A/N: Updates YAY. Once again, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of feedback for this, so thank you. I wouldn't be half as inspired if it weren't for all your kind words and encouragement.

Hellfire

4. Lesson of Anguish

What did hell look like?

What did it smell like?

These were questions that, sadly, all the Titans were familiar with.

Fire and blood.

Always fire and blood – often choking with the stench of burning, rotting, human flesh. The Titans had seen enough in their line of work to know that those two themes were always of a consistent nature. Hand in hand, like lovers born of the ugliest sin.

Raven faltered – the only Titan to hesitate at the scene of the crime. The others, they'd thrown themselves into the thick of it, determination like well-tempered fury guiding the strength behind their movements. When they took running steps forward, she took a step back, lingering in their shadows. Her eyes, violet stone, reflected the fiery red carnage of the dreadful scene before her.

Unlike so many times before, the team hadn't merely walked into a bank robbery, or an escaped, super-powered convict, like they were typically accustomed to these days.

No.

They'd left the tower in response to the sudden emergency, and come face to face with a new variation of hell.

Raven hung back, rooted to the spot as the demonic monstrosities scurried before her in a blur of red, engaging her friends in a bloody fight. Garfield tore them limb from limb, slashing with his sharp claws in the form of an enraged Grizzly. Nightwing's blows were more lethal, evidently not caring to hold back against the vile creatures that were overrunning their city. Even Cyborg and Starfire were set to kill.

Not human meant more casualties. Demon spawn like these were beyond negotiation, so primal in their quest, that death was inevitable – it was the only way to stop them.

Kill or be killed.

Her teammates understood that well by now, having encountered a similar army when up against Trigon.

Raven, on the other hand, could not.

"No…" Her fingers trembled visibly, her bottom lip quivering.

Gore lay at their feet, coating the streets beneath piles of lifeless human bodies. The putrid stench of charred human flesh, mingling with death and other bodily fluids pervaded the air in thick, nauseating waves. The sky, once a clear midnight blue, seemed to glow a sinister red and orange, as if to mirror the destruction below. Even the crescent moon, known for its serene presence, appeared in the shape of a bloody sickle, dangerous and foreboding. Screams of anguish and desperate pleas rang out as background noise to the fanning flames and breaking glass.

"Raven?" It was Richard who called out to her first, breaking through her psyche with his caring voice.

Raven's gaze flickered in her leader's direction for a moment, meeting with the white mesh that obscured his blue eyes. "Are you all right?" he queried, taking a few steps in her direction.

His hair was matted with sweat, and his taut, black suit shone, as if slick with moisture. Yet, before he could investigate further, one of the fowl, winged beasts swooped down and tackled him to the ground with its massive claws. Raven gasped as she saw him get dragged down the street, grimacing all the while he tried to beat the monster off him. The creature let out an ear-piercing screech that echoed through the night, flapping its torn-up wings in desperation to flee from the barrage of attacks. However, its talons were imbedded deep into Richard's shoulders, hooking and cutting through the material of his suit, leaving a bloody hole where his skin was penetrated. Still, he fought, even though every motion was agonizing torture.

Despite his best efforts, Nightwing couldn't finish the monster off, even as it howled, opening its maw to reveal two rows of short, jagged teeth. They gleamed in the light of the fire, like small, bloodied daggers.

Suddenly, there was a new sound – less of a shriek and more of a bird cry. It cracked the night sky like thunder, and when Raven looked overhead, she found a majestic green bird nose-diving down towards where Richard and the beast continued to struggle. As it gained momentum, a look of fierce determination in its beady eyes while it surveyed its target, the hell creature tugged once more in a futile attempt to dodge, but its talons were still firmly wedged in the gore of Nightwing's shoulder. Richard cried out in pain, writhing on the floor when it tried to pull away.

Beast Boy was upon it, his feathers catching the light of the crescent moon as he took the monster off his leader in one fell swoop. Once relieved from its clutches, Nightwing's wound gushed warm, crimson fluid and it was all the motivation Raven needed to finally make her move. She dashed to his side in a flurry of her cloak, falling onto her knees next to him while analyzing the extent of the damage. Richard, now free from his antagonist, breathed heavily, his skin clammy and pale. He gazed upon Raven with half-lidded eyes like she was a guardian angel arrived to save him.

In a sense, she was.

Her shaking hands hovered over the gruesome wound, realizing the urgency in closing it before he lost too much blood. It spilled down his chest and pooled about her knees, warm and sticky.

"Azarath metrion zinthos!" Raven's eyes glowed an unnatural white, the same energy cascading from the palms of her hands as they glided over Nightwing's injury.

The skin mended itself, slowly, growing at a rate much faster than what was humanly possible.

Behind her somewhere, she could hear Beast Boy roar in the form of an angered lion, menacing as he shook the very ground with his ferocity. The demon's shrill scream faded and she could have sworn she could hear the rip and tear of Garfield's sharp teeth sinking into its throat.

"Thanks," Richard coughed meekly, mustering a small, grateful smile at the empath as he tried to sit up.

Raven frowned, her brows furrowed. "Don't thank me yet. We need to get out of here. Now."

Starfire's bright green starbolts illuminated the sky around them as she swooped down to the ground with a cement-breaking thud, eyes aglow and her expression one of a warrior relishing in the throes of battle. She shot at one of the monstrosities nearby with her eyes, burning it down in emerald flames. The pavement crunched where she'd landed, her super strength unchecked as she rushed to Nightwing's side in earnest. Almost immediately, her eyes softened when she found her lover beaten and bruised.

"Are you okay?" she asked, stooping down to help him up to his feet. He leaned on her without shame or abandon, and she gingerly brushed a lock of obsidian hair from his face. "That foul creature has injured you." She glanced at the purpling wound where Raven had sealed his skin over, heated anger rekindling in her luminescent eyes.

"I've been dealt worse," he grinned, but it shortly turned into a grimace, and he clutched at the sore spot.

"Take it easy! You can still reopen it," Raven coaxed.

In the meantime, both Cyborg and Beast Boy had done their best to keep the monsters at bay while Raven tended to Dick's wounds, but they were closing in now, their numbers having somehow multiplied. No matter how many they killed, more replaced them in never-ending waves.

"I'm runnin' low on juice here! Anyone got a plan yet?" Cyborg cried out, blasting three more with his cannon.

Starfire and Nightwing exchanged nervous looks.

"We run." It was Raven that had piped up. She summoned a portal, dark energy reflecting a mirage of the city streets before them. The vision wavered, like a gateway to an Elseworld.

Beast Boy joined them, snapping canines at the creatures that circled them, spittle and blood staining his curled back lips.

"We can't just run! People are dying!" Victor protested, the pile of dead human bodies somehow standing out in the background.

Lifeless eyes stared endlessly at the sky, bloody entrails staining the streets in a sea of bubbling crimson. Raven felt bile burn the back of her throat, her eyes stinging from both the smoke and the stench of spilled digestive fluids. "Hurry," she urged, "more will come, and they'll keep coming. There isn't anything we can do for them if we die here."

Beast Boy had morphed back into his human form, his eyes glaring angrily at the winged demons encroaching upon them like a pack of ravished wolves. "Is it just me or are they smiling at us?"

Starfire helped Richard in through the portal first as Raven ushered them along, keeping a mindful eye at the distance between them and the demon army that continued to grow in size and number.

Victor didn't appear too happy with the notion of abandoning innocent people to save his own hide, but he eventually made his way to the portal as well. "We best have a plan and soon," he urged the empath sternly.

Beast Boy snarled as one creature tested its boundaries near them. He slashed with his arm, a green blur, but both Raven and Cyborg could have sworn they'd seen claws despite his human appearance. They stared at the dark blood dripping down his fingers, slack-jawed and uncertain.

"New trick?" Cyborg asked, his brow raised.

Garfield grinned sinisterly, his fangs visible. "I learned a lot out there on my own."

"We can't afford to dawdle here! Let's go!" Raven exclaimed in reminder, her eyes darting nervously back and forth between her friends and the demon horde.

Victor went next, the dark, swirling magic devouring him until nothing was left. Raven glanced at Beast Boy and he nodded once before following the cybernetic man. When he stepped through, the sounds and smells changed almost immediately into a more dull, distant sense. A whiff of extinguished candlelight, a nipping chill away from the fire, and an odd tranquility settled around the team. Raven had teleported them all to the safety of a church.

Beast Boy found Kory still tending to Nightwing in one of the pews, while Victor was aiming his cannon at the winged shadows that occasionally flew past the stained-glass windows, paranoid.

The house of worship was cast in a dark blue light, only illuminated by the blazing fires just outside the heavy, decorative doors. The place was completely deserted, the occupants most likely having fled, hidden, or suffered a worse fate. It seemed Starfire had the notion to block the entrance with a few wooden pews she'd ripped off the ground.

"Think we'll be paying for the damage?" Garfield joked, but his expression remained solemn.

Raven appeared last through the portal, and the black energy of her powers dissipated after she'd stepped through. She looked to be out of breath, her eyes darting maddeningly about, as if the monsters had somehow given chase.

"I have to ask; why a church?" Victor spoke, still brandishing his weaponized arm and aiming at the shadowed monsters lurking just outside the cathedral.

"I'm just taking a wild stab in the dark here, but I presume it's got something to do with demons not liking religion? Satan and God never did jive well, did they?" Dick wheezed, trying to muster up a façade of strength despite his internal injuries.

Raven did not appear amused. Instead, she looked as terrified as she had on the day Slade had marked her for Trigon, her face pale and gaunt, as if she'd seen too much in her young life.

"They won't stop coming," she fretted, turning her back to her teammates to glance uncertainly at the main doors. "It's only a matter of time…"

"Friend Raven," Starfire called out. "Please, help us understand what is happening so that we may fight it!"

Raven shook her head resolutely, eyes downcast. "You can't."

Feeling the frustration building among his teammates, Garfield intervened before the tension could escalate. "Okay, so how about we talk about what we can do instead?"

Raven's eyes flashed then, as if he'd somehow given her an idea. "Gideon…," she whispered to herself. "He'll know what to do. He'll know what it is they want!"

"What does he have to do with all of this, Raven?" Richard had stood on his feet, stumbling into Starfire, who readily steadied him. He clutched at his wounds, but the seriousness of his tone was not lost on the empath.

"That probably isn't relevant right now. We need to find him. He can help us sort all of this out, stop all the death!" she pleaded.

"Like hell it isn't relevant!" Victor snapped, his voice carrying into an echo. "People are dying out there, Raven! Innocent people! Every second we waste in here, more are killed! If Gideon has anything to do with this, I'm sending his ass straight to Trigon himself!"

Guilt marred the empath's features, and she raised her hood over her head, as if to hide away the shame and embarrassment she felt at her friend's verbal lashing.

"Arguing right now solves nothing," Richard stated calmly.

Starfire nodded in agreement. Probing gently, she said, "Raven, tell us where we may find your friend."

"I can do you one better," the empath started, her eyes glowing with power even as she spoke. "I'll take you to him."

Beast Boy fixed the sorceress with a concerned stare. "All this teleporting is going to wear you out, Rae."

But she was already enveloping her team in the wisps of her black magic, the feathers of the raven her powers often manifested into grew around them like a heavy mist.

The apartment complex she'd brought them to was uncharacteristically empty and cold. The lights were off, and everything was eerily quiet – untouched. Almost as if it had barely been lived in at all. Raven swayed when she walked, her legs wobbling from the effort it took to remain upright. She had to steady herself against the head of the couch in his living room. "Gideon…please," she called out, but her voice was a croaking remnant of what it used to be.

"Let's just skip right past the part where I ask exactly why you seem to have a fast travel option for this creep's apartment, and move on to what he has to do with Jump City currently being overrun by evil demon spawn," Beast Boy growled, the hairs on his arms and legs standing on end in response to Gideon's familiar stench, now in overwhelming abundance.

"Garfield's right – enough dillydallying, Raven. Tell us what's going on," Richard assented.

"We have been most patient, but this Gideon is not here," Starfire added.

Raven shook her head, obviously growing frustrated with both her friends and the situation. "You don't understand – he can help us!"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Cyborg replied icily.

Raven's indifference changed to outrage. "I should have known. None of you trust me. You never have."

"That's a lie!" Beast Boy barked back, angered by the accusation.

Raven turned her scorn at Garfield, her eyes glassy. "You of all people can't talk, Gar! You left! You just…left!"

She threw her arms up, as if all hope had been lost. The changeling staggered, taken aback by the unexpected hurt etched into her features; nearly identical to when Malchior had betrayed her so long ago. The raw emotion displayed by the empath – both uncharacteristic and sudden – left Garfield speechless, his mouth opening and closing without a sound.

Nonetheless, Raven steeled herself, like she always did when she was hurting in front of others. "I did what I had to do to get by – what I needed to do when everyone else had moved on. For myself. Gideon…he was there for me. He was there when no one else was. The least I can do is grant him a chance to explain this!"

"Moved on?" Richard asked, his tone gaining a sharp edge.

But Raven was already backing away, shaking her head. "I can do this without you. I'll handle this one on my own." Then, looking away, she added in a smaller voice, "After all, it wouldn't be the first time…"

Beast Boy hesitated, still shaken by the knowledge that he'd hurt her in such a way – that he hadn't been there for her when she needed a friend the most. Garfield's shoulders sagged, and his gaze dropped to the ground, a feeling of failure overcoming his usual good cheer. He felt rotten to the core, and he stood there, helpless, even as Raven whipped up her cloak and partly vanished into a portal she'd opened.

"Raven!" Nightwing called after her, half a second too late. "Wait, please!"

She'd given her friends one last forlorn look – haunted and sad but fleeting in the typical fashion of the empath. Her eyes lingered a moment too long on the green shapeshifter's bowed head – on the crown of his emerald hair. Beast Boy didn't look up, not even when he felt the heat from her amethyst stare.

"I'm sorry..." For what, would forever be a mystery to the green shapeshifter.

He heard the portal close; heard the way the disappointment tainted her tone – like leaving them was the very last thing she wanted to do. But by the time he found the courage he needed to look up at her again, she was already gone, the room missing her aura and her distinguished scent already.

"Gar, you have to know none of this is your fault," Victor offered sympathetically shortly after, his robotic digits squeezing the changeling's shoulder in comfort.

Somewhere behind them, Nightwing sighed, plopping down into the couch, obviously thinking about their next move.

"Everything's changed…," Beast Boy admonished, his voice trailing softly. "I never should have left." He shook his head, angry with himself and far too afraid to admit to the tears burning behind his eyes.

"We should focus on the task we have been given," Starfire urged, glancing at their distressed leader for answers.

Richard cradled his head in his hands, letting out a long, shaky sigh.

"Raven gave us a clue," Cyborg stated then. "We now know that Gideon's got a part to play in all this, as suspected."

Starfire nodded, her fingers brushing the torn part of Nightwing's uniform tenderly. "And if we need further evidence on how to find him, she has brought us to the best place to look." There was a slight smirk tugging on the alien beauty's lips.

"Who cares about evidence?" Beast Boy roared. "We need to go find Raven!"

His outburst was unexpected, and left most of the team faltering. Nightwing stood up, demanding all the attention in the room with one swift movement. He observed Beast Boy from behind the mesh of his mask. "Raven is our top priority," he agreed simply.

Garfield had been prepared to fight – to argue on the point – but didn't know how to handle his leader when, for once, he was on the same page. Dick turned to the other two Titans then. "Cyborg, you and Beast Boy continue to search the apartment for clues. We'll need them if we are going to convince Raven of Gideon's treachery. Starfire and I will go after Raven." He pulled out his communicator and flipped it open. An image of Jump City's map flickered on the screen and, after the push of a button, a red dot began flashing, moving quickly along the white lines.

"No," Beast Boy interrupted suddenly. With barely contained rage and an unflinching stare, he informed Nightwing, "I'm going after Raven. Part of this is my fault. It's my responsibility to help make things right this time."

The room grew silent with newly budding tension, all the while both shape-shifter and boy wonder remained unwavering in their stare-off. Their teammates watched with interest, sensing the uncomfortable stalemate that had been reached. Seconds that transpired felt like minutes, and with Dick's mouth in a tight line, it was difficult to say who would budge first.

"Fine," Nightwing relented at last.

Starfire let out the breath she'd been holding, and Cyborg pretended to fiddle with a bit of equipment on his arm.

Garfield had been poised for an argument – even a terse lecture – before any sort of actual concession from their somewhat hard-headed leader. It left him feeling a bit like a fool when he was met with zero resistance, even though he'd somehow managed to get his way in the end. "Well – uh, good," he floundered, losing most of the fiery edge he'd garnered prior.

"We'll be in touch if we find anything," Cyborg said.

Starfire, appearing concerned with the decision to be left behind, added, "Please, do not hesitate to call us if there is any trouble. Gideon has…not left me with a good feeling." The alien princess shuddered, hugging her bare arms as if a cold chill had prickled against her delicate skin. "I'd hate to think on what sort of things he will do to Raven, should we be correct about the nature of his character…"

Beast Boy supressed a growl, his brows knitting together in determination. He was doing his best trying to forget about the kiss Raven had shared with Gideon outside her room, as the mere memory made his stomach turn for a wide variety of reasons.

Richard nodded curtly at Kory, with Garfield shifting into a pterodactyl after running out to the balcony. As he jumped over the ledge with a loud screech, Nightwing followed suit, landing onto his friend's strong, green back in the form of the extinct creature. They glided through the night sky, illuminated by the fire burning below in their city, with Dick guiding them in the direction of the red flashing dot.

Beast Boy could practically feel the other Titan's imminent rage and stress at the helplessness of the predicament they were in. He knew it all too well because he was experiencing the same internal conflict.

People were still screaming for their lives just down below, and it was only more worrisome when it faded out into a terrifying, unnatural silence. This only spurred the changeling to move faster, desperate to locate both Raven and Gideon before they had to lose anyone else to the foul beings.

One thing at a time.

Raven.

They had to get to Raven first. Finding her meant finding Gideon, and figuring out his relation to the monsters could potentially put a stop to their spawning rate.

Beast Boy couldn't even look down anymore – couldn't stand the way the smoke stung his eyes, or the way the stench of blood and death filled his nostrils. It was nauseating and made him break out into a cold sweat – as if it infected him like a disease seeping into the marrow of his very bones. He hated how they couldn't stop and save them – hated himself and blamed himself for most of it. If only he hadn't left…would things have been different between him and the empath?

Could this whole thing have been avoided?

Ironic, he thought, how hell was just beneath them as the two Titans soared in the heavens at a safe distance above, consumed with their own personal grievances. Was this how angels felt when they wept for all those who suffered in the fanning flames of death?

"She's by the pier, near some warehouses," Dick shouted, drawing Garfield out of his own detrimental thoughts, and pointing out towards the glimmering body of water in the distance. So different was the atmosphere of the scene that for a moment, it was as if they'd entered an entirely new dimension itself. The rippling waters, a deep, dark blue, mirrored the calm, starry sky and floating clouds of the peaceful night. Like this end of the world was somehow oblivious and untouched by the horrors being committed in the heart of the city, only a few kilometers away.

Beast Boy accelerated down towards it, the wind cutting against his wings and ruffling Nightwing's hair as he clung to the spiralling changeling.

"What's with bad guys and warehouses anyways?" Garfield asked the older man once they'd safely landed and he'd morphed back into his human shape. "Like, how much sketchier can you be if you're operating from an abandoned warehouse?"

Richard ignored his prattling and focused on the tracker, but Garfield was nervous and anxious, so he continued. "That's like having a giant arrow pointing at you saying, evil dude, beware."

Nightwing was staring at the flashing dot on the communicator in his hands, and then squinted off into the distance, but the pier appeared to be void of any life. "It's too quiet, isn't it?" he noted gruffly.

Beast Boy strained his ears, but all he caught was the whistling of the wind, the crashing of the waves, and the distant squeals of the monsters currently overrunning the city. "Should it not be?" He shrugged.

Nightwing sneered. "Why aren't there any demons here?"

"Uh. Maybe they don't like water?"

"Be serious, Gar," Dick chastised him.

The changeling sighed, his shoulders tense and his posture stiff. "Where's Rae?" he asked, a muscle in his jaw twitching with unspoken agitation.

Richard closed the communicator. "She's supposedly somewhere here. The tracker says she is, unless she dropped her comm."

They both looked out apprehensively at the vast waters that surrounded them. "You don't think...?" Garfield trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek.

That's when he caught it, undeniable and as familiar as the day he'd met the frigid demoness – her scent.

Incense, lavender, with earthy undertones like smoked oak.

It was faint, but it coloured the air in soft, swirling tendrils. Traces of it, left unmasked by the clear night sky where the reek of death and fire from the city hadn't quite reached yet. He sniffed as the wind picked up, carrying the mineral-laden stench of water with it. If he was careful, he could almost taste her on the tip of his tongue.

A second sniff, and he had Dick's attention.

"What are you picking up?"

"It's her. She's here," he growled in response.

Garfield followed his nose, moving in the direction where her smell grew stronger, if only slightly. At first, he walked in circles, trying to discern it from everything else, but once he'd locked onto it, he picked up his pace. His walk turned into a jog, and then a sprint until he was racing down dark alleys and dodging dumpsters and bags of trash that littered the narrow pathways. Nightwing was hot on his heels, giving chase and only lagging a few feet behind.

They bobbed and weaved around the deserted area like a maze, only pausing if Beast Boy needed to relocate Raven's scent again, typically at a forked path.

When they found her, it was sudden and unexpected.

Things happened quickly there after.

Demon spawn littered the tight alleyway they'd just turned into, turning their unsettling, glowing four eyes to the newest intruders.

In the distance was Raven, unconscious and slung over the red, beastly shoulder of one of the creatures. Blood oozed from where her chakra would be situated in the centre of her forehead. It dribbled onto the pavement in dark, angry red drops.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Nightwing acted with the reflexes of a trained acrobat, not stopping in his pursuit of the violet-haired Titan. He attacked the demons in his way, dispatching two of them with his Escrima sticks before any of the others could relay a new battle cry and meet him head-on.

Beast Boy watched helplessly from afar as the demon carrying Raven quickly opened a portal in the cement floor beneath it– similar to what he'd seen the empath do many times prior – and vanish from within its reddened spiral.

Nightwing was overrun by enemies within seconds, and his jaw clenched with the effort it took from his worn-out body keeping up with the vile monsters that had all convened upon him. Garfield watched as a set of angry claws barely scratched at the black uniform his leader wore, tearing through the material like butter. Half a second more, and Dick would have been sliced through, much like before. Only this time, there was no Raven to help heal him, and a second critical wound would be nearly fatal at this point.

Beast Boy knew what he had to do. In fact, he didn't even pause to question it, nor to think over the possible consequences of such a rash decision.

His lips pulled back over his teeth to reveal a vicious snarl, his primal emotions setting every hair on his body on end. His eyes went from green to swirling amber, the bones beneath his newly scaled skin shifting, adjusting, cracking, and snapping.

He changed into a monstrous T-Rex and quickly bounded in the direction of the preoccupied demons, shaking the ground with every footfall. Beast Boy tackled into the gaggle of creatures with a fierce cry that could be heard from across the water, giving Richard more of a fighting chance. The changeling then mercilessly ripped into one of their throats when he had it pinned to the ground beneath his claws, tasting the warm, metallic poison of its gushing blood in his mouth. Its movements stilled rapidly, and Garfield was running again as fast as his new legs could carry him.

Somewhere behind him, he could hear Dick's desperate protests, but he tuned him out, only catching one word as he shifted back into his human form, and leapt into the angry red of the shrinking portal, right after Raven and the demon.

"Stop!"

A/N: Yeah, okay, I know. I'm a jerk for taking so long. I'm sorry. Life, excuses, but mostly I really struggled with this chapter and revamped it a LOT. Strange how even my most carefully planned stories can be a fight trying to write down. Apologies. I haven't abandoned this. Anyways, we're at the midway point here. Hope you enjoyed this because I really put some effort into getting everything right and making sure it was packed with action. Which is…not my strongest suit. Thanks for reading and staying loyal! You guys are awesome! :)