When Raven had finished caring for Gar's knife wound, she went back into the main compartment of the airliner with some vague idea of dealing with the body of the unfortunate victim or seeing to any other wounded. The flight crew had removed the corpse already, a wide blood stain showing where he had fallen. A man and a woman had gunshot wounds also but two doctors and a nurse who were on board had stabilized them. A flight attendant tentatively approached her and hesitantly said "I'm sorry, Ma'am, I mean excuse me..."

Raven turned to the man and he trailed off. She realized he was afraid of her. "It's OK," she said in what she hoped was a reassuring voice. "What do you need?"

"The pilot wants to know what he needs to do."

She nodded. "Get in contact with flight control. Do as they say." All around her the passengers were silent and scared and every eye was on her. "He won't hurt anyone else," she said, wishing that Gar could speak for them. He was vastly better at it. There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever. Finally, a teenage girl gave a gasping sob and started to wail. An elderly woman across the aisle moved to kneel next to her and held her, making comforting sounds. It spread quickly across the compartment and people begin reacting, the stress and horror beginning to be let out. Sone cried, some laughed, and some just sat and stared.

It was an assault of emotion on Raven's senses and she literally staggered back to the empty first class area where Gar and the unconscious, bound Joker still lay. He knew exactly what her look meant. "Meditate," he said, pointing to a seat. "I can deal with things."

"You're hurt," she said brusquely. "I can handle it."

"You did your thing," he said, indicating his stomach and referring to her healing efforts. "I'm fine. It's all closed up."

"Gar, don't. Just don't. Not now," she ground out. "I can't... I can't loose control on a goddamn plane full of people so don't you give me something else to worry about."

"OK, Rae, Not moving, see?" She took a deep breath and centered herself, cutting off as best she could the cacophony behind her. Gar raised a hand towards her from the floor and gestured. "Come here." Rae approached him and took his hand. Her senses focused on him in way that surprised her. It drowned out the wild chaos in her mind and she felt only him. His sick regret that a man had died, the physical pain of his wounds now past, his receding fear and relief that the crisis was over, and overlaying it all the concern he felt for her. The contact steadied and calmed her and she briefly squeezed his hand tight before letting go. She was able to smile at him just a tiny bit, more fully in control then she would have thought possible. "Sit down," he said, indicating one of the seats. "There's nothing else for us to do."

Raven looked around, finding herself unwilling to rest. She felt she needed to keep moving or... something would happen. The agitation and adrenaline of the fight was still full upon her. After trying to think of something useful to do and failing she sat down. A quick glance at Gar showed that he was smiling in a way she found smug. "Oh, shut up," she muttered, which made him chuckle. For possibly the first time in her life did something purely for effect. She dramatically rolled her eyes hoping it would make him laugh again. It did.

Slowly and stiffly, Gar got to his feet. She began to move and protest but he waved her off. "Not going far. Scoot over." She quickly switched to the window seat and he took the other. "Floor was getting uncomfortable."

"Are you in pain?" she asked.

"A little. Not bad," he replied.

They sat for a long time. Gar had gotten better at not needing to fill up every moment with incessant talk but this was highly out of character. "You're quiet," she finally said.

"I'm just..." he trailed off, shaking his head.

She took his hand and said, "Don't make me pull it out of you," she said, amused at the reversal.

He frowned and clenched his fist, squeezing her hand and for a moment closing his eyes. She realized that he, unlike she, wasn't avoiding the elephant in the room. He angrily gestured at Joker where he lay and spoke bitterly. "Is this what our lives are going to be?"

"No. It will always be a part but it will never be all." She watched him silently for a beat. "You know that." He shrugged. "No! You listen to me, Gar. This..."

"Not now, Rae." He again pointed at Joker. "Not with that... thing right there." She checked the time on her communicator and saw that they were still an hour from landing in Gotham. For the entire time, they were silent and Raven couldn't stop thinking that it was the longest she had ever seen him not speak. They were met at the Gotham airport by a massive police and emergency medical presence and, of course, their friends and teammates. Batman was there along with Police Commissioner Gordon.

Gordon thanked them gruffly but sincerely and Batman told them they had done a good job. Rob was smiling, something that had become more rare as he aged. Cy and Star greeted them with their usual warmth and humor. They were debriefed by both Gotham Police and the FBI, the procedures feeling interminable. It fell mostly on her. Gar was uncharacteristically dour and taciturn. His answers short and direct. When they were finally finished with the authorities, Raven opened a portal directly into the tower. It was a relief to be home.

Without a word, Gar immediately went up the stairs to their room. With an apologetic glance at the others, Rae followed him. By the time she entered, he had already gone into the bathroom. Raven was hesitant and unsure. She vacillated until she heard the shower start before she made up her mind and went in. "Gar, you're kind of scaring me," she said loudly enough to be heard over the water.

"I thought you would be glad I wasn't talking for once," he said.

"Come on, Gar. Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Try to divert me." The water turned off and he stepped out. "I'm just... look, you're really worrying me right now," she said.

He began drying off. "Don't worry. Really. I know this is weird for me but I'm just... I let you have space all the time to meditate or deal with things." He pulled on his shorts and stepped around Rae into the bedroom.

She followed him, her arms crossed defensively. "I know but that's... different."

Gar went to the window and looked out at the bay. "Really? How?"

"Because I have to do it. I do it all the time," she was beginning to feel exasperated. "Now you are, which is a change. Thus my concern. I don't think I'm being unreasonable here."

"You aren't," he said, still not looking at her. "I guess I am, a little."

Rae sighed and squeezed her nose as if she were trying ward off a headache. "OK. Do you want to be alone?" she asked. He shook his head and sprawled out on the bed. She took him at his word and also cleaned up, returning wearing a long nightshirt and lay down, keeping some distance between them, bizarrely feeling as if she were intruding in her own bed. After pulling the comforter up around herself, she fiddled with the hem nervously.

Gar turned on the television they had installed when it became his room too and began idly flipping channels, finally settling on an old movie. After a moment, Rae turned on her nightstand lamp and picked up the ever present book that lay next to it. It took long enough for her to finish a chapter and for Gar to watch the wedding scene from "The Godfather" before he spoke. "Let's go out tomorrow."

Without looking up from her reading in a deliberate effort at normalcy, she said "OK. What do you want to do?"

"I want Italian food," he said. "Somewhere good for lunch. Then lets do something fun."

Rae put the book down and lay on her side to face him. "Like what?"

"Let's try that go-kart racing place that just opened or play miniature golf. Maybe just go to the park." He also shifted so that he was facing her.

Moving closer and reaching out to first stroke his arm and then take his hand, she said "Sure. Any of that sounds great." Rae lifted his hand to her face and kissed his knuckles. They mutually released their grip and he began stroking her hip while she gently touched his cheek. She slid her hand down his body to where he had been wounded, applying her healing power a little. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

"No." He moved closer and slid his hand under her nightshirt to the bare skin of her back. Her hand also went to his back and pulled them closer till she lay half atop him. He kissed her lightly but she would have none of it, and almost roughly ran her hand into his hair and behind his head and reciprocated with fervor. Neither had occasion to speak for some time.

Later, they lay nude and entwined, the disarrayed sheets partly on the floor, partly on the bed, and half covering them. Gar was flat on his back, one arm behind his head as he started straight up at nothing and the other cradling Rae as she lay curled into him, her leg draped across him and her head on his chest. A rare mischievous smile flitted across her face and she said "Feel better?"

He chuckled. "Yeah."

"Want to talk now?"

"Nothing really to talk about. I was feeling pretty... you know... dark I guess."

"Understandable," she said.

"But someone reminded me, both verbally and in other ways, that there's a lot more in our lives then that... that hatred and insanity."

"Like going out for lunch and go-kart racing?" she asked. "We never do those things."

"Maybe we should start."

"Only if we also do things I like."

"Who doesn't like go-kart racing?"