A bit shorter than last chapter, but still a respectable length, no? If you want me to keep making them longer, just ask and I'll shoot for 2,000 - 2,500 words. Just let me know. I don't own Teen Titans.

Raven did not fully understand what she saw through the window she had called up, but it chilled her to the very marrow of her bones. It was a young woman, a creature whose top half was that of a girl, and the bottom half looked to be a snake. She'd read the name of these creatures somewhere before. The young girl would be called a naga, if she remembered correctly.

The naga was asleep, but even unconscious Raven could see how upset the young girl was. Her brow was creased, her body streaked with dirt and grime, her hair matted. Though all the muck, Raven could see her cheeks were stained with tear tracks, her face blotchy from crying.

She was lying in a rock outcropping, cushioned with dried grass not ten feet away from where Raven was. Her snake half was curled around her to contain body heat, and blocked Raven's view of anything past her shoulders and head, which was resting on her tail.

A sound must have startled her, but Raven didn't hear it through the glass. She sat up suddenly and looked to her right, her face stricken with fear. Quickly pulling herself all the way up, she uncoiled and slithered away, leaving a circle of mashed grass where she had been resting. It wasn't long before Raven saw a male naga break through the spars tree where the female had been looking. He looked grieved. Shaping his hands around his mouth he called something, Raven guessed trying to get the girl to come back. Finally, his hands dropped to his sides and he looked down, defeated.

Raven was about to knock on the glass to try and get his attention when the wall rippled again and reformed, loosing it's transparency to color and detail, until the empath was facing a rather nice looking wall.

The panel she was looking at flickered and went black, then picked up the image of Ronald, his skin bright red against a shadowy background.

"The Master wishes to see you, empath. Go to the cottage and we will pick you up there. Do not inform the boy," he ordered, his voice and face bored.

As soon as the message was re-laid, the screen blanked again, and turned back into the picturesque wall.

Raven paused and balled her hands into fists at her sides, her mind spinning. What she had seen with the nagas kept replaying in her head, her mind working furiously to put the facts together. The pit of her stomach was trying to crawl between her ribs and nest between her lungs, and every part of her body was screaming that something was off. This was bad.

Once the video system shut down Ronald turned and walked out of the room, headed toward the double doors that opened into the commander's office. He knocked and waited for the booking "come in!" before he stepped through and walked up to his boss's huge desk.

"What is it this time?" the man asked, his voice weary.

"The young empath, sir. She called up a window and spied on the naga. It seems she knows the reason she's there," Ronald paused and waited for the orders he knew would come.

The Commander paused, his eyes unfocused as he thought, and a small smile carved itself on his mouth. "Call her up. We'll see how well they do when the changeling gets angry."

Ronald nodded. "I've already called her, sir. She's on her way to the cottage now. Plan Courtly, sir?"

The old man smile grew as he leaned back in his chair. "There's a reason I haven't fired you, Ronald. Commence Plan Courtly."

Ronald nodded and turned with a jerk. He walked out of the office, shutting the door behind him, and waved to the wall, calling up another video feed.

"Call Ms. Fantoccini," he commanded the technology.

There was a pause as the building searched for her, and a flicker as she connected.

"What do you want now, you overgrown lizard?" The Spindress asked, irritation clear in her voice.

"We need you in the Master's suite. Bring the things you need for Courtly. The empath has found the naga."

She grunted and waved her hand, shutting down her end of the feed. Ronald licked his left eye in irritation and went to go fetch the young empath.

Once the video feed was down Ms. Fantoccini crouched down heavily and sighed, massaging the sides of her forehead with both hands. That was a close one. The feed had found her in her hidden room, and she had only just had the time to adjust the screen so it would only be wide enough to show her upper torso and nothing behind her.

The communicator crackled again and she turned toward it.

"Robin here, calling for Weaver," the young teen's voice called out, using the fake name she had given him. The sound was edged with a whine only technology can give it.

She scuttled over to the table and scooped up the little device. "Yes, what do you need?"

"I've just gotten the blue-prints you sent us, and I need conformation for a few things you have written in the report you sent with it."

The Spindress sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm about to be a little busy. Can't this wait?"

"No," the voice was cool and commanding. Someone used to being followed. "As I recall, the evidence we have points to you being the one who took our friends from us. I'm not sure I'm ready to trust you just yet. So unless you want to take us along to whatever seems to be occupying your time, you're going to stay here and help me sort through the information you sent us. Information I'm not sure won't lead to a trap. I don't trust you, Weaver. Maybe you should see to that matter rather than whatever's calling you away."

Ms. Fantoccini opened her mouth, about to give the teen a sharp reply, when something about what he said caught her mind, and an idea began to kindle and grow as she thought about it.

Raven felt a cold fear trembling just below her stomach. What should she do? Warn Beast Boy, obviously, but he was out her way to the cottage and they told her to go quickly, and she couldn't be sure she wasn't being watched. Shoving her fears aside, she took a deep breath and thought through her problem.

Even if someone were spying on her, it wouldn't do to leave her teammate unwarned. She had to take the chance that no one was spying now and tell BB what was happening. Pondering a bit more, she decided writing a note would better meet her need for time, assuming he was still asleep. With a note she wouldn't have to wait for him to get over the initial shock, and it would be less likely to draw attention than a screaming changeling.

Waving her hand at the wall again she called for paper and a pen, smiling wryly as a sheaf of loose leaf and a ball point pen stuck their ends out of a slightly glowing panel.

Scrawling a quick note, she ran to where she had last seen her teammate, finding the boy just as she had left him. Sighing with relief, she shook him half awake and gave him the note, shushing all of his questions with a sharp, but soft order to "just read the note."

Standing up stiffly, she jogged to the cottage, wondering what was going to happen now.

Sending you all love!