Okay, here's the deal. This is my first chapter for Forbidden under the pen name blindingdarkness15. Already I have a feeling that I am going to lose many of my old readers, but perhaps I will gain many new ones. I hope you will enjoy this new chapter, as I had written it before I was locked out of my old account.

Richard sat on the small couch in his living room, eyes wide and glazed over. No attempt was made to try and comfort him. Terra, Gar and Victor simply sat around him as Kori was in Raven's room checking her over for injuries and trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

His heart had been shattered.

Her comment just kept repeating itself over and over in his head, as if it was on a tape and someone kept rewinding it… 'Who are you?' she had gasped, the look in her eyes so vulnerable and confused. A look he had never seen with Raven.

Those three words seemed so insignificant when separates, yet when she strung them together and spoke them, he crashed. All the feeling that had built up over the past week or so felt like it was dying. Richard kept looking back over the week and what was happening now. As he thought about how his feeling would race at the mere mention of her, he realized he was going to have to admit it. He had fallen for her once again. Now, everything had fallen apart.

What had happened to her when she was gone? What had they done to her?

More importantly, what was he supposed to do now?

He heard a door shut faintly behind him. His head whipped around as he saw Kori step out of the bedroom. He shot up off the couch and ran to her. "Well? What's happening?"

Kori let out a sigh. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she responded, "Maybe we should go back to the couch for this…" She took his hand and led him back to where he had been sitting before.

The other three perked up when they saw Kori come to the living area of the apartment. Once Kori realized that all of their eyes were on her, eagerly waiting for her to tell them about what she had concluded, she wished she had never volunteered to be interim leader. She hated giving bad news.

Clearing her throat, she clasped her hands together. "Well, I talked to her, and she is…how do I say this? She's not herself."

"Kori, we kinda figured that out when she pretty much decked Rich when he tried to help her. What exactly, though, is up with her?" Gar pointed out, a small smile on his face.

Rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly, she still felt Richard's eyes drilling holes into her skin. She couldn't look at him. Seeing his eyes made her want to cry. They were endless, yet they were filled with such emotion.

She tried to get the words out, but all she did was stutter. A few mumbled words made it out of her mouth, but none of them could understand what she was saying.

"Kor, what ya know can't be all that bad. And if truly is, ya can't hold it all inside like that. Just tell us," Vic said as he came and sat down beside her.

As she felt the tears in her eyes begin to spill out, she lost it. Beginning to cry, she placed her head into her hands, shoulders shaking. "Her entire demon side has been extracted, as well as all memories of her life as a Titan!" she cried.

The silence in the room suddenly became louder, as well as tension thick enough to smother someone. They all froze, no one daring to utter a word.

"Are-are you sure?" Gar asked, his voice faltering.

Kori nodded, wiping her eyes on the backs of her wrists. "You saw her yourself. She doesn't look like herself, she has no powers anymore, and she can't remember the past ten years of her life."

The five of them sat in silence, absorbing it all. Gar wrapped an arm around Terra, who was extremely upset by this news. Kori, who continued to cry, was comforted by Victor. Richard sat there, stone-faced and emotionless.

"Did they hurt her?" he asked out of the blue. He slowly turned to Kori, who had a confused expression on her face.

Kori stared back, not wanting to answer. She knew the truth, but she didn't want to tell him. "Richard, you have to understand. You can't, you couldn't have…"

"Did they hurt her?" he repeated, his voice growing in volume.

Kori nodded. "Her wrists have burns around them as well as her ankles. All along are torso is covered in thick welts and bruises as if she was beaten…"

Richard bowed his head. 'All your fault. This is all your fault.'

"Rich, you can't be blaming yourself for this," Vic said softly. "Nobody possibly could have seen this as an outcome. This coulda happened to any of us. How could you have foreseen that an argument between you and Rae woulda led to her being kidnapped and her memory being erased?"

He shook his head to himself, getting angry. He looked up at Vic. "I could've just admitted that I had always loved her. I'd never stopped. By doing so, I would've saved everyone, especially her. She's the one paying for me being stubborn."

Richard looked to Kori's sleeping form on the couch. Gar, Vic, and Terra had gone home a little while ago, saying that they'd return tomorrow morning so they'd figure out what to do. Kori said she'd stay the night for Richard's behalf, but the others were also happy she did since she was still extremely upset.

While Kori was sleeping, he decided it was the best time to try to talk to her. He walked over to the door and gave it a gentle knock. He heard slight shuffling and with a quiet swush it swung open. All that met him on the other side was a pair of terrified violet eyes.

"Hi."

There was no movement on the other side for a couple minutes, but she finally opened the door. She stood their meekly, her arms crossed over her body. Her eyes were extremely unfocused, looking all around the room.

He gave her a small smile. "How are you?"

She shrugged. She just kept staring at him, hoping for him to act. It was like she was waiting for him to do something for her.

"Are you busy right now?" he asked her, trying to glance around her body into the room. Her body suddenly tensed up. She bit her lip, and tore her eyes away from him. Then, her body relaxed, and she focused her eyes right on him. Gripping the doorknob in her hand, she slammed the door in his face.

He froze, and then realized he was smiling. It was the first time he had seen her terrified all night. He tapped against the door once more. "Please, I just want to talk to you. I didn't mean to scare you." Once he spoke those words and remembered her facial expression, he was brought back to the night she was back in the seven-year old body and clinging. It was supposedly the night she had fallen back in love with him.

"What?" a voice whispered from the other side of the door frame, surprising Richard. She stood there, an impatient look on her face.

He gave her a small smile. "Can I come in?" he asked, motioning to the room. She looked behind her before letting him in. He followed her into the bedroom where the two of them sat down on her bed. She never took her eyes off him.

"So, Kori told me you had been thorugh a lot," he said gently, motioning to her wrists. She flinched, instinctively grabbing them. Terror filled her eyes. He placed his hand over hers. "Don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to you. Not while I'm around."

She relaxed somewhat. Cocking her head to the side a bit, she gave him a perplexed look. "Who are you?"

Richard rubbed the back of his neck. What was it with her and that question? How was he going to explain this one to her?

"You don't remember anything, do you?" he asked her back. She replied with a shake of her head. "Well then, I guess the best response for that question would be to say is we're very close friends, you and i. We have been for the past almost fifteen years. My name is Richard Grayson and Your name is Raven Roth."

Raven nodded, biting down on her tongue in thought. Richard noticed the fear was slowly disappearing from her expression and being replaced with comfort. She sighed before asking him "Richard, what happened to me? I have no idea who I am…"

He looked back at her, obviously upset by this question. 'She shouldn't be asking this. It's my fault she is. It's my fault she can't even remember her own name!' "I honestly don't know."

The two sat in silence for a while, calmed by each other's presences before Richard stood up. "I'm going to let you get some sleep. We can talk again in the morning. Is that alright with you?"

Raven looked up at him and nodded. She made a face that resembled a smile. Richard chuckled at that before he walked out and closed the door behind him. Leaning against the door, he felt more lost than ever before. He couldn't wait until morning. With that he made a dash for the phone.

"Yeah Vic, I know it's 1 AM, I don't care. I need to talk to you. What? So tell him to shove it. Vic, that's what you get for living with roommates. Vic, I'm the one in the life-or-death situation over here, not Roy!!" Richard exclaimed, resisting the urge to flail his arms about.

"It's Raven. No, I don't know what to do. Of course I talked to her. Yeah, of course it went well. I – I just don't know where to go from here. Well, she has absolutely no memory Vic. What do you mean? That's…that's…that's so crazy it just might work. You're a genius, did everyone tell you that? I'll talk to you tomorrow. I have to think about this. Yeah, bye," Richard said before hanging the phone up on the receiver. He leaned against the counter, Vic's words still echoing in his mind.

"Make Raven fall in love with me. Remind her all about who she is. Help her rediscover her memory. That just might work…" he admitted, a smile growing on his face.