The two titans were walking down the puddle-filled streets of Jump City. It was probably half an hour after nine. Just a few more hours to go…
The silence was interrupted by a high-pitched scream from downtown.
The heroes quickly ran (Or in Raven's case, flew) to the scene.
An escaped convict was running loose with a diamond-studded bag in his arms. A shrieking middle-aged lady stood there, pointing at the robber.
"Wait here." Nightwing ordered the woman, promising her that he'd get her bag back. Raven followed closely. "You wait here too. Don't come. It's too dangerous."
Dangerous? Was this the same Robin who shouted 'Titans Go!' when they were teenagers? The courageous, obsessive Robin who gave long sermons about responsibility? What happened to him?
This was not Robin. Not at all. In fact… he was Nightwing now.
"Robin…I'm not just going to wait here." Raven said, emotionlessly, yet fiercely.
"You should." He continued to run after the criminal, catching a glance of him turning in the corner.
He pounced on the criminal, taking away the purse from him. "You can't hide, but you can't run either."
Puns…always there. Now this was the Robin she remembered.
He chased after the robber, and tied him quickly to yet another lamp post. This time, there were no long discussions about poor families, just the same old robbers with the same old twisted schemes.
"Thank you, very much." The lady took her purse and went on with her walking.
Nightwing turned to Raven whose face was full of fury.
"What?" he asked. So clueless. Doesn't even know what he's been doing. So oblivious. Doesn't even know what's happening around him. This may be Nightwing, but he's still Robin inside.
"Nothing." She replied. She continued to walk.
"No, really…what did I do?" Oh no, he was losing yet another member. His efforts proved worthless, so far.
"Nothing."
"Rae…"
"Nothing."
He stopped and placed both his hands on her shoulders. He turned her to face him.
"Tell me."
She turned to look at him angrily. "You really want to know, you persistent hero?" The word slurred through her lips in disgust. Fine." He listened to her.
"I'm a hero too, you know."
"Yeah. I know that."
"And all you could say was 'wait here'. While I stand like a pretty princess…" She grit her teeth, trying to keep her emotions in tact. If he thought that he could treat her like he did the Tamaranean princess, then he got the wrong person.
"Rae, the team would be nothing without you." He cupped her chin, letting her face him. Her eyes were fighting a way out of his masked ones, but she couldn't pull away. His masked eyes were so inviting, and she could only imagine what lay behind them.
The lightbulb shattered in the lamp post, and the robber found himself struggling to stay away from the demon, and her black aura.
"Yeah, whatever." Raven walked away.
The titans had been going around the same streets for an hour, but the silence kept them away from anything that could bring them together.
"Rae, I'm sorry." Nightwing broke the silence, stopping in his tracks. It has been an hour since their quarrel, and it took him an hour to apologize.
"Yeah." Raven said blankly.
"Rae, I don't wanna waste my time with you just walking here. We only have one night and we might as well do something."
"I was just waiting for you." She said. Her voice was back to its normal self…if normal means scratchy and bland.
Silence…once again…
And silence even more…
"Okay, then." Robin said. "Let's go to the tower."
"Yeah, whatever."
Two hours since the quarrel. It wasn't a big thing anymore. They had more conversations…if more means two or three sentences.
The tower was abandoned, except for the recharging metal-man connected to a large generator.
"Cy…what happened?" Nightwing asked, reaching out to him. He was well determined to fix everything tonight.
"They call you Nightwing now, right?" Asked the half-robot, not answering his friend's question.
His used-to-be-blue parts are now a rusting shade of brown and red.
"What're you doing here?" Cyborg asked. "And how did she get out of the hospital?"
"We just thought we could drop by, you know, have some tofu or steak." Sarcasm was always her thing. She shut her eyes as soon as she said those words. Cursing under her breath.
"So, come to rub it in, Robin? Come to say that I've been rusting in this abandoned tower on my own, while you get to 'fight evil and do good'." He said mockingly, still not forgetting their previous encounter.
"We need to find Star!" screamed the boy wonder.
"Robin, we've been searching for almost a month and she never came back. Take it." Cyborg's voice was calm…calm for a situation like this.
"You know what? If you can't help us find Star, leave! I don't want to see you again!" Shouted the leader. Again with the exaggeration.
"Leave like Rae did! Leave!"
"Rae didn't leave, Rob. She overused her powers to make a portal to save your precious Starfire… and now nevermore can be released to the world…and Trigon STILL exists there. She didn't want us to get hurt! She didn't want anyone to get hurt!"
"Leave. I don't want explanations."
Cyborg headed towards the door. "Thanks for the tower, Rob." Sarcasm slurred through his lips like liguid.
Robin pointed a gloved finger at Cyborg. "Someday, I'm gonna be a great hero. Everyone will know me. And you were part of that hero's forgotten past!"
Cyborg left with a slam at the door.
Robin looked at the green boy who sat, amazed at yet another titan fight. "So it's just you and me, BB."
"I'm sorry." Said Nightwing. "I was…troubled."
"So, what happened to Beastboy? Was he troubled, too?" Cyborg said, louder, this time. "Or was he fed up of you, much like everyone else?"
Nightwing was taken aback. Cyborg knew him better than anyone else; surely he could imagine what happened after he left. Beastboy only had so much left of Robin to deal with.
Nightwing could imagine Beastboy, walking around the alleys as a dog, picking food from garbage cans and pizza places— all because of him. He tore the titans apart. He ruined their lives.
Nightwing was silenced.
Raven just stood there, tracing the air, where the spot of the sofa used to be. Where Robin and Starfire would be together…hand on hand, face to face…
"Stop!"
Cyborg and Nightwing turned to face the demon. Her call was loud, and very uneccessary.
"Rae, snap out of it!" asked Nightwing, placing his hands on each of her shoulders, shaking her.
She was crouched on the floor, hitting herself in the head. Her fingers formed a tight fist, as she pounded herself, again and again. It was happening again— black aura surrounded the tower, crushing almost everything it got a hold of.
Cyborg bent down too. He has seen Raven's tantrums. He knew that she would always hurt herself, but never saw her like this.
He held her hand, preventing her from hitting herself any further.
"Rae!" screamed the half-robot. "What is it?"
Her grip loosened and when Cyborg and Nightwing let go of her, she fell to the floor, kneeling.
She looked up again. "Let's get out of here. I. Need. To. Get. Out. Of. here." She levitated out of the door quickly, eager to step away from the place that could possibly destroy the world.
"I have to go too." Nightwing said. "I'm sorry, Cyborg. I really am. I just…want to fix it."
"Yeah, man. I know. It was good to see you again." Cyborg's words were sincere. So sincere that a tear almost fell from his metal eye.
"Rae, what happened in there? You never really told me…what happened back there…and in the hospital…" asked Nightwing, his eyes, pleading for answers. He never really thought it would be that way again.
"Too many memories. I can't go back there. I can't go anywhere. I need to go back to the hospital." She said the words like they mashed together, whispering her last sentence over and over.
"Rae…what about the memories? It's not like you had bad memories in there."
"You don't know the half of it." She glared at him bitterly, her teeth were gritted.
"What do you mean?" Robin asked. "We had trouble, I know, but it always turned out okay… except for this one…I promise, Rae, I'll fix it—"
"Yeah, troubles did turn out okay. But there was one thing that didn't. I'm not saying it's a villain, or our enemy…" Her voice quivered at the thought, and tears almost came to her eyes. Almost. "Just my enemy."
Here I go…sweep my lungs out trying to get to you you are my only one…and I know…that there's just no one…no one like you…you are my only one.
--Only One, by Yellowcard