Chapter Two
Disclaimer: Still don't own the Teen Titans
(Titans Tower)
Raven blew the steam off of her tea gently as she stared out into the gray fog that had surrounded the Tower since this morning. She closed her eyes and after a moment could almost hear the doors opening. She could just about feel the familiar happy aurora that always assaulted her senses whenever he came in
"Raven?" a voice asked. A hand touched her shoulder and the girl whirled around almost spilling her tea. Robin was standing behind her looking worried
"What is it Robin?" she asked in a dry monotone that held anger behind it. Robin sighed and removed his hand from Raven's shoulder
"I just wanted to talk to you."
"I'm listening."
"Look, I know you still hate my guts for how I acted about… Beast Boy." Raven's face remained emotionless "I just wanted you to know that if I had a choice I'd let him go. He was my friend too Raven. And I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me for everything." nothing crossed Raven's face.
Robin had always been able to at least read her eyes. Her eyes, no matter how hard she tried had always betrayed some emotion. But now there was nothing. Just a hollow look.
Behind the two the doors slid open and Starfire floated in looking deep in thought. Raven looked up slightly then floated over to the girl
"Hey Starfire, would you like to go to the mall today?" she asked quietly. The alien princess looked at her friend in confusion. Raven rarely left the Tower anymore
"Are you feeling alright Raven? You have refused to come with me to the mall of shopping for months. Why do you wish to come now?" Raven shrugged her cloaked shoulders
"I just need to get out for a little bit." 'And get away from all these ghosts.' she added silently to herself. Starfire nodded in understanding then smiled
"I would very much enjoy your company. Why don't you go change and I will see if Jinx would like to come as well." Raven nodded and floated up through the ceiling in a black vortex.
Starfire glanced at Robin who was steaming from the half demon's sudden ignoring of him. After a moment she left the room without even speaking to her leader.
Jinx was filing her dark purple nails on her bed when Starfire stuck her head in. She looked up from her work and smiled at her friend
"Hey Star, what's up?" she asked patting the bed. Starfire entered the room but didn't sit down
"Raven asked for me to come to the mall. I was wondering if you would like to come."
"Sure Star. Let me change real fast and I'll meet you in the entry way." Starfire smiled and floated out of the room and down the hall to her own quarters.
Raven exited her room in a pair of baggy jeans and an old sweatshirt of Beast Boy's that was dark purple. She sighed as the faint aurora filled her mind. What she wouldn't give to see him again. Just to say hello and go get some pizza together. She sighed again and took the elevator down to the garage where Cyborg was working.
He looked up as the half demon walked in. He stopped buffing the T-car and put the rag over one shoulder
"Starfire, Jinx and I are going to the mall. Can you tell Robin?" the metal man nodded and patted the top of Raven's violet head gently. Only he could get away with that
"You guys need a lift? I just replaced the fog lights on the T-car and I'm heading into the city for work anyway." Cyborg still did odd jobs at the local garage. Raven smiled slightly
"Thanks. I'll go get the other two and we'll meet you outside." Cyborg nodded and got into the car.
Raven flew out into the entryway and saw Starfire and Jinx sitting in two large chairs chattering loudly. Starfire was dressed in jeans and a low midriff halter top. Jinx had on black jeans and a black stretchy shirt. Her boots were pink and she wore her bubble gum pink hair up in a messy bun
"Cyborg's going to take us." she explained before going out the door. She didn't notice her two friends exchange a worried glance as they followed and got into the car and took off across the water towards the bridge.
On the way home Raven admitted she had fun with the other two girls. Since Cyborg wasn't done at work they were flying home. Raven had already teleported their things to the Tower and had created a large black disk for Jinx to stand on. Although she was sitting with her legs dangling over the edge
"Trust me Star, you will look great in the outfit Rae picked out for you. Dark purple and silver are your colors. Pink is kinda iffy."
"I do hope so. I was planning on wearing it this evening when we go out for pizza." she turned her attention to Raven "Will you be coming Raven?"
"I guess Star. I think I just needed a little outing to bring up my spirits." Starfire smiled and Jinx stood on her disk and pointed in the general direction of the Tower
"Onward friends! Onward to our new clothes and then onward to pizza!" this made Starfire collapse with laughter so she was lying on her back in the air laughing. Raven cracked a smile and slowed the disk's speed to a snail's pace. Jinx frowned and pretending to be riding a scooter, revving the imaginary engine
"Come on Raven! I don't want to go at grandma's scooter's pace!" Starfire giggled at the joke and floated in circles around the crawling disk.
When they touched down Jinx ran into the main room where Raven had put their bags, nearly colliding with Robin in the process. A pile of mail was on the table
"Oh! Mail! Anything for me?" Jinx asked her attention on her bags distracted for a single moment. Robin nodded and tossed her two letters. One was from Gizmo and the other was from Mammoth. The two had joined up with the Titans East and sent letters after Bumble Bee told them the communicators were for emergencies only.
Jinx squealed happily and picked up her bags and left for her room. Raven levitated her bags in front of her but Robin's voice stopped her
"You got mail too Raven, no return address though." Raven raised a brow but took the letter carefully. Her powers detected no danger in the letter so she tucked it in the folds of her cloak to open when she was in the privacy of her room. Starfire took her magazines from the pile and picked up her bags leaving the room. Raven started to leave again but Robin called after her
"Raven, will you take Cyborg's car stuff down to the garage?" Raven nodded and finally exited the room unhindered.
Once in the safety of her room she hung up her clothes and placed Cyborg magazines on her dresser. Then she flopped down on her bed and opened the letter with a flick of her powers.
Out fell a penny on a leather piece. She picked it up carefully. The leather was long enough for someone to slip it over their head like a pendant. She frowned and picked up the letter
"Dear Raven, I apologize for not writing sooner, but I've been pretty busy. Right now I'm in Gothem but I'm moving cities soon. I trust you won't tell Robin where I am.
Anyway I found this girl named Jessica who has the ability to control fire. I met two of her friends but I'll tell you about them in my next letter. Anyway I've decided to create a place for teenagers with superpowers to come and hang out with each other while learning to control their abilities. Naturally no one will know about it and I'm thinking four or five will be the most I can handle. Then once they're older maybe they can go join the Titans or even the JLA. Once I get everything figured out I'll write you where I am and you can visit.
I really miss you Rae. I wish I could come home and we could play video games or something. Even having you insult me would be nice.
The penny is the one I found the day of the whole end of the world thing. I've always worn it since then. But I decided to send it to you so you'll never forget me.
I'll write the next chance I get. Don't tell Robin about this and hide the letter. He knows Gothem like the back of his hand and I'm sure he could find me here.
Tell Cyborg I miss him too, and tell him that Jinx likes him. I promised her I would. Don't let Star get all depressed and unhappy about me. Tell her I'll be seeing her soon, which I hope I will even if it might not be under friendly circumstances. I miss you Raven. I can't say that enough. I hope you're safe and sound. I'll talk to you soon.
Your friend,
Gar."
Raven's eyes watered slightly as she read the letter. Some parts of the last paragraph were slightly blurred from water, or tears. She smiled to herself and held the letter close to her chest for a moment. Then she put it back in the envelope and placed it in a locked box under her bed, alongside her magic mirror and poetry journals. As she shut the lock someone knocked on the door making her start slightly. Quickly she shoved the box back under her bed then hurried over to her door. Cyborg was standing outside
"Hey Raven, what's up?" he asked casually. Raven just ducked inside the room. Cyborg stepped inside. Cyborg was the only person allowed in the dark goddess's room and even then he always had to knock and stick his head in before fully coming in.
Raven picked up the magazines and handed them to him
"Cyborg, can you keep a secret?" she asked quietly. Cyborg's happy face turned serious and he stopped flipping through the magazines
"Course I can Rae. Especially if it's important. Not even Robin could pry something from me if I didn't want him to know it."
"I… I got a letter from Gar. He said he was in Gothem and that he was looking for kids. Kids like him, with powers. So he could help them." Cyborg nodded slowly
"You'd better not tell Robin that, he'd freak and think Gar was going to mess with their minds and force them to turn evil or something." Raven turned to the window then an image passed through her mind. A blonde girl with baby blue eyes and a dazzling smile. Hands outstretched. Hands that could bring life or death. Terra.
"He's helping them like he couldn't help Terra." she whispered. Cyborg cocked his head than patted her shoulder
"Maybe that's not why he thinks he's doing it. But I'm sure on some level that's why." Raven touched the metal hand on her shoulder gratefully
"Cyborg, do you need any help with the T-car?" Cyborg smiled and the two exited the room.
(Underground hideout in Gothem City)
Gar felt awkward surrounded by the large group of teenagers. Jessica on the other hand seemed totally at ease. She smiled and glared accordingly at different people.
Finally they came to a pair of boys who were arm wrestling on the floor. One had blonde hair and light blue eyes that seemed almost familiar. The other boy had a mop of brown curls and deep brown eyes. Both of them were straining to win but it was obvious they were evenly matched. Finally Jessica cleared her throat and they both looked up
"Oh, hey Jess. Who's your friend here?" the blonde kid asked flexing his hand wincing in pain. The other boy laughed shortly
"Guys this is Garfield. Garfield meet Jason and Conrad." the two teens stood up brushing small pebbles from the floor off their shirts
"Nice to meet ya." Jason said shaking hands with Gar. His hands were covered in thick, worn leather gloves
"Ditto." Conrad said coolly. Jessica rolled her eyes slightly and pulled the three of them into a far corner.
After quickly explaining why Gar was in Gothem and who he was the two quickly agreed to accompany him back to Jump City
"Jessica said that one of you didn't have any powers. We might have a bit of trouble getting there. I can only carry one person at a time." Jason smirked slightly
"No prob. I'll just summon another rock to fly them." Gar raised a brow
"You're a geomancer?"
"If that has anything to do with rocks then ya. I can control any kind of rocks, but sometimes it's hard." Gar nodded slowly
"Alright. What about you Conrad? Conrad?" the boy had disappeared. Jessica looked around for a moment then exchanged a glance with Jason
"He must be getting his suit. Come on we've got a meeting place. He'll probably go there."
The three teens sat on the rooftop waiting for Conrad to make an appearance. Jessica and Jason contented themselves to a thumb war while Gar paced up and down the length of the rooftop.
After a few minutes a figure flipped onto the roof. Gar turned around and his mouth dropped. Conrad was Red-X!
(So review and tell me what you think! And I also need an idea for two other teen with powers. Message me and tell me your ideas!)
Raven's Shadow of Light