'...The people, the focus.

The reasons that I had to believe you weren't too hard to settle.

Die young and save yourself.

They take all the taste out.

It used to be the reason that we're even, now it's choking me up.

Die young and save yourself...'

-'Sic Transit Gloria; Glory Fades', Brand New

Disclaimer: Children, children, children. Don't you listen? I don't own the Teen Titans. If I did, would I be here writing these stories? I wouldn't? Oh, you're such a good boy Johnny! Yes, you can go to the toilet. What? You've already gone? But I haven't seen you leave the classroom-oh.

AN: OMG! I am so sorry that I haven't up-dated any sooner, but this chapter has been a real pain in my ass. I've re-written it about... seven times. I'm still not happy with it, but at least it gives me an opening for the next chapter.

To all you reviewers: Wow, you guy sooo rule. I love each and every one of you, and because of that I'll send you all chocolately hugs! Kisses!

P.S.: Keep an eye out in the next chapter, I'll do shout outs then.

Following Shadows-Chapter 17: The Lady of the Shadows

Robin just looked out the window of the T-Car, not really seeing the scenery.

This was it. They were actually going to it. They were going to kill her.

Raven.

He couldn't help but feel like he was betraying her, like he was condemning his friend to her death. It was much more than that feeling he got whenever he thought about her instead of thinking about Starfire. More than the excitement, more than the guilt.

It was pain.

Starfire gave a small sigh, and reached for his hand. He didn't pull away, because if truth be told, he needed the comfort. Just because he'd begun to... like someone else, didn't mean that Star still wasn't his best friend.

He glanced over at Beast Boy, who was leaning against the glass, utter misery written all over his face. When it came to the younger, greener boy, Robin wasn't sure how to act. It was clear now that there was some sort of, "war" going on between them, and it was even more obvious that they were both battling for Raven.

There was a cough from the front, and Robin turned to see Kirkor looking at him expectantly in the mirror.

"Cheer up," He commented simply. "It's not going to be that bad"

All the Titans, both the three in the back, and the one driving, blinked at him.

"Dude, tell me you didn't just say what I think you said" Beast Boy's eyes were as round as saucers.

Suddenly Robin grabbed Kirkor's collar, pulling him close. "We're on our way to kill our friend, and you're asking us to cheer up? Are you insane, or just suicidal?" He hissed, his eyes narrowing behind his mask.

"Neither," Kirkor replied calmly. Wrenching himself from Robin's tight grip he continued, "I am trying to make you understand, Raven isn't Raven anymore"

Sitting back in his seat, his eyes grew dark. "She's the Lady of the Shadows"

"Lady of the Shadows?" Starfire asked, Robin's edgy silence scaring her. "It is a name that reminds me of a folk tale from my planet, used in scaring young children into behaving"

"As she should" Kirkor muttered.

Cyborg snorted, hearing his last remark. "Are you tryin' to tell me that Rae's been turned into some psycho bed time story?"

The immortal laughed hollowly. "She isn't the bed time story," He paused and waited, making sure that the others could hear his next remark.

"She's the nightmare that comes after it"

Hearing the screams from the people in the car that she had just thrown off the bridge, the Lady of the Shadows smiled.

At first, when she had begun to annihilate everyone and everything on this piece of scrap metal called a bridge, the false her, the one that wanted to stop Father, had put up a fight. The Lady won in the end, but for a moment, she had doubted the plans of Father. That feeling had past though, and now, all that was left, was hatred.

Throwing a mini-van off, she smiled again. She loved this job.

"Raven!"

Turning, her smile grew into a smirk. So they had come. The one who had spoken was a boy, cute in a squeaky clean, do-no-wrong kind of way, decked out in red, green and yellow spandex. His black, spiky hair was whipping around in the wind, giving her the strange urge to smooth it back.

"Robin," She purred. "How good of you to join me. I was just getting warmed up. Why don't we..." She glanced at the other Titans, and grinned maliciously. "Get down to business?"

Robin gritted his teeth, making sure he had his Bo Staff on the ready.

Kirkor stepped up, placing a hand on the Boy Wonder's shoulder. "Wait," He muttered, his dark eyes on Raven. "I have an old score to settle first" Speaking louder he said, "So, Lady. Now you are faced with the same choice. Come with me quietly, or be defeated by the Teen Titans"

The Lady laughed. "I see you haven't changed, have you Kinky? Still trying to stop the inevitable, still trying to convince yourself that you were right"

"You're not going to win this time. You and your father will be destroyed"

Red eyes narrowed, she hissed, "That's what you think" Throwing her black- clad hand up; and then down in a commanding sweep, she threw the Titans against the poles; pinning them there with a few unsuspecting cars.

The Lady faced Kirkor, her eyes a pure fire of hatred. "I will destroy these Titans, and then I will destroy you!"

"Let them go" Kirkor ordered calmly, black hair whipping around his face. "These children have done nothing to you, or Trigon"

For a moment, she looked interested, then her face twisted back into an ugly sneer. "No. This entire city will be nothing but bloody bones by the time I am finished. A pile of rotting corpses, the 'Teen Titans' included" She threw a bus full of young, kindergarten kids next, their little voices rocking the vehicle as it fell.

Starfire gave a strangled cry, and tried to push the VW that pinned her down, off her body. "Raven! That was not a nice thing to do! Oh, how could you?" Green eyes huge, Starfire pleaded at her old friend.

The Lady snorted. "I'm not a nice girl" As if to prove her point, Raven sent another carload of people to their watery graves, watching the emotional alien with a smirk.

Levitating above the ground, Kirkor's pale face showed nothing. He held out his hand, and a ball of burning black energy formed at the tips. "Stop this, Lady. Stop this before even the Gods won't be able to help you"

Floating level with him, she spat, "And what will you do? Singe my robes? You could not defeat me before, and you will not defeat me now" Gathering her own energy, she attacked.

The purple beams just crackled around Kirkor, who stood as calm as ever. When the force faded, he raised his glowing hand. "I am not the boy you broke, Lady. Your inability to allow life has made the Forces angry, and I am here to make sure that your punishment is dealt"

"Learnt some new tricks, I see" Swaying to a tune only heard by her, The Lady asked, "If you're so strong, Kinky, then why are they here?" She pointedly stared at the Titans, making each one except Robin, flinch.

"Simply to serve as plan A" Detached, Kirkor ignored their outcries. "As they seem to be too emotionally attached to be of use, I will take you down myself"

"Kirkor!" Robin yelled angrily. "You lied to us!"

"No, I didn't. You were going to be the ones to cull her, but you've all expressed too much affection for the enemy. I cannot allow the Lady to bring her reign of terror to this world"

Something of Raven flickered in the Lady's red eyes, then it was gone. "Tsk, tsk, Kinky. That wasn't very nice. At least when I ruin peoples lives, I tend just to kill them"

"Very amusing, to be sure" Kirkor muttered dryly, his globe of power glowing stronger. "But I'll have the last laugh" There was a whirlwind of black smoke, and suddenly the Lady found she couldn't move. "Kinky-"

"Stop calling me that!" Losing his cool exterior, Kirkor's own eyes glowed brightly, the energy ball at his fingers practically exploding with the infusion of extra power.

Almost playfully, she said, "But Kinky, I thought you-"

With a strangled cry, Kirkor flung the ever-growing orb at the bound demon, catching her-and the Titans-off guard. Too slow to react, the Lady was struck down, the extreme power tearing into her body.

Her cries shook the entire bridge.

There weren't many things in Robin's life that had ever had a real impact on him. Fighting crime, stopping evil and returning justice was what he felt he could do to prove that his parents hadn't died in vain.

But seeing his friend, his teammate, be hit by raw energy, made his mind go numb. The sound of her screaming, made his heart burn with pain.

So, watching as Kirkor's power slowly killed his... his... friend, he did the only thing that came to his mind.

He screamed.

It wasn't a yell of outrage, a cry of pain, it was more.

It was agony, hatred, loss, everything miserable that he'd ever felt, everything that had made him want to break down and never return.

Every feeling that he'd betrayed her when he could have helped, every regret that he had never told Raven that he had liked her.

That he had loved her.

Cyborg, who had been pinned next to Wonder Boy by the same van, shuddered when Robin began to cry out his grief. It wasn't a name, or a curse, just a wail of haunting anguish. The hairs on the back of the Afro-American's neck stood up as Robin's scream reached the point of heartbreak.

This was so screwed up.

Kirkor said nothing. He couldn't. He was an immortal, a entity of Time. Reacting to the boy's grief would be pointless. He was young, mortal. The handsome leader of the Teen Titans would forget soon enough. He wouldn't have to live until the world stopped spinning, with the memories of a dead life.

With the feelings of a dead love.

He didn't know why he had attacked, maybe... maybe, hearing her call him by the old, old pet name, had brought back too much pain.

Curling his fist into a tight ball, Kirkor tried to remain detached. That was over. He had succeeded in his present mission, and would go on to the next knowing that he had done his job well.

But the boy still screamed.

Beast Boy closed his eyes as Raven-Lady of the Shadows-whoever she was disappeared in a flash of black light. She was gone, They'd done it.

He opened his eyes to find that his sight had gone blurry. What...? Did the flash do this?

Feeling something-wet roll down his cheek, he realized he was crying.

He was crying. Really crying.

There were no jokes, no laughter. Just water running down his face.

She was gone.

All Raven felt was pain. White-blinding, mind-burning pain. Something was happening, something bad.

Was she dying?

She had to be. Nothing could survive with this pain. Nothing, not even Trigon's influence.

At least she'd be free.

'Not yet, daughter' Trigon's voice dripped into her ear, adding to the agony. 'I will defeat these Earth scum. No creature of Time will stop what I have been working towards all these years. No group of dirty children either. Come, we have work to do'

A flash of black light engulfed her, and it was all she could do not to cry out as she was taken back to Trigon's lair.

Kirkor yelled out as the Lady disappeared. Trigon had interfered and taken her back to his dimension.

Bastard.

At least her disappearance stopped the boy's screaming.

Robin ended his cry on a choked out sob. What had happened? Did... did Raven die? Why wasn't she there?

The cars that had pinned them to the side of the bridge's railing moved away, returning to their right sides. Looking at all the damage, the Titans felt only one thing.

Defeat.

Starfire walked over to Kirkor, and placed a delicate hand on his hunched shoulder. Trying to ignore her tears, she whispered, "You have done your job. Please, leave us"

Kirkor turned his unfathomable eyes towards her. "My job has barely begun"

The Titans returned to their tower later that night. They had been hours on that bridge, trying to fix what they could and calm the motorists. Now all they wanted to do was crash. All of them were exhausted; both mentally and physically, and to add salt to the wound, none of knew if they really had won.

Cyborg flopped down on the couch, to tired to even charge. Beast Boy had long gone; he'd turned into an owl and flown away as soon as they had returned to the Tower. Hearing quiet sobs coming from the kitchen, Cyborg sighed. There was Starfire, but where was Robin?

Just then there was a series of crashes coming from down the hall, making Cyborg wince in pity for the appliances that were being used as a convenient vent for Robin's anger. Was this how they were going to be? Was this all they were going to do; spend the rest of their days grieving?

Seeing a paper backed novel lying on the chair beside him, Cyborg reached over and picked it up. "'The Sixteenth Mirror'" He murmured, reading the title. Opening it, he frowned, seeing Beast Boy's messy scrawl and Raven's neat print alongside it. "'To Raven,'" He read. "'Hope you like, BB'" His eyebrows flew up at the sight of Beast Boy's stick figure drawing of a bird. "Nice one, BB"

Forcing himself to get up, Cyborg made up his mind. To the part-robot, part- human teen, the possibility of Raven coming back was a faint one. And while it hurt, he knew that the only way any of them could recover from this, was if they wiped away all traces of their former friend.

Robin slid to the floor with a muffled thump, feeling blank. Nothing could be the same again. How could it? The team was falling apart, and he had lost every belief that he had ever had.

The door opened, and he looked up at Cyborg's shadowy figure.

"What?" He asked thickly, not caring that he was a wreck.

"Brought ya comfort in the form of a Caramel Heaven" Throwing a block of chocolate at the Boy Wonder's head, Cyborg fidgeted. "Rob man, I think... I think..." He took a deep breath. "We have to clean out Dark Girl's room"

Robin blinked, then it hit him. "No"

"But, Robin-"

"No!" Somehow finding the energy, Robin sprang from the floor, fists curling. "No one goes near her room!"

"Rob-"

"That is an order" He hissed, pressing himself so close that he was now nose to nose with Cyborg.

Giving up with patience, the humanoid picked up the shorter boy by his collar. "Look man, be realistic. She ain't coming back. I know it hurts, but face it. We have to move on, for her. She wouldn't want us to spend the rest of our lives mourning"

Placing Robin back on his feet, Cyborg waited.

The Boy Wonder gave a shuddering breath, and silently, began to cry.

Next chapter: My Dad's gone crazy!