The Unknowing

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything dealing with DCU

Chapter Eleven: Bonded Together

….

Third Point of View

….

"If you just do as I say, I assure you everything will go according to plan. You can trust me on that, Joker."

"That seems awfully similar to something a liar would say to cover his tracks," Joker said with a smile plastered on his white face. "How can I be so certain you won't double cross me when it seems fitting?"

"You named a price and I humbly agreed to it. Soon enough you'll have what you seek delivered to you on a silver platter. The Church always keeps its promises but first, we have work to do." Blood turns to the double doors on the far side of the room and makes his way to them. "Soon our work will expand to the streets of Gotham until it's all consumed and then the rest of the world will follow in its footsteps." He takes a deep breath in before opening the wood paneled doors. "Can't you feel the excitement in the air?" The roar of a crowd could be heard immediately. "Nothing will ever be the same again."

Red and white lights can be seen soaring the length of the crowd; going along the entire length of the room, captivating everyone's attention. The lights only intensified the energy of the crowd as whistling and chants could be heard throughout the large space.

Joker rubs his chin in thought as he peers past Brother's Blood shoulder. "That does sound appealing, but I still don't trust you're not going to double cross me."

Blood chuckled to himself. "If anyone was to double cross anyone here, I'm sure it would be you."

"That is true… Alright!" He claps loudly to show his sudden excitement. "We'll keep this little rag team of ours going a wee bit longer. I have to admit that I am pretty excited to see the next part of the plan unfold. Gotham, you haven't seen nothing yet!"

His manic laughter trapezes out in waves until it drowns out into the nothingness of the crowd.

….

"It's empty, she's not here," Nightwing stated as he cleared the abandoned warehouse. "Where would she go?"

"Good question. Can't you… sense her or something?"

Nightwing pinched the bridge of his noise in annoyance. "That's not quite how it works."

"Then explain how it works, Genius."

"We don't have time for this, Hood. We need to find Raven."

"Yeah, I know, why do you think I'm asking you to elaborate on your bond with her? Because maybe, just maybe, you can sense where she is so we can go save the day like the good little heroes we are."

"It's not really how it works. Raven has more control over it than I do. She can sense me no issue but I have no idea how to sense her. In case you didn't remember, I don't practice magic."

"No shit," Red Hood replied dryly. He only wished Dick could see his eye roll from behind his helmet. "So you're telling me that you're bonded with your old teammate, who's very powerful, and you can't even sense her a little bit? How long have you had this bond anyway?"

"It doesn't matter."

"So a long time then, got it." Red Hood nodded along.

"Will you stop wasting time?" Nightwing snapped. This wasn't helping Raven, only delaying finding her.

"Sorry if I think using your magical bond with your magical old teammate might be a smidge bit helpful to track her down." He takes a breath in to control how angry he's starting to get. "Have you ever even tried? Maybe meditate on it or something?"

NIghtwing sighed loudly as he fully turned to his brother. "Yes, of course I have. I tried multiple times after she left the Titans…. But it never worked, everytime I tried, I just came up empty handed. Hours wasted on nothing." He remembered very vividly how he spent many hours meditating, searching for any sign of his old friend to come up empty handed. Every single time. "I used to feel her energy, when she was around the team, but that stopped when she left. I stopped feeling her presence altogether, like before we were ever bonded."

Red Hood crossed his arms. "Well considering we are out of options here, I think you have no other choice but to try and pray it works. Now, how about you use that handy dandy bond you got with her and figure out where she is so we can act like the heroes and save the day already?"

He couldn't help but shake his head in disapproval. How did Bruce have the energy to deal with him in his teen years? "We're not acting like heroes, we are heroes, Hood. And in case you weren't paying attention to anything I said, I can't access the bond. It's more of a one way street."

"Bullshit. It takes two to bond, doesn't it?"

"Have you ever had a bond with someone?"

"Nope, but I sure as shit don't need to, to know that it's a two way street," Red Hood countered.

"I told you, I've tried and failed."

"So you're telling me that you share this bond, which if I understand it correctly is between two people, being you and Raven. But only one person has access to it?"

"Have you ever known me to be a magic user?" If Dick didn't know any better then he would think Jason wants to drive him crazy.

"I'm willing to bet that you don't have to be a magic user to contact the person you're bonded with. After all, you are bonded."

"You're not listening, Hood. I've tried sensing her in the past, when she left the Titans. I must have meditated dozens of times to try and find her, sense her, anything. I spent months trying to do what she does so easily in seconds but I'm not a magic user. Like I said, it's a one way street."

"Jesus Christ. Do you remember when Raven said that you'll always be bonded?"

"Yeah, it was merely inactive because we were far apart… I couldn't feel our bond because she was too far away." What if that's why he could never sense her when he tried so hard to? What came easy for Raven felt impossible for Dick. He suddenly looked up with a ray of hope shining on his face. "She was probably in another dimension altogether and that's why I could never get through to her."

"So it's a good thing she's probably still in this dimension, preferably in Gotham so we can save the damsel in distress already."

Nightwing snorted. "I'd hardly call Raven a damsel in distress." He sits down where he'd been standing with his legs folded together. Certain, he has the best shot of finding her while she's still likely in town.

Red Hood chuckles. "Yeah, you're probably right about that."

"Trust me, I am. Now be quiet, I need to focus if I have any chance at making this work."

"Okay okay, sheesh." He decided to take a few steps back and distract himself with something else in order for Dick to do what Jason knew he could do all along.

Nightwing starts taking deep breaths. In and out. In and out. He had to avoid anything and everything that could distract him from his mission. He needed to center himself, even his breathing just like Raven always does when she mediates. She always makes it look so easy compared to his never ending thought process. Stop, Dick and focus. Focus on controlling your breath and most of all, focus on Raven. Her energy. Her aura. Her empathy. Find her and contact her. All his willpower and soul went into the image of Raven he envisioned in his head. Connecting them through an invisible link.

The same shade of blue that Raven loves to wear fills his mind as he continues to picture her in his mind. Imaging the feel of her warm healing touch the few times he didn't argue with her. Raven always offered to heal him but once he found out how it worked, he felt too bad to take the help.

Suddenly he felt something, a pain in his head that wasn't his own but in a way, it felt like it was. It's a weird feeling but he felt the remains of a migraine running from the top of his head down to his neck. It was distant but at the same time close. A headache wasn't the only thing he started to feel however. In a blink of an eye, cold swept his body like a Gotham night in the dead of winter. Fast and hard. This was what he was feeling sitting in the warehouse in Gotham. No, this is what Raven has to be experiencing right now. She's cold and definitely has a migraine.

This is a good start but this won't help him locate her. In order to achieve that, he needs to take it a step further. He needs to be able to talk to her, or at the very least see from her eyes. He knows he can figure out where she is by seeing what she sees, assuming she's not blindfolded. His focus remained unwavered as he imagined himself chatting with his friend like so many times before. He felt himself lucky to even know her as well as he did. It's no secret that Raven was always the quiet, mysterious member of the Titans. Raven took much longer to open up with their teammates but his and her friendship came more naturally. He didn't force a friendship on her. He never wanted her to feel pressured to hangout just because they were teammates. He simply gave her the space she wanted and let her come to him in her own time. Safe to say that worked well for the most part.

He would do anything to see her now. To find where she is so they can make sure she isn't in trouble, which got less likely every second she didn't portal back to them. He imagined her now, standing before him. Listening to her talk about a book she just recently finished. Or her going to the stove in the Titans Tower to refill her mug with her favorite tea. He smiled as he reminisced on their time as Titans. He had to find her and he never felt more confident about finding her than he feels right now. He begrudgingly had to admit, Red Hood had a good point. He's made it farther than he ever has before and it wasn't even his idea to try it now.

Taking in another breath and letting it out slowly. In and out. That's it.

"Raven, if you can hear me then give me a sign," he voiced aloud his mind. All his hope was relying on this. He needed answers and he couldn't wait for them to find him.

After waiting for a response and getting nothing, he tried again but still there was no response. It took all his years of training under the very watchful eye of Batman to not huff in annoyance, hence interrupting his even breathing. No, that wouldn't help, he had to keep trying. He took a deep breath in and started reciting Raven's mantra. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

If he wants to connect with her, then he'll have to dive head first. With that thought, he envisioned his entire soul reaching out for her, asking for a glimpse of touch in return. To feel her bitterly cold soul self with his. When he called out for her a third time, he finally felt it. It was fleeting but he felt it. There was nothing else quite like that feeling. It was comforting and crisp at the same time. That was all he needed to know to solidify his actions. Suddenly, a large bird shoots from him until it's covering most of his line of vision in the same blue as his Nightwing suit. It, being his soul, stretched its wings and cawed into the black void sending vibrations throughout his body.

After a moment, he feels a smaller vibration rise up his body but it quickly dissipates. The large blue bird caws again before flying away from him, leaving Dick no choice but to run after none other than his soul. It doesn't take long before he stops to find a rather large cage with Raven's souls self trapped inside. His soul won't let up on the cawing and Dick wastes no time in opening it. As soon as the door rips open, Raven's soul self flies out and again Dick is feeling the remains of the cold it leaves behind.

Her soul flies back down to their level and opens its mouth to release a loud caw. Vibrations ripple throughout his mind, body and literally his soul. He closes his eyes and when he re-opens them, he's met with the sight of an enemy he's never been able to put behind bars. A villain that has cost him so much trouble in his past, even after he died. Slade or as he goes by now, Deathstroke.

It didn't take long for him to realize that he's not seeing out of Raven's eyes in real time. No, this has to be prior because as soon as he sees him, the image of him starts to disappear. Fuck.

"Dick?"

"Raven! Where are you?" He looks everywhere but there's nothing but an empty void.

"I'm here, mentally, anyway." She paused. "How are you here, in my head, Dick?"

"I read a chapter from one of your books. I meditated all of my energy on finding you, however that be. I have to be honest with you, I'm surprised it even worked." Jason was right.

"You don't give yourself enough credit." And just like that, Raven materialized in front of his eyes. Blue cloak and all. Saying he's relieved would be an understatement.

"Raven, do you have any idea what happened?"

"Yeah and you're not going to like the answer. It's Slade." She stepped forward, pulling her hood down and paused. "But there's another issue, I don't have access to my powers. He put an inhibitor collar on me so I'm not much help right now."

"Why would Slade want you after all this time?" It didn't make sense, he kept his distance after he helped them defeat Trigon and they stopped looking for him since he didn't cause any problems in the city. Why would he target Raven now of all times?

"You're really not going to like it." She pauses again. "He plans to kill me. He obviously hasn't yet, and I'm not sure what he's waiting for, but that's his intention. I think he's just trying to play mind games with me. Like how the cat plays with the mouse before they kill their prey."

"Why does he want you dead?"

Raven paused. Truth be told, she thought she moved past all of this but it is clear as day now that she was wrong. "Because The Church of Blood is after me. He doesn't want to take any risks when it involves me and would rather take me out of the game first."

He didn't miss a beat before he spoke next, "Slade must have found and destroyed your tracker. We need to find you and get you out. Do you know where you are?"

"No, he knocked me out with a tranquilizer. I woke up in a small room with cement walls and one door in or out."

"Is there anything else you can extinguish that could help?" Gotham is a big city and she could be anywhere.

"There's pipes running along the ceiling. The space is cold, very cold but besides that no. It's not a lot to go off of." That could be any rundown, old building in the city.

"No, but it'll have to do. We don't have another option."

"Unless we do… Dick, does the bat cave have something that can shut off power inhibitors? Even for a split second? That's all I would need. If you can do that-"

"Then your power neutralizer will shut off and you can portal your way out before Slade can get to you," he finished.

"Exactly and I can find out where this base is and strike from within." Finally, she was starting to feel a little optimistic. She'd have to be careful but she could take down Slade.

"Raven, I think it would be best to just teleport back to the bat cave so we can re-group before going after Slade." Frowning, he folded his arms over his chest. She couldn't be serious.

"And give him the chance to make a run for it? Or worse."

"I understand your frustration, Raven, I really do but we need to think about this rationally. We don't know what Slade could have in store for us if we went on the defense right now. We'll get him, but not now." Dick tried to reason.

Raven shook her head, annoyed that Dick would rather play it safe than take the lead that was practically handed to them.

"If we surprise attack him from within, then he won't be ready for the three of us. You, Jason and I can take him down and figure out what else he knows that could potentially help us."

"You and I both know that Slade won't talk, Raven."

"Not unless it serves him."

"Which it won't." He shook his head in frustration.

"He's gotta have a price," Raven pressed.

"Yeah, you," he snapped.

It was quiet for a long moment after he said that. Maybe it was too harsh but that's the truth and he'd be damned if Slade got to her a second time.

"I'm going to go so Jason and I can get Bruce's power nullifier device. I'll put the circumference as far out as I think you could be. Raven, please come back to the bat cave once you get your powers back. We'll handle Deathstroke together."

She sighed but reluctantly nodded along and Dick immediately disconnected their connection.

Nightwing didn't waste a second before jumping to his feet and dragging Hood out the door and back to the batmobile. He needed to get to the bat cave and he needed to get there now. He doesn't know how long it will be before Slade makes his final move and he won't wait to find out.

"Will you just tell me what happened?" Red Hood asked as soon as they got in.

"We need to get to the bat cave now. That's how we help Raven."

"So you reached her then," he inquired. A smirk started to take form on his face and he really wished Nightwing could see it now.

"Yes, you were right," Nightwing admitted with a shake of his head. Sometimes it was just easier to give him what he wanted.

"Just wanted to hear you admit it."