Long Road to Ruin

Hung Jury

Terra had a big-mouth.

That's all I have to say about her.

Well … no, actually I had a lot to say about her, but most of it wasn't nice anyway, so I won't bother saying it. The point is, after she helped me bandage X she went back to her room and I never again saw her or any of the other Titans till the sun came up when I decided to shower and get a fresh change of clothes. I watched the sun rise from the Med-Bay while I sat on a counter watching over the secret-deviant who slept soundly on the bed. Okay, so he was unconscious, but he still looked like he was in a peaceful sleep, it was nice to think of it that way.

Anyway, the moment the clock struck 7 in the am, the doors hissed open and surprise, surprise, Robin stormed in with a very stern look on his face. Decked out in full uniform, he stared at X's unconscious form tucked under a blanket and arched a brow in inquiry. He then swung his gaze around to me on the counter looking bored, tired, sleepy, and about ready to fall over, he gestured to X on the bed and asked, "What happened?"

I sighed tiredly and ran my hands over my head to smooth down my frizzled violet hair, having already come up with a lie I recited it without fault, "I couldn't sleep last night … so I went for a walk –"

"Where?" He interjected, he wasn't going to play the game, and I was thankful for it, I was too tired to think deeply.

So I shrugged and shook my head, "I don't know … I just needed to get out of the Tower so I flew to where there were no people and complete silence." I nodded to X, "Apparently, for some reason a gang of five people were all over him … and in being the people-loving person I am I saved him … unfortunately he passed out from blood-loss, which brings us up to speed."

His eyes narrowed, I could see him sifting through my story in his head and he didn't buy into it entirely. But then again that's to be expected, Robin was a skeptic at birth, he questioned everything … I sometimes wonder if he even questioned his trust in his team despite all that speak of trust on the rooftop last night. Under his mask I could feel his gaze shift back to X as he asked, "Did he tell you who he was?"

"No."

"Why did you bring him here?"

"First place that came to mind."

"Was it a drug related crime?"

"No, checked, he was clean."

"Turf war?"

"Wouldn't know."

"Was he armed?"

"No."

"Where's his wallet?"

"He didn't have one, I think he was mugged."

"By five people?"

"We've seen more kill for less."

He growled in frustration and he glared at me in irritation obviously not liking how I had an answer for everything, "Do you know anything about him?"

I glanced at X's monitor and said, "He's coming to, you can ask him yourself."

Robin turned to face X, I remained silent and indifferent as I watched X's face contort into an expression of pain as he squinted his eyes open, but turned away from the bright light when it blinded him. Robin appeared at his side as X lifted a hand up to shield his sensitive eyes from the light, but ended up staring at the IV needle taped to his arm. He followed the tube to the IV bag and finally he gazed around the room till his sights landed on Robin and I felt his immediate anxiety when the situation finally sank in and his memories came back to him. His heartbeat slightly increased, Robin and I both noticed through the monitor he was still hooked up to.

Robin flipped the switch to mute the machine as he stared X down, using the heavy silence and X's obvious anxiety against him to get information, usually the first thing a person says after coming to in a place they did not recognize said a lot. First impressions are powerful, and it was a classic interrogation tactic. Get the information out of the person the moment they regain consciousness in order to retrieve fresh memories. I remained on the counter, still unnoticed by X and I watched him impressively transition from anxiety to curious when he asked, "Where am I?"

"Titan Tower, do you know who you are?"

He nodded and hoarsely responded, "Yeah … but …" he cleared his throat and lathered his dry mouth with a wad of collected saliva and swallowed in a futile attempt at hydrating his mouth and asked, "Why am I in Titan Tower?"

"You got hurt, my friend brought you here and saved your life, do you remember what happened?"

X shot me a quick glance of acknowledgement when Robin finally introduced me, I remained stoic and he disregarded me to narrow his amber eyes on Robin, "Uh … yeah … sort of … I think I was jumped …"

"Do you know by who? And why?"

X groaned and held the side of his head as he lolled it back on the pillow, "Ah … I … I … ugh, my head is killing me …"

"Sir, I know you must be in pain, but I need to know this so that I can make sure the men that attacked you don't do this to anyone else."

"Look man, I know you mean well, but I don't know who they were, they came out of no where and started to beat the crap out of me, they took my cash, my wallet – are we done here? Can I get some pain killers now, or knock me out, either which just help me out here."

"…" Robin stared him down a moment longer before he sighed heavily and figured he wasn't going to get anymore out of him, so he looked to me and gestured for me to take care of X. I leapt off the counter to do as commanded, but as his gloved hand touched my wrist I stopped and leaned my head to his as he whispered through gritted teeth, "Heal him up and get him out of here."

Ooo, I was in trouble.

With a flare of his cape he was out the door and I was left alone with X, but I didn't say anything, only stared at him, but with my eyes I gestured to the cameras stationed all over the room. He took notice of them then again lolled his head back on the bed, closed his eyes, and continued his little charade while I stood beside him and asked, "Besides your head pain, do you feel anything else?"

He snorted, "Yeah … my entire body is aching …" he opened his eyes and turned his head to me and asked, "Is he always such a hard-ass?"

I shrugged, "You get use to him, now, just relax and don't panic."

"Why?"

I summoned my powers and directed it towards my hand which started to glow blue along with my glowing white eyes, he tried to sit up when I slowly ran my hands over his wounds, but fell back on the bed when I swept my hand over his head. He closed his eyes then shuddered and relaxed, he sighed tiredly and whispered, "Feels good …"

"That's because I'm taking away the pain … and making it my own …" I replied slowly, and without emotion, he reopened his eyes to stare at me analytically trying to look for signs of pain, but he saw none. I knew he would ask before he opened his mouth, so I elaborated, "I'll feel it when I'm through here … that's why I said relax …"

"You don't have to do this …"

"I know, now stop talking."

He disregarded me to ask, "So after this healing thing … will I be able to walk out of here without crutches or a wheelchair?"

"…" I ignored him and finished up my task by narrowing my full concentration on the bullet wound, it was pretty deep and I knew if I had left it to heal on its own it would take weeks and there would be scarring. Five minutes ticked by and finally I was done, but I gradually let my powers subside, knowing that once it was completely gone I would be hit with a world of pain. Surely enough, the moment I stepped away from his bed, my body stiffened, I shuddered and pressed a hand to my side when the aching, throbbing pain of his bullet wound struck the hardest.

His knife-gashes came next, and then his headache, I hissed softly and stumbled back to the counter. I leaned on it to catch my breath, slowly taking deep breaths, wincing with every intake of air that felt like it was ripping my flesh in two. This agony, I knew, wouldn't last long, maybe just about as long as it took for me to completely heal X, but damn it all it was such a literal pain to ride out. Through gritted teeth I straightened up my back and glanced over my shoulder at the thief who was now sitting up on his bed watching me cautiously. I shook my head when he looked ready to ask if I was alright, I reassured him with a hand held out to silence him, "I'm fine … just give me a moment …"

He tilted his head, then smirked, "Wow, you're like a walking hospital, forget western-meds, if everyone had your kind of power there won't be any use for a hospital."

I rolled my eyes, "If everyone had my kind of power we'd all be in trouble …" I gestured to door at the corner of the room, "… There's a shower if you need it, Starfire took the liberty of buying you some new clothes since I found you half-naked on the street."

His smirk nearly turned into a dark grin, but he stopped himself to play the embarrassed patient who rubbed the back of his neck and made his cheeks flush at the mention of a girl saving and seeing him in such a state of undress. When in reality, if anyone knew where and what to look for, someone would see the slight glitter in his golden eyes, the glitter of mischief. A witty retort was hanging at the tip of his tongue, but for the sake of keeping character he chuckled nervously and stared at his bed-sheets, "Jeez, won't those muggers be surprised to find my clothes aren't worth jack … bought it at Target, half-price."

"What I shame," I shook my head, the pain subsiding enough for me to take deep breaths, "Well, I hate for you to impose, but you really have to get out. Titan Tower isn't exactly the safest place in the world for civilians believe it or not."

"Oh, I don't doubt it," he threw the sheets off of him to find he was in the classic hospital-garb, he sneered at it as he slid off the bed and stood up, wobbly at first, he straightened out and headed for the door I directed him towards, yet paused for a second to stand by me. With a handsome smirk he said, "You know … this may just be me, I don't know, but you look like you could use a vacation …"

"I'll keep that in mind …"

He shrugged, "Just a suggestion."

I watched him till he entered the bathroom, then glanced up at one of the cameras in the room and knew full well that either Cyborg or Robin were watching me interact with X. I also knew with hidden-satisfaction that neither would find any hint of falseness on my part. Sorry Robin, but you can try to catch me if you can, there's no shame in trying. I sighed heavily and leaned my full weight against the counter when a wave of dizziness swept over my head. I was tired as hell … I needed to sleep, I needed to eat, I needed to meditate, ugh! I was just full of problems that I've neglected and deprived of solution, or maybe it wasn't that at all … maybe it was just me, maybe I was the problem.

Maybe I've been the problem all along, and every solution I've tried to find to expel my unhappiness only made the problem (myself) worse … for Azar's sake I was seeing X behind my friend's back and not feeling guilty about it. Should I feel guilty? Why should I feel guilty? Really now, let me think about this seriously for a second: what was I doing wrong? I didn't know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this guy in the shower was Red X, I assumed he was from the moment I met him.

I shook my head, No, that doesn't work, he was in the genuine Red X suite just last night … he IS Red X … I thought in disregard and I scratched that thought off my list.

Okay then, I knew he was Red X, I took him into the Tower, behind enemy lines and I didn't properly confine him in a level-4 containment cell which is required of all villains that should pass through the Tower's Med-Bay. Well … he was a special case, he nearly died in my arms, and the level-4 containment cell only had so much for me to work with to save his life. He needed help … was I to discriminate against him just because of what he's done? He was still human, I couldn't let him die. I didn't need to review the Ethic's Code to know that his life took priority over his sentence, surely that was understandable.

However … I didn't tell Robin or Terra, or my whole team for that matter who he really was … it was a secret that they didn't ask about.

Well … if they didn't ask there was nothing to tell and if there was nothing to tell who's to say I lied?

Or was I making excuses for myself?

Was I really lying to my team whenever they asked me where I've went and what I do in my long hours away from the Tower? I told the truth, I went out into the town, and I walked around the city … they never asked if I met other people, or what happened during those walks … in fact, most of the time they never bothered to acknowledge my arrival at all! So really … was it my fault they didn't know Red X was in the Tower, right now, getting dressed in the Med-Bay bathroom and preparing to leave?

Yeah, sure, I had the knowledge and the evidence to lock this guy away for the rest of his life for all the crimes he's committed; I could do it right now. I could end his life entirely faster than he could ask: why. I could do it … but I won't … now why is that I wonder? Why was I being so selfish? Why did I want this person to roam free? Was it really because he had become such good company to me in the pass six months that I was reluctant to let that familiarity go?

We weren't friends.

We were acquaintances.

We weren't even colleagues.

We were rivals.

We didn't know that much about each other.

In fact, we didn't know anything about each other.

We never asked personal questions, it was an unspoken rule between us, we never got close, even physical touch wasn't stimulating in the least (at least to me). Then it hit me when I heard the door hiss open and a freshly clean X stepped out of the steamy bathroom with a relieved sigh. He smiled at me and I blinked, Stalemate … I thought quietly to myself in silent inward horror. We hit the point in any relationship where an opportunity presented itself and we could either take this to the next level, get to know each other better, become closer, become best of friends. Or completely sever all ties and break it off … end it peacefully … or if we failed to take this opportunity … end it violently, with one of us either in prison … or dead.

There was no gray area in this relationship, but we were gray people.

We were the exceptions to a society that has yet to catch up on the fact that not everything was black and white.

But this thing we have going on, it is black and white.

We can't just call it quits and expect everything to go back to normal … not even if we decided to end this peacefully without fighting. No, there would surely be blackmail involved, I knew who he was, so he'd have to watch his back; he knew what I've done, so I'd have to be careful not to anger him. We can't be in an intimate relation unless we were sure to go the full nine-yards as X so lamely put it. With the kids, the house on the hill, the white picket-fence, the dog, the cat, everything; because then if it ended, it wouldn't be pretty … it would be nasty, ugly, and violent.

Yes, I now had a greater understand of just where this was going, the alternative to such a messed up hand fate had dealt us.

We had to get to know each other better … we had to become close enough friends that even betrayal would become a moral dilemma for a guy like X, but we also had to maintain a visible wall that clearly stamped the boundary which we could not cross.

I could do that … I've done it with Robin, Cyborg, and Beast Boy as practice … I can do it with Red X to.

The thief in mention now in a navy-blue collared short-sleeved button-up polo, and matching dark charcoal gray Dickies snapped his fingers in my face (like he usually does to gain my attention) his amber eyes stared at me hesitantly looking for signs of life, "Hello … you still with me?"

I blinked up at him and then glanced at his attire, "Huh … they fit."

He snickered and spun around to show himself off, "Tell your friend thanks, I didn't think she'd know my size, I'm almost curious to ask how."

I shrugged, "I told her you looked like Robin and she rolled with it."

There was a dark look in his eyes that warned me to never again compare him to Robin … maybe it was a guy thing, but I noticed none of the guys I know like to be compared to any of the other guys I knew. It was almost childish, if not a ridiculous phobia of theirs. However, in stark contrast to his dark look he smiled a smile that never reached his golden eyes, "I don't know about looking like him … that's a stretch, heh-heh."

I could practically smell the bile he chocked on at the back of his throat before he swallowed it back down for even complimenting my leader. I stifled a chuckle and refrained from smiling as I pushed off the counter and stood before him, "Right … well … let's get you out of here and back into the city."

"Sounds good to me."

With that I lifted up my right arm and with it the darkness of my power connected from my body with my arm my eyes glowed white and before I engulfed him I warned him, "This might feel funny at first, so hold your breath."

I didn't give him the chance to ask why before I wrapped him up into my soul-being and shot out of the tower towards the city, I landed near the docks hidden within the maze of empty containers, just incase Robin had a tracker on me. I dropped X on his feet, but made sure his back was against one of the containers so when he was suddenly drenched in sunlight he didn't fall over in shock. He did lose his balance and leaned on the container with a shudder, goose-bumps crawled up and down his arms and he shivered, "Damn, that's cold as hell!"

"Its pure darkness," I told him as I took shape, "pure darkness requires no light. No light, no heat, basic science."

He shot me a dry look, "Yeah, right … but thanks for savin' my ass last night sunshine, I owe ya one."

I frowned, "I don't think you should be talking like that … they could have bugged your clothes …"

He shook his head and flicked his wrist dismissively, "Nah, I checked, there's nothing, I'm clean as a whistle. So … aren't you going to ask me what I was doing last night?"

"Will it be worth my while?"

"Sort of … I … um … took this artifact from some museum and sold it to a couple of guys, but they wouldn't pay up, they thought they could take the artifact and the money and leave me for dead."

I bit down on my lip, Get to know him better … get to know him better … I chanted in my head and forced out the question, "Does this happen often for you?"

He shrugged nonchalantly, like he usually does when nothing was a big deal for him, "Yeah, but its part of the job, this time I was just … kind of off kilter …" he looked at me, and not just looked at me, there was something in his eyes that told me I should know why he was off kilter last night, like he expected me to know the answer.

Typical of him though, Mister Know-It-All expecting everyone else to know it all too, I sighed and with a shake of my head I shrugged, "Whatever, I gotta go, Robin's not too pleased with me bringing home strays so, try not to piss any one else off while I'm gone."

I began to hover in the air as he grinned devilishly and winked, "You got it sunshine, and you know I wasn't kidding about that vacation thing … you could really use some time to yourself ya know."

"Maybe …" I hovered for a moment when another thought crossed my mind.

X put his two fingers to the side of his head, about he give me his two-finger salute as he started to walk out of the container maze saying, "Well, see ya around girl."

I looked up at him and shouted, "Wait!" He stopped and looked over his shoulder with suspicion, curiosity, and hesitation in his body-language, I didn't blame him. This'll be the first time I ever stopped him from leaving, I touched back down to Earth and jogged to him, and he looked down at me and waited patiently for me to tell him what I wanted. I stared into his golden eyes, and gulped, moment of truth, "You're serious about that vacation thing right?"

He started at me for a second then slowly nodded his head, "Yeah …"

"Well … if I got one, could I spend it with you?"

"…" Slowly a brow rose up into his bangs and he started at me incredulously, as if waiting for the punch line of a joke, when it never came he blinked and shrugged, operating solely on autopilot with the shock still trying to settle he said, "Uhh … you could … but why?"

"Why would I spend time with you?"

"Yeah …"

"Why … not?"

"…" He started at me analytically, like Robin, he was trying to sift through my words to find any fault, or in this case any sign of a trap. He wouldn't find any, I was genuine, I wanted to spend time with him so I could set us both up for a stabled friendship and I'd be set for life. It wasn't a fool-proof plan and I expected a few things to go wrong, but who said I was a genius? It was the best thing I could think of to assure my place as a Titan while still keeping X as a friend.

That is … if he'll accept my offer.

I tilted my head and then snapped my finger in his face as he's done so with me on so many occasions, he blinked and shook his head to shake himself from his thoughts then narrowed his eyes on me, "Okay, I'm sorry, I must have heard something crazy, but did you just say you wanted to spend time with me?"

"Yes."

"As in … you want to get to know me kinda time?"

"Yes."

"… Okay, imma go out on a ledge here and ask … are you asking me out on a date?"

I scowled, "Of course not."

He shrugged, "A guy could dream."

I rolled my eyes, "Why do you keep asking me these questions? I thought you'd jump at a chance like this, because it means you get to know more about me too."

"Yeah, but I want to know where it's coming from … did my almost dying scare you or something, because I'll let you know right now Rae, I'm not going anywhere. Death will not take me when I am not ready, hell no."

A bold statement … but what struck me the most in his entire string of words was the new nickname. Well, it wasn't new, everyone on my team calls me Rae, but this'll be the first time I've ever heard X say it … and so easily too … it just rolled off his tongue like it was the most natural thing in the world. Come to think of it, every other time when he called me sunshine it sounded robotic, like he was supposed to say it … but when he said Rae, it was different somehow. Nicer.

I stored that thought in the back of my head before I responded with a scoff, "Granted your death would be most tragic, but this isn't about that. We know enough to destroy each other, and you know if it came down to it you'd take the shot –" he was about to protest, but I held up my hand, "– I had the opportunity to put you away for life … but I didn't, because I figured it wouldn't be fair to kick you when you were already down. The hero-complex in me wouldn't allow it … but next time … you just don't know."

I waited for the reality to sink in, and thankfully, X was smart enough to understand quickly and his smirk returned, "I see … I'm surprised you don't trust me now, I thought we had a pretty good idea of what we got going … you really think I'd give you up?"

"In all honesty, yes."

"…" he stared at me again with that analytical look that unnerved me.

I hated being analyzed.

It made me feel like I had to prove myself.

I slowly blinked my eyes, giving him a moment to think and when I looked up at him again to find him still staring at me I impatiently shrugged my shoulders, "So … what's the verdict?"

He shifted his stance to weigh most of his weight on one leg as he closed his eyes and sighed heavily, he ran a hand over his dampened, tangled, messy brown hair then shrugged and dropped his arm to his side like dead weight, "Hung-jury …"

I frowned, "What's so hard about saying yes or no? I don't have to take a vacation to get to know you."

"Yeah, but come on you're making me feel guilty by putting me on the spot here."

"You know what guilt feels like?"

"Ooo, that hurts sunshine, that really hurts."

I shook my head and flicked my hand in dismissal, "Never mind, sleep on it if you have to … I've got to get back to the Tower."

"Whatever you say … see ya around …"

He turned his back on me and I couldn't explain it, but a dreadful chill went down my spine when with strange conviction he gave him his two-finger salute, like this'll be the last I'd ever see it. I tried to put it out of my mind as I hovered a foot in the air, then two feet, and slowly continued to rise, till I cleared the ten feet tall container. That's when I turned my head in the direction of Titan Tower and the world suddenly exploded into a brilliant array of stars after something silver, shiny, and hard knocked me across the temple.

I fell to the ground on my back with a painful groan, my ears started to ring, my head throbbed, and worst of all my attacker became attackers when I felt more than one set of hands touch my body. They grabbed me and forced me on my stomach, my hands tied behind my back, my chin to the dirt, I tried to get my blurry vision to focus, but try as I might all I could concentrate on was how much my head hurt. I felt something cut into my wrist and softly cried out in pain, but that cry was quickly silenced when a red adhesive tape was slapped on my mouth.

My body, through my forearms and shoulder was then hoisted to its feet while at the same time a black bag was draped over my head and tied around my neck.

The world went dark … and I finally blacked out.

--

Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans, DC does

A/N: Finally! Things are starting to get interesting, and so the adventure thingy begins!! YAY!! Well … not so much yay for Raven as it is for the rest of us so … (shrugs) if you want to know what happens next just give me your reviews and I'll THINK about updating the next chapter, mwhaaahahahahahaaa!! …. imma go now …

Oh, and quick note, I hope you guys read through Raven's thought process carefully cuz she'll be referring back to it throughout the story when there's no dialoging, I mean the stalemate-part … :/ … I guess you can say she'll be doing a lot of thinking in this story … so, yep, besides that …

L8er daez!