CHAPTER 3: Communicator
A shadow swept under the moon that hung high. Also beneath it was a light that of fire and speed that of wind. Atop one of the mountain range foothills, there's a run-down cabin waiting to be occupied.
Raven settled down next to that building, the children coming out of the magic of her cloak. Kid Flash appeared right beside her and took a breather after miles of running.
"Is this the drop off point?"
"No. We can't go there yet. Who knows who's following us this time."
Using her powers, the door creaked open. The inside's still sparsely furnished, but a lot cleaner than the way it was previously left. "We'll stop here for the night."
Kid Flash rubbed his hands together as he stood near the fireplace, whilst the kids sat in front, waiting for his so-called 'magic trick'. Raven's behind them, arms crossed, foot tapping against the wooden floor. For someone so fast, he's a little slow—it's been about two minutes since he offered to light a fire.
"Alright! Are you ready?" he asked with such enthusiasm as if it's a fun event. The kids returned the same energy, all cheering and whatnot. Kid Flash beamed and took a deep breath.
"Here goes."
He hovered his right hand over the logs. The kids leaned in, eyes filled with anticipation. Kid Flash focused. And… he focused.
Seconds passed, the tip of his tongue remained stuck at the corner of his mouth, gaze fixated on the pieces of wood.
Raven kept her neutral expression, the kids titled their heads—nothing's happening.
Kid Flash closed his hand, then reopened it. Then he focused. Nothing.
A bead of sweat formed at the back of his head. Pushing the embarrassment aside, he put on his trademark grin. "Psych! Here's the actual trick."
He seized a stick and rubbed it against another. Fire set on lightspeed.
The boys gasped. Claps erupted. Laura departed to the dining table, and Raven to the counter.
"Don't play with fire, 'kay?" Kid Flash said. He soon told his listeners all his knowledge about fire, what to do, what not to do, how to do it, so on and so forth.
"The show didn't interest you?" Raven asked Laura, who only nodded in response. The titan stared at her for a moment… then shrugged it off, then began searching for something to eat.
By something to eat, she didn't expect to find something so little—she had already swept the whole cabinet—and four cans of food were all she could find. "Let's see…" Peas, carrots, beans, and more beans. "Don't they have any food other than—?"
She's cut short by a sudden whoosh of fire. She whipped around. The three boys surrounded the youngest, mouths hanging wide open, distances far away as possible, as though they discovered that they had a contagious disease of some sort.
Though the flame on the baby's hand, which she barely caught as it disappeared, answered the questions before they were even said.
"Woah .." Kid Flash trailed, then swooped Luis up. "This baby's on fire!"
'A ticking time bomb inside a volatile child. Great,' Raven thought, a sigh escaping her lips.
"Kid Flash… make sure he doesn't burn the whole cabin."
After she received acknowledgement, she continued to prepare their meal. She distributed the food equally on six plates, then called them for dinner.
Kids could be clumsy. And messy. And cleaning their mess was just something you couldn't avoid in babysitting.
Raven was feeding the youngest child when metals clattered against wood—a plateful of food scattered across the floor. One of the twins began crying while the other one started laughing.
"Siblings," she muttered.
Enveloped with dark energy, Raven's plate levitated towards the weeping boy. He stopped as soon as he saw his new meal, and his frown turned upside down in such way that it didn't even look like he cried. He picked up his spoon and engaged in some kind of eating contest with his brother.
Raven brought a damp rag to clean up the mess. After it's all sorted out, she carried on with feeding Luis.
"No num-num?" Luis asked, eyes wide and head tilted to the side.
"Here's your num-num," Raven said and gave him another spoon of beans.
She would never guessed that the kid was actually asking bout her, until there came a rush of air, then a clink. She glanced at the table, a new plate now in sight—and a red glove moving some food from another plate. Luis cooed words such as "Rae" and "num-num".
"Yeah, what he said." It was Kid Flash. "We can share. You need to eat too, ya know?"
Raven looked at him, surprised, yet she replied in her usual tone, "I presume you need a lot to fuel your powers more than I do."
Kid Flash smiled and waved his hand. "Nah, it's fine."
She glanced again at what he gave her: half of his meal. While it's not the first time she had shared a meal with someone, it's not very common. Especially with a person she only met and been with for a couple of days. It's a bit… awkward.
Nevertheless, she expressed her gratitude with a simple "thanks".
"I think he is most of the gentleman," Starfire spoke through the communicator.
Raven had gone outside after dinner, leaving Kid Flash in charge of the kids while she reported the progress of mission to her team, save Robin and Beast Boy who were busy to pick up. She also told them about the speedster's pending membership and, well, due to Starfire and Cyborg's immense curiosity, Kid Flash' doings were also included in her account.
"The guy's pretty cool, but is he at least good at video games?" Cyborg asked.
"Hm. Perhaps," Raven replied.
"He doesn't like tofu, does he?"
"I don't know—"
"He better not be eating tofu."
"Please," Starfire chimed in, "enough of the Kid Flash." She turned to the camera. "Raven, I have seen a mall of shopping during our journey, and I remembered that we have not gone to one these days. I wish to go with you once we get home, and buy hair ornaments and perform braiding manoeuvers upon each other's hair..." There's a hopeful look on her face as she waited for an answer.
"Sorry, Star, but I'm afraid my hair's too short for that." Raven paused, then offered a small smile. Even though it's been only a month since they'd been away from each other, it's been a long time since they'd hung out. She knew that they both missed it.
"How about the painting of toenails?"
Starfire beamed. If it weren't for the roof of the T-car, she would have been flying right now. "Oh joy! I cannot wait!"
"Star, we're almost there."
Starfire nodded at Cyborg. It's time to end the call and prepare for their task. They bid the other titan good-bye, then the connection was cut.
"I knew it."
Raven turned her head at the newcomer. "Knew what?"
"You like to do girly things too. You paint your nails."
"And…I liking 'girly' things is bad?"
Kid Flash shook his head. "No, not at all... Say, what's the thing about Cyborg and tofu?"
"He doesn't like it. And he doesn't want to have someone on Beast Boy's side."
He uttered an elongated "oh".
Raven eyed him, raising a brow as she stated, "You heard the whole thing."
"Maybe… The kids were fast asleep, and I was wondering what you're doing soooo… yeah."
She said nothing.
He took a seat next to her, not minding the way she backed away when he got too close for her liking. "So, your friend thinks I'm a gentleman," he said, grinning cheekily.
"Clever way to pass the membership, isn't it?"
He chuckled. Although it's not like the other ones he did. This one sounded rather forced and hallow. "I can pretend, but I don't want to. I'm capable of being genuine."
Oh, boy. She touched a sore spot there. Hurting his feelings was not her intention. She's merely… knowing, or making sure that his acts towards her were real despite having a feeling that it was. She wanted to apologize, but when she opened her mouth to speak, no words came out.
The atmosphere's begining to thicken, making Kid Flash change the subject before it gets too uncomfortable. "Hey," he said with a smile that covered up the previous hint of emotion, "I think I know what powers those twins have."
Raven could only respond with a nod for him to continue.
"Remember those clone from the Titans East who speak Spanish and have those plus and minus signs?"
"You mean Mas and Menos?"
"Yes, those two. I saw that they get really fast—but not as much as I do—when they're together. Remember earlier that morning when you're tryin—"
He's cut off by the ringing of Raven's communicator. She flipped it open, seeing her leader on screen.
"Raven," Robin said, trying to get his voice louder than Beast Boy's cries behind him.
"Okay, okay! Another horsie, but stop doing that to my hair!" Beast Boy came into view, hair's all but matted. A high-pitched laughter could be heard. He turned into a horse, quite begrudgingly, and hoisted a little kid on his back.
"I see," Raven said, "kids are easy, aren't they?"
The changeling snorted, then left to where the tot wanted him to go.
"Anyway," Robin uttered, "is Kid Flash with you?"
At the mention of his name, Raven had to move back a bit and hold out her communicator farther, since Kid Flash scooted over to get himself on camera. "Hey, Rob! Missed me?"
Robin ignored his question. "Kid Flash, stay there and help Raven. The Brotherhood of Evil seemed to be after children, similar to the ones with you."
"Is that why you have to look after another too?" Raven asked.
"Right. I told the others to look after kids with some sort of… special abilities, if there's any that they could find." He paned the camera to Beast Boy, who was still a horse... that's hovering in the air outside his will.
"We found that girl being chased by evil robots."
"They're getting obsessed with kids, eh? Never thought they'd go for it after what happened," Kid Flash said. "Wonder who of them's gonna take care of it..."
"Must be robots. From the reports I got from Cyborg and Starfire, and from what I've noticed, we're only fighting numerous robots. They seem to be relying on it… We haven't encountered other enemies, have we?"
Raven had to add, "Actually, we had one… with Jinx."
They never knew how loud Beast Boy's sighs were until now. No one spoke, as if Jinx switching sides was too unexpected. She proved herself worthy of being an honorary titan after the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil, but there were small doubts. Like Kid Flash said—Raven's not sure if he was serious or not—Jinx might prefer to rob a store than to watch a city.
Robin cleared his throat. "Alright. I need you to stay alert and keep those kids safe until we figure out what they're planning... The other titans will also be informed."
Raven gave a slight nod. She glanced at Kid Flash, whose lips were pressed into a thin line.
"Oh, and… keep your communicators with you at all times." Robin paused, then gave her a knowing look.
"Raven."
That's enough for her to pick up the message.
The transmission ended. Raven dropped her hand on her lap and stared at the shadows of the forest ahead. Her companion was strangely quiet. For sure he needed to stop talking at times, but the way his mask creased on his forehead and his shoulders tensed indicated that he's bothered with something. The discussion must be the reason why.
Her intuition proved to be right when Kid Flash stood and headed for the door. He pulled the knob, but before he went inside, he said, "She told me to be careful... I don't think she's entirely a bad person."
The door closed with a soft thud.
"I know," Raven mumbled. "The Teen Titans know."
She rose from the stairs and flew over to the trees, blending in with the darkness. When she sensed nobody, she opened her communicator once more.
"Melvin."
Thank you for the likes and follows, especially for the reviews.
I checked the previous chapters again (and edited them) and I was surprised to see the number of errors. My eyes pull tricks on me sometimes when I edit, that's why I have to check more than three times and have to do it after a day or two. Heh. That's why I'm thankful to reviewers.
About the teleport thingy, I had that question (from the show) too. But for this story, there's already a reason as to why she didn't do that. Well, in the next chapters!