The Watchtower. It hung there suspended above Earth, like a great stone tear or a small piece of an alien world. Silent among the stars, from their vantage point the heroes could watch over the entire planet, until the day her people could join them in the heavens. Inside however, the place was solemn and quiet. The Team had already left, so right now only members of League were seated. And none of them looked happy.

"So we're in agreement. Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, will be assigned to the Team."

There were a few curt acknowledgements of the Man of Steel's words, but the half-machine wasn't what they were really here for. No. Now came the main event.

Clark sighed. There were times where he hated this job. It was most of the time really. For example, every time he stood at the head of this table.

In the center of the heroes was the holographic image of a young woman, barely more than a girl really. She had pale, almost greyish skin, lavender hair and eyes, a red gem in the center of her forehead, and a deep-blue, almost purple cloak. So young, yet so much power, so much responsibility. Clark could sympathize.

"The girl cannot be trusted." Doctor Fate's deep, otherworldly voice said it simply, like he was telling everyone the time or the weather.

Of course, Diana wouldn't let a sister be accused like that. "What makes you say that?"

"She's a demon." The Lord of Order looked the Amazonian princess straight in the eye as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"So she's to be condemned because of the circumstances of her birth!" Wonder Woman stood up, indignant towards the sorcerer. Her warrior instincts urged her to leap across the table and strike down the insolent wizard. The only reason she didn't was because of Clark's strong hand on her shoulder.

"No. She's to be condemned because of her nature." This time Diana bucked forward, and it took all the strength the Kryptonian had in his left arm, enough power to level a continent, to hold her back. The princess looked back at her alien friend, half annoyed and half thankful, before taking her seat.

Not wanting the Watchtower to be destroyed, Superman decided maybe someone else should talk. "Anyone else have anything to say on the matter?"

The Man of Tomorrow was rewarded with an awkward silence and a few coughs.

It was Aquaman who spoke up next. "Perhaps Zatanna should give her professional opinion. After all, she is one of the most powerful magic users on the planet. What do you say?"

The League's newest member looked around nervously. She was currently caught between the warrior princess of Themyscira and Earth's sorcerer supreme. Forget rock and a hard place, this was more like being caught between a black hole and Batman.

"Umm… I'm going to have to agree with Doctor Fate on this."

Now Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Hawkgirl, Captain Marvel, Flash, and Hal Jordan were all standing up and shouting.

"This is absurd!"

"You can't be serious!"

"How dare you!"

"Seriously?!"

"She's just a teen!"

"Dude, what the fu-"

Superman snapped his fingers. Using his super-strength the resulting sonic boom easily got everyone to shut up.

For the first time standing up, Superman looked everyone in the eye. "Let's allow Zatanna to speak her mind first."

After the Man of Steel sat down again, Zatanna continued, although she was still quite nervous. "Look, I know it sounds harsh, but everything I know about magic, everything I was ever taught about mysticism, not to mention my own instincts, tell me that this girl will bring us… suffering."

Everyone was silent after that. No was quite certain how to respond to such an ominous statement coming from such a normally cheerful person.

"What would you recommend we do?" asked Superman.

"There is a room in the Tower of Fate," answered Nabu, "It can… contain her… for the time being."

"The Cage of Perdition?!" questioned Zatanna, having heard of this infamous room.

Once more, Wonder Woman was the first to voice her objections. "We can't just lock her away like some crook or an animal."

"Obviously not," responded the Doctor, "She's much more dangerous than any criminal or wild beast."

"Sure, why don't we just send her to the Phantom Zone while we're at it," muttered Hal.

Fate looked straight at the Green Lantern.

"I was being sarcastic!"

For the second time that day the conference hall erupted into arguing. The only people who weren't shouting were Icon, John Stewart, the Atom, Hawkman, and Green Arrow, who were sheepishly trying to decide whether or not to weigh into the verbal melee, Zatanna, who seemed to be visibly shrinking under the assault, Doctor Fate, who was looking haughtily at his fellow teammates, and Superman and Batman, who were glancing at each other.

Clark and Bruce had an unspoken agreement. When things were going well, Clark would run the show. He'd keep everyone calm and happy, and make sure that things continued to go smoothly. When things weren't going well, when the League was too busy arguing to get anything done, like they were doing right now, Bruce would set everyone straight with his trademark cold logic and death glares. With a gesture like offering an open door, Clark ceded the situation to his grim friend.

"Enough."

The Caped Crusaders echoing voice commanded enough fear to silence most of them, and enough respect to take care of everyone else. Even the Lord of Order dropped the arrogance in his eyes.

"First of all, the girl is dangerous, there's no denying that. She does need to be controlled.

But," continued the Dark Knight, raising his hand to hush Diana's protests, "There are far better methods of control than coercion. After all, camaraderie is a stronger bond than any chain.

I've had plenty of experience with prophecies, and from what I've learned we can't stop it. However, that doesn't make us helpless. We know that the girl will become the portal through which the demon will come. What we don't know is what happens before and, more importantly, what happens next. When that day comes if we are to prevail we will need her. We'll need all the help we can get.

We'll assign her to the Team. They'll teach her to control her power. More importantly, they'll teach her to make a difference. They'll show her she can fight and she can win. So when the day comes, when the end arrives," Batman looked them all in the eyes, "she'll do just that."

Bruce returned to Clark the same gesture he had sent him before. Clark used his super-speed to give Bruce a wink only he would see as he rose to conclude the meeting.

"Any questions?"

.

.

.

"I wouldn't ask this of you if I didn't think you could do it."

"I know," answered Nightwing, "It's just sometimes I wish…"

They both stopped. Nightwing turned to the hologram statue of Wally West aka Kid Flash. Wordlessly, Batman followed his former pupil.

"I wish things could be simpler," finished Dick staring at the face of his old friend. "I wish I could go back to the days when it was just me, Kaldur, Conner, Megan, Artemis, and Wally hanging out in a cave. Before the Reach, the Light, and before this. It just seems like everything's moving so fast and I haven't even gotten used to where I am before I have to leave it all behind."

Dick stopped, as if waiting for a certain ginger to make a smartass comment on moving fast. He'd be waiting a long time. Unless Bart stopped by, but he was still on assignment in London.

"I often find myself wishing the same thing," said Bruce. "I remember when all I had to worry about was Gotham. Back when Clark was just a name I kept in a file in case I needed to blackmail a certain alien. Back when you were just a dumb kid who could never shut up."

Dick laughed. "I guess now I'm just a dumb adult who still never shuts up."

Once Dick stopped laughing he turned to face Batman. "So why don't you just take her in? From what you've told me she'd make one hell of a Batgirl."

Bruce crossed his arms. "Superhumans are a pain in the ass when they're up here in the Watchtower. I try to keep them out of the Batcave as much as possible."

"That's never stopped Clark."

"I haven't really tried with him yet."

Dick laughed again. But when he was done his tone became serious. "Honestly Bruce, why me?"

Batman looked at him funny, as if amazed he hadn't figured it out yet. He probably was. "The girl doesn't need a mentor."

"But you said-"

"To guide and teach her. But not as a teacher. She's lived her entire life in a dimension populated by monks, I think she's had enough spiritual teachers she'll ever need."

After a second Dick smiled in realization. "You think she needs a friend."

"Preferably more than one. And I'm not exactly cut out for that kind of work."

"Can't argue there," agreed Nightwing, "so you're telling me the fate of the world may rest on my ability to get this girl a social life?"

Batman opened his mouth, perhaps to find a more delicate phrasing, before putting a finger to his ear.

"Gotta go?"

"Afraid so." The Caped Crusader looked grim as usual as he left for the zeta tube, knowing he was leaving a much more difficult and dangerous task for his ex-protégé. "Good luck."

Nightwing would have left as well, probably to go to the training room to see if Tim was still there, when he was interrupted by a voice as deep as Bruce's but as calming as Clark's.

"Well you are a sight for sore eyes."

Dick smiled. "Hey Kaldur." He turned to see his Atlantean friend in his familiar red and blue uniform. "You know, it's good to see you out of that black armor."

"It's good to be out of it," answered Aqualad, grasping his friend's hand in a warm greeting. "I noticed you have not been quite as…"

"Asterous?" finished Dick. He glanced once more at Wally's memorial. "Well I've been feeling the dis a lot lately."

"I understand. If you wish to talk some other time-"

"Hey Kaldur, remember the day we broke into Cadmus?"

Aqualad blinked, surprised by the direction of the conversation. "Yes. It was the day we discovered Conner."

"It was the day we discovered ourselves," corrected Nightwing. "You know if we hadn't gone out that day we'd probably still be sidekicks."

Aqualad chuckled quietly. "If only we had. Life would've been a whole lot simpler."

"Yeah, but we didn't. And now things feel more complicated than ever."

The two of them were silent after that. All that could be heard was the sound of birds in the aviary and the quiet hum of the Watchtower generator. Far off was the sound of heroes, eating, talking, walking, and training in other parts of the station. The quiet was comfortable, reflective, and serene, not like Wally at all.

"Did you ever want to start over?"

Aqualad looked at his friend, guessing where this was going. "Do you wish to go solo for a while?"

"No," answered Nightwing, "I just want to… start over. I don't know how else to say it."

Suddenly there was a voice in Dick's ear. Batman's voice. "Batman to Nightwing, report to the zeta tube."

"Understood, I'm on my way."

Kaldur placed a hand on Dick's shoulder. "Moving on is not the same as abandonment."

.

.

.

Beast Boy was SOOOOO BOOOOORRREEEEDDD. Ever since the Reach and the Light had gotten their butts whooped there had hardly been any missions. Garfield was on his way to the cafeteria (everyone kept telling him to call it the commissary, but he could never remember), when he saw Nightwing striding down the hall with a look in his eye that told him something exciting was about to happen.

"Hey Nightwing!" cried out the green metamorph, hopping onto Dick's head in the form of a small monkey. "Can I come?"

Nightwing would have told him no, but then he remembered what happened the last time Garfield had gotten upset. The little grass stain had run to M'gann and what followed had been a very long and uncomfortable discussion with the Martian.

"Fine, just… don't get into any trouble."

The green primate whooped for joy on his head, did a backflip, and then transformed into a cheetah racing off to the zeta tubes.

When he arrived he saw two people who he had never seen before. They both seemed to be talking to Batman. The first was a tall black man built like a quarterback, who looked as if he was mostly made of metal. His face had a kind, open look to it, and Beast Boy instantly thought he looked cool. The second was a girl who looked closer to his age. He couldn't really see her because she was covered by a deep blue cloak, but under the shadow of her hood he could just barely make out a thin, refined face, pale skin, and lilac hair and eyes, which Garfield immediately thought was weird before remembering he resembled a walking salad with fangs and elf ears.

"Hi, I'm Garfield!" remarked the changeling, offering his hand to the metal man and the mysterious girl. Both shook it, the former with a strong grip, the latter with an unsure one as if unfamiliar with the gesture.

"Nightwing," began Batman, "there's been a crash landing in Jump City. We suspect the involvement of an unknown species of extraterrestrial. Witnesses are reporting what appears to be a humanoid female creature with orange skin almost seven feet in height exhibiting super-strength, flight, and an unknown degree of invulnerability."

"Understood," answered Nightwing. He turned to the new arrivals. "I know you guys just got here, but would you mind coming with me on this one. I don't want to waste time gathering a team when I've already got three right here."

"You can count on us!" answered Gar.

"We can handle it," said the metal man.

"Sure. Why not," muttered the cloaked girl.

Together they all turned towards the zeta tubes.

"By the way," said Beast Boy, "Who are you guys?"

"Cyborg," answered the first.

"Okay, easy enough to remember. What about you?"

"Raven." She answered simply, hoping a one word answer would get a one word reply. She was wrong.

"Corvus corax, huh? Say, can I call you Rae?

"No."

"Okay… Rae…"

Raven's righteous fury for the strangle little green boy was cut off as the zeta tube whisked them off to Jump City on a beam of invisible light.

Seeing them leave, Bruce almost smiled. They all just might make it out of this alive.