A/N: I know I said I wouldn't post till I saw The End, but after seeing Constantine I just couldn't wait anymore, so I will correct anything if and when the show contradicts me.

Renee25, Thank you for your reviews, since you do happen to be well educated in these matters, Professor, how would you like to beta read for me, I apparently need it. E-mail at the address in my profile or IM me if you wish at AIM: fallenarchseraph

Chapter 10: Gathering

Gar's thoughts seemed to be lost in the Dreaming. That is not to say that he was being calm and absentmindedly drifted through the land of stories, but that he was having trouble telling which thoughts were his. It was psychic torture, and he was beginning to wonder if Sebastian did this on purpose.

He felt something pull him back to the waking land. His eyes focused to see his lover's face. He sighed. "Why did you pull me out?" he asked her vehemently. He'd had these powers for nearly two weeks, and he still couldn't control the psychic aspect of it.

"Are you sure you're ok, Gar? I don't think this is safe." She didn't like the fact he was simply diving face first into an ocean of minds, without any psychic training. Raven was thankful that he had allowed her to act as his life guard, but she was starting to get concerned that he went in for so long.

"It's my mind, and I don't care if it's safe," he said. His words hit a nerve with her and it showed.

"Fine, do it yourself, 'cause if you want to go and give yourself a psychic lobotomy then leave me out of it." She stormed out of the room, however when Raven storms out of a room, it isn't a euphemism. The door to Garfield's closet burst apart and a mountain of junk fell out on top of him.

"You don't think you can really escape me, do you, Sebastian?" a white haired man with one eye shouted into the overgrowth of the jungle. The P90 assault rifle in his arms seemed weightless as he stalked his prey. Slade Wilson had been having these dreams for months now; they started when the doctors at Arkham decided he was well enough to not shoot him full of thorazine daily. He would hunt down the high priest of the one he once called master. The thought of calling another that filled him with loathing.

Somehow this dream was different. Normally it would end when he heard the thunder of the semi-automatic weapon. This time however a man with green skin, or perhaps fur, appeared behind the corpse. "Join me, and I'll help your dream become reality."

Slade awoke shooting straight up on the blanket that he was, currently, calling a bed. He saw only the stars of the night sky, the urban lights off the precipice, and his daughter sleeping by the fire, opposite him. He began to relax when he looked at the dirt by his side. In his slumber his hand had written something: 236 Bastion Blvd. 12:00 A.M.

John Constantine had enjoyed pleasant dreams ever since he met the anthropomorphic personification, Dream. He was playing poker with the Swamp Thing, and a green skinned teenager he didn't recognize. The teen's hand was a dud, Alec had four aces, but when Constantine showed his hand, it had five aces. "Pay up, guys."

"I knew you'd win. You always do, even if you have to pull cards out of thin air, John. But are you sure your hand beats mine?" asked the teenager. John looked at his hand again; it contained four eights, each with the image of Trigon upon it. He couldn't look away, and stared in horror.

Constantine woke up quickly in a panic. On the notepad he kept next to his bed with his phone was, in his own handwriting, an address: Jump City, CA USA, 236 Bastion Blvd. 12:00 A.M. "Oh you have got to be bloody shittin' me." He got dressed and headed for the airport, though not before grabbing a few books and holy relics. From his hand he cast a magical flame and used it to light up a cigarette.

Nightwing was in the common room using the computer to find out as much about Sebastian, and their new ally, Dream, as he possibly could. It seemed that the Church of Blood was a more covert organization than the Illuminati. Just as he concluded that the search was futile, the computer monitor was switched off and was replaced by static; a secondary screen flashed the letters SOS.

Soon the emergency signal stopped, but the static was starting to clear up. "It's too… Titans East tower… destroyed… brother blo…" the message cut out completely at that point. The other Titans who were around stopped in there tracks and looked to their leader in horror. Their eyes pleaded for him to tell them that they heard the garbled words incorrectly.

"Satellite imagery confirms it, Titans East Tower, is gone." He didn't like disappointing them, but he knew that comforting his team was not a main priority given the scenario. "I am however picking up five communicator signals…" he checked again, "Thirty miles from here and closing, fast."

The proximity alarm went off as the five signals reached the tower. "Well, I guess we better offer them a place to crash," Vic said and nonchalantly headed for the elevator to meet their visitors.

When they got to the door they saw the silhouette of one large figure. As they got closer they realized it was actually one person carrying four others. The boy had two girls hanging around his neck – one of which they had not met, the other Bumblebee – and Arsenal and Tempest unconscious being held to his side in his arms. Sweat poured down his face like he had had a bucket of it dropped on him. "I'm going to faint now," he said through gasps for breath, and then he did.

Raven levitated them inside and to their infirmary.

"Uh… why does my entire body ache?" the boy who had fainted at their doorstep said as he woke up. The other members of his team were standing around him, looking concerned.

"I would be guessing the fact you carried your entire team, from the east coast to the west, might have something to do with it, Wally," said Bumblebee. She turned to Nightwing and thought she should explain. "Mas and Menos left about a year ago, around then we teamed up with Kid Flash and Wonder Girl."

"I go by Troia now though," the brunet girl said in response. Her costume looked like she had sewn a picture of the night sky into a leotard.

"Where is here, anyway?" Kid Flash asked sincerely confused.

"You don't remember, bringing us here?" Tempest asked him. After a moment of silence to confirm his question, he answered the Kid's: "We're at Titans West Tower."

"I remember running in the direction of the Steel City Hospital, how did we end up in California?"

"You can thank me for that," a voice from the doorway said. Gar walked in. "I'm Changeling," he said almost hearing the other teams thoughts ask him. He honestly hadn't noticed that they didn't speak. "Sorry, Wally, but I couldn't let you go to the hospital; the Church of Blood is everywhere. I couldn't chance it."

They were all silent. "Is he some sort of psychic now?" Bumblebee asked Nightwing.

"Yeah, some sort."

"I've got to go, Dick. Don't stay up waiting for me," Gar said after looking at his watch. Nightwing was about to object, but he was already gone.

"What was that all about?" Roy asked to no one in particular.

"We stopped asking, the answer never made much sense anyway," Raven told them.

"We only have a couple of spare rooms but, so you're going to have to bunk two to a room," Nightwing told them.

"Perhaps us girls should bunk together."

"I was just thinking that, Bee" Troia said, eyeing Arsenal, who seemed to take offence at the implication.

The bunking situation having been dealt with, both teams left the infirmary and prepared for bed. Troia switched the light off before leaving.

A moment passed. "Um guys, aren't you forgetting something?" Kid Flash asked the air. He was too sore to even move, much less get up. "Guys? Oh screw it I'll just sleep here."

"Daddy what are we doing here?" the Ravager asked Slade.

"Hush apprentice," he told her and noticed another man walk into the warehouse. His physical characteristics were hidden by the darkness, but they could clearly see the glow of the cigarette in his mouth.

"Little green bloke show up in your dreams too, eh?" Constantine asked his companion. He did not get a response.

All three of them turned as they heard something dash past some crates behind them. Slade swore it looked like a human sized insect. When they turned back around there was a green skinned teenager in a tank top and flares in front of them.

"Hello gentlemen," he paused and noted the young woman next to Slade, "and lady. I gathered you here because something big is coming, and I don't think we can stop it on our own."

"We?" Constantine asked.

"The Titans. Is that you Beast Boy? How long has it been, now? Two, three years?" Slade said now realizing who it was.

"Not long enough Slade," he said, with loathing in his voice. "And my name is Changeling now."

"As fun as listening to this is, can we get on with this?" John asked. "What's coming? And what makes you think I can help you?"

"A being I'm sure both of you are familiar with, about the size of a large building, four red eyes, goes by the name of Trigon. Any of this sound familiar to you two?"

"What about him?" Slade asked, slightly apprehensive.

"You should know that, Slade. You were his puppet!" he said, stepping closer to the man he used to fear. "You called him Master, remember that; and as we all know, Deathstroke is no ones master. Don't think I don't know you want revenge, I'm proposing an alliance of convenience between us."

"And what does the little Robin think of all this?"

"He doesn't know, and unless you're going to tell him, he's not going to find out either. Now are you with me?" Gar gave him a death stare.

Slade could only nod.

"And you, John Constantine, are the world's foremost expert on daemons. You need a way to win your way into heaven. How does taking down the daemon of omni-sin sound?"

"Doesn't look like I have much of a choice, now do I?" he said.

"Good, you can both stay here until this is over." He snapped his fingers and the lights came on revealing two guard stations on either end of the building that had been made into beds. "Anything you need just ask me and I'll get it for you. Ammunition, illegal fire arms, spell books, talismans, anything.

"Oh, and if your aforementioned vendettas aren't enough I'll be sure to compensate you for your troubles." Gar turned to leave. "I'll see the two of you tomorrow."

He closed the door and started walking away. "Look at me, I'm turning into some sort of mob boss," he said and looked at his hands as if bloodstained. "I suppose you're here to help too, huh?"

"I suppose I am, Changeling," J'onn said standing behind him.

"I guess that means I can count on the rest of the League then."

"Perhaps. So far, I'm here in an unofficial capacity. But if it gets too far out of hand, I'll have to involve the League."

"Good, I can use all the help I can get. Now, J'onn, if you don't mind, I need to be alone with whatever sanity I have left." The Martian watched as the shape shifter left.

"I can relate Garfield, I can relate."

A/N: not my best work I don't think but I welcome any constructive criticism right now. Also in case you're wondering, the closing statement is referring to the fact that The Martian Manhunter spent several decades wandering the planet's surface finding only constant reminders that he was the last of his kind. Anyway I know you haven't been reviewing, I prefer a review to adding me to your favourites list or the email list, in fact its the only reason I'm writing, so if I don't get reviews, I get discouraged, and then I'll stop writing, and then you'll never know how this ends damn it, so please, for the love of all that's holy REVIEW THIS FIN' STORY DAMN IT.