Chapter 2 – For Tamaran

"Reaver," Starfire whispered in my ear. "Today's the day. Remember that we are leaving for Tamaran this afternoon? Axelerant is staying with your brother, Raven and Rainger while we are gone with Galacia."

I turned over, checked the date on my phone and double checked it against the date on the calendar on the back of our bedroom door. Sure enough, it was the day we were to leave from the Watchtower to head out for Tamaran, Starfire's home planet. And to think that I almost complained about having to get Axelerant off to school and figure my day out. I sat up, pecked Starfire on the cheek, dressed for a hard day and was out the door to the nearest Gotham Safe-House to get to the Watchtower.

"Morning, Reaver! I thought you were heading for Tamaran today?"

"Can it, Flare," I grumbled. "I'm not in the mood for your crappy jokes. I'm aiming for the Watchtower for some easy missions before Starfire, Galacia and I leave for Tamaran this afternoon."

"Galacia? What about Axelerant? Isn't he going with you?"

"Not this trip," I answered. "He's starting his own missions just before we leave under Wonder Woman. Galacia is our youngest. He's four and this is his first trip out of the Solar System."

"Good luck getting to Tamaran then, Reaver," he called, speeding toward the Monarch Playing Card Company.

I finally arrived at the East End PD three minutes later, only to get stopped by my older brother, Loto Drandel, otherwise known as Natural Redemption. He caught my elbow and guided me to a more private corner away from the vendors, cops and other heroes, so as not to be overheard too much. I looked at him like he was a madman…or something very similar. If his plant-based looks didn't freak me out before, they sure as hell did now.

"What's going on with you, Brother? You act like you have no common courtesy, much less any common sense. If it has to do with you and Raven, leave me out of it."

"Raven knows about Starfire's disease. She thinks that it may or may not spread to Axelerant, Galacia or both. She also thinks she has a solution for it, if not for your wife, then at least for your boys, Chrono. Hear my Raven out when you get back, Earth-side?"

I looked at him curiously before nodding my consent. He visibly relaxed and asked to join me at the Watchtower while I scoped out the missions due to the fact that he needed to ask Batman about something regarding his grappling hooks. I shrugged, waving him behind me to the teleporter. We attempted to make small talk but we were interrupted by two things: the first was a squabble between a large winged brute of a man and a (much) smaller Ambush Bug-esque guy, the second being the fact that we were already being teleported to the Watchtower. When we reached our final destination a few minutes later, I turned to Loto with one question in mind.

"How does Raven know about Starfire's condition? And it's not just because they were both part of the Teen Titans years ago, dear brother. It's definitely something else."

"Raven's mother," he replied uneasily. "Arella can see these things through Raven. I don't know how it works exactly, but that's all Raven would really tell me. Please talk to me when you get back to either Earth or the Watchtower?"

I gave him a look that only a sibling could understand, nodded and went in search of one of Oracle's Kiosks scattered all over the Watchtower. I ran into Volcanic Flare in the Central Hub, noticing that he was favoring both his left leg and wing, not to mention the left side of his face was beaten to a bloody pulp. Then I realized that he was the winged brute Loto and I had seen fighting the smaller guy, who had obviously gotten the better of the larger man, in the police station. I almost winced when he stopped in front of me.

"You look like shit, Flare," I noted. "I would ask who got the better deal, you or the meat grinder, but I know better. You might want to go and get checked out by Wonder Woman or someone in the Magic Wing to get your wounds and bruises healed before you go on any more missions."

I tried to step around him, but he sidestepped to cut me off. His super speed was too much for my acrobatics, so I stopped while I was ahead and waited for the brute to fall over, either from excruciating pain or out of sheer and utter exhaustion.

"Let me come with you, Reaver," he gasped. "I would like to get away from all the duels and missions for a while. When did you say you were leaving for Tamaran this afternoon?"

"Around four-ish," I replied, cocking an eyebrow. "Seriously, Flare. Go talk to someone in the Magic Wing about those injuries. And we could use some brute force as protection should I be knocked out or what not."

He caught my word play on his size and body build, his laugh quickly turning into a coughing fit as he allowed me to pass and he went on his way to see Wonder Woman or someone else with healing knowledge in the Magic Wing of the Watchtower. I smiled and found the nearest kiosk with a mission that I knew I could complete with enough time to get home, get cleaned up and help Starfire pack for our Out of System trip.

Three-thirty finally arrived, allowing me to finish up my mission and head home to my wife and youngest son. I got home around three-forty-five to see Starfire already at the door with Galacia and multiple bags as if we were to be gone a month or more. I smiled and pulled my wife into a tight hug, Galacia wrapping his arms around mine and Starfire's legs. My right hand landed on his head, ruffling his dark red hair. He smiled up at us, making us both laugh at his innocence.

"What's with all the bags, Star? It looks like you packed us for a month, if not longer."

"We'll only be gone for three weeks, but Galacia insisted on bringing at least two bags of his favorite toys and books. He doesn't do well in the sleep pods. Remember the trip we took to Saturn last summer? He was wide awake the whole time and complaining."

I nodded, remembering that Galacia had trouble getting and staying in his assigned sleep pod for the trip to Saturn and back. I had to stay awake for three-quarters of the way there and back, not to mention for the trip around the planet itself. I grabbed all but one of the bags, the lightest for Starfire to carry, and told her that they could catch up to me at the Watchtower and at our assigned ship. I made it to the right slot just as Volcanic Flare saw me drop my bags off with one of the Sentinels of Magic employed by Doctor Fate and assigned to help out on the Watchtower from time to time.

"Reaver! I was just looking for you when Zatanna told me you were just arriving to drop your bags off at your ship."

"Trust Zatanna to always know where everyone is at all times. I remember when she helped us help Raven expel Trigon from her soul and to help keep Faust from claiming the Flame of Life from Black Adam. Fun times, all of it. Remember, Flare?"

The large, flame throwing, winged speedster laughed a deep, genuine laugh just as I saw the femme Homo Magi walking toward us with Starfire and Galacia, smiling at my son as she did little magic tricks that got him giggling. She waved to me and called out in her usual backwards speaking spell-casting way.

"Doog Kcul," she whispered in my ear. "I know you'll need it, Chrono Drandel. Can you keep an eye on your dad for me now, Galacia? I think you're old enough to carry that mission out for the Justice League. I can only do so much to keep our people safe."

"I will, Miss Thatanna," he purposefully lisped, making us all laugh.

Zatanna, now starting to gray at the temples, ruffled Galacia's dark red hair in her affectionate way of dealing with children under the age of ten. I was grateful at that point that I had known this woman for the better part of the last 25 years. We shared a quick friendly hug when I felt her slip something that felt like a rounded shrimp into my back pocket. I knew it was an Exobyte.

"The cure for your brother's…predicament, Chrono," she whispered. "Just in case you want to give it to Loto when you get back groundside. I know how he's been waiting for a long time for this, but I'm sure his patience can hold out for another three weeks. Our people at STAR Labs cracked a few of the Exobytes we salvaged from Brainiac. It's the first in a series that will help Loto regain his more human appearance. We'll see you in three weeks, guys and gals. Break a leg, Chrono!"

I smiled my thanks as I ushered Starfire and Galacia onto the ship for Flare to say his mushy good-byes to the woman he fell in love with. He joined us just as the ship doors were starting to close five minutes later. I sighed with relief that we were finally getting away from humanity for at least a short period of time. I sat in the captain's seat so that I could get Tamaran's coordinates into the ship's navigation system and get the sleep pods ready for Starfire and Flare. I could feel Galacia at my elbow admiring my hands flying over the controls. I settled him onto my lap so that he could get a better view of my hands at work on the controls, his toys and books forgotten for the time being.