Epilogue
Naysayer Exclusive
Jump City's Dark Angel Returns!
Titan Tower's Lights Burning Once More!
"You're turning into a chunky little monkey. Yes you are. . . yes you are!" Large green eyes boggled up at the smiling face that hovered above. The baby lifted a chubby hand, reaching for the shiny metal above her before her fingers balled into a fist that she shoved into her mouth.
"Chunky? She's tiny. Are you certain she's okay?" The baby's mother paced behind the examination table, casting a worried glance toward her daughter.
"She's fine, Rae . . . honestly. Her weight is right where it should be, all her vitals are good. And she's such a cutie . . . I could eat 'er up . . . yum, yum, yum!" The cybernetic man gently took the pale fist that wasn't in the baby's mouth in his hand and pretended to chew. Annabel blinked up at her uncle, something that nearly looked like a smile touching her lips. "Okay, Mommy . . . it's your turn."
"I don't need an exam. My body healed itself right after she was born. It's like I was never pregnant at all."
"Still. . ."
"Honestly, Victor. I'm fine," Raven sighed and gently stroked her fingers through her daughter's thick hair. It was the deepest shade of forest green she had ever seen, the strands appearing nearly black until the sunlight hit it just right and it exploded with green hued highlights. "Are you nearly done with her holoring?"
"Yup, just a day or two more. It's a bracelet that she won't be able to slip off. I'll have to adjust the size as she grows, but that just means you have to come visit Uncle Vic." Cyborg smiled brightly, but Raven frowned slightly, picking the infant up and cradling her close.
"I don't want to be here any longer than necessary."
"The mayor publicly apologized and asked us to stay."
"I know," she replied as she bounced the child lightly. "It doesn't matter. I don't want her growing up in this. Knowing how easy the people turn on. . . us."
"I get it," he nodded, looking down on his hands. "Apparently, I'm the only one who wants to stay. Richard's already prowling Gotham and Star . . . she's trying to make things work with him."
"Steel City isn't too far from Gotham and I know Karen would be more than happy to. . ."
"It wouldn't be the same."
"No, but change isn't always a bad thing."
"I'll think about it." He was silent for a long moment, his one organic eye closing. "How did you do it?"
"How did I do what?" The empath had settled in a chair, a baby blanket thrown over her left shoulder, concealing her as she fed Annabel. The tiny girl's toes curled and uncurled as she suckled, the movement reminiscent of a newborn puppy or kitten.
"Both Rita and Kori say he was gone. Dead. How did you . . . bring him back?" Raven sighed loudly, shaking her head.
"Gar's soul was still bound to his body. He wasn't dead. . . not really."
"Okay, so he wasn't completely dead. . . but the guy was shot point blank four times! The damage and blood loss and . . . you healed him."
"He's still recovering," she reminded him unhappily. The changeling was in fact napping in the common room that very moment, still incredibly sore and weakened from the events of the prior week. "Why does it matter?" she added after a moment.
"I mean. . . Raven, you've never been able to heal anything even close to that before."
"I know," the empath muttered, rocking slightly.
"Did your powers. . . have they become stronger?"
"No, nothing's changed."
"Then how?"
"Moments that are highly charged. . . emotionally . . . they trigger something . . . like when I froze time briefly. I don't know how I did it and I doubt I could do it again. What happened with Garfield was similar. My entire being was focused on him and my desire for him to live. The next thing I knew . . ." she trailed off, shifting as her daughter finished her feeding. Raven brought the baby to her shoulder, patting gently.
"Go on," Victor encouraged with a nod, but she simply sighed.
"I can't tell you what happened . . . I barely recall it to be honest. The world fell away and there was nothing but he and I. Then, not even that." Annabel burped wetly and was immediately moved so she was cuddled against her mother's chest once more. "There was no distinction between my soul and his own . . . somehow my perception changed, broadened to encompass Gar."
"Like with Robin, when you. . ."
"No. No matter how far I've gone into someone's mind, I've always been aware of myself. I was always still me, separate from the other person. This time . . . I wasn't. I healed myself, like I always do, no matter how extensive the damage. I healed myself and . . . in that moment, he was me."
"Oh." There seemed nothing more to say and the cybernetic man let the subject go. "You know, things really do change," Victor said with a laugh. "When we all first met, I never thought we'd become the family we are now. And I sure as Hell never thought you and Grass Stain would fall in love."
"Yeah? Well, I always knew we would." Garfield remarked with a chuckle as he limped into the Med Bay, smiling brightly.
"Sure you did," the eldest Titan teased.
"I did. That first morning with the sun in her hair and when she laughed . . . I totally knew." Slowly he made his way over to the woman he had adored for years and their daughter, who was asleep in her mother's arms. His fingertips lightly touched the crook of Raven's neck for just a moment, before they settled on her shoulder. "You always knew it too, didn't 'cha, Mama?" The empath glanced up at him and then down at the angelic infant they had created. She thought back on their years together, the banter and the teasing. His persistence and her reluctance. The slow dance they had been engaged in from the moment they met. Somewhere along the way they had become so entangled that they were inseparable, their singular strands woven into a tapestry, a beautiful picture of the future that lay before them.
"I knew," she said so softly only he could hear. "I knew."
