I don't own Teen Titans. (Sad crying)
8 year-old Jason sat in the kitchen of a tiny apartment somewhere in Gotham, drawing. He could hear the wild whops and music blaring from the bar located below the apartment, and frowned, knowing that his mom was going to come home staggering tonight.
But the feel of the pencil in his hand and the sound of the lead scratching against the paper took the edge off of the reality that any second now, his mom was going to stumble in, completely drunk.
Her drinking had gotten much worse in the past few years. Jason knew it had something to do with his dad, but whenever he brought the subject of his dad up her eyes would water and she would say 'He's dead Jason. And he's never coming back. That's all that matters.' and then promptly change the conversation.
After a few years he just gave up. Jason continued to sketch the outline of a face on his paper.
At least this, his drawings, he could control. The rest of his life maybe not, but this, this was his.
He heard a muffled stumble outside the door. He sighed, running his fingers through his dark hair. Guess she's home .
Sure enough the door turned and his mother staggered in, laughing at something someone had said.
"Hell-o Jason," she slurred, stumbling into the chair next to him.
"Mom you're drunk. Again." he said gently.
She frowned, rubbing her hand against her forehead, as if trying to clear her mind. "I-I am?"
"Yeah, you are."
She groaned, resting her forehead against the table, while Jason watched, knowing to keep silent or she might start crying.
"J-Jason I'm sorry, it just happened again, and I could've- should have stopped but I didn't and-"
"Mom, It's fine. No biggie."
He slid out of his chair and walked over to the sink where he filled a glass with water.
"Here," he said softly, handing her the glass, "Drink all of it."
She took the glass, her hands shaking slightly, gulping it down quickly.
"Thank you Jason. I don't know what I would do without you." She bent over, burying her head between her knees.
"I'm sorry I got drunk again. It's just so hard not to." She stopped, breathing in deeply.
Jason just stood there watching her sadly. "Mom it's fine. Really."
"No Jason it's not! It's not fair to you for me to be like this." she paused, closing her eyes. "Sometimes I just miss your father so much, the only way to get rid of the pain is to drink it away."
Jason eyes widened at this mention of his father. This was the first time she had ever mentioned him.
"You've never told me what happened to him. W-what happened?" he asked carefully, sitting down at the small table.
May sighed, turning to him, eyes full of tears.
"I suppose you might as well know what happened to your father."
She wiped a tear from her cheek before continuing.
"You were only a year old. Too young to know that your dad was gone and would never come back. Your father, he had a brother. His name was Mark. And he was a very bad person. He was a criminal, one who hurt people. The Batman was chasing him and there was an accident. Mark, he-" she paused, shuttering.
"He fell into some kind of chemical waste. I'm not really sure. I never was. It turned him into this… horrible thing. White skin, green hair, and this hideous smile. People said it also drove him crazy, but I knew he was a psychopath before the accident ever happened. Mark came into our apartment late one night… and he and your father fought, Mark, he pulled out a gun, and he…"
she stopped, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.
"I managed to get us both away from him but…"
Jason shut his eyes trying to process the fact that his dad hadn't been some creep that had left him and his mom in the lurch. He had been gunned down by an evil criminal brother that he had also never heard of.
He just stood there for a moment, as if in a trance.
But the sound of his mother's sobbing quickly brought him back to the real world, and he quickly wrapped his arms arms around her thin shoulders.
"Don't cry." he spoke softly. "Dad may be gone but you've still got me. You'll always have me"
She made a choking sound, something between a sob and a laugh.
"I don't know what I would do without you Jason." She sniffled. "I'm sorry that I'm just such a failure at being a mother."
"No you're a good mom!"
She laughed mirthlessly. "Trust me Jason, I'm not. I don't even have enough money to pay the rent."
May bit her lip, holding back a sob.
A sick feeling was growing in the pit of his stomach. 'So that's why she had been drinking so much'
"What are we going to do?"
She forced a smile. "You don't need to worry about grownup problems Jason." She told him, still smiling fakely.
"Why don't you go to bed now."
He nodded mutely. Picking up his pad and pencil, he walked off to his room, leaving May staring vacantly into an empty water glass.
:-:
He clicked on the overhead light, letting the light illuminate every corner of his small room.
Jason sighed, sitting down on his bed, letting himself flop back on the mattress.
'He just couldn't believe that's what happened to his dad. Out of all the stuff he had imagined that was the one thing he never even dreamed of. He knew it must have really hurt her to talk about what happened that night. He just wished there were something he could do to help about the rent. He turned over on his side, frowning.
Why does life work out like crap?
Suddenly he sat straight up.
'That's it'.
:-:
Quietly, with a sweatshirt hood covering most of his face, Jason crept up to the backdoor of some store in a back alley.
Taking a pair of wire cutters out of his backpack, he quickly cut the padlock off the door. Glancing around to make sure no one saw, he slowly opened the door and quickly ducked inside.
Looking around for anyone who might still be in the closed book store, he ran quickly to the cash register.
Please don't be locked, please.
He grinned seeing that someone had absently left the key hanging on the wall convinently behind the register instead of taking it home.
Jason quickly grabbed the key, opened the register, and stuffed its contents into his backpack before running back out the way he had came.
:-:
After he had climbed back up the fire escape and crept back into his room through the window, carefully closing it behind himself, he plopped down on his bed.
He turned his backpack upside-down, letting the contents spill onto his bed. Quickly he counted roughly 500 dollars.
'That would be enough for the rent this month, then Mom would get something together, and he wouldn't do this ever again.
Raven sighed.
'Meditation must be the most boring thing in the world' she thought as she sat cross-legged on the cold marble floor of the temple of Azarath.
"Raven, I sense that your mind is not focused this morning." spoke Azar quietly, opening her eyes.
"I apologize Azar." she said, opening her eyes as well. "But it is very hard to remain quiet and still for so long." she complained. The whole thing seemed to be a huge waste of time.
Azar frowned, almost as if she could hear what Raven was thinking. Her aging face seemed more stern than ever.
"Raven," she spoke, voice serious "How old are you?"
"I will be eight years in two days time, Great One." she replied with a bright smile. "Why do you wish to know?"
Azar's eyes narrowed.
"Raven, you must listen to me very carefully."
Raven nodded, eyes staring at Azar expectantly.
"You must take your training more seriously." she breathed in deeply before continuing. "The universe is much bigger than Azarath. There are many evil people, ones who have given in to the darkness and hatred within."
Raven thought for a moment before answering.
"But Azar, what does any of that have to do with me?" she asked curiously.
Azar exhaled slowly before answering. "Because, little Raven, one day you will leave the safety of Azarath."
This only caused more questions to form in her mind.
'To leave Azarath meant to never return. Did Azar mean that she would have to leave her mother and the only home she had?'
Her thoughts must have shone on her face, because Azar placed a firm hand on her shoulder.
"Do not worry Little One. That is many years away. For now you must practice your meditation."
But why would she even want to leave? She had a nagging suspicion that there was something Azar wasn't telling her.
But instead of thinking more about her suspicion something was wrong, she just bowed her head and continued to meditate.
So this update took waaaaay to long.
But I've been super busy with school and stuff, and it feels like I've edited this a million times. Also, every chapter will have two perspectives, which takes more time. But I've got the whole next chapter almost finished so (hopefully) I'll have it out in a week or so!
As always please review, 'cause I love hearing what you guys think!
1.26.15
