Disclaimer – Own nothing.
To quicksilver123 – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it! Updates are once a week. Hope you like this chapter!
To Asilla – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it! I'm trying to make the chapters longer, but we'll see. Not sure if I'll go into detail about why Slade missed, as when I wrote it, it was just because Dick moved out of the way just in time, but I would also say that Jericho played a part in that. Hope you like this chapter!
To vi – Thanks for your review! I'm glad you liked it and liked Dick being a dad to Gar and Conner. I'm hoping we'll see that more in season 3. And I'm also glad you liked Wally and Bruce being included in the story. Hope you like this chapter!
To Guest – Thanks for your review! I had considered putting Barbara in this one, but with where I wanted to go, she wouldn't have really fit. Sorry. Hope you like this chapter!
AN – Hey guys! So, some news. I got another job for the Christmas season which I'm really excited about, but that means there might be a chance that updates might slow down. I will do my best but no promises. Hope you guys like this chapter!
Enjoy!
Rachel slowly walked off the elevator and entered the penthouse of Titans Tower. All the lights were off and it was cold, colder than she had ever felt in the apartment before. She quickly realized why when she saw the shattered windows. That alone confused and scared her, but then she saw the bullet holes in the walls and furniture.
"Dick? Gar?" Rachel called out, walking further into the apartment, now terrified for the lives of her friends. Hearing a small gasp, she turned around to see Dick standing a few feet away from her. Before the could say or do anything, Deathstroke appeared behind him and stabbed him from behind and Rachel screamed.
As she jumped awake in her seat, eyes flew open. It took a minute for Rachel to realize the whole thing was just a dream and that she was actually on a plane. A plane taking her and Donna to Chicago. The minute that they left the Tower, they took a cab straight to the airport and got a flight straight to the city where Donna had been living before Dr. Light and Deathstroke showed up.
"Rachel?" Looking over to the side, Rachel saw Donna staring at her worriedly. Rachel stared back wordlessly, trying to remember how to breathe. As she put her hand on her shoulder, Donna asked, "Rach, you okay?"
"A nightmare. It was bad." Rachel answered, still panting a little as her heart continued to pound in her chest.
"What was it about?" Donna questioned, moving her hand to rub the teenager's back.
"Slade. He killed Dick." Rachel replied, bringing a hand up to rub her eyes. Beside her, Donna completely tensed up and her hand stilled.
"I'm sure they're fine." Donna told her with a slightly harsh tone. Pulling her hand away, she added, "Now buckle up, we're about to land."
Despite the fact that they landed only five minutes after that, it took almost two hours for them to arrive at Donna's home. The traffic was horrible even though it was past midnight. Rachel was exhausted. She felt like this entire day had lasted over a week. And yet, she was scared to fall asleep again. Scared that the second she closed her eyes, she'd be seeing Deathstroke stab Dick again.
"Here we are." Donna said as she entered the apartment, then stood to the side, still holding the door open for Rachel. As she entered the home, she frowned slightly at the mess. There were clothes, magazines and pictures all over the place. The Tower was never this messy.
Donna, having forgotten the state she left her own, quickly kicked off her shoes and rushed to tidy a little as she said, "Sorry it's a bit of a mess. Didn't have time to clean."
"It's okay." Rachel replied automatically, her mind going back to her nightmare. It had now been over an hour since she woke up and she could still see Dick with a sword sticking out of his chest.
Donna continued cleaning up, telling her that the guest room was down the hall, second on the right. Wordlessly, Rachel headed down to the room. It was small and completely bare except for a bed and one bedside table with a lamp and a tiny dresser. She didn't mind though. It was nice enough that Donna even agreed to let her come. However, she didn't immediately start unpacking. Instead, she dropped her bag at the foot of the bed and pulled out her phone.
She had been having doubts about leaving the Tower, leaving Dick and Gar, ever since she and Donna first got into the cab that took them to the airport. And now with the nightmare in the back of her mind, she needed to make sure that everything was okay. She still didn't know much about her powers, but her dreams had led her to Dick. That nightmare had to mean something.
However, still being somewhat mad at Dick and not sure if he'd respond and with Gar probably being mad at her, Rachel pulled up Kory's name and texted a quick, 'You still at the tower?'
Rachel wondered how long it would take the alien to respond, if it would be better to just call her when she saw the three little dots appearing on the screen, telling her that Kory was typing a response. Seconds later, a message appeared that read, 'Nope. Some personal stuff came up that I had to deal with. Why? Something wrong?'
'No, just curious. Ttyl.' Rachel typed out, but hesitated on pressing send. Maybe she could ask Kory to call Dick or Gar. She wasn't sure how things went when Kory left, but considering Dick didn't contact her during those three months that they were at the Tower while she was with Donna, she wasn't sure if Dick would answer. Gar though would.
"Rach? I know it's really late but are you hungry?" Donna questioned as she suddenly walked into the room, her arms full of papers, magazines and photos. Seeing the conflicted expression on the teenager's face as she stared at her phone, the former superhero wondered, "You okay?"
Without rethinking it, Rachel sent the text then looked up at Donna. "Yeah, I'm fine. And some food sounds good."
Donna frowned a little, not sure if she believed her, but she didn't push. Instead she just titled her head, silently telling Rachel to follow her then walked out of the room. Rachel quickly put the phone on the bedside table and followed after Donna.
2018TITANS2018
Hank and Dawn were both quiet as Hank drove them down to their ranch. After leaving the Tower, they took a one-way flight back to Wyoming. They picked up their truck that they left at the airport and made their way home. They had hardly said a word the entire time. It was past midnight where they were now and had been up for hours. Dawn was actually a little surprised that neither of them had managed to get some sleep at all.
The bumpy road probably had something to do with that. The headache that had been plaguing Dawn since they left San Francisco might've had something to do with that as well. Dawn however was pretty sure that it was the events at the Tower that was keeping them both awake.
She was so, so mad at Dick. Restarting the Titans after everything that happened. Not telling Rachel, Gar and Jason about why they shut it down. Lying to them all those years ago. And yet, she was starting to wonder if leaving was really the best thing. They might've gotten Jason back, but Slade was still out there and planning who knows what. What were the odds that Slade would just disappear because they were gone like he did last time?
"I kinda forgot that the house burned down." Hank admitted as he pulled up to the ranch and put the truck in park, staring at the now empty spot where their house used to be. They had left the farm so fast after Dr. Light attacked, staying long enough to just arrange for someone to take care of their horses.
"Yeah." Dawn responded quietly, even though she wasn't really listening or looking.
"Good thing we got that old trailer to stay in while the house was being fixed up before." Hank said, looking over at the trailer that was sitting, practically abandoned, near the barn.
When they had first bought the ranch, the house was there but it hadn't been lived in for years. There were so many things that needed to fixed, wiring and plumbing that needed to be brought up to code, some rooms that needed to be repainted. It wasn't safe to live in for a good month. After they were finally able to move into the house, they decided to keep the trailer, just in case. They didn't expect that they would use it for something like this though.
"Yup." Dawn said, still not looking at anything but down at the truck floor.
Growing worried by his girlfriend's lack of response, Hank looked over at her and asked, "You okay?"
Looking up at him, Dawn said, "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Dawn?" Hank prodded, knowing that she wasn't being honest. After dating her for three years, he knew when something was going on with her.
"Slade's still out there." Dawn reminded him, finally looking over at her boyfriend. "As angry as I am at him, was it really a good idea to leave him to handle that on his own?"
Him. Dawn knew that Hank was still furious and that saying Dick's name would only anger him further and from the way he was gripping the wheel, avoiding saying his name didn't actually help.
"He brought it on himself." Hank practically growled, now avoiding her gaze.
"We all went after Slade, Hank." Dawn pointed out. She was still angry at Dick for how he handled everything and didn't tell them the truth about Jericho's death, but the last several hours had given her some time to think. They had all gone after Slade, which technically made him all of their responsibility, not just Dick's.
"But he's the one who lied, and apparently got Jericho killed. Besides, Dick's probably the best fighter. He'll be fine." Hank responded, then got out of the truck and slammed the door, making it clear that he was done with the conversation.
For another minute or so, Dawn continued sitting in the passenger seat. She wasn't sure how she felt about all of this anymore. The blonde was exhausted and this whole situation was giving her a massive headache. She would think about it later, when the anger was gone and she got some sleep.
