Re-Educating Miss Roth
A Teen Titans Fan Fiction by Jacob McDonald
Opening notes: This is it. The last one. It's been a long trip up to here, but I'm sure you're impatient, so read on, and I'll see you at the end.
Epilog
Four months later.
Ami yawned hugely as she walked down the hallway of the second floor dorms on the WJCIE campus. They'd been rebuilt amazingly fast, as most of the damage had been centralized on the first floor. The contractors had re-plumbed the walls, stood them up straight, and pronounced that the building would stand for another hundred years or so.
It was a Saturday, and it was still early, so no one was up yet except for the red head. She padded along quietly past Hanna and Becka's room, and down the hall, past the common room. She stopped at the second to last door in the hall, just down from the showers, and pushed it open.
Room 204.
The shades were drawn, so it was dim inside, but Ami could make out the form on the far bed just fine. She glanced over at the perfectly made, un-touched bed on the side of the room closer to the door, and frowned lightly. She'd been out all night again, and had probably gone back to her first home with her boyfriend.
Walking across the room, she gave the gently breathing form under the sheets a solid thump with her fist, and giggled when the girl underneath thrashed around for a moment, then sat up, breathing hard.
"Christ, Ami!" Jinx scowled at her, "You could just shake me or something..."
"You sleep like a corpse, Jenny." Ami rolled her eyes, "Come on. It's time to start."
"Okay, okay..." Jinx grumbled as she got up out of bed and glanced over across the room, "Cassie not come back last night?"
"Guess not. She's not out in the common room, so I'm guessing she went back to the Tower."
"Damn... fourth time this week... that girl has got to be the most horny wench on the planet." Ami grinned as Jinx pulled on some loose fitting workout clothes, then stretched a little, "Okay, let's go."
The two of them left the room and headed for the stairwell. They went down, and left the dorms as well, stepping out into the bright morning sunshine, "Mmm..." Ami stretched, "What a perfect day for the ceremony."
"Couldn't really ask for better weather, huh?" Jinx stretched out her calf muscles, then did some trunk rotations, "Two laps around campus today? We don't want to be too worn out this afternoon."
"Yeah, that's cool." Ami nodded, "How was yesterday? Four laps looked like it took a lot out of you."
"Lung capacity is still down. I mean, I'm missing thirty percent of my right lung, so that's not that weird really, but I should be better than I am." Jinx finished stretching as Ami jogged in place. "Alright. Let's go."
Raven opened her eyes slowly as the sunlight hit her face. She winced and brought a hand up to block out the brightness, "Damn... Roy, what are you doing?"
"It's nine." he replied, looking out the window of his room in the Tower and smiling, "You wanted me to get you up."
"Oh... right, the ceremony." Raven sat up and took in her boyfriends lean body. He was wearing only his boxers, which were red with little golden arrows crossed on the right leg. There were several scars covering his legs and back, but she didn't seem to notice them. "Damn. You're hot."
Roy snorted and looked back at her as she stretched. The sheets feel away from her and her bare body was revealed. He arched an eyebrow as he walked over to the bed, "Speak for yourself. I'll never get sick of seeing you naked."
"Hmm..." Raven wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down on top of her. They lay back on the bed and she kissed him, "How about you show me how glad you really are to see me naked?"
Roy grinned and attacked her neck with light nips of his teeth.
As Ami and Jinx did their cool down stretches in the common room of the second floor, the red head spoke up, "You up for a little sparing? I want to see if I've got the new moves you showed me last time down."
"Not today." Jinx smiled at her, "Why don't you get Janice up? I think I'm going to head over to the Tower for a bit more of a hard core workout before I have to sit through Mrs. Cain droning on about our futures and the real world."
"Be nice. She was very accommodating of you and Cassie after the attack."
"She still bores me to tears. And makes me dye my hair blonde." Jinx flipped said blonde locks out of her eyes, "Cassie will be by shortly, I'm sure. Tell her I'll be back on time."
"Like she'd believe that." Ami grinned as Jinx walked to the coffee table and picked up a set of keys that was sitting there.
The key chain had a Jaguar dangling from it.
Becka yawned as she sat up in bed, and looked across the room as she did every morning, to see if Hanna was up yet. She arched an eyebrow.
Hanna was sitting in her bed, legs spread out in front of her, twirling the throwing star Raven had taken out of her shoulder on one finger, and staring up at the ninja sword mounted on the wall above the desk.
"Thinking about killing someone?"
"Yeah. The bastard that got me pregnant. I didn't sleep at all last night." Hanna set the sharp weapon aside and let her hand fall to her slightly rounded belly, "Junior can't kick yet, but boy can he make my life miserable."
"He?" Becka arched an eyebrow.
"Oh!" Hanna climbed out of bed and walked to her dresser. She grabbed an large envelope there and opened it, pulling out some pictures. She sat down on Becka's bed and showed them to her, "Yesterdays ultrasounds. See this?"
"Yeah?" Becka squinted at the picture, "Is that...?"
"That's my little man's growing manhood." Hanna grinned, "I'm gonna' have a little boy."
"Hanna, that's great!" Becka hugged her, "I mean, I would have said the same thing about a girl, but, yeah! That's awesome!"
Hanna just laughed and hugged her friend back.
When Ami got back to her room, she saw Janice was up and reading her e-mail on her laptop. "Anything good?" she asked as she stripped off her sweaty shirt.
Janice didn't even glance away from the screen at her friend taking off her clothes, "Mama sent me a message telling me that her and Daddy would both be here. I guess neither one of them is coming with anyone, so that's a relief at least."
"That's good." Ami pulled on a robe, "My parents will be here too, and my step-mom. I talked to Hanna about this last night..."
"Her parents aren't coming, are they?"
"I guess not. They weren't kidding when they said they were disowning her for sneaking out and getting knocked up."
"But, her sister?"
"She'll be here. That's good, at least. Hanna really loves her."
"Yeah." They lapsed into silence for a moment, then Janice spoke up again, "You think all the Titans will come?"
"Yeah." Ami nodded, "They're Cassie's family, after all."
"What about Jenny? Any family of hers coming?"
"Her 'family' is all locked away in prison right now." Ami grinned, "She didn't seem too broken up about it. 'As long as Vic is there, I'm cool.' Her exact words."
"Heh." Janice stood up and closed her laptop, "Wait up. I'll go with you to the showers."
"I'm not letting you grope me in the shower today." Ami rolled her eyes.
"Just like you weren't going to let me do it yesterday? Or the day before?"
"Well, when you jump in my stall and tackle me, it's kind of hard to have it any other way." Ami sighed, "I don't know why I put up with you sometimes."
"Because I'm so damn cute." Janice grinned and grabbed her shower basket.
"Hey, Jenny! Wait up!" Jinx turned around and saw Maggie jogging across the faculty parking lot towards her. The young woman's brown hair was tied back, still long and straight, but framing her face it looked a hundred times different. She wore no glasses, having switched to contacts, and her blue eyes sparkled as she grinned. "Going to the Tower?"
"Yeah." Jinx nodded, "Just to work out for a bit."
"Not to see Cyborg?" Maggie nudged her with an elbow.
"Maybe." Jinx grinned.
"Heh." The brown haired girl kicked at the ground, and inspected the leg of her flare bottom jeans, "Mind if I hop a ride into town?"
"I'm not suppose to take other students off campus." Jinx shook her head, "It's one of the only reasons Cain let's me keep the car in the first place."
"Aw! It's the last day of the year, Jen! You took Hanna with you yesterday!"
"I took Hanna to the doctor, where she had ultrasounds for her baby." Jinx rolled her eyes, "You and Greg getting frisky? I can take you too if you want."
Maggie giggled and blushed, "We haven't gone that far yet."
"Yet. I like that." Jinx winked, "You should."
Maggie rolled her own eyes at that, then grabbed the blonde's arm, "Come on, Jen. I need a quote from a particular book, and I know just the store to get it at."
"Maggie, this school has one of the best libraries in the state. Are you telling me that you can't find this book there?"
"Well, I could. But you have a flippin' sweet car."
Jinx grinned and hit the unlock button on her key chain remote. Three cars down, a sleek black Jaguar made a quick BL-BLEEP! and the headlights flashed. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? Come on."
The two girls gigged and walked briskly to the car.
At 9:48, Hanna and Becka emerged from their room, chatting about boys names.
"What's wrong with Garfield?" Hanna asked.
"It's your boyfriends name. And it sounds silly."
"He's not my boyfriend. And it does not."
"You've been out on like, seven dates now. He's your boyfriend. And it does too."
"I'll agree with Becka." Raven said from the couch in the common room, "Gar's name isn't suitable for anyone other than green pranksters and fat cats."
The two girls stopped and stared at the spread of food laid out on the coffee table. Raven grinned back at them and motioned at the watermelon slices, and the bagels with plenty of almond cream cheese, "Eh?"
Hanna darted forward and grabbed a slice of melon, "You're my favorite hero, ever."
"Almond cream cheese again?" Becka made a face, "Did you bring anything that's not Hanna-pregnancy-craving food?"
Raven held up a bag of food, "I picked up McMeaty's on the way over."
"Sweet." Becka grinned, snatched the bag away. She plopped down on the sofa next to the Titan, who was dressed in jeans and a dark blue baby-tee.
"So," Hanna said between bites of melon, "You get laid last night?"
"We were beat last night, actually." Raven shook her head with a smile. "We had a train-jacking, then a robbery at the Point Noir Gallery. We were cleaning up and filing reports until almost 3:00 am."
"So you had sex this morning then?" Becka asked with a mouthful of breakfast sandwich.
Raven blushed and her two friends cracked up.
Ami smiled and rolled her shoulders as the hot water washed over her. Ever since she and Jinx had both been hurt so badly, they had been recovering together. It was a miracle Jinx was even anywhere near as well as she was, considering the extent of her injuries, but Ami felt that she herself was doing pretty good too.
Her smile slipped a little as she thought of all the faces she wasn't going to see at the graduation ceremony that day, and of all the friends she was going to miss. As she and her friends headed off to collage, their lives were going to get far more complicated, and carrying the kind of baggage they were now, things were going to be all that much more difficult.
She outright frowned as she thought of difficulty. The most difficult thing in her life right now was in fact her own best friend. Janice had been pretty broken up over her parents divorce, then over all the lives she failed to save the day of the attack. The two of them had spent a lot of time together over the past few months, first while she herself was in recovery, then later, talking things out and becoming closer than ever.
The difficult part came in when Ami found herself craving more and more time with her roommate. Ever since she had found out Janice was gay, she'd always been a little self conscious about changing in the same room as her, but now she almost felt like she was intentionally putting on a show just to tease her. And Janice's trips to her shower stall had started to become more frequent, which would have made her freak out in past years.
Now she found herself anticipating and enjoying each encounter more and more.
What was going on with her? She didn't seem to be attracted to any other girls, and boys still made her hot and bothered, but Janice... seemed different. They knew almost everything about each other, and she really loved the girl with all her heart.
Her thoughts were interrupted as cool air washed across her back. She started to turn with a grin as the door to her shower stall opened, but didn't get all the way around before a giggling Janice slid in and plowed into her. Ami lost her footing, and the two of them slipped and fell to the floor with a grunt from both of them.
"Damnit, Jan!" Ami winced as she felt the stinging in her back.
"Oh damn! Ami! Are you okay? Did you hurt your ribs again?" she slid her hands down her friends sides, "Does that hurt?" Ami knew it was just a brief medical exam, but suddenly Janice's hands were driving her wild, "Here..." Janice helped her sit up and squatted over her. She ran the tips of her fingers down Ami's spine and leaned close to her, concern written on her face, "Tell me when I hit the sore spot."
Ami's half lidded eyes fixed on Janice's lips and watched them move as the southern girl said, "Ami? Are you okay? Did you hit your head?"
"Janice..." she murmured, and reached up with her own hands, taking her friends face with her fingers, "Come here..." and she pulled Janice down and kissed her.
Janice's eyes flew wide open and she pulled away, "Ami! You must have hit your head harder than I thought! I-"
"Shut up, Jan." Ami grabbed her and pulled her down so their wet bodies were pressed together under the hot shower spray. She crushed her mouth to her roommates, and held on tightly. Janice moaned a little, then gave in and deepened the kiss, letting her hands trail back up Ami's sides and around her front, teasing her nipples, then tangling in her hair. Ami loosened her hold, and Janice pulled back, letting one hand drop down between them.
As she snaked her fingers between Ami's legs, the red head gasped into her mouth, then moved down to kiss her neck. Licking the dripping water from Janice's pale skin, she moaned, "Don't... fucking... stop..."
After dropping Maggie off at the bookstore she wanted to browse and making sure she had enough money to get a cab back to the school, Jinx continued on her drive to the Tower. The mid-morning traffic was heavy in Jump on Saturdays, so it was a lot of stop and go. Jinx just rolled down the windows and blasted Bon Jovi through the killer system Cyborg had insisted be installed in the Jag.
"Your looove is like bad medicine!" Jinx howled along with the song as she drove towards the intersection of Main and Tower drive, where she would take a left and head to the bay, "Bad medicine is what I need! Whoa oh oh! Shake it up! Just like bad medicine! There aint no doctor that can cure my disease!"
As she made it up to the intersection, a shadow fell across the street in front of her and she slammed on her breaks, jerking forward in her seat. A moment later, the hulking for of Adonis slammed into the pavement, and the young man inside the powered suit groaned. Jinx blinked, then leaned out the window, looking up into the sky.
Troia flew down at a rapid pace and slammed a fist into the jock-wannabe's chest plate, then jumped back and smiled as he tried to sit up again.
"Just stay down." the beautiful black haired Titan winked, "You don't need me to emasculate you anymore in front of noon-day traffic, do you?"
"You little bitch!" Adonis struggled to sit up, but found he was stuck in the small crater he'd been pounded into when Troia had hit him. "I'm gonna get you! I'm gonna-"
Troia reached out and ripped the crotch out of his body armor.
Adonis whimpered and his eyes filled with tears, "I think I'd like to go to jail now."
"That's more like it. Strip." Troia pointed at him, and he started disengaging his armor.
Jinx whistled out a low note, "Damn, Donna. You keep your men on a short leash don't you?"
"I'm ashamed to admit it." the dark haired woman walked over to the Jag, "How've you been? I haven't seen you in a few weeks."
"End of semester exams and stuff. I think I scraped by, but it's gonna be a close thing with all the make up work I had to do after being in the hospital for so long."
"I can't wait to see you in your robes this afternoon." Donna looked over at the skinny form of Adonis as he pulled himself out of the suit and dropped to the ground. Looking frightened of the almost six foot tall woman in the starry black body suit. "I've gotta get this guy booked and jailed. See ya later, Jenny."
"Yeah... hey, you know any good ways to get to the Tower from here? You just trashed the intersection."
Donna blinked and looked back at the ruined road, and the traffic backing up in all four directions, "Oops."
Hanna laughed out loud as Raven talked, "So then Robin says, 'I'm sorry Starfire, but he has to go.' It could have been that Silkie had eaten several holes in the tower, or that he was a seven hundred pound larva, but I personally think it was because the worm had tried to eat his cape."
Becka and Hanna howled with laughter, and Raven smirked. Oh the sweet, sweet revenge for all those years of merciless training and cold hearted determination to keep his team working hard. Robin's exploits would be laid bare to all her friends from now until doomsday.
As they calmed down and continued to eat bagels and watermelon, they heard the door to the showers open, then close. A flushed looking Ami staggered past them, clutching her bathrobe tight about her neck. She spared the three girls a glance, then her face turned so red it practically matched her hair. She rushed the rest of the way to her room, and slammed the door behind her.
"Um... what the hell was that about?" Becka looked over at Raven, whose eyes were wide. She was looking down the hall the way Ami had come from, as Janice slowly walked into view, looking thoughtful, happy, and scared shitless all at the same time.
"Seven hells..." Raven whispered, and locked eyes with the southern girl, "Did you... I mean... holy fuck Jan."
"Uh..." Janice smiled weakly, "Ah think ah'd best go tahk ta' Aymae. We... uh..." Janice shut her mouth, blushed, and hurried after her roommate. The door to their room opened, then slammed again.
Hanna blinked, then looked at Raven, "Please tell me they didn't just have sex in the shower room."
Raven frowned at her, "You two might want to avoid the wet stalls when you take your showers today."
Hanna and Becka both paled, looked at each other, then grinned, "Finally." they said in unison.
Jinx walked into the living room of Titans Tower and blinked when she saw Beast Boy and Cyborg playing Dance Dance Revolution. Every step Cy took shook the Tower, and Beast Boy kept shifting into various animals with different numbers of legs to keep up with the high tempo of the game.
"What's 'a matter, Green Geans?" Cyborg grinned, "My titanium butt too fast for ya'?"
Beast Boy became himself again and kept dancing, "Yeah right! You're gonna' eat those words when you see my octopus style!"
"You guys are such dorks." Jinx commented.
Both continued to dance, and Cyborg called over his shoulder, "But we're cute dorks who kick major bad guy ass. You remember that, don't you?"
"Oh, that was just cold." Jinx grinned, "I'm gonna be in the gym. See ya."
"Later!" they both called, and Jinx shook her head as she walked to the elevator and waited for it to come. When the doors opened, she looked up to see Starfire standing inside, dressed in cut off jeans and a skimpy tank top. Her feet were clad in flip flops, and her hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Jinx arched an eyebrow.
"Hello, Jennifer!" Starfire smiled and held up a basket she was holding, "I am going to tend to the flowers about the island! Would you care to join me in my botanical venture?"
"Uh..." Jinx stepped on to the elevator and grinned, "Sorry Kori, but my thumbs are about as green as the sky."
"But the sky is blue."
"So it is." Jinx smiled wider.
Starfire blinked at her, "Please... Garfield's thumbs are green... would he be better suited to assist me in my gardening?"
"Uh... no, Kori. Having a green thumb means to be good at taking care of plants. It's just an expression."
"Oh!" Starfire smiled brightly, "I have never heard that particular colloquialism before! I will have to enter it into my list of Earth expressions once I return to my room!"
Jinx grinned weakly, "You do that."
Janice stood with her back to the door of the room she shared with Ami, staring at the red head, who was sitting at the desk brushing out her shoulder length hair. The southern girl was panting from the quick sprint, but her breathing evened out by the time Ami had pulled her hair back into a pony tail and started looking for her clothes.
"Ami... I-"
"I don't want to talk about it." Ami didn't even look at her.
"Hey now... it's not like I raped you or something. You made the first move."
"I did." Ami glanced at her, then looked away quickly, "And it's confusing the fuck out of me right now, and I don't want to talk about it."
Janice was silent, and continued to watch her best friend pull on her clothes for a few moments. As Ami finished adjusting her black t-shirt, she sighed. "Look... I... this doesn't change anything between us." Janice's eyes went a little wide as Ami smiled over at her weakly, "You're still my best friend in the world, and you're still gonna' be my roommate next year at collage. It's just... I have to explore this a little on my own for now. My feelings for you... run deeper than just friends, Jan. They have for months now. But... I have to decide if I'm ready for a physical relationship with you or not."
Janice smiled back and nodded, "I understand. I've been where you are now, trust me." she stepped forward and touched Ami's arm, "But just so you know... it was great sex."
Ami outright grinned at that, "What can I say? I'm a good lay."
"Why don't you just chill in here for a little while, and I'll do damage control with the other girls. I'm the gay one here after all."
"So you still don't think I'm gay?"
"Maybe bi, but not gay."
"Heh." Ami shook her head, "Okay. Just... let me think on this for a bit. I'm... sorry I made a move on you without being sure."
"It's okay, Ami..." Janice hugged her, "You just need to figure things out in your own time."
"Yeah."
"Just don't take forever."
Ami giggled.
Jinx jumped high and slashed a foot across one of the robotic training dummies head's. The poor android went down in a shower of sparks. She landed and spun around low, hurling a handful of throwing stars out in a fan, hitting seven targets that popped up. All bulls-eyes.
As another three dummies came in, Jinx exploded forward in a burst of pink energy, and when she landed past them, they simply fell apart. Grinning, she spun around again and pulled a throwing knife from her belt, chucking it at another target that popped up.
A bird-a-rang knocked her dagger from the air.
She stood up and saw Robin walking across the training room, grinning like an idiot, "Hey." He extended his bo staff, "You want to work out doing something other than throwing little pointy objects and breaking rather expensive battle dummies?"
Jinx waked to the wall and pulled down a staff of her own. Turning to him, she grinned, "Bring it on... bitch." Without another word, she charged in and gave a downward chop at him. Robin blocked it and swept for her legs. Jinx jumped, stuck her staff down and vaulted over him, coming down with a spinning of the pole, making the Boy Wonder back off.
He came back at her a moment later with a vicious series of jabs and hard swings, all of which she blocked fairly well. As he spun in at her right side, she blocked his staff with hers, both hands firmly bracing for the impact. It was too late that she saw he had switched to a one handed swing, and she completely missed the block on the hard right he threw into her jaw.
As his fist impacted, Jinx flew off her feet and landed on her back. Not letting him press his advantage, she spun her legs and staff around in a whirl of deadly strikes, and Robin backed off once again. Coming up to her feet, Jinx lunged back in, waves of pink energy ripping up the floor around her opponent.
Robin jumped up and came down with a hard chop at her head. Jinx blocked it, but his staff broke right through hers. Not to be outdone, she dropped her staff parts and punched with a glowing pink fist as he landed . She smashed through his staff and slugged him right in the face. Robin stumbled but stayed standing.
Jinx flew in at him again, but this time she knew she'd have to pull out all the stops if she was going to win. With the staffs there was only so much you could do. Hand to hand though, she knew he was still better than her.
Her open handed strike was blocked easily, and her returned it with a quick jab to her gut. She had expected it though, and took the hit on purpose so she could flip around and slam her boot across his jaw. Robin tumbled out of the fall it threw him into, and came back at her faster than she had anticipated. Still, she was ready and grabbed him in mid-leap, falling back and pitching him to the mats once again. She rolled out of the fall, jumped and twirled around in mid-air, and fell on him with a punch.
Robin moved his head to the side, and her fist pounded the mats. She pulled back her right hand for another punch, her left one pushing down on his chest to hold him. His right hand darted out of sight behind his cape and she paused, locked with a sudden anxiety.
As her fist made it back to full height, she started down at Robin with wide eyes. He lay on the floor, pinned by her left hand, with a large handgun held in both of his, pointed directly at her forehead.
"Take the gun from me, Jinx." he whispered. Jinx panted and sweat formed on her brow, "Come on, girl... four months ago you wouldn't have even let me draw it. You saw me reach for it Jenny, now take the damn gun from me!" he shouted the last bit, and Jinx jerked away from him. Getting up, she staggered away, one hand over her face, and the other held out to him in a pleading gesture to make him stop.
Robin slowly got to his feet and tucked the gun away behind his cape again. Jinx was leaned against the wall of the training room, breathing heavily, and her walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Talk to me, Jenny."
She was silent for a few minutes, then spoke, "I... I have nightmares. Gun shots, and..." she looked up at him with tear soaked pink eyes, "I'm... scared. For the first time in a long time... I'm scared."
Robin narrowed his eyes, "Scared of guns... or scared of dying?"
Jinx shook her head and remained silent. Robin sighed and stepped back from her, "Jenny, you have a good reason. You took four hollow point rounds." he pointed at her chest and his eyes narrowed down to slits, "You took one to the heart. That's as good a reason as I've ever heard to quit this life style."
"I don't know if I can... I..."
"Look, Jenny..." Robin's voice dipped a bit, and it was deeper, "If you want to know if I think you've lost your edge, or if I think you shouldn't be doing this, or if I wouldn't put my life in your hands..." she looked up at him with wide eyes, "The answer to all those questions would be no. You have the talent, you have the power, and you have the bravery... you just need the confidence. I have that confidence in you, Jinx. You just need to have it in yourself." Robin held out his hand to her, and in it was a shiny new Titan communicator.
Jinx stared at it for a long time, then looked away. "I... I'd get someone hurt, or worse... I'd freeze up, and..." she looked him in the eye for a moment, "I'm sorry, Dick. I can't be a Titan."
As she looked away and rushed out of the room, Robin lowered his hand and stood in silence for several minutes.
Hanna, Becka, and Raven all looked up as Janice emerged from her and Ami's room and walked slowly into the common area. She sat down in a chair that faced all of her friends, and smiled at them. "Good morning."
"A very good morning for you." Becka winked.
Janice blushed a little, and spoke up, "Just so you all know... it's the first time it's happened. It... Ami needs time to think about this."
"Did you like-" Hanna started.
"She made the first move." Janice blurted out, then covered her mouth with a blush. After a moment, she lowered her hands, "Look... I don't want to go into detail or anything here. Ami's confused. She doesn't know what to make of all the new feelings she's having and she doesn't know how to adjust to the fact that she might like boys and girls."
"The same thing I imagine you went through a few years ago." Raven spoke up for the first time. Janice smiled at her in a grateful manner.
"Yeah. I want to help her with it... but I think I should do it alone. Please?"
Hanna and Becka looked at each other, then nodded and looked back at Janice, "Okay." Becka said, "But if you need any thing at all..."
"I know who to turn to. Thanks guys."
"Okay then." Raven stood up, "The ceremony starts at 2:00. Time to get around you two." she nodded to Becka and Hanna, "And you and Ami should eat before you do anything else." Raven motioned to the food laid out on the coffee table. "Where's Jenny?"
"At the Tower." Ami said from the hallway. All eyes turned to her, and she blushed, "What?"
"Nothing." Becka smiled at her, then turned to Hanna, "Let's shower."
"Sure. But no hanky panky." Hanna shook a finger at her, "I'm already pregnant."
"You guys..." Ami whined.
"Oh alright." Becka walked past her and gave her a brief hug, "What ever happens, Ami, you're always our friend."
Hanna kissed her cheek, "Definitely."
Ami blushed and nodded her thanks to them as they walked to their room. Turning back to Raven, she saw the dark haired Titan looking at her with a smirk and an arched eyebrow, "What?"
"So is Janice actually any good?"
"Shut the hell up, Cassie." Janice blushed and looked at Ami.
Ami was blushing too, but she just smiled, "Yeah, actually, she is."
Raven nodded, "I've always wondered. Her accent's freakin' cute, huh?"
"It's the little things that make me love her." Ami flounced into the room and sat next to Janice on the arm of the chair.
"I can't believe you guys..."
"What's the point in hiding your feelings from someone who can sense them anyway?" Ami asked, poking her.
Janice nodded and reached for one of the breakfast sandwiches Becka hadn't eaten, "Good point I guess."
Raven smiled at the two of them, then stood up, "I have to finish some stuff for the ceremony. You two okay to get ready without me nagging you?"
"Yes mother..." they said in unison and both of them rolled their eyes. Raven smirked and walked off to her room.
At 1:09 pm, Jinx opened the door to her room in the dorms and stepped in. She was rather lost in thought, and when she looked up, she caught her breath.
Raven stood in the center of the room, inspecting herself in the full length mirror the two of them had. She wore long black graduation robes, and had just finished putting her cap on. Her black hair was combed out nicely, and framed her face in just the right way. A hint of dark makeup even showed around her eyes and on her lips.
"Oh my God... Cassie you look wonderful..." Jinx stepped into the room and walked around Raven, grinning wider by the second.
"Thanks. You're late getting back."
"I had some stuff to think about." Jinx opened the closet and pulled out her robes. Laying them out on the bed, she started pulling out a long black dress and a white blouse to wear under them.
Raven watched her for a moment, then said, "Did Robin ask you?"
Jinx paused, then pulled off her shirt and started on her pants, "Yeah."
"And?"
"I said no."
Raven was silent for another moment, then looked away from her not-sister, "I'm sorry. I thought it would be a good time."
"It'll never be a good time, Raven." Jinx looked up at her with slightly red eyes. She shook her head, "Even since I was shot, I just... I can't do it."
Raven nodded, "I understand. And I support you in what ever decision you make from here on out."
Jinx grinned, "Except going back to being a super villain."
"Yes, Jenny. Except going back to being a super villain."
"Heh." Jinx laughed a little, "You ready?"
"I'm ready." Raven nodded to the robes as Jinx finished dressing, "Get those on, and let's go."
The graduation ceremony took place in the large open field in the back campus. A large stage was set up with numerous chairs in front of it for the students, and bleachers on either side for the guests that were attending.
The Titans sat to the right of the stage, along with Janice's parents, Ami's parents, Hanna's sister, and Becka's mother and brother. The Senator himself was seated on the stage along with several other distinguished guests. Starfire and Troia were engaged in conversation with Hanna's sister, while Speedy and Robin chatted quietly to each other. Cyborg and Beast Boy kept cracking jokes at each other, keeping everyone around them entertained.
Everyone quieted as Principal Cain started the ceremony. She spoke for several minutes (as Jinx had feared) about the future, and the resposibility many of the students would be facing in a short time. She then proceeded to read off the names of the students who had died in the attack on the school, and everyone observed a moment of silence for them.
After the moment was passed, she spoke with a bit more life to her voice, "And now, the classes valedictorian, Margaret Delmont."
Maggie grinned as she climbed the step to the stage and arranged her note cards. She launched into her speech, recounting various events that had marked the classes four years at the school, and finished with a line that sent everyone cheering,
"As the Rolling Stones said, 'You can't always get what you want... but if you try sometimes, you just might find... you get what you need.'"
As the cheering died down, Maggie grinned wider than anyone had ever seen her grin and spoke into the microphone, "It gives me great pleasure to 2005's Class elected speaker... Raven Cassandra Roth."
The students cheered, shouted and stamped their feet as Raven stood up and walked up the steps. At the podium she shared a brief hug with Maggie, then stepped up to the microphone and smiled out at the student body.
"Good afternoon." she started, "As Maggie said, I'm Raven Roth. Most of you know me as Cassie... and that makes my heart warm. It's been great to be here, and I'm honored that Principal Cain and the School Governors decided to let myself and my sister stay on to the end of term." There was a brief round of applause, and Raven stepped back for a moment. After collecting her thoughts, she stepped back up to the podium and continued.
"Before I came here... before I even joined the Titans... I'd had extensive training, and I was taught to control my powers by some of the most dedicated people in existence. After I joined the Titans, the State required those of us that didn't already have them to study and receive at least a GED. So upon coming here to WJCIE, I already had all the education I needed.
"I'm nineteen now. Just a year or two older than most of you, but it seems like a lot longer than that, simply because of the kind of work I do, and have done since I was fourteen. Even still, coming here, I've felt like all of you are my peers. My equals... and I love that. When I came here, it was for a mission of protection, but what it turned out to be wasn't an education... but a re-education. Where my first instructors taught me control and perseverance, all of you taught me to let go and give in now and then. Where my studies to get my GED taught me knowledge, this school taught me how to interact with people my own age. Where my time with the Titans taught me about family... all of you have taught me about friendship, and how important it truly is.
"These lessons I had to learn, all of you have learned as well... a thousand times better than I ever could. The things you've learned here will serve you well in the world outside these walls, weather you're going to collage, or following a different path, you're well prepared for what life has to offer you. So I'm sure you all join me in thanking those that have helped us to learn the things we have. Our teachers," Raven looked over her shoulder at Mrs. Cain and Ms. Veerlin, who were seated behind her on the stage, "our family," her eyes drifted over to the Titans, who all grinned wide and nodded to her, "and of course... most importantly... our friends." Raven's eyes found Jinx in the crowd and they smiled at each other for a moment before the dark haired Titan took in Ami, Janice, Hanna and Becka, all of whom were grinning like idiots.
"So we're done." Raven addressed the crowd of students at large, "As we head off, we remember the most important lesson off all. Through trials and tribulations, successes and failures, triumphs and defeats... through the good and the bad, and through hard times and easy ones..." Raven's violet eyes softened, and she spoke quietly to the completely silent students, "Follow your heart." Her eyes locked with Speedy's and he smiled in a loving manner and nodded to her.
Raven's face was split by a grin and she turned back to the class, "Congradulations, Class of 2005. And thank you."
The students and the bleachers exploded into cheers and clapping, and Raven blushed lightly as she stepped down from the podium.
After Mrs. Cain had awarded the diplomas, she stepped back up to the microphone. "Family, friends and distinguished guests, I present to you the West Jump City Institute for Education's graduating Class of 2005!"
Cheers erupted and graduation caps were tossed up into the air. The students all crowded together, cheering, crying, laughing and celebrating. In the middle of the sea of black robes, Hanna, Becka, Janice, Ami, Jinx, Raven and Maggie all clutched to each other in a group hug, happy to be together. As a nervous looking Ginger Hamilton stepped past them with a smile, Hanna reached out and dragged her into the hug as well. Becka, in the middle of all of them, spoke up, "Congratulations guys! We did it!"
"And tonight, we party!" Jinx shouted.
"Hell yeah!" Ami returned.
"We are not going out and getting wasted tonight!" Raven shouted to be heard over the cheering all around them.
"You're no fun!" Becka laughed at her.
"You're all going to be the death of me!" Raven grinned, "Forget sludge monsters and one eyed megalomaniacs!"
"So... who's up for collage next year? We can do this again!" Maggie had tears running down her face she was so happy.
"Just, you know... without the getting shot at bit." Hanna winked at her, and they all laughed.
As the crowd started to break up, Raven grabbed Jinx by the arm and dragged her into a hug, "Thanks, Jenny."
"For what?" Jinx pulled back and smiled at her.
"For being exactly what I needed... for coming in to my life right when I needed you."
Jinx's pink eyes went soft, and she hugged Raven tightly, "Anything for my sister... anything."
"You two coming?" Ami called to them as they started to walk away, "After this meet and greet thing we're going back to the dorms for an all floor party!"
Jinx and Raven looked at each other and laughed, "Yeah, we're coming." Jinx jogged to catch up to the group and Raven lingered for a moment. She started at the girls she'd come to regard as such good friends, and wondered at how all of their lives were going to evolve from now on. So much was up in the air right now. There was only one thing she knew for sure.
She would always be there for all of them.
"Cassie! Come on!" Hanna called to her.
Raven blinked and smiled, "I'm coming!" and she dashed off to join her friends.
Fin
Closing notes: Whew! What a trip, eh? I had to end it on an up note... it seemed mean not to. Still, I left a lot of open room at the end of this story, and you know what that means!
Sequel time!
Now mind you it might be a little while. I have no ideas for a major plot line, no new characters to throw in, and nothing in the way of plans to resolve any of the issues I've tossed into the mix in the last chapter and in this Epilog. And there's some doozies too. Janice and Ami's relationship, Becka and Chad breaking up, Hanna's baby, Raven balancing her Titan life with that of her new friends lives, Jinx's refusal of the Titan membership, Troia's new life with the Titans, Speedy and Raven's evolving relationship, and the issue of the League of Assassins being royally pissed at the Titans.
So there's really tons of material I could use, just no plot yet. I'll work on it, but in the mean time, expect to see Jump City Symphony breaking out soon! I'm newly energized on it, and I can't wait to get going with the first post!
So thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who read and reviewed Re-Educating Miss Roth. You've made me feel like a great author, despite how many of you have called me evil and cruel, or threatened me with bodily harm for all the cliff hangers and abuse of poor, poor Hanna. That just shows me how much you love the story.
Which, of course, means I'll keep doing it. :)
-Jacob McDonald