CHAPTER 7 BATTLE IN THE MIND

Awhile later Hiei and Raven were back in Terra's old room. Raven was sitting behind Hiei on the bed retying the bandages over his wound. This time she was tying the tighter so he wouldn't be able to open them again no matter how much he moved around. She just wished he hadn't done what he did and opened them in the first place.

"You don't have to tell me why you did it," she said as she jerked on the bandages to make them tighter. "I'd just like to know what you were thinking that's all."

Hiei wasn't really in the mood to tell her anything yet, at the same time, he felt he had to. "Why are you bothering me about it?" he wanted to know as he looked at her over his shoulder. "It was your friend's idea not mine!"

"You could have said no," she told him.

The demon didn't want that kind of advice. He turned on her. "You don't get it!" he shouted, facing her now. He grabbed her cape and pulled it forward with a jerk. He looked the girl right in the eyes. It was time to let her have it. "I can't just say no!" he informed her, gripping her cape in shaking hands. "I can't afford to say no! It's a sign of weakness. That's one thing I refuse to show to anyone! I'd rather die!"

Raven stared at his hands as they gripped her cape then let go and thought over what he had just told her. Weakness? she wondered. What does he mean?

He glared at her and she asked. "Why are you telling me this?"

He couldn't look into her eyes anymore. They seemed to be boring into his very soul. "Hmph!" he grunted, looking away from her. "Just be happy I'm telling you anything, wench!"

"Hiei..." she began putting up her hand but not touching him. She stared at his back for a moment and noticed he had a necklase chain around his neck. How hadn't she noticed that before?

Hiei felt her eyes boring into his back and suddenly felt very tired. "Would you mind leaving?" he demanded, still not looking at her. "I'm tired and I don't like people watching me when I'm sleeping."

Raven stared at him a little longer. "Okay..." she said. She got up and left the room.

Hiei watched her go. When she was gone he flopped down on the mattress and stared at the white scarf he was holding, thoughfully. The only thing on his mind was Raven. What is it with that girl? he wondered. Why does it feel whenever I'm around her she knows everything about me just by looking at me?

He closed his eyes and tried to push her out of his mind. Why was he thinking about her so much anyway? He never seemed interested in any females before. What was it about her that messed up his thinking?

Raven was on her way back to her room when she heard voices coming from Robin's room. Curious, she walked closer to the room to hear better. It sounded like Beatboy, Cyborg and Robin. They seemed to be in an intense conversation... about Hiei!

"At least we know how powerful he is," Robin was saying. "And that he was going easy on us."

"Dude, you call that easy?" Beastboy demanded. "That psycho almost broke my ankles! I don't call that easy!"

"And his fire power fist broke my sonic blaster," Cyborg whined. "I'll be fixing this thing for a week!"

"Just be glad Slade didn't get to him first," Robin told them. "Who knows what he'd be doing right now if that maniac had gotten to him before we did."

"I still don't trust him," Beastboy grumbled. "There's something seriously off about him. It's almost like he'll betray us once he gets bored with us."

Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing or bear to hear anymore of it, not if Hiei couldn't defend himself. Since he couldn't she felt she should. "He won't," she said stepping in the doorway.

The three boys looked up. "Raven?" Robin said when he spotted her.

"Hiei is not going to betray us," Raven told them, locking eyes with each as she looked from one to the other. "It doesn't matter how he fights. That means nothing."

"But, Raven, you weren't there," Beastboy protested. "That maniac almost broke both of my ankles!"

"Yet he didn't," she told him. "Just because he fights rougher than you doesn't mean he'll betray us."

"How would you know," Beastboy demanded.

"I just know," she said turning away from them and leaving the room.

When the pale girl was gone the three boys looked at each other. "Does she know something about him that we don't?" Robin asked out load.

Hiei felt hot so he kicked the blankets off Terra's bed and flopped down on the sheets on his back. After that he stared at the starry ceiling until he finally dozed off as the fake galaxy seemed to draw him in. Soon his mind began creating awful images. It seemed as if something else was chosing what he thought.

He drempt of killing. And not just anybody either. The Teen Titans. One by on until all that was left was Raven.

As he stood over her with his sword covered in her friend's blood he stared into her eyes and froze. There was something about her eyes that chilled him, chilled him so much it was all he could do to look away.

Kill her! a voice in his mind ordered. Kill Raven!

He couldn't do it.

Kill Raven!

He didn't want to do it.

Kill her! Now!

He chose not to do it.

Upon making that descition his dream totally changed. As he put his sword away and turned from the pale girl everything seemed to shatter around him. When things came back into place someone was torturing him! Someone who knew exactly how to cause him pain.

Raven was meditating over her bed when she suddenly sensed some strange dark energy coming from Terra/Hiei's (It's still Terra's room but while Hiei is there it's also his) room. More strange waves, she thought, feeling the darkness. Whatever is causing these waves has more energy than my own powers...

But that didn't seem to be the only thing she was feeling. She could feel Hiei's emotions as well as something in his mind. Something invasive.

This is familiar, she thought. Something has gotten into his mind. But what? Who? Slade? How could he? He doens't even know Hiei is with us...

Something wanted her to be sure. She knew it wouldn't be a good idea. If he found out he might be very angry. But she had to whether or not he'd be mad. She couldn't let Slade get into someone else's mind like he had with Robin and her.

"Azerath Metrion Zinthose," she breathed.

A shadow went out of her body and into the wall. It exited through the wall in Terra's room and slid into Hiei's body, its features merging with his own. Though Hiei was still sleeping his eyes opened halfway and Raven's blue ones stared blindly at the celing.

Inside his mind Raven had trouble finding out anything. For some reason his mind seemed to be shut down and out of her reach (A/N Hiei seems to be the type of person who would only let someone read his mind if he gave them permission). She could't read any of his thoughts but she could feel something.

Emotions.

Anger. Depression. Sadness, Anguish. Fear. Pain. And another presense. The Intruder.

Someone else is in here, she thought as emotions swirled around her like fog. But who? Slade?

Suddenly a figure materialized in front of her. It was Hiei. He glared at her as she stared at him. He seemed angry about something. About her entering his mind without his permission?

"Hiei...?" she began.

"GET OUT OF MY MIND!" he screamed before he lunged at her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" the demon screamed in agony as Raven's shadow came flying out his body and back into the wall.

The person he'd attacked in his mind shattered into a million pieces as he finally shook off it's grasp and woke up, freeing himself from the Intruder's powers.

The demon sat up panting for a moment then stared at his hands. They were bloody and shaking. When had he cut them? He looked around himself. The sheets on the bed were covered in sweat and more blood had soaked into it, making it smell like death. Just by looking at the mess made him realize just how scared he had been... and he never got scared!

He wasn't exactly sure what had been in his mind but it had been trying to bring out his killer nature. If his will hadn't of been so strong it might have...

But the figure he'd attacked in his dream hadn't really been Raven. He knew she'd gone into his mind but it hadn't been her. He'd lunged at somone much taller.

Raven clasped her hands over her throat as she tried to catch her breath. When Hiei had lunged at her he'd had the deadliest look in his eyes. But she could tell, even though she had been in his mind, that it wasn't her he'd seen.

He'd attacked someone else.

Slade slammed his fist against a wall in his hideout. He couldn't believe his bad luck. He'd almost brought out the demon's true nature but the welp had such a strone will and killer look in his eyes that Slade has been thrown out and couldn't enter again, no matter how hard he tried.

No matter, he thought. There are other ways...

Hiei had calmed down now. After his heart rate returned to normal he cleaned the blood off his hands and stripped the bed of sheets (he'd kicked the blankets off already) and flopped back down onto the mattress.

Within minutes he was sleeping once more and this time his dreams weren't invaded by anymore intruders.

Raven also lay down to sleep. Her mind was troubled as well but she fell asleep almost instantly. She drempt of nothing.

A/N

So a little bit of Out Of Characterness. I think anyway. I might be wrong. I really like this chapter for some reason don't ask why cuz I can't explain it. Well I know Raven can get into people's minds (She did in Haunted) and I know somehow Slade can too. I can't figure out just how he can but I know he can. (Haunted prime example). I also know Raven's powers made her aware of people's emotions a lot for some reason so I figured since she's emotionally aware that she'd be able to sense Hie's emotions as well even though he tries to hide them under his mean grumpy personallity. lol. And dont' worry Hiei will stop calling Raven "wench" soon.

Just to let you all know if I don't get any reviews on this fic I will not update and you can just stay hanging. I see no point in updating something no one is reading.