The next morning, Raven awoke to a knock at her door.
Wrinkling her brow, she threw the covers back and rolled out of bed to see who was there. When she opened it, she saw Kori with an unsure smile waiting.
"My apologies for the intrusion. Is it alright if I come in?"
Raven stepped aside to let her pass but said nothing. Kori wanted something, that was clear to Raven. Her overtly polite tone and general unease she oozed told Raven that she wasn't going to like whatever Kori had to say.
Kori entered the room and awkwardly stood in the middle, folding her hands in front of her. She exuded confidence and strong leadership outwardly, but inwardly, Raven sensed her struggle.
"Go on," Raven prodded, crossing her arms.
"I need your help with something, Raven," Kori stated evenly.
"And I'm not going to like it," Raven stated back, not dancing around it.
"No. I doubt it, but for the good of the team, I need you with me on this."
Raven uncrossed her arms, planting her hands firmly on her hips, and sighed, "Just out with it."
"Well, it doesn't take an empath to tell that Tara is not meshing well with the rest of the team, or that her nightmares are a symptom of some sort of emotional distress…" Kori paused to give Raven a chance to interject.
When she didn't, Kori continued, "Since things only seem to be getting worse by letting Tara open up to us on her terms, I think it's time for drastic measures."
"You don't mean…" Raven started.
Kori nodded, "I do. Girls' day."
Raven groaned.
"I know social activity can be draining on you. I wouldn't ask if I didn't think it necessary. If we don't have all of the female Titans bonding together, it would be an empty gesture."
Raven crossed her arms again but put a tense hand up to her face to conceal her features as she grimaced. It wasn't so much the socialization she was dreading but spending time with Tara after her little blow-up last night. Even before their brief joining of minds, Raven hadn't really trusted Tara, mostly because she believed trust had to be earned. Now, Raven was sure Tara was hiding something, and Raven knew better than most how dangerous some secrets can be. She also knew that secrets didn't make someone inherently bad, and if Kori and Dick hadn't given Raven a chance, her life, maybe the world, would look very different.
"Kori, you already know I'm going to help you, you don't have to overexplain yourself."
"Thank you, Raven! I already have the secondhand bookshop you like on the itinerary, and you can pick out anything you like, on me."
Raven relaxed her stance and smiled at Kori then, "Not necessary, but definitely appreciated. So, what time did you have in mind?"
"I booked us a reservation for brunch at 11:30. I'll go notify Donna and Tara right away of our mandatory fun," Kori winked at Raven.
It was the afternoon in Gotham when Damian finally received a text from Raven.
"Kori is bringing back 'mandatory fun' to get us to bond with Tara. Wish me luck."
Damian, fresh out of the shower, read her text while toweling off his hair.
He had slept for a few extra hours that morning, and so far, had an uneventful day as he reacclimated to his life in Gotham. His father had left for the office for the day while Damian had been asleep, but Damian caught up with Alfred for a late breakfast around 10am. After helping him clean up, Damian found Dick hogging the Batcave computer. After a greeting and some banter, Damian found Cassandra and the two had a good sparring match in the training room. After more than an hour and ending the match in a draw, Damian had gone to his room to shower.
Damian furrowed his brow as he read Raven's text and thought back to the phone call he overheard Tara have in the stairwell. He hadn't trusted her from the start, and Tara had hardly done anything to ease his suspicions in the short time she'd been with the Titans. His thumbs moved swiftly to type a response.
"Good luck and be careful. I still don't trust her."
He hadn't had the chance to tell Raven about what he overheard and wasn't sure how relevant it was anyway. They had both shared their doubts with each other when she first arrived.
Raven responded to him quickly.
"I don't either, but she had another nightmare, and it didn't end well. Kori is running damage control."
The vagueness of her text concerned Damian, as he pondered on what he had missed in the half a day he had been gone.
"Anything I should be aware of?" he texted back quickly. He stared at his phone, waiting.
When she didn't respond right away, he went back to his post shower grooming. Combing his hair back, he kept glancing at his phone, knowing he shouldn't expect Raven to respond right away, but anxious regardless.
He moisturized and got dressed, still checking his phone. When he was just about done, he finally heard the notification go off.
"Not yet," was the only response he received. Was there something Raven wasn't telling him? He glanced at his own reflection in the mirror, as if he could find the answers there. Instead, he found his own resolve to make his time in Gotham short.
Raven bit on the cuticle of her thumb nail as she considered what to say to Damian.
Was there anything Damian should be aware of? Raven had vaguely recognized Deathstroke's mask in Tara's memories before she had abruptly woken up, but there was absolutely no context for it. If she were to reveal that to Damian, he would waste no time returning to Jump City and confronting Tara. He had only just gotten home to Gotham, and Raven didn't want to be the reason his time was cut short, not without good cause, and she only had a vague suspicion.
Looking in the mirror to check her outfit and makeup once more, Raven resolved herself. She would keep what she saw to herself, for now, and stay vigilant. Maybe Kori was right, and Tara would open up to them after they put in the effort. One girls' day wouldn't be enough to fix it, but it was as good a place as any to start.
Raven sent a quick reply to Damian, before stowing her phone away in her crossbody bag and heading out to meet up with the other Titan ladies.
In her bag, her phone buzzed as Damian sent an unseen message back to her.
"Be safe. I'll be home soon."
The bottomless brunch place Kori had brought the girls to was spectacular. It was in the waterfront area of downtown with a full windowed wall of bay views. The interior walls were decorated with art from local artists that were all available for sale. It had a taco bar and waffle bar included as part of bottomless brunch, and a 90-minute timeframe to finish by before additional costs were tacked on. The Titan women were more than up for the challenge.
The menu had American, Mexican, and Korea inspired dishes, and their table quickly became packed with a generous spread. They ate with gusto, except Tara, who picked slowly at her food. The conversation at the table had been sparse between bites, but Kori kept providing every opportunity for Tara to join in.
"…So that is how I ended up joining the Titans. Raven, Donna, how about you share with Tara where you each grew up," Kori said after finishing a lengthy anecdote about her life on Tamaran. She was wearing contacts that made her eyes look human to disguise herself, but there was little she could do to not stand out in a crowd with her physique and bright hair.
"You're just gonna talk about this stuff out in the open, huh?" Tara commented under her breath as she pushed some food around on her plate.
Donna, ignoring Tara's comment, spoke up in response to Kori, "My back story is so complicated that not even I can keep it straight, but I'm from Themyscira. Ya know, same place as Wonder Woman. Independent city-state without men. Pretty much paradise. Anyway, after training with Wonder Woman for a while, she thought I could benefit from being on a team with people my age, so, here I am," she stated matter-of-factly.
Tara struggled to hide her annoyance. Raven eyed her warily before taking her turn to share.
"I grew up in an interdimensional realm called Azarath. My father is an interdimensional demon, and I came here to escape him and find people to help me defeat him. And by the way, if you're worried about people listening in, everyone else in this restaurant, and usually the whole world, are too absorbed in themselves to pay attention to what we're saying," Raven delivered dryly.
Tara looked up from her plate and narrowed her eyes at Raven.
"Is it true you keep your father locked up in that gem on your forehead?"
"Yup," Raven said before taking a bite of her huevos rancheros.
"Cool," Tara said with a shrug.
"What about you Tara, would you like to share where you're from?" Kori probed.
"Not my first choice. But since you're all in the sharing mood, I was born in Markovia," she stated before taking a sip of her fresh squeezed orange juice.
"How enlightening. I would have never guessed. You have a very neutral American accent," Kori observed.
"Yeah, well, I was just a little kid when I left."
Raven thought about the images of violence from Tara's childhood that she witnessed. They were brief flashes for Raven, but she felt Tara's fear in those moments, and of the adults who used their own fear to excuse the injustices they committed against an innocent child. When Raven looked back at Tara, she saw a victim, a survivor, a kindred spirit even. The doubts that laced her instincts became muddled with guilt, as her morals dictated someone like Tara needed them. It was why she was brought to the Titans in the first place. Raven glanced back at her plate, suddenly losing interest in the food in front of her.
"How old were you?" Donna asked Tara out of genuine curiosity.
Tara shrugged, "Don't remember, and I don't care to."
Taking the hint, Kori tried to shift focus.
"Well, I think a lot of us would agree that our pasts don't define us. What matters is that we're here together now. Speaking of which, shall we do the wrapping up here? I believe the mall of shopping is calling."
Raven gave a little chuckle at hearing Kori's English return to something a little more broken and malformed. It became a rarer occurrence the longer she was on Earth, but occasionally it would come out and it was a treat for Raven. Most times, Raven felt her leader and sister was the image of perfection. These little slips weirdly humanized her, even for an alien princess from another planet.
The girls finished the remainder of their food with renewed enthusiasm. Even Tara, who had been tense all morning, seemed to loosen up and enjoy the rest of the meal.
As the teen heroines roamed the mall with their leader, this group activity had the effect of making these young women feel normal, if only for a day. No superpowers, no weight of responsibility, just normal mundane fun. Kori, who had arranged this day out early in the morning in a mess of anxiety, was enjoying herself despite the internal pressure for the day to go well. Even Tara, who had essentially been dragged there against her will, found herself perusing sales racks with more than just feigned interest.
Raven had spent most of the day with one eye on Tara, observing her body language and being hyper aware of her mood, which in fairness was always bad. Today, there were spots of lightness in her mood. Slight shifts upwards before descending back down that gave Raven a little hope that there was something in Tara that was worthwhile.
In a store more geared towards Raven and Tara's style, Raven's focus sharpened. Tara's vague interest had piqued as she rifled through a rack of leather jackets. She stopped and held her place with one hand on the rack and pulled her phone out of her back pocket with the other to send a quick text before shoving it back away just as quickly. Raven watched her out of the corner of her eye, pretending to be invested in the rack of blouses she herself was in front of.
"You should go talk to her," Donna's voice suddenly rang next to Raven.
Raven jumped a little and stared blankly at Donna.
"What?" Raven asked reflexively, a little shocked she had been caught so off guard.
"Tara. You should talk to her. I've been watching you all day. I can tell you want to say something to her. Just go up to her and start talking."
Raven blinked. She had been so caught up thinking about Tara and watching her that she hadn't even noticed Donna doing the same to her. She knew Donna had a knack for reading people, but didn't expect to be outdone by her at any point.
"I…" Raven started, unsure of what to say.
"Look, you're the veteran woman on the team, besides Kori. Tara is intimidated by you more than anyone else. Last night was tough for both of you and she sure as Hades won't be the one to break the ice. It has to be you, Raven," Donna said, placing a reassuring hand on Raven's shoulder.
For the first time, Raven became aware of the importance of her position on the team. When it was just Kori, Jaime, Garfield, and her, they stood on equal ground. Even when Damian joined, his confidence and assertion of himself never allowed him to feel like an outsider.
Now, their little family was growing, and coming into an established team couldn't be easy. Connor and Donna had the capability of working past their initial discomfort, but Tara clearly couldn't. Raven realized Donna was right, that she held a perceived position of power over Tara, and they would never become close if Raven didn't first bridge their divide.
Stealing herself, Raven nodded firmly at Donna, before heading over with newfound confidence to Tara. If Tara didn't want to accept Raven's olive branch, that was fine. But Raven would at least leave the door open for her.
Tara had pulled the jacket she had stopped on off the rack and was examining it closer when Raven approached her.
"That would look good on you," Raven offered.
Tara side-eyed her, "Thanks," she said in a tentative tone.
"Fits your personality, and I do mean that as a compliment," Raven said with a hint of humor in her voice.
"Oh, so, you spend two seconds in my subconscious and now you think you know me so well, huh?" Tara said in a huff while shoving the hanger with the jacket forcefully back on the rack.
"About that…I'm sorry. I know my powers can feel like an invasion of privacy…"
"Ya think?" Tara interrupted, crossing her arms.
Raven continued, unperturbed, "…but I don't really have a choice in how they function either. As you probably noticed, you get the same look into my own life, and I don't much enjoy opening up myself to every person I try to help either. But I don't let that stop me from helping when I can. You're new, and it's hard when we're all living together under the same roof, and you feel like the odd one out. I know what I did made things ten times worse for us but just know I'm here, if you ever do want to talk."
Tara looked away from Raven with pursed lips as she absorbed everything she had to say. She looked back down at the rack and pulled the jacket back out to examine again.
"You really think this would look good on me?" Tara asked as if the previous conversation hadn't occurred.
Raven smiled, feeling like she accomplished something. She opened her mouth to respond but right at that moment, a loud explosion ripped through the mall.
