Hell.

Hell was everywhere.

Hell was all that Raven knew. Fire and pain; nothing but complete and utter hell. Raven had to work to focus her eyes so she could see and as soon as the world (was it?) clarified around her, she stared, utterly horrified at the fire and smoke that was quite literally everywhere. The destroyed cars and buildings, their rubble lying all over. The bodies of what had been human beings now completely lifeless and turned to stone. The blood red sky. This was hell, or, at least, it was a vision of what the world would soon be: A world consumed by fire; by pain.

Raven was going to to do this. She was going to destroy the world and create this hell that she now saw before her. Raven looked around wide eyed at the barren wasteland that she was going to cause

This was all her fault.

Every last bit.

She then heard a laugh, the coldest most evil thing she had ever experienced. She spun around, already knowing what she would see: Her father.

Raven woke with a start before she had a chance to even glance at the huge demon that was her father, something she was grateful for.

Her violet eyes snapped open. She was awake; awake from another of the hellish dreams that now plagued her often; now nearly every night, it seemed. For what looked to be another relatively bright and sunny day, she was free; free from the nightmare of what was to come.

Free until the next coming night, that was.

Ever since her sixteenth birthday, a birthday that her friends, the rest of the teenage team of superheroes known as the Teen Titans, had unfortunately found out about, Raven had been having these horrific dreams. Ever since her sixteenth birthday, the countdown had started.

It had been almost two weeks since that day and the now the seemingly unstoppable Slade, the toughest and most resilient foe of the Teen Titans had delivered the frightening message to Raven.

She would destroy the world.

The incident still gave Raven horrific chills.

Now fully awake, Raven sat up in bed, and did a quick look around her room to make sure that nothing was out of place. The nightmares didn't scare her as much anymore and she had lost count of them, but they did leave her feeling a little uneasy.

"I really need to start sleeping better," Raven whispered to herself with her sarcastic, monotonous voice, knowing that merely stating the problem and completely solving it were two different things entirely.

She then turned to view her clock, which read 6:34 AM in crimson digital numbers. Only Robin would be up at this hour, like he always was. Raven was usually up second, around this time normally. How early Robin woke up was still a mystery to her.

Raven got out of bed and quickly got dressed in her usual attire, being topped off by the dark blue cape and hood that she almost always wore. She then did a quick check to make sure that her hair was the way she liked it. It was and Raven gave herself a little satisfaction. She was, after all, a very habitual person and liked things the way she already had them.

She glanced out of her bedroom window. The sun was just beginning to come up over the horizon. Raven stared at it thinking of how few sunrises were left to be had.

Sunrises had become a cause of despair for her. Another day closer...

She quickly shook her head, trying to clear it of such thoughts. She was going to find a way to stop it. She had to...

Raven sighed. "I guess I should at least try to be social," she mumbled, knowing that her next destination likely involved company.

She took a last look at the sunrise, now very much established and bright, and then turned to head for the door. Maybe Wonder Boy was in a better mood.

Raven quietly left her room and proceeded down the still dark hallway to the elevator that would take her to the top room of Titans tower. The room which served as the kitchen and living room for the team. It was one of the largest rooms in the entire tower and it was the place where they all spent much of there time.

Raven tapped the elevator activation button, and patiently waited for the elevator's arrival, which took several moments.

It won't happen, I know I can stop it.

Once the elevator arrived, Raven took no time entering it and hitting the button that would take her to the main room.

But what if I can't stop it...?

Raven thought about it. If she couldn't stop the end of the world, her friends would die. Everyone would die. She had to find a way to stop this. She didn't really know how much being the harbinger of the apocalypse her friends and everyone else on the planet would affect her. Probably not all that well. She preferred not to think about it; it wasn't a very healthy or efficient method of helping the issue, but Raven couldn't currently think of anything better to do.

The ride was silent. Raven rather enjoyed peace and quiet and she savored any quiet time that she was lucky enough to get. This time was no exception. She took the time to reflect on her dreams. The dreams of the end of the world that had plagued her. The fiery end that was to come. She tried to relax a little, using the spell she always used to harness her dark power. Though, she quickly discovered that she didn't really want to think about the end of the world right at this moment, so meditating seemed like a reasonable way to occupy her mind instead.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted quietly, eyes closed. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos."

Raven repeated the chant several more times before the effects took hold. She was calm now, emotionless, the way she preferred it because she knew that her power was now in check. Raven opened her eyes, in time to see the elevator doors slide open revealing a very sunlit living room and kitchen. She squinted her eyes until they adapted to the drastic light change; the sunbeams of early morning that came in waves from the main room's huge windows, soaking everything in a gorgeous golden light like an ocean would soak a beach with waves. She then she took a deep breath and stepped off the elevator into the main room of Titans tower.

She was greeted with a very pleasant smell of eggs and bacon. She looked directly to the kitchen area, which was in the right hand corner of the room that was closest to her.

Robin was in the kitchen cooking away. Sometimes the intrepid leader of the Teen Titans would simply eat a bowl of cold cereal, to save time while his mind was on more important things. But sometimes he would go all out and treat himself by making a full fledged, balanced breakfast. This was obviously one of those occasions.

Raven took a few quiet and slightly timid steps towards the kitchen. She really wanted some herbal tea right about now; the urge had hit her not five seconds ago.

Actually she usually did around this time every morning and she had apparently trained herself to want tea every time she got to about where she was now. One moment, she was thinking about the end of the world. The next, she wanted tea.

Raven; always a person of habits.

As Raven quickly and quietly covered the few feet from the elevator to the kitchen, her new mission now waiting for completion, she watched Robin in a generally disinterested way,waiting for him to notice her presence.

He did, but he probably knew she was coming before the elevator even arrived. Robin was observant that way.

"Good morning, Raven!" Robin said cheerfully, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her."Sleep well?"

"Not particularly." Raven replied in her bored manner of speech.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear it," Robin looked down to checkup on the making his breakfast, before looking back and giving Raven a huge smile, as though he was trying to cheer her up. Like it could actually work, but she gave him a few points for the gallant effort.

"I took the liberty of heating up some water for you; hope you don't mind. I didn't add anything to it; it's just heated up water..."

He trailed off and pointed to the kettle that was on the stove. White steam drifted up slowly from its nozzle.

Raven was a bit shocked that anyone would bother going out of their way for her. "Ummm, thanks..." Was all she managed to say. She was also surprised that Robin seemed to know that she was coming at this early hour. But then again, she always did around this time and of course, Robin was observant that way.

Robin smiled even brighter "You're quite welcome." He turned back to the stove to keep an eye on his eggs. "Would you like any actual breakfast to go with your tea? It wouldn't be any trouble, really."

"No thank you, Robin. You've already mostly made my tea for me. Your work here is done," Raven said, not feeling quite so bad anymore. Robin's good mood seemed to be rubbing off on her, even if only slightly.

Just like he wanted.

Clever boy...

Raven moved around the kitchen counter and next to Robin besides the stove. She grabbed the kettle, and began the final touches of making her tea.

The two Titans worked on their respective tasks for several minutes in complete silence. That was one of the things that Raven liked about Robin in comparison to the other Titans. He could be very quiet and peaceful at times and Raven found it very relaxing. He seemed to understand that conversation wasn't necessary all the time.

But even though she was an avid supporter of silence, Raven decided to try to converse for once in her life. She was afraid she was running out of chances to, so she decided to start trying now.

"Uh, Robin?" Raven asked in a small voice as she slightly turned away from making her tea to face him.

"Yep?" he said, acknowledging her but not taking his attention away from what he was doing.

If there was something Robin could truly do well, it would be multi-tasking.

"Why are you always so... umm... cheery... in the morning?" Raven asked quietly, irritated with herself at how awkward that delivery had sounded. She wasn't exactly the best conversationalist in the world, and it sure showed.

"Well, I suppose I usually am," Robin replied, with a shrug. "Dunno quite why... Maybe its the fact that today is a new day and you can kind of start over in a way."

Robin gave a small laugh. "Or at least that's what I'd like to think," he said smiling.

"That's a good thing to think," Raven said, pausing from making her tea to give Robin a glance.

Robin shrugged again. "I completely agree. I find it's best to think positive."

Raven nodded once. She knew where he was coming from, but somehow, all of a sudden, she wasn't feeling so positive right now. All of her negative thoughts had rushed back into her head and all of the cheering up Robin had done moments earlier had been utterly defeated. Close, but no cigar, Wonder Boy. It was worth a try, though.

She turned back to check on her tea.

"Hey, Raven?"

Raven again turned slightly until Robin came into view.

"Yes?"

"I don't know what Slade wanted with you or how he got those powers, but I promise you, I intend to find out," Robin said grimly. He, of course, meant it. Robin would most certainly do everything in his power to find out what was going on.

But that was exactly what Raven was afraid of. She didn't really want her friends to find out what she was, or why she was really on Earth.

There was still (maybe) a chance to stop it and if Raven could not, she wouldn't tell the Titans anyway. Might as well let them be happy right to the end.

Raven merely nodded. "Thanks, Robin," she said softly.

He smiled. "You feel any better?"

"Not really. Still a little creeped out about the whole thing."

Robin gave a small chuckle.

"I don't blame you in the slightest," he said turning back to the stove to make sure his eggs weren't burning.

Raven just continued to stare at him, a revelation hitting her with the subtly of a brick: Robin may have very well been her best friend; he most certainly understood her the best of anyone of the Titans. Isn't that kind of what a best friend was? The person who understands you the most?

Raven thought about it; it did make a little sense.

Somewhat.

She finished making her tea, and quietly picked up the steaming cup and turned to begin her quiet journey back to her room. She had a lot to think about.

She was at the elevator and she quietly pressed the summon button that would open the door. Raven then turned around to face Robin. He hadn't even asked where she was headed or why she was leaving. He simply and quietly understood that she wanted to be left alone.

"Robin?"

Robin turned to look up at her. "Yep?"

"I wanted to thank you, for everything you've done for me... Really... Thank you..."

It wasn't a very good 'thank you', an unfortunate fact that Raven realized in embarrassment moments after saying it.

Robin just smiled. "No thanks needed. It's why I'm here."

Raven nodded turning back to face the elevator which was now opening,and she took a sip of her tea. It was very good and it did it's intended job of warming her up.

She wanted to get back to her room and spend some time meditating; thinking about just how she was going to go about stopping her father from coming to Earth. She had much thinking to do and she was running out of time to do it.

Raven stepped into the elevator and it closed behind her with a click.