Well, a big thanks to feathered moon wings, who left quite a lovely review. I love all my reviews, really, it's very encouraging. This is the last 'chapter' and then after this there will be a short epilogue. I hope you all enjoy it!
Warning: Still some dark themes, mentions of attempted suicide.
Song: Protege Moi by Placebo
"I… I don't understand," Raven repeated, possibly for the tenth time. She, Robin, and the chief of medicine were all standing in the room, staring at an unconscious Joseph. His body kept hovering in the air, flat as a board. He bobbed up and down just slightly, as if floating in water. The straps weren't keeping him tethered in any way, either, he was in no danger of floating away; he was merely suspended in midair, unresponsive.
Robin and Raven knew what it looked like, but they'd been too afraid and shocked to say it at first. Finally Robin admitted the truth.
"I'm no expert on the subject," he said softly, "but it seems like he's in a healing trance. Like when you-"
"No." Raven cut him off sharply, her voice tight. "No, he can't be. Humans can't heal themselves, not like this."
"Raven…" Robin pressed. "There's more going on here than we thought. We need to figure it out. Now."
Raven looked more pale than usual, eyes wide and horrified. Robin understood what she was afraid of- he was afraid too. But they couldn't let their fears stop them from facing this problem.
"He can't… It's not possible…" the empath breathed, as if afraid she would be overheard. Robin knew that in that second she wasn't talking about Joseph.
"Raven, listen," Robin said, putting both hands on her shoulders and capturing her full attention. "Maybe we can stop it from getting worse. We have to figure out exactly what's going on and then maybe we can find a way…"
She was trembling. It wasn't visible, due to her cloak, but he could feel it under his hands. Her worst nightmares were repeating themselves, with completely new and unknown factors.
"I… I'll look some more…" she croaked, pulling her hood up. She turned into a shadow, quickly melting into the floor, fleeing the room. Robin clenched his fists, closing his eyes to calm himself.
"Tell me what happened," he said. "I need to know everything."
"Well," the doctor said, seeming as lost for words as the Titans. "You were right; he was perfectly fine yesterday. Absolutely no signs of the fear or worry he'd had when he first arrived here. He was excited to go home, there's been no nightmares for a few weeks now. I was convinced that the medication and psychotherapy was working. The support you and your friends have been giving him lately certainly helped him make a huge turnaround."
Robin could only think of Slade. The man was the true catalyst for the change in Joseph. He'd believed his son- and now more than ever it seemed he was right. Robin moved closer to the bed, standing over Joey's floating form. The doctor continued.
"Of course, this changes everything. It seems like there's more going on here than anyone in this hospital is qualified to understand. I was hoping that there could be some explanation? If this is normal for him…?"
"It's not," Robin said grimly. "This shouldn't be happening. He can heal quickly, yes, but not like this. This has never happened before, not to him."
"But to your friend? This is something that's happened to her before?" the chief inquired. Robin could only nod, not seeing any point in lying about it.
"There's more going on than suicidal tendencies," Robin said with a serious frown. "Tell me about what happened after we left last night."
"Everything was normal," the man started. "He was in a good mood, went to sleep at a decent hour; no signs of anything out of place. Then, according to the machines his heart rate spiked in the early hours of the morning. It alerted the nurse on duty, and when she got here, his arms had been slashed open and he was bleeding out, barely conscious. She did everything as she was supposed to, called for backup while she tried to stem the bleeding, got a crash cart in here and the supplies to suture the wounds as quickly as possible. I was at home in bed when I got the page, and I came as quickly as possible."
Robin couldn't help but glare slightly. "And where did he get something sharp enough to slice up his arms? There's not supposed to be anything he can hurt himself with in this room. We brought plasticware for our party yesterday; what the hell happened?"
"I don't know," the man admitted seriously. "I think you should take a look at the cuts yourself, to get an idea of what might have happened."
The doctor took one of Joseph's wrists, turning his arm over and starting to unwrap the bandages starting from his elbow. Robin grimaced as he saw the first sign of a cut, but was shocked as more of the wound was revealed. There wasn't one cut, but three. The center one started at the crook of his elbow, while the other two were about half an inch further down his arm. They were jagged and rough; flesh torn rather than cut. Like claw marks, as opposed to the cut of a knife.
The flesh was red, damaged, but showed signs of healing. The stitches held the wounds shut, and layers of gauze kept him from bleeding much more. Still, these weren't the wounds of someone attempting suicide, not exactly…
"The other arm is the same," the doctor explained, wrapping it back up. "Three cuts, the ones in the center being the longest, and the cuts themselves being imprecise, as you can see. This didn't happen with a scalpel or a knife. To me they look like claw marks."
Robin took one of Joey's hands in his own, looking at his fingers. "It's almost as if he scratched his own arms open, but there's no way…" Joseph's nails were still trimmed short; they always were, because otherwise he couldn't play his guitar properly.
"It doesn't seem like that would be humanly possible," the doctor said, "but neither is floating in midair or taking over the minds of others. If he was lost in his own fear, a very primal fear, then he might have had the adrenaline boost to do it. Strange things happen to people when they're afraid. I don't know how likely it is but for now it seems the most possible explanation. Unless you've seen anything like it before?"
"No, I haven't," Robin shook his head. "It looks like something attacked him, but there's no signs of anything or anyone else being in here?"
"No," the man answered. "We have surveillance outside in the hallways, and some extra outside the window as an extra precaution. The paparazzi can be ruthless, I didn't want to take any chances. I wondered the same thing as you, but reviewing the footage, nothing gets in or out at the time that this happened."
Robin let out a sigh, his heart feeling heavy in his chest. "And there hasn't been any nightmares. Is it really possible that he got them again so suddenly, and so badly as to do a complete 180?"
"Again, not likely, but I can't say it's impossible." They were silent for a few moments, before he added something else. "I don't know if this will make it better or worse...but if he were a normal human being he wouldn't have survived the blood loss. By all means he should be dead, but he's not. For whatever reason, if it's his metagenes or something else, he's lucky to be alive."
Robin couldn't speak, his throat was too tight. He still hand Joseph's hand in his, and he squeezed the fingers tightly, blinking behind his mask. The chief of medicine left quietly after a moment, so that Robin could be alone. Time ticked by slowly, but Robin wasn't keeping track. His thoughts spiraled around dark things, weighing him down.
Joseph should be dead. He wasn't, but this could have been the end. He could have come in this morning and found his friend dead, after all they'd fought against. He began to cry, silently, tears leaking out from the bottom of his mask. He watched Joseph; the only real sign of life in him was the fog of his breath behind the plastic breathing aid. Even that seemed too artificial to be real. There was no real way of knowing when he'd wake up. Possibly when he'd finished healing, but then again, maybe not.
And when he did wake up, they'd be back on square one all over again.
"Goddamnit…" the Teen Wonder choked out. "We were so close…"
He wanted to scream and punch things, and make all of this go away. How many times did they have to repeat the same cycle? It got worse every time- what if next time Joseph didn't make it? Robin couldn't handle this. He'd lost too many people, he couldn't bear the thought of going through all of this again.
"I wish you were awake…" he said. "I wish you could tell me what happened. I know it looks like you just did it to yourself again but I wish you would wake up and tell me it didn't happen like that. That you didn't try again…"
He watched his friend's sleeping face, with the same sense of deja vu that he kept feeling over and over. He had to make it different this time. It was his last chance. The same mistakes couldn't be repeated; Joseph wouldn't survive.
"I'm going to fix it, I promise," he told Joseph, hoping that he could somehow hear. "Please, hold on a little longer. I'm going to figure this out, and I'm going to fix it. I won't let you die."
The Tower became a very grim and dark place that day. No one reacted well to the news of Joey's condition. Raven was locked in her room, presumably searching through her books for some answer. Robin and Cyborg teamed up to check through the internet, but neither search was turning up information.
"So the floating stuff only happens to Raven cuz of her powers, right?" Beast Boy asked. He and Star weren't able to help much, but they were just as eager to find an answer.
"Right." Robin humoured him.
"And that is because she is part demon, yes?" Starfire added.
"Yes."
"Then Joey's gotta be part demon!" Beast Boy declared. "Which would mean Trigon could use him!"
"That's the working theory," Robin said, a little tensely. "But there's nothing in his DNA indicating that he is, so none of this is making any sense. If we could understand how it happened, how he came to have even a sliver of demonic traits, we might be able to figure out a way to get rid of them."
BB and Star thought for a moment, quietly, before the alien spoke up.
"How do we know?"
"How do we know what, Star?"
"How do we know that his DNA is not like Raven's?"
"We looked at it before remem-?" Robin froze, something clicking in his mind. "Like Raven's! Cyborg, pull up our DNA database again!"
"I'm already on it!" the eldest teen said, flipping through a series of programs on the computer he was plugged into.
Joseph's was already on-hand, since they'd looked at it last. The two samples still sitting side-by-side, showing no significant change. Cyborg dug into the history, until he found a sample from Raven. He put all three into the program, where they could be compared. Minutes ticked by as the computer analyzed any similarities between Joey and Raven's blood samples. There was a soft ding and the results came up. Cyborg sped-read them.
"There's something there- something really small," he confirmed. "Not as if they were siblings, but as if they're distant cousins or something. It's not that special, but maybe that's enough?"
"Does it say whether the shared part is something that could be from Trigon?" Robin asked.
"There's no way to tell," Cy answered, frowning. "This system isn't sophisticated enough to tell the blood of different humanoid species. It could be that Raven's mother is distantly related to one of Joseph's parents. Obviously if I had some Trigon DNA in there I could test it against Joey's, or even a sample from both of his parents, maybe, but…"
"It's still something," Robin said. "At least I hope so. Star, go tell Raven about this. Maybe having a fraction of relation can mean something within the context of demonic magic or maybe Raven has a way to find out if this piece that matches even means anything for certain."
Moments later, the alarms went off, and Robin cursed. They just didn't have time for this! He picked up his communicator.
"Raven, keep doing what you're doing. The rest of us can handle it."
"Call me if you need me," she said.
On one hand, they didn't need her, at least not badly enough for Robin to call her and have her drop her research. On the other hand, once they left the Tower, the rest of the day was filled with non-stop disaster. Not villians, no, but a large series of accidents and natural disasters, all over the city. Sinkholes started popping up, fires starting everywhere, the dam bursting, a mudslide, and the biggest of all was an earthquake. Not enough to level the whole city, but enough that old buildings collapsed, the sinkholes got worse, and the city itself (while still whole) started to fall apart at the seams. Throughout the day, they were lucky that no one died, and even the more seriously injured seemed like they would pull through okay.
It was the most frustrating day Robin could remember during his time in Jump. Joseph was in terrible danger and they didn't even have the time to dedicate to finding an answer. By the time everything was mostly sorted, civilians were all safe and the cleanup was starting to get handled, it was already dusk. Irritated, Robin decided to call the hospital.
"Jump City General Hospital, how can I help you?"
"It's Robin," he said. "I'd like to speak to the chief of medicine, please."
He was redirected and soon the man was answering the phone.
"Robin?"
"Yeah, hi, I'm sorry none of us have been able to come visit, I was just wondering…"
"He hasn't woken up yet," the doctor said sympathetically. "There's no changes to his condition."
"I see," Robin said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "Well, there were a lot of accidents today, is there anyone who's doing very badly?"
"It's made us pretty busy today, but no. Even the more injured ones that fell down the largest sinkhole are stable. We got lucky."
Robin frowned, and he couldn't help but think it was the most unlucky day ever. "That's good to hear," he said. "I don't think any of us will make it for a visit today, it's already starting to get late, but I'll be there tomorrow as early as I can, just to check on him."
"That's fine," the chief said. "I'm sure you guys had a rough day so get as much rest as you can, alright?"
"Will do, sir."
Despite the chief's suggestion, Robin stayed up, researching late into the night. Finding answers was still more important than resting at this point. He kept it up until he passed out, only waking up when someone was shook his shoulder.
"Robin, wake up! Wake up, you have to see this!"
He blinked, lifting his head off the keyboard and seeing Raven standing in front of him, a panicked look on her face. He groaned, already feeling a crick in his neck. "Raven? What is it?"
"Get up; look out the window!"
Groggy, Robin turned around, to see what Raven was talking about. His heart skipped a beat. It wasn't yet dawn; the moon had been eclipsed, leaving only a fiery ring in the sky, standing out against the darkness of the night, but instead of the usual inky black, it was a deep crimson, almost as dark. He bolted to his feet, chair clattering to the ground. Raven made a sound like a horrified whimper.
"It's happening again… He's coming…"
The alarms blared, lights flashing. Quicker than he could even think, Robin was opening up the details of the alert, though he was already afraid that he knew what was wrong.
"It's the hospital, they're putting through a call." He answered it, "Hello?!"
There was no visual for this type of call, only a window that had sound bars to illustrate the sound coming through. And those sounds- they made his hair stand on end. Screams, glass breaking, walls and floors crumbling and breaking. Just as soon as the call had come, the line went dead, with one last sound coming through before it cut off. Robin frowned, eyebrows creasing. He quickly began trying to call back, but the line remained dead.
"Yo, what-?" Cyborg stopped when he saw out the window, hesitating for only a second before running to join Robin at the computer. Starfire and Beast Boy arrived moments later, but could only stand and watch.
"Cy, replay the audio from the last call," Robin ordered. "I'm going to hack into the hospital's security to try and see what's happening."
A moment later, Cyborg had the file open, playing through and listening, wide-eyed. It came to an end and the same sound came through at the very end.
"Beast Boy," Robin said, "do you recognize that?"
"It's a little hard to tell," the changeling said, "but it sounds like a big cat. Maybe a lion?"
"A lion…?" Raven murmured, looking lost. "I don't know why that would be…"
"Got it!" Robin cut her off, pulling up footage, from half an hour ago, starting outside of Joseph's room and window.
He played it, fast forwarding until the second he saw something. They all watched, as the door opened. A figure stepped through, but just before they were in clear view the footage turned to static. Robin typed furiously, following every camera in the area from the same point in time, seeing a pattern right away.
The figure walked through the halls, but just as they came into sight of a camera, it would malfunction. People who were within view, the night shift nurses and doctors, seemed to startle and cower from whoever was walking through the halls. Around them, the building began to fall apart. The floors split open, the walls collapsed. Windows broke, leaving glass.
"I have an idea," Cyborg said urgently, taking over the controls. He adjusted the cameras and timeframe until he was looking at the wreckage left behind by the figure. Moving forward along the path of destruction, he eventually came to find a set of bloodied footprints, after the broken glass. A little further along, however, and the blood stopped. "If that's Joseph walking with cut up feet, he should still be bleeding, right? But he seems to have stopped after about a minute."
"It doesn't matter," Robin said. "After yesterday, anything could be happening with him. What we need to find out is where he went."
"We already know…" Raven said, in a small voice. It clicked in everyone's minds at the same time.
"We can't waste any time," Robin turned away from the computer, to the empath. "Raven, can you take me there? The others can catch up but at least some of us need to be there now."
She nodded, letting down her hood and closing her eyes for a moment of preparation.
"Meet us at the historical library," Robin told the others. "Make your way underground as fast as you can, we'll need all the force we can muster. Maybe we can stop it this time. If not, then...good luck…"
He hated leaving them behind- he wanted them all to be there right away. He knew, though, that if Raven spent her energy carrying all of them, she couldn't help them in the upcoming battle, which would be worse.
Raven's shadow grew, surrounding them, and taking off across the sky to the city.
The chamber where Raven became the portal had been pretty badly wrecked three years ago; now it was unrecognizable. The statues that lined the corridors were now just shapeless pillars of stone. Carved into the walls were gouges, like giant claw marks. Just like the marks on Joseph's arm…
"What made these?" Robin wondered, feeling anxious. The cuts went deep into the rock- frighteningly deep. He shuddered, not wanting to know what made them, but thinking that they might find out very soon.
It was quiet, putting them both on edge. They approached the chamber, feeling an electric charge in the air. Raven reached out, grabbing Robin's hand and holding it tightly out of fear. He pulled her closer, moving her behind him as they reached the last corner. There was still nothing to be heard, or any signs of life. He turned back, and they each gave a single nod, before darting around the corner through the entrance.
A demonic roar pierced their eardrums, rattling the high ceilings. A giant shadow leapt in front of them, almost completely black, with hints of emerald along the edges. Suddenly, everything made sense to them. Raven's soul self swelled up, forcing the lion back. The two shadows pressed against each other, fighting for dominance, until they both gave out from the sheer force of power between them.
"Your struggle is useless. You're too late."
The voice was familiar, but strange. It echoed, as if multiple people were speaking. From the darkness, they spotted a red glow, and a figure stepped forward. It wasn't Joseph. At least, not anymore. He still wore the same hospital scrubs, though they were tattered. The bandages were gone, with only scars to show for the wounds that had nearly killed him a day ago. He had four glowing red eyes, and red runes etched all over his body, looking almost like bleeding cuts. They were similar to the ones that Raven had, but they were scattered along his body with almost no pattern. Up and down his limbs, over his torso, and on his cheek was the dreaded mark of Scath. Dark energy radiated from him, invisible yet still palpable. Robin put a hand to his belt, gripping a birdarang.
"Foolish boy," Trigon spoke, through Joseph's body. "You cannot save him. He is already gone."
"You're lying!" Raven hissed, her own eyes starting to glow white. "I know he's in there, and I know we can save him."
The face of their friend twisted in a cruel sneer, as he turned away from them, walking back to the center of the room. He spoke over his shoulder. "He wouldn't survive the process. You'd have to kill him, and I know you won't. If you had it in you, you wouldn't have stopped him every time he tried." The demon laughed, and the very marks on his back seemed to mock them. "Stupid girl. Your short-minded human morals compelled you to save his life, even at the cost of your whole world. By the way, boy, if you had followed your instincts, this would have been harder. Letting his father come to him proved to be a blessing for me. My former servant was kind enough to place these marks, even if he had no idea he was doing it."
Robin screamed out, in rage and frustration, rushing forward, throwing the weapon in hand and taking out his staff. The blonde whipped around, a hand clawed with blackness slashing right through the birdarang. Even as Robin got close enough to attack, he was shoved back by Joseph's soul-self again, the shadow of a lion pouncing and pinning him down.
"You're as annoying as I remember," Trigon said. "But still no stronger. I'll not repeat the same mistakes, however; I'll just destroy you now."
The lion snarled, baring its teeth and curling its claws, about to tear into Robin.
"Azarath, metrion, zinthos!"
Once again, Raven used the full force of her soul to fight off the demon's shadow, getting it away from Robin. The two spirit animals fought each other again, more fiercely than before. Robin scrambled to his feet, picking his staff back up.
"Keep going!" he shouted to Raven. Fighting her would keep Trigon's attention on her, which would give Robin the chance to attack again. He didn't know what their goal was, exactly, but a knock-out hit ought to buy them some time.
There were so many things running through his mind, but he turned away from them, focusing on one thing only, and running forward again.
The next few minutes were a blur, a cycle of running and getting knocked back, never letting up. Robin's throat was starting to feel sore from the yelling he was doing, but he kept on screaming and shouting as he attacked. If he didn't, he felt like he wasn't giving it his all, and that was not an option. Trigon alternated from grappling with Raven, and knocking away Robin, but he wasn't letting up. Robin fell back just a bit, knowing that this wasn't working.
"You're boring me," Trigon said with disdain. "It's almost time. Say goodnight, little birds."
With a surge of strength, his soul-self overpowered Raven's, rushing at the two teens. Before they could even flinch, however, a new battle cry rang out, and a daunting, hulking figure knocked Joseph to the floor, breaking his concentration and causing the lion to vanish. The teens' eyes widened, as they saw who'd attacked Joey.
Slade stood, for just a moment, before Trigon snarled with rage, forcing Joseph to attack physically. The man was all dressed in uniform, with extra pieces of armor and weapons covering his body. The pair fought viciously, both of them quickly drawing blood.
"Now!" the man said, voice strained as he fought to hold the blonde still. "You know what to do!"
"Okay!" Raven answered, lifting her hands, magic encasing them. "Robin, I can't stop once I start, do what you can to help hold him off."
She began an incantation, something in a language Robin didn't understand. He stood in front of her, on guard. He didn't dare join the deadly fight in front of him; not unless he had to. If he did he'd either get killed or just get in Slade's way. Neither the father nor the son was holding back, and with the power and strength they both had… For whatever reason, Trigon was refraining from using much of his demonic powers, only clawing at Slade here and there, making gashes in the man's uniform.
Raven's voice got louder; Robin tensed, sensing that she was nearing the end of her spell. Trigon roared, filled with rage, pushing back harder against Slade. The man's metal mask was shattered by a particularly strong blow, but Slade didn't slow down for a second.
Raven cried out, suddenly, taking a step back as if she'd been pushed. "It's not working! I can't separate them!"
"You're weak!" Trigon sneered, seeming slightly smug at this development. Slade growled, taking advantage of the very short distraction, shoving Joseph against the wall, pinning him there with all his strength.
"What can we do?" Robin asked urgently, turning to Raven.
She shook her head, pale. "We can't… It's too risky!"
Trigon's laugh shook the walls. "Cowards! I knew you never had it in you…"
"What is it?!" Slade snapped, ignoring the demon. "What do we have to do?"
Before she could respond, the blonde made a choking sound. They all turned to him sharply, as he seemed to struggle. Four eyes closed; he screamed with rage once more, and all they could do was watch.
"Do it…" The voice that spoke was no longer Trigon's. It was soft, fearful yet firm. "Do it…"
Slade seemed to falter. "Joseph?"
One pair of green eyes opened again, filled with pain. "Please… Stop us…"
He choked again, face screwing up as he tried to remain in control. It was a losing fight however, and with another ground-shaking roar, the four red eyes returned, and a surge of power knocked the man back.
"You're too late!" The marks began to glow brighter, seeming to expand, covering Joseph's skin with blood-red light.
"Try again!" Slade barked at Raven, who didn't hesitate to comply. The man drew his sword, looking grim. Robin's eyes widened, as he understood what Slade was about to do. He called out, feeling the urge to stop it even now, but it was drowned out by Slade's last battle cry, one filled with agony, chilling Robin to the core.
Slade charged forward, piercing Joseph's chest, thrusting forward until the blade spouted from his back.
The earth's trembling stopped, and all the glowing marks started to fade. Trigon snarled again, trying to pull away from the sword to heal, but Slade held onto him tightly with his other hand. Raven's voice reached a climax again, and the demon screamed.
"Get out!" she shouted. "Let him go!"
A new glowing light appeared, just above the sword, emerging from the blonde's heaving chest. It was dark red, radiating evil. Trigon struggled, still trying to break free. There was something holding the glowing orb back- no, that wasn't right. It was holding on, anchoring itself to Joseph.
Raven let out a defiant, desperate cry, pulling hard. "Robin-" she choked. "You have to grab him!"
"What?" He didn't understand, but he didn't have much time to figure it out. Raven finished pulling the red energy out of Joseph, but it pulled something else out with it. Joseph's body went limp, with one last breath of air escaping his lungs. Now, Robin could see it. The redness had surrounded a different light, glowing a faint green, so pale it was almost white. He understood.
Without a host, this piece of Trigon's soul was crumbling, but it had ripped out Joseph's with it in one last act of bitter vengeance.
Robin stepped forward, beginning to run. His feet hit the pavement hard, as he pushed himself. It was higher than Slade's head at this point, so he made a flying leap, stretching out with all his might, fingers grasping the two glowing lights. Then, it was as if his body was frozen in air, as his mind and heart did the rest of the work. He felt warmth, and cold. He curled his fingers forcefully, prying away the warmth, saving it from being devoured. The evil held on, but it was weakening by the second.
"Let go of him!" he cried out, unsure of whether he only thought the words or actually shouted.
Finally, Robin broke free, the warmth rushing into him, down his arm and into his chest, spreading all throughout his body. He fell to the ground, the last echoing shrieks of Trigon still ringing in his ears. The ringing didn't stop, and as he sat on the ground, regaining his breath, his vision started to tunnel as well.
He had the sense that he was meant to be holding on to something; it had to do with the swelling sensation of warmth in his chest. He couldn't let that warmth fade; he struggled to stay conscious, as he watched Slade fall to his knees as well, holding the body of his son. He could hear (however muffled) the cries of the man, as he cradled Joseph's empty body. The two of them were covered in blood.
Raven was calling out to him, but he could barely hear. Something pulled him down into darkness.
Joseph was looking at his own body. His father was holding his dead body, crying. He didn't understand. He couldn't move, even when he tried to. Was he dead? No… There was a pounding heartbeat in his chest, and a sense of exhaustion. Breath moved in and out past his lips. Yet, there was his body. His heart was definitely not beating, he was not breathing; he was dead.
It felt like he was sleeping, so he fought hard to wake up, and focus. Get in control… Noises started to come through, and he could hear Raven, shouting.
"Robin! Robin, snap out of it!"
Where was Robin? He turned, curiously, just as Raven grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Robin! Are you listening? Can you hear me?"
Joseph blinked, confused. "What…" he murmured, before catching himself. He touched his throat. That wasn't supposed to happen, he couldn't speak… He looked down, spotting green gloves. Gloves? He looked up at Raven, wondering what the hell was going on.
"Robin?" she asked, uncertain. He could only shake his head. He tried to remember exactly what happened…
At the hospital, after the party, after he'd gone to sleep, the marks started to show. Powers that weren't his own entered his body, and he knew that it was too late. He used these powers in another attempt to kill himself, then there was nothing but the panic of the nurses and doctors, as he faded out of consciousness. The next thing he knew, Trigon was in control, and he was forced to walk here. Slade, Robin, and Raven all came, to stop it from happening. He regained control enough to beg for death, knowing it was the only way for Raven's spell to work.
The only way to take a soul out of a body was to kill it.
A sword pierced through his chest. Raven pulled out the piece of Trigon in him, but Trigon pulled out his soul with it. After his soul left his body, he could no longer see or hear, but he could feel. Someone grabbed a hold of him, and then…
"Oh," he said softly, looking at Robin's hands; not his own. Not his heartbeat, or his breath. Not his body. His body was over there, dead. "Thank you…" he breathed. It was over, Trigon was gone again.
Raven took his face in her hands, holding it so that they were very close, and she stared at him. He reached up, taking off Robin's mask, and she gasped softly.
"Joey."
Slade looked up, immediately making eye contact with a now maskless Robin. Slade had known the Boy Wonder's identity for years. He knew that his eyes were blue. The eyes looking back at him now were an unmistakable shade of bright green.
"Dad…" it was Robin's voice, but Robin was not speaking. Tears brimmed over his eyes.
"I'm sorry," was all Slade could say, heartbreak in his voice. "I didn't want to, but I had no choice."
"I asked you to," he answered softly. "It's okay. Thank you for saving me."
He emitted a sense of peace that seemed to have been gone for a long time. Raven could feel it, and she was torn. On one hand, Joey's suffering was over. On the other hand, they didn't do enough to stop it before this point. And on top of that, their problems were far from finished.
"Don't feel guilty," Joseph said to her, guessing her train of thought. "It's okay now."
"It's not okay," she answered, with a lump in her throat. "Your soul got ripped out of your body, and I can't just put it back."
"What?" Slade asked sharply, turning his gaze to her.
"I'm safe," Joey reassured them both. "If it takes time to work out a solution, that's okay. I'm not moving on or anything, I'm staying here." He put Robin's hand on his own chest.
It was then that the others arrived, bursting in. They came to a sudden halt upon the scene that they found. The most obvious was the body. Starfire gasped loudly with horror.
"Friend Joseph!" Her eyes lit up, with grief and rage, as she saw the bloodied sword on the ground. "You've murdered him!"
"It's okay," Joseph answered, though at first they only saw him as Robin. He looked at them, giving them all a chance to see what was going on. "I'm right here."
"Joey?" Beast Boy's eyes widened with confusion.
"What happened?" Cyborg asked, equally lost.
"I'll explain everything I can," he answered. "But I don't have much time."
"You said you weren't moving on," Slade pointed out. "What do you mean you don't have time?"
"This isn't my body," he explained. "It wouldn't be right to stay in control of it. I can't take Robin's body away from him. I'll stay here, but I won't take what isn't mine to have. He's exhausted, and he needs rest after all of this. I need to let him sleep, and when he wakes up, he'll be in control again. I'll stay asleep, until you find a new place for me."
"I-" Slade stopped. He didn't want to let go of his son, but he knew he couldn't argue against it. Joey was right; it wouldn't be fair to Robin, and Joey was too kind-hearted to be unfair. "I understand. I'll do whatever I can to make sure that we find a solution soon."
Robin's head nodded. "I know. Then let me tell you what I learned. It's too late for this information to be useful now, but maybe in the future someone might need it."
Robin woke up in his bed. He knew he was in his bed, he'd been sleeping in this room for years, and for a moment it seemed normal. Then he remembered the events leading up to losing consciousness in the first place.
He sat upright, wide awake all of a sudden. Joseph! Was he okay? What happened? Maybe it was all a dream… Robin checked the calendar on his communicator, and knew that it couldn't have been. His mind tried to wrap itself around the timeline. The day of the party, then the unlucky day when Joseph had been found hovering above his bed and everything went wrong. Then, in the early hours the next morning, the sky had changed color and they raced to stop Trigon from using Joseph to come back. According to the calendar, that was yesterday. Robin remembered passing out after Slade had stabbed Joey's body, and Robin had grabbed his- soul?
Robin shook his head to clear it. Then he'd slept for a whole day and a whole night? It was early, but the sun was up so that was a little over 24 hours of sleep. He felt very well rested, no pain or soreness from the fight against Trigon-possessed-Joseph, though he remembered taking a few hits. Raven must have healed him and brought him back, but that didn't explain what had happened in the end.
Quickly, the Teen Wonder threw aside his covers and got up, changing into a fresh uniform and making a quick trip to the bathroom before leaving his room to find someone who could tell him what happened. He saw no one in the hall, so he went to Raven's room, knocking on the door.
"Raven? Are you in there?"
The door opened, fully, and Raven was standing there. "You're awake," she said, with a hint of relief. "Wait… Are you, you?"
He blinked. "What does that mean?"
"You are," she concluded. "Then, come on, we'll explain what's happening."
She led him down the hall, to the main room, where everyone else already was.
"Robin's awake," she announced. Starfire drifted up and gave him a hug, while the others did look happy to see him.
"Friend Robin, we are glad you are alright," Star said.
"How are you feeling?" Beast Boy asked, in a way that Robin found strange, though he didn't know why.
"I feel… Better. I feel pretty good, actually," he admitted. "But what's going on? What happened? Is Joey…?" He couldn't bring himself to say the word. A part of him was sure Joseph couldn't have survived, but everyone seemed too cheerful and relaxed for him to have died. Yet, he wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"It's… complicated," Cyborg told him. "Joseph didn't die but he's not exactly around."
"That doesn't explain anything," Robin said.
"Come sit down," Raven said, gesturing to the couch. "We can explain everything."
They all gathered to sit together on the couch, with Robin in the middle. Raven stood in front of him, obviously taking charge in this explanation.
"How much do you remember?" she asked.
"The whole fight," he said. "Up until Slade stabbed Joseph, and you pulled out the part of Trigon possessing him and I grabbed… I don't really know what, but I know it was Joseph, or a part of him, and then after that I blacked out."
"That's right. My spell was meant to pull out Trigon. Ideally, it would have exorcised him and left Joseph himself again, but Trigon had buried himself deep into Joey, binding their souls together. I couldn't pull him out without removing Joey's soul in the process. In fact, I couldn't do anything at all until Trigon- Joseph, physically speaking -was weakened enough to remove his soul. He had to be gravely wounded, which was difficult seeing as Trigon gave him the ability to heal, even better than I can."
"So that's why he was in a healing trance," Robin said, understanding. "And that's how he cut his own arms to begin with, was through Trigon's powers. So even if he'd been more successful at earlier attempts, he wouldn't have died?"
"No, earlier on he didn't have the powers of Trigon," Raven said, "but by the time Trigon started to take over his body and give him those powers, it was too late to be able to kill him very easily."
"Alright, so Slade used his sword to keep the wound from healing, and that's when you pulled out Trigon's soul, which pulled out Joey's soul with it."
"I couldn't separate them," Raven said. "But you could."
"Me?" Robin's eyebrows raised. "What could I do that you couldn't?"
"Physically speaking, you were the only one unoccupied with a task," Raven said. "Slade was busy keeping Joey's body from regenerating and pulling the souls back, and I was doing my part to keep that from happening as well. If either of us let up, his body would have healed and both souls still could have reentered it. But it was more than that. Not just anyone could pull Joey's soul free from a demon as powerful as Trigon."
Starfire put a warm hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "Your love is a very strong thing."
Robin blanched slightly at that. "My- what?"
Cy and BB snickered; Raven rolled her eyes. "I told you two before, it's platonic. Stop being idiots. Yes, Robin, love; a pure and strong friendship in this case. Only people with a very close relationship- friends or otherwise -could have pulled off what you did. You cared for him so strongly that you were able to overpower Trigon's hold over him, and he trusted you enough for his soul to bond with yours."
Robin took this in, silent for a moment. It was a lot to think about. He knew it was true; he cared for his friends a lot. They were his family. He'd be all alone if he hadn't found them. And yes, he and Joseph had bonded after the blonde became a Titan, enough that Jericho became a member of their team rather than joining one of the others. It was impossible not to like and be friends with him.
What was surprising to the Titan leader was that the feelings went both ways. Joseph still trusted him, enough to… The full weight of the situation dawned on him.
"Then Joseph entrusted me with…. With himself. His soul," he said with slight reverence, a hand touching his heart, as if he would feel that soul again. "I have his soul inside of me?"
Raven nodded. "Yes. When you blacked out, he took control for a few minutes, long enough to tell us what he learned from Trigon's thoughts and memories, and for us to make sure we all understood the plan for getting him a new body. For the time being, you're carrying him with you. We're still trying to work out a way to get him back into his own body, but for now, he's staying with you."
Robin didn't know what to say. He didn't feel like he'd earned the right, after failing over and over to help his friend.
"His soul could have been destroyed," Raven said, equally reverent. "It would have been, if you weren't there. Slade and I might have been able to work together to get rid of Trigon, but you were the one to save Joseph in the end."
The masked teen still didn't speak, slightly overwhelmed with feelings. Guilt remained, and he couldn't really bring himself to accept Raven's words. She wasn't wrong about his actions, but to him she made them sound more noble than they really were. He'd been a terrible friend during this time; he'd just happened to be around to grab onto Joseph's soul. Joseph was trusting and friendly towards everyone; anyone that Joey knew could have pulled that off.
Out of nowhere, a warm feeling spread through his mind, seeming to brush away the guilt and negative thoughts, like dust and cobwebs. He felt much better, more at peace. Something compelled him to let go of the guilt he felt, reassuring him that he should feel happy and proud, not angry at himself. It felt nice. He let out a soft breath, looking back up at Raven, ready to hear more.
"What else do we know?" he asked. "How did Trigon manage to put his soul into Joseph in the first place?"
"We've been able to piece most of it together, actually," she said. "Nothing quite like it has ever happened before, but now that it has, we're recording every detail, so that it can't happen again.
"After Trigon started to take control over Joseph's body, Joey could see his thoughts and memories, and was able to pick up exactly what happened. When Slade was in servitude to Trigon, he was under a demon's' contract. Not a physical one, but a magical one. He would serve Trigon for the reward of getting his flesh and blood back. He agreed, clearly only taking into account the literal definition of his reward."
Robin's eyebrows raised. "So Trigon was also holding Joseph hostage, not just Slade's body?"
"Right," Raven continued. "When Slade agreed to the deal, he basically agreed that Trigon now owned his flesh and blood, which included Joseph, his only- and technically oldest -living son. That was the first part of Trigon's plan. Joey isn't part demon, at least not like I am, so Trigon knew he couldn't use Joseph as another portal. At least, not in the same way. However, since Joseph was basically his possession at this point, and the eldest son of a man who was in servitude to him, there were things he could do."
Robin held back a slight shudder, just thinking about Trigon owning Joey, like some slave, due to the blind agreements of his father.
"Because of all of this, the magical contract allowed him to use Joey as a vessel for a piece of himself. Normally, for a demon to store a piece of themselves in another living being, they need to be allowed in. With horror movies, people get possessed for no real reason after messing with cursed stuff, but that's not how demons work in real life. They can't force someone to be a host for them; not without killing that part of them or the host or even both. In order to bind two souls together and allow them to live in one body, there has to be mutual agreement."
"It's kinda like horcruxes, right Rae?" BB said, eager to contribute.
"Well, sort of," she said, waving a hand in the air. "I mean the storing a piece of your soul in something is the same, but in Harry Potter you don't need permission if you're going to use another living thing. That's beside the point. What the magical contract established was that Trigon owned Slade's flesh and blood, and would retain it until Slade was finished with his servitude. That circumvents the need for permission."
"Which meant Trigon could store a piece of his soul with Joseph's," Robin said.
"Which I didn't know was possible without permission," Raven added. "And I knew Joseph would never had given permission, and even if he did he would have mentioned it. All he remembered is that for some period of time, Trigon had him while Slade was working for him."
"But was Trigon really planning on using Joseph as another kind of portal?" Robin asked. "Was he planning on us beating him?"
"No, of course not, he's too arrogant," Raven said. "He was planning on saving Joseph for a rainy day, so to speak. Trigon has been taking over dimensions the same way for eons. He sires a child, like me, waits until they're of age, and uses them as portals between dimensions. He likely would have continued to do so, but had Joseph kept alive as a back-up plan for unforeseen circumstances. Opportunities to split off a piece of one's soul and store it in a host to take over later don't come up very often."
"So like, in case there was a dimension he couldn't make a kid in, he could send Joseph there and use him to take it over?" Cyborg said.
Beast Boy groaned, leaning back on the couch. "This is all making my head hurt. If Trigon could send Joseph to another dimension, couldn't he go there himself?"
"He's forbidden from traveling freely," Raven said. "The only way he gets from dimension to dimension is through the work of his followers. I was sired when my mom got caught up with a group of them, and they summoned him in a temporary form to conceive me. With me or any of his other children, he can use blood magic to turn us into portals and come through. In the case of Joseph, he would have used Slade to keep doing his dirty work to escort Joseph to other dimensions."
"Would Slade have not been freed after he delivered you?" Starfire asked.
"Trigon's too underhanded for that," Robin said. "I bet he had a few loopholes in place to keep Slade in servitude forever."
"Exactly," Raven said. "Trigon would have given Slade his body back but still threatened to kill him if he didn't keep working for him. After all, even Slade couldn't have survived in Trigon's world, so he might have kept playing along to make sure Trigon kept him around."
"Earlier," Robin remembered, "Trigon was saying that he knew we never would have let Joseph die. I think it's safe to assume he knew Slade wouldn't have, either. So if he'd gotten his way and ruled here, Slade would be the perfect guard for Joseph, to make sure he never died or got hurt. Slade never would have let anything happen to him, and so Trigon would always have a back-up plan. He could have kept the two of them alive forever, couldn't he?"
"That's basically what he was planning, we believe," Raven answered. "Slade and Joseph would have both been trapped in eternal indentured servitude. Trigon probably would have kept Joseph in a permanent suspension of some kind, and Slade would have no choice but to cater to every whim, until the day came when Trigon decided to use Joseph. Even though none of that happened, by the time Slade broke the magical contract and we banished Trigon, there was already a piece of him bound to Joseph."
Robin sat back as well, taking this all in. It was nice to have some answers after all this time, even though it was too late to change anything. Still, at least it had turned out relatively well. Trigon was once again banished from this dimension, and no one was the wiser that he'd even attempted to come back. Except-
"Did anyone talk to the hospital staff?"
"They called yesterday," Cyborg said. "They wanted to know what happened. We went down there to fix up the damage Trigon caused, and explained to them it was over. We told them that Joseph was recovering back at the Tower, no one knows he sort of died. In fact, since it happened so early in the morning, not that many people saw him. There's some rumors floating around about it, but no one is even close to the truth. We told them it all had to do with a terrible turn in his 'illness' and left it at that. People seem to be buying it."
"Good," Robin nodded. "Then, where are we at with his soul? Raven, you said that this was temporary, but what solution are we working towards?"
"It just comes down to finding him a new body," Raven said. "His original body is extremely wounded and damaged, so there's no real chance of just putting him back in it. Not to mention it's been tainted by Trigon, now. Being a vessel for the soul of a demon altered his physiology and DNA just enough that he's susceptible to being used again by Trigon or another demon. He had just a fraction of demon in him, but not enough that we could have noticed. If we'd had the opportunity to compare his DNA with what he had before Trigon took possession of him, we might have seen a difference, but we didn't meet him until after."
"Where is his body?" Robin wanted to know.
"Slade took it," Raven said. "He's looking for a way to clone it, or something. It will take time, of course, but so far it's the best option we have. I'll be lending whatever assistance I can on the magical side of things to speed things up, but he's still working on the science of it to start with."
Robin pondered for a moment, realizing that all this time they'd just accepted Slade as an ally. Well, he'd turned out to be right in believing Joseph, and now they needed him more than ever to bring their friend back. He'd even taken on the hardest part of all, by killing Joey's body to help save him and stop Trigon. Robin knew it must have been incredibly difficult, but he'd done it. Robin couldn't have done such a thing, so he was glad Slade was there to take on such a grave responsibility.
"Then I guess… Everything's okay." He felt a little underwhelmed, like there had to be more to this. "Is there anything I should be doing? To help take care of him or something?"
Raven shrugged. "Two souls sharing a body is very unusual. There's not exactly a set of instructions or anything about how to care for a soul. I suppose doing your best to keep yourself healthy in every way would be good. Physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don't really know exactly how it works. I don't know what affects him, what he sees or feels, if he is aware of anything at all. If he is it might be nice to try and keep things pleasant for him, but if he's not then you probably don't have to think about it at all."
"Do you know if I can talk to him?" Robin asked. "If he was able to take control of me, then he's still there, sort of, right?"
"I don't know," she repeated. "I'm sorry. Maybe if you meditate you could potentially reach him. Or, if you really want to know I could try poking around a little to see? Just give it a few days, so that you can both adjust before we try anything."
"Hey Raven," Beast Boy piped up, "if taking Trigon out of Joey made his soul come out as well, is that what's going to happen when we take him back out of Robin? Are either of them going to get hurt?" He sounded worried and suddenly Robin started to worry too. He could take pain if that's what it took, but he wasn't really keen on getting his soul ripped out if it could be avoided.
"Don't worry," Raven said. "Their agreement to bind their souls was consensual. Nothing insidious, nothing forced, just a mutual feeling of friendship. They care about each other, and Robin took on Joseph's soul to keep him safe, and alive. Trigon dug into Joey's soul as deep as he could, and held on tight. They should come apart very easily, no pain or significant risk."
"Significant?" Starfire still sounded concerned.
"Well, it's soul magic," Raven admitted. "It's not to be taken lightly. However, if you all recall, soul magic is my specialty. I use it every day, manipulating parts of my soul to use my powers. As long as the new body- and Robin's body -is healthy, then there will be no problems."
Everyone seemed a lot more relaxed now that they knew it would be okay and that there was nothing scary on the horizon to anticipate. Everything was alright now; their friend would still be with them again, and he was no longer in danger of taking his own life. It was all behind them now.
Robin excused himself to rest some more, still feeling a bit emotionally drained. He had a lot to think about, now knowing that he was a host to the soul of one of his best friends. Everyone was really understanding as he left them to go back to his room, and he was grateful for it. He really needed the time to think and reflect without any distractions.
He shut the curtains, keeping the room dim. He sat on the floor cross-legged, beginning to meditate. Robin wasn't as practiced at it as Raven was, but he knew how. He went so deeply into concentration that the next time he opened his eyes, hours had gone by.
Yet, nothing, no sign of Joseph.
Robin got up, feeling disappointed. He'd have liked to make sure his friend was okay, and talk to him a little bit to see if he could find out how things were like for Joseph. Maybe it was a little selfish; everyone else had gotten to talk to him for a minute or two, shouldn't he get a chance? He moved to his dresser, taking off his mask to rub his tired eyes, looking at himself in the mirror. He almost expected to see some difference in himself, now that he was carrying two souls. Of course, there was no reason for him to look any different, but a skeptical part of him worried that somehow Joey's soul wasn't there, at least not anymore. If something happened, how would he know?
He stared at his own reflection, willing some sign to appear to tell him that Joseph was there, and that he was okay.
"Come on…" he mumbled. "Please, tell me you're still there?"
After a few quiet moments, he thought he felt something. He straightened up, gaze locked onto the mirror. He started to feel… sort of fuzzy, like he was dreaming. Not like before, when he was about to pass out, but definitely not all there. He saw one of his eyes sort of flicker, and then, in a blink, he was seeing himself with bright green eyes. A pleasant rush of warmth spread through him, as if to say hello.
He grinned. "You're there…" His mind was filled with questions, but he could already tell that the connection between them was limited, since they couldn't share his mind at the same time very easily. He was a little sad they didn't seem able to talk, but at least he knew Joseph was okay.
Give me your hand.
It was so faint, less than a whisper in the back of his mind, but he relaxed enough to let Joseph take partial control. His hands moved on their own, taking a pencil and a pad of paper from the dresser. He started writing, but his vision blurred too much to read it right away, because Joey was using his eyes as well. After a few moments, he could see again, though still felt the presence of his friend. He read what was written, in Jericho's handwriting.
Don't feel sorry, or guilty. You saved me, and you're protecting me. I'd be dead if you hadn't done what you did. Even though I can't talk to you like I did the others, I'll be here with you always. I'm not gone, and you haven't failed. Thank you.
The warmth grew, surrounding him even more, like a hug. He closed his eyes to savor the moment, touching the paper. After a while, it faded away, and when he opened his eyes again, they were blue. Joseph had withdrawn, back to where he stayed, tucked away in some safe, hidden corner of Robin's own soul. Robin was under the impression that he was still resting and recovering, but he hadn't disappeared.
Robin himself yawned, still feeling worn out. It'd been a long few months. While things weren't exactly over, the worst of it was. He changed into pajamas, somehow sensing that Joseph wasn't going to (or maybe couldn't?) watch his every action every minute of the day. He wasn't sure how he knew it, but he did. It felt natural, and he relaxed. It was weird, when he thought about it, but it didn't feel weird. He touched his chest with an ungloved hand, as he switched off the light.
This was his duty, now. Besides being a Titan, being their leader and fighting crime, he alone could keep this soul safe. He had dropped the ball when it came to helping Joseph, but he wouldn't do so now. He felt a sense of redemption. He could make up for the pain and fear Joey had gone through, by making sure it didn't happen again. While he carried Joseph's soul, Joey wouldn't know any fear or pain. Just a long, well-deserved and peaceful rest.
Fun fact, I was going to leave it there. You can all thank Anthezar for talking me into tacking on a happy ending, which will be the epilogue. She also helped me edit this chapter a little bit. Not sure when I'll post it, most likely next month. But you lucky ducks, this is the shortest month of the year so you all have a slightly shorter wait than usual.
All in all, this is pretty much the end of the story. It's been a fun little detour from my ongoing projects, and I'm so happy I've got it all together. I'll see you guys soon with the epilogue here, and if you want even more keep an eye out for the next thing I start posting. Could be one-shots, could actually be something with chapters. Whatever I finish first.