Chapter 1: Loved One

Raven

My motorcycle made a horrifying sound as it rumbled through the streets of the ghetto. The beggar children cleared out of the way, and I zoomed past. Two hundred horsepower and this thing could get around beautifully. The rain hit my goggles and streamed through my hair. The rush of the wind in my hair, nice cliché huh?

I came to my apartment on the East side. I stomped up the stairs so any crack heads making a fuss would know I was coming. Unlocking the double-bolt I had on my door I forced my way through the rusted hinges. Inside was dark and smelled like mold and wet rat. The main hallway branched out into a kitchen, small living room, and two bedrooms. My roommate Anya was occupying one already, I could hear her snores drifting out.

I slammed my keys down on the counter and pulled a coffee cup out of the cupboard. 'Maybe Anya was generous and left me some coffee, hell knows I need it.' I tipped over the coffee heater, nothing came out. 'Crap.' I needed to give Anya a little piece of my mind about this.

My name is Raven, or it was. Now my name is Rachel, last names don't matter. Point is, if I went around with a name like Raven I'd be hearing taunts like "Hear, birdie, birdie," until the day I die. At least now the perverts have nothing on me.

I'm known as a tough girl on the streets. I have to, girl's got to survive. Ever since the Titans broke up it's been this way. I had nowhere to go, so I moved into the first place I could afford, even if I had to share it with Anya. I mean, I loved her like a sister but she was a total slob most of the time.

I made tea, like old times, and sat on the couch. Boy, did I miss them. I hoped they couldn't see me now, I could see them. Cyborg was a medical scholar, he's been making breakthroughs in medicine year after year. Eventually, I got tired of seeing him in the newspaper. Robin was a major detective/crime fighter/one-man-army. He was busting the worst of the worst all the time. Eventually, the newspapers got tired of printing stories about that.

Starfire was a model, end of story, she was still the same old Star underneath. Like, pretty house and all, but nobody home, now she was an airhead by the name of Kori Anders. She was in all the magazines and advertisements. Her alien beauty surpassed all of us lowly humans.

Beast Boy was a news anchorman, I know, right? With looks like his you'd think he'd be a movie star or something. But no, he wanted to try and stay local and you can't be a movie star without moving to LA or something and having a big yacht…hmm, I'd be lucky if I had electricity. He thought this city was so cool…I almost laughed out loud.

If only he saw it through my eyes.

I remembered the Tower, it was still there, but it was a museum. You look up museum in the dictionary it would go a little bit like this:

MUSEUM (myoo-zee-um) (n): A place, or building honoring items, sites, stories, artifacts, or works of art from the past.

That's what we were, from the past. We were out of style, old. Here in the ghetto, we were never in style. Ever notice we only seemed to help people on the richer side of town? That's cause the crime here was so common, we didn't feel the need to stop it. The Titans aren't heroes here, they strike disgust in everyone's hearts, a hopeful light gone out after just being lit.

Life at the Tower, I sighed. I remembered electricity and running water. I remember hot baths, I didn't come by much of those lately. Try, one night a week,

I pulled out a book, a torn-up hand-me-down of Moby Dick, I'd read it hundreds of times, but it would be a while before I got another book, so I just lit a candle and tried to see if I had finally memorized it.

Sometimes I think of what would happen if I had been successful like the others were. I'm sure they kept in touch with each other, maybe they wonder where I am, maybe they're worried about me. I felt the smallest smile tug at the corners of my mouth. I might have been a horror-novel author. I could be after all that I'd seen, especially after I'd moved in here.

I worked for minimum wage at a restaurant/karaoke bar as a waitress. They made me wear this funky little skirt and tank top to please the kind of guests we got. I didn't mind, as long as none of them touched me, it paid the bills. The rest of the time Anya and I would hang around the bar and gamble. Don't think I was addicted or anything, I'm straight and clean. Gambling is just a past time to get a little more money out of my paycheck, and with my skills I nearly triple every dollar I get.

I am what you guys call street smart, here it's just plain old smart. I got a smart-aleck mouth and a wicked sense of humor seemed to have developed since I moved here. Oh well, it helps me survive.

I got up after a while and lay down on my moth-eaten bed. I'd made sure to put on extra long sweatpants and a long-sleeved T-shirt so the bugs wouldn't get to me. You know how they used to say "Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite," here, we literally have to make sure we don't get some disease from bed bugs. I hate it.

All this thinking about the team, yeah, tomorrow was going to really suck. I had work in the evening shift cause the idiotic dell that worked it originally landed in rehab a couple days ago for speed.

God, I hate Saturdays…

-o-o-o-

Gar

"--And that concludes this morning's news!"

I sat at the news desk, my fingers intertwined, my most handsome smile plastered to my face. I waited for the director to say "Cut!" and then I got up and went to go get a muffin or something.

"Good job, Gar," A seductive, yet rather annoying voice sounded behind me. I turned around, a woman was standing there, her blond hair curled in ringlets around her heart-shaped face. Her deep brown eyes stared at me, her black lashes batted themselves my way.

Ew.

Aubergine eyes flashed across my memory as I willed the woman's vain person to realize that cute and bubbly wasn't my type. She only came closer.

"Oh, hey Carla." I said, and walked away. Silently, I begged 'Leave me alone, leave me alone, please don't call after--'

"Wait, Gar!"

'--me. Crap.'

I turned around to face her beautifully ugly face. "Listen, Carla, I told you not to call me that. Only the team can call me Gar."

Her bottom lip pushed out, her eyes pouted. "Why not, I'm you're best friend though, right?"

"No, you're not

I turned around, 'Just leave me alone!'

Finally, she walked away. Score! I hurried to get my muffin. Chocolate chip, right on time to get the last one. People greeted me as I walked past them. I was famous here, former superhero gone really-good-looking news anchorman. I was normally colored, at least, Vic got me one of those hologram things he used as Stone. My gorgeous, sleek hair was blonde, and my eyes were a catching blue--you know, to put it modestly. Just like before I was green.

I worked a bit on my script until my lunch break. I was going out with the rest of the team who were here for the weekend. We were going to have lunch, then we had to get back to our jobs, but in the evening we were going out to this new place for dinner and karaoke.

God, I love Saturdays…

-o-o-o-

Vic

I stuck the slide under the microscope and examined it closely. I was working on a cure for AIDS, and I was almost there. So far, my idea of alternating medicines followed by period of time without medicine was getting people by.

I rambled off a series of equations to my assistant, who faithfully wrote it down as fast as he could, though I still had to repeat some stuff. Oh well, I could only do so much to cure ordinary human slowness.

I put it all away. I was going to be late for lunch with Gar. I couldn't do that again, or else he would look at me with those smiling eyes and say "Find a cure for the common cold yet?" I mean, really, everyone knows that cold bacteria cells are far too resilient for a cure, little buggers adapted too quickly.

I got in the T-Car and drove off to the café. Gar was sitting in a chair in one of the outside areas. Stupid idiot was asleep, the waitress stared at him not quite knowing what to do. Fingering my car keys and my large jacket in hand I walked over and whipped him with it. He woke up, swinging his head back and forth. Finally he caught sight of me and smiled.

"Have a nice nap?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I was having the greatest dream! Do you know if there are any kangaroos in Djibouti?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes, "No, there aren't. Are you sure you weren't dreaming about Australia?"

"Yep," he said. "There was this big sign that said 'Welcome to Djibouti!' on it."

Yeah, if he could read.

"Sure, well, can we get to business?" I asked him.

"Business? I thought we were having fun?" he asked, sinking down into his chair.

"Whatever, so what's up? How's things been?"

"Okay, remember that girl Carla?" he asked, swinging his water glass towards me.

"Yeah, she still a--"

"Whoa! Let's not go that far! She's an airhead supermodel, yeah, but so is Kori--" I snorted. "--but you are right, she is a slut. But I think I'm about ready to strangle her."

"And I thought everyone was looking for a woman…" I muttered, Gar gave me a playful evil eye. What are you going to do about best friends?

"So, you know what the others are up to?" he asked.

I nodded. "Dick's clearing up some files down at the police station, and Kori's doing a photo shoot at the studio uptown."

He looked down, "You still haven't been able to find Raven?" He held his breath in order not to cry. I had to, also, we all missed her so much. The Titans without Raven was like a family without the irritable older sister.

"No, sorry, I've brought in dozens of people that have claimed to have seen her, some as far away as Europe. None of them have been authentic."

He took a napkin and wiped his face off. He looked back up at me, his hologram showed no redness or puffiness around the eyes. You couldn't even tell he'd been crying.

Poor Gar, it seemed like he missed her more than anybody. He would be so thrilled when we found her.

If we found her.

-o-o-o-

Kori

I posed. The cameras flashed, I was momentarily blinded, but I was used to it. The flash of the camera was welcome. It meant more attention, I was supposed to love it, it was supposed to be my life: pose, become famous, get nominated, live happily ever after, that's it. I was an airhead apparently, no one really realized how deep I truly was. Only Dick truly understood.

"Kori! Smile!" The cameramen shouted at me. I did, I hated it. I relaxed and strutted off the stage, grabbing a towel from an older man standing there.

I walked as gracefully as I could to my dressing room. Sitting down, I looked at my reflection. Dick told me, if anything, all I had gotten was more beautiful over the years.

He was a pretty good liar.

I had a nose that curved upward, clear, almost orangey-tan skin, emerald green eyes, full lips, high cheekbones, my body was toned and thin. I was gorgeous, I knew a thousand girls thought that if they could be as beautiful as me then all their problems would go away. Boy, are they wrong. I had a reputation to uphold, I had to make sure I never got into any trouble, or else it would be all over the magazines. I was slowly unwinding and nobody cared.

The only thing I looked forward to was the dinner tonight with the rest of the team. Everyone would be there, I would see Dick for the first time in months. I missed him so much, I never even got a chance to talk to him.

The only person who wouldn't be there was Raven. In the mirror I tried to picture her expressionless face staring back at me.

I couldn't.

I rubbed my temples and shook my head. I tried to visualize her straight, pretty nose, her aubergine eyes, her full lips that never smiled, her pale skin and dark hair. I still couldn't make it come to me, I didn't even have pictures, she was so camera-shy. The media was right, we were like night and day, but we were best friends. And she kept so much inside, she was so unwilling so share her feelings. She thought she had to bear everything on her own.

My head started to hurt, opening a section of the mirror I took out a Tylenol bottle and swallowed some pills. I sighed and stood to pick out a suitable and stylish dress that I could wear out.

Then a thought came to me, the media had no idea that I was going somewhere tonight. I could wear whatever I wanted. Hmm, but if they discovered I wouldn't want to be wearing something unsuitable. So I picked a red silk halter-top and tall matching red boots. I put my hair up into a French twist and held it in place with about a hundred bobby pins. I painted my nails black and left them to dry while I listened to Fergie and J-Lo on my iPod.

I looked at the clock, five-thirty. I left, I made sure my makeup was perfect and walked out. I slunk through the almost-empty hallways and walked out the front door, the secretary didn't even notice me, she was too busy making out with her boyfriend. I looked back at them, my heart aching.

-o-o-o-

Dick

I walked out of Room 7D, the guy obviously wasn't confessing. It was time for the good cop to go back in. Besides, it was time to go get ready for my dinner with the team. I stuck myself in khaki pants and a casually fancy white button-up shirt. I stuck on shiny brown shoes and adjusted my mask.

I walked out the front door and slid into my Mercedes. I drove to the restaurant we were supposed to meet at.

I couldn't wait to see Starfire again, she had emailed me pictures of herself over the years and I was absolutely in love. But of course so were a million male People readers. Of course, I was certain she would choose me over any other guy. She was so beautiful.

I pulled up in front of the restaurant. The others were there, Gar was in jeans and a tight black T-shirt, obviously not knowing the meaning of semi-formal. Vic was in cross-hatched gray pants and a gray coat. Kori was in slinky red silk, knee-high dress and tall red boots, her hair was pulled back. They all waved to me as I pulled up and turned off the ignition.

"Hey, Dick! Long time, no see!" Gar exclaimed as I walked up to them. He pounded me in the back hard.

"Yeah, you too, Gar," I choked out.

Starfire gave me a back-breaking hug. I did my best to return it. Luckily, Vic only shook my hand.

We walked into the restaurant, Kori and I held hands, it was wonderful and I hoped Gar couldn't see. I wouldn't want him wriggling up and down going "Oooooooooh!"

The manager came up to us, "I'm sorry," she said, "But we can't take you today." I saw Vic's mouth drop open, since he was the one that made the reservation.

"Why not?" he demanded.

She looked at him apologetically, "I'm really sorry, but we had some construction difficulties, part of the roof collapsed. It left most of the building unfit for use. We hope we can fix it soon so you can enjoy our wonderful food and service." She put on a business smile and turned to talk to a couple that had come in behind us.

"Well," said Gar. "This sucks!"

"This was supposed to be a wonderful evening with the team! I can't believe this happened!" I exclaimed.

"How about we go somewhere else?" Kori asked.

"Like where? I wanted to do karaoke!" Gar complained.

"Even though you can't sing? How brave of you!" Vic said.

"Enough!" I took charge. "I'm sure we can find a place that has good food and karaoke." I said, stealing a glance at Gar. He smiled widely and gave me a thumbs up.

Ten minutes later we were in front of the only other karaoke bar in the city. It was slightly run down and the waitresses were scarcely dressed and on roller skates. Kori gasped at the sight of them. We slid into a booth near the stage and while Gar sang an ear-blowing solo we waited for a waitress to take our order.

Finally one came over, a black chick that started flirting with Vic. We gave her our order quickly and told her we were in a hurry, though there was none. She pouted and skated away.

Another waitress, a blonde, bone-thin girl finished her jazz song and asked who was up next. About one person raised their hand, Gar. No one was surprised. The blonde looked past him and asked again. Then she pointed into the shadows.

"Rachel! How 'bout you do one," and skated off stage.

The girl there came out of the shadows, I couldn't believe my eyes.

-o-o-o-

A/N: Well, there you have it! Chapter One! I'll give you one lucky guess about what's going to happen next! Darn my classic personality, I've made it too obvious!

But it's a good story nonetheless. Please, please, please, please, PLEASE REVIEW! I need to know how I'm doing!

Revi