"You're booked today?" She winced. "Tomorrow at 8? Sure, I guess that will have to do … thanks, Steve."

Raven hung up the phone.

Pull yourself together. So now you know his name. That changes nothing. That was a long time ago and he doesn't remember me. I would have sensed it if he had recognized me.

She looked at the clock. Gar and Cyborg wouldn't be back for hours. She began to pace nervously around their bedroom, until she forced herself to stop.

Don't panic! Gar will be able to tell, and will want to know why … OK … I'm going to meditate and calm down. When Gar gets home … I'll … take him out to dinner, maybe catch one of his ninja zombie movies then when we get home I'll give him a night he won't forget … Azar … who am I kidding? Look at me, I'm a wreck!

She phased into the floor, reappearing in the infirmary. She turned to Cyborg's medication cabinet, which he kept under lock. She phased her arm through the cabinet's door and when she pulled it back out she had a bottle of valium pills in her hand.

I can't believe I'm doing this.

As she stared at the bottle her communicator trilled. She put the valium back before answering the call. It was Nightwing.

"You in the infirmary?" He asked.

"Head ache." She lied. "What's up? I didn't hear the crime alert."

"No alert. The prison warden just called. He said that a prisoner wants to see you."

"A prisoner? What for?"

"He didn't say. It's that bank robber who called you a witch."

"Why would he want to see me or any of us? We didn't arrest him."

"All the warden told me is that this Jared guy agreed to plead guilty if you would go see him. You don't have to do this Raven. Sure, it will make the DA's job easier, but they got him on the bank robbery."

Raven gulped. Why in Azar's name did he want to see her? To insult her again? Or something …else."

She sighed. "I'll go. I saw his rap sheet. He's a child molester. He belongs behind bars.I'll see that he stays there."

-(-)-

Raven's spectral bird flew across the bay and past the downtown area. The new prison was built near the entrance to the badlands, where they first encountered Terra and the giant mutant scorpion she was battling. The bird landed in front of the visitor's entrance and disappeared, leaving Raven's hourglass figure in its place. She looked at the large concrete fortress, which was designed to safely hold supervillains. There was even an extra fortified cell with Slade's name on it … perhaps someday it would be occupied. Raven entered the lobby, where the Warden was waiting for her. He warmly shook her hand with both of his.

"Miss Raven, thanks for coming." He gestured at a companion. "This is District Attorney Gonzalez." Raven shook his hand as well.

"Thank you for helping us out here, Miss Raven. Sedgwick has already signed a contingent confession not only for the bank robbery, but also for being a sexual predator, as long as you would speak with him. As you know, we were never able to build a case against him for sexual predation, but with this confession we can put him away for good." The DA remarked.

"Did he say why he wants to speak with me?"

"No, he still won't say why."

Raven frowned. "Well, let's get this over with."

The Warden nodded and after being buzzed through several doors they were joined by four armed guards, who escorted them to an interrogation room, where Jared was seated and shackled to his chair. The thug grinned as they entered the room.

"OK, Sedgwick, she's here. So start talking." The Warden barked at him.

Jared smiled. "I you don't mind, I'd like to speak with her alone."

"You're in no position to make demands." The DA growled.

"Are you saying the deal is off?" Jared replied.

"It's OK, I don't need bodyguards, I can see him alone."

"And no recordings and no spying." Sedgwick added, wagging his index finger.

The warden shook his head. "I know you're a Titan, Miss Raven, but I don't like this one bit."

"I will be fine. Let's get this done so I can leave."

The Warden and the DA nodded their agreement.

"I will leave two guards outside the room. Just bang on the door if you need them." The warden said in a grave tone as they walked out the door, which closed with a dull thud. Raven turned to Jared.

"OK, what do you want?"

Jared smiled. "I just wanted to smell your perfume."

"My perfume?"

"Your scent or whatever you wanna call it." His smile became pronounced. "Has anyone ever told you that you have an amazing figure? You have a perfect hourglass, a vavavoom body. Few women have that kind of figure, and I would know. I've banged hundreds of women over the years and maybe two or three had a figure like yours. Perfectly proportioned, waist and hips the right size, perfectly shaped legs and an awesome rack, just the right shape and size."

Raven was starting to get a little worried with the direction he was taking the conversation.

"Get to the point. What do you want?"

"Be patient, my little witch, I'm getting to it. But I need to finish my story first. Anyway, there was this chick that I picked up a long time ago. I remember her well, because she was a virgin. I could tell, she was nice and tight and I think she still had her hymen. I couldn't believe my luck. She was also underage; I'm not sure how she got into the club, but who cares? She went home with me."

Raven felt her windpipe begin to tighten.

"Your story is pointless."

"I'm not done yet … she was awesome in the sack, but you know what else was special about her?"

He paused and grinned.

"She smelled just like you do." He tapped his nose. "I have a thing for scents. I like girls that smell nice. You know; the good quality stuff. And that scent, that was the first time I ever smelled it and I haven't smelled it since, until the day you showed up after I was busted at the bank. At first it didn't click, I was so pissed that the job went to hell that I didn't notice. But once the van took off, it hit me. You have the same scent. And you are the right size and have the right figure."

"You're making this up. We're done, I'm leaving."

"Hang on, there's more."

Raven was now feeling terrified. She crossed her arms and kept her poker face.

"What?"

"Well, your face and hair don't match hers nor does your skin. But you're a witch, so maybe you used some magic, right?"

"Dream on."

"OK, one last thing. Every girl I banged at my placer, I recorded it. And I watched your recording a lot. Like I said, you're the only virgin I ever had and you were super hot. Anyway, I remember that you have a little birthmark, right on you left breast. I thought it was sexy. Anyway, I'll bet that if I have a friend send that video on a flash drive to your husband, he'll recognize that it's you."

To her credit, Raven did not exteriorize her panic.

"I'm sure he would love to watch me plow you, over and over. Oh and the clip has audio too. I'm sure he'll recognize your voice; you were pretty loud that night. And in case you think this is a bluff."

He dropped a flash drive on the table top.

"Take it, with my compliments. I have more where that came from."

A dead silence hung in the room.

"So what do you think?"

Raven picked up the flash drive.

"How did you get this in here?

"I arranged to have it given to my lawyer, who brought it to me. After double checking it to make sure I was remembering everything right I had him draft the contingent confession."

Raven tucked the flash drive into her belt.

"What do you want?"

"Two things: you bust me out of here, and $500,000 in cash, in twenties."

"Five hundred thousand?"

"I know, you can't just withdraw it from an ATM. I can wait, say a month?"

"A month?"

"Yes, a month. And if you don't cough up the cash, your green husband gets to watch me have my way with you. So, do we have a deal?"

Raven crossed her arms and closed her eyes.

"If you ever come back and try to blackmail me for more, I will hunt you down and kill you, very painfully. And just so you know, I want to kill you now."

"I will take that as a yes. See you in a month."

Raven turned and pounded on the door. The guards opened the door and entered.

"We're done. He's all yours." She said before phasing into the floor.

She reappeared in the infirmary. This time she took the valium.

-(-)-

After locking her door, Raven watched the video. It wasn't a fake. After watching it several times, she was in tears.

Where am I going to get $500,000? I'll have to steal it.

She pulled the flash drive out of her laptop and threw it into the incinerator chute; there was no point in keeping it or having anyone, especially Gar, finding it. She saw the clock and knew he would be back soon. She ran into the bathroom and washed her face, removing any sign of her weeping.

She sat down on her bed.

What am I going to do?

Raven looked a Gar's nightstand. On it was a copy of the Lord's Prayer, carved into olive wood from the Holy Land, a gift from Rita. She stared at it before closing her eyes.

Our Father, Who Art in Heaven …

Gar came into their room about thirty minutes later. Raven was asleep on their bed. He saw that she had the engraved prayer in her hands. He gently took it from her and looked at it. He knew that she had never recited that prayer before. She followed her own beliefs, which were different from his own. Yet he found her clutching it.

Raven, is something wrong? Is there something you want to tell me?

He reached out to caress her face, but stopped, not wishing to wake her.

-(-)-

Gar found Cyborg in his shop, working on the T-Car. The Tin Man stopped what he was doing and made eye contact with his friend.

"What's up, B?"

Gar sat down on a bench. He looked concerned. "I'm worried about Raven."

"What is it?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Ever since that bank robbery she's been out of sorts."

"You mean that punk who yelled at her?"

"Yeah, that. He called her a witch. I know she hates it when that happens, but she usually brushes it off … there's something about that dude, something that really disturbed Rave. It doesn't make sense; the dude is a loser, a nobody."

"Wanna take a look at the police data base?" Cyborg asked.

"Sure, anything to help Rave."

Cyborg left the T-Car unfinished and sat down in front of a terminal. He logged into the police's database and did a search on Jared Sedgwick. The rap sheet popped up right away. Cyborg read it and blew a whistle.

"This dude is a first class creep. He's a predator that targets teenage girls."

Gar furrowed his brow. "Maybe Rave sensed that."

"Could be. I could see why learning that would put her off. Heck, it makes me feel sick."

"So what do I do?"

Cyborg shrugged as he continued scrolling through the record. As he reached the end of the record he startled.

"Whoa!"

"What is it?" Gar asked.

"This is weird, as in crazy weird."

Gar peaked over his shoulder to read the screen.

"He agreed to confess to all his past crimes if Rave came to see him? Why would he do that?"

"You got me."

The screen flashed and the record updated.

"Dude!"

The updated record now stated that about an hour after Raven left, Jared Sedgwick was eating lunch in the mess hall when a riot broke out. Some of the cameras were damaged in the riot and by the time order was restored Jared Sedgwick was found face down in a pool of his own blood. Someone stabbed him in the back, puncturing his heart. He was pronounced dead at the scene. There were no clues as to who did it and the case was marked as closed and unresolved.

"Why was he killed?"

Cyborg sighed. "He was a kiddie didler. Word probably got out and the other inmates took the law into their own hands."

Gar sat down, shaking his head in disbelief. "Why did he want to see Raven?"

"Don't ask her, B. I'm sure there was a reason and she will tell you when she's good and ready. The last thing we need is for her to know we were snooping on her."

"You're right. I need to wait for her to tell me herself."

-(-)-

Raven was sitting up in the bed when her phone rang. She saw the caller ID: it was Steve. She answered it.

"Hi Raven, I have a cancellation. I can squeeze you in right now."

"I'll be right there."

She hung up the phone and sent a message to the team that she was off to see Dr. Dunn. She then raised her arms and was swallowed by one of her dark hemispheres.

-(-)-

As soon as Raven's dark hemisphere melted away, Steve could see that she was not well. Raven's usual poker face was gone and he could tell that someone or something had rattled her cage.

"Raven, what happened?"

She raised her hand, telling him to wait. She then began to levitate, in the lotus position. Steve had never seen her do this before.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos, Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos …"

She did this for five minutes. Steve quickly deduced that this was an exercise to get her mind back under control. He watched in silence until she suddenly stopped, landing on her feet. When she looked at him, he had a mug of tea ready, which he handed to her. She gratefully accepted it and took a deep swig.

"Thank you." She said almost breathlessly.

Steve looked very concerned. "Something terrible has happened, right?"

She finally sat down.

"Steve, I know who the guy I slept with is … he's one those men who tried to rob the bank."

"Are you certain of this?"

"I'm positive … and it gets worse … he recognized me."

"What? But you were disguised."

Raven had a copy of his rap sheet tucked into her cloak. She pulled it out and gave it to Steve, who quickly read it. He looked up at her.

"Are you sure he isn't making this all up."

Raven told Steve about the prison visit, including the USB flash drive and the blackmail.

"Steve … I don't know what to do. He's threatening to destroy my marriage if I don't do as he says."

Steve looked lost in thought. "You know that it's not my job to tell you what to do. But in this case, I think there is only one way out. You have to tell Gar."

"But what if he leaves me?"

"Raven, you were raped."

"No, I wasn't, I could have stopped it."

"You were under Rage's influence. Surely Gar will understand. You need to defuse this blackmailing attempt. If you tell Gar the truth, he will refuse to watch the video. The only problem I think you'll have is keeping Gar from killing this guy."

Raven closed her eyes and sat in complete silence.

"Raven?"

"My marriage is over. I'm going to lose the only man who has ever loved and accepted me as I am."

"And that is why you won't lose him."

She shook her head. "I can't do it."

Steve sighed. "We have a month to get you ready. I know you can do it. If he reacts badly I will talk with Gar and convince him that it wasn't your doing."

"Ok, but what do I do tonight?"

"You tell how much you love him and how much he means to you."

"I can do that … and you're right. I can't steal half a million dollars, break JAred out of jail and give him the money. I have to somehow confess this to Gar, even if right now I have no idea how I will do it."

"Good, but like I said, let's get ready first. I'll do my homework tonight. We'll meet again tomorrow at 8:00 AM, OK?"

"OK, Steve, and thanks, thanks for everything."

The clock chimed. "See you tomorrow."

-(-)-

Raven materialized in their room. Gar wasn't there. She was planning on taking him out to his favorite vegetarian restaurant for dinner followed by some quality time in their room. Her comm suddenly trilled. It was a message from him; he was in the common room. Pulling herself together, she headed out the door, and almost ran into Nightwing.

"You're back. Say, you know that perp who asked to see you"

She nodded.

"You won't believe this, he's dead."

"Dead?"

"Yup. There was a riot and someone stabbed and killed him. I just got an updated report from the prison. He was stabbed with a homemade shiv. The guards found it; it was made from melted plastic spoons. No fingerprints and the cameras were down. No one is talking so they don't know who did it."

Raven looked stunned. "Why would anyone one kill him?"

Grayson handed her the report. "He was a sexual predator who targeted underage girls. Those inmates are criminals, but they have kid sisters and they don't like guys like him. While I don't wish that fate on anyone, I can't say I'm heartbroken. Anyway, there is an investigation into why he was left unprotected. So, what did he want with you?"

Raven thought carefully. It was one thing to lie, and another to not share everything.

"He wanted me to break him out of jail."

Nightwing shrugged. "If he was afraid for his life, he could have brought that up to the warden. Of course, getting busted out is better than being put into solitary, so maybe that's why he didn't bring it up. So … he really thought you would break him out?"

Raven shrugged. "I guess."

"Go figure, oh, Gar's playing video games with Cyborg, if you're looking for him."

"Yeah, I was, uh, going to take him out for dinner."

Grayson smiled. "I never would have thought of you being the lovey dovey wife, though it does suit you … catch you later!"

Nightwing took off and disappeared around a corner. Raven waited until she couldn't sense his proximity. She then leaned against a wall and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

He's gone, he's dead. Thank Azar.

After recovering her breath, she took off for the common room. Nightwing, meanwhile, had been watching her on a screen.

What did this guy have on Raven?

He brought up Sedgwick's rap sheet on his computer. Jared was gone, but he had friends. And whatever they were doing to Raven, whatever they had on her, it was going to stop. After a few minutes, he had a list of known companions for Sedgwick. The list was short and the fellow bank robber was not on it. But one stood out: a Todd Anderson. He was a computer hacker. He would visit him first.

-(-)-

Later that evening …

A man who looked like he could be one of Control Freak's long lost brothers sat at his desk, typing furiously. The sound of police sirens could be heard outside of his apartment. His apartment wasn't in the best neighborhood. He stopped typing and yelled at the screen.

"Damn firewalls! How is an honest hacker supposed to make a living?"

He looked away from his computer and picked up a flash drive. "And what am I supposed to do with you, now that Jared's gone? He's never gonna pay me the ten grand he promised me."

He snorted and tossed the flash drive on the desk. "That is one hot girl in the video, whoever she is. Why was Jared always so good at picking up girls?" He muttered to himself.

The doorbell rang.

"About time the pizza arrived." He said as he leaped to his feet and opened the door. As expected the pizza guy was there. He snatched the box from him.

"You're late. No tip for you!" He laughed as he slammed the door shut and turned back into his dilapidated apartment. He shrieked and dropped the pizza when he saw Nightwing sitting on his desk; holding the flash drive in his hand. He immediately recognized the masked, muscular Titan.

"Hey, I haven't done anything."

"We both know that's a lie. And I hate it when people lie." Grayson replied. "So tell me, what is on this flash drive?"

"Nothing."

Grayson frowned at him. "What did I say about lying?"

"Look at it yourself. It's just a video of Jared banging some chick."

"And why do you have this?"

"I was supposed to send it to someone."

"To the girl in the video?"

He shook his head. "Not her, I have no idea who she is. It's for some dude."

"Were you going to send this to Titans Tower?"

"OK, I was supposed to, but Jared's dead, so I wasn't going to. Why would I? There's nothing in it for me."

Nightwing squeezed the flash drive.

"Are there any other copies of this video?"

"Nope, I erased the master after I heard that Jared was killed."

Nightwing pointed at the hacker's computer. "So, it was there?"

"It was, but I erased it."

Nightwing pulled a flat, disk shaped object out of his belt and slapped it against the computer. Energy tendrils danced over the box, which then began to smoke.

"My rig! You fried my rig! Why?" He shrieked.

"I want that file to stay erased." He then retrieved the computer destruction device and headed to the window. He stopped and turned around.

"If a copy of this video ever turns up anywhere, I will make your life a living hell. Have I made myself clear?"

The hacker, who was still crying over the destruction of his computer, nodded his understanding. Nightwing, with the flash drive still in his hand, jumped out the window.