Wide Awake
Chapter Two: Death Letter
I got a letter this morning
What do you reckon it read?
It said the gal you love is dead
-Death Letter, White Stripes
)O(
Red X didn't know what brought him back to Titan Tower. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he remembered going to the tower. He'd managed to keep away from this blasted place for almost two weeks, and that fact alone made him proud. What he had seen in Raven's mirror had plagued him with nightmares every single night, until he dreamt he was falling into oblivion with her, darkness drowning him. He woke up in a cold sweat, seeing bloodied images flash across his eyes and shake his bones until he could convince himself he was awake.
She tortured him, and he doubted she knew it.
The only thing he knew was that right now he now stood at the end of Raven's bed, staring down at her small frame like it was the most foreign thing he had ever seen. She looked tiny, bundled in thick, white blankets. Her face was pale, plain, ordinary, and she appeared almost peaceful, like she was dreaming sweet things… or as sweet as Raven could get. Red X watched her breathe in and out, slow and steady, as if nothing in her life had changed and she was just sleeping.
"What is wrong with you, Bird? What's wrong with you?"
Perhaps, and Red X never wanted to admit it, there was some tiny part of him that was anxious. He didn't like to play "the hero", hell, he barely liked playing "the concerned friend". Raven was his enemy, the girl who stopped every one of his heists with her stupid black magic. The girl whose apathy was damn near obnoxious. The girl who shunned everything that was normal. She was on the wrong side of his spectrum… and yet… did he care?
"What are you doing?" The soft, musical notes came from the door, and Red X cursed himself for being so careless. Of course the Titans would have come back often to check on her. They wouldn't have left her unguarded as they captured Cinderblock. Red X turned and looked at the red head standing in the light from the hallway. She blinked a few times before taking another step in the room. "What are you doing here? What are doing to friend Raven?"
Red X tensed. Starfire had a fantastic "Shoot First, Ask Questions Later" attitude, and he often found himself on the receiving end of it. Her starbolts had a weird, tingling after effect that he didn't like to be reminded of. Red X held up his hands and took a few steps away from Raven. "I was just curious where the Little Bird went. Haven't seen her in a while." He gave a one-shouldered shrug, as if this whole mess didn't concern him. "Just thought I'd stop by and see for myself… I'll be going now."
Starfire cocked her head to the side, an expression of both confusion and understanding weaved across it. She blinked some more. "Where the… little bird has gone…?" She shook her head, red tendrils of hair curling around her face and accentuating the sad, forlorn look in her eyes. She looked like someone had just ripped out her heart and smashed it on the floor, and Red X felt just a little sorry for her. "We do not know where she has gone, but it is not here."
Red X didn't take another step. He stood perfectly still and watched her. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just that he'd been tricked before. And it usually ended in some painful situation. But, Starfire didn't appear to be tricking him. There were no sparks of green energy gathering at her fingertips, no creepy glow to her eyes. She looked… devoid was the best way he could describe it. It was as if she had nothing left in her and she was hollow inside. "Are you okay?"
Starfire shrugged, but the nonchalance didn't fool him. She still looked empty, like a shell. "Perhaps… well, as well as to be expected after loosing my best friend." She walked to the edge of Raven's bed and pushed hair out of her face. "There are not many of the 'warm, fuzzy feelings' lately, perhaps I miss them?" The question seemed more for herself than Red X. "I do not know."
"Why aren't you out there with the rest of the Titans?" Red X still hadn't moved, and Starfire's proximity was making him nervous. He watched her fingertips, waiting for the gathering of energy, still feeling like he was going to be tricked at any moment.
She shrugged, but it wasn't a movement of nonchalance, it was as if she had just… given up. Like she just didn't have the energy to be concerned anymore. Her green eyes looked up into his, a small frown on her lips. "I suppose I do not have any thing left. I've lost my best friend and… I'm…" She stopped herself and looked away. "You do not need to know everything that goes on here, Red X."
"No. I guess I don't." Red X shifted his weight and watched her for a few more minutes. He was used to silence, used to the gentle quiet that weaved through a room, but this was different. It was as if he was standing in a morgue and all the stories and leftover emotions muffled the sound, like there was no where for it to travel. "That would ruin all my fun."
Starfire snorted as if she found him funny by default. She glanced up at him before weaving her fingers through Raven's. The strange, muffling silence came again and hung between them for a while before Starfire spoke. "Have you come to steal more of Robin or Cyborg's technology?"
"No." Red X crossed his arms over his chest. "I really did come to see the little bird."
"Ah." Pause. "And are you staying for a while?"
"No." He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "I've got a job later tonight."
"In Jump?" Starfire glanced up at him, but there wasn't any indication that she was going to tattle. Red X stared at her for a long minute before deciding to answer.
"No. In Steel. I've got to leave soon."
"Mmm." Starfire glanced up at him and gave a long, exasperated sigh. She was more than tired with her situation, she was worn to the bone. Her skin was pale and sallow, and her eyes were listless. It looked like she had just given up. "Do not think I will stop you, Red X. I have neither the reason nor the energy." She held up her hand and concentrated, a few feeble sparks of energy popped out, but nothing more than a cheap sparkler. "I have nothing left to fight with, and I am condemned to watch my friend never wake up."
Red X felt something in him clash. He should have been excited at the idea the powerful alien was… well, powerless. He should have felt relived that the annoying team was down two members, and the two strongest to boot. But, in fact, he was sorry for her. There was something so sad about what she had become. She was empty. He glanced down at Raven and then back at Starfire. "Are you okay?"
Starfire gave a half-hearted shrug. "Perhaps." She looked down at Raven and sighed again. Her sorrow seemed to fill what little space was left in the room. "I may need to return home for a while… we will see." She looked over at the clock, then at Red X. "Will you be coming again?"
"Might. Depends on how often I can get in." He let the question hang between them.
"The rest of the team is going out for the pizza pie tomorrow." Her eyes met his and she blinked. "If you decide to visit friend Raven, I will not join them. That decision is up to you."
Red X's initial reaction was to take her up on the offer, but he couldn't bring himself to agree. If there was anything this girl needed, it was to be with her friends. Not watching her Raven's vitals blip up and down on a monitor. He shook his head. "Next time the other three are out, I'll drop by."
"The next time they are fighting?"
"Yes." Red X glanced one more time at the clock. He had to get going, Steel City was almost three hours away and the job started soon. He gave Starfire a jerky wave and moved closer to the window. "I'll be here the next time the others are out. You promise to let me in?"
"There isn't much I can do to stop you." Starfire's lips turned down and her eyes followed him for a minute. She took a long breath, letting it out slowly before speaking. "You have her mirror, don't you?"
Red X's finger tips paused on top of the smooth glass. He watched the city lights below, trying to remember that he belonged on the streets doing what he did, not standing in this tower, chatting with his enemy. He took a slow breath before turning to face the redhead. He cocked his head to one side and regarded her cautiously. "Maybe… if I did, how would you know?"
Starfire's face betrayed no emotion and she watched him squirm. This girl didn't need powers to be intimidating. "I wouldn't… I just guessed…" She blinked once before continuing. "Should you happen across it, I should warn you… that mirror is a portal into her mind. Whatever you see in there is happening to Raven. It's imperative to remember that." Starfire stroked Raven's hand, breaking her gaze from Red X. "Just in case you find it."
Red X swallowed hard and stared down at Raven. That was happening to her? In her mind? What he witnessed two weeks ago… that was plaguing her? It was like she was being tortured from the inside, unable to cry out for help, unable to beg for mercy. She was forced to endure that for how long? His breath caught in his chest and he walked to her side. "Little bird…" He managed a glance up at Starfire. "Should I tell you what I saw?"
"If you think it would help." Starfire said, frowning. "But I think it may be best that I do not know you have it… it would anger Robin."
"Torture." Red X said, ignoring Starfire's warning. He kept watching Raven's calm face, knowing the terrible secret it held. Knowing that underneath her pale, alabaster skin she was being ripped apart by some unseen force. Red X hated knowing that she was alone in there, hated knowing that he was forced to sit on the outside and watch. "She's being tortured inside her own mind… There's something inside her that's tearing her mind apart." Red X tried to keep his breathing normal, he didn't want to be frightened any more. "Is… is there anything we can do to help?"
"No." Starfire whispered, her words tangled with fear and sadness. "She is alone in there." She cocked her head to one side and watched him stroke hair away from Raven's face. The strange silence filled the room before Starfire could continue to speak. "Do you think you can help her?"
Red X looked up and frowned. He pulled his hands away from Raven as if he'd been burned. He couldn't afford emotions like this right now. He wasn't in the business of saving anyone, let alone Raven. "I don't know. I just don't like seeing anyone like the way Raven is now. She doesn't deserve this and she didn't ask for it. So, why her? Why now?"
"There is a lot about Raven that is a… mystery. She is many things we do not understand, and perhaps that is good… but it is also very bad." Starfire heaved a long sigh. "There have been times when I know there is nothing I can do to help her. All I want is to be a good friend… but I am stuck here." She stared at her own hands, as if willing them to shoot sparks, but nothing happened. "I am useless."
"You are here at least." Red X forced a humorless chuckle, the sound foreign. "That's more than I can say for the Bird Brain. Where is he anyway, off building nests?" At the comment, Starfire's face paled and she made a noise somewhere between shock and anger. Red X stopped talked and raised an eyebrow. What, exactly, was bothering her? Especially with Bird Brain? He held up his hands in defense. "I was only joking."
"It is not good to joke about things you do not understand." Starfire frowned and shook her head. "It is getting late, you should go."
Red X took the hint, and he started for the window without another word. For a moment he wondered exactly what was happening behind the closed doors at the Tower. What about Robin would have made Starfire react the way she did? Come to think about it… he really hadn't heard much about the masked wonder boy in a few weeks, it was as if he had slipped into obscurity. But then again, Robin was never one for normalcy.
Whatever, it didn't concern him. He had a job to do.
)O(
Robin pressed his hands against the wall, feeling his breath catch in his lungs like steel hooks. He had nearly… no. He couldn't think about that now, not with darkness lining his vision, not with crimson pumping heavily through his veins… he couldn't think about what he had nearly done to Cinderblock. What he had nearly done to his friends… Robin tried to calm down, tried to remember what he stood for.
But the darkness was warm.
And he wanted it.
)O(
I'm not sure exactly who the final couple will be in this, it could be Robin and Raven, it could be Red X and Raven, hell, it could even be Red X and Robin. I don't know, I'm just going with the flow. Also, I know this chapter was… odd… to say the least. It's going somewhere I promise! So, leave a review and let me know what you think of it so far. Also, the new chapter of Honeythief should be out soon.
