Prolouge
"Is he still alive?"
"Yes sir, he suffered a concussion. He should awaken anytime now."
"Good, we can't afford to lose him just yet. How bad is the damage to the Archive room."
"The west wall was completly obliterated and all the files are completely scattered. It would take years to sort the whole mess out by hand."
"What about the girl?"
"We're sending a search and rescue Helicopter but I don't know how long it will last. The storm out there is just getting worse. She's probably frozen to death by now."
"...Assist the search party, you're the only physician in this facility."
"Yes sir."
"Are you awake?"
"...Wh..what happened?"
"There has been a security breech in the Archive room. You were hurt."
"...Wh...Where's colonel..."
"He's Dead."
"..."
"You were the only one to come back alive, what happened?"
"...where is she?..."
"...We can't find her, she's missing"
"..."
"Listen, you have you tell me what happened."
"...I...I saw her...something...different"
"What? What was different?"
"...her...eyes...four...red..eyes...fill ed..with...rage"
"What?"
"...I Know what I saw!"
"Calm down, you need your rest"
"Please...Find her...for me...she needs me..."
"I understand but we're doing the best we can. I promise I'll do everything to get her back. Just rest for now."
"This is Search and Rescue team beta: Visability has reached zero and temprature has dropped to -22 degrees farenhiet. Mission Aborted. RTB.
Four years have passed since that incident
Chapter 1: Crow's Nest
"Well, it's about time I leave"
The janitor just looked down at his mop as the security guard talked, the brim of his hat just barely hiding his face as he kept mopping the lobby floor. "Don't miss a spot mister..." the sercurity guard glanced at the nametag "..Dimitri. Be sure to clear out by 4 and I expect a good job when I get here tomorrow morning." The Security Guard took off his hat and left for the door, "And be sure to lock up." The janitor just stood there silent still mopping away as the security guard stepped out and mumbled "Damn stupid foreigners".
The janitor took the supply kart and went to security room. He looked at the flickering screen's that show the whole area.
"Good, he's gone"
After looking over it, the janitor shut down the security cameras and left the room. He went to the janitors closet and put the supply kart up. He then grabbed a steel, thick briefcase and left up a dark corridor that led to the top of the skyscraper
It was dark and dimly lighted on the roof and a blanket of fog had set in over the city. He walked up to the edge and took his hat off to reveal his black, shoulder-length hair. He then unlatched the briefcase to pull out a laptop. He immediatly turned it on and waited for a signal.
The screen flashed "CONNECTION ESTABLISHED" and the janitor put on the microphone as he awaited a voice. Then suddenly, a crackle was heard and then the voices started to come in clear.
"Dimitri? God it took you forever, what the hell hapenned?" said the voice
"That security guard is a nightmare, acts like some omnipresent supervisor."
"Sucks to be you, lets go over your equipment."
Dimitri grabbed the briefcase and pulled out what appeared to be a tripod and a high-tech-looking telescope.
"What? the Agency sent me here for stargazing?" said Dimitri in a surprised manner.
"Hardly, this is a prototype we're testing. This telescope allows the user to zero in on a target and take a DNA analysis from about 3 miles away. Then it comes to us and we anaylze it and put it on file."
Dimitri looked at it with a bit of confusion.
"Why would the Agency trust me with expensive equipment?" said Dimitri
"Your guess is as good as mine, but I think it's a nicer change from the usual pistol and rifle."
"Yeah," said Dimitri "I think your right. Standard covert procedure?"
"You got it," said the voice "No casualties, no explosions, no anything that makes a good Schwarzenegger movie. Just get the analysis of the subjects and leave. We're looking at about 5 subjects of this so called "Teen Titans" organization from what we have uncovered."
"Alright," said Dimitri "I got this thing set up but I still can't see in this damn fog."
"Turn on the thermals, you should see better that way." said the voice. "Did you find the building?"
Looking at the big "T" shaped building, Dimitri replied sarcasticly "How could I miss it?"
"Alright, now there should be 5 heat signature's"
"I found one, what should I do?" said Dimitri, still puzzled how the telescope works.
"There should be a button on the right side of the telescope, push it."
Without hesitation, Dimitri pushed the button and the telescope started to process the information and sent it to the computer.
"Okay," said the voice "we're getting something...Alright it went through, here's the analysis data."
The laptop screen was flashing and read:
DNA ANALYSIS COMPLETE.
DNA ABNORMALTIES: NONE
"Alright I got another one." Dimitiri pushed the button and the process repeated itself.
DNA ANALYSIS COMPLETE
DNA ABNORMALTIES: ANALYSIS SHOWS SUBJECT'S BODY COMPOSITION IS MADE OF 70 CYBERNETIC MATERIAL.
DNA ANAYLISIS COMPLETE
DNA ABNORMALTIES: ANALYSIS SHOWS SUBJECT'S DNA COMPOSITION IS SIMULAR TO THAT FOUND IN ANIMAL'S BUT CONTAIN HUMAN DNA AS WELL
"Alright, we're about done." said the voice.
"Good, I'm about to freeze to death out here. Found one."
DNA ANALYSIS COMPLETE
DNA ABNORMALTIES: DNA UNLISTED, DOESN'T RESEMBLE ANYTHING ON EARTH. POSSIBLE ERROR.
"What was that all about?" asked Dimitri
"Oh, I heard about this. Supposedly they had some sort of extraterestrial in their ranks. I thought it was just a rumor but I guess it's true." said the voice.
"Well it wasn't anything big, it looked human." said Dimitri
"Yeah, we better not spend alot of time dreading it. You found that last one?"
"Yeah, I have it." Dimitri pushed the button.
"Hmm? What's this? this is odd." said the voice, sounding concerned.
"What, what is it?" said Dimitri.
"It says that it's already on file. Let me pull it up. Give me some time" said the voice.
Dimitri sat there while the error message flashed on the screen. He stared up at the cloudy sky as he tried to keep warm in the bone-chilling cold. The air reminded him about that night...
"Sweet god," said the voice "This can't...Dimitri, your not going to believe this."
"What?" said Dimitri, now worried something went terribly wrong.
"That DNA, Look on your screen!"
As the screen started to refresh it self, Dimitri couldn't believe it, it flashed all of the data on the screen.
"IS THIS SOME SORT OF JOKE?" said Dimitri angrilly
"I don't know, it says it's her but she...I'll send this to the General.
Dimitri waited for a voice to give him an answer. He stared back into the fog where the building was supposed to be and wondered, "Was she really there? Is she really alive?"
"Dimitri," A more deeper voice came on the speaker "This is the General"
Dimitri hushed and gave all of his attention to him.
"We went over the DNA, it's her, no doubt about it." said the General.
"What do you want me to do?" said Dimitri, calmly.
"Your orders are to eliminate her." said the General.
"WHAT?" said Dimitri "WHY?"
"Because she's wanted for the death of Colonel Mishkin."
Dimitri stood there in silence for a few seconds.
"We were partners, family." said Dimitri "AND YOU JUST WANT ME TO KILL HER?"
"She killed one of our officials, Im sure she was fully aware of the consequences." said the General
"You promised me that you'd bring her back." said Dimitri
"LISTEN DIMITRI, YOUR EMOTIONS HAVE NO PLACE HERE. YOUR ORDERS ARE TO ELIMINATE HER."
"WHAT IF I DON'T FOLLOW ORDERS?"
"Then you'll both be hunted down like animals and be killed"
Dimitri just stood there. "You changed."
"Your supplies will be dropped off at the point where you were supposed to be extracted."
Dimitri grabbed the mic and put it against his mouth "You'll get your dead body, Agent Crow over and out."
Chapter 2: Emergence
Sunlight.
It's been a lazy week for the Titans, nothing has happened for about eight long days. There was, however, a burglary at a bank. But it turned out to be a false alarm. Boredom can change a person in many ways. For them, it was turning them against one another for the most petty things.
Starfire, with nothing better to do, is glued to the TV set along with Beast Boy. Beast Boy, with a look of death on his face due to boredom, flips the TV set to anything remotely of interest, but the constant reruns and the boring soaps prove too much for him and he falls dead asleep on the couch. Starfire soon follows. Cyborg walks in, scoots Beast Boy's near-comatose body and grabs the remote and switches it to the news.
"In today's news, A security scare at One William's Skyscraper, a financial firm owned by Wayne Enterprises, had city police searching for a theif early this morning. A janitor claimed it was due to a malfunction in security. The janitor was not available for comment."
"And now for traffic, a fog that hit the city last night caused some... CLICK
Cyborg let out a sigh, "Theres is absolutly nothing to do."
Robin just nodded, leaning against the wall, impatiently tapping his feet. This rythmatic tapping was starting to get to Cyborg. each tap seemed to get more and more louder. More unbearable by the second. To the point in which he just couldn't take it.
Cyborg quickly got up and said "WOULD YOU STOP THAT!"
"WHAT! WHAT AM I DOING!" Robin screamed back.
Beast Boy sits up with the same death look "What's going on guys?"
"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" Both yelled at Beast Boy.
Beast Boy blinked and fell back into a vegitative state without hesitation. Starfire, still on the floor, remained unphased.
While this drama played out day by day, Raven seemed to be non-existant. Staying in her room for days on end. This, however was nothing new to the Titan's. But with the new found freedom, she found more time for herself. The rest decided not to bother (Because God help the poor idiot who stumbles in her room). For days she's been in a meditative state, chanting incantations and mantras. While in this Nirvanic state, she becomes one in the essence of all living things. She can sense the growing tension going on outside her room and whats going on in the city. This is truly bliss for her.
As she kept in that state she sensed something, something different. She sensed a presence with strong emotions, she sensed a conflict inside the mind of someone that seemed familiar. She saw a man in her vision, wearing a black trenchcoat, holding a rifle, aiming at her head.
"I'm sorry"
A shot was fired and the glass in her room shattered to the floor
As Dimitri looked through his scope he saw Raven laying on the floor, a bullet hole smoking at the other end of her room, a shocked look on her face.
5 more shots were fired.
"AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
"What the hell?"
The bullets hit a black shield encircling Raven, the bullets stopped inches from her face and tumbled to the ground.
As Dimitri looks on through his scope he sees other members burst into her room, they signal at each other and point at him.
"Damn, my cover has been comprimised." said Dimitri
"Quickly, get out of there." said the General
Dimitri threw down his rifle and drawn his pistol as he bolted to the other side to the building, but the security guard was waiting for him.
"I knew it, you were a terrorist all along. Put your weapon down or I'll shoot!"
Dimitri ran up to him and took off the slide of his gun, threw it off the side, and knocked him down, the security guard got up and ran screaming.
"Now I gotta get out of here." said Dimitri but as he looked up he saw the weirdest thing. 2 green orbs coming at him with intense velocity. Before he could do anything they hit ground and exploded at his feet, knocking him back next to the side of the building. He got up and saw Starfire.
"You!" said Dimitri, "You are the alien?"
"You tried to hurt my friend!" said Starfire.
"I don't hurt my friends."
As he said this he jumped off the side of the building and fired a rappel gun at a nearby steam pipe. He latched on and swung himself into a glass window, busting into an empty office.
As he ran to the door, he heard a voice.
"Dimitri?"
Dimitri looked back to see Raven, floating outside of the window, her face filled with shock.
"ATTACK HER! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Said the General.
Suddenly, Dimitri pulled out a pistol and fired shots at Raven, but to no avail. She just simply floated out of the way of the oncoming bullets
"AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
The large bookcase in the room started to move. Before he could do anything, Dimitri was painfully smashed between a wall.
Raven looked at it cautiously to see if she knocked him out. But then the bookcase was knocked over, startling Raven. Dimitri saw his chance and grabbed Raven by the neck and slammed her against the wall, he put his other hand over her mouth, the only way he knew how to stop the incantations.
"Raven is in here, I am sure" said a light female voice. Dimitri realized he didn't have much time.
She kicked him furiously but he basically ignored it as he inched forward on Raven and whispered into her ear.
"Meet me in the alleyway by this building at 10:00 tonight. We shall finish this."
Suddenly a green gorrila busted down the door and the rest of the Titans flooded the room. Dimitri let go of Raven. She falls to her knees, struggling for a breath as he jumped out of the building.
Cyborg fired a few shots out of the building but all were in vain. He missed Dimitri as he plummeted to the ground and landed on a trash pile. He then ran away, moments before the police showed up.
Robin walked over to Raven and asked her "What Happened? but Raven barked "Stay Away!" She rose up and floated out of the window quickly with her head down, not saying a word.
"Who was that guy?" Robin said as he looked out onto the police encircling the area.
The sky was getting darker.
"Dimitri? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. My knee is killing me from that fall."
"I see. Well it's good to see you're still alive"
"And your a fine change from the General. Did you get back that telescope thing?"
"Yeah, all in one piece. A miracle if I ever saw one. Hows the mission coming along?"
"...It's on schedule."
"...Listen man, I hate doing this too. I don't believe the general is in his right mind to make these decisions. We all were family. We just don't kill each other like as if its nothing off our back."
"...Were you monitoring today?"
"Yeah,"
"What was that incantation? I don't remember her knowing that."
"Yeah its wierd, "Azerath Metrion Zinthos". I put it in a search and something came up."
"What was it?"
"It's listed in a journal entry. It's in some dialect we can't decipher."
"Who owned the journal?"
"Tri...Tree..Treegun...I don't know, it left my mind. The journal is in computer files but the original was listed as missing. We couldn't find it after the incident in the archives room."
"I see."
"Plus this guy was also listed on her file, I was going to find out who he was but I don't have the proper clearance to view it."
"Can't you get the General to get you through?"
"It's tight level security. Fingerprint and Retina scans. He needs to be here to get it open but he's been gone to a meeting in Stockholm."
"Really?"
"Yeah, and theres something else funny about that. His IP Address on the computer he used to communicate with you did not match the previous address he always uses."
"Thats odd."
"Dimitri, I'm afraid something bad is going to happen. I'm not sure of anything right now."
"Don't worry David, everything will be okay. I'll come home safe."
"Yeah, what am I worrying about? This is "The Voice," over and out."
"Acknowlegded. Crow over and out."
Left
my Sweet Soul
Beneath the bed clothes
I'm not
coming down.
Walls have ears but
No-one hears
when
Nobody's around.
-Starsailor, Way to
Fall
Chapter 3: Way to Fall
"Why?"
Raven was sitting on top of the cathedral. Trying to contemplate what happened to her. Her past, which has stood silent for so many years, now suddenly and violently comes back to her. She wanted to forget everything. What she learned, who she known. It was something she wished that would've never happened. For a time she thought that her past would stay silent.
But then, at that moment, she realized that she made the biggest mistake anyone could make.
"You can't run from your past."
"Dimitri?"
"Yeah,"
Raven, wearing a military jacket with "SD-11738: RAVEN" written in the back, was floating beside Dimitri who was busy reading "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, Wearing the same jacket with the words "SD-74010: CROW."
"Have you ever wandered if you were made for a purpose?"
Dimitri put down his book, "I believe that everybody is the controller of their own fate, I think that we weren't put on this earth for a specific purpose but it's our decision weather we are going to be something or nothing at all. We either follow the words of who we trust or we make our own paths."
"But to know your future don't you have to know your past?" said Raven
Dimitri looked at Raven, "That's different for us. We don't have a past."
Raven started rubbing at the jewel embedded in her forehead. Having no idea where it came from.
"Would you quit rubbing that thing," said Dimitri "I'm afraid you're gonna die if it accidently falls out."
Raven let out a slight laugh "You worry too much."
Dimitri replied back, "I hope so."
"Raven, Crow."
They both stood up as Colonel Mishkin walks in through the door, his heavy bombers jacket, as with his pale white mustache, was covered in snow. He was a big man who was slighty overweight and in his late 50's
"It's about time for lights out. Crow, I'm afraid that your rifle excersise's will be moved inside for tomarrow, this blizzard isn't going to stop anytime soon so be expect more inside excersises this week."
Dimitri nodded in acknowledgement.
"Raven, your study's will be cancelled tomorrow. Enjoy your day off."
Raven nodded, but Dimitri noticed she wasn't phased by this, normally she would be enthusiastic.
"Now, it's time for lights out." said Mishkin as he left the room.
As Dimitri put up his book a head poked out of the door, "Hey, Leon's calling a snowball fight tommarow. You two up for it?"
Dimitri looked at Raven, who seemed to be preoccupied with something else. "Sure, tell him to count us in Dave."
David pointed to Raven, "Remember, no flying. We all can't do that."
Raven looked at David and nodded, a slight grin on her face.
AGENT VOICE! GET TO YOUR ROOM NOW. YOU STILL GOT COMMUNICATION LESSONS TOMMAROW!" Yelled the Colonel.
"SORRY SIR!" Dave yelled back as he ran for his room.
"Goodnight Dimitri"
"Goodnight" Dimitri replied back as Raven left for her room.
The clock on Raven's desk read 2:27 A.M. as she got up and grabbed a paper with various numbers she written on it earlier. She steped out of her room, the corridor was dead cold as she floated into it so as to not cause footsteps. It was dark and the wind was howling outside due to the blizzard. As Raven made her way through door after door, her words kept saying in her head:
"In order to know your future you must know your past."
As she reached a door with the word "ARCHIVES. CLEARANCE REQUIRED" she went up to the doorknob with a keypad on it. She grabbed her paper.
"If I make one mistake, the alarm will go off." she said to herself as she entered the numbers. 6-7-8-7-0-9...
As she got to the last number she noticed that the last number was worned off and barely legible after being in her jacket pocket for so long. She couldn't tell weather it was a 1 or a 7.
Starting to worry, she put two fingers on the 1 and the 7 numbers and pressed them simultaniously
The LED Screen above the keypad flashed a message.
ACCESS APPROVED!
Raven let out a sigh of relief.
As she entered the Archives room she saw rows and rows of files, one of them held the answer to her past.
She pulled out her paper and started to read.
ROW 22F FILE: R
As she floated towards the 22nd row she froze as she heard footsteps. The footsteps seemed to get louder and Raven flew up to the dark ceiling the footsteps started to fade until it was nothing. Raven continued her search.
She floated toward Row 22 and
searched for the Files that started with "R".
When she
finally found the R's she rolled out the File door quietly as she
searched for her name. Then she finally found it, the answer to her
past.
As she pulled it out, an old tattered book and a manilla envelope with the words: "TOP SECRET." written on it tumbled to the floor. She grabbed the book and put it in her jacket pocket for later reading. She lifted the papers out of the envelope and started reading her file.
PROFILE: Subject was the daughter of a master of supernatural art's known to the agency as "Trigon." Trigon was meddeling with the affairs of the Agency and was subject to a raid. He was killed in a standoff inside a church which lasted for 6 hours. Only 2 out of 8 member's came out alive. What they retrieved was an infant daughter who looked physically augmentated with supernatural powers and a journal of his exploits.
The journal revealed that the subject was a project of Trigon's to be "A supreme being." and said that she contained powers far beyond comprehension.
At the age of 9, the subject was found to have a power over levitation. All science research as to how this was possible was proved inconclusive.
We believe that the journal might hold the key to unleashing these uncomprehensive powers however most of the journal is written in an complicated language which no decoder has yet to understand.
We will continue to keep the subject here for further observations as we continue to understand the journal. The subject, when her powers are fully realized, shall become a valuble trump card in future negotiations for the Agency.
I have signed that all the contents stated in this report are true.
Colonel Konstantin Mishkin.
She was stunned, she finally learned her past
She fell on her knees and cried.
"I was created to be a weapon?"
Suddenly the footsteps came back but Raven was too shocked to move. As she kept crying, Colonel Mishkin came and put his hands on her shoulder.
"There, there. There's no reason to be sad. Your father was an awful man. He planned to use you as a tool of destruction. If we diddn't save you from him, you would've been nothing but a tool."
Raven looked back up at him and screamed at him "WHY? SO YOU COULD USE ME AS A TOOL LIKE HE WOULD HAVE? LIKE A WEAPON TO THREATEN OTHERS TO FOLLOW YOUR EVERY WHIM?
"You will learn your place here, you will learn your purpose."
Raven started feeling this emotion she never felt before, all the anger and hatred towards Mishkin started to grow and swell inside her. her breathing got heavier as this rage started to take over her body. She clenched her fist and looked up at Mishkin. Mishkin stared back at 4 red eyes.
Mishkin backed off. As he did, he saw Raven start to change into a monster. She grew about 12 feet and black tentacles made out of some black energy mass started to surround her.
"I AM NOT A WEAPON. I AM NOT A TOOL"
She grabbed Mishkin by the feet and lifted him up to her face. Mishkin was staring at the face of fear. The very same fear he wanted to use to control was now staring him down into his very soul.
She throws him towards the brick wall where he lands with a thud. One of the black tentacles start to grab the support beam to the wall. She pulled it and the wall came crashing down on Mishkin as he screamed for help.
The alarm was activated "EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY: ARCHIVE ROOM HAS BEEN BREACHED. ALL DEFENSE TEAMS REPORT THERE IMMEDIATELY. USE EXTREME CAUTION."
Dimitri burst through the door and rose his rifle. What he saw changed his life forever.
Mishkin's hands
sticking out of the pile of bricks, motionless. He raises his rifle
to fire at the beast. but when the beast turned around and shown
her face. Dimitri dropped his rifle.
"Raven? It can't.."
Before he could finish speaking a tentacle came and swiped him into the large row of filing cabinets. The falling cabinet triggered the other to fall and the rest fell like dominos. Files and papers scattered all over the room. Dimitri was completely knocked out.
The beast left outside the wall, into the cold blizzard.
"Is he still alive?"...
The bells in the cathedral now started to toll 10 times. Raven immediatly left to fulfill her engagement.
The alleyway was covered in papers and trash. sitting by the light post was Dimitri, twirlling a pistol on his finger.
Raven landed on the other side of the alleyway
"Dimitri..." she didn't know what to say.
"Raven, it's been a long time."
"Dimitri, what is this all about? Why did you try to kill me?"
"I'm following orders, weather I like them or not."
Raven stood there, a reddish mark still on her neck earlier from today.
"The Agency wants you dead, for Mishkin"
The memory replays inside Raven's mind. "The fool got what he deserved."
Not caring much for Mishkin, Dimitri just stares back.
"Katrina..."
Raven clenched her fist's
"That name means nothing to me."
"That name mean't everything to me, it mean't my life, my family, who I cared for..."
Raven just stared at him.
"..who I would die for."
"Dimitri, I don't want to do this."
Dimitri raised his pistol.
"Can you do something for me?"
"What?" said Raven
"Take off your cloak. Weather I kill you or you kill me, I want to see your beautiful face one last time"
Raven reached back and took off her cloak, her face, filled with uncertianty, stared back at Dimitri.
Dimitri activated the laser. it climbed up her arm, then up to her neck and head. Then it reached the jewel as it flickered in red.
Raven started creating a black energy mass on both of her hands.
The sky flickered with lightning and it started to rain.
The Raven and The Crow, both ready to kill each other, stared down each others soul's only to find the same common thing, they didn't want to do this.
It was now a question of which one was going to blink first.
No
reason to get excited
The thief he kindly spoke
There
are many here among us
Who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I we've been through that
And this
is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now
The
hour's getting late
-Jimi Hendrix, All along the
Watchtower.
The Final Chapter: Act of Shadows.
The two stared down at each other, ready at a moment's notice to attack.
Both faces filled with uncertainty. Both faces filled with anger.
The memories ran through Dimitri's mind.
-
"She's in here," said the physician
"Katrina, what happened?"
Raven was laying on an infirmary bed, a bandage was wrapped tightly around her right thigh, blood was showing through the white cloth. she was too dosed up on depressents and painkillers to be concious
Leon, wearing a jacket with the Agency's insignia, a sword pointing up with 2 snakes wrapped around the blade and the globe in the background, and David, pushing up his glasses, were standing by her bedside.
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" screamed Dimitri with a look of unbelievable anger in his eyes.
"It happened all too fast, I was distracted, I slipped and pulled the trigger."
"Yeah, it was an accident, I swear man, I was right beside him when it happened." said David.
Dimitri grabbed Leon and slammed him against the infirmary wall, "I TRUST YOU WITH HER FOR 2 HOURS AND YOU JUST SHOOT HER?"
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT YOU IDIOT, IT'S NOT LIKE AS IF SHE'S DEAD."
"THATS ENOUGH," The General said as he walked in.
"Agent Grim, because of your recklessness, you are to report to janitorial services for a week."
"Yes sir." said Leon, reluctantly.
"Dimitri I understand your anger but keep it under control."
"Yes sir." said Dimitri.
David and Leon walked out of the infirmary.
"Jesus Christ, what an idiot. I told him that it was an accident." said Leon.
"You know how he watches over her," said David "I could swear they were brother and sister."
That night she was still laying asleep, Dimitri still standing there.
"I can't stand to see you like this." he said "It just hurts me to see you like this"
He reached for her hand and gripped it with both of his hands.
"I'll never let anyone hurt you again." A tear rolling from his eye's "I can't stand the thought of losing you."
-
"I'll never let anyone hurt you again."
"I can't stand the thought of losing you."
He noticed a scar on her right thigh, barely there anymore.
He started to walk forward to Raven, his gun still drawn. Raven was getting ready to attack but then she noticed something, a tear was falling from his right eye.
Dimitri dropped the pistol.
He ran to her and hugged her in his arms, both drenched in the rain.
"I'll never let anyone hurt you."
Raven broked down and cried.
"Dimitri...I'm sorry,"
"It's okay, don't worry."
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING CROW? TAKE HER OUT!" yelled the General through his mic."
"DIMITRI, DON'T LISTEN TO HIM. THAT'S NOT THE GENERAL." yelled The Voice
"What?"
"I did a search of his IP Address and the signal was coming from inside of the city." said David "The reason the General couldn't respond to us was because his signal was jammed by an unknown source."
"Dimitri, I am the General, you have to beLIEve me."
"Then who have I been talking to?" said Dimitri.
Suddenly a large person jumped out of the shadows and knocked Dimitri through a brick wall.
He stood up, Raven immediatly recognized him
"SLADE?"
He walked toward the wall and pulled out Dimitri and held him by his neck as he dangled off the ground.
"I told you that I would hunt you down like animals and kill you both if you disobeyed my orders."
"wh..why did you act like the General?" said Dimitri, laying his eyes upon Slade for the first time.
"To
manipluate you more easily." said Slade. "I was going to
make you kill Raven and the rest of the Titans..." Slade
grabbed a mic and put it to his mouth. "...because she probably
told the rest too much about the Agency."
He sounded just
like the General. "You dogs of the W.S.S. are so easy to
control."
"AZERATH METRION ZINTHOS!"
A trash can flew and hit Slade, he immediatly droped Dimitri and advanced toward's Raven.
She threw more trash cans but he knocked them away like air. She then grabbed a dumpster and threw it at him but he dodged it. Before she knew it. She was grabbed by the neck and slammed to the wall.
"If you want something right," He said as he reached back with his fist. "You got to do it yourself."
A brick hit Slade's head.
"HEY, TIN WOODSMAN!"
Dimitri was walking toward Slade with a lead pipe in his hand.
"I'M GOING TO SEND YOU BACK TO OZ IN PIECES."
Slade dropped Raven, coughing for air. "Enjoy your smart mouth while you can."
Dimitri ran up and hit Slade in the head with the lead pipe two times but Slade remained unphased. He grabed the pipe on the third stroke and knock Dimitri down. Dimitri then grabbed his legs and took him down. He drew a knife.
As he thrusted the knife to his heart, Slade stopped it inches away but Dimitri kept struggling. Then they both noticed something
On the ground, two inches away from Slade's head was Dimtri's pistol.
Raven catched her breath and looked at the chaos ensuing in front of her.
Both quickly tried to grab for it.
"DIMITRI NO!"
5 shots rang in the air.
Dimitri shoved the knife in Slades left arm.
Slade held a gun, it's barrel smoking.
Slade then shoved Dimitri in a pile of trash.
Raven stood there in shock. Slade got up and looked at Raven. Throwing down the pistol and took the knife out of his arm.
"You got lucky. We'll meet again." He jumped into the shadows.
The rain suddenly stopped.
Dimitri stood up. He stumbled to the center of the alleyway.
"I did it."
He fell down, face first into a puddle.
Raven ran to his side. She flipped him on his side and saw 5 bullet holes in his chest.
Dimitri started to cough up blood.
"DIMITRI..." she screamed.
"Listen...Raven...You...are not a tool for anyone...You...You are what you choose to be..."
Tears were rolling down Ravens face.
"Fighting...was the only...thing...that I was ...ever good at...but at least...I..I fought for what I believed in...I believed in you...I believed in you...I thought of you day and night ...ever since...you..left...I...knew...you...were. ...happy...
The bells at the cathedral started to toll 12 times.
Dimitri didn't move, his eyes were fixed at the sky. He suddenly started to turn pale
"DIMITRI? DIMITRI WHAT HAPPENED? ARE YOU OKAY?" said The Voice.
Raven grabbed the mic and said in a calm voice.
"He's gone, there was nothing I could do."
"KATRINA? WERE'S DIMITRI? DIMI CLICK
She shut off the mic.
Then she noticed something, a picture fell out of his right coat pocket.
It was a picture of her, back at the Agency, behind a sunset. a smile on her face, her eyes veering to the left upper corner, too shy to look straight into the camera. On the back was written "Better Times"
A faint hum of a motorcycle was heard in the background, Robin was out looking for her.
As she picked up the lifeless body, Robin got off his cycle and took off his helmet.
"Raven, wait where are you..." he noticed the blood on the ground. Raven flew up into the midnight sky with Dimitri.
Robin just stood there, puzzled.
Raven flew to the harbor. he closed the eyes of Dimitri and set him in the water, he floated to the bottom.
Raven closed her eyes and put on her cloak and left.
2 days have passed.
Robin walked into the whole front room of the facility. He knew that Raven came back but she stayed in her room, the glass already replaced and the bullet hole removed, but he diddn't bother to check on her. When Robin entered the room he was surprised. He found Raven sitting there, watching television.
Robin sat by her.
"Listen, Raven, are you okay?"
Raven just looked at Robin and smiled.
Robin stopped worrying about her at that very moment.
Today was the greatest day she ever known.
For the first time, she stopped running from her past.
She finally found peace with it.
Epilouge
Stockholm,
Sweden: 24 hours since the incident.
The General looked off into the sunset by his table, A glass of wine in his hand.
"Whats the matter Mikhail? You look depressed."
"I just learned that we lost our best agent, Dimitri. He was like a son to me." said the General.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"That's okay Mr. Wayne, keep the apologies to yourself."
Bruce sat down with Mikhail, pouring himself a glass of wine.
"What happened?"
"Some villian manipulated him by impersonating me, he thought I was giving him those orders to kill her. I would never say such a terrible thing"
He sipped his wine, "He found Agent Raven, We all thought she was dead."
"I see." said Bruce, recognizing the name.
"He always kept an eye out for her back at the Agency. I told only him about what happened to her as an infant. No other agent, not even she knew."
"It was sad when she left that day, Dimitri just couldn't handle it. He didn't take a mission for about a month afterwards. I guess the only thing that kept him going was that he thought that wherever Katrina was she was happy." Mikhail sipped his wine glass again.
Bruce looked at him, "I know how it is to lose a loved one"
"But there was something that even he, Mishkin, or the W.S.S. didn't know"
"Really? what"
"We pulled two kids out of that church during that standoff, one girl about 2 months old and a boy at about 1 and a half years,"
Bruce looked surprised. "Really?"
"I named the girl, Katrina, after my wife,"
"And the other one." said Bruce
"I named him after my grandfather, Dimitri Krad."
"Are you saying...?"
Mikhail took a big gulp from his glass.
"Yes...They were brother and sister. Both of them were offsprings of a mad man. Dimitri didn't even know it, He died not knowing it."
"He should've known the truth. I should've told him, both of them." Mikhail said with anger toward himself.
Bruce patted Mikhail on his shoulder, "I'm pretty sure he knows now. Wherever he is.
Mikhail looked up at Bruce and smiled. "You're right Bruce, you're right."
"I guess the World Security Syndicate has a new martyr to look up to."
W.S.S. Headquarters.
David sat at his station as they held a moment of silence in the facility. The only person in the room with him was Leon, who sobbed uncontrollably.
"May he rest in heavenly peace." The General spoke over the intercom.
David sat there, looking at his computer screen. Across the room they were laying flowers at the door of his room.
"It's all my fault. I should have warned him sooner, he would be alive today if I warned him sooner."
David suddenly jumped up and swept his computer setup off of his desk and beat on the desk with the keyboard in a fit of rage.
Suddenly something activated on the computer. David grabed the cracked moniter and set it up:
DISTRESS BEACON ACTIVATED,
It started to show a map at the city. The Distress Beacon was coming from the coastline.
Leon looked at it, "What does that mean?"
David looked back at Leon, the biggest smile on his face "Go get the General!"