Author's Notes

To JP-Rider, sometimes it just works having the author (or in this case) co-author writing without knowing how it will end - it will make the reader more surprised. Your questions will get answered by the end of the story - I did give you an outline of the next four chapters for a reason, not that you are to share them with anybody.

To The Forgotten Guardian, things could get a bit more messed up in the next few chapters - the world will be changing quite a bit.

To Guest, if you're saying what I think you're saying, then you are very much on the right track.

Normally, I would say that I will respond to all reviews for this chapter and chapter 10 in chapter 11. For now on, that will no longer be the case. In order to reduce the gaps between chapters (odds are you wouldn't get this chapter until March if I kept with the original plan), I will be posting the remaining chapters one at a time, so after this, eleven more updates. The chapter titles will keep the corresponding names though. Should I do one-at-a-time or keep with the two chapters at a time even though updates will come much slower?

Now, let's continue the story.

After satisfying Livewire in the shower, Raven proceeded to shower up, uninterrupted by the other female inmates, not Killer Frost, not Cheetah, not Madame Rouge, nobody. It was very relieving having nobody trying to attack her, being at peace for at least a few minutes. Hopefully, this would stick and the abuse will decrease from the other inmates. Once she finished, she got dressed and then headed for her current work detail in the infirmary. Ever since Raven had demonstrated her healing ability, Doctor Musgrave had requisitioned her. In exchange for her work there, Raven was allowed to have her healing ability, which would help her endure much of the damage she would get from the other inmates. Without it, Raven would build up damage rapidly to the point that she got beaten half to death by two inmates.

Raven really did not want that to happen again. At least, now, she had some protection in the form of Ravager, her new cellmate. And besides, working in the infirmary was much more suited to Raven's talents, and much better than working on the prison sanitation crew or the laundry.

Walking into the infirmary, Doctor Musgrave began, "Hello, Raven. Please put on a set of scrubs and then begin checking the inventory. I recorded it last a month ago and I want you to verify my numbers and account for how much I utilized. I do trust that you won't be taking anything from here."

Raven responded, "I won't."

Walking into the supply closet, Raven saw the doctor's initial numbers for the inventory and now she had to check them and put in the new numbers. Everything from bandages and aspirins to iodine and gloves.

Raven then began her inspections, first examining the ACE bandages, seeing several boxes of them. Raven commented to herself, "This is going to be a long day." At least it beat getting assaulted in the prison hallways by the other inmates - Raven was the only one assigned to the infirmary, and the first one assigned in years. From what she had heard, the last inmate assigned there was released from prison and promptly committed suicide about six months later.

Then again, the man was convicted for selling black market goods across the country to supplement his doctor's salary to pay for his family's extensive medical bills, given how they were all afflicted with a rare strain of Lou Gherig disease. Once released early for "good behavior", he found his wife had died and kids were put in foster care. Depressed, he jumped from a building and crashed into an SUV.

Seeing how this wasn't going to affect her prison sentence (ten to life), Raven doubted that the scenario would happen to her.

Counting every bandage and then checking each of the unopened boxes, Raven found about 323 ACE bandages, nine less than the inventory a month ago, which was accounted for by nine bandages being used in that time by Musgrave for some of her patients.

With those accounted for, Raven moved on to check the inventory on the next item - the number of aspirin, and there were dozens of bottles, all of which had to be emptied, counted for number, and then refilled. That was going to take a while.

It took Raven another hour just to count all the aspirin, which numbered almost nine thousand - even with her demon physiology granting her enhanced intelligence and memory, it was still rather lengthy to do.

With the aspirin done, one of the more intensive items was done, so the rest of the inventory should go faster. It had already been almost an hour and she still had to go from B to Z, ranging from spare inflatable beds and bedpans to sets of scrubs and gloves and IV bags.

She proceeded to finish up the inventory in a grand total of five hours. Once finished, Raven walked out of the closet and Doctor Musgrave asked, "You're done already?"

Raven simply nodded and then countered, "What?", once she realized that the doctor was speechless.

"It's just...that's the fastest anybody had finished inventory. I would have expected it to take you another hour or two. It takes me close to eight hours to do inventory. The last guy that worked here did it in six and a half."

"So now what?"

"I have a lot of paperwork to go through, analyzing inmate medical records. I need you to look at each file and verify it for accuracy, see if they are lying about anything."

"Understood." Raven followed the doctor over towards the medical records that she would help her analyze. Raven still had another three hours in her shift, so she better make them worth it, prove that she deserved to be in the infirmary, and not working in the prison sanitation crew where she would most likely be beaten and assaulted.

Grabbing one of the files on the doctor's desk, Raven opened it to see information about one of the inmates, a former drug kingpin arrested for human trafficking and repeated cases of sexual assault, who had been checked in four months earlier for a splinter in his heel. Looking at the X-ray taken at the time of the injury, Raven made sure that everything was in order - the doctor had been so plagued with inmates coming in and Belle Reve paperwork, she didn't have any time to review the cases. Good thing she had a second set of hands.

Looking at the inmate's file, Raven further analyzed the injury and saw that it had only pierced the surface - it wasn't a splinter. Raven reported to her supervisor, "This inmate, he faked having a splinter to get out of his duty. The wound was superficial, self-inflicted."

Staring at Raven and the file she was holding, Musgrave remarked, "Holy shit, you're good. Now, go through as many as you can and look for discrepancies like that. Record them and then hand them to me."

Raven walked back to the desk to resume her work, checking to see if the inmates had been lying about their injuries, making sure that they weren't skimping from their work to get a few free hours in the infirmary.

After the Titans had learned about Zavalos's body lying in the dark alley, they've begun to investigate her body, doing so immediately to see how she was murdered. The Jump City Police Department has allowed them to do an investigation on her body, to see how she was killed.

Robin and Cyborg are experts on forensics, as they're put in charge in examining the body. They both have gloves, masks, plastic hats, aprons, and lab coats on for studying the body. They both sanitize themselves so they won't get infected by any diseases. Zavalos's corpse was refrigerated and the lab temperature is cold. Beast Boy and Starfire were put in charge of looking over for some finger prints and signs of hair on Zavalos's person.

"Man, whoever did this is a professional." Cyborg comments. "The stab wounds are around where the heart is."

"She was stabbed in the back." Robin states as he looks at the bare back of the body. "She was stabbed in a very low angle, with a knife as the weapon."

"Are you saying that the assassin is either a short person, or a kid?" Beast Boy asked.

"Quite possibly, murderers aren't limited at age. There are well known assassins in the world like Cheshire and Godiva." Robin states. "That, or the murderer just crouched down to stab her."

"That sounds weirdly complicated." Cyborg states.

"The wound is significant." Starfire comments. "The theory of a short killer is not as far-fetched."

"Yeah, starting from the lower back to up high to the chest." Beast Boy replied. "This killer must be 5 foot 3 inches."

"Actually, I'd say they were under five feet tall. Closer to four feet tall."

As the Titans continued on studying the crime scene and figuring out who killed her, they heard the alarm in the Tower as they check on their watches. It is about time to go to Belle Reve to make a visit. They're all equally glad that they're going to see Raven again after the long months without her.

They immediately went out and get prepared for the visitation. They each get dressed professionally for the visit at one of the most maximum-security prisons in America. They head towards the garage and head inside the T-Ship, where they buckle themselves in and takes off towards to visit Raven. Robin has Kid Flash and Jinx to watch over Jump since they were near so Jump City won't go unprotected. They're all excited to see Raven after all these long months.

Arriving at Belle Reve, the Titans were instructed to park their jet at the helipad a quarter mile away from the prison itself. Walking into Belle Reve, they were met with a security guard, who had them stop.

Robin asked, "Why are you holding us up?"

The guard answered, "Security protocols. Please hand in all weapons. That would be your utility belt, Boy Wonder. And for you, Cyborg, disable all weapons. Don't try to resist. Please."

Robin complied, surrendering his utility belt to the guard, who placed in a security box and locked it. The guard then inspected Cyborg to make sure that his weapons were disabled, namely his sonic cannon, so he wouldn't try to attack the guards.

Beast Boy snarled, "And what about us?"

As the guard escorted the four Titans to their meeting, he explained, "You will be in a power-suppressing room as part of our traditional security measures. You will all be no more enhanced than average human beings. This further discourages escape attempts. Miss Roth will be joining you in a moment."

Entering the visitation room, the four Titans found they were the only ones in the room, which was medium-sized with several tables.

The four sat down at one of the circular tables in the middle of the room and waited for Raven to come in - they had a lot to talk about and they wanted to make sure that they could convey it all to Raven before their time ran out.

After several minutes, Raven was walked through the door. However, from what the Titans saw, it was not the same Raven that they knew - she was shackled with handcuffs over her hands and restraints on her ankles making it harder to move. The power-inhibiting collar remained around her neck and Raven's eyes looked as if they had dulled. Her hair had many split ends, as despite being washed, it was lacking in nutrients for taking care of it, making it dry and stiff. She had been through a war, like she had aged years after just months in Belle Reve.

Escorted over to the Titans, the accompanying guard removed the restraints on Raven's arms and legs before sitting her down, telling them, "Fifteen minutes. No more."

After walking away, the Titans could begin. First, Starfire proceeded to embrace Raven in a hug, though it was not as bone-crushing as they normally were as the power-suppressing room blocked the alien's super-strength. She squealed, "Oh, Friend Raven, it is most excellent to see you again!"

Raven replied, "Yeah, good to see you again. All of you." Once Starfire exited the hug, Raven continued, "What took you guys so long to come here?"

Robin answered, "This was when we were scheduled. It takes a while to process a visitation request here. We were only granted permission last week and then we were scheduled for now."

Raven nodded as Beast Boy added, "We've been working on an appeal for you, hoping to get your sentence reduced on grounds that your sentence was excessive. Ten to life, for crimes you didn't even consciously commit, is just too excessive. However, the district attorney hasn't had much luck since he became cooperative. From what he told us, even if we got the appeal past to the state, it would then have to go through the World Court because of the treason charges, and they're backed up."

"No surprise there. Nobody wants me out."

Cyborg then said, "And we've had some recent complications. First, somebody rigged Overload and Kardiak to explode, which injured the Junior Lantern sent to assist us."

"So you haven't replaced me?"

"Rae, we're not replacing you until we are absolutely forced to. Anyway, in addition, your lawyer's dead. We found Zavalos's body around a week earlier. Somebody murdered her."

"Of course, there's a conspiracy. Question is, how deep does it go?"

"Well, anyway, besides that. So, how has Belle Reve been going?"

"For the first few months, terribly, Boy Blunder. Among my fellow inmates include Doctor Light, Madame Rouge, Cheetah, Andre LeBlanc, Brick, Ugly, Killer Croc, Count Vertigo, and my first cellmate, Killer Frost. My day consisted of getting roughed up in my cell, beaten up en route to the cafeteria, waiting in a lengthy line to get my meals, trying to eat my meals before the other inmates made an attempt to beat me up there, getting physically assaulted in the cafeteria, being forced to perform oral sex in the shower."

Beast Boy stopped, "Hold up. You're telling me, the other inmates forced you to suck their...privates?"

"Yes, Beast Boy. Then, it was work, whether it be in the laundry detail or on the sanitation crew, and being forced to perform oral sex there too. Then came recess and being beaten up there too, then back to the cafeteria for more assault, then return to my cell."

"Did the guards not intervene on your behalf?"

"Most of them simply don't care, Star. They either are unaware that I'm being bullied or they just refuse to do anything about it. I've had to perform cunnilingus on most of the female inmates and then oral sex on some of the males, all because I was then Killer Frost's bitch."

Cyborg inquired, "So, what about the attempted murder?"

"Yeah, Rampage and Knockout tried to kill me in recess. With all the injuries I'd gotten and hadn't healed very well, they came ridiculously close. Only last minute intervention from Ravager saved my life."

Robin wondered, "Who's Ravager?"

"Ravager hasn't told me much about her. She was captured while performing a job for her master - she thinks somebody set her up but doubts it was her master, who also happens to be her father. Now, she's currently three years into twelve consecutive life sentences. She has platinum blonde hair and is missing an eye."

"What happened to Ravager, Raven?"

"From what she told me, the Warden transferred her to become my new cellmate, sending Killer Frost over to Mist, Ravager's old cellmate. On our first night together, she taught me how to please the female inmates."

"And did it work?"

"Yes, at least from what Livewire said. She hasn't come after me in the last few days, which is a good thing."

"So, are you still being beaten up by the inmates in the duty of sanitation?"

"No, Star. I've been transferred to the infirmary to work there. That's been going smooth so far. Go through inventory and help the doctor out with paperwork, it keeps me safe from the other inmates and it allows me access to my healing ability. That's pretty much the thing that's keeping me alive. Without it, I'd be in the infirmary still waiting to be healed enough to walk."

"So, Rae, how's the food here?"

"It's not the worst thing I've ever eaten, Beast Boy. Breakfast is typically oatmeal with dinner varying usually between cream of wheat, rice and veggies, and the occassional chicken curry. That's pretty much all they serve at Hotel Belle Reve."

"What could you have eaten that is worse than prison food?"

"You and Star's tofu mustard dog goulash - horrendously overcooked mustard with undercooked tofu and bits of ingredients I don't even know how to describe." The Titans definitely did not like that dish - it was the first (and last) time the two green-eyed Titans were allowed to cook dinner together.

Suddenly, something came up in Robin's mind so the Boy Wonder questioned, "Wait, Raven, you mentioned that Ravager's master was her father?"

Raven replied, "Yeah, what's the issue?"

"When I was Slade's apprentice, I overheard him talking to his daughter on the phone. I didn't get most of the conversation but I got that last part."

"What are you saying, Robin? That Ravager is Slade's daughter!?"

"There's a very real possibility, though the news did report his daughter was killed in an ambush over three years ago."

"Around the time Ravager was arrested and then sent here."

Suddenly, one of the guards reported, "Time's up."

As the guards began to escort the four Titans out of the visitor's center, and Raven back to her cell, Robin mouthed, "Watch your back."

The last Robin saw of Raven was her nodding in agreement as she was shackled with her usual restraints on her arms and on her ankles.

In one of the cells of Belle Reve are two well known men sitting on their bunks. They were Dr. Light and Count Vertigo as the doctor is having a conversation with the man who once had diplomatic immunity. Dr. Light was mad that he was declined to rape the empath as he laments the good old days of his career as the villain. The girl just got lucky and performed just well enough to let her have a pass.

"I cannot believe how many times I was captured by those pesky Titans." Dr. Light laments. "I was one of the greats, the most cruel and vile villain in the world. More competent until that magician slut mind wiped me!"

Vertigo nods after hearing this, as he replied. "At least you weren't out smarted by a speedster."

"Ha, I remember how you got in here, Werner." Light chuckled, remembering the Count was out smarted by Kid Flash who faked the young Vlatava Queen Perdita's death. Thanks to that, his crimes were revealed and was stripped from his title. "But at least it's not humiliating as what I've been through. Being beaten by lousy kids, damn them all!"

"So what are you going to do about it, Arthur?" the Count asked him as he sees Light's sinister grin.

"Well Werner, since they wouldn't let me have my way with the demoness, I'll just jump on her in secret", he said as he planned to take Raven's virginity for revenge of the humiliation he had suffered at her hands.

And no one's gonna stop him.

After the rest of her shift at the infirmary, Raven was returned to her cell, where her cellmate was waiting, having finished her own shift at the industrial complex attached to the prison, where she and several other inmates manufactured throwing jacks and door knobs. A few months ago, they made license plates and coat hangers, but what they made changed on a yearly basis. It was all an issue of supply and demand.

Now, with the two back in their cell, Raven had a lot of questions for her cellmate about just who she was.

Ravager greeted, "Hello, Raven. How was your day?"

Raven replied, "Good. I finally got to see the Titans today. Apparently, it's taken a while to get approval for a visit."

"It is. I know."

"Ravager, I have a question."

"Yep?"

"What's your real name?"

Suddenly, Ravager began to pale - she realized Raven was suspecting who she was. She tried to throw her off with, "Why do you want to know?" Hopefully, that would help her determine just how much Raven suspected about who her father was. If Raven figured it out, things were going to get a helluva lot more complicated than they already are, since her father had targeted the Titans in the past, but she had no exact idea of how bad it was.

"It may be nothing, but Robin mentioned that Slade had a daughter and apprentice."

"How did that come up?"

"I mentioned that you were now my roommate and that your master was your father. Robin mentioned he overheard Slade talking to her a few years ago, but also that he believes she was killed in action."

"I guess that's what the reports said and also that Robin decided not to dig too much further."

Once Raven heard that statement, the wheels in her head began to turn. 'The attack that went after Slade's daughter likely was meant to kill her. She lived and then got imprisoned. The only place suitable would be Belle Reve. Ravager was captured around the same time. One eye, bout of insanity, master, father. Dear Azar.'

"Ravager, please tell me you aren't Slade's daughter."

"I'm really sorry that I can't. I wish I could, though. My real name is Rose Wilson."

Raven sighed in despair and walked up to the cell door before banging her head on it. "How did I not see it?"

"Well, I doubt you've seen my dad's face. And I don't have my mask. Half black, half orange. Like Deathstroke, it was cloth, but unlike it, it only covered my eyes. I heard he was after you guys, but what exactly did he do?"

Raven turned around and grasped Ravager by the sleeves of her shirt. "First, he tried to turn Robin into his apprentice by threatening to kill me and the other Titans. Then, he recruited a geomancer named Terra to infiltrate our ranks, learn our secrets, and take him down, which ended up resulting in his death at Terra's hands."

"So, my dad is dead? I never got to..."

"No, Rose. Unfortunately, your father is alive, I think. After he died, Trigon turned him into his servant, using him to get to me. On my birthday close to two years ago, Slade mind-raped me, force-feeding me images of the apocalypse I was destined to create. The only reason the world is still alive, is that my father betrayed your father and then Slade helped Robin find me, which also helped him regain his flesh and blood."

"Damnation. I always knew my dad was doing some serious shit, but...fuck. Now, what am I supposed to think of him?" With that, Raven let go of Ravager and took a step backwards.

"First glance, I'd say he's a complete monster. Greedy, despicable. However, something tells me that part of him changed when he thought you were dead. His only child."

"Actually, I'm not his only child. I have two half-brothers."

"Who are they?"

"One of them is named Joey, only saw him once and that was before he got his fucking vocal chords cut. The other was Grant, but from what I heard, he's been dead for years. Tried taking on daddy's super-serum formula, got overwhelmed by it. However, no matter how accidental it seemed, I know with a certainty that it wasn't an accident."

Raven began recalling if she knew who Grant and Joey were. She remembered hearing about a genetically-modified assassin who tried taking out the Royal Family of Vlatava - he killed the King and injured the Queen before his body couldn't handle the strain and his systems fell apart. Odds are that was Grant. That was Count Vertigo's first attempt to get the throne - he made three attempts altogether with the third being the one that sent him to Belle Reve for life.

Now, for Joey. Vocal chords cut, so he would be a mute, but not dead. Jericho? No, not him. He's much too soft to be that killer's son, but...what if that softness is trying to act as "redemption" of sorts for his father's crimes?

Plausible, but was it true? If she ever got out of here, she would have to ask Jericho about that, which was going to be a very sensitive conversation for him for sure.

"So, perhaps the real reason Slade went after Robin was to get someone to replace Grant, the son he lost. And Terra, perhaps to replace you. And he agreed to help Trigon, perhaps because he had nothing left to lose, his faith was broken in the world. Maybe the resurrection was just a handy side-benefit. Perhaps what Slade really wants...is to fill that hole in his heart. The hole that shaped him into a monster of the Titans' eyes."

Rose walked up to Raven and put her hand on her cellmate's shoulder. "You have to believe me when I say that before all this tragedy, my father, he was actually a decent man. An honorable man, but the world turned on him and he turned his back on it."

"I honestly wish I could, but your word alone, it doesn't exactly cut it for me at the moment. To be frank, can I even trust you?"

"Given the circumstances, I'm the only person you can trust. The only person that can keep you alive, the only one that can help you withstand the other inmates. They all want you hurt, not me. Face it, Raven, you don't have a choice."

"I guess you're right. What choice do I have? None of the other inmates would help me, but since you chose to intervene, I guess that means I'm yours."

Suddenly, the cell doors opened, indicating that it was time for dinner. As Raven walked away from Ravager, the mercenary thought, 'Okay, maybe making her my bitch is not a good idea. Perhaps, it could be much more than that.'

As Ravager thought about the possible evolution of her relationship with Raven, she quickly noticed two members of a white supremacist group advancing on Raven. The same group already had made their move on Raven several times, deeming her inferior because both of her demonic heritage and her pale gray skin. Nothing could advance if Raven was dead, so Ravager ran to keep the supremacists from wailing on Raven.

Over at the Warden's office, Amanda Waller finds herself discussing with her deputy warden John Economos and the head of security Rick Flagg. The two will always report to Waller about the everyday activities in Belle Reve, such as the well being of the prisoners, incidents, accidents, and the concerns for the security measures.

"So, how are things going on around Belle Reve?" Waller asked the two.

Economos replied to his superior. "Well, things have gone normally around here. The prisoners are doing their everyday activities, no incident for the past two weeks. Though, I'm a little concern about some prisoners."

"Like whom, John?" Waller inquired.

"Well, you know Raven and Ravager?" he asked as Waller nodded. "Well, I'm concern on how close Ravager is with Raven, especially after the Titans' visit. I believe that Ravager is obsessing for the girl."

"Why do we even allowed the Titans to visit anyway?" Rick Flagg questioned.

"Well, we couldn't deny them permission to visit their friend. It wouldn't look good for our image if we ever deny a visitation for the prisoners, especially given our already tough reputation. Though, it's unethical for some prisoners to have visitors who aren't delivering birthday cakes with saws in them."

"So, what do we do now?" Economos asked the warden.

"For now, let's let things play out for a while, without any divine intervention." Waller answered which makes the two rather disturbed, at least visually.

"Do you mean not to intervene what Light is about to do to Raven?" Flagg asked.

"Exactly", she said as her face doesn't show any emotion, as it just appears neutral.

Oh, frightening. Light's going after Raven and the staff won't do a thing about it. Raven knows about Ravager's true identity, but will it impede their progress?

And the most shocking is yet to come, especially once we get towards the final act of the story. Trust me, we're just getting started.