Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans

Small Note: Ok, this is the flashback of Byrnes's life that he is showing Raven through his mind. It is from his early childhood through the where he fought the gangsters in the first chapter.

Painful Memories

A small boy and girl are running through a field of flowers. Both of them are laughing, like they're happy. A few pebbles suddenly started floating in the air, and flew at the boy. At that same moment, a small gust of wind lifted the pebbles into the air, falling lifelessly behind him.

"You can't touch me!" The boy said jokingly to the girl.

"Just watch!" The girl challenged as she ran to the boy.

She jumped onto him. The boy struggled a few seconds to keep his balance, but the girl overtook him as he fell flat on his back. The two children lay laughing in the field, side by side, looking up at the clouds.

"Wow, look at that one!" The girl said to the boy.

"It looks like an ice cream cone!" He happily replied.

"I'd sure like an ice cream cone right now." The girl said sadly.

"Lets go back to the house and get some!" She said as the idea popped into her head.

"Ok, lets go." The boy said.

"I'll beat you there Byrnie." The girl laughed as she mocked his name.

"No you wont, Terra-ble!" They boy shot back as he returned the insult.

At that the small girl sat down on the ground and started to cry. The boy sat down next to her and apologized.

"I'm sorry Terra, I wont call you that again." He said, as he was truly sorry.

"I'm sorry too Byrnes, I wont make fun of your name either." She said when she was done wiping away her tears.

"But that doesn't mean you can beat me!" The girl said as she jumped to her feet, running back to their home.

The boy jumped up and chased his sister back to the house, innocent smiles upon their young faces.

As they raced back to their home, they saw a huge winged creature flying away from their home, 5 armored men followed on foot. The children stopped, and laid down in the field, trying not to be seen. But the creature was flying in the other direction, back towards the city. As soon as the henchman and beast were out of sight, they ran back to their home as fast as they could.

Once they reached the house, they slowly opened the door. Their small house was a mess, tables, chairs, books, silverware and vases, lay scattered, broken, all across the floors.

"Mommy? Daddy?" The small girl shouted.

The boy walked into the next room, where he saw the bodies of his parents. He screamed at the sight of his mother and father's bodies. Savagely beaten...lifeless. His sister came running to the room, to see what it was, but before she could enter, the boy ran out, and covered her eyes.

"Don't go in there!" He commanded, holding back tears.

"Why?" The girl asked, innocently

"Just...don't." The boy replied as he locked the door, putting the key in his pocket.

"Then where are Mommy and Daddy?" The small girl asked her brother.

"They're gone..." He said quietly

Just as his sister was about to ask another question, they saw a creature in their minds. The decaying face of a hideous dragon like monster. It had tough, gray skin, muscles visible through the tight skin. Red, hot, piercing eyes, stared into the innocent blue eyes of the young Byrnes. The scaly wings, and the sharp, rusty claws, jagged teeth. The monster didn't stare into the eyes of Terra, as Byrnes was still covering his sister's eyes.

Suddenly Byrnes felt an extreme pain as the eyes of the creature burned holes into his own. Yet this was in his mind. Was it real? Suddenly, Byrnes snapped out of his trance, screaming in pain as his hands were covering his own scorching eyes now, no longer his sisters. He fell to the ground; the vision of the creature was gone. Terra collapsed, as the image of the vicious monster left her lying unconscious, leaving Byrnes to lie on the ground, holding his burnt eyes.

Terra awoke, sometime later, to the smell of smoke. She spotted Byrnes, lying next to her, passed out. His hands were still covering his eyes.

"Byrnes, wake up!" Terra shouted through the smoke, shaking his body.

After many minutes of shaking her unconscious brother, he finally woke. As he slowly opened his eyes he couldn't see in front of him. He saw total darkness, but life. Those red eyes staring into his. He felt dizzy, as in real life he was staggering around blindly. Terra ran up to him to hold him still, and she stared into his eyes. They were now like glass, deep, empty, unfocused, not looking at her or their burning house, but something else.

He awoke from his trance to the sound of Terra crying, as he could see again. But he saw so much more. He saw her emotions. Primal fear. He looked at the wall next to them, and saw the word Slade, written in blood. At that he smelled the smoke, and saw the burning surroundings coming closer and closer to them. He grabbed Terra, around the waist, as they both floated a few feet above the ground, the wind lifting them. He could barely lift them both. The wind wasn't powerful enough to put out the fire, now seemingly swallowing their house, but he could fly them out, safely.

He flew them to the nearest window, turning his body to take the impact from the broken glass, shielding Terra. They fell to the ground, about 100 feet away from their smoldering house; they then ran to the nearby forest, and into their secret cave playhouse. They both passed out from exhaustion in the cave.

They awoke the next morning to see their house, burnt to the ground, and the once beautiful field of flowers now just a barren wasteland.

For the next 10 years, they struggled through homes. Terra and Byrnes went through many foster homes, and many cities, never wanted or accepted after the locals learned of their powers. They were called demons, and the spawn of Satan himself. They could not live among people...people so cruel. Once they reached their preteen years, they found an old abandoned science lab, where they lived for a few months.

There, Byrnes found many ways to pass the time. He learned to control his powers, lifting himself, Terra, anything with ease. He learned to control the wind around him, sending gusts more powerful as he trained in any direction he wanted. He could soon control the velocity, to near deadly levels. But he was never the same after the incident with the creature and it's eyes. Every night, it would haunt his dreams. He thought he saw the creature everyday, like it was following him. Waiting until he would die to scavenge off him. But the burns to his eyes were also a gift. He could now see more than he ever could. He could see inside himself, his soul. He saw an unseen power, just waiting to be born. From then on out, he trained everyday, and hardly slept at night, getting stronger to release the power within him. The word Slade, drawn on the wall of their burning house in their parent's blood fueled him. This he never told Terra. She never found out Slade did this to their parents, and he didn't intent to tell her.

But as Byrnes found pleasure in training and working, trying to steal food for them everyday, Terra couldn't find a refuge. She was still haunted by her parent's disappearance. Eventually, Byrnes told her about their parents. About how they burned in the fire. She didn't understand, and deep down, Byrnes didn't want her to understand.

Soon after, they started to drift apart, Byrnes training all the time, and Terra, simply having fun, playing pranks on unsuspecting people with her pebbles, never gaining superior control like Byrnes. But Byrnes was different from her. He was advanced, and very odd, and she knew that. She also knew she was more normal, playful, and uncaring. She still loved her brother, but she soon drifted away from him for good, as she ran away from their home, looking for a purpose. Looking for someone who cared and loved her. Looking for anyone who could love her.

Byrnes soon discovered his sister's disappearance, and set off to find her. He went to everyone he could think of, the police, fire department, even past foster homes, looking for any information about where his sister may be. After a year of no clues, he ran across a newspaper, with a picture of the teen titans on the cover. In the background, he saw a familiar face.

After that Byrnes relentlessly hunted down villains, criminals, even petty thieves, forcing any information they had on the unknown titan. And if they didn't have the information he wanted, he would kill them. Cold blooded. He would also hunt down anyone working for Slade. The last criminals he killed were those on a building top, who desired to kill him. That was self-defense. After realizing what he had done, fueled by insanity, he vowed never to kill innocents for revenge again. Even criminals. He would kill Slade, and Slade only. Or those who intended to kill him of coarse.

The creature still followed him, even though he had cooled his rage. He discovered that it was the monster that had fueled his hunger for revenge through his nightmares. But he had overcome them, not succumbing to the monsters wishes anymore. But he still saw the eyes burning into his own. Raven saw the eyes too, staring into hers.

At this, Raven was pushed out of Byrnes's mind.

"What's the matter?" Raven asked him, not thinking.

He was hunched over, tears streaming from his eyes. They were burning. All he saw were the eyes of the creature, staring into his own. He saw the same creature, trying to attack Terra in the old warehouse. He knew it was after him as well. Byrnes and Terra both now shared the same nightmares that would soon become a reality.

"Let's go back." Byrnes said, recovering from his breakdown.

"Ok, are you going to be alright?" Raven asked

"I'll be a fine, thanks for caring." He said, looking at Raven.

"Hey, that's what friends are for." She said, smiling brightly.

So they flew back to Titans Tower, Raven now knowing of Byrnes's past. But Byrnes had discovered much more by sharing his past with his friend. The creature now haunted Terra as well. He knew, the only way to protect his sister was to kill the fiend that now made it's home in their nightmares. He would have to...for Terra.

OK, HOW WAS THAT. THIS IS BASICALLY LEADING UP TO THE FINAL CHAPTERS. HE HAS TO DEFEAT THE DREAM CREATURE, AND SLADE. PLEASE R&R. THANKS!!!!