( Author Notes: Okay, this is my first fanfic here and any comments are welcome. Please notice me if I am committing any mistakes, or simply if you like it :D )

Birds of the Night

Chapter one: Recognition

Few though long years had passed by since the young heroes of Jump City had taken their separate ways. Each of them found destiny to be away from their friends and so, one by one, they left behind the sight of the gigantic T that had been their home. One by one they went away, leaving only one left. The darker, the most mysterious of them all, a girl of demonic powers who had found comfort and comprehension in the teen heroes or, as they once were called, the Teen Titans.

At the end, she too had left the T-tower and went on her own, as some of the other had done. But what had happened to leave the goth goth girl alone again? Well, the leader of the Titans, Robin, had left after the alien girl, disappearing into the night never to be seen again. Starfire, who Raven silently blamed for their leader's disappearance, had gone back to her natal planet to help with an invasion, but never came back. Beast Boy, the hilarious green teen, had left in order to go back to his former group. The dark girl secretly missed all of his stupid jokes and childish antics. The half man, half robot known as Cyborg finally took the job as Titans East's leader once everyone else had gone. Everyone but Raven, of course. She somewhat felt herself tied to this place, bound to it by something no one or nothing could understand. It was her home, the only one she knew and the only one she cared for. Her friends had been here, they had all been a family once. But not anymore. And so, protected by the darkness of the night, the dark Titan left the tower and went into the city. It was then, that faithful night, when the great crime fighting Titans broke into nothing but a memory…a dream.

Raven woke up in the middle of the night, amethyst eyes were wide because of the dream she had just seen. She rubbed her temple in a futile attempt to erase the pain those dreams had left. How she hated them, those coming nightmares, haunting her horribly. But she could not call them nightmares, not with what they were. And that was the problem, she loved them and hated them at the same time, for they were images of the happy life she once had besides the Titans.

"There are no Titans now, Raven, just wake yourself up from this stupid dream" she spoke to herself.

There was no point in going back to sleep now, she shouldn't even try for she knew she would not be able to. So, the dark girl decided to start her day early. She stood up, leaving the comfortable bed and covers behind. Those years had brought changes to the half demoness. She was taller, more mature, and curved just in the right places. Her purplish hair was now waist-long. Her face had changed a little, making her look even more serious, more grown-up. Her forehead was still adorned with her chakra. No longer did she wear her Titan uniform, that would be pointless being how she wasn't a Titan anymore. Instead she had on a black top with a navy blue bird on it, it was short and left some flesh to the sight, matching black tight pants and navy blue boots with some black on them. All in all, she looked like a dark princess…which she somehow was.

She walked out of her room, which looked more like a dark cavern than a room, and left herself be embraced by the darkness of the night. She walked out, into the streets of the corrupted city, ready to fulfill her role in the fight against crime. Her form was lifted from the ground as she levitated herself through the city, searching for anything suspicious, for any criminal ready for a fight with a demon, which were fewer each day. A sound filled the night and soon caught the girl's attention. She turned around, towards it, a dark smile appearing on her features. Just what she was looking for. The sound turned out to be the alarm of a bank that was being robbed. That was not uncommon, nor what called Raven's attention, it was the fact that, even though it was almost midnight, the bank had been open and there were people taken as hostages. She readied herself for a fight, to emerge from the shadows and take them by surprise. Unfortunately, her plan didn't work, her position was given out as one of the endangered hostages turned to see at her and smiled in hope; the robbers turned to see what had made their prisoner smile and there was the goth girl, with a frustrated look on her face. Nowadays, many criminals knew not to mess up with Raven, but the fear the demoness inflicted in their hearts became less and less with time, as legends of the Titans became just that…legends. One of the criminals took another hostage, a young girl, and held her close not only to himself, but to his ready-to-fire gun.

"So, the lone bird has come to the rescue…Too bad for this girl here, don't you think? Either you grant us passage, demoness, or this floor will be bathed in her blood!" shouted menacingly the desperate criminal.

Raven clenched her fists in frustration. She could not let them harm the girl, but neither could she let them get out with their crimes. She could always levitate some object and throw it in the bad guy's head, but surely the others would alarm him and he would shoot before she did. She sighed. No matter the quantity, a human life was far more valuable than money. She threw the guy a death glare before stepping aside, meaning the criminals could walk out into the safety of the night.

"Giving up so easily, Titan? Good to see you're a smart one" taunted the goth before walking out, the girl still in his grasp.

"The name's Raven, not Titan, and I don't give up. Whether now or later, you will pay for what you've done" Spoke out the offended goth girl, her words were poisonous and her glare was so even more. The guy, however, didn't think of her as a great menace and simply smirked, thinking he would walk out of this one. He was wrong. In the shadows, another figure watched, waiting for the right moment to strike, the moment was now.

"I think I prefer it if he paid now" Spoke the mysterious figure as he stood up. Both Raven and the criminal turned to look at him but, before anyone else could move, the shadow-covered man threw his weapon at him. The weapon was some kind of dagger, a black one, but it had two blades on each side that resembled wings and the center was somekind of bird, a blue bird. 'Just who…?' before she could finish her thoughts, Raven was interrupted by the mysterious man.

"You're gonna help or what?" He asked, an arrogant smile playing on his lips. Raven nodded quietly, recognizing that smirk from somewhere…someone else. She turned around quickly and the remaining criminals were wrapped in dark energy, struggling uselessly to get free.

"Nicely done. The police will come soon and take care of the rest, so see ya" Said the man, turning around to leave. It was then when Raven was able to take a look at him. He had a black and blue uniform on him, quite similar to her own, it even had a blue bird on his chest. She turned to see his face and meet with a mask instead of his eyes. That mask, it was similar to that of someone she knew a quite long time ago. Just then did the dark woman realized who this mysterious hero was.

"Wait…" She spoke, but the man ignored her words. However, he could never ignore what came next "…Robin"

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