Chapter Eight: The revolution will not be right back after a message.

Jinx warily looked at the envelope, and wondered what she should do.

For the last year, Jinx had been constantly on the move. She'd learned quickly to stay away from the cities; the new militant police force would invariably recognize her sooner or later, and she would have to fight or run. So far, she had always run, and had never been caught yet. She would have liked to believe that her continued escapes were down to her natural talent, but she wasn't that deluded.

However, escaping, of course, had brought new problems. She had always been a city girl at heart. Camping was fairly high on her "definition of Hell" list. Of course, so was being hounded by Military Police.

Her first night in the woods, it had rained (of course), and she had had nothing but the clothes she stood up in (of course), and after a few pitiful attempts to light a fire, she had simply lain down and tried to sleep, certain that she would have contracted hypothermia before the night was out.

The next morning, she found a waterproof bag at her feet. After a few minutes deliberation, she opened it. Inside had been a sleeping bag, a change of clothes (and she did not want to know how her mystery benefactor had gotten her exact size), a flashlight and a packet of sandwiches.

She had waited two days before eating the sandwiches, by which point she didn't care if they were poisoned. They had been hideously stale by that point, but she hadn't cared.

The next day, she had found a kerosene heater and a thermos of soup when she woke up.

That night, she had stayed up all night, determined to confront her charitable ghost. No one had shown up, but when she had fallen asleep in the middle of the day, she had woken to find more provisions near her.

At first, she had thought she was going crazy, a kind of lunatic deja vu. After all, this had been exactly the same trick that Wally had pulled, right after she had quit the HIVE 5. Of course, he had always been a lot louder. After a while, she had stopped thinking that. It hadn't helped any, and she still couldn't think about Wally for too long with out tearing up a little.

But now, a year after her disorganized escape into the wilderness, something had changed. Instead of the customary food parcels, there was a slim envelope. After a short time spent deliberating, she opened it.

Inside were several hundred dollars in loose bills, and a card. She turned the card over, and saw an address for a property in Bludhaven.

A year ago, she would have dismissed this as an obvious trap. But a year of complete solitude had taken its toll, and (although she would never admit it) she needed some kind of human contact, or else she'd go crazy. With that in mind, she set off, leaving everything she couldn't fit into her bag, and headed off to find a bus stop.

--

It felt strange to be back in a city after so long, and even stranger to be back in an artificial structure. When Jinx entered the elevator and selected the correct floor, she found herself assaulted by a sense of claustrophobia that she fought down with some difficulty. Eventually, the doors slid open, and Jinx stepped into the hallway.

This is a mistake, this is a mistake. The phrase echoed in her head to the rhythm of her footsteps as she neared the door. She raised her right hand to knock, and her left curled into a snap, just in case. Steeling her resolve, she rapped thrice on the door and waited.

She didn't hear anyone walk up to the other side, but suddenly she heard a quick intake of breath that almost sent her scurrying down the hallway, and series of clicks and ratchets heralded the opening of many locks. The door was flung open, and a familiar voice exclaimed "Jinx?"

It was a reflex. She was wound like a spring, and the tension had to snap somewhere. So when a loud voice shouted her name from within a building she had associated with so many ominous ideas, it was no great surprise that the first thing she did was hex him into a wall.

"Oh, shit," she breathed, recognising the crumpled heap. "Beast Boy?"

A green arm rose. "Changeling, actually. You're a couple of years behind the times." He seemed in good spirits, in spite of the fact that his velocity had actually left a dent in the hallway. "Come on in," he offered, as he got to his feet, wobbling slightly.

As she made her way in, his nose wrinkled reflexively. "No offence, Jinx, but you could really use a shower."

--

"...and that's all I know. I didn't get any information out of her while she was running for the bathroom."

Nightwing nodded. "And this was when?"

"About two hours ago, now."

"And where is she now?"

"Dude, don't your ears work? She's still in the shower."

Raven blinked. "Two hours? Isn't that a little excessive?"

Gar shook his head. "You didn't smell her. It looked like she'd been living in the woods or something."

"Got it in one, greeny." Jinx's head appeared from around the bathroom door. "Does anyone have some clothes I could borrow? My stuff's a little ripe."

--

Red on grey. Red flames leaping up from below her, grey stone all around her, a low grey ceiling, a burning stone pathway below her feet, red eyes on the wall...

Huh?

Red on grey. Red marks on grey skin. Red symbols on ash grey flesh. Red words on washed-out parchment.

Raven?

Red on grey. Red water on grey hands. Red liquid staining her bare skin and arms. Blood on her hands.

Raven, are you alright?

Red on grey. Red shapes littering the path. Red bodies. Dead bodies. Dead friends.

Raven, seriously, you're scaring me.

Red on grey. A red giant in grey armour, come to claim his own. A red hand, reaching through grey smog. A red demon, picking up a grey girl. Red father and grey daughter.

Rae, you gotta wake up!

Red on grey. Red points of light, arranged in a square. Four red almonds on a grey girl. Four red eyes on a grey forehead.

Wake up!

Red on grey. A grey city, engulfed in an inferno.

A predawn view through a window, with a soft orange light reflected in the glass.

A huge pair of eyes, looming down on her.

A brilliant forest green, alight with concern.

Billowing, twisting, curling

steam from a proffered mug in his hands.

"Rae, it's alright, sshh, calm down, it's alright." Beast Boy's tone more than his words were what calmed Raven from her terror. It was soothing and measured and made you want to believe every word he said.

"A nightmare?" She didn't answer, but she didn't need to. "Here. Got you some tea."

She drank it. He obviously had no idea how to prepare tea, but that was last on her mind at the moment. She brought her knees up, and Changeling took the unworded invitation and sat.

After she finished, she spoke. "What time is it?"

"About four thirty."

"What are you doing up?"

Gar coughed. "Well, things started rattling. I thought it might have been a poltergeist, but..." his voice trailed into nothing.

"Oh." There's nothing more to say, really.

"Yeah." A pause, long enough for her heart to beat, although it wouldn't be normally.

"So...anything you wanna talk about?"

"No. It was just a nightmare. They happen."

"Okay." He stood, and, in a fit of daring, put a hand on her shoulder. "But if you ever need to talk, I'm here, you know that?"

Strangely, she didn't reflexively stiffen at the abrupt contact, and she marvelled at this before she laid a hand tentatively on his outstretched forearm.

Gar stood blinking at Raven's strange behaviour. She looked like she was bout to say something when her grip on his arm became a vice.

"Ow...hurting..."

Raven let go with a start.

"...wah?"

Raven locked his gaze to hers. "They're here."

--

"Oh fuck." Dick was instantly alert when Changeling had burst into his room at four in the morning, and had started pulling on his costume the moment the situation had been explained to him.

"Rae thinks they were tailing Jinx."

Starfire sat up. "Does she know how long they will be?"

"I'm gonna guess it's not gonna be long."

--

The entire group gathered in the living room, listening to Raven.

"About ten minutes ago, I felt the Martian attempt to probe my mind. I was able to repel him, but not before he noticed my presence. He's probably not alone."

Nightwing instantly took the floor. "Raven, can you shield us all from him?"

After a moment, she nodded. "The Martian is nothing more than a talented amateur in this business. As long as you all stay near, it shouldn't be a problem."

Cyborg spoke up. "But that doesn't stop them from following us with more traditional methods."

Nightwing didn't answer, but instead turned back to Raven. "Can you see how many there are?"

"One moment." Her eyes flashed white. "Three. The Lantern and Hawkgirl are with him."

Nightwing nodded thoughtfully. "Right. Everyone get a disguise, and go by the fire exit. I'll catch up with you."

Robin looked sceptical. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'm gonna try to incapacitate the Martian; that way he can't track me and it'll give the others something else to worry about until we're far away."

Predictably, that statement resulted in uproar, but Nightwing was only listening to one person.

"Not alone, you shall not."

He blinked, and Starfire smiled lightly.

"I only just found you again. I do not plan to let you go so easily."

"I'm staying too."

"What?" Raven's head snapped around to Changeling, aghast. He ignored her.

"I presume you'll want to find everyone once you're done? I can track everyone down."

Nightwing nodded. "Alright, but no one else. Now let's get moving."

--

The Lords had just touched down when the three Titans appeared from the apartment building. The two sides squared off in the middle of the street.

"We're not your enemies, kid," Green Lantern said, his face illuminated by his power ring. "Not unless you want us to be. Just back off and we can talk this over."

Nightwing's voice was hard. "There's only one thing left to say.

"Titans, GO!"

--

I was so close to making this bit a BB/Jinx, in part because I love crack pairings, and in part to mess with your collective head. But, since I put BB/Rae in my summary, you get a bit here. Don't expect much more soon.