Disclaimer: Teen Titans © Warner Bros & DC Comics.
N i n e
I stared at Jesse for a minute. He stared back at me. I felt angry and happy at the same time. I wanted to punch him, yet I wanted to kiss him at the same time. So I did.
"You're an asshole." I said. He gave me a cocky grin.
"But I'm your asshole."
"I'm such an idiot. I should have let you go." I moaned, looking away. But no matter how much I tried to tell him that I didn't love him, he knew very well that I was lying.
"You know there's a reason your mother really married your father." I said. Damn him for having his father's melting smile.
"And what's that?" He asked looking at me like I was a stupid child.
"Ever wonder why your birthday is six months after their anniversary?" I asked as I started walking off to the T-Car.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" He asked wryly. Nothing could ruin his good mood.
"Jesse," I sighed. "We need you...I need you. Come home." As an answer he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"I'm glad you said that, Mari." He said softly. "I needed to hear you say that." I looked at his arms laced around my waist. No one had ever treated me like that before. He rested his chin on my head and I cursed him for being so damn tall. I pushed my body as close as I could to his, drinking in his warmth and the safe feeling he gave me. A silent thrill raced through my soul, I felt my cheeks burned and I was thankful Jesse couldn't see my face.
"We're looking for them, our parents and Rose—I mean Ravager." I said quietly. "Jesse, please come home."
"Of course, Mari." he said. His pink eyes were filled to the brim with love. I appreciated it very much.
"Jesse James West," I said, my words dripping with venom, "If you ever do something like that again, I'll kick you damn ass."
"Because you love me?"
"No," I replied pulling away from him. "Because you're a prick."
0O0O0
Jesse was shocked to see the mess in the kitchen from my argument slash fight with Cat. He was even more shocked to see that I had been drinking vodka in his absence. Of course, what did he expect? Me to sob sadly like a little girl? I'm an adult. I handle problems the adult way—with a bottle of alcohol.
"Alright, now we have to find Rose." I said, pacing around the chaotic room. "We have to get our parents back. Maybe we could leave my dad and Karen behind..."
"MARI?!" Randy screeched. "We can't leave my Mama behind!"
"I could."
"Mari," Jesse said sternly.
"Aw, fine. We'll leave my dad behind."
"Mari!" Jesse said.
"Fine!" I sighed in exasperation. "Damn bastards and your loyalty." I said loathing them all for a moment. "Randy, see if you can try to locate their frequencies." I reached into my pocket and drew out Rose's eye. "Use this."
"Do I have to?" He asked in disgust, gingerly picking up the eyeball with two fingers.
"Yep." I replied. "Think of your mother, Randy."
"Alright." He said seriously. I turned back to my team.
"Cat, I want you to try to get your mother's frequency, get into her mind. We need to find them. Jess, you rest up, we don't need you to burn out on us. I'm gonna practice."
There are people, like Karen, who believe that if you are guilty of the Seven Deadly Sins, you will go to hell. The Seven Deadly Sins, of course are lust, envy, wrath, vanity, sloth, gluttony, and greed. I don't know if that was true or not, but it seemed like I was always guilty of at least one of those, as was most of the people I knew.
BJ was guilty of lust and greed, his sister, DJ, was guilty of vanity and lust, and just saying that Dane was guilty of lust was a huge understatement. Jesse, later on in his life would be guilty of lust and envy. Randy was guilty of gluttony and sloth, and Cat was guilty of envy and vanity.
At that moment, just after I left the TTNG behind me, I was guilty of wrath—big time. I wanted revenge against Rose. I think everyone is guilty of one of the Seven Sins, don't you?
I practiced in the training room until I dropped. I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.
"Mari," Jesse said coming into the room just as I dropped to the floor. His concerned, loving voice cut through my hazy mind. "Sweetie, come on."
"I'm fine." I murmured, my eyes half closed, even though I was fighting it as hard as I could. Jesse wrapped his arms around my body and pulled me close.
"You can't keep running yourself ragged, Mari." He scolded lovingly. He kissed my sweaty forehead. "We have to get some rest. We can't have you burning out either."
"I guess you're right, Jess." I said snuggling close to his collar. It smelt like cheap aftershave...which was weird because he didn't shave. I let him take me to my room and tuck me in. I tried to sleep, but couldn't. I got up and took a couple of my father's sleeping pills and curled up on my mother's side of my parent's bed with one of the dresses that she had worn the day before and quickly fell asleep.
0O0O0
I opened my eyes and found myself lying on cold concrete. I sat up and looked around. I was in an old warehouse...but where. I heard someone laughing and looked behind me.
"Hello?" I called. I stood up and looked around some more. "Is there anyone there!"
"Mari!" Someone shouted. I whirled around. "Go to the docks!"
"Who said that." I formed starbolts in both my hands and shouted,"Show yourself!"
"Go to the docks!" The voice said. "And you'll find..."
"Mari!"
"Randy!?" I said.
"Mari!"
0O0O0
I moaned and rolled onto my stomach. I clutched the dress in my fist.
"I'll kill you, Randy." I moaned. I looked at my mother's pale pink alarm clock. It was three in the morning. "This had better be good."
"I got a hold of Dad." he whispered.
"What?!" I sat up, all of my anger and sleepiness evaporated. "Where are they?"
"He didn't tell me." He admitted. "They want us to stay here, where we're safe."
"You're our leader, Mari." Cat said from the corner. She, Jesse, and Randy were dressed and alert. "What should we do?"
"What the hell do you think?" I laughed getting up. I went into my parent's bathroom and brushed my hair with my mother's brush. I scrubbed my face with soap and water and then used my father's mouthwash and straightened my clothing. My mother said that making yourself look presentable made you feel better. But I still didn't believe her.
"Mari?" Jesse asked.
I looked at each of them for a moment. I felt some gravity I had never felt before—not even when I was with the Jokerz on a heist. "We leave for the docks in five minutes." I said.
I climbed into the passenger seat of the T-Car. Randy was at the wheel with a sober expression. None of us, except me back in my gang member days, had ever done anything this stupid before. If our parents told us to stay where we were, they done so with good reasoning. After all, they were our parents. It was their jobs to protect us and guide us...even though my father never did any of that for me. I put my hand on Randy's shoulder.
"Let's go." I said.
A/N: I'd like to thank Somewhere In Time for being my Beta. Otherwise, there would be a LOT more mistakes in this than there might be now. ;)