Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.
Terra filled her plate up with a huge serving of spaghetti and meat balls, which she smothered with grated parmesan cheese. It was lunchtime and she was hungry. The geomancer had a metabolism which made Raven turn green with envy, as the sorceress was in a constant struggle to keep her own "thunder thighs" under control. Robin had noticed Raven's plight and had taken his gray friend aside and coached her in the best calorie burning exercises known to humanity. Nevertheless the fact that Terra could gorge without gaining weight had not gone unnoticed by the demoness nor by Terra's new companions in Arkham Asylum.
"Gee Terra; didn't they feed you in Titans Tower?" Rav asked her.
"What?" The blond complained through a mouthful of pasta.
Pamela shook her head.
"You might want to dial back on the calories dear. In case you've forgotten we don't have our powers anymore."
Terra washed down a slice of garlic bread with big swig of cola.
"I'll be careful."
"You'll be fat!" Harley admonished her. "But you can always work out in the gym with me." The gymnast told her.
"Like it matters." The blond replied. "It's not like I want to date any of these psychos." She said as she motioned over towards Cobblepott's table. "And they're all as ugly as a dog's butt." Ivy and Harley snickered at Terra's impromptu joke.
"Not all of them are." Baby Doll interrupted. "I saw your ex yesterday. He's isn't half bad."
Terra stopped shoveling pasta into her mouth. "You saw John? When? Where?"
"I saw him coming out of the visiting room this morning, in the hospital wing."
"The visiting room? Who came to visit him?"
"No one." Ivy interrupted. "If we were in prison we would have visitation rights, including conjugal visits. Here? We don't get squat because it would 'interfere' with our 'treatment'."
"So who was he seeing?"
Ivy rolled her eyes.
"Are all the Titans as dumb as you?"
Terra bristled at the putdown but said nothing.
"It was Strange. Who else would it be?"
"So Strange is actually trying to cure John?"
The entire table broke out into boisterous laughter.
"No dear." Ivy replied between snickers. "He wants something from him. And since Hugo likes girls I don't think he was asking your ex for a date."
"But what could he want from John?"
"Whatever it is, it can't be good." Harley replied. "At least now we know why yer here toots."
"Harley's right." Baby Doll added. "You're probably a part of the deal he made with John."
Terra stood up indignantly, knocking her plate onto the floor. Every guard on the upper level aimed his rifle at their table.
"I'm not a piece of meat to be traded for!"
"Sit down Markov! Unless you want a tear gas canister shoved up your butt." Ivy hissed at her while pointing at the guards. Terra composed herself and sat down.
"So what do I do? Wait for Strange to gift-wrap me for John?"
Lady Vic spoke up for the first time.
"I think it's high time we got out of here."
"You mean a break out? But how? We don't have any powers."
Rav snickered. "In case you haven't noticed, you and Ivy are the only two with powers. We aren't handicapped like you are."
"So how do we escape then? They have guns, in case you've forgotten."
"We haven't forgotten, Terra dear." Ivy replied. "But if all goes according to plan we'll have the antidote by breakfast tomorrow. So fill up your tank tonight, because you and I will be fasting tomorrow."
"The antidote?" Terra whispered, shocked but still discrete. "How?"
"Rav got herself a boyfriend." Ivy grinned. "A geeky young lab tech in the hospital."
"He was easy to seduce." Rav confirmed. "He can't get enough of me. He comes to my room to collect blood samples for Strange. We always have time for a quickie."
"Eeewww!" Terra said, her voice dripping with disgust.
"You're one to talk, toots. How many lovers have you had since Slade? Anyway, we drew straws, and Rav lost."
Terra scowled at the other blond. "Hey, at least I liked my lovers. I even loved one of them."
"It hasn't been fun, OK?" Rav snapped at her. "Someone had to take the bullet for the team. I even had to promise to marry him if he got us out of here."
"Are you?" Terra asked incredulously.
"Of course not. I don't even like men." She snickered. "But you are kinda cute Terra. I've always liked blonds."
Terra's eyes bugged out as the table again erupted in laughter.
"Yer so gullible kid." Harley chuckled. "Rav likes guys. She just prefers rich handsome guys."
"Very funny." Terra muttered as she walked back to the serving table to replace the plate of food she had dropped on the floor.
"Don't tell me you're still hungry? And for that slop? It isn't good enough for a pig." Ivy protested.
"Hey, don't knock it. I've eaten the stuff Starfire cooks. And that's scary."
Raven woke up, slowly stretching in the bed, enjoying the feel of the silk sheets against her bare figure. Travelling first class definitely came with its perks. She wrapped her arm around her still sleeping green bean and snuggled up with him, ready to snooze a bit more. She was beginning to doze off when a loud rap was heard on the door. Raven grumbled as she rolled over, facing the door.
"Yes?" She shouted crossly.
"Raven? It's me, Batgirl."
Crap!
"Just a minute!" She shouted at the door before nudging Beast Boy.
"Gar! Wake up! Our honeymoon's over!"
Raven slipped on a silk robe and walked briskly to the door as Beast Boy slowly began to wake up. She cracked the door open and saw Barbara's smiling mug, partially concealed by her cowl. She peered curiously into the large stateroom and saw Beast Boy rolling over in the bed, still waking up.
"I'm not interrupting anything? Am I?" Barbara grinned slyly.
"We overslept." Raven said apologetically, blushing slightly. "We're already packed. We'll be ready in a few minutes."
"Take your time, there's no rush." The redhead said as she began to walk away. "The Batwing's on the helipad. You know where that is?"
Raven nodded. "Top deck. We'll meet you there."
Barbara waved as she continued to walk away. As she emerged on the outer decks she attracted more than a few stares, including a few from some burly young men wearing Jump City State University T-shirts, who for reasons unknown to her avoided getting close to her. She was grinning smugly as she returned to the Batwing.
Who would have thought Raven could be so … normal? The look on her face was priceless! Talk about getting busted, caught with her hand in the cookie jar! I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Dick did say there's more to her than meets the eye. Beast Boy must be a pretty good lover if he's tamed her like that.
Barbara chuckled out loud. She had been expecting to find the sorceress meditating while Beast Boy sulked in a corner, neglected by his emotionless wife.
So the whole 'ice queen' thing is just an act. I should have known. I guess she still has an image to uphold though.
As Barbara reached helipad she saw that a sizeable crowd had formed, gawking at the famous black jet. She pusher her way through the crowd and walked up to the Batwing, which she began to inspect as part of the preflight check. The crowd watched her quietly as she worked her way around the aircraft. Once she was satisfied she opened the jet's large canopy with what looked like an ordinary car remote.
At that moment the crowd gasped collectively as a black hemisphere emerged from the deck, only to dissipate moments later revealing Raven and the changeling. They were now dressed in their hero costumes and Raven's cape billowed in the ocean breeze. She was wearing her black leotard and blue cape while Garfield wore his Doom Patrol costume. They had their luggage with them which Raven loaded into a storage compartment using her dark energy after which they climbed into the Batwing's rear cockpit and prepared themselves for the flight. As Barbara fired up the engines some of the crowd began to wave at the departing honeymooners.
"BB, Raven ! We love you!" and other friendly cheers could be heard above the roar of the engines. The canopy was still open and the changeling smiled as he waved back at his fans. He gently elbowed his wife, who after rolling her eyes waved halfheartedly at the crowd. The jet's canopy slid shut and with its vertical thrusters it lifted off.
As the Batwing soared into the sky Raven looked back and saw how lonely and small the cruise ship looked in the tropical sea. She had spent one of the best weeks of her life aboard that ship, but now it was over. It was time to be a hero again, a crime fighter. Nothing had changed, and yet it still felt as if nothing would be the same anymore. She closed her eyes and leaned against Beast Boy, who wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"You two make a really cute couple." Barbara chimed in as she throttled back on the engines as they had already reached cruising altitude. "I'm sorry I woke you up earlier. If you want to sleep some more I'll be quiet."
"It's OK." Raven replied, with her eyes still closed. "I can't sleep in airplanes. It's too bumpy and noisy."
Barbara turned around and saw that Raven had her hood up and she couldn't see her face.
"I've heard you meditate a lot." Batgirl said, in an attempt to make small talk.
"I do. It helps me keep my powers under control." She replied in a sleepy voice.
"I see." Barbara acknowledged, after which she fell silent.
A few minutes later the Logans were asleep.
Roger Whyte cautiously opened the lab door and peered in. It was dinner time and the lab was empty as he entered with the stealth of a cat. He scanned the room and located his target: the refrigerator where Hugo Strange kept the antidotes. He ran up to it and opened the door, quickly scanning its contents. The fridge was full of all sorts of vials, test tubes and beakers, which contained fluids of various colors.
Roger wasn't what women would call 'handsome'. He wasn't ugly either, he simply was the male equivalent of a 'plain Jane', and he knew it. He was of less than average stature and was scrawny. His hair was ordinary and his teeth were yellow.
He was a recent graduate of a local community college where he was trained to be a lab technician. He was almost 20 years old and until recently had a girlfriend, Sally, a mousy girl he began to date at the junior college just a few months before the graduated. She was rather smitten with him and he did like her, but had always been too timid to ask her if she was ready to move their relationship into the realm of physical love, even though she had already been dropping hints that she was indeed interested and willing.
He had been working on building up the gumption to ask her to take their relationship to the next level and was planning on asking her on Valentine's Day. He had planned on taking her out to a fancy restaurant and had purchased two tickets for 'Wicked', after which he was going to ask her back to his apartment for drinks, and then if he didn't choke, ask her to spend the night with him.
He had been planning this since right before New Years. He had already made the reservations and purchased the tickets to the musical when he met Rav in the asylum.
Rav was considered a low risk patient by Strange and was allowed plenty of time outside her cell. She had a minor blood disorder which Strange believed to be the cause of her criminal behavior. He had created a treatment for her, which required daily blood samples to monitor the effectiveness of the medication.
Roger had first met her when he was sent to take a blood sample from her. He recalled that day well. She was in her room, early in the morning as the samples required that she fast before the blood was drawn. He had knocked politely and she told him to come in. He was immediately dazzled by her beauty. She was tall, very shapely and athletic looking. She wore her dark hair cut short and had piercing blue eyes. Roger couldn't believe that someone so beautiful could be criminally insane.
Roger had accepted the job at Arkham for the above market wage it paid, which was expected as no one wanted to work there. He had student loans to pay off and the extra money came in handy. What he had not expected was how many beautiful women were imprisoned at Arkham, not that any would give him the time of day. He knew his place in the order of things, and knew that the most he could hope for was to bed an ordinary girl on Valentine's Day. He did not begrudge his fate, as he knew that his lot in life could be worse.
The first day he met Rav he had been polite and professional with her. She had been unexpectedly friendly to him that morning and even chatted briefly with him. During the following week she increasingly opened up to him, sharing her past as one of Penguin's brainwashed henchwomen. He listened with great interest and concern, in part flattered that such a gorgeous woman would take him into her confidence and opened up to her as well.
By the end of the week she was sharing some very intimate thoughts and experiences with him and as he prepared to leave that Friday she pecked him on the cheek, thanking him for his understanding. By the middle of the following week the kisses on the cheek were replaced with kisses on the lips, which quickly became passionate.
After another week she told him how lonely she was without him and began to have sex with him. By this point he had all but forgotten about Sally, his mousy girlfriend, and never asked her out for Valentine's. Rav told him that he was the only genuine man she had ever met and if she ever got out of Arkham she would be his.
Roger was on cloud nine. An intelligent, beautiful goddess of a woman was his lover. But he did worry about the consequences. If caught he would be fired on the spot and he shared this concern with her. She agreed that it would probably be best if they stopped being lovers. While he knew this was the right course of action, he didn't particularly like it. After a few days of celibacy they resumed their physical relationship at his request. Still he worried about being caught, and after a close call he nearly panicked.
This was when she made him an offer he couldn't refuse. She had money, a lot of money, stashed away in a safe place. After a very physical session of lovemaking she made her proposal: if he helped her escape from Arkham they would meet in Mexico, create new identities for themselves, get married and live a carefree life with the millions she had stashed away.
At first he hesitated, as he would be committing a major felony in helping her escape. Plus, how would he accomplish this? This is when he first learned of the super power inhibiting drug and its antidote. He knew that if he did this he would never be able to return to the United States. But as he lay panting after making love with her he realized that he didn't care. He was going to reach for the brass ring, and if he fell off the horse, so be it.
Roger explored the fridge and found the beaker he was looking for. He took it and poured 40 milliliters each into two small vials which he hid in his lab coat. He replaced the missing 80 milliliters he removed with distilled water, slightly diluting the beaker's contents, but since it contained over a liter of the antidote it would never be noticed.
He picked up a blood sampling kit and hurried over to Rav's room, which still hadn't been locked down for the night. As he arrived he knocked and she welcomed him in.
"I've got them!" He said breathlessly as he handed her the vials. She beamed back at him.
"I knew you could do it Roger. Now remember, we'll meet at the Hacienda Hotel in Tampico, Mexico in seven days. Take a bus to Brownsville and cross into Matamoros. From there take a bus to Tampico. OK?"
"Sure!" He smiled. "I'll be there."
"You found the seed money, right?" She had told him of the location of a small stash of cash she had hidden in Gotham.
He nodded. "All fifty thousand."
"Good, that'll tide us over until I can retrieve the rest. Now go! I'll be there in a week." She commanded him, knowing it was the end of his shift.
"I'm going to miss you!" He said as he began to kiss her passionately. He stopped, almost breathless.
"How about one for the road?"He asked hopefully.
Rav began to disrobe as she prepared to complete her deception. He had served his purpose and had done it well, but she needed him to believe that she would indeed meet him in Mexico. The last thing she needed was for him to have doubts and get cold feet, possibly spilling the beans to Hugo Strange. Ivy and the others now owed her big time and she now had a mountain of favors to collect from them. Of course she would never tell them that she actually enjoyed her affair with Roger. It broke up the monotony of asylum life.
She wondered how long it would take for him to realize she wasn't ever going to show up. But that wasn't her problem. Tomorrow she would free of Arkham.
"Wake up guys! We're almost home."
Raven opened her eyes first and saw the unique skyline that was synonymous with Gotham. Its drab grayness and gothic architecture appealed to her sense of aesthetics. She had never been to Gotham before and was already looking forward to exploring the city's museums and libraries, even if Gar didn't go with her to visit them all. She only hoped that there would be enough time.
Beast Boy looked out the canopy and frowned.
"Is that snow down there?" He asked.
"Sure is." Barb replied as she guided the Batwing out to sea. "It's been really cold this winter."
"I hate the cold." Beast Boy grumbled. "And I didn't bring a coat."
Barbara smiled. "I'm sure Alfred already has several hanging in your closet."
The commissioner's daughter guided the jet towards a cliff and a hidden cave quickly opened up. She let the autopilot take over and it deftly guided the black jet into the cave, with a scant few yards of clearance around it. As the jet slowed and landed on a pad deep in the Batcave Raven saw Starfire fly from the cave's command center over to the jet. While the sorceress was glad to see her friend she braced herself for what she knew would be the alien girl's usual excessive exuberance. She wasn't disappointed.
"Raven! Raven! It is glorious to see you! How was your honeymoon? Was it as romantic as you hoped it would be? Have you conceived a child yet?"
"Say what!?" Beast Boy shrieked as he climbed out of the jet.
Raven remained composed and responded in her signature monotone.
"We had a wonderful time, yes it was very romantic and no, we have not conceived a child and do not plan on doing so anytime soon."
The Princess looked crestfallen.
"I do not understand. Do you not wish to have a bumgorf of your own?"
"We do Star." Beast Boy replied as he helped Alfred unload their suitcases into what looked like a luggage cart one would find in a hotel. "But not right away."
The Tamaranian tapped her index fingers together.
"Of course, I forget that human ways are different from those of Tamaran."
Raven noticed that Starfire's mood was quickly becoming gloomy and while she didn't think that there was anything wrong with being gloomy she already knew that Starfire and gloomy went together like water and oil.
"Starfire, I promise the day I become pregnant you'll be the first to know."
The Princess immediately brightened and Raven admitted to herself that she wouldn't have her be any other way.
"Mr. And Mrs. Logan." Alfred interrupted. "Master Bruce asked me to tell you that he requests you wait for him here in the Batcave. I will take your luggage to your room. Dinner won't be served for another 3 hours; might I offer you some refreshment in the meantime?"
"Thank you Alfred, I think we're OK for now." Raven replied as Batman, Nightwing and Robin emerged from the shadows.
"Very well then." Alfred replied "I will return later to show you to your room." He said as he pushed the luggage cart into an elevator and disappeared behind a pair of sliding doors.
The three male members of the Bat clan (yeah, I know Azrael is the fourth male member of the clan, but he's not in this story) approached the Logans and Batgirl.
"Welcome to Gotham." Batman welcomed the two Titans. "I hope you rested on the way over. We have a busy evening ahead of us."
"We do?" Beast Boy asked.
"We do." Nightwing replied. "First we're going to brief you on Hugo Strange."
"And after that we're going to visit Arkham." Robin added. He looked at Raven and saw that she was scowling at him. He quickly looked away.
He picked her over Markov? He's nuts.
"Have a seat." Batman commanded everyone to sit around a large round table. Cyborg had just entered the Batcave and joined them as Nightwing flipped a switch. A life sized holographic image of Hugo Strange appeared floating above the table, slowly rotating.
"Hugo Strange is a genius among geniuses. In addition to being a physician and a psychiatrist he is also an expert in chemistry, biology, physics, computer science and especially robotics. He has long been fascinated with the ins and outs of the criminal mind. His track record for curing the criminally insane is spotty at best and I have long suspected that he uses his patients for criminal activity of his own. I believe that he has ulterior motives with Miss Markov and I wouldn't be surprised if her husband, John Spivak, somehow fits into this puzzle."
"So what are we supposed to do tomorrow?" Beast Boy asked. "How do we talk him into releasing her?"
"You don't." Nightwing replied. "He's not going to release her, at least not right away. He wants something, and your job tomorrow morning will be to find out what it is."
The Batcave became silent; the only audible sound was a distant underground waterfall. Raven broke the silence first.
"Sounds reasonable." Raven announced. "But how do we get him to talk?"
"We don't." Batman replied. "I want you to go into his mind and read his thoughts Raven."
Raven shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"That won't be easy to do Batman. Hugo Strange has a powerful mind. I can't even force my way into Garfield's much weaker mind without being noticed."
"Hey!" Beast Boy protested. "You said you weren't gonna do that anymore."
"Do what?" She asked with an air of false innocence. She then noticed the hurt look in his eyes and opened a telepathic link.
I'm sorry Gar; I guess bad habits die hard. I'll make it up to you, I promise.
Forget it. He replied morosely over their telepathic link. I guess some things will never change.
Gar, I really am sorry.
I said forget it!
Raven backed off. She knew that he was very sensitive about being the least intelligent of the Titans. She mentally kicked herself for hurting his feelings.
"I have a satellite Batcave under Arkham." Batman took control of the conversation. "We'll head over there after dinner and from there we'll launch a recon mission."
"What are going to recon?" Cyborg asked.
"I want to find out what plans Hugo Strange has for Spivak."
And that's chapter 21.
Thanks again for all your reviews. The story has blown past the 12000 hit mark and will soon be my most widely read fanfic . (As of Feb 24 it's now my #1 fanfic). I couldn't have done it without you.
And of course some replies:
Novus Ordo Seclorum – "I think that Spivak is underestimating everyone's favorite changeling...he's not as weak as people assume."
Yeah, the grass stain might have a surprise in store for the wind bag!
lpwriter4life – "I think it would be awesome if Nightwing had a new motorcycle or something:)"
Yeah, he could use a new toy.
Rosalind2013 – "I like the older, more clownish version of the Joker. (As seen in 'Batman: The Animated Series')"
Yeah, Mark Hamill's Joker was the best.
The Mighy One – "You keep churning more and more chapters out, how do you do it so fast??"
Lots of caffeine?
Asura09 – "Terra is far from my favorite character but life's goin downhill 4 her :-( i cant believe i feel sorry 4 her. :-0"
See, it is possible to make people feel sorry for her.
Spiritedheart4ever – "Their bickering made me fan-girl squeal*Why must you do this to me author? someone could have been in the room and I would have been embarrassed"
Just doing my job!
ChicoMagnifico – "I also liked Jason's little talk back at Raven!"
That was my favorite line in the whole chapter!
Titanfan45 – "Getting Beast Boy murdered to cause Raven to freak out causing Batman and any other hero with him to try to calm her down thereby causing her to kill Batman is a plot worthy of the best fiction writer out there."
Thanks! It's too bad I'm not better at this. It would be fun to earn a living writing stories.
DarkRapture – "If you use your almighty Author powers to hurt Beastboy OR Raven(notice I didt say AND! I'm unique!) I will rip out your eyes and replace them with golfballs and force you to inhale the Joker's Laughing Gas!"
I remind my faithful readers that I am a 1st Dan Blackbelt in Taekwondo (it's in my profile). I also won a silver medal in the Colorado AAU state tournament (in forms, not sparring).
And that's all for now. Next update will be this weekend.