Chapter XVI: Sol Invictus (reprise)
Raven watched as the desert sun slowly rose over the horizon. The sands in their hour glass had finally run out. Terra and Beast Boy embraced as the fiery column inched over the horizon breaking Daniel's spell. The three of them glowed fiercely as the last fragments of Daniel's gift wafted into the air.
Aimee looked on sadly as the glow dimmed and the familiar forms of her parents returned. Garfield looked into Terra's blue eyes as strands of her long hair brushed against his face in the light desert breeze. He pulled her towards him and kissed her. They slowly pulled apart and rested their foreheads against one another in a warm embrace. Aimee would join them moments later.
"Mom, Dad are you OK?" she cautiously asked them.
"Yes," Terra whispered to her. "Your father and I are all right."
The Logans turned to Raven who stood several feet away from them. Her face was grim. They still hadn't found Gato's hide out. She and the others could only imagine what the other group was going through now.
"Who wants a change of cloths?" Raven asked unexpectedly.
"What do you mean?" Garfield replied.
"I mean who wants to get out of these silly outfits," Raven replied.
Garfield looked at her slightly hurt. He wasn't sure what Raven was talking about since to him there was no real change in her appearance.
"I wouldn't mind changing back into my field outfit," Terra spoke up. She would feel much more comfortable in a baggy shirt and shorts than the skimpy cloths she was in now. Hopefully Garfield would feel the same way since he filled out his outfit much more now than when he was a teenager.
"Great," Raven replied. She turned and looked at Garfield. "Last chance tubby."
"I'm fine thank you."
"Suit yourself," Raven closed her eyes and concentrated. Her familiar robe and crown appeared in her hands after a brief second along with Terra's cloths and field hammer.
"Here you go Terra," Raven held Terra's cloths up for her to take. "I got your hammer too; figured you'd like something familiar while I was at it."
"Thanks." Terra took her things and began pulling off her old Titan's costume.
Raven quickly joined her as she took off her cape and undid the back zipper to her outfit. Garfield watched as the two women quickly stripped in front of him.
"What are you two doing?"
"Changing," Terra said unabashidly with a smile. "What's the matter, never seen your wife undress before?" With that Terra quickly pulled her cloths off then put her baggy top on before she pulled her familiar khaki shorts up then tucked in her shirt.
Raven laughed as she pulled off her leotard. She turned around so Garfield would only see her from behind. Raven glanced back and smiled slyly noticing Garfield was enthralled with the back of her naked body. Mortal modesty was so overrated. She piled her old cloths in a heap then pulled her white robe over her head before she turned back around to face the others.
Garfield still stood gawking at Raven. He quickly looked down when she turned around embarrassed that she had caught him staring at her. She giggled to herself thoroughly enjoying her tease before she reached down and picked up her radiate crown.
"It's OK Garfield, I'm fully clothed now."
"Not funny," Garfield said as he looked back up at her.
"Relax, will you. I thought you'd be used to seeing naked women by now being the only male in your family," Raven lightly chided him. "Besides if you did anything inappropriate I'd sic Morpheus on you."
Garfield shook his head in disgust as he watched Raven put her crown on her head. "What's up with that crown?" he asked her.
"It was a wedding gift from my father-in-law. I can't just can't tell Hades lord of the underworld thank you and put it up in the attic. Besides I like it," Raven explained as she placed it on her head. She had fully embraced the formal dress of the immortals.
"It makes you look like the Statue of Liberty," Garfield said as he gave her a peculiar look. "What is it supposed to be anyway?"
Raven looked up then sighed to herself. "It's a radiate crown. The points are supposed to represent the sun's rays. It was very popular among the ancient Greek kings and pagan Roman emperors. You really know how to take the glory out of something don't you Garfield," Raven said in slight exasperation.
"Um, I don't mean to interrupt your pleasant conversation but we really need to figure out what to do ," Aimee gently chided the others. They still hadn't found Gato's hideout or what had happened to the others.
The group stood silently for a moment unsure what to do next. They had been crisscrossing the desert all night without finding anything substantial. Time was running out; the sunlight would expose all of them to Gato's men. Raven looked at Terra and formulated a plan. She nearly kicked herself for not thinking of it earlier.
"Terra, can you still commune with rocks?" Raven asked her. She remembered the time the both of them engaged in this activity to help Terra tame her powers when she returned to the Titans.
"Yea, why?"
"I've got an idea," Raven explained. "Maybe if we can combine your rock communing with my divination we can find Gato's hide out."
"It's worth a shot I guess," Terra replied unsure exactly what Raven had in mind.
Raven stepped towards Terra until she was looking directly into her eyes. Both women smiled at each in slight discomfort. Raven reached out and gently clasped Terra's hands.
"Try and clear your mind and concentrate on finding Gato's site. I'll try and divine a direction once it comes into focus," Raven instructed. "Are you ready?"
"I think so."
"OK," Raven replied. "Now close your eyes and become one with the Earth."
Terra took a deep breath, closed her eyes and tied to focus. At first she couldn't see anything. Then slowly she felt her spirit begin to flow into the Earth in all directions.
"Good," Raven's voice echoed gently in Terra's mind. "Now find the disturbance, find the unnatural."
Terra's spirit began flowing through the deep strata underneath her seeking that one area that did not belong. She had it; she could see the scoured caverns of Gato's hide out; the heavy machinery, the infinite cable lines and more importantly the large number of henchmen guarding it. Terra trembled when she realized how heavily outnumbered they were.
"Easy Terra," Raven's reassuring voice called to her in her mind. "Don't worry no one can see us. Give me another second to get a fix then we can get out of here."
Terra tried to remain calm as Raven methodically determined their location. She was going to loose it if Raven didn't hurry.
"OK, now come back slowly," Raven instructed her.
Terra slowly withdrew and made her way cautiously through the strata and back into her body. She cautiously opened her eyes then became overwhelmed with a sudden sense of vertigo. Raven gently held her up as she fought to regain her balance. The two women smiled gently to one another. Raven released her grasp as Terra recovered from her ordeal.
"We found it," Raven announced. "Aimee we need to let the others know what's going on and choose a rendezvous site. But don't send them the hide out location. That way Gato won't know we've found them."
Aimee pulled out her communicator then pulled up the area map. Raven walked over and tried to orient herself with the screen. "Terra I need your help."
Terra walked over and looked at the map her daughter had pulled up. She quickly picked the area where she and Raven had located Gato's hide out. "That's it," she pointed.
Raven nodded in agreement. "We need to figure out where the others are then chose a point close to them where we can meet."
"Shouldn't we choose a point in the middle?" Aimee asked.
"No," Raven replied. "The others can't fly. We'll need to choose a point close to them then we'll all fly over and make our assault together."
"I'll signal them and get their position then we can figure out where to go from there," Aimee replied. She signaled the Graysons. A reply came back with the other group's position. Aimee plotted it out on their map and quickly worked out a meeting point and passed it on to the others.
"We're good," Aimee replied as she quickly killed their communicator. "Let's go."
"I think we've got a problem," Garfield replied glumly.
The others turned and noticed Garfield was crumpled on the ground rubbing his ankle. Terra ran over to her husband and knelt next to him.
"What happened?"
"I turned my ankle while you guys were trying to find Gato's hide out," Garfield said in frustration. "Why the hell did this have to happen now?"
Raven slowly walked towards Terra and Garfield. A sudden feeling of dread filled her. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Garfield turned his ankle," Terra explained grimly.
"Let me see," Raven replied as she knelt down to inspect Garfield's ankle.
She lightly touched it with her left hand. Garfield bit down on his lip as a tear fell out of his eye. Raven knew it was either broken of severely sprained.
"If you give me ten minutes I can mend it," Raven offered.
"There's no time for that now," Terra countered. "The others are on their way and Gato's gonna get a fix on us soon. You two need to rendezvous with the others. Garfield and I will be all right."
The others looked at Garfield who continued to look down at his injured ankle in disgust. There was a brief pause. Raven did not like abandoning them here but they didn't have much choice. Terra was right, they had to move now.
"Go on you two, we'll be all right," Terra urged them.
Raven shook her head reluctantly. Aimee quickly knelt down and gave her father one last hug and kiss good bye. Terra grabbed Raven's hand, pulled her towards her and hugged her tightly then whispered into her ear, "Be careful and please bring my daughter back."
Raven squeezed her in reassurance then pulled herself from Terra's grasp and gave her a slight nod. She would do her best to ensure that Terra and Garfield's only child would see them again despite the odds.
Terra and Garfield sat in the early morning sun and watched Raven and Aimee prepare to leave. Aimee gave them a brave smile then disappeared. Raven turned quickly not wanting to linger too long. She rose into the sky and headed for their meeting point without looking back.