A/N: So tired…brain does not want to work…XP

(8)

What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? Whathave I done? What have I done? What haveI done? Whathave I done? Whathave I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I – [The rest of the page is torn]

~ Excerpt from Rorek's memoirs.

(O)

Chapter 55 – Request

"This is a nice chair."

"Yeah, it is. I should do something nice for Cyborg to say thank you. Such as…giving it back to him when I don't need it anymore, which I suspect is the outcome he's hoping for."

"Awww, must we?"

She chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Maybe I'll wait until he gets up the nerve to ask for it." That'd certainly give her a bit more time to enjoy having a dragon teddy bear without actually having one in her bed, as it were. And she might as well have a reason to enjoy the wheelchair since she was stuck in it for the next few weeks.

"Mmm," He caught her lips up in his and gave her a kiss that left her slightly breathless. "So, what's been happening topside?"

She had to take a moment to regain her ability to think and then tried to remember the influx of information that had been imparted to her that morning. "Well, Jinx is back in her shop and Kid Flash seems to have decided to take up semi-permanent residence in Jump. But he's staying in the shop itself so that frees up a few rooms. Terra is staying, though she's still a bit shy about leaving her room." She sighed, feeling a little despondent. Terra hadn't made an appearance at breakfast. That meant that Raven hadn't seen her since they parted to go fight Mother Mayhem. "Did we ever tell you about Terra?"

"I think she was mentioned when we were discussing some space issues and there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm for allowing her room to be made use of. But, mostly, she was the one who told me. She came down to bring me my food one time when Cyborg was busy and we sort of…opened up to one another. We seem to have a few things in common. I hope that's alright."

"Malchior, you are allowed to have female friends in this day and age. I trust you. Just keep your affection in the friend zone and it's fine." she assured him.

"As long as it goes both ways." he murmured against her lips.

"You're the only two I've ever felt for like this, Malchior. You have nothing to worry about." she insisted.

"Ah ha, I saw what you did there." he snickered. His lips took hers more firmly so that verbal communication was no longer possible. Well, coherent verbal communication wasn't possible. A few spill words came through from his side that brought the blush right back.

Getting cleaned up had taken a bit of an effort. Raven wasn't sure why, but there was something about blood that made it extremely hard to clean with or without magic. Eventually they'd had to settle for Malchior carrying her into the shower where they made use of combining water, soap, and magic and came out with clothes that would have been soaked had said magic not been involved. Then Malchior laid her down on the sofa while he cleaned the blood off her chair with bleach and wet wipes. She showed him the bed feature and promptly passed out wrapped in his arms and the blanket, her body giving her hell for the crap she'd just put it through and promising at least two more days of extra recovery time. Oh well. It was worth it. The turmoil of Malchior's emotions had melted away to be replaced by a sort of light-headed sense of relief that one might get after a bad stomach virus.

At the moment they were, in theory, watching a movie (which wasn't getting very much attention). Rorek had brought it down along with supper and then he left. Raven had kind of wanted him to stay but, as Malchior pointed out, there was only enough room on the chair for one Raven and one dragon. Besides, Rorek had had her all to himself for a few days now, even if she could only stay awake a few hours at a time.

Malchior had put on a fresh pair of pants but had left his shirt off. If he had been a human guy then Raven wouldn't have allowed him in the chair with her without a shirt. But he was a dragon. And, for dragons, pre-marital hanky-panky was only available to the seriously suicidal. On the one hand that didn't seem very fair. Why should dragons be punished so severely like that when humans weren't? On the other hand it did mean she had an assurance that neither of them would try to take things too far. All she had to worry about was a certain violet-cloaked emotion and The Other making demands that she knew for a fact she wasn't ready for – pre-marital or otherwise.

"So…" Raven began when they broke off again, "Am I forgiven yet?" she asked.

"You mean for putting yourself in danger, overexerting and stressing your weak body, and performing magics you really shouldn't be attempting for any reason while defying my express wishes all for the purposes of coming to me when I needed you most regardless of my own opinion on the matter?" He smiled and kissed her forehead. "Sometimes a man needs to be alone with himself and his thoughts. That wasn't one of those times. I don't think you're the one who needs to be forgiven."

"I knew you wanted to be alone and I felt I should have given that to you. How often have I needed my own solitude? But it just didn't feel right to me. I felt too strongly that I needed to see you." she explained, resting her head in the crook of his neck, her ajna chakra pressed against his skin. She felt him shiver slightly and wondered if he could feel the stone through his neck as well. In fact, she was starting to get the sneaking suspicion that he was just a bit ticklish in the neck area. She carefully controlled her features lest he might somehow detect the gleeful little smile that wanted to appear there.

"You were right." he murmured. "I was in a bad…a bad place at the…I was…are you doing that on purpose?"

"Doing what on purpose?" she asked innocently, idly tracing the chains of knots that trailed down his neck from his jaw. The skin of the markings was particularly smooth and rather cool. She wondered if Rorek's markings would be warm.

"That." He grabbed her hand and returned it to his chest where it had been exploring the larger knots. "You probably shouldn't do that." he said.

Feeling particularly mischievous and eager for revenge, Raven asked, "Why? Are you ticklish?" She nuzzled his neck affectionately.

"No-o." he answered shuddering with, she suspected, suppressed laughter.

"Oh I think you are." She giggled, part of her blankly wondering where this boldness was coming from. She kissed his Adam's apple and then craned her neck around to the side of his neck that wasn't pressed against the chair and started to nibble slightly the way he and Rorek had both done to her.

Malchior let out a gasp that not even she could mistake for suppressed laughter and followed it up with a groan that he managed to cut off as he pulled himself out of her arm and actually rolled over the arm of the chair and right onto the floor, which he more or less belly-flopped.

A bit confused an quite sure she'd just missed something, Raven managed to pull herself over to the edge of the bed/chair where Malchior had not bothered to get up, still flat on his stomach. "Er…are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine! Fine!" he managed to rasp out hoarsely.

"Can't take what you dish out, can you?" she asked.

He groaned, but this one was very different from the last. This was a groan of long-suffering. "Maybe I should explain…"

"Explain what?"

"Dragons are…a bit…well…sensitive in the, um, neck area. Even in human form. It's not a weakness but it is a very…focused area."

A few dots lined themselves up in Raven's head and clicked into place. Her face with very, very red. "Are you trying to tell me that it's an erogenous zone?" she demanded.

"Um…more or less…yes…a bit…" he admitted sheepishly.

"And you and Rorek have been nibbling on my neck all these times?"

"That's different!" he exclaimed defensively. "You're not a dragon, you're just ticklish. It doesn't count."

"Uh huh, and you don't have any problem letting me see and, good grief, hug you without a shirt on."

"Showing the neck isn't taboo. In fact, back in our time, most dragon males never bothered with shirts or chest coverings at all. Only certain clans decided that the neck should be covered."

"So you think you can get away with feeling up my neck just because it's not an erogenous zone for me?"

"Er…are you wanting us to stop? I mean…" 'You seem to enjoy it.' were the words he didn't say, but she heard them anyway.

No, she didn't really want them to stop and she did kind of like it when she wasn't being teased about being ticklish (she was NOT ticklish! Just a little bit…sensitive. Not THAT sensitive, but probably a bit more so than most people).

She thought about it for a second. "Make you a deal: Stop accusing me of being ticklish and I won't make an issue of this."

"But you are ti—"

"A-a-ah!"

"Deal." he relented.

"So, uh…how long are you going to lay there?"

"Just…give me a few more minutes."

"Right…" She laid back down because her muscles were starting to complain a bit loudly and because her entire face felt very, very warm. Perhaps it was a mercy that she fell asleep again only a few minutes later.

(O)

"Cybrog, I don't need painkillers! I'm not in pain!"

"That's not what the brain scan says."

"Alright, the pain is there. But Azarathian monks have the ability to put their pain where it doesn't actually bother them and that is what I'm doing!"

"Talk to the hand, Rae."

"Take your medicine, Love."

"You're enjoying this!"

"I admit I am interested to see how you act when you are all drugged up."

"I usually fall asleep. Which, given that I keep doing that anyway, might mean I'll probably go into a coma."

"Nice try, Rae."

The worst part was that he was attaching the IV to her left wrist so she couldn't twist out of his grip. And then he was going further and cleverly binding it up into her cast so there was no way she could pull it out. Then the wire was being attached to some part of her chair that, apparently, had a built-in drip system just waiting to be filled up with whatever drug Cyborg deemed necessary.

"At least make it a low dose." she pleaded.

"You'll get the dose I think you need, Rae."

And so that was why she was all but completely out of it when Marlen Zanith and Arella decided to come by the tower and check up on her.

"Well, er…how is she?"

"She's not too happy about the opiates."

"Really? She looks very relaxed. Uh, Raven? Can you hear me?"

That was about as much as she remembered before passing out again.

It wasn't as bad as it could have been, though. Raven's body developed immunization faster than humans which was therefore a bit faster than Cyborg's machines expected and she wasn't quite as out of it as Cyborg likely intended. Unfortunately all this meant was that she was just lucid enough to start thinking up stupid ideas in the name of having a little fun while the drugs took care of the part where she actually believed they had merit. So it was a blessing that she kept falling asleep before she could carry anything out.

Four days of reluctant foggy bliss passed and she was only mildly aware of it. The girls of the tower helped her use the bathroom since the drugs made magic a really bad idea. But apparently she flat-out refused to let them bathe her and could not be convinced that it needed to be done since rational thinking was taking a forced vacation in the Bahamas. She'd apparently raised such hell over the issue that they stopped trying for fear that she'd hurt herself and they didn't feel right doing it while she was out cold. She wasn't surprised. She was not the sort of person who liked to be…exposed like that. Yes, she knew they were all girls, but there was nothing prudish about this. Otherwise she wouldn't be flying around in leotards and unitards would she? It took considerable effort for her to take off her clothes in front of someone else even if they were other girls. There was no way a drugged up Raven would see any reason to make this effort, however.

So that was why, on the fourth day, Cyborg relented and took her off the drugs. She was starting to smell.

The excessive sleep had done her some good, though. She could actually move the fingers of her left hand a bit. That was a huge relief for her. Rorek had assured her that she would regain the use of that arm but not until a finger actually started twitching did she stop dreading that it'd be immobile forever. It still hurt. Everything still hurt. But she could set the pain aside and function just fine without opiates, thanks so much. Perhaps she'd like to find some other way of dealing with the pain, but if the only other option was to chemically fill her head up with cotton then she'd do without. She simply did not understand why so many people liked having their brain so much more out of their control than usual. Sure it felt nice, but so did a lot of other things.

By the time she was back to full awareness, Terra was frequenting the living room – though only sparsely – and what time she was spending there probably had something to do with the joint efforts of Beast Boy and Malchior. Malchior being the one to grab her by the collar when she tried to leave and then placing her in the comforting trap of Beast Boy's hug. No one was talking about the past. No one had talked about the past. It was a subject that all involved avoided and those not involved were respectfully following suit. Raven knew this because she could feel the tension and thickness of words unsaid hanging in the air like Christmas decorations made of spill words. This wasn't good.

Oh sometimes you needed to leave a subject alone for a while, but that sort of thing was like a bandage. Eventually it had to come off so that the wound could breathe and heal properly. And, right now, the wound was at the point of festering under said bandage. So, after making sure she was completely in her right mind and the drugs were all a distant memory, Raven waited for Terra to finally be allowed an escape back to her room and followed her as surreptitiously as she could.

Terra didn't lock her door – a dangerous habit in a building with people (coughCyborgcoughBeastBoycoug h) who thought barging in unannounced was the best way to cheer up a gloomy-reclusive friend. Figuring Terra would probably freak out and try to hide if she announced herself, she simply opened the door and went in. Terra's back was to the door and she was bending over something on her in-room table.

"We all forgave you, you know."

Terra jumped and spun around, giving Raven a look that a deer might have if it saw the lights of a small airplane coming right for it.

"A long time ago." she went on. "Yes, your betrayal hurt. A lot. But you were sorry. We forgave you. You'd be surprised what we can forgive. I know Malchior told you about his own past, but did he tell you that when we first came into contact with Rorek he attacked us? And that suit Red X is wearing was stolen from our own vault. Nightwing made it. Oh, and then there was that time when I destroyed the world. Fortunately I was able to bring it back again so that was alright. I still have nightmares about it, though. Oh, yeah, and I almost killed the twins that one time, nearly gutted Slade myself but I'm pretty sure there was no love lost there, and very nearly let loose a horde of impossibly powerful and immortal beings that would have made the Church of Blood look like Control Freak jacked out on amphetamine. That I didn't do it was a very near thing.

"You did something terrible, but you realized your mistake and turned around to fix it. We forgave you. Now all that's left is for you to forgive yourself and that's not easy. Not for those of us with enough morals to feel shame. Our mistakes cling to us, hovering, lingering in our minds like a cancer. In a way that's a good thing. We need some of that so we know not to make those mistakes again. But once the lesson is learned then the guilt is an unnecessary pain and we need to let go of it. Perhaps a way of doing that is to simply come out and say 'I'm sorry'. Not for us, but for yourself. So that you can know you said it and you can hear us say 'we forgive you'."

The dam broke. Terra burst into tears and threw her arms around Raven's shoulders, having to bend down and over in order to do it, her words running over themselves to be heard. 'I'm sorry' was in there several times but so were a lot of other words that Raven didn't quite catch all of. But she managed to obtain the basic gist as Terra gabbled on about the Titans, Slade, things that happened before and after, her self-induced amnesia, learning that they were in trouble, and Slade again. Slade convincing her that he was trying to save the world this time and she went along just in case he was telling the truth.

Then she started to calm down a bit and her nervous chatter turned to assurances that she and Malchior were just friends, she really did like Beast Boy-er-Man, and Raven looked really pretty with her hair like that and maybe they, Starfire, Eisen, and Jinx could get together sometime to play with one another's hair and stuff and was Malchior really Rorek's evil twin because he didn't seem that evil to her and she kind of thought Rorek was a bit intimidating because he was so formal and polite it seemed like he was holding something back and what was the deal with that anyway? If they were both the same person then how come they seemed so different and even had different voices? She could understand if they were just different because she had had a few friends at school with split personalities but it didn't really make much sense that they had different voices and maybe she should stop asking about them because she knew they were Raven's and Malchior really was just a friend, no worries about that. Had she said that already? By the way, what did Raven mean back in the Church of Blood place when she'd said that Terra was 'hers'? She hadn't really wanted to ask anyone else in case it was embarrassing.

"It's a bit hard to explain." Raven said when, finally, Terra gave her a space to respond in. "When I, that Other side of me, referred to you as being 'hers' or, for the sake of not seeming schizophrenic, 'mine', I sort of mean that I considered you 'mine' in the way that Jump City is mine. It's not a sense of ownership, exactly. More like…territory. Jump City is mine in that it is under my protection and if any particularly potent magic-users that decide to show up then they will have to answer to me if they get out of line and will have to leave if I tell them to. Mine to protect; mine to take care of. In the magical community I'm the top dog in this city but that doesn't mean I own it. Does that make sense? When I told Slade that you were 'mine', I meant that if he wanted to get to you he would have to go through me unless you went to him, and since that wasn't something you were going to do he had me to contend with. Same way with Red X when I told Slade that he was mine as well, regardless of what the federal government had to say about the matter. Though, in all honesty, they try not to get involved in the whole super hero/villain stuff these days. Too much paperwork and we tend to sort each other out when left to it. Even if there is a mess to clean up afterwards. Anyway, does that answer your question?"

"So…you aren't mad about that time in the mud and stuff…?"

"Forgotten it already."

Terra beamed. Raven smiled. Then Terra's face shifted into a wide grin. "So, what's it like having two boyfriends at once?" she asked.

"I'm not sure I can make any definitive statements since I don't know what it's like having only one boyfriend. I can tell you that they tend to tag-team and gang up on me, which isn't fair. But, since they have no real choice but to share a girlfriend, what with one thing and another, I think there's enough unfairness all around that it evens out."

"What do you mean they don't have a choice? How does all that work, anyway?"

"It's complicated. They're silfron, which isn't the same as being twins."

"Yeah, Malchior told me about that. He said it's what happens when two dragons are born in one egg. But I didn't really understand what he meant."

"They're…they're like one person with two personalities and each personality has a body and, therefore, a brain to think with in that body. They are somewhere between being one person and being two people. To the deep magics, they are one being. But they're an anomaly. It's like…like Siamese twins, only instead of their bodies being born stuck together it's their souls. And it isn't easy to deal with, either. Sure there are some advantages, but they have to deal with a lot of issues that the rest of us don't."

"Like, having to share a girlfriend?"

"I think that's one of the big ones, yes. They used to fight over me, you know. It could have been an absolute nightmare if they hadn't had the decency to be subtle enough that I could pretend they were fighting just to be fighting. They're not supposed to do that, you see. They're not supposed to try and make me choose between them or pick favorites because, in all actuality, I can't. Oh they still do a bit of squabbling, but the understood agreement is that they have to work their issues out themselves and are not allowed to make me pick favorites."

"You know…to be honest, I kind of thought, for a while there, that you and Beast B-Man had something…" Terra admitted sheepishly.

"I think I would have killed him by now." Raven mused. "Speaking of Beast Man…" she began with a smirk. Terra went a bit pink, but she was smiling.

(O)

She was alone in the tower at the moment. Malchior and Rorek had both raised hell about that, but there was a very, very large crisis on the outskirts of Jump and there was more than one of them at that. Nightwing had tried to leave Rorek behind, but they were big, they were magical, and since the Jump City Titans were currently down one magic-user they really needed all hands on deck. Even Red X was gone. But he'd been on a few missions before now, claiming it was because he was bored.

She told herself not to worry. There were few things in this present world that could become a serious issue for two dragons, and the biggest one was over and dealt with. Right? It was just a matter of beating down whatever it was and they'd be back.

She had the chair in sofa mode with its book stand out and was reading the large volume of dragon literature that the twins had made for her. Curiously enough, dragons didn't have stories about just dragons. They did have those, but quite frequently they also had stories about just humans. And there were also stories about humans and dragons. What she was reading right now was a story with both. A human girl had been found and raised by a dragon until he was caught and made to return her to her people on the basis that humans had to live as humans. But the girl had been raised up by this dragon to adulthood. What was more, she had been raised as a dragon. More specifically, as a dragon female. And dragon females were…put it like this: The term 'culture clash' simply did not cover it. At the moment it was more like a culture bloodbath since the human girl had a rather powerful Thu'um and no desire whatsoever to allow herself to be made a courtesan of the local duke. Knowing what she knew about dragons and what happened to them if they engaged in pre-bonding hanky-panky, the girl probably thought that killing the duke was an act of survival. Unfortunately no one else was going to see it that way except for another dragon and at the moment she was fighting her way out of the duke's castle, having picked up a pair of claymores that she was swinging around as though they were daggers. Raven wasn't sure how being raised by dragons could give you draconic strength, but since this was a story she decided to let that slide.

Suddenly she felt a surge of unfamiliar magic and she tensed, looking up. She narrowed her eyes upon the middle of the living room where something was starting to shimmer as it fought its way through the barriers. By the time she thought to start worrying, the shimmering became a glittering green portal and through it stepped Morgaine Le Fay accompanied by a handsome young man with long blond hair. Morgaine was in full armor this time with her hair pulled up and that mask over her face.

Raven closed her book and put it in the sub-space pocket on her wrist. She then put the book stand up and gave Morgaine a cold look. "I thought I told you to stay out of Jump City." she said evenly.

Raven felt the smile even though she couldn't see it through that mask. "You are hardly in a position to enforce that at the moment, Raven."

Which wasn't entirely true. Actually, it wasn't true at all. Raven drummed her fingers on the right arm of her chair. "You know, I've always wondered about something. In the Justice League's reports they spell your name M-O-R-G-A-I-N-E, which is a bit elaborate to my mind. I mean, most everyone else spells it as simply M-O-R-G-A-N. Which one is it?"

"In fact, it is the second. The first was frequently used by my more superstitious enemies who believed that properly spelling my name would somehow summon me. A bit silly, but people are often silly, aren't they? Are you ready to go?"

"Are you responsible for the monsters heading for the city?" Raven asked.

"They are quite impressive if I do say so myself. Of course, such large golems are only ever temporary. But they'll last long enough. Come along, now. We have much to do." Le Fae held out a hand to Raven, as if expecting Raven would just come along like a good girl.

Raven took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Then she made her second request.

She had been given three. That was how these things went. They weren't wishes, not exactly, but she'd used one to stop Jinx from getting pictures of her. She had hoped to use up the other two on petty things like that. But, perhaps, this was what they were for in the first place. They weren't payment, as such. They were a bit like payment, a bit like compensation, and a bit like insurance. Whatever they actually were, though, she was glad to have one now. Hopefully she wouldn't need the last one for anything this serious.

When Raven opened her eyes she looked directly into the dark shadows of Morgan Le Fay's mask. "No, I am not going with you. Not now, not ever." she stated.

"You do not have much of a choice, I am afraid. Your friends are all busy with my golems at the moment and you do not have the power to fight me. Don't be difficult. You will only hurt yourself. Besides, I am quite certain that, once you see what I have to offer you, you will thank me."

"No."

"By force, then." Le Fay said, turning her hand and sending a ball of green spellfire at Raven.

Raven's shadow morphed and became a circle around her. Whatever Morgan Le Fay's spellfire had been meant to do, it didn't work.

"What? What is that?" she demanded. "You can't have enough power to fight me." she stated, almost accusingly.

"I don't." Raven answered in a low voice. "But I do have friends. Leave now. Stop those golems of yours and keep your business out of mine, keep your hands away from what is mine, and I will do the same. This is your last warning. There is a spell in The Mortix for killing gods and if I see hide or hair of you one more time I will hunt you down and give it a try. Do you understand?"

"You seem quite confident in these friends of yours." Morgaine Le Fay observed. "Where are they?"

"Look down."

They were gone barely a second later.

Raven looked down but wasn't really in a position to see her shadow very well. Instead she felt it return to its proper shape, that being a nondescript blob on her left. She relaxed and pulled her book back out, wondering if she should tell the others about Le Fay.

No, probably not. The twins would go postal and probably hunt her down. Oh there would be no love lost there, but Le Fay had only intended for the golems to look like they were going to attack the city to lure the Titans away. This was likely the only reason she'd been able to do it in the first place. Having them actually attack the city would have violated her contract. And besides that, she'd only intended some temporary kidnapping which would have been very temporary indeed since Raven was pretty sure Rorek and/or Malchior had placed a tracking spell on her somewhere. She hadn't found it yet, but she suspected its existence. It was probably in the sapphires they'd given her. Or in one of her other gems. Very likely there was one in the goshenite stone on her wrist that Rorek had made that band for. The point was that it felt a bit…wrong to set out with the intent of slaying a villain that was no longer going to be a threat. And unless Morgan Le Fay was incredibly stupid and had a gift for forgetting her nightmares, then they wouldn't be hearing from her again for a long time, if ever.

(O)

"HELP!-!-!"

Raven jerked awake and looked around wildly. Living room? No. Her room. Felt a bit crowded – ah, yes, there was Rorek with his arms around her and there was…Red X? What the—ugh, she KNEW they should have locked the door.

"Raven! Raven! You gotta help me! I'm in big trouble. BIG trouble! And I swear it wasn't anything I did this time!"

"Wha…?" Raven rubbed her eyes. Rorek stirred and gave Red X an irate look but he went ignored.

"The forces of evil have risen from their musty coffins to do the work of their lord and master, Satan, and I am the chosen sacrifice upon which they shall feed to grow in power and expensive watches! You've gotta help me!"

"Uh…did Slade come back from the dead again?" Raven asked blearily, managing to sit up with Rorek's help.

"Worse! His lawyers found me! HELP!"

Raven blinked, rubbed her eyes again, and took another look at Red X. "Alright, calm down and tell me what happened. Slowly." she instructed.

"It was at the grocery store! I went with Cyborg and Beast Man to pick out some stuff of my own and these three guys in black suites and briefcases walk up to us and say, 'Sebastian Wilson?' and I said, 'Depends on which parent you ask.' and then I said, 'hey hang on, how come you know that name?' and they said, 'Mr. Wilson, we are associates of the presumed dead Slade Wilson.' And then I said, 'Associates how? Like cronies? 'Cause I'm kinda with the Teen Titans now, dude.' and they said, 'No, Mr. Wilson, we are, or were, his lawyers.'"

"Alright, so what did they want?"

"No idea. I bolted. The teleporter on this belt is pretty awesome. I'm sure Cyborg and Beast Man will be alright, though. They've come face-to-face with Trigon, right? They'll know how to handle the situation."

"I am not entirely sure I understand how these lawyers are so terrifying to you, but Malchior is currently laughing a great deal." Rorek said.

"What do you expect me to do?" Raven asked. "Lawyers aren't classified as villains. At least, not the kind that we deal with. They don't break the law and are, in fact, very good about not breaking the law. It's not like we can give them a good kicking and then throw them in jail like all the others."

"Yeah, but you intimidate people!"

"So, why do you think I'm a better candidate for this than Malchior who, I must point out, is not stuck in a wheelchair?"

"Maybe 'intimidate' isn't the right word. I mean, Malchior isn't creepy-scary like you! I don't think they'll be impressed by the whole demon look on him. You, on the other hand, can make people afraid of their own shadow." Red X pointed out. "PLEEEEEEASE! They know where I'm staying now! They'll be here any minute I just know it!"

"Alright, alright. Just give me a few minutes, we'll be right out."

Red X turned out to be right, at least where the arrival of the lawyers was concerned. That was a bit surprising, though not half as surprising as the reason they were there.

"How much?"

"All legal, I assure you." Mr. Dawson, the head lawyer, told him pointedly. "We are well aware of the late Mr. Wilson's…other ventures, but he has given us no instruction in regards to them and we have chosen to think of same as nonexistent."

"Yeah, alright, but how much?"

"Present income of the late Mr. Wilson's various estates and investments, after taxes have been levied and paid, amounts to an average of 350,000 per year while cash on hand, after inheritance taxes, various fees, and various other parts of Mr. Wilson's will have been carried out, amount to…" Here the layer rustled a few pages to find one with a long line of numbers, one of which he read aloud. It was a pretty hefty amount.

Cyborg whistled. "Daaaaaaaang…"

"I guess it makes sense when you think about it." Nightwing came in. "All those robots he used? Those things don't grow on trees, you know."

"Here is a full list of the estates and investments of Mr. Wilson's capital." Mr. Dawson said, handing a piece of paper over to Red X. It was full of small print. "You will be pleased to know that everything has been arranged and taken care of. Mr. Wilson was—"

"Hawaii?-!" Red X burst out suddenly, his eyes on the paper. "Slade has a house in Hawaii?-!"

"Ahem, yes, a facility on the island of Honolulu baring roughly 6,000 square feet and quite a few acres of land leading up to and including a prime beach area that is most generously opened to the public on weekends. I have a detailed list of holdings and their values right here." Mr. Dawson produced a very thick wad of papers and handed them to Red X, who then passed them on to Raven, who handed them to Nightwing, who, having lived with Bruce Wayne, would know more about this stuff than she would. Especially since half of her still wanted to think in terms of a gemstone currency.

"Heh, a beach too, huh?" Red X said weakly. "Looks like next vacation's on me, guys." he said.

"AWESOME!" was the multi-voiced cheer.

"Wait a minute, Waxwall Manner? As in Jump City's Waxwall Manner? That's, like, one of those big mansions over in the suburbs!"

"Mr. Wilson made all the necessary arrangements in the past two years and some time ago gave clear instructions that all holdings, estates, investments, safety deposit boxes, and all other items or titles under his name were to be passed over to you as his son and heir in the not inconsiderable likelihood of his death. Which, he vouchsafed, would be assured if we did not hear from him again in the time frame of four weeks. All that is left is for you to sign these documents and give some proof of your identity."

"This proof being…?"

"A particular mark of unknown origins on the back of your neck."

"You mean this thing?" Red X stood up, turned around and pulled up the back of his mask while pulling down the collar. This exposed a small black Mark of Scath that had a very…well, permanent look to it. It was also in the midst of some considerable scar tissue, as though X had tried very hard to have it removed without any success whatsoever. A bit chillingly, Raven couldn't help but wonder if it was a tattoo or paint at all. Somehow, she wasn't sure how, it had the look of a birthmark instead. A black birthmark.

The laywers each made a show of studying it and comparing it to some image on their phones and each of them nodded their confirmation.

"Thank you, Mr. Wilson. Now all that is left is to sign." Mr. Dawson the produced a phone book's worth of documentation.

X groaned. "This is going to take all week, isn't it?"

"Yep, probably." Nightwing let out a laugh and slapped X on the back. "Looks like someone's loaded! Guess you won't be mooching off us anymore."

"Mooching?-! Hey! I've been pulling my weight, haven't I? And what about that scroll I gave Raven? Wasn't that worth my stay? Huh?"

"X, I was joking."

"Oh…right…By the way, Raven, can I trust these guys?" X asked.

"Mr. Dawson seems loyal and steadfast to me. I'm unsure about Mr. Mason. He'll probably seek your best interests right up until the money stops flowing as easily as he expects. But I wouldn't trust Mr. Gaskin two inches." she answered.

"Right, Gaskin's fired." X stated, picking up the first piece of paper.

"W-what?-!"

"I shall ready the paperwork immediately upon my return."

"Sir, I protest this! You cannot seriously trust the moment's assessment of this—" Gaskin stopped. He'd caught Raven's eye. He swallowed. "I'll wait by the car…" he said, and he swiftly excused himself. Cyborg showed him down to the garage.

"Here is our contact information and the information of Mr. Wintergreen, the late Mr. Wilson's butler. He will be delighted to hear from you, I'm sure." Mr. Dawson said. "Please inform me immediately when you have completed those documents."

(O)

Raven watched the fingers on her left hand. They were moving quit easily now, and with only a moderate amount of extra pain. She still couldn't lift her arm, not yet, but she could feel the muscles coming back to life.

They were alone, the three of them. Nightwing and Starfire were on a date, so were Terra and Beast Boy. Lady Eisen had decided to go help Red X settle into his mansion, and Cyborg was down in the garage giving his car some love. So they had the living room couch all to themselves. Malchior was idly flipping through the channels on the television.

"Ten thousand channels and still nothing to watch." he grumbled.

"That's what the On Demand feature is for." Raven said.

"By the way," Rorek began, "I'm not sure anyone has thought to tell you this, but the kids, Melvin, Timmy, and Teether? They've been adopted."

"Adopted?" Raven asked, taken aback. Her mouth opened to shape the words, 'But they're mine' and she only just managed to stop herself. They weren't her kids. Not really. A real mother was around more often. A real mother raised her own kids and didn't hand them over to different variations on the theme of monk to be taken care of. They needed someone they could call 'Mom' or even 'Dad' on a regular basis. And she simply didn't fulfill that role. It was good that they'd found someone, or that someone had found them. This was a good thing, good for them, for their future…

So why did she feel so sick?

Rorek smiled at her. "Yes, by Arella. She says they call her 'granny'."

"Oh." Well…well…that was a lot better. Raven felt distinctly cheered up.

Rorek leaned over and kissed her cheek. "You would make an excellent mother, My Love." he murmured.

Raven felt her cheeks burn bright red. There had been an implication in that statement that was making her feel suddenly warm all over. She sought for some way of changing the topic to something a bit safer and more comfortable. "So…so what was going on with Damien last you heard? Is he alright?"

"Oh, that's right, you were asleep. Yes, he's doing quite well now and is a full-time member of Titans Europe, though if certain interested parties inquire as to his whereabouts, we do not know this." Malchior answered.

"Understood." Raven said, smiling a little.

Malchior gave up and turned the TV off. "You know, it occurs to me that we haven't been on a date yet."

"Is it necessary?" Raven asked. "I always thought that the purpose of a date was to get to know the other person." she said.

"Well, there's also the purpose of spending time together away from everyone else." Malchior pointed out.

"Preferably somewhere remote so the three of us can be together without comment regarding our number." Rorek stated.

Actually, that sounded kinda nice. Maybe a beach somewhere out in the middle of nowhere, just the three of them. "It'll have to wait. That is, if you want to leave the chair behind. I still can't walk very well and one needs two working arms for crutches." she said.

"Of course, of course. But you are recovering quite swiftly." Rorek said.

"Besides, it'll give us time to find somewhere suitably remote and romantic." Malchior added.

A gray bunny-sized hare hopped up onto Raven's lap and curled up. Its spill words reading a very loud and clear 'pet me'. Raven did so.

"I think Ru wants to come along." Rorek chuckled.

"I think there's something weird about that animal." Malchior forwarded.

"She's a familiar. And you know how magic stunts one's growth." Raven pointed out.

"Yeah, but even familiars aren't that smart. She can understand every word we say, I know it. She just ignores us most of the time." Malchior grumbled. "And she keeps giving me these looks like she thinks she's my mother or something."

'He stole an article of your clothing a while back, by the way. But he keeps it in his sub-space pocket so I haven't been able to return it to you.'

Raven blinked at the one beady black eye looking up at her. 'What article?' she asked. 'Or do I want to know?'

'Probably not. Want me to make a mess on his bed?'

'No, don't. I'll just steal something of his in retaliation.'

"By the way, Love…do you remember that, erm, that dress you were wearing when…when we found you again? In the…the Church of Blood facility?"

Trying hard not to show her guilty embarrassment, she answered, "Maybe. Why?"

"Did you…keep it, by any chance?" There was more than just a hint of hope in his voice there.

"Um…" She was bright red now and glancing sheepishly between Malchior and Rorek. "Maybe?" she offered.

Rorek took her right hand and brought it to his lips. "We have been wondering if there is any chance you might be willing to wear it again." he said softly.

"You don't think that'd be…I mean, Mother Mayhem made me put it on…the Church of Blood made it for a demon. Seems kinda…wrong."

"Then don't think of it like that." Malchior said, nuzzling her neck. "Think of it as a trophy. Blood Magic has been defeated once more. Here is your proof."

She could work with that. Now she just had to come to terms with the odd sensation of actually wanting to be…well, girly for once in her life. Maybe she could get Eric to do her hair again. Maybe…

(8)

A/N: I was originally intending to end it here but I decided I wanted to write out their first date. :D Also there are a few other things to wrap up as well. So, one more chapter everyone!

Coming up in the next chapter:
I declare myself queen of this castle. All who object are welcome to lodge a formal complaint with my hand.

Technology is so frustrating sometimes. I purchased a refurbished Motorola Xoom tablet only to find out that it can't update on account of having software meant for CANADA. Why? I mean WHY? It was FACTORY REFURBISHED, IN the United States. The fact that, for some reason, they feel they have to use different software for different countries is ridiculous enough; IS A SIMPLE LANGUAGE PACK TOO MUCH TO ASK?-! But how hard would it have been to make sure the operating system matched the region it was being refurbished in!-? WHAT THE HELL!-? AND WHY WON'T IT LET ME UPDATE IN A DIFFERENT REGION? THIS IS SO STUPID!-!-! And, apparently, this happens a lot when you buy on Amazon :(. Fortunately there is a fix since it's only the software that's Canada-specific. It's just so annoying that I have to do it myself like this. Grumble grumble grumble gripe gripe gripe…