The common room was bustling with activity. Bart was setting the large, oversized dining table at hypersonic speed. Placemats appeared as if out of nowhere, with plates, cutlery and glassware all perfectly place and aligned. Speedy delivered huge pitchers with lemonade while Connor, Cassie and Robin brought oversized serving bowls full of potato salad, coleslaw and barbecued beans to the table. Starfire and Jinx placed apple, strawberry, peach and blueberry pies on the table.

Garfield watched unhappily from the couch As the scene unfolded. While the main course had yet to be served, he could already smell it: barbecued ribs, Metropolis style. They were slow cooking in a huge oven like box that sat on the counter. It was one of Cyborg's many inventions, and while not as sophisticated as the T-Ship or the T-Car, it was definitely his prided and joy. The box was clad in shiny, burnished stainless steel, with Chrome Dome's smiling face stenciled on one of the sides next to the words "Ribmatic 3000". A simple knob, set to "Metropolis Style", also indicated several other styles supported by the automatic cooker including St. Louis, Kansas City and North Carolina among others. An LED display showed a countdown time, which was flashing "00:00" as the ribs were ready to be consumed, cooked to perfection. The changeling's consolation prize was a small crockpot sitting next to the RIbmatic, which contained a healthy portion of falafel simmering in barbecue sauce.

Raven entered the room and walked up to her husband, who was minding Mark and Coraline by the couch. They exchanged a chaste kiss and he handed the baby to her.

"I just changed her … where were you?"

She cradled the sleeping infant in her arms. "I was giving Cyborg moral support."

The changeling moaned. "I'll bet he needed it … I hate Gizmo, the dude's as big a douchbag as ever."

Raven sniffed the air, taking in the delectable aroma. "Oh … that smells good, I'm starving. I love Cyborg's ribs … they just melt in your mouth."

"You aren't gonna eat that, are you?" He protested.

"Sorry, but I'm not skipping ribs for tofu. Not today."

"Hey, I didn't make tofu. I made some falafel, enough for all of us." He replied in an indignant voice. "And I also made some hummus."

"You did?"

"From scratch." He proudly replied.

"I'm impressed … but I'm still having ribs."

"No way! Carnivore!"

"Bunny food muncher!"

The both chuckled at their mock fight. "OK, I'll try some falafel, but I will eat some ribs." She compromised

The three Logans and baby took their place at the table. Wally delivered the ribs and Beast Boy's vegetarian fare to the table. Gar immediately gave some falafel to his son, who regarded the vegetarian patties with a jaundiced eye while Raven dropped a small side of ribs on her plate. The little green boy sniffed hungrily and pointed at the ribs on sorceress's plate. "I want those."

"Come on champ, we green shape shifters don't eat meat."

The boy gave him a bewildered look. "Why?"

"Because we've been those animals. We can't eat them."

"Why?"

Raven dropped a few ribs onto the child's plate, which he happily devoured. Her husband gave her a stern and disapproving glare.

"When he's older he can wrestle with the moral implications of eating meat and make his own decision, he's too young to even grasp the implications." She replied.

Before the changeling could reply the sliding doors opened with a loud swish. Cyborg and Bumblebee entered together, holding hands. The tin man turned to Raven and locked eyes with her, giving her a thumbs up with his free hand.

"Wonderful." She whispered. "Good for you Victor."

"What's wonderful?" Her husband asked.

"Uh … I'm not allowed to tell you, though I think Cyborg and Bumblebee will be breaking the news to the group any moment now." She replied.

"News? What news?" He asked before noticing the huge diamond on Karen's finger. "Ohhhh! That news. How did you find out?"

"He told me when I went to see him … and … you didn't hear it from me." She warned him.

Bumblebee and Cyborg took their places at the table. The green bean wagged his eyebrows at his friend. Cyborg look at Raven and smirked. She silently mouthed the words "I didn't say anything." Her husband mouthed the word "Well?" right after her, as he pointed at his own wedding band on his finger.

Bumblebee leaned towards her fiancé and whispered into his bionic ear. "They know."

He nodded his agreement and stood up, clearing his throat more than once before speaking. He suddenly felt shy as all eyes were upon him. The changeling was grinning one of his signature ear to ear grins and his wife chastised him: "Do you have to grin like an idiot?"

Cyborg took another look at the crowd. Connor, Bart and Robin and Nightstar looked utterly clueless. Speedy, Wonder Girl, Starfire and Jinx were also sporting king sized grin, while Mia pointed discretely at the boulder on Karen's finger. Nightwing and Flash were sporting subtle smiles. Cyborg gulped. Normally he would use humor to defuse any tension or discomfort he was feeling, but he knew well that this was not the moment to crack a joke. So instead he resorted to a more acceptable distraction.

"I see my new Ribmatic works, you guys are wolfing down those babies …"

He paused and bit his lower lip, clearly buying some time.

"But that's not what I want to tell you … y'all know that Karen is my lady and that I'm crazy about her … really crazy … so … anyway, about half an hour ago I made a big decision … I asked her to marry me and …" He broke out into a huge grin. "And she said yes."

Everyone rose from their chairs and hooted and hollered their approval. Starfire shouted "It's about time!" Coraline was startled awake by all the commotion and began to cry while everyone else huddled around the newly engaged couple and began to congratulate them. Hugs and backslapping were exchanged.

"Too bad we don't have a cake to celebrate." Jinx remarked.

"Leave that to me." Her husband replied.

Wally suddenly disappeared and returned moments later with a cake in a pink box.

"Did you pay for that?" She asked.

"I told them to put it on my tab." He smirked.

The cake was cut and an impromptu celebration began. Bumblebee saw Raven alone with her baby, in the far corner of the room and taking a slice of cake with her she approached the sorceress. Raven smiled one of her tiny smiles as she approached.

"I thought you might like some cake."

"Thanks … so … how are you feeling?"

"Surprised … I guess."

Raven took a tiny bite of the cake. "Really? Surprised? The only thing I'm surprised is that it took him so long to ask you."

"I wasn't expecting it … and, by the way … thanks."

"For what?"

"For encouraging him."

"All I did was to tell him to follow his heart."

"He values your opinion … a lot. Thank you, Raven, I owe you one."

She shook her head. "No, you don't, I had nothing to do with his decision … Karen … why do you doubt yourself?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"That was a mistake you made a long time ago. He's forgiven you and you've demonstrated that you won't do it again."

"I still hate myself for doing it."

"We all have mistakes we regret … did you ever see any footage from the award ceremony in Tokyo?"

"Yeah, I did. It was on TV, it was kind of hard to miss."

"Did you see me smile when I slapped Gar? Half the world saw me abuse my future husband. Do you have any idea of just how ashamed I am of that? To this day I still hear people joke about how I have him 'whipped'."

"Come on, Raven, that's nowhere nearly as bad as what I did."

"Maybe, but at least you won't have to see that damn footage as your wedding day approaches. I lost my temper and destroyed the TV in my room when they played it, over and over and over. And all the tabloids had stills printed on the front page the day before our wedding. They were quick to point out that I'm half demon and that Gar was crazy to marry a borderline psychotic like me. One tabloid even ran an online poll on how long we would last before we got divorced … you want to know what the average guess was? It was five weeks. That's right, five lousy weeks."

"I wasn't aware of that, Raven."

The sorceress sighed. "I'm sorry; this is your day … not mine. Believe me, the worst thing you can do is to doubt yourself."

"Why did we make such dumb mistakes?"

"Because we were young, stupid and proud. And we're both lucky to have great guys … but you know what? They're lucky to have us too. We're good catches and they know it. Victor wasn't about to let you get away, not for a mistake you made almost ten years ago."

"You make it sound like it was something trivial. I cheated on him and dumped him for another guy."

"You could have done worse."

"I don't see how." Karen sighed. "And if that wasn't enough, I bumped into Raymond the other day."

"Azar! That must have been awkward. How did this happen?"

Bumble frowned. "I ran into him while shopping. He's married to a really cute girl. She has no idea of who he really is."

Raven nodded her understanding. "Sometimes life seems unfair and sometimes it is. It would be nice to see jerks like that get their comeuppance, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. But don't feel bad, you're the real winner here, not him. He's the one living a lie, not you. You won the hand of the mighty Victor Stone, so be happy!"

Bumblebee smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Raven … you're a good friend."

"Am I?" She replied with a wicked grin.

"What are you saying?" Karen asked in a very uneasy voice.

"What I'm saying is … I'm in charge of your bachelorette party."

"What? You mean …"

"Oh yeah … it's payback time."

-( - )-

Slade sat on his throne like chair, his hands resting on the armrests. Wintergreen brought him a cup of Earl Gray tea, moving it from a silver tray to a small table next to the chair. Slade didn't initially acknowledge him as his eyes were glued to TV monitor. It provided him with a direct view into Alexa's room. The blond continued to pound on her door, demanding that be allowed to see Slade. Wintergreen tucked the tray under his arm and frowned.

"That woman has to be the most annoying prisoner we've ever had. Why are the beautiful ones always so difficult?" The butler asked. "What are we going to do with her once we no longer need her?"

"We can't release her, Luthor would capture her and would learn too much about us from her."

"So … you're going to kill her?"

Slade chuckled. "I gave her my word that she wouldn't die."

"I see you have a plan."

"I always have a plan, Wintergreen. There is a wealthy oil sheik in the Middle East. He is interested in purchasing her as a concubine. Luthor would never know what happened to her, so she would be safe from him. Of course, she won't be happy with that arrangement, but I never promised to make her happy."

"It is difficult to make women happy." Wintergreen remarked.

"Why do you think I have avoided permanent relationships with women since Adeline?"

Wintergreen nodded. "Is is a pity … Mrs. Wilson was a fine woman … until she betrayed you."

"She had her reasons for shooting me."

"She shot you in the eye, Wilson … and for what? You did rescue Joseph. She wanted you to pay the ransom for him. We both know they would have killed him had you done that, and your reputation would have been permanently damaged. So Joseph had his throat slit and lost the ability to speak. That's no reason to shoot you!"

Slade stared stoically at Alexa pounding her cell door on the TV screen. "It doesn't matter, my friend, in the end I lost them both. Adeline left me and Joseph became a super hero. He even changed his name, so that his fellow Titans wouldn't know his true identity."

"A son should never be ashamed of his father." Wintergreen added. "You have given him no reason to feel that way."

"And yet he does. I've lost everything, Wintergreen. Only you and Rose are loyal to me."

"Has she learned the truth about her mother?"

A furtive figure, hiding behind the room's door, eavesdropped on the conversation.

"No, she does not. She can never know the truth."

Wintergreen sighed. "Miss Worth was a brave woman; she did love Rose very much. It is unfortunate that her jeep went over that cliff. I suppose that Rose's implanted memories are necessary. If she remembered that her late brother Grant kidnapped and delivered her to you, who knows how she might react?"

"She would not react well. Which is why she can never know … I doubled her inhaler dosage, to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Isn't that risky, Wilson? The inhaler is steroid cocktail plus it has those mind control drugs in it. They could harm her."

"That they could, Wintergreen. But like everyone else, except for you, she is expendable."

Rose clenched her teeth upon hearing her father's words, and quietly stole away from the door, retreating to her room. She was fighting back tears as she entered her room, slamming the door shut behind. She tried to remember her true past, but she just couldn't. She had no memory of her abduction or even of her brother Grant. She slammed her fist into the cinderblock wall as the floodgates opened and the tears began to flow. All she could remember were the phony memories, of her mother hating her and abandoning her to Slade."

She began to hyperventilate and clenched her teeth as she struggled to regain control. Her breathing slowed and she leaned against the wall, pondering all that she had just heard. Her communicator chirped and she answered it.

"Rose, where are you?" Slade's disembodied voice grilled her.

"I'm in my room."

"Retrieve Dr. Pontone and bring her to me. She is ready to talk."

"Yes, father, right away."

"Rose? Have you doubled your dosage as I instructed you?"

"Not yet."

"I can tell, you sound out of sorts. Take it, it will help you concentrate and to find your center."

"I'm sorry; I'll do it right away." She lied.

"That's my girl … now go fetch the good doctor for me."

-( - )-

A strange looking creature with bat like wings sailed over the bay, unnoticed by the many afternoon boaters below. The wings shimmered in the sunlight, casually flapping as they propelled their owner through the autumn sky. Its trajectory was clear; it was heading for Titans Tower in the middle of the bay.

Upon closer inspection the huge wings were attached to a short and pudgy man, who was busy devouring a hamburger, which he consumed in a mere moment. He reached into a paper bag he was holding, which had the logo of a well known national burger chain printed on it. He frowned when he discovered that the large bag was now empty, and in a fit of anger threw it down into briny water below.

"Snot munching Titans, making me go out to get my own lunch … those parts better already be there."

Gizmo glided down to the Tower's main entrance. He retracted his artificial wings and before he could ring the bell the giant doors slid open, revealing a severe looking Raven, who was accompanied by Mark. The youngster was holding her hand and he cast a wary look toward the midget genius. Gizmo also looked at the little boy with a confused expression, then looked up at Raven.

"I thought you losers got married a year ago."

"Losers?" Raven replied in deadpan monotone.

"Yeah, so what's with the brat? He's got to be at least three. Poor kid, he looks just like his dad. So … what's the deal? You and Beast Boob had a kid before you got married?"

"He's not my son."

Gizmo grinned from ear to ear. "You mean he knocked up some other chick … and you still married him? I never knew you were that desperate, Raven."

"I can still bring the hydras out."

Gizmo flinched for a moment, then an angry scowl appeared on his face.

"You think you have me whipped. I'm not Doctor Light, in case you forgot."

"I know you're not Dr. Light, and for the record, I do have you whipped."

"Listen, if you want me to help you clutch heads …"

"The parts arrived. Follow me." She interrupted

They walked in silence for a few minutes. Gizmo cleared his throat and Raven rolled her eyes, bracing herself for whatever he was about to say.

"So … who's the mom?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Fine … don't, I'll just go online and look for his birth certificate, it can't be that hard to find. Most recorder office computers are easy to hack into, I don't even have to do it myself, I'll just send out some spiders over the net and …"

"Her name is Alexa Pontone."

Gizmo stopped dead in his tracks. "You mean Dr. Alexa Pontone?"

Raven frowned. "Yeah."

"Oh man! I once met her at a science conference. What a babe! Are you telling me that she and Beast Brain were lovers? How does he get all the luck? I mean, she's way out of his booger munching league."

Raven gave him an icy glare that made him feel like the hallway's temperature had actually dropped.

"Why do you still talk like an idiot, using those puerile aphorisms? And she isn't out of his league. He's a DVM and a PhD. If anything, he's out of her league."

Gizmo laughed. "Yeah, right. Your puke faced husband's out of her league … get real! Pontone is a freaking goddess. I can't believe he banged her! It had to be because he's a superhero, cuz it sure wasn't for his guacamole colored complexion. And you're taking care of her kid like he was yours." He continued snickering while using his thumb and index finger to form an "L", which he place over his forehead.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll shut your mouth right now, you fat, obnoxious pig!" She seethed, her eyes glowing with dark energy.

Having had his fun, Gizmo decided it would be a good idea to fall silent. He followed Raven into the elevator, which they rode up to the common room. When the doors opened, he saw the lingering remnants of the celebration: A half eaten sheet cake, dirty plates and glasses and a few empty bottles of bubbly.

"Oh! So that's why you jerks … does my vocabulary meet your standards now? … Sent me away! You had a party and I wasn't invited!"

They stepped out of the lift into the room. Beast Boy was busy cleaning up and Gizmo ran up to him and shook his hand. Garfield gave him an odd look.

"What was that for?"

"Raven told me that you knocked knees with Alexa Pontone. And even though you're a crud munching good guy … you're my hero."

Gar gently recoiled, pulling his hand away from Gizmo. "It was just a one night stand. I'm not exactly proud of that."

"That's because you're a snot headed super hero! I can't wait to tell the guys. Billy is gonna be so jealous when he finds out that you banged her … so, what was the party for?"

"Cyborg got engaged, not that it's any of your business." Beast Boy replied in a terse voice. "I'll take him to Cy, Raven. I'm sure you've already had your fill of this jerk."

Gizmo grinned maliciously as Garfield led him away. Starfire, who was helping Gar clean up, approached Raven and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Though it seems to be impossible, he is even more unpleasant than he was as a youngster."

Raven pursed her lips before speaking. "I wanted to rip his head off."

"As the humans would say, no jury would convict you had you done so."

"Don't tempt me Starfire … don't tempt me."

-( - )-

Gizmo grinned like an idiot as he walked alongside the changeling, who did his best to ignore him. The midget didn't seem to notice the brush off and began to talk as soon as they left the common room.

"So, what was it like?"

"What was what like?" Gar replied with a hint of impatience in his voice.

"What do you mean what was what like?"

"I have no idea of what you're talking about."

"Don't act innocent, salad head! So how did a freak like you score with Pontone? Was she drunk? Or is she into weirdos?"

"You're just jealous."

"Jealous? Why would I be jealous of an avocado head like you?"

"Why? I'll tell you why!" The changeling grinned malevolently. "You're a virgin! You've never done it with a girl."

"Nuh uh!" Gizmo shouted. "I've been with plenty of girls!"

"Name one and hookers don't count."

Gizmo glared at the changeling.

"You think you're so cool, just because you banged her once."

"That's more times than you have."

Before Gizmo could think of a good comeback, they reached the comm room, where Cyborg was already busy installing the new components.

"He's all yours, Cy, have fun."

Cyborg gave the midget an unpleasant look. "Have a seat, fatso, I already installed all the new circuits."

Gizmo ignored Cyborg and turned around to face the changeling, who was already walking back to the common room.

Finally, Gizmo had his comeback ready. "Oh yeah … well, your wife is a witch!"

The changeling turned and gave the midget a feral look that sent a chill down his spine.

"You take that back, right now!"

Cyborg chuckled. "Dude, if I was you, I'd tell BB I'm sorry. The last guy who called Raven a witch, he wound up in the hospital."

"What? No way! You're bullshitting me."

"Hey, don't take my word for it, ask Nightwing." Cyborg replied in a disinterested voice. "Or don't apologize, it's your funeral … have you ever seen B transform into the Beast?"

Gizmo was familiar with Garfield's alter ego. He gulped nervously as he considered the potential outcome of the scenario before folding like a house of cards.

"OK, I'm sorry … Raven isn't a witch."

"You gotta do better than that, dude." Cyborg whispered to him.

"And … and … she's really beautiful … she's a classy lady."

Beast Boy's expression relaxed. "That's more like it. But if I ever hear you say that she's a witch again … you'll be sorry."

Gizmo did not respond and instead nervously hunched down and began to work, focusing like a laser on the circuit board rack. Cyborg and Beast Boy smiled at each other and almost broke out laughing.

-( - )-

Alexa continued to pound on the door.

"I know you're watching, Slade. I'm ready to make a deal with you!" She shouted in a hoarse voice.

Finally, the familiar clunk of the door unlocking was heard.

"It's about damn time!" She shouted as the door opened. Rose stood outside, with an odd look on her face. She almost looked … sad?

"Come on, let's go." She ordered Alexa in a sullen voice.

Much to Pontone's surprise, Rose didn't manhandle her like she usually did. Alexa already had a collection of bruises on her arms from Rose's vise like grip from previous encounters. Ravager silently led her to an elevator, which they entered. Once the doors closed, Rose spoke to her.

"This elevator isn't bugged, so listen carefully as I won't be able to tell you this again."

The two women locked eyes with each other.

"Listen, doctor, whatever you do, don't give my father the password. Once you do, you'll be expendable."

"I know that … why are you telling me this?"

"Because you can help me."

"Help you? How?"

"You can help me remember who I really am."

-( - )-

I have to say, I really liked this chapter … which means you probably won't like it :-D

Anyway, we are getting close to the climax and finale. Once the business with Slade is over the story will come to an end, with a few epilogues, which will have a few weddings and other "winding down" moments. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Also, regarding the Raven comic book raffle. It occurs to me that those readers who are minors should definitely NOT provide me with their address nor their names should they win. In such a case I could mail the comic book to an alternate address that is not yours, like a PO box. More details will follow.

Since it's late, I'm skipping the mailbag today. It will be back next week, I promise! Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It's always appreciated.