"Well, whatever you do, Raven; whatever decision you make, I'll be with you all the way." - Bard

CHAPTER FIFTY

COLLAPSE

0:00 TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"C'mon, ya pansies! Go, go go go go!" Commissioner Walker bellowed at his men from the small trailer he was using as a base of operations. "Get your damn asses in gear!" A man carrying an barricade caught the Commissioner's eye. "What the hell are you doin'?" He demanded.

"We're setting up a barricade around their perimeter, sir." The officer said respectfully.

"What in the hell for?"

"Uh…so they won't be able get away, s-sir."

"Dumb ass!" Walker spat. "We want them to get away, ya idiot! That's the whole idea!"

The officer stared, confused.

"Do you think we can arrest all those bastards out there?"

"…"

"Do you think we even have enough handcuffs for all of'em?"

"…Then why are we here, sir?"

"We're going to make those bastards tuck their tails between their legs and run home!" The Commissioner explained, his face red. "Christ! Why must I be surrounded by stupid dumbshits with nothing but shit for brains?"

A pause…

"Heh, I said 'shit' twice in one sentence."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What the hell are you staring at? Go…shoot some tear gas at them or something! Look busy!"

TTTTTTTTTTT

Meanwhile, in the main of Titans Tower, Cyborg still sat at the computer, typing mightily as text and graphics whizzed by on the monitor in a blur. He had to get the security back online before the cultist could get in! Superboy had set up some kind of barrier to keep them out, but he had said that it could only hold them for, at the most, two hours. And by the robot's calculations…two hours had just passed.

"Then by the power vested in me by Trigon and the name of the Church of Blood, I pronounce you man and wife." Brother Blood smirked smugly at them. "You may kiss your bride, Bard."

Bard and Raven stared helplessly at each other…

"What do we do now?" Bard whispered between the clenched teeth of his fake smile.

"I don't know…"

"…."

"…."

ZAP!

"Augh!" Brother Blood went flying with a surprised yell over his pulpit and between the two siblings to sprawl out in the center of the aisle.

Wide eyed, Bard turned and saw…

"Kitten?" He said in disbelief. But then his lips turned up into a broad, genuine grin. "I could kiss you right now!" He declared impulsively.

The blonde stared at him with her huge laser rifle leaning across one of her shoulders.

"…"

"…"

"….."

"…Uh, well then again…I reckon not." Bard sweat dropped.

Brother Blood had made it back to his feet.

"I refuse to let a girl with a children's toy ruin destiny!" He shrieked with fanatical zeal. He started walking towards her…

WHAM!

Slade descended from absolutely nowhere and plowed a metal boot into Brother Blood's chest. The vampire was thrown back down to the carpeted aisle.

"You should have followed my advice, child." Slade told him from behind his mask. "Those that thwart me do not do so again."

During all the turmoil, Zillah had been watching in shocked chagrin as she and Brother Blood's carefully prepared plans fell around her ears. But then, inexorably, her eyes fell upon the laser pistol on the altar before them. She reached for it…but Bard was one step ahead of her. Just as her hand hit the place where the laser pistol had just been, she felt the cold metal of its barrel against her forehead.

"You should ask permission before you take something that's not yours." The cowboy said smugly. But then his face went hard. "If you're gonna teleport…you better do it faster than I can pull this trigger."

"…" Zillah said nothing, but she didn't move.

"That's what I thought." Bard smiled coldly. He wondered how she liked being manipulated… "Now, you're going to do what I tell you to do, right?"

"…Right," Zillah said it so reluctantly that she almost seemed to chew on the word.

"Good. It's nice to see we understand each other." Bard was milking it for all he was worth. Revenge wasn't a very honorable action, but it could sometimes be sweet. "All right, first off, take my pendant off Raven's waist."

Zillah glared daggers at him, but a moment later-

ZZZZZZHT!

-the gold cross pendant had disappeared from Raven's waist and, was instead, now around her slender neck. Bard was slightly surprised when his sister didn't immediately take it off, but he was too busy at the moment to pursue the matter.

"Now, stop your attack and teleport Starfire here."

"The ten hours have expired…Holy Bard." Zillah told him. Her tone was almost…sad?

Bard gasped, but then his blue eyes hardened beneath his dark glasses.

"Do it, anyway!" He snapped at her, his voice harsh. "Now!"

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ZZZZZZZZHT!

Commissioner Walker stared, dumbfounded, at the empty field that had just a moment ago been filled with black robed cultists.

"Holy shit," he breathed. Then he noticed his officers staring up at him. "Ahem…m-mission accomplished, men!"

"…..."

"Didn't you hear me? Get the hell outta here!"

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BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP…

"STARFIRE!" Robin yelled out emotionally, scrambling to his feet and-

ZZZZZZZZHT!

And his best friend was gone…

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

ZZZZZZZZHT!

Starfire appeared lying before Brother Blood's pulpit. Immediately forgetting Zillah, both Bard and Raven rushed over and knelt beside their friend.

"Zillah was right." Raven said, bringing her dainty hand back from Starfire's neck. Her voice was choked with emotion. "She's…dead." Her eyes widened. "Shock her!" She ordered.

Bard blinked back the sudden tears he hadn't even realized had come into his eyes.

"What?"

"You did it once before, remember?" Raven was talking fast. "You shocked my heart into beating. Do it to her!"

"But I didn't-"

"I don't care!" Bard was taken aback the emotion showing on his sister's face. "Whatever you did to me, do it to her!"

Bard stared down at the unmoving body of their friend. He couldn't… He was absolutely sure that the only reason God had allowed him to bring back Raven that night on the bank of the river was to let him learn that she didn't believe in him.

So he did it the other way.

ZZZZRRRRHT!

Starfire's body jumped and convulsed from the bolt of electricity he had sent into her body.

"…"

Nothing.

"Again!" Raven told him.

He hummed…

ZZZZRRRRHT!

Starfire's body jumped again.

Nothing…

ZZZZZRRRRHT!

Her body jumped again and was still.

"…"

"…"

Cold realization began to icily sink into Bard's heart, and it was like a fist clenching around it.

"…"

"…"

Starfire coughed and her emerald eyes slowly blinked open.

"F-friends…?"

Bard looked down thankfully into Starfire's alive face. But for some reason, something made him look up and across her body at Raven. His sister was smiling…

And in the darkness of those caves, the joy on her face was like the sun coming up.

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Meanwhile, Brother Blood and Slade had been fighting down the aisle. Brother Blood was pressing the attack, and Slade kept backing up at he blocked his blows. But the black and brown garbed villain's body spoke of cool, almost indifferent confidence.

"Your fighting style is incredibly familiar, child…" He remarked, even as he dodged two quick jabs and blocked a roundhouse kick with the back of his forearm.

"I-am-not-a-child!" Brother Blood leapt up, turned in midair and launched a devastating kick at Slade's head…which he caught between his metal gauntleted wrists.

Brother Blood's red eyes widened as he hopped on one foot. Slade leaned forward slightly, and the vampire could almost see the amused, toothless smile underneath his mask.

"If this is all you have to offer, Brother Blood," Slade intoned to him from behind his mask. "Then you will never see another sunrise. Haugh!"

Slade pivoted around and tossed the vampire hard to the carpeted floor. Brother Blood grit his teeth and his crimson eyes were flashing as he made it back to his feet.

"Ha!"

The flung fireball caught Slade full in the chest and the villain was thrown through the air. When gravity came back into play, he landed back first on the seat of one of the pews. Calling up a wind, Brother Blood followed him and crashed his fist through the seat…where Slade's head had been a split second before.

SMACK!

Brother Blood was kicked in the chest. With his red cape flapping, he back flipped, hand vaulted off the back of a pew and then landed precariously on the back of another. Slade did the same and, charging each other across those narrow footholds, continued their battle.

While Raven and Bard had been tending to Starfire, the black robed 'guests' had been attacking Kitten and Jinx. Kitten was laying about her with her huge laser rifle, and Jinx was tossing hex bolts one after another. But those fate-altering pink energy orbs were taking their affect on the integrity of the structure of the cavern. Stalactites and rock debris rained down from the ceiling. The ground began to tremble, and then it began to shake.

"Earthquake!" Bard yelled with his teeth rattling inside his head.

CRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAACK!

The rock shrieked deafeningly loud. The cowboy looked up and saw that a huge slab of rock was falling right at them! Futilely, he grabbed Raven and laid his body over hers and Starfire's and grit his teeth as he waited for the slab to slam into them…

SWOOSH!

Bard looked up.

"Superboy?" He said incredulously.

"In the flesh!" The Boy of Steel grinned and winked…even as he held the giant slab of rock over his head. With a low grunt, he tossed it harmlessly away. "I can't believe you had a party without inviting me! Nice fashion statement, by the way."

Bard opened his mouth.

"Raven's looking good, though." Superboy kept going, but then he paused. "How did Starfire get here?"

CRAAAAAAACK! BOOM!

Another slab fell from the ceiling and smashed to pieces about twenty yards away.

"I'll explain later!" Bard yelled over the rumble of the earthquake. "But now we gotta get the hell out of Dodge!"

Superboy nodded and scooped up Starfire. Bard held his arms out to his sister, and Raven settled down into his arms.

"All right," he said when they were ready. "Let's go."

They took to the air and flew back down aisle…passing right by where Slade and Brother Blood grappled with each other.

"No!" Brother Blood yelled when he saw them. The vampire disentangled himself, called up a wind and streaked after them.

Bard turned in midair to face him. But with Raven in his arms, there was nothing he could do as Brother Blood came at him faster and faster with his fist reared back…

WHAMMM!

Bard…wasn't hurt. Instead, Brother Blood went flying backwards and a green gorilla was beating his huge arms against his meaty chest.

"Beast Boy?"

The changeling turned back to elf form and turned to the cowboy.

"The one and only!" He gave a thumb's up…unaware that Brother Blood had gotten back up to his feet.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!"

CRRRRRRRAAAACK! SMASSSH!

A slab of rock that spanned the distance of the cavern fell between them. Beast Boy knelt and held his hands over his head while Bard turned away as the rock, debris and dust settled down. When it was finished, Beast Boy sweat dropped.

"Hurry it up, guys!" Superboy called to them from somewhere up ahead. "This earthquake's gonna block the exit if we don't get a move on!"

Without warning, Beast Boy changed into a furry, emerald squirrel, clamored up Bard's leg and over Raven to bury himself into the cowboy's long cape.

"Remind me to kill Beast Boy." Raven remarked, but it didn't come out as its usually drone. This time, her tone had quite a bit of levity in it.

"Kill Beast Boy," Bard reminded her immediately before continuing towards the passageway. When they entered, however, they were thrown into inky blackness. Bard hummed under his breath…

"Hold that for me, Raven." He said when the ball of light appeared in his hand. His sister slowly reached out to take it. She touched it once quickly before grabbing it as if she were afraid it would burn her. "Thanks,"

The light wasn't the best. They were zipping speedily through the passage a lot faster than one would walk, and the falling rock and debris didn't help matters. Shadows dance everywhere as Bard swooped left and right to avoid debris.

And finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Bard realized they were out as sweet, night air assaulted his nostrils. He joined Superboy and , floating in midair, turned back to the passage.

The top of the cliff face ponderously collapsed into itself, filling up the caverns beneath. Dark gray dust billowed up in a huge cloud.

"Guess we won't be seeing Slade or Brother Blood again." Superboy commented.

"No," Bard disagreed. "We're not that lucky."

"Pssh! How do you know how lucky I am?"

"Fine," Bard corrected himself. "I'm not that lucky, then."

SCCKKRIIIII!

A green hawk flew out of Bard's cape and swooped off.

"For once," Raven said. "I agree with Beast Boy. Let's go home."

Bard certainly wasn't going to argue with her.

Under the night sky, Bard came to a soft landing on the roof of Titans Tower and gently set Raven back onto her feet. Before the cowboy could say anything, Raven was already holding out his gold cross pendant to him.

"…"

"Don't you want it back?" Raven asked.

Bard stared at it for a moment, and then he looked up slightly to look into Raven's eyes.

"It did something to you, didn't it?"

"…" It was Raven's turn to be silent.

"It blocks Trigon, doesn't it?" Bard guessed. "And let's you feel emotions, too, right?"

"Yes," Raven admitted.

Bard looked up at the stars for a moment, and then he looked back into Raven's face.

"Then…then you keep it."

"But you need it." She pointed out. "Your arm…"

"I'll tell you honestly, Raven." Bard said it very directly, even as he took his cross pendant and put it over her head and around her neck.. "I'd rather have you feel emotions than me feel my arm."

"…"

Raven's eyes flooded with tears.

"…I love you," she finally, finally uttered as she fell forward and clung to him.

Bard's eyes widened in surprise, but then he brought his arms around her and returned the hug.

"I…me, too."

He had lived on this earth for eighteen years. And over the span of all those years, he'd made friends and enemies and he'd found love. But he had never found family. But now, hugging his sister on the roof of a building shaped like a giant 'T', he felt as if his life had truly begun.

"…."

"…"

"…"

"…So," Bard finally said. "Think we'll beat Britney's record when we get the annulment?"

And his sister actually laughed, and that magnificent sound was like a silver bell ringing in Bard's ears

"Starfire!" Robin almost squealed when he saw her. He lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug.

"I am elated to see you as well!" She gasped for air. "Robin, I am in need of oxygen!"

"Oh, sorry." Robin almost reluctantly let go.

Cyborg blinked.

"Now that was a switch…"

Robin looked around sheepishly.

"Ahem," he cleared his throat, bringing back his 'leader voice'. "It's good to have you back."

"Why don't they just kiss already?" Beast Boy snickered in a whisper to Superboy.

The Boy of Steel laughed, and Robin looked at them suspiciously.

"Well," he finally said. "I think it's time for bed. It's been a long, long day."

No one disagreed.

Bard and Raven walked wordlessly down that hallway side by side. They weren't exactly walking hand in hand in domestic bliss, but there was a kind of closeness in their stroll that had been always been absent before.

"I have decision to make, ya know." The dark sorceress remarked, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

"Oh, yeah?" Bard looked over at his sister curiously. "About what?"

"If I decide to keep your necklace I'll have to…" Her voice trailed off.

"You'll have to do what?"

"I'll have to…quit being a Teen Titan."

"What for?"

"This pendant might let me feel emotion," Raven told him. "But it also negates my powers. That why Zillah put it on me in the first place, remember?"

Bard scratched at his hair as he thought about it.

"But that shouldn't be a problem though, right?" He asked her. "I mean, you could wear it around the tower. Then, when it's time to take the bad guys to the woodshed, you could take it off."

"Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that." Raven explained to him. "My powers are based on my emotions. I have to keep them very tightly controlled. And I couldn't do that if they're running around unbridled on a regular basis. Things would blow up…small things like cars and buildings."

"That wouldn't be a good thing." Bard said with sardonic understatement. But then his voice got more serious. "What are you gonna do?"

"I…don't know." She admitted. "I'll have to consider it carefully."

"Well, whatever you do, Raven; whatever decision you make, I'll be with you all the way."

She looked up at him.

"You mean…if I decided to quit the Titans, you'd do the same thing?"

"Of course," Bard told her with wink. "Family's got to stay together, after all."

They reached Raven's door and she hugged him again.

"Thank you," she said. Then she gave him a sad smile before stepping into her room.

Bard walked on to his own room. As he took off his 'vampire clothes', (And good riddance), and changed into something a little more natural and comfortable…He couldn't remember being happier.

And Raven's decision was foremost in his mind as he laid himself down on his bed and fell asleep.