A/N:

This is the first time ever that I have to use this, but… Trigger warning: death. So yeah.

"Give it up already! You know you can't win!"

"When have you ever seen us give up, Raven?" Robin gave her a sly grin and pointed his sword at her. "Why don't you come down here and fight? Are you afraid to lose against me?"

He mocked her, doing his best to have her attention on him and the rest of the Titans on the battlefield while Zatanna had sneaked up behind her to try and close the portal where more and more demons kept coming out from. It wasn't an easy task to have her go undetected, so they had been at it for a while now. They were getting tired, but far from willing to give up.

At the call out, Raven frowned and stood from her throne. "I am more powerful than you all combined, I'm not"- But her sentence was cut short when she suddenly noticed her portal getting closed. "What?!" Enraged and surprised, she turned around and saw Zatanna down there who got instantly ambushed by the demons residing right next to the now closed portal.

"That's it, no more playing around," her four glowing eyes glared down at the Titans, "it's time to get serious," She spoke and her feet lifted from the ground, slowly levitating up as she continued. "If you think that this was the only portal I had set up, then you are sorely mistaken. What do you think I've been doing for the past few days?" She laughed. "I want the world to burn and it shall. This was my father's wish. And I am here to bring forth his destiny!"

And with that she closed her eyes and reached her hands up to her forehead, making the red gem hover in between her palms. Slowly extending her arms forward, she chanted for the release of Trigon.

"S-she's summoning her father..!" Beast Boy exclaimed in shock.

"Again?!" Blue Beetle threw his hands up in the air. "We barely got rid of the guy the last time already!"

"Which means we have to stop her before she gets to that," Robin concluded and turned to Zatanna. "Zatanna! Teleport me up there!"

"To Raven?" The magician asked in a bit of confusion and looked up to where Raven was.

"Robin, what are you saying? The fall might kill you, I'll go!" Starfire protested as she fought off some demons that still kept coming at them.

While he understood that Starfire had a point, he knew that it had to be him. He had weighed all options well before and he'd come to the conclusion that she wouldn't do what needed to be done because it was Raven. She would try to find another way. A better way. But there was none. He knew this. That's why he was the one that needed to do this.

"This isn't up for debate, Starfire!" Robin snapped back. "Zatanna!"

"Very well," she sighed and extended her arms, one towards Robin and one up to Raven. "Nepo a rood morf niboR ot nevaR!"

A portal opened next to Robin and one right above Raven, which she noticed just a second too late because he had already lunged at her, his sword drawn to her neck. Avoiding a direct hit, she grabbed his arms to hold them in place, losing her magical grip on the gem letting it fall to the ground along with the two of them.

"You don't have the guts, Damian."

"I'm a keeper of my word, Raven."

"But you care too much," she grinned. "I can sense all your feelings, remember? Even the ones you try to keep hidden away. Even now, you think you can save me."

"Maybe I can," he frowned.

"Wrong," Raven nearly growled and suddenly stopped herself from falling by composing herself and flying, while he kept lunging towards the ground. "You can't save me!" She yelled out and her magic force wrapped around his foot, seemingly to prevent him from hitting the ground, only to swing him around and throwing him against the concrete with brute force.

"Robin!" Wonder Girl gasped and flew towards Raven ready for an attack, but she easily deflected it and threw the Amazon several feet away as well.

"Raven, you have to stop this!" Beast Boy yelled and made his way towards her as well, but not to attack. Somehow he still believed he could talk her out of it. They were friends, after all. They all were. It had to mean something, right?

"I don't have to do shit," she snapped back at him, but let him get closer as her feet touched the ground once again, her eyes sharply focused on the shapeshifter.

"Please, I know the real Raven is still somewhere in there," he pleaded and stood just a few feet from her. "It can't just be gone like that. Look up there"- Beast Boy pointed at the glow in the sky- "It's your soul, Rae. It's still there. You can still come back from this. There's still a chance."

"Oh, Gar," Raven cooed with a hint of mockery in her voice, "you've always been so… so stupidly naive." All of a sudden, her smile turned into an evil grin and in an instant he was wrapped in the dark matter of her powers up to his neck. "What on Earth makes you think I want to go back? This is the real Raven right here. I'm free from the chains that held me back! I'm stronger than ever!" Her voice was more of a growl now that she spoke and watched him gasp for air as she was slowly strangling him. "And you think you can stand in my way?! That you're all saviours, all of a sudden?! Wake up from your fantasy world! I'm exactly where I'm"-

Her words were suddenly cut and it was now her who was gasping for air. The grip of her magic on Beast Boy loosened and her wide four eyes looked down at her chest. It… was bleeding. What's more… There was a blade sticking out of it…

"D-dami-" She dragged her last breath before the blade was pulled out from her and she fell to the ground, revealing Robin standing right behind her, a light shake in his hands.

"RAVEN!" Beast Boy screamed once he regained his strength and rushed to catch her as she fell. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Come on!" He turned her around in his arms, her blood flowing all over him as her lifeless eyes looked up at him. "Raven, please!" He cried out, but it was no use. She was gone.

Robin didn't even dare to look at her. Barely standing on his feet, he mindlessly cleaned the sword against the sleeve of his uniform and put it away all with one hand, as the other was surely broken because of the fall. There was no doubt there were other injuries as well. But he'd worry about that later. Right now he was too numb to feel anything. His world had gotten entirely quiet and empty. He didn't even hear Gar's crying and then the angry outlash at him.

"You killed her!" The changeling growled and stood to his feet after gently placing Raven's body on the ground. "Why did you do that?!" He raised his voice when he realized that Damian wasn't even listening, walking up to him and grabbing him by the collar, which finally seemed to snap him out of it. "We could've saved her! You… you maniac!"

"She made it perfectly clear she didn't want to be saved!" He frowned and jerked away from the other's grip.

"Killing her was never an option!" In his anger and grief, Gar shifted into one of those demonic beings and lunged towards Damian, who barely fended him off due to the sustained injuries he already had.

"Get off me, you beast!" Damian grunted and pushed the other away only for him to go in for another attack before Kory stepped in between them.

"Stop it! Gar! Please!" She turned to Gar with a pleading gaze, her hands shaking and eyes filling with tears the very moment she glanced towards Raven. "We still have a fight to win…" In the middle of all this they'd completely forgotten about the demons that were still scattered about, making their way to the city now that Raven's magic barrier had dispersed. "We'll deal with this later." A sharp look was shot at Damian before she flew back into the field, followed by Gar who allowed himself to let his anger out on the remaining demons.

"You shouldn't be here…"

The silence was broken and Damian didn't have to look behind him to recognize the voice. For a moment, he was hesitant with his response, trying to find a good reason. But in the end, what did it matter anyway?

"There's a lot of things I shouldn't be. The real question is why you're here, Grayson."

"Couldn't reach you," Dick answered truthfully as he stepped next to the younger boy. "Figured this would be the place you'd be."

"Tt." Damian frowned, but refrained from responding as he kept his gaze forwards.

The room wasn't very well lit. It was cold and had an eerie feeling to it. Which made sense, seeing that there was a coffin lying right in front of them. A part of him had wanted to open it to say his goodbyes, but somehow it was too hard for him to do. So he had opted to standing there just like that. Company was something he hadn't expected in a place like this, however.

"The funeral's only tomorrow, you know," Dick spoke up again to break the silence between them once more. There was a part of him that wanted to consult Damian, to comfort him in his time of grief, but… He wasn't quite sure how.

"I'm aware," he was curt in his answer.

"Damian, look," the other sighed and turned fully to Damian, "if you want to talk about"-

"What is it with you all and talking? Everyone's offering to talk. No. I don't want to talk," his green eyes shot up at Dick and squinted at him, making sure he knew he was serious about this. But the older male wasn't swayed much. He knew this feeling very well. So he remained calm and gentle with his brother.

"What do you want then?"

"Nothing you can get me."

"Is there any way I can try?" Dick cocked his head to the side and offered him a bit of a smile, but it didn't seem to do much. Damian's frown remained and he shifted his gaze to the closed coffin once again before stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning around to leave.

"You know what I want, Grayson," he spoke as he walked away, his eyes focused on the ground, catching a glimpse of the red gem in a pendant around his neck that was shimmering in the light, "just like you know it's an impossible thing to want."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A shriek resounded in the entire place, bringing everyone's attention in an instant.

"What happened?!" Jaime asked, rushing into the room where Kory was and gasping at the sight himself.

"What"- Dick ran in with the rest of them and didn't even have to ask. The sight explained everything.

"Somebody has stolen Raven's body!" Kory screamed, still terrified at the realization.

"Who would do such a thing?!" Gar threw his hands in the air and watched Dick as he started looking around.

"Why would anyone do that?" Dick mused to himself, looking for any traces that could lead them to the culprit. But after a few minutes of investigation, a sudden thought struck him and he instantly scanned everyone in the room. "Where's Damian?"

The sudden question confused everyone, but they all looked at one another and realized that the boy in question was indeed missing.

"Do you really think he could've"- the thought almost disgusted Gar to the point that he was unable to finish his sentence.

"I need a ride," Dick suddenly demanded and rushed to the door. "A jet!"

The request didn't clear anything up for anyone and they were left dumbfounded as they watched the man leave, but Kory went to help him arrange the transport, even if she didn't know what it was for. What was going on? Dick said he had no time to explain. And they really did not have a lot of time, as the funeral was to take place tomorrow afternoon. What would they do if they had no body to bury?!

Dick had to be fast. If his suspicions were right, he needed to act fast. Before Damian did something stupid. Their conversation earlier, the way he had been acting ever since her body was brought to the funeral home, the way the body just disappeared from the coffin… It was too much to be just a coincidence. And the fact that he was not responding to any kind of contact didn't help his case either. Now Dick could only hope he wouldn't be too late.

Several hours later, he finally arrived.

"Nanda Parbat," Dick sighed and the radar suddenly picked up one of their jets. "There you are."

Making his way there, he prayed he would catch Damian in time. Jumping out of the plane, he rushed inside. The facilities had long been abandoned, so thankfully he didn't have to worry about the League here.

"Damian!" The man exclaimed as he opened the door to a large room underground with what looked like a pool in the middle of it, right as Damian readied to place the body inside of it.

"Stay back, Grayson!" He warned the other.

"Damian, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm fixing things!"

"This isn't fixing! You know this," Dick tried to reason as he took careful steps closer. "You know what the Lazarus Pit does. Better than anyone."

"I know what it does. That's why I'm here in the first place."

"No, Damian… You might not want to admit this, but this is your grief clouding your better judgement."

"The hell it is!"

"Just think about it! What will you be bringing back?"

"I'm bringing her back, damn it!"

"No! Not who. What. An empty shell of a being. A deadman walking. She will be nothing like Raven. Come on, Damian. Think," Dick pleaded, now just a couple feet from the other, carefully reaching for him once he was close enough. "This isn't you. And this won't be her." His voice was soft as he placed a hand on Damian's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Then what am I supposed to do?!" Damian suddenly yelled out and looked up at the other, his eyes filling with tears, which took Dick by surprise. "What am I supposed to do to make it better?! To make this fucking pain in my chest go away?! I can't even bare to look at her without feeling like half of my insides have been ripped out!"

"D-damian…" The other breathed out, completely taken aback by this sudden reaction that he had never seen from Damian.

"I killed her, Grayson!" The boy cried out. "I killed her!"

"Hey, no, shhhh…" He quickly pulled Damian in a tight embrace, letting him cry in his chest as he felt his hands grip onto his shirt. "You saved her from herself, Damian… And you saved countless innocent lives because of that. It was the only way…"

"It doesn't make it any easier!"

"I know… I know. And it'll take time. And it'll be hard for a while. But, trust me, it gets easier. It'll get easier."

Time heals all wounds, right?