October faded into November, November slipped into December, and soon, the new year was just around the corner. The team was running flawlessly—except for one. Tim had been noticeably withdrawn and out of sync with the others for weeks. He'd become a hindrance. It was a miracle they could still succeed on missions. Tim stepped down as leader in the first week of December without warning or explanation. Raven ended up leading two missions when Miss Martian wasn't available. Both times, nerves got the better of her, and she vomited before the missions. In mid-December, after Tim nearly beat someone to death, Batman completely pulled him from the team, and Kaldur stepped in as the new leader. Now Raven and Kaldur stood in front of Batman, briefing him on the latest mission. "You were right," Kaldur said. "There were cameras in the warehouse, along with a fake bomb. Why would they do this? They must have known we would figure this out."

"I've been reviewing the fights," Batman replied. This was the eighth warehouse confrontation involving a dummy bomb, and Batman had ordered Kid Flash to plant as many cameras as possible while fighting. He drew Kaldur and Raven's attention to four floating screens showing four of the last eight fights. "Tell me what you notice."

Raven stared at the screens. All she saw was chaos...and a violent Red Robin. "I see," Kaldur said. Raven raised a brow at him. He does? "The metas—they're going for Raven."

"What?" Raven snapped her head back to the screens. "What do you mean?"

"Look closely, Raven," Batman instructed. Raven stepped closer to the screens. "Look," Raven pointed out, "Shimmer isn't attacking me—she's fighting Wonder Girl."

"Yes," Batman said, rewinding the video and playing it frame-by-frame. "But she was going for you. Wonder Girl intercepted her." Raven's eyes flitted from one fight to another. In every battle, the meta-humans targeted her while the ninjas and other hired help focused on her teammates. "I don't understand why they're doing this," Raven said as panic set in. "I don't—I'm not working with—"

"Raven, no one here is blaming or accusing you of anything," Kaldur reassured her. Raven instantly relaxed. "Can you think of a reason The Light would target you?"

Raven opened her mouth to say "no" but paused, thinking back to their first warehouse fight. "Shade," she said. "In our first fight, Shade called me a half-breed. That information isn't public knowledge."

"And the number of heroes who know is minimal," Kaldur added.

"How did he know?" Raven frowned. She had a theory, but she refused to voice it. She couldn't. If she was right... well, she refused to be right. She had only just started making this place her home. She didn't need her father coming back to life and ruining it. But I'll have to look into it.

"I'll be off-planet until February," Batman announced. With a brief nod, he walked past the two heroes and disappeared into the zeta tube. As soon as Batman left, Kaldur turned to Raven. "I'd like to ask you something." Raven nodded.

"I've heard from the others that you and Tim have become quite close."

"Excuse me?" Raven felt heat rise to her cheeks. "No, he tutors me three times a week."

"You also spar together at least twice a week," Kaldur said. "And I assume you text each other often."

"It's not often," Raven muttered.

"Your relationship has taken a drastic change for the better. Do you know what's bothering him?"

"No," Raven folded her arms. "We haven't had a tutoring session since Batman pulled him from the field. He only answers my texts sometimes. Not that I text him a lot," she quickly added, "because I don't."

"I see."

"When he's here, he gives me whiplash with his emotions, and his mind is scattered." That's all I know; I don't pry any deeper than a cursory glance."

"I understand," Kaldur sighed. He and Raven began walking toward the zeta tube. "Any plans for the holidays?"

"I'm just going to stay here," Raven said.

"You will not visit your mother?"

"For a day, but that's it. I have a lot of studying to do and a plethora of college applications to fill out."

"I see. Well, in case I don't see you until after the new year, Happy New Year."

"Thank you," Raven smiled. Kaldur returned the smile and entered the zeta tube. Raven sighed to herself, walking back to her room. Spending the holidays alone—nothing new about that. Her face tightened with determination. No time to brood. I need to make sure dear ol' dad is dead.

12/25 10:00 pm

Tim rested his head on his fist as he sat on the couch, feeling the weight of exhaustion settle over him. I am so tired, he thought. But his ex- wanted to host a dinner party at their shared apartment, and Tim had agreed out of guilt—guilt for how he'd treated Bernard during their relationship and after. Being friends-with-benefits with an ex—bad idea. Abruptly ending that relationship after insinuating that you may be ready to try again…Tim groaned internally. I'm a terrible person. He blamed Bruce for this, changing the dates of a ball so you can go to space. This year, the annual Wayne Christmas Ball had been rebranded as the Wayne Christmas Eve Ball, leaving Tim with no excuse to skip Bernard's Christmas dinner party. And now, here he was, sitting on the couch, bored out of his mind, while a girl who had been flirting with him all night sat far too close for comfort.

When his phone buzzed with an alert, Tim felt like crying tears of joy. Excusing himself and gently prying the girl's hands off him, he hurried to his room. Bat-emergency! Yes! No sooner had he closed his bedroom door than someone knocked. He prayed the knock on his door wasn't from the excessively flirty girl. "Tim, it's me," came Bernard's voice from the other side. Tim opened the door wide. "I saw you rush in here," Bernard said, stepping inside. "Is something wrong?"

"Bat-emergency," Tim replied as he quickly undressed, disappearing into his closet. "I thought Batman benched you," Bernard said.

"He did, but he's off-planet," Tim explained, emerging fully dressed as Red Robin. "And since I've been a good little bird, he reinstated me," he added with an eye roll.

"Wow, you're fast," Bernard said as he came face-to-face with a fully dressed Red Robin.

"Perks of knowing sorcerers," Red Robin replied with a grin.

"Be careful," Bernard said, watching as Red Robin headed to the bedroom window.

"Always am," Red Robin smirked. "Don't wait up."