Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans nor anything WB.

Last day in Paris

BEEP… BEEP… BEEP… 08.00.a.m.

Raven hammered the alarm clock as time was running short.

They had both been awake for about a little over an hour, and now they were both running from one end of the room to another, stressed out of their minds.

"We need to leave, pack your things!" Robin shouted to Raven as time was running out.

Raven threw the things down in to her bag and made sure to fit it all in, before she threw herself on the bag, to zip it up.

"Robin we need to leave! What's taking you so long?" Raven responded loudly in a stressed tone.

"I can't find it!"

"Find what? We don't have time for this Robin, we need to move NOW!"

"I KNOW!"

"STOP YELLING! WE'RE LOOSING TIME, TELL ME WHAT IT IS, SO I CAN HELP YOU FIND IT."

"FOUND IT!"

"GOOD! LETS GO!"

They took their bags and passports and headed down to the reception hall.

Raven walked over to the receptionist canceling the rest of their stay at the hotel.

The green gas had cleared up, but the streets were crawling with zombies ready to tear people apart.

"Are you sure you wish to leave the hotel? It is very dangerous out there, and people have been advised to stay where they are." The receptionist asked, worry clearly visible on his face.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, thank you for your concern." Raven said giving him a steady smile.

"Alright be safe." He said kindly, Raven sensing him having the slightest of apprehension towards her safety.

"Thank you, you too." Raven said modestly.

As Raven finished of at the reception, Robin waited restlessly as he looked towards Raven who was canceling their stay, at the reception.

The receptionist, who was infatuated by Robin, ogled at him while fidgeting, behind the counter.

She didn't want him to leave, especially not so soon, but she was helping out a guest at the reception, meaning that she had no chance of reaching him now.

Robin looked impatiently at Raven while he began thinking up all the possible scenarios he could imagine Joker would use this chaotic world situation for.

He couldn't really figure out what Joker would gain from turning the entire population of earth in to… chaos creating zombies?

Raven walked from the reception and over to Robin.

"Any last wishes?" Raven asked.

"No, lets go…"

Robin and Raven walked towards the bathrooms, both headed in to the empty ladies room.

All aircrafts were canceled and no one was allowed in or out of France, for the fear that someone would carry the virus with them out of the country.

Raven closed the door behind them, and walked over to Robin and the suitcases.

"So… Riyadh, Saudi Arabia huh?" Robin asked.

"It the closest I could read from the emotion traces left on the card, it's a place with lots of sand and sun, which it also said on the card, so that is my best guess."

"Okay! Time to leave." Robin said.

Raven was just about to begin when she felt like something was out of order, like there was just something that didn't seem right.

Raven looked over at the locked door separating her and Robin from the rest of the guests in the hotel.

What's wrong? Robin asked as he looked at Raven's unusual expression.

"Probably nothing…" Raven answered unsurely directing her attention back towards the middle of the room.

Raven lifted her arms it to the air as if she was to lift a heavy chunk of the road with her powers.

A black gaping and swirling hole opened under them, devouring the two.

In seconds they went from a regularly lit bathroom to a really sharp hot sunny day in the middle of the desert.

The change of atmosphere and clothes they were wearing considering where they came from completely overwhelmed them.

It was so incredibly warm, that they most of all just wanted to throw off all their clothes.

"Welcome to the desert!"

"This was where you tracked his intentions too?"

"Pretty much…" Raven answered, as they both looked at the mountains of sand ahead of them.

"Great!"

Meanwhile...

A tall dark man walked in to the hotel, steps very slow and calm, as he walked up towards the reception.

He walked calmly closer to the chatting receptionists at the front desk, never taking his eyes of their smiling faces.

With every step he took he changed the air of the otherwise cheery and warm room.

The surrounding people whom caught a glance at him immediately halted their conversations earning him surprised and frightened stares, like a veil of silence being dragged behind him, as he was about to reach his destination.

He came to a halt, standing right in front of the reception.

The two receptionists winced as the man slapped his hand down at the high table.

They hadn't yet noticed him and were more then surprised as they caught a glance at his horrifying sculled face.

The girl Robin had been talking too earlier looked at the man confused as he lifted his hand. He pointed towards what looked like a little postcard lying where his hand had previously slapped the desk.

As she looked at the card, she became aware that it was a picture and not a card.

"You seen him?"

It was a headshot of Robin warring his everyday traffic light gear.

The girl looked intensely at the picture, pinching her eyes together, as it reminded her of Robin, but she wasn't quite sure whether they were one and the same person.

The black sculled man studied her expression intensely.

The girl wasn't sure whether or not she should say anything as the room began to feel colder and colder.

Seeing fragments of recognition in the girl's eyes the sculled man brought his hand fourth and grabbed her neck.

His facial expression, enjoying the girls struggle, as she fought for air in her surprised state.

Her coworker, scared, rushed to push the black sculled man away, but was stopped immediately by one of the now entering henchmen that brought fourth a gun and pointed it at him.

A cold faint smile placed it self on the dark mans face.

He held the picture up towards the other receptionist so he could have a look at it as well.

"Look carefully!" he said in English. "Does it ring a bell?"

He looked deep in the scared receptionists eyes.

Nothing… nothing but a pare of scared empty eyes, which filled him up with disgust.

He turned back to the girl that he was holding in his tight grip.

Her conscious state was beginning to fade as she struggled for even the tiniest bit of air.

Her face pale as there were traces of tears that had gone down her cheeks.

Knowing what he saw before, and having demonstrated his seriousness he loosened his grip and let her fall to the floor.

"Tell me where you have seen him before, and I might let you all go."

The girl gasped intensely for air feeling her lungs almost bursting as she tried to refill them.

She couldn't think strait, her brain was hazy, and her eyes were focused on the red carpet behind the counter that her hands were pressing against, keeping her from collapsing on to the floor.

The man went around the counter and kneeled halfway next to the girl.

He moved a very loosely closed fist towards the girls face and used his bend index finger to lift her chin slightly, so that he could look straight in to her eyes.

"Was he here?" he asked calmly.

After the girl had regained a bit more control over her breath and her trembling arms, she looked straight at him and said.

"I don't know who your talking about."

"Well I think you do, in fact, I'm certain of it."

His facial expression turned from pleased to displeased in a second.

The girl tightened her lips together in protest, but was apprehensive as to what the man in front of her would do if she continued to refuse.

"Listen girl, the worst thing you can do for your self right now, is to lie to me, do you understand?"

The girl looked away from him scared, she didn't want to die.

Enraged, he hit the girl, making her fall to the ground.

"Tell me where he is you ungrateful little…"

"I… I heard a man that… he spoke of going to a country… something with S… Spain… South Africa… something I'm not really sure, he left a while ago. He was very much in a hurry. " One of her male colleagues said, trying to save her from the cruelty of scull faced man.

The black sculled man pointed at the guy, and within the next second one of the henchmen placed a bullet right between his eyes.

A thud was heard and a scream from the hall echoed throughout the lobby as a woman fainted.

"I didn't ask you, did I?" he asked the now dead man, before he moved his attention back to the girl.

The girl looked at him with a glare of resentment "I'm sorry but I cannot help you." she said in her coldest most business like voice she could muster to let fall over her bluish lips.

"Trying to be a hero eh?" He looked back at his crew. "Well we all know what we do to hero's don't we."

He went over to one of his henchmen and reached in to his pocket in the long jacket that he was wearing, and pulled out a handgun.

He turned around, while hiding the gun behind his back as he walked back to the girl.

Reaching her, he put a hand on her head in comfort as he squirted next her and whispered in to her hear… "I would have let you go."

Her eyes widened as he rose, he removed the supporting hand on her head and placed the gun behind her head.

The girl gritted her teeth as she pinched her eyes together in fear, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Boss is this really necessary?" one of the henchmen asked feeling sorry for the poor receptionist.

The other henchmen looked at him astonished.

Black Mask gave him a cold glare as he shot the girl through the back of her scull, causing her to open her eyes in the last possible second as she fell to the ground with a thud, mouth open and blood flowing from her head.

"Do you want too be next?" he asked while walking up to the guy that asked.

The henchman shook his head as he looked downwards and away from Black Mask, almost retracting himself inwards towards himself, as he answered an apologetic "No."

"No?" Black Mask asked as he caressed the man's cheek with the newly fired gun, trailing it from jawbone, down his neck and down until he reached the spot where his hart would be, removing the open jacket, so that the gun was now resting against the mans shirt.

"No!" he said nervously, feeling the hot iron from the newly fired gun.

"Then don't ask such stupid questions again." Pushing the gun inwards towards the man's chest, before removing the gun, and turning his back to him.

Blackmask walked a few steps towards the rest of the henchmen.

The henchman looked down at his blue shirt where the warm gun had rested, the gun had left a mark as it had almost burned through the fabric of the tank top he had worn under the shirt.

He started feeling his face as he realized that the gun being that hot surely must have done something to it.

And right he was, as soon as he realized that something had to be wrong, an overwhelming pain started surfacing.

He screamed in pain.

"QUIET!" Black Mask ordered.

The man forced him self to quiet down, as Black Mask who at the sound of the man's scream redirected his attention toward the henchman that he had just left.

When he had confirmed that the henchman wouldn't make another sound, he looked away from him, and started looking at the remaining people in the room.

"Now where were, we oh yes!" he looked at all the frightened people that were within the lobby area.

"Is there anyone else, who has a burning question they want of their chest? No?"

A few seconds went in silence as he waited to see if anyone answered.

"Good! Now, is there anyone that can tell me if they have seen this guy?"

Riyadh; Saudi Arabia...

Raven sat up, back completely straight as cold sweat was dropping from her forehead.

She held a loose hand around her neck as if gasping for air, it was another message… when were they going to end, they were becoming more and more frequent.

She tried her best to keep them at bay by meditating, but her father's powers were too strong, and his influence too stubborn and grave.

She looked around, nothing seemed familiar, it wasn't a place she had ever been, and she couldn't seem to remember how she had gotten here.

The last thing she remembered was that she was together with Robin.

Wait! Robin?

She looked around in the empty room.

"Robin!" she called out.

No reply.

She rose from the bed, slightly wobbly as she felt like she had slept for ages.

"Robin" she called again.

Still no reply.

Where was he?

Raven walked towards a chair standing in the middle of the room, the floor was cold and the room completely dark.

She walked over to what looked like a silhouette of a lamp and tried to find the light switch.

Suddenly she heard a door open, and the lights switched on.

Raven squinted while leaning against a chair to keep her balance, the lights were strong and she placed an arm in front of her eyes to create shadow from the seemingly bright light.

"Raven your up." Raven recognized the voice, it was Robin.

Robin walked with hasty steps through the door with a bag of what she only could imagine could be supplies.

When he spotted her weakened stance, he quickly closed the door and walked over to her, placing the bag on a table on his way to aid her.

Getting within a few meters of her he suddenly stopped, and went in to an almost defensive mode.

Raven didn't understand… what had happened, why was he so cautious around her…

"Hey Raven how are you feeling?" he asked tensely, still keeping a bit of distance to her.

Raven couldn't really answer, because she didn't really know.

"I don't know…" she shook her head slowly "where are we?" she asked unsurely.

Robin walked a little closer to her.

"You don't remember?"

She felt his tensions slowly fade as he heard her talk, and she began wondering why he suddenly acted so strange around her.

"Not really…no."

"Nothing at all?" he asked having a hard time understanding why she wouldn't.

"No… care to explain what happened? How we got here?" Raven asked.

"Do you remember when we arrived in the desert?"

"Yes… after we arrived in the wasteland we decided to head towards the city… and then… and then … well that's it." Raven said puzzled over the fact that her memory didn't go any further.

"You passed out in the heat…" Robin began but as he noticed Ravens bewildered look he decided to start anew.

"You were transporting us through the desert to the nearest city, it had been almost an hour and the heat was getting to you, as we were flying on the disc made from your powers, I noticed you began to look a little paler then usual. I grabbed your arm to ask if you were alright, but instead of answering, you brushed it of and gave me a silent answer by pointing to the top of some skyscrapers that was visible in the far distance.

A road also started to appear, which you decided to stray from not to get us noticed, but we didn't get much further before your eyes became hazy and quicker then I expected went to the back of your head. You fainted, leaving us to fall to the ground from a pretty decent height.

Luckily for us we landed on desert sand, which took most of the fall."

"I… passed out?" Raven asked in disbelief.

"Yes" Robin answered with a serious face, still looking for signs in her face that would indicate her state of being.

"After sliding in the incredibly hot sand and getting my self back together, I walked over to check on you, but you were out cold, in the beginning I thought it was dehydration, but when you didn't respond and your movement had halted, I thought your breathing had stopped too…

If it wasn't for the faint blow of air I felt on my cheek, as I was about to listen and see if you had stopped breathing… I would have thought you were… Never mined.

You can't imagine how happy I was when I…" Robin trailed of "Anyways, I covered you in one of your black capes you had brought for this particular location and carried you to the road we spotted earlier. I hadn't walked along the road long before we were kindly picked up by some people who were headed towards the city."

"And I was unconscious all that time?"

"You didn't respond, not really…"

Robin gave a fleeting look, which made Raven's eyes intensify even more on him. There was something fishy about his emotional flow too, his feelings were all mixed and rather unusual for him.

"But that still doesn't explain why you're looking at me that way." Raven stated.

Robin looked towards the window escaping her interrogating eyes.

"Robin, we might not have known each other for so long, but I know you."

Robin closed his eyes before returning his gaze to her.

In the beginning she had a soft and sympathizing look, emphasizing his reason for being the way he was, but slowly that look transitioned in to that of a determined look, almost insisting as she awaited his continued explanation for his hesitant behavior.

"After our ride with the strangers, I found an apartment that we could stay in…"

"Robin!" Raven softly interrupted, demanding an answer.

"I'm getting there." Robin responded.

"I placed you on the bed and checked your vitals, nothing seemed to be wrong with you, but you wouldn't wake up… so I sat and watched over you for nearly 16 hours, where you were laying still as a corps.

I tried to wake you a few times… but nothing happened… it wasn't until the third time that our your eyes began to twitch."

Robin momentarily seemed relived but then gradually became more and more stern in his expression.

"I thought you were waking up so I sat down next to you on the bed waiting for you to rise, waiting for you to talk to me… but instead you rose stiffly, suddenly opening your eyes, and as I looked in to them… it was like you were a completely different person… your eyes looked cold, empty… yet threatening and sinister, and for a moment it felt like being in the exorcist."

Raven had a feeling of where this was going, as she began to anticipate what he was going to say.

She bit her lower lip.

He continued, "You said something in a language I didn't understand, a language that seemed foreign from any language I have ever heard spoken, usually I recognize pretty much every language, as language recognition was part of the training that Bruce made me go through, but that one… it was dark and cryptic, like nothing I had ever heard before." Robin said with a look of deep concentration.

"What did I say Robin? Can you remember any of the words?" Raven asked anxiously, trying to figure out what she had done without being aware.

"I can't really rearticulate what you said, some of it were sounds I hadn't even heard before, and the way you said them… they felt very imposing even menacing in a way that I have never felt before… after that you instantly closed your eyes and didn't open them again."

Raven slowly shook her head while gritting her teeth, her secrets could not be exposed, she was supposed to deal with them on her own, she had prepared for these kinds of situations, they weren't supposed to even occur, why were her defenses collapsing now.

"After that, I didn't attempt to wake you again, I only sat and watched over you… but just like before, you didn't move."

Raven nodded automatically while stuck in her own thoughts of messy panic.

"I didn't know if it would be wise to leave you alone, but we needed supplies, so I went out to get them, I was only gone for 20 minutes, I didn't expect you to wake up before I was back.

Raven you still look a little pale…?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I will be, after I stretch my legs a bit."

Robin walked over to Raven supporting her with an arm on her waist and her arm leaning over his shoulders. He walked her over to the sofa, helping her sit.

"I'm okay now Robin, thanks." Raven said sitting down.

Robin took a last look at her to confirm the truth in her words, he wasn't sure if he was convinced but decided to take a step away from her before walking over to the bag of groceries he had left, and went in to the kitchen.

Raven looked at her surroundings.

It was a quite modern looking apartment, but with an Arabian twist, that complimented the modern and simple look, giving it a unique feel.

As her eyes glided through the room, they suddenly froze as she saw a newspaper laying on the coffee table ahead of her.

She reached out with one arm stretching it all the way over to the table where she picked it up.

Raven opened it up and looked at the paper headline.

Her eyes popped.

'Mass Murder At Hotel In Paris'

Under the headline was a picture of the hotel they had been staying at.

"Robin!" she exclaimed.

"Yes?" Robin's head appeared through the kitchen doorway.

"Have you seen this?" she turned towards him holding the paper up so he could see the headline.

"No… not really, it was a paper that I picked up on the way back here, I haven't had a chance to look at it, why?"

"I think you should, it's the hotel, something happened after we left."

After Robin read the article, his expression turned dark, how could this have happened, he should have noticed.

"Robin we didn't know."

"We should have prevented it, it was my responsibility, that we weren't followed."

"You can't blame your self for this, and if it was anyone's fault it was mine, I had a weird feeling right before we left the hotel, but I dismissed it, I thought it wasn't serious."

"You what?" Robin jerked his head towards her not really understanding.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but we were about to leave, I thought that what ever it was that I was sensing, couldn't have been as important as finding the Joker, I was a victim to poor judgment in that moment, thinking that the only way to stop this, is by stopping the Joker."

"Right." Robin growled angrily, mostly at himself.

"But the question is how did they find us?"

"We have to figure it out, because they will surely be coming for us, but for now let's get some sleep, the rest we'll handle tomorrow."

"You think that's a good idea?"

"If they knew where we were, they would have been here by now.

Besides if my calculations are correct, if they were still in Paris when we left, chances are high that they won't be able to reach this destination until sometime midday tomorrow."

"Okay, lets go to sleep."

Both readied them selves for bed and Raven wearing a t-shirt and underwear, and Robin a pair of shorts do to the heat.

Both laid beside each other, awake and not saying a word only the sound of the cooling air-condition could be heard.

It was difficult, both wanted to say something, yet at the same time they both wanted to forget what had happened, talking about it would only drag them out of bed, and they would both need their strength tomorrow, in case they needed to run.

Raven turned over causing the bed to move a little.

Robin stared in to the ceiling while listening to Raven's breath getting deeper and deeper before finally turning in to a small snore.

Robin closed his eyes and felt as all his energy left his body, emptying his head of thoughts and letting his conscious mind drift in to a relaxed unconscious sleep.

Nighttime...

03.00.a.m.

Raven stood at the window, looking up at the starry sky considering whether what she was bout to undertake was the right thing to do.

She hesitantly looked over at Robin's sleeping frame; he seemed so peaceful as he was lying, quietly breathing in his light sleep.

It saddened her that even though happy and carefree at times, his disciplined mental state caused by his intense training, forced him to be serious and stern, leaving him constantly alert to a degree that… sometimes he even seemed… haunted.

Raven didn't want to ad to his pain, and she knew that if she didn't do something… pain would soon find a way to him.

She worried that his nature combined with what he had seen, would possibly bring him closer to a truth about her, that she wasn't ready to reveal.

She turned from the window and walked with silent steps over to the side of the bed where Robin slept.

"Some things are better left forgotten" Raven whispered, still slightly conflicted as she put a hand over Robin's sleeping frame.

Raven's hand glowed as she began erasing the part of his memory that contained the memories of her delirious speech.

Seeing his memories… It was almost like living a movie.

A terrifying one, one that she hadn't been a part of, and feeling Robin's emotions as he experienced the 'Raven' ahead of him's… freighting behavior…

It all felt so foreign, so surreal.

As Raven continued to browse through memory she found that there was a message for her, one that had been deliberately left there so that she would find it.

She gritted her teeth.

Raven watched Robin look at her with his intensified gaze fixed upon her.

His intuition telling him to stay quiet, and walk backwards, cautiously.

Her eyes were empty and her body moved like a marionette.

She felt the hairs rise in the back of his neck, and as she spoke, the atmosphere grew thicker, colder.

Robin's breath slowed making it harder for him to breath.

His body, getting tenser and tenser by the second.

And she knew why.

She could tell what was coming.

The movements, the ominous presence filling the room...

There was no mistake.

"You can't protect them forever, soon they will just be mere pawns in a game of my design. Mark you my words child, one by one, they will fall, escape is impossible."

Raven screamed as she took multiple steps back from a now alert and awake Robin.

"Raven what's happening!" Robin immediately jumped up from the bed, looking around for anything that could be a potential threat.

Having looked around for a few seconds and found nothing, he looked questioningly over towards Raven.

Raven looked at him with the most terrified expression he had ever seen, leaving him even more puzzled.

"What's wrong Raven, tell me..."

Robin slowly moved closer to her, but she defensively put an arm up keeping him at a distance.

"Raven speak to me, I can't help if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"I… I…"

Robin waited patiently for her answer.

Raven tried to regain her calm, but felt fear getting a good hold of her.

If he had controlled her from where he was, there was no telling what he would do next.

"I'm okay Robin, really, it was just a bad dream."

"On the other side of the bed?"

Raven remembering where she was standing, had to come up with something good to explain why she was up, and not in bed.

But she couldn't.

"…" Raven evaded her eyes form his straightforward look.

"Raven, don't you trust me?" Robin asked concerned making her feel guilty.

"I do… it's just…" Raven started panicking, this was not one of her cool moments, this was why she needed her own room, this was why she couldn't loose control.

"You can't tell me?" he asked with a concerned expression plastered on his face.

"It's complicated."

"What do you mean? Raven what ever it is that bothering you, you shouldn't have to feel pressured in to doing something you don't feel comfortable with."

As she was headed towards hyperventilation she tried the best she could to calm her self as her mind was running a thousand miles pr hour.

"It's nothing you need to concern you self with." Raven turned away from him trying to find the nearest wall to lean on.

"Raven I only want to help you."

Raven who had finally regained a little bit of control back, turned towards him and answered.

"It's just an old memory okay, it's been haunting me lately, and I don't want to talk about it.", 'I can't.' Raven thought.

"Okay… but if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you."

"No, I think it's best if I deal with it on my own, but thank you for your concern, really." She cracked a failing smile, making Robin feel slightly helpless.

Robin sat down on the bed folded his hands and looked down at the floor before looking up at Raven nodding.

"Thank you for understanding, something's are just best dealt with alone."

Robin sat for a moment and thought about the words she had just said.

Memories of the time he was infected with the hypnotic powder left in Slade's mask emerged in his consciousness.

Was things really better dealt with alone? He did agree that some things were, but when he thought back, there were times where he really needed help. There were even times when he was saved from situations that escalated in to something it would have been almost impossible to handle on his own.

So even though he preferred to handle things on his own, he still had to admit that being alone about something wasn't always the answer.

And more than that, it tore on one, not just physically but mentally as well.

Raven now sat on the bed next to him, and was just about to get under the covers when he asked.

"This isn't about the thing with Slade, is it?"

Without turning her head, Raven looked over at him with a slightly sharp look.

Bingo! Robin had hit the right spot.

"Raven you know something don't you, something that you aren't telling."

"Not now" Raven almost hissed.

"When?" he insisted.

"Please Robin, we have to concentrate on the mission, that is what's most important now, how we deal with Slade, that's a task for another day, and trust me I'm sure there will be more then enough time to deal with him afterwards."

"Raven if something is wrong, it could end up affecting the mission, bringing us both in danger, we don't want that, especially not as things are now."

"Trust me, Slade is the least of my problems right now, I fear him yes, but he is not who I'm worried about right now." Raven answered him.

"Then whom are you worried about?"

"You."

"I don't understand…"

"You are not meant to, because I can't tell you about it, Robin just trust me on this one, I will tell you when the time is right."

He gave her a skeptical look, but knew that pressuring wouldn't get him anywhere, if not bring him in a disadvantaging position with Raven.

He bit his lower lip, turned and placed his head on the pillow, saying a silent goodnight to Raven who did the same.

7.30: am.

Raven woke up abruptly, sweating and breathing quickly, it was the same dream again, the one where burning lava was all around her, buildings and houses were destroyed and people where turned in to stone statues of themselves, looking like they were suffering.

She couldn't breath and she was surrounded by fire.

She hated these dreams but they were becoming more and more frequent lately, and she knew what they meant.

They weren't just dreams, they were visions, visions that she didn't want to have.

She had to find a solution and quickly.

She rose from the bed and placed her self in a levitating meditation position chanting "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

It didn't work…

She tried again, then faster and faster, but nothing was helping, she started to hyperventilate, she needed some water.

Raven placed her feet firmly on the ground again before stumbling towards the small fridge under the kitchen table.

Halfway there she panicked and fell, causing Robin to wake up.

He hurriedly jumped out of bed and ran towards the aria where Raven had fallen.

"What's wrong?" he asked in to the dark, where he all of a sudden saw a hyperventilating Raven hugging the floor trying to crawl towards the fridge.

"RAVEN!" he ran towards her yelling.

Raven coughed lacking air in her lungs.

Struggling Raven pointed towards the fridge.

Robin ran towards it, opening it up and looking inside.

Confused about what she wanted he just grabbed a water bottle and ran back to give it to her.

She took it, and drank a mouthful, that made her cough wildly, but gave her back her breath.

"Thanks…" She said almost breathless

"What happened, I thought you had recovered?" Robin asked.

"I don't know, I think I need to go outside, clear my head." Raven said.

Robin nodded.

"That sounds good, just let me get some clothes on and we will head outside straight away."

"No, I mean on my own…" Raven insisted.

"What? In your condition?" Robin put on a stern look as he folded his arms over his chest.

"I think that would be best, there is something I need to do."

"And what may I ask is that?"

"There is a place I need to go!" Raven declared.

"Where?" Robin asked, not understanding where she would go in the middle of a mission.

What could be so important to her that she thought about going out somewhere on her own, especially after what looked suspiciously a lot like a panic attack. (Raven never got panic attacks)

"Just an important shop I need to visit… I NEED to go there. By my self."

Robin looked hesitantly at her before he sighed and said "Okay, but be safe… if anyone tries anything..."

'Not that I can't drain them from any intentions they would ever attempt towards me' Raven thought to herself.

"I know, I'll come right back to you." She said halfway sarcastically, since she knew that he was only trying to be a good friend and look out for her.

He gave her a little smile.

She smiled back and grabbed the doorknob opening the door and letting in a strong ray of sunlight, momentarily blinding her, before she stepped in to it and closed the door behind her.

She was gone.

Robin walked towards the showers and placed a little device with a screen on it on the sink next to the shower stall.

A red dot blinked and moved away from the yellow dot.

Robin cast a quick look over at the device before stepping in to the shower.

The Bazaar

Raven walked through the bazaar, it was a place relatively well hidden, if you didn't know it was there.

Mostly it was only locals who knew where it was, that's why when Raven walked through the first tent shop and in to the main area, she was slightly astounded.

Things had changed a bit since the last time she had been there, it was almost like encountering a hole new world, as she ventured further and further in to the market she found the place crowded with people.

All were gathered to buy their daily supplies, making the hundreds of shops in to a small lively city of its own, with ceramic fountains, tropical plants and busy café's.

At the market there were fruit, spice, greeneries, cloth in all colors, jewelry, pottery, electronics anything the average person would need.

As she walked by the shops, Raven took in all the different smells and impressions she got as she looked around, it made her feel warm inside and reminded her slightly of her home in Azarath.

After walking a bit raven stopped and looked in to a small dark shadowy walkway between a colorful cloth store and a gold jewelry store.

This was it, this was where she was going.

Raven continued down the path and reached a strange stall that led in to a stone building very different from the other stalls that she had previously walked by.

There was a purple fabric sunscreen over the door, event thought there wasn't a ray sun that could even squeeze through to the dusty sand grained dark ground that Raven was walking on.

Raven walked through the heavy wooden door that had an interesting Arabic design on it and closed it behind her.

'humph… nothing much has changed here huh?' Raven asked her self as she smiled at the little shrunken heads that greeted her as she entered.

This was no ordinary shop, it was filled with crystals magical amulets, plants, ingredients for spells, books, scrolls, and magical items and artifacts, which was exactly what Raven needed right now.

She needed reinforcements, to keep her mind clear and to keep her farther from reaching it, from reaching her.

And since she wasn't in the best place right now, she needed something to assist her keep him out.

Raven walked around in the shop and browsed a bit.

The further she walked in the bigger it got.

One could easily get lost in it for days both because of its size, but also because of the many fascinating items that the shop held.

Two hours had passed in a flash and Raven had finally found one of the items she had been looking for.

She reached out for some red crystals and levitated them over to her.

One she balanced on her finger making it spin.

As the red crystal got in touch with the surface of her skin, red markings started traveling up her arms.

She gasped.

Earning her the attention of the shop owner standing minding his own business at the desk that wasn't terribly far from where she stood.

The mummified shadow creature at the desk looked over at Raven with his cold Smokey glowing white eyes.

Raven hurriedly hid her arms in her cloak.

She sensed no emotion from him, but she knew that he wasn't very ordinary, she had known him for a while now, he was her main supplier of books, especially those which were hard to get by, rare and often locked away in other dimensions.

And if there was something she needed it was books, she had to find answers, and all answers could not always be found here.

She walked up to him, with calm steps and looked him deep in to his eyes.

"Do you have the goods I ordered?" Raven asked the shop owner in ancient Sumerian

"I have what you ask, but these items where not easily attained, there is a heavy price to pay." He answered back in Sumerian as well.

"These items have value, only to those who knows how and what they are used for."

"I know plenty who would want them, just for the magic alone, every single item in this bag is more powerful then most magicians, and talisman's I have encountered in my many years." His white smoky eyes narrowed a bit.

Raven gave him a testing look.

He wasn't easy to bargain with, he knew his magic and occult multiversal history, he was an expert on all value, but he was also a businessman, and he very much enjoyed the process of haggling, so if you were good enough, had something of value to trade, if he liked you, or in Raven's case, quite the frequent customer he would could you a good deal.

"You want to know, how I knew where to find them, and why I need so powerful magic." Raven stated.

"You must really want to hinder something… I never ask questions, I just expect a payment for what I have acquired for you."

"You are curious, I can feel it, I saw you staring at me before at the counter while I was looking at crystals."

"You were over by the red crystals from Tyzwoix, those are powerfull magic breakers, mostly for curse destruction, changing destiny's, and freeing space in time… I expect you to pay fro those."

"I thought I would have more then paid for them with the knowledge and location I have given you, besides they are a part of my order."

"Last I remembered you didn't need that many…"

"Does it matter?"

"I'm worried."

"You needn't be, not about this." Raven tried to assure him, but he wasn't convinced.

"It's not my job to meddle nor is it my job to protect the multiverses, but that is very strong magic, it'll ripple It's way through everything, and I don't want the crystals to be traced back to me if anything goes wrong."

"I'll take care of it, clean them well from your stinky scent." Raven said with a bit of humor.

"I have no scent." He said in a monotone.

This guy really had no wittiness in that fogy body of his.

"I know, I will clean them from all presence before I use them." Raven said, helping him understand her figure of speech.

"You have grown quite accustomed to the human world." He answered in response.

"What can I say, I was born human too."

"That's why I'm warning you, your kind are very prone to make mistakes… big and irreversible flaws, spells, curses, actions."

"I get it. And we are not the only ones."

"No there are others… but I trust you to do the right thing with what I have provided you, you are a skilled artisan."

"Flattering me now?" Raven asked.

"It's not a compliment it's a fact, you wield great powers of the beyond, but you lack knowledge, what ever happens just don't forget what you already know." He answered.

"That's why I need these items, thank you for getting them for me, I'll pay you next time." Raven said, taking the bag that the mummy looking creature had placed on the table for her.

He didn't argue, he knew she would be back, as well as knowing that she was running from something big, what, he didn't know, but he knew it would have great influence on the balance.

Raven turned to walk to the exit.

"What ever curse you are wearing, it wont go away, it will continue to follow you to the end."

Raven grimaced.

She didn't need to hear this.

"Thank you for the wise words, but nothing is set in stone." Raven answered.

Raven continued to walk hasty towards the door, walked through it with and grabbed the handle to close it.

As soon as she had closed the door, and was out of sight the shop owner continued.

"You are wrong, some things are."

Trouble…

Raven walked out of the dark walkway and in to the lit market once more, but just before entering on to the light of the market, she teleported her brown fabric bag containing her newly acquired items in to her storage void, so that she didn't have to carry it.

Now all she had to do was get back to Robin and pretend like everything was going to be all right.

… Well the best of her abilities.

She walked through the market and in to the old part of the city where things seemed quiet, there were no real skyscrapers and life in general seemed a little bit more relaxed and slow.

Most of the houses were close to each other and made of stone, making perfect small shadowed streets to wander around in.

It was about noon now, Raven couldn't believe how much time she had used out, but going to the store wasn't an everyday task that could be done with in a few minutes not that kind of boutique anyways.

The sun was now baking down on the sandy ground, and the shadow wasn't much colder either.

Raven wiped her forehead with her arm on top of her cape, before she took at few steps out in to the sun.

Raven walked down a few unpopulated streets, admiring the architecture of the old part of the city as she passed the buildings.

She was headed to an open square where she wanted to spend a bit of time before returning to Robin, who most definitely had questions for her when she returned.

As she approached the open space where the shadow and sun divided Raven's path on to the square.

It was odd, Raven suddenly got this strange feeling of stress and extreme discomfort accompanied by a strong presence that seemed to be getting ever closer.

She couldn't tell exactly where it came from, but it was coming towards her, and fast.

She took a few steps out onto the yellowish sand of the square, looking around for any unusual looking people in the area.

But she saw nothing out of the ordinary, people seemed peaceful, minding their won business, acting like it was just yet another normal boring day, so what was keeping her so on edge…

It was probably nothing and yet that presence… wait, no, presences, were getting closer.

All of a sudden the ground started to shake under Raven's feet, shaking her like a can of soda.

Raven tried keeping her feet steadily on the ground, but was moderately unsuccessful.

She was just about to fall when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist from behind, and she was pulled towards who ever it was that was pulling her.

Raven almost flew backwards as she was pulled with a little more then average human strength.

The next thing she new she was pressed up against a wall, in the walkway that she had just exited.

She didn't catch a glimpse of who it was despite her efforts, but she felt two strong hands holding her towards the wall.

Raven thought about resisting when suddenly inches from where she had stood a huge explosion erupted immersing the street in thick sandy dust.

Raven coughed as everything went dark.

She felt the hands that held her, fastening their grip as she felt a face lean on to her shoulder mouth against her cape breathing through it.

Raven immersed her and the other presence in a black force field keeping the sand from continuously reaching them allowing them to breath.

The presence felt familiar… it couldn't be… he had promised to stay home.

As the sand cloud within the field cleared she saw Robin's frame leaning against her before he slightly pulled back from her still holding her up against the wall.

"Raven are you okay?" he asked anxious and concerned.

"… Robin how did you find me? You were supposed to stay back at the apartment." Raven was trying dearly to control her anger hoping that he had a good reason for betraying her trust.

"No time… we need to get out of here" he said letting go of one wrist and dragging the other towards the edge of the black force field away from the square.

Raven stubbornly stood her ground, it was important to her that he knew nothing of what she was doing, since this could destroy everything she had tried to do.

"This is important, Robin what made you come after me?" Raven said half enraged.

"It's Superman, he waned me, he is here… or he was on the way here…" Robin huffed

"Why is he here? Do they think we need help?" Raven asked almost skeptically.

"It wasn't on purpose…" Huff, huff, "He and doomsday were at the core of the earth again, going at each other like there's no tomorrow… Raven they are here, at these coordinates, Superman has a tracker on him… one that Batman placed on him… Doomsday he has become even stronger then last time they fought, and Batman was afraid that… it could get seriously bad this time."

"So that is what I felt?" Raven said silently mostly to her self.

The smoke outside the force field had cleared completely now, and the bright sun returned to the now dusty street.

Raven dissolved the protective bubble that she had created around them she listened intensely for any abnormality's but instead of the usual sound of people moving all she was met my by was a wall of silence.

Matter of fact everything was eerily quiet.

Both the birds glanced towards the street square, not a person moved an inch everybody was as if frozen in time eyes fixed towards the middle of the square were a rocky fist stuck up unnaturally from the ground.

It wasn't until the ground started shaking again that people started screaming and running.

Robin by instinct protectively hugged Raven tightly towards himself.

Raven felt a small blush creeping up on her cheeks.

Raven created a round platform elevating both Robin and herself from the shaking ground.

She took in a deep breath, then in a small voice uttered, "Robin…"

Robin immediately let go of her and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"Where is Superman now?"

As they saw Doomsday immerge from the ground, strangely lit up by an unnatural light coming from above, both automatically looked up.

A fireball was heading down towards them like a meteor.

"He wouldn't normally…?" Raven said hesitantly looking with big eyes at the fireball that was heading towards them with an incredibly harsh speed.

"No." Robin said gravely.

Raven stretched a hand in the fireballs direction, releasing some black power around Superman's freefalling body, catching the unconscious Superman draining away all the excess force behind his fall making sure he was safe before she placed him carefully on the ground, next to them.

Raven located her hand about seven centimeters over Superman's head.

The aura around her hand started glowing a mixture of glittering dark and light blue, healing Superman's wounds and also slowly bringing him back to consciousness.

Superman slowly opened his eyes.

"Robin, Raven... what… I was at the center of the earth…" he said in a weak raspy voice.

"Not any more" Raven answered dryly.

"Doomsday… where…" Superman looked anxiously around with wild eyes.

A huge battle cry was heard from the rocky being in the center of the square, releasing quite the aura of power.

"SUPERMAN, you coward, show yourself, don't you hide from me! I WILL FIND YOU, AND I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

AN/:

Hi everyone sorry about the "incredible" lateness of this chapter, things have been crazy lately and I've had next to no time, much less inspiration for the next few chapters.

But I'm trying to pick up the pace again so that I can update more frequently. :)

Thanks to Alnmoon, Pobre, Blacktherose and Mojoboy31 for keeping me on the stick, I really appreciate it, though I've been busy, you have managed to keep me going, so thank you.

Thank's again to all who followed and favorited this story, (and/or me). I really appreciate it :)

Special thanks to:

Pobre.

Snowpink39

The Wicked Queen

And again to alnmoon and Pobre for the great reviews, it really keeps me going. :)

Looking forward to see you in the (hopefully soon to come) next chapter. :D