I also enjoy the title of this chapter to, but not as much as the other one.

Recap: Starfire's been kidnapped and the Titans are going to go somewhere because of an idea Raven had.

Enjoy!

Chapter 8

"We're Screwed"

Raven's black aura left there few, revealing a dark room with many screens. It didn't appear as though anyone had been down there in a while.

"What are we doing down here?" Beast Boy asked, recognizing the room immediately.

"It's still a working room," Raven answered. "We just haven't used it in a while."

She was already walking over to the key board, brushing off the small amount of dust that somehow had built up. "I didn't think we had left this place abandoned for that long." She muttered.

Both boys went over and joining her, watching as her fingers quickly ran over each individual key. "Whatcha doing?" Beast Boy asked.

"I want to see the footage of where Winifred might have taken Starfire," Raven answered. A file pulled up, the computer was asking if it was the correct one she'd asked for. It read "Basement", so she hit enter. The file opened immediately. She skipped around until she saw the clip of her looking at the head. She moved to the camera that had been in the room they were in before they'd followed Robin into the room with the coffin and tree.

"Zoom in there," Robin said, pointing to the screen. She did as she was told, she hit the up button and the enter at the same time, just once. It zoomed in.

They hit play, waiting for the intruder to turn up on film. They listened to the conversation, Raven was explaining the skull.

"There!" Beast Boy shouted, pointing to a corner. "Play it again, slow it down."

Raven hit slow and each noticed what Beast Boy's vision had seen.

"What is that?" Robin asked, eyes narrowing.

Raven continued to hit more keys, zooming it, "We'll see."

She hit play, now at the part where they'd started once again. They watched the spot carefully until they saw the object more clearly. Where it was nearly pitch black, a pale gray shape came out of hiding, her hair blocking her face. She drifted gracefully into the room, Raven paused the frame, capturing her image.

"And save," She muttered, hitting enter. "We've got her picture."

"Or at least a part of it," Robin added. "That's something."

Raven flipped back to the camera that had been in the room, "And now this one."

"But it-." Beast Boy began protesting.

She silenced him with her hand, not even looking away from the computer. "I'm not talking about that one."

Both boys appeared confused, "There's another one?" They said at the same time.

Raven hit access, and an image of them appeared on the screen, it was perfect. They watched the scene with awe, horror, admiration, and embarrassment.

"Can't you?" The figure asked them.

Robin automatically grabbed Starfire and tackled her to the ground, barely dodging the nearly invisible energy that seemed to come out of nowhere. Raven took a step away, also barely missing getting hit. Beast Boy noticed and turned into a wolf, trying to attack Winifred before she could attack again. She watched him without hesitancy, and he lunged at her-.

Only be pass right through her, hitting his head against the wall. He reverted back into a human, now on his stomach. He glared at Winifred, who merely turned her back on him and turned back to a stunned Raven.

"You." She said, "You seem to have a strong connection with the dead, you'll have to go first."

"Over my dead body!" Beast Boy growled, now in a crouching position.

Before he could move though, Winifred had turned around and now held him against the wall, the hold around his neck. He had to stand on his toes a little. "Ironic words." She said, "But the difference between us, is I've got nothing to lose."

"Except . . . her," Beast Boy gasped, struggling to breath.

Winifred turned to see what he was looking at, which was Starfire. She appeared stunned, why would Beast Boy make the ghost attack her? But she understood when she saw him wink at her, she nodded. Winifred didn't notice, "Emily-!"

Beast Boy kicked his leg up, getting Winifred right in the stomach. She flinched away, he ran over to where the rest of the four were. Winifred glared, "NO ONE IS GOING TO KEEP ME FROM MY SISTER!"

Robin stood with his arms wide, keeping her out of Winifred's view. "Don't touch her!"

Winifred appeared disgusted, as if she was irritated with what he was doing for a different reason. "Men protecting their women," She said, "That'll be the day!"

Robin was thrown aside, again, by something that came out of nowhere, and from what you could see what hardly visible at all. Starfire ran to his side, but another thing caught her eye. A girl. Raven.

She rounded, glaring at her. "What-!?"

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" Raven shouted, trying to hit Winifred.

It, once again, fazed right through. Raven stared.

"Enough of this."

The vise like grip she felt on her chest made her fall to her knees, she could hardly hear anything. It sounded like she was under water. Beast Boy was on one knee, gripping her shoulders and shouting at her, but she couldn't hear him.

"What?"

The grip on her tightened, becoming visible that the air seemed to be squeezing Raven. Beast Boy growled at her, once again turning into another animal.

"Leave me alone!" Raven screamed, trying to break free of the hold. If Beast Boy tried to attack her again he was surely going to get more then just another slap into a wall.

Her eyes saw Winifred, picking Starfire up from the ground gently. Almost too gently, more like a mother then sister.

"Please, you are mistaken! I am not your sister!" Starfire said, clearly too frightened to do anything.

Winifred seemed compassionate still, "You are sick, sister. You must be delusional."

"I am not-!"

Starfire was interrupted as Winifred and herself began de-materializing, which created a violent eruption of what little objects were around her.

Beast Boy stopped shaking Raven, but his hands remained on her shoulders as he stared in horror at what was happened to his friend. She looked past his shoulder, "Starfire!" She heard Robin scream, even over the plug she'd felt was in her ears.

But it was too late, they were gone.

The grip around Raven's upper body left her, and she immediately began coughing and sucking in the air, trying hard to breath again. Beast Boy patted her back, trying to calm her down again.

"She's gone." Raven coughed.

Beast Boy didn't respond, but watched Robin's shocked face. He stood just staring at the place he'd disappeared.

Raven heard a clicking sound, and turned her head to the side. Her vision was still a little fuzzy from lack of oxygen, but she could have sworn-.

Beast Boy, Raven, and Robin watched in surprise as suddenly a silver sliver of something appeared behind all three of them appeared for a fraction of a second, and then all three of them hit the ground, unconscious. The tape went static.

"What was that?" Raven asked, stunned.

Robin shook his head, "Aftershock from what Winifred did?"

Beast Boy turned to Raven, "Do ghosts have aftershock affects?"

Raven didn't turn to him, but continued watching the screen. "I'm . . . not sure." She admitted.

"Well, whatever happened to us probably happened to the others." Robin said, "So we should check on them first . . . and then we'll look for Starfire."

Raven was automatically sympathetic, "We'll find her Robin, don't worry. She won't be able to hide her for long." Raven said, suggesting Winifred.

Robin paused for a moment before heading towards the door, "Let's just go find the others."

Starfire felt a bit of a thump on her side. She wasn't quite sure how they'd gotten there, but it was clearly not something Robin or anyone else had planned for. She opened her eyes and realized she was lying on her side, her face on the cold, hard ground. She pushed herself onto her hands and then to her elbows, "Robin . . ."

"You're safe from them."

Starfire looked up in shock, the voice was entirely different from the angry one she'd heard earlier. Winifred smiled down at her, "At least for now. We'll have to get rid of these trespassers, heaven knows how they got here. Let alone built-."

"Please," Starfire interrupted. She already had a plan from the moment Winifred had started talking. "Sister . . . what year is it?"

Winifred stared at her, as if she was stupid. "That . . . did you hit your head?" She paused, sighing. "The only good thing about this is that Father isn't here. Though, I do wish Mother was."

"S-Sister, why are you not fond of . . . Father?" Starfire was finding it difficult to act, but Winifred did not appear to notice. It seemed as though she thought it was an outcome of Starfire's supposed 'illness'.

Winifred once again gave her sister a confused look, "Emily, he is quite cruel to Mother. Isn't that obvious?"

Starfire thought quickly, "I-I always thought that it was normal."

"As did I, Emily. But unfortunately, our father is just plain evil."

Starfire blinked, not having to fake surprise, "I-."

"Put this on, Emily." Winifred said, throwing something at her. It landed a foot away from Starfire, she didn't move to get it. "You look absolutely provocative."

Winifred turned away, appearing to be giving Starfire privacy. Starfire picked up the cloth and got to her feet, seeing if the outfit would even fit her. She stared, stunned, at what Winifred had appeared to have taken from her closet.

Starfire remembered her real sister, Blackfire, at the garment. How she had been called from Earth to save her beloved planet by the marriage of the strange green thing that she could not even pronounce the name of. He was to have been her husband, had Robin and the other Titans not broken in and told them the truth just in time. How it was all a trick to just get Blackfire a gem that had just been broken in the battle for the crown between the two siblings.

But she never thought she'd see her wedding dress again.

". . . Sister?"

"Hmm?" Winifred asked, not turning around.

"Must I . . .?" She didn't finish.

"Yes." Her sister said, as if reading her mind. "Just hurry up now."

Starfire rubbed the garment between her fingers a few times before finally, and reluctantly, removing her shoes one by one very slowly, and then removing her clothes and pulling the dress over it. It was still a lovely fit on her. "You may . . . turn around now."

Winifred did as was instructed and smiled warmly. "There, you look much better now."

"I do not feel better," Starfire mumbled.

Winifred seemed to be taking it as if she was talking about her illness. "It's just a cold, you'll be fine."

Starfire sighed, shaking her head. "You do not understand, I am not your sister."

"Of course you-!"

Starfire lifted her hand, showing the green energy coming from it, "As I have said, I am not your sister."

Winifred's eyes were wide, "I . . ." Then she shook her head, dispelling some thought. Hope rose in Starfire, but then-. "What have they done to you!?"

Starfire growled in frustration before grabbing Winifred's shoulders and shaking her, surprised she could touch her at all. "YOU are the one who has been altered! You are dead! The name of my sister is Blackfire, and you are not she!"

Winifred stared at her, Starfire knew how painful her grip on her probably was, but she made no move to release her. Finally though, her self-proclaimed sibling closed her eyes and sighed. "Of course you aren't."

Raven and the others entered the room, noticing how groggy the others appeared to be.

"You guys okay?" Robin asked, alarmed.

Cyborg seemed surprised, "We were just about to send someone for you guys. What happened?"

"Where's Starfire?" Jinx asked, the first to notice. She stretched up onto her feet, appearing to be trying to see if she was behind them. As if any second she'd pop out and say, 'Here I am, friend!'

No such response came. "She's been kidnapped," Raven said plainly, hiding the fear she was feeling well.

Cyborg groaned, "Man, I was afraid this was going to happen! Do you have any idea where she is?"

"Winifred could've taken her anywhere," Robin muttered darkly, clearly upset. "But she has to be somewhere in the Tower."

"Then let's split up and find her," Speedy said, knowing how much it probably pained Robin to not know for sure if she was okay.

"Fine." Robin said, "We'll split up into groups of three. Red Star, Jinx and I-."

"We get the point, Robin." Beast Boy said sympathetically. "You go, we can divide ourselves up."

Robin said nothing, but nodded, leaving with Bumblebee and Cyborg.

"That was awfully bold of you."

Beast Boy turned and saw Raven, her arms crossed and hood up. He grinned at her, "Yeah, well, I'm a bold guy."

'But not bold enough.' A voice said in the back of his mind as he watched Raven. He ignored the mental groan, the longing feeling that a part of him had for her-.

"Beast Boy, you still in there?" Aqualad asked, snapping his fingers in Beast Boy's face. He jumped back, getting a little smirk from Aqualad.

"Heh, sorry." He said, turning a bit red.

Raven was no longer in front of him, she seemed to be discussing something with Kole, who in turn laughed and said something back. Aqualad noticed who he was watching and shook his head, "Beast Boy, you're a good friend of mine. Now listen to me when I say," He lowered his voice so no one else could hear, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him a bit. "How much longer are you going to make her wait?"

Beast Boy shoved him off before muttering back, "Is it that obvious?" His friend nodded. "It's not that simple! This is Raven we're talking about, I can't just-!"

"We've divided up the rest of the teams," Speedy said, catching his attention.

Beast Boy and Aqualad then noticed there were only six people remaining in the room; the two of them, Raven, Speedy, Kole, and Kid Flash.

"Raven, Kole, and Aqualad in one group, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, and I in the other. Got it?"

"But, aren't we supposed to stay in our original two groups?" Beast Boy asked, confused.

"Nah," Speedy said. "We're good."

"Besides," Kid Flash said as he began pushing Beast Boy toward the door, not even bothering to lower his voice (and Beast Boy was quite sure he'd actually gotten louder). "Absence makes the heart grow fonder. See ya Raven!" He shouted purposefully. "Bye Kole, bye-!"

"We get it!" Aqualad shouted, waving.

Beast Boy didn't dare turn around to see what Raven's expression was, nor did he want her to see his own. So he allowed himself to be pushed out the door, not daring to stand on his own until the doors shut behind him.

Kole giggled, turning to Raven with a smile, "Well, you ready?"

Raven shrugged, a small smirk on her face. "I guess."

Aqualad gave her a wry look, "You know, don't you?"

Her smile wiped from her face as she walked toward the door, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

SO, that's the end until the next time. In the next chapter, Starfire will be found, and you'll find out . . . I forgot what I was typing. Anyways, later!