Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League Unlimited, Teen Titans, or any of the characters, places blah blah blah BLAH.
Connections
Chapter Five: Old Pains
The Dark Knight's voice was tinny over the comm system. "I checked out the observatory. I didn't see anything unusual."
Shayera nodded. "Okay; thanks for the help. Javelin, out."
The city looked exactly the same from the sky. Of course, Wally had been here at ground level just two weeks ago to see Bart, but down there, it bore little resemblance to the city he had helped defend as Kid Flash. But from the sky… it was like he had never left. He looked over at Dick, and couldn't help but smile. He was thinking the exact same thing. Of course, the ex-Boy Wonder had a stronger attachment to the city than he did; he had lived here for God knows how long, defending it and living in the T Tower long before Wally and the other Titans had come along. Before he and Jinx had joined.
Shayera pushed a few buttons, setting the comm to the Titans frequency. A part of the scarlet speedster didn't want anyone to answer. He wasn't looking forward to seeing her again; to having to deal with it. After a few seconds, a face appeared on the small monitor in front of Shayera.
And there she was, clear as day.
"Titans Tower."
Shayera cocked an eyebrow.
"This is Shayera Hol. I've got Nightwing and the Flash-" something passed over the girl's pale face, and Shayera paused, but then opted to continue. "-with me. We're here on League business. Could we land?"
The girl pushed a few buttons off screen, then nodded. "Aerial defences down. You're clear to land."
"Thank you."
Shayera carefully manoeuvred the sleek jet, landing it with honed precision on the designated area of the roof. As she unbuckled her seatbelt and stood, she noticed that Wally was looking increasingly uncomfortable. They walked down the ramp and onto the roof of the T Tower in silence. Raven was waiting for them at the door.
Nightwing offered a small wave, and Shayera gave a respectful nod. Raven acknowledged with a polite smile. She didn't seem to look at Flash though. If Shayera didn't know better, she could have sworn that she was slightly nervous. But everything she'd heard about the dark empath seemed to indicate that she hardly ever showed any kind of emotion. Wally was similarly unresponsive. Shayera elbowed him in the gut. He smiled nervously and offered a small wave.
"Uh… hi… Raven…" He paused. "How are you doing?"
She tucked some hair behind her ear, and threw a cursory glance over at the scarlet speedster. "Fine. You?"
He nodded quickly, obviously wanting this conversation over as quickly as possible. "I'm good, I'm good."
She nodded back. "Good."
"Good."
Shayera watched this incredibly fast exchange with fascination painted on her features. She looked over at Dick, who had a similar look on his face. She leaned over to whisper to him conspiratorially.
"Have they always been like this?"
He shook his head. "Not always. It's only since-" he stopped himself in mid sentence, and cleared his throat. "…uh, but I shouldn't be telling you about that."
Before Shayera could respond, he had stepped forward and between Wally and Raven.
"Shall we go in?" Nightwing asked, walking towards the door to lead them downstairs. Raven, grateful for a reason to leave, quickly pursued. Flash seemed ready to follow when Shayera put a cautionary hand on his arm.
"Wally… who is she?"
"She's, uh… Raven?" he offered, wincing at the poor response.
Shayera rolled her eyes. "Who is she to you, Wally?"
The Fastest Man Alive coughed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other, his hands nervously knotted behind his back. "She's… my ex girlfriend."
He shot down the stairway after Nightwing. The red haired Thanagarian stood in shock before walking towards the door.
"Another one…?"
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Dick resisted the urge to shiver as he looked around the abandoned observatory. Even though Professor Chang had long since been removed, this place still felt cold, sterile… haunting. He couldn't help but think of the poor souls that Chang had experimented on… poked, prodded… tortured.
Raven closed her eyes and put her hand to her forehead in concentration. The wind whistled angrily as it blew through the thin gap where the telescope would usually go. In a bizarre move, the observatory had been rebuilt, but no new telescope had been built with it. It was like it was just for show for the tourists. Raven walked over to the other end of the observatory, checking for any kind of 'mental fingerprints' left behind. Wally nervously walked over to her, his hands behind his back.
She looked exactly as she had all those years ago, except a little bit more…mature. The part of his brain that was still Kid Flash couldn't help but make his eyes wander a little. He mentally slapped himself, remembering that Raven was an empath.
"So, uh… how are things at the Tower?"
The dark empath paused before responding, never once acting like she had stopped searching. "They're fine."
"And… you're doing okay… I mean, you look…" he paused. "…healthy."
She sighed. "I'm fine, W- Flash."
The Fastest Man Alive was silent at her slip of the tongue. She still felt the urge to call him by his real name. That was good, right?
Dick couldn't help but pity Wally as he vainly attempted to make some kind of conversation with Raven. He was surprised that he was getting any response out of her at all. But then again, if anyone could consistently surprise her, it was Raven. The same was true of Wally, actually. Only he could do what he did to Raven and not be murdered by her as a result. Of course, it wasn't as though it was entirely his fault. She had played a significant hand in it as well.
Shayera broke his concentration.
"How long were they together?"
He paused before responding, crossing his arms. "Who said they were together?"
"Flash did."
"Oh. Well. It wasn't for long." He looked at the two, and if he wasn't wearing his mask, Shayera would have seen his eyes glaze over slightly. "They were happy together, though. It was the only time I'd ever seen Raven laugh on a daily basis."
"What happened?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the silent pair as they walked around the observatory. Wally looked like a puppy that had misbehaved, with his eyes all mopey and his arms behind his back sheepishly as he followed Raven around the dark room. Dick sighed.
"I don't think… I should be the one telling you."
"But he won't tell me. That's the problem."
"Then ask Raven."
Shayera titled her head, her eyes half closed incredulously. "Funny. What happened?"
"Look… I can't, all right? It's-" he let out a frustrated breath. "It's not my place to."
Shayera was about to reply when Raven and Wally approached.
"I'm not getting anything. No-one's been here for… wait." She was silent again.
"Raven?"
She nodded. "There was something here… but it's so well hidden, I almost missed it. I…" she sighed, letting her arms drop in exasperation. "I can't concentrate here. We'll have to go back to the Tower."
Nightwing nodded, and Raven floated away, encapsulating him in black energy for the journey back to the Tower. Flash and Shayera were left stood in the observatory alone. Shayera rubbed her arms in a vain attempt to keep warm.
"See you back at the Tower?" she said, pushing herself off the ground. Flash didn't respond.
"Flash?"
He looked up at her absentmindedly. "Hmm…? Oh, yeah. I'm coming."
The Thanagarian paused briefly. "Just what happened between you two?"
"I… really should back to the Tower."
He sped away, and all that Shayera could see was a red blur creating waves over the water. With a sigh and a shake of her head, she beat her wings to give herself some momentum, and flew back to the Tower.
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His large, hairy grey fingers tapped against one another as he contemplated the situation. The Key and Livewire had been promptly broken out of their prison. Livewire he wasn't too concerned with, but the Key was a valuable member of his group, and one of the few he could trust without the use of force. It was their capture that had brought this situation to his attention. The doors to the conference room opened, and Lex Luthor stepped through.
"I'm finished with the modifications to the Key's weaponry. It'll need testing, but…" he trailed off as he realised Grodd wasn't giving him his full attention.
"I'm sorry, am I boring you?"
The super intelligent gorilla looked up at him with that smug look he always had. "I heard every word, Lex. Just because human males can't multi task, you assume that all males can't." He smiled slightly wider, his teeth showing slightly. "How typical of you, Lex."
The bald criminal simply smiled as he took a seat. "And what has you so enraptured, may I ask?"
Grodd activated the holographic generator embedded in the center of the table. Floating in mid air was an image of the Flash, Shayera Hol, and two that Lex didn't recognise standing in a darkened observatory. He looked over at the gorilla.
"Is there something more to this, or am I going to have to guess?"
And there was the smug look again. "You may recall that we received an anonymous tip a few days ago. It concerned some high level, classified CADMUS technology being kept in a warehouse in Central City."
"Not a particularly convincing place for a black ops government agency to put their technology."
Grodd raised a finger in protest. "The most valuable treasures are hidden in plain sight, Lex. In any case, I believed it was worth the risk, and sent the Key and Livewire to retrieve it. However, whether by accident or by design, two Justice League members prevented the robbery." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "Now, Lex. Hazard a guess as to which two members of the League I am referring to."
Lex raised a curious eyebrow, and glanced over at the holographic image. Grodd nodded.
"So far, they've been to Gotham, Metropolis, and Bludhaven. And I'm beginning to wonder what kind of hunt they're on."
"Who are the other two?"
Grodd zoomed in on the image until only the two mystery characters remained.
"The man with the blue markings on his chest is called Nightwing. He has some kind of past relationship with Batman, although I have yet to discern it. The girl in the robe is named Raven. Both have been members of the superhero group called the 'Teen Titans'."
"Are they still a part of that group?"
"I'm guessing that Nightwing isn't, since he is commonly seen lurking in the shadows of Bludhaven. Raven, however, is rarely seen without her team-mates."
Lex nodded, rubbing his chin in thought. "I see… and why does this concern you?"
"Redirection, Lex. If the League is concentrating on this operation, then they are less likely to see ours. And besides…" he said, changing the hologram to focus on the Flash. "I owe him something special."
"So what are you going to do? Send another two blunderers after them?"
"Nothing so unsightly, Lex. There are four of them, each of them highly skilled. For a task this difficult, I need the best." He pushed a few buttons, and activated a comm signal.
"Who?" Luthor enquired, a quizzical eyebrow raised. As if in response, a shadowy figure appeared on the hologram in front of them. He was sat in a chair that wasn't facing them. All that Lex could see was his right side.
"Yes?"
His voice would have made Lex shudder if he were a weaker man. There was a coldness in his voice that he had heard in few others. He counted himself among them.
Grodd smiled. "I have a job for you."
The shadowy figure was silent for a moment. "You may or may not have heard, but I'm not in that line of work anymore."
"Yes, I know. You simply sit alone, rotting away, while your invaluable skills go to waste. You refused me when I offered you a place in my… organisation. Now, I'm merely asking for one job. A job I need doing well."
Lex leaned over towards Brainiac. "Can you see him?" he whispered, hoping that Grodd wasn't listening. Brainiac's facial expression remained the same.
"No."
"Do you recognise him, at least?"
"No."
Lex scowled and turned back to the transmission. "And you're supposed to be a repository of all knowledge…?"
The man spoke again.
"I'm not interested."
Grodd's smile changed. Luthor had seen that face before. It was when the gorilla had the upper hand, and when he knew it was so. He had seen it many times before.
"I think you will be… once you see the targets."
The man turned to look at them, but Lex was no closer to deciphering his image.
"I'm listening."
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"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…"
Raven was floating in the air, cross legged as she faced the large windows that looked out over the city. Shayera watched with some degree of fascination as she sat at the large dinner table. There was something peaceful and soothing about the watching her chanting. It was similar to when she would watch Dr Fate casting spells. A certain degree of peace would wash over her.
Tranquil.
Wally and Dick, meanwhile, were stood over by the kitchen area, having a cup of Cyborg brand coffee.
"He really makes the beans himself?"
Dick shrugged. "I think it's some kind of synthetic stuff. Doesn't taste as good, but it means he can have pre-programmed drinks."
A red eyebrow rose. "What d'you mean?"
"Well… look." Dick pointed to buttons going all the way down the machine. Each one had a name on it. "For Raven's button, it synthesises herbal tea. For Garfield, hot chocolate. And for Kori…."
Wally leant forward and read the button. "'Mustard coffee'?" The two made a simultaneous 'bleah' face, letting their tongues hang out of their mouths. They took another sip of their coffees, and looked over at the meditating Raven.
"What did you talk about?"
Flash looked over at him, a quizzical eyebrow raised.
"At the observatory, I mean."
The red headed speedster nodded and quickly spoke. "Oh. Well. Nothing much. I asked how things in the Tower were and she said they were good. Then I asked how she was, and she said she was fine. She almost called me Wally though. That's a good thing, right?"
Dick was blinded by the sudden influx of information. He blinked once or twice, then shook his head. "I guess." He looked back over at the dark empath, taking another sip of his coffee. His eyes drifted over to Shayera, who seemed to be drifting away, simply staring into her drink.
"And what about her?" Dick asked, nodding towards Shayera.
"Huh?"
"What have you told her?"
The Flash shifted his weight from one foot to the other at super speed, making him look like an out of control metronome. Nightwing put a hand on his shoulder to make him stop.
"Wally. Calm down."
"Okay. Sorry."
"So? What have you told her?"
"Nothing much. She knows that Jinx is back, and that I know her."
"Are you going to tell her about what happened with you and Raven?"
A pained look crossed the speedster's face. "I dunno…"
Dick finished his coffee and set the mug down on the counter. "Look, Wally. It did happen. There's no use pretending like it didn't. She's your friend, and she deserves to know."
"I… guess."
He still didn't seem convinced. Dick put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She's followed you around to four different cities already, and she's been pretty quiet about it. I think that's earned her the right to know a little bit more about you."
The Flash's hesitation was slowly replaced by resolve. He nodded and finished his coffee, and zipped over to Shayera.
"Hey."
She looked up in mild surprise. Wally smiled.
"Kinda zoned out, huh?"
"Yeah."
"She can do that to you," he said, glancing over at the hovering form by the window. He looked back at Shayera. "Come on. I want to show you something."
Zipping to the doors, he turned at the slightly surprised Shayera. He gestured for her to follow with a wave of his arm. "C'mon."
Feeling a little bit reluctant (she had seen John fall for this trick too many times to count), she pushed herself up from the table and followed.
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The door read 'Kid Flash the First'. Shayera smiled and looked over at her speedster friend.
"They had to change it when Bart moved in," he said, shrugging as he smiled. "Maybe they should just change it to the Flash, huh?" He pushed a few buttons on the outside of the door, and it slid open obligingly.
"Welcome to my old abode," he said, holding out his arm in a grand gesture. Shayera was taken aback. The room was fairly plain, but what surprised her most of all was that it was neat. She looked back at Flash.
"I suppose someone else came in and tidied the place when you left?"
"Nope. All me."
She thinned her eyes disbelievingly, and Wally shrugged. She carefully walked around the room, as though afraid that something would break if she went too quickly. As she reached the dresser, she stopped. On the wall above the dresser was a message board cluttered with photos. There were so many, she didn't know where to begin.
There was one of Kid Flash and Cyborg laughing at a scowling Beast Boy, who in turn was covered in some kind of yellow slime. Wally saw which picture she was looking at and chuckled.
"Cyborg and Beast Boy. Man, did those guys get up to a lot. They still do, come to think of it."
There was another photo of Wally in his Kid Flash guise, his costume torn and bloody. He had his arms around two others. The one on the left, Shayera recognised as Robin, who was also suitably tattered and bruised.
"Dick?" she asked, and Wally nodded.
She continued her examination of the picture. The other one was dressed similarly to Robin, but had short cut flaming hair. His costume was tattered as well.
And they were all smiling and laughing like they had just had the best time of their lives.
"That's Speedy. Well, he's called Arsenal now. He used to be Green Arrow's sidekick, believe it or not."
"You're kidding. Green Arrow had a sidekick?"
Wally nodded. "Still does. He's got a new Speedy. Angry gal, I gotta say."
"Working with Green Arrow, I can understand why."
Flash laughed, and Shayera looked back to the board of the photos. In fact, the majority of them were of Kid Flash, Robin and Speedy getting up to some kind of mischief.
"They used to call us the Terrible Trio," Wally said, the smile on his face showing the memories that were flooding back to him. "They were really good times."
Shayera frowned. "Why aren't there any pictures of Raven here?"
Wally said nothing. He merely walked over to the dresser and opened the bottom drawer. A small wooden box was the only object in there. He delicately lifted it out and stood, closing the door with his foot as he walked over to the bed. The box creaked slightly as Wally slowly opened it, sitting down on the bed as he did so. Shayera took a seat next to him, and the Fastest Man Alive moved the slowest that Shayera had ever seen him move as he pulled the photos out one by one.
But there weren't just photos in the box. There were scraps of paper, cinema tickets, and a lonesome comic book embedded at the bottom of the possessions. Flash smiled.
"I don't think even Raven knows I've kept this stuff," he said, his voice barely past a whisper. Shayera wasn't sure at this point whether he was talking to her or himself. She looked over the photos as Wally handed them to her. The way he was looking at them it seemed like he hadn't seen them in a long time either. Most of them involved Wally smiling and Raven scowling.
As the photos progressed, Raven seemed to relax more and more.
"This one's my favourite," Wally said, handing her one black and white photo. "It was during Starfire's artistic phase."
The two were sat on a park bench, neither dressed in their costume. They both looked so… comfortable. Wally had his left arm resting on the back of the bench, while his other arm was tucked down by his side, his hand entwined with Raven's. Her other hand was rested comfortably on her lap. She even had a smile on her face.
Wally swallowed loudly. "When the Titans expanded," Flash began, his voice croaking slightly, "I brought Jinx with me. I'd met her before, and I'd seen something. She didn't belong with… people like them. She was something different." He sighed heavily, and Shayera put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. He looked up at her and smiled sadly.
"But… the weeks went by, and she couldn't stick with it. She didn't want to go back to crime, but… she couldn't keep it up. She didn't want to be a Titan. We argued, and she left. I uh… I never saw her again. I was really broken up. Me being the stupid kid I was, I though it would go on forever, y'know?"
Shayera offered a small smile.
Wally sighed and continued. "Raven… she…" He looked down at the photo he held in his hand of him and Raven. He gently stroked Raven's image with his thumb. "She helped me get through it. I even learned to meditate a bit," he said, a hint of the Flash grin crossing his face.
"And then…" he said, letting out another heavy sigh. "…you know those stories you hear about patients falling in love with their doctors?" He smiled for an instant, but then it was gone, replaced by something that was a mixture of happiness and sadness.
"She was just so… serene, you know? Everyone I'd known up to that point… they'd all been so… busy up here," he said, pointing to his head. "They just didn't stop. But Raven…" he smiled and shook his head.
Shayera just nodded.
"It all seemed to be going so great… and then I did something stupid. Really stupid." He smiled, though there was more bitterness in the smile than fondness. "We were too young to even think about that taking it that far, but we went ahead and did it anyway. After that… it wasn't the same. God, we were both just kids, and… I was just a kid… and I couldn't deal with it…"
He frowned. "…So I ran away, back to Central City." He shook his head in disgust. "I couldn't bring myself to go back. I just… couldn't. I didn't even want to think about what the other guys thought of me. So I just buried myself in Kid Flash… and women… my uncle made me go to Gotham College, but I was pretty much the same… and then I was the Flash, and I just got worse. I was just… killing myself from the inside out."
He looked up to face her. "And that's when I met you guys. You guys turned me around. You were just so perfect, and brave, and… you expected so much of me, y'know? So I straightened out. That's why I didn't want you to know about all of this. I was just beginning to feel good about myself, to make a difference again. I felt like a real hero for a change. And if I told you, I…"
"You were afraid that we'd see you as less of a hero."
Wally nodded silently. "And I know it was selfish and wrong of me to do that, but… I hadn't felt good… really good… since…"
"Raven."
He nodded again, and then took a deep breath. He blew it out and smiled. "Whew. Sorry about that. Got a little teary eyed there."
He collected all the photos together quickly, putting them back into the box as delicately as he could.
"Wally."
He went over to the drawer and put the box back in.
"Wally."
As he went to the door he turned to face her. "We should we really be going-"
"Wally."
"-I mean, Raven's probably finished by-"
"Wally."
He stopped talking and sighed, his breathing shaky. Shayera stepped forward and embraced her friend as he had done so many times for her. She felt him relax into the embrace, wrapping his arms around her and resting his head on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," he whispered from her shoulder. "I should have told you. You deserved to-"
"I understand, Wally." She pulled herself away from him, and looked up at her friend. "I really do."
The scarlet speedster smiled fondly. "Thanks." He pointed to the ceiling. "I, uh… really think we should be heading back up now. Raven's probably finished."
She nodded, and, after locking the door behind them, headed up to the common room area side by side.
"What did Dick think?"
"Hmm?"
"Dick. You told me before that you went to college with him. Was he…?"
"Ticked off? No. He was having women issues, too, so he couldn't really comment."
"Really? What kind of-"
"Okay, now that's none of your business," Wally said jokingly, putting up a hand to halt her enquiry. "Geez, you're worse than my mom…"
"Oooh… Below the belt."
The two laughed and joked all the way up to the common room.
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Dick turned as the doors opened and saw Wally and Shayera emerge, laughing as they did so. Nightwing smiled. It was always nice to be the instigator of this kind of thing. Wally saw Raven and frowned in puzzlement. He walked over to Dick.
"She's not done yet?"
Dick shook his head. "She couldn't find anything at the observatory, so I told her to look for Jinx."
The scarlet speedster opened his mouth, and then closed it. "Okay."
Nightwing looked over at Shayera. "He told you?"
She nodded, then smiled. "You had trouble with women too, from what I hear."
It was like a scowl chain. Nightwing scowled at Flash, and Flash scowled at Shayera. Wally quickly realised that Dick was giving him the death glare, and quickly started to back away.
"Now… I didn't tell her anything… I just said that y-"
He was interrupted by a pained groan from Raven. She was being thrown back and forth by some unseen force. Flash was by her side in an instant, and grabbed her as she fell backwards to the floor
"What happened?" Dick asked as he ran over.
Raven groaned again. "Something… blocked me. Violently. But I did find Jinx. Or at least some trace of her."
"Can you show us where?" Shayera asked, and Raven nodded. Dick went over to the main computer at the front of the common room, and punched up a globe map. Wally delicately assisted Raven over to the monitor. Closing her eyes, she gestured to a point on the map.
"There."
Dick magnified the area.
"Fawcett City."
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(A/N: Damn… this felt like a whopper to write. Maybe it's all the dialogue, or the emotional stuff… I dunno.
I'm missing Teen Titans already.
Anyway, review.)