[Chapter 19: Snatched]

Raven's hands shook, her fingernails digging into the skin on her palms. The lamp flew through the air. And Hoarfrost did nothing. Nothing. The horrible woman did nothing as the lamp sailed straight toward her. The red dragon in the middle of the circle darted forward, flipping upside-down and smashing the lamp to the floor with its tail. The lamp crashed inches from Hoarfrost's back.

No! Anger burned on Raven's cheeks. The white thread throbbed on her palm but she ignored it. The sun dragon still guarded the circle, but she ignored it. Orion shook her head, the most imperceptible movement, but Raven ignored that, too.

Yelling, Raven picked up the next heaviest thing – her bag of books – and hurled that. The dragon breathed fire and reduced the books to ashes. Stupid, useless books! She picked up her bedside table – where she got that kind of strength she never knew – and chucked it towards the group. The dragon headbutted it. The bedside table splintered. Not even a shard of wood made it to the group.

And Hoarfrost still hadn't looked Raven's way. Hoarfrost still hadn't stopped her chanting. Still hadn't stopped holding hands with the others. Still hadn't stopped her magic.

So Raven did the next best thing she could think of. She might not have powers, but she still was a Teen Titan. She ran at the group. Her fists would suffice just fine.

The dragon burst into flames and soared in front of her, but she ducked underneath it, dropping into a roll. Pain speared her side. Why did rolling hurt? It shouldn't, even without her powers. She landed in a crouched position, directly next to the group. Directly next to Hoarfrost.

Raven grabbed Hoarfrost's arm. But the magic kept flowing. Now Raven's whole body ached, but especially under her hand. The hand that gripped Hoarfrost.

Hoarfrost's pure white gaze flicked in her direction, her lips turning up in a small smile. "You never could keep your hands off me, could you?"

Hoarfrost's gaze drifted down, Raven's followed. Raven's whole hand had turned white. Her fingers practically glowed. Her breath came out fast, hard, harder than it should.

"Thanks for the extra boost." Hoarfrost leaned in and kissed Raven on the lips.

And Raven relaxed, her energy evaporating. The heat ebbed from her cheeks. Keeling over, her head banged onto the floor. Thankfully, too, as the pain kept her from fainting. Her eyelids fluttered closed, but she forced them open again. She couldn't black out. Not now. Not when the Snatch was almost done.

Damn. Raven couldn't believe her stupidity. Her rash actions helped them! That was how Hoarfrost's powers worked. Of all the stupid things Raven could've done, touching Hoarfrost had to be the worst. But even her anger ebbed away, now. Even her blazing fury.

Raven could just see past Hoarfrost and Orion and into the center of the circle. There the magic glowed into a hot sphere. Hoarfrost pressed her hands forward, the thread snaking around her body pulsed even brighter than before. Brighter than Raven had ever seen. She weakened still. The sun dragon flew back over the sphere and the sphere changed into a claw. Raven's claw. The Snatch would be complete in a few seconds.

And Raven could do nothing about it.

Raven could do nothing to stop them.

She could do nothing at all.

Her eyelids closed.

Darkness.

A crash echoed into her room. Raven winced. A loud noise. Too loud. She didn't want loud noises. She didn't want anything to disturb her from this darkness. She wanted to stay here. It reminded her of her powers too much to leave.

But she couldn't stay.

Raven opened her eyes to chaos.

The circle remained, all four holding tightly to one another, knees still touching. The double circled remained. The chanting grew louder, loud enough to drown out other noise. The magic glowed. But the claw had disappeared, the white hot ebbed and push forward again. The dragon had flown to the ceiling and threw fireballs downward.

One headed straight toward her.

A burst of blue light extinguished the flame. Cyborg's yell filtered through the chanting. But a wave of heat still washed over Raven's form, searing her eyelashes. She blinked the heat away. Cyborg? Raven tilted her head up, that slight movement shoved pain up her neck and the back of her head. Yes, Cyborg stood by her shattered window, crunching over shards of broken glass. He frowned and lifted his gun-arm, powering up once more. Beastboy swooped inside too, twisting as he dropped. A great green cat snarled at her. No, at them. Arms grabbed under her shoulders and dragged her away. The scent of coffee surrounded her. Robin.

"It's okay, Raven, we've got you," he muttered into her ear.

"It's… almost…" Raven couldn't finish her sentence, and Robin's face swam.

"We know. We'll take care of it."

Raven closed her eyes. They would take care of it. They had to. A woman cried out. Raven would recognize that sound anywhere. Starfire. She opened her eyes once more.

Starfire flew down, green eyes glowing, hands balled into fists. It looked like she aimed for the circle, but the sun dragon rose to greet her. It grew as it ascended, its wing tips spanning the room. Raven's eyes widened. Her heart pounded against her chest. She had never seen it so big before. Yet the combined forces of Robin's bomb and Cyborg's laser beam smashed the dragon away. The dragon tumbled to the side and disappeared in a puff of ash and smoke.

Starfire dipped lower. She sent a beam of her green alien powers into the circle. But that wouldn't work. It wouldn't stop them. It would help.

"No." Raven's voice came out as a whisper, too quiet and too late for anyone to hear.

The green surged into the sphere of white, but didn't break it. Instead, the sphere grew. The claw appeared. The Snatching claw. But it shifted, solidifying then turning to smoke. They didn't have enough power anymore.

Raven lifted her hand, the thread connecting her and Hoarfrost still glowed, still drew her powers, still drained her of energy. They had to break it. It would make her claw disappear for good. "Starfire." Her love still attacked the white magic. She cleared her throat and tried again, a little louder this time. "Starfire!"

Starfire ceased her attack and turned. Raven pulled on the thread. Starfire nodded. She threw her powers downward now, straight to the white thread. Starfire's eyes glowed like a green fire blazed behind them.

The thread pulsed, throbbed, yanked Raven sideways. It hurt, like a spike into her palm. The thread writhed now, like a living thing, but it unwound.

Frayed.

Starfire still attacked. Cyborg added his laser, Robin threw another bomb, and when their powers ended, Beastboy sliced it with his claws. The thread snapped.

Broke.

Raven's energy came back in a rush. She stood, calling the darkness to her, calling her powers back. Her darkness returned, slowly at first then quicker, filling her entire being. It hurt, her powers hurt. It longed to be free, longed to be used, pushed against her very skin it seemed. Tingled. Shifted. It wanted to be used by her. And she certainly would meet its demands.

She lifted herself from the ground. Floated up to meet Starfire in the air. They linked hands.

But Raven's anger had returned, too.

Her fury.

She turned to Hoarfrost, expecting to see the circle broken, the magic vanished.

Hoarfrost screamed, her yell filling the air. The claw had returned. At first Raven thought it was hers, but it wasn't black. A pure white claw extended from the sphere.

Hoarfrost glared at Raven and pushed her hands forward. The claw moved fast. Faster than the Teen Titans on the ground. Faster than Raven, even. Too fast for her to react.

But she didn't have to react.

Starfire did first.

SQ: Sorry for the long wait on this one. Life got busy. I'm moving next month so that ToDo list piled too high and tumbled over. I'll be sure to keep updating normally though, so look for the next chapter on August 1st!

Thanks so much for the comments, favorites, and follows thus far! What do you think will happen to Starfire? Will she get 1) Snatched, 2) Kissed, or 3) Punched in the next chapter?