Teen Titans
Fragile Dreams

A/N Sorry, this one is also kind of short. The chapters will return to normal length soon. On the bright side though, I'm posting it up two days early! Aren't I a wonderful person? Anyone who figured out who the new villain is will appreciate the extended version of this Episode's title. I'm using the appearance for her from the Outsiders comic last year, because her appearance in the TT comics was idiotic.

Man, you reviewers all ROCK! I was beginning to think I would break 150 reviews on LAST CHAPTER! D.

Unforseen – Thanks for reading it! Unfortunetly, you'll have to wait a bit for Birthmark. I promise, it'll be worth it, and I'll try my best to make it good for ya in the interim… kk?
Blaze-Firestorm – lol… I'm glad you liked it. The reason I'm able to get this up early was I left school today after my AP Calculus test… I just didn't want to have to do the rest of the day after that. 1 down, 4 to go.
Mysti-eyed – I figured you might not know… if you haven't read the comics, there would be no reason for you to know. Well, enjoy the chapter!
Chinxy – Actually, I have AP English on Thursday… it's the test I'm least scared of. Study Hamlet… a LOT. Know it cold… you can use Hamlet to answer any single question they could throw at you. Anyway, hope you enjoy the new villain!
SporkWoman – Heh… good to see another comic reader. I think I make her much cooler than she ever was in the comic. Enjoy!
Evilsangle – Thanks for the reassurance. Hope you like it… I suppose it's not completely original because it's still based off an episode, but nothing quite like this ever happens and the character and fight are completely new from the show Cannon.
Siren's Call – First of all, kick-ass name. Second of all, I'm glad your enjoying it… here's the chapter a few days early!
King Cheetah – I'm glad you enjoyed. Not much I can say that I haven't said before… get around to Black Mass and Call in the Night please D!
Lolopixie – Well, aren't we both feeling dumb then? D. One test down, 4 more to go. Enjoy the chapter, and good luck!
Water81 – What the hell new can I say to you? You already know what I'm probably thinking D. Enjoy the chapter, man!

I'm going to state it up here for purposes of making sure no one misses it… Next chapter up on SATERDAY!

ALSO: I have decided on the soundtrack for this fic. I'll post it up at the end.

Disclaimer - Think about it. If I owned Teen Titans, I wouldn't need to be rewriting the show, now would I?

Fragile Dreams Chapter 15 – All that Shimmers can be Gold

"All to easy, ay Jynx?"

Jynx was sorting through a file cabinet, pulling all the files Gizmo told her to as he sifted through the computer. "Quiet. Focus, we want to get out of here as fast as we can. Let's get this done. The headmaster will not be happy if we fail him." Gizmo flinched under the rebuke, but went back to work.

While Jynx and Gizmo pulled research and development, Mammoth was straining under a heavy super computer he had just torn out of its sockets. "Hey guys, I could use a little help over here..."

"How about a foot?"

Mammoth turned his head rapidly towards the voice just in time to see a cybernetic foot shoot towards his chin. Mammoth went flying backwards from the force of the kick, dropping the computer. 'Oh, shit...' Jynx thought as she turned towards the assembled Titans standing in the entrance. Before they could exchange any words, Jynx spun into a twirl and flung three waves of negative energy at the ceiling. The Titans scattered, and counter-attacked.

Robin and Jynx quickly found themselves in a deadly dance of Robin's staff strikes and Jynx's hex waves. Each combatant ducked and wove as they dodged each attack, neither able to land a blow. "What is H.I.V.E. up to!" Robin demanded as they fought.

Jynx smiled as she wove arcane energy around her. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Suddenly, Jynx took a hard blow from behind and tumbled forward, transforming her tumble into a controlled roll and coming up in a ready stance. Starfire was floating behind where she had been, eyes and fists encased in a emerald glow.

"Yes we would." she spoke, crossing her hands over her chest.

The witch took the chance to do a quick visual sweep of the room. The other H.I.V.E. members weren't fairing much better than she, Jynx saw. BB was chasing around gizmo, and Mammoth was trying and failing to hold of both Raven and Cyborg together. As she watched, Mammoth threw a rock at BB to clear Gizmo's tail, but his lack of attention to his own fight was devastating. Raven slammed into his with the levitated super-computer he had dropped, and he strained to avoid being pinned against the wall. With some much of his effort focused on pressing again the computer, Cyborg's right hook clocked him.

Jynx sighed. They weren't going to win this. Much as she would have loved to not need help, she knew her pride wasn't worth the headmaster's rage. "Team, pattern Epsilon."

Robin was proud of how his team was acting. Watching them fight against these guys really put the growth of his team in perspective. The first time they fought, H.I.V.E. had wiped the floor with the Titans. This time was different.

When Jynx yelled out about Epsilon, the three regrouped in the center of the room, and the Titans moved to surround them. "Now, why don't you be good boys and girls and tell us what you're up to?"

A female voice from behind him called out to him. "Why don't you be good little boys and girls and stick to what concerns you?" Robin turned and watched an orange haired girl emerge from the shadows. She was wearing a blue jump suit, tailored to expose more skin than necessary. It opened up on her abdomen and resumed in a cross hatched pattern of latex that barely covered her breasts. The teenaged girl, appearing around 17, was a true goth. She wore dark eye shadow under her gray, lifeless eyes, and her skin was pale, emphasized by the crosshatched patterns of her outfit. She wasn't just dark in the way Raven was... she looked like someone you'd see at a Marilyn Manson concert.

She smiled; a cold gesture that couldn't quite reach her eyes, never blinking as she stared at Robin. "I'll handle them. Run off and lick your wounds, Jynxie... and don't forget the papers for Blood's pet project."

There was no way Robin was just going to let them leave, and everyone knew it. As the three started walking towards the edge of the loose circle, Raven's eyes started to glow. Robin put the H.I.V.E. students behind him out of his mind: Raven would handle it. His focus never left the girl in front of him.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded as he brought his staff to a guard position. The gothic villain just walked right up to him, pressing her face just centimeters from his.

"Call me Shimmer," she said with another smile, and her eyes started to glow sapphire. Raven cried out in surprise, but Robin didn't dare risk a glance back to see what had happened. Instead, he snapped his weapon upwards, hoping to catch Shimmer under the chin. To his surprise, the staff practically disintegrated as it came closer to her, falling into dust.

Shimmer's hand shot down and caught the falling dusk, throwing herself backwards as Robin followed up his unsuccessful staff blow with a series of punches. Robin leaned back and attacked with a high kick to her face. Shimmer threw up some of the dust in the way, and Robin's foot recoiled off the line of dust like it was a solid steel wall.

As Robin backed off, he stole a glance behind him. The H.I.V.E. kids were gone, and all that remained was a gaping pit in the floor. The other Titans formed up behind him, preparing for a fight. As one they charged the smiling teen.

Shimmer's already blue glowing eyes pulsed brightly, and she extended her hand towards the attacking BB in panther form. The air around him suddenly took on a noxious green hue, and he transformed back to his human self, clutching his throat. "Starfire, get him outta there!" Cyborg yelled as he blasted the H.I.V.E attacker. She fluidly rolled out of the way of the sonic wave, coming up just in time to reach her hand out towards the massive computer Raven had thrown at her. A path cleared itself straight through the object, the material seeming to just vanish before her, leaving nothing but air in front of Shimmer as it landed with a ring through the center on the other side of the dangerous villain.

"No way…" Cyborg said as he stared blankly at the defeated projectile.

Starfire's eyes glowed fiercely, and she shot a beam towards the goth. Shimmer smoothly kicked a small scrap of metal from the ground into its way, and before Robin's eyes it seemed to crystallize. When Starfire's energy beam hit it, the ray reflected back at her, knocking her against the wall with a cry of pain. Shimmer quickly ducked just as a birdarang soared directly through where she was a moment ago, and began frantically weaving as she dodged punches from Robin. The most eerie thing was that the same smile still hadn't left her face.

Suddenly, Robin lost his footing, and stumbled. Looking down, he incredulously noted that the floor beneath his foot had simply vanished, down several centimeters below the normal surface of the ground. Shimmer took advantage of his lost balance and stepped in, landing a wicked kick to his midsection and knocking the air from his lungs. Robin frantically rolled backwards just in time to save his head from a stomp by her platform shoes.

The Titans regrouped in a loose arc in the center of the room, facing Shimmer as they tried to find a strategy against the seemingly unstoppable criminal. Slowly, she reached down to the ground, scraping her hand across it. Shimmer's smile never vanished as she grabbed a small piece of rubble from something Mammoth had shattered, and then righted herself, holding the metal in her open palm. As Robin looked on, dumbfounded, the steel seemed to melt and become a floating orb of a metallic liquid, resembling mercury.

"Recognize this, Titans?" She asked, her glowing eyes narrowing. "It's Quicksilver. Do you know what that is?"

Robin did, and judging by the nervous shuffle behind him most of the other Titans did too. Quicksilver was a highly volatile compound of mercury and hydrogen. It was radioactive, but it was one of the most stable radioactive compounds known to man... as long as it didn't touch anything. When the compound came into contact with almost anything, the Hg would tear its covalent bond apart to get at any other element or ion. This process gave off a huge amount of energy, mainly released as heat. None of this would be a big deal... except that the Hg was abandoning H+ ions when it reacted with anything else. A great number of H+ ions. Hydrogen was flammable. The high temperature of the reaction would cause the hydrogen to combust, and...

"Boom!" Shimmer said, and she threw the floating orb at the Titans.

The quicksilver quickly ignited, sending a blazing fireball speeding at the teen superheroes, leaving a trail of flame in the air behind it. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A black globe fell over them, just as the chemical bomb reached the Titans. The quicksilver shattered against the black shield and the room lit up in a dazzling explosion of light.

When Rae dropped the shield, there was almost nothing left of the building - the titanic explosion had pretty well obliterated the building. Shimmer was nowhere to be seen. Raven partially collapsed, leaning on Robin to keep her feet. He turned to look at her. "Are you alright, Rae?"

She nodded. "As long as I don't have to block another blow like that, I'll be fine." Despite her announcement, she didn't stop leaning on Robin. As the Titans walked back to the car, BB was pestering Cyborg to explain what the hell had just happened. Otherwise, they spend the car ride in silence, Robin still holding on to Rae.

When they got back, Cyborg went straight to the central computer, and then started inexplicably smiling. "Better get ready to face her again soon, Rae."

She scowled. "I thought I told you not to call me that." Cyborg just shrugged and turned back the screen to hide the ironic twist his smile had taken on.

Robin walked over. "What've you got, Cy?"

"I placed a tracer on Mammoth fat head when I clocked him one. He didn't find it, and he lead us right to..."

Robin smiled and finished, "H.I.V.E. Academy." Despite his excitement, he couldn't help but think: 'She lets me call her Rae...'

Next week, Raven was sitting on the roof at night, meditating. Cyborg's undercover operation hadn't gone very well. The new headmaster, Brother Blood, had discovered him quickly, and tried to brainwash him into serving H.I.V.E. The maniac apparently had mind controlling powers... even though Cyborg had managed to free himself from the forced slavery, he had needed to fight for it.

More upsetting to Raven was what he was doing to the school. The satanistic lunatic was turning the school into a cult to worship Trigon. Humans worshiping her father never ceased to amaze her. He wanted to destroy them all! His preferred title was Trigon the Destroyer... how much clearer could it get? For a brief moment, Raven indulged her anger. Sometimes, even she needed to vent in order to keep her anger from coming out when it would be harmful. Here, in her meditation, it could be controlled. 'I hate him. Why can't he just go away and leave me ALONE!' The empath sighed, and blew out her anger with the rest of the expelled air.

As Raven came out of her meditation, she saw a brightly colored figure exercising in the night below her, on the rocks by the ocean. Robin. She watched him in silence for a while. To her shock, she discovered she was blushing. Nothing had blown up this time, a silent tribute to her increasing control over her powers. Maybe next time, she would be able to laugh. Next, perhaps she'd be allowed to cry. Eventually, she just might be able to tell Robin what she thought about him. She trembled at the thought. It scared her to want to reveal such thoughts, but the concept of actually being able to was more addictive than any drug.

Her piercing amethyst eyes followed Robin as he trained, and she waited for the expected voice. It didn't take long to come at all. 'Raven, your powers are growing stronger every day. You know you like him, and its obvious that he likes you. Why don't you do and tell him so? He's right there…'

Raven sighed. These conversations were becoming pathetically routine… practically every time she saw Robin outside of a mission. 'Goldenrod, this is really starting to get old. Have we not already discussed exactly how I'm not going to listen to you until I know who you are?'

Her golden self seemed just as frustrated as she was. 'I haven't I already told you that you have to figure that your for yourself? I'm not simply choosing not to tell you, Raven. I'm just not real unless you find me on your own.' She stared directly into Raven's soul as she spoke. 'And if you think you're tired of putting up with me, just imagine how sick all of us in here are of you ignoring the obvious right in front of you! You already know you can trust him. You already know he wants to help you.'

'I don't need anyone's help.'

'Arguable, but unimportant. The important part is that he wants to do whatever he can to ease you're pain. Admit it or not, you also already know he likes you. So tell us, Raven… what is holding you back?' She turned away from Raven and continued, 'And don't say your emotions being dangerous. You have dealt with that your entire life, and you've worked around it. Trying that excuse here is just a cop out.'

Raven actually didn't know what to say in response to the gold emotion's outburst. Her inability to respond was made worse by the expressions of agreement her other emotions wore. Even Timid and Fear, though not nodding, made no objection. Only Anger seemed to disagree, and she could care less what anger thought. 'I… I don't know. I can't deal with this now… leave me alone.' Raven waved her hand softly, and the voices of her emotions were banished back to the corners of her mind. A final, soft whisper from gold caught her ears, full of sadness.

'You can't ignore him forever, Raven. You'll lose him if you do…'

Starfire was not in a good mood. Terra's sudden departure had hit her hard, and what she had been observing from friends Robin and Raven frustrated her to no end. Her relationship with Robin had only improved since her trip to the future… she no longer felt like she belonged with him. With that feeling came acceptance, and a want for her two best friends to be happy. That was the real reason Star was so upset right now.

Watching Robin and Raven sitting as close to each other on the couch as they could without being obvious about it was enough to drive her mad. It was blindingly obvious to her that they adored each other… but neither one of them could see it! The whole situation was deeply pathetic… if someone as innocently naive as Star could see it, how couldn't they?

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to see Cyborg standing behind her. Holding a finger to his lips, he gestured to outside the living area. Star followed him, and they leaned against opposite sides of the hallway. "Now it's my turn, Star. Penny for your thoughts?"

Starfire was quite a good minute, debating what to tell her cybernetic friend. She settled for telling most of the truth. "I was examining my thoughts about how two intelligent people could be blind to one another."

Cyborg smiled knowingly. "Ah, so you noticed it too, huh? Doesn't surprise me. It's very obvious once you bother to look for it… meaning Beast Boy probably hasn't caught on yet."

Starfire giggled. "It is so." She sighed, looking away from friend Cyborg towards the closed door into the living area. "Friends Robin and Raven are… meant for one another, I do believe… yet they can not see it." Starfire looked back to Cy. "Why do you believe this is?"

"Star, Rae isn't exactly in touch with her feelings, and Robin isn't the best at dealing with other people. The fact that Raven doesn't exactly show how she feels often doesn't do anything to help either. Really, I think they're both afraid of each other. They're practically best friends and they'd trust each other through Slade's hideout and back again, but their terrified of what their feelings for each other could mean. They're so similar… real birds of a feather."

"I do not understand you, friend Cyborg. What are the birds that share a feather?"

"It's an expression, Star… it refers to two things that share common traits. It was also a pun… a play on words… where a word could mean more than one thing and both make sense."

Star looked confused, and nibbled on her lip while she tried to puzzle out Cyborg's meaning. Suddenly, her hazel eyes lit up. "Ah! I understand! It is funny because friends Robin and Raven share much in common, and both are named after Earth birds… correct?"

Cyborg laughed. "Yeah, that's right Star. We'll have you making Earth style jokes before you know it."

Cyborg was still laughing when Star asked her next question. "Friend Cyborg, you seem to be very knowledgeable about the dating of friends. Have you had such an experience?" Cyborg continued laughing, but even Star could detect the change in his laughter. It became… bitter.

"Star, you've seen now what I looked like before my accident. I was a popular kid in school, and an athlete. Yeah, I've had some experience."

Star detected more. "Is there one for which you having such feelings now?"

"No," Cyborg said, too quickly, and walked away. Confused, Starfire put him out of her mind… he wasn't the problem at hand right now, friends Raven and Robin were. She had a lot of thinking to do.

End Chapter 15

A/N Yeah, I'm sorry that was prettyshort, but the next one will be longer... maybe. I hope you enjoyed Shimmer. It always annoyed me when comic writers created a character with incredible powers, and then always used her power so ineffectively. The best they could ever come up with for Shimmer to do was turn things into toxic gas. I think I came up with a handful of better uses for her powers. You'll be seeing more of her.

REVIEW!

Next time on Teen Titans – Fragile Dreams:

Another Interlude!
-Starfire tried to figure out what to do about her two best friends.
-What's wrong with Cyborg?
-Cyborg puts his all into taking down Brother Blood.
-What's going on with everyone's favorite shaman?
-And another scene that comic readers will enjoy at the end.

Next Episode: Third Interlude Silence

Next chapter up on SATERDAY!

Now… Soundtrack. I would recommend trying to get these songs if you can… I think they fit the story very well, and will make reading it more enjoyable. All the song's listed have been used already. I'll add more songs as they become useful to the story. I'll warn you the chapter before the song so if you want to get it, you can.

Track # - Title of Song - Artist of Song - Album of Song - Role in the Story
Track 1: Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd – Wish You Were Here – Opening Song
Track 2: Shadowman – Brother – Digging Bone – Song in the First Interlude
Track 3: And One – Linking Park – Hybrid Theory EP – Song in the Second Interlude
Track 4: Skip for now
Track 5: Skip for now
Track 6: Skip for now
Track 7: Skip for now
Track 8: Skip for now
Track 9: Missing – Evanescence – Either Anywhere but Home or Not for Your Ears EP, your choice – Ending Song

Thanks very much! I'll talk to you guys later!

Next chapter up on SATERDAY!