Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
Warning: ...but with clouds comes rain... is a line break.
Chapter Four: Touching Hearts
The siren alarm rang through the Tower, alerting those resting, playing, training, or merely staring at the ceiling in an aimless manner, that there was something wrong once again in Jump City. The Titans flocked to the control room, in which a huge screen flashed a black circle, representing Refraction. Everyone paused for a moment, and then Nightwing started to speak.
"All right- Cy and Bee, I'll want you two-"
"No." He stopped, looking at Mirror's intense, almost angry expression. "This one is for us." By us, she was referring to the younger Titans: Mirror, Sel, Blazefire and Zeek. Reluctantly the black haired man studied her, and then move back slightly, studying her.
"We'll be watching, as backup." It would have been natural for the parents to refuse, but they knew their children were finally starting to come into their own, and needed the chance to battle. Mirror nodded, turning her green gaze to the three who stood beside her.
"All right. Sel, you're coming up with me. Zeek, you're my groundcover- I want you to find out exactly why's she's there, whether it's to lure us out or actual steal something. And Blazefire, you catch her from behind. If she manages to get one of us, I want you to hit her with all you got." Her words rang in their heads as they headed out, reaching the spot where Refraction waited lazily on the rooftop. Immediately Sel and Mirror rose into the air to meet her face to face, he on a platform of air and she on a broad winged eagle whose wings left silver arcs in the air.
"Titans… or should I say the Toddlers?" Mirror ignored the taunt, throwing out a hand as down below Zeek signaled Refraction had indeed come to merely attract their attention. A shifting ball, forming of glowing snakes, collected in her palm, her battle mind wiping away the image of the teen she now knew as her sister and replacing it with one of an enemy.
"You're going down," she gritted. The cool figure merely raised an eyebrow before blocking Sel's wind lash. In the furious battle that ensued, Refraction held her own against them.
...but with clouds comes rain...
Emily sighed, holding her head in her hands. During that battle, two days ago, and a week after Raven's collapse, Hailey had come through Refraction's visage. Changeling's daughter hadn't been able to give it her all, because there was a connection between them she had found- just as her mother had predicted. Perhaps it would have been easier if she had not known what she knew now at all.
The sound of footsteps made her tilt her head and peer out of one hand at her father. His face was tired and his quirky smile was small and barely hanging on. In one large hand he held a leather bound book, well worn and treasured. She cocked an eyebrow through her fingers, unconsciously so like Refraction had done in their battle.
"This was… a journal of sorts that I kept while your mother was gone." Changeling lifted the book slightly. "I thought it might help you to see why Raven has these issues… and maybe gain a bit of understanding." Gently he laid it down next to her. "If you want to." Quietly her turned and left. Slowly and hesitantly Emily picked it up and held it for a moment. Lost in silent thought she stood and walked soundlessly up the stairs to the Infirmary.
...but with clouds comes rain...
Emily flipped through the pages, touching each one almost reverently. To her surprise her father's handwriting was neat and readable. Stopping on a page, her eyes were caught by one paragraph, dated after the time she now knew her mother had left for a second time, out of her own will. She read it out loud softly.
"Life goes on, Raven. You learn to live with it, to go back to what it was before. Yes, the pain is still there, and things will never truly be the same, but something drives you forward. For me, it's the thought of seeing you again, no matter what you told me. I'll keep dreaming, because of that. Come home soon, dark bird."
Her voice choked on the last words, recognizing the endearment her father used for Raven. A memory covered her vision suddenly.
She peeked through the crack in a door, crouching in the hallway. Inside, Raven and Changeling stood, their arms around each other as her head rested on his chest.
"It's so good to be back." Raven's voice was a whisper.
"And you'll be staying this time?" His voice was strong but gentle as he looked down at her.
"I don't think I could leave if I wanted to," she teased, lifting her head to look up at him.
"Hmmm. I wouldn't let you this time." He bent his head in turn, looking into her eyes. She laughed softly as he spun her around once, stopping her in front of him again. "I'm much stronger, Raven. Even your powers wouldn't stop me, because this time I have another person to keep you here for. A smirk crossed her face.
"I don't doubt that, but somehow it seems that I would be the one stopping you from running on our wedding day." Changeling's eyes grew huge for a moment.
"Wedding?" Raven watched him, one eyebrow lifted artfully. With a gulp, he nodded. "Does that mean… a tux?" There was a hint of the teen she would learn of later in his plaintive voice. Raven nodded. Changeling sighed. "Cy's going to be taking sooo many blackmail pictures…"
"But it would be worth it… right?" The last word was tentative and for a moment Emily caught a glimpse of the uncertainty her mother must have harbored since she had come back. Instantly Changeling's arms tightened around Raven's waist and drew her slender body to his until their faces were barely apart. Em had never seen her father look that serious since then.
"Dark bird, till the day I die, it will always be worth it." Their eyes met for a moment longer; Emily knew the mushy clichés about 'lovers gazing deep into each other's eyes', but it seemed that he was saying with his heart what words couldn't convey. Then their lips touched and Em felt the tension even she had been aware of make way for something completely different. After several heartbeats, though, Raven broke off the kiss and put two fingers to his lips as he looked at her quizzically. That quiet amusement in her eyes, Raven slipped out of his embrace and took the few paces to the door. She crouched down to Em's eye level as Em blushed, looking slightly guilty at being caught. Raven captured her daughter's gaze and held it.
"Time for bed, Emily. Go get Uncle Cyborg to read you a story, okay?" Em nodded and touched her mother's fingertips with her, a contact of reaffirmation/reassurance/caring gesture they had used less and less frequently until Raven's accident. Then the door slid shut and Em rose, seeking out "Unkie Cy" as, in the back of her mind, she became aware of Raven carefully sealing off their mental bond temporarily.
With a soft smile Emily roused out of the memory trance. Cool liquid blurred her eyes and she didn't blink them away, realizing only now how much she had missed in the time she had with Raven. Touching the delicate hand that held so much power, and yet held still more control and love, Em gently placed her fingertips on Raven's.
"What do I do, Raven? What do I do against Hailey, for Dad, Mom? For you and me?" The tears started to overflow and she put her forehead on the cool edge of the bed, feeling the past days finally overwhelm her.
Hailey, the bond she felt but couldn't break, Raven, Slade, Changeling-
Faintly, struggling through the fog and pain that surrounded her, Emily felt the briefest touch of her mother's mind.
Chakra.
Instinctively she reached out, her mental self feeling the cool flow of the exhausted woman slip through her hands. But, in that powerful, too-short moment, Em knew she would see Raven again. Knew, in her heart of hearts, that Raven would be back somehow- and smiled.
I love you, Mom. Come home soon.
Then, rising, Mirror brushed the peaceful brow of Raven, the mother she had never truly known, and turned. The door hissed open and her confident feet brought her to the Alarm pad placed on the wall down the corridor. On it were two buttons, one red, one blue. Supposedly the Titans had installed the blue one as the real alarm, setting the red as a decoy after several pranks by Beast Boy. And rumor in the Tower had it that it had worked too. Very carefully she pressed the red button, causing it to pop open and reveal a smaller orange one. Swiftly (before the squirt gun could get her) Em slammed on the new circle. A low tone bleep rang through the Tower and she grinned, walking to the main room for the meeting that she had just called.
The Titans gather quickly, finding Mirror standing at the head of a conference table they had installed when the kitchen bar had gotten too small. Once they were all there, Mirror leaned forward as she placed her palms on the cool surface.
"I have a plan for dealing with Refraction." For a moment no one spoke; and then Nightwing, who generally initiated such meetings, glanced around at the others and nodded.
"Okay then, Mirror. Talk to us." He opened his arms slightly, gesturing at the heroes seated at the table with his fingers, and Mirror knew she had gained back a bit of the respect she had lost after running away. A quick grin flashed across her face at the leader before she became serious again.
"Here's what we need to do…"
...but with clouds comes rain...
Patrolling the shadowed streets emotionlessly, Refraction was not surprised to feel the slightly unpleasant buzz spread down her spine from the implant in her brain, allowing her to hear, see, and be supported by Slade. His voice came into her mind; Slade had once mentioned to her that it accessed a 'natural pathway' she had been born with and never used.
"Report to base." Without another word she opened a portal and melted into it, coming out behind Slade's chair. In front of her, and the chair, were screens filled with information and pictures scrolling through. Ignoring them, Slade turned halfway around, allowing his apprentice to see his profile set on the unearthly blue glow of a blank screen.
"Refraction." She straightened minutely, feeling the robotic gaze of cameras and the cruel one of her master settle on her.
"Sir?"
"Mirror and Raven." Her mind scanned her memory and came up with information, as he expected.
"The woman we fought in the warehouse, wife of Changeling, member of the Titans, and her daughter, the green haired teen from the battle two days ago."
"The woman you fought." His cold voice stressed the word slightly, correcting her.
"The woman I fought, sir."
"Yes. If you see either of them, kill without hesitation." It was an order, and she bowed.
"Sir." Refraction didn't speak of the faint, lingering disturbance she had felt since battling Mirror, or the half dead memory tugging with a ghostly pull on her mind.
"You must get it from your mother." The pale girl was almost startled by the musings of her master. His fingers were steepled in front of his face as he stared ahead.
"Sir?"
He turned to look at her, the chair soundless and efficient, just like him.
"Your emotionlessness. The fact that you don't care about anything that doesn't affect you." His one eyes scanned her, coming to rest on her steady blue gaze.
"She fought me at first, you know. But I broke her in the end. They are all broken in the end. Remember that, Refraction. Remember that any who fight against me will fail, and in the end, no one will stand against me." Silence followed that statement and his eye narrowed as neither broke the contact. Refraction knew she was pushing it, but an odd defiance had risen, and she would not look away.
Pain raced up her spine, electrocuting her. The world swam in neon orange and then disappeared. Seconds later she was on her hands and knees, chest heaving for breath.
"Remember, Apprentice. No one stands against me in the end- only by my side." The soft whisper of the chair turning was loud over her breathing. Slowly she rose, standing tall in the cold radiating from him. Then she too turned and walked out, mind racing.
Slade was playing a deeper game than anyone knew.
Author's Note: So Refraction's getting suspicious and Mirror realizes exactly what she's been missing with Raven all these years. The first time I uploaded this, I forgot the responses. BAD ME. So here they are.
cd lover: Em can be the flower girl; no problem. I PROMISE I'll get the wedding up before I finish this. Yes, Hailey felt love when Em broadcast the caring sensation. And, -cough- -cough- Slade kind of hurt Hailey like Raven, but doing even a fourth of the stuff that he did to Raven would be sick and very, very twisted. So he won't. This soon enough?
animeobsessed3191: Thankies for getting Different up. Hope you enjoyed (or not) reading this chapter.