sylph_fics (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sylph_fics) wrote2006-10-08 07:37 pm
sylph_fics) wrote2006-10-08 07:37 pm
New A Darker Path AU fic: Requiem
All previous parts of the "A Darker Path"-verse can be found here. It was getting to be kind of a long list.
Here's the newest part.
Title: Requiem
Characters: hero ensemble
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: I keep making Filly cry.
Disclaimer: I wish these guys were mine, they'd be treated better than DC does. But they're not, DC still owns them.
Summary: Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Notes:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
merfilly wrote Wally, Garth, and the JSA. Everyone else, I handled.
The knock at his door roused the water dweller from a much-needed rest. His glance at the clock told him it had been only a few hours since he left Raven, his body protesting the need to leave the water he had been soaking in.
"Better be..." His muttered imprecation fell away as he opened the door and Wally was standing there. So much ached to be said, so many words about having not been there, about having moved on with their lives.
"Garth..." Wally tried to find the right words, but instead, he slumped into his friend's arms, and both gave into the pain of losing everyone all over again. It would be a long night as the former Aqualad and Kid Flash tried to find the strength to be the leaders that the Titans needed.
Leaders like Dick had always been.
*~*~*~*
Raven watched the Titans leave, the hand hidden by her cape clenched into a fist, nails cutting into her palm. She wanted to go with them, wanted so badly to be at the service for her soul's sister--but even the Titans' emotions this early, early morning had nearly been too much.
Every one of them had had their own rituals of cleaning and polishing and double-checking, overlain with so much grief and savage desire to be strong, to honor their own... The surges of grief and anger as boots and bracers and weapons were polished, the blank determination as carefully-steadied hands finished the final touches of grooming had swamped her, forcing her to go far out to sea to calm herself before her dark side could take hold--there was no way she could stand the added grief and rage of several dozen heroes. Not when even her own team was too much. She would not disrupt Kory's farewell, not as she had disrupted--
She stopped the thought, forced it back, could not finish it, and she brushed her fingers against the corner of her eye with a slow, deep breath. Victor had promised to relay every moment... that would have to be enough. The jet left, and she turned to go back inside, forcing herself to focus. The world didn't stop turning, no matter who fell, or how much it hurt, and there were monitors to watch... and promised aid available should anything occur.
*~*~*~*
Batman touched the jet down on the roof of what had been the Outsiders' Headquarters and slipped out, Huntress joining him a moment later. She had, thankfully, remained rather quiet on the journey up. Of course, she too had been an Outsider, no matter how briefly, and her own team was shattered, hard on the heels of their recent victory--apparently even Helena had been subdued by the combination. Batgirl had chosen to remain in Gotham, given the distance of her connection to anyone involved and the fact that it was quite likely the villains--//and what were they all planning?//--would attempt something remarkably foolish, with the hero community so distracted. He took some very faint pleasure in the fact that it would be a very bad day to do so, given the presence of a full quarter of the Green Lantern Corps within Earth's atmosphere. The combination of Jordan's force of personality and Alan's loss had apparently been enough to bring them in, and he knew their plan. They were making roving sweeps through the atmosphere, rings scanning, attention turned on the cities and countries denuded of their protectors. Any trouble... would be very swiftly dealt with.
He fired a line into the late morning sky, and Huntress followed him into the air. It was a brilliantly clear morning, bright and warm--absolutely unfitting for the day's events, and for himself. He preferred to remain on the edges of these events... but that was impossible this time, as impossible as allowing anyone else to inform their families had been.
Huntress left him at a corner, swinging down to meet those heroes that had already arrived--and he continued on, slipping quietly through an upper-level access into the church proper. He had to be here, yet there were limits to how visible he could be, especially given the current situation within Gotham. Circulating among the others in full view of the civilian populace... did not fit those limits. He would wait for them within.
He paused in a small doorway, the heavy floral scent powerful in the air from the solid wall of floral arrangements already present. Someone had had a fine hand in arranging them, he noticed--and even he was taken back by the set of portraits displayed within the flowers. It was a logical choice, with the caskets sealed closed, but no one was going to be able to look anywhere else.... He recognized the one of Starfire instantly--a smaller copy had hung in Dick's room for years, from one of her earliest modeling contracts.
//Dick... son. Where are you?// the thought lashed through him again, as it had so many times since Dick had vanished from the Titans, the Outsiders, Bludhaven, and Gotham, and he forced it aside again. There were other things to focus on, this day.
He did not recognize the spray of flowers across her coffin, they seemed purely... unearthly. //They must be,// he realized, //her garden must have been in flower.// Fitting... but agonizing for whichever Titan had taken care of it. Jade's portrait--he knew that style, Alan had chosen Kyle's work... and he wondered if the young man would be able to handle this day. The photograph of Shift, displayed behind an urn by necessity, was not one he knew, nor was the picture of Grace--but someone with an excellent eye had caught her power and barely-leashed aggression. Anissa's picture appeared to be her graduation portrait, and he took a low, hard breath, knowing what that must have cost Jefferson. She'd still been so young.
The sound, slight as it was, had caught the attention of one the four heroes standing guard over their fallen. Zauriel's wings opened wider as he turned, and the angel of the Eagle Host's eyes were dangerous before recognition dawned. "Batman," he said, and Vixen, Icemaiden and Steel turned to look, each of them taking just enough time to acknowledge him before returning to their vigil.
"Zauriel."
"Is there any word on this?" the angel asked, hand turned towards the caskets to make his question clear. Batman walked over, shaking his head slightly.
"Very little. The villains are moving in groups, under the auspice of this new 'Society', which has made it difficult to... acquire any information. Those that would know... are too well protected."
It was a very different world than the one Sue had been killed in. Then, they'd been able--fruitless though the interrogations had been--to catch those possibly involved and demand answers... now, almost all attempts were blocked by the fact that anyone of a caliber to know details of the Outsiders' deaths was traveling with companions, when and if they surfaced at all. It did not help that the League was still fracturing, pulling apart as hero after hero learned what had been done. Even he was unsure who had first added the whisper of what had been done to him--and the fact that more than a few of the heroes were, 'taking his side', so to speak, was... unsettling to the man that used fear so effectively upon fellow hero and villain alike.
"How... displeasing." Bruce nodded once, agreement in the set of his body. It was... frustrating in the extreme.
"Gypsy spotted Cheshire in Cairo yesterday and attempted to contain her, but was foiled by Deadshot and an unknown. All three have disappeared again."
Zauriel frowned, but said nothing, and Batman stood with the angel in silence, considering the patterns developing and how to stop his mad creation until the doors opened and he slipped away into the shadows, watching as the heroes came in group by group. Four groups of six came in first, and the dynamics would have startled civilians... but the hero teams guarded and honored their own.
The sight of the original Flash and Wildcat among the pallbearers raised concern in Batman's mind, but he knew their loyalty to Alan demanded it. Following them came the bearer of both the cosmic rod and the cosmic belt, Stargirl, paired with STRIPE. The final two of the JSA to come were the Thunderbolt, managing to look close to Johnny Thunder's suited appearance, though his fifth dimension energy was readily apparent, and Sand. It crossed his mind that neither Mr. Terrific nor Dr. Midnite was among their honor guard.
Six Titans followed them, and Batman could easily see the determination in each of their faces. Cyborg's very stillness said volumes to him of the strain the Titan's current leader was fighting. Jesse Quick //back in the suit? What has happened there?// walked beside him, Red Star and Pantha following them, even the feral woman looking... stoic. Tempest, somber in red and black and Wonder Girl, her chin up defiantly as she walked with them, filled out that group. Interesting choices, he noted, and wondered how the Titans had decided.
Geo-Force, Halo, Katana, Atomic Knight, Technocrat, Faust... most of his one-time team followed the Titans, back together for Jefferson's sake, and Captain Marvel, Jr., walked beside them. Some guilt was riding that young man, it was in the set of his shoulders as he moved with the elder heroes.
The final group, however, startled him. Guy Gardner, Kon-El, Major Disaster, Power Girl, the elder Hourman... //Most of the party crowd. Suitable for Choi, from what I know of her--// but Connor Hawke was in their midst, strangely... //Harper.// That made perfect sense, though he had not thought Connor would be willing to leave both his father and best friend.
The bishop walked behind the pallbearers and took the dais, turning to wait--and Batman was rather certain that the man had never in his life had such a challenge as the building of this service. He hoped the priest did well, for all of their sakes.
Alan and Molly were the first to come in, with Obsidian just behind his father. Kyle walked behind Molly, the two young men seeming to have a wall of ice between them. Black Lightning walked beside them, his head back and spine straight, though Anissa had been everything to him. Batman knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the man was holding tightly to Batman's own words not to belittle her choice, no matter how badly it had ended. The other Justice Society members filed in behind the elder statesman of the hero community, grimly silent and bearing their legacy with dignity. It seemed all too recent to them that they had held services for Hippolyta, and yet that had been more bearable.
The rest of the Titans followed the eldest heroes, sliding into the pews close to the front, and he watched from the side as lips were bitten and hands clenched as they took in the display and Bumblebee held Baby Wildebeest close to keep him silent. Wally was with them, standing between Damage and Herald in the middle of a row... interesting to see him back with the Titans, after so long. Kid Flash was standing as close to Robin as decently possible, and Cissie King-Jones had slipped into the row behind him.
Behind the Titans came the League--or what was left of it--in smaller, fractured groups, separated out by the allegiances being redrawn. He slipped from his shadows as Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Speedy took the outer edge of a row--and if it rippled through the crowd when he stood with them, he cared little. The rumors would fall as they usually did--perhaps in this case some good might come of it. He knew word of Black Canary's disappearance would also circle like wildfire now, as she was nowhere to be found among the JSA or the League--and that was nothing like her. He turned slightly, and watched the crowd behind them. Heroes that had long retired had come out for this funeral, as some had for Sue's, and the patterns displayed as League and non-League and independent used each other to remain separated... were disturbing.
He did not miss the way heads turned among the Titans once they were settled, non-masked eyes hopeful, searching... or the way their expressions fell when they found both he and Ollie, and the echoing, empty spaces beside them. Not physically there--even this cathedral was going to be crowded--but felt so keenly. Even Robin, who knew better, had turned to look--and was now scanning the highest places of the cathedral, looking for that streak of black and blue.
More feet followed, sound of boots--and he looked over his shoulder to see contingents of the NYPD and NYFD filing into rows behind the heroes in dress-uniforms and with deeply respectful gazes. Behind them, the few, respected members of the press that had been allowed in by Alan's say, and then, civilian friends and acquaintances of their fallen, and merely those who wished to pay their respects filled the cathedral. The doors closed, officiates took their places, and the bishop's voice rang out, deep and strong, as he began to speak.
*~*~*~*
As the service closed, Robin had to give credit where it was due, the bishop had coped amazingly well with the challenge of creating a service for a true alien, a construct, and three metahumans who had all lived lives... not quite in accordance with the stated words of his God. Rather out of compassion, or necessity, he had remained far from the usual dogma, and spoken instead of service, of steadfastness, of the good they had done, speaking of each as if they were familiar and known. The music, he recalled distantly, had been exceptional... and he was grateful in the extreme that everyone who had chosen to speak had managed to control themselves through their time. If any of them had lost it on the dais--too many of his team would have broken down with them. His own skin was wet behind the mask, but nothing showed on his face, others were not so fortunate, and he was glad he'd thought to secrete tissues in several of his belt's compartments--Karen, Tori, and Bette had all needed them.
He had not been there for the discussions Cyborg, Sentinel, Black Lightning, and Rex had had about the details of this, but it was the group of Titans that walked to Kory's coffin first, lifting it without a single bobble. Not that Cassie, or Vic, or Leonid couldn't have carried it on their own... but she deserved that honor-guard, and he bit his lip hard at the thought. They would take her home to the Tower, to her garden, eventually, but Jade and Grace were both to be interred first. In the mean-time, the hearse would wait at the JSA headquarters.
The JSA lifted Jade's coffin next, following the Titans out. Robin saw them all take their cue from Jay, knew that the old speedster was the one leading the team now in this time of crisis. Bart was worried about him. With the four original members at the corners, and the 'father/daughter' team of STRIPE and Stargirl in the middle, they lifted Jade's casket without a hitch and moved in unison.
The--elder, original?--Outsiders and CM3 moved to Anissa's coffin and lifted it, not working together as smoothly, but with infinite respect, and they carried her out, steps falling into perfect time within the first few strides. He wondered for a moment if anyone had asked Bruce... and shook it off. He couldn't have, even if he wished to.
Tim watched as Kon stood with the others to go and lift Grace's casket. He knew--they all knew--that at least four of those six could have carried her on their own, and it had probably been considered, given how few ties she had had. He wanted to know who had made the calls to recruit the rest of that set--Cyborg had asked Kon after one of those conferences. He wasn't sure if Kon had said yes because of Grace... or because he hadn't been chosen for Kory. Seeing the most flamboyant, hard-living members of several teams wearing blank-faced solemnity was... almost disturbing. Connor didn't surprise him in the least, but Gardner especially was a shock.
Rex, alone, went to lift the urn that held Shift, his form not holding solid as he lifted part of himself and followed the others out... and it was time for the families to follow. He had heard Molly weeping, heard the low, low whisper of Alan's voice... and her face was tear-streaked when they passed.
Exiting the church seemed to take hours, and the sunlight outside was still too beautifully bright, gleaming harshly off black metal and flashing off silver trim... //You couldn't be raining?// It had rained at most of the other funerals of his life, after all.
They separated into groups, going to vehicles or into the air or simply racing along the ground--many of them would beat the hearse to Jenny's grave... it had to contend with the traffic. Bart glanced at him, he nodded... and they were gone.
*~*~*~*
It was pure ill-luck that Connor Hawke was only feet from Guy Gardner when he opened his mouth--as Guy did so often--and stuck his foot in it. Batman had been stunned by the callousness in the words--but Hawke had come unhinged, right fist slamming up hard into the Lantern's jaw... //Dinah's not here aga--// he cut off the thought before it could finish, watching Guy's head slam into the ground. People broke apart, getting out of the way--and that low voice, laden with fury, cut through the crowd like a knife.
"I'm not the only hero with a brother missing, Gardner, and unless you're going to say about Nightwing what you just said about my brother, I recommend you shut. up. Now."
Before the last words were out of his mouth, Robin was on his left and Kyle had come practically out of nowhere to his right side, a majority of the Titans behind them, their expressions dangerous--it was obvious that propriety or no, another insult was going to be all it took to spark this powder-keg.
Guy stared up at that set of furious young heroes, fingers shoved hard against his jaw, shaking his head, apparently trying to think of something to say. Bruce spared a moment to be grateful Ollie and Mia had been far enough away not to hear, or Guy might well have fared worse. Connor, after all, had only used a fist, and it did not look like anything was broken. He went around the edges of the gathering to head Ollie--alerted by the sudden stillness--off, missing whatever Guy said in his own defense... but stalled voices took up conversations again, and the tension in the air eased. Apparently, whatever had been said was enough.
Hal arched a brow as he reached them, and he half-sighed. "Guy was being an idiot, again. Connor handled it."
"Pretty well, it looks like," Ollie said with a tight half-smile, eyes over his shoulder. "Not like my kid, though. Does Guy need a little more straightening out?"
"I doubt it." And if he did... the Titans were on it.
"Want a ride out to San Fran, Bats?"
"No. Robin has the Titans, and Gotham is still unstable." Jefferson's choice to bar the heroes from Anissa's gravesite had made Starfire's the last they would attend, and most were already leaving. He needed to be working within the Cave, attempting to find a way to stop his rogue creation before it could continue with its schemes--and he needed to be on Gotham's streets. This new player, this Red Hood... was very, very dangerous.
Jordan nodded. "The Titans are heading back, so we'll follow. See you."
Bruce nodded, and turned to leave, the other heroes departing for their own cities or for San Francisco--he predicted an... interesting night at Warriors, once the doors opened. That, thankfully, was none of his concern.
*~*~*~*
Raven walked outside, wrapped in every layer of shield she could create, as her friends carried Kory's body out. They felt... calmer, for the most part, the strain of waiting over... It was a great relief.
The time she had spent hidden within Kory's soul had acquainted her with the Tamaranean mourning rituals--she had seen Kory perform them too many times for those who died in Trigon's mad pursuit of her--so she was the only choice... As the heroes who had chosen to come gathered around them, she began--it was swift, as befitted a warrior, and haunting, words of an almost-dead people said on earth for the first (only) time...
There had been a bitter argument between she and Vic, with Gar trying mediate it--and Gar didn't do the voice of reason particularly well--over how this ceremony would end. The Tamaraneans burned their dead... and Vic was dead-set against the idea of a funeral pyre. He'd argued against it with everything he had--and finally, he'd pointed out that they couldn't make the kids watch that... and they would refuse to leave. Then Gar had pointed out that funerals were for the living and Kory would understand... and she'd given in. They were right.
She stood and watched as Kon carefully laid the coffin into the grave and began to push the earth in, seeing it fall over the flowers... She turned away, sharply--and found Vic and Gar standing behind her. She didn't remember seeing them move... She reached out, caught their hands, let their strength ground her as her "sister's" grave filled in behind her.
The sounds stopped, and she felt the other, elder heroes leaving until only the Titans remained... and slowly, they headed inside, none of them talking--not even Bart.
Here's the newest part.
Title: Requiem
Characters: hero ensemble
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: I keep making Filly cry.
Disclaimer: I wish these guys were mine, they'd be treated better than DC does. But they're not, DC still owns them.
Summary: Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Notes:
merfilly wrote Wally, Garth, and the JSA. Everyone else, I handled. The knock at his door roused the water dweller from a much-needed rest. His glance at the clock told him it had been only a few hours since he left Raven, his body protesting the need to leave the water he had been soaking in.
"Better be..." His muttered imprecation fell away as he opened the door and Wally was standing there. So much ached to be said, so many words about having not been there, about having moved on with their lives.
"Garth..." Wally tried to find the right words, but instead, he slumped into his friend's arms, and both gave into the pain of losing everyone all over again. It would be a long night as the former Aqualad and Kid Flash tried to find the strength to be the leaders that the Titans needed.
Leaders like Dick had always been.
*~*~*~*
Raven watched the Titans leave, the hand hidden by her cape clenched into a fist, nails cutting into her palm. She wanted to go with them, wanted so badly to be at the service for her soul's sister--but even the Titans' emotions this early, early morning had nearly been too much.
Every one of them had had their own rituals of cleaning and polishing and double-checking, overlain with so much grief and savage desire to be strong, to honor their own... The surges of grief and anger as boots and bracers and weapons were polished, the blank determination as carefully-steadied hands finished the final touches of grooming had swamped her, forcing her to go far out to sea to calm herself before her dark side could take hold--there was no way she could stand the added grief and rage of several dozen heroes. Not when even her own team was too much. She would not disrupt Kory's farewell, not as she had disrupted--
She stopped the thought, forced it back, could not finish it, and she brushed her fingers against the corner of her eye with a slow, deep breath. Victor had promised to relay every moment... that would have to be enough. The jet left, and she turned to go back inside, forcing herself to focus. The world didn't stop turning, no matter who fell, or how much it hurt, and there were monitors to watch... and promised aid available should anything occur.
*~*~*~*
Batman touched the jet down on the roof of what had been the Outsiders' Headquarters and slipped out, Huntress joining him a moment later. She had, thankfully, remained rather quiet on the journey up. Of course, she too had been an Outsider, no matter how briefly, and her own team was shattered, hard on the heels of their recent victory--apparently even Helena had been subdued by the combination. Batgirl had chosen to remain in Gotham, given the distance of her connection to anyone involved and the fact that it was quite likely the villains--//and what were they all planning?//--would attempt something remarkably foolish, with the hero community so distracted. He took some very faint pleasure in the fact that it would be a very bad day to do so, given the presence of a full quarter of the Green Lantern Corps within Earth's atmosphere. The combination of Jordan's force of personality and Alan's loss had apparently been enough to bring them in, and he knew their plan. They were making roving sweeps through the atmosphere, rings scanning, attention turned on the cities and countries denuded of their protectors. Any trouble... would be very swiftly dealt with.
He fired a line into the late morning sky, and Huntress followed him into the air. It was a brilliantly clear morning, bright and warm--absolutely unfitting for the day's events, and for himself. He preferred to remain on the edges of these events... but that was impossible this time, as impossible as allowing anyone else to inform their families had been.
Huntress left him at a corner, swinging down to meet those heroes that had already arrived--and he continued on, slipping quietly through an upper-level access into the church proper. He had to be here, yet there were limits to how visible he could be, especially given the current situation within Gotham. Circulating among the others in full view of the civilian populace... did not fit those limits. He would wait for them within.
He paused in a small doorway, the heavy floral scent powerful in the air from the solid wall of floral arrangements already present. Someone had had a fine hand in arranging them, he noticed--and even he was taken back by the set of portraits displayed within the flowers. It was a logical choice, with the caskets sealed closed, but no one was going to be able to look anywhere else.... He recognized the one of Starfire instantly--a smaller copy had hung in Dick's room for years, from one of her earliest modeling contracts.
//Dick... son. Where are you?// the thought lashed through him again, as it had so many times since Dick had vanished from the Titans, the Outsiders, Bludhaven, and Gotham, and he forced it aside again. There were other things to focus on, this day.
He did not recognize the spray of flowers across her coffin, they seemed purely... unearthly. //They must be,// he realized, //her garden must have been in flower.// Fitting... but agonizing for whichever Titan had taken care of it. Jade's portrait--he knew that style, Alan had chosen Kyle's work... and he wondered if the young man would be able to handle this day. The photograph of Shift, displayed behind an urn by necessity, was not one he knew, nor was the picture of Grace--but someone with an excellent eye had caught her power and barely-leashed aggression. Anissa's picture appeared to be her graduation portrait, and he took a low, hard breath, knowing what that must have cost Jefferson. She'd still been so young.
The sound, slight as it was, had caught the attention of one the four heroes standing guard over their fallen. Zauriel's wings opened wider as he turned, and the angel of the Eagle Host's eyes were dangerous before recognition dawned. "Batman," he said, and Vixen, Icemaiden and Steel turned to look, each of them taking just enough time to acknowledge him before returning to their vigil.
"Zauriel."
"Is there any word on this?" the angel asked, hand turned towards the caskets to make his question clear. Batman walked over, shaking his head slightly.
"Very little. The villains are moving in groups, under the auspice of this new 'Society', which has made it difficult to... acquire any information. Those that would know... are too well protected."
It was a very different world than the one Sue had been killed in. Then, they'd been able--fruitless though the interrogations had been--to catch those possibly involved and demand answers... now, almost all attempts were blocked by the fact that anyone of a caliber to know details of the Outsiders' deaths was traveling with companions, when and if they surfaced at all. It did not help that the League was still fracturing, pulling apart as hero after hero learned what had been done. Even he was unsure who had first added the whisper of what had been done to him--and the fact that more than a few of the heroes were, 'taking his side', so to speak, was... unsettling to the man that used fear so effectively upon fellow hero and villain alike.
"How... displeasing." Bruce nodded once, agreement in the set of his body. It was... frustrating in the extreme.
"Gypsy spotted Cheshire in Cairo yesterday and attempted to contain her, but was foiled by Deadshot and an unknown. All three have disappeared again."
Zauriel frowned, but said nothing, and Batman stood with the angel in silence, considering the patterns developing and how to stop his mad creation until the doors opened and he slipped away into the shadows, watching as the heroes came in group by group. Four groups of six came in first, and the dynamics would have startled civilians... but the hero teams guarded and honored their own.
The sight of the original Flash and Wildcat among the pallbearers raised concern in Batman's mind, but he knew their loyalty to Alan demanded it. Following them came the bearer of both the cosmic rod and the cosmic belt, Stargirl, paired with STRIPE. The final two of the JSA to come were the Thunderbolt, managing to look close to Johnny Thunder's suited appearance, though his fifth dimension energy was readily apparent, and Sand. It crossed his mind that neither Mr. Terrific nor Dr. Midnite was among their honor guard.
Six Titans followed them, and Batman could easily see the determination in each of their faces. Cyborg's very stillness said volumes to him of the strain the Titan's current leader was fighting. Jesse Quick //back in the suit? What has happened there?// walked beside him, Red Star and Pantha following them, even the feral woman looking... stoic. Tempest, somber in red and black and Wonder Girl, her chin up defiantly as she walked with them, filled out that group. Interesting choices, he noted, and wondered how the Titans had decided.
Geo-Force, Halo, Katana, Atomic Knight, Technocrat, Faust... most of his one-time team followed the Titans, back together for Jefferson's sake, and Captain Marvel, Jr., walked beside them. Some guilt was riding that young man, it was in the set of his shoulders as he moved with the elder heroes.
The final group, however, startled him. Guy Gardner, Kon-El, Major Disaster, Power Girl, the elder Hourman... //Most of the party crowd. Suitable for Choi, from what I know of her--// but Connor Hawke was in their midst, strangely... //Harper.// That made perfect sense, though he had not thought Connor would be willing to leave both his father and best friend.
The bishop walked behind the pallbearers and took the dais, turning to wait--and Batman was rather certain that the man had never in his life had such a challenge as the building of this service. He hoped the priest did well, for all of their sakes.
Alan and Molly were the first to come in, with Obsidian just behind his father. Kyle walked behind Molly, the two young men seeming to have a wall of ice between them. Black Lightning walked beside them, his head back and spine straight, though Anissa had been everything to him. Batman knew, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the man was holding tightly to Batman's own words not to belittle her choice, no matter how badly it had ended. The other Justice Society members filed in behind the elder statesman of the hero community, grimly silent and bearing their legacy with dignity. It seemed all too recent to them that they had held services for Hippolyta, and yet that had been more bearable.
The rest of the Titans followed the eldest heroes, sliding into the pews close to the front, and he watched from the side as lips were bitten and hands clenched as they took in the display and Bumblebee held Baby Wildebeest close to keep him silent. Wally was with them, standing between Damage and Herald in the middle of a row... interesting to see him back with the Titans, after so long. Kid Flash was standing as close to Robin as decently possible, and Cissie King-Jones had slipped into the row behind him.
Behind the Titans came the League--or what was left of it--in smaller, fractured groups, separated out by the allegiances being redrawn. He slipped from his shadows as Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Speedy took the outer edge of a row--and if it rippled through the crowd when he stood with them, he cared little. The rumors would fall as they usually did--perhaps in this case some good might come of it. He knew word of Black Canary's disappearance would also circle like wildfire now, as she was nowhere to be found among the JSA or the League--and that was nothing like her. He turned slightly, and watched the crowd behind them. Heroes that had long retired had come out for this funeral, as some had for Sue's, and the patterns displayed as League and non-League and independent used each other to remain separated... were disturbing.
He did not miss the way heads turned among the Titans once they were settled, non-masked eyes hopeful, searching... or the way their expressions fell when they found both he and Ollie, and the echoing, empty spaces beside them. Not physically there--even this cathedral was going to be crowded--but felt so keenly. Even Robin, who knew better, had turned to look--and was now scanning the highest places of the cathedral, looking for that streak of black and blue.
More feet followed, sound of boots--and he looked over his shoulder to see contingents of the NYPD and NYFD filing into rows behind the heroes in dress-uniforms and with deeply respectful gazes. Behind them, the few, respected members of the press that had been allowed in by Alan's say, and then, civilian friends and acquaintances of their fallen, and merely those who wished to pay their respects filled the cathedral. The doors closed, officiates took their places, and the bishop's voice rang out, deep and strong, as he began to speak.
*~*~*~*
As the service closed, Robin had to give credit where it was due, the bishop had coped amazingly well with the challenge of creating a service for a true alien, a construct, and three metahumans who had all lived lives... not quite in accordance with the stated words of his God. Rather out of compassion, or necessity, he had remained far from the usual dogma, and spoken instead of service, of steadfastness, of the good they had done, speaking of each as if they were familiar and known. The music, he recalled distantly, had been exceptional... and he was grateful in the extreme that everyone who had chosen to speak had managed to control themselves through their time. If any of them had lost it on the dais--too many of his team would have broken down with them. His own skin was wet behind the mask, but nothing showed on his face, others were not so fortunate, and he was glad he'd thought to secrete tissues in several of his belt's compartments--Karen, Tori, and Bette had all needed them.
He had not been there for the discussions Cyborg, Sentinel, Black Lightning, and Rex had had about the details of this, but it was the group of Titans that walked to Kory's coffin first, lifting it without a single bobble. Not that Cassie, or Vic, or Leonid couldn't have carried it on their own... but she deserved that honor-guard, and he bit his lip hard at the thought. They would take her home to the Tower, to her garden, eventually, but Jade and Grace were both to be interred first. In the mean-time, the hearse would wait at the JSA headquarters.
The JSA lifted Jade's coffin next, following the Titans out. Robin saw them all take their cue from Jay, knew that the old speedster was the one leading the team now in this time of crisis. Bart was worried about him. With the four original members at the corners, and the 'father/daughter' team of STRIPE and Stargirl in the middle, they lifted Jade's casket without a hitch and moved in unison.
The--elder, original?--Outsiders and CM3 moved to Anissa's coffin and lifted it, not working together as smoothly, but with infinite respect, and they carried her out, steps falling into perfect time within the first few strides. He wondered for a moment if anyone had asked Bruce... and shook it off. He couldn't have, even if he wished to.
Tim watched as Kon stood with the others to go and lift Grace's casket. He knew--they all knew--that at least four of those six could have carried her on their own, and it had probably been considered, given how few ties she had had. He wanted to know who had made the calls to recruit the rest of that set--Cyborg had asked Kon after one of those conferences. He wasn't sure if Kon had said yes because of Grace... or because he hadn't been chosen for Kory. Seeing the most flamboyant, hard-living members of several teams wearing blank-faced solemnity was... almost disturbing. Connor didn't surprise him in the least, but Gardner especially was a shock.
Rex, alone, went to lift the urn that held Shift, his form not holding solid as he lifted part of himself and followed the others out... and it was time for the families to follow. He had heard Molly weeping, heard the low, low whisper of Alan's voice... and her face was tear-streaked when they passed.
Exiting the church seemed to take hours, and the sunlight outside was still too beautifully bright, gleaming harshly off black metal and flashing off silver trim... //You couldn't be raining?// It had rained at most of the other funerals of his life, after all.
They separated into groups, going to vehicles or into the air or simply racing along the ground--many of them would beat the hearse to Jenny's grave... it had to contend with the traffic. Bart glanced at him, he nodded... and they were gone.
*~*~*~*
It was pure ill-luck that Connor Hawke was only feet from Guy Gardner when he opened his mouth--as Guy did so often--and stuck his foot in it. Batman had been stunned by the callousness in the words--but Hawke had come unhinged, right fist slamming up hard into the Lantern's jaw... //Dinah's not here aga--// he cut off the thought before it could finish, watching Guy's head slam into the ground. People broke apart, getting out of the way--and that low voice, laden with fury, cut through the crowd like a knife.
"I'm not the only hero with a brother missing, Gardner, and unless you're going to say about Nightwing what you just said about my brother, I recommend you shut. up. Now."
Before the last words were out of his mouth, Robin was on his left and Kyle had come practically out of nowhere to his right side, a majority of the Titans behind them, their expressions dangerous--it was obvious that propriety or no, another insult was going to be all it took to spark this powder-keg.
Guy stared up at that set of furious young heroes, fingers shoved hard against his jaw, shaking his head, apparently trying to think of something to say. Bruce spared a moment to be grateful Ollie and Mia had been far enough away not to hear, or Guy might well have fared worse. Connor, after all, had only used a fist, and it did not look like anything was broken. He went around the edges of the gathering to head Ollie--alerted by the sudden stillness--off, missing whatever Guy said in his own defense... but stalled voices took up conversations again, and the tension in the air eased. Apparently, whatever had been said was enough.
Hal arched a brow as he reached them, and he half-sighed. "Guy was being an idiot, again. Connor handled it."
"Pretty well, it looks like," Ollie said with a tight half-smile, eyes over his shoulder. "Not like my kid, though. Does Guy need a little more straightening out?"
"I doubt it." And if he did... the Titans were on it.
"Want a ride out to San Fran, Bats?"
"No. Robin has the Titans, and Gotham is still unstable." Jefferson's choice to bar the heroes from Anissa's gravesite had made Starfire's the last they would attend, and most were already leaving. He needed to be working within the Cave, attempting to find a way to stop his rogue creation before it could continue with its schemes--and he needed to be on Gotham's streets. This new player, this Red Hood... was very, very dangerous.
Jordan nodded. "The Titans are heading back, so we'll follow. See you."
Bruce nodded, and turned to leave, the other heroes departing for their own cities or for San Francisco--he predicted an... interesting night at Warriors, once the doors opened. That, thankfully, was none of his concern.
*~*~*~*
Raven walked outside, wrapped in every layer of shield she could create, as her friends carried Kory's body out. They felt... calmer, for the most part, the strain of waiting over... It was a great relief.
The time she had spent hidden within Kory's soul had acquainted her with the Tamaranean mourning rituals--she had seen Kory perform them too many times for those who died in Trigon's mad pursuit of her--so she was the only choice... As the heroes who had chosen to come gathered around them, she began--it was swift, as befitted a warrior, and haunting, words of an almost-dead people said on earth for the first (only) time...
There had been a bitter argument between she and Vic, with Gar trying mediate it--and Gar didn't do the voice of reason particularly well--over how this ceremony would end. The Tamaraneans burned their dead... and Vic was dead-set against the idea of a funeral pyre. He'd argued against it with everything he had--and finally, he'd pointed out that they couldn't make the kids watch that... and they would refuse to leave. Then Gar had pointed out that funerals were for the living and Kory would understand... and she'd given in. They were right.
She stood and watched as Kon carefully laid the coffin into the grave and began to push the earth in, seeing it fall over the flowers... She turned away, sharply--and found Vic and Gar standing behind her. She didn't remember seeing them move... She reached out, caught their hands, let their strength ground her as her "sister's" grave filled in behind her.
The sounds stopped, and she felt the other, elder heroes leaving until only the Titans remained... and slowly, they headed inside, none of them talking--not even Bart.