SQ - Thanks so much for reviewing and following my story! I hope you continue to enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Now, onto the next chapter...

[Chapter 14: Normal]

Raven hated walking away from the door to Starfire's room. Hated to leave her behind. Hated sealing her inside.

But Starfire would figure out what to do. She would escape the room, slap some sense into the stupid boys, and rescue Raven. If Raven could smile, she would. Rescuing. She needed rescuing. Funny, she always thought of herself being the rescuer.

Hoarfrost stood by the window, staring out into the darkened abyss beyond. As if sensing Raven's presence in the room, she turned. Her lips widened into a smile. "Come into your room with me."

Hoarfrost led them down the hallway once more, past the Starfire's quiet room, the edges of her door still pulsing with Raven's dark magic. They moved past Beastboy then Robin then Cyborg's rooms too, just as quiet as before. If only the boys would snap out of Hoarfrost's spell… If only she could slip some of her magic underneath and force them out of it. Hoarfrost lifted her hand, the dark strand connecting them together weaving in and out of her fingers. She pulled. Raven moved faster.

Finally they reached Raven's door. Hoarfrost practically leaped over the doorframe and into Raven's room, twirling on the balls of her feet while surveying the room. "Shut the door."

Raven did.

"Lock it."

Raven did that, too. The lock clicked into place, a soft noise but seeming to be a resounding thud in Raven's mind. A white glow drifted from behind her and sealed the door shut. Hoarfrost's magic.

Then all at once, the spell lifted.

Raven could move on her own. She called energy to her limbs, intending to lash out. But no energy came. Her power did not respond, did not listen. Where had it all gone? She spun around.

Hoarfrost sat on her bed, lazily tossing the dark strand back and forth between her hands. Of course. How could she be so stupid? Every second she stayed connected to Hoarfrost, the woman stole some of her power. Drained her of it. It was why she felt weak in Starfire's room. Why Hoarfrost had even commanded Raven to do it in the first place, tie Starfire up and barricade her inside her room. Hoarfrost could've done it with her own white magic. But she'd commanded it of Raven, forcing Raven to drain her power even further, eventually depleting the energy so caged within her. It had been Hoarfrost's plan all along.

"I knew you'd warn her, too, Raven." Hoarfrost smiled. "Use up your power even more by trying to communicate with your love. You're so predictable."

Raven stepped back, the mad desire to run boiled in her stomach. Normal. I'm… normal now. An average teenage girl. Even when her magic thrashed, pulsed, forced away from her, she liked it. Even though she couldn't control it the past few months, at least she had something to try to control. Now she had nothing. Normal. The word burned in her mind. And weak.

She pushed her instinct to run away and calmed herself. Her powers would return, she knew, once their connection severed. Once that damn strand connecting them together snapped. But until that happened, Raven would be trapped in more way than one.

Hoarfrost leaned back, resting on her hands. "Now sit. Let's talk, unhindered, for a while."

Raven tensed. Even without her magic, she could fight. She trained in hand-to-hand combat. Raven could take Hoarfrost… maybe. But then Hoarfrost's eyes whitened and a ball of white energy shot from her hand and shattered the mirror beside Raven's head. Raven ducked, shards of glass falling onto her. A better opportunity would come and Raven would take it. But for now, it bode well for her to do what Hoarfrost asked.

She sat in an armrest farthest away from her ex-lover. "What do you want to talk about?"

Hoarfrost moved her ankle in a small circle. "How it's better this way. How I know your powers have been increasing. How you know we'd work well together. You're power will expand again. You won't be able to control it. Again. You'll hurt someone like that poor defenseless woman in the street. Again."

Raven's hand tightened on her armrest. Her heart pounded in her chest. How long had Hoarfrost been watching?

Hoarfrost smiled. "Or that snake in the grass beside this tower. When you cracked your window that morning."

Raven frowned. Since the beginning. Since the first day her power acted up, her power writhed within her. Since she knew something was wrong. That's how long this woman scoped her out. For months. How had Raven not seen? Not felt Hoarfrost's presence, at least? How had the Teen Titans missed her?

"You'd never expect a prissy woman to infiltrate your Tower. No, you Teen Titans always thought one of the HIVE would do it, glean all your secrets through force and strength and acts of dominance. You were wrong. Well, not so wrong." Hoarfrost's grin widened. She uncrossed her legs. "I do intend to dominate, but in very different ways. I knew as soon as you and Starfire had that date, you longed for her, or your powers longed for her, I should say. "

Raven leaned forward, unable to hold back. "It's not like that. I love her."

Hoarfrost laughed. "No, your powers latched onto the first being it could and made you long for her, made you want her, made you love her."

"That's not—"

"If you do truly love her then why did you touch my palm in the first place? I didn't command you this morning. You did it yourself." Hoarfrost arched an eyebrow. "You knew what would happen. You knew I'd suck that magic out of you, that I could provide the release Starfire hadn't."

Raven shook her head. That couldn't be it. She loved Starfire. That her magic acted up so forcefully before and during that time was just a coincidence. Wasn't it? It had to be. She glared at Hoarfrost. "It wasn't time yet."

"Don't kid yourself, Raven. Even if you did make love with her, forge that connection, have that release, you'd forget about her soon after. You didn't even love me when we made love. Your magic loved me." Raven tried to interject, but Hoarfrost pushed on. "But I knew, I knew as soon as you went on the date that it was happening again. HIVE couldn't get near you. But I could. And if I controlled you, I could control the rest of the group. I infiltrated your Tower when no one else could."

"Why?" The word burst from Raven's lips. "Why do you need to be here so much, Hoarfrost?"

"Because we want this Tower."

"We, who?"

Hoarfrost nodded to the window. Shadows spilled into the room. "Some of the others wanted to rekindle their friendships, too."

Raven gasped, she couldn't help it. Her old gang stepped into view.

SQ - What'd'ya think? Comments, constructive criticism and suggestions are all welcome! Until next time!