Sorry about the enormous wait. Enjoy!

I was angry.

Maybe, once upon a time, I'd have let things slide. I'd sit down, a foot from the floor, and concentrate on releasing my emotions' old on me, banishing them to the deepest recesses of my subconscious - the deepest pits of Nevermore, where Rage usually sulked. Rage wasn't quite driving yet, but she was definitely on the co-pilot's seat. I wasn't inclined to send her packing yet, either.

The shadows spit me out in the bunker where Todd had ambushed us. I expected to find Victor and Logan there, but the place was completely empty. I frowned, walking up to the computers. They were off, but a small post-it note had been stuck to the cracked screen, a crimson 'x' still stuck in the crystal. 'Off to the Tower. Cy.', it read.

I grunted, least they could've done was wait for me. I formed another portal, this time headed for space, but the dark disk turned unstable, a golden glow absorbing the black energy. The gold power solidified into a gold ankh, at which point I knew to brace myself.

"SHE-DEMON." -a booming voice filled the room. The golden icon morphed into Doctor Fate, the once warm green eyes of Giovanni Zatara staring coldly at me through the narrow slits of the Helm of Fate.

"What do you want, Doctor?"

"YOUR ENTRANCE INTO THE WATCHTOWER HAS BEEN DENIED." -he said.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling my irises turn red. "On whose orders?"

"THE BLACK CANARY HAS WARNED US OF YOUR BETRAYAL. NONE WHO COLLUDE WITH THE ENEMY SHALL BE ACCEPTED AMONG THE JUSTICE LEAGUE."

I didn't even try to impede a second set of eyes from sprouting above my own. "Did the Canary forget to tell you about my kidnapping? Because I just got back from her rather illegal hospitality."

Doctor Fate graciously ignored this. "YOU DO NOT DENY HER ACCUSATIONS?"

"I'm trying to save people, you goddamned hypocrite."

The good Doctor narrowed his eyes. "YOU WILL INTERFERE NO LONGER, SPAWN OF CHAOS."

I scoffed, the shadows growing around me. "And I suppose you're to enforce this?"

Another ankh appeared behind him. "CORRECT."

"You have abhorred my presence since I landed on this world. I have lived in fear of offending you, of outstaying your oh-so-warm welcome." -I ground out. Tendrils of darkness enveloped my hands. "I am tired of having to justify my existence to the likes of you. To anyone. I'm not one to fight another hero. For you? I will make an exception."

Shadows blasted from my hands, the inky energy colliding with a golden sphere the Doctor hastily manifested around himself. The sphere shifted to his front, becoming a beam which I deflected without effort. I dropped through the floor, phasing out behind Fate, a raven's claw reaching around the amber ankh. The sorcerer pushed the emblem backwards, toward me, cancelling out with my own attack. The shadows shrouded me, and I became the raven, ethereal wings wrapping around him. His power erupted, burning away my limbs, but my open maw swallowed him whole.

"ENOUGH!" -he bellowed, a burst of power making my avatar vanish. "I HAVE ALLOWED YOUR EXISTENCE FAR TOO LONG. IF ORDER IS TO REIGN, CHAOS MUST BE REMOVED."

I smirked. "I'm glad you think so. It seems I don't need to make an exception." -I said, feeling myself growing larger, my cowl and cape stretching far past their limit, warping reality. "Do you still pretend to be a hero, Doctor Fate? Does the League know how far you'll go to preserve your precious Order?" -I said, then snorted. "Do they even care?"

"We do."

I turned to the new voice, all four of my eyes widening. Superman walked towards us, a disappointed tilt to his eyes. Doctor Fate immediately extinguished his powers, landing softly on the ground. The Kryptonian stopped between us, crossing his arms. "I'll take it from here." -he told the mage.

Fate narrowed his eyes. "I CANNOT ABIDE SUCH A THREAT TO ORDER RETAIN HER FREEDOM." -he said.

Kal-El ignored the threat in his tone. "Report to Diana. She's handling a situation in Greece and she might need your help. There seems to be magic involved."

The Doctor tensed, but apparently, the looming crisis won out. He looked at me, a steely glint to his gaze. "THERE WILL BE NO MORE WARNINGS, SHE-DEMON. DO NOT INTERFERE AGAIN."

With that, he projected the damn symbol again, stepped into it, and vanished. I slowly shrank into my regular size, Rage's influence ebbing out of my system. I blinked a couple of times - two eyes only, now - then sighed. "I got carried away." -I said, shame keeping my voice down.

I met Superman's bright blue eyes, his expression still sad. "I'm glad you realize that. Fly with me."

I followed him out the bunker, and into Seattle's overcast night sky.

"I would've...but he would've…" -I tried to explain.

He put his palm out. "No need to explain. I have pretty good hearing. Clearly, the League needs to do some housekeeping. I'll speak with Doctor Fate later. Batman's got Dinah covered."

I winced. "Which leaves…"

"You, Rachel." -he said, then gave me a sad smile when he saw my raised eyebrow. "Batman filled me in on your situation." -he said, looking towards the horizon, and down at the bustling city below. "I apologize for never stopping by; I hear your tea shop was Seattle's hipster Mecca."

"The operative word here being 'was'." - I said, downcast.

"I don't see why it can't be again. You're still alive, aren't you? You're still here, when, if I recall correctly, you didn't expect to last long on Earth."

"I didn't. I made it a year before he caught up to me. I...I warned you it would happen."

"And what did I say to that?"

I sighed. "You said...that I was a survivor. That we both were. You told me you knew how I felt."

He nodded. "The last of our kind. It can give someone a pretty powerful drive, wouldn't you say?"

"...yes."

He smiled. "When I saw you, ready to die at Fate's hand back then, I knew you weren't any different from us. Despite your foreign features, I saw in you the same thing I see in everyone: potential. For good, for evil...for something in between. I believed your warning. Tried to prepare myself and the League for him, as much as time and all of our other obligations would allow. But...it was never up to us, was it?"

"No. Never."

"There was nothing we could do. But you...you had a choice. A choice to take a stand, to fight back. We're only here, admiring the view, because of you. Otherwise, I'd still be a petrified statue in the ruins of Metropolis, and you, a wandering soul."

I winced. "You're wrong. I brought on the end of the world. It's Robin who saved all of us, in the end."

Superman gave a rather dignified snort. "I don't know which Dick Grayson you met, because the one I know doesn't have any kind of magic powers. Shoulder the blame, if you must, but don't neglect the credit. Dick may have sought you out, and brought you back, but that heroic heart is yours, and yours alone."

He floated up to me, pushing back my hood. "We all make mistakes, Rachel. It's not a trait the humans can claim for themselves. The only thing we can do is try to make up for them, and I think you've already done that."

Kal-El put his arms around me. I had always imagined his flesh to be as solid as steel, but the Kryptonian was just as soft and warm as a regular human. I didn't quite return the hug, shocked at his sudden outpouring of support, but he didn't seem to care.

I looked at his eyes. "I don't deserve this."

"Too bad. You're getting it anyway. Now, come on. We've got a meeting."

I raised an eyebrow as he let me go. "Where are we going?"

He chuckled. "That's right, I forget you're not a telepath. So many of those these days. You know the way to the Batcave, right?"

The title of this chapter could not have been more appropriate, if I do say so myself. Many of you have been calling for it, and I think Raven has earned it: catharsis. So much has been stacked against her in this story; the League mostly scorns her, her peers don't trust her, and even her former significant other can't seem to get over himself. Add to that the fact that Rage had a hand on her steering wheel, and this chapter happened. It also happens to be some catharsis for myself, finally continuing this and a bunch of other stories.

Until next time!