FicWad

In The Shadow Of The Serpent

Chapter One: Memories Of Past Futures

Blackfire sat at the hospital bed watching its occupant. She did not know much about magic, or magic beings, but she had personally experienced Raven's healing touch, and knew that the only person that could help Raven out of her coma would be herself.

She ran her hand through Raven's hair, confident that in her comatose state Raven would not notice. Neither would the other Titans; they had gone home long before, even Beast Boy. Blackfire saw how Beast Boy and Raven got along with one another, and for a moment was struck with jealousy-/what the hells did Raven see in him?/

She sighed, the jealousy disappearing as quickly as it had arisen. Even if Raven wasn't interested in Beast Boy, why would she be interested in Blackfire? As far as Blackfire could see, Raven simply saw in her the potential for friendship, not lo- what Blackfire wanted. Raven just wasn't that sort of girl.

Besides, there were other considerations, Blackfire told herself. /For the last time/, she added.

In a small, nondescript apartment at the other side of the city, Trigon's servant anxiously paced the floor, cursing with every step taken. The plan was simple, and worthy of the honor that Trigon bestows on his finest: find a human dupe and while using it as a smokescreen, find and capture Raven, carry out the will of Trigon. Plain and simple. Many human plans over their entire history, from small bank robberies to large empires, fell apart because they were too damn complicated. And under no circumstances would one of the Damnati sink so low as to make a human's mistakes.

But then again, you could always count on the Titans to complicate matters.

A soft hissing filled the room. Yesss, the Titansss would pay, one way or another...

Unbeknownst to the both of them, they began reminiscing at the same time, trying to remember the sequence of events that had led them to their destinations...

(scene change)

It was less than a day since Blackfire had officially 'joined' the team, much to the surprise and deep suspicion of the Titans, with the exception of Raven, with whom she shared a slight connection. Despite the endorsement of both Raven and a high-ranking Centauri official, she found herself eating her breakfast alone in the room which once belonged to Terra; not a good sign.

Not that Blackfire cared. She hated silence, but if she had to choose between the silence you get when you're alone or the silence you get when you're in a room full of people who don't like you, then it wasn't really a choice at all, was it?

There was a knock at her door. "Blackfire, it's me," Raven said from behind it.

At first, Blackfire hesitated; she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone right now, and as far as she was concerned, if Raven wanted someone to talk to, then she had her Titans, didn't she?

Raven, herbal tea in hand, knocked on the door again, but Blackfire still didn't answer. She didn't know what to do in this sort of situation. Normally it was one of the other Titans who handled all the emotional matters. Raven herself preferred to keep out of things like that.

After she had knocked a third time without any answer, Raven moved to leave when the door slid open. "What do you want?" Blackfire asked harshly. "I mean, I'd like to be alone for a while," she said, her voice softening.

"You seemed pretty alone back at breakfast," Raven said softly.

Blackfire sighed, before continuing, "Look, if you want to come in, go ahead. If you want to talk, go ahead. But I'm not guaranteeing anything."

Raven nodded. "I'm not expecting anything," she said.

As she entered, Blackfire asked, "Why do you bother, anyway? It's not as if you'll win points with your friends by being all buddy-buddy with me."

"No I won't, but I'm not here to win points," Raven said, sipping her tea.

"So why are you here then?"

Raven finished sipping her tea before she continued, "That night we rescued my friends, we didn't just rescue them, we rescued you."

"Huh?"

"You told me you were tired of running, that maybe you were tired of being the bad girl."

"But I like being the bad girl," Blackfire pouted.

"And running?"

Blackfire sighed, "Well, if you're going to put it that way..."

Raven walked closer to Blackfire as she continued, "I'm willing to lose a few points with my friends if it means it would stop you from running anymore."

Blackfire was silent for a moment. "Why does it matter so much to you?"

"Because it matters so much to the rest of my friends."

"Oh really? Funny way they had of showing it!"

"They just don't know you. I know your sister's forgiven you, Cyborg isn't sure, and Robin wants to be wrong about you."

"And how do you know all this? You read their minds?"

"No, but sometimes...sometimes you don't have to."

"...Beast Boy?"

"What?"

"Beast Boy. You talked about how everybody else felt about me, how does he feel?"

"...He doesn't like you."

"AH-HA!" Blackfire said triumphantly. Then her shoulders fell, and she continued, "Look, Raven, I'll try to get along with your little family, if it's that important to you-"

"Yes it is."

"-but it's going to take some time-no, a lot of time."

With her mug in one hand, Raven took Blackfire's hand in her own and said, "As long as you like. Just remember, you're not alone."

"No I don't," Blackfire said, grasping tighter, looking into Raven's eyes, "I've got you, don't I?"

For a few seconds the room was silent. Then someone knocked on the door, and the spell was broken. Blushing and struggling to keep her embarrassment under control, Raven said, "I er...I-I better go and answer that."

"Oh...oh yes, maybe you should," Blackfire said, her face flushed as well.

As Raven strode to the door, Blackfire's mind raced. What the hells just happened? Was she...Raven...her and Raven?

/Well, it would help/, a voice in her head said, and was quickly silenced by the memory that cropped up every time the voice had popped up before.

No, not Raven. As a friend, definitely. But no further.

She would not risk going through what she had to go through again.

She would not risk anyone important to her going through that again.

And she had to admit, Raven had become important to her pretty quickly.

(scene change)

Shift adjusted her burnished copper-red hair in the mirror, tying it up into a long, sleek ponytail. She stood in front of the mirror, her emerald green eyes flashing in its polished surface as she shamelessly admired herself. She put on her usual attire, a black jacket over a simple white T-shirt, along with a pair of form-fitting jeans and snakeskin boots. At least, that was what her clothes would have seemed to the casual observer.

She had arranged transport to America unhindered by annoying post-9/11 security from her London flat half an hour after she received her employer's message. She had intended to make another call immediately after that, but what the hell, she had time to get dressed, and primp herself. She liked mirrors, and was well aware she had a reputation to be ridiculously vain. So what? It was true - a modern girl like her had the looks, and it was only her duty to nature to take care of them.

She picked up the phone and dialed. "Uuh...erh..." the voice on the other end answered.

"Fun night, Legion?" she asked.

"Shift? Thass' you? Ungh..." an English accented voice asked blearily from the other line.

"No, it's the bloody Queen! Of course it's me-who else do you know has this number?"

"Dunno-I might of given it to the ladies sleeping here now, God bless these beautiful little angels," Legion answered jovially.

"I really doubt that, considering they're with you. How many?" Shift asked.

"Five, all serving above and beyond the call of duty, if you know what I mean."

Shift could practically hear the leering sneer in his voice. "Whatever. Look, I've just had a call from someone offering a job."

"Lovely. So what's the catch?"

"Catch?" Shift asked innocently.

"I for one, did not get any bloody call about a bloody job, meaning that you alone got the call. So why not just do it and keep the money? No, there's a catch this job's got that you want me to help undo. What's it?"

"Straight to the point, eh? Right then: my employer wants us to grab one of the Teen Titans."

"Teen Titans? That's like the Junior Justice League, isn't it? No way, Shift, we hunt normal buggers, remember? In fact it's one of the things we're famous for, not hunting the other sort."

"Not even for five million pounds?"

"Sorry, it's tempting, but two and a half million quid's just not-"

"Each."

There was a long thoughtful silence at the other end of the line, before Legion said, "Sorry, could you run that by me again?"

"Five million pounds each, Legion," she said, smiling.

There was another long silence before Legion continued, "Oh, well then, which Titan does our employer want?"

"The one called Raven."

"Raven...Raven...she's the witch, right?"

"Think so."

"Ooh, our boss doesn't half mess about, does he? Right then, when do we leave?"

"I've booked the tickets already. Separate, of course"

"Isn't that nice. Next thing you know, you'll be sleeping with me."

"Like hell. Call me when you get to Yankeeland." Shift said, and hung up.

(scene change)

"What were you two talking about in there anyway?" Beast Boy asked Raven as they walked away from Blackfire's room.

"Nothing much."

"Yeah, sure nothing much," Beast Boy mumbled.

"What's your problem?" Raven asked calmly.

"My problem? My problem is that we've got Blackfire right here in the Tower!"

"I'm not stupid, Beast Boy." Raven said, her voice rising slightly now.

"Raye, she's Blackfire! You know, Blackfire!" he said, wringing his hands in the air.

"So was Terra, and you didn't have any problems with her."

"Hey, when she came on board we didn't know she was working for Slade! But we already know Blackfire's a badguy, and we're still letting her stay? Remember what she did the last time she was here? Huh? Remember?"

"Once more, I'm not stupid."

"You're certainly acting like you are!"

"This is pointless," Raven said, turning to walk away.

Or attempted to. "Hey Raven, wait," Beast Boy said, grasping her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad or anything, it's just that, well, it's very hard for me to trust people these days."

"Even us?" Raven asked.

"Us? Oh yeah, I mean, 'course I trust you guys," Beast Boy said sheepishly, "But, well, Terra, Robin's Red X gig, that time Slade forced Robin to fight us, I mean, it's hard to trust people, you know?"

"I guess you could see it like that," Raven admitted, her ruffled feathers settling back into place.

Beast Boy smiled. "But I do trust you," he said.

"Thanks, I think," Raven said.

"You're welcome," Beast Boy replied. "Er, Raye?"

"Yes?"

"Listen, I got tickets for all of us to see that new Sky Phantom And The Opera Of Tomorrow movie tonight, wanna come along?"

"I'll think about it."

"Sure. Hey, where you going? Aren't you coming back for breakfast?"

"I don't think so. There are a few things I have to meditate on," Raven said, remembering what had happened between her and Blackfire.

"Okay, no problem," Beast Boy said, walking to the rec room.

"Wait, Beast Boy?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get a ticket for Blackfire too?"

"Er, sure."

"Thank you."

As they went in their respective directions, Beast Boy did not know whether to jump in the air, kick his heels together and WOOHOO, or whether he should just start chomping up the carpet now.

On one hand, he had finally convinced Raven to go out on a movie date together with him (he had deliberately asked for seats in three different areas of the cinema: Robin and Starfire sit together, he thought they looked real sweet; Cyborg gets to sit in the middle, best seat in the cinema; and he and Raven sit together).

He slapped his forehead lightly. What was he being so worried about? He'd just book another seat in the middle, next to Cyborg, and Blackfire can sit there.

No problem.

(scene change)

Beast Boy sat grumbling in the cinema, his soft drink and popcorn barely touched through the whole movie. On the screen, the Sky Phantom sang about how terrible it was to be a romantic masked figure who was also an international pilot hero.

Blackfire leaned over. "Hey, Beast Boy, if you don't want your popcorn, can I have it?" she whispered.

"mumblegrumblemumblegrumble."

"Thanks."

"mumblegrumblemumblegrumble."

Beast Boy was not having a good time. He should have known that Raven would be as into this movie as much as Cyborg-he for the sci-fi action sequences and her for the Gothic musical sequences.

Blackfire, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying herself, not just because the movie was actually quite good, but mainly because of the discomfort it was causing Beast Boy. She did not really have anything against him, but he looked so funny when he was annoyed.

Her thoughts were temporarily put on hold as her favorite character, the Evil Mad Doctor sang about how good it was to be the Evil Mad Doctor (It Feels So Good To Be So Bad, Doo-bee-doo-wop-doo-wop-doo-wop).

(scene change)

A briefcase beside her seat, Shift drank her coffee when a Chinese man in a grey trenchcoat walked through the doors of the Starbucks and made a beeline for her table. "Starbucks, it has to be bloody Starbucks," he muttered.

"What's the matter, Legion? Don't like coffee?"

"No, don't like Starbucks. Bloody idiots haven't got half an idea how to make proper coffee."

"Whatever," Shift said, taking another drink. "Must you always look like that?" she asked, pointing to Legion's clothes.

"What?"

"Grey trenchcoat over black sweater, as well as a black pants and boots ensemble you must have swiped from a Nazi surplus store."

"The next time I tread the Paris catwalk I'll be sure to call you for advice, Shift."

Shift laughed.

"I'm glad to see you're so happy," Legion grumbled.

"Aww, poor wittle Wegion, is something wrong?"

"Yes, something's wrong. I just realized we've got a bit of a problem."

"And that is?"

"We don't know anything about this Raven, or those Titans, except what we read in the papers. How are we supposed to deal with them then?"

"Chickening out?"

Legion snorted. "What, chicken out of five million pounds? Not likely. I'm just saying we should be a little cautious-you know, watch them for a bit, see how they operate. Ignorance may be bliss, but I'm not so sure I want to end up dying happy."

"Don't worry," Shift said, pulling out a file from her briefcase. "Here you see something our benefactor sent me."

"Sent you?"

"It arrived the day after I got the call," she added, placing the file on the table, "It has quite a lot of information on our dear little Raven, known strengths and weaknesses, that sort of thing."

"That's not the same as saying we have all the information we need to stay alive, is it?"

"You know Legion, of all the people on Earth, I thought you'd be the one least afraid to...die, is that the right word?"

"Humans are predictable. We aren't. I'm not going to find myself drowning in shit just because you were full of it."

"Attractive imagery aside, I'll admit you're right," Shift agreed. "I suppose you're right-we'll watch the brats for a few days, then make a move. You'll need time to study this anyway," she finished, handing Legion the file.

"I hated school," Legion said, taking it.

"It shows."