Two Birds With One Stone

Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans. No matter how well I write them. Or whatever. The term 'Sister-in-God' was taken from Tad Williams. I did not create it.

This story is slightly AU even though it contains clues of what actually happened to the real Titans. All that information comes from a site I have found most useful and interesting.

I was dreaming when I wrote this/ So sue me if I go too fast

Chapter One: Arranged

Arranged marriages had long been a way to bring families together in alliance, to stop wars, and to breed a line of heirs.

Richard Grayson, or Robin, as he was called now, thought it was, as he put it: "Crap".

He was seventeen at the time, and living in a century in which arranged marriages were things of fiction. Habits of the past. He was apprentice to Gotham City's greatest hero, Batman, and had been raised by the man behind the mask, Bruce Wayne, for most of his young life. In all that time, they had many opportunities to discuss many political topics and otherwise. Certainly they disagreed on many things. Arranged marriages was one of them. Bruce Wayne argued that they were essential to forming treaties and creating alliances. Richard, being the exact age of a boy entering an arranged marriage, stood his ground for the freedom to choose one's spouse.

So when Batman returned from a series of long meetings with the Justice League to announce that a being known as Scath would soon return to bring about the destruction of the universe and arranged marriages were being put into consideration to bond the known planets against him, Robin was not happy.

"You're making a bunch of kids my age get married just so we know that everyone's on the same side? That's a load of crap."

"A girl has been chosen for you, to form the alliance between Tamaran and Earth," said Bruce Wayne.

"This is stupid."

"She will arrive tomorrow so that you can meet her. I told the League that I would not force you to marry her, but I hope you can understand that Scath is dangerous and anything you can do to help is crucial." And he left Robin in his room to think about it.

Her name was Koriand'r, but she told Robin right away that he could call her Starfire if he wished. She was at least four inches taller than him, but pretty in an alien way, and she was always cheerful. She was a patient listener when Robin taught her how parking meters and soda machines worked, and she delighted in showing Robin the rituals of Tamaranian holidays.

They fell in love quickly, and Robin himself went to the next Justice League meeting to accept her as his bride so that her plant and his would stand together once Scath awoke. They would be married the following year, when Richard would turn eighteen.

But things became darker soon after that.

A madman known as Slade came to Gotham, and it was with Starfire's help that Robin managed to thwart several attempts to destroy the city. As Batman's apprentice, he was Robin, the Boy Wonder. And with her special Tamaranian powers, Starfire was his assistant. Slade became Robin's sworn enemy, and there were many times Starfire and Batman worried that Robin was becoming obsessed with his capture.

A week before her wedding with Robin, Starfire was called to the Justice League. They had chosen wrong. It was not her destiny to marry Robin and form an alliance between their planets. She was to marry Karras, a Tamaranian male. She was sent away the next day and married in grand ceremony before all her people.

Robin locked himself in his room for weeks. When he finally emerged, he asked why she had been taken away from him.

"She was chosen for you because Earth needed an alliance with Tamaran," Bruce Wayne explained. "However, another marriage was arranged for the same purpose, and since Koriand'r was the heir to her planet's throne, we shouldn't have assumed that she would be able to marry you. Her duty is to her people first."

Finally, Robin had to accept that if he ever saw Starfire again, she could not be his. In a fit of depression and rage, he went to fight Slade alone. If it had not been for Batman, he would not have lived. Slade escaped that night, but Robin was badly beaten, bruised and cut.

"That was very rash of you, Robin. You weren't thinking," Bruce Wayne said the next morning, when Robin's wounds had been cleaned and bandaged.

"I don't' care," came the response.

"You should. There is someone here to see you."

"Starfire?" Robin asked hopefully.

"A woman from Azarath."

Robin had heard of the place. It wasn't another planet, exactly. More like another dimension or parallel existence. The people were said to be very intelligent and able to predict the future. Perhaps this woman had come to tell him that he would soon be with Starfire again.

She was a willowy woman with dark hair and perfect ivory skin. She wore a long, dark blue dress and a cape of the same color with a hood. When she entered the room, she simply stopped at the foot of his bed and said, "This is him", and then left as silently as she had come. Robin could faintly hear Batman speaking to her, but he couldn't understand what he was saying.

Batman came back sometime later, looking grave.

"Robin, I know you were hurt by the mistake we made with Koriand'r…" he began. "That woman who came to see you was from Azarath, and she says that you are destined to marry someone else. She, along with a number of other diviners have interpreted a series of dreams and symbols that predict you will be a great part of Scath's downfall."

"And?" Robin could tell there was something his mentor was holding back from him.

"So it is crucial that we form an alliance with Azarath. They know more about Scath than anyone."

"An 'aliance'? Are you telling me that you've volunteered me for another arranged marriage?" Robin asked, angry.

"I did not volunteer you. But the woman insisted you meet the girl they have chosen for you. I am not forcing you to marry her. Just let her see you."

Robin was silent for a long moment. "I won't speak to her," he said finally.

"You don't have to," Batman said. "She will be here tomorrow."

Raven considered her dreams to be very important. They often alerted her when something was going to happen. So when she had weeks of dreamless sleep she decided it was one of two things: either she would soon have a very important dream or that she was simply having very minor, meaningless dreams that meant nothing.

It turned out to be the first.

She always appeared in the form of a dark bird in her dreams. In this one, she was flying through a maze of tall, dark shapes that she took to be buildings. She felt the presence of Scath all around her, as she often did in dreams where she was flying. Soon, she came upon another bird, perched high on a building, singing a sad tune. It was a small, gray bird with a bright red stomach. When he appeared beside it, it stopped singing and indicated its broken wing. She placed her wing over it and allowed her healing energy to flow into the other bird. Within seconds, it was healed.

For several nights after that, she dreamed she was flying alongside the small bird through the maze of dark buildings. Somehow, she knew they were searching for Scath. But they never seemed to find him.

One day, Sister-in-God journeyed to Earth, acting on a vision, when she returned, she called Raven to her.

"Many of the other planets are aware that Scath, while dormant, will soon awaken," the diviners told her. Raven nodded. "They have began to form alliances with one another through marriages." Raven nodded again. She knew this. "It has been revealed to us in a number of visions that you are to marry a young man of Earth."

"I thought we didn't believe in that rubbish of arranged marriages," said Raven.

"It has been divined. You know that you will play an important role in the awakening of Scath."

"I know." She had known since she was a child. She didn't look like the other women of Azarath. Her skin was as pale as the moon and her hair was an eerie hue of darkest violet. And her powers were those of a demon. She was spawn of Scath, and would one day be his key, his door to this world.

"We once told you that it would be impossible to stop this. But now we believe that this human can help you. His name is – "

"Robin."

"How did you know this?"

"I dreamed him. He was hurt and I helped him."

"Perhaps it is your destiny to help each other."

"Perhaps."

"You will journey to Earth tomorrow to meet him. You will stay there for one month before we decide if you should marry him."

Writer's Note: This is a sort of weird idea I've been playing around with. Finally decided to write it down.

Go review already.

Signed,

The Writer, you fools