as time goes on, you'll notice some of these have '...' at the top of the chapter. if you see that, it means i picture it happening in my 'violet tide/the ties that bind' universe.

if '...' isn't there, it means it either wouldn't or couldn't happen in that universe, since it probably contradicts the story or gives an alternate scenario to something similar in the story, etc.

please enjoy! (i may change the title, i'll wait and see what i come up with.)

SUPERSTITION

...

Garfield looked around and wondered where God was.

"Scout the southern quarter. You'll be out of his scope there."

That had been the order from Cyborg.

Before their planned attack on the behemoth claiming their tower, they had split up to gauge a route. They were looking for high points. Blind spots. Tunnels. Enemies. Anything.

He supposed what they were really looking for was something they would never find.

Robin was looking too, one-thousand feet below. Slade had said: Another part still remains, and Beast Boy had felt his jaw lock and grate.

What the hell did Slade know. He was lying through his teeth. He was using Robin for his gain, like so many times before.

Slade hadn't seen the way she'd walked up to the sacrificial slab. He hadn't seen the crimson sear from her flesh. The light rip through her bones.

She had been like an angel, beautiful and terrifying. Nothing short of biblical.

Slade was the demon. He had helped Trigon in, forced his foot through the door. Now his body was where it belonged, and his only want was to dig himself up from the grave a second time.

Beast Boy wished he would just stay buried.

He'd been optimistic in front of his team. A habit. The truth was, Garfield hadn't felt so leached of hope since...

Well. When you watch people die, they do not come back. He knew that.

He was off course. He knew that too. He'd made a swift lean left where he was meant to aim right, and let his wings carry him through the smoke.

Sulfur spiked the air as he landed. The whetted stench of brimstone. And around him, there was ash. Only ash, and debris, and rubble.

Black smog crawling over black stone.

Somewhere above him, the head of a single statue glared down, still against the bloodshot sky. Garfield glanced at that statue - the only statue left - then kept walking through the wreckage.

There was no hope left here. None.

With his next step, he saw something glint beneath the soot. It was right on the edge of a charred ring, which plummeted into the earth. A nudge in, and it would've been gone.

He knelt, not caring that his knees scraped when he did.

The penny felt like lead in his hand. Its lustre dulled. He stood, bringing it with him, and felt his throat constrict.

The tears came, quick and stinging at the corners of his eyes. He glanced up, and that faceless statue still fixed its head on him.

A grey glove clenched around the coin before his arm slung back to throw it.

"Dammit, Raven!"

He bent to swipe up a jagged rock, too big in his hand to clamp down.

"We could've helped you!" The rock flew at that empty face. "We could've fought it!" Another shot out in its path.

"Did you have to be a martyr?!"

The rocks flew, and flew, never reaching that towering height.

"What am I supposed to do now?!"

The statue did not react. It withstood his stabs, his cries, and it gave nothing back.

So he crumpled. He heaved out a final breath and caved in on himself, chest splitting open like the chasm before him.

Blotchy patches stuck behind his eyes, the anger succumbing to choked and broken sobs.

You have to let me go.

Those words throbbed like an ulcer in his gut. His heart was gaping, sundered apart. The world around him trembled, a dark sense of dread echoing through his sorrow.

Raven was gone. She wasn't coming back. And he was expected to just keep going.

His communicator bleeped from below, and Beast Boy was thrown back to the world.

There wasn't time to grieve. There was never time to grieve. He should've known that by now.

He pushed the heel of his hand into his eyes, ridding them of the tears like something spilled onto the floor. His communicator was raised to his ear.

"Beast Boy, see anything?" Cyborg intoned from the other end.

"No." He steadied his voice. "Nothing here."

There was a sigh, but he could not tell if it was of distress or relief. "Okay. Get back to base."

Ha. Is that what they were calling the crater beneath the main bridge now?

"Got it."

Garfield hung up, and tried to tell himself she would have wanted them to fight. But if that were true, why wasn't she fighting with them?

Raven had saved her friends. Would she have done that if she didn't want them to fight?...

His eyes roamed across the floor and landed again on the penny. Undamaged. Unbroken. He silently paced through the ruins to pick it up once more.

He lifted his head to the statue. Undamaged. Unbroken. Then he focused on the coin and watched it curl into his fist.

That hand raised to his lips, where he pressed a single, firm kiss at the close.

It didn't matter what Raven wanted. Raven was gone. She wasn't coming back.

But they would fight for her anyway.

Authors Note:

oof. i did not mean for the first chap in this collection to be angst. it was actually gonna be a really fun and cutesy one, which i'll likely do next. i just happened to be in an angst-writing mood when i got the time to write for this, so here it is.

in the episode, things go down very quickly. too quickly, imo, but i get it. time restraints.

i think in reality the whole thing would've been a bit more dragged out. instead of cy, star, and bb going in guns blazing right away, i think they would've tried a more strategic approach and allowed for something like this to have happened.

bb disobeyed orders, but he needed this one moment to himself to process. to 'grieve'.

(please take this as a 'companion drabble' to chapter 23 of 'violet tide', because that's exactly what it's intended to be.)