Sorry for the lack of updates, and thanks to SugarApple, whose review reminded me about this fic.
The thing about Raven was that, even at Jump, she was the quiet one. Oh, her friends knew better, but despite her fan club—which was both more populous, diverse and quite a bit more disturbing than that of any of her teammates—and Dr. Light's babblings, no one ever saw her as the loud one, the showy one, the one to look out for.
"Doesn't it bother you?" Jinx had asked when she defected over and got to know the Raven behind-the-scenes. Raven had raised a cool eyebrow, and the witch had blushed. "I mean, that most of the world thinks you're, you know, boring."
Raven had shrugged. "If they can't find excitement in a half-demon sorceress who battles evil on a daily basis, that's their problem." She ran one slim hand through her hair, and smiled, very slightly. "Besides, that way, when I need to be heard, I'll make sure people hear me."
She wanted to be heard now. Robin and Speedy knew the signs—it was the same slightly mulish look she'd worn last time Beast Boy begged for a pet and she'd refused flatly, then refused to budge until she was assured that no matter how big his eyes got, the other members of her team would not be swayed.
Then again, usually, the look was accompanied by a dark cloak and hood, which helped make it more menacing. Considering how she was currently dressed, however, the glare looked more like a scowl. It was—what was the word—cute. Very cute.
"Are you two even listening?" the dark-haired girl demanded, crossing her arms. The scowl darkened into her most dangerous stare. The one that reminded them that she had her powers back and they—well, they pretty much had nothing. Raven was good at that kind of stuff.
"Where are Jinx and Wally?" Speedy asked suddenly, then winced as Raven's glare intensified.
"As I have said," she said patiently, drumming her fingers lightly against her thighs, "Due to the fact that they are the oldest, and can pass for adults, they are finding us a place to live."
Speedy snorted. "Wally? An adult? We are talking about the same Wally, aren't we? The one who got us in this mess in the first place because he couldn't resist pushing a red button?"
Raven shrugged. "Jinx will keep him in line. Now, back to the main issue." She crossed her arms again, fixing the boys with her most serious look. "As long as we're here, none of the Gleeks get hurt. None of them. Not a hair."
"Raven, we save the world on a daily basis," Robin pointed out. He was perusing one of Emma's brochures with interest. "I don't think dealing with a bunch of high-school bullies will be much of a problem."
"Says the one tutored by the Bat his whole life," Speedy said under his breath, "School bullies are way worse than Dr. Light could ever be."
"I'm also worse than Dr. Light could ever be," Raven said, and smirked. "School's out in a couple minutes, and Puck has informed me that certain jocks like to wait for them on the way out. Let's go kick some butt."
"That's usually my line," Robin grumbled, putting down his brochure, "And if this is what the school has to offer as psychological help, then I can see why the students have such a problem with aggression."
"So, write new ones and sneak them in tomorrow," Speedy stretched, "Not like it'll be difficult."
Raven smiled. Underneath the light banter, she knew the boys were shaking with slightly nervous energy, just as she was. It would be different, handling civilians, but oh, it was going to be so much fun.
TGTGTGTGTG
Ben Brooks was not having a good day. During first period, he'd been confronted with a large, ugly F, and See me after class, on his test. It shouldn't have been surprising, considering just how rarely he showed up to Algebra II, but hey, what senior wanted to be stuck with a whole bunch of brainy freshman for an hour?
It's not as if he was too worried, until he realized halfway through third period that if his GPA dropped another point, he'd be kicked off the football team. If that happened, his life was over. Ben had comforted himself by pushing a couple nerds into their respective lockers, but by lunch, he was still stewing. I'll just copy off a couple homework assignments from whatshisface.
Lunch wasn't much better. Ever since the top three Cheerios had defected to the Glee Club, of all things, the cheerleading squad no longer held its previous appeal. Ben had slept with most of the girls at least once, and even Hannah Reynold's hand on his thigh didn't snap him out of his funk. To make things worse, Quinn Fabray herself had sauntered by, looking for all the world like the hot, untouchable princess she'd been before the events of the last year, and damn if his eyes didn't still follow those long legs.
Of course, Karofsky had caught him looking, and laid into him about being a secret Gleek, which had quickly removed Hannah's wandering hand and caused the rest of their table to scoot a couple inches away. Ben, naturally, defended himself, but he could see the doubt in his buddies' faces, and that had really set him off.
By the end of the day, he was ready to show everyone just how much of a jock he really was. Those losers wouldn't know what hit them.
Little did he know, Raven was currently thinking much the same thing. She could sense the ball of aggression-filled testosterone coming from across the school, and the tint of violence in Ben's aura was hard to miss. "Get ready," she told Robin and Speedy, who were lounging beside her.
The gleeks were arranged behind the protective line that was Robin, Speedy, Puck, and her, closely flanked by Brittany and Santana. The other glocks, (the derogatory term the football team had applied to those who claimed to be both a jock and a member of the Glee club), were at practice, leaving the girls, Artie, and Kurt.
They'd elected to gather in a more unusual spot, in the back parking lot where the only other students were so high they wouldn't notice if an elephant fell on them. Usually, the gleeks did their best to stick to areas with lots of people, but Raven doubted the bullies were smart enough to note the difference, let alone prepare for it..
"I really don't think this is necessary," Rachel interrupted her thoughts. Raven glanced backwards, watching as the other girl placed her hands on her hips. "Truly, we thank you, but we are more than capable of handling—"
"Shut it, Berry," Puck said, looking down at her, "You couldn't handle the Smurfs if they came at you. Remember last week?"
Rachel flushed. "Bringing up juvenile movies hardly gives you credibility, Noah, and those creatures were blue." Puck rolled her eyes, and Raven hid a smirk. And she'd thought Cyborg and Bumblebee were in denial.
The thought made her slightly homesick. By now, the rest of their team must have noticed their absence. She could imagine Starfire's tears and Beast Boy's worried look, as well as Cy's forced cheerfulness as he struggled to pull them together. They were trying their best to get back home, but even with all of them working together, it would take time, and each minute was a minute her friends might do something dangerous.
Traveling dimensions was tricky, and jumping universes seemed even more so, but she had no doubt that her friends would try it anyway. Not to mention Batman. She'd met the man once or twice, and had the feeling that even jumping through universes wouldn't stop the man from tracking Robin down.
It was kind of nice, having a father who cared. Then again, almost anyone was better than Trigon.
Raven glanced backwards as the ball of aggression that was Ben Brooks barreled closer.
She could see him now—Ben wasn't even trying to be subtle as he charged towards the group. She felt a pang of disgust at the way he was so obviously using other human beings as punching bags, and then noted another familiar duo coming from the other side. Then, Ben was upon them and she stuck out a foot, letting him trip and go skidding.
"What's going on?" Jinx wanted to know as she watched Raven follow up with a roundhouse kick to the bully's meaty backside. "Are we hitting civvies now?"
"Only the mean ones," Speedy said, explaining what was going on. Jinx rolled her eyes.
"Leave it to Rae-Rae to hog all the fun." She stalked forward, and the boys were suddenly very aware of the high-heels she wore on her feet. They winced as she kicked the jock, who'd surged up off the ground, and left him gasping for air and holding his lower belly.
"I hope you found us a place," Raven mouthed, standing back slightly as Ben struggled to regain his composure. Fury reddened his face, making him almost apish as he gasped for breath.
"Naturally." Jinx held a fist next to Ben's nose. "Listen, bully-boy. You want another kick? I guarantee that this time, it'll remove any chance of you ever having dull-witted babies and make showering after games a lot more uncomfortable."
Ben wasn't the only one who winced at that. Raven took over, making sure the brute of a boy looked her straight in the eyes before she spoke. "Leave the Glee club alone," she ordered, "Spread the word. We won't be so nice next time."
Getting to her feet, she gave a crisp nod to the assembled gleeks, who were watching with a mix of awe and—was that giddiness?
"That was totally cool," Mercedes said approvingly, hands on hips.
"Agreed. As unnecessary as the violence was, it was both effective and neatly done." Rachel peeked around Puck's side.
"It'll just paint a bigger bulls-eye on our backs tomorrow," Artie pointed out, "As satisfying as it was to see Brooks get his ass handed to him, the pain might not be worth it."
"We'll be here tomorrow," Raven told him, crossing her arms, "And the day after, and the day after that. These brutes are stupid, but they're not suicidal. I give them three days."