(A/N: Sorry about the long wait! Took awhile to decide where I wanted to go with this story. Thanks so much to the folks following it, glad y'all seem to enjoy. Also, any criticism is good criticism.)
Raven groaned before she actually opened her eyes. There was a dull, throbbing pain pulsing through her torso every few seconds. She slowly came to, sitting up on the infirmary bed and looking around. She'd been returned to the Titans Tower.
Despite the pain, her injuries didn't seem too bad. The infirmary's devices had done their job. She gave herself a quick once-over. A few minor cuts along her arms and face had been sealed with subtle bandage work.
"Hello?" she asked the otherwise empty room.
There was no response.
Suddenly, Raven felt a slight tremor grip the Tower - the seismic activity was still happening. She wondered how long she'd passed out for. Closing her eyes, she silently meditated on the bed for a few minutes, then reached out with her extrasensory perception just in time to detect Starfire bursting through the door.
"Friend Raven, you are awake!" exclaimed the Tamaranean girl joyously. She bolted to Raven's side, eager to wrap her in a bone-crushing hug, but stopped short as she remembered the situation.
Raven flinched and waited for the breath to be inevitably squeezed from her lungs. But when it never happened, she glanced at Starfire, her friend now apprehensive.
"What happened, Star?"
"You do not remember?" Raven shook her head. "Oh.. well, you were trapped under a large portion of office building. The healing machine said several of your ribs were cracked, but I believe it mended them for you."
Raven softly poked her ribcage, and the dull pain flared at her touch.
"I see. How... long have I been here?"
"I do not know the exact time, but you've been asleep for most of the day. The sun has already gone down."
The dark-haired girl's brow furrowed. They had gone on patrol before noon. That meant she'd been out cold for at least eight or nine hours, but the seismic event was still happening. She made to get off the bed and winced as pain shot through her, eliciting a soft yelp. Starfire leapt forward and gripped her gently.
"Be careful, you are still not fully healed. You should stay here and rest. The others can handle the situation for now, most of the citizens are safe." said Starfire.
"The others, they're still out there? All of them?" Starfire nodded. "You brought me back here?" Another nod, and a smile.
"Thanks, Star. I owe you one."
The other girl shook her head. "You do not. You are my best friend, Raven." She leaned over and gently kissed her friend's forehead. Raven flushed. "Besides, I would not have known to arrive so fast if you hadn't called for me."
She walked over to the infirmary computer to examine something. Raven swung her legs carefully over the side of the bed, preparing to stand up.
"I did what? Weren't you down at the ground level herding people away from the building?"
Starfire glanced back. "You don't remember? When you shouted... um, something, at me. At least, I think it was you. It felt like you, in my mind. It felt like you needed help, so I flew up to assist. Then there was an explosion." She tilted her head slightly. "You really do not remember?"
Raven didn't remember because she hadn't consciously done it, but she knew exactly what Starfire was describing. She spied her cloak hanging nearby and quickly donned it, grateful for being able to hide her face.
"I-I guess I'm just a bit disoriented from the explosion. I'll be alright. Let's go, I can fly fine."
Starfire detected a note of worry in Raven's voice, but decided not to press the issue, writing it off to her being shaken from injury.
"I will tell Robin you are awake, he is going to meet us at Beast Boy's shelter."
-TT-
"The worst of the events seem to happen only around the city. There are a few tremors further out in the rural areas, but they've been consistently weak and aren't a threat. JCPD has evacuated most of the citizens already, so everyone is out of the immediate danger zone. For now."
Robin and the other Titans were squatting in the park outside of the shelter. There were only a couple skyscrapers nearby, and they'd already collapsed for the most part. A loose block of concrete lazily slid off of a building's remains in the distance, its deep thud echoing across the streets.
Beast Boy himself was circling overhead, keeping an eye out, but other than the constant quaking of the earth there was no suspicious activity. Even looters had quickly fled the city, fearing for their safety.
A distinct humming noise grew in volume as Cyborg pulled up to the group in the T-Car. He stepped out and steadied himself against the shaking ground before carefully walking to his teammates.
"Sensors are in place. We can keep an eye on 'em from the car and see what's happening under the surface as deep as... about 130 kilometers, if I did the calibrations right. Should be deep enough to hit our tectonic plate, maybe see what's going on." said Cyborg.
"Where's your team? Are they safe?" asked Robin.
"Safe enough. Blocked access to the main Tower levels, so they're hiding in the basement. Nothing'll collapse on them with that kind of reinforcement. Also, they'll be giving us a hand with the sensor data." He flipped on his communicator. "We green, Eli?"
The corner of Cyborg's mouth curled slightly with satisfaction as he received an affirmative, and gave Robin a thumbs-up. The acrobat waved the rest of his team over and they gathered around the screen sitting on the T-Car's hood. Cyborg went through a few procedures with his team back at the Tower.
"Initial sweeps are clean. No sign of explosives or other nasty tricks immediately below the city. Let's go ahead and do a deep scan, low as we can go. Should bounce off the tectonic plate."
Starfire looked at Cyborg with a puzzled expression. "Um, what is.. tech tonic? I am unfamiliar with this word."
"Tectonic plates are big huge sheets of rock under the surface of the Earth that slide around, and sometimes they catch on each others' edges and snap and that's what makes the ground shake so much."
Everyone stared at Beast Boy, whose nose was buried in a book while he spoke. He looked up when he noticed the silence.
"What? It says so right here in the manual Cy gave me for my place, figured now's as good a time as any to read it." Satisfied with his answer, Beast Boy resumed reading. Raven arched an eyebrow at Cyborg expectantly. He shrugged.
"My team added lots of pictures." replied Cyborg. Robin grinned momentarily and looked back at Starfire.
"Beast Boy's right, Star. But these plates are very far below the surface, so we have to dig deep to find them."
Right on cue, the screen on the T-Car's hood gave a how-do-you-do tweet and displayed a bunch of numbers. Everyone crowded around again and leaned in close, each straining to see the results first. Cyborg immediately pored over the data.
"Deep scan's done. Looks like we found the plate under the city, too. And..." he furrowed his brow and tapped a few keys, then looked even more distressed.
"What's wrong?" asked Raven. Cyborg looked at his team, confused.
"Absolutely nothing. Plate movement is perfectly normal. No signs of recent breakage, no existing fault line, just... nothing." The ground violently rumbled in disagreement. "Whatever's happening down there... it isn't natural. Mother Earth ain't behind this."
Robin looked at the ground, eyes narrowed.
"Sounds right up our alley."