I'm sorry, but this is going to be a long author's note at the beginning. There are some explanations and apologies that I need to get out of the way.
I actually sacrificed the money to purchase the complete set of the Teen Titans television series. In watching all of the episodes, however, there seemed to me to be some differences between the animated series and the comics. I know almost nothing about the comics (all that I know I gathered from extra research and from other people), and since I went through all of the trouble to buy and to watch the television series, I would like to base my writing off of the show. In other words, I'm going to piss some of you off because there are some characteristics about comic-version Raven and other characters that I am not going to include. However, I do like some of the ideas of the comic version that never made it to the show, so I'm going to piss others of you off by cherry-picking what I will and will not include about the comics version. Please people, I am sorry. This is just the way it's going to be, and since I've explained it and apologized, any flames regarding the matter will be ignored.
However, that is not to say that I would not appreciate hearing the readers' ideas as long as all of you are willing to present them in a reasonable manner and not bursting with the fires of Hell. : ) So don't be discouraged about leaving a review; just make sure that you try to respect me as much as I am trying to respect you. : )
Okay, enough of the drama. : ) The last bit that I'm going to say is that I'm assuming some familiarity with the show. Spoiler alerts should be understood without mentioning, and I'm not going to include detailed flashbacks unless all of you think that I'm losing the reader too much.
I do not own Teen Titans or anything associated with it.
Personal Demons
A knock sounded on Raven's door, and she could sense that it was Robin standing outside.
How predictable.
Then again, she had to admit that she shouldn't be so judgmental. Robin was probably the only one of her friends that was brave enough and understanding enough to face her right now after what they had all seen her do in the last fight a couple of hours ago. Beast Boy was definitely too chicken—no pun intended—in the face of Raven's wrath, and Starfire was too innocent and cheery to handle one of Raven's dark moods. Cyborg might have stood a chance, but he would know that Robin understood Raven better, so the machine-man would concede the one-on-one to Robin.
Oh great. A one-on-one, Raven thought, paying attention to her own musings. Still, her friends would need to know that she was all right, so she would have to endure this. At least she had been able to meditate enough to find her emotionless equilibrium again.
Delicately falling out of her meditative hover, she lightly touched her feet to the ground and pulled her hood up. It was comforting to hide in the hanging shadows of the garment, though thankfully she didn't have anything to hide physically. Jinx had landed a hard kick to Raven's face during the fight, but not the slightest darkening of Raven's pale skin gave evidence to that strike. The magic she used to reinforce her flesh during battle had done much to detract from the severity of the hit, and her demonic transformation and massive power output had augmented her natural healing so that there was now no physical reminder of what had happened.
Raven reluctantly walked to the door and opened it, and sure enough, Robin stood patiently on the other side.
"I'm fine, Robin," Raven immediately said. She didn't want to talk about this, so the sooner she could get rid of him, the better.
One of his mask-eyes arched when he raised an eyebrow, and he just stared at her.
Even though Robin was still standing outside of her room, she still felt his presence keenly and wanted all the more for him to go away. No one entered her room, but on top of that, she didn't even much care for people looking in. It felt invasive to her, almost as invasive as if someone were to initiate a psychic link to her mind without her consent. Raven's room was her shelter, her only place to be who she was without inhibition and to surround herself with what she liked. It was her little sanctuary, and she didn't like anyone diminishing its sacredness by looking in and making judgments.
"Are you sure you're fine?" Robin finally spoke. "I've never seen you lose control like that."
"It won't happen again."
"I'm not your leader right now. I'm here as your friend. Talk to me, Raven. What happened?"
Raven patiently blinked and monotonously replied, "Robin, you have seen me lose control before. Remember Dr. Light? I fixed that problem then; I will fix this problem now. I'm fine."
"If it already happened again, then maybe you haven't fixed it."
Raven stared a moment. Was he judging her? Robin was just standing there, staring back, and though she could still sense the concern flowing out of him, this gave her no indication of what he was thinking. Raven wasn't about to jump inside his head, either. Reading auras was one thing, and reading minds was something completely other.
"They are different problems," Raven asserted. "When I lost control with Dr. Light, it was a problem with my father."
"Then what's the problem now?" Robin genuinely asked.
Raven turned her face aside. She wasn't quite sure.
"You really hurt Jinx. Bad," Robin said when she didn't answer. "We had to take her to the emergency room in the penitentiary's hospital immediately after the fight."
Raven just stared at the doorframe. That was definitely shame and guilt trying to get her attention, but there was a bit of humiliation there, too. Jinx was a bitch in Raven's opinion, especially after having rejoined the villains despite the honorary title of Titan that had been bestowed on her, but that didn't mean that Jinx deserved what Raven had done to her—never mind even considering the whole heroes-don't-do-that thing that Raven had violated. She needed to make things right, but Robin wasn't the one she needed to make things right with. It was Jinx who would not realize that Raven had not meant to cause that kind of harm, Jinx whom Raven had hurt, and so it was Jinx to whom Raven needed to make her amends. If Raven thought about it, the thing that was really bothering her right now with Robin was that he had seen her lose control. It was humiliating to her, and she also didn't want him to start questioning her abilities or to look at her differently.
"I know you didn't mean to do it," Robin said, stepping closer and holding a hand up and out to his side. "Let us help you, Raven. Whatever you're going through now, let us help you through it."
"So that I don't accidentally put one of you in the hospital?" she replied with a hint of acerbity.
The hand that Robin was holding up, he gently placed on Raven's shoulder. She moved her eyes to look at him but didn't turn her face.
"It's not about that," he said confidently but softly. "We know that you wouldn't hurt one of us. Raven, you've been willing to sacrifice yourself for us in the past." His hand squeezed her shoulder. "We really are concerned about you. All of us."
Raven turned her head to fully stare at Robin, but he was being sincere. Against all reason, his words were the truth.
"Thank you," she replied, and he smiled in response and thankfully let go of her shoulder.
"So what's on your mind?" Robin asked in friendly tones.
Raven shook her head. "I lost my temper while I was fighting Jinx," she forced herself to admit.
Again Robin arched a mask-eye as he raised an eyebrow at that. He was probably wondering how the stoic Raven had managed to lose her temper, but he didn't ask the obvious question. That was just as well because she didn't have an obvious answer. Some explanation was still required, though, so she tried to give him what explanation she could.
"It happens. There will always be a part of me that feels. I can try to ignore it; I can suppress it, try to control it, but I can't extinguish it. I've tried. And negative emotions are stronger than positive emotions. Anger is especially difficult to control."
"Maybe it's good that you can't extinguish your emotions."
It was Raven's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"Emotions are part of being human. Maybe you shouldn't want to get rid of them completely," Robin explained.
"Maybe I can't afford to be as human as everybody else."
Robin seemed concerned again, and he argued, "You have a right to live. Part of living is feeling."
"But I don't have that luxury."
Robin was clearly struggling to say something else to that, but what could he say? He knew as well as everyone else on the team that emotions affected Raven's powers, and Raven was powerful enough that such a game was too dangerous to play. The truth was simple, and as is the normal nature of truth, it was ugly.
"Don't worry about it, Robin," Raven said, switching their roles around. "I don't mind the sacrifice to keep everyone else safe."
"But that's just it," he insisted. "You're always sacrificing."
Raven shrugged. "So is everyone else. Everyone sacrifices something for other people. My sacrifice is just…different."
She could tell that Robin was reluctant to accept that answer, but again, it was just the truth. It took him awhile to finally accede and nod.
"So you're sure there's nothing on your mind?" Robin gently pressed.
"Why do you keep asking?"
"It's just that I've never seen you like you were today. Even if you sometimes lose your temper, you never react like that."
"Everyone has a bad day. This one was mine. I'll make sure that it doesn't happen again."
Robin evenly regarded her, probably weighing her words, but he eventually accepted her excuse with a nod. That didn't mean he believed that the problem was so easily summed up, but at least he wasn't going to push it.
"Just be sure to talk to us if something is bothering you," he said.
Raven merely nodded, a response that could be confused between acknowledgment and agreement, but she was purposely making her answer as nebulous as she could while still giving enough to satisfy Robin. If she ever needed to talk to someone about her problems, it would be him, and he had to know that. Nonetheless, she knew herself well enough to know that it would probably turn out to be a lie if she promised that she would talk to anyone about what bothered her. She had kept things to herself in the past, and that quality wasn't likely to change much.
Robin apparently accepted her nod, for he smiled again before he turned and left. Just before walking out of earshot, however, he jokingly commented, "I don't think Beast Boy will be pestering you for a while. Enjoy the peace while you can."
When her door closed, though, it left Raven staring at the floor. Robin's parting remark was meant to lighten the mood, but it had the opposite effect. How confident were her friends that she wouldn't hurt them? How confident was she that she wouldn't hurt them? Maybe it wasn't confidence, but temerity. Raven was still dangerous. Everyone should know that, especially after today. How sure could anyone be that she wouldn't one day lose control enough to really hurt someone close to her?
No, I wouldn't hurt any of them. I wouldn't, Raven firmly thought. Robin was right: She would sooner sacrifice herself than harm her friends.
But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't hurt someone.
Raven sighed and massaged her temples. Control, control, control. She was good at it; she prided herself in it; and she wasn't about to start losing it now. She was a good guy, one of the heroes, and heroes didn't hurt other people just because of personal demons.
Even if that personal demon were half of their heritage.
Raven frowned, and not wanting to think about that, she instead turned her thoughts toward Jinx. Raven was not one to give a meaningless apology, but she had definitely wronged Jinx, so something needed to be done. The stubborn villain probably wouldn't want to accept any form of amendments, but this was also for Raven's peace of mind. Emotions were annoying enough without having some base for existence.
"Remove the source, remove the effect," Raven said to herself.
She lingered in her room a moment, considering whether or not to tell anyone she was going out, but she decided to keep the visit as discreet as possible. She especially didn't want word about this spreading to people outside of the Titan circle because the last thing Raven wanted was for the whole world to know. This was more personal, and the world had no respect for confidentiality and leaving people unto their own.
Raven called to her powers and transformed into her soul self, seeping out of the physical realm to travel through the ether. She wasn't very familiar with the location of the infirmary in the prison, so it took her longer to get there than if she had been seeking a place she frequently or normally visited. Nonetheless, she sensed it out easily enough in the physical realm and startled a receptionist by phasing up through the floor right in front of the counter. The ruby-lipped blonde behind the counter shrieked and pulled away with her hands coming up to her chest defensively, but at least she had the sense not to start screaming.
"There's a criminal here, Jinx. I want to see her," Raven succinctly said, cutting straight to the point.
"Wh-who are you?" the receptionist stuttered.
Probably tonight's nightmare in your sleep, Raven thought, considering that it might have been a better idea to phase through the floor outside and enter through the door like a normal person.
"I am Raven of the Titans," she answered aloud.
"Oh!" the receptionist exclaimed in recognition. She dropped her hands and finally began to calm down, even taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Well, I know you're one of the heroes and all, but I'm not supposed to..."
The receptionist's voice withered beneath the heat of Raven's scowl, and the blonde gave a nervous smile instead and snatched up the phone with a flick of her wrist.
"I'll call my supervisor and see what I can do," the receptionist offered in an appeasing tone. "Can you tell me the nature of your visit?"
Raven was reluctant to answer the question, but she also knew that she was more likely to be denied if she didn't have a good reason to see Jinx.
"You are aware that the criminal was badly hurt?" Raven asked. When the blonde nodded, Raven continued, "It was an accident and not the Titans way of doing things. I am here to make amends."
A forthcoming question was written all over the receptionist's perplexed features, but Raven was not in the mood for telling her whole life story to some nosy woman.
"I'm in a bit of a hurry," Raven peremptorily said.
"Oh," the receptionist awkwardly replied, fluttering her free hand like she didn't know what to do with it. Eventually she settled for repeatedly jabbing her finger into the phone to dial the appropriate number, and Raven was impressed that the ruby-lipped woman's equally ruby fingernails didn't pierce right through the suddenly delicate-looking technology.
Not wanting to make the receptionist any more nervous than she already was, Raven kindly walked away to the empty sitting area so that the woman could make the call without the pressure of someone watching. Raven didn't bother with sitting down (she was either going to get clearance to see Jinx, or she was not), so she stood with her arms crossed and facing the lone TV hanging in the corner of the room. The news was on, as was apparently customary for TVs in any waiting location, but the news was nothing exciting. The normal pessimism and depressing stories streamed across the screen with the vapid voices of the reporters to add to the dreariness.
Even with all we do, all the crime we fight, the wrong that we try to eradicate, they will always find something else wrong with the world and choose only to see that, Raven thought. People think I'm dark, but at least I don't go looking for things to be depressed about.
"Um, Ms. Raven?" the receptionist called.
She turned to regard the blonde, and the blonde shrank back again for no apparent reason. Raven was on the opposite side of the room, for crying out loud, and she was a hero on top of that. What exactly was the receptionist intimidated by? Well, it didn't matter. Intimidation made people leave Raven alone, so Raven wasn't about to rue something that provided some good, even if it were an effortless and inexplicable thing.
"You have been granted permission to see the criminal Jinx, but you will have to be escorted to the room," the receptionist explained, twisting her hands around the phone she held almost protectively against her shoulder. "The medical staff just left her a few minutes ago, so they shouldn't be interrupting you, unless you plan to stay for a while. They will need to check on her in a couple of hours or so. And um, she's probably resting. You know: Head injuries can make people want to sleep," she finished with an apologetic wince.
Raven nodded, not at all caring that Jinx might not be awake, and the blonde relayed the acceptance to her supervisor. A few minutes and awkward silence later—awkward for the receptionist, anyway—the promised escort arrived. The two guards were grim and merely nodded to Raven in greeting, and she returned the reticent gesture and followed their lead through the halls.
The infirmary wasn't a large section of the penitentiary, but it was well kept. Even criminals deserved good medical care, and it didn't bother Raven to see the high-tech equipment in some of the rooms that the group passed. As long as the law-abiding citizens received the highest standards first, then she didn't really care that criminals received excellent medical treatment as well. There was a difference between punishment and cruelty, and it was her opinion that unattended, dismal health afflictions tended to fall under cruelty.
The guards stopped at a door, and one produced a key card to gain access to the room. When the door opened with a green light and a soft beep, it looked like the guards were going to follow Raven in, so she hesitated.
"May I see her alone?" Raven asked.
The guards exchanged a glance, but only one of them spoke up.
"That is inadvisable," he said. "Her powers have been suppressed, but Jinx is still a dangerous criminal."
Clearly the guards didn't share the same fear of Raven that the receptionist did. It didn't really irritate Raven, but it was nonetheless hindering her from getting into the room alone, so she allowed her eyes to glow softly with the promise of more hidden power.
"I brought her down," Raven said evenly. "I know what Jinx is capable of, and I am more than capable of handling that."
The guards exchanged another look, and the silent one shrugged.
"We'll have to lock you in the room, and we'll be standing outside for the entirety of your visit. If we hear anything suspicious, we will enter the room immediately," said the spokesman of the two in a solid business-like tone.
"Agreed, but please do not interrupt otherwise."
The guards nodded, and they let her walk alone into the room. The door closed behind her, and a buzz and red light above the doorframe notified that it was locked. The room wasn't very large, just large enough for two maybe three personnel to scoot around if they all had to be present at the same time. There were thin floor-to-ceiling cupboards built into the walls on either side of the door, a bed with leather restraints in the middle of the opposite wall, and medical equipment to either side. Only one chair had been placed next to the bed.
Jinx was lying asleep and securely strapped onto the hospital bed with various instruments connected to her by wires and an over-bleached bed sheet tucking her in. Whatever was suppressing her powers, it had to be something connected to her but out of sight, perhaps a special manacle of some sort. Raven's own powers were left unaffected.
To the side, Raven spotted a quick-reference file clamped to a clipboard on one of the small steel tables, so she picked it up to look over it. Medical jargon aside, what she could gather from summing up the report was that Jinx had suffered a severe concussion, internal bleeding, several broken bones, and a good medley of bruises, scratches, scrapes, and punctures from claws and debris.
I did all of that? Raven thought unhappily as she stood there. She glanced up and looked at Jinx again. The myriad injuries must be most evident beneath the bed sheet, but Jinx's face was kind of bruised, scratched, and scraped as it was.
She placed the clipboard back on the table and telekinetically pulled over the chair for her to sit in beside the bed. Raven was going to heal Jinx, and that would require a lot of power and a lot of energy that didn't need to be wasted even on something as simple as hovering.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," Raven quietly chanted, calling her powers to herself, and she held her hands over Jinx to begin the mending.
Healing was an arduous and delicate art that required a lot of patience, energy, and concentration, so it didn't help that Raven's guess about the hidden manacle proved to be correct. There wasn't just a single manacle, either, but one on each of Jinx's wrists. Their fluctuating energies disrupted a controlled use of magic, so being in direct contact with Jinx, the manacles would prevent her from summoning the magic necessary to use her powers. Raven was far enough out of the influence of the manacles that she was still capable of summoning her own powers, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't have to work around the disruptive energies. Consequently, that meant that Raven would have to exercise more force and control than usual to work around the manacles' influence and to keep her healing magic focused on its task in the physical realm.
The situation couldn't be helped, so Raven didn't bother stalling over it. Her hands glowed blue as the healing magic answered her will, and she worked to keep it controlled in spite of the disruptive energies that were present. The extra effort wasn't particularly strenuous at first, but the more Raven healed, the more she strained to keep going, and the longer she took, the more she had to chant her mantra under her breath. Her mantra served as a sort of focus, a way to rein in the magic to specifically following Raven's will and not its own, so the wearier she became with her efforts, the more she needed that focus and containment.
By the end of an hour, Raven was chanting the words as a constant litany, but she was still using too much power and consequently too much energy. Finally, she simply sagged against the back of the chair and released a sigh. She was exhausted, and her energy for magic was mostly used up, leaving her with an uncomfortably empty feeling. However, her efforts were not in vain. Jinx would be much better now, and her body would be more than capable of healing the rest of the injuries on its own. There shouldn't even be any obvious scarring.
Then the pain hit, and Raven clenched her teeth and sat up straight, tensing all over. It was Jinx's pain—or it would have been Jinx's pain had she been awake to feel it—but now it was Raven's pain.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she began chanting again, but this time the purpose was different. Before, she had been controlling her magic. Now, she was controlling her mind and body, trying to reach that meditative equilibrium that would help her ignore the pain. It was difficult since the pain had set in before the trance, but Raven was determined to be the master of her physical being, so she folded her legs up in the chair and concentrated.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos." Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos.
The mantra served its purpose to focus her thoughts, and slowly she gained the upper hand. It was much the same as fighting down emotions: All of it was still there, but Raven was pushing it farther and farther away from her consciousness until it was just a dull nuisance in the background of her mind.
Finally she was in control. It had been a difficult fight, but now that she had reached the relaxed trance she had been seeking, it would be much easier to stay there. Even so, Raven couldn't be sure how long the stolen pain would last, and she would have to maintain her meditation for the entire duration. Slip once, and the hurt would come back full force. Pain was persistent and pernicious that way.
That didn't mean that she couldn't think about other things, though, as long as she did it carefully, and so her mind wandered. She was rather surprised that the guards hadn't become suspicious and burst in on her anyway despite her request. Perhaps they had merely looked through the grated window in the door and decided that whatever was going on was nothing to worry about, and if that were the case, then it was relief that they had made such a judgment. Truly, it could have been disastrous if they had interrupted Raven's concentration, especially when she had been trying to quell the aftershock of pain.
That made her think about how pissed Robin would be if he knew how far Raven had just pushed herself. On one hand she appreciated that someone would show concern for her, but on the other hand, sometimes he could be overbearing. He seemed to get the idea every now and then that he knew her better than she did. Raven knew her weaknesses and her strengths; she knew what she could do, and what she could not. She didn't need Robin governing her actions.
Of course, she couldn't really hold this small flaw against him. Robin was just trying to be a good leader, and she was certainly not singled out in his sometimes forceful concern. It was his job to make sure that each member of his team was all right, not just for that teammate's sake, but for the good of the whole team as well. Besides, he was also being a good friend, if a little bit of a persistent good friend.
"What are you doing?" Jinx suddenly asked, her tired voice curious but still holding some sass.
"Not now," Raven somehow managed to answer in an even tone. She had nearly snapped out of her meditation at Jinx's interruption, and the ever-waiting pain was quick to surge forward again.
Thankfully Jinx shut up for once, though it was indeterminable whether that was because of a new respect for Raven or some other reason.
Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos, Raven mentally chanted, focusing her mind. She quickly reached that place of indifference again, and she relaxed as the pain throbbed in her body at a much more tolerable level of intensity.
Jinx was surprisingly patient, and again, Raven couldn't tell why exactly that might be. Raven was grateful for the silence nonetheless, and when enough time passed that the pain finally subsided, she opened her eyes and steadily regarded Jinx. The villain returned her regard.
"Feeling better?" Raven monotonously asked, but despite her tone of voice, she meant the question.
"…Yeah," Jinx hesitantly answered. "You did that, didn't you?"
Raven didn't answer, just dropped her hands from the meditative position to rest them comfortably on her knees.
"Um, thanks," Jinx said unsurely.
Raven shook her head. "I didn't mean to hurt you like that."
Jinx quickly looked away and tried not to shiver, but this time there was no guilt trying to work its way into Raven's psyche. What was done was done, and she had made her amends. If Jinx still reacted to the hero with fear, then it was as it was. There was no reason for Raven to be burdened by it.
With that thought, Raven unfolded her legs to prepare to leave, but she didn't immediately stand as she felt the prickly pain from the return of blood flow.
"Hey, you're pretty scary, you know that?" Jinx commented.
Raven raised her eyes to see Jinx looking at her, but the comment was neither insulting nor complimenting, at least not to Raven since she had long gotten over being different like that.
"I never realized you had that other side to you," Jinx softly added, perhaps unsure if she might be treading on dangerous ground.
"I try not to show it," Raven answered.
"I don't know. You're pretty kick ass when you let it out."
Raven flicked up an eyebrow. Jinx didn't know what she was talking about, but that didn't stop Raven from being amused that the villain was speaking like this.
"I don't like to lose, but I'm not stupid either," Jinx said. "If you were like that all the time, we'd never stand a chance."
"Why are you telling me this?"
Jinx shrugged one shoulder, pulling at the restraints that held her down. "I guess I was wrong about you being nothing without your team."
Raven closed her eyes. "I am everything because of my team, because of my friends. Without them…"
She didn't finish the sentence as she thought about what Starfire had foretold of the future in the Warp incident. What a dismal way everyone had ended up in that future, but Raven had been particularly shocked at herself. She had known her friends were important to her, but she had also always thought she was more stable than to fall apart if left alone. Starfire's retelling had shaken Raven at the time, had made Raven realize that her friends really were all she had that kept her from sinking into an engulfing abyss.
But that was then with the variables and constants of that time. Enough of that future had not been lived out that it was likely a null future now. Raven had lived through more experiences since that battle with Warp, and she found herself doubting once again that she would fall apart in the absence of her friends. They were still important to her, no argument there, but she was steadier and wiser now than she had been back when Starfire had traveled time.
"Hey, you zoning out again?" Jinx asked.
Raven opened her eyes, gave a simple "No," and stood to leave. She had made it to the door and had her hand poised to knock when Jinx threw out a last comment.
"You didn't have to heal me, you know."
Raven paused and answered, "It was my damage to mend."
Jinx snickered, and a smirk was evident in her voice as she replied, "So we're not buddy buddies or anything now, right?"
"No."
"Good. 'Cause I'm kickin' your ass next time."
Raven just shook her head. Jinx was irrepressible.
That did, however, remind Raven of one thing that she wanted to ask before leaving. It was a matter that smacked of betrayal to her, though it was certainly nothing as personal or keen as Terra's betrayal had been.
"Jinx."
"Yeah?"
"Why did you rejoin the H.I.V.E. Five? Why didn't you stay on our side, after we made you an honorary Titan?"
Only silence followed, so Raven turned to regard the villain. Raw pain twisted Jinx's features before she quickly covered it with a derogatory smirk.
"Maybe I was always meant to be bad," Jinx tried to flippantly reply. Her voice wasn't natural, though, but held a foreign timbre that again showed her pain.
"What happened?" Raven asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"That's none of your business!" Jinx snapped back. "What do you care anyway?"
Raven stood there for awhile, but Jinx was right. The villain's business was her own, and Raven had no right to pressure the girl to talk about this. Besides, Jinx clearly didn't want anyone else to know what had happened, and Jinx was stubborn enough that she was capable of taking that secret to her grave if she wanted.
"It was only a question," Raven answered before knocking on the door.
The knock was quickly answered by the soft beep and green light. Raven opened the door and stepped out, but if the guards were suspicious about what Raven had been doing in there that whole time, they said nothing. In fact, no one said anything as the door was shut and locked again, and Raven was led back out the way they had brought her in. She would mention to the receptionist that someone should be sent to check on Jinx's improved condition.
The earlier part of the conversation with Jinx had given Raven something to think about, though, and she considered what had been implied. The only villains that she knew really took her seriously now were Dr. Light and Jinx, and both of them had seen her bad side. Everyone else just seemed to see her as the quiet Titan of the bunch and gave her less heed.
I wonder how my team sees me.
Raven quickly shook that thought from her head. Of course she was an integral part of the team! The five of them lived and trained together, and they functioned as a whole. If any one of them were missing, no matter who it might be, they were incomplete. She shouldn't question that.
Besides, they're my friends. Each of us builds up the others.
Raven massaged her temples. She didn't doubt her friends, and she decided instead that the thoughts had been caused by her exhaustion. As soon as she got back to her room, she was going to rest and try to sleep a little. The amount of power she had expended really took it out of her. The oh-so-amazing Boy Wonder might be able to function on such little rest, but Raven didn't like to push herself in the same way. After all, a weary mind was a weak mind; a weak mind lacked control; and she would not have that.
AN: There you go. I know it was kind of boring, but I thought it was a necessary evil to get some explanations out of the way (like theories that I'm using on the way Raven's magic works etc.) and to start setting things up for the central plot. If any of you have any questions, please direct them to someone who knows the answers. : D Okay, seriously though, I'll respond if you ask me something, unless you're asking for spoilers to this story. : ) I hope I didn't piss any of you off too much or even disappoint you for that matter. I don't like conflict, and I would like to try to give the readers what they want, but I'm only human. : )
By the way, if any of you freaked out over the fact that Jinx was sleeping after having suffered a concussion, I'm pretty sure that's a wive's tale about slipping into a coma. I've had a concussion myself and known other people who have likewise been to the emergency room for the same, and none of us were told by the doctors not to sleep. In fact, the doctors recommended rest. So yeah, I'm not a medical student, but from what I know, you're not guaranteed to slip into a coma if you fall asleep after a concussion.