Disclaimer: Never. Sorry about that, too.

Warning: This takes after Maelstrom. You won't be able to understand it if you do not read that first. Slight blood references. ...on some storm clouds... is a line break.

Pairings: Changeling:Raven, Slight Nightwing:Starfire, Slight Cyborg:Bumblebee.

Chapter One: Lost and Found

8 years have passed…
8 years since I returned to the friends and lover I have left after running…
When they found out I had a daughter, and her name was Emily…
And that she wasn't the only one…
8 years, and so much, every moment of it spent searching for Slade and hunting him down…

Now it is time.

"Concentrate, Emily." Silver threads shot through with light green wound themselves around the figure in the center of the room, melting away. A teen around 13 years of age stood there, one hand on her hip as the other brushed a short strand of lime hair out of her eyes, green irises sparked with annoyance.

"I know, Mom. I was doing fine without coaching!" The older woman on the opposite side of the room stared calmly back, violet eyes the color of her long hair unreadable. With a graceful hand she gestured towards the wall. Several teacups had been reduced to a mound of dust and Emily rolled her eyes. "Okay. So I need to work on it, But I'm hungry! Please, Mom?" Raven sighed remembering all too well how others felt at that age.

"If you have to. Go on, get out." Emily, also known as Mirror to the rest of the world, flashed her mother a toothy smile and raced upstairs, leaving the woman below swiftly. Once she was out of earshot and the sounds of her footsteps faded, Raven pushed her blue cloak aside and unclipped a communicator. It flashed and a map of the city popped up, accompanied by the sound of Nightwing's voice.

"We've found him." She stared intensely at the square of light, memorizing the position of two dots, one black and one red.

"All right. I'll be there."

"Mirror doesn't know, does she?"

"No. And that's how it should be for now." Nightwing gave a slight sigh.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." With that she shut it off and went upstairs. Passing the couch, she glanced down. Two boys were tussling over a controller, completely oblivious to her presence. With a thought, black power pulled the two apart, deftly removing the controller out of reach and flipping off the TV. They paused, not quite realizing what had happened until the two looked up at her, eyes widening. Blazefire's, aka Tyk, blue eyes were contrasted by his red hair, the eight year old blinking as he looked guiltily towards the other child on the couch. Zeek twiddled his thumbs, black hair falling over brown eyes which peered up at Raven as fingers played nervously with his hand cannon.

"'Ello, Aunt Raven." Tyk's voice was insolently cheerful. Raven merely stared at them from under her hood. After another moment they scooted apart, chewing on lips or becoming very interested in the view out the window. She raised an eyebrow slightly and they gulped.

"Sorry, Miz Raven." Zeek said sadly. Knowing it was not quite an act, and mostly caused by the loss of the GameStation 2, Raven turned away without a reprimand. There was silence, until she walked out the door- and then their scuffle over video game controllers resumed. With an small, amused grin for their antics, Raven continued her walk and remembered her purpose. The steps took her to Emily's room and she knocked on the door. A crack appeared, Emily's green eye looking out at her as a blast of music accompanied its appearance. Emily blinked, surprised to at her mother's visit, and drew back, turning away. The music cut off as she turned off the stereo.

"What's up, Raven?" The door slid open all the way and her daughter gestured for Raven to come in. Raven shook her head.

"I'm leaving you in charge if Cyborg's still in the garage; they've found Slade." Em nodded. All the teenager knew was that Slade was a figure from Raven's past that she had to settle with. The girl had no idea that Slade had her half-sister- but Raven didn't want her to know. If Slade had perverted Hailey beyond all hope, she didn't want the teen to hold back.

"Okay. Come back soon!" Mirror waved cheerfully at her mother and returned to her bed. Raven turned and walked into the shadows.

...on some storm clouds...

A bubble of black rose from the sidewalk, dispersing to reveal Raven. She looked at the four in front of her. Starfire looked equally worried and angry. Nightwing stood by the door of the warehouse, serious face a classic. Bumblebee had a hand on her hip, the gold wedding ring flashing in the light. Changeling had been almost right; she had flat out asked Cyborg if they were going to get married. The half robot had immediately gotten down on one knee and proposed and things went on from there. Even caring for her hyper seven-year-old son hadn't taken the sting off her attitude. And last but not least, Changeling. He watched her with concerned green eyes a shade darker than Emily's. She met his gaze for a moment and then turned to Nightwing.

"He's in there?"

"Yes." She moved, hand reaching to grasp and turn the cold metal handle, but Nightwing stopped her. "We're coming in with you."

"No." Her flat purple eyes burned with a long held anger. "This is my fight." He set his jaw but, after a moment, stepped aside.

"We'll be right here." She didn't respond, only opened the door and walked in.

It was pitch black inside. Raven walked to the middle and stopped.

"I know you're in here, Slade, and I want my daughter back." There was silence until a form seemed to materialize in the darkness.

"Well well well, Raven. Forgotten the manners I taught you?" His one eye looked at her disdainfully. She didn't react, only tensing minutely. "A mistake, Raven." Both moved in an instant.

What seemed like hours later they stilled, Raven's hand caught in his grip. She glared at him with near unimaginable hate when his eye scanned her hand.

"Foolish, Raven. You've provided me with another hold against you." The simple gold band on her finger shone quietly in the darkness. The half-demon snarled, leg whipping up to catch him in the stomach. He flew across the room as she rose.

"You may have learned a few tricks, Slade, but I have too." The battle resumed. Raven fought with the same cold and calculating edge that Slade used, but an inner fire drove her on, pushing the woman to her limits and beyond. Blows, kicks, shields, claws of black magic- anything went as once captor and once victim fought, this time on an equal playing ground. Raven didn't have the martial arts experience Slade did in close combat, and she knew it. Her magic mixed with the inky darkness and never faltered, as it would have 8, or 15, years ago. Finally the two enemies paused, sweat trickling down Raven's face, even Slade's breathing increased.

"Give me back my daughter."

"Now really, Raven, did you really think that I would just let you take her? I assure you, I wouldn't do that. After all, she only knew you for six months, and me for the rest of her life. You see, Raven," and he gestured elegantly, "you don't have a daughter. But I do." As violet eyes widened and then narrowed, he called. "Apprentice, come." At the instant of Raven's sharp inhale, a purple pool formed next to him and a young girl stepped gracefully out.

Long blond hair with violet streaks fell to her waist, cold blue eyes observing and noting every detail as the shattered shapes of blue and purple on her uniform intensified the 'breaking' aura around her. Even as Raven almost cried out in recognition of her daughter, Slade motioned to the teen.

"Finish her off." Only instinct saved her, a black shield rising to deflect the deep purple lances of power that flew from the teen's hands. The barrage paused momentarily and Raven lowered the shield, the cold concrete floor pressing roughly against her knees.

"Raven, meet my apprentice: Refraction." She raised another wall, the bolts of magic slamming into the black protection. Setting her power on auto-pilot, Raven reached out with her mind, seeking and finding the conscious entity that was Refraction, making contact. For a moment there was a connection, a feeling akin to recognition- and then an oozing, pus-likeorangefog rolled into Raven's mind, searing her. With a cry of agony she withdrew into her own body, barrier disappearing as three darts that glowed in the darkness flew towards her. Two sliced into the outer part of her arm, spilling blood. The third slid into her chest- and vanished without any visible damage. A precious second went by as the Titan's cry ceased, mind already beginning to heal itself – and then the pain of her soul being torn apart rocked her back. This time the tortured scream was enough to make Refraction pause in her attack, staring at the strange woman. Slade didn't motion for her to resume the offense and so she watched coolly as her soul-shredder did its work.

...on some storm clouds...

A wail passed through the Tower, a scream mounting in pitch. Cyborg, who had been about to tell Emily he was out of the garage, punched down the door. It looked like Emily had been sitting Indian style on the bed, but now her legs were drawn up to her chest, hands clutching her head, green pupils dilated to mere dots in her eyes. Before he could try to ask what had happened, she closed her eyes and opened them again. This time, however, they glowed the silver reflection of her power.

...on some storm clouds...

The kneeling woman was screaming in the pure pain that only her soul-shredder could make. It wasn't that Refraction was unaffected; no, the woman's cries both hurt her and astonished her, though she didn't show it. Instead, it was that the people on the receiving end of her 'darts tended to be dead before they hit the ground. Slade's apprentice had no idea how the cloaked form was still alive. Suddenly, something changed. The odd woman closed her eyes for a second, the pained violet pools hidden by her eyelids for a moment- and then they opened and were lime green. Refraction had only a split second to catch the second voice under the first, screaming not because of pain, but rather fury becoming the new undertone. The pale hands which had been clutching her head were thrown violently out to her sides, parallel to the floor as slender fingers twisted. The next instant her master and herself were surrounded by perfect copies of the still crying figure, voice multiplied.

The blue-eyed teen threw up a barricade- just as the silver power, different from the black of before, collected and threw itself at her, manifested in a multitude of animal shapes that battered her defenses. She looked over at her father from behind her raised arms. His one eye was taking it all in- and looked mildly surprised. That was new! Who was this curious person, who surprised Slade and survived her soul being broken into nothingness? As if he felt her gaze on him, her master gave a short nod. In an explosion of purple she released her powers. The screams and attacks stopped as her last effort pierced the heart of each clone and the original. Drained, Refraction refused to even hint at weakness as the resistor's green eyes stared at her for another minute before flickering to an exhausted violet. Slade turned partially.

"Let us go, Apprentice." She obligingly summoned a portal with the minute reserves she had left, holding it as he stepped through. The door blasting off it's hinges didn't phase her as she calmly watched the odd human bend over, retching blood. Feelingly oddly detached she cut the 'cord' connecting whatever energy she had left to the soul-shredder, leaving it to fade if the woman survived. As she turned to leave, the violet haired woman raised her head and made the briefest of contacts with her own blue eyes. Something itched at the back of Refraction's mind, but she dismissed it and slid through the portal. Whatever Slade had in mind for the strange woman didn't affect her, so she didn't need to know.

...on some storm clouds...

Changeling and the others burst through the door as Raven raised her head, struggling to reach her child one more time- only to put it back down as the blond slid through the dying portal. In mere moments they had reached her, but she weakly put a shield around herself. One more cough and the last of the blood was gone from her airway. A hand wiped away the blood from her mouth as the other, on the ground, pushed her weight up. The four silenced at the cold, hollow look in her eyes as Raven let her cloak fall around her.

"Slade has a new apprentice. Her name is Refraction." Eyes widened and they traded looks as the half-demoness walked out the door, refusing to let them touch her as Changeling moved behind her, pain in his eyes. Slowly the other three made their way out behind the two. The door closed, it's last bits of light falling on the drying blood staining the concrete.

A/N: And so starts Upheaval. I'm telling you now, it will be on a different update schedule than Maelstrom! I'm having some difficulty with it, so be patient. The bonus chapter, Nightwing and Starfire's wedding, will follow- sometime. Thanks to everyone who reviewed Maelstrom Seven- hope you liked this one!