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It's Called Murphy's Law…

Jason had taken to Raven's room, and honestly it was for the simple reason of being around her gave him the best fucking sleep he'd had in six years! She used her empathy in her sleep, not to take, but to radiate calm, and it kept everything at bay for him. It was nice to sleep, and sleep restfully, not a combat nap taken in exhaustion.

However, this morning he was regretting sleeping in Raven's room since there was a pounding on her door at…

0543.

Raven muttered something as she crawled out of the bed to open the door and he swiped her pillow to duck under it. He was lucky Raven wasn't the irrational type of girl who panicked because someone was in her bed, and he was really lucky she wasn't the romantic type who'd swoon at having a guy in her bed.

However, he couldn't stay, he wouldn't stay, he was leaving tonight, but first he was going to spar with Raven, help unleash some of the itch which wasn't receding, and be off.

"What did they want?"

"It's Damian," Raven yawned as she walked into her closet.

"What'd the demon spawn want?" he asked through her pillow.

"Well, I'm late, I have a tea in the morning with Dick, and I have morning training with Damian, then there's breakfast, the team's morning training before they go to school and you and I will be sparring while they are with the League tutors," Raven yawned as she walked out and he groaned. She did that every fucking morning!? He pitied her.

He tried to go back to sleep, however it was in vain, he couldn't sleep as everything hit him and he was sitting awake, agitated, and bombarded by the memories which left him restless. Giving up on sleep he wasn't going to get he picked up one of the hoodies he'd gotten and walked out of Raven's room for the kitchen. If he couldn't beat the itch out of himself yet, then he'd cook and be semi-productive.

"Still sleeping in Raven's room?" Dick asked when he walked into the kitchen.

"You do realize what a marvelously gifted little bird you have on your team right?" Jason yawned as he opened the fridge to see it fully stocked and he safely assumed this was Alfred's doing.

"I don't even want to know what that means," Dick answered.

"Think with the head above the shoulder's Dickhead. Raven's an empath, and when she sleeps she radiates calm, it helps," Jason spat out as he pulled out what he'd need for waffles; again. It was kind of his quiet thanks to Raven for letting him sleep in her room these past four days.

"Oh, so it's not just me that experienced that?" Dick asked.

"It's addictive to sleep, and I don't think she knows she does it," he rubbed his eyes again and yawned.

"I get that, the one time she watched a horror movie… man, none of us could sleep with the emotions she was radiating."

"Note to self: don't make sunshine watch horror and then try to sleep within city limits of her," he muttered sleepily.

"You and Raven going to spar today, the weather isn't letting up," Dick said.

"Yes, don't care," Jason stated. The storm had blown in three days ago, it was raging something fierce, but because of it most of the typical outdoor Titan activities if they weren't missions were suspended. And his and Raven's spar had been put off because he knew that having it inside would lead to a collapsed Tower. However, he had to get the energy out of him now because he couldn't keep it together much longer, and being around Bruce was agitating him. Same with being around Dick, Barbara, Tim, Stephanie, Cass, Alfred, Selina, and Damian but none of that was nearly as agitating as Bruce. Jason had gotten to the point where he was tempted to ask Raven just to take it from him again, and he knew that it would only come roaring back. The Pit's agitation needed an outlet, and a spar with Raven was going to be that outlet. Mostly because he knew she could shut him down if he lost it before she got seriously hurt.

That empathy of hers' was a great gift and a dangerous weapon.

And Jason knew he could trust her to shut him down without hesitation if he lost it. The advantages to knowing the demoness now.

"Raven might," Dick muttered.

"She won't," Jason answered. "And it'll make the spar all that much more challenging," he grinned viciously as he worked.

"Whatever you say," Dick shrugged. "Are you sure you two aren't dating?"

"What the hell!? AGAIN!?" Jason snarled. "No!"

"I just ask because that was her exact answer," Dick said.

"Dick, I suggest, again, think with the head above the shoulders!" Jason hissed. Seriously, his love life was none of any of the Bats' concern and he was never talking to them about it! Ever! He'd have to be dead, again, for him to want to talk about it.

It wasn't that he didn't have a life outside of Red Hood and Red X, it was more of: I have more important shit to do than getting laid!

Jason was a bit too focused on not being killed, again, to focus on having a life. Avoiding Deathstroke, avoiding the Bats, avoiding the League of Assassins, avoiding the law, avoiding the Justice League, and avoiding the very long list of enemies he'd acquired kind of took priority in his life. Besides, dating was not all it was hyped up to be; it was a major pain in the ass!

Of course, though, Dickhead didn't have that mindset since Dickhead's life was organized(ish, he'd been here long enough to notice how frazzled Dick was, and how hectic life was here) and he had a super-hot alien girlfriend.

"I do Jason, and that's why I bring it up," Dick smirked.

"I will kill you and make it look like an accident," Jason warned darkly.

"You wouldn't."

"Want to test me," Jason growled as he felt the Pit pulsing dangerously close to the surface, he was going to have to figure out a way to get that itch under control because killing rampages were not healthy!

"Jason, I'm not picking a fight," Dick sighed.

"Then you, and everyone butt out," Jason stated. "My minimal life does not involve nosy Bats, and it's staying Bat free."

"We care about you Jay, and we missed you," Dick sighed.

"Not having this conversation!" Jason hissed. Emotions on a whole were not his forte and he wasn't dealing with the mushy ones Dick embraced and oozed. Seriously the man just oozed sappy emotions.

"Too bad, you can't avoid us forever Jay, and we're going to ask about your life and your future and how you are and who you're dating," Dick said.

"Hm, can go back to actively trying, none of your business, haven't thought about it, and again, none of your business," Jason answered with forced sweetness which had Dick smiling slightly. "Look, you didn't care about me the first time around so do me a favor and go back to not caring. Also, who the fuck used all the sugar!?"

"Yeah, I was shitty at the brother thing the first time around, little wing, but… please, please give me another chance Jason. If I could go back and change everything between you and I, I would, I'd trade just about everything to change that. But I can't, and you're alive, and I can't stand the thought of losing you again," Dick said softly which stopped Jason mid-move.

"I don't do family," Jason muttered the reminder to himself. Family was what had been fucking him over again, and again, and again, and would do so again if he let them. Families were his curse, and as much as he craved his family he also knew he'd be fucked over; again, and it could kill him and he had shit to do before he died, again.

"How about friends then?" Dick asked, Jason spun around to find Dick on the counter then.

"What's your angle?" Jason asked. "And get off the fucking counter, Alfred raised you better!"

"No angle, I just want my baby brother back, and you're starting to sound like a more violent version of Alfie," Dick grinned.

"Uh-huh, I don't believe you, and I'll take the Alfred statement as a compliment since Alfred is kick ass and about the only Bat I like," Jason snapped.

"Alright, so maybe the angle is getting my baby brother back, and no one hates Alfie," Dick grinned as he hopped off the counter.

"If I say sure just to amuse your whims and get rid of you, will you leave me alone?" Jason asked.

"Nope."

"I hate you all, I seriously hate you all, I wish I had never fucking touched or looked at that damn book!" Jason seethed as he furiously looked for the eggs.

"You love us!" Dick chimed in and Jason just stared at the ceiling. They had no idea how much he had loved them, ad just how far he went for them even though they weren't his family anymore, and he hated himself for going that far for people who wouldn't notice if he were dead. However, he did it. Or tried, because family was supposed to be loyalty, and though he was the kid who they'd all pitch under the bus with no questions asked, they still had his loyalty and he hated himself for that weakness.

"No, I'm pretty sure I hate you," Jason snapped as he continued making a massive amount of batter to feed a speedster and about twenty teenagers.

"Jason… please," Dick said.

"Why? Why the fuck do you think I'd ever be truly insane, and not Pit insane, to ever trust family again!? It's gotten me killed and I have no fucking intentions of dying until the Joker is dead!" Jason spat out. "I Do Not Do Family!"

"Then friends," Dick said. "I'm sure you need friends."

"And why the hell would I want to be your friend, you made your opinions of me very clear the first time around and I am not wasting my stolen time on you," Jason snapped. Declaring Raven a friend was easy, the empath was genuine when she made her offers, and he was under the impression she didn't make them often.

"Because I was an ass who was didn't grow up until you were dead, Jay, I can't prove it to you, I can only try to show you if you give me a chance." Dick smiled and Jason pulled a face.

The worst part was he hated himself for being sucked into this. And he knew he'd say sure, and he knew this was going to fuck him over, because nothing in this godforsaken universe ever worked in his favor, and this was going to hurt. However, he really, really, really wanted his family back. He wanted family, but he also knew that he never got what he wanted and this was a nuclear bomb going to go off in his face when it decided to fuck him over.

"Fine, but I don't like you," Jason warned.

"And you like Damian and Tim more?" Dick scoffed.

"If I'm playing favorites, I hate you all equally," Jason stated.

"Then who's your favorite?"

"Raven, she's an empath and leaves me the fuck alone!" Jason answered sharply and moved away from Dick as he continued his batter. It wasn't going to work, he knew that, however, there was that small, lonely part of him, that beaten down, lonely street rat, who wanted this to work. Not that it would.

Jason had found that life for him was summed up in one law he'd stumbled across in some of his studies:

Murphy's Law.

It was the fucking title of his autobiography.

He stared at the ruins, and he stared at his followers. His right hand stared with him.

"I do believe my father was worshiping the wrong goddess," he said. "I have foreseen the glorious future my father spoke up, but it is not to be obtained through Trigon."

"And who has the future revealed to be our savior," she asked in her soft tone of indifferent devotion.

"Raven, she will be our savior, the mother of the future, the vessel of greatness," he smiled.

"She is powerful," his companion agreed.

"Yes, she will be my wife, come, we have preparations," he motioned and his followers started coming after him. Raven would be his wife, the mother of his child, the true key to obtaining greatness. She would give him a powerful son to lead the world's way and she would reshape the world with him. By his side she would be a goddess, a queen, and a leader. With her true powers unleashed she'd help him save this wretched world from all the blasphemous sinners and she'd bring about a true Eden.

The demoness would lead them.

He just needed to make the proper preparations for obtaining her, and to receive his father's blessing. For no doubt a demoness of Raven's power would be easy to obtain, but in the end, she would be his. All that dark beauty would be long to him, and him alone, and she would be at his side.

Damian was in the group which had ditched their lessons to watch Raven and Jason spar, he was too curious not to, and as it was pouring ran when they walked out he felt it must have been important this spar happen.

"She is taking them over the water," Kaldur whispered as they all crowded the top floor windows.

"I hope he kicks her ass," Terra muttered and Damian snorted, Jason and Raven were two very different fighters, Raven using powers, and Jason using weaponry, it was an odd match. Should Jason get close enough to Raven Damian was sure she would lose, but the trick would be getting close. Suddenly there was a huge red circle.

"OOOOOOO! Thisisgettinggood!" Allen blurted out.

"Quiet man! The bug's getting riled up," Reyes snapped.

"I brought popcorn!" Jon piped up.

"Good I'll have some!" Brown announced.

"That's a complicated spell she's holding up, it'll seriously cripple her in this fight," Zatara muttered.

"Aren't you all…?" Damian turned to glare at Grayson.

"Never mind, we've all been waiting to see how this goes," Grayson muttered and pulled up a seat beside him. it was then that Damian noticed that pretty much all the Titans were here and they were all pressed to the glass, the Martian was even repelling the rain from the windows.

For a long moment neither Jason or Raven moved from their spots, Jason on the edge and Raven in the center, then Jason was a blur of movement as they heard the shots fired, and there was a burst of black energy which had Damian's eyes widening, Jason took the high ground, there was a loud explosion and more gunshots, then there were three large black ribbons of power flying at him. the smoke cleared and Raven was floating there, her cape thrown back and she looked like her name sake wrapped in shadows.

"He's laughing!" Supergirl whispered.

"That's normal," he and Zatara answered at the same time then glared at each other before looking at the fight again. Jason rolled on the glowing red, Raven's powers seemed to be forcing him to keep his distance but he had a knife drawn and thrown.

"Are they using real ammo!?" Drake whispered.

"Yes," Damian answered. Raven caught the knife with her telekinesis, Jason came at her fast, there was a swipe of her wrist before Jason was flying again.

"He's good," Victor said.

"Very," Drake and Grayson agreed as Jason twisted through the air, firing at Raven, Raven was shielded and then she sent her soul at him. Jason took the hit, but bounced off the barrier as he rolled on the circle and came up with swords drawn. Raven sent a wave of darkness, Jason slashed through it and he seemed intent on getting to Raven, but Raven kept him at bay.

For how long they watched they didn't know until suddenly there was no rain pouring when they were done.

"That was… interesting, learn anything?" Grayson asked.

"Yeah, Jason likes explosives," Drake answered.

Bruce had watched the entire fight from his room's window with Selina, and he was amazed that at the end of it, both Jason and Raven were standing there alive and breathing as they flew back to the Tower.

"That was impressive," Selina muttered.

He grunted because he had just felt searing terror for his child as his second son had gone toe to toe with a young demoness, and neither of them had seemed to hold back. Bruce hated seeing his children, any of them, in danger like that, it was enough to have his blood freezing.

Guns, knives, bullets, fine they were plenty prepared against those, but powers…?

Aliens and metas alike terrified Bruce because just how strong were they really? What was holding them back? Nothing, and if they chose to they could easily break one of his children. However, seeing the demon and his son's fight had not only terrified him but paralyzed him because oh shit if Raven lost it he didn't think there was a single being in the universe who could stop her.

"Relax Bruce, he's fine," Selina yawned.

"I worry," Bruce admitted, the rain was lightly falling as Raven and Jason landed on the Tower's island.

"You're his father, of course you worry," Selina replied as she stretched out on the bed. "But you're going to have to accept that he's able to take care of himself, and if the display is anything to go by, he's highly trained."

Raven walked out of the showers after her spar with Jason, sensing that he'd lost the edge of the Pit and most his residual frustrations, she'd called the match; which was a wise choice on her part because her focus had been breaking. Toweling her hair she was walking up to her room, she sensed Jason to be there, and sleeping fitfully if his emotions were something to go off.

"Hey Rae," she turned at Victor's voice.

"Yes?" she asked as they walked together.

"Come here," Victor dragged her into his room and locked the door before turning to loom over her.

"First, awesome spar but please tell me he didn't hurt you," Victor said.

"Not a single bullet," she promised. She'd had her shields up in full, though there were a few times he had gotten a bit too close for her comfort and with the Pit leading his actions he wouldn't know about those encounters.

"Good," Victor nodded. "And here, it uses my frequency, and I'm the only one who can trace it, just in case you know," he shrugged.

Raven looked at a normal looking iPhone and took it as she inspected it.

"It's programed to your number, and it's got Dick's and everyone's in there just in case, you know, he should want his family, but unless he calls them they aren't going to know about this phone, and even if he does call them they can't trace it, the phone generates random numbers on caller ID or just shows up as a blocked or unknown," Victor explained.

"Alright," Raven nodded.

"Kay, but Rae, I can't make it stick on him," Victor sighed.

"Don't worry about it, I'll handle that," she promised as she stuffed the phone in her pocket "Thank you Victor."

"No, I get it now, and… he's not bad. A complete pain in the ass but he's not bad," Victor shrugged.

"Thanks again Vic, and we'll go for a slice later," she promised.

"I need a fucking drink," he swore and she smiled as she walked out of his room and went for her room. Enchanting the phone required little work, she didn't even have to infuse that much magic in it, but she did need Jason to accept the phone.

Sighing she dumped her dirty uniform in the hamper before she walked to the bed where Jason was twisting, tossing and turning as he muttered incoherently and grumbled. She gingerly touched his shoulder, his eyes snapped open and stared at her, wide and unblinking, filled with fear as he slowly calmed on his own before he fell back on the bed with a curse.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she folded her legs and sat on her bed, patiently awaiting his answer.

"No," he said coldly.

"Do you want me to take it or do you want to talk about it?" Raven asked.

"No."

"Would you like me to leave?"

"No."

"Would you like me to talk?" she asked.

"Please."

"This is a cellphone, I'm giving it to you," she said as she produced it. "It's clean, untraceable, and it's got my number in it."

"I'm not…"

"Don't lie to me Jason, I know you're leaving," she said firmly which had him looking sheepish. "It's alright, I've been in your mind, I even understand it on some level because I've felt it myself. You don't have to explain it or justify it to me, Jason."

"Fuck," he muttered as he rubbed his hands over his face.

"You know why waffles are my favorite food?" she asked him and he looked at her with a confused look, but she was aiming to get his mind off his troubles and to prove she understood him too.

"I was about twelve when I escaped my father's dimension I stumbled out in an alley in New York City," she smiled. "First Earth city I ever saw and it was… it is the greatest city on the planet. I love it, if I ever leave the Titans that's where I'm going, New York City. But I had escaped, I was starved, drained, and half dead, I should have died, but… demon and this man, a crazy old guy named Marvin, found me.

"He was insane, but he saved me, I was new to earth, didn't speak a single earth language, and alone, my mother was dead, and my father is a devil. No one would want me, but Marvin took me under his wing. I was with him for the winter, I scrounged in the dumpsters, I was a thief, and I was half starved.

"Marvin and I collected, I don't even know how many aluminum cans, and we turned them in, we had enough money to get a hot real meal and escape the cold and there was this diner, open all the time, it's great, I visit there still, and they seated Marvin and I.

"Up to that point I had lived out of dumpsters, and I think my prized meal was a green pizza; after I got rid of the green part. So, we were sitting there in that diner, and I'm just learning English, and the waitress asked us what we were ordering.

"Marvin immediately says pancakes," she softened at that memory because it was lunch time and they weren't serving pancakes at the time. "And I was just staring at this delicious image of a waffle, I didn't know it at the time, but it was a waffle. Just looked divine, I pointed at that and the waitress said it was lunch time, she was changing menus.

"But Marvin was adamant about the pancakes and waffles, pulled a sob story about me being his granddaughter from a different country and how I had never had waffles. I still don't think the waitress bought that but she took our order.

"Waffles was the first meal since Azarath I received which was warm and untainted, and it was divine," Raven finished and Jason was relaxed.

"Chili dog," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was eight," he nodded.

"Still your favorite?" she asked.

"Yeah," he smiled a bit. "Still my favorite."

"I might not have been on the streets as long as you, but I was in Hell Jason, I get that you're not staying and I'm not even going to ask you to," she assured him. Which had him nodding.

"And I know you don't expect anyone to have your back or to ever pick you, I get it," she said softly. She was also the universes scape goat and she was never the girl anyone would pick, at least, she'd been that until the Titans had given her a family, and even then, it was hard to think they had her back when it felt like the world was stacked against her and going to destroy her for laughs.

"So I pick you," she said.

"What?" he blinked as he now looked at the phone.

"I pick you," she repeated slowly. "No matter what is going on, no matter how shitty the situation is, I pick you, I will come for you, I will be there for you. I know you don't believe me, and I understand, I do, but I pick you, Jason. All you have to do is call and I'll come there."

"Why?"

"Because I've been here, and sometimes just having one person pick you is enough. You're not nothing, you're my friend, and no matter what the situation is, I'll come for you. I don't care how bad it is, or if you just want a friend. I'll pick you," she promised and he just stared at her with a skeptical expression.

"Nice sentiments," he muttered.

"Not sentiments, Jason, I pick you," she stated.

"Uh-huh," he muttered.

"You're my friend, you're my friends' brother, and I understand why you're reluctant to trust them but try to trust me," she said and stood up then.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I have a feeling you're not one for goodbyes, so I will be going to Kori's room to indulge her desire to paint toenails and talk about her relationship with Dick, and this," she said as pulled an amulet from beside the book of Azarath which was returned to it's shelf with the Nevermore in it. "Will take you anywhere in the world you want to go."

"Why…" he started.

"I pick you Jason," she shrugged. "It's that simple, I hope we speak again soon. Keep the phone." She smiled a bit before she walked out of the room and took a slow breath.

He would leave, he wasn't the type to stay, and though she wished she could talk him into staying, she wasn't going to ask him to stay when he wasn't comfortable to stay. She understood him better than she wanted to and she wasn't going to let him down. Lightly Raven rapped Kori's door then and heard her friend.

"Yes?"

"Hey Kori," said.

"Raven!" Kori came flying out of the room and Raven found herself dragged into Kori's domain.

"You must help me! I do not know what to wear for Dick and I's date!" she said and Raven sat on the bed as she endured whirlwind of Kori as clothes were tossed around.

There was a sudden absence in the Tower then and Raven knew Jason was gone as she helped Kori settle on a simple white dress.

I'll post the epilogue tomorrow!

That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Give Me Back My Mind! =)