Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender or Teen Titans. I own only the plots/ideas/situations that I have placed the characters in and my OCs.

Important notes: Chapter title comes from the song Demons by Icon For Hire. Krath is the name I randomly gave the monster from Wicked Scary in the episode 'Fear Itself'. Do you folks have any idea how hard it is to come up with a nickname for Raven that doesn't involve some iteration of 'shadows' or 'darkness'? Its not fun let me tell you.

Fractured Minds
Chapter 19: Fight Back Your Demons

Titan's Tower; Raven's Room/Day 21

The tension filled silence wasn't comfortable for either of them. Azula expected to feel less conflicted in light of Raven's admission but the emotions she'd experienced over the last two days became suffocating in their intensity.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Raven's voice was a whisper and those three words allowed Azula to breath easier as the emotions vanished and that's when she heard the skittering.

Her eyes broke away from the rapidly fading glow of the dragon to lock onto Raven. She blinked three times, once to check if what she was seeing was another hallucination, the second time when the giant black centipede began coiling around Raven, and the third time when her eyes turned red as another set appeared above the first.

The black centipede hissed loud enough to crack glass and more skittering was heard as its body writhed in agitation; it settled only when Raven started to stroke the section that was within easy reach. "Its as you said. 'As nice as these feelings are they complicate matters far too much and you don't deserve such a broken individual'."

"Then its a good thing you don't get choose for me, Raven." Azula watched as the centipede swelled in size and coiled even tighter around the half-demon.

"In a week's time the bond will stabilize and until then neither of us can be sure of what we feel." As Raven spoke, more and more terrifying monsters came to life around her. Azula didn't like what she was hearing one bit.

"Will you be here for that week?" Deep down she knew what the answer would be.

' I want to be.' Raven is unable to force the words out. She is unaware that Timid has fully transformed into Fear.

'We can be mistress. Don't be a cowar-' An avalanche of books fell on Rage.

'You very well know why we can't be here. So shut the fuck up!'

Rage swelled up to half her total size sending the books flying in all directions. As her eyes tracked the Worm, red lances of soul-self honed in on the yellow cloak. Only for a green dome to appear around Intelligence. There was a deafening crack as Courage's kick hit Rage's jaw. Rage stumbled back and in her disorientation couldn't block the yellow fist that hit her stomach. Her back crashed into the ground and as she struggled to draw breath, dark gray chains slithered around her downed frame. Rage went unnaturally still as the chains secured her to the ground.

The chains slowly came alive with blood red runes. Rage hissed and struggled against the chains but this increased the spread of the runes on them. At the same time dark gray runes came to life on Rage, Courage, and Intelligence. She had never seen a more violent merge between her emotions before.

"I can't." And at that, Raven and the monsters were gone.

Azula loosed a growl and flung the cloak off of her. She was across the room and out the door in seconds. She needed to set something on fire. It seemed as if her luck was improving as she crossed paths with the waterbender just out side of the door. She ignored the soft whirring as the door shut behind her.

"You," She didn't even relish in the waterbender's apprehension as she grabbed the woman's arm and started dragging her in the direction of the elevator. "and me are going outside to spar. You will not stop until I'm exhausted."

"Azula as your docto-"

"As my doctor you're supposed to do what's best for the health of your patient." She wasn't in the mood for the waterbender's worry. "And right now what's best for me is to burn off the excess energy in Raven's runes before my mind snaps again."

Her breath came out in harsh bursts as she leaned against the rocks that created a natural wall around the outside training area. The salt water stung her minor cuts as it ran down her back, chest, and arms. To her immense satisfaction Zen was flat on her back, also breathing heavy, and sported a number of minor burns. She wasn't even that angry that her flames were a normal color because she'd just consciously and successfully bent lighting for the first time since her fight with the Avatar.

The sound of clapping would have startled the two benders if they weren't too tired to react. "Friends that was awesome."

"I'm with Star. I would hate to get on your bad side Princess."

"Too late." She deadpanned.

"You should be a little more worried about mine." The waterbender's glare impressed Azula.

"Why is every one so mean to me?" His whining was music to her ears. "Anyways, what do you guys say to joining us for movie night?"

"Movie night?" Zen asked. Azula waited with baited breath for Cyborg's usual grumbling and teasing for not knowing what something was but it never came. Azula's eyes narrowed at that. Looks like I have a waterbender to interrogate. Unfortunately for the waterbender neither Cyborg or Starfire were very forthcoming with explanations, stating that it would be easier for Zen to see for herself.

Robin was already waiting for them with popcorn and enough sugary snacks to feed an army of children. When they were settled around the couch Robin waved toward the coffee table. "So how about we let Azula pick the movie?"

"Why can't Zen pick one?"

"Where's Friend Raven?"

Azula forced the tension from her muscles and hoped no one noticed. She thought she felt Robin's eyes on her but it was hard to tell with that mask over his face.

"She left so she could observe Azar's spiritual remembrance." The light hearted mood evaporated somewhat as the other two titans went silent at Robin's reply. A rush of images and emotions threatened to overwhelm Azula and she didn't want to dwell on Raven anymore today. So she randomly grabbed the first movie within reach and hoped the movie would help stave off another trip into the half-demon's memories.

"This one looks good." She said as she shoved it toward Robin and quickly slid to the other end of the couch. She was glad when no one attempted to drag her closer to the center.

"What are we watchin' Robbie."

Robin's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as he crossed the room to put the movie in. "Wicked Scary."

"Its too bad Rae isn't here. She'll be so bummed that we're watching her favorite movie without her." The three titans shared wry grins at that. All hope that Azula had at escaping the inevitable was lost as Raven's vivid memories came alive around her when the movie's opening credits played.

His laughter was obnoxious and she wanted to get on with it."Just start the movie."

It was harder than she would admit to listen to how easily her friends could accept their fear. That wasn't a luxury she can afford and it was safer to pretend that nothing scared her than to tell her friends the truth.

"Come on Raven, you were totally scared." His teasing tone grated on her empathy, fragile as it was with her lack of decent meditation over the last six days; Azar's spiritual remembrance was almost over.

"I don't do fear." 'I live with it every day.' Is what she almost tacks on as she escapes to her room. It is the last time she'll use her powers that night.

Her sleep is uneasy. She relives the day she met her father and left Azarath. The fear and anger warring within her. The Fear had won when Rage held her aloft and those four blood red eyes tore through the flimsy barriers she'd built. And her fear took the shape of her namesake, the raven was massive, its wings spread wide, talons extended as it swooped down on her, and the last thing she saw were its four red eyes.

She bolted up right on her bed. As the lighting flashed and lit up her room, the shadows made by the various artifacts were creepier than normal. "Maybe I should re-decorate."

She shook off the last dregs of her nightmare and laid back down. A scream rent the air and momentarily drowned out the storm.

Beast Boy was taken first. Then Robin as he seemed to figure out what was happening. It was her idea to search the basement, that's where Starfire vanished and Cyborg soon after.

That's when her nightmare raven showed up, talons extended as it rounded the corner at the other end of the hall. She ran, despite never making it very far in her nightmares, knowing it was futile. She barely made it into the elevator in time, her hunter impacted the door and sent her flying into wall.

She let out relived breath. Her relief was short-lived when the floor started churning and liquid fear filled the elevator, it swallowed her whole. The elevator reached the ground floor and she was free for a moment before the shadows disgorged Krath with his sickly green skin, shinning black teeth, and bright red eye.

She stumbled back toward the kitchen and the door way that led to the garage. The door way was alive with red eyed rats that spilled from the shadows. The writhing mass of rodents forced her to retreat. As she reached another door way more rats greeted her.

Hedged in on all sides by her worst nightmares she felt her back hit the glass windows. A surge of bottomless dread and the spread of inky black made her head turn involuntarily to glance at the window. Four red eyes shone through the sea of black. As she turned to face the window fully, the black bent inwards and two giant clawed arms took shape.

She backed away as the enormous rat dogged her steps."Stay back. You don't scare me."

The back of her legs hit the coffee table and she almost fell across it. She scrambled on top of it as the smaller rats raced forward. The enormous one hissed in concert with Krath. She fell to her knees and tried to make herself as small as possible, her hands did little block out the noise. "I am not afraid, I am not afraid, I am not afraid."

The hissing was getting louder. She just wanted it to go away, she just wanted it to stop. There was only one way for it too. "I am afraid."

It was both worse and better at the same time. She refused to be ruled by the fear. It was still there and she suspected that it always would be. She stood and turned to stare defiantly at her living breathing nightmare. "I'm afraid but that doesn't mean I can't fight back."

Her eyes turned black and it was her nightmare's turn to stumble back in fear. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!"

One by one the nightmares were absorbed into her body and as her soul-self's separate pieces returned, it formed a giant crow. The crow circled her once before rushing through the ceiling to screech her defiance into the raging storm outside. She collapsed as sparks of her soul-self ran along her skin.

Her head was killing her when she woke up to her friends looking down at her with a mixture of relief and worry on their faces. She decided then that she had the best friends in the world and even if they would eventually hate her, she'd do anything to protect them.

At some point during the rush of memories she must have dozed off because she woke to Robin calling her name. "Azula?"

"Hmm." She kept her eyes closed and rolled away from him to go back to sleep.

"The movie's over. We're the unlucky souls who have to turn everything off."

She burrowed deeper into the couch cushions. "Have fun with that."

Her eyes were closed so she didn't see him shake his head in fond exasperation. His next words however drove any thoughts of drifting peacefully back to sleep out of her head. "Raven asked me to keep an eye on you for this week. And that includes making sure that you don't sleep on the couch, even though its very comfy."

"What else did she tell you?" She cursed herself for letting an edge of panic seep into her voice.

"She didn't have to tell me anything. The fact that she asked me to said everything." His pause ratcheted up the beating of her heart. "She asked me to help you because me and her have a bond too. But its no where near as strong as the one that you share with her."

She slowly sat up and re-arranged herself so that she could give him her full attention. She waved for him to take a seat on the couch. "I have a feeling this is going to be a lengthy conversation, might as well be as comfortable as possible."

He took the offer and once settled he continued, "When she explained about the bond and what it would mean, I wasn't too concerned about it. But then it started to solidify and I didn't react well to the echos. I went so far as to accuse her of manipulating my emotions.

She told me that she could make someone feel whatever she wants them too; hatred, fear, sadness, rage, confusion, pain, and love. After that she kept her distance from me so I could determine if what I felt was real or not, without her presence influencing me."

She was incised that he could be so stupid. She fought down the seething rage as she organized her thoughts. "My first true encounter with Raven was the best and worst day of my life. In the span of ten seconds she earned my trust. Everyday since she's shown me that it wasn't misplaced. I had thought that she was only helping me because my uncle told her to. That he and my brother sent her to torment me, that it was a cruel joke and I was waiting for it to be just another delusion. Instead she turned out to be the only thing that I can be sure of right now. Another monster who fears the devastation that they're capable of unleashing on others.

I know how to make people fear me. I know how to manipulate people. I should be angry about the bond, manipulation at its finest, but I'm not because I trust Raven not to hurt me. Our bond wasn't something she planned at all, it just happened through no fault of hers and I suspect that the bond wouldn't have happened at all if there was another way to protect me."

He flashed her a grin but there was a tinge of sadness to it. I hope whatever this is that's going on between the two of you, works out.

"Come on Princess," He chuckled at her as he dodged the couch cushion that she threw. "I'll show you back to your room."

She followed after him deep in thought about how different her life was from how it had been for the last six years. She could only recall snatches of images and sounds, it frustrated her to no end that she couldn't remember more than that. It was like that even before her bond with Raven formed.

"Good night Azula." His voice jarred her back into reality. She acknowledged him with a nod. As he moved further down the hallway and eventually disappeared around the corner she turned to the door.

The name upon it read: Raven. She wasn't sure she wanted to stay in her room but in the end she curled up under neath the black and gold cloak on Raven's bed. That night Azula's dreams were plagued by a paper man and a black dragon that breathed green fire.

Titan's Tower; the Training Room/Day 27

Her days fell into a routine after Raven's disappearance. She meditated with Starfire in the morning before breakfast with the others, after that Robin usually asked her to spar with him, Zen supervised the sessions, and then Cyborg would pester her until she agreed to play video games with him; she'd play until she reduced him to a pathetic pile of metal and tears. Sometimes she played with Zen when the Titans were called away to help the city and on occasion the waterbender won.

There were some nights when the echos from Raven kept her awake. On those nights she'd go sit on the roof wrapped in Raven's cloak. Her chi was still too unbalanced for her to be able to regulate it consistently, so there were days when she wore the cloak around the tower. She was extremely grateful that no one mentioned it when she did.

It was during one of her spars with Robin, that she had just won, when the siren went off. But it was not the same as the others she'd heard. She was about to ask him about it when the siren cut off and Cyborg's voice came over the intercom. "Robin, bring Azula with you to the strategy room."

A feeling of dread settled in her stomach as she followed Robin. When they reached it Cyborg wasn't the only one there, Starfire and Zen were too. Cyborg was furiously typing away in front of a wall dotted with fifteen different screens. Each screen had images of a raging forest fire on them.

"Zen said that she could help the firefighters get the fire under control and that her odds would be better with Azula there too. One of the helicopters spotted Raven evacuating stranded hikers and the various campsites." Cyborg said as soon as he caught sight of them. As Robin opened his mouth to grill him about why they weren't already there helping Raven, Cyborg cut him off, "The Jump Institute and the meta prison were transferring inmates. The buses are missing-"

"Starfire with me. Cyborg get Zen and," He looked at Azula, asking a silent question. At her nod he continued issuing his orders, "Azula to the fire. Then coordinate with the J.C.P.D and their SWAT teams to set up a perimeter to catch any inmates that make it out of the blaze and past me and Starfire. Titan's go."

The smoke was thick in the air where Cyborg dropped them before racing off out of the heart of the inferno. As soon as they stepped out of the car they were swarmed by firefighters, "There's just two of you? You are Titans right? What can you do?"

"Yes, yes, and watch." Zen said as she stepped to the nearest cluster of trees. Her arms were already in motion as she exhaled a breath. Several of the firefighter's jaws dropped as ice formed on the trees and grass around Zen.

At the same time an ominous chorus of crackling wood signaled the fall of several trees. The firefighters were scrambling backwards but many of them were already resigned to their fate until they felt the temperature get even hotter. Blue flames had engulfed the falling trees and turned them into ash. The unbearable heat steadily began to drop afterwards and the firefighters watched as all around them the flames grew smaller and smaller by the second. As the flames grew smaller, ice quickly spread across the ground and vegetation.

"Are you peasants just going to stand around and watch us do all the work?" The firefighters snapped out of their amazement and moved to assist the two benders immediately upon hearing the authority in her voice.

Before long she could barely control the raw amount of chi that she was absorbing but just as she was starting to lose her grip on it, it was leeched away and the runes on her arm started to appear. But instead of their usual red, they were electric blue. The next time she was forced to use her bending to incinerate falling trees the strain wasn't as bad as the first time. She didn't have time to think more on it as the flames on the trees near the firefighters assisting her, flared outward sending them flying.

Her eyes narrowed as she diverted the tongue of flame that followed after them. She hadn't wanted to say anything about her growing suspicions to Zen nor did she want to ask but she had no choice now. "Zen," The waterbender made to go to her but she waved her back, "Where was my father sent?"

Her only warning was Zen's eyes going wide before she felt something ram into her side, sending her tumbling to the ground. As she rolled across the ground fire rained down on her. She rolled a little further before springing up and spinning round to generate a vortex of flame to dissipate the fireballs still being launched at her.

"Daddy's right here Princess. And you are going to do as I say and kill those worthless friends of yours."

"Like hell, Dad." She growled and tamped down on the surge of unpleasant emotions and memories that threatened to rise up at his words. She glanced toward Zen and the firefighters. "What are you peasants doing? The fires aren't going to put themselves out."

She mentally patted herself on the back for succeeding in keeping the apprehension and fear out of her voice. As she re-focused on her father she sent a volley of fire balls at him and rushed in. Each step closer to him brought flashes of that Agni Kai they fought to the front of her mind. She shook her head clear as she slashed at him with a fire dagger blazing in her hand.

He parried with one of his own but was unprepared for the knee that slammed into his abdomen. Fire spilled into the sky as her uppercut wrenched his head back. She spun to his left, smashing her elbow down on the back of his neck. He collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

She stood, panting heavily, over his prone form.

She had never felt more alive as she watched the fire cyclone take shape in the air in front of her. She hadn't thought it possible to recreate it in an actual fight. She was both relieved and terrified of what would happen to her now. Her body was awash in fear as she closed the distance. It was the first that she had ever felt like herself in his presence. "I-I-I y-yield."

It took little effort to form the fire dagger as she stopped before his kneeling frame. Her arm was steady as she spoke, "And?"

His laughter rang in her ears. It startled her badly enough that the dagger of flame dissipated into nothing as the laughter echoed around the throne room. His laughter slowly subsided and eventually faded, the smile on his face made her knees shake. "I am so proud of you for wanting to take their heads off yourself. I'll have the circus freak and Zuko's lovesick bride brought to the capital immediately."

"We should make it a grand ceremony in front of the nobility and the commoners." All the color drained form her face as another her stepped from the shadows to draw level with her father. She held out a hand to help him from the floor, all trace of his previous vulnerability gone.

"What a splendid idea Princess." Darkness encroached on her vision for a moment before another, far more sickening scene replaced it.

A roar deafened her as she stood on a stage in the central courtyard in front of the palace. To her immediate right were two kneeling prisoners with hoods covering their faces. "Citizens of Caldera city!" Another roar filled her ears and she basked in it for a moment. Once it had died down a bit. "Today we are here to witness the execution of two traitors, traitors that were once my most trusted subordinates."

She motioned for the hoods to be removed, the crowd's reaction was a clamor of boos and jeering, some enterprising citizens even threw rotting vegetables at the pair.

"And I will be their executioner."

The commander of the imperial guard stepped forward and presented her with the ceremonial katana. She firmly grasped the blade's hilt and with zero hesitation removed the traitors heads. She then collected their heads and presented them to her father as the crowd roared their approval. To her further horror she felt the elation shimmering under her skin as her signature smirk formed fully on her face. "Trust is for fools. I will never doubt you again father."

'Sifu snap out of it. That's not what happened. This isn't what happened. We beat that bastard into the ground. Our friends are alive and safe. We didn't...we didn't...we did that...' She fell into the familiar all consuming rage. A spike of agony dragged her back to reality.

There was fire all around her as well as his laughter. With every passing second her rage boiled her blood only for a soothing emptiness to push back against the heat. Flashes of light filled her rapidly blackening vision. The emptiness had won. The lance of cold light arced through the air and shattered the blackness, striking the one controlling it.

"Azarath," The thrumming rage in her blood slowed to a sluggish crawl. "Metrion," The tightness in her chest loosened. "Zinthos." The sight of Raven standing before her with a hand on her right arm, over the angry red runes, was what greeted her when the flood of emotions abruptly cut off. "This is my fault."

Gold met violet as they shifted to white. Azula emerged from the shadows ten feet away from Raven. She watched in slow motion as the lighting bolt hit the half-demon's back. Her world narrowed to the half-demon and as she rushed forward to catch Raven before she hit the ground, she didn't spare a glance for the retreating form of her father.

Titan's Tower; 3:00 a.m. Tower Infirmary/Day 30

"I figured that you'd still be here." He sounded as tired as she felt.

Her eyes remained focused on the book in her lap as she waited for him to either, enter the room or leave. She didn't have to wait long before he plopped down into the chair next to hers. "It isn't like I have anywhere else to be."

"Touche." He nodded and fell silent. His silence was short lived, "But you have been in here all day."

"And that's a problem?" She asked as she closed the book and set it on the table by the bed.

"No but when Raven wakes up and learns that we didn't look after you properly, it becomes one." His answer is met with a wide grin.

"What's she going to do, toss you out of a window?" She was highly amused by the thought. Robin thought so as well when she heard him chuckle, when his laughter stopped. "Its happened before."

"Well considering that I have taken breaks for food and have managed several naps throughout the day. I don't think she'll be forced to such extremes." His answering grin was small. Silence once more descended.

She was grateful that he seemed content to not break it this time. Her gratitude also extended to his attempt at distracting her from what happened three days ago with her father and Raven. It'd been shortly after Raven had collapsed that she realized their bond had settled, the rage, fear, self-loathing, and pain was gone; Raven's emotions were gone. Azula's thoughts and feelings were different than before.

She wasn't sure that she had not not killed her friends. That she had enthusiastically chopped their heads off. Presented them to her father and basked in his approval. That memory had been too vivid, too real for it to not be what happened. But then another memory with a different outcome would flood her mind. Both memories terrified her. She couldn't shake the image of holding her friends' heads by their hair, blood slowly dripping from the jutting bone to pool at her feet.

The only measures of comfort that she had was the black and gold cloak, and that her father had been caught by Cyborg. She was relieved that she wouldn't have had to help the titans hunt her father down.

"Here," She heard a rustle and then her vision was obscured by a communicator, it was black and had thin lines of white spreading across the entire surface. An azure capitol A was on the front of it. Tentatively she took it from him. "You are now officially an honorary titan. You tried warn us when you lost control of your bending, you fought to protect Zen and Raven from your father and Slade, and you helped save a lot of people the night of the fire."

"But I'm not a good guy." She whispered even as her grip on the device tightened.

"Many of the good guys would argue that Raven isn't one either but like her, you will always have a place among the Titans. Good night." He said.

She didn't notice the silent tears until she felt a box of tissues gently bump into the side of her head, she glanced at it and it was covered in shadows. Her heart rate skyrocketed as she avoided looking in the half-demon's direction. When she had the courage to look, her panic faded as soon as she saw that Raven was still asleep. She ignored the tissues in favor of using her hand to wipe the moisture away as Raven's eyes opened slowly.

"The memory wasn't real. You didn't kill them." Raven's voice had no inflection and was so quiet.

"It felt like it. How could it not be?" She tried to keep her emotions under control, knowing how they'd affect the half-demon but it was impossible.

"That's what the pit does to anyone caught in it. You encountered Ozai during a memory flare as our bond settled. The runes on your arm were affected by the flare he was experiencing and made your worst fear play out. The real outcome of your Agni Kai with him changed. And now the two memories are interwoven making it hard for you to tell which one is real." A shadow from the ceiling fell over the half-demon. It was the giant black centipede.

"You're the best and worse thing that's ever happened to me." She waited until the same monsters had taken form from the shadows around Raven before she created the fire spirit. The spirit was the first that she'd ever created with her blue flames; it was Sokon. She flitted about the shadowy monsters before settling on the half-demon's lap. "The best because you've done nothing but help and protect me, which is more than I can say for my family. The worst because I trusted you."

"Y-you did?" At the quivering breathlessness of Raven's question, the fire spirit went from red to blue.

"I did," The air in the infirmary grew colder the longer her silence stretched on. "even before the bond was formed."

"And do you trust me now?"

"Yes." She spoke without hesitation.

"Even like this."

She didn't respond right away, at least not with words. With a wave of her hand her fire spirit vanished. She was keenly aware of Raven's eyes on her as she stood up, placed her T-comm on top of the book on the table, and moved toward the bed. The half-demon moved to the far side of it to accommodate Azula. As she settled on the mattress and before the half-demon could react, Azula pulled the unresisting Raven into her side, she didn't speak until the half-demon's head was tucked underneath her chin. "You're the empath, you tell me."

Slowly, ever so slowly, she felt the half-demon relax into her. "Are you sure about this?"

"Are you?" She shot back and pulled Raven impossibly closer. "Now shut up and sleep, Sokon."

Before either of them could drift off to sleep, two balls of fire appeared inside the infirmary. A brilliant flash of light forced a growl out of Raven and as her eyes opened they were pure white. Two sentient fire soldiers stood to either side of the bed, one was orange and the other was black. As the soldiers reached for them, Raven was hit with a sense of familiarity. The same could not be said for Azula as a fire dagger formed in her hand.

"Wait." The instant that Azula's attention was on the half-demon, the soldiers grasped each woman by the arms and began to flicker like a dying fire. The soldiers vanished just as the door to the infirmary opened.

Cyborg stuck his head into the room and upon seeing the empty bed he grumbled, "The least Rae could've done was switch off the heart monitor before escaping."

He lazily crossed the room and did just that before trudging back out of the infirmary. It wasn't until he was back in his room that he realized that it was his turn to make breakfast. With a mighty sigh he made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast.