Here it is, the final chapter. I don't know how many hours I spent getting this chapter right. It just wouldn't work out for me for the longest time. But I think I've finally gotten it the way I want. I really hope all of you enjoy it, because that would make all those hours totally and completely worth it.

I got more reviews on the last chapter than ever, so there are far more responses:

Tortured Soul – Whoa there. No dying on me, lol. While I certainly appreciate your love of my story, if you die you can't enjoy the end of it and give me more reviews. That'd hurt both of us.

fanficprincess101 – The suspense is killing you, isn't it? It was certainly killing me before I figured out what would happen (and I did think about it for a long while). And I love it that you love it so darn much. Oh, and you're from Canada too, aren't you? How very exciting.

26WhiteRaven – Lol, no shame in being fooled by my masterfully crafted illusions. I'm so glad you've been enjoying the story. I hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter.

RaeRobFan – Bah! I didn't fool you, huh? You're too smart for me it seems. Lol, I love the phrase heaby geabies. It makes me happy the fluff gave you them heaby geabies. And a bullet might not hurt Raven, you're right, but that's what made it such a good illusion. And now the suspense ends for you – I know you'll be happy to hear that, lol.

Moving Mountains – I was really pleased with how the fight scene came out, so I'm really glad you enjoyed it so much. Hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter too. Thanks for all the support you've given. I appreciate it so gosh darn much!

serasvictoria666 – I have to say that's certainly the longest review I've ever gotten. Shame to hear about the last review you tried to leave. And of course I care! You always leave such wonderful reviews, so I was surprised when I didn't get one from you for chapter 5. You were so sweet to stay up super late to leave a review for me. Even though I didn't get it, that's a tremendous compliment for me. And I'm so pleased you liked Robin's fear. I'm getting some really good feedback regarding that, which of course makes me that much more proud of my work. Thanks so much for the support!

Z Star the Hidden Dragon – Nothing makes me happier than hearing how much you love Phobia. I put a lot of effort into crafting her. I'm going to be honest here (and I hope it doesn't ruin anybody's opinion of my story), but Phobia is actually a villain from the old Titans comics. I came across her one day on the Internet and thought her powers would be great in a story. But other than her powers, I know nothing about her (not even her real name), so the personality and everything is entirely my own construction. So it's really rewarding to hear when people say they like her in the story, because I didn't pull any of that from the comics. I spent so much time making her lines just perfect to fit the way I wanted her to be. I probably should have said that earlier, but I wanted to keep the mystery as high as I could.

robraefan – There you are! I thought you'd disappeared or something since I haven't heard from you for so long (I dismissed the idea that you stopped liking the story – that seemed rather absurd, lol). It was great to check my email and see 5 reviews from you. That certainly made my day. And it's good to hear that you think my writing has even improved. I spend so much time trying to make each chapter better than the last one, so to have you say that makes me smile.

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It would be so easy. One slice of the blade and it would be over.

Phobia was psychotic and a severe threat to those closest to Raven. She lowered herself to her knees beside Phobia and firmly grabbed hold of Phobia's shoulder, turning her over so that she was left lying on her back. A large patch of blood covered most of her forehead, strands of hair sticking to the thick, wet liquid, and her eyelids twitched. Raven touched the steel tip to Phobia's skin, preparing to slit her throat.

Just as the edge was about to puncture Phobia's skin, Raven pulled the blade away, staring down at it in disbelief. Despite the suffering the woman put her friends through, she could not bring herself to kill Phobia. She was a hero and a Titan, not a murderer. Raven's emotions had been at the forefront throughout the day, leaving her feeling drained and replacing rational thinking. Without her characteristic calmness, Raven was susceptible to hatred, anger and vengeance. Those feelings could not guide her.

Tossing the dagger away, Raven sank her face into her hands, disgusted at herself. Her rage had taken control of her, bringing Raven far too close to committing an unspeakable act. She sat still for several minutes, letting the breeze blow through her hair, coping with the choice she came frighteningly close to making.

Raven's communicator sprang to life, squeaking at her. She reached behind her back, pulling it out, and flipped it open, desperately steadying herself emotionally.

Robin looked anxious and concerned. "Raven, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Robin," she replied, not entirely sure she believed her own words.

Relief washed over his face. "It's so good to hear that. She was in my mind again, and then everything disappeared and I couldn't find you. What happened?"

"It's over. I've got Phobia." She paused and then asked, "Are you okay, Robin?"

"I think I am," he said, nodding rather unconvincingly.

Clearly Robin did not know Raven was aware of the particular illusion he was put through, though she was not going to press him about it over the communicator. "Are you still at the warehouse?"

"Yeah. I'll call Starfire and Cyborg and tell them to meet us."

"Okay, I'm on my way."

"See you shortly then."

Robin's face faded away, replaced with fuzzy grey, and Raven slowly pressed her finger on the back of the communicator, closing it. She took several deep breaths in, letting her shoulders rise and fall, consciously controlling her breathing. For the first time in years, she found her eyes drift upwards to the stars. The night sky was coated with sparkling flecks, the rain clouds having dispersed, and the dampness was palpable.

A calm floated through the air, and Raven pushed her emotions away, forcing them from her mind, as she had done countless times before. She needed to be strong, to be utterly in control of her feelings. Considering the amount of rage that had been flowing through her, it was almost a miracle Raven had not torn Phobia to pieces with her dark powers.

Raven gathered herself and stood, waving her hand and creating a flat oval of dark energy underneath Phobia, lifting her into the air. A wonderfully light feeling overtook Raven when her contact with the roof ended. After so many years she had become accustomed to the sensation of flight, yet during these emotionally jarring times sometimes it could feel like each flight was her first. There were few things that could calm her as easily and effortlessly as soaring through the air.

Raven glided across the sky with an unconscious Phobia in tow, one of her legs awkwardly hanging off the flat elliptical. Moonlight glinted off the glass of a tall office building and Raven caught a glimpse of herself in its reflection as she floated past.

Once she had rounded that edifice, the warehouse became visible far below her. Raven descended toward the structure, able to see Robin standing on the sidewalk, looking up at her with a smile on his face. She hovered several feet above the road and lowered Phobia first, touching down right after.

Robin wrapped his arms firmly around her and hoisted her off the ground. "Raven!" One word was all Robin said, but he crammed more relief and happiness into those two syllables than any single word Raven had ever heard.

Lowering her back to the concrete, he held her close to him, squeezing tightly, and Raven felt moisture on her cheekbone as a tear fell out from under Robin's mask.

Finally releasing her, Robin said, "I thought I'd lost you, Raven. I…I saw…" Robin cringed and bit his lip, struggling to put his pain into words. Though he now recognized it as an illusion, those minutes were agonizingly horrendous. The thought of losing any of his friends was a devastating one, but the vision of Raven's death released a feeling of suffering Robin had not felt since he lost his family. The illusion left an indelible impression in Robin's mind, creating a greater appreciation for not only their friendship, but also their, well, he didn't know exactly what else it was. Not yet at least.

"I know," she said quietly, the soothing quality slowing Robin's pulse. "I know what you saw."

His sturdy hands grabbed Raven's shoulders in a fierce and determined, yet tender and compassionate, manner. "I can't lose you, Raven," he whispered.

"You won't."

Her violet eyes took hold of Robin, sparkles bouncing off her irises from the streetlight above. The purple orbs were deep and beautiful, but there was the slightest quiver in them now, as if something was tugging at Raven.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" Robin asked. "You're eyes are shaking, like something's frightening you."

Raven lowered her head, blocking Robin from seeing into her eyes. She was afraid to tell him how close she had come to ending Phobia's life. Raven was ashamed that she had been a fraction of a second away from killing in cold blood. Heroes were supposed to always make the right decisions, to never have lapses of judgement like that. Still, she knew hiding it from Robin would be impossible.

"On the rooftop," Raven began, "I almost…" She trailed off, trying to find the right words. "I came close to—"

"Friends!"

Raven whirled around to see Starfire floating down to them, arms stretched wide to their limit and eyes beaming with excitement. Positive energy flowed from the Tamaranean and she radiated warmth.

"I'll be okay," Raven whispered to Robin as Starfire approached. "But ask me again later."

Touching down beside her fellow Titans, Starfire wrapped her arms around them so tightly that Raven found herself short of breath for the duration of the powerful hug.

Still squeezing the life from them, Starfire half shouted, "I am overjoyed to see you both unharmed."

"It's good to see you too," Raven croaked out, "but I think that's about all the joy I can handle."

Starfire happily relented, her mouth spread wide in a smile, and both Raven and Robin sucked large gulps of air in.

"It's really good to see you too," Robin said. "We were all worried about you for a bit. I was relieved when Cyborg let us know he'd found you."

Starfire's demeanour suddenly shifted and she looked away from her friends. "I am sorry for leaving you," she said. "After all we have been through, I should have known you would never replace me. I should have had more of the faith in you."

"It's okay, Starfire," Robin replied.

"The illusions were powerful," Raven remarked. "I truly believed Trigon had come back. There's no shame in believing what you saw and no need to apologize."

Robin put his hand on Starfire's shoulder. "I was fooled twice."

Starfire smiled again, letting happiness flood back onto her face.

"Is Cyborg on his way here?"

The Tamaranean vigorously nodded her head, tossing her long red hair around. "He retrieved his 'baby' to aid in our search shortly prior to your call and was right behind me in it." Starfire's gaze drifted downwards and she finally noticed Phobia lying still on the pavement behind Raven. "That is the woman who created the false images?"

"That's her all right," Robin said.

"Then she can no longer conjure her illusions, correct?"

Raven shrugged. "There's no real way to tell. I knocked her out cold. So long as she's unconscious she won't be doing anything. But when she wakes up I'm sure she'll be just as dangerous."

"Any way you can remove her powers, Raven?"

"You mean mentally take them away?"

Robin nodded. "Is that possible?"

"I have no way of knowing if I'm even capable of something like that."

"Maybe Cyborg can whip something up that could at least block her from creating illusions then."

"Well we'd better keep her sedated until we know if he can or not. She needs medical attention though, so we'll have to make sure she gets that first."

"Let us do the asking of him now," Starfire stated, pointing down the street.

Raven and Robin shifted their stares to where Starfire was indicating, but could already hear the T-Car approaching, the smooth rumbling reverberating off the rows of tall structures flanking the road. Easing to a stop, the T-Car hummed softly for another moment before Cyborg switched off the engine. He wore a wide grin on his face as he stepped out, shutting the door behind him. "Hey y'all. I heard Raven caught our mystery woman."

Cyborg clasped Robin's hand and put his arm around Raven. "You guys okay?"

"I think we are," Robin replied. "A little worse for wear, but we're— "

"Ooh, she's pretty hot," Cyborg said quickly, his interest suddenly distracted by Phobia. "Anyone else think so?"

Raven rolled her eyes and sighed, ignoring him. "Is there any way you can come up with a device that can block her abilities?"

"You mean something that slips over her head and disrupts her from sending out her powers, or an implant into her brain that stops her at the source?"

"Anything," Robin said, "so long as it works."

"I'll see what I can come up with."

"Good. For now we're just going to make sure she's sedated."

"I think I'm going to take a closer look at her though."

Raven glared at him and Cyborg immediately thrust his hands up defensively.

"Just to make sure she's alright, that's all," he replied after having taken a step back. "Sheesh, I didn't mean that." Cyborg bent down, resting on one knee, and examined Phobia's injuries, specifically the laceration on her forehead.

"How is she?" Robin asked.

"I think she'll be fine," Cyborg replied, standing back up. "But she needs a little bit of treatment, especially on her head. You really did a number on her, Raven," he said jokingly. "Hey Raven, what'd you say her name was?"

"Phobia."

"Right. Did Phobia say why she was doing all this?"

"She said it was just for fun."

Starfire's entire face widened from shock, her mouth hanging open. "She did these horrible things for amusement? Can someone be so cruel?"

"She is," Raven replied harshly, staring down at her still body with contempt. "That woman is the embodiment of cruel."

"I don't buy it," Robin said, shaking his head slightly. "There has to have been something more here."

"She played with our emotions. She's twisted and sick."

"I just don't think someone would do all this just for fun. It doesn't make sense."

"Well, either way we won't be finding out anytime soon," Cyborg said. "Hey, anyone been in touch with BB?"

Robin shook his head. "I tried maybe ten minutes ago after I talked to all of you, but there's still no answer from him."

"Perhaps we should do the checking up on him," Starfire suggested.

"We could all use a good rest anyways," Cyborg remarked, already carefully hoisting Phobia over his shoulder as he finished talking. He and Starfire turned away, heading back to the T-Car.

"You ready for that herbal tea now?" Robin asked, smiling at Raven.

She returned the smile, lightly pecking him on the cheek, and together they walked away from the warehouse.

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There you have it. I really hope everyone enjoyed the story, especially the ending. Planning for my next story is well under way, and it will be much longer and more intricate. This story was almost like a test for me, to see how I handled fan fiction. And judging by all the warm and positive feedback many of you have given me, I'd say the test went pretty well. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed the story. Your support has been much appreciated.