Javelin, the main vehicle used by the Justice League, was equipped with technology far more advanced than anything available on Earth. With both alien and metahuman technology incorporated in it, alongside Batman's nearly endless funding and now UN support, it was capable of flying undetected even right above Pentagon. Almost nothing could detect it while flying, and even underwater detection, while much easier, was in no way guaranteed.
However, there were things that were much harder to mask. And, while Titans Tower was less advanced, it had an advantage of being on an island. Such small area of land was easy to cover in sensors, and the weight of landing Javelin, even invisible one, was enough to trigger them instantly.
Which is why, when Batman emerged from it, he found Cyborg already standing in front of the door leading to the Tower, waiting. Titan's technology expert just stood there, waiting, as Batman slowly approached.
"Where is Robin?" The Dark Knight asked in an emotionless voice.
"What, no 'hello', 'how are you?' or anything?" Cyborg answered, not moving from his spot. "Or how about, 'I'm sorry?' instead?"
"I had my reasons." Was the answer, causing Cyborg nearly lash out in anger. He forced it down, with great effort.
"You know, I thought maybe I was wrong about you, but it seems I wasn't. First you made all these plans, then you allow Robin to be hurt, and instead of visiting him when you could you were just spying through our systems. Surprised? Well, I found your backdoor. And second one. And third. Then I just decided to cut out the Tower from any outside connection, and only then you appear here?" Cyborg shook his head.
"I was busy. Justice League is needed, and many superheroes around the world are temporary out of commission. We cannot put our own, personal issues above our duties. This is what caused this entire situation." Batman answered without a hint of regret. "Now, I want to see Robin."
"I think this entire situation happened because you were more paranoid about your friends going crazy then about your enemies stealing your plans." Cyborg answered, not moving from the door. "Now I can see where Robin got this from, but fortunately for us he was more trusting in us then you were. I really hope you didn't put any cameras in our bathrooms or showers, at least."
"I did not. What you do in your free time does not concern me. And I am going to see Robin." Batman answered, his legendary Bat-Glare focusing on Cyborg.
For a long moment, they were both silent, locked in an invisible duel. Normally, there were very few people capable of withstanding the Caped Crusader's glare, or match his willpower. However, right here and now, Cyborg was not backing down. He looked into the mask, unyielding, and while it costed him all his strength he swore not to back down. He remembered seeing his friends, so horribly wounded; Raven, with her horrible burns, Robin wheezing with every breath, Starfire suffering in the darkness, Beast Boy shaking in agony even after they managed to restore him to his human form. This anger was greater than any he ever felt in life; even bigger than on the day when he woke up after the accident.
And, to his surprise, Batman averted his gaze first. Cyborg, shocked, looked at the legendary superhero. While he couldn't be sure, it looked like for a moment a human emotion appeared on the normally impenetrable face.
Sadness.
The moment passed as quickly as it happened, and the face again became a mask. But for this short moment, Cyborg felt like he could see through it. And he saw a man, overcome with sadness and pain, but so used to hiding it that the thought of doing otherwise never even appeared to him.
"Let me see him." Batman asked, and Cyborg hesitated. He sighed, and called Robin, knowing he's awake.
"Robin, you have a guest. Yes. Alright." He disconnected. "I will go for him. Do not even think about doing anything to the Tower while I'm gone; you already know I got Fixit to look over it, and let's just say some of our new systems may not react to you well." Cyborg walked into the Tower, leaving Batman alone.
Soon after, he emerged, pushing a wheelchair. On it, still very weak and pale, was Robin, one hand holding the oxygen mask on his face. The teenage superhero still couldn't walk for long, but at least he was more awake these days, and no longer on the verge of dying. Still, it was obvious that even with best technology available, it would take a long time for him to regain his strength.
"Thank you." He said quietly to Cyborg through his mask. "Can you leave us? I will call you when I want to go back."
Cyborg hesitated, but in the end nodded. "Just let me know."
Then, there was silence; only the quiet hissing of doors closing after Cyborg interrupted it. Two superheroes look at each other for a moment, and Robin, well-versed in reading his mentor, could see something he never expected. Hesitation.
"Batgirl was asking about you." Batman said, breaking the silence. "And many others. They wanted to come visit, but..."
"… had to stay in Gotham, since crime never sleeps." Robin finished quietly, taking few breaths of the oxygen. Talking still hurt a little, but he knew he was strong enough to continue. "I see you didn't change at all since we last saw each other."
"I wanted to make sure you're alright." Batman answered, avoiding the implied question. "When I head you were also attacked, I was worried."
"Yeah, well, at least I don't have both my arms broken like Green Arrow. And I still have skin, unlike Raven." Robin looked at his mentor, taking a deep breath and trying not to cough. "You know, everyone was sure she'll die. If not from shock, pain, blood loss, then from infections. And her powers were getting out of control. If not for that friend of hers, who helped us, who knows what would happen. But, of course, you know that already, don't you?" There was bitterness in Robin's voice.
"I had my reasons. But I'm no happier than you that they decrypted my computer files."
"Our sympathies are marginal." Robin answered, coughing into his mask. At least he wasn't coughing blood. "My entire team…" He stopped. "My friends," He corrected himself. "My friends are all either horribly wounded, still in shock, or both. We barely survived. From what I heard even the League is not at hundred percent yet. Jump City is nearly defenseless. And all this, just because you put more effort into making plans against us then securing those plans?"
"I did all I could. As you know, when facing metahumans, you can never plan for anything." Batman said, his voice straining a little.
"I know. We survived, didn't we?" Robin looked at his mentor, and suddenly he understood him. He looked at Batman not as his substitute parent, mentor, and ideal he wanted to become; he looked at him as a person. And, just like with Slade, he realized how alike they were.
And how different.
"Go back to your cave, Batman." Robin said, not calling him 'Bruce' even once. "I have my own life now, with my friends. Go back to Gotham, and tell Batgirl I will call her soon."
Not waiting for the answer, Robin called Cyborg and without looking back entered the Tower, leaving his former mentor alone.
Batman stood there, in front of the Tower, for a long moment before turning back and leaving quietly. Inside, he was in a great pain. All superheroes distrusted him. Even Batgirl was keeping her distance, shocked and appalled after barely surviving his plan. And now, even Robin left him. He was again alone, just like when his parents died.
But, as always, the half-broken man inside him hid behind the cold, emotionless mask of Batman. That's how it always was, and always will be, he thought, as he hid all his emotions and pain deep inside. Bruce Wayne is just a mask.
He is just Batman.
Nothing else matters.
He was on his way to the Javelin, when he looked up and saw a figure descending between him and the jet. It wasn't hard to guess who that was; she was hiding herself behind thick, custom-made clothing, blocking nearly all light. Only a small camera allowed her to see what was in front of her.
Starfire landed gently in front of Batman, and looked at him through the artificial eye connecting her to the outside world, now that she was cut off from light. She was furious.
"How dare you show yourself here?" She asked, her voice muffled slightly by the thick clothes. "After all you did? You hurt my friends! Robin, he trusted you, and you betrayed his trust!" Her anger was growing with every word, and with ever second Batman was just standing there, not reacting at all.
"I had my reasons. I am as sorry as you are that this situation happened." He answered.
Oh, no, Starfire thought furiously, this will not do. This. Will. Not. Do.
Her anger was too much. She tore off the protective clothing, and threw it aside, standing before Batman in her full power and glory. The sun instantly started powering her; her skin, still slightly translucent, begun to shine in a beautiful, yet deadly, golden hue. She shone like a small star, brighter and brighter, forcing Batman to turn on his strongest filters in the mask before averting his eyes.
"How dare you. You hurt your apprentice, someone who trusted you! You used our trust to spy on us, to hurt us! Friend Robin, he nearly died, and friend Beast Boy doesn't talk to anyone. Friend Raven, she is so horribly burned, and friend Cyborg is crying when he thinks we can't see him." Starfire flew closer to Batman, standing so close to him he could feel the heat emanating from her. She was so bright now, he couldn't see anything but light; he was just a speck of darkness inside a golden star.
"Defend yourself, you…!" She couldn't find any words to describe him. "Defend yourself, with words or in battle! I challenge you to Mor'sha to prove you are worthy of being friend Robin's knarfka!"
Batman stood there, in front of a raging star, without fear. He fought many powerful beings, gods, monsters, aliens alike, and his courage was unbreakable to the point of being suicidal. But, another emotions surfaced through his this barely holding mask.
"I already lost this battle." He said quietly, in a resigned voice. He walked to the Javelin, around the stunned Starfire, and entered it, not even once looking back.
The Tamaranian princess looked at the departing superhero, speechless. She still felt all her anger, and wanted to punch him so badly, but… he just looked so sad, for a moment there. Like a sad, old man, broken by responsibilities on his shoulders. Not the great, unbroken superhero she heard so much about.
He reminded her of her own family, when they sent her to Gordanians through their tears and sadness. It was all for the greater good, and it was a virtue, sacrificing your own happiness for the good of others... right?
"Star, either blow him up or not, but get back to the Tower this instant!" Cyborg shouted from the door, not able to even look at her with her mechanical eye. "You are supposed to avoid the light, not take sunbaths! And next time, just take these clothes off, don't ruin them!"
"Oh, sorry, friend Cyborg!"
Raven slowly woke up. Or at least, it felt like she was; she felt strangely… numb? And she was still so sleepy, it was hard to gather thoughts. She decided to go back to sleep; she had a nightmare, she couldn't remember much of it, but she rarely dreamt. Weird.
"Raven." Cyborg asked her. She ignored him. "Raven, I know you're awake. I'm sorry, but you need to wake up. I need your help." He added quietly and gently.
Wait. Why was he in her room? Raven slowly opened her eyes, confused. What is going on? She was in a bed, and she could hear some beeps and other mechanical sounds. And she felt weird. She tried to speak, but instantly felt pain in her throat; and she was so thirsty.
"Here, drink it slowly." Cyborg put a cup to her lips. Raven was going to say she can do it herself, but found out she was too weak. What? She slowly drank, although he took the water away before she managed to drink enough. To her surprise, she made a quiet whine and he put the water back.
"Easy, easy. Don't overdo it. You were asleep for quite some time. How are you feeling?"
"Weak. Floating." She managed to say slowly. She could feel her power stirring within her, and focused on holding it back. To her surprise, it was easier than she expected. "What happened? I remember… pain. I went to Alexander, and there was something there?"
"It was some kind of a magical circle, and sprinklers with holy water above it. It burned you, badly." Raven could now remember it, parts of it. She knew she would remember it better, later, but for now it was enough. She shuddered inside, remembering the pain. "You managed to break the circle, and escape, but you collapsed at the door. We barely managed to save you."
"I… broke the circle?" Raven asked, confused. She didn't remember that part well.
"Yeah, you did. I have no idea how that works, but Alexander said that whoever made this circle made a mistake and that allowed you to get out. You would not survive otherwise."
"Oh." Raven still had slight trouble focusing her thoughts. She tried to lift her head to look at herself, but found it too hard.
"Try to relax, for now. I had to keep in in a coma for weeks. Your wounds were so bad, if you woke up you would be in agony."
Raven focused, and felt the pain, lingering somewhere outside of her perception right now. She must be on some painkillers, it's weird that they're working but she would take it. She could remember the pain from the holy water, and shuddered agan. It was definitely the most horrible physical pain she ever felt.
"Why," She stopped and drank some more water. "Why did you wake me up?"
"I needed you to reign in your power a little. Alexander and Starfire made some magical thingy to make your magic not lash out too much while you were asleep, but it's far from perfect and your powers were getting out of control again. It's the second time we do this, actually, you don't remember it?"
Wait. Starfire? What was she doing with magic circle? "No." Raven answered, already feeling sleepy again. Cyborg was saying something, but she found it hard to focus on and instead she quietly fell asleep again.
When she woke up next time, her head felt much clearer. Sadly, it also made the pain come back, and she groaned, causing Cyborg – who was sitting next to her – to turn around and look at her.
"Water." She asked quietly, focused on drinking something for now; she was so thirsty. After she drank a little, she tried to move her head and winced slightly from the pain. Seeing that Cyborg was reaching for something, probably more painkillers, she stopped him: "Please, no. you can give me something later. Can we talk for a moment?"
Cyborg nodded, and let go of whatever he was reaching for. Raven took a slow breath, pushing her power down. It felt… different, for some reason she couldn't understand. "What happened? I tried to call you, but no one answered."
"We were all attacked." Cyborg answered grimly. "I was lucky, just lost my arm, other not so much although you're the worst case out of all superheroes. No one died, fortunately."
An attack? "Who did this?"
"Batman." Hearing this, she remembered now; the runes on the circle that imprisoned her, Zatanna must have made them. And Batman was responsible. But why attack everyone else?
"Was he mind-controlled somehow?" She could hardly believe it, knowing herself how impenetrable his mind and willpower were.
"No. Turns out, he prepared a list of plans, he called them contingencies, in case any of us were mind controlled or turned evil. Now we at least know where Robin got his idea from. Turns out some villain managed to steal those plans and use them… Raven, um, can you hold your shadows a little?"
Raven only now realized that her power was getting out of control. She could see shadows dancing, red eyes appearing around them. And it was really hard for her to push them down this time.
Raven was angry. Beyond that, she was furious. She told them everything. She trusted the League with her story, her strengths and weaknesses, her past and the future… and this is how they repaid her? With execution?
"Raven, please, I know you're angry but don't bring Tower down." Cyborg asked, with a note of fear in his eyes. She tried her best to force her power down, and partially succeeded; only the dancing shadows remained, but her power was no longer leaking out too much.
She expected Cyborg to just run away or at least step back, but, despite eying the demonic shadow, he stayed. She was amazed, seeing this. Considering she was unconscious all this time, he must have seen a lot of this. She would totally expect him to put her somewhere far away, not trust her and keep her in the Tower.
It felt really good, knowing he didn't abandon her. Her shadows pulled back for a moment, before the realization hit her.
She was in the Tower. In hospital gown. Cyborg must have seen her. He knew. He knew. He knew.
"Raven, what's wrong?! Is it pain?" Cyborg asked, seeing her power boiling out of control. The bed somehow started melting despite staying cool to the touch, and the wheels below it changed into snakes made of shadow and hundreds of red eyes. "Wait, I'll give you something for the pain…"
"No, no, don't, leave me, don't look at me," Raven said, falling apart. She was lost in panic, and fear; fortunately for her, Cyborg managed to guess from her words what happened.
"Raven, I knew. I knew before that, for months now." That shocking revelation made Raven stop, and at least partially snapped her out of her panic. "I was in your mind, remember? I don't care who your father was, I don't care about where your power comes from, you're my friend. One of my best friends. You are like family to me now, you and the rest." Cyborg tried to calm her down. He avoided touching her, and instead focused on his words. "You being trans or not doesn't matter to me. I'm sorry I didn't make it obvious earlier, I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable."
"Trans?" She asked, confused. Cyborg looked at her, equally confused.
"Yes. You are transgender, right?" He really hoped he didn't screw something up right now. "If I misunderstood, correct me please, I didn't want to impose anything."
"I... never heard that word. You have people with demonic heritage here, on Earth?" Raven asked, more and more confused. She never heard of anything like it.
"Demonic heritage? Wait." Cyborg looked at her, suddenly understanding. "Raven. You think you were born in this body because of your father?"
"Yes. Why else? People who aren't me don't have these… issues." She answered, shaking visibly, her torrent of emotions ready to spill out at any moment.
Cyborg just sat there, stunned, for a moment. So many things suddenly made sense. He looked into her eyes and answered her slowly. "Raven, look at me." She did, and saw only honesty in his eyes. "Some people are just assigned wrong gender at birth, that is all. We have many people like that on Earth. There is nothing unusual, or demonic, about it. I thought you knew that, but now I see I should have asked."
"But… what?" Raven looked at him, confused, but there was a small silver of hope in her. She could feel tears slowly pooling in her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"Raven. You are an amazing woman, a superhero, Titan, and my friend." Cyborg answered without any doubt.
"But…" Raven stopped. She was confused, but now she started to feel hope. She remembered something. "Cyborg, please…" She sniffed a little, and tried to focus. "Please help me sit for a moment."
"I don't think it's a good…" He started, but seeing her straining to do it he helped her, gently, to sit up.
Raven looked at the magical circle around her bed. Far from the prison she saw earlier, it was just a small, protective circle, that she could leave any time.
But what was important was written on it. She could see her power stopping at this barrier, proving it was working, proving it was, indeed, made with her in mind.
But on the circle, the written words didn't use the ancient words of power and demonic runes. She was simply called a Titan. Hero. Friend. Healer.
And one, the most important one, was visibly added by Starfire. She remembered telling her of Arella once, during their meditations, but she never expected to see her name here, on this magical circle.
Raven, daughter of Arella. The main title on the circle, one that was holding all of it together.
She could not hold it anymore. She cried, and cried, overwhelmed by emotions. She hugged Cyborg and cried. Her powers went out of control, damaging the floor, delicate machinery, even the bed, everything inside the circle.
But Cyborg didn't care. He gently hugged his friend back. Just like almost a year ago, when a Man of Steel hugged a little, scared girl whose world just got turned upside down, here a different, but no lesser man of steel hugged his best friend.
But this time, she felt happiness.
Nevermore was dark, as usual. Island of rock and stone, ruins floating in the unending darkness, with red light shining over it.
Raven appeared on one such island. She didn't need to travel far; it was her soul, and she appeared exactly where she needed to be. And indeed, her Anger, her demonic power, was standing there, free of chains. But she was different than before; she now looked exactly like Raven, except for her red cloak and demonic eyes.
"So, you came. Want to chain me back again? I don't see your friends helping you." Anger said, visibly ready to fight.
"I was wrong." Raven answered quietly. "I thought I can just repel you, refuse you, and my life will change for the better. That all I need is to throw you away somehow, forget about you. I put everything I hated in you, and I was surprised you turned out this way."
"So what, now that you know that, you think I will just surrender?" Her Anger answered, demonic light appearing around her. "I am your power. You cannot defeat me."
"I came here to see for myself how wrong I was." Raven answered with humility, and her Anger took a step back. "You are not the source of everything evil, and I cannot just act like you don't exist. I am not two halves of a person. I am just myself. It's time for me to realize that."
"Lots of big words, but you know you cannot stop Trigon with words!"
"I cannot." Raven answered. She looked at her Anger, and straightened up, suddenly feeling pride. "But I will try. I am nothing but stubborn, and I will be myself, no matter what. I faced Reality, and Reality backed down already." Raven smiled. "I will face him when the time comes, and I will not be defeated. We will win."
Her Anger looked at her, unmoving. Raven closed her eyes, and focused. For the first time in her life, she felt that she truly understood herself. There were still dark instincts in her; in truth, she will never be truly free of them. But, it wasn't her instincts, or her father, or her power that defined her.
It was her decisions, and her actions.
Raven opened her eyes, and for the first time in her life, she was complete. Her cloak turned to white, and Nevermore shined with a different light.
She knew she would not be able to stay complete for long. Her emotions were separated from her by powerful magic, and she spent entire life in self-hatred and loathing. She had a long way before she reaches the moment when she is truly and forever one with herself. But for now, she embraced herself for the first time, and her repulsion faded, replaced by acceptance.
And all was good in Nevermore.
It took time before she could walk without horrible pain. Her healing powers were unable to truly heal all the burns, but fortunately they didn't leave any scars. It was now just a matter of time. Somehow, despite spending weeks in bed, her muscles were just as strong as always, and unlike Robin she didn't require intensive rehabilitation.
Not that Boy Wonder would ever admit that he was in pain. The moment he could stand, and Raven was able to walk, he gathered them in the common room of the Tower.
Everyone was wounded, one way or another. Robin had trouble with walking, even though his stubbornness made it look better than it was. He didn't show his pain or any discomfort to anyone, and only Cyborg knew of painkillers he was taking on the bad days.
Starfire was sad; living for weeks with barely any light was really hard for her. She was bored, even with training and a huge library of audiobooks that her friends gave her. And she could feel her power slipping away day by day; even knowing it was too much and she couldn't have so much power, it still felt like she was weakening herself on purpose every day. It felt like giving up on an addiction, in a way. She was happy friend Raven was visiting her sometimes, and they mediated in darkness and silence. Slowly, her horrible memories of Gordanian sensory deprivation were being replaced by spending time with her friend.
Beast Boy was slowly coming back to his happy persona, but the hours spent in horrible agony as Sakutia virus was mutating him left him with deep mental scars. He rarely changed anymore, had horrible nightmares, and sometimes just broke down out of nowhere. It wasn't his fault, and other Titans were trying to support him as best as they could; J'onn offered his counsel, also being mentally scarred after Batman's plan, and they spent some time together. While their characters were different, they bonded over surviving the worst the world threw at them. Wonder Woman also visited him, and Beast Boy also started looking into getting some professional help. He recommended they all need it, after their own traumatic experiences.
Cyborg was in best shape out of all of them, but he was also suffering. He would never forget the horrible sight of his friends, wounded, shocked, in agony. For the first time in his life he was happy he could just shut down during the night.
He had enough nightmares during the day to have them at night, as well.
Raven was just in pain; there was nothing to do, aside from painkillers. She was taking huge doses to overcome her body's natural resistance to them, and she was very happy the League was covering the cost.
"Everyone, I have an announcement." Robin said when they all gathered together. Wounded and weak, he was still himself; masking pain with stubbornness. They could all see it now, but they all pretended they didn't. It was almost back to normal, day-to-day living in the Tower.
The Boy Wonder took a deep breath. "I wanted to say that I am sorry. My lack of trust in you was already proven to be not only hurting you, but actively dangerous. Slade only proved it further. And now, we can see where this path leads.
I refuse to become like my mentor. I trust you, all of you, with my life. You've all seen me in my best and worst moments, and put your trust in me in return." Robin, without any warning, took off his mask.
In a dramatic fashion. He could only do this once, after all. And the stunned look on everyone's faces was absolutely worth it.
"My name is Richard Grayson, and I promise to keep no more secrets from you."
And so, we came to the end of our first Interlude. Many things happened, and consequences of them will be far-reaching. Raven found a home among Titans, and is now both more aware and more accepting of herself, while other Titans grew and became a full team of superheroes, while dealing with their own issues in their own ways.
Thank you for sticking with this story. I am still amazed so many people read both Volume 1 and this. While the amount of comments slightly flattened out lately, I see that people still read those and I am thankful. Of course, if anyone wants to comment on any chapter of any of my stories, even older ones, feel free to – I love them and always answer all of them.
That being said, there are few things I want to say in the author's notes.
I am in need of a beta/sensitivity reader, it seems. Someone who would both read through and point out any mistakes, and also check for any accidental transphobia (or any other prejudice). Can't offer much in return, but if anyone wants to help, I can at least guarantee early access to every chapter as it's written, which varies from 1 to 3 weeks before it's published, sometimes even more. As for sensitivity reader, I would for obvious reasons prefer someone trans, but I'm open to all options.
Sadly, I won't be able to go back to writing 200 000 words a month, like I did with Volume 1. I just lost my job without any prior warning, and being half-crippled by COVID my life is getting a little harder. I'm still going to write, but I also need to put much effort into looking for work, and writing of my own book in hopes I'll manage to publish it and maybe be able to live from it, since fanficiton sadly won't get me any money.
Still, you can expect updates every Friday for whole Volume 2. After that, we shall see how my life turns out. Hopefully for the better.
Thank you again for reading this story, all kudos, comments, reviews, everything. And see you next week, in the first chapter of Volume 2.