KABOOOOOOM!

I flinch.

Flaming sprays of debris surge overhead.

I shade my eyes for half a second as the night is pierced by an amber explosion.

Once vision readjusts, I nervously glance up.

I gasp.

Beyond the rows of Slade's marching robots, a building has collapsed from a stray explosive.

Starfire shouts something and points at the blaze.

Robin slams two robot necks apart with his bo-staff before landing in a stand-still, panting, and giving forth a command: "Titans! The building! There may be people inside!"

"Raaaugh!" Cyborg tosses two wrestling androids off of him, prepares a sonic cannon, and aims at a long row of menacing thugs.

ZAAAAAAAAAP!

Robot bodies and limbs shatter every which way.

A path is opened for Beast Boy to charge through. He morphs into a rhino and stampedes down the gauntlet. He bats his horned snout left and right, smacking fiends to the wayside. Starfire flies overhead, giving cover with blazing starbolts as the two Titans rush towards the burning site.

"Raven!" Robin shouts towards me, snapping me to attention. "Give them cover!" And he promptly dashes back out into the street alongside Cyborg, engaging the last regiments of Slade's mechanical army.

I take a deep breath, chant my magic words, and levitate myself swiftly over the mayhem to the crushed building front. Right as I reach there, a flank of Slade's robots storm up and attempt to pelt Starfire and Beast Boy with lasers. I block their onslaught with a wave of black energy while simultaneously engulfing a nearby pickup truck in telekinesis and tossing it at a hapless group of robots.

Metal joints crush and collapse.

Panting, I glance behind me.

Starfire blasts open a hole in a window.

Beast Boy takes on the form of a velociraptor and bravely dives into the smoking interior. Starfire glows a hot emerald and soars after him.

I'm left on the outside, guarding the impromptu 'entrance' with a shielding half-dome of black energy.

Sweating……

Fifteen minutes later, Beast Boy and Starfire emerge with two large clusters of people. They cough and sputter, regaining the oxygen lost from their smoke-assaulted lungs. A few of them cling to second and third degree burns, moaning.

I try to heal the most of them I can, while at the same time continuing to give Starfire and Beast Boy cover as they make more and more trips into the fragile interior of the building.

In the meantime, Robin and Cyborg are sending the last of Slade's urban army on the run. Sonic cannonfire and explosive birdarangs surge after the heels of the android henchmen, blistering the urban cityscape with sparking computer chips and inner workings.

"Raven!" Beast Boy pants, running up to me in elf form. "There's one more kid trapped inside the building!"

Starfire hovers above us. "We cannot locate him! The smoke is too intense!"

"The building may collapse at anytime!" Beast Boy adds with a further breath. "If we all go in together, we might have better luck finding him!"

"Hold on….," I utter. I gaze over at Cyborg and Robin.

The last of Slade's henchmen are either retreating or being annihilated. The city—in essence—has been cleared. Already the warbling sounds of police sirens and ambulances echo from the city blocks beyond. Closer and closer and closer.

"Okay!" I shout and motion the other two Titans into the building. "Let's move! Split up!"

"Right away!" Starfire soars in through the smoking mouth of the partially collapsed building.

Beast Boy dives in next.

I give the coughing, stirring citizens a last glance before levitating in myself.

The building is a smog-laden labyrinth of billowing smoke and splashing embers.

I float over crooked floors and stairs.

The woodwork is missing in a lot of places, producing mad drops that I avoid by floating over swiftly.

I shield my mouth with telekinesis, but even still I cannot help but cough as I cry out: "Hello? Is anyone here? We are the Titans! We've come to rescue you from this burning building! If you can hear me, call back out to me! Knock on the walls or floor! Do anything!"

I crane my ear.

Nothing but maddening chaos.

Burning smoke.

Crackling embers.

A spark or two catches my blue robe, setting it ablaze.

I gasp and toss the article off of me…hood and all.

I hover about now in my black leotard. Panting. I part the smoke with my soul-self as I fly forward.

"Hello? Can anyone here me? We've come to rescue you!"

Then…

A knocking sound.

Through the walls.

I spin around.

I spy a doorway to a room, glowing amber.

I rush towards it.

I kick the door open.

FWOOOMB!

A tongue of flame billows out at me.

I block the heat away with telekinesis.

I slowly levitate forward through the fire. Sweating. Parting the blaze with my soul-self.

I look around.

I spot a corner between the bed and the closet.

A teenage boy is huddled against the wall.

He looks almost my age.

A little younger.

I land on my feet and rush over to him.

Kneeling.

"It's okay! The Titans are here to….rescue…………..y-you……."

My voice falters.

I blink.

His chest is so badly burnt that his insides are nearly hanging out. It is far beyond any of my healing abilities. His lip quivers and trickles out blood as he gazes up at me with soft, smoke-haloed eyes. A sick face. Helpless…pleading….

"…………," I stare.

'Snkkkkt! Raven! Raven, come in!'

I nearly jump. I whip out my communicator and anxiously talk back: "I'm here, Robin! I…."

'Where are you? Starfire and Beast Boy are already out of that building! You need to get out of there too!'

I feel the boy's neck for his pulse. It's weak.

"I've got a survivor! He's hurt pretty bad! We're holed up by flames on the fifth floor! I don't think I can carry him out alone in his condition!"

'Hang tight, Raven! Cyborg and Starfire will be coming in to help get you two out! In the meantime, keep that boy safe! And standby!'

"Understood!"

The teenager coughs. Sputters.

I steady his shoulders. "Stay with me. Stay awake, you hear?"

"Nnnngh…."

I speak loudly above the burning bedroom crackle…

"The Titans are going to get you out! But I need you to stay with me!"

He quivers. He almost falls over.

I reach over and softly cradle his upper torso on my lap. I cover the two of us with black energy, shielding us from the heat, flame, and collapsing ceiling. I cover his burnt chest too with a cool layer of my soul self. Protecting his insides.

He shudders.

He leans back into me and gasps: "R-Raven…..Titans…."

"……….," I breathlessly gaze down at him.

He wheezes. He sputters. He groans: "I….I-I always told my buddies that….if I-I was to bite it from any of the bad guys in this City….I'd die happy as long as I-I got a chance to meet one of you superchicks…."

"………," I inhale sharply. I frown and utter commandingly: "Save your voice. The Titans will be here to back me up and soon we'll get you in the hands of paramedics and you'll be…"

"Y-You're so pretty….Raven….," he reaches a hand up towards me.

I almost flinch, but I choose to remain still. The dying teen's fingers trail my pale chin. They linger…and lower…. "I've always….w-wanted to meet you…..Raven…."

"………………."

He wants to say something else, but he takes his time.

As we wait….

Minutes later, firefighters are putting out the blaze.

A ring of paramedics have formed in the street beyond the pile of wrecked android parts.

Surviving citizens are being treated for third degree burns via triage and taken back to the hospital in ambulances for immediate care.

The first one being driven away is the teenage boy. I gaze from the sidelines as they truck him into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher. His eyes are closed. Soft. The doors to the ambulance's rear closes and the vehicle throttles off.

"……….," I take a deep breath. Hugging myself. My leotard slightly singed in places. My blue hair tossed.

Cyborg limps over, a few metal scars dealt to his left prosthetic leg. He smiles and pats me on the shoulder. "Good job, Raven…."

"……," I blink deadpan at him. "Huh?"

"You gave it the 'ol college try," he smiles. "Above and beyond the call of duty, ya know? Even Robin wouldn't have the guts to hang out in a burning bedroom like that for so long, I bet!"

"………….."

"Say….," he scratches his metal chin. "That kid you saved. I saw his lips moving as we carried him out into the open. Did he say anything to you, Rae?" He smirks and raises his human eyebrows. "Ya know…a little flirting around the fire?"

I quickly drone an answer: "No, Cyborg. He didn't say anything."

"Hehehe….not a thing?"

"I kinda doubt it……he was dead by the time you and Starfire got there."

"……………," Cyborg's lips part.

Before he can so much as breathe something, I brush myself off and turn to levitate my way towards the Tower. "If you'll excuse me….I am covered in soot…."

I go home.

I shower.

I brush my hair out.

I slip into a nightgown…

And head into bed.

But try as I might to sleep, I can't.

I'm too busy throwing up all night.