sylph_fics (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sylph_fics) wrote2006-09-17 11:31 am
sylph_fics) wrote2006-09-17 11:31 am
A Darker Path fic: Shared Grief
All previous parts of the "A Darker Path"-verse can be found here. It was getting to be kind of a long list.
Here's the newest part.
Title: Shared Grief
Characters: Ensemble cast, hero-side
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: I made Filly cry. Again.
Disclaimer: I wish these guys were mine, they'd be treated better than DC does. But they're not, DC still owns them.
Summary: "Calling all Titans, this is Cyborg. All members, come home as soon as you can."
Notes:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hockeyiris reassured me through the end of this, for which she should have many, many thanks.
11:03 am PT
Robin made it back into the Tower before Gar and Vic moved, and settled on the arm of the couch next to them, watching Vic stroke Gar's fur with his real hand, not looking as though he felt it at all, his true eye reflecting pain so deep that Tim honestly didn't know how to respond. He... wasn't good at comforting people. "Vic," he tried softly, then again, "Vic... Cyborg!"
The snap of his codename brought Vic's head around. "Yes, Robin?"
"We've got to tell Raven. And then we've got to put out an all-call. They can't sit on the press much longer, Vic."
"You're right... Man. I hadn't seen some of the old Titans in years, before..." He trailed off, shaking his head at the revelation during the battle with Light. "and now, seeing everyone again this quickly? It's..."
"Weird, yes. You put out the call, I'll work on food, supplies, and getting all of the rooms open--there are going to be some of us that don't want to leave again, once they know. I'll be happier if most of us are somewhere safe--this can't be over."
"Damned right it's not over," Vic snapped, his rage at this coming out.
Robin nodded once, completely agreeing, and Vic slowly pulled himself under control again. He took a few breaths, then sat up straight "Raven first, though. Gar, let's go." The cat leapt off his lap and shifted human, tears in his eyes. "She's gonna take this so hard..."
"I know, Gar," Vic said softly, and stood up, preparing to head for the stairs--and Raven walked into the room, shuddering slightly. //Probably at the emotional overload,// Robin noted.
"What did Batman say, Vic? What's going on?" That voice didn't belong to the girlish body she inhabited, Robin knew well. That was the woman who'd fought Trigon for her soul three times, the one that had been a Titan since he was still in grade school stalking Dick from the shadows.
"Sit down, Raven."
Her violet eyes narrowed, then she shrugged a shoulder beneath the cape and walked over to sit down at the other end of the couch. "Tell me."
"He came to tell us... That..." his voice shook slightly, "That we've lost Kory, Raven."
For a moment, the empath was completely still, staring at him with nothing but shock in her eyes. "No." That level of flat denial, from someone who could feel their grief, bothered Robin.
"Rae..." Vic began, hands coming up to reach out towards her, and the stillness broke, her hands coming up to ward him off as her eyes dropped closed and black power surged up around her again, power with intent, focused desperate looking power that caught them up in it… and long, long moments passed before her hands dropped, shaking, into her lap as the power dropped them, dropped away. "no."
Her voice was so small.
"No."
//Oh, god...// she was getting louder.
"NOO!!" This time, her voice was a scream, and it ripped out of her throat with all the power of an empath's grief--grief that slammed through him, ripped open the hard-built walls around his own grief and pain and terror and everything came out again. He felt himself falling from the arm of the couch--twisted just enough to not crack his skull open--and his knees hit his chest as her agony ripped through him like pure unadulterated power. //DadStephDICKohgoddad.no,Steph,no...Bro, whereareyou?!//
"Ko~reey!" That second scream felt like it went on forever and his shoulders were shaking with sobs as everything about Steph, and Dad, and Dick got wrapped up in the agony of Raven's desperate grief... Caught up in shared pain, he barely noticed Vic's eyes streaming tears, the way Gar had dropped to the floor and curled tight in on himself... he didn't even notice his own sobs.
"Raven stop!" Vic's voice, thick and choked with pain and begging--and the power cut off like a lightswitch had been flipped. He lay there shaking, watching the scene on the couch while he tried to remember how to do something that wasn't grieve. Like, breathe. And move. Those would both be good. He looked horribly undignified, he just knew it--and the harsh, soft noises in the air were his, he realized, and tried to stop them.
"Oh. Oh, no. I... I am so sorry... Tim, Gar, are you--"
"I'm okay Rae..." from Gar as he pushed up off the floor, wiping at his face, shaking as he got back up onto the couch and pressed against Vic's side, reaching out for her hand to pull her in as her shoulders started to shake. She shook her head, biting at her lips, arms wrapping tight around herself. "Tim?"
He pushed himself up to a kneeling position on the floor, and rested his elbows on the arm of the couch, waving one hand at her in 'I'm fine', even though he absolutely wasn't. He needed an hour alone to meditate, then he'd be fine. He swallowed hard, wiping at his face, trying to yank up at least a few of his shattered walls. "I'm... all right. It's okay." Just one of the risks of the job, at least she hadn't grown extra eyes or changed skin (or costume) colors. Those were the bad signs, with Raven. One psionic scream hardly counted. He took a breath, and another, attempting a centering exercise as he did, trying to pull himself under control.
She nodded slowly. "Tell me the rest, Victor."
"It's... not just Kory. It's the whole Outsiders team--except Roy. He's missing, so's his kid, and we still don't know where Dick is."
"The entire... who could do such a thing?"
"Multiple... attackers, Raven," Robin answered, barely beginning to feel as though he had a chance of getting his walls back up, the ripped-open wounds screaming for the attention he had no time to give them. He had plans to make, family to guard, things to see to... the wounds didn't matter. He knew what Dick would be doing, in this situation--pulling it together, pulling them together--and while he wasn't that bright, cheerful Robin, would never have Nightwing's casual grace... he had a legacy to live up to. "Only way."
Beast Boy flicked a glance backwards over his shoulder, then nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Gotta be."
Raven nodded once, hands slowly uncurling to flatten against her thighs. "What do we need to do?"
"Call in every last Titan, now and ever," Vic replied. "We lost a sister, everyone deserves better than to hear it on the news... and then I have to go to New York."
"I'm going with you," Gar insisted, jaw set stubbornly. "You're not doing that on your own." Vic looked annoyed for a moment, then just nodded.
"Why do---oh," the realization dawned on Raven a heartbeat later, and she swallowed hard again. "Gar's right. Don't go alone." She waited for his nod, then continued. "That leaves Robin and me with settling everyone in--"
Tim winced. That was the last thing he wanted to be doing, but Robin knew Raven was right, and nodded. "Already mentioned that, Raven," he nodded, still struggling. "We can handle it."
Vic shifted. "I... have to go make the call, guys. I'll be back." He got to his feet, the struggle for composure obvious on his face, and headed towards their comm. room, walking slowly.
"I'm going to my room," Raven told them. "I need to meditate, and then I'm going to try to find Dick and Roy. I was giving Dick his space, but enough is enough. We need him home."
Robin fought down that helpless urge to nod, struggling against the tears that still wanted to fall.
*~*~*~*
Vic leaned against the computer, fighting the useless, helpless urge to cry that Raven's scream had ripped open--it wouldn't do any good, he had to keep it together. He was the active team lead, one of the oldest Titans still earth-side, this was his job now... //Dick, damn it. Come home.//
He toggled open a recorder, talking a first draft, and replayed it. After listening, he shook his head and started over, repeating the all-call and the announcement, trying another phrasing, one that worked no better. Warning the Titans not to turn on the news? Like waving red flags at bulls. Best to just leave that be. Finally, he had one he thought would work, one that didn't sound like his voice was shaking, and he triggered the send.
To every last Titan's communicator went the same message, tagged with the buzzing signal of a priority message, but not the shrill scream of the emergency code. "Calling all Titans, calling all Titans, this is Cyborg. Cold Call, Cold Call, all members, all members. There is no immediate threat, don't risk identities, just come home as soon as you can. Flyers, come heavy." Old codes, legacies of Robin's obsessive planning, trained into every last team in the case of just this emergency.
*~*~*~*
Across the world, hands of teenagers and twenty-somethings suddenly dove into pockets, purses, backpacks and dresser drawers, some waking from sleep to grab for them with dazed expressions. As they listened, awake or mostly-asleep or somewhere in between, faces went bewildered, then hardened, at the sound of Cyborg's voice under that sort of stress. Cell phone calls and radio waves and instant message windows were flying within moments, teams linking up, plotting where and how to meet, double-checking rendezvous points, and going into motion, everyone suddenly afraid despite the lack of the full emergency signal. Professional men and women slipped away from desks and clocked out of jobs, heading for roofs and alleys and their homes, everything else left behind.
Sitting at a desk in St. Elias, Cassie Sandsmark fidgeted uneasily, chewing at her lip, hearing the soft buzz from her bag--//it's Tuesday, what in Zeus's name?//--and being absolutely unable to answer it.
Kid Flash skidded to a stop in the middle of a Pennsylvania field and brought his comm. to his mouth without ever bothering to listen to the message. "Cyborg, Kid Flash. I'm in the middle of finding the JSA reservists, 'cause I know what you're calling about. I can't come in 'til I'm done."
"KF. You already..."
"Yeah. I do."
"Cyborg out."
He pocketed the communicator again, running the list of people he still had to find through his head. He'd left Jesse and Grant for last, and still had a couple people to go before he could get to them. At least now he wouldn't have to tell them, they'd think he was there because of Vic, he could let Vic do it... He shook his head and took off, running to the rest of his list.
In Smallville, Jonathan Kent looked at the ceiling as something started to buzz, and buzz, and buzz, and went to go get it, staring at the object in his hands curiously. It was unusual for the Titans to try to call Conner on a weekday, but he wished the boy had taken it with him. Maybe it would be the trigger he needed to remember who he could be.
*~*~*~*
Cyborg hung up the phone, having called the last of those that had hung up their capes, and he pressed a hand to his eyes. Leaving carefully worded messages on answering machines had taken almost the last shreds of his control. Soft footsteps caught his attention, and he turned to find Gar standing in the doorway.
"We'd better go, you know. Before Titans start getting here, or we'll never make it out." His best friend's voice wasn't quite steady, and he could see the blazing grief naked in his eyes--but there was too much to do before they could let themselves grieve. They were eldest, now--until Tempest could surface and if Karen and Mal didn't come back--and the kids were going to need them.
"I hate to leave Raven and Robin--" He really did, especially after having seen Tim struggling so hard to hold himself together after Raven's mental scream.
"They'll manage, Vic, and you've got to be there for Kory... let's go."
He sighed, nodded, and headed for the hangar, Gar walking--//not bounding or flying or anything else, just... walking//--at his side. "Raven, Robin, we're gone," he said through the Tower's communications system, and Robin answered.
"Fly safe."
That was really all there was to say, and he ignited the engines and took off.
*~*~*~*
He'd gotten only very basic walls back in place, but with the call already out, he didn't have the time to spend in meditation, Robin knew. He called a restaurant in the City, talking to first the receptionist, then the owner--who broke some startling news to him, namely, that a scream had been heard throughout the city, nearly paralyzing the town for several minutes as people attempted to recover. He bit his tongue on the apology--at least they didn't realize it was Raven--and double-talked his way around explaining why he wanted to put them on retainer for serving up to roughly twenty people for the next two days, with an option for later. He got what he wanted after a few minutes of verbal judo, and hung up with a soft sigh of relief. None of them were going to be capable of cooking to feed everyone, and it was just easier to get it delivered. They had enough options that everyone ought to be fine with the selection, and if not they could always fly into the city and eat on the--//NO! Not on their own, not now, not again. No one goes anywhere alone. Not until we know who did this, and why.//
The realization floored him for a moment, and he scrawled it down to plaster to a monitor where Cyborg would see it as soon as he got back. Better that kind of a decree came from someone higher in the Titans hierarchy than him--and his comm. buzzed.
"Robin."
"Robin, it's Mia," her voice was shaking, and his mild annoyance over the breach in protocol didn't last past her first words. "Is... is the all-call about the Outsiders?"
"Yes." //Of course. Green Arrow's already told her.//
"Okay. Then I already know, and I'm not coming in. I've gotta stay with GA..." he heard a soft sniffle, and the sound of a hand brushing hard across skin, and nodded despite that she couldn't see.
"Sure, Speedy. They need you there more than we need you here. I'll mark it down. Thanks for calling in." With much as he wanted to be in Gotham right now, at Bruce's side, it was impossible not to completely understand where his newest teammate was coming from.
"Of course... I--I've gotta go, Robin." Her voice shook again, and he bit hard at his lip.
"Robin out," was all he said, not a tenth of what he wished he could say, and he flicked the comm. off, shaking his head as he made that note and put it into the computers.
His comm. went off again, "Robin."
"Robin? It's Wonder Girl. I got out of class for a sec, what's going on?"
"Just get out here, Cassie. If you can get her to come, bring Cissie." Leaving his own needs aside, Cissie was one of the only people that was going to be able to keep Cassie herself calm when she found out. //Kon, damnit, pick up the freaking comm. Stop this bullshit and come back home,I we need you!//
"It's bad, isn't it?"
"Cassie, come in." He ordered, feeling Robin's ice-cold walls drop around him at her pushing, and oh, he welcomed it, welcomed the detachment from everything he had no time to deal with.
"We'll be there," Zeus's daughter promised, fear and uncertainty all through her voice.
"Robin out." //Good.//
A thought flickered through his mind about them all being there, about the need everyone was going to have to do something, and he tagged it for later. The rooms all needed thrown open, but since no one was going to go straight down--he hoped--they had a little time for that. He pulled up inventories, checking through what the sudden influx of the full roster was going to do to their supplies--and the monitor bank that continually scanned the news flashed to life, displaying the brilliant colors of a 'breaking news' cut-in, and his hands clenched hard as the colors changed to live footage of New York, of the street-corner at Outsiders HQ, a reporter standing there mic in hand, pointing backwards at the building itself--//oh. No. Not yet, not before people have had time to get on the move, oh, no, No.//
He shut it off, not wanting to hear some witless reporter babble--and the monitors noted the approach of a flyer. Red Star... with Pantha and Baby Wildebeest. He set the 'switchboard' to forward everything to his comm. and headed for the roof, getting there just as Leonid touched down.
"Robin… what has happened?" It was Red Star that asked, while Pantha looked around, her feline eyes and ears picking up every detail, holding the somewhat matured Baby close.
"It's bad, Leonid, Pantha." His comm. chimed again, and Argent's shaken voice came out of it. "Someone come get me."
"Argent? Robin. I'll see if Red Star will come."
"Da. I will go."
Pantha glared at him, and he shrugged a shoulder in response.
"Argent, here, tell him where you are." He handed the comm. to Leonid, who listened for a few moments, nodded, and handed it back to take off.
Pantha glared at him, now, deprived of Leonid to vent her annoyance on. "So, what made metalhead call us all in?"
"Pantha, can you--"
He was interrupted--thankfully--by the approach of another flyer in blue and white, //CM3. That was fast.// The teen with Solomon's wisdom touched down not far from them, his blue eyes troubled. "Robin? What's happened?"
"That's what I want to know, Cap," Pantha snapped, tail lashing, and Baby Wildebeest rumbled unhappily.
"Guys... could you hang on to the questions until some more of us get here. It's bad."
"If you're avoiding answering, it's got to be, but damn it, kid..." she glared at him over Baby's head, and he heard the door behind them ease open. "Robin, I can't--Marvel Jr. Pantha. Baby. Welcome to the new Tower."
//She didn't find them,// he realized, and it hit him hard.
"Raven," Marvel Jr. said with a nod. "Robin's delaying, what's happened?"
"He's right to," she answered. "I don't want to do this a dozen times. Come downstairs. Once everyone's here, I will tell you all."
"Raven, are you going to be able to handle--" //that kind of intensity of emotion?//
"I'll be fine, Robin."
Pantha frowned, but nodded once. "All right, Raven. Where's Cyborg, though? He called us in."
"On his way east, with Beast Boy."
"Raven. Speedy's not coming, she's staying with the Arrows. Cassie called in, she's on her way, and Red Star went to get Argent." He saw Raven nod from the corner of his eye as she led the three heroes downstairs, staying on the roof. Someone had to be there.
He spotted another pair coming in out over the ocean, and strained to see who they were. He finally made them out, Hero and Bushido, Hero flying them in. The two dropped onto the roof, Bushido's eyes finding his. "Robin."
"Bushido, Hero. Raven's gathering people downstairs, head for the main lobby and hang a right."
"Robin, why the all-call?" Hero asked, dark eyes uneasy, looking around. "I don't see anything, haven't heard--"
"Raven's going to tell everyone, Hero, just hang on. It shouldn't take much longer."
"All right." The two headed down... and Cassie, carrying Cissie in her arms, swooped down and onto the roof. "Robin, what's--"
"Cassie, please. Raven's gathering people down in the lobby, let's just do this once. Good to see you, Cissie."
"I am going to be in so much trouble, you know," the archer told him, frost in her voice. "Classes weren't out yet."
"Sorry, Cissie. But... you'll understand. I'm staying up here, head on down."
The two blondes gave him a look that promised nothing good later, and he shrugged, seeing Leonid coming back, the silver streak that was Argent held against his side. Cassie looked over her shoulder, and waited for them to touch down, greetings and introductions passing between them as they headed downstairs at his urging.
A portal opened not two feet in front of him, and Bumblebee, Flamebird, and Herald walked out. Karen spoke first, "Robin, what on earth is going on?"
"Raven's assembling everyone in the main room, Bumblebee, if you could all head that way."
The displeased look on the faces of the older Titans made his jaw set harder and his spine stiffen, but he asked nicely. "Please."
She nodded once, and urged the rest of her group down the stairs into the Tower.
His comm. chimed again, and he lifted it to his lips, triggering a female voice. "Titans, it's Mirage."
"Mirage, Robin."
"Robin... I just heard, but Juli's sick, I can't..."
He winced, "That's why Cyborg called, so that no one would have to--"
"Ah. I understand. I... may be there soon, if there's space for a mother and child?"
"No one's going to turn you away, Mirage."
"Thank you, Robin."
He saw the blue and white and red duo of Hawk and Dove flying in just in time to not be surprised when they dropped. "Robin--"
"Raven's downstairs with almost everyone. In the main lobby. We're only doing this once."
His comm. chimed as the personifications of Order and Chaos gave him oddly identical nasty looks, then headed down as he lifted it to his lips yet again. "Robin."
"Robin, it's Joto, I just got out of a test. There's something all over the news--"
"Yes. That's what the all-call's about. Do you need a lift in?"
"It would be appreciated, yes."
"I'll find out where Kid Flash is and send him your way. It may be a few."
"All right."
//They're coming from everywhere,// he thought, the idea bringing a small smile to his lips. They were family, after all. He manipulated the comm., calling for Kid Flash.
"Yo, Rob. I'm on my way in with Jesse Quick and Damage."
"All right. You're going to need to swing back and pick up Joto, almost everyone else is here."
"Can do. Is K--" the sudden surge of that hope was like a knife, especially when he had to answer.
"No."
"Damnit," he didn't think Bart had intended him to hear that whisper, so he ignored it. "Robin out."
A few minutes later a wake splashed up across the Bay and Bart ran up onto the land, setting Jesse and Grant gently on their feet, then he spun, waved up at the roof, and took off again, streak of yellow movement that disappeared out through the city again.
He ran the roster through his head, thinking about who might still come--shoved down thoughts of red and blue and black with all the savagery they deserved--and decided to head downstairs. It wouldn't take Bart long to make the trip out and back one last time, and anyone not here now was either dead, missing, or tangentially connected to them at best. //Is it really only eleven-thirty?// So much had happened that it felt far later, and he stared up at the sun, hanging lazily at the midpoint of the sky in disbelief for long moments, shaking his head.
He walked down into the main room and found a spot against the wall, nodding at the group of heroes milling around, watching Raven watch all of them. Argent was collapsed on one of the couches, CM3 standing protectively next to her. Cassie walked over to him, her eyes snapping blue fire, lasso swinging at her hip, followed by Cissie, Hawk, and Dove. "Robin, would you--"
"Raven's got reason, Cassie, okay?"
"No, it's not--"
Yellow-and-black streak of movement resolved into Kid Flash and Joto, and he could see Raven running a mental list. As Joto walked over to Argent and CM3, she took a deep breath and walked out into the center of the room.
*~*~*~*
Raven had welcomed each hero down, being amused by the ones that were disturbed by her new, younger self, and gently encouraged patience as more and more of them arrived... and then the groups that formed, and where they formed, started to pull at her heart. The tight group of Hero, Bushido, Mal, Karen, and Bette, the equally tight knot a bit away from them of Pantha and Baby and Leonid, the duo of Argent and Marvel Jr... Hawk and Dove and Cassie and... //Arrowette? Well done, Robin// on the other side of the room, close together in a worried knot of teenaged emotions, the way that Jesse and Damage walked in and went straight to Argent and CM3, and Joto finally followed them, Bart going straight to the girls and Robin... They'd linked up into the old groups, as if by instinct, and they were scattered around the edges of the room, leaving the center open, echoing...
...waiting for their missing ones, their lost, she realized why that space existed with a jolt of almost physical pain. Dick and Roy and Donna and Kory. Garth should be on his way, but it was a very long swim from his current home to San Francisco... but he was the only one left to come with Wally in space. The only original, one of the few of the second team, who could still come to them, and her hands shook under the cape as she stepped up into that echoing emptiness.
"A few of you already know," every head snapped to her, every set of eyes locked on her, "but most of you don't. Batman brought Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin and I the news that the Outsiders are gone. Nightwing and Arsenal are missing, but Kory, Jenny, Shift, Thunder and Grace are dead. Executed. Vic went to give the official confirmation that it's her body."
Three full heartbeats of silence, of shocked disbelief to great to contain, and it was Bette that broke the silence first. "Raven, no... that can't be..." weak, useless protest that everyone understood.
"It is," Jesse and Argent said almost as one. "It hit the news at quarter after..." Argent continued, her eyes still numb with the shock. "That's why Red Star had to bring me in, I couldn't fly..."
"No, no..." that was Cassie, and the shock was giving way to grief in all of them, pain and rage boiling up, surging against her hard-built protections, making her tremble with the strength of it, arms wrapping around herself as one by one, the full magnitude of what she'd said sank in. Karen buried her face against Mal's chest, Bette nearly fell and was caught by a stricken Bushido, Captain Marvel Jr made a soft, wounded noise as Jesse pressed her face against his shoulder and Damage wrapped his arms around Argent. He mouthed something, but she didn't hear it, not over the sound of Cassie starting to weep, Pantha's howl of rage and the shrieking that started from the Baby, who Leonid started trying desperately to calm.
"Who?" Herald's voice echoed through the room.
She shook her head, spreading her hands helplessly. "We don't know."
"Not who, why?" Bushido growled from where he was supporting Bette, and she felt Robin's agreement from where he stood with his hand on Cassie's back as she sobbed against Bart's shoulder.
"And who's next?" Pantha growled, her eyes blazing with rage. "Might be any of us, if they could take her down and vanish with the guys, with Nightwing.... This doesn't feel right, not with everything else that's going on."
There was just too much, too many emotions at the flashover point, too many of them ripped between grief and rage... Raven shuddered again, and flung herself out of the room, up into her room and the safety of her shields--someone else could be strong for a little while.
*~*~*~*
It was Mal and Karen that stepped into the gap, that started trying to comfort people, splitting up to move through them despite the tears that streaked their own faces, attempting to pull them back together, away from the brink. Food arrived and Robin and Damage went to bring it in, and Bart managed to coax people into eating, just to give them something to do as the numbness and fear and grief hit and receded in agonizing waves.
*~*~*~*
3:20 pm CST/1:20 pm PT
Conner Kent walked up the driveway from school, backpack slung over a shoulder--and he froze at the sight of Aunt and Uncle standing on the porch, waiting. It took everything he had not to start running, and his pace still picked up rapidly until he reached them. "Aunt Martha? Uncle Jon?"
"Conner, come in and sit down," Jon ordered, and Kon did as he was told, walking into the living room with this sick, numb fear building in his chest. He dropped into a chair--and heard the incessant hum of a priority comm. message. "That thing has been buzzing for the last four hours, and something came over the news that you need to know about."
"I'm not a Titan anymore, Uncle Jon, not after--"
"Hush. The reporters on the television are saying that something happened to one of the superhero teams.. the Outsiders. Now, that name doesn't mean much to me, but one of them did. Starfire. They're saying she's dead."
//NO!// Images of Kory poured through his mind, golden skin and blazing hair and super-model-gorgeous body and strength and yelling at him about Krypto and her damned flowers and her grace in the air during a game of tag and... His head dropped into his hands, close-cropped fuzz against the tips of his fingers as he shook. The images wouldn't stop, memories of her frank honesty and open delight and that she didn't get pop culture either or why anyone would really want to, how she could make anything look like sex and never, ever did it on purpose, and would be embarrassed if you told her..."H--how?" What could possibly have taken Kory down?
"Some kind of attack, son. They were kind of vague, I guess they have to be..."
Shock and grief morphed into hot rage, and he felt the burning in the back of his eyes, making him squeeze them shut tightly, hands clenching. "I..."
"Hadn't you better see what your friends have to say?" Aunt Martha asked, holding out the comm...
"I... yeah. I had," he agreed, and turned it on, lifting it close to his mouth. Cyborg's voice, tight with emotion and still so controlled snapped the last thread of his disbelief, making his eyes blaze all over again. "Oh, no. No... Cassie's gotta be such a wreck, and Vic and Gar..."
Suddenly, for the first time in a month, he wanted to be at the Tower, wanted it so badly he could taste it. //But they won't wan--Shut. Up.// He hadn't heard that part of himself since the moment Luthor's voice came across a set of computer speakers. //That's Kory we lost. That's your friend--she deserves better from you than moping here while everyone else is at the Tower hurting, so get off your ass and get it in gear!//
As if reading his mind, Aunt Martha said, "Then you'd better go, hadn't you?"
"I... Aunt Martha, I--"
"Your friends are hurting, Conner, they need you."
He bit at his lip, hard enough to make it bleed, and walked up the stairs. He knelt in front of the dresser and pull out an undamaged version of his costume, holding the pile of denim and fabric on his knees, staring at it, touching the 'S' that had been his whole life as if it would burn him. //I... who am I? Am I just Conner, or...//
The comm still in his hand was warm, the 'T' glowing faintly with the scores of other calls he'd ignored, and he heard Starfire's laughter in his mind as he tagged her and dodged away...
*~*~*~*
1: 45 PM PT
Robin walked out the door of the Tower, intending to go spend a little time anywhere but Starfire's garden--and a long shadow fell across him, from off to the side.
"Wonder Boy..." the words were soft, uncertain, and he spun to stare at Kon, who was hovering about a foot off the ground, one foot drawn up as if he wasn't sure he could touch down or not. He struggled to keep his face blanked--and knew he was failing miserably. He hadn't realized how much the weekends with his best friend meant to him until they were suddenly gone. "Kon?!"
Absolutely pathetic lack of control.
The look on Kon's face was definitely worth later consideration, the mix of guilt and worry and pain and relief... "It's Star, Rob. Where else could I be... I mean, that is, if I--"
"Oh shut UP! You're a Titan. This is where you belong." //Not being stupid in that damned town, not with everything going to hell...// He reached for Kon's hand, locking his around it hard, "Titans together, Kon. We promised. I didn't forget." //Don't you dare leave me too.//
He managed to keep the wince off his face as Kon squeezed his hand tightly, then slowly let go. "I... shouldn't have. I sure hope the others thin--" Whatever it was that Kon had been going to say, it was cut off as a yellow blur slammed into him, knocked him to the ground and hugged him hard, yelling, "KON! Konyou'reokayyou'reback!"
//Thank you, Bart,// Tim thought to himself as Bart's shriek brought Cassie running too, the Amazon girl pulling them both to their feet so she could hug Kon hard, holding him savagely tight. "Don't you ever leave us again," she hissed at him, smacking him across the back of the head, then pulled him close again. "Not because of some stupid thing that's not your fault. So stupid, Kon."
"I, Cassie I--"
"Shut up, Kon."
Kon mimed zipping his lips, blue eyes still uneasy--and Raven walked out the door. "Superboy. You heard?"
"I heard, Raven, and I'm here." Tim wondered if he was the only one that heard the quiver in Kon's voice, the thread of 'I'm not sure I belong, though...'
"Good. Welcome home." That seemed to be all the empath had to say as she turned to go back inside. "Your room's still a mess. Have fun with that."
Kon winced, Bart's lips quirked up as if he was trying to laugh, and Cassie smiled, while Tim felt one of the walls around his heart shift as the security of having Kon at his back again registered.
Too many of them were missing, too many more were gone... but they were the Titans. The survivors, and as Cissie ran out of the Tower in her simple jeans and T-shirt to join the pile of people hugging and yelling at Kon, he prayed desperately that his brother was alive out there, that they could bring him home.
Here's the newest part.
Title: Shared Grief
Characters: Ensemble cast, hero-side
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: I made Filly cry. Again.
Disclaimer: I wish these guys were mine, they'd be treated better than DC does. But they're not, DC still owns them.
Summary: "Calling all Titans, this is Cyborg. All members, come home as soon as you can."
Notes:
hockeyiris reassured me through the end of this, for which she should have many, many thanks. 11:03 am PT
Robin made it back into the Tower before Gar and Vic moved, and settled on the arm of the couch next to them, watching Vic stroke Gar's fur with his real hand, not looking as though he felt it at all, his true eye reflecting pain so deep that Tim honestly didn't know how to respond. He... wasn't good at comforting people. "Vic," he tried softly, then again, "Vic... Cyborg!"
The snap of his codename brought Vic's head around. "Yes, Robin?"
"We've got to tell Raven. And then we've got to put out an all-call. They can't sit on the press much longer, Vic."
"You're right... Man. I hadn't seen some of the old Titans in years, before..." He trailed off, shaking his head at the revelation during the battle with Light. "and now, seeing everyone again this quickly? It's..."
"Weird, yes. You put out the call, I'll work on food, supplies, and getting all of the rooms open--there are going to be some of us that don't want to leave again, once they know. I'll be happier if most of us are somewhere safe--this can't be over."
"Damned right it's not over," Vic snapped, his rage at this coming out.
Robin nodded once, completely agreeing, and Vic slowly pulled himself under control again. He took a few breaths, then sat up straight "Raven first, though. Gar, let's go." The cat leapt off his lap and shifted human, tears in his eyes. "She's gonna take this so hard..."
"I know, Gar," Vic said softly, and stood up, preparing to head for the stairs--and Raven walked into the room, shuddering slightly. //Probably at the emotional overload,// Robin noted.
"What did Batman say, Vic? What's going on?" That voice didn't belong to the girlish body she inhabited, Robin knew well. That was the woman who'd fought Trigon for her soul three times, the one that had been a Titan since he was still in grade school stalking Dick from the shadows.
"Sit down, Raven."
Her violet eyes narrowed, then she shrugged a shoulder beneath the cape and walked over to sit down at the other end of the couch. "Tell me."
"He came to tell us... That..." his voice shook slightly, "That we've lost Kory, Raven."
For a moment, the empath was completely still, staring at him with nothing but shock in her eyes. "No." That level of flat denial, from someone who could feel their grief, bothered Robin.
"Rae..." Vic began, hands coming up to reach out towards her, and the stillness broke, her hands coming up to ward him off as her eyes dropped closed and black power surged up around her again, power with intent, focused desperate looking power that caught them up in it… and long, long moments passed before her hands dropped, shaking, into her lap as the power dropped them, dropped away. "no."
Her voice was so small.
"No."
//Oh, god...// she was getting louder.
"NOO!!" This time, her voice was a scream, and it ripped out of her throat with all the power of an empath's grief--grief that slammed through him, ripped open the hard-built walls around his own grief and pain and terror and everything came out again. He felt himself falling from the arm of the couch--twisted just enough to not crack his skull open--and his knees hit his chest as her agony ripped through him like pure unadulterated power. //DadStephDICKohgoddad.no,Steph,no...Bro, whereareyou?!//
"Ko~reey!" That second scream felt like it went on forever and his shoulders were shaking with sobs as everything about Steph, and Dad, and Dick got wrapped up in the agony of Raven's desperate grief... Caught up in shared pain, he barely noticed Vic's eyes streaming tears, the way Gar had dropped to the floor and curled tight in on himself... he didn't even notice his own sobs.
"Raven stop!" Vic's voice, thick and choked with pain and begging--and the power cut off like a lightswitch had been flipped. He lay there shaking, watching the scene on the couch while he tried to remember how to do something that wasn't grieve. Like, breathe. And move. Those would both be good. He looked horribly undignified, he just knew it--and the harsh, soft noises in the air were his, he realized, and tried to stop them.
"Oh. Oh, no. I... I am so sorry... Tim, Gar, are you--"
"I'm okay Rae..." from Gar as he pushed up off the floor, wiping at his face, shaking as he got back up onto the couch and pressed against Vic's side, reaching out for her hand to pull her in as her shoulders started to shake. She shook her head, biting at her lips, arms wrapping tight around herself. "Tim?"
He pushed himself up to a kneeling position on the floor, and rested his elbows on the arm of the couch, waving one hand at her in 'I'm fine', even though he absolutely wasn't. He needed an hour alone to meditate, then he'd be fine. He swallowed hard, wiping at his face, trying to yank up at least a few of his shattered walls. "I'm... all right. It's okay." Just one of the risks of the job, at least she hadn't grown extra eyes or changed skin (or costume) colors. Those were the bad signs, with Raven. One psionic scream hardly counted. He took a breath, and another, attempting a centering exercise as he did, trying to pull himself under control.
She nodded slowly. "Tell me the rest, Victor."
"It's... not just Kory. It's the whole Outsiders team--except Roy. He's missing, so's his kid, and we still don't know where Dick is."
"The entire... who could do such a thing?"
"Multiple... attackers, Raven," Robin answered, barely beginning to feel as though he had a chance of getting his walls back up, the ripped-open wounds screaming for the attention he had no time to give them. He had plans to make, family to guard, things to see to... the wounds didn't matter. He knew what Dick would be doing, in this situation--pulling it together, pulling them together--and while he wasn't that bright, cheerful Robin, would never have Nightwing's casual grace... he had a legacy to live up to. "Only way."
Beast Boy flicked a glance backwards over his shoulder, then nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Gotta be."
Raven nodded once, hands slowly uncurling to flatten against her thighs. "What do we need to do?"
"Call in every last Titan, now and ever," Vic replied. "We lost a sister, everyone deserves better than to hear it on the news... and then I have to go to New York."
"I'm going with you," Gar insisted, jaw set stubbornly. "You're not doing that on your own." Vic looked annoyed for a moment, then just nodded.
"Why do---oh," the realization dawned on Raven a heartbeat later, and she swallowed hard again. "Gar's right. Don't go alone." She waited for his nod, then continued. "That leaves Robin and me with settling everyone in--"
Tim winced. That was the last thing he wanted to be doing, but Robin knew Raven was right, and nodded. "Already mentioned that, Raven," he nodded, still struggling. "We can handle it."
Vic shifted. "I... have to go make the call, guys. I'll be back." He got to his feet, the struggle for composure obvious on his face, and headed towards their comm. room, walking slowly.
"I'm going to my room," Raven told them. "I need to meditate, and then I'm going to try to find Dick and Roy. I was giving Dick his space, but enough is enough. We need him home."
Robin fought down that helpless urge to nod, struggling against the tears that still wanted to fall.
*~*~*~*
Vic leaned against the computer, fighting the useless, helpless urge to cry that Raven's scream had ripped open--it wouldn't do any good, he had to keep it together. He was the active team lead, one of the oldest Titans still earth-side, this was his job now... //Dick, damn it. Come home.//
He toggled open a recorder, talking a first draft, and replayed it. After listening, he shook his head and started over, repeating the all-call and the announcement, trying another phrasing, one that worked no better. Warning the Titans not to turn on the news? Like waving red flags at bulls. Best to just leave that be. Finally, he had one he thought would work, one that didn't sound like his voice was shaking, and he triggered the send.
To every last Titan's communicator went the same message, tagged with the buzzing signal of a priority message, but not the shrill scream of the emergency code. "Calling all Titans, calling all Titans, this is Cyborg. Cold Call, Cold Call, all members, all members. There is no immediate threat, don't risk identities, just come home as soon as you can. Flyers, come heavy." Old codes, legacies of Robin's obsessive planning, trained into every last team in the case of just this emergency.
*~*~*~*
Across the world, hands of teenagers and twenty-somethings suddenly dove into pockets, purses, backpacks and dresser drawers, some waking from sleep to grab for them with dazed expressions. As they listened, awake or mostly-asleep or somewhere in between, faces went bewildered, then hardened, at the sound of Cyborg's voice under that sort of stress. Cell phone calls and radio waves and instant message windows were flying within moments, teams linking up, plotting where and how to meet, double-checking rendezvous points, and going into motion, everyone suddenly afraid despite the lack of the full emergency signal. Professional men and women slipped away from desks and clocked out of jobs, heading for roofs and alleys and their homes, everything else left behind.
Sitting at a desk in St. Elias, Cassie Sandsmark fidgeted uneasily, chewing at her lip, hearing the soft buzz from her bag--//it's Tuesday, what in Zeus's name?//--and being absolutely unable to answer it.
Kid Flash skidded to a stop in the middle of a Pennsylvania field and brought his comm. to his mouth without ever bothering to listen to the message. "Cyborg, Kid Flash. I'm in the middle of finding the JSA reservists, 'cause I know what you're calling about. I can't come in 'til I'm done."
"KF. You already..."
"Yeah. I do."
"Cyborg out."
He pocketed the communicator again, running the list of people he still had to find through his head. He'd left Jesse and Grant for last, and still had a couple people to go before he could get to them. At least now he wouldn't have to tell them, they'd think he was there because of Vic, he could let Vic do it... He shook his head and took off, running to the rest of his list.
In Smallville, Jonathan Kent looked at the ceiling as something started to buzz, and buzz, and buzz, and went to go get it, staring at the object in his hands curiously. It was unusual for the Titans to try to call Conner on a weekday, but he wished the boy had taken it with him. Maybe it would be the trigger he needed to remember who he could be.
*~*~*~*
Cyborg hung up the phone, having called the last of those that had hung up their capes, and he pressed a hand to his eyes. Leaving carefully worded messages on answering machines had taken almost the last shreds of his control. Soft footsteps caught his attention, and he turned to find Gar standing in the doorway.
"We'd better go, you know. Before Titans start getting here, or we'll never make it out." His best friend's voice wasn't quite steady, and he could see the blazing grief naked in his eyes--but there was too much to do before they could let themselves grieve. They were eldest, now--until Tempest could surface and if Karen and Mal didn't come back--and the kids were going to need them.
"I hate to leave Raven and Robin--" He really did, especially after having seen Tim struggling so hard to hold himself together after Raven's mental scream.
"They'll manage, Vic, and you've got to be there for Kory... let's go."
He sighed, nodded, and headed for the hangar, Gar walking--//not bounding or flying or anything else, just... walking//--at his side. "Raven, Robin, we're gone," he said through the Tower's communications system, and Robin answered.
"Fly safe."
That was really all there was to say, and he ignited the engines and took off.
*~*~*~*
He'd gotten only very basic walls back in place, but with the call already out, he didn't have the time to spend in meditation, Robin knew. He called a restaurant in the City, talking to first the receptionist, then the owner--who broke some startling news to him, namely, that a scream had been heard throughout the city, nearly paralyzing the town for several minutes as people attempted to recover. He bit his tongue on the apology--at least they didn't realize it was Raven--and double-talked his way around explaining why he wanted to put them on retainer for serving up to roughly twenty people for the next two days, with an option for later. He got what he wanted after a few minutes of verbal judo, and hung up with a soft sigh of relief. None of them were going to be capable of cooking to feed everyone, and it was just easier to get it delivered. They had enough options that everyone ought to be fine with the selection, and if not they could always fly into the city and eat on the--//NO! Not on their own, not now, not again. No one goes anywhere alone. Not until we know who did this, and why.//
The realization floored him for a moment, and he scrawled it down to plaster to a monitor where Cyborg would see it as soon as he got back. Better that kind of a decree came from someone higher in the Titans hierarchy than him--and his comm. buzzed.
"Robin."
"Robin, it's Mia," her voice was shaking, and his mild annoyance over the breach in protocol didn't last past her first words. "Is... is the all-call about the Outsiders?"
"Yes." //Of course. Green Arrow's already told her.//
"Okay. Then I already know, and I'm not coming in. I've gotta stay with GA..." he heard a soft sniffle, and the sound of a hand brushing hard across skin, and nodded despite that she couldn't see.
"Sure, Speedy. They need you there more than we need you here. I'll mark it down. Thanks for calling in." With much as he wanted to be in Gotham right now, at Bruce's side, it was impossible not to completely understand where his newest teammate was coming from.
"Of course... I--I've gotta go, Robin." Her voice shook again, and he bit hard at his lip.
"Robin out," was all he said, not a tenth of what he wished he could say, and he flicked the comm. off, shaking his head as he made that note and put it into the computers.
His comm. went off again, "Robin."
"Robin? It's Wonder Girl. I got out of class for a sec, what's going on?"
"Just get out here, Cassie. If you can get her to come, bring Cissie." Leaving his own needs aside, Cissie was one of the only people that was going to be able to keep Cassie herself calm when she found out. //Kon, damnit, pick up the freaking comm. Stop this bullshit and come back home,
"It's bad, isn't it?"
"Cassie, come in." He ordered, feeling Robin's ice-cold walls drop around him at her pushing, and oh, he welcomed it, welcomed the detachment from everything he had no time to deal with.
"We'll be there," Zeus's daughter promised, fear and uncertainty all through her voice.
"Robin out." //Good.//
A thought flickered through his mind about them all being there, about the need everyone was going to have to do something, and he tagged it for later. The rooms all needed thrown open, but since no one was going to go straight down--he hoped--they had a little time for that. He pulled up inventories, checking through what the sudden influx of the full roster was going to do to their supplies--and the monitor bank that continually scanned the news flashed to life, displaying the brilliant colors of a 'breaking news' cut-in, and his hands clenched hard as the colors changed to live footage of New York, of the street-corner at Outsiders HQ, a reporter standing there mic in hand, pointing backwards at the building itself--//oh. No. Not yet, not before people have had time to get on the move, oh, no, No.//
He shut it off, not wanting to hear some witless reporter babble--and the monitors noted the approach of a flyer. Red Star... with Pantha and Baby Wildebeest. He set the 'switchboard' to forward everything to his comm. and headed for the roof, getting there just as Leonid touched down.
"Robin… what has happened?" It was Red Star that asked, while Pantha looked around, her feline eyes and ears picking up every detail, holding the somewhat matured Baby close.
"It's bad, Leonid, Pantha." His comm. chimed again, and Argent's shaken voice came out of it. "Someone come get me."
"Argent? Robin. I'll see if Red Star will come."
"Da. I will go."
Pantha glared at him, and he shrugged a shoulder in response.
"Argent, here, tell him where you are." He handed the comm. to Leonid, who listened for a few moments, nodded, and handed it back to take off.
Pantha glared at him, now, deprived of Leonid to vent her annoyance on. "So, what made metalhead call us all in?"
"Pantha, can you--"
He was interrupted--thankfully--by the approach of another flyer in blue and white, //CM3. That was fast.// The teen with Solomon's wisdom touched down not far from them, his blue eyes troubled. "Robin? What's happened?"
"That's what I want to know, Cap," Pantha snapped, tail lashing, and Baby Wildebeest rumbled unhappily.
"Guys... could you hang on to the questions until some more of us get here. It's bad."
"If you're avoiding answering, it's got to be, but damn it, kid..." she glared at him over Baby's head, and he heard the door behind them ease open. "Robin, I can't--Marvel Jr. Pantha. Baby. Welcome to the new Tower."
//She didn't find them,// he realized, and it hit him hard.
"Raven," Marvel Jr. said with a nod. "Robin's delaying, what's happened?"
"He's right to," she answered. "I don't want to do this a dozen times. Come downstairs. Once everyone's here, I will tell you all."
"Raven, are you going to be able to handle--" //that kind of intensity of emotion?//
"I'll be fine, Robin."
Pantha frowned, but nodded once. "All right, Raven. Where's Cyborg, though? He called us in."
"On his way east, with Beast Boy."
"Raven. Speedy's not coming, she's staying with the Arrows. Cassie called in, she's on her way, and Red Star went to get Argent." He saw Raven nod from the corner of his eye as she led the three heroes downstairs, staying on the roof. Someone had to be there.
He spotted another pair coming in out over the ocean, and strained to see who they were. He finally made them out, Hero and Bushido, Hero flying them in. The two dropped onto the roof, Bushido's eyes finding his. "Robin."
"Bushido, Hero. Raven's gathering people downstairs, head for the main lobby and hang a right."
"Robin, why the all-call?" Hero asked, dark eyes uneasy, looking around. "I don't see anything, haven't heard--"
"Raven's going to tell everyone, Hero, just hang on. It shouldn't take much longer."
"All right." The two headed down... and Cassie, carrying Cissie in her arms, swooped down and onto the roof. "Robin, what's--"
"Cassie, please. Raven's gathering people down in the lobby, let's just do this once. Good to see you, Cissie."
"I am going to be in so much trouble, you know," the archer told him, frost in her voice. "Classes weren't out yet."
"Sorry, Cissie. But... you'll understand. I'm staying up here, head on down."
The two blondes gave him a look that promised nothing good later, and he shrugged, seeing Leonid coming back, the silver streak that was Argent held against his side. Cassie looked over her shoulder, and waited for them to touch down, greetings and introductions passing between them as they headed downstairs at his urging.
A portal opened not two feet in front of him, and Bumblebee, Flamebird, and Herald walked out. Karen spoke first, "Robin, what on earth is going on?"
"Raven's assembling everyone in the main room, Bumblebee, if you could all head that way."
The displeased look on the faces of the older Titans made his jaw set harder and his spine stiffen, but he asked nicely. "Please."
She nodded once, and urged the rest of her group down the stairs into the Tower.
His comm. chimed again, and he lifted it to his lips, triggering a female voice. "Titans, it's Mirage."
"Mirage, Robin."
"Robin... I just heard, but Juli's sick, I can't..."
He winced, "That's why Cyborg called, so that no one would have to--"
"Ah. I understand. I... may be there soon, if there's space for a mother and child?"
"No one's going to turn you away, Mirage."
"Thank you, Robin."
He saw the blue and white and red duo of Hawk and Dove flying in just in time to not be surprised when they dropped. "Robin--"
"Raven's downstairs with almost everyone. In the main lobby. We're only doing this once."
His comm. chimed as the personifications of Order and Chaos gave him oddly identical nasty looks, then headed down as he lifted it to his lips yet again. "Robin."
"Robin, it's Joto, I just got out of a test. There's something all over the news--"
"Yes. That's what the all-call's about. Do you need a lift in?"
"It would be appreciated, yes."
"I'll find out where Kid Flash is and send him your way. It may be a few."
"All right."
//They're coming from everywhere,// he thought, the idea bringing a small smile to his lips. They were family, after all. He manipulated the comm., calling for Kid Flash.
"Yo, Rob. I'm on my way in with Jesse Quick and Damage."
"All right. You're going to need to swing back and pick up Joto, almost everyone else is here."
"Can do. Is K--" the sudden surge of that hope was like a knife, especially when he had to answer.
"No."
"Damnit," he didn't think Bart had intended him to hear that whisper, so he ignored it. "Robin out."
A few minutes later a wake splashed up across the Bay and Bart ran up onto the land, setting Jesse and Grant gently on their feet, then he spun, waved up at the roof, and took off again, streak of yellow movement that disappeared out through the city again.
He ran the roster through his head, thinking about who might still come--shoved down thoughts of red and blue and black with all the savagery they deserved--and decided to head downstairs. It wouldn't take Bart long to make the trip out and back one last time, and anyone not here now was either dead, missing, or tangentially connected to them at best. //Is it really only eleven-thirty?// So much had happened that it felt far later, and he stared up at the sun, hanging lazily at the midpoint of the sky in disbelief for long moments, shaking his head.
He walked down into the main room and found a spot against the wall, nodding at the group of heroes milling around, watching Raven watch all of them. Argent was collapsed on one of the couches, CM3 standing protectively next to her. Cassie walked over to him, her eyes snapping blue fire, lasso swinging at her hip, followed by Cissie, Hawk, and Dove. "Robin, would you--"
"Raven's got reason, Cassie, okay?"
"No, it's not--"
Yellow-and-black streak of movement resolved into Kid Flash and Joto, and he could see Raven running a mental list. As Joto walked over to Argent and CM3, she took a deep breath and walked out into the center of the room.
*~*~*~*
Raven had welcomed each hero down, being amused by the ones that were disturbed by her new, younger self, and gently encouraged patience as more and more of them arrived... and then the groups that formed, and where they formed, started to pull at her heart. The tight group of Hero, Bushido, Mal, Karen, and Bette, the equally tight knot a bit away from them of Pantha and Baby and Leonid, the duo of Argent and Marvel Jr... Hawk and Dove and Cassie and... //Arrowette? Well done, Robin// on the other side of the room, close together in a worried knot of teenaged emotions, the way that Jesse and Damage walked in and went straight to Argent and CM3, and Joto finally followed them, Bart going straight to the girls and Robin... They'd linked up into the old groups, as if by instinct, and they were scattered around the edges of the room, leaving the center open, echoing...
...waiting for their missing ones, their lost, she realized why that space existed with a jolt of almost physical pain. Dick and Roy and Donna and Kory. Garth should be on his way, but it was a very long swim from his current home to San Francisco... but he was the only one left to come with Wally in space. The only original, one of the few of the second team, who could still come to them, and her hands shook under the cape as she stepped up into that echoing emptiness.
"A few of you already know," every head snapped to her, every set of eyes locked on her, "but most of you don't. Batman brought Cyborg, Beast Boy, Robin and I the news that the Outsiders are gone. Nightwing and Arsenal are missing, but Kory, Jenny, Shift, Thunder and Grace are dead. Executed. Vic went to give the official confirmation that it's her body."
Three full heartbeats of silence, of shocked disbelief to great to contain, and it was Bette that broke the silence first. "Raven, no... that can't be..." weak, useless protest that everyone understood.
"It is," Jesse and Argent said almost as one. "It hit the news at quarter after..." Argent continued, her eyes still numb with the shock. "That's why Red Star had to bring me in, I couldn't fly..."
"No, no..." that was Cassie, and the shock was giving way to grief in all of them, pain and rage boiling up, surging against her hard-built protections, making her tremble with the strength of it, arms wrapping around herself as one by one, the full magnitude of what she'd said sank in. Karen buried her face against Mal's chest, Bette nearly fell and was caught by a stricken Bushido, Captain Marvel Jr made a soft, wounded noise as Jesse pressed her face against his shoulder and Damage wrapped his arms around Argent. He mouthed something, but she didn't hear it, not over the sound of Cassie starting to weep, Pantha's howl of rage and the shrieking that started from the Baby, who Leonid started trying desperately to calm.
"Who?" Herald's voice echoed through the room.
She shook her head, spreading her hands helplessly. "We don't know."
"Not who, why?" Bushido growled from where he was supporting Bette, and she felt Robin's agreement from where he stood with his hand on Cassie's back as she sobbed against Bart's shoulder.
"And who's next?" Pantha growled, her eyes blazing with rage. "Might be any of us, if they could take her down and vanish with the guys, with Nightwing.... This doesn't feel right, not with everything else that's going on."
There was just too much, too many emotions at the flashover point, too many of them ripped between grief and rage... Raven shuddered again, and flung herself out of the room, up into her room and the safety of her shields--someone else could be strong for a little while.
*~*~*~*
It was Mal and Karen that stepped into the gap, that started trying to comfort people, splitting up to move through them despite the tears that streaked their own faces, attempting to pull them back together, away from the brink. Food arrived and Robin and Damage went to bring it in, and Bart managed to coax people into eating, just to give them something to do as the numbness and fear and grief hit and receded in agonizing waves.
*~*~*~*
3:20 pm CST/1:20 pm PT
Conner Kent walked up the driveway from school, backpack slung over a shoulder--and he froze at the sight of Aunt and Uncle standing on the porch, waiting. It took everything he had not to start running, and his pace still picked up rapidly until he reached them. "Aunt Martha? Uncle Jon?"
"Conner, come in and sit down," Jon ordered, and Kon did as he was told, walking into the living room with this sick, numb fear building in his chest. He dropped into a chair--and heard the incessant hum of a priority comm. message. "That thing has been buzzing for the last four hours, and something came over the news that you need to know about."
"I'm not a Titan anymore, Uncle Jon, not after--"
"Hush. The reporters on the television are saying that something happened to one of the superhero teams.. the Outsiders. Now, that name doesn't mean much to me, but one of them did. Starfire. They're saying she's dead."
//NO!// Images of Kory poured through his mind, golden skin and blazing hair and super-model-gorgeous body and strength and yelling at him about Krypto and her damned flowers and her grace in the air during a game of tag and... His head dropped into his hands, close-cropped fuzz against the tips of his fingers as he shook. The images wouldn't stop, memories of her frank honesty and open delight and that she didn't get pop culture either or why anyone would really want to, how she could make anything look like sex and never, ever did it on purpose, and would be embarrassed if you told her..."H--how?" What could possibly have taken Kory down?
"Some kind of attack, son. They were kind of vague, I guess they have to be..."
Shock and grief morphed into hot rage, and he felt the burning in the back of his eyes, making him squeeze them shut tightly, hands clenching. "I..."
"Hadn't you better see what your friends have to say?" Aunt Martha asked, holding out the comm...
"I... yeah. I had," he agreed, and turned it on, lifting it close to his mouth. Cyborg's voice, tight with emotion and still so controlled snapped the last thread of his disbelief, making his eyes blaze all over again. "Oh, no. No... Cassie's gotta be such a wreck, and Vic and Gar..."
Suddenly, for the first time in a month, he wanted to be at the Tower, wanted it so badly he could taste it. //But they won't wan--Shut. Up.// He hadn't heard that part of himself since the moment Luthor's voice came across a set of computer speakers. //That's Kory we lost. That's your friend--she deserves better from you than moping here while everyone else is at the Tower hurting, so get off your ass and get it in gear!//
As if reading his mind, Aunt Martha said, "Then you'd better go, hadn't you?"
"I... Aunt Martha, I--"
"Your friends are hurting, Conner, they need you."
He bit at his lip, hard enough to make it bleed, and walked up the stairs. He knelt in front of the dresser and pull out an undamaged version of his costume, holding the pile of denim and fabric on his knees, staring at it, touching the 'S' that had been his whole life as if it would burn him. //I... who am I? Am I just Conner, or...//
The comm still in his hand was warm, the 'T' glowing faintly with the scores of other calls he'd ignored, and he heard Starfire's laughter in his mind as he tagged her and dodged away...
*~*~*~*
1: 45 PM PT
Robin walked out the door of the Tower, intending to go spend a little time anywhere but Starfire's garden--and a long shadow fell across him, from off to the side.
"Wonder Boy..." the words were soft, uncertain, and he spun to stare at Kon, who was hovering about a foot off the ground, one foot drawn up as if he wasn't sure he could touch down or not. He struggled to keep his face blanked--and knew he was failing miserably. He hadn't realized how much the weekends with his best friend meant to him until they were suddenly gone. "Kon?!"
Absolutely pathetic lack of control.
The look on Kon's face was definitely worth later consideration, the mix of guilt and worry and pain and relief... "It's Star, Rob. Where else could I be... I mean, that is, if I--"
"Oh shut UP! You're a Titan. This is where you belong." //Not being stupid in that damned town, not with everything going to hell...// He reached for Kon's hand, locking his around it hard, "Titans together, Kon. We promised. I didn't forget." //Don't you dare leave me too.//
He managed to keep the wince off his face as Kon squeezed his hand tightly, then slowly let go. "I... shouldn't have. I sure hope the others thin--" Whatever it was that Kon had been going to say, it was cut off as a yellow blur slammed into him, knocked him to the ground and hugged him hard, yelling, "KON! Konyou'reokayyou'reback!"
//Thank you, Bart,// Tim thought to himself as Bart's shriek brought Cassie running too, the Amazon girl pulling them both to their feet so she could hug Kon hard, holding him savagely tight. "Don't you ever leave us again," she hissed at him, smacking him across the back of the head, then pulled him close again. "Not because of some stupid thing that's not your fault. So stupid, Kon."
"I, Cassie I--"
"Shut up, Kon."
Kon mimed zipping his lips, blue eyes still uneasy--and Raven walked out the door. "Superboy. You heard?"
"I heard, Raven, and I'm here." Tim wondered if he was the only one that heard the quiver in Kon's voice, the thread of 'I'm not sure I belong, though...'
"Good. Welcome home." That seemed to be all the empath had to say as she turned to go back inside. "Your room's still a mess. Have fun with that."
Kon winced, Bart's lips quirked up as if he was trying to laugh, and Cassie smiled, while Tim felt one of the walls around his heart shift as the security of having Kon at his back again registered.
Too many of them were missing, too many more were gone... but they were the Titans. The survivors, and as Cissie ran out of the Tower in her simple jeans and T-shirt to join the pile of people hugging and yelling at Kon, he prayed desperately that his brother was alive out there, that they could bring him home.
no subject
Don't worry about it.
I did, actually.
Good! Sleep is good.