Raven wakes up, finding herself lying on the circular couch of Titans Tower, Jump City Bay is bathed red light of the morning sun. She remembers the disaster of last night's cooking and the breakdown she suffered afterwards leaving her to cry herself asleep on the couch, certain that she was utterly alone and that no one gave a damn about her. But then she notices that she isn't alone, to her left is herself as an adult, and Raven blinks, unsure if it really was herself because she looked quite imposing, dressed in a black suit of armor and considerably more bulky than she was now. And at her feet sits a pale man with wild black hair and dark pits where his eyes should be thats filled with stars and dressed in a long, loose black robe that doesn't cover all of his chest.

"Morning Raven." Her older self says, drawing Raven's attention back to her.

"Who are you?" Raven asks.

"You know who I am." Old Raven replies as Raven has a sense of being searched. "You had a rough night, I know, and I know right now you are wondering what the point is of going on, why you should care about people, when no one cares about you."

"No one does." Raven sighs as she sits up. "No one calls me, people out there throw things at me when I've saved them… what's the point in going on?" She asks wondering if she cracked last night.

"Hope, that's the point." Old Raven replies. "Let me tell you something about the future you can have. One day you will be out shopping, hiding as usual, when an old foe comes to town. He blows up the Tower and everything in it before he attacks the city, during your fight, he disfigures you, and in return you kill him. This is just the beginning of your journey, you will slip away, thought dead by most, seeking a way to undo the damage done to you. Once you find it you have choice to make, one that could decide the lives of many."

"What choice?" Raven asks.

"Whenever to go on or not. Depending on what you choose, you will struggle, you will stumble fall, fail and be hurt more than anything you can imagine. But in return…" Old Raven continues before she stops, as if in doubt about saying something. "In return you will become something else, something wonderful, something you can be proud to be."

"You are wearing a suit of armor… one showing off bone and meat, the helmet has four eyes." Raven notes. "How can I know this future isn't some demon infested nightmare you are ruling over?! Did Trigon send you?!" She asks angrily as she stands up.

"We killed Trigon, rest assured of that." Old Raven replies without a hint of concern. "And no, I am not ruling over anything on this plane. The suit was a gift that was meant to aid me in a fight, the maker thought it needed to inspire terror in my enemies, it doesn't obviously, but the maker is an artist."

"Why are you here then?" Raven asks feeling a growing confusion in herself.

"I am not. This is a dream, a wish you had when you woke up on this day, that something had come to guide you along, point you in a direction as you felt you had none."

"Then… who is that?" Raven asks as she turns her head to the other one, but finds him gone and when she turns her head back Old Raven is standing in front of her with the helmet under her arm.

"I can't really guide you Raven, you have already become me in the present due to the choices you've made." Old Raven says, noticing the difference in height between them before she offers her hand. Raven takes the hand, but Old Raven shifts her grip so she grabs further up her arm near the elbow. "But those who do not remember their pasts, are doomed to repeat them. Remember this day my sister, remember what you did and know that our future is ours to shape and that it is worth every last tear and drop of blood. Remember." Old Raven says cryptically before her eyes start to shine making Raven think she was staring into the sun before everything drifts away.

The Himalaya's

Orion doesn't need to be told that he was looking at a battlefield as he travels from the deserted fortress, where he had tracked the energy signature to and over to the mountain valley the readings were leading him. The fortress itself is saturated in background radiation, which might become a problem later on, but right now he has to find the source.

He steps out of his Astro-Harness and jumps down to the ground to study it more closely, leaving it floating in the air. As the foremost warrior of New Genesis it doesn't take him long to determine that a battle between many individuals had taken place here. His Motherbox is telling him that there had been normal Earthlings present, along with aliens, empowered humans of various power levels, creations of the Earth's Old Gods, demons, angels and even a few readings telling him several fully fledged Gods had manifested here, and a single reading the Motherbox doesn't really understand. The reading he is looking for, however, is strongest down in the valley, seemingly there had been some kind of spike in the output before it diminished again and disappeared. Then he spots something across the valley and summons his harness to fly over to see what it is.

Musubi growls at him when he approaches her prison, but he pays her no heed, only confirms that she is both powerful and old. He estimates that if set loose on Apokalips she'd be able to cause a fair amount of damage before being brought low. Orion can even feel her scratching against his mind from her prison, probably to persuade him to release her.

Ping. His Motherbox speaks to him, telling him it had picked up the location the carrier was in now.

"Hmm. They probably aren't even aware." He thinks before he activates the boomtube and vanishes to the sound of thunder, never noticing the raven watching him from the cliffs.

Raven pops an eye open in the Watchtower Infirmary feeling a sense of déjà vu, the lights are out, but she can see Nightwing sleeping in a chair next to her. Looking down she sees a lump she guesses is Cerberus. Through the tinted glass she can see the hallway and the larger infirmary filled with people Raven knows she put there.

Superman is bruised and battered, with his arm in a sling, sharing something of humor with an unshaven Batman and Wonder Woman, whom Raven notes has far fewer bruises than Superman. Zauriel is talking with Huntress, while they sit on separate beds, he looks enthusiastic while she looks depressed, neither of them appears to notice the junior doctors that are carefully securing the supports for his broken wings. Jason Blood looks like hell as he rests in his cot, Raven is certain Etrigan is feeling the same way even if he is trying to feel elated over the battle he participated in. Philipus looks the worst of them all and Raven's eyes lingers he longest on her, failing to remember engaging her in combat and wondering if it was one of her assailants that had done it to her. She spots Beastboy with a number of bandages covering him. Zatanna is wearing a neck cushion. She is sure there are more outside of her sights, more people who came to her rescue, and in return were put in a hospital bed by her.

"Some friend I am." She thinks as she remembers with irritation that she had a hole in her memory now and that bothered her, but not as much. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if they boot me off the station, and Hippolyta takes away the title she gave me…" She sighs before something pokes her in the back of her head, a memory.

A memory of the morning after her breakdown in the Tower, the morning had been beautiful and she had meditated in the sun, shutting out all the negative feelings she had been building up the last month. People didn't like her, they thought she was scary, that she was a monster of some kind, but that was ok she knew, because she thought that too sometimes. But like her mother had taught her on Azerath, if feelings like that were to be changed, then she needed to find something to work towards or find a reason for these feelings. She had wondered if the angry citizens of Jump City felt he wasn't doing enough, she had settled on that explanation as the most reasonable one and that it was probably true, she was spending a lot of time indulging herself in her own pastimes of reading and meditating.

"Well, if that is the problem, then I will just have to be more. Work harder, be better, be more like… Robin." She had thought and paused as if she suddenly realized something about her former leader, why he always pushed himself so hard. "We expect it of each other… with him gone, I will just have to fill his boots. Jump, I may not be him, but I am what you are left with and that will just have to be enough." She had thought resolutely before she headed back inside to clean up her mess, make herself some breakfast before heading down to the gym, determined this time she would only stop when she was sore all over and she brought along one of Robin's tapes to keep her company.

That was when it began, she realizes, the journey that led her to this place. She remembers the dream, it was new she knew that much, because she didn't remember dreaming anything on the night all those years ago. But her old dream-self was right, it had all been worth it, all the hurt, loneliness and tears, because she had people who considered her a friend now, people that thought of her as family, as a love. "I am not going to lose that, not now. If they boot me out, I will accept it and return another day when I am better. If Hippolyta strips me of the title as her chosen, so be it, I earned it once, I can earn it back if I really want it. It's all a journey Rae, it has its ups and downs, I will just have to see what happens now."

Then the door opens silently and Raven sees Io sneak in carrying something with her, in the darkness Raven thinks it looks like a plate of some kind. "Easy boy." Io whispers as Cerberus stirs but seems to calm down by seeing who it was.

Raven keeps watching in the dark, Io seems nervous and it seemed very unlike her to sneak in, Amazons as a rule of thumb didn't do sneaking unless they wanted to prank one of their sister. Io fiddles with a dial on each handle of the disc she carrying. "Let's hope it works." Raven suddenly realizes what it is.

"Lights." Raven says firmly and the lights in the room come on. "You are not going to test that thing on me in this condition Io." She says as Nightwing wakes up with the light.

"Ah…" Io freezes, obviously her plan had been to test the Purple Ray before Raven could protest.

"Io? *yawn* What are you doing in here?" Nighwting groans, his voice makes Raven look to the side for a brief second and Io takes the chance.

There is a purple flash and a 'zroooom' sound as the Ray discharges, but both Io and Nightwing are nearly knocked over by the blast of wind that scares Cerberus off of the bed telling them all that Superman had seen what was going on and had raced through the infirmary and placed himself between Io and Raven as if it was the most natural and logical thing to do. Fortunately for Superman, the part-magical device seems to have done nothing to him. Io is turning white as he leans over her while she holds the Ray up as a shield.

"If you wouldn't mind. We conduct tests and experiments elsewhere." He says before relieving her of the Ray with his one functioning arm, Io just seems to be growing all sorts of depressed. "What is this anyway?"

"I suspect it is a redesigned Purple Healing Ray." Raven replies from her bed having noticed it didn't look like the design from the plans she had handed back to Io. "And since it didn't burn a hole in you; it might actually be working." Superman looks mildly surprised first at Raven, then at Io, before he turns his X-Ray vision on his own arm. "It's not much, a few of the cracks have sealed up."

"It's on the lowest setting, and wasn't aimed at the break." Io peeps though she was trying to remain calm because she now knew her invention worked.

"And why were you trying to sneak it in here?" Nightwing asks, thinking it was suspicious that Io would do this.

"Ah… Eh…" Io stammers as if it was some great embarrassing secret.

"Because no one in their right mind wanted to stand in front of it on Themyscira." Hippolyta's voice makes them all look to the door, finding the monarch having shed her armor, leaving her in a regular chiton while her sword hangs by her side. "As she appears to be awake, again. I would like a word in private with my Champion."

"You're up to it?" Nightwing asks.

"I'll be fine." Raven assures, it wasn't like she could go anywhere in her current condition, she was sure Damian's blast had added a new catalogue of woes to her system and her leg feels worse than ever.

"I'll leave you to it then." Superman says before he heads towards the door after handing the Ray back to Io.

"Thank you for the rescue." Raven replies as he leaves with Nightwing.

"Io." Hippolyta says with a warning tone entering her voice as the smith was about to take another shot at Raven. "I'd prefer she doesn't suddenly run off again."

"Ah… As you wish, Your Highness." Io replies with a bow and heads out, knowing disobedience wouldn't be without consequences.

Hippolyta waits for the door to close after Io before she starts. "How do you feel?"

"Tired, beaten, burnt. It will pass." Raven replies.

"Good. Now would you mind explaining what was so important you needed to storm off to do, barely recovered as you were?" Hippolyta asks and folds her arms.

"I needed to make sure the rest of…" Raven hesitates for a second about using the word she thought of, but decides to go ahead with it. "My family were safe." Hippolyta raises an eyebrow slightly at the choice of word.

"And how many families do you have?" Hippolyta asks.

"Three." Raven replies firmly and promptly getting a raised eyebrow out of Hippolyta. "I had a biological one. I have those I spend most of my time with and you and our sisters. You are all family to me, because you've opened your hearts and homes to me."

"And can we expect you will do the same for us, should you be in this state and we imperiled?" Hippolyta asks, Raven understands her concern, it was valid and one she knew Bruce shared, if push came to shove, who would she help first.

"I have already done so. Perhaps I wasn't as beaten as I am now, but I came even if I was de-powered and I knew the enemy had to be powerful for you to call me." Raven replies.

"As a matter of fact, I didn't… she did." Hippolyta replies while she nods in agreement. "I didn't call because I knew she'd be able to control Diana like she did us and very likely defeat you if she remembered she could. But you are correct, you came regardless of the threat and that pleases me." Hippolyta replies.

"And what of my actions in the mountains?" Raven asks.

"What of them?" Hippolyta asks, making Raven worry the Queen only saw her actions as potential that could be turned on the enemies of the Amazons with equal fury.

"You appointed me to stand at your side, to be your extended arm, to enforce your will when needed. But up there, my will was not my own and I would have killed you all if I had the chance."

"It has been explained to me, by Diana if you must know, that you were struck in the back from afar while beset by many foes. What happened in the mountains, were the result of events we know nothing concrete about. But for you to be lost the way I saw you, I know something greater than that deluded fool of a man commands." Raven actually raises her eyebrows, Diana would have mentioned Al Ghul as the main culprit if asked for one, but she could tell Hippolyta knew him already. "You'd be surprised how many of these tyrants I've met over the ages. Teth Adam I bested before his entombment when he tried to claim Themyscira as a province of Egypt. Vandal Savage I have met on several occasions, none of them particularly pleasant. Al Ghul I have crossed blades with twice. And perhaps a few who has eluded your Leagues eyes." Hippolyta continues almost mysteriously.

"So you've been abroad more than once." Raven notes with a slight nod, it made sense, Hippolyta did have a sense of adventure that the other Amazons had noticed, so her leaving for Man's World in earlier ages shouldn't be a surprise. "And if I was not?" Raven asks as she returns to he topic at hand. "If base chemicals, tricks of the mind or hedge-magics were employed?"

"Then we will have to find out under what conditions they were used and enforced. You believe I will take away your title?" Hippolyta asks.

"Haven't I caused more than enough damage for it to be a valid question?" Raven counters.

"Not out of your own free will." Hippolyta replies and lets that be the end of the debate. "Now, you seem to know more of this Talia who kept you prisoner than the machines up here are willing to tell."

"Ma'am, may I ask why?" Raven asks carefully, because she wasn't sure why Hippolyta wanted to know.

"By claiming you as a servant, she has claimed her will is greater than mine and as such delivered a personal insult against me, this I will not suffer. Not from a house of thieves, assassins and madmen. If she can be found, she will be, and I will voice my displeasure in person." Hippolyta replies calmly which Raven knows she means it. The only thing that's really stopping Raven from instantly starting is the concern about Bruce's feelings on the matter, he still had lingering feelings for Talia, but then she remembers it was Talia who sent them Damian.

"As this insult has been delivered through me, I have been dishonored, honor that I need to restore. Talia is the oldest living daughter of Ra's that we know of…" She begins a Hippolyta takes Nightwings seat and listens.

Later:

"You spoke about Talia with Hippolyta." Bruce notes after he's come into Raven's room and taken off his cowl after making sure no one could see him by disabling the camera and blinding the window.

"I did." Raven replies flatly, though she was hiding the worry he'd get angry.

"Will she kill her?" Bruce asks flatly.

"It's not my impression of her intentions. If she gets a hold of her, I am certain Talia will remember it, but legally Hippolyta isn't mandated order her death." Raven replies.

"She was in her for nearly an hour and a half." Bruce mentions. "I don't need to hear it to know she's made plans and request already."

"Bruce…" Raven starts. "I won't presume to judge what you feel for her… I can only implore you to see her for what she is, what she's done and what she is capable of doing."

"That is what is making it so difficult." Bruce sighs. "I see the good that is also in her, the good she could be. She's played all roles, nearly. Friend, ally, adversary and enemy. And I am still not sure which one is the real one."

"Bruce, can you genuinely say you think she does good because she feels it or is it part of some plan of hers? She's not the enemy of her father after all." Bruce just nods slowly, he had the same concerns. Talia had her father's perspective and she played the long game. He closes his eyes for a moment, summing up a number of things and a number of choices he had to make. Not only did he have to consider his own feelings, he also had to consider that he had chosen Diana and he was otherwise set on keeping that relationship going and he had to consider the fact that Raven had been kidnapped by Talia and couldn't remember a word of what she had been doing these last months. Bruce wasn't at all thrilled Raven couldn't remember anything, it left far too many possibilities open.

"You are free to share what you know about her." He replies, sounding a bit firmer in his voice than he had. "How are you feeling?" He asks.

"I've been better." She admits. "It'll heal, eventually. You?" She asks.

"Same." Bruce replies. In both their minds, they are dancing around the subject that suddenly seems so awkward for them both, going over the various short questions and replies they would make and the various endings to the conversation before he left and both of them regretting not asking or doing what they really wanted to do. Bruce takes the initiative and rises from his seat and leans over her before he wraps his arms around her. "We missed you in the Manor Raven."

"Heard it's been rough. Hope it's also due to the others being gone." She replies, knowing Bruce, Dick and Tim still had problems with being open about the feelings between them.

"You were the one that was in trouble." Bruce notes as he lets go. "At this point I will only say Damian isn't you, sadly." He says as he retakes his seat while she raises an eyebrow. "I tried pushing him like I did you."

"And he wouldn't put up with it?" Raven asks.

"He considered himself graduated while you were thought of as novices at best."

"Well that's… charitable, I think." Raven shrugs. "Did they capture him?"

"He wasn't in the suit." Bruce replies. "We have to be ready for the day he returns."

"Hopefully I will be in a better state than I was this time." Raven notes. "I don't suppose you know if the League has been talking about what happened in the Himalayas?"

"People are still recuperating, but I expect a debate to be held as no one was really prepared for what happened."

"Neither was I." Raven admits. "And I don't get why they chose that moment to come at me. Why not before? For that matter, why not long ago? Why not now?"

"Who knows?" Bruce shrugs. "They aren't human and don't have our logic."

"I suppose not." Raven sighs though she was noting down that she needed to find out why.

"Though we know from that thing they captured that Zeus was the one that set her and the others on you."

"Zeus?" Raven asks in surprise, she had thought the Furies had come on their own accord, seeing another chance to kill something. Now she wonders if she had somehow offended the Sky-Father before returning her thoughts to the Fury. "What are they going to do with it?"

"Diana is considering if she should ask Superman for the Phantom Zone Projector, but she isn't sure if it would hold it."

"It's unlikely, they can cross dimensions easily under their own power." Raven replies before an itch in the back of her throat makes her cough. "Dr. Fate may be able to put it somewhere."

"It's something he will need to do once he has regained his center." Bruce replies. "Could you?"

"Not with any guarantees." Raven replies before she coughs into her fists. "Where did that come from?" She mutters. Bruce gets up and retrieves a cup of water. "Thanks." She says before she drinks it, but as it goes down her throat it feels like something explodes in her throat and she goes into a violent coughing and spitting. Bruce is out the door quickly with his cowl back up, bellowing for Mid-Night.

"I don't get it, all it was, was a cup of water." Mid-Night says as he voices his confusion as he and the Trinity along with Nightwing look over the data they had on Raven. The woman herself was now curled up in her bed, drenched in sweat and claiming she felt like she was on fire.

"Could this be related to this radiation you mentioned?" Batman asks, he already had his own assumptions but he wanted a second opinion.

"It's the only explanation I can think of." Mid-Night admits.

"But why water? Isn't that nearly all they would have had in that fortress?" Diana asks.

"Smuggled goods, milk from the mountain goats, the question is if she was given any." Batman replies, he knew radiation poisoning could provoke reactions like this in some cases. But before he can think about it more, the whole station shakes before the sound of thunder echoes through its halls.

"Boomtube." Superman has barely spoken the words before he's blasted off to where he would find the source; the hangar. "Orion? I thought we had all agreed to not Boomtube directly into the station?" Superman asks as he sees the New God emerge from the portal.

"If my mission was less pressing." Orion shrugs before he flies down the corridor. The Leagues rules normally didn't matter to him but he followed them to keep the peace. He, Mr. Miracle and Big Barda had all been asked not to use their normal means of transportation to gain access to the station, partly because everyone got unnerved when it happened, quite a lot of the station shook when they arrived and the portals had some negative effects on the nearby systems, once having caused an hour long black out in the Monitor Womb when Scott and Barda had boomed in right on top of it.

"Wait!" Superman orders before he heads after the New God, trailing him back to the infirmary where Orion has run into an obstacle.

"Stand aside old man." Orion orders a cross-looking Alfred, who is barring his path using an empty tray as a shield.

"The young lady is quite unwell and in no condition for any brute visitors." Alfred protest but holds his ground, though he can see it struck a never in Orion the way his cheek twitches under the helmet.

"Darkseids teeth." Orion fumes as his Motherbox starts to ping, trying to keep his rage in check.

"Orion! What's this about?" Superman asks sternly as he lands but only gets a stare.

"This is almost priceless, has Orion the relentless been halted by the elderly?" Steam almost visibly blows out of Orions ears at Barda's tease as she, Scott Free, Batman, Wonder Woman and Nightwing come towards them from down the hallway.

"Not now Barda." Superman snaps which drops Barda's mood. "Now, what is going on?" He asks Orion.

"I don't have time for this." Orion growls before he plows onwards, forcing Alfred to jump aside as Orion crashes through the door. Before the others are in he has already grabbed Raven and opened a boomtube. "It's for her own good." He says before he heads into it.

"NO!" Nightwing shouts, leaping just a second too late to make it and ends up banging his head against the wall as the portal closes.

"Alfred, are you all right?" Batman asks as he pulls his old friend to his feet.

"Quite sir, but…" He says as he looks at the now empty room.

"We'll get her back." Bruce mutters as he looks at the Motherbox secured to Barda's belt.

Author's Notes: Promised myself I'd get something out before Christmas, so here you go. :)

Happy Holidays.