Robin adjusted his mask carefully and coughed to shift the lump that was rising in his throat. He watched the last of the light and dust fade from the remains of S.T.A.R Labs, leaving a smouldering shell behind. The windows had been blown through and anything inside had been incinerated but the walls were still standing. "It's over then." He murmured, unable to turn his eyes away. Three people had died in there; one murderer and someone he barely knew, but Phoenix had been in there too. "We should head back to the Tower." His voice was devoid of emotion, drawing the green gaze of Beastboy.

The changeling's ears had drooped and he was watching his leader from his position on the cold pavement where the blast had flung him. He had been the closest to the building when it had been purged and he had felt the intense heat even at such a distance.

"We're not even going to check?" Beastboy knew that checking would be pointless; they were all gone but they had thought that of Phoenix before and she'd managed to survive. Who was to say that that wouldn't hold true this time?

"No one could've survived that, Beastboy." Robin finally turned his back on the building, turning towards the empath behind him. She had been perfectly silent since the blast and he swore that there were tears slipping down the cheeks that were shadowed by her hood. "Rae?"

"Yeah, no one." Raven blinked but didn't look away from the S.T.A.R Labs, or what remained of it, as if she were half expecting Phoenix and Ravager to walk out of the wreckage with Imago Dei handcuffed between them. He could feel the half-formed hope through their bond, just as he knew she could feel his sorrow. Purple eyes flickered white for a split second before locking onto Robin. "We should get back to the Tower; if this was a kamikaze run I don't think Imago would have risked only taking one Titan with him."

"Ok." That was Raven; always thinking about what could happen next. What had already happened could wait until there was nothing else to worry about. She could grieve when it was over.

The trio of original Titans disappeared into Raven's power, the cool magic soothing the skin that had been heated by the purging facility. By the time they materialised in the main room of the Tower they were shivering, from either shock or the sudden iciness of Raven's magic, no one knew.

"Where's Nix?" Crimson's voice called to them from the control panel. It appeared that the young man had tapped into the CCTV around the facility; the screen showed what was left of it. Robin shook his head. "You left her behind?"

"No one could've survived that, Crimson." The boys stared at each other, mouths set into thin lines.

"You still left her there. You didn't even check to make sure. You just left." The red-clad teenager got to his feet, beginning to raise his voice as tears ran from his eyes. "You were supposed to love her, you're supposed to care!"

"We do care, Crimson. There was nothing we could've done." Crimson pushed Robin roughly in the chest.

"Dude. It's not his fault." Beastboy caught Robin easily and set him back on his feet. "It was Imago; he's the one who lured them towards the biohazards. I think he meant to take the fight in there."

"Of course he did. He gets his kicks out of killing people. That doesn't change the fact that you left Phoenix in there." Raven was looking past the arguing boys to the screen behind them. The building was a mere shell of its former self but there was a figure standing in the doorway.

"Robin." Her voice was soft as she watched the figure stumble out of the building and look directly at the camera. It was as if he could sense Raven's gaze. A smile broke across the scarred face and it was then that Raven realised that the man was completely naked and averted her eyes. Instead she looked at her leader. "Robin." When he failed to answer her again she landed a sharp slap to the back of his head.

"What?" He whirled on her but instead of quailing under his anger as many would, she quirked a bemused eyebrow and pointed silently to the screen. "That's not possible." He muttered all thoughts of his argument with Crimson fleeing his mind as he moved to stand by the console, freezing the image of the bare skinned man on the screen.

"Is that Imago?" Crimson had joined the leader, leaning across the other boy to tap at the keyboard. Another image of the villain appeared alongside the CCTV feed and after a few more seconds they had confirmed what Raven already knew. "How could he have survived that?"

"Maybe the room was implosion proof." Beastboy suggested, the beginnings of hope twinkling in the depths of his emerald eyes. If Imago had survived then maybe Phoenix and Ravager had too.

"No." Raven muttered; it wasn't possible that the room full of biological weaponry would be immune to the purging process. It would defeat the whole point of destroying the building in the first place. "That's not it." Crimson drew his staff from his belt and twirled it through his fingers.

"I think I should go and check if the girls survived, after all. I can pick Imago up while I'm there." He said as he sent a pointed look Robin's way. While they usually got on, it hadn't taken long for Raven to notice that Phoenix was a friction point between the boys; Crimson might as well have been one of the firebird's brothers. And with Robin as the heroine's boyfriend there was always going to be a point where the boys didn't get along.

"Crimson." Robin's voice was a warning but Raven's eyes had drifted behind them again to look at the screen. The man they believed to be Imago Dei was shuffling away but after every step his gait seemed stronger and surer. He seemed to be recovering. Just as he reached the outer frame he turned back to the camera and shot out an arm in their direction. A shimmering patch of what looked like glass flew from his fingertips and then the picture went black.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Raven reached out with her power to rewind the video to a second before Imago's power hit. "He doesn't seem too injured considering what he's just been through." Crimson put his staff away silently.

"He's coming here." It was Beastboy who spoke next and his voice was soft, lacking all of its usual emotion. "Remember what he said about Starfire?" Both Robin and Crimson twitched a little at the mention of the redheaded alien. "I think she's supposed to be next." Raven wasn't sure when the green boy had grown up so much and she had no idea how she'd missed it but now she felt a sudden urge to hug him for being a voice of reason.
"We need to be ready."

"You need to be quicker than that boys and girl." A sinister voice chuckled from the doorway. The quartet whirled around to see Imago Dei, in full uniform, holding Starfire to his chest and his straight razor to her throat. Dread and horror radiated from everyone, sending Raven's head swimming. "You'd think it would be harder to fake that wouldn't you?" He nodded his masked head towards the screen almost nonchalantly.

"Let her go." Robin nominated himself spokesman and gave the order easily.

"I've killed twice today, Mr Grayson. I only have five left, so why would I give up now? I only wish that dear Deathstroke's daughters had gone down fighting." Robin's gloved hands clenched into fists.

"What do you want?" Imago snickered, letting the blade in his hand break the skin of Starfire's throat. The alien yelped, her eyes flickering bright green only milliseconds before the starbolt left her hand in favour of Imago's chest.

The villain screamed as the ball of light made contact and involuntarily released Starfire. She flew to stand beside her teammates as Imago straightened again with only a scorch mark on his shirt to mark his injury.

"I want nothing more than to kill you all."

Yeah, more of a filler chapter than anything and Imago knows Slade. Who knew? I wonder where Phoenix and Ravager have gotten to? They were supposed to be back by now...