Chapter Text
“Uh, Star…”
Gar stopped in his tracks, eyes snagging on the strangely shaped, lumpy ring of reddish-brown goop that had been placed carefully amid the plates of food on the counter.
“Not to be rude or anything…but…what the actual fuck is that?”
Kori twisted around in midair, looking down at him from her position hovering near the top of the bright window. “Oh!” she broke into a radiant grin, the sunlight glowing off her tanned skin. “It is a traditional Tamaranean crown of blessing to mark one's passage into their next solar cycle.”
“Uh-huh…” Gar leaned in towards the thing, nostrils flaring tentatively, then recoiled with a grimace, bile rising in his throat. “And why is it made of—um—very strongly smelling raw meat?”
Kori's smile fell, her light fading, and the balloon-festooned pink garland in her hands drooped. “Do you…not think Raven will like it?”
“Of course she'll like it!” Vic said cheerfully from across the counter. “Who wouldn't like a crown made of meat!?”
Kori perked back up instantly, the sarcasm flying completely over her head, then went back to pinning the end of the garland in place above the window.
“Uh—the animals that used to be that meat?” Gar muttered.
“Shhh—” Vic gave him a stern look, voice lowered so Kori wouldn't hear. “Girl worked all morning on it, let her enjoy her weird solar-whatever-meat-hat-thing.”
Gar rolled his eyes.
He dumped his armful of chip bags onto the counter as Dick followed him down into the kitchen from the elevator, carrying the rest of the shopping bags and a stack of pizza boxes.
They unloaded everything onto the available counter-space, Dick and Victor both very carefully ignoring each other on either side of the island.
Gar glanced between them, then started collecting the tubs of ice cream, piling them up into his arms, his limbs stretching past the bounds of human proportions to hold them all as he carried them over to the freezer.
“Looks great, Star!” Dick called.
She grinned at him, lavender dress fluttering around her as she floated back down.
“Remind me how exactly this is supposed to work again,” Terra grumbled, passing another clump of yellow balloons up to the alien, a very put-out expression on her face. “Throwing a surprise party for a kind-of mind-reader that knows where we all are all the time and what we're doing—”
“That's why we're doing it now.”
Gar's voice emanated out from the freezer as he tried to jam the ice cream cartons in place, his green head half stuck inside. “Cause Rae always meditates in the afternoon, and while she's in one of her spell-circle things she won't be able to sense anything from the rest of us. Then when she comes down to make her tea—surprise!”
Victor and Dick traded an amused glance out of habit, then looked away quickly, both of them frowning.
Gar turned back around and stopped as the stares of everyone else in the room settled on him. He flushed a dark green. “At least…that's the plan…”
“An excellent plan really,” Vic added darkly.
Dick shot him a look as the girls giggled from over at the TV.
Terra smirked, passing another clump of balloons up to Koriand'r, her worn flannel shirt hanging off her slim shoulders. “I think it's cute,” she said sweetly, batting her eyelashes at Gar. “He's like her little puppy.”
Vic let out a snort of laughter, and Gar's cheeks and neck darkened further.
“Oh, shut up.” He frowned at all of them. “I just—wanted to do something nice for her.”
Vic shook his head slowly, smiling down at him, trying to contain his laughter. “Yeah, well, I set up a motion sensor outside her door, so we'll get a heads-up when she comes out.” He glanced down at the screen embedded into his prosthetic arm, the sleeves of his gray sweatshirt ripped off at the shoulders to allow him easy access. “We should have another couple of minutes to get everything set up.”
Dick took in the room, looking around at the decorations that had been put up—the colorful streamers and balloons framing the window and the massive 'Happy Birthday' banner hanging beneath—and he had to fight back a grimace.
“Gar,” he said quietly, trying to keep his voice from carrying over to the girls. “Are you sure a surprise party is such a good idea—”
“Uh, it's Raven,” Victor drawled loudly, cutting in before Gar could respond. He raised one eyebrow at Dick, his voice twisting into a mocking tone. “You know, our resident party girl? Why don't you go tell her we're throwing her a party, I'm sure she'll come right down!”
Dick frowned back at him. “Point taken.”
Vic huffed out a breath, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the massive tower of pink and blue and green icing in front of him. The last few layers at the top sat slightly lopsided, making it tilt precariously to one side, and he reached up to stick the last candle into place.
“Okay—” he raised his voice proudly, waving his arms with a flourish at the cake— “the super birthday cake is officially completed!”
Gar eyed the monstrosity of cake. “Yeah,” he said critically, his lips pursing, “but is there enough pink on it?”
Vic pointed the piping bag of pink frosting at him threateningly, his cybernetic eye narrowing in. “Like I'm taking decorating advice from a walking disco brussel sprout.”
“It's not my fault you have no sense of style,” Gar sniffed, tugging proudly on the garishly patterned hawaiian shirt hanging off his shoulders, the fabric covered in abstract shapes of every color imaginable in a riotous pattern.
His eyes fell on the pile of items left on the counter, and he grinned. He snatched out a stack of paper party hats, and popped a brightly striped yellow and purple cone onto his mess of green hair, snapping the string into place under his chin. “See? Fabulous.”
“Uh-huh.”
Gar's grin sharpened. “Oh, don't worry—” He scampered around the counter before Victor could react, moving behind his back and stretching up to hook another party hat onto Vic's head. “There's one for you too—”
“Hey—”
Victor tried to elbow him off, but Gar ducked easily beneath the swing, reaching out to swipe a finger through a thick swirl of icing on the side of the cake.
“You little bastard, fuck off!”
Vic swatted at him with the piping bag, and bright pink goo squirted out across the cabinets. Gar danced away with an evil cackle, pink splattering on his cheek and shirt collar, blending in perfectly with the pattern on the fabric.
He wiped it off his skin, licking the frosting off his fingers. “Too slow Tin-man! Mmm—tastes good though—”
Gar lunged at Dick next, another hat in his hand, but Dick twisted, stepping sideways, and snatched it neatly out of the boy's hand as he shot past.
Victor yanked the hat off his head, the pink and blue paper crumpling in his fist, and chucked it at Gar.
He ducked the throw, then popped back up, sticking his tongue out, and scampered off with another laugh before Vic could take another shot at him, joining the girl's decoration efforts under the window.
Vic spun the cake around carefully to inspect the damage, grumbling darkly to himself at the smeared line of pink.
Dick stood silently on the other side of the counter, Victor studiously ignoring him. He set the green and orange paper hat down, watching, his mouth pressing tighter and tighter together, the silence thickening between them. Finally, he broke the tension.
“Vic—we need to talk.”
“Oh, now you want to talk?” The other boy didn't even look up, his eyes fixed on the side of the cake as he tried to carefully re-pipe the icing.
“What does that mean?”
Victor finally looked up to glare at him, the red light of his cybernetic eye flaring brightly. “It means that you've been doing a great job of holing up in your room and pouting the last couple of days—”
“I was working.”
“Yeah, well, so was I,” he snapped, narrowing his eyes. “And I've been helping BB and the girls with this. So go ahead, talk.” He turned back to the cake in clear dismissal.
Dick sighed. He looked down, bracing his hands on the edge of the counter, chewing on the inside of his lip.
“You were right,” he said softly. “I shouldn't have said that stuff to Gar.”
Victor snapped his head up in surprise, then his eyes narrowed again, waiting. “And?”
“And?”
Vic scowled at him. “Yes, 'and'.”
He let out a huff of breath at Dick's silence, setting the piping bag down on the counter and crossing his arms heavily over his chest, uneven gaze boring across the kitchen.
“You know, ever since we met, you've made it your business to know everything about how all our messed up shit works.” He gestured roughly at his own body before recrossing his arms, the bright lights in the kitchen reflecting off the shiny metal plates forming his limbs from the biceps down, the silver a stark contrast to his dark skin. “But the minute I want to know more about your little toys—yeah yeah, I know—” he rolled his eyes as Dick's mouth pressed into a thin line— “not toys, whatever—you throw up a wall. When you had me design that voice-command system, you didn't even want to tell me what it was for.”
Vic pressed both hands flat against the countertop, shoulders hunching angrily. “I don't even know what else you have in that belt because you're so paranoid about keeping all your little bat-secrets safe.” He leveled a dark stare at Dick. “That's not fair. And it's dangerous. If Gar had known what that explosive was, he never would have messed with it, you know that.”
“I know.” Dick sighed again, looking down.
Victor's eyes flashed. “Do you not trust us? Is that the problem?”
“Of course I trust you—it's not—”
“Really?” Vic crossed his arms again, frowning. “Cause you sure don't act like it. You're asking us to trust you with everything we are, and you're still keeping secrets—just like every other hero I've known.”
He shook his head in disgust. “I thought you were going to be better than that. And there's really no point in being here if you're just going to treat us like we're less than you—like we're your sidekicks—”
“You're not my sidekicks,” Dick said sharply. “We're a team.”
“Are we?”
They glared at each other.
Then Dick let out a heavy breath. He shook his head, his eyes dropping back to the counter, running a hand through the messy black spikes of his hair. “I trust you, it's not… It's just—I've never been…apart of a team like this. A real team.”
Vic's metal eyebrow clicked upwards.
“It's always just been me and Bruce,” Dick said. His voice got softer, bitterness creeping in, his face darkening. “And he isn't the best at…well, at communicating in general. I always had to poke and prod and snoop to get any bit of information out of him, and even then, his gadgets were completely off limits until he felt like I had earned them. And they…they mean a lot to me.”
He looked up to meet Victor's mismatched eyes steadily across the counter. “And they aren't just my secrets to share, you know that, but… you're right. It's not fair, and I should've trusted you with them. You guys need to know what kind of weapons and tools I have—just like I know your powers. I'm just so used to…”
He sighed again, shoulders slumping. “I've only ever been a sidekick. And I guess, in trying to be the leader, I…”
“Turned into a dick?”
Dick glared up at him, but caught the small upwards twist at the corner of the other boy's wide mouth. He relaxed, letting out a breath, and smiled ruefully back. “Yeah, I did didn’t I?”
“Well, just a little one…”
“Wow, thanks.”
Vic smirked at him.
Dick chuckled despite himself, then shook his head, his expression sobering again.
His fingers clenched against the edge of the countertop, and his eyes dropped down to the dark stone.
“I'm trying Vic, but I don't—it's not like there's a manual for this stuff.”
Vic watched him silently for a moment, then he turned back to the cake, picking up the piping bag again with a snort.
Dick looked up sharply, his shoulders tensing.
“Well, your first mistake was thinking you had to do it alone.”
Dick blinked.
“You may be the leader,” Vic explained slowly, emphasizing every word as if speaking to a particularly dense toddler, “but we're a team. And that means that it's not just one person in charge telling everyone else what to do—it's all of us, working together.”
He leaned forward over the counter, meeting Dick's eyes squarely. “Let us help you lead.”
An answering smile slowly stretched across Dick's face.
His blue eyes brightened, the tension falling away. “That sounds…like a really good idea.”
Vic rolled his eyes. “Try to hide the shock in your voice, would you?” He scratched at the line on his scalp where his short layer of hair met the metal plate over half of his skull, and let out a heavy breath. “Look, I know I don't have the same amount of experience as you do, and I know this whole thing is your project, but…I can help—”
“You're officially second in command.”
Vic looked up in surprise, at the arm Dick extended to him across the counter, his hand held out.
His mouth cracked upwards in a grin, his eyes flashing, and he reached out and took Dick's offered hand with a firm grip, his metal fingers dwarfing the other boy's as they shook.
“But I'll warn you, being in charge kind of sucks.”
Vic smirked back, his eyes narrowing. “Yeah, but you're still the boss, so it's your ass on the line when Gar really does blow something up.”
“Oh joy,” Dick rolled his eyes with a groan, but smiled. “So, we're cool?”
“Frosty.”
“Good, you have done the apologizing.” Kori dropped down by the edge of the counter, making both of them turn in surprise, and she gave them each a stern look.
They both smiled back sheepishly.
She shook her head in exasperation, one of Gar's party hats crowning her flaming curls, then smiled. “Now, Garfield says this strange, paper-covered creation must be filled with candy, and then I am to hang it…?”
She held out a bright green mass of ruffled paper shaped like some sort of cartoonish horse, complete with purple saddle blanket and tiny, matching sombrero, looking down at the thing in confusion as Gar and Terra followed her over from the other side of the room
“Seriously? You got her a pinata?”
“Yeah!” Gar shot back indignantly, “they're like the best part of birthday parties!”
“Maybe if you're five.” Vic rolled his eyes, then grinned evilly at Dick, moving around the counter to take the green llama from Star and holding it up with a little shake. “But did you happen to notice the color? She won't be able to resist.”
They both looked over at Gar in unison, smirking.
He frowned at the pinata, head tilting to the side. Then the pieces clicked in his head. “Hey, that's—ugh,” he groaned, furiously trying to keep the blush from spreading across his cheeks.
Victor laughed, shaking his head in exasperation. “Good lord, the two of you are ridiculous. Can you just make out or something already so the rest of us don't have to deal with this anymore?”
Gar flushed a bright shade of green, his eyes shooting open wide with a squeak of alarm. “What—”
“Make out?” Kori asked. “Make out with what?”
“With Rae,” Victor drawled, smile widening as Garfield blushed even deeper. “Make out, kiss, stick his tongue down her throat, you know, like what you did to Boy-Wonder that night we met.”
Kori blinked, looking to Dick as his cheeks turned bright pink, and Victor nudged him in the side with a metal elbow, grinning evilly. “You remember that, don't you Dickie?”
Dick cleared his throat, not meeting the alien's bright green eyes across the counter. “Yeah, well, I think that would be a spectacularly bad idea.”
“Oh, come on, have you seen the way she looks at the little beansprout?”
Gar's mouth dropped open. “I—what?” His eyes snapped back and forth between them in shock. “That's—um—I—”
Kori clapped a hand to her mouth, trying to suppress a surge of bright laughter, Terra watching the conversation with an amused grin, and Gar turned away hastily, rubbing the back of his neck, dark green spreading across every inch of exposed skin.
“I have to—um—” He snatched the pinata and scuttled away from the counter as fast as he could go.
Victor let out a cackle of laughter. “You forgot the candy!” he shouted, and lobbed the bag at Terra. She rolled her eyes as she caught it, following Gar back towards the window.
Dick groaned, rubbing a hand over his face as he shook his head. “She's gonna slaughter him.”
“Yeah, and we get front row seats!” Victor pushed off the counter, making to follow the other two.
Dick just shook his head again.
“Richard? A question…”
He turned to face Koriand'r beside him, the nervous tone in her quiet voice immediately commanding his full attention. Victor paused as well, looking back towards the kitchen.
“Star?”
She kept her eyes carefully fixed on the countertop, her long, tan fingers resting on the dark granite.
“This…making out…” she said cautiously, “the act of kissing?…It is...used purely for romantic purposes on this world?”
The boys traded a glance.
“…Yes…” Victor said slowly. He narrowed his eyes at her, walking back to the counter on her other side, Dick watching in trepidation. “Does that mean it's…more than that on your world?”
Kori bit her lip, still not looking up at either of them. “It is…the same, but…”
“But?”
She winced. “The act of language assimilation, that I…um…preformed when we met?”
She peeked up at the boys, then back down, both of them staring at her in apprehensive silence. “In my culture, it is, well…it is primarily a…a way to seal a contract of betrothal.”
Their mouths dropped open simultaneously.
“It is a practice from a time when many regions did not share the same language, and arranged marriages between disparate peoples were used as a common method of peace negotiations. The arranged pair would…kiss…upon meeting, and the gift of tongues would allow them to inherit each other's languages instantaneously. It became tradition…”
“I'm sorry, what?”
“You mean—” Dick looked at her in horror and swallowed, ignoring Victor. He pointed between the two of them weakly. “We're…”
“No!” Kori's cheeks turned vivid orange, her luminous blood rushing to the surface as she shook her head wildly, flaming curls bouncing. “It is not—I did not mean for it to be—but I did not know what else to do, and I did not know if your world placed the same significance on the ritual—”
“Um, no—we don't—”
“Oh this just keeps getting better and better!” Victor crowed, slapping his hand against the counter as he bellowed with laughter. “Wait till I tell Bat-Dad he's gonna have a daughter in law!”
“Don't you dare!”
“It does not mean anything!” Kori said desperately. “We were on this world, not mine, so your customs would take precedent, but I thought it unfair that you did not know…” She flushed even brighter, her cheeks glowing, heat spilling out from her as her hair and eyes flared with light.
“Can I plan the wedding? Can I?!”
“Wedding? What wedding?” Gar called from in front of the TV, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he and Terra looked over.
“They're engaged!” Vic pointed at Dick and Kori with one metal hand, still roaring with laughter. “Oh Dick, now you can be a real princess—”
“No we're not! Shut up.” Dick shoved the other boy away. “Go—stuff the pinata or something.”
Victor kept laughing, stumbling off towards the couch.
“I am sorry—” Kori twisted her hands nervously in front of her, not meeting his eyes. “I did not mean to cause embarrassment—”
A fresh wave of laughter from Gar and Terra exploded across the room and Dick shot Victor another nasty look. Then took a deep breath. “Star—it's okay—really.”
Neon green eyes peeked up at him from beneath dark lashes.
“You are not upset?”
“No—no.” He shook his head, running a hand through his hair, his cheeks heating traitorously. “We never would have been able to understand you if you hadn't—it's just—that's not what I was expecting…”
“It truly does not mean anything.”
“Good,” he said in relief. “I mean—uh—” he cleared his throat hastily— “not that I don't—um—I mean I do—I—” His eyes opened wide.
“You do?”
Kori watched him in rapt attention, her eyes brightening with every word.
A wave of heat burned across his face. “I mean, I…you're…” His eyes trailed over her, and he swallowed quickly. “It's just…marriage is, um…a big deal…” he trailed off lamely.
Victor flashed him a thumbs up from behind the alien's shoulders.
A brilliant grin stretched slowly across Kori's face.
Then she cast her eyes back down, looking up at him again through her lashes, her smile turning coy. “I believe on this world, the expression would be 'going too fast?'”
“Yes—” Dick breathed in relief.
“We must do the dating first.”
Dick nodded vigorously. Then blinked. “Wait—what?”
Something beeped loudly on the other side of the room.
They both turned towards the noise, everyone looking at Victor as a tiny blue light suddenly blinked to life on the computer panel on his arm.
His eyes went out of focus for a few seconds, the red light on the left dimming, then snapped back to full attention. “Kay—showtime!” he called, setting the pinata on the low coffee table. “Birthday girl's on the move!”
Kori let out a squeak of excitement and snatched the strangely shaped lump of meat she had made off of the counter, cradling the plate against her chest. She grabbed Dick's hand with a grin, pulling him with her towards the couch.
Gar raced over, a clump of balloons in his hands, Terra behind him, and they all ducked behind the cushions.
Victor followed them slowly around the couch, tapping at the screen on his arm, and the Tower responded, surging to life around them. The lights all turned off, and with a loud whir of mechanics a series of metal panels slid down smoothly from the ceiling to cover the huge wall of glass looking out over the bay, dropping the room into premature darkness.
He crouched down besides Terra, and all of them peeked up over the top of the cushions with baited breath, waiting.
The elevator doors slid open.
Raven stood under the lights, her head bowed, dark blue hood casting her face into impenetrable shadow, her arms wrapped around her middle.
Slowly, she straightened up. Her arms fell to hang limply down at her sides as she stepped forward, her movements heavy, listless, every step taking her full effort.
The doors closed behind her, and she drifted to a stop, standing in the middle of the raised walkway around the room, not registering the unusual darkness surrounding her.
Then she pulled in a deep breath, and slowly raised her hands out in front of her, staring down at her palms. Her face empty.
Dick frowned. His mouth opened, eyes fixed on her, head turning slightly to the side to whisper to Gar that something was wrong, that they shouldn't—
Raven's head snapped up.
The lights switched on as Victor punched a button on his arm, and the other four jumped up from behind the couch, Kori pulling Dick up with her in excitement.
“SURPRISE!”
Raven screamed.
She jumped back, eyes open wide in terror, darkness flaring wildly out around her. Razor sharp whips of shadow sliced deep into the walls and floor, the lights above her body exploding with bursts of glass. She slammed back into the wall behind her, shrinking down and clutching at it desperately, black flames encasing her hands and flickering up over her arms.
They all froze.
“Uh…Rae…?” Gar took a hesitant step forward, the clump of brightly colored balloons bobbing behind his head, their strings clutched in one green fist.
“It is merely us…” Kori shifted forwards as well, her face a mask of concern, the plate of meat held out before her like a peace offering. “Your friends...with warm wishes for the day of your birth…” She made to float up over the back of the couch, but Dick's hand closed tight on her arm, holding her in place.
She looked at him uncertainly.
“Raven?” Dick pitched his voice low, speaking softly, holding very still as he watched her.
Darkening purple eyes darted wildly around the room, her face icy white, chest heaving like a cornered animal beneath a pane of rippling darkness solidifying around her in a protective shield. She glanced over all of them, not really seeing them, then to the space behind them, then quickly to either side as if expecting monsters to jump out of the shadowy corners.
“Open the window,” Dick hissed.
Vic immediately complied, and the metal panels over the wall of glass receded back into the ceiling with the touch of a button, afternoon sunlight filling every corner of the room again with cheery light.
The violent shadows around her flared, her eyes darting once more around the room, then stilled, melting back in towards her.
“Raven…” Dick tried again.
Her eyes snapped to his.
The air shivered, vibrating with a faint energy that made every hair on his body stand on end, goosebumps rising on his skin as pitch-black eyes met his.
“Shit,” Vic whispered.
Raven clenched her hands into fists, trying desperately to keep them from trembling, her heart pounding in her chest as she forced herself to take deep, steadying breaths. Her face went eerily blank.
Dick and Victor traded a glance.
Gar forced himself into motion.
He climbed carefully up onto the couch, then hopped over the back, landing with a smile on his face, paper hat perched at a jaunty angle on his head. He ignored the sinister prickle on his skin, Raven's dark eyes piercing into him.
“Happy birthday!” he said cheerfully, but his voice fell flat, the energy humming through the air stretching tighter. “We wanted to do something…”
He faltered under her glare. He glanced quickly back over his shoulders, first to Victor, then to Dick, desperately looking for help.
They stood silently, staring at Raven.
Gar twisted back to face her, swallowing. He fixed the smile back in place, gesturing to the decorations filling the living room, the kitchen counter piled high with junk food, and held his handful of balloons out towards her. “And you said you don't like halloween, so we did a traditional birthday!”
Kori followed him forward, lifting herself effortlessly over the couch, beaming, her hair and eyes bursting into full radiance. “And I have assembled for you a Tamaranean Throk'nar,” she said proudly, proffering the gift in front of her. “The crown of meat!”
Gar eyed the thing in distaste, then took another step forward towards Raven, Dick and Victor and Terra quickly winding their way around either side of the couch to join him and Kori out front.
“And Chrome-Dome made you a cake and everything!” He pointed at the massive, slightly crooked tower of bright frosting displayed behind the food on the counter.
Icy silence met his words.
“…Rae?”
“How did you know it was my birthday?”
Her low voice cut through the room, rough and biting.
Their eyes all flicked to Dick, standing at the edge of the group.
He frowned back at them all before facing her again. “I didn't tell them,” he said quickly. “It was just something I put in your file when we met, I didn't think it was a big deal...”
Pitch-black eyes settled on him, and he could feel the betrayal in them, the pain.
“I'm sorry.” His voice faltered. “I hope this is okay—”
“No, it's not.” Raven peeled herself away from the wall, voice sharp as razor blades, her shadow seething and stretching out behind her, flaring out across the plaster. She shut her eyes, squeezing her fists as hard as she could, her nails biting into her skin.
The marks on her palms burned.
Screams echoed in her head.
“But—” Koriand'r's face fell, and she took another step forward, reaching out to Raven. “There will be music and the iced cream, and a strange game involving pins and the behind of a donkey!”
“I'm not interested,” Raven snapped.
Dick moved forward, holding out an arm sharply to the others to hold them back, eyes fixed on the girl at the top of the short flight of steps.
She backed away as he cautiously approached her, shaking her head, her shoulders trembling and eyes darting frantically around the room again. Shadows poured out from her in a menacing tide, rippling out across the floor, and he stopped as he reached the top of the steps, hands held up in a clear sign of surrender.
“Raven, what's wrong?” he asked softly, his voice too low to carry to the others. “We just thought…you didn't like the halloween theme, but—”
“You thought wrong,” she snapped. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, panic bright in her eyes. “I don't want a party—any party—and I don't want to celebrate.”
His bright blue eyes narrowed, piercing right through her, seeing too much, his mind spinning fast.
He took another slow step forward.
“You've been inside my mind,” he said very softly. There was no upturn in voice at the end, no question. Just a quiet statement of fact.
She didn't bother to deny it, just kept her arms wrapped tight around herself, hands clenched in the dark blue fabric, eyes flicking back and forth between his.
He raised one hand, moving to place it gently on her shoulder. “Let me inside yours.”
“No—” She stepped quickly away from him before he could touch her, before his concern and alarm and sympathy could overwhelm her. Darkness snapped through the space between them, blocking his path.
“Raven—”
“No! just no—leave me alone!”
“Rae?”
Garfield bounded up the stairs behind Dick, disregarding the other boy's direction to stay put, heedless of the dark magic charging the air like electricity.
He ignored Dick's sharp gesture to back up.
Bright golden eyes glanced between them quickly in apprehension, then focused on Raven. “Come on Rae,” he tried to smile teasingly, to lighten the darkness swallowing up the room. “I know you hate fun, but it's your birthday! It's special—”
“NO!” she shouted.
The fearsome edge to her voice cracked, a pained, terrified cry breaking through, and a wave of frozen, palpable fear crackled through the air.
Darkness surged out of her, lashing out through the room.
The balloons in Gar's hand exploded with bangs like gunfire, the boy throwing his hands up over his head desperately, and the others all cringed back by the couch, ducking down as all the lights in the room flickered.
The bannerover the TV shredded into pieces as phantom claws dragged through it, bits of paper fluttering down in a mockery of confetti. The screen cracked, and the garland above it ripped free from its hangings, falling to the floor. Half the dishes on the counter exploded, shards of ceramics flying, chips and candy spilling out across the kitchen.
The top half of the cake Victor had so painstakingly decorated sheared off, smashing onto the counter in a mess of frosting and broken candles.
Raven bolted.
She turned on her heel, running headlong at the elevator doors. Darkness flowed up over the metal as she reached them, swirling in a vortex of energy across the surface, and she vanished into it, her body swallowed in an instant.
The shadows faded, swirling away into nothing, revealing the reflective surface of the doors again.
They slid open with a soft chime, the interior of the empty elevator car lit with cheery brilliance.
Gar straightened up, staring after her, his mouth hanging open.
“Maybe…” Vic said slowly, “maybe a surprise party wasn't the best idea…”