Robin was glued to Raven's side after the renegade trio had been drawn back to consciousness. He was with her as they moved the exhausted members of their team into the infirmary where they could be treated comfortably, away from the sheet-covered stillness of their fallen friend. He took a vigilant post next to her bed as she lay healing; recovering. And though he hadn't tried to rip answers out of the witch his stifling presence was more than enough to hint at what he wanted.

"The beast subdued me and neutralized my magic. I wasn't able to protect the others from the illusions. Speedy broke out of it and attacked, distracting it enough so that I could free myself, but there was no way that he could muster enough force to fend off the evil." Raven turned away and fought the growing pain in her throat. "There was no time to think, just to act. I had to save the Titans that I could save."

How could Aqualad not be among that group? They both thought it, but neither manifested the emotion in words.

Robin looked down the row of beds, barely able to see the bright red of Speedy's uniform around Cyborg as he moved among the patients. Then he returned his attention to Raven.

"You did more than any of us could. Without you we never would have known how to handle this."

"But what good was it?" she burst out throatily. The glass of water on her beside table exploded in a flash and shatter. All eyes automatically turned their direction, then, as if politely leaving her to her grief, looked away as if that were entirely normal. As the water dripped freely from table to tile floor Raven harnessed control of her emotion and spoke far more quietly, "I still couldn't help him."

Robin slowly pulled off his right glove and ran his hand over his black hair. A finger caught on a snag (a result of being tussled since this nightmare began only several hours before) which he couldn't find the energy to address at that moment. "You aren't responsible. The only person who is - this Medium - will face the consequences for what he has done."

"You can bet your ass he will," intoned Bumblebee. The young woman had become invisible to the others when she took to a chair in the corner of the room, Mas sitting on her left thigh and Menos' arms wrapped around her neck. The collar of her shirt was hot and wet where his tears had freely trickled down her skin and disappeared into the absorbency of the material. "I'll personally see to it that he rots in the smallest jail cell Steel Correctional has until he's nothing but dust."

Her cool venom was so controlled it was eerie. Her voice lingered like a hook in their hearts, which was so unnatural for something said by Bumblebee. But her thoughts were preoccupied by how this pretty much ended Titans East.

Still hugging Mas around the shoulders and patting Menos' back, Bumblebee took a second to check out Speedy. The archer was laying on the gurney, unmoving, his arm resting over his masked eyes. Aside from a few dry sobs and long exhales he hadn't said a thing since Starfire and Cyborg had forcefully dragged him from the warded chamber. Bumblebee supposed that she should probably brace the twins for Speedy's inevitable departure. She didn't hold it against him, but Speedy wasn't the type to stick around when things got too personal.

She wasn't sure how personal things had become between him and Aqualad, but footage from the security cameras hinted at something forming between the two that was completely beyond the simple friendship they displayed when in the public eye.

Whatever had happened, Speedy was about to take off. It was just his nature; no blaming him for that. Bumblebee nuzzled Menos' hair, kissing him in a motherly way.

An alarm sounded overhead, causing most occupants of the room to jump in surprise. The members of Titans West recognized the peculiar tone immediately. One of the security lasers on the property had been tripped.

"I will go," Starfire said, and she darted out of the room at full speed.

Beast Boy thought back to the last time that sensor had been set off. What a bitter irony that it had been Aqualad to do it: he had dragged himself up from the depths to the Tower to warn them about the sonic cannon Brother Blood was developing off the coast. His heart began to thump hard in his chest as he remembered the Atlantean, battered from his lost battle and covered in sea kelp. He'd lost but refused to give up, and through their determination they had conquered Blood.

Now Blood was gone, and so was Aqualad. Dead because of a stupid bank robbery. Beast Boy covered his face with his hands, his teeth grinding together. He hoped no one would notice him in his dark corner, trying to be the tough but emotional guy.

He was fortunate in at least that. Starfire returned at that moment, but she wasn't alone. Behind her loomed a figure that was indistinguishable until he stepped into the light.

"It would seem we have a visitor."

He was a tall man, clad in red and black, with blonde hair and tan skin. His eyes were inhumanly expansive, very similar to Aqualad's, but instead were light blue. When he spoke it was a strong, gruff voice.

"I apologize for my intrusion, but I… There was a sudden shift in the energies and I recognized traces of an old friend of mine. Please, I know that Aqualad resides with the Teen Titans: has something happened to him?"

"Who the hell're you?" asked Speedy ungracefully. He sat up, shaking the gurney in a dangerous way. His eyes narrowed at the newcomer suspiciously for her knew that Aqualad had no living immediate family, yet the man before them was clearly an Atlantean.

"Of course. I am called-"

"Aquaman." All eyes shot over to Robin, who had voiced this tidbit of information on his own accord. "You were Aqualad's mentor."

The blonde man nodded his confirmation.

"By your use of past tense I'd hazard a guess that my former student indeed isn't doing so well," mused Aquaman quietly. But, of course, he had already known this.

---

"Prince Garth, or Aqualad, was royal blood. When he passed on everyone in Atlantis felt it," Aquaman was explaining to the Titans. He hadn't asked to see the body, which may have been for the best. None of the Titans cared to show him where it was.

"Please, is there anyone whom should be contacted?" asked Starfire. Everyone was glad the alien was willing to take on that kind of responsibility.

"Unfortunately, his parents are both deceased, as is most of his extended family. He has a living uncle in Poseidonis, but they were not close."

"So are you here to share your sympathy or just reinforce the fact that he wasn't good enough to live with his own people?"

"Speedy!"

"You are entitled to your misgivings," conceded the hero patiently, "And I confess that I did come here with an official purpose in addition to my personal reasons. I bear a message from the Monarch of Atlantis. It is the king's decree that Garth's… Aqualad's exile be revoked."

"A little late for that," Speedy whispered mostly to himself, though others nearby did hear.

"This isn't easy to say," Aquaman drew a deep breath for strength, "but it is his will that Aqualad's body be returned and laid to rest amongst his own people."

This announcement drew a loud and immediate eruption of protests throughout the room.

"No way!"

"He was one of us way longer than one of them!"

"That is an unacceptable decree that does not bring us joy!"

"I'm very sorry, my friends, but we Atlanteans believe in very strict funeral rites. They must be followed through so that Aqualad's spirit can be restored to the life cycle properly."

Speedy looked around him. It seemed everybody suddenly wanted to bite a chunk out of Aquaman but himself and Raven. He was too emotionally drained to put up much of a worthwhile protest, and Raven likely didn't argue because she believed in preserving cultural customs. She had already interfered too much for her liking today.

In one last ditch effort to reinstate his point Aquaman started, "The people of Atlantis-"

"Don't have a say in the matter!" interrupted Bumblebee furiously with tears in her eyes. It was the first time the Titans had seen her even begin to crack. "He will be buried here: the home that took him in when the first one threw him out!"

While more temperamental Titans like Beast Boy, Bumblebee, Starfire and Cyborg ripped into the Atlantean mercilessly everyone else just sort of fell back, unable to put their anger into words.

Though Robin was shaking with rage. He couldn't take it.

"Listen to yourselves!" he screamed at the group as a whole, "He isn't somebody's dead pet! Figure it out so that he can die with some dignity!"

The Boy Wonder whirled and stormed out of the lab.

---

No sooner had the bedroom door slid closed behind him was Robin bombarded with questions from a voice resonating from a room that should have been empty.

"You alright?"

Robin sagged against the wall and waved a hand in the general direction of the infirmary, aggravated. "I can't sit and listen to them fight over his body like he wasn't a real person."

"I wouldn't be too hard on Aquaman. He's just trying to smoothen relationships between the surface and Atlantis by making an attempt. I doubt he really expects, or even wants, to take Aqualad."

"He was convincing enough."

Robin had not been surprised to find Batman in his room. His adoptive father was a very aloof character who preferred keeping a low profile, yet always seemed to know what was going on with the people. Funny thing was that his former partner was very similar, yet Robin wasn't angry that Batman had invaded the sanctity of his chambers. Frankly, he could use a comforting word.

"What are you doing here?"

Batman murmered, "One would have hoped that the Titans would have abandoned the communicators after the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil. Alfred checks in on the frequency every so often. He says hello, by the way. Are you alright?"

Finally the Titan stuttered heavily, "Yes. No. I don't know. I guess we all grew accustomed to the idea that nothing could ever really hurt us."

Batman seemed to understand this. "It's a common mistake made when overconfidence causes you to drop your guard, teenager and adult. Unfortunately, it takes a death to snap us out of it."

"It's just… We've never lost a Titan before. Somehow we've always come through in once piece."

"Hmm, not exactly. Though your generation has never lost a teammate that's not to say it hasn't happened before." The alter ego of Bruce Wayne stalked across the room to his former apprentice and sat. Robin recognized his stiff, firm posture in the chair, likely a habit from years of being brought up as a wealthy child. "Teenage heroes have been putting their lives on the line for decades. Aqualad wasn't the first to give the ultimate sacrifice. As sad as it is, I doubt he'll be the last."

"You know of any others?" asked the Boy Wonder, not really interested and only partially listening. Batman shrugged.

"No one you would have heard of. Unfortunately, their identities, as well as those of the other deceased heroes, have been lost to time. The world goes on, survivors resume their lives, and memories are forgotten." Batman spared a glance at Robin, who was pondering all this with a grimace of utmost seriousness. "Do you still think about your parents?"

"Every day," retorted the boy. Batman seemed suspicious of his answer.

"You mean there hasn't been a single day gone by in the past few years you haven't dwelled on their deaths?" asked the guardian of Gotham. Robin didn't say anything. "I didn't think so. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but you and your teammates will overcome this. You may wake up every day and think about your fallen friend for weeks and wonder what he would be doing if he were alive and you'll torture yourselves unnecessarily with 'what-if' scenarios because that is what we human beings do. But someday in the future you'll wake up in the morning, go to the bathroom and start your routine. You'll eat breakfast and you'll go fight crime before lunch. You'll go through your whole day and he won't come into your mind at all, and then you'll do it all over again the next morning. He won't haunt you constantly and you'll resume your life. And you may feel guilty when you do think about him again, but don't. No one wants to die thinking their causing their loves ones pain."

Batman got up and started to leave. "Remember the good things," he added as an afterthought, "Because years down the road Aqualad will be forgotten altogether. It will happen to me, it will happen to you, and it will happen to every great crime fighter this world has ever known. All we can do is live in the moment. Now go be with your team and make them understand what I've just told you. They need to see their leader being strong."

The greatest of superheroes Robin had ever known left silently and unseen by anyone else in the tower. It was time he let the healing process begin in the young crime fighters, and for that to begin they had to end the funeral.

---

Speedy was lurking about on the roof of the Titans West tower, gazing over the peaceful harbor in deep thought. Aquaman hadn't come alone: there were five other Atlanteans residing on the island's beach, waiting to take Garth away.

They would be getting what they wanted. After Robin's pep talk the Titans had finally been able to force themselves to let go. Roy was strangely alright with it. He doubted he would have gone to any earth-bound gravesite, anyway. Garth was water, not earth. And, all other reasons aside, it wasn't like Speedy even visited his father's burial site very often.

That was why Mia Dearden, current trainee of Green Arrow, had to debate with herself about whether or not she wanted to start bugging her predecessor about his life right then. It took some mental coaching, but finally she did let her presence be known.

"Excuse me?"

Roy didn't even look back. Just sort of snorted and said, "Can't you see I'm in the middle of living out my emotional angst? Go away."

"You're just as polite as Green Arrow led me to believe," muttered Mia. This did get Speedy's attention; he tore his eyes away from the ocean water and gave her a cool once-over.

"I heard my former partner was lugging around some new baggage. I thought he was decidedly out of the training business?"

"It took some arm twisting."

"Of course. His first shot at having an apprentice didn't exactly live up to expectations."

"He doesn't think that anymore," Mia felt a little more comfortable and allowed herself to get a bit closer to Speedy and sit near him on the overhang.

"He also knows I don't give a damn what he thinks."

"Yes, he's got that one figured out, too."

"Is that why he sent you rather than coming to see me himself?"

"Are you upset that a man you supposedly don't care about couldn't make the trip?" He glared at her for that little remark but she just shook her head. "Black Canary just had to remind him that, superhero or not, you're still a kid. He's not as bitter as he was before, and I think that, if you're not too spiteful, it might benefit you guys to just talk."

"Not interested, thanks."

Mia sighed. "Still too spiteful."

For a while neither of them spoke. As the sun set sleepily over the horizon the distant city was bathed in a gentle orange light while the clouds in the sky reflected off a relaxing purple. The world was still turning, Speedy realized, and this rattled up his insides a little. Had the news of the death of a Teen Titan had been broadcasted on a special news report yet? Most people wouldn't know until they saw the newspaper headlines the next morning, probably.

Morning was still going to come tomorrow, even if Garth did not. For some reason that seemed impossible.

Then that girl spoke up again. "Need an ear to vent that emotional angst on?"

"No."

"Oh, I see. You're going to do what everyone else is and constantly blame yourself for what happened, even though there's no way in which you're remotely responsible."

"Exactly. Buh-bye now."

"Really, how can any of this be your fault? From what I hear you weren't anywhere near him at the time."

"Didn't have to be in order to be the cause. I was the one who left him vulnerable enough to be taken over by the demonic whatever," he said, scowling at himself, "If I hadn't tried to ruin his life because he tried to save mine then this evil wouldn't have been able to get into his system, and he would still be alive. None of this would have happened."

"But… Then what would be the point?" asked the apprentice. Speedy frowned at her, prompting her to explain. "The evil would have had to have gone somewhere, wouldn't it? If it had not gone to Aqualad, then it could have manifested in some innocent civilian. Wasn't Aqualad there to protect the innocents in the first place?"

Speedy tried to put her down. "You just don't understand."

"I think I do." She shifted in her place and braced for retaliation. "You're being very selfish, toying with the idea of sacrificing a person you don't know for some one that you do. I didn't know Aqualad, true, but I'd be willing to bet by the sheer number of friends he has here to grieve his death that Aqualad was the type who would give up his life for anyone in a heartbeat. Am I right?"

The red-clad archer's eyes bore into her for what seemed like an eternity before he finally returned his gaze to the water. He half-expected Aqualad to dive up from the depths at any moment. His imagination was so vivid he could almost see the other.

"What do you call yourself?" he asked the girl. A little taken back by the out-of-place question, she had to think about it.

"I haven't quite picked a new superhero handle yet. I'm still kind of new to the trade."

"Take mine," said the red head surely.

"You mean call myself Speedy?"

"It's better than Quickie, isn't it?"

The comment forced the girl to smirk, but something still irked at her about the deal. "So, then… What will you call yourself, Titans-East-Member-Formerly-Known-As-Speedy?"

Roy Harper got to his feet, sighed and put his hands in his pockets. Before leaving he corrected lightly, "I just went solo. As Arsenal."