Chapter 16
Raven sat on the cold ground in shock. She couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened.
There was a whirlwind of emotions happening in her head..if she had her powers the world might have been in trouble but alas, Slades power inhibitors were working wonders. No surprise there.
The thought of Slade brought her back to reality and everything that had just happened rushed back to her. Him attacking her. The things he did to her. Then she found the dagger and she stabbed him.
His blood had splattered everywhere. She had hit his carotid.
It was everywhere. It was on the floor, on the walls, on the bed.
It was on her. On her face, on her torso, on her hands.
It was still sickeningly warm. The sensation had her promptly vomiting whatever was in her stomach. She was mostly just retching and spitting vile.
She had to get away from the body and she had to put it behind her. She could worry about it after she saved her friends. She grabbed her clothes and left to find the nearest washroom.
It was only a few doors down and once inside she turned on the shower to a scalding hot temperature. She fell to her knees on the gold tiled floor and let the water burn her. The blood on her hands washed away leaving no trace and for now that's how it would stay.
She pushed Slade's very existence into the farthest reach of her thoughts. Now was time to focus on getting the cuffs off and she knew this wouldn't be easy.
After being well and truly boiled by her shower, she dressed herself and went back into the room.
After careful inspection she had noticed the cuffs had a retinal scanner. She knew what she had to do and so she took a breath and used all her strength to turn the dead man around.
He hadn't even pulled out the knife, it had happened so fast. Ignoring the blood restraining her hands she pressed the first cuff to his lifeless eye.
It beeped and both the cuffs came undone. She felt her powers flood her body as if trying to escape but she was able to hold them in.
Suddenly something on Slades body beeped and she was afraid he was going to explode so she covered her body in a bubble shield.
But his body stayed in tack, instead there was a hologram message.
Of course there was.
She let down the shield and saw a message waiting for her to open. Against her better judgement she accepted.
He appeared on the hologram, unmasked and in a suit.
"You never cease to surprise me," the hologram message said. "You've managed to subdue and end me. Congratulations, Raven. I made this message with no belief that you would ever see it but you are listening right now. I think at this point you deserve to know what is happening. The League of Assassins is 's Al Ghul's most recent mistress ended the man when he denied her and their son necessary medical care. Tragic isn't it. She had a magician place a spell on you that has been slowly draining your powers to keep her ailing son alive. Their last plan is to use your blood as a sacrifice to create the perfect Lazarus pit in hopes it will heal him. I just thought you should know."
Raven frowned at the explanation. Was that what they were doing? How stupid.
"Don't fret little bird, I have no doubt you will still get through this but I did want to leave you with one message . It's not over between you and I. You may have ended me but this will never be over between us. Always understand that."
The message ended abruptly and she screamed in frustration.
"Arg," she screamed. " I hate you, you bastard."
Her body let out a burst of magic that sent the dead body flying. It actually felt relieving when the power settled but she now knew the body was mangled so she rushed out of the room and took another shower.
Once clean again, she took a breath and sat to meditate.
She would find her friends and she would end this.
Even if it ended her.
...
"You're both idiots." Jason growled.
"How were we supposed to know this would happen?" Garfield sneered. "We've tried doing everything we can!"
It had been about a day since they had thrown Dick and Gar into the prison cells. Tims heart had fallen when he saw them tossed in.
"How could you leave Damian in charge!" Jason screamed.
It made Tim's headache worse. Jason was quickly becoming more unhinged. He didn't quite blame him, he really did love Raven, but his temper wasn't helping the situation.
"Damian knows how to handle himself and protect others but Slade is...he's just unstoppable."
Tim frowned at Dicks words. He knew how much Slade had tormented him when he was a teen. Dick almost had it as bad as Raven when it came to Slade.
Jason hit the brick wall of his cell.
"No one's fucking unstoppable!" he yelled. "You just left her in incompetent hands."
"That's enough Jason!" Tim finally yelled. "If you haven't noticed, we aren't much help either!"
Jason's eye twitched but he seemed to calm down after that.
"I don't know what to do anymore," he admitted. "Everyone who could have helped keep her safe is down. Where is the end to this?"
"It's going to be okay," Gar said. "It has to be. Raven will find a way. She always does."
Tim sighed.
He certainly hoped so.
...
Raven was almost there. She was going to end this today.
With her energy fully restored, she was ready to use her full powers. She knew soon her energy would start to wane since the spell hadn't been undone, so she had to hurry.
The island was in sight. The end was in sight.
But she didn't know what that end was. There were two distinct possible finales.
She could win and save her friends...her family.
The other outcome was she could die.
It was a fifty fifty chance and it made her nervous. But she had to do something .
It was nearing nighttime when she carefully landed near the grounds of the island. She wanted to keep undetected so she was careful. It took about 15 minutes to get to the shelter that was placed in the middle.
So far she hadn't been caught, which she took as a good sign .She could sense a medley of people in the building. She cursed when she felt both Jason and Tim but also Dick and Gar. This was even worse than she ex[ected
If she could get in there undetected and just take them all home, then this would be over.
She phased into the building but a sudden rush of nausea befell her.
"Wards," she whispered. "Fuck."
She wasn't usually one to cuss but she could feel the strength of the wards. They seemed to meddle with her senses and her phasing ability. She got in, she did.
But now she couldn't quite use her powers to get out. They were going to have to escape the old fashion way.
She began walking the hallway. There were so many doors. She cursed again, this was going to be more difficult than she wanted it to be. More difficult then she needed it to be. She had no choice but to carefully search the doors.
...
Jason always was an anxious person. A culmination of his life on the streets, life with Batman, and life as Red Hood/Red-x had him never knowing what could happen in life. He tried to hide the fact that his mind was always full of what-ifs and worst case scenarios. He had always been working on it and some days his anxiety was better than others.
But not today, not right now.
"Jason," Dick said, catching the man by surprise. "You need to find a way to relax."
Dick motioned to his hands.
Jason saw the indents his fingernails had made, pink and dripping blood from the immense pressure that he had put on them,
"I'd never been in love before," he suddenly admitted.
Dick kept a straight and serious face, an invitation for him to continue.
"When we were younger I admired your relationship with Babs," he continued. "I was just a kid but deep down I wanted to someone to care about me the way you two cared about each other. I never thought it would happen. After everything that happened to me, I thought I was too fucked up for someone to have to love me."
Jason took a deep breath in and then out.
"So when I realized how much Raven meant to me and how much I meant to her, I promised myself I would take care of her. I love her and she loves me, we were supposed to be happy together. Why couldnt we have met under different fucking circumstances?"
"Because life is full of stupid twist and turns," Dick replied back. "Things hardly ever go the way you need them to. I loved Barbara. She was my first love and I still will always hold a love for her in my heart. But even with all the love we both felt for each other, we still didn't make it as a couple. I hate admitting that her being shot by the joker irrevocably changed our relationship, but it did. The good news is that we both are still happy. She's found love and I've found love. Sometimes things go terribly wrong but in the end you have to find a way to work with it, to make it go right for you in the end."
Jason kept a stoic face and attitude.
"Do you think this can end well?" He asked.
"I can't really say," Dick told him. "If it does , you need to hold on to that love you have for her. But only if you want to, if you can. Things aren't going to be the same after this. If we all make it out alive, things are going to be different."
Jason leaned his head back.
He appreciated Dicks honesty in the matter.
However he knew that if they did make it, the only thing that would change is that Jason was going to work harder to make sure Raven would never go through something like this again.
...
Most rooms she could sense were empty.
It was such a big compound but it was almost empty.
Not this door, however. She could sense a sign of life behind this door. She didnt know if it was her friends or if it was her enemy but she had to search.
Ever so carefully ,she opened the golden handle. It made the lightest of creaks but so far nothing had ambushed her so she walked in.
The room looked like a medical room but also...a nursery. Against her better judgement, she moved on and forward into the room.
He was small, the baby. Maybe a year old, she couldn't quite tell. She was able to see his malformation, however. His head was comically small. Tragically small, really.
Her powers were still muddled but she could still sense his pain. He didn't really move, he was quite literally in a vegative state now.
She gently rubbed his cheek, his body's natural reaction should have been to twitch but there was no reaction whatsoever .
"All it would have taken was a Lazarus pit," a voice said coming from the door.
It was a woman. Tall, blonde, beautiful and extremely unhinged. Raven kept her serious and calm facade as she walked closer to her.
She stopped in front of the bassinet and reached to touch the baby.
"The Lazarus Pit wouldn't have helped," Raven said to him. "What you're doing is prolonging his pain."
The woman looked up and glared at her.
"Plenty of children survive and prosper with microcephaly," she hissed. "He is my son and all I want for him is to live a happy life with smiles and laughter. The pit would have helped."
Raven shook her head.
"He is in pain," she told her. "Nothing can fix his severity."
The woman glared and took a step back.
"I'm still willing to try," she replied. "And that will involve you. No more waiting, come over to me willingly or all your friends are dead."
She pulled out a hand held button, a detonator .
"All it will take is one little push of the button," she replied. "It's up to you."
Raven knew she had been backed into a corner. She wasn't surprised ,not at all. But she didn't want to go this way. In the end she nodded.
"Smart decision," the woman said. "Soon this will all be over. I will free your friends once my son is healed."
Raven internally glared.
She really wanted to ask the question she knew she shouldn't.
What if it didn't work...
...
End Chapter
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