Robin sat in his cell at Weapon HQ, staring at the walls, his mask and the eyes beneath it narrowed in concentration. His arms were around his knees, which he had drawn up to his chin. Sitting like that, he looked even younger than his sixteen years, but such observations didn't bother him. They could even be advantageous in lulling others into a false sense of security. For example, sitting like this, it was almost impossible for anyone to tell he was working hard to escape from the prison he found himself in.

The cell was tall. Twenty feet at least, and spherical, making any thought of climbing to the tiny vent at the top of the cell futile. His grappling hook could've scaled that distance with ease if his utility belt hadn't been taken away. It was frustrating, but Robin was never without options. He had learned from the best, and he knew that the tools in his belt were just that: tools. They enhanced his skills, but they did not embody them. Nonetheless, he wished for just a few of his explosives. It would make this whole process much easier.

That "whole process" was proving to be more difficult than he had first imagined. There was no such thing as an escape-proof prison. Robin knew that as well as anyone. It was even more apparent to someone in his line of work. How many criminals had slipped from their bonds to trouble the world again even after being caught? Maybe that was a bad example. Many of those criminals had super-powers, henchmen, or even entire armies that could brute-force lock and key. The boy wonder preferred subtlety most of the time.

He had no doubt that the other Titans were being held in prisons that corresponded to each of their abilities. That in itself said a lot. It meant that this kidnapping was not some improvised, off-the-cuff response to Raven's retreat. This had been the plan all along. To draw the sorceress out into a trap she would not escape, using her friends as the bait. And Robin knew she would come. In her own way, Raven was more passionate about the friendship the five of them shared than anyone else.

So he waited. Waited for Weapon to make its move, to reveal some flaw in their set-up. He would not sit here hoping to be rescued. When the time came, he would act.. Raven would not be alone when she walked into the trap. Robin intended to be there to help her. So he waited for his chance.

The waiting would soon be over.


The first thing Brand felt was the chill. Even through his jacket, the cold air puckered his flesh and made him shiver. The shivering awakened the second sensation: pain. His entire body ached as if he had been hit by a car.

He grabbed the green Titan by the throat, hand slipping beneath the snapping jaws of his raptor form, using the momentum of his charge to lift the saurian up by the throat and slam him into the ground. "Not this time, Green!" he sneered, enjoying the brief moment of vengeance for the blow the kid had delivered earlier in the battle. He resumed his course towards Raven, who was chanting again. He drew his sword back, gleefully preparing to cut her down when the car slammed into him. She had used her powers to send it flying directly into his flank. He fell and tumbled to the ground at her feet.

Brand blinked. Oh yeah... that happened. He had been hit by a car. He almost laughed, but he was afraid it would hurt even more. Did I get hit by an exploding motorcycle, too? He asked himself, frowning. No... the bike didn't hit me. It hit Lance! And then he remembered. Lance's mockery. Brand's first, failed attack. The intense battle between the big Weapon and Raven. That final moment.

It had taken far more effort than it should have, but he had levered himself up off the ground and had climbed to his knees, leaning heavily on his sword, watching in awe as Raven stood up to Lance on her own. And she was winning. He had to admit, the girl had guts. And skill to match. When the sorceress had detonated the motorcycle on top of Lance, the explosion had nearly driven Brand back to the dust, a wave of heat and tiny pieces of mechanical debris washing over him; he had barely kept his balance. He watched Lance hit the ground in a spray of a sand, but he knew better than almost anyone what the big man was capable of. He had seen the slight shift in balance, the flash of cunning in the other Weapon's eyes.

So it was no surprise when the spear had been thrown with deadly accuracy at Raven, bound to skewer her and put an end to the threat she posed. In that split second, Raven had managed to stop the projectile cold with her powers. Brand would have been more impressed, but he was already moving, knowing that Lance would follow up the spear with another attack. He couldn't say what he was doing or why. Brand already knew he was dying, so the effect of the blood chain – which would kill him if Raven herself died – had no influence on him. Maybe it was rage at Lance, at Saber, at Weapon, for throwing him aside, treating him like dirt. Maybe it was instinct, seeing a chance to kill a powerful opponent. Maybe he just didn't want to watch Raven die after observing her fighting so well. He sped past the Titan, burning the last of his strength in this final strike, leaping towards his former associate with sword raised, and then...

Impact.

Lance was dead. Brand lay cold and in pain and wondered if he would join the other Weapon soon. That thought gave birth to another one. Obvious, but still unexpected. He was alive. How? His icy blue eyes snapped open, and he saw an endless indigo sky above him, stars beginning to wink into place in the east. A gentle breeze blew grit and sand across his face and body. He was still in the desert and night was falling. There was a deep silence, and Brand watched the sky for a long moment.

The quiet was broken by the soft sound of falling earth. The Weapon sat up slowly, painfully, gasping for breath as if he had just run a marathon. But he could breathe, that was the important thing. He tested his lungs with a few deep inhales, and, although they hurt, he did not cough. Finally he turned and looked around. He almost didn't see Raven at first. It was growing darker and her blue cloak seemed to melt into the evening, and it was several seconds before he spotted her standing at the edge of a mound of sand, looking down.

He climbed to his feet, realizing only then that he still held his sword. The ridges on the hilt had dug into his palm from being held so tightly and he literally had to peel his hand away from the weapon after sheathing it. Raven did not turn as he approached. He wondered if she even knew he was awake. Brand waited for the killing instinct to fill his brain again, knowing that, with her back turned, the Titan was vulnerable.

To his mild surprise, he felt nothing. No anger, no expectation, no disgust, no contempt. All he felt was the chill and the pain.

His booted feet came to a halt only a few feet behind her and to her left. Now that he was close, he could see the mound of earth more clearly, and the spear that stood head-down at one end as a makeshift marker for the grave. "I don't get you," Brand said, and his words, even as quiet as they were, seemed loud in the silence. "You heal me... you bury him... what's your game?"

Raven didn't answer right away, just turned to consider him somberly. The breeze ruffled her cloak and Brand noticed with a strange start that her hood was down for the first time since he had seen her. Her hair was straight and dark, framing the pale oval of her face. The gem glimmered on her ajna chakra. She looked... human. Funny that I never really thought of her like that before.

"I know you don't get it," she said at last. "The world you live in doesn't have room for compassion for an enemy." Raven looked away again. "Or mercy."

The third thing Brand felt was guilt. It was unfamiliar and he responded to it the same way he responded to most things: He got angry. "I saved your life!" he snapped.

Raven turned on him suddenly. "I didn't need your help, Brand!" she said, fire and steel in her voice. "You say that you don't understand me, but you're the one that doesn't make any sense. If I'm the huge threat that you think that I am, do you really believe that Lance could've killed me? Do you think that I needed a sick, dying boy to save me? You should've stayed back and let me handle it, but instead of doing the smart thing, or even doing the stupidly brave thing and tackling Lance, you dove in sword first and took a life."

Brand bristled at the word "boy" and rose to his full height. "Am I supposed to feel bad about that?" He asked with a snort. "I don't doubt that you can take care of yourself, Raven. I saw the way you handled Lance out there, but you don't know him like I did. He was a spineless, contemptible coward, and an arrogant, thick-headed moron. Vicious. Cruel. A glory hound. If you had left him alive at your back he would have stabbed it in a second."

"Like you?" the Titan asked scornfully.

Brand grit his teeth. "Yes, like me. That's how we were raised and trained together. That's what we knew. You have your life of compassion and mercy, I have this. I don't expect you to understand it any more than I understand you, but showing that kind of weakness is death in my world."

Raven turned to face him squarely, and – with another shock – the Weapon saw for the first time just how tired his traveling companion was. Even in the dark, he could see the shadowy circles of exhaustion and worry under her eyes beneath the eye-liner she wore. He wondered how much power she had expended healing him and how much she had used flying all this way, not to mention the two battles she had fought. "You really don't understand me," she said. There was something in her voice, a darkness, and Brand could only stare.

"What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

The teen sorceress sighed. "How much do you know about what happened? The thing that they want you to kill me for... What do you really know about it?"

Brand turned his head slightly, quizzically. "I assume your powers went out of control and caused all hell to break loose."

"No," Raven said, and her words were slow and infinitely sad. "The opposite, really. What I did, that was my powers working exactly as intended." Brand began to speak, but the dark-haired girl raised a hand to forestall him. "My father is a demon. A powerful demon. He forced himself on my human mother so that she would give birth to me. I was to be his portal into this world." She shivered, and it had nothing to do with the dropping temperature. "When I turned sixteen, he... used me for my intended purpose. He came to Earth and, in an instant – as you said – all hell broke loose."

"Robin found me, or what was left of me, and took me back to the other Titans. They were the only living things remaining." Her violet eyes shifted slightly. "Or almost all that was left. They fought my father. Hopelessly, stupidly, completely outmatched, they fought him. In their courage I found the strength to banish Trigon. I won't let him use me again." Raven's small fists clenched with her resolve.

Suddenly, she looked straight up at the swordsman. "So you see, we're not all that different. Both groomed for a single, destructive purpose. I wasn't born to compassion or mercy, I chose it. And if you wanted to, you could, too."

The white-haired teen wanted desperately to say something dismissive, to brush off the story as so much nonsense, but he was tired and injured, left adrift and alone in a world that seemed much different and more alien than it had a few short hours ago.

"If I wanted to," he repeated at last. The words were meant to be sarcastic, but instead sounded bitter.

"Yes," Raven said simply. There was a brief silence. "Are you ready to go? We're wasting time."

Brand shifted his booted feet on the sand. "'We'?" he asked. "I think it's pretty obvious that they're not going to trade me for your friends. What do you need me for?"

"Meat shield," she said humorlessly, raising her hood. "I might need your help once we get inside. I could go myself, but if Weapon gets lucky and kills me, that wouldn't be so good for you, would it?"

Oh yeah... the blood chain, Brand thought. He glared at the Titan. "When this is over, you're cutting me loose," he said. It was not a request. She nodded slowly, and Brand sighed, knowing he was stuck.

The Weapon took inventory. His clothes were dirty and torn, but still functional, including the fingerless gloves with their armored backs. He reached back to touch the pommel of his broadsword, an ingrained habit, and felt it hanging over his right shoulder. Robin's motorcycle sat waiting on the sand fifteen feet away. His eyes traced the outline of the grave in front of him. "Wait," he said, stepping to the head of the grave. He reached out and took the spear from the ground. A quick glance at the haft revealed the hidden button he was looking for, which he pressed. With a snap, the spear collapsed, the tip sinking into the handle, which telescoped inward like the staff the Titans' leader had used. The process took only a second, and afterwards, Brand stuck the concealed spear, now a cylinder less than a foot long, into an inner pocket of his jacket.

He could feel Raven watching him with disapproval. "A trophy?" she asked.

"A reminder," Brand replied quietly. "Let's go."


It was a long, awkward two hours before they reached the facility. Raven was already tired when they began, and the long trip took its toll on her remaining reserves. Brand had it just as bad. The road was not easy, especially on a motorcycle, and it only exacerbated the pain he was already in. The sky turned fully dark before they stopped, a black void filled with countless stars hung above them.

Just as Brand had told Raven when he thought he was dying, the entrance was under a rock overhang, built directly into one of the mesas. It was simple, unadorned metal, large enough for vehicles to pass through. The Titan felt horribly exposed walking up to the front door and had said so.

"Shouldn't we try sneaking around the back?" she had suggested.

Brand had given her a look. The kind of look she usually used on Beast Boy when he said something foolish. "It's not like they don't know we're coming."

That was true enough. Weapon had been paying close enough attention to send Lance after them, so they were certainly aware of the duo's presence. And so they had parked the motorcycle nearby and strode right up to the entrance. Every instant, Raven expected hidden turrets to rise from the ground firing hot death at the two of them, or an army of robots to stream out of the surrounding rocks, but, for once, her paranoia was unfounded. For now, she thought. When she considered it, though, it made sense. These were assassins, not the Brotherhood of Evil. They were bound to be more low-key.

The door was locked, of course. Brand looked at her expectantly. She stared back at him dully for a moment before realizing he was waiting for her to teleport them through the door. She could, but she was already dangerously tired. The events of the day had drained her almost completely and the actual rescue still lay ahead of her. Raven swayed where she stood and almost despaired, but with an exercise in iron will, she regained control of herself. I won't fail, she thought, tightening her lips. She shook her head at the Weapon.

He raised an eyebrow but, to his credit, said nothing. Reaching over his shoulder, he pulled out his sword and held it out in front of him. A cobalt light shone out from an aperture above the door, scanning the weapon quickly. The light flashed red and blinked out. Behind the door, they could hear the muffled sound of an alarm. "Goddammit!" Brand swore viciously. "They already locked me out!" Raven could see the fire of rage and humiliation in his eyes even in the darkness. "Didn't waste any time, did they?" He glanced at her briefly and gave her a forced, crooked smile. "Well it's not like they didn't already know we were coming," he paraphrased his words of only a few minutes earlier.

Raven stared back from under her hood, unamused.

One of his gloved hands reached into his jacket and pulled out Lance's spear. With a flick of a button, the polearm snapped back to its full length. The blue light scanned it and this time blinked green. "Oh, I see how it is," Brand muttered. The spear telescoped inward again and he stuck it back into his jacket. "Should have tried that first," he said, sounding almost apologetic as the doors ground open. Within, the facility was dark but for the dim flashing of the almost blood-red alarm lights.

I liked him better when he was sick, Raven thought, sounding grumpy even in her own head. He talked less.

Brand drew his sword again, glanced over his shoulder at her, and, after receiving a nod of acknowledgment, passed within. Raven followed, her hands raised and encased in magic energy, prepared to fight her way through whatever forces Weapon had mustered to kill her. To her cautious surprise, there was nothing. Nothing but pulsing crimson lights and droning alarms. The Weapon strode in front of her, leading the way, nearly blending in to the air with his red and black clothes, and she was suddenly aware that she was now fully at the mercy of the young man she had brought with her. She had put herself completely in the hands of someone who had actively been trying to kill her only a few short hours ago.

The facility went quite a way back into the mesa, but it was strangely empty. At first they passed the garage, where a few motorcycles and trucks sat silent. Beyond that was all metal steps and stone walls, no decorations or adornments of any kind, the halls stretching into the distance. This doesn't feel like a place where people live and work and train and plan, Raven thought. It feels like a tomb. And the emptiness added to that impression. She was almost eager for the trap to be sprung, because the absence of any other life was disturbing.

Even Brand, who she thought would have been used to the facility, seemed to agree. He began muttering to himself. "Come on, Saber. Where are you? Let's just get this ridiculous thing over with."

They reached the center of a large chamber. Raven recognized it from Brand's mind as the place where the Weapons had received their orders. The alarm lights blinked on and off, revealing that the room was empty, but Brand stopped and looked at her. He held up a hand, palm outward. His fist closed and then opened again, but this time only four of his fingers were up. It closed again, and opened with only three fingers showing. She almost smiled. He was counting down.

… 3... 2... 1. The red lights flashed off of the still-empty room, and, when the countdown hit zero, a bank of white lights above them flashed on all at once, the alarms silenced in an instant. Squinting in the brightness, the duo found themselves surrounded by Weapon robots. Even with Brand's warning, Raven found herself startled by their sudden appearance. Neither of them hesitated, however. Brand swung his sword in a wide arc, cutting down two drones at once while Raven gestured, pulling another apart like a children's toy.

"Predictable, Saber!" Brand called, blocking a slash from an axe-wielding drone. "You always did have a flair for the dramatic."

"The only thing I have a 'flair' for, brother," Saber's voice answered, sounding as if it was coming through an intercom in the ceiling, "is the 'effective'. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

A pulse of black energy extended from Raven's hands, sending several Weapon robots flying. "I shouldn't be one to talk," the sorceress said over her shoulder, "but your family is... messed up." Brand laughed darkly.

The swordsman cut down another of the drones and looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, this is real effective," he shouted mockingly. "These robots that I trained against almost every day are suddenly a huge threat for some reason." He glanced at Raven with a smirk, but she didn't respond.

Does he think we were bantering? Raven asked herself. That's sad.

Saber's voice came again, this time in person from the head of the room, up a small flight of steps. She looked vital and fresh compared to Raven and Brand's tired faces and dirty outfits. "They're not expected to kill you, Brand," she said. "They're simply confirming my suspicions. You're both weak and exhausted." The long-haired Weapon drew her sword. "This won't take long." She leapt into the fray.

Raven braced herself, raising a wall of energy, but Saber stopped short, swinging instead at Brand. The male Weapon blocked, barely, but Saber followed the cut with a kick that caught the young man in the breadbasket. He stumbled back with a grunt and Saber was all over him in an instant, her namesake weapon whistling through the air, ringing against Brand's broadsword.

The two opponents locked swords momentarily, but Saber was fresh and strong, while Brand was still recovering from his nearly-fatal poisoning. She pushed his blade out of line and slashed at the young man's chest. He dodged back just enough that only the tip caught him, shredding his jacket, his red shirt, and skimming the flesh beneath it, but it wasn't a deep cut. Brand spun away from the force of the attack and found himself face-to-face with a trio of weapon-wielding robots and Saber at his back.

Without thinking, Raven extended her mind. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" A small wave of robot parts whirled towards Saber, but the Weapon girl pivoted on one foot, angling her sword with perfect timing to catch every single piece on the blade in turn. Well that was different, Raven thought, both impressed and irritated.

"You've got nothing left," Saber said coldly. "No power, no friends, no time, no space. It's time to end this mission."

The Titan glared at her, her eyes glowing under the hood of her cloak. "Lance under-estimated me, too," she said. "I notice he's not here right now."

The Weapon girl stared at her icily. "Lance was an idiot and a weakling," she spat. "And Brand is defective. His emotional damage got him captured and you've twisted him even further. They failed because they refused to follow orders. They let their desire for glory and recognition blind them. If your friend hadn't held me off during our first fight, you would not be here right now."

Robin, Raven thought with a wry internal smile. "He trained me well," she said. "I don't intend to make it easy for you."

Saber raised her sword in answer and Raven settled herself into a fighting stance. She was aware of Brand cutting a swath through the remaining Weapon drones, but he still too far away to help her. That was probably for the best. Let him spend his bloodlust on lifeless robots instead of another human.

In all honesty, Raven wasn't sure if she could beat Saber. The girl was on a whole different level, and the Titan was exhausted both mentally and physically. She wished she would have been able to free the others, but odds were that her journey ended here.

In a blur of black and red, Saber struck. Raven dodged and weaved, moving like smoke, flowing around the Weapon's sword, putting into practice all that close-combat training Robin had insisted on. She struck when she could, with hands, feet, and energy, but the Weapon was too quick on her feet, never seeming to be where the attacks were aimed. For a moment it seemed the two were evenly matched, until the white-haired girl dropped to sweep her legs and Raven fell to the metal floor. She reached out to open a portal, to sink into the floor and away from the danger and hit a wall in her own mind, too tired to do anything. Her vision swam and her head was light. Nothing left, she thought wearily. Saber stood over her, sword raised. She heard Brand's roar of frustration as he saw her death – and by extension his – approaching, and something else, too... a familiar battle cry.

"Hrah!" A colorful human projectile slammed into Saber. Red, green, and yellow. The Weapon girl skidded across the floor and slammed into a wall.

"Robin!" Raven cried, unable to hide her relief. She couldn't believe he was here, just when she needed him.

The Titans' leader spared her a quick smile. "When I heard the alarms, I knew it was you," he said. His spiky-haired head nodded towards Brand, who had just finished dismantling the remaining robots. "I see you brought... help?"

"Brand? Kind of..." Raven admitted.

"Can we count on him?" Robin asked. Raven hesitated, then nodded. The male Weapon was under control for now. "Then leave the girl to us. Go back and free the others."

The sorceress glared at the young hero. "You're telling me to leave the fight again?" she asked, her voice low. "It didn't go so well last time."

Robin had the decency to look abashed. "Okay, you got me there, but you're exhausted. Please, Raven."

She sighed, not agreeing with him, but too tired to argue. "Watch out for Saber... I'll be back soon with the others," she promised. Raven turned and ran through the exit, cloak flapping behind her, leaving Robin and Brand to face the deadly female assassin.


Robin stood ready to confront his foe from the battle at the restaurant, unarmed and with a questionable ally in the male Weapon that had just finished destroying the last of the robots. The young man sauntered toward Robin, wounded and stiff, but an amused smirk lit his face.

"Whose side are you on?" Robin asked him, watching Saber rise from where she had fallen out of the corner of one masked eye.

"Nobody's," the young man responded. "I got shanghaied into this, but I figure I might as well follow through." He reached into his jacket and took out a metal cylinder that looked vaguely like one of Robin's own collapsible staves. With the push of a button, the cylinder expanded into a familiar-looking spear. "Here," the Weapon said, tossing the spear to Robin. The lead Titan caught it easily and gave it an experimental spin. It was longer and heavier than his weapon of choice, but it was much better than nothing.

Just in time. Saber darted forward from where she had been standing, moving even faster than Robin remembered. He parried the lightning-fast slice that would have cut him in half and lashed out with one booted foot, hitting only air. Saber was no longer there. She had spun past him and was already aiming another cut at his head, but Brand intercepted the blow with his own sword, a feral grin on his face.

The three combatants whirled in a dervish of clanging weapons and hissed breaths, dancing beneath swings and weaving past weapons. A trio of well-trained fighters in deceptively beautiful motion that looked almost choreographed. But this dance was deadly, and all three were soon wounded; cut and bruised and bleeding.

Robin, like Raven before him, quickly found that Saber had a knack for evading or blocking attacks. She almost seemed psychic, reacting to parries and counters before they even happened. Even the boy wonder had to admit that he might have met his end fighting this young woman if it hadn't been for Brand. The swordsman wasn't as fast or as strong as his former partner even when he wasn't injured and worn out, but he knew how she fought, knew exactly where to be to intercept her attacks. And no matter how many cuts or kicks or bruises she inflicted on him, Brand kept getting back up to continue the fight, determination filling his icy eyes.

Little by little, Saber gave way, falling under the combined assault of Robin and Brand. She backed across the floor, back to the entrance of the room.

"Brand," she gasped, leaping back and opening some space between herself and the other two. Robin was gratified to hear the Weapon was out of breath. "You still have time to come back to your senses. The poison might not have gotten you, but our masters won't let you live if you persist in this betrayal."

"They've already tried to kill me once. I don't expect any kindness if I return now. I'll take my chances," Brand responded dully, sounding even more winded than his former cohort.

The female Weapon shook her head, blue eyes shooting daggers at her counterpart. "You're a fool," she said. "I gave you an opportunity to stop this idiocy, but you'd rather turn your back on everything we are." She raised her sword, and there was a new fire in her cold gaze. The three opponents stood there like statues for a moment; the calm before the storm, knowing that a line had been crossed and the next phase of the battle could result in someone's death.

"Alright, y'all! Who's ready for a butt-kicking?!" a familiar voice yelled. Cyborg and the rest of the Titans burst through the other door, the half-robot with his sonic cannon out and Starfire's hands glowing green with energy.

Beast Boy stepped out into the room, arms spread in an exaggerated shrug. "Dude, there's barely anyone left."

"I still see two of them," Cyborg said, human eye narrowing as he spotted Brand and Saber.

For another moment, the female weapon stood her ground, sword raised. Her lip twitched and she glanced at Brand. "This isn't over," she hissed. Then she turned and ran, her footsteps fading rapidly as she passed through the halls and out of the facility. Brand started after her, then stumbled wearily, bleeding from a dozen cuts. He turned and let himself fall against the nearby wall, resting his back against it, catching his breath.

"Robin!" Starfire squealed, swooping down to catch the lead Titan in a hug, his utility belt slung over one of her shoulders. "I am overjoyed to see you well!" She paused, looking him over, seeing his seeping wounds. "You are well, are you not?"

Robin smiled at the alien girl, happier to see her than he was willing to show. "It's nothing, Star. I'm glad you're okay." She grinned back at him. The masked hero looked past the other Titans to see Raven standing pale and quiet behind them. "Thanks, Raven," he said meaningfully. "Thanks for coming to save us."

She said nothing, but he could almost feel the palpable relief radiating from her.

"So, uh..." Beast Boy started, edging forward. "What do we do with him?" he asked, indicating Brand where he leaned heavily against the wall.

Brand ignored him and closed his eyes. "Raven!" he called. "It's time you kept your promise. Break the chain."

All four of the other Titans turned to look at the sorceress. Raven stepped forward until she was within arms reach of the Weapon, who opened his eyes and watched her like a man might watch a dangerous snake. The corners of her lips turned up, just a bit. "It doesn't exist, Brand," she said quietly. "It never did. It was a lie."

His jaw dropped and he stared at her. They watched his expression shift from shock to anger, from anger to acceptance, and finally to a wry, tired amusement. "Of course it was," he said. "Of course it was a lie." He let out a chuckle and put his hands over his face. "Very good."

"You understand then," Raven said to him, her voice soft. "I did what I had to do."

He nodded and Raven stepped away. Brand turned to Robin and held out a hand expectantly. Obligingly, the Titans' leader collapsed the spear he held and held it before the Weapon. He hesitated. "So that's it," Robin said. "Are you still going to try and complete your mission?"

"To what end?" Brand asked bitterly. "Weapon is gone. My masters have washed their hands of me. And, besides," he glanced at the young woman in the hooded cloak and smirked. "Raven is more trouble than she's worth." He leaned forward to snatch the collapsed spear from Robin. He considered the metal cylinder in his hands for a moment, then pressed the button again, extending the spear to its full length, reaching back and drawing his sword in the same motion. He held both weapons defensively in front of him. It happened so fast that the Titans had no time to react. "That said..." Brand growled. "I'm going to be leaving now. Even the goodness in superheroes' hearts has a limit, and I don't particularly want to go to jail."

Cyborg took a step forward, raising his sonic cannon, but Robin held him back. "Go on," the boy wonder said, nodding at the Weapon. "But I suggest you find a new profession. Or we'll meet again and you will end up behind bars."

"Are you crazy, man?!" Cyborg protested. "He tried to kill Raven! Today!" Robin said nothing.

The white-haired young man nodded a salute to the masked hero, flashing a cocksure grin. Then he turned and ran, following Saber out of the building. Out of their lives. Robin let out a deep breath, the tension of the moment leaving him. He felt Starfire's warm hand on his shoulder and he turned to his team.

"Let's go home."


A/N: Fun Facts - The second section of this chapter - Brand waking up in the desert and talking with Raven - is one of my favorite scenes in the story. For my money, any time you have these two characters interacting, it's spinning straw into gold (I may be biased). They're so similar and yet so different, it makes writing the disparate ways they view and react to situations a lot of fun.

This ends the first arc of "Love and Hate", the "Weapon" arc.