I think this story is gonna grow and grow. The ideas have been flying for me and I've take great pleasure in writing them down. This particular chapter was fun to write, though I think I may rewrite parts of it to tighten it up. Overall, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out, and I'm hoping everyone else that reads my rambling tale of Mark, the IT guy, will enjoy it too.

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or any DC characters. But I do own Mark. I made him. he's mine.

-MeatLips

A couple of weeks went by and soon the go-live date on the JLU cloud was looming. I was totally looking forward to bringing it officially on-line. That go-live date meant more to me than anyone could know. It meant no longer whining to Raven or whoever was available to chaperone me into the city. It meant independence. It meant FREEDOM.

I was literally going stir-crazy by staying in the Tower all the time. It wasn't like I was a night-life kind of guy, but just being able to go to the supermarket, or for a haircut, or even to the bank by myself for once would have been a sought-after experience. Granted, it wasn't all bad staying cooped up. My favorite Titan certainly didn't mind being reclusive. In fact, Raven was probably the only reason I hadn't thrown myself from the roof of the Tower in an escape attempt.

Our relationship had flourished as the days went by. Raven was my sounding board, my therapist, and my lover all wrapped up into one sexy package with a pair of killer legs. When something work related was frustrating me, or some obtuse engineer or bean counter in JLU was holding things up, Raven listened to me bitch and moan, and when I was done, she'd arch that eyebrow of hers and look me in the eye and ask if I were finished. Then she'd tell me to deal with the things I had control over and stop whining about things I where I had none. The woman could read me like a book.

A day arrived however where I needed the help of someone who could drive. When I had a Titan to chaperone me out, I usually drove, unless it was Cyborg. But in this instance, I needed someone to drive me. Specifically, I was scheduled for oral surgery. I was having a titanium implant installed into my jaw where my tooth had been missing. For that, I was getting put under heavy sedation and wouldn't be able to drive myself back to the Tower. I had been putting it off for a while, but I was getting sick of that gap in the bottom row of teeth.

So three days before my appointment, I asked at the communal breakfast.

"So I'm getting an implant on Monday. Need someone to drive me and wait for me. Any takers?"

Cyborg looked at me from over his waffles. "I can probably take you. Dunno about waiting though."

"All I got is the R-cycle," Nightwing said, putting down his newspaper, "I doubt you'd wanna be riding bitch on that."

"I do not actually drive, Friend Mark," said Starfire. She arched an eyebrow at Nightwing. "So when I am riding behind you on your motorized bicycle, I am in fact riding 'bitch?'"

Nightwing blinked. "No... no, Star... It's just an expression... for when, uh, MEN ride behind men. Yeah!"

Starfire's eyes narrowed. "Indeed."

"Dude," Beast Boy interjected as he played with some sort of soy based egg substitute on his plate, "I don't have my license yet, but I got a permit." He looked hard at me. "Why do you want implants anyway? Aren't your moobs already too big?"

"What is the 'moobs?'" Starfire asked, turning back from Nightwing.

"Beast Boy is delicately suggesting that Mark has too much fat in his chest already," Jinx commented. She finished spreading cream cheese on her toasted bagel. "You do actually have larger breasts than me, Mark."

I gritted my teeth at the grinning pink sorceress. I was already bristling at the moob comment, and her little breast remark was annoying.

Jinx finished spreading her cream cheese and lifted her leg cast. "Also, I can't drive at the moment. So I can't help you with your implants, princess."

I opened my mouth to tell Jinx off when I was interrupted.

"I can drive you."

I looked over at Raven and discovered her amethyst eyes were glaring at me. I swallowed.

"Uh... I-I didn't know you had your license. Also I figured you might be busy... or something."

"You didn't ask. And what, pray tell, would be more important than driving my boyfriend to the oral surgeon?"

Raven's face was mostly unreadable, but I didn't have to be an empath to know she was irritated with me.

Raven finished her tea and stood up. "I'll be in my room meditating. When you know what time your appointment is, Mark, please let me know." A dark portal opened up and my girlfriend vanished, presumably to her room.

Jinx pointed at me with her bagel. "You sir, are a dumbass."

I gently knocked on Raven's door. It opened part way, giving me half a glimpse of Raven's hooded face.

Wow, this was familiar.

"I'm sorry," I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "I really didn't know you had a drivers license. I just assumed you wouldn't need one, being able to fly and teleport and all. And I usually drove when you'd chaperone me."

Raven glared at me for a moment longer, then she opened the door the rest of the way and moved aside and I entered her domain.

"Of course I have my license," Raven said after she closed the door, "however I am justifiably annoyed that you simply didn't ask me in the first place. Isn't that how relationships work? Being able to depend on each other?"

I bowed my head in shame.

"I have offended you, my Lady Legasus." I dropped to my knees and touched my head to the floor in a formal apology. "Please forgive this wretch."

"Raise your head, lowly one," Raven intoned, "for you succeeded in amusing me, thus my righteous anger has been quenched."

I looked up and saw Raven with her hood down and smirking at me.

"You know, that 'Lady Legasus' routine isn't always going to work," she said.

"But it did work, right?"

"Maybe. There is something to be said about you grovelling for forgiveness," Raven replied. She cocked her head. "What time is your appointment?"

"I need to be there at like 8:30am. The procedure takes about an hour, and then they'll have me lying in some recovery room until I'm more awake."

Raven nodded then turned to walk over to her bookcase. I squinted at the book she took out. It looked a bit familiar.

"Uh, what book is that?"

"It's my study guide from driver's education," Raven replied, "I just wanted to refresh a bit."

I blinked.

"Raven, when was the last time you drove?"

"A year and a half ago when I got my license. Why?"

I blinked again and silently thanked my lucky stars that my car was an automatic.

Jinx balanced herself on the parallel beams and pulled her body into a handstand, spreading her legs out into a split. She spun herself like a helicopter, going from beam to beam. It had been hard at first maintaining her balance doing that since the cast on her right leg threw her balance off, so she got around the inconsistency by attaching some ankle weights to her left leg.

Keeping in shape was something that Jinx regarded as almost a religion. Being dedicated, consistent, and looking fine. It was harder performing her normal workout routines with the cast, but she could still work her upper body and abdominals. It was gonna be a hell of a leg day when the cast finally came off. But even just using her arms and back, she was still as nimble as ever.

Jinx lowered herself to the mat and hopped over to where she left her towel and water bottle. There were only really two ways Jinx liked to work out. One was doing her routines at the gym. The other... well... it involved a certain speedster and it was a hell of a lot more fun. She wiped her face and neck down and took a swig from her bottle.

"Jinx."

The pink sorceress turned and saw Raven standing near the training room entrance.

"Hey Rae! What's up?"

"It's RAVEN, not... you know what, forget it. I need your help with something."

Jinx hobbled over to a bench near the wall and dropped down onto it. She took another swig from her bottle and then capped it.

"Well step into my office and let's talk about it." Jinx patted the bench next to her. Raven sat down next to Jinx. "So what can I do for you, mistress of the dark?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at the impromptu title, then appeared to dismiss it. "How long have you been driving?"

"Since I was twelve. Learned in Europe by stealing cars." Jinx grinned. "Now that was fun!"

Raven blinked at that, then shook her head. "So you've got lots of experience as a driver?"

"Yup, I'd say so."

"I need your help getting back up to speed... driving."

Jinx arched her eyebrow at the dark Titan. "I thought you had your license."

"I do. It's just..." Raven hesitated, "It's been a while since I actually drove a car, and Mark's oral surgeon is on the other side of town."

"Does Mark know that you have no clue?"

Raven narrowed her eyes at the pink Titan. "He knows, but I told him it wasn't a problem."

"I see. And what do you think I can do for you?"

"Come out driving with me. I'm going to borrow Mark's car and you can help me get back into the swing of it."

Jinx clapped her hands together with glee. "Oooh! A road trip! I'm loving it! We can go hit up some clubs or something!"

Raven frowned. "I was just thinking off the island and around the block near the causeway. Not all over the place."

"Oh no," Jinx said grinning, "if you wanna get back into the groove, baby, you gotta jump into the deep end! We can bring Starfire with us! It'll be a girls Saturday night out!"

"I don't want to involve Starfire-"

"Rae," Jinx interrupted, "it's Saturday night. If you want my help, this is the price. Girls. Night. Out."

Raven held up a drivers education manual. "Will you at least go over this with me before we actually go anywhere?"

Jinx plucked the manual from Raven's hand and tossed it in the nearby trash can. "Honey, there are two ways to drive: One, following that stupid book to the letter, or two, getting behind the wheel and feeling the road beneath your tires."

Raven frowned again. "You do actually have a drivers license, right?"

"Baby, I'm licensed to drive in four different countries and wanted in three for grand theft auto. You aren't gonna get a better teacher than me."

My mind wandered the eldritch depths of java application programming. I was determined to make headway on this side project before the cloud came on-line. My thoughts were interrupted by the sight of my beautiful girlfriend entering my office. She had her cloak on, but her hood was down. And she looked... uncertain. This was not an expression I'd ever seen before on Raven's face.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Mark," Raven began, "I was wondering... if you wouldn't mind, well... if I borrowed your car for tonight."

I took out my car keys and put them on my desk. "You going anywhere good? You want me to come with you?"

Raven blinked at me for a moment. "You don't mind me borrowing the car?"

"Why would I mind? You have your license. You're covered under the JLU umbrella insurance. Where are you going?"

"Well Jinx, Starfire, and I were just going to go to the mall."

"The mall, huh? Starfire really digs going to that place. So it's like a girls only night?" I asked. I felt a little disappointed, but at the same time I was happy that Raven was getting along with Jinx. Also, it wasn't like Jinx could drive with her cast on, so I wasn't worried about that crazy pink goth chick taking my car offroading or something dangerous. "Well, just be careful. Cars can be replaced, but you can't."

Raven slowly picked up the car keys. "You're really alright with me and the girls going out in your car?"

I blinked.

"Well, aside from the fact that any one of you could probably tear my car apart like tinfoil, what's the worst that could happen?" I replied with a shrug, "Just be careful driving, that's all."

Raven stood wearing clothes that Jinx had approved of that consisted of a nice shirt and dress combo that accentuated her figure. The pink sorceress had practically invaded Raven's room and picked out an outfit for Raven to wear, not realizing just how close she came to being permanently banished to an alternate dimension for being annoying. Raven had toyed with that idea before abandoning it due to the fact that Jinx was a Teen Titan and Nightwing wouldn't approve.

Now Raven waited for Jinx to limp around the little red Fiesta, a frown on the pink sorceress' face.

"This is Mark's car?"

Raven arched an eyebrow at that. "What's wrong with it?"

Jinx stared at Raven for a moment. "Nothing, if you don't mind being laughed at behind your back."

Starfire hovered nearby. She wore her usual eyecatching mall outfit. The Tamaranean's choice in civilian clothing always made it seem like she was ready for a night out clubbing. She wore a short mini-skirt and lowcut top that accentuated her cleavage. Jinx was wearing a variation of her usual outfit, with her goth-style short black dress and a single thigh-length black stocking and black boot on her left leg, since her right leg had the cast on it. Jinx's pink hair was in its usual sweeping horn style.

"I am sorry, Sister Jinx," Starfire began, "but I do not understand. Why would anyone derive amusement at Friend Mark's expense about his vehicle?"

Jinx sighed, then she gestured at the T-Car. "You see that? That is a powerful car. It's sleek, sexy, got plenty of horses under the hood, and it's bad-ass." She pointed at the R-Cycle. "That's Nightwing's ride and motorbikes are like super-masculine rock-hard cocks personified." She pointed back at the Fiesta. "This is a fuel efficient little lunchbox that you'd expect to find tree-hugging liberal douche-bags driving."

Raven arched her eyebrow again. "So you're saying that Mark is a 'tree-hugging liberal douche-bag?'"

Jinx frowned at Raven. "C'mon, Rae. What do you see when you look at this wheeled baby-shoe? You can't tell me this ride gets you excited!"

"What I see when I look at this car is someone without a lot of money buying a used vehicle off of Craigslist. It's a six year old car that's supposed to get from point A to point B. Considering the city we live in and the careers of the people Mark works with, I'm surprised he even owns a car."

Jinx threw up her hands. "Fine, I give up. Let's just go. I call shotgun." The pink sorceress opened the passenger side door and folded herself in. Starfire got into the backseat and Raven assumed position at the wheel.

Raven glanced over at the sullen Jinx. "You sure you don't want to bring your crutch?"

"Crutches are for pussies and fat people. Let's get going already."

Raven put the key in the ignition and turned it. The lights on the dash blinked at her, but the car didn't start. Raven frowned at that, then tried again. Same thing.

"Are you pressing the brake?" Jinx asked.

Raven's eyes widened at that. She quickly pushed the brake pedal and tried starting the car. This time the engine roared to life.

"This is gonna be a long night," Jinx muttered, rubbing her face.

Raven frowned at the pink Titan. "I just wanted to go around the block. You're the one who wants this to be a 'girls night out.'"

Jinx took out her phone and scrolled the screen a few times with her finger. Then she put the phone against the dash board.

"Just follow these directions. This is the first place we're gonna go to."

Raven just stared at Jinx until the pink Titan began to squirm. "What?"

"Put your seatbelt on."

"Yes, Sister Jinx," Starfire said from the backseat, "It is for the safety!"

Raven parked the car near the large refurbished warehouse. The deep thrumming bass coming from the building was already making her head pound. She was familiar with the place, as it was a favorite dance location for the Titans when they did their team night out, though Raven never danced. It was the first time she had come here without the rest of the team, not including Starfire and Jinx.

"So what are we doing here?" Raven asked.

"First things first," Jinx replied, "You've studied magic, Rae, am I right?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Great! Do you know any glamour spells?"

Raven blinked. "Glamour spells? I do know a few, but what are you getting at?"

"You need to make us look like different people."

Raven frowned. "Assuming that I actually wanted to impersonate a different person, why do I need to?"

"Because, tonight we are not going out as Teen Titans. I don't want to be recognized in public, do you? We kind of stand out." Jinx jerked her thumb back at Starfire. "Especially our orange skinned princess here. I don't want people knowing that I'm Jinx, former super-villain, current Teen Titan."

Raven narrowed her eyes at the pink Titan. It felt like things were beginning to spiral out of control. All she had wanted to do was go for a simple drive to re-familiarize herself with driving, and now Jinx was expecting her to glamour the three of them up.

"I don't have the proper components prepared, so I can't do it."

Jinx opened her purse and dumped the contents on her lap. "Don't worry, I have the stuff you need."

Raven crafted the first glamour on Jinx. She changed the pink Titan's hair to dark brown, changed her skin to a similar brownish hue, and altered Jinx's eyecolor to black, which effectively hid the cat's eye shape of her pupils. Jinx gazed into the makeup mirror in the sunvisor.

"Heh, I actually look Indian for the first time in my life. My mother would be shocked."

"Indeed, sister," Starfire said from the back, "You do not look at all like yourself."

Jinx glanced back at Starfire. "This is how I should have looked, Star."

Starfire cocked her head. "But it is not you, Sister Jinx."

Jinx looked at Starfire for a moment, then she climbed out of the car. "Starfire's turn, Rae."

Raven cast the glamour spell again, this time changing Starfire's skin to a more caucasian pale. She left the Tameranean's hair the same color, but altered her eyes, making the sclera white and leaving the iris green.

Jinx whistled at the result. "You look like a nice Irish girl, Star!"

Starfire frowned. "I do not like this look. It simply is not... me. I do not like forsaking that for which I was born as."

"I kind of agree with Star, Jinx," Raven said, "This is annoying. All I wanted to do was go for a drive."

"And we will, we will!" Jinx exclaimed, "After we dance for a bit here... Think of it as a stress reliever."

"You can't even dance with that cast on."

Jinx shrugged. "I can make do just fine. Now come on, glamour up, baby!"

Raven sighed, then pulled down the sunvisor and gazed at her own face in the makeup mirror. She began to craft her own glamour. She changed her skin color from its usual pale-grey to a more caucasian hue, then she altered her eyecolor from amethyst to plain blue. Finally, she changed her hair to a dark brunette and hid her chakra jewel. The end result surprised Raven at its normalcy.

Raven got out of the car and locked the doors. Starfire and Jinx stared at her.

"Now you don't look like a half-demon chick from a different dimension," Jinx grinned, "Now it's time to shake your ass with the girls!"

Raven frowned. "Jinx, I told you that I just wanted to-"

Starfire interrupted Raven. "Come, Sister Raven! Sister Jinx is correct! Do not be the stick in the mud! Let us go and frolic for a little while to the beats of this heavy sounding Earth music!"

"I thought that YOU wanted to go the mall."

Starfire shrugged. "The mall will always be there, but it is rare that I get to spend the time with my sister teammates in the singular pursuit of joy with abandon and to have nobody recognize us for who we are! I want to move my body to the timing of the Earth music and I want to share this wonder with you and sister Jinx!"

Raven sighed again. "Fine."

"Great!" Jinx said from the other side of the car. She pointed to a back entrance that was away from the line of people waiting to get in. "That's where we are headed!"

Raven blinked. "What's the deal with that door?"

"Just trust me!" Jinx grinned.

Jinx banged on the door and a few minutes later a hulking bald man in a black suit opened it. He furrowed his brow at the three girls.

"Sorry ladies, but this entrance is off limits. You'll have to wait in line like everyone else."

"Hey Bobby!" Jinx chirped.

The man called Bobby frowned at the formerly pink Titan. "Do I know you?"

"I should hope so. It's me, Jinx."

Bobby scrutinized Jinx's face for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Holy shit! It IS you! The fuck did you do to yourself?"

Jinx grinned. "I'm in disguise!"

"I would never guessed it was you!" Bobby smiled. His face went from being intimidating to surprisingly friendly. "How have you been? I heard you're running with the Teen Titans now!"

"I'm doing surprisingly well considering." Jinx gestured to her cast. "Had a bit of a disagreement with a bad guy a few weeks ago, so I'm still healing."

Bobby looked at the other two girls. "So who are these two?"

"The brunette is Rae and the redhead is Cory," Jinx said, "they're friends of mine."

"Well, come on in!" Bobby said with a grin. He held the door open for them. "Welcome to the VIP room!"

Raven and Starfire glanced at each other as Jinx ushered them through the door.

Raven was starting to get irritated. Actually, she had passed irritation a few hours before. Now she was approaching full on anger. So far they had been to four different clubs around the city. It seemed that Jinx knew the doorman at every club they'd been to and was able to get them in past the lines. One of the clubs they had gone to, somebody had left a deep, ass-shaped dent in the hood of the Fiesta. Raven was pretty confident that she could repair the dent with her power, but it was getting later and later and she was getting tired.

At every club, there was no shortage of men willing to buy the underaged girls drinks and Raven found that doubly surprising and uncomfortable at the same time. While Raven stuck with water, Jinx seemed to pound drink after drink down and appeared to show little reaction to the alcohol. The formerly pink Titan would even hobble out to the dance floors and managed to rock herself out into a sweaty mess. Starfire was also living it up with Jinx, though Raven hadn't seen the Tamaranean princess imbibe at all.

A peculiar emotion assaulted Raven's empathic senses. It was a like a warm red mixed with shades of blue. It seemed a lot like lust mixed with some amusement.

"Hey baby," A good looking blond man smelling strongly of cologne sat next to Raven. "You're looking a little lonely. My name is Dave, what's yours?"

Raven frowned at the emotional source called Dave.

"I'm nobody of consequence, Dave."

"Oh don't be like that," Dave said with a smile, "someone as beautiful as you... it's a crime that you're by yourself. Let me at least buy you a drink."

Raven arched an eyebrow at Dave. "Look, Dave, you seem like a really nice guy. But I'm here with my friends and I have a boyfriend. So I'm really not interested."

"Oh? Is your boyfriend here with you?"

"No."

"Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him," Dave said, sliding closer and putting his arm around Raven's shoulders, "and I think you would have a really good time."

"Why don't you-" Raven began.

"Sister, is this man bothering you?"

Raven glanced up and saw a very sweaty Starfire. The Tamaranean's face was smiling, but her eyes were not. Considering Starfire was almost six feet tall, it was very easy for her to come across as intimidating when she so desired.

"Oh," Dave said, "I didn't know your sister was here! My name is Dave. You're very beautiful, miss...?"

"I think my sister may not be interested in your advances, Dave," Starfire said, her smile unchanged, "so it may be wise for you to remove your arm and be doing of the fucking off, right?"

Dave blinked at that for a moment. "I'm sorry?"

"You will be," Raven said, removing the blond man's arm from her shoulders, "if you don't actually fuck off."

"Alrighty then," Dave murmured, standing up, "Sorry to have bothered you." He gave Raven a wide smile showing off perfectly white teeth. "But if you change your mind about that drink, here's my number." He handed Raven a card. Then he waved and walked away.

Raven looked at the card. "'Dave's Greatest Gift To Women'" she read on the front. She flipped it over. "'555-524-0812.'" Raven tossed the card on the floor. "Does that actually work for him?"

Shaking her head, Raven stood up and looked at Starfire. The Tamaranean looked a little unsteady on her feet.

"Thanks for helping me out, Star." Raven squinted at other woman. "Are you ok?"

"I am simply glorious, sister!" Starfire replied. She grinned and this time the smile reached her eyes.

Raven watched her for a moment. Then she looked out towards the dance floor. "We are done. I'm collecting Jinx and we're leaving."

Jinx appeared with a half-empty glass in her hand almost as if on cue. She was laughing with a handsome dark haired man who was helping her walk. Raven narrowed her eyes as Jinx glanced over.

"Uh oh," Jinx said, "I guess it's time to leave." She smiled at the man she was with. "It was a great pleasure speaking with you, Derek."

"It was a great pleasure talking to you too," Derek said smiling. He leaned in to kiss Jinx and was met with her hand blocking his face. Jinx laughed. "You're a funny guy, Derek! Thanks for the drinks!"

Jinx hobbled over to the other two Titans as Derek called out to her from behind. "Call me, ok?"

"We gotta leave before Derek tries to get his hand up my skirt again," Jinx growled. She turned and smiled again at Derek and waved. "Guy's a major league creep."

They left the club and as they approached the car, Raven noticed the driver's side window was smashed in.

"Well that's just great," Raven fumed.

Jinx leaned over and examined the window. "Looks like they were gonna steal the car."

"Why did they not then steal it?" Starfire asked in a slow voice.

"Probably realized it was a fucking Fiesta."

Raven opened the door and swept the glass out with her power.

"Just get the fuck in," Raven growled. She wasn't entirely sure she could fix the broken glass, and she really wanted to just leave.

"Drive-thru," Jinx repeated as they drove past another fast food place, "I'm starving, Rae. Let's just hit up a drive-thru."

Raven glanced at the other woman with a frown. The wind in her face from the open window was already getting on Raven's nerves.

"Jinx, we've been out all night. You've done pretty much fuck-all in helping me refresh my driving skills. All I've done is change our faces and chauffeur you around to different clubs."

"Ok fine," Jinx growled back, "You want a refresher? Start with giving this fucking roller skate some goddamned gas already! And get off at this next exit and fucking pull into the goddamned McDonalds!"

"The posted limit is 55 and we have food at the Tower."

"Nobody DOES the fucking posted limit, Rae, and all that's in the fridge at the Tower is Beast Boy's fucking tofu!"

"I drive the posted limit," Raven responded, "and I obey the rules of the road." She glanced hard at Jinx. "Really, what was the point of tonight if it wasn't to help me drive?"

Jinx shrugged. "You've gotten much better and more confident behind the wheel, if I do say so myself."

Raven blinked at that. She had relaxed considerably behind the wheel since the night began. "I guess you're right."

"Great, now can we hit the drive-thru already?"

"Fine, we'll go hit a drive-thru on the way back."

Jinx grinned, then she wrinkled her nose up and sneezed. A pink bolt flew from her eyes and hit the dash. She widened her eyes.

"Oh, shit-"

Almost immediately, the right rear tire blew out. Raven gripped the wheel and attempted to correct the sudden swerve, but the car spun out and ended up off the road on the left side of the highway. Raven instinctively summoned her power and black energy braced up against the side of the car and prevented it from rolling down the small decline next to the road. The car rolled up against the magical barrier, then landed back on all four wheels with a jarring thump.

The three girls sat quietly for a moment, their eyes wide. Then Raven turned to Jinx.

"What the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry, I had to sneeze!"

"This happens when you sneeze?"

Jinx shrugged helplessly. "I'm just a tiny bit buzzed right now, ok? My powers are a bit harder to control when I'm buzzing!"

"Nobody told you to drink tonight," Raven seethed. She rubbed her face. "Azar help me."

"I'm sorry, ok?"

Raven glared at the other Titan. "This night has been nothing but a disaster. We've gone to all the clubs you wanted to go to, did pretty much what you wanted to do. All I wanted was to go for a simple drive and you made this into a 'girls night out!'" Raven made air quotes as she said that. "I'm beginning to doubt you even have a drivers license to begin with!"

"I wanted us to have fun together!" Jinx shouted back, "And I do have a drivers license!"

"Really? Let me see your license, Jinx!"

"I'm perfectly legal to drive and its legit," Jinx rambled as she pulled out her license.

Raven snatched the plastic ID from the sorceress' hand. She stared at it for a moment and then glared hard at Jinx.

"This says your name is 'Irma Gunt' and you were born in 1974."

Jinx giggled loudly. "It sounds even funnier when you say the name aloud!"

Raven and Starfire glanced at each other. "What are you talking about?"

Jinx grinned. "Say my name!"

"Jinx?"

"No! The one on the license!"

"'Irma Gunt?'"

Jinx chortled with glee. "How can you not pick up on it?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Raven demanded.

"Sound out the name on the license."

"It says 'Irma Gu-'..." Raven stopped, then narrowed her eyes at the pink Titan. "ok seriously?"

Jinx started laughing loudly.

"Dammit Jinx, I thought you were a licensed driver!" Raven bounced the plastic ID off the pink girl's forehead. "I actually trusted you to help me and you totally took advantage!"

"C'mon, Rae," Jinx growled back, rubbing her forehead. She retrieved the license from the car floor and stuck it back in her purse. "I'm a former super-villain, and technically an illegal immigrant! It wasn't like I could pop down to the RMV and get a license with my real name on it!" She glared at Raven for a moment and then blinked. "Actually, how did you get your license? Aren't you an illegal immigrant too? Being inter-dimensional and all."

Raven rubbed her temples for a moment, willing her anger back under her iron control before she started wrecking things.

Oh Azar, I need to meditate very very badly right now.

"You can still get a license in this state if you have proof of residency," Raven said, still rubbing her temples.

"Sisters, I am not of the feeling well," Starfire suddenly moaned from the back seat.

Raven turned around. "Star! Get out of the car if you're going to-"

Raven was interrupted by the liquid sounds of a Tamaranean princess puking in the back seat.

"Oh gross!" Jinx cried. She opened the passenger side door and tumbled out of the car as the stench rolled to the front. Raven jumped out of the drivers seat and opened the back door of the car. Jinx limped around and they both stared.

"Well," Jinx commented, "So that's what it looks like when you empty nine stomachs at once. She totally filled the wheel wells." She leaned slightly forward. "Are those chicken bones? When did you eat chicken wings, Star?"

"I'm sorry, sister Raven!" Starfire bawled from the backseat. Raven reached in and helped the messy Tamaranean out of the car and held her as she cried.

"It's ok, Star," Raven murmured, "We can clean it up."

Jinx wrinkled her nose. "That's some strong smelling stuff. Maybe we can hose her off."

"You aren't helping. What in the name of Azar did she have tonight?"

"The man at the club said it was called 'Sex on the Beach' but I informed him that I would do no such thing," Starfire slurred.

Jinx glanced at Raven, then looked at Starfire.

"Starfire honey, just how many of those did you have?"

Starfire looked confused and teary eyed as she silently counted on her fingers. "That many, I believe. They were quite yummy."

Raven looked back at Jinx. "Explain to me why those men were offering to buy us drinks when the three of us are underaged."

"First of all, they didn't know that." Jinx smirked, holding up her license, "And secondly, I'm 42, you know."

"Once again, you aren't helping, Irma."

Starfire continued in a wavering voice, "It was the Steve that bought the 'Sex on the Beach' for me."

Raven frowned. "Who is Steve?"

"He was the man at the club, like the Dave." Starfire hiccupped and then burped.

Jinx's smile faded as a set of flashing lights pulled up behind the car. "Well shit, looks like help is here."

A female officer stepped out of the police car and shone her light on the three Titans faces.

"Hi," the cop said, "Rough night?" She focused the light on Starfire. "Is she ok?"

"Oh she's just fine, officer," Raven said in a monotone, "Just needed a little air."

Starfire threw up again. It was like a firehose on full stream as it splashed into the grass.

Jinx pinched her nose. "She must have missed a stomach."

"Oooh! I do not wish to ever have any more of the 'Sex on the Beach!'" Starfire wailed. She stopped for a moment and blinked. "Sisters, who is the Irma?"

I jolted awake from the sound of my cell phone ringing. I had dozed off in the main operations room with my laptop on my lap. Blearily, I glanced at my watch and realized it was almost 2:30 in the morning and Raven and the girls hadn't come back to the Tower. My phone rang again and I almost dropped my laptop grabbing it.

"H-hello?"

"Mark," Raven's voice sounded, "were you sleeping?"

"No, well, a little. I was waiting for you."

"I'm sorry." Raven's voice was tired sounding.

"Is everything ok? Are you guys alright?" I asked.

"No. Everything isn't ok. We're at a police station."

I sat up straight. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"We're not hurt, though Star is sick to her stomach... They impounded the car. Can you come and get us?"

I had never heard Raven sound so shaken and upset. But the woman I loved just asked me if I could come get her.

"I'm going to wake Vic. I don't have any other car here, so I'll get him to either lend me the T-Car or drive me. What station are you at?"

Raven rambled off the precinct number and I jotted it down. "Ok, hang in there. I'll be there as soon as I can, ok?"

"Ok," Raven sniffed. She almost sounded like a lost child. Then the line disconnected.

I jumped up from the couch and closed my laptop. Then I jogged down the hall to Cyborg's room and knocked on the door. After a few minutes, I heard him muttering. The door slid open and the metal man's burning red eye scanned my face.

"Somebody better be dead or burning," Cyborg growled.

"The girls are at a police station in Jump. I need to borrow your car."

Cyborg blinked at me for a moment. "You ain't driving my baby, but I'll drive you there. What precinct are they at?"

I handed him the precinct number I had written down. "Do you think we can leave Nightwing out of this?"

"Why?"

"Gut feeling."

Cyborg sighed. "Ok, we'll keep this on the down low. But you'd better fill me on on what the hell happened tonight."

I put up my hands. "Dude, I have no idea what happened. Raven borrowed my car and she and Star and Jinx went out to help Raven freshen her driving skills. I didn't expect them to stay out this late, nor did I expect Raven to call me from a police station." I hesitated for a moment. "Vic, Raven seemed really distressed. I'm worried about her."

Cyborg put a metal hand on my shoulder. "Raven is one of the strongest people I know. She'll be fine." He pushed me towards the elevator. "Let's get going."

"So let me get this straight," Officer MacMillan said, "You three are Teen Titans?"

"Yes," Raven said softly. The glamour had faded and her chakra jewel flashed in the light. Despite having had nothing alcoholic to drink all night, Raven's head was pounding.

"So what were you doing drunk on the side of a public highway?"

"For the last time, we were not drunk."

"Your orange friend there had a blood alcohol level of .54. I'm surprised she's even alive." The cop glanced down at the tablet in front of him. "In fact, of the three of you, you're the only one who had no blood alcohol to speak of. Can you tell me what happened again?"

Raven sighed and rubbed her temples. "We were on the highway and we had a blowout. I pulled over and my friend got sick."

"Right right... so where did the other two get the booze?"

"I don't know. We stopped at a few clubs."

"Right right," MacMillan said again. He scrolled his tablet for a moment. "You do know that one of your 'companions' is a former felon named Jinx, right? Did she procure alcohol from somewhere? This is very serious, young lady. Underaged drinking is against the law."

The door to the interrogation room opened and to Raven's relief, Cyborg and Mark walked in with a couple of other officers.

"How ya doin', Officer MacMillan," Cyborg said in a friendly voice, "We're here to collect our people and get out of your hair."

MacMillan stood up. "Just so you're aware, two of these three ladies were publicly intoxicated and they're underaged." He turned and stared at Mark. "You don't look like a Teen Titan. You their lawyer or something?"

Mark blinked. "N-no."

Cyborg smiled. "Are these ladies under arrest for anything? Because we can certainly get some of JLU's lawyers down here."

"Well, no, but..."

"Great! So like I said, we'll just collect our people and be out of your hair."

MacMillan sighed. "Fine. They can leave. Though you might want to get your orange friend to a hospital. She may have alcohol poisoning."

Mark's eyes went wide. "Why didn't you send her to the hospital already?"

"Because she's absurdly strong and stated she didn't want to go anywhere with the EMTs. We decided not to argue."

I took Raven's hand in mine as we left the station. Starfire was walking a little erratically, but seemed to be fine with finding the T-Car. Jinx was remarkably silent as she limped forward on her cast.

The cops told me I had to come back sometime the following day to get my car out of impound. Then they told me they would be glad to see it go. Something about an odor. When we got back to the Tower, we found a stern and unhappy looking Nightwing. His face melted in concern though when he saw Starfire's condition. The alien princess started crying as soon as Nightwing hugged her and the two of them vanished towards his room. Jinx glanced back at the rest of us and shrugged.

"Don't wake me too early," the pink Titan said. Then she limped towards the stairs, headed to her room.

I looked at Cyborg. "Thanks, Vic."

"No problem." Cyborg touched Raven's shoulder and looked into her eyes. "You need anything, little sis, you come talk to me. Ok?"

Raven nodded. Then Cyborg left to go to his room. I took Raven to her room and she opened the door. I looked at her face.

"You want me to stay?"

Raven nodded again. I followed her into the room and closed the door.

The dark Titan assumed the lotus position in her meditation circle and began softly chanting her mantra. Within a few moments, she levitated up about a foot or so and hovered unmoving in the air, her eyes closed. I sat down in her reading nook and watched her for a little while before I dozed off.

A few hours must have passed before I felt myself awakened by a small hand poking at my forehead. I opened my eyes and found Raven staring at me. She was dressed for bed and wore one of my oversized t-shirts that I had given her.

"It's almost 4:30 in the morning," Raven said quietly, "come to bed."

I stood up and stretched and then followed Raven to her bed. Then I stripped off my pants, leaving just my boxer-briefs and t-shirt and crawled in.

Raven settled into the other side of the bed facing away from me, and buried her face in her pillow.

"Fucking Jinx. Fucking Starfire. Fucking police. Fucking clubs. Fucking Steve. Fucking Dave," I heard her mutter.

I blinked. "Who are Steve and Dave?"

"I have no idea, but I wish them both a lot of pain."

We were quiet for minute.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked quietly.

"No. Not right now. Right now, I just... I need to sleep, but I'm having a hard time doing it."

I was silent for a moment. "So... what happened to the car?"

"You need a new tire and drivers side window. The hood is dented and you'll probably need to replace all the upholstery in the back seat."

I blinked. "Replace the upholstery?"

"Starfire puked in the back seat."

"Well, that's something I could probably have steam cleaned out..."

Raven turned her head and looked me in the eyes.

"You've never seen a Tamaranean empty nine stomachs before. They have a lot of digestive enzymes. In fact, I'll be surprised if there isn't a hole in the floor tomorrow."

I snorted. Then I covered my mouth to muffle my laughter.

Raven blinked. "What's so funny?"

"C'mon, Raven. You just told me deadpan that an alien vomited acid in the back of my car. I can't help it. That's goddamned funny."

Raven stared at me for a moment, then her face relaxed and she arched an eyebrow.

"I guess that is a little funny, now that I think of it." She frowned. "But what about your car?"

"I told you already. It's just a car. It's insured, though I'm not entirely sure it won't be totalled if Starfire's puke really does burn a hole through it. But I bought the thing off Craigslist."

"But don't you need a car?"

"Sure. I'll probably just find another car just like it on Craigslist. Considering who I work with and where I live, I don't think I'll ever actually go out and buy a brand NEW car." I winked at her. "Especially if my girlfriend takes it out like this."

"So you'll never trust me with your car again."

I turned over to face her.

"You guys came back unharmed. I don't care about the car as long as the people I love are safe." I gently kissed her forehead. "If anything ever happened to you, I would have no idea what to do with myself." I grinned at her again. "But I have to hear this whole story in the morning, because it sounds like an epic comedy."

Raven watched me thoughtfully for a few moments.

"I have no idea what it is about you. Between your calming emotions and your bizarre sense of humor, you manage to put my mind at ease. Most boyfriends would flip out if their girlfriend trashed their car, but you are so laid back about it I'd almost think you were comatose. What's the deal with you?"

I shrugged. "Maybe it's my overwhelming love for you."

"Maybe you're full of shit."

I arched my eyebrow at that. "Ok, I'll admit that I'm not exactly jumping for joy here that my car might be wrecked, but over the last month or so I've learned a lot of things about myself. Being kidnapped and almost beaten to death tends to change one's perspective you know. I could be dead now. I could be rotting in some jungle in Colombia. I could still be a prisoner being used as a punching bag for cock-headed douchebags named Hive. All things considered, it's just a fucking car."

Raven rolled over to face me.

"I think I need some intense sexual activity to use as an emotional crutch to help me get over the events of this evening."

I blinked at her innocently.

"Is that the seduction part?" I asked.

"Yes," Raven replied, then she kissed me.