Story: To Love A Raven (all chapters)

She wandered around aimlessly, feet echoing hollowly on the pavement of the city. Her mind was a jumble, she was dazed, confused. Things she thought she knew and things she did flew in and out, slipping between her fingers like water.

The people she passed were faceless to her, the mumblings of their thoughts buzzing meekly in her mind. Their thoughts intruded on her on to the point where she didn't know if their thoughts were actually her own and vice versa.

She wore a long black trench coat and beneath them her wings itched, cramped. For too long they had been confined in their hiding. She remembered (or did she? She had no way to be certain the memories were actually hers.) when she first came near the city that she was uncertain as to the human's reactions to her wings. They could be so unpredict-able at times.

But now she no longer cared. The point at which their thoughts invaded her mind had left her nothing to follow but her instinct. And her instinct told her to leave, flee this place for fear of her very sanity.

So she climbed the fire escape of the tallest building she could find. She climbed to the top, where the wind even in this city was strong enough to lift her. Off went her jacket, tossed carelessly over the side of the building. She watched it float idly to the pavement numbly. It felt as though the jacket had meant something to her at one point but could no longer remember exactly what it was she felt.

Free at last, her wings spread open with a flurry, stretching gratefully far beyond her head. She could feel wind pressing around her, promising freedom and peace in its caress.

She jumped.

Her wings opened, singing loudly, happily, content to be free and flying where they belonged. The wind howled and rushed past her ears, a familiar and comforting sound.

Then, people began to notice her. Their thoughts became alarmed, frightened and as one more person focused their attention on her the more damage it did. There were too many, far too many for her to escape.

Safety. I must find… Safety.

She flew away as fast as she could, careening dangerously close to buildings. Within her mind, chaos built, threatening to reign over her, a cruel dictator. Every second she spent flying was spent struggling to retain her sanity, her self-identity.

Slowly, very slowly, their thoughts began to fade and she was able to regain some control over her mind. The damage had been done and it would be a little while before she was at full strength. It isn't too bad, some part of her thought. I just need time to rest.

She was aware of flying over water for several miles. She wasn't sure of the direction she flew in, or how long she flew exactly. She knew that when she came over land she crashed into it gratefully, even though it caused her a huge amount of physical pain.

Tired, exhausted and suffering from pain of both her mind and her body, she welcomed darkness when it came to claim her.

Raven was deep in meditation when she felt … something. It felt like pain, a plea for help maybe. One purple opened slowly, closed again and she returned to meditating; perhaps it was nothing. A few short moments later she felt it again. A twinge or something… not right.

This time, she focused on the source of this telepathic shock. Carefully, of course. If she could find the source it could surely find her. She followed the telepathic trail outside the Titan Tower near the edge of the island until she found its source. Outside the Tower, just on the edge of the island partially hidden by bushes lay something that appeared to be human. Well. Except for the wings. She couldn’t see much else about the person because the wings we huge and hide them completely.

Go away!

Something forced her mind back and away with such force that it left her mind reeling. “I have to tell Robin.” she mumbled to herself.

“Titans!” As though summoned, Robin’s voice blared incessantly over the intercom. “The sensors have picked up an unknown being on the island. Let’s move!”

Raven sighed inwardly. Irritating or not, he was still their leader.

Her mind went back to the person lying amidst the bushes. She was certain that altercation just a few moments before wasn’t an attack. It almost seemed as though it was an automatic reaction of sorts, a reflex. For the brief few seconds their minds connected she felt confusion from the being and pain, lots of pain.

She met her other teammates just outside the Tower. Robin was waiting, body language telling her he was impatient. Cyborg was checking his scanners, brows furrowed as he swung his arm this way and that. Beast Boy had morphed into the form of a blood hound and was sniffing through the grass; his green skin made it almost impossible to pick him out.

“Robin,” the sorceress began. “I know what we’re looking for-”

“I’ve got a signal!” Cyborg bellowed excitedly. “Whatever it is, it isn’t human. It’s just east of here.” They all moved as though they were one in the direction the metallic man pointed.

She sighed inwardly again. Not needing Cyborg’s direction she moved ahead of the group purposefully. She knew exactly where this being was.

There. The bushes she saw in her mind popped up in her field of vision quickly and a little beyond them she saw an arm splayed awkwardly. Cautiously she approached, spreading the branches a little to peer through them. Tangled and sprawled in the grass was a decidedly feminine body. Covering most of it was a pair of wings that slowly rose and fell; she was still alive.

“Over here. I’ve found her.” She didn’t raise her voice. She never raised her voice. Raising her voice was usually a very bad sign. Still, the others were able to hear her over Cyborg’s loud rambling and soon a green blood hound came bounding through the grass.

“Whoa.” he said, morphing back to his human form.

“Is she still breathing?” Robin asked.

“Yeah.” Raven studied the limp form on the ground carefully. Her wings seemed to have a reflective property; she almost had to squint in order to look at her. Interesting. “We need to bring her back to the Tower. She needs help.”

Robin was silent for a moment. “Can you touch her mind, Raven? We don’t know if she’s an ally or an enemy and I’d like to know which she is before we bring her in.”

Touch her mind? It wasn’t something she liked to do with unconscious people. Invading someone’s mind was like going into their room, going through all their stuff, reading all their diaries and then selling it on Ebay for a few pennies. He does have a point. “All right.”

She knelt close to the form on the ground and gently reached out to her with her mind.

Almost immediately she was sucked into the other woman’s mind. Normally everyone, even non-telepaths, had some sort of defense against being invaded. This woman had none though the blue caped woman could tell there used to be some sort of defense. It was as though someone had torn it all down, left her vulnerable. All that remained was a raw nerve, painfully acute and sensitive.

All around her swirled confusion and pain. She was disoriented, lost… and very pissed off. “My name is Raven. I’m not here to cause you harm.” She said quickly. Very quickly. No sense in giving a pissed off alien time to attack. “My friends and I are trying to help you. You’re hurt, we need to bring you to our home so we can.”

Before her an image of the other woman formed. Her wings were thrown back, exposing a muscular, slender body. Deep blue eyes stared at her, filled with pain. “I need to be alone.” Her red lips didn’t move but Raven could still hear her voice. “Their thoughts hurt me. I don’t sense any from you.” The last had a curious feeling to it.

“I shield my thoughts, even though none of my friends are telepathic. I can shield you from theirs as well, but only for a little while. Will you let us help you?”

The other woman nodded barely. “My name is Raelin and… Thank you.” Then, Raven felt herself being pushed gently from Raelin’s mind. When she opened her eyes, the others were staring back at her expectantly.

“She’ll let us help her.” She busied herself with readying a spell for Raelin between words. Black energy gently swathed over the resting alien, lifting her slowly. "She's been through some kind of trauma. Thoughts are very painful for her so I'm shielding your thoughts from her. "I'll let you guys take care of her physical injuries. I'm going to need as much strength as I can get to keep the spell going."

They hurried back to the Tower as quickly as they could. Raven's spell kept the alien from being jostled so she didn't have to worry about agitating her wounds. Although Raven had some healing abilities and could have probably taken care of some of her less serious injuries the current spell required all of her concentration. If the island was suddenly swamped with hundreds of thousands of people (even though it wasn't exactly big enough hold that many people) not even the merest whisper of a thought would break through her barrier.

When they reached the Tower she helped them hook her up to the diagnostic machines but beyond that she did nothing. She stayed in a corner, meditating on maintaining the spell. Blips and bleeps and Cyborg's loud voice rang in her head, floating easily over her thoughts.

Something poked her shoulder.

… And again. "Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen…" Beast Boy.

He poked her again. "Raven, yo, you in there?"

"What?" Agitation lined her voice. She hated being interrupted while she was meditating, especially by Beast Boy.

The green changeling hopped back a step. "Uh, she's stable for now. Since you’re the one that talked to her, we figured you’d know what to do.” He looked down at her hopefully.

Raven found herself cursing her short stature. Though it didn’t really bother her most of the time she really didn’t like being looked down on. "Bring her to my room. I have spells set up that block thoughts from entering so my meditation isn't interrupted." She said adding emphasis and giving the green man a pointed look. "That's about all we can do for her."

Once again she lifted the sleeping woman with her magic. Although nothing could pass mentally through the barrier that didn't prevent what the alien was feeling from being sent out. It surprised her how much better she looked and from what she felt she was feeling much better too. Does she heal faster than humans? There will be plenty of time for questions later.

Taking her normal position in the rear she say Beast Boy look over his shoulder several times. "Hey Robin, where's Starfire?"

Their fearless leader's ears started to turn pink. "She's uh… sleeping…"

Cyborg snickered. "Yeah, sure. Y'know, your hair looks a little ruffled."

"And your uniform is wrinkly!" the young changeling chimed in again.

Raven tuned out most of their ribbing but she knew it continued; Robin's ears were the color of cherries by the time they reached the sorceress's room. Cyborg and Beast Boy looked like they would collapse from laughing at any moment. If the fate of the world didn't rest on her controlling her emotions she might have joined in with them.

Raelin floated into her room silently followed closely by Raven. Until Robin stopped her. "Raven, are you sure you want her in there with you?" We still don't know if she's an enemy." He looked ridiculous. Cyborg's and Beast Boy's taunting had made him insecure about his appearance. Where he had been clean and pristine before, now his uniform and hair were completely ruffled and his ears were still a bright shade of red as though they had been pinched relentlessly.

The blue caped woman nodded. "I trust her." As soon as the words left her mouth she knew they were true though she couldn't explain why she felt that way. She barely had a few sentences with the woman, after all. "Besides," she added with a small smirk, "Starfire's probably missing you by now."

Her door closed on the other men's uproarious laughter and Robin's ears looking like they were going to burn off his face. Snickering a little despite herself she put the sleeping alien in her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Her wings made her look huge on her tiny bed; Raven hoped it was big enough.

She rummaged around for some extra pillows and arranged them in what she hoped would be a comfortable sleeping position. Eventually, after much tossing and turning, sleep found her.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2