They had heard ever single gasp. Those muffled grunts of pain as each blow landed. If their darker comrade had been in the same room… she would have no doubt felt the palpable rage and horror that permeated the air. They had failed her… they assumed it had been a bluff. They had assumed just gathering information instead of instantly jumping into thieving certain products would be enough to keep her safe.

Oh, the Titan's had been so very… very wrong.

Starfire had her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide, struck with horror as she could almost feel each blow that landed on her Azarathian friend. On her world, someone would be punished with the Glorknax treatment for torture if they were not part of the royal guard. This… this would not be tolerated! There was a shift in the air as her eyes started to illuminate with her power, the horror shifting to rage quickly as Slade's final words filtered through before he abruptly hung up.

Once the call had ended, there could have been a large explosion and none of the inhabitants of Titan's tower would have moved. They all stared blankly at the phone connected to the main computers. Their blank expressions, eyes filled to the brim with malice, likely terrifying the poor technology as it was glowered at from feet away by four powerful teens.

Robin pressed his lips together, his mind racing, wondering, "How badly had she been hurt? Was Raven okay?" If Slade had drawn blood from their sweet, if a little testy, teammate he was going to have hell to pay! His gloved hands curled into fists at his sides as he continued to glare at the phone as if it were Slade himself looking back with his stupidly smug bi-colored mask. He would definitely pay…

Cyborg had no idea how to respond. His one human eye having gotten wider with each pained noise their friend had given. He understood she had not wanted them to hear her, wanting them to try and find her or a way out of this mess. But, alas, Slade's tactic worked beautifully. Hearing Raven in pain, when none of them could anything to help her, was the perfect motivation for them to hop on this band wagon and end this case. He already had ideas of how to capture Slade should it come to them meeting him face to face for the trade. Cracking his metallic knuckles, he started viciously clacking away at the keyboards, opening the link to the call and hoping to isolate background noises; anxious to see if there would be any trace clues as to where he was keeping Raven.

To be honest, the one most affected by this development would have to be Beast Boy. His mind flooded with all the memories of Raven, the suffering she had endured at the hands of Trigon as he forced her to hurt her friends; the fondness he felt for her in all the times she had helped him. It all came down on him in that one moment, the one moment she had let out a pained moan caused by whatever Slade had done. Everything boiled down to this. This moment. This pained cry emitted from her lips burned into his memories, forever etched by whatever abuse Slade had dealt her. His fists clenched tighter, his petite green body shaking with anger, he was ready to rip Slade's throat out and damn the consequences! A broken growl ripped from his throat as his knuckles connected with a nearby wall, finding relief as his pent up rage forced itself into the unsuspecting brick. "He hurt her… He hurt her just like he promised and we could have prevented it!" he hissed beneath his breath, his eyes filling agony and despair as he realized the unfairness of the situation.

The rest of the team regarded their changeling companion, their brows furrowing in mixed reactions to his justly spoken words. Each of them had flinched at the first phrase, each equally blaming themselves for the failure to keep Raven from harm. Yet, it was Starfire, the one who had encountered Slade earlier with Beast Boy who drew herself near enough to place her hand upon his shoulder. As her soft hand fell upon his shoulder, he turned away from her, chewing at his lower lip as he battled internally with his own emotions; Knowing she would understand. The urge to hug the little green mutant filled her, though Star knew it wouldn't be welcomed in this moment. "Do not worry friend Beast Boy, if I know friend Raven, she wouldn't blame us for gathering information before we tried to find a way to get her free and prevent Slade from his evil conclusion. Whatever that may be."

Tilting her head at his silence she heaved a soft sigh and looked down, her form floating a bit closer to the floor as her own guilt washed over her, "you are not the only one to blame," she raised sad, green eyes to him, "for I was also there when Slade got away." Her teeth nibbled with worry at her lower lip as she remembered the events, her frustration at not having captured him returning full swing. It was the largest Titan's next words that had everyone wondering just what their next step would be.

"Guys, Raven would never blame us for this, she knows how we work. She has been with us for so long, we are practically the only family she has. We are the only ones who understand her best. After everything we have been through do you not think she has faith in us? That we will do what is right and still save her from him?" A hand lifted, rubbing at the fleshy side of his face as he looked at them with a calm expression, though his eyes told of the turmoil held deep within, Raven's pain and haunting, agonized sounds daunting on his mind. "We now know he means what he says. I think we have a chance. Granted it is something we never wanted to have to do… but for Raven we would do most anything for her safe return. I vote we get the things he wanted and then set up a trap, for when he wishes to make the trade." His voice trailed off, meandering thoughts still adrift in his mind as he rubbed idly at his temple once again. A stray sentence ran across his thoughts, 'That's even if he intends to return her at all… what if this is another one of his ploys to use her?' He could feel his blood run cold, the mere thought of Raven not coming home to them pressing heavily on his soul as his expression briefly fell, reflecting the bitterness of the idea. He forced it from his mind, shaking at his head as he realigned his features, regarding the group as he had before. His eye widening as their familiar faces held a whole new light, one of hope and rampant ideas.

Robin spoke, the excitement palpable as new plans started to form in his mind's eye, becoming evident in his tone. "Cyborg is right… all we have to do is get the items, and get Raven back without letting Slade succeed in whatever he is planning. This is nothing compared to what we have endured before!"

Starfire smiled softly at her friends, this is why she stayed, no matter how hard things became they somehow always found a way to persevere, always finding a way to beat the odds. It warmed her alien heart every time she saw how strong they were in the face of impossible odds. "Glorious! We have saved this world once before; even the universe, saving friend Raven from a devious human will be nothing compared to what we have already accomplished!" Her shrill exclamation filled the void with her own excitement as she slammed her right fist into the palm of her left. "Friends, we must make haste and save our friend before she misses out on the next pizza and movie night!"

They all turned to Beast Boy, expecting him to crack some joke about what Raven would do when she returned safely to them, or how he would pummel Slade with one of his many forms. But the green Titan did something they rarely saw from him, "Guys, what if after all of this, Raven doesn't even want to come back? What if our trap doesn't work and Slade gets what he wants? What if Slade goes back on his word and doesn't even give Raven back, we could be meeting with another one of his robots that disguises as him for the trade off, how do we know it is even him when we get there?"

His doubts, though dampening the room, were very much things they all had tried not to think of. Leave it to the funny guy to point out the harsh reality, when everyone was trying to motivate themselves out of their depression.

Robin stepped forward, almost even with Star as he looked Beast Boy dead in the eye. He saw the guilt, the regret, the hopeless look in his teammate's eyes; and yet, this only gave him stronger resolve. "Beast Boy… No matter what, we will get her back. And once we do, you can enjoy her verbal abuse and her sending you to alternate dimensions when you bug her once again to your heart's content." His lips twitched as a few select memories filtered through his mind after such a statement. But he continued on, knowing more was yet to be put in front of their green comrade to solidify his own determination.

Again, Robin spoke, "Of all of us, you are her closest friend; you are the one that she talks to the easiest when it comes to things she cannot really let loose for fear of her emotions going haywire. You are the one person in this whole world Raven would fight tooth and nail to save even if the rest of us are in danger." He stepped closer, resting his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder as he nodded softly, "And that is because no matter what she did to you, no matter what she said to you, you always came back and made sure you were there when she needed someone most and the rest of us couldn't see it." Robin smiled softly, giving a gentle squeeze to Beast Boy's shoulder, as if to reaffirm him, "If anyone can come up with a plan on the fly to save her when things go wrong… it's your Beast Boy… it's you."

A cumulative smile raced across the group, a shift in attitude lifting from the changeling as Robin's speech came to a close. Beast Boy's entire demeanor changed, his chest swelling with pride as his shoulders drew back, a strong, determined light within his gaze shining out as he smirked, cheekily responding, "You're right, 'cuz if anyone is gonna pull on her cloak while she is trying to meditate, or crack stupid jokes and get her to smile one of those rare smiles, it's sure as hell gonna be me!" The strength in his voice as he said this left them all to breathe a sigh of relief. It would be horrible to lose not just one but two Titan's in this struggle. They needed their jokester if they were going to get through this with as little emotional damage as possible. And he needed to remember just who he was to this team. He was the emotional strength which carried them, kept them light hearted and laughing through even the darkest of times, guiding them. All he needed was his genuine attitude, and to remember exactly who he was to this team.


Hey Everyone! Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed and please feel free to review!

- Ivory out