The Titans Tower was quiet first thing in the morning as the sun rose and splashed bright colors across the water's surface. Outside, a cold, February wind was blowing as Raven made her herbal tea. As she started making her toast, the most unexpected person walked sleepily into the room.
"Morning Rae." Beast boy said, yawning.
"Don't call me Rae." she responded automatically. After a moment she added. "What are you doing up so early? Your never up before 9."
Beast boy stretched and grabbed some orange juice out fo the fridge and a glass out of the cupboard. "I have some things to do. I thought I would get an early start on them."
"Oh." She took her tea and sat at the table with her toast. Eating quietly, she watched as he made some of his tofu eggs. Then he surprised her by filling her tea pot with water and patiently waited for it to warm up. He reached into the cupboard where he kept his nonperishable veggie food, that Cyborg knew nothing about, and retrieved a box of green tea.
He hummed softly as he poured the water into a cup and let the tea bag steep for a few minutes before taking his eggs and cup and sitting at the table across from Raven and started eating.
"Since when do you drink tea?" She asked curiously.
Beast boy gave her one of his smiles. "Since I had some of yours. I didn't quiet like it so I tried something different. I like the green tea the most."
Raven raised an eyebrow. "Really? And when did you have my tea?"
He laughed slightly at her expression. "A while ago. Few months maybe." "How come you never drink it in the presences of the others?" she inquired.
"Full of questions this morning are we?" he laughed when she frowned. "I better head out." He brought his dishes to the sink and washed them quickly before grabbing a jacket and heading out the door.
Raven frowned and sat back in her chair. 'Ever since he turned 17, he's been more mature and mysterious than me. Plus he wants me to call him Garfield now.' Now that she thought about it, he had been getting up earlier for the past few months. She sat pondering this for a few minuets before heading for the roof to meditate.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
"Raven?"
She cringed and set down on her feet gently before turning to Starfire who stood in the stairwell doorway. "Yes Kory?" Ever since they had gotten closer, Starfire had indulged into Raven what her real name was and encouraged her to use her nickname when they weren't in the presence of others.
"Robin wishes to know where Beast boy has gone. He says that there is to be a meeting this morning." She replied.
Raven sighed. "I'm not sure, he left this morning."
"Thank you Raven." She turned to leave and Raven followed her down the stairs where Robin and Cyborg sat, eating breakfast.
"So what's this meeting were supposed to have?" she asked as Star sat down and started eating as well.
Robin cleaned up his spot as he finished. "Starfire wants to have a Valentines day party. I wanted everyone's input on it."
Raven shrugged. "You guys know I'm not up for parties."
"Please Raven?" Starfire begged, giving her puppy dog eyes.
"I'm not saying don't have it, I'm saying don't expect me to stick around for it." She said, leaning against the counter.
"Will you help us decorate?" Star asked.
Raven sighed. "Fine. But I think it's all a hoax. Just another holiday for the greeting card industry."
Starfire hugged her friend. "Yay!"
Raven pushed Star away. "That's enough Star. So when are you going to have it?" She asked Robin.
"Were thinking the day before Valentines day. So that people who are going out can come and go out too." his voice lowered considerably at the end.
Raven raised an eyebrow. "So, taking Star out to someplace nice?" she asked. Robin and Starfire had been dating for the past few months.
He blushed. "Yeah."
Starfire, who had been off in her own world, grabbed Raven's hand and started pulling her along. "Come, we must go shopping for decorations."
"Wait Star! I want to change. If you didn't notice in your brief introduction to the morning, it was freezing out." Raven slipped away from the alien and quickly went to change. Upon entering her room, she grabbed the only other clothing in her possession besides her cloaks. She changed and glanced in the mirror. Starfire had convinced her to buy the long black sleeve shirt and tight black jeans she now wore. Grabbing a hoodie (that star also convinced her to buy) she headed back for the living room.
Upon entering, she walked over to an overly excited Starfire. "Are you ready to go now?" Raven nodded, glancing at the boys who were staring at her new outfit. The two walked off, leaving the boys to start the guest list.
As they walked around the mall gathering streamers, balloons and other assortment of party items, they spotted beast boy looking a bulletin board near a flower shop.
"Hello Beast boy." Starfire said as they approached him.
He turned, slightly startled. "Oh hey guys." he eyed Raven. "Nice outfit Rae."
"Don't call me Rae." she muttered. "But thanks." a small blush crept up her cheeks as he continued to eye her before looking back at Starfire.
"So what are you guys doing here?" he asked.
"We are going to have a party the day before Valentines Day." Starfire exclaimed excitedly.
"In a week? Cool, count me in. Anything I can help you with?" he asked, smiling.
"Snacks would be helpful. That way we wouldn't have to go to the grocery store." Raven replied.
"Alright then. I just have a few things to finish up here but I'll go right after." he replied.
"Alright then. Raven and I must go and find a dress for the party!" Starfire said, grabbing Raven's hand.
"Wait, what! I never agreed to any of this! Kory! I am not wearing a dress!" Ravens voice trailed off as Star continued to pull her along.
Beast boy chuckled lightly before turning back to the board and taking a slip off a paper attached to it.
Cyborg stretched and yawned. "Hey man, I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back in a while." he said to Robin who nodded and continued to watch tv.
Walking down the street into the park, Cyborg was kicking a rock while thinking. 'It's not fair, Robin has Starfire and whether they like it or not, Raven and BB are closer than they'll admit. Where does that leave me?' he thought. "Alone, always alone." he said out loud.
"Your not alone." Startled he looked up at the voice he knew well. "Jinx." he jumped to his feet. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Sit down you big bucket of bolts. I'm not here to fight." she said, sitting on the bench with her eyes closed.
Cautiously, he sat next to her. "What are you doing here?"
She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Well, ever since you got rid of Brother blood... I've decided to quit with the evil thing. I like my powers and using them, but what's the use of doing it anymore? I haven't gained anything from it really."
Cyborg nodded. "So where ya staying now?"
Jinx shrugged. "Gizmo and Mammoth are in the new base that the remaining HIVE members built but I don't want to stay." "Maybe, you could stay with us?" Cyborg asked, hoping.
"With the Teen Dorks?" she laughed. "I've changed but I don't think I've changed that much."
Cyborg nodded and looked up at the darkening sky. A silence passed between them for a few minuets before Jinx spoke in a low voice.
"Cy?"
He glanced over at her to see her eyes filled with tears. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm sorry." she whispered before hugging him.
Startled, he rubbed her back. "Shh, what are you sorry for?" "I just am. I never wanted to grow up like this. I lost my parents when I was younger so I never grew up knowing what was right and what was wrong. I never wanted to be like this. Brother blood... he came to me, saying he could help me control my powers." she continued to sob.
Cyborg hugged her. "It's alright. People make mistakes but we learn from them. Come back with me to the Tower and I'm sure the others will let you stay until you have some place else to go."
Jinx nodded and got up with Cyborg. She wiped away the crystal tears that stained her face. "I haven't cried in a long time." she whispered as they walked back.
Cyborg smiled. "You remind me of Raven, never one to cry." he laughed as she shook her head with a small smile on her face. Slipping her small hand into his larger one, they continued on back.
Raven and Starfire returned to the tower to find Robin sitting at the table alone. "Where's Cyborg and Beast Boy?" Raven asked.
"BB's in his room and Cy's been gone for a while now." Robin replied, getting up and examining the bags Star and Raven had set on the table. "Nice. BB brought in the snacks and stuff. He even bought pepperoni."
Raven shrugged. "Must have figured Cy would be mad if he didn't get some form of meat."
As if on cue, Cyborg walked in with Jinx by his side. Before Robin could say anything, he held up his hand. "Jinx is a good guy now. Well, more like a normal citizen at the moment but be nice."
Robin nodded. "How are you Jinx? You look a little tired."
She nodded. "Trying to stay away from the remaining HIVE members is tiring work." she backed away slightly as Robin neared them. When he saw this, he stopped.
"Which brings me to my question. Can we give her a spare bedroom? Just for a while?" Cyborg asked.
Robin glanced at Starfire and Raven who both nodded. "Sure. Why don't you give her the one near your room? That way she has someone close by that she can trust." he gave Cyborg a small wink as they headed for the hallway that led to the rooms.
"I'm going to bed." Raven said, heading for her room.
"Goodnight Raven!" Starfire called to her retreating back who waved.
"You can stay here." Cyborg said, opening the door to a plainly decorated room.
"Thanks Cy. For everything." she said, standing on her tippy toes and kissing his cheek.
"Uh... Ni...night Jinx." he stammered, face slightly red as the door shut.
Raven walked down the hall to her room. However, before she entered it, she spotted a single red rose laying before her door. She glanced down the hallway, making sure Cyborg wasn't going to appear out of nowhere and picked it up. Her eyes drifted to the small piece of paper that was connected to the flower by a dark purple ribbon. Looking at it closely, she saw the words written beautifully in calligraphy.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Yeahit's corny,
Butit's for you.
Your Secret Admirer
She reread the note a few more times before just staring at the rose. She heard the 'clunk, clunk, clunk' of Cyborg's mechanic feet coming from the once silent hall. She quickly went into her room and waited for him to pass before moving across her room to a small vase that she had received from Starfire a few years earlier.
Filling it up with water from her small fridge that she got afterlockingherself in herroom for a week without anything to drink. She took the ribbon off the rose and set the card on her desk next to the rose that was now in the vase. The whole time she was thinking about who gave it to her and who her 'secret admirer' was. Not getting anywhere, she sighed, changed into her night outfit, and curled up under her covers. 'It's only one rose. What can come of it?' with that last thought, she drifted off into sleep.
AN: Alright, a few different notes here.
(1) I don't know Jinx's past so I made it up and she is OOC like most of them are. Wheres the fun if it's not OOC every now and then.
(2) I'm not going to be working on RH too much. I'm havinga bit of trouble writing it even though I know what I want to write about it, I just can't. Creative juices ain't flowin for it but I promise that I will finish it. I'll work on it while I'm doing this one.
(3) Depending on the feedback, will I finish this. It's going to be about 7 or 8 chapters long so let me know what you think. I want to get it done before Valentines day.
Thank you, and as always, RR please.
Hoshi