A/N: Thank you all for the kind reviews and comments. Welcome to the new readers and thanks to all who have added this to your faves and alerts. As some of you noticed, I am currently on Hiatus due to some health and family/personal issues. In cleaning up my harddrive I've found some of my half-way chapters and I"m uploading them as-is to all my current fics. Please enjoy. Thank you for the well-wishes. I hope to be back soon.
Disclaimer: I do not own any Teen Titans anything. I only lay claim to my original characters and plot bunnies.
SUMMARY/NOTES: Lady Raven Roth-Wayne is a powerful dark empath with unmeasured power. She is known for her association with the dark lord Slade and resides in a shadowy manor in Lainesworth Province, with Alfred, Kit and Jinx. Features Teen Jinx, Teen Robin, Teen Cyborg, Kid Beast Boy and Kid Starfire. Kid Flash makes an appearance as Kit and various other characters from DC comics.
WARNINGS: Dark Fic, BDSM (others will be added as I see fit)
"Mr. Goodman?" Alfred cleared his throat, the paper extended towards the auctionmaster. "I am here for 1117."
Marcus whirled around, a guilty look on his fat face before he managed to compose himself. "And who would you be?" He demanded, haughtily.
Alfred held out the receipt, waiting.
After a moment, the fat man took it. He skimmed the scrap of paper and his face grew pink, red then purple before he balled it up in his hands. "This way," He gestured down another row of cages. "You'll find them down this way, my boys will load them up for you." He shouted down to a pair of golden-gloved young men.
"This cage says 1117." Alfred said, quietly, not moving from his position to the left of the large padlock.
"They hang the wrong signs on them all the time." Marcus snapped. "The ones you want are down there and you can bring your thing around to the back and we'll load 'em for you."
"I believe my receipt declares otherwise."
"What receipt?" Marcus sneered.
"Her ladyship will be most displeased." Alfred commented, his grey eyes never wavering.
"I don't care." Marcus repeated. "Perhaps you didn't hear me, but I believe the ones you are-"
"The Lady Raven does not take kindly to dishonesty." Alfred drew himself up.
A fat hand punched him in the stomach. "I'm sorry." Marcus steadied him with a hand. "Are you alright?" He asked, with fake politeness.
Alfred coughed, doubling over for a moment, he wheezed. "The Lady Raven-" He began.
"I believe you are mistaken." Lex Luthor said, calmly. "I do not know who you are or what receipt you speak of, but I am here as an invited buyer with vested interest and have already purchased-"
"She was here before." Alfred took a step back, pulling away from the pudgy hand draped on his shoulder. "She came early. I can follow your give orders." He drew a careful breath. "But I will only suffer but a hundredth of her wrath, once she uncovers your deception."
Lex seemed puzzled. "Really? And this employer of yours-"
"Her ladyship Rachel Roth-Wayne, wife of the late Bruce Wayne." Alfred met the icy eyes with a steady glare of his own. "Her eminence to our great lord."
Lex swallowed. "Well then." His smile was forced. "I withdraw my bid, Mr. Goodman, was it not in your stead to inform me of the purchase points of your merchandise? I would be an ill-advised-"
"Oh Mr. Luthor, sir." Marcus began to babble. "I would never-"
A sharp-eyed glare cut him off.
In the cage, Robin swallowed his sigh of relief. They wouldn't be separated it seemed, at least, as far as the present moment. Perhaps it would be easier to plan an escape once they were in their new surroundings.
If they were lucky, then perhaps their new owner, the Raven lady, would be kind enough to allow a healer to tend to Starfire and some food for their current states.
A glance at the metal man showed that he obviously was thinking along the same lines and Robin gave a slight nod to show that they would stay put for now, unless the ride to their new home presented a better opportunity to freedom.
Almost at once, the green cat took up shivering once more and Robin returned his attention to the thin man with the grey eyes. He watched in amazement as the fellow handled the rest of the business and the chubby auction master with an understated grace towards his original goal.
With a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, Robin sagged back against the strong bars of the cage. He was so very tired, but perhaps, there might be a few moments of rest in between. He could hope, at least. Hope was the one thing that had always helped to keep him—no—them together. He would draw on it until there was none left.
Jinx awoke to the sound of commotion downstairs. She didn't particularly care to move, but staying in bed all day was not really the best option-not if she wanted the rest of the week to go smoothly. The pink-haired imp yawned, rolling over. She dragged herself out of the giant bed and pilfered a spare dressing gown from her ladyship's room.
Threading her skinny arms through the oversized sleeves, she surveyed her reflection in the tall, guilded mirror and sighed. With a mumbled spell beneath her breath, the dressing gown shifted and morphed into a simple, silken sheath dress.
With that speck of modesty taken care of, the girl skipped out of the room and down the large, spiral staircase to catch a glimpse of what was going on in the entry way.
She watched Alfred and Kit ushering in a bedraggled set of young folk, along with food crates and other necessities.
Jinx wrinkled her nose, watching from her careful vantage point on the stairs, not wanting to announce her presence just yet. She felt her stomach curl in on itself as she recognized one particular masked boy amongst the newcomers.
She swallowed hard. That was one boy she'd hoped to never set eyes on again. Hexing her own vision, the little witch used a touch of her magic to see the rest of the newcomers clearly. She thought the man with metal parts sticking out from everywhere was somewhat familiar, but none of the others were.
There was a short, sickly, redhaired little girl cuddling a small, bedraggled cat, barely able to stand on her own it seemed. The metal man led her over to a food crate and had her sit down, gesturing to the masked boy and the other three.
A bandage wrapped figure mutely assisted Kit and Alfred in unloading the supply wagon. The masked boy began to help after a tense moment between him and Alfred.
The supply wagon was emptied in short order.
Jinx watched as Alfred dispatched Kit to see to the horses and the other things, before turning his attention to the newcomers. He reminded them of an earlier conversation and then explained that they would need to clean up before being presented to Lady Raven.
At this point, he turned directly towards the stairs where Jinx sat and spoke to her. "Jinx can show you to the bathrooms and I shall see about spare clothing."
Jinx felt her jaw drop. She would have sat down if she wasn't sitting already. When all eyes turned towards her position, the pink-haired teenager reluctantly rose to her feet and glided down the remaining steps to stand on the cool marbled floor.
She sighed, feigning boredom as she approached them.
Alfred frowned, disapprovingly, but he made no comment on that, instead, clapping his hands for their attention to return to him. "This young lady is Jinx, a…ward, of her ladyship. She will take you to the bathrooms where you will clean yourselves and fresh clothing will be provided. I will to dinner and her ladyship will arrive, promptly at midnight. You will be brought to the study and presented for her examination at her leisure." Steel grey eyes narrowed. "There will be no discussion on this and I need not remind you that you do not have a choice in this. Anything that you say or do that is against what I have expressly warned you, will be tended to accordingly. You will bear the full responsibility of it upon your shoulders." He sighed. "Follow Jinx." He nodded towards her. "Jinx, I will be busy in the kitchens, do not disturb me, Kit may help you if he chooses."
~*~*~*~Thank you for reading.~*~*~*~ Please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.