The next morning …
The dining hall was quiet and mostly deserted. It was 7 AM, or at least is was in Jump City. The Watchtower had its own time zone, which according to the clock on the wall was 2 AM. Raven welcomed the solitude while she ate her oatmeal, consuming it in small teaspoon fulls. She took a sip of tea occasionally as she ate, staring out of the huge window at the blue orb outside. Her room at the Tower suddenly felt very distant.
The reception Raven received was non-eventful, at best. As soon as the Javelin arrived at the space station her hosts had to take off on a mission. She was received by a female station staff member who wore the standard blue jumpsuit which was the official uniform for non heroes. The staffer, whose ID badge identified herself as Bernadet Kocza, spoke with a slight Hungarian accent when she welcomed Raven to the Watchtower.
In a very efficient manner Raven was given her own ID badge with a lanyard. She was told that she had a security level "Delta", which meant that there were some doors her badge wouldn't open, and was asked to please not use her teleportation or phasing powers in the Watchtower, as they would trigger alarms.
Bernadet then gave her a whirlwind tour of space station, which concluded at Raven's quarters. She was given a welcome package, with dozens of printed pages, and a communicator earpiece. Bernadet then excused herself, and left.
The welcome package was very thorough and explained just about anything a rookie might want to know about the station: the dining hall, medical facilities, laundry, security protocols, etc.
The final page was custom tailored for Raven. It informed her that she was a member of Psi Team. Raven knew that Psi (Ψ) is the 23rd letter in the Greek alphabet. She wasn't expecting to be in Teams Alpha, Beta or Gamma, but Psi? She continued reading and learned that her teammates were Jupiter Man, Solstice, Bunker and Lava Girl. She had never heard of any of them and inquiries she made on the console in her room indicated that they had yet to arrive at the space station. She wondered what their first mission would be. Perhaps rescuing a stray cat? She read their dossiers to familiarize herself with her new teammates.
She ate dinner the night before, again in an empty dining hall. She had some pizza and an orange soda. So much for meeting new people.
-(-)-
Two days later she was already adjusted to the station's time. She woke up early that morning and was meditating before heading to the dining hall when the console in her room chirped, indicating that there was a message for her: Team Psi would have its first meeting at 10:00 AM in meeting room #63.
-(-)-
Raven arrived at 9:55 and room #63's doors swished open. Her new teammates were already assembled. They were chatting with each other when the doors opened and immediately fell silent. Judging by the looks on their faces, they all knew who she was. They were all very young adults, none older than twenty, and looked very green. Raven could feel their apprehension. Apparently, her reputation preceded her. Which was not surprising as the station's staff and some other heroes she encountered in the hallways gave her furtive glances while keeping a wide berth from her.
"Hello, my name is Raven."
A young and visibly nervous Indian girl approached her and offered to shake her hand. Raven reciprocated.
"I'm Solstice … but my real name is Kiran, Kiran Singh. I was a big fan of yours when I was a child … and I still am."
"My full name is Raven Logan … I hope we can become friends."
"So you took your husband's name, huh?" Lava Girl quickly quipped. The others gave her a quick glare, especially Kiran, whose expression screamed "She's a widow, you idiot."
"That is correct. My maiden name was Roth." Raven replied without displaying any displeasure at the question.
The sliding doors swished open and the Dark Knight himself entered the room, with a data pad in hand.
"I see you have all met, good. I'm keeping this meeting brief as I have to leave on a mission."
He tapped on his datapad and looked up at the assembled team.
"You all know Raven from the Titans. She has more experience that all of you combined, and then some. She will be your leader. Listen to her and learn."
"So, when do we get to see some action?" The young Hispanic man who went by the hero name of Bunker asked.
"Interesting that you should ask." Batman replied as he turned on a large screen. The rookies gasped collectively when they saw the image.
"Our first mission is against Slade? Don't, like the Titans deal with him?" Jupiter Man asked.
"Usually, they do. But today he's our problem. Intelligence says that he's going to attempt to steal some Xenothium from Sivana Enterprises in Fawcett City."
"We're gonna help Dr. Sivana? Why? He's a creep." Lava Girl asked.
"Because we don't want Slade to get his hands on any Xenothium. Fawcett is Captain Marvel's territory, and he requested assistance with this mission. Few people know Slade as well as Raven, which is why I'm sending Team Psi on this mission. I expect all of you to follow her orders. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." The rookies replied.
"Raven, are you ready to lead this mission?"
She nodded. "I am."
"Good, report to teleportation deck #3 immediately. And be careful, Slade is a master of deception."
-(-)-
Raven and her team materialized in front of the heavily guarded warehouse where Sivana stored his deadly cache of Xenothium. The first thing she saw was a hulking man in a red suit with a lightning bolt on his chest. He smiled at Raven, who approached him. They shook hands.
"It's good to see you again, Raven. It's been a while."
"It has, Billy. It's always nice to work with someone whose powers are based on magic. So what's the status?"
"No, sign of Slade; but you don't need the Wisdom of Solomon to know that doesn't mean anything."
Before Raven could reply there was a loud explosion in an office building nearby. Smoke billowed out of the structure and Slade-bots began to stream out, spreading mayhem in the streets as civilians ran for cover.
"And there's our cue." She replied. "The Robots are clearly a distraction."
Hundreds more Sladebots charged out of the building and ran towards our heroes.
"The four of you! Deal with the robots, keep them out of the warehouse, but protect civilians first! Cap and I will stop Slade." Raven yelled before she charged into the warehouse.
-(-)-
"Well, the Xenothium's still here." Marvel remarked. "So what do you think, Raven? Did we thwart Slade's plan?"
Raven's eyes nervously darted around the room. "Slade never gives up that easily. He always has a contingency plan. I wouldn't proclaim victory just yet."
The room began to shake violently, as if an earthquake was starting.
"We don't get earthquakes in Fawcett City."
"And this isn't an earthquake … he's coming." Raven shouted.
One of Slade's giant burrowing serpent like machines popped out of the ground.
"Holy Moley! I remember reading about these, they almost sank Titans Tower into Jump Bay."
"They did sink it into the bay, Terra and I barely got it back out."
The worm dove back into the ground. Raven's eyes widened.
"He's going to try to sink the whole warehouse into the ground!" She shouted.
"But that will detonate the Xenothium and wipe Fawcett from the map! Why would he do that?"
"It's a distraction. If Fawcett is vaporized the whole country will panic, and Slade will then go after his real objective, we need to get the Xenothium out of here."
The building began to shake even harder.
"How? There's too much to carry away all at once. This place is gonna crash down any second."
"I have an idea." Raven shouted as bits of the ceiling began to fall. She raised her arms and a portal opened. "It's a portal to the Rock of Eternity! Slade can't get in there."
Billy nodded and using the speed of Mercury he began to transfer the canisters into the portal. There were hundreds of them and building was shaking harder than ever.
"Hurry!" She shouted.
Marvel picked up the last canisters and took them through the portal. As went through the portal the roof began to collapse. Raven looked up and braced herself for the impact. Just as her portal began to close Billy emerged. He grabbed Raven, protecting her with his own frame.
"Hang on, we're getting out of here!" He shouted as he took off flying. Huge pieces of concrete bounced off of him as if they were made of Styrofoam. After a few seconds they cleared the roof and he released Raven, who now flew under her own power. The rookies had already vanquished the robots and were talking with the local police. Raven and Marvel came down and landed next to them. The police began to cheer their local hero.
"Way to go, Cap! You saved the day!" An officer shouted.
"You're cheering the wrong hero. It was Raven's quick thinking that saved the day."
Raven ignored his praise and approached her team.
"What's the status?" She asked.
"No civilians were injured and all the Sladebots are destroyed." Bunker announced with a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
"Well done, you have a lot to be proud of." Raven congratulated them.
Raven then heard a police officer shout. "Ma'am, come back, you have to stay behind the yellow tape."
The sorceress turned around and saw a middle aged black woman, with a very angry look on her face, run towards her. The woman stopped in front of Raven, and began to feebly poundiher in the chest with her fists.
"You monster!"
Captain Marvel grabbed the woman by the arms and lifted her off the ground.
"That'll be enough, ma'am. Officers, please take her away." Shazam's champion commanded the local constables.
Raven looked at the woman's face, and she recognized who she was.
"No, Cap, wait. Let her have her say. Let her go."
Billy looked confused, but did as Raven said. The woman glared at her.
"You killed my Seymour."
Raven bowed her head. "I know there is no way I can make up for that terrible day. All I can say is that I'm sorry and will be forever haunted by my actions."
The woman fell to her knees and began to sob.
"He was such a good boy. He had the best grades at his school … he was going to go to college and become a scientist, and then … he met those terrible kids." Her sobbing intensified. "Had I been a better mother he never would have run off with them, to a life of crime … and he'd still be alive."
Captain Marvel placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Many people lost a loved one that day, including Raven."
See-More's mother looked up at the sorceress.
"I know I am undeserving, but I beg you, please … please forgive me. And believe me, none of what happened was your fault, you were a good mother."
Raven embraced the woman, who hugged her back, and they both cried until they ran out of tears.
Between sobs, See-More's mother rasped: "I forgive you."