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

(A/N): Now…back together again…

Chapter 8

Battleground

Robin's eyes refocused after the flash of light and he found himself drop kicking toward the third floor of a building. Instinctively he crouched as he made contact and drew a grappling hook. Springing off the wall he took a moment to find a target the building had collapsed so much. Finding a girder still sticking out, he fired. Swing through the night air he flipped up onto the edge of the structure and took stock of the situation.

First and foremost, he checked his clothes. He let out a sigh of relief at finding his familiar read and green. Memories of wherever he had just been, if it had actually been real, sat heavily on his mind. Shaking his head clear he looked for the others. They had apparently appeared at nearly the same time he had.

Raven was holding Beast Boy near the corner of what was now the top floor of the structure. He couldn't see exactly what was going on, but they looked injured. He'd have to deal with it later. His eyes found Starfire just as she rose above the building to his left. She turned to him and flew closer as he quickly surveyed the scene.

Starfire's body span as she recovered from the flash of light. Instinctively she summoned up the energy to fly. Opening her eyes as she stopped her fall, she found the road a mere dozen feet below her. Steadying herself, she looked around. The building seemed to have finished its collapse and was now stationary. Sparing only a moment, she checked her outfit. Relief flooded her at finding she wore the purple uniform that had become her trademark. The memories that still lingered would have to be dealt with at some point, but right now she had other things to worry about.

Her eyes sought the others as she began to rise. To her left, Raven had Surrounded Beast Boy and was carrying him back to the top of the structure. A flash of red drew her eyes as a figure swung around the corner of the building. Clearing the top of the building she saw Robin clearly and he crouched at the edge of the structure. He noticed her at the same time and she headed off in his direction.

Robin quickly surveyed the scene and yelled to her.

"Starfire! Take the guards!" She nodded and dove in toward the Boss's bodyguards. And she shot through the structure, she noticed Sarah and Jinx had stopped emitting their power fields and were now staring at each other, both drawing heavy breathes. The rip that had formed itself in the air, and was now fifty feet long having continued as the collision point of the energy fields traveled down, was beginning to sew itself shut from the top. Her glance to the elderly man that had appeared was the most surprising.

He was standing in the corner of the structure, playing a violin, a golden light seeming to radiate from the ground below him. With the light came an ethereal wind that flowed up all around him, casting his clothes and hair around his body. Suddenly she became aware of the tune he was playing as she passed overhead... A half second later she noticed there seemed to be some connection between it and the way the fissure was closing. A second after that all thoughts were pushed aside as she engaged the heavily armed guards and Robin launched a drop kick toward the Boss.

Raven's eyes were wide with fear as she looked over the various wounds Beast Boy had sustained. She had barely recovered from that flash of light before seeing him plummeting toward the ground. A split second before he hit the ground she had wrapped him a sheath of black energy. Together they rose back to the top of the now much shorter building. Its shape looked vaguely familiar to Raven but she pushed it out of her mind and gently laid him on what was now the top floor. The energy vanished and her eyes widened again as she got a closer look at his injuries.

The stomach of his shirt had been singed and the missing fabric revealed a massive bruise forming. She could just make the impression of knuckles still on his skin. Small knuckles. Pushing it aside, she continued looking. His entire body was covered with a thousand micro cuts, each bleeding. Though separately they were nothing to worry about, this many could cause serious blood loss. His body also seemed…stunned. He had suffered some sort of energy overload in the last few minutes and it had messed him up pretty badly.

Concentrating she focused her powers. White light began to envelope him. Cuts began to close themselves and that massive bruise started to fade before it had even formed. Several moments later his eyes opened slowly. Raven finished and the enveloping light began to fade. That had been weird. There had been a resonance of powers there while she had healed him. It felt as if her powers had done whatever had happened to him. Wondering what could have happened to him, she helped him sit up against a wall. Weakened herself she stayed kneeling at his side.

"Beast Boy…are you all right?" He looked around for a moment, clearly disorientated. After several moments he locked onto her eyes. At first his showed fear…then recognition…finally relief.

"R…Raven…?"

"I'm here Gar…" He smiled and let out a breath. "You okay?"

"Uh…yeah. Just a little dazed." Blinking, he glanced past her. "You should help them out." His head jerked toward the rest of the team. She hesitated and he noticed her clear reluctance to leave him. "I'm fine. Now will you go help them?" She nodded sharply and turned toward the arena the structure had become.

For the first time she became aware of the music emanating from one corner. Turning, she saw Jack playing a very familiar tune. Light seemed to rise from the steel beneath him and an ethereal wind tugged at his clothes. Confusion painted her face, wondering what he was doing. Glancing up she noticed the tear rapidly closing. That was something she was going to have to figure out later.

Starfire and Robin had engaged the Boss and her guards. Through evasive flying and judicious use of star bolts, she was slowly breaking down the guards' ability to fight. Robin on the other hand, seemed to be an even match for the red coated woman. She moved with incredible speed and grace despite coat and was matching each and every move.

To the other side Sarah and Jinx had given up their battle of reality twisting powers. She watched as the opening moves of their physical battle unfolded. She recognized Sarah's style instantly as coming from Robin's hologram. Strong as it was, the Hive academy had prepared its students well. They fought in a series of flowing assaults, neither gaining the clear edge. Jinx's attacks however were melded with the occasional purple blast, mostly aimed near Sarah's feet, trying to trip her. It looked to Raven like this tactic was a mistake. Every time she released a shot, she had to work twice as hard to defend herself against Sarah's next set of attacks.

Raven rose to her feet and then into the air. Her hand ignited in black spheres as she headed to help Starfire.

He was weak. Beast Boy could feel how drained he was in every part of his body. He could barely even turn his head as he watched the confrontations al around him. They had been stalemates, that was why Raven had to go. Robin and the red coated woman were fighting on a girder at the edge of the building. Raven was now helping Star manhandle the guards, that would be over soon. Sarah was finally getting some sort of advantage in the fight with Jinx.

The two women circled each other. You could almost feel the power they commanded, these two reality warping sorceresses. They were tired though. They had slowed down and their breaks to step back and take a breath were becoming more frequent and lasting longer. Neither had the strength to fight on much longer. It was going to come down to the last one standing. Someone had to be ready to take her place if Sarah fell. Through the bone deep weariness and shock pain that still lingered, Beast Boy slowly pushed himself up the wall he was sitting against.

It was just as he reached his feet that the whole exercise became moot. Giving everything she had left, Jinx launched one last blast at Sarah. Instead of countering it and wasting what little energy she had left, the woman dove to the side and rolled out of the way. Jinx had taken no pains to check her aim she had missed. The purple blast crashed into the girder on which the Boss was standing. The creaking metal was all the warning she had before a piece of the beam gave way. Losing her balance a split second later she fell from the building, following the chunk of steel.

Unable to control her flight she fell flat on her back the thirty feet to the ground. Beast Boy watched through the gaps in the construction as she plummeted. The chunk of steel landed on the upturned tines of a rake leaning against several bags of cement mix near the base of the building. Had it happened a hundredth of a second sooner, the rake would have been flung across the street. As it was, just as the rake reached a vertical position, the Boss's body crashed onto it. At that same moment, all the fighting ceased.

The guards slumped unconscious near each other, dumped there by Raven and Starfire. Jinx's final attack had left her vulnerable to the counter assault Sarah had launched and was soon also unconscious in a heap on the floor. Robin was standing on what remained of the beam, head turned away from the grizzly sight below. Turning from his now safe friends, Beast Boy looked for the rift and found it to be completely gone. His eyes immediately shot over to where he had seen Jack. Gone was the light, the wind…and the man. He was no where to be seen.

Police sirens drew his attention as half a dozen cars skidded to a halt at the base of the building. Three choppers filled the sky. The Jump City Police knew how to handle these events. Let the Titans do the work, then come in and mop up. Another time he might have resented it, right now he smiled. That was a mistake. He felt his knees about to give way. A split second before they did, Raven was there, supporting him. He smiled at her.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Is it over?"

"Yeah. Where's Jack?"

"No idea." He managed to raise his head and see the other three approaching. None of them looked really happy. They had, had survived, but they were exhausted. Robin glanced around the group.

"Come on…let's go home." Star nodded and began to ascend while a grappling hook carried Robin and Sarah down to the R-cycle, leaving Raven and Beast Boy alone. He looked over to her.

"Any chance I can get a ride?"

"Any chance you can change into something smaller?" Moments later, Raven rose into the air and silently headed for the tower, the small green finch asleep in the crook of her arm, protected by her cloak.

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