Raven, with arms behind her back and encased in a metal restraint, had found herself brought inside a warehouse swiftly, taken to the center of a cavernous room and made to kneel on the dirt floor. Her breath came rapidly as she tried to control the panic of being restrained as she was. Once on her knees, her ankles were fitted with lock that kept her immobile followed by a collar that the guard warned her was loaded with a charge in case she tried to break free or run for it.
Outwardly, she tried to show calm and allowed them to maneuver her without an iota of resistance but being bound up the way she was struck to the very fiber of her core. She was powerless. The guards took up positions in the corners of the room a good fifteen feet away from her but with a clear site in case she moved.
There Raven found herself. Slowly her body began to adjust to the uncomfortable position and she quietly whispered her mantra to keep herself calm. She even allowed her eyes to drift shut imagining that she was in a large field of grass and the scent of flowers about her instead of the grimy warehouse basement.
How long she knelt there was impossible to tell. The guards were rotated out but without a way of seeing the outside, Raven could not tell if it was day or night. It was the growl of her stomach that told her it had been at least eight hours since she last ate something. She wanted to ask for something to drink or a bite to eat but Raven was not sure they would even bother and the sorceress would rather not give them a reason to torment her more than they were already going to.
The door finally ground open as someone came through carrying beat up tray with a bowl and cup on it. A smile escaped Raven's control when she saw it was Starfire.
"I'm sorry, miss, the prisoner isn't allowed visitors," the guard started.
"I am not visiting. I am bringing food. Release her arms so she may eat."
"I'm not authorized to-"
An edge came to Starfire's voice. An edge she had heard a few times before but it seemed more common now and harder.
"Release her arms or I shall do it."
The human soldier considered for a moment and then nodded. He held up a pad and typed some thing in while Starfire walked up to her. There was a click and Raven's arms came free. The metal restraint falling to the ground.
"Move slowly, friend Raven, "Starfire said sitting down cross legged from her. "and remain kneeling. They are very the jumpy right now."
"I understand," Raven said slowly moving her hands in front of her and rubbing her wrists. Her shoulders popped, complaining about the position they had been in for so long.
Starfire set the plate down in front of her and offered the spoon. It looked like tomato soup with a slice of bread. A bit of beef was nestled to the side of the plate.
"How are they taking my capture?" Raven asked after swallowing a few spoonfuls of the soup.
"A mixture of relief and confusion," Starfire said drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them. "They were not expecting my release nor you coming through the portal."
"I sense a lot of animosity towards me," Raven said glancing towards the guards. "I mean, I don't blame them."
"Robin has expressed this same concern to the remnants of the Justice League. That is why you have been hidden here with these guards. They are supposed to be most upstanding."
"Yet you bring me my food."
"Upstanding but Robin does not trust."
That was Robin. He always had a plan within a plan, with another plan right next to it. Raven took a bite out of the bread and chewed slowly to enjoy it. She did not know if she would ever get another after this meal.
"Do you know what they want to do with me?"
"No," Starfire said with a shrug. "With the Archon Ring in the hands of the new Midnight Shadow, the situation remains the same. You are no longer a threat."
That was true. The power that was bound to her through Sovereign was gone, leaving an empty hole in her. She could feel her own magic still though it seemed pitiful to what she had once been able to wield.
"They want to lock me up and throw away the key," Raven said nibbling at the beef. "It makes sense. I'm nothing anymore. If anything, Jinx is more dangerous than I ever was."
"She has proven to be a formidable foe," Starfire said with a nod. "She has already launched an assault against our strongholds in Washington DC. Her rage knows no bounds."
Raven had seen that maniacal rage come out in some of the battles they had fought together. The chaos seemed to call to the hex witch and she allowed the furor to consume her. Now, the pinkette's hatred for Raven would fuel the fire of destruction.
"Sovereign is regaining his strength," Raven said finally. "You all have to strike him soon or you will not get another chance."
"We know," another voice said. Raven looked past Starfire to see the man she knew as Phil Coulson stride in with a few of his SHIELD agents and a few of the supers. Robin was there along with Superman, Batman, Iron Man, and Captain America. Trailing behind she could make out Bumblebee and the red haired woman in a black cat suit she did not know the name of.
"Mister Coulson," Raven said quietly.
"There has been a lot of debate what to do with you," he continued calmly. "There have been some who believe you have truly defected while others want you questioned thoroughly to find out all we can. Some want to go as far as the old fashioned car battery to skin method though we shot that down quickly."
Raven noted Robin's glare towards Bumblebee. The sorceress didn't blame the girl, she knew a lot of the Titans East had been killed by her hand.
"And?" Starfire asked turning but still between her and the group.
"We do have some questions that need to be answered," Coulson continued.
"Ask them, I'll answer," Raven said meekly.
"How do we kill that son of a bitch!" Bumblebee's voice shrilled out from her corner.
"I don't think you can," Raven answered as simply as possible. "He is from the void before there was time. All you can do is bind him."
"And how do we do that, Raven?" Superman asked with arms crossed his chest. His face looked tired but his eyes were hard.
"You almost succeeded with whatever you used before. He has to be bound outside of our reality where his power cannot get to him. Iris sealed him once, did they not?"
"We did but the cost was high," Coulson said with a rub of his temple. "Captain Picard and General Skywalker had to use technology that is not available in our realities and it still cost us a star system."
"I wish I had answers for you," Raven said. "but the power I had was through the ring and I don't even believe with it, I was strong enough to fight him."
"Then she is no use to us," the woman with red hair said simply. "We need to just lock her away until this war is over and deal with her then. It's not gonna matter if he wins."
"Do you have anything useful?" Coulson pressed.
"Only that he won't stop and he isn't capable of negotiating."
Coulson nodded and the group left. Robin waved Starfire to follow after the Tamaranian re-fastened the arm restraints. Raven was soon alone again with the guards, useless and unwanted.