Author note: Ok so this is a two-shot that takes place on Christmas Eve and one year since the Teen Titans dropped the Teen and became known as the Titans. The Titans are around the age of 19 and 21 with Raven being 19, soon to be 20. Every year for Christmas, Titans East hosts an amazing Christmas party, which Raven always finds a way out of by claiming she is on guard duty. I do not own Teen Titans.
"Raven are you sure you don't want to go, I'm sure Cyborg can quickly activate that new security system. You should come; no one should have to spend Christmas alone." I just shot him a look. "Nightwing, you know these types of parties aren't exactly my kind of scene. I'll be perfectly fine here, besides you know you feel better with leaving an actual Titan to guard this place." He blew out a breath, "Ok Raven and you are right but if anything happens I want you to notify us immediately. Understand?" I nodded and waved my communicator in front of me, "Got it." He walked to the door and looked back once more, "I mean it Raven, call us and do not try anything on your own. Please." I narrowed my eyes at him slightly, "I can take care of myself Richard, thanks." He sighed and shook his head as he went out the door.
It was now 9:00, an hour since my friends had left and all had been quiet. I was in the living room reading one of my books when all of a sudden the power went out in the tower. I closed my book with a loud sigh and stood up, "Great." I flew over to the kitchen counter where I had left my communicator, ready to notify Nightwing, but it wasn't there. I could have sworn I'd left it right there….maybe it fell? As I used the dim light from the black energy surrounding my hand to search for my communicator, I sensed a slight disturbance in the tower. I instantly threw up my guard and let my power spread throughout the tower, searching for any other presence. Someone was coming up the stairs from the basement. I phased through walls and floors until I came to the hall leading to the basement and waited patiently in the shadows.
When a saw a lean and tall figure creep up from the basement, I lunged at him, managing to knock him off his feet. We struggled in the dark for a few minutes before I enveloped us both in black energy. I flew up to the roof and released none other than Red-X. "Whoa. Now that was a rush, do you get that feeling all the time Sunshine?" he said while on his hands and knees. "What are you doing here X?" He looked up to me and jumped to his feet brushing off some imaginary dirt. He gave a soft laugh and even with the voice distorter I could tell he had one of those sexy and melodic laughs….ok wait what was I thinking? "Well, in all honesty Doll Face, I came here in the hopes of…stealing something of great value. You see I'd thought it was about time I moved on to bigger and better places, forget about this place. I've been thinking that for a long while now. But if I could make this last steal a successful one… well." he said while rubbing the back of his neck in an almost sheepish way. I cocked my head to the side and raised a brow, my curiosity getting the best of me. "Don't worry; nothing dear old Nightwing would miss" X said as he made a slight movement towards me. I reacted instantly and bound his hands together in black energy, making him tense in pain. "Don't play games with me X. I'm not exactly feeling the Christmas joy around here" I said in an icy voice.
"Easy there Sunshine. I'm not here to fight." It was strange, I sensed no ill will from him and I could also sense…admiration, hope, and love? What was with this guy? "Look can you release me please; I promise I won't try anything…scout's honor." I gave a small and disbelieving laugh, "And exactly since when did thieves make it a point to be honest…why should I even listen to you? You have given Nightwing enough grief over the years." He cocked his head to the side as if thinking on my statement and then after a few moments nodded to himself. "Ok Sunshine, you have a point. However, what if…I wasn't a thief….just for tonight, just for you? Would you be willing to give me a chance if I could be just another innocent civilian?" What was this guy doing? Was this all part of an elaborate plan to steal something yet again from the tower? My curiosity at this point really took over.
"And what do you plan on doing? Revealing your identity? You think if you remove that suit, you will no longer be a wanted criminal? I hate to break it to you X but you are a thief no matter what you look like, whether it be a normal civilian or some guy dressed in a costume. We can't change who we are, believe me…I would know." It was true. No matter what kind of heroic deeds I did every day, no matter how much I tried to fit in like a normal nineteen year old girl, I would always be known as the dangerous half-demon daughter of Trigon and no one besides my team mates would ever see me differently because you cannot change what you are. Yet that's all I had ever wanted, my Christmas wish.
"Maybe you have a point there Angel, I can't change the fact that I am a thief; that's just what I was born into, I have never known how to be anything else. So you know what I am but do you know who I am? Those are two very different things. Despite whatever you may be, you can always change who you are…what makes you well you. Take your green friend for instance, he is part beast but does he let the animal inside control who he is? I seriously doubt it considering he is about as dangerous as a butterfly. Or Cyborg, he is part machine but does he let that stop him from continuing to be who used to and enjoy the things he used to. So you see Sunshine, you may not be able to really change what you are but you can choose who you want to be. That's all I'm asking of you, give me the chance to show you who I really am; who I have chosen to be."
I let his words sink in and there was some truth in what he said. Maybe I had been wrong before… maybe I wasn't? Before I knew it, I had released him. "Ok X, you have my attention." He rubbed his wrists, which were probably stinging from the tight hold my energy had on him. "Thanks, Angel" he said before looking around the roof, "Maybe we could go inside?" I only nodded before I turned to the steps leading into the safety of the tower's walls. Red-X followed me down, "You do know you are going to restore the power in here right? Because I am not messing with that old thing, technology and I don't necessarily get along." I heard X laugh behind me and was startled to hear his actual laugh, not one distorted with his voice box. I stopped and spun around, raising my hand encased in dark glowing energy. It was still pretty dark but I could still make out his smile. "I told you, I was going to show you who I really was." I turned around and continued to make my way down to the basement, "Right."
It was now 10:00 and X had fixed the power after a couple of minutes of struggling. He had admitted to cutting the power in an attempt to disable the security cameras placed throughout the tower. Which I had disabled shortly after the power was back, and I had also messed with the footage until it was set on loop and I had erased the power outage from the tape.
We were sitting in the living room, on opposite sides of the couch, silently studying each other. X had dark, thick, jet black hair that had a sexy and slightly mussed look to it and the most beautiful forest green eyes I'd ever seen. He had a strong jaw line and bow shaped lips that seemed perfect for kissing. His skin was a nice olive tone and he had a light scar above his left brow. He was very attractive and I couldn't seem to take my eyes off him.
"So….Angel, would you mind telling me why you are here all alone on the Eve of one of the biggest holidays of the year?" he said while leaning back on the couch and draping his toned arms across the back of it. I fixed my gaze on him and raised a brow, "I thought I was supposed to be the one asking all the questions here. You know considering I am supposed to be getting to know the real you." He smiled, and it was one of those charmingly, infectious bad-boy smiles with perfect teeth. "Alright, fair enough. What do you want to know about me?" I have no idea what possessed me to move closer but I did, I moved so I was sitting Indian style right in front of him on the couch, knees gently resting against his thigh. "How about we start with your real name, seems like a logical place to start doesn't it? I asked with a small mocking smile. He shot me a smile of his own and nodded his head. "OK, well I might as well start from the very beginning, huh?" I nodded my agreement. "My name is Jason. I was born in Gotham and I pretty much raised myself on the streets, along with lots of other kids. I was about nine years old when I almost got away with a great steal, but was caught red handed by none other than the Batman himself. He took me in, trained me…took care of me. It was great…but one day I just left. I guess I just realized that I couldn't depend on him for the rest of my life and I had to get back out there on my own, but he taught me something very important. He taught me to always give of myself to help others in need, and that is what I do now. You are right I am a thief, that's all I have ever been, but it's why I do it that makes me who I am. It's just the only thing I have ever been able to do and you have to admit I do it well but I don't steal for myself. I- I own an orphanage…in Gotham. It's a safe haven for all those children stuck out on the streets. All the money I earn from jobs I complete as Red-X goes strictly towards the orphanage. I want to give all those kids the best possible chance. I guess… I started with the idea that if being taken in, even for a short amount of time, was able to make me a better person in a way; maybe those kids will luck out like I did."
So he was a good guy stuck with a bad title, stuck in that fine gray line between black and white. He was like me in a way. He was misunderstood and while I could not agree with his method of acquiring an income, I could understand his reasons. In a very uncharacteristic move, I placed my hand on top of his and allowed him to see my thoughts and feelings. He looked at me with wide eyes, filled with awe and a touch of ...something else. We understood each other's feelings, thoughts, and motives and a bond was created. This bond was more than what I and Nightwing had; it was stronger and more…intimate.
It was now three in the morning and my team had still not returned. X and I had stayed up together talking, sharing more of our pasts and our selves. We had grown closer than what I ever thought was possible and it excited me but it also scared me. He was still a criminal, a criminal that Nightwing would have no trouble incarcerating without a second thought. "X-", I began but was interrupted by him "It's just Jason." A small smile spread across my face, "Ok, Jason. How much longer do you think we have until..." I was cut off yet again but this time by a steady beeping coming from Jason's utility belt. He pulled out my communicator and with a sheepish smile handed it over, "I think that belongs to you and well I think you are about to find out Sunshine." He moved away from me, so as not to be seen, and I answered. Nightwing's face popped up on the screen, "Raven, I wanted to check in on you. Everything ok back at the tower?" I nodded my head, "Everything's been really quiet around here Nightwing." I could hear loud music in the background and see flickering colored lights on the walls, "OK, well I also wanted to let you know that the team decided to stay over for the holiday as well, so we won't be back until the twenty-seventh. If that's ok with you? I mean we can come back if you want to go out instead of being stuck on guard duty. Or you can come join us, like I said Cy can set up the new security system." I felt an unexpected surge of hope course through me, "No that's perfectly fine…I uh- sorta made plans." Richard seemed to be preoccupied with someone else, probably Starfire, and didn't seem to register anything I had just said. He mumbled a quick ok and see you soon before logging off.
I blew out a breath, "Plans huh? What exactly were these plans? They don't have anything to do with the charmingly handsome guy sitting next to you by chance do they?" said Jason. I just rolled my eyes and turned my face away. He moved to look at my face but I kept my head down. "Hey…I can go…if that's what you want. You already gave me more than what I could have asked for…" he said in a soft voice as he gently lifted my head up to look at him "Thank you for that…Raven." We held each other's gazes for what seemed like forever, and the strange thing was that I didn't mind…not one bit. Then before I could realize what was about to happen Jason was leaning in slowly and his eyes, once intently gazing into mine, were now closing. Then his lips were on mine.
The kiss started out slow, it was one of those kisses that searched for that desired spark between two people and then suddenly that spark ignited and became a burning flame. The kiss was deepened and was full of wanting and held a sense of completeness, like if this kiss held a part of us that had been missing our whole lives and was now restored. He pulled me closer until I was straddling his lap and there was not an inch of space between us. I couldn't possibly be any closer yet it still wasn't enough; I wanted more.
"Stay. Here…with me." I said when we finally broke apart. I saw a smile spread across his face as he nodded, "Angel, I'd follow you anywhere for as long as you wanted me."
(A/N): So originally this two-shot should have been posted before Christmas but I got busy and couldn't finish it so I'm sorry it's a bit late. Also if there are any misspellings or typos I'm sorry for that too. One more chapter if it hasn't been to your liking but I hoped you liked it. Please review I love to hear feedback. Happy Holidays Everyone!
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