The following days were busy ones for the Titans. They had a destroyed home to repair and refurbish, they had a lot of explaining to do when the likes of the Justice League descended upon them, ready for a battle and instead realising they were late for one. After the longest three days of interrogations from their babysitters, the League left, taking Slade to a prison they promised no one had ever heard of. Robin also had to have quite a lot of discussion with the commissioner of Jump City about the events of that night, trying to disclose only the most crucial of details. There was a citywide manhunt for Plasmus, but it seemed as though he had made quite the disappearance, not even the League could find him when they made an obligatory search in order to ease the concerns of the citizens of Jump City. The people of the coastal city weren't stupid, they knew that something cataclysmic was coming for them that night and the only reason they had survived the night with their liberties, or their lives for that matter, intact was thanks to the Titans and grudgingly accepted the Teen Titans as heroes again with the assurance of the police that the heroes had been framed. Their relationship wouldn't heal instantly Robin reflected, looking out over the harbour to the city, but it would, given time. They all changed after that night, the Titans, some more than others. Robin went through the most visible of them all, he smiled more than ever and more than once had snuck up on Starfire in the kitchen and had wrapped his arms around her, peppering her neck with kisses. They prepared a breakfast for the time one morning and Robin had cracked the most jokes of anyone. He was still serious and treated matters of crime with utmost respect and seriousness but he didn't let it spill over into his personal life anymore, those days were gone. The dark corner inside himself where Slade had always hidden in the crevices of his soul had now been lit up by Starfire's light. Robin had finally defeated his demon. Rune was the subject of the less subtle changes but Raven could see them there nonetheless. He was quieter, the things he had seen had changed him. That night he had gone down himself to collect Rose's body and after cleaning all her wounds, he had dug a grave to lay Rose to rest within. And so, a few days after, the Titans had held a small ceremony for Rose, the grave carefully laid with a bed of gerberas. Raven watched Rune's gaze at the bed of orange daisies at the furtherest removed corner on the island from the tower, he went to a specific florist in Metropolis for the seeds. The headstone was simple rock, the inscription no more embellished Rose Wilson. Forever lost, never forgotten. Rune had inscribed it himself with a laser born from his powers. When Raven asked him why he had been so specific about the flowers and everything else, he had just mumbled something "about the past."

Robin had spent a lot of time with each of the team, it was just out of his need to know that they were all right. Sometimes it was the scars that you couldn't see after a battle that were hardest to heal. Beast Boy had confessed to having a nightmare about the moment he watched the blade erupt out of Rune's chest after Rune had pulled him to safety. Raven however, was more of interesting case. She had been sitting with a book in her room when Robin had walked in and sat down beside her. "What you did to Slade, I was worried for second you were going to go that step where none of us have gone."

"So did I" Raven confessed.

"Why did you go that far?" Robin asked, "we had him beaten, there was no need to keep fighting, let alone take it to the brink of killing him."

"I wanted to" Raven said, "or at least my anger did" she quickly added to Robin's reeling expression.

"But you gave into anger?" Robin asked.

Raven nodded. "My powers rely on me restraining my emotion, the more I feel the less in control I am. It's why I meditate, to keep them under control and to sift out what I can't. But I can't sift this out, it's why I couldn't use my powers that night."

"Because you're in love with Rune" Robin said.

Raven nodded and Robin stood. "He's lucky to have you" he said sincerely. "He needs you, now more than ever, if that was believable."

Raven just nodded and Robin squeezed her hand reassuringly before he left. Though Robin had tried his best to shield Rune, there was a growing call amongst the civil forces in Jump City for Rune's arrest, the beating he had given the man had barely scraped by with a few favours owed but to lay waste to the prison and the beatings to the guards were hard to ignore. Robin didn't doubt that he had done wrong but he knew without Rune's actions dipping into shadow, a far worse evil would have been unleashed. It was a debate on a tightrope, too little resistance and Rune would be taken from them, too much and it could incriminate them all, and Robin was determined to realise Starfire's vision of them all becoming undoubted heroes to the city. Robin was standing in the lounge, just looking at the city. The tower was mostly repaired, this room at least betrayed no signs of any conflict. He turned to the sound of footsteps as Starfire's purple boots approached him. He smiled and gave her a small kiss as she joined him in looking out. "The authorities still want to have Rune held accounted for his actions?" She asked.

Robin nodded. "I've been talking to more lawyers than I really care for. They assure me we have a case if it goes that far, but it'll be messy. I'm more hoping for them to drop the charges since public opinion has been swaying for us. The League taking Slade was not what I wanted though, parading him as the criminal he is would have been better for everyone. He's still a secret to them, even now."

"Better to be a captive of the League than to be deceased" Starfire commented quietly.

Robin nodded, "you're still getting over Raven's attack."

Starfire pursed her lips, she did not wish to speak ill of such a close friend. "I confess to being worried by her loss control, she almost tore…"

"She didn't lose control that night" Robin interrupted, "she did exactly what she wanted to."

Starfire's eyes widened. "Are you saying Raven wished to murder Slade? To tear him limb from limb?"

Robin considered his answer. "Not directly, but she reverted to hatred for a reason. Hatred may be a loss of control but it's centred, focussed. When Raven hates someone, all her energy is focussed on destroying that person, there's no room to think about anything else. Love is the opposite, it's not focussed, it's confusing, scrambled, it can make a person sing one minute and cry the next. It's unstoppable when it hits you and you're literally all over the place. Raven reverted to hate because she needed to escape love to focus her power and break through Slade's block. Without Raven calling on her hate, Rune would have died."

Starfire was quiet. "I did not take her emotions into account."

"It's understandable" Robin comforted her, "she scared all of us there."

"So what is next?"

"We rebuild" Robin told her. "Our tower, our relationships, the trust we worked so hard for. We rebuild it all."

"What of the other Titans?" Starfire asked.

Robin's expression wrinkled. "I offered to step down as leader" he told her.

"What?" Starfire exclaimed. "But you can't…"

Robin silenced her with a wave. "There was a vote, the majority was in my favour, though it was decided by one vote."

"Whose?" Raven asked.

"Jinx's" Robin replied, "isn't it funny? We suspected her of returning to her villainous ways under Slade and at the end she was probably the one who stayed truest to being a hero out of all of us."

"I suppose it is" Starfire replied. "We believe in you Robin, we always have and always will."

"I know" Robin replied as Starfire slipped her fingers through his. "But it's past time I earned it." He softly removed his hand from hers. "There's someone else I need to talk to."

Robin walked down to the beach, watching the waves throw themselves down upon the sand. There was the sound like the rumble of thunder as a yellow blur cut across the ocean and stopped before him. "Kid Flash" he said formally.

"So I heard you're staying as our leader" Wally replied.

Robin nodded, feeling awkward and out of words to say. Instead he just sat down on the ground. Wally pulled his mask back, letting his mop of red hair spring free before sitting down beside him. "I guess you voted against me?" Robin asked.

"Actually I voted to keep you on" Wally replied.

"What?" Robin asked, turning to look at him.

"Yeah" Wally said, fixing his old friend with an honest look.

"But after you formed a team to stop us, you fought us, now you're with me?" Robin asked. "Why?"

"I realised I was fighting you for the wrong reasons" Wally told him. "I was fighting you for payback, for Jinx, that wasn't right. You slipped from what we should be as well, but I proved to be no better, and neither did anyone else."

"What about Jinx?" Robin asked.

Wally laughed. "You'd trust her to lead the Titans? I'm dating her and even I wouldn't go anywhere near that far."

Robin chuckled in response, "no, I suppose not."

"To put it simply, you're a shit leader" Wally told him in a joking voice, "but seeing as we don't have anyone better, I guess you'll have to stick around."

Robin laughed at that and punched his friend's shoulder. "You're an ass."

Wally chuckled in reply and the pair sat for a while, watching the sun go down over the ocean. "You actually suck though" Wally added, "what is this, the second time you threatened our existence? That whole Brain/Brotherhood of Evil thing was totally your fault."

"Excuse me?" Robin asked, "I think I haven't done too badly, we beat them remember? And out of the two of us, who is dating a hot alien princess?"

"Jinx is better" Wally instantly replied, "you wouldn't believe me if I told you half the things she could do."

"Did you miss the part where I said 'princess'?" Robin asked again.

The pair laughed again and fell back into silence in the sunlight.

Cyborg checked the circuitry he had finished rewiring before flicking a switch and the communications room room whirred back into life with a brightening of the lights. "Boo yah" he said quietly to himself, starting all the computers and running diagnostics. He replaced the panel over the circuit board and quickly welded it back into place. Without cleaning off the welding marks or covering the bolt sockets, the entire tower looked like it was either falling apart or holding together through patchwork. It was quite like the team he figured, the state of their home often reflected how they were doing. It was ironic after their abandonment of Jump City had hurt their reputation, so much damage to the tower had been inflicted by the Titans themselves, there had been a lot of broken walls and floors from Silkie's rampage. Cyborg looked over to the computer and organised a call to the Titans East to test that the communications uplink was up and running again, to his standard at least. The communication buzzed twice before a familiar voice came through the speakers and a girl dressed in yellow and black came up on screen. "Hey Sparky, long time no see."

"Hey Bee" Cyborg said, making minute adjustments. "Just running a test call, am I coming through all right over there?"

"I can hear that sweet voice of yours but I've got no face to join with it" Bee told him, leaning into the camera. "Where you at?"

"Just a second" Cyborg said, adjusting the bandwidth on the video feed. "How about now?"

Bee shook her head. "Nope, still nothing."

If Cyborg hadn't spent so much time in the last couple of days repairing the tower, he would've smashed his hands straight through the computer. He restrained himself though, his fists only made noise as they slammed into the counter. "Dammit!" He cursed.

"Whoa whoa whoa there hothead, I was just playing" Bee said soothingly, "I can see you just fine."

"Really?" Cyborg asked, raising his index and middle fingers on his right hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Um… three?" Bee ventured.

"Not even close" Cyborg told her, lifting off a panel to begin examining the systems again, searching for the the root of the problem. It would almost be easier to tear it all out and start again from scratch.

Bee's shoulders slumped. "Okay, so I'm not getting any pictures of my handsome man in armour, that doesn't mean it's not nice hearing your voice."

"I had voice communication capabilities in minutes" Cyborg said, "only had to install two chips and run some juice through the circuits. I'm looking to reinstall the video conferencing feature and so far I can't even get a video call to one place."

"Sounds like it's taking a toll on you" Bee said, her voice ending with a small note of concern.

"I just don't like it when my things don't work the way I build them to" Cyborg replied, testing the wattage and checking the fuses.

"How are you treating yourself Sugar?" Bee asked.

"My systems are optimal, should be able to work for a few hours straight yet" Cyborg told her.

"There's more to you than just rusty old machine parts" she told him in caring tone.

"Hey" Cyborg said, "there is no part of me that is in any way rusty."

Bee chuckled, "I think your manners could use some oil every now and then. You sound so cute with your pride pricked, you know that?"

"Well that's because you know how to twist me like no one else baby girl" Cyborg told her, reviewing schematics of the computer for anything that wasn't supposed to be there.

"How's the team holding up?" Bee asked.

Cyborg shrugged, "as well as can expected. We're a tough bunch but the challenges of late have made us all used to staying tense. I have a feeling we'll be keeping our guard up a lot longer than we'll need to."

"That's not necessarily a bad trait to have" Bee reminded him.

"Not for heroes" Cyborg agreed. "But we're more than just heroes; we're people, friends."

"And more than friends" Bee said teasingly.

Despite his demeanour, Cyborg smiled. "To a lucky few" he agreed. He replaced the top panel before pulling out a lower one and crawling into the cramped space with a light mounted on his shoulder.

"Maybe you guys need a vacation" Bee suggested.

"I could use a road trip over to you" Cyborg joked, "the change in scenery wouldn't be a bad thing, though I think Robin would say we need to stay in the city to reassure them we're their protectors."

Bee rolled her eyes. "Robin would eat his own shit if he were convinced it was for the best," she snorted, "I don't care if you have to drag that spiky-haired alien-loving control freak workaholic kicking and screaming into that car of yours, you buckle him up and get your cute ass over here."

Cyborg chuckled at the thought of himself forcing Robin into the T-Car, dragging the Boy Wonder by his hair before fastening him into a child's booster seat with double safety straps that he couldn't escape before they left. "I'm actually not too cold to the idea" he replied with a grin, tightening another bolt and gently repairing the insulation around a copper wire that had been frayed. "Though something tells me I might have to knock him out and stow him in the trunk for that to work."

"I won't tell if you don't" Bee teased.

"My Mom always told me to never keep a pretty girl waiting" Cyborg flirted, pulling himself back up. A buzzing sound made him check his attention as the towers systems told him there was rubble obstructing the elevator from rising past the third level. Cyborg groaned.

"More problems?" Bee asked.

"You know it" Cyborg told her, "looks like we'll all be taking the stairs for a while."

"Pity you don't have these" she laughed, lifting herself off the ground as her wings became a blur.

"I wish" Cyborg said, walking away.

"Yo Sparky!" Bee called out from the screen. She gestured to her shoulder. "You got something."

Cyborg looked over and saw some leftover grease from the T-Car he had missed before realising something. "Wait, you saw that?"

"Whatever you did worked" Bee told him with a smile. "My boyfriend's a genius."

Cyborg almost blushed. "I just know my way when poking around the delicate systems."

"I love it when you talk dirty" Bee purred.

Cyborg laughed, "keep it in your pants girl. Wait until we get there."

"Don't leave me hanging" Bee told him, then she softened. "Take care Sparky."

"You too" Cyborg told her.

Bee kissed her fingers, touched them to the camera then ended the call.

Cyborg stepped out of the room and ran a check through the tower's computers. The communications room flashed green, All Systems Operational. Cyborg smiled, the Titans were like their tower. Damaged, but being repaired. Hurt, but on the mend. Beaten, but not broken. Cyborg grinned as he left to go deploy one of his new drones down the elevator shaft, they were all going to be fixed, on the surface and below it. He looked around at the patchwork design of the walls and grinned, maybe they could have another of Starfire's 'redecorations' to give it a used look, that had certainly been one way to relish the day. "And the day is good" he murmured to himself, wondering if he could repurpose another of the drones to make him a mile-high sandwich, something to completely rub in the face of a certain green friend of his.

The wind played at the tips of Beast Boy's hair on the back of his neck as he sat with his legs dangling over the ledge of the tower in the space created by the missing guardrail that had been sliced away. His eyes rolled over the details without particularly noticing them, his mind lost in his thoughts. A seagull cried as it circled the tower, the scavenger looking for something worth its attention but he ignored it. His eyes squinted as the afternoon sun blasted his retinas both from the reflection of a glass skyscraper standing tall across the waves, which were not lacking for sun glares themselves. "You look busy" came a remark from behind him.

Beast Boy turned to see Raven standing behind him.

"I thought it was going to be Cyborg who came up here first" Beast Boy replied, gesturing. Raven walked over and sat with him.

"He's still very set on fixing the tower" Raven replied, "I think it's to hold back the sorrow of losing two good couches in as many years."

Beast Boy chuckled, "yeah, fire and couches never made a good mix."

"Try to keep your fur off the next one" Raven told him, "and maybe I won't have to float as much as I do wherever I go for fear of becoming an enormous hairball."

Beast Boy smiled at her, "it's my way of marking my territory."

"Well I suppose it's just good to have territory again" Raven said, her fingers running along the surface of the metal railing. Beast Boy was quiet, returning his attention to the city.

"Are you okay?" Raven asked. "Since we took down Slade, everyone seems to have become brighter. Everyone except you."

"That was a good night for us" Beast Boy said, "the Titans won. We triumphed over our greatest enemy and saved a hell of a lot of people in the process. We were victorious."

"And yet you lost something that night, didn't you?" Raven said, more a statement than a question.

Beast Boy nodded, pushing his canine tooth into his lip. "My innocence. I can't stop thinking of that night Raven. I see every moment of it every time I close my eyes. Some moments hit me harder than others."

Raven softened, placing a gentle hand on Beast Boy's back as he leaned forward, looking straight down over the edge. "Rune almost dying wasn't your fault."

"I'm not saying that it was" Beast Boy replied.

Raven could sense he was growing agitated. "Then what is it that bothers you so much?"

"It's that that night became too real!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "We're the Teen Titans, not the Justice League, the people we fight are supposed to have loony goals like to change America back into a British colony or uploading themselves into a TV reality, not to kill anyone. Slade was always the darkest force we ever had to fight but he never tried to kill us, more get us out of the way than anything else. Then Slade starts going after these gems and cops are dying left and right, the city is being bombed, people turn on us… I'm not sure if I can match up to face that kind of reality."

"What brought this on?" Raven asked, "the Brotherhood of Evil wasn't too far removed from that sort of intention."

"Rune" Beast Boy replied, "Rune made me see it. When I almost fell off the tower and he pulled me back up, the first…" He struggled with the memory replaying his head. "And almost last thing he said to me was that none of us could die, not yet."

"So?" Raven asked, not seeing the realisations Beast Boy had come to.

"So, that's the kind of team we were" Beast Boy said, "Rune saved my life, pulled me to safety and the first thing he does is crack a joke, regardless of whatever we were fighting. Death was never really ever present in our minds for our missions. Pain? Lots of that. Being beaten unconscious? Sure, on occasion but we always lived with the knowledge that whatever happened, we were waking up the next morning no matter what. Then Rune makes a joke and gets a sword…" He dropped his head as he remembered the pointed steel blade tearing its way out of Rune's chest with an explosion of blood and bone, ripping his heart in half. Raven's hand on Beast Boy's back tightened into a reassuring grip around his shoulder. "The worst part of it though," Beast Boy said, "was the look in his eyes, the absolute fear in his gaze. He was near immortal, he could survive near anything and had never feared dying at someone else's hands. Then it happened and Rune realised everything he had to lose, what we all have to lose."

"He survived" Raven said, trying to comfort him and herself. Beast Boy's words were pushing up memories she didn't want to recall, how Rune's body had simply crumbled like a broken skyscraper falling to pieces.

"But he had never even thought of death in that moment" Beast Boy repeated, "going up this tower to fight Slade, we were going just to stop him, we weren't going to battle him, to fight him, to try and survive, we just acted like we were invincible, because we always have been against the enemies we face. But this is a different breed that's growing, they're desperate and they'll do anything to do what they want. We aren't that kind of team, that's not what we were trained for, save maybe Robin."

"So we should just give up?" Raven asked, "leave the business because it's becoming scary and not fun anymore?"

"No" Beast Boy defended, "but I just don't know how we fit into this growing world anymore."

"It's not just the world that's growing" Raven told him, "we're all changing, always, in our own ways. It's what makes us who we are. They may change to try and stop us, but we learn, and we change to stop them. If you had never changed, could you have led our counterattack on the Brotherhood when they took Robin from us?"

"That's different" Beast Boy argued.

"Bullshit it is" Raven told him. "We're no longer just teens anymore, we're starting to realise the 'Titans' part of our name, and that makes enemies. The longer we do this, the less of a teen we will be and the more of a Titan we will become. Our fight with Slade has changed what it means to be one of us, but that doesn't mean everything is different. We still fight for good, we still fight when it's hopeless and we still never, ever, give up on each other."

"But I didn't give up on anyone" Beast Boy said.

"No" Raven agreed with a smile, "and no one is giving up on you."

Beast Boy looked at her with a small smile before his gaze rolled back to the waves again, the seagull becoming a small white speck as it gave up and retreated back to the mainland. "I've always known what I wanted" he said, steering the conversation in a new direction. "For as long as I can remember it's always been so obvious what the next objective has been. There was helping people, fitting in, finding friends, finding family, and a home. Then there was Terra… and you."

Raven took a small breath in, hoping he wouldn't push at this. "You know what I feel is for Rune" she told him.

He raised a hand, "I do, I do, and I've accepted it but it still leaves a hole in me. I don't know what I want anymore, what's next, anything. That reminder about how death can always be so close, waiting for us at anytime. Waiting isn't enough, I need to do more living before I'm ready to leave, but I don't know where to start."

"That's the good thing about life" Raven said, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Just when you can't find the next part of life you're looking for and it all threatens to stop, that missing piece? It finds you."

"How did you get so wise?" Beast Boy asked her.

"I read" Raven told him with a chuckle on her lips, "you should try it sometime."

"I know how to read!" Beast Boy cried out defensively.

Raven smirked, "I'll believe that when you start reading the newspaper to read and not as dirt box filler."

Beast Boy was forced to concede a smile at Raven's jibe. "I do it to annoy Robin" he excused. He stood up and Raven joined him, wrapping the guard rail in black energy and bending it to once again blockade the spot where they were just sitting. Beast Boy leant against it for a test. His eyes spotted the lonely spot of colour generated by the gerberas and sighed. "How's Rune doing?"

"He's holding up" Raven said, "though he hasn't even mentioned her to me since that night, or how it happened."

"It's odd" Beast Boy said, his eyes still on Rose's burial site. "When Rune first came to us as moody old Darkside with his story of not having a home, running away whenever he hurt someone or destroyed something when a new power set off, it reminded me of Terra. I used to think Rune was like her."

Raven asked, "I used to as well, though now to me Rune is just Rune. Rose though, she reminds me of Terra."

"How so?" Beast Boy asked.

"Rose was moved after a tragic incident, she gave her allegiance to Slade who forced her to fight against the person she loved. She fought but there was always that last small spark of her old self that was strong enough to make herself unable to kill him, no matter how hard she wanted to. And in the end, she gave everything."

"Yeah, but Terra helped us defeat Slade" Beast Boy said.

Raven didn't react. "Rose's mask stopped Slade instantly. I don't think she and Terra are as different as they initially appear."

"Then Rune is lucky he has you" Beast Boy. "Terra left a hole I'm still not sure how to fill completely just yet. If Rose was anything like that to Rune, he has to be hurting."

"He mourns for her" Raven said, "but it will not hold him back. While she was alive, Rose was like a parachute on Rune's back, holding him from being able to move forward. That parachute is gone now, but he still needs to catch his breath before he can finally run."

"How far will he go?" Beast Boy asked.

"That," Raven said, turning away, "all depends on what we're looking for."

"Raven" Beast Boy called.

The empath turned to look at her friend.

"I am afraid of dying, when that day comes" he told her, "but the one thing I will never be afraid of, and can't be, is living."

Raven considered his words, how she had so often held back from the feelings Rune had inspired and had made flare within her. Was it possible she had been afraid to live? It was much more than possible, she realised, but she knew it was a fear he had helped her overcome, all she had needed was time. "I'd call that almost wise of you" she said to Beast Boy, who looked far too happy with himself. "Come talk to me when you're reading something at a level higher than Bambi" she told him before leaving, she had some living to do.

Rune was silent as he tightened the last strap on his pack and zipped it shut. "Going somewhere?" A voice from his door asked.

Rune turned to see Raven standing in his door. Her short blue boots exposed more of her long lithe legs that seemed to go on forever. She watched as his eyes traced her figure before he stepped away from his room which was oddly clean. "Raven" he murmured and she stepped forward into his grasp. She felt his arms slip around her and hold her tight as she cradled her head into his collarbone before looking up and sharing a soft kiss with him. Rune savoured the taste of her lips as they touched his, he wished they would never leave. She eventually stepped back and observed his room. The bed was made, a stack of towels sitting on the corner, the draws were empty.

"You're leaving" she realised.

Rune didn't try to deny it.

"Why?" She asked in a small voice, feeling betrayed.

"For as long as I've had these runes, I've been running" he told her. "I've never helped anyone with them, made life better. Everything I've ever done has been trying to minimise the damage I cause and fix the mistakes I've made. The Titans are a different breed of hero. They stand ready for trouble, to guard and protect the people of Jump City, Earth and even beyond." He looked away. "That's not me. It's been an honour to be with you guys, to be part of a family but simply stopping the mistakes I've made doesn't atone for them. I need to help people, try and make things better instead of trying to keep them from falling."

"We defend good" Raven said, "but you need to find and root out the darkness." It hurt to hear him say this but it hurt even worse to understand it.

Rune nodded sombrely. "I need to make this world brighter after the darkness I helped usher in, directly or otherwise."

"Would you come ho… here?" Raven asked, she bit back from using that word.

"I will come home" Rune promised, not shying away from it. "But not before I've done what I'm setting out to do."

Raven practically threw herself at Rune as she wrapped him in a hug, clamping her arms around him as hard as she physically could. She scrunched her eyes shut as her hot tears leaked out from between her eyelids. Rune held her as tight as he dared to, his hands made fists scrunching up her cloak. They kissed again, sharing a look. Rune's eyes felt tired as every fibre of him told him to stay but he knew there was so much he had to accomplish first, he had been debating it internally for days. He would return eventually but he had to leave before he could settle. Resisting the urge to fall backwards onto the bed with her, he kissed the top of her head and she slowly let him go. He shouldered his pack and slipping his hand into Raven's they left.

I'm going to miss this Rune reflected as they passed the various rooms, the lounge, the dojo, the garage. "Wait" he told Raven, opening the door and walking outside. He walked down the path to where Rose's grave lay and pulled out a flower for the girl. Rune gave the girl's namesake in his hand a small squeeze before he rested the rose down on top of the stone bearing her name and left. A drop of blood fell from the thumb it had pricked, Rune deciding against sealing it up. The pair crossed back into the mainland and weren't oblivious to the looks they were getting. "You're a hero again" Rune remarked.

Raven squeezed his hand, her fingers interlaced with his. "We're all heroes" she told him.

They continued to walk until they reached a more industrial district. "This is where I get off" Rune told her.

Raven nodded, as much as she didn't want to admit it. "Stay in touch" she told him.

"I left my communicator back home" Rune told her.

Raven nodded and they embraced in another hug, Raven quietly withholding the fact that she had already slipped her own communicator into his pack before they had even left the tower. "Go," she told him, she heard the blast of a horn and realised why he had chosen to come this way. "Chase that horizon."

Rune smiled and she pulled him into one last desperate kiss, pushing every shred of love and longing she had for him through it, she hoped he would always remember her, because she knew she wouldn't forget him. The horn blasted again and Rune broke the kiss to look around. A nod from Raven was the last thing they shared before he turned and ran for the fence, scaling up three quarters from the bound before flipping over and disappearing over the fence. Raven nodded and turned away, there was another place she wanted to go before home beckoned. After another fifteen minutes of walking with only her shadow for company, she entered her tea shop, more than a little nervous given the last time she had come here. The old woman instantly recognised her with a smile however and she was greeted and ushered through to the poetry stage without hesitation. She laid down a note on the counter and asked for one cup as she looked towards the stage, wondering what dark poetic gems would possibly be uncovered today, talent had an unusual way of cropping up when it was least expected. The steaming cup was laid in front of her, her note tucked underneath it. She looked up at the woman who smiled. "Heroes are welcome in my home anytime" she said.

Raven smiled and raised her cup in thanks before taking a long sip, feeling the flavour and warmth spread through her body, although there was one spot inside her that colder than it should have felt. Raven didn't worry though, she knew exactly why it had gone a little bit colder, and why it would not feel the warmth she craved for a while to come. She looked at the stage which was now empty and feeling a rare surge of boldness within her, put her cup down and stood up. All eyes were on her as she walked to the front and sat on the stool in front of the microphone. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the lights shining on her, lowering it as the lights were dimmed. "Thanks" she said awkwardly, she had seen this done a thousand times before but it felt so odd, different of her. "I've never actually been up here before so forgive me if I kind of suck at this." She took a deep breath and thought of the source of warmth in her that had become colder. She remembered that warmth, their embrace in the rain, when she had held him him the shower, the memories that followed afterwards.

Across the city, Rune sprinted to catch a train that had just begun its journey. He reached out, his hand inches from the steel bar that formed the back rail.

"The night falls, as if slain by the sun," Raven started, remembering everything from that night. "Entwined are we."

Rune gritted his teeth as the train began to pull away but one last surge of strength made him throw himself out and his arm wrapped around the rail, anchoring him for the next bend of his journey.

"The emotion for which you pine flares once," Raven spoke softly, her entire identity in the moment based on her feelings for Rune, his past, everything that made him who he was. "Then dies, swallowed by guilt."

Rune grunted as he pulled himself forward and swung his legs over. He climbed to the top of the train and began to walk forward carefully, looking for an open space to rest in. He looked over the side and spying what he was looking for, swung over and landed inside a car with a few spaces where he could bargain for a few hours' uncomfortable rest. He remembered how afraid he had been for so long of sleep, the nightmares he knew were waiting for him had now all been put to rest.

"Your passion throbbed no more, your hope; long perished, how could you fail to believe?"

Rune laid his head back and had almost closed his eyes when he heard a noise. Looking outside, he saw a youth of a similar age to himself running for the train. The cars had picked up speed and he was beginning to lag behind, Rune could see the hope failing in his eyes and the speed dying in his legs.

"You surrounded yourself in the darkness, forgotten by all, even yourself."

Rune swung out and reached, grabbing the youth by his wrist and pulled, swinging him into the car. The two sat on the cold metal floor, catching their breath before they would exchange names and other such pleasantries.

"But even in the darkness, your shadow will never leave."

Rune gave a nod to the guy who looked him up and down. "Nice ink" he remarked.

Rune looked at the paintings that obscured the carvings on his arms and then up to his new friend, allowing the cracks of a grin to shine through. "I'm Rune" he said, offering a hand.

The dark haired youth looked at it before accepting the hand. "Jason," he replied, shaking it, "Jason Todd."

Rune looked at Jason and wondered what was in the pack he was holding onto so tightly before brushing the thoughts aside, everyone had their secrets. Jason looked down at his pack and tucked in a loose end of sleek black fabric. Rune looked back outside the door, to the setting sun. It was the end of a day, but that only meant one thing. The next day was coming.

"And I will be that unseen shadow, your eternal companion in the darkness. For no matter how dark the night that slays the sun, I will not leave. I will endure. I will never forget."

~Fin~

~THANKS FOR READING!~

~Small Mistake