Thank you soo much to all that reviewed, it means a lot to me. This will be your only update for at least a week or two, depending. So, sorry!

Consider this a New Years' gift. I'm too generous...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not previously owned by me.

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A Time Again

Chapter Two: Fast-forward

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Almost two months had gone by since Raven had left the Tower and things seemed to be going fairly well for her.

She had found someone looking for a person to room with, so Raven moved in with them. Coincidentally, the apartment was close to the bookstore she had found a job at, so everything seemed to work out.

Raven often found herself wondering if she had done the right thing leaving the Titans. And at first, they had seemed fine without her.

Not three weeks after she had left, they had finally defeated Slade. He had been hiding in an abandoned warehouse on the other side of town, and the Titans went after him. Raven didn't know how long they had fought him. In the end, Robin had planted several explosive charges all around the building and detonated; destroying the building and taking Slade along with it. At least that was the story she had heard on the news, and from her experience with the news, things tended to get over exaggerated and lied about.

After that happened, she actually considered going back; thinking that Robin's obsession might be diminished after Slade was finally gone, but she never plucked up the courage. Maybe if she had, she could have salvaged the team.

When the press figured out that Raven wasn't there when Slade was defeated, they began asking questions, and Raven knew that put a lot of pressure on Robin and the rest of the team. So one by one they left; Robin first, vanishing into thin air. Then Starfire returned to Tamaran and Cyborg left and worked at a car garage. Raven still saw Beast Boy every once in awhile, protesting on television against animal cruelty, and once she saw Cyborg at the post office, still the same as ever; and even then, she didn't acknowledge him.

But Robin was the one that puzzled her more than anything. Raven knew he wouldn't stop fighting crime, but she never heard anything about him. But the crime-rate was suspiciously low in Jump City and Raven suspected that he was carrying on, only in secret.

Much like what she was doing. Though she was half-demonic, fighting crime was etched in her head and heart, and no matter how she tried, she couldn't stop wanting to help others when she saw them in trouble. So she didn't. At night, when crime was high, Raven ventured out to stop the criminals that lurked in the shadows.

Before the Titans split up, she had let them handle the city's felons. And now they were gone, so Raven took it upon herself to stop at least some of the offenders. Only one person can do so much, but she at least tried; for her friends.

Raven could still see the Tower in her minds eye; full of laughter and friendship. But now it was deserted, quiet, eerie and gathering dust just like all the other abandoned buildings in this city. There was a saying Raven knew, that it was not good to dwell on the past.

But it was hard not to.

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Seven years later.

Raven smacked her alarm clock violently and the annoying beeping stopped. Sighing, she rolled back over and snuggled down in the warm comforter, slowly falling back asleep.

But she only hit snooze, and the damn thing went off again nine minutes later. Groaning, Raven pulled her pillow over her head and a black tendril of power reached out and turned the alarm off.

This was how her mornings usually were; a little scuffle with the alarm clock, usually her breakfast burning and she always seemed to trip over something. But besides that, she really didn't have much to complain about. Her life was good compared to most.

Three and a half years ago she had saved up enough money to open up a small bookstore/café, and the business was really quite good. She had few friends, enough that she wasn't lonely and bored out of her mind, but enough that she could still spend time alone. She had her own apartment in the downtown area, just in walking distance of work.

Of course, not like she needed to walk. Her employees and friends thought it strange that she didn't own a car, but of course they didn't know that she could fly. In fact, no one besides the Titans knew about her powers or her true past. And she didn't see the reason why anyone else should know.

X

"Where do you want me to put this?" Justine asked, holding up a large box of coffee beans. Raven looked up from her order form and stared at her newest employee.

"Um, stick under the machine." She said, gesturing to the cabinet with the coffee machine on top. Justine nodded and placed the box in the cabinet and then went to get some more decorations.

Valentines Day was just around the corner and everything was short of chaotic at Raven's work. Somehow, the blasted holiday had snuck up on her and now she was putting up decorations at the last minute. Not to mention that Jump City was experiencing a cold front and everybody seemed to want to gather at her cozy bookstore. So her employees were flitting around trying to put up decorations while customers milled about and got in the way.

A short scream rang throughout the small building and Raven looked up, startled.

"Rae?" someone shouted and Raven guessed it was David, "The cappuccino machine's broken again."

"Damn it," Raven muttered, setting down her pen, "Who'd it spill on?" she shouted back, heading over to the mess.

"Luckily, no one this time; just that lady's boots." David answered, sticking his thumb over his shoulder and at the woman wiping off her shoes with some napkins. Raven groaned and surveyed the scene. Cappuccino covered the floor, which fortunately, was tile. The machine occasionally sputtered out a few more drops and rattled a bit. Raven shook her head and turned back to David.

"Get someone to clean this up before anyone slips on it and I'm sued." Raven ordered. David nodded and Raven walked over to the lady.

"I am really sorry about this," she said, handing her some more napkins. "That stupid machine hates me."

The woman shook her head and smile. "It's ok. I've had that happen plenty of times, so no harm no foul." Raven raised an eyebrow.

"This has happened to you before?" The woman stood up and straightened her navy suit.

"Yes, but thankfully this time wasn't as bad as the last." Raven was still confused. "Roxanne Stone with the Jump City Health Services, I'm here to inspect the premises."

Raven's eyes grew wide and her heart dropped to her toes.

"Right." She answered, groaning silently and turning around, "Follow me."

This day was getting better every minute.

X

Sighing, Raven dropped her keys and fell back onto her bed. That had been one of the most chaotic and tiring days in her life since Slade's androids had attacked the Tower. Even though she had completely forgotten about the inspection, everything turned out better than she had expected. The health inspector had only found a few minor fractures in her business and Raven wasn't going to be shut down. But besides the cappuccino machine breaking and a few minor mishaps with some books, nothing else had gone wrong.

Groaning, Raven pulled herself to her feet and made her way to the bathroom. She was keen on taking a nice hot shower and then going straight to bed.

X

Raven jolted out of her slumber and smacked her alarm brutally. But it was still dark outside, and her alarm wasn't what was going off. Raven stumbled from her bed and stared out her window. On the street below at least four fire trucks sped down the road, heading for the burning building around the corner. Groaning slightly, Raven hastily donned her costume and phased through the wall.

By the looks of it, the fire had just recently started since most of the building was still intact. But since it was so late at night, many people didn't get a chance to escape before the flames cut off their exits. Raven landed silently in the alley next to the building and phased through the brick wall.

Almost nothing was burning on the main level. Above, Raven could hear the crackle of the flames eating through the wood, and then someone screamed. She quickly flew up the stairs and coughed as the smoke hit her face. Everywhere she looked mischievous orange flames engulfed anything in its way.

"Hello?" Raven shouted, floating forward and checking in the doorways, "Is anyone here?"

She turned around suddenly; someone had cried for help. Raven flew down the corridor to the last door on the left and looked around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone move; a woman was pinned to the floor by a chunk of the ceiling. At the sight of Raven the woman shouted over to her.

"Hurry, please. I can't feel my leg." she cried, trying and failing to sit up. Ebony power surrounded the rubble and lifted it carefully off of the woman. Raven set it down slowly to her left and helped the woman to her feet.

"You're leg is probably broken." Raven told her as she put her hand on the leg. Her fingertips glowed blue for a moment and then it stopped. "The break is only a fracture for now, but we had better get out of here quick."

"Wait," the woman said hoarsely, coughing, "My baby is in the other room." Raven sighed and removed the woman's arm from her shoulder.

"Can you stand?" The lady nodded and Raven left her side and ventured into the adjacent room.

She heard the baby's screams before she could see it. Raven covered her mouth and flew blindly towards the shrieks, wanting to hurry before anything collapsed. The basinet lay on its side, partially on fire, and the baby lay a few feet from it. A loud groan emanated from the wood support beams above and Raven heard a few crack. Just before any fell, Raven dove for the baby and positioned a shield over herself. She could hear the beams ricochet off of the shield and soon nothing else bounced off.

Raven cracked open her eyes, she was still alive. Letting out the air she had been holding, Raven stood up and cradled the baby against her chest. That had been close; too close. Time to go. She flew over the debris and beams until she exited the room. The woman cried for joy at the sight of her child.

"Thank you so much." She breathed, hugging her baby close. Raven pulled her arm over her shoulder and the two began hobbling out the door.

"Thank me when we get out of here." She muttered, coughing loudly. They had to get out of this smoke before they all died of asphyxiation.

After they had not taken five steps, a man covered in dust came bursting out of a room coughing like mad. A large cloud of dust followed him out of the room as the ceiling fell in. Raven and the woman stared wide-eyed and startled at the man as the baby began to cry again.

"Are you alright?" Raven asked, touching him lightly on the shoulder. The man nodded and coughed some more. "Doe you know if there is anyone else in here?" When he turned to her, Raven gasped slightly; he was only 15 or so.

"I-I was watching a boy for someone upstairs," He answered, coughing some more. "I came back down here after he fell asleep. His mom was supposed to be home...I should've stayed." He finished, shaking his head. Raven nodded and pulled on his slightly burnt shirt to get him to follow her.

"It's not your fault. Now come on, we need to get out of here before the building collapses on us." Raven said, rubbing her eyes furiously. Everywhere around them the building was caving in; Raven was surprised it had even held up this long. They all turned around and began making their way to the stairs as fast as they could. Then something was thrown into the corridor before them and a large wall of ice barricaded their exit.

"You don't want to go that way." A male voice came from behind them. Raven vaguely recognized that voice, and turned towards the source. She could see a faint outline of a man in the thick smoke. "Follow me." He added, turning around and walking away.

Raven helped the woman along as fast as she could and soon they caught up to the mysterious man. When Raven saw him, she gasped quietly. She recognized that face and knew that voice. Starfire had told her about him, and Raven had caught snatches of pictures from her mind.

"Nightwing…" she whispered under her breath, but she wasn't heard as the teenager cried out in relief.

"Bryon? Is he going to be ok?" he asked, looking at Bryon unconscious in Nightwing's arms.

"If we get out of here, he will be. Is there another set of stairs anywhere?" Nightwing asked, looking down the hallway. The woman clutching her baby nodded.

"There are some at the very end of the hall to your left." She croaked, trying to shift her weight but cringed in pain. Nightwing nodded and silently began making his way towards the stairs.

Raven could hear the ceiling caving in behind them and she tried to quicken their pace. With each passing step the floorboards creaked and groaned, threatening to give away at any moment. The crackling flames reached out with greedy fingertips and tried to swallow up anything within reach.

With a violent roar, the ceiling just behind them collapsed, blocking their retreating path. Raven's heart palpitated with fear, and she hoped the stairs were still accessible; healing the woman's leg had drained her, and if worse came to worse, she didn't know if she could get everyone out.

As soon as Nightwing kicked open the door to the stairs, bright flames burst out of the opening, finally finding their escape. Raven reacted just on time and covered everyone with an ebony shield until the flames subsided. When she looked back over at the door, a large pile of rubble blocked it; their last escape had been cut off.

Sighing, Raven tried gathered all her remaining strength to her, "Gather close." She said, waving everyone over. "Azarath, Metrion, Xinthos." She muttered and black energy surrounded everyone and phased them out of the building.

They all landed roughly in the alleyway to the side of the building, but they were all safe. Raven, exhausted, leaned up against the wall behind her for support. Nightwing handed off Bryon to the teenager and helped the woman over to the paramedics. Raven knew he was watching her, and that kind of scrutiny made her very uncomfortable. As he began to return, to no doubt ask her questions, Raven took to the air and fled for home.

"Hey…" Nightwing started and finished as he realized Raven had vanished.

When he first saw her, he wasn't sure if it really was Raven. But after seeing her use her powers, he was definitely sure it was her. She had changed quite a lot since she walked out of his life, almost so much he didn't recognize her at first. But how many people had purple hair and a chakra stone in the middle of their forehead? Her silky amethyst hair was long now, longer than it had ever been. But it was her outfit that had changed the most. Instead of her usual leotard and cloak garb, Raven wore black pants that hugged her luscious curves, a navy tank top that revealed her long slim arms and a dark grey cloak. Nightwing could tell she was surprised to see him, and the feeling was mutual. He thought she would've left the city to start a new life, but she didn't. He got the feeling she was happy, and Nightwing felt a twinge of something. Jealousy? Guilt? He didn't know.

Nightwing had always felt responsible for pushing her away, and put all the blame on himself. He had long given up trying to find her, but now that he had seen her again, a new determination grew inside him. He was going to find Raven and make up for lost time if it was the last thing he did.

X

Raven leaned up against her door, her heart beating wildly. What frightened her most wasn't the fact that she could've died; that barely fazed her, but that he was back, and so were her feelings for him. She had convinced herself years ago that her feelings for Robin had diminished when she had left the Tower. But now that she saw him again, these feelings came back and she didn't know what to do. Raven longed to hunt him down and find him and tell him how she really felt. But she didn't expect everything to be okay; she had deserted her team and family, and Raven felt she didn't deserve the forgiveness Nightwing was bound to offer.

Raven sighed and readied herself for bed. She didn't know what she was going to do about this; Nightwing was most likely going to try and find her, and if he was still half the detective she remembered, he would succeed. The best she could do now was just wait and live her life as she normally would.

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And that concludes the end of chapter two. Hey, I kinda like that…I'll end all chapters with that from now on. Sos, you likey? Yeah, I know the whole baby in the other room thing was cliché, but hey, who's to say what I can or cannot do? Yesh, yesh, now please review. And I'm not going to update until I finish chapter five, which shouldn't be too incredibly long, unless I'm swamped with homework or just don't get around to it…