(Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.)

Raven was reading when the Tower's alarm sounded. She tossed her book aside and quickly met the other Titans in the living room. Cyborg was running a scan on the tower.

"I don't get it. Nothing's showing up." He typed something and then shook his head. "All the doors are locked and the windows are closed. The cameras don't show anything, either."

"Maybe it was just a malfunction," Robin suggested.

"Maybe," Cyborg allowed reluctantly, "but I just checked the system two days ago."

"Where's Moonlight?" Raven asked sharply.

The Titans glanced around. Neither Moonlight nor Shadow was there. Shadow was in a plastic cell. Robin had insisted he not be allowed to roam free while the Titans were sleeping.

"Do you think Moonlight set off the alarm," Beast Boy inquired sleepily. It was nearly three in the morning, and all the Titans except Raven had been awakened by the alarm.

Raven looked out the window sullenly. The cold, dark sky seemed very unwelcoming that night, and dawn was still several hours off. Shadow had confronted Raven the night Moonlight had come to the Tower. He'd told Raven that there was a bounty on Moonlight's head, and that she'd been running for a while. He'd said she always involved others and then ran. "I'm going to look for her," Raven said flatly.

Moonlight stood on the top of the Tower, not in the mood for company. All she wanted was the quiet solitude of her mother's homeland. She heard the door open behind her and was briefly amused by how lucky the intruder was that she didn't have Raven's powers.

"Hey, Moonlight?"

Beast Boy's gentle, childish tone calmed her. Moonlight looked over her shoulder, wondering if Raven and Firestorm saw her like this. "Isn't it a little early for you to be up?"

"The alarm went off. Raven's looking for you."

Moonlight sighed and closed her eyes. "Okay. Thanks. You should go back to sleep."

Beast Boy left, but Moonlight didn't go find Raven. She sat down and sighed heavily, watching her breath rise up into the clouded sky. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt, and the night was cold, but she didn't feel it. She didn't feel much of anything; she just moved through each day like a machine.

She should leave soon, Moonlight realized. Shadow said their alliance was over when Chaldor was gone, and Chaldor had been gone for over a week. As soon as Shadow was healed, they'd fight again, and again life would become a game of cat-and-mouse. She was tired of running, but the Mendai were after her for more than just the prevention of her grandfather's prophecy. She had resisted arrest, even killed to escape. There was no going back. There was no settling down.

"Moonlight," Shadow asked quietly. He was leaning back against a doorframe.

Moonlight's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't heard him come up. The girl glanced at him over her shoulder, doing her best to hide her fear. "What?"

"Are you all right?"

She frowned. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

Slowly, Shadow approached her. "Because you haven't been yourself since Chaldor…"

Moonlight's silver eyes glimmered as she stood and studied his face. "What do you mean, I haven't been myself?"

His expression slightly sad, Shadow answered, "You've been really quiet, reserved."

"Me? Have you looked in a mirror lately?"

"I know I'm a wreck. Look at yourself, Moonlight. You haven't been sleeping."

"I never sleep much."

"You've been sleeping even less. What's wrong?" When Moonlight's eyes narrowed, Shadow grabbed her bare arms. "Don't be so tight-lipped, Aysel."

Moonlight gazed up at him, shocked. "How do you-"

"Flash us back to Chaldor's sanctum," he hissed. "We need to talk without being overheard."

"It's a trap."

"No," Shadow retorted, leaning forward to kiss her.

Moonlight hurriedly flashed them back to the dark cathedral. She was careless in her hurry. The rubble beneath her feet shifted, and she fell backwards. Shadow landed on top of her, his face only inches from hers.

Shadow smirked down at her. "Something upset you, Moonlight?"

Silver eyes narrowing, Moonlight shoved him. "Get off. Why do you call me that?"

All humor and condescension disappeared from Shadow's expression as his black eyes became sad. "Because Firestorm said that's your birthname." He knelt beside her. "Moonlight, Firestorm was captured by the Mendai."

Moonlight sat up so quickly her head spun. "What?"

"He was brought in under the same orders that I was given for you."

"Is he all right?"

"He joined us, Aysel."

"He what?"

"He liked the place and the work," Shadow said with a shrug.

"Have you talked to him?"

The eagerness in her silver eyes made Shadow hesitate. "Yes. He didn't want you to be a part of the prophecy."

"Can I see him?"

"He's on probation. He can't leave the base without an escort, and I'm sure you don't want to go there."

Moonlight's eyes narrowed. "You think I'll go back with you just to see him?"

Shadow smirked. "You? Absolutely not." He stood a little stiffly. "I just thought you'd want to know he's okay."

Her silver eyes followed him silently as he looked around. "Leave me alone," she said finally.

Shadow glanced back at her, surprised. "You want to go back now?"

"No, but I want you to leave me alone for a while."

Frowning slightly, Shadow nodded. "I'm going outside for a little bit. Be careful, okay?"

"Yeah," Moonlight mumbled, already losing herself in thought.

"Shadow," a hissing female voice called in his mind.

"What?"

"I've been trying to reach you for nearly half an hour!" Chaldor's sanctum was shielded against any such contacts, which was exactly why Shadow had asked Moonlight to take them there. "I've been studying the prophecies. They speak of the raging child of fire, the torn child of darkness, and the mother-child of living silver. Desdemona is with child."

"What?"

The female presence recoiled from his dark tone. "A few weeks before you got to Earth, our scanners couldn't find her. Since then her essence has been slightly different. We believe she was raped."

"How does that change things?"

"It doesn't. We want both alive."

"And the baby's father?"

"Let her cousins take care of him."

"Who is he?"

"You'll know him by her. She was probably drugged when it happened, but she'll recognize his touch."

"You're pregnant, Lucine?"

Moonlight was startled out of her distant thoughts when Shadow stormed back into the sanctum. "How did you find out? I haven't even told Rae."

"You think I was able to find you without help? All mercenaries have ties to scanners. You disappeared for a while. When they found you again, you were slightly different."

Moonlight brushed her black hair from her face. She gazed at the shrouded moon through a broken window. "Her name is Siren." Moonlight put her hand on her belly and sighed. "Eight months," she murmured.

"What will you do when she's born," Shadow asked quietly.

The girl gave a short, sour laugh. "Die."

Shadow stared at her. "How do you know?"

"My mother's race always dies in childbirth," she replied with a shrug. "We get to know our children from the day they are conceived. We converse. She'll be born knowing me."

"You're half-demon," Shadow protested. "Surely that means you can survive."

Moonlight's silver eyes were glowing as she met his gaze. "Why? Would it bother you to watch me die?"

"Yes."

Moonlight looked away. "Then don't stick around when it happens. And Shadow?"

"Yes?"

"Don't hurt my daughter." Moonlight stood and watched Shadow's inner conflict through his torn expression. "I'm going back now," she announced.

Shadow reached out and caught her wrist gently. "You don't mind at all?"

"I'm too in love with her to be mad," Moonlight answered softly, struck by how much of her soul she was showing him with that simple reply. It made her want to cry, and she cursed mood swings.

"I don't want to hurt you, Moonlight," Shadow breathed, hugging her suddenly, fiercely.

Moonlight very deliberately flashed them both back to the Tower's island. They landed so she stood on the shore and he in the icy waves. It surprised him enough that he released her, and Moonlight flashed herself to the Tower's basement.

You're running, she accused herself. You're afraid of him – not because he's your foe but because you want to believe him.

It's just a trick, like the kiss was. It's just a distraction.

You want to believe him – you do believe him. That's why you're running. Again.

Tears filled Moonlight's eyes, and she cried hard. She was so tired of running, always running. She cried herself to sleep that night, and she didn't wake up until late the next day. It was the first time she'd slept for more than a half hour since the fight with Chaldor.