Preparing for the storm [Titans]

Robin and the others would head back up to the common room upstairs once they were done dealing with DOMA outside. This was some thanks for all the good they did for the city and everyone living in it. Robin tried to keep from having too many negative thoughts, it wouldn't be productive if he faced this with a narrowed point of view. "Right, anyone else think this entire thing is bogus? Is he serious?" Cyborg was the first to voice his frustration over the matter.

"We're the good guys man. Doesn't that count for something?" Beastboy chimed in.

"Have we done something wrong?" Starfire asked with confusion. They had defeated and locked up all kinds of criminals without any issue. So it perplexed her that they would be under arrest with seemingly no cause.

"Right, this is a lot to take in out of no where alongside trying to be prepared for any of the escaped villains to make a move. Also being ready for when this Fasilli decides to make his next move," Robin said seriously with a sigh. They had faced mad men with magic powers, transdimensional demons or beings, and all manner of supervillain. You would think all of that would be worse than what they'd have to face now but no. The difference then was that each time there was a clear cut "villain." Whether it was The Hive and Brother Blood, The Hive 5, to even Trigon- but now the federal government was threatening to lock them up. For what? Just doing the right thing by protecting the city from the supervillains?

"Right now I know as much as any of you, which isn't much. We've been alittle preoccupied to keep up with any political shifts. I want to learn as much about this department as we can before they decide to come back," Robin continued, already typing away at the computer. Now that there wasn't a platoon on their lawn, Robin could gather whatever information he could. "But until then- I can't stand by and do nothing. They have no idea what they're up against and I want to avoid people getting hurt just because some politician had some funding to blow. But what do you guys think?" Robin finished turning away from the computer and facing the others. He wasn't going to put his own personal feelings before his friends' opinions. They were a team after all and he understood that this was... a difficult matter.

Confusion.

Anger. Fear. Desire for acknowledgement and retribution. Raven felt all those emotions floating in the air, both inside the T-tower, and outside, where the DOMA forces were packing to leave. They would come for them again, she knew. An army of people guided (or misguided?) by someone, or something beyond her reach and understanding. She was quiet, eyes closed, face nearly disappearing in the shadow of her hood.

Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos...

She repeated within her mind, to center herself. The entire thing felt so surreal... They had just defeated a Giant Skeleton burning down the countryside... A while bunch of villains, actual villains, escaped in a country-wide jail-break just a month ago, crime sprees were all over the USA... And these people decided that the first targets were them? It was so... unfair. And that feeling of unfairness stoked the fire within Raven. A fire she knew would burn everything around her, if not tempered with reason. She breathed out, and opened her eyes. The red tide subsided... for now. This entire debate was built on a single age-long quarry.

Raven's lips thinned into a line, eyes looking a bit sad as she heard Starfire's honest, yet naive question. Out of all people here, that girl probably deserved this the least... Unlike her. She sighed.

"We charge you, that you have contrived to take
From Rome all season'd office and to wind
Yourself into a power tyrannical;
For which you are a traitor to the people."

Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

Everyone looked at Raven as she made her quote, Beastboy and Starfire looking the most confused, with Cyborg and Robin being less confused for different reasons. "Uh... yeah! What she said!" Beastboy said trying to cover up the fact he had no idea what Raven said or why. Cyborg atleast knew enough to think it was something like Shakespeare.

"I do not understand," Starfire admitted simply.

"To put it simply, there are people who feel threatened by us because of what we're capable of- regardless of the fact we have worked to protect this city and all of the people who live here," Robin simplified it. After discovering that Zero was among their ranks, Robin didn't trust anything he said- not even counting the fact that Butcher had apparently been recruited. He seriously doubted that it'd just be as easy as "enrolling." Besides, didn't the government have actual problems to worry about with all of the escaped criminals? "So like I said, I'm not going to stand by while this happens. But what do you guys think?" Robin asked again, not being precise with what he was referring to.

"What are our options? Join these shady people so we can keep doing what we do, or tell em to take a hike and be branded as criminals," Cyborg put the two easiest and most direct paths out on the table. "The whole thing just stinks to me. Besides, you'd have to give up your identity right?" Cyborg added.

"Not necessarily but that remains to be seen," Robin replied simply.

"This is all I've ever known since I left The Doom Patrol. I felt like what I did meant something without having someone telling me it had to be done- y'know? Like the fact that I had the choice and I chose to be a hero instead of falling in with people like Dumb and being told when and how I could make a difference," Beastboy chimed in with a rare moment of depth, he had definitely grown up alittle during their dealings with The Brotherhood. It was only slightly soured by his intentionally changing DOMA to Dumb.

"I am not from this world but I consider it my home. It is... difficult for me as it troubles me to know that while good intentioned, that it's become grounds for others to mean us harm. As Cyborg said, it is the bogus," Starfire commented in her own little way.

Raven rolled her eyes a bit.

Of course, her quip was only understood by Robin. And yet... the play written by a English poet and playwright so many centuries ago, fit so very well into their predicament. Beneath her cloak, the girl brushed her hand against her chest. Hard. The armored scales, so diligently made for her by Cyborg, still clang to her form. They were expecting battle. And yet, it did not happen. Postponed, by just two weeks.

"How convenient it must be..." - Raven said, gritting her teeth a little, feeling the familiar burn within her chest. "Less than two months since state-wide breakout, this gang of goons appears, and declares us public enemy number one. Maybe we're making the federal government look too incompetent. To the point the people might decide they're better off with us than with them."

It's possible, isn't it? We're doing all this work, for free. What should be done by the police. Putting our lives on the line. And this is the thanks we get...

The thought of it was... Raven's shoulders drooped, and she hovered away from the rest of the group, towards the window, from which she could see DOMA packing their toys they brought. Copters, vehicles, machine guns... It was enough to be a threat... But how much more they had in store?

Guess we will find out in two weeks...

"Frpm my understanding they don't have a really good track record as it is," Robin deadpanned, referring to any number of examples of government gone made with power- WW2 came to mind, for example. The French Revolution while not a perfect example, was still an example of the people getting fed up with how the government was run and overthrowing it. Would history repeat itself? He wasn't an optimist like Starfire. "Like I said, I want to know more about what we'll be up against if push comes to shove. As much as I would like to concentrate on the actual criminals out there, my immediate concern is us. If DOMA is even half of what they claim to be, I don't think it's selfish to worry about ourselves for the time being," Robin continued with a sigh.

"Right."

Find out stuff, know stuff, act on stuff. Detective work. Robin was best suited for it. As for the rest of them, Raven didn't know. Starfire, Beastboy, and Cyborg would probably sit tight and not do much, waiting for whatever is to happen. She was not like that. Having spent an eternity waiting for the inevitable doom to fall upon her was enough.

And I'm not spending another... But... what do I do then?

Not much. Possibly the strongest member on the team, heir to Targon the Terrible ... could not do much. Just thinking about it almost made Raven spawn an extra pair of eyes. Her fist clenched, in order to contain it. But there was a reason for it. These people wanted to challenge them. No, they dared challenging them. For no good reason. Actually, there was one.

"We're weak..." - Raven muttered, mostly to herself. "Had we been strong enough, DOMA would not have dared showing up at our doorstep with their toys and their guns... Would not have dared to take a potshot at me..." - she spoke, quietly, and straightened up. Suddenly, her gaze became focused, the loss replenished by ... purpose.

There was a purpose now.

"You find out what you can, Robin. I have my own business to attend to."

With that, Raven would float out of the briefing room, and towards her own. There was work to be done.