Hello, everyone! Today I bring you a story of the episode "Haunted" of the original Teen Titans and its aftermath. This deals with themes of PTSD and hallucinations as well as (graphic) nightmares, so if that may be a trigger for you it will not be a problem if you don't want to read this.

I don't own the Teen Titans, and happy reading!

It was a little past two A.M., and Raven, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beast Boy had just agreed to discharge Robin from the Tower's medical wing. There had been no signs of his violent hallucinations or any other mental problems concerning Slade in over an hour, and Robin had repeatedly told his teammates not to worry. Now the Titans were finally heading off to bed after quite an eerie night.

"Alright, if you're sure you're good, I'm turning in," Cyborg yawned, stretching his hands up over his head. "Night, y'all." And he disappeared done the hall.

"Pleasant schlorvaks," Starfire called, lifting her hand in a wave before vanishing as well.

"I dill have a code (I still have a cold)," Beast Boy whined, sniffing hard and rubbing his eyes. "I know Robin's having his weird illusion thingies or whatever they're called, but I'm dying over here!"

Robin raised his eyebrows skeptically, and Raven rolled her eyes and marched over to the snotty Beast Boy. Then she snatched his arm and basically threw him down the hallway in a cloud of black energy.

"AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaahh.." Beast Boy's yell trailed off as he flew down the hall, arms flailing as he faded into the dim lit corridor.

Raven sighed, closed her eyes for a second" and then opened them again to observe Robin carefully. "Are you...sure you're okay?" she asked, an expression of genuine concern on her colorless face.

Robin glanced at her, the jarring events of the night racing through his thoughts as he tried to figure out how to answer Raven's question.

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," he finally replied with a sigh. "Tonight's just been...strange. Why don't you go to bed- there's no point staying up worrying about me."

Raven gave Robin a gloomy half-smile and floated down the dark hallway, leaving him alone in the room.

"Titans, go!" Robin bellowed, brandishing his crowbar with a slashing sound. The Titans, wielding their superpowers and weapons, launched themselves at the one-eyed maniac before them, Slade, who was standing in front of a large generator in front of the Jump City Stadium filled with hundreds of civilians, Slade-bots blocking the alternative exits. His plan was to detonate it, and when he did those trapped in the building would be blown to bits. Slade had no ulterior motive- simply to antagonize the Titans and show them what he was capable of.

Starfire raised a glowing hand, coated in burning chartreuse energy, and fired a blast at Slade, who skillfully and silently dodged it. He chuckled wryly before whipping out a laser gun and shot it at the alien, which knocked her to the ground with a cry of pain. Robin, eyes following Starfire's hurling figure, looked back and forth from her to the other Titans. "Go!" he shouted to his teammates, and they advanced on the madman while Robin rushed over to Starfire, who still hadn't gotten off of the concrete.

"Star!" Robin slid on his knees to Starfire's side. "Are you okay?"

It was a stupid question- and the sight that befell him was nothing short of horrifying.

There was a jagged, bullet-sized hole straight through Starfire's shoulder that was gushing wine-colored blood- so deep that you could see straight through it. It pooled at an alarming rate underneath her body and spread onto the concrete, soaking into Robin's knee. Her normally blazing eyes were blank and barely responsive, and her tan skin glistened with sweat.

His eyes flew open. Instinctively, he clamped both of his hands over the wound, the blood oozing in between his fingers and sliding down his wrists, dripping onto the cement. Her breathing was raspy and barely audible- and the blood was everywhere.

The blood was everywhere.

"Star! Starfire!"

Robin whirled to face his friends, panicky and heart racing, to call for help. Maybe Raven could at least close up the wound- maybe Cyborg had some bandages stored up in his compartments somewhere-

And once again he was met with an even more disturbing sight.

Raven was keeled over on the ground, puking her guts out in a chunky brownish-grey substance that was fading into red as she retched up her insides. Pieces of pink matter were flowing into her vomit and splattering onto the rock. Her eyes were blank, completely blank- pupils and iris absolutely invisible. Her face- her ivory skin was cracking, bleeding, decaying, right in front of Robin.

Beast Boy was violently seizing on the ground, limbs flailing so badly that they were bloody and scraped, skin and clothes torn. Horrible, animalistic shrieks were emitting from his lips like he was possessed. Even more terrifying, his left leg slammed onto the ground, and when it lifted itself up again it was bent at an extremely awkward and definitely painful angle. White bone stuck out from his knee, tearing through it, ripping the skin. Froth and saliva poured from his mouth like a deranged creature.

Cyborg was lying still on the ground- but his limbs were strewn all over the road, scraped and scratched and damaged beyond repair. Pitch-black oil and crimson blood flowed freely from the parts of his body with skin- raw pink flesh under it. His eyes- both human and cybernetic- had been replaced with empty black sockets- eyeballs nowhere to be found. Blood gushed from his hollow face endlessly.

Robin's heart sped up the longer he watched- and his vision began to blur and haze. From the half-dead Starfire to the violently sick Raven to the seizing Beast Boy to the definitely deceased Cyborg. His breathing quickened and his lungs began to feel like they were closing in.

Visions of his parents' mangled bodies flashed in front of his face- mirroring the mutilated piles of flesh that used to be his teammates. His friends. His family.

The stench of fresh blood hovered through the gray air, a strong scent of pennies and metal and death.

Robin felt tears began to fall out of his eyes as the blood finally stopped flowing from Starfire's shoulder- and her eyes went dead, frozen on Robin's gaze.

Starfire was gone.

Robin was heaving turbulently now, face burning and somehow freezing at the same time. Tears completely obscured his vision, and he jerked his head toward the ominous and cold figure of Slade, who stood quietly over the now lifeless bodies of all of the Teen Titans with the exception of Robin.

"What have you done?!" Robin screamed. He felt like his intestines were exploding. Like his entire world was caving in. Like tearing Slade's veins from his throat and watching him bleed to death, gurgling and choking and gagging and retching.

Slade stared back at Robin, stony. Then- he smiled- and detonated the bomb.

Robin sat up straight in bed, throwing the covers off of himself, gasping. His friends- Slade- all the blood-

Frantically, he checked both of his bare hands. Was the dried blood still there- on his hands? Where was Starfire?

The blood was gone. Good. Now where was Slade? Starfire needed medical attention. There was a hole through her shoulder.

The bedroom was dark, only partially lit through the thin, soft streams of moonlight through the blinds.

Robin was in his bedroom.

It had all been a nightmare.

So why could he still smell the blood?

Why could he still see the shadow of Slade, hear the deafening blast of the bomb detonating, the panicked screams of the trapped civilians inside of the stadium? Why could he taste the smoky air?

Why could he still feel Starfire's blood seeping in between his fingers?

He wanted to kill Slade.

"Robin?"

Robin recognized the voice immediately, and his heart leaped.

"Star? Starfire!" He threw the blankets onto the ground, leaping onto the floor, and ran toward the alien standing in the doorway of his room. "You're okay!" He slung his arms around her neck, the feeling of relief rushing through his veins.

But when Starfire did not return his hug, Robin's face wrinkled, and he pushed himself away, holding her out at arm's length, hands placed gently on her shoulders.

"What's wrong?"

Starfire looked up at Robin's pale, sweating face, his eyes filled with relief and yet panic. She glanced at the ground, then met his gaze again, brow furrowed with concern.

"Robin...I heard you scream."

Robin recoiled, taken aback.

"You..." He sighed. "You heard me."

Starfire's eyes were shining. She nodded sadly.

"I thought that you were alright," she told him tearfully. "Did you not tell the truth?"

Robin remained silent, not knowing what to say. "I- I don't know."

There was a shuffling noise, and suddenly three more silhouettes were visible behind Starfire's gloomy figure. Upon closer inspection, they were revealed to be Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, all wearing forlorn expressions and eyes full of grim concern and worry.

"Robin..." Starfire trailed off.

"Dude, there's no shame in asking for help," Beast Boy offered gently. There was no sign of amusement or a joking tang in his voice.

"None of this is your fault, and there's nothing wrong with admitting that you need help," Cyborg added, observing Robin warily.

"And... we think it's time you asked for it," Raven chimed in quietly. For once, her tone wasn't cold or demeaning.

Robin stood idle, taking in his friends' words. It wasn't fun admitting that he may or may not have a problem. And Robin wasn't too eager to confront his frightening visions, nightmares, and hallucinations. They'd caused him to hurt himself- badly. He had drawn blood. He'd threatened to hurt his friends.

But then again- he really wanted to stop seeing things like he did earlier that night. All he could see was blood and flesh and holes and empty eye sockets. Those images kept flashing across his friends' faces- distorting their actual faces. It scared Robin immensely.

How had he gotten this bad?

Robin had had experiences with PTSD before as a young teenager. He'd had unwanted flashbacks at random times of his parents toppling from the pier at the circus and visions of their wrecked bodies on the ground. Time and time again he saw the wretched face of the man who'd been responsible their deaths, the man Robin knew was going to kill his parents- but he didn't do anything about it. He'd carried that guilt around like dead weight ever since his parents' passing.

Robin peered into his teammates' open faces. He couldn't risk hurting them- for real this time, especially since they'd helped him so much even after he'd threatened them. And while Robin was still a little fearful about confronting his dangerous mental issues, he was a sensible person, and knew that it would probably be for the better.

Robin sighed, a low, long melancholy breath.

"Okay."