Continuation of chapter 44...because I felt like it.

Oh and remember, this is an AU so the characters may be a bit OoC


Matter of Time

When the Titans- including the new recruits -went on a day out, Dick immediately felt as if they were being watched.

He had always been well-aware of his surroundings; he wouldn't have survived his first week as Robin if he didn't.

So now, as they were walking through the park, it was clear it wasn't just them.

"Yo, Dick!" Karen called. "Are you stayin' over there or coming with us?"

He raised an eyebrow at the Bee-themed hero, but followed anyway; thinking the black raven hiding in the trees was just a bird.

But then again, normal ravens didn't have a purple glow, did they?

As he caught up with the rest of the team, he smiled. It had been difficult to convince them at first, but he managed to make the Tyrants join the good side. He was happy to see they felt at home with the Titans.

However, he wouldn't have been able to do it without Raven; the person least likely to join the good side.

Nightwing jumped down from the roof; using his grapple hook to land safely. He quickly made his way to the place the others were and just watched what was happening.

The Titans were winning.

Wonder Girl had been trapped by her own lasso and was yelling out all of her deepest and darkest secrets because of it, Aqualad was able to focus on killing the fire while she was tied up.

Jinx was getting tired from fighting the speedster, which he took advantage of.

Unfortunately for Bumble Bee, Cyborg managed to hack into her suit's system and caused the exoskeleton to malfunction; forcing her to take it off and give up her advantage of flight. But that didn't mean she'd back down, it just seemed to make her angrier and more determined to win.

Cheshire had no problem keeping up with Speedy, from the way they were fighting...it seemed more like they were dancing around each other. If she threw a punch or kick, he dodged expertly. If he shot arrows, sometimes four at a time, she just twirled and jumped around them with such grace you'd think she was performing; which was impressive, especially when she was wearing that giant mask.

Honestly, from this point, Nightwing just knew they were playing with each other.

He always knew Roy had a soft spot for her.

Starfire was getting agitated, and her powers were showing it. She definitely didn't like Jericho taking control of her body like that, her starbolts were getting fiercer and more aggressive as she flew around him in circles. But despite all that, it was obvious she was blinded by her rage; her defense and balance was all wrong. It would be easy to take her down if she wasn't paying attention.

Terra had already seen they were losing, so she trapped herself in a cage of rocks. She was still watching everything, in case one of her teammates needed help.

The sound of a bird calling caught everyone's attention and they looked up at the sky.

A huge shadow-like raven came into view, its wings spread so wide it practically covered the sun. Its four red eyes glared down at the scene, before diving head-first down and flying past each and every one of the Tyrants. Every time the raven passed one of the girls, she got completely covered in the shadows; you wouldn't even be able to see Starfire's light through all the darkness.

And whenever the bird moved on to the next Tyrant, the one it lingered at before was completely gone; as if she was sucked up by the darkness.

Cheshire looked back for a second before turning to face Speedy. "Goodbye, archer," she said lowly.

He didn't have time to process anything before she kicked him and somersaulted away, waving as she jumped towards the shadow bird.

The raven's four eyes locked on Nightwing for a second, before it flew away at top speed.

Beast Boy morphed into an eagle, but the Titans leader pulled him back before he could follow.

"Wait, I have a plan."


Alert! Titans spotted!

Raven opened her eyes and smiled softly, well, Nightwing certainly didn't waste time.

She calmly interrupted her trance, not caring that breaking off a meditation could be dangerous for her. The half-demon climbed out of her bed and allowed her eyes to glow white instead of the usual red, all of her important belongings started flying across the room and packing itself into a suitcase. When she was done, her eyes didn't go back to four red ones; turning into two regular amethyst eyes instead.

She lowered her hood and focused all of her energy into forcing her most dangerous emotion back, Rage was surprised to be pushed back after being freed for so long; so surprised that it didn't take Raven much effort to lock her away...for the time being.

The half-demon looked down at her pitch black cloak and glared at it with disgust, this was the exact type of clothing her father would want her to wear, and today was all about defying him. She took the cloak off and threw it in the trashcan before walking towards her closet.

In between all the black cloaks were two different ones; a blue one with a purple hue, and a white one. The white one belonged to her mother and was meant to symbolize purity despite all of Arella's faults. The other one was a present from an old friend, Azar always thought Raven could be good if she wanted to, or at least neutral; which was what the cloak stood for.

She definitely wasn't pure, she had killed dozens of people, so the blue cloak was her best option.

In the back of her mind, she could hear the other emoticlones chanting and urging her to go on, maybe even join the Titans, but she knew she couldn't do that. She could also hear the enraged and confused curses and questions from her six brothers.

She smirked and held out her right hand, the demonic-looking mirror flying into it effortlessly. She looked into the mirror with clear boredom on her face and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

She felt a little smug at the surprised faces of her brothers as they took in her appearance and the lack of demonic edge to her voice. Her voice sounded normal- maybe a little monotone, but still normal. "Sister Pride, what are you doing?!"

Raven rolled her eyes and sat back down on the bed, brushing a strand of hair from her face. "Making sure my team is happy and safe."

"That's...nice," one of them said, shivering in disgust at the word.

"You can't do that!" another protested.

"I care more about my team than about you guys or father, so yes, that was nice. Besides, I'm older than you, don't tell me what to do." She deadpanned, getting up and smashing her mirror to the ground, ignoring the protests of her brothers.

It wouldn't be long before her father contacted her. Yay, just what she was waiting for.

Raven snapped her fingers and watched as the suitcase disappeared, she looked around one last time and sighed before leaving the room.

This was going to be the last time she'd ever be there. Probably the last time she would ever interact with her team.

It was for the best.

She calmly made her way to the roof, not even surprised as a portal opened up in front of her, showing her downright livid father sitting in his throne.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Now, Trigon wasn't a gentle being. It was a well-known rumor that he could petrify you by just glancing at you. So nobody would want him yelling at you, it could only be followed by punishment of the worst kind; a lot worse than the most painful death you could think of.

But Raven had no reaction to it at all, she just stared at her father calmly, staring right into the dark pits of fire that were his eyes. Something you never did.

"Mother and Azar were right," she said simply, her voice holding no emotion at all, just a solid monotone. Which was actually scarier than her father yelling, Raven was powerful, maybe even more so than the Demon King Trigon himself (which was something he was terrified of) so her standing there so calmly and emotionless...it was a red flag for anyone to get the hell out of there.

Trigon seemed surprised at his daughter's answer. "You're wearing the cloak that cursed Azar gave you, what does this mean, daughter?"

She rolled her eyes. "It means that I've had enough," she took a step closer to the portal, her amethyst eyes taking a darker tone, but they didn't turn red, they didn't even multiply. "It means that I'm done with you."

All the color in her eyes faded, the whites and irises turned a pitch black no one had ever seen before.* "It means that I'm coming for you," she smirked, flashing her sharp teeth and giving her a predatory look that was truly terrifying. She raised her hand, black energy powering up and flickering everywhere. "That's a promise, father."

She let go.

The pure and raw power shot straight through the portal and hit the Demon King right in his chest, he roared loudly from the pain; the force nearly knocking him off his throne as her eyes went back to normal and she closed the portal. "Goodbye."

The half-demon took a deep breath and leaned over the edge of the roof, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she saw her teammates getting ready to attack the Titans without even listening. She knew they wanted to accept their offer, but they didn't want to leave her. She had to step in.

Raven shifted into a smaller version of her soul-self. This form actually looked like a regular raven, just fully black (including the eyes) and with a mystical purple hue around it.*

"Did you really think we'd leave Raven?" Jinx said, pink electricity flickering around her.

"We aren't stupid," Wonder Girl said, narrowing her eyes. "We don't believe she told you to ask us to join."

Cheshire casually leaned against the wall, looking at the reflection of her eyes in one of her throwing knives. Her eyes were the only thing the mask didn't cover. "You've got to try harder," in a flash she had her hand stretched out and the knife was stuck into the wall just a centimeter from Speedy's head. She winked.

Speedy gritted his teeth, silently cursing Nightwing for giving the order of not fighting. If he hadn't he would've shot a couple of arrows at Cheshire already. As sexy as she was, she was challenging him.

Terra tossed a couple of rocks into the air, the size of the rocks getting larger and larger until there was a fair amount of boulders flying above her head. Her eyes glowed yellow as she casually twirled the rocks around, almost as if she was just playing and doing it to kill time, but the warning was clear.

Starfire and Bumble Bee weren't so subtle, it was obvious they were waiting to attack.

A small raven landed behind the Tyrants, morphing back into her normal form and glaring at her teammates.

Terra stumbled and dropped her rocks in surprise when she saw how her leader looked. The rocks would've crushed both the Tyrants and Titans if Raven hadn't reacted quickly and trapped the rocks in a bubble of black energy, she clenched her fist and the bubble tightened until the rocks inside were nothing but dust.

"Raven?" Bumble Bee muttered.

Nightwing smiled, he knew she said she could never join the good side, but the blue cloak was a clear sign she wasn't a part of the wrong side anymore. If she kept this up, then maybe he could prove her wrong.

The half-demon stayed where she was, ignoring all the surprised looks of both teams; this was the first time anyone (excluding Nightwing) had seen her looking...normal. "Go with them," was all she said.

"Woah, wait, what?!" Jinx turned to face her, concern on her face. "Raven, are you okay?"

"Fine."

Starfire stepped closer. "Then what they said...is true?"

"Yes," Raven held a hand up and stepped back, a clear sign for them to not come closer. "Everything Nightwing told you is true, don't underestimate me, I know you want to join them." She smiled, which was another surprise for everyone. "Don't worry about me."

Her eyes locked on Nightwing and the soft look in them hardened. "Remember what I said, don't break my trust."

Both teams were watching the scene in surprise. Hold up, Raven actually trusted someone? And that someone was Nightwing?

The former Boy Wonder smiled. "I never break my promises."

She nodded, looked one last time at her team and smiled. "Take care." Shadows wrapped around her and shot up into the sky.

Wonder Girl was about to follow, but was stopped when three throwing knives got thrown right in front of her with deadly accuracy, if she had taken just one step closer...

Cheshire shook her head slowly and pushed herself away from the wall. "Raven was clear, wasn't she?" She passed Wonder Girl and ripped her knives out of the wall, brushing a single strand of her teammate's hair off coolly. She stopped walking when she was in front of Nightwing and just stared into his masked eyes.

She took her mask off and shook her silky black hair out as if what she was doing was the most normal thing in the world. She had olive skin, dark eyes and sharp features. The look in her eyes was playful, exotic, but still dangerous. It was safe to say she had the deadly kind of beauty.

"My name is Jade."


Currently, the Titans sat in the park; only missing two members. Wonder Girl and Terra. Wonder Girl had woken Wonder Woman's curiosity and urged her to investigate. Turns out that Donna was an Amazon and in fact Diana's younger sister, it was just that when Hades failed to take Diana, he took Donna instead and she was never heard of again. Until now.

Wonder Woman decided to train the new Titan herself, although it was also to make up for all the lost time between them. Donna gladly took up the offer, but no one could really blame her for that.

As for Terra...her brother found her. That was when the Titans found out her name was Tara Markov and that she was a princess, according to her brother, they needed to return to their planet immediately. She went with him, although it was clear she only did so because she had to.

But Dick just couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched, he must be going crazy, everywhere he looked, he could see that same strange raven again. It was almost as if...

His eyes widened.

When no one was looking, he slipped away and made his way towards Titans Tower.

She was there, sitting on the roof with her back facing him and the hood of her blue cloak down.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, walking closer.

Raven looked up at him and shrugged before pushing herself onto her feet. "I've been following you, I think you've noticed."

He rolled his eyes. "Why?"

"Making sure you kept your promise, and so far, you did. My team is happy," she smiled, her amethyst eyes shining with happiness. "Thank you."

"...No problem," he hoped she didn't notice the way it took him some time to answer. He was just taken aback by her smile, it was a really rare sight for the woman once described as the 'Devil of Jump City' to smile, especially at him. Yep, that was it, it had nothing to do with how beautiful she looked when she was smiling.

But she noticed, he could see it from the glint in her eyes and the smirk on her face. He was just thankful she didn't say anything.

Only then did he notice the white piece of clothing in her arms, she was clutching it tightly, as if it was a lifeline.

Her eyes followed his and she smiled softly. "It was my mother's, she always believed I could be good. That's why I made the decision to defy my father and let the Tyrants go," she looked up at him. "You were just the final push I needed."

Was he blushing? Oh God, he hoped he wasn't blushing. The Titans and Bat Family would never let this go if they ever found out.

"I just take it with me wherever I go, don't know why."

"Then why don't you just wear it?" He asked.

She shrugged. "It resembles purity, something I'm not." She looked down at it. "Maybe, one day, when I made up for all my sins, but by the time I did that I should be about forty in Demon years. So I'll never make it."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because I'm only half-demon, I won't live that long. Forty in Demon years is about...three-hundred in human years, I think?" She frowned. "Wait, no, maybe two-hundred and fifty?"

Wow.

Raven bit her lip as she was thinking, there was a far away look in her eyes, which made it clear she didn't know she was doing it. Dick still thought it was cute.

She shook her head. "Forget it, the point is, I knew you'd follow me. I made it pretty clear I was following you," she tilted her head and smiled. "I just wanted to say thank you, for everything you did, for Gotham, Jump, the world, my team. Just...everything."

"You could thank me by joining us," he smiled softly and stepped closer. "I know you want to, admit it."

She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Maybe one day, if you're patient. I still need to figure out some things, meet some people," she shrugged. "Set some things straight."

Her eyes moved upwards to the sky and her brows furrowed, as if she was seeing- or sensing -something he couldn't. "I should go," she leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Maybe I'll join the Titans sooner than expected, if you'll have me...I miss my team."

The half-demon turned and jumped off the roof, leaving him there with his thoughts.

He smirked and put his hands in his pockets as he made his way to leave the roof, she had called him naive when he said he saw good in her, but everything she just did and said proved he was right. It was only a matter of time.

His blue eyes followed the raven flying away and he smiled.

Only a matter of time.


*Remember what happened in Fear Itself?

*Think of the way Raven makes her entrance before a fight in Injustice: Gods Among Us.