Robin was numb as he landed his section of the T-ship, one of only two that remained, Cyborg's vessel setting down behind him, dropping slowly through the deep purple skies of Tamaran toward the pale spires that marked the palace of the Tamaranean capitol. His face was set, impassive, displaying not even the slightest hint of the turmoil that raged behind that mask of an expression. He knew Starfire was watching them descend, could only imagine the look in her eyes as she realized three modules and their pilots were missing. She would know they had lost their friends, but she wouldn't know why. He would have to tell her.

He would have to tell her it was his fault.

But the lead Titan couldn't face that challenge yet, so he kept his eyes averted. He didn't want to see the sorrow and concern on his girlfriend's face. The module nudged the surface of the circular landing platform and the ship ran through its automated post-flight checklist. Cyborg's cockpit popped open and the bionic Titan climbed out stiffly, shoulders slumped, eyes downcast. Robin remained in his ship for a long minute, unable to bring himself to move.

You have a mission, he heard the voice in his head again. Stern. Uncompromising. Completely without doubts.

Robin punched the cockpit release with far more force than necessary, gritting his teeth and climbing out of the ship, feeling as if he had aged twenty years in the last twenty minutes. He saw Starfire standing among a group of Tamaranean courtiers and advisers that had gathered to greet their returning princess, framed by the great rock on which the palace had been built. She wasn't paying attention to them, her eyes fixed on Robin himself, her hands up to her mouth, dread in her eyes.

"Robin!" the red-head cried, rushing up to him, her feet planted firmly on the ground, clearly too upset to feel the necessary joy for her power of flight. "What happened? Are you all right?"

All the words he had tried to find to explain the situation fled from him instantly. "I left them behind," Robin said in a rush, his voice breaking. "I could have gone back to save them, but I chose to leave them behind." His fists clenched at his sides in helpless frustration as his emotions bubbled to the surface, un-shed tears hot in the eyes hidden behind the opaque mask.

The Tamaranean's arms enfolded him, cradling him, and Robin almost pushed her away. He didn't deserve pity right now. The others did. But he lowered his head against her shoulder, hugging her back tightly, needing to feel her against him, needing to know she was still there, that she still cared for him.

Even with his eyes squeezed shut, Robin could practically feel Cyborg approach. "Raven... got shot down," his second-in-command explained haltingly, sounding stunned. "She was dropping towards that moon, and... she said she'd be all right, that we should keep going, but BB and Brand, they..." he paused and swallowed. "They went after her. But, it didn't... they didn't..." he broke off, unable to continue.

"We shouldn't have separated!" Robin said against Starfire's shoulder. "Why did I order everyone to separate?"

"Man, it made sense at the time," Cyborg protested. "We would have been one big target instead of five smaller ones."

The lead Titan shook his head, refusing to listen. "But we would've been together," he said.

Starfire's arms had gone stiff around him, and he felt her body shake. She sobbed, burying her own head against Robin's. "This is my fault," she whispered brokenly. "I should have come alone. I have brought you all into danger, and now..."

"No, Kori," Robin interrupted, raising his head to look straight at the alien girl, shifting his grip to hold her tighter. "Don't blame yourself. You didn't do anything wrong."

She didn't look convinced, her green eyes glimmering with tears, but Robin meant his words. There was only one person responsible for what had happened to their teammates, and it was him. He was in charge. Things had gone wrong, and he had made a decision. A decision based on cold logic and the weighing of a greater number of lives against a lesser number. That was how he had been trained, how he had learned to think.

"It's the poor student who blames his teacher," he heard himself say in his memory. But he did blame his teacher. If that made him a poor student, he couldn't especially care right now.

"Jalascis is habitable," Starfire said hesitantly. "Perhaps the others survived. We have lived through such crashes before." Her voice gained in confidence as she spoke, her natural optimism buoying her spirits.

Even if it was hopeless optimism, Robin wanted to believe in it. "Cyborg? Is it possible?" he asked, looking towards his friend.

The half-machine Titan flipped open a panel on his right arm and punched a few digital keys. A small satellite dish telescoped out of the mechanical half of his head and scanned back and forth. "I'm not getting any signal from the modules," Cyborg reported. "But there's a lot of interference out there from all the enemy ships. Besides," his words grew quicker, more hopeful, "even if the modules crashed, the others could have punched out before impact."

"We have to find out for sure," Robin said. "We have to know. Can you raise anyone on their communicators?"

Cyborg shook his head. "Not from this distance, and not through the jamming."

The lead Titan nodded at the big teen. "That's your priority here. Find a way to break through the jamming and see if we can contact anyone on..." he glanced at Starfire to check his pronunciation, "Jalascis." Starfire nodded back.

"You got it," Cyborg said confidently. "Man, I should've known better than to get all mopey, and so should you. They're probably fine. I bet the three of them are sitting around driving each other nuts and waiting to be rescued."

Robin managed a faint smile. "Yeah," he said. I hope so, he thought.

Brand wandered alone through the wasteland of the Tamaranean moon, a solitary figure moving across the gray rock and dirt under an endless orange sky. He limped, favoring one slowly healing ankle, which he had twisted when his ejection seat had slammed into the ground at "safe" speeds. The other cuts and bruises were already fading thanks to his genetic alterations, but the emotional turmoil he was in would not heal so easily. He set his jaw, unable to shake the memory, seeing it behind his eyelids every time he blinked.

Beast Boy's vessel spun past him, leaking flames and sparks, black scars marking the hull where he, too, had been hit by enemy fire. Brand couldn't worry about that now, he still had Raven's ship in his sights, watching with held breath as it tumbled through the sky, far below him now. Her damaged ship hadn't been able to correct its course, and it had streaked in like a meteorite, bits and pieces falling off and burning away.

He was still watching, unable to look away, when it hit the ground and exploded. Brand's heart went cold. He didn't feel the shots that continued to hammer at his ship, didn't pay attention to the red lights blinking on all over his cockpit, barely noticed the starring in his cockpit window and the high-pitched hiss of escaping air.

He felt nothing as he saw the ground rushing up towards him, spinning slowly as his damaged ship listed to the right. All he could see was Raven's ship crashing far below. Brand's lip twitched, and his hands went limp on the controls.

It was then that his old companion had returned. His rage. It burned through his veins like fire, and his gloved hands took hold of the yoke once more, yanking back on it with all his anger. The ship pursuing him had not expected the deceleration and roared past him. Brand's fingers squeezed the trigger to fire his weapons. Only one of the two guns responded, but the energy blast still sent the enemy ship twirling away in an uncontrolled spin.

"That's right!" Brand hissed in dark satisfaction. "I'm going to make you butchers pay for what you did!"

He swung his ship around, fighting against the atmosphere and his own heavily damaged vessel, wrestling with the controls until he found another opponent. The Weapon urged his own ship to go faster, needing to close within firing range, needing to get revenge for Raven. Something yanked his module to starboard, and a stream of energy bolts sizzled through the space he had just been in. He had been so fixated on his target that he hadn't noticed the other ship coming up behind him.

But someone had noticed. Someone had saved him.

The anger drained away. Could it be? Brand narrowed his eyes, his priorities changing instantly. He stopped maneuvering, waiting for the ship tailing him to correct its aim. This time, when his module jumped to one side as if caught in a high cross-wind, Brand fought against it, veering the opposite direction, right back into the enemy's fire. The bolts stitched the side of the T-ship component, and warning alarms blared in Brand's cockpit. He sent the ship into a tumble, exaggerating the already-extensive damage. His vision began to go gray with the G-force and he felt his gorge rising. With a supreme effort, Brand managed to stay conscious and not be sick, eyes fixed on his sensors to make sure...

Yes, the other ship was pulling away, considering its mission complete. The Weapon smiled grimly, but didn't correct his spin, didn't dare. He waited until his cockpit was more-or-less upright, then punched the eject button. The cockpit window detached and flew away in the strong wind, which roared in Brand's ears, drowning out all other sounds. There was a tremendous jolt to his seat, which rocketed up and away from the tumbling wreck of his ship. He watched as the vessel sped into the side of a mountain and exploded, nodding as best he could in the rushing wind, a faint smile on his face.

It had taken only minutes for his ejection seat to descend, though it had not been a soft landing, as Brand's injuries would attest. That didn't matter, though. Finding Raven's ship was what the white-haired teen was focused on. When he had regained his equilibrium, he had spotted a column of smoke in the distance and made for it, knowing what he might find, but needing to take the risk anyway. The land was barren, empty of all but spindly scrub and the local equivalent of small, solitary trees or cacti, and it was chilly, though he hardly noticed the temperature.

Not like I have any other choice but to deal with it, he thought bitterly.

He had been walking for over an hour now and the smoke column was just over the next rise. Brand's breath quickened and he felt sick. If I'm wrong... He didn't allow himself to finish the thought. He moved faster, working through the pain from his ankle, running as best he could.

Yes! It was one of the T-ships modules, nearly unrecognizable in the mangled shape it was in, but the color was correct, and the fuselage was more or less intact, though it was pointed nearly straight down as if the ship had tried to drill into the dirt. Brand rushed forward, then his heart sank. The cockpit was closed. Whoever was within hadn't ejected. If I'm wrong... he thought again. But his feet were already moving closer to the remains of the ship. The figure within was indistinct, unmoving. His fingers probed for the cockpit release, but it was jammed shut. In something approaching panic, Brand drew back one fist, armored plates shifting over his knuckles to protect them, slamming his hand into the cracked cockpit again and again and again.

Finally it shattered, shards raining down onto the ground, revealing the figure within.

Beast Boy lay limply in the cockpit, restraints still keeping him pinned to the seat. Quick-expanding crash foam – the spaceship equivalent of airbags – filled the module. Blood ran from the shape-shifter's head and in rivulets down his body, the red a stark contrast to his green skin and hair. He looked at least half-dead.

It wasn't Raven. The realization filled Brand with both relief and trepidation.

For a horrible moment, he hesitated. Raven could still be out there somewhere, might be injured and need help. Brand couldn't take the time to try to rescue Beast Boy, if it was even possible to save him. He had to move on. Besides, part of the Weapon still hadn't forgiven the changeling for attacking him in the abandoned room at Titans Tower.

Something about the situation seemed sickeningly familiar. And then he remembered himself poisoned, dying, unworthy of help... and Raven had healed him. She had used a good deal of her remaining power and several hours of time, risking her friends and herself to save someone who didn't deserve saving. Compassion and mercy, Brand thought, his lip twisting in a grimace. But he knew that he could never face the sorceress again if he left one of her friends to die.

Hoping that moving the younger teen wasn't going to do more damage, Brand cut down the shape-shifter from his restraints and carried him away from the wreck. Beast Boy groaned, clearly in pain even though he was unconscious. Brand furrowed his brow as he lay the changeling onto the uneven ground, arranging him as best he could. The Weapon was hardly a medical expert. First-aid was about the best he could manage, and that only because of the survival pack he had found under his ejection seat.

It would have to be enough. He went about binding the changeling's obvious wounds, hoping to stop the bleeding that he had noticed, especially the head wound. Afterwards, he dribbled a little water into the younger boy's mouth from his canteen. It was a stopgap measure at best. Beast Boy would need more serious medical attention than Brand could provide.

He shook his head as he worked, almost laughing at the escalating absurdity of his life. A few months ago he would've been the one trying to take this Titan down, and now here he was treating his wounds.

After the changeling was all bound up, Brand walked back to the smoldering wreck, hoping to find something that could help. He tried to activate comms on the control panel, but there wasn't so much as a beep or a spark from the broken electronics. The survival pack was still attached under the seat, so the Weapon contented himself with dislodging that and bringing it back to where the shape-shifter lay twitching, his breath coming heavy and pained. The white-haired teen stood over Beast Boy, staring down at him, trying to think of something else he could do to help.

It occurred to Brand that he might have to watch the kid die right in front of him.

He was surprised to find that he felt ill at the thought. Weapons were assassins, certainly no strangers to death, and he and Beast Boy hadn't exactly been friends, but he realized that he didn't wish the young hero any harm. Had these Titans finally begun to rub off on him? It was a small victory in a day full of horror. If only Raven were here, she could...

A shadow passed over him. Dark, bird-shaped, unnatural. Brand looked up sharply to find Raven descending towards him and Beast Boy. He could only stare at her, noticing her stricken face, paler than usual, as she knelt hurriedly by the changeling's side, hands already reaching out, applying her magic, healing the younger teen with something much more effective than a first-aid kit. All Brand could see was her ship crashing into the ground, that awful moment when he had thought she was dead.

"You're alive," he said, unable to think of anything else.

She didn't even spare him a glance, so intent was she on her work. Brand didn't care. The sense of relief he felt was palpable. His legs gave out, and he sat heavily on the ground. He watched her press her faintly glowing hands against each of Beast Boy's wounds. The sky grew slowly dark above them.

"Is he going to be all right?" Brand asked several hours later. It was night now, the light of unfamiliar constellations and the red-veined, ivory ball of Tamaran itself casting faint shadows even in the dimness. They were the first words either of the two had said since Raven had begun healing the injured shape-shifter.

Raven nodded wearily from where she sat knelt next to Beast Boy. It had taken a lot of her energy to stabilize her young friend. The external injuries were the easiest part, but there had been a fair number of internal wounds as well. If she had been even a little slower... she pushed the thought away, unwilling to face that possibility. "He still needs to rest," she explained. "He shouldn't be on his feet for another day at least."

There was silence for a long moment. "And what about you?" the Weapon asked.

"I'm probably in the best shape of all of us," the half-demon said dryly. It was a lie. Brand was already mostly recovered from his injuries, whereas Raven had just taken on a massive amount of pain from Beast Boy with her empathetic powers.

"I thought you were dead," Brand said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Raven glanced at the silhouette of the white-haired teen, frowning at his tone. "I told you I'd be all right," she reminded him stiffly. "I teleported out of the ship long before it crashed. You should have followed Robin's orders."

The Weapon looked back at her, his eyes like chips of ice in the darkness. "I know," he said. "But I couldn't... just leave you."

A hint of anger colored Raven's next words. "There's a reason we came here, Brand. We have a job to do. It's bad enough that I got myself shot down, but you followed me, Beast Boy followed you, and now the others are at half-strength. They could be in more trouble than we are, and we're all stuck here, unable to help them."

"Wait, wait..." Brand protested, turning to face her fully. "I followed you down, but you can't blame Beast Boy on me, I didn't say a word to him. He would have disobeyed orders regardless of what I did." His voice sharpened and got louder as he thought his way through to his conclusion. "In fact, if I hadn't come after you, where would you be? You'd still be stuck here alone with Beast Boy, who's half-worthless even when he's not injured."

"I'd rather neither of you came after me," Raven said.

Brand snorted a laugh. "Of course. You'd rather be all alone on an alien planet, Raven? You like being alone that much?"

The sorceress didn't answer. She shivered in the cold night air, thinking of Brand's words. If he was telling the truth about Beast Boy, and Brand hadn't followed her, there would have been no one to cut the changeling down from the wreck of his ship. No one to bind his wounds. Garfield could have been dead before she'd gotten to him. But even if neither of them had come after her... she'd be stuck on an unfamiliar world with no allies, no one she could count on, wondering if anyone else had survived.

"No," she admitted at last, quietly. "I wouldn't like being here alone." Raven could sense Brand calm down and she breathed an internal sigh of relief. This had almost turned into another one of their endless arguments. She didn't want the Weapon to get as close as he thought he wanted to be, but that didn't mean she enjoyed fighting with him.

"I'm glad you're alive," he said after a minute, glancing at her. "I thought I was imagining things when you moved my ship during that last dogfight."

Raven closed her eyes, pain and weariness rolling through her body like a tide. "I didn't realize that you knew it was me, considering you went out of your way to get hit that second time."

"You know why I did that, right?" Brand asked.

The sorceress nodded in the darkness. "I didn't at first, but then I saw you eject. You wanted them to think they had succeeded in killing us all so they wouldn't keep searching for survivors." She hesitated. "It was good thinking."

He thought that she couldn't tell when he was blushing because of the darkness, but she could sense it as easily as she could sense any of his other mood changes. Brand was usually not hard to read. "Thanks," he mumbled.

"And..." the words almost stuck in her throat. "Thank you for helping Beast Boy," she said. This time she felt him go cold. He didn't respond, and his mind closed like a steel box. Raven felt a strange awkwardness about the subject and chose to move on. "I saw a settlement on my way down," she said instead. "Off to the east. We'll make for it tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Brand said, clearly relieved that she hadn't pressed for a response. "I'm guessing it's safe to move Beast Boy then?"

Raven scanned the changeling with her magic again, just to make sure. "He'll be fine," she confirmed. "I'll make sure he doesn't get bumped around too much."

"No," Brand interrupted sharply.

"What?"

"I'll carry him," Brand clarified.

The sorceress rolled her eyes. "That's not necessary, Brand," she said.

"We've been in a similar situation before, you and I," the Weapon reminded her. "I'm not going to let you use up all your energy again when we might need it at the end of the day. I can carry him just as easily as you can."

Raven sighed out loud this time. "When are you going to realize that I don't need your help?"

She could feel him smirk. "When are you going to realize that I'm going to try anyway?" he countered.

"Can you guys keep it down?" A croak of a voice interrupted them. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"Shut up, Beast Boy," Raven and Brand said automatically at the same time, not even looking at the changeling.

The half-demon gave the reclining form of Beast Boy a double-take. "You're awake," she stated unnecessarily.

"Yeah, but..." the shape-shifter took a deep, painful breath. "I don't feel too good."

"Just rest, Garfield," Raven said softly. "You're going to be fine." She extended a hand, using a bit of her power to ease his discomfort and send the changeling back to sleep, wincing at the extra dose of pain that it injected into her own body. Brand looked at her with narrowed eyes, but said nothing as the shape-shifter drifted back into a fitful sleep.

There was a long moment of silence. "'Garfield'?" Brand repeated, amused. Raven almost smiled, relieved that her young friend was okay. "You should get some rest, too," the Weapon continued. "I know how healing can drain you. I can keep watch in the meantime."

She thought to protest, but her eyelids were already closing at the mere mention of 'rest'. It occurred to her that she wasn't hesitating to leave their lives in Brand's hands. Whatever the issue he was hiding about his rescue of Beast Boy, the Weapon had proven himself today. Raven moved a few feet away from the reclining form of Beast Boy and settled down as best she could on the hard ground. "Wake me if anything happens," she murmured, lowering her head to the dirt, using the hood of her cloak as a pillow. I hope the others are okay, too, she thought as she drifted to sleep.

A/N: Fun Facts - Back when I was first formulating what, exactly, the "Tamaran Arc" was going to consist of, the original conception was for all the Titans and Brand to be working as a single unit on Tamaran itself. Admittedly, it is difficult to have scenes with that many characters all doing something at the same time, so I decided to split them into two groups. I don't remember now when the "crash" scenario occurred to me, but it was a perfect catalyst for the split and ended up fueling most of what happens in the following chapters.

Related to the above, Robin's guilt about leaving Raven, Beast Boy, and (to a lesser extent) Brand behind seemed a natural reaction for the character to have, while also allowing for a small bit of character-building material for the boy wonder, even if it isn't - strictly speaking - his arc. There will be more of this later on.

Brand's wounded wandering across Jalascis is a decent example of the "visual" way I formulate some scenes. It's a very striking picture of this tiny figure limping across a vast alien wasteland. I don't think I quite captured the image I had in my head, but it's kind of a film-making method of writing, starting a new scene with an establishing shot.

Other notes - This will probably be the last Wednesday chapter I post for a while. I'm going to be moving to a weekly posting schedule as otherwise I'm in danger of catching up to myself too soon.

Also... I hate to ask this, but for you who are reading, I'd very much appreciate reviews. Tell me what you think of the story and where it's going and where you think it might go. Thanks to EnigmaProtocol and IncitesCringe, both of whom are consistent reviewers, and to others who have "faved" or "followed" or left comments. You guys are the reason I keep posting.