Here is the latest installment for anyone still reading this story. I know the delay was prolonged and for that my apologies. I hope this chapter makes up for it. And for the genius who kept disparaging the story over my choice of using Timothy Drake and the color of his eyes, I suggest you use spell check and check your sentence structure before attempting to insult someone. If you can't understand what I'm saying, use a dictionary. Thank you.

Raven's eyes fluttered open, the scent of burning sage filling her nostrils. Her head ached as her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, illuminated by a few candles spread throughout the room. She sat up fully taking in her surroundings. She was on a mattress in the middle of the room, a silver tray with a burning piece of sage in the corner of the room, and by all appearances still alive. Though her last recollection was one of a demonic looking Robin staring down at her, she knew she was alive. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good to see you awake…"

Raven's eyes darted to the source of the sound. Robin emerged from a dark corner of the room. Raven hadn't even noticed him. The heavy clunk of his boots echoed with each step as he walked towards her, his now long hair cascading over his eyes. From what she saw, it now reached his lower back. He stopped in front of her, kneeling down to see her eye to eye. Raven's own violet eyes widened as she gazed into his lightly golden ones, which now slowly faded back to a two-toned gaze, one eye a deep inviting brown, the other a fierce emerald green.

"…I suppose an explanation is in order. However let's make one thing clear Raven, whatever you saw, and whatever you heard, it was solely within the confines of your mind and does not exist elsewhere." Raven held his gaze, a retort on her lips, but she held her tongue knowing that as much as she would like to say something, he had respected her privacy in the past, even with the bond. She could only do the same out of courtesy. She nodded.

"Good." Robin stood up about to leave before Raven stopped him. "Wait," she started, "just answer me this…did you kill those people?" Robin pressed his lips for a moment, leaning in close to her.

"No…I did not kill them…but the deaths were necessary." Robin removed his hand, walking to the doorway. "Feel free to leave the room if you like, I'm going to go take a shower…" he said before shutting the door behind him. Raven sat silently, contemplating her options. Should she call the others? Try to take Robin on her own? Should she not say a word? All of them would have made sense but she felt a strong pull to be near Robin, to not leave. She cursed silently and stood up making her way to the door. Her instincts were never wrong and this time they could prove to be more than even she could handle.

Raven looked around the vast space upon exiting the room, which, from what she could tell, was underground, and from what she assumed, was Robin's new home. It was almost like an underground loft. A kitchen area, bathroom, and in the far corner a giant computer screen displaying various points of the city. The steam from the bathroom seeped from beneath the door at the far end of the area. Raven took in her surroundings, making notes on all exit points before walking to the kitchen area. She found a bottle of water in the fridge and slowly drank.

'What the hell am I getting myself into…' she thought. She kept replaying what happened the night before over and over again. That power that emerged from Robin was very, very familiar. That was the key. She knew that all demons shared a connection to the darkness of the world. Even her powers were an extension of it. But Robin's display was a more powerful and purer form of her powers. No, that wasn't right. Her powers were a form of It. A derivative of sorts. She clutched her head. She was still reeling from last night. At that point Robin entered the room, dressed in black jeans and a loose black shirt. His hair cascaded down his back in long tendrils as well as along his face. He walked past Raven to the fridge taking out another bottle of water, taking a quick gulp before putting it back. He turned to Raven, his mouth opening then closing, as if contemplating what to say.

After a few minutes of silence he broke it. "so…what have you figured out?"

Raven bit her lip, her eyes locking on his. "…if I had to guess…I would say that you are something like me….that display from last night….it felt similar to my own ability….but mine felt more of a derivative of yours. Which would mean that you have something that is purer than my own." Robin smiled almost sadly. "…there in lies the problem Raven…this is something that even I don't fully understand. What you saw was a slip of the little control I have." Robin grimaced slightly, as if suppressing a headache. A cold chill ran along Raven's spine. She shuddered at the sensation then felt a smooth object run along her skin. Turning on instinct while backing into Robin, Raven gasped as the darkness around the room expanded around the kitchen. She didn't even notice it due to the low lighting. A dark smoky tendril moved in the air softly before retreating into a shadowy corner of the room away from light then suddenly dissipating into nothing. She turned to Robin, who's eyes were now closed and clearly bleeding. He opened them a moment later, a flicker of gold running across his two toned gaze.

He breathed a sigh of relief once his natural eye color returned. "sorry…" he said, wiping the blood from his eyes, "it's gotten harder since I lost control." Raven walked up to him, grabbing a nearby rag gently wiping his eyes. "What was that Robin?" Raven maintained her neutral look but on the inside her very being was shaking, though on the outside her cheeks were flushed. That same presence had stirred all of her emotions, even arousal. Robin looked up, a far away look in his eyes. "it already knows that you know Raven…you've come across it in your books…it's the origin of it all…" Raven frowned, digging through the memories of her reading to try to find what he was talking about before Robin interrupted.

"it's time for you to go Raven. I can only hope that my trust in you is not misplaced." With that he gently took of hold of her shoulders before pushing her back, her body engulfed in shadows before dissipating into the air, revealing her new location: her own room. Raven stood bewildered. Now Robin had the ability to teleport? Raven closed her eyes trying to make a connection through their mind link only to feel that same energy block her attempts. After a few failed attempts she finally stopped and made a beeline to her bookcase, her telekinetic powers pulling her entire library out. The books floated quickly around her as a miniature tornado, her eyes closed and focused on feeling a familiar presence within the pages. Every book told a story and one of them Had to tell Robins. Before long the books dropped to the floor one by one until only one was left floating in front of her. She reached out to it as her hand glowed, the pages turning themselves rapidly, her mind racing until suddenly the familiar emotion hit her and the pages stopped. She opened her eyes and gasped. It couldn't be but then it had to be it!

The right side of the page was covered with images of black serpent-like creatures sprouting from a central figure while other creatures that resembled imps surrounded the bottom portion of the page. A full moon illuminated the shadow of the central figure, which resembled the shape of a human man. The creatures had golden yellow eyes, including the man himself. The left side of the page was written in Latin but Raven translated the title immediately: "Obscuritas" the "Darkness."

Raven sat down on the floor, the book now in her hands as she read the page. "The Darkness, the force of chaos and creation that has existed since the dawn of time. The essence of life comes from the aspects of both the positive and negative energies that are both forever in balance and forever in battle. As there can be no Light without Darkness, there can be no Darkness without Light. Only the souls that are deemed worthy by these energies will be granted the fruits that they bear, dominion over all the negative energies of the living world and the world beyond it. But as with all things there is a price to be paid. The souls that wield these powers must be wary, for as with the passing of time, all things must end and so as the Darkness was there at the beginning, it shall also be there at the soul's end, the mortal becoming a part of the Darkness itself."

Raven paled as she read the last sentence. Her former leader, a symbol that stood for good, was now under the control of the most malevolent entity in existence. The energy that spawned everything evil in the world; vampires, demons, witch breed, everything! She reread the page over and over again. There was nothing that indicated how or why the Darkness would choose Robin nor was there any indication that the Darkness could be removed. 'How could there be information?' she thought, 'This was supposed to be a myth, not even the people of Azarath believed in this, hell not even Trigon!' She recalled her memories and indeed no one on Azarath, not even her Demon King Father believed that their heritage came from this energy. But now she knew.

She closed her book, her mind deep in thought. 'so now he's the bad guy…..what happens now? Do I let the others know? Do I stay silent?' She contemplated her dilemma. After a few moments she sighed, floating the book back to the shelf along with the others. 'I can't turn my back on him,' she thought, 'bad guy or not, I owe Robin this much.' With her decision made Raven teleported to the Main room at the tower.

By the time she appeared Cyborg and the others had entered the room, surprised and relieved at seeing her. "Raven!" they cried before Starfire came forth giving her friend a crushing hug. "Oh dear Raven we all thought the worst! We searched for you and could not find any sign of your whereabouts!" she cried. Raven gently pried herself away from the Tamaranean. "I'm fine Starfire, now please loosen your grip" she replied in monotone. Beastboy then came forth giving her a gentle hug as well. "good to know you're ok Raven' he replied with genuine relief. She petted Beastboy's head softly. "I'm fine Beastboy." Cyborg approached her last, giving her a brotherly welcome. "good to have you back Rae, we nearly lost hope." She smiled at Cyborg returning the hug. "Thank you Cyborg" she replied, maintaining her monotone voice, knowing full well what was coming next. "Raven did you see any sign of the guy from the morgue? We lost his trail back at the construction site."

Raven furrowed her brow deep in thought while mentally calming her body's senses. She knew Cyborg's reputation for being a living lie detector and played the part as to not arouse suspicion. "No Cyborg," she replied after a moment, "I came to here at the tower, I think before I blacked out from the battle I teleported here on instinct." Cyborg took her answer at face value and headed to the computer, his right index finger opening at the tip and connecting to the USB drive.

"I'm uploading every detail from my encounter with that guy, if there is anything the computer can look up that might lead to his identity we'll find it. The rest of you rest up and we will go over the data in the morning." With that Starfire and Beastboy took their leave, Cyborg following soon after. Raven retreated to her room after shutting off the lights in the common room. She lied down on her bed, her body now relaxing for the first time in 24 hours. She stared at the ceiling, her thoughts wandering towards Robin and what he has become.

This is becoming more of a hindrance than usual Timothy , said the voice. You are slowly losing your grip on us and the longer you fight the more we will lash out until we get what we require. "But you already took what you need!" Tim replied, anger in his voice. "What more could you possibly want?"

We want to be free! The voice hissed, and that only happens when you either accept us or we take over!

"If you took over, my soul would be lost to you and even if I accepted you, I would still lose whatever is left of my humanity." Ah decisions decisions boy, the voice hissed, you cannot win this fight. Sooner or later we will be the ones pulling the strings. No mortal has ever succeeded in controlling us. You will fall as they did.

"Maybe…" Timothy said, while reaching into the sack by his side, "but for now I can control you ." With that Timothy tossed the blood soaked heart he acquired that night into the darkest corner of the room, several black tendrils latching onto it and ripping it to shreds, leaving no trace of the heart to fall on the floor.

We will require more than this Timothy….that slip up has only bought you 30 days. And even so, that is under the condition that you keep control…something you have been having difficulty with. The voice mocked, it's sinister chuckle echoing through the room. Timothy clenched his jaw, frustration evident on his face. "I'll do what it takes." He replied, exiting the room and shutting the door behind him. A sudden wind picked up in his room and he turned, his fists clenched and his form falling into a defensive stance only for him to relax to his normal posture, Raven now filling his vision as she stepped out of the teleportation portal she had conjured, which had faded upon her exit.

"welcome back Rae…" Timothy stated.

"Cut the formalities Boy Wonder," she retorted, her visage curled in frustration. "because of that little incident back at the morgue, you are now the Teen Titans priority target, even above Slade!"

Robin shrugged his shoulders. "it was bound to happen sooner or later" he replied calmly. "and because it has I'm now stuck with either fulfilling my duty as a Titan and turning you in or like you, have to go rogue and help you in some way….but even I don't know how." Timothy ran a hand through his hair. "I take it you've done some research on the Darkness?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes I have, and like its namesake, there is nothing good that comes from it. Not even a way to get rid of it."

Timothy sat on an old sofa, his eyes drawn to the ceiling. "…I had hoped there would be…but I guess there goes that"

Raven walked up to him, standing in front of his seated form before leaning down, her arms planked on either side of his head as his own eyes moved up to meet hers.

"Do you even know what can happen to you? What this thing can result in?" she asked. But she didn't need an answer. The look in his eyes told her everything. Raven eyes widened and now Robin knew that she knew his time was coming to an end. They stayed in silence for a few moments, Raven absorbing this information as Robin could only accept the fact that he was beyond hope.

"…I'm sorry Rae…" he spoke softly.

Raven kept her eyes on him and without having to think, leaned closer and touched her lips against his tenderly, gently breaking away.

"….shut up robin…..just….shut up…" she whispered before kissing him once more, her arms wrapping around his neck as she straddled his lap, while Robin's arms gently snaked themselves around her waist, their bodies coming closer together, giving each other comfort.

Next chapter might be the lemon aspect of this story but I'm still debating it. Any thoughts would be welcome.