Raven
Raven trailed behind Alec. He walked at a brisk pace and she could sense layers of anxiety and frustration rolling off of him. She knew he wasn't happy with her being here, that wasn't the sole source of his frustration. If she were to wager a guess, it was probably because of her discovery of Project Element. She had to wonder just how bad this project could be.
The two rounded a corner, well three in all technicality she could feel Kamala trailing behind them. She felt it a fair assumption that Alec was aware of her presence given their years of working together. She was glad she had taken Jinx's invitation and not just because it allowed her to see Jinx, but because she had inadvertently stumbled onto an opportunity to learn more about Alec.
They came to a halt outside of a rather plain-looking steel door and they stood there for a moment. Alec sighed before turning to face her and saying, "What I am about to show you is something my family and I have kept secret for years. H.I.V.E. made sure to keep the details of our past under wraps even from fellow students. You can go ahead and come out Kammie, I know you're there."
Kamala dropped from her hiding spot looking a little perturbed. She landed next to Raven and placed her hands on her hips. She looked at her, friend, and asked, "If you knew I was there then why didn't you say something instead of letting me slink about in the damned shadows?"
He shot her a smirk and shrugged as he replied, "Figured you could use the practice. You're getting sloppy, or is that just because your girlfriend is here?"
Raven felt a sudden wave of embarrassment radiate from Kamala, and she looked to see her face tinged with a bright blush. Raven was a little bit embarrassed by the comment as well, but she found Kamala's face priceless. She covered her mouth to stifle a chuckle while Kamala spoke, "S-shut up! I'm not, I mean we're not unless…are we?"
Raven shrugged as she enjoyed the sight of the fumbling pinkette beside her. She noted a hint of amusement in Alec's voice, "How could she resist you with a gift of gab like that? Come on, let's get this over with."
The door slid open and the trio entered into a rather vacant room. There wasn't much in the way of furniture, just a bed, a desk, and a set of end tables that rested beside the bed. On the desk sat a laptop and on the floor beside the desk there was a large duffle bag. The contents of the bag spilled out from its confines in a jumbled mess of tech and clothing. Alec made for the desk and took a seat in front of the laptop. He inserted a flash drive into the computer and began typing away. After a few short seconds, an article titled Catastrophic Ice Storm Devestates Small Village in Nepal flashed onto the screen.
Alec turned in his seat and gestured to the screen before speaking, "Thirty-five years ago this happened and it garnered little attention outside of a couple of humanitarian news groups. At the time, the stateside media didn't care much for the events happening across the globe, but H.I.V.E. took a special interest in these events. Before I go into any details about Project Element, let me ask you something. How much do you know about Elementals?"
Her suspicion had been right. She spoke in a calm and even tone, "I know that they are believed to be the manifestations of natural disasters that embody the powers of the cause of said disaster."
"Hold on," Jinx cut in, "Those are supposed to be just myths."
"Coming from the girl who is trying to date a demi-demon," Alec fired back.
Jinx's blush returned as her anger spiked. Raven noted a small twitch from her eye, but she cut in before she could retort, "Ignoring how you know about my physiology for a moment, are you saying that you and your family are Elementals?"
"Bingo, kid," Alec said, "Not something I like to spread around, much like your own history. I won't go into too many details on how I found out, but I will say that I have a contact in Gotham who is good at his job."
Raven's demeanor shifted to defensive, "Someone from the Church of Blood?"
"Hah, hardly," Alec let out a genuine laugh, "I'm not big on fanatics and both of you know my stance on magic. My contact just happens to be thorough in his work and more so for the right price."
"Back on topic here," Jinx said, gesturing to the screen, "You never told me anything about your past and I'm curious to know what this is about."
Alec sighed and Raven could feel the short burst of levity that he had died down. In its place, she sensed pain and regret along with apprehension. "I was born in Nepal many, many years ago. It wasn't uncommon for us to have a bit of...inclement weather from time to time, but that day was unlike anything we had ever seen."
"I was a boy then and a foolish one at that. My mother warned me that a storm was moving in, but I paid her little mind and went about exploring and picking fights," he stopped and smiled to himself, "Guess I've always had a penchant for a good scrap. Anyway, I think it goes without saying that by the time the storm hit I was out in the open."
"The roar of the wind, the devastating drop in temperature, and the feeling of that freezing rain is something I will never forget. It hurt at first, I was caught out in the middle of everything along with a few other boys I had been playing with. I'm still not sure how much time passed, but by the end of it…" he paused again and closed his eyes before continuing, "Everyone and everything that I had known was gone. Encased in ice or leveled by the storm while I was left standing in the wreckage. I was too terrified and preoccupied with finding my mother to realize that I never felt the cold as I trudged through the snow and ice."
"I found her body buried beneath our home and more rigid than I care to discuss. I ended up leaving the ruins of my home a few days after that. I wandered the mountainside and slowly started to discover my abilities before H.I.V.E. found me. I was brought back to their academy where they began training myself and the one other Elemental there at the time."
Raven listened intently as he spoke. Her suspicions about him from that first night were indeed correct. Jinx's voice cut in before she could think to speak, "So you are an Elemental! You told me that you didn't have a clue as to what that was!"
"You asked back when we were at the academy," Alec said, "All of us were under strict orders to keep what we were between us and our handlers. For the record, you lead with a whole bunch of magical mumbo jumbo jargon that you know I don't understand."
"What was the purpose of Project Element?" Raven interjected, "H.I.V.E. may have gathered the lot of you from across the globe but to what end?"
Alec took a deep breath and held it. He seemed to be trying to find the best way to phrase the answer. He finally exhaled and shrugged as he spoke, "We were, for lack of a better word, an execution squad. Apprehension, extermination, desimation, and elimination were what we were all trained for. The goal was to have us move in and utilize our abilities for tactical advantages or if shit hit the fan then to make it seem like a natural disaster."
"How many of you were there and where are the rest of them now?" Raven asked as her intrigue rose.
"Five of us in total," Alec said as he held up his hand, "Myself, Tetra, Buzz, Trent, and Gale and as for where they are now...the only one I know for certain is Buzz. He's here in Jump and the reason I'm in your neck of the woods in the first place. I can't be sure of it, but my gut is telling me that Tetra is manipulating him or even controlling him somehow."
"Tetra?" Jinx asked moving up, "You have got to be fucking kidding me! That bitch?!"
Alec nodded and she didn't need to be an empath to feel the tension increase in the room. She looked between Jinx who looked to be almost outraged and Alec who looked almost guilty. She furrowed her brow and asked, "Who is Tetra?"
"His ex," Jinx replied curtly, "And a royal cunt if there ever was one."
Alec shot her a look before turning back to Raven, "She was the leader of our squad and our pyromancer. Kammie never really cared for her and after we broke up those feelings didn't get any better."
"She told me I was nothing but trash and a curse on the academy and anyone who crossed my path!" Jinx cried out.
"Sounds like a real winner," Raven deadpanned, "Fire and ice didn't work out...who would have guessed that?"
Alec shot the dark Titan a glare before he rolled his eyes, "Har har, like no one ever made that joke before. Kammie, you know that I never agreed with her on that. She was-is hateful, spiteful, and manipulative to the core. I was blinded by it at first and when Blood took over the school anything I felt one way or the other stopped mattering. Tetra was close to Blood and while I can't prove it, I know that somehow she's controlling Buzz and probably the others in the same way that the bastard used to control the rest of us."
"Buzz is the reason that you're in Jump?" Raven asked before continuing when Alec nodded, "Why not enlist the help of the rest of the Titans?"
"S'not that simple," Jinx answered, "It's a H.I.V.E. thing and since Alec has such a strong bond with them he doesn't want to involve anyone outside of the people he considers family."
"I also don't want you or your team putting yourselves in danger," Alec said, "Course this was before Kammie decided to try to get involved with you. Even so, your team has more important things to worry about than handling my old teammates. Buzz is my responsibility,"
Raven understood what he meant. Considering that she spent the better part of her youth contending with Trigon on her own, she could understand his position. Still, she knew better than anyone that relying on one's self usually only made things more difficult. "You don't have to do this alone, Alec," she said.
"Save it," he replied curtly, "It's bad enough I got Jinx and the boys mixed up in this shit, I don't need the lives of you and your team on the line too."
"She can handle herself, " Jinx defended her, "Technically, she is an Arch-Lord level demon. I've already told you that you should just let the Titans in on this so we don't have to keep trying to run from them."
"I don't give a rat's ass what she is!" he exclaimed, "This isn't her fight. It's bad enough that I had to involve you and the guys, and as for the Titans as a whole...let them worry about everything else and we will take care of Buzz."
"How are you gonna do that when we're behind bars?" Jinx asked, "You think Nightwing is gonna give a shit that we haven't done anything if we're the ones at the scene of a damn crime?!"
"Enough!" Raven cut in, "This is a pointless argument between the two of you. Alec, I won't press the issue, but my offer to aid you will remain open should you choose to accept it."
Alec took a deep breath and released it as he calmed down, "I'll keep that in mind and I do appreciate the offer. You two get out of here and enjoy the time that you have together. Raven, I'm trusting you to keep this information to yourself. Kammie trusts you and as goofy as she may be, she's usually a pretty good judge of character."
"Hey!" Jinx exclaimed, "Just because I know how to loosen up doesn't make me goofy."
"Whatever you say, Lucky," Alec said as he ejected his flash drive, "Get out of here and go spend time with your girlfriend before her fearless leader calls her back to the tower."
Raven gave a small smile as she watched the two interact. They really were a lot like brother and sister from where she was standing. She took Jinx's hand in hers and moved to pull her out of the room. She felt the sudden spike in the girl's emotions as she looked down at her hand. "Come on, Kamala, let's go," she said before turning back to Alec, "I will keep this discussion between us, but I need your word that if things get out of hand you will not let anything happen to Kamala."
"Didn't take you for the protective type," he said as he turned to face them, "Trust me, I'm not going to let it come to that. Now go and do...whatever the hell two witches do."
"Sorceresses," Jinx corrected.
"Whatever," Alec said as he waved them off.
Raven pulled Jinx out of the room and the two made their way back down the halls of the small hideout. They were quiet as they walked, but Raven could sense a strange emotion rolling off of Jinx. They rounded the corner that led back to her room and she was about to ask if she was alright when she suddenly found herself pinned against the wall. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as Jinx pressed her lips to her own. Her eyes went wide for a moment before closing and accepting the affection that was being presented to her. She let loose a sound that somewhere between a growl and a moan as Jinx deepened the kiss with her tongue.
When Jinx finally pulled away, Raven was left in a slight haze and a stupor. Her eyes were half lidded and she noticed the confident smirk that Jinx wore, "What was that about?" she asked.
"You never told him that you weren't my girlfriend," Jinx said as she took the lead and pulled Raven into her room, "I figured if you're not going to object to it that I should see what you're open to. Come on, I've got a couple of things I want to show you."
Author's Note:
Well after about...six months? Not quite sure how long it has been, I decided to give this another swing. In case anyone has been wondering, I haven't abandoned this story. I've just been busy with a plethora of writing jobs that have been fairly all encompassing. I still want to finish this story, but if I am being honest I am a bit conflicted. This story was the first thing that I had written in over a decade and when I started I was limited to just my phone and my skills were far from refined. While I am still developing as a writer, I can't help but notice the copious amounts of typos, flow issues, and formatting problems in every chapter of this story and even in Thunderclap.
This in mind, it begs the question: should I scrap and rewrite it?
There are quite a few things that I would do differently and chapter 3 alone is something that needs a lot of work since it goes over the same material again and again throughout the chapter. I've finally gotten a computer and am able to write faster and with fewer issues and errors than I was with my phone, but with the amount of jobs I have currently rewriting and reworking 60+k words is no small feat. I am inquiring from you the readers who have made it this far as to whether or not I should undertake this or just try to soldier on through. Send me a PM or drop me a review with your thoughts on it, I am genuinely curious to know what the readers think on this matter.
As far as this chapter is concerned, I have some mixed feelings about it. Overall, I am moderately satisfied with how it turned out although I believe it still has room for improvement. Given the dilemma that I mentioned above, I am afraid that my mind was a bit more torn than it normally would have been when writing. This chapter focuses a bit more on Project Element and what it was supposed to be and was meant to give a little insight as to how Alec got his powers and just what exactly he is. He isn't technically a Metahuman, but he is rather a literal force of nature that has chosen to inhabit the body of a living being. The same goes for Buzz and the rest of his old team. Altered genetics and DNA combined with training from HIVE gives a recipe for a force to be reckoned with especially when the team works together.
I look forward to hearing from whoever is willing to take the time to drop a review or a PM as to whether or not I should rework this tale or not. I do intend to be a bit more active on this site simply because working on this story and any others that strike my fancy seem to help reinvigorate me and improve my ability to continue to work on some of the lengthier commissions that I have undertaken as of late.
Sincerely,
R. (GhostWriter)