Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
Warning: Blood's a bastard. (Excuse my French.)
...because if we must fight to live on... is a line break.
Chapter Four: To Leave
Raven groaned softly, lifting her head as a trickle of blood escaped from the corner of her mouth. Darkness greeted her, the inky blackness giving no indication of life beyond it. Where- and memory pushed itself to the foreground of her mind. Instantly her head snapped to the side, violet eyes taking in what the darkness could not hide.
With a silent sigh of relief the half demoness saw Changeling clamped firmly in metal braces- weak, injured, but alive. She reached out, straining to touch him, but was stopped by the chains holding her against the concrete wall. Grimacing at the pain, she stretched out farther, missing his limp hand by inches.
She was… scared. Scared by their defeat, by her past fear that her beloved was dead, by not knowing what would happen next. It was times like this that Changeling would smile, envelop her in his strengthening hug, and tell her that it would be all right.
But how could it be all right? Blood had overcome her teammates, had overpowered herself and her family, and now they were trapped in this place. She knew Mirror and Armory were fine- at least as fine as they could be.
Footsteps.
Raven stiffened instinctively and pain wrenched in her; against her will she relaxed and hung once again from her wrists. Brother Blood's face appeared first in the darkness, followed by his cult members.
"Ah, so you're awake. Good." She said nothing, icy violet eyes focused on his red ones. He sighed. "Now, Raven, don't look at me like that. I like to think that you are," the man said evenly, spreading his hands, "an honored guest in my house." Stony silence. Their gazes clashed.
"Fine then. Now, Raven, I am going to ask you to be a good girl and open up the portal to let your Daddy out." Her gaze narrowed, but she remained silent.
Annoyance flared in the deep crimson eyes watching her. Blood moved forward, coming right up in front of her. "Raven, you were born to do this. It is your destiny. And your progeny are worthy of respect, because you passed on that duty to them as well." The half demoness wanted to kick him. Hard. In a very sensitive spot. But, restrained by the chains which were managing to cut off her power, she didn't move.
"If you don't agree, we will force you to. Your Father was very pleased with us for capturing all of your delightful family. And what a waste it would be to kill you." His eyes traveled hungrily down her body which still retained it's youthful curves and slenderness due to sheer genetics. That was too much. Raven curled back her lip disdainfully. Blood saw it and anger grew in his hypnotic pupils.
"On last time. Open the Gate, Raven." No one moved- not Blood, not his minions, not Raven or the slowly awaking Titans.
"Fine." The man snapped, turning to stride to a control panel around which the other robed figures gathered. "We will make you, then. And, Raven, I'll tell you how." Red light flickered to life along the row of heroes.
"We will drain the life force out of your teammates and force it into your body. Your body will be unable to handle the excess power and seek to release it. However, since your powers themselves are blocked, the only way left is the Portal." She stared at him, stunned. God, they had finally done it. Blood smiled a her expression.
"Yes, Raven. You will die, of course, along with your companions. More's the pity." Eyes searched the heroes, lighting once again on Raven as he spoke. "Start with him."
Blood was pointing at Changeling.
Red fire sprang to life along the green Titan's restraints, crackling as it connected with his body. Raven only had a split second to see the pain erupt in his opening eyes before the fire surrounded her, breaking through her barriers and forcing an foreign, agonizing energy through her- Changeling's life.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH-" Three seconds. Three seconds? Three lifetimes passed as her scream rose above his inhuman roar.
An explosion rocked the dark room, the control panel shattering as the fire vanished. The Titans, now all conscious, tore their eyes off the red fire's victims and stared at the right wall. White sunlight illuminated the figures in the gaping hole as one moved forward, raising a hand. Jinx smiled wickedly as her trademark pink glow lit up her fist.
"Hello, Blood." The robed humans were already scurrying away. Jinx threw a look back over her shoulder.
"Billy, block the exits. Gizmo, tear that machine apart. Five of you stay with me. The rest of you, follow them. I don't want them getting away." The shapes behind her turned into people who did as she ordered, leaving only Jinx and a few others to come into the room.
"Jinx?" Nightwing asked, looking intently at their former nemesis.
"The one and only. And before you ask, we're not with Blood. That's his successor, a creep who tried to force us all into his cult. The Hive was only a cover for gathering members. We told him to go to Hell." She looked annoyed. "He laughed."
An unfamiliar Hive member undid the manacles on Raven's wrists and feet, helping her down. The excruciating energy still raced along her nerves; she stumbled over to Changeling, yet to be released, and collapsed against him. The power that had been drawn out of him leapt back, relieving the pain.
...because if we must fight to live on...
Bumblebee watched Jinx approach Cyborg and herself; one look at her husband had told her something was going on between the two of them. The pink haired woman stopped a few feet away from the cybernetic man.
"Long time no see, Jinx." Cyborg said softly. Possibilities of what might have been swept through both sets of eyes, the old remembered love and the present.
"Yeah," she replied just as quietly, "long time." And then the spell was broken as Cy smiled and she finished walking towards them, bubble gum colored flashes of light freeing both man and woman. Bee watched the former Hive student with apprehension- would their rescuer hate her for being the one who had taken Cy's heart? But no, there was no malice in her eyes as Jinx freed her.
"Thanks." Jinx nodded, turning to go free more of their teammates. Bee, rubbing her wrists, looked at Cy. "Sparky?"
"No worries, 'Bee." He took one of her hands gently. "Let's go find Wasp."
...because if we must fight to live on...
In the Tower on the hill in the center of Rope City, original and successive Titans waited in the meeting room. Quiet chatter made it's way through the gathered heroes until Raven, Mirror, Armory and Arella stood up.
"The subject of our meeting, as some of you may or may not know, it the youngest Titan: Keol." Wasp and Blazefire looked worriedly at Mirror and Armory; Raven's son was part of their team and the truly cares about him.
"What do you have to report?" Nightwing asked, being the unofficial leader of the mixed group. The four standing glanced at each other, and then Arella spoke.
"He's gone." A moment of stunned silence; questions, concern, disbelief followed moments later.
"Not dead!" Mirror's voice cut across the noise. "Just… gone."
"To clarify: we can't sense him; even if Blood had managed to capture him which is unlikely, judging by his comments, there is nothing he could do to stop us from reaching him with our combined minds."
"What does that mean?" Nightwing met Raven's shielded gaze as she hesitated.
"We think that, in sheer desperation, he unlocked Time."
...because if we must fight to live on...
"You can't reach him?"
"No, even my Father can't do that. Otherwise things would be very different. The portals we open, the spells we know- all of that is for now".
"And what of the Time Clock? Could we use that?"
"The problem with that, Starfire, is that we don't know when he is. Future, past- he could be anywhere."
"The Heart?"
"We don't know."
"So essentially…"
"We're on our own."
...because if we must fight to live on...
Raven looked out of the Tower window at the lights of the buildings in Rope City. The dark night was calming, but it could not soothe her tumbling thoughts. The blank contact where Keol should have been was a worrying wall in her mind- was her youngest lost to them forever? Could it be that, because she didn't have that underlying connection, he was already dead? And could they ever be able to bring him back?
Without the Heart, there was very little chance they could defeat Trigon. From what they could guess, when Trigon came through the Portal she and Mirror, along with Armory, would be rendered helpless- or dead. And Trigon would be set free on her world.
She could not let that happen.
The door to the main room hissed open and Raven knew without looking it was Changeling. Moments later he moved up behind her and put his arms around her, chin resting on her shoulder. The half demoness gave a silent sigh of relief; now that he was here, she suddenly felt everything would be okay.
"You know," he murmured, "she's out there somewhere."
Wha-what?
"She's strong, beautiful. Kind too, though most people don't see that side of her."
S-Starfire? What are you talking about?
"She only gives her trust to those who deserve it, but once they have it, nothing can shake it."
Who?
"No matter what happens, she still manages to believe in her teammates, her family."
I don't understand.
"She knows that death is no escape, and fights to the end."
What are you trying to say?
"The woman I love is out there somewhere."
Change----ling?
"If you see her, could you ask her to come back soon? We need her." His arms tightened and the pulled away, pausing only when he lowered his head to whisper into her ear. "I need her." And then he was gone, turning and walking away.
Raven stood, frozen in shock, until the cold absence of his arms holding her up made its way through to her shaken mind. Then she spun, seeing only his back as he left her- went away in more than a physical sense. Bewildered tears filled her violet eyes as her knees buckled, letting her fall to the floor where her hands pressed the carpet, holding her up.
"Changeling!" He didn't look back, and the sound of the door closing told her he was gone.
"CHANGELING!"
And the tears wouldn't stop.