Plans
Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own the show Teen Titans, nor the various DC comics on which this fanfiction is based.
Halfway into stepping through the dimensions and into their home, Raven remembers the state of their apartment.
Just before the other end of her portal connects, she freezes, her soul-self wrapping more tightly around her lover to protect her from the extended stay within the rift.
While Jinx mumbles something incoherent and presses more firmly into the psychic's body, her mind goes to work and reality finally hits her without the wall of sweet, distracting adrenaline.
Their home is gone.
With her siblings out to get the women, especially after their work on Zatanna and Richard, she certainly won't ask to stay at the Tower, especially with both of them so exhausted.
Given their so recent treatment of a monument that had stood on the planet for millennia, both the D.M.A. and the Justice League are also likely not too safe for the women until the drama over their actions calms, assuming it does.
When her barrier around Jinx begins to fray at the edges, the continued stay between dimensions quickly draining the short respite her interrupted trance had gained her, a thought flashes into the demonling's mind.
The next moment, she steps out into the cold streets of Gotham, night shrouding her exit from an alley wall.
Casting her senses around, she makes sure that no eyes are on the women before she stalks across the street and pulls a set of keys from a dimensional pocket.
The building's wards flash to life as soon as she sets foot inside, and without the magic interfering, she feels an aura within that sets her on edge.
Slipping the door closed as quietly as possible, she lifts off the ground and begins floating up the stairs, her blood pressure rising with every inch.
Finally, she finds the man in what she assumes had at one time served as a living room, a TV lying asleep in front of the worn couch.
As soon as she enters the room, he jumps to his feet and stares at her in wide-eyed awe.
"You're-"
Raven floats until she's within reach of the man, her hand instantly fisting in his loose shirt and lifting him from the floor.
Her eyes bleed red, and she lets the mark of Skaath burn into existence on her forehead to add extra intimidation to the shivering man.
"What. are. you. doing. in. this. home?" she demands through grit teeth, drawing him slightly more off the ground and closer to herself with every word.
"We- I- Brother Blood said- but- I don't-!"
His stuttering is abruptly ended by a fist of soul-self lashing out, coloring half of the man's face bright red in pain.
"The home of Angela Roth is not a fiefdom for your cult. I don't know how you got in here, nor why he thinks he has any right to what is mine, but be assured that I'm sending you from here alive and unharmed solely to tell Sebastian that any others who are under his command will not receive the same end. Leave, now," she snarls, her voice echoing through the entire building.
He takes the opportunity and bolts down the stairs, the door slamming closed behind his charge to flee.
As soon as he leaves, Raven drops to the floor wracked with trembles.
"Liga hoc dominium de aliqua sceleratis reputatus," she mutters.
A wince forms as the door below locks itself, and a brief flash of black coats the entire inside of the house.
Her legs begin shaking violently, and with a curse, she stumbles into the nearest room and, sending a thanks to whatever deities are looking after them, lays Jinx's weight onto the bed within.
Feeling her exhaustion crushing down on her, she quickly sends a text message to Gizmo telling him that she'll be sending information as soon as she's again fully conscious.
Jinx begins to stir, and only then does Raven finally allow herself to lie down next to her lover, feeling her body shifting back from its red hue.
Were she more awake, she would spare a worry to having not realized she'd even shifted to her other form in the face of the cultist's presence, but the exhaustion remains too heavy.
"Ugh… I'm picking where our next date is," Jinx mumbles, bringing the demonling's full attention to the meta.
A soft smile creeping across her face, she brings a hand to the meta's face, reveling in the warmth under her touch.
"I'm okay with that. We're safe now."
Nodding, Jinx buries her head into the crook of Raven's neck and presses as firmly against her as bodily possible.
"I'm so tired."
"It's mutual," Raven assures.
"What's the gameplan?"
"I'm going to sleep, with you here, in my arms where I know we'll both be safe, at least for the few hours we both need. Everything else can wait."
Jinx hums in appreciation of the idea, her eyes slipping closed as she falls into the sweet warmth of her lover's embrace.
Her eyes growing heavy, Raven places a kiss on the meta's forehead before her own eyes slip closed and she joins Jinx in blissful sleep…
*********
Raven's eyes reopen once more a full twelve hours later.
She barely moves for the further hour until Jinx stirs as well.
Being careful so as not to wake her lover up, she goes to work correcting every bit of physical damage Jinx's fight with Morgaine had caused.
A relieved smile forms when she realizes how well her sleep has done her, every bit of her strength returned.
To her even further relief, Jinx's wounds are far less severe than she expects, barring the horrific gash through her shoulder, though she finds that her psychology is much less healthy.
The pink gemstone in Jinx's hand is no longer bright, marking that it had more than helped both women along with their slumber.
Once Jinx's body is returned to perfect condition, Raven ponders on how she can possibly help the meta's mind recover from her ordeal.
An image of her siblings' induced nightmare flashes before her eyes, and the thought that had been forming is rapidly shoved away.
"I will not risk becoming them," she hisses internally.
The pained whimper that sounds from Jinx combines with the hot, burning pulse of terror that rushes against Raven's every sense in seeming disagreement.
Her caution wars, very briefly, with her concern for her lover.
When more whimpers sound, however, Raven realizes how foolish the conflict is, how inherently different her use of the same power is just from the purpose, and promptly presses her forehead to the meta's.
"Ego induunt quam sacinam nam vos, amica mea," she whispers.
Her eyes flash black, as do Jinx's own behind her closed lids, and the whimpering ends.
Jinx's mind returns to an utterly peaceful sleep, and the warm emotions radiating out from the meta in place of her terror soothes Raven's guilt somewhat.
Shortly after this, Jinx's eyes open, and upon meeting indigo eyes, a brilliant smile creeps across her lips.
"Good morning, sexy."
Raven almost points out that their "morning" is actually almost noon, before deciding the meta's smile shouldn't be muddied while it can last.
"It is now. How're you feeling?"
Jinx experimentally moves her limbs around, eyes going wide in surprise.
"Good. Amazing, actually. Nothing feels like it's a twitch away from snapping off my body, which I distinctly remember before I passed out."
"That gemstone you made of the Questing Beast had a lot of energy," Raven explains. "Actually, it's a bit distressing that just between the two of us, we utterly tapped what was there."
As if to prove her words, Raven extends the stone between their faces, the warmth that had been there no longer present.
Raising a brow at the pink gem, Jinx runs a finger experimentally over the smooth surface.
"Y'know, if we ever get over the whole "saving the world" thing, I think I could make a killing as a jeweler," she muses. "This thing's beautiful."
"It is," Raven agrees with a warm smile. "Though I might be a tad biased since it's almost identical to your eyes in color."
A blush creeps onto the meta's cheeks, her mouth curving into an embarrassed grin.
"Y-yeah?"
"Slightly less vibrant, but very similar," the demonling responds with a nod.
"Flatterer."
"This is something new?"
"I'm guessin' that the British are goin' to have the color banned, for the next few decades at least, so it's good that someone'll like it in their place," Jinx laughs.
"I wouldn't go that far. Mystics in the area, maybe, but the average human will just chalk it up to some absurd explanation that will make sense in their minds far more than a metahuman crumbling an entire stone circle."
Jinx winces at that, seeming to grasp chastisement where Raven intended none.
"I screwed up, didn't I? Like, Steel might be coming for me soon, screwed up big?"
Raven's mind wars to find an answer both honest and somehow not wounding to her lover.
"You did err in judgment," she finally begins while rubbing a comforting hand on the meta's tensed shoulder. "But you did not do what you did from malice. Morgaine was opening a portal, and you acted to stop it in the only way you could think of. And it worked. The Faery on this plane will not be happy, but we could not possibly fight two different dimensions at once. I'm partially to blame, as well, so at the least, we'll take the consequences together."
Jinx frowns in response, a finger rising to point at the demonling's forehead.
"Speaking of things we need to talk about," she muses while gently thumping Raven with the finger.
"I am not blind of myself, especially not enough to miss how terrible a problem is if it leaves me unconscious in the middle of a fight," Raven sighs.
"Considerin' that I did it, too, I'm not going to harp on this. But Rae, I need you to share some of the world you try to hang from your shoulders from now on. The two of us dating would be an immediate flag for Steel if we didn't prove from that first time he called it out that we're damn good as a team. I don't want you suffering and taking everything on yourself, as your girlfriend or as your partner."
Raven gently grabs Jinx's raised hand, the meta's warmth quickly combining with her own.
"Your concerns are… were… valid. I will try to leave the reckless abandon for less potentially fatal endeavors," she adds with a slightly amorous edge to her smile forming.
Grinning, Jinx leans in and steals her breath, only separating again when both of them are seeing black spots.
"Good. As Giz pointed out, I might've rubbed a bit of that off on you, so it ain't like I could actually be mad about it. Still, I'm glad that you managed to wake up long enough to pull my ass out of the fire, and keep me together after."
"You can thank the gem for that. I don't know if you know this, but despite being in a healing trance, I'm not dead to the world. My senses still work, even if I'm not mobile enough to react to dangers such as a chimera coming to bite me in half. I wouldn't have been able to move for another several hours if not for the massive amount of magic you gave me."
"And you kept me from losing my mind, so we can call it even there," Jinx quips. "How'd you do that, by the way? I ain't complainin', but one minute I'm about ready to get pulled from the field for a few weeks of strongly advised counseling, the next I can't give any resemblance of a damn and feel you in my head."
Raven winces, the slight accusation in her lover's tone bringing her guilt back, if nowhere near as strong as prior.
"I siphoned your fear off," she explains.
"Okay… You can do that?"
"As I said earlier, simply because I do not use the powers my siblings abuse does not mean I'm inept with them. If it were anyone else, with the exception of maybe Victor or Koriand'r, I would not have done it."
Jinx nods, a thoughtful expression forming.
"Okay… So, is it a field patch or an amputation kinda' thing?"
"You will still feel fear. But developing a phobia, or symptoms akin to PTSD, will not affect your life, at least in connection to this event. I fear what I can become if I toy with my abilities like that, and abhor doing any mental tampering without your consent, but I couldn't bear knowing that I had a way to heal your psyche from such a trauma and decided to willfully let you suffer. I-"
Jinx's finger presses to her lips, a warm glow in the meta's gaze.
"Raven, relax. You don't need to explain yourself, okay? The fact that you're worried about not askin' me tells me more than anything else that you'd never give me a reason to worry about you using your powers. And I really think you need to start considerin' it, if you want to stand a chance against Jared an' the rest of 'em. "
"I do not want to become like them to beat them," Raven groans.
"If the rest're anything like Jared, that's never going to be an issue, Raven," the meta soothes while running a hand along her lover's jawline.
"Do you remember when you first went to Nevermore?" Raven persists.
"It'd be hard to forget."
Raven presses closer against Jinx, her head resting a hair's breath from the meta's.
"For a time, you were terrified that reality itself was fabricated and that you were in a waking nightmare that you would never be able to say for sure was real or illusion."
Jinx winces at the memory, her hand stilling its stroking.
"Not one of my finer moments," she admits.
"My empathic abilities are no different. I do not want to ever wonder if what I'm experiencing is reality, and so I do not wish to force such a thing on any others. If I change what someone's feeling, if I decide to play around with a person's psyche, unless someone has absolute trust in me to begin with, it's entirely possible that they'll wonder if everything they feel while in my presence is forced on them."
"Okay, I could see why that'd be a problem," Jinx admits in a deep sigh.
"Even worse," Raven continues, "it would be very easy to fall into a pattern of manipulating people to being agreeable in every situation, the same way that Jared so easily stoked their jealousies and paranoias. It may be different because I have a fantastic spotter, but would you really be able to tell if I changed and manipulated you to think I hadn't? There's much to be said about the lengths an addict goes to. I can say now that I would never manipulate you, but the reality is that there's no way of either of us knowing what I'd do if I became more like my brothers and sisters, like my father, than like myself."
Raven shudders at the thought, not even attempting to hide the fear it causes.
Jinx caresses her cheek, drawing Raven's eyes to lock with her own searching gaze.
"You've actually died to go against the old man's line of thinking. You're giving yourself way too little credit here, Raven. You not 24 hours ago used the power that was in Excalibur, and then you didn't even hesitate to toss it away despite what keeping it could do for you."
Raven considers her argument, a thoughtful light forming in her gaze.
"This is why having someone more than willing to point out when I'm dense is a good thing," she finally sighs. "I did not even consider retaining that sword, and if ever there was an opportunity for destructive addiction, that would have been it."
Jinx nods with a grin.
"Any time, babe. Besides, I can't imagine you needing to rely on more than what you've got. You laid that hag out flat after she kicked my ass, and I'm not a lightweight," she muses.
"Jinx, you used the Questing Beast as an alchemical base and fought off Barghest, on top of overloading a structure based on absorbing power. Not a lightweight doesn't even begin to cover it. Frankly, if you could do all that and beat Morgaine Le Fey, you wouldn't be a mortal."
"I am pretty awesome," Jinx agrees with a grin. "I'd have to be, to keep up with you. But, uh, out of curiosity, what exactly were they? Celtic stuff isn't really my thing, y'know."
"Barghest was a particularly powerful Black Dog, mostly terrorizing Yorkshire. Think of him, and the rest of the Cu Sith, kind of like Hellhounds but with more teeth and usually red eyes. The Questing Beast's reputed to be the strongest beast King Arthur ever saw. It was a creature made of chaos."
Her words cause Jinx to scratch at her left shoulder, a phantom sensation coursing through the meta.
"Y'don't say."
Raven picks up on the movement and frowns in thought.
"You were bitten."
It isn't a question, but Jinx nods anyway.
"Damn chimera got a chunk of me before I made it into a stone. Barghest did, too, but the dog at least wasn't poison."
"The Questing Beast poisoned you?" Raven demands, eyes wide.
"I dunno'. It did something to me, because one minute I was in pain from it bitin' me, the next it was like I swallowed a metric ton of sugar. And when it died, that went away. Same thing happened when I took a spill into Etrigan's Hellfire."
"That should not be possible. If the Beast truly did inject you with something, you should not have remained aliv- I'm sorry, did you say you fell into Hellfire?" she suddenly interrupts herself, eyes going wide in shock. "What did it feel like?"
"What? Painful. I mean, the thing bit my-"
"Not the Beast. The Hellfire," Raven corrects with a strange glow to her gaze. "You said you fell into Hellfire. That you are alive right now should not be feasible. Hot, cold, like you were being electrocuted, like you were choking, what sensation was there when you touched it?"
Jinx's eyes screw closed in concentration, not sure what Raven's worried over but trying to remember nonetheless.
Frowning, she pictures the contact with the black flames and realizes there's nothing else.
"There wasn't any," she answers.
"That's not possible."
"I dunno' what you're lookin' for here, Rae. I rolled through, the fire was gone, and I was all kinds of recharged."
"That shouldn't be possible for a human…"
Something dark takes form in her gaze, but it disappears so quickly that Jinx almost thinks it hadn't been there at all.
"Then again, I'm not omnipotent, and I should know better than to assume something is impossible. I guess if you received no damage, we can leave well enough alone," Raven sighs.
"Well, we know I'm 100% genuine human, so that's not really a concern. Who knows? Maybe I've just got some freaky trick I haven't found out about yet. Happens often enough with us," the meta responds flippantly.
"Perhaps."
While Raven doesn't seem convinced, Jinx decides to let the issue of her own growing suspicion rest for another time.
"So, uh, where exactly are we?" she asks instead, looking around the alien room.
After bringing it up, she realizes she truly has no idea where they are, the building around them feeling completely foreign despite the telltale warmth of Raven's magic.
"Angela Roth's home."
Jinx's eyes snap to her lover in surprise.
"As in-"
"My mother, before she left for Azarath. Had things not gone as they had, it would have likely been my own childhood home, as well."
"But isn't she… y'know?"
"She is, but the home was paid off. I don't know why I've kept this place up," Raven sighs.
"Wait. You own this place?" the meta asks incredulously.
"My mother owns… owned… this place. Victor was the one who found out that nobody had been informed of her relocation and convinced me that I should take it for myself."
"Cy suggested that?"
"I was surprised, as well, actually," Raven says with a small smirk. "But it is technically mine under the law as the next of kin for the one who owns the home, and I was content to have it if I ever needed it."
"Well, that works out conveniently right now, seein' how the apartment's charcoal. Why didn't you ever tell me about this place. I would've jumped on the chance to have a little more space to live in."
"This home does not hold particularly pleasant memories, by association, and none personally. I've only used it on a rare occasion when I needed to perpetuate the existence of Rachel Roth, whereas the apartment held many positive memories."
Jinx's expression softens, before a sudden thought brings panic welling through her.
"Oh, shit, my bag! What-"
Raven's soul-self slinks down the bed and onto the floor, and slowly raises the duffel bag for the meta's gaze.
Jinx releases a relieved sigh and goes limp on the bed.
"Thank Vishnu, it'd suck if I took the time to grab that stuff and it ended up under rubble in Britain," she sighs.
Raven chuckles, bringing a red color to the meta's cheeks.
"Barring that," she begins again with an embarrassed cough, "I meant what I said before, Rae. My home's wherever you are. I liked the apartment, don't get me wrong, but it really just means that we'll need to make new memories here."
"You've only seen the bedroom," Raven points out. "And we got here for me to find that Sebastian has decided that because it's associated with the Church, he gets to use it to house his men. I'd love to believe that my threat will be enough, but he's a persistent leech."
"Not to be argumentative, Rae, but a bedroom's more rooms than I've got right now, and I'm guessing there're other rooms here. And considerin' what we just did, I think we can handle a few zealots."
"Fair enough. We can even spend time once everything's finished making it into a real home."
"Sounds like a plan."
"Speaking of plans," Raven starts with a quickly darkening blush, "I'd like to talk a bit more about what we talked about the other day, if you'd be okay with it…"
The blush forms on Jinx's entire face as well, immediately understanding.
"O-okay…"
"When we leave this place, we're probably going to be busy for a long time to come, and you deserve better than me being subtle about this."
With that, she abruptly sits up and pulls Jinx with her.
As soon as they're both fully sitting up, Raven kneels in front of her and clasps her hands over the meta's.
Both sets are noticeably shaking, a fact that slows both of their speeding hearts.
"I know we've been together for less than two years, and I don't have a ring or anything right now to do this properly. But I can't imagine myself trusting, or loving, anyone else as much as I do you."
Her eyes slip closed and she takes a deep, steadying breath before she wills herself to lock gazes with her lover.
"When everything's over and the Earth goes back to its standard, mundane end is nigh fare, will you marry me, Nicole?"
For a second, Jinx remains breathlessly gaping at her lover.
Just when some worry begins slipping into Raven's mind, the meta lunges forward and tackles her to the ground.
A laugh bubbles up between their connected lips, and when they finally break for air, Jinx doesn't move away from her in the slightest.
"A thousand times yes!"
Grinning, Raven tightens her arms around the meta's waist and pulls her in for another kiss.
A sudden ringing sound makes them both jump, and soul-self lifts the offending phone to the air between the two.
"Can we ignore it? I wanna' just enjoy this for a bit," Jinx whines.
Raven wholeheartedly agrees with her fiancé, and tosses the phone to land on the bed.
As soon as the ringing ends, both of her own phones as well as Jinx's communicator begin shrilling, signaling that whoever wanted them was not going to be ignored.
"Damnit," Jinx groans, her head falling to rest on the demonling's shoulder.
Raven nods in agreement while pulling the communicator from Jinx's belt.
Seeing Gizmo's name on the readout, Raven sighs and the device flips itself open.
"Jinx, what in the hell possibly made you think that droppin' stinkin' Stonehenge on its ass would be a good idea!?" the inventor's voice screeches in greeting.
"Giz-"
"I mean, really, what the hell!?" he continues undeterred. "Were ya' tryin' to give Steel, by which I mean me, stinkin' heart fai-"
"Shut up, Mikron," Raven growls, effectively cutting him off.
"Hey, I've been doing run-arounds from all kinds'a pissed off people for the last ten damn hours, so I'm gonna' rant when I want," he snarls back.
"Then we're even on bein' frustrated," Jinx growls back.
"Gizmo, I'm going to hang up now. We'll be there in an hour at most, half that at least, and when I get there, you're going to patch me through to Steel so we can hash everything out."
"Don't think I ain't gonna' chew you both out when you get here! Oh, and, uh… it's good that you both got back safe," he adds in an embarrassed mutter before the connection cuts off.
"He was worried," Raven muses.
"Heh… Yeah, I kinda'-"
"I was aware, remember?" the demonling interrupts with a smirk. "Your concern was a valid one."
"So even in the car you were-"
"Yep."
"And when I was shittalkin' to Etrigan?" the meta asks with an ever-brighter blush.
"Even then," Raven chuckles. "You putting an irate immortal down was more than a little entertaining."
"Glad I could amuse you," her lover mutters in embarrassment.
Chuckling, Raven kisses her forehead before the two levitate from the ground.
"Always. Now, we need to shower and head out, before Gizmo decides to be annoying."
What was meant to be a ten minute shower easily turns to nearly an entire hour, but luckily Raven had accounted for the inevitable distractions.
Unfortunately, her wonderful mood tanks as they teleport, the realization of what news she has to deliver enough to knock her breath from her.
As soon as they rise from the floor in Gizmo's base, the inventor follows through on his promise of chewing them out.
Raven cuts him off with a raised hand, forestalling whatever piece of his mind he was willing to give the women.
"Enough. There are more important things right now to deal with. Start a video conference with Steel."
Grumbling the whole way, he stalks to his supercomputer and begins typing with a fury.
A man in a fedora and wearing a harsh frown resolves in shortly thereafter, his glare locked on the women.
"Oh, look, our own resident PR nightmares," he snarks.
"Good to see you again, too, Sarge," Jinx quips.
"We messed up. We'll take responsibility for it later," Raven adds. "Right now, there's something tremendous going on. I would like your permission to scramble you and patch you in to a conference call I'm going to start. I'd rather not have to repeat myself on this."
Her tone stops him from arguing, the older man's eyes narrowing as he analyzes her.
"The Fae want someone's head, and Jinx's mojo's all over it. Later's not really an option on this."
"They're not a real concern right now, Steel," Raven reasons. "Listen to what I say with the others I'm going to be calling, then decide if you want to deal with that right now."
"It'd better be damn good," he grumbles.
Nodding, Raven turns her attention to Gizmo, who himself picks up on how serious the demonling's mood is.
"Encrypt his feed so he can get everything, but Watchtower and all surveillance won't be able to find even a hint of him."
After a series of lightning fast clicks, he gives her a raised thumb.
Not needing other instructions, Gizmo sends out a second call, a green man quickly appearing on yet another monitor.
His orange lenses stare at them, seeming uninterested.
A soul-self limb stretches, and soon the monitor shows four boxes as Nightwing and Doctor Fate join the conference.
Seeing the golden mask, Gizmo whistles and stares at Raven.
"I don't even wanna' know how you know how to call a mystical hermit, Raven."
"It's a long story."
"One I do not have time for," a deep monotone adds, drawing attention to the Martian Manhunter. "Things are busy in the Watchtower at the moment, and we don't have the time to waste on pranks, even elaborate ones such as this," he says with a sweeping gesture at what Raven assumes is a mirror to their own monitor.
"I'm with Manhunter," Nightwing adds. "You just stormed off, and I need to track Deathstroke down."
"Wow, you have one serious obsession," Jinx laughs.
"If that is all, I'll be taking my leave, now," Manhunter adds.
Raven's bad mood turns even worse at the bickering, the gravity of what she knows nearly crushing her.
"Deathstroke is dang-"
"Everyone shut up," Raven growls, her eyes flashing red. "Manhunter, you'll make time for what I have to say. Things are going to go really, really bad soon, and frankly, we need everything and everyone we can throw at this, including the Justice League and the Titans. You should both know I would not come to either group for help were it not a serious matter that I think is beyond my team. These heists over the past years have had a purpose, and it needs to have an end put to it, now."
That catches all of their attentions, even Gizmo and Jinx going silent in the face of the sudden shift.
"Deathstroke gave us a book. I assume Nightwing sent the information along?" she continues.
"There're many rumors there to sort through," Manhunter answers, "but we do have the information."
"I still don't trust it," Nightwing adds.
"There's a rumor that Deathstroke passed along personally to me. The items are being collected so that enough power can be amassed to open the gate to Hell. Thanks to some coerced information from Morgaine Le Fey, I can confirm that it's not merely a rumor. The children of Trigon, excluding myself of course, are attempting to bring Hell to Earth."
All but Doctor Fate pale at the news, Jinx's hand wrapping around her own trembling one in support.
"The list of missing items has dwindled significantly, and because of it, we've left them with a lot less options and time. It's already gone on too long, and because of it, there's no telling how close they are to opening that door. There are specific organizations that would be likeliest to know more."
Zatanna appears on the screen next to Nightwing, wearing a thoughtful frown.
"Trigon means Church of Blood," she supplies.
"They're old-hat at trafficking with demons," Raven agrees. "Given my… dealings with them, they'd be far more inclined to jump on board with my siblings. Given that the Brotherhood of Evil was released when this all began, they can't be ignored, either."
"Don't forget Intergang," Jinx mutters. "Hell on Earth would be just the kind of thing that Apokalips could capitalize on."
"There're a lot of fringe organizations that would love the Earth razed," Raven agrees. "But it's more likely that they'll use larger ones with a lot of clout and reach. The Church of Blood is our target, but I can't run the risk that it's simply a red herring. It would be intelligent to use unlikely organizations instead of the obvious, and so I need you to track down the other options."
"You do not make decisions for the League," Manhunter points out.
"Nor the Titans," Nightwing adds.
Raven's eyes bleed red, the room turning cold around her in an instant as her anger flashes through.
"The League is partially responsible for this," she growls. "You let an untold number of incredibly volatile and dangerous magical weapons just sit behind Plexiglas cases with very lax security. They stole them, sure, but you're the ones who left flashing neon signs saying "please take me" over them in your complacency."
Manhunter blinks in the face of Raven's surprising anger, the demonling's speech not done yet.
"You have many, many mystics and detectives on staff. If there'd been attention on this in the beginning, this could've ended before it ever got to this point. So no, I don't make decisions for the League, clearly. As for the Titans, need I remind you, Richard, that I started this iteration of the Titans for the express purpose of beating Trigon? Fighting me on this is folly. I've died once to prevent this realm from being overtaken, and I will not do it again because of stubbornness on your parts."
The chastisement hits them hard, both men flinching while Doctor Fate chuckles in amusement.
"Good to see you've recovered well from your dealings, Raven. How can I be of service?" he asks in the ensuing silence.
Raven's anger vanishes and she nods at the mystic.
"I would like to be put in contact with Constantine. While I know much on this subject, he's likely an even larger expert on the mechanics of such a portal. I understand you have some respect from the recluse."
"I wouldn't go so far as to say respect, but I do have some rapport with him. I'll try to arrange a meeting between you."
"Thank you. And if you wouldn't mind, I'd also ask that you consult the helmet to see if you can pick up anything coming for us that might help us."
"You should know best of all what an undertaking circumventing fate can be, I would think. I will consult Nabu, but you'd best be prepared to face what I find," he warns.
Nodding, Fate disappears from the screen, leaving three men staring at Raven in his place.
"I will call a meeting and inform the others. We will send help wherever needed in the search," Manhunter assures.
"And we'll track Intergang and the Brotherhood," Nightwing declares.
"We'll scramble teams to help, maybe get some searches going," Steel says, his voice not carrying through to the others.
"We'll have teams going around, too. This is top priority," she relays.
With twin nods, Nightwing and Manhunter cut off as well.
Raven releases a sigh of relief, her body relaxing and her eyes reverting to indigo.
"Alright, Raven, you've earned a reprieve. I'll tell Mr. Bones to send the Fae off for now. Once Hell's safely locked up, though, you're going to have people to answer to about destroying Stonehenge," Steel warns.
"It we live through this, I'll relish the mundanity," Raven sighs.
"It'd be nice to go back to good old bureaucracy crap," Jinx laughs.
"Y'know, I'd normally think you were being sarcastic, Diaz," he grumbles. "Gizmo, coordinate things as best you can."
"Sure thing, bossman," the inventor sighs.
The feed cuts off, leaving a once again blank monitor.
"Well, that was way better than expected. Haven't seen Rae give people a verbal smackdown like that in a while," Gizmo muses.
"I let things get to me," she defends.
"Hey, if you hadn't said it, I woulda'," Jinx argues.
"So you're goin' after Blood?"
"I know of a few members of his Church that're far more scared of me than they're devoted to their cause," Raven agrees.
With that, a bubble of darkness springs around them, and the women vanish from the room…
*******************
Author's Notes:
liga- Latin: "bind"
hoc- Latin: "this"
dominium- Latin: "domain"
de- Latin: "from"
aliqua- Latin: "any"
sceleratis reputatus- Latin: "trespassers"
ego- Latin: "I"
induunt- Latin: "take on"
quam sarcinam- Latin: "this burden"
nam- Latin: "for"
vos- Latin: "you"
amica mea- Latin: "my love"
Vishnu is one of the three major deities of Hinduism and is dedicated to order, righteousness, and truth. This is irrelevant to the story, just a fun fact.
Hope you all enjoyed this really fluffy and very long chapter as much as my muse did. I debated breaking this into two chapters, but in the end, decided to just keep them together. Let me know what you all think, and I'll see you next time!