*Well…on with the depressing fanfic, ey?*

*For Joel*

Bad News

Nightwing awoke early. It wasn't out of character for him. It was what he usually did; especially now that one of his closest friends was possibly in danger, and he couldn't blame anybody but himself.

Charlie heard the sound of rustling in the kitchen and opened his eyes slowly. He had fallen asleep on the couch and noticed Vic on the ground, using his arm as a pillow as he slept. He blinked and glanced at the clock. It was 5 in the morning.

He sat up slowly and saw Garfield sleeping on the loveseat. He had his arms crossed as he did so and was snoring quietly.

He turned around and saw Richard preparing coffee. Charlie yawned and mumbled, "Morning."

Dick's eyes landed on him. "Looks like you're pretty anxious too, huh?"

He nodded, unable to fall asleep the night before from having the sorceress on his mind. "I get the feeling she's in danger…I can't stop thinking about her."

Richard poured himself a mug of coffee. "You want some?" he asked.

He shook his head. "No, thank you."

Their quiet conversation woke up a sleeping Cyborg. The half man and half robot sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "Man…ya'll are up early," he mumbled.

Charlie smiled a little. "We've got things to do today…we have to get a head start."

Richard nodded as he drank his coffee. "Sleep can wait. Raven can't," he stated.

Cyborg nodded, unable to argue with the former Titan's statement. He grabbed a couch cushion and hurled it at the sleeping changeling.

Garfield groaned and turned his body away from the other heroes. "Stop," he grunted.

Victor grinned mischievously. "C'mon, grass stain, get your lazy ass up."

The green hero glanced at the clock and went wide eyed for a moment before shutting his eyes tight again. "Dude…it's 5 in the morning. I've still got 5 hours to kill here…"

Richard placed his mug on the counter. "You can get your 5 hours later," he said sternly. "We need to find Raven."

Charlie nodded. "He's right. I can't go another day without hearing from her."

Cyborg turned to him. "Is there any way you can try to contact her again?"

Garfield sat up and stretched, cracking his neck in the process.

Charles sighed. "I…I don't know…I tried and…it feels like there's something preventing me from doing so…"

Richard walked toward them. "She's out there somewhere and we're going to find her."

Charles nodded, still feeling nervous.

Cyborg stood up. "Let's go save our friend."

The men got ready and ate a quick breakfast made my Garfield himself. Vic and Richard grimaced at the taste of tofu eggs and soy milk, but Charlie scarfed his meal without thinking twice. He appreciated the hospitality he was receiving from the heroes and hoped he could pay them back someday.

It wasn't long before they all hopped inside Vic's T-car. Richard sat in the passenger seat next to Vic and Gar and Charles sat in the back.

"We'll start our search at the mental hospital. If Raven truly believed we were never there….she'd probably want to go there."

Charles shivered at the idea of Raven confined to a small room. His mind wandered to her, worried about her.

Vic nodded and started driving. "I know where it is…even though it's been years, I still know every square inch of this city."

Garfield blinked. "Man…I can't believe this is all happening…"

Richard folded his arms. "You better believe it." He sighed. "I just wish we'd known about this sooner."

Victor turned a corner. "Better late than never, right?"

Richard grunted.

Charles fiddled with his hands, nervous. He hadn't spoken to Raven since he arrived in Jump City and was afraid that she wouldn't want to see him after…

He huffed, remembering his distracting thoughts on his previous love interest.

Garfield turned to face him. "You okay, dude?"

Charles nodded, "Yeah."

Victor pulled into a parking lot and Charlie looked out the window. He was taken aback at the sight of the white building. Written in metal was the words, Jump City Mental Health Services.

He cleared his throat as Victor parked and turned off the car. There was a moment of silence before Richard spoke, "I'm sure I'm just as nervous as everyone else here…" he opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Everyone else did the same, not saying a word. Charles' heart started to beat faster as they approached the entrance.

Victor opened the door and held it open for everyone. The 4 men shuffled inside, feeling out of place.

A young brunette sat at the counter, typing furiously. Her eyes landed on the men and a small smile appeared on her face. "Good morning, gentleman. How can I help you?"

Richard approached the counter. The 3 men followed. Charles gazed around the room, suddenly feeling a spark of energy within him.

"We're looking for someone, and we have reason to believe that she's checked herself in here," Richard stated.

The woman nodded and placed her attention back to the monitor. "Okay. What's the name of the patient?"

Richard responded, "Her name is Raven. Raven Roth."

The woman's eyes widened as she turned to face the former. "Raven? As in, the former teen titan Raven?"

Richard nodded. Cyborg and Garfield nodded as well. Charles placed a hand over his chest, feeling his racing heartbeat.

"Oh…" her voice trailed off. "Um…excuse me, for just a moment…" she stood up quickly and disappeared behind two double doors.

All 4 men were silent. Each of them understood the situation. This woman was clearly aware of who Raven was and it indicated that she was here.

Charles took a deep breath in an effort to calm his raging heart.

It wasn't long until the woman returned with one of the doctors, Raven's former doctor to be exact.

The doctor approached the men. "Good morning, my name is Dr. Patel and, you are looking for Miss Roth, yes?"

The men nodded. Richard answered, "Yes. Is she here?"

Dr. Patel furrowed his brows. "No. Not anymore, at least."

Charles felt his heart sink at his answer.

Richard nodded. "Where is she now?"

Dr. Patel scratched his head. "Well…I assume you are all former members of the Teen Titans…"

Richard nodded. "Yes. Could you please answer my question?"

"Of course…follow me." Dr. Patel led them through the door and down a long hallway.

They were silent, with only the sound of their footsteps on the white tile.

It wasn't long before they were seated inside a small office. Dr. Patel sat at his desk and stared into his monitor as he typed. "Your friend…well…we had an issue with her 2 nights ago…"

Charles suddenly spoke, "What happened?"

Dr. Patel sighed. "She checked herself in this hospital over 3 years ago. She firmly believed you guys never existed and sought out mental help through us."

Richard nodded, taking his words in. "And…you welcomed her?"

"Not at first," the doctor admitted. "We were worried because of her powers. However…she claimed that she would never intend to harm anyone. She said she simply wanted to forget ever having them."

All of the men looked down.

The doctor continued. "We tried explaining to her that you guys did indeed exist, but she refused to listen. She did occasionally use her powers to create barriers in an effort to keep us away, and we allowed that. However…what she did 2 nights ago was unacceptable and we had no choice but to send her away."

Charles suddenly realized where this was going. He started to tremble.

Richard cleared his throat. "What happened, and where did you send her?"

"Raven attempted to destroy the hospital…she broke a lot of windows and scared the patients. She was using a lot of her power and I remember her eyes glowing white. She wouldn't listen to us and in the end, we had to sedate her." He sighed. "We couldn't keep her here after that. You have to understand that we have a lot of mentally unstable people here, and having them exposed to that doesn't help with treatment."

Charles rubbed his temples, feeling a headache.

Cyborg glanced at Garfield, whose eyes were a little watery.

Richard repeated his question, "Where is she?"

Dr. Patel removed his glasses and set them on the table. "We…had her relocated to Arkham Asylum in Gotham."

Richard's head snapped up. "What?" he asked, his voice hard.

Garfield's eyes widened. "No. Way."

Cyborg's mouth gaped open. "You can't be serious."

Charles' eyes darted from left to right. "Oh no…"

"I'm sorry gentlemen, but we believed it was the best place for her. She is a danger not only to herself, but everyone around her as well."

Richard stood up, his hands balled into fists. "We need to go. Thanks for your help," he said quickly.

Before the Doctor could get another word out, the men had left his office quickly. They all walked outside; Richard punching the brick wall hard. "God damnit!" he yelled.

Victor placed a hand on Richard. "Calm down, man."

Richard shook his hand off. "She's in the asylum, Vic! She doesn't belong there!"

Garfield nodded. "He's right. God, I can't believe this…"

Charles kept his head low. "She's in there because of me…she wasn't trying to destroy the hospital…she was opening the portal for me…"

Richard sighed. "We need to go to Gotham. Now." He started walking back toward the T-car, not looking back.

Cyborg unlocked the car and waited for everyone to hop in before igniting the engine. He pulled out quickly, driving toward Gotham.

Richard gritted his teeth. "We can't waste any more time…she's at their mercy and they don't exactly have any to offer."

Garfield folded his arms. "I should have visited her while she was in the hospital…I should have known…"

Charles sighed. "We all should have done something…we're paying for it now…"

Richard took a deep breath. "Look…I know this is bad…but we can't wallow in our faults right now. Raven's in trouble, and she needs our help. We can't go to her looking like this…we need to pull ourselves together and get her to remember us."

Charles nodded. "I…just hope she isn't…"

Richard cut him off. "She's fine…she's strong…I know she is…she has to be."

Victor sped up, maneuvering through the other vehicles on the road, determined to see his friend again.

Charles closed his eyes, thinking of Raven. "Be strong," he thought to himself. "Be strong for her."