Raven awoke to the sounds of someone softly giggling by her ear, and gentle hands combing through her hair. At first she didn't open her eyes, because it felt good- it reminded her of the kindly nuns in Azarath as they would care for her when she was sick. But then she realized that she wasn't in Azarath, and that she was trapped in a jet with Titan children and a criminal sorcerer. Her eyes flew open and she sat up, staring stupidly at the pink-haired sorcerer who had a grin on her face.

"Awake?" she purred, crossing her arms languidly over her chest.

Raven spluttered sleepily, brushing her tousled hair from her face. "Were you touching my hair!?"

Jinx gave her a cunning smile. "Would you be angry with me if I was?"

"W-why!?" Raven felt her face instantly blush red, for some reason embarrassed. Note to self- last time she fell asleep with Jinx in the same proximity as her. The criminal simply let out a small laugh and shifted in her seat, looking at her fingernails casually.

"Don't get your panties in a knot, Rae-rae, it wasn't me brushing through your demon locks." Jinx gave her another mischievous smile, just as a small green kitten head popped from behind her. A small cat slunk onto Jinx's lap, where it rested, gazing at Raven with large eyes. "Beast Boy here wanted to play with you, but you were asleep. He just wanted to touch that pretty hair, didn't you Beast Boy?"

The cat mewed quietly in response, stretching out his tiny paws. Raven felt her face blush further. "Uh.. you could have woken me up, you know.."

"It was more fun watching little pip-squeak here play with your lavender strands." Jinx laughed as Beast Boy hopped off her lap and into the back, where he curled against a sleeping Cyborg. "I like them better as little kids. Why can't you be like that?"

Raven scoffed as she turned in her seat, putting on the headgear to the jet. "Yeah, that's just a great idea. Why don't I just throw a giant sign in the sky for Slade to find us?"

Jinx snorted and threw her feet up on the dashboard. "Okay, whatever. So are you going to tell me how they got turned into the band of merry babies? And about Slade?"

"How long have the kids been asleep?" Raven asked tonelessly, gripping the steering wheel. "I don't want them to hear any of this."

"Relax, they woke up and played for a bit while you were knocked out in your seat, and then they fell back asleep on each other. They sure like to tell knock knock jokes." Jinx shrugged.

Raven couldn't help but stifle a smile. She was good when it came to jokes. Maybe she could start a joke-telling business after this whole mess blew over. "Okay. They're not that different as kids, you know. They're still the Titans... WE'RE still the Titans."

"Just Titans who can't walk very well and still wear diapers. "Jinx chuckled. "Seriously Raven, what the hell do you think you're doing? I hate you guys, but even I know that this is stupid."

"You don't hate Cyborg." Raven pointed out, feeling a small spark of amusement at the scowl that crossed Jinx's face. But then she sighed. "I know how ridiculous it is. But it was on accident. I don't even know what happened, I was meditating and working on some spells, and then I heard Starfire scream, and the next thing I know I see a bunch of toddlers around in the living room."

"And why do you want me?" Jinx purred.

Raven sighed. "Because you're the only one who can help reverse this spell."

Jinx thought quietly for a minute, just staring out the window and watching the dark clouds roll by. She looked back at the sleeping kids and bit her lip, then looked back out the window. "A spell like that? You're desperate, aren't you?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Raven admitted, clutching the steering wheel tighter. "Besides, you owe me an explanation yourself. Why was HIVE academy empty?"

"Confidential." Jinx said instantly, her eyes still on the clouds.

Raven shook her head and glared at her. "You're going to have to tell me eventually. Besides, you told me that you would."

"I don't keep my promises." Jinx murmured, a sly smile crossing her face. Her pink eyes lazily drifted over to Raven, looking bored. "I thought you knew that."

"And I don't have to keep you here in the jet." Raven said smoothly. "I could easily just throw you out from the side. You can't fly, can you? If you're lucky, you'll fall into the ocean and maybe swim away unscathed, or you'd drown. Either way works with me."

Jinx fiddled with her hands for a minute, her smug grin dropping from her face and a scowl replacing it. She sat back in her seat and muttered, "Fine. You win."

Just for that, Raven did a small victory lap in her mind. Okay, so maybe she wasn't the most emotionally stable Titans in the world, but she sure knew how to negotiate. That would come in handy for later. "So spill, Jinx."

The pink-haired sorceress stared out the window for a long minute, the seconds silently ticking by. It was tense, and every hair on the back of Raven's neck stood up. Finally Jinx heaved a huge sigh and slid her feet off the dashboard, looking at Raven with her large eyes, intensely concentrated. "Look- to be honest, I'm just as clueless right now. If anything was being planned for world domination, I wasn't there. Too many things were happening for me to pay attention."

"What kind of things?" Raven interrupted. Jinx glared at her.

"Personal things." she hissed. "It doesn't matter anyway. The people I thought that were my friends turned out to be giant assholes, and they ditched me the first chance they got. Gizmo was the first one to leave, and after him, everyone else followed. Pretty soon, it was just me battling off drones in the training halls. I spent the last two months being in that school by myself. Everyone ignored me, and I ignored them."

Raven slowly slid off her headgear and switched the jet onto autopilot. "Why were they leaving? Were they leaving HIVE for good?"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Those guys want to be certified villains, grade A badasses. I mean, they're not, but they want to be. I guess I can tell you this; the night before everyone decided ditch that pathetic rut-hole, there was a huge fight between Mammoth and Angel, and boy were they going at it. I thought they were going to kill each other! Mammoth was throwing Angel through walls, and Brother Blood himself had to come in and stop the fight. I got there at the last minute, so I don't know what the fight was about."

"That doesn't explain why Slade is after my team." Raven muttered, taking a glance at her friends. They were fast asleep, just as Jinx had said, quietly snoring and sucking on their tiny thumbs. Beast Boy was still a kitten, curled next to Cyborg's large body. She felt a pang of guiltiness as she looked away.

"Maybe because Slade is a psychopath." Jinx giggled, another sly grin crossing her face.

Raven sighed. "I agree with you there. But the Titan East are gone too, along with your 'friends'. So whatever is going on must be connected."

"If you're coming to me for answers, you're out of luck, because I don't have any." Jinx crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm just here to help the baby superheros."

Raven sat on the edge of the building, trying to meditate but finding it hard to get lost in her mind. The jet was rumbling quietly behind her, the gas tank empty and the motor refusing to go any further without a break. Jinx was busy trying to siphon gas from a nearby car, and the Titan kids were playing with each other behind her. It was rather quiet, despite the small giggles that would erupt every now and then.

She sunk her head into her hands. The more answers she tried to find, the more questions popped up. She still wasn't comfortable with the concept of Jinx being anywhere near her friends. But it was the only lead she had, and the only person around to tell her anything. Everyone else, and literally everyone, had disappeared off the face of the Earth. Some of them were dead. Raven sadly poked at the hard concrete as she remembered Aqualad's dead body in the corner of the Titan Tower.

If what Jinx said was true, then the HIVE academy wasn't doing so well in the first place. There WAS evidence of a fight, but without any of the students.

Raven groaned in frustration and tugged at her cape, wishing that the answers were clearer. If only Robin was in her place instead! He'd know what to do.. anyone would be better than her! Why her? Why?

She knew that Slade was watching them. She had that sinking feeling in her gut that Slade knew exactly where they were, and what they were doing. Hell, he probably knew what she was thinking. The prospect of him lurking in the shadows like a leopard stalking it's prey was terrifying, and she felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

She heard heavy footsteps behind her, and a grunt, followed by a heavy thud. "I got you the gas." a sullen voice said.

"Thanks." Raven said listlessly.

Jinx plopped beside her. "You look like shit."

"I'm aware. Now shut up and watch your mouth. The kids are awake."

"You treat them like babies." Jinx said, stretching out her arms casually. "I know they look like little toddlers, but they still have the attitude of a superhero. It's gross, but I guess it's a good thing for you."

Raven glared at her. "They're innocent little kids. They don't remember a whole lot from their Teen Titan experience."

"Well bummer." Jinx gave her a smile. "So, has Slade made his grand appearance yet?"

Good god. "No, thankfully." Raven turned back to watching the sky, half expecting an airplane to come from nowhere to shoot at them. "He sent me a note in the old Titan tower."

"It could be someone messing with you, you know." Jinx said, her tone serious. "It could be anyone, really."

Raven was about to say something along the lines of, "I guess", but then she heard a small, timid voice from behind her.

"Raben?"

"Yes, Robin?" Raven gave the small Boy Wonder a smile.

Robin fidgeted with his gloved hands. "I.. I wuz wonderin when we cans gets food. I hungry. Wes all hungry."

The other Titans nodded in agreement. Cyborg echoed Robin's words. "Hungry."

"Yes, Raben. " Jinx said, her voice like a small child. "We're hungry."

Raven glared at Jinx, but got to her feet netherless. "Alright guys, lets get some food."

As she ushered everyone back into the jet and poured the gas into the motor, she kept her eyes on the brightening sky. More questions than answers.

Review. :3