A Pyrokinetic's Mother
Disclaimer: Hm, nothing witty…I don't own the Titans.
Chapter 3: Memories
Eleven years later…
Sunlight poured into the room of one sixteen-year-old Jacey Logan. Her room was brightly painted with various themes of nature. An erupting volcano was to her left, a painted replica of the Amazon Rainforest to her right; the ocean was behind her bed and an expansive Sahara desert in the front. Her ceiling was split into two parts; a glittering milky way and a sunny sky dotted with wispy cirrus clouds. The resident pyrokinetic herself lay sprawled in her bed under the enchanting spell of sleep and was content with not breaking it. Unfortunately for Jacey, someone had other plans in mind.
Her door opened slightly with just enough room for a human figure to slip into the room. The figure lay low toward Jacey's carpet and crawled so gracefully, almost like a slithering snake to the dresser in front of her bed. The mysterious visitor raised itself onto its haunches and peered into the bed to see Jacey still asleep. Rolling its eyes and smirking in amusement, the figure fell into a crouched position. Within seconds the figure flew up and crashed onto Jacey yelling, "Morning Sleepyhead!"
Jacey shrieked as she felt her body fly up and slam into her mattress. Her blue eyes were wide with alarm as she looked around her gasping, "What's the emergency?!" A peal of laughter hit her ears. Jacey snapped her head toward the sound, several strands of hair falling into her face as her eyes narrowed in irritation. In front of her was a bent over male body; all Jacey could see was his unruly spiky jet black hair. Her wake-up call had been from none other than her best friend Ryan Grayson. He was named for his mother's brother Ryand'r, whom had been dead for nearly twenty years. Ryan was clutching his sides as he continued to erupt in more mirthful chuckles. "Ryan shut up," Jacey said bluntly as she whacked him over the head with a pillow.
"I still can't believe you haven't been able to stop me," Ryan said as he looked at her, his cerulean eyes gleaming. "You should have been able to by now, Jace."
"And since when is waking up part of training?" Jacey retorted, eyebrow raised.
"It isn't," Ryan replied with a shrug. "It's just that you're usually able to predict my moves and thwart them, inside the training room or not. However, you can never stop me from pouncing on your bed and it's been a year."
"Well either I have to learn how to keep my subconscious on alert or get an alarm clock," Jacey replied.
"Go with the first choice," Ryan said with a grin, "otherwise there goes my early morning fun." Jacey rolled her eyes and attempted to hit him with the pillow again but felt her wrist being grabbed, the pillow wrested from her grasp and in Ryan's arms.
Startled, she stammered, "Uh, R-Ryan?" A faint blush crept across her cheeks, her heart beginning to pound.
"Happy Birthday, Jace," He whispered before letting her go and hopping off the bed. Not noticing his best friend's blush, he casually strolled toward the door. Before exiting, Ryan turned back around and said, "Training is in an hour, okay?"
Forcing herself to snap out of her daze, Jacey shouted, "I hope you realize that Mar'i has ten times more maturity than you could possess!"
As her door slid shut, Jacey fell back onto her bed and groaned, "How could I forget today was my birthday? And why do I like that boy again?" She rolled onto her side and leaned over the edge of her bed, long golden-blonde hair sweeping the floor. Long fingers gripped a leather book as she sat up seconds later. Jacey opened the book revealing it to be a photo album. She grinned at the first picture, hoping it would help answer her question.
Although they called each other best friends, they were slightly closer with one another's siblings. The picture was of Mar'i Grayson, Ryan's sister and Jacey's soul-sister. Mar'i was actually Ryan's twin, yet far from identical. In this photo Mar'i was five, the age she had been when Jacey had met her. Mar'i's hair was in chunky layers of red and black streaks worn in two pigtails. Mar'i had turquoise eyes and a cheery smile could always be found on her face. Jacey grinned as she recalled the time she had met the Grayson twins.
Jacey entered the common room in her new mother's arms; her new brother riding on her father's shoulders. She felt Raven place her down, but was in too much awe to notice. She spun around in a circle. The room was sparkling clean and had very high tech, state of the art equipment; yet Jacey could feel the welcoming warmth that emanated from its very walls. She felt a tap on her shoulder. Jacey turned to face Adrian. His violet eyes were smiling. "Isn't this room so cool?" Jacey nodded excitedly.
"It's awesome!" She trilled. "I have a family and we live in a giant T!" She turned to Beastboy and Raven. Tilting her head she asked, "Am I in a fairytale?" The two grown-ups chuckled and were about to reply when the door opened and two blurs of red and black swarmed into the room. They stopped in front of Jacey and Adrian's parents transforming into a boy and girl around Jacey's age, even from the back she could see they looked very much alike. Twins, perhaps?
"Aunt Raven! Uncle Garfield! You're home!" They chorused. The children were about to race over to Adrian when they saw Jacey. Both children froze in their tracks. Jacey's smile melted off her face when uneasiness washed over her, their surprised expressions beginning to burn a hole in her heart.
Raven was the first to break the silence. She glided over to the twins and knelt beside them; placing a comforting hand on each shoulder. "This is our daughter Juliana Celeste," Raven introduced. "We adopted her today."
The girl reacted first. "I know what adopted means!" She said excitedly. "Daddy told me." She then skipped over to Jacey, her turquoise eyes bright with curiosity. "Hi Juliana! I'm Mar'i!" She chirped. "Do you wanna be my friend?" Jacey looked at her shyly before nodding.
"You can call me Jacey," she said quietly.
"Hi Jacey!" Mar'i squealed while enveloping the newest Logan into a hug. "Ryan! Come meet Jacey."
The boy known as Ryan didn't move for a minute. His sapphire eyes were examining the newcomer. She had seemed cheery when he first ran into the room, but quickly showed that she could retreat into herself quite easily. What had happened to her to make her look as if she wanted to disappear? Ryan figured from both that and that it was his Aunt Raven whom had adopted her, then maybe the little girl was okay. Taking a breath, he walked up to her and said, "Hi Jacey, I'm Ryan. Do you like videogames?"
Jacey brought herself back to the present. Videogames, she thought with a light snort. He was such a typical boy, even way back then. The blonde looked at the picture beneath Mar'i and her brother. It was a picture of Nightwing and Starfire. Mar'i and Ryan's parents; the people Jacey liked to call "aunt" and "uncle". She smirked wryly as she remembered meeting the lovely pair, especially Nightwing. Hoo boy, talk about a misconception.
Ryan was in the midst of teaching Jacey how to handle a videogame controller when Mar'i squealed, "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!"
Jacey tried to peek over the back of the crescent sofa to get a view of the newcomers, but had to resort to sitting on her legs to do so. Her sapphire eyes landed on Starfire first; a tall beautiful lady with extremely long red hair, golden tan skin and pretty green eyes. Starfire wore a purple tunic with sheer material weaving around her arms. Purple chinos encased her slim legs while a sheer skirt was wrapped around her waist. Boots of the same color peered out from underneath. To Jacey, Starfire looked like a red-headed Rapunzel. Starfire was chatting animatedly with
Raven and Beastboy, no doubt about Jacey herself. The Rapunzel look-alike flew over to Jacey with a large smile and scooped her up into a hug. "Hello Juliana!" Starfire trilled. "Welcome to our Titan family! I am so very happy that you will be a part of us!" Jacey couldn't stop smiling.
"Hi," she said, her voice remaining soft. "You can call me Jacey." Looking into Starfire's emerald eyes she asked, "But what can I call you?"
Starfire didn't answer right away. Although she wasn't an empath herself; she could sense a twinge of envy radiating from Raven's aura at the familiarity and warmth she was bestowing upon Jacey and the happiness Jacey showed in return. Jacey wasn't her daughter, she was Raven's. Starfire had a daughter of her own as well as a son whom she both loved dearly; nothing could ever take away that love, that much Starfire was sure of. She also knew she had absolutely no intention of stealing Jacey away from one of her closest friends, so why that pang of jealousy?
When Starfire's eyes locked onto Raven's violet ones, she sensed the relief and apologetic ambiance coming from her. Raven mouthed, "I'm sorry." A blush began to creep onto her cheeks. Starfire then felt a gentle prickling on the surface of her mind then heard Raven's velvety voice. "I should have known better than to be jealous of you," she began. "You're just being kind. You treat Adrian the same way you treat Ryan, so why should Jacey be any different from Mar'i? I guess it was just maternal instincts. Will you be her aunt, just like you are Adrian's?"
Starfire nodded, eyes slightly wet with tears of joy. She turned to the little blonde girl in her arms and said, "You may call me Aunt Starfire or Aunt Kori."
"Cool!" Jacey exclaimed. "Everybody seems to have two names! Do the kids get two names too?"
"Over time you'll get a second name," a masculine voice answered. Jacey turned in Starfire's arms to see a tall man dressed in all black with the exception of a blue bird emblazoned across his chest. A narrow black mask adorned his face. The young pyrokinetic began to tremble and hid her face in Starfire's hair.
The Tamaranian became concerned. "Jacey, what's the matter?"
"The scary man dressed in black is the matter!"
Starfire chuckled, "but he is merely my husband."
"Why did you marry the darkness?!" Jacey's shriek came out muffled.
"Jacey, Nightwing is not evil, he is a protector of good. The dark colors he wears are merely a warning sign to those who wish to hurt innocent people." Starfire soothed while stroking her hair.
Beastboy chuckled. "And I thought Batman was supposed to be the scary one," He remarked. "I guess it runs the family huh?" Nightwing said nothing in response to this; rather just let a full blown crimson blush blossom onto his face.
Jacey however, at the sound of her father's voice poked her head up from Starfire's shoulder and reached for the shape shifter with her small outstretched arms. "Daddy…" She cried in a wheedling tone.
Chuckling once again, Beastboy shook his head. "I'm sorry Jacey. But if you want to come to me, you're going to have to let Nightwing take you."
This didn't sit well with Jacey. She hugged Starfire. "Auntie Starfire, I don't wanna go to the darkness!"
Raven elbowed her husband annoyed, "Gar, stop torturing our child and go get her!"
"Relax Rae," Beastboy replied, "I know whatI'm doing." He turned to Jacey. "Jacey, Nightwing is one of my best friends. He won't hurt you. I promise."
Hesitantly, Jacey peered over at Nightwing. He calmly looked back at her seeing if she'd act welcoming or fearful. It was then that Jacey truly felt that protective sense coming from Nightwing as it did her own parents. She raised her hand and waved at him. "Hi Uncle Nightwing. Can you take me to my mommy and daddy please?" Her voice was quiet and unsure.
A small smile worked its way across Nightwing's face as he lifted the small pyrokinetic from his wife's arms. "Alright."
Jacey smiled at the picture of her aunt and uncle. She had been so silly as a child. Just because one wore black, that didn't necessarily make him part of the darkness. It had been what darkness represented that had scared Jacey. The dark was isolation, loneliness. It couldn't be truly categorized as a person, place or thing. It was just an aspect of life that magnified your fears and brought them into existence. She had been afraid that Nightwing was able to do that and would inflict pain upon her just like Gregory had.
Jacey flipped the page and stared lovingly down at her immediate family that had expanded roughly eight years ago. In Raven's arms was a picture of Jacey's baby brother Mark Logan. Mark took after their father in looks. He had unruly forest green hair and skin to match while his round eyes revealed a glimmering emerald sheen. While the main factor of Mark's powers was shape-shifting, he also proved that he could fly without having to rely on an animal form thus showing that he possessed a bit of Raven's abilities as well.
Beside her mother stood Beastboy and Adrian. Beastboy had a confident, mature smile on his face that still allowed some of his boyish charm to shine through as Adrian stood tall and proud, trying to portray to the world that he was ready to be a man at the tender age of ten. Jacey smiled softly and ran a finger lightly over her mother's gently smiling face. While Beastboy had rescued her from the streets, Raven had saved her from the darkness of herself.
Jacey held Raven's slim silver hand with her own small one. Beastboy held Adrian aloft on his shoulders. The four of them were on their way back to Jump City Orphanage to make Jacey's adoption official. As they reached the looming gothic structure Jacey began to tremble. Using her free hand; she clutched her celestial charm, drawing as much strength and comfort from the small metal piece as she could handle.
Raven squeezed Jacey's hand lightly, silently telling her that she had nothing to be afraid of. Jacey wished she could believe the woman who was to be her mother. But she found it to be impossible. Once they entered the foyer; Jacey wanted nothing more to rip free from Raven's grasp and run out the door for the first person her eyes gazed upon was none other than Gregory. As soon as he saw Jacey and the people she was with, he burst into malicious laughter.
"Well what do we have here?" The despicable ten-year-old crowed. "Why if it isn't little Juliana Celeste!" He eyed the others. "And she's with Freak man, Goth Girl and Freak man junior!" Leering at Jacey he continued, "I guess that makes you Flame Goth Girl! What, are you joining the sideshow creeps at the circus?" Gregory laughed at what he believed to be his incredibly funny joke.
The Logan family on the other hand had a different perspective on Gregory and his "humorous" self. Beastboy growled as Raven narrowed her eyes menacingly. Adrian looked as if he was ready to leap from his father's shoulders and start attacking the hapless fool, but he didn't move. Jacey on the other hand; didn't possess the self-restraint the others had. Gritting her teeth, she felt the anger course within her and burn a sweet fire into her fingertips. She didn't have to look down to see the flames emit from her hands; she just knew that they were there. Gregory's eyes grew wide in fear as the fire Jacey was producing was larger than he had ever seen. Jacey smirked at his trembling form, not taking any note that her family was observing this little scenario.
Something clicked within Jacey's mind; some sort of inkling, a nearly inaudible whisper that told her not to throw the flames at Gregory directly, rather to do it in a sneakier matter. Jacey closed her eyes and willed the flames to dissipate. She opened her blue eyes to the form of slits as she concentrated. She felt the heat rise within her once again, only this time a picture formed in her mind depicting the fire shooting from Gregory's greasy head. Focusing on that, Jacey saw smoke begin to curl; spiraling upward from Gregory's mud brown locks. Flames began to appear.
"Juliana, stop!" Hearing her new mother's voice; Jacey snapped out of her rage induced trance. She gasped for fresh air, not realizing she hadn't been breathing as her focus had solely belonged to using her powers in order to shut Gregory up. Jacey looked at the now wailing boy who was desperately trying to get the fire on his head to die. Eyes wide in mortification, Jacey realized what she had done. Yes, she had been enraged because Gregory was running his mouth off at her family's expense; but she hadn't wanted to hurt him that badly.
The young pyrokinetic didn't even notice as Raven used her telekinetic powers to activate the sprinkler system before lifting her into her arms and quickly exiting the orphanage. Beastboy walked quickly beside them and said in a joking way, "I guess we'll have to officially adopt her online, eh?"
Jacey turned tear-filled eyes toward her mother, "Do you hate me now?"
Raven sighed and gave her a soft smile. "As a Titan I have to say, we're going to have to train you on controlling your emotions as well as your powers. But as your mother who has gone through the same things you have, I say right on."
Jacey tilted her head in confusion, "Right on?"
Raven laughed gently. "It means good job Sweetie."
A knocking sound ripped Jacey from her reverie. "Jacey, come on!" An energetic voice trilled. "It's time for training!" Jacey smiled. That voice could only belong to her true best friend and soul-sister Mar'i who by now had slipped into her superhero persona known as Nightfire.
She called out to the teenaged Tamaranian, "I'll be right there!"
"Okay!" Came the cheerful reply.
Jacey frowned as she heard Nightfire's delicate steps trip down the hall. Her mind still lingered on that recent memory. That voice, whose was it? It had been a combination of quite a few things. At first, when it was instructing her to stop the fire, it had been a soft female voice whose tones were light and pleading instead of her mother's rich, comforting voice. Then voice then changed when Jacey obeyed the initial command into a deep, almost guttural pitch that most definitely did not belong to her father. When Jacey heard the different voice, it was as if a pair of invisible sunglasses had settled over her eyes, dimming her vision and an invisible hand was pulling her back into the darkness as her body was being used like a puppet that was pulled on its strings. A shiver of fear ran down her spine at that thought.
Quelling her unease as best as she could; Jacey rose from her bed and walked toward the door resolving to seek out either Raven or Nightwing hoping that her questions could be answered.
Finally! This chapter is done! And it's the longest one so far. Hm, not exactly satisfied with the ending. I kind of wanted to do more with the orphanage scene, so perhaps I'll play with it later. Jacey's also had a taste of the power of the dark side, she doesn't like it, but whether or not outside forces will attempt to sway her shall be seen later on. There's also a bit of romance in the beginning, was I too strong with that? Points go to whoever can figure out where I based Raven's quote from... "As a Titan I have to say, we're going to have to train you on controlling your emotions as well as your powers. But as your mother who has gone through the same things you have, I say right on."
Read and review please!!