They had agreed on giving themselves a chance, they had agreed to get to know each other without lies. For a month they lived in pure happiness. They agreed never to speak of where he would be committing a crime or what he was doing, but he would tell her when, which gave her time to be unavailable for the group to take her on a mission.

They each had given themselves to the other completely and loved the other without doubt, but each held tightly to a secret they were afraid to tell. Now Eric could no longer hold his secret back, he had finally found out what Slade was planning, found out what it was he needed Red X to steal. He needed him to steal a shipment of military grade weapons and explosives from a ship due to dock in a couple days. The ship would only be in port for the night, to resupply before continuing on to its final destination.

Raven and Eric sat on his couch together watching a black and white Dracula, a movie they both enjoyed but neither was currently watching. She lay cuddled to his side, thinking to herself about how to share her secret with him, while he sat looking forward trying to find the words to explain the situation.

He reached his hand for the remote and stopped the movie, she sat up and looked at him, he sat forward elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked.

"I need to tell you something."

"Ok."

"Look, I told you why I do the things I do as Red X." he started, he saw her nod and continued. "I also told you that I couldn't stop being him and I couldn't leave Jump City because I had business to finish here. But I didn't tell you what that business was."

"You've been doing the same as you always have, I may not be chasing you anymore but Robin still has me read the reports."

He looked at her briefly then turned away.

"But I haven't been doing the same as always. I didn't pick those jobs and I didn't keep the money from them."

"It didn't go to the shelters?"

"Yes, and no."

"Eric just tell me."

He explained to her what Johnny had done and how he had offered his services to fix the problem, he did not tell her it was Slade. He continued and told her that the jobs he had been doing recently to pay off the start of the debt were really distraction jobs to keep the titans focused on him rather than the man who hired him. At this Raven sat up straighter and looked at him carefully. Now Eric got fidgety.

"I need you to understand Rae, he would have killed Johnny, Emma too. He would have destroyed the shelters and hurt a lot more people if I hadn't agreed to this." He glanced at her, she nodded understanding but the look in her eye said she knew the worst part of the story had yet to be told. "The thing is, I found out what the last job is, it's not some simple jewelry theft and not a distraction job. I didn't know what I was distracting from, now I do. Rae I was trying to save people's lives, but he's going to hurt so many more than I knew."

"Eric just tell me the rest, what's the job, who is it for?"

He told her, the job, and the boss. She was quiet for a long time.

"I can't keep this quiet Eric, I have to tell Robin."

"I know Rae, I knew before I told you. I can't let it happen; I can't let people get hurt. But you guys can't just burst in and stop the deal, I won't know the exact location until just before and I won't know which ship until he takes me there himself, but if I take a tracker you can find me. Give me a signal somehow and I will distract them until you guys get the jump on them."

Raven looked carefully at him, a part of her said this was a trap; he was working for Slade and planned to get all the Titans in one place and finish them off. But she knew that part of her, and it wasn't trustworthy. Eric was. She nodded in agreement to his plan.

He took her hands in his. The look on his face was serious.

"Raven, I know you guys are a great team, and you have done amazing things. But I won't lie to you I don't believe you guys can take Slade down, even with my help. The point of this is to stop him from getting those weapons. He's going to know I betrayed him. He'll come after me Rae. Eventually he will be able to figure out who I am, I don't doubt it, and I can't let you get hurt. I have to leave Jump City, I have to leave you."

There was a heavy silence between them. He still held her hands in his and held them tight; he couldn't look into her eyes. His heart was breaking; he couldn't see what he was doing to her.

"No. We will go together."

He looked up at her, his shock was clear on his face. For a moment he was happy a moment he had hope, but then he had guilt.

"Raven, no, the Titans are your family; I can't take you away from them."

Raven leaned in and kissed him softly.

"I love you Eric, they are my family, my brothers and sisters. They will always be my family. But I love you."

He looked into her eyes, he searched them for doubt, looked for something to show him she wasn't sure, something that would tell him he would be selfish to accept her offer.

"Eric, there is something I want to show you."

"Ok." He whispered.

She got up and walked to his bedroom where she had an overnight bag, when she came back to the couch she held a mirror in her hand. She set it down in front of them and explained that it would take them to Nevermore.