Guess who's been sick?

Shards Of Time:

This Is It?

This time, the Titans all kept their balance when they were transported, standing firm against the cold stone floor. Melvin looked up, her face a mixture of awe and fear.

"This is it?" she asked, staring at the long grey chamber, the occasional door breaking the monotony.

"Yes," Raven replied, keeping her tone free of emotion, "This is the opening corridor of Nightwing's lair. We need to hurry, as we'll be discovered soon. Everyone remember the plan?"

"Free the prisoners, find Warp and his suit, and send you back to your time," Aqualad said, a smile curving onto his face, "Piece of cake."

Raven mustered a smile to meet his, wanting to seem strong for them.

"Good."

She waved a hand and encased a door in magic, ripping it easily from its hinges.

"I'm not sure where Warp's suit is, but that leads to the prisoners," she continued, the layout of the structure as clear in her mind as when Nightwing first showed it to her, "I'm not sure how it's guarded, so we'll need to be careful."

Sonic started to go first, but Raven stopped him.

"We don't know what's waiting, so I'd better go first. Nightwing doesn't want me dead, and I think any guards he has know that."

"But Raven—"

The empath's scowl stopped him.

"I'm going first, and that's final. I don't want to risk anyone more than I have to. Understand?"

All the Titans nodded, if reluctantly, following Raven through the doorway. At first, it was dark, but as soon as they were in a few feet, lights flickered on, eerily illuminating the walls. Although the passage was large enough to drag Plasmus through, it had a claustrophobic feel to it, like something that had never known the outside world. There were ventilation shafts, but still the air smelled stale.

"I don't like this," Melvin shivered, rubbing her hands against her arms, "It's like a tomb in here."

Raven glanced at her with what she hoped was a comforting expression.

"It won't be much longer. See, there's a door up ahead."

The door, like everything else, was cold and grey, but unlike the walls, it was metal, with an electronic scanner to the side of it. With another bit of magic, Raven ripped the scanner from the wall. A shrill alarm echoed through the halls, but the door opened.

"Quick, get in!" she hissed, running through the door and barricading it with her dark powers once everyone was inside. After seeing all her friends were in safely, she took the change to look around. The new room was vast and looked like it had been converted from a cave, its ceilings high and dark. Light flickered from the sides, and it took a minute for her to realize that they were bars, blocking entry to cells. Some appeared empty, but others were clearly occupied.

"How do we open these thi—" she started, before being interrupted by a cry of "Raven?"

Said girl swiveled around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Over here!" it yelled again, and this time Raven was sure that it was somewhat familiar. Following its echoes, she found herself in front of a cell on the far wall, one containing a bald, overweight man with a scraggly ginger beard. She stared closely.

"Control Freak?" she asked, her memories patching together the person who the man closest resembled.

"Yes!" the man said vigorously, "Now let me out! If you transport me out of my cell, I can unlock the others for you."

"How can I trust you?" Raven asked carefully. Prisoner or not, he was still a villain, and Raven did not need another enemy to deal with.

"I'll vouch for him," Aqualad's voice echoed from the other side of the room, "He fought against Nightwing and helped us until he was captured a couple months ago."

"Fine," the Empath sighed, vanishing and reappearing next to Control Freak and appearing with him outside of the cell before anyone else could reply, "But one wrong move and you're back in there."

"Cold," Control Freak shivered, but promptly stopped under Raven's glare, "I mean, I'm on it!"

Surprisingly fast for someone of his size, the technology lover made his way to a panel not too far from the door and started pressing buttons. A steady thumping sound was added to the noises, this coming from the barricaded door.

"They're trying to break in!" yelped Jaws, who Melvin promptly thwacked.

"We know that," the blonde retorted, "So get ready for an attack!"

Aqualad was readying the nearest water source to blast the attackers, Sonic was posed in an attack position, Melvin patrolling the cells to help the prisoners as soon as they were released, and Jaws biting into anything he could see, getting a mouthful of ammo.

"Almost done," grunted Control Freak, but then, a great rumbling shook the area and the walls around the door crumbled, leaving only the door standing, held as it was by Raven's dark magic. In the spaces around it were dozens of Nightwing's robots, as well as a face that the Empath never expected to see again. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of it and she let go of the magic holding the door, crushing a couple of robots with it.

"Terra," she growled, bringing power back to her hands. With one, she erected a shield around Control Freak in order to protect his work, and the other, she picked up some newly made rubble and threw it at her. Her old teammate narrowly blocked it.

Raven's old feelings of betrayal towards the girl resurfaced, feelings she had thought were gone after Terra turned against Slade. Seeing her, on the wrong side again, was nearly enough to make the demon in her take over.

"Miss me?" Terra taunted, hurling some rocks of her own towards Raven, ones which shattered against Raven's quick shields. The other Titans were fighting robots, but neither Raven nor Terra was watching them.

"I thought you were dead," Raven spat, wrapping the remains of the door around the treacherous blonde and throwing her against a wall.

"I got better," Terra gasped, causing rocks to bend free the metal and grab hold of before she crashed to the ground, "And joined the most powerful man in the city. Old habits."

"You never changed," said the Empath, her intensity causing Terra to shrink back, her rocks whizzing towards Raven but never hitting, "I knew you wouldn't, you worthless little--"

"Finished!" yelled Control Freak, breaking Raven out of her reverie. The bars vanished, and the prisoners, some stumbling, some running, exited the cells. A few moments later and all the robots were trashed to the cheers of those they once oppressed. One man stood out, not because of his long curly hair or beard, but because of the contraption covering his eyes. Raven recognized him instantly.

"Jericho!" she called, and he turned towards her, unable to see but hearing her clearly. Raven hurried to him, forgetting about Terra in her quest to help Jericho. It took a quick bit of magic, but the devise came off, and bright green eyes were able to see.

"How long have you—" Raven started, but the eyes widened, then darkened, and he vanished to something behind her. The Empath swirled around and saw Terra, rocks frozen in midair, poised to attack. Jericho had possessed her just in time.

"Thank you," Raven began, but "Terra" shook her head.

"Thank you," Jericho said through Terra. "This is the first time I've been able to see in years. But that's not important right now. You are looking for someone?"

The girl nodded.

"Warp. I need him to send me back. Do you know where he is?"

"He was in here before," replied Jericho, "But they moved him a few hours ago. Nightwing wanted to make sure he was secured."

Raven's face tightened, her muscles tense.

"I see," she said softly, taking a step backwards. Somehow, Raven had expected this, but after getting this far, she had hoped that Warp would have been with the other prisoners so she could escape without facing Nightwing. But the girl was not going to hide from her destiny any longer. With not so much as a word, she flew towards the Throne Room which she had seen in the schematics and in his mind, the Titans following a few steps behind, having noticed her leaving.

She did not pause when she reached the door, nor did she hurry. It slid open without her prompting, and she entered, only flinching when the door closed behind her, separating her from her allies, leaving her standing alone before the man she once knew as Robin.

The man smiled.

"Raven. I've been waiting."