Bruce," Richard breathed out. His father figure, his hero, had grown old. He was Bruce, there was no denying that, but he wasn't at all as Richard remembered. His once black hair was an ash gray, defined face now aged with wrinkles. He was walking forward with a cane, a slight limp in his step one would only notice if they knew him well. "You're… what happened…"

Bruce held up his free hand, eyes meaningful. "First, tell me if he releases you, that you'll hear what we have to say without acting out again."

Hesitating, Richard realized that the man that had come for him and Raven was still holding him back, but not as roughly. His eyes left Bruce's, roaming to finally try and gather his surroundings for the first time since walking through the portal. Immediately he recognized where he was. The familiar, echoing rock walls, the T-Rex robot, large, glowing super computer, and the memorial of uniforms in their respective glass cases lined up in a row said it all. Richard's eyes widened in surprise though as his focus hovered upon the costumes of former wards. There, in its own illuminated case, stood the familiar black and red Nightwing uniform that belonged to none other then him. This couldn't have been the Bat Cave he knew, the one they'd just been in.

'How… why?' he thought. He quickly fixated his eyes over at Raven, looking at her peaceful yet blank expression with worry now more then anything. Bruce had a reason for doing this to her, for having his Nightwing costume where it hadn't ever been before. Something was not right.

"I want to hear everything."

Bruce nodded once more and Richard was released, exhaling as he settled himself before walking hastily over to Raven's body. He placed his hand on the side of her face and softly stroked it, holding in emotion he knew he shouldn't show. He looked over his shoulder at the two men.

"Tell me what you've done to her, why have you done this to Raven?"

"It was just a sedative I created, to put both her body and mind at ease and at a very low leveled, controlled state," Bruce assured him, both him and the man walking over, "It was necessary for the time being."

"Necessary…" Richard scoffed under his breath, "You promised me answers, so tell me what the hell is going on here. None of what I'm seeing makes sense."

Bruce sighed and sat down in a nearby chair, looking up at the old Boy Wonder. "Alright. You've been taken forward in time, to the year 2054, 40 years from where your present was. This is Neo-Gotham."

"Time travel? And what, you have a bodyguard now?" Richard's eyebrow rose as he whispered out, "How is that even –?"

"Possible? Things have changed greatly in 40 years, Dick," Bruce explained, motioning with his cane over to the stranger that had saved him and Raven. "This is Terry McGuiness… my protégé, and the new Batman." Richard's eyes looked to Terry who pulled off the cowl he'd been wearing to reveal shaggy black hair and blue eyes, leaning back against a nearby wall and nodding silently in his direction. Bruce continued, "I ordered him to make use of our… borrowed technology after finally locating the two of you. Thankfully he got there in time."

With a shake of his head Richard exhaled and glanced back at Bruce. "I don't understand… why did you bring us here? Why did he say you needed our help?"

"Because Dick, I do need your help. And not just me… but everyone here that's left, too." Before Richard could interject again, Bruce leaned back in his chair and began, "The year 2014, the year we just took you from, is the year you were killed. I sent Terry back to the night you died."

At this Richard stopped stroking Raven's arm, frozen at the thought. "No… I wouldn't have, not with Raven's life on the line. I wouldn't be so careless…"

"Regardless of what you may believe, it happened. Carelessness did not play a part in your untimely death, you were ill prepared for what was to come," Bruce told him coldly, eyes sharp in their gaze. "And with you gone, Raven couldn't control the darkness inside her anymore, and became vulnerable in the emotional state thereafter, which is exactly what her brothers and Trigon wanted. Your death was premeditated by him to be carried out by his six sons."

"Trigon," Richard muttered, clenching his hand to a fist and pressing it into the metal table. "We took care of him, we banished him years ago! There's no way he could've been behind anything involving Raven, or her brothers."

"No matter what the circumstance, Trigon's influence over her did not and will never fully cease. Not unless outside intervention on an entirely other level is used," Bruce countered.

"So then if that's really the case, what happened after?"

Bruce put his cane between his legs so he could place both his hands on the top of it, sighing. "What happened was a long and stressful 35 years. After your murder and Raven's inner demon released itself, she disappeared for a time. Only when a large, continuous string of killings began to arise every other year did we start suspecting things. It took a long while to figure everything out, to put the pieces together. After enough digging and finally catching up to the crime scenes, we figured out that it was the Sons of Trigon with Raven in tow murdering people for their souls to give to Trigon. In order to resurrect their father and do his biding, they needed to collect 10,000 souls. So that's what they did, for 35 years."

"No… Raven…" Richard whispered as he looked down to her figure lying beside him, eyes saddening. He shut them as he spoke up, "It really took them such a long time to collect a comparably small amount for a group of their… caliber?"

"They could only go out and murder people during a total solar eclipse. Why, I still don't know, but the dates and times coincided completely when we actually started to pay close attention to them and tried to guess when the next strike would be," Bruce explained, "There were only about 25 of these eclipses over the 35 year timespan, each only lasting on average about 4 minutes. Considering the numbers and varied locations each was most likely at, it was a miracle how fast it did happen," the old Dark Knight sighed and bowed his head slightly, his tone growing darker, "In the year 2050, a little while after I had begun training Terry to take up the cape and cowl, we found out from a friend that the demons were close to completing their task. When I alerted the Justice League, they tracked them down in a last attempt to stop what was to come. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and the siblings annihilated the Justice League… taking the very essence of their being as the last of the 10,000 needed in offering. No one was left to stand in their way, but by that time it was already too late. Trigon was released upon our world once again. He, his sons, and Raven destroyed city after city, slowly and painfully. For the past four years, that has been the world we have been surviving in, with however little of the population is left."

Richard, after hearing all this and having opened his eyes, couldn't find the words to speak. His death he could deal with, even if it killed him that he was taken away from Raven. But the fact that he had died and he'd driven Raven off the deep end in the worst way possible… he couldn't bear it. She'd come so far, only to be shot down by an unseen future. He looked back over to Bruce when he composed his features enough.

"Then what do we have to do to stop this? Clearly you know of a way to change all of this, or you think you do. Else you wouldn't have brought us here," he concluded. Bruce looked up once more to meet Richard's gaze, nodding once.

"Yes. We can stop this all from happening," Bruce said, leaning forward in his chair, a fire in his eyes, "Our first order of business is to sever the bond that Trigon has with Raven. If she awakens from the state I put her into, it means consequences for us all – Trigon tracking us and learning our plan before we have even begun. To do this, we need an old friend."

"Who?" Richard quickly asked.

"Etrigan."

Richard was surprised when it wasn't Bruce who had spoken up, but Terry. The young man crossed his arms over his fit chest as he looked away from Richard and back to Bruce. Richard glanced back to him as well.

"Etrigan… he does have the power. I'm not surprised. But will he help? Where can we find him?" Richard inquired urgently.

"He'll help. He may be a demon, but he is still on our side. After searching for him, we finally found out he's locked up in Merlin's crypt," Bruce explained. As he did, Richard rushed over to the row of uniforms and stepped in front of his, opening the chamber and swiftly pulling the costume to him off the mannequin, starting to suit up without question. His chest tightened as the suit went on, feeling something he hadn't for a very long time. "Morgan Le Fay imprisoned him once more many years ago, the magic binding him. That is where you'll have to go."

"So I'm headed to jolly old England, huh? How am I supposed to get there? Camelot isn't exactly just a car ride away," Richard said sarcastically.

"I'll get the Bat-Plane started and set everything up for us," Terry piped in, putting the cowl back on and walking towards the garage. Richard raised an eyebrow and looked to Bruce.

"I can do this alone, he doesn't need to come and –"

"It's already decided that he is, if you want to help Raven and save your future, you have to do everything in your power to work together," Bruce said, raising his voice strongly, eyes intense, "You don't know this world like he does either. You will work as a team. Understood?"

Silently, Richard set his familiar black mask into place as the final touch, simply nodding to Bruce. He knew his mentor wanted what was best, for both him and the future of the world. His harsh words were simply his way of showing he cared. The once Boy Wonder watched as Bruce pushed himself to stand up, gripping his cane tight as he motioned for him and walked towards Raven. Richard followed him over and stood on the opposite side of the table, his eyes now on Raven as he lovingly stroked at her side. When he looked back up again to Bruce, he saw a small earpiece in his hand outstretched to him.

"Take this. Terry has his own com-link as well. I will give you more specific instructions on how to handle Etrigan when you arrive at your destination."

Richard took the device in his gloved hand and put it into place. "Thanks," he said before he looked down to his sedated fiancé. He let his hand rest on her hip softly as he leaned down, kissing her forehead gently, murmuring into her skin gently, "I'll be back for you. I know we said we wouldn't fight again, but things have changed. I'll make sure he can't reach you... and we'll fix this. Together."

"There's no need to worry. She's under my supervision," Bruce assured, walking around the table as Richard said his goodbye to her, sighing as he stood back up and looked to Bruce again.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Richard said, turning to go.

"Dick."

Richard stopped and turned around halfway as Bruce approached him. The old Dark Knight stopped beside him and rested his free hand on Richard's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

"It's good to have you back home."

These quietly uttered words resonated inside Richard, and he couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face.

"I might be out a little past my curfew. Don't wait up." With that Richard put his hand over Bruce's and squeezed lightly back, before finally turning away and running to the garage. He may not have donned the red and black suit in a long time, but it felt like just yesterday that he was out patrolling the streets of Jump and Bludhaven.

Bruce looked on fondly as he stood there, eyes softening.

'Good luck, my sons.'

End Chapter

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DarkGirlRavenGrayson