Author's Note: I still haven't finished my essay, but finishing this chapter greatly improved my day if not my homework load. Once again, another update may take a while. We're finally to the first set of big reveal chapters though. This is part one of my Haunted spin-off and I am excited! I adore Haunted. I'm done introducing the team and get to end the Who's Xander story arc. No more fight scenes for me. I can write angst, friendship, and mystery for a bit. This was really fun to write and there's more to come.

Reviews: TheBlindRaven, brilliant idea and thank you for sharing it. I'm not planning on making anyone labelled student significant - I would have dropped hints if I was - but I reserve the right to change my mind. I do like the idea, but I'm following a different plot line right now. In the next chapter, you'll finally get the explanation for why I would think it was a good idea to have my main male be named Xander in a Rob/Rae romance. Thanks for sticking with me!

Khositas, well thank you. I try. That was both flattering and extremely articulate so I'm grateful and impressed. Thank you for reviewing!

Anon: Okay. Thank you for sharing your shipping preferences and interesting theory.

Disclaimer: It's for the best that I don't own Teen Titans, but I should definitely be a writer on the Slade story arc. I'm not though. Reality is a sorry place.


The Difference Between Falling and Flying

On Friday, the outside world intruded on the lower levels of academia for a second time.

Rachel and Xander walked back from psychology together, chatting amiably about their weekend plans.

"There's a party I have to go to this weekend. I don't know why I still have to go. I'm not an adorable little kid to be shown off to the pretentious prattling adults anymore," Xander griped, but not as if he really minded.

"A child you," Rachel mused. "That's a strangely horrifying idea. You seem like you would have been a sweet kid with a possibly intentional knack for trouble. 'I didn't mean to set fire to the living room. I was trying to light the candle that smells like frosting.'"

Xander laughed as he opened his locker.

"They have candles that smell like frosting? Yum. I know what I want for my Christmas present. You're actually not that far off about little me, though. I tried to be good, but everything was so much fun to climb on and play with."

His voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry I didn't know you then –"Rachel began. Then she realized Xander hadn't finished speaking. Something had stopped him. His face wasn't as unbearably pale and shocked as it had been when the envelope was delivered in psychology, but he had still lost enough color to concern Rachel.

"Xander," she whispered, his withholding of information leading to her withholding of volume.

"It's nothing," he muttered, shoving his hand almost viciously into his pocket. Rachel heard paper crinkle.

She blinked firmly, hoping that by the time her eyes opened she would know the best course of action. It didn't work. Rachel looked around again with no more idea of how to approach Xander effectively than she'd had before. They were both frozen in the moment, one caught between numerous possibilities, the other trapped by a lack of options.

A locker slammed a short ways down the hall. Rachel flinched and Xander leapt into action. He pinned the student whose locker had closed against the wall.

"Did you put it in my locker?" he snarled. "Do you work for him? Who sent you?"

The shocked student said nothing. There was little that could be said when attacked by a lunatic with a messiah complex.

"Wha- I don't-" the student stammered.

"Answer me, now!" Xander growled, releasing the student only to smash him back against the wall.

Suddenly it was Xander who was pinned against the wall, his heartbeat frantic and erratic. He glared down at Rachel, face contorted with fury.

Rachel's face was calm and impassive. Her expression mild, almost disinterested. Only someone who really knew her could tell that she was terrified, both of and for her friend.

"You said you could handle it," she said.

A small fraction of eternity was spent in silence between them. Rachel's hand, intended to keep him against the wall, lay calmingly over Xander's heart. He could feel his tension lessening as it bled into her hand and down her arm. He could lean into her arm. She would let him up from the wall and he could tell her everything. Xander remembered when he was young and the simple act of telling someone else what was inside his head made the feeling go away. He could relax knowing that the responsibility was shared with someone else. It was a tempting path to take.

Or he could do the right thing and walk away. Rachel would follow him, but not forever.

"We're wasting time," Xander snapped, using the wall to brace himself as he flung Rachel back. "You're going to be late for class."

"And you?" she asked.

"Everything here is a waste of time," he told her, striding towards the front doors.

"In the grand scheme of things, it is likely that the lessons we learn here are pointless," Rachel agreed cautiously, "but enduring now allows us to pursue more enjoyable activities later. Besides, not everyone in this building is pointless."

It was time for Xander to ensure that Rachel never followed him again.

"That," he said, "is where our opinions differ. Goodbye, Rachel."

He forced his features into a small, contemptuous smile as he walked out the door.

Xander didn't break down until he was a few blocks from school. Then he sat down on the curb and rested his face on his hands. He'd made a good effort at playing Xander and attending this high school, but he was so tired. His exhaustion went beyond the sleepless nights and being awakened by his own screaming when he fell finally asleep only to fight a battle he couldn't win, slipping deeper into the dark recesses of his mind and becoming who he fought. He wasn't simply sleep deprived; he didn't want to move any more. It was too much effort. It hurt too much.

He slumped lower, iron spine and perfect posture surrendered in defeat. He didn't cry, though. His eyes burned in expectance of tears that couldn't come.

It began to rain, little more than a drizzle, and the wind was biting and hostile. Both seeped through Xander's sweater and into his soul.

As Xander tried to gather the strength to stand, it was Kori's laugh that gave him hope, but it was Rachel's voice that whispered in his mind, telling him that the situation wasn't as grim as it felt. He was strong enough to get up again.

Rachel wondered if she should cry. She suspected that she was supposed to, but that didn't make it easy for her. People come. People go. Attachment was pointless. Actually, Rachel still cared about Xander because she suspected the slight was intended as a distraction.

The bell rang. Sighing wearily, Rachel walked to class, mentally composing a plausible excuse for her tardiness and making a note to call Xander later.


Rachel couldn't sleep that night. It was midnight, not especially late for the weekend, but she was exhausted and awake. Obviously her insomnia had nothing to do with not being able to reach Xander. If he'd answered the phone, apologized, and told her what was happening she still wouldn't be able to sleep. The stack of books beside her bed was a testament to her periodic fight with sleeplessness.

She didn't want to read though. She'd tried reading, she'd tried meditating, and now she just sat on the bed holding her clock. Rachel listened to the seconds tick by, the rhythm becoming her tie to existence as her mind wandered.

Then the phone rang. It didn't just vibrate, announcing a text; it rang. At midnight, more than the unexpected sound startled Rachel.

"Hello?" Rachel whispered, concerned that the call would awaken her mother, sleeping a few doors down.

"Rachel!" Kori shrieked, her voice breathless and panicky. "I do not know what to do. Xander called me and he did not sound the okay! I do not understand! Is it the English? If I better spoke the English would I understand?"

"Kori," Rachel interrupted, hearing her friend's voice rising in pitch and hysteria, "I want you to do something for me, okay?"

"It is the okay," Kori replied.

"Okay." Rachel exhaled sharply as she forced herself to regain a sense of calm. "Close your eyes. I want you to breathe in, slowly. Listen to your heartbeat. Count 1…2…3. Breathe out. Count 1…2…3…4. In. Out."

Rachel let her voice drop down, from directive to a soothing murmur, then fade away completely.

"Thank you," Kori said softly after a moment.

"You're welcome," Rachel replied, her voice gentle for a moment before returning to a brisk, businesslike manner. "So what happened? Xander called. What did he say?"

"He said that I had to stay inside. He said 'he is trying to get to me through you, but I won't let him hurt you. I'll stop him. Promise me you'll stay inside. Promise, Kori!' Then something crashed and he yelled and discontinued the call. What should I do?" Kori asked. "I don't want to do the staying if Xander is not the okay."

Rachel considered the question. She had an answer, but it all depended on how many people she was willing to cross to protect her friends. That wasn't a particularly challenging question. She'd do whatever was necessary.

"Ignore what Xander wants you to do," Rachel said. "Let his call make you cautious, but also know that there's no guarantee that Xander's right. Get Bee to take you to my house. I'll text you the address. Also, I live near a dodgy neighborhood, so don't get out of the car unless you see me. I don't care who else you see, even if it's Xander. Stay in the car. I'll meet you at the end of the drive. We'll find Xander together."

"It will be done," Kori announced decisively.

"Bye, Kori. I'll see you soon."

"Goodbye."

Rachel texted Kori and slipped off her pajamas. She lived in a nice enough neighborhood, but the darkness nearby liked to surpass its boundaries. Rachel was wise enough to know that going out in sweats and a t-shirt that said "In your dreams" was an invitation for someone to create a living nightmare. To leave her home late at night, Rachel had to go out as Rachel Roth, the one girl no one who knew the neighborhood would lay a finger on.

Rachel put on tight, dark skinny jeans, a nicer shirt, black boots, and a florescent blue-purple jacket. She'd be instantly recognizable without scaring Kori.

She slunk out of her room and past her mother's doorway. Rachel almost paused and reconsidered. Rachel never had people over and was always the quiet, dutiful child, yet she intended to sneak out to bring a friend home. She didn't reconsider, though. She slipped quietly out the front door and into the night.

The icy air made her shiver, but also sent exhilarating power rushing through her veins. There were shadows flitting about streetlights, but none was so foolish as to approach her. Every eye was on her, yet she remained unseen. She was in her territory and her time.

Rachel perched on the fence at the end of her driveway, under the yellow sulfurous glow of the street light and she waited. Before long, an old car drove up and Kori launched herself out of the passenger seat.

"It is most kind of you to allow me to do the sleeping over," Kori said with a pointed look towards Rachel. Subtle. Rachel allowed herself a moment of amusement before answering.

"Hi Kori. Hey Bee. Thanks for driving Kori over here in the middle of the night."

Bee and Rachel exchanged a look that seemed to hint at their ideas of Tamaranians and their last-minute plans.

"Well, have fun you two," Bee said and she drove off.

"Interesting decision to tell Bee it was a sleep over," Rachel commented, slinging Kori's bag over her shoulder.

Kori shrugged.

"It seemed right," she replied.

"I suppose this has been shrouded in secrecy to the point where lies seem normal," Rachel mused, yawning. "Well, there is no lie convincing enough to get past my mother, so be prepared. I'll tell her what we're doing. She'll probably disapprove, but she can't stop us. Then we'll look for Xander."

"Hi, Angela," Rachel greeted her mother brightly as the door opened.

"Rachel? And you must be Kori," Angela sighed as the light spilling out of the doorway illuminated her daughter. "What brings you two outside at this time of night?"

"Strange phone call from Xander," Rachel replied, gesturing Kori through the doorway and following her inside. "We're going to look for him. It's nothing you need to worry about."

Kori was slightly confused by Rachel's relationship with her mother, but let it go. This night was about finding Xander not understanding Rachel.

"Okay," Rachel's mother sighed again. "Stay safe. Goodnight."

She kissed the top of her daughter's head and returned to her room. Rachel ignored the kiss. She loved her mother, but her mother had made a dangerous mistake in her raising of Rachel. She was so concerned with teaching Rachel not to be how she was when she was younger or like Rachel's father that she didn't notice Rachel was turning away from her. She'd wanted Rachel to be independent and controlled, but hadn't stopped her from becoming distant. It wasn't easy to be the daughter of a self-actualized pacifist and the paragon of evil. Rachel was not either of her parents.

"We need some more information about Xander to figure out where to start looking," Rachel began, but she was interrupted by the doorbell.

She and Kori jumped.

"Did you call someone else?" Rachel asked.

Kori shook her head, frowning anxiously.

Rachel shrugged.

"Alright then," she said as she opened the door.

Cold hands pushed her aside as Xander entered her house, dripping wet, battered, and shaking.

"Rachel, I need your help," he gasped, clinging to her for support. Rachel pulled him closer, trying to lend him some of her warmth.

"It's Kori," he continued. "He's going–"

Then he saw Kori, standing behind Rachel, her eyes wide. Rachel was caught by surprise when Xander threw her back against the wall.

"Why is Kori here? You took her? You're working for him!" Xander shook his head and turned away. "And you were the one I came to for help! I trusted you!"

His voice became low and earnest.

"Let her leave. You don't have to do this, Rachel. You don't have to listen to him."

"Xander," Rachel began, her tone level and reasonable, only her eyes showing her alarm.

Xander did not respond in kind.

"Fine! If you won't help me, I'll do it myself. I'll stop him and I'll take down anyone who gets in my way!" he yelled.

Suddenly, Xander fell to the floor, limbs twitching slightly as he tried to make his uncooperative body stand. Kori stood behind him, arm raised, eyes sorrowful. Rachel walked to join her, worried eyes fixed on her fallen friend. Xander watched his friends as he slipped away from consciousness, screaming betrayal with his eyes.

His silent cries echoed in the stillness.


A/N: I really like this chapter. If it's as much fun to read as it was to write, please let me know. If not, please help me improve. I want to know what you think. Please review!