I swear, every time I feel like I have to reassure you guys that this story isn't dead.

I'm really sorry it takes so long to update this fic, but life hasn't been kind to me in the free time department of late. In any case, I hope you enjoy! I took many of your suggestions for cameos for members of the League and Team. Not everyone is mentioned here, but I've got a document with both the timeline for this universe and the current/former members of the Justice League and Team. If you have any interest in seeing that, shoot me a PM or review! I'll gladly show you what I've got. It's not finalized, but I've had fun developing the "bible" for this universe along with this chapter.

Also (and don't worry if you're averse to the idea, I'm just workshopping for future, not necessarily connected fics), how do you feel about characters from separate but technically interconnected fandoms interacting with this universe? I'm talking Mortal Kombat characters, TMNT maybe, that kind of thing. I recently got Injustice 2 and MK11 for the PS4 and I'm really into them.

I'd never seen so many superheroes in one place. Well, superheroes and holographic projections of superheroes, but still. Not just members of the Team, either - it seemed like pretty much everyone connected to the Justice League had gotten an invite.

Physically, there were the Bats, of course, crowded around Dick - the tiny Robin, the slightly less tiny Red Robin, Batgirl, Orphan, Batwoman, Spoiler, Gotham Knight, and, of course, the Batman, stood by my side, surveying the room. Superman, Lana Lang's Superwoman, and the Superboy stood next to the green-skinned redhead, Miss Martian. Kaldur'ahm, fresh from officially becoming the new Aquaman - King Orin having just publicly retired to focus on his family and kingdom - spoke with Hal Jordan, the sole Green Lantern currently stationed on Earth. Blue Beetle and Impulse were bickering - which seemed to be the default for them - drawing the attention of their teammates, Arrowette and Wonder Girl. Black Lightning and Static seemed to stick close to each other, as mentors and apprentices tend to. Cyborg and Garfield seemed to be discussing the latest events with Red Tornado, Flash, Booster Gold, and Shazam. Holographically present, and projected from the roof, Plastic Man, Katana, Steel, Vixen, and the daxamite, Power Girl, patiently waited for the meeting to begin. I was slightly disappointed that Argent and Jinx hadn't been available for the meeting, considering they were pretty much my only point of contact with Justice League types besides Cyborg and Superman.

I also noticed the rather conspicuous absence of any of Green Arrow, Black Canary, and Doctor Fate. Funny that they'd miss this vital planning session.

"This is risky." -Batman muttered beside me.

"We've cast enough spells to keep this reunion hidden that the Witch Boy himself could walk in here and he wouldn't notice us." -I reasoned. "It is risky, but we've taken as much of the risk away as we could."

The Dark Knight simply hummed. "I owe you an apology." -he admitted. "I briefly considered the possibility that Green Arrow and Black Canary might've been right about you, when you ran away with Red X. Clearly, they were wrong about you. We were wrong about you."

"I...get that a lot." -I deadpanned. The Bat was famous for his paranoia - his vigilance, Dick would sarcastically correct - so I chose not to take it personally. At the end of the day, Bruce Wayne was just a man, with a plethora of failings to be sure, but also a lifetime of dedication to the greater good. I suppose I owed it to him to let him know about his other stray son.

I pursed my lips, and sighed. "Listen, about Red X…"

"I know." -he simply said. "I've known for some time."

I raised an eyebrow. "And you haven't brought him in?"

"Jason will return if and when he wants to return." -he said. "I've given him as many ways to reach out as I can. He's taken none of them - and not because he hasn't noticed them."

I frowned. "But you haven't talked to him."

"As you've likely noticed, he likes to talk. He doesn't like to be talked to." -he said, in what I can only assume was the Batman's joking tone. "Even as Robin, he rarely ever listened to reason. He is extraordinarily strong-willed, but incredibly stubborn, too. He has to come to a conclusion on his own. I can't force him to come back, as much as I would like him to return."

"I hate to say this, but...I doubt he'll return while his killer is still loose."

"Joker is currently imprisoned in Arkham Asylum, and has been for months." -he said, slightly defensive.

"You know what I mean."

"I vowed never to take a life." -he reminded me. "Not even his."

"So did I." -I said, crossing my arms. "I grew up a pacifist on Azarath. But I still killed my father to save this world."

He raised an eyebrow, as much as the hardened cowl allowed. "I thought you said he was immortal."

"As a transdimensional cosmic deity, he can't be permanently killed, it's true." -I admitted. "But make no mistake: I still would've atomized him, if he were mortal. Some villains are too dangerous to be left alive. The Joker is a prime example."

"And where do I draw the line?" -he counters. "I know every drop of blood on Joker's hands is on mine, too. But the minute I consider ending his life, I'd have to then consider the lives of the rest of the criminals I face on a nightly basis. Where does that leave people like Pamela, or Harleen?"

"I did say some, Mr. Wayne." -I retorted. "The remorseless serial killers. The apocalyptic arch-demons. The people who can't be swayed into a neat little redemption arc."

He turned to me. "I can't take that chance." -he said. "Every choice they make could bring them closer to turning a new leaf, to using their gifts and abilities for the greater good. I refuse to take that away from anyone."

"Even for your son?"

His emotions were always muted to me, so distant they might as well have not been there. This time, however, sadness and grief shone through.

"...even for my son."

I shook my head. "As perhaps the leading expert on terrible father figures...I'd reconsider, in your place." -I said, staring at his lenses. "In any case, we have a multinational crime syndicate to destroy."

He snorted, slightly. "After you, Miss Roth."

Queen Bee, Klarion the Witch Boy, Gorilla Grodd, Ultra-Humanite, the Brain, Lex Luthor, and, of course, Vandal Savage dominated the center of the room. Various images - criminal records, news coverage, and the myriad notes taken on them by the various members of the Team and Justice League - floated around their holographic bodies, linking their nefarious intent with the many villainous events from the last couple decades potentially linked to the Light's efforts. So many of the heroes present had a personal connection with the members of the Light - Superman scowled every time he looked at Lex Luthor's face, and Garfield refused to look at the Brain, for example. I guess I was...relieved, a bit, that none of my personal demons were around to pal around with the Savage and company. Seeing Trigon or Slade up there would've been...less than ideal, let's say. I put a hand on Garfield's shoulder, for comfort.

"The world is on a knife's edge, at the moment."

Green Lantern scoffed. "More like, the universe, Supes."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Hal Jordan seemed surprised to hear me talk. "Er...I guess it's not exactly public knowledge…"

"Do you remember Darkseid? And the alien invasion that made the Justice League's existence become public knowledge?" -Superman asked me.

"That was...five years before she even got here, Superman." -Dick reminded him.

"I do know about it, though." -I said, crossing my arms. "I have read a history book or two in my time."

"In any case, Darkseid, and the forces of Apokolips, have declared war on, and I quote, 'all free-willed sentient beings'." -Jordan explained. "That's why all the other Green Lanterns are off world, and why the Thanagarian members of the League haven't been seen for over two years."

"It's...also why Kori left in the first place." -Dick gently said. "Tamaran and the larger Vega system is one of the main fronts in the war."

"A war we're losing." -Batman said, sobering the room right up. "Both on the front lines, and here on Earth."

Jordan nodded gravely. "Even with the aid of most of the other Lantern Corps, and with Wonder Woman leading a contingent of the Justice League to bolster native planetary defenses, we're spread too thin to do anything but slow Darkseid's endless Parademon hordes down."

"Meanwhile, the Light basically preps Earth to be handed to Darkseid on a silver platter." -Dick said. "Darkseid knows our metahumans will be a major obstacle if and when the war comes to Earth, so he and Vandal Savage made a deal: in exchange for ruling Earth, the Light will conquer the world for Apokolips."

"Conquer the world for the guy whose first words upon coming to Earth were 'I am entropy, I am death'." -I noted. "Vandal Savage is an idiot."

Superman snorted. "You're not wrong. It takes a special kind of dumbass to think you can pull a fast one on an Apokoliptian New God and think you'll get away with it." -he said. "Pardon the cuss."

I rolled my eyes. "So where do I fit into all this? How will Savage taking the secret of interdimensional travel from me help his stupid cause?"

"Have you ever heard of something called the Anti-Life Equation?" -the Kryptonian asked.

I hadn't, but I got the same cosmic tingle down my spine I got every time I said my Father's name out loud. Names, after all, have power. "No, but it sounds all kinds of fun."

"Conquering the universe is, obviously, complicated. Especially by force." -Jordan said. "Life, as Jeff Goldblum famously put it, finds a way - a way to resist, to survive to fight another day. Not to tout the Green Lantern horn, but Willpower is one of the most powerful forces in the universe for a reason."

"The Anti-Life Equation would, in theory, nullify life itself by removing an individual's willpower, reducing them to a hollow, mindless, soulless creature." -Batman explained, sounding about as fed up with this cosmic magical bullshit as humanly possible. "Darkseid has compiled most of the Equation over the eons, but our research and the Light's interest in you suggests that pieces of it are...missing, from this dimension."

"So, Vandal gets your dimension-hopping powers, gives them to Darkseid, and the stony-faced bastard gets to complete his precious cosmic math." -Dick summed up.

I sighed. "And then he gets to rule the universe, and most likely, every other universe afterwards."

So basically, Trigon as a math nerd. Great.

"Precisely." -Batman said. "Which means it's imperative that the Light never get their hands on you."

I crossed my arms. "...what if they did, though?" -I mused.

Batman squinted. Superman tilted his head. "I...don't follow."

"Villains are at their weakest when they think they've won." -I said. Feeling the room, I could sense a chorus of agreement going on. "They get overconfident - talk too much, relax when they shouldn't."

"Maybe…give us a window to track you and cross-reference with the database we just collected?" -Dick proposed, excitedly.

Garfield raised an eyebrow. "Are you suggesting getting intentionally captured by the Light?"

"Temporarily." -I shrugged. "Running away or hiding from my problems has historically proven disastrous. I'd rather get this over with before the intergalactic tyrant gets closer to us."

"These people are no joke." -Jordan said, worried. "Raven, I understand you're a grade-A badass, but there's a reason the combined efforts of the Justice League and the Team haven't been enough to take the Light down for good, let alone Darkseid and his cronies."

I nodded. "I understand."

"How do you want to play this?" -Batman asked. I raised an eyebrow - he certainly got around to the idea fast. I figured he would. These sorts of high risk, high reward plans were typically the Dark Knight's favorites, after all.

"We draw them out. Stage an event too tempting for them to ignore." -I said, then nodded at Klarion. "I know just the thing."

I put my hand out, and opened up an inky black portal, but, just as I supposed, the darkness became golden, the air around us becoming charged with the tension of pure magical energy. The portal coalesced into the familiar form of Doctor Fate, hands and eyes blazing with power.

"YOU WERE WARNED, DAUGHTER OF TRIGON. YOU HAVE KNOWINGLY DEFIED THE WILL OF A LORD OF ORDER, PROVING YOURSELF A SERVANT OF CHAOS. PREPARE TO JOIN YOUR FATHER IN…"

I smirked. He stopped, looking around at the gathered throng - most of whom were, let's say, displeased by the Sorcerer's threatening monologue.

"I...DO NOT UNDERSTAND."

"It's simple, Fate." -I said, smug. "You get to make good on your promise. Pick a spot, let's have a fight."