Secrets of the Titan

Castles: I've been so inspired by the main background to this fic, that I've decided to put into writing. Slightly like my other fic, Satan's Child, but still has a completely different storyline. Oh and there's tons of BBxRae!!! Yay!!! == And Robin is gonna be a bit OCC in this fic, and time has changed Raven a lot.

Pissy Shitty Little Kitty (PSLK): Hi, Kitty's currently on holiday, so I'm filling in her role. I'm famous for peeing under the kitchen table, and my swinging belly, which is how I got my name!! Anyway, Castles does not own the Teen Titans! Yay! My first day on the job!!!

Castles: Daft cat. You have a postcard from Kitty.

PSLK: I do! Lets read:

Dear Castles and PSLK. Havin' a fun time in Hawaii. I hope that evil cat hasn't taken over my job completely, or she's my new scratching post! Hope all is well with your wonderful readers.

Luv Kitty. XXX

Castles: Aww, sweet! Please note that this fic contains VERY strong language, mentions of alcohol abuse, mentions, and parts containing drugs, EXTREMELY gruesome suicide, and strong hints of sex. You have been warned! Oh, and a few dedications:

With dedication to my ever loyal fans who follow my fanfic 'Satan's Child'.

My friends and family, for believing in me.

Mad Mod's Gym Class, Psistrike, Nova, and all my homies at AnimationInsider.

And special thanks to Evil Knievel, who inspired me to use the Titans real names in this fic!

==========

The music pounded through the walls, the sound of the boozed up lads in the 'lounge' echoing through the walls. Kristen lay back on her top bunk, holding her head in pain. The music was too much for her, but the world was already going up in a rainbow of colours anyway. Her mind span round in exhilaration, her breath coming fast as she got higher and higher. The pain in her head was already beginning to fade, as she writhed in her pleasure, soft gasps emitting from the young girl.

Her roommate, sitting below, merely sighed. Kristen was high on drugs again, and booze didn't help. She herself took a long swig of the vodka bottle beside her, wishing the music and pain to go away. A bluey/purplish strand of hair fell forward, causing the older girl to curse in exasperation, and brush it backwards again.

Kristen didn't hear the frustrated growls of her roommate. All she knew was a world of fantasy and bright, happy colours. She did however; hear the battered door swing open, and the entrance of a male member living in the flat with them. His nickname was Skull, known so for his bleached white hair, which flopped down beside several piercings.

"What do you want Skull?" The girl below asked. She was border lining drunk, her vision slightly blurred. Skull, just as pissed, merely sat down beside her, kissing the dark haired girl deeply, prying open her mouth with his tongue.

This was the only world that existed beyond the door to the flat. A world of drugs and alcohol, a world of sex and highly deafening music. This was a world in which one had to survive.

The very same world which a certain Titan had entered. Driven away from the seemingly peaceful life of Titans Tower, she had entered this place in hope of some solitude. And she had found that, as well as the many sins that came with living there. Now, at 19, after no more than 3 years apart from her former friends, she no longer regarded any of them as important. At least that was what Raven thought. But she was soon going to find herself wrong, very wrong indeed…

===

Deep in Gotham City, another ex-Titan was finding things hard. With no work, and no chance of ever finding anything worthy, he had given up on being a superhero long ago. Even then, he was considering moving back to Jump City. How to get there, and where to go once he got there was really the only two problems he had.

"Hey, fuzzball! Go wash off the Halloween paint!" Some idiotic thugs picked up the snow that covered the damp ground, and hurled it at Garfield Logan, causing him to move quickly from where he sat, and fly off as fast as he could. Landing on a rooftop, he gave a sigh of deep regret, and wished with all his heart that he could go home.

Suddenly it hit him. Of course! Why hadn't he thought of it before! He could fly home! Why he had thought he would have to go the long way round at all surprised the green changeling. Of course, there was still the matter of where to go, but he'd work that out later.

"So you're still here then?" A new voice echoed across the snow covered rooftop, the white snowflakes still falling gently.

"Of course. " Gar replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well you said you wanted to go back. And to be honest, I think you should. It's been three years." Speedy wasn't being critical, but Garfield Logan had been through a lot of heartache whilst being in Gotham. He wasn't meant for this kind of City, Speedy had known that years ago.

"I have nowhere togo. And I have no idea where anybody else is."

"We've been through this before. Vic is still at the Tower. Kory disappeared, but you're certain she's here somewhere. Raven told you she would always be in Jump City, and Tim said nothing when you left." Speedy reminded the changeling again, but it looked to the arrow bearing hero as if Gar would never listen to him. He eventually sighed himself, and left, jumping off the end of the rooftop.

The wind was cold as Gar left himself, taking off into the dark night skies that began to settle, shaking the snow from his wings as he flew. Below, on the desolate streets of Gotham City, Speedy watched silently, wishing he could have told him more. A scuffling of one manoeuvring around trash cans echoed from behind, as a tall, well built stranger emerged from out of the shadows of the alleyways.

"He's gone?" A male voice asked from behind Speedy.

"Yes. He's gone back to Jump City. No doubt he'll end up homeless on the streets anyway. There's nowhere and no one that will take him in."

"Mother will be pleased. But what if another of the Titans take him in?" The male voice asked again.

"Oh they won't. He doesn't even know where most of them are, and he's too proud to go back to that bastard of a leader." The hero spat roughly onto the pavement.

"Ex-leader Speedy. Besides, mother has pity for him. " The moonlight was shining down on them, and the black, almost military outfit of the stranger was clear in the dull light.

"Your mother has pity for everything." Speedy snarled. The next thing he knew, he was pinned directly to the floor, the stranger's eyes holding a mad gleam as he swore arrogantly at the man pinned before him.

"Don't you ever fucking talk of my mother like that! Or I will personally make sure there's nothing left of your bitching ass, you fucking little prick!!!"

"Hey, alright, now get your fucking ass off me!" Speedy, retaliating with equal vulgar language, shoved the angry man off him.

"Just make sure the Titans never meet up, and especially make sure they do not reunite as a team. We've come too far for that to happen." The man answered, vanishing into the shadows.

"Yeah, whatever." Speedy casually replied. "Fucking asshole." He whispered under his breath, as he turned, and strode off down the street, reminding himself to clean out Gar's apartment…

=========

Raven awoke early the next morning, her head pounding with all the alcohol she'd consumed the night before. Skull was crashed out on the floor in front of her, amongst all the empty drug packets and vodka bottles. Dragging herself off the unmade bed, Raven headed for the girls shower.

It was supposed to be one shower each for the two separate ends of the flat, but they had all mutually agreed to have one shower for the guys, and one shower for the girls. The demon pushed open the door to the shower….

And screamed with shock and horror as she saw Kristen.

Within seconds, she was joined by about 6 other flatmates, who gasped and screamed as she had done. For inside the shower, slumped up against the wall, was Raven's roommate, an empty packet of ecstasy beside her. But by far the most horrifying thing was the blood that still dripped from her slit wrists, the knife used to cut them buried deep within her chest. There was Kristen's deep ruby red blood spread everywhere, a line shimmering on the wall behind the girl, suggesting that she'd stabbed herself whilst still standing.

"Oh fucking hell…" Skull muttered, catching hold of Raven, to ensure she remained upright.

"Is that….is that Kristen?" A blonde girl from behind cried.

"Of course it is…and by the looks of it, she just fucking killed herself." Another male, by the name of Spike, on account of his 'spiked' jet black hair, intervened between the shocked girls, and knelt beside the ever so pale Kristen. Gently, his glove coated fingers found the girl's neck, gingerly looking for a pulse. He shook his head ruefully, breaths coming deep and fast.

"You mean she's…"

"Dead Raven. No pulse, probably died from blood loss. Kev, call 911! The rest of you, - get anything suspicious out of the fucking way! We had no idea she was on drugs, okay?!" Spike shouted out his orders, everyone running to shove bottles and cans in the bins, and secretly slipping any drugs downstairs below the flat.

Not many of the people living there actually did drugs. In fact, only 3, including Kristen had been taking drugs, everyone else merely got drunk, and had wild parties instead.

Within 20 minutes, an ambulance and the police had arrived at the flat's doorstep. With everything that could possibly be of suspicion out of the way, everyone claimed that no one had known their deceased friend to be on drugs, and hadn't known of her sudden death the night before. Raven herself played her part well. With several outbursts of tears as she made her statement to the police, she was believed clear enough, and within another hour, every policeman and woman had left. This however, left the disturbed residents to talk it out amongst themselves that afternoon. But it wasn't until Raven's shift working in the café below the flat that she found something that was going to change her life around…

===

"Come on babe, you know I love ya…." A middle-aged, clearly married man drawled at Raven as she took orders working as a waitress.The café below the flat was actually her 'depressing caf' that she had always gone to in her Titan days. When she had first come there after leaving the Titans, she had told her story to the manager, and had been offered a room. What had delighted the demon the most was the fact that by taking a job there too, she got a room half-price.

"Actually, you know jack shit about me, so why don't you crawl home to your mistress, and drool over her all night?" Raven retorted.

"Ah, she dumped me you know. Found out I got a wife and 2 kids. Oh, and a coffee please." He slurred back, taking no notice of the demon's angry tone.

For the next 2 hours, Raven faced the usual garble from the drunk and depressed customers that appeared at the café. A few more kindly people were more nicer to her, and she to them. But when the bell tinkled once more, and a hooded stranger entered, Raven looked up instantly.

She knew this person. Her empathic powers were ultimately saying that this was someone she knew from her past. Someone who had changed a lot since she had last seen them. Being the only waitress working that shift, she figured that at least she might get to find out who they were.

"Hello, can I help you?" Raven repeated the all famous words she had to say to everyone.

Instead of a response, the hooded stranger looked up in suspicion, a hand beginning to slowly sidle out from beneath the cloak. The build, from what she could see, pretty much made it clear that the person was male. It was only when she saw the tips of the fingers from the gloves her wore, a light green in colour, and a lock of emerald green hair fell forward as he tipped his head to the side that she recognised him.

But she was not the only one who saw someone from the past. Gar really didn't know why he'd come to the café, but when he saw the violet eyes, the gem shining upon her forehead, longer purple hair with blue and black streaks running through that he knew who she was, and that he had given himself away, as she clearly also identified him.

"Hey! Get your ass over here Raven! If he ain't orderin', then there's no need to be over there!!" Raven's manager and boss, shouted over to her, causing the demon to snap out of the trance she was in.

"Oh…excuse me…" Raven hurriedly made her excuses, and rushed back over to Amina, also known as her boss.

Gar merely watched her for a while, taking in everything that had changed about her. She had grown a lot, still retaining her slim figure. Still a goth, the tight black clothing she did wear, along with the low-cut tops that showed her cleavage well, gave her a lot of sex appeal, and got her a lot of attention. The demon's hair had also grown rather long, now reaching just below her shoulders, streaks of colour outlining the purple.

It was only when the changeling pulled down his hood, revealing sharp eyes, and also lengthened hair, that did partially cover his pointed ears, that he got a few odd looks. A stud in his right ear shone dully in the light, the dark chocolate brown cloak he wore covering every other green area about him.

He had to wait an hour before Raven actually came back to him, but from the looks of her attitude and body language throughout the entire hour, she was still thinking about him, her mind on other things. But she was halted by Spike's entrance, who picked up an apron, and gave the tired demon a kiss, before taking over her responsibilities. She then sauntered back over to the bored changeling, both with full senses alert as to who the other one was.

"So you're just gonna stay there all day? My shift is over, and Spike isn't friendly to 24/7 company."

"Actually, I was waiting for you. I mean, it's been what, 3 years since any of us have spoken."

"You and Kory left too? Where are you staying anyway?" She took a seat beside him, her feet hurting a little bit from all the running around.

"Actually, I've been in Gotham City. Just came back, I wasn't getting anywhere. Haven't found anywhere yet though, and there's no way I'm going back to Tim."

"He probably left too, Vic's looking after the tower, remember? And this place is closing soon, so best to get going." She did feel sorry for Gar in a way, he had nothing really going for him.

"Hey, you never said you had company Rae…Remember, we're closing in an hour." Amina called over to the two, sweeping up the dark floors.

"Who's that?" Gar asked.

"Oh, that's Amina, my boss. She's a bit cranky at the moment, 'cause things aren't going well. Her deliveries supervisor walked out, and my roommate committed suicide last night…So things aren't too good." Raven sighed, leaning on her elbows.

"Your roommate committed suicide? Jeez, that's a bit, extreme, isn't it?" Gar did look rather taken aback.

"She was on drugs." Raven replied in her deadpan tone. "And if you're that desperate, you can crash here for the night if you want. There's room up there somewhere."

"Thanks. "He gave a smile, a smile of deep relief. "I might take you up on that offer. It's kinda late to go to the tower now, I guess, so yeah."

"Anytime. Come on, I'll show you upstairs."

She led the way up the staircase, Gar following with interest. Nobody noticed the eyes watching their every move outside the panes of the darkened windows…

========

Castles: Wah, we love dark and depressing! What with the drugs, and the suicide, and you can't say I didn't warn you it was gruesome…

PSLK: This fic is SO not for the faint hearted… Anyway, I'm awaiting more postcards from Kitty!!

Castles: Daft cat. C ya when we update!!! ==