Can you hear me?

A mass dome of energy detonates, leaving a wasteland. A crater miles wide is left, surrounded by thick black leaf forests. The sky once more shone bright red with dark clouds.

I know you can.

A young orange haired teen leaned against a pile of rubble, breathing heavily. He clutched his side as he steadied his breathing.

You just don't know how to talk back.

"Are you done resisting me? We've been fighting for days." A figure appears out of the blowing dust in the wind. Light red with long white hair, the look of a sorcerer. "Submit."

The teen let out a hearty chuckle and gave a wicked grin, blood leaking from his mouth. The teen's four red eyes glow. "Submit? Aren't we still warming up?"

As much as I may hate to admit it, I may need help.

The two squared off and charged each other.

Raven. . .

The titan jolted from her sheets. Once more, she was covered in sweat, unsure what to make of it. She rubbed her temple. Every morning. . .

She slowly gets up before looking at the clock. Not even 3 o'clock AM yet. She groans. She falls back onto her bed. Too early. Even for me.

. . . . .

"Rachael!" The voice jolted Raven from her sleep. She looks up at the blonde. Right, they were hanging out again. She must have fallen asleep on her friend. "Jeez. It's called sleeping. Maybe you need more of it?" Her friend offered with a smile.

Raven sighed, eyes half shut. "I would if I could. Sorry."

'Jen' tilted her head, showing slight understanding. "If you were too tired, you shouldn't have come out. I don't want ya' fallin' over in the street and having to drag you home. The guys might ask some questions."

Raven muttered something in-comprehensive.

"What?" The blonde leaned over the table.

". . . coffee." A soft thud was heard. Raven opened her eyes, seeing a Starbucks cream coffee. ". . . That's a milkshake."

Jinx groaned. "Not this shit again. Drink it and like it!"

Raven smiled lightly as she got up and started drinking. It's been a full week since the nightmares started, and add one day for when she met Jennifer. Raven hummed in slight satisfaction, since she could see straight again. "So what's the agenda?"

Jennifer pouted. "I WAS going to suggest we go see a movie, but that won't keep you awake."

Raven chuckled. "I can pay attention to anything as long as it's interesting."

Jennifer took one look at Raven before scolding the brunette. "Yeah, I call bullshit on that. Swimming? I could see you in a bikini." Jennifer added with a wink.

Raven blushed, but otherwise didn't react. It was becoming common place, so she was prepared. "Not happening."

"Go dancing in a club?"

"We're underage-"

"There's places for tee-"

"No."

Jennifer pouted. "OH! Laser Tag!" One look gave her the answer. "Play frisby in the park?" Same blank stare. "Basketba-" The look again. "The mall?"

Raven smirked, thinking of Starfire. "While going with you would be more comfortable than my usual mall companion, she would probably sob herself to sleep if I went without her."

Jennifer snapped her fingers in mock annoyance. "Darn. . . Bowling?"

Both had the same thought. Easy and I can use my powers to play for me. Raven shrugged, but had a smile. "Sure."

It took them only a few minutes to get to a nearby Bowling alley. Raven, of course, was put first. She frowned. She chucked the ball lightly, since her strength at full power would embed the ball in the far wall. It sped down the way, starting to veer left. One thought from Raven and a near invisible black swipe placed the ball back in the middle. She got a strike. She looked back at Jinx with a smirk.

The blonde had her mouth gaped. "Bullshit. . ."

Raven sat down. "Beginners luck?"

Jennifer snickered. "With all the crap that breaks around you, I'm surprised none of the pins was snapped in half." Good thing she looked forward as Raven blushed wildly. Jinx rolled her ball. It was relatively flawless as it hit the pins, but three were still tipping back and forth. A couple near invisible pink sparks and they all fell over. Jinx turned with a smile.

"That was good." Raven appraised.

Jinx faked modesty, looking away from Raven as her finger nails, pretending to inspect. "Yeah, you know. Maybe just luck, but it was nothing."

Raven got up, going monotone. "Smart ass. . ."

Jinx laughed hard. "I have to be, or you'd make me feel dumb!"

Raven stepped up with a ball. "I do anyway."

Jinx playfully pouted. "Bitch!"

The game played out. . . both having perfect games. Yes, they both cheated the whole time, but neither noticed the other's efforts. They of course got their picture on the wall, Jinx giving a Cheshire cat grin and Raven giving a blank, half closed eye stare.

The two walked through the park together. It was still only 5 in the afternoon, but they were calling it a day early. Jinx smiled. "Next time you ask to hang, make sure you sleep damn it."

Raven was already wiping her eye, but she smiled. "Noted." They hugged, Raven not hating the gesture anymore. Hell, her annoyance of the gesture only started because of Starfire's bone cracking hugs.

The next thing DID still take her by surprise, the peck on the cheek when pulling away. Jinx quickly stepped back as a red faced Raven swiped at her. Jinx laughed loudly. "Too easy."

"Not funny." Raven growled out, which made the other girl laugh harder.

"Whatever you say. BYE!" She ran off, leaving Raven alone.

Raven, after getting a color other than red on her face, looked around curious. Hm. Nothing broke this time-

A large series of cracks was heard as a tree fell over, thankfully hitting no one. People were surprised, muttering things about how a perfectly healthy looking tree would just fall in half. Raven sighed. So close. . . so close.

. . . . .

She entered the common room. She found Robin addressing the team. "Good, you're here."

Raven nodded. She sat between Starfire and Cyborg, Beastboy was sitting on the other side of the metal man.

Raven questioned. "This is about Slade, isn't it?"

"Yes. This Slade Wilson guy does seem to fit the profile for the Slade we know."

Cyborg frowned. "Man, I thought we were done with that guy!"

Beast Boy scowled. "I know I'm not."

Robin held his hand up to quell any comments. "We don't know if he's planning anything or not. We did make a deal to stay away from each other, remember? If he ever rears his head around here, we take him down. He knows not to take us on anymore."

Beast Boy was shocked. "Wait, you're saying to-"

Robin restated his announcement. "YOU ALL will ignore it. I won't. Since I'm the only trained detective here, I'm the only one that will work on it. Though, only in spare time. He hasn't been a problem lately, so I'm not prioritizing him over current problems."

The group let out a collected sigh. No Robin snooping going on at 2 AM for four weeks straight, then. Starfire spoke up. "We have his name, though. What have we found so far?"

Robin nodded to Cyborg, the metallic man stepping up to the computer. A giant monitor lit up in the room, showing a dark shadowed picture of someone. "Slade Wilson, whether he's our Slade or not, is an ex military combat specialist. High class mercenary. I found some of the old HIVE stuff we got from the computurs we ransacked for information."

"When we took down Brother Blood's school?" Beast Boy clarified. "Do bad guys just all have a club?"

Raven asked. "What information did the HIVE have?"

Robin answered. "Slade has apparently worked along with the HIVE many times for several years before our team was created. His call sign was 'Deathstroke'."

Beast Boy shivered. "Not a PG name. . . Dude, that means he's-"

"A certified, and very famous murderer." Robin finished in a foreboding tone. "Assassination. Bounty Hunting. Hired bodyguard. I even managed to get Batman to tell me that they've traded several blows against each other."

Star gasped as Cyborg stared at him wide eyed. "Uh, Rob? You think that might be why Slade targeted you in the first place?"

Starfire added. "His interactions with the HIVE also make sense, seeing how one of the first teams he sent to attack us was the HIVE team of Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo."

Robin answered. "Both counts seem accurate, but we could always be wrong."

Cyborg changed the slides on the monitor. The picture showed a profile of Slade with a full orange helmet, both eyes there. "This is Slade, about three years before we started to go up against him."

Beast Boy shrugged. "So? He has both eyes. Maybe he lost one on a mission or something."

Robin nodded. "Right. Except the incident where he lost his eye. . . was caused by Brother Blood."

The group took that in stride at this point. Raven commented. "So that might explain why Slade stopped using the HIVE agents after it became clear the HIVE had a new headmaster. Bad blood between them."

Cyborg shook his head. "Heavy stuff, guys. Says the incident resulted in the deaths of Slade's family as well. Definitely bad blood."

Beast Boy tilted his head with a frown. "His whole family." His ears pointed up as he pointed a finger at Robin. "He wanted you as an apprentice to take his legacy, right? . . . and when he failed to get you. . ."

Robin finished. "He took Terra instead." Raven could sense Robin had wanted to avoid the subject of the blonde girl. Beast Boy's mood immediately soured.

Beast Boy muttered. "I don't care if he lost his family. What he did was still messed up!"

Robin continued. "The only thing we still don't know was his over all goal. Going over his history, he never took an interest in being the planning man. He was a hired soldier. Worked for everyone and made a big name. I don't understand why he put so much effort into making a huge empire of robotic troops. . . then there's wondering how Cinderblock came into it."

"Can we not use the sources of the news to locate him?" Star asked.

Robin shook his head. "No. He gave them enough information to be credible, giving him a spot on their program, but everything else he covered up. Tried retracing where he called from, but it was an empty location when we got there. He planned ahead. Even more confusing is how he hasn't resurfaced. It's been nearly a year, and from my sources he hasn't made a reappearance in the criminal world either."

Silence fell in the room. They had nothing more to add to the discussion. Cyborg grinned big. "Alright, who's ready for pork rib covered steak with-" The alarm went of. Cyborg immediately hunched with a grumble. "-with a side of butt whooping on WHOEVER STOPPED ME FROM COOKING!"

Robin grunted. "Dr. Light."

The group turned to Raven. She blankly stared back before sighing. "Fine. I'll be back in half an hour."

. . . . .

Jinx almost dreaded coming in to see her team. Sure, she was always annoyed while dealing with them, but the current dilemma was killing her. However, this was the final day they gave her to come to a decision. Come on. I'm a bad guy. I'm SUPPOSED to be ferocious. People SHOULD die when I fight, so why don't they? She sighed heavily. "And why am I the only one against it?"

She lands in the alleyway to enter the HIVE base. "Problems still?"

She halts. AGAIN?! She turned to see Red X leisurely sitting on top of a closed dumpster. Interestingly enough, he had a bitten apple in his hand. "What are you? A stalker now?"

He shrugged. "Just eager to put in my two cents." She was about reply, but he cut her off. "Your team wants to murder people. You know that right?"

She stops. "Yeah."

"And you're okay with it?"

Defensively, she crosses her arms and looks away. "I'm a bad guy. Why wouldn't I be?" The answer made him laugh. "WHAT?!"

He settled down. He began spinning the apple in his hand on one finger. "You're lying through your teeth and don't even know it." She glared at him.

"I don't see you giving these lectures to the rest of my team."

"Not worth my time."

"And I am?" She gave him a skeptic look.

He shrugged. "Don't know yet, but you are the only one that might listen." She considered that statement for a while. "Plus, you're the only one with any relationship with a civilian." She teleported from sight as a hex bolt hit the dumpster he sat on. He appeared behind her, but her hand was already pointed at him with pink energy gathered.

"You've been spying on me?" She narrowed her gaze. "If you make any threats-"

He chuckled. "Oh, you're expecting me to make her the next Lois Lane? Not my interest. Now, tell me. If someone DID threaten her, what would you do for real?" Her energy disappeared as she thought. He added. "Protect her?"

"Well, yeah! Fighting for someone you're friends with-"

"Is and awfully good guy thing to do." He replied. She glared again as he chuckled. "Give me a good hour or so to show you something." With that he hopped off the walls to a nearby roof.

Jinx defiantly stood still for a moment. "God damn it!" She hopped up after him in the same pattern.

. . . . .

"HAHAHAHAHAA! FEAR NOT CITY! SOON YOU SHALL SEE THE LIGHT!" A bright yellow beam blasts a car away as he cackles.

Up above, two figures watch. Jinx scoffs. "Seriously? You're going to teach me using this guy?"

Red X merely nods. She expected a comment, but soon payed attention.

Dr. Light shot out blasts into more cars. In his off hand was a large back practically bursting with the Benjamins. His smile wiped away as he frantically he saw a man step in front of his family protectively. Dr. Light snickered. "You shield yourselves from the Light? You dare live in darkness?!" He fires a blast at the defenseless group. However, the blast went right by the father, striking the child.

Jinx's eyes widened. "The fuck?! What was the point in that?" She watched the child appear, still alive, but heavily burned. "Sadistic bastard. . ."

Red X nodded. "You'll see in a moment."

Dr. Light then monologued. "SEE?! That is what happens when you shield the children from the light!" He then charged a new blast. "Now to punish, and this will be a much harder blow." The 'doctor' released the blast at the man. "Now, WALK TOWARDS THE LIGHT!"

Jinx almost reflectively dove in, but Red X held her back. "Watch."

A black energy dome appeared over the family, blocking the blast with ease. Raven appeared in between the doctor and the civilians. Light immediately paled, but showed anger. "You?!"

Raven ignored him, turning around to the family. The parents, crying, tried to keep her away as well, but she said something that calmed them. She stepped to the child, coating them in energy. Moments later, she took the energy off as the child got up, nearly entirely healed. A few soft words were spoken as the family thanked the titan and sprinted off.

Light snickered. "So, dark girl. Are you ready to face the dark."

Red X spoke again. "This is one of the things I wanted to show you."

Jinx looked down. "The. . . fuck?. . ."

Raven turned around with four glowing red eyes. Darkness exploded out of her in the shape of a massive demonic raven that had matching eyes. Dr. Light frantically blasted at the dark energy, but the darkness ripped through, bashing Light into a wall. Dozen's of tendrils of darkness smash into him before tossing him into a car, denting the large machine with him. The darkness suddenly overwhelmed him as he screamed and screamed like a frightened child. The darkness disappeared in a snap, leaving a pale as paper Light on the ground with obvious broken bones and in the fetal position mumbling things Jinx couldn't make out.

Raven was back to normal eyes, but Jinx could see from the roof that she still shook with anger. The hooded Titan gripped Light by the neck and obviously threatened him, making him quiver in fear. She wrapped metal from a nearby car around him to hold him still as the police arrived.

Jinx just stared wide eyed. "What. . ."

"Lesson number one." X started. "When you cross that line fully, you pull the heroes down with you. When that happens. . . THAT can happen, or even worse. You may pull the hero too far down, and they cross that line to stop you for good." He looked at Jinx. "Make sure you understand what you guys might be getting yourselves into."

She nodded dumbly, then looked back at Raven who disappeared. How much does she hold back?

"So, are you willing to listen to more?" Red X started. She nodded dumbly yet again. "Alright then. Come on, Lucky."

. . . . .

Jinx and X land on the Wayne Enterprises building of Jump City. Jinx looked around. "Okay, so what other 'lessons' you have for me?"

X looked around for a moment. "Hold on." He teleported. He then came back in. "Deactivated the roof camera."

Jinx tilted her head. "Why was there a camera up here?"

X shrugged. "Titans fought here once. Caused half the 'WAYNE' letters to get destroyed."

"Riiiiight." She answered. "By the way, I'm noticing a lack of X puns."

He smugly replied. "Lucky you."

"Ha Ha, now get on with it." She started rudely.

He held his hands up defensively. "Impatient! Okay, let me ask you. Had Raven not shown up, what would you have done?"

Jinx looked anyway but X, saying nonchalantly. "Nothing. . ."

"Wrong."

"FINE! I was gonna help." She snapped angrily.

"Alright. Next question, could you picture yourself in Light's shoes?"

She thought. She wasn't sure. "I don't know. Why are you so protective of life all the sudden?"

"I don't care about life being lost. I just don't do it myself."

"Why?"

"It would be too easy. When you cross that line, it's gone for you. Killing becomes easier, and you never recover from that. Not fully, anyway. Light tried to kill that family because it became that easy for him. Like it or not, that WILL be you if you decide to cross that line."

". . ." She doesn't reply.

He continued. "Not that killing is always so bad. After all, it can solve a lot of problems, but it also causes a lot more if you don't think about your actions."

"I have a question." Jinx states. He nods. "Are you even a bad guy?"

He laughs, making her glare at him. "What sort of monster psycho actually considers themselves bad. I look out for myself, but make sure I don't owe anyone. Everyone's the hero of their own story." He crosses his arms. "So why are you so determined to call yourself 'bad'?" He waited a full minute for her answer, receiving none. "Nice chat." He disappears, leaving her alone.

She stares into the distance, confused. Her phone rang, startling her.

. . . . .

Raven entered her room. She sat onto her bed, laying back. She stared at the ceiling. I can't believe I snapped so easily. She remembered seeing him throw that attack at the family. He eyes momentarily flared red, but she slammed them shut. Heartless bastard. It's a wonder why I even let him live! She stopped herself there. She suddenly felt afraid. Okay. . . okay. . . calm down. . .

"Azarath. Metrion. Zinthos." She muttered three times. She slowly reached down, entering a number on her communicator, setting it on speaker as she laid it down beside her.

The number picked up. "Hey. . ."

Raven noticed the tone. Seemingly depressed. "Don't you sound happy." She tried her usual sarcasm, but it came out bitter.

Jinx chuckled on the other end. "Long night, but why aren't you asleep." Her voice got some measure of humor back. "You'll pass out on the spot next time I see you."

Raven smirked slightly. "Long night, too. Can't sleep. Too much on my mind."

"Like?" the question made Raven pause. What the hell could she say? Hey, I just went half demon on a guy for being a monster and let the thought cross my mind that I should have killed him? Oh, that would be a bad day, but that did make her think about something else. Why am I talking to her? Sooner or later, I'll have to tell her stuff, just like the Titans. That's too dangerous, but. "There. . . was an incident downtown."

The voice cut in with intense worry. "You're not talking about the Dr. Light thing! Do not tell me you were there!"

Raven was taken back by that. She decided to lie. "Uh, yeah. I saw Raven take him down." For some reason, saying her own name sounded funny. "Is that what's bothering you?"

Jinx's voice was heard, cursing to herself. "Jesus, you could've gotten killed."

Raven suppressed the urge to laugh. Dr. Light killing her. Right, and Superman is a ballerina too? Then she lit up in worry. "Wait, you were there too? It hasn't appeared on the news yet!"

". . . yeah."

Raven smacked her forehead. "You've been in this city how long? Shouldn't you know to stay away?"

"Oh? And what happened to miss 'I stay out of Batman's troubles from Gotham'?"

Raven wasn't in the mood to argue. "Fine, we're both reckless stupid teenagers." Raven then asked. "Why are you upset."

Jinx's reply came soon. "Caught myself thinking Raven should've killed him. . . Then realized what I thought."

Raven was stunned there a moment. She wanted to tear Jennifer a new one, but knew it would be hypocritical. ". . . same."

Jinx chuckled slightly. "We're a little alike, aren't we?"

"Yeah, I just needed to talk about it." She sighed. "Killing isn't the answer."

Jinx sighed too. She already saw what X was talking about. "Killing just leads to more. . . I wish the bad guys didn't kill. It'll take the good guys with them if either side isn't careful enough."

Raven was a bit surprised by that. It made sense. That one action from Light almost tempted her to do the same. "Thanks. I needed to hear your opinion."

Jinx chuckled. "Yeah, well. I'll have some more problems soon to take my mind off of it."

Raven tilted her head. "Why?"

Jinx replied in the first truly happy tone in the conversation. "I'll be living on my own soon. Couldn't be more happy about it."

Raven decided she shouldn't pry into why. "If you want it." She then remembered her earlier thoughts. Should she be talking to Jennifer? Should she get attached? The thought settled itself. "You know. . . my birthday's coming up soon."

. . . . .

GNN NEWS: Lore Prince Live.

The familiar reporter came into view. "Good evening and welcome to Lori Prince Live. Tonight's subject: Justice! Has it gone too far! Joining me today is a news host of GBS news, G. Gordon Godfrey, host of The G. Gordon Godfrey Show!" He revealed a middle aged cold every man with light brown hair and a neat dark blue suit and black tie. "Gordon, gotta say, it's nice to have someone here who can understand my position."

The man laughed and spoke in an eloquent. "Wwwwell, it's certainly lovely to have any time to show the people today the truth of things."

Lori turned to the other side, revealing a professional brunette woman. "And also joining us today, we have famous, or infamous from your point of view, reporter, Lois Lane! Lovely to have you. You're looking good as ever."

She gave him a look that said 'you're REALLY hitting on me? Cute'. She replied. "It's an honor to share time with others of the trade."

Lori opened up the topic. "Tonight, there was a tragic attack in Jump City done by the villain, Dr. Light. Fortunately, Teen Titan Raven managed to step in, stopping the horrific execution of a family before defeating the villain. However, some might say-"

He was cut off by Godfrey. "It's easy to see the concern here. Just show the clip of how she took him down!" A quick clip of Raven's tendrils smacking Light into a car, denting it, played. "This man, while obviously a criminal, was given no due process as he was nearly mutilated by this woman!"

"Oh please." Lois Lane scoffed.

"You defend the merciless beating of this man?"

Once again she scoffed at him. "Merciless? Hardly. Raven has defeated that villain more times than anyone of us cares to count. I don't buy for a second she would kill him. She, as well as many people, would know what he can take. He tried to kill defenseless people. Of course, she would beat him into submission. What would you have her do?"

Godfrey nearly stood, righteously angry. "That man was manhandled with broken bones! When the police stop a suspect, they do so under the law. This 'titan' is obviously disrespecting that, and us."

Lois muttered. "Last I checked, the police make too many mistakes. But okay, let's play it your way. Let's say she simply made a mistake with the force she used. That simply makes her human like anyone else."

"THAT?!" Godfrey gets up, a picture of the four red eyed raven made of black energy appeared. "IS NOT HUMAN! If she were human, she would do the right thing, and let the law happen."

Lori cut in. "You're saying that she should not have used that much power. Let it play out longer? Some say that would get more people hurt. She DID save a little girl from burns through her body."

Godfrey sat back down with a scowl. "Yeeesss. Saving the little girrrrl. Let's show that shall we?" The slide came up, showing Raven engulf the girl in black. Indeed the girl came out nearly entirely healed. "Now, what's wrong with this picture?" He asks. "What exactly did she do to that girl? Tell me."

Lane came back in. "Saved her life!"

"And did god knows what else to her. We know nothing about this 'giiirrrrl', Raven, and yet she does things that obviously show she isn't human. How can we simply take their word that the little girl is safe. That should have been OUR doctor's call. The girl could suffer from any sort of ailment or other worldly curse thanks to your 'hero'."

Lois shook her head. "And what proof do you have of that claim? What about the family that, thanks to Raven, is still whole?"

Godfrey pulled up the picture of Raven with four red eyes. He smirked with his hands up in the air. "I rest my case."

. . . . .

The TV shattered apart. Jinx just shook her head at it. "Stupid jackass." She walked through the HIVE base with a large backpack and a bag full of the jewels she stole. She takes a last look around. "All of em' are jackasses. They're outta luck now."

She entered the main room, the only room where an exit was. Gizmo walked up with a smile. "Hey did you see that public thrashing of that munching witch's rep?"

Jinx merely snapped her fingers, a pink hex appearing from the side, smacking the midget aside.

"HEY! What what that fucking for?!"

Jinx replied simply. "My answer is no."

The others in the room were confused until they knew what she was talking about. The room was quiet. Mammoth broke the silence. "What's so bad about it? We make a few people get crushed and our rep goes up. We possibly kill a titan too."

"No." She answers. She steps around the gaping mouth Gizmo and heads for the exit.

Billy asked another Billy. "She ain't serious, is she?" The other replied. "Seems so, Billy." The cried in unison. "Come on, darlin! You can adjust." A third Billy asked. "What are you? A good guy?"

She stopped at the door. "Haven't decided yet. For now, I'm just sticking to myself." She grins at them. "I'm looking out for number one."