Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything affiliated with it.
Her ears rung; her heart raced; her limbs tingled. She felt like her mind had been ripped from her body- the same body that sprawled on the floor of the warehouse, throbbing with pain. She wanted to stand but her nerves were betraying her, leaving her lying on the floor, surrounded by smoke and fire. What happened? She tried to open her eyes but they stung with smoke, closing again on reflex. Coughing to expel the unwanted smoke from her lungs, she willed her body to roll over… to move in any capacity.
"Friend Raven!"
She'd never been so relieved to hear that high-pitched, foreign voice. With no control, she felt herself being turned from her stomach to her back. Now she could see the hole in the ceiling, the smoke billowing out into Jump City's summer sky. She remembered… the ticking sound… Robin shouting to run… pain.
She held out her hand and Starfire helped her to her feet, keeping an arm around her waist to steady her. 'This has been a shitty twenty-four hours!' "Where are the others?" she murmured, carefully looking around the room despite the smoke disrupting her vision. In the distance she could make out some figures moving.
"Do not worry, Cyborg is assisting them. We need to get outside." Starfire picked Raven up, who was too concerned about her friends to complain, and flew her outside, leaning her delicately against the wall of the building opposite the now burning one. She asked what happened… or at least Raven thought she did: her ears were still ringing from the explosion. Starfire was looking at her with worry etched on her face, then she focused on the building.
"I am going to help inside. Do not go anywhere." With that, the alien flew off. 'As if I have a choice!' Raven thought, trying to relax and begin healing her body for the second time that day. It was an impossible task though with the blazing heat warming her face and her focus constantly turning to the entrance where her friends would (hopefully) appear through any second now.
Just as her mind had settled enough to start, she saw Cyborg and Starfire running towards her with the battered looking pair. Beast Boy and Robin both had rips in their clothing and dishevelled hair to compliment their dust-stained faces and scratched arms but, as far as she could tell, they were both okay. She could breathe again.
Cyborg kneeled in front of her, pressing a hand down on her shoulder. "Girl, you must have really pissed someone off!"
The sound… it was spectacular! So loud and dramatic! He couldn't help but smile as he watched the leader's face. He was the tactical one all right. That moment when he realised what the ticking was… but he was too late… the horror in his expression; he wished he could have peeled the black and white mask from his face and see the look in his eyes.
The police would think nothing of the explosion: probably some junkies abusing their drugs and being too high to realise they caused an accident. When they discovered who the three bodies really were, they'd assume they were following up their investigation from yesterday and record their deaths as accidental. It was brilliant. He was brilliant.
Wait… isn't that the… and… fuck! He'd had to switch to different cameras as the ones inside the warehouse had perished in the explosion and he now had a clear view of the outside, and the robot freak being carried by the enthusiastic alien girl. Hopefully they were too late and he'd have the pleasure of seeing their suffering and sorrow at the sudden death of three fifths of their team. But, at the back of his mind, he had a nagging, persistent feeling that they'd be saved.
Too weak to teleport and fly, Cyborg remotely ordered the T-Car to auto-drive to their location so he could take them all home to the tower. This day was turning into a disaster: first the shooting… now the warehouse explosion! He knew it was too coincidental to be an accident. Someone was after Raven. In the rear view mirror, he caught sight of her. He could tell she was hurting as she hid under the folds of her cloak (which was now ripped and scorched at the ends) but she was never going to admit it, the steely resolve she'd grown up with shining in her violet eyes.
They drove home in silence, Cyborg having already explained that he and Starfire were on their way to reprimand Raven for leaving when they'd seen the building go up in flames from their position in the sky. No one spoke again until they were sitting on the common room sofa. Robin, Raven and Beast Boy all fell into it, the softness of the padded cushions giving their aching muscles and joints sweet relief. Starfire flew to get the first aid kit from the infirmary while Cyborg turned on the TV to see if the warehouse explosion was on the news. It was: every news channel in fact. Luckily, they'd driven away before any reporters could get there and question them.
"They knew we were coming back." Everyone turned to Beast Boy, who wasn't looking at any of them, "They must have known. That ticking definitely wasn't there when we first arrived, dude."
Cyborg agreed, "Y'all must have been on to somethin' if they went to the extreme of detonating a building."
"He's smart, I'll give him that but he won't get the better of us!" Robin said, although the tone of his voice didn't match the confidence his statement demanded.
"Or she," Cyborg added, "Or them. We have nothing to go on."
"That's not true: we know they really want to kill me and will happily take the rest of you down as collateral damage." The men frowned at Raven, unhappy at how blasé she was acting, as if being hunted down was a regular thing to do to a human being.
"You could take this seriously, Raven!"
"Trust me, I am," she glared at Robin, "We know this person… these people… are ruthless, confident, skilled, smart… all the characteristics you need to pull off a sniper shooting and bomb planting. If we find out who possesses all of those qualities, we have a starting point." Silence followed as the boys pondered her point, in awe of the fact she was keeping a level head. Starfire flew back in, her hands filled with antiseptic and plasters. She handed the items to Cyborg, who got to work cleaning and protecting the injured Titans' wounds.
"We could be looking for anyone from an overweight sociopath hiding in his mother's basement to a member of the damn Justice League!" Robin grimaced, frustrated at the severity of the situation his team was facing and the lack of direction they had to follow.
"Anyone stupid enough to take down a Teen Titan ain't gonna be easy to find, y'all."
"Then it's a good thing I enjoy the chase," Raven smirked, rubbing a saline solution onto a cut on her left leg. Having being raised in Azarath, knowing she was hated by the majority of the citizens who knew of her demon heritage and prophecy to destroy their dimension and many others, Raven had developed a strong resilience to emotional turmoil, choosing to act strong instead of facing reality. Facing danger and evil everyday was part of their job so she wasn't afraid of death. Hell, she'd sacrificed herself for her 'father' already. Death is easy; living is the hard part. It was more difficult to process that she was possibly being targeted- although the past few hours had made that clear. Starfire could have just as easily been shot out of the air; but she wasn't. The warehouse could have blown up before she'd arrived; but it didn't. It was even more difficult to process that her friends- her family- could get hurt because of her.
Unfortunately, the team- specifically Robin- could see straight through her tough outer shell. It was taking every ounce of his willpower not to shout at her and make matters worse.
"You're not chasin' anything, Rae."
"Agreed, Friend. It is obvious that someone is after you."
"And until we know who, you should stay here."
"I'm not hiding away like a child. I can fight my own battles."
"We know you can but it doesn't mean you should!" Beast Boy said, sitting up to face the demoness now his body was feeling more rested and throwing his arms around to emphasise how stupid she was being. "If it was me, Rae- if you'd seen me get shot and blown up, what would you say if I wanted to fight?" That shut her up. "Exactly. Now stop being the stubborn bitch you can be and accept that you need to lay low!"
"I can't just sit back and watch you all do the job I should be doing," she forced out, refusing to meet Beast Boy's angered eyes. "I know you're all concerned, and I appreciate it- really, but I'm not some fragile porcelain doll that will break if touched. If someone's got a vendetta against me then I deserve to look them in the eye and find out why- if that is even what's happening!" She looked to the others for back-up, for some indication that she wasn't wrong in her thinking, "It's not like we haven't handled shootings and explosions in the past."
"You weren't a fucking target then!" Beast Boy shouted, standing up now and towering over Raven, who remained seated and composed. "Do you not value your life at all? Do you not care about how we feel about this screwed-up situation?"
Cyborg chose this time to intervene, seeing how heated the discussion between the two Titans was getting. "Look, we're all tired and stressed. You-" he pointed at Beast Boy, "- need to stop shouting; it's not going to make things any easier if you two start arguing. And you-" he pointed to Raven- "need to stop acting like this isn't bothering you. We all know it is, and if it isn't yet then it will do eventually. We need to work together to find out who's behind this, not fight."
Beast Boy, not taking his eyes off Raven, sat back down in his space next to Robin. Raven put her hood over her head and rose off the sofa to make herself her favourite camomile tea. Cyborg accepted their compliance as their apology to each other and turned to address Robin.
"I'm going to go and do some research on some of the bomb fragment I found in the warehouse. I'll contact you if I find anything useful." He left without another word, the common room door sliding closed behind him as he headed to his room. An awkward silence fell over the room. It became too uncomfortable for Starfire, who excused herself to go and shower. Beast Boy followed, muttering something about the gym.
"What is his problem?" she sighed quietly as the kettle whistled, the water boiled ready to saturate the tea leaves in her empty mug.
'He cares about you,' Robin thought, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. He didn't voice his answer aloud, as he was sure he wasn't meant to hear the question in the first place.
"Do you think I'm being unreasonable?"
Robin wasn't sure if he'd actually heard that question at first- it was rare for Raven to open up to anyone, let alone about any self-doubts she was having.
"Honestly?" Robin asked the dark bird as she retook her seat to his right, a mug of sweet-smelling tea in her pale hands. She nodded, expecting nothing less from him. "No, I don't. I know if it was me in your place I'd stop at nothing to find out who was terrorising me." Raven visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping ever so slightly, at his response- pleased to have his approval. "But as your friend, yes, you are being unreasonable and completely disregarding your personal safety. You shouldn't have come to the warehouse until we knew more about what we are dealing with."
She sighed, taking a long sip from her mug. "You can't keep me caged up, Robin."
"Nice metaphor," he smirked, "And you're right, I can't. All I can do is advise you not to do anything stupid!"
Robin had come a long way as leader over the years. He still remembered their first battle as a team, not including the time when they first met and saved Starfire from the Gordanians. He had been very controlling, demanding everything from them- including their respect. He realised soon later than respect was earned. He'd made many mistakes as leader of the Teen Titans: going undercover as Red-X; recruiting Terra; driving himself crazy with his Slade obsession; not protecting Raven from the former villain when he resurrected; but Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven and Cyborg had all stuck by him and supported him through his transition from a sidekick in Gotham to a leader in Jump. He was honoured to lead his friends. The old Robin would have locked Raven in the 'safe room' where she'd stayed during her visions from Trigon, but today's Robin couldn't allow his concern for his friend to ruin their relationship.
"What constitutes 'stupid'?" she asked, continuing to sip her tea.
"Going out on your own... sneaking off to investigate on your own… pushing everyone who loves you away…"
"Sounds like everything you've done in the past," she said quietly, knowing she was treading on rocky ground. "And give me some credit, please."
"I have never underestimated you since the first day I met you," Robin said seriously, looking Raven in the eye to emphasise how highly he thought of her, as a friend and as a teammate, "All I ask is that you learn from my mistakes. I know you: I know you don't like involving other people in your problems but you have no choice."
She really didn't- not with four friends who were as stubborn and protective of her as she was of them.
It was all over the news. The bomb he'd created had certainly served its purpose: the docks were in ruins. No boats were able to dock due to the overwhelming number of public service vehicles occupying the small area. On his screen, he could see Jump City's finest fire-fighters tackling the blaze that refused to burn out. But he wasn't interested in them; he was interested in whether or not the heroes had found their friends. No mention of them had been on the news and if they had escaped then they'd gone to a place away from the view of his cameras.
The more he saw of these Titans, the more he realised he had underestimated them. While he had been required to research Raven as part of his assignment – a key aspect of his work – he'd not wasted as much time on the other four. He knew some basics: their names, their supernatural abilities but not much else. In order to get close to Raven, he would have to learn more about them. After all, why would a demon need to make friends, if not for her own needs?
Vibrating, his phone rang in his pocket. The same number.
"Very impressive explosion," the voice said darkly. He knew not to take it as a compliment. "It's a shame you had to use that detonation device though as it shows you aren't as competent a shooter as you're recommended to be!" With every word that left the caller's mouth, more venom was put behind them.
"A minor setback. I'll rectify it, don't worry," he assured. In his line of work, where powerful people were in charge, he knew to sound confident.
"Of course you will- if you want paying," the voice snarled. "You promised me a dead bird. So far I have a pile of debris and a migraine."
"Have you tried Aleve? It always worked for my Dad."
"I want her gone by the end of the week: that's an extra four days."
"How generous of you!" he said sarcastically, hanging up and throwing the phone onto his bed in the corner of the room. The screenshots of her distracted him, his finger stroking the pixellated portal beneath her feet.
'It's such a shame I have to kill something so beautiful…'
