Teen Titans
Adaptation

By Cyberwraith9

Going Home

The bay glimmered warm and clear under the late afternoon sun. There were no sails cutting across the waters. The trundling freighters so common to the harbor were absent. Though the ice had long since melted, the memory of it had emptied the bay. If was as if the unnatural floes of ice still cordoned the city from the ocean.

Scars remained in the city, radiating from its shoreline into its streets. The long, mottled furrows were festooned in construction orange and heavy machinery. Cranes stretched their arms to disassemble collapsed buildings, while exhausted rescue teams stood poised to pull the shattered statues that were once people out from under the rubble. Traffic crawled around the reclamation with crowded uncertainty as life slowly returned to normal.

Cyberion leaned in the doorframe of the Tower's entrance hall as he considered the Titans' scars. There was plenty of hurt to share between them, but the one that hurt the most lay just outside their door.

"Raven was one of the toughest people I knew. She never talked much, but she always said a lot…even if most of it was about how obnoxious her roommates were," Cyberion said. The corner of his mouth twitched.

Then he sobered. "But as tough as she acted, she could never hide just how much she really cared. She would snark, and she would complain, but she always backed you, whether you were charging into a fight, or just feeling down. She was my friend. I wish I had told her what that meant to me. I just hope she knew."

A circle of stone had been smoothed at the end of the path from the Tower's entrance. The Titan sigil was carved into the earth, half a dozen meters across. A short, square monolith stood at the circle's far edge. Its black marble glistened, polished until it was a mirror. Three short lines had been inscribed on the monolith's face.

RAVEN
A TEEN TITAN
A TRUE FRIEND

Except Cyberion couldn't read the inscription from where he stood. He only knew it because he had been the one to laser it into the marble. At the moment, the inscription was blocked by a pair of sagging shoulders and a bowed green head.

Cyberion felt a presence appear beside him in the doorway. He didn't need to look to know who it was. "I know you're probably about to jet off," said Cyberion. "I just wanted to say 'thanks.' For what you said."

"Raven hated me. I confess, in many ways, I returned her sentiment in kind. Raven was a monster. Her nature was to destroy.

"But Raven strived every day to rise above that nature. She was not satisfied with what she was. She wanted to be more. And she was. To her last breath, Raven proved that any one of us may become what we want most to be…even if just for one brief, glorious moment.

"Death is lighter than a feather. Duty is heavier than a mountain. Raven bore the weight of both on her shoulders. I respect her for that. I always respected her, and admired her. And I shall miss her."

"I said nothing that was untrue," Bushido replied, "and nothing less than what I owed her. And yes, I had planned on leaving."

Cyberion sniffed. "No surprise there. You never really liked being part of a team, did you, Ryuko?"

Bushido set aside his heavy duffle bag and leaned opposite Cyberion on the towering doorframe. His swollen eye had faded into a Technicolor shiner. His bleached wooden sheath was notably absent from his waist, poking instead from the top of his duffle. Folding his arms, he said, "I am ill-suited to take any part in a team. My methods work for me, and seldom for others. I fight best alone."

"Well, that's a load of shit." Cyberion's offhanded comment earned him a look of surprise from Bushido. "Just look at all you've accomplished in the last year. You've faced down super villains, robot menaces, magical body-swapping, alien invaders, and a living god. You really think you could have karate chopped your way out of all that by yourself?"

The question gave Bushido pause. He shrugged, and said, "Perhaps not. But all the same, it is time for me to go, and long past time for you to be rid of me."

"Sure," said Cyberion. "Oh, but, before you go, maybe you could help me with this problem I've been having."

"I will help as I am able," Bushido said with careful neutrality.

"Good, good. Good stuff. So," said Cyberion, "you know that the nearest major airport is in Sacramento, right? It's the closest place to get a decent flight to anywhere."

Bushido nodded. "Jump City is many things, but an aeronautical hub it is not."

"Right. Well, Sacramento International is about two hours away in traffic. And once the world ended, with all those dead cars on the road, there's no way you could drive back. You'd have to hoof it, which would take the better part of a day. No way could somebody jog that kind of distance in time to make it back here for, say, an apocalyptic battle royal."

"…ah," said Bushido.

Cyberion fixed him with a stare. "You had all the time in the world to get out of the city and on your merry way. The only way you could have still been anywhere near enough to join the fight is if you had never left."

Bushido whirled on Cyberion. "You must say nothing to the others," he snapped.

His tone raised Cyberion's eyebrows. "Why? As far as I'm concerned, this is the first piece of evidence ever against you being a total douche bag," he said.

Bushido's chin fell to his chest. "Because I may as well have actually left. When the moment of truth came, I faltered. I failed you, and I failed myself. I would rather the others remember my failure as I do, and my arrival to the fight as having been circumstantial. It may as well have been."

The two teens lapsed into uncomfortable silence. They watched Beast Boy's motionless vigil on the grave until Tek's strained voice turned them around.

"Hey," Tek said, and sniffed. "I found it."

"Raven was…she was…she was mean to me at first. But that was only because I kept going crazy and threatening everybody," Tek wheezed through her tears. "Once I got that under control, we were okay. Sometimes she would even be nice to me.

"And Raven was pretty. And she cared about us, somewhere deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep down. And it's not fair that she's gone. She was going to have a baby, and finally be happy, and we were all supposed to be together. And…"

Tek wanted to say more, but her voice failed her. So she let her sobbing finish the thought.

"It was right where you said it would be," Tek said. She lugged a long metal box across the Tower's sprawling entryway. Her eyes were bloodshot, with heavy bags hanging underneath them. But she forced a tired smile across her face as she handed the box to Cyberion.

Cyberion pulled at the flat box's seam. "First thing I brought over from the Compound," he said.

Tek looked back across the hall. The Tyrants had left it empty and in pitiful repair, like much of the Tower. "Do we really have to move back here?" she whined. "The Compound is so—"

"The Compound's gone, kid," Cyberion said, cutting her off. "Besides, Blackfire left a nice, big hole in it when she broke out. We're better off where we are."

"…but everything's broken here," insisted Tek. "It'll need fixing. And if you…if you…"

Cyberion stopped, and glanced up from the box to meet her puffy look. With an understanding smile, he said, "The city had every right to kick us out of the neighborhood, Allie. They're scared, and hurt. They didn't see what happened with Trigon. All they know is, they lost a day, and wound up with a frozen harbor, a lot of collateral damage, and too many crushed…statues."

"People are capable of great and terrible things when motivated by fear," Bushido said.

Tek sniffed, and swiped her face with her wrist. She and Cyberion both knew she wasn't upset about losing the Compound, just as they both knew she couldn't change the way things were with tears and pleas. So she rounded her scowl on Bushido, and gestured to his duffle. "So, are you finally leaving, ass-face? You running away again?" she asked.

Bushido met her scowl with a passive expression. His black eye twitched at the girl responsible for giving it to him. "Yes. I am leaving. And I am unlikely to ever return," he told her.

"Is that a fact?" she said.

"Yes," he answered, and spread his hands. "So if you have something to say to me, I suggest you do so now."

"Fine," Tek snapped.

The force of Tek's hug slammed him back into the doorframe. He lost his breath as she crushed him in her embrace. Her face pressed into his neck, tickling him with her sigh.

"You are such a jerk," Tek whimpered into his hair. "You're a selfish, lying, cheating jerk. And I'm so glad you came back. I was scared I'd never get to see you again. Thank you for coming back."

They stood together in their awkward embrace. Bushido eased his hands onto her hips, pulling her away. His astonished expression drew a smile across her chin as he murmured, "You really mean that, don't you?"

She brushed his brow smooth. "I'm your friend, Ry. Nobody gets to say otherwise. Not even me," she told him.

"…thank you," he murmured, too stunned to say anything else.

Tek chuckled and patted his chest. "C'mon, Ry-guy. Don't look so serious. You got everything you wanted. You got your sword-mojo back, and now you get to go back to your own life."

"You could at least pretend to be changing careers," Cyberion added. "At least until you're on the plane."

"Everything's coming up Bushido. Isn't that worth a smile?" Tek asked.

Bushido took her hands and gently lifted them off his chest. His gaze fell. "I can understand your confusion, given my spectacular assault on the demon lord. But you are mistaken. I am Bushido no longer."

Cyberion shared a confused look with Tek. "But those fireworks you were throwing at Trigon—" said Cyberion.

"—was my ancestors' sense of self-preservation," Bushido explained. "They sensed their imminent destruction, and granted me a temporary boon. They have apparently long since decided that I was unfit to continue in their stead."

The smirk was crushed from Tek's face. "I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

Bushido shrugged. "Once I broke my oath when I… Well, it is all in the past. And I suppose not all is lost. The old men have granted me a chance at redemption."

"A strict regiment of blade polishing and sheath dusting?" Cyberion suggested.

"A quest," Bushido said, smiling slightly. "I am to find the next Bushido. If I find the blade's next wielder, my transgressions will be cleansed, and my place among my ancestors will be assured."

Tek offered him an insincere smile. "That sounds super, Ry," she said. "You're gonna be the best soul in there someday. I just know it."

"And so," Bushido said, sweeping his duffle to his shoulder with a dramatic gesture, "I set out to scour the world in search of a worthy soul to whom I may bequeath this weighty gift."

As he stepped forward, Cyberion blocked his way. "Sure," the looming Titan said, and nodded. "Or, just a thought: you could not do that, and stay here instead."

Bushido blinked, and set his duffle on the ground. "Excuse me?" he said.

Offering a shrug, Cyberion said, "I don't know if you noticed, but we get around a lot. And for as many kooks, losers, psychopaths, and Doctor Lights as we've met, we've also found some of the best, worthiest people I've ever known."

He opened the metal box in his hands. Inside the box sat a single piece of paper, which bore the words "This I Vow," and five paragraphs after. The bottom of the paper was a mess of signatures.

"Most of those people's names are right there at the bottom," Cyberion said as Tek lifted the paper out of its box. "I think your name should be there too."

Bushido stared. "That is the Titan Charter. You…you wish for me to sign it?"

"It's like the kid said. We're friends," Cyberion said. "Maybe I don't like who you were. Doubt I ever will. Doubt I'll ever like your pompous ass, really. But you've had our backs through thick and thin. Even if your sword doesn't think you're good enough to be their Bushido, I think you're more than good enough to be ours."

Tek presented the dumbfounded swordsman with their charter. She pressed a pen into his hand. "Stick around, Ry. We want you here with us. And we could help you with your quest, if you want."

When Bushido took the charter, Tek turned around, and pointed at her back until Bushido pressed the sheet of paper to her skin suit. She felt his name join the jumble of signatures, and grinned.

"Great!" she chirped, and turned to snatch the charter from him. She gave the sheet to Cyberion, and then grabbed Bushido's hand. "Come on! Let's go find you a room upstairs. Oh! We could be neighbors again! Won't that be awesome?"

She dragged Bushido back through the entrance, nearly bowling over Robin. The Teen Wonder sidled around them and caught himself against the doorframe, glancing back as they traipsed through the hall.

"I see those two made up. Ryuko is staying, then?" Robin asked.

Cyberion placed the charter back in its security box. "I think he'll stay," he said to the beltless, capeless teen. "And I guess you're leaving."

Lacking any replacements, the lenses were still missing from Robin's mask. The flicker of his iceberg blue eyes betrayed his hesitation as he nodded. "I am. I have to get back to…to, uh…"

His gaze was drawn to the grave, and the shapeshifter atop it. Beast Boy had become a second headstone. As far as Robin could tell, Beast Boy hadn't so much as shifted since the morning. He was immovable, silent, despite every effort by his friends to convince him to leave.

For a moment, as Robin stared, the island landscape vanished. Raven's grave became a hospital bed, which held a golden, unmoving shape. Beast Boy transformed as well, into a pale, pathetic, shaven, wheelchair-bound wretch who sobbed at the bedside.

"A dear friend was taken from us this week. I know everyone here feels her loss. Our lives are better for our having known her, and worse for her absence. But while we're mourning, we need to remember one thing above all else…

"Raven was a hero in every sense of the word," Robin said. He bowed his head. "She dedicated her entire life to the fight. She believed in the fight. She believed in good. She believed in people, in humanity, enough to sacrifice herself to give them a second chance.

Robin's voice grew thick. "We can't waste that second chance. Not any more."

"I wish it had been me," Robin murmured. "It should have been me."

Cyberion shook his head. "Don't do that, man. You can't do that to yourself. I've been there, trust me."

"Do you remember what Raven said? That one of us would make the ultimate sacrifice to stop Trigon? And that it wouldn't be her? But it was." Robin sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "It feels like we failed her. Like she got cheated."

It was a long moment before Cyberion answered. "Maybe she did. But she wasn't the one that made that sacrifice. Gar was."

Robin jolted. "What?"

Nodding to the circle, Cyberion said, "World on the line? I like to think that I could do what Raven did, and take that bullet. I'd be scared as hell, but I'd do it. I think Raven would have too. But she couldn't…"

"But—"

"She needed Gar to do it for her," Cyberion said. He blew a sigh through pursed lips. "He made that sacrifice for her. He loved her, and he killed her. I don't think I could do what he did in a million years."

Frowning, Robin said, "She was our friend, Vic. We all loved her."

Cyberion looked back out at Beast Boy, and shook his head again. "He loved her, Tim," he said firmly.

Robin's frown slowly unfurled. He turned his gaze back to the grave, and stared at Beast Boy. It was several minutes before he could wrap his head around the concept Cyberion was trying to explain to him.

"Holy hell," Robin murmured.

"It was going on for a while," Cyberion said. "After Dominic, I think. I'm not sure when he figured it out, but…he knew. I know he did. And he killed her."

"Did…did she…?" asked Robin.

Cyberion shrugged. "No clue. You know how hard she was to read. Six months ago, I would've laughed myself into a coma at the idea. But things change. They changed."

Robin sighed. "Holy hell," he said again. "I really have been gone, haven't I, Vic?"

"Too long, Wonder Boy," Cyberion said, and managed a smile. "Way too long. But you'll have plenty of time to get reacquainted when you're head honcho around here again."

The words took an extra second to register with Robin. He jerked his head around, and said, "Wait. What?"

Leaning back on the wall, Cyberion said to Robin, "I already talked it over with everybody else. I'm leaving, and I want you in charge while I'm gone."

Words floundered in Robin's mouth. "But why?" he said at last.

Cyberion clenched his fingers, and watched the tendons jump in his arms. A metallic sheen rippled through his skin. He felt the soft buzz of his power cell against his beating heart.

"Look at me, Tim. I don't know what the hell I am anymore. I don't know what I can do. I don't even know if these micro-machines will decide to quit on me like they did on Smith." A haunted expression darkened Cyberion's face. "What if that happens in the middle of a fight? Something like that endangers everybody, not just me. A thing like that could put more headstones in our yard. I won't let that happen because of me.

"No, man. I have to figure this out. I can't do that and run the show here at the same time. I need some space, and some time. But most of all," Cyberion said, his voice quieting, "I need to know that someone…that 'you're' here taking care of everybody."

Robin balked. "Why me, Vic? I don't have the rosiest of track records."

Cyberion sighed impatiently. "Look, I could remind you about how you built this team in the first place, or how this is what you were born to do. We both know I'd be right. But Tim…you need this. You do."

"Vic…"

A sharp gesture cut the Teen Wonder off before he could speak. "No," Cyberion said. "You went a little nuts after what went down last year. I gotta give you that one, considering. But dude, enough. You gotta bust out of this mid-hero crisis of yours. If you keep up these lone wolf, devil-may-care, gung-ho shenanigans, we're gonna be planting you out there too. Is that what you want?" he snapped.

When Robin didn't answer, Cyberion rested a hand on his shoulder. "They need you here. I need you here. And you need to be here, doing what you do best," Cyberion told him in a gentler voice.

Robin blinked hard, and cleared his throat. He met Cyberion's gaze with a weak smile. "Our base blew up on my watch. I hardly think that makes me the best."

"Yeah? Well, I built a big, shiny target in the middle of a populated area," Cyberion grumbled. "And then I got us evicted from it."

"I liked the Compound," Robin told him. "I like the idea that we can be right there for people, living with them instead of apart from them. It's noble. It's just not…feasible."

Cyberion clapped Robin on the shoulder, and then wandered back into the Tower. Solitude settled over Robin in the moments that followed. The Teen Wonder wore it as he would a heavy coat. He watched Beast Boy mourn in silence, and fell into the same spell that gripped the shapeshifter.

It was several minutes more before Robin felt the air rustle behind him. A new presence made the floor tremble lightly underfoot. "Hello, Tim," he heard a soft voice speak.

"I once thought Raven very different from me. She cloaked herself in a façade of prickliness and indifference, in addition to her literal cloak. Though we were teammates, I thought we would never connect as anything more. I thought her incapable of such connection.

"But in very little time, Raven showed me the error of my assumptions. She cared as deeply for me as I did for her. Though her path and her ways differed from mine, she possessed a passion for life as vibrant as any I have seen. And on rare occurrences of great luck, she would share that passion with me in the simplest of gestures, or even just in her company.

"Raven died for us. I will not weep for her passing. I will celebrate her life, and remember her always for what she was: difficult at times, and a hero always, and a friend first, and…and a dear sister," Starfire said, choking at the last words.

"Kory," Robin said.

"Vic has spoken with you, yes? Will you stay?"

Starfire stood close, making his heart race. The scent of her hair drifted over his shoulder, making it torture not to turn around. But he gritted his teeth, and kept his eyes locked out toward the ocean.

In the days since the battle, there had been few opportunities for long talks. Relocations, explanations, and overwhelming grief stole their time away, leaving them with only spare moments to glance at each other, and then turn away in embarrassment. Now that life had quieted again, now that he was staying, they had all the time in the world.

The very thought made Robin's heart pound even harder.

"I don't know if I should," he said.

She was quiet for a moment more. Then she asked, "He is still out there?"

He nodded out to the memorial circle. "He hasn't moved since this morning. What do you think we should do?"

"Do nothing," said Starfire. Her hand brushed his shoulder, sending a bolt of electricity through him. "He mourns in his own way. You can only stand by him until he asks more of you."

When her hand left him, Robin shuddered, and ached. He knew he couldn't put the question off any longer. "And what about us? What should 'we' do?" he asked the air in front of him.

Her hesitation lasted a lifetime. "I have thought long on the subject of 'us,' " she admitted. "And I have decided that I need to do much more thinking on the subject before I can answer such a question."

Robin felt his innards clench. "What do you mean?"

Starfire's light touch turned him to face her. She wore a weak smile, and a black swatch draped over the shoulder strap of her armor. "I have spent the last year in slumber and in denial. My failure to save you drove me away from myself. I denied my feelings—all of my feelings—because I thought they made me weak. But it was my own faithlessness that crippled me. I stripped myself of my honor and my strength. I hid from myself, until I became a shell that I hated."

"You did save me, Kory," he insisted. "I was…I was out of control, and you stopped me. I was the one who failed."

"Tim, please," Starfire began.

Robin shook his head. "No, just listen. Listen. What happened to you, what I did…that wasn't the alien, Kory. That was me. That was Robin. He—I—said all of those things, and hurt everybody I cared about.

"I took off the mask because I couldn't deal with that. But when I did, there was nothing underneath. It was like being Robin burned away everything under the costume, and when I took it off…there was nothing."

He choked, and swallowed. "I was the one who was hiding, Kory. I hid from all that. And when Conner dug me up, I hid behind the mask again. I thought I could just go through the motions until…until things were set right…" he said shakily.

Starfire's concern drew taut across her face. "You have been seeking the Hak-Shal. The warrior's end."

"It should have been me in that bed," Robin said, his voice a ghost. "It should have been me in the ground out there. But it wasn't. And I just thought that if I kept going and going until it finally caught up with me, it would somehow be okay."

He looked up. "But then I was crashing, and I saw you across the bay. I was going to die, and all I wanted to do was see your face again."

With quavering words, Starfire said, "You cannot make me your only reason for living, Tim. You cannot lay that responsibility at my feet. It is unfair."

"It's not like that. Kory," he said, and took her limps hands into his. "When I saw you, really saw you, I realized that I wanted to be…alive. A person! I want to put something under this mask, so when I take it off, I can be the kind of man that you…that you wouldn't kick out of your room in the morning," he said, and reddened.

She stared into his earnest blue eyes, and then said, "Tim…I am leaving."

His fingers slid out from hers. "What? Why?" he stammered.

Starfire wrung her empty hands. "There is still so much I must think about, for myself, and for us. For even the possibility of 'us.' And I must do so alone."

"Kory, you can't…"

Her gaze grew heavy with tears. "I am leaving today. I came out here to say goodbye to you. And you are making it very difficult to do so," she said in a thick voice.

Robin swallowed again. His eyes became hot. "Where will you go?" he asked.

She hugged her arms. Her hand brushed the swatch hanging from her shoulder. Taking the black fabric, she began kneading it in her nervous grasp. "I am unsure. Far away. Away from Earth, I think."

"Away from… For how long?" he asked.

"Until I collect myself."

He bit his lip, and blinked harder. "Kory, when you were gone, it was… 'I' was awful. I'm a wreck. How am I supposed to do this without you?"

Starfire looked up slowly. She tugged her lips into a half-smile, and brushed the hair away from his mask. "Keep the faith that I could not. Believe that I will come back."

Robin scoffed, and looked away. "I'm so sure you'll leave the endless wonders of the galaxy to come back to the planet that spawned reality television and the pizza bagel." He tried to sound sarcastic while his stomach collapsed into a cluster of knots.

Starfire pulled at the swatch in her hands. She stepped close to Robin and swept the fabric around him. It fastened to his collar with her deft touch, becoming his cape once more. She smoothed the cape at his shoulders, and said, "I like both pizza and bagels. I like the shows with the dancing contests."

Brushing his cheeks, she added, "And you make me fly."

Her head tilted forward. Their eyes closed, and their lips met. Starfire lifted his hands to her hips, and then wove her fingers through his hair. She savored every sensation of him—the softness of his lips, the smell of his sweat, the taste of him.

Then, gasping, she left his embrace. The look of shock on his face as she slid out from under his gloves almost broke her. She floated backwards into the air, her cheeks glistening, her hand clasped over her mouth. Forcing her gaze skyward, Starfire flew up into the air without another word.

Robin watched her become a red dot that dwindled into nothing. He stared at the sky long after she had gone, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. When he turned, Cyberion was smiling at him, with Tek and Bushido waiting behind him.

"You okay?" Cyberion asked.

The wrinkled cape bunched in Robin's hands. He let the fabric swing free again, and answered, "I'll let you know."

Cyberion nodded, and sighed. He turned to the trio collectively, and said, "Okay, guys. Take it easy. No house parties while I'm gone."

"It's not a party without you, Vic," Tek said with a thin smile.

An equally thin smile answered hers. Cyberion lingered a second too long, meeting his friends' uncertain stares. At last, he turned around, and started walking.

Tek lifted her hand to stop him the moment he turned. Her fingers curled, and she bit her lip. "Vic?" she blurted. When Cyberion stopped to look back, she felt the blood drain out of her face. Her heart thundered, and her mouth dried. "Call us sometime. Okay?" she stammered.

He nodded, and winked. "I will, kid. Take care of these guys for me," he said, before he started out again.

A bitter breath emptied Tek. She sagged, and sighed. Then she felt a stare pressing into the side of her head. Bushido cocked his eyebrow at her expectantly.

Tek groaned. "Oh, the hell with it."

Her pounding footfalls made Cyberion stop again. He turned around and caught Tek against his chest as she wrapped herself around him. His words of surprise were shoved back down as her mouth crashed into his.

Tek kissed him, eagerly, clumsily. Her hands grasped his smooth pate as she pulled back with a gasp. She smiled at his astonishment, and whispered, "Come back soon."

Uncoiling her legs from his waist, Tek sashayed back to the Tower's doors. She kept her head straight to hide her beet red face and beaming grin from Cyberion. The askance look from Robin and the smug smirk from Bushido made her wipe her face blank with a clearing of her throat.

"So, Bird-Boss," she said, businesslike, her blush receding. "What's the plan? What do we do now?"

Robin touched his lips as he looked to the sky. "We keep going," he decided.

"Such an undertaking will be no mean feat," Bushido said. "The Titans are hardly what they once were. If I'm not mistaken, three-quarters of their current membership has been fired or quit at one point or another. Hardly an auspicious new beginning, I think."

A smirk tweaked Tek's lips as she watched Cyberion walking across the memorial circle. "The Titans are a big deal, Ry. Bigger than all of us. But they'd just disappear without us, too. So it's up to people like us to keep it going. A loner, a killer, a basket case, and…" She trailed off as she saw Cyberion pause over Beast Boy.

Bushido said what they were all thinking. "…and a ghost."

Drawing his scalloped cape around him, Robin said, "Things will get better. And they'll get worse, too. We'll just have to handle it one day at a time. Together."

He led Tek and Bushido back into the Tower. Cyberion's augmented hearing tracked their fading footsteps until he felt he could risk a glance back. He watched the empty doorway, and brushed his tingling lips. His brow furrowed.

Then he looked back down and felt his stomach plunge. "Hey, Gar," he said.

The gathering drew silent as all eyes fell to Beast Boy. Their confessional circle around the monument had come to his turn. But he did not step forward. He did not look up at them. His eyes remained on Raven's name in stone, as they had since the Titans had come to her grave.

His friends waited for him to say something. Their probing eyes made him want to retch. They expected him to sum Raven up in a trite speech. They wanted some heartfelt confession from him. Deep down, he knew they meant well, and that they were hurting too.

But he just couldn't care.

"The people we care about never stay," Beast Boy mumbled. Then he sat upon the grave and stared at the ground, ignoring the eyes of his friends.

Cyberion touched Beast Boy's shoulder. The shapeshifter tensed, but that was all. He barely stirred. As he did, Cyberion saw something red glistening in Beast Boy's palm. It took Cyberion a moment to recognize the object as Raven's clasp. Its message had been spent, leaving the gem dark and silent.

"I'm headed out now, Gar," Cyberion said. "I'm not sure when I'll be back. But if you need anything, or you want to talk, you call me. Day or night. You'll always be able to reach me, seeing as how I'm my own phone and all."

Beast Boy didn't answer. The fingers wrapped around Raven's clasp whitened with tension.

Sighing, Cyberion pulled back his hand. "I'm sorry, Gar. I'm so sorry. Call me, okay?" he said.

With heavy steps, Cyberion left the circle. He kept looking over his shoulder, hoping to see green eyes looking back at him. But he gave up as he reached the edge of the island's cliffs.

Sarah, he thought, are we ready?

The Sarah Simm's voice answered in his thoughts. Power levels are optimum. Transformative capability is on standby. After a brief pause, she asked, What do you intend to do now?

I thought we could head into the city. We could get some dinner, and maybe catch the latest piece of Oscar bait. Figure out who I am and what the hell I'm supposed to do now. Decide if I should grow my hair out again. Just the usual soul-searching stuff.

There was another pause, and then Sarah projected, May I access your sensory input during the movie? I have accessed your memories of cinema, and would very much like to experience one for myself, without the inaccuracies of your perceptions, such as they are. They seem…fun.

Cyberion laughed out loud. "Stick with me, Sarah. Maybe we can figure out who you are too, while we're at it," he said.

His form became metal, and manifested jets, which carried him off the island in a rush of noisy heat. The roar faded a moment later, leaving the island alone with the crash of the tide and the soft touch of the wind.

Beast Boy didn't feel the wind or hear the tide. He was lost to the rumbling in his stomach and the tingling slumber in his legs. His sore, dry eyes were stuck to the tilled earth beneath him.

Time passed without him. He didn't know what to do with it anymore. Every time he wanted to reach out to his friends, he saw Raven's pleading eyes as their spark was snuffed by his own hand. Every time he wanted to eat, he could smell nothing but Raven's blood, and it was all he could do not to vomit. When he slept, he heard her choked pleas as she died in his arms.

So he sat, and did nothing.

Something fluttered on top of the monument behind him. He tasted the air, and smelled nothing new. Then tiny claws began scraping against the stone somewhere above him. The skittering continued until Beast Boy looked up.

A bird sat perched on top of Raven's monument. It looked down at Beast Boy, clicking its beak at him. It wasn't any kind of bird that Beast Boy recognized. Its feathers were an impossible shade of black. It tilted its head, staring at Beast Boy with lustrous eyes.

Beast Boy held his breath. For one brief second, he felt the lead trickle out of his bones, making him light again. The vice around his innards vanished. The fog in his head vanished, giving way to crystal clarity. For just an instant, Beast Boy felt free.

But the feeling wasn't his.

The bird hopped once, and then jumped into the wind. Its talons brushed the top of Beast Boy's hair. Beast Boy lurched to his feet and braced his unsteady legs with a hand to Raven's monument. His gaze followed the bird until it disappeared against the backdrop of the city skyline.

Beast Boy watched the sky for an hour after that, even though he knew the bird would not return. His hand clenched hard, and he felt the clasp digging into his palm. Looking down, he turned the scratched opal over in his hand.

His cheeks shone with fresh tears as he set the clasp on top of her monument. The marble felt cold against his fingertips. "…okay," he whispered.

And he left the grave, trudging back to the Tower. He felt heavy again, and sick, and tired. But with each step he took, it got a little easier.