Dear readers,

I have returned to this story, and intend to complete it. I apologize for making you wait so long, a whole year.

I hope you still enjoy it.

-(-)-

Spock listened patiently as Raven explained to him about the Dark Knight and his relationship to Robin. There actually were stories told in the 23rd century about a man who somewhat matched Batman's description, but when Raven then told him about other members of the League, he realized that the stories he read about the apocryphal superhero from the past was probably a composite of more than one person, which was not surprising as most records were lost after the third world war. Spock, as did most of his contemporaries, dismissed the story as nothing more than myth based on human imagination. Humans, for some reason, worshiped heroes, and if they didn't exist, they invented them. This was common across all human cultures. The Greeks invented Olympus. Mesoamericans told stories of Quetzalcoatl, etc.

Raven continued to enumerate the members of the League. As she was describing Superman, Spock interrupted her.

"Are you certain he is from Krypton?" He asked.

"You know of Krypton?"

"Only as a legend. At this point in time, Vulcan is an early warp capable civilization, and was beginning to explore and observe neighboring star systems. We encountered a people who called themselves the Zindi. It was from them that we heard the story of a world called Krypton that was destroyed in a cataclysm. They never encountered Krypton or any Kryptonians themselves, and from what they heard it was located in the gamma quadrant."

Spock paused, forming a tent with his fingers as he often did when pondering ideas.

"So, this 'Superman', he survived Krypton's destruction?"

"Yes, he and his cousin, who is commonly known as Supergirl, were hastily evacuated as children from Krypton before its destruction."

"And I presume that they have special abilities."

"They do. They are regarded as the mightiest of superheroes, they appear to be nearly indestructible."

"Fascinating."

The P/A system came to life.

"Titans, our visitors are about to arrive, let's meet them in the guest hangar. Mr. Spock, you are invited as well." Robin's voice echoed in the common room.

"Show time." Raven droned in her monotone. "I'll show you the way."

-(-)-

Raven quickly guided Spock to the top of the Tower. The Vulcan noticed that Raven seemed slightly agitated, though she concealed it well.

"Miss Raven, are you alright? I can sense that you are feeling a great deal of unease."

"Just call me Raven, and yes, I am unsettled."

"May I ask why?"

"How can I put this … the Justice League has never liked me."

"Have you given them a reason to dislike you?"

Raven found Spock to be interesting. He could be blunt in his questions but she could tell he meant no offense with them. He merely was always searching for the truth, and didn't believe there was any valid reason to sugarcoat his questions.

"They dislike me because of my heritage."

"Because your father is allegedly a 'demon'?"

"As I've already told you, there is nothing alleged about that." She replied in a slightly curt tone.

"Even if it is true, I see no reason to discriminate you due to your parentage. From what I have read on what you call the 'internet', you are of unquestioned virtue."

"Tell that to Zatanna … I hope she isn't coming."

"This Zatanna, she has abilities too?"

"She's a sorceress. When I first arrived on Earth I went to the Justice League to seek help. She immediately was able to detect my demonic heritage and I was literally thrown out of the Hall of Justice and told to never return."

Spock was about to tell Raven that sorcery was a myth when they entered the hangar. The rooftop doors were open and Spock saw a delta winged aircraft touch down in the hanger. As its engines powered down a gantry lowered itself from the ship, which Spock later learned was called a Javelin. Several costumed figures descended. Spock recognized one costume as being a Green Lantern, but the man was not Hal Jordan. Leading the group was the man he saw earlier on the TV screen, the one known as Batman. Walking next to him was another man with a blue outfit and a red cape, who had what appeared to be an "S" on his chest. He calculated that there was a 86.4873% probability that he was Superman.

Without even greeting or even acknowledging Robin or his team, the Batman approached Spock.

"So you're the Vulcan from the future?"

"I am, though I am also human."

Spock quickly analyzed the man in the bat suit. He was muscular and seemed very ominous. He was very different than most humans: his intellect was clearly above average and his physique was perfect. From what Raven had told him the Batman did not possess any super human abilities, yet it was very obvious that he was in charge.

"The Titans cannot protect you from Slade."

Spock arched an eyebrow.

"Forgive me, but your argument is faulty. The Titans have already protected me from the one you call Slade."

"They, and thus by extension, you were lucky."

"There is no such thing a luck." Spock calmly retorted.

"Quantum theory disagrees."

"I am afraid that your understanding of Quantum physics is flawed."

"I didn't come here to argue with you." Batman growled.

"I see, from what I can surmise, you have come here to forcefully take me and my shuttle into your custody, 'for my own good' as humans would say."

"Yes, that's right. Look, we don't want to make this difficult. Just come with us."

"He's not going anywhere." Robin snarled.

"Be realistic, Robin. You and your Titans are no match for Slade, you never have been."

"I disagree." Raven interjected. Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy also voiced their opinions.

"Dude, we've kicked his butt before."

"You're never been able to capture him." Batman droned.

"Neither have you." Cyborg retorted.

Spock cleared his throat. "I have analyzed the Tower's security system and have calculated that it is 99.7853% impervious to attacks from the technology Slade possesses." He calmly announced.

"You'll be safer in the Watchtower." Superman spoke.

"Has Slade ever attempted to breach the Watchtower?"

"Never, he wouldn't dare." A red clad man who Raven later told him was The Flash, a speedster.

Spock observed the rest of the visiting delegation. There was a winged woman, another woman who wore what looked like a golden bustier and who had a golden lasso at her side. There was also a green alien and a women who wore a top hat and fishnet stockings, who stared menacingly at Raven. He quickly deduced that she was Zatanna.

"Then, with all due respect, there is no way you can be certain that you can offer me more protection than the Titans."

"We could force you to come with us." The Green Lantern, a man named Guy Gardner, said in an arrogant and cocky tone.

"Which would be a poor choice. As you already know, I am from the future. It would be prudent for you to not have any more contact with me to minimize any further timeline pollution."

Batman pondered his words.

"Agreed."

He then looked over at the Galileo.

"But we can help you repair your ship." He added as he nodded at Superman, who walked over to the shuttle and examined one of damaged warp coils.

"I've seen similar technology in the Kryptonian database. I should be able to provide spare parts."

"That would be helpful." Spock replied. "Mr. Cyborg, would you be kind enough to supply them with the same list we gave to Hal Jordan?"

Cyborg sighed. "Yeah, I can do that."

"We'll get the parts to you as soon as we can. The sooner Mr. Spock returns to his timeline, the better. And be careful. Slade is cunning and dangerous." Batman added before returning to the Javelin. The other Leaguers followed him. Before boarding, Zatanna gave Raven a glare and made the "I'm watching you" gesture. The gantry then closed and the Javelin departed.

Spock could tell that Robin was upset, though he quickly composed himself.

"Thanks for sticking with us."

"Everything I said was true. There was no favoritism involved in my decision. I will say that I was concerned that the so called Justice League was going to take me by force."

"They would have have had to do the getting the past us." Starfire snarled as she formed a star bolt in her hand.

"Your devotion to me is commendable, though irrational."

"You are wrong, we are the family." She added.

"We are only certain that I am a distant relative of Robin."

"Dude, we're all family. We're Titans." The changeling blurted. Spock recognized the human tribalism. It was nothing new to him as he had observed it for years in Starfleet, though to see the Tamaranian, who was not human, feel that way as well, was interesting, though not surprising as most Alpha quadrant races displayed similar tribal instincts. The others quickly agreed with the green one.

"I am honored to receive such consideration."

-(-)-

Later, in the evening after dinner …

Spock was in his quarters, pondering all that had recently happened. The Justice League was correct about Slade wanting to capture him. Spock checked his Phaser and after some deliberation set it to the kill setting. He was unsure that it would actually kill Slade, but decided to not set it to the disintegration setting unless it became imperative.

Spock also knew that his presence placed the Titans in danger, though this was something that was normal for them. He had no idea about how long he would have to wait for the promised spare parts to be supplied. It was possible that the Kryptonian would be unable to supply them and that he would have to wait for the mysterious Guardians to deliver them.

Spock spoke with Robin before dinner about the threat level Slade would cause. It was higher than he had already estimated, and it was certain that given enough time, Slade would attack. And then there was the timeline. Spock knew that for better or for worse, he had already affected the Titans timeline. But there was a very serious problem.

"Grandfather Richard" had yet to sire any offspring. Were he to perish before doing so meant that Spock would never be born, and the impact to the timeline would be profound, possibly affecting the future of the Federation and the entire Alpha Quadrant.

Spock had no knowledge from the future about Slade. All he knew was that he appeared to be an augment, and a dangerous one too. One that threatened the future.

He turned on the primitive computer console in his room and logged into the Titans mainframe. It ran a version of an ancient operating system known as "UNIX" which meant it would have a built in programming language called "Java". Spock learned about them in an optional class at Starfleet Academy called "History of Computing".

Robin told Spock that he and Cyborg were unable to track down where Slade's secret hideout was located. That they used all sorts of algorithms but always came up empty handed.

Spock opened a terminal window in the console and began to type.