Disclaimer: I own no part of the Teen Titans or their associated canon nor, any other already copyrighted material.

(A/N): Two down…

Chapter 7

Patches

Raven's eyes sprang open then immediately squeezed shut. Slowly opening them so they could acclimate to the light she began to look around. The first thing she noticed was the red runes fading from her body. The second was the devastation. The city was wrecked. She was lying in a pile of rubble where a tower wall had collapsed. A number of stone figures were standing nearby. Forcing herself to her feet she looked around. In front of her, massive black singed footprints started a hundred yards away. Turning to follow them, her eyes widened in horror. Titan's tower was broken and…her father was using it as a chair. Backing away in terror she turned and ran.

It was several blocks before she was able to stop herself. Rounding a corner she dove in to an alley and pressed against the wall, breathing hard. No…they had stopped this…what was going on. Before she could try to make sense out of it, a voice came from the shadows.

"Raven?" She turned to find Robin stepping out of the shadows toward her. "It is you. You weren't hovering in the sky anymore…so we came looking for you…"

"Robin….what…what happened?" Robin looked befuddled as to how to explain.

"Uh…you…your father…Trigon…he came through the portal you made."

"No…No…we stopped this. Beast Boy helped me stop it. Trigon is banished and Verge was destroyed. Beast Boy…"

"Raven…Beast Boy's dead."

"What!"

"He…he came with us to try to stop Verge. He...Verge killed him." Raven felt the entire world crashing down around her. No…no! She was too shocked to even speak. A rumble of crashing concrete drew Robin's attention. "Come on…we have to get back to the others." Numb, she followed him back into the shadows and through the city. Ducking from street to street they made their way to a small wreck of a building on the east side. Still barely able to speak, she followed him inside to find a small fire and the smell of food.

Robin let go of her wrist and stepped up to the small circle of people huddled around the flames. "Hey guys, look who I found." Cyborg, Terra, Hunter and Starfire looked up from the fire and smiled weakly. They were tired and tattered. Each of them was dirty and unkempt, clothes nearly as much a mess as the people wearing them. They slid together to allow her and Robin to join the circle. She accepted a cup of weak tea and a sandwich Hunter handed her. Eating silently she noticed that they hardly looked at her…or each other. Her empathy told her there was no malice toward her. They just didn't have it in them anymore. They were…resigned. She had never known this group to ever feel that…but there it was.

After several minutes, she finally spoke.

"So…um…could you fill me in? On what happened?" They glanced around, none seeming to be able to speak. Finally Hunter nodded.

"We…tried to reach you to stop what you were doing. Beast Boy was reluctant to come. He thought there must be some other way. In the end though, he came. Verge was too much. We came close to stopping him, but he got a hold on Beast Boy. He froze us long enough for Trigon to get through the portal…and then he executed Beast Boy. His reward for that act was ascension to near god hood. We managed to get away, with Beast Boy's body. It's been cat and mouse ever since. Three weeks he's been toying with us. It's only a matter of time now." He fell silent again. After several moments Raven spoke again.

"Where…where is he?" Robin was the first to glance up from his tea.

"We…we buried him just outside of town… But…"

"What Robin?"

"Verge found the site. Nothing left but a crater."

"Oh…" Silence descended again. Raven suddenly looked around as she heard the thinnest wisp of music caught her ear. None of the others seemed to hear it. Standing, she headed for one of the blown out windows and glanced over the city. It seemed to be coming from downtown. Hunter noticed her actions.

"What? You see something?"

"No…don't you hear that?"

"What?"

"Ah…nothing. Just thought I heard something."

"I'm going to go…for a walk." Robin rose to his feet.

"I'll go with you." Raven nodded and they headed for the door. Picking carefully through the rubble Raven made her way through the city. She could hear the music again; rising ever so slightly as she moved closer to what she thought was its source. The level of destruction was incredible. Some blocks were simply gone, only craters remaining. It seemed Verge had been having fun with his newfound powers. After several minutes she stopped near a broken down construction site. She felt like the music was close now. "It's horrible isn't it?"

"…yes. It's also wrong."

"Of course it's wrong. Destruction like this is never right."

"No…I mean…it's wrong, it's all wrong. I don't belong here. This isn't how it happened. We stopped my father, Beast Boy stopped me and I stopped him." Her hand went instinctively to the spot on her shoulder where a bullet hole had once been.

"Raven…"

"NO! This is wrong! It's all wrong!"

"Raven…he's dead. We failed and now Trigon has taken the world. But now that you're here…maybe…" Raven glanced around, distracted. She noticed a flicker of the half build now destroyed building. An irresistible pull came from in as did the music that was steadily growing in her mind. She began unconsciously walking toward it. Robin, who had turned to look elsewhere, continued. "With your powers, we might have a fighting chance. And since you're the one who summoned him, maybe you can send him back…to…Raven?" He turned back to find her rising through the air toward the top of the building.

Jumping up along the collapsing girders he reached the top and grabbed hold of her wrist. She looked back at him as if she had forgotten he was there. "What?"

"Raven…what are you doing? He'll see us up here. We have to hide. You can't help us if you're dead."

"I…I can't help you."

"What? After all we've done to help you, you're just giving up and walking away?" For the first time, Raven was thankful for the mask over his face. If she had been able to see his eyes, pleading as she was sure they were, she wouldn't be able to do what she somehow knew she must.

'"No…I don't belong here. I'm sorry…but I can't help you." She pulled her arm free and rose toward the flickering tear, music so loud it drowned her thoughts.

"Raven!" She forced herself not to look back as she entered the tear.

Beast Boy rolled out of bed and landed on a pile of clothes with his usual ceremony. Running through his normal stretching routine he yawned deeply and looked around. His head was rather fuzzy this morning and he tried to shake it clear. Something about a building and…a boss? It felt like a dream to his morning addled brain. Well, he was sure it would all sort itself out. Turning to the window he glanced out over the city. Quiet morning, he couldn't see any traffic. Maybe it was Sunday. Picking through the clothes in his closet he pulled out an outfit and set it up for after his shower.

Heading into the bathroom he turned on the water in the shower and stripped down. Stepping in he let the hot water cover his head and drown out the outside world. His mind emptied as the water washed away thought.

A quick like of colder air and the slight squeal of the shower door was all the warning he had before a pair of thin feminine arms wrapped around him and her warm body pressed into his back. A smile played across his face. "Good morning." It was looking to e very good.

"Mm-hmm." That sounded odd for some reason. He turned around to find Terra pressed against him, blond hair starring to stick to her pale skin. She pressed forward and pinned him to the tile wall, catching his lips in a passionate kiss. Something in the back of his mind screamed that this was all wrong. His body didn't care. Chalking those thoughts up to that weird dream he returned her kiss with equal vigor.

An hour later they sat at the main table working though breakfast. Beast Boy glanced out over the city and found add there was still no traffic. He tried to think back to the last time it had been like that. When that failed he tried to remember what last Sunday had been like. That also failed. He tried thinking of anything from the last few weeks…then months. All failed. Terra seemed to notice he had stopped eating looked at him, concerned.

"What's wrong Gar?"

"I…I can't remember…anything…"

"Anything?"

"Not for the last few months anyway…"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Uh…I was…it was…right after you became Slade's apprentice…you had taken over the city. I came to find out why…and then…I can't remember anything else…"

"Really?" Her eyebrows rose in surprise. "You don't remember when we joined forced and took out Slade, and then drove the Teen Titan's before us and routed them from their own home? You don't remember how we've been ruling this city for weeks?"

It felt wrong somehow and yet…right. He could almost remember that happening. He could also almost remember it happening a different way. He rejected her and…a statue? "Hmmm…yeah…that sounds right..."

"Because it is right. Why don't you go for a little flight? You always seem more at ease after a quick flyover of the city."

"Yeah…maybe you're right. That sounds like just the thing." Rising, he headed for the door.

"I'll be waiting when you get beck. I can think of lots of ways to take your mind off of things." From the look in her eyes, he had no doubt what she was thinking about.

Reaching the roof he changed into a condor, it would be easy for him to ride the currents and relax. Winging toward the city he rose on an updraft and circled the docks. Had he actually turned on the Titans? That didn't seem right…but for Terra… He let the thoughts die away and tried to focus on more recent memories. He could recall little, and what did come seemed jumbled. A demon seemed to factor in strongly for no reason he could fathom. Raven also seemed to be common theme in those dream like memories, though he could still not find a clear reason, though he felt a strange warmth whenever he thought of her. A strange tune to that seemed…some how familiar.

His eagle eyes swept the city and he saw the occasional Sladebot patrolling the streets. Nothing but dull gray motion. Sweeping past an alley he did a double take. A flash of blue disappeared down there. Falling into a steep dive he landed a few blocks ahead of where the flash had been and concealed his human form behind a pile of crates. He waited several moments, and began to wonder if he had only imagined it. Just as he was about to turn and leave the cape came into view from the shadows. It covered an individual floating along a few inches above the ground. Raising his eyes he could see the face outlined by the hood. For one brief second light penetrated into that covering and he saw the sad face of Raven, eyes on the ground ahead of her.

In that one second memories crashed in on him. He had seen her face looking much the same. On a dark night on the roof of the tower, he had seen sadness, though for a different reason. He had seen much more of her. Days and nights spent together tore through his mind. With them came memories of Terra, doing many of the same things. Only those memories belonged to this world. The memories of Raven did not. But it was those that he felt were right. For some reason or other, those were his memories, and he didn't belong here.

Before he realized what he was doing, he had taken a step forward and had his hand outstretched. "Raven…" She had jumped back in shock at seeing him. Black energy encased her hands and her eyes glowed red.

"Traitor!" All he could do was stare at her, stunned as the first volley of blasts struck him. Flying back down the alley he smashed through the crates that he had been using for cover and was hit by a shower of broken glass. His body was covered with a hundred micro cuts as he rose, each drawing blood.

"Raven…wait…"

"No!" A second volley tossed him several feet away and again he struggled to his feet. "You threw in your lot with her and turned on your friends. You betrayed the city you swore to defend! And now…you are going to pay."

He nodded. "Yes. The Beast Boy you know did these things. But I am not him." That tune was rising again. She obviously couldn't hear it, but it was starting to grate on him. It sounded incredibly familiar for some reason. "This is not my world, I don't belong here." Raven hesitated a moment, considering what he had to say.

"No…you're not talking your way out of this one. I won't be confused by you." She dashed forward and hit him with a powerful punch that sent him into the next block. As he span through the air and tried to recover, something caught his eye off to the left. Standing took considerable effort after the crash landing into a wall. Barely maintaining his balance through the pain and the possible broken bone in his leg, he glanced to his left. There seemed to be a flickering tear in the air, above some cleared ground that contained a good deal of construction equipment. The music, that was starting to make it hard to think, was coming from there as well. Somehow…he had to get there.

He knew Raven was coming closer without looking for her. He had to get to that tear before she hunted him down and killed him like an animal. Changing into a sparrow he took flight and headed strait for the flickering goal. The black blast streaking past him was the first warning he had been found. Minimum evasion was all he still had the strength for. Like it or not, he was relying mostly on luck and Raven's bad aim to keep him alive.

The air became more and more densely packed with projectiles as he raced onward. When they suddenly stopped he resisted the urge to look back. If not for the music, the tune for which he finally recognized from one wonderful night on a lonely beach, pounding through his head, he was sure he could have heard her chanting. He could feel the massive black sphere as it closed in on him. The world exploded in blackness followed a split second later by blinding white.

(A/N): If you feel it is warranted feel free to review. I welcome any and all opinions.