"Finally!" she exclaimed, scowling at the small screen. "You have delayed me long enough!"
"There was a lot of new information to process. The original plan had to be modified and new elements introduced and tested. But as I said, we are prepared now."
"Good. I vill be ready to strike as soon as ze chance presents itself."
"Excellent. Now pay careful attention to what you must do"
She concentrated on his instructions, scrupulously storing them in her mind, already planning her next move. But her fingers twitched and her eyes narrowed as she could almost taste the pleasure that was awaiting her.
Soon. Very soon.
"Earl Grey?" he asked as he placed the tray on the coffee table in front of her.
"Any time" she replied with a smile. "It's a big favorite of mine."
"Cool. So every time my imagination deserts me I can fall back on it!"
Instead of answering, she just touched his hand to thank him and poured her tea.
"You want some, um, sugar? I mean, in the literal sense" he grinned.
"Garfield, don't be a barbarian!" she scolded him gently. "You don't put sugar in Earl Grey!"
He laughed. "I had no idea there were rules for drinking tea!"
She looked at him, placed her cup on the coffee table, took his head in her hands and planted a quick but firm kiss on his lips.
"At least I can do that without breaking anything" she whispered to him. He blushed and smiled at her.
"What was that for? Not that I'm complaining, mind you!"
"For waking up early and making me tea, and for being sweet, and childish, and clueless about the proper way of drinking Earl Grey" she enumerated. "And because I felt like it."
Cyborg walked into the Ops room, noticing Raven sitting on the couch, reading a book, the teapot and cups in front of her on the coffee table.
"Mornin', Rae! Sleep well?"
"Good morning, Victor. I did, thanks" she replied, not lifting her eyes from the book.
As he walked to the counter to start preparing breakfast, he glanced at her again, then stopped in mid-stride and gaped. There was a large, green cat curled beside her and she was scratching it gently behind the ears with one hand while reading.
"Um… Raven? That cat you're scratching… it's green… is that… Garfield?"
"I certainly hope so" she said, deadpan, still keeping her eyes on the book. "I'm not in the habit of scratching any stray cats that may wander in here."
Cyborg opened his mouth to say something, then thought better of it and walked over to the fridge, opening it and rummaging inside. As he gathered all that he needed to make breakfast, he straightened, closed the fridge and looked again at her, a smile creasing his face.
"Well, I'm mighty glad about the two of you finally hitting it off. But I gotta say I was expecting something more… exuberant."
"Were you expecting fireworks? A big party? A marching band?" Raven said without lifting her eyes from the book, but her voice held the unmistakable sharp, cold edge she usually reserved for Changeling when he got obnoxious. Not that Cyborg wasn't on its receiving end times enough for him to know he should tread warily. The green cat lifted its head and stared at him with a look of mixed disdain and annoyance that only cats can produce. Raven's fingers moved to scratching beneath its jaw for a while, until it closed its eyes and lowered its head again.
Cyborg busied himself with the breakfast ingredients, shaking his head, his smile turning into a big grin. "Say what you want, little sis, but excuse me if I can't resist feeling happy about it."
She finally looked up at him and he noticed a smile lighting up her face.
"Well, if you really want to do something to mark the occasion, I suggest you make a nice breakfast for us all." She looked at the cat curled up beside her. "What do you think, Gar? Waffles?"
The cat meowed, rubbed its head against her hand and started purring.
"Waffles it is" Cyborg said and turned to his work, still shaking his head.
While he was busy, Starfire and Nightwing entered the room, their arms entwined, whispering softly to each other.
Man, where's the popcorn when you need it? Cyborg thought for himself as he watched expectantly to see Nightwing's and Starfire's reaction.
Starfire was the first to notice the odd couple. She shrieked, flew a loop and landed in front of them, grasping them both in a dangerously excited hug.
"My friends!" she cried. "You are in the togetherness finally!"
Changeling managed to morph into a snake and slither out of her embrace, but Raven was blinded by the overwhelming joy and elation that was bursting out of the Tamaranian like a supernova explosion. She was certain she could hear her bones creak under the assault, but for a few seconds she was unable to call on her power and phase out of the hug. Luckily, Starfire toned down her embrace to a less painful level while she whirled in the air, still holding Raven, making her dizzy.
Starfire finally floated down and released Raven from her hug. The sorceress staggered to the couch and sat down heavily on it, her head spinning both from the alien girl's whirling hug and the sheer intensity of the happiness Starfire was pouring out.
"Please, Kori, control yourself, you're making me dizzy!" she snapped at Starfire, then sighed, realizing she was being rude to her friend. "Sorry, Star. Remember that I'm an empath. Your happiness… It's like someone shining a giant searchlight in my face!"
Starfire finally managed to establish some sort of control over her emotions. She flitted over to Raven and placed her hands on Raven's shoulders, giggling.
"I understand, friend Raven. I offer you the apologies for the bursting out of my feelings."
Raven nodded, calming down and slowly reestablishing her upset balance. She smiled at the alien. "Please do not apologize. It is… comforting… to know that my friends care so much for me – for us" she said.
Starfire gave her a peck on the cheek and looked at her seriously.
"You shall give me the full account soon" she said quietly. "But I shall now leave you to the enjoyment of each other."
She floated over to Changeling, giving him also a fierce hug and a kiss on the cheek, then flitted over to Nightwing. Changeling walked over to Raven and sat beside her, again turning into a large, green cat, hopping into her lap and curling up there. She scowled down at him, grabbed the cat behind the neck and lifted it up, glaring into its eyes.
"Don't push it, Garfield" she said quietly but dangerously. Then her eyes softened and a smirk appeared on her face. "Leave that for when we're alone." She put the cat down beside her. Changeling curled up again, meowed softly and closed his eyes as her fingers resumed her gentle scratching.
Nightwing noticed Starfire's happiness as he sat behind the counter. He looked at Cyborg with a puzzled expression.
"What's going on, Vic? What's got Starfire so excited?"
Cyborg smirked down at the team leader. "For a great detective, you're pretty clueless, aren't you?"
Nightwing frowned and looked back at the couple. His eyes slowly widened. He turned back to Cyborg, his mouth open. "You mean… they… but…"
Cyborg's face was serious. "Y'know, Richard, you should pay more attention to the emotional state of your team. It's not all training and powers."
"Yes, but…"
"You have broken the fast, yes?" Starfire spoke to Nightwing, interrupting them as she floated closer, her eyes glowing an intense emerald.
"I was just serving it" Cyborg said and dropped off a large plate of waffles in front of them. "If you'll excuse me for a second…"
He retreated a few steps and activated his internal communicator.
"Sarah? Hey, it's Vic. Listen, do you mind if I drop by in a few minutes? The atmosphere here in the Tower is a bit… thick. I need some fresh air. No, no problems at all, just the opposite. I'll tell ya all about it when I get there. You're not going to believe it. See ya in ten!"
"You sure you don't wanna come with us, momma?" Changeling asked, hopeful. Raven smiled at him and shook her head.
"I am, Gar. I'll grant you that now the reasons are different, but I still prefer not to go."
He realized she needed a little time to herself in order to sort out her feelings and achieve her inner balance, so he decided not to push the issue.
"OK, Rae. If you need me, just give me a call!"
"You'll be out for one afternoon, Gar. I think I'll manage to survive" she said with a bit more sarcasm than she wanted. She tensed, afraid she'd hurt his feelings.
He laughed, brushing it off. "Sorry, I was a bit heavy there. You're right."
"You all have fun and don't worry about me. I'll meditate and listen to music and amuse myself trying to restore some of my books. I've got a full afternoon ahead, just as you do."
As they left, she put on Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto and busied herself organizing the pages torn from the books into ever-growing piles. She let her thoughts wander as she performed the mindless task, allowing the fractal, almost geometric quality of Bach's music to infuse her soul with tranquility.
The music finished, but she did not notice, concentrated on her task. Soon, however, she became aware of a presence behind her. She focused on it, recognized it and smiled.
"If this isn't a stroke of bad luck. What brings you here?"
"I came to ream you out!" Jinx replied, a tinge of anger apparent both in her voice and in her aura. "Why didn't you tell me? Why do I have to find out from Star what happened?"
Raven turned to her, smiling at her friend. "Because it happened only a few hours ago!" she replied soothingly. "I was going to call you tonight."
Jinx was frowning as she approached her, then her face lit up and her trademark sneer appeared on it.
"Of all the choices you had, you went for Garfield?" Jinx asked. Raven frowned. "What's wrong with him? He's –" she felt the laughter bubbling up in Jinx and realized she fell for her teasing. She rolled her eyes as the pink witch came closer and embraced her.
"I'm so happy for you, Rae" she told her, all sarcasm gone. "Now tell me everything and don't hold back."
"Only if you help me get these papers in order."
"I guess the price of admission is worth it. Now spill it!" Jinx said as she moved over and picked up a bundle of pages, checking the numbers and ordering them.
Raven talked as they worked, Jinx listening intently and encouraging Raven to go on with short replies and grunts. When Raven finally finished the story, Jinx continued working silently for a few seconds before looking up into Raven's eyes.
"That's a hell of a story, Rae. But you haven't told me everything."
"The rest is my problem" Raven replied, suddenly cold and distant.
"Rae, what went wrong? This –" she said, emphatically waving a handful of torn pages, "– did not happen by itself!"
Raven sat down on the couch, silent, her eyes down. Jinx sat beside her and placed a hand around her shoulder.
"What is it?"
"I'm afraid, Jinx. I can't… The papers. When I… when he told me I'm beautiful, my power got loose, and I… my books were destroyed. You should see my room, or what remains of it. And when he kissed me… I smashed the window, destroyed all the light fixtures."
Jinx looked at her, frowning, as Raven stared at the floor.
"Have you tried a containment spell?"
"I would have to concentrate on it to keep it active. You'll understand how difficult that would be while kissing, or…"
"Hmmm. A magic absorbing element? They are external, so you don't have to think about it."
"Thought of that, too. Won't work. I don't think even a pure adamantium monocrystal could keep in the amount of power I project. And if it overloads…"
"Maybe teleport to another plane while you do it? Somewhere where you can cause no damage?"
"There may be places like that, but my power could turn against us, unwillingly, no matter where we are."
"Humph! That exhausts my knowledge. But then again, I never studied it like you did. Any other ideas?"
"I've been giving it a lot of thought, believe me" Raven said with a painful smile. "But I can't think of anything that would work or that wouldn't have… consequences."
A shiver passed through Jinx. "What the hell are you talking about? Giving up your power?"
Raven turned her head and stared at Jinx hard.
"If I knew how, I'd do it."
Jinx shuddered. "Don't talk like that, Rae!"
Raven shook her head and looked down again. "I'm sick of it, Jinx. My power gave me much. Without it I would never have met the others, or you, or him. But I'm finding the price to be way too high as of lately."
Jinx got up and started pacing around the Ops room.
"This is bullshit! Someone must know something that could help you!"
Raven snorted. "Anybody on your mind? Except for my… for Trigon, no one else has the kind of knowledge…" her voice trailed off. Jinx continued pacing the room, deep in thought.
"I'm an idiot!" Raven said suddenly. "And you – you're a genius, Jinx!"
"I am?" Jinx said, puzzled, as Raven grabbed her by the hand and dragged her off to her room.
"What's going on, Rae? What's on your mind?"
"Help me find the Mellethian powder" she said as she rummaged through the debris littering her room. "Also look for Rhodian crystals and the Dust of Transmutation!"
"The Dust is blue?" Jinx said as she looked at a vial of coarse bluish powder she rescued from under a broken piece of furniture.
"More kind of greenish" Raven said. "But thanks for finding the cured Manawood sawdust for me!"
"You're welcome" Jinx grumbled as she continued the search.
Soon they found the necessary spell components. On Raven's prompting, Jinx cleared a six-foot space on the floor. Raven poured the components in a circle around them and sat cross-legged in the center of it, motioning for Jinx to join her.
"Would you mind telling me what we're doing?"
In the few years that Jinx knew her, she seldom saw Raven smile and never saw her grin. As she gaped at the sight of a grinning Raven, her mind trying to process what her eyes were showing her, she almost missed Raven's reply.
"We are going to get some answers. We are going to Azarath."
Raven dragged Jinx behind her until they reached the elevated platform where a lone figure stood, draped in a white cloak.
"Hello, Mother" Raven said.
Jinx's eyes widened. "Is that your…" she whispered. Raven squeezed her hand, silencing her.
The figure turned and greeted them.
"Raven! It is good to see you, daughter. It's been a long time."
"Too long, Mother. I'm sorry I didn't come earlier. I always seem to have something more urgent preventing me from coming."
Arella smiled indulgently. "As long as I am in your thoughts, I am content. Who is your friend?" A slight frown marred Arella's features. "I sense darkness in her, also. A different kind, maybe, but just as painful. What is your name, child?"
"I'm Jinx, Ma'am!"
"I see. An appropriate name for what you carry inside."
"Um… yeah, I guess. That's why I got the name."
Arella smiled at her and turned to Raven. "What brings you here? I sense it is not only daughterly love and devotion. You are uneasy."
Raven felt her face burn at the subtle rebuke, realizing it was well deserved.
"Arella, I… I need advice. I need wisdom."
Arella lifted an eyebrow. Jinx was struck by how incredibly alike the two appeared at that moment.
"Wisdom? From me?"
"Mother, you may have been foolish in your youth, but nobody could accuse you of it now" Raven said matter-of-factly, not flattering but simply stating an obvious truth. Arella sensed it and her smile widened.
"I'm listening."
"I've… found someone. He means a lot to me. But I can't… my powers…" she floundered, suddenly unable to say the words she had been preparing in her mind all this time.
"Oh, my dear Raven!" Arella said with concern. "I was dreading this day would come."
She stepped forward and embraced her daughter gently. Raven was stiff and uncomfortable.
"Dreading? Does that mean you can't help me?"
Arella looked into Raven's eyes. "You are quick to fall into despair. It means that I do not have a direct answer to your question. But you said you came seeking wisdom. If that is true, then allow me to express what little I have."
"I'm… sorry, Mother. After all that happened to me, can you blame me?"
Arella frowned at her.
"And what did happen to you? Everything that did ended well. The trials you had to go through only made you stronger and wiser in the end. And yet you persist with this idea that you are somehow cursed, unfortunate, unlucky. Your friend there –" she said, nodding at Jinx – "could tell you what 'unlucky' really means. You couldn't even start to imagine the number of people that would sell their very souls to change places with you and to have but part of the blessings that you have. Your beauty, your powers, your intelligence; even if they come together with your so-called curse. So stop feeling sorry for yourself and listen to me. Sometimes a positive attitude is all it takes."
Jinx snickered, then burst out laughing. Raven shot her a furious glance, but Jinx was not easily intimidated.
"Thank you, Ma'am!" she told Arella, her shoulders still shaking. "Your daughter – we all love her dearly, you know, but she takes her role of older sister to us way too seriously. Her dressing-downs are legendary and rightfully feared. Seeing her on the receiving end just made my day. I'm only sorry I didn't record it all!"
"If you are quite finished with this, I believe Arella had something to tell me?" Raven said in a dangerous growl.
Arella placed a soothing hand on her shoulder. "Indeed I had. Your problems right now come from not being able to control your power. But that power is part of you, and as such I think it is inherently controllable, just like everything else. It may be a gift of your father, but it is as much you as your body and your soul. And if there is someone that can control it, that someone can only be you."
"But how do I do it? How do I control it?"
"That I cannot tell you. Just as I couldn't tell you how to walk, or how to love. And yet you learned those by yourself. I am convinced that this is not different."
"I… see. Thank you, Mother. You have given me much to think about."
"I am glad I did" Arella replied with a smile. "Before you leave, I have something for you."
Raven looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Arella's smile widened slightly. She reached into her cloak and removed a sealed letter, offering it to Raven.
"Before she left us, Azar gave me this letter with instructions to give it to you if we… survived."
"Azar?" Raven said, disbelievingly, as she reached and took the letter. She broke the seal gingerly and opened the letter with trembling hands.
My dear Raven,
If you ever read this letter, it will mean two things. First, that you have vanquished your father, as I am hoping you will, and second, that I am no longer around to say this to you personally.
You now have more than sixteen years. It is time for you to start thinking about love and commitment to somebody. And yet you will find that your powers are making it impossible for you to bond to anyone closely, out of fear of unleashing the destructive, uncontrolled forces that you keep dormant.
This is the reason that I am writing this letter. I am convinced that there is a way. You must face yourself and understand yourself. You must accept who you are and what you carry inside as an indivisible part of you. It is not something to be ashamed of.
For a long time I have been harboring doubts about our way and our role in Azarath. Now, as my time approaches and I write this letter, I wish to impart this wisdom on you.
We have made a huge mistake. We thought that we could rid ourselves of evil as easily as taking off a filthy garment. But the evil we ripped out of ourselves took life of its own, and grew, and called itself Trigon, and it will now destroy us unless stopped by its own issue.
Cleansing ourselves of evil only made us complacent and weak. For all our power, we forgot that it is the constant battle between the good and the evil in oneself that forges a person into what he or she is. Once this duality is gone, so is this internal strife that keeps us strong and gives us hope and courage.
True transcendence and harmony does not lie in pure good, just as true power does not lie in pure evil. You, my child, have the best and the worst there is inside of you. If you understand this and bring the two halves of yourself into harmony, you will have nothing to fear any more.
Remember, there is always hope.
With all my love,
Azar
Raven folded the letter carefully and placed it into a pocket in her robes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and pushed the letter's contents from her mind. She would meditate on its meaning when she returned.
"Thank you, Mother. And thank you for your words. I will have to think on them and on what Azar said. But now I must leave."
She rose, motioning for Jinx to follow.
"Raven?"
"Yes, Arella?"
"Could you bring your boyfriend around one day so I can meet him? I am interested, you know."
Raven smiled. "Of course I will, Mother. As soon as I resolve this little inconvenience I have right now."
Arella's hand touched her cheek. "I will be waiting, Raven. Do not be too long."
"I won't. Goodbye, Arella."
"Goodbye, Raven. And you, Jinx."
"Hop in, Greenbean, let's get ya back to your girlfriend!" Cyborg said teasingly.
"You guys go on ahead. I gotta do something first."
Cyborg chuckled. "As you wish. Come here first, gotta tell ya something!" he said.
Changeling approached. Cyborg whispered to him, winking.
"I know what you wanna do. Y'know, somehow I don't see Rae as a flower person. But there's something else, that no girl on Earth can resist."
"Oh, yeah? And what would this magic thing be?"
"Chocolates."
"Chocolates?" Changeling asked, surprised.
"Yup. You get her a box of chocolates and she'll melt in your arms."
Changeling suddenly frowned. "All right, Chrome Dome! If this is your idea of getting back at me for that –"
Cyborg lifted his hand, cutting him off, shaking his head.
"There's no way in hell I'd do that to the two of you, Gar!" he said fiercely, then his expression turned sly. "At least not now. Later, when you guys are more comfortable with your relationship, you're gonna be fair game, Evergreen!" He grinned hugely at Garfield and drove off.
Changeling watched him drive away with a smile, then morphed into a seagull and flew away, looking for a place to buy a box of chocolates.
Several dozen miniaturized, robotic eyes followed him. His image was transmitted to a small screen while a quiet alert sound informed the watcher that there was something going on. She glanced at the screen and flashed a malevolent smile.
"So. He has separated from his friends. Zis is ze chance I was waiting for!"
She quickly checked his path, then moved to intercept with thirty-foot-long strides that carried her forward with an incredible speed.
He flew over the rooftops towards the commercial hub when his bird's eye caught a glimpse of blue below. His gut wrenched as he recognized the crumpled figure in a blue hooded cloak lying unconscious on top of the roof.
Raven? What happened? Why is she… Is she hurt?
He swooped down, flaring his wings and morphing back into himself as he bent over her, concern on his face.
"Rae? What happened –"
Something was wrong. Something in the back of his mind was howling danger at him, but he needed half a second to realize what it was.
There was no scent of jasmine, or mint, or sage. The only thing he could smell reminded him of… rubber?
He tried to take a step back. Her eyes opened and her left arm arced, the fist slamming into his temple and throwing him to the ground.
He tried to morph into a sparrow and fly away, but before he could another fist sank deep into his gut, bending him over. As he squirmed on the concrete roof, trying to get his breath back, she kicked him in the head, hard, as her right arm extended into a tentacle and wrapped itself around his neck, choking him. He tried to clear his head of the dancing white lights, tried to transform himself into anything that would let him defend, attack or run away, but the blows kept coming, not allowing him respite, while the tentacle around his neck squeezed ever harder, not letting him breathe and cutting off the flow of blood to his brain. His vision tunneled and darkened as he fought uselessly, her blows still raining on him, until finally darkness took him completely and his head slumped.
"Objective secured" she said into the mouthpiece. "Zis was too easy. Send in ze helicopter!"
"It will arrive in three minutes" the Brain informed her.