Chapter one: The Beginning

Jinx thought she was going to die. As she was thrown into the concrete wall for the tenth time, the young sorceress wondered vaguely if anyone would come to her funeral, no, no one would. She lay on her side on the ground, too weak to even move when an iron clad boot smashed into her ribs, cracking bone. Jinx screamed, but it only aggravated her attacker more.

"Have you learned your lesson yet!". He yelled, his voice harsh and loud in her ears.

"Have you!"

Jinx tried to answer, but the only sound that escaped her lips were little whimpers of pain.

Her whole body was on fire with it. He'd broken her arm, and several ribs now too. Her pink hair was smeared with the blood that had flowed when he slammed her head into the wall. The half- healed wound on her arm had opened up again and was bleeding profusely. She started to crawl away, to escape this nightmare, but his hand clamped down on her shoulder and yanked her back up. He turned her around so she was facing him. He leaned in close, so she could smell his sour breath, and whispered.

"Have you?'

Jinx's mouth was full of blood, but somehow she managed to croak out two words.

"Yes, Headmaster."

"Good"

He dropped her, and left, so casual about it that no one would guess that he had just beaten a teenage girl. Jinx lay sprawled on the floor like a child's discarded toy, bloodied and broken.

She didn't know how she managed to get up, let alone stagger all the way up the long hallway to her room. Jinx couldn't remember ever being in so much pain. The new headmaster of the HIVE was cruel, but he had never hurt her so much before. He liked to spar with his "most promising" students individually. No powers allowed. He said they would never become good fighters if they relied on abilities. He said a lot of things, Jinx didn't believe that they were all true. She fell against her door, panting heavily in pain and exhaustion. The pink-haired girl turned the knob and stumbled in.

Jinx collapsed on her bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes or even to pull the covers up. Her head gave a particularly painful throb and she gasped aloud, sitting straight up, which just aggrieved her injured arm. The pink-haired girl let out a little whimper like a hurt animal and felt her eyes well up with tears against the pain. Jinx fell back on her pillow and passed almost instantly into unconsciousness.

"You're dead, girl"

Cyborg said in triumph as he moved his king across the chessboard.

"I beg to differ" Raven said calmly, picking up her bishop and casually capturing Cyborg's king. The cybernetic teen's jaw practically hit the table in shock. The empath gave a little smirk.

"Try watching my pieces as well as yours next time." Without another word the dark girl got up from the table and slid away to her room. It was sweet that he was still willing to play with her, even though she won every time. It gave them a chance to actually talk without the others interrupting. Cyborg was the big brother of the team, he made it his job to spend his time with everyone. After he got over losing at chess again, he'd probably go play video games with BB, or train with Robin. If Cyborg was the friendly brother, than Robin was the slightly aggravating brother with an ego the size of Kansas. Beastboy was that annoying boy next-door, who was always popping up to disturb the peace. That made Starfire the happy-go-lucky friend who you have nothing in common with, but you somehow can't not be friends with.

Raven pushed a button on the wall and the door slid open. Raven silently slipped inside and closed it behind her. And what did that make her? The girl who locked herself in her dark room at every opportunity she got? The quiet big sister that is annoyed by her "siblings?" It was so much harder to analyze yourself then other people. So hard to see what her place and purpose on this team was.

The empath looked through her shelves, trying to find a book to read. Her pale hand traced slowly across their spines. Then she felt something…soft. Raven pulled it out and brushed the dust off. A stuffed bird, black as midnight. Azar had given it to her as a little girl, and it was one of the few things that remained of her early childhood. Raven set it back down. Crossing the room, she laid down on her bed, staring at the ceiling.

Sometimes she wished there was another person on the team, then her analyzing wouldn't come to her quite as quickly. But the Titans had learned their lesson in that area. They'd all put "the Terra incident" behind them, even Beastboy. She wasn't in any of their pictures, her name was never mentioned, it was like she had never been there at all.

Raven turned on her side. On her bedside table sat a photo. She wasn't sure when it was taken, or even how it had ended up in her possession. But she loved that picture. No one was posing, no one seemed fake.

Robin stood on the, side smiling lightly, his masked gaze not quite on the camera. No dramatic poses or any "I'm the leader" looks. Starfire stood next to him grinning, but looking slightly confused, it was probably one of the first times she had seen a camera. Cyborg towered above them all. His head was turned halfway to look at Starfire, a huge smile on his face at her odd expression. A moment of amusement caught forever in time. Beastboy was glancing to his left, his mouth slightly open, as if he was asking a question. The last one in the line was Raven herself. It was her expression that was one of the most interesting though. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't appear annoyed either, like she often did in pictures. She was looking at the camera, just looking. Her mouth wasn't curled up in a grin, or anything of the sort, but when you looked at her eyes, she was the same as all the others in the picture, she was happy.

Raven lay in silence. Suddenly, a scream ripped through her brain, images of blood flashed before her eyes. The pain, there was so much pain. Raven was on the floor before the vision left her.

End Chapter