Chapter 1: Infiltration

"Hey dude, wassup?"

Who was that?

"Hey, if you don't have anything on tonight, come to the movies with us."

But I… Oh…

They're gone. Gone forever…

"Mark. No matter what happens at school, just take comfort in knowing this: There is always someone worse off then you."

Wise words from Dad.

And now they're gone… no wait, I'm gone.

Mark opened his eyes slowly and pulled himself away from his eccentric dream. He lay still on his bed as he attempted to contemplate the reason behind the madness he had seen whilst sleeping. Bringing a sweat covered palm to his forehead, Mark desperately tried to hold onto the minute details of his dream, but trying to remember a dream that perhaps did not belong in your sleep was very much likened to holding on to water with cupped hands. The finer details trickled away, until only a small puddle of garbled and meaningless information remained. The only piece of data that seemed to be at least half useful was the colour of a certain being's skin. It was red, like the skies he had fought back so many weeks ago. Red, like the colour of Trigon's skin.

"Ah!" Mark exclaimed as the thought of Raven's father drifted into his head. It happened every time he thought of him. Trigon was the catalyst in causing his head to explode in pain. He stood up and approached his window, one hand still clutching his head while the other fumbled with the latch. After a few moments, he swung his window open and jumped outside. He took a deep breath and floated in the clean night's air, lying on his back atop an imaginary mattress. The fresh air helped ease the pain in his head, and it slowly ebbed away, becoming nothing more then a memory to join his dream.

Mark lay there for a few minutes, admiring the view of the twinkling city lights, when he heard a faint 'whoosh' from beside him. He cocked his head to the left.

"Raven?" He queried the shadows.

"No. It is I, Starfire." The figure replied, and took a place next to Mark.

Mark smiled inwardly. He had never had the chance to get to know Starfire more, so he decided that this was as good a time as any. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't find any words to say.

"Target structure in sight. Awaiting final confirmation."

A figure clad in endless black emerged from the shadowed water that surrounded Titans Tower, its face covered in a Kevlar face mask, the same material that covered and protected his body. The water droplets glistened on his body armour, but so deep was the black that their bouncing, jovial shining beneath the moon was lost on the figure they had emerged with. In his right thigh pocket, a lethal combat knife lay sheathed in its black holster, its silver blade hidden from the treacherous moonlight. Donned on his torso, sealed neatly in waterproof pockets, were countless gadgets, each more sophisticated then the last, and so technologically advanced that Cyborg himself would not have been able to recognize their purpose. One gadget, however, Cyborg, and no doubt the rest of the Titans, would have easily recognized. Resting inconspicuously on the left of his waist was a Magnum Desert Eagle handgun, the holy-grail of action movie fans everywhere. Immortalized in Hollywood in the late 80's to early 90's, it has been widely regarded and recognized as the 'Hero Gun'. It has unbelievable stopping power, each .50 round capable of blowing a hole the size of an average CD, regardless of the surface it impacted. The figure only carried two clips, as he believed that any more would impede and restrict his movement.

"Affirmative. Proceed with objective, but do not, I repeat, DO NOT injure or take the life of a Titan. Do you copy?"

Beneath the Kevlar mask, a weathered, stubble covered chin grinned, his casual disposition directly contradicting the seriousness of the mission he was undertaking.

"Copy that Sir." He replied in a gravely voice that had suffered too many cigarettes through the years. "Requesting permission to return fire if the need should arise."

There was static on the other side of the radio, before a very exasperated voice answered. "Permission granted, but for God's Sakes Hale, do not put me in a position to explain the deaths of Jump City's greatest superheroes! They're kids Dammit!"

More static.

"Proceeding with objective, Hale over and out." Hale disconnected his communicator and crept towards the Tower, his padded boots emitting no sound to betray his presence.

There was an awkward silence, but after a few moments Starfire spoke up again.

"I do not wish to intrude, Crow. If you wish to be alone, then I shall leave."

Mark's eyes widened slightly. Was he really that cold?

"Of course you're not intruding, Star!" Mark said with a casual grin. "I just came out to get some fresh air, clear my thoughts. Oh and, you might as well call me Mark, not Crow."

Starfire visibly brightened after that comment, and she flew around Mark with a smile upon her face.

"It shall be done, Mark!" She said joyously. She once again took a place beside Mark and followed his gaze to the stars and heavens above.

Silence befell them once again, but it awkward it was no longer.

Hale approached the main entrance of the Tower, his hands currently empty and his whole body hunched over in an attempt to hide himself from suspicious eyes, mechanical or otherwise.

He walked cautiously towards the door and stopped short a mere two feet from it. He reached up with his left hand and pressed a small black button on the side of his night-vision goggles. In an instant, instead of viewing his surroundings in a ghostly green glow, the Tower's main door and front garden were now bathed in a dark blue and black, with the occasional red and orange that signaled heat and warmth from the various nocturnal creatures that resided along with the Titans on their island. He turned to face the door, and his body slumped slightly. The door was crisscrossed with red, flickering lines that could only be trip-beams. He lifted his hand and switched back to night-vision goggles. Hale shook his head sadly.

"For a bunch of teenage superheroes, these guys are fairly paranoid." He decided against going through the front, and crept around the building towards the rear, constantly checking for any beams that may have lay in his way.

"Do you miss your home?" Starfire asked absent-mindedly, almost as if she wasn't aware that she had even spoken. Mark turned to face her and smiled slightly.

"I do, Star. How could anyone not?" He replied slowly.

"But what about the poor Earth children who flee from their homes? Surely they do not miss it, if they had fled it in the first place?" Starfire frowned, her full attention now to Mark.

"Star, your home isn't where you were born, or where you were brought up. It's a place that makes you feel accepted as the person you truly are. Kids who run away are simply looking for their true home, and most of the time it's the place they had abandoned in the first place." Mark explained, matching Starfire's gaze.

"But… I've come to realize something. This is my true home, Star. This is where I'm truly accepted for who I am." He continued.

"But what about your parents?" Starfire pressed.

Mark sighed. He was not used to such interrogation, but he felt that he owed the Tamaranean girl an answer.

"I think about them Star, I truly do, and if there was some way to contact them and tell them I'm ok, then well, I'd do it. But right now I can't do anything, except pray."

Mark was slightly shocked with himself. Pray? He had never prayed before in his whole life!

"I see…" Starfire said distractedly, her mind now filling with conflicting thoughts.

She shook her head slightly, her vibrant red hair bobbing to the direction of her movement.

"I was going to say how I…I-."

Mark raised his hand and cut the alien girl off before she had a chance to complete her sentence.

"You were going to say how you missed your home, is that it?"

Starfire nodded sadly, her thoughts once again wandering to images of her K'norfka, and of her lost childhood.

"Star, your home is where you feel most accepted. We as the Titans can't do anything to change the way you feel deep down. Every one of us however, l-." Could he even say that? Loves? "-Regards you as a sister. In the end, however, the ultimate decision is up to you."

Starfire smiled slowly, it was not one of happiness, but one of a bittersweet emotion, the longing of family and of friends, but knowing that she is in such a situation that she could not have both. She had already made her decision, however.

Hale found no alternate way in. Everything was shut tight, and the glass windows were structured in such a way that it was impossible to cut a clean hole without bringing down the whole pane of glass with it. He sighed dejectedly and slowly tilted his head upwards. He hated scaling buildings. Hated it with a passion. He kneeled down and attached a pair of silent suction cups to his boots, and another pair to his gloves. He gave another sigh and shuddered silently. Hale lifted his right hand and placed the pod on the window. With a slight push of a button, the suction mechanism was activated, and with a silent 'hiss', it attached itself to the glass. He pulled down on it firmly, testing its strength, before mimicking the procedure with his other hand. Seeing that they both held firmly, he lifted his leg and placed that pod on the window as well. The suction mechanism activated automatically, and using it as leverage he pulled his whole body up, his forty year old muscles aching in protest as they tensed and bulged beneath his black bodysuit. He lifted his other leg and did the exact same thing, and before long he was scaling the wall with ease. He scaled the wall on its southern side, so he could avoid the hassle of having to go around the large structure that masqueraded as the top of the 'T'.

As he climbed, he couldn't help but peek inside some of the rooms he passed. He gazed inside one and saw a ridiculously clean floor, with the wardrobe slightly ajar, revealing a set of identical clothing. He raised his eyebrow, and his gaze rested on the bed that lay in the centre of the room. It was empty.

Hale swore to himself and hurriedly finished his climbing. There was a flaw in his plan now. He hadn't expected anyone to be awake. He reached the top of the tower and pulled himself over the edge of the roof. As soon as his black boots hit the concrete roof he sprinted towards the air vent that was his next objective. He approached it quickly, eager to get himself out of the bright moonlight, and gently unscrewed it from its base. He gradually eased it out, as it was fairly rusted, and placed it gently on the roof. He activated his thermal goggles once again and gazed down the vent. His scowl quickly turned to a grin at what he saw.

They remained outside for a few more minutes, admiring the view before them, until eventually Mark yawned and bid his goodnight. Starfire seemed almost sad to see him go, but accepted the fact that he was indeed very tired. Mark hovered back to his window and hopped inside, landing roughly on the carpeted floor of his room. He hadn't bothered turning on the light when he left, so he simply fell onto his mattress and dozed off.

Hale lowered the rope gradually down the vent, careful not to make a sound. The tip of his black nylon rope touched the bottom of the vent, and Hale attached the other end firmly to a protruding chimney-like structure. With one final pull to ensure that it was held tight, he removed his unnecessary armor and most of his gadgets, otherwise he simply would not have been able to fit in the vent.

Hand under hand, he proceeded towards the base of the shaft, his gloves never relinquishing their strong grip on the rope, or else he would have been faced with a rather unpleasant two storey drop to the base. His boots touched down lightly on the metallic floor, and he was faced with yet another grille. He withdrew his flexible head screwdriver and slowly stuck it outside. It was robotic, so he only had to guide it to the screw, and it was also equipped with a handy black and white camera for ease of use. He maneuvered the tip of the screwdriver towards the screws that held the grille in place, and started to loosen it, silently humming the tune to 'Bob the Builder' for a reason unbeknownst to him. Another fact that would have benefited him if it were to come to his knowledge was that he was being watched by a being not of this world.

Hale's fingers snaked through the horizontal slits of the grille and he pried it gently of its base. This one was not as rusted as the one he entered through, so it came free with ease. He placed it silently on the floor of the hallway he had emerged in, and holstered his screwdriver. He crouched down and unbuttoned his gun holster, just in case, he thought to himself. He pressed a button on his black helmet and whispered into the miniscule microphone that sat just underneath his mouth.

"I have infiltrated Titan's Tower. Proceeding towards second objective."

There was a slight static, before the same exasperated voice began to speak, equally as softly, even though the receiver was embedded into his ear, ensuing no noise gave away his position.

"Affirmative. Remember, your target, Raven, has an extensive book collection. Make sure you find the right one."

Hale couldn't help but smirk again.

"I've been doing this for much longer then you, sir, so trust me when I say I know what I'm doing."

Static.

"Fine. The mission will conclude once you evacuate the building and the island, am I clear? Until then, we do not know you!"

"I got it. Hale out."

Hale pressed and depressed the button once again and deactivated the transmitter. He stood up slowly and walked down the pitch-black hallway. He crept past one door, and he noticed a name written on it, at about eye-level. He peered at the name for a few moments. It read: "Robin".

Hale continued to creep down the hallway, passing another two doors, which read "Cyborg" and "Beast-Boy" respectively. Not the rooms he was looking for. He proceeded forward, until he finally reached a door that seemed visibly darker then all the others. Even Hale's night vision goggles had difficulty trying to shied light on it. Hale narrowed his eyes and peered at the name tag. It read: "Raven." He reached into his back pocket and withdrew a small capsule, which was also conveniently colored black. The war against the growing threat of mental weapons has prompted leading Government military agencies to develop radical new ways to combat them. One such creation was the "Brain Activity Zero Action Nullifier." It was a mere small black pill, which the user swallowed, and it caused the brain to cease mental transmissions completely.

Every living creature, subconsciously, emits 'brain-waves' into the atmosphere, much like radio waves, which can be picked up by a select few gifted. Therefore, this pill, dubbed 'Brain-dead', nullifies these transmissions. However, these brain-dead's are still in the experimental stage, and have been known to cause severe side-effects, the most frightening of these is the 'zombification' of the taker, causing his or hers brain to cease all but the most simplistic of functions. Luckily, these symptoms are not contagious.

Hale swallowed the pill and waited for the massive migraine that would inevitably occur. He gritted his teeth and before long, his head felt like it was being torn apart by rusty daggers. He clutched it tightly, and it ebbed away. The process had worked, and he had now effectively 'slipped under the radar' when it came to mental detectors. He gently attempted to pry the door open, but it was shut tight. After a few unsuccessful attempts he gave up and began hacking the lock mechanism that sat to the left of it. He withdrew his PDA and attached it via infra-red to the computerized lock. After a few minutes of frenetic typing, the computer console glowed green, and Raven's door slid open with a whoosh. Hale cringed and ducked in. He was not expecting the sound the door would make when it would open. He glanced at the bed that lay under a large window on the other side of the room and, seeing no movement, proceeded towards her bookcase.

Hm… I wonder why he would need such a book…