She ran. Despite her legs aching and willing to collapse under her light weight, she ran. Their voices quickly became whispers in the late afternoon wind the further and further she went, lengthening the distance. Finally, away from their pain, she collapsed to the ground; her breaths were laboured and deep; her pale digits grabbing at her throat.
She didn't know where she was; how she got there, nor did she care. All she wanted to do was erase the image from her mind. But she was smart enough to know that what she just witnessed would be imprinted into her memory for the rest of her living days. A nightmare. A reminder. Of what she really was.
Her body going into shock, she slowly closed her eyes and let her head fall back. The last thing she saw before the darkness consumed her was blood.
Sirens screamed as they closed in on their location. Beast Boy, without a word, transformed into a cheetah, running ahead to meet the approaching police cars and ambulances and guide them to their exact location.
Starfire and Cyborg desperately urged the general public to move away. As usual, they were stubborn and stunned at seeing the crime-fighting heroes and heroines in action. Cyborg always wondered if they were actually aware of the dangers that were close during their battles. Obviously not today, as it seemed like a futile struggle to dissipate the crowds.
"Please, do the moving back. There is nothing to be seen here." Starfire lectured, flying over the swarm of citizens.
"I'd listen to the lady if I were you," Cyborg commented, "Before things get ugly." He fired up his cannon, ready to fire at the feet of the persistent onlookers who were trying to get a glimpse of Robin.
Robin, the leader of the team, was thankful for his mask. Otherwise, all of Jump City would have seen the tears swimming in his eyes. He knew better than to let them fall as a result of his years of critical training with Batman, especially in front of an audience. Carefully, he unhooked his cape and covered her, ensuring that no part of the lifeless body was on show.
Pain. That was the first thing she registered as her eyes fluttered open then battled against the light. She tried to lift her arms but she was a puppet with no strings. Numb. Adjusting to the light, her eyes wondered into the peripherals and registered that she was in an alleyway. The smell that surrounded her confirmed it; The potent stench of urine, faeces and rodents filled her senses and gave life to her body. Jerking up, she vomited.
"Did she have any identification on her?"
"Nothing that I could find. She looks no older than twelve and there's a school nearby here. I'd send an officer to see if they know who she is."
"Damn shame; no kid should have to go like this. I hope you and your team find the motherfucker who did this."
Sighing, Robin shook the police officers' hands before retreated to his team. They were watching the paramedics zip a black body bag around the girl who was housed inside. Beast Boy had his arm around Starfire's shoulders while Cyborg's gaze never left the gurney. Robin stood beside them. No one dared to speak until the ambulance drove away.
"Did you see where she went?"
"No, but even if we did, she won't want us to find her."
"Friends, what are we going to do?"
"Leave her, Star. She'll come back when she's ready."
"But, she-"
She wiped her mouth before spitting out the taste of whatever just left her battered body. Slowly, she stood up. The wind rushed down the narrow alleyway and whipped at her exposed limbs. Grabbing her cloak, she wrapped herself up and started walking.
Ignoring the headache in her head was like ignoring a drill when you lived next door to a construction site; useless. The situation had sent her emotions into a frenzy of activity and she wasn't sure how long she could stand it. The only certainty she had was that she had no hope of levitating to the tower in her current emotional state. If she was even welcome back. Suddenly, a nearby bin exploded concurrently with several shop windows.
She couldn't even take a simple walk through her own city without causing damage.
'The girl, who has yet to be identified, was in the wrong place at the wrong time as her injuries are consistent with others caused by a metahuman villain who was been pursued by our city's saviours, the Teen Titans. Unfortunately, even they were too late on this occasion. The mayor of Jump City released a statement earlier this evening to give his sympathies to the unknown family of the child. We remind everyone watching, as always, to be vigilant, and report any information they have to the police as soon as possible. We'll be back at ten o'clock.'
The TV flickered off at Beast Boy's command, who felt nauseous watching the news report. He was relieved that she hadn't been mentioned in the broadcast. But it brought the image of the dead girl back to the forefront.
"Found anything yet, dudes?"
Robin and Cyborg both shook their heads, their attention never leaving the city map on the Titan's giant screen.
She must have been walking for a least two hours, as the sky had started to darken. Cursing her inability to levitate, she slumped down onto a nearby bench and massaged her temple. She never noticed the group of teenagers coming to towards her.
"Oh my fucking God! Are you...?"
She jumped up, shocked by their close presence. The teenagers were clearly gothic, judging by their fashion sense and heavy eye make-up.
"You're my hero! You're so dark and mysterious," one of them exclaimed, too excitedly for her taste. She wasn't in the mood for social situations with random fans, not that she ever had been.
"Can I get a photo!?" another asked, a young man this time. He was reaching to his jean pocket for his phone when suddenly it exploded into hundreds of pieces.
"Leave me alone!" she growled, stalking away from the group. She didn't turn around as their hollering assaulted her ears.
Crazy bitch! Fuck you!
'You have no idea…'
The common room doors opened automatically as Starfire entered, finding exactly the same scene she had left three hours before. Robin and Cyborg were still at the computer scanning her biorhythms. Beast Boy was pacing nervously behind them, his mind racing at the different scenarios she could have landed herself in, especially in a vulnerable state.
"Friends, how goes the searching?"
"No luck," Cyborg sighed. "We just need her home so we can decide what the best protocol is."
"Our friend made a mistake. Surely you won't punish her for it!"
"Starfire, she killed a civilian; a child."
It was the first time any of them had said it aloud. Shivers ran down all four of their spines at the reality. Their teammate, their friend, their source of strength had killed another human being.
Robin continued, "No doubt her mind will be in turmoil right now. She won't let us find her and I need to decide what's going to happen if she comes back."
"Surely that's more of a reason to go searching for her, Robin!" Beast Boy added, his arms flailing in front of his green body. "We all know what she can get like when she's mentally instable. She could be hurting others or herself as we speak."
Robin couldn't deny Beast Boy's point. As leader, he took great pride in his team and the hard work they put into protecting Jump City from the most unspeakable criminals and villains. He knew she had the potential to be dangerous, having conversed with her privately during many a sleepless night. But he had always been assured in her capability to control the dark side of herself. He trusted her with his life.
But he couldn't get the image of blood-soaked, blonde pigtails out of his mind. Once the police understood who the 'motherfucker' really was, they would want her hunted down and justice served. She would never be allowed to fight again. The team's impeccable reputation would be forever tarnished, and the trust they had taken so long to gain would be broken for the foreseeable future.
"She's strong. At the moment I can't trust myself not to damage her even more, so we'll wait for her to come to us."
"I agree. She's like a little sister to me but what she did… man, it was rough, even if it was an accident." Cyborg complied, shaking his head. He never thought he'd have such thoughts about her, but being a witness to a homicide at her hands stained his mind like the blood that had stained the young girl's hair.
It was now officially night-time and she hated to admit to herself that she was hurt that none of them had come searching for her. Yes, she had committed a treacherous act but surely they'd understand that it was accident!
But, she'd never been the greatest friend. She wouldn't blame them if they never wanted to see her face again so much so as beat the living daylights out of it. Robin no doubt would be worried about the Teen Titans' reputation. Beast Boy would be afraid, as he had been before of her dark side. Cyborg was like her older brother, but he had a moral sense of right and wrong. Starfire was probably the most emotional and questioning, but that is her alien nature. Misunderstanding of the evil that she possessed.
Evil that she is.
Robin had ordered the others to try to sleep, despite knowing they wouldn't get a wink of sleep tonight. He certainly wasn't. The stubborn side of him wanted to go out into the bitterly cold night and find her. The rational side of him wanted to stay, hoping she wouldn't be too afraid to return to her abode. The dreamer in him wanted to turn back time and stop his whole mess from happening.
Leaning against a nearby wall, she clutched her chest with a shaking hand as the realisation settled. She was a killer. She couldn't stop the panic from swallowing her whole. Her vision blurred as her erratic heart worked overtime to get blood around her petite body and stop her from becoming more clammy and sweaty.
'Robin will never take me back! I'll be alone!'
Her breaths became more laboured. Her whole body started to shake. Her legs gave way.
'They'll never trust me. They'll be too afraid to keep me.'
The image her losing control at the sight of Cinderblock threatening her friends and of the girl being surrounded by her dark energy flashed in her mind. She scratched at her temple, trying desperately to claw the picture from her head. She watched as she threw the car at Cinderblock, not realising that there was a passenger inside who hadn't abandoned the fight scene like the rest of the people. Tears fell from her eyes as she watched the tiny body fall eighty metres before crashing to the ground. She screamed as she remembered the sound of breaking bones and skull colliding with concrete.
Drowning in guilt, she teleported.
"The coroner's report confirms that the young girl died from the injuries sustained from a fall. You said that Cinderblock picked up the car she was in?"
Robin gulped. "Yes Lieutenant, Cinderblock grabbed a car to use as a weapon against us. We can only assume that she fell from the broken window of the car. No one could have survived a fall from such a height. She wouldn't have survived the impact of being thrown in the car either."
"Well, we're lucky to have you five fighting for us, otherwise we'd have a lot more fatalities on our hands. I thank you on behalf of the city, Robin. Thanks for your time."
Robin hung up his communicator and strapped it to his utility belt before releasing a breath he was unaware he had been holding. He swiveled his chair and came face to face with a metal torso.
"You lied."
"What would you have done?"
There was silence before Cyborg replied, "I would have lied too."
Both men stood staring at the giant computer screen, praying that a blip would come on the radar. It had been three days now and so far their prayers had been unanswered. There was no sign of her.
"Do you think Raven will come back, Cyborg?"
"Honestly… no. But I damn well hope she does."
Tears were hiding like cowards behind his mask. "Me too."