Queen_khalifa requested this a while ago and it is truly a monster of a fic

CW//BLOOD//VOMIT//SICKNESS

Something was wrong. When wasn't something wrong? There was always something bad happening somewhere and as heroes, it was their job to put a stop to it but this time the bad thing was happening within the team. 

Raven often had nightmares of her father. Who wouldn't have nightmares of their demonic world destroying father? She often dismissed them and protected herself with tomes but she never quite knew if it wasn't him. Her latest nightmare felt far too real.

Her and Trigon were standing in a place similar to her mindscape where she kept her emotions but unlike her mind, this place held no familiar comfort. The skies were red like blood and the ground was like scorched earth, unlike the grounding flat stone she recognised. He stood in front of her, towering but not at the skyscraper size she was familiar with. She felt like a little girl before him. He glared down at her with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You have failed me. Your team has interfered with plans they have no understanding of. Mortals have no place in my dealings with Earth."

"Earth is more than some dimension for you to destroy and it's a pleasure to fail you," she replied shortly. "My team saved me."

"They damned themselves. Your leader most of all. He was supposed to die, either by the hands of myself or Slade."

"No one is meant to be murdered," she argued despite the grim heavy feeling in her stomach. Her hands shook by her sides but she was careful to hide them in her cape to prevent Trigon from noticing them. He would love to see her terrified and she wouldn't give him that joy. He scoffed at her.

"He knows nothing of what's he done and he will pay dearly for it."

"You wouldn't dare hurt him and I know for a fact you're unable to. You're trapped and I will never let you."

"I may be trapped here physically but my powers extend beyond this plane of existence and you'll be smart to remember that." She narrowed her eyes and searched her mind for any small part of the text that said he could do that. Her heart pounded at the thought of his powers leaking through. "He will not escape punishment and neither will you. You will help me, Raven, as you are destined."

"My friends will never allow that."

"No, I suppose not. However, I doubt you will have the same stubbornness when you are burdened by choice. Let's see how sure you are of escaping your fate when the life of one you care for is put against the millions I will make suffer."

When she woke up, she immediately reached for the gem on her forehead. She didn't know what she was feeling for but she just needed to touch it to know it was still there. It was. She breathed a sigh although she wasn't sure if it was one of relief. There was a feeling of grime on her skin that a shower wouldn't fix but she prepared one anyway. It was just a nightmare, she told herself. Trigon was powerful but so was she. He needed her so he couldn't be omnipotent. Robin would be fine and so would she.

The Titans were no strangers to Robin's nightmares. With the life he lived, it would be strange for him to sleep soundly every night. His nightmares often ended with him standing in the kitchen at all hours of the night with a cup of something warm and a faraway look on his face. He'd sometimes entertain conversation, but he preferred to remain quiet most of the time, nodding at the right times. The next day, he'd be back to himself and they silently decided to not bring up the night before. 

One night, he woke up with a scream that had them jolting out of bed to rush to his room. They banged on the door, asked if he was alright and eventually had to forcefully open the sliding door to get inside. When they did, Robin was sitting up in bed drenched with sweat and his chest rose and fell rapidly. He didn't notice them enter until Starfire flew to his bedside and gently put a hand on his shoulder. 

"Are you okay?" she asked. He blinked a few times before he registered that she was touching him and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"You're sweating buckets," Beast Boy pointed out. "Are you sick?"

"No, no, I feel fine," he insisted. "I- I don't even know what happened."

"You don't remember the nightmare?" Raven clarified. He nodded, the last of his daze leaving him looking confused. 

"I always remember. Especially ones that get loud but I've not got a clue."

"Do you want us to stay?" Cyborg offered. He shook his head with a smile they knew was genuine which made it all the more unusual. It's not like they wished for him to remember terrible things but this was making them uneasy. Who screams in terror with no memory of the terror? They decided not to push him about it since he didn't seem too displaced by the nightmare. 

"I think I'll just try to get some more sleep and hope it doesn't happen again." They nodded and shuffled out of the room, closing the door behind them to give him some privacy. He turned over and pulled the sheets up to his chin. When did it get so cold in here?

Over the week, Raven felt like she was going mad. Nobody else seemed to notice their leader change but she could see it clear as day. 

He didn't eat much as it was but now she hadn't seen him eat a full meal since before the nightmare. He choked down snacks and small protein bars. She'd seen him eat a mouthful of something then get a disgusted look on his face and put it down. His office was now littered with discarded food he couldn't stomach eating. 

He looked tired all the time yet none of them heard him wake up from nightmares and they knew he was sleeping. Robin would wake up just as tired as he fell asleep to the point he needed five cups of coffee just to get through an hour of work. His hands were constantly trembling from the caffeine so Cyborg suggested that he try to go without it for the day and hopefully get some sleep. They watched him sleep on the couch for almost the entire day and he still woke up tired.

Raven asked if anyone else had noticed that Robin was more withdrawn, that he seemed to be sleepwalking through his days but they assured her it wasn't something to worry about. They all knew that Robin had random days or weeks where he repeatedly failed to interact with the team for no reason they could discern. It could be a case, PTSD, he could just be feeling low, he might not want to socialise because they could be overwhelming and so on and so forth. Whilst Raven was sure this was out of the ordinary, they insisted this was nothing they hadn't seen before.

It was just Raven and Robin in the gym at some point. Raven didn't work out often but she liked to make sure her telekinetic strength was still there. Robin was on the chest press whilst she used various weights and their machines to practice. Her music blared through the speakers so much so that she hardly took notice of her teammate until his weights slammed. She whipped her head around at the sound and found him hunched forward with his hand on his back, his face pinched in pain.

"Did you pull something?" she asked worriedly. He had lost an insane amount of weight since the nightmare. Too much to be natural. He shook his head and felt the back of his shirt, frowning when he found it soaked. He pulled his hand back and was startled to find his fingertips were covered in a deep red sticky substance. It was almost black and acted more like syrup than blood. "Robin, turn around." He refused and leaned away from her. He looked her in the eyes for what felt like the first time in a long while. Like these were his first seconds of clarity.

"Something is wrong. With me." He didn't sound like himself. It was definitely his voice but it was masked slightly. It was like he was moving through thick golden syrup.

"No shit. You're bleeding now turn around so I can see."

"It's been getting worse. I'm losing," he said hurriedly as if this was his only moment to say it. "Raven, your dad. He's here."

"No, he's in the crystal still," she responded although her confidence wavered. He still didn't move so she twisted him around and pulled up his shirt. Three long scratches along his back greeted her. The wounds already looked infected but it only just happened. How could it already be red and inflamed? How could his skin already be swollen around the edges? How was the blood already dark like it'd been bleeding for hours?

"Not all of him," he whispered. "I think I'm dying."

"You're not dying," she dismissed quickly. 

"I'm not in here," he replied. "Not alone at least. Raven, what's happening to me?" Her eyes widened. 

"Dick," a name she was told in confidence but never used when they were outside the privacy of their rooms. She was only allowed to use it outside of that circumstance if she thought it necessary. Judging by her leader's face, he agreed with her judgement. "I'm going to remove your mask. I need to see your eyes."

"They're not gonna be mine, are they?"

"I hope they are."

When Raven removed the mask, they both knew it was bad news. She'd seen his eyes a few times. He wasn't protective of his secret identity, more so hiding behind the anonymity Robin provided and finding safety in it. His eyes were usually a bright blue were now a sickly yellow and the whites of his eyes were now grey despite how bloodshot they were. They looked wet but not from tears about to fall. Instead, it was similar to how a fever made your eyes glaze over. 

"You see me, Raven," he said, his voice deeper. Trigon. If he was already at the stage of being able to take over Robin's body then he was able to do a lot more than she thought possible. There must be a microscopic crack in the crystal or something otherwise this wouldn't be possible. 

"Don't you dare hurt him," she snarled. An uncomfortable grin pulled at Robin's features.

"I have and I will continue to do so unless you join me."

"You're bluffing."

"Your stupidity truly knows no bounds, child, but I will prove myself if only to show you how limited your choices are," Trigon replied. He almost sounded bored. "Raven?" that was Robin. As soon as she felt relieved he was still in there, it all rushed out as his eyes rolled up into his head and his body flopped onto the floor before thrashing violently. He was having a seizure, Raven realised before moving anything he could hit far away from him. 

"Help!" she shouted. "Help!"

It felt like a blur as her teammates swarmed the room, watching in horror as Robin's limbs jerked uncontrollably. They'd been taught plenty of first aid but it seemed to leave them as they watched one of their own struggle against his own body. His back arched off the floor and they were sure he'd hit his head against it a few times before Raven was brought back to the present and whipped off her cloak, folding it and putting it underneath his head. He gasped awkwardly, like a drowning man being hit by wave after wave. A thin trail of blood dribbled down his chin which they hoped was from biting his tongue rather than something more sinister. They just watched in terrified silence.

Finally, his body eased and he was able to gasp for breath but his eyes were glazed over. Cyborg and Starfire rushed in, the older rolled him onto his side into the recovery position and the alien whispered comforting words in hopes he was lucid enough to hear her. He let out a long series of whines as tremors wracked through him. His body ached, his muscles feeling as though they'd been pulled to the point of tearing. 

When they were sure he wasn't going to have another seizure, Starfire carefully collected him in her arms before he could make any attempt at trying to get up on his own and brought him to the medical wing with her teammates following her close behind. She gently placed him on the bed and worriedly glanced at the half-demon as she stroked her boyfriend's hair soothingly whilst Cyborg connected him to various pieces of medical equipment. A seizure out of the blue was cause for concern, even without knowing what Raven did.

"Raven, what happened?" she asked.

"It's my father," Raven answered, her eyes never leaving Robin's limp form. "I should've known."

"That's not much of an explanation," Cyborg pointed out.

"I had a dream. Trigon told me that Robin would suffer for saving me. I-I thought it was just another dream but then he started acting different and I saw Trigon in there. He's really in there."

"He's in where?" Beast Boy asked.

"In Robin. He's possessed him."

"But you know how to fix it right?" the younger inquired. "You know all about that demonic stuff, right?"

"I don't know how this is even possible. He shouldn't be able to affect our world."

"But I can," Trigon's taunting voice rang. He left Robin's face slack as he spoke, making them take involuntary steps back. There was something so haunting about it. A person's face should move. It should have tightened and relaxed as they spoke with some sort of emotion but it was all gone. "And I have. So, what are you considering? Your leader's death or finally accepting what you were made to do?"

Raven's mind went silent for a moment. 

She didn't want Robin to die she was sure of that. Even if he was someone she didn't know, she wouldn't want him to die but she was especially against that idea having known him. He was kind and protective and he cared more than she knew a person could. He had no reason to bring them together as a team. He was more than capable of handling Jump City alone and being antagonistic to the other heroes who claimed the city as their home but he didn't. He got them a place to live, a home, he taught them everything they needed and he would move heaven and earth to keep them safe. 

The issue was if she agreed to help Trigon, so many others would die and she knew that Robin would never forgive her for that. He'd give his life to save one person let alone billions of them. He wouldn't want her to give up her freedom to be nothing more than a weapon and he wouldn't let her as soon as the possession ended. He'd fight till his last breath to save her again. 

Out of the two options, neither of them were viable. Trigon watched her carefully. He was eager to bask in the sorrow either choice caused. Of course, he wanted one more than the other but he was an agent of suffering. He only cared that someone got hurt. 

There was a third option. She could exorcise Trigon from Robin and save her leader. One problem with that. She didn't know how she was going to do it. She defeated Trigon before, trapping him in the crystal she wore daily but that was when he was in a corporal form of his own and she had to destroy that form. That was just the first option again only the blood would be through action rather than inaction. 

Kill Robin, kill the population of Earth or risk Robin's life.

The team stared at her. Trigon stared through Robin's eyes. 

Finally, a memory sparked. A passage that just might hold the answer but finding it again would prove difficult. She also required something she wasn't sure she had anymore since Trigon's last attempt to take over the world. It was their best shot though. 

Instead of sharing the idea, she opened a portal to her room and stepped through without uttering a word.

"Damn, that's cold," Cyborg muttered. "Let's just try to get him comfortable." 

Starfire stared at the space Raven once inhabited. Her gaze hardened. She appreciated that this was an impossible decision and if she was in the same place, she wouldn't know what to do either but she wouldn't just leave. She would leave someone to tend to Robin and then hatch a plan with the rest of the team to find some sort of loophole. It was heartless and cowardly to leave without saying a word. If Robin was still aware in there, somewhere deep in the recesses of his own mind, would he see her leave him to die? Would he see her not even have the dignity to announce her decision or rant about how she wouldn't allow either to happen? Would he think he was as good as dead? She always thought that Raven and Robin were quite close. They bonded over something the rest of them didn't know and were basically brother and sister so it was plain callous to not fight to keep him alive. 

"Is there nothing else we can do?" she asked.

"This is Raven's territory," Cyborg answered bitterly. 

"She could've gone to figure out a plan," Beast Boy suggested, not wanting to think she was doing anything else. 

"She better be," she muttered through clenched teeth. She moved her gaze back to her bedridden boyfriend now slightly writhing in the bed. He was strong, she knew that but no matter how strong you were, torture was still torture. It was simply a matter of how long he lasted.

When Raven returned a day later, things were dire. 

Robin was spiking a high fever, whispering nonsense between begs for his father or a man named Bruce. His body had broken out in painful sores as though he'd been burned by his own fever. His fingertips were dark with the beginning stages of necrosis usually caused by frostbite. His lips were blue but his face was flushed. A mix of freezing and burning to death at the same time. He was curled up on his side and there was a sickly thick air around him that carried the musk of vomit despite the windows being opened. 

The three teammates who had stayed with him all had a grim expression. They knew he wasn't going to last very long but they didn't know just how long. Trigon was clearly sticking to his word of making this slow and painful not just for Robin but for those closest to him as well. He was probably cackling somewhere in Robin's mind, looking pridefully upon his work.

They glared at her as soon as she stepped out of the portal and she had to dodge the alarm glass Starfire threw at her. 

"I know how it looked but I cannot speak of what I'm going to do," she announced.

"Not even a clue? You just left without a word whilst Robin is dying!" Starfire yelled.

"Trigon could be listening," she countered. The alien huffed but conceded on the point.

"So you have a plan?" Beast Boy asked. She nodded and pulled out a container of salt. She quickly circled the bed with it and tested the strength by trying to pass over it. Whilst she could step inside, it left her so nauseous she had to quickly step out before she fainted or added to the smell. Her friends watched her carefully, eager to offer assistance but not wanting to break her preparations to say so. 

"Tie his limbs to the bed," she ordered. Immediately she saw them withdraw their support. "I wouldn't ask you to do so if I didn't believe it was necessary. Right now, it's entirely necessary." Starfire grumbled something like a Tamaranian version of fuck and began strapping him down. She had flashbacks to when he was drugged by Slade but quickly pushed them away to concentrate on making the straps tight. Robin whined at being laid flat, his body instinctually wanting to remain curled up in pain, and let out a cry of pain at the newfound pressure on his sores.

"What now?" she asked, her voice clipped.

"Trigon, in accordance with law, I have to offer you the opportunity to leave at your own volition." She was met with silence. "Fine." She pulled out a book and a small shard of a red crystal that looked similar to her own. "Robin, if you can hear me, I'm sorry for the pain you will be put through but I promise it's going to help."

"How much pain are we talking about?" Beast Boy asked.

"He will scream bloody murder," she answered.

"How many do you need in the room?" Starfire inquired.

"One. I won't be able to pass over the salt without harm to myself."

"Cyborg and Beast Boy leave."

"What?" the pair shouted in unison.

"He wouldn't want you to see him like this."

"Oh, and he'd want you to see him like that?" Cyborg asked. "He left me as defacto leader when he's out. Beast Boy should be the only one to leave."

"Dude! Why do I have to leave?"

"You're too young for the nightmares."

"As if I don't have them already?"

"Starfire isn't the leader but he is as close as we have to his next of kin. The pair of you leave," Raven announced. They hesitated to move. "Now." Reluctantly, they trailed out of the room but not before looking back as though their minds would change upon seeing their dejected expressions. It didn't and the doors closed behind them.

Now with only Raven, Robin and Starfire in the room, Raven continued. She opened the book up to a page she'd bookmarked previously and began to levitate the crystal between her hands. She whispered the text, careful of her pronunciation of words no mortal would be able to speak and allowed the magic to flow through her like water running over river stones. She breathed slowly to keep focused. Starfire's eyes remained on Robin both out of worry for him and concern about throwing Raven off during the spell.

"Azarath," she began. 

Robin threw his head back and tried to shed himself off the tight straps holding him down but even at full health, he wouldn't be able to manage it without something sharp to help him. He began to beg for them to stop but Raven continued, ignoring his pleas knowing this was for the best. The shard between her hands began to move to the protective circle.

"Metrion." 

A scream left his lips and shook the room. There was a second voice behind it. Trigon's scream brought her enough peace to push forward without hurting Robin. She tried not to think about the parallels between her and her father taking pleasure in suffering. Unlike him, she didn't like the suffering of the innocent. They weren't the same no matter how hard he tried to convince her they were alike. Now the crystal had the energy to pass through and hovered over Robin's body.

"Zinthos!"

Another scream followed alongside a flood of black smoke that filled the circle. The only thing they could make out was the shining red of the crystal. He shouted for his mother, his father and for this mystery man named Bruce. He sounded terrified. He never sounded terrified. They'd seen him apprehensive, unsure, anxious but never so plainly terrified. 

"Did it work?" Starfire asked, eager to soothe her lover but not daring to move without the go-ahead. 

"I won't know until the smoke clears," Raven answered regretfully. 

It felt like years before the smoke disappeared and the floating crystal dropped into Robin's lap. Their leader was deathly still and breathing shallowly. 

"Untie him, I'll get the others," Raven ordered. 

Starfire didn't let a second pass. As soon as she got the order, she was already undoing the straps and providing comforting words for the unconscious hero. She began at the straps holding his legs down and ended at the one across his forehead. She held the back of her hand against his forehead and breathed a small sigh of relief. He was still too warm but it was no longer within the danger zone of causing serious damage. She assessed his sores and found that they had now eased into semi-healed blisters. The blackness that captured his fingertips was receding nicely. They couldn't be sure if all the damage he had sustained was reversed by the exorcism but she kept her hopes up.

Cyborg and Beast Boy ran into the room and looked at Robin, unsure if what they were seeing was a positive result.

"He'll need rest and treatment for the damage left behind but he'll be okay," Raven assured them.

"What about Trigon?" Beast Boy asked. She quickly plunged her hand into the circle and grabbed the crystal off of his lap before pulling it to her chest. She cradled it in her hands as she showed the young changeling. 

"He's in here, similar to my own crystal."

"What do we do now? Destroy it?" Cyborg asked.

"Damaging the crystal would release him. Unfortunately, Robin has one more responsibility to set upon his shoulders," she answered grimly. At first glance, it seemed easy. To her teammates it was simple. Keep the crystal safe. Only she and Robin with time would know the anxiety of knowing if anything happened to their crystals, the world itself would be in danger. They would be the only ones to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night to check on the crystals. For now, though, she relished in knowing he was safe for now.

Eventually, it became time for her to explain the responsibility to Robin. He'd ended up sick for a week but he was alive. They sat down together in the privacy of his room as she told him everything he needed to know.

"I can't keep this on me all the time like you. One good shot from a criminal and it's broken," Robin said, twirling the crystal in his hand. He felt like he could see the demon clawing at the inside of it or maybe that was just the naturally occurring streaks in the mineral. Staring at it made him sick.

"They're more resilient than you think but if you can't wear it then put it somewhere no one can ever break it," she replied. "I wear his prison to ensure that he never gains enough control to take over the world and I can repair it as soon as I see fractures. If you don't want to wear it as I do then you need to ensure that it never so much as gains a scratch without you knowing." He nodded to himself. "I'm sorry to burden you with it."

"You saved my life, that's hardly a burden," he answered. "Would you be able to keep it safe?"

"Robin, if this breaks, not only will he be set free but he's tethered to you now. He could possess you again. You're putting your life in my hands," she stressed. Still, he looked at her with complete trust. He took her hand and pressed the crystal into her palm.

"I know you wouldn't let anything bad happen."

"I can't keep it forever," she told him. "It's yours to protect and I have enough to worry about with my own."

"Then give me a month to work something out."

"Alright but only to call it even."

If you asked Dick what was in the small jewellery box in the back of his wardrobe, he would say it's something precious and to never open it. Most assumed it was something that had once belonged to his parents and respected his privacy. Some, mostly his brothers, had peeked inside out of interest to find a simple red crystal shard. They wouldn't think much more about it although they would feel rather sorry that it had been damaged. Very few looked upon it and knew immediately what it was. When they did, they carefully placed it back inside.