Chapter 8
[Under the collapsed building – a few minutes later.]

The bomb had exploded as Edward's desperation attack hit it. The shock wave pushed him backwards as the building started to collapse around them.

One of the falling pieces of debris hit Raven in the head and knocked her out before she could raise any shields.

Edward was able to extend a wing to cover his beloved as the building came down.

[Raven!] Edward called. No response, not even from one of her emotions.

Edward pushed upwards, but, even with his strength, he couldn't move it. He's been trapped in collapsed buildings before and would teleport away. This time, he couldn't. Not with Raven there and with a head wound.

[Come on, babe,] he pleaded, [Someone, anyone! Please respond.]

Still nothing from the other side of the link…

[Titan Tower]

The other members of the team had safely arrived back at the tower and watched the distant explosions as the rumbling hit them.

They were stunned when there was one explosion, much closer and as the team looked in shock, there was a scream followed by a blur. It was Starfire racing towards a building in the throes of a collapse.

"No," Terra moaned and sank to her knees, followed by Beast Boy.

Cyborg looked at Slade and said, "You best hope for your sake that Edward and Raven weren't in that building…or you're a dead man…again!"

Beast Boy growled deep in his throat and made to lunge for Slade, but, Robin said, "Save it for later. We gotta help Starfire."

Beast Boy stopped and formed a flying reptile and grabbed Cyborg and took off towards the dust cloud.

That left Terra and Robin."

"Terra," Robin said, "Can you get us there?"

She nodded and said, "Hang on to my waist, Bird Boy."

He helped her to her feet and she levitated a large chunk of the ground under them. Within seconds, she had caught up to Beast Boy and passed him up. She looked back real quick and before Slade could realize what was going on, the T-car was being lifted on a pillar of rock. The pillar went to just below the level of the Tower and the message was unmistakable: Try to escape and you will fall to your death.

Moments later, she landed near the building's remains. Beast Boy and Cyborg arrived moments later.

Starfire was frantically trying to move rocks and cement.

"Whoa!" Cyborg yelled, "We can't just move things like that! It could collapse any spaces Edward and Raven might be in. We don't even know if they are in there!"

Starfire said, "My friends are under this! We have to get them out of there!"

"Easy, Starfire," Robin urged his girlfriend, "Cyborg…"

"Already on it," he said grimly, running his scanners to see where Edward and Raven might be.

His face fell a moment later, "They're under this mess all right. I'm picking up Edward's vital signs loud and clear. He's agitated."

He hit a button and said, "We have to get in there, like yesterday. Raven's with him, but, her vital signs are weak. I can't tell from here, but, she's definitely down for the count."

Hearing that, everyone paled. They knew Edward's protective streak towards Raven and with her out cold, they realized that he was staying near her.

"There's another problem," Cyborg was saying, "I don't know how long Edward can hold up. There's hundreds of tons of debris around him. One wing's damaged as well. Looks like he tried using that to shield Raven."

By then other emergency services had arrived, police were busy cordoning off the area. Firefighters were arriving along with others.

Beast Boy offered to try to find the two missing Titans, but, one of the officials said, "We can't allow that just yet. We have no idea how stable this pile is. You could bring it down more."

"We just can't leave them there!" Beast Boy objected.

"B," Cyborg said, "The man's right. It's going to take a while to see if this is stable or not."

Terra said, "Let me try. These are rocks basically."

She focused on one block of cement that was resting on top of the pile and it actually moved a little bit. But, even Terra couldn't move cement.

She slumped in defeat, "There's not enough there for me to move safely…"

[Under the rubble.]

Edward was straining to keep the pile from collapsing any further. He kept trying to contact Raven telepathically every few minutes without a response. He sensed that she was still alive as her purple glow was still there in his mind, very faint. If it disappeared, Edward was going to risk changing his size and teleporting her out, regardless of what else happened.

[Come on, sweetheart,] he said, [I know the others are here by now, they'll get us out.]

Edward couldn't waste much energy with verbal communications anyway. He was slowly tiring and his wing throbbed where cement had punched through, leaving holes there. Normally, that kind of damage healed quickly, but, he could see that some chunks had not fallen through completely and the wing couldn't repair itself until the obstructions were cleared.

Raven's communicator had fallen out of her pocket and Edward strained to reach it. His neck wasn't quite long enough, so, he used his tongue to retrieve it.

Blech! This tastes terrible.

He was able to get it open somehow.

"Edward calling Robin," he said.

"Robin here!" he heard, "You guys OK in there?"

"I'm injured, believe it or not," he said, "But, never mind me. Raven's out cold with a head injury. She needs the infirmary, like yesterday. How long before we're out of here?"

"It could be a while," Robin said, "Engineers are looking at the damage to see if Beast Boy can try to get in there first."

"Send him," Edward said, "The rubble's as stable as it's going to be. If he does a mole or something small with good eyesight, he probably won't disturb the pile."

"We'll see what we can do from here," Robin said, "How long can you hold out?"

"Maybe another couple of hours, at most," Edward said, "But, unless Rae gets medical attention soon, that time won't matter one freaking bit!"

Robin made a decision…He looked over at Beast Boy and said, "Go, Beast Boy."

Outside the building's rubble, Beast Boy shifted to a ground hog and raced towards the rubble and when he got there, he shifted to a chipmunk and headed into the pile.

He had the basic idea where Edward and Raven were trapped and given that Edward's heart would be pounding, Beast Boy was hoping that he'd hear that.

Edward tried to look around to see if there was any light sources as he waited. There wasn't any that he could see right off hand, and, he wasn't feeling any breezes.

That meant that the oxygen supply could be running low. Edward slowed his breathing to as low as he dared, but, with him exerting a lot of energy, he couldn't go into a hibernation type slowdown.

Beast boy, after about 20 minutes located Edward and Raven.

He shapeshifted back to human and saw the glowing yellow eyes from Edward.

He crawled to Raven and felt for a pulse. There was one, and, it was pretty strong for a gal who had a huge lump on her head.

"Dude," Beast Boy called up, "I think Raven's going to be OK!"

"Did you check her pulse?" Edward whispered.

"Yeah, it's pretty strong," Beast Boy said.

"Count it off for me," he said, "I'll tell you when to stop."

"OK," he said, "Ready when you are."

"Go ahead," Edward said.

Edward counted to 15 seconds and said, "Stop."

"I counted 20," Beast Boy said, "Is that good?"

"Well, I don't know Azarathian biology, but, she's got 80 beats per minute. It's a little fast, but, that's good," Edward whispered with a slight groan.

"I want you to check her breathing for me," he said.

"OK," Beast Boy said, then, let out a yelp.

"I think I touched her breast…She's going to kill me!" he said.

"Dude," Edward whispered, "I'll deal with her wrath. This is a medical emergency and I'm giving you permission to touch her breasts if you have to! MOVE!" The last word was practically snarled.

"All right," Beast Boy said, trying again. He knew he was touching Raven in a place that would get him shipped to another dimension, but, did as Edward asked.

A minute later Edward said, "How many?"

Beast Boy said, "15"

"All right," Edward said, "Thanks. I know it wasn't that comfortable for you. She'll be fine, but, we have to get some oxygen and soon."

Beast Boy nodded, "I'll see what can be done. Just hang on."

He shapeshifted back to a chipmunk and retraced his steps. It didn't take long for him to find daylight, though.

He looked around and saw the rest of the team and ran towards them.

Starfire spotted him first and flew to him. She was happy to see Beast Boy as he shapeshifted back to human and brushed off the dust.

"How are our friends?" Starfire asked.

"Well, Edward's holding up," he said to a groan from Starfire and the others, "Sorry…bad pun. Raven's out cold with a nasty bump on her head, but, according to Edward, her vitals are strong. She'll be fine.

"But, the air's pretty stale. Edward said they need oxygen very soon. He's got a damaged wing as well."

Robin went over to talk to the emergency personnel and told them that there were survivors buried under the rubble and they would need air at least.

There was a look of alarm from the captain in charge of the operations and he said, "You're sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure," Robin said, "Two of my teammates are buried alive there. One is in need of medical attention."

"Well, it looks like the rubble's fairly stable. We're going to start to remove this soon," the man said.

"Beast Boy is telling me that they are running out of air," Robin said.

"How can they be running out of air?" the fire captain asked.

"Short version, one of the victims is Edward Barnes and he's in his dragon form," Beast Boy said.

"That new member we've heard about?" the fire captain said.

"Yes," Robin said.

"Why hasn't he powered his way out?" a firefighter asked.

"I think he would normally, but, his girlfriend is the other victim," Robin explained.

"Girlfriend?" the same firefighter asked.

"Raven's his girlfriend," Cyborg replied, "He's staying to protect her. She's the one that's out cold. Now, do we start moving this stuff or do I start blasting?" He changed his arm to the sonic cannon and lit it up.

Starfire powered up as well, eyes and hands glowing. Terra started powering up as well. Beast Boy changed to his elephant form and trumpeted.

"Easy, Titans," Robin said, "Where's the best place to start moving stuff?"

The engineers pointed at a spot on the rubble and said, "We think the best angle is here. Slowly come in from the top and work our way down."

"Can we get some air to them in the meanwhile?" Cyborg said.

They thought for a moment and said, "We can probably snake a line through to them and start pumping in air…"

[Under the rubble]

Edward was growing more concerned by the minute. He was starting to strain under the weight. He knew that part of it was the decreasing amounts of available air, and the other was actual fatigue setting in.

[Raven, dear?] Edward called through the link.

He felt what seemed to be "static" as Raven was fighting her way awake.

[That's right,] Edward said, [I'm here, love.]

[Not so loud!] she said, [Hurts to use the link.]

[Sorry about that,] he said, [But, happy to hear your voice again.]

[What happened?] she asked.

[The last bomb went off. The building collapsed around us. I'm holding back the rubble,] he explained.

[Guess that's why my head feels like Trigon pounded me,] she said, sending a wince through the link.

[Rest, dear. The others are working on a rescue,] he said.

[Can't you teleport us out?] she said.

[Not with you having a head injury, I'm not. You probably have a nasty concussion,] Edward said, [Soon as some fresh air gets in here, that will help.]

Edward heard some scratching noises a half hour later as Beast Boy returned, dragging an air hose behind him.

He returned to his human form (from a snake form this time) and pulled out his communicator.

"Beast Boy calling Robin, I'm here," he said.

"Good work!" Robin said. A moment later, there was a steady stream of air flowing.

Edward waited a few moments and said, "Thanks! This helps a lot."

"How's Raven?" Beast Boy asked.

"Merely sleeping," Edward said, "We talked for a few moments through the link."

Beast Boy smiled, "Great! Hey, you should be freed pretty soon. There's a lot of people working to remove the rubble."

"Nice to hear," Edward said, "I can tell the weight's coming off."

"You going to let Raven teleport out?" Beast Boy asked.

"Not really," Edward said, "She's got a concussion for sure. We'll wait."

"I need to head back," Beast Boy said.

"Go ahead," Edward said, "I'm sure that they could use your help. I'd suggest a gorilla for you to use."

"OK!" Beast Boy said, then transformed back to a snake and headed out.

[2 hours later]

It took a while, but, Edward finally felt most of the weight coming off his back to the point he was able to flex a little bit and get the kinks out of his back.

"You OK?" Raven asked. She had woke up an hour ago and was told not to even think about using her powers until she was checked out.

"Well, all things considered," Edward replied, "Yes and no. I'm relieved that you're awake obviously, but, I'm not liking having to be trapped."

"I'm sorry, dear," Raven said.

"It's all right, Rae," he said, "What's some discomfort compared to the loss of a loved one, right? You'd do the same for me."

She patted him on the snout. His eyes glowed softly in response and throwing some light into the area as well. It was a soft yellow glow, indicating that he was pleased, instead of getting annoyed. He'd gladly take that burden, any day.

As that was happening, there was a rumble from above and some dust fell on Edward. Raven moved close to Edward as a precaution.

[Outside rubble pile]

While Edward and Raven were talking, the other Titans and other personnel were removing the immense load. Beast Boy had taken Edwards advice and assumed a gorilla form to help move the heavier chunks.

The load was being transferred to waiting dump trucks when the whole load shifted several feet as it collapsed away from where Edward and Raven were still trapped.

Starfire was the first to sense the mountain shifting and warned, "The mountain of cement is collapsing!"

That got everyone off the pile quickly. Beast Boy went to pterodactyl form and grabbed Robin as Starfire grabbed Cyborg. Terra summoned a boulder and flew off the pile on that.

The pile took several moments to shift before it stopped.

"Robin calling Edward or Raven," Robin said after opening his communicator.

"Raven here," she said.

"Hey, I'm glad to hear your voice," he said, "You guys OK?"

"Yeah," Edward called down, "What happened?"

"We had a minor collapse out here," Robin said.

"I thought so," Edward said, "The load's shifted more to the side. I can actually stand easier. This might be enough for me to break through. I can shield Raven better if I can get my tail around her."

"Can't she use her powers?" Robin said.

"I'm not recommending that," Edward said, "She was mentioning a bad headache and I'm sensing that on an empathic level. It's too risky."

"Understood," Robin said, "Be careful. We'll get the work crews to safety first."

"Get them at least 400 yards away," Edward recommended.

Edward heard a stranger yelling, "Everyone clear out! Barnes is going to try to break out. 400 yards! MOVE IT!"

"A foreman?" Edward surmised.

"Yeah" Robin replied, "We're moving as well. I'll call back when everyone's clear."

[Under the pile]

Edward was able to move his tail to protect Raven, but, just barely. The rubble made it difficult to move his neck and tail, but, with some effort, he managed the feat.

By then, Robin was calling back to tell him that everyone was a safe distance away. Edward smiled, knowing that he had a decent chance of breaking free from the remains of the office building.

"Cover your head and ears, sweetheart," Edward advised.

"I'm ready," Raven said.

Edward slowly lowered himself and with a groan, pushed upwards with all his strength. The effort resulted in the rubble moving to the sides more and more, but, it wasn't enough in the first attempt.

But, Edward was encouraged to try again.

"Keep it up!" Robin called through the communicator.

"Yes, friend Edward," Starfire cheered, "Please keep moving the rocks."

Terra focused on her powers and even though she would have a hard time lifting the cement since it wasn't exactly earth, she had to try. With a scream she unleashed her abilities as Edward shoved upwards once more.

That did the trick! There was a huge explosion of cement, steel and other materials as Edward broke through with a roar!

"Man!" he yelled, "That feels good!"

He carefully climbed out of the pit and shook the wing loose at the same time. Once the obstructions were cleared, the wing healed in a few minutes and Edward was finally able to retract the wing.

After he was totally clear of the pile, he set Raven down and for the first time since late morning, Edward resumed his human form.

It was a good thing as the energy needed to do that pushed Edward over the edge and Starfire caught him as he collapsed!

OK...Just need the epilogue and this one's done!

A side note: Thanks to arizonahawk711 for the idea to do this particular story and also for pointing out in the last chapter that I left out having Terra toss a rock at Slade for Cyborg! That's been edited in.

I know that it would have appeared in the previous chapter that Edward was going to open the can of whoop-ass on Slade when he heard Raven's scream through their link. Edward certainly could have ripped Slade's head off and ... well, you get the idea. Gotta keep it somewhat clean for the younger set.

But, I digress...Edward wanted to do just that, but, knew that Terra absolutely needed the closure to a painful part of her life. She didn't kill him, because Edward and Raven showed her a different path. (Oh, that part was lifted from a Walker, Texas Ranger episode I remembered...One of Walker's enemies tried the "Let's kidnap Alex" trick, along with some other stuff and Walker, before each hit would say "This one's for Trivette...This one's for Alex...and this one's for me!")

Questions/comments/suggestions? Little link down below is really good for that, right? I'm open to CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, as arizonahawk711 is discovering (She also reminded me that Raven's not as warm as I was portraying her, so, I toned that down a bit.)

See ya next chapter :)