"Ok, let's go over what we know so far." Nightwing said. He stood in front of the others, who were sitting in a loose semi-circle in the ops room. They had come right back up after the confrontation outside was over, and Nightwing wasted no time in calling for a meeting. Raven and Cyborg listened intently. Beast Boy was blinking his eyes and yawning, but while still trying to pay attention. Nightwing slowly paced the floor as he spoke.

"We know that Aqualad was lured into those alleys and murdered. We know that whoever did this has been planning this for a while. And we know that they have high tech robots and weapons, or at least know someone who can supply that stuff."

"It's got to be Chang." Cyborg said. "He obviously didn't do the actual killing, but he has to be involved somehow. Especially with the Zynothium."

"Probably." Nightwing said. "We also know there were two killers. A man and a woman."

"The guy who attacked me kind of reminded me of you." Beast Boy said. "I mean, the moves and stuff. The way he jumped around. Not exactly the same, but…"

"I think I understand." Nightwing said. "Someone skilled, and probably highly trained."

"Someone trained to kill us." Raven said.

Nightwing stood there a moment, looking at a wall. He seemed to be elsewhere for a moment. "We don't know that for sure." He said slowly. "But it's a definite possibility."

"Someone holding a grudge?" Cyborg said.

"A grudge." Nightwing said. "Or someone with something to prove."

"What would killing us prove?" Beast Boy said. Nightwing turned to face him.

"That they could."

A short time later, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Raven all went back to bed, although Nightwing asked them not to sleep too long. Nightwing himself stayed up and went over notes and data. He looked through his laptop, organizing all the information he had so far. He spent some time racking his brain over who it could be. There were only a few people that he knew of that might possibly fit the bill, but even they weren't exactly right. He also considered that it might be someone new that they hadn't encountered before, but…

He ran his fingers through his hair. He didn't mind a mystery, but this one was more personal then usual. He wished that the killers were a little more willing to tease out clues, like some other villains he knew.

As he was pondering everything, the door to the room opened. Nightwing looked up, and saw Raven standing there. She stood in the doorway for a moment, looking around at the work Nightwing was doing. "Is this a bad time?" she said. Nightwing stood up.

"No, its just… I thought you were asleep."

"I couldn't." She walked into the room, stepping over to Nightwing's work area. She peered down at the monitor.

"You're working pretty hard on this." She said. "Need help?"

Nightwing shook his head. "No, I just… I'm just looking over the information we already have. Trying to connect it all. I feel like we're so close to figuring this out, but… there's something missing."

"With the zynothium and the robots, we know Chang is probably involved." Said Raven. She now stood next to him.

"I know. And I want to pay him a visit."

"Tonight?" Raven said.

Nightwing shook his head. "Today. I'm getting tired of skulking around in the shadows. We need to deal with this sooner, not later. I want to go see him this morning."

"You mean we'll go see him." Raven said.

Nightwing turned to face her now. "I'd probably have an easier chance of getting there unseen if I go alone."

"But if he's expecting you, it would be good to have someone to back you up." Raven said. Nightwing looked down at the floor. He folded his arms. Raven put her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her.

"Nightwing, don't forget, we're a team." She said softly. He looked at her a moment, and then nodded.

"Okay, we'll go together." After a second, his gaze shifted to Raven's hand on his shoulder. At this moment, Raven withdrew her hand. Nightwing started to turn away.

"Nightwing." Raven said. He turned back to her. "There's something I've been meaning to ask you." She said. He looked at her seriously.

"I know." He said. "Is it personal?" she hesitated.

"Yes, it is. Its… something I wanted to ask you when we're alone. And we're alone now."

Nightwing stood there, considering for a moment. "Maybe it should wait until after all this is over. No distractions."

She took a step closer. "I'd rather talk about it now. We might not get a chance later." The deadpan expression that Raven normally wore was cracked with emotion. Just a crack, but noticeable.

"We'll get a chance." Nightwing said. "I'm sure that-"

"Nightwing…." Raven said. Just then, Raven closed her eyes, and resumed her neutral expression. "Never mind." She turned around.

"After we deal with Chang." Nightwing said to her back. Raven paused. "Just let me see what Chang has to say, and then when we get back, I'll listen to whatever you have to say. I promise."

Raven turned her head back to him. "Okay. Tonight then?"

"Tonight." He said. Raven then headed back for the door. Just as she reached it, something happened. There was a sound coming from their comms. Raven and Nightwing both looked at each other. Nightwing brought up his comm.

"Hello?" he said. There was static on the receiver. Raven tried hers, and got the same thing.

"Maybe some kind of interference?" Raven said. A second later, there was a voice on the comms. It was a low, robotic sounding voice. The voice said a short phrase. It then repeated this phrase a few times. Then, silence. They looked at their comms, and then each other.

"It said, 'watch the news later'." Nightwing said. "I think."

"I heard watch the news today, but close enough." Raven said. "Think someone's trying to tell us something?"

Nightwing looked at the comm. Earlier he had wished for a clue, and now maybe this was it. "Maybe. I don't know how they got on our comms though. It almost sounded like a public service announcement."

"We'll have to ask Cyborg." Raven said.

"The question is, does it mean something, or are they just trying to screw with us?"

"No idea." Raven said. "But I'm turning on the news just in case."

"Which news?" Nightwing said. "There are a bunch of different channels." Raven shrugged.

"Let's just start with the one we know." Raven turned on the tv. "I hope this doesn't screw up our plans."

They watched for several minutes. There was nothing unusual as far as they could see. Some crime reports, but nothing atypical. After some time, Nightwing noticed that Raven appeared distracted. When he asked her about it, she said she needed to meditate. He agreed to watch the news while she did that.

Raven walked into her room and shut the door behind her. She leaned back against the door, in the dark of her room. She took a deep breath. She felt her heart pounding. She could feel the dark power surging within her. She took another deep breath. She turned on the light, keeping it dim. She walked across the room. She got into her bed, and got into her meditative position. She started reciting her mantra.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos." She repeated this over and over, while keeping her eyes closed, and concentrating. She felt her heart gradually slowing down to a normal rate. She felt the darkness ebbing inside her. She still took deep breaths, but they were more steady now. After a few minutes of this, she opened her eyes again. She sighed.

Raven slowly got out of the bed, and stood up. She walked to the middle of her room. In the time since they had been back, Raven had acquired a cheap folding chair and folding table for her room. It wasn't much. If they were going to stay at the tower in the long term, then she would have gotten real furniture. But they were only planning to stay until the case was solved, and the culprit brought to justice. Days, maybe weeks. Hopefully not months.

Raven sat down in the folding chair. She looked at the mirror on her wall. I almost lost control there, she thought. She still had to be at least somewhat careful with her emotions. Thanks to some training and studying, she could be a little more flexible with her emotions now. But there was still a limit. Right now, she was experiencing an emotion she wasn't used to, and wasn't sure how to handle. It was the conversation with Nightwing. No, not exactly. It wasn't what they talked about. It was what she wanted to talk about, but didn't. She had been waiting to speak to him about something important. At least, it was important to her. But there just wasn't a good time. Every time she tried, something stopped it. It had started to become frustrating for her. She felt it building in her chest. She wanted to say something to him. She wanted to tell him how she felt. She wanted to say that she had… feelings for him. Was it love? It might be. She had never really been in love before. This was new for her.

She sighed and got up. She walked over to the mirror, looking at her reflection. She knew she shouldn't have these feelings. But she did. She hadn't told anyone about it. How could she? What would people say? What would he say? She felt her heart rate increase again at this thought. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, calming herself.

As she looked in the mirror, she couldn't help wondering how he saw her. As a person, not physically. Did he feel the same way? Or, would he at least be open to the idea…?

Looking at herself, she realized that she did actually wonder how he saw her physically too. Did he think she was attractive? She hoped so. She certainly thought he was. She looked down at her outfit. It was fairly revealing, which was deliberate. She had always wanted to be seen as attractive. Maybe even pretty, in her own way. She rubbed her hand, examining her oddly colored skin. She used to think she was… not ugly, but at least weird looking. Unattractive. Over the years, she's slowly come to realize that she is attractive. In her own way. She always wore a revealing outfit, but usually covered it up with a hood and cloak. A contradiction. But it made sense to her. She didn't want people to see the demon. But she wanted them to notice the girl.

When Raven first contacted Nightwing, she thought that maybe she had gotten over her feelings for him. Just two old friends reuniting. But when she saw him again in person, she quickly realized that was not the case. She had debated whether or not to tell him. She wanted to. But part of her also didn't want to say anything. Not out of embarrassment. Rather, out of fear of rejection. What if he said no? What then? Could they just go back to being friends? Or would it just be awkward between them after that? She didn't want to risk ruining another friendship.

Raven furrowed her brow, and touched her forehead with her fingers. I shouldn't even be thinking about this right now. She knew that the murder investigation was the higher priority. Its not as though she didn't care about that. She cared more than she showed. She felt sad about Aqualad's untimely death. She wanted to bring his killer to justice, and stop them before they kill anyone else. Assuming they haven't already. She had no intention of letting her feelings about Nightwing get in the way of the case. Maybe he was right. Maybe they should wait until this was all over to talk about it. On the other hand…

If she waited much longer to say something, she might lose her nerve. Then she would regret waiting. If she gets it out of the way, maybe she'll be able to fully concentrate on the killer until they're done. In the meantime, the first priority was Professor Chang. He might be able to tell them what's really happening. She hoped so. She wanted to find these killers and stop them for everyone's sake.

With that thought now at the front of her mind, she pushed her thoughts of Nightwing to the back of her mind, for the moment. That would have to wait. Right now, they had a job to do. They were heroes first. Always.

Raven turned away from her mirror and walked to her doorway, turning the light out as she left.