Krumelmonster: Omg I'm so sorry, but also thankou? haha

Guest reviewer: why thankou SO much, kind stranger! xD

Consequences

Jump City's museum had a surprisingly large jewelry collection. Diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls, gold and silver. And it was all currently getting stolen by Gotham Sirens – or just the Sirens now that they'd found a new favorite city to pillage.

"Titans, go!" Nightwing shouted confidently.

The Titans engaged in battle. They would easily win and be home by lunch, but then…the strangest thing happened. Suddenly, they didn't feel like fighting anymore. The truth was Garfield hadn't felt like fighting before either – he only came along so Dick wouldn't give him a hard time, because he had been extra hard on him lately – but still, this was different.

Their adrenaline levels dropped and they felt compliant and tired and even docile. Nearly submissive, really. They knew something was terribly wrong, because this wasn't how they were supposed to feel. It made it really difficult to fight. They also didn't fail to notice that for some reason, the Sirens weren't taking advantage of their current vulnerability to finish them. They just calmly went on with their crime. The same thing seemed to happen to every cop around, who simply disengaged from trying to stop them at all.

Conner frowned. "What the…what's wrong with us?"

Ravager closed her eyes. "I feel sick."

"Yeah man, something is definitely wrong..." Cyborg checked his sensors.

Garfield thought he was losing his mind, because this weird sensation everyone was talking about, he could have sworn it kind of reminded him of…

"Raven!?" Bumblebee shouted.

I knew it. The Changeling's head shot up only a second before everyone else's. And then he gasped. She was there, strutting casually in front of the Sirens with a wicked smile on her lips. Only she looked a little different. She'd cut her hair again. It wasn't as short as it used to be, but the long purple waves were gone. Her uniform showed a lot more skin now, with cold shoulder sleeves and a V-neckline exposing her chest. Her cloak was now a cape attached to the back of her armor, so there was no more hood to cover her face. There was, however, a headpiece. It was all black, V-shaped on her forehead and it went up in spikes in a way that definitely resembled a crown. Her irises were still scarlet.

"Hey guys, did you miss me?"

"Raven? That…this…" Richard struggled to focus past whatever was making him feel this indifferent about this particular crime. "They're getting away. Something's…wrong."

"It's her." Starfire whispered. She held onto her stomach and frowned at her best friend. "You're doing this, aren't you?"

The empath shrugged nonchalantly. "I told you I could manipulate emotions."

Damian tried to feel angry, but with her manipulating them it was difficult. "I thought you didn't use this power."

Raven smiled. "I didn't. But…you were right, that was lame. So now I do."

"Why are you doing this?" Dick asked, feeling absolutely sick at the invasive sensation.

"Because she's one of us, duh!" Harley Quinn chuckled hysterically, wrapping her arms around Raven's neck from behind and leaning on her.

"Get off me, Harley."

The blonde pouted and reluctantly pulled away from her.

"Wait, you're a Siren now?" Ravager folded her arms, also struggling to remain outraged.

Poison Ivy came to Raven's side all covered in jewelry from head to toe. "You know, we really should kill at least one of them while they're like this."

The empath glared at her and she just shrugged innocently. Not killing innocent people and the Titans were her only conditions, and her powers were really useful so they'd agreed.

"Raven, what the fu…" Rose closed her eyes, because all her anger involuntarily vanished.

"Raven, this isn't you. You're better than this." Richard managed to say.

"No. I was better than this." The empath said intently. "Now I'm tired of being good. Where did it ever get me?"

Nightwing looked at all the cops pacing like sheep. "You're manipulating all these people? Is this what you've become?"

Raven smiled, though it was a little sad. "I guess so. Be glad it's not the world."

Garfield couldn't say a thing. Her making him compliant on top of how much he already loved her was making it really difficult for him to even look at her. And then he was terribly hurt by the whole thing. And terribly guilty, because he'd made her snap like this.

Catwoman came close to her and whispered. "Time to go."

"Ah, yes." Raven stretched out her arms and her eyes glowed bright red. "Go to sleep."

When the Titans regained consciousness, the Sirens were gone.

Cyborg rubbed his head. "Man, what the fuck?"

"Doomsday wasn't joking about this…" Damian grunted. Emotion manipulation sounded cool, but it felt awful to have it done to you.

"So, Raven's a criminal now." Rose whispered. "What does that mean? Are you going to go after her? Because I…I know what she just did sucks, but…"

Nightwing shook his head. "Of course not, Rose. She's lost her way, but it's still Raven. She didn't let them hurt us. We'll get her back."

Starfire smiled at him. "Yes, we will."

"I was actually expecting something like this…" Dick stood up slowly. "We just need to figure out how to shield from her."

Garfield tried his best to cover up his heartache. "She made me an amulet once…it protected me from her powers."

"Do you have it?" Richard asked dryly.

The Changeling shook his head. "No, she took it back."

"Well, then that's pretty much useless, isn't it?" Nightwing frowned.

Garfield sighed. "I just mean…maybe it's in her room…"

"I'd think she'd take that with her, don't you? She's not dumb to leave it behind."

Kory frowned at her boyfriend. "He's just trying to help, babe."

"He's helped enough." Nightwing muttered under his breath.

The Changeling pretended he didn't hear it.

Meanwhile in a ridiculously fancy hotel, Poison Ivy leaned against the wall. "So you're really sticking with this no hurting your former teammates rule?"

The empath looked up from her book. "If you want me to stay."

"Oh, we want you to stay." Selina said, smiling at the mirror and admiring herself covered in expensive jewelry. "This has been incredibly easy with you here."

Harley Quinn got out of the Jacuzzi and lay on the bed, grinning at the ceiling. "I've never been anywhere this nice! I love it."

Raven smirked. She'd done the incognito spell so no one would recognize them. And she'd conjured money to pay for it. In reality, they didn't even need the robbery, but she didn't want to have to continuously conjure money, it was tiring. Stealing was easier – and more fun.

Poison Ivy rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine. We won't hurt your lame ex-friends. Even though they kicked you out, so you should really rethink that. What happened, by the way? Did the marketing team realize no kids are buying your lunchbox?"

"They didn't kick me out, I left. Also, as nice as this place is, I've been thinking we shouldn't hide anymore." Raven said, still reading her book.

Harley sat up on the bed. "We have to hide, we're outlaws! Right!?"

The empath looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Luthor doesn't hide. Not hiding is a demonstration of power. It means we're not scared."

Poison Ivy smiled at that. "Okay, witch. What about your superhero friends? It's not like we can give them our address and expect them to leave us alone. They might have a soft spot for you, but I'm sure they won't spare the rest of us."

Raven shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to make sure no one can get to us."

Pamela narrowed her eyes, fully interested at this point.

Selina turned around and frowned. "I mean, we can't take on all of them."

"That was before you had me."

Catwoman raised an eyebrow at the empath. "Are you getting delusions of grandeur?"

Raven stood up and took a gigantic diamond necklace, placing it around her neck. "Maybe."

"You're insane. We can't hide in plain sight." Ivy shook her head. "There are only four of us."

"I might be insane, actually." The former Titan admired herself in the mirror. "But that doesn't mean I'm not right."

Harley grinned mischievously. "Ohhh, she sounds confident. Let's do it!"

Selina narrowed her eyes suspiciously as Salem rubbed against her legs. "Is this some trick to spy on us or get us to expose ourselves?"

Raven huffed tiredly. "If I wanted to spy on you I'd just penetrate your minds. And if I wanted you in jail, you would be there by now."

Harley Quinn lay down breezily again. "You don't wanna get in my head!"

The sorcerer chuckled. "I actually almost got in your ex's head once."

The blonde immediately sat up and gasped. "Shut up!"

Poison Ivy went to sit beside Harley. "Do tell."

"Well, we had him captive and Nightwing and Robin thought I should, you know, heal the mess. Make him sane." Raven shrugged. "I didn't really want to, but…anyway, you guys busted him out before I could. So, thanks, I guess."

Harley's eyes were sparkling. All their eyes were sparkling with mischief, actually, but Harley laughed wickedly. "That would be the worst possible torture for him! Do you think you could do it!? I mean…sorry, you just said you didn't want to. It's just that that would be so funny."

"He hurt you, huh?" Raven tilted her head. Her aura wasn't as messy as the Joker's, but there was constant heartache emanating from her. She was definitely broken.

The empath also noticed Ivy repressing the urge to hold Harley's hand.

The blonde sighed, a little distracted for a bit, but then she grinned again. "I guess that's what I get for dating a psycho! But then again, I'm a psycho too."

Raven smirked and folded her arms. "If we catch him, I'll make him sane for you."

That got a very enthusiastic response. Harley clapped hysterically, Catwoman laughed openly.

And Ivy leaned back on her hands, grinning wickedly. "Okay then, crow chick. What's this hiding in plain sight plan of yours?"

Meanwhile in Titan Tower, things were extremely awkward.

"So…Raven's a Siren now." Bumblebee stated the obvious. "Aren't we talking about that?"

Kory frowned. "Do we have to?"

"I think we need to decide what to do about it…" Karen said unsurely. "I mean, if she's committing crimes, shouldn't we…you know…?"

"Shouldn't we what? Put her behind bars?" Damian folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "Sure, how do you suggest we catch her? And which bars will contain her?"

"I don't know, how about Superboy does something about it?" Bumblebee turned to Conner, who didn't seem eager to volunteer. "You're always saying you're invulnerable."

He chuckled awkwardly. "Well, yeah, I mean, she can't hurt me like she can hurt you all. But I'm also not sure how to catch someone that can teleport, phase through stuff, detach her soul from her body…I mean, she has a lot of evasive maneuvers." He turned to Dick. "Didn't you take them all down once? As Red-X?"

Nightwing frowned. "Well, I used a special tape gag, but…she relied on her mantra a lot more back then. She's grown way more powerful. That would just piss her off now."

Starfire sighed sadly. "I can't believe we're even talking about this."

Richard rubbed her shoulders in support and she smiled slightly.

"Did she take her crystal with her?" Ravager asked Changeling. "You know, the one you used so you could fuck like bunnies?"

He just nodded blankly. Garfield was out of it. He couldn't wrap his brain around any of it. All he wanted to do was beg her to come home. He missed her so much it hurt.

Nightwing sighed. "I'll try to find a weakness." He winced at his own words. "No jail. We bring her here and try to…you know. Get her back."

No one argued with that.

About a week later, Siren Mansion was officially in business. They'd found a gigantic abandoned place to their liking and decided it was perfect. There were dozens of men guarding it – mostly villains and serial killers – because Raven had bent each one and made them loyal to the Sirens. Some of them had powers, others had been heavily armed. The way she saw it, this was a good deed. Now they were doing something other than killing and molesting. She'd picked the most rotten hearts – with the weakest minds, because those were easier to manipulate – she could find. Each and every one was a monster. There were also non-lethal traps for most of the superheroes that could take an interest in them, including every Titan. But no one had tried to approach yet.

Siren Mansion was a mixture of haunted house and tacky nightclub. The giant hall had a bar, piles of money everywhere, shelves full of books, a huge disco ball and a massive sound system, not to mention four majestic thrones – one made of an intricate entanglement of plants, one made of gold and every precious gemstone one could think of, one purely whimsical, colorful and always stained with blood, and the last one was…dark. It seemed like something Hades or Lucifer would sit on. Girly decoration contrasted with the spooky abandoned mansion's old structure everywhere.

And then on the second floor, there were several rooms – but only four of them were neatly decorated. Raven was currently comfortably laying back on her throne, leaning her back on one arm with her legs folded over the other. She was lazily admiring the ruby necklaces in her hands while softly humming along to the chorus of You Give Love a Bad Name (Bon Jovi), which was currently blasting from the sound system by courtesy of Poison Ivy.

"You were right. This is much better than hiding." Selina smiled as a guy served her at the bar. "Also, I like having slaves. Nice touch."

Raven smirked. "It's not like they were doing anything productive with their lives."

Ivy was in on all of this, of course. But she also wanted to address something. She had been watching the way the empath was singing along to this song and she had some concerns. "So, Raven. Why did you leave the Titans?"

The sorcerer narrowed her eyes at her and got up to go pick something interesting from the many book shelves on the corner. "None of your business."

"Maybe she got tired of pretending to be something she isn't." Catwoman teased.

Pamela folded her arms and smirked. "It was that green boy, wasn't it?"

Raven flinched slightly. He was still so annoyingly present. She thought about him all the time and it only made things harder. Her heart ached for him all the time. All the stuff he'd given her was in her room along with her now useless power-blocking crystal, just out of her sight. She couldn't handle looking at any of it yet. It hurt too much.

"I knew it." Poison Ivy chuckled. "What happened, did he dump you?"

The sorcerer rolled her eyes and grunted.

"How are we going to be friends if you don't trust us?" Pamela said innocently. "You won't even tell us your precious Boy Wonder's identity. I bet you even know who Batman is."

Raven shrugged. "I bet Selina does too."

Catwoman just smiled easily when everyone's attention turned to her. "A girl needs her secrets." She absentmindedly caressed Salem's fur. He liked her almost as much as he liked Raven. "Still, Ivy has a point."

The empath sighed. She was too wounded to care and if she was staying here they would know sooner or later. She was certain Ivy had already noticed she was bitter and heartbroken. "Fine. Yes, I left because of him. He…" She turned around to face them and swallowed her pride. "He broke my fucking heart, okay? Happy?"

"Very." Pamela grinned. I knew it.

"Well, that's just sad." Catwoman said in a mocking tone. "Heroes suck."

Raven scoffed at her. "As if you of all people could judge me. Batman, much?"

Selina chuckled. "Hey, I wasn't judging! You're like, really defensive, you know?"

"Oh, I'm judging." Ivy scowled. "I mean, you could crush him. Instead you let him break your heart. That's fucking stupid. No offense."

The empath went back to picking a book. She's not wrong. "Yes, I'm aware, Ivy."

"I'm just saying…" Pamela pressed. She liked this witch for now, but she wouldn't pass on the opportunity to tease her. "It's kind of pathetic."

"OKAY, Ivy. I got it." Raven said pointedly, pulling a book from the shelf.

"Leave her alooone." Harley whined, getting out of her own throne and walking over to the former Titan, wrapping her arms around her and glaring at Ivy. "She knows exactly how pathetic she is, she doesn't need you to point it out, okay!?"

"Harley?" Raven turned her head to the blonde, who just smiled at her. "Don't help me."

Harley Quinn chuckled sheepishly and let go of her. "Well, I'm not judging either. I've let someone get the best of me too."

"I wouldn't say I let him…" The empath trailed off before she could finish defending herself. Who are you kidding? She sighed. "Yeah, fine."

"Okay. You're all pathetic." Poison Ivy concluded.

Raven raised an eyebrow at her. She could definitely sense some affectionate feelings between her and Harley Quinn. But they obviously weren't ready to unravel them, so she left it alone.

"Here's my main concern." Pamela said more seriously. "Is all of this just some petty revenge until you forgive him and go back?"

The sorcerer shrugged. "It's more like a change of heart. And I can't forgive what he did."

Ivy analyzed her until she decided she was satisfied with that for now. "Alright, then. Well, let's mess him up! We can bring him here and break him. Harley likes weird pets."

The blond Siren beamed for a second, but she lost all hope when she saw Raven's face.

"We are not doing that." The empath said intently. "Let me be clear about this. No one lays a finger on him. I'll hurt you if you do."

Sure, she may have asked Nightwing not to punish him when she left, but Raven would be lying if she said no part of her took pleasure in how hurt the shapeshifter was when he saw her like this and felt her manipulate him. Still, there was enough of her old self left to know she didn't want these three near him. She was the only one who got to punish him.

Pamela rolled her eyes. "Lame."

"I don't care. Now how about we find Quinnie's ex so I can fix his brain and break him instead?" The sorcerer pointed at an excited Harley Quinn. "See? She likes that idea too."

Back in Titan Tower, Garfield fell hard on the tatami and grunted in pain.

"Get up. Again." Richard hissed.

Ravager turned her head to the leader and frowned. It was the tenth time on a roll he made him spar with no powers, alternating his rival between her and Damian. She realized Nightwing was dead serious and exchanged a concerned look with Robin.

"Dick, man…he's exhausted. What are you trying to do?" Cyborg asked.

"He can stop when he wins. Robin. Your turn. Go." Richard said plainly.

Damian scratched his head. "Ah…I'm kinda done with this, bro."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow and looked at Rose to realize she wasn't comfortable with it either. He walked to the Changeling. "Fine. Spar with me, then."

Garfield frowned. "You know what? No."

"No?" Dick asked sternly, being slightly taken aback.

"That's right. This is abusive." Garfield stood up with a whole lot of difficulty. "I can't beat any of you, okay? I'm so sore I'll probably be useless if there's trouble at this point." He glared at the leader as he left the training room. "Excuse me."

Nightwing looked at his teammates and they all seemed to be on the shapeshifter's side about this, so he huffed and stormed out. Starfire followed him.

"Babe?" The Tamaranean gently touched his arm.

Richard turned to her, immediately softening up. "Aren't you angry with him?" He asked quietly. "I mean, don't you miss her?"

Starfire nearly glared at him. "Are you kidding me? It feels like someone ripped my arm off or something."

Nightwing exhaled and nodded. "And yet, you were able to forgive him."

"I mean…I'm trying to." She didn't tell him Raven asked her to take care of Gar. She hadn't told anyone about that. "It's just that…he feels bad enough. You can't punish him more than he punishes himself, you know? Besides, this won't fix anything. We've already lost one person…"

Richard was about to argue with that, but then his phone rang. He glanced at it and sighed. "Training's over. Tell the others to head to the ops room." He answered his phone. "Bruce."

"Hi, Dick. We need to talk about Raven."

"It's really not that bad. I'm pretty sure she hasn't even told them our real names."

"Not that bad? What's Siren Mansion?"

Nightwing rolled his eyes. "Okay, but listen. They're mostly reformed. They haven't killed anyone since she joined."

"Haven't they enslaved a bunch of people?"

"Have you seen their files? Most of them were child molesters or murderers."

"Dick…"

"I know. I'll handle it."

"This is too personal for you. She's completely out of control."

Richard scoffed. "Well, she's definitely not completely out of control…"

Batman cleared his throat. "Right, I know. Still, you can't just let her do whatever she wants."

"I'm not letting her do anything. I'm just a smart guy with a bo-staff, Bruce. I don't know how to stop her. I'm open to suggestions."

"We thought maybe we should interfere. Clark could go in and-"

"No, don't!" Dick said, joining the others in the ops room. "Don't hurt her."

Starfire widened fearful eyes at him.

"…I think she can take care of herself, Nightwing." Batman said after a few seconds.

"Not as well as you'd think. Besides, if she feels threatened that might make it worse."

"…what's your plan, then?"

"Look, no one's getting hurt. I think I can get to her, we just need time."

"I hope you're right."

"Me too."

Dick hung up and sighed, cradling his head in his hands. Kory rubbed his shoulders.

"What if you pretend you want to join them and spy? Try to find a weak spot?" Damian asked Terra, who had come over with Kid Flash. "I mean, you fooled her before…"

"No, if anyone's going in there it should be me." Ravager said. "I've bonded with all of them."

"That's true…" Conner pondered.

"It's dangerous." Robin frowned at Rose, who just raised an eyebrow at him.

The Changeling's head shot up. "It's too dangerous. Neither of you should do it." This is my mess, I should clean it up. Except…I don't know how.

"And it wouldn't work." Terra said sadly. "She trusted me because she wanted to. She's not as innocent…I mean, I don't think she wants to trust anyone right now."

"Not to be a jerk, but…don't we know a weak spot?" Kid Flash tilted his head towards Garfield.

The shapeshifter felt his stomach turn and thought he might puke.

Superboy chuckled. "What? The weak spot that made her go rogue in the first place? Yeah, let's use that. That'll piss her off even more."

"Conner's right." Richard said plainly. "Besides, we wouldn't-"

"Red-X is back." Cyborg said, watching the cameras.

Nightwing nodded. "Okay, let him in."

Victor went to sit next to Garfield and whispered to him. "Hey man, how are you doing?"

The Changeling gave him a pitiful look that meant what do you think? His eyes were swollen from all the crying and he felt empty inside.

"I was thinking…maybe you should try talking to her alone next time we engage against them." Cyborg whispered. "She won't hurt you. I'm sure of it."

Garfield frowned. "There's nothing I want more, trust me. I just…what will I even say to her?"

"Whatever is in your heart." The half-robot smiled encouragingly.

Red-X entered the ops room with Nightwing.

"So? Did you go inside?" Kid Flash asked X.

"Oh, I did. I went in and did business with them. Profitable business."

"Well? What's it like?" Terra asked eagerly.

"They're like, filthy rich. They have a bunch of alliances too. Definitely building an empire."

"Awesome." Conner stated sarcastically.

"Also, Raven looks hot." Red-X added. When Garfield glared daggers at him, he chuckled, putting his hands up in the air. "I'm not the one you need to worry about. Klarion was there."

The Changeling frowned. "Klarion? And he's not dead?"

X shook his head. "He pledged eternal allegiance. She was definitely interested."

Garfield narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

"I'm really not." Red-X chuckled. "I don't know what you did, but I think she's pissed at you."

The shapeshifter's heart dropped. There's no way she would get with Klarion. Is there?

"Any useful information?" Ravager raised an eyebrow at X. She really wanted to get Raven back. She was the one who turned her in the first place. Now it felt like they just switched places and the world was all wrong again.

"Not really. Oh! Raven's eyes are r-"

"Red. Yeah, we know." Nightwing sighed. "Is that it?"

"Basically. They're really comfortable in there."

A few days later, Batman called again to let them know the Sirens were in Gotham. So the Titans boarded the T-Jet and got there just in time to help him and Batgirl attempt to stop them from busting the Joker out of Arkham Asylum. The Sirens' small army had gotten bigger. Many of them were powerful villains and the others were heavily equipped with weaponry, so it really wasn't easy to get anywhere near the actual Sirens. But Ravager, Robin and Changeling managed to find their way through. Raven wasn't there, but the others were. Harley dropped a cuffed Joker on a chair before engaging in battle against Rose and Catwoman kept Damian busy. Garfield felt his insides being manipulated again. But this wasn't Raven.

"Hey there, sweet thing." An extremely seductive voice called behind him.

The Changeling felt an unbearably strong urge to turn around and follow that voice anywhere. He did turn. It was Poison Ivy. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that meant trouble, but he still couldn't move when she menacingly walked towards him.

"Give me a kiss, beastie." She whispered. "I'd like to see what all the fuss is about."

He was leaning in to kiss her already when the hold she had on him was completely replaced by a much stronger hold from someone else. He smelled lavender.

"Get away from her." Her familiar voice commanded.

Raven. He turned around desperately and his heart ached at the sight of her.

"Arthur, where do you think you're going?" Raven asked sensually.

The Joker had been escaping, but he unwillingly turned around and walked right back.

"Don't you want to please me, Arthur?" The empath said through a subtle, flirty smile. When he just nodded idiotically, she pushed him to Poison Ivy. "Instead of playing around, make sure he doesn't get away again, yes? I'll go fix that mess outside."

Raven turned around to leave, but Garfield desperately reached out and held her arm. She immediately phased through him.

"Wait! Please, wait!" The Changeling shouted as she began to teleport.

"For what?" Raven hissed.

The shapeshifter inhaled sharply. Okay, she stopped teleporting. Now what? He felt his eyes well up. "I know this is all my fault. Tell me how to fix it. Please, Rae. This isn't you. This is insane. What will it take for you to come home?"

"I told you it's my fault for letting you do this to me. You can't fix it. Don't call me Rae. This is me now. I don't care what your notion of sanity is. And Titan Tower isn't home anymore." Raven said coldly before teleporting out of there.

Garfield ran outside to see her smiling wickedly with her arms stretched out and eyes glowing bright red, making dozens of people do her bidding at once. It gave him chills and he chickened out of trying to talk to her again. But someone else didn't.

"Raven."

The empath stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of Richard's firm voice, just before she could leave through a portal. "Nightwing."

"Aren't you going to talk to me?"

"I miss you too, but that doesn't change anything."

"You manipulated our emotions." Dick said sternly. "You've been crossing a lot of lines. Where will this madness end?"

She inhaled deeply. "You're not my boss anymore, Nightwing."

He huffed loudly. "As if you ever thought of me that way. Am I not your friend?"

Raven exhaled and turned around. Richard's severe expression instantly softened when he saw how sad she looked.

The empath frowned, trying to keep her face deprived of vulnerability. She didn't really succeed, though. "Dick, trust me…this is the best version of me I can manage now."

"That…" Nightwing felt like he might choke up. "I believe you, but…"

"That makes us enemies, I know." She looked away. "You have to try to stop me. I understand."

Richard frowned. "Can't you just come home? Did he really do that much damage?"

She took a step back towards the portal and opened her mouth, but no sound came out for a few seconds until she found her voice again. "Tell Kor I miss her too."

And then Raven was gone.

"I think I might go to Jump City with you guys, if that's okay." Batgirl said. She really did want to go where the Sirens were, especially if they were getting out of hand.

"I think that's a good idea, Babs." Nightwing nodded, still staring at the now empty space where his friend had just been and disappeared again before his eyes.

The next morning, Garfield didn't go out for breakfast. He had barely eaten since she left, but he usually dragged himself out of bed. But his nightmares were getting worse and there was no Raven to put him to sleep. No Raven to heal his bruises. No Raven to ease his insecurities with reassuring words. No Raven to smile at him and make him feel amazing. No Raven to defend him when Dick was too hard on him. There was no Raven left because she was gone. She was gone because of him.

He'd tried sleeping in her room, but it made him feel even emptier inside, so he went back to his own room. But he felt particularly miserable this morning, because he'd dreamed about Raven under moonlight, asking him to have sex with her in the cutest possible way as if she didn't know it was all he wanted. He dreamed about her surprising him by kissing him to make him stop talking. And then he woke up to a sore body, a cold bed, and no Raven. He was afraid to go back to sleep, but he also didn't want to exist at the moment, so he stayed in bed. And then someone knocked on his door. Cyborg.

"Go away." Garfield mumbled, curling up into a ball and pulling his sheets closer to his body.

"C'mon man, I'm just bringing you tofu." Victor said softly.

"Not hungry."

"I also need to talk to you. It's important."

The Changeling grunted loudly. "Fine. Come in."

Cyborg stepped inside, shutting the door behind him and pulling up a chair to sit in front of his friend's bed. He put the breakfast tray down on his desk and frowned at the shapeshifter.

"What's this about?" Garfield asked miserably.

"You look awful." Victor said plainly. There were dark circles under his eyes and the half-robot could swear his hair was so sweaty it looked like he didn't shower after their battle last night.

"Jeez, thanks." The Changeling said sarcastically, pulling the sheets over his head.

"Did you talk to her?" Victor asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"And nothing. She hates me." Garfield squeezed his eyes shut to fight back tears, even though Cyborg couldn't see his face.

Victor sighed. "Dude, she doesn't hate you. She said she loved you, like, two weeks ago."

"So? Now she hates me. She probably took my stuff so she could burn it or something."

"Well, this isn't how you get her back. I mean, if that's still what you want."

The Changeling scowled. "I don't get her back at all, Vic." He removed the sheets from over his head and glared at his best friend. "Don't you get it? She said she will never forgive me. She never says anything she doesn't mean."

"Yeah, sure. She meant it in that moment, but things can change. You gotta man up, though."

In reality, Victor had no idea if his friend could ever get her back, but he needed to inspire some sort of different reaction out of him.

Garfield aggressively shook his head. "I…I was so happy, Vic."

"I know, man. I know. But listen, we need you. And she needs you."

"No one needs me." The shapeshifter covered his face again. "Go away."

Cyborg thought about saying something else, but he wasn't sure how to pull Garfield out of this particular funk. So he sighed, stood up and left him alone.

"Bruce?" Nightwing answered his phone later that day.

The Changeling had tried staying in his room all day crying over her, but Richard wouldn't let him miss training. Also, he wanted to thank Damian and Rose for not telling Dick about him almost kissing Poison Ivy. He sighed in relief when Nightwing answered his phone and stopped yelling animal names for him to change into at an insane speed.

"Dick? I think she did something."

Richard felt his blood run cold. Did she kill someone? He swallowed, put Batman on speaker and held Starfire's hand. "What did she do?"

"It's the Joker. He turned himself in. He's…well, he's not crazy anymore."

Dick and Kory exchanged a meaningful look while everyone else gasped loudly.

Nightwing cleared his throat. "Well, that's good, right?"

"In a way. He's definitely traumatized. Apparently he won't stop crying now."

Richard rolled his eyes. "Well, excuse me for not shedding a tear for him."

"No, Dick, you misunderstand me. The Joker isn't the problem. He won't be a problem again for a while. And you're right, that's a good thing. But…his mind was a sadistic mess. What did going inside it do to her?"

Nightwing closed his eyes. Right. Shit. "You have a point. I'll keep an eye on things. If she's still her, she'll take a few days off to cool down. If anything does happen, I'll let you know."

"Okay, but Dick, this is a bad sign…"

"I don't think so. Damian and I asked her to do that once. We thought it was a good idea…"

"Oh, I see." Bruce made a long pause. "You asked her to go inside the Joker'smind? And you thought it was a goodidea?"

Nightwing and Robin both flinched at Batman's stern voice and disapproving tone.

"Yeah…I thought she could handle it." Richard owned up to it. "I…I still do." He did his best to sound confident.

"Well…let's hope you're right." Bruce said before hanging up.

Raven frowned at the weird sensation of being transported against her will. She wasn't sure where she was and her vision was blurry, but she was on her knees, her heart was pounding in her chest and she had an awful feeling in her gut that she'd done something terrible. The sorcerer quickly realized whatever she was kneeling on was a rather irregular surface and looked down. And then she saw them.

Corpses. Dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of corpses. All dead and dismantled. She started panting and looked around in horror and then her heart stopped, because she recognized some of them. She saw Garfield first. Then Kory, Dick, Damian, Rose, Victor, Terra and all her friends. She saw the Justice League and the Sirens and some of the people she knew from walking around Jump City. She definitely saw the book store guy and the pizza place girl. Desperate tears rolled down her cheeks.

"W-what happened!?"

"It was you." A sinister voice echoed in the darkness.

That feeling in her gut. She felt sick and realized her hands were wet, so she glanced at them – they were covered in blood up to her elbows. And then she just knew. She knew she'd killed everyone. Raven looked down at herself and realized she was all covered in blood. Their blood. She examined the pile of dead bodies under her again in utter despair. And then her eyes turned completely black, the same way they had when she battled Eclipso. I killed them. She sobbed uncontrollably. NO I can't have killed them! I wouldn't! I didn't!

"You're a monster." The voice spoke again.

She felt herself being pulled out and transported. And then, to her relief, the bodies were gone. She wiped her tears and tried to figure out where she was. It looked like Jump City, but…darker. Suddenly, everyone was out on the streets, carrying stakes and fire and glaring furiously at her. She realized the book store guy and pizza girl were there, so she hadn't killed all those people, but she couldn't really relish in that because it looked like she wouldn't live much longer if she stayed here, so she tried to leave – only to find out her powers were gone. She couldn't teleport, fly, detach her soul, create a force-field, control shadows or move objects anymore. She couldn't do anything.

Raven desperately looked around for help and saw the Titans. Her heart instantly filled with relief when they approached her with kind smiles and the angry mob hesitated. Once they were close enough, however, Kory grabbed one of her arms and Dick grabbed the other. She frowned and struggled against them, but they just tightened their grip. She looked up to see their expressions had changed entirely. They seemed hostile now.

Garfield folded his arms and smiled wickedly at her. "Sorry, love. You gotta go."

They pulled her backwards and next thing she knew, there was a pile of wood under her feet. Wait, what!? Her breath caught in her throat when she felt her back hit a much bigger piece of wood. "No, wait! What are you doing!?"

Dick and Kory tied her wrists securely behind the large wooden pole, smiled evilly at her and walked back to the others. And then Garfield approached her with a torch. Raven squirmed and her eyes widened.

The shapeshifter laughed. "I love seeing you scared, you know?"

"Gar, what are you doing!?" She felt tears in her eyes.

He frowned, glanced at the torch and then back at her as if that was the dumbest question in the world. "Isn't it obvious?"

Raven felt her heart break in a million pieces. "N-no, that…I thought you loved me."

Garfield huffed. "Please, I was trying to make you stay good. As if anyone could ever really love you. You're a monster. You're not worthy of love."

Now she felt like he stepped on the pieces of her broken heart, crushing them. The tears began rolling down her cheeks. "No, stop. I sensed you. You loved me."

He laughed again. "You believe what you want to believe, I guess. Although fucking you was fun, I'll admit to that. But we all just tolerated you. Now that you're evil, you need to burn."

Raven cried openly and squirmed desperately. "This isn't funny! Stop it!"

His eyes reflected the fire and he smiled wickedly again as he brought the torch down.

"Please, Gar! Please STOP! DON'T! Please…" She sobbed. And then she hated herself for it, because if anyone else was doing this to her, she would be tough and proud and smug while she burned. But it wasn't anyone. It was them. And it was him.

The more she cried and begged, the wider he grinned, until he finally dropped the torch and went to stand with the others. As soon as her flesh began to burn, she screamed. And the pain only got worse, making her scream louder and cry harder. And then she heard cheering. And the smashed pieces of her heart burned along with her flesh.

Raven was transported against her will again. She was still sobbing when she realized she wasn't burning anymore. She was on her knees on the cold floor, hugging herself tightly. The empath opened her eyes and realized she was inside a church. Shit. She just stayed there and cried harder, because she couldn't really think of anything else to do.

"Welcome, dear." A smooth voice broke the silence.

The empath turned around at once. Lucifer Morningstar was smiling at her.

Fuck. Shit. It did happen. "I-I'm dead."

He snapped his fingers and the church was gone. Hellfire surrounded them. He lifted his hand, holding up a collar attached to a huge chain, and gave her a chilling grin. "Now, let's have some fun, shall we?"

Raven opened her eyes at the sound of her own deafening scream. She hastily looked around, panting and covered in sweat, and saw nothing but…snow. Snow was all she could see everywhere she looked. And then she realized she was freezing and rubbed her arms. The tears and the thin layer of sweat made her even colder and she felt so absurdly confused it took her a few seconds to think of using her powers. She tried teleporting, but she simply didn't have the energy. She conjured fire instead. It worked, but it went out fast. At least my powers are back.

"Oh, good. You're awake."

She turned around at the familiar voice. Klarion ran over to her and wrapped a blanket around her, teleporting them back to Siren Mansion. Raven shivered violently while he did his best to warm her by conjuring fire and hugging her over the blanket.

"Jeez, Klarion." Selina frowned. "Where did you take her? What are you trying to do, freeze her to death?"

"She doesn't want to kill anyone. I took her to the most desert place I could think of." The warlock explained himself. "I'm so sorry if that's not what you wanted, Raven."

The empath frowned. "I…what happened?"

"I'm guessing you had a nightmare." Poison Ivy said, pointing at the ceiling.

Raven looked up to see it was partially gone.

"This huge dark mass started attacking everything and exploding stuff. It wouldn't let us near you so we asked Klarion to wake you up, but nothing he did worked so he just teleported you somewhere else." Catwoman elaborated.

The sorcerer felt concern emanating from all of them. Even Ivy. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. It was a nightmare. I didn't kill anyone, no one burned me at the stake and I didn't go to Hell. It was all a bad dream. She used her magic to warm up faster and then opened her eyes and cleared her throat. "I'll fix the damage."

"Are you okay?" Harley Quinn asked, kneeling down to look at her with wide eyes.

Raven smiled slightly. "I'm okay, Quinnie. I think your ex's mind just took a toll on me."

Harley seemed genuinely sad for once. "Oh, shit…I'm sorry."

"Why? You didn't do this to me." I did this to me. The empath stood up slowly and turned to Klarion. "Thank you. You did right; I don't want to kill anyone."

The warlock was so relieved she almost smiled at him.

"You're not gonna go insane, are you?" Pamela raised an eyebrow at her. "Because we already have Harley for that."

The former Titan scoffed. "For Azar's sake, I just had a nightmare, okay? Give me a break." She went over to the bar and poured herself a drink. "How about a party tonight? That will show everyone we're fine."

Harley Quinn was already clapping and jumping up and down. Ivy couldn't help but roll her eyes fondly. Raven smirked.

"If you're sure you're fine…" Catwoman said worriedly.

"I said I am." Raven stated, taking a whole bottle of wine and heading upstairs to her room. "I just need to rest. See you tonight."

Time for Lucifer's crystal. She didn't tell any of them this existed for obvious reasons. Even if only her voice could activate it, all someone needed to do was enter her room when she was powerless and stop her from speaking. She was closer to the Sirens now, but she didn't trust them. To be fair, she couldn't really trust anyone right at the moment. Still, she would need this to get some safe rest, so she opened her closet and pulled a small box out.

Raven opened it and took the crystal in her hands, deactivating her powers. Then she glanced at the other contents of the box – a sketch book, a necklace and a picture. The empath inhaled and took the picture in her hands. It was their carnival ride picture. Her chest burned and her eyes filled with tears. He was clinging to her and she remembered exactly what it felt like. She remembered his warmth and his sweetness. It felt so distant now, but she remembered every detail. Then she remembered her nightmare and shivered. This was real. The nightmare wasn't real, this picture is. It's okay, Raven. You're okay. She took a giant sip of the bottle before pulling Michelangelo out of the closet and lying down, clutching it to her chest.

The former Titan felt much better when she went downstairs again. She fixed the damage to their new home and not too long after that, they were partying. Poison Ivy pulled her to the dancefloor and the sorcerer glared at her. "I'm still mad at you."

Pamela rolled her eyes. "Oh, c'mon. I wasn't going to kill him."

Raven narrowed her eyes. They hadn't talked about it, but she definitely hadn't forgotten Ivy tried to make Garfield kiss her.

The red-haired villain shrugged. "If you protect him too much, people will think you're weak."

The empath folded her arms and spoke firmly. "I'm not protecting him. I'm claiming him. If we catch him, he's mine. Got it?"

Poison Ivy seemed to understand that a lot better. "Yeah, obviously. I guess I stepped on your toes a bit. My bad."

"Just don't ever do it again." Raven said pointedly.

Pamela playfully put her hands up in the air. "Promise."

The sorcerer knew a promise from her didn't mean much, but it was better than nothing. She'd keep an eye on her. So Raven gave her new teammate a forgiving smile and turned around to glance at the bar, because she was picking up on longing from someone there. Harley. She walked to the bar stools and sat beside her. The blonde sighed heavily, obviously staring at Poison Ivy dancing with a whole bunch of guys around her.

"Just tell her you like her." The empath shrugged.

Harley gasped. "Who said I like her!?"

Raven rolled her eyes. "Empath. Remember?"

The blonde blushed and bit her lip. "Oh…don't tell her."

"I won't, but you should. Who knows? Maybe she likes you too." The sorcerer said nonchalantly, having another drink.

Harley Quinn was a bit crazy, but she certainly wasn't dumb – she understood that hint. So she excitedly got up and ran towards her friend. They danced together in a rather sensual way for a while until eventually they kissed in drunken euphoria. Raven smiled slightly and sensed someone else approach her.

"Hi, Klarion."

"Hey…"

She spun on her seat to face him. Her heart was still aching so badly from seeing that picture. Raven folded her arms and stared at him intently, smirking when he got nervous.

"…what?" Klarion asked, looking around for the source of her amusement.

"Nothing."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You know, I'm usually a lot cooler than when I'm around you."

"I actually believe you."

The warlock chuckled slightly and then looked down. "I'm sorry about the, uh…the way I handled my feelings for you."

"You mean going to Lucifer Morningstar for a way to make me powerless so you could get my attention? Yeah. Not your greatest moment."

His face distorted in regret. She knew he only regretted it because it didn't work, but she wasn't in love with him, she didn't need his feelings to be pure. She just needed a distraction.

"Yeah, that…I really ruined my chances, huh?" The Witch Boy said awkwardly.

"Oh, I don't know. I've been having quite a few changes of heart lately."

She sensed excitement building up in him. An eager smile found its way to his lips.

"Give me a chance, Raven. I mean, we just make somuch sense."

The empath smiled seductively, stood up and began strutting away. "Come dance with me and I'll think about it."

Raven was glad all that going inside the Joker's mind seemed to have done was mess up her dreams, but she soon found out she would need that crystal for a while, because she had that same nightmare every night. And every night she woke up screaming, panting, sweating and crying and every morning she felt a little more unhinged. So every night she went to sleep completely powerless. No one knew about it and no one dared to go inside her room, but it still made her feel like shit, which made her curse her existence altogether, which made her remember she could be free by now. And then her heart broke all over again.

Consequences (Camila Cabello)