Written by: BWinner

Author's Note: I'm pretty happy with how chapter one turned out, lets see if I can go two for two. We're going to bring Damian on board now and I'll be upfront, he's going to seem VERY OOC. Since characters are aged up, I'll be ditching his overly aggressive attitude; his arrogance will still be a defining trait, but I figure his extra time with Batman will have ironed out his desperate need to fight and 'prove himself' all the time. I have to give a special shout out to my husband too, he's been helping to organize my thoughts and ideas a ton with this.

Warning: foul language, violence, OOC(to be safe), slow burn romance…

Rating: M (to be on the safe side with violence and heavy content)

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or any of the DC characters; they are property of DC and Warner Bros. I do not profit from this work of fiction.

Nightmares of a Former Life – Ch. 2

The air in the room was tense as Constantine sat back in an armchair. He had opened a can of worms he really should have left shut. This was going to take some delicate explaining. Casually the man took a cigarette from his breast pocket and lit it up. He took a long drag, almost mimicking a person taking a steadying breath and finally looked at the two teenagers.

"There's a theory I've had in my mind for a while, about the universe and the possibility of an alternate time line," he began.

Dick casted Raven a skeptical glance. "What in the world would prompt that train of thought? You complained about our questioning nightmares and you come up with that!" Dick protested.

"Calm down Junior," he quipped with a sharp glare. "I am very sensitive to the energies of the universe, and there have been at least two times now where I have woken up and felt what can only be described as a slight shift. I can never explain it properly, but something doesn't feel right, it's like a reset button has been pushed. My best guess is that as Raven's powers get stronger, she's gaining this ability too, especially as an empath."

"Wait, are you telling me I'm going to start having visions of another life or something?" she asked.

"No, not even your magical abilities are that strong," he clarified. "Most likely there are going to be triggers, think of it like déjà vu, and an intense emotion is going to engulf you. I can't say whether you'll keep having nightmares or not, but keeping control of your emotions is going to be harder than before."

"What has you so convinced of this theory?" Dick asked, still very unconvinced.

"I'll try and explain it a different way. I've worked with enough demons and gods to understand that they never change. There is one heaven, and one hell; any time I have felt one of these 'shifts' and I have encountered demons or gods of old and new they have remained unchanged. These beings feel the same when the world does not."

Raven supposed there was nothing more to say on the matter; receiving this information left her very conflicted. She was very happy her powers weren't alerting her to an impending danger, but it was hard to know she had clearly been through one before, and immensely frustrating to learn she would never know what. Even worse, her emotional state had to be in even more strict control and honestly, she was at a loss on how to make that happen given that she felt she was already as strict as she could be.

Dick seemed to get a sense of her unease and suggested they take their leave. It was also very late and Damian would be arriving in the morning. The two Titans thanked Constantine for his help and the magician led them out of the house. Rather than taking the long drive back to Titans Tower, Raven opted to portal them there where she and Dick made quick work of some 'goodnight's and retreated to their rooms.

Raven laid in bed and took deep steadying breaths; Constantine's words wouldn't stop echoing in her head. She needed strength and began to pray to mother Azarath; blessedly it didn't take much longer for her to fall asleep. The young empath was surprised when she awoke to morning light, but had no sense of a nightmare in her dreams before. Was this a good sign? Who knew exactly what Constantine might have done when he was searching her mind, she hadn't dared to ask. Maybe he had scrubbed that one thought away? Raven could only chance to hope - - a sudden knock at the door startled her out of her musings.

"Raven, may I come in please?" Dick's voice called.

Quickly she grabbed her cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders before she let the young man in. "What's going on, I thought you would be on your way to escort Robin here?"

"I'm about to, but I wanted to discuss something with you first." Dick said before he closed the door and stood against the frame. "I know you like to be a private person, and I know we kept the initial nightmare just between the two of us, but I think it's time we bring Kori in on what's going on…" he paused waiting for any kind of reaction from her.

Raven stiffened and glanced dubiously at her friend. She should have known this would be a request of his, and truth be told she was surprised it hadn't come sooner. It took a moment but finally her shoulders slumped in defeat. "I think I know your reasoning, and as much as I hate saying it, I guess you're right."

"Thank you, Raven, she's the next senior Titan after myself, and I know she'd be more than willing to help should the situation arise. I do have faith in you, but Constantine said things could get overwhelming and we can't take that chance with how strong you're becoming."

The two nodded to each other in understanding before he exited the room. Raven wasted no time after his retreat to gather her things and get ready. The empath was determined to treat this as just another day and not let the drastic change of a new team member arriving affect her. True to her usual routine she swiftly got cleaned up and dressed before eating a quick breakfast of tea and toast, then met her teammates in the training room.

She relished in the familiarity of Garfield's chipper greeting and Jaime's calm nod while Kori laid out the attack simulation. The young empath found her centre and concentrated all the focus she had into her attacks and the 'battle' around her. A shot was fired and she flew to avoid it before attaching a piece of her soul to a nearby steel crate and taking out the gun responsible. Beast Boy was beside her now rapidly shifting forms between small creatures and winged animals to avoid multiple lasers strikes before settling on a gorilla to smash the second weapon. Sensing Beetle ready to make the final strike Raven easily flew up and behind the blue armored boy to avoid fire. Kori praised their efforts and set the simulator up again for a different pattern. Their fights were peppered with self-congratulatory comments from Garfield and snide replies from Jaime, and Raven found that she was more inclined to absorb as much of the good-natured banter as she could rather than clap back with her own sarcasm. Perhaps the fun vibes from her friends would help balance out a little of the darkness.

"Alright Titans, let's stop here!" Kori finally called out. "I think it's time we get something to eat and drink then clean ourselves up. Nightwing should be arriving with Robin within the hour."

As the group exited the simulation room Beast Boy caught up to Raven. "So, you're like, really quiet today," he commented off-handedly.

"I'm always quiet," she pointed out and rolled her eyes.

The green skinned hero threw his arms up in a show of exaggerated frustration. "Fine, quieter than usual, whatever. Is something going on with you?"

"No, I just haven't had much to say lately… it's been a pretty calm week." Raven hoped that didn't come out as defensive as it sounded in her head.

It must not have because Garfield only gave her one more suspicious look then kept on moving to the common room without a word. Raven was relieved when Jaime chose not to question anything and walked past her as well. The teen then made swift strides to her room and hurried to get cleaned up and changed; she wanted just one extra moment to pause and meditate, clear her mind. Yes, Raven was determined to treat this like any other day; it was almost a mantra in her head. The dream meant nothing, this was just going to be the arrival of a new team member, nothing more.

Raven arrived downstairs to join the rest of the Titans just as two motorcycles pulled up. Nightwing took off his helmet first and approached the group; greeting everyone with a warm hello before he motioned for Robin to come over. Slowly the second rider took off his own helmet and the empath took a steadying breath.

Nothing. No immediate feeling crept up on her, good or bad.

Feeling slight relief Raven studied the young hero closer. He was shorter than she had anticipated, with dark hair similar to Dick's and an almost olive complexion. Currently she could not see his eyes as they were still shrouded by his mask, and his mouth was twisted in a serious, if not dour expression. She watched as he adjusted the pack over his shoulder and strode with an even confidence up to the rest of them.

"No need to be so eager Grayson, I will be here for a while," he snipped in irritation.

Rather suddenly Raven's head began to burn where her gem was, and there was a low rumbling in her psyche. Nothing was spoken to her, but there was a noticeable feeling of annoyance. It took some mental effort, but she was able to suppress the feeling in a small amount of time. Coming back into the moment she caught brief bits of Nightwing chiding the younger Robin about referring to him in such an informal manner after all their time together, as well as some introductions. Very little more was said before Robin insisted on going to his room to unpack and rest.

Much of the afternoon following was rather uneventful, and Damian proved to be the antisocial creature that Dick made him out to be; he wouldn't even come out for dinner. Raven continued to focus her energies on enjoying time with the rest of her friends and absorbing the positivity that came with it. Any distraction would be needed now to keep from focusing on that one alarming feeling. Although she didn't wait long after dinner to excuse herself to her room for the night. She laid out a rug in the corner and lit some incense before assuming her meditative position and beginning her prayers.

"Mother of Azarath I beseech thee, help me to combat the emotions that threaten to consume me, and to protect my brothers and sisters from the coming darkness…" she began. Uncertainty was creeping in on her, the hint that she could lose control, but not know why. All the empath felt she could do was repeat that sentence a few more times before she fell into her familiar calming chant, 'Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…'

With her soul more aligned Raven became at ease enough to get ready for bed and lay reading before drifting off to sleep…

She was outside, how was she outside? Where was she outside? Nothing looked familiar, just an empty plain of charred earth and rubble. Despite her surroundings resembling a battlefield it was eerily quiet and she shivered at the loneliness that began to consume her. Raven moved forward in spite of this, as she tried to get a sense of direction; nothing helped. However, in her wanderings she came upon a tree with one single creature in it, a robin.

The little bird was still, with a piercing gaze. It wasn't the unusual shining green of its eyes that unnerved her though; it was the stinging sense of betrayal that emanated from it. It hurt her terribly, and tears pricked at her eyes. Finally, the bird turned its gaze from her and flew from sight. The exchange caused to her collapse to her knees holding herself, wishing the feeling of despair away.

… Raven woke with a start; her breath was shaky and tears streamed down her face. Not another one. Not a new one. It was hard not to sit in bed and let the grief consume her, but she forced herself to get up and out of her room.

The empath hugged her cloak around her for comfort as she walked, and was startled when the scent of citrus and tea leaves greeted her as she neared the kitchen. This was an unusual ritual for Nightwing if he was going on patrol. When she rounded the corner, she was surprised to see someone else entirely; Robin sat on a chair at the island in the kitchen, his back to her.

"I didn't realize anyone else would be up at this hour," he commented dryly before he turned around.

There was nothing to shield his eyes this time, and when Raven looked at them, she froze. The colour from her dream. He didn't look at her with that same stabbing of betrayal, but regardless his gaze was like daggers piercing her. She couldn't move, she couldn't speak. Raven just stood there, numb.

TBC…

A/N: This was an odd challenge. I found the first two pages of this story just poured right out of me, but the introduction of Robin stuck me in my tracks. I know I've labelled this story 'OOC' but I really do hope it's believable enough to keep you with the characters. I have been soaking up any and all DC media, and rewatching any DCAMU movies I have with Robin and Raven in them… scouring wikis like mad too, since I think I've finally settled on an antagonist. Hope this continues to be entertaining!