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Caroling and Christmas decorations filled downtown Jump City with breezy, cool winter winds giving it the heart of true holiday spirit. Raven and Starfire of the Titans left a shop with bags in hand, trying to keep the wind out of their face while looking for the nearest electronics store.
“Do you think they’ll still have any of those consoles in stock?” asked Kori as they spotted one across the street.
“Only one way to find out,” spoke Raven over the caroling nearby. It was as if the small crowd gathered were trying to inch closer to them sideways as they sang. Undoubtedly, she and Kori were being recognized by everyone passing by at least.
They made on their way across the downtown road, being hasty to avoid cars and cautious to avoid bumping other pedestrians who seemed to not always be just out of range of their bubble. Raven saw a red Lamborghini nearly crash as it came around the bend and the driver lost focus catching a glimpse of Starfire.
“This is why online shopping is the thing to do,” muttered Raven as they got to the door of Fry’s Electronics.
“Oh, come on, Raven,” said Kori, still far too jubilant, “we rarely get out of the tower together. And besides! It’s Christmas!”
“That’s kind of the whole reason I agreed to come,” said Raven dryly, but Kori wasn’t listening, already walking into the store in gleeful holiday anticipation. Raven sighed and followed suit.
She didn’t really know what to do here. Raven knew nothing about electronics and Starfire, barely more. ‘PlayStation’ was the only word she could even remember because both Garfield and Jaime moaned on and on about how having the new one for the living area would be wonderful. Subtle hints, thought Raven.
The store was nearly depleted, so she didn’t have much hope. The clerk behind the counter did a take when he saw who walked in, however. Maybe he could help them come up with something.
“Hi,” the scruffy clerk said. He looked to be about Dick’s age and wearing a Santa hat. “Welcome to Fry’s. I’m Fry. What can I help you ladies with?”
“Greetings Fry,” said Kori happily, “we’re looking for, er, a Station of Play,” she said rather importantly.
The clerk understandably looked confused. “Uhm, you mean a PlayStation?”
Kori made a face. “What an odd word.”
“It is,” Raven agreed, “but yeah, that one.”
“We’ve been out for weeks ladies,” the clerk reluctantly admitted, “I’m sorry.”
Kori looked crestfallen. Raven was unbothered.
“They could do with more books and less surround sound anyways,” she said, but Fry was rubbing the back of his neck as if he were doing some quick deliberating in his head.
“I actually do have a PS5 left in the back,” he said, “it’s actually for my son.”
“We could never-“ Kori was quickly saying, but Fry cut her off.
“There’s a trade I have in mind,” he explained, “my son, he plays for a team in the local soccer league. The eight-year-old division. His team’s name is actually the Jump City Titans, ha ha… But, well, he really wants this console, but I don’t think anything would make him happier than seeing the actual Titans?”
“You want us to cheer him on at one of his games?” clarified Raven. “We could do that.” Fry smiled wide.
“That would be the greatest present ever,” he cried enthusiastically.
“Well, Mr. Fry, you’ve got yourself a deal,” agreed Kori, shaking his hand, pulling back quickly as she realized she nearly crushed his.
It was a glorious afternoon out. Though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the winter sun was never quite as bright and awful as it could be during summer. Raven walked side-by-side with Kori past more downtown shops, now enjoying the fading caroling in the background.
Until Kori turned to her as they walked and brought stress back with a simple question.
“What are you getting Damian?”
Crap.
Damian did not like much and he especially didn’t care to accumulate stuff. His room was as minimalistic as it got. He liked watches? But when Raven walked into Audemars Piguet’s local boutique first thing when they got to downtown she found every instrument there tens of thousands of dollars out of her price range. He wore a lot of sweatshirts? But everything he wore was tailor-made by someone the Wayne family’s butler commissioned. And it’s not like Damian particularly cared about style anyhow. And of course, there wasn’t an ancient sword shop with a historic katana around that he’d appreciate…
“I have no idea what to get him,” she admitted, watching the sidewalk as they walked along.
“Nonsense,” said Kori in surprise, “Dick has no idea what to get him. If anyone knows what to get Damian for Christmas, it’s you!”
So no pressure.
“You’re the one who gifted him Titus,” Kori carried on as explanation.
“Titus wasn’t necessarily a gift,” disagreed Raven, “he was something Damian needed at the time. After Slade and everything, he was left with a hole and didn’t know how to fill it.”
“Titus is his most treasured possession,” Kori lightly argued.
“Cause if he doesn’t make sure he’s fed, I’ll blast him during practice.”
“He lets Titus sleep on the bed with him.”
Raven stopped and frowned at her friend. “Howww exactly do you know that?”
“Dick,” Starfire replied easily, “there’s not a secret he can keep. He’s walked in Damian’s room at the manor and seen them.”
Raven wasn’t sure what to say to that. So that’s how he had dog hair on him sometimes.
Titans Tower wasn’t outwardly very festive as they didn’t think Bruce Wayne would want to pay for the thousands of lights it would take to cover the outlining of the building, but the common space used between the inhabitants was now filled with a twenty-foot Christmas tree neatly decorated with displays from each member of the team and stockings hung on the wall, already stuffed. Christmas was two days away and Raven swore she could still hear the hypnotizing seasonal music in the confinements of her home. As she and Koriand’r wrapped the presents they bought the boys and set them under the tree that evening, Damian himself came in with Titus at his side. For some odd reason she couldn’t explain, Raven felt caught and stood up rather quickly.
“Hi,” she said. Damian was looking on curiously. There were a few presents stacked in his hands as well. Titus barked.
“Hello Damian,” said Kori, and Raven could tell there was amusement in her voice, “did some late shopping of your own, I see.” Damian looked away from the girls awkwardly.
“Grayson informed me that the stocking stuffers selected alone were likely not adequate,” he said. He came forward and knelt down to place the new presents right by theirs. Raven saw one addressed with her name specifically on it and fought to control her face as if she’d seen nothing at all. Damian stood back up, unexpectedly examining the large green wrapped gift Raven and Kori got to the receiver named ‘Boys’.
“You managed to obtain a PlayStation 5 this late into the season?” he asked, throwing them both off.
“Okay, x-ray vision,” said Kori, placing her hands on her hips, “how did-“
“It’s the exact size of the box the console comes in,” explained Damian as if this was obvious knowledge, “you put that box inside of another box and then wrap it to fool them,” he finished for them and began walking away, Titus obediently at his side. Once he was clear, Raven and Starfire exchanged a look. After two-thirds of an hour figuring out how to gift wrap, it appeared they had more work to do…
Christmas Eve arrived in gentle holiday fashion. The winds were not as sharp, the Titans were a little bit more inviting of the tunes that Starfire sang along to, and an air of togetherness seemed to be infecting the tower.
Damian joined Raven in making some tea that late morning while everyone else was at the front watching cartoons and goofing off together. Pulling out a couple of mugs while the kettle went off, she decided to ask him what his plans for tomorrow were.
“Father is handling a stake-out at the moment and he bought Pennyworth two tickets to Italy to pick up his new present,” said Damian, pouring the hot tea for them both. “A pasta maker,” he said in response to Raven’s questioning look. She laughed.
“Why two tickets?” she asked.
“Pennyworth has a daughter about Grayson’s age,” said Damian. “They should spend more time together.”
Raven nodded, adding in dollops of honey and taking enjoyment in her favorite part: the first sip. Divine. Peeking sideways at Damian, she asked, “So no Wayne Manor?”
“And no God awful Wayne Manor parties,” sighed Damian in relief, closing his eyes upwards as if he’d had a long day simply thinking about it. Raven smiled.
“Aw, come on now, they weren’t all that bad,” came Dick’s voice. She and Damian looked around as he proceeded into the kitchen and pulled a sports drink bottle out of the fridge. Twisting the cap off, he smirked at the duo.
“So what ya two doin’ back here avoiding everyone else?” he asked, a gleam in his eye.
Damian’s hard glare and Raven’s stare gave away nothing. Damian lifted his mug and said, “Give you two guesses, Nightwing.”
“Ooh, you don’t want to hear my guesses,” Dick confidently said, smirking at their reaction. He walked away, sipping his over-sugared beverage from a plastic bottle, leaving Raven and Damian with nothing more to do than try not to awkwardly glance at each other.
It remained a fine day until the red alarms of the tower blared a few hours later.
“On Christmas Eve!” Beast Boy complained.
“Garfield, keep it together,” said Dick sternly, already in Nightwing mode, “Titans, go!”
Raven fly beside Beetle and Beast Boy, Damian on the ground beneath them on his red motorcycle. Nightwing led the way with Starfire as her voice came in their ear.
“There’s a reported raid coming from Palmer Technologies local factory.”
“They produce some of the world’s most experimental equipment,” furthered Damian. “Nothing can get away from that building.”
“Any suspected culprit?” asked Jaime as they made their way past the bay to the barren west side of Jump City’s city limits where the factory was.
“Haven’t heard of any jailbreaks,” said Nightwing over comms, “be prepared for a new player. Everyone, eyes up.”
Damian punched his bike into high gear and burnt off out ahead of them. The Titans put their own boosters on, hoping to finish up whatever seasonal tragedy this was looking to be quickly.
It was pandemonium. The factory lied in ruins, a good deal of its top blown off, probably as a dramatic entryway for some over-the-top villain. There were some workers still fleeing the building, screaming in terror as the Titans arrived. Raven swooped down to grab hold of Damian’s hand and brought him up the same as Starfire did Nightwing, opting for the theatrically made entrance in the roof. The Titans dove on through.
Flashbacks of H.I.V.E infiltrations from years past came to Raven. There were a bunch of minor league henchmen in grey suits from head-to-toe wondering around quickly moving technology that Raven couldn’t make heads-nor-tails of. Each of her hands loaded up with dark energy as they all simultaneously glanced up and gasped. Then a squeaky voice yelled, “Get them!”
Raven glanced to where the voice came from as the battle commenced… but didn’t see anybody at first. Then from behind a few of the minions attempting to rush to get equipment to the transportation emerged what looked like a small boy in a creepy, smiling mask. The figure barely stood to the waist height of the men around it.
“Toyman?” asked Nightwing incredulously as he punched out a henchman. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you one of Superman’s baddies?”
“Yes, I would just stick around a city where I can never win,” answered Toyman sarcastically from beneath his weird mask, “you dolt. I should have come here a long time ago. Bring out my new toy!”
Raven blasted several goons clear at once. The rest of the team was making quick work of the rest despite the barrage of blasters flying everywhere. Damian grapple-hooked away from a small explosion and Jaime blasted another hole through the roof as he missed a drone hovering in.
“Hope Ray Palmer’s got insurance,” cracked Beast Boy before turning into an elephant and charging through henchmen stupidly forming an orderly queue.
“We could have tried for not total devastation,” suggested Nightwing, easily taking out two henchmen with his escrima sticks. And that moment cost him. A lucky blast found its way to Nightwing’s knee and he dropped with a loud grimace of pain, vulnerable to more as Toyman was handed a heavy, complex-looking blaster and aimed it right at the eldest son of Batman.
“No!” shouted Kori. She and Raven dove in simultaneously as Beast Boy backtracked as well. Kori blasted two men away that were gunning for her boyfriend and Jaime did the same, kicking someone straight in the chin, causing them to fly ten feet back. Kori, Beetle, and Beast Boy guarded Nightwing, who was struggling to stand. Raven landed out just in front of them, her eyes forward as Toyman pointed that dangerous-looking weapon at them, preparing to fire. She saw Damian attempting to get to him but realized he wasn’t going to make it in the nick of time. Raven created a dark shield around them all to brace for impact as Toyman fired.
It was a strange, white energy beam. The moment it made contact with Raven’s construct, it outlined it. The Titans all glanced up in wonder as whatever Toyman had fired enveloped Raven’s shield in bright light. They felt no pain, but there was a blinding flash.
And then all was dark.
~
When Raven came around, she felt woozy. Everything around her was dark. Her teammates stirring behind her, she wondered if they’d been captured. Opening her eyes blearily, Raven found that they were in a very large, abandoned building. Every surface had a crack in it. Weeds were pushing up from the cement. Curious, she glanced.
“Wh-what?” groaned Garfield, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “Where are we?”
Nightwing looked around astonished as they all came to. “Is this… it can’t be. The Palmer factory?”
And so it was. The Titans all stood up now, staring around them in shock. It looked as if it hadn’t been tended to in a decade. Raven stared at the familiar gigantic hole in the roof.
“What the hell did that diablo hit us with?” asked Jaime hoarsely. Nightwing and Starfire looked at each other, trying to figure out how to proceed. Raven exchanged a quick glance with Jaime and Gar before going cold at the realization that Damian was not with them. She and Nightwing turned to each other at the same time and she read it on his face.
“Robin,” he spoke in a frantic voice.
“Could he have been captured?” asked Beast Boy seriously.
“Not without chopping the toy into little bits,” growled Blue Beetle. Kori tried to take command.
“We need to-“ she started, but an unknown, and yet familiar, voice cut her off from the dark.
“Stay put for a couple of minutes.”
The Titans whirled in that same second, ready for war before the stranger even finished their sentence.
Emerging from the shadows was a tall, easy-going figure with their hands in their pockets that Raven felt no hostility from. They began speaking again before the light from outside was truly on them.
“You were wrong again, Scarab,” it said confusedly, “off by an hour. Dios mio, what am I going to do with you?”
“Uhm, what?” wondered Beast Boy, looking sideways at Beetle. But Jaime looked even more confused than he was. Then their eyes all went wide as the figure finally revealed themselves, stepping out into the light shining down.
It was Jaime. But much older. And taller. He had an easy smile on his face, a thick beard growing from his sharp jawline, wrapped in a thick jacket with comfortable wool on the inside. He watched them with interest as they stared at him in amazement.
“Happy holidays,” said the older Jaime casually to break the tension. The Titans came out of their trance.
“Where are we..?” asked Nightwing in a hushed kind of voice.
“In the future,” replied elder Jaime. “Twelve years so, exactly. That fool Toyman never knew what he made that day. He thought he created a toy to utterly destroy matter. All he really did was build the world’s first time machine and didn’t even properly know how to use it.”
“Time machine?” questioned Starfire.
“How exactly do we know you’re telling the truth?” demanded Jaime.
“Raven’s been scanning me for any deceit since I started talking,” said the older Jaime easily. His dark, but warm eyes flicked to her casually. “Right?”
Raven studied him. Everything about him was an open book. The other Titans looked to her for some kind of answer.
“That doesn’t always reveal everything,” she said sternly. Elder Jaime dropped his head.
“Oh, Raven, you’re more difficult than Damian sometimes,” he muttered to himself.
Damian.
“Where is he?” Nightwing demanded. “If you’re from the future, what’s happened?” Future Jaime raised his palm upwards in a slow-down-and-calm-down manner.
“There’s no need to worry about Robin,” he said, “by the time you guys get back, he’ll have mopped up Toyman and his entire crew. We go back and watch the feed actually as video evidence. He goes ballistic after we disappear.”
“This is all a little much,” said Garfield uneasily. Raven silently agreed with him.
“It’ll all be fine,” said older Jaime. His attention turned to Starfire and Nightwing directly. “There are no technological means for you all to return to the past, but there is a very powerful magic wielder that can boom you back with the right spell. Once you return, to Christmas Eve twelve years ago, John Constantine will have a spell on hand to wipe your minds of the last two days, cause that’s when you will be able to see him. Because, obviously, any of you remember a thing that you see here could drastically affect our time now.”
“Like the Flash Point theory?” asked Garfield in awe. Older Jaime frowned and shrugged.
“I’d rather not use that grim ass example, but, yeah, like the Flash Point,” he agreed.
“And if John wipes our minds,” pointed out Raven, narrowing her eyes in suspicion, “how exactly do you remember every detail?”
Future Jaime jutted a thumb to something behind him. “Constantine’s spell only works on human minds. Scarab remembers every detail of this. He started sharing it with me a few days ago.”
“Twelve years and I’ve still got this guy on my back?” moaned Jaime. A mad series of the bug’s noises started going off.
Older Jaime looked amused and gave a noncommittal shrug. It appeared to Raven as if this was a fact he’d longed made peace with. Then Future Jaime dug something out of his pocket and came out with a handful a small, green glowing orbs.
“Connected glamour spells,” he explained, “cause the less that people know about the Titans visiting the future, the better. The last thing we need is for present-day Toyman to realize he once busted the formula for time travel. Take one apiece. You’ll all be able to see each other for who you are, but people on the outside of your group will just see normal civilians.”
“And you happened to just have these on hand?” asked Raven, though her suspicion was dropping by the second as everything came together.
“My wife had to pull some strings,” answered Jaime, causing a few of them to jolt, “Zatanna and John gave her the hook-up. After saying it was a dire need, they gave it to her without any questions asked.”
Jaime looked to be in some sort of awe.
“Wife..?”
“Traci,” said Future Jaime warmly, not taking his eyes off the orbs, “it turns out she’s got magician blood in her from an old line of Homo Magi. Been training under the two of them for quite a few years now to help her control it.”
“Small world,” commented Raven, watching Jaime from the side of her eye. He appeared close to hyperventilating.
Starfire and Nightwing exchanged long glances. Nightwing nodded once in approval. Then Kori and he walked forward Future Jaime with their hands out, taking an orb each.
“Who is the magic wielder we’ll be seeing?” asked Kori, examining her magical artifact in the palm of her hand. Raven and the other two boys approached future Jaime and grabbed their own. “How will we get there?”
“I have one of the Titan Jets parked outside now,” answered Jaime. “We’ll use that. As I said, I’ve been waiting around for an hour already because Scarab can’t work a clock right. As for the magic wielder… you’ll see who it is when we get there. I’ll call them up and we’ll be on our way.”
“Do we just swallow these?” asked Jaime uncertainly. It was Nightwing who answered.
“You crush them in your hand,” he said. Upon the looks he got, he explained, “Batman and I had to use Glamour spells from Zatanna one time to infiltrate Grodd’s fortress with the Flash.” Without further ado, Nightwing closed his hand into a fist and they all heard a small pop. His physical form had a temporary greenish outline to it, then it faded. He appeared the same to the Titans. Nightwing looked up at Future Jaime curiously.
“Did it-“
“You look like a happy dad who enjoys barbecue and holiday sweets,” retorted Future Jaime, smirking. Kori and Garfield chuckled as the rest of the Titans followed suit. When Raven’s glowing finally subsided, Future Jaime appraised them to make sure everything was in order.
“All good,” he stated, “you guys look like one big happy family.”
“How do I look?” asked Beast Boy excitedly.
“Derpy. So not much has changed there.”
“If we could get going,” suggested Starfire, cutting off the start of their back-and-forth banter, “please, er… future Jaime, will you take us where we need to go? The sooner we return, the better.”
“Agreed,” said the younger Jaime in a hollow sort of voice. He was still watching the grown-up version of himself with an expression of strong disbelief.
Future Jaime nodded vigorously. “Let’s get going then. Jet’s out back, guys.”
They followed him out, huddled together closely. The Titans Jet waiting for them definitely looked new and improved. Though appearing fast and sleek, It looked capable of seating a dozen people. Future Jaime opened up the doors and they loaded in. The Titans strapped themselves in as Future Jaime stood outside making a call. When he was finished, he followed in after them and took the pilot chair between Starfire and Nightwing, who were looking around peculiarly as the other three.
Raven felt curiosity overwhelming herself and the others, right on the brink of breaking through. And of course, Garfield couldn’t help himself as they began lifting off.
“Sooo, who’s all still on the Titans?” he asked, leaning forward in his chair. “I mean, our minds are being wiped of this anyway, right? So come on Jaime, clue us in.”
Starfire looked torn between snapping at him and wanting to know herself. In the silent internal struggle, Future Jaime spoke up.
“Titans have a whole new crew guys,” he answered. Raven found herself between listening intently and inspecting the future Jump City that they were about to fly over. “New team leader is Static- uh, this guy named Virgil. He’ll crop up to the team in about four years from your time.”
“And us?” asked younger Jaime. His future self flitted a glance back his way.
“I rotate my time between the League and the JLD,” said Jaime, concentrating on his flight path again. “Most of us in here are part-timers. You might even see images of us where we’re going…”
“What am I doing?” demanded Garfield in that excited voice. Future Jaime’s smirk grew.
“You’re in the JL,” he said casually, “part-time because you’re doing so well financially. We’re about to fly over the famous Logan building now,” he finished, gesturing to the tallest skyscraper to the left that was definitely not there in their time.
Beast Boy gaped. “Seriously?!”
Future Jaime snorted. “No. Don’t be stupid.”
And indeed, the other side of the building had ‘WAYNE’ written across the top in humongous lettering.
“How about we let go of whatever other questions we have for the time being,” Nightwing suggested as Garfield fumed. He surreptitiously glanced in Starfire’s direction and Raven could feel his wonder without it. Dick was wanting to know if he and Kori had made it. Were they still together.
Raven glanced out the window as the city quickly moved behind them. She wondered where she was out here. Or was she at all? Was there a reason Jaime hadn’t mentioned anything about her future self yet?
In the midst of her contemplating, one of the main screens on the dashboard lit up in front of Future Jaime. He muttered to himself “here we go” before pressing the ‘accept’ button.
The woman that appeared was breathtaking. Unblemished bronze skin, full lips, luscious and long jet-black hair, and eyes the color of the ocean. She had a timeless sort of face that made it hard to pin down how old she could’ve been.
“Hey Jaime,” she said in a soprano voice, “these the time travelers the Scarab told you about?”
“Sure are, Donna,” replied Future Jaime, “they’re from wayyy in the future. Getting them to her now to send them back.”
“Good tidings,” said this Donna woman while looking at Starfire. Her mystical eyes turned to Jaime again. “And Merry Christmas Eve, you! You, Traci, and Jr still coming to the party tonight?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Future Jaime warmly. Donna smiled.
“See you there then,” she said. Her eyes went between Nightwing and Kori. “And Merry Christmas to you all as well! I hope you get back to your home safe and sound.”
“Thank you,” said Starfire. Donna nodded once and cut the connection.
“Donna Troy,” answered Jaime in the following silence, “she joins the team in less than a month once you guys get back.”
“She’s so divine,” said Beast Boy, still dreamily staring at the blank screen.
Older Jaime chuckled. “Yeah, be sure and tell your wife that.”
Starfire cleared her throat before Gar could get on top of that. “Uhm, Jaime, what do we do if we happen to see another one of us here today?”
“Keep to your story I’ve cooked up,” answered Future Jaime steadily, “I’ll explain to the crew what’s happening today at the Christmas Eve party tonight. It’ll explain a lot. You see, we never have had our memories of Christmas that year. John Constantine has only told us we had him wipe them for good reason. Now I guess we’ll finally know. But till then, better safe than sorry.”
They rode in silence for another moment or so, taking it all in. Jump City was now miles away in the distance, but still viewable as they began to descend. Raven peered out the window.
It was a remote area with nothing around it except woods for over a mile. A single-story, long building much like a home rested, looking exceptionally beautiful in the winter light, with a private lake right next to it. Raven loved it.
The Titans Jet pulled to a stop and landed carefully and what appeared to be a humongous front lawn. They filed out, all eyes on the dark wood of the apparent home. Raven hadn’t realized how cold it was until now. Frost clung to the grass and they could all see their breath.
“This is the place?” asked Starfire.
“This is the place,” assured Future Jaime. He began walking forward while rubbing his hands together. Together, they approached large double doors made of a dark, espresso colored wood with a decorative wreath hanging from them.
“Brace yourselves,” muttered the older Jaime before knocking twice. Wondering what he meant, Raven prepared mentally for anything and yet was stilled, frozen in shock, when they saw who was on the other side.
She had opened the door. Raven herself, looking around at them all curiously, an eyebrow infinitesimally arched. Raven stared at her twenty-eight-year-old self. She was slightly taller, her hair was about the same as it had ever been, wore a loosely styled heather grey cable-knit sweater over dark leggings, and there was no dangerous red shard in the middle of her forehead.
“Hey Rae,” greeted Future Jaime warmly, “thanks for getting here so quick. I know you were… busy.”
“It’s fine Jaime,” spoke the Raven of the future, smiling softly. “Come in. Freaking cold out here.” She pulled back the door she had opened wide, giving them enough space to walk past her. Raven kept her eyes dead ahead on Kori’s back as she walked in, scared to look to the side at her future self.
Jaime began explaining to Raven what all was going on. That the Titans were just a family from the future trying to pull a trip into the past as an educational experiment and wound up getting trapped. Raven tried to ignore them as much as she did her team’s sideways glances. Instead, she explored her future home.
It was a fantastic open-floored layout. This wide area stretched from a large kitchen with dark granite counters to a living area with comfortable sofas and a large wall that was entirely a bookshelf illuminated by a twelve-foot-tall Christmas tree next to it. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls comprised the entire back wall giving them a picturesque view of the private lake she had. She could make out the frost on the trees that surrounded the area.
Private, remote, quiet. Raven loved every bit of it.
“Well that’s me then,” said Future Jaime suddenly, pulling Raven out of her studying. “I’m off to the casa. I’ll see you at the party tonight?” he asked Future Raven, who smiled and nodded.
“Be there at eight,” she had said, then paused. “I hope…”
Future Jaime laughed as if they were sharing some kind of private joke. Then he turned to the team. “I hope you guys make it back to your home soon… and Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” said Starfire and Nightwing. Jaime watched the front door wearily a moment after his older self had left and shut it behind him.
Older Raven folded her arms and looked between the seemingly family. “So,” she said, “what were you guys coming back in time to study?”
Kori and Nightwing looked stumped. Raven felt like her gears were either turning much too fast or not moving at all. So Garfield sprang into action.
“We just came back in time for like a Ghosts of Christmas Past event,” he said loudly, waving his hands. Though the rest of the team turned to glare at him, he continued in a joyful sort of voice, “You know, how Jump City used to be at Christmas time. Carolers down the street, wreaths on doors, the whole thing before it all became sky-scrapers as far as the eye could see. Like Star Wars.”
Dick and Kori stared at Garfield with their mouths open. Older Raven watched him, her eyebrow arching an inch higher. No doubt when future Jaime revealed everything to them at whatever party tonight, she’d guess that this one was Beast Boy.
“We’re very sorry to disrupt your Christmas Eve,” Starfire apologized. Raven took her skeptic expression from Garfield to who was unknowingly her oldest friend.
“It’s okay,” she assured her, “but the spell it takes you to send you back from wherever you came is going to take a couple of hours. I have to ready some pretty powerful components from my magical pantry. Jaime said you guys wish to put in the date from when you all came yourselves.”
“It would be for the best,” said Nightwing. Future Raven nodded once. She looked around at them all.
“I’ll prepare,” she said, “in the meantime, make yourselves comfortable, at least. There are drinks in the fridge,” she gestured towards the kitchen with an elegant hand.
“Thank you so much,” said Kori appreciatively. She paused for a moment and then said, “you have a beautiful home.” Raven watched a friendly smile appear on her older self.
“Thank you,” she said before she turned, “it was a wedding gift from my husband,” she finished, and left down the hallway with that bomb hanging over the head of them all.
Raven stared in disbelief at the place where her older version disappeared to. She turned to meet the gawking faces of her team, though Kori and Dick pulled themselves together quickly.
“Well it’s not like that should be a big surprise,” Kori tried, speaking quietly, “you’re a heck of a catch, Raven!”
“And you sure did marry right,” said Beast Boy just as quietly, looking around the place.
Raven’s mind was whirling. It was too much to take in for one day. What was happening…
She started as a hand was placed gently on her shoulder. She looked up to Starfire’s sympathetic eyes.
“Try to do something to make you comfortable,” she said soothingly, “this will all be over soon.”
Raven nodded and began to scour the bookshelves. A lot of her favorites were there. A lot of first editions of her favorites were there. Jaime and Garfield went into the kitchen and came back with glass bottles of sparkling water. Starfire and Nightwing took a seat side-by-side of each other and waited patiently. Dick wrapped an arm around his girlfriend’s shoulder. They thought they heard talking from the other room about twenty minutes in, but Raven only heard her own voice. Now that she had time to take it all in, the room wasn’t quite as spinning as it was before. She started inspecting the Christmas tree. There were no presents underneath it…
After about an hour had passed, Raven’s older self came back with a thick, ancient novel open in her hands.
“The spell will be ready soon,” she told them all. “It requires some time for it to build up enough power to make the portal, but I’ve already got it going.”
‘So what now?” asked Nightwing intently.
“We wait,” older Raven replied. Raven just now noticed that she had a black diamond earring. “It will only be-“ she stopped short as they all saw headlights of a car flash into the room and just heard it pull to a stop. The older Raven seemed to sigh in relief as Raven herself waited with bated breath. Surely coming through the door would be the husband?
But it was not.
The front door was yanked open and in ran a small child joyfully yelling, “Moooom!”
Raven stared, stupefied as her twenty-eight-year-old self knelt down with adoration in her amethyst eyes, putting her hands on the child’s shoulder. It was a young girl with windswept hair the exact shade of Raven’s, but much longer. Hers went well past her shoulders. She seemed to be wearing some kind of sportswear underneath a thick jacket, as Raven spied a uniform dark blue jersey and athletic shorts matched with knee high socks and what looked like studded cleats. The Titans were all utterly dumbfounded and Raven was sure they were expecting a grown man as well. She couldn’t take her eyes off of the wonderful young face. Her nose and cheeks were tainted pink from the cold and she was staring at her future self in glee with familiar, sharp green eyes…
“You’re late getting home,” cooed older Raven in a soft and warm voice. “I thought the game was finishing up as I was leaving?”
“It was. There was a holdup.”
Raven nearly jumped like Nightwing on the sofa at the sound of the new voice. Mouths still hanging open, they turned as the expected fully grown man was shutting the front door behind him as he entered. When he turned to face them, it clicked to Raven why the child’s eyes were so familiar.
Damian’s style had barely changed with time. Though older, and much taller, his neat hair was kept the same way. He wore the same type of hoodie and dark jeans he always had with a Patek Phillipe watch on his wrist and a quizzical arch in his brow as he looked around at the Titans, each one of them staring at him with an open mouth.
“We have guests,” stated Damian simply, “and they seem surprised to see me in my own home.” He looked over to Future Raven and their daughter. “Is this what Jaime called about?”
“Yeah,” said the older Raven, wiping a smudge from her daughter’s cheek, “time travelers.”
Damian shrugged and nodded to all of them absently, walking over to where his family was. Kori came out of it faster than the others and nudged Dick in the ribs with an elbow to get him to stop staring. Raven dropped her own gaze as if it had affected her as well.
It was picturesque indeed as they watched the trio gather close in the light of the Christmas Tree behind them. Like a true miracle. Older Raven gently laid a hand on her daughter’s cheek as Damian stopped to stand behind the child.
“Did you win your game?” asked Raven.
“No,” the young girl said, “We lost by a lot!” She sounded rather happy about it. The Raven of the future smiled fondly with a face as if her child was a cute puppy that she didn’t have the heart to discipline.
“Well that’s a bad way to end off the season,” she said, “did you get a trophy at least?”
The child dropped her eyes in a dramatically sad manner as if all hope was lost.
“No,” she mumbled dejectedly, and it broke Raven’s heart, “dad said trophies are only for winners.”
Garfield couldn’t control a snort of laughter as Future Raven glared over the top of her child’s head at her husband, who wore a face of disbelief.
“I said no such thing!” he sputtered, staring back at Raven in appalment. His child continued to work against him.
“He didn’t even take me out for ice cream like he promised,” she said mournfully. Damian’s lower jaw dropped.
“I let you eat it in the car, you traitor,” he said hurriedly as if to avoid his wife’s wrath. But Future Raven was relaxed now, rolling her eyes and smiling. Though she looked curious up at her husband.
“It took you guys over an hour to get ice cream?” she asked. “The game was almost finished by the time I left.”
“No, there was a holdup,” said the young girl, smiling happily once more. Damian curiously stiffened behind her. “A lot of the other moms saw you leave and came over to talk after the game was done. They kept asking if things were alright and wanted to know if me and dad needed a place to stay and stuff like that. Some of them said they’d always have a room for each of us.”
Starfire pressed her knuckles to her lips to stifle laughter. Raven wished she had five more eyes, wanting to keep them all on each member of the family simultaneously.
“Really?” Future Raven asked her daughter. Then her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit as an uptick appeared at the corner of her mouth. “Whose moms were they?”
“Nooo,” Damian cut across before any more damage could be done, “that’s enough. Raven, it was nothing.”
Raven kissed her daughter on the forehead. “We’ll talk about it later. Now go on Thalia, you smell and we’re going to the party tonight. Go shower.”
The young girl named Thalia lit up like the Christmas Tree. “Will Mar’i be there?” she asked excitedly. Future Raven smiled and nodded. “Aunt Kori texted me as we got to the game saying she and Dick will be making it back in time. Which reminds me,” she said, looking up at her husband again, “Selina called about half an hour ago. She and your dad want to know what time we’ll be getting there tomorrow.”
“As soon as we can get this one calmed down enough to take her somewhere publicly,” said Damian, looking down at his daughter. Raven smiled.
“Now go shower, Thalia,” said Future Raven. “We have work to do.”
“’Kay,” said Thalia mirthfully. She spread her arms out wide and ran down the hallway, making a zoom noise as if she were an actual airplane.
Future Raven stood back up again. She didn’t embrace her husband. They didn’t touch physically but stared each other warmly in the eye standing less than a foot apart. The moment felt far more intimate than what a hug or kiss would have been, but Damian broke it off before any of the Titans could grow uncomfortable, glancing sideways at Kori and Dick on the couch.
“So,” he said, “time travelers?”
“Yeah,” said Dick, standing up and extending a hand, “it’s kind of an education only thing. I’m Richard.”
Damian took his hand with a hmph. “That’ll be easy to remember.”
“Why’s that?” wondered Dick innocently.
“That’s my brother’s name,” said Damian factually. Dick opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again. Damian looked around at them all. His eyes landed on Raven the longest, but before she could make too much of it, loudly said, “You have a beautiful family.”
“Thank you,” said Kori, standing up as well, “as do you.” She looked down the hallway. “What a wonderful, active child.”
“She wanted to play soccer this year to spend time with friends,” explained Future Raven, “and was just old enough in time to join the eight-year-old and up local team called the Jump City Titans.” Current Raven almost choked. “They’ve been around for a few years…”
Raven felt like her legs were about to give out on her. This was too much. Was it all a dream? She scarcely recalled ever having one so happy… As she looked up again and saw Damian walking with Dick and Kori over to the kitchen area, she thought nothing could ever match this. She wanted this life to be real more than anything.
It felt like the ultimate gift…
“You sure do have lots of sweets here,” commented Dick, looking around at all the treats laid out on the counter as Damian grabbed them glass bottles from the fridge. “Thalia bring a lot of friends over.”
“Sometimes,” said Damian, “but those are more for my wife than anything. Raven has a wicked sweet tooth. The first time we ever actually hung out she gave me a bite of her cotton candy and kept the rest to herself. The moment she found out we could import chocolate from Switzerland and Belgium, my credit cards were finished.”
Dick and Kori laughed loudly together. Future Raven shook her head in amusement but didn’t take her eyes off the ancient novel she was reading. “It’s almost finished,” she called out.
Raven’s eyes found the Christmas Tree again, glowing hopefully.
Please let this be real. Please let this be real…
“Your wife mentioned this home was your wedding present for her,” said Kori, but Damian shook his head subtly.
“She gives me too much credit,” he admitted sheepishly, “I bought the space for us so she could design our home herself. To build it just as she wanted. That was the best I could give her.”
Raven looked away, staring at the floor. So that’s why everything was so perfect to her…
Damian laughed with Dick and Kori again about something as Jaime and Gar looked back and forth between the two Ravens. And then suddenly, a portal appeared and Future Raven looked up.
“We’re good to go,” said that Raven loudly. “All I need is someone to come here and tell it what time to take you to. Warning though, it’s going to drop you off at this exact location in that time frame.”
“That should be good,” said Nightwing quickly. He drank the rest of the sparkling water Damian had got for him and set it down as the team assembled in front of the portal. Future Raven and Damian hung back as they huddled together. Raven shot a look of desperation back at them as Kori leaned forward to speak. Damian’s arm wrapped around her future self’s shoulder. Future Raven placed a hand gently over his.
Kori whispered Christmas Eve of the year they’d traveled from, hoping not to be overheard. The portal instantly turned brighter.
“Everyone ready?” asked Nightwing rhetorically. Raven almost wanted to say she wasn’t. She didn’t want to go just yet. Her thoughts were churning around Damian. Around this home. A child they had named Thalia, who had a better and happier childhood than her parents had ever dreamed of…
“I’ll do anything to make this come true,” said Raven to herself. She received a nudge and looked up to the smiling face of Nightwing.
“Then come on,” he said, “this isn’t something you have to stay behind for. It’s what’s waiting for you. Just never give up.”
Raven swallowed a constricted throat and nodded. She threw one glance behind her as Damian already began carelessly turning away. Future Raven winked right at her, almost as if to convey a message. For some reason, that made Raven find the strength of will it took to turn and head through after her teammates.
There was a blinding light, during which she swore she heard Garfield scream like a little girl, and then suddenly they were all standing in an empty forest. Raven landed on her feet, barely able to keep upright as Jaime and Garfield landed on their backs with a thud on either side of her. Raven, feeling wobbly, looked around. It wasn’t a clearing like they’d just been in, but the type of trees certainly matched where they just were. She turned to find Nightwing and Starfire but stopped before saying anything. They had their fingers snared with the other’s, heads close together.
Ah. Yes. She’d somehow forgotten. While there, they realized they’d made it. Together.
Raven smiled at the loving couple.
“That… was…” panted Jaime, standing up.
“Wicked,” finished Garfield.
“What a day…” said Dick in a low voice, staring up into Starfire’s eyes. There was a long moment of pause which Kori broke them out of.
“The factory,” she said. “Robin!”
That pulled Raven out of her thoughts. She’d been staring at the ground, dwelling on the life she was to have right here. But upon hearing that name, her head jerked up. It was time to go. Beast Boy transformed into an eagle as Kori grabbed her boyfriend and they all took flight. The moment they rose above the trees they could see Jump City. It took them no time at all to find the factory they’d been at what felt like ages ago. As they lowered themselves through the hole in the wall, Beast Boy asked Raven from his eagle form next to her, “So what’s your take on what’s supposedly waiting for you?”
Before she replied, they heard a squeaky, frightened yell. They glanced over to see Robin holding Toyman by the neck, lifting him over two feet off the ground, and looking more than ready to punch his lights out. The floor was littered with defeated henchmen.
“If I have to ask you again, I’m going to shove you in a box and ship you back labeled as defective,” snarled Damian, “what did you-“ then he stopped abruptly as the caught sight of the Titans coming in and landing on the tiled floor. He dropped Toyman. Perhaps she was imagining it, but Raven liked to think that he was looking directly at her. She smiled with her eyes on him.
“I can’t wait,” she said.