Author's Notes: To anyone who actually still remembers this story, I am so sorry that this update has taken so long. Hopefully the rest of the updates will be moving along a little better now that my school is finally over.

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The light was everywhere, streaks and flashes of bright purple blinding him. They gave off strange, sharp warmth that seemed to hit his body in uneven waves, advancing and receding. Gravity was somehow absent, and he could no longer tell which way was up or down, whether he was moving at all, forward or backward. Everything was silent and explosive, still and in motion, full of light and black with darkness, all at once. He didn't know where he was or what was happening. Nothing made sense.

Then something pulled him downward sharply, and with his weight suddenly returned, his knees buckled and he fell in a heap on a hard surface. For a long moment, the disoriented feeling lingered and the lights, which were no longer there, still seemed to dance before his eyes.

When his vision was finally clear again, Robin raised his head to see where he was. The eyes behind the mask widened in shock as he realized what he was seeing.

It was a horrible desert of metal and stone, devoid of any life. The entire landscape was awash in nothing but shades of gray, the lifeless, colorless remnants of homes and buildings scattered among the jagged rocks and rough, dry earth. Not a single blade of grass could be seen anywhere, not even sparse, scraggly shrubs had succeeded growing in the wasteland. There were no trees, no birds, no insects humming. A fine gray dust littered every surface like a layer of ash. Everywhere the sky was overcast, thick with clouds as dark and dreary as the land they covered. Even the air itself was frighteningly still, as though it were afraid to make any breeze. Complete and utter stillness hung in the atmosphere, as thick and heavy as darkness.

Before the horizon could be seen the shattered, crumbling remains of a city skyline. It was that, and only that, which made Robin realize exactly where he was.

Home.

This was his city, completely destroyed.

"Oh god…" His horrified whisper seemed to echo in the all-encompassing silence. This was not possible. Something was horribly wrong.

Getting slowly to his feet, he turned in every direction, overwhelmed by the totality of the destruction. No matter where he looked, there was nothing. Even what remained of the city was a silent, worthless shell of deserted wasteland.

Swallowing the uneasiness and fear that came with the realization of how wrong this was, Robin forced his feet to shuffle forward towards where the jagged pieces of buildings pierced the colorless sky. He couldn't stay here, in this dusty realm of nothing. He had to go somewhere, anywhere. He needed to find people, discover what had caused this sudden nightmare.

As he moved on his trek across the flat, dusty wasteland, the distant buildings slowly grew larger, closer. Before too long, he could see some of the rows that had been streets.

To the right within ruins, something moved. Blinking, Robin turned.

It was small and familiar figure, completely covered in a long black cloak. It moved fluidly, as though floating over the ground, not walking. And it was coming towards him. Robin immediately recognized who it was.

Giving a shout of relief at seeing someone familiar, he waved and dashed forward. "Raven!"

The cloaked figure did not react in any way to his shout of recognition. It continued on its steady, gliding path towards him. As it drew closer, Robin slowed his excited advance.

Though she liked the shadow of her hood, Raven's face and eyes were always somewhat visible beneath her shroud. This figure, however, had nothing but shadow. Where his teammate's familiar face should have been was a void of blackness.

Robin stopped, staring. The figure's faceless head was still looking in his direction, moving ever forward at the infuriatingly emotionless pace. This was not Raven, Robin realized. But it had seemed exactly like her…

Suddenly beneath the hood, two glowing white slits of eyes erupted into existence, and the cloaked figure's pace doubled as it darted forward through the air. Robin leapt backward in a hasty retreat as he realized it was coming to attack him. In confirmation of his thoughts, a large piece of rock several feet away suddenly became enshrouded in black and took on a life of its own, flying towards him through the air at a dangerous speed.

Robin jumped aside to avoid the projectile, now thoroughly confused. This thing looked like Raven and obviously had her power, but there was no way that it could be his real teammate and friend. There was nothing beneath that hood except for the strange glowing eyes, and as it drew closer to him, it's cloak flapping slightly in the breeze it created, Robin could see that there was no body beneath the cloak either.

It stopped in midair again, a few yards away this time, the eyes focused on him. Robin stumbled back into a crouch and assumed a defensive pose, waiting for it to make the next move. He watched, scrutinizing, waiting…

Suddenly the cloaked figure was blown backwards by an explosion of whitish-green light and smoke that burst open on its chest. In the split second that it was blinded by the unforeseen attack, a boy darted in front of Robin's vision, latching onto his arm as he continued moving, pulling Robin with him.

As Robin felt himself yanked away from the scene of battle, he resisted, out of instinct. Feeling Robin's unwillingness, the boy continued to pull, only slowing fractionally to turn and hiss over his shoulder, "Move it!"

Robin looked back to see the thing recovering, and starting to give pursuit. "Wait!" he shouted to the boy, who was still dragging him at an amazing pace, "Why are we—"

His question was cut off as he gasped in pain. The boy had made a sudden, sharp turn to the right, and nearly yanked Robin's arm off his shoulder in the process. Wincing, Robin latched onto his now-throbbing shoulder with his free hand, and struggled to keep pace with the boy. Feeling his lungs burn from lack of oxygen, and his legs almost numb, Robin suddenly realized just how fast they were going.

He didn't have much time to think about, however, because the boy was now shouting something at him. "We have to jump—don't let go!"

With the jarring pain in his arm, letting go was the one thing Robin wanted to do most. Taking a second to give another quick glance behind him, Robin could see that their pursuer was gaining. How was it that everyone could run so fast all of a sudden?

"Now!" the boy yelled.

Robin kicked off the ground as hard as he could and felt himself lift away from solid ground. The boy's grip on his arm suddenly became tighter, and Robin felt his arm yanked painfully again as the boy somehow jumped higher and faster, and pulled Robin with him. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Robin hung on.

In the next instant, he felt the ground rush up against his feet with a jarring sensation. Instinctively, Robin let his knees buckle and began to roll, relieving most of the shock from the hard landing. Pulling himself into a crouch, he looked up.

Spread out behind him was a deep gorge, which was, apparently, what he and the boy had just jumped across. Robin gaped at the distance between where he now sat and the opposite side. The level that he was now on stood higher than the ground on the other side, where the pursuing being now perched, shrieking at the gorge's edge, apparently unable to follow.

The boy bent over in front of Robin, catching his attention. "Hey," the boy said, kneeling beside him. "You okay?"

Robin inspected his new companion. The boy didn't look to be any older than he was, with a wide face and rough, mischievous manner. He was taller than Robin, but not by much. His skin had an amber hue, which seemed strange with the shock of red hair that was messily cut and hung in front of bright green eyes. Two pointed ears could be seen poking out from the sides of his head. He was wearing a rather drab outfit of gray, brown, dark green, and other earth-tone colors that matched the landscape well. The tunic-like shirt and loose fitting pants were a stark contrast to his complexion, bright eyes, and red hair.

"I'm all right," Robin answered, rubbing at his shoulder.

"Sorry about that," the boy said.

Robin shook his head. "It's okay. But why did we have to run away like that? I could've handled that thing."

The redhead raised an eyebrow and gave Robin a disdainful look that somehow seemed familiar. "What are you, stupid? You don't fight the Shadows!"

Now it was Robin's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Shadows?"

"Duh!" The boy gestured widely across the gorge to the thing that was still standing on the other side, watching them. "What planet have you been living on? The Shadows—Her minions!" At Robin's genuinely confused look, the boy turned quizzical. "Boy, you really don't know about them, do you?"

"Sorry," Robin answered.

The boy gave a dry laugh. "Well, that explains why you picked a fight with one, then. I wasn't sure if you were the gutsiest guy I ever saw, or the dumbest one." He grinned, revealing small fangs in his smile.

"So, I'm guessing you just saved my life then?" Robin asked.

The boy's expression suddenly turned dark. "No one who's ever fought a Shadow came back alive."

Robin looked back across the gorge at the dark figure that was still watching them. "I see." He stood and faced his new friend, extending a hand. "Well, then, I guess I owe you one. What's your name?"

The boy gave another half-grin as he grasped the offered hand. "Robyn."

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"I'm stuck!" Cyborg rubbed a hand over his skull plating, gritting his teeth in frustration. "I can't figure out how to track the rift that Robin disappeared through! There isn't enough information! The only time signature points that I have are ours, and my older self's. But that doesn't help at all, because that means even if the device was working right, I could only plot a course through the rift from our time to the time he came from."

"But, isn't that where Robin went?" Beast Boy sounded confused. "I mean, he got hit with the same worm-tunnel-thingy that Victor used. So, doesn't that mean he's in Victor's time period now?"

Cyborg shook his head. "I doubt it. He was messing with the device and trying to plot in a different course when we found him. It was probably unstable to begin with, and not set to any particular point in the time line. So Robin could have ended up anywhere."

Beast Boy's ears drooped slightly "Oh."

"Perhaps we should go to this place in the future," Starfire suggested, speaking slowly as if unsure of herself. "If that is where your older self came from, and where this problem started, perhaps we can go there and find some answers that could aid us in our research here."

For a moment, silence greeted her idea. Then Terra cocked her head in agreement. "That makes sense."

"It's a good place to start," Raven put in.

"Yeah, but I still need to fix this thing," Cyborg gestured at the device.

"What do you need to fix it?" Raven asked, her eyes slightly narrowed and a serious tone behind her words.

Cyborg shook his head, picking up the device. "Well, when Beast Boy broke it—"

"I said I was sorry!"

"We know, Beast Boy, it's okay, already," Terra said impatiently. "Let Cyborg finish."

Sulking, Beast Boy was quiet.

Cyborg continued, pointing at the damaged part of the device. "When Beast Boy hit it, he only damaged the part that accesses the time stream. The rest of it, which deals with navigation of the time stream and opening the actual rift, is fine. But I need to find a replacement component for something that can affect time in space, in order to be able to access it."

"Oh, great," Terra was suddenly facetious. "Why don't I just run down to the convenience store and pick up that spare part for you. I'm sure all the shelves are stocked with them." She was met with four sets of icy stares.

Otherwise ignoring the blonde's rude comment, Raven faced Cyborg. "When Slade tricked us with the fake chronoton detonator, he used a chromium core. Would that work as a replacement?"

Brow furrowed, Cyborg seemed to be thinking as he replied. "Well…yeah, I think so, but where are you going to get—"

Pulling her hood up, Raven was already moving as though she were ready to leave. "We'll find Slade, and take one." She looked around at her teammates deliberately. "With all the technology he has access to, it shouldn't be hard to get chromium from him. He probably still has some left from the chronoton detonator."

Cyborg started to rise from his seat, but Raven shot him a quick look. The larger teen was a mess; he hadn't slept all night, he was physically and mentally exhausted. She wanted to tell him to get some rest, but she knew him too well. He was almost as stubborn as Robin sometimes—he would balk at any suggestion of sleep and insist on coming with them. But she still couldn't have him coming along; perhaps she could convince him to stay if she made him think it would be more helpful that way. "Cyborg, it would be better if you stayed here to keep working on the calculations. If you can have it ready by the time we get back, we can get to Robin faster."

For a moment, it looked as though he might argue with her. Then he leaned back into the chair and nodded. Cyborg watched as his four comrades left the room, setting out to search the city. With a sigh, he rubbed a hand over his forehead and returned to his research.

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Terra was relieved when they split up to search the city, mainly areas where Slade had hidden before. Raven felt that his previous lairs were the best places to start looking for clues as to his whereabouts now, which made a lot of sense.

It hadn't taken long for Terra to figure out that the pale teenager was quite intelligent, almost as observant and resourceful as Robin. And besides that, her empathic and telekinetic abilities were formidable. Of all the Titans, Terra worried most about Raven discovering her ulterior motives.

So it was that much more of a relief when Raven gave them all separate locations to search. Terra followed the instructions she'd been given, to head towards the waterfront and search the warehouses by the piers. But when she reached her destination, she did not proceed to scour the area for clues. Instead, she activated the communication device that none of the other Titans knew about. She wasn't looking forward to this conversation, but if she didn't tell him now, it would be far worse.

The device didn't even crackle as she opened the connection. He answered immediately, as though he'd been expecting her to contact him all along. The low, smooth voice sounded just as hypnotic and captivating over the communication device as it did when he was speaking in person. It was almost enough to give her chills.

"What is it, Terra?"

She gave a little sound of uncertainty before launching into her explanation. "Listen, I know you said this is only for emergencies, but the Titans are searching all over the city for you, and they're bound to find your hiding place sooner or later."

"The Titans are always searching for me, Terra. You do not need to inform me of something I already know."

Terra kicked herself mentally. She should have known he'd be one step ahead of the Titans already—he always was.

"Yeah, well, they're looking for chromium, and they think you have some, so they're coming to take it."

There was a moment of silence before he replied this time. "And why are they in such desperate need of chromium?"

This was the part of the conversation she wanted to avoid. "Well…Robin disappeared. It's really hard to explain, because I don't know the details on everything, but it has to do with time travel. Robin fell through this rift in time and space and the Titans think he's somewhere in the future, so they're trying to use this time-rift-opening device so they can go through and get him back. But it's broken, and they need the chromium to fix it."

Now the silence on the other end was unbearable. Terra waited, wincing, for him to berate her for not telling him sooner, or for not preventing it. Instead, he spoke even softer than before.

"I see."

She blinked. Robin was the center of everything Slade planned. She had been sure that Robin's disappearance would upset him. But then, Terra reasoned to herself, most of the time Slade was almost as controlled and emotionless as Raven.

"Well then, I suppose I should prepare to greet my guests when they arrive." Slade's voice was normal again, but it sounded more like he was musing to himself than talking to her. "I believe I still have enough chromium left to meet their needs…" Then the directness returned to his manner, and Terra knew he was giving her an order. "You do remember your way here, don't you Terra?"

She nodded before remembering that he couldn't see her. "Of course," she answered quickly.

"Good. See to it that our young friends don't have too much trouble finding their way."

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