A loud hiss broke the silence of the room allowing the large metal door to slide open as Robin walked into the medbay. Cyborg briefly looked over his shoulder to see who was there but returned to his work soon after noticing his leader.

"Hey, any word back from Kid?"

Robin shook his head as he stepped up beside where Cyborg was standing, eying the text constantly streaming across the holographic interface before him.

"Not yet. It's a long run to Steel City from here though."

Cyborg nodded not taking his eyes from the glass window covered in data before him.

"Yeah. I hope he checks in soon, I'm starting to get worried."

Robin placed a comforting hand on Cyborg's shoulder who once again turned to look at him. Robin offered a somber smile. Not knowing whether Bee was safe was definitely a stressor for Cyborg and Robin knew it. The two sighed heavily. Robin moved his gaze beyond the medical data in front of him to look through the glass at the pale empath hovering above her bed. Her body looked so peaceful as it floated there but Robin could feel the little strands of pain trickling through their bond. He was getting better at recognizing it but knowing even a fraction of the pain she was experiencing was torment to his soul. He wished he could reach out and take it all away from her just as she had done for him.

"How's she doing?"

Robin asked, trying to hide the level of his concern. He already knew it was bad, he just wanted to know how bad.

"Well.. not great."

Robin's heart dropped but he waited for him to continue.

"Almost every bone in her body is either bruised like hell or cracked. I don't know how long it will take her to heal all the damage."

Robin sighed knowing her healing process. It would be faster than that of a normal human but exponentially more painful and intense. A hand absentmindedly travelled to linger on the wound he'd received only an hour ago. The cut wasn't life threatening but the 8-inch long gash proved painful making it difficult to move even with the patch job he'd managed to hide from the rest of the team. Robin leaned forward with his hands on the window sill and his head hung low.

"I should have been stronger. I should have been able to protect her. . . I knew what they could do."

The last few words fell from his tongue as a whisper intended for no one save for himself. His righteous fury was trained inward as he fought against his own failures.

"You knew?"

The hushed words were not as silent as perhaps he had thought.

"What do you mean, 'you knew'? What's been going on with you two?"

A sigh left Robin's parted lips as he contemplated the answer he'd give. He had half a mind to lie to the towering man but Cyborg was one of his closest friends. If anyone could understand it would be him. Not to mention that the metal man could smell a fib more reliably than a lie detector.

"For the last few months Raven and I have been having similar dreams.. all of them are centered around her and those three men in that image bru.. Batman sent us."

Cyborg nodded as he listened. Thankfully he seemed to miss the near slip.

"So you've known about these guys since before the league contacted us?"

Cyborg was clearly bitter but Robin hoped he could see through his own anger.

"They're referred to as the dog of Hades, the Cerberus triplets. They're Ravens half-brothers."

All semblance of his anger was succeeded by pure shock. His mouth stood open a bit as he switched his gaze from Robin to the young empath.

"You mean to tell me that Trigon has other kids? I guess that would explain their powers."

Robin nodded and Cyborg turned back to look at him.

"Cerberus.. that's Greek mythology, right?. So is that why you two went on that trip? To find out more?"

Robin nodded again before providing a greater explanation.

"We didn't find out much more than what I was able to dig up from here but we were able to confirm the connection."

Cyborg nodded as he processed the information and tried to think of his next question.

"So do you know what they want with her?"

Robin tensed up, remembering the details of their dreams.

"I'm not sure... the dreams never ended well though."

Cyborg looked back at him with a perplexed expression.

"What does that mean?"

Cyborg never got his answer. The display before him began to flash red signifying something was wrong with Raven. He quickly tapped away at the holographic interface before studying the heart rate monitor and noticing it was steadily increasing.

"What's going on?"

Robin asked concern embedded in his face. Cyborg shook his head.

"I don't know, her heart rates jumping up. It's almost like she's stressed or scared."

Robin turned his eyes back to her taking in the pained expressions that began flashing on her normally serene features. Her body began to tense up and went rigid for a few moments before she completely dropped out of the air landing on the bed with a thud. At that exact moment the heart rate monitor flatlined. Robin's eyes went wide as he ran into the room.

"Raven!"

He was by her side in a flash and Cyborg followed in quickly after. Robin checked for a pulse and was relieved to find one though it remained fast. Cyborg, upon inspecting the equipment hooked up to her concluded that her powers had fried them. Robin took hold of her right hand in a vain attempt to comfort her. The physical connection instead opened up their bond so that he could feel the full brunt of her emotions and pain. The feeling of her wounded bones was nearly overwhelming but the strong impression of fear was so much stronger. It scared Robin to think of all she was experiencing alone.

Suddenly her she shot up panting heavily and looking around the room. As soon as she found Robin her eyes stayed glued to him.

"Raven, what's going on?"

When she'd awoken the open connection between them had been clamped off but he could still see the terror in her eyes.

"They're here!"

As she said that the tower shook as if a bomb had gone off. Robin and Cyborg struggled to stay standing, the former using Raven's bed for support. Once the tremor stopped Cyborg tapped away on his arm.

"They're in the tower! BB and Star are already fighting in the operations center."

Robin looked up from Raven to nod before returning to look at her petrified face.

"We'll take care of them."

Robin forced courage into his words with a small comforting smile but based on her expression he could tell it did little to comfort her. He reached over to the side table and grabbed her communicator before handing it to her.

"If anything tries to get in here, call us."

She didn't nod she just continued staring back at him. Knowing they needed to get moving robin turned and followed cyborg out of the room. Cyborg hit a button on the wall and steel blast doors fell into place locking her within. Raven closed her eyes as she fought her inner fear. She wanted to believe in her friends but after their last encounter she was doubtful they would succeed.

—

Robin and Cyborg ran into the room to find Starfire and Beastboy already fighting. Two brothers fought while the third stood still, watching as they entered the room. Robin stared down Jacob with a confused look. Only an hour prior he'd shoved a blade straight through his chest. He was still dealing with the repercussions of his own wound but to see him standing there as if nothing had happened concerned him greatly.

"Ah, the white knight returns."

He chuckled to himself as he began stepping forward. Cyborg immediately trained his cannon on him.

"How the hell. . ."

Robin thought out loud. The words carried and Jacob spoke as if he'd heard his thoughts only a moment earlier.

"You honestly thought a simple stab wound could stop a prophecy? You're more daft than I thought."

Robin ground his teeth together as his animosity for this newfound foe continued to grow. Any more and it might surpass his now stagnant hatred for Slade.

Bursts of energy exploded behind him as the fight continued to wage on. Cyborg began powering up his cannon ready to fire. Robin raised an arm stopping him before looking at him over his shoulder.

"Help the others, I can take him."

Robin nearly spat out the last words as he turned back to look at the pale man. Cyborgs eyes lingered on robin a moment with clear concern before he followed his leaders commands. As he left robin once again drew his birdarang sword while Jacob pulled his claymore from his back.

"Come now ippótis, you cannot save her."

Robin charged at his opponent, adrenaline masking the pain radiating from his chest.

—-

The fight was short. The titans carried the upper hand for a short while, but the demonic magic of their adversaries proved too powerful. Robin and Cyborg were now side by side with Jacob and Jared walking towards them. Behind them, Jesse stood with a foot on top of beastboy's tired body and Starfire held in his arms with a dagger at her throat. The two remaining heroes backed up as the eldest brother moved closer.

"Father told us all about you. You're tenacity in battle, your unwavering loyalty, your false sense of hope."

Robin growled in response to Jacobs words. He stopped his advance for a moment.

"Allow us to prove how misplaced that hope of yours is."

With that he nodded to his right. Jesse drove the blade of his knife into the shoulder of the red-headed alien. An ear-piercing scream rung out through the tower as her body slowly turned to stone.

"Starfire!"

Robin and Cyborg shouted in unison. Were Beastboy not unconscious he would have joined in. Rage took over yet again and Robin charged the two brothers with his sword. He swung wildly at Jacob but his haphazard attack was easily parried. His sword hit the floor and before he could turn to defend he felt a black being pressed into his neck. At the same moment Jared charged Cyborg tackling him to the ground and pinning him there.

"Your anger is exhilarating. It fills me with power. I wonder how much emotion you'll feel with the next one."

He nodded again at Jesse who produced another dagger and jammed it straight into Beastboy's back.

"No!"

Robin screamed with a mixture of fear and rage. Beastboy let out a yelp from the pain but he was quickly silenced by the petrification process.

"Hmm.. that was lackluster. Let's try again."

He nodded at Jared but before he could take action against Cyborg heavy metal doors opened and everyone looked to its threshold. Grins appeared on the brothers while worry and shock covered the remaining titans.

"Raven, get back!"

Robin shouted. Raven stood in the doorway with a look of pure rage embedded in her features. The more she took in the room the angrier she seemed to get. If it weren't for the way she was leaned up against the doorframe just to keep standing she may have been intimidating.

"Dear Sister, how good of you to finally join us. It would have been disappointing for you to miss the whole show."

Jacob gestured to the solid stone statues of Beastboy and Starfire. Raven's rage only built up further though it didn't show apart from her demeanor. Raven struggled to step forward through the pain of her aching body, but through gritted teeth she staggered forward a few more steps.

"Leave them alone!"

Her body showed the signs of her weakened state but despite her powers working to mend her wounds, black magic sparked at her fingertips.

"Ah, but what fun would that be?"

Raven began to seeth with rage at the sight of his smirk. She quickly stole glances at Cyborg and Robin, her eyes lingering on the latter. Raven's eyes softened at the sight of blood starting to seep from the light cut on Robin's neck.

"I'll go willingly. . . If you promise not to hurt them."

Her tone was clearly defeated as she spoke. In their current standing bargaining seemed to be the only option. She couldn't stand to see her family hurt again because of her.

"How very selfless of you. Unfortunately it's not up to debate. Father wants them out of the picture."

With that he raised his dagger high in the air preparing to bring it down on Robin's neck. Before it reached its destination Raven screamed.

"NO!"

It sounded through the room and perhaps the world just as it did the day that Slade had returned. Everything stood still and the world suddenly felt colder, as if the warmth of life had been ripped away from the earth. It took her a few moments to recognize what she'd done. Once the realization hit she knew she'd only have a limited amount of time to get away. She had to move now. Looking around the room she let her instincts take over. Despite the immense physical pain she was enduring she waned her powers off healing as she lifted herself in the air. Black tendrils of dark energy shot out from her now ethereal form wrapping around each of the titans and pulling their body's to her. As they did they were consumed by her soul self and she transformed into a raven darting off through the sky. She made moves directly towards the shore before diving beneath the streets of Jump City and disappearing.