Raven wrapped her arms as tightly as she could around Garfield's chest as the darkness rushed past them, their bodies free-falling through empty space. His heartbeat thudded into her, his arms looped around her neck, one hand pressing her head into his shoulder. She hung on to the other three with her mind, her focus latched on to them, somehow able to physically feel them as if her arms were wrapped around each of them as well.
She dragged them all through the endlessly swirling black. Away from the alien ship as it shot upwards through the sky, back towards the city thousands of feet below them, to the first safe place she could think of.
Her feet hit solid ground, and the shadows solidified back into the physical world.
Gar's arms constricted around her as his injured leg took his weight again, her shoulders still braced under his, helping to support him. "Did we blow up yet?" he asked weakly.
She twisted her head, desperately looking out past him into the room.
The huge wall of dark, reflective glass stretched upward behind them, the night sky outside tinged with the faintest hint of light.
Vic was at the other end of the window, the ridiculously oversized TV stretching across the window between them. He knelt on one knee on the carpeted floor and blinked out at the room, the aperture of his mechanical eye narrowed to a pinprick of red light at the sudden changes in light. His arm was raised towards the elevator doors, prepared to shoot, but the mechanism within his prosthetic was dim, the power dispersed.
Kori and Dick both stood stunned in the middle of the living room by the coffee table, much closer to Raven now than they had been on the ship, the enormous dark gray couch behind them. They each had both arms outstretched across the space between them, hands clasped tight, their blood splattered faces mirrors of shock as they stared at each other.
The breath Raven had been holding rushed out in a sigh of relief, the tension in her entire body deflating.
"Yeah." She shuddered, then pulled back enough to see Gar's face. He cracked one eye at her dry voice, his face scrunched up and shoulders hunched defensively as if something was going to come flying at him. "That's why you're still talking."
Shock ricocheted through him, and his eyes popped open, flitting past her to take in the dark room around them.
Dick jolted back to his senses. He dropped Kori's hands and spun around, adrenaline pumping through him, his body ready for an attack that wasn't coming.
Garfield swung his gaze back to Raven, gold and green flecked irises glinting in the grey, pre-dawn light, his pupils slightly slitted. His face broke out into an enormous grin, pointed canines flashing, his eyes practically dancing in elation.
"We did it!" he cheered.
"BOOYAH!" Victor shouted, surging to his feet and pumping his fist into the air.
"That was fucking amazing!" Gar wobbled slightly in his exuberance, his arms tightening around Raven's shoulders.
Warmth surged through her as he tugged her against him, his excitement zinging like electricity through her veins, the physical contact making the emotions so much stronger. She couldn't help it, she grinned back, her fingers digging into the leathery fabric of his suit.
Dick slowly relaxed out of his fighting stance, amazement and limb-tingling relief pouring out of him, a grin spreading across his face.
Koriand'r looked around nervously beside him, clutching her hands to her chest, taking in the dark living room space of the Tower. Everything was foreign to her, the furniture, the tv, the wall of glass. "Where—where have we transported to?" she asked with a raspy voice.
"It's ok, we're safe here—" Dick said reassuringly.
"DICK!" the sudden, loud crack of the voice in his ear made him jump.
"Shit—Bruce?" Dick looked around wildly, then realized the voice was coming from his comms, Bruce's link active once again now that they were outside of the ship's cloaking technology.
"I'm here—" he replied quickly, ignoring the looks from the others. He jogged over to the window overlooking the bay, and peered out at the empty sky, as if he could somehow see the ship that had been hovering above the city—where they had been just moments before. "We—we're back. We're at the tower. We...we did it..." He shook his head in amazement.
"You—" Bruce's voice rose slightly in shock. "How did you get off the ship?"
Dick's eyes snapped to Raven, and an evil little grin flashed across his face. "The new bat-teleporter."
"What?" Bruce demanded sharply. Something started beeping frantically on his end of the line. "Just—just stay there," he said gruffly. "I'm on my way." An engine revved in the background.
"Ok." Dick nodded, even though Bruce couldn't see him, and tugged the mask off. His gloves came off next, and he stuffed everything unceremoniously into a pocket in his belt. He wiped his face on the back of his forearm, doing his best to clean off the grime and blood, and grimaced at the smear of dirt that came off on his armored sleeve. His black hair was an absolute mess, blood smeared and splattered across him, and yet somehow, he still managed to look like he had just walked off of a movie set. He rotated his arm, his shoulder and chest and back aching where he had been hit, then looked around at the matching marks of their fight visible on the others.
"Is everyone ok?" He went to Kori first, and she nodded mutely, her own cheeks covered with alien blood, curls of dark red hair tumbling down around her face, completely devoid of light. She stared at the room uncertainly, rubbing her arms where the Gordanians had held her down.
Vic shrugged as Dick turned his blue eyes on him, inspecting a panel on his chest that had been dented in the fight.
Dick took a step towards Gar and Raven. "Your leg—"
"Its fine," Gar waved him off with a grin, still leaning on Raven's shoulders. "Dude, that was so awesome!" he cheered, his exhilaration undiminished. "We totally kicked their butts!"
Victor and Dick shared a look, both of them clearly aware just how close they had come to never making it off of that ship alive.
Gar waved his free arm excitedly through the air, his eyes fixing on Raven. "You like, blasted all those aliens back, and you threw that one guy across the room!" He put his hand against the side of his face, shaking his head, searching for words adequate to describe the sheer awesomeness of what she had done. "You—you stopped time! That was—that was like the coolest thing I've ever seen!"
"You what?" Dick snapped his gaze to her, his blue eyes sharp.
She winced and shrugged it off, not meeting his eyes. She was still supporting Gar's weight, and he wobbled against her. "I don't really know," she muttered.
She tugged Gar, limping, over to the couch and ducked out from under his shoulder. He flopped down and she used the motion to reach up to touch the necklace hanging just under her shirt, re-activating the glamour she had placed on it. The violet of her eyes dulled, going more grey than purple, and her skin tone darkened, her cheeks flushing with color, the change nearly imperceptible in the dimness. The symbols visible on her palms vanished.
Dick stared at her intently, a frown forming on his face, his eyes registering something, but not sure exactly what…
Vic followed Raven over to the couch, moving in close to Gar and leaning down to examine his leg. His cybernetic eye clicked softly in its metal socket, flashing with red light. "Hold still," he instructed Gar, "I have an internal scanning function that's similar to an x-ray."
"Cool!" Gar looked down at his leg as if he could see the x-ray appear in the air in front of him.
Vic looked the leg over slowly, moving his eyes in a steady motion down from Gar's knee to his foot. "It's not broken," he said after a minute, "but there's damage. It looks like there might be a bone bruise." He stood back up, his eye clicking again as it changed back to regular vision. "It should heal fine, but you should stay off of it for a few days."
"Thanks doc." Gar grinned at Victor, his sharp canines on full display, and Vic smiled back, shaking his head slightly.
"Is that your blood?" Dick asked sharply.
Raven froze as everyone turned to look at her, her hand still at her neck. She quickly tugged at the hood of her sweatshirt, covering the blood that had dried on her throat where the alien's claws had pierced her skin, all other marks of the attack already healed. "No—I—"
Dick took a step closer, looking her over for any obvious injuries. "Did you get hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." She shied back.
Dick shot a look down at Gar, one eyebrow raised, clearly waiting for him to contradict her.
"Uh—" Gar winced at her glare. "It looked like they hit your head pretty hard…" His eyes widened. "Oh shit! I hit your head pretty hard, I kind of forgot with everything else going on..."
"What!" Dick snapped. "When?"
"When Kori was still trying to kill us." Gar grimaced. "I might have given her a concussion?" His voice pitched upward at the last part like it was a question.
"I don't have a concussion." Raven took another step back, but Victor moved in behind her, blocking her in
"Are you having any trouble with balance?" Dick asked quickly, peering closely at her eyes. "Or your hearing or vision? Does anything look fuzzy?" He looked up at Vic behind her, not giving her a chance to answer. "There's a CT upstairs—"
Vic shook his head, "We can just take a blood test first, look for—"
"I don't have a fucking concussion!" Raven snarled, finally reaching the end of her patience. Shadows swirled out from her, knocking the small pile of remotes off of the coffee table to the floor. "But if any of you are stupid enough to come near me with a needle then someone will." She glared at Dick, just daring him to try—
The elevator dinged.
All five of them jumped, their heads snapping around to focus on the shiny metal doors up on the raised walkway on the perimeter of the room. Raven took a quick step back, the darkness on the floor rippling around her, standing beside Victor as Kori darted towards them, her eyes fearful. Gar shot up off of the couch, moving to stand in front of the alien, testing his weight on his leg gingerly.
The doors of the elevator opened with another soft chime, and a broad-shouldered man covered from head to toe in black swept out, striding forward purposefully. He stomped down the stairs, a long black cape snapping out around him, a suit of black body armor and a thick belt covered in pockets and weaponry—near identical to Dick's outfit—beneath it. The top half of his face was covered by a matte black molded mask, the sharp points of stylized ears rising over each temple, eyes hidden by the same white lenses as Dick's mask.
"Holy crap," Gar whispered, gaping at the man. "Is that—"
"Shut up," Victor hissed at him.
"Robin, report!" Bruce demanded, his deep voice booming through the room, thundering towards them between the kitchen and dining table.
Dick moved forward immediately, his shoulders squared, walking briskly around the side of the couch and leaving the other four behind him. "We were able to neutralize their weapons," he said as he met Bruce in the middle of the room, stopping the man's advance, a barrier of about five feet of space left between them. "And we made it off of the ship just before they left the planet."
"Were they aware of your presence?"
Dick winced, but nodded. "Yes, but they didn't think we were associated with the League, they just thought we were helping Kor—" he cut himself off, clenching his jaw.
"The alien," Bruce said icily.
Dick nodded sharply. "We kept the damage as minimal as possible, and I don't think there were any casualties."
"Where is the fugitive?"
"She isn't—"
"Where is the fugitive?" Bruce barked again. He didn't move, just held perfectly still in the center of the room like a menacing statue, anger rippling off of him, the black clothes and mask making him almost disappear into the shadows.
Victor moved slightly in front of Kori, his bulk partially shielding her from view as she peeked over his metal shoulder. Her red hair shimmered faintly in the burgeoning glow of the sky outside.
"She isn't a fugitive!" Dick took an aggressive step forward, his hands clenched at his sides, moving between Bruce and Kori as the man's eyes zeroed in on her.
"You have no idea what she is," Bruce growled, "She's not even human! Do not let your ideologies cloud your judgement. Just because she told you that she isn't a criminal doesn't mean—"
"That is enough!" Kori's angry shout made them both stop, and all eyes in the room turned to her.
She marched out from behind Victor, her hands clenched into fists, and followed Dick's path around the couch to come to stand by his side. Her green eyes glowed with a faint inner light as she stared Bruce down.
"I am not a criminal," she said forcefully. A note of iron authority sharpened her voice that hadn't been there before. "You will not insult me in this manner anymore, I will not allow it."
Bruce tensed, his jaw clenching just slightly, the rest of his face hidden beneath the cowl. Dick opened his mouth to intervene before the man could explode, but— "You will not allow—" Bruce started, his voice a deadly growl.
Kori didn't let him finish. She drew herself up to her full, considerable height, her shoulders thrown back and head held high, and her clear voice rang through the room. "I am Princess Koriand'r of the planet Tamaran," she said fiercely. "Daughter of the Grand Rulers, Empress Luand'r and Emperor Myand'r, and second heir to the Tamaranean Throne of Flame."
Dawn broke across the sky behind her in a wash of pale blues and violets, the waters of the bay sparkling with the first rays of sunlight. The light reached her, setting the nearly undone braid of hair around her head flickering like a crown of living fire, red and fuchsia and brilliant orange strands all tangled together.
Dick's jaw dropped open, his eyes bugging out as he stared at the alien next to him.
She kept her chin held high, her eyes locked on the man in front of her, glowing with neon green light. "My planet was attacked and conquered by the Citadel Empire, and the Grand Rulers murdered. I was taken hostage in an effort to dissuade my people against ideas of rebellion, and held by the Gordanians that threatened your planet, but I have never been, and will never be, a criminal."
A vision of her mother flashed through her mind, standing in the exact same pose, the beautiful flaming hair of the royal line woven into intricate braids, her crown framing her face in a brutal sunburst of golden spikes.
Koriand'r took a breath, attempting to calm the raging fire inside of her. "I realize that my arrival on this planet was not authorized by the rulers of this world and that…damage was caused. This was not my intention, I only wished to escape from my captors."
She swallowed, gathering her courage. The crown may have been taken, the court destroyed, but the blood of the Empress ran through her veins. And they could not take that away from her. "I formally request the granting of sanctuary on this planet," she said clearly, her heart threatening to beat right out if her chest with the words. A last, desperate hope. "As is my right, due to me by my blood and my title."
Nobody spoke.
Bruce glared at the girl, his sharp jaw clenched. Then he let out a heavy sigh, one gloved hand coming up to rub his temple in a gesture so absurdly human it completely broke the threatening, gargoyle-like façade.
Kori's confidence faltered at his reaction, and she looked back at Dick, her nerves fluttering.
"Great." Bruce straightened with a shake of his head, but his anger was gone, replaced by a frustrated resignation. "Another one."
He regarded Kori stonily for another moment. "You will have to remain here while I relay your request, your highness," he said through a tight jaw, his voice back to the emotionless monotone yet somehow still dripping with ire.
He shot a dark look at Dick. "You're responsible for her."
It wasn't a question, and Dick nodded his understanding sharply.
Bruce swept his gaze across them one last time, and his attention pierced into Raven. She stiffened, his eyes watching her through the white lenses of his mask, his expression and posture unreadable.
Victor stepped up to her side, his face hardening. Gar looked between the three of them in confusion.
Dick followed Bruce's line of sight, seeing Raven pinned in his stare, then turned back to glare at him, as much steel in his blue eyes as he could muster.
"I need to contact the League." Bruce broke their staring contest and turned on his heel, sweeping back towards the elevators. His dark cape snapped out around him as if the fabric had been reinforced with an internal framework, the edges flaring like wingtips. "Damn aliens," he muttered, his low voice barely audible.
The elevator dinged shut behind him and everyone stood still in the sudden silence, the sunrise filling the room with pale, glittering light.
Kori relaxed, her shoulders slouching with a soft huff of breath. She gave a small, sheepish smile to Dick.
"You're a princess?" he sputtered out.
