A/N: Pure freedom, in my opinion, does not exist. Freedom in moderation, however, is still extremely sweet and satisfying. Freedom from exams (YAY!!!!!!!!) is sometimes boring but so, so relieving.

I am finally not a highschool student anymore, this is pretty amazing. Soon enough I will be jetsetting off to university.

But for now, I have this chapter for you guys and I hope you enjoy it. I enjoyed writing it and it gave me some thing to do while I pondered on what was next without a daily routine.

Read and review please!

Chapter 19

So…

T-shirts? Check.

Jeans? Check.

Toothbrush? Toothpaste? Check.

Communicator? Check.

Cologne? Check.

Holographic ring? Check.

Clean underwear? Ummm…

Garfield shoved his hands into his sports bag in search of clean underwear, and was relieved to find that he did, indeed, pack a couple pairs of clean underwear. As disgusting as everyone thought he was, clean underwear was a must as even a little bit of dirt bothered him. Damned sensitive nose and all that. Remembering how forgetful he was, Garfield rummaged through his room to try to find even more clean underwear, just in case he magically lost the pairs that he had in his bag and also…also just in case he was forced to—well not really forced to, just…just in case he had to—stay in L.A for longer than a week. Just in case it was worse than everyone thought it was.

Garfield shook his head; don't count your chicks before they hatch.

Maybe it really wasn't bad. Maybe whatever experimental drug they were going to give was going to miraculously clear up everything and so he could go back to the life he knew and to pursue the life he always wanted. Maybe…maybe they would succeed where his parents had failed.

That was a lot of maybes, Garfield realised.

Another shake of the head seemed to automatically start, and he stopped himself before he started injuring his neck or something stupid like that.

As much as he liked to carpe diem, today his intuition wasn't so hot. He wasn't sure whether or not going away to L.A would actually hurt the team, but he knew that it would help him and today…today he needed to be selfish. And yet…

"Oi, B! You done packing, the idiots they sent from S.T.A.R Labs are getting impatient!" Garfield heard Vic's loud, booming and yet comforting voice from outside his room.

…another part of himself just wallowed in self pity and refused to leave the place that he called home and was resigned to the fact that despite everything—despite being green—he was going to die anyway. That part also told him that if he went away to L.A he wouldn't meet Raven ever again…which was ridiculous, because she had to come back home, right? Right?

"Yea, yea you metal-head. I'll be down in a sec." He yelled back, a grin plastered to his face.

Well, he wouldn't think about that now because…if he did, he knew that his ass would stay put in his room and just rot there until he was destined to…um…rot. Except…he did think about it because he knew that, since he chose this path, he was destined for a supremely hygienic and sterile clinic, naked except for those crappy robes they gave to patients and desperate for any female that was not in a lab coat. So, with that in thought, he had written her a note; nothing mushy, nothing static and nothing formal…just his voice written on paper and left for her to read if she wanted to…and if she found it. He had left it there on the bed for anyone to see, a tiny piece of paper with his chicken scratch scrawling on it, but he didn't know for sure if she would find it because he didn't know whether or not she would dare venture anywhere near his room without having a million memories smashed blatantly into her face.

He thought that she'd rather not have that.

Garfield zipped up his bag quickly and carefully, making sure that nothing was spilling out due to over-packing. Nothing did and so he laid the note roughly on his bed and stepped out of his room, feeling that zoom sensation that he felt whenever the automatic doors opened and closed; he would miss that. His footsteps thudded through the empty hallways and he noted that the Tower was probably intended for a group of heroes much larger than the current Titans, especially in their current state. Everything was empty and he wondered who had picked the décor of metal on metal on metal; it made him almost long for the sunshine and beaches of L.A until he remembered that he probably wouldn't be going out much. Institutions like S.T.A.R Labs, he knew personally, were not a friendly place with their cold demeanour and stuck-up scientists and he also knew his position would be that of a lab rat. He wasn't stupid, his parents were scientists too and they too, he thought sadly, probably saw him as a lab rat under all that love…and there was a lot of love.

His lips pursed on their own accord as his footsteps drew him closer to the elevator that was to bring him to the rooftop.

It was probably a good thing, then, that he had relatives in L.A, specifically a cousin. His cousin had sounded excited at the prospect of Garfield visiting him as they hadn't seen each other in what seemed to be years. Members of the Teen Titans never had much of a holiday.

The elevator made an alarmingly wrenching sound before it pushed itself up towards the roof. His fingers danced on the buttons but he never pushed them and when it finally creaked at the stop, he let them fall from the cold metal. Garfield stepped out of the doors just to be greeted by another one, and with this one he wrenched it apart as much as he could before his bags stopped him; they were heavy.

"Friend Garfield!" Garfield was thrown a couple of metres away as Kori shoved him into a pained embrace, "You are leaving?"

"Yea." He nodded.

As soon as she released him, they walked side by side as she helped him carry his luggage wither inhuman—no…she was more human than most of the people he knew—strength and he almost teared up when he saw Vic, standing there like nothing was wrong, next to a helicopter that blared its sirens aggressively, like it was an emergency of some sort. The propellers twisted constantly into a blur except for three lines. As much as he was going to miss Kori, he was going to miss Vic more.

Way more.

They stared at each other for a few moments, to the irritation of his companions from S.T.A.R Labs, as if no words could translate that bond that they had built upon ever since he was a little green masked bugger who just couldn't leave the older guy alone, and thank God he didn't. Both of them had wrinkles on their faces caused by the other and both had regrets that involved one another but then…then they both learnt that they really didn't know how to function without those regrets and those wrinkles. Vic was as much his blood as the pizza delivery guy was, but to Garfield, he was more than that and that…that mattered much, much more than some silly scientific value of genetics and alleles and chromosomes.

Victor Stone and Garfield Logan were brothers through and through.

It was to be expected, but it still shocked Garfield, as they embraced and he swore that he could feel the warmth of blood coursing through Vic's metallic body. It was funny how much more life he felt in Vic despite the fact that there was almost nothing organic about Vic's bodily composition. The hug was tight and it made him happy and sad and angry and confused all at the same time, and it reassured him that the friendship between them would remain when—if—he were to return.

"Come on Logan, we don't have all day." The helicopter pilot shouted at him.

Garfield ignored him and looked at Vic with grim determination, "Take care, Vic. I know that I'm the good-looking one from the team, but I'm sure you'll survive." He joked, his smile plastered tightly on his face.

Vic shook his head, "Nah, man, you take care. I'd make sure that you were better if I were you, I don' think I can handle Gnark's…communication skills for longer than a week."

They let go of their embrace.

"Ah, I reckon I'll be back here in no time. Don't get your butts kicked while I'm gone, yea?"

"OK, Gar, no need to get cocky." Vic's smile slipped for a moment, "But, seriously though. Take care."

"Yea, yea, I know." He grinned, gripping his friend's hand in his own, "I will. Don't you worry bout it."

"Good luck, kid."

Garfield gave him one last smile before turning his attention back to Kori. She smiled at him with that adorable smile of hers; childish and dead sexy at the same time, before she burst into tears and hugged him once more. He really didn't mind the pain, he didn't, he just minded the emotional pain she might instil in him if she hugged him for more than she was doing now.

"Friend, I will be missing you. It will be lonely here without the presence of your jokes."

He stuck his tongue out and she giggled, "I know…but hey, Kor, you've got Kole to hang out with this week…and Jinx. It won't be so bad."

"It will be as bad as it actually is, Garfield. I will miss our snack time." She sniffled.

"C'mon Kor, its only a week." He patted her back softly, "I'll be back before you say knorfka."

She giggled once more, "I do hope so."

Her lips touched his cheek swiftly and he noticed that it was warm. He laughed and pulled her into another hug, and she smiled. It was good to see her smile, he didn't like it when her feet touched the ground.

After all their official goodbyes, he stepped into the helicopter and strapped himself in; not too tightly and yet not too loosely. As the helicopter went up into the air, the Tower became smaller and smaller and so did his two best friends; they had become the size of a needle. He had never imagined, in his life, the Tower looking smaller than it did now to him. Sure, he had seem the Tower from a bird's eye view, quite literally, but it had never occurred to him that the Tower could shrink in size quite drastically. It looked like if someone stepped on it, the whole thing would just get squashed and collapse into pieces of dusty rubble.

Suddenly, as he pondered on the prospect of making an even bigger T-Tower, the man he sat next to turned to him—sunglasses and all—and smiled, "Welcome, Mr. Logan. My name is Dorian Hyde and I'll be escorting you to the S.T.A.R Labs base in Los Angeles."

It was going to be a long ride.

---

Raven frowned as she noticed that her bag didn't actually have that much in it; she had been so unprepared when she had thought about coming here to Gotham to fetch Dick Grayson, which was pretty uncharacteristic of her now that she thought clearly about it. Her mind hadn't been with her in such a crucial time and she regretted it because all that she brought with her to Gotham was her heart and her heart, without her mind, didn't know what to do with all the control that was given to it and so, in just a matter of days…lost it.

Her lips pursed on their own accord as she cringed at the thought of the breakdown she experienced a week ago.

It would never happen again.

By Azar, never mind the frustration she had felt as soon as that particular conversation was over, now was the time to think about home and about the fact that she had actually succeeded in bringing Dick Grayson home. Though he was the one who said it, she knew that he wasn't so pleased with his decision though when Raven was around Barbara, she knew that the former Batgirl was relieved; not happy, not sad, just…relieved that some type of burden had been lifted off her. Barbara loved Dick Grayson with all her heart but Raven knew that Dick had to have some closure after the break up with Kori before they could actually venture on a new and healthy relationship. Raven also knew that Dick disagreed with this and was trying to persuade Barbara to come with him to Jump City. She refused which then coerced him to give her a spare communicator that he kept with him all the time and also set up a few—read: ten or so—alarms to up the security measures in this dinky little apartment. Needless to say, Barbara had not been pleased.

"Raven, are you ready to go?"

Raven frowned as she made sure that everything was secure before replying, "Um, almost done." That was a lie; she was already done.

She looked up at him and he seemed to be a little less distant than usual but not…but not as close as to that one time. She had never in her life felt the threat of the bond than that one time and she was scared because the feeling that was produced from that unity? It felt comfortable and secure and it felt like all her troubles had washed away. That feeling had set her on the edge ever since and she really didn't know what her relationship with Dick was to be from that moment on. Was she to distance herself from him? Was she to embrace their close relationship? It had been a confusing bunch of days but today it would finally end…or begin…whichever perspective one was to take.

"Are you sure you don't wanna ride on the bike back home?"

Raven frowned at him, "Dick, we've been through this how many times? Look, it's much faster for me to phase us there—along with your bike—than ride your bike all the way back to Jump. Besides, haven't you heard about this thing called the recession? Fuel is not cheap."

"Point taken." He flashed her a grin and she smiled, shaking her head in mirth, "Did you tell the others that we were coming home?"

She pursed her lips, feeling the rough texture of its thin skin, "No. They don't even know where I am and I'd rather not give that away."

"Sure. Not like it'll matter anyway."

"No…not like it will." She mused.

Her mind was elsewhere and despite the fact that she was happy—well, content—that Dick was finally coming back, she wasn't sure how everyone else would receive her. Firstly, she had left without a trace and only with a small conversation with Kori and secondly, she had broken up with Garfield. The first she could deal with and the second would make things only so much more awkward than they were now but after what happened last week, she had vowed to reconcile herself to the fact that their relationship was over and that she had to put every effort back into being friends with him. It wasn't that she didn't love him anymore—of course she did!—it was just that she had decided that if she was to truly get over him and to truly help him move on, she was to act like she was moving on, even if she necessarily wasn't. It was also easier—albeit the effort put into it was much more in quantity—to pretend like everything was fine and their vague status quo between them suited her than to moan and wallow into her own pity and let everything blow up just because she couldn't handle it.

She could, she must, she was Raven Roth.

Raven rubbed at her arms, still surprised at how cold it was in Gotham despite the fact that it was clearly already spring. The air didn't frost anymore but you could feel your breath wanting too, as if it longed for that ghost of a frost. Gotham didn't want to acknowledge spring and yet there was a comfort in the edges of winter that there was to be no rebirth, no change and no regrets. Winter was like that; sharp, selfish and sorrowful, though the sorrow never lasted so long before another selfish deed came up.

It was her turn to ask now, "You ready to go?"

She didn't hear his reply—she had obviously already known it—and just stood up with her bag on one shoulder. The fact that one side of her shoulder felt heavier than the other didn't really bother her, but the lack of balance did make her feel a little uneasy. Dick seemed to notice internally but he did nothing about it, and just turned to face Barbara—who was, despite approving this action, saying tearful goodbyes—and kissed her three times; once on her lips, the second on her cheek and the last on the top of her head. It was endearing in a way that Raven really couldn't deny and though it made her heart ache to watch him whisper soft words in her ears—she could hear them. Not physically of course, but…she knew what he was saying—and ignore them. She wondered whether or not Garfield would have acted like that if she had told him that she was leaving. She thought not; he would've thrown a tantrum and reasoned with his own childish reasoning that there was no reason for her to go.

"Let's do this then." Dick finally replied, his lips pursing and relaxing on their own accord, revealing so many emotions at once even without her having to interfere with the bond or her own powers.

She nodded, but then stopped before she reached the door. Her empathic powers was picking up a lot of emotions in this room, all raw and none ripe; Barbara, it seems, was taking it harder than she was letting on.

"You take care of the kid, Raven." Barbara requested though Raven knew that it was a demand. Her voice was throaty and her red locks lank, but Raven knew that Barbara was encouraging Dick, despite her appearance, "I want him back in one piece."

Once again, her head was obliged to nod, "Sure."

"I'll see you soon Babs. I promise." Dick said, smiling at her softly.

Finally, they stepped out of the apartment and ventured down the stairs to find Dick's motorbike. He had told her that he had left it in the garage of the apartment building and that they would be taking it back if it was the last thing they did. Raven has blatantly rolled her eyes at this demand but had agreed nonetheless; she didn't really care what he wanted as long as they got home.

Both their steps mirrored each other in footing, pressure and sound and they both didn't mention it because they both wanted to get it over and done with, they both wanted to salvage what was left of the other person's sanity. They also both wanted to salvage their own sanity, as selfish as that sounded, and they both wanted to go back to their boring and incessantly repetitive lives; the excitement and the spontaneity of the journey that led them there had proved to be less than fun and they wanted the fun out. They wanted their privacy back.

Raven looked around in the garage for a moment, noting that it was dirtier in the garage rather than in the apartment, despite both Barbara's and Dick's apparent lack of hygiene. The air was musty, as if clean air never exchanged places with it, and the dust dances beautifully between rays of rare sunlight. She thought it was rather enchanting that such a flaw could prove to be a haven of little rarities that brought a smile to your face. The colours were monotone, with only the vehicles interrupting with their bold and brash colours, and it created a sense of sepia in the room…a sense of calm that was caused by the fact that everything was the same. Her eyes turned to sneak a peek at Dick and she knew that he was also finding the beauty in such a dank place.

"I think I like your old R-cycle better."

From the corner of her eye, she saw the edge of his lips twitch in amusement as they paused at his bike. It was sleek, dark and beautiful and though she knew that the bike must've weighed a ton, you couldn't tell it if you just looked at it, it was designed so beautifully, so articulately that she sometimes wondered why it wasn't feather-light. Gone was the brash mish-mash of colours that represented his circus heritage and in was this nocturnal beast with its threatening glare and seductive sheen. Even the physical showed how much he had changed or evolved; the physical and the material.

He grinned at her, "This is way faster, and I don't look like I'm riding a traffic light when I'm on this."

She shrugged, understanding what he meant but still not accepting it, "Sometimes it is better to be obvious when it is done for the right reasons." Her fingers danced lightly on the smooth exterior, "Sometimes being blatant and brash can prove how true we are to ourselves."

She waited for him to reply, but to her relief and annoyance, he didn't and she was left to contemplate on what he was thinking rather than on what he said. With him almost completely immersed into her own mind, she thought that everything would gain a bit more clarity to it, but she was wrong; the fact that their minds were forced to push together made it hard for her to navigate through his thoughts and—more importantly—through her own.

Rain started pouring down; she could hear the odd clatter-clatter pitter-patter on the metallic garage door.

It was time to go now.

He nodded, not even needing a word from her, and moved closer towards her and his beloved bike. Her fingers moved on their own accord and her empathic powers followed, enveloping them in a blanket of emotions and of energy, drowning them in a sea of ice. Though her eyes were completely closed, she felt him shudder and noted how the hair on her arms were raised and how the energy—now completely covering them—transported them into a sort of limbo before they were to arrive at their destination. Their bodies felt light, as if they were dissipating, but she knew that for an illusion, and her mind seemed separated from her physical self, tantalisingly unrestrained and unburdened by the heavy concept of a body.

It was a blur and it was fast and all was white noise.

She had not forgotten the rain though. Nor the seductive dark bike.

Or the lank red locks.

---

It was almost good to be back in the heat again, no matter how short-lived.

L.A in itself was steaming with sweat and fame, the air wavy with heat and the palm trees looking less than refreshed. However, the inside of the building was a completely different scenario, and the people inside it looked like they had forgotten that they were living in L.A. The bodies of the doctors and scientists were static and the silver linings of the walls complemented by the fuzzy blue colour that was almost stereotypical with laboratories made him remember what he actually did remember of his time recovering from Sakutia all those years ago. He couldn't really remember much, actually, all he did remember was his parents walking around him in fuzzy lines and speaking but he didn't remember what they were saying.

Mr. Hyde escorted him through the corridors and he realised that the whole building smelled of heavy anaesthesia and there was a constant beeping in his ears, constantly reminding him that there were lives at stake here, and lives that were unnecessarily prolonged for the greater good. This was probably why—despite encouragement from his parents, and praises by his biology teacher—he never wanted to become a scientist and he had found every excuse in the world not to become one, even though he felt that that particular profession might bring him closer to his parents.

Out of the school of white-coats came one particular person stood out from the crowd and Garfield knew that in that millisecond, that man was going to turn and walk towards them. Call it intuition or primitive instincts, but he knew that the man would.

He did.

The man seemed sturdy—if that was the right word—and he wore a pair of glasses that seemed to encircle the whole crown of his head. His eyes seemed glassy and there were times where Garfield thought that he seemed out of focus, but knew that his perception was sharp. He was tall, with black hair scraped back harshly with hair gel and a white coat so impeccable that Garfield was kinda scared to touch it. This was the man that wanted to see him and Garfield thought that he looked nothing like he did in Garfield's head.

He offered his hand, his smile vague, "Welcome, Mr. Logan, to the Los Angeles branch of S.T.A.R Labs. I'm Christopher Conrad. Call me Chris." The smile got vaguer for some odd reason and Garfield gripped his hand, shaking it slowly.

"Cool. Garfield."

"Pleased to meet you." Garfield noticed that he was younger than he had thought previously and yet, there was something to be said about the experience he saw in Christopher Conrad's eyes, "I'm guessing that you know why you've been sent here for treatment?"

Garfield nodded, "Um yea—"

"Good, good. We'll talk about that later, shall we?" Garfield found himself nodding once more, not really sure what the man was talking about, and followed him when Chris started walking, "OK…firstly your accommodations are…"

For the next hour or so, Garfield found himself following Chris around the whole laboratory and finding himself amazed and intrigued about how the branch in L.A specialised in genetics and diseases—two things that he had, obviously—and how valued his parents had been at this place; Garfield vaguely remembered his parents telling him that they used to live in Los Angeles before Garfield was born. He, however, didn't know that they worked at this specific branch and was interested to find out that his parents' apparent cure for Sakutia had been the basis of all research on this vague and discreet disease; it was so rare that research had been slow, Chris had said, but it was progressing along ever since they had found out about Garfield's predicament. He groaned, Chris actually sounded excited.

He was actually relieved when they had left him to rest—whatever that really meant—in his room—which was basically like a prison cell, except with a TV, a really comfy bed, a mini-fridge, a huge wardrobe, wireless internet connection, a phone, the newest GameStation and a wicked sound system. But, apart from that, it was basically a prison—after Chris had basically dictated his schedule for what seemed to be the rest of his life. From what he could actually pick up from the extremely long and tightly packed schedule, he had to stay in the lab from morning until the evening with only a two hour lunch break where he was allowed access to the outside world…but only if he notified them where he was going first.

He shook his head.

His eyes found themselves on the phone—which was, also, monitored evidently. They didn't tell him but if they were going to all this trouble to keep an eye on him, why not monitor his phone too?—and wondered if he should call anyone. If these people weren't the best, and if he wasn't determined to find himself—and others—a better life, he wouldn't be here at all. He'd be on some cruise, lounging about until he finally died and rotted.

Garfield decided to call Matthew Logan.

"Hello?" Garfield let Matthew's voice fill the receiver, "Who's this?"

He smiled, "It's me, dude. Just callin' to see how you're doin'."

There was a pause on the other end, before he heard an excited squeal come from the other end, "Dude, Gar, is that seriously you? You got to L.A. OK?"

"Yea, yea. Rode a chopper all the way from Jump to here. Would've been way more awesome if I didn't have to go to some crappy lab."

"That sucks, man. Well, still, at least you go to go to the best city in the world. It's all sun and fun here, dude. I think you might seriously get kicked out if you started acting serious and shit."

Garfield laughed, "No way."

"Way." His cousin laughed too, it was light and not grizzly, "By the way, you thinkin' bout movin' down here anytime soon?"

"I dunno, man. I mean I'm movin out of the Tower in like half a year or somethin' but L.A…"

"Didn't you say you wanted to be an actor? Didn't you?"

"Well…yea…"

"Then you gotta move in here with me next year, man. It's like Hollywood right on your doorstep and if you don't get no jobs, I could hire you and be director!"

His fingers started tapping a tune on his thigh as he heard the enthusiasm grow in his voice, "Yea, after you graduate, you idiot. If you graduate, actually. How're the classes goin down' at UCLA?"

Garfield swore that he could hear Matt nod from the other side of the phone, "Same old, same old. Who listens in class anyway, not that I need to be trained. I mean look at all the kickass directors, they got no schooling for it."

"So why'd you go then, genius, if you could just learn in the field?"

Matt barked a laugh through the phone, "Like you don't know. My parents would kick my ass if I didn't go to college. Plus, how else am I gonna pay the bills if it doesn't come from my parents' pocket?"

Garfield nodded and though Matt couldn't see through the phone, he knew that Garfield agreed. As much as lazy asses go, Matt Logan was one of them, and even Garfield looked like a do-gooder compared to him. Sometimes, it was such a blessing to have a cousin this sloth-like.

"Good point."

"See." Another laugh, "Anyway, dude, gotta jet. Goin' to this awesome party and all the college babes are gonna be there."

"Lucky bastard." He replied, not sure whether he was sincere or not.

"I know right? Anyway, come by anytime dude, it'll be good to hang out and catch up."

He pursed his lips tightly before replying, "Sure thing. I'm gonna come by tomorrow, around one, yea?"

"Awesome. Anyway, gotta go!"

Then the phone went dead.

Garfield shook his head, pondering on how much he had missed Matt. They had met coincidentally in Jump City a couple of years ago and they both had no idea that they were related at all at that time. It wasn't until Matt saved his ass from some crap he wasn't gonna mention, that they both found out that they were cousins and they had been tight ever since. Matt didn't even mind that Garfield was green and could turn into any animal from the animal kingdom, Matt thought it was awesome that Garfield hung out with a bunch of chicks—his word, not Garfield's—who ran around kicking butt in spandex all day. Garfield duly noted that Matt was the first one to notice how hot Raven was before Garfield ever looked at her that way and he had asked Garfield to ask for her autograph but when Garfield tried to get it, Raven had just glared at him and he had never attempted to ever since; it just wasn't worth the risk.

Feeling how soft the bed was—it was like a gigantic marshmallow and that was an understatement—he gave in to the feeling of fatigue and lay down there for a while, his head nestled between his two palms. The ceiling was also spick and span and it left Garfield wondering whether the white walls and ceiling were intentional; to make it look more like a psych ward than ever, but he ignored this thought and tried to think about the positive…which, admittedly, was really hard. Though there were risks to using an experimental treatment, he knew that S.T.A.R Labs would have minimised as much risk as possible because they had to work with cases like him—abnormal humans or meta-humans—and just one wrong move would be fatal. He heard that they had a kryptonite surgery machine especially for Kryptonians and that they had the data on every superhero there was on Earth…which made him a bit uneasy because that meant that they also knew the true identity of every single superhero on Earth. As much as he wanted to trust them, he also knew that it was extremely easy for them to abuse the fact that they knew their secret identities.

He sighed.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in came Mr. Christopher Conrad with his sleeked back black hair and his vague smiling eyes. He had a tablet in his hand and was busy pressing stuff on it—Garfield didn't really know what he was writing or pressing—while approaching Garfield in slow, yet steady, steps. At once, he looked up from the machine in his hands and smiled at him.

"Mr. Logan." He stopped, his expression getting vaguer by the minute, "I believe that we must have a talk."

---

It was good to be back home after a week and a bit. Though she could feel that something—some element—was missing, she still took the time to caress the grey walls with her fingers and to wrap each of the emotional imprint in her room; they were fading but they were still there, like a raw, honest scent that refused to go away. She and Dick had arrived back in Jump City around fifteen minutes ago and she had phased him—and his…she wasn't actually sure what his bike was now called. The N-cycle? Really?—to the underground tunnels where it would appear that he had come back on his own accord. It was a gamble but Raven knew that it was a risk that she was willing to take; Raven wanted her life back.

Her empathic powers embraced the old strands of auras and she sighed in relief as she took in all the familiar feelings; it was good to be home. She had an inkling that no matter where she was going to go and no matter for how long, she was going to love this place no matter what. The T-Tower was part of herself—concrete and all—and separating it from her heart would be painful. People had always said that it wasn't the place but the memories that held attachment, but she had always figured that it was a lie; the physical being of the T-Tower itself was also part of what made her love it, with its unique exterior and its more familiar interior, the tower with all its wires and metals was part of who she was.

That didn't mean that the Tower meant more to her than the people inside it though.

Today was the day where everything was going to realign themselves to make a straight line, she thought to herself, as she slipped carefully out of her room, phasing instead of opening the door physically in order to feel the chill of the metal doors. As soon as she left her room she knew that something was different, it was intricately woven into the air, but she could feel it straight away; there was a lack of a presence and an abundance of unfamiliar ones. The unfamiliar were not so unfamiliar that they were strangers, but the presence was unfamiliar enough that it irked Raven; she knew these people but she didn't.

Her feet suddenly led her towards a familiar scene; Victor's room. As much as she missed Kori, her instincts told her that she was better off revealing her arrival to Vic first, and there were a few issues that she had to discuss with Vic. Even from a couple of feet away, she could feel Vic's room; the conflict of machinery versus magic had already started and both elements were vying for dominance…she just wasn't so sure which one would win out.

Still, the further she walked, the more she noticed that lack of presence, that thing thread in the air. She just didn't know who it belonged to and why it made her so nervous.

When she reached the front of his room, she touched the door, her fingers feeling for anything suspicious. There was nothing there except the familiar emotions of Vic and some smattering of Jinx; she was good for him, Jinx was, and Raven hoped that they would stay together for while.

She knocked.

The door opened almost instantaneously and for some reason, she wasn't surprised that Jinx was in there with him. Her cat-like eyes bored into her own, and her pink-haired head bobbed up and down slowly before she left the room with only a peck on Vic's cold, metallic cheek. Raven wasn't so sure what that was about, but she figured that she could guess. Why Jinx was in Vic's room in the first place was a bit of a mystery to Raven since, as far as Raven was concerned, Jinx didn't really live close to them.

"So. You're back."

Raven pursed her lips and took a quick glance at Vic before she replied. Though she had been away for less than a week, it seems that Vic had grown in those few days. He seemed…bigger…if that was at all possible—not only since he was already huge but also because the mechanics didn't allow him to grow any further—and her empathic powers agreed with her. It was as if Vic had forced himself to grow to fill the void of having a couple of team mates missing. It was both a good thing and a bad thing and right now, Raven saw that Victor Stone saw it more as a bad thing.

"Yes." She glanced at the way he crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I'm sorry. I just…I needed to clear my head."

He quirked a metallic brow, "For almost two weeks? Raven, You're made of stronger stuff."

"Look…I…" she frowned as she remembered that she was still outside of his room, "Can I come in? I'll explain everything…or as much as I am willing to give. Will that be OK?"

He frowned, "Fine. As long as you don't mess with my mechanics."

She threw her arms up, exasperated, but willingly agreed before stepping into his room. That was all it took. She felt the crackle of electricity in the air like a musty fog that weakened her and there was just something—she wasn't sure what—that was pushing her magic aside in favour of the technology. Raven knew that this was how it worked; the old gods of magic versus the new gods of technology…both of them didn't like the presence of the other and there was a battle of dominance every single time they encountered each other. In this case, the machinery won, though it was Raven who had willingly surrendered; she wasn't sure what happened if she held onto her magic too tightly.

She frowned, "Looks like technology won."

Vic looked almost relieved, as if he too was part of the battle, "Yea." He stopped, "So, explain yourself, kid."

"I…" she didn't like the word kid but at the same time she realised that Vic didn't take her absence too lightly, "I had to."

"Look, I'm all for the you gotta do what you gotta do…but Rae, this is just not your style. You knew that we were all goin' through a hard time when Dick left—Kori, especially—and you knew that Gar would go through a hard time and I thought that you two would be able to handle it but…"He shook his head, there was a rather ominous beeping sound in the background, "no. You two broke up; him because he was scared for you and you because…I have no idea." Another shake of the head, "I just don't get why you left, Raven. I've always thought that when the goin' gets tough you'd be the first one to try to pick up the pieces and put it all back together."

Silence wrapped around them and once more Raven was consumed with the unforgiving presence of technology. Her concentration was all on Vic but she knew that if she didn't start speaking she would start noticing how much the mechanics were affecting her.

After a long bout of silence, she finally spoke.

"I brought Nightwing back." She didn't know why but she thought that it was rather important to call him by his alias.

Raven, despite her weak powers in this room, sensed his shock, "You, what?"

"I brought him back. I went to Gotham and hauled him here." She paused, biting her lower lip, "That's why I didn't want to tell anyone where I went, especially Gar. He would've thought that I was throwing myself into an easy relationship on account of the bond. I needed Dick, but not in the way that Garfield would've thought."

"And why do you need him?"

She paused, "Complications. I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind."

It was Vic's turn to ponder on this now and Raven could almost see quite physically how his mind was working. Like Raven, he had always went through the possibilities in a logical style except his one was due to the fact that he had that machinery embedded in his head. He wasn't fully machine but that didn't stop it affecting him.

"I promised Kori that I would get him back." Her words were low, "No, I promised her that everything would get back to normal but…evidently not. I just…I just wanted us to be a family again."

"Where's he now?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I left him underground and I presume that he's probably assumed his position back in his room. "

"Right. OK. I just hope that Kori will be able to handle him again. She's datin' again, y'know." His expression was steel, as if he was testing her.

Raven nodded, "I've heard and she told me when she called me once. Is she floating again?"

"Almost. I reckon she's getting through this all kinda fast but I guess she's dealin' with it."

"And you? Are you OK?" She asked earnestly.

"I've…I've been busy. We're setting up the trials this week; I've got Jinx, Kole and Gnark hauled up here in this hole. Three days and they're doin' pretty good." He cracked a smile, his expression softening, "I reckon Kole and Gnark's got a real chance of getting in here to replace us."

"And Jinx?"

He frowned, "Jinx…Jinx, we still need to work on. She has a temper and her actions can be rather…amoral now and again. Dunno if she really wants to join, though."

Suddenly he wrapped his arms around her and for a moment technology and magic were one and though Vic was almost all machine, his embrace was as soft and as welcome as anyone's. Even more so if she dared to say it. She missed him, she realised, she missed that comfort that she had gained in the past few years by having a father figure. The conflict of elements didn't seem so important when he held her like this.

"We've missed you, Raven. I know I seemed pissed—I was pissed, thank you very much—but I don't want to lose you as much as the others don't want to lose you." He grinned at her as he let her go from his embrace.

She smiled but her mind kept trailing the corridors. That lack of presence still bothered her, she didn't know why but it did. There was something almost wrong with it and she wanted to know why.

"You didn't ask about Gar, Raven." It was almost a question, but not quite.

Raven sighed, "I…we're friends now…I think."

He shook his head, as if he caught her lying, his grin replaced by the frown, "He left, y'know? Like, three days ago."

Then it hit her; it was Garfield's presence—or lack of it—that had bothered her so much. She had been so used to it for all these years, had embraced it fully for the past two years, and now…now that it was gone…she felt disconnected…disabled somehow. She had left him and did that cause him to leave to? Did he go in search for her? Was he hurt? Questions flew in and out of her head like a jumbled mess and she felt her own voice explode in her own head. Voices, actually, as her own subconscious—including the other Ravens—try to calm herself down and figure this all out logically…calmly.

"He's gone off to L.A." Vic said calmly, as if he had read her mind, "I sent him to the S.T.A.R Labs there…they deal with genetics and diseases." He closed his eyes for a brief moment, "He wanted to get better. I think, partly at least, for you."

"We broke up." She stated simply' not shocked at this revelation but finding it hard to deal with, "We broke up."

Vic sighed, closing his eyes for a longer period this time, his arms crossed in an almost protective manner. For the first time, she realised how much everything had taken a toll on Vic, and she didn't really know how to deal with the fact. He had always seemed to be on top of everything, the most balanced as he knew how to take life seriously without ending up in a constant stupor of paranoia and he knew how to enjoy life. Now, he just looked tired, and he would keep looking tired, she realised, even with them back; this was Vic's way of dealing with it.

Whatever it was.

"Yea, I know. It didn't mean he stopped though." His human eye finally opened and she finally understood, "Lovin' you, I mean."

A/N: Like it? LOVE IT? Meh it? Review away my dear readers!

Ooooo...I don't like cliffhangers as much as the next person but hey, why not?