Reunion

Chap. 1

Sara

"Hey, what are you doing with that?" "I was thinking about buying it?" For a moment, Martin was totally stunned. Then he shook his head and said, "I never would have pegged you for a Smashing Pumpkins fan, Rae." "And why's that?" the empath asked, still holding the CD. "I guess I figured your kind of music was monks, chanting out old Latin hymns." This time Raven shook her head. "Do I look like I'm highly religious and completely against heavy music?" "Well, you did have a problem with my Metallica stuff." said Brett, appearing from the next row. "That's because you were playing it at three in the morning right below my room." She said, with a smirk. "Oh right." The bat said. "So would two be okay for next time? Or maybe if I played the Clash instead?" Walking over, he asked, "Or wait, what if I buy some Yanni? That shouldn't bother you." "If I hear that, I guarantee that I'll blow you out the Tower." She answered.

Smiling, Raven brushed him away with her hand and continued to look through the cds, putting Siamese Dream with her other picks. Truthfully, she did enjoy this kind of banter with Brett. Ever since they had returned from their adventure in Hyrule, the two of them had been developing a closer friendship. She knew it was partly her doing after what had happened between them in the Shadow Temple. Brett had commented earlier that he considered the Titans and BRATS his family. Raven had objected to that, feeling that she was not worthy of it, and also fearful of what that kind of love meant. She had told Brett as much, and while he outwardly accepted it, he seemed to trying to prove himself to her. Brett had gone to her poetry readings with her, despite seeming to be bored for much of the time. He had also given here advice on some meditation techniques he had picked up, and even gone as far as trying to mediate with her.

At first Raven had been a bit annoyed, but after some time, she began to realize that he was only doing this because he cared about her. She had decided that even if they couldn't be family, they could at least be good friends. So she had returned his attention, learning about the things he liked. She had watched him during his battle-training, an exercise where he was blindfolded and surrounded by holograms of enemies. It was an amazing thing to watch, because he had almost never been injured and he did not use anything but his wits and his sword. Brett also told her stories about the adventures he'd gone on as a Knight, and all the things he had seen and learned about. They also learned that they had similar tastes in music, though Brett was a bit more classic rock then Raven. Still they were both huge fans of R.E.M, U2, and Evanescence, although Brett felt the last were a bit too bombastic. Regardless, that was what had brought them to Jump City's major record store, Station of Sound today, or more specifically the release of U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. After hearing 'Vertigo' just once, they had both instantly been hooked. They'd come down to the store right after breakfast, with Martin tagging along for some of his music. Sadly, from what Raven had seen, that partially consisted of The Best of ABBA. I wonder what else he has. Raven thought. Probably Saturday Night Fever; I'll bet he does the strut every time he hears "Stayin Alive." Imagining Martin strutting down the street to that music was a hilarious image. Raven smiled as she thought about it, and moved to check out some other music. However, thinking about it had made her oblivious to the woman in front of her with her own pile of cds. The two knocked into each, and both their collections fell to the ground in a heap.

"Sorry! My fault!" Raven hastily apologized. "It's ok. Neither of us was paying attention." The woman replied, as they bent down to pick up their respective cds. Of course, they were all jumbled together, so it took a few minutes to sort through it. However, by doing so, Raven found out the woman was a fan of the Stones, the Sex Pistols, and the Distillers. "Wow, you've got some good taste." She remarked, as she put all the cds that weren't hers into a pile. "You too." The woman replied, as she finished doing the same. "Especially Automatic for the People. I still say it's the best thing that R.E.M. ever did." "I know." Raven agreed. "'Nightswimming''s incredible." "If you're not moved by that song, you have no soul. That's all there is to it." The woman agreed. Raven continued with, "The Distillers are just as good though. Now there's an anti- Britney." "Oh I know. The best thing about them is that it's a real rock woman and it's real punk. There's almost nothing there left anymore, except Green Day." "Yeah, ever since Good Charlotte….uhhhh. I hope to God that they don't try to copy American Idiot next."

As they got up, they handed each other the cds back. "Good talking to you. My name's Sara." The woman asked, sticking out her hand. "Raven." The empath replied, as she shook it. Now that they weren't busy, Raven finally got a good look at this woman. Sara looked to be about twenty or so years old. She had a pronouncedly soft face with dark blue eyes and a pointed nose, framed by short but fiery red hair. She wasn't much taller then Raven, but she looked more muscular. She wore a flowery violet tank-top and a pair of loose beige khakis, as well as a Colorado Avalanche cap. "New in town?" she asked. "Sort of passing through." Sara replied. "Um, not to be rude, but does everyone here dress like its Halloween?" she asked. "Huh?" Raven asked. "Well, your clothes are a bit different, is all." "Oh. Yeah I guess so." Raven said thoughtfully, realizing that Sara did not know who she was. "Comes with the job description." "What job is that, dare I ask?"

Raven would have answered, but suddenly a minivan flew through the store's front window. As it slammed and rolled through the store, there was a crunch and a high-pitched scream. At first, Raven thought that a little girl had been hurt, but then somebody said, "Jesus Frank, it didn't even hit you!" Looking over, Raven saw that the only thing crushed had been a display case. Standing next to it was a long-haired, bearded man hyperventilating into a paper bag that the owner had given him. Sighing in relief, she turned to Sara and said, "Actually, this is my job." Turning around, she saw Nighstalker and Neuron appear from the back. "I think we should find out what that was." Neuron said dryly. "You think?" Nightstalker replied, equally dry in his tone. Pulling up her hood, Raven motioned goodbye to Sara and the three heroes leapt out the broken window.

Sara stood alone for a moment, and then she shook her head. "Brett," she said softly. "Why can't I ever just find you when there's not something going horribly wrong?" With that, she turned and followed the others out the window.