A/N: Hey ya'll, I was thinking about the movie Venom, (that I've still yet to actually watch, btw), and I thought, what if that, but RaeJinx? Of course, it's nothing like the movie, (I assume), but rather the general idea that very loosely inspired this fic, so let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: DC owns the titans

I

The sound of platform boots slapping against wet pavement echoed throughout the rain-soaked streets of Gotham, followed several minutes later by multiple sets of much heavier feet. A lone thief tries desperately to escape her pursuers, keeping her hood up in a death-grip to hide her shock of bubblegum hair. The stitch in her side was starting to wear her down; she knew she'd need to find a place to hide soon if she wanted to avoid arrest, or worse: running into the Bat.

Spotting an old looking building that appeared to be devoid of all activity in the late hour, the thief decides to try her luck. The door pulls open easily, and she sends a silent thank you to no one in particular as she slips inside. Lowering her drenched hood, slit-pupiled eyes took in her current surroundings, noting with slight exasperation that she was in a church of some kind, if the pews and raised altar were any indication.

"Ugh, I hate irony." Jinx scoffed. "I'm gonna wring the boys' necks when I find 'em." She takes a quick peek outside through the red glass of the windows to make sure she had made it inside undetected before finally letting herself relax a little. She reached a hand into the inner pocket of her jacket to pull out her prize: an iron chain necklace sporting a large ruby.

"You shouldn't be here." A voice called out from no discernible direction, startling Jinx out of her reverie. Pocketing the gem once again, the meta calls her power to the surface, ready to fight if needed. She might have thought it really was Batman if not for the fact that the voice was decidedly female.

"Who's there?!"

"Behind you." Jinx spun around, ready to dish out some bad luck to whoever thought they could sneak up on her, but she stopped cold at the sight that greeted her.

Six glowing red eyes were narrowed in focus on Jinx, sitting above an inhuman mouth filled with two rows of teeth that promised much pain should they get a hold of you; or rather, sitting below, in this case, as their owner was floating upside-down. No other features could be made out as the rest of the face was obscured by the shadows of a hooded black cloak.

The girl, at least Jinx assumed it was the girl that spoke, disappeared into shadow, and Jinx spun around again, this time anticipating where she would be.

"Who are you?" Jinx asked, not letting her guard down. The girl slowly started circling her, appearing to glide over the floor as she eyed the meta with interest.

"I could ask the same of you." It was definitely her, Jinx confirmed, though she thought a teenaged girl's voice seemed out of place on this being that gave off an almost otherworldly feel.

"Alright, tit-for-tat?" Jinx proposed, receiving a nod. "I'm Jinx."

"Raven." The girl said flatly. "What are you doing here?"

"Evading arrest." Jinx didn't hesitate. This girl didn't exactly strike her as the hero type, and in Gotham, if they weren't on one side, it was almost a guarantee they were on the other. "What about you; you live in the bell tower or something?"

"Or something." Raven answered. She lowered herself to the floor, which made Jinx realize she in fact had been floating the entire time. She also realized that Raven was apparently shorter than her, which she thought was pretty amusing, considering how intimidating this girl was.

"I believe they're here for you." Raven nodded to the windows, which now displayed the unmistakable flashing lights of police vehicles.

"Is there another way out of here?" Jinx asked quickly.

Raven shook her head. "Those doors are the only exit, I'm afraid."

A thought struck Jinx. "What about you? You can teleport, right? Can you get me out of here?"

Another negative. "I'm bound to this place." Raven was silent for a moment before smiling again. "However, if I were to be bound to something, or someone, else, such as a nearby chaos mage who happened to stumble upon this place while running from the authorities, I would hypothetically be able to override the spell and hide my aura within theirs and leave, taking them with me."

"Bound?" Jinx questioned. "What, you mean like a familiar?"

"Something to that effect, minus the servant and master roles." Raven clapped her hands together, saying a few words Jinx couldn't understand. Black flames ignited at her fingertips as she pulled her hands apart. A red sheet of parchment floated between her palms, covered in black writing that was difficult to make out in the unlit church.

"This is a standard binding contract." Raven explained. "It basically entails that you agree to hide me, and in return I protect you from those that seek to harm you."

"I don't know." Jinx hesitated. "I mean we literally just met and I-" The sound of boots coming up to the church doors cut her off.

"On second thought, let's do this." More cops were gathering at the entrance, and Jinx wasn't eager to face down the weapons supplied to the police force by the DMA. "What do I sign with?"

"It's blood magic." Raven stated as if it were obvious.

"Of course it is." Jinx sighed.

"Give me your hand." Jinx complied, but nearly pulled back as her hand was dragged up to the razor pit that was Raven's mouth. She almost didn't feel the break in her skin and had to force herself to keep watching as her thumb was punctured.

Jinx wasted no time in rubbing her wounded digit along the contract, sealing the binding and sending the parchment up in flames.

"It's done." Raven said.

"Great, now let's get the fuck outta here." Jinx hurried her. Raven nodded in acknowledgement and wrapped part of her cloak around Jinx, calling up a bubble of dark energy that would lead both girls to freedom. As well as leave ten Gotham police officers in a state of confusion on finding only an empty building.


"Sorry." Raven stood over Jinx as she emptied her stomach onto the grass. "I would have said something, but this was my first time teleporting with another person, and I felt there was insufficient time for warning."

Jinx waved her hand at Raven once halfheartedly. "It's fine, I'm fine. Just… let's not take that route for a little while."

"It'll get easier the more you do it." Raven tried to console her.

"Not looking forward to that." Jinx muttered. "Where did you bring us?"

"Bludhaven. This is where your team is expected to rendezvous, yes?" Raven confirmed.

"Yeah. How did you know that?" Jinx asked suspiciously as she stood up. "And how did you know I use chaos magic?"

"I searched your most recent memories when you came into the church to assess your threat level. It was negligible."

"What?" Jinx cried indignantly. "I am so a threat; I'm a dangerous criminal about to be admitted into a world class mercenary training academy. And stay out of my head."

"If you say so."

"Actually, that reminds me…" Jinx stopped arguing further in favour of pulling out her Junior HIVE communicator, scowling at the cartoonish picture of a bee on the top of the device. She dialed the number she wanted and waited for a response.

"Jinx, what a lovely surprise. I almost thought you were going to miss your window." A man in his late forties sat behind a desk on screen. "Where are your teammates?"

"Back at the base." Jinx lied. Well, technically, it was a half-lie, as that's where they were supposed to go; whether they had gotten there by now didn't matter to her. "I figured it would be easier to call you if they couldn't disturb us. You know how much of a handful Mike and Baran can be."

"True enough, I suppose." The man agreed. "I assume you achieved your mission?"

Jinx once again pulled out the necklace, dangling it in front of the screen. "Yup, got it right here."

The man squinted, studying the item. "Excellent work, Jinx; that's a pass for your team. I'll have your paperwork sent through, and the three of you will be expected at HIVE Academy for orientation on Monday. A plane will be waiting for you at GCI the night before."

"Thank you, Professor Stikk." Jinx said calmly before ending the call. "Yes!" She fist pumped once.

"You're awfully excited for someone who was so sure this was going to happen anyway." Raven commented.

"Shut it, you." Jinx told her playfully before she realized something. "Crap! What am I gonna tell the guys? What am I gonna tell HIVE? They don't know about you, and I can't just bring some random guest with me."

Raven shrugged. "Just tell them I'm your familiar, like we said earlier." She reminded Jinx.

"That could work." Jinx conceded. "Can you change into some kind of animal?"

Raven nodded and condensed into solid darkness as she shrunk down. A small black bird stood in her place, staring at Jinx through four red eyes as it let out a horrifying caw from both of its razor filled beaks.

"Creepy." Jinx commented after Raven changed back. "I love it." Raven smirked.

"So, what now?"

"Now," Jinx said, "we go to the base and introduce you to my teammates." Raven held out an arm, as if inviting her for another bout of teleportation. "Nuh uh. We're walking."

"I was merely offering to fly you there." Raven corrected. "But if you'd really rather go on foot…"

"Fine." Jinx accepted. "But go easy; I got nothin' left to puke up, and I hate dry-heaving."


The team's "base" was much less a place fit for criminal operations, and more of a temporary apartment. Gizmo and Mammoth were playing a video game on the couch when the girls walked in.

"What happened back there?" Jinx asked accusingly. "You guys basically fucked off west and left me on my own."

"Cops were punctual for once and we had to- AAAGH! What the hell is that?!" Gizmo flopped over the back of the couch, pointing a finger at Raven who was floating a head above Jinx, while Mammoth sat frozen in fear at the sight.

"That's Raven. She's my… familiar, basically an assistant for magic stuff; she'll be going with us to HIVE, which, by the way, we'll be starting at on Monday."

"Sweet." Mammoth said, having gotten over his shock. "Does she… talk, or anything?"

"Yes, I can speak." Raven answered, surprising the boys with a relatively normal voice. "Do you have anything to eat?" The question was directed at Jinx.

"Should be something in the fridge." Jinx extended a thumb toward a door off to the left. Raven floated silently to her destination.

"Jesus, Jinx, where'd you find this chick, Demons R Us?" Gizmo asked lowly when he thought she was out of earshot.

"Shut up, she actually got my ass away from the cops, unlike you two." She reprimanded him.

"He's not far off, actually." Raven startled the three of them. "Demon would be the most appropriate term. Hell is boring, but my father wasn't fond of the idea of me socializing with mortals other than his cult members; he believes them beneath me."

"Uh, good to know." Jinx noticed something coated in black floating behind her. "Whatcha got there?"

"Steak." Raven said. Taking a seat on a nearby chair and pulling an end table to her, Jinx noticed a couple of things. First, now that they were under actual light, she could see that Raven's skin was a brilliant scarlet just a shade paler than her eyes, covered in ornate black rune tattoos. The other thing Jinx noticed was that the three steaks, while steaming, were completely raw.

"I see you prefer it on the rare side."

"Cooked meat doesn't agree with me." Raven told them seriously. "Gets rid of all the nutrients in the blood." The way Raven's voice just barely changed and hovered on the word blood mildly disturbed her hosts, and seeing the way her teeth tore into her food did nothing to dispel the feeling. She paused after a few bites as if struck by a thought, and raised her short-taloned fingers to her hood. The room's other occupants looked on in fascination as she revealed her face to them.

"Well that's… underwhelming." Jinx noted aloud. Aside from the eyes, Raven had a fairly normal, albeit pretty, face framed by bone white hair that went down behind her into the cloak.

"You were expecting a monster?" Raven smirked.

"Sort of?" Mammoth admitted, voicing all their thoughts.

"I can do that, too, if you'd like to see."

"I think we'll pass." Jinx said. "No need to go giving everyone nightmares."

Raven shrugged again. "Suit yourself. Are there any sort of books here?"

"No, but isn't it kind of late to be reading, anyway?" Jinx looked at her watch, noting that it was after one o'clock in the morning. "Speaking of which, we need to figure out where you're gonna sleep tonight and tomorrow."

"Unnecessary." Raven interrupted Jinx's musings. "My body doesn't require sleep except after severe injury."

"Convenient." Jinx deadpanned. "So, what are you gonna do all night?" Raven shrugged once again. "Wait here, I've got an idea." She quickly ran to a room at the end of a hallway, coming back a few seconds later carrying a device Raven didn't recognize, and handed it to the demoness.

"And this would be?"

"You can use it to listen to music." Jinx explained, showing her the different functions of the mp3 player. "You can sort by album, artist, song, etc. Should be better than sitting in boredom for hours."

"I, appreciate this." Raven thanked her.

"We're gonna need to get you a phone at some point, too." Jinx said. "But I'm guessing you don't know what that is either?"

"Afraid not." Raven affirmed.

"Eh, it's not important right now, I guess. If you're good I'm going to bed; you two:" She addressed her teammates. "Don't annoy her." She pointed to their newest addition.

"Wasn't plannin' to." Mammoth said. "I was gonna head to bed, myself, anyway." Gizmo gave a huff and followed their lead, leaving Raven to her own devices in the living room.


Jinx awoke the next morning to the sight of Raven floating at the foot of her bed, three pairs of glowing eyes focused on her from under her once again lifted hood.

"You know, keep staring like that, someone's likely to think you're stalking me." Jinx teased.

"Well, I wouldn't be a very good bodyguard if I didn't keep an eye or three on you."

"Hey, is it ever disorienting having all them peepers? Seems like it could cause a headache."

"It might for a human." Raven proposed. "I was born this way, so I've never known anything different."

"Well, as long as they don't follow me into the bathroom, it doesn't really matter to me." Jinx said as she grabbed an outfit to go take a shower.

Thirty minutes later, Jinx came out into the living room feeling much better after not having taken a shower the previous night due to exhaustion.

It was an odd scene she'd walked in on: Gizmo was teaching Raven how to play their game, and Raven was learning exceptionally quickly, going by their respective scores.

Jinx cleared her throat. "So, we've got the day off. What do you guys wanna do?"

"Nothin' to do in this crudmunchin' town." Gizmo pointed out, ever-present scowl fixed in place. "But anything's better'n gettin' beat by your cheatin' girlfriend."

"How could she be cheating?" Jinx questioned. "She doesn't even know what a cell phone is. And she's not my girlfriend, she's just hiding from her dad."

"Whatever."

"Anyway, we don't have to stay in this shithole city. There's plenty to do in Gotham."

"Is that a good idea, Jinx?" Mammoth asked. "I mean we did just rob a museum there last night."

"Yeah, but they never saw what we looked like." Jinx countered. "We'll be fine if we don't do anything overly suspicious."

"Yes, because three metahumans and a demon roaming the streets won't draw any attention." Raven deadpanned.

"Fair point." Jinx admitted. "Can you disguise yourself?"

"Yes." Raven shrouded herself in shadow, and when she dispelled it, she was left looking much more human, aside from a pallor to nearly match Jinx's own. Her hair was black, and her eyes, numbering just two, were dark blue, and her teeth were no longer nightmare inducing. Her cloak was replaced with a hoodie and a pair of shorts, both as dark as the energy she manipulated.


"I'm gonna kill both of you." Gizmo threatened the two girls in their group before leaning his face back over the trash can to vomit once more. Mammoth was sat down against a wall trying to avoid a similar fate, while Jinx tried, and failed, to suppress her laughter at the two of them.

Moments later, they all exited the alley they had teleported into, Jinx and Raven looking in good spirits, and then just Raven when they realized just where they'd ended up.

Just across the street, cops were swarmed around the very same museum Jinx's team had robbed the night before. That in itself wouldn't have been cause for worry, but the police had an unexpected guest apparently helping their investigation, someone known throughout the hero/villain community almost as well as the Bat himself.

"Who is that?" Raven asked to no one in particular. "His emotions and mental state are… unusual."

"That's Robin." Jinx answered. "He's a vigilante, and someone you definitely want to avoid if you're hanging with our type."

"What do you mean by an 'unusual' mental state?" Mammoth asked.

"Well guarded, hyper-inquisitive, and paranoid about… well, everything."

"Yeah, that's Robin to a T." Gizmo snickered. "Now let's beat it before birdbrain spots us."

"Too late." Raven nodded in the direction of the museum, and the others just noticed Robin walking over to them.

"Excuse me." He called to them. Jinx self-consciously fidgeted with the edges of her own hood, making sure it wouldn't come off unexpectedly. "Do you four know anything about the robbery last night?"

"What's that s'posed to mean?! You accusin' us or somethin'?" Gizmo asked defensively.

"Not at all. But a well-informed citizen can sometimes be a better resource than any official." Robin's body language suggested non-threatening, but the other teens knew he could switch that on a dime.

"In any case," Jinx prevented further escalation from her hot-headed teammate, "we weren't even in the city last night; just got here this morning."

"Understood. You have a nice day." To Jinx, Gizmo, and Mammoth, that seemed to be the end of it as he walked back to the museum, but what went unnoticed by them did not escape Raven's impressive sensitivities.

"He suspects you."

"Well he can't prove shit." Jinx said adamantly. "Now let's go somewhere that isn't likely to give me an anxiety attack."


"That movie sucked, Jinx." Gizmo said annoyed. Their small group strolled along the darkened streets of Gotham. The theatre had just finished its last film of the night, and they were all ready to head back to the apartment for the night.

"Oh, stuff it; I never said it was guaranteed it would be good, I just said it looked interesting." Jinx defended. "Hey Rae, can you take us back?"

"We're being watched. I'll take care of this." The demoness disappeared without warning, presumably to go after their spy.

"Oh shit." Jinx looked a bit panicked. "I'm gonna go make sure she doesn't actually kill him."

"What do you think you're doing?" Robin turned at a speed near the upper limits of human capability, bo staff at the ready, but saw only shadows.

"Who's there?" He called into the darkness.

"Who I am is irrelevant; what matters is that you're a threat, and you need to be eliminated." He froze at her words, but not through fear; his limbs were encased in black, his weapon disintegrated before his eyes. He redoubled his efforts to escape, but whatever this was, was far above even his significant ability.

The next moment really did have him rigid in fear as he saw just what he was up against. A figure rose up out of the floor, towering over him at a height of more than ten feet, she seemed to radiate pure terror and darkness as she glided toward him, obsidian tendrils slinking around his torso.

The thought that death was imminent was nothing new to the boy wonder, but never had it been so concrete as it was when the monster leaned in, stopping with her face just inches away from his own.

"You should have learned your place sooner, foolish mortal boy." She coated a clawed fist in shadow and plunged it into his chest. There was no pain, but an icy feeling started spreading, getting worse as she slowly retracted her arm. Pinched between her thumb and index finger was a trail of white light leading back into Robin, whose vision was slowly getting darker as the light was pulled farther.

"Raven! Stop!" And she did, at least to look at the one who called to her. Even in his current state, Robin recognized her as one of the teens he had questioned earlier. The monster looked between the two of them a few times before reluctantly dropping her would-be victim to the floor, where he lay gasping as his vision returned to normal.

"Raven, I appreciate the sentiment, but you can't just murder everyone that irritates you." Jinx admonished her.

"He would have presented a problem if left to his own devices." Raven argued. "I was cutting the problem at the root."

"Okay, I can see we're going to need to have a serious talk about what you protecting me means." Jinx pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Look, can you just, erase his memories of this, or something?"

"Very well." Raven looked intently at Robin for several seconds, not breaking eye contact until he'd passed out. "He won't remember who we are, but he will remember the lesson he learned tonight."

"Ya' know what, I'll take it." Jinx sighed again. "Let's just get the guys and head back; I need a shower and a bed." Raven nodded and transported them back to Gizmo and Mammoth, and taking all of them to their temporary residence.


"So where's this stinkin' plane at?" Gizmo asked impatiently. They were all waiting at Gotham City International Airport, trying to spot the flight that would take them to the next step on their chosen career path.

"Relax, it's still early." Jinx chided him. Absently she rubbed the feathers of the bird on her shoulder. They had all agreed that it would be better if Raven stayed in the form of her namesake until they were officially inside HIVE Academy.

"Actually, I think that's it over there." Mammoth indicated a private jet, decked out in black and gold, with a large H painted on the side.

"Yep, that'd be it." Jinx said happily as they made their way over to the aircraft. She flashed her communicator at the man waiting by the steps of the plane, and he immediately moved to take their bags. He eyed Raven nervously, as if expecting the bird to attack him, but kept his mouth shut.

'A valid concern, I suppose.' Jinx thought. She had spent much of the day so far setting boundaries for Raven, making sure she wouldn't kill anyone, or consume anyone's soul, as she'd learned that was what Raven had intended for poor Robin before Jinx had intervened, for looking at Jinx the wrong way.

They got settled into their seats, Mammoth smiling widely because for once, he hadn't had to adjust himself at all to fit through the door. The anticipation of what the future held for the teens was palpable, and even Raven seemed excited, or as excited as a demonic bird could seem.

'It's only gonna go uphill from here.'


A/N: I'm still working on my main fic, btw, but I need something on the side to keep me from getting burnt out.