Kory wants time to think, time to be alone and to process her own feelings about seeing her sister again. Which means Dick needs to wait. He can do that. He will do that.

It's just Dick has never been good at standing still. He's even worse at having problems he doesn't know how to fix.

….and he's the worst when it's people he cares about hurting and he can't help. Can't fix it. Can't stop it. Can't...just sit here, waiting.

Dick shakes his head out of his thoughts, staring at the monitor and rewinding the video again to analyze Komand'r's facial expressions, her words, any thing he can find.

There's too many problems with too few answers and the biggest one is how Komand'r even found out Kory was on Earth in the first place. How could she if the Green Lanterns put a communication block around Earth?

If there's anything that Dick knows he can do, it's investigate a case.

So, he restarts the video and he thinks-takes it apart like he was trained to do-looks at the evidence, sees the options, finds the motives, until hopefully he can see a trend.

He wishes...he wishes he could just ask Bruce.

Bruce would know. Bruce always was able to find out what to do.

About everything. About Komand'r, sure, but also about the Lantern Corps leaving them without a defense system. About Raven and whatever Trigon is and whether it's even a threat Dick should worry about with everything happening with Komand'r. About….about what choices Dick should make because it's seven years later and Dick still never knows for sure if the plan he's making is the right one. The one that he would have made.

But, he can't ask.

He can't.

And it's not the biting pain it used to be, not all the time, just a quieter ache that's buried beneath his chest bone alongside the lighter places he reserves for his family, team, and Kory.

A shiver runs down his spine and Dick pauses halfway through the video, scrubbing a hand over his face. He pulls up the Watchtower's monitor of Komand'r's ship, hovering just outside the zeta shield just like the Reach ship last year.

Honestly, what are the actual odds of dealing with aliens two years in a row?

He stops, staring at the ship as suddenly an idea cuts through the rest of his thoughts, fitting jaggedly along the pieces and reassembling them.

Shit.

"Dick?"

"One second, Don'. I think I-"

Cold washes over Dick's body and he turns, only to find no one there.

The monitor flickers, an abrupt hiss from the speakers, and for a second, Dick can see Raven standing just out of view, watching him.

"You're brighter. How?"

He blinks and she's gone, the static from the speakers cutting off just as quickly as it began.

"Dick?"

Dick twists his head, slowly releasing a breath when it's just Zatanna.

"Zee, I'm seriously re-questioning the whole ghost thing."

Unexpectedly, Zatanna brightens. "It worked?"

Dick stares at her. "What worked?"

And then-because it's Dick's life-he gets grabbed and unceremoniously pulled down the hall until Zatanna shoves him into a dark room with the cloying scent of burning sage.

He blinks, eyes adjusting to the low candlelight as he hears the click of the lock behind him.

"Was the shoving really necessary," Dick asks.

Lilith laughs from somewhere in the darkness. "Zee has a flair for dramatics."

"You don't say," he says dryly before his eyes focus on what's sitting in the middle of the room and he openly stares at the real, genuine boiling cauldron. "You're joking, right?"

"Double, double, toil and trouble," Zatanna pulls him forward. "You're the one who wanted us to catch a witch. You just saw her, right?"

"...yeah," Dick admits slowly, still stuck on the whole cauldron thing. "She said I was brighter?"

Lilith's head perks up suddenly. "It worked?"

"It worked," Zatanna agrees, before thrusting her hand at Dick. "Now, lean over and give us some of your hair."

"I really can't tell when you're kidding," he mutters, obligingly bending down to let Zatanna cut a lock from the back.

"Thanks." She snaps, pointing at the cauldron. "Mrofsnart!"

The cauldron shrinks until it's roughly the size of a bowl, still filled with cloudy liquid.

Lilith shoves the bowl in his face. "Here, drink this."

Dick wants it on the record that he hates every part of this.

Taking a steadying breath, he holds it up to his face and takes a sip.

"It tastes….," he frowns, "like chicken. What is this?"

"Soup," Zatanna winks. "You need to eat more."

"I hate you soooo much right now." He turns to Lilith. "I hope you know your girlfriend's a terrible influence."

Lilith giggles. "It was my idea actually."

"And you're supposed to be the nice one." Dick rolls his eyes, refocusing on Zatanna. "Did you at least need the hair?"

"Yes," Zatanna says and the humor in her voice fades away, "you said the girl already tracked you down a few times. That means she's at least got some kind of sense of you, no matter how weak the connection might be. We boosted it and it worked. So now," she narrows her eyes on the hair, "we're going to boost your energy even more to try to give her something better to hold onto, maybe make you easier to track." She waves a hand. "Think about it like, I don't know, running more energy into a computer you want to hack."

"That's not at all how hacking works," Dick deadpans, almost reluctantly taking another sip of the soup. It's surprisingly good. "You really think this will make it easier for her to find me?"

"It already did," Lilith confirms. "She said you're brighter. And that's only part one of the plan. We're going to use the other part of the hair to set up...hmm, I guess you could call it something like a monitoring spell? Basically we're seeing what other kinds of energies are looking at you. If we're lucky, we might be able to find her first."

"Which brings us to the second problem," Zatanna crosses her arms. "We need to know what type of energy she has if we're going to have any hope of identifying her."

"Type of energy?"

Lilith nods. "Everyone has a basic life energy. It's sort of...well, I guess bright really is the best word-like light maybe, but..more solid," she looks to Zatanna for confirmation, who shrugs. "Anyway, those like me and Zee who deal in magic tend to get blended with different types of energy. Like my energy is more associated with the mind while Queen Mera and Tula work more with water energy." She pauses. "Really, when you think about it at a larger level it's kind of amazing that magic's still been able to find a balance for this long, especially without a new Doctor Fate or-"

"Lilith, hun, let's save the magic meta-discussion for another time." Zatanna turns to Dick. "The point is that we need you to tell us what type of energy this girl's using."

"I'm terrible at magic," Dick says.

"Yeah, I know." Zatanna sighs. "But, even you had to pick up some kind of trace. Even a feeling. A force that you would associate with her. Anything that stuck out in your dreams.

Dick thinks back, remembering the cold chill of the sky and the terror that made his heart beat faster without even knowing why.

"Chaos," he says finally, "look for chaos."

Lilith gives a half laugh, half grimace. "Well, nothing new there then. Zee?"

Zatanna pauses, still looking at Dick as her frown gets heavier.

"What," he asks.

"Nothing," she says, even as her hands twitch to the cards in her coat. "I just...I don't like this, Dick. Something bad's coming. I can feel it."

"Should we tell the team," Lilith asks.

Dick shakes his head. "Not yet. Not until we can find Raven and get a better idea of the threat. Until then, let them work on what we should do for Komand'r."

Lilith and Zatanna exchange a look.

Lilith tilts her head before nodding. "Not like we know anyone else who really works in this type of magic anyway. I mean unless we want to ask-"

"Ew, no," Zatanna interrupts immediately. "Absolutely not."

Dick looks between them. "Who?"

"An asshole that we don't need," Zatanna says before pushing him to the door as Lilith laughs behind her. "Now, get out of her and let us work on finding your girl."

The door gets shut soundly behind him and Dick once again finds himself standing out in the hallway.

"What are you staring at?"

Dick turns to find Donna walking towards him.

"Just," he looks back to find the door has melted back into a plain white wall, "...nothing."

Dick is really starting to get why Wally always hated magic.

Donna frowns, before her eyes are drawn to Dick's hands. "What is that?"

He looks down to find he's still holding the miniaturized cauldron.

"Soup," he answers succinctly. "What's up, Don'?"

She gives him a pointed look. "Garth's waiting for us on the debriefs. You alright? You seem...I don't know, weird."

"I'm always weird; it's part of my charm," he grins at the eye roll that gets him. "C'mon, let's go find Garth."

Garth's waiting for them in the monitor room, letting out a low whistle as he watches Komand'r's ship frozen on the monitor.

"And I thought Tula and Orm had a bad sibling relationship. At least, they stop at killing each other." He looks to Dick. "How should we report this to Queens Mera and Hippolyta?"

"Tell them it's not an invasion," Dick says, leaning forward to look at the ship. "Both Ganthet and Kory confirmed as much based on the ship's size."

Donna moves beside him. "So, if Komand'r isn't here for that, why is she here?"

"That's the question."

"Is it possible….," Garth makes a face, "I mean not to be naive; but, is it possible that she's telling the truth? She just wanted to see Kory."

Dick and Donna both turn to stare at him.

"Okay, wow, don't jump to agree all at once." Garth pauses before sighing. "Listen, you guys are lucky. You actually like your siblings. Families can get complicated. And...well, it's been awhile, she probably thought Kory was dead or something. Look at Jade. It wouldn't be the first time someone's had a change of heart because they thought their sister died."

Donna snorts. "Yeah, but last time I checked, the worst I ever did to Diana is take her favorite sword. Not try to murder her."

Garth holds up his hands in surrender. "I'm not saying we should believe her. I'm just saying that we can at least consider an actual happy answer for once. We're due one." He shrugs. "Especially since we don't have any other theories yet."

"What I'm curious about is how she figured out Kory was on Earth," Donna says, looking to Dick. "Got any ideas?"

"One that I still need to confirm," Dick admits. "As for Mera and Hippolyta, just bring them a copy of the video. That's the easiest way and, really, Komand'r's only the symptom. The main problem we haven't even faced yet."

Two problems, he thinks but doesn't say. Not until they can find Raven.

"You're talking about the Lanterns," Donna guesses.

Dick nods. "Without the Corps, we're unprotected. Labeling us a 'restricted section'? It's never going to work like that. The Corps are hoping we'll be forgotten; but having the Corps interested enough in making us a restricted sector is like putting up a big neon sign as a challenge. Sure, it'll keep out some of the lower level threats; but, what about the Reach? Or those like Tamaran that can exert enough diplomatic force to slide by? For anyone with something to prove, Earth just got a giant red target."

"And it makes it hard to gain other allies if they're not even allowed in our sector," Garth adds, swearing under his breath.

"We need a better defense," Donna says bluntly. "Something better than waiting until the threat's already on our doorstep."

"Plus, we need an information network," Dick continues. "The Corps didn't just provide us defense, they provided us information. With the Reach, it took Bart coming from an alternate future to give us the advantage we needed to win. What will it take next time?" He rolls his shoulders. "And, finally, we need a better reputation. Right now, we're seen at best as a world that got lucky and at worst as a dangerous developing planet that needs to be put down. Not exactly a good position to gain allies."

Garth gives a muted laugh. "Alright, so we just need allies, information, and a better reputation all without being able to talk to anyone."

"We've worked with less," Donna reminds them.

"Ah, there's that optimism. You're right, at least no one's tried to kill us up yet." Garth turns to Dick. "What do you say, fearless leader, got a plan?"

"Working on it," Dick mutters even if the best he has is some possible leads and a hope. He lets out a breath, nodding. "Tell Mera I'll be down to Atlantis as soon as I get a break."

Garth nods, heading off toward the zeta. He grips Dick's shoulder as he walks passed. "We'll find something. We always do."

Dick watches him go before turning back to find Donna, staring at him with a frown.

He smiles. "I'm good, Don', I promise. You should head out if you want to make it to Themyscira by night."

Donna snorts. "Trying to get rid of me?"

"Couldn't if I tried."

"And don't you forget it," she agrees before sighing, the frown finally lifting. "Don't burn down the Tower while I'm gone, got it?"

"Don't worry. Actually," he pauses, clicking back on the files he had up earlier-a hunch to follow, "I've got a feeling I'm leaving fairly soon, too."

"Back to Gotham," Donna asks.

"No." Dick grins sharply. "I'm going hunting."

ooooo

"You asshole!"

Slade doesn't look up from the sniper rifle. "Kid, I don't know if you've noticed but I'm in the middle of something here. Not even an assassination, your favorite."

Dick crosses his arms and glares. He didn't even bother with the Nightwing suit, just a plain black military style uniform that's far more discreet.

"Your target's Kato Eiji, right," Dick asks caustically. "Don't bother, cops are a minute out and already have an arrest warrant. Good Samaritan turned in an anonymous tip an hour ago."

Slade finally looks up. "You messed up my job?!"

"Oh, please. Don't give me that." He rolls his eyes. "Local mob boss hires you to scare up his son a little so he won't be so loose lipped. You can't get a more low time job than that, Slade. Which means you only took it because you were bored or looking for a distraction. And, look! Lucky for you, I'm an answer to both."

Slade regards him steadily before shrugging, leaning back from his perch on the roof to start disassembling the rifle. "Fine, I'll play. Don't suppose you'll tell me how you found me?"

"I followed the scent of meaningless theatrics and overcompensation."

The mercenary barks out a laugh. "Well, you're sure in a pissy mood today, aren't you?"

"It's been a long week." Dick tilts his head. "But, I suppose you already knew that."

"I'd heard rumors," Slade answers easily, giving a disappointed sigh as blue and red lights flash across the warehouse he was just aiming at.

"From the Light?"

"Who's to say."

Dick slams him into a wall hard enough that Slade winces even with the accelerated healing factor. A knife lands at Dick's throat a moment later; but Dick doesn't even bother acknowledging it.

"This isn't a game, Slade," he says, voice low. "Not this time. I know you know what the Light's planning. You wouldn't have showed up in Gotham last week if you didn't. It was a warning, wasn't it? You were telling me the Light already knew about the Lanterns. Knew before we did. The Light has an intergalactic information network already. That's what the warning was about?"

Slade smirks. "Not that you did much good with it. Did you, kid?"

Dick doesn't rise to the bait. "I also know you're hiding more than you're telling, Slade. And fine. Whatever. It's not like you've never kept secrets before." He leans closer. "Only this time, I'm starting to pick up the pattern. First with the Reach. Now with Komand'r. Both times with enemies that shouldn't have been able to get information about Earth. Not if what the Green Lanterns said was true. Which means someone told them. Which means that, for some reason, the Light wants Earth to get attacked."

Slade regards him steadily, not saying a word.

Dick lets go of him, finally backing up enough that he can take a deep breath before continuing.

"The Light's using the Titans as pawns," Dick says, "in whatever game they're trying to play with intergalactic strategy. The only problem is that if they miscalculate here, we're all dead. The Earth is dead."

Slade raises a brow. "Are you waiting for me to shed a tear? Don't tell me you forgot who I am, kid."

"Slade, cut the crap!" Dick glares. "I know you. I. Know. You. You're better than this. You're smarter than this." He closes his eyes briefly and reigns in his breathing, taking a step back on to the molding of the roof. "You're a mercenary, Slade, you're smart enough to know that the end of the world is bad for both of us. You do know it. That's why you're giving me warnings and trying to distract yourself with pointless missions."

He weighs his balance on the edge, readying to jump. "So, whenever you're done pretending you're this big bad villain that doesn't care about anything, you know where to find me."

He doesn't wait for an answer before jumping. Slade's not going to give him one anyway. Not now. Maybe not ever.

So, he jumps off the roof, letting the wind catch and pull him, harsh enough that he almost doesn't notice the chill creeping behind him.

He notices Raven, though. Standing in the shadows between alleys for all of five seconds before disappearing in the flicker of a street light.

Dick fights back a sigh.

The Light planned for Komand'r. Dick has a feeling they know nothing about Trigon.

They miscalculated.

ooooo

By the time Dick gets back to the cave, Tim and Jason are both asleep.

Or, to put it more accurately, both his brothers should be asleep. Jason's asleep, face down on the keyboard while Tim sits on the floor beside him, tired eyes barely lit by his tablet while a mug of coffee is still gripped in his hands.

Tim blinks up at him when he sees the light of the zeta, stifling a yawn to turn it into a grimace. "You're late."

"Had some loose ends to track down," Dick answers, quiet enough not to wake Jason as he pries the mug and tablet away from Tim. "And you should be asleep. You two still have school tomorrow."

"Oh, come on," Jason complains, apparently not as asleep as Dick thought as he sits up and stretches, "like we were going to go to sleep before we found out what happened with Komand'r."

Dick rolls his eyes. "I'll show you the video tomorrow."

"What loose ends," Tim presses.

"The now less loose kind," he says, pushing both of his brothers to the stairs. "Now, go to sleep."

"You're really not going to tell us anything," Jason mutters mutinously like he's not half leaning on the cave wall for support.

"The world hasn't been blown up yet," he deadpans. "The rest can wait until the morning."

Tim huffs, reluctantly trouncing up the stairs. "Kory wouldn't tell us anything either."

Dick pauses. "When did you talk to Kory?"

His brothers stop, turning to exchange a look.

Finally, Jason smiles innocently. "Well, I guess we'll tell you in the morning."

….Dick finds it deeply concerning that the only two times his brothers can agree is crime fighting and ganging up on him. And even crime fighting's more of a maybe.

"Fine, I'll wait," he sighs, "just go to bed before Alfred kills me."

The rest of the way up to the manor, his brothers comply alarmingly well in a way that really should be warning.

He doesn't find out why until he makes it back to his room, half asleep himself in an old T-shirt and probably the rattiest boxers he owns.

"Dick?"

Dick jumps, twisting to see the figure sitting quietly on his bed.

"Kory," he tries to get his heart back to a normal pace and fight down the blush slowly rising, "I didn't know you were here."

She frowns. "Your brothers did not tell you?"

"No," he answers dryly, "they must've forgotten."

It's fine. He can kill them in the morning.

He sits down next to her on the bed, smiling softly as he actually takes her in. "Hey."

She smiles back. "You are later than usual."

"Didn't know you were waiting on me," he admits, reaching for her hand. "I know you wanted some time to think."

"I did," she leans her head on his shoulder. "I believe I still do. It is why I did not return to the Tower. But I suppose….well, I suppose I just wanted to see you."

"I'm here," he says and something loose settles in his chest just by being able to say the words.

Kory closes her eyes, burying her face in his neck as he leans back, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"Komand'r," she begins, "...in so many ways, she is exactly the sister I remember and in all the rests, she is not. I was not expecting that." She sighs, "I remember when we were children, she would receive new toys every morning and by night, they would be a pile of broken parts. But what I recall most clearly is how she would cry over them-horribly, heartbroken, for an hour some days." Kory smiles sadly. "And yet...even now, I do not understand if she was crying out of regret or pity she did not have more to break."

Dick stays quiet, running a hand through her hair.

Kory looks up at him. "I would be a fool to want to trust my sister, would I not?"

"No," he answers, "I don't think you can ever be a fool for wanting to trust someone. It's just who you are. You try to see the good in people."

"My sister is not a good person," Kory says, this time with certainty. "She may be trying to become a better one; but...the sister I knew was never good."

She pauses, moving in closer until Dick leans back on his headboard. For a second, everything is quiet. The stillness of the manor and the dark of the night outside the window, late enough and far enough away that even Gotham seems dim. Dick listens to the sound of Kory breathe, reassuring and warm.

"I did not think she would mention Ryand'r," she whispers after a moment, face pressed into his chest. "Truthfully, I did not expect my brother to still be alive even if I hoped for exile. I….the Komand'r I knew would have killed him."

She pauses again. "The Komand'r I knew would never invite me back to Tamaran. Never so close to her throne." She holds on a bit tighter. "I do not know what it means that she did."

"We can try to find out," he promises, hand still running through her hair. "We can let her stay and try to find out why she's here….or we can tell her to leave. It's your decision, Kory. Whatever you want, we can do."

"I should not trust her," Kory closes her eyes tightly. "...but I want to trust her even if I cannot." She shakes her head, not opening her eyes even as her arms wrap further around him. "I missed her. Is that not terrible? She tried to kill me and I would still think of her, wonder of the paths her life had taken."

"She's your sister, Kory."

Kory almost laughs. "...yes; but, she was never a very good one, was she?"

Dick leans down to kiss the top of her head. "Don't blame yourself for being a better person, Kory. Like I said, it's who you are."

Kory lets out a breath so suddenly it sounds painful, looking up at Dick.

"I need to know why my sister is here," she says, eyes glowing even in the darkness of the room, every bit the warrior she's always been.

"Then, we'll find out," Dick moves his hand down until it can slide against her own. "I swear, Kory, I'll do everything to find out why."

Kory relaxes all at once, slumping back against him.

"Thank you, mel klexh," she says, the first hint of tiredness finally creeping into her voice.

"Always, Kory."

She looks at him and smiles. Just her smile and for a second, in the shadows of the room and the stillness of the air around them, there's a moment where all Dick can do is look back, his heart suddenly beating slower but so much harder as it echoes against his ears.

And he...he…

He stumbles on the words before they can even leave his mind so all he does is smile back.

"Always," he says again, chest aching because no, that wasn't the words he wants.

Kory yawns in the darkness, snuggling closer and Dick's words fan out unspoken on his next breath.

Instead, he kisses her head, his own eyes closing as he leans back in the softness of the bed with Kory warm against him.

A memory slips in from the corners of his mind, an old one, like the smell of displaced dirt from tent pitches and the sound of rain against the metal of a trailer.

"Tu phabol ca kham; te na, zhuvel dui data zoralo," he recites, not the right words but close enough for tonight.

Kory blinks her eyes open, looking up at him even as she understands the words.

"It's something my mom used to say," he answers.

You burn with the sun; but, live twice as strong.

"It fits you," he whispers before yawning himself, the edges of sleep finally creeping in on him.

Kory is quiet beside him and Dick lets himself relax.

Before he falls completely asleep, he feels a soft press of lips right against his own more a dream than something real

"Elu lilhmon mwiln."

"What does that mean," he manages to mumble.

He feels Kory's face press back into his chest, the edges of her smile right above his heart.

"I will tell you later, mel klexh. Go to sleep."

Dick does.

ooooo

For the record, Dick thinks there should be a system in place where garden variety megalomaniacs have to wait until after major world altering calamities have passed. Just to keep things fair.

Because it seems remarkably unfair that the Titans have to deal with assholes like the Fearsome Four on top of everything else.

The only bright side is it gives the younger team members good practice.

"Mammoth is down," Kara calls over the line, far too cheerful for someone who just threw a two ton meta-human through a building. "Blue's securing him now, next to Shimmer."

"Static just shorted out Gizmo's tech," Tim reports. "Gar, mind catching him before his jet pack gives out?"

"On it," Gar says just as a giant green eagle soars down to grab the man out of the sky.

Dick surveys the scene from where he's monitoring on the roof. "Impulse, how's it going with Jinx?"

"Have I-," a hiss of static as a fire ball goes rushing passed, "-mentioned lately-," another hiss, "-how much I really-," a crackle, "really hate magic!"

"Thought magic didn't exist," Tim deadpans back.

A bright blue fire ball lands a second after Bart's trail of lightning goes rushing by and Dick hears the speedster swear over the line.

"Ugh, screw it!"

Tim realizes what's about to happen first. "Crap, everyone hold onto something!"

A rush of sudden wind blows Dick's hair out of his face and then what looks like a mini tornado rises around Jinx, sucking the air out from around her as she falls to her knees, the lightning ball on her fingers dying out before she can throw it.

The tornado dissolves back into Bart, grinning. "Ha, like to see magic beat that!"

"Nice, man." Virgil comes to stand next to him before punching his shoulder. "Even nicer if you don't blow us away, too."

"Oops, sorry," Bart winces slightly, still bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Dick grappels down from the building, landing in the middle.

"Good job, guys," He eyes the bound villains. "Blue Beetle, Supergirl, mind escorting our friends back to the NYPD?"

"Got it, boss!" Kara says, throwing a mini salute as she hauls Mammoth and Shimmer over each of her shoulders and shoots to the sky.

Jaime grimaces, struggling a bit more to pick up Gizmo and Jinx. "Um, I'll catch up."

Dick smiles, turning to Tim. "Red-"

"Yep," Tim interrupts, pulling up his wrist computer, "Already got an IP address from Gizmo's tech before Static fried it, tracking it back to their base now."

"Great," Dick fights back a sudden shiver, "see if you can track down who's funding them this time?"

Tim looks up. "Think it's the Light?"

Dick shakes his head. "Actually, I'm thinking Count Vertigo. See if anything goes back to Vlatava."

"On it," Tim agrees, getting pulled back into typing on his wrist computer while Bart hops eagerly behind him, looking over Tim's shoulder until Virgil grabs him and holds him steady.

Dick turns to survey the wreckage. Not too bad, all things considered. A building or two down but all in all only like a small bomb went off.

"Imp', you good to help with…," he pauses, feeling another trickle of cold run down his spine.

"Hmm? Sure," Bart mutters, still at Tim's screen. His head jerks up. "Wait, help with what?"

"Cleanup," Dick says on autopilot, eyes searching the shadows to try to find her even as his heart beats faster.

There.

Raven's standing on the other side of the rubble, half shrouded in the shadows of the alley.

She watches him, stock still and almost solid even though Dick knows she'll probably be gone any second.

There's nothing quite as frustrating as waiting for a ghost.

Dick doesn't realize he's staring under Gar speaks.

"Wow," the teenager stops next to him, half his arm still shifting from a wing. "She's like super hot; but, you know in the cool badass goth way. Hey, Nightwing, there's not like a rule or anything about hitting on civilians in missions, right?"

For a second, everything stops.

And, then, Dick processes that.

His head snaps to Gar. "You can see her?"

"What? The girl in the cloak?" Gar rolls his eyes. "Pfft, dude, like you're the only one who notices cute girls? Though, hey-"

Dick's already running before Gar can finish his sentence, yelling over his shoulder. "Impulse! Tower, now! Get Zatanna!"

A flurry of confused responses ring out and Dick ignores them, taking a running leap to vault over a slab of rubble landing in a back handspring and pushing forward without losing momentum.

He keeps his eyes on her, half convinced she'll disappear if he looks away even for a second. The closer he gets, the more he notices the shadows. Not covering her like he thought; but, moving around her like something living and teeming as she shivers in the middle of them, leaning on the wall for support.

She doesn't disappear.

She doesn't disappear.

He skids to a stop in front of her, still breathing heavy. "Raven?"

She stares at him with wide eyes in a too pale face, slowly, cautiously reaching her hand out until she can touch the symbol on the center of his chest.

He can feel her hand.

"You're here," he says quietly and behind him he can hear a rush of wind and Zatanna's voice calling him.

Raven lets out an unsteady breath, finally looking up at him with a shaky laugh.

She's here.

"I found you," her hand clenches in the fabric of his suit. "I found you!"

The shadows shiver around her, drawing back to her as her eyes turn a dark eerie black before rolling up as she slumps over.

Dick catches her before she can hit the ground.

"Is that her," Zatanna asks quickly, stepping up beside and looking down at Raven's face.

"Who's her?!" Gar shouts, looking between Dick and the girl. "What….what just happened?"

Dick meets Zatanna's eyes. "We found Raven."

But, somehow, he's got a feeling things just got more complicated.

ooooo

Donna stares at him, arms folded.

Dick offers a sheepish smile that she ignores entirely.

"Okay, so, let's recap," Donna ticks off a finger. "Number One: your hallucination was actually more like multiple hallucinations. And if that wasn't terrifying enough, Number Two, were actually not hallucinations at all but were instead visions sent by a literal witch girl trying to find you and warn us that, Number Three, some evil magic force is apparently trying to destroy Earth. Is that everything?"

Dick winces. "To be fair, for awhile, I thought I was just going crazy."

"Oh and we're definitely getting back to that," she warns before sighing loudly. "Rob, for future references, possible apocalypses are one of those things that shouldn't wait until our non-existent monthly newsletter."

Dick sighs. "It wasn't the right time, Don'. Plus, I already had Zatanna and Lilith working on it, there wasn't anything else the team could have done until we found Raven."

Donna rolls her eyes, unconvinced. "Alright, fine, what's our next move now that we've found this Raven girl?"

"We find out what she knows," he says, walking to the meeting room. "And how she knows it."

When they get to the meeting room, Raven's already sitting at the table-still looking tired but a lot less pale as she sips the tea someone brought her. Beside her, Lilith smiles gently as she murmurs something probably comforting but too low for Dick to hear. Zatanna sits on the other side of the table, watching the girl.

Which means the only real surprise is-

"What are you doing here," Dick asks curiously, looking at Kara and Gar.

Kara rolls her eyes, glancing at her surrogate brother. "Despairing for humanity as a whole."

"What?"

Gar ignores them both completely, focusing on Raven. "So, Raven-cool name-I'm Beast Boy; but, you can call me Gar if you want. Some people do-the cute ones, I mean."

He ends it all with an over the top wink and Dick hears Donna groan behind him.

"You've gotta be kidding me," she mutters.

"Told you," Kara says.

Raven just stares, frowning at Gar like he's some strange breed of human never before encountered. It's not an entirely inaccurate assessment.

Gar continues to grin. "So, er, come here oft-"

"Okay, let's get to business," Zatanna interrupts before he can finish, pointing at Raven. "Who are you and why did you want to find Nightwing?"

Lilith winces slightly at the tone. "Zee..."

Zatanna ignores her, focusing on Raven, who looks down at her mug before taking a breath.

"I'm Raven," she beings quietly, "daughter of the Order of Azarath. A few months ago, I started to have visions-worse than I've ever had before. The death of the entire world at the hands of Trigon. I didn't know what they meant at first. I didn't know why they were even happening and then…," her eyes flicker up to Dick just briefly, "then, I saw you. In every vision, every time, you were there when it all started. I knew I had to find you so I tired to track your energy from the dream." She frowns. "It was harder than I expected."

Lilith reaches out to lay a hand on her shoulder. "It's amazing that you were able to find him at all just from a vision. You must be very talented."

Surprisingly, Raven's frown deepens at the words, shoulders curling inward.

"That's not good," Zatanna mutters under her breath.

Kara tilts her head. "What's not good?"

"If the magic's focusing on Dick, it means it wants him there." She grimaces. "Trust me, it's never good when magic needs you."

"Needs me," he asks.

Dick's not sure that he likes the way she keeps referring to magic like it can make conscious decisions.

She glances up at Dick. "If her visions are making it a point to show you, it means that whatever happens with Trigon, you're going to be involved."

"Pause for a sec," Donna holds up a hand. "Who even is Trigon?"

"A demon," Raven answers immediately. "A primordial being that was sealed outside of our dimension at the beginning of time itself."

Donna exchanges a loaded look with Dick and whatever is happening, it's somewhat comforting to know that at least Donna is as lost as he is.

"...Okay," Donna says slowly.

Lilith frowns like she's trying to find the words.

"It's like how I told you about energies," she explains. "Magic has to have a balance. Trigon is a being of chaos energy, the opposite of order. A little bit of chaos magic is fine, is natural. But, if whatever seal that's holding Trigon is broken," Lilith shudders, "the magic overbalances, it throws the world into chaos-upsets the laws of physics, the laws of nature. It, well, ends the world."

Zatanna sighs. "Especially since we've been low on order ever since we lost Dr. Fate."

Donna frowns. "Dead in the Invasion?"

"Before, actually," Dick answers, trying to remember the mission write up. "When Kent Nelson died. It was one of Young Justice's first missions, barely a month after we started. I wasn't there; Batman needed me in Gotham." He looks to Zatanna. "What about the Helmet of Fate?"

"It's a death sentence," Zee answers darkly. "Maybe not literally; but, the Helmet isn't looking for a partner. It's looking for a puppet. Whoever puts that thing on isn't taking it off, no matter how powerful they are."

"Dude, that creepy gold mask thing?! I thought that was just a weird decoration!" Gar makes a face. "Ugh, why did we even keep it? Especially in the freaking Tower!"

Zatanna laughs lightly. "Like it would let us get rid of it."

"Well, that's nice and disturbing," Donna says flatly.

Kara frowns. "For Trigon, though, that should be fairly simple to stop, right? We just have to make sure he can't break the seal?"

"Sure, but, we don't even know where or what the seal is," Lilith explains.

Zatanna pauses, turning to Raven. "Do you know?"

"No," Raven answers, looking small, "the Order of Azarath….they never told me. I don't think they know."

Zatanna continues to stare at her for a long moment before Gar interrupts.

"Hey, it's okay," Gar says, grinning brightly at Raven. "You're with the Titans now. If anyone can kick some inter-dimensional demon butt, it's us! Trust me."

"I….," Raven swallows, offering a small smile in return. "Thank you. For helping me."

"Don't worry about it." Kara ruffles Gar's hair. "My dumb brother is right about one thing. It's what we do."

And, for the first time since she woke up, Dick can see Raven's shoulders relax just a bit, the smile becoming just a hair more genuine.

"Thank you," she says again. "I didn't think….thank you for trusting me."

ooooo

Zatanna pulls Dick away the moment he leaves the meeting room.

"I don't trust her," Zatanna says bluntly.

"Well," Dick responds lightly, "that's awkward, I think Gar's halfway to proposing."

Zatanna glares. "I'm serious."

"And I was kidding," he replies, letting the humor fade from his voice. "What's up, Zee?"

"There's something dark about her, something other," Zatanna frowns. "No one should be able to have such an affinity for chaos magic like that, Dick, it's practically impossible. The only thing I've seen with more chaos energy around them is Klarion and he's not human."

Dick leans back, considering. "So, you're saying Raven's not human?"

"She is human," Zatanna corrects, "that's what makes it so strange. And, to top it all off, she's powerful enough to track you down just using a vision. I'm barely that strong now and I've been working with magic for years."

"What if she was trained," he asks, "by the Order she mentioned?"

Zee sighs. "The Order of Azarath doesn't teach magic, Dick. They can't even practice it, swearing it off is part of their initiation. They think all magic should be tightly controlled, not practiced by humans. Which makes it even more weird that, for whatever reason, a girl who studied with them is using magic like she lives and breathes it."

"Then we find them and ask." Dick suggests, offering Zatanna a brief smile. "A secret magical order, think they take email?"

Zatanna relaxes enough to let out an unrefined snort.

"Not yet," she meets his eyes. "Dick, I want to find out everything we possibly can about this girl. Before something comes along to bite us in the ass."

"Do what you can, Zee," he tells her. "Besides, it's not like she's the only one we need to find out more about."

ooooo

"Komand'r," Dick says to the assembled team. "We need to find out why she's on Earth. What she wants with Kory. That's the Team Alpha mission. Our mission."

Karen, Vic, Virgil, Bart, and Tim all stare back at him.

"Why us," asks Virgil, the newest member to the team.

"Because," Dick zooms in on the screen to a picture of Komand'r's ship, hovering outside of Earth's zeta shield, "this is an under the table recon mission on her ship. Komand'r cannot know we're spying on her before we find out what her motives are. Which means we need to find a way to get a surveillance device out of Earth's orbit, passed the zeta shield, into the ship, and transmitting back to the Tower-all without anyone on the ship finding out it's five are the best chance we have at figuring out how."

Bart lets out a sudden laugh, grinning widely as he leans forward in his seat. "We're Team Science! That's so crash!"

"Wait, really," Vic says, looking at Dick. "That's why?"

Dick nods. "Vic, you, Karen, and Bart know more about engineering than anyone on the team. Tim's the best programmer we've got. Virgil can manipulate electromagnetic frequencies. And Karen's a molecular physicist with experience getting ways into hard to reach places. Plus, Bart and Tim are the ones that set up the zeta-shield in the first place." He looks at them seriously. "If anyone can create a device to do this, it's this team."

Karen smiles. "Well, no pressure, with that build up."

"You can do it," Dick says firmly, he glances at Tim. "Ask Barbara if you need another hacker, she's still working with Jason on the fallout from the Maroni case."

Tim nods in agreement.

Dick turns back to the rest of the room.

"Look, guys," he begins. "We've got major threats coming at us from two sides and we don't know enough about either. Lilith and Zatanna are working on finding out more about Trigon; but, that doesn't mean we can forget about Komand'r while they work." He clears his throat, focusing on each one in turn. "Komand'r came to us. She poses a possible threat to one of our own team members. We're Titans. We don't let anyone stand alone. We work together and we build on each other's strengths." He smiles. "That's how I know you'll find a way. Because it's what we've always done before."

"Team Science," Bart repeats sagely, laughing again when Tim rolls his eyes.

"Nah, not just Team Science." Virgil snorts, looking to Dick. "Titans together, Titans forever. That's how it goes, right?"

Dick grins back.

"Exactly."

ooooo

The next week or so passes with that brand of intense focus that Dick associates with difficult cases.

Lilith and Zatanna are caught up working to find more on Trigon and the Tower's newest guest while Raven settles into the Tower. She's still fairly quiet, Dick notices, even with Gar's possibly too eager quest to show her around, Kara at least there to curb his more enthusiastic tendencies.

Komand'r's ship still waits outside the zeta shield, still but omnipresent like the feeling of being watched even if Queen Komand'r is keeping to her word of not contacting Earth unless Kory contacts her first. In a way, Dick think that makes it worse. At least, with the Reach's fake offers of treaties, it meant they could keep an eye on them. Komand'r, they have no idea what she's doing-safe on her own ship.

It's the pressure of the unknown.

Mera and Queen Hippolyta are allowing the Titans to take the lead for now which means that essentially everything's on hold until Team Alpha can find a way to get eyes on the ship.

Kory is...Kory is handling the tension the best she can, waiting on the unknown with a calm focus. She's...she's always been amazing like that, far better than Dick's ever been at standing still. A warrior, patient and graceful even in the face of a battle. And sometimes-a lot of times, actually-watching her, Dick thinks that he should tell her...

Anyway, his team's working, quick and determined like he knew they would.

Dick loves them for that.

That's not to say they don't surprise him.

He stares. "I'm sorry. You and Lilith want to do what exactly?"

"A seance," Zatanna says as if that's a perfectly normal thing to say on a sunny afternoon.

Dick keeps staring. Zatanna stares back.

"...okay," he says slowly before pausing. "You know when Kory and I run out of date ideas, we normally just watch a movie."

Zatanna rolls her eyes as if Dick's the weird one. "You want to find out more about Trigon, right?"

"That depends, you going to go into necromancy next," he deadpans.

"Maybe for Valentines."

"Hardy har har, Zee." He makes a face. "Seriously, though, a seance. Aren't those for...I don't know, ghosts?"

Dick's fairly sure there was a psychic that wanted to work for Haly's once that did seances. She didn't make the cut.

"Ghosts don't exist," Zatanna says back. "Seances are about calling for energies. In fact, they're the best way for finding out what's out of balance."

"Then, why didn't we use one before?"

Zee's eyes slide to the side shiftily. "They can be a bit...hard to control."

He gives her a skeptical look. "Which means what exactly?"

"It's calling forth whatever energies are around, Dick, what do you think it means?" She huffs. "Sometimes, the energies that come are more than the caster can control. That's when things get, well, bad."

Dick contemplates that. "If you and Lilith blow up the Tower, I'm going to be very annoyed."

"We're not going to blow up the Tower. We can control it. We called in Tula to help us," she says. "Three's a good number. Magic likes three, almost as much as it likes seven."

Dick looks unconvinced.

Zatanna smirks. "Do I question you about Gotham's craziness?"

He sighs. "You sure this will help find out about Trigon?"

"And about Raven," she shifts, glancing around to make sure they're alone. "I don't trust her, Dick, I want to find out more about how close this seal actually is to breaking. Maybe figure out where it is. Sometimes, the best way to figure out what magic's up to is to shake a few things around and see what comes out for a look. You don't get anywhere by playing it safe. Not with this."

"So, a seance," he asks. "Best thing to do on a Friday afternoon?"

"Well," the smirk gets a little bit wider, "it beats watching a movie."

Dick lets out a half laugh. "Have fun, Zee."

"Thanks," Zatanna reaches up to kiss his cheek, quick as a flash, "if the lights start to flicker and you find weird cold spots, don't worry. That's normal."

Dick groans, laying a hand over his eyes. "Just go."

He hears her cackle echoing as she walks away.

Sometimes, Dick is very glad he doesn't understand magic.

It's another minute before he hears the sound of padded barely there footsteps.

"Hey."

Dick doesn't move his hand from his face. "Hey, Timmy, what's up?"

There's a pause and Dick finally moves his hand to see his brother, holding a tablet

"It can wait if you're having an existential crisis," Tim offers generously.

Dick clucks his tongue. "Now, Tim, you know I schedule existential crises for Wednesdays." He motions to the tablet. "Gimme."

Tim hands over the tablet. "We think we have a way to get the device to survive space and transmitting through the zeta shield; but, not into the ship."

He looks down at the schematics. "What kind of size are we looking at?"

"A foot in diameter."

"That's too big. Someone's definitely going to notice it without a cloaking option, possibly even then if we're unlucky with it."

"Karen's trying to find a way to shrink it without damaging the transmission strength," Tim agrees.

"Can Virgil boost it?"

"Not yet, it keeps frying the circuits when he focuses on something that small. We're working on it."

Around them, the lights start to flicker.

Tim looks up, confused.

"Don't worry about it," Dick tells him. "Zatanna and Lilith are just performing a seance."

"WHAT?!"

A cold wind sweeps through the room as the lights flicker faster.

"What are the ideas for getting it into the ship," Dick asks.

"Wait, did you say a seance?"

Dick hums in agreement. "What about phasing it through?"

"Phasing what," Tim asks faintly, still staring at the flickering lights.

"The device," he grins, thumping his brother's head, "come on, Timmy, focus."

Tim blinks, finally turning to Dick. "Ah, yeah….Bart's trying to figure something out with….getting it to vibrate through the ship's walls. Vic thinks he's got an idea for cloaking it, too."

"Sounds great," he hands the tablet back over, "what are we thinking for time frame?"

Above them, the power goes out-throwing the room into darkness.

There's a beat.

"It's probably fine," Dick says. "Zee promised they wouldn't blow up the Tower."

The room goes cold faster than should be possible, enough that Dick can see their breath fogging in the hair.

Tim stares at him. "Dick…"

"It's fine," he reassures.

Outside the windows, the sky darkens, thunder shaking against the windows as clouds gather around the Tower heavy enough to block out the sun, turning the afternoon into night.

Dick feels something in his bones shiver, an almost primal sense of fear washing over his body.

"Completely fine," he says again, a bit quieter.

"Dick!" Tim glares.

The hissing sound of static breaks out across the Tower intercom system, clashing indistinguishable noise that almost sounds like screaming.

"...I think I'll go check on them," Dick caves.

There's the quick sound of running before Raven burst through the door, breathing heavily as her eyes land on Dick. "What's happening?"

"A seance, apparently," Tim answers first.

Raven eyes widen further. "NO! HE'LL KILL THEM!"

And, then, she takes off running, the shadows almost pulling behind her as she sprints unerringly in the direction Zatanna disappeared.

Dick runs after her, Tim right behind him.

The hallway gets colder as they go, ice forming along the floors even as the darkness makes Dick's heart crash against his ribs.

Raven beats them by a hair, a door resolving out of the wall in front of them that barely gets to form before she's pulling it open.

The dark rushes out like a physical force and, by now, Dick's absolutely certain that it's moving on it's own, stabbing out at them even as Raven holds out her arm, the shadows swirling around her until they wrap her shoulders in a cloak.

Her eyes have gone black.

The shadows recede, just enough for Dick to see passed her shoulder and into the room where Tula, Lilith, and Zatanna are still sitting in a loose circle, frozen still with chips of ice brushing along their hair.

"Check on them," Raven orders, voice flat and emotionless even as the rest of the shadows move around her, pulling and clawing at the corners of the room as if trying to keep their grip before flowing to the girl by the door.

Dick pauses, only for a second, before he's moving-getting through the door and moving to Zatanna.

He grabs her shoulder, breaking out of the circle and suddenly she gasps, breathing heavily and almost bending over in the effort.

"Shit," she gasps.

Beside her, Lilith and Tula are having similar reactions. Lilith grabbing her head and moaning as Tula claws at her throat for a moment like she's running out of water.

Dick focuses on Zatanna, Tim bending down next to him to help Tula.

"Zee," he asks carefully, "what happened?"

Zatanna just stares at him, eyes wide as she struggles to breathe.

Raven's the one who answers.

"He found us," she says in the silence. "Trigon-he knows where we are."

ooooo

An hour later and Zatanna, Lilith, and Tula are still eerily quiet as they sit in a loose circle around the common room.

Tim left, helping get the Tower's power back on; leaving Dick and a tense Raven, who's sticking abnormally close to his side.

"Tula." Garth stands in the doorway for all of a second before he's next to Tula, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, what happened? Queen Mera could feel the magic shift all the way in Atlantis."

Tula shivers. "It's bad. Worse than we thought. A lot worse."

"He's coming," Raven says and all eyes draw to her. "Trigon. He knows where we are now so he's coming. It's only a matter of time."

Zatanna watches her, face blank. "The seance-you were able to stop it."

"Yes," Raven answers, shifting minutely closer to Dick.

"How?"

Raven looks down. "...The Order of Azarath taught me. After my visions started, they wanted...they wanted me to be prepared."

Zatanna hums-a neutral sound giving away nothing. Finally, she gives a small nod. "Well, whatever you did, it saved our lives. So, thank you."

Raven's head jerks up, nodding back only a second later.

"What about the seal," Garth asks. "Can't it hold Trigon back?"

"It's breaking," Tula answers, shoulders tense. "We could feel it. I don't how; but, for some reason it's losing power. Eroding. I don't even know how long it'll last."

"Then, we need to find out," Dick says bluntly. "If the seal's going to break, we need to know when. We need to be ready. So, how can we find out?"

Zatanna sighs, scrubbing a hand down her face. "I don't know."

"We need someone who knows more about magic," Tula says. "Not just the technical elements, the old stuff. Someone who knows the lore."

"That's a dead end." Zatanna shakes her head. "Trust me, my father knew more about magic than anyone I've ever met. And the things he didn't know, he knew the people to ask. I've looked. We're the best chance we've got."

"...well," Lilith starts, speaking for the first time, "that's not entirely true."

Zatanna snorts. "Lil', didn't you hear me, I said best chance. That implies at least a shred of actual useful possibility."

Lilith turns to Zatanna and giving her a decided look.

"You're serious" Zatanna asks, scrunching up her face.

Lilith sighs. "Zee…"

"No."

"We could at least ask him."

"We could do a lot of things," Zee says acerbically. "We could move to Vegas and start a pretty successful side show. Doesn't mean it'll help with this!"

Lilith rolls her eyes. "You're being ridiculous."

"He's ridiculous," Zatanna shoots back

"Who are you talking about," Garth asks, Tula frowning beside him.

They both ignore him.

"He knows more about magic than we do," Lilith argues. "More than anyone on Earth."

Zatanna throws up her hands. "Which would be helpful if ever got off his lazy ass to actually do anything about it!"

"Zee."

"Lilith, he's not going to help. He never helps."

"We can at least try." Lilith hesitates, lowering her voice. "You can feel it, too, can't you? The magic wants him, too."

Lilith holds her girlfriend's gaze until Zatanna groans loudly, her head falling back on the table.

"Fine," she says.

Lilith smiles, finally turning to Dick. "We have someone you should talk to."

"...Why me," Dick asks cautiously.

"Shock value," Zee waves a hand through the air, "who knows, maybe that way he won't slam the door in your face."

"Who are you talking about," Raven asks.

Zatanna sighs. "The most annoying man I've ever met."

ooooo

Which is how Dick finds himself in London, staring at the door of one of the shabbiest apartments he's ever seen which is an accomplishment coming from Gotham.

His mouth firms, resisting the urge to check the address for a second time, before knocking on the door.

He waits.

There's no answer.

He can be...challenging. That was Lilith's parting words before handing him the address.

He knocks again.

There's the muffled sound of a crash followed by cursing; but, still nothing that sounds like the occupant getting anywhere close to the door.

Punch him, was Zatanna's. That's not advice, just a satisfying experience.

Dick sighs, giving up subtlety and banging as loud as he possibly can without damaging the door.

"AL-FRICKING-RIGHT ALREADY, I HEAR YOU!" The door swings open to reveal a thirty-something year old man with blond hair just starting to pepper with grey, a cigarette hanging lightly out of his hands, and an overall air of someone who just woke up face down in a ditch.

His eyes land on Dick.

"Shit," says John Constantine.

And then he slams the door right in Dick's face.

Dick catches it before it can shut, levering his shoulder against it as Constantine continues to push.

"Bloody shit. Screw it," Constantine curses, right before he abruptly stops pushing and Dick falls more than walks through the entrance way. He catches himself as he goes, straightening to find himself in something of a sitting room if the sitting room had somehow been mugged in an alley.

Constantine glares. "Unless you're selling bloody Girl Scout cookies, get out of my flat!"

"I'm with the Titans," Dick says, his eyes going from cataloging the house to landing firmly on the man himself. "We need your help."

Constantine snorts, stubbing out his cigarette in one of the many ashtrays that seem to clutter the house like nicotine themed decor. "Of course, you need my help. Everyone always needs my help. However, unlike some people, when I'm nearly incinerated by an alien death ray, I've got good enough sense not to ask for seconds."

Dick lets out a breath, holding up his hands in a sign of surrender. "Lilith and Zatanna sent me."

Constantine laughs. "You seem to be under some impression that will make me more inclined; not less."

"You've helped them before," Dick says, making sure to keep his tone calm and direct. "I know you can-"

Constantine stops, spinning around to point. "No, I have decidedly not helped them before. I've bribed them before. It just happened to be with information so they'd finally bugger off and leave me alone."

"Look," he tires a different route, "we have a problem. Something bad's coming, world ending kind of bad-"

"No shit," Constantine huffs, "how much of an idiot do you think I am? Magic's been off for months and that was even before you idiots unleashed whatevever magic nuke that was at the Tower. There's pre-pubescent teens trying to pull rabbits from hats that felt that. The real question is why you think I care."

"Because you're supposed to be a hero," Dick comments dryly.

He laughs. Loudly.

Dick avoids gritting his teeth. Barely.

"Before the Invasion, you were a primary contact of the League."

"Meh." Constantine lights up another cigarette. "I was more like a repairman; the League always stiffed on the bill. Heroes are idiots like you, Grayson, who believe jumping off buildings and getting shot at is some excuse for a hobby."

Dick stops short, zeroing in on the name. "Zatanna and Lilith told you who-"

"Oh, please," he interrupts, "as if they'd need to. You reek of magic. Doesn't matter if you cover it with a mask or a fancy little bow tie, guys like me can read the signs for a mile." Constantine lazily waves his cigarette through the air. "Lucky for you, nobody as good as me's left anymore." He grimaces as he finishes, his hand tightening briefly around the cigarette.

"I can't do magic," Dick says.

"No shit," Constantine deadpans. "I didn't say you could do magic. I said you stink like it. Magic. Destiny. A Fairy Mark. All it means is that for whatever reason, Fate's decided to make you her bitch. Just be grateful you can't actually feel her like me and the girls." He cuts off with a snort. "Honestly, just nice to see schadenfreude screw over someone else for a change."

Dick raises an eyebrow. "I don't believe in Fate."

Constantine gives him the same kind of look one gives to particularly dimwitted animals. "Isn't that just great for you?"

Dick lts out a slow breath, not allowing himself to raise to the bait. "I'm not here to argue, I'm here to see what you know about-"

Constantine holds up a hand and cocks his head. "You know what? I changed my mind. I actually am going to help you, boyo."

Somehow Dick doesn't believe it's that easy.

"Really," he says skeptically.

"Of course," Constantine wipes away a mock tear-the gestures half ruined by the still lit cigarette. "I'm a hero, right? Heroes help people. Now sit down."

Constantine more falls then sits on the couch beside him, gesturing for Dick to take the chair across the sitting table.

Dick narrows his eyes. "There's a demon coming to Earth called Trigon-"

"Never heard of him," Constantine snorts. "No, I'm doing something even better...I'm about to give you your fortune."

He grinds the last inches of the cigarette into an ashtray, snapping his fingers as a deck of cards appear in his hands.

Dick glares. "This isn't a joke."

"Come on," Constantine cajoles. "What's a skeptic like you got to fear from a little card trick?"

"I didn't say I was a skeptic. I said I didn't believe in fate." Dick meets his eyes. "Zatanna and Lilith think you're the only one on the planet who might know of a way we can defeat Trigon. I don't care how much of an dick you are; even you can't want the world to be destroyed. So, stop messing around and listen to me."

Constantine leans back, considering. "How's this: Let me read your cards and I'll at least hear your offer. Sound good?"

Dick resists the urge to follow Zatanna's advice.

"We're talking about an apocalypse," he grounds out.

Constantine hums. "We'll see about that."

And before Dick can even answer, he shuffles the deck in his hands, too fast to make out.

In the end, five cards lay on the table in a truncated cross.

Constantine grins, laying his hand on the card in the middle. "You know how this works, Grayson?"

Dick's still glaring at him and Constantine snaps again. A beat up chair slides across the room, knocking Dick back off his feet and to the table.

"Alright, then, I'll tell you," Constantine says. "This card in the middle here, now that's your present."

He flips the card.

"Death," he recites with a low whistle. "So, anyway, that ain't great."

On the card, a figure rides on horseback, a skeletal hand gripping the reins even as a black cloak covers the face. The same card Zatanna drew for Raven.

"What about that? You scared, Grayson," Constantine asks, leaning forward over the table.

Dick meets his eyes. "No."

"You sure, kid?"

Dick rolls his eyes, resigning himself to playing the distraction until he can find a way to bring it to his advantage. The first way to do that is making sure Constantine can't lead him around anymore than he already is.

"I know this card," he tells him. "It means change, right? The start of a new cycle."

"Ah," Constantine leans back, looking mildly disappointed. "So, you do know the cards."

"A bit."

Constantine moves to the card on the left. "Suppose you already know what this spot symbolizes, too?"

"The past."

Constantine turns the card.

"The Tower," he says darkly, tone suddenly subdued. "Destruction, sudden death, tragedy. Figure we don't have to wonder too hard what the magic means by that."

The card shows a man and a woman falling, expressions twisted in terror, even as the tower above them burns against the black background so real that for a second Dick can almost imagine the heat burning across his face.

"I guess not," Dick says neutrally.

"Yeah, well, the Invasion was a bad time for everyone, now wasn't it," Constantine mutters, before tilting his face up to watch him. "Tell me about yourself, hero?"

Dick raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of a reading?"

"Do you care?"

He considers. "What do you want to know?"

"Who taught you about the cards for one," Constantine moves his hand to the card closest to him. "Doesn't sound like the girls."

Dick shrugs, deciding it won't hurt if he already knows his name. "Fortune teller traveled with the circus for a few seasons when I was a kid. Madam Vadoma."

"Never heard of her."

"She went insane," Dick says quietly.

"Best ones always do," Constantine taps the card. "Potential."

A man hangs upside down, gripping at the nose around his neck. The Hanged Man.

Dick feels something around his own neck tighten before he coughs, focusing on the man in front of him as he tries to tell if it's something Constantine did.

Not looking up, Constantine runs a finger down the picture. "It's sacrifice. Shit, kid, how can someone as screwed over as you still not believe in Fate?"

"It's a losing philosophy." Dick coughs again, rubbing at his throat. "Either you let yourself believe that everything's going to go your way so you don't try hard enough. Or you think you're already going to lose, so you give up. I don't believe in fixed paths."

Suddenly, Constantine laughs, a quick, surprised one that dies as quickly as it starts.

"Funny way to look at it," he mutters before moving on the card closest to Dick. "Your reason, the force that drives you."

He turns the card to show the Emperor-an imposing man sitting straight on his throne, face shadowed by an ornate crown.

Dick blinks and the emperor's face shifts, jaw broadening, crown sharpening into two dark points, until the image staring back at him is one that he would recognize anywhere, even seven years since he's seen it in person.

"Stop doing that," Dick orders, tearing his eyes away from the card to glare at Constantine.

Constantine pauses, brows knitting up in confusion. "Doing what?"

Dick looks back at the card's face is back to an unrecognizable figure.

"Huh," Constantine tilts his head. "Gotta admit, hero, I didn't expect you to be the type so tied down to rules and orders. Care to elaborate?"

"No," Dick says shortly, releasing a breath he didn't mean to hold.

Constantine moves to the last card. "Your future."

Dick sees his opportunity. Before he even processes his decision, he's grabbing Constantine's arm before he can lift it.

"What's wrong," Constantine raises an eyebrow. "Thought you didn't believe in Fate?"

"I don't." Dick meets his eyes, finding his words right before he says them. "But, you do. Zatanna and Lilith are the best magic users I know and they tell me we need you. That means the world needs you. You said magic speaks to you, right? So, how about you quit screwing around with me and start listening to it? Because, for some reason, magic says we need you to stop what's coming."

Dick shakes his head. "I don't know what we're facing. Not really. But I've felt it. I've seen what it can do. And it's….it's the worst thing I've ever felt before. Worse than the Invasion." He lets go of Constantine's arm. "I don't believe in fate; but if that card really does tell my future, I can't imagine it's going to be a good one without your help."

Constantine watches him. "Okay, hero, okay...I take it you're not going to leave me alone anyway. Not until I give you the answer you want, right?"

Dick smiles sharply. "Not when it's the end of the world, no."

Constantine laughs, loud and harsh. "You've got guts, kid. How about this? I'll offer to extend our deal. Whatever this card shows, be it sunshine and rainbows or everything on fire, I'll listen to it."

Dick watches him, judging his sincerity.

"Hey," Constantine shrugs, "If Fate really is trying to tell me to help…" His mouth turns up in an almost shy grin, some of the cockiness fading away until it almost looks soft, "then I guess I better see what she wants, right?"

Dick lips firm. "That's all we're asking."

Constantine's hand goes back to the final card. "You ready?"

"Do it.

They both wait with heavy breath as the card turns over.

Dick's breath catches as he stares at….

"That's a fucking Uno card!"

Constantine laughs and, for once, Dick's too pissed off to even think of a response.

"A reverse card, specifically," Constantine agrees, pleased as he lights up another cigarette. "Looks like you're the one that's supposed to help me. And what do you know? It's right. I did need a laugh today."

Dick's jaw clicks shut. "You...Zatanna was right, you were never even considering helping, were you?"

Constantine pauses, the laughter cutting off abruptly.

"You know why I don't like heroes, Grayson," he says, tone darkly serious for the first time since Dick stepped into the flat. "You're all the same. Fighting and fighting and fighting and dragging people in to fight some more. And you never take 'no' for an answer."

He gestures with the cigarette, the fire lighting off his eyes. "The fight's over, kid. The fight's been over. We lost. You think this is new? Magic's been screwed sideways for years, since before the Invasion. We can't stop it, we can't fix it."

"We-"

"No," Constantine's suddenly on his feet, burnt cigarette pointing in Dick's face. "LISTEN TO ME! WE CAN'T STOP IT! We can't stop any of this! It's already happening. Shit, for as much as magic's worth, it's already happened. Fate's always going to have her way. Always. Trigon's just the end result! "

Constantine grounds the cigarette out.. "I'm done fighting. I'm done watching people die for shit I can't do anything to stop! Hate me all you want, Grayson, there's nothing left to do. So, excuse me if I want to go out smoking my last and drinking good booze rather than having my blood boil and my bone's disintegrate and whatever's going on in the epicenter."

"You're a coward," Dick spits out.

"And Fate's a bitch," Constantine says bluntly. "Now, bugger off back to your happy Tower and leave me alone!"

Dick stands. "If you think I'm-

Constantine snaps and-

-And Dick's back out in an alley, staring at an apartment building that looks like it's been abandoned for the last decade. A quick glance around tells him he's not even in London anymore.

"SHIT!"

He kicks the wall, breathing heavy as he tries to form a plan, think of anything he can that's not giving up and going back to the Tower just to tell his team he lost.

He swears again, knitting his hands behind his head as he feels an overwhelming urge to learn magic just so he can find a way to punch Constantine in the face.

"...Robin?"

Dick turns on reflex.

A teenage boy with black hair and exhausted blue eyes looks back at him, his mouth tilted down in an expression impossible to decipher even though he almost looks….he almost looks like….

Dick stops. No, more than that, he stills completely-the only part of him moving is the quick thudding pace of his heartbeat.

It's….impossible.

The teenager kicks at the pavement, eyes flickering down to a beat up pair of shoes. "Or, ah, I guess I should call you Nightwing now. Sorry." The teenager winces. "Sorry….I….sorry, you've never seen me like this, have you? You don't even know who I am. I'm sorry, I should've-"

"Billy Batson," Dick interrupts and the teenager's head shoots up. "I thought you were dead."

Dick should know, he watched the footage, he wrote the report. Captain Marvel died in the Invasion. Dick saw him fall.

Billy Batson-Captain Marvel, Champion of Shazam, the Chosen of Magic-lets out a strained laugh. "Not quite."

Fate's always going to have her way.

ooooooo

A/N: First, as always, thanks for reading and thank you especially for all the people who leave reviews, favorites, follows, and views. I really do appreciate you all so much!

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Next, if you like this work, please consider checking out the author page where I posted the short story "Flash Facts of Bart Allen" that follows what Bart's been up to.

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Third, wow, sorry for the delay. I legit don't think I've ever had to rewrite scenes as much as I have when this chapter so hopefully, there's not too many grammar mistakes still left. With that, I'm not great at languages and especially Romani where I could not find a great translator. If you say anything that's wrong with the translations, please tell me and I will change it immediately. Thanks again and happy holidays!