Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans, WB and DC do. I do, however, own Caspia and Breon, whom I borrowed from something else I've written.

Notes: Okay, that took a while, didn't it? This chapter is kind of disappointing, I've written it three times and each time was bad, this is my latest and best try and it seems to work so here it is.
Oh, and I've made an effort to explain the last line of the last chapter, I didn't think it was that confusing, but okay. So, Enjoy.

Part 6: Echoes of the Past and Future

Beast Boy woke late that morning, the night before had been really exhausting. The young hero slipped out of bed and slipped into his clothes, a shower could wait until later, right now he was hungry.
'I wonder what I should have for breakfast today.' He thought as he worked his boots onto his feet. He tied the laces and reached over to his nightstand where he kept his gloves. As he did so he saw his alarm clock, 'Better make that lunch.' He mentally corrected himself.
Now ready to face the day, Beast Boy began the annoyingly long walk to the kitchen. Along the way he wondered which of the others would still be asleep.
Cyborg, if anyone, Robin and Raven would be up, they always were, and if Robin was awake, then so was Starfire. 'I wonder how long it'll take for sleeping together to change into 'sleeping together''. Beast Boy grinned despite himself.
Finally at the huge door, Beast Boy banished his naughtier thoughts and stepped through. Sure enough, Robin and Starfire were here, sitting on the couch. Raven wasn't here, in fact he very rarely knew where Raven was, but he was certain that she was awake.
The young man was about to greet his friends when he noticed the look on Starfire's face. She was worried. A moment later Beast Boy knew why: Robin was watching the huge TV screen with an expression that balanced on the impossibly thin line between determination and obsession. On the screen were images that the tower's security cameras had taken last night; images of their new half-demon resident destroying a robot soldier.
Robin had watched it four times since Beast Boy had entered the room and was about to start on his fifth. Starfire continued to look on, not at the screen, but at Robin, with that same worried expression.
"Hey guys," Beast Boy started, but didn't get any response other than a slight nod from Starfire. "Dude, did you two even sleep?"
Starfire finally turned away from Robin, "I did, but Robin has not." She turned back to him, "Please Robin, why do you persist in watching this depressing video?"
Robin turned towards her, an unspoken apology in his eyes. "I have to know for sure." He said as he turned back to the screen.
"But his intent is obvious." Starfire continued, "He believed he was fighting people, and did not hesitate to kill."
On the screen the recording of last night's fight continued to play. Robin watched himself attack Alex, get caught on a wing and be thrown across the room.
Robin hit a button on the remote and watched, again, as two robots leapt at the man in slow motion. One was slashed ineffectively across the chest by a clawed hand. It would have been accompanied by the dreadful shriek of nails on a chalkboard had Robin not muted the TV to avoid hearing it.
The other soldier was caught in the air by Caspia's glowing hand. Robin hit the remote again and watched, frame by frame, as a blast of light tore through the machine's chest. As the broken body fell to the ground, Alex's eyes went wide in shock at seeing metal instead of blood. Again.
Robin rewound the tape and started watching it again.
Cyborg stepped into the living room yawning, "Morning Y'all!" He stopped when he saw Robin. He looked at Beast Boy, "Lemme guess, he's been doing that all night, hasn't he?"
"Yep." There was more than a little irritation in Beast Boy's voice.
Cyborg looked back to Robin, "Robin, he didn't know, and you know he didn't know. Hell, he'd probably even tell you he didn't know."
Not turning from the screen Robin said, "Maybe, but Slade's got an angle on him."
Cyborg walked over to his friend, "Hey man, I know you've got a sore spot when it comes to Slade, but it wasn't Slade that did that to him. You heard it yourself."
"Hey," Beast Boy interrupted, "Speaking of him, where is Alex."
"He is with Raven," Starfire told them, "They awoke much earlier than you and left. She said that he was teaching her 'Sniffing Out.'" She looked at Robin, "I am unfamiliar with that expression. What does it mean?"
The three boys looked at each other briefly, "I have no idea." Robin told her. "But what's say we find out."
Raven and Alex walked down the city street. Every now and then someone's head would turn towards them as if they were sensing something about them, but no one seemed to give it another thought. Raven knew what it was, other than the fact that a girl was walking down the street in a cloak in broad daylight. Every few steps Alex would sniff at the air. It was a tiny motion, barely more than a slight flaring of his nostrils, but there was something unsettling about it.
"This is pointless." Raven said to no one in particular.
"You're the one who wanted to learn." Alex said matter-of-factly. Raven didn't reply.
They kept moving. The only words that passed between them were quick discussions of which way to turn at intersections.
"Something's on your mind." Alex said out of the blue while they were waiting for a streetlight to change.
Raven nodded, even though the two weren't looking at each other. "It's what Slade said last night."
The light changed and they started walking across the street, just before they reached the other side Alex answered, "I was eleven and weak. I had wings, no powers, not even claws yet." He sighed, but Raven barely heard it, "I was different, so I was valuable."
"And someone sold you."
"Yes."
"How did you get out?"
A young couple overheard the conversation, but assumed that they were actors bored with a script.
Alex shrugged, Raven could tell that it was only for show while he thought of how to answer as little as possible. "I found out I had powers."
Raven kept walking beside him, after a moment she asked another question, "Is that all there is to it?"
"No, but I..."
"...Don't talk about it." Raven cut him off, "I know."
The silence that they always created together returned. Even passersby stepped away from them for fear of disturbing them. For a long time the only sound they made was the occasional sniffing from Alex.
"Anything?" Raven asked, she was getting both anxious and bored. They'd been wandering for over an hour now.
"Not yet."
Raven was hoping for more of an opening, but kept talking anyway, "What kind of demon is Breon?"
Alex actually stopped and blinked at his companion briefly in surprise. He composed himself and caught up with her, "I don't know, but he looks like a werewolf with wings." Raven nodded to herself: that explained a lot. "Trigon?" He asked her.
Raven shrugged, "An overlord. I've only ever seen him in my mind."
Alex raised an eyebrow, "Dreams?"
Raven shook her head, "Meditation."
Alex thought about this a minute, "Water or fire?"
That surprised Raven and she actually had to smile slightly, "Mirror. How did you know about that?"
"My mother was very spiritual. She taught my brother how to go in his head by staring at a candle." Alex sighed slightly again.
Raven knew, even before she opened her mouth, what the answer would be, but somehow, she had to ask. "They're dead, aren't they?"
"Yes." Raven knew the matter was closed. Alex changed the subject. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Raven narrowed her eyes at the man, "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." She said harshly.
Alex nodded as he kept walking beside her, "I hope you're right, because I smell one."
Raven nodded as she pulled the hood over her head. The young girl closed her eyes and let her sixth sense feel the area around her. Try as she might, she couldn't feel the presence of any demons, half-breeds or otherwise, other than herself and Alex.
After a moment Raven opened her eyes and looked at Alex, "Which way is it?"
He just looked at her with an eyebrow cocked, making sure that she wasn't joking. "Upwind." He said simply.
Raven rolled her eyes, more at herself than him; somehow she had expected something more... mystic.
Raven closed her eyes again and focused her senses into the wind. There, on the edge of what she could feel, was a being that stood out among all the other people. A chaotic and malevolent aura much stronger than any normal human could ever hope to make.
"I missed him." Alex said beside Raven, snapping her out of her trance. His eyes were narrowed, almost angry, as he smelled the air. Without warning he broke into a dead run towards where Raven had sensed the demon, leaving the dark girl to stare in confusion after him a moment before running to catch up.
Raven had soon gave up on trying to outrun Alex and took to flying. "What's the matter?" She asked when they were beside each other again.
Between breaths he answered, "I missed this one... I think he's.... about to change. We have to hurry."
Raven looked at his feet briefly, at the rate he was going he'd be exhausted before they got anywhere near the demon. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos." She said suddenly. In the same moment, a black band of dark energy wrapped around Alex's legs to stop him and the piece of sidewalk he was on ripped out of the ground to fly beside Raven.
Alex found himself on his knees on a piece of concrete three feet off the ground. "Thanks." He said to Raven as he caught his breath.
She nodded in acknowledgement, but Alex was sure that he saw the ghost of a smile on her face.
As Raven got close to where she'd sensed the demon she was greeted by a disturbingly unfamiliar sight: The police had gotten there first and were doing a good job of containing the problem.
From the looks of it, it had gone mad in a mall that they passed; Paramedics were working to clear out the injured people.
The biggest surprise came when they actually found the demon, namely because there were actually two. The other thing that surprised Raven was that they were much younger than she would have imagined. One was about fifteen, the other maybe twelve. Despite what Alex had told her the other night, Raven would have doubted that these two could be the ones they were looking for had she not seen the look in their eyes: Unconditional, maniacal hatred.
The two demons were backed against a wall on a street just past the other end of the mall's parking lot. A large semi-circle of police, set about twenty meters from them and all of them with their weapons drawn, held them there.
Raven landed and set her passenger down a short distance from the police line. "Who's in charge here?" She asked the first person she came across. The question was passed down the line until finally one man got up and came towards her.
He was a sergeant and almost sneered at Raven as he talked, "I'm in charge, what do you want?" He began to glare down at her.
Ignoring his hostility toward her Raven said, "I need you to get your men out of..." She wasn't allowed to finish.
""Listen you little freak," The Sergeant spat, "I don't care what the Commissioner or the Mayor says. We don't need you punks coming in here and playing hero, we have these freaks under control so we don't need you freaks around messing everything up!"
Raven held the man's gaze, but said nothing. There were times like these that she wished she were more like the others. Robin or Cyborg could talk their way through and Starfire had a way of being very convincing, somehow it was sad to disappoint her. Admittedly, Beast Boy would simply be laughed at.
As it was, Raven just stood there, trying to think of something to say and taking a secret, dark pleasure in the knowledge that she could snap him in half on a whim. Raven blinked at her own thought and quickly buried it. "You're being foolish." Raven stated dryly, "We're better able to deal with them. Your people are in danger."
"You think you're the only ones who can do anything in this city!" The Sergeant spat back. "My men can handle this!"
"No, they can't." Both heads turned towards Alex, who, until now had been completely forgotten.
The Sergeant's face changed again. Any grudging respect he had for Raven because of her position and powers left his face. Caspia wore no badge, no insignia, nothing to show any kind of status and was dressed in old jeans and a borrowed T-shirt that was three sizes too large for him. As far as the Sergeant was concerned, he was nothing but a common punk.
"And just what do you know about it?" He asked Caspia.
Caspia gave a small, inward half-chuckle, "More than you ever want to."
The two men glared at each other. To the side, Raven rolled her eyes at them. She had seen this kind of thing before when Cyborg and Robin bumped heads. Beast Boy called it a pissing contest. Whatever the reason and whatever the name, they did not have time for it.
She heard a collective gasp behind her from the police line. 'And now,' She thought dryly, 'We're too late.'
All three heads turned just in time to see a squad car being lifted from the ground by a tiny, but incredibly intense tornado. Behind it, the older of the two demon boys' hands glowed a deep emerald green as they moved in the air, controlling the wind, and the car, as a puppeteer controls a marionette.
Raven heard the car crash back to earth somewhere behind her, most likely in the parking lot, but had learned not to take her eyes off her enemy. Unfortunately, many of the officers were more easily distracted. While their eyes were turned the area around the older boy became a vortex of wind. Manhole covers, loose bricks and all manner of roadside debris were lifted into the air and flung towards the police line like buckshot from hell.
Some of the officers were able to dodge , others were simply lucky, most weren't and were struck down. Using her power Raven was able to catch the brick and piece of newspaper stand coming towards her as well as the sewer grate threatening the Sergeant. Beside her, Alex sidestepped as a shopping cart whizzed by.
While the shaken police stumbled back to their feet the ground shook as the younger of the two boys' hands began to shine a light sapphire. A second later he threw his blue hands over his head causing a giant gash in the street between the boys and the police as a water main below ripped open. The water did not fall back to earth, but instead remained there as a clear, shimmering wall.
By now some of the men had regained their presence of mind and began to fire at the boys. The wall of water turned a churning white as dozens of bullets were fired into it, but not a one reached their intended target. Just beyond the wall, no more than three feet, the ground was carpeted with spent rounds stopped almost dead by the magical water. One by one, reality set in on the police and they just stopped firing.
Across the street, a sadistic grin crept over the face of the older, wind controlling demon boy. His hand raised with exaggerated slowness until he pointed at a random policeman. His finger glowed green again and the terrified man it pointed at barely had time to shriek before he was flung away by another small tornado.
Raven gathered her powers to fly after him but was forced to forego the rescue. "Why you little...!" The Sergeant yelled out, his fist flying at Raven's face.
Since her power was already gathered Raven was able to cast a barrier with a thought, even without looking directly at him. The Sergeant's fist stopped as though he'd punched a girder and the pain now on his face told Raven that the hand was probably broken.
Raven fought back the anger brewing inside her, the delay had lasted too long and the poor man was beyond where she could save him. She could only hope that he'd landed somewhere soft.
The Sergeant staggered back in pain and fear as Raven turned to him, "Your man is dead because of your stupidity," Her voice was in her usual dry, matter-of-fact tone, but traces of her anger slipped in and terrified the man more, "We had nothing to do with it and it could have been prevented. Now get the rest of them out of here so we can do our job." She demanded. He didn't need to be told a third time, within a minute the police were gone, those that weren't injured supporting or carrying those who were.
Raven, now alone save for Alex, looked through the wall of water that still stood between them and the demons. "Why are there two?" Finally had a chance to ask.
"Happens." He said simply, "No idea why, just one goes and another one nearby turns too."
Raven nodded, more to herself than to her companion. She stared into the demons' eyes, at that maniacal rage that she imagined in her own every time that her father threatened to take over. That look was growing more intense by the minute which meant that the boys' fathers were taking control, they were getting more dangerous by the minute.
The young, dark girl steeled herself for what was to come. The battle was certainly going to be hard, but when the dust cleared at least two of the four on the street now would be dead. She would probably have to take a life; it was something she'd always sworn never to do. Fear, anger and uncertainty swelled within her, threatening to cause her powers to surge out of control, but she fought them back down. She took a deep breath.
Raven noticed that the attention of the two demon boys was directed at Alex, so she chanced a look over. She blinked, "What are you doing?" She asked incredulously.
Caspia had changed, when exactly Raven had no idea, had his arms up in the air and was wrapping his wings tightly around his body under his armpits. Caspia adjusted his right wing a little then dropped his arms, "That guy," He jerked a thumb towards the older demon, "is a wind demon. I'd rather not be a walking kite."
Raven shook her head sadly, "Perfect." She said sarcastically, "I'm fighting demons with a guy in a leather mumu."
Caspia gave Raven a sideways look, but not because he was insulted; he was deciding something. He seemed reluctant.
'These demons are being remarkably patient.' Raven thought as the standoff continued.
"Raven," Caspia said finally, "I think the water demon's the weaker of the two. Do you think you can take him?" There was deep concern in his voice, he didn't want her to have to fight alone, but there was no other way now.
Raven nodded at him and she saw him nod in return. He wasted no other words before he took off at a sprint toward the wind demon, light already gathering in both his hands. Raven saw him jump in time to avoid two tornadoes like the one that had doomed the policeman. When he reached the wall of water he released the light in his hands in dozens of small bolts, blasting a hole through it that he leapt through before it could reform.
Raven turned back to her own opponent, he still stood there with his sapphire hands over his head simply holding the wall in place between him and her, but his attention was turning toward the winged man who had just broken through his defense.
Seizing the opportunity, Raven reached out with her power to grasp things she could use as weapons, mostly pieces of debris that were thrown her way earlier. The same brick she'd caught before and a fire escape ladder that had still been attached to a building were among the dozen or so items that she raised up beside her at the ready. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" She cried out to boost her power, all of which she used to fling the debris into the wall of water.
The wall stopped her attack, but she continued to push the debris into the water. Through the water she could see her enemy strain against the pressure she caused. The edges of the wall began to fall away until all that was left was that which held back Raven's assault.
Both were beginning to feel the strain of the constant effort and Raven could feel the sweat pouring down her face. It had become a battle of sheer will.
And Raven was about to cheat.
Releasing some of the pressure from the objects forcing the wall, Raven used it to grab hold of another brick laying on the other side of the broken main. With a sudden exertion of will she sent it flying into the demon's skull with a loud crack. The demon and the rest of his wall fell to the street and Raven just abandoned her weapons and let them tumble.
Now free of all demonic energies the water main began to spout and flood the street. Raven was just thinking about how she hated wet shoes when she realized her mistake: She hadn't actually made sure the demon was unconscious and he could control all the water around him.
Acting on instinct Raven launched herself straight up out of the water just in time to avoid the liquid arm that reached up after her. She watched in self-irritation as the demon rose up with that same sadistic grin even though its temple was bleeding profusely.
Seeing that look on the face of a boy who hadn't even reached puberty was still disconcerting to the Titan, even after all she'd seen him do.
With a wave of his young arm the demon changed the arm of water into the form of a gigantic snake that attacked girl. Raven tried to outfly it, but the snake was just a form of water being fed directly from the broken main. Went she tried to outmaneuver it, it could simply flow back through its own body without even slowing down.
Raven decided that the only chance she had was to overpower it. Chanting her focusing words in midair she suddenly stopped, surprising the demon controlling the snake, and cast the strongest barrier she could directly in front of the water snake's head.
Literally tons of water slammed into the shield, forcing her back in the air, but the mass of water was forced harmlessly out and around her body. It was only when the pressure stopped that she realized her mistake.
The water that had flowed around the outside of her barrier had not fallen back to earth, but had stayed where it was. Raven tried to gather the energy to try and break free but it was far too late. In the blink of an eye the water slammed into her from all directions, trapping her in a sphere of liquid that harshly forced against her body at the will of its master.
At first it only held her in place while the sphere itself moved down so that the young demon could watch closely as she drowned. Then, with a wave of the demon's hand, the water began to force its way into her body. She was able to keep her mouth shut against the pressure, but she had no defense against its invasion of her nose.
Once again, Raven felt the despair grow inside of her as she felt the water force its way through her sinuses. Air was being forced out of the way as the water wormed steadily towards lungs that were already burning from lack of air. She felt the anger rise in her, she didn't want to die, but to let go would be to allow her father to take control.
She was scared.
She didn't want to die.
She was not going to die like this.
Fueled by the despair, Raven gathered every scrap of power she could into her core. Then she released her anger.
A mass of pure darkness grew from Raven's center to blast apart the sphere of water. The energy released was so intense that the young demon, now only inches from the sphere, was knocked backwards onto the ground.
Even as she fell to the street, Raven mentally grabbed hold of her emotions and forced them back into submission. Even so, she could feel the red flash in her eyes.
She looked over to where the demon was beginning to get back to his feet. With the last bit of power she had ready Raven reached out and wrapped a band of dark energy around its neck. A moment later it finally fell forward into the ankle deep water on the street.
Raven thought about it a moment, then flipped him over so he wouldn't drown.
Exhausted, Raven stumbled over to the dryness offered by the raised sidewalk where she collapsed to finally cough the water out of her body.
Raven began to take deep, refreshing breaths when she remembered that she was not alone on the battlefield. She turned to see Caspia in the midst of what could only be called a localized hurricane. The wings wrapped around his body snapped and flapped in the wind like a flag in a gale and scores, if not hundreds, of normally harmless objects flew through the air with bone crunching force. Every three or four seconds, just enough time to gather enough energy, a bolt of light would fire from Caspia's hand. Every time they hit a random object, either to stop it from hitting him or the object blocked a shot at the demon himself.
Through it all Caspia struggled steadily toward the wind demon.
Also, to Raven's surprise, the teenage boy now sported a pair of wings; longer than Caspia's and almost bare. As she watched, even as the two fought, Raven could see the flesh of the wings and the back flow out and form, much like modeling clay, into row upon row of feathers. When each one was finished the outer, flesh-toned layer became dust in the wind to reveal the most beautiful shade of sky blue Raven had ever seen.
Now she understood. When Caspia said that the children become their fathers he'd meant it physically and well as mentally.
Raven had recovered enough to stand just as the wind demon's wings were completed. They were beautiful, long and graceful things designed for soaring in the air; a sharp contrast to Caspia's black, leathery and barely usable ones. In fact, Raven had yet to see Caspia use those wings at all. That was about to change.
As soon as the last feather's casing had fallen away the wind demon changed his tactic. Casting a huge updraft immediately below himself he rose up nearly six stories to hover on a cushion of his own wind, apparently safe from his attackers. The demon was mistaken.
Caspia had told Raven and the other Titans that he could only glide for a minute or so and that was all he needed. Before the wind demon could finish his ascent Caspia flung himself into the updraft and, with a painful snap of his wings, rode it up as well.
The spike of light appeared in Alex's hand as he rose even as he gritted his teeth against the strain of holding his wings out into the wind. Before the demon knew what was happening Alex was on him.
An instant before they met in the air the sword sliced through the air, cleanly severing one of those perfect, blue wings and sending it flying. The upward momentum of the heavier, older man sent the two almost another full story up.
As the demon howled in pain Alex moved quickly to dispel his sword and get behind the demon where he drove both of his clawed hands deep into its back to grip its ribs directly. The demon howled again, but there was no way it could throw him off now.
Next, those dark leathery wings wrapped around both bodies, pinning the demons wings down so that it had no chance to even slow their descent.
Raven was snapped out of her almost trance-like state of watching of the airborne fight when the blue wing landed right beside her like a length of wet canvas.
Back in the air the two plummeted back down to earth. The demon struggled, but Caspia was in control. Mere feet from the ground Caspia released the demon and kicked off of him, sending it into a wall. Alex's wings snapped open again to slow his fall, even so he hit the ground hard, but not nearly as hard as his enemy.
Raven was certain the fight was over, but she was proven wrong.
Slowly, painfully, the wind demon staggered to his feet using the wall for support.
Across the street Alex was on his feet as well. Calling on a reserve of energy he charged towards the demon. Seeing him coming, the demon began to summon his wind again, but it was too late. Alex knocked the demon's hand aside, and with it the wind attack, with his left while thrusting forward with his right. The demon howled in pain as the sword, which had returned to Alex's hand, pierced its heart and pinned it to the wall.
Raven had thought she understood. She was wrong.
What happened next finally opened her eyes.
The demon wasn't dead, not yet. Its fingernails sank deep into Caspia's sword arm tearing deep gashes along it, but the young man shook them loose. Twisting his body around, he pulled his writhing sword from the demon's body. In that same cold, practiced move he brought that shining blade around, cleanly severing the demon's head from its torso.
It was then, in that moment, that Raven understood horror.
Raven had always assumed somehow that when people die their bodies just turn off, regardless of how they lose their lives. Again, she was wrong. The head rolled across the ground, its mouth open in a silent, twitching scream of pain as the rest of him, still against the wall, and somehow still standing, went into convulsions.
The demon's bowels had voided themselves in death. Raven felt the bile rise in her throat as that smell mixed with the overpowering scent of blood.
Then there was Alex. She saw him and stepped back in fear. He stood there with wings spread wide, being showered with blood from a body too stupid to know that it was dead. His own blood streamed down his arm to sizzle and boil against the sword at the end; filling the air at his hand with a vile, black smoke. In spite of it all, his face remained impassive: colder than even Raven could have thought possible.
The young girl saw her future then. She saw herself standing there, superimposed over Alex, her robes stained red and a dark raven's claw in place of the blade.
Raven couldn't find the strength of will to move until she saw Alex start towards the other demon who still lay unconscious on the street. The girl looked at the demon she'd defeated and saw him as the boy he'd been an hour earlier. He was young, no older than Beast Boy. He was just a child. She looked to Alex, now the very image of a demon from Hell.
Raven had crossed too many lines today already. Something inside of her snapped.
She stepped between them. "No." She said bluntly.
"Raven." Alex said slowly, his voice dangerous and his eyes were hued slightly red, "What are you doing?"
"I can't let you do this." Raven readied her powers, causing her hands to glow black.
Alex got angry, "Dammit Raven! We've been over this! Of all people I'd have thought you..." He pointed at Raven with his right hand, which also brought his blade up to Raven's eye level.
Raven's conscious brain told her that she was in no danger. Alex was ten meters away and even at the full extension of his arm his blade could only reach about two. She also knew that he would never use that blade on her, at least not until she lost control.
Her unconscious brain, however, decided to react. Raven and Alex both stared, unbelieving, at the arrow of dark energy that was suddenly lodged in the base of Alex's blade. A split second later, the energies mixed.
Raven watched helplessly as the now familiar distortion of light seemed to cause Alex's hand to implode even as it was blasted back. The blade vanished and Alex staggered backwards to keep his balance only to fall to his knees in pain. He gripped the wrist of his injured hand with his left, almost as though displaying Raven's handiwork for her to see. His hand was ragged and raw, bleeding and burned with at least two broken fingers.
Raven could not see his face: it was lowered as he gasped in pain. She allowed her power to dissipate. Words that she had often spoken to others echoed in her head: We cannot change the past, no matter how much we don't like it.
There was nothing to say, nothing to do. She just stood there helplessly in guilt.
Slowly, painfully, Alex raised his good hand and pointed it towards Raven. It began to glow and grew brighter until small arcs of light played between his fingertips.
Raven braced herself for the hit, but it never came. Instead he lifted his head to look at her. The white-hot anger that Raven expected to see wasn't there. The only thing in those eyes was a look of disappointment; disappointment in her. Raven couldn't explain why, but it tore at her heart.
"Just get out of the way." Alex said quietly. Raven simply nodded, noting the disgust in his voice. She was about to turn when Alex's eyes went wide with surprise. Before she could ask what was wrong she heard a crystalline sound that could only be made by a starbolt. The green ball of energy passed over her shoulder to strike Alex square in the chest; flinging him off the ground to land in a crumpled heap some five meters down the street.
All four of the other Titans ran past Raven to protect her from Alex. "I knew he was trouble." Robin said harshly, pulling one of his exploding discs from his belt. "And now we're going to take him down."
Robin threw the disc at the prone Alex with his usual accuracy, but it was stopped mid-flight by a bubble of dark energy. After it exploded harmlessly inside the shield, Raven let the debris fall to the ground.
The Titans all turned to Raven in shock. Robin was obviously confused and more than a little angry, but he had come to trust Raven's judgment. "What are you doing?" He asked.
Raven opened her mouth to answer, but another voice came before hers. "Fine!" It was Alex, they all turned back to him. His right hand, and now one of his wings, lay useless on the ground. It took him three tries to get to his hands and knees. When he pushed himself back to kneeling they could see the large burn on his chest that Starfire had made.
The anger that Raven had expected before was now burning in his eyes, threatening to push him over the edge. Alex staggered to his feet and held his chest with his one good hand. "I warned you," He continued, "If you refuse to listen then it's not my bloody problem!"
He gave them a look of utter disgust before starting to stagger away, his limp wing dragging along the ground behind him. As he slipped between two buildings and out of sight Beast Boy came to his senses and ran after him, only to be lifted off the ground by Raven powers before he'd moved three steps.
"Let him go." Raven said bluntly when she'd set her friend back on the ground.
Beast Boy looked at her as though she'd grown another head. "What's the deal Raven? He's hurt!"
Raven gave him a cold stare that would have frozen mercury, "I know." Those words carried the finality of an executioner's axe and Beast Boy knew better than to stick his neck out again.
Raven stepped away from her friends and moved beside the unconscious body of the young boy who was now a water demon. Her logical mind told her that she should listen to Alex and kill him, but she couldn't, neither could any of the others. She knew without asking that the others wouldn't even discuss it.
For one of the few times in her life, Raven had absolutely no idea what to do.
I hope you enjoyed, this time I'm making no promises as to when the next will be finished, but know that it will be made.