Summary: The angel comforts, the demon destroys. That's how it usually is. But not this time. (AU, Slight RobRae, Alena chan's challenge)

Toboe LoneWolf: Whee, my little entry, may it not be a dud. Wildly AU (XP), so wildly AU I doubt I would win when there are many others that are more "normal," but hey, this was fun to write. Yes, there are connections to the actual TT, it's not that far off. This is just a one-shot; I had a really ambitious idea along this concept for a whole chaptered story, but that's far, far ahead. Perhaps later I'll do a full-fledged story with angels and demons. Till then, here's a taste.

Disclaimer: Toboe LoneWolf does not own Teen Titans.


Demon Comfort

The little angel huddled in a darkened alley, shuddering in sobs. He hadn't meant to. It was a lie, he hadn't done It. No…it was just a vision, a different future, it wasn't his… He didn't mean to!

Broken, he curled into a ball, wings pulled in close.

Wings covered in blood.

He hadn't meant to!

He was an angel, a being of comfort and love and light. He was a guardian, protector of the weak, defender of truth and justice. They fought demons and won. The light always won. They were supposed to.

They weren't supposed to cave into the darkness. They weren't supposed to kill. They weren't supposed to have mortal blood on their hands…

It was insanity, he thought. A moment of insanity.

A moment of eternity of insanity…for an angel lived forever.

x x x x x

A young demon flew above the chaos, black wings sweeping across the sky. She was pale and ashen-skinned, like others of her kind, though her violet hair and eyes betrayed her rank and heritage. Shrouded in darkness, she observed the destruction below.

Bodies strewed across the deserted street. Piled on top of each other, blood dripping down to the sewers. Innocent mortals, caught up in an immortal war. In a sick act, someone had arranged the bodies to form the shape of an "S" from above. She shuddered, recalling the mark.

He was still following her. This was just a sign.

I will follow you, his haunting voice echoed in her mind. My master bids it. You would do well to obey your father and my master. You cannot run from your destiny, little Raven.

Raven gritted her teeth. I'll change it. I'll find a way.

The phantom-voice of memory in her mind laughed. Your destiny began the day you were born, and nothing can stop it. It will come to pass. I will make sure of it. The voice hissed. You're going to destroy the world, Raven.

She was running, running from him, running from her father. She would deny her blood and her destiny. She would not do it; she would not have mortal blood stain her hands…

Pain.

She reeled in the sky, the emotion roaring in her senses. Suffering and anguish pounded through her, washing in waves. Pulling in her wings, she dove down to earth, to ground herself before it could overwhelm her. She landed heavily on her knees. Her eyes shut tight, she increased her mental shielding, dulling her empathic senses.

Slowly, the pain subsided. She sighed in relief. Automatically Raven pulled up the hood on her cloak, as she normally did when she walked among mortals, although hidden from their sight. Standing up, she paused. The pain…perhaps it had come from a survivor. And then, perhaps there was someone she could save from Slade's actions…

Honing in the source, she found it in a side alleyway. It had run from the death, and hid here, she thought. That was what probably saved it. Landing softly, she walked closer. She stretched out a hand, black power pulsing. She was no angel, able to give comfort. But as a demon, she could at least take the pain away.

What demons could give, they could also take away.

She broke off a gasp as she saw the source.

It was an angel.

An angel covered in blood.

Glistening white robes running down with red blood. Feathery wings, soft as a dove, now wet and sticky, spotted red, folded tight over the angel's shuddering back. The angel cried, golden tears plinking to the muddy ground.

"I didn't mean to!" He wailed, his head covered with bloodstained hands. He lowered his head even further, oblivious to the world, knowing only his own pain. "I didn't mean to kill them!"

Raven's eyes widened. It had been…him?

No. The mark was Slade's, it was his handiwork. The sign was written all over the place. It couldn't have been…

An angel didn't kill.

The pain called to her, alluring her demon's senses. Here is something weak, they whispered. Come, take, and drink it in. Revel in pain. It is who you are.

Ruthlessly Raven shoved them away. No. Here was someone broken, someone needing help. Slowly she walked closer, in hesitant steps. Kneeling down, she touched his shaking shoulder. And then she pulled him into a firm embrace, her own wings cupping out and covering them.

Even if he was an angel, perhaps he could accept a demon's comfort.

x x x x x

He didn't notice it right away. But slowly he felt it, something encircling him, holding him gently, rocking him back and forth. He felt trust. A warm presence against his back, steady and calm. Embracing him, all of him.

"…You?" His voice cracked.

"…Me. Someone who will listen," his comforter answered, rubbing his shoulder. It sounded like a girl. "Someone who will not run from who you are."

He nodded dumbly, sitting up. Looking straight ahead, his reddened eyes not seeing the gray-bricked wall but visions, visions of death by his hand.

"…I did it. I killed them."

The arms tightened around him.

"He made me…" He whispered. "He made me, and I listened…I listened! It was his voice, I kept hearing him, and I couldn't think anymore, it was all dark and light and confusing and I thought, I thought…" He trailed off. Not wanting to say the rest.

His comforter said nothing. Only a warm hand rubbing up and down his arms.

He swallowed.

"…I thought they were nothing."

"They aren't." His comforter said simply.

"I know now," he whispered. "I knew before. But back then, I didn't…he confused me…"

"Who?"

He pulled his arms closer around him. She pulled him closer, resting her head on his shoulder. He felt her soft hair trickling down his neck, silky smooth.

"Slade."

She stiffened. His heart fell. Now she would leave him, now she knew…he'd fallen before the second-hand man of the devil…

"He made you?" She said quietly. "Why?"

He didn't know what he was doing. Or saying. All he knew was that there was someone who would listen, someone who didn't care, someone who wasn't running away in fear.

"He wanted me to be like him. He wanted…he said everyone would be like him. That the world would be destroyed, and all would follow his master. That even angels would fall. That I would be the first, because I am so much like him…"

Raven didn't say anything. How twisted could her existence be? No matter what she did, or what she did not, she caused pain and suffering. If she acted, she would let her father into the mortal world. If she did not, then Slade would, and this would occur… No matter what, in her name the world would suffer…

"You aren't," She said finally. "You cried. He doesn't. So you aren't."

"…Is it that simple?"

"…No. I wish it were." Her voice spoke sadly. "But it isn't."

They said nothing for a while. In silence they sat in that darkened alley, tucked in a corner. Thinking their own thoughts.

"Who are you?" He asked suddenly. He wanted to know. A mortal? If they could see him. An angel? If they would actually comfort a fallen angel. A demon? No.

A demon didn't comfort.

"Who are you?" She asked back.

"…Robin. But who are you?"

"…It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does." He squirmed in her arms. She let go, hiding her face with her wings.

Her black wings.

Robin stared in shock.

She was a demon.

Pulling away, she ran from him. She leapt up to fly—

Arms circled around her waist.

"No," Robin mumbled into her back. "Don't leave."

She came back down. "I'm not like you."

"No, you aren't," Robin smiled weakly. "I don't care."

"You should," she whispered. "All of you."

"I don't," he countered. "Who are you?"

"…A demon." She tugged on his arms, trying to break free.

"I know," he let go and turned her around, grasping her shoulders. Looking into her violet eyes. She closed them and turned her head. Robin pulled her close, hugging her tight. "But I don't care."

He asked again. "Who are you?"

"…You don't want to know. You won't like it."

Robin waited. He didn't care if she was a demon. He just wanted to know the one who comforted him, the one who stayed with him.

Raven didn't want to say it. She wanted to leave, she needed to leave. She had to keep running, forever and ever, until she found a way to stop her father. She didn't want to break the fragile ties to this angel, a being of light and joy and happiness, even if he had fallen. And they would, the bond would break, and she would be alone again…

They would be alone again.

"I won't leave you," Robin murmured into her hair. He repeated her own words. "I won't run from who you are."

…He wouldn't? He had to, once he knew.

Something shifted inside her. No.

He wouldn't.

"Raven," she whispered. "Raven, first daughter of Trigon. …The one who will destroy the world."

Robin didn't move. "Is that all?" He said, amused.

Raven turned her head, confused. He didn't…care? She, the one destined to destroy the world, known both in heaven and hell, feared by all, with power black and terrible?

"I'm running," she tried to explain. "I don't want to destroy the world."

"Good. Neither do I." Robin had a crooked smile on his face. Fate was weird. "Slade said I would too."

Raven frowned and narrowed her eyes, glaring at him. "Are you teasing me?"

"No," Robin pulled back and brushed a strand of hair off her face. She was beautiful, in her own way. A demon's beauty, enticing and alluring, dark and forbidden. He didn't know what was happening.

Robin looked into her eyes. "I just want to know…will you be here for all eternity?"

Raven blinked. "What?"

He smiled. "Will you…stay here with me?"

We are alike, you and I, his eyes said. Fallen. We will be that way for eternity. For that, can we not stay by each other's side?

Raven found herself stepping forward. She pulled him back into a tight embrace. His arms enfolded around her, one hand on her back, the other pressed against her head. Sighing, she leaned against his hand, his soft hand, sharing in the glow. Her eyes tilted to meet his.

Yes.