Ch 10: Together Again

Oh goodness, chapter 10! So exciting! Sorry it might end up being a little on the short side… without all of the answers I promised. Except one: I now have an internship! No longer am I a 24/7 couch bum! Huzzah!

Brownie points to anyone who can snag the Shakespeare references.

There was no way out of this one. They had him good and trapped with his back literally against a wall. Starfire felt the heated joy of satisfaction bubble up in her chest, and the starbolt poised on her fingertips shined a little brighter. Next to her, Cyborg mirrored her stance: one arm out, glowing energy ready to fire down into Tempest's sitting form. On Starfire's other side, Beast Boy growled, his sleek wolf body tense, lips curled back in a sharp snarl. Oh yes, they had him trapped.

Tempest studied the three through hooded eyes, his silver hair hanging in a wet curtain across his brow. He wondered if he could goad them into finishing him off before the real danger came rumbling through the sky. His back was against the concrete wall of the plant, and he felt the lump on his head throb painfully. Blood trickled down the back of his neck from the injury. He wished his swords were in reach, but the green boy had nosed them aside in the few moments he had been unconscious. The boys, though, were the least of his worries. It was with confusion, and perhaps a bit of fear, that he regarded the redhead standing above him. She was definitely not of Earth.

"How do you know who I am?" he asked quietly, voice soft and devoid of emotion. The green wolf growled and Starfire made no move to give him an answer.

"One move, lightning boy, and I blast you to the next dimension," Cyborg warned. Tempest's hands twitched against the ground, but he kept them firmly planted in the dirt at his sides.

"What have you done to Raven?" Starfire said forcefully.

"She's fine now, I assure you," Tempest smirked, feeling cold anger clutch at his aching head. "Thanks to you fools." Cyborg resisted the urge to flick his eyes towards Starfire and Beast Boy. The Titans had yet to hear from their resident birds and had no way of knowing if they were actually in the clear.

"You did not answer my question." Starfire's voice was dangerously calm and the starbolt flickered. Tempest eyed it warily, eyes darting back and forth between her stony face and the energy on her hand. He took a quick breath and composed his features into a casual, almost bored look.

"Well, I suppose I have time to explain a bit about myself," Tempest said airily. "Those fine swords over there, well, they give me a bit of a magical edge, no pun intended. With the right spell and the right amount of time, I am capable of so much more than weather patterns. When I attacked your little friend, I left a seal of sorts on her."

"The lightning brand," Cyborg said. Tempest nodded.

"The very same. It's quite a nice piece of art, don't you think?" Tempest smirked, watching the anger flicker across the three faces in front of him. The wolf took a step towards him with a low growl and Tempest continued.

"Now, usually this spell of mine is a bit more permanent, but I didn't know you had an Azarathian among your numbers. What are the chances I get her, of all people? It's quite funny, really," Tempest chuckled. "An Azarathian on your little team of heroes."

"You will not speak ill of our friend, thief," Starfire spat.

"No need for name-calling," Tempest shot back, fingers twitching towards his swords. Starfire sent a small blast at the dirt near his fingers with the hand that wasn't currently trained on his face.

"Don't even think about it," Cyborg warned. "Keep talking."

"Anyway," Tempest continued, glaring at him. "I didn't expect a sorceress when I found her on the roof. It made things interesting, I'll admit. She's escaped the place I sent her, but the seal remains."

"And how do we remove it?" Starfire asked. Tempest shrugged with another smirk.

"There's a spell, but I never bothered learning it."

"You lie!" Starfire stepped closer to him. Tempest raised his hands in the air in surrender.

"Why would I lie now? I really never bothered learning it. I've never had anyone escape before." Tempest shrugged again but kept his hands in the air, palms facing the Titans. "You have to get rid of me if you have any hope of fully saving your friend."

"Don't tempt me," Cyborg said. Beast Boy growled in agreement.

"I believe there are others who would rather have you in their possession," Starfire told Tempest. "They deal with thieves in a manner much more interesting than how we deal with criminals here."

"You wouldn't dare," Tempest sneered at her, narrowing his eyes. Cyborg masked his confusion at the exchange between the two; Starfire definitely had some explaining to do once they got back to the tower.

"You have hurt my friends," Starfire said. "Do not underestimate me."

"Fools," Tempest muttered. "Then how will you rid your friend of the seal?"

"Like you said," Cyborg spoke up. "She's a sorceress. If she escaped you, she'll figure out how to get rid of that thing."

Tempest stayed silent, looking at the three. The half-metal man, cannon trained on his torso. The alien redhead, hand aimed at his face. And the green wolf, fangs bared. The swords were too far to retrieve, but perhaps there was a way out of this. If he did not possess the swords, he could not be accused of theft, right?

"If you insist," Tempest said, a sneer curling across his face. "You're all a bunch of idiots." With that, he spat in Cyborg's face. Cyborg lowered his cannon slightly to wipe at his cheek, and in the instant Starfire's eyes flicked towards her friend, Tempest brought his hands together in a loud clap. Lightning fried through the sky at Tempest and hit him and the wall in a shower of sparks. The blue of Cyborg's cannon and a bright green starbolt followed quickly, but in a flash Tempest was gone. Beast Boy leapt towards the space the villain had sat in only moments ago, nose to the ground.

"Well, you definitely hit him," Beast Boy said as he morphed back into a human. "Look." He pointed at the dirt where a small pool of blood was quickly sliding away in the rainwater.

"Yeah, but he escaped," Cyborg said sullenly.

"But we are now in possession of the weapons of Medeca!" Starfire exclaimed.

"The what?" Beast Boy turned towards her, face twisted into confusion.

"The swords," she clarified, pointing at the discarded set in the dirt.

"Medeca?" Cyborg asked. Starfire grimaced and sighed.

"As I said, I remembered who he is. I will explain at home. We must see if our friends have returned."

"Right," Beast Boy nodded. And with that, the three took to the air and began their journey back to the tower.

…

Robin absentmindedly stroked Raven's hair as he stared off into space, only half listening to the words spilling from her mouth as she and Intelligence talked. Her tale of her journey in what they had decided was Tempest's mind was still fresh in Robin's thoughts.

When Raven had flickered back into existence on the platform where they now sat, the relief Robin felt had been unimaginable. He hadn't realized the extent of his anxiety until that very moment; he had been so uptight, so tense for so many hours, that he had forgotten what it felt like to truly take a breath and relax his shoulders. The weight of his stress was still leaking away from his body, but it felt like there was a little more room to breathe. After she had sat up, her eyes firmly purple once more, Robin had pulled the dark mystic into his arms with no hesitation. She was stiff at first, but as Robin pressed his cheek to hers, she had relaxed, allowing her own arms to snake around his shoulders. Robin's lips twitched into a small smile as he remembered the force with which she had returned his hug, clinging to him just as desperately as he had to her. And over her shoulder, he had caught a glimpse of the purple-cloaked Love smile, the injury and exhaustion in her body evaporating into the atmosphere.

Of course, Intelligence had to interrupt, but Robin couldn't hold that against her. They all needed answers and Raven was the only one capable of providing them. However, she had been reluctant to let go of Robin, something that did not go unnoticed by the boy wonder. He also could not help but notice that, despite the apparent recovery of her surrounding emotions, Raven was still shaky and weak. So while he let go of her and let her turn around to speak with Intelligence, Robin made sure he was nearby. As she recounted her climb, the waterfall, and the Thing, Robin felt her slowly leaning into his knee where it was propped up at her side. This was their current position, him with one leg stretched out in front of him, the other pulled up close to his body with Raven leaning on it, her own legs crisscrossed in front of her. Robin had put a hand on her back when she had told them about her conversation with the Thing, and he had yet to remove it, opting instead to gently run his hand through the hair at her back. He kept expecting her to disappear again.

"But how did you get back?" Intelligence said. Robin felt Raven shrug.

"It was strange. The landscape was changing, and it was like there was a giant earthquake," Raven said slowly. Intelligence nodded.

"The same thing happened here," the yellow-cloaked emotion said. "The ground shook and there were green and blue lights in the sky and something that sounded like explosions, but they weren't happening here."

"That might have been Starfire and Cyborg's attacks on Tempest," Robin said, speaking up for the first time since the whole conversation began. Intelligence looked at him thoughtfully.

"That is quite possible," she mused. "Something must have happened to Tempest to cause this overlap in action and bring Raven back here, and if he were knocked unconscious or something along those lines while fighting, that would bring his physical reality into conversation with ours and the one where Raven was."

"The great overlap," Raven quipped. "He must have been knocked unconscious, but only for a few moments. When I was back here, I felt myself pulled in two directions. His world and this one flashed back and forth a few times before I could finally focus on Robin." Her voice trailed off and Robin felt the pressure on his knee lessen. He abandoned his post behind Raven and scooted himself forward so he was now next to her, hip and leg flush against hers.

"Your eyes kept flashing purple then silver when you came back," Robin said. "He must have still had some hold on you, but you fought it off."

"I could see the Thing coming back for me," Raven said softly.

"This is very powerful magic," Intelligence said. "It is a miracle you were able to fully return here."

"I had something to focus on," Raven said, eyes flicking towards Robin. He smiled. Across from him, he saw Love wink at him again. Raven's emotions were still gathered around the circle with the exception of Anger who had returned to wherever she chose to sulk in Nevermore. He glanced over at Bravery and was relieved to see she was finally standing again, still tired though no longer limping. Happy's cloak had returned to its vibrant pink color and she was gleefully poking Timid on the rock they still occupied.

"We should get back to the tower and find out for sure what happened," Robin said, leaning forward onto his knees. "I don't know if the others are still fighting him and they could be in trouble." Next to him, Raven nodded.

"Hopefully the fact that I'm back here means they've taken care of him," Raven said, also moving to stand. Robin got to his feet and took Raven's hand, helping her to her feet as well.

"But can you return to reality now?" Intelligence asked, rising from the ground. "There are so many variables at work. I don't believe his spell was ever meant to be used on someone like us."

"One way to find out," Raven said with conviction. She closed her eyes and raised her face towards the sky. Intelligence stepped back off the platform and moved to join the other emotions.

"Good luck," Love said to them. Robin nodded and tightened his grip on Raven's hand. She laced her fingers through his.

"Azarath metrion zinthos," she murmured. Robin felt the unfamiliar pull of the mirror again, and soon they were spinning into nothingness.

…

Robin flew backwards into his plastic chair with a gasp, the mirror clutched tightly to his chest. He quickly leapt back to his feet, frantically searching the room for Raven. The hospital bed was empty.

A small groan from the other side of the bed alerted him to her prescence. Robin set the mirror down on the pillow and leaned over, sighing in relief as he caught a glimpse of her lavender hair. He walked to the other side.

Raven was on her back on the cold tile, feet resting on the floor with her knees bent in the air. Her hands were pressed to her face. Robin chuckled a bit when he saw her lying there, looking like she was lounging on a beach or something when that couldn't be further from the truth.

"It's not nice to laugh," she said from beneath her hands. She slowly sat up, resting her weight back on her arms. "I didn't even know if that would work."

"Well I for one am glad it did," Robin said, a grin resting on his face. She cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Why do you have such a ridiculous smile on your face?" she asked. Robin leaned down and extended a hand to her. She took it, still waiting for an answer, and Robin pulled her up off the ground. She found herself standing toe-to-toe with him, his arms loosely wrapped around her small body. Her hands rested on his arms, and she had to lean her head back to look into his eyes.

"Well?" she asked, meaning to sound demanding, but her voice came out as a soft whisper.

"Because, Raven," he whispered back, leaning his forehead down to touch hers. "I have you back." His breath tickled her cheek and Raven resisted the instinct to take a step backwards. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed, accepting the comforting warmth radiating from Robin's body pressed against hers. She was back in her own mind, in her own body, in her own home.

A wave of nausea rippled through her and Raven all but collapsed against Robin. His grip tightened around her, keeping her on her feet.

"Are you okay?" he said hurriedly. She laughed softly.

"I'm just hungry," she said. She felt Robin laugh, too. To finally have something so normal wrong with her… it was a relief they both felt.

"To the kitchen, then," Robin said. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again." Raven swatted at his arm, her body still wrapped tightly in his arms. He began walking backwards, almost dragging her with him.

"I can walk," she said.

"I know," Robin responded as he plucked her cloak off the end of the bed. He pressed a quick kiss to her temple and released her, spinning her so she was now in front of him. He fastened her cloak back around her neck, and with his hands lightly gripping her shoulders, he propelled them through the door and towards the kitchen. Raven felt a blush heat her cheeks and resisted the urge to touch the spot where his lips had been.

"Friend Raven!" Starfire's voice echoed through the halls, followed shortly by the alien girl zooming towards Raven and Robin. She hugged Raven tightly, swinging her out from under Robin's hands and into the air. Raven awkwardly returned the hug as best she could, her own arms mostly trapped by Starfire's grip.

"Hey, Star," she said. Starfire set her back down next to Robin and landed, her smile lighting up the dark hallway.

"I knew friend Robin would be able to get you back," she beamed.

"I didn't actually do much," Robin said, scratching the back of his head.

"I wouldn't say that," Raven said quietly, smiling at him with shining eyes. Robin felt the relief of her return wash over him again, just as it had in Nevermore.

"Rae!" Cyborg boomed. He and Beast Boy popped up next to Starfire.

"Dude we were so worried!" Beast Boy exclaimed, grinning ear-to-ear. "How'd you get back? Or out? Or whatever?"

"Well," she began. Raven felt her stomach clench again and she shot a look at Robin. He winked at her and looped an arm around her shoulders, steering the group towards the kitchen. "You all helped, actually. Whatever happened while you were fighting Tempest gave me enough of an opening to reach out to my own mind, and Robin was there waiting and helped pull me back to Nevermore."

"Wait, what happened with Tempest?" Robin said. The grins on the three warriors' faces fell.

"He ran off," Cyborg said.

"Coward," Beast Boy added. Starfire merely nodded grimly, but then she brightened again.

"But we do have the swords," she said. "He was not able to escape with those." The reunited group of five was now at the kitchen. Raven dropped onto a stool at the breakfast bar, followed closely by Cyborg. Starfire floated next to them and Beast Boy jumped up to sit on the counter. In the kitchen, Robin rummaged in the fridge before bringing food out and setting it in front of Raven.

"You said you know who he is, Star?" Robin said as he put a kettle of water on the stove to boil. She nodded vigorously and opened her mouth to speak, but Beast Boy cut her off.

"Yeah, she totally owned Tempest," Beast Boy said, smiling at Starfire. "Completely freaked him out and everything. It was awesome."

"Our very own Tamaranean warrior!" Cyborg said, laughing a bit as he stood to grab a snack, too. Tossing a bottle of mustard at Starfire from the fridge, he began digging through it. Starfire was blushing slightly.

"Oh, someone else would have eventually done the figuring," she said.

"Nuh uh," Beast Boy responded. "That's some alien stuff right there."

"Who is he, Star?" Raven said as she swallowed a bite. Robin set a cup of tea in front of her and she rewarded him with another soft smile.

"It is Caliban," Starfire said, sitting on a stool next to Raven. The empath's eyes widened in realization.

"Of course," Raven said. "The Thief of Sycorax."

Phew, they're all back together! Huzzah reunion! Let me know what you think. The full legend of Tempest/Caliban is coming in the next two chapters.