Summary: Raven wishes for nothing more than to be accepted by those of which she is hated and feared. When she is offered a 'chance of a lifetime in which she may be able to achieve this dream will she take it? Or will she continue on the path of self-hatred?

The teacher's voice droned on monotonously as Raven stared unseeing down at the open pages of her psychology book. As usual she wasn't paying attention to the teacher's pathetic attempt at explaining the mind's capabilities and how it worked. She knew very well how the mind worked, that there was an unknown power hidden in its depths and that, as a result of her know-how, she was the most feared and hated student in Gotham High—in the entire city for that matter.

It had been like that for as long as she could remember. It doesn't matter, she told herself. I don't care. I don't need them. And she made herself believe it. Because if she didn't, she knew that she would give in to that terrible longing hidden deep inside her. A longing she'd harbored since she'd been four years old, when she'd realized that the whispering she'd heard, the mothers she'd watch snatch their children away, the glares sent in her direction were because of her. It was she that they hated and feared she'd realized.

And that was when the longing had been born. The "If Only"-s. If only she'd been born with blond hair and blue eyes instead of the dark lavender-colored hair and the deep violet eyes she'd inherited. If only she'd grown up with parents who loved her instead of the cruel foster parents she lived with. If only…If only…If only…But it wouldn't happen. Ever. She'd never be a normal girl with normal friends, the city would never accept her for who and what she really was, her foster parents would never love her. I don't care, she told herself again. Two more years and she'd be free to leave this god-forsaken city behind. Two more years and she'd never have to hear the hateful remarks or endure the glares of resentment from those who feared her. Two more years…

"Kuroi…Rachael Kuroi."

Raven looked up and saw to her slight surprise that someone other than her teacher had called her name. She'd expected to hear the teacher's usually demeaning comment about her strayed attention and the delighted snickers of the class. She saw instead a boy standing to her teacher's left near the door. He had hair the color of midnight and surprisingly pale skin—one of the few people in the city without a tan. His eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses that, she noticed, he hadn't removed in the presence of the teacher, as anyone with even a minute since of etiquette would have done. She observed as well, with dry amusement, how the teacher's eyes flickered irritably to the glasses and a small frown of disapproval appeared on his face. The boy however made no effort to mollify the teacher by removing the glasses and instead repeated his earlier query.

"Is there a Rachael Kuroi here?"

"RACHAEL!" The teacher barked turning to Raven. "Pay attention! It seems you've been summoned to the principal's office. He grinned nastily. "Take your things, with any luck you won't be back!"

Snickers and hoots sounded around the classroom.

Hot fury swept through Raven at the class's open display of glee at the idea of her injury and, with an effort, she bit back a hateful retort. Looking down quickly to hide the eerie glowing of her eyes she began a fighting struggle to keep Fury at bay. Slowly, painfully, she closed the door on her emotions and resumed a blank emotionless expression. The black energy that had, only moments before, been spilling eagerly from her fingertips to encase her desk, flickered once…twice…and faded to an ordinary brown desk with metal legs and a yellow, puke-colored chair.

Raven quickly scanned the room with her eyes hoping that no one had witnessed her momentary loss of control. Relief swept through her. Thankfully the teacher and the students had resumed completely disregarding her presence in the world. Her relief was short lived however as her eyes rested upon the boy still standing at the front of the classroom. The dark glasses were fixated upon her and she knew that he had seen her mistake.

Uneasily Raven dragged her eyes from the dark penetrating gaze and began to gather her things. She did this slowly dreading the fearfully questioning looks she would most likely receive from the boy.

Books in her arms, she made her way up the aisle between the desks, and out the door into the long deserted expanse of the school hallway. Her tense shoulders relaxed slightly as the door closed behind her and she followed the boy to the principal's office. As they walked she could sense an almost tangible feeling of apprehension on the air. The boy however seemed unaffected by her anxiety. His hands tucked loosely in his pockets and his relaxed casual steps beside her gave no indication that he was afraid of her. Nor did he question her about what he'd seen in the classroom. If she hadn't seen that dark piercing look that he'd fixed on her she would have thought he had missed the incident completely.

Raven pushed her discomfort to the back of her mind and tried to fix her attention on more important things. Like why she'd been called to the principal's office. Before she could consider the reason for the unusual occurrence, however, they had already reached their destination.

Raven looked up at the door marked 'Principal'. Oddly the boy, now acting the part of a perfect gentleman, opened the door and stepped aside allowing her to enter. She shot a quick glance at him and not for the first time felt a stab of unsettlement at not being able to see his eyes. Warily she passed in front of him entering the office.

It was a nice office neatly adorned with three cushioned chairs that sat in front of a tidy desk behind which the principal was sitting. Bookshelves stood against the wall to the principal's left providing easy accessibility to the files that were lined up on the shelves, and the bubble machine to a small fish aquarium hummed quietly. All of this, which would normally put a person at ease, provided no sense of comfort to Raven as the door closed confiningly behind her.

The first thing she noticed was that there was a man sitting in one of the cushioned chairs. He was young, maybe in his mid-thirties Raven guessed, with dark hair. His eyes she couldn't see because his back was to her but she had a distinct feeling that she'd seen him before….

"Good afternoon Miss Kuroi. Please take a seat," the principal said gesturing towards the two unoccupied chairs.

Reluctantly Raven sat in the chair the farthest from the suspiciously familiar visitor. She had seen that man before. She was sure of it now and she racked her brain searching for a memory of a handsome, well-dressed man with dark hair.

"Of course you're wondering why you've been called here," the principal interrupted her thoughts, "So I'll just cut through the chase. This," he indicated the stranger, " is Professor Logan Kain and his assistant Richard Greyson."

Raven felt a surge of irritation towards herself for not noticing that the sunglasses boy had followed her into the office and was currently lounging against the wall behind her.

" You may remember them form the field study that Professor Kain performed a few weeks ago," the principal continued. " The professor has requested a few moments alone to speak with you about the results so I'll leave you three to your discussion."

With that said, the principal stood to leave the office. Raven's eyes snapped to those of the professor and quickly away again. His eyes were impaling and seemingly ageless. She felt like he could see into her very soul---her deepest darkest secrets. It unnerved her and she felt a shudder of fear and dislike pass through her frame.

She watched powerlessly as the principal exited the office and almost wished that he would return. She felt suddenly vulnerable and defenseless….Ridiculous. She was being ridiculous. She knew that she most certainly was not defenseless and she gathered her walls around her returning to her emotionless façade watching as the door closed behind the principal leaving her alone with the two strangers.