Disclaimer: Like I said, I don't own the Teen Titans nor do really wish to own them…they wouldn't make very good slaves I hear they're a very unruly bunch
Anyway, it's nice to see you again if you bothered reading this, I hope it chops up to expectations, and if you look it slightly longer than the other chapter, surrah, surahh, insert celebration here. So read on, I guess…
Fallen
Music rang out quietly over the speakers and Jinx smiled slightly at the tune, she liked this song.
Truth
be told I've tried my best
But somewhere along the way
I got
caught up in all there was to offer
And the cost was so much more
than I could bear
The feline looked around the store; it was nearly nine o'clock and still no sign of Raven. Jinx was getting anxious, and she rarely ever found herself doing that unless something was about to go wrong. The sorceress had always had a good sense of when luck was going to turn on her, and she could practically smell it in the air. She glanced over to her employee who was stocking the shelves; he seemed to feel her eyes on him for look over and asked, "You okay, Boss?"
Jinx shook herself and closed her eyes, "Yeah, guess the nights just gettin' to me."
He looked perplexed for a moment, "But it's a full moon Boss, best time of the month." He grinned showing pointed incisors the stretched inhumanly far, "Can't you feel the power?"
"That's why I'm uneasy," Jinx muttered.
The bell rang which caused Jinx's head to snap to the door and watch as a girl in a jacket with the hood up walk in. "Raven," she breathed in relief.
"Is my disguise really that transparent?" The empath asked while taking down her hood.
"I've seen you with your hood up before. Actually," Jinx said while strolling down a few aisles grabbing a handful of things here or there. "I think I've seen you with your hood up more times then with it down."
"What are you getting?" Raven asked glancing at the bag Jinx held.
The sorceress shrugged, "The stuff that we'll need."
"How do you now what we'll need?" Raven said, her eyes now narrowed in suspicion.
"I know what you buy, and I also know what needs to be fresh." Jinx explained, rolling her eyes at the mistrusting titan. "I'll be back next week, Bobby."
"See yah then, boss." The kids answered and looked Raven up and down.
"Get your eyes back in your head," Jinx ordered and the boy shrugged looking over at Jinx.
"Sorry, she yours or something?" He asked tilting his head.
Jinx's jaw dropped for a second and it was all she could do to hold Raven back from trashing the poor kid with her bare hands. "Bobby, why do you always manage to piss off the wrong people?" Jinx glanced at Raven's glaring face, "Oh, and she would like to tell you she's no one's possession."
Jinx knew she couldn't control Raven's magic much longer and let it go, sending the kid flying out the window and into oncoming traffic. "Hey! That was my most honest cashier!" Jinx said to Raven, letting the girl go.
"Your cashier?" She asked turning her anger on Jinx.
The sorceress held up her hands in defeat, "Look, I didn't tell him to say that," she winced as breaks screeched outside, "Let me just go get him and then we'll be on our merry little way." And at that Jinx practically fled the shop, grabbing the semi-conscious cashier and vaulting over a speeding Camero to land on the sidewalk in front of the door. "You gana be okay?" She asked the guy.
He shook his head, watching spots clear up, "Yeah, I only got run over a few times."
"Great!" Jinx said a little too brightly, "Your shift's over in two hours, now don't be complaining to me! You're the one who opened their big fat mouth, I was tryin' to help you, really, I was." Jinx said proudly and helped him to his feet. "Now tend to the shop," she told him like a mother talking to her five-year old. "I gana go save someone's life."
"Thought you weren't in the business of saving lives," Bobby said opening the door and walking back into the shop.
Jinx smacked his back sharply, but managing to make it seem playful, "Now there's that smart-ass mouth that got you into this trouble."
He looked over at Raven now slightly terrified by the girl and walked over to the stool in front of the register.
"Come on, we better go before it's too late…oh, and do you mind fixing the window you just broke?" Jinx said to Raven who was busy glaring at the cashier. The empath looked over at the sorceress and then nodded, dark magic surrounded the broken glass scattered around the shop and sidewalk and the fragments brought themselves together and fused back into the window once again.
"Happy?" Ravens asked and turned towards the door.
"Ecstatic," the feline muttered and followed Raven out.
The two walked a few blocks and then Raven suddenly interrupted the silence, "Grab my waist."
"I thought we were just explaining to Bobby how we were not an item."
"Just shut-up and do as you're told."
"Yesh, you know, talking down to the person trying to help you isn't exactly the smartest idea in the world." Jinx advised while wrapping her arms around Raven's waist tightly. "Well this is rather nice," She commented and the suddenly the two were propelled into the air, "Yeah, not as nice." Jinx squeaked suddenly hold on to Raven for dear life.
There was a blur of scenery and Jinx closed her eyes and tried to wait the whole thing out. Wind blew and grasped at her jacket and the screech of it reached up into her ears along with the terrifying growl of ocean waves crashing against each other. Then suddenly it all halted and Raven sighed and said, "You can let go now."
"No, you're gana drop me in the Pacific." Jinx said, her eyes still closed and refusing to open to a scene she surely knew to be horrific.
"Jinx, seriously, open your eyes."
The sorceress did and looked into the darkness of Raven's room, "Wow, this is pretty gloomy." She muttered and Raven glared at her.
"You can let go now," Raven reminded her and Jinx looked down to find herself levitating above Raven's bed.
"That's the only place that doesn't have the arcane on it, isn't it?"
Raven nodded, "Seriously, your kind of hurting my side, and—"
Jinx let go and fell with an umph onto the violet bed. "Sorry," she apologized with an embarrassed smile, "I'm just not used to flying."
"Aren't you supposed to be half-cat or something?"
Jinx nodded, "Cat's like acrobatics, jumping great heights, but what cats don't like—and hopefully I won't have to repeat this later—cats don't like flying. This is because eventually a cat has to come down, and sometimes, cats don't land on their feet." She looked over at Raven who was currently levitating above her, "I hate flying."
"But you can fly, can't you?" Raven asked and Jinx looked out the window.
"I hate flying," she repeated.
"So I've heard, now can we get started on this?" Raven asked.
A bag came soaring at her head and Raven caught it with magic, "This isn't a good idea." Jinx counseled.
"I'm sure you tell that to everyone." Raven said dismissing the concern.
"Yes, but usually it's because I personally enjoy my magic unrestricted and find it preferable to locking them up. But for you, for you this is dangerous. Emotions won't like being locked up; they usually take it very badly and find a way to get out."
"Let me deal with that when it comes to it," Raven said as she added various things into a pot.
Jinx was meanwhile levitating over the diagram and measuring angles with a graphing ruler. "You did this by hand." She observed aloud impressed by the dedication, "And you modified it."
"Of course, I still want to retain some power; just…I'd like to be able to feel something once in a while." Raven said softly, looking away from Jinx as she spoke, "You must hear that a lot."
"Yeah, I do." Jinx said nonplused, she looked over at Raven, "I'm not sure if I could control them though…it's really not safe."
"Are you chickening out on me?" Raven asked dryly.
"No, I'll help you, I'm just telling you that it's not a good idea, if you bothered to even look at the card I gave you you'd see that my professional status is that I think it's a shame, but if people need help I'd be there."
"Not to mention the possibility of absorbing power," Raven shot out.
Jinx looked over at the empath, tilting her head, "That would be stupid, Raven. You of all people should know trying to take someone's magic, hell, trying to contain magic in the first place is a stupid idea."
"So you remain still on the opinion it's a stupid idea."
"Yes."
"But you're helping me, why wouldn't you help yourself?"
"Contrary to popular belief I don't do stupid things, and helping people is not stupid."
"You're trapping yourself again."
"Aren't you the one we're here to trap?" Jinx countered glaring at the girl, somehow Raven had managed to hit a weak spot.
The room grew quiet again as Jinx finished checking the dimensions wile Raven waited for the right time. "Why are you here?"
"It's my job," Jinx said, checking the dimensions now for the third time.
"You don't need to help me, you sought me out."
"You came to my store."
"You practically demand that I let you help me, you could've just let me decline."
"And let you get hurt?"
"I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP!" Raven yelled and Jinx watched as objects flew at her, she felt something smack into her stomach and knock her onto the arcane, sand filled her nose and then suddenly she was gone from the room. "Damn it," the empath swore and floated over to where Jinx had been throw, "I didn't mean—shit," the empath said as she saw a black frame mirror lying on a pile of sand.
Jinx rubbed her eyes while sitting up and looking around, "Where am I?" She asked as she saw she was definitely not in Kansas any longer. The world was suddenly was made of floating hunks of rock with near-dead trees covered in ravens…raven with four glowing eyes.
The feline's own eyes grew as she realized just where she had ended up, "Nevermore," she whispered in shock.
"How'd you know that?" Asked a rather curious girl dressed in pink.
"Which one are you?" Jinx asked, her voice low, she felt like she had a hangover...she wished she had a hangover.
"Happiness of course, I love your hair!" She announced ecstatically, "It's so much better down, Raven definitely like it down."
"Aren't you Raven?" Jinx asked as she scooted underneath a tree.
"To a degree, yes." Happiness answered with a grin, "But you are Jinx! I love you! Raven never talks to you enough…"
"I'm guessing you love everyone…" Jinx muttered mostly to herself but was surprised to hear an answer.
"Well she is Happiness, what were you expecting?" chuckled a yellow cloaked Raven.
"Smart Ass?" Jinx asked tilting her head at the new version of Raven.
Happiness giggled and the other sighed, "Close, Knowledge, but if it make you feel any better I am Raven's 'smart ass' as you put it."
Happiness giggled again, "You said ass!"
"So Raven's happiness is immature?" Jinx questioned.
"Happiness will laugh at anything, watch." Knowledge turned to the pink-cloaked girl, "The theory of relativity is relative to begin with, if one assumes that it's correct one must then be correct but if—"
Happiness suddenly convulsed in a fit of giggles, "And it's pointless to argue about it," giggle, giggle, "because to do so would make the points of view relative and therefore," giggle, giggle, "prove the theory."
"Happiness is smart?" Jinx questioned and Knowledge shrugged.
"Depends how you look at it." This explanation caused Happiness to laugh even more.
"So do I have to get Raven high for her to act like that?" Jinx asked watching Happiness attempt to contain herself, and then burst out laughing anyway.
"Probably," Knowledge said studying Jinx for a moment and then following Jinx's glance to a Raven clad in green. "Hello Bravery."
"An intruder! Hiiyah!" Bravery launched into the air and attempted to kick Jinx who moved suddenly to her feet. "So it's going to be a fight, huh? I've seen you fight, I know your style."
"My kong fu stronger than your kong fu," Jinx challenged her lips moving even after she finished talking to mimick the old kong fu movies. She moved her hands in swishing movement and smiled at Bravery's on expression.
"Oh, your going down!" Bravery announced and threw a punch Jinx narrowly missed. Jinx kicked and Bravery smirked as she avoided the booted foot. "Dodge this," she dared and attempted to sweep Jinx's feet but Jinx jumped over Bravery and landed behind the girl who suddenly launched out her foot at the sorceress.
"ENOUGH!" Knowledge shouted and the two glanced over at the girl.
"You didn't have to yell," Bravery muttered and looked like a kicked puppy.
"Yeah, we were having fun," Jinx said grinning.
"You're not half bad," Bravery said putting her arm around Jinx's shoulder, "I'm beginning to wonder why Raven dislikes you so."
"Raven doesn't like me?" Jinx said a little taken back by the comment.
"She'll dislike you more the longer you stay in her head." Knowledge observed dryly and Jinx turned her gaze back to Knowledge.
The world was beginning to change, it had gone from decimated rock-land to a grassy hill in a matter of second which made Jinx very edgy. "So how do I get out of here?"
"There's no getting out of here," another Raven in grey stated. Jinx looked up to see the sad eyes she had only really begun to notice lately. The grey Raven sat down and the others followed suit, Bravery let go of Jinx and let the feline sit down next to her.
"Sadness," Knowledge introduced and Jinx nodded understanding, "Actually there are two ways. One you have to get past the two demons in the East, or two you wait 'til Raven comes to get you."
"I think I'll go with option two," Jinx said and Bravery frowned.
"Time flows differently in Nevermore, you could be here days, weeks." Knowledge said her voice grave.
"Even years," Sadness added and Knowledge shot her a glance which caused Sadness to come close to tears.
"Is she gana be okay?" Jinx asked Knowledge.
"She's always like this."
At that Sadness who was hugging Happiness sniffled slightly and pulled away, "Why are you being so nice to Raven?"
Jinx's brow narrowed, "You're sad because I'm being nice?"
"You're always mean, why are you being so nice? I know you're just gana be mean again." Sadness said, "Why don't you just be mean so it won't hurt when you're mean again?"
Jinx attempted to say something, but nothing came. She could see all of Raven's emotions watching her, judging her reaction. "I—I—I'm sorry, but I can't do that."
"It doesn't matter, you're just going to be mean again eventually." Sadness said and then looked away from Jinx.
Bravery leaned over, "She's also Raven's cynical side, if it make you feel any better."
Jinx nodded and looked over at Knowledge, "So who are the two 'demons in the East'?"
"Desire and Rage."
"Raven has desires?" Jinx asked mocking shock.
"Don't be cute," Knowledge warned.
"She can't help it," A black cloaked Raven said and the others all turned to glare at her. The depressingly dressed girl walked right up to Jinx and smiled, "You've been teasing Raven to no end, buying her dinner, walking her home—"
"What are you doing here, Desire?" Knowledge asked her voice carrying authority.
"Desire?" Jinx asked looking at the girl before her.
"Well you can call me D, or Raven." She bent down and whispered into Jinx's ear, "I know you'd love to call me Raven." Jinx's mouth was suddenly very dry and she watched Desire slowly pull away.
"I'm here to get Jinx and show her the way out."
"That's all you were going to do?" Knowledge asked.
"Well, I thought we might talk on the way."
"I'm not sure Raven would like that."
Desire smiled slyly, "I think I know what Raven wants."
"Raven put me in charge here."
Desire rolled her eyes, "Yeah, and she put me in charge of Rage, fat lot of good that did." She suddenly leaned back and fell into Jinx's lap. "Seems like I can't bail you out after all, guess we'll just have to stick around here…I wonder what we'll do…"
Jinx looked straight ahead, locking eyes with Knowledge and refusing to move. This was definitely not what Jinx had bargained for, then again Jinx hadn't thought she'd get stuck in Raven's head, or even, hopefully, get stuck spending much time in the tower in the first place.
"Jinx!" She heard a Raven call and Jinx tried to scan her surroundings but Desire kept moving her head in the way.
"You know, I figured you'd be more than happy to find yourself in this situation," Desire murmured as she leaned back and moved her lips to Jinx's ear.
Jinx finally caught sight of the blue cloaked Raven, who seemed entirely too calm to be any of her emotions. Raven's jaw was slightly agape and Jinx swallowed hard expecting to get her ass kicked any second now.
"Desire…what the hell are you doing?"
"Sitting," Desire purred and moved her head away from Jinx's neck. "Why? I'm sure there's enough room for the two of us…"
"Get off of her." Raven said flatly and Jinx blinked, trying to make sure she could see in order to commit her last few moments of living to memory.
Desire groaned and leaned back against Jinx, "Raven loves it when you bite her neck." She whispered evilly before moving off of Jinx and standing up. "You better keep it down Raven, you'll drag Rage into this."
"Already here, thank you for the concern, Desire." A red cloaked Raven said smiling sweetly. She looked down at the seated Jinx, "Ah, I finally get to meet you, I'm Rage and I believe you are my favorite person at the moment."
"I'm glad somebody likes me," Jinx muttered and brought her knees to her chest.
Rage grinned, "Well Desire sure did seem to like you. Raven is such a party-pooper. I must thank you for not destroying me," the girl's expressions suddenly became very dark and Jinx could see four red eyes glowing form her hood, "that would've not been nice."
Jinx didn't say a word and simply stared at the dirt a few feet ahead of her. "Why won't you talk, girl?" Rage asked her voice threatening.
"Rage get out of here, Desire too. Both of you, be gone." Raven commanded and a strong wind blew encircling the two emotions and causing them to disappear. She walked over to Jinx and said quietly, "Grab my hand."
Jinx didn't move and Raven knelt down so she was in Jinx's direct line of sight, "Take my hand, I'll get you out of here." Still no response, "Jinx!" Raven said loudly and grabbed Jinx by the shoulders, "Come on, snap out of it!"
Jinx looked up and met Raven's eyes, "So you're Raven…"
"Yes it's me, come on."
"Why aren't you kicking my ass?"
"What?" Raven whispered in shock, "Jinx, come on."
"How do I know you're Raven?"
"Jinx, it's me, ask any of them." Raven said, waving to the emotions.
"It is her," Knowledge said looking over at Jinx and arching a brow, "Who else would it be?"
"I don't know," Jinx said quietly and then looked back at Raven, "You said you'd get me out of here?"
Raven stared at Jinx, the girl looked scared, her knees were pulled up and her arms had wrapped themselves around her legs, her chine resting on top. Her face was completely blank and Raven recognized the face from when she meditated, it was emotionless and meant Jinx was struggling to control her emotions.
"Take my hand," Raven explained and held out her left hand. Jinx hesitated for a moment and then took the hand and felt the world move again. Sand was once again in her nose and Jinx jumped up into a standing position, her fists held up and ready to fight. The sorceress shook her head and felt bits of sand fall out, she searched the room for Raven but couldn't locate the dark teen.
"Where are you?" She asked into the dark, her feline eyes easily adapting to the lack of light. "Why don't you come out and fight me?"
"Why would I do that?" Came a voice from behind Jinx and she spun around, ready to pounce. Raven held up her hands in an attempt to prove to Jinx she wasn't a threat. "You're acting really weird…"
"Get me out of here" Jinx's head whipped around in a paranoid attempt to check for anyone else.
"Calm down, it's okay," Raven said in a soothing tone and Jinx jerked her head back to the empath.
"Bullshit there's not." Jinx stated a-matter-of-factly, "I'm in the Tower!"
"I can't take you back."
"What!" Jinx exclaimed glaring at the other girl.
"I used up a lot of my powers preparing for the spell, and pulling you out of my head. I can barely even concentrate, you messed up my emotions too. There's no way I could fly you out right now. If you want to leave so badly you can just find a way out yourself."
"You know I can't do that!" Jinx declared glaring at the girl.
Raven shrugged, "I probably can't do anything for a few hours, you're better off just crashing here, I have to sleep." Jinx looked at Raven shocked, "What? You want to get out of here, right? I can build power fastest in my sleep; it'll only take a few hours. You can have he bed and I'll just sleep on the couch in the living room."
"No," Jinx whispered, shaking her head violently.
"What?"
"No, I'm not sleeping in your bed."
"Why not?" Raven said her eyes narrowing at the feline, "You have a problem with my bed?"
"It smells like you."
"It's my bed…"
"I'm not sleeping there, I'll sleep on the floor," Jinx decided as she slipped off her leather jacket and began to ball it up.
"This is ridiculous, you don't have to sleep on the floor." Raven exclaimed exasperated.
"If I have to sleep somewhere it has to be in your room because I don't think the titans will take it too kindly to wake up in the middle of the night and find a criminal asleep on their couch." Jinx knelt down and began to take off her shoes, "and I'm not sleeping in your bed, I don't care how 'ridiculous' it sounds, I'm not sleeping there…it smells too much like you."
"So now my bed reeks?"
Jinx shook her head, "It doesn't smell bad, it smells like you, like lavender." Raven looked at her oddly and Jinx pointed to her nose, "Cats."
"I see…" Raven mused as she walked to her closet, "Let me at least give you a blanket."
"Fine," Jinx said from the floor, she was curled up in the fetal position, but somehow had managed to tuck her feet underneath her.
"Cats," Raven mimicked as she noticed the girl's cat-like position, the empath threw a woolen blanket usually used to warm rescued people on the feline.
"Thanks."
"Sure."
"Go sleep so I can get the hell out of here."
Raven sighed, "I have to shower first."
"You're joking."
"No, I always shower before I go to bed."
"Fine," Jinx said and moved her head so it was covered by her jacket, "Just don't make a lot of noise."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Raven whispered and Jinx grinned into her jacket.
Sleep didn't come easy to Jinx, she kept berating herself for thinking about Raven while she was in the shower, sleep, just sleep, that's all you have to do, sleep she thought to herself and eventually managed to charm herself to sleep.
Raven on the other hand was having difficulties deciding where to sleep, she could give Jinx the entire room, but that would raise suspicion when the titans found her asleep on the couch, not to mention no one had been alone in her room except Jinx when she had broken in. Raven grouched to herself at the memory and wondered just what exactly the girl had been looking for when she had trashed Raven's room. She looked over at the girl asleep on the floor and suddenly torn her gaze from the pink-hair sorceress when thoughts erupted in her mind, I'm gana kill Desire, she thought to herself. Eventually sleep befell even the mighty empath and she smiled to herself in her dream, not knowing that Jinx too was dreaming the same thing.
Author's Side-note:
So that was the second chapter and the song is by Sarah McLachlan, titled "Fallen" just like the title of the chapter, and perhaps you've noticed but the chapter title songs have managed to work their way into the story and I'm trying to keep it that way, the next one is a Shiny Toy Guns song if it makes you feel any better, I'm trying to stray away from the girly soft-rock because honestly…I'm running out of artists I like.
So review if you care to…