The Agent X
presents
All For Me
A/N: And here is the final chapter. Sorry if I you felt frustrated with Raven's reactions. There will be an (somewhat) adequate explanation within. As a side note, this chapter was never published when the story originally was up, because we never finished it. I've finished it off for a sense of completion and it is mostly my work. If you have any suggestions or comments for this chapter, let me know.
Disclaimer: TEEN TITANS and all related characters and elements are copyrighted trademarks of DC COMICS.
It seemed ironic that the end came to him as bright lights, candied music and every colour of the rainbow.
A circus.
The creek and jingle of the abandoned scenery masked their footsteps, as the Titans cautiously made their way inwards. It also masked that of their prey: a man, alone, and in his forties. He favoured wearing black and white, and was armed, they said. The most dangerous man in Jump City, they pleaded.
It would have to be for the authorities to seek them out again.
Robin, ahead, scanned their surroundings. No glance was spared for the large 'T' across the waterfront, towering in the distance. It was empty. It had been for a long time. She watched as their breaths fogged in the early morning air, and followed him forward. The dew wet her boots and cloak, and dawn had yet to meet the far horizon. Robin motioned a stop, and she watched curiously as he swung around to see her. Their eyes met. There was a muffled crack, and she remembered.
It only took a moment to have everything torn away.
It could have been a result of the dark, unfamiliar terrain. It could have been that they were both horribly out of practice. It could have been the fact that, no matter how fast he was, Robin was still simply and utterly human.
It could have been that he wanted it.
But Raven watched as the bullet con-caved Robin's skull,
And her nightmare swallowed her.
Raven.
He stood before her. A solemn picture in red, green and yellow.
"Robin."
She noticed he wasn't wearing a mask.
Words caught in her throat, stung, until she had to close her eyes and breath through her nose to speak around it.
Raven. He said
A gasp. A sob. Stifled.
Her eyes screwed shut, prickling as she sucked in breaths.
Raven!
"Robin. Robin-- they--" she panted in small gasps. It was all she could manage.
RAVEN.
She looked up.
I'm here Raven. We're here.
They looked at her. And briefly, she hated them. Hated that they were together, and whole. And she was last, and alone.
"They killed you." she whispered, ignoring the tears that quietly dripped from her face. "You're gone. And I... I let it happen."
Sorrow and fear clawed at her. At her belly and heart, as they clenched and roiled. Making her dizzy. Making her curl in on herself. She shook her head and trembled, because that was all she could do.
Friend Raven.
That lovely, angelic voice. That smile. Starfire's arms around her. Oh, I'm sorry, she thought, I'm so, so sorry.
"I... I tried..."
It is all right. The voice soothed. Do not distress.
"If I had… If I could–" She begged them to understand, "But once I let go… I wouldn't have been there. I wouldn't have been able to go back. And they still needed me. He still needed me!" She pleaded desperately. They looked on in sympathy.
"But I wanted to." She gasped, "I wanted to!"
A heavy hand in her hair. We know, Dark Girl.
They are silent spectres around her; watching her struggle to retain herself.
You can let go now.
She glanced at them sharply. "No!... Robin!"
I'm sorry Raven. He said grimly, his eyes still on hers. But you need to understand. It's already begun.
She grasped at them, but her hands fell though. She clawed and stretched and sobbed and threw herself at the ground. Knowing there was no going back, and her protests were useless. Knowing that this last nightmare was her blessing. Knowing that once she let go, she would never see them again.
Beast Boy, she thought. Beast Boy is still out there.
No, Raven. Gently. Beast Boy is already here. There's nothing left for you.
But… but…
There was only Robin. Just him. Looking at her with her knees on the ground and tears on her face.
She knew that look.
He had something to ask her.
Raven awoke before the body hit the ground. It was gruesome, and macabre and dead. She stared at it.
She did not hear the villain laughing. She did not hear any further shots. All she heard was the rush of blood in her ears as the dam broke and all its walls came tumbling down around her
She walked with her grief swirling violently around her. With rage curling her fingers. With the promise of death in her eyes. There was one path, no choice, the end
There was no chance for escape that night. Not for him.
He had something to ask her.
"Raven…"
And not for her.
"… Raven…
Die for me"
She did it.