Disclaimer: Except for Caspia and Breon, I own none of the
characters in this story. Warner Bros. and DC do.
Author's notes: Fair bit of delay on this one, but no matter. This chapter, the one before it and the one after were supposed to be one, but have since evolved to be huge. Kind of odd, really. A warning to anyone who actually reads these notes: This chapter is slow and is essentially Caspia being grilled by the Titans. It is still important.
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Part 4: Coffin Nails
Raven spent the better part of a week in the infirmary, leaving only to sleep in her own bed and to eat. After three days of using her power to heal herself, and eating more than the other four Titans combined, her wounds were healed completely. She began healing her attacker immediately after.
Raven avoided the others' questions of 'why' as she healed the man, saying that she needed to talk with him. It wasn't a lie, but she didn't tell the what she wanted to ask.
She needed answers. She needed to know who and what she, or rather, they, really were. Robin had guessed his age between eighteen and twenty, as much as five years older than she was. She had to know how he'd survived this long, even if she had to fight him again to find out.
Near the end of the week his body was mended, even though he hadn't woken yet. Raven, deciding that there was nothing left to do but wait, left him lying in the infirmary to take a well deserved rest.
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Starfire tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Again. She had had two sleepless nights now and was working on her third. When Raven had begun healing a man who had tried to kill her, Starfire realized how selfish it was to keep imposing on Robin to share his bed. Inspired by the dark girl, and feeling more than a little guilty, she had vowed to allow Robin the decent night's sleep he deserved and was certainly not getting with an extra body beside him.
She hadn't slept since.
Starfire rolled over again and stared at her ceiling. Perhaps it is that humans excrete a chemical when asleep. She pondered to herself. Or perhaps that little, rhythmic nasal noise Robin makes when asleep is hypnotic. Starfire rather liked that noise, and there was no denying that she slept better with Robin.
Physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, the young Tamaranian girl still couldn't nod off. Starfire sighed at the ceiling, she really needed to sleep.
Starfire rose out of bed, the weight of her guilt finally overpowered by her exhaustion and loneliness. "Perhaps Robin will permit me another night with him." She said aloud as she dressed. Sighing loudly to herself, she opened her door and stepped out into the night.
The hallway was dark and sterile, just as it always was, even during the day. Her footsteps echoed harshly in the gloom as she walked. It was scarcely more than a week since she had walked this hall late at night and begun her relationship with Robin.
Starfire smiled and kept walking, rising off the ground as she passed Raven's room to avoid waking the dark girl.
Near the halfway point between her own room and Robin's she began to hear a strange, rattling noise and a voice she didn't know cursing and muttering. Starfire's hand drifted to a device that Robin had insisted she wear on her belt. On it was a button that would send out a distress signal if pressed to wake of the other four Titan's.
One finger hovering a millimeter over the button, she moved toward the muffled sound.
"Hello?" She called out into the empty hall, "Friends? Is one of you there?" She continued toward the noise until she reached a door and calmed down almost instantly. She was outside the infirmary.
Starfire's hand moved away from the button and pulled another device from her belt. "Raven?" She spoke into the device. There was a very long pause.
"What do you want, Starfire?" Came a groggy and irritated voice through the communicator.
"Raven, my apologies for awakening you, but your friend has, himself, awoken."
"Friend...?" Raven sounded confused, "Oh... Thanks." Her voice became sterner. "Starfire, be careful, he's dangerous."
Starfire listened through the door at the man's struggling. "He seems to be unhappy." She said into the communicator, "I will calm him." She turned off the device before returning it to her belt.
Starfire hit the door button and stepped into the stark, white room. The racket continued from behind the drawn curtain at the end of the room. The bed was rattling so much that Starfire was sure it would have fallen over had it not been secured to the ground and the creak and groan of stretching leather could be heard as he strained against the cuffs that held him down. All the while a constant stream of mild curses and begs continued as he tried to free himself.
Starfire continued to listen, curious as to what the man was doing behind that curtain.
"Come on, come on..." She heard his voice say, "please, work this time..." the creak of him forcing the cuffs, "Dammit!" Harsh rattling of the bed, followed by an odd scratching that she couldn't hear from outside. Then the process repeated.
Starfire floated over to the curtain and flung it open, crying out "Greetings!" and flashing the man a wide smile as she did.
The man stopped his struggles instantly and stared up at the smiling girl.
Starfire, who had never been in to see him, stared at his oversized, clawed hands which were bent backward at an uncomfortable angle to try and scratch through the leather that held them down. There was a deep trench carved into both bands.
He continued to stare up at Starfire silently. The girl felt her smile begin to feel forced as the awkwardness of the situation began to wash over her.
Trying to break the silence, Starfire tried again. "I am Starfire." She said cheerfully, "Do not be unnerved, you are being well taken care of." She gently laid a hand on his shoulder.
He looked at the hand for a brief moment, then, with a flash of inhuman teeth, tried to bite it.
"Eep!" Starfire squeaked as she pulled her hand away just before the canines snapped down on it. She reflexively cradled the wrist that had almost been bitten. The girl looked back to the man's face and saw his eyes full of fear and anger.
He twisted his hands back further to an angle she wouldn't have though possible and placed a claw against each wrist behind the leather restraints. "You will not have me again." He said, with a slight break in his voice. "I'll kill myself before I let you people touch me. I won't be broken again." To prove his resolve he put pressure on his wrists. Starfire stepped backward in horror as blood began to pool around the tips of the claws.
"Us people?" Starfire asked in desperation, "But we have never met before."
"What did you do, Starfire?" Raven's impassive voice came from behind Starfire, her groggy eyes looking at the bed from under her hood.
"Raven!" Starfire ran over to the darker girl, gripped her shoulders and began yelling, "I am sorry, he was awake and in need of calming and I attempted to calm him, but then he tried to bite me and now is threatening suicide and I don't."
"Starfire!" Raven cut her off, removing the other girl's hands from her shoulders, "Calm down." She moved past the other girl, but stopped mid- step. "He tried to bite you?"
Starfire nodded briskly.
Raven continued over to stand beside the bed that held her attacker. She looked him over slowly, her eyes coming to his wrists. She looked at the blood running down his forearm and then to the deep scratches on the leather restraints.
She waited until he followed her gaze. "There're steel bands in those." She said flatly.
He closed his eyes and a resigned look came over his face. Raven heard Starfire gasp as the flow of blood from the man's wrists increased.
Raven watched him a moment, "If I let you go, will you try to kill me again?"
He looked closely at Raven, and, for the first time, actually saw her. The help him, she lowered her hood so he could see her face. His eyes widened instantly.
"You're still you." He was surprised.
Starfire glanced quickly back and forth between the two. "Raven, what does he.?"
Raven silenced her with a raised hand. "Yes." She told him as he recovered from the surprise. "Will you?" She repeated.
Hard, silent tension filled the room as the two stared at each other. Starfire found herself backing away in fear.
Finally, the man shook his head slowly, "Not for the moment." He said carefully as he removed his claws from his wrists and relaxed.
Not making any sudden movements, Raven healed the new cuts and released his hands, trusting him to be able to free himself after that.
He was. In under a minute he was standing beside the bed shrugging the last of the cable from his wings. When it fell to the floor, he slipped out of focus and came back human.
"Alexander Caspia." He said almost apologetically and offered his hand.
Raven looked briefly at the hand and pointedly ignored it. "Raven." she said simply.
Caspia nodded sadly in understanding, and was about to lower his hand when it was grabbed by the forgotten Starfire and shaken enthusiastically.
"I am Starfire. It is. nice. to meet you Mr. Caspia."
Both Raven and Caspia stared at the girl as she continued to shake the hand happily. Caspia blinked at her. "Sorry about earlier." He ventured.
"It is alright, I am undamaged." Starfire said as she, finally, released him.
"I need answers." Raven cut in roughly, shocking Starfire.
Caspia only sighed and turned back to Raven, leaving Starfire forgotten again. His eyes softened as they looked into hers. Raven grew uncomfortable as she felt his sympathy.
He then turned away from her and looked out a window. "It's late." He said as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder, Raven was too taken aback to be offended, "and you look tired. Get some sleep. I'll tell you whatever you want to know in the morning."
Raven made no move to leave.
"I won't run." He told her. Eventually, she moved away and left the room.
"Good night," Starfire said cheerfully, shocking him as he'd forgotten her again, before leaving to find Robin's room.
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Robin and Starfire were the first awake the next day and found Caspia trying to figure out the gamestation. When the others were awake, Caspia found himself sitting on the coffee table while the Titans sat on the couch facing him, with the exception of Raven, who was standing to one side.
After introductions were over, Caspia asked, "Alright, what do you want to know?" Raven knew it was a rhetorical question and was about to call him on it when Beast Boy spoke.
"Dude, what happened to your wings?" Instead of saying anything, Caspia just transformed. Beast boy blinked and looked insulted, "Yeah, well, I'm better at it." He said defensibly, crossing his arms.
Cyborg raised an eyebrow, "Don't that put holes in your shirt?"
Caspia's eyes narrowed a little, Raven guessed, accurately, that he was asked these questions a good deal. "Yes," The young man said simply as he leaned over to show them the base of his wing. The bone and muscle part connected where a shoulder blade should be and the membrane connection ran straight down to end near his waist. A millimeter away from the wing his shirt, one borrowed from Cyborg as his old one was in shreds, cut away cleanly.
He slipped out of and back into focus, becoming human again. "They go away when I change back." The holes were, indeed, gone. "I have no idea why."
Raven was glaring at the boys for delaying her own questions and missed her chance, Robin asked the next one. "So you just flew up on the roof and attacked Raven?"
Caspia nodded, "I can't fly, but yes."
Beast Boy, who was trying very hard not to notice Raven, asked in disbelief, "You can't?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm too heavy. I can barely glide." Seeing the further confusion on Beast Boy's face, he explained, "Gliding is like doing an iron cross, I can't hold it for more than, maybe, a minute."
"What is an 'iron cross?'" Starfire asked Robin.
"Gymnastics move," Robin explained, "Hang from two ropes and hold your arms out straight."
"Wait a minute," Beast Boy said suddenly, "If you can't."
"I climbed the wall." Caspia cut him off. Beast Boy's forehead creased, "I have claws." He answered the unasked question.
"Why did you attack her?" Robin asked a little harshly, bringing them back to the conversation. One of the young boy's hands was on a weapon at his belt, a fact not lost on the newcomer.
Caspia seemed to consider this for a time. "She knows," He said finally, gesturing at Raven then turned to her. "Do you want me to tell them?" He asked gently.
"Go ahead." Raven said impassively, but a little too quickly.
The man nodded back and sighed sadly. His eyes went hard again as he began. -"She's a half demon." He said matter-of-factly as he turned back to the others. "So am I. I imagine that her mother was raped, most of our mothers were." He waited for it to sink in, but it seemed that they already knew. Raven became more annoyed with Beast Boy and Cyborg for not keeping her secrets to themselves.
Ignoring the evil eye Raven was using on her friends, Caspia continued, "We both inherited powers from our fathers, mine is elemental light, hers is elemental darkness." He turned to Raven, "Very rare, I might add."
"Thanks." Raven said sarcastically.
"Wait," Cyborg said suddenly, "So that means that she's evil?" He looked warily at his friend.
One of Caspia's eyebrows rose, "No." He said slowly, "That would be like saying Gandhi was evil for turning off a light bulb. If it makes it easier for you though: Chaos;" He jerked a thumb toward himself, "And Order." He pointed at Raven.
"Anyway, that's not important." Caspia shook his head as he backpedaled, "Sometimes, the father leaves a shard of himself in the fetus. It takes over one part of the child's personality, usually either anger or fear." Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded in understanding, which honestly surprised the man, Raven was as unreadable as always. "When the shard personality is strong enough it tries to take over the rest of the mind," He paused to consider something, "More like digest it, actually.
"When the take over starts, there's a power struggle, and it makes the child go violently insane. When this happens, the child starts killing people." Caspia paused again, waiting for the four aghast faces on the couch returned to normal. Sparing a thought for Raven, he saw that she simply stood there with her eyes closed; this was a confirmation for her.
When they were ready, he let the other shoe drop. "If the child is allowed to survive their insanity, they become a copy of their father. Think of it as a combination of reproduction and immortality."
"You still didn't answer my question." Robin said coolly.
Caspia nodded, "I'm about to." He took a deep breath. "I kill half demons before they go insane."
"You will not kill Raven!" Starfire cried out as she began rising off the couch, her eyes flaming green. "Why do you not simply aid her to overcome her father as you did yours?"
"Because he hasn't..." Raven said, letting a little bit of emotion slip into her voice despite herself, "No one can."
Starfire's eyes lost their fire and she began to lose altitude, "But he is..."
"Running out of time." Caspia cut her off. "And I've lasted longer than most."
A long silence followed. Raven stared off into a dark corner of the room while Caspia looked at the floor forlornly.
Beast Boy perked up, "Why don't we just kick Raven's dad out that Forbidden Door?"
Raven rolled her eyes again, but said nothing.
Caspia looked the green boy in the eyes and said, "That would destroy them both."
Beast Boy blinked, "Huh?"
"Trigon is my anger." Raven said, still not looking at anyone of anything.
"So? So wouldn't get angry." Beast Boy shrugged, "You don't get angry now."
Raven groaned. Caspia gave him a look of forced patience. "Trigon would be destroyed, yes, only a complete soul can pass through the ether."
"What's...?"Beast Boy began, but was silenced quickly by Robin.
"Thank you. No one's mind can stand losing a side of its personality. It makes a vacuum."
"What are you saying?" Robin asked.
Raven was the first to answer, "My mind would literally collapse on itself."
Starfire asked, "What would become of Raven then?"
Caspia shrugged, "Best case: Catatonia. Worst case: Her brain would just shut down and she'd die."
"That is awful!" Starfire yelled, "You speak of the death of Raven as though it were nothing! It is not right!"
Caspia's eyes narrowed and he stood up to glare down on Starfire, "Do you think I like doing this? Or Raven," He gestured to the dark girl, but never taking his eyes off Starfire, "if she changes she'll become a soulless killing machine. A slave to her father. Do you think she wants that?" Starfire lowered her eyes and Caspia's voice lightened soon after, "I'm going to tell you something about 'right'. There isn't always a 'right' choice."
His eyes became a little distant as he continued, "The youngest person I've ever fought was a ten year old girl. She wasn't strong. Her powers were only just starting to manifest themselves. I managed to knock her out, so I gave her to the police instead of killing her." His eyes focused again on Starfire, "Was that the 'right' choice?"
The girl nodded, "Yes, that is..."
"Wrong." He cut her off again, "I left that city. Two days later I found out that she had woken up as her father." He paused, if they didn't know better, the Titans would say that it was to compose himself. "By the time I got back and finished her off, over a hundred people were dead. There just wasn't a 'right' answer. There often isn't."
The Titans all gave him sick expressions. Raven finally had a chance to ask her question. "How have you lasted so long?"
"The innocent are the first to go." He answered coolly, then shook his head. "I'm sorry Raven, I don't have the answers you want." He moved past her and started for the door, "I'll be back before the end."
"Wait," Robin tried, and failed, to call him back. "Something doesn't add up. Where do you get the money to survive?" Robin's eyes narrowed at the man's back. It was obvious that he was looking for an excuse to take him down.
Caspia, didn't even slow down, "I'm a mechanic."
"Really," Cyborg jumped to his feet, "You know I got this sweet little number downstairs and..." He didn't see the eyes on him, but he could feel them. He sat back down, "I mean... good for you."
As he was almost at the door, Raven surprised everyone, "Do you have a place to stay?" He normal deadpan had returned, "We have some spare rooms if you don't."
"Raven!?" Robin began, but his protest fell on deaf ears.
"Do you?" Raven repeated. Caspia shook his head. "Alright, Follow me."
Raven moved in front of her attacker turned guest and led the dumbfounded man into the hall and away from her equally dumbfounded friends.
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Raven slipped into her room and let the familiar darkness envelop her as the door slid home. She was being stupid, she knew it, but she also knew that there was something she could still learn from Caspia. Things he was trying not to tell her.
I won't be broken again.
The innocent are the first to go.
Those two sentences repeated themselves in her head. They were the key to her continued survival. The questions were: What had happened to him? And, Was it worth the cost?
Somewhere behind her eyes, Raven felt her father laugh.
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End of the fourth part, no idea when the next chapter will be out. My time's being monopolized as late.
Author's notes: Fair bit of delay on this one, but no matter. This chapter, the one before it and the one after were supposed to be one, but have since evolved to be huge. Kind of odd, really. A warning to anyone who actually reads these notes: This chapter is slow and is essentially Caspia being grilled by the Titans. It is still important.
***********************************************************
Part 4: Coffin Nails
Raven spent the better part of a week in the infirmary, leaving only to sleep in her own bed and to eat. After three days of using her power to heal herself, and eating more than the other four Titans combined, her wounds were healed completely. She began healing her attacker immediately after.
Raven avoided the others' questions of 'why' as she healed the man, saying that she needed to talk with him. It wasn't a lie, but she didn't tell the what she wanted to ask.
She needed answers. She needed to know who and what she, or rather, they, really were. Robin had guessed his age between eighteen and twenty, as much as five years older than she was. She had to know how he'd survived this long, even if she had to fight him again to find out.
Near the end of the week his body was mended, even though he hadn't woken yet. Raven, deciding that there was nothing left to do but wait, left him lying in the infirmary to take a well deserved rest.
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Starfire tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep. Again. She had had two sleepless nights now and was working on her third. When Raven had begun healing a man who had tried to kill her, Starfire realized how selfish it was to keep imposing on Robin to share his bed. Inspired by the dark girl, and feeling more than a little guilty, she had vowed to allow Robin the decent night's sleep he deserved and was certainly not getting with an extra body beside him.
She hadn't slept since.
Starfire rolled over again and stared at her ceiling. Perhaps it is that humans excrete a chemical when asleep. She pondered to herself. Or perhaps that little, rhythmic nasal noise Robin makes when asleep is hypnotic. Starfire rather liked that noise, and there was no denying that she slept better with Robin.
Physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted, the young Tamaranian girl still couldn't nod off. Starfire sighed at the ceiling, she really needed to sleep.
Starfire rose out of bed, the weight of her guilt finally overpowered by her exhaustion and loneliness. "Perhaps Robin will permit me another night with him." She said aloud as she dressed. Sighing loudly to herself, she opened her door and stepped out into the night.
The hallway was dark and sterile, just as it always was, even during the day. Her footsteps echoed harshly in the gloom as she walked. It was scarcely more than a week since she had walked this hall late at night and begun her relationship with Robin.
Starfire smiled and kept walking, rising off the ground as she passed Raven's room to avoid waking the dark girl.
Near the halfway point between her own room and Robin's she began to hear a strange, rattling noise and a voice she didn't know cursing and muttering. Starfire's hand drifted to a device that Robin had insisted she wear on her belt. On it was a button that would send out a distress signal if pressed to wake of the other four Titan's.
One finger hovering a millimeter over the button, she moved toward the muffled sound.
"Hello?" She called out into the empty hall, "Friends? Is one of you there?" She continued toward the noise until she reached a door and calmed down almost instantly. She was outside the infirmary.
Starfire's hand moved away from the button and pulled another device from her belt. "Raven?" She spoke into the device. There was a very long pause.
"What do you want, Starfire?" Came a groggy and irritated voice through the communicator.
"Raven, my apologies for awakening you, but your friend has, himself, awoken."
"Friend...?" Raven sounded confused, "Oh... Thanks." Her voice became sterner. "Starfire, be careful, he's dangerous."
Starfire listened through the door at the man's struggling. "He seems to be unhappy." She said into the communicator, "I will calm him." She turned off the device before returning it to her belt.
Starfire hit the door button and stepped into the stark, white room. The racket continued from behind the drawn curtain at the end of the room. The bed was rattling so much that Starfire was sure it would have fallen over had it not been secured to the ground and the creak and groan of stretching leather could be heard as he strained against the cuffs that held him down. All the while a constant stream of mild curses and begs continued as he tried to free himself.
Starfire continued to listen, curious as to what the man was doing behind that curtain.
"Come on, come on..." She heard his voice say, "please, work this time..." the creak of him forcing the cuffs, "Dammit!" Harsh rattling of the bed, followed by an odd scratching that she couldn't hear from outside. Then the process repeated.
Starfire floated over to the curtain and flung it open, crying out "Greetings!" and flashing the man a wide smile as she did.
The man stopped his struggles instantly and stared up at the smiling girl.
Starfire, who had never been in to see him, stared at his oversized, clawed hands which were bent backward at an uncomfortable angle to try and scratch through the leather that held them down. There was a deep trench carved into both bands.
He continued to stare up at Starfire silently. The girl felt her smile begin to feel forced as the awkwardness of the situation began to wash over her.
Trying to break the silence, Starfire tried again. "I am Starfire." She said cheerfully, "Do not be unnerved, you are being well taken care of." She gently laid a hand on his shoulder.
He looked at the hand for a brief moment, then, with a flash of inhuman teeth, tried to bite it.
"Eep!" Starfire squeaked as she pulled her hand away just before the canines snapped down on it. She reflexively cradled the wrist that had almost been bitten. The girl looked back to the man's face and saw his eyes full of fear and anger.
He twisted his hands back further to an angle she wouldn't have though possible and placed a claw against each wrist behind the leather restraints. "You will not have me again." He said, with a slight break in his voice. "I'll kill myself before I let you people touch me. I won't be broken again." To prove his resolve he put pressure on his wrists. Starfire stepped backward in horror as blood began to pool around the tips of the claws.
"Us people?" Starfire asked in desperation, "But we have never met before."
"What did you do, Starfire?" Raven's impassive voice came from behind Starfire, her groggy eyes looking at the bed from under her hood.
"Raven!" Starfire ran over to the darker girl, gripped her shoulders and began yelling, "I am sorry, he was awake and in need of calming and I attempted to calm him, but then he tried to bite me and now is threatening suicide and I don't."
"Starfire!" Raven cut her off, removing the other girl's hands from her shoulders, "Calm down." She moved past the other girl, but stopped mid- step. "He tried to bite you?"
Starfire nodded briskly.
Raven continued over to stand beside the bed that held her attacker. She looked him over slowly, her eyes coming to his wrists. She looked at the blood running down his forearm and then to the deep scratches on the leather restraints.
She waited until he followed her gaze. "There're steel bands in those." She said flatly.
He closed his eyes and a resigned look came over his face. Raven heard Starfire gasp as the flow of blood from the man's wrists increased.
Raven watched him a moment, "If I let you go, will you try to kill me again?"
He looked closely at Raven, and, for the first time, actually saw her. The help him, she lowered her hood so he could see her face. His eyes widened instantly.
"You're still you." He was surprised.
Starfire glanced quickly back and forth between the two. "Raven, what does he.?"
Raven silenced her with a raised hand. "Yes." She told him as he recovered from the surprise. "Will you?" She repeated.
Hard, silent tension filled the room as the two stared at each other. Starfire found herself backing away in fear.
Finally, the man shook his head slowly, "Not for the moment." He said carefully as he removed his claws from his wrists and relaxed.
Not making any sudden movements, Raven healed the new cuts and released his hands, trusting him to be able to free himself after that.
He was. In under a minute he was standing beside the bed shrugging the last of the cable from his wings. When it fell to the floor, he slipped out of focus and came back human.
"Alexander Caspia." He said almost apologetically and offered his hand.
Raven looked briefly at the hand and pointedly ignored it. "Raven." she said simply.
Caspia nodded sadly in understanding, and was about to lower his hand when it was grabbed by the forgotten Starfire and shaken enthusiastically.
"I am Starfire. It is. nice. to meet you Mr. Caspia."
Both Raven and Caspia stared at the girl as she continued to shake the hand happily. Caspia blinked at her. "Sorry about earlier." He ventured.
"It is alright, I am undamaged." Starfire said as she, finally, released him.
"I need answers." Raven cut in roughly, shocking Starfire.
Caspia only sighed and turned back to Raven, leaving Starfire forgotten again. His eyes softened as they looked into hers. Raven grew uncomfortable as she felt his sympathy.
He then turned away from her and looked out a window. "It's late." He said as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder, Raven was too taken aback to be offended, "and you look tired. Get some sleep. I'll tell you whatever you want to know in the morning."
Raven made no move to leave.
"I won't run." He told her. Eventually, she moved away and left the room.
"Good night," Starfire said cheerfully, shocking him as he'd forgotten her again, before leaving to find Robin's room.
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Robin and Starfire were the first awake the next day and found Caspia trying to figure out the gamestation. When the others were awake, Caspia found himself sitting on the coffee table while the Titans sat on the couch facing him, with the exception of Raven, who was standing to one side.
After introductions were over, Caspia asked, "Alright, what do you want to know?" Raven knew it was a rhetorical question and was about to call him on it when Beast Boy spoke.
"Dude, what happened to your wings?" Instead of saying anything, Caspia just transformed. Beast boy blinked and looked insulted, "Yeah, well, I'm better at it." He said defensibly, crossing his arms.
Cyborg raised an eyebrow, "Don't that put holes in your shirt?"
Caspia's eyes narrowed a little, Raven guessed, accurately, that he was asked these questions a good deal. "Yes," The young man said simply as he leaned over to show them the base of his wing. The bone and muscle part connected where a shoulder blade should be and the membrane connection ran straight down to end near his waist. A millimeter away from the wing his shirt, one borrowed from Cyborg as his old one was in shreds, cut away cleanly.
He slipped out of and back into focus, becoming human again. "They go away when I change back." The holes were, indeed, gone. "I have no idea why."
Raven was glaring at the boys for delaying her own questions and missed her chance, Robin asked the next one. "So you just flew up on the roof and attacked Raven?"
Caspia nodded, "I can't fly, but yes."
Beast Boy, who was trying very hard not to notice Raven, asked in disbelief, "You can't?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm too heavy. I can barely glide." Seeing the further confusion on Beast Boy's face, he explained, "Gliding is like doing an iron cross, I can't hold it for more than, maybe, a minute."
"What is an 'iron cross?'" Starfire asked Robin.
"Gymnastics move," Robin explained, "Hang from two ropes and hold your arms out straight."
"Wait a minute," Beast Boy said suddenly, "If you can't."
"I climbed the wall." Caspia cut him off. Beast Boy's forehead creased, "I have claws." He answered the unasked question.
"Why did you attack her?" Robin asked a little harshly, bringing them back to the conversation. One of the young boy's hands was on a weapon at his belt, a fact not lost on the newcomer.
Caspia seemed to consider this for a time. "She knows," He said finally, gesturing at Raven then turned to her. "Do you want me to tell them?" He asked gently.
"Go ahead." Raven said impassively, but a little too quickly.
The man nodded back and sighed sadly. His eyes went hard again as he began. -"She's a half demon." He said matter-of-factly as he turned back to the others. "So am I. I imagine that her mother was raped, most of our mothers were." He waited for it to sink in, but it seemed that they already knew. Raven became more annoyed with Beast Boy and Cyborg for not keeping her secrets to themselves.
Ignoring the evil eye Raven was using on her friends, Caspia continued, "We both inherited powers from our fathers, mine is elemental light, hers is elemental darkness." He turned to Raven, "Very rare, I might add."
"Thanks." Raven said sarcastically.
"Wait," Cyborg said suddenly, "So that means that she's evil?" He looked warily at his friend.
One of Caspia's eyebrows rose, "No." He said slowly, "That would be like saying Gandhi was evil for turning off a light bulb. If it makes it easier for you though: Chaos;" He jerked a thumb toward himself, "And Order." He pointed at Raven.
"Anyway, that's not important." Caspia shook his head as he backpedaled, "Sometimes, the father leaves a shard of himself in the fetus. It takes over one part of the child's personality, usually either anger or fear." Cyborg and Beast Boy nodded in understanding, which honestly surprised the man, Raven was as unreadable as always. "When the shard personality is strong enough it tries to take over the rest of the mind," He paused to consider something, "More like digest it, actually.
"When the take over starts, there's a power struggle, and it makes the child go violently insane. When this happens, the child starts killing people." Caspia paused again, waiting for the four aghast faces on the couch returned to normal. Sparing a thought for Raven, he saw that she simply stood there with her eyes closed; this was a confirmation for her.
When they were ready, he let the other shoe drop. "If the child is allowed to survive their insanity, they become a copy of their father. Think of it as a combination of reproduction and immortality."
"You still didn't answer my question." Robin said coolly.
Caspia nodded, "I'm about to." He took a deep breath. "I kill half demons before they go insane."
"You will not kill Raven!" Starfire cried out as she began rising off the couch, her eyes flaming green. "Why do you not simply aid her to overcome her father as you did yours?"
"Because he hasn't..." Raven said, letting a little bit of emotion slip into her voice despite herself, "No one can."
Starfire's eyes lost their fire and she began to lose altitude, "But he is..."
"Running out of time." Caspia cut her off. "And I've lasted longer than most."
A long silence followed. Raven stared off into a dark corner of the room while Caspia looked at the floor forlornly.
Beast Boy perked up, "Why don't we just kick Raven's dad out that Forbidden Door?"
Raven rolled her eyes again, but said nothing.
Caspia looked the green boy in the eyes and said, "That would destroy them both."
Beast Boy blinked, "Huh?"
"Trigon is my anger." Raven said, still not looking at anyone of anything.
"So? So wouldn't get angry." Beast Boy shrugged, "You don't get angry now."
Raven groaned. Caspia gave him a look of forced patience. "Trigon would be destroyed, yes, only a complete soul can pass through the ether."
"What's...?"Beast Boy began, but was silenced quickly by Robin.
"Thank you. No one's mind can stand losing a side of its personality. It makes a vacuum."
"What are you saying?" Robin asked.
Raven was the first to answer, "My mind would literally collapse on itself."
Starfire asked, "What would become of Raven then?"
Caspia shrugged, "Best case: Catatonia. Worst case: Her brain would just shut down and she'd die."
"That is awful!" Starfire yelled, "You speak of the death of Raven as though it were nothing! It is not right!"
Caspia's eyes narrowed and he stood up to glare down on Starfire, "Do you think I like doing this? Or Raven," He gestured to the dark girl, but never taking his eyes off Starfire, "if she changes she'll become a soulless killing machine. A slave to her father. Do you think she wants that?" Starfire lowered her eyes and Caspia's voice lightened soon after, "I'm going to tell you something about 'right'. There isn't always a 'right' choice."
His eyes became a little distant as he continued, "The youngest person I've ever fought was a ten year old girl. She wasn't strong. Her powers were only just starting to manifest themselves. I managed to knock her out, so I gave her to the police instead of killing her." His eyes focused again on Starfire, "Was that the 'right' choice?"
The girl nodded, "Yes, that is..."
"Wrong." He cut her off again, "I left that city. Two days later I found out that she had woken up as her father." He paused, if they didn't know better, the Titans would say that it was to compose himself. "By the time I got back and finished her off, over a hundred people were dead. There just wasn't a 'right' answer. There often isn't."
The Titans all gave him sick expressions. Raven finally had a chance to ask her question. "How have you lasted so long?"
"The innocent are the first to go." He answered coolly, then shook his head. "I'm sorry Raven, I don't have the answers you want." He moved past her and started for the door, "I'll be back before the end."
"Wait," Robin tried, and failed, to call him back. "Something doesn't add up. Where do you get the money to survive?" Robin's eyes narrowed at the man's back. It was obvious that he was looking for an excuse to take him down.
Caspia, didn't even slow down, "I'm a mechanic."
"Really," Cyborg jumped to his feet, "You know I got this sweet little number downstairs and..." He didn't see the eyes on him, but he could feel them. He sat back down, "I mean... good for you."
As he was almost at the door, Raven surprised everyone, "Do you have a place to stay?" He normal deadpan had returned, "We have some spare rooms if you don't."
"Raven!?" Robin began, but his protest fell on deaf ears.
"Do you?" Raven repeated. Caspia shook his head. "Alright, Follow me."
Raven moved in front of her attacker turned guest and led the dumbfounded man into the hall and away from her equally dumbfounded friends.
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Raven slipped into her room and let the familiar darkness envelop her as the door slid home. She was being stupid, she knew it, but she also knew that there was something she could still learn from Caspia. Things he was trying not to tell her.
I won't be broken again.
The innocent are the first to go.
Those two sentences repeated themselves in her head. They were the key to her continued survival. The questions were: What had happened to him? And, Was it worth the cost?
Somewhere behind her eyes, Raven felt her father laugh.
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End of the fourth part, no idea when the next chapter will be out. My time's being monopolized as late.