Jump City Symphony
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening notes: It's been a long time coming, and here it is. I decided to NOT post all four first chapters at once, and just get these two out there. This story is going to be the longest one yet, so expect it to start slow and build until it's one of the biggest, most expansive Titans stories on this site. I had to put just two categories on this story, but trust me when I say it's going to cover all of them. Action and adventure, romance, humor, horror, angst, super natural, drama and more... This is going to be huge.
Enough rambling. Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Teen Titans.
First Movement: Evolution
A cool wind blew down the deserted street, pushing along scraps of newspaper and bits of trash. The slums of Jump City weren't a pretty place by any means, and the people that inhabited them lived in a quiet kind of desperation. Crime ran rampant throughout this portion of the city, unchecked by any kind of law enforcement.
As a explosion rent the cold night air, the law enforcement arrived.
The body of a man with a spider for a head limply rolled across the street from where he had been forcefully ejected from the building he had been in moments before. Most of the windows in the condemned building were now blown out, and small fires flicked across the street from the various still burning debris.
Fang pulled himself up on his spider legs and glared about, looking for his prey. The echoes from the explosion quieted, and the night returned to it's relative calm.
"Damnit..." Fang muttered, "Lost him again..."
"Why don't you just give it up, Fang?" The mutant whirled around, facing the opposite side of the street from the building he'd just been blown out of. There, crouching on the hood of an abandoned car, was a dark form with limply hanging shoulder length black hair. Twin points of light stared out of the darkness at the mutant, highlighting the eyes of his assailant.
"I liked you better when you wore brighter colors."
"I liked you better when you were in prison." Nightwing replied, and flicked out his hand. Fang jumped to the side as another explosive went off where he'd just been standing. Spitting a glob of paralysis goo at the Titan, Fang reached into his black leather bomber jacket and pulled out a snub nose .22.
"Come on, Batboy!" he shouted as he fired off two shots at Nightwing, "Show me how you like to play rough!"
The dark suited vigilante dove under the goo and the shots, and came up running at an impossibly fast rate, "Suit yourself." he replied in a dark tone.
Fang jerked back as Nightwing's fist made contact with his neck, then jerked down as the Titan flipped into an over head axe kick that blasted him into the ground. As the mutant tried to struggled to his feet, Nightwing's knee slammed into his face, smashing him onto his back in the street.
Fang groaned and looked up with blurry vision as Nightwing loomed over him, "Sleep tight, Fang." the dark man scowled down at him, then jabbed a high powered taser into his ribs.
Fang's world went black.
Two miles away in the industrial quarter, gunfire sounded at irregular intervals. Three men were backing down an ally between two large factories, all of them with fully automatic weapons. The one in front of the other two blasted off a few more rounds down at the mouth of the ally.
"Shit!" one of the other men whispered, "Stop blowing off ammo like that, man! You'll give away our position!"
"They already know where we are..." the leader replied in a grim tone, "I'm trying to keep them away!"
The third man, who had a duffle full of stolen jewelry slung over his shoulders, scowled at the other two, "Let's just get the hell out of here! The van's just on the other side of the factory here, and we-"
There was a green flash, and his voice was cut off. The other two men whirled around and started blasting at the point their partner had just been at. There was no one there though, and they stopped after a few seconds.
"Fuck!" the leader swore, "They got the goods!"
"I'll say." came a light female voice from the mouth of the ally. Both men spun around again and started firing at the thin figure silhouetted by the street lamps outside the narrow space. Hunks of rock exploded out of the ground and the bullets simply buried themselves in them.
"That's not going to work, boys." The thin figure started forward, one of the rock shields protecting her as the leader of the gang fired his SMG at her in three round bursts.
"What the fuck do you want? Who are you?" he screamed.
"Didn't you know?" Golden light washed over the two men and they found themselves stuck where they were, the ground around their feet having formed into clumps that surrounded their shoes, planting them firmly, "This is the Titans city."
"What the hell?" the second man looked up in time to see a fist flam into his face. He fell over backwards, and didn't make another sound.
"Shit!" The leader started firing off shots at the blur that had just descended from the sky, but it was too fast. A flash of green light later, and his SMG was a pile of slag in his hands. He dropped the burning metal and tried to run, before remembering that he was stuck.
"What do you want?" he repeated in a terrified tone, looking back up at the glowing golden girl before him. Her blonde hair wafted about her head in a halo of light, and her eyes burned with golden intensity.
"We want you to go to prison." and the girl pounded her fist into his face, knocking him out with one blow.
As Terra stepped back and nodded at her handiwork, the darting green glowing form of Starfire landed next to her. The two women exchanged a high-five and a giggle, and grinned at one another.
At half past midnight on a Wednesday, Main Street is pretty well deserted in Jump City. All of the shops are closed, most of the restaurants have shut down for the night, and only two bars stay open until 2:00am. Traffic is light, and pedestrians are a rare find.
So it was slightly unusual to find a man running down the middle of the street, screaming frantically and firing off rounds from his .45 into the night behind him. The shadows he was running from seemed to grow longer the further he ran, and the night sky lost any glow it had. Street lamps went out, and the display window of the shops dimmed until they no longer shed light on the sidewalks either.
"Stay away!" the man screamed, firing again.
"You shouldn't have taken what wasn't yours, Stanley." a cold female voice whispered on the wind, "You shouldn't have robbed the pharmacy."
"I already dropped the stuff!" Stanley shouted, "I'm sorry, okay?" he slowed to a stop and sobbed out a miserable plea, "What more do you want?"
"What do I want?" the voice seemed to be hissing right in his ear. The blackness took form, and Raven whispered into Stanley's ear from right behind him, letting her breath tickle his skin, "I want justice!"
Stanley whirled around and fired his weapon again, but Raven just ducked to the side. Coming up from her crouch faster than he could aim again, she slapped the gun from his hand, and shoved her own hand into his chest. A burst of black energy formed between them as her hand stopped inches from his heart, and Stanley was blown across the street and into a brick wall.
As he slumped to the ground, unconscious, the darkness receded from all around and the lights came back. The neon sign above Stan flicked on, reading, "Jesus saves!"
Raven stared at him for a moment, then looked down at her left arm. The bullet had grazed her, and she was bleeding lightly from the wound. "Hmm."
Turning her depthless violet gaze up to the cloudy, moonless December night, she muttered, "It's getting cold."
The dark Titan vanished into a pool of darkness a moment later.
Heather Moxon sighed and glared at the three year old standing before her, PJ's on, blanket clutched firmly in one hand, and a Bob The Builder Story Time Sounds Book in the other.
"Ophelia Jolin Moxon! I said one story tonight." she held up a finger, "One!"
"But I wanna' hear dis one!" Ophie stomped her little foot.
"You can march yourself straight back to bed is what you can do!" Moxie shooed her daughter along, "It's late, so go on! I'll be in to tuck you back in as soon as I finish cleaning up dinner."
Ophie shoved the book out and wailed, "Story!"
"No!" Moxie growled, "Bed!" and she pointed.
Ophie opened her mouth to shout some more, but a knock on the door cut her off. Moxie looked over, sighed, and then glared back at her daughter, "Bed."
Ophie ignored her mother and watched as the short haired blonde woman walked over to the door of the two bedroom apartment, checked out the peephole, then unlocked it and threw it open. "Come on in, Rae."
Raven walked in, her black cloak trailing behind her as she did, and grinned at the squeal of delight that came from the hallway that led to the bedrooms. Ophie ran out and threw her arms around the psion's legs, hugging her fiercely, "Raven!"
"Hey Ophie." Raven patted the child's head, "Why aren't you in bed?"
"I wanna hear a story!" Ophie presented the book, "Mommy wont read it to me... will you?"
"If mommy says it's bedtime, then it's bedtime, isn't it?" Raven winked, "Go on. I'll come say goodnight before I leave."
"Aw! You aren't staying?"
"Not very long. I just have to talk to you mom for a few minutes."
"Okay..." Ophie sounded disappointed, but perked up again a moment later, "You better come see me 'fore you leave!"
"I will! Now scram." Raven smiled as the little girl scampered off, then turned to Moxie, who'd been watching the exchange with an amused expression.
"Why will she listen to you, but not her own mother?"
"Why will Kylee clean her room when Nightwing tells her to, but not when I do?"
"Because he's scary." Moxie grinned, "And you're... um..."
"I just made a guy piss himself and run down the middle of Main for twelve blocks before I finally knocked him out, Moxie. If you say I'm not scary, I'm going to slap you with my good arm."
"What's wrong with your other arm?" Moxie arched an eyebrow.
"He shot me." Raven pulled her cloak back and showed the other woman her wound.
"Christ!" Moxie stepped forward, "Let me wrap that up..." She forced Raven into a chair, then went to the kitchen to retrieve her medical kit, "This is the second time this month you've come in here needing to be patched up. If I knew having a super hero for a friend was this much trouble, I'd have bunked with someone else at the academy..."
As Moxie cleaned the wound, Raven asked her, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." Moxie squinted, "You wont need stitches."
"Moxie..."
The blonde sighed, and reached for a roll of gauze, "I'm still down to about 60 lung capacity, and my shoulder still aches pretty bad when I lift more then twenty or so pounds over my head, but I'll be cleared for active duty again in two weeks." she rolled her eyes, "Get me out from behind that stupid desk, please."
"It's safer behind that desk." Raven pointed out, and winced as Moxie wrapped the gauze tighter.
"You're out there almost every night , Raven. Don't give me that 'It's safer' crap."
"Heather, I can stop bullets with my mind." Raven glanced at her, "I just worry about you."
"I know. Don't. I've had the same training as every other cop on the force, Rae. If you're not going to have them confined to desk jobs too, then don't try to get me to stay where I am, fetching coffee for Captains with nothing better to do than make me fetch coffee."
Raven laughed a little, "Okay. But you call the Titans if you need anything when you get back out there."
"I'll call for backup, like I'm supposed to." Moxie grinned, "The Titans can show up if they want to."
Raven grinned back, and nodded a thank you as Moxie pinned the gauze in place, "Have Cyborg take a look at it when you get back to the Tower." the blonde ordered, "You going back out?"
"For a few hours, yeah."
"Well be careful. No more getting shot."
"Right." Raven nodded and chuckled, "I'll do my best."
"Good. Go say goodnight to Ophie, then get the hell out of my apartment." Moxie shoved her down the hall, and Raven laughed.
3:34am came and found Nightwing staring out over Jump City from the top of a skyscraper in the financial district. He flipped open his com unit and spoke into it, "Operator?"
"I'm here, Nightwing." the voice of Sarah Simms came through the unit. The visual was never used for the communications hub.
"Checking in. Report."
"Nothing on the monitored frequencies, and no traffic on the docks. Starfire and Terra signed off a little after 1:00 and came home, and Raven's joining the com call now."
"I took a hit taking down the guy who robbed the pharmacy." came Raven's voice, "Officer Moxon helped patch me up."
Dick nodded, "How's she doing?"
"Back to active duty in two weeks."
"That's good. Operator? Continue."
"I've got nothing from the police, and EMS reports only minor injuries and illnesses."
"Titans East?"
"Nada."
"Robin?"
"Safe as houses."
"How's Blackfire?"
"Dozed off an hour ago. I moved her to the couch."
Nightwing grinned, "We're done out here, Rae. Let's pack it in."
Nightwing and Raven met each other in the garage and nodded a greeting, "Arm okay?" he asked as he peeled off his mask.
"I'll live." Raven rolled the injured shoulder and stepped on to the elevator with him. As the doors shut and they started up, she studied him.
"What?" he asked with a light smile.
"You're worried."
He nodded and his smile slipped away, "We haven't had any luck digging up the leads we need to find out who's operating in our city. Stopping small time crooks and metehuman escapees is all well and good, but if we can't get to the real slime, Jump City could be done for."
"How do you say stuff like that and make it sound so dire?"
"Stuff like what?"
Raven put on a stupid face, "Jump City could be done for..." she returned her expression to it's normal calm impassiveness, and continued, "You sound like Captain Marvel."
"Marvel is a very nice guy." Nightwing grinned as Raven rolled her eyes, "He's just a little old fashioned is all."
"He's a stiff."
"And when we met him and CM Junior showed up, you didn't stop making eyes at him the whole time." he poked her good arm.
"I was fourteen, Dick. You were the only other male my age I had ever met at that point, and if I had been crushing on Junior, you would have known it because half the buildings in Faucet City would have been leveled."
Nightwing chuckled, "You've become a real brat, you know?"
"Excuse me?" Raven's eyes glowed dangerously.
The black haired young man wasn't even fazed. He just pointed at her, "You can't even take a little ribbing without getting all defensive."
"It's late."
"Early."
"Whatever." Raven rolled her eyes as he chuckled again, and the doors to the elevator opened as it stopped.
They stepped out into the main level of the Tower and both of them froze.
Changeling was sitting on the couch, facing away form them, and gasping as a head of bubble gum pink hair was bobbing up and down rapidly in his lap.
"Shit...! Fuck, Gar!" Nightwing covered his eyes and turned away.
Raven sighed and buried her face in her hands, "I can't believe I ever slept with either of you."
Jinx jumped up from Changeling's lap and wiped her mouth quickly, "Oh! Uh... hi guys! Just came down for a late night snack... shit, that doesn't sound good, does it?" she looked over at her boyfriend, who shrugged, "We're just... um..."
"Just... don't ever do it again, okay?" Nightwing was still turned away, "Raven? Could you find a hot poker for my eyes, please?"
"Will a steak knife and a fire from the stove's burner do?"
"Yeah, that'd be peachy."
Changeling zipped up quickly then stood from his seat on the couch, "Uh... come on Jenny... let's go to bed."
"But my snack!" Jinx whined. She glanced over at Raven and Nightwing and paled a little at the glares she received, "Um... not so hungry anymore..." and she dashed after her lover, "Wait up, Baby!"
As the two ducked into the elevator and the doors shut, Nightwing sagged against the kitchen counter, "Damn it all..."
"I'd post rules for where and when you can have sex around this Tower if there weren't younger kids running around here." Raven floated over to the sink and took a glass down from a cupboard. Filling it with water, she took a sip, "Speaking of which, Kylee has a training session with you tomorrow. Don't forget."
"I wont." Nightwing stood up, "I'm going to go see if Kori is still awake... after that little fiasco, I think I might need some lovin' tonight too."
"Roy's sound asleep." Raven sighed, tilted her head to the side and then looked over at Nightwing again, "So is Kori."
"Shoot."
"Well, we could just throw down right here and sate our lust on each other..."
"And I'd end up with seven arrows sticking out of my face, and you'd end up vaporized in a hail of starbolts..." Nightwing shook his head with a smile, "Sleep is all this night has left for us, Raven."
"Heh. Goodnight, Dick."
"Night Raven." and he watched her teleport away.
Sighing, he started for the elevator that Changeling and Jinx had taken before, "Seven arrows is almost worth it..."
A voice echoed in his head, "I heard that."
Nightwing grinned.
Kylee walked down the hallway of West Jump City Public Middle School the next day, sighing in defeat as she hoisted her backpack up a little. She was sure she'd bombed the history test she'd just had, and when Raven found out she was slipping in her school work, she'd cut back on the magic studies Kylee did every day.
"Like any thing they teach us here is important in the line of work I want to go in to..." she muttered as she turned into her next period classroom.
And right into another student.
"Oof!" she said as she fell back, the other girl falling as well. Looking up, Kylee blinked at the blonde girl she'd just knocked down, and smiled sheepishly, "Sorry..."
"Don't sweat it. My fault for standing right in the doorway..." the other girl was pretty, with shoulder length blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She sat up and rubbed her back, "You in a hurry to get to your seat or something?"
"Not really... just used to rushing around at home."
"Busy body huh?" the other girl stood and helped Kylee up.
"Not really. Just a lot to do, and keeping up with my... uh... roommate I guess is kind of hard sometimes."
The pretty girl arched an eyebrow, "Roommate?"
"I live in the same place as Bart Allen. Do you know him...?" Kylee tilted her head to the side, leaving the question open ended.
The girl grinned a little, "Yeah, I know him. I'm Cassie by the way." and she stuck out her hand, "Cassie Sandmark."
Bart Allen's English teacher was droning on about prepositions, and most of the class was barely awake. The man was speaking in a monotone, and hardly anyone was taking notes.
One particular student with auburn hair and amber colored eyes wasn't falling asleep at all. He wasn't taking notes either. He wasn't even listening.
Mostly because he was already asleep, he never took notes, and if he listened to any teachers, it was most likely because he was getting yelled at.
"... so as you can see, there are..." the teacher trailed off as a snore split the air of his classroom. All eyes swung over to Bart as he shifted a little where he sat at his desk, his head resting on his folded arms. He muttered in his sleep, "So'kay, Wally... I'll just run home tonight and...mmggffmmm..."
"Mr. Allen, you will not disrupt my class like this!" the teacher shouted.
Bart didn't even stir.
"MR. ALLEN!"
"So you live with Bart Allen huh?" Cassie asked Kylee as they pulled out their French class notes.
"Yeah. Not in the same room or anything, and we're not like... dating or anything... like that..." Kylee blushed.
"Who do you have watching you?" Cassie tilted her head to the side.
"We actually live with a bunch of other teenagers... my guardians officially have custody over us." Kylee looked away.
"Oh... so your parents...?"
"They were killed in the zombie attack last spring." Kylee looked back at Cassie, "But don't worry!" she cut off her new friends apology, "I've got really good foster parents now, and they're teaching me so much..."
"What're their names?"
"Um..." Kylee thought for a second. Raven had always told her not to spread it around who she lived with, but if she was asked directly, she shouldn't be afraid to answer, "Roy Harper and... Raven Roth."
"Raven? Didn't think anyone other than the Titan had that name..."
"Um..." Kylee looked away, "Yeah."
Cassie's eyes went wide, "Holy crap! You live-" she cut herself off, looked around, then leaned in and whispered, "You live with the Titans?"
"Yeah." Kylee nodded, a blush staining her cheeks.
"That's... omigod... who the heck is Roy Harper?" Cassie looked confused.
"Arsenal." Kylee responded. The other girl blinked. "Speedy." Kylee clarified.
"Oh... oh yeah, he changed his name." Cassie nodded, "That's like... so cool."
"Uh huh."
"Why does Bart live there?"
"He's... special... like me."
"You're a meta?" Cassie sat back a little.
"No!" Kylee waved her hands, "No, I'm just... Raven is teaching me magic."
"Magic?"
"Yeah. And Bart is learning to um... be the next Flash."
"I knew I saw him moving too fast for a normal person..." Cassie palmed a fist, "That explains so much!" her tone sounded forced to Kylee, who thought she sensed a deception, but decided to give her new friend the benefit of the doubt.
"Tell me about it. I'm constantly stretching my awareness to see if his astral pattern is around to make sure he's not spying on the girls in the changing rooms by vibrating his body so fast he can't be seen in the normal spectrum."
Cassie blinked at her.
Kylee blushed again and rubbed her head, "Heh... It's a gift..."
Bart winced as his teacher continued to shout at him.
"And further more, Mr. Allen, if you so much as doze for a second for the rest of the semester I'll-"
He was cut off as a loud snore escaped Bart's mouth.
The teacher stepped back, walked to his desk and wrote out a hall pass. Turning around again, he handed it to a young man sitting in the first row of desks, "Mr. Hathorn, please wake up Mr. Allen and tell him that he will be spending the rest of this period in the Principals office."
"Y-yes Sir." Hathorn stood up and walked to the back of the room. Hesitantly, he poked the auburn haired young man, "Hey, Bart…"
"What?" Bart grunted, "I'm tired Jimmy, let me sleep."
"Uh, Mr. Bagshot says you have to go to the Principals office."
"Again?" Bart sat up and looked at Jimmy Hothorn with blurry eyes, then over at Mr. Bagshot, "What'd I do this time?"
The whole class groaned.
A man flew through the air inside McGreggor's Pub, slamming into the wall of liquer behind the bar and shattering most of the stock. He landed on the ground amide a shower of booze and broken glass, out cold.
The girl who'd just hurled him there stood in the middle of the pubs floor, several tables around her smashed or knocked over. Four men surrounded her, but she grinned at them anyway, her pink eyes glinting with malice.
"You boys really want to keep this up? I can go all day…" The tight black top she wore exposed her stomach, and her leather pants with the Titan 'T' on them creaked as she shifted stance.
"The McGreggor's don' take shite from no one… least of all punk bitches like you…" one of the red haired men shouted, and lunged forward.
Jinx slammed a hard right into his face, dropping him instantly. She dodged to the side a moment later as a pool cue whizzed past her head, then dropped down low into a sweep kick, knocking over one of her assailants.
An arrow tipped with a tear gas head shot into the pub and exploded on the man with the pool cue, and he gagged and fell over, clutching at his face as he dropped his makeshift weapon.
Arsenal strode in, shouldering his bow and yanking out an extendable night stick. Whiping it open, he walked right up to the man he'd just dropped and cracked him smartly across the skull, knocking him out.
Jinx meanwhile, had backed the last two men into a corner, and delivered a vicious snap kick to one of their faces, blasting him off his feet and out of consciences. As blocked the last man's weak punch, she coiled her body to spring into him and slam him down as well.
From behind her, the man she'd dropped with the sweep kick grabbed her shoulder and yanked her off her feet. She shouted in alarm as he pitched her into a table, where she caught herself and regained her balance. The thug was fast though, and he was on her in a second, throwing a strong right directly into her mouth.
Jinx cried out and toppled over, just as Arsenal surged past her and slapped the man across the face with his stick. A quick chop to the back of the neck later and he went down.
The last of the McGreggor boys grabbed up a broken table leg and turned to face off with Arsenal, but found himself staring down the barrel of a 9mm handgun, pointed at his chest.
"Drop it and get your hands up." Arsenal ordered in a cold tone. The man dropped his club and put his hands up. Arsenal nodded, then glanced at Jinx, "You okay, Jenny?"
"Hrmmph…" Jinx replied as she picked herself up off the ground, her hand over her mouth. Blood seeped through her fingers as she shook her head.
The red haired archer turned back to his prisoner, "Tell me about Intergang." He chambered the gun, "Now."
The man stuttered, "We only run shipments! We don't use the weapons!"
"Tell me where you pick up." Arsenal narrowed his eyes and lowered his weapon so it was pointing somewhere highly uncomfortable to be shot.
"We pick up at pier 14! Honest!"
"If you're lying to me," Arsenal growled, "you're going to find yourself in need of new reproductive organs." He raised his weapon, and fired.
The rubber bullet grazed the man's temple and his head jerked to the side. He fell to the ground out cold.
Arsenal nodded and walked over to where Jinx was still trying to sit up, "Let's get you out of here." He took her arm and lifted her off the ground, then slowly walked her out of the ruined pub.
As French class ended, Kylee stood up and started tucking away her notes. Cassie sat nearby, doing the same thing. She looked over at Kylee and smiled.
"So… do you know any other super heroes other than the Titans?"
Kylee shook her head, "Nightwing forbade the Justice Leauge from entering the Tower, so they stay away."
"Really? Why?"
"He's never said, but I suspect that he doesn't trust them… and that it has something to do with a little bit of bad blood between him and Batman."
"Hmm." Cassie scratched her head but smiled anyway, "Alright."
"Yeah." They stepped out of the class room, and were immediately stopped by a ring of students. Kylee frowned and shoved through, Cassie close on her heals. As they broke through the circle, they saw what was causing the commotion.
A young man by the name of Joe Mirminstien was cowering away from a group of four larger young men. Eighth graders it looked like.
"So Joey," the largest and meanest looking of the bunch said, "you think snitching on us is going to make your friends?"
Joe, who was in Kylee's first period English class, cowered back against the lockers in the hall and shook his head, "Look, I didn't know who was smoking in the bathroom! I just told the Principal about it because he was nearby-"
"Shut up!" and the large eighth grader back handed Joe to the floor.
Kylee dropped her back pack and started forward, a look of grim determination on her face. A hand held her back though, and she looked to see who it was.
Bart stood next to Cassie, shaking his head. He leaned in and hissed, "Just leave it alone! We need to maintain a low profile."
"When did you get here?" Cassie looked a little freaked out and took a step back.
"Bart, let go of me." Kylee's eyes were blazing with anger, and the speedster let go with a sigh.
"You're going to get in trouble." He said.
Kylee ignored him and started marching towards the bullies. Bart sighed again and stepped up next to Cassie. She looked at him funny.
"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend."
"We're not dating, Wond-" he stopped and shook his head, "Cassie."
Cassie rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the fight.
"Okay, Jenny." Arsenal said as he leaned against the wall of an ally just a few buildings down from the pub they'd just trashed, "Something's bugging you. Let's hear it."
"It's nothing." Jinx muttered, pulling the rag she held to her face away for a moment, then putting it back. It was soaked with blood.
"Bullshit." Arsenal rolled his eyes, "You're acting all agitated. If it's about what happened back there-"
"Of course it's about what happened back there!" Jinx shouted, tossing the bloody rag at him. Arsenal caught it and stepped back as she got in his face and grit her blood smeared teeth at him, "You see this? It fucking hurts!"
"You got punched in the mouth, Jen, it's going to."
"And I shouldn't have been hit at all!" She stomped away and whirled back around, "If I still had my powers, I'd have sensed his aura before he was close enough to grab me. Hell, if I still had my powers, I would have taken all four of those thugs down with no trouble at all!"
"You're doing remarkably well for someone who's lost the majority of their tricks, Jinx."
"Fuck that." Jinx scowled at him, "Dick only has me out here on the day shift because it's less intense. He knows I can't hack it with the big boys yet. I'm making stupid, full on amateur mistakes."
Arsenal sighed and let her continue to rant, "It's not enough. I need to be better, Jason, and I'm not getting that just training at the Tower and pummeling third string thugs who still kick my ass. Why do you think you're out here with me?"
"Because two Titans on a lead is better than one?"
"Because Nightwing knows I can't hack it alone!" Jinx shouted.
Silence descended over the ally, and after a few moments, Arsenal spoke again, "You're being too hard on yourself."
"No," Jinx shook her head, "I'm really not."
Arsenal stared at her for a second, then looked away, "Let's get back to the Tower and report. I have a feeling we'll be staking out Pier 14 tonight."
"Fine." Jinx stalked past him, and out of the ally.
Kylee grabbed the lead bullies arm as she made it up next to him, "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
He looked startled, and turned around to see the much shorter girl in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"
"Not important. Just back off and let Joe go."
"Wha… get the hell out of my sight! I don't care if you're a girl or not, bitch, I'll kick your ass just the same!"
Kylee half smirked, "Really? If you think you can…" she took a step back and motioned him forward.
Back behind her, Bart groaned, "Please don't hurt him, Kylee."
Cassie looked worried, "Can she?"
"Oh yeah." Bart looked worried too, "She can-"
The bully took one step forward and threw a hard, but sloppy right hook at Kylee. She simply ducked and came back up hard, plowing her fist into his jaw and snapping his head up. She followed up with a left jab in his ribs, knocking him aside.
Cassie's mouth dropped open and she looked over at Bart. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head, "She's a big fan of that uppercut."
The other three bullies were closing in on Kylee now, and she moved into a flurry of motion. A jump up and knee to the nose of the first one, then a low spin and sweep when she landed, taking the second one off his feet. She came up, finishing her spin in a hard right hand haymaker, blasting the third young man off his feet and crushing his nose in the process.
Bart took a few steps back and muttered, "Raven's gonna kill her…"
All four boys looked to be down for the count, and Kylee un-tensed her fighting stance, "Is that it? Big tough guys like you can't even stand up to one little girl like me?" The hall was completely silent, and she huffed, "Fine. Joe, are you okay?"
Joe was staring up at her with wide eyes, "Where the hell did you learn all that?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." She held out a hand to help him up, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine… my sister hits harder than that guy, but you-"
"Miss Rodgers." Kylee froze as the cold voice of the Principal echoed down the hallway from where he stood behind the crowd of students, "I think you'd better come with me down to my office."
Jinx sighed as she stepped into the medical room in Titans tower, and took in the sight of Raven taking stock of their supplies. "Hey." She said.
"Jason called and said you'd been hit in the mouth. Anything I need to look at?"
"I'm fine. Just a few loose teeth and a chunk gone from my tongue."
"Gar will be in mourning about your tongue, I'm sure."
Jinx giggled, "Sorry you saw that last night. We didn't expect you guys to be back until later."
Raven rolled her eyes and placed her clipboard on it's peg on the wall next to the supply cabinets, "Obviously. Did you need something?"
"Just… do you think I can still do this?"
Raven blinked at her, "Where did that come from?"
"I made a ton of stupid mistakes today, and I just… I don't feel confident without my powers."
"You still have your metahuman abilities, Jen. You just need to learn how to use them to your greatest advantage without the magical enhancement you're used to."
"And my fighting is weak." Jinx continued to tick things off on her fingers, "And I'm going to get someone killed if I keep this up, and my strength sucks, and-"
"Fine!" Raven held up a hand, "You suck, okay?"
Jinx rolled her eyes, "Thanks."
"I'll talk to Dick. Maybe we can…" she trailed off seeing the look Jinx was giving her, "Or, maybe not."
"It's just not enough here, Rae."
"So maybe you'll have to leave for a while to find what you're looking for." Raven smiled gently, "Whatever it is."
"Yeah, maybe I should look into a dojo in Kyoto that I've heard-"
She was cut off as Raven's T-Comp buzzed. They both blinked and Raven pulled it out and flipped it open, "Raven here."
"Miss Roth?" the link was voice only, and Raven read the ID as being West Jump City Public Middle School, "This is Principal Hampton from West Jump Middle."
"Hello, Principal Hampton… is Kylee okay?" a note of fear crept into the psion's voice.
"Oh, she's perfectly okay. I just need to see you about her. Now."
Raven blinked, "Okay. I can be there in a few minutes."
"I'll be waiting for you in my office when you arrive." And the line went dead.
"Kind of a jerk, isn't he?" Jinx offered.
"I get the feeling that he's not very happy with Kylee or myself at the moment." Raven's eyes narrowed, "Oh, she's going to be in so much trouble when I find out what this is about…"
Raven appeared to melt from the shadows of the office of West Jump Middle, stepping into the light and making the two secretaries screech. She rolled her eyes, "I'm here to see Principal Hampton about my foster child, Kylee Rodgers. Where are they?"
"In his office." One of the frightened woman pointed down a hallway, and Raven nodded her thanks. She started towards the door, her low heals clicking as she walked.
She'd dressed normally for this visit, with a calf length black skirt and a fuzzy v-neck violet sweater. Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail, being long enough now to reach down between her shoulder blades.
Stopping outside the door, she reached out and knocked. A voice from the other side murmured, "Come in." so she did.
What she saw was a grim looking man in his fifties sitting behind an oak desk, glaring at Kylee, who sat in a chair in front of the desk, looking miserable. Raven arched an eyebrow and shut the door behind her. She took the other hair in front of the desk and addressed Principal Hampton.
"So… what's this all about that you had to be so rude over the phone?"
"Miss Roth…" Hampton turned his glare on her, "The State gave you custody of Miss Rodgers because you were uniquely suited to assist her in recovering from the horrors she witnessed last summer." He stood halfway up out of his chair and his voice grew louder, "They did not give Kylee to you so you could turn her into the next Bruce Lee!"
Raven's violet gaze turned to Kylee, "What did you do?" she asked calmly. Kylee could see the anger burning in those purple orbs though, and she shrank back.
"A friend of mine was in trouble! They were going to beat him up!"
Raven frowned and looked back at the Principal, "What is this all about?"
"I have four boys in the nurses office right now, all of them twice Kylee's size. All of them also have broken noses and jaws, Miss Roth." Hampton glared harder.
"I see." Raven looked back at her foster child, "Kylee… we teach you how to fight for a reason… not so you can save the day in your Middle School by beating the crap out of people who don't stand a chance against you. You're training is for fighting hardened criminals, not fourteen year old boys."
"Fifteen." Kylee muttered.
"Miss Roth," Principal Hampton addressed her as he sat back down, "this school has a very strict zero tolerance policy. Your foster child is being suspended for a week. In that time, I suggest you and the other Titans help her with her school work rather than teaching her how to break the law and hurt people. You vigilantes do know what the law is, correct?"
Raven snapped her harsh gaze on him and pinned him with it. She reached down into the pocket of her skirt and pulled out a folio, which she flipped open. She showed him the shinny badge inside and he swallowed hard, "I'm a police officer, Mr. Hampton. I am the law."
"Oh… I had no idea you were…"
"We train Kylee to defend herself because we have many enemies who would use her to hurt us. She has to be prepared."
"Oh, I-"
"Didn't know. And yet you jumped to conclusions anyway." Raven broke off her glare and motioned to Kylee, "Get your things and meet me out front." Turning back to the Principal, she arched an eyebrow, "Anything else?"
"Um… yes. Mr. Allen will be serving a detention today. He's been falling asleep in class."
"What does this detention entail?" Raven sighed.
"We're going to have him scrub the desks clean."
"I'll see him at home a few minutes later than normal then." Raven waved it off, "Don't worry. It'll seem like hours to him." And she walked to the door as Kylee left. Pausing, she turned back to Hampton, "Don't ever try to tell me I'm not raising my child correctly, Mr. Hampton. You have no room to talk, since your wife left you with both of your children eight years ago."
"What?" he paled.
"Don't think the Titans don't know everything about all of the staff in this building. I want the kids to have a positive learning experience, Mr. Hampton, and I want them to be in a public school where they can interact with normal kids their age… but I don't want them in any danger." Hampton began to sweat, "Don't criticize others in areas you yourself have failed at." Raven scowled at him, "And don't piss me off."
As the door to his office clicked shut, Hampton slouched down and let out a sigh of relief.
When Nightwing and Starfire decided to share a room, hers became their sleeping quarters, and his became a dark, almost cave like place full of computers and other various devices that no one other than Nightwing and Cyborg really knew anything about. Star had commented to Jinx once that it reminded her a great deal of the Bat Cave, and Jinx was inclined think it probably did.
It was in that dark place that the pink haired vixen found Arsenal and Nightwing. The red haired archer was leaning over the back of the chair Nightwing was sitting in, positioned in front of the massive main computer screen. After a moment of her staring at them, Nightwing looked up with an annoyed expression, "Do you have to hover like that, Roy?"
"No. But it bugs you, so I figured what the heck?"
Nightwing swatted him away and looked back behind him, "Come in, Jen."
Jinx walked in, and over to where the two of them stood, "So?"
"It's solid intel." Nightwing punched up a few new windows, "Pier 14 is in a particularly good spot for smuggling, since it's so far recessed into the mainland. Harder to get in that far, but worth it in that it has several large warehouses around it to block any easy attack points. There's also no good place for a security camera, so there's no visual records of anything going on there."
"And we didn't check into this before, why?" Jinx arched an eyebrow.
"We have been checking. I've had Blackfire and Sarah on it for over a month, and Changeling drops by every patrol he does." Nightwing shook his head, "They've been careful is all, and they're good at hiding in plain sight. But we have them now. We know they're going to be there tonight."
Arsenal nodded an affirmative, "So, are we go?"
"No." Nightwing didn't look away from the computer.
"Excuse me?" Arsenal blinked, "No?"
"I have another case for the two of you tonight." the dark haired Titan handed a file to Jinx over his shoulder, and another to Arsenal. "You might want to take a nap. It's an all-nighter."
Jinx flipped open the file and started reading, while Arsenal's face clouded with anger, "So... what? We've been out there every day tracking down the intel that's lead to this bust, and you're just gonna shove us off so you can grab all the glory."
"You know that's not the case." Nightwing shook his head, "I'll actually be off doing something completely different. Raven, Changeling, Starfire and Cyborg will be covering Pier 14."
"What are you doing?" Arsenal scowled at him.
"Training."
"Who?"
"Your foster child, Roy, so don't get so pissed at me."
"What's Kylee doing tonight? It's a school night!"
"I-"
"Dick..." Jinx broke into their argument, "What... the fuck... IS THIS?" and she hurled the file at his head. Nightwing put up a hand to ward off paper cuts, and stared at Jinx with an unwavering gaze.
"What?"
"This... you..." she was shaking with rage, "You want me to go undercover at a strip club?"
"Yes." Nightwing nodded.
"What?" Arsenal took a step back, "Why do I have to be there?"
"Because I want her to have a sniper as back up."
"But-"
Jinx shoved Arsenal out of her way and got right up in Nightwing's face, "Why do I have to be the stripper?"
"Because you're the most qualified." Nightwing remained calm.
"What?" Jinx was livid, "Oh, you did not just... is that how little you think of me? Just because I happen to enjoy sex doesn't make me a shameless slut!"
"Jenny-"
"You pompous asshole! Why don't you send your own damn girlfriend down there! She's got a better body than I do by a mile!"
"Jinx, listen to me-"
"Fuck you, Dick! No way am I doing this! What the fuck makes you think I'm qualified to be a Goddamn stripper?"
Nightwing glared at her in the silence of the room for a full ten seconds, then spoke out in a clipped tone, "Because you have a background in dance, Jen. You're the only female Titan in the Tower that can dance."
Jinx opened her mouth to shout again, but paused, "Wait, what?"
"Raven, for all her knowledge and skill, doesn't know how to dance like you do. Starfire's people don't dance so much as... well... it's hard to explain. Komi is pregnant, Sarah needs to be at the keyboard for tonight's sting on the docks, Terra couldn't be less coordinated unless she had a concussion, and I'll be damned if I'm going to send Kylee into a strip joint at the age of thirteen."
"Wait..." Jinx shook her head, "Raven can too dance! She and Jason go out dancing all the time!"
"Not all the time, but I see his point." Arsenal nodded, "Raven knows how to waltz, she knows how to tango, and she even knows the chicken dance... which is hilarious to watch her do, by the way... but she doesn't know... gymnastics."
Jinx blinked, "Huh?"
Nightwing sighed, "Have you ever been to a strip club before, Jenny?"
"Well, yeah. Giz and Mammoth were all about big titties."
"Then you know how strippers dance. And you're the best fit for that style."
Jinx made an 'O' with her mouth, then scowled again, "Still. It's pretty fucking insulting."
"Did you read the file, Jinx?" Nightwing's glare grew stone cold, "Those girls are dying." He turned around and called up another window on the computer. The faces of four girls came up, and her turned back to Jinx, "These four girls were dragged into an ally after they left the club, beaten to within an inch of their lives, raped, and left for dead. Three of them didn't make it, and the fourth one is in a coma at Jump City General as we speak."
Jinx looked grim all of a sudden, then looked away. "Fine. I'll do it."
"It's just one night, Jinx, and you might not even have to dance-"
"Oh, hell no..." Jinx grinned suddenly, "If I'm doing this, I'm doing it all the way. Strippers make bank on tips."
Arsenal grinned, "Excited now?"
"No, but I'm gonna take that money I make, and take Kori out to the sex shop. We're gonna get her a some stuff to keep herself happy with, and we'll see if we can't find... oh, I dunno... maybe the biggest, most painful looking butt-plug they have. Then I'll brainwash her into using it on her boyfriend." Jinx grinned an evil grin at Nightwing, then scooped up her file. "See ya!" and she flounced out of the room.
"You think she's serious?" Arsenal looked back at Nightwing with a grin.
Nightwing look frightened, "Oh... I know she's serious. And that's what scares the shit out of me."
With a clink, the plastic disk fell into the slot at one end of the air hockey table in the Tower's living room. Changeling, suited up in full uniform, threw his hands up, "Nooo! How are you so good at this?" he demanded of the blonde girl he was playing against.
Terra did a little dance, and giggled. She was wearing her normal short shorts, and a white baby-t with a Super Man logo on the front of it that rode up dangerously close to her breasts as she threw her hands up. Her bare feet slipped across the floor as she danced and she replied, "Same way I always beat you in racing games and ping pong! Practice!"
As she giggled and spun away from the table one last time, she ran into someone, who caught her with strong hands. Looking up with wide blue eyes, Terra saw Blackfire floating in front of her wearing jeans and a maternity tunic top. "Uh... sorry."
The Tamaranian smiled down at her, "No problem, Tee. But Gar has a wild imagination, and a girlfriend, so watch this." and she tugged down on Terra's shirt, pulling it back down over the bit of her breasts it had ridden up over.
Both girls turned and regarded Changeling with arched eyebrows, who shrugged, "What? In a world where I get to hang out with super-chicks with Olympian-like bodies, I'm not about to complain about a free show."
The elevator doors opened, and Jinx strode out, followed by Arsenal, "Come on, Jenny! It's just work! It's not like I-"
"Tell it to Raven." Jinx grinned at him.
"She'd want to see to, just to make sure-"
"No." They stopped next to Changeling, and Jinx grabbed his arm, "Come on, I need you to tell me if I make a good stripper or not."
"What?" Changeling looked confused.
"While I'm sure he's seen more than his fair share of strippers, Jason isn't going to be my first test audience. I need my man."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"I'll tell you on the way to our room."
"Jen, are you okay? Wait... is this about the mission Dick said he had for you?" Jinx was dragging him towards the elevator.
"Um... maybe."
"Maybe? He wants you to be a stripper? Oh, that sonofa-" the doors to the elevator closed, and Terra, Blackfire and Arsenal all blinked and glanced at each other.
"He wants her to strip?" Terra asked.
"Yeah." Arsenal nodded, "She's the only one qualified."
"Oh, so the rest of us don't have good enough bodies?" Terra looked miffed, and Blackfire rolled her eyes, patting her rounded stomach.
Arsenal rolled his own eyes and started for the kitchen, "She can dance, Tara, and besides, you have almost no boobs. Guys at strip clubs like big ol' titties."
Blackfire giggled, and Terra stomped her foot, "I'm tellin' Brian you were talking about his woman like that!"
"Oh, so scared." Arsenal winked at her from where he was opening the refrigerator, "He might try to beat me up, and then I'd have to hand his ass back to him in a bag."
Terra finally broke into a smile and giggled, "That was funny when you two were sparring last week. I don't think he expected to be beaten so quickly."
"That suit of his... Dick's... his... whatever. It makes him over confidant."
"A problem he'll have to over come before he'll be a good combatant." a voice from the doorway to the garage elevator said, and Raven strode into the room with Kylee next to her. The younger girl had her head down in a dejected manner, and she glanced up at the other adults in the room, then back down at the floor as she entered.
Raven stopped her in the kitchen and spoke down to her, "Kylee, tell Jason what you did today at school."
"Um..." Kylee looked up at him and he arched a red eyebrow over cool blue eyes. She fidgeted, then burst out, "I stopped four kids three years older than me and twice my size from beating up a friend of mine."
"Really?" Arsenal's face broke into a grin.
"Jason..." Raven's voice had a warning tone, and the archer put a serious look back on his face. The violet haired Titan turned back to her foster child, "And?"
"I, uh... broke all of their noses and knocked them all out."
"Yeah!" Blackfire pumped a fist in the air, "That's my girl!"
"Not helping, Komi." Terra turned around and grabbed the amber skinned girls hand, pulling her across the room as she floated. She called over her shoulder, "Sorry guys."
"She's going to be a great mother." Arsenal grinned after the two woman as they vanished into the elevator that led to the upper levels.
"You're not helping either." Raven growled.
Arsenal sighed, "Rae, it's what we trained her to do."
"We didn't teach her to beat up un-trained fifteen year old boys, Jason-"
"But we did train her to help people in need." he turned to Kylee and knelt down in front of her, so she was a little taller than him. Speaking up to her, he frowned, "What you did was wrong, Kylee. Find a less violent way next time."
"Yes sir." she nodded and he grimaced.
"Please don't call me that. You make me feel like Dick."
Raven grinned at that and poked him, "So much for being second in command."
"You're still second in command." he rolled his eyes, "I'm just a seasoned field leader, so I get to give tactical orders."
Kylee looked up at them as Arsenal stood up, "So... can I go?"
"Yes." Raven looked down at her with a serious expression, "Right to your room to change, then to the gym. You can condition until Nightwing gets there to start your combat training."
"Okay..." Kylee looked put out, "Hey, when Bart gets home-"
"He's training with Kori." Raven cut her off. Kylee sighed and nodded. "Get going." Raven shooed her along, and Kylee walked off to the elevator.
Once she was gone, Raven sagged against her boyfriend, "I hate being mean to her."
"You're raising her, Rae. You'll have to do it sometimes."
"You weren't being much of a help."
"I was just doing what Ollie would have done with me."
"Because Green Arrow is such a good role model."
"Better than your Dad."
"Don't go there, Speedy, or you're not getting laid for a week."
"A week?" he snorted, "I'd like to see you go that long."
"Maybe I will, since you wanted to see Jenny stripping."
His mouth dropped open and he stared at her. She grinned and closed his jaw, "If you're going to hit on my friends, Dear, hit on ones I don't have an empathic connection with."
Sarah looked up from her books as the door to her room slid open and a rather glum looking Blackfire floated in. She arched an eyebrow as the five month pregnant alien girl flew to the bed and sat down on it.
"Can I help you?" the blonde asked.
"I'm bored."
"Hmm." Sarah sat back and stretched, "Social Work degrees aren't exactly easy to get, Komi. I need to study."
"I know. Just though you might have some ideas for what I could do."
"Go see Dick. I'm sure he has some kind of research for you."
"I don't feel like working."
"Go into town and eat half a buffet again. That was kind of funny last time you did it."
"Not hungry."
"You could always go talk to Brian... about visitation and stuff like that."
"Too much drama."
Sarah sighed, "I don't know what to tell you, Komi. Have you seen Tara?"
"She just went to see what Dick has for us tonight." the black haired Tamaranian shrugged, "I'm being a pest. I'll leave you alone."
Sarah's eyes softened a bit and she shoved her books aside, "I have a little time. Why don't we go down to the kitchen and start dinner."
"As long as my sister doesn't come by and want to help..." Blackfire shook her head, "I love her, but she can't cook."
Sarah giggled as she stood up, "I hear that. Poor Dick... if they ever go off on their own, he's doomed."
Kylee hit the punching bag extra hard, sweat flying from her brow. She snarled as she slammed her fist home again, going into a rapid series of punches and kicks.
"Stupid... I was just... helping..." she grunted as she spun around and lashed out with a roundhouse kick, "What's the point... in learning... if I can't... use my skill!"
With a final shout and outpouring of energy, Kylee kicked the punching bag clean off the chain that held it to the ceiling of the training room, and stood there panting. Her eyes went wide when she realized what she'd done, and she took a step back, "Crap."
Turning away, she started forward and ran face first into someone's chest. She stumbled back and fell to the ground with a light cry of shock. Looking up, she saw the dark form of Nightwing looming over her.
"Uh... hiya Dick."
"Raven told me about your little fiasco at school today." Nightwing didn't look happy. In fact, he looked down right frightening. "Get up."
Kylee scrambled to her feet and stood at attention in front of him. While he was still decked out in his costume, Kylee was wearing workout clothes. Spandex biking shorts, a black sports bra, and a loose fitting white tank top. Her feet were clad in cross trainers, and she wore wristbands that were weighted slightly. Her hands were wrapped in tape, which was torn and slightly bloody from her abuse of the punching bag.
Nightwing studied her for a moment, then started to circle her slowly, "You seem to have some anger issues to work out, Kylee. Raven told me you hardly ever grew angry at anything, and from what I've seen, you're a very mild mannered girl." He stopped in front of her and peeled off his eye mask so he was just Dick Grayson, looking down at her with friendly blue eyes, "So what gives?"
"Huh?" she blinked.
"I'm not going to smack you around for doing what you were trained to do... but I do want to know why you're having such a hard time controlling your anger."
"Um... a while ago Raven took a trip through my head... she found some latent rage and anger directed towards the Doppelganger... the guy that attacked the city with zombies and got my parents killed." Kylee paused and looked down, getting the sudden lump in her throat out of the way before she looked back up and continued, "I... if I ever see that bastard... I don't know what I'll do to keep myself from killing him."
"When Batman helped me find the people responsible for the deaths of my parents, I felt the same way... but the training he put me through let me see that taking a life... even a guilty one... is wrong." Dick stepped back, and smiled, "You're learning the same thing... and I know you can control yourself better than this."
"I don't know what's gotten into me lately." Kylee sighed and slumped a little, "School is going okay, I guess. I met a new friend today, and I'm doing good in all of my classes... it just seems so mundane."
"It is. You should relish it." Dick walked over to a set of parallel bars and jumped up on them. Swinging into a handstand, he held it and continued to speak as if he weren't straining at all, "In this life you have long stretches of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror and deadly combat. It's stressful, and there's been a lot of heroes that have dropped out of the biz because they couldn't handle it." Kylee watched him as he swung down and executed a perfect flip off and landed perfectly, "You should enjoy the time you have to be normal, if you really want to be a Titan."
"I do." Kylee walked over, and jumped up on the bars next. She swung up into a handstand as well, and held it. Dick nodded, and inspected her form,
"Arch your back a bit more so you can balance better. There you go."
As Kylee's face started to turn red, Dick walked around the bars, "I think I have just the thing to help you work past this little rough patch. I'm following some rather boring leads out in the city for the next few nights, and since you've been suspended from school, you might as well get some field experience."
Kylee's arms buckled and she fell off the bars. Gaping up at him from the floor, she gasped out, "Are you serious? You want to take me on patrol with you?"
"Better me than Raven. She'd baby you too much." Dick shook his head, "Don't get me wrong... there wont be any fighting for you. If something comes up, you let me handle it. But your detective skills and investigation ability need work, and the best place for that is in the field."
"But... is my costume done?" Kylee stood up and grinned.
"Cy just finished it last week." Dick grinned, "Come on... I'll show you."
Terra crept into the bedroom of a swanky penthouse apartment in uptown Jump City on the East Side. She grinned in a feral manner as she moved silently past the drawn curtains and up to the still form that was snoring lightly on the bed. With a shout, she pounced.
A cry of alarm rose from the blonde man in the bed as she tackled him off the opposite side and to the ground. He struggled with her for a moment before she managed to get his face turned around and locked her lips on his. Instantly he stopped fighting, and after a few seconds of her tongue working against the inside of his mouth, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down to the floor with him.
"Hey handsome..." she muttered as he tugged her black t-shirt up over her head, "how was your night last night?"
"Less talking, more making out." Brian replied as he pressed his mouth to hers once again, and started yanking on her shorts.
Terra giggled.
An hour later, the blonde girl lay in bed next to her boyfriend, staring up at the skylights above them. The sky was clear and blue, and fluffy clouds floated past in a lazy manner.
"So what's on the plate for the bad ass Miss Terra the Titan tonight?" Brian asked.
"Patrol while everyone else is on a dock raid. We have good intel on Intergang for once, but someone needs to keep track of things in the rest of the city." She rolled over and pressed her naked body against his, "You didn't answer my question earlier... what were you up to last night, and why weren't you answering my calls?"
"I was busy." Brian kissed her neck, "God, you're hot..."
"Don't change the subject." Terra grinned and pushed him back, rolling up on top of him and leaning on his bare chest, "What was the fearsome Red-X up to last night?"
He sighed, "I had a big score." At her arched eyebrow, he sighed, "Not in Jump. I hit L.A. last night."
"What'd you boost?"
"Lexcorp's L.A. branch had some experimental anti-grav equipment. Anti-proton based power core with dual XRP magni-tech. Very cool stuff."
"You stole Lex Luthor's latest toy?"
"Naw. It actually has potential to be used for some good, so I boosted every single hard-copy file they had on it. No copy-rights have been issued on the tech yet, so I dropped them off at STAR Labs L.A. and called it a night."
Terra flopped back down and sighed, "I'm dating Robin Hood."
"Heh. I guess." Brian stretched and winced a little, "Did you have to claw my back up like that?"
"Did you have to fuck me so goddamn hard? You know I dig in when you do that." She grinned, "Not that I don't like it..."
"You're terrible." Brian hugged her, "I love you."
"I love you too." Terra snuggled into his chest, and let him hold her until she had to get up to go out on patrol.
Meanwhile, back at the Tower, Raven stepped into Cyborg's lab and called out, "Victor? Kori broke the holo-room in that simulated fight with Cinderblock again. I was going to use it for training Bart how to-" she stopped when she walked around the corner and in to the section of the lab devoted to Cyborg's R&D.
Cyborg stood to one side, a proud smile on his face, and Nightwing knelt down on the ground, adjusting something with his back to Raven. She arched an eyebrow, "Dick, what are you doing to my foster child?"
Nightwing stood up and stepped to the side, grinning down at the thirteen year old girl in front of them. Kylee had her arms out to the side, and was grinning ear to ear as she inspected her outfit.
Her top was a white tunic with loose sleeves, cut low in the front and revealing the black shirt underneath. In the middle of her chest was a stylized picture of an angel wielding a flaming sword, done in colors of blue and gold. A blue skirt fell to her ankles, with wide slits up both sides to allow her legs to move about. She was wearing loose white pants, and her feet were clad in blue combat-style boots, which the pants tucked into.
She had pulled her shoulder-length hair up into a ponytail, and she wore fingerless blue gloves over her hands, with gleaming golden half-orbs set into them, much like the red ones on the backs of Raven's gloves. A belt around her waist sported a sheath on one side that contained a short dagger.
Kylee looked up at her foster parent with a wide grin, "How do I look?"
"Angelic." Raven smiled at her, then her mirth was gone, "Now take it off. I told you you're not suppose to wear that until you turn fourteen, at the earliest." Turning on Nightwing and Cyborg she scowled, "And I can't believe the two of you encouraged this."
Nightwing held up a hand, "I'm taking her out with me tonight."
Raven's mouth dropped open, then she took a step forward and raised a shaking finger in his face, "You promised... you told me when we re-formed the team that you would never supercede my parenting with an order to do something with my child. Dick... you utter, lying bastard. I will not let you bring her out tonight, or any other night until I say it's okay."
"Raven, listen to me-"
"No!" she shouted, and some of the computer equipment in the room exploded into showers of sparks.
"Aw, come on!" Cyborg rushed over to the broken machine and poked at it, causing it to admit more sparks and a bit of flame, "That's not cool!"
"She'll be perfectly okay, Raven." Nightwing stepped forward and stood close to the psion, "She'll be with me."
"Dick..." Raven's tone was low and warning, "I may trust you above almost anyone else on this planet, but that does not mean I will let you take the life of my daughter in your hands-"
"Let her go."
All eyes swung around to the doorway, where Arsenal leaned, picking at his finger nails. Raven's mouth dropped open, "What?"
"Dick's right... he'd never let anything happen to her." Arsenal walked into the room and stood next to his girlfriend, "She knows to run if they encounter anything she can't handle, and Raven, she can fucking fly." He shook his head, "She'll be fine... it's not like Dick's going to drop her into any hot zones." his eyes flashed up and met Nightwing's, "Right?"
"We're just going to investigate a few minor leads I have on some weird stuff that's been going down. I know she's not an expert, but I need someone with a back ground in magic to help me."
"Why not me then?" Raven scowled at him.
"Because I need you down at the docks tonight, taking out Intergang. Roy and Jenny are going to be downtown, and that leaves just me and the kids. I want Bart staying in tonight though. He looked pretty wasted when he got back form Keystone last night."
Raven looked around at everyone, then sighed and threw up her hands, "Just so you all know, my decisions where Kylee is concerned are final, and none of you have any right to say other wise. But I'll let her go tonight."
Kylee's face split into a grin and she rushed forward, throwing her arms around Raven, who's face softened. She hugged her foster child back and smile when she heard the girl mutter, "Thank you, Raven. For trusting me."
Raven pulled away and held the younger girl at arms length, "I do trust you Kylee... I trust you to do what's right when ever you're wearing that costume, and I trust you to always do what Nightwing tells you to do. I also trust that you'll make the Titans proud."
"Definitely." Kylee nodded and swiped at some tears.
"You ready to train a little to get a feel for that equip?" Nightwing asked.
"You got it!" Kylee ran for the doors.
Raven grabbed Nightwing's arm as he walked past her, "Dick..." she whispered, "be careful tonight. Don't do anything reckless, don't leaver her alone for a second, and never let her out of your sight." Her bottom lip quivered, "If anything happened to her... if she got hurt, or-"
"Raven," Nightwing turned her face to his and their eyes met. His were hard and honest, and hers were wet and vulnerable, "I'd die first."
Raven hugged him suddenly, and Arsenal walked over and clomped him on the shoulder. After a moment, the red haired archer pulled his girlfriend away, "Come on... let him work with her a bit before they go out."
"Hey!" Kylee called from the doorway as she came back in the room, "Are you coming?"
"I'll be right there, Seraph." Nightwing nodded.
Kylee's eyes grew wide, her mouth opened a little, and she stared. After a moment, she mouthed her new name, then her face split into a grin and she dashed off for the gym.
Closing Notes: The stage is set for the next three chapters. Jinx and Arsenal are first, then Nightwing and Seraph, then the dock raid. Nothing else to say here really than review, review, review. Just because I posted two chapters doesn't mean you get out of doing a nice long review for this one.