AN: Well once again its been awhile, I'm not going to bother with an excuse other that life has been absolute hell these past few weeks. Anyway writings might be alittle slow for awhile, rest assured I'm not dead, yet.
WARNING- to anyone against the mindless spewing of profanity Jake gets quite colorful later in the chapter.
Alienvspredator5- That's what I was thinking. Besides that would be much to easy, why do that when I can come up with sometimes ten times more elaborate and unnecessary. As always thanks for the review and hope you enjoy the chapter.
Whisper dark rose- I'm trying to work in some Raven/Jake bonding time, its all alittle new to me and I'm not that good at that kind of thing. Rest assured I'll tried my damnedest to get it right. Also the funny Control Freak battle is next up so I'll try not to disappoint. Thanks for the review and hope you like the chapter.
Jake watched as the scenery flew by the window, trying to ignore the rant BB was going on about in the seat next to him, something about criminals needing to stay locked up after their caught. Jake looked at the buildings as the rushed by, all of this was far too familiar. In his pervious life, as just your average joe, this is where his life took place. Yet for all the memories they held he could not find it in himself to care, his favorite cafe, his old apartment, none of these held any meaning to him. He watched them pass by with no more emotion than Raven.
Then his eyes then fell upon the police HQ, his thoughts went blank. His mind tried not venture down this train of thought again, but it was a vain effort. Once more he was reminded of a team he used to lead not to long ago. His family as they were, all the good times, and the truly fucked up. He would have gladly died for each and everyone, instead he had wound up being the death of them.
Raven for whatever the reason, empathic abilities or just plain reading his face, took notice of Jake's state. She looked over her shoulder from the front seat, there in her eyes was not pity, but sympathy. She spoke to him not with her voice but in his mind. "Jake? You can't keep blaming yourself for their deaths. It wasn't you that killed them."
Jake looked back at Raven, he need not say anything, his eyes said it all. In those pale blue depths burned a fire intense enough to put Trigon himself in his place. But behind the lust for revenge there was more hidden away. The need for forgiveness, from himself, from his friends. Raven read the guilt he carried plain as day. She knew not how to reach him, in the end she was inexperienced in the art of calming or comforting a person. Whatever her course of action would have been it was halted by their arrival at the crime scene.
What should have been just your standard electronics store in uptown Jump had been hijacked by one overweight couch potato. The windows had been blackened and upon the roof sat various transmitters and satellite uplinks.
All in all this was abnormal for the overweight crook, normally the Titans would be sitting through another monologue. But to have him reinforce a position and set up equipment, something was off and everyone knew it.
It was then that their leader rolled up on his motorcycle with Starfire touching down to his left. He took in the situation and addressed his team who were gathering by Cy's car. "Titan's form up, teams of two. Cy, BB take the back exit. Raven, Jake you two get the roof entrance. Star your with me" The team spit up and went about their tasks without another word said. Cyborg tore down a fence blocking off that ally, Raven simply teleported to the roof leaving Jake to find his own way up. Said path involved jumping off the wall of the building opposite and latching onto the fire escape. Once he hauled himself up he directed a glare towards Raven, "You could have gotten me up here too." He muttered.
Their comms went off in unison, both displaying the boy wonder, "Titans, take positions, breach ine three, two, one." The last number was accompanied by three doors simultaneously being kicked down.
Jake charged through the opening into a surprisingly well lit room considering all the windows were blacked out. Cables were strewn all over the floor running between various pieces of machinery and computers. All of the equipment fed into several three inch cables running down the stairs. Jake tried to read some of the programs running on the computers, but he was never a tech savvy person. The words upon the screen made as much sense to him as quantum physics would to Beastboy. Raven looked from the computer she stood behind and shook her head. Apparently she had as much luck as he did. He was about to move back outside, the heat generated by this many computers was unbearable, when he glimpse of a gold object buried under a tangle of cables. Once he fished it out he found it was similar in design to the comms used by the team, only this one was hexagonal in shape. He turned it over to examine the other side, what he saw froze the very blood in his veins.
Memories flooded his mind, things best left forgotten and buried raced past his eyes. Distant voices carried out an all to familiar conversation. "Jake? What do you make of this." One said. The next was said through heavy static, "Negative, Titans are engaged at this time, Your orders stand. The last was spoken from right beside him, by a voice he despised with all his being. "Lieutenant," was the only word uttered.
The device clattered to the floor, Raven looked up to see Jake standing stiff and a board. His face was pale and the look in his eyes was filled with fear. She ran over to him and tried to shake him out of his comatose state. "Jake? Jake!" She called.
Jake felt himself being shook and found himself looking at Kate again, seconds before he was to end her life. This time he herd her when she called his name, "Jake? Jake! Damn it Jake snap out of it!" The words came, her lips moved, but something was off. That wasn't her voice, he could place who it was, but it definitely knew it wasn't her.
The world dissolved and he saw he was now standing in a crampt room with Raven standing before him, concern etched into her face. His eyes started to water with the return to his darkest hour, but he willed away the tears. He had shed enough and this was no place lose it. Without words he kneeled down and retrieved the hexagonal communicator, the cover dominated by an engraved golden H.
Raven saw this and immediately red flags when up all over the place. "Jake if the Hive's involved you shouldn't be here." When he didn't respond she tried again, "Jake. It could be a trap, you should leave. Now" she stated in a firm tone.
Jake ignored her tone and looked back up at her, "and let you have all the fun." He looked back at the comm unit and examined it more closely.
Shouting from downstairs tore his attention from the device and cautiously he and Raven approached to stairwell. He quietly walked down the stairs with Raven floating behind. At the bottom he cracked the door and watched the scene unfolding in the room, waiting for the ideal moment to strike.
Control Freak stood in front of a setup of cameras and other imaging equipment that Jake couldn't even name. He was flanked by two of his remote's abominations. These two stood seven feet and looked to be constructed from several cars if the engine blocks and tires were anything to go by. On their shoulders were something out of place though, from his limited experience with the things he guessed that the strange devices were laser weapons.
The fat one was currently yelling at the four Titans that were assembled at the far end of the room. "I won't ask again, where's the witch? My boys here are getting impatient." He said motioning to the robots standing beside him.
Robin made a move to draw a weapon when a beam of red light lanced forward from one of the bots and nailed his forearm. Burning through armor and searing flesh. His hand never neared the disk he was reaching for.
"Now now Robin, you may be fast but my friends here see, think, and react faster than could could ever hope to be." He hit a few buttons on his remote and the robots shifted slightly to change targets. "Now tell me where that blue hooded bitch is hiding or your girlfriend gets lit up like a christmas tree."
Jake had seen enough. Plan formed and weapons ready he threw open the door. Pins from two grenades hit the ground as their explosive counterparts flew towards each of the robotic guards. As the grenades flew through the air he jumped forward, in a adrenaline flued rush time seemed to slow. Control Freak was turning his head, Titans were retreating from the explosives. Robots were moving to line up the new threat. Jake put a fist to the nerd's face as he turned and kicked the back of his leg sending him to the ground. He grabbed for the remote it the fat one's hand. He had just touched it when Control Freak slammed his thumb down on a bright blue oval.
All around equipment activated, lights powerful enough to burn his skin engulfed them both. Laser from the camera setup activated and in the most painful second of his life, everything was enveloped in a blinding blue light.
From Raven's vantage point in the door way Jake was a blur of motion, throwing his explosive payload and disarming Control Freak in a matter of milliseconds. Then in a flash the room was bathed in a brilliant cyan light. Everyone was blinded for a spit-second and only Jake's pained yell could be heard over the deafening explosions that ripped through the building. When the smoke cleared the only things left were two smoking husks of what used to be the robots. No sign of Jake or Control Freak. Broken equipment, cameras, monitors and the like were scattered around, tore from their positions by the pressure wave from the grenade blasts.
Raven was first back inside, her eyes running over every atom in that room trying to decipher what had happened. Even if they had been killed the explosion would have left bodies, but they had just disappeared. "Jake?" she called. Nothing answered.
Cyborg charged back into the room with the rest of the team in tow. When he saw Control Freak and his new teammate was nowhere to be found he asked the only presence there who might know. "Raven what happened to Control Freak, and where's Jake?" He asked.
Raven turned to her team, face, far from the stotic mask she normally wore, full of worry and fear. "I… I don't know." Was all she could say. She couldn't sense him or Control Freak, anywhere, and that was something that just didn't happen. She didn't just lose people like that.
Minutes of relentless searching later landed her in a chair upstairs. Seated in front of a computer, forehead resting her palm, elbow propped up on the table. She almost thought she heard Jake's voice, but dismissed that when she didn't sense his aura.
"Raven?" Now she knew she herd him. Her head bolted upright and she glanced around the room searching for her lost friend. Nothingness was all that greeted her. She lowered her head and turned back to her resting place. Then as she looked at the screen and jumped back in surprise.
Displayed on the flatscreen monitor was a very pissed off looking Jake, behind him was the unconscious form of Control Freak. He looked directly at her, "I'm in the fucking computer aren't I."
Raven, still speechless, could only nod an affirmative.
Jake responded in one of his more colorful spouts of rage. He turned, delivered a kick that could crack bone into the sleeping nerd whilst shouting the following. "God fucking damnit! Couldn't just die like a man, NO you had to go in a god damned computer and drag me along you FAT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. Each syllable was accompanied by another kick.
The yelling attracted the attention of the Titans downstairs. "Raven, you find them?" Robin asked walking through the door. Raven didn't respond. He walked around to where she was and followed her unblinking stare. There on a twelve inch computer monitor was their lost teammate kicking their lost, unconscious criminal.
"Jake!" He shouted.
Jake turned back around and feeling slightly better after that outburst went from cold blooded murder to his usual self. "Hey boss, kinda in a predicament here ain't I."