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The Titans: Triptych	By : hentaigoten Category: DC Verse Cartoons - Teen Titans > Crossovers > FemmeSlash Views: 1932 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or JLA. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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#3

The Sundering

Chapter 3 of 6: The Ruins

The earthquake had barely rumbled to a close, and he was hurtling down the stairs to the Cave.

No light lit the cave, but for a single light from a torch. Not the dim glow of the computer monitors, not the light from the lights placed periodically around the place, only the dim glow of dying amoeba in the surface of the water. Nothing man made.

“Back up power?” He barked across the length of the cave, striding his way through the darkness with ease.

“Will be active momentarily.” He merely grunted in response to the call in the near distance.

Half a minute had barely passed, and there was a hum as machines clicked on, monitors lit up.

Wayne had already shrugged off his clothes, and was pulling on the uniform, as Alfred was already at the massed banks of the computer station.

“Well?” Batman asked, clicking the utility belt in place.

“Hard to tell. I’m reading nothing on the computer hacks we have, Master Bruce. It would be a safe bet the computer network is down city wide.”

“Figures.” Batman said, pulling his cowl in place and striding over to the station as Alfred flicked a toggle, and radio chatter emitted from a speaker.

“Emergency services seem to be working, at least.”

“Good.” Batman said. “Try and raise Oracle. I need information if I’m to do any good out there.”

“But of course.”

“And get the others out there, too. We need to make as much presence as possible.”

He strode away, leaping into the waiting Batmobile, without another word. In moments, he was gone from the cave.

She shifted her grip, forced another iota of effort out of her muscles, and shifted the support pillar up a fraction.

Hands dashed in under her, pulling at the man trapped under it. She heard someone say they had him, and she let go, dropping the hunk of rubble to the ground.

Someone offered thanks. She didn’t respond, instead scanning the area.

It was barely dark- the sun would set fully in another few minutes. The mixed light conditions were playing havoc with her night vision.

Huntress glanced around herself. She hadn’t expected this. She expected to go on patrol tonight, true. The randomised shift had demanded that she do so. There would be muggings. Attempted muggings, that would be. Robbery, rape, murder- things she knew how to deal with.

Natural disasters were not her speciality.

There was a chime in her ear.

“H.”

“Cave. Are you responding to the incident?”

“Yes. It’s hard to miss.”

“All wings are responding. O is operational.”

“Understood. Thanks for the tip.”

“A delight.”

Dropping her hand from her ear, she heard a cry for help, and went back to the job at hand.

Gordon glowered at the officers in the office one last time before turning back and entering his office, allowing himself a moments respite.

Jesus! He sometimes wondered how they recruited them, sometimes. They felt the need to look like complete wusses half the time, or so it felt right now.

Though, of course, that wasn’t true. The things some of them had been through, and yet still they came in the building every day…and none of them had the recourse of knowing what he did, of having the allies he did…

Speaking of which…

“You’re not as good as the old man, yet.” Jim Gordon said, settling back in his chair.

“What gave it away?”

“The fact you’re breathing.”

“Right. Whatever. He wants data.”

“I know he does, Robin. And this is all the data I have- big earthquake. Confusion. Putting everyone I can on the streets. I wish I could tell you more, but…I can’t.”

“Okay.”

Gordon paused, allowed himself a moment to think.

“Tough start. Out of the ordinary.”

“I…we’ll deal with it.”

“I know you will, son. I know.”

Gordon waited a moment, then turned to look at the window. There was no one there.

“Heh. He’s pretty good for a kid…”

Darkness enclosed the room. Filling it, expanding into every corner. Only a dim luminescence from the stars provided a low glow to the room.

Waking, something sharp jabbing into her shoulder, Starfire murmured a low exclamation of annoyance, shifting herself away from the corner of the cabinet, rubbing at her back.

Getting to her feet, stretching out cramped muscles, she looked over at Raven, curled up on the bed. She’d been silent for so long…

She wasn’t sure why, truly. If she had to guess…Raven had kept things bottled up for so long, she didn’t know any other way. Sitting down on the bed, being careful to not disturb her sleep, Koriand’r scanned Raven’s face, looking to see how smoothly she slept.

Nothing. Her face was relaxed, at ease. Almost peaceful. Starfire ran her hand along the side of her face. Nine years. No wonder she despised their association with the League. No wonder the pressures of being team leader had weighed on her so heavily.

Moving off the bed silently, Starfire stepped outside, out into the night, looking up at the stars. She’d studied astronomy when she had first arrived on Earth, curious about Earth customs. She had learnt the positions of the stars, the planets, learnt to navigate by them, read the future in them- everything Earth scholars said could be done with them.

She had come from the stars to this planet, and it had seemed right that they should guide her.

Gazing up at them, the Tamaran princess’ thoughts dwelled on Raven. Barely a year ago, they had fought against, and had defeated, the daemon that was, for want of a better word, Raven’s father. She’d been able to lay to rest some nineteen year old issues then, Starfire knew. But she couldn’t possibly be free of them all.

Today only proved that.

Tracing the patterns in the sky, going through what she was taught, Starfire remembered what she said to her. About what she would do to Zatana if she did anything to Raven.

She realised she’d meant it. For the first time in her life, she felt near compelled to hunt someone down, and to do harm to them. Grievous harm, the type of harm that would take a decade of therapy to get over. How could she have judged Raven like that? She had problems, she could be cold, she could be distant, but…

She was her team mate. Her leader. Her friend…

Starfire looked down, as pain flooded through her palm. Unclenching her fist, easing life back into it, she looked back up at the stars. There seemed to be something odd about them. Something she couldn’t quite recognize…

There was an exclamation of emotion from inside the house, muffled by sleep.

Dashing back inside, Starfire found Raven murmuring something in her sleep. Her eyes flickered behind her eyelids. The room shifted around them.

Laying her hand on her face, Starfire whispered words and sounds, sitting down next to Raven as she tossed about. In minutes, she lay still, her face still wracked with fear.

Laying down next to her, Starfire kept awake and alert until finally Raven’s dreams receded, if only for the moment, before she allowed herself to fall asleep again.

Scowling at the dead banks of computer screens, Barbara Gordon shifted her focus to the bank of radios she’d cobbled together in the last two hours, shifting through radio traffic.

Her one active computer, hooked up to a mobile line, was humming away, as a program ran, trying to break into federal computers. It’d take a while to break into, even with her experience. But, Bruce needed to know the response to the earthquake.

She cocked her head to one side as she heard a piece of information emitting from one of the speakers. Hmm. Good. Activating her radio, along with its built-in scrambler, she spoke.

“H, this is O.”

“I’m here.”

“Search and rescue unit is heading to your location. ETA, ten minutes.”

“Understood. Where next?”

“About a kilometre north. No S and R there, safe to assume there are casualties, given the concentration of housing there.”

“Got ya.”

Deactivating the microphone, Barbara turned her attention back to the radios. More units were moving around, shifting wounded to the hospitals that had lost all power the instant the earthquake had hit, downing nearly all the major electrical lines in the city.

Minuets passed, and an audible ping rang out, diverting her attention back to the computer. Her fingers moving in a blur across the keyboard, she pulled up the information she wanted. Then, she keyed her earpiece again.

“B, this is O.”

“Go ahead.”

“State governor has mobilised national guard units, relief packages- the usual deal. Mood is pessimistic. Military jets have done a sweep, reports heading up the chain of command speak of massive devastation, spreading fires, fleeing citizens…”

“The mood of the reports is irrelevant.” Batman replied, his voice distorted by static, and as stern as ever. But Barbara knew there was…something there. “Just tell me when the government’s relief force will be here.”

“ETA, twelve hours. Any word from the League?”

“They’re mobilising.”

“Who’s moving in?”

“I spoke to J’onn. He’s assembling the team. The rest isn’t my concern.”

“Understood.” Keying off the microphone, Barbara looked off into the distance for a moment.

Bruce kept people distant, but years as first Batgirl, and then more as Oracle, had taught her how to read his moods. Batman was worried. And that was a truly terrifying thought.

She shifted in the bed, blinking as dawn spilled in from an open window. Turning away from the source of the light, her arm landing heavily on the other said of the bed.

Raven looked up, half wondering why her arm hadn’t landed on anything, the half wondering why she would even expect that.

There was some smell, emanating from somewhere. The kitchen, probably. Kory, probably.

Slowly shifting herself in the bed, working life into her limbs, Raven remembered a…

There had been her. She had been looked over by her. It wasn’t surprising, but…

Raven’s mouth twitched, half smiling as she remembered Starfire’s promise about Zatana. She couldn’t have meant it, of course, but the thought was there, and she wouldn’t begrudge her that lie.

Sliding off the bed, getting to her feet, Raven pulled her cloak on over her rumpled clothes. Pulling her hood up over her head habitually, she made her way out into the kitchen.

Unsurprisingly, Koriand’r was in the midst of what was either a complex experiment to turn lead into gold, or undertaking another example of her homeworld’s cuisine.

Settling down into a chair, Raven kept quiet, but Starfire soon spotted her, and broke into a cheery smile.

“Raven, I see you are awake! I am hoping you have slept well, and that you are well enough to be eating!”

“Eating what…?”

“This!” Starfire replied, seemingly oblivious to the worry in Raven’s voice. “It is a dish of much acclaim on Tamaran, and I have been researching for the right ingredients all the two weeks we have been here on the islands. I was going to cook it last night, but it also makes a most yummy and scrumptious of meal to break the fast.”

“O-kay…”

“It will ready in two shakes of a domesticated, meat producing animal’s tail.”

Light breached into the blocked in subway station. Passengers and crew, stranded for hours, looked up as the light streamed in, and then was blocked by a moving shape that descended rapidly.

His cape billowing around him, Batman landed, glancing around and taking in the stranded people that stood back from him.

“The line will take two at a time.” He said, counting at least three dozen people around him. Lucky the station hadn’t been busier.

“Are there any unable to walk, or otherwise badly wounded?” A few moments later, he’d found out. Three unconscious, concussed. Some broken limbs. “I’ll take the wounded first.”

It took a while. At times, it seemed like the motor in the grapple would break from over exertion. But, everyone obeyed his commands, and he soon had them out. They’d stayed, helped lift the others out of the shaft Batman had negotiated.

Half an hour after he first descended into the subway, he looked upon the people, standing in the dawn, looking at him as he unhooked his grapple from the support beam he’d wrapped it round.

“Take the wounded to the hospital. Make sure you get to a refuge centre.” He said simply, turning and leaving them be. He glanced up at the sky. Dawn had well and truly broken. He’d heard the first army helicopters, taking in search and rescue squads, three hours ago. The rest of the army force would be here soon enough.

He’d done what he came here to do. Keying the headset built into his cowl, he patched into the radio frequency he was using.

“B to O.”

“O here.”

“Status of the relief force?”

“On the outskirts of the city now, barring a half dozen copters ferrying in S and R squads into the city.”

“Good. A, you listening?”

“But of course.”

“We’re coming back in. Make the usual preparations.”

“Understood.”

“B to all points- make your way back to the Cave. We’ve done what we can for now. Acknowledge.”

“H, message received.”

“R, underway.”

“N, understood.”

He was already metres away from the car by the time everyone had checked in. He hardly expected anything else.

Vaulting into the Batmobile, he snapped on the controls, soon driving at speed through the rubble strewn streets, making his way back to the Cave, to the manor.

There was…much he had to do.

Not that she’d admit it, but…she was surprised. For once, one of Starfire’s attempts at replicating the dishes of her homeworld was passable.

Using mustard as a baking sauce was probably a bit too much, but you couldn’t have everything.

“Well?” Starfire asked, hovering anxiously around the table.

“It’s…alright.” Raven said, trying not to gag on the overwhelming taste of mustard that permeated every bite.

“Oh! Excellent! I am most pleased you like it. I will have to serve it up again someday.”

“Sure.” Raven said, glancing over as Starfire finally sat down, and started eating with gusto. “And…”

Starfire looked up, quizzically.

“Thanks. For…last night. I…even if…”

“It was the least I could do.” Starfire said with surprising gravity.

“But still…even if you wouldn’t…I…”

“Wouldn’t what?” She asked, an edge of confusion creeping into her voice.

“Nothing. It’s nothing.”

Starfire smiled, her expression and the emotions radiating off her plainly saying that she didn’t understand. But after a moment, she decided not to say anything else, and went back to consuming the meal she had made.

Soon enough, Raven had finished, starting to make for the door.

“Raven? Where are-”

“The library. I found an interesting volume regarding meditative practices of the Esoteric Order Of Dagon, and wish to finish reading it.”

“Oh. Do you wish me to come along? After all, I would not wish to see you have to fight Zatana alone.”

“I…” Raven paused, glanced at Starfire for a moment before looking away. “No. I can handle myself, Kory. I will keep my emotions under control.”

“Very well, then. I will see you later today, then.”

Raven nodded, stepping outside the door, only to practically walk into another as she landed outside the door.

“Wha-?”

“Sorry, Raven. I didn’t see you there.”

“Diana?” Starfire asked, coming round the door frame, before breaking into a smile at the sight of the Amazonian Princess. “Oh, it is good to see you! I have some of the meal left, if you wish to sample a Tamaran dish.”

“Thank you for the offer, but-”

“Something’s wrong.” Raven stated, interrupting. She could feel the emotion radiate off of Diana.

“Yes. I thought to tell you when you awoke, seeing as…” Here she paused, before changing her mind about what she was going to say. “There has been an incident. A natural disaster. In Gotham City.”

Raven and Koriand’r looked at Diana for a moment, before speaking.

“Robin…” Starfire said, under her breath. Raven gazed at the ground, keeping silent.

Sat rigidly in the chair, facing the bank of consoles tuned into various news networks, government reports minutes old, databanks already scrolling with preliminary lists of the damage done, estimated numbers of the dead, Batman tried to gather his thoughts.

He glanced up as a shadow moved by him. Alfred, delivering a small meal. He wordlessly started to eat, scanning the information before him.

“Where’s Huntress?” He asked, knowing she was here already. He’d seen her bike parked up in the garage he had down here.

“Changed into something more comfortable, and busy chewing her through the pantry.”

“Not sure that’s a wise idea.”

“I’m not sure it’s a wise idea for you to have exerted yourself non stop for ten hours without even considering taking some rest.”

“Don’t have time. Just get me some coffee.”

“Very well, Master Bruce. But don’t blame me if you fall flat on your face while mid conversation with the Man Of Steel.”

“Clark isn’t up there. Busy working as a mediator in the Balkans.”

“I do trust you remember such a thing as an ‘example’, Master Bruce…” Alfred said with dry humour.

“Of course.” Bruce replied, leaning forward to examine one of the preliminary reports sent to the governors office. An estimated hundred billion of dollars in damage. Some reports that the stock district had been levelled.

“Is there any structural damage to the cave, or the mansion?” He asked, not glancing away from the screens in front of him.

“The cave is fine. Some broken plates and windows in the mansion, for the most part. The south wing has suffered some considerable damage, however. It seems some work should have been done to it last year as I-”

“Thank you, Alfred.” He replied, cutting off another imminent cutting remark from the man. “We’ll worry about repairs after I’ve secured some steady support for the city.”

“And how do you intend to do that?”

“First, the League. A statement from Lucius on my behalf. Then Bruce Wayne will make an appearance in Washington D.C., and make a press statement. Attempt to get some stable political backing. Perhaps remind a few people of the contributions I made to their campaign funds.

“But first, I intend to drink some coffee.” He said, still shifting through the information before him.

“I’ll see to it, Master Bruce.” Alfred said dryly, heading to the stairs that led up to the mansion.

Raven stood in the middle of the room, her hood raised up over her head, her head bowed. It had been ten minutes since Wonder Woman had told them what had happened.

Starfire paced nervously.

They’d been explicitly told not to get involved. The League would contact them if they needed extra personal anywhere.

Raven…didn’t know what to do.

She didn’t want to risk the future of the Titans for nothing. There were only two of them available. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out what their former team leader thought of her performance in what had been his role.

She should go. Former team mate meant nothing- some things stuck. And she had counted him as a friend, before…the League couldn’t order her around. They might be able to affect the Titans future, but they couldn’t control it.

“Damnit.” Raven said under her breath, glancing over at Starfire who’d looked over at her exclamation.

“Get the communicators. We’ll try and contact Beastboy. And Cyborg- we’ll be near his team’s area of operations. He should know what we’re doing. And we might need his backup if things go bad.”

Starfire nodded, rushing off to grab the communicators.

She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want to face him again. But, Raven knew that what she wanted to do, and what she had to do, were different things.

No matter how much her heart screamed at her not to risk it.
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The Titans: Triptych