Long Road to Ruin

The Good Samaritan

I'm starting to notice a pattern here ever since I've become 'friends' with X, it seems as if one catastrophe happens right after the other. Okay, so catastrophe might be a strong word to use, but the point I am trying to make is I just can't seem to catch a damn break. First, there was the Blackfire incident, then were the talks and fight I had with X, afterwards I discover X lives with Malchior and has not one, not two, but three brothers and a sister. I then have a talk with Malchior only to end in a cliffhanger that suspends me thousands of feet off the ground of sanity with no clue just where the hell I'll end up if I happen to let go and let fate decide my destiny.

Now, still stuck on this cliffhanger I stepped out of the trees and back into view of the supposed witnesses that were believed to be Malchior's lack of self-control deterrents. A lot of help they were when we ended up in a shady, scarcely populated area of the park anyway, which just so happens to be the one place the last Titan I expected to find me, found me. If I believed in lady-luck I'd be seriously doubting her powers right about now, but since I don't I stepped out of the shade and into the sun with squinting eyes and a scowl on my face.

Terra, the arguably powerful geomancer that in appearance seemed to be the frailest of the team with the uncanny ability to blend perfectly in a crowd of normal people, as a matter of fact without our powers I can honestly say I can thoroughly kick her ass. Her yellow-blonde hair fluttered when a strong gust of wind blew from behind her and she flinched when her hair was picked up and thrown about her head. I patiently waited for her to get it under control to once again focus her deep anxious blue eyes on me; she licked her lips and attempted to play this off with a weak smile that was demolished when I narrowed my eyes on her.

She saw me with Malchior, I don't know how much she knows about Malchior, or even if any of the others on our team told her about him or what he looked like, but I can't take that risk. For all I knew I've been under surveillance the entire time I've arrived at the park with X, or as she knew him as Dodger Drayton. There was no telling what she knew, so I kept my words short, simple, and to the point, it shouldn't take long before I triggered her mouth and she ran off with it. Terra, from what I've gathered in the years we've been working together had the tendency to be a little too talkative for her own good … probably one of the reasons why Robin likes to keep her out of the interrogation chambers, that and she had a short trigger fuse.

A minute passed and not a single word was spoken, I slowly took in a deep intake of air to keep my patience under wraps, let her speak first, and she did with that weak hesitant smile still on her face, "Uh … he-hey Raven …"

I stared her down, long and hard, trying to figure out where she was going to take this. For a fact I knew she was embarrassed she caught Malchior and me together doing God-knows-what hidden in the darkness away from prying eyes. I'll let her draw up her own conclusions, but for now I decided to play this nonchalantly, I turned away from her and walked into the field towards the winding path that cut through the park. I cut to the chase, with what I already knew to be an indisputable fact, "What does he want?"

She followed in stride, but looked up at me with a questioning expression, "'He?'"

I rolled my eyes, Please don't play stupid, I called her on it, "Robin. I assume you're not just here for a casual stroll in the park without Beast Boy; Robin had to have sent you to look for me. So I'll ask again, what does he want?"

She scoffed, "Yeah, like you've got it all figured out. FYI: Robin didn't send me; as a matter of fact I don't think he cares where you are so long as you come back to the Tower and continue doing your job."

I stopped, I turned, I tilted my head, I arched a brow, and I stared at her for a second when what she said didn't click in my head. Robin didn't send her? He doesn't care? What the hell was that all about?! I was wrong? I can't be wrong … it didn't make sense, it's not like I was counting on Robin to place me under surveillance, I just figured he'd do something like that with my odd behavior. This was bizarre, Malchior was right; my assumptions are going to get me in a helluva lot of trouble one of these days if I'm not careful.

So I stuck to my original plan and kept my mouth shut to let Terra do all the talking and she didn't seem to mind much when she shrugged and said, "He never flips out when you miss assignments, he doesn't ask where you're going or where you're at, ever. It's like he's giving you some kind of special treatment and I don't think it's fair." She crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged again as she added, quite smug about herself, "So I decided to do a little investigating to see what's been really going on between you two."

I blinked, then blinked again, and slowly shook my head in disbelief.

Am I in some weird dream?

Did I fall into a rabbit whole somewhere that I wasn't aware of?

Was I hit too hard on the head?

Or was this some kind of joke that I just wasn't getting?

I tried to refrain from looking like a lost idiot as I stared into Terra's navy blue eyes, blinked, and then slowly tried to make sense of what had just come out of her mouth, "An investigation? You conducted an investigation? On me?"

She narrowed her eyes and with a shrug she asked, "Yeah, is it so hard to believe?"

"Yes, actually, it is. Who put you up to this?"

Terra scowled, obviously insulted that I didn't expect her to be smart enough to actually pull off a stunt as ambitious as privately investigating me and in all honesty I can't wrap my mind around it. Terra? The girl susceptible to powerful influences able to fly under my radar undetected and able to get thus far … I don't know if I should be the one insulted here not her. No, she shouldn't be insulted, only because it was brilliant … of course I wouldn't expect Terra to investigate me … she didn't like me, she didn't like being around me, she didn't like my attitude, she just didn't like me and the feeling was mutual. I always thought she was too weak for the job, too vulnerable and insecure about what others thought of her to be able to focus long enough to get through an assignment.

Then this happens … either I'm getting sloppy, or her trainings finally paying off, but it didn't matter anymore. What did matter were the next string of words that came out of her mouth and caught my immediate attention, still with a scowl on her pretty face she growled, "This isn't a joke Raven. I knew something's been goin' down since you started to leave the Tower and Robin never bothered to say anything about it. It doesn't take a shrink to notice Robin acting out of character ya know."

Oh. My. God.

She was right, Robin was black and white he had an obsessive routine that the world could set their clocks to. For him to make an exception to a rule in his rule book that he might as well call his bible because he was so strict about its followings would be cause for some attention, but for Terra to notice it, point it out, and make a connect to me was impressive. Maybe the others noticed his odd behavior around me too, but since they knew about our bond it probably didn't cross their minds that whatever could be happening was serious enough to look into, Terra was biased, she didn't know about that little tidbit between Robin and I.

Inwardly, I bite down on my lower lip and kept myself from physically gulping when I realized that I was probably so screwed for having underestimated the blonde-geomancer. I should have been more careful … I should have known I was missing something. So I kept quiet, I didn't say anything, I was honestly too afraid to now, she had to do all the talking, I had to know how much she knew. So with a flip of her blonde hair she sighed heavily and frowned at me, "You know … at first I thought there was something going on between the two of you, like you were seeing each other behind Starfire's back or something, but then that little incident at the Med-Bay happened and I realized that the only reason why Robin was acting weird was because of you when he probably found out about your little secret."

"…"

She narrowed her eyes on me and it took everything within my power not to blink away when I felt this was it. This was the end, all she had to do was say it to my face, call me on my crimes and that was it … game over. She prepared to do so as she stepped up to my face and with us being the same height stared me dead center in my eyes with her dark navy baby-blues and she said with great conviction, "You've been dating civilian guys on the down-low haven't you?"

"…" I blinked.

"…" she waited for a reply with a smug gleam in her eyes, like she caught me red-handed.

"…" I tilted my head and arched a brow in question then darted my eyes from left to right wondering when the real point would come to light, when the other Titans on our squad would gather around to lock me up and throw away the key. I waited … but nothing … nothing happened and I was left with the conclusion that of all the convictions Terra could come up with she chose to believe I was dating civilians?

I had to keep myself from laughing when I realized she made this too easy for me.

Instead I gulped and straightened up then shrugged to respond in kind, "And if I have? What's the crime in that?"

She pulled back and with a shake of her head and another shrug of her shoulders she cocked her hip to the side and propped her hand on it, "Nothing, which is what confuses the hell out of me. How come you're keeping it a secret? It's not like anyone in the Tower is going to condemn you for it … as far as I know Robin already knows about what you've been up to and personally, I think it's good for you to have a boyfriend."

"You would," I said with a scoff and a roll of my eyes as I turned my back on her to continue on my way through the park.

Terra followed in step beside me and with a glare asked suspiciously, "What's that suppose to mean?"

I sighed heavily and shook my head to dismiss it, "Nothing."

"Hey …" she put a had on my arm which stopped us dead and forced me to face her as she looked at me with one of her most sincerest of expressions and smiled supportively, "… I know we're not the best of friends, hell you may not even think of me as a friend, but … whatever it is you're going through, you know you can talk to me about it." She blinked and chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck and added, "Actually, you can talk to everyone in the Tower and they won't judge you no matter what it may be … just thought you'd like to know."

Just like that, she walked away and left me floored.

She cared … after everything that's happened, after everything I put her through, after everything she put me through … she cared.

She didn't like me.

But she cared.

And … she trusted me …

Left in that park I closed my eyes and bowed my head with another heavy sigh.

What am I going to do now?

--

'Welcome back …' he said with a smile on his face as I entered the Ops Room with Terra. I looked down at him, my leader, in the kitchen with the paper in his hands reading the headlines, then swept my eyes across the room to notice everyone else with their eyes on him and me, the air stood still and it felt as if they were waiting … waiting for something to happen. Another argument maybe? I doubt that'll be happening any time soon, I didn't want it to happen any time soon, so I did the only thing I thought was right to do.

From the steps I crossed the Ops Room into the kitchen to stand before Robin, his masked eyes narrowed on me and he folded his paper to hear what I had to say, it wasn't much, but I had to say it. I owed him as much since I knew I couldn't say everything that I should tell him, tell everyone in the Ops Room actually … talking was never one of my strong points, neither was sharing secrets. So in a quiet tone, only loud enough for him to hear I said softly, 'I'm sorry … for yelling at you earlier, it … it was uncalled for … I … I shouldn't have, I had no –'

'It's alright,' he interjected with a shrug, 'I'm glad you did, you looked like you needed to get something off your chest … I'd rather have you scream at me than to hold it in anyway …'

I gulped and looked away from his sincere face, from his genuine smile, and from his honest heart that believed and trusted in me so fully it made me feel so ashamed for keeping secrets. I wanted to tell him, so badly, what I've been really up to, what's been really happening to me, but I couldn't … I cared about him and everyone here too much to selflessly give it all up in the righteous act of telling them the truth. I cared enough to lie to them, to keep them from my betrayal, from the heartache of knowing I wasn't as honest with them as they were with me. I wanted them for myself … and I cared about X and Malchior too much to destroy the lives they had created for themselves.

I should be thrown in prison … or buried alive with all my secrets.

X may be a criminal, but at least he flaunts it with pride.

I hid away in the shadows and pretended I wasn't doing anything wrong.

I was the worse kind of criminal … and yet here I stand, in front of Robin, before my leader, with a stoic expression and a dry shrug, 'Well, if going deaf is your aim than I'll be happy to scream at you again.'

He chuckled at the lame rebuke and opened up his newspaper, 'Yeah, well, I'm here twenty-four seven if you need me.'

"If you need me," he says, and I don't bother to comment, I instead turned my back and walked away, back to my room to sulk and ponder.

Where's the justice in this?

--

Yes indeed, I pondered as I replayed that memory of three days ago over and over again in my head while I walked aimlessly around the same neighborhood I met X in and where we usually hangout whenever we get the chance. Late at night, when the streetlights were on, and the shadows and darkness ruled, I walked, and pondered, Where is the justice in this? What was I (for once) doing right that seemed to keep me out of the slammer for my wretched crime? What was the punishment for a lying cheat?

What indeed?

Nibbling on the inside of my lower lip, I looked up and glanced around the deserted streets, an automatic reaction when I realized I was still alone … and I couldn't find X … if he didn't appear this night, it'll be the third night since his niece's birthday he's blown me off and I was already feeling abandoned. Did he forget about me already? Was he still going to quit me cold-turkey after saying he would still stick around? Should I even be surprised he'd blow me off? He's already proven he'd set me up and lead me into an ambush without a second thought, why would leaving me all by my lonesome be any different?

Or he's jealous … I considered with a heavy sigh when his name popped into my head again, Malchior … X did see the way we interacted with one another back at Carmen's party without shame or hesitation. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought he held no competition against the dragon, which would just be stupid considering the fact I wasn't interested in a courtship right now. At least an intimate 'I-love-you' type of relationship and with my current state I don't think getting into a relationship would be the smartest thing to do.

Again, I began to nibble on the inside of my lower lip while I stuffed my thumbs into the front hem of my low-rise jeans and with my head bowed again to stare at the ground I let the tendrils of my long hair pulled up in a messy-bun frame the sides of my face. My feet moved on their own, leading me wherever in a slow shuffled walk that held no purpose whatsoever. I pictured myself to be one pathetic sight … a lonely girl, on a lonely sidewalk, by herself, and all alone … hmm, maybe not pathetic … stupid would be the right word.

I was pretty much easy-pickings for the average perv on the streets, but this was a minor concern, I can handle myself against those types. No, what I was concerned about were the Good Samaritans that thought they would do me a favor by joining my company and 'protecting' me from the weirdos, I chuckled when a thought struck me, Good Samaritan … didn't X say something like that before …?

"What's so funny?"

I stopped and spun around when that familiar voice struck me so suddenly it sent a startled jolt down my spine and I gasped when I saw him morph out of the shadows and his gleaming crimson eyes locked on me with a sly grin on his lips. With my heart still racing from the shock, and my mind still trying to process what was going on I whispered his name to confirm his existence, "Malchior …"

His grin only grew as he stepped into the light of the same streetlight I stood under and with a painful three feet of distance between us he nodded in greeting, "Good to see you again love."

"Right …" I breathed and glanced around in search of X, but he was nowhere in sight, so I asked uneasily, "… um, where's X?"

"Busy, I vaguely recall him muttering something about Annabel needing his assistance," he answered so curtly it left me wondering if I should feel disappointed, or suspicious, then he chuckled and from his pants pocket he pulled out a small device better known as a cell-phone, but what Malchior would be doing with it went beyond me. "Relax love; you can even call him to ask of his whereabouts, I have his number on speed-dial."

'I have his number on speed-dail' I repeated that in my head and blinked, something about that didn't click in my head, it didn't make sense and so I called him on it, "You own a cell-phone?"

He nodded, "It took some getting use to, but after destroying my third one I think I've grasped the concept of such an odd device … these humans are industrious creatures, the things they've come up with … simply amazing actually."

I watched him flip the cell in the air and let it fall back into his clawed grasp to once again disappear into his pocket and I blinked then shook my head. The thought of Malchior fitting into this technical-civilization struck me as odd and honestly unbelievable, but who was I to judge? I sighed and decided to let it go, if Malchior knew how to work a cell-phone than good for him, but the one thing I really wanted to know was why he was here … or even how he found me. It is possible that X probably spoke of me to him and let it slip about our usual haunts, or it was possible that my first assumption on X's dwelling was right and he did live in this neighborhood, but I knew those answers didn't answer the why factor of the equation.

With his crimson eyes he looked at me and arched a brow in question, "What is the matter?"

I frowned and shrugged, "Just curious to know why you're here …"

He blinked and his brow went even further up his forehead till he looked perplexed, again, "We finally get to see each other after all these months and you want to know why I am here? Do I really need a reason?"

"… I … don't suppose, but how did you know where I was?"

"I live with Drake Fox, Raven; you don't think I'll get the location of where you two usually go, out of him sooner or later?"

"Yeah, but why now? I've been walking around here for three nights already and X has not shown up since Carmen's birthday, then suddenly you appear?"

A frown found its way on his lips when he concluded, "You don't trust me."

I rolled my eyes and sighed, "One night with you won't change what I think of you, and neither will our prior conversation."

"What a pity," he looked to the ground as an awkward silence befell us and I watched his eyes shift to his left and with a heavy sigh he nodded, "well then, I'll take my leave seeing as you most obviously wish to be alone."

I groaned and held out my hand to stop him just as he pivoted on his left foot to turn his back and leave me. With my hand on his shoulder he glanced down at me with a cocked brow as I glared up at him in exasperation, "Don't do that."

He blinked, and asked perplexed, again, "Do what?"

"Act like a whining puppy that's been accidently kicked by its master."

He growled, "And clarify for me just who the whining puppy is in this metaphor?"

I slid my hand off his shoulder and shook my head tiredly, "You know what I mean."

I bowed my head and brought a hand up to massage the bridge of my nose in order to help dispel the exhaustion that threatened to take over my body and cloud my mind with desires of some much needed sleep that I've been painfully lacking in. With my eyes closed I breathed in deeply, but then slowly exhaled when I felt Malchior slide his long slender fingers over my cheek till his palm was pressed against the side of my face and he tilted my head up to look at him. I blinked my eyes open and dropped my arm to my side in defeat, there was no point in pretending I wasn't tired, I was and Malchior could see it. In his crimson eyes I saw his concern and he tipped his head forward to whisper softly, "You look ready to fall over in exhaustion."

His warm breath tickled my flesh and sent a chill through my body which then triggered an aching itch within me that I couldn't ignore, but had to endure. So I held my breath and tried not to take in his scent as I bowed my head away from him and admitted, "I haven't been sleeping much … and I'm tired."

I didn't see it, but I could feel him frowning in disapproval, I chanced a glance up through my hair to see him staring at me with that frown, but with something else in his eyes, contemplation, he was thinking of something. Of what I hadn't the foggiest, but as I brought a hand up to slide his hand off my face he jerked his hand away from me so suddenly it startled me, it was as if I set him on fire and he all but screamed in pain. Concerned I looked up at him anxiously, wondering what I had done to set him off, but he seemed fine, as a matter of fact he was smirking at me.

Cautiously, I took a step back not sure I liked the look he was giving me; I narrowed my eyes and warningly chided, "Malchior …"

I didn't know what happened or what hit me till I was suddenly suspended hundreds of feet in the air feeling the moisture and smelling the coming rain within the clouds high above Jump City. Malchior, being the ass that he was had went from zero to a blur in no less than a millisecond flat clutching me so tightly to his chest it felt like he'd crush me sooner than when he got to his destination. That's to say if he had a set destination; because no sooner had we been bounding from one rooftop to the other had he flung me so high into the sky I forgot how to activate my powers of flight.

My stomach did flips and twisted itself into knots when I reached the peak of my upward travel then gravity kicked in and physics 101: whatever goes up, must come down. It felt like I was falling so far and so fast the wind ripped out a scream which had been caught in my throat all this time and stole it away from me as I plummeted to the unforgiving earth below. Malchior was no where in sight and I couldn't concentrate long enough to correct myself in mid-fall, my heart raced, my breathing hitched, and all my senses were jammed. I recognized this feeling: Panic. I was panicking, I needed to get myself under control and fast or I was going to be nothing but a red smear on the pavement.

Yet, just as I established reason back into my mind and corrected my fall so I was rocketing down to the city head first I caught sight of a giant black shadow in my right peripheral. I couldn't make it out, not at the speed I and It were going, before I knew it that shadow swooped down so it was under me and a giant bird-like talon snatched me right out of the sky. I yelped when I felt the whiplash of my uncontrolled speed jerk to an almost painful halt; it was the equivalent of flying down the freeway at 80 mph then suddenly slam on the break to cruise at a slow, but controlled 15 mph. I could feel myself still falling, but I was in more control, or rather the morphed Malchior was in control, with me in his talon and his giant wings flapping at a rhythmic beat I felt my heart slow to match the beat.

However, my breathing was still slightly labored and my entire body was trembling, but through my shock I shouted over the roaring winds, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

He looked at me with his glowing scarlet eyes and even with his bird-like bill and jagged sharp teeth he smirked a reptilian smirk and said within my head, "You'll see."

He then turned over his giant talon and just as I felt his grip loosen I knew what he wanted and immediately I got a hold of my trembling body so I could concentrate on flight when I shot out of his hand and flipped over his body because he was going too fast for me to keep up. Now levitating hundreds of feet off the city, I watched Malchior dip down, and throw his body into an impressive tumble to redirect his path to come back for me. I turned away from him and pushed myself forward as hard and as fast as I could to match his speed as he caught up to me with relative ease, but again swooped in below me and flattened out his wings so he suspended himself in a gentle glide. Confused, I hovered over him as he looked over his back and snorted in persistence.

It took me a moment to understand that he wanted me to ride on his back, but even when I realized it I was hesitant to do so, simply because I've never done this sort of thing before, but I wasn't going to contemplate it this high off the ground. Besides, if anything bad should happen I was now stable enough to catch myself before I panicked ever again. So with all things considered I flew closer to him till my body was parallel to his and I reached out a hand to touch the back of his neck. I managed to grab a hold of one of his scales and with it I pulled myself closer till I was straddling his back on the juncture between his shoulders just before his long neck connected with the rest of his body and my power of flight diminished.

I gasped when I didn't find my balance quick enough and nearly flew off when I sat up too straight, yet, by some miracle I managed to lean forward to duck my upper body down till I was all but laying flat on his back. I cringed and clutched his scales to keep myself from falling off again. Situated and barely comfortable I felt the muscles under me flex and roll as he flapped his wings to gain altitude and speed.

Surprisingly, it wasn't as violent or rough as I thought it would be to ride on the back of a dragon … it was actually pretty soothing. The beating wings, the cool air rolling around me, the occasional feeling of being rocked up and down with every flap of his wings. I all but curled on my side when I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the ride, where he was taking me, what he was up to was all put out of my mind. This weightless feeling was too good to be true, I could be dreaming, and this in-denial sense of idealism was good enough for me for now … I didn't want to think or contradict myself anymore.

I was tired.

Was it too much to ask for a break?

So I drifted to sleep on Malchior's back, and lost track of time.

I had no idea how long I've been out, or even where he took me, but when I heard my communicator go off I knew the break was over, I groaned and slowly opened my eyes expecting to see clouds and blue skies. Well, I saw blue skies alright … but I wasn't in the air or in the clouds, I was grounded … literally, I woke up feeling the solid grassy ground beneath me and a dark-gray coat large enough to cover my entire body draped over me like a blanket. I propped myself on my elbow and with squinting eyes hurting from the sun my sense of hearing and smell took over. First, I heard the ocean, waves crashing against a rock face, and I could smell the ocean spray with every violent crash.

Yet, I only grew even more confused when the constant ringing of my communicator wouldn't shut up, so I looked down and patted my pockets for my clipped on com-link, but instead found it in the grass I had been sleeping on. I plunked it from the ground and while rubbing my eyes from its sleepiness I flipped it open and took a second to read the message, Trouble, was the first word that came to mind when I saw the phrase: Titan Assistance Required flashing red. I then snapped it shut and sighed heavily as I again scanned my surroundings inwardly asking myself, Where am I …?

On a cliff, apparently, I answered myself when I saw Titan Tower in the far off distance towards my right while laid out before me was a perfect horizon where the darkest-blue of the ocean kissed the lightest-blue of the skies littered with the whitest-fluffy clouds. A true-blue happy place, I sighed again and picked up the mysterious coat that blanketed me. I gave it an odd look then froze when I remembered Malchior had been wearing this same exact coat last-night or, correction, this is his coat, his scent was still on it, but where was he?

That's when I attempted to turn my head at a 180 degree angle to search the woods that would be behind me, but then my breath caught in my throat when I felt slithering strong arms snake around my waist that then pulled me back. In one fluid motion my back was pressed flush against Malchior's chest and I was comfortably tucked between his legs with his chin resting on my shoulder. On reflex I breathed in deeply when he did and slowly exhaled in perfect sync trying to match my heartbeat with his. So warm, I felt so warm I could close my eyes and sit here with him for the rest of the cool morning-light.

With his chin still on my shoulder, his mouth so close to my ear, he whispered, "Sleep well?"

I was still trying to get over how comfortable being back in his arms felt, I almost couldn't comprehend the question, but once the words sank in I nodded slowly, leisurely, as if I had all the time in the world to sit and relax. He again whispered in my ear, his voice so melodic and harmonic it felt as if he was whispering a lullaby into my ear, my own personal lullaby, when really he was just filling in the blanks, "You were fast asleep throughout the entire night and most of the morning … it's now high-noon."

High-noon … wow, I slept that long?

I was away from the Tower for that long?

I blinked when it hit me; I was away from the Tower for THAT long!! I nearly jumped out of his arms when the call on my T-com also rushed back to me and the soothing tranquility I was experiencing was replaced with a great sense of urgency. Malchior must have felt the change in my aura for he lifted his chin from my shoulder and tilted his head to stare at me curiously and asked, "Is everything alright?"

I sighed heavily and shook my head then whispered reluctantly, "I have to go … my team needs me."

"… Oh … I figured the ringing was just an alarm to wake you."

"No, it's a call for back-up …" I leaned forward and crawled away from his warm embrace to then bring myself back on my feet. I turned to face Malchior as he stood up and towered over my shrimpy height of 5"2' nothing, he stared down at me patiently as I dusted my hands trying to avoid his piercing gaze that seemed to expect something of me. Like a puppy that wanted some attention from its master, or a child that wished to be acknowledged for his accomplishments … only he didn't look desperate at all.

Malchior?

Desperate?

That'll be the day.

He may express emotions similar to that of a desperate person, but he was too proud to be desperate for anything … or one. My thoughts then took a turn for the unpleasant when I figured – bearing in mind everything that has transpired between Malchior and I – he wanted me. Not just me physically, he wanted all of me, and in considering this I frowned and figured my team could wait for just a little longer while I indulged my curiosity.

So with my arms crossed under my chest, my head tilted to the side and my hip cocked I shot straight to the point, "Do you love me, Malchior?"

He blinked … and nothing else, how curious that he didn't express shock or out right bewilderment at such a blunt approach. If it were X he'd be fumbling like an idiot scrambling for ways to turn the tables on me and thusly turn the question back on its heels to fire it at me. No, Malchior did none of this, instead he actually mulled over the question with narrowed eyes, I could see him sifting through every word within his vocabulary to use. He analyzed every word and its meaning, and in turn carefully picked out the appropriate words as he then opened his mouth to simply state, "I'm not human."

"… So …" I shrugged and waited for him to explain the significance of that statement.

He tried to do so with a deep intake of air and an even slower exhale, "Love … is a relative term. You see, I don't so much as love you as I feel drawn to you for obvious reasons … my kind … the term love is an expression of whimsical fancy one would use to undermine a male that is greatly attracted to one female. So in a senses … yes, I do love you, but not in such a way the human mind would perceive it. Do you understand?"

I nodded slowly and tried to piece this together using terms he might understand, "So you feel drawn to me … and attracted to me … and possessive of me … but you don't own me, am I correct?"

He smirked, "Clever girl, I've marked you as mine, but I have not claimed you as an equal mate, thus I have no right to claim you at all." Well that made sense; it even explained why he appeared to be so jealous of X's close relation to me. It almost worked as Robin and my bond, on occasion we could transmit how one feels about the other in certain situations. Most of the time this bond activated on the battlefield, but I think that's just due to the fact Robin had this overwhelming desire to win the fight. I patiently listened closely when Malchior spoke up once more, "Most females of my kind would be insulted of this gesture, they see it as a sort of … how did Drake put it … similar to the term one-night-stand, but repetitive …"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes, "A booty-call …"

"Exactly that!"

"Riiiigghhht … well I hope you know I carry myself with more dignity than such …"

He chuckled, "I don't doubt it …" he then reached up his hand to cup the side of my face as he hovered over me to say, "… though I have not claimed you as an equal mate, I recognize your triumphs over me on the battlefield, so I respect you as an equal as well as love you."

I don't know where it came from, or even why I thought of it, but it almost made me burst out laughing when the image of Malchior proclaiming his love atop a balcony dressed as a love-struck Spanish Desperado strumming away on his acoustic guitar trying to romance his lover into a whirl-wind of romantic fancies just seemed hella-funny to me. I refrained from cracking up, but I did offer him a small friendly smile of understanding as I placed one of my own hands over his and brought it away from my face. Thoroughly impressed (and honestly surprised) that he wasn't trying to win my heart in a bull-fight (snicker, snicker) I tilted my head as he chuckled, "Well, if only Fox were here now … he'd be ecstatic to see you smiling."

X … I tried not to think of where or what he was up to these last few days that I haven't seen or heard of him and instead shrugged off the thought and levitated off the ground still holding onto Malchior's hand. Only when I was a considerable distance away did he let go and I bid him ado to envelope myself in my darkness and teleport to Uptown Jump City where some idiot was destroying the boutiques.

At least this idiot would serve as some means of distraction …

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Disclaimer: I don't own the teen titans, or malchior … but I SO wish I did … damn you DC!!

A/N: Sorry this chapter took longer than usual folks, the later chapters of this story are giving me a hard time, but I won't call it a writers block, I'm just indecisive. I don't know how to proceed, but I'll try my best to get over it in the mean time: I told you there's not gonna be a mal/rae/x thing goin on … however, I can't help to add a little mal/rae moment when I can get away with it, XD, so with that said …

L8er daez