Disclaimer: Teen Titans © Warner Bros. & DC Comics; TTNG © me

A/N: Hehe, boy, do I have evil plans for my characters. :)

N i n e

Since the schools computers crashed, students had to have their schedules fixed and new ones received. When I got to my new first period class, Advanced Algebra II and Trigonometry, there was a large crowd surrounding the back row in the middle section.

"Oh, X, how awful!"

"Poor X!"

"Dude, are you gonna have to get an eye patch?" I pushed my way past the crowd and found Xavier sitting on a desk with a bandage over his right eyebrow.

"Hi, Mar." He greeted quietly.

"What…happened…to…you!?" I shouted, eyes wide.

"Got into a fight."

He pulled me closer. "With Crimson Death." he whispered. "Separated the Jump City Xs from him and everything!"

"You did what?" I gasped. He didn't give me any more time to think but got off the desk and grabbed my arm. "Let's go."

He pulled me down the hall into "our" closet.

"Mari, I don't care that you're Nightwing's daughter." I blinked.He smirked at me as he said, "I don't even care that you're MJ Gray." I gasped as my old Joker name fell from his lips.

"How…"

"Found you in the Xs' data space. You caused a lot of trouble for us, you know," he grinned.

"Not counting the fire?" I asked.

He nodded in agreement "Not counting the fire."

He smiled naughtily. "Oh, I got your message." he said. I blushed. He kissed me on the lips.

"I missed you too." I said after we parted. "You're my best friend." I said. "I need you."

"Mari…" He said in surprise. He hugged me and I gasped in pain. "What?!" He said urgently, pulling away.

"Crimson Death kicked my ass last night and Rachel wouldn't heal my bruises. Something about why I shouldn't be so damn stubborn about things or something."

I shrugged. At his worried eyes, I pulled up my shirt and showed him my bruises. He gently touched them. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"That's good." He said, relief evident on his face.

"Xavier, I want you to promise me something." I said solemnly.

"Anything." He swore, just as solemnly.

"We tell each other everything. No secrets, no lies, no loose ends." I said firmly.

"Uh…yeah, sounds good." He replied. "No secrets."

0O0O0

Rose did not take rejection well. Even though my son was right and she wasn't really "interested" in him, his rejection had hurt her. The poor girl needed me for guidance. When I took her under my wing, she was borderline suicidal. She had chopped all her hair off and was planning on killing herself. It was I, not her idiotic, cruel mother, who stopped her. It was I who gave her the plan to kidnap the Titans to get revenge on Mari. It was true that Rose was not like Mari. I noticed that when I had seen Mari that night. Rose was…unstable. She let her feelings and wants known. That was bad when fighting one's enemies. Mari kept her sadness and her anger hidden from her enemies. She knew how to dig for her enemies' weaknesses and could be cold and unforgiving when she needed to be. Since Xavier had abandoned me and given up his place as my apprentice, I needed a new one. Unlike Richard Grayson (or Nightwing as he preferred to be called now) I knew my limits. I knew I was getting older. My joints were not as quick as they once were. To think, I ) had been looking forward to my son taking over for me.

Why did I lose control? It was his eyes. No, not the look of pure hatred in those eyes of his. He got that from me. If the xenothium hadn't of changed his hair color while he was still a fetus, no doubt he would have had my hair color, not the blackish gray color it was now. But he had her eyes. Elizabeth's eyes. The deep soulful brown orbs that made me fall in love with her in the first place. He knew very well, as he proven that night, that his eyes reminded me of his late mother. He may not have believed me, nor would he when he grew to adulthood, but I really did love his mother.

Elizabeth was everything she wasn't. She was down to earth and determined, like her son. The redhead I was dating at the time when I met Lizzie was overly optimistic and would rather have a man take care of her I loved it until I met her polar opposite. I never told Xavier that in order to support herself in med school, his mother worked as a stripper. That was when I first saw her. I loved her long wavy chestnut hair and her wide deep brown eyes. She warned me about the drug. She warned me that it would have disastrous side affects. Why didn't I listen to her? I didn't realize I had XODD when Xavier was conceived. The guilt I felt when I found out that not only the love of my life but also my unborn child had XODD because of me was unbearable. Lizzie wanted to name him Xavier, after me. I refused, but I finally gave in to her demands. She named him Xavier Oliver Redson after me and my own father, the one that had driven me to go into Titans Tower and steal the Red X suit in the first place as an escape. But that's beside the point. I had hoped that he would listen to me when I warned him about my enemy's daughter. They weren't right together. What kind of father would I be if I didn't interfere?

0O0O0

It was funny how the Titans "sprung into action" when Rose and I appeared in their living room.

"Remember me?" I asked Nightwing.

"Red X." He growled. We were lucky. We had just gotten there just as the children, minus Nightwing's daughter, had come home.

"Dad," The youngest boy gasped, "what are they doing here?"

"Say, Jess?" Rose asked. "Where's Mari?"

"Go away, Rose." The oldest boy growled.

"My, my, my, Robin," I laughed using his old name, "you aren't really a good father are you? And you aren't a good mother, Starfire." I nodded at Mari's mother. "Letting her do God-knows-what with Red X."

"She isn't with Red X!" The youngest boy said haughtily. "She told me she went out to dinner with X!"

"You didn't know!?" Rose gasped in false shock. "Death, do you think that Mari knows?"

"I highly doubt it, my dear." I replied jauntily.

"Know what?!" Nightwing demanded. I laughed.

"Red X, as you know is my son." I said.

"So?" He laughed himself. "We know that!"

"Red X is actually Xavier. Xavier Redson. The boy you let your daughter hang around." The Titans gasped in horror and jumped up and ran out the door. "Oh, Jesse?" I called the boy stopped. I handed him the photos of Mari kissing Red X on the pier and the photo I had taken earlier of Mari and Xavier kissing in the janitor's closet at school. His face paled. "My condolences."

0O0O0

I thanked Xavier for bringing me to the secluded area in the park. I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed so much. But there was something wrong. We were best friends. But best friends didn't hold hands. They didn't…look at each other like we were looking at each other. It was perfect, but imperfect at the same time.

"Mari," Xavier said suddenly. "I…I need to tell you something."

"You can tell me anything." I said confusedly. He knew that, right? Why was he asking me?

"Jesse's…not right for you, Mar." He said. "I've seen his kind too many times before. He'll use you up trying to make you something you aren't and then he'll throw you away! Look what he did to Rose!"

"How did you know about…?"

"Mari, everyone knows the truth about them! He used her, tried to make her into the perfect girl, a trophy girlfriend. When he realized he couldn't do it, he broke up with her and got with you."

"Xavier." I said softly. I squeezed his hand. "That's sweet but…"

"Why do you waste your time with him! He's turning you into a submissive trophy girl! You can find someone who loves you so much more than he can!"

"Like who?" I asked with a grin.

"Me."

Silence ensued for a few long minutes before I could collect my wits again.

"What?" I gasped. I put my hand over my mouth and my eyes widened.

"I love you, Mari. Since the moment I first saw you. You were so beautiful with the snow in your hair, the light shinning down on you like you were an angel. You took no shit from anyone!"

"I have a boyfriend, Xavier. You're sweet and all, but…"

"MARI!!" It was the most embarrassing thing I had ever seen. The Titans and the TTNG came charging towards us…in uniform.

"What the hell are you guys doing!?" I demanded. "We're in public!"

"Stay away from her!" My father threatened Xavier.

"Dad!" I gasped. "What are you doing? Leave him alone!" My mother pulled me away and took me into her arms.

"My poor baby!" She cried.

"Mother!" I growled. I pulled away. I looked at Jesse. Surely he didn't hear Xavier's confession of love. If he hadn't, why was he so angry?

"Do you know who he is, Mari?" Rachel asked.

"Xavier Redson." I replied with a laugh.

"Besides that." She said. Her face was somber and serious, more so than usual.

"Leader of the Xs."

"Besides that."

"Who then?" I asked. She looked at Xavier.

"Are you going to tell her? You can lie, but I assure you that we'll know the second you begin to do so." She promised.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Your father told us everything." Jesse said venomously. "He also showed me these." He handed Xavier several pictures.

"Where did…" I took them from him. It was pictures of Xavier kissing me earlier that day…and me kissing Red X the night before.

"Mari," Jen said softly. "He's Red X."

"Red…Jen, are you crazy?" I laughed. "He's not Red X!"

"Yes, he is." My mother said sadly.

"Xavier, tell them you aren't Red X!" I demanded. He looked at me mournfully. "Xavier…"

He didn't speak at first. He didn't look at me. He hung his head low and stared at his shoes.

"I'm sorry, Mari." He finally said in a shaky voice. "I'm so, so sorry! I…I never meant for you to find out this way."

"You…you aren't serious." I said. "This is a joke!"

"I thought that…if you never found out…" He sighed. "If you never found out, it would be better. I mean for God's sake, Mari, my father is Crimson Death! He wanted me to kill you!" He reached out to me. I hit his hand away. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"Xavier," I said in a shaky, injured voice, "I never want to see you again. Not in school, not in town, and especially not in my bedroom." I turned away and began walking away.

"Mari!" He calledafter me in a heartbroken voice.

I stopped in spite of myself. I could sense him standing where I had left him, could feel his despairing stare focused on me. I clenched my teeth.

"I don't love you anymore, Xavier." I said before I ran away without a second glance.

A/N:Sorry about the shortness. I wanted to get this done before I had to go to bed. R&R!