Chapter 6:Dark Choices
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
For the audience: Yo! I got here sooner than I thought I would and I've been typing like a fiend to get this done. Here is my haunting rendition of Danny Boy! Just kidding. Any way, I'm getting sent overseas in September, so if I'm not done with this thing by then, I might have to put it on hold. Sorry.
Raven woke up with Jinx's arm thrown over her. She smiled, contented, before remembering why she was waking up here. She looked fondly at Jinx's sleeping form. I've always known what I was trying to feel. I wasn't stretching it when I spoke to Robin. The memory of Robin's final words echoed within her still. I love this mischievous little feline laying next to me. I just never realized it before. Robin just doesn't understand. He has such a clearly defined sense of black-and-white that he can't pause and consider alternatives without questioning his own values.
The night earlier...
Robin's voice was almost shrill, and if she hadn't known better, Raven would have said he was going into hysterics. "JINX?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Robin stood up, pacing back and forth in front of the couch. He stopped, looking at Starfire. "You knew about this, didn't you? That first night she came in late, you knew, didn't you?" Starfire nodded, devoid of her usual emotion. "And Cyborg? He's been covering you from the get go. He's in on this too."
Robin shook his head. "I can't accept this. I can't have members of my team sneaking out at night to go off gallivanting with criminals." Robin sighed. "Raven, until you come to your senses, you're officially suspended from the Teen Titans. Give me your T-com." Starfire looked at Robin in shock. "Robin, you can't-" He cut her off with a sharp look.
"As this team's registered leader, the team's security takes priority. One member's infatuation is not enough to justify putting the whole team at risk." Raven shook her head. "Don't bother, Star." Pulling out the communicator from her pocket, she tossed it on the floor at Robin's feet. "Thanks for everything, Star, but I think its time I left." Raven's anger threatened to break loose. Well, why shouldn't it? I've had enough of his self-righteous attitude. Raven released her anger in a focused blast, blowing open a wall for her exit and shaking the tower down to its foundations. Robin and Starfire were knocked to the floor, shocked at the power Raven had released without any apparent effort.
Raven looked back one last time at her friend. "Bye Star, tell everyone I'm goodbye. And tell BB that I'm sorry, I really did think he was funny." Starfire nodded, but Raven had already begun her flight to the city, never looking back. Starfire knew. She watched her the whole time to see if she would.
The memory still weighed on Raven's mind. Could I have done something different? Well, there's no going back now. Raven brushed Jinx's face with her fingertips before she wrapped herself in black energy and slid through the couch. On the other side, she stood up, drew the blanket around Jinx, and left.
Outside, Raven walked down the stairs. As she passed the landlady's floor, the old woman stuck her head out. "You that young girl that Jay brought home a few days ago?" Raven nodded. "Yes ma'am, I am." She looked at Raven shrewdly. "Just what are you to her? Answer honestly; she's a nice girl, and I'd hate the thought of someone hurting her." Raven answered simply. "I love her, more than anything I've ever had." The old woman nodded. "I thought as much. I wish you the best." Raven blushed and the old lady winked. "You two make a lovely couple, has anyone told you that? Here, take this." She shoved a large box into Raven's hands. The old landlady disappeared into her room before Raven thought to ask her what was in the box.
She walked back to Jinx's apartment, setting the box down on a table. She opened the box, revealing a dozen homemade donuts and a quart of milk. "Wow." Raven looked over to see Jinx checking out the contents as well. Raven smiled. "Breakfast is served." They ate on the floor, enjoying each other's company.
When they had finished, Jinx looked at Raven thoughtfully. "What are you gonna do now?" Raven shook her head. "I don't know. I can't try to get sponsored by the city for solo work now that Robin has suspended me, and I just don't see myself working in some burger joint or something."
Jinx thought for a moment. "Would you consider crime?" "No." Raven's response was immediate. Then she thought for a moment. Look at this practically, she thought to herself. You don't have any prospects, you need money, and my job doesn't mean I have to be a bad person.
She looked at Jinx for a moment. "What's your preference?" Jinx released the breath she had been holding. "I'm strictly a B&E kinda girl." "Do you think you could teach me?" Jinx nodded. "You'll probably have an easier time of it than I do." Raven cocked her head to the side. "Why's that?" Jinx giggled. "You fly. Most of today's alarm systems rely on an intruder using the floor. Actually, a friend of mine, the one who teams with me on freelance jobs, has a new one if you want to try it."
Raven took a breath. "What's the job?" Jinx smiled. "Simple. An art heist from the museum downtown. Our target is an engraving from the Ming Dynasty. Exhibit 112. C'mere a sec."
Jinx slid open a compartment in her bedroom floor, revealing a bird's eye map of the museum, with little notes on the sides. They brought the rather large paper to the coffee table and spread it out. Raven raised an eyebrow. "That's pretty detailed. Who made it?" Jinx grinned. "I borrowed one of gizmo's cameras and took shots of the inside on a 'field trip' a class of junior high kids were taking. Then I sent the photos to Red and he put this together."
"Red? As in Red X?" Jinx nodded. "he's the premiere thief in Jump City. Sometimes, when he has a job that needs an extra set of hands or eyes, he'll come to me and we'll work together." Raven nodded slowly. "What will he think of me being there? I'm not exactly his favorite person." Jinx shrugged. "He's the one that thought you might go for this. I was kinda surprised that you said yes, as a matter of fact." Raven smiled slightly. "So how do we get in?" Jinx's smile erased Raven's uncertainty. This could be fun.
The next night
Raven crept through the skylight, the moon illuminating the museum and the black form-fitting jumpsuit she wore. She cut the wires leading from the motion sensors, silencing the alarm before it can set off. Then she flew down to the door, punching in the code that she had received from Jinx. The doors alarm system shut off, and she opened it, letting in the pink –haired thief. Together they crept towards exhibit 112, alert for the guards.
They walked down the hallway towards their desired exhibit. When they reached the door, they stopped. "Alright, I'll shut down the laser grid and you go get the engraving." Raven nodded and focused on the door, working her power into the lock. With a click, the door swung out, a dark room lit only by a myriad of red lights. Raven keyed the button on her earpiece. "I can't see it, you sure its in there?"
Red X's voice came through the earpiece. "Positive. I'm looking at it through the security monitor now. Remember, you'll only have a few seconds before the beams activate again, I'll rig a ten-second loop on the camera, that should be enough time to get out."
Jinx put her hand on Raven's arm reassuringly. "You can do this, just wait for the beams to cut out before you make your move." Raven nodded at her and took a deep breath. Jinx smiled and kissed her before running off to the fuse box. Raven took a deep breath, readying herself. No problem. I can do this. A sobering thought occurred to her. If I do this, I couldn't go back to the Titans. They would never trust me again.
But did they really trust me anyway? A little voice answered back. Yes they did. You were one of them. She kept up her verbal debate with herself. But did they trust me? Every time Beast Boy felt my power, he cringed.
But they were always there for you. Even Beast Boy, lost in his madness as an animal, protected you as instinct.
They would all risk their lives for mine, true, but they would do the same for any stranger on the street in peril.
That is what it means to be a hero; to risk yourself for someone else. You had no reason to ally yourself with them, but you did, taking up their mantle was the best thing that ever happened to you. Would you really throw that away?
They-
They nothing. The little voice in Raven's head was picking up steam. Robin was the one who cast you out, and you would place the rest of them with him in condemning you?
Yes. The strength of her conviction silenced the voice. They know the rules as well as Robin does. Any decision the team's leader makes that the team disapproves of can be overturned by a unanimous vote by the rest of them. They could have had the suspension revoked in hours if they weren't too scared or brow-beat by the fearless leader to oppose him. They may be willing to risk their life for me, but they won't go against him.
The little voice fell silent and Raven banished it to the back of her mind. Raven waited only moments before the red lights winked off. Now or never. Raven wrapped herself in black energy, becoming a flying black bird of energy. She flew through the room, spotting the pedestal. She flew right at it, passing through it and attempting to take the engraving with her as she whisked through it. She felt only air and a slight tingling, as if she had passed through some kind of ion field. She flew on, passing through the wall on the other side of the room and into the room beyond, materializing with her back to the wall.
She was about to key her earpiece when it came on. Red X's voice came through in a rush. "Abort! Abort! It's a set up!" Jinx's voice came on the line. "What's going on? What happened?" Raven responded. "the engraving wasn't there, just a hologram." Red's voice was next. "Right. And there was already a feedback loop in the system, showing a room with our prize. These cameras won't show a holo. We need to get out of here before-" Raven keyed her mike again. "Red? C'mon J, we're gone."
Jinx was on the first floor when she heard a familiar voice around a corner. She stopped in her tracks and listened. "good job, Titans, that's one down. We need to search for whoever else is here" there was a pause, then she heard Robin's voice again. "Tell us who else is here, X. We know you're not alone." Red X's voice was as mischief laden as ever.
"What? And let you arrest 'em too? Don't think so, Boy Blunder. Look for yourself." Jinx smiled. Good old Red. Just then, she heard Cyborg's voice. "yo Robin, got movement around the corner." Jinx took that moment to take off.
She was running past a janitor's closet with the Titans in pursuit when a pair of hands grabbed her from behind, pulling her through the door. One of Raven's hands was on her mouth. She put one finger to her lips, and jinx nodded. The Titans sped into the hallway, stopping several feet from the door. Robin's voice was loud in the silence. "Where did they go, Cyborg?" The massive metal man responded slowly.
"I'm not sure, the motion just stopped somewhere around here. My sensors weren't set on a level high enough to get a detailed enough representation of the runner's location; just that they were in front of us." Robin cursed. "Are you sure their on this hallway?" There was a pause, then The two hiding girls heard a loud crunch, as a door was kicked off its hinges. Raven could only surmise that they were searching the rooms, one by one.
Raven grabbed Jinx with both arms, phasing them through the roof just as they heard the door being violently opened. The materialized on the second floor, and they took off for the fire escape, before they both stopped and looked at each other. "Red," they said together. They followed the hallway towards the front of the building, then phased down into the first floor security room. Jinx moved to the door. "We should split up to find where they stashed him." She paused. "He'll probably be guarded. Listen, you can stay here if you want, I'll find him and bring him here so we can split."
Raven paused a moment, taking a deep breath before speaking. Well, if you're gonna screw the pooch, you might as well do it all at once. "No, I'll help too." Unaccustomed to thanking anyone, she was nevertheless touched by Jinx's thoughtfulness. They left the room hunting for their erstwhile comrade.
Wow, that was a lengthy chapter. Some of you are probably gonna freak over my choices, but I think it's kinda cool for Jinx not to have to be the one that gives up her lifestyle. You have to admit, Raven is uniquely suited to be a villain, being already dark and tormented. And except for Robin, she's the best equipped to be a thief. Anyway, as always, tell me what you think of this. Thanks.