The Next Generation

Raven thought long and hard after Neal explained to her just what people tended to do on a date. It made sense, just something that both parties involved enjoyed doing. It seemed that as long as you were having fun, a date could be anything. "I think... a walk sounds nice," Raven said finally, with a careful nod. "And... maybe a movie, too. But if we're going to be out that long, we might as well get dinner, too." Now she was just trying to be practical, of course. "We could visit the museum, as well... they have a lot of interesting exhibits there."

Neal gave a nod as it seemed like Raven was getting into the spirit of things. "Okay, awesome!" he said as he thought about their options. "If it's alright with you, I think a walk, dinner, and the museum sounds the best" he said as he looked over at her. "Movies are nice, but we wouldn't be able to really talk that much, which is something I always enjoy with you" he said with a smile. "So how does that sound? I haven't been to a museum in ages after all, I bet it could be a lot of fun with whatever they might have on display" he pointed out with a smile.

"So, what do you say?"

"That sounds... really nice," Raven admitted, giving him that small smile of hers. She never actually thought that she could be looking forward to something like a date, but with Neal, anything sounded interesting. It helped that she genuinely enjoyed taking walks and visiting the museum. Doing it all with Neal, and having him there for conversation, would certainly make it even better. She felt... happy. More so than she had in a long time. It was a feeling she wasn't accustomed to, but she did like it very much.

"So first a walk... I'll let you pick where," she said. "After I get dressed in more appropriate attire." She then left him for a few minutes while she went up to her room to change. She returned wearing a pair of blue jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt. Hood up, of course. "Alright... I'm ready."

"I agree, I'm sure that we'll have a terrific time," Neal said happily as he smiled at Raven. He had missed this, the chance to be alone with Raven and just spend time together. Their meditations were always good, but there was something about actually being together that just made Neal feel even more connected with Raven in a way that he just couldn't explain. He wasn't going to question it, as he felt happy again and like all the chaos of the past few days never occurred.

"Alright, I'll just wait here," Neal said as he had already changed into civilian clothes. As Raven came back he got up and walked over to her. He knew that Raven preferred her usual outfit, but he always did like how she looked in her normal clothes.....she just made it look so much better. It was because she was beautiful of course. "Well we should go somewhere quiet so that we can enjoy ourselves.........how about Central Park? Or maybe around the Statue of Liberty?"

"The park sounds nice," Raven said, nodding. She'd seen the Statue of Liberty before, there was nothing new or exciting there. But a park was very relaxing.

So, the two went to Central Park for the afternoon, going slowly as they enjoyed the sights and sounds. She felt strange walking with him like that, hand in hand... she'd never held hands with anyone in public before. It was different, weird... but good, too. It made her feel like she really belonged somewhere, like there was someone who really wanted to be with her, which Neal did. After the park, they went to a nice, quiet restaurant for dinner, a small Italian place that she actually didn't think she would like, though was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a rather enjoyable place. The food was quite good, too.

From there, it was off to the museum, where Raven actually took the lead this time, showing Neal around to all her favorite exhibits. She especially enjoyed the Egyptian, Greek, and Medieval displays. They ended up staying there for quite some time, as before they knew it, the museum was closing and they had to make their exit. Once the two were outside in the nice, crisp night air, Raven took in a deep, happy breath.

"Today was... very nice," she said, holding Neal's hand again. "I had... fun. Yes, fun. I haven't had 'fun' in a very long time."

"Alright than, sounds like we have out plan fully made. Let's have a good date," Neal said before taking Raven's hand and heading out on their date.

The date itself, went far better than Neal expected it to. It wasn't that he suspected a complete disaster, but he did have a few doubts about if things would be uncomfortable or not. Thankfully it wasn't, as Raven and Neal just kept talking like it was old times and everything was normal. It was amazing, even only a few days after Superman's death and Neal and Raven were happy.......life really does move on no matter what.

Neal kept up his speaking, always asking questions when they were at the exhibits. He had studied a bit of mythology in High School, but he was certain that Raven knew a far greater amount of information than he did on the subject. He learned a lot, so much that he didn't even realize that it was closing time before they had to be kicked out.

As they walked into the night air, Neal looked over at Raven as she expressed how much fun she had. "Yeah, I know what you mean. This was definitely what I would call a successful first date" Neal said happily as he squeezed Raven's hand. In truth it was getting late though, something Neal realized as he looked up at the moon. "Think we should head back?"

Raven returned the squeeze, tightening her grip around his hand and smiling back at him. "Yeah... it is getting pretty late, huh?" she said, also looking up at the moon. It was getting pretty high overhead. She started walking down the street with him, though stopped after a few steps and turned to give him a quick kiss, her lips planting against his for a few seconds. She then pulled away and continued walking with him. "So, um... should we do something else when we get back? I'm sure the television will be open at this hour... maybe a movie? Or something." Just because it was late didn't mean that the night had to be over, after all.

Neal gave a nod. "Yeah, I mean at least in terms of people who actually rest," Neal said with a small laugh. It was New York after all, some people just had to stay out all night and party. "But yeah, let's head back figure out something else to do," Neal said as they began walking. He turned towards Raven as she stopped and suddenly turned to kiss him. He returned it quickly, despite how brief it lasted. His smile only got larger once the kiss ended though. He heard her suggestion and thought it over for a minute. "A movie.........that sounds like a nice thing to do" Neal agreed as he turned towards Raven.

"Alright, how about we duck away somewhere and you portal us back home for that movie?"

"That I can do," she said, pulling him along by the hand into a back alley.

When they were all clear and no one else could see them, she opened a portal that brought them right back into the lounge area of the tower, which was quite empty. The others had apparently already gone to bed... well, Starfire and Sarah probably weren't quite asleep yet, but yeah, same difference. Heading over to the couches, Raven sat down and waited for Neal to join her. She didn't really know of any good movies, so she figured she'd let him decide what they should watch, if anything. She was perfectly fine with just sitting there and enjoying his company, too.

Neal moved with Raven, moving through the portal as they ended up heading back to the Tower once again. It was quiet, because most of the crew had probably gone to sleep by now, leaving the area alone for Raven and Neal to be together. As Raven sat down on the couches Neal moved over and sat next to her, reaching an arm around her so that she was encouraged to lean in closer to him. Neal would settle if Raven didn't want to do that though. Neal grabbed the remote and began flipping through their options.

Before making a choice though, he glanced over at Raven. "Just so you know........you look beautiful tonight. I mean, you do every night. But I just wanted to let you know that I noticed and........you know what I mean?" Neal asked after feeling like he made himself out to be an idiot.

When Neal's arm came around her, Raven blinked over at him, giving a strange look before finally settling in against him. She'd never had someone hold his arm around her like that before either... she was undergoing a lot of firsts tonight, it seemed. When he started to tell her how she looked beautiful tonight, though, she felt her face go red, though she tried not to let it show too much. "I... thank you," she uttered, utterly embarrassed. But in a good way. She smiled a little wider now, leaning even closer against him now. Looking up at him, she just stared into his eyes again for a while longer... and then moved forward for another kiss. This time, she didn't pull away.

"You're welcome, I always thought you were beautiful even on the first day that we met. I was just too scared to say it at the time," Neal admitted as he looked at Raven. After all he was a new hero, he couldn't just hit on the other heroes on his first day! It would have been just strange! But now they were together, and that was all that Neal wanted right now. As Raven moved in closer Neal's eyes turned towards her, watching her as she leaned in for that kiss. Without even thinking Neal shut off the television, pulling Raven closer towards him as their lips met in a fantastic kiss. He held his arms around her, wanting her to stay this close with him even longer.

When Raven finally did pull back from the kiss, her heart was beating fast, faster than she'd ever known it to. She felt so... so strange. There were butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, and she didn't know how to calm them. She wasn't even sure she wanted them to calm. Rather, she liked that feeling of nervousness... it was all so new to her, and she enjoyed it. She didn't think she'd ever enjoy feeling this way with anyone, but she did. It made her... warm. And happy.

"Neal..." she uttered, swallowing a knot in her throat as she looked up to him. "I... I've never felt like... I mean I haven't... with anyone... before."

Neal eyes opened as Raven finally pulled away from the kiss, watching at her as she began to act like he had never seen her before. She was hesitant, nervous, cautious, traits that normally she was able to set aside in order to make sure the work was finished. She was always in control, but at the moment it seemed like she didn't know how to act. She began to speak, looking up and addressing him as if to explain away the behavior.

Neal moved his hand and took Raven's in his firmly. "I know," he said with a simple smile. She couldn't get the words out, but Neal understood perfectly what she was trying to say.

The next few days passed quite normally around the tower. Raven and Neal continued their relationship together, Sarah and Starfire gradually readjusted to the life of the Titans, Cyborg planned for the big photo shoot for the calender, while Nightwing kept mostly to himself, training constantly. They received no high end alerts, mostly a few small things that the city's police force needed help with, though they did spend a lot of time helping to clean up Time Square, where Doomsday had left behind a scene of utter devastation.

It was bittersweet, knowing that Doomsday was gone, but at the cost of one of their greatest heroes. The loss of Superman was something felt by many people all around the world. For years, he had been the quintessential icon of justice and heroism, and now he was gone. Still, they continued to fight on, striving to follow his example each and every day of their lives. His memory was one that deserved only to be honored and respected.

After one particularly long day of clean up, the Titans were back at the tower, trying to relax and wind down. Starfire and Sarah were in the kitchen, cooking up a big dinner for all of them, while Cyborg was in the middle of making a schedule for the calender. Nightwing was on the couch, head back and eyes closed, gradually nodding off into a nap. Raven sat on the other couch, across from Nightwing. She had a large book propped open in her lap, reading it calmly. All in all, it was a very quiet night.

After several minutes, Raven closed her book and yawned slightly. "I'm going to get cleaned up before dinner," she said, standing up and stretching. Glancing over to the kitchen, she asked, "How long until it's ready?"

"About an hour," Sarah informed, pouring over a cookbook.

Next to her, Starfire yelped as a flash of large flames burst up from the stove, only to die down a moment later. Just to be safe, she beat back the remaining flames with a wet hand towel.

"...maybe longer," Sarah added, watching her wife's futile cooking attempts. "The verdict is still out on that one."

The next several days were some of Neal's favorite among the Titans. He had spent a great deal of time with Raven and their relationship continued to strengthen. Nightwing and Cyborg were both happy as well, while Sarah and Starfire were now in their married phrase and spending a large amount of time together. Neal had missed Sarah, he felt really alone without her around after all. They had joined at the same time, so in a sense they were partially connected. If it wasn't for her Neal had no idea where he'd be right now.

On one day, Sarah and Starfire had agreed to prepare dinner. After seeing what they were cooking, Neal had offered to go out and run a few errands since they were getting low on several items. As helpful as the city was, it would have been ridiculous to expect stores to send everything all the way to Titan tower. They were on the middle of an island surrounded by water after all, it wasn't really the kind of place you could just drive too.

As Neal walked through the streets of New York he kept looking at his list. "Eggs, pancake mix, burgers........lots of burger patties," Neal mumbled to himself as he now realized that Cyborg had edited his list to include the things that he liked to cook. "Well played my friend.....well played" Neal said as he continued to walk on to one of his favorite grocery stores.

As Neal was on his way to said grocery store, however, something would catch his eye. It wasn't just a chance that he might notice it, but rather it exuded some kind of... force that would draw his attention to it. It was a small place, one that he might not have ever noticed coming this way before, and yet it was here now. A quaint little magic shop, on the street corner, entitled 'Xanadu's'. The name might sound familiar, too, as he had heard it before. Madame Xanadu was the mystic that Black Adam had gone to see, to force into performing the ritual that would resurrect his wife, before the Titans stopped him. Though Neal had a shopping list that needed taken care of, for whatever reason he would find himself desiring to enter this little magic shop on the corner... something would be waiting for him there, he'd feel it.

As Neal continued to walk, he glanced up in order to see if the crosswalk would allow him to go forward or not. As he did though, he noticed something on the other side of the street. "Xanadu's?" he asked himself as he he didn't think that he had ever seen the shop before. He had gone to this grocery store several times and yet this store never stood out to him before, so what was different about today? Neal had no idea, but he was starting to think that he should find out. Without any real reason, he crossed over and made his way over to the shop. Neal couldn't explain it, he just wanted to go in. Within five seconds, he pushed his way into the shop and closed the door behind him before starting to look around.

Inside the shop was filled with all sorts of various trinkets and talismans, magical ingredients, potions, books, etc. It seemed like a place where one with a fondness for magic could really enjoy... but was any of it real, or was it simply a bunch of hocus pocus? That remained to be seen. As Neal walked farther into the shop he'd hear the sound of cards being shuffled. Behind the counter sat a woman handling a deck of tarot cards. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to Neal, and yet something indicated that she knew perfectly well he was there. That being the jingle of the bell that went off when he opened the door.

"Welcome," she stated, drawing the top three cards from the deck and placing them out in front of her. Neal was still to far away to see the cards, though they weren't meant for him anyway. "I am Madame Xanadu, and this is my shop. Can I interest you in anything? A book of spells, perhaps? Or maybe a love potion? What about a simple fortune reading? I am quite adept at telling one's future."

Neal looked around the shop, looking at all the strange and interesting trinkets that were around the room. He hadn't really gone into magic shops before, so something really fascinated him about the place. He still didn't even know why he had come in here in the first place. He was just drawn in, and he couldn't explain it in any other way. It was only as he heard someone shuffling cards that he even noticed that a woman was in here.

He heard her offer and he advanced forward, continuing to be pressed forward by that unknown desire. He just looked at her for a moment as she offered him several different things. One stood out to him though. "How much is it for a fortune reading?" Neal asked as he reached into his wallet. He would put down however much money the woman said.

"The first reading is on the house," the woman explained, shuffling the cards again. She finally looked up at him, and when she did, he would notice that her eyes were glossed over, dead. She was blind. "Follow me into the back, that is where I tell fortunes."

She stood up from her seat at the counter and walked through a curtained entrance, into the back room. It was a large storage area, with boxes and shelves of even more magical items. At the center was a round table with a cloth over it, with candles burning in the center and white symbols drawn on it in chalk. Madame Xanadu took on seat at the table, leaving the one across her for Neal to take.

"Relax and open your mind," she explained, cutting the deck of tarot cards into three separate stacks. "Then, draw the top card from each stack." It seemed simple enough. However, when he went to draw the first card, the moment that he touched it, everything would go black.

Neal put his wallet back in place as the woman mentioned that the first reading was on the house. As he looked up though he couldn't fail but notice how her eyes had changed. Well, that was a creepy trick if Neal had ever seen one. He just watched her for a moment as she stood up to lead him to where she read fortunes. He followed slowly, looking back at the store as he did so.

As he entered into the next area he had to admit that it looked like what he had expected. The table and the candles and the spiritual mood, it was all like he predicted. It was like it was straight from a television program. He took a seat while the woman shuffled, eventually prompting him to take the top cards from each deck. "Easy enough," Neal said before reaching out and touching the first card. Without even saying a word he fell over as his mind left him blank.

When Neal awoke, he would find himself still in the back room of Madame Xanadu's magic shop. It wouldn't take long to figure out that something was sorely out of place, though. The table he'd been sitting at was on its side, and the boxes of magical items were scattered all over the place. Shelves had fallen and hung loosely against the wall with age, and a thick layer of dust covered everything. It was as though he'd been asleep for years, and the shop hadn't seen a single moment of care since.

The case was much the same around front. The books and talismans and potion bottles, and all other assortment of goods were littered across the floor, as though the shop had been hit by a tornado. The glass of the front window had shattered, letting in a cool breeze that stirred up a heavy cloud of thick dust in the air. Madame Xanadu herself was nowhere to be found, nor was a single other sole.

When Neal finally made it outside, he would have to realize that something was very, very, very wrong, if he hadn't already. The city was not as he had left it. No citizens walked the streets, which themselves were like a scene straight out of a post-apocalyptic film. Broken down cars were parked, or rather crashed, haphazardly along the entire block, while trash scattered in the wind. Almost all the windows of each storefront were broken in, while the buildings all around him were nothing more than decrepit shells of what they once were. In a word, the city appeared dead. Just dead.

Neal suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had woken up from a dream. Of course, as he looked around he began to realize that something was quite wrong. He was in the same room, and yet no one seemed to be around and the place looked like a mess! He glanced around the room, as if looking to see if this was some kind of joke. "Okay....what the hell is going on?" he asked himself as he looked around some more.

As he got up he saw that the front of the store was the same, another wasteland of disaster. It was only as Neal saw the window that his heart sank. "My God" he said before running outside. The place looked like it was a complete wasteland, or like World War 3 had just taken place. "What's happened?" he asked himself before turning in the direction of the Tower. What of the others!?

Without a second thought, Neal quickly began to run down the streets and towards the tower. Something was very wrong, but he hadn't even seen any of this! What was going on!?

Neal didn't get very far, however, before being suddenly confronted. While at first there had been no one out in the streets, several figures made an abrupt appearance, flying in on what looked like futuristic hover bikes. They were dressed in an odd uniform, blue and black in color, and carried rather large look rifles. But they weren't like any normal guns that Neal would have ever seen before. Rather, they appeared quite the same as the hover bikes... in the fact that they could only be described as futuristic. They even shot a concentrated beam of energy, a laser, as Neal would soon discover when one of the men shot a blast right at his feet, burning a hole into the street.

"Stop!" the man stated. "You are violating curfew! By law, you are to be arrested and detained for questioning. If you resist, we will use lethal force."