Disclaimer: Characters here are property of their owners, none of which happen to be me. Correction – Yoko's mine.
NOTE! CH.7 REWRITTEN! Backtrack if you read it before 10-5-08, or this will confuse the hell out of you. It will have a note like this (The site is being slow)
Initial Notes: Lets try this again...
A Cup of Sugar, pt.8
"I wish I could say the same," Raven spat back, her arms held to her sides by Wondergirl's lasso, as Robin tried to establish order in the suddenly upset room. She watched as Garfield mocked a look of hurt, and realized that the lines on his face, and his posture had deepened in the months she'd been away.
Shaking his head, the changeling put some distance between himself and the still sputtering half-demon only a yard away. "So what brings you by? It's been a while since you've visited. Get tired of that boring college, yet?"
The mechanical way in which he said those words caught in everyone's mind, as Raven seemed to go livid, Cyborg having to hold the rope around her with some strength to keep her from just running headlong at the green-skinned young man. Robin's face was grim as the young man, Garfield, crossed the room and spun a chair to sit. "I wish I had some idea what you meant by 'she', Raven, but I don't."
"Don't lie to me!" Raven screeched, head bowed as she shook it slowly. "You should know you can't. Just... don't."
"I'm not the one lying here!" The others reeled back, at the force in the slight man's words and voice. It was obvious something was wrong, as he panted and looked about with wide eyes where he sat, the rest of his body rigid, as if the only player in this act that knew it's lines. "What have you been doing? Playing at being normal – look at yourself!"
Stunned slightly at his words, Raven peered at her hands and saw them rimmed with ebon. "That doesn't matter, I-"
"You're one of us. Not them," nearly spitting the last word, Garfield rose, stalking about the room slowly, his hands shaking as he did so. "Didn't you see? You weren't meant to be there! Your grades, the way people looked at you. Didn't you get it?
"You belong here. With us." Taking a deep breath, he turned and his face was set in a gentle smile, all the tension from a moment ago gone, the deep lines as he screamed and ranted quite smooth now. "Here with us, home. You're a Titan, Rae."
"My name is Raven," she spat the word at him, as Cyborg looked back and forth between the two and Robin, shrugging. He didn't know if he should keep holding the young woman, or try and sort out Garfield. Robin was little help, as he stood, brows furrowed and looking like he'd just bitten down on a lime. "Tell. Me. Where. Jinx. Is."
The facade that Beast Boy had painted on his features broke and he snarled, "She doesn't matter! I matter, here!" Pounding his chest the young man swung his arm about and pointed, in a wide arc at the other Titans. "They matter! What are you playing at? Being normal, trying to make some kind of fake life out there? It's like some kind of bad front for a sting, Raven. It's not a game! You can't do it."
"You can't, Garfield. You couldn't, but this isn't a game to me, and it's not a lie," slowly, Raven straitened back up from her straining, as the ropes around her went slack, Cyborg letting them free. Cassie recalled the length of enchanted rope and caught it, keeping the corner of her eye on Beast Boy, wary. "What have you done?"
Reaching up and swiping a damp palm through his hair, the changeling laughed quietly, the breaths shaking him badly. "I did what I needed to. I put the villain away, and rescued you."
"You're... you're ill." Swallowing, Raven's breath went shallow, as she picked at his surface memories carefully. They resembled nothing less than a shattered mirror. She raised her hands and took a hesitant step toward the now-shaking young man. "Just.. relax, Gar. Lets talk a minute."
"You're still lying," he mumbled, head bowed. "You still don't want to talk to me. You never did, did you? You just wanted your books. Your scrolls, and your damn black hole of a room. Your peace and quiet.
"Well, that's fine. It was always OK, because you were here, with us," his eyes glowered, glittering from below his bangs as they draped over his face, and Raven unconsciously took a step back, at the fury smoldering in them. "But now, she's gotten to you. Got inside your head, with her magic and her stupid plans and her..." his voice trailed off as he shook his head slowly, hands to his side and clenched, nails biting into his palms deeply. Raven noticed a darker stain on his fingers, as blood flowed there. She looked about a moment, gauging if the Titans were seeing what she was, seeing the need to just contain him before Garfield could hurt himself more, and realized her mistake, even as her peripheral was filled with green. "I won't let you go again!"
They hurtled through a window in a tangle of limbs, the impact so sudden she was stunned. Partially because she just never expected him to do something so... mad, and partly from the blow to her head as it broke the huge pane of glass.
It wasn't enough to keep her stunned long, and she halted her fall easily, but with some hesitation also took hold of the wailing Beast Boy, as he flailed, alternately sobbing and snarling at her. She held him fast in his human form and in a claw of black will, stretching out from her billowing jacket as she floated above the rocky crag of the Bay. Her mind locked him into this shape, and he could sense it, knew it was her as she'd done so, in the past.
The bitter tang of betrayal that washed over her mind nearly made her vomit, as she picked through his memories, for some sign of Jinx.
OoO
The newly 'reunited' Titans had spared little time in retrieving them, and with relief she saw them binding Garfield, and not her this time. She was about to dismiss herself and go scan the houses, addresses torn from Beast Boy's mind, when a hand gingerly took her shoulder.
Raven turned to see the others, faces a range from grim to blank, in some cases, but all there, supporting her. "Let us help," Robin has said quietly, and the half-demon nodded her thanks, sweeping out a great shadow to send them to the first property, Beast Boy held to the side in case in a small ebony bubble, sleeping in a fetal position fitfully. Darkened rural streets greeted the odd group, as they spread out and approached a dark home, wary and on guard. This pattern repeated, for three other homes, Raven becoming anxious as their searches were fruitless.
Robin had his notebook out, and scanned each place as they checked, taking small lines of data down. Raven noted a few things herself, and the one that seemed to stick in her mind most were the signs outside each home.
All for sale. All brokered by the same woman, that she'd initially seen outside Jinx's home. A Spike of rage sneaked up on her, and in the gloom of a darkened room, she could hear Robin suck in a gasp of breath, the tenuous link between them hammering at his mind in such close proximity. "Sorry," the young woman muttered, but he just shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"S'ok, this would be taxing for anyone," and she had to agree with those words. "Is this it?"
"No, she's not here. I can't feel her." Raven purposefully left out of her observation, what the latter could mean. She scoured her memories, those taken from Garfield's mind and saw an error in her thinking, nearly groaning at the realization. Too hasty, she'd sped off to each place he'd filed in memory, but that meant little as those were catalog pictures, from the brokerage book. Kicking herself, she searched again, and came up with only seven houses, that had more than just an address and a picture, to work off of.
Two they'd already visited.
Third time was the charm, as when they appeared outside the dilapidated home, Raven could practically taste the line of Jinx's sleeping thoughts, burrowed below the ground level of the place. Sleeping, her mind was idle but there was a waver, a broken thread to the sound of it. She was injured, that much was obvious, but also something... clouded, her.
The impulse to rip the structure loose and crush it into a ball of so much pointless debris and...
Robin's hand on her shoulder stilled her, and she smiled her thanks. "Lets her her out of there," was her only reply, to the searching looks the others had given her on arrival.
It was answer enough.
OoO
That brought them to the present, minus the fate of the green-skinned man. "Gar?" Jinx managed to ask, her voice still lacking, despite the few cups of water Raven had helped her with, during the retelling.
Noise in the hallway alerted the Titan to the nurse returning, and she made a sign for Jinx to wait a few more minutes. In truth, there were still parts of the story she wasn't ready to tell, quite yet.
The few moments she'd asked for became an hour or more, as the nurse ran an extensive battery on the young woman, that had the caretaker shooing the two other students from the room. Sitting in the hallway, Yoko finally sighed and looked over to Raven, who winced and met her gaze. Raven finally just sighed and spoke first, "Ask, you have the right."
"Why did he do it?" The smaller girl, still in a state of disbelief asked. She'd been, as everyone had, locked into a state of thinking of the heroes of Titan Tower as inviolate paragons. That one of them would have a vendetta on an ex-villain made sense, but this... this passed beyond her ability to grasp.
Raven sighed and leaned back against the wall, weary. "Garfield has never been very stable. Yet he's always wanted stability.
"His past was riddled with sudden changes and uprootings. Never able to go to school, unable to keep a steady home... even after his acceptance into Doom Patrol he was shuffled about like a child from a broken marriage," she explained, eyes locked on the cuffs of her jacket, as her hands played with them. "Change makes him very unsettled. When I went to college, I broke with the team, and... well there is one other problem."
Yoko, listening with little sympathy for the young man, tilted her head in query. "What problem?"
Looking away nervously, the other Titan seemed to draw in on herself. "Gar has had a crush on me since... well. Since I've paid attention to it. It's been a long time," her voice had dropped, and now she looked, unblinkingly at her hands. "He's very jealous. Very unstable, sometimes. But this was so... out of the blue! But at the same time... I should have known!" Tears had started to leak from the corners of Raven's eyes, and Yoko did the only thing she could think of, then to help.
She stood, and pulled Raven into a hug. The young woman sobbed quietly, and Yoko could practically feel the guilt rolling off the girl, as she tried to comfort her. Making soft soothing sounds, she stilled the Titan's heaving breaths and finally got her to look up again. "You OK there?"
"Yeah... yeah," shaking off the last of her outburst, Raven grinned in thanks at the other girl and settled back in her chair. "Jinx – Jennifer had warned me. Told me about Garfield but I wrote it off as a jealous fit. I had no idea he'd go this far..." sighing, she rubbed at her eyes and sniffled. "I feel responsible."
"Don't," Yoko said, possibly a bit too forcefully, as people down the hall looked their way curiously. "Don't, he did this on his own. And... by the sound of things you didn't have reason to think he'd do something like this."
Shaking her head slowly, Raven sighed and rubbed at her temples. She should have picked up on something from him during their last meeting, where he'd ridden in her coat on the way to see Jinx. She could feel his mind, more chaotic than usual but wrote it off as something else. All the queues were there though. If she knew where to look. Had been looking...
"You can see her now," the nurses words jolted both of them upright, as they'd fallen into their thoughts deep enough to loose track of their surroundings. Walking back in, they saw that Jinx's bed had been elevated, and she was happily surfing through channels on the television there, a small smile on her lips.
"Hey, you missed a very thorough poking and prodding session. I think I'm now into medical bondage, in fact," she quipped, voice still rough but stronger. Raven stifled a giggle while Yoko just sighed and shook her head. "What?"
"We're just glad your back to yourself, Jen," the smaller Asian girl replied, as Raven nodded. "How long did she say you were going to be stuck here?"
Wincing, Jinx shrugged a bit, her expression falling, "Maybe another week, with my metabolism. They're saying three... but it won't matter. I've missed way too much work in class, and I don't think this is going to help at all." Raven blinked then smiled a bit, and pulled Yoko over to a corner, whispering to her quietly. "Hey no fair!" Jinx complained, as they giggled behind their hands.
"I think we can help you a bit, as far as that goes," Raven replied after a small pause, her grin looking familiar to Jinx, which made her more than a little nervous. It reminded her of her own.
"Er?"
"Irony, it's a wonderful thing."
OoO
Yoko and Raven walked up to the steps, book bags in place and a second messenger bag with some more in tow. The hospital staff waved them on without a second glance, used to such things at this point. The charge nurse on Jinx's hallway waved as they passed, smiling at the two students. They rounded the corner, and seeing Jinx's door open, shared a glance and hurried over.
"... so we'll keep you updated on any news about that," Robin finished, sporting his civilian look. Glancing to the new visitors, he waved them over and said a quiet goodbye to Jinx as he made his way out. The Titan and Raven shared a look, and Raven felt the thread of thought that touched her mind, breaching that tenuous link the two had established long ago.
"She doing ok?"
Raven sent back a short affirmation, and asked a question of her own, "What's up?"
She received the equivalent of a sigh in return, "I'm working to get her history cleaned a bit. Something leaked, and people found out she was Hive. There are complications..."
Wincing, Raven shrugged the question her expression brought up with a quick feint, a word about Jinx's favorite professor asking about her and her recovery. "How is it going, then?" she sent to Robin, as he signed out on the visitation books, in the lobby.
"Well, actually. Garfield's... episode has actually helped get the gears working in the right direction. Publicity is a powerful thing. She may loose the property she owns though, if she can't provide a clear, solid proof the money wasn't taken from the Hive somehow."
Raven had set up the books she and Yoko brought, Jinx's and their own, on the table that the nursing staff had allowed them. It folded out of the way, so wasn't a large difficulty, but the space was needed for all the things they had to work on, in a night's time. At Robin's silent words though, she nearly dropped her bag, again shrugging off the other's glances with a small cough. "Damn it. She's in love with that place too. I've seen how she looks at it."
"Don't worry. I'm looking into it. I'm sure we can figure something out," was he fading reply, and she knew the conversation was over, Robin passing too far for his weak link to maintain.
Taking the news to light, Raven saw that her friend was in a surprisingly chipper mood. Perhaps Robin hadn't spoken at length about the fate of her home yet, she imagined. Or she was masking her anxiety well... deciding that dwelling on such things was counterproductive, she pulled out her notebook and caught up with the others in studying.
Jinx watched Raven's face as she had set up her books, and was amused at how badly she was masking her thoughts. By the end of it, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on, considering her nature. "So... I take you know?" She broached the subject during a break, where they were sipping some of the ice water the hospital provided. Her bones were knitting quicker than she let on, as to give her... time. In case she needed it. No one expected someone with broken bones to go vaulting out of high windows, and disappearing into the night, she knew from experience. As long as she mended enough before the Metahuman containment squads showed up that is...
Starting slightly, Raven nodded and looked into her cup as if seeking some answer. "Yeah, some of it," she admitted, and between them they brought Yoko up to speed, and also managed to fill in each other's blanks some.
One sore point, in Jinx's view, was the lack of any news on what had happened to Beast Boy. Robin had refused to go into it, and despite Raven's more frequent visits to the Tower, she had no news either. Someone had to know what happened to the young man, and that in turn, would let her know. Stepping back mentally from her annoyance at that state of affairs, she tried to pin down precisely why she cared so much. It occurred to her that each time she had been incarcerated, one of the Titans had come, at some point to see her, either for interrogation, simple chatter and banter, or to see how she was mending after the battles. Despite their long rivalry, there was an... understanding there. Nothing was personal. It was all work, and there was talk a few times even, that one or two members from one side, would date the other.
She didn't know. She was so focused on her 'career' that such things went unnoticed. Well, until Flash... Shaking off those memories she pursed her lips and turned her thoughts to Beast Boy again. She understood what had driven him, really, but what had happened to him? Jinx started when a hand closed over her own. Looking up, she saw Raven, with Yoko as usual peering over her shoulder. "I'll find him. I'll get you an answer."
Blushing, the young woman nodded, before settling down into her covers and yawning. They'd been studying a long time, as it turned out and all the ruminating had drained her. Her guests bid her a warm farewell and reset the folding table, then shared an amused grin as the former Thief snored slightly, as they were leaving.
Raven's smile faded once they parted, and she walked into the shadow of a telephone pole, intending to get a few answers.
OoO
"Christ, Raven... we have to get you a bell or something."
Grinning to herself, the former Titan settled on the sofa beside Robin and stole a few pieces of popcorn from the tub, her silent entry via shadow as startling to the young man as always. "I know, sorry. Force of habit."
The movie was an old horror flick, a tribute to bad makeup, bad sets, slow budgets and actors that were good enough not to need all the rest. Robin watched as Raven didn't watch the movie, her eyes unfocused. "What did you want to know?"
Chuckling a bit, Raven put down the popcorn and turned her attention to the young detective. "What happened to Garfield?"
Robin's sigh sounded just before the TV was turned off, and he stood. "Come with me," he said simply, and the young woman's brow furrowed as she did so, trailing the young man to the meeting room, then the small office to the side, often used when entertaining state or government officials. "We had some... problems. Working through what had gotten to him."
"It didn't seem so bad, I mean... psychologically speaking, he was following a logical chain of causality that lead to an antisocial breakdown, resulting in a..." she trailed off as Robin blinked at her, and the young woman blushed. "Sorry. Psych class is my favorite."
"I can tell." Robin had sobered during the walk, and as they sat at the small desk, he keyed in a small display monitor there. Raven winced as she saw her longtime teammate and friend, despite all that had happened, in one of the Metahuman containment jackets. "He's very, very sick still."
"Yeah..." she watched as the young man, staring strait ahead, had small fits of shaking and the warning lights on the jacket flared, suppressing his powers. The time skipped erratically, the tape she saw was a 'summary' version, showing time in fast forward. It was a harrowing thing to watch. "Is all that really... needed?"
Nodding slowly, Robin keyed the thing of f and let the monitor go dim. "We've had contact with Doom Patrol, and they have custody of him now. There's been some suspicion that during his last time over there, the backlash from Mento's helmet had compounded some of his own issues. If you remember, there was a problem where it had malfunctioned, basically doing this same thing to Mento."
Raven perked up at this, and bit her lip. "Maybe I could help-"
"No."
"But, Robin," she stopped when the young man held up a hand.
"Not yet. He needs to work through some of this himself. Particularly this hangup with you. If you were to go in there now, he'd be back to square one." Sighing, Robin leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose. "It's surprising, and a bit sobering, huh?"
She merely nodded, easily picking up his thread of though.
Surprising that none of the rest of them had gone mad, in all the time they'd worked together, and all the things that had happened, for so many years. Sobering, that it had happened to the most buoyant, exuberant one of them. Rising, she laid a hand on his shoulder and let it linger a moment. "If you need me..."
"...We know where to find you. Good night, Raven."
"Night, Robin."
OoO
"Morning, Rachel. How are you going?"
Raven grinned at Yoko and pulled out a chair for herself, stretching and yawning still. "Good, just early, isn't it?" She laughed a bit when the smaller girl rolled her eyes.
"A bit. I'm used to being here early, though..." her expression darkened for a fraction of a moment and then faded. Raven would have missed it, had she not been who she was. "So, what brings you by? Not canceling our study session tonight are you?"
Shaking her head, the former Titan rested her head on her arms, laying them on the table. Yoko blinked, having never seen the young woman do anything so... normal. She was usually very prim, and had exceptional manners. This just struck her as odd. "I'll be there, I just wanted to come by, talk with you a bit before is all. We only really ever interact, the two of us, around Jin – Jennifer."
"It's alright, you can call her Jinx. I don't mind,"
Grinning, the violet-haired woman shook her head. "I need to get used to it. She's trying to leave that life behind. It doesn't help to hold on to the past." Nodding, the small librarian went about her work, making herself busy as Raven idled there, watching her half-attentively.
Yoko knew she'd bring up what she wanted in time. No sense rushing the former hero.
"I've... decided to go away, for a while."
Yoko dropped the book she was holding, and looked back at the Titan in shock. "What?"
Gathering herself, the Titan sat back but kept her eyes down. "I've just made a mess of so much this year, for Ji – Jennifer." Pausing, Raven cursed her habit-ridden mind. "I feel so bad. If I'd not approached her as a tutor-"
The impact of Yoko's tiny hand rang around the room, as the hand print it left on Raven's cheek glowed brightly. "Don't you ever. Ever. Trivialize her like that. This wasn't just about you." The young woman practically shook with rage, and Raven, the blow forgotten just sat and looked at her woodenly, as she went on. "She worked so hard, just to make contact with you, you know that? Do you know how hard it was, to break down the barriers you two put up, all this hero and villain bullshit?! I was so confused in the beginning, as she seemed so tied up in this idea she had of you.
"At the time, I thought she was crazy. Then of course, I had your friend to compare her to, but that's neither here nor there... But eventually she told me, and then it all clicked."
Yoko braced herself on the table, breathing heavily but waved off Raven's half-formed offer to sit. "I'm not finished. Just sit there and listen.
"And about that, listening. Didn't she do so much to help you? All that work, finding material for that strange plan of hers, and obviously it helped. I've seen your name on the lists." Raven looked away, abashed.
She was right. Raven had steadily improved on her grades, her performance and her confidence as time had progressed. She had no problems following her professors now, and the study sessions went on like they should – the three of them helping each other, not them all leading her along.
The diminutive girl had caught her breath, and Raven winced as another salvo was fired her way, "So now, after all that and her nearly out of the hospital, and the trial coming up, and exams coming up – which by the way, you'd be missing and thereby wasting all that time she spent, and... and..." stalling the young woman sat and just sobbed quietly, utterly confusing Raven as she blinked, dumbfounded at the little woman.
"I'm... sorry?"
"You know she cares about you right?"
Raven's stomach felt like it had hit the floor. "Ah..." She looked around uncomfortably, and finally just sighed, rounding the desk to sit beside the still slumped Asian girl. She hazarded a hand to the smaller girl's back, trying to relay some comfort, rubbing slightly through her ever present cardigan. "Yoko..."
The quiet shaking subsided, and her breath grew even. Raven was a bit relieved – she didn't intend on this chat with Jinx's girlfriend to go so... awry. She still had her hand on Yoko's back, when a small noise from the girl brought her back from her musing, "Mm..."
"Sorry, what was that?"
"Little to the left," the shorter girl mumbled, and Raven laughed, despite herself. "Sorry, had to break the tension... and sorry for... well that." Leaning up, her brows knit she run a finger over Raven's still-stinging cheek.
Shaking her head, the former Titan just took a breath and let it out slowly, "It's OK, really. It's been a very rough week. I think... I've just been coming down from this rollercoaster recently, and it got to me."
"It happens to us all," Yoko assured, but her face was still serious. Raven's curiosity piqued when the smaller girl leaned back, regarding her levelly. "You know I meant that, when I said she cares, right?" Looking away, Raven nodded once, barely a bob of her head. "Good. I'd have hated to think you two hadn't talked about this yet."
"It wasn't so much a talk as... well."
Yoko's brow rose fractionally, unlike Raven's color. "NO! No, not that. We talked, and well, we decided to just see what happens. It's really awkward talking to you about this!"
Laughing slightly, the young woman motioned for Raven to stay, and went to the lounge to warm some water for tea. Calling back through the doors, she grinned as Raven was still sitting, staring at her hands as if she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, "Listen, as much as Jinx likes to think she's saving me from some odd fate, or insane life by being as normal as possible around me... let me clear the air about something."
Coming back, she set a box of tea bags, and two cups on the sorting table, making sure all the books were well away. "This idea, that apparently both of you have, is flawed. Normal, I mean," pulling a teabag from the selection, she looked up to Raven with a slow smile. "I see you don't get it."
"I'm afraid... no. I don't," shaking her head, the former Titan busied herself with her tea, as Yoko continued.
"Let me explain. My father is a lawyer, one that spends most of his working day defending the interests of one of Japan's premier research companies. You've probably heard of them in the news, they're planning an expedition to Antarctica, tracking down some unusual signals they found resonating over the Hakone region."
Raven's eyes lit up and she nodded briefly, "Oh right, the-" her words were overshadowed by the ringing of the first bell, but the two didn't worry so much, they were still early to be rushing off to class. Yoko nodded, having heard the young woman's answer.
"Anyway, so odd isn't new to me. Add on to that, my bother is a quarterback for a very popular, and upcoming team in the arena football circuit. I know I've mentioned him to Jenny, but I don't expect you to know." Shrugging, she slipped Raven a newspaper, with the highlight being a rather expressive young man, with blonde hair and a... machine gun. "Hiruma's a great motivator.
"What I'm getting at, Rachel – Raven, is that normal, as you two are thinking about it, means very little. I'm a librarian, sure. The most mundane job ever. Yet I am knowingly dating an ex-villain, who happens to be tutoring an ex-hero, and to top it all off, lets not forget the fact we're both female." Grinning over her cup of tea, Yoko tilted her head, a gesture she seemed to have picked up from Jinx, and regarded the Titan evenly. "So. Do you understand?"
Sighing, Raven had to admit that the young woman had a point. "I get it. But what does this have to do with me and Jennifer?"
"Life isn't normal, Raven. That's what it means."
OoO
"I can't believe they ruled against you, after all that," Yoko fumed, stomping about the courthouse hall in her low sandals and skirt, looking like nothing so much as a librarian off seeking noisome patrons to punish.
Jinx just shook her head slowly, hands resting behind it, fingers interlocked as she slowly made her way out in the small crowd that was exiting with her. She felt that postponing the hearing regarding her home was a bad idea, taking both Robin and her counsel's advice to capitalize on the recent publicity, and try to use that to her advantage.
Justice, being blind and all that, wasn't impressed.
"I'm not surprised, I mean, it's hard to justify the money, no matter how you paint it. It was a good try though, using wage reclamation as an angle," she extended a hand to Yoko's father, her attorney for the session and he shook it happily. "Thanks, Mr. Yoichi. It was a good try."
"I'm sorry we lost, regardless," the older man said, shrugging slightly. He brightened almost instantly, and made a gesture toward the doors, "I think Sayoko's mother was preparing a cake for our return, would you like to join us for dinner, Jennifer?"
Shaking her head slowly, the former Thief declined, but much to the man's embarrassment hugged him, "Nah, I have to get back to studying, and now I have to find a place to live."
"Are you sure you won't take up that clerical job, it pays well and my firm could use someone with your grasp on things," the man said, still insistent that his daughter's opinion of Jinx had nothing to do with the job offer. He waited patiently, as she politely considered the offer, trying not to snicker as he slid his ever-present glasses back up his nose. She wasn't convinced, but it was a kind gesture.
Grinning, she shook her head again and stretched, enjoying the sun as they finally broke free of the courthouse, "I'll manage. I don't think I could give you the proper attention, with me finishing up my last few semesters anyway. Maybe after... if the offer still stands." She let it go there, knowing well that job offers among families were best left after marriages. If even then.
Nodding in acceptance of her reasoning, the man collected his daughter after a short pause to let them say their goodbyes, and went their separate way. She watched the car pull off and the small crowd of reporters, statements given and barked to some other cases around her milling about. A moment, perhaps a minute later a black bird landed on her shoulder, and she grinned. Voice cast low, she looked in mock surprise at the 'raven', "So, where to?"
"I saw a nice second story condo for sale, some small distance from Stanford mall. Your equipment would be no problem for me to move," the voice added, words forming in Jinx's mind easily, the last after sensing her hesitation. She dismissed it anyway, remembering that she herself had moved most of it to her previous second floor.
Nodding, she oriented herself but stalled at a squeeze against her shoulder. The raven pointed at the deeper shadows of an alleyway, it's beak a compass needle, and Jinx grinned making her way there. "Shortcut?"
"I really like this place," was her only reply, and the former Thief felt a small surge of excitement, wanting to see this condo that one of the two people who defined her life had picked for her to see.
OoO
"It is nice," she murmured, looking around at the spacious apartment. It was situated in an odd place, that she'd never considered in looking for a somewhere to live previously. The downtown 'college street' area was a bustling business zone, full of small eateries, flavor shops and things to service the students so close by.
Location-wise, it was already perfect. She could literally walk to class.
The space itself was comfortable, comprising two stories of the upper reach of a building, who's lower floor was devoted to a bookstore. Jinx smirked as she had waited for the owner to get her a key. There was obviously a few strong points to the place, as far as Raven and Yoko would be concerned. She was yet to be sold though.
That changed when she saw the actual apartment. "Wow."
"Told you so."
Wandering about the floor, she was more than a little surprised at the room the place afforded. The bookstore below was a cluttered mess, as all old ones managed, so the dimensions she'd assumed were all wrong. Add to that the upper story above, also part of the deal and she was quickly becoming enamored with the place.
She shower was the deciding factor, though. "This thing is huge!"
The pair explored and exclaimed for a long while, occasionally moving down to ask questions when something wasn't obvious. They'd gotten permission to use the upstairs balcony, which overlooked the back side of the square and finally Jinx was fully sold. "This view will be amazing at night," she observed, noting the distance from the heavy lights of deeper downtown and the college proper. She figured there would be stars in her sky, here. "Raven, can I ask you something?"
The look she got told her as much, but she'd tried regardless since Beast Boy had seemingly fallen off the map. "If it's about Gar, then I don't promise I'll be able to answer," the former Titan mumbled, head laid on her arms as she lazed on the deck.
Rolling her eyes, the former Thief regarded the Titan with mild annoyance, "I have a right to know, after what happened, Raven."
"I agree. But... to be honest, some things aren't mine to tell. Sometimes it's more complicated, and in this case, Garfield would have to tell you. It's not my place," the young woman rebutted.
Nose wrinkled in frustration, the young woman let it go. She'd gotten the same answer from Robin, so this wasn't news. Honestly, she'd been thinking that something more serious than a jealous fit had happened, with all the signs, but without a solid bit of proof... Sighing, Jinx nodded and instead thought about the apartment, when Raven asked her something that she'd been dreading in turn. "How are you going to pay for this?"
Chuckling darkly, Jinx just made an indistinct gesture and shrugged. "I'm sure something will turn up."
True to form, in about a week there was a call for her during on e their study sessions, which she shrugged and invited them to accompany her on. The main office presented a man with a briefcase, whom had a distinct resemblance to Yoko's father, claiming to represent a Mr. Diaz, a long-lost relative of Jennifer's who has passed recently.
The long and short – She'd just inherited her previous stash of Hive funds, well hidden from any prying eyes that the State's attorney could have used. With some percent for a laundering fee, and a bit set aside for Yoko's mother's new kitchen expansion. One could not be too careful, and she's obviously been lax the last time. Besides, her mother made the most delicious cakes...
Jinx talked the bookstore owner into actually selling her the property, on the clause that he could run the store as long as he wanted. This fit into her plans perfectly, and she actually insisted on getting some additional room added, if he were accepting the idea, so he could display all his stock.
The agreement was very well accepted, both ways, in the end. The man downstairs was fiercely loyal – in no part lending to her essentially funding his retirement, and she got a lovely, old, careworn building to play with to herself.
It couldn't replace her condo out in the 'burbs, but then, this could be arguable better. The condo didn't have a full-service library downstairs...
Things moved normally then, as the young women worked and studies and let their odd friendship grow. Jinx became less concerned about her own history, as Yoko seemed to care little for it. Despite this, the two spent less and less time together, socially, as Yoko's family had plans to move back to Japan, for a few years. Something to do with an ailing grandmother... Jinx wasn't sure. What confused her was the dark looks that were shot back and forth between the small woman and Raven.
Yoko finally assented to going with them, provided they wait for her to finish this year of college. Though it didn't change anything between the two immediately, the knowledge of it put a dark cloud over head.
Raven spent more time with the former Thief, as time the week following her move wore on, something to which Jinx was initially nervous, not wanting to make Yoko feel uncomfortable or neglected. The small smiles she got from Yoko as she spied them together just made her shake her head in exasperation, and one day she'd pulled the two into her kitchen, sitting them down at her table with a severe glare.
"Spill it," she'd demanded, and watched as the two looked at each other with mild panic a moment. Rolling her eyes, she pointed to Raven, to which the empath flinched, "You've been here like clockwork every day this week."
"Well, if you'd rather I not-"
"Oh, no no no, you're not getting out of this that easy," the former Hive operative hissed, eyes going narrow as glared daggers at the Titan.
"Rats," Raven replied, causing the pink-haired woman to pause.
Blinking at Yoko, she raised a brow. "Gangster movie night?"
"Was Friday."
"Ah," nodding, Jinx reaffixed her glare, and continued to look from one young woman to the other. "Now, I want to know what you two are planning."
Yoko blinked at her, and Jinx's lips pursed. "But Jennifer, we're not-"
"I know the innocent act. You forget who you're dealing with here."
"Rat- er. Oh nevermind..." sighing, Yoko stood and got a glass, pouring some water from the decanter they kept in the refrigerator. "I just... I know Raven's a really good friend. Probably would be something else were I not here already."
Blinking furiously, as well as feeling her color rise, Jinx started to sputter a denial when Raven held up a hand. "I told her."
"You told her?"
"She told me," Yoko confirmed, that scheming grin plain now. "I gave her permission after all. You just happen to be too annoyingly noble to capitalize on it."
Sitting heavily, the Thief just looked from one of the conspirators to the other for a few minutes. "So..."
"Mhm," murmuring from her tea, Raven nodded as she grinned at the young woman.
"And you..."
"Of course," Yoko affirmed, giggling a bit as she ran her finger around the rim of her glass, coaxing a chine from it.
"But I... yeah." Shaking her head hard, the former Thief rubbed at the bridge of her nose and laughed quietly. "So, what now?"
The two co-conspirators grinned and rose, coming to collect their shared interest. "How about we get something to eat," Raven ventured, as Yoko nodded in agreement.
"Er?" Was Jinx's rather eloquent reply.
A/N: Better?
-To be concluded.