(This story takes place roughly two months after THE END.)
"Four billion dollars."
Mr. Nelbert, the lawyer, was a slight, pedantic man with out-of-fashion rimless glasses that tended to slide down his nose when he got nervous. He was nervous now. Anybody would be, with Raven sitting across the table glaring at them.
He cleared his throat and straightened his papers into a slightly neater pile. "Four billion dollars," he repeated.
"I don't have four billion dollars," Raven hissed.
"Well, that's just for a bond, Miss Raven." Mr. Nelbert's glasses slid down his nose. He pushed them back up. "It may be you can find an insurance or finance institution which would be willing to act as a guarantor should a similarly unfortunate event happen again. For example, AIG -"
"We've been in Jump City for a long time," Robin interrupted. He sat to Mr. Nelbert's left and was the only person Raven trusted to have with her when the city made an appointment for Raven to meet with their lawyer/liaison. "We have never been asked to put up any kind of surety bond. And we're a team. Whatever Raven's responsible for, we're all responsible for."
"I'm afraid not in this case," Mr. Nelbert said primly. "As a municipality we are well aware of the damages to be expected when a city plays host to a group of superheroes. Which are minimal when you consider the benefits!" he added, noticing the expression on Robin's face. "However upon discussion the council decided that complete destruction of the city was not a reasonable outcome for a group of superheroes in the normal course of their duties. Thus the request for a surety bond. And as Miss Raven was solely responsible -"
"She was coerced," Robin ground out.
"All eyewitness reports including yours indicate that she took part in -" Raven growled, and he stopped his sentence, saying instead, "- that she took part voluntarily."
"She put everything back the way it was!"
"After roughly 36 hours," Mr. Nelbert said. "That was 36 hours the city was not able to engage in commerce or taxation. At the same time we had the normal costs of employees and so forth. In fact," he said in an attempt at levity, "As this phenomenon took place across the whole world, there was some discussion over whether we should request a bond equal to measurable commerce for the whole country, which could have equaled over a trillion dollars. Of course we realized that would be an inappropriate request."
Raven leaned over the table, and uneasily Mr. Nelbert saw flashes of red in the depths of her hood. "A trillion is inappropriate but four billion dollars is not?"
Mr. Nelbert steeled himself. "Miss Raven, as part of the Titans it is your job to protect this city from physical threats. As a lawyer it is my job to protect it from financial and legal threats. We need financial assurance that your activities will not threaten the well-being of Jump City."
Raven just stared at him as he stood up and put his papers back in his folio. "We understand it will take some time to make the arrangements, so we're not insisting on a settlement today. But if a surety bond has not been agreed upon within thirty days, we'll have to ask Miss Raven to curtail her activities with the team until such time as it has. I'll see myself out. Thank you."
Raven sat stiffly, staring at the tabletop, until she heard the hiss of the elevator as Mr. Nelbert left. Then she relaxed suddenly, her shoulders slumping. She pushed back her hood and looked at Robin helplessly. "Four billion dollars?"
"Man." Robin sat down, frowning. "Four billion dollars. I don't think even Bruce could come up with something like that." His jaw tightened. "You've been with the team since we started, you've risked your life at least a thousand times, and they want four billion dollars. Those rotten -"
Raven rubbed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think. "I can almost see their point of view. I did destroy everything. Even if I put it back I caused a lot of damage. I don't blame them for wanting some kind of promise it won't happen again. But four billion dollars?" She shook her head. "It's so much money it almost isn't real. What do they expect me to do?"
"I don't think they've thought about it that much. But you're right. What do they expect you to do? Are you supposed to conjure up the money? File for an IPO? Or do they – hey."
Raven looked up at the new note in Robin's voice. "Hey?"
"I don't think we're going to have any luck with an insurer. And I'm not sure we can get four billion dollars in thirty days. But we might be able to get them to change their minds."
"I don't know," Raven said uncertainly. "If the whole city council wants me to -"
"Oh, I think we can. There's just one problem." Robin leaned toward her and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "It might be – fun."
"Fun."
"And possibly – silly." Robin grinned.
Raven drew back. "If you were Beast Boy I would be terrified right now. Even being who you are I'm kind of scared."
"Look at it this way. Would you rather be silly for a while or would you rather figure out where you're going to get four billion dollars?"
Sighing, Raven stared at the tabletop. Robin waited. Finally she said, "This is my problem. I don't want the rest of the team involved."
"Are you kidding? Beast Boy and Cyborg wouldn't miss this for anything. Let's go get them. Then, I'll make a few phone calls."
"Robin, what exactly are we going to do?"
"Us? We're going to fight the bad guys and serve and protect Jump City. And if they want us to make some money, we'll do that too. Come on."