Teen Titans: Unexpected Fate

Chapter Three

Disclaimer: UGH! Don't even start with me on this again. They're not mine! I don't own Teen Titans. Never have, never will. Bitches.

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Raven awoke in great pain the next morning, her body aching incredibly from the intense training as well as her odd sleeping position. She frowned and groaned as she sat up, rubbing her neck to try and get the cricks out. She managed to get up in a few minutes and headed to her bathroom, turning on the water and pulling out a fresh towel. She happened to look into the mirror before getting into the shower, groaning even more as she saw her blotchy and swollen face, grimacing as her thoughts from last night hit her.

She bit her lip to keep from crying at the idea that Beast Boy was her soul-mate and that her feelings for Robin meant nothing since they were obviously not meant to be. Even though she really didn't believe in most of this stuff, Raven couldn't help but consider all of the facts pointing to what she dreaded the most. She shook her head, closing her eyes to rid herself of those awful thoughts while she quickly got undressed, turned the water on and got into the shower; hot, salty tears mixing in with the water unknown to herself.

She stayed under the water extremely long today, not entirely ready to face her unwelcome fate the second she stepped out of the sanctuary of her room. She would have stayed there all day if the water hadn't suddenly turned ice cold after about 30 or 40 minutes. She slowly got out and just sat on the cold tile floor of her bathroom, wrapped tightly in her large, fluffy, violet towel. Her brain, as well as her thoughts, was completely numb and she felt like she could stay there, slowly drying, on her floor until the very day she died.

After a few minutes of sitting there, or maybe it was hours, she couldn't really tell, she heard the muffled sound of someone pounding on her door and calling her name. She reluctantly got up and got dressed in her uniform, leaving her hair still wet as she went to answer the door. She hesitated and took a deep breath before she opened her door a crack, peering out into the brightly lit hallway to see who had decided to bother her this morning. Honestly, she just wasn't in the mood to see anyone, especially if it were one of those two boys that had doomed her life.

"Hey there, Dark Girl!"

Raven just stood there, breathing out a sigh of relief at seeing Cyborg, the probably only Titan she could stomach right about now. Not too overly cheery like Starfire, and she wasn't getting all hot and bothered every time he walked into the room. Raven nodded quietly, her hood pulled up over her face, hiding the emotions she just couldn't seem to control much lately.

"Cyborg."

"Hey, now, are you okay? I mean, you slept in yet again today and my sensors tell me that you've had the water in the shower going for almost an hour or so. I don't wanna pry or anything, but you kinda freaked us out last night."

Raven just sighed, letting her eyes drop a little bit.

"Everything is just... fine... really. I just got startled. You know how I get when people invade my space like that. I just didn't care for it. I didn't mean to worry anyone."

She winced, hating how awful the lie sounded, and feeling even worse as she saw Cyborg's face relax as he was accepting her lie. He nodded at her explanation and tried to give his best Big Brother smile.

"Okay, girl. I guess that's understandable. But next time... just... try and be a little more open with us, ya know? I know that you aren't exactly the most comfortable with that sorta stuff, but you know that we're here for you if you need us. And we already told Robin that we're not happy with your decision to go about this big battle by yourself, but we do support you in your decision and we can only hope that you enjoy your new found freedom and come back to us in a relatively 'whole' state. I don't have that kinda technology to sew someone back up."

Raven attempted to smile at his encouraging words, fighting the drop in her stomach that came earlier from his mention of the Boy Wonder.

"Thank you, Cyborg. And I promise you that I will try my hardest to come back unscathed. It really is my biggest goal there; it's right up there with beating the hell out of my father."

Cy burst out in his warm, booming laugh, making Raven truly smile. She was just about to make a wry comment as the air around her seemed to change drastically, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She glanced around frantically to see what was happening when something popped out at her, scaring the living daylights out of her.

"Haha! That's a good one, Raven!"

Beast Boy had popped out from behind Cyborg, where he had apparently been the entire time. Raven gasped as she could suddenly feel the images and emotions stirring up in her, her heart beating wildly as she clutched at her chest. She screamed lightly, her eyes wide, as she couldn't handle it anymore. She quickly phased through the ground, her door shutting in the process, leaving a stunned Cyborg and BB in the hallway.

"Woah, dude... what was that all about? She just, like, totally freaked out on us."

"Yeah I know, man. You think she's stressing herself out way too much with all this training and pressure and whatnot?"

"I don't know, may— "

"Hey guys. What's up?"

Cyborg and Beast Boy turned to see Robin a few feet away from them, heading towards them. He was looking at them oddly as they just sat there, staring at him.

"Um, is there any specific reason you guys are looking at me like that? Or why you're congregating in front of Raven's door?"

"Umm...er... I-I was just checking up on Dark Girl and everything was going great. But then Booger Boy over here— "

"Hey!"

"— Popped out and scared her. Now we don't know where she went."

Robin just frowned, giving Beast Boy a dirty look as he tried knocking on Raven's door and calling her name to see if she was still there. After about five minutes of no one answering, he gave up and began searching for her.

"Listen, why don't you guys just head back and get some lunch or something. I'll try and find Raven and make sure she's okay."

"Alright, Rob... We'll be in the living room if you need us. When you find her, send her there so we can apologize for what happened."

Robin nodded as they walked away, his frown deepening at his thoughts of Raven's strange behavior lately.

I hope everything is okay with her. I just can't shake the feeling that something else might be going on.

With that last thought, he walked down the hallway, towards the rest of the Tower to look for her and make sure everything was okay.

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Raven phased back through the ground, reappearing on the crop of rocks on the edge of Titan Island. She immediately went into a meditative position and began her therapeutic chant to try and calm her nerves and mind, not wanting to have to deal with the feelings and images this morning. She managed to block out quite a few, but still some slipped through her defenses and she was forced to endure painful visions of her dreaded future. By the end of the mind-numbing tirade, she was physically exhausted and emotionally sick. Her eyes flew open as the images ceased and her breathing was quite labored as a few tears slipped down her cheeks. She just sat there, staring out over the water, her mind now a complete blank as she contemplated everything that had happened lately.

Suddenly, she got up, phasing yet again, this time heading up to her room. Once there, she packed a few essentials, noted the beginning of the new month on her calendar and quickly wrote a note for the other Titans, telling them she was leaving. When she was ready, she quietly slipped out and walked down the hallway, slipping the note underneath Robin's door before shifting into her shadow raven form and flying off in search of her destination. It was time to take her life back from the demon that held it begrudgingly in its filthy claws.

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Robin sat up on the roof, feeling a little lost as he could not find Raven anywhere. He had checked every room of the Tower and still he couldn't find out where she had fled to. With one last look over the bay, he sighed and turned around, heading back inside. As he reached the door, a shadow flew over him and he looked up instantly, trying to find out where the mysterious form had come from. He was crouched low, ready for an attack, but when he couldn't find the shadow anymore, his heart became clenched as his eyes widened and he ran inside, bounding down the stairs as if his life depended on it.

He skidded around the corner of the hallway, running furiously to her door, knocking and somewhat yelling as he called out her name and made sure she was still there. When there was no answer, he opened the security pad next to her room and typed in the override code hurriedly, rushing into her room as soon as the door opened.

"Raven!"

Robin glanced around in a panic for any sign of her, any at all, as he dashed around her room looking for her. He searched every single inch of that room, in the bathroom, in the closet, and even underneath her bed. His breathing sped up rapidly as he ran back to his own room to find his communicator and call her. He entered his room so fast that he didn't even notice the little scrap of paper that stuck to his boot as he rushed over to his night stand, picking up his communicator and calling Raven's. After the fourth time of her not answering, he growled and tossed his communicator across his room, wincing a little as he flopped down on his bed and the small device smashed against the wall.

His eyes felt like they were sewn shut as he simply lay there, his broken communicator in pieces across the room; somewhere in the back of his mind, he heard the far off sound of the other Titans running to his room to find out what they had heard. Soon enough they were all in his room and he couldn't even seem to open his eyes or focus on who was saying what or even what they were saying. Finally, he felt himself being propped up and his eyes slowly opened to see Cyborg staring concernedly down at him, holding his shoulders tightly.

"Rob, man, what's going on? What was all that noise?" he asked, worry evident in his face. "Star said you practically flew past her down the stairs."

"Yes, Friend Robin," Star piped up timidly. "I was almost positive you had somehow acquired the amazing ability to project yourself through the air at fascinating speeds such as myself and Friend Raven."

Robin inwardly winced and let his eyes droop to the floor and closed yet again, the long forgotten feeling of tears building up behind his mask.

"Gone," he croaked out tiredly.

"Gone?" BB asked, frowning. "What's gone?"

"Her..." came the quiet reply.

"Her wh— " BB started, before stopping himself.

"Raven," Cyborg figured out, standing up quietly. "Raven's gone."

Starfire looked distressed as she inched forward, resting a hand on Cyborg's metal shoulder. "Gone where, Friend Cyborg?" She asked innocently. "Where could she have ventured during this lateness of the night hours?"

Robin just let his head fall into his hands upon his knees as Cy kept quiet and BB growled in frustration, his hands making tiny fists at his side.

"He means that she left, Star," BB said uncharacteristically angry. "She went to go and battle her father and she didn't even bother to say goodbye or tell us she was going."

They all stood there in a solemn silence as the news sank in, all of them thinking Raven had left without saying goodbye or saying a word because she really did not care for any of them and that she wasn't planning on coming back. Starfire's tears openly fell onto the floor as she stood there, her posture no longer making her look like a feared alien warrior; even Cyborg's bulky metal frame seemed lackluster, making him look smaller and not as menacing. The silence was broken as BB started walking out, everyone flinching as his anger caused him to turn into a gorilla and he punched a hole into the wall outside Robin's door.

Robin's eyes flew open as he heard Beast Boy wheezing outside of his door but he kept his gaze on the floor, trying to summon the courage he knew he needed to keep his team from falling apart so easily. His mind tried to tell him everything would be okay and that they would get through this together, that everything would turn out for the best and that Raven probably had her reasons. His brain was in the middle of comforting him as his gaze swept over the floor yet again, but this time his vision caught on a piece of trash stuck underneath his shoe. He quieted the voice inside of his head as he bent down to retrieve the small piece of paper which, in fact, turned out to be a rather large white envelope with his name scrawled across the front.

As he began to open it, his heart caught in his throat, the other Titans turned around at the noise and even Beast Boy became silent in the hallway. Robin opened the envelope fully and pulled out a small piece of parchment, the scent of lavender and jasmine rising up faintly and fading just as quickly as it came. As soon as he unfolded the note, he recognized the small, cursive writing of the resident Goth. He stopped suddenly, unsure of what exactly was resting in his hands.

"Robin," Cyborg asked, looking intently at him. "What is that?"

"It's from her," he simply replied.

No one said anything but BB slowly walked back into the doorframe, waiting to hear what Robin had to say. A few minutes passed before anyone moved, and before Robin forced himself to focus on the words in front of him. He read the letter to himself, not trusting his own voice as his gaze fell across her last words to the team.

"S-she says she's sorry," he finally choked out, his voice somewhat scratchy from all the emotion. "She's sorry that she couldn't give us a proper reason, but that she just needed to leave right away."

Everyone waited for him to continue as they let the words sink in. Robin took a deep breath and summed up the rest of the note.

"She also said that she loves and cares for us all," he said, his tone cracking. "She hopes we understand her decision and... she says...goodbye..."

He let the note fall to the floor as his vision was suddenly swimming with her simple word of 'goodbye' and he could think of nothing else but that simple action. Cyborg swiftly left the room without a word, letting everyone know where he went as the sound of his door slamming shut reverberated down from the other side of the tower. Star's silent sobs caused her shoulders to heave and so Beast Boy gave one last somber look at their leader before he came over, putting his arm around her and escorting her back to her room across the hall from his.

Robin's brain was numb once more as he thought of the idea that Raven was out there, all alone, fighting for her life, the very life he so desperately wanted to keep safe, and she had not even said a proper goodbye to all of them. The tears fell openly in the vast expanse of his darkened room and his heart burned in a way that he had never experienced, causing him to ponder what it might have meant. But every time he tried to think of Raven and why he would feel that way, he just cried harder as the thought of never seeing her again consumed his mind.

What if she never comes back? His brain screamed. What if she loses against her father and I never got to say goodbye?

He somehow, unconsciously, laid back on his bed and buried his face in his pillow, letting his thoughts battle it out.

No! Raven is strong! She will win! The other half of his brain argued. She will come back to us. ... But what if she doesn't? What if something happens and she is gone forever? What if she dies? NO! She won't, she can't die! I refuse to let her die alone, to spend her last minutes on this earth without anyone there to comfort her and be there for her... I hate to break it to you, Boy Blunder, but she's probably not even on this earth anymore, not really anyway...

He didn't know where his thoughts ended, just that somewhere along the way he drifted off in a nightmare-filled oblivion, his worst fears coming to life as he saw Raven fall, repeatedly, to her death in some hellish looking place... and with himself nowhere to be found, nowhere nearby to help her and keep her alive...

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The sweltering heat and dark shadows danced upon her eyelids as she lay there on the rocky ground, panting desperately to try and catch her breath, as well as her strength. It took all she had just to roll back on her stomach and prop herself up so that the enormous foot that was barreling towards her, did not crush her into tiny pieces.

"I did not," she groaned, growling at the massive beast before her. "Come all this way and not say good-bye to all my friends... just to get stomped out in the first round against a damned guard dog!"

With that statement, she flung her body to a standing position and summoned all of her inner powers and feelings; she let out a mighty roar, accompanied by a powerful surge of black magic to devour the mere guardian before her.

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More than a week passed by without a word from their resident empath and the Titans were getting more worried with every passing second. None of them would admit it, but they all stopped by her door several time every day to see if they could hear of her return. They would never admit to themselves or to anyone else that Raven had failed in her quest and would not return. So they trudged on, depressed but trying not to show it too much, each attempting to act like it was a normal week, a normal day, a normal anything to keep them from thinking about the awful possibilities for their friend's absence.

"Friend Robin," Starfire asked one day, interrupting the daily silence during breakfast. "Why has Friend Raven not attempted to contact our persons to inform us of her triumph?"

"I— I don't know, Star," Robin grunted, poking wearily at his egg-mush.

"Could she, perhaps, have taken a course for the worse and that is why we have heard nothing of her well-being?"

The silence seemed even more death-like as Robin unconsciously gripped his fork tighter and Cyborg's own silverware fell to his plate with an ear-splitting clank. Beast Boy just sat there and stared at the naive alien, his mouth poised halfway to his mouth, his ears not wanting to hear what she had so plainly asked.

"F-friend Robin?" she asked again, shakily. "Is ever— "

"I don't know," he replied quickly, getting up and setting his dish in the sink and walking out of the room, throwing the rest of his answer over his shoulder as the door closed behind him. "I really just don't know anymore, Starfire."

Robin walked blindly down the hall to his room, the whole time trying to get his mind off of the missing Titan and all the possibilities of what could have happened to her. He huffed as he entered his room and flopped right down in his chair, effectively grabbing some fact sheets that he had neglected to fill out from the week's previous crimes to occupy his time and mind. The paperwork was dull and tedious, but he thanked whatever Gods were there for the distraction they provided. He was so wrapped up in the mundane-ness of the task that he thought he imagined the slight noises he could hear coming from down the hall.

But when they continued for a few more minutes, his ears perked up and he set his paperwork aside, curious as to what was making the noise. He got up and looked out his window and saw that the remaining Titans were all outside, playing a game of tag to take up their free time. He frowned and was about to go back to his work and chalk it up to his mind going crazy when he heard it again, this time, he knew he wasn't imagining anything.

His gaze burned a hole into his door as he just stood there, unsure if he should check on it or not. What if it was nothing? Every house has it creaks and bumps, right? It's probably nothing anyway... After a few minutes of internal debate, he managed to move his legs as he walked out into the hallway and started walking in the direction of the noises... towards her room. His heart started thumping wildly in his chest as all sorts of ideas and situations rushed to make themselves known in his mind; he reached her door rather quickly and his hand was already knocking on her door before his mind registered actually moving to make himself known.

"R-R-Raven?" he stammered, gulping loudly. "A-are you here? Did you get back already?... Raven?"

His question was only met with silence as he stood there in the barren hallway, looking like a nervous little schoolgirl on her first day of classes. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath as he punched in the override code for her door. It opened with a deafening whoosh and he peered inside, looking hesitantly around.

"Raven?" he half-whispered as he stepped in, his eyes adjusting to the severe darkness inside. "Hello?"

He walked in a little further and surveyed her room carefully, looking for anything out of place; her bed was somewhat of a mess, with the covers tossed everywhere, there were coffee mugs with various teas strewn about on her desk and night stand, and there was even a small pile of something that looked like clothes tossed by the window. He frowned and felt his heart drop considerably as her room had not changed a bit since she left and she was nowhere to be found. He let out a heavy sigh and turned around, exiting her room and slumping back into his own to let his composure slack a little.

"Raven," he sighed, walking into his room, only to walk right back out to train instead. "Where could you possibly be?... I hope you're okay, wherever you are..."

He trudged down the stairs and headed towards the training room to clear his thoughts and, hopefully, to pass away the time until his beloved teammate returned to them in one piece.

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Meanwhile, back in Raven's room...

With the door closed and the room bathed entirely in the dark, a slight, eerie glow was cast across the lonely dresser, illuminating the ornate mirror laying there. The surface seemed to light up and swirl somewhat as it sat there, letting passerbys know that this was no ordinary mirror. And as it rested there, had Robin, or anyone, stayed to see what treasures the room held in shadow, they would have gasped at the wondrous sight of a black vortex forming from the mirror's surface and a pair of violet eyes looking out from the swirling mass of magic...

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Later that night after everyone had gotten their anxiety out of their systems, they all had a quiet dinner, with Robin opting not to tell anyone about his hearing noises earlier in the afternoon. Starfire went straight to her room and, presumably, to sleep right after eating, leaving the three boys to clean up and put away the food. Well, it left Robin to put the food and dishes away while Cyborg and BB had their final match on the day on the GameStation before bed. It wasn't long before the Cy whooped BB's butt in 5 straight games and the two headed off to bed, leaving the fearless leader to finish cleaning up and to turn off the lights before heading to bed himself.

He let out another heavy sigh as he turned the last light off, glancing back in the direction of the large living room window; usually Raven was the last one in bed, and she would always be sitting right there as she would say good night to him without even moving a muscle, enjoying the silence and comfort of her meditation. He shook the memory from his head, frowning and wondering why he had been thinking about her so much lately.

I'm just worried about her, that's all, his mind interjected, a now rather common occurrence since her departure. Nothing more. I'm a concerned friend... Besides, they always say you don't realize what you have until it's gone anyway... Not that I had Raven or anything before she left, it just means that I didn't realize how much I counted on her routines to keep me sane and happy.

He shook his head as he made it back to his room, outwardly unhappy with everything his mind was telling him nowadays. Which just made him even more unhappy as he realized he was talking as if his mind was conversing with him on a daily basis, like a real person or something. Now, thinking that he was completely crazy, Robin decided to skip the paperwork again tonight and simply head to bed, seeing that as the only obvious thing to do at the moment. After getting into his pajamas and making sure his room was in order, he slipped into bed and almost immediately fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A good hour or so after the last Titan was deep in slumber, a lone door silently opened and a frail figure poked their head out and looked to make sure no one was up and about at this hour. Sighing in relief, they shuffled out into the hallway and made their way towards the kitchen, sparing quick and longing glances at the few doors they passed on their late-night journey. Taking good care to be absolutely silent, they reached their destination and, not bothering to turn on any lights, went straight to the cupboards and grabbed a clean mug, as well as a packet of chamomile tea.

Very quietly they also set some water to boil on the stove, encasing it in a protective bubble so it would not make any noise when the water was boiled and ready. In a few minutes, the figure had their tea and made their way silently back down the hallway, but not before carefully putting everything away and cleaning it so the others would not notice. Walking slowly, they went back to their room and quickly shut the door before walking over to the window and sitting down on a few pillows that had been placed there and mistaken by another for clothes earlier in the day.

The moon reappeared outside from behind a set of clouds and the figure simply sat there, drinking their tea and basking in the moonlight.

"I can't wait until I get my strength back," she sighed, letting her eyelids droop down in exhaustion.

Raven simply sat there, allowing her body to try and replenish her energy and heal her wounds. She had been back for almost three whole days now and, as much as she hated hiding from her friends, there simply was no other way to fix herself. She was too badly wounded when she returned and the last thing she needed was her teammates fussing over her and asking all sorts of questions. She felt a twinge of regret at the last thought, but it was necessary if she were to come out of this ordeal in one piece and healthy.

She set her now finished tea to the side and laid back on the pillows, letting the moonlight calm her nerves and helping her to forget the awful battle she had survived with her father. She almost felt like smiling and giggling— she had defeated her biggest enemy and regained control of her life. For the first time ever, she was free and she was so happy about that, that she cried the entire first night she had been back at the tower. It didn't help, of course, that she also realized she was now free to love Robin and yet, she was not destined to be with him, but with another for whom she had no feelings for whatsoever. That had only added to her tears, causing the exhilaration of being able to express her feelings and cry and turning it into something horrible that she had come to loathe lately.

After an hour or so, Raven got up and hobbled back to her bed, fixing the blankets so that they covered her and did not look so scattered about as she fell into a deep sleep, which was unfortunately plagued by the haunting visions of the man who made her feel more than she ever thought possible. This freedom of expression situation was going to wear thin on her patience, as well as her mind if horrible things like that kept happening.

If only I could stop the dreams and images from coming, she thought wearily as she drifted off, letting her body attempt another healing session on itself. If only I could change my own fate...

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A/N: Well whaddya know? I actually finished something. Well, a chapter anyway... but it's better than nothing. Oh well, I hope it doesn't suck as much as I think it does. So hit that little button down there and let me know how the suckage rates... Maybe I can get a little more focused too and finish the other chapter to my other story... haha... oh that's a good one. I crack myself up! Oh boy... L8R Daze...