Chapter Nine: The Needs of the Many

OR

Pondering

A.N: This is double length because I've been overloaded with moving out and trying to get internet at my new house. Hehe, forgive me?

RAVEN'S POV

Upon hearing the news that Doctor Stevie had been found, my head starts having a war with itself. On one side of the coin we have the fact that we can finally end his pathetic existence and move on. On the other side we have lack of hunting for Sandman. I know it's selfish but the man murdered my sister. He needs to die! The world would be a better place without him in it!

We get back to the hotel at around four-ish after Kane and I do a round of the city. We find three likely places Stevie would go; the lab, which is obvious, a nightclub called the Star De Lune and the hospital, since he is a doctor. The Star De Lune is apparently owned by Mark's daughter, April, and Mark told Kane that Stevie frequents it, and has since he came to Los Angeles.

Lounging on the couch watching Tara and Mick cuddle makes me want to jump my lover, the only problem is, he's more worried about finding Stevie. Is it just me or does Kane worry more about Stevie then he does me, and Cam for that matter? I can't remember the last time he held our adopted son, played with him. Maybe a year ago, when he wasn't so crabby about all this Stevie bullshit. Don't get me wrong, I want Stevie dead too; he's caused all of us (excluding Tara and Cam) nothing but grief. But Sandman, to me, is a bigger threat. He can kill in anyway, not just with needles, and he can strike at any time, anywhere.

By the time the sun has set, Daffney, Mick and Shannon have gone to bed (home for Shannon), and I've retreated to the balcony of the room Kane and I have occupied to stare at the stars in the night sky. It's a beautiful night in Los Angeles, and the full moon sits high in the sky. The moon, to me, is a beacon. A beacon of hope. It's a beautiful thing, that big yellow ball. It makes me feel insignificant, but for me that's comforting. Being insignificant is how I am usually; I put others before myself. Cam, Kane, Daffney… they're my world, and I put them first.

"Hope I'm not interrupting a deep thought."

I turn and smile slightly as Tara steps out onto the balcony, her red and black hair tied up in pig-tails. Mick likes it when she acts childish, even if there is a twenty-five year age gap between them. I mean there's six between Kane and myself, but whoa. It's like cradle-robbing for those two. But they love each other, so it's okay… I guess.

"No, I'm just… thinking," I say, giving her a smile. She gives me a small smile in return and comes over, hoisting herself up onto the balcony railing. She pats my shoulder and grins, her smile lighting up her face. She truly is happy; in fact, I've never seen her so happy. Since she and Mick started their relationship, and took it to the next level by becoming engaged, I've never seen her cry. Mick makes her happy, and I can see that she makes him happy. I think they're perfect for each other, but what do I know; I can't seem to make any relationship work anymore…

"Don't think too much," Tara says, cutely poking me in the side. I let out a grunt and my lip twitches, threatening to go into a smile but I don't crack; I'm too depressed over this Sandman thing. Its driving me even more insane and I feel like my brain is gonna pop. "It'll put you in a bad mood."

She giggles at her own joke and pats my hand, then running her fingers up to my cheek. I close my eyes as her soft fingers graze my skin. Don't get any ideas either; Tara is like my sister. I'd take a bullet for her, because I love her, but I'm not in love with her. That made more sense in my head… anyway.

Tara's head turns and she climbs from the balcony, going back inside. I drop my head, but open my eyes as I hear voices, and one of the voices is one I know better then anything else in the world.

"Watch yourself," is the voice of Tara. I hear a grunt and then a gruff response.

"Don't worry, he's the one that's gonna get it."

I close my eyes again and rest my head against my arms. I feel a large hand on my shoulder and know my big red freak has joined me. I turn my head to look at him and instantly shrink.

Kane is glaring daggers at me, but there is a tiny hint of passion behind his eyes. I blink a few times then turn my head to look at the city below. It's huge, and quite beautiful, especially at night. Kane's hand drops and I know he's crossed his arms; its what he does. I raise my head and look out at the ocean, concentrating at that serene dream that is Venice Beach, the most beautiful stretch of beach in the world. Kane grunts beside me.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" he says, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to look at him. I look into his mis-matched eyes and see anger, flared by my disappearing act I pulled during the day.

"Nothing; I just want some time by myself."

"The only way you'll get time by yourself around here is if you get carted out of this hotel in a body bag," is Kane's response and I glare at him. That's lovely, coming from the man who supposedly loves me. He told me three years ago he loved me, but I still question to this day if he really meant it. I doubt it. He's a cruel, heartless, soulless man who I should never have tangled with to begin with. He's brought me nothing but grief. Normality is something that we can never have because nothing about our relationship is normal! Everything is wrong!

"Why did I know you were gonna say that?"

"Because you know me better then anyone?"

I glare at him. "Do I?"

Kane forces me up against the railing of the balcony and stares into my eyes, a sick glare coming across them. I've seen that once before, and I never want to see it again.

"And what, my dear Raven, is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, oh dear Kane, that I barely know you, you're like a stranger to me."

Kane blinks, willing me to continue. I take a deep breath and go; this is gonna hurt me more then it will him.

"You've become completely obsessed with hunting down Stevie and dismembering him, limb by limb. You don't seem to care about us anymore. What happened to the man who wanted to raise Cameron with me? Huh? What happened to the man who wanted to get rid of all the bad in the world so our son could have a better future? You've changed, and I don't like the man you've changed into. You hide things from me, you never listen, and you constantly ignore me as if I don't mean anything to you anymore. What happened to you?"

Kane is silent for a few seconds; I don't think it dawned on him just how serious the problem has gotten. And it's not just these past two days that's been destroying us, oh no. It's been going on for months. Months and months and months of non-stop torture. There are those brief moments of paradise where we give ourselves to each other between the sheets, but they're few and far between. And getting even rarer.

"You think I'm obsessed?"

I glare at him.

"That's all you have to say!? After that little rant that's all you have to say?! Are you fucking mental?! Are you unable to process that much information?!"

For some strange reason, I grab his shoulders and push him away. This stuns him for a second and then that angry fire flares to the surface again and he lunges for my throat. I see this coming and bob down, weaving under his arm. My days in ECW when I used to volunteer for Paul Heyman (while being locked in a mental asylum mind you) come back to me and I use my shoulders to block Kane from using his arms, driving my knee into his stomach. This winds him for a second and he drops to the ground. I bound from the balcony and back inside, knowing Kane will follow me.

"SCOTT!"

The sound of my real name jolts me and I stop for a second and this gives Kane a chance to catch up to me. He grabs my hair and drives me into the wall. The reason behind my stopping was Kane only ever calls me Scott when he's mad at me, or completely and utterly horny. Its probably both, now that I'm thinking about it. Pain turns him on, the sick fuck.

I'm stunned for just a moment, before twisting my head in a way that should have caused me agonizing pain; instead, all I feel is rage. "Is this what you want?" I whisper to him, watching as some of the fire dims from his eyes, "To break me into as many pieces as you feel you've been broken into?" I grab a hold of his hand, ignoring the throbbing of his pulse under my finger tips; I use all my energy to wrench it away from my head. The movement stings, but he's hesitating now and I know if I stop for even a second he will regain control. "This isn't going to fix you, Kane; it's only breaking you more."

Kane forces me back against the wall, and that fire he had before rages again. I whine as my neck muscles pull, and his fingers dig into my scalp, pulling my hair. I wonder if he knows how much he's hurting me. Is he so much of a sociopath that he can't even tell if he's hurting someone or not?

"What if I'm broken beyond repair, what then, my dear, deluded Raven? What if I don't want to be fixed?"

"Then we're through."

This must stun him because he pulls away. Stepping back to the middle of the room, a confused expression crosses his face, and he looks away, a dark expression in his eyes. I smirk a little and turn away, rubbing my head. This is what he deserves; a harsh slap from reality. He needs to know this isn't right; becoming obsessed with something so trivial as Stevie and neglecting everything else in his world won't help him, only make him worse.

Before Kane can say anything, I grab my leather jacket and leave the room, too many conflicting emotions running through my system for me to care about anything else but my solitude.

~X~

KANE'S POV

Who does that little rat bastard think he is, my brother? I may have done some stupid things in the past, but I'm a different man now, I've changed. Can he not see that? Once Stevie is gone, everything will go back to the way it was; Tara and Mick will get married and live together, and maybe raise a family of their own, Daffney will most likely end up with Shannon and end up taking off with him, and Raven and I can raise Cam together, in a house by the beach. He'd like that. The free, open air would help him. But the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one.

My rage eventually bubbles over and I pull my pocket knife from my back pocket, flicking it open. The blade sparkles slightly in the dim light and I stare at it. I raise it so I can see my reflection in the blade. A monster stares back, a monster that Raven doesn't love anymore.

"Glenn."

I turn to face the door and my blood boils slightly, not that it could much more after that little spat with Raven.

Mark, my half-brother and the man who made me the freak that I am, looks back at me, his green eyes staring intently into my soul. He's picked up a few magic tricks since I last saw him, and his 'Soul Search' power is the one he's using now. Me being me though, I put up a mental barrier so he can't read anything. This obviously pisses him off because he grunts and leans against the door frame.

"How did you get in here?" I ask, flinging my knife at him. He raises a hand and stops it mid-air, using the powers he picked up from Satan herself, his mistress Serenity.

I'll fill you in a bit I think. When Mark and I were kids, he set fire to the funeral home we lived, in, killing our mother, his father and burning me. I grew up a scarred and fractured kid, not having any friends until I met Raven. Mark on the other hand, died in the fire but made a deal with the she-Devil, Serenity, and he got all these little prizes, including immortality. But he had to pay the price, and the price was his soul. Three years ago, not long after we kidnapped him (mwahaha), Mark, surprisingly, asked for my help in saving his ass from Serenity when she came to collect. Took her thirty-five years, but she came and boy did she come. She ended up falling in love with the bastard and so he's immortal again, with a few added bonuses. I had to save his ass last year too, when the Titan God of Brutality, Tidus, escaped his prison in Hell.

Enough about that Jack-ass.

"Tara let me in," Mark says flatly, taking my knife in his fingers and closing it. I growl at him then flop down onto the bed. My brain has started hurting like crazy, and having my bastard brother here isn't helping.

"Figures. Is he still out there?" If Mark doesn't know who I'm talking about he's fucking stupid.

"Yep. Didn't look too happy. And my three guesses are; it has something to do with you, Sandman or Stevie."

I smirk; smart-ass. He read his mind.

"All three. He thinks I'm obsessed with finding Stevie and tearing him apart, not worried about Sandman and me being a dick." I sit up and stare at my brother. There are those rare moments when we get along, and when we do we cause mayhem and destruction no matter where we are, which is what I like about him. He's up for carnage, as long as I leave his family alone, which has grown by three the last time I checked. He now has nine children, including James Lawson's now-outcast nephew, Cooper. Anymore and he'll be able to repopulate the country.

Mark smiles and crosses his arms, flexing his muscles at me. I cock an eyebrow at him and he blinks.

"You kind of are, if you think about it."

I growl and go to stand, but he raises a hand, telling me he has something to add. He better have a good excuse for agreeing with Raven, or I'm going to kick his teeth down his throat.

"You're obsessed, because Stevie did you wrong. I did you wrong, but are you obsessed with killing me?"

I smirk. "You have your uses."

"See? Stevie really has no use other then getting on your everlasting nerves."

"Raven gets on my nerves all the time, but I don't want to kill him."

Mark raises an eyebrow, the same smirk I have on my face crossing his. I roll my eyes.

"Shut up, Mark. Are you living through this? Are you having to deal with your girlfriend or wife as the case may be-" he's married to a woman named Michelle, but has Serenity on the side "-being the biggest pain in the rectum then anyone else in the world?"

"Eh, I have to deal with Xander." He laughs, and I roll my eyes again.

"The point of this lecture was?"

"Take a break. You've been hunting for Sandman, Stevie and everyone else since you broke out. Take a few days to just chill-out. You and Raven should come to the club tonight." He grins and winks at me. "My treat."

I take a second to think. That doesn't actually sound like a bad idea. Having a few beers, listening to music and just chilling out for a little while doesn't sound bad at all. He's right, too, I have been hunting my enemies for too long, maybe I should take a chill-pill and calm the fuck down for a while.

The trick is convincing Raven.

~X~

RAVEN'S POV

Why am I not surprised that Mark is here? He always seems to know when Kane and I fight. Well, he is psychic, and sleeping with the she-devil. Eh. The perks of being dead, I guess.

I'm just putting Cam down in his bed in Daffney's room when I hear a light knock on the door. I turn and spy Mick in the doorway, his hair pulled back in a fluffy pony-tail. He's looking much happier then he used to, and I'm happy for him. His life can only get better.

"Feeling any better?"

I shrug, rubbing my almost-four son's head. He smiles in his sleep and turns over, facing away from me. I smile and turn away, looking at Mick. "I wish it was like the old days."

Mick raises an eyebrow, and gestures for me to join him in the living room. I follow after him and head into the spacious area, flopping down on the sofa. He sits across from me.

"When you say the old days…?"

"I mean when we weren't on the run, when we didn't have to wage war with the entire world and expect to win. When Kane…"

I really don't have to say the rest of that sentence for Mick to understand. When Kane still loved me.

"Mark thinks you and Kane should go with him to the nightclub downtown, to cool off," Mick says bluntly, leaning back on the sofa. It's almost nine at night, and Daffney has crashed early, while Tara is in the kitchen. That doesn't sound like a bad idea, but…

"Will Kane be agro?" I ask. Mick goes to answer but he's cut off.

"No, he won't be."

I turn around to see Mark standing in the entry arch with Kane, but Kane has changed his shirt. He's now wearing a dark blue button up shirt, with the top two buttons un-done. He actually looks pretty good.

"Mark, how can we go out when the whole city is looking for us? We'll be spotted and reported."

Mark smiles and taps his nose, winking at me before heading out the door with Kane in tow. Before Kane leaves completely, he throws me a look that says he's sorry, but that he won't push it. Then he follows after Mark.

I throw a look to Mick and he nudges his head in the direction of the door. Before I can say anything in protest, a set of tanned arms wrap around my shoulders and squeeze. I turn my head to find Tara looking at me, looking beautiful as always. Her hair, in pig-tails not too long ago, now hangs in thick curls near the base of her shoulders. I swear she has hair extensions or something because her hair changes lengths like the fucking wind. Instead of wearing the Alice-esque dress she was wearing before, she's now wearing a pair of black, stone-wash jeans and a red t-shirt that shows off her boobies. She climbs into the seat next to me.

"Take Marky up on his offer, Ravie," she says, her arm around my shoulders.

"Tara's right, Raven," Mick says. I turn to look at him. He smiles. "Spending a night out on the town with Glenn might help you guys sort out whatever is causing the rift between you."

Tara bobs her head excitedly. I sigh.

I suppose it couldn't hurt.

~X~

KANE'S POV

I hate people.

For the record, I hate some more then most, like Stevie, but I despise people. They really drive me crazy. Some make me want to gouge out my own eyeballs, but some, like my dear Raven, make me weep for humanity.

Mark takes us to this little club in downtown L.A called the Star De Lune, the same club Stevie frequents. I had no idea he was into cocktails. As soon as we walk in, I get the impression it's a Nightclub, which I think it is, but I realize soon after it's a cocktail bar. Mark, followed by myself with Raven pulling up the rear, heads over to the main bar where a guy with black hair with frosted white tips is making a martini. We sit down at the stools and Mark orders three beers. The guy grins and I instantly get the impression Mark frequents this club too.

"What brings you here tonight, Mark?" asks the bartender as he puts our drinks down. Mark smirks and takes a swig.

"Hi, Xander. I figured my little brother could use a drink."

Xander looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

Before we came to the bar, Mark waved his hand over mine and Raven's hands. Two marks kinda like stars but pierced with a lightening bolt appeared on our wrists and then faded into nothing. Glamours, from what he explained, hide our true visage from the human eye and those either told about it or were there to witness the event can see through it. Another nifty little trick he picked up from Serenity I suppose.

"Interesting glamour," he says, eyeing me suspiciously. He then looks to Mark. "Is my lovely wife aware that her serial killer uncle is in L.A?" he asks and I almost spit my drink everywhere. I turn to Mark whose grinning at me.

"Does everyone in this damn city know I'm your brother?!" I growl lowly, putting my glass down as Xander picks it up, wipes the bar then puts it back down. Efficient.

"Not everyone," Mark says, taking a swig of his beer and grins at me. "Only anyone I don't want you to…" he makes a cut-throat motion and I smirk.

Beside me I feel Raven twitch and I turn to face him. His eyes aren't on me however; they're on the front door. I turn to face where he's looking and almost fall off my chair.

Walking in the front door with my son-in-law and an ex of mine is Doctor Stevie Richards. He's wearing a blue button up shirt, a pair of black slacks. He still has that ridiculous pony-tail. I have to stifle my laughter and turn around.

Raven taps my shoulder and I look at him. "What's up?"

"What do we do about Stevie? Since we know where he is and all."

I look back at Stevie as he sits down beside Amy, my ex who left me for that no good double crossing asshole named Adam, and Phil, the man who married my daughter, Morgan. He has his arm around Amy and is laughing as a very cute red-headed waitress brings them drinks. My head tilts as he leans in close to Amy and Phil rolls his eyes.

I turn back to Raven.

"We leave him be."

Raven blinks at me and raises an eyebrow.

"Here's my line of thinking; if we go after him now, this club will be filled to the brim with cops in about five minutes. If we wait and strike when he's least expecting it, we'll get away scot-free." I grin and finish off my drink. Mark smiles next to me but it isn't one of those cocky smirks its one of those very rare 'you're doing the right thing' smirks. Raven on the other hand looks like I've smacked him one.

"Let him have his fun while it lasts. In the meantime-" I put my glass down and get up, grabbing my coat. Raven watches me and I grab his hand, pulling him to his feet. "We have some… issues to take care of." I wink and drag him from the bar.

I may be an asshole, but damn I'm charming.