What I Want
Chapter Three

"I need to get back to Red X." Raven slid out from between Robin and the wall, trying to keep as much space as possible between them. What was the stupid boy doing to her? She had been living her life just fine until he came into it and started filling her head with stupid thoughts of "justice" and "honesty" and that damnable thing he liked to call "goodness." Nonsense. She had her own life, she didn't need his. "He's going to become suspicious if I'm not back there soon. And, quite frankly, I'm not sure if I want to be around you any longer."

Robin laughed and crossed his arms over his chest, watching her. "I guess I understand."

"Well, that's a start." Raven moved to check the silhouette of her reflection in a dirty window. She groaned at the state of her hair and attempted to put it back into place. Red X would have chastised her if she came back to meet a client looking like she did. There was a long pause between the two of them and Raven's eyes moved to the reflection of Robin. He was standing behind her, staring down at her body as his cheeks flushed an interesting shade of red. Raven bit back a growl as she realized exactly what he was doing. She whipped around and smacked his arm.

"Stop checking me out!"

"I'm sorry." His hands flew up defensively before he took a step back, out of the line of fire. He tried to feign remorse, but Raven could see his smirk poking out from between his fingers and hear his low chuckle. It was like he enjoyed flirting with death. He was so utterly infuriating. "I don't mean to stare, but… you can turn heads in that get-up."

"A get-up?" Raven's eyes flashed red, but he didn't seem to be frightened by the push of her powers. "Do you think I like parading around in this? I look like a cheap hooker, and for your information I didn't pick out this outfit."

He raised an eyebrow and gave her another once-over. "Remind me to thank who did."

Raven's eyes narrowed and she hissed irritated breath from between her teeth. What was it with men and checking her out? Cocky, selfish, primeval bastards! Slade made her feel disgusting and slimy, Red X was just an idiot and made her feel like she should punch him, but Robin… his stare didn't make her as angry, not that it still wasn't annoying. She could tolerate it… for now. Ugh. Did he really have to check her out? Raven shook her head and forced another glare. "You're disgusting."

He just laughed at her, as if impending doom were a very funny joke. "Awe, come on. I said I was sorry… but…." He sighed and stared at her, not even having the decency to look sheepish. "I mean, the dress is about two inches of fabric away from being considered underwear and your legs look a mile long in those shoes. I'm not trying to check you out, but you pretty much invited it with that outfit."

"Please." Raven held up her hand to keep him from continuing, and moved toward the door. Her heart had somehow fallen into her stomach and fluttered loudly. He may have been an idiot, and he may have been a Titan, but that didn't stop him from being at least mildly attractive. And it clearly didn't stop him from hitting on her. "Stop talking, and save yourself from looking and sounding like an idiot."

"I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave."

Raven's hand paused on the door handle and she turned around, snarling at his still smirking face. "Please, Robin… shut up, and let me get back to my job. And you can get back to… whatever it is that Titans do." She threw open the door and pushed her way inside, shoving herself through the crowd. In the middle of the dance floor she paused and stretched out her powers, looking around. The emotions of the club goers pressed against her, but she didn't feel Robin's familiar push against her powers, so he must have gone home. Thank the Goddess. If she had to spend any more time in his presence, she would have probably punched him in the face.

"What was I doing…?" Raven muttered to herself as she ducked a few flailing arms and elbows. The severity of the situation was finally starting to sink in. She had been fraternizing with the enemy. And not just fraternizing, she'd been prattling on like a silly high school girl, and flirting with a Titan. Goddess, she was an idiot. This needed to stop now, if she got any deeper with Robin, her world would tumble around her ears and there would be no way to pick up the pieces.

But why did she get the feeling that Robin would refuse to leave alone? What a mess…

When she returned to their sheltered corner, she found Slade absent and Red X hovering over a glass of scotch, twirling the jump drive in between his fingers. He barely glanced up at Raven as fell into her chair and kicked off her stilettos. "He's gone then?"

"Mm."

Raven cocked her head to the side, watching his fidgeting. This wasn't like him at all. Red X was usually bursting with details, prattling on about contracts and plans and whatever nonsensical bullshit he liked to talk about. This cold, stoic silence was just plain eerie. She took a long drink of water before setting her glass down and looking at him. "What's wrong? Is it the offer?"

"Yes… and no…" Red X looked up, still frowning. "His offer is… generous, but it has a contingency."

"A contingency?" Raven's eyebrow peaked and she stared at him. "And that is?"

"You're to accompany him to some high society benefit."

Raven felt her heart drop into her stomach and she glared at him. "As a date?"

"Technically it's considered arm candy, but the principal is the same."

"No. Way." Rage pulsed through her body before she could stop it, and the glasses on the table next to them suffered the brunt of her powers. He was beyond being slimy, he was flat out dangerous and Red X knew it. If he agreed to this, then he was deliberately putting Raven in the middle of danger. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared, ignoring the subtle push of his tumultuous emotions against her powers. "I refuse to be around that… thing anymore than I absolutely have to. He's a slimy, sleazy bastard, and you know it. We'll just have to find another job."

There was a long, heavy pause and Red X leaned back into his chair, watching her from beneath his shaggy bangs. Raven's heart grew cold with his eyes on her, he was trying to goad her into agreeing, but she refused to let it happen. He was too dangerous to be around, and Robin's scars (both mental and physical) were proof of that. She could do whatever job Slade asked her, but she would not ever come in contact with him again. It was not even an option.

"He's willing to pay us two million up front, and four more when we complete the mission."

Raven felt her stomach drop to the floor as he easily threw out the monetary figure. Damnit. He always knew how to make her cave. She looked away, her eyes watching the dancers on the floor as she carefully weighed the situation. It was always like this. Red X pretended to put her safety above money, but when push came to shove, she was the one forced to make a dangerous decision. And he knew just how to coerce her into it. Raven glanced back at him and growled. "It's dangerous and it reeks of betrayal, I don't like it."

"I don't either. I told him we would talk about it."

There was no talking, he had already made the decision, he was just trying to show her that she had some right to input her opinion. Raven sighed and leaned back into her chair, feeling helpless. "What do you want from me, X? Am I just a pawn to you? Use my boobs and demonic powers to your advantage, without any thought as to what it might do to me? Or cost me mentally or physically?"

"I never said that. And I don't use you. You're my partner, not a pawn." Red X frowned and looked away, and Raven could feel the prickly sensation of his anger moving against her. He was upset that she accused him of being thoughtless, but could he really blame her? At the first sign of seven figures, he threw her into whatever path he needed her to be, and damn the consequences. "I don't want you doing it if you're going to be in danger."

"But you knew I would agree once you told me the price he was willing to pay." He didn't even have the decency to ashamed, and Raven cursed at him. "You're just as slimy as he is."

"Raven…" He reached for her hand across the table and tried to give her a genuine smile, but it looked a little broken and shattered. "It's six million dollars. That is a whole lot of money we don't have right now. We could be set for a while. We could do whatever we wanted, be laid back and relaxed, maybe even take a vacation… we wouldn't have to scrape for every job just to pay rent."

Raven scoffed and rolled her eyes. "We could also live in a slightly less expensive condo, drive normal mid-sized cars, and not buy Dom for every bimbo with boobs. You know, live like normal human beings."

A small smirk spread across his lips and he leaned forward to look at her. "Well, yeah, but that takes all the fun out of life. Come on, Raven… you know not working would be fun for just a little. We wouldn't have to meet clients." That was Raven's least favorite part of the job. "We wouldn't have to go on dangerous missions. We could even spend some time together, like real roommates or friends."

Raven snorted and stood up, picking her shoes up from the floor. "Why? When have we ever done anything… personal together? You and I… we don't even really like each other all that much, why should we pretend to care now?"

There was a flash of unreadable darkness across his face before he forced his trademark smile and leaned back in his chair, feigning indifference. "Yeah, I'm way outta your league anyway."

"Clearly." She sighed and looked over the table at him, letting their conversation settle like heavy sediment in a river. He was giving her the time she needed to mull it over. The thought of money, of the possible ease of her life, was so tempting, and he knew it. He knew that if he just waved a monetary figure in front of her face, she would eventually cave and do anything he wanted. Sometimes, Raven just wanted to throttle him.

"So, what's the plan for the party?"

He smiled slowly. "Benefit. It's just one night. Go, smile, look sexy, and for god's sake, don't open your mouth and talk. After that, the money is ours and we can do whatever we please."

"I'm not making any promises on looking sexy or not talking, but I'll go and lay on my… charm." Raven crossed her arms over her chest and moved away from him. "After that, I'm not doing him or you any personal favors ever again." She paused and thought about it for a second before reiterating. "Ever. Now, pick up your things and let's go home, I'm tired and I've had a long night."

"You did all the dirty work tonight." Red X stood and pulled on his jacket, smiling at her.

"How is that different from any other night?"

He rolled his eyes and started for the door. "Ha ha. You're very funny."

"The truth is always hilarious." Raven tried to feign indifference, but there was a strange sinking feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Robin was legitimately worried about her getting tangled up with Slade, and while she tended not to listen all that carefully to heroes, something about his concern and his scars touched her. Slade was scary enough on his own, but add Robin's fear and concern to that mix and the whole situation screamed danger.

She was an idiot for getting herself wrapped up in all of this, but what choice did she have?

)O(

"You're late."

Robin cringed as he heard his friend's voice prod at his conscience. He turned and looked at Cyborg, who was sitting in front of the television, watching a late-night B movie. Robin suddenly felt like a teenager sneaking into the house, only to find his mother still up and waiting for him. Ugh. He pretended nonchalance and went to the fridge and grabbed two beers before plopping down on the sofa next to his friend. Booze always helped ease tensions between them. "I'm only a little late."

"You said an hour, Robin." Cyborg took the peace-offering beer and grunted low in his throat. "You said one hour to check to see who he was meeting and then you would be back. You promised." Cyborg turned his eyes toward him, and he frowned. "You were gone for four hours."

"I…" He sighed and stared at the television screen, ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach. Should he tell his friend the truth? Or lie? Robin took a long drink of his beer and sighed, it was never good to lie to Cyborg. He always seemed to find out the truth anyway. "He was meeting Red X."

There was a long, heavy pause. "Oh."

"And Raven."

"Oh."

Robin rubbed the back of his neck and groaned. "And I wanted to stay and see what they were doing…"

Cyborg took a long swig of his beer and stared off into the distance. "Okay… and?"

"I…" Robin gulped down his beer without even tasting it. He stared into the bottle at the remnants of foam curling around the sides. Why was this so hard to tell him? Because the situation hit a little too close to his own shadowed past,a dn Cyborg knew his obsessions far too well? He glanced up into Cyborg's eyes and sighed. "He offered them a job, Cy. I mean… I tried to get her to understand what she was getting herself into, but she wouldn't listen. She just kept talking about how she needed this job, how she needed money… I just… I didn't want her to fall into the same place I was."

There was another heavy pause as Cyborg put all the pieces together. He looked over at his friend and shook his head. "Mm-hm… and you let her go didn't you?"

Robin cringed at the accusation, but kept silent. He couldn't deny the truth.

"You didn't… oh… I don't know… stop a wanted criminal?" Cyborg shook his head and cursed. "Come on, man… you're sticking your neck out for a girl that you don't even know if she's on our side or not. Yeah, she plays the poor little street thief stealing to survive, but look at who she's running with: Red X. That's not exactly stealing to survive, that's stealing for employment. She should have been brought into the authorities and you just let her get away."

Robin cringed again, peeling the label off of the bottle. Why did Cyborg have to go all "mother hen" on him now? Couldn't he see there was a bigger issue than letting Raven go? Yeah, he'd made a mistake, but that wasn't the point. Slade was up to something again, and they needed to find out what it was, not argue over Raven. "I'm sorry… I just couldn't take her in."

"Why?"

"I don't know… maybe I… kinda like her?"

Cyborg pinched the bridge of his nose and bit back a curse. "Really, dude?"

"I don't want to give up on the idea that she can be good." Robin put his bottle down and sighed. "She's not like Slade or Red X or even Control Freak… She's not bad or evil, just different. Confused, maybe even a little misunderstood."

"Regardless… she's still a criminal, Robin, good or otherwise. She stole classified information and made money from it, that's illegal. She needs to face punishment for her crimes, and you know it." Cyborg tried to stare Robin down, but they both knew it wouldn't work. Robin knew that he messed up, but he refused to rectify the problem. Raven couldn't be all bad, she just couldn't. Not after all she did to save those people from a burning building. Cyborg saw the frustration and doubt in his friend's face and he sighed. "This is not good. You let her get away, and you don't even feel sorry for it."

"I know." Robin cursed and leaned back into the sofa. "I know."

Cyborg sighed and put his beer on the coffee table. "So… what are you going to do now? Because I can tell you aren't heading out there to hunt her down and bring her to justice. And I especially know you won't do that if you think she's cute."

"I never said she was cute."

"You didn't have to."

Robin felt color flood his face as he looked over at his friend. Cyborg knew him way too well. Robin sighed again and stared into the distance, trying to piece everything together. "I honestly don't know. Slade must be up to something if he's hiring someone to do his dirty work."

"Mm… you're right… he's never done that before." He tapped his fingers on his knees before leaning back into the sofa and staring at the television screen, not really watching it. "Not actually hired out services before, I mean… even the Hive was just meant to be a distraction for us, something to gauge our abilities while he made a real move…" He gave Robin a sidelong glance, watching as his friend's expression darkened as he remembered his own obsession. Cyborg cleared his throat, snapping Robin out of his daze. "So, what would he want with Red X. The guy is good at stealing things… but he's not that good. And he doesn't do anything that Slade can't do on his own."

Robin's eyes slid close and he took a deep, calming breath. "You think he's after Raven?"

"I think we don't know enough about what is going on to make an informed decision… but it smells fishy. Really fishy." Cyborg reached for his beer, taking a long slow drink. "So, what's the next step?"

"I'm going to a benefit."

"That doesn't seem all that dangerous."

"Slade will be there." Robin watched as his friend nodded slowly, careful not to say or do anything that would upset him. "I want to go and see if I can get any more information on him or any of his plans."

"Mm…" Cyborg kept his face blank. "And you're just going to waltz into a private, high society benefit?"

Robin shrugged. "There are perks to being the ward of Bruce Wayne."

"Spoiled rich kid." Cyborg shook his head and turned off the television, bathing the two of them in the eerie blue glow from the other electronics in the room. "I hope you know what you're doing, Robin. The last time you did this, you nearly destroyed yourself, let alone all of us."

Robin closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, feeling something dark bubble up into the pit of his stomach. "I know."

"Don't forget what happened, Robin…"

"I won't."

)O(

Sorry this was so short, I didn't want it to be too long, and if I added the next scene I knew it would be. Thanks again for reading! Let me know what you think!