Rebound
Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape, or form own the show Teen Titans, nor the various DC comics on which this fanfiction is based.
Jinx's eyes begin glowing once more, though far less brightly than moments before.
Zatanna's heels click loudly on the ruined road as she stumbles her way towards them, seeming drunk in how uncoordinated her movements are.
"Take another step, bunny, and I swear-"
Raven's hand latches onto the meta's arm, cutting her warning off.
"Raven?"
"I-I'm so sorry," Zatanna whispers, snapping Jinx's attention back to find her far closer than she should be.
The witch's eyes seem glassy to the meta, and horror is clearly visible through her wide-eyed gaze.
"I… I can't even start to tell you how awful I feel about what a bitch I've been," Zatanna starts again.
Raven reacts to that, slowly sitting back up with Jinx's help.
"You are free from his influence, such as it was. Leave it at that, and let us not discuss this matter further," the psychic rasps.
Wincing, she reaches her arm out into the air at her side.
Darkness slowly coils around her hand, and when the area is cleared once more, her hand is wrapped around a blackish-green stone with red veins running through it.
The stone bleeds a dim glow around her hand, which quickly spreads to the rest of her body.
When the light fades, the stone is nothing but a white circlet, and her various cuts and bruises are faded to the point of seeming to have never existed in the first place.
With a sigh, she drops the spent rock and rises to her feet.
"Remind me to pick up a few more bloodstones, will you, Jinx?"
Staring between the women, Jinx slowly nods and rises to join her lover's side.
"You okay, Rae? That-"
"Tired," Raven sighs, the black circles beneath her eyes standing out to the meta's gaze as soon as she says it. "Very, very tired. But it will work until I can rest."
Jinx begins to argue, but the expression on Raven's face stops her.
Capitalizing on the silence, Zatanna tries to speak again while wringing her gloved hands together.
"Listen, I know you have good reason to hate me, but now that I'm not being controlled anymore, I really want-"
Raven's raised hand and narrowed eyes cut the contrite witch's apology off immediately.
"Do not mistake how reality works, Zatanna. You were not controlled by Jared."
Jinx's eyes widen, her own expression one of sympathy.
"Uh, Rae, not to pick sides, but you looked ready to kill someone yourself. I don't think that she-"
"I was manipulated, yes. He made a grave mistake in doing so, as well, as I now understand how that trick of his works. You, and Richard for that matter, were not controlled, Zatanna. Your actions were your own, and while I will not hold a grudge, I will also not just forgive and forget the plans your mind came up with."
Zatanna's eyes flare in anger, and she stomps closer to the psychic.
"He was in my head! You can't say that you-"
The demonling's eyes narrow, and Zatanna takes an instinctive step backwards.
"His powers work on an empathic level," Raven interrupts. "He calls himself Wrath, and it is very fitting. What he did to you, and Richard, and on a smaller scale the others, was nothing as complex as mind control. He did not make you and Richard plan to lobotomize me. Do not mistake me, I will make he and the others he spoke of pay, but where you are concerned, they merely agitated what was already there."
Zatanna's eyes widen even further, her anger doused in an instant in the face of Raven's own.
"Had Jared not done the same to me, I would be inclined to just pity you and forgive it all as the results of possession, but now that I understand his power, I cannot do so. While his ability is certainly strong, all it amounts to is weakening your inhibitions and empathically increasing the negative emotion that he holds sway over. Anger in his case, and given his suggestion, likely lust from another sibling."
"If that's true, then what was with you looking like you wanted to break them?" Jinx asks, though her sympathy is much weaker now.
"Because I still hold a grudge over the plans that led to my departure, and for as long as it took me to realize what he was doing, he put the anger that comes with it in chorus in my mind," Raven deadpans. "It is not that he was making me want to kill them, but rather that he weakened the hold I put on such thoughts so I would consider it realistically."
"So you're saying that I'm just naturally a bitch?" Zatanna demands.
"Frankly, yes. Caging me is something you thought of all on your own. You would likely not have begun putting the plans in action alone without the input of my siblings, but the thought and desire to do so in the first place was already present and required a very bare push."
"It was a demon fucking with my head! You can't really think I'd start building something like that just because-"
She cuts herself off, a wince warping her expression.
"Because you think of me as a demon like my kin are, since the first time we met," Raven finishes. "So yes, you would have. Or you would have brought the thought up eventually with someone else who would do it in your stead. Just the same way that despite his supposed love, Nightwing would have cheated eventually, whether with you through the release of his inhibitions or someone else on his own."
In the ensuing silence, Raven realizes how many eyes are on them, and her body straightens out from the hunched pose it had taken.
"At any rate, take what I've offered. We will never be friends, but given that, while not mentally controlled, your decision-making capabilities have not been at their best, neither will you be my enemy further. Take the offer for what it's worth, Zatanna, but take it nonetheless if you value your life. If you're looking for someone to apologize to, I'd recommend perhaps that Kori would be more forgiving than myself to begin with."
Shaking her head, Raven turns from the stunned witch and casts her gaze about, stopping her search only when she finds a golden glow in the near distance.
She begins floating towards the sword, only for Jinx's hand to clamp on her shoulder.
"Nuh-uh. You keep your sweet ass on the ground, Rae, and stay here. I'll get it," the meta demands.
Even were she inclined to argue with her lover despite her numbing exhaustion, she has no chance to verbalize it before the meta runs off for Excalibur.
When she isn't at Raven's side, Jinx feels her own tiredness rise for a brief moment.
Pushing through it, she makes her way to the wall of concrete, not even entirely sure if Jared or her own lover had torn this segment of the city so easily.
With a sigh, she reaches the curved ramp and finds the magical sword buried straight through the solid material, the tip of the blade standing at least a quarter of an inch from the other end.
Her mind briefly wonders if Raven always had the kind of strength needed for such a feat, just waiting under the surface, or if the damned sword and her sibling had somehow brought it out from a place that wasn't normally inside her lover.
As soon as her hand closes around the sword's hilt, though, she realizes the power had, without a doubt, been almost entirelyExcalibur's work.
As though an electric current is being run through her, her entire arm involuntarily clenches, and she grits her teeth to resist the reactionary scream that forms.
"The demon'd be more safe 'n you," an old man's voice growls in her mind.
Before she can respond, a pulse of light builds in the sword, slowly moving from the blade's tip down to her hand on the hilt.
As soon as the light touches her, she finds herself no longer on the ground, and the scream breaks free.
She hits the ground, finding the concrete to be surprisingly soft under her body as she writhes.
Her form twitches and spasms until the golden light leaves her, and as soon as it does, she begins pulling in deep gasps of air to fight the darkness at the edges of her sight.
A hand brushes against her forehead, and she casts her sight up to find Raven inverted overtop of her.
With a start, she realizes why the ground is so soft, and slowly pushes her way up from Raven's all-engulfing cloak.
"I thought… I told… you… not… to move," she wheezes.
Chuckling, Raven puts an arm around her waist and helps her stand once again, despite the occasional aftershocks running through her.
"And I didn't," her lover responds with a raised brow.
Jinx turns around and realizes that, indeed, the demonling hasn't taken one step from where she'd left her.
"I did not get thrown this far by a stupid sword," she argues with an expression that, in a more personal setting, Raven might dare to call a pout.
Choosing to wisely remain quiet on the matter, Raven shakes her head.
"No, you were only thrown about half the way here."
Jinx frowns in thought, then remembers the dark edge to her sight and frowns at Raven.
"I meant no portals, too, when I said not to move. Soon as we get the chance, you're sitting your ass down and sleeping," Jinx chastises.
To the other observers, it seems ridiculous and hilarious both to see the smaller and thinner woman giving orders so easily to the woman who had recently destroyed half of Jump City's downtown.
To Raven, she simply acknowledges the unspoken concern from the meta, giving her a nod in response.
"As soon as we're done. Now, are you going to let me take it, or would you like another simulation of what a seizure feels like?" the demonling deadpans.
The reminder of the mystic weapon makes Jinx's eyes narrow, and she turns back to face it.
"I'm not going to let a damn piece of steel kick my ass after the show you just put on. It'll make me look bad," she growls.
Jinx storms off again, not missing Raven's amused chuckle.
With Jinx heading for the sword again, the demonling chooses to take stock of the others in the area.
All of them are bruised and bleeding, seeming more damaged from their attacks on her cages than they were from each other.
Only Zatanna seems to have the fortitude to actually stand amongst them all, perhaps due to her body being accustomed to the influence of her brothers' soul-selves or perhaps because she was more practiced with mystical attacks.
Nightwing is far shakier than Zatanna, the feel of his gaze on her unfocused from where he sits on the road.
Even at the distance that separates them, Raven can sense the sorrowful emotions rolling from him.
Her mental barriers slam into place when she realizes her empathic abilities are able to reach that kind of distance, a shiver running through her.
A shriek pierces the air, bringing her attention to Jinx, and the harsh gold light surrounding her.
"Don't put your hands on me again, chaotic one," Excalibur's voice snarls in the meta's mind. "Nothin' good will come of it!"
Gritting her teeth, Jinx tightens her hand on the hilt despite the stabbing pain running through her.
Strangely, the longer she holds the weapon, the less pain presses into her every sense.
While Jinx is focused solely on the hilt in her clamped fist, Raven's eyes take in the display around her lover.
While the golden aura remains around the meta, pink sparks begin setting off from around her body, filling the air above with a strangely colored steam.
A realization occurs to her then, one which makes her blood feel like ice in her veins.
Forgetting her exhaustion, she immediately sinks through a portal and grabs her lover's wrist the moment she's above ground once more.
As soon as they touch, the gold arcs from Jinx and coats the demonling as well, causing both women to shudder.
"R-Raven, I can h-handle it," Jinx groans.
With her free hand, Raven points at Excalibur, and black light crackles into existence around the silver.
For a bare instant, her eyes flash black, and the sword connects with her, each feeding off the other's power.
"Toradh anois!" she hisses, her voice unnaturally deep outside of her demonic form.
Instantly, the aura vanishes, and Raven releases a heavy sigh as the sword falls harmlessly free from the road.
Jinx stares at the now seemingly mundane weapon in her hand, not so much as a flicker of power reaching her.
"Wh-what? Raven, did you-?"
Wiping the sweat from her forehead, Raven straightens up with a sickening pop sounding from her back.
Turning to look at her lover, Jinx notices a very small flicker of gold in her eyes before it shifts to match the rest of the red.
"Whether you could handle it or not is irrelevant, Jinx. Were I not so tired, I would have insisted you let me take care of it. Chaos and Fae magics do not mix well."
Noticing her pointed stare, Jinx looks at where she only now notices is a sore point on her shoulder.
Her eyes widen when they find the section of her shirt that was supposed to cover her shoulder completely gone.
The skin is pink, and she notices the edges of the fabric are charred black.
"Wha-"
Nodding, Raven steps close to her and runs a hand down her back.
"Not just there, either," the demonling explains with a wince.
Small pricks of pain flare up in various spots across the meta's back, only to disappear to Raven's cooling touch.
"Was it… Was I going to-"
"If you'd kept going. I am not the only one of us who is stubborn," Raven quips with a small smile.
She carefully extracts the sword from her lover's hands, a thrum of magic pulsing through her hand at the contact, but no aura rising up to consume her.
"Man! How come you can just hold it, and it was trying to fry me?" Jinx laments.
"In all honesty, it would have fried me, as well. I simply was desperate enough to make a contract," she responds before letting the sword's flat rest on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry, did you say you made a contract? Are you nuts!?"
Raven winces at the shrill pitch of the meta's voice, hoping the hand caressing her lover's shoulder is comforting.
"It has been suggested before. It is not like a contract with a demon would be."
"I beg ta' differ," the voice retorts in her mind.
From the contact with Jinx, it carries to her as well, and she snickers at the blade.
"He does have a point."
"Jared was coming, and there weren't many options when it was trying to kill me. It isn't like I sold my soul or anything," Raven argues, far more defensively than she would like.
"Well, whatever. It worked out," Jinx sighs. "But seriously, the second you get the chance, I'm making sure you take it to get some rest, whether ya' like it or not."
Smirking, Raven gives her a nod before turning and beginning to aimlessly walk down the broken stretch of road.
Jinx follows after her as she suddenly starts walking, the meta finding it very confusing why her lover's strides are so easy now when not moments ago she'd looked dead on her feet.
The glimmer that she'd seen adds to her concern, too.
"Uh, Rae, you didn't siphon from the talking magical sword, right?"
Raven raises a brow at that, meeting her lover's gaze when she reaches her side.
"No. It simply gave me back the initial energy it stole when I first grabbed it," she responds with a shrug.
"Have I ever told you you're amazing?" Jinx quips before wrapping an arm tightly around her lover's waist.
"On occasion. Really, I just got lucky tonight," Raven sighs. "I'm fairly certain that in both physical and psychic aspects, I could just as easily lost as I did force a retreat."
"Well, now you know what you're dealing with," Jinx responds flippantly. "You'll soundly kick his ass next time."
"Perhaps. But I do not know that I'll like what I may become in order to do so," the demonling sighs. "He… they so easily manipulate minds. Treating humans as toys. It's vile, and I don't want to begin down a path that will make me similar."
"Or pets," Jinx supplies helpfully with her Cheshire smile.
Her expression darkens somewhat as memories of her own time being controlled by the old Brother Blood rise to the surface.
What Raven's siblings did, and at least how Jared acted, smacked of them being just as awful as the old man's voice shoved into her brain had been.
A shiver runs through her as, for a very brief moment, she ponders what life would be like if Raven had turned out to be anything like her other siblings.
More old fears rear their ugly heads, and with a barely suppressed hiss, she shoves them back into a dark corner of her mind to be ignored.
Raven watches her lover's mental struggle in silence, frowning at what she feels despite her mental locks.
"I know it doesn't need to be said, but he was wrong. You aren't a pet to me, Jinx," she supplies, thinking the meta's reaction is to her own previous statement.
Her comment seems to break Jinx from her stupor.
"Hmm? Oh, no shit," the meta responds with a shrug. "He was being an arrogant ass. Just brought up some memories…"
A thought occurs to her, and her grin comes back.
"Anyway, I'm just wondering why the hell he called you Pride. I mean, if he's Wrath, does that mean that you can do something like what he did to them, only with pride instead of being pissed off? Could you make people all irrational and stuff? It'd make for a pretty kick-ass counterattack the next time one of 'em shows up."
Raven's eyes narrow in thought, several very ugly scenarios playing out before her mind in an instant.
"Very probably. I have empathic abilities, and were I inclined to use them despite my code against it, I would likely be able to do something similar."
"Hate to break it to you, but he was able to use that empathic stuff on you, Rae. Maybe you should start thinkin' about changing your opinion on it. If for no other reason, so they can't pull that shit on you again, because I gotta' say, it's a scary idea if he'd actually been able to make you go on a rampage."
Raven winces, ignoring the others' stares as she realizes their walking has carried them to almost within earshot of the heroes and villains alike.
She slows her steps, Jinx following suit, not wanting them privy to this conversation.
"There is a reason I have that code, Jinx, even after I embraced my own emotions. They're a very dangerous double-edged sword, and I… I loathe the idea of what I could become if I let those powers out. Especially now that I understand what my siblings can do."
"Again, he almost had you seeing red for a second there, Rae. You think it would've happened like that if you were better with that stuff?"
Raven raises a brow at that, the flecks of red burning ever so slightly brighter in her gaze.
"I did not say I was unskilled. I said that they're dangerous. You should know how great a difference that can be with me by now," she points out.
Jinx shrugs and continues on, refusing to let it rest at that.
"More dangerous than having them attack again and fucking with your head? I know you said they can't control your mind, but I'm bettin' that a few of them together could cause some really nasty reactions if they mixed. Like, say, wrath and lust being put together with something distracting like greed to make a very dead Jinx before you even know what's happening?"
Raven completely freezes, horror rolling through her.
"They already work together, goin' by what he said. Two of 'em worked on birdbrain and the bunny, and at least two of them were together in your head to make our apartment go boom," Jinx continues.
"You could stop me before that happened," Raven argues, though her voice is far less sturdy than she'd like.
Jinx moves to stand in front of her, making the demonling meet her eyes.
"But I don't ever want to have to. So please consider it, okay? Just consider it."
Her hand coils up around Raven's neck, and she lightly caresses the clammy skin there, the demonling's entire body seeming paler than usual.
"You're afraid that you'd get like them, like the old man, right? That if you started playing with people's emotions, it'd give you some kind of… I dunno'… god complex or somethin', right?"
Raven's face warms, once again amazed at how well the meta has come to understand her, and her mind.
"That is certainly among the concerns, yes," Raven agrees as she fights her blush. "There are other dangers, as well."
"And unlike any of them, you've got a huge roadblock between you and those problems," Jinx declares.
Grabbing Raven's free hand, she brings it up to cup her own cheek, shivering at how cold her lover's skin is.
A soft smile curls Raven's lips, and she leans forward to rest her forehead on the meta's.
"Of course, you're right. I will… consider the possibilities," she agrees.
"And if you ever feel like things're gettin' out of hand, I'll be there to kick your ass back to sanity," Jinx supplies with a toothy grin.
Showing her own grin, Raven tilts her head slightly and their lips meet, a fire pulsing through both women at the contact.
Realizing the others are still watching, including her lover's ex-boyfriend, Raven reluctantly breaks the kiss off, though her lips remain locked into a small smile.
"Work remains to be done," she sighs.
"Doesn't it always?" Jinx laughs.
"Indeed. At any rate, considering things now, we've got a place to really start looking now to end this," Raven declares with a grin.
The women sink into a portal, and are the next moment standing next to Deathstroke, his visible eye staring at the two with what Raven can tell is amusement.
When Raven adjusts the sword on her shoulder, golden sparks fly off and crackle out of existence at his feet.
"It's so nice to see you're no longer that awkward teen," he muses. "You handle that blade like a natural. Surprising, actually, since I always understood it that demons and faeries have a rather… adversarial… relationship."
"Right back at you," Raven deadpans. "How'd you get something so dangerous, anyways? I'd've thought magic wouldn't be your thing, after your last foray with it. You went through a lot to get your skin back, if I recall correctly."
His eye narrows at that, though he doesn't rise to the bait.
"So," she continues in a light tone, "are you one of the thieves we're after? Or just a very lucky opportunist?"
"Commissioned, actually," he responds with a shrug. "The man called himself Uther."
Raven's eyes narrow to slits at that.
"Le Fey," she hisses, the sound feeling like acid on her tongue.
There were few mystics that she could say were as evil as the immortal faery, and the thought of her involvement in their investigation makes Raven's skin crawl.
"I assumed as much. Either an enemy or underling of her's, anyways. He was dead when I got back with the sword, at any rate. No client left to claim it, so I decided to keep it for myself."
"You just got Excalibur?"
"Surprised that it'd be that easy?"
For a brief moment, the women's eyes lock, and Raven responds with a derisive snort.
"Unfortunately, no," she sighs.
The air at Raven's side darkens, and in one quick movement she shoves the sword through.
"Fill ar ais sa bhaile," she hisses.
Her portal briefly flashes gold, and with the sound of a loud splash, it vanishes from around her wrist.
"Still, I admire the initiative. And now, no human hands are touching that thing again, as long as the Lady does her job."
"You can open portals all the way to Britain. Impressive," Deathstroke quips.
Jinx's brow rises at his nonchalance, her body instantly tightening in wary anticipation.
"You don't seem too… anything, considering you just lost one of the most powerful weapons in existence."
"Easy come, easy go. I don't need weapons to make me strong, Jinx. Unlike the pathetic cowards you're hunting, I can fight just fine on my own. It was more of a personal challenge. I wanted to know if I could use it. And I did, causing quite a lot of chaos while it lasted."
The last statement sets off alarm bells in Raven's mind, and she immediately calls on her soul-self to crush him into the ground.
Even with the return of her strength from the sword, her fight with Jared leaves her just drained enough to be a scant second too slow.
By the time the darkness reaches for him, his fist lashes out and crashes into the center of her face.
"None of that, now."
While the strike is nowhere near strong enough to do any real damage, it effectively puts the demonling off balance, causing her attack to evaporate.
Seeing their leader make his move, Match and Batgirl rise from the ground and move to attack the Titans, who themselves push their way shakily to their feet to meet them.
The expected follow-through punch never comes, and when Raven gets her feet back under her, she finds his eye glaring at the East members.
"You two are done here," he declares, his voice ringing through the suddenly silent air.
While Batgirl relaxes and begins heading off with only a shrug in response, Match glares at his boss.
"I want to crush-"
"You served your purpose. I wanted to get Raven's attention, and now I have it. Simple enough?"
Match stares back for several moments before muttering something and kicking off the ground, soaring high into the distance.
"You attacked them to get my attention," Raven reiterated, dropping into a fighting stance. "For what reason?"
Deathstroke remains utterly relaxed, standing before her without so much as hinting at tensed muscles.
"Because the chaos would draw your… friend… and you'd be with her. I had not counted on you being chased when you showed up, but no matter. Now then, I'm going to tell you what I know about these thefts. Who I know is involved, what their goal likely is, where some of the items you seek are."
Raven's eyes narrow even further, seeming to become red slits.
"And I should trust you?"
"Of course not, if you're smart. All the same, you will," he declares. "I'm going to give you what you seek on a silver platter. In exchange, you, your friend, and the various organizations you don't officially have any connection with are going to finish this hunt and take down the ones running things in my stead."
He reaches for his belt, and Raven only marginally relaxes when he extends a thick, leather-bound notebook to her.
She tentatively grabs it, casing it in soul-self while she slips it into her own belt.
"What is it?"
"All the data I and my various associates have collected. And with this, we're done here."
He turns and starts walking, but finds Raven in front of him before his second step.
"You're never selfless, Colonel. Why?" she demands, her voice a full octave lower than normal.
Hearing it, she winces, and in an instant, the red fades in her eyes and she stands somewhat taller.
"Temper, temper. That's dangerous for you, I understand. And that's exactly why I'm doing this. I'm through with demons. That includes you, and everyone that man earlier is associated with. The quicker you put a stop to their idiotic plans to rip open the Hellmouth, the faster I can start feeling like shadows are just shadows again. That you'll be taking some of my competitors down will certainly be a bonus, though."
Raven's entire body is rigid, most of his statement lost after her mind locked on 'Hellmouth' in any way connected to her siblings.
Noticing that only a small segment of the psychic's attention is on him, Deathstroke shrugs and steps around her.
"We, by which I mean myself and the others of Titans East, will be going to ground, now that I got your attention. You let things germinate for far too long, and it's about time you put an end to this game."
She remains utterly frozen, her heart ramming against her chest similarly to a jackhammer.
"It… That is not possible," she finally murmurs, turning to face his back.
"Oh, it's possible. And with what's in that book, you'll definitely be regretting wasting time pondering on the how's and why's instead of getting to work. Now, if you'll excuse me."
With that, he coils like a spring and leaps to his left, hooking his hand onto the drainage pipe running down a nearby building.
With a set of leaps that even impresses Jinx, he quickly ascends a building and disappears.
"As soon as everything's done, I will be coming back, so don't get too comfy, kiddos," his voice echoes, the sound the only one in the suddenly stagnant air around Raven's still form…
*********************
Author's Notes:
Heliotrope, known as Bloodstone, is a mineral compound that that has red-iron deposits in what's usually a bright green stone, which is believed in certain mystical traditions and systems to have healing and protective properties.
Toradh- Gaelic: "yield"
anois- Gaelic: "now"
Fill ar ais bhaile- Gaelic (roughly): "Return home"
Hellmouth, as can likely be discerned from the name, is a representation in art of the entrance to Hell. In the instance of this story, I'm more loosely using it as a portal to that realm, both because it sounds more epic and because as far as I can tell, there isn't a name in the DCU for the portal to Hell.
It was a bit long this time around. More action soon, I assure you! I hope you're all enjoying thus far, and will continue to do so, at least as much as I am inventing this. See you all next time!