Re-Educating Miss Roth
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening notes: This chapter was hard to write, due to the continued abuse of poor, poor Hanna. But now I'm abusing everyone else too. Comic fans look for the names of the 'old crowd.' Also more Jinx back story in this chapter. Have fun reading, and I'll see you at the closing notes.
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans and that makes me angry. JAKE ANGRY! JAKE SMASH! GRAAAAA!
Chapter Nine: A Mother's Love
Ami yawned hugely as she walked out into the common area of the second floor toting her shower basket, a little after 7:00 am on Sunday morning. The excitement from the day before had put them all to sleep by 10:00, so she was up early on the normally lazy weekend day. It'd give her a chance to catch up on some homework though, and to rest after the hectic experience she'd had the day before.
She walked through the common area on the way to the showers, but paused before she reached the door that would take her there. Walking backwards, she went back to the common area, and stared in slack jawed amazement.
Raven floated in the middle of the room, her legs folded in the lotus position, and her hands out to her sides, finger tips pressed together. Her eyes were closed, and her face was free of any emotion.
"Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos..." the dark haired Titan droned.
Ami stared for another full minute before realizing Raven wasn't going to acknowledge her. She blinked, then continued on to the showers, "Whatever..."
Mid-afternoon found the six girls gathered at their table in the cafeteria, eating their lunch amidst lively conversation.
"So," Becka pointed at Raven, "Cassie still needs a date-"
"Oh, come on!" Raven rolled her eyes, "I don't need a date, Becka!" she lowered her voice and leaned in, making sure no one around them was listening, "I don't need anything to distract me from the mission, especially now! The Senator is having a fit because we let you get kidnapped! It was only Robin's fast talking, and the fact that we got you back safe that saved us from being fired and having a Secret Service detail assigned to you 24/7!"
"Really?" Becka squeaked, "Oh, gosh! I'm sorry! I didn't realize that you'd gotten in so much trouble!"
"Don't sweat it." Jinx winked, "We're still here, and we're still gonna protect you. No matter what."
"Thanks." Becka smiled in a relived fashion. Then perked up, "Still, a date never hurt anything. You'd blend in better-"
"You're not going to give up are you?" Raven sighed.
"Lay off, Becka." Hanna spoke up, "Raven's already got a man."
"What?" The rest of the girls leaned in and they huddled together, whispering excitedly.
Ami spoke first, "Spill."
"I don't know what she's talking about." Raven tried to look innocent.
"Oh, so you weren't boffing Speedy in the fitting room at the mall?" Hanna grinned.
Janice looked scandalized, "You did have an orgasm before you paid for that dress!"
"You had sex with Speedy again?" Jinx grinned, "And you didn't tell me?"
"Look, it was just... he looked so good right then, and I've been missing him since he got into town..." Raven blushed.
Becka grinned, "Maybe you should bring him to the dance."
"Like I told Hanna before, he's a billionaire's ward. He's cocky, he's brash, and he's famous. The last thing we need is for my identity to get out and for people to trace that back to my boyfriend being the guy I brought to the dance."
"So he is your boyfriend!" Ami looked victorious.
"NO!" Raven scowled, then blushed again, and looked down at the table, "At least not yet..."
Jinx poked her arm, "So that's why you don't want to bring a date to the dance..."
"Maybe."
The girls all giggled, then Janice spoke up, "What about you Hanna? You going to try and find a date or what?"
Raven, Jinx and Becka all winced, and Hanna paled visibly. The blonde girl shook her head, "No. I don't think... I'm going back to the dorm. See ya." And she took off as fast as she could, leaving her tray of half eaten food behind.
"What?" Janice blinked at the other girls, "What'd I say?"
"She'll tell you when she wants to tell you." Becka said in a soft voice, "But... it's... kind of bad."
"Kind of." Raven stood up, "Jenny, stick to Becka. I'm going to try and talk to Hanna."
"Shouldn't we just leave her until she wants to-" Jinx started.
"No." Raven shook her head, "Not with the feelings I'm sensing from her. I'll try, but... I don't know." and she too walked off, leaving her tray of food behind.
There was silence among the four remaining girls for a few moments, then Janice spoke up, "Is Jenny your real name?"
Jinx blinked, "Yeah. Jenny Wrangler."
"And Cassie?" Becka asked.
Jinx shook her head, "Cassandra is her middle name. Her real name is Raven Roth."
"Do you... know much about her?" Janice asked.
"I little. I know she's a half demon, and that her father is called Trigon the Terrible. That should be enough to make you not want to know the rest of the story."
"I'll say." Becka grinned in a weak way, "And I thought my dad was bad for being a politician..."
Robin sighed and ran a hand over his face. As he did, he peeled off his mask, and set it aside on his desk, which he sat at in his room at Titans Tower. He spoke down at the computer terminal before him, to the frowning visage of a young black girl with her hair up in two pig tails,
"Karen... I know you're having problems out there, but I really need-"
"Really need nothin' Robin! I've got the Electrocutioner and the Cluemaster breathing down my neck out here! Steel city needs it's Titans, and half my team is on the west coast protecting some senators little girl!" Bumble Bee didn't sound happy.
Robin sighed again and rubbed his exposed eyes, "I can send Garth back, but I need Roy here. Please Karen... if not for me, than for him and Raven."
"Raven?" Bumble Bee blinked, "Dick, what the hell are you talking about?"
"He and Raven kind of have this... thing going." Robin grinned, "I've never seen Roy turn into such a puddle of goo when he talks about a girl before. It's entertaining as all hell."
"Harper is mooning over a girl?" Bumble Bee stared at Robin in open mouthed shock, "And Raven no less?"
"I know. Hard to swallow, but I do have reliable intel that they were having sex in a department store fitting room yesterday."
Bee blinked and shut her mouth, "How the hell do you find out stuff like that?"
"Great detective skills." He grinned, "Raven told her new school friend Hanna, who told Beast Boy, who accidentally let it slip that he knew in front of Speedy, who I pestered until I got the full story."
"Oh. Yeah. Great detective. Is that how Batman operates?"
"No, that's how teenagers work though." Robin grinned wider, "Aqualad will be back in a day. Can I keep Speedy?"
"For now, yeah. I'll call up the JSA and see if they can't spare someone."
"Good call. Robin out."
"I'll talk to you later, Dick. Bee out." and the screen went blank.
Robin sighed and looked up from the computer. Speedy stood in the doorway of his room with a light smile on his face, "So I'm staying around, huh?" He blinked his naked blue eyes at Robin, his mask absent and slightly sweaty work out clothes draped off his lean frame.
"Until this mission is over anyway. I doubt Karen will let me keep you."
"She might not have a choice if things work out with Raven."
"Yeah." Robin sighed and rubbed his eyes again.
"You need to sleep, man." Speedy pointed at him and walked into the room, where he plopped down on Robin's bed and kicked back, inspecting the random newspaper clippings that littered the walls, "And then you need to get a life. Where's the pictures of your girlfriend?"
"I don't keep any pictures in here. And what I really need," Robin turned back to his computer, "is more back up. If we're losing Garth, then we need someone else to help protect the city while we keep track of Becka Pullman."
Speedy scratched at the light stumble forming on his chin, "What about someone from the old crowd?"
"We haven't really kept in touch." Robin punched up a window that told him the last reported locations of the independent Titans around the globe.
"Wally?" Speedy threw out, "You two used to be tight."
"He stopped by once while we were away to take care of the city here, but other than that, I haven't heard from him in a while.
"Charlie?"
"I think he's on a Thangarian diplomacy mission right now."
"What about Bette?"
"Bette Kane?" Robin looked at Speedy like he was crazy, "No."
Speedy was silent for a moment, then spoke up in a much quieter voice, "Donna?"
Robin growled low in his throat, "Don't go there, Roy."
"Dick, you weren't responsible for-"
"I still could have helped. I was just... I let her down."
"We all did. But Dick, none of us knew then... what she was going through."
"I can't ask her to come here and put herself in danger again just because I'm short on people, Roy." Robin shut down the computer and leaned back in his chair, "That would just make it look like I was using her again. Like... like I..."
Robin trailed off, and Speedy spoke again a moment later, "I loved her too."
"Shut up Roy."
Speedy sat up and glared at Robin, who met his gaze, "I loved her too." Steely blue eyes met steely blue eyes and they tried to stare each other down for a moment. Speedy looked away first, "She just... has that effect on people."
Robin sighed and let his head fall into his hands, "Yeah."
There was silence in the room for a solid ten minutes, then Robin spoke up again, "You know how to contact her?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." Speedy smiled weakly.
"Could you? Tell her... I'd like to see her again... I'll pay for the plane ticket."
Speedy sat up, "I'll call right away."
"Hanna?" Raven knocked on the door of the room the blonde shared with Becka, "I can sense you in there, so stop trying to pretend you're not."
A moment later, the door opened and Hanna looked out at Raven. She looked miserable, and she'd been crying, "Sorry. I forgot you can do that."
"Don't worry about it. Hanna... have you thought about my offer? To set you up to talk with Starfire?"
Hanna looked away, "I'm not ready yet."
"Hanna-" Raven started.
"I'm not ready yet!" Hanna screamed back at her, then threw a hand over her mouth, "Oh God... Cassie, I didn't mean to shout, I just-"
Raven reached out and pulled the short blonde into a hug. Hanna was shocked for a moment, then nuzzled her face down into the dark haired Titan's neck, and cried. "Shhh..." Raven soothed, "It's going to be okay, you know? You'll live through this, and your friends will be there for you every step of the way." she pulled back and smiled down at her friend, "Cyborg told me about you and Gar, by the way."
"Oh, he didn't!" Hanna blushed, "I was just so scared, and he's been so nice to me, and he's so protective... I just... I needed a hug from a boy I could trust."
Raven smiled in a warm manner, "Garfield is a good guy, Hanna. You can trust him to always do the right thing... even if he's sometimes late about it, or if he makes about a million bad jokes along the way."
"I'll keep that in mind." Hanna smiled back, and they stood in their embrace for another few moments until the door to the stairwell opened. They separated and looked over to see Ms. Veerlin walking up to them.
"Hello girls. Hanna, your test results from yesterday have come in, and the nurse wants you there to go over them with her. Are you okay?"
"Just a little break down. Nothing a friend couldn't handle." Hanna smiled at Raven, who smiled back. "You want to come with me?" Hanna asked Raven.
"Sure. I told you... I'll be there every step of the way with you."
"Thanks." Hanna smiled over at Veerlin, "Lead the way!"
"Miss Butler?" Janice looked up from where she was chatting with her friends in the cafeteria still, and blinked at Principal Cain.
"Yes'm?" Her southern accent kicked in as she spoke to an authority figure.
"There is a phone call for you in my office. It's your mother."
"Oh... yes. Ah'll be right there."
"See that you are." Cain nodded briskly and walked off.
Janice turned back to her friends, "Ah guess ah'll see ya'll... erm... I'll see all of you later."
"You're so funny, Jan." Becka giggled, and Jinx covered her mouth to hide her laughter.
"You two..." Janice stuck out her tongue and walked off to the Principal's office.
"Dick?"
Robin looked up from where he was re-stocking his utility belt and saw Speedy standing in his doorway once again. The archer had changed into jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, and his mask was still absent. "Yeah?"
"Donna... wants to talk to you."
"Okay... when is she going to be here?" Robin put down his belt and arched any eyebrow.
"She wants to talk to you now, Dick. She's holding on com line four." Speedy turned away, "I'll, uh... be in my room. See ya." and he was gone.
Robin sighed and turned to his computer. He punched in a code and opened up an audio only link to com line four. He listened to the sound of regular breathing for a moment before he spoke in a soft voice, "Hello, Donna."
"Dick?" her voice sounded just like it had when he had seen her last, five years before, "Oh, man! It's so good to hear from you again!"
"Donna... I don't know what Roy told you-"
"He told me you need help. And he told me that you miss me." her voice sounded mischievous.
"I don't want this to seem like a call out of the blue to have you come back to active duty and-"
"Can we talk face to face, Dick? I have video on this end."
Robin was slightly surprised, but he punched up a video window as well and blinked at her. She looked exactly like she had, only her hair was longer, and she wore it loose around her face, rather then pulled back into a high pony tail.
"Where are you that you have video?" he asked.
"Home." she blinked, "I live in a penthouse with Diana in Gateway City."
"You're living with Wonder Woman?" Robin's mouth dropped open, "What about Terry? What about... Robert?"
Donna looked away from the screen, and he thought he saw a tear glisten at the corner of her eye, "Terry... left me. He filed for divorce and received full custody of Robert."
"What?" Robin's mouth fell open, "But... Donna... how could any man be stupid enough to leave you?"
She looked back at him with a watery smile, "That's sweet Dick. Thanks."
Robin blushed, "Donna... why?"
"Terry thought it would be safer for Robert if he were to not live with me. I tried to retire, but I still had enemies, Dick. They... put my family at risk. I agreed to all of Terry's terms."
"But... that's..." Robin sat back, "I feel extra horrible now."
"Don't." she replied, "Dick, you use people." He sat up and stared at her with a hurt expression on his face. She rolled her eyes, "I'm not afraid to tell you, Dick. You used me years ago to accomplish your crime fighting goals, and you use your team now the same way. But we all go along with it."
"Why?" Robin leaned forward with his face in his hands, "Why do you want to help me, even after I let you down so badly back then?"
"Because we go along with you for your sake... and for our own. You seem to be quite adept at drawing that reaction out of people."
"Damnit, Donna... You've always been so... wise."
"It's an Amazonian thing. Diana does it too."
"I don't want to use you again..."
"Ah, yes... The alien they call Starfire has had a positive effect on you I hear."
Robin groaned, "You talked to Roy for a long time, didn't you?"
She nodded happily, "Almost an hour. I can't wait to meet her."
"So you are coming?"
"I'll be there by the end of the day."
"Heh..." Robin looked up at her again, "Wonder Girl is coming to town, eh?"
"No..." Donna smiled, "From now on, you can call me Troia."
Hanna sat on a table in the examination room of the school's rather state of the art medical facility. The 'nurse', an MD by the name of Doctor Sarah Billini walked in briskly, only arching an eyebrow at the fact that Raven was there as well. She closed the door behind her.
"Miss Trestel. Miss Roth." she nodded to both of them and took a seat next to the counter top on the opposite side of the room from Hanna. She made a few more notes in the folder she carried with her, then set it aside and faced the two girls.
"So what's the verdict, Doc?" Hanna sighed in a dramatic fashion, "Am I gonna make it?"
Doctor Billini frowned at her, "When we got you back here and Miss Roth made her report to me about what had happened," she paused at Hanna's incredulous look, "Don't be so surprised Miss Trestel. Someone inside the school needed to know of the Titans presence. It made sense that that person be the only fully qualified medical professional on campus, in case they needed treatment at any point." She cleared her throat and continued, "When I received you here, I ran a full gambit of tests to ensure that you hadn't been harmed in any way that Miss Roth or the other Titans hadn't known about. As you had been in the presence of six males no older then twenty-two, I ran rape kits on both you and Miss Pullman." Hanna paled and the Doctor leaned forward, "Is there anything you need to tell me, Miss Trestel?"
Hanna stuttered, shut her mouth, opened it again, and looked at Raven like a lost puppy. Raven nodded to her and turned back to the Doctor, "Doctor Billini... Hanna wasn't raped by any of the six men who kidnapped her."
"That's odd. My tests clearly show-"
"She was raped a few days before when she snuck off school grounds and met a man who drugged her and took advantage of her." Hanna closed her eyes and let tears fall silently from her tightly shut lids.
Doctor Billini frowned deeply and sat back up, "Miss Roth... why wasn't this reported? How do you know?"
"One of the other Titans already took care of the offender, and it wasn't reported to the school because Hanna didn't want it to be reported to the school."
"Raven!" Doctor Billini sounded shocked and angry, "I thought you off all people would know that these kinds of incidents should be reported to the proper athorities as soon as-"
"Doctor Billini," Raven cut her off, "With all due respect... do you honestly think that the Titans report all of there activities to the police? Do you think we operate with only their consent?" When no response was forthcoming, Raven continued, "We are a vigilante team of super heroes that makes our own choices, and works outside of the law on many occasions. Hanna didn't want it reported, so I didn't report it. That's my prerogative."
"Well, your prerogative has cost Miss Trestel a great deal of her life, Miss Roth." Doctor Billini turned to the young blonde woman, "Hanna, you're pregnant. You're going to have a baby."
Raven's eyes widened, and she looked over at Hanna, who was staring in dumbfounded shock at the Doctor. She blinked once, looked over at Raven, then promptly passed out.
Janice sat in a comfy leather arm chair in Principle Cain's office and smiled at the administrator as she backed out of the room. Cain didn't smile back, but nodded. Once the doors were shut, Janice picked up the phone next to her and dialed up line one.
"Mama?" she asked into the receiver.
"Jan, baby? How ya doin' out there on the west coast?"
"I'm just fine, Mama... Ah had a little adventure yesterday... the Teen Titans saved my life from a band of ninjas."
There was a gasp from the other end of the line, and Mrs. Butler sounded shocked beyond belief, "Ma land, child, are you alright?"
"Ah'm fine, Mama... not a scratch on me..."
"Don't scare your mama like that, child! Land 'o goshen..."
"Ah'm sorry Mama. Wha'd ya call for anyway?"
"Oh, Jan baby... you know... you're Daddy and I have been havin' some troubles lately..."
"Yeah, Mama, I know. How's the couclin' goin'?"
"It... it's not, Baby. Your Daddy and I... we're gonna divorce."
Janice blinked and her mouth fell open, "What?"
"We're gonna split up, Jan. Ah know it's hard on you, but you have to understand..."
"But ya'll were doin' so well when Ah left last summer! You were talkin' 'bout vacation in Miami and-"
"We just have our differences, Jan." Mrs. Butler sounded sad, "We loved each other very much when we met, and up until recently, we've just been foolin' ourselves into believin' that we still were... Jan, sometimes love fades... we'll always be friends, your Daddy and Ah, but... we wouldn't be fair to ourselves if we didn't give each other another shot at findin' a special someone who we love..."
"But..." Janice felt tears stinging at her eyes, "What about me, huh? Where do Ah fit in to this?"
"Jan, you'll be graduatin' in just a few months, then you'll be off and goin' to collage to get that MD before you know it... you'll hardly be home anyway..."
"Mama!" Janice cried, letting the tears fall without bothering to wipe them away, "Ah don't want... can't ya'll just..."
"I'm sorry, Jan. We've made up our minds. Ah can tell you need ta' think on this a bit now, so... I'll talk to ya' later Baby."
"Mama!"
"G'bye, Jan. Mama and Daddy both love you very much."
"MAMA!" Janice screamed into the phone, but the line was already dead. The dark haired young woman slowly hung up the phone, then curled into a ball on the seat of the chair and cried.
Hanna came to very slowly. She found herself covered in a blanket, and laying on the examination bed of the medical center. The curtain was drawn around her, and she could hear voices from beyond it, talking in hushed whispers.
"... don't think that would be a good idea..." That was Cassie.
"Still, it's an option that should be explored." And that was Doctor Billini
"Hanna will never want an abortion, Doctor."
Hanna froze. She suddenly recalled a horrible dream in which she'd been told that Brad had gotten her pregnant. This must still be the same nightmare. She willed herself to wake up, but the only thing that happened was that Cassie and Doctor Billini continued to have their frighteningly real sounding conversation.
"She doesn't have to let this ruin her whole life." Doctor Billini said, "She could give the baby up for adoption. She would still be able to live the rest of her youth out as a normal girl-"
"Doctor, I don't think Hanna would be able to live with herself knowing that she'd given up a child for someone else to raise."
"What makes you such an expert on Miss Trestel, Raven? You've only known her for what? Two weeks?"
"I'm an empath, Doctor. I can sense her feelings and some basic thoughts... and I know... I know... Hanna will want to keep this baby."
At that exact moment, Hanna realized she wasn't dreaming, she was pregnant with her rapists child, and that her life as she knew it was over.
She screamed.
Becka looked up at the clock on the wall of the common room and frowned, "Where are they?" she asked of Ami and Jinx, who were sitting with her. They were all engaged in various homework assignments, though Jinx was doing more doodling then homework.
"Maybe they decided to get desert?" Ami sounded hopeful. Jinx and Becka both looked at her funny, and she shrugged.
The door to the stairwell opened, and all three of them craned their necks over the back of the couch to see who had just come in. Janice stared back at them, her face streaked with tear tracks.
"Jan?" Ami jumped up, "What's wrong? Is your mom okay?"
"Ah'm... fine." Janice shook her head, "Ah'm gonna' go on ta' bed now. Ya'll have a nice night." and she walked slowly past Ami and down to the room they shared, shutting the door behind her. Ami looked over at her friends.
"She doesn't revert back to heavy southern accent unless she's really upset." she told them. "I'm going to go see if I can get some more out of her. I'll see you guys in the morning."
"Give her our support." Becka nodded.
"And give her a hug from all of us." Jinx winked, "But not too friendly a hug."
Ami snorted out a small laugh, then she too disappeared into her room.
"So..." Becka looked over at the door, "Where's Hanna and Cassie?"
On cue, the door opened again and Raven came in, leading a rather dead looking Hanna. She looked up at the two girls who were staring at her with wide eyes and shook her head, motioning to Hanna and then shooing them away.
Jinx and Becka shied away to the other side of the common room and Raven led Hanna past them, down to her room and walked her inside. Ten minutes passed before the black haired Titan came back out. She walked over to the two confused looking girls and sat down on the couch.
"What's wrong with her?" Jinx asked, sitting down as well. Becka followed suit. Raven took a deep breath, then let it out.
"She's pregnant."
There was silence for a solid minute, then Becka breathed out, "No... was it... that guy?"
"Yeah. Yeah it is."
Jinx stood up, "Excuse me. I've got to go to the hospital Gar put him in and kill him now."
"Sit down, Jinx." Raven ordered. Jinx glared for a second, then sat down. Raven rubbed her eyes, "It took me ten minutes back at the medical office to calm her down. Eventually I just had to absorb her fear and sadness."
"You what?" Becka's mouth fell open.
"I can kind of be like an emotional vampire..." Raven shook her head, "I sucked out her negative feelings and left her an emotional zombie for a little while. She'll do better coping with this if we're all here to help."
"That might not be happening any time soon." Becka frowned, "Janice just got back from a phone call with her mother and she'd been crying, and then ran right to her room. Ami's trying to talk to her now, but..." she trailed off.
"Mmm..." Raven nodded, "I can feel her sorrow from here. She's... very upset."
Jinx sighed, "What now?"
"We keep protecting Becka. That's our job here, and that's what we'll do."
"But..." Becka looked lost, "My friends are going through so much right now... how can you just sit back and let them suffer while I'm walking around without a care in the world?"
"Your friends don't have ten million dollar bounties on their heads." Jinx said and pinned Becka with a pink eyed glare, "We'll do what we can for them, but you come first. Keeping you alive is more important than helping them work out their problems."
"I never thought I'd be saying this," Raven shook her head, "but Jenny is right, Becka. Help your friends, but don't do anything to put yourself in any more danger than you're already in."
Becka nodded miserably, then stood up, "I'm going to go be with Hanna. See you two in the morning."
As soon as she shut the door to her room, both Raven and Jinx sagged in their seats, "This sucks." Jinx said.
"Tell me about it. Robin is calling in more help, but we can't slack off in our duty. The heavy hitters are going to come out now, and we have to be ready for them."
"Not to mention the League Of Assassins will be gunning for Becka full tilt now that Shrike is behind bars."
"Yeah." Raven sighed, "I hope that help Robin called in is something really hardcore."
Robin stared up at the night sky from the top of Titans Tower, counting the stars. He sighed as he heard the sound of feet touching the roof top behind him, and the swish of a short skirt, "Hello, Kori."
"Richard... why are you so melancholy? Speedy will not say what it was you were doing this afternoon that made you so sad." The red haired alien stepped up next to him and placed a hand on his arm. She smiled at him weakly, "I am worried for you, Lover."
"I'm fine, Kori. Just... I called an old friend for help, and it turns out... her life has become... really sad. And I feel like if I'd just kept in touch... if I hadn't screwed things up and ignored what she was going through back then, before the Titans... she'd have a better existence now." He sighed, "I don't know what I'm talking about."
"This old friend... who is she?" Starfire tilted her head to one side and gave him a wondering expression.
"She used to be the teenage sidekick to the Amazonian Princess Diana... Wonder Woman to you. She was called Wonder Girl."
"And now?"
"Now... she's not Wonder Girl any more. She quit hero work to be with her husband and newborn child shortly after she turned eighteen, but..."
"But things didn't work out like I thought they would." Both Titans looked up to see a dark form decending from the sky. A moment later, a young woman landed before them lightly, a gentle smile on her face. She wore a full body jumpsuit that shown like the night sky, covered in sparkling stars. Her sliver boots matched her sliver bracers, which matched the silver pendent swinging from around her neck. As she dropped her worn looking brown travel back pack to the rooftop, she brushed her long black hair from her face. "Hi." she said.
"Hi." Robin replied, and smiled at her, "You look good."
"You too." Troia turned to Starfire and smiled wider, "You must be Starfire. I'm Troia."
Star zoomed over to her in a green blur and smiled like a super nova, "Hello Troia! You may call me Koriand'r, or simply Kori as the rest of the Titans do. How was your journey? Will you staying long? Would you like to be my friend?"
Troia looked slightly taken aback, but smiled through her confusion anyway. Robin grinned as she spoke to Starfire, "If I'm to call you Kori, you may call me Donna. My trip was fine, though I haven't flown so far in quite some time, I'll be staying as long as Dick needs me, and of course I'd love to be your friend."
Hello new friend!" Starfire squealed, and grabbed Troia in a bone crushing hug. The dark haired young woman gasped and looked over at Robin with shock on her face. "My! You're certainly strong!"
"Oh!" Starfire set her down and stepped back sheepishly, "I am sorry! I constantly forget that earthlings are much more fragile than they look."
"Don't worry... I'm not like most humans." Troia smiled at her, "Roy tells me that you and Richard are something of an item..."
Star blushed, "Yes... Richard and I have been 'official' for almost a week now. Before that however... we were simply..."
"Pining away for each other." Robin stepped up next to her and kissed her cheek lightly.
Troia grinned, "I remember when you thought girls had cooties."
Robin groaned, "Please don't start telling stories about me from when I was twelve, Donna."
"Very well." she smiled, "I am here now, Richard. What would you have me do?"
"Take the rest of the night off. You've flown a long ways. I'll put you on the day shift with Beast Boy and Starfire starting tomorrow."
"Very well. Perhaps Kori and I can spend some time tonight getting to know one another better." Her eyes twinkled with amusement.
Robin frowned, "Be good." he warned, then flipped pulled out a communicator and handed it to her, "This will be yours while you're with the Titans."
"Heh. I remember a time when I was a Titan." she smiled warmly, "Thank you, Dick. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah. See you then." Robin dropped a final kiss on Starfire's lips, then dashed to the edge of the roof, which he jumped off of, firing a grappler to the edge of it to slow his decent to the ground.
"So," Donna turned from where Robin had just vanished and smiled at Starfire, "have you slept with him yet?"
Star smiled back, "Of course. Richard is a wonderful Lover."
"I wouldn't know. He's more like a little brother to me."
"Truly? How much older than us are you?"
"Four years." Troia picked up her bag, "Can you show me where I'll be staying?"
"Of course." Star lifted off the ground and started floating along. Shrugging, Troia rose off the ground as well, and drifted after her.
Beast Boy paused his video game as his communicator started bleeping. He pulled it out of a pocket and flipped it open, "Yo." he said.
"Garfield." It was Raven. He sat up.
"Yeah? What's up Rae?"
"I need you to do me a favor."
"Alright. What can I do for you?" he arched an eyebrow.
"Do you know what hospital Hanna's rapist is in?"
"Yeah... is she okay?"
"No." Raven shook her head, "No, she's not Gar. This is what I need you to do..."
Jinx was a light sleeper by necessity. One didn't sleep like a log at the HIVE and escape with one's hair still on one's head. She had trained herself from a rather young age to wake up at the slightest noise.
So it was that she woke up, but didn't move when she heard the light sound of someone wearing sneakers walking past her. She quickly realized that she must have fallen asleep in the common room, as she was still laying on the couch, with the TV muted and playing infomercials.
Glancing over the couch to see who had made the noise, she saw Hanna quietly opening the door to the stairs and slipping through. She was still wearing the skirt and blouse from her uniform, and she looked quite determined.
Jinx looked down at her own clothes. She wore a thin white t-shirt, and a pair of loose fitting jeans. She made up her mind quickly and jumped off the couch. Pulling on a pair of shoes (Janice's actually, but they wore the same size, and they were handy) that were sitting next to the book case, she dashed over to the door Hanna had just gone out and slipped through as well, silent as a shadow.
Speedy glanced over as Robin dropped to the rooftop next to him and crouched low. He looked back out over the school grounds from the top of the apartment building across from the girls dorms and let out a breath, "How's Donna?"
"She looks good."
"She's always looked good. She was hot when she was sixteen... I bet she's a babe now."
"I meant she looked healthy." Robin shoved him.
"So did I." Speedy grinned back.
Robin shook his head, "She and Star are chatting. They seem to like each other well enough."
"They're both friendly people. Both caring, and compassionate."
"You sound like you're ready to ask Donna out now that Terry's out of the picture."
"Naw." Speedy shook his head, "I like my woman dark, brooding, and emotionally handicapped. It helps if they're half demon too."
"You're weird."
"I'm weird? You're the one that ran around with a guy dressed up like a bat for three years."
"And you ran around with a man dressed as Robin Hood."
Speedy stared at him for a second, then shrugged, "Point."
"Anything yet tonight?"
"All's quiet on the Western Front."
"Great book." Robin nodded.
Speedy glanced at him, "I thought that was a movie."
"The movie was based on the book."
"You're shitting me. That was too good a movie to have been a book at some point."
"It still is a book, you idiot. How do you expect to date Raven if you don't read?"
"I'll woo her with my charm and ability to hit all her targets, bull's-eye, every time." he winked.
Robin rolled his eyes under his mask, "I'm going to see how Cy's doing, then I'm going to station myself on the north side of campus. Keep a sharp eye out."
"Will do." Speedy chuckled as Robin fired off a grappler and swooped away, muttering something about idiots and over-sexed red heads.
Ami lay on her bed, holding Janice's head against her chest, letting the dark haired girl cry into her chest, "It's going to be okay, Jan. I know it hurts, but... well, look how I turned out! My parents were divorced three years ago, and I'm fine!"
"Ami... I'm sorry I can't stop crying..."
"Janice, when I came in here and started sobbing all over you three years ago because my parents were splitting up, you held me all night, and you didn't even try to grope me." Janice giggled into Ami's shoulder, "The least I can do is return the favor."
Janice sat up a little and smiled at her, "I'll let you grope me if you want."
"Would that make you feel better?" Ami grinned, "Do you want to have sex with me?"
"Don't joke about that. You're the only girl with small boobs that I'm attracted to, and I'll jump you in a second if you let me."
"Well..." Ami blushed a little, "if it really will make you feel better..."
Janice stared at her for a second, then hugged her, "It's okay, Ami. I know you, and you're straight. Don't go thinking that if you try it once you'll like it... trust me, you should stick with boys."
"Anything else I can do for you?"
"Sure." Janice slid off the bed and down to the floor, "I could really use one of those great shoulder rubs you give..."
"With pleasure." Ami scooted over, "Now, vent. Tell me what you think about all of this. It'll help, trust me."
"Okay." As Ami started rubbing her shoulders, Janice took a breath, then started venting.
Jinx stalked Hanna to the cafeteria, through the unlocked back door into the kitchen, and then to the food preparation area. There she hid in the shadows as the petite blonde girl pulled a long filet knife from the block it was stored in, then went back the way she came. Jinx waited for her to pass by the shadows she was hiding in, then moved back out to continue stalking her.
She followed Hanna across the school grounds, all the way to the gym locker rooms at the back of Westpost Hall. Jinx watched her walk inside, then glanced around and dashed to the entrance. She frowned when she heard a shower start running, and moved further inside.
Brad Wessmen woke up suddenly in the darkness of his hospital room. He felt something tickling his face, and tried to scream when he realized it was a tarantula.
Unfortunately, his jaw was still wired shut from the reconstructive surgery.
The large spider jumped away from him and became the dark form of a green skinned young man a moment later. Brad whimpered.
"Remember me, Brad?" Beast Boy leaned over him, and Brad realized then that he'd been strapped down to his bed, "Boy have I got bad news for you."
Brad whimpered again and peed himself. Beast Boy frowned at him, "You'd better get control of that, and get a good job when you get out of here... you see, that seventeen year old girl you raped, Hanna... you remember her don't you? She was... what was it you said? Oh yeah..." he leaned in close and bared sharp fangs, "ripe..."
Brad's eyes rolled in fear and her tried to say something.
"I know, I know. You're very sorry. Problem is, Brad, you got her pregnant." Beast Boy grabbed hold of Brad's arm and squeezed where he knew there was a fractured bone. Brad groaned and tried to scream, but couldn't, "You're going to giver her half of your paycheck for the next eighteen years, Brad. You understand that? If you miss one week... one week Brad... I'll come back for you. And next time... I wont go so easy on you."
Brad panted with fear as he watched Beast Boy step back into the shadows and vanish from sight, "I'll be watching Brad... don't fuck this up."
Brad Wessmen breathed hard and twitched. He fell asleep soon after, but woke up a changed man.
Hanna watched the water from the shower heat up until steam rose into the air. She kicked off her shoes and stepped into the puddles forming on the tile, then knelt down in the spray, still fully clothed. Her white blouse soaked through in an instant, and she looked down at the lacy white bra she'd bought at Victoria's Secret just the day before with Cassie and Janice.
Frowning, she pulled her shirt up and shoved the top of her skirt down so she had a good view of her own abdomen. She let the burning hot water pelt down on her as she chose her spot, then lifted the filet knife above her head.
"I wont let you ruin my life." she whispered, and stabbed down with the knife at her own womb.
There was a shout as she lowered the knife, and she was surprised when she felt warm blood splattering her stomach, but no pain at all. Opening eyes she hadn't realized she'd shut she stared in horror at the sight before her.
Jinx knelt in the spray next to her, her hand out stretched and holding the knife at bay. The blade was sticking all the way through her palm and out the back of her hand, and the pink eyed girl's face was screwed up in pain as she wrestled the knife away from her friend.
Hanna chocked on a sob as Jinx's blood splattered down to the floor and washed away into the drain. She shoved herself away from the former HIVE student and stared in shock at the girl before her. Soaking blonde hair hung about her face and a grimace of pain marred her pretty features. Her white shirt was soaked though, revealing her lack of bra, and her hand dripped huge globs of blood onto the floor of the shower.
"Hanna..." Jinx gasped out, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Hanna's face hardened, "Why wont you let me get rid of this thing?" she screamed, and ran for the locker room doors, and out into the gym area.
"Hanna!" Jinx cried out as she pulled the full length of the knife back out through her hand and tossed it away with a scream of pain.
Hanna slipped across the gym floor, soaking wet and collapsed to the ground next to the weight benches. She quickly picked up a twenty pound free weight and lifted it above her head. She screamed in pain as she slammed it home into her own gut, but lifted it above her head again any way.
Jinx was there again a half second later, and Hanna wasn't able to slow the weight down as the pink eyed girl threw herself across her friends lap. The twenty pounds of steel slammed into Jinx's back, right into her kidney, and she screamed, then coughed up blood.
Hanna cried and screamed, and slammed Jinx with the weight again. Jinx just curled up around her and held her tightly. She spoke in a weak voice, "Hanna... stop this..."
"No!" Hanna screamed back and dropped the weight, then shoved Jinx off of her. The other girl got to her knees, blood dribbling down her chin as Hanna raved at her, "This... thing will ruin my life! I never wanted Brad to rape me! I never wanted to be the girl that this kind of shit happens to! This child is nothing but a curse to me!"
Hanna flew back and slammed into a weight bench as Jinx's fist plowed into her face. The small blonde girl looked up in terror as Jinx towered over her, rage and anger splayed across her face, "You... fucking... selfish... BITCH!" Jinx screamed at her, "If your child could hear you and understand you... if she could hear you say those words..." Jinx yanked on her own collar and tore her shirt half way down the front, exposing her chest, and a long, thin scar that ran from her collar bone down to the top of her left breast, "Those exact words that my mother said to me just before she stabbed a fucking dagger into my chest!"
Hanna stared up at her in horror, then slowly, slowly, her face crumbled and she crawled forward. Jinx collapsed to her knees and held open her arms, letting Hanna crawl into them and sob, "I'm sorry! I'm so, so sorry! Jenny... I never meant it... I don't... I don't know what to do..."
"Yes you do." Jinx stroked her back. "Listen. My mother was raped by some guy and she had me as a result." Hanna stiffened in her arms, and Jinx held her tighter, "I couldn't really control my metehuman powers back then, so bad luck kind of followed me everywhere. My mother... she tried to kill me, thinking I was a demon or something. I ran away, that damn dagger still in my chest, and I was picked up by the HIVE. I was almost dead when they found me blowing up fire hydrants with my out of control powers." Jinx let Hanna go and the other blonde girl sat back and listened as Jinx went on.
"I trained long and hard, and when I was fourteen, I left the HIVE for a personal mission. I went home, to have my vengeance on my mother. I went home with a solid control over my powers, and a .38 caliber revolver in my pocket." Hanna gasped, but Jinx just laughed a hollow laugh, "You know what I found when I got there? My mother had married some jerk... this guy beat her and abused her... and eventually, he'd hit her too hard. I found her body in the basement of his house, being eaten by rats and roaches." Hanna made a sick noise, but Jinx pinned her with such a glare that she couldn't even think of throwing up. "You know what I did then, Hanna?" the blonde shook her head, "I cried. I shooed all the vermin from my dead mother's body, I held her head in my arms, and I cried. I cried because even though she'd never wanted me, and even though she'd tried to kill me..." Jinx's eyes softened and tears leaked out. She whispered, "She was still my mother. She was still the one who'd given me life."
"Jenny... I'm so... so sorry..."
"Don't be. I walked upstairs after I was done crying, and I put six slugs into that fat bastards skull. Then I burned that house to the ground, and went back to the HIVE."
Hanna was silent for a long time, then she looked up at Jinx, "You're right... this baby... I need to have this baby... and I need to give it a good home..."
"And we'll help you... all of us..." Jinx swayed, "I'm loosing a lot of blood."
"Shit... here..." Hanna tore a strip of her own shirt off, and wrapped Jinx's hand with it, "We need to get you to Cassie so she can heal you up..."
"Yeah..." Jinx let Hanna help her up, then they stumbled out of the gym and into the cool night air.
The two staggering girls had barely made it to the dorm before a dark figure melted out of the shadow, "Jinx? What the hell happened to you? Why aren't you..." Robin trailed off, seeing her injuries and state of undress. He looked at Hanna with a hard gaze, "I don't know what the hell is going on here, but if you've compromised this mission in any way-"
"Shut up, Robin." Jinx stood up straight, "She's fine. I'm fine. There's quite a bit of my blood all over the gym though, so you'll want to clean that up before morning."
"Great." Robin mumbled, "Fine. I'll get it done. Have Raven heal you, then make a full report to Cyborg. I'll have him debrief me in the morning."
"Yeah. Okay." Jinx nodded.
"Go on." Robin waved them off.
The two girls hobbled up the stairs and into the dorm. Robin sighed, then started off for the gym.
A half hour later, Hanna sat on Jinx's bed, watching as Raven meditated over the hole in Jinx's hand. The wound was closing slowly, but Raven looked like she was putting a lot of effort into healing it.
"Does it still hurt?" Hanna asked. Jinx looked up from where she and Raven were seated on the floor between their beds.
"Not really. Itches like hell though."
"I'm really sorry, Jenny."
"As long as you learned your lesson..." Raven murmured.
"It was all worth it." Jinx nodded.
"Still..." Hanna was silent again for a long time, until Raven was done healing Jinx's hand.
"I'll have to leave the bruised ribs until tomorrow night..." Raven winced as she sat back, "Repairing all those tendons right took a lot out of me."
"Whatever." Jinx shrugged, then helped Raven to her feet, "I have to report to Vic. Mind if I borrow your com?"
"Go ahead." Raven pulled the unit out of her pocked and handed it to Jinx, who nodded to Hanna with a small smile, then ducked out of the room. Raven stared at Hanna as well, then went over and sat with her. "I told you... we'd always be there for you Hanna. No matter what."
"You were right. Thanks, Cassie." Hanna reached over and grasped her hand, "I think..."
"Yes?" Raven arched an eyebrow as Hanna hesitated.
Eventually, the blonde girl smiled through her teary eyes, "I think I'd like you to call Starfire for me... I think it's time I talked to someone about this..."
Raven nodded, "Kori will be good for you to talk to... especially now."
"Why?" Hanna looked curious as she wiped away her tears.
"You'll see." Raven smiled slightly, "Now let's get you to bed."
In a dark, one person room on the first floor of the girls dorms, Rose Wilson flew up out of her bed, grasping at the air and panting for breath. She took a moment to center herself, then looked up at the broadsword hanging on her wall.
"One week from today..." she whispered, "All hell will break loose... and he'll be there... he'll be there..."
Closing notes: Heh... and Aqualad gets screwed out of any screen time at all. He never even had a single line. Say hello to Donna Troy however, and watch for her to take on an active role in coming chapters. Name all the Titans Dick and Roy were talking about before they decided to call Donna in your review and get a cookie.