"Starfire, wait," called Nightwing, running to catch up with the Tameranean as she floated down the hall towards the holding cells.
The woman gave him a quick look over her shoulder before simply continuing on her way.
"Star, please, I need to talk with you," he pleaded, gripping her gently by the arm.
"Yes, how may I help you?" replied Starfire, barely trying to hide her displeasure.
Nightwing grimmiced at her coldness, but continued anyway.
"I wanted to explain about…back there."
"There is no need. The Batman needed to know, so you told him. I understand."
Turning up her nose, the Tameranean attempted to continue on her way, but the young man was not willing to let her go so easily.
"Starfire, please," he begged. "There's more to it than that."
"I am sorry, Dick, but I believe there are more important matters at hand right now," replied Starfire curtly before pulling her arm out of his grasp and quickly disappearing down the hall.
Standing in the empty hallway and feeling more alone than he had in a long time, Nightwing lowered his head and let out a defeated sigh. If ever he could take back the last ten years of his life.
"She'll get over it," came an all too familiar voice from behind him. "Just give her some time."
Anger went through Nightwing's body quick as a shot.
"Don't you dare try to be Mr. Understanding right now, Bruce," snapped Nightwing spinning around and coming face to face with Batman.
"There's no reason to feel guilty, Dick," said Batman, ignoring Nightwing's outburst.
"Why shouldn't I? I mean they're my best friends and unfortunately I can't say this is the first time I've ever made them feel like I betrayed them."
"You did what was necessary," The Dark Knight insisted. "In this life, preparation is crucial to survival. Especially for us."
"Us?" said Nightwing, his voice giving off a particularly cold tone.
"That's right. In case you haven't noticed, there's not a single person on this watchtower who couldn't take you and I apart in a second."
"Don't," threatened Nightwing, his voice dropping to a menacing octave.
Ignoring Nightwing's threat, Batman continued, his voice increasing in strength.
"We're at a constant disadvantage, you and I, and for that reason, it's imperative that we always remain one step ahead."
A uneasy silence grew between the two men as Nightwing attempted to process what he had heard. After a few seconds a small smirk formed on the masked man's lips.
"You know its funny, Bruce," he said. "When I first met Raven, she reminded me so much of you. The way she was calm, collected, intelligent. The way she knew just what to say and do to get what she wanted out of a criminal. Hell, for a long time I thought she might have been your double. But after a while I found there was one major difference between you and her."
Nightwing let another silence pass between them before continuing.
"Even if she doesn't always show it, she trusts us."
Not bothering to wait for an answer, Nightwing brushed past Batman and continued on his way. As he walked away, he reflected on Batman's words. Like always, logic and reason was on Batman's side, however; Nightwing had learned a long time ago that having logic on your side meant nothing if your heart wasn't.
Raven walked down the hallway with purpose as Beast Boy followed closely behind her. She wasn't sure if she could in fact remove Trigon's will from Superman's body, but she was most assuredly going to try.
When they got to the cell they found the Titans and the League waiting for them; Nightwing, Cyborg and Starfire on one side, and Batman, Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern on the other.
"Is he awake?" said Raven, turning to Green Lantern.
"I think so," he replied. "He's been in there muttering to himself for the past ten minutes."
Raven found this strange, but quickly brushed her suspicions aside. There was work to be done and she needed to be focused. Standing up to her father was the hardest thing she had ever done, and truthfully she felt incredibly apprehensive about confronting him. Nothing in this universe scared her more than having to be in his presence.
Her fear must have been all over her face because she suddenly felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found Beast Boy's emerald eyes shining down on her with concern.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she lied.
Sensing her distress, Beast Boy, gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
"Hey," he said softly. "You're going to do awesome." His toothy grin spread across his face.
Raven's heart swelled and suddenly she was filled with renewed confidence.
"Open up the door," she said firmly. "And lock it behind me."
Throwing the lock, Lantern opened the door and allowed Raven access to the prison. After taking a few steps inside, the door closed shut.
The cell was of modest size, not terribly small. It was however small enough, so that the flashing glow of the kryptonite fragment sitting on the table filled the room with a bright green light.
Raven immediately spotted the still possessed Superman sitting in the corner of the room. His head was down and, just as Green Lantern said, he seemed to be whispering an indistinguishable string of words to himself.
"Hello, Father," said Raven coldly.
With a great deal of effort, the demon raised his head. Despite his weakness, his deep, sinister eyes combined with the green from the kryptonite gave him a terrifying appearance.
"Hello daughter, he said wearily. "I was hoping I would see you again." He paused for a moment. "I suppose you're here to send me back to the void."
"Yes," replied Raven sternly.
The demon chuckled, bringing about a small coughing fit.
"Such curtness," he wheezed. "Is that how you speak to your father."
"No, it's how I speak to a monster like you," replied Raven with venom dripping from each word.
Trigon managed another weak laugh.
"You know it's not too late," he said. "You could still make things right. Help me escape, bring my body through to this dimension, take your proper place by my side."
Raven took no time coming up with an answer.
"Not a chance."
Trigon smirked.
"Just thought I would try."
Slowly, the demon pulled himself to his feet, leaning against the wall for support.
"You know, when I journeyed back to this dimension my initial goal was to seek out a host that would best aid me in my mission. Before finding the Kryptonian, I explored many different bodies, many different minds. While most were quickly dismissed as being too weak, I always took the time to probe their mind for information, not knowing what might become beneficial to me."
As Trigon spoke, Raven noticed his fragile voice become steadier with each word. It seemed his strength was actually returning to him.
"Most of what I gathered was useless, but a sorceress named Tala did provide some interesting spells, such as one for changing the physical property of matter."
The reality of the situation suddenly came crashing down on Raven when she realized that the glow of the kryptonite fragment, which had been so prominent when she first entered the room, was now fading. Fear rushed through her as she turned to see that it was now nothing more than a regular stone. Sensing Trigon's wicked presence returning to full power, she turned back to find him towering just in front of her with a look of pure malice adorning his face.
With unfathomable quickness, the monster gripped her savagely around the throat and raised her into the air.
"Let it be known, daughter," he hissed. "You were given fair chance."