A thick sense of discomfort lay heavily on the Titan Tower.

Starfire and Robin had been arguing all week, leaving a trail of cracked tables in their wake. The Boy Wonder had the hazardous tendency of slamming his fist down on nearby objects when he became very agitated.
The latest row between the at-odds lovers was taking place in Starfire's room— an attempt at shielding their teammates from the dispute. The door however was no match for the Tamaranean and masked hero's raised voices, and the shouting reverberated into the living room.

Beastboy sat rigidly, his teeth on edge, mashing down the increase volume button as he stared fixedly at the television. A French chef was explaining the proper way to skin and butcher a pig.

"It's not that way Star, I swear—!"

Cyborg walked into the kitchen, turning on the microwave and dishwasher. He began slamming the fridge door open and shut, open and shut.

"I have spoken to friend Bumblebee and she has explained to me that the most common reason for a man to abandon his—"

Raven created a sphere of black energy around herself to try and block out the noise.

"Nobody's being abandoned Star, this just isn't working—"

There was a shattering crash from the alien's room and the three neutral titans jumped, their nerves frayed.

Raven got up, twitching a little, and walked back to her room. She emerged seconds later in street clothes.

"I'm going out," she muttered, pulling her hoodie up around her head.

"I'm going too!" Beastboy yelped, tumbling off the side of the couch in his rush to leave.

Raven frowned for a moment, then relented. She couldn't blame the changeling for wanting to get out; the feelings inside the tower were nuclear. Beastboy grabbed his own jacket before jogging to catch up to the dark girl, who was waiting in the elevator.

xxxx

They walked in to town together, and for once the sorceress didn't mind the green boy's dumb jokes and outlandish storytelling. It was a welcome change from the bickering and terse conversations that had been common in the Titan Tower lately, and she listened patiently as BB detailed his highly unlikely escapades from dangerous villains.

"So that's when I karate-kicked Mad Mod in the face, and he dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes and started begging me to have mercy…" Beastboy explained, waving his hands around for dramatic emphasis.

Raven rolled her eyes, but internally was amused by the antics. The empath realized how glad she was that she had as upbeat and easygoing a friend as Beastboy— not that she would ever tell him that.

At the corner of Main Street they turned left, and Raven pushed the door open to her favorite bookstore. A bell tinkled somewhere deep in the store, and immense, dusty shelves rose up before them, crammed with books. Beastboy wrinkled his nose and sneezed, rubbing his watering eyes irritably.

"Hey, Rae," he called. "This isn't exactly my idea of a good time."

Raven had already walked back toward the suspense section of the shop, and spotting a novel she had not yet read, picked it up and began to scan the first chapter. She waved to Beastboy to not disturb her, but he hunkered over, coming up behind her shoulder.

"What's that you've got? Is it funny? Is it a comic book? Does this place even sell comic books?" Beastboy looked around scrutinizingly, as if scandalized that a store might not sell comics.

Raven was far too engrossed to respond, becoming more enraptured by the moment. Beastboy heaved a sigh, knowing from past experience that it was a fruitless mission to recall his friend once she had become entangled in the depths of a book.

"I think I'm gonna head over to the arcade down the street," the changeling told her. "We can meet back up there when you get done…reading," Beastboy gagged as if revolted by the notion. He cast one last disparaging look around the musty shop before heading outside to fresher air.

xxxx

Raven spent the better part of the afternoon blazing through the first eight chapters; she had become rooted to her spot, opting instead to lean against the bookshelf behind her rather than find a comfortable place to sit. It was only when the disgruntled clerk came over and asked if she thought this was a free reading library did Raven hurriedly pay for her purchase and leave.

She stepped out into the twilight, book tucked protectively under her arm. Farther down the street she could see the flashing neon sign advertising an arcade, but when the dark titan walked past the storefront she saw that the lights inside were off. Beastboy must have gone home hours ago.

Raven stood there for a moment, contemplating whether to go to her favorite cozy teashop to continue reading, or to head back to the tower.

The sound of muffled shouts and scuffling footsteps caught her attention, and she whipped around to see a dark figure swiftly jumping from roof to roof, chased by two—no, three— pursuers.

Raven's eyes narrowed as she watched the chase move further away. There was evidently something going on, and as a titan it was her responsibility to investigate.

Raven summoned her magic and it swallow her up for a moment, before she emerged as her soulself bird. She pumped her wings and rose up in the air, gaining enough altitude to look down upon the grid of the city below.

It did not take long to spot the chase again, and she sped up, following just behind them. Despite the falling darkness, Raven was now close enough to make out the features of the shadowy runners— that enormous, burly one was definitely Mammoth. The ridiculously pointy pigtails marked Jinx, and the scrawny kid in the Batman getup must be Kyd Wykkyd.

The lanky figure they were chasing paused a moment to turn and throw two slicing, spinning red shuriken into their path.

So Red-X was the one they were after. What were H.I.V.E. members doing chasing him?

At the edge of a warehouse roof Red-X leapt down, disappearing from sight into the alleyway below. The three H.I.V.E.s followed after, hot on his tracks.

Bird-Raven flew level to the roof and transformed back into her physical form, landing lightly on her feet.

So Red-X has ticked off the H.I.V.E. somehow, she thought.

There was no need for her to follow any farther. Her job was to look after law-abiding citizens, not to monitor the disputes between city criminals.

Raven's mind drifted back to the rocky emotional state at the Titan Tower. It was particularly hard for her as a finely-tuned empath, and between Starfire's anguish and Robin's waves of guilt and frustration, it was often too much to handle. Raven wondered if a small act of kindness on her part might somehow help ease the tension that had been growing like thunderclouds; perhaps a hair ornament for Starfire, a book on martial arts for Robin?

A loud crash of something heavy hitting brick stopped short Raven's thoughts, and a large pink explosion from the alleyway cast light on the walls high above. Raven ran to the edge of the warehouse roof, looking down on the scene below her.

Mammoth held Red-X pinned against the alley wall, a beefy hand around his neck in a chokehold. Kyd Wykkyd stood by mutely watching, holding X's utility belt in his hand. Jinx's hands glowed pink, sparking with magic energy that she held dangerously close to the thief's masked face.

"You better tell me where you've hid it, you filthy pickpocket," she hissed.

Red-X gave a weak chuckle, but it was clear that much of his usual bravado had disappeared.

"I can't imagine why you'd assume I was the one who took it, Pinky," X taunted, trying to maintain his swaggering façade.

"Mammoth." Jinx ordered sharply.

Obediently the muscled abhuman reached back his free hand and slammed his fist into Red-X's face. The mask split, some pieces slipping off and clattering to the ground. Blood leaked out from beneath the pieces that remained in place, running down the front of the black suit.

"I think you missed," X muttered.

Mammoth punched him a second time, harder, for good measure. Red-X kept his mouth shut. He didn't have much flesh left that hadn't already been pummeled.

"Not feeling so cocky now, huh?" Jinx smirked. "I'll ask you one more time. After that, we'll take you down to the funeral home so you can pick out a coffin."

Red-X didn't answer. It took too much effort to talk, to breathe. Everything hurt, from his ribs to his back. He wasn't even sure he could stand up straight without Mammoth supporting him with the vicelike grip around his neck.

Jinx's eyes narrowed furiously when she saw X had no intention to respond. She reached out a glowing hand, sending a crackling bolt toward the thief's chest.

"That's enough," a cold voice rang out.

A black shield was thrown up in front of X and the lethal shot bounced off it, ricocheting through the alleyway. The three H.I.V.E. members spun around, shock evident on their faces when they saw a Titan crouched on the ground before them, staring out from the shadow of her hood.

"Raven? What the hell are you doing here?" Jinx demanded incredulously, backing up against the brick wall.

"It's a pain when one of you dies. Too much paperwork," Raven said through gritted teeth, leaping toward the girl and pressing her forearm against the pink witch's windpipe. Jinx clawed at the suffocating arm, eyes wide, until Mammoth came behind Raven and picked her up, throwing her against the back wall. The wind knocked out of her, the sorceress lay gasping for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

Mammoth rushed toward her and she released a series of black energy bolts, momentarily stunning him. Raven pushed herself up from the ground and threw up a shield at the last moment when she sensed a flash of pink magic heading toward her. It deflected off and Raven flew up, concentrating her focus and gathering her energy. She released a powerful beam of energy that blasted back Mammoth and he fell, unconscious, lying in a smoking crater that had been smooth pavement seconds before.

Jinx sent another volley of bolts toward the emapth, and she dived toward the ground to avoid their searing touch. Kyd Wykyyd stealthily snuck up behind Raven, and taking advantage of her current preoccupation, nailed her with a roundhouse kick to the head. Raven went sprawling but caught herself mid-fall, putting a hand against the wall to steady herself.

She was ready for his next attack, and when she sensed him about to strike, she levitated Mammoth's hulking, unconscious form and threw it as hard as she could at the elusive Wykyyd. All 400 pounds of Mammoth crashed onto his teammate, pinning him to the ground.

Jinx prepared to send a jarring blast Raven's way, but upon seeing her two teammates taken down, thought better of it. She cast a glowering look at Raven.

"Another time, Titan," she promised darkly, before leaping up onto the nearby roof and sprinting away.

Raven watched her go, silently grateful she did not have to deal with taking her down right now. She was ready to get back to the tower and have a nice cup of soothing tea.

Raven turned to leave, but stopped when she heard a faint groan behind her. She looked back and saw Red-X lying slumped on the ground, a dark red crust forming around his mask. His breathing was labored and rattling, as if ribs had been broken, and he seemed unable to walk.

Raven hesitated, and she had a brief moment where an image of Robin popped inside her head, giving her a speech about why helping bad guys was the exact thing the Teen Titans were against.

Raven crouched down beside the thief, trying to shift him to a more upright position so that he could breathe better.

"Shit, Sunshine, don't you know that hurts like hell?" X panted, his fists clenching and unclenching in spasms. He leaned his head back against the wall, the pain making his mind swim. Everything was thick and heavy like fog.

"I can't fly you back in this state," Raven said quietly.

Red-X didn't reply; it took him all his energy just to keep conscious.

Raven placed her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes. They both were engulfed in black energy; it swallowed them up, teleporting them away from the torn-up alleyway.

They reappeared in Raven's room, and she released her hold on X to allow him to fall back, unconscious, against her bed.

X

X

Ka-pow! The Action! This chapter took me quite a while to write. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Take care, and please leave any thoughts, comments, critiques. :)