Cross-posted from my AO3

- Raven's Secret -

Auldnoir - Midday

Auldnoir was quiet. Peaceful. Not that it was a bad thing to not have constant Nevi attacks, the people were certainly enjoying not having to run for their lives all the time. But for the Gravity Queen, the fact that nothing was happening had her feeling restless.

Kad had flown a lap around the entire city already, looking for something to do. Even Pleajeune and Verdecentre, the two most chaotic parts of Hekseville, had turned up nothing. So she'd made her way back to Auldnoir and aimlessly wandered the streets.

She paused outside Pandora's Fortunes. Aki would definitely find something to do. The problem was Kat's wallet was in no condition for it. And being indebt to Aki was, quite frankly, a more terrifying prospect than boredom could ever be.

Kat walked away, heading over to a nearby railing and leaning over to look down into the park she'd woken up in what felt like forever ago. It was almost funny, she thought to herself, how much Hekseville felt like home now compared to how alien and hostile it had felt back then.
"Well, Dusty," she looked down at the black cat sitting by her feet, "wanna go see what Aujean's up to?"
"Meow."
"No me neither, but I'm bored so what other option do we have?"

She headed on her way down to the fountain square, hoping to pick up some lunch before going to deal with whatever mess Aujean and Eugie would get her involved in this time. Those two were not something to deal with on an empty stomach.
"Hey, Antonin," she waved hello as she stepped up to a sandwich stall.
"Morning, Gravity Queen." The man behind the counter smiled back, "the usual?"

She nodded and leaned on the counter as she watched him work. A couple of passing locals coming up and greeting as they went on with their day. Ever since the D'nelica incident, it had really started to feel like the entire city not only knew of her but accepted her.

Unfortunately she couldn't say the same for Hekseville's other gravity shifter. While she and Raven were becoming fairly good friends, it still seemed like the rest of town hadn't entirely forgiven her from when she was public enemy number one. Raven herself had never said anything to Kat, but Kat had definitely witnessed people given them a wide berth whenever the two were together.

She snapped out of that train of thought as a paper bag was placed on the counter beside her. She didn't even need to look to know it was her order, she could smell enough food for three people in there. Well, three people that weren't her, anyway. If Antonin had noticed she had been spacing out, he didn't say anything as he slid a paper plate with some loose strips of ham beside the bag, Dusty's ears immediately pricking up at the sight.

Kat lowered to plate to him and let him start eating. She'd learned ages ago that it was the best way to stop him 'investigating' her own lunch. As she stood back up, she reached for her wallet only to be waved off by Antonin, who insisted on not charging her.

She decided not to argue against that generousity. Free food is still food. So she just thanked him, reclaimed Dusty's paper plate, took her bag and went on her way. Her original idea was to head back to her home and eat there but the sight of a familiar figure on the other side of the square caught her attention.
"Well speak of the Shifter," she mused to herself as she stepped around the fountain, "Raven!"

Raven, who had been standing in front of a bulletin board seemingly lost in thought, stiffened at the sound of Kat's voice. Before Kat could get close enough to see what she'd been looking at, Raven tore something off of the board, crumpling up the item as Kat walked up.
"Uh... what was that about?" Kat said.
"Nothing." Raven insisted, still standing oddly stiff.
"Didn't seem like nothing."
"No it- it was just an old wanted poster. Guess they haven't removed them all yet."

Kat would have believed her but she'd seen Raven's wanted posters before, back when she first became Kat. And whatever Raven had torn off looked way bigger and Kat was certain she'd seen flashes of colour that no wanted poster had. Curiousity spiked but, well, this was Raven. Pressing for information wasn't going to work. And making a grab for the poster would definitely not end well, Kat was in no hurry to start fighting her again.

So she took a different tact. She rummaged through her paper bag and pulled out a sandwich, holding it out to her friend. Food. The great equaliser.
"Here, want one? I got an extra."
"Sure. Thank you." As Raven reached out to take it, Kat tilted her head and tried to get a good look at the poster in her other hand. Which Raven quickly slid behind her back and out of sight.

The two shifters stared at each other. Kat pouting because her cunning plan had been so easily countered, Raven because Kat was clearly suspicious. Not that it stopped her taking a bite out of the sandwich.

Kat, feeling awkward not saying anything, decided to break the tension and made idle smalltalk about how quiet Hekseville had been.
"That's not exactly a bad thing." Raven said, before finishing off the sandwich.
"I know but, you know me."
"You can't sit still for five seconds so you're bored."
"...Didn't have to put it like that."

That managed to get a smile out of Raven. She finally seemed to relax and lighten up. But before Kat could ask again about the poster, she turned away.
"Thanks for lunch but I have things I need to do. I'll see you later."
"Huh? Wai-"

She was already gone, rocketing through the air away from Auldnoir. And taking the poster with her. Kat glanced down at Dusty and readied to follow, only to be cut off at the pass by another friend of hers.
"Yo, Gravity Queen." Syd waved as he walked over from the train station.
"Morning Syd. Look I gotta go catch up with Rave-"
"Oh hey, thanks, I haven't had lunch today," the detective said as he reached into the paper bag Kat was holding, only to be shoved back as she snatched the food away from him.

Kat was not happy by this point. Even without trying to steal her food, Syd had distracted her enough that she'd lost sight of where Raven had gone. Following her was impossible now.
"...Bad timing?" Syd asked.
"Meow." Dusty replied.

After giving him the rundown on what had happened while he went and bought his own lunch, the two sat down on a bench.
"Definitely wasn't a wanted poster. Whenever new ones are put up, we take down any old ones so there shouldn't be any of her still around. Especially not here, this is way too public for us to miss it."
"That's what I thought. But then what was it?"
"Hmm. I wonder..." Syd said, looking up at the world pillar and lost in thought.
"Syd?"
"Are you familiar with Artist's Alley?"

It didn't ring a bell. She shook her head and waited for him to continue.
"Basically it's an entire street covered in, well, art. You do painting or photography, you've got something up there."
"So?"
"Also one of those places people put posters and ads up, so if there's more than one of whatever Raven has then there'll be a copy. And I'm pretty sure I saw her near there a couple days ago."
"Really?!" Kat jumped to her feet. "Where is it? I need to go check this out."

Syd stood himself, throwing his trash in a bin as he pointed out where to go. Kat slapped him on the back as she thanked him, body turning black and glowing with an inner red lightning as her powers flared to life and she took to the sky. Syd watched her go, rubbing a suddenly sore shoulder. Kat was a lot stronger than she looked, after all.
"Well she's not bored anymore, so that's something," he mused. "Hope Raven doesn't find out I'm the one who pointed her there. Although technically I didn't tell her directly so it should be fine."

Yeah, no. If Raven got wind of his involvement, there was no rules lawyering that'd let him escape the consequences. Still, that was future Syd's problem, right then he had work to do now his lunch break was over with. And he had just lost his chance to 'ask' Kat to help.

Artist's Alley was hidden on one of Auldnoir's lower levels, out of sight from the sky so Kat had to drop down and navigate on foot. She weaved through crowds, wondering if she'd know if she found the place. A thought that died the moment she caught sight of it. It was difficult to miss the long winding tunnel that was covered almost entirely in posters, paint and photos.
"How did I not know of this place already?" Kat mused, vowing to not spend so much time flying above Hekseville so she could explore the lower levels. Who knew what else she was missing.

Still, she had found Artist's Alley. Now she just had to track down the poster Raven had been looking at. That she knew nothing about, other than it definitely wasn't a wanted poster. The small glimpse she had of it had shown flashes of colour but that didn't mean much in an entire tunnel filled with colour.

Kat wandered through the tunnel, stopping and looking over anything that caught her eye. It was slow progress, especially when she realised a lot of the art was actually being sold. Most of the people there were regulars and were all too willing to talk to her about their work. And, more importantly, about a certain woman with black and red hair.
"Yeah, saw her a couple days ago," one of the sellers told her, idly flipping through a sketchbook as he went, "talking to a photographer a bit further up the way, I think."

Kat blinked as she was suddenly shown the sketchbook. And a drawing of what was definitely Raven and a small mousey looking woman in a flat green hat.
"Is this photographer around?" Kat asked, getting only a shrug in return. "Well thanks for the help anyway!"
"You're welcome," the sketch artist replied as Kat moved on. He started work on his next drawing, a girl in black and gold with a starry cat trailing behind her.

After a few more minutes of searching, Kat had not managed to track down the woman in the green hat. She'd covered almost the entire alley by this point and the number of people was starting to thin. She took to the air, floating up and landing on the tunnel's roof in order to try and look from above. Out of the corner of her eye she saw it, not a green hat but a very familiar shade of red.

She turned and stared. There, on a poster, was a figure that she had really not expected to see. It seemed to be an advertisement for coffee, reading 'a good way to wake up in the morning' as it showed a woman half in bed with a kettle and mug on the bedside table. While her arm was blocking most of her her face and the clothing was different, there was no mistaking the red in her hair or the silhouette of a black bird behind her.
"Raven?"

Kat dropped back to the ground, ignoring that people were starting to stare at her as she stepped up to the poster. It was definitely Raven. Especially now she was close enough to pick up the smaller details. Those were definitely her shoulders, that was for certain.
"Dusty, why would Raven be on a poster for coffee?"
"Meow."
"Well that's not very helpful."
"Um, e-excuse me, can I help you?"

Kat turned as the woman from the sketch stepped out of the crowd and looked up at her. Short brown hair peeked around the flat green cap and a large camera hung around her next.
"You're the Gravity Queen, am I right?" She asked, fidgeting with the dials on the camera and not quite meeting Kat's eyes.
"That's me," it was nice to be recognized, "but Kat's fine. And you are?"
"Souris, the photographer who shot that poster."

Kat beamed, which didn't really seem to calm the nervous photographer any. So Kat stopped, calmed herself down and relaxed so she'd seem less intimidating.
"The model for this, that's Raven, isn't it?"
"Y-yes. But she goes by Sachya while working."
"Jackpot." Kat thought, before adding, "is it okay if I ask a couple questions?"

Pipe House - Evening

Raven arrived outside Kat's house late that evening. She stood on the pavement outside for a minute before sighing to herself, biting the bullet and heading inside. She knocked on the side of the pipe as she climbed onto the platform. There was no sound of desperate scrambling and getting changed, or the crash of her falling off the bed, so it was most likely safe to head inside.

Kat had been laying on her bed, idly throwing a small rubber ball and catching it. Dusty had gotten bored of trying to intercept it a while ago and had taken shelter under the small wooden table beside the bed. Both of them looking over as Raven came into view.
"Hey, it's me." Raven stepped inside, holding up a paper bag, "I brought food."
"Really?" Kat shot upright, "Syd never brings food when he shows up."

She made grabby hands, scooping the bag up and finding it full of donuts. Raven was pretty certain that if she smiled any harder than she would actually explode. Assuming that didn't happen from the rate she was shoving donuts into her face. She was going to be finding crumbs in her bed for weeks.

Kat did eventually have to stop for air, placing the bag on the table and licking icing and sugar off of her fingers as Raven took the chair and helped herself to a donut.
"Listen, Kat, about earlier," she paused, not entirely sure how to put what she wanted to say. "Sorry about that."
"No problem, it's cool!"

Raven paused in mid-reach for a second donut. While Kat being almost unreasonably chirpy was nothing new by now, she'd shown way too much interest back in the square to just wave it off now. Their entire relationship had been founded on Kat not knowing when to stop meddling, after all.

Kat noticed Raven's confused look. She finished the last of the icing on her fingers, before leaning back and reaching down to get something behind the bed. The rustle of paper made Raven suddenly stiffen, going almost as white as a sheet as Kat lifted up a rolled up poster.

If it wasn't for a yawn from Dusty, there would have been an awkward silence as Raven stared at the furled up paper. She didn't need to see it to know exactly what that was.
"Where did you get that?" She asked, eventually.
"Artist's Alley. Found your photographer and she sold me a copy."
"How did you know to go ther-" Raven paused, expression changing from panic to anger as she growled Syd's name under her breath.

She got up from the chair, turning to leave and go make an example out of the detective, only for Kat to lunge forwards and grab onto one of her sleeves. That made her pause. If only because Kat's ankles were about the only thing left on the bed, the rest of her hanging over the edge as she clung to Raven's clothes.
"Raven, please, I just want to talk about it."

The black and red haired shifter sighed. She silently moved closer to the bed so Kat could back onto it rather than faceplanting into the floor. Again. Sitting back in the chair, she did decide to scoop up the bag of donuts. Kat had apparently recinded her right to baked goods when she decided to be nosey.

Kat pouted at that. But the adorable kitten eyes had no effect on an especially grumpy looking Raven. Which was worrying, it did usually work on normal grumpy Raven.
"You wanted to talk. Talk," Raven stated, staring out the exit of the pipe house and mentally envisioning what she was going to do to Syd when she found him.

Now Kat felt bad. While she had wanted to tease Raven a little, just because she was ordinarily so unflappable, she had definitely not intended to actually upset her. Just as she was gearing up to apologize, the other shifter cut her off.
"Look, Kat," she paused to take a deep breath, "I'm not upset with you."
"Really?" That was a relief and a half.
"Really. It's just that I was trying to work myself up to telling you on my own terms so-"
"I kinda beat you to it."
"Yeah."

Raven leaned back in the chair, resting the back of her head against the wall of the pipe. She wordlessly handed the bag of donuts back as she stared at the roof.
"Suppose you want to know why?"
"Little bit. Souris wouldn't actually tell me anything."
"Heh," she smiled at that. It definitely seemed that she'd chosen a good partner, "well it's because of all those old wanted posters."
"The ones that aren't around anymore."
"Just because they aren't around now doesn't mean people forgot. I'm not you, Hekseville doesn't accept me as easily."

Raven paused again, taking another breath. Kat let her, knowing it was time to just let her friend talk.
"I go to a stall for food and I'm getting charged more, if I'm served at all. So I kinda needed a job for money."
"So why a model and not something else? Like a courier or something?"
"Because the posters. Everyone remembers my face as the gravity shifter that terrorized them until you showed up and 'tamed' me. So I thought maybe if I did modelling, something that meant they'd see pictures of me in a good light, maybe things would change. Passersby wouldn't avoid me."

Raven kept staring up at the roof, drifting back into silence. She only looked down when Kat got off of the bed and sat down on the table beside her, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

Normally Raven was very much a no touching kind of person but she let this one slide. Even leaning into it.
"Feeling better?" Kat asked as she released the hug.
"Well I'm not debating whether to just leave anymore."
"Good. You getting all flustered like that was weird."

Kat paused. Then the devious smirk came back. She leaned over to the bed and retrieved the poster and passed it over to Raven. Followed by a pen.
"Don't suppose I could have an autograph? I'm a big fan of your work."

Raven looked at the picture of herself. Then the pen being offered to her. Then the stupid grin on Kat's face. She sighed, reached up, and pushed her off the table and sent her tumbling onto the bed.
"That's the Raven I remember!" Kat sat back up, laughing. Something about her cheerfulness was infectious and Raven found herself joining in.

The two of them finished off the remaining donuts, no longer feeling the shadow of tension looming over them. It felt good. Normal, even. Which wasn't a feeling either of them had really gotten to enjoy in a long time. Raven even making small talk about the photoshoots she'd done, just because Kat seemed interested and that trumped any embarrassment she still felt.
"So there's going to be more of these?" Kat returned the poster back to it's place behind the bed.
"Most likely. I don't know exactly when the airboat one will be printed."
"And a clothing line in Pleajeune."
"Three. They're going to use three pictures." There was a hint of a blush on Raven's face again.
"You in fancy dresses though, that I have to see."

Raven pushed her over again, not entirely thrilled with the teasing way Kat had said that.
"You really can't talk about fashion," she countered and stepped around the bed to the curtain behind it, pulling it aside to reveal some of Kat's other clothes. "Never caught me running around in a leather catsuit."
"Hey, I had to join a gang."
"Oh?" This was the first Raven had heard about this, "you, joining a street gang?"
"I was running it!"
"Really now? This I have to hear."

Raven sat down on the bed beside Kat, almost looking forward to hearing that particular story. It was strange, no matter how many times Raven thought she'd learned everything about her friend, Kat found some new way to surprise her. Even if it was just a story of something stupid she'd gotten embroiled in.

Still it was nice to be able to sit down and have fun. Something she hadn't experienced in a long, long time. She looked at her guardian, the starry bird perched on the back of the chair she'd vacated and smiled to herself, quietly enjoying the moment as Kat spun some ridiculous tale about racing airboats around the city.

Syd was still going to get the surprise of his life tomorrow though. Raven didn't forgive that easily. She hadn't gotten rid of her old reputation yet, after all.
"Maybe I'll strand him on the top of the clocktower."