He drops down right in front of me, the moonlight glinting off the polymerized titanium of his yellow cape.

I barely blink in recognition.

He stands up at full height and stares directly at me through that blank, expressionless eyemask.

"Hello, Raven."

"Robin."

"Startled to see me?"

"Mmmm…," I gesture in the air. "After you chose at least three and a half ways to get my attention before our meeting here, how could I be?"

We stand on a high hill overlooking the Bay to a familiar City, splotched with a distant island in the middle of the waters half a mile before dry land sprouts into skyrises, skyrises, skyrises….

"It feels like only yesterday that we were here last….," the Boy Wonder speaks to me. "The threat that we faced—the danger—it is still very much fresh in my mind."

"Is it so much the danger as it is the thrill that you're sensing right now?"

A good beat, and he smiles under his mask. A sign that he is indeed human. "So.. ….you are an empathy…"

"I trust you've attempted to study up on me?"

"More or less. But there's nothing in the Batcomputer to attest to your existence. You have no name, no home, no known relatives, even your face is pretty much lost to me…."

I lean the said head to the side from under my hood. "Then, do I really exist?"

"… … …," He folds his arms and speaks for the first time in a voice that almost makes me want to be subservient to the young 'leader'. "It depends, Raven. Do you want to start existing?"

"I want to form a team… … …a team of young superheroes with the power and responsibility to protect this City….," he gestures out across the moonlit bay. "A team that will someday be experienced enough to understand just what it takes to protect that which will be left for us to defend once the Justice Society and Justice League have moved on. And—"

"—who better than to form such a group than the younglings who partook in the calamity right here less than a month ago," I drone.

Robin winces. For once, I nearly startled him. "I-I wouldn't so much as call it a calamity…"

"There was an alien girl going biserk. A changeling tripping over his own green body parts. An African American robot angsting left and right. The shadow of a legendary cape trying to prove himself. And a lonesome witch to boot," I mutter calmly to him. Violet eyes as dismal as ever, and yet not higher than him as I add inquiry: "Do you think there's something to be salvaged in that?"

"You tell me, Raven."

"For there is more to you than meets the eye, is there?" Robin paces assuredly around me as he narrates: "The Batcomputer may not have pulled much up, but my observation skills have. You've never left this City once since Cyborg, Beast Boy, Starfire and I battled the Gordanian threat, have you? You've been walking circles. Keeping to the shadows. Hiding out on rooftops and blending with the passing fade of the dying days. And to what end? Circles, Raven. Circles… ..circles… … …circles. I believe you are looking for an answer, Raven. An answer that presently holds a vacuum of space around which you've been helplessly orbiting, but not for any longer… … …" He comes to a stop. His eyemask narrows from a furrowing of his brow. "… …you have a purpose… …and that purpose is to save lives, isn't it?"

For the first time, I can't bear to look at him straight on. So I invent something. I hide my eyes further into the depths of my hood and look aside him. I drone: "I look to help as many people as I can b-before I h-hurt them…."

"Am I supposed to know what that entails?"

"….. …. …n-no….," I shudder. I gaze at him. "But you can show me…."

He nods… …gently….

"Whatever this is… …," I murmur. "… …whatever this 'team' of yours you are proposing turns out to be… .. ….understand this." I take one bold step towards him. I lower my hood. Blue hair. Glaring eyes. A dark voice: "I… …do not… .. …want attention….."

Robin nods. "That's more than doable," he points to himself. "As I do not want anything more than anonymity…"

"I'm serious….," I shudder and retreat back into the shadows following my bold declaration. "I do not want to be in the spotlight. I'll do what I must to help the team. But I am not to be the leader of this team."

Robin gives a thumb's up. "I think I've got that covered."

"Naturally, you do," I drone.

I bite my lip.

"We will have to contact the others….," he ends up saying.

"R-Right… …"

"Cyborg is who I want to meet with next. I hear that one of his skills is architecture."

"You don't say… ….," I blink. "Wait. You think we need a hideout?"

"Well, naturally," Robin shrugs and manages a kindly grin. "This is an awful long distance from both Metropolis and Gotham City, isn't it?"

"Does that mean I'll get--"

"All things considered, Raven, nothing is yet set in stone. But shoot…."

"…. … …to be able to shower and to be able to sleep," I blurt. "… …whenever I want to… …."

Robin raises an eyebrow.

I sigh and adjust my robe. "This dimension smells…."

He nods slowly. "I see… …..You know, Raven, if we do this right.. …and we get a team and a hideout… … ..You could very easily afford your own room on top of that."

I cock my head to the side. "A room?"

"Yes."

"….. … …you mean my very own room?"

"Mmmhmmm."

"…. … … ….," my lips curve slightly. "Hmmm…..I rather like the sound of that."

"I thought you would."

"After you, 'leader'…."