For all of those who just found me, I'm DeadlyRedAlice. For all of those who have read some of my other stories, I give my thanks. I've been sick for a little while now, and was reading some AU stories for the Teen Titans and suddenly really wanted to do one: so, TADA! Basically everyone will be going by their original names, like Robin will be Richard, Starfire will be Kori (just Kori, not her whole name), Speedy will be Roy, etc. Raven is still Raven, because Rachel isn't actually her name, so there! Back to me. Okay, so I'm too lazy to research everyone's personalities, etc. so I'm just going to go by what I know, and make up crap for everything else. Don't be a hater. If you don't like this story, don't read it. It's that simple. So there you go. Rate. Review. Comment. Criticize. Suggest. I still do not own the Titans. Thank you,

DeadlyRedAlice

p.s. For all who do know me, I'm eating a lollipop right now ^^


Richard

I rode along the quiet roads of Gotham, searching for anything out of place. True, it was the patrols job, but it gave me time to think. And anyways, it let me escape my heritage for a little while. My royal heritage. Being a prince isn't all that fun. It doesn't matter that I was adopted. I was prince through and through.

At first I didn't notice it, or hear the rustling, but it didn't take me long to. A boy was walking along the side of the road, a large velvet black cloak covering his whole body, his back turned to me.

"Uh sir may I help you?" I asked suspicious, but hiding it well.

"No," a light, melodious voice came, surprising me. I brought my horse in front of them so I could actually see them. It was a small petite girl, completely harmless . . . well, she was walking along the forest road in the middle of the night, but she didn't look too dangerous. She had short black hair and was wearing a short navy blue tunic as a dress, a black leather belt holding it securely around her waist. Her black boots only reached her ankles, showing off her pale legs. Her arms were wrapped around herself, as if to keep her warm, even though it wasn't cold outside. What surprised me the most, however, were her eyes. Her downcast eyes were a beautiful mixture of blue and purple. Unfortunately, the unusualness of it only made me wary.

"Are you sure?" I asked, feeling bad about the possibility of leaving the helpless girl alone.

"I'm positive, thank you," she responded quietly, a slight edge to her voice. She took a step forward, but I held my ground, refusing to budge.

"Where are you going?" I questioned.

"The capitol," she stated, still not looking up.

"What a coincidence, so am I. At least let me give you a ride," I offered nonchalantly. Finally she met my eyes and I felt as if she was staring straight into my soul. Keeping her piercing eyes leveled with my own, she answered.

"A prince riding into his home with a complete stranger right behind him? You know as well as I that it is improper,"

"How'd you know I was the prince?"

"Shouldn't everyone know who their prince is?"

"Absolutely," I answered immediately, pausing afterwards. "If they lived in Gotham," I finished. If she was shocked, then she hid it well.

"And why are you accusing me of not being from Gotham,"

"You should know as well as I that a prince should know all his citizens, and anyways you have foreign looks about you. The real question is rather, why are you in Gotham?" I asked, getting right to the point. She seemed to contemplate the question a little before sighing.

"Refuge," she stated plainly.

"Then let me give you a ride,"

"No, thank you,"

"I'm not taking no for an answer,"

"I'm sorry to hear that,"

"Come on,"

"No," At that point, I was grinning like a fool. A while ago, she had looked down, so I didn't even have to hide my amusement. Instead of arguing more, I just bent down, and pulled her gently up by her waist. I heard her give a small gasp of surprise as I settled her in front of me on my horse. "Your highness," she breathed. For once she showed a hint of emotion. I was beginning to think she was a robot. A beautiful robot, but a robot nonetheless. "You must put me down," she argued quietly. I just smirked in response.

"I command you to stop arguing with me,"

"As you wish your highness," she muttered softly. I clucked to my horse and he began to walk down the silent road.

"So what is your name, my fair lady?" I asked, not able to hide my smirk. She should know by now that the prince always gets what he wants.

"Raven, and I am no fair lady,"

"Well, you are a lady, and you look pretty fair to me," I swear I saw her blush at that but it was gone so fast I couldn't be sure. "So raven-"

"Your highness, may we please stop?" she practically begged, though I didn't really see her as the type to beg or plead.

"Stop what?" I asked innocently.

"Talking?" she offered.

"Do you not like to talk, lady raven?"

"Not particularly, and don't call me a lady,"

"So shall I just call you Raven?"

"I'd rather you don't call me anything, and you wouldn't have to if we just stopped talking,"

"True, but that's no fun, now is it?" I questioned, enjoying every minute of teasing her. There was just something about her that made her fun to tease.

"I'd find it plenty of fun," she stated dryly. I chuckled, but didn't surrender.

"Not likely. You'd miss my voice. And, anyways, there would be an awkward silence, etc. etc. etc. It just wouldn't be very nice for either of us," I countered, laughing quietly to myself.

"Is this really how a prince of Gotham should act?" I happened to notice she didn't disagree about missing my voice.

"A prince can act however he wishes," I replied.

"As if, and we both know it," she countered, as if that was obvious. Most people honestly believed that royalty didn't have a set of rules like everyone else. Actually, almost everyone who wasn't royal did. But she didn't. Was it different where she was from? Speaking of which, I had no clue where she was from.

"So which country are you seeking refuge from?" I asked keeping my voice light even though I was dying to know. She seemed to stiffen slightly. "Awww, come on. It can't be that bad! It's not like you're from Scath or anything," I said chuckling. She stayed silent. "Wait, are you?"

"Yes," she whispered, her voice so quiet, at first I thought I imagined it. So she was from Scath . . . how awful! My arm which was still around her waist involuntarily tightened its hold on her protectively.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, feeling bad about making her say it. Maybe silence was the best choice. We just sat, letting the horse's steady clops fill the silence. Once or twice I heard an owl hoot into the night, but the only sounds from the two of us were our breaths. Oddly enough though, after the first minute, it wasn't awkward. It was almost easy, like we were just content with sitting with each other. But I doubt that that was what it was. She was probably just exhausted and it was all in my imagination.

"My father," she said quietly, catching me off guard.

"What?"

"My father. He's the reason I ran away. He is an awful, uh, man," she clarified a bit louder.

"Well, I doubt this will make you feel better, but my father isn't all that either. He is so strict. And anyways he isn't even my real dad. Both of my real parents are dead,"

"I'm sorry," she replied. I nodded my thanks and just stared out, seeing a glimpse of the city in front of us, a little haze of light, looking almost like a mirage.

"Almost there," I reassured as she squirmed a little in her seat. She muttered something, sounding rather annoyed, right before swinging her leg over so she wasn't sitting side saddled anymore. I couldn't hide my surprise even a little bit. "And you say that I act improper," I managed, shaking off my shock.

"Yes, but you're a prince," she retorted refusing to be ashamed of her act. I smiled with respect. She certainly wasn't anything like the women I was used to, though my mom was pretty interesting too.

"I know who I am," I said smirking. She nudged me gently with her elbow and I could catch a glimpse of a smile adorned on her pale face. At least I was finally getting her to loosen up. "So what do you plan to do once we get there?"

"I haven't quite figured that part out yet," she responded honestly. I opened my mouth to continue the conversation, when she gasped, her eyes widening into circles. I was about to ask what was wrong, when I saw them.


Okay, so I hoped you liked it. Rate. Review. Comment. Criticize. Suggest.

-DRA

p.s. if you like this check out New vs. Old, my most popular story

http : / / www . fanfiction . net / s / 6089827 / 1 / New_vs_Old

(just get rid of the spaces)