I know some of us are confused as to what's going down, and who's doing what...but I assure you...it will all make sense soon. promises, promises

Now, to make it clear...this chapter will switch back and forth between 2006, with our present Titans, and 2011, with the freaky older Titans...I shall try to make the transition as clear as possible. Thank you.

2006

The morning went about as well as it could. There was little to do but train and goof off, since just last week the Titans had gone through the city cleaning up and taking out the trash, figuratively, not literally. There were no real big bads for the Titans to take down as of late, only the smaller crimelords and psychos par for the course of a Hero-patrolled city. Most villains didn't like small towns, and kept to the cities, and almost all the major cities had Heroes. It seemed though, that Hero cities had more crimes and villains perpetuating them than a city without a hero. Cyborg supposed that the villains naturally were inclined to have an enemy around to conflict with weekly. For them, it'd used to be Slade. However, Slade had disappeared a long time ago, and so far, hadn't returned.

After a brief training simulation involving Raven going crazy and trying to kill them (something that would totally never happen), one that ended with Beast Boy tackling her mid-air, and them tumbling down and into the water (with Raven rising and smacking the shit out of him, as usual), the team decided some hang-out time was in order. Raven wanted to beg off, but the needling of both Gar and Kory prevented even that small pleasure for her. Resigned to her fate, Raven traded her uniform for lounging clothes, and joined them in the living room.

They'd only begun arguing about what to have on the pizza when a strong urge came over Raven. It wasn't really an urge, it was more an instinct. Maybe a vision? Whatever it was, it came on her suddenly and without warning, causing her to drop the cup of tea she held and lean back into the couch, raising her hands to her head as if in pain, but it wasn't really pain either. It was...awareness.

Awareness stretching in all directions, her senses flying out without guide and touching everything and everyone. Something was calling to her senses, or rather, stripping away her control. Beside her, Gar turned and saw her distress, reaching out and touching her hands before she could tell him not to. With a silent gasp, she started to leech his emotions, pulling them into her, rolling them around in her head, before spitting them back out again amplified. Lust, anger, grief, and malcontent, all inside her and thrown back to him, worse than before.

Raven gasped again, and let consciousness slide away, not knowing what else to do.

2011

Raven opened her eyes to stare at her teammates, and behind them, Flash slowed on what appeared to be a treadmill, panting as if tired, even though truthfully it wasn't as much of a taxation on him as it appeared to be. He just wanted some attention. Not really unusual for him, though the attention-loving Flash had been in rare appearance lately.

She smiled, and was actually tired, but didn't let it show. "It's done. She's unconscious and won't be able to fight."

Arsenal stepped up to the couch, stooping down to look into her eyes. She'd started off hovering in mid-air, almost meditating, but as soon as the small rip in the timeline had formed, thanks to Flash's invention, she'd sent all her power and mental abilities into it, shaping it like a needle so as not to alert anyone, and slowly sent her own self into a long sleep. Raven knew herself and her powers, and knew that her younger self would have interfered with the transportation through time. It was a principle the monks had always taught her on Azarath. Time wasn't to be tampered with. It only caused problems. There were many things that she'd discarded that the monks had taught her, and this would join the list.

Roy looked into her eyes. "You're tired." It wasn't a question so she didn't answer. It always surprised her that Roy could read her so easily. She hadn't embraced her emotions readily, and the old habit to suppress and hide things was still prevalent. Teammates she'd worked with for seven years couldn't read her, but her lover of two years could. It was a strange thing, this love that was so new to her.

Raven nodded. "It was difficult. I was still very closed then, no emotions to ease the shields or to use against me."

Arsenal smiled. "Emotions made you stronger too."

"One of the few things they have going for them," she replied as she smiled back. Arsenal passed his hand down her hair, before lifting her into his arms.

"She needs rest," he proclaimed, to the smirks of their teammates.

Cyborg grinned the widest. "Well, if you're going to rest, don't take longer than an hour, cause we're about to start. I don't want y'all missing the action."

Arsenal laughed and muttered under his breath, "We'll be getting some different kinds of action."

Raven smacked him in the head, almost causing him to drop her. "Hey! What did I do?"

"You're a pervert."

"You enjoy it."

"I tolerate it."

"You tolerate and enjoy it."

She sighed.

Nightwing and Starfire watched as the couple left the room. Nightwing questioned aloud, "Do you really think it's a good time to let them go play?"

"Well, Raven would have to leave anyways. She amplifies most magical energy around her, so having her near an event like this might break through Dr. Fates' shields and alert people we don't want alerted. Arsenal gets to go with her...cause...well...it's just nice to see young love."

Starfire sighed dreamily, and leaned into Nightwing. "What of old love?"

Cyborg laughed. "Yeah, you and Nightwing are passé by now."

"Pass what?" She asked, but Nightwing only smiled and didn't explain. She shrugged it off and went back to studying the device Flash and Cyborg were slowly checking on.

"It looks good, and it passed the test," Cyborg said to Wally.

Wally, not in uniform, and looking slightly weary, replied, "Thought it would. After this, I think I'll dismantle it."

Cyborg looked surprised. "Why?"

Flash looked down, sorrow etched across his face. "It's too tempting."

Cyborg nodded, and knew why it was so tempting. Wally's son, Kid Flash, had died only a year ago. He'd died because of Connor Kent, Superboy, but once again, there was no way to prove it. It was Titan word against Superboy's, and as usual, the world's greatest superhero's clone won. The Flash had believed Cyborg though, and left the Justice League, going into seclusion. It was at Cyborg's request that Wally had come, and brought this with him. It would be the last thing Flash would do for this world. After this, he was out. Completely. No more crimefighting, no more violence, no more death. He would settle down, and let his life pass him by. It too, was tempting.

Cyborg nodded. "So, let's go over the plan again..."

2006

"What happened?" Robin demanded as he, Cyborg, and Starfire followed Beast Boy as he carried Raven to the medical lab.

"I don't know! We were talking, and I looked over and she'd dropped her tea and was all wide-eyed and gasping. I thought she'd burned herself or something, but then her eyes went all white and stuff. Like she was CRAZY."

"And?" Cyborg prompted as Gar set Raven down on the medical table, before stepping back as Cyborg started to run tests.

"I grabbed her hand and she kinda gasped again. I think she started to come out of it, cause her pupils came back but were all green, but then she just slumped and wouldn't wake up!" Gar said in a rush, allowing Starfire to pull him away from the table.

After several minutes of tense silence, Cyborg looked up from the computer. "She's fine."

Starfire wrung her hands. "What do you mean? She won't wake up."

"She's...asleep, it appears. I don't think it's natural, but all her brain activity is normal for someone who is asleep. I could try some drugs to wake her up, but..."

"But what?" Gar asked, hopping onto the counter where he could stare at Raven without any interference.

Cyborg explained. "But she's half-demon. I don't know how drugs affect her."

"Well try!" Gar told him, his anxiety clear on his lean faces. The others exchanged glances, before silently electing Robin to talk to him.

"We can't. We'll just have to wait and if she doesn't wake up, then we'll take her to a hospital. None of us are really doctors; we could end up killing her."

"Why wait? Why not go now?"

"Raven might just snap out of this. It might be some quirky demon thing." Cyborg supplied as he straightened Raven on the table, getting out a sheet to cover her with.

"Or," Robin added, "this might be an attack of some kind, and I don't think we should immediately get civilians involved."

Gar nodded, knowing they were right, but not liking it. It was uncomfortable for him to watch a close teammate just lie there, not awake, hurt, and not knowing what to do about it. The other three stood there too, alternately watching Raven and the over-taxed Gar. Robin wasn't sure what to do either, but as leader, there wasn't much he could do but wait. Starfire was contemplating if Raven would mind if she painted her toenails while she slept. Cyborg was thinking that he would use Gar's obvious crush on Raven to blackmail him into doing the dishes later.

As it was, all those thoughts were interrupted within the next couple seconds.

2011

Wally ran faster and harder than before, pounding on the Time Treadmill, though the Titans couldn't really tell, given that he was no more than a blur at this point, one that shone and crackled with something akin to electricity. Around the event Wally was creating, the Titans watched with trepidation. Nightwing questioned whether this was truly a good idea, whether or not he could seek out Batman, convince him to convince the League to assist. Kory questioned whether or not Nightwing would ever live up to the promises he made. Cyborg questioned whether or not it'd been a mistake to call the Flash, who was still locked in a grief untouchable by even the injustices of the world.

Raven and Arsenal questioned little, so lost in sensations as they were. However, Raven felt the event forming below her feet, and it distracted her a little, allowing Arsenal to get a lick in that caused her to scream a bit in frustration.

As the event widened, almost big enough for the Flash to get through, it started to put out small shockwaves. In his chambers, Dr. Fate felt them, and reached for the small communicator at his side. He'd agreed to do this for Raven, who'd once tutored him in demonology during an emergency several years ago, but this was beyond was he could do. He tried in vain to reach Cyborg, to tell him that the shock waves were going to grow too large for him to shield, but couldn't get through.

Cyborg couldn't hear much of anything over the sound of the timeline ripping, not even with his superb hearing. The trio of Titans stood and watched as the rip fully opened. It was time for Wally to start his second part. The rip would only last a few seconds, not long enough for anyone else to go in and retrieve the past Titans, no one but Wally. A distinct set of blue of white colors disappeared from the blur of action in front of them, and for a few seconds, time slowed down, as the machine slowed just a bit. Finally, it sped back up as the colors reappeared amidst the event, and a five kids almost spontaneously appeared in front of the three of them. They knew it wasn't magic, but it appeared like it sometimes.

Four of the kids stared up at the Titans, shock, caution, and readiness for action flickering through those gazes. Robin stood, and went toe-to-toe with his future self, though he didn't know it. Starfire, who did recognize his future self, stood and dusted herself off, before sharing a small wave with her own future self, who she didn't recognize. Beast Boy stood protectively over the prone body of Raven, and Cyborg studied himself, who he did recognize, cause he was a sexy bitch if he did say so himself, and he did.

Behind them, Wally started to slow down the treadmill, slowly closing the rift. As the noise abated, a chirping on Victor's arm became apparent. He pressed a button, and listened to whatever was being broadcast into his mind. He swore out loud, before turning to Kory. "Go get Raven. We got a problem."

"Damn right, you've got a problem! Who are you and why are we here?" Robin demanded. Nightwing, slightly amused, used one arm to push the kid away, causing him to stumble and kick out, knocking Nightwing in the shin and making him swear and not be so amused anymore.

Kory nodded and slowly floated out of the room, leaving Victor and Nightwing to deal with their past selves. Cyborg grinned. "Welcome to the Future! I am Cyborg, your host for the day, and this is Nightwing, the bouncer. Please keep all hands and feet to yourselves, lest we have to spank you."

Beast Boy spoke up for the first time. "How do we know you are who you say you are?"

Cyborg glared at Beast Boy, old feelings resurfacing, but he pushed them down. "I can prove it."

"Then do so," Robin said, glaring at both of them, his hand on his batarangs.

For his part, the younger Cyborg grinned and gestured to Victor, the older Cyborg. "Oooh, I'm sexy."

Beast Boy and Robin fought the urge to smack him.

OOoohhh...yay! We get some answers! Oh, and...Raven and Arsenal...totally not doing what you think they are you dirty people. DIRTY.