AN: I'm going back to Season 1 Episode 1 for this one. Final Exam had some great moments to explore, and one thought in particular was nagging at me. This takes place after Robin falls; if you want to refresh your memory by watching again, it's around the 7:30 mark of the episode.

Disclaimer: I own what nihilists believe in.

She's Fading Away— Curtis Stigers

The gigantic doors swing open for them, the thunk and whirr of the machinery all the louder for the silence in the hall. Her arms rest on his waist, a horribly awkward position for helping to support his weight. She's sure it doesn't help him much, but he hasn't said a word yet. He hasn't spoken since he shouted their leader's name.

Morphing into a peregrine falcon, Beast Boy had immediately dropped towards the water, only to shift into a dolphin as he hit the surface. His desperate clicks and squeals were loud enough to travel into the air, and even flying, Raven had been hard-pressed to keep up with the pace he set as he shot downstream.

An hour later, having found only Robin's utility belt, she had pulled the green dolphin from the murky waters and up through one of the holes the fight had left in the pavement, gritting her teeth as he flopped and struggled against her powers.

When he had finally shifted back to his human form and dropped to his hands and knees, vomiting and shaking uncontrollably from the toxins in the raw sewage, she had laid a hand on his back, rubbing in small circles. Then she had whispered in his ear, three simple words that had never hurt so much to say.

"Let's go home."

One shaky step and a stumble, and Raven had shot forward to support him. She couldn't let him fall; he was the team's drive, the embodiment of their unquenchable optimism. If he fell, they all did.

Even now, as she guides him to the chair, she can't help but worry that it may be too late.

She expects the coming denial from him, just as she knows she can never allow it of herself. Even if she managed to indulge her own disbelief, the emotions swirling through the city make public opinion no secret. Everywhere, the acceptance of an inevitable truth.

The Titans were destined to fail. And now everyone is wondering why it hadn't happened yet. After all, for all their talents, they're nothing more than children.

"That didn't just happen. Tell me that didn't just happen," he murmurs, collapsing in the chair.

"It did happen. We cannot change the truth, no matter how much we dislike it." She instantly despises herself for the words even as they leave her mouth, wants to draw her hood back up and hide. Comfort has never been her strong suit, but somehow it seems that everything she says today is designed to wound her green teammate.

He hides the pain her words cause; buries it beneath the ache in his thigh, rubbing as though that will make them both go away. She's probed it surreptitiously with her powers— a greenstick fracture that extends over halfway through his femur. The fact that he hasn't said a thing about it or shown a sign of discomfort beyond the limp speaks volumes of his pain tolerance.

Now, though, she can see hope dying in his eyes. He's succumbing to the agony, physical and emotional. If that spark in his eyes goes out...

Without another thought, she drops to one knee and extends her hands, fighting to keep her face impassive as the ache transfers from his leg to her fingers, flowing through her body up to her chakra stone. If she can relieve him of one sort of pain, maybe that will be enough.

He stares for a moment, dumbfounded, before his eyebrows arch upwards. "Who knew we had a doctor in the house? Thanks." His smile is warm, grateful. And in his heart she feels a glow, an iota of faith rekindled. If they have this secret weapon, who's to say they don't have others yet undiscovered?

"No problem," she replies in her monotone, cursing it for its necessary inadequacy. Joy and hope and happiness creep from within her to tug at the corners of her mouth. Would it be so dangerous, just this once, to smile?

The doors open a second time, and the moment is shattered, but a sense of satisfaction still pervades her.

It doesn't matter that she had hoped to keep her healing a secret. Even if the others learn of it, it will have been worthwhile.

There is still hope in Beast Boy's eyes. Until that hope is gone, they're never defeated.