Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
Violet put her hands on her hips. Airen sat on the couch mindlessly watching tv. The same thing she had been doing for the last two days. She wasn't even watching something that she liked.
John also hadn't shown up randomly or called or anything in the past two days either. Even Airen's phone which Violet had grown used to the constant buzzing, lay silent.
Violet frowned at her listless roommate. She had begun to think that Airen and John were starting something other than a mutual dislike for each other. When Airen's phone had started the constant buzzing which caused the constant smiling, Violet had begun to hope that they liked each other way more than any of them bargained for.
Then two days ago it all stopped. Airen had left for her shoot and everything was fine. John had called and asked what time Airen got off and offered to pick her up and everything was fine. Violet had gone to bed at 11 and they weren't back yet, and everything was fine. The next morning Violet had awoken and come into Airen in her pj's with an empty half-gallon of ice cream tub, an open and half-empty brand new cereal box, and most of the booze gone, on the couch, watching the wall behind the tv while a movie that she hated played. Violet had texted and called John multiple times that day and he had never responded. It was only when she had texted him that she was coming over that he sent her a response saying to leave him alone.
Something had happened that night, and she was going to find out what.
A harsh wind blew against the windowpanes beckoning the oncoming cold front. Clouds covered the sky blocking any light from the sun making the day gray and dismal.
It was Halloween day and the whole city seemed to be holding its breath waiting to see which lunatic would run rampant in the city that night.
Airen sat curled up on the window seat in a pair of old jeans and an oversized sweater. She also wore a pair of fuzzy socks and had tied her hair up. She had curled up in the comfy spot with a warm blanket. It wasn't that she was cold, she just liked the feeling of being cozy and comfortable.
All week had been gray and dreary with dropping temperatures and an ominous presence looming over the city. Without the constant sunlight, Airen had begun feeling weary and weak. She needed sunlight. It gave her energy. It gave her life.
Airen sighed and burrowed deeper into her little next of comfort. She stared blankly out the window looking at nothing and seeing nothing.
It'd been nearly two months since that night at Lookout Point and Johnathan was still keeping his distance. After a week he'd started communicating with Violet again. They spoke on the phone, met in public, and even hung out at his apartment on occasion. Recently Airen heard her urging him over the phone to start coming over again. Airen assumed that he refused since he still hadn't come.
Violet had also started nagging Airen. Violet began inviting her out, forcing her to run errands, etc. At first, Airen thought that Violet was just being a nice and concerned roommate. But when the party invites began rolling in, she suspected that Violet was trying to get Airen to go places where Johnathan would be. Airen respectfully declined every time. She couldn't risk seeing him, not after….besides, he clearly wanted nothing to do with her anymore. After that embarrassing display, she didn't blame him.
Suddenly Airen's bedroom door burst open revealing a very determined Violet.
"Get up." She demanded. She began rummaging through Airen's closet. Airen sat up astonished at Violet's behavior.
Violet pulled something out of the closest and looked at it. Not liking whatever it was she tossed it aside and continued to rummage through Airen's closet.
"What in the world…." Airen muttered. Violet stood, examined the clothes in her hands, and nodded satisfied. She turned to Airen and tossed the clothes at her. Airen caught most of them but the shirt landed on her face.
"We're going out. You, me, girls' night. No arguing, no ifs, ands, buts, and whatnots. We're going, that's final." Violet nodded to the clothes she had tossed at Airen. "That's what you're wearing. I have to run an errand, but I shouldn't be gone long. By the time I get back, I expect you to be up, showered, dressed, and ready to go out. That includes hair and makeup. The school has a football game tonight and we're going. Then we're going dancing." With a final stern look at Airen, Violet left just as quickly as she had come leaving Airen sitting in shock staring after her.
Black Hawke ran across the rooftops jumping and leaping from roof to roof trying to clear his head.
That night with Airen had rattled him. He hadn't ever expected to feel that way. It had been so intense he almost couldn't bear it. Then there was the little matter of his Beast.
That night with Airen had stirred The Beast in a way either of them had felt before. Her touch, him touching her, her tears, the clear pain of what she had experienced…..it had awoken a part of the Beast that had never been there before. All he'd wanted to do was comfort and protect her and she wouldn't let him. Said that she couldn't let him, whatever that meant.
Johnathan shook his head. Since then he'd had trouble controlling the Beast. He was fine to go to work and do the normal day-to-day stuff but if he got anywhere near anything that had anything to do with her he was overwhelmed with a fierce desire to grab her and take her off somewhere safe. Then when he wouldn't give in to those desires the Beast threatened to take over. SO he'd stayed away. It was better this way, for both him and her.
The first two weeks had been fine so long as he stayed away from her and the apartment. But then the Beast's urges got stronger. He became more demanding, more impatient. He threatened to take over more than once. Johnathan was forced to run himself ragged to keep that from happening. When he wasn't working, he was at the gym, on patrol, or running little errands for Batman. He even resorted to calling his father for help and advice.
Thankfully his dad had been through something similar before. With his dad's help, Johnathan had come up with a plan to help keep the Beast under control. He meditated every day with his mom, went to work, worked out with his dad, went on patrol, and stayed as far away from Airen as he could. It helped some but he was still struggling with keeping the Beast at bay. Then things got worse.
The night the photos from Airen's lingerie shoot came out he had been forced to give the Beast some reign. There was only one rule: stay away from Airen.
Johnathan shook his head. He really did feel bad for those poor carjackers he had stumbled across while on patrol. They'd be spending a couple of days in the hospital at least.
The following night he had been sent to check out a disturbance a few blocks from Airen and Violet's apartment. Once it'd been taken care of he'd been on his way back to his place when he passed their apartment. Out of the corner of his eye, he'd seen Airen through the open window.
She'd looked sad, but fine. She was safe.
When he saw her, instead of losing control as he'd feared, the Beast had quieted. For the first time in weeks, the Beast had seemed content. Johnathan seemed to finally understand that the Beast just wanted to make sure she was okay. Since then he had made sure to plan their apartment into his patrol route as much as possible. Even when he didn't, he still swung by before he went home every night.
Johnathan came to a stop when he reached the roof across the street from her apartment. It being Halloween Batman had wanted to make sure that everything was safe. He'd gone to Arkham himself as well as three different prisons to ensure that everyone was present and accounted for. Johnathan and Tony had escorted the Commissioner himself to inspect the jail, on a specific request from Batman.
Batman also had them running patrols like crazy. Teams of Bat-Family members were patrolling the city all day and all night, just to be safe. Johnathan was currently on his third patrol of the day and would be doing two that night.
Johnathan shook his head. He didn't know what had Bruce all bent out of shape, but something had him worried about tonight.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" A voice from behind him startled him so much he nearly fell off of the roof.
When he'd regained his balance, he whirled around to find a woman floating behind him. Very few people could sneak up on him like that and he never liked it when they did.
"Shadow." Johnathan huffed. "You scared the living daylights out of me."
Shadow lowered her hood before landing and crossing her arms. She raised an eyebrow.
"Good. Someone needs to do something. You've been acting weird for weeks."
"I-" He began to protest but she continued.
"And spying? Is that what you've been reduced to? Honestly, John, if you want to come over to check on her you just have to ask."
"Vie-"
"I mean it's not like I'm the one keeping you at bay and it is my apartment too. You're my brother, you can come over anytime you want."
"I wasn't spying. And I wasn't checking up on her." Johnathan protested.
"Mmmhmm." Violet didn't look convinced.
"What?"
"Nothing, I'm not fighting either of you tonight." She muttered under her breath.
Thanks to his sensitive animal hearing he heard her comment.
"What?"
"Nothing." Violet waved him off. "Tonight. 9 o'clock. Mason's picking you up and you two are going drinking for guy's night. Be showered, dressed, and ready." She commanded.
"I have patrol…" Johnathan pointed out taken off guard.
"Not until Midnight. I got the rotation schedule. Now be ready to go when he gets there." Violet gave him a pointed look letting him know that she was serious.
He glared at her but nodded. He'd seen the rough end of her powers and didn't want to be on the other side.
He glanced at her new uniform. It was a gray strapless leotard with a purple belt that formed a V on the waist. She had also added gray fingerless gloves, gray high-heeled ankle boots, and then of course her gray hooded cloak just like their mom's.
"Mom and Dad see the uniform since you "spruced it up"?" Johnathan asked. Violet turned and glared at him.
Part of their uniforms was to go without their holo rings. For him, all it did was show his pointed ears and fangtooth. For Violet, it showed a lot more. Her gray skin, purple hair, eyes, and red chakra gem on her forehead were exposed.
"Shove it." Was her only reply as she disappeared through the roof.
Airen bit her lip trying not to laugh as the bartender flirted with Violet. Clearly, he had no chance but he'd been giving them free stuff for 20 minutes so Violet was using it to her advantage.
"No harm in a little harmless flirting if it gets you free stuff." Violet had said with a playful wink at Airen.
Airen shook her head as the guy wrote his number on a napkin and handed it to her. Violet blew him a kiss and made her way back to Airen.
"He'll bring the drinks." She said cheerfully. "For you." She announced as she placed the napkin on the table in front of Airen.
"He gave it to you." Airen pointed out as she sipped her beer.
"But I already have a boyfriend," Violet said practically. She finished off her third margarita. "Ahh! That's so refreshing!" She declared. Violet was already getting a little tipsy and it was only 9:30.
Airen rolled her eyes at her roommate. They'd had a good time at the football game but had left early to go dancing. So far Violet had done more drinking than dancing and Airen had barely participated in the drinking. She was still working on her first beer.
Airen was having fun. She enjoyed hanging out with her roommate, but she was not here to get a boyfriend. That was the last thing she needed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Airen noticed a couple of guys watching her and Violet. She immediately sat up straighter. Attention from guys in places like these wasn't necessarily a good thing. And Violet's behavior plus their outfits weren't exactly discouraging.
Airen studied Violet's outfit. She wore a strapless corset-style purple crop top with jeans, a black blazer, and black heels. Not really what you'd call modest. Airen's own outfit was suggestive. Violet had picked out Airen's nicest jeans along with a long sleeve black lace blouse and black heels. All Violet had given her to wear under the shirt was a black bra which made the outfit very revealing. Airen had opted to wear her hair up in a high ponytail and added a pair of long silver earrings. She and Violet also wore matching black chokers.
Airen turned to try and discourage the guys from a distance only to see them coming toward her and Violet. Airen turned to Violet.
"Violet! Violet!" Airen hissed.
"What?" Violet asked as she bounced to the beat of the music in her seat.
"We have a problem," Airen said.
"What problem?"
"We-" Airen halted mid-sentence. Unless she was becoming delusional Mason and Johnathan were making their way through the crowd toward them.
"Evening ladies." The two guys who had been watching them arrived at their table with smooth smiles.
"Can we help you with something?" Airen asked with a pleasant smile. She tried to focus on what they were doing, but she was too distracted by the fact that they had blocked her view of the two guys she thought were Mason and Johnathan.
Violet had stopped dancing and was staring pointedly at their admirers.
"We were wondering if you ladies would be interested in joining us for a dance." The guy closest to Airen smiled and held out his hand in invitation. Airen and Violet exchanged a look.
"Sorry fellas, but we're taking a break at the moment." Violet supplied.
"Awe come on baby; we just want to have a good time." The one closest to Violet took a step closer to her. The guy next to Airen simply grabbed her arm playing the part of a functional mute.
"Well I'm having a great time, what about you Mason?" Johnathan seemed to materialize next to Airen. Her heart raced inside her chest and her stomach flipped nervously. She smiled in relief.
"Fantastic." Mason's voice came from the other side of Violet.
"Oh, would you look at that, our dance partners are here!" Violet chirped.
The strangers frowned but backed off. Or at least the one next to Violet did. The one gripping Airen's arm only squeezed tighter. Airen winced and was forced to lean forward in her seat to lessen the intensity of the guy's grip.
"Ow, ow, ow…" Airen hissed under her breath. Johnathan's hand flew up and grasped the guy's wrist. Johnathan's large hand barely covered half of the much larger man's wrist.
"Kindly let go of the lady," Johnathan growled. Airen saw his eyes dilate and darken.
The stranger's hand suddenly released her arm. He backed up and went down on a knee trying to free his writs from Johnathan's grip.
"John…." Violet's voice held a warning tone. "John that's enough. John!"
It took Airen a moment to realize that Johnathan wasn't letting go. The stranger's face was beginning to turn red in pain. Johnathan's jaw was as solid as stone and his eyes burned with anger. Airen had never seen him like this before, but thanks to her mother she had an idea why.
She didn't think it was a good idea to touch Johnathan at all, but she couldn't think of anything else to do. She slid off of her seat and stepped up next to him.
Airen turned so that she could hide what she was doing with her body. She gently placed one hand on his back and the other one on his side. She leaned in so that she could whisper into his ear discreetly without many people noticing.
"It's alright. You can let him go now. I'm alright." She whispered calmly in a soothing voice. The change was instantaneous. His eyes went back to normal and his jaw relaxed. He released his hold on the guy and placed his arm loosely around Airen's shoulders.
The stranger got up clutching his hand with the other one. He glared at the two of them as he and his friend scampered off into the crowd. As soon as they were gone Airen separated herself from Johnathan and sat back down.
The disapproving look that Violet sent Johnathan was not lost on Airen.
"Well, I think it's time for a dance. Vie?" Mason, sensing the awkwardness of the moment, tugged on his girlfriend's arm.
"Yup." Violet let Mason pull her away as she gave Johnathan one more pointed look.
Airen and Johnathan both watched as the young couple made their way to the dance floor and began dancing. A few minutes of awkward silence passed before Airen broke it.
"Soooo…..hi."
"Hi."
"Long time no see." She took a sip of her beer to give her hands and mouth something to do. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Johnathan had one of his own.
"Uh yeah. I, ahem," Johnathan cleared his throat nervously as he pulled on the collar of his dark blue polo. "I didn't-I thought….." He sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck.
Airen looked at him pointedly as she waited for him to finish.
"I…I thought that you didn't-that I…..I didn't think you wanted to see me. After….you know…" Johnathan looked sheepishly at her. Airen looked at him shocked and confused.
"Wha-? You mean…..you thought…? I thought you were staying away because you didn't want anything to do with me." Airen explained. Johnathan blinked.
"That's not true."
"Well, it's not true for me either." Airen clarified. Johnathan opened his mouth but was interrupted by the flirty bartender.
"Here are your drinks," he said as he set down another one of Airen and Violet's drinks. "So, where's your friend?" He asked Airen eagerly. Airen bit her lip to keep from laughing.
"She's um, dancing….with her boyfriend." Airen nodded at her friends as they shamelessly grinded up against each other. The bartender's face fell when he saw them and Airen felt bad for him. At least until he recovered and turned to her.
"You know, that number I gave your friend can be used by hot blondes too." He raised and lowered his eyebrows suggestively. Airen nearly choked on her drink to keep from laughing at the expression on Johnathan's face.
"Well, I-" Airen tried to swallow the beer in her mouth but couldn't without choking.
"Why don't you run back to your bar and do your job before I bust you for serving alcohol to underage customers," Johnathan said firmly as he stood and placed a hand on the bartender's shoulder. The bartender turned to look at Johnathan just in time for Johnathan to discreetly flash his badge.
The bartender's face went white and without a word he took off.
"It's, um, root…beer…." Airen said looking away as she took a drink.
"Uh-huh…." Johnathan crossed his arms.
"Pretty sure you're not supposed to do that. Something along the lines of abusing your authority….?" Airen countered.
Johnathan was silent for a minute before responding.
"Call it even?"
"Deal."
Johnathan sat down and they were silent for a few more minutes.
"Sooo…you're not upset with me?" Johnathan began.
"No, of course not. Why would you think that?" Airen asked.
"Well, it just seemed like you were pretty upset that night and it kinda felt like I had something to do with it…." Johnathan looked at her sorrowfully.
"No! I mean, yes, I was upset. But I wasn't upset with you. I was upset with myself." Airen explained.
"Sooo….we're good?" Johnathan asked.
Airen sighed. "I-I don't know. I just…I'm not dating. For reasons I can't and won't explain I'm not dating. I just want to be friends, but I understand if you're not okay with that…." Airen trailed off. What was she doing? He'd never said anything about dating!
"Airen, look at me."
Johnathan's sweet and gentle voice brought her head up to meet his gaze.
"I am happy to be your friend. I would rather just be friends and have you in my life than not in my life because I didn't like or respect your decision." He said reassuringly.
Airen smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."
They sat there for a moment in silence.
"Why don't-why don't we start over? You know, as friends." Airen suggested.
Johnathan thought for a moment. "Okay." He held out his right hand and put on his most charming smile. "Hello, my name's Logan and I'm a homicide detective with GCPD."
Airen giggled and shook his hand. "Airen, I'm a law student at GCU."
They both laughed at their own introductions.
"Oh, and nice try, but I'm still calling you Johnathan. Good try though, I like how you tried to slip Logan in there." Airen said as she took a drink.
"What's wrong with Logan?" Johnathan asked offended.
"It's so impersonal. I like Johnathan better. Besides, I could never pass up the opportunity to push your buttons." Airen smiled teasingly.
"Fine, Angel, if that's the way you wanna play it. Go right ahead." He said with an evil smile on his face. She sent him a glare.
"Hey! Turn it up!" Someone shouted. Airen looked around to see what they were referring to.
At the bar, a group of people had gathered to see a mounted tv. Or, what was on the tv.
Airen and Johnathan made their way over to join the group as someone turned down the music and turned up the tv's volume. Violet and Mason joined them as they came to a stop in the throng of people.
"Authorities are saying that this area of Gotham is turning into a disaster zone. A war zone even. For those of you just now joining us, downtown Gotham city is turning into a war zone as two rival gangs appear to be fighting each other for territory. Batman, along with the police are on the scene attempting to handle the situation, but authorities are advising that everyone remain inside until further notice."
The scene on the screen showed streets, where several cars were broken into, on fire, and buildings had been looted. People with guns were running around screaming and shooting at each other. Fires also burned in random trash cans. There were traffic blockers and police up to keep the streets blocked and discourage people from going into the dangerous areas.
"We gotta go," Johnathan muttered.
