Jeez, you people are demanding. I do have a life, you know.

... Oh, god, who am I kidding?

Anyhoo, this is about as far as I've thought up the story so far, so sorry if it takes some weird twists and turns from now on, as I'm pretty much making up everything on the spot from now on. I haven't got the slightest clue where this story is going anymore. There, I said it. Run for cover, hide your children, etc.

I also stayed up till two in the morning last night, so my writing may be a little weird and I'll probably have a lot of spelling/grammatical/typing errors. So sod off.

And why the sniper in chapter one was not shot, or why he didn't use a silencer or whatever, I have no idea. The only thing I know about guns is how to shoot my brother's ass with one. He's not a real sniper, that's just what I called him because he was hiding in the bushes and shooting people. If you knew who 'The Church' was in chapter three, then you'll know that he's just a crazy Satanist with a gun :3

Ah, a warning: there's a bit of gore in this chapter. Not very much, but yeah. Just a warning.

AND STOP WHINING FOR UPDATES, DAMMIT. Rar. This story is going to be pretty long, seeing as how it's supposed to be a year and it's been five chapters for about two days. I'll update as much as possible, but if I try to write when I can't think of anything, crazy stuff happens.

Disclaimer: I hate putting this stupid thing. Everybody knows I don't own the damn Teen Titans, stupid.

-Fate-

Two sets of eyes stared straight ahead, one brown, one blue. Victor and Gar were driving in Vic's car, the full moon overhead casting a silvery, eerie glow on the thick woods around them, so much so that the headlights were barely even needed. The drive had been silent so far, as Gar had been too afraid by the stern frown on Vic's face to say anything. Of course, he had been too busy with his own thoughts to really say anything out loud, but even if he had wanted to, he knew he wouldn't have been able. Gar's aqua eyes turned, glancing out the window.

"Vic! Stop!"

Both males were jerked forward in their seats as Vic slammed on the brakes, looking over at the younger man with alarm, then glanced out the passenger seat window.

"What?"

Gar unbuckled his seatbelt, reaching up to rub his now sore neck, and quickly opened the door, stepping out of the car. Whisps of his pale blond hair fell in his face as his bright eyes darted about the area, trying to see in the light provided by the moon.

"I saw someone. I know I did."

Vic arched an eyebrow as he turned off the car, unbuckling himself and walking over to where Gar was. His brow furrowed into a scowl as he shook his head, folding his arms across his chest.

"I dunno, man. It looks too dark to see anything."

The blond looked over at his companion, about to respond, when a small groan caught both of their attention. The leaves of one of the many nearby bushes rustled, and Gar held up his fists, bending his legs, ready to attack in case whoever, or whatever, was making the noise turned out to be hostile. Instead, as a hand reached out, pushing a branch aside, and there stood a bloodied, beaten Raven, a rip in her flannel pajama pants. One hand was covering the opposite shoulder, though a deep maroon fluid was leaking through her fingers. The girl's dark eyes widened as she saw Vic and Gar standing there, and then, two tears ran down her cheeks, and she stepped forward, collapsing against Vic. As Gar watched worriedly, the taller man carefully scooped up Raven in a fireman's carry, grimacing as he inspected her injuries.

"It'll be okay, Rae, we'll get you home."

Gar trotted quickly over to the car, opening the door to the back seat as Vic carefully set the girl in the back, pulling a seatbelt around her thin waist. Raven groaned a little as she shifted position, blood continuing to drip down her arm. Vic gingerly pried her hand off of the wound, and he and Gar winced as the younger teen switched on the car light. There was a deep gash on her shoulder in an 'S' like symbol, evidently done by a knife. The skin around the edges was burnt black, though, as though someone had set her shoulder on fire.

Gar didn't know which disturbed him more, that Raven had been injured in such a way, or that he recognized the symbol far too well.

He's behind this? But... how? Didn't she beat him?

His thoughts were interrupted by the roar of a motorcycle, and both Gar and Vic looked up to see Richard and Kori pulling up. Before the motorcycle had even completely stopped, Kori had jumped off the back, and ran towards them as Richard placed his foot on the ground, the motorcycle slowing to a stop. The tall redhead rushed over to them, her emerald eyes wide.

"Did you find her? Is she okay?"

Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the bloodied young girl in the corner, and her hands lifted up to cover her mouth to keep back a whimper of shock. Richard walked over to her, wrapping on arm around his fiancee's shoulders, and turned to Vic and Gar.

"What happened?"

Gar shrugged as he bit his bottom lip, looking from the three older teenagers to the bloody girl in the back.

"I'm really not sure. We were driving, and then I thought I saw something in the bushes, and then we stopped, and boom, there she was."

"Dad..."

Everyone looked over at Raven as she muttered the one word, her dark eyes closed. She shifted slightly, wincing as her movements caused fresh blood to drip down her arm. She drew in a slow, shuddering breath, and Kori looked back up at her friends.

"We need to get to the hospital!"

Vic and Richard stared at the ground for a moment before Richard reached up, massaging his forehead as he closed his pale-toned eyes.

"Kori, we don't have insurance, remember?"

The redhead seemed to droop a bit at the reminder, and she looked back at Raven. To Gar's surprise, she looked as though she might start crying. He would expect that from Starfire, maybe, but this girl didn't seem like the type to burst into tears. For some reason, it made him all the more determined to make sure Raven got better. He stepped closer to the obsidian-haired girl, bending down to carefully look over her injuries before he looked back at the others.

"I think I can fix her up."

Vic arched an eyebrow as he looked at the undeniably short boy, his arms hanging loosely at his side.

"What, are you a doctor or something?"

Gar's bright eyes narrowed as he glanced at Raven for a moment, then glared at Vic.

"I was a Teen Titan, remember? We fought villains and monsters and stuff pretty much every day. We've gotten banged up a lot worse than that. You learn how to treat a lot of injuries after a while."

The three older members of their little 'group' looked at each other, then nodded before Kori and Richard jogged back towards Richard's motorcycle, and Gar and Vic piled into the car, the youngest of the two looking into the back to make sure Raven was okay before Vic started the car, letting Richard and Kori roar ahead before he started to drive.

-Fate-

Everything hurt.

Raven blinked her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling of her room. It was dark, but it didn't take too long for her eyes to adjust. Moonlight spilled through her window onto the floor, revealing the fact that Kori and Richard had fallen asleep next to each other on the carpet. Vic was lying several feet away, snoring softly. Raven slowly sat up, wondering for a moment how she had gotten back home.

"You okay?"

She almost jumped as she looked in the direction from where the whisper had come from. Gar walked over to her, carefully stepping over the bodies sprawled over the floor. He knelt down next to her bed, folding his arms on the mattress and resting his chin on his forearms. Raven watched him silently for a moment, then nodded. She swallowed once before she attempted to speak, realizing just how thirsty she was.

"Can... can I have some water?"

Gar nodded and stood up, and though she was facing away from the door, she could see the light from the hallway cascade into her room as he cracked the door open. The floor creaked as he walked down the hall, and the faint sound of water running came from the kitchen before it stopped and Gar silently entered the room again, the door clicking shut behind him. Raven smiled gratefully up at him as she carefully took the cup he offered to her, closing her eyes as the sweet, cold water ran down her dry throat. Gar took the cup back as soon as she had finished, setting it down on the nightstand adjacent to her bed.

"Thanks."

Raven's throat felt much better than it had before, so she found it much easier to speak now. Gar sat down on the edge of her bed, careful to not accidentally sit on her.

"How's your shoulder?"

His whisper was so quiet that it took Raven a moment to realize what he had said. She glanced over at her left shoulder, surprised to find it carefully bandaged. She almost shrugged before she realized that in doing so she would probably inflict pain upon herself, so the dark-haired girl gently laid herself back down on the mattress, nestling her head into her pillow.

"Better."

Gar smiled a little as he watched her, glancing out towards the window for a moment before he looked back at her.

"Raven... what happened?"

Raven's dark eyes narrowed, trying to remember everything that had happened. She had only been missing for a few hours; the sun would probably be rising soon. What had happened? Her head felt so heavy, it was too hard to think. The events of the night just seemed to be a blur, it was too difficult to distinguish one event from the next. The pallid girl shook her head slowly in response to Gar's question, pursing her lips for a moment before she spoke.

"I don't know."

Gar's smile disappeared as it was replaced with a thoughtful frown. He had heard of people being involved in such traumatizing happenings that they completely lost their memory of the event; could that have possibly happened to Raven? He reached up with one hand to scratch the back of his head, letting out a small, quiet sigh.

"Well, whatever happened, and whoever took you, we're not going to let them get you. Any of us."

He turned his head towards the three people lying on the floor, both he and Raven smiling slightly as Vic mumbled something about frogs in his sleep. Raven's smile faded after a moment though as she contented herself to just watch Gar, tilting her head slightly to the side. He was cute, she supposed. He had pale skin, not nearly so much as her own, but a soft peach. His blue eyes were bright, giving the impression that he was constantly in a state of uninterrupted bliss. Short blond hair topped his head, sticking up in a naturally spiked state. Raven dropped her gaze at Gar looked back at her, and he grinned as a faint blush ran across her face.

"What're you thinking about?"

Raven glanced back up at him, blinking with surprise at his question. She gave a one-shoulder shrug, careful not to shift her injured arm.

"Er, just... it seems like I've known you my whole life, and I've really only known you for about a day."

Had it really only been that long? It seemed like months had passed since Kori's fist had first slammed into Gar's cheek, sending him sprawling to the ground and staring stupidly up at the two girls. The boy shrugged a little, resting his elbows on his knees as Raven sat up a bit, propping herself against the wall. Gar leaned back against the wall as well, a few inches from his new friend.

"Same here. Well, in a way I kind of have known you for a few years. But I've only known you for a little while. Wow, that's confusing."

Raven laughed softly as Gar grinned sheepishly, shrugging. Her laughter slowly died away after a few moments, and the two companions were left sitting next to each other in the darkness. Gar looked down as Raven rested her head against his shoulder, and got a horrible, sick feeling in his stomach as he remembered the last time he had felt someone's head nestled in the crook of his next.

The day he and Raven had died.

He didn't know why, but the bond that was growing between him and this Raven made him feel terrible. This isn't the Raven I love, he silently reminded himself. This is a different person. The Raven I know is waiting for me somewhere, and I'll see her in a year. Either way, we'll be together, in Heaven or Hell. There's no way that me and this girl... she might be Raven, but she's not the Raven I'm trying to save.

Wait.

She was the Raven he was trying to save.

St. Peter had said that he had to turn this girl around, purify her soul or something like that. If he failed, not only would his soul and the other Raven's soul go to Hell, but so might this one's. He had not one, not two, but three souls riding on his success.

And there was a demon who, for whatever reason, wanted this girl dead.

For the first time, Gar realized just how difficult this task might be.

-Fate-

There's your damn chapter. This will probably be the only one I write today. So sorry. But I wrote a ton yesterday, so shut up and deal with it.

I know. My compassion is oh-ver-well-meeng.

Cha.