Okay, I'm not going to bore you guys with an author's note - I'll save that for the end :).

Disclaimer: Did you know that in the latest Teen Titans comic book, the Tower is based in San Francisco? Yeah, that's pretty cool, San Francisco's pretty great. Did I also mention that I don't own the Teen Titans? For the sake of clarity, I don't own San Francisco either.

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Chapter Seven - Miracle

He had to think. He had to get to her. He couldn't let her fight alone. He was starting to panic, he could feel it. He was loosing control. He had to do something!

"Beast Boy!" Robin called, attempting to stare at the opening gap in the ground, and Mamba at the same time. "Fly over there!"

Without a second thought, he followed the command.

The hissing was getting louder and louder. The sound had sharpened and become concentrated in the widening slit that had appeared, breaking the once perfectly placed gray tiles.

"Hey guys, I don't like the look of that," Cyborg said as he slowly brought his sonic cannon up, aiming straight at the crack. There was something slithering in it…

No, there was more than just "something" slithering in it, there was a whole pack of "something."

The gap was swarming with serpents.

"You guys take care of the snakes. We'll get Mamba." Beast Boy called out as he landed next to Raven. She turned to him, wordlessly stepping into his open arms. The hissing that lay just in the background of the scene seemed to shift away for a moment as they listened to each other's breathing, as if to convince themselves that yes, this really was happening. Beast Boy held Raven to him tightly, as though afraid of letting her go again, and briefly buried his head down into the crook of her neck. They were quiet for only a moment, listening to the sound of Robin's exploding bird-a-rangs, but God, it felt like so much longer.

"It's alright," she said softly, sensing his emotional state. "I'm not going anywhere right now."

She wrenched herself out of his arms and turned to fully face Mamba.

Right now? What does she mean by that?

"Raven… I…"

She held up a hand, her back still to him. He shook his head in response, then followed her lead.

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"Gar…"

"Call me Beast Boy."

"But I… I don't understand…" Raven said softly, taking a step towards the green man before her. Traces of white flour stood out in her hastily tied ponytail.

God, he had known that this was going to be hard, but he hadn't realized just how hard it was going to be.

I have to do this. He thought finally as he tried to ignore the look on her face. The "Kiss the Cook" apron she had borrowed from him looked so… uncharacteristic on her, that he wanted to laugh. He wanted to do anything other than what he was doing.

If I don't do this now, I'll end up losing her later. It's not worth it. Everyone I love… they end up leaving. I can't do it. I can't lose her.

He forced a smile, trying to look casual as he leaned against the side of the kitchen counter.

"Well, I mean, we've had our fun, right? It's been, what? Three years?" He tried to ignore the pain in his throat and continue, "we've had a good run, but I'm craving something… new."

"What… what do you mean, 'new?'" Raven asked in that same low tone, her gaze unwavering on his face. He watched as she tried to keep her eyes open, willing the moisture that was gathering there to become scarce.

I have to make this a clean break. There can't be any loose ends. I have to tell her it's over. If I don't… I'll end up hurting her. She'll come to me when we're fighting and I get hurt, and she'll end up dying. Or I wont be able to get to her in time, and she'll die that way. She'll end up leaving like everyone else has. She's got to find someone else. I can't let her be with me… I can't… I can't hurt her.

He resolutely ignored the small part of his mind that told him he was taking the easy way out - that he was running away.

"I mean new, y'know, as in not old?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. "And I mean, sorry, but this is getting a little old, don't you think?" Raven's eyes went blank in response.

She had just looked so beautiful and so… approachably human, there in the kitchen, flour everywhere, trying in vain to make him a surprise birthday cake. When he had walked in, he had gotten the overwhelming urge to just sneak up behind her and wrap his arms around her. She had stood with a set of measuring cups in her hands, staring at the cookbook laid across the countertop as though it had suddenly sprouted two heads and started speaking French. He had gotten that body warming feeling and he had just…

Okay, maybe I am running away. He admitted silently. Maybe… maybe I am just trying to shield myself from the inevitable.

He deliberately ignored the small part of his mind that told him he was running away not because their break-up was inevitable, but because he didn't to find out if it was. He wanted to keep the vision of Raven, in love with him just as much as he was crazy for her, in his mind forever. He didn't want the memory to be marred by her death, like his parents; or her betrayal, like Terra; or even the Tonight Show, like his last long-term girlfriend.

"We're still young." He said, his voice softening, feeling himself crack just a little. God this was hard. How had she managed to keep her emotions under wraps for so long? Maybe he should've meditated before this… "There are other fish in the sea."

The cabinets started rattling, encased in black energy and Raven gasped, reining her usually controllable powers in. For a moment, emotion flashed in her eyes again.

Pain. That was all he saw. An unbearable pain.

And he wanted to take it all back, to say that he was sorry and that he didn't mean any of it. To admit how scared he was. To tell her that he loved her. But before he could make any attempts Raven turned away from him, clutching the sink for a moment before turning back around and leaving the room. The timer on the oven whistled shrilly at her departure.

That night he lay in bed, feeling cold and strangely alone, and he wondered if he truly had done the right thing. There had to be a better way he could've handled the situation. He went over the kitchen scene in his head a few times, tossing and turning on his too-large bed.

Raven never gave him the chance to apologize. Two days after the argument, she had vanished from the Tower.

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"Ssssorry to break up thisss little reunion ssugar," Mamba said, her voice eerily similar to the one that had boomed through the structure minutes before.

"Stop calling me that," Beast Boy said simply as he took up a fighting stance. Raven's hands glowed black again as she floated gently a foot or so above the air. All her attention was focused on the large reptile.

"Aww, but ssugar, you always loved when I called you thaat, esspeccially in -"

The woman was cut off suddenly as a black light streaked off in her direction. She laughed deeply, dodging the strike.

"Enough." Raven said simply as she took off towards the snake.

In the background, various blasts could be heard as Robin, Starfire and Cyborg took on the serpents attempting to get out of their underground prison.

"God, how did they manage to get so many under the church?" Cyborg asked no on in particular as he kicked a clearly marked coral snake back into its place.

"I have a feeling these weren't all here before." Robin said as he threw a freezing bird-a-rang into the fray. A section of the reptiles froze mid-motion. Robin brought his Bo staff down on them, sending ice everywhere as more snakes came up to hastily take their place.

Mamba charged at Raven, her fangs clearly visible. Raven dodged the woman, sending her into the wall easily.

"That's it?" She taunted as she threw one of the broken pews at the overgrown serpent. She hissed in response, throwing her arms out and breaking free of the ruble left by the piece of church seating. Raven jumped back, debris sweeping towards her former spot. A green bird flew down, pecking at Mamba furiously. She reached up and grabbed it, throwing it back to the other side of the room before bringing her attention back to the empath.

"I don't believve we'vve been formally introduccced," she said slowly, smiling that strange, sneer-smile again. Raven's fists tightened as the sound of Beast Boy colliding with a wall rang under the din.

"I'vvve heard a lot about you, though. You were the girl that cccouldn't keep your maan." Mamba said with a laugh. A speaker usually used to project the sound of the church's band hit her in the back of the head. She fell, caught off balance for a moment. Raven took the opportunity to throw a podium from its rightful spot behind the altar at the confused reptile. She cringed as a religious text fell from one of it's compartments and looked towards the ceiling, ignoring the fact that she was half demon and quietly whispering, "Sorry about that one."

Mamba stayed on the ground, hissing and shrieking pitifully under the podium before the voice found its way into the church again.

"You'vvve failed."

The church shook once more, more violently this time, making the onslaught of snakes harder to control and keep confined to a space.

"Noo!" Mamba shrieked as she changed suddenly from a snake into a woman. Her blonde hair and milky shoulders made the tattered dress she wore look particularly scandalous.

The building was coming down with the Titans trapped inside, all means of escape endangering anywhere from one, to all. Raven responded the only way she knew how. She groaned against the weight of the falling church as she set a bubble of dark energy around herself and the team. Marilyn struggled to look up from her spot to see the empath standing perfectly well, and screeched again. She grunted as she crawled forward, attempting to make her last stand.

She was getting closer, but Raven was too busy trying to keep the weight of the church structure above her head to notice. It wasn't until Marilyn started to beat at the shield that her eyes finally opened.

If Marilyn didn't stop soon, the shelter she was working so hard to maintain would collapse. A loud laugh escaped the former bride as she recognized the girl's predicament.

"You'll all die." She said simply, sneering at Raven. Raven stared at her, her eyes starting to glow white. She didn't have much time. If the building went down anymore and Marilyn continued… then she was right, they really would all die.

She let the shield over herself fall.

Marilyn laughed loudly before collapsing, still gurgling as a column meant to hold the weight of the building fell onto her arm. Raven groaned as a piece of ceiling caught her leg. She ignored the pain and sat, cross-legged with her eyes closed tightly. She didn't have enough energy left. She couldn't get herself back into her shield without the risk that it would fall for a moment and take everyone out with it. Frustrated tears gathered as she attempted to think a way out of their predicament. She wasn't going to be able to save them.

"No," she said aloud to no one in particular as her face hardened. She opened her eyes. "I won't fail them."

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Beast Boy shook his head, still a little dazed from his earlier collision with the wall. His rented dress shirt was riddled with gray stains and torn in more than one place. He took in his surroundings. The church was still there but it was all kind of… gray. The Titans were huddled in the middle of a small dark bubble. He looked up to find debris floating above his head. It took a couple of seconds for him to connect the three.

"Where's Rae?" He asked instantly, forcing his gaze from the mess overhead.

"Friend…" Starfire said gently as she placed a hand high on Beast Boy's arm. She was crying. He shook his head, searching the small space frantically.

"No… no, where is she?" He asked, still shaking his head firmly.

Oh God, it was happening. He hadn't even been around her for a couple of hours and it was happening.

His eyes found her outside of the barrier, meditating as the room paradoxically came down around her.

He watched as her eyes closed, a wet trail making itself known on her face.

No… no, it couldn't really be happening. This was a dream. All a bad dream. He was going to wake up any second now with Marilyn purring up against him. He was going to get married to her. She was not really a creepy snake thing. No, this was just pretend.

"Raven!" He yelled, trying to beat his way out of the darkness. He watched as she grit her teeth firmly, her eyes tightening against the strain he added. Cyborg and Robin closed their eyes then moved to hold his arms back.

Raven, come on Rae! Don't do this! Please, I need to tell you… I need to… I need to do everything, and say everything, and we still have five years to make up for. Come on Rae, don't do this.

"Guys, you can't let her do this! You can't just let her die! We've got to do something, we've got to save her, anything!" Beast Boy cried frantically as he attempted to get out of their grip.

"There is nothing more that we can do." Starfire said softly, tears falling down her face unimpeded. She turned and buried her head in the shoulder Robin faced away from Beast Boy.

"What do you mean there's nothing we can do? There has to be something. Rae! Raven, can you hear me? Don't do this!" He yelled, still struggling against the firm grip of the two Titans. He could feel the tears falling down his face, but no, he refused to accept it. He still hadn't gotten to apologize. She couldn't just… die now.

"Raven!" He yelled as the roof of the church finally caved in.

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Alright, so how was it? That's all for Marilyn, as far as I've got it in my head. There'll be some discussion over what happened to her, how she got how was was and such, but overall I think she's done with.

I had a weird thing happen last time I posted a chapter, and I wasn't sure if it was actually something happening or if I was just going crazy, but some people posted comments, and they never showed up here on FF.N. So I'm thinking… were those real reviews? Or did my email just… get really weird. If you posted a review last time and it isn't up on here, can you let me know please, so I can find out what's going on? Thanks :).

As always, questions, reviews, comments and criticisms are all welcomed and taken with a grain of salt. I'm always open to suggestions, so feel free to send me some of those to :).