Chapter VIII: On Patrol
Raven floated high above the city. A good breakfast had improved her mood immensely. Cyborg must have gone though fifty pounds of flour and sugar feeding everyone. She herself had eaten at least a dozen waffles. The others had easily out done her total. Even Daniel got into the act; he finally found something he actually liked. Thirty years had only added to her friend's cooking abilities. She had sent her sons home after they had all finished.
She didn't envy the person who had to clean up after them. Cyborg, Beast Boy and Robin got into a little waffle altercation at the end of breakfast. Boys will be boys and the girls were in no mood to get in the middle and put a stop to it. She smiled to herself replaying the moment when Robin pegged Beast Boy in the face with a wad of butter. It was good to be back with her friends and relive their youth even if it was only for a day.
Raven looked around; she was hopelessly lost. It had been decades since she had actually been in the city. She looked at the Titan communicator Cyborg had given her. Another useless piece of technology; she had no idea how to work it.
"Aimee?" Raven called out to her partner. "We need to set down so we can let the others know what we've found."
"OK, Ms. Raven," Aimee's voice called out from thin air.
Raven set down on one of the nearby rooftops. She felt much better with her feet on a solid surface again. Her flying abilities were a bit rusty. She was thankful she hadn't run into the side of a building when she took off for the first time. Raven looked down helplessly at the communicator.
Aimee reappeared by her side and watched patiently as Raven fumbled with it. Raven sighed in frustration then handed the device to her younger partner. "I think you can work this better than me."
"Sure Ms. Raven," Aimee gently took the controller and turned it right-side up. She quickly worked through some buttons and read through the various reports from the others. "Nobody's seen anything unusual," Aimee rolled her thumb over the side scrolling through the communicators menu. She looked up at Raven, "What should we tell the others?"
Raven paused for a moment then looked around the cityscape. "We're lost," she turned to Aimee and smiled.
The young girl blinked her eyes for a moment then looked around and laughed. "Yea, we are aren't we?"
"That's what you get when you pair someone who's been away from town for thirty years with someone who's only been here for a couple of months," Raven explained.
Aimee laughed nervously. She was a bit apprehensive being matched up with someone she didn't really know too well. Raven could sense this and tried to smile to get her partner to relax. "I'm sorry, but I'm not all that good with remembering places and stuff," Aimee said apologetically. "Looks like I got my father's sense of direction. Give me a minute and I'll figure out where we are."
Raven watched Aimee look over some of the nearby buildings then look back down at the communicator. She was still shocked at how much she looked like Terra. "Your father has no sense of direction? I thought all men had that," she questioned Garfield's daughter.
Aimee continued to fiddle with the communicator. She looked up and smiled then brushed her hair out of her eyes and looked back down. "My Dad gets lost going to the refrigerator. My Mom's the one who knows how to get to places; Dad and I just go along for the ride." She paused for a second, looked up then looked back at Raven. "We're in the financial district Ms. Raven."
"You can call me Raven. Ms. Raven isn't technically right and it makes it sound like I'm a school teacher or something."
"Don't you have a last name?" Aimee asked. She wanted to follow the same protocol Raven's children had done with her parents and the other former Titans.
Raven thought about Aimee's question for a moment. "No, actually I don't. Morpheus doesn't have a last name."
"How's that?" Aimee replied.
Raven paused again trying to figure out a simple way to explain her situation. "It's kind of complicated actually. My husband's an immortal. You know much about Greek mythology?"
"Yea, I loved reading that stuff when I was growing up." Aimee paused for a moment then her eyes flashed a faint sign of recognition. "Wait a minute, you mean you married the god of dreams? I thought that stuff was all just a bunch of stories."
"Yea so did I until I met him," Raven replied. She was thankful Aimee didn't need a longer explanation. "Just call me Raven; there's no need to be formal here. Where are the others?" She wanted to change the subject to deflect any further discussion about her.
Aimee looked back down at her communicator and scrolled through the other teams' locations. "My Mom and Dad are over in the harbor district, Cyborg and Haley are along the docks and Robin and Starfire are on the other side of town." Aimee continued to stare at the communicator. "This can't be right."
"What's the matter?"
"The communicator says Robin and Starfire are approaching our position, but they can't be moving as fast as this says," Aimee replied slightly perplexed. She began to run a diagnostic.
"How fast?" Raven asked.
"Over 200 kilometers an hour," Aimee explained.
A faint roar began to fill the air. Both girls turned towards the source of the noise. They could see a faint dot quickly closing in on their position. A hover bike was streaking above the city with two riders on it. The rear rider had long flowing red hair.
A small smile crossed Raven's face as she realized Robin had managed to get in his bike ride. Aimee and Raven watched as Robin banked the bike to the side then spiraled upwards into the sky above them. The craft slowed towards its pinnacle then reversed course and gently spiraled down to the roof top where Raven and Aimee stood.
Robin carefully set the bike down on the building roof. Starfire stepped off the bike and removed her helmet. Her hair was ruined but a wide smile occupied her face none the less. Robin shut down the bike, stepped off and took his helmet off revealing an equally satisfied smile.
"Everything OK with you two?" Robin asked as he and Starfire walked towards them.
"Peachy," Raven replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Because you two have been going around in circles for the past hour," he replied with a smile. "You're lost, aren't you?"
"We were," Raven countered. "Aimee figured out where we are. How about you?"
"Just enjoying the ride," Robin continued. "I've got to get me one of these things!"
"Why, so you can go out in a flaming wreck?" Raven asked.
Robin let out a small laugh. "Cyborg programmed the stabilizers to counter any harsh movements a rider could make. I don't think even you could wreck this thing."
Raven looked over at the bike and considered Robin's remarks. "Thanks for the vote of confidence in my driving skills."
"Don't mention it," Robin replied with a smile. "By the way I like your sunglasses."
"Yes, they are most trendy," Starfire added. "I am curious; do they keep up with the current fashions in Hades?"
Raven frowned as her two friends smiled at her. "They were Aimee's idea," she replied dryly. "She was kind enough to get them for me. I'm not used to this much sunlight, after all I've been in the underworld for almost thirty years."
Raven was actually quite grateful that Aimee had bought the sunglasses for her. She didn't have any money and without them she was sure she'd be curled up in some dark alley with a throbbing migraine. She'd have to make sure she paid Aimee back once they were done and complement Terra and Garfield for raising such a good kid.
A faint alert came over their communicators. Robin and Aimee quickly pulled them out and scrolled through the message.
"Looks like the others have found something at one of the warehouses on the docks," Robin said. "We need to get over there as quick as we can. Hop on girls and we'll take you over there with us." Starfire and Robin put their helmets back on and Aimee stepped forward.
Raven felt her heart race. She had no intention of getting on that bike with Robin at the wheel.
"Aimee and I don't have helmets," Raven spoke up anxiously.
"It's OK Raven," Aimee replied. "There's no helmet law here."
That was the first strike against her in Raven's mind. She would have preferred a leisurely flight under her own power than what awaited her on that bike.
"What's the matter Raven; are you chicken?" Robin said. Raven could see his crooked smile from behind the helmet's visor.
"Yes," Raven cringed. Damn her honesty streak. She made a mental note to punch Morpheus when she got back home.
Robin and the three girls quickly hopped on the back of the hover bike. Raven sighed to herself, stepped forward, took a seat on the end of the bike then wrapped her arms around Aimee's waist. She closed her eyes and began chanting "I will not scream, I will not scream" over and over to herself.
Robin started the bike and began to slowly drift up from the rooftop. The bike slowly rotated towards the dock area.
"Hey Raven," Robin shouted back to her.
Raven kept her eyes pinched tight as her heart began to pound. "What?"
"I hope you put on clean underwear this morning," Robin shouted back to her. The bike revved up then took off at high speed as Robin released the clutch. He smiled to himself as he could faintly hear Raven scream from the back of the bike.