Raven walked to her bed and with an exhale, she sat herself upon it, thoughts swimming through her mind, thoughts regarding Mark, and of her Father. She felt restless, so she took a few deep breaths and attempted to calm herself down. She crossed her legs on her bed and closed her eyes, commencing the meditation process. Before long, however, the familiar sinister thoughts polluted her mind, and disrupted her concentration.

"You see? He doesn't like you! He hates you! The way he spoke to you... he doesn't give a damn whether you live or die! no-one does..."

"He tried to help, Raven. That's all. You shut him out. You should go back and apologize..." A new voice...

"What? He tried to hurt you! He tried-"

"Shut up! Raven, you must go back." Yes, yes I will go back.

"No! It's no use! don't-" This voice was losing strength... and it pleased me...

Her eyes shot open suddenly. She had had a revelation. In the back of her mind, she realized that Mark was brought here for a reason, for they were so alike that it couldn't possibly have been coincidental. With a slight smile, she uncrossed her legs and stood up, removing her hood from her purple hair. She walked briskly towards her door and opened it. She walked outside and headed towards Mark's room, now determined to speak her mind. She approached the grey door and knocked. There was no noise, no sign of movement from the other side. She knocked again, wondering perhaps that he might've just not heard it the first time. Still no answer.

"Strange..." Raven thought.

"Mark? Are you in there? It's Raven. Look, about before, I...I'm sorry. You were right and...well, I should've listened. So I'm sorry, ok?" Raven stood there for a while, trying to listen for a response. None came. "Mark?" She said as she slowly opened the door. There was no Mark here. The only movement came from the curtains, swaying in rhythm to the night's air that crept in from the open window...

Raven proceeded towards the window and leapt out, levitating in the night's sky as her deep violet eyes scoured the darkness for any clue as to the whereabouts of Mark. She couldn't help but feel responsible for Mark's sudden disappearance, and the thought of calling the other Titans hadn't passed her mind. She surveyed the ground below, her heart skipping a beat when a certain thought popped into her head. She shook it out quickly, and continued to look in the night's sky.

After a few minutes of restless searching, a dark figure swooped in and came to a stop beside her in mid-flight.

"Did you miss me? Listen, Raven. About before... I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have said those things. You were-" Mark began, but Raven lifted a finger to her lips in a gesture of silence.

"Sshh." She started. "I should be the one saying sorry. I'm sorry Mark. Sorry for what I said before. You were right." Silence befell the duo, and with a nod of understanding, Mark turned towards the city's twinkling lights far below and simply admired the view.

Raven tentatively followed his gaze and looked upon the city in unison with Mark. She felt her heart beat faster, and she became slightly light-headed.

"What is wrong with me?"

There was nothing wrong with her. She was feeling something new, something unfelt before. For the first time in her sixteen years of life, she admired the view. She soaked in the natural beauty of the night, her eyes slowly shifting their gaze towards the night's sky, and its dazzling display of stars and satellites. It was beautiful.

"Beautiful…"

The word seemed foreign, but with every time she repeated it under her breath, it became more welcome, and it found its place near Raven's heart.

No more words were spoken between the two. There was simply no need to. Raven had spent all her life conveying her lack of emotions through the words she spoke. Mark on the other hand, never had anyone back at home to share his emotions with. Now, however, every cell in Raven's body was tingling with electricity, warming her body and her spirit. She slowly rested her head on Mark's shoulder, her purple hair coming to a rest over her face, and closed her eyes. The voices, the unwelcome voices, were finally gone.

"Mark was right; I do need friends to help me defeat my demon."

She was finally at peace with the world.

The duo sat there for a few minutes, simply levitating in the dark night's sky and admiring the twinkling lights far below and above them. Then, as one, they slowly returned back to the Titan's Tower. They landed softly on the floor of Mark's bedroom, and with slightly despondent tones they said their goodnights. Raven then left Mark's room and made her way down the hall to hers.

Mark stood there for a moment, swaying on the balls of his feet as his mind soaked in what had happened outside. He remained motionless, until he heard a curious beeping sound coming from the closet.

"What is that?" Mark thought to himself as he slowly approached the closet, almost wary of what it might be.

He pulled the closet open with slight trepidation and gazed inside. The closet was devoid of any clothes, and Mark immediately noticed a small, slightly circular object lying on the floor. He bent down and scooped it up; examining it whilst fumbling with the various buttons and dials that littered the side of it.

"Looks like a Teen Titans Communicator. Wonder what it's doing here- wait." Mark looked at it closely, and he realized that it wasn't a Titan communicator, but rather something more sinister. It was roughly the same size, but instead of having a T plastered on the front, signifying Titan, it had an abstract S.

"Hello, Mark. Long time no see. I see Terra was useful, even after death." The mocking voice drifted in through the communicator, and it took Mark naught but a moment to realize that it was Slade.

"Slade? What do you want?" Mark demanded as he pressed and de-pressed the button on the side of the communicator, his voice rising ever so slightly in anger at hearing Slade's disgusting voice again.

"Nothing I don't already have, Mark. You see, my plans are finally coming together, and I just rang to say hello. Your little romance with Raven won't last long, I'm afraid, as her father is getting quite upset. She will fulfill her destiny, Crow, and there is nothing you can do about it." Slade mocked.

Mark's hair started glowing again, his frustrations rising and he felt the familiar warmth creeping up his wrists towards his palms. Within moments, he had willingly let Crow's attitude and emotions overpower him and take control of his body. Mark was no longer talking, Crow was, and he just smiled. "You are a cocky son-of-a-bitch, aren't you? Well, you aren't the only one. You see, I learnt something the other night. No matter how hard YOU try, you can't defeat me. I will find you Slade, and I will kill you." Slade didn't reply for a moment. He seemed to be calculating, planning something.

"When the prophecy is fulfilled," He began, in almost a giddy tone. "It won't even matter. Smile, Crow. Oh and, a present from me to you. Happy birthday..."

Crow's pitch black eyes widened in shock.

"How did he know...?" Crow tried to comprehend, but in that split second, the miniature explosive attached to the electrical components of the communicator exploded. The ensuing shock-wave rocked the tower, the blistering fireball leveling his room in an instant and any rooms above and below it. Everything simply disintegrated. Within a few seconds though, the explosion lost momentum and it petered out, leaving the Tower's foundations intact.

Within a few moments, footsteps were heard running towards Mark's room through what was left of their hallway. Raven arrived first, simply materializing from a dark aura that was conjured by her in the room. Closely following her were Robin, Starfire and Cyborg, with Beast-Boy lagging behind.

Nothing was left recognizable in his room. Everything had turned into ash, including the four walls and the door that enclosed the room. The only thing that seemed intact, but still unrecognizable, was a strange white orb that levitated in the centre of the room. It wasn't a bright white, but rather a dull pearl color. It was roughly six feet tall and a barely audible humming was heard emanating from it.

Raven was speechless. She looked around for any sign of Mark, but she saw nothing. The room was utterly demolished, and her gaze rested on the white sphere that levitated just to her left.

"Just like me… But like Black and White…"

Raven gasped silently as she proceeded towards the orb, the rest of the Titans watching her intently.

"Raven! Be careful, you don't know what that could be!" Robin shouted warily, but Raven didn't pay any attention. She knew exactly what it was. She reached the orb and her palm delicately on the surface. She felt warmth radiating from it, but what else she felt was shocking, but welcome at the same time. She felt pressure from the inside, as if someone else had placed their hand lightly on the interior of the sphere.

With a slight buzz, the white spherical shield disappeared, leaving Mark standing in its place, with his hand extended out touching Raven's. Time had stopped for the both of them momentarily, and all they knew was each other. Silence befell the duo, but before long the reality of the situation had sunk in, and they withdrew their hands quickly with a slight blush.

They received strange looks from the rest of the Titans, but nothing was spoken about that 'Moment'.

"Mark? Dude! What's the matter? Incinerating the bed wasn't enough? You seriously have anger issues." Beast Boy said angrily, the scene he witnessed before long forgotten.

"Quiet, Beast-Boy." Robin said sharply. "Are you ok Mark?" He asked as he cautiously approached.

Mark broke his gaze with Raven and looked at Robin as he replied.

"I...I spoke to Slade... There was a receiver in the closet... something about a Terra... I don't know..." Mark uttered as he slumped to the ground, the fatigue from suffering such an event finally catching up with him as the adrenalin wore off. The room was deadly quiet once more, and all eyes slowly looked towards Beast-Boy, studying for a reaction. "What did he say? What did he say about Terra!" This time it was Beast-Boy who spoke, his voice uncharacteristically harsh and his eyes flashed with anger.

Mark was surprised at the sudden change in attitude from Beast-Boy. He clutched his head slightly as he attempted to remember the previous conversation he had with Slade.

"Ugh... Not much. He said... something about Terra being useful, even after... death? Who or what is Terra?" Mark asked, realization dawning upon him. The rest of the Titans looked at each other, and in a silent gesture of acceptance, turned back to face Mark. "Mark, I think we should explain to you about Terra. Here, come into the living room." Robin said slowly as he led the bewildered Mark away from the wreckage of his bedroom.

Robin however, had just had a thought, and an unpleasant one at that. He turned to Mark and began to speak.

"Wait. But first, how did this explosion occur? Did you cause it? We need to know." He asked sternly, his trained eyes searching for any signs of lying, aversion of eye contact or unusual fidgeting. There was none.

"I don't know... I think... It was that thing I was holding. Like a Titan communicator, but it had an S on it, not a T. That's how I was talking to...Slade. It was his communicator, wasn't it? What was it doing in my room?" Mark demanded, his voice slightly rising in anger once it had finally clicked, and he realized with horror that Slade was much closer then he first anticipated. No-one replied, they just turned away and followed Robin, who had now continued towards the Living room once more.