Chapter Three: Old Friends, New Enemies

"Raven?" Blackfire's voice echoed in her mind.

With a start, Raven woke up to find herself in the infirmary, Blackfire and the other Titans around her.

"Raven? You okay?" Beast Boy asked, and even in her state, Raven felt his feelings of guilt, no doubt brought on by the fact that he had not been there for her. After all this time, she could read him like a book.

So why did she feel how she did for Blackfire, of all people?

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked again.

"Yes?"

"You spaced out on us for a moment there. Scared me- us a little, you know?"

"Sorry," Raven said, trying to keep the memories of what she saw in the mirror from intruding upon her thoughts.

"Do not be sorry, Raven," Starfire interjected. "Beast Boy was concerned for you, as we all are."

"You should have seen me out there, Raven!" Beast Boy said. "It was great! First, the T-Rex charged at me, and I dodged it, and then I charged at it-"

"After me and Starfire got into the game and started blasting away at it, it crouched down and bent its head." Cyborg interrupted.

"Dude, I was in the middle of telling Raven what had happened!"

"What's there to tell? We shot a few blasts at it and it crouched down and bent its head," Cyborg repeated.

"His head," Robin said. "Apparently Dr. Grant said it was what a male T-Rex would do when confronted with a more powerful rival."

"Dr. Grant?" Raven asked, bewildered.

"Dr. Alan Grant, a palaeontologist; he studies dinosaurs-"

"So you might be saying he was the one responsible?" Blackfire asked, a barely noticeable glow in her eyes.

"No; in fact he was the guy who reported the crime in the first place. The police are still trying to investigate who brought the dinosaur here."

"Good; when they do, I got dibs on the first punch," Beast Boy said, before Blackfire could say anything.

(scene change)

Cassius Wolfe, head of the Wolfe Conglomerate sat in his office, awaiting his project leader's report. A tall, imperious man with Roman features, he had heard over the news what had happened, and he did not like it at all. He had not brought this company up to the top of the Fortune 500 by making public mistakes, and he was not about to suffer that from his employees.

Karl Mannheim stepped into the office. Although officially, he was a mere personal assistant to the only man who managed to rival Bruce Wayne in wealth and personal charisma, in reality, he was the man who headed most of Wolfe's clandestine projects, most of which were, if not illegal, then bending the law to extremes.

"What happened?" Cassius barked out at his adjutant.

"According to our sources in the police force, as well as the last transmissions we received from the ship, it appeared that the amounts of tranquilizer needed to subdue the subject were inadequate, sir."

"Inadequate? Inadequate! Weren't those idiots briefed on what to do?"

"Yes sir; unfortunately, the narcotic properties of the sedatives were apparently not lost on the crew. Our last hidden camera recordings show them discussing the sale of any spare tranquilizers." Clearing his throat, Karl continued, "With all due respect, sir, this might not have happened had we hired trained mercenaries, instead of out-of-work Arulcan soldiers."

"Your suggestion is valid, Karl, but in case you forgot, the cost would have been enough to set alarm bells ringing with the anti-corruption officers investigating us then. Those soldiers were the only mercenaries we could afford."

"Sorry, sir, I had forgotten. Perhaps, perhaps we should have waited until the investigation was over?"

"What, and let the Umbrella Corporation beat us to it? In case you haven't noticed, they are running genetic programs too, Karl! We cannot afford to be left behind! At any rate, this scandal should be enough to keep them all off balance. Speaking of which…?"

"Do not worry, sir, the police would not touch us. Our current funding covers such… expenses, sir."

"Good. Should any police officer prove more troublesome than usual, then come to me. Everyone has a price, and if need be, I'll match it- Wait, what about the New York project?"

"We are still in the preliminary transport stages, sir. It is quite hard to ensure the subject's transportation without anyone noticing. It can be done, but it will take time, sir."

"As long as it gives us a head start over our competitors, Karl. Proceed as you will."

"Yes sir."

(scene change)

"Here you go, Raven, Ben'jessrit Soup! It is a most wonderful cure for aches of the head and mind!" Starfire said, laying down a bowl on the dining table, in which horrible green things seemed to be floating, in a soup an even more horrible shade of yellow.

"They say it also gives you the power to see the future," Blackfire added, slathering mustard all over her slice of pizza.

"Hooray for me," Raven deadpanned, as she stared down at the soup. She had a hesitant spoonful. It tasted surprisingly good.

"So can it?" Beast Boy asked over his tofu steak.

"Can it what?" Blackfire replied.

"Can it give you the power to tell the future?"

"Beast Boy, there are thousands of places all over the Galaxy where games of chance are played, some legal, the others more fun. If the soup did give me the power to see the future, do you think I'd have to steal for a living?"

"I don't know; anyone who eats pizza with pineapple toppings and mustard can be capable of anything."

Over the sound of Blackfire's and Beast Boy's laughter, Raven wished the soup would give her the power to see the future. Good, bad, she didn't really care; it was the uncertainty that really hurt.

She knew she had to act, but how? Suffer in tragic silence? Or maybe she would take a page out of the soppy romantic movies Robin and Starfire watched together late at night when they thought no-one was around, and simply kiss Blackfire?

Tell Blackfire now and then that, yes, she was- she had a strong attraction to her, and that she hoped Blackfire would understand?

She took another spoonful of the soup, trying to think about what to do. She knew, or at least she thought she felt, that Blackfire felt somewhat the same way about her, and that given a chance would return her feelings. In true Raven fashion, she calmed herself, and began silently meditating on her situation.

The true problem lay with her friends, especially Starfire and Beast Boy. There was no question of hiding any relationship that may spring up. Starfire; how would Starfire react to the fact that her sister and her best friend were in a relationship? How would Robin react, given the ties between Starfire and him?

How about Cyborg? How would he react? He and Raven were pretty close, closer perhaps than she and Starfire in some respects, and while she had a hunch that he would not mind one way or another about Raven's romantic preferences, she could not be truly sure about him.

And what about Beast Boy?

How would he react?

Most people thought that simply because Raven was so emotionally detached most of the time, she had very little knowledge about emotion. In reality, she probably knew more about emotion than anyone else; her demonic blood made sure of that, made sure that there was a reason for her emotional detachment.

That was why out of all the Titans, she knew Beast Boy to be the most emotionally volatile.

Starfire was naïve; not stupid, but naïve, and she looked at Earth (and indeed, everything else) with her characteristic childlike innocence. Robin was dedicated, sometimes to the point of fanaticism; his behaviour regarding Slade, and at the Challenge Of Heroes (if Speedy was to be believed) was more than ample proof of this. Cyborg was often easygoing, and of the Titans, perhaps the most worldly-wise; despite his obvious athleticism, Raven saw in him the markings of a teacher. And despite her abrasive exterior and her ruthless, bitter practicality, Blackfire was fast proving to be someone Raven could…feel comfortable with.

That left Beast Boy, the one wild card (no pun intended) among the Titans. On the outside, he was just an annoying little joker; if the Teen Titans were characters on a television show, or even a cartoon, he'd be the comic relief, nothing more. He'd probably have the moped he had always wanted, too.

But beneath that laughing exterior was a man, not a boy, who treated life with a passion, with an intensity that often surprised the other Titans. None of them could have predicted why he acted the way he did after Terra betrayed them. In fact, none of them could have realized how he acted when Terra was around in the first place: long, private walks in the park, going to the movies together; even when all six of them went out, the two of them would often retreat into their own little world. And now, that Terra was gone, both he and Raven had the misfortune of being in a situation where he had transferred his feelings over to the only other girl who had treated him as someone who had mattered more than just a friend. If only he could realize being treated like a lover, and being treated like a favoured brother.

Beast Boy loved, and hated, with all his being.

And though Raven did not show it, it scared her.

She planted her spoon once more in the soup, and was vaguely surprised to find it empty. Absorbed in her thoughts, she had finished her soup. "Wonderful!" Starfire cried. "Do you wish another bowl?"

"No thanks. I'll just sit here and…think."

"If you wish, Raven. Does that mean I can have this extra bowl of soup, then?"

"Knock yourself out."

If such a response, or such a prolonged silence for that matter, had come from another Titan, the rest of them would immediately sense something was wrong. But she was raven, se of the long silences, and dismissive answers. There was something to be said about small mercies.

She watched her fellow Titans, as she had done before, on the day that Blackfire had come. She saw Robin and Cyborg busy scanning through the database looking for any information regarding the dinosaur attack. She saw Blackfire consistently tromping all over Beast Boy at yet another game. She saw Starfire bring over her soup Robin and share it with him, as the setting sun illuminated the horizon. She saw how he held his hand up to his mouth, and rapidly jump up from his seat and dash off to the bathroom, his face almost as green as Beast Boy's.

And then…

She saw herself, on her deathbed, with her friends at her side, yet so alone.

She saw himself going to her grave, never knowing.

She saw… she saw something, and that something was nothing; the nothingness of ignorance, the nothingness of cowardice. They say a coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero but one. She saw herself dying every day she did not, would not allow herself the possibility of being with Blackfire. She would be nothing more than an empty vessel, existing, but not alive.

She saw herself with nothing but the trappings of a family.

She had to do it. She had stayed in her shell long enough. She had to risk this relationship, if only to place her mind at ease, to know what would happen. Wounds heal; even if Cyborg was against it, he would forgive her quickest of all. Starfire and Robin; Starfire would be as almost as quick to forgive her (hopefully) as would Robin, he being so attached to Starfire.

As for Blackfire and Beast Boy, the two who concerned her the most: Beast Boy, would in time, pardon her. It would require a great deal of work, but they had been through too much. And since this train of thought relied on Blackfire accepting her, well then, that point was moot.

Of course, Raven could be utterly wrong about all of them, but that was a risk she was willing to take.

Where had that urge come from? Raven wondered; that urge to take risks, something she would have never have contemplated before. Maybe Blackfire had more of an impact on her than she had thought.

And, that, in itself, was perhaps the most ironically comforting thought of all.

She would tell Blackfire, but in private. Just to see if it even had the faintest chance of working out for the both of them.

"Robin!" Cyborg said over his intercom. "There's a ship requesting permission to land on our roof."

"Tell them to come back later," a very sick-sounding Robin said over the channel. "or ask them if they've got any-urhhh…" There was a further sound of something unidentified splashing.

"No can do, Rob, they're already on a landing vector."

"You guys go up there first, I gotta-urhhh…"

"Come on, guys, you heard the man," Cyborg said. "Let's go up. If this guy's not friendly, at least we'll be ready for him."

"Dude, come on! I'm just about to beat Blackfire!"

Blackfire looked at the screen, where they had been playing Grand Larceny: Mortal Wombat Edition. On the screen it showed Blackfire's score as over two million. Beast Boy's score could be counted on the fingers of a blind butcher's hand.

"Well, I could have."

(scene change)

"Well, Blackfire, you're the Galactic traveller, what is it?" Cyborg asked, gazing up at the ship slowly approaching them.

"It seems to be a typical Traders' Guild scout ship. They normally carry a small amount of trading items to unexplored markets, just to see what kind of stuff the natives would demand. After that, the real traders come along."

"So… we're being visited by intergalactic telemarketers?" Beast Boy asked.

Blackfire shrugged. "I don't think so. For one, the Guild only sends these ships in fleets, so that they can sell different things to natives in various regions. Second, since a fleet of ships coming out of nowhere will of course scare people, they would have long since arranged for global leaders to know about their arrival and to prepare Earth for it."

"But this ship's coming alone?" a slightly ill-looking Robin said as he joined them.

"Yes, and that is very unusual for the Guild."

"Is it armed?" Starfire asked.

Blackfire rolled her eyes. This is the person her father wanted to make ruler? "No Starfire, they are not armed. None of the Guild's ships are. In fact, one of the conditions they have for trading with a planet is if that planet can provide them a military escort."

All in all, Blackfire silently concluded, this ship was a mystery. Hopefully it would all be revealed when the ship landed.

When it did, a hatch at the side of the ship opened, and when the pilot stepped out, Blackfire's heart skipped a beat.

She had much shorter hair than Blackfire had remembered, not even shoulder length, and instead of its flaxen colour, it was now a dark shade of brown, and instead of the soft robes Blackfire had always remembered her in, she wore a typical Trader's Guild jacket uniform, but nothing could ever hide the fact from Blackfire that she was someone other than her.

Pyurit'i.

"Hi Blackfire," she said in her perfect voice, "some of my Centauri contacts told me you were here. Miss me?"