Wounds of Filth

Chapter 10(?): Spin, Hourglass, Spin

By: DeathIsOnlyTheBeginin

DISCLAIMER: I dont own Teen Titans...Though I wishI did...because then, the show would have never been cancled.

Apology: My dear, sweet, loving...wanting to murder me Fans...I'm so very sorry for not updating and for the fact that this chapter is so short. It's just that school is...really tuff right now...and I have to really focus...so yes, life is a trial. I hope to add another chapter very soon though! I just had to throw this up for the moment because people are questioning the pairing in this story...it IS a Raven/Robin. Period. No exceptions. I just, like Red X and he seems misunderstood to me so yea...anyway, on with the story.

(Enjoy! Read and Review Please!)

...An hourglass spun within space, its sand a deep azure brilliance...

An epiphany of horror seized Raven's heart as ebony power laced about her body; it crept across her skin, quickly wrapping about her, consuming her within darkness.

She tossed her head back, plum waves of hair cascading down her back in long strands, her eyes stretched wide and staring; darkness advanced, filling her senses with the stench of death. The black slithered around her tighter, sneaking up to caress her face and weave through her tresses, causing the small hairs on the back of her neck to prickle; it dove past the pupils of her eyes, poured into her mouth, winded through her nostrils until she could sense nothing but bitter oblivion; the echoing thunder of her panicked heart began to sound loudly in her ears.

...Small, lovely grains of the blue sand tumbled through the slim middle and down, into the bottom...

Raven thrived and thrashed, the power rushing into her veins and circling throughout her body, leaving her with nothing more than the hollow pain of hopelessness. She screamed and listened as the sound echoed back to her, ricocheting off the magical walls of her imprisonment. She shook her head, the power submerging her until the only thing visible was herself, trapped within a cocoon of darkness; her heart accelerated, the raging blood flow hammering through her temples.

...The hourglass began to glow softly, more specks of sand trickling down into the bottom...

Her joints hitched and whined, her knuckles cracking as the fingers bent backwards in the wrong direction. Her spine twisted, her toes unhinged, her lungs crippled. Raven cried out once again, tears streaking down her cheeks, the icons of pain quickly devoured by black.

She glanced down at her ruined hands, horrified to find that the ebony of her torture was leaking from her very own palms; the quick, deep, thumping melody of her heart slowly increased in volume, until all she could hear was it's echoed drumming.

...The sand began to pour faster. The glowing began to shine brighter. The owner's life began to drain faster...

Raven's eyes slammed shut as her spine snapped in several places, her torso falling backwards towards the calves of her legs. Her knees bent in a way that defied the laws of physics, her shoulders fell from their sockets, her ankles broke, her jaw pulled away from its hinges; Her rib cage splintered as the power raging within her flesh compressed them with an iron fist, tighter and tighter. The pained pumping, the horrendous pressure, the blood rallying pace, all ceased slowly, forcing Raven into an eerily calm panic; the world around her deafened as quickly as though she had dove under water, her vision growing blurry. She closed her eyes and waited, waited for the end she knew was coming; her heart stopped.

...The final, sad, whisper of sand slowly began its descend to the bottom, its small body desperately attempting to stay within the top; all and all, it failed...

One final, short whine sounded and then, all was quiet.

Brown, bloodshot eyes stared down at a sea of lavender, the tresses framing a beautiful face of unconsciousness. The glaring lights over head drained her fair complexion of even more color than usual, the gray demeanor of the Tower's infirmary emitting a sharp chill to seep from each sterile wall to the other. Robin shivered and lifted the blanket from his lap, unfolded it, and draped it over his sleeping teammate. The others had gone off to bed some time ago and he had volunteered to stay with Raven; he wanted to be around when she woke up.

He glanced at the buzzing machinery surrounding him, losing himself in their harmonious hum. Thoughts of Slade twirled within his mind; Why give her back? Didn't her father need her? It didn't make any sense. Raven stirred in her sleep and Robin's gaze snapped back to her. He remembered thinking about how much guilt would be lifted from his shoulders once they found her; it had only gotten worse.

Raven tossed beneath her covers, whimpering and whining in pain. Her eyelids wrinkled and she groaned, her limbs beginning to thrash about violently. Robin jumped to his feet at instant alert and reached over, locking her wrists in his hands and restraining them against the hospital bed. Raven cried out, tears sneaking past the kohl lashes of her sleeping eyes; one of the machines to Robin's left gave a loud hiss before bursting, smoke recoiling up into the air from its broken machinery.

"Raven." He spoke loudly, attempting to rouse her from sleep.

She sobbed loudly and her head jolted to the right, short violet hair catching in the corners of her mouth. Robin groaned low in his throat as one of her knees shot up and landed him one in the stomach. With ease, he swung one knee over her quickly and set it atop the bed sheets on her far side, his upper strength pulling himself up onto the bed. With a groan, he tugged her away from the bed and shook her.

"Raven, wake up!"

With yet another whine, she pulled her wrists from his grasp and flung her arms around his neck. She unconsciously sobbed into his shirt, clumps of his gaudy costume clasped in her fingers. Robin blankly stared at the door, one knee on each side of Raven's thighs. She hiccupped softly still wrapped within the essence of her dreams.

"...help me...Robin...please..."

His eyebrows peeked in worry and he slowly slid his arms around her waist, "Raven."

She buried her face in the hollow of his neck and sobbed brokenly, "...Robin..."

Robin rubbed her back forcefully in an area without wounds, trying, once again, to wake her from her nightmare. She continued to cry, her muscles tensing as her fingers released his shirt and dug into his back. Robin mentally winced.

"Raven, wake up. I'm alright."

He spoke more loudly than before and her crying hitched, soon halting altogether. She pulled back slightly, her lavender eyes red rimmed, puffy, and searching for something Robin feared he had no answer for. She swallowed and looked down at her arms, noting the bandaging; the work of Robin himself. She looked down and frowned distastefully at her attire forgetting about the shameful wetness upon her cheeks; Raven did not do undersized tank tops or shorts...and she definitely did not do pink. Robin caught the look on her face and chuckled,

"It was the only outfit we could put you that made bandaging easy."

Raven sent him a fake glare but he simply smiled, noting the lack of energy behind her eyes.

"You should sleep."

She nodded her head and immediately regretted doing so, a horrible headache erupting in her temples.

She winced and allowed her arms to fall to her sides; Robin hesitated in the removal of his own for a moment, his eyes questioning her own. Raven's inquired back, silence; he sighed in frustration before pulling her back to his chest. He held her for a long moment, breathing and listening to her breathe. Raven simply stared, wide-eyed at the wall, before lifting her arms and wrapping them loosely back around his shoulders.


"Don't do it again."

"What are yo-"

"Don't fall behind again. Stay where I can see you...from now on."

Raven nodded softly against his shoulder, wondering vaguely about this new, odd display of the Wonder Boy's affections. His hug tightened,

"God, Raven, we were so worried..."

She closed her eyes, "I know."

"No," Robin stated softly, "You don't. We couldn't...I couldn't...I just...Raven, I-"

"Shh, Robin," Raven whispered, her arms tightening as well, "I really do know."

Robin swallowed and nodded, burring his face in her shoulder and breathing her in. He didn't want to tell her, but she had almost bled to death while sleeping. They had almost lost her. He had almost lost her. His eyebrows knitted in grief; why hadn't he realized how much she meant to him until she was stolen? He felt his throat tighten and he sighed into her violet hair.

During those few hours, in which they didn't know if her healing abilities would sustain her life for very much longer, he had nearly killed himself with his own guilt, the two bird's past stirring within the gist of it. He had remembered how they used to bicker about things and yet he had always secretly understood her reasons. He had thought of how she had a way of understanding him at times when he didn't even understand himself; he felt sickened with himself for never thanking her. He recalled the dark times of his life in which she attempted to help him, even when he didn't want it.

In fact, she had always given him her help, asked for or not, refused or not. He had never noticed how much she gave him, not until he had almost lost her...forever; the thought caused his stomach to flip nastily.

Raven sighed softly, stirring him from his reminiscing. Robin slowly released her and pulled back,

"I'm sorry. You should be resting."

Raven shook her head and monotoned, "Don't worry about it."

Robin nodded and climbed back off the bed, "Right...well, rest up. We're going to be needing you back on the team soon."

Raven smiled in reply and he returned the gesture, pressing his palm against the electronic pad and walking through. The door swooshed closed behind him and Raven's face saddened; she couldn't afford...this...whatever this was. She couldn't allow him to get hurt. She shook her head, wincing as her head began to scream at her. With a soft groan, she lifted her white sheets and crawled beneath them. She sighed and closed her eyes, using the last wisps of her power to shut the lights off; the room plunged into instant darkness.


For writers everywhere, I just want to give a heads up to ANYONE who reads any really old story by me and then feels the need to leave a ridiculous, anon review and rant like some child about how dreadful they think it is - I don't care what you think about anything, so don't waste my time. I'm just going to delete your flame anyway, so you might as well not bother to leave it - however, if you must insist upon posting one, I wish you happiness in your futility.

That being said, if you flame - SIGN IN instead of just popping on here like some coward and trying to rip me up over something I wrote AGES ago (ha!). If you flame and then refuse to sign in and offer up your own writing to back your mouth up, keep your mouth closed. I wrote this story 6 years ago. It's an old, amateur, raw piece of work, and I know that. I was only 14 when I started it - but for 14, I did a damn good job.

It's comical that you think you can judge someone's writing capabilities on the shortcomings of their 6-year-old pieces of work - honestly, that just cracks me up. You should know that despite your high opinion of yourself and your obvious belief that I need your "expertise", I'm just laughing at you. I do not need your praise or acknowledgment to validate myself as a writer, and I don't need your dimwitted, ignorant advice. I write very well and I know it. God bless.