Disclaimer-I don't own the TT

Impulses

Story By StormDancer

Act 2: Chapter 2

It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.

"Raven." Jinx melted out of the shadows. The other girl looked up from her book, not at all nonplussed by someone appearing beside her.

"What's up?"

Jinx, used to the girl's perception, simply seated herself next to the smaller girl.

"How do you do that?" she complained as usual.

"5 years of being raised as the heir of a drug lord."

"Oh." Raven really knew how to kill a conversation. After a moment, Raven broke the silence.

"So, is it Vic?"

Jinx stared at her.

"See, that's just scary."

"No," raven contradicted, "That's me seeing the obvious."

Jinx made a face at her.

"So…?" Raven prompted.

"Well," Jinx looked sheepishly at the ground, "Is he happy with Karen?"

Raven considered a moment.

"Well, Vic would be happy anywhere. He has genius like that. But would he be happier with you? I think so."

Jinx couldn't help the smile that spread over her face at that. Raven let a slight smirk grow back.

"I told you that you would fall for the good guy," she teased, "I knew your heart of stone couldn't hold out forever."

"And what about you?" Jinx retorted, "You and Roy seem pretty comfy."

Raven opened up her mouth to protest, but as she did so large warm hands closed over her eyes.

"Roy," she sighed, "May I see again?"

"I suppose," his low, laughing voice responded, and the hands moved away as the red head settled comfortably next to raven. Jinx could barely hold in her laughter.

"Get out of practice early?" Raven asked, glaring at Jinx.

"Yeah, West sprained something badly enough so that it might almost be a break, and he to go get it looked at. That threw all our concentration to hell, so Coach let us go."

"Wally okay?" Jinx asked. Raven raised an eyebrow at her.

"He's a nice kid," Jinx responded defensively.

"Idiot was going to fast and didn't notice the dip in the field," Roy explained, lying back on the grass and staring at the sky.

Raven studied him idly from behind her book, admiring the way the sun warmed his muscular body. Jinx snorted at her expression. Raven abruptly turned to face her friend, and froze, looking a someplace past the girl.

"Raven?" Jinx questioned, the worry in her voice making Roy sit up quickly and also stare at Raven, whose already pale face was draining of all colour. When she didn't respond to Jinx's inquiry, he shook her gently.

"Little Bird?" he called. The pale girl jerked her head away from that direction to face him, back straightening and face hardening, determinedly not looking at the tall white haired man who was standing proudly in front of the school.

"Roy, can you take me home?" she said, voice cold, "I really need to leave."

"Sure," Roy agreed, peering worriedly at her, "But Vic will want to know what happened, and he'll freak if he knows I took you home early. You know he doesn't trust me driving."

"Leave Victor to me," Jinx announced, standing with a groan as she followed her friend's not look. "damn, that's him, isn't it?"

Raven nodded curtly.

"Get her out of here," Jinx ordered Roy.

"Aye aye captain," he retorted, "I'm sure I'll get filled in, eventually."

"At home," Raven stated, "Not here. Just get me away!"

Despite her proud stance, the girl was shaking. Roy gently helped her to her feet. She pushed away his hand.

"I can't show weakness, "she muttered, and stalked away to Roy's motorcycle, the boy jogging to catch up.

Jinx watched the white haired man glare at raven as she got on the bike behind Roy and they took off, driving far too fast for safety. Maybe the reason she was having Roy drive her was that would kill her and leave her from having to deal with Trigon.

As Jinx mused, Victor walked out of the gyms, arguing quietly with Karen. He scanned the quad for Raven. When he didn't find her, Vic jogged up to where Jinx was standing.

"Have you seen Raven?" he asked. Jinx felt Karen's glare.

"Yeah, she already went home."

"With who?" Victor responded immediately.

"It's okay," Jinx said with an impish smile, "Roy took her."

"What!" Victor exploded, "he drives like a maniac! She won't live to get home! You let her do this!"

"Look," Jinx retorted, grabbing the large boy as he began to charge off, 'Don't say anything loudly. She needed to go, and she and I can't drive."

"Still," Victor protested, "She could have told me."

"She didn't have time," Jinx informed him.

"What do you mean, didn't have time? It would have taken maybe 30 seconds-"

"Which she didn't have."

"Why not," he spat.

"She'll tell you when you get home," Jinx said, pushing him toward his car, "Now go home and find out."

He nodded and jogged back to Karen. As he neared her, though, he turned back.

"You coming today? We could give you a ride," he yelled. Karen's glare deepened, until even Jinx quailed slightly.

"Maybe later," she shouted back, "I have some stuff I need to get done."

He nodded and ran back to Karen. Jinx pulled out her phone.

"Giz?" she asked into it, "I need a huge favour."

o0O0o0O0o

Victor stalked into the room where raven was seated calmly on a chair, grabbed her, and dragged her into the kitchen, ignoring Roy. The boy was about to go after them when Karen stormed in and threw herself down on the chair Raven had just been sitting on, muttering angrily to herself.

"What's up?" Roy asked timidly. He knew better than to bait a raging girl.

"That bastard," she spat, gesturing to where Vic had disappeared to, "Was flirting with that Jinx girl. IN front of me! It was so disrespectful! He at least could have done it behind my back! Or break up with me!" her voice trailed off into incoherent mumblings. Roy scooted away from the irate girl.

Garth, Tara, Gar, Dick, and Kori walked in. Kori immediately walked over to Karen to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder. The rest settled down on assorted chairs and couches.

"What's up with her?" Gar asked, gesturing at the distraught Karen.

"She thinks Vic's cheating on her with Jinx," Roy explained. Garth's fists clenched.

"Bastard," he muttered.

"Garth!" Dick admonished, "We don't know if that's true! Don't jump to conclusions!"

Roy snorted.

"What?" Dick asked testily.

"You. Telling people not to jump to conclusions. The irony."

"I don't jump to conclusions!" Dick exclaimed. Roy guffawed again.

"Dick, I've known you since we were kids fighting in Oliver's or Bruce's gyms. I can name at least 100 times you've jumped to conclusions."

"But-"

"Friend Dick, you know that is true," Kori interrupted Dick's protest, "Now what is happening with raven and victor?"

As she said that, angry voices came form the kitchen.

"You're putting me in a place to choose between them! I don't want to!" Victor yelled.

"Well, maybe you have to." was Raven's reply, still audible in the silence that had fallen in the living room, "They need you to decide."

"Well, I can't!" The dark boy's bass boomed throughout the house, "And why did you have to run off like that! If you had just waited for me, I wouldn't have been in this mess!"

"I had to leave."

"You couldn't have waited to 5 minutes? Instead you had to risk your life and mine!"

"It would have been a greater risk to stay there." The listeners could hear Raven's dispassionate tone breaking.

"Why? Was someone going to kill you there?"

"Vic, not with everyone else listening-"

"Tell me!" he thundered. A fist was heard slamming into a counter, "What made you panic so much that you left and made me have to choose between Jinx and Karen! A sniff of drugs, perhaps? The glint of metal?"

His cruel voice seemed to do its work on Raven. They could hear her sigh.

"No, Vic it was-"

"Did you see purple hair like your mother's? Or a white haired man? Did your daddy come and scare you? Did-"

Raven's voice was hard and cold, but there was a shiver in it not even her legendary control could hide.

"Victor, I saw Him."

The voice's quieted, and the listeners looked at each other, bemused.

After a moment of silence, Raven and Victor walked back in. She collapsed at the foot of Roy's chair, leaning against its side as if grateful of its support. Roy's hand rested gently on her shoulder. Victor looked to his usual seat next to Karen, only to find Garth sitting there, glaring at him as if to dare Victor to challenge him. Vic shrugged and sat in a armchair near Roy's. The silence stretched on.

"I suppose you want to know what that's about," Raven muttered into the quiet, staring at the upholstery of the chair she was leaning against.

"That would be nice," Tara agreed.

"yeah, start with telling us, who is He?" Dick asked. Raven sighed, than straightened and looked up into each of her friend's eyes. Her voice was strong, but Roy could feel her body shaking slightly.

"His name is Trigon Roth," she began, "He is a drug lord, a thief, a crime boss, and a murdered."

She looked at her feet than up again as Roy's hand tightened on her shoulder.

"He is also my father."