Re-Educating Miss Roth
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening Notes: Holidays are over, I've kicked the draining illness that's been plaguing me, and finally got around to finishing this chapter. There's a lot of action, and I'm just getting back into this story after finishing GCC, so it took a while. This story will be my focus now, though, and I'll finish this out before starting Jump City Symphony. Look for more frequent updates.
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans, or Shrike, who is property of DC Comics, and by extension, Warner Bros.
Chapter Eight - On the Razors Edge
"Where are we going?" Janice asked in a fearful voice as Raven led them down the street, away from the Westbrook Mall.
Ami, now skateless, was almost jogging to keep up with the other two girls, since her legs were shorter, "Yeah, Cassie... erm... Raven... uh..."
"My middle name is Cassandra. You can use that if you want." Raven replied in a clipped tone, "And we're going to the corner up there." she pointed to the street corner.
"Why?" Janice sounded fearful, "What's going on?"
"We're meeting Cyborg." Raven replied.
"What for?" Ami was up next to her and grabbed her arm, "Cassie! What the hell is going on?"
"We need to keep the two of you in a safe place while we rescue Becka and Hanna." Raven replied, pulling the red head along with her, "You'll be staying in Titans Tower until we say it's safe."
"What?" both of them burst out. The three of them stopped on the corner, and Raven turned to them.
"You're the ones that wanted to see the Tower up close. Well, you're getting your chance." She turned away just as the blue and silver T-Car pulled up and the door opened.
Cyborg looked out at them, "Need a ride ladies?"
"Can it, Cy." Raven climbed into the front passenger side seat, "Get in." she said to Janice and Ami.
The other two girls jumped in and they were off in a matter of seconds.
Beast Boy was silent as he and Speedy sat on top of the Mall, and the red haired archer wrapped his arm with a bandage. He looked down at his own green hand and made a fist, then relaxed it.
"You worried about the blonde girl?" Speedy asked quietly as he tightened down the strip of sterile cloth.
Beast Boy looked up at him, "Hanna?" he nodded, "Yeah."
"You wanna talk about it?"
The changeling sighed, "She was raped less than forty eight hours ago, and now she's wounded, kidnapped, and possibly being tortured." he shook his head, "It's not fair."
"Criminals don't often discriminate. At least she has Becka Pullman with her. Hopefully they'll be able to support each other through this thing."
"I hope so." Beast Boy sighed again, "We're gonna' be benched for this, you know that right?"
Speedy frowned as he finished affixing the bandage, "Why?"
"That dude Shrike." Beast Boy moved his arm around a little, "Robin's gonna be gunning for him solo." Flexing once, he nodded at Speedy, "Thanks."
"Not a problem." the red head frowned deeper, "We should shadow him-"
"He'd know."
"Raven can talk some sense into him-"
"Are we talking about two different people here?" Beast Boy laughed bitterly, "I mean... you know him just as well as I do, right?"
"You know Robin." Speedy said, "The Boy Wonder I know best is named Dick Grayson." and he turned and marched off.
Beast Boy watched him go, a firm set about his shoulders, and sighed. "Good luck." he mumbled, then took flight as a hawk with a bandaged wing.
Jinx stood on a rooftop several blocks away from the mall and stared out over the city with Robin and Starfire next to her. After a few minutes, Robin spoke, "Do you know why I asked you to come with me, Jinx?"
"Because you wanted a cute blonde and a cute redhead to watch you brood?"
Starfire stifled a laugh, and Robin frowned at her before turning back to Jinx, "Be serious for a moment." he pointed out over the city, "You're a good fighter. A damn good fighter. And as much as I've drilled it into them, you're also better than the rest of the Titans at stealth missions."
Jinx nodded with a light blush, "Yeah, I guess."
"Raven is with the other girls at the moment, but she'll be joining us shortly. Starfire will stay with them, and the three of us will be searching out Shrike and his goons."
"What about the others?"
"Cyborg, Beast Boy and Speedy will be patrolling the perimeter of where ever we track them to, to make sure no one escapes, and Aqualad will be patrolling the rest of the city to make sure nothing else happens."
"I forgot he was even here." Jinx blinked.
"He's been keeping a low profile." Robin nodded, "Are you up to this?"
"I'll need a change of clothes." Jinx pointed to her stocking clad feet, "Climbing buildings wearing inline skates isn't easy, so I ditched them."
"We'll have Raven bring you some gear from the Tower." Robin nodded, "Star, you can head back now, and send Raven over."
"Of course." she floated up then drifted over to him. She wrapped her arms around him and held him as he tried to pull away quickly. He gave up after a few seconds and let her hold him, "Be careful, Richard. Do not act brashly because an old enemy has come back to haunt you."
Robin sighed, "I'll keep my head, Kori. Thanks."
"I am simply looking out for the one I love. I will see you later tonight?"
He grinned, "Count on it."
"Get out of here, Kori, before you two make me puke." Jinx stuck her tongue out at them.
Star grinned and flew off with a flash of green light. Robin watched her go, then turned back to Jinx with a serious expression, "When we find these bastards, beat them into submission. I don't care how badly you hurt them, as long as they're still alive."
Jinx's grin slipped off and she nodded.
"And Jinx?" Robin said as he turned away and prepared a grappler, "Leave Shrike to me." She just nodded again as he fired off his line and swooped out into the city.
Raven strode down the hall ways of the Tower just as she used to, the week away barely a memory already. Janice and Ami trailed after her, still asking questions.
"How are you going to find them?" Ami sounded anxious, and her face held nothing but worry. Janice was walking beside her, wringing her hands and blinking rapidly.
"I'll go to a centralized location in the city and meditate. I'll be able to search out their mental awareness, and locate them that way." Raven replied.
"That's so wild... you're a Titan. I can't believe we didn't recognize you." Ami shook her head.
"It's the charka." Raven noted as she came to the door of her room and opened it, "When I don't have it, it really makes me look different."
"What's a charka?" Janice asked as they stepped into the dark room.
"Whoa." Ami looked around, "Your room is kinda' creepy."
With a start, Raven realized she'd just let them walk into her room as if it was something she did every day. Shaking her head, she made a b-line for her vanity and picked up the blood red jewel that lay there. Quickly re-affixing it to her forehead, she sighed when she felt the focus flooding back into her mind.
"Much better." she turned and regarded her friends as she stripped her jacket off, eyeing them critically, "I'm sorry my room seems so dark. We can open the drapes if you want."
"No, it's okay..." Janice held up a hand, "It's very... you."
"I get that a lot." Raven walked to her closet, "Don't touch any of the spell books."
"Spell books?" Ami blinked. Janice wandered over to Raven's desk and inspected the two photo frames she kept there. One was of the five Titans, all of them sitting on the couch in the living room, smiling at whoever it was that had taken the picture. The other was of three girls wearing bikinis, sunning themselves on top of the Tower.
The first girl was obviously Raven, her pale skin, perpetual frown, and black two piece a dead giveaway. The girl in the middle was smiling brilliantly, her super modal-esque body and barely there violet suit marking her as the Titans red headed alien. The final girl was thin, wore a light blue bikini, and had long, golden blonde hair. She was smiling at the camera in a sad sort of way, like she was tiered and lonely, even though she was sitting with her two friends.
Janice stood up and looked over at the closet as Raven emerged, cloak and leotard in place. She was just finishing pulling on her fingerless gloves when she caught sight of Janice staring at her, "What?"
Janice pointed at the photo, "You keep a picture of the girl that betrayed the Titans?"
"Terra's case is largely misunderstood." Raven replied, "In the end, she saved all of us from Slade's oppression." the dark haired young woman sighed, "We all miss her... very much."
Ami was sitting on Raven's bed, "So what now?" she asked in a small voice.
Raven looked between them, then smiled weakly, "You get the unenviable prize of hanging out with Starfire while we track down Shrike and his gang of mooks. She'll do her best to entertain you."
"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Janice stepped forward.
Raven looked at her for a moment, then shook her head, "No. Leave this to the professionals. We'll take care of it."
"So... why were you at the school in the first place?" Ami asked, "I mean, I'm guessing it was to protect Becka, but-"
"There's been death threats. The Senator asked us to step in and prevent them. We obliged."
"Jenny's not a Titan, is she?" Janice sat down next to Ami, and the two of them looked up at Raven.
"Jenny... her name is Jinx. She's from the HIVE. We have her on this case as a means of shortening her jail time."
"Then... you're not sisters."
"We almost are, actually." Raven motioned for them to stand, "Let's go."
Starfire watched as Raven led the two girls into the main room of Titans Tower and sat them down on the couch. The sorceress talked to them for a moment before walking across the room and into the kitchen, where Star was waiting for her.
"You seem... quite fond of them." the alien noted with a light smile.
Raven glowered at her, "Why do I get the feeling that Robin set this up from the get-go to be a 'learning experience' for me?"
"It was never his intention," Starfire floated forward and wrapped her arms around Raven, who stiffened instantly, "but it is a most welcome side effect. I am proud of you Raven, for all the growth and progress you have made."
Raven relaxed and hugged her back briefly, then pulled away, "Thanks, Kori." her face turned serious once again, "What are my marching orders?"
"Robin wishes you to bring more combat worthy clothes to Jinx, then seek out Shrike. I am sure he will find you out in the city."
"Alright." Raven turned to head back to her room. She paused as she was about to leave the kitchen, and turned back, "Take care of my friends, Kori. They're pretty shaken up."
The alien girl nodded with a smile, "We shall talk of boys and braiding maneuvers." she replied in a happy tone.
Raven arched an eyebrow, "Maybe not too many boys," she noted, "Janice is a lesbian." she then vanished in a pool of blackness.
Starfire blinked, then floated across the room to where the two girls were seated. She flew over them and came down on the other side of the horse shoe shaped couch, sitting in a pretty manner. She regarded them for a moment, then spoke to Janice, "Please... Raven has mentioned that you are a 'lesbian.' Is this a strange nationality of Earth? And why then would you not wish to discuses human males with me?"
Ami and Janice looked at each other, then back at Starfire. Ami spoke first, "Um... Miss Starfire-"
"Oh, please call me Kori."
"Kori." Ami smiled a little, "On your, erm, planet, do all men and woman... love each other?"
Starfire blinked at her, "I do not understand the question."
Janice tried next, "Let me explain to you in laymen's terms..."
Where ever Shrike had stashed them, it was dark.
Becka sat on the cold concrete ground, with her back against a cold concrete wall. Her legs were folded in front of her, and Hanna lay across her lap, her breathing finally returning to normal.
"Becka..." the blonde girl whispered.
"Yeah?" Becka adjusted her limp friend so that she was looking into her face, seeing what little she could from the dim light that came from under a nearby door, which Shrike had locked when he left them.
Hanna had a serious expression on her face, and her brow was beaded with sweat, "My arm... can you help me pull that throwing star out of it?"
"Hanna..." Becka's voice cracked, "I don't know if we should... what if it hit an artery or something, and we pull it out and you bleed to death?" she shook her head, "I know it hurts, but we have to leave it in for now."
"Okay." Hanna closed her eyes, "Seems my whole life has been one big disaster after another lately.
"Tell me about it." Becka squeezed her friends good shoulder, "Why were you so down in the dumps all day yesterday?"
"Don't worry about that..."
"Hanna." Becka held her a little tighter, "We're probably going to die before today is over. Don't throw away your chance to talk this out with someone."
"We wont die." Hanna sounded sure, and her mouth curled into a smile.
"You don't know that." Becka frowned.
"Gar will come for me." Hanna smiled wider and opened her eyes, "I know he will."
"Who's Gar?"
"Beast Boy. And the Titans. They'll save us."
"How do you know Beast Boy's name?" Becka looked confused.
"He told me... told me that's what his friends call him... God, Becka, I'm tiered."
"Don't sleep yet." Becka shook her and the sudden pain in her shoulder made Hanna hiss and open her eyes, "You've lost a bit of blood, and you've been through an awful lot... just... stay awake with me and talk about something... please..."
"Okay." Hanna swallowed hard, "Tell me about JCU. I know you've been looking at going after graduation, and I haven't even started checking around yet. Do they have a very good textiles program?"
"Still dreaming about being a clothes designer?"
"Or a cook." Hanna winked in a painful manner, "You still want to be a lawyer?"
"JCU has a really good law program... second only to Gotham University actually, but you couldn't pay me enough to go to that cesspool of a city... I don't know how Cassie and Jenny were able to live there."
"Cassie... and Jenny..." Hanna swallowed hard again, "Becka... they're not who they say they are."
"What?" Becka blinked.
"Cassie... she's Raven. And Jenny is a reformed HIVE kid named Jinx."
"What? How do you know these things?" Becka looked frightened, "What have you been up to lately?" her face softened, "Hanna... what happened to you the other night when you snuck out?"
Hanna looked up at her friend for a moment, then drew a breath, "I went out to meet a guy..."
Jinx was standing on top of a building edge, looking out over the Jump City skyline, when Raven descended next to her from the air. "Hey." the blonde haired former villain greeted her friend.
"I have clothes for you." Raven handed her a bundle of clothing as she swept her cloak out of the way.
"Back in the blue I see." Jinx smiled at her weakly as she accepted the bundle and walked further a little ways from the edge of the building, where she stripped off her shirt and tossed it aside.
"Yeah." Raven watched her not-sister take off the rest of her clothes, "I tried to find something you'd like. Hope it's not too... me."
Jinx tossed aside her bra and picked up the sports bra Raven had brought for her. She inspected it, "Why do you even have a C-cup bra?"
Raven smirked, "It's from when I was fourteen, and I actually wore a bra under my uniform."
"You don't now?" Jinx inspected the rest of the clothes, "All black. Nice."
"Of course I don't wear a bra under this." Raven motioned at her leotard, "It's just not practical, and besides, it makes my boobs look better."
"I'll say." Speedy was suddenly standing right next to her, "Hey, Jinx. How's tricks?"
Jinx, stood on the roof top, wearing only skimpy looking black panties, and stared at the archer. She blinked.
Speedy's eyes traveled down her body and came to rest on her chest, "Nice." he grinned.
He flew back off his feet as Raven's fist and Jinx's foot simultaneously slammed into his face.
"So you are saying," Starfire tilted her head to one side, "that you find females... sexually attractive?"
Janice nodded, "That about sums it up."
"Tameranians do not have such customs." Starfire looked at Janice with a mix of awe and delight, "We must breed to ensure the survival of our race, as we are almost constantly at war with some nation or another." Blinking, Starfire leaned forward a little ways, "Please, Janice, tell me... how is it you are able to have sexual relations with another woman? Do you not lack the... er... equipment necessary for such an act?"
Janice blinked, "Well... I, uh..." She glanced at Ami, who shrugged and motioned with her hand for the brunet to try to explain as best she could. "Well, one way is to, uh... use toys... like..." a slight smile crept up on her face, "I could always just show you, and then you'd understand completely..."
Ami stood up, "Don't listen to her Kori, Jan is just a horny bitch who'll do any hot chick she can get her hands on."
"I'm not that bad." Janice waved the red head off, "So how about it Kori? Want me to show you what I'm trying to tell you?" her grin turned positively wolfish.
Star blinked, "I do not see a problem with it."
Ami almost laughed, "Janice, I'm not letting you screw Robin's girlfriend."
"Why not? She said it was okay!" Janice started to giggle.
"Ami, why do you prevent me from learning?" Star looked at her with a curious expression.
Ami leaned down and whispered in Starfire's ear for a moment. The alien girl's face became more and more red as the whispering continued, until it almost matched the shade of her hair. "Oh." Starfire uttered, "That would have been... most inappropriate if I had let Janice... teach me." she looked at the lesbian girl and blinked, her blush slowly fading, "Though I am flattered that you would want to."
Ami walked away, "Yeah... you have anything to eat around here? All this worrying about my friends being in mortal danger and explaining the intricacies of lesbian sex is making me hungry."
Robin stalked the edge of a building, looking about with well trained eyes for clues to Shrike's whereabouts. He was following what seemed like the best path the assassin and his men could have taken, based on the size of their group, the fact that they had two hostages, and the small amount of forensic data he'd been able to scrounge so far. Stopping, he kneeled over a footprint, and nodded.
"Brand new size eleven stealth combat boot, owner is male, five foot nine, weighs in at one-sixty-five or so." Speedy dropped down next to Robin from the top of a stair well enclosure, "Eh?"
Robin blinked up at him from under his mask, "I'd say closer to five eleven, one-fifty."
Speedy leaned down, "Oh. More weight in the mid section of the foot than I could see from up there."
"Yeah. What do you want?" Robin stood up and walked in the direction the print led him.
"No need to be so hostile Dick-"
"Call me Robin. We're working."
"Robin. Whatever. Just chill for a second man." Robin continued to walk away from him so Speedy jogged over and grabbed his shoulder, "Hey! Stop for a damn second and listen to me!"
Robin whirled around and shoved the archers hand off his shoulder, "Fuck off, Roy!" he shouted, "I know what you're going to say, and I don't care! I'll handle Shrike on my own and... what the hell happened to your face?"
"Uh..." Speedy scratched the light stubble on his chin, and smiled sheepishly. Two purple bruises marred his otherwise handsome features. "I dropped in on the girls while Jinx was changing. They took offence."
Robin stared at him for several seconds, then burst out laughing, "You're an idiot, you know that?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Speedy folded his arms across his chest, "Now will you listen to me?"
Robin sighed, "Fine. I'll hear you out."
"Okay." Speedy took a breath, "I know you have history with this Shrike guy, and I know you want to take him down yourself." He held up a hand to forestall Robin's interruption, and the Boy Wonder backed off again. "What you've got to take into account though, is that there's the lives of two girls at stake here... two girls who happen to be good friends of Raven's."
"They don't even know who she is, Roy-"
"And yet she still cares for them." Speedy put a hand on Robin's shoulder again, "Look, all I'm getting at is I want to be there with you. Let's do this as a team, Dick. You want your shot at Shrike, fine. We'll give it to you. Just... let us be there to back you up, okay?"
Robin looked up at Speedy, and nodded slowly, "Okay, Roy. You win."
"Good man." Speedy grinned, "Now let's see if we can beat Raven to the punch and find these guys the old fashion way! That print looked like it was going this way..." he walked past Robin and inspected the cityscape before him, "They'd would have had to go left over to that brick building over there... I bet we can find something in all that gravel on the roof top-"
Speedy didn't get to finish his sentence, as Robin's fist slammed into the back of his head, sending him down to the rooftop, and into unconsciousness.
"Sorry, Roy." Robin bent down and lifted the limp form of his friend up. Carrying him back to the rooftop stairwell, he propped the red haired archer up against it, and stood up, "This is something I need to do on my own... it's my mess to clean up, and I wont endanger any of my friends to get the job done." With that, he ran to the edge of the building, and leapt over to the gravel covered rooftop Speedy had been talking about.
What Robin failed to notice was the small green spider that watched him leave.
After Hanna was done talking, Becka was silent for some time. After several minutes, she spoke up, "Hanna?"
"Yeah?"
"Beast Boy... he said, 'through a straw' right?"
"Yeah. He said the guy would be drinking his meals through a straw."
"Good." Becka sounded so decisively firm about it that Hanna giggled.
"You're silly, Becka."
"Don't make fun. You were violated in a horrible manner, Hanna, and if Beast Boy hadn't made sure that fucker was good and bloody, I would have had the Secret Service over there in a heart beat to pump him full of lead and make sure he spent the rest of his life in federal prison."
Hanna giggled again, "Like you could."
"If I had a good enough story I could." Becka sounded mutinous, "Now help me think of a way out of here."
Hanna tried to ignore the throbbing of her wounded shoulder, "Well, there's no air vents, the door is locked tight, and the walls are made of concrete. Unless you have plastic explosives hidden away in your panties, we're screwed."
"Damn it all, we can't be helpless. There has to be something we can do."
"We can wait. Gar and the other Titans will find this Shrike asshole, and beat him into a smear."
"Do you think Cassie... uh, I mean, Raven will be with them?"
"I don't see why not. She's a Titan too."
"Good. I have to thank her. Jenny too."
"Jinx."
"Whatever. They're still Cassie and Jenny to me."
"Yeah. That's what I told Cassie too."
More silence ensued, and the two girls huddled closer together, both losing themselves in their own thoughts.
A lonely wind swept across the rooftops of downtown Jump City, the only sound other than a constant droning voice, chanting a well known mantra over and over again.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos... Azarath, Meterion, Zinthos..."
Jinx sat a ways away and watched with a light smile on her face as her 'step sister' floated in the air above the rooftop, her eyes close and her legs folded in a meditive position. Her fingertips lightly brushed her temples, and her black hair blew strands of obsidian across her face.
She'd been at it for almost half an hour, and it was starting to wear on her psyche. Sifting through the miasma of thoughts and emotions flowing throughout Jump City and trying to find Becka and Hanna amongst the mess was a daunting task, and one that wasn't undertaken lightly. Still, Raven pressed forward.
It was ten minutes more before she caught the briefest hint of a familiar mind, and five more after that to isolate and fixate on it. Feelings of dread and anger, mixed with hope and love seeped into Raven's mind as if through a very small hole.
"Becka..." she murmured, and opened her eyes to see Jinx sitting up with a hopeful expression on her face. "I found them." Raven floated up higher and turned West, "That way."
Jinx ran to the edge of the building, jumped off, and fired a grappler she'd borrowed from Robin. She swung along to the next building as Raven flew after her.
Robin's com unit bleeped to life as he inspected a bit of black cloth caught on a TV antenna. He snatched it up and flipped it open in a heart beat, "Talk to me Raven."
"Head West of where you are now, then up a ways."
Robin turned West and looked up. The Stause Corporation's headquarter building loomed tall and strong against the setting sun.
"I'll be on the roof when you get here."
"Negative, Robin." Raven replied over the com, "I think you should wait for backup. These guys are tough."
"Then you'd better hurry, huh? Robin out." and he flipped the unit shut, cutting off Raven's protests. With a grim look, he fired off a grappler.
Cyborg was driving to the coordinents Raven had sent him, when a private channle opened on his dashboard. He checked the ID, then responded, "What's up, B?"
"Robbie's going off the deep end man. I'm worried about him."
"Why? What's he doing?"
"He's all gunning for these punks solo. Speedy tried to talk him out of it, but Robin tricked him and left him out cold on a rooftop. I'm trying to get him to come to now, but he's out like a light man."
"Shit." Cy put down the gas pedal, "I'll get over to him as soon as I can, man, but he's going to be there a long time before any of us. I'll let Garth know too, so he can get up there an help out."
"Thanks. Should we call Star in?"
"No. We don't need that drama."
"Rodger that. I'll keep working on Speedy, and we'll get there as soon as he wakes up."
"Alright. Cyborg out." Cy growled low in his throat as he swerved through traffic, "Robin... you idiot."
One of Shrike's ninja's stood watch outside the stairwell doors on top of the Stause Building. His mask was pulled up to his nose, and he was smoking a cigarette. "Man, I hate guard duty. Boring."
"Let's make it a bit more exciting then." The ninja whirled around with a throwing star ready to fly, but Robin's foot ended his turn before he could throw the weapon. Dropping down next to the unconscious ninja, the Boy Wonder checked the door to the stairs, finding it unlocked.
He frowned. Shrike was making this too easy. Either he really wanted a re-match, or he wasn't as good as his master had been.
Carefully opening the door, Robin slipped in as silently as a shadow.
"Say, Kori?" Ami asked around a mouthful of ham sandwich, "Can you tell us a little about Raven?"
Starfire arched an eyebrow and glanced up from the data file she was perusing on the handheld computer pad she held. Setting the pad aside and leaning back, Star crossed her legs and adopted a thoughtful expression, "What is it you would like to know?"
"Is she really like she's been acting at the school?" Janice asked, a hint of bitterness in her voice, "Or has it all just been her pretending to be our friend?"
Starfire blinked her green eyes and looked over to the brunet, "Why would you think she was attempting to deceive you?"
"Well, all the stories you hear about her say she's this ice queen loner girl that would rather be sitting in a quite corner by herself than hanging out with people her own age." Janice leveled a stare at Starfire, "Usually, rumors have a hint of truth to them."
Star nodded, "Robin would like you. You are very preceptive." Janice blushed with a bashful grin, but motioned for Star to answer anyway. The alien princess smiled at her, "While it is true that Raven enjoys the time she has to herself, she enjoys spending time with others a great deal more. Even when she is meditating, reading a book, or simply drinking a mug of tea, she will sit with us here in the living area of the Tower, even when we are being loud and disruptive. She will quite often sit and listen to us talk and joke, smile when Beast Boy is funny, and roll her eyes when he is not." she giggled, "Raven loves her friends very much, and is very protective of them.
"What you saw of her was a slighting different Raven than we are used to here. She was forced into more social situations, and had to adapt so as not to blow her cover. She was also dealing with living in close contact to another young woman who she never really got along with in the past."
"Jenny." Ami said.
"Yes. We call her Jinx." Starfire nodded, "The two of them... they have become so close in the short time they've been together. Almost as if they really are sisters. I have hopes that Jinx will join the Titans after the mission is over, so that I too may have another sister. While Raven is fine compony, and I can always count on her to talk about 'girl things' with me, Jinx is a far more..."
"Lively person? Cassie acts like a zombie sometimes." Janice smiled weakly.
"Yes." Starfire looked out the windows of the Tower, "This place... is so lonely sometimes without a close female companion. Even though we are no longer on good terms, I miss my sister Komand'r very much. Raven has been the closest thing I've had to a sister for many years now, and for a short time while she was with us, so was Terra."
"I noticed a picture of her in Raven's room too." Janice spoke slowly, afraid to bring up a touchy subject, "Raven said Terra was largely misunderstood. But... she betrayed you. I remember huddling in the dorms inside the school, afraid to even go to class because Slade had his robots blasting at anything that moved outside of a building... you can't tell me you've forgiven all of that."
Starfire smiled at Janice in a sad manner, and it almost broke the two high school girls hearts to see the beautiful, happy alien girl so forlorn, "Terra... was a good person who made some bad decisions. She was a nice girl who was twisted and warped by the will of a madman. Slade is to be blamed for all that she did."
"But-"
"I will not argue with you over this, Janice." Starfire smiled in a friendly manner, "It is in the nature of Tameranians to forgive our friends any wrong doing. If we were to find a way to bring Terra back from her petrified state, I would gladly accept her back into the Titans with open arms."
Janice looked humbled by the benevolence of Starfire. Ami munched on her sandwich in thoughtful silence, and Star picked up her data pad again. Looking out the window, Janice sighed.
Robin crept along silently between two large generators that supplied emergency power to the building in case of a power outage. He'd gone down three floors already, and had taken out two more ninjas along the way. Shrike was close now though; he could feel it.
Taking a step around a corner, he quickly ducked back and the peered around from a shadow. Sitting at a table set up in the middle of the air conditioning units were the last two ninjas. Shrike himself stood not far away, sharpening a long katana.
"You think he's gonna show up soon, boss?" one of the lackeys asked.
"He'll be here." Shrike replied, "Tim and Joe will report it if he makes it inside the building."
Robin arched an eyebrow. Did Shrike really think so little of him that he would think his pet ninjas would be able to warn him? Well, that just wouldn't do at all.
Tossing two smoke bombs into the room, Robin followed them in as they exploded. The two ninjas started shouting, but their cries of shock soon turned to grunts of pain. After several seconds the only sound in the room was the AC units running. They vented the smoke out fairly quickly, and when it cleared, Robin stood ten feet from Shrike frowning at him. The two ninjas lay on the ground, out cold.
"You knew I'd make it in here past your guards." Robin accused.
"I wanted this to be just you and me, Freddy. Or whatever your name is."
"My name," the Boy Wonder lunged forward and extended his bo staff, "is Robin!"
Jinx checked the pulse of the second ninja laying on the floor inside the building. Looking up at Raven she nodded, "He's still alive, but Robin gave him a hell of a concussion. He's not holding back on these guys."
Raven frowned, "We have to hurry. I sense great amounts of anger up ahead."
"You think they're already fighting?"
"Most likely." Raven floated along, "Keep an eye out anyway."
"Right."
The two of them moved along quickly, but quietly, and eventually came to the open area by the AC units. There, they found Robin and Shrike fighting like rabid dogs.
Shrike drove at Robin with his sword, slashing left, then right, then in an upward slash that had the Boy Wonder jumped away from him. The yellow and red clad assassin finished the combo with a vicious downward chop that Robin was forced to block with his staff. The sword cut right through it, and grazed his chest.
"Nnnggaa!" Robin stumbled back and dropped the part of his staff he was holding in his left hand as his arm went numb.
"Shit." Jinx rushed forward as Shrike spun in for a throat slashing kill. Robin weakly brought the right half of his staff up to defend himself, even as Jinx slid along behind him, under his cape. Coming up in front of the Boy Wonder, the blonde haired former HIVE student flicked open the two bird-a-rangs she's just liberated from his belt and blocked the sword with them.
Robin gasped, then back peeled to catch his breath, "Careful, Jinx!" he shouted, and rolled his shoulder, trying to get feeling back to his arm. Shrike slashed at Jinx again, and she went into a series of defensive maneuvers to keep him from chopping off her head.
Raven, meanwhile, was floating along the edge of the room, away from the fight, and sensing for Becka and Hanna. Stopping at a steel door with no markings, she frowned at tried the knob. Finding it locked, she turned and looked for keys.
They were swinging off Shrike's belt.
"Fuck me." Raven muttered, "Jinx!" I need the keys on his belt!"
"Oh, okay! Let me just naff those over to you!" Jinx blocked another bone jarring slash, and back peeled, "This isn't easy, Rae!"
"Let's see if I can help then!" Robin shouted as he charged in then, sliding along the floor and popping up right next to Shrike, where he delivered a well placed punch to the assassins wrist, making him drop the sword. Jinx took the opening and hurled the 'rangs at him, only to have him duck them at the last second and then twirl into a kick at Robin's head.
Growling, Robin blocked the kick and then he and Shrike started fighting hand to hand in earnest. Jinx just watched for a moment, in awe of the display of fighting prowess. Shaking her head, she looked for her opening, then took it when it came.
Running at the two fighters full tilt, she dove forward and slide along the ground on her side as Shrike over extended a punch at Robin's head. As she slid past him, she grabbed the keys of his belt, spun on her back like a brake dancer, and hurled them at Raven, who caught them with practiced ease. Spinning up, Jinx lashed out with a kick at Shrike, slamming him forward at Robin, who grabbed him and flipped him across the room and into a large alcove in the wall. He charged after his thrown enemy even as the assassin landed and rolled back to his feet.
Raven quickly turned back to the door and tried four keys before she found the right one. Yanking it open, she looked around inside, and let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. There, huddled together on the cold concrete floor, was Becka and Hanna.
"Cassie!" Becka cried as the cloaked girl rushed into the room, "We never lost hope! Oh, God... Raven..." and she burst into tears as Hanna struggled to sit up.
"Cassie... is everything alright? I hear fighting still..." the blonde winced.
"Hold still." Raven ordered, and reached out a hand. A white light glowed around Hanna's shoulder for a moment, then the throwing star fell out, and the wound closed. "It'll be sore for a few days, but most of the damage is healed." Raven picked up the weapon and handed it to Hanna with a wink, "Souvenir."
"Thanks." Hanna smiled weakly and took the shurikin, "What's going on out there?"
"Jenny and Robin are fighting Shrike. It'll be over soon."
"What if he wins?" Becka sniffed, looking frightened.
"He wont." Raven assured her, "But if he did, you wouldn't have to worry." her eyes burned red for a moment from inside her hood, and the other two girls flinched back from her, "I'd tear him apart before he got any where near you."
Back outside the room, Jinx let Robin have his go at Shrike. They fought inside the cramped alcove, and after a few moments, Shrike slammed Robin into a panel on the wall, and a cage closed over the opening to the area. It was then that Jinx realized it was a fright elevator.
"Robin!" she shouted and ran forward, even as the elevator moved up. Running back to the room where Raven was sitting with the girls, Jinx panted, "They're going up to the roof in a fright elevator! We need to get up there and help!"
"Right." Raven helped Hanna and Becka to stand, "Stay close to me. We have to hurry." They nodded, and together, the four of them dashed to the stairs that would lead them up to the roof.
The elevator opened up right next to the helipad at the far North side of the roof. As soon as the doors opened, Robin and Shrike tumbled out, each one trying to get their hands around the others throat. After a few minutes of struggle, they broke apart.
"You've gotten better, Freddy." Shrike sneered at him, "But I've developed a killers insincts. Just like we were taught. You remember that?"
"I'll never be a killer like you, Boone." Robin growled back, and attacked again with a furious series of punches and kicks. Shrike blocked them all, and caught Robin's leg as he dropped to the ground. Twisting sharply, he listened with a grim smile on his face as there was a crack, and Robin howled in pain.
"Oh, did I break your leg?" Shrike tossed Robin to his back and drew a dagger out from a sheath behind on his belt, "Let me make sure you never feel pain again, Freddy."
"I don't think so!" A red blur slammed into Shrike, and the assassin tumbled away from Robin's prone form. Standing there next to him, having just slammed Shrike away, was Speedy. "You okay, Robin?"
"I've been better." Robin winced as he stood up, "Sprained. Not too bad."
"Well then let's take this fucker down."
Robin looked over at Speedy out of the corner of his eye mask, "You were right. I'm sorry I hit you, Roy."
"Don't sweat it." Speedy tensed as Shrike picked himself up and brandished the dagger. Pulling his bow and drawing an arrow, he nodded, "I'll run support."
"Thanks." Robin grimaced as he charged Shrike on his hurt ankle, and blocked the dagger swipe.
"Give it up, Freddy!" Shrike grinned though bloody teeth, "You're hurt, I'm not. You're unarmed, I have a dagger. You're getting weaker, while I'm gaining momentum! I have all the advantages!"
"When are you going to learn, Shrike?" Robin replied, ducking a swipe and jabbing three times at his foes ribs, "Bring all the advantages you want to a fight," he slammed home a hard right, then dove to the side as Shrike left his entire left side open, "and I'll still win! Speedy!"
"Eat taser arrow, bitch!" Speedy shouted as he loosed the shaft. The shot was good, and the aim was right, but neither of the Titans counted on Shrike being able to move so fast. He reached down and grabbed the arrow before it could hit him, spun in a full circle, then hurled it as hard as he could back at Speedy.
The taser charge hit the archer right in the chest, and he jerked for three seconds before falling to the rooftop, his eyes rolling back in his head, and his body smoking.
"Speedy!" Robin shouted, then growled and charged Shrike, "You bastard!" he spit, "If you want to beat on me, that's fine! I'll kick you to hell and back! But when you start messing with my friends...!" Robin pounded a fist into the assassins face, and watched as his jaw snapped loose.
Shrike staggered as Robin continued to pummel him, "Hurts, doesn't it?" the Boy Wonder sneered, "The first Shrike taught us that! Lot's of nerve endings in your jaw... even more in your nose!" and his green glove slammed home, pounding Shrike to his knees and splattering blood across the rooftop. "Who do you think you are?" Robin grabbed him and wrapped an arm around the dazed assassin's neck, "Playing with peoples lives!"
Raven and Jinx came through the door way just then, Becka and Hanna right behind them. They saw Robin, with Shrike's head in the right position. They heard his breath whistle as Robin close off his wind pipe, and tilted his neck down.
"One little twist Boone..." Robin growled out as Shrike choked, "One twist and you'll never bother anyone again..." blood dripped from Robin's lips and nose, and he tightened his grip further and tensed the muscles in his shoulders.
"Aw, God...! Dick, no..." Raven took a step forward and reached out a hand.
Robin's eyes drifted up and met hers. They held the gaze between them for several moments, then Robins sighed and dropped Shrike to the rooftop. The assassin twitched, but stayed down.
"That's the second time," Robin muttered, "that you almost made me a murderer."
Raven walked over to Speedy to make sure he was okay, and Jinx walked over and took Robin's handcuffs to secure Shrike. Becka and Hanna simply stood by and stared at the Boy Wonder, who turned away and stared at the setting sun with a dejected posture.
Jinx ushered Becka and Hanna into the back seat of the T-Car a half hour later, then leaned down at the window, "I'll see you two back at the school, okay? We'll still be hanging around, even if our cover is blown. We think you can keep the secret." She winked, an the car took off.
"Man oh man..." Becka leaned back, "What a day."
"I'll say." a green face peered at them from the front seat, "Keep her steady Cy." Beast Boy became a snake, and slithered his way into the back, where he became himself again, sitting between to the two girls. "Hey." he said to Hanna.
Hanna looked at him for a moment, then her bottom lip started to quiver, and she burst into tears. Throwing her arms around his neck, she sobbed into his shoulder, "Oh, Gar! I was so scared!"
"Shhh..." he rubbed her back in a soothing manner, "You're okay now..." Becka touched his arm and smiled at him and he nodded to her. Looking up, he saw Cyborg grinning at him in the rear view mirror.
Beast Boy raised a hand and flipped off the robotic Titan, who chuckled and kept driving.
Robin was grimacing at his communicator as a paramedic inspected his ankle, "Yes Senator, she's perfectly okay." he listed to the other end for a moment, then nodded, "Yes, she's headed back to the school now. I have two of my team with her and Hanna. Yeah, the blonde one. No, Senator... of course I didn't let this happen just so I could have a fight with a costumed villain. Senator, please, we're doing the best we can, but ten million dollars attracts a lot of very dangerous people. Yes..." he paused and listened some more, "No, Sir, I am not going to quit this mission. My undercover agents can still work at the school, and I'll step up patrol around the school at all times. As of now, the only job the Titans have is protecting your daughter. Yes Sir. Thank you Sir. We'll talk again later. Goodbye."
Speedy grinned at him from where he leaned against the ambulance, "Why do you get all the fun jobs?"
"Shut up, Speedy." Robin winced again as his ankle was prodded, "Just brace it, man. I'll have my healer take a look at it in a little bit."
"Yes Sir." the paramedic pulled out an air cast and went about putting it on.
"Do you think the League of Assassins is going to send anyone else like Shrike?" Speedy asked.
"Most likely." Robin replied, "The thing with the League is that once one of them takes on a contract, the rest of them will finish it for him if it fails. That's why I'm stepping up the protection."
"Great. How's the progress on tracking down the poster of the reward going?"
"Not well. Cy says at least another four days."
"Shitty."
"Yeah."
Silence followed as the medic finished, then moved off to see to one of the ninjas Robin had beaten up. After a while, Robin spoke up again, "I really am sorry, Speedy."
"I know." Speedy replied, rubbing the back of his head where he'd been hit, "Just... don't ever do it again, okay?"
Robin smirked lightly, "Like you could stop me if I tried."
"Who says I'll give you the chance? I'm never turning my back on you again."
"I'll get you again someday, Harper. You watch."
"Yeah, yeah." Speedy walked over to him and helped him up with a grin, "Let's get back to the Tower."
Ami and Janice walked down the path that led to the dorms inside the walls of the WJCIE campus in silence. Both were still a little overwhelmed by meeting all the Titans in one day, and from hanging out with Starfire, who had made them listen to the Verse of Lamenting to take their minds off of worrying about their friends.
All nine hundred seventy seven stanzas.
As the two girls reached the front doors, Becka and Hanna walked up from a different path. "Hey." Becka waved.
"Glad you're still alive and all that." Ami grinned as she and Janice walked over and the four of them stood in a hug for a moment. After a minute, they pulled apart. Ami arched an eyebrow at them, "Where were you?"
"The nurse." Becka replied, "She ran some tests, and gave us a quick once over to look for injuries. We've been talking to cops for the past half hour too."
"Crappy." Janice replied, "When do you get your test results back?"
"After dinner." Hanna replied quietly. She looked subdued.
"What's up?" Ami put an arm around her shoulder.
"She misses her boyfriend." Becka grinned, "Beast Boy."
"Wha?" Ami grinned as well, "Seriously?"
"Not seriously." Hanna rolled her eyes, "Becka's delusional. Come on... let's head up."
The four of them tromped up the stairs to the second floor and walked into the common area, chatting about their various experiences. As they came in, they all froze and stared at the couches.
Raven sat at one end, doing her math homework, and Jinx sat at the other, reading her history text. There was silence in the room for a full minute before Ami spoke up, "Um... what the hell? Raven? Jinx?"
"Cassie." Raven said firmly, then pointed at Jinx, "Jenny. Don't forget."
"But-" Janice started.
"We have to stay close to Becka." Jinx cut her off with a grin, "You're stuck with us for a little longer, ladies. Sorry."
The four second floor girls looked at each other, then all of them grinned, "Nothing to be sorry about." Hanna said and plopped down next to Jinx, "What'cha reading?"
"More Napoleon." Jinx rolled her eyes.
"Need help with that, Cassie?" Ami asked as she walked over.
"Sure." Raven motioned to the book and Ami started reading the problem.
Janice and Becka walked into the room as well and sat down in the chairs, picking up magazines that were sitting out, and flipping them open.
The rest of the night, six perfectly normal girls sat around and acted like teenagers.
Closing Notes: Everything seems happy, but as we move into the second part of the story, prepare to see a lot more angst, some more hot parties, steamy sexual tension, and laugh out loud humor. If you reviewers are good and play nice, I might even through in a Rae/Speedy Aside for their first date. Peace.