Distortion chapter 6.

Still no beta reader. My girlfriend is too busy. - what could be in more important than editing the yarns I spin, I ask you!

Devil-red clouds blocked out the sun. Buildings turned black. Even though every color was diffused and tinted red, shadows grew twice their normal size and the citizens couldn't help but feel as though these shadows were watching them.

In Titans Tower, Robin paced by Raven's bedside waiting for the mage to awaken. He stopped to watch the sky for a moment and listened to a radio broadcast on his communicator.

"This must be Control Freak and Mumbo Jumbo's doing," Robin said playing connect the dots in his head. "There is so much space between the events, but I think they did that to keep me from figuring it out. Those attacks on the otherTitans were random to throw me off their trail. If it is the potion they used on her then this . . ." Robin said looking at the red sky. " . . . Raven's powers going haywire, then they may be after other magic users as well."

Having figured it out at last Robin dispatched Titans all over the world to keep a vigil on other magic users.

When he turned around he almost jumped out of his skin at what he saw. Raven was sitting up and staring blankly in his direction.

"Raven?" Robin said regaining his composure and coming to her bedside.

"How do you feel?"

She clutched her stomach.

"Light headed. Light . . . all over. What happened to me?" she asked.

"Your powers got loose like the time you didn't want to admit your fear. Do you have any idea why? Were you having a nightmare, maybe?"

"No." she said looking at him with concern. "Is everyone ok?"

"Everyone is fine. It's just this . . ." Robin said moving and pointing at the window. "It has done no harm so far but I'm guessing it's only a matter of time. Any idea what it might be?"

Raven stood and walked to the window. She studied the sky intently and felt for it.

"It's . . . me." she said closing her eyes and placing her head on the glass.

"What do you mean?"

"It's . . ." she paused again sensing something. "It's not just me. It's the magic of many all swirling together to . . ."

"To what Raven?"

"To change the world."

"How do we stop it?"

"I don't know. It seems to be coming directly from us and feeding into some kind of magic engine. We'd have to stop the magic users. I'm going to try to disconnect myself from it." Raven said.

Raven entered her levitating meditation stance, closed her eyes and chanted. She tried to will the connection to end. She tried to stop the magic from draining from her. No matter what she tried, she had no effect.

"Maybe if you rest some more . . ." Robin started. "In fact, do that. I already have the other Titans tracking down the magic users."

Raven had time to nod before Robin departed. She walked to the large glass window and placed her right hand on the window. She rested her head on the back of that hand. She couldn't help feel that something in her life had taken an awfully dramatic turn. Strangely enough, she didn't believe it had much to do with that fact that the earth might be swallowed up inside some kind chaotic magic vortex.

It ate at her. Something important had happened but she couldn't recall what. Then the missing element simply walked into the room. Her appearance caused Raven's heart to skip a beat.

"Um, sorry. I should have knocked." Jinx said.

Raven stared at the girl who was now contemplating exiting and trying a better entrance.

"It's ok, Jinx." Raven said. Jinx paused, let go of the door and walked back into the room.

"'Bout to head out in a minute. Thought I'd just pop in and see if you were ok." Jinx said taking a good look at Raven. Raven still held a semi startled look. "Are you ok?"

Raven's mind was racing. She imagined her thoughts looking like a pack of greyhounds rushing through tunnel no wider than a building's air vent. Each was yelping and snapping as they rushed to be the first out of the tunnel. Barely distinguishable blurs bounding and colliding in their pace. The force of the thoughts made her back pedal. When her legs touched the bed, she sat down.

"Wow. I'll take that as a no." Jinx said, walking and sitting beside her. She put a hand on Ravens right shoulder and one on her left arm. The action actually made Raven even jitterier. Raven couldn't stop herself from turning to Jinx who was asking her something but the words didn't reach Ravens ears. There was a war going on in her head.

'Randy Kandel? I'm gay? And I love . . . this girl here beside me?'

Their eyes locked and Raven felt her emotions become unguarded. She peered openly into Jinx's large pink cat-like eyes. It was as if she had just lost a fight to keep up a facade. The two sat staring in each others eyes. 'She can see my thoughts!' Raven thought. 'She can see it all.' Although this wasn't true, Raven's mistake doubled her nervousness.

"I-I-I . . . uh . . ." Raven stammered while hopping to her feet and backing away from Jinx.

Jinx raised a brow at this most peculiar reaction and thought she'd wait for an explanation.

"I'm ok. I just need to rest." Raven said.

"Jinx. Are you ready?" a voice buzzing from Jinx's communicator interrupted them.

"Yeah. I'm coming." Jinx replied to the device.

"Hope you feel better," Jinx said getting up and preparing to leave.

Raven watched her retreat and the overwhelming pressure of her own soul crying out for the girl. And then Jinx was gone.

Raven pursed her lip and looked at her hands. I'm in love with her she realized. Her memory of a beautiful blond woman she had met not to long ago had somehow been sealed.

And so began the waiting. She turned her mind first to the issue of figuring out the magic vortex. She plunged through her books looking for references to it but her mind would often wander back to Jinx. She watched the clock and listened to dispatches of other Titans calling for help or reporting their status. Raven told herself that eventually Jinx would be back and Raven would again have to deal with her feelings for the girl.

As Jinx accompanied other Titans on various trips to check on other magic using heroes and villains she spent the rides thinking about Raven. Specifically the fact that while in the guise of a demon Raven had tried to marry her. Of course Raven had not been in control. Jinx honesty didn't even think she was was conscious at the time. From what the others had told her it seemed like the Titans had been living in one of Raven's dreams and what were dreams? People could dream of anything. Just random gibberish Jinx thoughts. But what was with that funny look Raven had been giving her a short hour ago?

'She was just out of it,' Jinx thought. 'What other explanation could there be?' Jinx rationalized but something still seemed unresolved. Something was nagging at her. This didn't bother her to much however. She would figure out eventually. Right now she was just happy her best friend was ok.

When the Titans returned they were all discussing the mission and the vortex. Raven decided this probably wouldn't be the best time for her to do what ever it was she was going to do about Jinx.

"They are all under lock and key. I don't think even the Brother Hood of Evil will be able to get to them." Cyborg said.

"But we still don't know how to stop that vortex," Robin said. He turned to Raven. "Did you find anything?"

All eyes turned to Raven.

"Yes. It's a Change Engine. It must have been created by an inter-dimensional demon." Raven dared to steal a glance at Jinx. The girl was looking at her but focused on the task at hand.

"He must be quite powerful. The potion he used on me is causing my power to feed the vortex. So he must have had Control Freak and Mumbo Jumbo use it on a number of other magic users."

"So how do we shut it down?" Beast Boy chipped in.

"I haven't figured that out yet. But I will. Just give me a couple more hours." Raven said looking down at the book in her arms.

"Alright." Cyborg.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower then," Beast Boy said. "Shout when we're ready to roll . . . or if you just was a free show," he added raising his eyebrows suggestively. Jinx snickered good naturedly.

"That was actually almost clever B," Cyborg said as he and several other Titans started to leave the room.

Jinx, as Raven figured, remained.

"Can I help?"

'No. Hell no!' Raven wanted to say. She wasn't ready to be alone with her. Even now here eyes were trailing all over Jinx's slender figure and forming theories about how it would feel against her hands. 'Fuchsia stop!' Raven screamed in her head. Even though she couldn't see the figment of her happiness, she was sure the pink garbed Raven heard her command.

"Can you read old Latin?"

"Umm. . . . Very little. I only learned what I needed to use Hexes." Jinx said frowning.

"Well, you can look if you want." Raven said. She turned away from Jinx. She began building a stack of books for Jinx, happy to be doing anything other than undress Jinx with her eyes.

"Ok." Jinx said kneeling down by the coffee table. She promptly started flipping through one of the books. Raven realized Jinx was oblivious to her feelings. She must have made very little of Raven's behavior. This was both a relief and a disappointment at the same time.

'Why? Why?' Why did this come on all of a sudden? Shouldn't their have been signs that I am this way?' Raven thought wishing she had consulted her emotions in the time the other Titans had been out although she suspected she would not like what they would have to say.

Raven looked at Jinx who was still studying the text in a dusty, old book intently.

'Oh this is the perfect time for this.' Raven berated her self sarcastically. The world's about to be devoured by magic and I'm dealing with my love life. Still . . . I can't concentrate!'

"I'll be right back." Raven said standing and dismissing herself.

"K." Jinx chimed.

Raven walked until she was out of sight then darted for her room. In under a minute she was in her room with mirror in hand and chanting the words that would allow her into her mind. Once she appeared, she forced every figment to appear before her. She looked at them all with a glare.

"Who knew?" she asked harshly.

All the Ravens looked at each other.

"Well?" Raven close to snapped at them.

"I have only a theory." the yellow Raven said. They all turned to her. "You're asking at what point you became gay. Well . . . you have subconsciously collected information that point to a major belief that people are born gay. It's just taken you until now to realize this . . .

That hit Raven like a bus. She closed her eyes and absorbed this while a panic set in and begane to overwhelm her. It made her want to run. To hide. To deny it. To lash out even.

"Love Jinx! Love Jinx!" Fuchsia voiced her opinion.

"No! We can't!" Pewter, the timid Raven in the gray hood and cowl chipped in. "Everyone hates homosexuals. They will hate us. Hate us more than they already do." And this was the representation of Raven's fear and doubt.

"Pffffft! Who cares Jinx rocks!" Emerald shouted. "She's almost as good a fighter as Robin. I love her!"

"I can't . . ." Raven said falling to her knees and crying. "I can't even face her. What if she rejects me on top over everything else?"

Amber leaned down next to Raven and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder. Raven raised her hoode head so their eyes could meet.

"I am your logic and I am overwhelmed by your other emotions. Majority rules here, Raven. You are in love with Jinx and you have every right to be happy with Jinx. That is, if she accepts you."

Raven left her room still in a daze and absentmindedly wandered back into the living quarters. There, Jinx approached her holding a book open to page with illustrated picture of a swirling, magic tornado.

"Does this have anything to do with it?" Jinx asked. Raven was lost in her own thoughts and took half a long half a minute just to nod.

So tell her! Voices said and Raven rebelled. Merely standing next Jinx gave her a case of the jitters. Jinx was explaining something but her words never reached Raven's brain for processing.

'I won't. I won't do it! You don't just go around falling in love with your friends . . . Except Starfire. But that was different. Everyone new she was in love with Robin before they were friends.'

Lead by fear of change and the possibility of rejection, Raven forced her feelings to the back of her mind. In its place was stopping the magic vortex and in time she did. She instructed the other magic users how to cancel the connection and stop feeding the magic engine and eventually the world returned to normal but with no suspects in custody she new this was only the beginning.

In the mean time she had bottling her feelings and avoiding Jinx to consume her time. Every day she found a way to be away, out of reach and simply never alone with Jinx. First she baby sat the tot Titans, and then she buried herself up to her eyebrows in missions and case work. Now she was even skipping town and often telling no one.

It was in a corn quite corn field south of the noisy city that she would run into Jinx again. She was outnumbered by a pack of Mumbo Jumbo's giant rabbits. Jinx was the only Titan to respond to her call for backup. The renegade magician was no where to be found after the skirmish. Raven surveyed the battle field for clues to what he was doing here in the first place. She ignored the pounding of her heart onset by Jinxes presence.

"There isn't anything of value here. I'm the only one here." Raven said just to fill silence between her and Jinx. She talked as if the two hadn't been apart for weeks.

"So . . . Are you mad at me?" Jinx asked and Raven froze. Her beating heart grew louder as the silence between them stretched.

"Guess you are." Jinx said almost dismissively. "Or you're just bored with me. Hell, I don't know and I guess it doesn't matter what I think. I mean . . . at first I was like . . . OK, maybe you're just busy. Then I thought you just might want your space. Now it's pretty obvious you want nothing to do with me and ah well. Nothing I can do right?" Jinx's words seemed to hit Raven's every sense. She could hear the dissatisfaction in the girl's voice and it was tearing at her.

"I can give up what I thought was a friendship. But what really sucks is that you didn't see fit to tell me. But Maybe I'm asking too much, eh? Don't really know. I'm not sure I'm all that great at doing things the "right" way, so maybe I'm wrong there too." Jinx said. She watched Raven's back. Raven was still stiff as stone. Jinx sighed. It appeared she was right. Raven wanted nothing to do with her. She wasn't sure why but she figured she would accept that. She felt better for getting her thoughts off her chest at any rate.

"Ok. It's been a real slice." Jinx said turning and preparing to leave. It wasn't until now that she started to feel the weight of loss.

Raven could hear her walking away and panicked.

'Wait! Wait!' It took her a moment to realize she was shouting this plea only in her mind.

"Wait!" she turned so fast her hood fell of her head. With tears in her eyes she faced Jinx who had complied and was waiting.

Raven felt her throat tighten. Jinx was both surprised and concerned. Apparently there was more going on here than she had realized and now she was about to find out what.

Again. Raven struggled for words. What to say, where to begin. She wondered if it was too late to make up a story. She was a terrible liar though.

She was breathing heavy and staring wide eyed at Jinx who was still waiting for an explanation.

"I'm not mad at you." Raven started off with what she realized was the safest thing to say. "And you aren't wrong to have wanted an explanation."

"No?" Jinx said taking a couple steps toward Raven. "Then what's wrong?"

"It- that," Her skin felt like it was on fire now. Pressure was mounting in her head.

"You can tell me," Jinx said inches from her now.

Raven inhaled deeply. Then exhaled.

"No . . . I can't." Raven said, turned and walked into to the tall stalks of corn. When Jinx followed she picked up the pace until she was running. She didn't look back. She didn't know if Jinx was still following. She just kept running. Shifting through the corn stalks with images of hear fears flashing before her eyes. It started too seem as if they were hiding in the cornstalks snatching at her and so she ran faster until her lungs burned. She didn't come to stop she just fell when her legs couldn't keep up. She came to rest face down sweaty, sobbing and covered in dust.

"Was there an old saying . . . if you run, I will chase you?" Jinx voice drifted to Raven's ears. She walked liesurely out of dark covered vegetation. The moon light caught her pink eyes and glare made her look like a demon.

Jinx kneeled down beside Raven and turned her over. Raven's glossy, watery blue eyes immediately looked off into the distance. She was well aware of Jinx but pretending not to be.

"Raven?" Jinx called pulling the other girl into a sitting position. "You have to tell me what's wrong. I can help!" Jinx's voice betrayed raw concern. The last comment she realized might not be true. She had no idea whether or not she'd be able to help Raven with anything she couldn't do her self but she would try her damndest!

"I should have tried to fly," Raven said with her eyes still averted.

Jinx smiled. "Maybe you wanted me to catch you,"

Raven looked at her now for the first time in weeks and it was clear to her why she was in love with this girl. She was beautiful to Raven, with her wild hair and make up over pale skin. Large eyes that, while cat-like, actually reflected the heart of a caring individual. She loved the things they had in common. She even loved the things they didn't. She was tired over running. What crime was it to let Jinx, or anyone, know these things?"

"I'm in love with you. That's why I ran," Raven said. She looked at Jinx only once then bowed her head as she awaited judgment. Jinx had stiffed and sat starring with lips parted.

Now that it was finally out Raven felt a little bit bolder. A bit more ready to face the scenario she didn't want.

"I will understand if . . . you'd like to leave now." Raven said.

"Nononono!" Jinx stopped her. "It's just so sudden." Jinx said. Jinx put her index finger to Raven's chin and raised her head. "I mean I didn't even know you were gay."

"That makes two of us Raven said." Her thoughts were becoming cloudy. She hadn't exactly been rejected yet. "So . . . you're not mad?" Raven ventured.

"Shoot girl! My head has been in the clouds. If it hadn't, I probably would have been the one wanting you." Jinx said. Raven's eyes doubled.

"I- I wouldn't even allow myself believe it would end this way." Raven said taking her eyes off Jinx. She was bewildered.

"Well . . . it did." Jinx said resting her knees on the ground then walking on all fours till her forehead touched Raven's. They locked eyes and Raven was going to say something but Jinx kissed her. Raven thought once they stopped she could pick up the conversation but they didn't stop making out until sometime in the dead of night.