Gotham City Concerto
A Teen Titans Fanfiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening notes: So you know how I said that these chapters would be shorter than the previous two stories?
I lied.
This one is just over 12,000 words, so enjoy the fluff, the action, the humor, the drama, and the sex. Yes, I got it all in one chapter. It kind of jumps around, and huge chunks of time are missing, but that's for a reason. Oh yeah! Before I forget, check out my Live Journal account (linked to my homepage in my bio on this site) and read through the past few entries. I've put up a thread asking for you guys to give me your favorite quotes from this series, and I'll be putting up another one with bonus questions for another cameo appearence! Did everyone catch Josh in the last chapter? That was his. :)
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans, but neither do you, so ha!
Chapter Two: Home Life
The first thing she saw as she woke up was the light. Squinting against it, she slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and yawning.
At first she was disoriented. She wasn't in her bed, and Jason was no where to be seen. But then who was sleeping next to her?
Raven shook her head and found her center. Looking around, much more awake now, she saw that she was Kylee's room again, and the little girl was sleeping next to her. Memory flooded back, and she remembered the night before.
It had been a particularly bad nightmare this time, and Kylee had cried for hours afterwards. She had cried and cried and called for her Mother, and all Raven could do was send calming emotions to her foster child and hold her. The dark haired psion didn't fool herself into thinking she could replace Kylee's parents; she just wanted to fill in for them until the girl was old enough to take care of herself.
Raven sighed as she looked down at the still sleeping child. It wasn't easy, that was for sure. Deciding to let her sleep for a while longer, Raven gently floated up and away from the bed, and out the door. Closing it softly, she turned around and ran lips first into Jason as he walked down the hall.
She melted into him, deepening the kiss as he gripped her around the waist and pushed her into the wall. She lifted one leg and wrapped it around his waist as his hands ran up her sides and grabbed at her backside. She moaned softly into his mouth and felt him grin back into hers.
"I missed you last night..." he murmured.
"I know... I missed you too, but Kylee..." she sighed and leaned her head against his chest, "I think the nightmares are getting worse, not better."
"Is there any way to help her? Go into her mind and abolish the fear?"
"I can't just do a psychic quick fix here Jason... she needs to over come this on her own."
"But she's so... timid. I've been trying to open her up a bit, but it's hard when she's so withdrawn."
"I know. I know." Raven hugged him tighter, "I'm not giving up though."
He scoffed, "Of course not. We're the Titans. We never loose."
"Yeah." Raven sighed again and squeezed him one last time, "Teen Titans, go!" she muttered.
Laughing, they walked down the hall and out into the living room. Raven walked into the kitchen and Jason admired her lean form from behind. She was clad only in a white tank top and gray sleeping shorts, her hair still mused from sleeping in a twin bed with a twelve year old. She yawned and stretched as she gathered the food for his lunch.
Smiling, Jason bent down and began putting on his boots, "I'll be home a little early tonight... do you work today?"
"Yeah." Raven nodded, "I'll be home by 6:00 though."
"Oh, good. Jason smiled, "I was thinking we could go out tonight."
"What'll we do with Kylee?"
"I keep telling you, Rae, she's not a china doll. She can take care of herself."
"Still, I worry-"
"We can have Jen or Tara look after her."
"Tara works tonight too."
"How do you keep everyone's schedules straight in your head?" Jason shook his own and laughed a little.
"The same way I used to remember criminal profiles and Robin's training schedules." she leaned out around the counter top in the kitchen and arched an eyebrow at him, "With by brain."
"So Jenny or Gar can look after her. Or hey, Vic's not doing anything tonight is he?"
"She does like Sarah's cooking better than mine..." Raven smiled a little.
"The only person I know who cooks worse than you is Gar, Rae." Jason grinned back.
"Not true." Raven shook her head, "Tara can't cook to save her life. When Jenny's not cooking over there, they're ordering take out."
"So tonight at 6:30 we paint the town read, eh?" Jason stood up and walked over to her. She handed him his lunch and wrapped an arm around his waist.
"Sure." she leaned up and kissed him once more, "Have a good day at work, Baby."
"You too. Bye!" and he was out the door and gone.
Raven sighed and stretched once more. She looked up and grinned.
If Kylee was going to sleep in, she could get some meditation in before she had to start getting ready for work.
Gar pried his eyes open and stared straight ahead. His blurry vision cleared after a moment, and the pink blob went away, only to be replaced by a grinning Jenny face.
"Um... morning." he said, "What are you doing in my bed?"
"Who says we're in your bed?" she grinned wider.
"Well, it smells like my bed..." he noted her bare shoulders, "Are you naked?"
"Only as naked as I am." Gar rolled over and saw Tara there, also clutching sheets to her chest, bare shoulders revealed.
"Holy shit... I wasn't like... drunk or something last night was I?" Gar sat up and looked back and forth between them for a moment.
The two girls both giggled, then burst out laughing. They sat up, revealing that they were both wearing tube tops and leaned in to him. As they each kissed his cheeks, they giggled again.
"We just wanted to give you a good wake up call." Tara sing-songed as she jumped out of the bed.
"And we also wanted to see just how hard up you are." Jenny reached under the sheets and felt around for a moment, "Um... yup. Hard up."
"Really?" Tara sat back down and reached under the sheets as well, "Wow! You're right!"
Gar had gone cross eyed, "You two better cut that out, or you wont be leaving this room with your clothes on."
They pulled their hands back and giggled again, "Maybe someday soon, Lover, but for now, neither one of us is going to sleep with you."
"Why did we decide this again?" Gar moaned as he kicked his legs out of bed and started for the bathroom.
"Because we aren't sure where your heart lies." Tara pointed out, "Which one of us do you love?"
Gar looked back at them, still blurry eyed and yawned. After a moment, he shrugged, "Can't I just love both of you?" and he turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.
"Man's got a point." Jenny winked at Tara.
"I like you Jen, but I don't know if I can share a bed with you."
"You just say that because you're worried that I'd hog all of Gar's... erm... attention."
"I say that because I'm not half lesbian like you, and I know what a horn ball you are." Tara rolled her eyes and yawned, "I had a long night last night. I'm hitting the sack."
"Want me to get you up before I go to work?"
"Naw, let me sleep." Tara shrugged, "I'll be fine getting up on my own, thank you."
"Right right." Jinx stood up, "Well, I'm going to go for a run. See you later, rommie."
"Yeah. Later." Tara waved with a smile as Jinx dashed off to her room to put on running clothes.
Only then did she frown and run a hand across the sheets where Gar Logan had laid just moments before.
Victor whistled a merry tune as he adjusted his tie in the bathroom mirror. The suit he wore was a nice charcoal gray, and it was huge. It had to be massive enough to cover his large frame, and durable enough to withstand the rubbing of his metallic joints.
Stepping out of the bathroom, he walked across the living room and over to the kitchen. Sarah, wearing a fluffy white bathrobe and a green hair tie to hold back her long wet hair, stepped out of the cooking area and handed him a breakfast sandwich. Leaning up and kissing his cheek, she grinned.
"Go on now, you're late. Have fun, help people, climb corporate ladder-"
"Bring home the bacon..." Victor cut her off with a grin, "I know Baby. Love you too."
She stuck out her tongue, "Beat it before I decide to add you to the recyclables."
He kissed the top of her head and walked to the door. Shoving the whole sandwich into his mouth, he waved, "Oodbye!"
Sarah laughed and waved, then set about getting her own breakfast ready. She had a test later, and she didn't test well on an empty stomach.
Raven swam out of the depths of deep meditation and into the brightly lit living room of her apartment. She sighed in a contented sort of way as she looked about from where she floated in mid-air.
The only addition to the room since she had started meditating was Kylee. She had sensed the younger girls presence some time ago, but hadn't been disturbed by it, so she had continued without breaking her concentration. She was amused to see her foster child sitting on the floor near by, her legs folded under her and her hands out in a fair imitation of Raven's meditation posture.
"Kylee," she chuckled, "what are you doing?"
"Um..." Kylee opened one large, chocholate brown eye, "Trying to meditate?" she opened her other eye and gazed up at Raven with worry etched on her face. She stumbled over words trying to explain herself, "It helps you stay so focused, and confident, and... I don't know... brave I guess. Nothing flusters you, ever... I just wanted to be a little bit more like that."
"Kylee, honey..." Raven floated down so that she too sat on the floor, directly across from the child, "It takes a lot of practice to really be able to meditate. It takes even longer for it really start helping you."
"Oh." Kylee cast her eyes down to the floor, "I guess I'll just-"
"I didn't say I wasn't going to teach you." Raven reached out and shoved the younger girl in the shoulder, knocking her over.
"Hey!" Kylee sounded peeved as she tried to right herself, "What was that for?"
"Because you're sitting all wrong. Here, fold you legs like mine..."
It another half hour Kylee was sitting how Raven wanted, her posture corrected. She looked up at her care giver with a slight smile, "You have to go to work soon."
"I know." Raven smiled back, "We'll start tomorrow with breathing technique." she stood up and helped Kylee to her feet as well, "You know..." she started slowly, "if you really want to learn to be more confident and out-going, I'm sure Jason or Jenny would be happy to start teaching you some self defense."
"Really?" Kylee sounded unsure, "I don't know... I've never been very athletic, and Jenny is really good. I've seen her do some slow kind of kung-fu before, and it looked... really amazing."
"That was tai-chi. Most of us know it because of..." she trailed off and looked away. After a few beats of silence she started for the shower, "Because Robin taught us. I have to start getting ready."
Kylee stared after her for several minutes, then sighed. She walked down the hall to her bed room, where she would change and get ready to go to Canary Booksellers.
Jenny had been growing her hair out since the Titan's had been disbanded. It was a kind of unofficial pact she had made with Raven over a sushi dinner.
"My hair was long once." Raven said, playing with a strand of it, "but I chopped it off to keep it out of my face while I was fighting."
"Ditto." Jenny flicked a strand of her own straight, pink hair out of her face, "Mine looks okay up in the points though, so I kept it a little longer than yours."
"Yeah." Raven paused for a moment, still playing with her hair, "I think I'm going to grow it out a little bit."
"I was going to try to get mine to the length it was before I joined the HIVE." Jinx replied.
"How long was that?"
"Oh, it was past my butt."
"Must have broke your heart to cut it all off."
"Well, now we have the time to grow it out again, don't we?"
"Sure do." Raven winked, "Bet mine grows faster."
"You're on."
Raven had been wrong. Jenny's hair was growing unusually fast, and when she had it down, it reached the middle of her back. She had been lazy for the past week or two, so the roots were really showing; stark black against the bright pink she usually dyed it.
As she walked down the hall way of the apartment she shared with Gar and Tara, she passed the other girl' room. Pausing as she tied her hair back in a long pony tail with a strap of leather, she looked through the open door.
Tara stood in front of her full length mirror, shirtless and barefoot. The short khaki shorts she wore rode up on her shapely legs, revealing inch after inch of flawlessly tanned skin. She was standing with he back to Jenny, looking at her own profile.
"Can't sleep?" the pink haired girl asked.
"No, not really." Tara turned around and looked at her other side, "They're just... not there, are they?"
"Nope." Jenny stepped into the room and stripped off her own shirt. Standing in front of the mirror as well, she looked at her own chest and compared it to Tara's, "Man, even I have bigger boobs than you."
"I think yours are getting bigger." Tara replied glumly.
"I think you're right. Must be a late growth spurt or something. I might need to go up to a B cup soon."
"I can still get away without wearing a bra at all." Tara noticed their proximity suddenly and walked quickly over to her bed, where she plopped down and watched as Jinx pulled her shirt back on, "Maybe I should consider augmentation."
"You want implants?" Jenny snorted.
"I've seen 'em done well before!" Tara protested, "There are some decent doctors in Jump that do good work."
"I guess." Jenny shrugged, "If you really want to. Kind of expensive though."
"Yeah. I don't really make that much at the video store... I'd have to get a second job."
"If you have to get a second job to pay for breast implants, than you don't really need them."
"Point." Tara nodded, "You have Kylee today?"
"Yeah." Jenny smiled.
"Amazing how quickly we all took to her, isn't it?" Tara asked with a smile, "She's a good kid."
"A shy kid. I'm surprised she hasn't started looking for boys to drag into dark ally ways and snog half to death after living with Raven for so long."
"Raven's always been kind of... reserved."
"Oh, I don't know. She had a pretty good track record going there before she started dating Jason." Jenny started counting on her fingers, "Some guy named Brandon, then Brian-"
"Who?"
"Red-X."
"Oh." Tara nodded, "OH! She slept with Red-X?"
"Yeah. Who was next? Oh yeah, Gar and I, then-"
"Wait, wait... Raven had sex with Gar... and you?"
"Uh huh. At the same time actually."
"So... huh." Tara sat back, "I'm like, the only Titan left in town he hasn't slept with."
"Well, I'm pretty sure he never did anything with Vic..."
"I can't think about this right now... and I think I need to talk to Raven later..."
"Oh yeah, Raven." Jenny continued as if she hadn't been interrupted, "So then she slept with Jason, and it's been just him ever since."
"So that's like, what... five people? Wow, she was kind of slutty wasn't she?"
"She taught Star how to give a blow job."
"Get out." Tara smirked, "For... Robin, right?"
"Yeah." Jenny's smiled faded down to a light grin, "I haven't ever asked her, but I hope she got to used that knowledge on him before he died."
"Yeah. He was too good a guy to not have at least one good blow job before he went."
"Yeah." Jenny looked over at the bedside clock on Tara's night stand. She jumped up with wide eyes, "Holy shit eating scrum buffers! I'm late!"
"Shit eating... what?"
"Too many years hanging out with Gizmo." Jenny called as she dashed for the front door and her shoes, "I'll see you later, girl!"
"Have fun!" Tara listened as the door slammed, then looked back to the mirror. She lost herself in thought for a while, then shook her head to snap out of it, "Naw," she said to the empty apartment as she poked her own breast, "I'd look too much like Pam Anderson..."
"Whoa!" a man wearing a tan uniform jumped back from the large panther in the cage he was trying to feed it in, "Ranga! Stay down!" The panther ignored the man's protests and continued to stalk him. Coiling and raising it's tail, the big cat prepared to pounce.
A humming bird flew into the cage and became a short, elf like man a moment later. Squatting by the panther, Gar Logan grabbed it's ear, "Ranga! How many times do I have to tell you to not eat your feeders!"
"Jesus, Gar..." the handler edged to the side of the cage and out the door as he spoke, "Cut that one a little close didn't you?"
"Ranga just doesn't like you, Mac. You really should just wait until I get here in the morning to feed her."
"Why doesn't she try to eat you, huh? Sure you can turn into a panther, but right now you're still nice and meaty!"
"I can talk to animals! Duh!" Gar knocked on his own head and made a face, "Where's the meat?" he screwed up his face and turned to the large black cat next to him, which was rolling on the ground, purring, "You should really go vegetarian, Rang. I mean, how can you stand to eat these poor cows?" he waved a hunk of beef that Mac handed him in front of her face to emphasize his point.
The panther snorted and growled at him before grabbing the hunk of meat in her jaws and stalking off to the other side of the cage with it.
"Oh sure!" he called after her, "Just ignore me then! That'll really solve the problem!"
"Man," a visitor to the zoo said as he watched the whole exchange, "he sounds like my wife..."
Jenny looked up from behind the counter of Canary Booksellers and out the open door as a motorcycle pulled up outside the store. She grinned as the larger rider helped the smaller one hop off, then lean down to hug her.
Looking up, Raven waved to Jen, who waved back. The sleek black bike took off almost at once, making Jenny think that the psion must be late for work.
Kylee took off her helmet as she walked in, grinning like a fool. She loved the rides on the bike, mostly because of Raven's riding style. They could wax any other bike of the road in a flat race, and Raven took corners and curves like they were straight aways.
When they had left the Tower, one of the things Raven had taken with her was Robin's R-cycle. She had repainted it a stealth black and gray, and had removed most of the weapons systems. It still had the same engine though, and it ran just as fast and hard as it had when the Boy Wonder had torn up the streets of Jump on it.
"Hey, kiddo!" Jenny called as Kylee walked down the isles of books towards her, toting along a back pack, "How ya doin?"
"Not bad." Kylee responded with a small smile, "I've actually had a pretty good morning."
"Really?" Jen leaned on the counter and grinned, "Do tell."
"Well, when I got up this morning, Raven started to teach me meditation techniques. Then she pulled out all the stops on the ride over. We must have run four lights!"
"Crazy bitch, is what she is." Jenny snorted out a laugh.
"Language, Miss Wrangler." Milly Canary said as she stepped out of the back room, "Do not foul the child's ears with your vulgarity."
"Right, right." Jen winked at Kylee, who giggled and walked over to one of the reading chairs set up in the corner of the shop. She pulled a book out of her pack and carefully opened it to the marked page.
Just as she was about to settle in for more of her summer reading assignment, Kylee sat up and looked back at the pink haired girl behind the counter, "Um... Jenny?"
"Yeah?"
"Um... Raven said that... that you might be able to teach me a little... about self defense?"
Jenny was shocked for a moment. Why her? Why didn't Raven teach the girl herself? Sure, with Robin gone, she was the next best martial artist, but the purple haired psion wasn't exactly a push over.
It suddenly dawned on her that Raven was the calm, guiding force in the child's life. She taught her meditation, held her when she had nightmares, and laughed and cried with her when the time was appropriate.
She herself could be an outside force. A beacon of strength and confidence. While Raven was gentle, she could be rough.
"Sure, why not?" she replied, "I mean... I can teach you how to beat off all those hot boys that I'm sure beat a path to your door every night..."
"Jenny!" Kylee blushed.
"Well, if they aren't now, expect them soon. You're turning into quite a looker!" Jen winked, but was only half kidding around. Kylee was twelve years old, and was going into the seventh grade. She was growing up quickly, and was just starting to develop a womanly shape. Her face was pretty, and her large, brown eyes would be making men fall for her in a heart beat within a few years.
"I was thinking maybe... you could teach me something more... um... more."
"I could teach you Sin Do Kia... that's what I use mostly."
"Really?" Kylee looked excited, "Oh, that'd be perfect! Thanks Jenny!"
"If I'm going to be teaching you how to fight, I think you should call me-"
"Sensei?"
"No," she pushed a few strands of pink hair out of her eyes, "call me Jinx."
An hour later, Raven was backing into a conference room with a tray in one hand, and a file in the other. The door pushed open, so she found it easier to go in backwards than to try to balance everything and open the door with her foot at the same time.
She was dressed in a smart business skirt and blouse, gray and white respectively, and she wore low black heels. Her hair fell loose around her shoulders, having only grown an inch since she'd stopped cutting it.
The tray held several cups of coffee, and a tray of bagels. One of her duties as the secretary to Mr. Flemming (of Flemming, Moss, and Mold Legal Offices) was to gather the drinks and food for meetings with important clients. Today, a high paying industrialist was meeting her boss about a murder charge.
It was one of the things Raven hated most about her job; Mr. Flemming was a criminal defense attorney.
"Here we are, Mr. Flemming, Mr. Gronds." Raven nodded at each man in turn and let the tray down on the table between the two of them. She placed the file on the table in front of Flemming and nodded, "Anything else sir?"
"No, no. That will be all for now, Miss Roth. Thank you."
"A pleasure sir." she nodded again and turned to leave.
"Now, as I was saying, I think we can build a good defense if you can provide a solid alibi, Mr. Gronds. Where were you exactly when your wife was murdered?"
"I was hiding in my offices down town! The zombies attacked our apartment, but I was fairly safe thirty floors up..."
"I see. So it was the zombies that maimed her so badly? That makes sense..." Flemming flipped open the file and started making notes. He paused after a moment and looked back over his shoulder.
Raven stood, staring at Gronds.
"Yes, Miss Roth? Did you have a question?" Flemming asked her.
"He's lying." Raven whispered.
"Excuse me?"
"He's lying sir. He killed her. Mutilated her body to make it look like a zombie attack, and lied through his teeth when forensics found evidence that a saw had done the cutting instead of a zombie's teeth."
"What?" Gronds looked insulted, "What is she going on about?"
"I have no idea, Mr. Gronds. Miss Roth, if I wanted you opinion-"
"Opinion?" Raven glared at him, "I read the case file, Mr. Flemming, and I can read minds just as well. Or at least know when people are lying. This bastard is lying."
"Miss Roth! You are out of line!" Flemming roared at her, "Guilty or innocent, all that matters is that Mr. Gronds hired me to defend him, and that is what I'll do!"
"But he's guilty of murder!" Raven shouted back, "Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"Prove it!" Gronds shouted back.
"I don't need to!" she yelled at him, "Forensics already did, and they'll put you away on that evidence!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Flemming shouted back, "I think perhaps you should take the rest of the day off, Miss Roth, and I'll call you in the morning to discuss your future employment with this firm!"
Raven glared for a moment, then started to walk forward slowly, a dark aura surrounding her, "I've worked her for a month and a half now, Mr. Flemming, and I've put up with an awful lot in that short time. I've put up with you leering at me, at you using my name for publicity. I've dealt with sensing your sick jerk off fantasies about me while you're 'working' behind your closed office doors, and I've even let you stare at my breasts like you are right now." Flemming quickly looked away, fear starting to creep up on his face as she continued her slow march forward, "What I will not put up with, however is to watch you help a guilty man walk free. This scum mutilated his wife's body, and he liked it."
"I-"
"You nothing." Raven glared at him, and the light bulbs in all the lights in the conference room exploded leaving only the sunlight filtering through the shaded windows for illumination. She stepped back from him and turned on her heel, "I quit, Mr. Flemming, and I'll be reporting this meeting to the DA."
Jenny jerked her head up from where she was reading the news paper at the counter of the book store. Kylee looked over at her, "What's wrong, Jenny?"
The pink haired girl stared off to the South, like she was looking through the wall and into down town. She could feel the twinge of the connection that had been formed between herself and a certain psion she had helped bring back from the dead, "Raven is pissed off about something."
Raven stalked through the parking garage, muttering curses under her breath. She kicked off her low heals as she went, picking them up quickly. Ripping at the hose she wore, she finally got pissed off enough to use her powers and simply evaporated the light fabric off of herself. She ripped her skirt up until it was un-tucked and undid several of the buttons, revealing a little cleavage and her priced belly button.
"Stupid, fucking..." she yanked the seat compartment of her bike open as she came up to it and pulled out a pair of clunky looking riding boots. Pulling them on quickly, she frowned at her skirt. It fell just past her knees and looked quite prudish.
She ripped it up both sides, revealing more of her legs. Quickly rolling up her sleeves, she slammed the seat compartment shut and grabbed her helmet. Pulling it on, she started the bike and swung one leg over it.
Revving the engine once or twice, she cranked down the throttle and pealed out of the garage like a bat out of hell.
Jason laughed along with the other workers as Jimmy continued his story about his wife, "... and then she says to me, 'Jim! You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking!' So I says to her, 'Martha, you know how I am. I always think with the old pickle!'"
There was hoots and hollers all around as the group of men stood around on a brief water break. Working outside in the hot sun wasn't a picnic, and they had to stay hydrated to avoid sun sickness.
One of the men spoke up and nodded at Jason, "What about you, kid? You have a woman don't you?" Jason nodded with a slight smile, "What's she always say to you when she gets pissed?"
"Oh... you know..." he blushed a little, "The usual."
"Really? Aren't you dating that Raven girl? She was a Titan wasn't she?"
"Yeah." he frowned a little, but brightened up right away, "We don't really argue that much though."
"Oh, come on." Jimmy spoke up, "She must have her little catch phrase that she uses when she gets really mad."
"Well, yeah." Jason smiled a wide smile, "She grows an extra set of eyes on her forehead, all four of 'em glow with demonic red light, and she threatens to destroy my soul."
The men all gaped at him and he continued to grin like an idiot, "What? You guys' women don't do that?"
Raven stopped her bike in front of the police station and hopped off. Stalking up the side walk, she glared at everyone who got in her way. Stopping in front of the doors, she read a sign posted there. A look of dawning inspiration dawned on her face, and she hurried inside to report Mr. Gronds and to follow the advise of the sign.
She didn't come back out for three hours.
Cyborg sighed from his computer and looked over the read outs again. The problem with making a prosthetic based on his tech was that his tech was for a combat android. He had to take away the enhanced strength, and minimize the output of the power supply, which had to be small enough to fit into just one limb.
A beeping tore him away from his screen and forced him to answer the call coming through on his arm. Pulling back his sleeve, he check the caller ID.
Hitting the answer button, he leaned in so no one else in the office space he shared would hear him, "What's up, Brian?"
"I'm go for tonight." Red-X replied with a grin.
"Shoot! I need more warning than this man!"
"Just tell Jinx and Rae to meet me down by the Lexcorp building at oh-one-hundred. I'll be waiting." with that, the line went dead.
Cyborg sighed. "Fuck me." he mumbled and went back to his read outs.
Raven jogged up the steps to Jenny, Tara, and Gar's apartment, a scowl still etched on her face. After dealing with lawyers and cops all day, she was feeling like she needed a friend.
Trying the door, she found it unlocked. It wasn't until she was pushing it open that she remembered that Jenny was working and watching Kylee for her.
As the door swung open however, loud music assaulted her ears. Looking into the apartments spacious living room, she stared in amusement.
Tara was jumping from the floor to the couch, her long blond hair flying everywhere as she head banged along with the blaring punk rock music. She wore short gray sleep shorts and a black sport bra, bare foot, with large cheep looking sunglasses adorning her face. She was leaning back, biting her lip while standing on the couch, and playing air guitar along with the music.
It was several moments before she saw Raven standing in the doorway and stopped. A ting of red crept up on her face and she stood motionless, fingers still up in the air as if she was holding on to invisible frets.
Raven smiled at Tara.
Tara smiled at Raven.
The psion kicked the door closed and ran into the apartment. Jumping up on the love seat, she shouted out, "Rock on Tara!" and started playing an air bass line to go along with Tara's air guitar. The blond immediately got back into it, and they played out the rest of the song together.
"So what brings you by today?" Tara asked as she turned the volume of the stereo down to an acceptable level, "Didn't you have to work?"
"I quit." Raven rolled her eyes, "I had moral issues working for someone who was trying to get a murdering scum bag off the hook."
"Ah." Tara nodded with a wink, "That'll do it. Any ideas on what you'll do now?" she plopped down on the couch across from Raven, who had sat down on the love seat and kicked her feet up on the coffee table.
"Well, I stopped by the police station to report Flemming and Gronds, and I kind of got... inspired."
"How's that?"
"I want a job where I can kind of do what we used to do... you know, help people and stuff." Raven looked away and fidgeted.
"The JLA made it pretty clear that they didn't want to see us doing hero work for a while, Rae."
"Oh, I know. I don't want to try to reform the Titans or anything... but I think... I'd still like to help people out."
"So... what? Social work?"
"I uh... took the department exam." Raven blushed.
"You... holy shit, Rae!" Tara laughed a little, "You want to be a cop?"
"Yeah... if I can't be a vigilante any more, I might as well go straight... be a legal law enforcement officer."
"No shit?" Tara grinned, "Huh."
"I know. Lame." Raven rolled her eyes, "I don't know what I was thinking."
"Actually," Tara nodded her head, "I think it's pretty cool. Officer Raven."
"Officer Roth to you, little miss." Raven gave her a fake glare.
Tara burst out laughing. She jumped up and started for her bedroom, "Come on! You can help me pick out what to wear!"
"For what?" Raven arched an eyebrow.
"We're going out to celebrate, silly!"
"What for?"
"For you getting away from that law firm! I mean, lawyers Raven! What were you thinking?"
"That it paid good?"
"Not good enough. We're going down to Elysium Art."
Raven arched an eyebrow, "For what?"
"I want an eyebrow ring, and I think we'll get you a tattoo."
"What if I don't want a tattoo?" Raven's other eyebrow went up to join the first one.
"Then I'll slam you in the head with a chunk of the street and drag you in, and if I do that, then I'm picking your art, so you might as well just come willingly."
Raven laughed, "Okay, okay! Hey, wear the blue top, it goes well with your eyes..."
Victor Stone stood on the roof of Star Labs, looking across the industrial district at the Lexcorp building. He knew that they got up to some pretty heavy stuff over there, but refining weapons grade zynothium was defiently not something he would have expected. Government agencies kept the stuff just so no one could use it, but Lexcorp was probobly mass producing it.
Sighing, he pulled back his sleeve and made a phone call.
After a few seconds of ring time, a familure voice picked up, "Hey Vic. What's up?"
"Raven, girl, how you doin?"
"Not bad... I'm getting a tattoo right now."
"At work?" he arched an eyebrow.
"Uh, no. I quit today. Don't ask."
"Okay... hey, Brian called."
"Really? When are we go?"
"Tonight. I e-mailed you details already."
"Kind of short notice isn't it?"
"Hey, talk to Brian about it."
"Okay. I'm stopping by to see Jenny later, so I'll tell her then."
"Cool. Hey, what're you getting a tat of?"
"... a raven."
"Creative."
"Fuck you."
Victor chuckled, "I'll see you later, Rae."
"Yeah, yeah. Later, Vic."
"Hey! Logan!" Gar turned from where he was scrubbing the side of an elephant with a push broom and looked for whoever was calling his name. He saw two of the female handlers leaning against the railing above the elephant enclosure, waving at him.
"Patty! Sue! What's up?" he waved back.
"You wanna have lunch with us?" they called and giggled.
Gar grinned like and idiot.
I am such a stud.
"Sorry, girls, but I've got a lot to do here. I'll be taking lunch late today." as they frowned and pouted, he laughed, "Maybe Monday? You both work then, right?"
"Yeah!" Sue shouted back, "And we're holding you to that, Logan!"
"I'll see you then!" he called back as they walked off. Turning back to his work he saw Big Eric the elephant staring at him with (he swore) and arched eyebrow. He rolled his eyes at the tusked male and nodded, "I know, man... women..."
Raven's bike screeched to a halt in front of Canary Booksellers three hours early. Jenny checked the clock twice to be sure, then shrugged. She was slightly surprised to see Tara with the purple haired psion, but shrugged it off.
Not like she hadn't seen weirder things in her day.
"Hey Kylee!" Raven called as she walked into the store with a grin, "How's Jen been treating you?"
Kylee looked up from her book with an arched eyebrow, "I'm reading." she replied, and pulled the book back up to hide her eyes.
Raven stopped and stared with her mouth hanging open. Behind her, Tara burst out laughing, "Oh... my... GOD! That was funny!"
"What?" Raven looked around her as Jenny started cracking up too, and Kylee followed suit. Even Mrs. Canary was chuckling, "What is so damn funny?"
"Remind you of anyone?" Tara asked as she grabbed the nearest book and held it up in front of her face, "I'm reading. Stop bothering me."
Raven rolled her eyes, "This was your idea, Jenny?"
"Yep." Jenny, tears streaming down her face, pounded the counter, "Should have seen your face!"
"Sorry, Raven." Kylee looked up from where she was putting her book away in her bag, "She made me do it! Honest!"
"Uh huh. I'm sure big bad Jinx held a gun to your head..." she grinned down at the little girl, "It was funny, Kylee, don't worry."
"Okay." Kylee stepped forward and hugged Raven about the middle, "Jenny said you were mad earlier. Are you okay?"
Everyone in the book store quieted down and stared for a moment. A young person being so kind and thoughtful seemed so out of place in the 21st century that it shocked them all into silence.
All of them, except Raven.
"Gra... urg... AHHHHHH!" Kylee jumped back from her foster parent and stared up at her with wide eyes. Raven stumbled about for a moment, clutching at her back. Tara, shock etched on her face, quickly recovered and stepped forward.
"Oh, shit... right, the tat. You okay, Rae?"
"Yes..." Raven calmed down and peeled her shirt away from her lower back with the blond girls help, "Just... don't hug me right there for a few days, okay hunny?" she smiled weakly at Kylee.
"Why? Are you hurt?" the little girl looked frightened.
"No! No... it's just... well, I blame Tara." Raven turned around and lifted the back of her shirt up, revealing the black form a screeching bird of prey tattooed across her lower back. It's wings stretched out and folded slightly around her sides, and three strange looking runes were also inked on just above it's head.
"Whoa." Jenny stepped around the counter in the back of the store and walked over to Raven, "That's some serious ink for your first time."
"Whereas you have so many tattoos."
Jenny rolled her eyes, "I have three. You've seen me naked Rae, you know that."
"Three?" Raven arched an eyebrow, "There's the one on your ankle, the small tribal, and the one on your back, top left shoulder or a little black cat. Where's the third?"
"Back of my right thigh." she turned pointed at the spot, "It's a little dragonfly."
"That's nice and girly." Tara smiled wickedly.
"And the sea horse on your ankle isn't?"
"Um..." the three young woman all looked down at Kylee, as she attempted to get their attention, "Um, Raven?" Kylee looked up with bright eyes, "Can I get one too?"
All three of them arched eyebrows, "Not until you're older." Raven replied.
"How much older?"
"I'll be nice and say you can get one for your sixteenth birthday."
Kylee kicked at the ground and pouted a little, "You're no fun."
"Try Jason." Jenny said with a wink, "Dad's are always more doting to their little girls."
Kylee's face fell and she teared up suddenly. Raven and Tara both looked at the pink haired girl with shock on their faces, and Jenny herself stuttered, "Oh, Kylee, hunny... I'm sorry, I didn't-"
"I'm ready to go whenever, Raven." Kylee said as she hoisted her back pack on her shoulders and stuffed her helmet on. Rushing past the three older girls, she ran to the parked motorcycle.
Raven turned a glare on Jenny, "Try to keep your mouth shut about that, please?"
"I'm sorry, Rae... it just... came out. He really tries to be her father and everything... I didn't think she'd mind so much."
"Her parents just died two months ago, Jen." Tara shook her head, "She's still really sore."
Raven sighed, "Regardless... Jenny, we have a date with Brian tonight."
"Red-X?" Tara asked.
"Yeah." Raven nodded, "We have a little work to do."
"For Vic?" Jenny asked.
Raven nodded, "One A.M., Lexcorp. I'll pick you up."
"Okay." Jen nodded
"Can I come?" Tara asked, looking excited.
"No." Raven shook her head, "This is a three person job only. Although, if things pan out with my new job, I wont be doing this kind of stuff any more, so you might have to then."
"New job?" Jenny arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Raven smiled and walked to the door, "I'm going to be a cop."
As Raven stopped the bike in her designated parking space in front of her apartment complex, she sighed and fidgeted. The tattoo hurt like hell and itched at the same time.
Pulling off her helmet, she turned around and kicked her legs over the bike so that she was facing backwards, towards Kylee. The younger girl looked up, still wearing her helmet. Raven smiled gently and pulled it off, revealing a tear streaked face, and wet brown eyes.
"You know that neither Jason, nor I, ever expect to replace your parents, right?"
"Y-yeah... but I still..." sniff, "miss them a lot."
"I know, hun, and we understand that. Jenny just didn't think before she opened her stupid mouth."
"But... I..." Kylee looked up at Raven and tears started pouring down her face again, "I feel terrible!" she cried, "They're barely cold and here I am, having a great time, learning so much about myself, I've met all of the Titans and I hang out with a bunch of them on a regular basis, and... and..." Kylee sniffed and threw her arms around Raven, carefully avoiding the tattoo on her back, "I love you Raven. I love you almost as much as Mom. What does that mean?"
"Just what you think it does." Raven hugged her foster child back, "Your parents would have wanted you to be happy, Kylee. Don't fight it because you think you need to keep mourning them. They would have wanted you to move on."
Raven held the child as she continued to cry, still sitting on the back of the perfectly balanced motorcycle. (Small tendrils of black energy held it up.) After a few minutes, Kylee's sobs subsided and she leaned back and smiled up at the dark haired girl, "You know what, Raven? I think my parents would have been happy that you're taking care of me now. I really do."
Raven's heart melted and she leaned down and kissed the girls forehead, "Thank you, Kylee. I've never had a better compliment." she hopped off the bike and pulled Kylee down as well, "Now let's get inside. Jason and I are going to go out tonight, and... I think you're old enough to stay home by yourself for a little while aren't you?"
"Yeah." Kylee nodded and used her sleeve to dry her eyes, "Yeah, I'll be fine."
"Okay then! You can help me pick out an outfit for my date then!"
"Okay!" Kylee started running for the door of the building they lived in, "I know the perfect thing! Jason'll love it!"
"Oh, boy..." Raven smiled, "What have I done?"
An hour later, Jason walked through the door of the apartment, "I'm home!" he called out, "Rae? I saw your bike down in the lot, and I-"
He stopped short and looked down. Kylee looked back up at him with a small smile, "Shower. Now."
"Um... what?"
"Raven says, 'Shower. Now.'"
"Okay... is there a reason she's not at work?" He glanced at the clock on the microwave and noted that it was 5:38.
"She quit today. I'm sure you'll hear all about it tonight. She's getting ready in your room right now though, so she says you need to shower."
Jason shook his head with a sigh. Why had she quit? They had bills to pay, and a kid to look after, "Alright. I don't know why I worry at all..." he smiled a little, "I mean... she's Raven! Always an answer for everything."
Kylee smiled at him as he walked past her to the bathroom, "She expects you to be ready by 6:15 promptly."
"I'll be ready." he shook his head again with a chuckle.
Tara fingered the new gold ring that adorned the outside of her left eyebrow, and smiled slightly. Gar looked at it critically for a moment, then sat back from where they were facing each other on the couch, "I like." he finally said with a nod and a smile.
"It is cute, isn't it?" she giggled, "I'm thinking about doing my tongue too."
Jenny stuck her head out from the kitchen, "I hear that's dead useful when you're going down on a girl."
"Or a guy." Gar winked.
Jenny winked.
Tara groaned, "Come on guys! Please keep in mind that I may physically be twenty, and I may technically be seventeen, but mentally, I'm still only fifteen!" she was practically shouting, "I've never given a blow job, or gone down on any chicks, or even had straight, missionary, boring ass sex!"
Jenny looked over at Gar, "Missionary ass sex?"
"Ew." Gar turned to the TV as Tara blushed, "When do you work tonight, Tee?"
Tara smiled fondly at the nick name, even though her face was getting redder by the moment, "Um... I don't. One of the other girls called and asked if she could take my shift tonight... needed the hours. I gave 'em up."
"Should have said something!" Jenny called from the kitchen, "I'll throw on another tofu burger!"
"Blarg." Tara stood up, "If it's all the same to you guys, I think I'll... um..." she looked around, "Go out tonight, I guess."
"Want some company?" Gar looked up at her, "We could go on a date!" he smiled.
"No... I mean, I'd love to go out, you know, just the two of us..." she glanced back at where Jenny was once again watching her from around the corner in the kitchen, "I just... want to go out tonight... alone. Do some thinking."
"Alright..." Gar stood up from the couch and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "You know we're here to talk if you need us, right?"
"Yeah, I know. I just... need to clear my head a little."
"Okay." he leaned in and kissed her cheek, "Be careful."
Tara looked over at Jenny's deepening frown as Gar pulled his lips away from her cheek and then looked away from the pink haired girl, "I can take care of myself. I'll uh... see you guys later." She backed away from the changeling and turned swiftly to the door. She was gone a moment later.
"Weird." Gar turned back to say something to Jenny and found his lips running into hers. His eyes went wide for a moment, then he relaxed and melted into her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist. They stood in the living room, kissing, for almost a solid minute.
As Jenny pulled away from him, Gar smiled a drunken smile, "What was that for?"
"Well, you were getting all smoochy on Tara, and I got jealous." she winked and flounced back to the kitchen, waving a spatula at him, "Be good over diner and I'll show you just how jealous."
Gar's eyes widened a little and he nodded dumbly.
Jason stepped out of the bathroom, freshly scrubbed, and walked the five steps down the hall to the bedroom he shared with Raven. Pushing the door open, he stepped in and looked over to where she was standing up from her vanity.
"Whoa." his jaw dropped a little. Raven turned to face him and smiled.
She wore a slinky black dress that dropped to her ankles and sparkled in waves of red as she turned. It dropped down off her shoulders slightly, and revealed amply amounts of cleavage. A long slit up one side showed her perfectly smooth leg. Ruby earrings, and a necklace of garnets, ruby red lipstick and dark tones around her eyes. She had just finished strapping on a pair of two inch sparkly red heals, and he noted with passing interest that she'd done her toe nails and finger nails in red as well.
Her hair was swept up in an elegant style, revealing her long, smooth neck. All the red stood in sharp contrast to her pale skin, yet looked somehow fitting, matching the chakra on her forehead.
"You like?" she asked, twirling a little for him.
"I... I... want to take it off of you..."
"Okay, ew." Kylee turned from where she'd been observing in the doorway, "I swear... boys!"
Raven laughed and walked over to Jason. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with slow, burning passion. After she pulled back, she grinned at him, "You have a tux in there."
"I know. I keep it around just in case I need it."
"When Kylee saw it, she got a great idea to have us go out to a dance club of high society proportions."
"Well, who are we to deny a girl her dream? I'll suit up and be right out."
"Good."
"Oh, uh... how are we paying for this again?" Jason arched an eyebrow.
"I socked a little away from my severance package." Raven smiled at him, "Don't worry."
"I wont if you say not to." he smiled back and walked into the large closet to change into his tux.
"You have ten minutes."
"Give me twelve. Bowties are tricky."
"Twelve then, but no more. I'm going to give Kylee instructions, and then we can go."
"Thought you wanted to get Vic and Sarah to watch her."
"I changed my mind." she shrugged, "Twelve minutes."
A few hours later, and a few miles away, Tara trudged along the city streets, not really paying attention to where her feet were taking her. She wore hole ridden blue jeans, and a tight black top, covered by a gray hooded sweatshirt that she wore unzipped. Her hands were shoved in her pockets, and she stared at the ground as she let her mind wander.
She obviously wasn't afraid of the darker, seedier parts of town. The ability to simply rip the ground out from under any one foolish enough to mess with her gave her enough bravery to walk any where she saw fit to. She hated Slade for all he had done to her and the Titans, but regardless of that hate, he had taught her how to use her powers quite well.
Her mind wandered down diverging paths, never really stopping to examine anything in detail. Currently it was skirting around and avoiding the subject of Jenny and Gar.
They were good together. She deserved him, and he needed her more than he'd ever admit. Jenny had made some huge sacrifice (she still wouldn't talk about it) for him, and he needed someone who was able to give him what he needed.
What Gar really needed more than anything was someone who'd love him unconditionally. Tara wasn't a fool, and deep down, she knew that if he were to choose her over Jenny, there would be conditions. There would be some things that she just couldn't love about him, not the least of which was his flirtatious manner. He was just too... well, flirty.
She had tried to mature quickly, and she had tried to grow up fast enough to match the level of maturity that her friends had, but the fact remained that they still had two years of growing up on her, and those two years were a world of difference.
And now with all the little secrets of the Titans coming out of the woodwork, she felt even more left out. Gar had slept with not only Jenny, but Raven as well. At the same time no less. That kind of sexual experience was such a foreign concept to her that she couldn't even begin to fathom it.
Raven had a track record a mile long of guys she'd slept with. Jenny's sexual past was still largely unknown to her, but she did know that her pink haired room mate had been with several girls at least before she joined the Titans. Jason may have stopped chasing skirts over Raven, but he had been a man whore even back when he was sixteen, when she knew him before she had died.
It all seemed so big to her. Her friends were leaps and bounds ahead of her in their adult lives, and here she was, young, scared, and alone.
"Almost makes a girl feel like hitting the road again." she mused aloud. Her eyes turned East and she thought about all the things she'd seen while she had traveled the country, "Almost..."
"So," Jason said as he twirled his girlfriend back into his arms and continued to dace with her, "do I get to peal you out of that dress when we get home or what?"
"Sure do..." Raven smiled at him fondly, "And then you can wrap me right back up in black stealth gear. Jenny and I have to help X out tonight."
"For Vic's stuff?"
"Yeah." Raven twirled again and caught his hand on the way back in. The beat picked up and they started an impromptu tango.
"So no chance for a quick-"
"No. I need to pick up Jen and meet Brian by Lexcorp at oh-one-hundred. Knowing him, we'll be in and out in a heart beat, but I still want to be prompt."
"Yeah, okay. Just stay away from roof tops if you're going out with that guy."
"I swear!" Raven rolled her eyes as they danced, "You two will never let me hear the end of that!"
Gar struggled to get out of his shirt as Jenny pushed him back into her room and on to her bed, kissing him the whole way. He finally got his arms free and immediately went for her pants. She let him undo the button and unzip them while she stripped off her shirt and bra.
"Come on, Gar." she purred, "Let's see if you've still got it."
He grinned wildly and lifted her off the ground, tossing her on the bed. She giggled as she kicked her pants off the rest of the way and let him crawl up on top of her.
Kylee sat in the living room of the apartment, curled up in the corner of the couch with one of Raven's horror novels. She smiled contentedly as she read, her eyes scanning the pages quickly.
A knock sounded at the door and she jumped a little. Putting the book aside, she got up and walked quietly to the dining area, pulling a chair over to the door. She climbed up on it and peered through the peep hole.
All she saw beyond was blackness. Someone was covering the other side. Frowning she jumped back down from the chair, "Who is it?" she called though the door.
There was a pause, then a low, gravely voice responded, "Is this the residence of Miss Raven Roth?"
"Um... yes. She's not in just now, but I'll tell her you stopped by... Mister...?"
"Oh, hunny, I'm just an old friend. You sound like you're alone in there... want some company while you wait for Raven to get home?"
"N-no... I'll be fine thanks. What was your name again sir?"
The door shuddered as the man slammed it with a fist from the other side, "God damn it all you little bitch! Open this door or I'll smash it down!"
Kylee's eyes widened and she quickly turned the chair around, propping it against the door handle. The door gave another violent shake as the man slammed his fist into it, "Come on, little girl! Open the door for Uncle Stew..."
"No! Go away!" Kylee ran from the door and to the cordless phone. Grabbing it up, she hit the number one speed dial and held the receiver to her ear. The line rang four times before it clicked and an out of breath voice came through.
"Kind of busy right now, Rae." it was Jenny.
"Jenny!" Kylee sobbed into the phone, "Jenny I need help!"
"What? Kylee? What's wrong?"
"There's a man trying to get in! I don't think he's friendly!" the door gave another shudder as it sounded like he slammed his shoulder against it with a shout of anger. Kylee screamed.
"Okay, listen to me Kylee. LISTEN!" Kylee nodded, shocked by hearing the normally good natured girl screaming, then realized Jenny couldn't hear her nod.
"I'm l-listning." she replied.
"Good. Run down to Raven and Jason's room and shut and lock that door too. Hide under the bed or something, and wait for us to get there. We'll be there in... two minutes. Okay?"
"Okay! Hurry!" the line went dead and Kylee took the phone with her as she dashed for the door at the end of the hall way. Slamming it behind her, she threw the lock and a backed up until she bumped into the bed.
Every time the man threw his weight against the door the whole apartment shook. Wide eyed with terror, Kylee stepped back into the closet and whimpered out, "Raven... help me..."
Raven looked up from where she was laughing while eating an over priced desert. She frowned and looked in the direction of the apartment. Jason noticed and frowned, "What's up?"
"Kylee..." Raven breathed, "She's in trouble. We have to go."
"What? Are you sure?" Jason was already throwing down a few bills on the table to pay their tab, "I mean-"
"I'm sure, Jason. Let's move!" Raven started running for the exit as best she could in heels and a long dress.
The door to the apartment slammed open and the chair blocking it shut smashed to pieces. An unshaven man wearing a long coat stepped into the living room and grinned manically, "Come out, come out, little girl!" he started forward, his eyes darting around the room as he walked.
"You know why I'm here?" he saw the shut door at the end of the hall and started for it slowly, pulling out a knife as he did, "I'm here to take away everything from Raven, just like she and that punk Robin took everything away from me when they stopped me from robbing Jump City Federal five years ago! I'm out of prison now, and look what I find! The Titan's disbanded, and living in the city!"
He laughed madly as he stabbed at the wall repeatedly, "I'm going to carve you up so badly that Mummy Raven wont know which end of you is which! HA!" he grabbed the door knob at the end of the hall and yanked the door open, "Prepare to die, bi-"
He didn't get the rest out because he noticed quite painfully that the fist of a girl with pink and black hair was suddenly crashing into his nose. He flew back off his feet and hit the ground with a grunt, his knife flying across the floor of the bathroom. The girl reached down and hoisted him to his feet with fury burning in her strange pinkish-purple eyes.
"You think you're going to harm a hair on the girls head?" she slammed his face into the wall and grabbed his wrist, "Well you're dead wrong." she pulled back a hand to crush his wind pipe and end him forever when she heard Gar's voice.
"Jen! No killing. Just... subdue him."
"You saw him struggle, didn't you?" she looked back at her green skinned friend where he stood in the doorway, blocking the fight from Kylee's eyes.
Slowly, Gar nodded.
"Good." and with that, she grabbed the man's wrist, pulled back and listened with a smile as the bone in his arm snapped. He screamed out a gargled noise and fell to his knees, "Oh, and just so you know we're serious..." she hauled his thumb back and listened while that one cracked as well, "Try holding a knife to cut someone now, you sack of shit."
Jenny tossed him to the floor of the apartment...
And right in front of a glowing black bird of prey. It materialized into Raven and Jason and they both looked down at the thug, then up at Jenny.
With a sigh, Jason pulled out a cell phone, "I'll call the cops."
Tara walked into her apartment and looked around. Scratching her head, she walked down the hall and checked both Gar and Jenny's rooms. Walking back out to the living room, she noted that they hadn't cleaned up their dinner, and both of them had left their shoes by the door.
"Where the hell did they go?" she wondered aloud.
Raven, dressed in black from head to toe backed out of Kylee's room and closed the door quietly. She turned and walked down the hall to the living room. Leaning against the wall, she looked out at her assembled friends.
Jason, still dressing in his tux minus the tie and belt, sat in the blue chair she usually read in. Gar and Jenny were sitting on the sofa, looking at her with apprehension.
"Kylee's sleeping okay now." she said quietly, "She was pretty shaken up, but thanks to you guys," she nodded to Gar and Jenny, "she's still alive."
"I'm just glad she had the presence of mind to call us." Gar shook his head, "If she'd called the cops they never would have been here in time."
"Teen Titans strike again." Jenny waved a fist in the air in falsely cheerful manner.
"You guys are gonna be late." Jason nodded at the microwave's clock. It read 12:04.
"I'll head home and change. Meet me there in ten?" Jenny looked over at Raven, who nodded.
"See ya, then." Gar said as he and Jenny walked to the window. Opening it, he jumped out, morphing into a pterodactyl as soon as he was in the air. Jenny jumped after him and he caught her shoulders, flying them away from the building.
Raven sighed and walked over to Jason. She softly crawled into his lap and curled up into a ball. He smiled slightly as he stroked her back, "Shh... it's okay baby."
"I know... but..." there were tears in Raven's voice, "What if it happens again and we can't get here? We have a lot of enemies..."
"We'll have to teach her how to take care of herself." Jason sighed, "I can start teaching her the basics tomorrow-"
"Jenny is going to do that." Raven cut him off.
"Oh, okay." he sounded relived, "She's better than I am any way."
"Yeah." Raven cleared her throat, "I'm thinking about seeing if she has any magical aptitude."
Jason arched an eyebrow as she sat up and looked down at him, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah... I sense... something in her. A power I don't think she knows she has."
"You think she might be metehuman?"
"No... but there's something."
Jason nodded, "Okay. Just... don't let her start turning kids at school into newts or something."
Raven smiled and punched him lightly in the shoulder. Leaning back in, she kissed him.
They continued to cuddle until she had to leave.
Gar landed on the roof of the apartment building he and Jenny shared with Tara, right next to the pink haired girl. She smiled at him and arched an eyebrow, "Any reason we didn't go right to the apartment?"
"Tara's light was on." he replied, "I wanted to talk to you... alone."
She sighed, "I knew this was coming."
"Come on, Jenny," he said, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder as she turned away from him, "you know this isn't easy on me... how am I suposed to choose between two girls that love me so much? How am I suposed to choose between two girls I love so much?"
"I don't know." Jenny shook her head and looked into his eyes, "But if you even try to deny that we have chemistry, I'll kick your head in. We almost had sex again tonight, Gar. We would have if Kylee hadn't interupted us." she glared, "Are you going to tell me that doesn't mean anything?"
"That means that I'm one horny Beast Boy." he frowned, "Tara... she won't go that far with me... not yet. Like she said, she's still basically fifteen."
"So she's here to love you and I'm here to fuck you? That's great..." Jenny turned away again and started for the edge of the roof, "Go find someone else to be your fuck buddy, Garfield."
"You're not... Jenny!" she started to jump off the edge of the building, but a green gorrila yanked her back onto the rooftop. She landed and rolled, coming up in a fighting stance.
"If you want some of this, Gar, bring it on!"
Gar turned back into himself and started forward, "I don't want to fight! Why would I want to fight with someone who makes me feel like the world is a better place? Why would I want to fight with someone who give me so much hope? Why would I want to fight with someone I love so much?"
Jenny was shocked into silence, and gradually, she lowered her guard. Taking a few steps forward, she threw her arms around his neck and sighed, "We can't keep going like this."
"I know..." he swallowed hard, "I... have to tell Tara. I don't want to hurt her like this, but... Jenny..."
"Jenny is the one who makes you feel whole." they both whirled around to see Tara standing on a chunk of rock, floating next to the side of the building. She held one arm behind her back and toed the rock in front of her with a shy smile, "Sorry... I heard shouting."
"Um..." Jenny blushed, "Tara, I-"
"It's okay!" she held up her hands and waved them in front of her, "I did a lot of thinking tonight and... I think it's time I admited that I'm just not ready for the kind of relationship that you need, Gar." she looked at the green changeling, "I'm sorry... I have to go."
As the rock she stood on rose into the air, Gar ran forward, "Tara!" a small pale hand held him back though.
"Let her go." Jenny said softly, "She'll be back in a little while."
"But... I..."
"Trust me, Gar." Jenny smiled at him softly, "I'm a girl. She's a girl. I know."
"Okay." he sounded dejected, "Let's get back down to the apartment. You need to get ready to go."
"Hey." she wrapped her arms around him from the back, "Raven wont be here for at least another four minutes. Want me to finish that blow job I started earlier?"
A ting of red crept up into Beast Boy's cheeks, "Would you hit me if I took you seriously?"
Jenny laughed and dragged him to the edge of the roof, where they jumped off and climbed down the side of the building to the window that led to their living room.
Later, at 2:15 A.M. exactly, a black portal opened up outside the fence that surrounded the Lexcorp facility, and three figures tumbled out of it, landing in a heap. Alarms blared behind them, and search lights scanned the grounds of the production plant.
Raven sat up, a large glowing tube of red liquid in her hand, "We... are... never... doing... that... again..." she panted out between hard breaths.
Jenny, slightly singed, and missing a good deal of the fabric from the left arm of her shirt, disentangled herself from Red-X, "No kidding. Brian, are you an idiot or what?"
"I didn't know about the laser defense system! So sue me!" he finally got his arm out from under Raven and the three of them stood up, "You'll want to get that stuff to Cyborg ASAP." he nodded at the vial in the dark girls hand.
"I'm on my way now. We need to scatter any way." she lifted off the ground and started to fly away, "I'll see you guys later."
The two of them watched her go, then took off into the night. They traveled closed to each other, keeping to the shadows and rooftops, until they came to a point where he needed to head uptown, and she needed to go downtown. They stopped to stare at the city lights for a few minutes before he spoke.
"So how's things? Didn't get a chance to talk much before we went in."
"Oh, you know..." Jenny poked at the burn mark on her left shoulder, "Gar and I are back together now."
"Really? What about Tara?"
"Don't know yet... she ran off when she found out. I'm sure we'll still let her live with us, but... I don't know if she'll want to."
"If I see her, I'll let her know you guys are waiting for her at home." he pealed off his mask and breathed a little easier.
"You not going straight home?" she arched an eyebrow at him.
"Naw... I've been doing patrols of the city almost every night."
"Really? Filling in for us?"
"Kind of." he looked away from her out over the cityscape, "With the Titans disbanded, and the Slade impersonator gone, there's a power vacuum in Jump City. I don't have anything solid yet, but I think there's some big players moving in now that there isn't a team of super heroes protecting the place any more."
"What kind of big players?"
"Like I said, I don't know yet." he shook his head and pulled his mask back on, "I'll let you know if I find anything else out, but right now all I have are whispers in the dark."
"If you ever need a hand-"
"You're retired." he shook his head, and she heard the amusement in his voice, "No freelancing until you're older, Jinxy."
She stuck out her tongue at him as he saluted her and jumped from the building top. Sighing, she turned and headed downtown.
Jenny arived back at the apartment a little after 3:00. She unlocked the door and stepped in, looking down to her right as soon as she did. Letting out a breath she hadn't realized she been holding, she smiled as she saw that Tara's boots were there next to Gar's red Adidas sneakers.
Her first stop was her room, where she stripped off her singed clothing. The next stop was the bathroom, where she took a long shower, washing away the sweat and grime she was covered in, and carefully dabbing at her minor burns and wounds.
As she stepped back out into the hall way, clad only in a robe and still rubbing at her hair with a fluffy towel, she glanced through Tara's open door. Pausing, she took a better look into the darkened room, her vertical pupils allowing her to see better in the dark than most people.
Tara wasn't there.
Frowning, Jenny continued down to her own room, where she pulled on black silk pajama pants and a white tank top. She paused again as she heard a noise. Straining her ears, she listened intently until she heard it again.
"That's..." she looked up. It was coming from the roof. Smiling slightly, she walked to her closet and pulled out a battered black case...
Up on the rooftop, Tara sat with her back leaned against the side of the stairwell enclosure. In her lap lay an old, beat up looking guitar, which she was currently tuning to a particular key. After a few more tweaks, she reached into the case that lay open next to her and pulled out a pick. Bringing it up to the strings, she positioned her fingers on the frets and began to play.
It was a slow tune, quiet and melancholy. Strumming away, she came to the part of the song where the tune would need two different players to continue. She chose to play the strumming part, because it was easier, and she didn't feel like playing anything hard just then.
It came as quite a suprise to her then, when the lead guitar part picked up right next to her. She faultered in her playing for a moment as she glanced over and saw Jenny, her back propped against the stairwell enclousre as well, picking at a guitar that looked only slightly less beat up and old than the one she herself was playing.
Smiling lightly, Tara turned back to the tune, and the two of them played out the melodies of Pink Floyd into the night.
As they came to the part of the song where they both played in tandum, Jenny nodded at her to pick up the vocal. Tara smiled and sang out in a clear alto, bringing a large smile to Jenny's lips as she listened to her friend pour her soul into the words.
So...
So you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field
from a cold steel rain?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell...
Did they get you to trade
your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
Did you exchange
a walk on part in the war
for a lead role
in a cage?
Jenny let Tara have the lead as they continued into the bridge. When it came to the chorus though, they played in tandum once again, and they sang out together, blending their voices into a harmony.
How I wish!
How I wish you were here...
We're just
two lost souls swimmin' in a fish bowl
year after year.
Runnin' over the same old ground
have we found
the same old fears?
Wish you were here...
They played the rest of the song out together, and when it's finally chords had faded into the night sky, they sat together in silence, leaning into one another and staring off to the East. Jenny and Tara watched the sun come up that morning, together.
And the wind danced around them.
Closing notes: Go! Check out my LJ account (linked at my homepage in my bio on this site!) and check out the bonus questions and leave me your favorite quotes from The Music of Jump City!
Holy reviews, Batman! There were some LONG ones this time around. I feel good inside.
WHOCARES? - I've saw Turin-the-forsakens pics just after I red Chap. 11 of Path to Tamaran. :) Anyway, thanks for your exuberant adoration... it makes me feel warm and fuzzy.That could just be 'cause I haven't shaved in a few days though...
cameron - Look for Starfire to get pissed off at Dick in coming chapters. I'm going to have SO much fun writing that...
Kokuryu - Yes to all questions, and a brife explination. When I chose Speedy's name, I took into account that he already had one. Like a lot of the names I choose however, I thought the one he had was... well, dumb sounding. Roy Harper? I don't know. Sounds like someone invented it way back when Green Arrow comics were popular. Which is exactly the case. I kept the surname (even though it hasn't come up yet) and changed the first name to Jason, actully in honor of Jason Todd, even though I think he'd kind of a punk. :)
Also, sorry about the fangasms, but it does server a purpose later on. (Yes, you will have a recurring cameo.)
StarryRavenFire - Don't know about Ivy yet, but Batman caught the Joker in the last few chapters of Cantata, so he's out of the picture now. Some villians may come back, but I do have some new players in mind for the major antagonists in the rest of the story. Stay tuned!
skweeks50 - Prepare to be happy. Nightwing hits the stage soon.
Stolen Valkyrie - Questions abound! Heh. Josh was actually Kokuryu's cameo (he won it from the bonus questions back in Cantata.) He'll be making one more apperence later, so look for the wrinkles in that particular plot hole to be smoothed over then.
Nanosaur - No more threesomes! I think... sorry, yo.
Sympathique - Raven Roth MILF. Hell yes.
Heaven's Angel - Static? Hadn't thought of that one... the stories are really no where near Dakota though, so I don't think he'll be around. That, and I know about nothing about him. :)
Bonekhan313 - Glad to have you back! READ THOSE SIDE STORIES! Heh, I'm a review whore, you know that. This chapter was all about Jump, but the next few will be centered almost entierly in Gotham. Look for good Starfire, Babs, Dick, and Tim moments coming soon.
Yeliak - Long reviews are my favorite. Ask anyone. :) Thanks for all the greatthings you saidabout me and the story, and I look forward to your next (hopefully just as lengthy) review!
greg867 -Glad to hear from you again, even if it was just a shout out. Hope this one was up to standards. :)
Robinfan - Four words: "Good job so far!" Hey! Thanks! How am I doing now?
Next Chapter: When the Bat is away, the girls will play! Babs and Starfire hold down the fort in Gotham while a mysterious young man starts harasing one Dinah Lance...
Green flames scorch the streets of the East, while violet flames burn a trail through the West. Red-X tires to remember first contact protocal, and Tim Drake gets a midnight visitor.
Darkness sweeps the streets of Gotham once more, and only one young woman stands in the way of the onslaught.
Next Chapter: Emerald Knight,Obsidion Dawn