Welcome one and all to my story! Thank you very much for taking the time to read the summary and clicking upon my story... I won't keep you for long, so just a few quick notes before you start... I wanted to make a story that shows how Red X became Red X, how he got the suit... Why he's a thief... Etc... (Like when he said "I'm not such a bad guy, once you get to know me" to Robin) Basically his story, in short... Well I'll do that first and then I'll jump to the present, to another story – the story of Alex and how these two lives cross paths... There will be romance in later chapters and no I don't think I'll write anything past the teen rating... Maybe later if it's requested or if I want to... But I highly doubt it!! I will post all authors notes either before or at the end of each chapter... Not during, coz' that's annoying sometimes...

Well without any further ado I think I'll let you begin! R&R, please – no flames, but constructive criticism welcome... And, overall, enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans (the show), Red X (the character) or WB. Any characters in the story do not resemble anyone in real life, they are simply chosen for I have chosen them...

Chapter 1

"I don't understand man... it was foolproof! You go in and get out with the cash! Simple! Why'd we screw it up again?"

"I don't know..."

The boy on the left who had spoken first was Max. He was lanky and taller than the other. He was only 16 years of age, black haired and brown eyed. Max was the younger of the two, the side kick, despite his height. He was always there helping James, he always had his back.

James, the boy on the right was shorter than max, but not by much. He had dark brown hair and grey blue eyes and was well built. James had taken on the hobby of martial arts when he was young and it had served his physique well and was now one of the finest fighters in Jump city – unfortunately he used it for the wrong reasons. He was the thinker, he knew the tricks of the trade, where the cameras were, what picks to use on what locks, anything tricky, he could handle.

The two boys were dressed in black; the usual ensembles for thief's, and were both in for their latest crime.

Just then the chief of police of Jump city came into the room where the two boys were being held.

"Well I've spoken to your parents" he announced to them sitting in a chair across the table from them.

He sighed heavily "come on guys. This is the third time this month! People aren't going to keep dropping charges, you know..."

The boys didn't say anything; they just sat in silence staring at the plain grey walls.

The chief of police turned to the boy on the left.

"You're parents have decided to send you to Juvenile Hall for a month"

"What?" retorted Max "that's not fair! I-"

Another police officer came into the room then, interrupting Max and gestured to follow him. Max looked from the chief to James and then to the officer at the door. He shook his head stood up and walked out the door without another word followed by the officer.

"What about me? What's it gonna be? Juvy? You know I'll be out in a couple of months..." said James calmly

"One month community service. You're a bad influence on him, you know... You're just ki-"

"Don't say it" he said darkly

Later

James was driven home in a police car, again. His Mother was waiting for him at the door of their small, rundown apartment. She had bags under her eyes and she looked very worried and old. She had blonde hair that was turning grey and hazel eyes. When the police left, after informing the Mother about the James' punishment, she hugged her son and went to bed, glad that he was home and not in a jail cell.

James walked around the small living room for a while, muttering to himself, angry and upset, though he didn't show it, when a week old newspaper headline caught his eye.

"MYSTERY SOLVED – RED X IS ROBIN"

The article went on to say that the thief Red X who can easily appear and disappear by the push of a button actually had been Robin – the Teen Titans leader of Jump City. He had taken on the alias of Red X to try to get closer to Slade, a villain that constantly terrorises the Jump City titans. It also said that Robin had now locked up the suit in question as it was too dangerous to destroy.

James smiled to himself, an idea forming in his head. He would do his community service – no questions asked. After he had finished he would "borrow" his Mothers code, password and lock breaker and make a visit to the Titans tower.

So he did the time for his crime. He helped out in retirement homes, picked up trash off highways, scrubbed graffiti off buildings, served soup in soup kitchens, helped out with charity events and he even taught some basic martial arts classes at the local youth centre. He did well, and, as hard as it was not to, he didn't complain.

So the night came where he decided to take the suit. 'Hey, if Robin wasn't going to use it, what good was it locked up?' He thought to himself 'he's not gonna use it'

He was all ready. Dressed in black, with the password breaker and some home made explosives in his backpack. All he needed was a distraction to get the Titans out of the tower. He was sitting across the stretch of water from the tower on a jet ski, tapping the handle impatiently.



"Come on, come on... A cat stuck in a tree... A ball stuck on the roof... A maniac going crazy downtown... Something at least... anything..."

Just then, a series of explosions set off somewhere in the city.

"That'll do nicely" he muttered leaning towards the shadows to hide from the Titans.

The Titans left in a hurry, leaving James to his own devices. He revved the Jet Ski and in a matter of minutes he was at Titans tower to claim his prize... Or rather steal it...

So we all know what happens next, Red X steals a Xenothium locator gun and gets his hands on a vile of Xenothium – the very dangerous chemical that powers the suit. He commits a series of thefts, stealing mostly money and valuable items to sell on the side for large cash amounts. He builds (or makes moderations) to a motorbike and destroys it in the race against Ding Dong Daddy and finally, after helping the Brotherhood of evil, he disappears.

Of course, Red X wasn't stealing that money for himself; he was stealing it for his family. For his Mother who worked 3 jobs, yet still couldn't afford a car or a decent home for herself and her two children. Whose Father had left them and refused to pay child support or any money at all to help put towards the two children's futures, school or toys to play with. Every week, Red X would post some money to his Mother and keep a little for him to buy "toys", and whatever he didn't use he put it towards a secret college fund.

Just after the Brotherhood had been defeated James returned home to his mother and his little sister. James' little sister's name was Madeline, Maddy for short. She was only 6 years old and absolutely beautiful. She has light blonde hair and big, brown eyes and a sweet little smile. She was sitting on the couch with her Mother when James walked in. She grinned widely at her brother, and her eyes sparkled with a secret that she was dying to tell.

"James" said their Mother with a smile "come here, we have something to tell you"

James walked over to them and sat down across from them on the other couch

"What is it?" he asked

The Mother smiled widely "I've been promoted" she said, practically bursting with joy "We're moving to Lintmore city this weekend!"

"Wow, Mum that's great" although he was happy for his Mom, he was a little worried about the supply of Xenothium for the suit – he was almost out and there was another shipment coming in on Monday night, and they wouldn't be in Jump City anymore.

So the next day, James went to the library to do some research on Lintmore city – to see if there were any Xenothium suppliers. A page came up about a man named Tim O'shea – a wealthy scientist in fact – he was the discoverer of Xenothium ore who now resided in Lintmore city.

James smiled to himself – it was as if it were just meant to be.

TA DAAAA!!

There we go!! The first chapter!! YAY!!

Ok, well BEFORE you go and review – please just read my notes!! I want to explain some things to help you understand them...

Ok, so first of all... I wasn't sure of how much detail I wanted to do – I know detail is important but I want it to be good, so if you have a question just ask and I'll be happy to explain, but please use your imagination...

Secondly... There will be no appearances of the Teen Titans in the story... (Awwwww!)

The police officer was going to say "you're just kids" but James doesn't like being called a kid – and yet he calls the Titans Kids... Get it? Yeah... Don't worry too much about that...

Ok, so the whole Red X thing – and how he came to be – well, that's my way of thinking of how it happened – that he needed the money for his family... Now in the newspaper article they didn't mention about the Xenothium, so James had to figure that out for himself – also, if the newspaper had mentioned the use of Xenothium, Cyborg would've thrown an even bigger spazz on top of Robin being Red X... Robin could've lost his friends for that... Uh, James blew up the vault – did you see in the episode "X" when Robin went back to the suit the vault door had been blown off? Well, it had been (I think) so that's the reason for the explosives... Now, I don't think that Red X helped the Brotherhood – he's just a thief – like he said, he was looking out only for himself, he wasn't threatening Jump City or anything else... So I don't think he did, but he was there at the end of the episode "Homecoming" so, I'm not entirely sure... Um... Well, I think that's all...

Oh, don't ask me what the Mother does... I'm not even entirely sure yet... And why did she have a password breaker – I don't have any idea of that either... Just use your imagination... But, if you have a suggestion for it, please let me know! I'd b happy to hear it!!

Thanks again for reading!

Chapter 2 up soon!! I'd just like at least one review first...

Ciao!

BFBH