These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

183. We are the Titans part 4 final

183. We are the Titans part 4 Final

Schwissh!!

"Friend Noir…are you certain that you need my assistance in this…th-this task??" Starfire murmured, wringing her hands together. She hesitantly followed me on pensive feet as I wandered through the doorway. She looked about with woeful eyes. "I would not know where to begin, and this room….it's….."

I barely glanced back at her. I motioned emotionlessly for her to follow as I carried a large box into the center of Robin's room. I reached a titanium arm out and switched on a desk lamp, dimly illuminating the late leader's dwelling place. The simple, twin-sized bed at one end. The bedside table with its lonely drawer. The tall line of books and books and books and more books against a wall. And a locker stretched up besides some small exercise equipment.

It was a tiny room. A tiny room for such a large icon.

Simplistic.

Starfire bit her lip.

I swiftly began stripping the bookcase of books and items and slipping them into the box. I paused momentarily. "……" I looked up at Starfire.

She exhaled. With a small, nervously-fake smile she walked over. "You are second in command now, Noir. And I shall pay faithful heed to your instructions. It is very true that Robin's room needs to be cleaned out. Most certainly his mentors and comrades in Gotham City might make use of his possessions."

I motioned to the books and then to the box as I slowly began unloading the first batch of items into it. Building from the bottom of the container up, like Egyptian stones.

Starfire floated up to the topmost shelves of books and assisted in lowering the larger volumes. "I apologize earnestly for my most recent….lethargy. I have done my best to assist the City and Titans alike in salvaging the urban wreckage. But I do suppose I could very easily be volunteering to do more. And it is far unfitting of me to neglect necessary tasks."

I shrugged.

I continued storing the box. Slowly. Quietly.

"X'Hal….."

"???" I glanced up at her.

She was holding a huge encyclopedia in her grasp, staring at the immensity of its binding and pages. "Only on scant occasions have I visited Robin's room before. It never truly occurred to me just how much literature he has." She glanced at me with half-soft eyes of emerald. "How truly could our former leader have read so many pages in between battling crime?"

"……," I smiled. I shrugged again, this time slowly.

She shouldered a few more large books and floated down to join me besides the box. "From what I have gathered, those of the Batman's ilk are quite nimble and athletic, but they still place intellect and cunning in the forefront of their talents. As much as Robin struggled to extend the mortal physicality of his talents, his mind was what led him in battle. A mind over body. It is something impossible to try to comprehend…..erhm…..it w-was…."

"………..," I nodded.

A beat.

I gently took the books from her and started piling them in along the bottom. Forming a base.

She floated slowly back up and grabbed more books. Her Tamaranian eyes narrowed across the titles. "Hamlet, The Stranger, Edgar Allen Poe….." A beat. She blinked. She looked down at me. "Robin was…quite familiar with death, wasn't he?"

I merely looked back at her.

She floated down with the books and placed them into the box. "What would draw someone so young…so vulnerable…to throw himself into the line of so many unstoppable evils? Someone without superpowers….without alien origins….without so much as a dark spell or curse to draw him into the heated hierarchy of the Balance of Morals?"

A beat.

She exhaled and looked at the huge array of books. "……….," she swallowed and floated back up to them. Trailing her finger across the spines. "Often I have wondered who he truly was. What kind of a sweet, innocent boy he must have been under the visage. How he may have laughed or cried when he was not Robin, when he was relaxing, when he was being human. How he may have needed arms to hold him or someone to embrace when the forbidden tears flowed freely. I am most certain, Noir, that Robin was a tortured spirit. And I do not know who or what he may have lost in order for that to happen. Although…..he did tell me….." Her eyes trailed. They looked sad. "The girl….the girl that Clayface decimated before him…."

I leaned my head to the side. My lips parted.

He told you about that???

"But that cannot be the reason why he became what he was prior to his end…," Starfire uttered, gathering more books. "Nor was it Batman that made him who he was, I am certain. Robin had a preciousness that nobody else I have met possess. And I know it, Noir. I know it…" She looked at me half-hoplessly. "I cannot be deluding myself. I cannot be short-sighted, can I?? There was something special about Robin. Something I was not folly for seeing due to being myself…."

I swallowed painfully. I bravely nodded.

"…..," she took a deep breath. She lowered with the books. The bookcase was half-stripped away by now. A quarter of the box full. "Sometimes….I think that Robin was running from something. And a human being like him does not run from something easily. It was not cowardice that drove him to this Tower…this City. But something far greater. Something that no human—nor any living thing—must bear the weight of. That is why I was never truly desiring to speak much of my past. The horrors of War that I bore witness to. The violence at the hands of both villains…a-and heroes…"

She fidgeted with the word 'heroes'. I saw her green eyes averting my gaze.

"???" I glanced at her sideways.

"Ahem…," she cleared her throat and straightened the books in the box. "I did not want to burden Robin with my past. In much of the same way that I think he felt it best to hide his past—himself—from the rest of us. For reasons however foolish, Robin must have felt that his real self did not deserve to dwell with us. He must have feared the effects intimacy would have on us or himself. But I do not think such was a real danger. I…..I loved Robin very much…," she finally exhaled.

I could only listen.

I knew it.

We all knew it.

"I loved him…..regardless….," she sorrowfully fidgeted, shuddered, and went on: "…regardless of whether or not he loved me as well. Though….I-I am almost certain…," she hugged a book to her chest. A Separate Peace. "…he loved me too, Noir. The attention he paid to my adapting to Terran culture. Going out of his way to see to my solace. Withstanding my interplanetary awkwardness when everyone else on the Team could not bear me at times. I….I felt so blessed. Not so much because of the attention…but rather by the intimacy that even until his death, Robin would never admit to…." She took a deep, deep breath and smiled warmly at the peak of it. Her eyes gazing beyond the walls. Slowly breathing out…..then: "Robin's only folly….his only fault….was that his words were never in tune to his actions." She looked over at me gently. "He would never admit that which he openly did….especially when all he did were the wonderful, beautiful things."

"……," I smiled. I nodded. A beat. I looked over her.

"???" her head turned.

We were both looking at a wall beside his exercising equipment. There were picture frames on it. All photographs of different locations. More than half of them were vistas of Gotham City. Some were of Metropolis and New York. But then…at least one…

Centermost.

Larger and brighter than the rest of the photos.

"……" with Starfire watching, I got up and walked over towards the wall. I took the frame down and looked at it in my hands. Starfire floated up and looked over my shoulder curiously.

It was a glorious picture of the Titan's Tower. The Sun bright. The waters glittering around the rock bluffs. The steel and windows shining brightly.

"……," I turned the frame around.

In thin black ink. In Robin's handwriting. Words were sketched on the brown paper of the picture's backside.

'The Bay. Home of the Titans. And the future.'

"The future….," Starfire murmured.

A beat.

She clasped her hands together and sighed. "Robin wanted so much for there to be a happier….cheerier….more peaceful future." Her green eyes drifted over the grimy pictures of Gotham and the gray skies of Metropolis and New York. "Something that the youth's line of heroes could be attributed to. And not just his own name." Her eyes fell on the bright photo of the Tower and the City beyond. "He did not care about himself or his life. It was an idea that he was fighting for. A grand….grand virtue."

I looked up at her.

She twirled about and gazed at the dimly lit extremities of the room.

"Everything here….it is so full of memories. Memories of Robin. What Robin was and what he wanted to uphold." She shut her eyes and sighed softly. "And all of those memories….are good memories. Inspiring….just as he himself was an inspiration." She opened her eyes again and looked at me. "Robin has not died. He is alive as long as the Titans prevail. As long as the ideal he fought so heavily for continues to be protected. And that is the unhindered struggle for Goodness and Justice." She leaned her head to the side. "Thank you, Noir, for forcing me to see such again up close. I have been….so clouded. It is rather unsavory."

I smiled. I waved.

She gazed off with a sudden expression of concern. "X'Hal….what have I been doing all this time? What have all of us been doing?"

"……"

She suddenly gasped. "Beast Boy….."

I blinked.

She looked at me, breathless. "Noir, please forgive me. But I must leave you. I promise you that I shall make up for my carelessness today!"

I shrugged, simpering.

"Pardon of the me!" she flew past me and darted down the hallway outside. SWOOOOOSH!!!

I reeled somewhat, but stood upright…balancing the photo in my grasp. A beat. I placed it on Robin's bed. I looked at the books and items that had yet to be excavated. I sighed. A beat. I glanced over at the bedside table. "…….." I walked over toward it. I fingered the handle. I pulled.

It slid open.

But all that was inside…..were glass shards.

The shattered shield of a picture frame.

But nothing else.

"……."

I slowly slid it closed.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"………….," Beast Boy sat on the circular couch. Facing out the gray windows towards the gray day of the City.

He was alone in the desert-themed room. The silver heart pendant rested alone on the bed in the far side. A cloudy light settled across the red carpet and brown-and-purple color scheme.

Beast Boy hug his knees to his chest and sighed, hiding into himself.

"…………."

"I….erhm…..B-Beast Boy?"

"????" he looked over his shoulder.

Starfire hovered in the doorway, holding her hands together. "I apologize for my unexpected intrusion…."

"Starfire??" he blinked.

She smiled, her cheeks warm. "From one precious room to another….."

"……….," he turned and muttered. "Leave me alone…."

She didn't. "The other day, Beast Boy…," she slowly floated over to the back of the couch behind him. "…I nearly made a decision. A decision that would have or would not have impacted the Titans forever…."

"You almost resigned," he mumbled.

She blinked. "Y-You knew of this?"

"Gotta rip your letters up a little more…," Beast Boy sighed. "I saw all that you wanted to say."

She bit her lip. But said: "They were…what I was going to say…but did not."

"What does it matter, Starfire?" Beast Boy uttered. "You might as well leave. Nothing makes any difference anymore." He hugged his knees closer to his chest and leaned his chin down. "Nothing…."

"Beast Boy?"

"……….."

She floated over and hovered in front of him. "Why do you linger in this room all the time?"

He looked up at her. Blinking.

"Terra's room…," she leaned her head to the side. "Why do you hide away in here?"

"It doesn't matter," he said, looking aside.

"But does it to you?"

He frowned at her. "I thought I told you to go away, Star!"

"You are punishing yourself, Beast Boy!" Starfire exclaimed. She leaned forward: "You are hurting youself—"

"What's wrong with trying to remember someone who's IMPOSSIBLY GONE?!?!" he shouted.

"Nothing, Beast Boy!!!" she shouted back.

He drew back, biting his lip.

Starfire panted. She swallowed and said quieter: "There is nothing wrong with remembering those whom we have lost. However…" She floated over and sat gracefully by his side. She gazed closely at him. "…there lies an importance in what we do with the memories once they are ours to hold in our hands."

"……," he blinked at her. Breathing helplessly. Like a shivering little mammal.

"Long have I lingered in Robin's room after his passing, Beast Boy…," Starfire softly said. She gazed sideways out the window. "….and much like you and this room, I feel like I am gazing out on a cold, dark world. But in fact, the dark, wintry clouds are nothing more than the head I carry on my shoulders. Only when my mind is cleared of regret and angst can I realize how bright the world truly is and can be. I have spent so much time defeated…fixating on the pain of the present to think about the glory of the past…." She smiled gently at Beast Boy. "…and the joy of the future."

"Joy….," he muttered. With drooping, elfin ears he stared at the floor. "What joy?"

She laid a warm hand on his shoulder. "A joy that mimics the happiness that our lost ones gave us while they were still breathing," the Tamaranian girl said. "It feels so long since I have counted everything for joy like every one of my people should. I have only my own despondency as of late to blame for that. Robin was….was such an inspiration. A mentor to his own kind as well as those stronger and faster than him. He did not let faculties of death and time erase his dream, and instead he planted his spirit into the rest of us. So that—with careful observation and commitment—each and everyone of us could prolong his ideals and the fight for Life, Goodness, and Justice."

"Robin's dead, Star. He's dead and sooner or later we all will be—"

"Beast Boy!" she grabbed his shoulders.

With a jerk, he was facing her. Gasping. Eyes wide.

She stared intently at him with something halfway between compassion and frowning. "I do not believe that. X'Hal help me, I do not believe in the victory of death. Life is as strong as we make it. And you and I, Beast Boy, we are alive. And so is Cyborg. And so is Raven. And Noir. And Tempest. And though our mortal boundaries demand an End at some time or another, there is yet time left for us to seize and find glory in. You must see, Beast Boy, it is good and divine to immerse yourself in the warm memories of Terra. But use those memories for good. Do not deprecate yourself. Do not do what I nearly did…and lose the grip you have on the rest of your living companions. Robin and Terra were terrible losses. But there is so much more to be won. While all of us are still alive and still strong."

He stared at her. His lips quivered. "Starfire….I'm….I'm too scared…..t-too scared to get close to any of you dudes again…."

She stared back at him.

He sniffed. A tear ran down his cheek. He hugged himself tighter and clenched his eyes shut. "It's happened twice already. Terra….and R-Robin….I'm so scared of it happening again."

"Oh Beast Boy….," she took his shaking figure into her warm embrace. She leaned her chin over his green head of hair. "I am scared too. But my love for my friend is far greater than my fear for them." She smiled painfully. "It always has been…and it always shall be…"

"Cy-Cyborg has been l-leader for f-five days…and he still hasn't said a th-thing about trying to find Terra…"

"I know…I know…"

"Everybody's just so scared!! Everybody's s-so sad and helpless!! I wish Robin was still alive. I wish we could d-do something!! I'm sick and tired of just sitting around and c-crying…."

"So am I, Beast Boy…," Starfire gently stroked his back. She took a deep breath: "But as long as we are together…all of us….I do not believe you will have to be sick for much longer."

He sobbed and shook into her. "I miss Terra so much. I m-miss her…."

"It is okay to cry, Beast Boy….," she sniffed as her tears warmly joined his. "Only do not be afraid to share your tears. Sometimes wh-when people mourn together….it feels a little bit like painful laughter. Everything has a way of going full circle. It is the routine cycle of energy throughout the universe. X'Hal be praised…I came to this planet for more than Robin. And you stayed with this team for more than Terra…"

Beast Boy shuddered against her and murmured: "It's all I have left…"

She smiled, sniffing. "It is all you have the more…."

He sobbed.

She held him closer.

He choked: "Th-Thank you, Star…."

She closed her eyes. "Thank you too, Beast Boy…."

The two held each other in their sorrowful release on the couch.

Near the cracked doorway, a shadow peered in.

The shadow trailed with murk as I returned to stealth mode.

Gazing in, I took a deep breath. "…….." I invisibly palmed my Titan's Communicator and walked down the hallway…towards the stairwell leading to the rooftop.

I chimed Tempest's end of the line….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Creeeeeeeak!!

Tempest struggled against the metal door of the stairwell exit.

He hobbled through, panting, with his crutches. He emerged onto the sun-kissed rooftop of the Titan's Tower. The waters of the Bay stretched around us. And the gray City beyond. I stood a few dozen feet away with my back to him. My metal and flesh arms folded. My long black hair floating in the breeze.

Grumbling to himself, he hobbled towards me. "Nngh….mmph….got a reason for calling me up all the way here, man??"

"……….."

"I was kinda busy, ya know. Cyborg was giving me some crazy ranting about being at the demolition of Phaser Labs later on."

"………."

"I don't see what the big deal for him is. I mean, he got his Uncle out safely….kinda sorta. They're gonna build a new Phaser Labs there. You think the android was attached to the place for some reason or another or something."

"………"

"Look, are you going to tell me what you wanted??" Tempest grumbled as he hobbled to a stop behind me. He leaned on his crutches, panting in the high winds. "Or are you just going to waste my time like everyone else is lately?"

"………," I slowly turned around. Deadpan. I had a paper in my hand. With my own writing. I passed it to him.

He blinked at it. He took it in his grasp and looked it over.

Flapping in the breeze, he made out what the words said:

'What would King Orin have his little prince do?'

"……….," Tempest started to laugh. "Heh heh heh heh….."

I raised an eyebrow above my shades.

"Hoooooo boy…," he chuckled and crumpled the paper up before tossing it across the rooftop. "And so it begins."

I crossed my arms and glared at him.

He smirked at me quite sarcastically. "Ya know….long ago….Beast Boy warned me about you."

"………."

"He said you're like the voiceless, team counselor of the Titans. He told me about the time he balled his eyes out over and over again when he was working solo with you at Westhaven. He said there was something about you that could 'evoke the inner ghosts of the soul to come out of hiding'. Well guess what? Ghosts only exist in the wide world of beliefs." He spat.

"…….."

He turned from me and hobbled a few paces till he stopped and leaned on his crutches. Facing away. Sighing. "This team is dead, Noir. Stop trying to bring us back together."

Silence.

"Robin was a very thin thread, holding us all in tact. And when that thread was cut, there was nothing left to hold us together. You see…," he glanced over his shoulder at me. Cold, dark eyes. Like a dead fish. "…King Orin and my Idyllist past has nothing to do with what I am now." He gazed forward again. Away from me. "I was banished from that world. And on account of my leg, I can't make use of the forbidden realm. Much less that which is given before me."

Silence.

He hung his head. "I can't swim for life, Noir. And if Robin was alive, then maybe something would have been found to truly redeem me. To make things worthwhile for me as a superhero. But with him dead, what's left of the Titans to salvage me? They're broken and spiritless. And they should be. Red Death has consumed this City…and it will consume it again. And I am doubly useless to an already useless team with this lameness of mine. I frankly don't know what to do. And guess what? Neither does anyone else. Not even you. It's hopeless to have faith in something from which an entire fulcrum of faith has crumbled from. Everything is like a whirlpool. The elements around us are funneling with the speed of their very own dying energies to become a giant, black deathtrap into the abyss."

Silence.

He re-gripped the handles of his crutches and faced the stairwell.

"There's nothing to hope for, Noir. Not for you. Not for me. And certainly not for this C-"

GRIP!!!

A metal and flesh hand hoisted him up on his shoulders.

"Wha--!!!" he gasped.

He dropped his crutches.

SWOOOOOSH!!!!

I carried him across the rooftop, running.

"Hey….H-Hey….HEY!!!!" he panted.

I gritted my teeth. I gripped tighter to his shoulders as my running legs blurred. I trailed murk and--

THWOOOOSH!!!

The edge of the rooftop came closer.

We soared towards it.

Tempest's black eyes went wide and his lame leg flailed as he struggled against my grip helplessly. "What are you doing, man?!! What are you doing?!?!?!?!"

I held my breath.

I threw both of us off the top of Titan's Tower.

And we went plummeting….plummeting…plummeting…

In an arc.

Down towards the cold waters far below.

Tempest screamed: "AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa—"

SPLOOSH!!!!!!

Cold spray fountained around us.

My world turned dark and frigid as I plunged into the November waters. I twirled in the Bay, producing bubbles. My black hair and red bandanna swayed through the currents like fishtails. I kicked my feet and rocketed upwards towards the bright surface in bursts.

SPLASH!!!!!

I came to the surface with a gasp. I shuddered from the coldness. The dark waters lapped up all around my shoulder.

Sooner than I could shake the water from my ears, I felt a cold splash and then a fist plowing into my shoulder.

WHAP!!!

I winced in pain and twirled in the water.

Tempest treaded water besides me. And he was pissed. His dark eyes narrowed and his teeth showed as he howled: "You moron!!! You nearly got us killed!!!"

"…………."

He swam towards me. "Even for an Atlantean, and twenty-plus story drop into the waters is a DANGEROUS thing!! You're lucky our necks aren't snapped you stupid whaleshit-for-brains!!!"

I smiled.

"What in Neptune's name is wrong with you?!?! You've got the gall to smile?!?!"

I smiled even more.

"WHAT?!?!"

I pointed at him.

He was treading water.

He was swimming.

"……..," he looked down at himself.

I chuckled breathily—struggling against the shivering cold. I leaned my head back and nearly bobbed beneath the surface as I let out a hilarious exhale.

He bit his lip and looked up at me. His cheeks were fighting between red and blue from the embarrassment and cold. "W-Wow….don't I feel stupid…."

I chuckled breathily and exagerratingly mouthed while pointing: 'You ARE stupid'!!

I kept snickering…nearly drowning.

"W-Wait…Wait a second!" he gasped. He opened his gills. He plunged.

I watched, my water-sheen shades staring down through the surface--

SPLOOSH!!! Tempest leapt up from the depths and into the air like a four legged dolphin. He arched his back, flipped, and plunged back down. SPLASH!!!

He skirted underneath the surface to and fro.

I smiled…shivering.

He came back up with a gasp. "I can swim…"

Yeah, no shit……

I smirked.

"Neptune almighty….I can swim…," he shuddered. He gazed at the City. "As much as I could before…" He spun around and tread water. "Crumbling Atlantis! Maybe even better!!"

I looked at him.

He smiled. "You rotten bastard!!" he joined two of his hands together and splashed me cold and hard.

SPLOOSH!!!

I chuckled, shielding myself from the spray.

He leapt at me. "Nnngh!!"

Ha ha ha ha!!

We wrestled, dunking each other. Two idiots in the middle of the Bay.

"Do you have any idea what you just did?!?!" He chuckled, wrestling me from behind. "You scaled the bleeding fish!!"

I summoned murk and plowed him across the water like a skipping stone.

"Daah!!" he recovered easily, treading water a dozen feet away. "Don't you know when to quit??"

I winked under my shades wetly. So sue me.

"Unfair….UNFAIR!!" he laughed and came at me again.

I splashed him and we chased each other stupidly towards the island before our muscles gave out.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"D-Did you hear something?" Beast Boy blinked.

"Hmmm?" Starfire looked over. "I am sorry. I did not."

He shrugged.

He faced out across the waters of the Bay again. He and the Tamaranian girl sat on the edge of the rock bluffs of the Tower's island, facing the East Side. Towards the Ocean.

Beast Boy picked up a lone rock, juggled it in one hand, and tossed it across the waters in a trademark fashion.

SP-SP-SP-SPLASH!!! The rock skipped across the waters a few times before plunging in.

"Glorious….," Starfire blinked. She smiled lightly at Beast Boy to her left. "You are quite an expert of the skipping of stones."

"Terra taught me how to do it," Beast Boy said. His lips curved somewhat as he juggled another rock. "She was always good at….rock stuff." He tossed the stone.

I skipped a few times and plunged.

Starfire smiled.

Beast Boy looked up at her. He blinked. "Here….," he tossed her a rock. "You try."

"???" she awkwardly caught it. She simpered. She raised her arm, squinted her green eyes, and threw it.

FLASH!!! PHWOOOOOM!!! A starbolt enveloped the rock. The waters parted six feet deep before the stone exploded a hundred yards away in a huge splash. POW!!!!

Beast Boy winced.

Starfire blushed. "Ooops…"

"What say we j-just…..enjoy the view?" Beast Boy shrugged.

"Agreed."

A beat.

The cold winds were offset by the warm rays of direct sunlight. Even a shred of the clouds were breaking. It eased their skin to a degree.

And then…

"That room…..the one with the desert theme and crap…," Beast Boy uttered. "It doesn't really remind me of Terra."

Starfire gazed at him. "Oh? Then what does, Beast Boy?"

"This…," Beast Boy waved with his arms. "Sitting here. Looking at the Bay. The City. Feeling the Earth beneath us." A beat. He looked up at the Tamaranian. "Being with friends…."

She smiled. "That must be a blessing."

He winced.

She blinked. "A curse?"

"Eh….," he rubbed the back of his neck and gazed out at the waters again. "When Terra betrayed us. I felt the pain of it everytime…I hung out with you guys. Cuz…Cuz she was such a part of us." He hugged himself. "It took a long, long time for that yucky feeling to leave the team for me."

Starfire nodded. "I understand."

He gazed up at her. "You too, huh?"

She gestured: "I felt nervous around all of my friends. Even you, Beast Boy. Suddenly my innocent world did not look so innocent anymore. It was not until much later when I realized that such friendship was stronger than the evils desiring to dismantle it. Everyone and everything in my life—I perceive—is fully redeemable. Even Terra…whom I still extend my love and admiration for, wherever she may be." She took a deep breath and ran a shaking hand through her dangling locks of red. "I think it was not until after Noir's supposed betrayal and ensuing sacrifice that I realized how true my friends were. And how true our bond was…and still is…."

"Y-Yeah….," Beast Boy nodded. A small smile. "Still is…."

"Hehehe…."

A beat.

"Robin was struggling as much as you and I, Beast Boy," Starfire said.

"Robin was?? You sure, Star?"

"Mmmhmm." She nodded. "In fact, I do believe he was becoming a much….m-much softer and gentler person up until the day he died."

"Kinda hard to believe," he muttered. "Considering how…..well……ya know…."

She glanced at him sideways.

Beast Boy bit his lip. "The evening that he died…he was…..r-really cold…."

"An unfortunate response to the terrors of the preceding day, I am most certain…," Starfire smiled. She gazed off across the waters. "I knew Robin, Beast Boy. As much as Robin was willing to reveal unto me of himself."

"…….."

"And there was a scared, and vulnerable little boy crawling up to the surface…," Starfire rubbed her hands slowly together. "I finally realized it the day 'J' supposedly affected his body and stripped Robin of his superficial shields. I saw a side of Robin that I had….always seen before, but had never been awakened to it. He came to this City for one of many reasons….which was to avoid the pain of not being able to save someone once so briefly precious and beautiful to him. And perhaps he was afraid to get too close to me in the same way that you hesitated after his death to be with anyone but yourself, Beast Boy…"

"He was afraid of losing the ones he loved…," Beast Boy muttered.

Starfire nodded. "But….," and she smiled so warmly. "That does not mean he was incapable of loving us. If even secretly. Deep down inside of him where the coldness tried to hide it." She hugged herself and sighed. "He let me hold him that one day…"

"???" Beast Boy looked at Starfire sideways.

"He let me hold him. And I praise X'Hal but for that singular moment. I would give anything to hold Robin right now…or the boy that was beneath the layer of Robin. If only to just….h-have him warm and alive in my arms. And real. But…alas….he is dead." She sighed. She looked at Beast Boy, still preserving her smile. "But I hold tightly to the memories I have of him. For I know that—even though they are all I will ever have of him from here to eternity—they are the most precious things I can and will have. And I am thankful for that. Robin still lives on in my Tamaranian soul because of that."

Beast Boy's lips parted. He gazed down at the stones. "I….I-I wish could be that all together and stuff."

"…….," Starfire leaned her head to the side.

He gulped. "About….About Terra…."

"Oh Beast Boy…," she cooed with a soft smile. "Surely you could try, if you wanted?"

"…..," the green elf rubbed his chin. He gazed across the waters. After a while, he smiled.

Starfire's Tamaranian eyebrows raised.

"There was this one time….," Beast Boy smirked. "Terra and I were playing Kung Fu Chaos on the Xbox. And we were sitting on the couch. Sweating…really getting into it, ya know. And suddenly—like—there's this farting sound…."

Starfire blinked.

Beast Boy gestured: "And I was like….'Dude!! You so let one!' And Terra was like 'No I didn't, that was you!' And I said: 'Nuh uh! I didn't have breakfast cuz I was too busy trying to wake you up!' And then Terra killed my guy on the video game and said: 'See?? That's what you get for being a doo-doo head!!' And so I was like 'Dude!!' And she was like: 'Plblblblblb!!!!' And I wrestled with her. And she pounced on me. And there we were, tumbling all over the floor with the controllers bonking us in the head and she was like 'Say Uncle!' And I was like 'No, you say Uncle!' And she said: 'I haven't got an Uncle!' And I started laughing and saying that that was TOTALLY lame. And so she growled and put me in a choke hold. And then I turned into a snake and morphed back into an elf behind her and grabbed her waist. And she started giggling cuz my gloves was tickling her midriff or something. And she tried to wrangle out of my grasp and then the back part of her shirt lifted and I was like: 'You're wearing a training bra?!?! Aren't you too old for that?!?!' And Terra was like: 'You pervert!' And I laughed and then……………....she punched me."

"…………………….," Starfire blinked.

"……………………..," Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "And then….uhm…..w-we had some ice cream??"

"Awwwwwwwww!!!!"

"Triple fudge! With marshmallows!"

"Awwwwwwwww!!!" Starfire floated down and hugged the stuffings out of him. "That is sooooo cuuuuuuuuute!!!"

Beast Boy wheezed. "I guess it's something good to remember."

Starfire winked. "I shall have to believe your insistence."

"Although….," Beast Boy's eyes trailed.

"Hmmm??"

He snickered. "We later found out it was a character in the video game that farted."

"Hehehehehe!!"

"Hehehehehehe!!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"It still feels…..so natural. Like breathing. Like opening my eyes after a brief nap…."

I looked at Tempest.

We both sat on the steps of Titan's Tower. Soaking wet. But gradually drying.

The afternoon was waning into early evening. A soft yawn of darkening November.

He rubbed his fingers together and stared down into the concrete with tiny white irises.

"…I know that Raven helped heal Dagger's knife wound some….but that's insane. My leg couldn't be working that soon. It's….It's….."

I leaned my head to the side. I waited until the Atlantean was looking at me squarely before I mouthed: 'A miracle?'

"……..," he ran a nervous hand through his hair. But a corner of his lips were curved.

I smiled.

He sighed. "Surprises….Surprises….Surprises." A swallow. "Who am I to dictate the energies of this world?" He stared up towards the sky and the steel chest of the Tower running up towards the clouds. "Of this universe?"

"………."

A beat.

He hugged himself and shuddered.

"Tula…what did you know that I have been struggling to grasp sense? There was something on the threshold of darkness….something so small and yet so bright and beautiful. You tried to hand it to me, but your fingers were already cold. What was that paradoxical joy? What is that message of oblivion that I still need to find before the curtain of darkness falls over me and everything I am and everything I know touches the face of infinity and gasps?"

He bit his lip.

He leaned forward.

He exhaled.

"I don't know what there is to look forward to anymore, Tula. And I won't know until I am lost to myself like you fell from my embrace so long ago…."

His dark eyes thinned.

Like he was looking for a lost city in the murky depths of some endless ocean bottom.

His lips parted and the truth came out from his soul in a hissing sensation.

"…until then…..all I have….all that I'll ever have to hold onto……is……..is f-faith….."

"……….," I looked at him.

His mouth opened more. His eyes widened. He tilted his gaze up and stood up on two strong, wet legs. "I need to go somewhere."

I blinked.

He spun around and ran inside the Tower. "Now."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Wednesday Night Fellowship.

The broadside of the gym inside Urban Faith Academy had a stage erected with carpeted plates four feet off the baskeball sidelines. A cleanly dressed band of musicians in their late teens—students one and all—played two guitars, a drum set, and a keyboard. A chorus of six girls and two boys lined up in the back. Everybody's body rocked with the music as the group played an upbeat version of "Shine, Jesus, Shine". A rather ghetto overhead display light cast words written on transparencies of the lyrics. A volunteer switched the pages as different lyrics were approached. The lead guitarist stood before a mike and would randomly spout out the first lines of the next chorus or bridge of the song so that the congregation could join in.

The congregation….

Well over two hundred students gathered that evening. They stood before a thick arrangement of folding chairs across the floor of the indoor basketball court. They faced the stage and sang the words they knew by heart in a gentle thunder of exaltation. Their bodies rocked back and forth. Some clapped. Some had their hands raised. A few others had their eyes shut…as if overcome by some otherworldly communion.

Three youth pastors of the church/school stood in chairs to the side of the stage. The speaker of that evening had his hands folded and was eyeing the floor. His lips murmured as if he was meditating on the words he was to present that service.

This was the scene that Tempest walked into.

He stood in a dark jacket, a white undershirt, and black jeans. He stood in the back of the gym…barely beyond the reach of the doors. A few greeters were chatting with both regulars and newcomers alike a few feet away from him besides old, brown tables. The entirety of the youthful service could be seen from that vantage point.

Tempest dug his hands deeply into his pocket and stood like a perfect wallflower. As if he didn't already look (or felt) awkward enough, he had on a pair of shades hiding his white on black eyes. Hiding his identity.

He stared at the service. He tuned in to the singing. He bit his lip and let out a winded sigh.

"Hi there…."

"???" he glanced aside.

A woman in her mid forties had shuffled over to him. She seemed quite out of place next to the youths in the building. Her nametag suggested she was an off-duty teacher at the Academy. The woman had on the kindest smile in the world as she gently greeted him: "Are you a visitor?"

"Uhm…..kinda sorta….," Tempest sweatdropped. "To be honest, I'm looking for someone."

"Oh, that we all are. Many are called but few are chosen. We're glad to have you with us this evening."

"………………yeah…."

"You look uncomfortable standing there like that. If you like there're some seats available. Would you like one of our ushers to—"

"Uh…n-no thanks….please…," he simpered. "I think I'll just…erm……," he fidgeted. He smiled nervously and shrugged. "Your God doesn't consider it a sin for one to stand around some, does he?"

She chuckled. "I should say not! I'm just worried about your legs, is all!"

"No no…my legs are…….," he blinked. "…..fine…."

"Here…," she offered him a three-folded printout. "This is tonight's sermon. Pastor Rutland just got back from his missionary trip to Guatemala. He's leading a prayer service after the sermon for the families hurt by recent events in this City. So many people have come tonight, we're blessed to have you as well."

"I see…uhm….thanks."

"You're welcome. God bless…," and she gracefully went back to her greeting table.

"…..," Tempest gazed at her. Then out at the praise and worship again.

The group had finished the previous song. The tempo changed as the keyboarder drifted the music into the next ballad. The volunteer grabbed a new batch of transparencies. The words 'Lord Prepare me to be a sanctuary' splashed across the overhead display, and soon the band sang with the choir alternating between male and female vocalists and the meditative congregation in turn.

"Hmmm…..," Tempest shrugged. He opened his pamphlet. His dark eyes scanned down the program of proceedings. The names of the musicians and worship leaders. Pastor Rutland. 'Selections from: Romans chapter Five'.

Tempest blinked.

"Romans….weren't those the guys that bastardized Zeus' and Poseidon's names?"

A beat.

He shrugged.

Time passed.

The congregation grew quieter and quieter.

The band left the stage.

The pastor walked up, approached the mike, cleared his throat, and uttered: "Please be seated."

The congregation shuffled and sat down.

Tempest shifted nervously where he stood.

The man opened a book full of notes down onto his podium, took a moment, folded his fingers together, and spoke:

"Paul the Apostle….in his letters to the Romans….wrote on hope…in the face of struggle and hardship. In the beginning of Romans Chapter Five…if you will turn in your Bibles to the very first verse…" A slight pause as everyone flipped pages then, with a breath: "'Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us'."

After reading, the pastor lifted his eyes and gestured: "I am proud—this evening—to be speaking to so many of you. And I am even prouder to see faces that I do not recognize from my last time here at Urban Faith Academy. I believe that the Holy Ghost is moving in all of us. That—as always—God responds to times of trouble and times of foreboding. I believe that God has an answer to every tool of death and plan of the Deceiver, and God uses us as the vessels for spreading His Word and His Love and His Joy to those most needing. And right now, brothers and sisters in Christ, there are so many people in need of the strength and of the patience given to us by the touch of the Holy Spirit. Tonight, let us pray for those hurt in this City. Let us intercede upon their behalf with the faith that God will return them hope, and that these tribulations shall be the building blocks of something far greater than evil despots could ever dare to crumble."

Tempest took a deep breath. And as the pastor spoke on and the congregation bowed its throng of heads, his dark eyes scanned the gymnasium.

And he couldn't see that which he came for.

He sighed, clenching his fists back in his pockets.

"She's not here…."

Defeated, he turned his back on the sermon….and ran into a freckled face.

He stepped back. Blinking.

She stared at him calmly.

"……"

"……"

She brought a hand up and bashfully moved a strand of stringy blonde hair up over her ear with a rattle of tiny dolphins.

But she wasn't blushing.

"Hey….," she said.

He swallowed. He nodded. "Hey."

"……….."

"……….."

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

In a darkened hallway lined with lockers, the two stood. A glint of light filtered in from the cross-hatched glass of the gym/school doors. The echoing voice of the pastor through the speakers filtered in muffledly through the walls, but not so loud that the two youngsters couldn't hear each other as they hushedly spoke across the cold corridor:

"Your leg is better."

"Yeah."

A beat.

"I'm….I-I'm glad…," she murmured.

He half-looked at her, as if she was on fire. "I'm…I'm thankful…."

She glanced at him, her hands behind her back. She danced slowly back and forth from one leg to another. "Thankful? You thought…I-I might not be glad for it?"

"After last time we met, who would blame you?" Tempest uttered.

"…….," she was silent.

He looked up at her. He swallowed: "Are you mad at me?"

Her lips curved somewhat, but she wasn't looking at him. "I have had my time to be mad. And I have had my time to cry…"

He winced.

She went on: "But somehow….I knew we would meet again." She looked up. "I knew you would come."

He leaned his head to the side. Inquisitively.

She replied to the muteness: "Because you're searching, Tempest. From the very first day you paid me a second visit….I knew that you were searching."

"Just….that?" Tempest blinked. "Searching?"

She ran a nervous hand through her stringy blonde hair. "Yeah…."

He fidgeted, pacing gently through the dark hall. "I….suppose you're right. But…."

"But what?"

He had his back to her. He sighed. "It just doesn't excuse what I've been doing lately. To myself. To everyone around me…."

"………."

He turned and looked at her. He took a shuddering breath. "I have to apologize….I…I didn't come to this place to find God or something. I was looking for you."

She smiled. "Duh."

Tempest blinked at that.

She giggled: "Go on…."

"Ahem…," he rubbed his neck nervously and said: "I wanted to see you ever since earlier today when…I felt something…."

"You felt something?"

"It was like….like….," he fingered the air for something. He took a breath. He looked at her and lowered his eyelids as he thought aloud: "Like a spark. A tiny match paradoxically being lit underwater. The very thing I was looking for all this time suddenly appeared before me. It took the moment of my finding out that I could still swim for it to happen. I found it…..only….what I was looking for wasn't an 'it'…."

She leaned her head to the side, lips parted.

He reopened his eyes. He stepped towards her: "It….It was you. You are the hope that I refuse to believe exists. You are…are…," he fumbled. He sighed. He shrugged. "….I wish I could describe it. I wish I could put it in words."

She stared at him. She blinked. "Try….," she uttered.

He complied: "All that I've longed for in these days of my life…all that I've been searching for….it isn't a God. It isn't some way to break a cycle of reincarnation. It isn't Nirvana or Communion. All I want…..is a reason for existing in a world. When more than half the world has banished me from its environment and the scant wasteland that is left is moronic and troublesome to me…." He looked at her. "All I want from hope is hope itself." He swallowed. "When Tula died, all of my hope should have gone away with her. But she knew better. She knew something that I didn't at the time know, because I was so engulfed with my one and only beloved leaving me. She wanted me to live on. To find a purpose of my own that isn't bound to her once beautiful and throbbing corpse."

Tempest paused. He choked a bit…then withdrew into the shadows to hide the moistness in his already shadowy eyes. He shuddered and spoke: "I do not see anything beyond the death that surrounds us. I do not have anything to hope for once my mortality is complete. The fact that my swimming leg is working doesn't do much to console me about the infinite bleakness of the universe. But it did make me think of those around me. Those whom I would have had nothing to do with if Tula was still alive. People like Robin. That moron swordsman who threw me off the top of Titan's Tower earlier today…."

Lindsay blinked.

Tempest looked up at her. He said: "And then there's you. You show me that there's hope to be had in this universe, Lindsay. Because….you have so much hope. And so much gentleness. And so much joy and kindness and optimism…..to a total, asshole stranger like me. Basking in that seemingly stupid compassion and empathy for all things that will someday be no more is what…..makes life worth living. And telling you to never see me again is worse than losing any leg. I'd sooner cut off my lower limbs and live life rolling across dry land than try and push someone as charming and selfless a friend as you away ever again. The long and short of it…I guess…."

And sooner than they both knew it, his hands drifted out and were touching her hands. Gently.

He took a shuddering breath as a tear rolled down his cheek. "I….I am sorry, Lindsay. I am so….so very sorry for being the weak and heartless person that I am. There are so many things in life for me to be thankful for. But I guess…no…I choose…," he looked at her. "I choose to have faith. Faith in you. Faith in my friends. But most of all…faith in you. Because you know something that I don't. And that's a good enough bait to dangle in front of this fish's snout anyday."

She exhaled a giggled and fingered his palms. Her head tilted down, and she seemed to be sniffing for some reason.

He craned his neck to the side. "Linday…..are you allright? Have I said the wrong thing?"

She swallowed and looked at him with a weak smile, her eyes wet. "Though….I would quickly say that you need to have faith in….Someone else besides me. I am glad that you came around, Tempest. It's….answered my prayer."

"Your prayer?"

"Ever since you stumbled into my silly little diner…," she breathed. "…you've been all about saving people. Rescuing folks from the City when everything turned back. Then Bonnie, me, and my friends in the subway tunnels. All your time here you think you've been selfish and a…uhm….," she glanced out at the gym and chose her words: "…butthole, but if only you knew…." She looked at him. "I've prayed that someone or something would save you. And I know you don't…..pr-probably don't believe in God and stuff. But I think He's moving in you. If I need to be the one He uses to show you the light…then I'd be glad to—"

"Is that all the hope that I see is, Lindsay?" Tempest leaned forward. "You trying to save me? Show me your God?"

She quickly replied hushedly: "Has it always been you trying to save me from bullet wounds, Tempest?"

"………."

"Trying to….duck my head down when crazy henchmen jump into the alley or red-eyed freaks with shotguns come charging into Bayside Plaza or—"

Tempest hugged Lindsay.

She let out a breath.

He held her close. His eyes clenched shut over her shoulders. He shuddered and said: "All I want….is the hope of having hope. And I have that right here…" His arms held her tighter. "…I don't know why. But I'm not going to try and find out why. Because I've learned…that every time I try and rationalize things…I fall back into the abyss of Tula's dead eyes and I am lost unto myself. I don't want to be alone again….I don't want to be banished again…and most of all, I don't want anyone else I know like Robin going into that black abyss without my having a chance to join them. To be with them. To actually be connected to something greater and more purposeful for once."

She took a deep breath over his shoulder and hugged back. "I would like that too, Tempest. Only….," she parted the hug and held his shoulders…looking into his eyes. "….I think life is best living for life, than for death."

Tempest blinked. He swallowed and nodded: "Then I suppose I have a lot to learn…"

She smiled gently. "I think you've learned a lot already."

He simpered.

She hugged him again. She exhaled: "Thank you."

He closed his eyes and spoke in her ear: "Thank you."

The two swayed gently in the dark hallway.

At least….

Until Tempest's Titan communicator vibrated annoyingly--

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

WRII!! WRII!! WRII!!

"!!!" I jumped. I was halfway through entering the Main Room when the alarms and lights sounded all around me. Raven and Cyborg were at opposites sides of the room. As various symbols of emergency nature flashed across the main computer screen, they both jumped to their feet and met in the center.

I bit my lip. Looking at the two of them.

I had come in there to speak to them.

I needed to tell them--

"Trouble!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Already??" Raven remarked.

Cyborg pointed at a map that he typed into view on the screen. "Just north of Downtown! On the corner of Weston and Twenty-Sixth!"

Raven blinked. "That's….That's where the last great excavation is taking place." She looked back at me. Then at Cyborg. "That's where the Jefferson Building was. It fell, remember?"

Cyborg nodded. "It can't be good then. There're reports of gunshots and explosions."

"Explosions…."

A mutual shudder fell through all our weary bodies.

"'Go' time…," Cyborg muttered. He slammed his titanium palm over the intercom button and shouted through the speaker system: "Star!! B.B.!! Flipper!! We've got a problem!! Possible armed shootout in the Downtown!! Meet me at the coordinates that I signal you!!"

I cracked my knuckles. I tightened Myrkblade's ready scabbard behind my back and took a shuddering breath.

CREEAK.

Both Cyborg and I looked to our right.

Raven was at the window. She had it open and was halfway through stepping out into the cold air. She looked ready to hover City-ward.

"Rae!" Cyborg held his hand up. "Wait for me!"

"What for….?"

"T-Car's kinda sorta on the fritz of death right now," he shrugged. "And my body's still shorted out, so I can't do my boot rockets and—"

"If you need a lift, wait for Starfire," Raven droned. "There're potential victims at this shootout. We need Titans to get there as soon as possible. Now….Noir and I are already ready." She glanced back at me with a nod. "We'll go and take point. You and the other four can come last."

"Raven, I'm the Titan leader!!" Cyborg frowned. "I need to be at the forefront of the action in order to make a good strategy—"

"Not today, you're not!" Raven frowned back. "Noir, let's go—"

Cyborg walked over and—GRIP!! He had Raven by the wrist.

I bit my lip.

"Let go of me!" she hissed.

He pointed with his free hand: "We stick together, got it?!?"

Guys……

I walked forward with metal arm outstretched.

"Cyborg, if you want this done right—"

Guys……please, just--

"After all the Hell that's happened this week, do you really think I'm gonna just let you go and—"

"Stop trying to protect me!!!!" Raven shouted.

I winced to a stop.

Cyborg was quieted.

Raven growled and snapped her wrist free of his grip. She scowled at him: "I know what the risk is!! I have always known what the risk in the life I live. I was born with enough risk as it is! I'm sorry if you're so dense in that metal head of your that you couldn't have woken up to the death all around us only after Robin passed away!!!"

"Raven…," Cyborg said calmly. "Please….let's go together…."

She took a deep breath. She lowered her eyes. "You never learn….," and she drifted out the window. !"

I exhaled.

A beat.

I looked at Cyborg.

Cyborg had his fists clenched.

He looked at me.

A snarl.

"You heard the 'Titan Queen'!! Go on ahead, dammit!!!"

I winced again. I tried not to look at Cyborg's huffing figure as I walked up to the door—CHIIIING—pulled out Myrkblade, took a breath, and blurred down. I ran across the cold waters into the cold night and into the colder City.

I missed my chance.

I missed it……

What if we were about to head into something terrible?

I'd never get the chance again.

And only half of the Titans would---

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

POW!!!!

A throng of police officers shouted and ran away from flaming debris scattering over a barrier.

A military truck screeched to a stop.

Twelve infantrymen poured out with assault rifles.

A sergeant shouted them into formation and ordered them to prepare their weapons.

Across the police force's side of the shootout, Lieutenant Smith scrambled up to his feet and hobbled across the dark intersection north of the City's Downtown. He hissed in pain and reached a hand out to the sergeant while dragging a pistol in the other. "Wait! Wait! Pull your men back!!"

The sergeant looked over, glaring. "This is out of your jurisdiction. I'm out of strict orders to silence any armed terrorists in this City following the rise of Dagger—"

"—until the official reconstruction and excavation of the damaged City is complete….yeah, I know," the Lieutenant nodded. "But hasn't there been enough bloodshed—"

"Sir, I am doing this for you and your City," the sergeant growled. "We have no nonlethal tools anywhere nearby. If we need to quiet this violence, we must act now!!"

BOOOM!!!

A grenade exploded out along the perimeter of the half-collapsed Jefferson Building.

The Lieutenant winced.

The soldiers remained alert, weapons raised.

Workers and volunteers hiding far back to the rear of the street gasped and shrieked in alarm.

The Lieutenant panted. "At least wait for the Titans to get here and—"

SWOOOOSH!!!

I blurred to a stop besides the men.

Raven floated down a few feet away with a ruffle of her cloak.

The sergeant did a double-take.

"Smith….," Raven droned.

The Lieutenant looked over.

"The rest are coming soon," Raven said. "Please….we'll handle this."

"……," the Lieutenant looked over at the military officer.

The sergeant took a deep breath. He scratched his chin. "Nnnngh…..wyrd Town."

I simpered.

He shouted to the soldiers.

They stood down.

The sergeant gave us a glaring eyes. He pointed. "You've got twenty minutes."

I held all my fingers up and mouthed: 'Ten'. I winked under my shades.

"……..," the sergeant watched.

Raven and I walked aside with the Lieutenant, slowly creeping towards the center of the shootout. At random moments, jarring explosions and bulletshots would echo from the collapsed building.

"What's the story?" Raven uttered.

"First off, where's Cyborg?"

"He's coming…," Raven said, a little frustrated. "Tell us what we're facing here."

The Lieutenant cocked his pistol and shook. He seemed to be missing an awful lot of sleep.

"Looters," he said.

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Looters?"

"Some workers caught them raiding the cash deposits of a department store three blocks from here," the Lieutenant said. He spoke while the three of us crouched beside a couple of other officers and a concrete barricade. "There were six of them. The volunteers tried to detain them. They had a pistol, and went running on foot. Three available police officers pursued them. They holed up in here….and suddenly started launching grenades and machine gun fire out on us."

"Grenades?? That sounds like more than looters."

"Someone went up the eighth floor of Borneo Inc. across the way," he pointed at a tall skyscraper behind us. "They surveyed the collapsed interior of what's left of the Jefferson building. It looks like there was one last cache of heavy weaponry half-hidden under the rubble."

I looked at Raven. I mouthed: 'Dagger'.

She nodded. "His stuff is like landmines. Who knows how many other stockpiles of his may have survived the warzone?"

"Looks like the looters are making good use of it," the Lieutenant said. Bullets pinged and ricocheted off the nearby barricades with a chillingly familiar sound. We flinched. He said: "We can't just wait them out. They've got enough stuff to wipe out half the block!"

"Don't worry," Raven droned. "We'll take them out."

I nodded.

"Just you two??" the Lieutenant panted. "Shouldn't you wait for the other Titans?"

"We've got no time."

"No offense….but even for just you two, this is kinda sorta dangerous. Decker would toss you kids in—I'm sure—but I on the other hand—"

A scraping sound.

"???" We all looked over.

A manhole cover peeled itself off from the inside out. A splash of sewer water, and Tempest vaulted up and into view. He landed. Still wearing civilian clothes, he crouch-walked over towards us. Smiling. "Hey there. Trouble?"

Raven's eyes narrowed. "Where were you?"

"Church."

"……….."

"Long story," Tempest looked at me. He flicked his shades off and into my grasp. "Thanks for letting me borrow them."

I blinked.

I didn't let you borrow any of my sunglasses--

A beat.

My black optics narrowed.

Boy, do you look cheery……

Tempest smiled. He smiled……and looked back at Raven and the Lieutenant. "So what's the game plan?"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The three of us crept up the outer mountain of rubble.

The sounds of six panicked voices emanated from the other side of debris.

I had Myrkblade raised.

Raven had her hood over her head, and her eyes were glowing a slight gray of meditation.

Tempest looked around, found some loose pipes, and flicked his wrist towards them. His eyes turned purple. The pipes shook. He exhaled, and smirked over at us: "Got some water, peops. How're we going to do this?"

"First off, we scout," Raven said. She looked at me. "Noir…use those eyes of yours."

"………," I stared at her.

She looked towards the top of the hill.

I took a breath.

Mentally, I rambled…

Raven……

About you and Cyborg.

She looked at me again. Her eyes narrowing curiously.

I leaned my head to the side.

The Titans need you.

Both of you……

Not just one each--

"What are you doing??" she hissed.

I winced.

"There's no time! Hurry!"

"Get a move on, partner!" Tempest merrily winked and kicked me lightly in the rear.

I gritted my teeth.

Don't make me toss you off another building……

I covered myself in a concentrated shroud of murk. My body turned invisible. I took a deep breath and slowly crept up the hill of debris. I reached the top. Invisible, I stared down. A beat. I closed my eyes. I took my shades off with a cloaked hand. I reopened my black eyes, wide and attentive.

In my bright world, I saw three figures out in the open. They stood besides open crates of weapons in a square patch of clear concrete. Two figures rested in the shadows of the naked and gaping upper stories above. And the sixth….

I narrowed my black eyes.

I scanned the shadows of the upper stories.

And on the fifth level, I saw…

One figure with a grenade launcher taking aim and--

POW!!!

SWIIIIISH!!

The grenade landed obscenely closed to me.

I gasped and jumped back.

BOOOM!!

I tumbled down the debris, lost my stealth mode, and slid to a stop between the two Titans.

"…..," I winced.

"Nice one," Tempest smirked.

I glared up at him.

You're too happy……

"What did you see?" Raven asked.

I sat upright. I slid my shades back on. I brushed a pile of debris smooth. I drew a square with my metal finger. I made three dots then held up three fingers.

"Three people…."

I drew a line besides the square. I put two dots between the line. I motioned 'under' with my hands.

"Two taking cover…."

I counted 'up' with my finger, held it up, and then planted a dot on a tiny rise of rubble above the rest of the ghetto 'diagram'.

"They've got a monkey," Tempest said.

"Three groups," Raven said. "The bulk of them are on the bottom." She adjusted her hood and looked at us. "We can take them, Titans. Noir, you're good at close combat. Your speed will be in-their-face and overwhelming. But not overwhelming enough." She looked over. "Tempest. Summon enough water to douse the crooks ahead of time as a distraction for Noir."

"And you, Missy?"

"I'll take the high road," she said. "I'll take out the man high up, then provide the rest of you cover and shielding."

"Gotcha," Tempest winked. He looked over at the pipes. He clenched his fists. With a purple glow, a stream of water snaked up into the air, collected into a thick sphere of liquid, and hovered over him.

I took a deep breath. I clutched Myrkblade's hilt tightly with flesh fingers.

"Okay…..," Raven droned meditatively. "When I give the signal…you first, Tempest. Then you dive in, Noir. And I'll go high."

"Roger."

I nodded.

Raven held her breath. Her eyes glowed.

"……"

She rocketed up into the air. "Titans! Go!!"

"NNNGH!!" Tempest flung the water over the hill of debris.

"!!!!!" I blurred up.

SPLOOOSH!!!

"Augh!!!" five voices cried out from beyond the hill.

SWOOOOOOOSH!!! I blurred over, dove, and raised Myrkblade over my head. Teeth gritting.

I descended on the three foremost gunmen right as Tempest's water had finished fountaining--

SL-SLASH!!!!

I slapped two guns out of their grip with my sword.

The third gasped and was already aiming an uzzi at me.

I skidded to a stop, wincing.

Crud.

SWOOOSH!! Tempest dove in on an extra burst of water.

WHAM!!! He jump-kicked the creep across the face. The man went plummeting to the concrete floor beneath Tempest's figure.

"Wooo!" Tempest pumped his arm.

I looked at him. I simpered--

WHUMP!! One of the two men punched me in the ribs.

I stumbled back, wincing.

Dammit. Forgot--

The second was in the middle of picking up his shotgun.

I swung Myrkblade at him.

CLANK!!! He blocked with the metal of the rifle.

"YAUGH!!" Tempest pounced on his back and put him in a strangle hold. The two wrestled.

I turned and faced the first man.

He growled and swung his fist at me.

"…..," I easily ducked.

He limped past me, gasping.

I raised Myrkblade.

Yeah……sure…

THWACK!! WHAM!!! SLAP!!!

I struck him three times in three separate places with the broadside of my weapon.

He stumbled down cold.

I panted.

I heard footsteps.

I looked towards the base of the remains of the building.

The other two men ran out with machine guns. They shouted and took aim.

I gasped and prepared to tackle Tempest and his opponent down--

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!

Bullets flew.

FLASH!!!

A black shield curtained down between us and the two coming out of the shadows. Their bullets pinged and ricocheted off, causing them to flinch in surprise.

I panted. I looked straight up.

Raven floated overhead with her hand outstretched.

"Help Tempest!" she shouted.

I blinked. I almost pointed—

Aren't you supposed be handling--

"GO AWAY!!!" shouted the man on the fifth floor. He panted hysterically and fired his grenade launcher at the dark girl.

"!!!!"

Raven turned, saw the explosive projectile, and twirled away at the last second.

The grenade fell at us.

I gasped. I blurred. I dove aside with a pulse of murk and slashed Myrkblade up in midfall.

SWIIISH-CLANK!!!

I knocked the grenade up and into the clear center of the debris field.

BOOOM!!!

Tempest and the wrestling man collapsed from the shaking explosion.

Raven's dark shield fell.

The two men with machine guns ran out, firing.

RAT-A-TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!!

P-P-PING!!!

Bullets splashed all around the flames and smoke.

I gritted my teeth and slowly stood up amidst the chaos.

This is going well……

"I said….SCREW OFF!!!"

POW!!! BOOOM!!

From above.

I looked up.

The man was firing again at Raven.

She skirted past his shot, deflected the grenade away with a flick of her telekinetic wrist and landed a growling kick into his chest.

WHUMP!!!

"Augh!!" he teetered on the crumbled edge of the building. He swung the grenade launcher like a bat.

Raven ducked. She twirled. She flung her palm at him. FLASH!!! A black talon encased his writhing body and shoved all five stories down.

WHAM!!!

The breath was knocked out of him as he impacted the concrete.

He let go of the grenade launcher.

It flew a few feet, landed awkwardly on its butt, and—

Fired.

POW!!!!

And….from the awkward angle…a grenade was launched upwards.

It flew…and it flew…

Towards Raven.

I stepped forward with a sweaty gasp. I whistled. Shrilly.

Her eyes flicked--

The grenade landed in the building face behind her.

She gasped and surrounded herself in an impromptu cocoon--

BLAM!!!!

"Nnngh!!" the girl cried and flew outward from the concussion of the blast.

Unconscious in midair.

My jaw dropped.

Raven!!!

She fell and--

SKRRRTTT!!!

Her robe got caught in a jagged arm of metal jutting out from the building face. She dangled precariously—six stories up—from the torn blue fabric of her outfit.

I panted. I looked to my right. I found a mountain of debris leading up roughly to her level.

Smoke danced out from under my shades.

SWOOOOOSH!!!

I blurred up the debris mountain, leaving the shots of gunfire behind me. Leaving Tempest to fair for myself—which I somehow knew he could and would. Or maybe I didn't care.

I ran to Raven.

But halfway to her too---I stopped.

I knelt in the middle of the inclined mountain of debris.

Breathing heavily.

No……

I gazed fearfully at her dangling body.

Her gentle, unconscious form.

No…………

I swallowed sorely.

I could have saved her.

I could have easily reached out and grabbed her.

But I didn't.

I'm not the one.

I'm not the one……

I took a deep breath.

And….

Stayed put.

Raven dangled.

Sounds of gunshots below me.

Crooks gasping and fighting a Titan.

I stayed put.

Raven's blue cloak ripped more.

She was on the edge of the brink.

A relapse of warzone beneath her.

Flame and smoke.

I stayed put.

Panting, I turned around.

I looked over my shoulder.

Black eyes narrow.

Struggling against the sweat coming down my brow.

Come on……come on……

Gunshots.

Tempest's shouts.

Raven's cloak ripping.

Come on……

Starfire's voice.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

The shrieking sound of a green pterodactyl.

Cyborg shouting orders.

Cyborg……

They were here.

The crooks gasped and shouted all the more as the three figures joined the fray.

The enemies were being beaten back.

Tempest said something.

Beast Boy said something back.

And Cyborg: "Hey!! Where're the others??!"

Starfire: "Our friends are unaccounted for!!"

Beast Boy: "Noir?? Raven??"

"Nnngh!!" Cyborg's voice shouted. A slamming sound. Then a thug's body dropping to the floor. His voice panted. "Where's Raven?? Raven???" A dramatic pause. A shadow far beneath me. Then. "Oh no…"

Raven dangled.

I crouched low.

Taking a huge breath.

Please……Cyborg……please……

"Oh no…no no no…RAVEN!! HOLD ON!!!"

Her fabric ripped more.

I could still save her.

I stayed put.

Sweating.

Breathing hard.

Stomping sounds of titanium feet rumbled up the mountain of rubble.

Closer and closer.

"Hold on!! I'm coming!!"

His metal and flesh skull came into view. Huffing….puffing…

I timed it just right.

I held my breath and--

SWOOSH!!

I turned invisible with a cloaking shroud of murk.

Cyborg ran right past me.

I stayed perfectly still.

I craned my invisible neck.

I watched….

Cyborg ran up, jumped with a shout, and landed on the half-crumbled ledge just above Raven.

He sprinted towards her, panting.

And Raven….

The girl was just then awaking.

Weak….groggy.

She took one look down past her dangling legs.

And she gasped.

Violet eyes wide.

Face twice as pale.

RIIIIIIP!!!!

Her robe finally gave way.

A cry escaped her lips as she fell--

GRIP!!!!

Cyborg's hand grabbed her arm.

She gasped.

And the dark girl was swiftly hoisted up and—before she could so much as utter a word—deep into Cyborg's embrace.

Embrace….

I blinked. Watching like the ghost I was.

Cyborg hugged her petite frame tightly into his metal chest. He had one hand in the small of her back. His other fingers dug into her soft head. His head was tilted over and his human eye clenched shut as he breathed deeply….deeply…

She trembled against him. Her eyes wide and staring past him as if beholding a pale horse.

"Cy-Cyborg….what….wh-what….?" She incoherently uttered.

"Shhh….shhh….just….p-please….," he stammered. "Be here. Just be here…."

She gulped something down her throat. She calmed down some. The trembling lessened, but didn't go away. However…the ferocity in her psyche from earlier that night seemed suddenly gone. So it was with a spirit of awe rather than irascibility that she pushed at his chest and parted their hug some. Some….but not entirely. She gazed up at him.

"Cyborg…..how did you—"

"I almost lost you, girl….," Cyborg shuddered. "Dammit…this is why I want us all together!! This is why I don't want us branching out anymore in this Hellish City of ours!!"

"Cyborg…," she calmly droned. She closed her eyes, swallowed again, and then reopened to gaze weakly at him. "Please, I—"

"Please nothing!!" he said loudly.

She flinched. She trembled.

Cyborg held her shoulders and looked down at her. Straight in the eyes. "We all lost Robin. We all lost Terra. We all practically lost every god damn thing that's been innocent to us in this City!! I am not and will not lose you!! No matter what you say!! And you can shove me all you want and you can yell at me all you want but tough shit, Raven!!"

"Cyborg, I—"

"—need me!!"

She bit her lip.

He took a breath. "And I need you too. But you need me, Raven. That doesn't make you weak. Just admit it for once and be strong in some way that you've never given yourself the pleasure of being so before!!"

"Cy-Cyborg??" Raven shook her head. "It won't work. It'll never work!!"

"Show. Me."

"…………"

"…………"

Raven stopped trembling.

Cyborg never stopped looking at her.

"……….."

"………."

They slowly tilted their heads together.

I craned my neck.

My lips parted.

And my black eyes blinked.

It wasn't until an eternal five seconds later that their kiss ended. And when it did…like the touch of death…Raven fell into Cyborg's chest. Her eyes were brimming with tears like I had never seen them stream before. Even in the lonely, confused depths of Mortuana.

Cyborg held her chest. He whispered: "Are we struck by lightning yet, Rae?"

She sniffed once. She sobbed out a: "No….."

He ran his fingers through her silky hair. "You can do this, Rae." A beat. "We…can do this. Whatever it takes. Even IF that 'big bad demon father' of yours shows his ugly head…I'll kick his sorry ass from here to Apokolips. I love you too much to stop short of this, Raven. God, I love you too much…."

She released.

"I love you t-too, Cyborg…," she sniffed. She sobbed. She buried her head into his chest. "I'm so sorry….Azar, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to make you suffer another loss. You or any of the others….I'm so sorry…"

"Shhh….just be here, Rae. Just be here….," he rocked her gently in their embrace. "It's okay….we've got each other….it's okay……"

"I-I'm so scared to do this…..so scared to love you…..I don't know what will h-happen…."

"Shhh….Neither do I, Rae. Neither do I. But we'll find out together, you hear? We'll find out together……Together…."

And she kept sobbing.

And he kept holding her.

And I watched.

Silent.

And…

A smile came to my lips.

So painful.

And yet so thankful.

And painful yet again.

I took a shuddering breath, sheathed my sword, and turned around.

I descended the mountain of rubble.

I didn't know if I was invisible or not anymore.

I didn't care…

I didn't care….

…….

Dear Diana……

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

We are the Titans.

In pleasure and in pain. In trust and in tribulations. Our hope and faith endures.

Starfire has remembered her briefly forgotten penchant for Tamaranian joy. I feel that she's been under these dark clouds of Terra Firma for so long that she's almost adapted to human kind's misery. But all of that is gone now. And though the scars of Robin's passing shall forever remain—as they will in all of us—she has learned to move on. And ironically the same memories that make her cry will be the same memories that make her laugh and shout. For such is the way of mortality. Alien or not.

Beast Boy's hope with the Titans has always rested on Terra. Or so we were all prone to think. Maybe Beast Boy himself too. I thought—if even for a despondent moment—that Terra's departure at the hands of Dagger would have turned him away from superheroism for good. But I think Starfire has shown him that……that as long as there is death, there is always life to counter it. And his friends are here to give him that life……and to show him what there is left to fight for. The changeling may be becoming a man, but the stubborn spirit of the beast shall remain in the favor of Good. His friends will see to that, at least.

Tempest may not have found his purpose. But at least he has found a purpose in attempting to find a purpose. There comes a time when a young person becomes too cynical even for his own tastes. I think such is the situation with Tempest. He may not understand a thing about the unfortunate events that have tragically befallen his life. But at least he's got others to misunderstand it with. And maybe—on a new page or something—he'll come to recognize that life is just as strongly bent around mourning as it is around laughing. And both emotional acts—opposites of a kind—still yield forth the same warmth. For all of us.

Raven and Cyborg……our official and unofficial leaders. What about them?

Well……

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Some obvious things in life, Diana, are bound to become twice as obvious.

"Dude….like….no way…."

"Hehehe!! Glorious!! You two are so adorrrrable!!!"

"Woo woo woo!! Hey Tempest! Do a cat-call!!"

"Heheh….I think they're humiliated enough as it is!"

"Hehehehehehe!!!"

Cyborg simpered, scratching the back of his neck.

Raven blushed, cupping a hand over her cheek to hide half a smile.

She and he had their free hands joined. In the open. On their side of the table.

Beast Boy was still pumping his arm and cheering.

Starfire was still cooing and giggling.

Tempest shook his grinning face.

And I….

I leaned back with my arms folded.

Smiling.

The next afternoon.

At the pizza parlor's balcony.

Alive.

Well.

A team of six.

"We're….uh….," Cyborg's eyes trailed as he sweatdropped. "Gonna take it slow…."

"Sweep her off her feet, dude!!!" Beast Boy uttered loudly across the pizza parlor. "Oooh! Oooh! Better yet!! Let's take you to the Titans' Tower stairwell so you can carry her up the stairs Clark Gable style!!"

"Hehehehehehe!!!"

"Ah sheesh…," Tempest rolled his white on black eyes. "Neptune almighty…."

Raven blushed some more. "That….was a terrible movie."

"I think that's the first thing I heard you say all day, girl!" Beast Boy winked. He stretched a green arm over the table and pantomimed a microphone in front of the dark girl's lips. "Tell us!! What are you gonna do now that you and Cyborg are officially 'going out'?"

She blinked. "I'm gonna make you drop dead."

"See?" Cyborg shrugged. "Nothing's changed!!" He wrapped an arm around Raven's shoulder and winked. "Nothing at allllll."

Raven grumbled. "Okay….no 'kissy voices'."

"But I wasn't doing a kissy voice!"

"Yeah you were!!"

"Lover's quarrel! Lover's quarrel! Lover's quarrel!" Beast Boy hopped.

ZAP!!!

A bolt of black telekinesis knocked Beast Boy down to his butt.

"Oof!!"

"Hey!" Cyborg blinked. "I coulda done that!"

"How can you?" Raven folded her arms and smirked. "Your sonic cannon's on the fritz, remember?"

"Heh heh heh heh."

"Ohhhh!!" Starfire floated down between them and engulfed them both into a Tamaranian death hug. "Friends!! I am elated to bear witness to your coupling!! May your days be full of flowers and puppies and merriment and—"

"Oxygen….," Cyborg wheezed.

Starfire gasped. "Eep!" she blushed and darted immediately back to her seat besides a recovering Beast Boy. "I do apologize…"

"Quite fine, Star…," Cyborg smirked, breathing normally. "Quite fine…"

"Heh heh heh," Tempest chuckled.

Raven smiled.

The alien girl simpered. "I fail to believe that I have not dropped that habit. After all, Robin is always telling me that….th-that……."

A cold curtain of silence fell over the table.

Raven gazed off.

Cyborg closed his eyes.

Beast Boy bit his lip.

Tempest was silent.

Starfire winced a bit…then sighed.

An agonizing beat.

"……….," I looked at everyone. "……" I grabbed my cup of Dr. Pepper. I stood up. I lifted the glass high.

Beast Boy grinned wide. He grabbed his sloshing cup of Root Beer and jumped up, mimicking. "To the Teen Titans!!!"

Tempest and Starfire smirked, stood up, and raised their pitchers. "To the Teen Titans!!"

A smiling Cyborg and Raven gracefully did the same. "The Teen Titans!!"

We raised our cups together.

Cl-Clank!!

We sipped.

We exhaled.

A beat.

We looked at each other.

"………."

We broke down.

"Hah hah hah hah hah!!!

"Hehehehehe!!"

"Heh heh heh!!"

"Man….so lame…," Tempest finished his cup and wiped his lips with a sleeve. "I love it."

"Tradition has its pleasantries…," Raven droned. She smiled ever so slightly, looking at her half-full glass of iced tea. "As well as its annoyances. But not now, I suppose."

"Hey…we earned it, dudes," Beast Boy winked. "Boy…wasn't the Lieutenant happy with us last night?"

Cyborg nodded. "Smith said we're the 'angels of the urban forest'."

"Whatever the Hell that means," Tempest chuckled.

"Yeah, right? Basically…the sleep-deprived sap is glad we didn't kill anyone off in the raid," Cyborg glared over at Raven. "Anyone….at all."

"I know you're not looking at me."

"Perhaps next time we should be entirely assembled to approach such a dangerous scene?" Starfire suggested.

"My thoughts exactly," Cyborg folded his arms. "Things are gonna go back to normal soon, folks."

"Oh really…," Beast Boy downed his root beer.

"Yup. Training sessions. Drills. Getting a new pair of T-Wheels," Cyborg winked. "The works."

"Yipee. Sounds like fun," Tempest droned. "But if you'll excuse me…," he stumbled around the chairs and exited the table area. "I gotta get going today."

"Where to, dude?"

"Lindsay's at a prayer assembly at her church-school-thingy. I thought I'd go visit her."

Cyborg folded his arms and smirked. "Wow, Flipper. You turnin' religious on us, dawg?"

Tempest looked at Cyborg. "Yeah…….sure…," he winked with a smirk. "Turning religious….cya, creeps." He walked off.

"Tempest is……," Starfire blinked. She turned and looked at us. "…..crude when he is joyful."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Water off an Atlantean's back."

"Heh heh…," Cyborg chuckled and motioned with his half-metal head. "Let's head on home."

"Join hands!! You gotta join haaaaands!!" Beast Boy pointed.

"Pfft. Knock it off, little man," Cyborg rolled his human eye. "It doesn't have to be that rituali-"

Raven's fingers intertwined with his.

Cyborg blinked. He looked down at her.

She smiled, cheeks a little red. "Well? Are we walking home or not?"

"…….," Cyborg smiled crookedly at Beast Boy. "Then again…"

Starfire giggled.

Cyborg and Raven wandered off across the balcony.

Beast Boy folded his arms and sighed. "Dude….," he shook his head and smiled. "That's just…just…..look at them!!"

We did.

"Two years ago, Raven would have sliced anybody's head off for so much as breathing on her neck!! And there she is…a regular school girl!"

Starfire had her hands clasped together….eyes fluttering. "Everyone is capable of finding joy, Beast Boy." A knowing smile, aimed at him. "Provided they learn how to overcome fear and sorrow."

A beat.

Beast Boy nodded. "Yeah….."

Starfire prepared to fly Tower-ward.

"Um…Star??"

"Hmm? Yes, Beast Boy?"

He simpered. "Th-Thanks."

She smiled warmly. "And to yourself, similar respect is endowed." And she flew off in a green streak.

Beast Boy turned. He gazed over at the fading images of Raven and Cyborg.

"Hmmm…," he rubbed his neck. Thinking aloud. "Raven Stone….."

A beat.

He bopped himself in the head.

"Chlorbag!"

He shook his head. He wandered off towards the exit of the balcony.

But when he was at a distance away.

His voice whispered thoughtfully: "Tara Logan……."

And he was gone.

"……………"

I stood alone.

A beat.

I looked closely at my glass of Dr. Pepper.

I took a deep breath.

I guzzled it down in one long gulp.

I swallowed.

I exhaled.

A shiver up my body.

My left fingers clenched.

CLAMP!!

I put the glass down, left a tip on the table, and blurred away.

Things are coming back to normal, Diana. I can sense it. But there's something else that I also sense.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Not all is finished. Not all is taken care of. The Titans are together. The Titans are safe. But they still have one job. One unfinished piece of business. And if necessary—and it's growingly seeming necessary—I'll have to take up that job on my own. After all, I seem to do things best on my own. It's amazing that I'm on a team at all. I supposed it's my penchant to follow orders.

Like Robin's orders. He left us all one last order, Diana. An unofficial one, perhaps. But an order nonetheless. It was his contract. His last contract. The final bravery that he died for.

Terra must be found. Her future must be secured. And as collected and as calm and as……happier as we may be……we are doing nothing about it. Cyborg won't even talk about it. I know that I'm his second in command and should follow his orders faithfully to the millimeter.

But……

Robin may be dead. But his legacy is not. What he stood for prevails. And—as far as I'm concerned—I'm still third in command. And Cyborg's still number one to the Boy Wonder. The last contract must be followed through.

I've written to you upon the eve of something extreme and wild and horrendously lonely before, Diana. I wrote to you—belated or not—on the night Wyldecarde was born. And now I write you this…for I have learned to trust you beyond that of a simple correspondent……

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

We are the Titans. But we are not whole yet. But things are about to change. I am going to make sure of it. I have a job to do……still……

That night, I slowly walked into the Main Room.

It was dark inside, save for a flickering light.

I squinted my black-shaded eyes and peered in from a shadowed stairwell.

The flickering came from the huge t.v. monitor. A DVD of old home-camera footage was playing across the screen. There was a chill from the November night outside the windows that filtered into the Main Room and matched the snowy edges of the bright recording. The digital visages of Robin and Terra emanated ghostly voices as they prepared for a sparring match across the mat of the Tower's gymnasium.

"Okay, Terra. Give me all that you've got."

"Except my powers, right?"

"Use them too."

"B-But……But we're inside the Tower! I don't want to wreck this nice g-gym!"

"Gimme all you got. I promise you, you won't be able to take me down."

"Heheheh……gee…that sounds awfully confident of you."

"Perhaps. I'm simply going to teach you a lesson in how to overcome an enemy with speed."

"It's……uhm……n-not gonna hurt, is it?"

"I promise you, it won't……much……"

"Okay……r-ready when you are………"

I took a deep breath.

I gazed downward.

Starfire and Beast Boy sat next to each other on the couch.

They were curled up under a woolen blanket.

Watching the two souls on the screen.

Breathing steadily.

Lips meditatively curved…

They seemed to cling to each other. Their mutual warmth. Their livelihood.

I smiled. Hands in my pocket. Silent.

"……….."

"They feel so content. So warm. And yet they are mourning. Mourning and rejoicing at the same time."

"???" I turned quickly and looked.

Raven walked out of the shadows, arms folded. "They'll need each other's friendship to get past this point in their lives. It's….a good thing, what they're feeling. What we're all feeling."

I nodded. A beat. My eyes trailed.

Raven was dressed in gothic fashion. Black slacks joined up the sides with baby pins. She had on a blouse with mesh sleeves and spider-web designs along the bodice. It was simple, yet sexy.

I recognized the outfit in an instant. An archaic trip long ago to a Hot Topic…

"We're….uhm…..," she fidgeted nervously. Cutely. "….gonna go out and see a movie." A beat. "Cyborg and I," she added….as if clarification was needed.

I slowly nodded.

"It's kinda cold. And I know I left my jacket up here somewhere…," she looked around.

I blinked.

You have a jacket??

"I didn't want to disturb them…," she whispered, pointing out at the dim Main Room.

I nodded.

Raven didn't have to disturb anyone.

Her jacket turned out to be draped over a loose chair in the shadows. Where her violet eyes couldn't see.

But mine could. I took the jacket, smiled gently, and handed it to her.

"Thanks, Noir….," she uttered. A slight chuckle. A happy girl. "Your eyes are good for something."

She grabbed the jacket. She made to leave…..

But the jacket pulled tight.

She was anchored in place.

"????" she looked with a curious eyebrow raised.

I was still holding onto a sleeve of her jacket. And my eyes had fallen…bowing at her feet. My smile had left, and something in my face had turned cold and helpless. I swallowed my scarred throat and apologized with a tiny exhale. Simpering, I gently….gently let go.

Raven hugged the jacket to her small self. She breathed. She leaned her blue head to the side. "Things are……..so much more dangerous now, Noir…."

"………."

"Far more dangerous than….I could truly have imagined……e-even in my darkest dreams. And those really are dark…."

"………"

"I may not end up hurting anyone after all…," her voice drifted among herself as it did around me. Like a dying demon's last puff of smoke. "…and….he's shown me that. The persistent, crazy fool………….and…and I love him. I love him, Noir."

"……..," I looked up at her. I smiled. And I meant it. Without having to think.

She took a deep breath. She slipped her arms through the sleeves of the jacket. She shrugged it on and shrugged the coldness of the room off at the same time. Her eyes fell short of my neck and its scar as she spoke:

"Tempest….Starfire….Beast Boy……they have all found happiness in the wake of all this, Noir." She gazed up at my distant, black eyes. "And now, Cyborg and I….." She breathed. "It's about time you find your own happiness too, Noir. It's about time you find that which you desire the most."

I blinked at her.

She nodded. A beat. A breath. Curling fingers. She turned and left.

I sighed after her.

I already have, Raven……

I ran a metal hand through my long black hair. Shuddering. I turned and gazed at the Tamaranian and elf on the couch. The ghost bodies of Robin and Terra sparring….dancing….

Warming.

I already have…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

And now I know what I must do, Diana. And do not be hasty to think it a bleak thing. I may be a hero renown for his quickness and direct strikes. But I do think things out.

I thought out the reason that I came here. I thought out the reason I chose to become Wyldecarde for a season. And I thought out the deaths at my hand when Robin and I took lethal force against Dagger's hypnotized legions.

And about this……I have also thought out. I do not like to be melodramatic. I do not like calling what I do 'sacrifices'.

But I love the Titans. My friends……I love them too damn much to just sit around in this cold Tower and watch our lives go on and go on alone.

The contract remains…and for that, I shall ever be wrestles until all is done.

And Robin can finally……finally……be buried.

In my soul. In my heart.

And in our names.

The earth awaits him yet……

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

And that earth will not bleed while his Number Two is still on the job.

"………..," I gazed off into space. Dressed in whites. Sitting-cross legged on my bed. Bathed by lantern light. Quiet. "………"

Silence.

"………"

A ringing sound.

"……..," I raised my eyebrow.

I looked down at the laptop before me.

An IM window had popped in place before the letter I was typing to Wonder Woman.

A few messages had already scrolled down.

InzeUltima: Noir?

InzeUltima: Noir??

InzeUltima: Jordan, please answer me.

InzeUltima: I know you're mad at me. You've got every right to be.

InzeUltima: But please…..please respond. Just say something. Please.

InzeUltima: I can't stand your silence. It hurts me so much.

InzeUltima: I…..I want to tell you everything. And I do mean everything.

InzeUltima: Why I wasn't at the funeral. Hell, why I never ever have shown up. Why I never flew there everytime I so much as heard the terrible things happening to you that I wrung my hands and tossed and turned in bed over.

InzeUltima: I think about you all the time, Jordan. And……and that's kinda sorta got a lot to do with why I've never visited.

InzeUltima: Please…respond. Hear me out. I've got a lot to tell you.

InzeUltima: Jordan??

InzeUltima: Jordan????

A long bit of silence.

……

SpSquirrel: I'm leaving, Kara.

InzeUltima: ……….???

SpSquirrel: I'm leaving the Titans.

InzeUltima: What???