This chapter is really dark and kind of short again! I'm sorry!

Chapter Eight: Falling

Raven sat quietly in her room. She was strangely calm, all things considered. The empath knew that she was going to kill her friends. She also knew that they wouldn't blame her for it, which made the whole thing worse. However, this knowledge revealed what she had to do. Standing slowly, Raven moved over to a dark wooden chest in the corner of her room. She placed her hand on the lock and murmured a spell, smiling sadly as it clicked open. At least her powers were still under her control… for the moment.

Inside the chest were many magical artifacts that the other titans didn't even know she had. There were rune stones, casting bowls, and the rare raven's feather here and there. There was also a slim wooden box, with a dark metal lid carved with ancient symbols. Raven pulled the box out slowly and opened it. A gleaming silver dagger, embedded with glowing rubies and gold, rested in scarlet fabric. Raven looked on the weapon with near fondness in her eyes. This was her solution, her way of escape. But still… an image of the knife embedded in Beastboy's chest flashed before her eyes, the same as it was in her vision. She couldn't let it come to pass.

Raven took hold of the dagger and went to sit on her bed. She had about an hour, she guessed, before her friends would come asking if she was alright. She would be long gone by then. The empath placed the dagger at her wrist, wondering how exactly to do this. Despite her gothic appearance and generally pessimistic views on life, she had never actually cut herself before. She knew that if she killed herself right away, her powers would go berserk and try to heal her, resulting in either her being healed, or the tower getting blown up.

So, that meant that she should start slowly. Not her favorite course of action, but it was her choice none the less. Raven winced as the cold steel blade bit into her wrist, drawing blood. She pressed down hard with the dagger, wanting to draw a lot of blood the first time. The weaker she was for the final… event, the less her powers would interfere. Pressing a cloth to her wrist, Raven waited to see if another cut would be necessary. If she had cut deep enough the first time, she wouldn't have to repeat the process. A few tears slipped down her cheeks as she thought about what she was doing, but there was no stopping it now. She had no choice.

XXX

In the lounge, the other titans were pacing, or whatever version of pacing suited them best. Robin moved constantly between the computers and the windows, waiting for something to happen. Cyborg checked monitor after monitor, making sure that all the scans were still working, and checking that everything was okay in the tower. Starfire hovered nervously above the couch, wondering what she could do to help the situation, and Raven. Beastboy was the only one who wasn't moving. He sat on the couch with his arms folded, staring unseeingly at a spot on the floor. Inside he was a writhing tangle of complicated emotions, but he knew that he couldn't act on them yet. Every now and again the changeling strained one of his senses, either hearing or scent, to try and see if Raven was coming. Whatever she was doing in her room, it was quiet.

After a full twenty minutes, Beastboy couldn't take it anymore. He got to his feet and started for the door. "What are you doing?" Robin asked angrily, just as the changeling had expected.

"I'm going to check on Raven," Beastboy said, not stopping or turning around. "And before you tell me that she needs some space, she freaked out and then started crying, and for all we know she might be having a vision or be under attack by her own powers. Slade could have gotten her again, too! So I'm just going to make sure that she's okay."

Robin couldn't argue with that. In truth, he had been itching to make sure that his friend was alright as well. He watched as Beastboy disappeared down the hallway, the doors sliding shut behind him. The Boy Wonder was worried about all of this, more than he would ever admit to anyone, especially to Beastboy.

XXX

Beastboy stood outside of Raven's door. He considered changing into a fly or something to see what was going on, but decided that Raven really needed some privacy right now. "Raven?" he called out, knocking quietly on the door. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," the answer came a bit to quickly to not be a complete lie. "Go away."

"Raven?" Beastboy asked again, knocking a little louder. "What's going on? Did you have another vision?"

"No, everything's fine." Her voice sounded choked, like she had been crying. "I'll be out in a bit."

Beastboy trusted Raven with his life, but never with anything involving her health or safety. So, he felt justified just to check on her story. He turned into a dog, checking first by scent that she was alone. However, instead of the warm scent of Raven, he was overwhelmed by the stench of blood. How had he missed it before, even if he was in human form?

Beastboy didn't wait to knock again. He just turned into a gorilla and knocked the door off its hinges. He ignored Raven's angry shouting, changing back into a human and crossing the room in a few short steps. Making a b-line for her wrist, where he saw that the blood was coming from, Beastboy caught her other hand as it came, trying to push him away. When he caught it in his own, though, his attention was drawn by what she held. A silver dagger, its blade covered in deep red blood. Quickly, Beastboy looked at the other arm, where two deep cuts lay, perfectly straight and parallel.

"No!" Raven screamed, trying to push herself away from him. Her struggles were already weakened from blood loss. "Stop it! I want to die! I want to die." She sobbed, sliding to the floor and hiding her head in her arms.

"Raven," Beastboy said firmly, for the moment unable to scream. He knelt beside her, placing a bloodstained hand on her shoulder. "Raven, look at me." She didn't respond. "Look at me now!"

It only took him a moment to get over the complete shock that kept him to calm. Within the space of two seconds, Beastboy had his arms around Raven, and started screaming for help.