"Justin" Karen shook the snoring hero's shoulder to wake him up. Justin had passed out after his shower, sleeping so soundly that Karen would have thought him dead if he didn't occasionally mutter and snort.

But night had fallen and that meant Torment would be hunting for new magic. It was time to get this mission over with.

Justin's hand suddenly gripped her wrist and in a whirl of motion Karen was pinned to the wall, before the grogginess had cleared from his eyes.

"Karen?" he asked

"No it's the Tooth Fairy, numb nuts" Karen growled. He was uncomfortably close to her, close enough that there was maybe an inch between their noses.

"Sorry" he said though he still didn't let her go.

"Can you let me go now" Karen asked

"I'm not sure I want to" he said with a mischievous grin.

"Oh you will" Karen "unless you want to end up with no means of procreating"

"Is that an invitation" he asked

Karen growled and hooking her foot behind his ankle she feigned a head but causing him to flinch back and loose his balance and fall back onto the bed.

"Do you really want to find out" Karen asked "get dressed, we are going clubbing"

"In Metropolis?"

"Torment needs young and strong victims, and those that carry magic often look for a little excitement" Karen said "night clubs and raves are our best bet to find him"

"Sounds like fun" Justin said with a wink

"Just get ready" Karen snarled and went into the bathroom and locked it. She took a deep breath and began getting ready herself. She had gone out while Justin was asleep and got the cash and some clothes. She pulled on torn up acid washed jeans and a half tube top that was little more than a band of cloth around her chest leaving her shoulders and stomach bare. Easy to move in but left her vulnerable to weapons, however she had to blend in with the rest of the night crowd.

As she applied make up she thought back to one of her first undercover cases, not unlike the one she was working now. She had to dress like a hooker to bring down one of the biggest drug lords in Eastern Gotham, showing up at a club that intel had said he had frequented and managed to catch his eye with some decent dancing skills.

Now she was basically doing the same thing except she had to blend in and not catch the attention of Torment should they manage to find him.

She felt herself begin to shake and took a deep breath running her thumb along the scars on the back of her hand, the images of those horrific murders searing into her brain again. The memory of the burning woman at the orphanage, and the orphan's eyes as they watched their guardian waste away and burn to death.

She began to tremble more violently and felt her breath come faster as her heart pounded in her throat, she couldn't breathe, couldn't move. The aura's she could feel them even more now as her fear rage and hate began overwhelming her. She was hyperventilating, having a panic attack. They had happened when she had first begun traveling the world looking for Torment and helping where she could. She would wake up in a cold sweat and feel that crushing terror that Torment had infected her with that night.

"Not now" she gasped "Oh God not now" she couldn't calm down; she was choking on her own fear. She went to her knees and tried to take a deep breath but it wasn't working, she tried focusing on something anything, trying to ground herself. She felt faint and light headed.

A sudden pounding made her breath catch and she held it.

"Karen, you want me to hurry so don't expect me to let you have your sweet ass time" Justin's voice muffled through the door suddenly had her let out a breath and she focused on it, focused on the normal if confusing emotions she had toward him and evened out her voice.

"Just a second" she said letting out her breath. Her heart was still pounding but the fear had all but gone away. All because Justin said the right thing at the right time. Who knew he could actually be helpful.

She finished getting ready and took another deep breath.

She couldn't afford another attack like that, she had to keep cool. Opening the door she flinched as Justin's face filled her vision.

"God do you always have to do that"

"Do what?"

"Get in my space" Karen snapped pushing past him "Every time I turn around there you are"

"Are you okay" Justin asked concern in his eyes.

"Fine" Karen snapped, not in the mood for pity "let's go"

Silence stretched between them uncomfortably and Justin stepped toward her and offered his hand.

"If you don't want to talk that's okay" he said quietly "but you're going to have to take my hand if you want to get anywhere as fast as you are wanting to"

"I know" Karen growled and sighed taking his hand "Let's just go"

She held tightly to her shields as the world grayed and rushed past them and within moments they were in a back alley behind an abandoned warehouse. Karen could hear the boom of a base beneath her and Justin looked down with a snort.

"Not subtle at all" he said

"It's a rave, and as far as I know Superman leaves these kinds of things to the police" Karen said

"So do we" Justin said

"True" Karen said "let's go"

Justin opened the door and the two were met with a long line of people all waiting to get into the rave.

"Got the money" Justin asked Karen who nodded.

Karen looked around and noticed that they would stick out if they didn't make some changes. The line was mostly dominated by pairs. And in Karen's experience the best way to blend in was to blend in with the masses.

"Put your arm around my waist" Karen whispered

"What" Justin looked at her as if she had gone crazy.

"Look around you" Karen said "what do you see"

Justin looked around and without another word put his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side, as if they were a couple.

"I could get used to this" he murmured in her ear.

"Don't" Karen warned

"You're telling me you're not enjoying this"

"This isn't a vacation, it's a mission" Karen said quietly

"Keep up with that glare, dragon lady" Justin said "and every one will think your some cop"

"I was a cop" Karen said

"Finally, a straight answer, and a good one too" Justin said "I've been trying to figure out something about your past and now I have one piece of the puzzle"

"You're impossible"

"And you need to lighten up" Justin said "come on, one night of fun won't kill you"

Karen huffed out a breath.

"Fine" she muttered "I'll try"

"Good" he said "now let's party, babe"

"You are so going to pay for this" Karen growled

"It'll be worth it"

"You got money" the rave organizer asked behind the two body guards. She was a petite thing, with fair skin and hair dyed red and purple and white. Karen smiled, she only wished she could have kept her hair her normal white, but unfortunately, Torment would have spotted her right away.

"How much" Justin asked

"Seventy five" she said and Karen handed over the money while the girl handed her the tickets. "Next"

Karen took Justin's hand and went to the door on the left where the music was coming from. Opening it they were bathed in a light show, all of them emitting from a stage where a DJ mixed music and sounds to create an upbeat techno style that had everyone dancing in the middle of the huge basement.

It was so loud that Karen almost put her hands over her ears but controlled the urge.

"Come on" Justin said

"I take it this isn't your first time" Karen said

"Oh now you're going to tell me that you were a goody goody teenager that stayed in to do her homework" Justin teased.

"Far from it" she shouted above the music, "but I avoided raves, raves in Gotham are . . . well I got dragged to one once and believe me, you never want to go to one"

"Ha so you were a detective in Gotham" Justin said "I'm starting to piece you together"

"You only wish" Karen said.

"You're right I do" Justin said in her ear and she reached back and smacked him upside the head.

"Dumbass" Karen growled.

"I will win you over, dragon lady" Justin said

"In your dreams"

"I'm going to ignore the obvious answer to that" he said as the song changed. "Alright enough talking and let's dance, while you do your magic thing"

"That's not going to be happening if I'm dancing" Karen protested but he had already pulled her into the crowd. Karen, even before her powers emerged, had always had a problem with crowds but it wasn't much of an issue that is until she got her powers.

When she had first had her magic awakened she had been bombarded by auras and the emotions and imprints connected to them. It had driven her to drink an obscene amount of alcohol, until her magic had fully awakened and prohibited her from getting drunk or even buzzed. And even after Kent Nelson had given her the basics in control and she had learned to block out all that she didn't want to sense, she still could only handle a few people at a time.

But she didn't resist like she would have, the fact that the closely packed crowd offered the best cover and that Justin's aura prevented, oddly enough, the auras from melding with hers, it was like they were shying away from his own. And when he pulled her in close she felt his own aura reach out to hers and mask her own brilliant light.

She didn't fight, though she really wanted to give in to the overwhelming urge to push him away, the feelings she was beginning to feel for him getting too personal and confusing for her taste. But she knew how that would both look and how much it depended on their cover. They needed to look like a couple going out for a night on the town.

But as his hands went to her hips she gave him a sharp glance, a warning that if he took advantage of this too much she would make him wish he had never met her. He grinned in understanding and they danced mimicking the movements of the others on the dance floor.

To say it was unpleasant would be a lie, to say it was something that Karen felt she would never do again would still be a complete lie. In fact she was enjoying herself, though she made sure to hide it from Justin, because he was the reason she was having fun at all. Had she been alone she would have been in the corner holding her head, trying to keep focused with all the aura's battering at her. But his own unique aura prevented it, and if she gave herself the chance she would have relaxed and gone with it.

That is if she hadn't been raised in Gotham, where the motto was trust no one. It had taken all of Karen's faith to trust even Batman, the most discreet person she knew; in fact she knew him better than a lot of people could claim, and all of those people in the Justice League, having studied him even before she knew he was Bruce Wayne.

But she couldn't help but want to trust Justin, he had been so honest, so straight forward with her that it was hard not to. She wanted to let down her defenses and let him in.

And her mind still came up with other reasons not to, Zatanna's words came back to her, how her magic could affect the people around her if they spent too much time with her. And Torment was still a factor, the cat and mouse game between them was an obsession for Karen and the thirst for her power was equally so for Torment.

Stop thinking, just get through it Karen thought.

After three more songs Justin led her through the crowd to a dark entry corner.

"Okay we made an appearance so do your thing" Justin said and he leaned in close to her.

"What are you doing?" Karen snarled

"Calm down dragon lady, we have to at least look like we're doing something over here" Justin said "for a cop you act like you've never been undercover"

"Not with a partner" Karen muttered but she leaned back and closed her eyes and lowered her shields slightly.

She was flooded with color, as she immersed herself in the magical currents. Gently she mentally touched the web of magic and flowed along it.

It wasn't that she was so much as looking for an aura but more like the lack of one, something of a black hole within the magical eddies. For that was what happened when a magician fed off the magic and auras of others, they lost their own, and became a lecherous entity that walked in a human skin.

Karen sifted through the mingled auras but here she found nothing but a few with magical potential, though not enough to be used by those that carried it, but she sensed nothing of Torment.

"Let's go" Karen said quietly "he's not here and won't be here"

"How do you know" Justin murmured

"There's not enough magic here to attract him" Karen said "we need to find some place with enough magic to attract him, now let's go"

"Nothing" Karen growled as they walked down the nearly deserted street "not even a trace of dark energy in any of the places we've been to, not even that rave that turned into an orgy, there was enough magic and aura mana there to satisfy him for at least three years, and still nothing"

"Calm down Kare" Justin said, taking her hand

"Don't touch me" Karen growled "and don't call me Kare, only one person has ever called me that, and you are not him. You don't understand; this is a sadistic, homicidal, rapist who gets perverse pleasure from torturing his victims. And he's in a populated city that has what he's looking for,"

"What do you mean what he's looking for" Justin asked

"I mean the last few places we checked out had people with plenty of magic that would have normally sated him" Karen said "but there were only certain types of magic there, mana and energy specific to Order, like Doctor Fate, only without the transdimensional being controlling their every move, or the levels of power that Fate has."

"Is that why this city is so . . . clean?" Justin asked with a grin.

"In part" Karen said "but that's not the point, the point is, Torment isn't just looking for any magic, he's looking for a certain kind"

"Can you tell which?"

"IF I could, I wouldn't need to be pretending to be your girlfriend at every rave or bar"

"You know it was just for that one time that it was necessary" Justin said with a raised eyebrow

"Oh are you saying that you wouldn't have gotten distracted by that girl at the strip club who tried to drag you to the back room for a private 'dance'?" Karen asked skeptically "apparently I have to act like the bitch girlfriend just to keep you in line. When this is over I am going to kill Batman for assigning you to me"

"God dragon lady, will you get a grip" Justin exclaimed in exasperation "every time you open your mouth you criticize me, or gone on some self righteous rant about how it isn't good enough, or more often how insane and evil this Torment is."

"He is" Karen said defensively "I discovered it firsthand" she held up her hand as she said this. "I investigated his by products and I was captured, before I even knew what I had, hell he didn't even know what I had, all he knew was that I was a nosy detective with a high level of magic. And he tortured me to get it to surface so that he could obtain it. So you, Shadowwalker, have no business berating me on my flaws, when you don't even know the entire story"

"How can I?' Justin asked "you won't even let me in, Karen, and whatever you let slip about your past is when you lose control like this"

"You just . . . ugh I hate you" Karen said unable to articulate her anger

"No you don't"

"Oh you'd be surprised how little it takes for me to hate" Karen said getting in his face "and I'm starting to hate you, Justin."

"Dragon lady" Justin growled.

Karen suddenly felt the sucking sensation of dark magic within her restrained range and she whirled around and searched the street. And there he was, as handsome as any magazine model, if they were as pale as paste and had hair as black as onyx.

"Quickly" Karen said grabbing his hand, but he pulled away.

"What is wrong with you" Justin asked loudly

Torment had excellent hearing, and Karen knew that he had a limited range for sensing magic, but if he caught two people alone in a street, he could concentrate hard enough to extend it toward them, and he would recognize her magic immediately. Karen knew there wasn't much time.

"Just don't freak out" Karen hissed, and that was all the warning she could give him before she kissed him.

Justin froze in surprise and Karen felt his aura mask her own magic, as if instinctively. Justin grabbed her arms, and Karen thought for a moment that he was going to push her away and blow their cover. She needed to warn him.

Letting down her barriers a little and with him this close she felt his mind at the edge of her senses.

Down the street, it's him she said in his mind. And she felt him stiffen as she tightly shuttered her thoughts away. Things became a different story after that.

Justin obviously knew what he was doing, quickly taking control of the kiss and pushing her up against the brick wall, one hand on her waist the other in her hair. Karen put her arms around his neck to hide her face as Torment walked by.

"Hm, mortals" she heard him mutter as he passed and Karen held her breath as he continued walking, watching him with one eye cracked open as he went into the bar that had been their next and last stop for the night.

Karen quickly ended the kiss, which had become a little too heated for her taste and pushed past Justin.

"Always the last place you look" Karen muttered and she turned back to Justin "I still hate you"

"And I still think you're a bitch" Justin growled

"Good we have that cleared up" Karen said "I need to get closer, and you need to use your shadow phase thing to hide my magic, I need to watch this through a different kind of eye sight"

"Fine" Justin growled "but this conversation is not done"

"You're like a dog with a bone" Karen muttered as she walked towards the bar and went down the side alley next to it. Shooing a few rats out of the way Karen knelt next to the wall and ran her hands along the paint. "Here. Justin, get over here"

"What do you want" Justin growled

"Just put your hand on my shoulder and shut up" Karen snapped back. Justin muttered under his breath but did as asked. Karen closed her eyes and traveled among the auras staying well away from Torment's own diseased essence, watching him along the magical currents.

There was little magic here, but a couple had the potential for power, and it was one of those that Torment approached.

"He's moving in on his target" Karen whispered and Karen examined the young woman who sat alone at the bar. Her magic was of a small degree but its signature was unmistakable.

"Chaos" Karen gasped as she pulled back and she turned to Justin. "I need you to go in there and charm a woman, she has auburn hair, green eyes, and she's about your age, she's drinking whiskey. Torments making her uncomfortable enough that you can help her out"

"Why" Justin asked

"If you don't she's going to die" Karen grabbed him by the front of his jacket and pulled him close "he will torture her then drain her, then murder her."

"I wasn't saying I didn't want to do it" Justin growled "I just asked why."

"You have your answer" Karen pushed him away and he walked away.

Karen stayed at the wall and watched as he went into the bar and boldly sat down next to the young woman and Torment and made a racket.

"Come on Justin don't show boat it" Karen muttered as he took on the countenance of a suspicious boyfriend. Torment stood and stalked toward the bar and sat there. Justin talked a few moments with the young woman and then led her out of the bar.

"Excellent" Karen said and she quickly ran down the alley, she needed to get out of Torment's range before he began searching for more magic and found her.

It was a few minutes before Justin and the young woman came across her.

"You really didn't need to do that" she was saying as Karen straightened.

"He was a creep, trust me you needed a hand" Justin reassured her

"Are you all right?" Karen asked Justin

"Fine, you know you were right about that guy, complete whack job" Justin said as she joined them

"Hi, I'm Jane" Karen said holding out her hand to the young woman "I noticed that that pale guy was making you uncomfortable when we passed the bar, so I had my friend go in and rescue you"

"Oh well, thanks" the young woman said "I should probably head home now"

"An excellent plan" Karen said and she touched the young woman's forehead and Justin caught her as she fell asleep. "Get her uptown, in a hotel. Meet me at Jack's"

"You are coming" Justin said "I may not like you very much right now, but I am not leaving you within miles of that son of a bitch. I saw that look in his eyes; it was like looking into insanity itself, I think I know how Batman feels now when he looks at Joker"

"I'm not sticking around, I'm catching a bus to Jack's place and getting Luna," Karen said "now get her out of here.

Hey everyone, sorry about the really long wait for the update, life has been crazy hectic. Thanks to highlander348 for the holiday greetings. Hope you guys liked it. Read and Review please, Thanks ;)