Giselle planted both hands on either side of Beast Boy's head. For a moment, the changeling stared up at her confused. Suddenly, an incredible pain shot through his head. He cried out in pain and fell to his knees, the continuous pain ebbing out of the Demon Hunters hands.

The other Titans tried to rush to help him, but Vince held them off a wave of his hand.

Beast Boy tried to raise his arms to his head, but was frozen stiff. His mind felt like he was being pumped full of the highest voltage imaginable.

"Don't overdo it," he heard Vince mumble in the background. "They are, after all, only mortals. We don't want him dead...yet."

Giselle released him and he fell face down on the floor.

"Beast Boy!" Starfire cried out.

"Well?" Vince asked.

"Useless waste," Giselle spat. "He knows nothing of her whereabouts. Only that she left with that demon brother of hers. The one we fought when we captured the others. The one who escaped."

"We needn't assume that he is the only one who might know something. Check them all."

The Titans cowered back from Giselle's haunting approach.

Beast Boy woke up slowly. His head, more specifically his mind, felt like it had been melted. He looked up to see Giselle sending volts through Cyborg's head now. Robin and Starfire lay unconscious on the floor. Cyborg was crying out in pain, eyes as wide as saucers.

"Useless, useless," Giselle was saying, teeth clenched. She threw Cyborg across the room. "Useless! None of them know anything!"

"Have you learned all there is to know about them?" Vince asked. "And about their relationship with her?"

"Of course."

"Good. It might come in useful."

"Fine, they'll make good bait. Can we please get out of here now?"

"Heal them."

"What?"

"We'll give them one last chance to join the side of good. They are good kids. Surely they will see reason."

"And if they refuse?"

Vince looked over and saw Beast Boy's open eyes. He opened his mouth to speak when both Demon Hunters became rigid and seemed to listen very intently.

"Did you get that?" Giselle asked suddenly.

"Yes," came the reply.

"Floga. What is she doing there?"

"Wreaking havoc, as all demons do."

"But why? There's no power for her to gain there." She suddenly smiled. "Oh , she's clever, for a demon."

"What?"

"It's a diversion. She's trying to lure us away from earth."

"No, Raven," Beast Boy whispered. "No."

"She's a demon, Giselle, she is incapable of really feeling affection for these mortals."

"Well, from what I learned from these mortals, it is exactly the kind of thing she would do. When she warned the changeling about us, she warned about what we could do to this planet. She has no idea what that is, mind you, but she knew it was bad. Perhaps she does care for the changeling."

"She's a demon."

"But she's half human. And humans are weak, and are especially weakened by love. The changeling is the one who prevented her, in his mind saved her, from becoming a full demon. The only reason she would sacrifice that power would be because her human half does, in fact, care for him."

"It matters little," Vince said. "Whether she is doing it on purpose or not, she is leading us straight to her."

"So what's the plan?"

Vince looked back down at Beast Boy, now struggling to stand, straining to speak out, to stop them. "We do not need to underestimate the Dark One," the Hunter said. "We'll need more Hunters."

Giselle thought for a moment. Suddenly she smiled. "I have a better idea. Why chase after her into what could possibly be a trap? You said yourself that we should not underestimate her. Why not lure her here instead? This planet would be the perfect trap. We could hide Hunters everywhere. And..." She walked over to stand over Beast Boy's struggling form. "We have the perfect bait."

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

"This is taking too long," Raven said, looking out from the rock they were crouching behind a few hundred meters outside the village. "Something's wrong."

"Maybe they got caught in traffic," Cobra commented. He sat slouched back against the boulder, hands in his pockets.

Raven glared down at him.

"What? If I'm going to die for you, the least you can do is listen to my sarcasm."

She looked back at the tavern rubble. "Should it be taking this long?"

"I'm not sure," he answered seriously. "The only reason it took them so long to get to earth is because they were too busy torturing your whereabouts out of Vixen and Bear. They didn't think to follow me. They couldn't imagine that one demon could care for anything, let alone someone else."

"They think we're monsters," Raven said.

"We are."

"We're half."

"Right."

She sighed and turned her gaze back to him. She was still mad at him for his deception...but she cared for him so much. Why couldn't he realize that there was good? That he was good?

"Spare me," Cobra said, feeling her emotions rising. Raven returned a stoic, but careful watch to the town.

They waited a minute...then two...

"This is taking too long," she said again.

"Would you calm down? Why are you so ready to rush to death?"

"Would you stop talking about how we're going to die?"

"That's how it's going to play out, Raven. As noble as the idea is, that we can defeat the Hunters and save our siblings and all live happily ever after, it isn't going to happen."

"My friend Robin says that there is always hope. And if there is hope, then there is a way to win."

"Woooow. Embroider that on a pillow, I'll take two."

Raven grabbed Cobra's tunic and slammed him back into the rock he was leaning on, her anger flaring. The rock, and several around it, crumbled to bits under dark energy. "Stop it! If you're going to give up, then you should just leave. If you're heart is not in the fight, you're no help at all."

They glared at each other for a moment.

"My heart will always be in the fight, as long as it is to save you," Cobra said, never wavering. "Facing facts isn't the same thing as giving up. Fact is, we can't win. But you know that I will try my hardest and fight to the death to help you, Vixen, and Bear. I told you before, that's all that matters."

Raven released him after a minute and turned away. "I'm going to meditate." She walked a short distance and began floating cross-legged in the air. She closed her eyes.

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

It had been too long since she had meditated. All of that rage...she needed to regain control.

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

It wasn't Cobra's fault. He had already nearly been killed by them, after all. He was being realistic.

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

The deception...that was terrible. But would she have done the same thing in his position? She couldn't say...

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

Azarath Metrion Zinthos

Azarath Metrion Zintho-

'Raven!'

Raven focused her concentration so as not to disrupt her meditation. She slowly sunk back into her soul self. 'Vixen?'

'Raven! Please...please! You have to help us!'

'We're trying!' she called back. 'Cobra and I. Where are you?'

'I don't know...somewhere...cold. It's so...cold...'

'Vixen. Vixen! Keep talking. I might be able to trace your soul.' Raven focused on the energy and began searching auras with her mind. But she could feel Vixen slipping away. 'Vixen! Tell me. Where is Bear? Is Bear ok?'

'Bear...Bear...'

'Vixen! What is it like? How many guards?'

'Bear...guards...Bear. You need...Bear...'

'Vixen!'

Gone. Her presence had slipped away. Raven landed heavy on the ground, jumped up, and ran to Cobra. "Vixen contacted me. I know where she is."

Cobra leapt to his feet. "Where?"

"I don't know it's name, but I can get us there. But, Cobra, I don't know about Bear. Vixen kept saying his name and 'You need Bear'. But what does that mean?" Her brother looked away and immediately Raven could feel the guilt of an unspoken secret rise in his emotions. Her eyes narrowed. "What haven't you told me this time?"

"He asked me not to."

"What?" she demanded.

"Bear contacted me a few days ago. He managed to escape, somehow, but couldn't save Vixen. He's badly injured. He's been healing himself this entire time. He plans on returning to save Vixen when he heals."

"Why didn't you tell me? We'll need him to get in there and get out!"

"He asked me not to! He was ashamed...he's never been hurt like that before. Besides Father, you're the only other person that he cares what they think about him."

Raven looked at him for a moment. "So what was your plan, then?"

"Let him heal himself. If he healed by the time we were going, then he would come along. If not, then you would be none the wiser."

"And when I discovered that Vixen was the only one being held?"

"I thought I'd cross that bridge when I got to it."

"For someone who cares so much about my happiness, you have been trying very hard to cross me lately."

"I've been protecting you."

Raven smiled cockily. "But why protect Bear? And Vixen?"

"Because they're my brother and sister."

"And saving them would be...the right thing to do?"

Cobra glared at her. "If you're going to make me come out and say it, fine. I care about them. I told you, that's all that matters. Keeping the people you care about alive. Not because it's right or wrong.

"Where is Bear?"

"On the Glinton moon. We can go see how he is."

"He'll have to fine. We need him. I'm going to go meditate for a few more minutes." Raven walked away again and resumed her position. She did not really want to meditate, and was aware that Cobra probably knew it. She wanted to reach out to Beast Boy. Her heart had been so broken since she left him at the T Tower. She had not known that this amount of sadness was possible, and that was saying a lot considering her past. Was it because he had been her only hope? Had been the only one who truly made her feel like she was not evil, but worth something? If this really was going to be her last few days, as Cobra predicted, then she just needed one last touch of his pure soul. One last glimpse.

She reached out with her mind, searching auras, until she recognized his. But, as soon as she made contact, she felt sharp pain. The initial shock made her withdraw, but the realization that Beast Boy was experiencing that pain made her dive back in. She entered his mind and looked out through his eyes.

He was in the T Tower, in the training room. She tried to make him struggle, only to realize he was constrained, by what she was not sure.

"Trying to shift again, little changeling?" she heard a woman say. A figure appeared before him, a beautiful woman in black, one hand raised to his eyes level, an electric charge at the end. The woman blinked at him, then smiled wickedly. "Purple eyes...hello, demon." She thrust her charged hand around his neck and Raven felt alien voltage, much stronger than any one earth, course through Beast Boy's body. She cried out in pain and fell back into her self.

"No!" she screamed into the night.

"What's wrong?" Cobra demanded, appearing beside her.

"The Hunters," Raven breathed. "The Hunters are still on earth." She looked up at her brother, tears forming in her eyes. "They're torturing them, Cobra!"