Are you quite excited? Because I definatly am.
Thanks for all the undiscovered reveiws. They were great. Special thanks to Shadow, because your was so long and helpful. Man it took me a long time to find the title for this. But I like it. I've got an un-thing going on. I didn't want to call it undiscovered 2, because that would be so very uncreative. And this title makes sense. Last story, raven and Jared as a couple were undiscovered, and in this story things are...not... announced. Uh, you'll read this in like a year when I'm finished the story and this paragraph makes sense.
This story takes place three long months after Raven left the Tower and the Titans, and at the moment she is still in Jump City.
I hope You like it, and if you don't...Deal with it.
Here we go, another story, I think I was fast.
Raven Roth
It was strange, that I lived alone, free from four other noisy super teens all couped up in a T-shaped tower, yet now was the time I would be kept up by other people.
I sat cross legged on my twin size bed, the only even slightly luxurious piece of furniture I owned now, and tried to meditate as the song blasting across from the speakers next door wound down to an end.
Some naive part of me hoped this would be the last song, after all, it was 1 o'clock in the morning. But it didn't come as much of a surprise when the speakers crackled and a I heard the sound of processed piano chords start up.
All I ever wanted was to just see you smiling, all I ever wanted was too make you mine.
Piano chords and a voice by themselves were just fine, but then of course, the synth had to start up, turning the song from slow and empty, to club music, in a couple of seconds.
Oh goody.
I growled darkly, trying to find my center. It wasn't like I needed to meditate lately, as I had expected, being by myself, at least when Jared wasn't here, was peaceful and relaxing. A breath of much needed fresh air and space. But when I did decide I wanted some time inside my head, for a change, I was now used to being undisturbed. But now I couldn't tap into my soul, it was lost among the loud beats. I stormed over to the window and slid it up, scowling as the cracked white paint flecked off some more.
Turns out the money that the government owed me was not as much as I thought, so it made sense to ration it since I had no job. The mayor had obviously not been expecting me to leave. They had no accounts, no money for us, and that would have stayed that way if not for, regrettably, Bruce Wayne calling up and putting on a scary voice . So now, They owed me, but it wasn't like they were making much. Taxes were all going to health care and education, and it wasn't like I could take that away. Most likely, I wouldn't see my money for several years. That didn't excuse the fact this apartment made Jared's look like a mansion.
Everything was chipped, everything was stained, and when I had gotten here, the closet-sized bathroom had a mold problem.
"OI!" I shouted over the drop to the next buildings window, where all the noise was coming from. Nothing. Just the glow of light and occasionally someone walking, or half-dancing, past. Hissing in frustration, I picked up the green scrubbing brush off the metal sink and chucked it at their window. I could go down and get it in the morning, or levitate it back up. A young man in black appeared there and slid his own window up, making the music even louder.
"What?!" He yelled across the gap, his expression annoyed, as a blond woman appeared at his side, his arm encircling his waist.
"Turn the music down!" I yelled, but the man just laughed, the woman echoing along with him. I growled, and narrowed my eyes.
Inwardly my emotions were screaming instructions at me, most determined to teach him a lesson, but not timid, who wanted to close the window and hide under our bedcovers.
The man shook his head, and put a hand to his window to slide it back down. His annoyance was nothing compared to mine.
"Hey!" I hissed, but I knew he couldn't hear me. My anger was mounting in a way it hadn't for a long time. My life in this flat was tranquil, and this idiot was ruining it.
"I SAID TURN THE FUCKING MUSIC DOWN!" I cried out finally. I lost too much of my control, and I heard a deafening explosion and loud cracks. The man jumped out of view and the woman stared blankly, shocked, at something to the left.
I hastily shut my own window and lent against my wall, eyes wide and panting. I had blown up his speakers.
Hmmn, that hasn't happened in a while Knowledge mused. Irritated, I pushed down all the thoughts, at the same time, pushing myself to my feet, though slid the window back down and closed the shutters.
I knew exactly why it had happened, therefore I didn't need to listen to logic and knowledge tell me over and over again what the problem was. I knew I was a little edgy because any moment I was expecting Jared to show up with two tickets to Australia and my passport in hand.
After all, it had been three months since he had broached the subject with me, and since he was unpredictable, I didn't expect much notice. He wasn't exactly the most considerate man, and it wasn't like I had any plans for him to disrupt.
"That was interesting." Jared commented, smirking, from a darkened corner of my room. Thank Azar I was used to this by now, for outwardly I showed no sign of shock. My heart skipped a beat in my chest. I narrowed my eyes and sat down gracefully on the edge of my bed.
"This was cute when I was with the Titans. You might have even called it romantic. But now there's no need for sneaking around and hiding in the corner of the room, its just creepy." I replied in monotone, trying to lead us away from the subject of me blowing things up.
"I wouldn't want life to get boring for you." He shrugged, stepping forward in to the light of my lamp, running his hand through his child-like messy black hair. He used to have blue streaks in it, but it had long since faded out. His gray eyes were lit up with amusement as he looked me over.
"What are you doing here Jared? Its one in the morning, I could have been asleep." I sighed.
He sat down next to me. He was dressed in jeans and a jacket, nothing special or particuly suspicious.
"I had a feeling. Its not like I watch you sleep or anything."
"I can only hope that's true." I muttered, as he lent up against me. I had last seen him today, with Lela and her new partner Jenny, but I found myself never getting tired of his presence. I needed contact. I needed him.
"You could read my mind if you really wanted to know."
"I don't want to know what's in your mind." I said half truthfully. "I would have to slap you." On one hand, knowing what Jared was thinking would be…intriguing, yet on the other, it would most likely be mainly disgusting, sexual thoughts. Jared face spread out into a grin, lighting up the darkness of the night.
"A part of you likes it." He pointed out, wrapping his arm low around my waist. I reluctantly lent in to him.
"Shut it. You still haven't told me what your doing here." I said suspiciously. A late night 'shopping' spree perhaps? I hoped not.
It was a hard thing to try and stop him being Red-X. It was such a huge part of him, I had the feeling he couldn't keep the two identities separate anymore. Sure, he had moved on from things that would get the titans called to either things that were too petty, or too secret. I hoped it was the first, because secret usually meant very bad. I couldn't outright ask him to stop, I had no idea how much money he had, or how much he needed to get his brother. The private detective he had hired to find him in the first place must have cost him thousands.
I was scared of him changing as a person, but I would have no problem with the suit being shoved into the back of his closet.
It worked in my favor that Jared was feeling immense guilt every time money, the titans, my apartment, or my job was brought up. I could feel it empathetically.
I was working part-time as a shop assistant a couple times a week, and when Jared couldn't baby-sit the twins, I did, but that brought in only enough for food and rent. Since Jared still felt like I had somehow left the titans for him, he felt like it was his fault I had no money.
Funny how the situations had reversed, and now he was the one with the bigger house, and more money and resources. That was why he wasn't telling me when he had a Red-X job. He felt like he was betraying me by making his own income.
"I was just in the neighborhood." he smiled, kissing me on the forehead and then leaning his against mine. I hated and loved it when he did this. It was wonderful being so close, our breath mingling and feeling the energy between us, lips almost touching but not quite, but he was usually doing it to shut me up, and I knew it.
Still, this time, like most others, it worked, and I closed my mouth, letting myself just be, though my eyes were narrowed.
I had been doing a lot of it lately, and discovered it was good for you.
Keeping up training had been a must, so, for the first time, I had joined a gym. It had nothing on the personal one at the T-tower and was extremely expensive, but it got the job done. Even honorary titans had to stay in shape. And Robin would never forgive me If I gained a muffin top.
Starfire had stayed over the week after I left, since she had missed me so bad. It had been one of the longest nights in my life, but strangely…it had been alright.
She wasn't as loud as I thought she would have been, but the excitable vibes coming off her were enough. We had watched disgusting chick flics, and she had attempted to make popcorn and the faulty wires had caught fire. The whole builing had to be emptied, but some of the firefighters had recognised Starfire and taken my word for it that I had put the fire out, and would get the electrics fixed. Overall embarassing and I got too many curious looks from the other tenants, so it wouldn't be an exercise I would likely repeat for a while.
"What was the real reason you came over here Jared?" I asked gently after a few minutes of sitting with him, foreheads touching, and just being. Physical contact that was based on love and not lust always calmed me down and made me more mellow and pleasant to talk with.
Maybe that was his intention, because he grimaced and pulled something out from his pocket, and if it weren't for the dark, I would have noticed it sooner. Unrolling the magazine, he handed it to me. My eyes blurred as I struggled to read the words in the darkness, and Jared sighed and leant back.
"It was at Tommy's place, its his girlfriends. It just came out today, I guessed you hadn't seen it yet." he said almost regretfully. I glanced down to see the cover of Jump woman's weekly, more importantly, the picture of Robin on the cover, walking somewhere alone, head down and focusing look on his face.
The huge title splashed across it read Trouble in paradise, flight of the Raven.
I had expected them to catch on quicker than this, but it was a blow all the same to see it written. I didn't want to read this right now. I pushed it back across the bed to Jared, who was watching me cautiously.
"I don't want to read it. We know the truth, I don't care what they think I'm doing." I replied to his unasked question. He nodded and rolled it back up.
"Probably the best decision." he agreed, moving back over to me, his arm coming back around my waist.
He had slowly gotten better at not trying to jump me every time we were alone together, possible because we were alone together so often these days. With nowhere to go and barley anything to do when I wasn't working, so much of my time was spent with him. And I found myself feeling the opposite of bored, even though, down on paper, being with the titans seemed more exciting.
In reality, the titans had bored me, and sitting in the dark with Jared felt like heaven. Tentatively I leant my head on his shoulder. He breathed out and rubbed my arm. It was one AM, but this didn't seem a strange thing to be doing at the time.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Yes." I replied, feeling my eyelids start to droop in such a comfortable position. But lying down on the bed would be inviting trouble. He had gotten better, but that didn't mean he had stopped by any stretch of the imagination. Not according to the many times he had stayed the night.
"Still no regrets?" Jared asked.
"None" I said truthfully. I had needed this. I had known for sure the moment I had moved in to this disgusting, tiny flat that this was the path I was supposed to be on.
The hard sound of something vibrating on wood broke me out of my trance state back to life. Jared groaned as I jumped up, searching for the source. The sound seemed so….familiar. I pinpointed the sound, and pulled open the drawer it was coming from, to reveal a notebook, my meditation mirror, and of course, my lonely, now underused Titans communicator.
Jared was at my side in a moment, while inwardly my heart sped up and the feelings of tiredness evaporated with adrenalin. They said they would only call me on the communicator in case of an emergency. And the moment Robin's lips formed the words, I was already doubting that he would. I had figured pride would stand in his way. My blood ran cold at the thought of what was going on.
I snatched the vibrating disk out of the draw, shut it with my hip, hearing the squeaky runners protest, and flipped the communicator open, seeing Cyborg's familiar face pop up on the screen. I was calmed by the fact his face wasn't stricken, and he looked calm enough. The background was dark, and poorly lit, though what looked like leaves could be seen in the background.
"What is it?" Jared demanded irritably, either not understanding or not caring about the situation. It was most likely the latter, since he was always expecting the titans to try and snatch me back at some point.
Cyborg's face tightened slightly at the sound of Jared's voice, momentarily distracted by the thought of him in my room at one in the morning.
"Emergency at Pine Hill camp site." He ground out, and I cocked an eyebrow. A campsite? Who would want to kill, maim, or steal from people in a campsite? Cyborg noticed my look. "Murakami High school camping trip, attacked by hive, helped by a few others."
"That still doesn't sound like an emergency." Jared muttered at the same moment I said "I'll be there in ten minutes." with a stern look at him, as I snapped it shut again, hastily shoving it into the pocket of my navy track pants.
High school students always complicated things, and I understood why I was called in for backup. Their was always one dramatic girl who would scream something like 'he's got a gun' or 'he just injected me with a syringefull of DRUGS" that would cause every other kid to panic. I glanced around the small room, looking for my shoes, which had managed to get lost, even though this room was like a big closet with a bed, sink and oven in it. I settled on a pair of canvas shoes and stuffed my feet into them, trying to gauge the distance between here and Pine Hill in my mind. Taking the car would mean a longer time to get there, but teleporting all the way to Pine Hill would very likely deplete my energy seriously, and I wasn't exactly sure what we would be facing there.
"I'm coming with you." Jared said, as he watched me stumble ungracefully around bad tempered as I tied my laces and grabbed the keys to my car.
I didn't have the patience to disagree with him, so I just let him follow me out.
So, this was my first mission as an Honorary Titan, though that wasn't strictly true. I was more like an understudy, since I doubted every other HT was getting called out tonight. I hadn't seen the titans in a while. It was so difficult to find time, even though I was extremly underbooked. Jared slid into the seat beside me, once again upset that I wouldn't let him drive my Camero. In all truth I thought he was jelous, until I got another good look at his Moto Bike.
"I think I should take the wheel this time." He commented. I clicked my seatbelt in.
"No. You'll do something reckless like only driving on the two front tires." I muttered in all honesty.
"Scared?" he provoked me further, leaning back and stretching. I had no idea how he was going to help without the Red-X suit, but I supposed he could at least beat Gizmo into submission.
"Of tonight ending in a police chase? Yes." I responded, taking a corner sharply.
"But you drive like a nana."
I floured it just to prove him wrong, and flew down the high way, headed for Pine Hill camp site. So far all the streets were quiet and empty, like a ghost town. The moon was crescent, the stars all out, shinning brightly in the absence of city lights.
"Pretty" Jared commented, smirking.
"Idiot." I muttered, taking the turn off into the camp site, looking for signs of life. Up ahead I could see a bright light and hear the hum of movement that was getting louder. I pulled over. "We should get out here." I muttered. "It might get dented."
Jared chuckled but got out, sprinting ahead. I followed, trying to stick to the darkened uneven road and trying not to trip, at the same time keeping up with him. Jared was fast, and I could tell he was slowing down for me. My skin prickled at every movement in the trees, not because I was scared, but because every hooting owl could be Jinx. I owed her for the time she singed my hair many months ago. I didn't need light to lead me, the hum identified itself as yelling.
A terrified girl ran out of the scrub, holding a small torch to light the way. She jumped when She saw us, and let out a little yelp. I noted she was wearing a short pink silk nightgown, and was barefoot. She stared for a few seconds, like a deer caught in the headlights, before I grabbed Jared's wrist and pulled him in the direction she came from.
There was no time to take pity and stop.
It was like being hit with a bat. One second we were pushing our way past tree branches towards the noise, and the next we were blinded by the flood lights over the field and deafened by the shrieks of people running from cabins. Neither of us stopped in shock, Jared ran one way and I was already sprinting across the field, making a beeline for jinx. Her pink hair stood out easily across the field. I had told Cyborg that just because they were together, it didn't mean I was going to go easy.
I had to dodge teens in PJ's running in all directions, away from the violent fight between mammoth and Beastboy. None of this made any sense. Why was this even happening? Why were they here? I tried to watch them, to see what they were aiming at, edging towards, but nothing made any sense.
"Jinx!" I roared, lifting my arm up to attack, feeling magic fuel and spike up as I aimed for her back, but I was grabbed from behind by Kyd Wicked's magic, pulling me onto the damp grass, energy wrapped around my ankle. I tried to fight back, but before I knew it he had my arms restrained behind my back. Narrowing my eyes, I used my free leg to high kick him in what I thought was his groin, but you couldn't really tell with the bat cape he was wearing. I heard a grunt, and the strength of his magic depleted, and I used my own to override it. But then I was blinded by a jolt of fuchsia and I found I had a sudden strong head splitting migraine. I flipped over onto my stomach and through hazy eyes I saw Jinx's boots, and when I looked up with a groan I saw her standing over me.
I felt Kyd's black magic take me again, from the ankles, sneaking up and encasing me to my thighs, moving upwards. I understood why Jared always said my energy always felt cold to him when we teleported, this foreign magic felt like icy water submerging me.
"Jinx!" I hissed groggily, the headache still going strong as I struggled physically to free myself. Kyd was silent. I wondered if he knew about Cyborg, and what would happen if I mentioned it.
"Yes Raven?" She asked innocently.
Bitch! Desire screamed. Let rage out! She urged me. My whole body was effectively paralyzed on the camp ground field, and I could still hear screaming. The nearest titan I could see was Beastboy, but he was fighting with Mammoth under the glow of the flood light, effectively damaging the side of one Cabin that I was surprised was still standing.
I moaned as my head throbbed at the noise. I suddenly felt very drowsy. Vaguely I wondered if Kyd was doing this. I didn't want to go to sleep, I didn't want to think about where I would wake up if I did.
And then I felt my alertness return and the foreign magic disappear from my body at the same time I head a loud moan. Kyd's body landed lightly next to mine, his body shapeless under his cloak.
"Magic isn't everything." Jared smugly said from above me.
"My hero." I muttered sarcasticly, though in all truth I was grateful, as I shoved myself back up on my feet hastily. Jinx was a foot away, and had just realized her team mate had been taken out and that now it was two on one in my favor.
"Azarath Metrion Zynthos!" I shouted without missing a beat, trapping her in a shield. "Go help Beastboy." I told Jared, who frowned, but followed my command. I had no idea what he was going to do up against mammoth without his red-X suit, but my attention was quickly diverted.
To my left I heard ear-piercing shrieks, and saw a flash of orange, and smelt burning wood. A cabin to my far left was on fire thanks to Gizmo, embers falling from the air around it, as people fled.
Great.
It seemed their only aim was to cause as much destruction as possible.
"What the hell?" I shouted at Jinx, who smiled that unhinged grin and remained silent.
Suddenly I was surrounded by panicking teenagers in pj's, the shrubbery and trees around the border of the cabins making this all the more harder as people tried to dodge and run at the same time, seriously harming my focus. A girl ran past me, blond hair flying behind her. I had to do something to slow them down, they were gonna hurt themselves more.
"Azarath metrion zynthos!" I yelled, aiming more energy from my other hand at the biggest group of people. A black glistening shield rose up and encased the teens, causing more screams, but at least keeping them safe and still.
"TERRA!" a girl shrieked, and the blond girl who had managed to avoid my shield looked around to her friend. Even in the dark I saw her blue eyes widen, and I also saw that she wasn't paying attention to where she was running. She smashed headlong into the thick trunk of a tree, and was immediately stepped on by others running.
Damnmit.
I had to go check on her, their might be injuries. Kyd was back up, ready to attack again, so I used this moment to let Jinx out of her prison. Robin was close, I could hear him shouting something at Cyborg, let him take care of it. Stepping carefully over tree roots, I hurried over to the girl. She was just pushing herself up, groaning and shaking her head, twigs and leaves tangled into her blond hair. I knelt down, and offered her a hand. I wasn't usually this helpful, maybe I was in a good mood.
Even in this dark light I recognized that face.
"Raven?" Terra asked in astonishment, dusting off her teddy pajama shorts, eyes wide like saucers.
"Oh Azar" I uttered, staring back, stunned, but inwardly moaning in denial. She remembered. My good mood instantly disapeared.
Straight into it. Yes, This is all in the plan. What a tangled web I weave.
REVEIW FOOLS.