~Memory~

"Ooh, look over here Riley!" Charlotte called. "A new Teen Titans is out!"

Riley looked up from the box he was browsing through and ducked around to where Charlotte was standing. The two of them were looking around the comic shop while Riley's parents and Charlotte's mum took care of their lists in the store next door.

"Oh! I've been waiting for this one," Riley said as he and Charlotte bunched up, shoulder to shoulder, and flipped through the thin comic book. "This is the one where they fight Trigon!"

"Raven is your favorite character," Charlotte remembered.

"Yeah," Riley said. "Raven's so cool."

"Not as cool as you," Charlotte teased.

Riley laughed and then murmured, "Hardly. The worst I've had to beat up is drunk guys with pocket knives. And those men in Matrix costumes last night, who had the paintball guns."

"You still haven't seen anyone else with powers since that night at the warehouse?" Charlotte asked.

Riley shook his head. "And I've been looking, but everything is so big when you're on foot, even with superpowers. Maybe I need a Guardianmobile."

"Um," Charlotte started before losing whatever she was going to say in a fit of giggles.

Riley grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, that's probably silly. I don't even know how to drive."

Charlotte giggled some more, but she stopped abruptly when Riley looked over her shoulder and got very wide-eyed. She'd seen enough movies to know what that might mean. With a quiet "Eeep!" she ducked around until she was peeking over Riley's shoulder. She couldn't see anything, but Riley had told her about his powers coming with an extra sort of sight.

"What is it?" Charlotte asked.

"Do you see that black dog?" Riley asked in a low murmur.

Charlotte looked through the storefront window and out into the street. There was indeed a black dog trotting along the opposite sidewalk. She couldn't see a collar on it but it was to far away to be sure.

"What about it?"

"It's glowing."

Charlotte gasped. "Does that mean it's...?"

"Yeah," Riley said. "I'm going to follow it."

Riley hurried out of the store, turning in the same direction the dog was headed. As soon as he could, Riley ducked into an alley and put his mask on. Once it was secure, he lightened himself and climbed quickly to the roof.

The dog was still in sight, trotting along with its tongue hanging out on the other side of the street. Riley skimmed along his roof's edge, looking for a place to make the leap to the other side where no one would see him.

Bad luck that it was midday.

Riley wasn't too worried about losing sight of the dog. Its glow would be just as visible through any number of objects or buildings as long as Riley stayed close enough. The dog turned off the street, cutting through an alley heading directly away from Riley.

Riley didn't think he saw anyone looking up.

With his best running start, Riley sprang from the edge of the roof and sailed over the street. He landed hard on the opposite roof and rolled into the impact, up on his feet and moving fast without a pause.

The dog had stopped, so Riley caught up easily. It seemed to be looking around, and when it didn't see anyone, it flared bright to Riley's sight. It wasn't a dog anymore. It was a man. A man Riley recognized.

It's the supervillain from the warehouse! Riley thought. He can shapeshift too? That is so unfair.

Seeing a known bad guy, Riley did what any superhero would do. He leaped off the roof and twisted around in the air, landing in a crouch behind the man to confront him. The man spun around very very quickly, pointing something long and glowing that Riley assumed was a weapon. Riley stuck out his hand and wove his tendrils of power around his arm, folding them into a shape in front of his hand that resembled a sattelite dish.

There was a slight shimmer in the air as the burst of raw force slammed into the dark-haired man and blasted him off his feet. Riley dashed forward before the man even hit the ground. He had to make sure the villain didn't teleport away and hoped the man required at least a moment's undisturbed concentration to do so.

Riley stumbled in shock, seeing the man point his whatever-it-was even as he skidded down the alley on his back. A jet of red light shot from the man's weapon straight at Riley, who only narrowly hauled himself out of the way in time. With the momentum from his dodge, Riley hit the alley wall sideways and jumped off, reversing direction and diving behind a dumpster. A second red bolt blasted a chunk out of the wall where Riley had been an instant before.

Riley's heart was pounding. It was thundering in his ears. The man from the warehouse was fast, and obviously more powerful than Riley, and it was too late to change his mind about fighting him. It would be nearly impossible to flee from a teleporter.

"Oh crap."

Pausing only for the space of a single deep breath, Riley wove the force blast again and sent the dumpster tumbling down the alley towards his enemy at high speed. Riley stayed low, which turned out to be a good idea when the dumpster exploded and the man emerged from the wreckage looking angry.

Then, miraculously, he faultered. "What the hell? A kid? Who the fu- "

Seizing the opportunity, Riley didn't give him a chance to finish and thrust both hands towards the man, dropping his protections so he could put all of his strength into it. The twin force blasts struck the man with all of Riley's power.

The man was blown completely off his feet, tumbling out of the alley and into traffic. Riley was running forward as soon as his enemy's feet left the ground. The man twisted in the air, already taking aim at Riley again. A spike of fear nearly stopped Riley in his tracks, but he knew the only way he was getting out of this was to press his advantage, if he could call it that.

Luck was on Riley's side again. The man was suddenly in the path of an on-coming double-decker bus and was forced to abort the shot he was about to take at Riley. The man twisted to the side, holding that glowing white weapon of his like a shield.

He and the bus collided with an almighty crunch. The metal of the upper deck folded around a glimmering shell of energy that sprang into being between the man and the bus. To Riley's amazement, he could see the tendrils of the man's power flowing from the weapon in an intricate pattern to support the shield.

It was only visible for a moment, which wasn't long enough for Riley to copy it, much to his disappointment. With the shield, the man bounced off the front of the bus unharmed and landed on the roof of a moving car. There was a screech of brakes as the bus and then the other drivers all reacted to the either the bus or the impact and screeched to a halt themselves.

Riley raced out of the alley, restoring his lightness and imperviousness. He leaped to the roof of the bus to get a better view and spotted the man picking himself up several car-lengths away. Riley dove off immediately, aiming for the villain. A couple of screams followed him as on-lookers saw him fly through the air.

The man's weapon flashed up and Riley was in mid-leap, unable to change course. He shouted something that sounded like "Finite Incantatem!" whatever that meant, but Riley gasped in horror as a faint wave of glowing power washed over him and he felt his protections snap and break.

Riley fell like a rock and hit the pavement hard. He heard a snap in his left wrist and cried out in pain. That's not fair. So not fair. He's gonna kill me and it's not fair.

Hauling himself up, Riley restored his protections against gravity and small impacts, not sure what else to do. But then the man was right there and Riley froze. That glowing white weapon was pointed right between Riley's eyes, less than an inch from his head.

"What the hell, kid?" the man said. "Who the fuck are you and why did you attack me? In front of muggles no less! What is your problem?"

They were standing in a small square of street where four cars had collided end-to-end and formed a ring. All of Riley's imagined speeches of defiance for starting down a villain flew out of his head and he just stood there staring at the weapon that was pointed at his head, shaking.

"D-d-don't," Riley forced the word out, "play dumb. I know what you are! And I caugh you stealing bombs before you teleported away! You have to be stopped!"

The look on the man's face was incredulous as he blinked a few times. I won't beg. I won't beg. I won't beg. I can at least die like a hero.

Before the man could say or do anything, though, he and Riley were surrounded by several loud cracks. Just as quickly, the man vanished with a flare of power and a similar noise. Riley dropped to the ground, looking around frantically. He saw at least a dozen glowing people with shining weapons like the man from the warehouse had.

Riley was very nearly panicking, but he forced himself to close his eyes and shut everything else out so he could be sure where all of the reinforcements were. Once he'd located them all, he opened his eyes and fled.

He heard voices from the glowing people shouting something that sounded like "Obliviate!" and saw one using her weapon to send tendrils of power into the heads of the people on the street.

Tears flooded Riley's eyes as he ran and ran for all he was worth. He didn't look back.

Some time later - he wasn't sure how long - Riley cried himself out, hiding behind an air-conditioning unit on a random roof. He needed to get home. He needed to talk to Charlotte. She would be disappointed in him, but she was right to be, and she would know Riley knew that, so it didn't make him want to see her any less.

His left wrist still hurt a lot, and it was starting to swell up.

Wiping away the last of his tears and straightening his mask, Riley looked around to figure out where he was. He knew the place, but it looked different during the day. With a shakey deep breath to steady himself, Riley turned, brought his protections into place, and dove off the roof.

He went slowly, spending less time airborne than he normally would. There was no sign of the supervillains and Riley easily found the comic shop again. He landed on the roof and looked over the edge. Riley sighed with relief. Charlotte was chattering happily at the three adults and holding the issue of Teen Titans they'd looked at together.

Then they turned and strolled off, leaving Riley behind. Of course, Riley could easily get around on his own, but his parents didn't know that. So why were they so blithely leaving without him? Riley followed them from rooftop to rooftop, but none of them ever looked back or asked where Riley was.

Riley was still trying to figure this out when they disappeared into the underground. Yes, they had just left without him. Why would they do that? Riley shivered.

Deciding to just pretend he'd called a cab - he had a bit of pocket money on him - Riley made his way home over the rooftops. Afterall, they had to explain why they'd left without him before he explained how he got home without their help.

Riley beat his parents and the Webbs home. He was waiting anxiously when he heard the garage open and the rumble of the car pulling in. His wrist was swollen purple now, but its pain was second to the churning worry he felt. Riley didn't know what had happened to his parents but something must have.

It felt like ice had sunk into the pit of Riley's stomach when his parents came in and stopped dead as they saw him. Their faces were identical cold masks of bewilderment and wariness. Riley shivered. Why were they looking at him like that?

"Who are you and what are you doing in our house?" his father asked sternly.

Riley gaped, feeling the tears coming again. "What are you talking about? Dad, it's me, Riley! You left me by myself in the comic shop just half an hour ago!"

His dad frowned suspiciously, but his mum touched Dad's arm and said, "Look, Greg, he's hurt."

Riley was backing away slowly now, fighting down sobs. "Mum, Dad, this isn't funny. Why are you acting like you don't know me?"

"Listen, Riley, was it?" his mum said kindly. "We're not your parents. We don't have any children. But if you need some help we'll hear you out."

Riley was shaking his head, vision blurring despite his best efforts. "No, no, no! I am your son! You love me! Why are you doing this?"

"Hey, it's okay, kid," his dad said. "Calm down. We'll get you some help. What's your last name?"

"Raye!" Riley screamed, now in tears. "You named me Riley Raymond Raye! Dad wanted my middle name to be Richard, but Mum, you said Raymond was more harmonious. I was born in march! Last year you took me to a comic convention for my birthday. Why are you still looking at me like that?"

He couldn't take it. He couldn't accept that his parents didn't know who he was. Riley turned and ran, sobbing and ignoring the outstreched arm of the woman who was pretending not to be his mother. He bolted into the backyard and leaped over the fence even though his parents would see him do it.

Riley crossed the way and hauled himself up the side of the apartment building where the Webbs lived, murmuring as he climbed. "Charly. Charly, please be there. I need you."

She was there and Riley sagged with relief, leaning his head on her window as tears streamed down his face. Charlotte looked up and Riley tried to smile, but before he could manage it, Charlotte screamed in fright and knocked her chair over as she stood up.

"Sorry, Charly," Riley called through the glass. "I didn't mean to startle you, but something's horribly wrong and I don't - I just needed to..."

Riley trailed off, feeling like the whole world was being pulled out from under him. There was no nervous giggle, no warm smile of greeting. Charlotte still looked scared. Riley felt his heart thundering in his ears again.

"Who're you?" Charlotte asked, each syllable like ice piercing his chest. "How'd you get up here?"

"It's me," he said weakly. "Riley."

"Um, I don't know anyone named Riley," Charlotte said. "Sorry."

Charlotte wouldn't joke like that. She was utterly guileless. It was one of the things Riley loved about her. Her words were always spoken with such perfect sincerity.

Riley wasn't aware of letting go of his handholds, nor did he particularly notice he was falling. His protections were in place through sheer force of habit, but Riley wasn't really aware of that either. The air rushed over him and when the back of his skull met pavement, Riley welcomed oblivion.

(A/N: Some reviewers have been saying that they don't like Riley. Sorry to disappoint those people but he's not dead. This was part of the plan all along, and I promise Riley's role will make perfect sense eventually. If I hadn't already figured out how to make the premise work, I wouldn't be writing the story. I know exactly how the story is going to end and all the major steps along the way; I knew that before I started writing the first chapter. So don't worry, Riley is in the story for a reason.)