Dirty Laundry
Chapter Ten

)O(

Raven pushed Jason as far away from the smoke as she could, both of them rushing back towards the balcony door and sliding it open to allow fresh air in. They were both coughing heavily, the caustic, acrid smell of tear gas filling their senses until it became too much for either of them to handle. Raven's powers lashed out of her fingertips, her dark magic pushing the hissing canister into Jason's bedroom and slamming the door shut.

"Damnit," Jason choked out between coughs. "My suits are going to smell like that now."

Raven glared at him from her peripheral vision, coughing as she tried to rub the smoke from her eyes. "That's what you're worried about? Your suits?"

"Awe come on, Rae," he said, his chuckles dissolving into a fit of coughs again. "That's like thirty thousand dollars worth of suits in there. I'll never get the smell out."

Raven paused and glared at him through red rimmed eyes. Of all the things he could be concerned about right now, he was concerned about his damn suits? And really, how in the world did anyone manage to wear that much money in suits? Were they made of gold? "What in the world do you spend all your money on? Clothes?"

"Clothes make the man… or so they say. Anyway, admit it, those suits fit me like a glove, Raven." He forced a grin, still coughing as he tried to catch breaths of clean air wafting in from the open balcony door. "You like the way I look."

Raven's eyes narrowed. "We don't have time for that."

"You certainly don't."

Raven looked up into the mask of Red X and swallowed another cough. A surge of frustration and anger whipped through her, and it took every ounce of her self-control to keep her powers in check. "Of course it's you."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned back on his heels, completely comfortable with the situation he had created. "You expected someone else?"

"No," she snarled up into his face as he sauntered through the room, the mask on his face undoubtedly purifying the smoke for him. Jason stood next to her, bristling with barely contained anger as his body shook from trying to control his coughing. He was biding his time, trying to gauge the severity of the interaction before he ran head-first into the fight without truly thinking about what should have been the appropriate steps. Well, at least he was trying to keep a level head in the face of all of this. That was something for sure.

"Oh, I was worried for a moment that there might have been a third Red X floating around the city... and we couldn't have that, now could we? Two is bad enough, after all." Faux-X leaned back on his heels and stared at the coughing couple in front of him, eyeing them as if they were bacteria under a microscope.

"Want to tell me what you are doing in my home?" Jason glared at him, trying to put his body between Faux-X and Raven, but she elbowed him out of the way. The last thing she needed was his chauvinistic tendencies to kick into overdrive now, especially since they needed her powers.

"In your home?" He laughed and looked around at the fine furniture and art that lined the modern-looking flat. "Yes, I suppose you can call this a home, filled with all perfect the things your thievery has bought you over the years."

"I earned all of this. It's not my fault my clients want other people's things. I simply help them obtain it." Jason crossed his arms over his bare chest and continued to glare at the intruder, his body still tense from fighting the smoke now curling from under the bedroom door. "So, I'll ask you again: what are you doing in my home?"

"I thought I'd try and find you at your weakest. You know… naked and wrapped up in your invisible protection barrier of a Titan." He waved his hand dismissively at Raven. "I thought it was high time someone put you out of your misery and try and clear the world of your foul stench."

Jason growled. "Excuse me?"

"You heard what I said, Red X... Red Hood... Jason Todd... whatever you choose to call yourself these days." He stepped even deeper into the room, hooking his thumbs into the belt around his waist, silently taunting Jason with the action of flashing him his own gear. "You're a stain on this world, and you leave nothing but wreckage and disaster in your wake. It's my rightful duty to clear the world of you."

Jason glared, hands shaking. "What in the world are you talking about?" He snorted and rolled his eyes. "I'm a stain on the world? Are you fucking nuts? What in hell is wrong with you? I'm just doing my job, and last time I checked no one was hurt or injured in any of my heists… let's talk about what happened with you yesterday."

"Shut up! You don't know anything, and you and this stupid life you lead are what's wrong with me!" Faux-X stepped deeper into the room, fists clenched as his stance changed from casual and relaxed to something a little more sinister. Tucked into the sides of his belt were two loaded pistols, and Raven could see the handles poking out as if in warning. Faux-X snarled again. "You sit here with everything you could have ever dreamed of, and yet you don't deserve any of it."

"And you do?" Jason snorted. "What makes you so special?"

"I am better than you, and you know it."

The smoke was still seeping in through the crack under the bedroom door, filling the living room with a thick, gray haze. Raven had bent over and started to pretend cough, dropping on all fours to search for her communicator under the ruse of being unable to breathe. She needed to contact her teammates fast. Jason quickly caught on to what she was doing and tried to keep Faux-X occupied in their conversation.

"Better than me?" He snorted. "Don't make me laugh. You're a stupid kid with a Napoleon complex."

"I'm not short, so I can't have a Napoleon complex." He tried to keep up the front of being calm and collected, but it ended up sounding more like a school yard fight. "And this is all your fault. I am better than you, but because you were so underhanded, you got the jobs. You got all the fame and glory and money. I was supposed to have that first job, the one you under sold me on, the one that pushed you into the light and attention. And, because you had this suit, because you made a better deal, because you had better 'presence', I was left being ignored in your shadow. And you were cast into the limelight, evading capture from the Titans and winning all the approval from employers."

Jason continued to stare at him, his mouth falling open in shock, even Raven stopped searching for her communicator as she stared at Faux-X through the thickening haze. That's what all of this was about? That? Jason underbid him in a contract and this kid lost his marbles because of it? This was petty jealousy at its worst, that was for sure. Raven and Jason exchanged surprised stares before looking back at Faux-X.

"Are you serious, kid? That's what this is all about? A fucking job?" Jason ran a hand through his hair, trying to grasp the bizarre concept that was unfolding in front of him. "You're upset because I underbid you in a job and I got the contract?"

"It wasn't just a job!" Faux-X snarled and took another step into the room, coming deeper into the war zone that Jason was about to create. "It was more than that for me! I was broke and out on my luck, and that was my one chance to finally make something of myself and you took it all away from me, just because you were cheaper – not even better."

"And you're saying you're better than me?"

"Of course I am." He stepped forward and his hand grazed over the side of his gun. "I know I am."

"Of course you are." Jason growled as he rolled his eyes, and his muscles rippled under his skin in a silent movement of anger. "Let me get this straight, pip squeak, because I don't want to mess any of the facts up. You weren't hired for a job because I underbid you in a contract fee, and because I was cheaper than some half-pint wannabe – yourself – you blame me for your own life's shortcomings?" He raised an eyebrow and continued. "And because you blame me, you decide to come after me and the things I care about, including putting the one woman I love in danger?" He barked out a shred of humorless laughter and moved closer to him. "You know what? You've got balls, kid. You're stupid as fuck, don't get me wrong, but you've got some fucking kahones to try and put Raven in your line of fire, fuck-tard."

Faux-X didn't quite know what to do with those insults, and he took a step back as if the words had struck him physically. "Don't talk to me like that."

"And how should I talk to you? You're a fucking, goddamned idiot."

Raven's hand finally found her communicator (which was hidden halfway under an armchair), and hit the panic button to signal her location and distress to her teammates. They would be here soon, but she had to keep Faux-X occupied for five more minutes or he might escape. Raven stood up, pretending to stumble on her feet as she used the chair for leverage and support. Putting on her best innocent face, she looked at Faux-X with red-rimmed eyes and pale skin.

"I… I can't do this anymore. I think I'm going to pass out…" She tumbled back to the carpet in a heap of limbs, watching Faux-X's body language through half-closed eyes. Although she couldn't see his face, he appeared to be genuinely shocked at the turn of events, and stumbled back another half-step from Jason. It was as if he didn't expect for the tear gas to actually work.

Jason took the opening. He jumped forward, wrapping his hands around Faux-X's wrists and pulling him to the ground with a deafening 'thud'. He struggled for a minute, but Jason was having none of that, and rolled the fake thief over himself, using his feet and legs as leverage, and slammed his body onto the floor.

"Now, Raven!"

Raven picked herself up from the floor and called out her mantra, locking Faux-X in a barrier of black magic. He seemed dazed for a moment, half-heartedly struggling against his restraints as he tried to mumble out curses and names. He shook his head a few times trying to clear his vision as he stared into the faces of his captors.

"You're out of practice, kid. That was just a little too easy for my tastes." Jason crossed his arms over his chest and leaned to one side of his body, staring into the form that looked so much like his own. "Apparently all the thieving and property destruction numbed your battle senses. You should really work on that."

Raven checked her communicator and nodded in affirmation. "The other Titans will be here in a few minutes." She glanced up at the skull mask trapped in her own magic. Something about this felt off. Jason was right, it did feel just a little too easy, but she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She brushed off invisible dust from her tank-top. "So, if there's anything you'd like to say before Robin and the others get here – now's the time to say it. Because I can promise he won't be as open minded and calm as we are."

"Fuck you." He hissed as he struggled against the restraints. "Fuck you, Raven."

She raised an eyebrow, unamused. "Is that supposed to hurt my feelings or something?"

"You're the only thing that's protecting this loser, and what for?" He grunted, his hands wiggling in their locked positions. "Because he's a good fuck? Because you're such a slut you'll open your legs to a fucking criminal? You're a vile, disgusting, demon whore, and you just want to fall into that bottomless, dark pit you call a life."

"Shut the fuck up, dude." Jason's hands were shaking at his sides.

Raven stood there, her expression calm and blank. "At least I'm not a pathetic excuse for a human being who has no ability to create on his own. At least I don't have to steal a persona because I'm angry that someone took my favorite toy when I wasn't looking. At least I have dignity." She twisted her hands and the barrier tightened around him, drawing the breath from his lungs. He struggled even more against his restraints, thrashing and hissing as Raven approached his floating form. "At least I'm not you."

With that, she slammed him into the wall, cracking plaster and drywall with the force of impact. Faux-X groaned and struggled against the restraints again, this time with a little less enthusiasm and awareness. His hands drooped by his sides and he seemed dazed as he turned his head and looked around the room, trying to make sense of it all.

Jason gave a low whistle as he looked at the damage she cause. "Remind me to not be on your bad side, little bird."

Raven snorted and rolled her eyes. "You're always on my bad side." She dropped her guard just a little bit and turned away from Faux-X, hearing the approach of the rest of her teammates from down the hall. Cyborg's massive footsteps could be heard from a mile away sometimes. "They're here. We'll get this taken care of and…"

She trailed off, suddenly realizing she didn't hear the sounds of struggling any more. It was a little too quiet from the peanut gallery. Turning, she saw Faux-X had managed to find enough wiggle room to grab a small item from his belt. Raven's stomach dropped at the sight of the tiny, cylindrical item. It was a remote detonation device. For a bomb.

"What are you-"

"I always make sure there's a little insurance to my plans. I wouldn't want to be caught in a situation with no hope at escape, now would I?" His voice was firm and even as he and Raven continued to stare at each other, sizing the other one up. "In case you didn't notive, I've wired this whole apartment to blow… so if you don't want to compromise the integrity of this building as well as kill practically everyone on this floor… I suggest you put me down and let me walk out of here as if nothing happened."

"We don't negotiate with terrorists."

"Oh?" He smiled slowly. "We'll see about that when your leader comes."

"Raven!" The door swung open and the rest of the Titans barged in, standing in Jason's doorway and looking entirely out of was a strange moment were they all realized whose apartment it actually belonged to, and they shuffled awkwardly before finally tip-toeing into the space. They stared from Jason to Faux-X to Raven and back again, trying to precisely figure out what was going on inside the apartment.

"Oh, look." Faux-X's voice was light and saccharine, as if this was just a joke to him. "More guests for the party. Let's see how the negotiations fare now."

"What?" Robin genuinely seemed confused for a moment. "We don't negotiate."

"I might reconsider that thought, Princess. He's wired the whole damn apartment to explode." Jason took a step closer to the Titans, locking eyes with Robin, trying to convey the seriousness of what was going on without taking up too much time. "The detonation device is in his hand, and I don't really want to take the chance on my life, Raven's life, or any of yours… not to mention the twenty other apartments on this floor."

"Fine. You apparently bargain hard." Robin swore under his breath and took a slow step closer to his body, bound in Raven's magic. "What do you want?"

"To leave." He stared at Robin, his fingers tightening on the trigger just enough to remind them all that her was very serious. "I just want to walk out of here with my dignity still in tact."

Raven snorted. "Too late for that."

Beast Boy looked genuinely shocked at her jibe. "Dude, Raven. Maybe it's not a good idea to taunt the kid holding a bomb detonator."

"I'm not a kid!" Faux-X snarled. "You haven't once started treating me like a threat! I'm more dangerous that this bastard, more ruthless, smarter, stronger… and yet you never once gave me a second glance. Not once since I got your attention. I'll fucking show you to be afraid." Without any other warning, his thumb slid down onto the trigger in his hand. A second passed, a moment suspended in time as every body in the room braced for impact…

Raven felt the heat before she heard or saw the explosion, and that heat sent her protective impulses shift into overdrive. Her friends were in danger. Jason was in danger. There was only one thing she could do, and she only had nanoseconds to make the decision that saved everyone's life. Dropping her barrier around Faux-X, she threw her entire self and every ounce of her soul into her powers. Crying out her mantra as loud as she could, she pushed Jason and her teammates from the room, containing the blast withing the protective barrier of her magic.

Before the white-hot heat of the explosion wiped out her vision, she saw the dark splash of Faux-X using his belt to escape both the Titans and harm. And as Raven heard the last bomb go off inside her protection, she had one, singular thought:

Fucking bastard.

)O(

Sorry for the delay in getting this updated. Things were weird in my life lately, but I should be writing and updating more. So, there's that! Anyway, thanks for reading. Also, if you're interested I have a non-romance, humor story between Raven and Red-X called The Reluctant Babysitter (Or: The Titan Drool Machine). Also, I now actually use my Tumblr. So, if you're looking for some quick drabbles, they exist there. Thanks for reading, and I hope to be wrapping this up soon. YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME.