Chapter Thirty Six:

A million questions hit her mind like hammer to nails. The driving sensation hurt and was unbearable by her own anxiety. Terra shivered, trembled, lowering the paper as she scanned it over and over, flipping pages and daring herself to read it. But why did Robin have this information? Did he know who Red X was all along? Did he know who this boy was these days? Did he not know who 'Alex' had grown into? How did he get this profile? How long had he had it? For what purposes?

Terra flipped the page, but what it held shocked her. She flipped the page sideways to get a better look… but it was a Death Certificate in two separate translations.

"X what kind of mess did you get yourself into?" She muttered under her breath, feeling something like a ghost float within her as she sighed quietly. The first one she was able to make out it was in Spanish, the second was English. She read the dates on it, frowning in confusion as it dated the death of the boy only a few years ago, around the same time she had fallen victim to the volcano two years ago. There was a more updated picture of him there; she could tell it was more recent; it looked closer to what he looked like now… though his growth was obvious to her now. Flipping the next page as it seemed to intrigue her.

C.O.D appears to be internal bleeding, gang beating is suspect. No evidence found, body was handed over to U.S. officials who conducted own investigation, no charges were filed. Parents are deceased, no other family found; body was given to the state for proper burial.

All leads on the boy are dead.

Terra stopped. Blinking, she looked up from the paper, and then scanned it again. This was an American reporter's note from the looks of it, like a rough draft before the actual publishing. But they must have found him dead… he couldn't be Red X then, could he? Unless it had been staged; but that seemed a little out of reach for a young teen boy to think up; let along execute. With that question, she wondered what he was doing outside the states, by the occasional Spanish writing on some of the papers, she knew he had to have been down in Mexico, what for, escaped her, but for whatever reason, seemed to have landed him in deeper trouble. Terra's brows furrowed, as she tried thinking a little harder on it, feeling even more guilty for looking at such information without X's consent, but it was impossible to resist.

She stopped again, this time, a dawning horror placed upon her face. Why did Slade want this case? He had to know that valuable information was in here… he wanted Red X, he had too. He wanted this information on him, information on probably a lot of things Slade shouldn't see. She didn't know what she had been expecting to find in this… maybe some type of stupid new weapon, somehow… handing a weapon into Slade's hands, was less horrifying then handing over her best friend.

That thought made her think for a moment, frowning and eyes drawing to the side. Best friend?

Terra shook her head as she slammed the papers back into the case before grabbing all the scattered papers that had fallen and jammed them back into the case and closed the lid eagerly. Her fingers fumbled as she locked the lid closed and scooped it into her arms, pushing herself to her feat and making a dead long run back for Titan's tower, to return what she had taken.

Maybe… maybe if she hurried, it wouldn't be too late, maybe Robin wouldn't notice for a little longer, yeah, she could still make it. She had time.

Terra had been amazed how far she had actually ran from the tower, she dodged brush and tree branches, feeling thistles scrape against her skin with long and drawing claws. The pain was no amount to her, it was pathetic, nothing compared to the ache she had grown accustomed to the wedge between her heart and chest bone. The thudding, the heavy and swollen lump of ache that she had rarely been able to leave behind without Beast Boy; she forced herself to stop that right away, cut off the train of thought before the pain grew.

She hadn't made it far, before she felt a strong hand grab her from behind her wrap around her mouth and yank her backwards. Terra let out a breathless gasp as she was thrown to the ground, the case falling from her hands as it thumped against the ground. Her body was scraped across the ground, she felt the dirt push up around her and smear itself over her shorts and bare legs, before she was drawn up, back against a muscular chest. She wiggled and made noises of protest, feeling the body behind her as she bumped up against him. Her eyes narrowed, looking down at the black glove, she opened her mouth and bit into his palm the best she could, feeling hard flesh under the glove push up against her teeth.

"OUCH!" Red X hissed, drawing from her.

Terra turned around, sitting on her knees. "You need to find a better way to get my attention." She snapped, wiping the saliva from the corners of her mouth, before her face softened. "What are you doing here?"

"Funny," X said, cradling his hand as if it had really hurt him while giving her a slanted look. "I was going to ask you the exact same thing."

Terra shook her head. "I don't have time for this." She muttered, not able to yell at him like she wanted, instead she looked at him from the corner of her eye, frowning softly before turning back to the case. Red X fell quiet, following her look; she could tell his face dropped as he looked at the silver case as well. There was then a long and drawn quiet, the woods she had been fleeing too turned gloomy, the moon paled, the air heavier and harder to breathe. Terra shifted without comfort, sitting down further on the ground as she returned her look to X.

"Did you open it?" He asked her; without looking towards her.

Terra shivered. "Yes." She frowned quickly, feeling as if that could have been the wrong answer. " I o-only looked at a few pages."

"What'd you see?"

She looked at him again, looking over his slightly hunched form, his cape draped around his body, his arms peeking out and held at his chest, the inhuman mask that tried hard to do its job and keep the outside world away, to keep the keeper away from infection. Terra felt her face soften further, her eyes lifting to his face. "A dead man."

Red X nodded stiffly, she thought she could see his mask crease into a grin.

Suddenly, she felt she had a brand new problem on her hands, the Titan's drifted to the side of her thought, staring at X, she held him in front, the craving to know more about him, to know what he was about, because perhaps those answers could bring answers to her own questions about him. Terra glanced nervously towards Titan's tower, anxiety was building in her chest, but she looked back to X, frowning, she couldn't help but stare at him a little longer. If the Titan's rejected her- in which they had ever right –then he was the only person she had left, the world was a vast and empty place, even if she ever did fit back into the Titan's, she knew she didn't belong there, she may have denied the fact many times, but both law and moral said she wasn't allowed there. Now with Beast Boy's distance, she felt herself sinking deeper in the pit she had dug around, her own collapses; she was weak without her foundation. Terra stiffened. "I want to know what happened."

The thief blinked, looking to her as if offended and surprised at the same time. "What?" He lifted his brow up. "No." He said simply.

But Terra narrowed her eyes at him, shooting to her feet as she scooped the case up into her arms. "Tell me," she hissed. "Or I'm taking this back, and staying there. I-… I got enough time, before anyone finds out… but I'm not going to keep pretending I don't care, X," her face threatened to soften, for a minute he saw her weakness. "I don't want to keep pretending…"

Red X stared at her for a long time, she didn't know if he was conflicted, or just confused, or if he would walk away from her. One could never tell with him, it was always one way before a U turn into another, she didn't know what to expect since she was calling for him to put his own trust into her, she was calling for him to let her see his barriers again, deeper this time, like she would willing let him see. She called for an even fairness of their trust, but she didn't know if he was ready for such a thing, it was too late to take words back, if he wasn't ready to take the step, she knew he wouldn't.

"Alex." Terra whispered, her face frowning as her eyes trembled towards him. "I put everything at stake for this thing," she muttered, pulling the case out and looking down at it as she shook. "I traded everything I ever had… everyone that ever loved me with and without all my faults…" she tilted her head to the side a moment, hair pooling over her shoulders, in silky layers before melting around her face. She remembered he was the only thing running through her mind as she first grabbed Robin's case in her hands, fleeing the tower like a criminal, she had been thinking how much she wanted any kind of comfort Red X could offer.

"Everything…. For you." She raised her eyes back to his face, not blinking as her lips stayed in a little frown. "Yeah… a little bit of it was selfish I guess… I guess I had myself in mind too… I-… I wanted to be around you again… I can't explain it. Believe me, I hate you too… but at the same time … you know."

Red X turned away from her, staring off into the woods for a long minute, he shifted his weight, as if ready to stand and leave; Terra held her breath, watching him with large eyes. He moved his hand to his face, tugging the mask off, she then could see the expression on his face, his eyes half closed, staring deeply into nothing, his lips straight, almost frowning, his brows tilted in a somber look.

"Sit down." He muttered, shifting his eyes past her to the other side, as if he wanted to look at her, but couldn't quite do it. Terra blinked, her shoulders loosening as she took a few steps closer to him, sitting down towards his side, cradling the case in her lap as she hunched her back, leaning closer towards him even as he arched farther from her. "It's a long story." He mumbled further, but Terra shrugged, biting back her tongue as she considered telling him 'never mind.'

When he started talking, she shivered, listening closely, she knew he wouldn't repeat himself, and likely would never tell the story again, listening to him speak without the mask on for longer periods of time, she heard an accent rise in his voice, but she was too busy listening to the story to pay it more attention other than recognition.

--

--

He remembered what his mother had told him about herself. Her parents had moved to the states from Mexico not long before she was born, after she had grown they moved back, glad to see her going off to a good college with a promising future. The young woman had fallen in love with the American culture and way of life, and was more than happy to stay. When she was still young, Liz (as her nick name had always been, he had never known her original name) had never been one much for men until she met Wade DeFarge, at the time he still had some sanity, X remembered his mother talking about how they met at a party, how she had been 'swept off her feet' by him, and after a month or two of dating, swore he loved her. X had never believed his mothers claims, but he guessed that was beside the point. They got married right before he was born.

He had stopped listening to his mom's stories after awhile, growing bored of her trying to humanize the man who slowly stopped ever coming home. X hadn't cared too much; he would just shrug as a little boy when he mother said they were eating alone that night.

His mother had always been from the start; positive and attentive to her only child. She made him memorize her cell number, his address (which changed with every other move) and every route home she could find from the time he first started talking. Liz had even been especially happy to see her son work at learning a little bit of her native tongue later on. He had picked his nick name up early in life, even being little; he knew the choice between getting called "Alex" or "Willy" on a regular basis was a no-brainer.

When he started school, and after he managed to wiggle away from his mother's constant attention, he found it wasn't nearly as hard as she kept trying to tell him it would be. He fit in with most kids, and those he didn't, he would beat up. Alex had always been a bit aggressive, he guessed it came from his father, his mother was too passive.

He could remember the first thing he stole. After school, waiting for his mother to come pick him up from the playground not far from the school house, he had been hanging there on the jungle gym when he saw a toy, the action figure was cool, and he wanted it. That was all the five year old could think about, how much he wanted that army-action figure. He remembered the selfish feeling, and enjoying it, grinning, and decidedly taking it with a stealthily little sneak past. He had been caught, of course, he remembered being mad at giving it back, but he remembered enjoying feeling that surge through his young veins. Of course he had been too young then to know what it was, what it meant, what it could lead too.

He hadn't been a bad kid, he remembered going to church with his mom twice a week, sometimes for Sunday night services, he remembered loving all the attention he got from the other people, he was the star for a little bit, getting the attention he was used to getting from his mother, now from more people. He had been cute, short for his age, lanky, his mothers brown hair, but his father's red highlights. Chocolate eyes stared out from the mass of wavy locks, a wirily little grin always on his round face.

A year passed, another year of his father popping in every now and then, spending time with Liz then leaving again, every time he came and left a little different, Alex had seen a change start to take over his father, and heard his father talk occasionally about his brother, but the boy would just look away and go back to doing something else. He had found one of his father's guns before, it was unlike any other gun; it was big, heavy, and loaded to the full. Alex had been amazed by it, and his father had laughed at his interested before showing the weapon off- the most attention he had ever given him. The little boy never thought to wonder, what his father would be doing with such a weapon, why would it occur to a child?

Alex liked making things, he liked using his hands, he had never been a couch potato, he loved playing with blocks and play-dough, as he grew older, he turned to more mechanic like things, building all kinds of weird things. His mother was proud, she told him so a few times, but she too was changing, he saw it in her eyes, he saw the paleness slowly taking her over.

They had moved again, the apartment was smaller. Alex hadn't cared, even when he started another school. He was still young, maybe twelve… he couldn't remember. He started getting in trouble, he remembered he stole a lot of things from stores at first, they were easy. But then it got too easy, he needed a challenge, at night he would go out with friends and break into other houses. They had gotten caught once, he remembered his best friends bailing on him, he sat in jail by himself, head tilted, eyes staring down at his palms as he waited those long horrible minutes until his mother came to pick him up. Nothing had been stolen yet, or damaged, no files where charged, he went home.

His mother didn't speak to him, she was upset, and he had stared out the window the whole time, watching the early morning sun start to come up slowly. It had been a Saturday morning, so he didn't have school. He stayed in his room, Liz tried to come up and talk to him a few times, but he didn't say anything, she tried telling him that she wouldn't be mad at him anymore if he promised not to do it again, but he was more angry than ashamed. When Alex looked into his mother's eyes, he hated seeing her upset, so nodded and let her believe he was sorry. When she left, he had plotted revenge on the little bastardo's who had betrayed him. The rage that flowed in his young veins was furious, his growing body didn't know how to handle to emotion, so when he got the chance, he jumped his three friends.

He remembered winning that fight, and never talked to them again, but indulging himself back into his favorite pastime. It started out as just something he did for fun; he loved the feeling of excitement every time he snuck into someone else's place, and went through their things. For awhile, he was perfectly content that way, in and out, not getting any notice, just taking what he wanted, when he wanted it, sometimes even in daylight if he was feeling especially daring.

The next time they went to church, he sat in the back phew with his mother, staring blankly at the choir, blinking at it, hanging his shoulders.

Then a turning point reached limit, he came home from school, threw his book bag to the floor carelessly and walked around the stair way and into the living room, five steps later stopping at the dining room entrance. His mother sat at the table, hunched over, head bowed and face cupped into her palms. He frowned, never seeing her cry before, he blinked, not sure what to do. As she sobbed, Alex backed away, quietly with his inherited shiekness, sneaking up the stairs until he was called for dinner.

His father never came back, but Alex couldn't say he really cared himself; he did care how his mother started to drain away however. They moved again, a one bedroom apartment, he volunteered to just sleep on the couch, arguing with his mother that that way he got the T.V. to convince her to take the bedroom for herself.

Liz stopped giving him as much attention. It stated out slowly, at first she stopped noticing his grades unless they were great- which was rare. Then she stopped going to the few sport games he showed up for, but he got kicked off the team soon anyways, so it didn't matter. She stopped making supper, then stopped eating. Alex remembered when he first walked in on her smoking the little white cigarette. She hadn't taken notice of him other than a small smile before turning back away. Her cell phone had been broken by her side on her bed, it looked like she had smashed it, he saw his grandparents phone number next to it, and frowned before leaving his mother alone. Over-due bills scattered over the coffee table, he fingered through them, giving them a considerate look before somberly deciding to take care of them himself later.

Getting a job didn't really occur to him, he did things his way, and he never took orders. He had been suspended from school a number of times for that attitude, but with his mothers growing passive depression, and his own things to do, it generally went unnoticed. Alex got most of the bills paid most of the time, his mother took a second job for a little while, and it looked like she was getting better. She talked to him; he remembered they spent one night on the couch watching television together. She had wrapped her bony arms around his shoulders and hugged him close, kissing the top of his head and commenting how cute his hair was, how he looked so much like his father.

Things got worse soon after. Liz took a downturn, she started the drugs again and soon then Alex would kick bottles around over the apartment. He remembered the anger he had for her then, watching her sit on her days off and do nothing but stare numbly at the wall, smoking another hit with slow movements.

On his mother's request, he went to church with her again the next week. He felt the anger still pulsing in him, his eyes dark, and his hair un-brushed, his jeans dirty as he kept his hands stuffed in the pockets. He had looked up at the ceiling, his brows narrowing, lips scowling. Why was he here? If there was a God, what did he care? He didn't serve anyone, and certainly not anyone who didn't look out for him.

Alex had stood up, and left the church with a slam of the door. It had been the last time either him or Liz had gone to church.

The days passed, his mother started bringing home her 'friends' which usually consisted of a few girls and a guy or two. The house started getting loud, he didn't like it, and it annoyed him. Alex was growing more secluded. He got in a fight with one of the guys once; Alex had told him to watch where he was going, and threatened to kick his ass if he didn't. The man, half drunk, had taken the challenge and the two had duked it out, and though Alex was young, it ended with the man passed out with a concussion, a broken coffee table, shattered beer bottle, and a bloody lip on Alex's part.

Liz had stayed up and cleaned her boys face with a wet rag. Staring at him somberly, he kept trying to escape her eyes as she gently washed the blood from his face. Afterwards, she had grabbed his chin softly and made him face her before she kissed his forehead and sent him to bed.

It was the last time she ever kissed him.

He committed more thefts soon after, but he was craving attention, he felt like that now that his mother couldn't give it to him, someone else had too. So he got it, he took more risky theft 'missions' breaking in during work hours, or while people where home, sometimes purposely getting caught, just so he could break out and run off, usually laughing that they couldn't hold him. It became his addiction, it was fun, freeing, when he was stealing, he was doing something, he was thinking up new ways to do new things. It was hilarious to see just how much one boy could get away with; which was a surprising amount.

Sometimes he stopped going home, he didn't want to be there, his mother hardly ever recognized him anymore, and vice versa. So he'd hang out with a friend for a little while, not that they were real friends… he hadn't had any of those for awhile.

One day he went home after being gone for a period of days, another school suspension note in hand, he stared at it blankly, grumbling, before shoving the principles letter in his pocket and barging into the small apartment. He saw his mother passed out on the couch, an old cigarette in the ashtray, the television on low. He sighed, walking past her towards the kitchen, grabbing the last Pepsi from the fridge and walking over to where she was, when he noticed the pale complexion on her face. His brows furrowed, as he called her name. When she didn't answer, he moved to shake her awake, he remembered recoiling quickly at the cold, sticky feel to her skin, the soda falling from his hands as it exploded all over the room, his eyes wide as he backed away, noticing the gun shot in her chest, it had been hidden to him at first, and then the shock startled him beyond words.

After his mother's death, he hadn't stuck around long enough to even find out where she was buried. He had left quickly, leaving one phone call to the police before taking everything he could find in the house that would identify him, and left. He had skirted around his apartment building and listened to the investigators talk quietly. He always had heightened senses, beyond most people, and heard them easily. They said something about the 'victim' seemed to owe drug money to Zucco's group, and that he was suspect, then they started asking about her son, and he quickly made another getaway. He hopped a bus- easy –and made it out of town.

Went back to stealing for a little while, but the thrill was dying in him, he felt it passing away as depression threatened to take over. He didn't bother remembering all those long days.

He heard of a circus not far from him, knowing tourists where easy targets, Alex went there. He had tried to pick pocket one of the workers, he remembered getting caught though, his eyes going wide for a minute as he snarled and yanked his hand back away.

The man had asked his name, and Alex had refused, until the man gave him the wallet back, saying there was only a couple dollars in it. After that, the boy hung around a little longer, and the man and his wife took a liking to him, it felt weird, odd, having two adults look after him, they took him in, and he found out they had a son.

Dick Grayson and Alex DeFarge, two very unlikely friends, but names met little too two young boys with hardily anything else to do. And the following months did something to heal him, he had three meals a day, he had a friend, and two people that actually cared about him, it was a warm feeling. One he couldn't savor long enough.

What happened to the Flying Graysons was history, but no one remembered the boy fleeing from the tent skirt. Burning in rage, rage that fed off of fear, and even for the child, loneliness, like an opening tomb stone, musty, hard to breath- his heart seemed to be taking another spiral downward. He had watched as Dick was taken into a home, he didn't know who, or where, but Alex ran back to the road right away, hoping he would find something to cure the burn in his chest, the lodge in his throat, the swelling emptiness that was threatening to overcome him completely. No matter how far he ran however, Anthony 'Tony' Zucco's name stayed imprinted in his mind like a chiseled message of pure and unedited hate.

It had been a year or two he was by himself, going here and there, wherever he could find something to do. It had been a cold night, he was huddled boredly in an alleyway, watching the rain fall in sheets with a somber look. A man walked into the alley way, Alex had then watched him carefully, the man then stopped in front of the boy, a heavy trench coat covered his body. White hair pulled back in a pony tail, a white beard over his face, he looked down at the boy with a easy smile.

"William," he said, before turning a shoulder, his grin falling. "Come, your room is ready."

Alex had blinked, dumbfounded, but the young thief felt his stomach churn, and shrugged, having nothing to lose, he followed out of curiosity. He was led into a large house, bigger than any he had ever broken into, let alone stayed in. He had looked to the stairway just in time to see a girl his age, white hair fluttering around her shoulders as she flaunted from the hall to a room. He had raised his brow up at her, curious, but patient. It wasn't until later the evening that he saw her again over dinner, he found it interesting how wirily, yet downhearted she was, as if her personalities where taking turns.

He asked the man how he knew him, why he had brought him here. The man had studied him carefully, before telling him to wait until the morning; that everything would be explained then.

--

--

Terra blinked, waiting, but he wasn't going on any further. "Well?" She asked, feeling her voice breathlessly leave her as she nudged closer to him.

"I don't want to say any more." X muttered, she saw the spirit leaving his face. "Not now."

She sat back, stunned at the sudden halt in the story she had been listening to closely too. Red X looked faded, his eyes where dreary, his lips set loosely above his curved chin, she felt something ache at seeing such an expression on what she could have sworn was an invincible person. She bit her lip, looking away, dropping the case, before throwing herself at X, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and digging her face into the warm crevice of his neck.

"I'm sorry I looked in the case… it-it wasn't my place to read your files, I-…" she felt her depression fall over her again. "I'm sorry." Her eyes closed as she felt his arms around her back, her face nuzzled into the side of hers, she trembled, and felt a small bit of warmth.

"I've never told anyone else." He muttered in her ear, along with his warm breath caressing her skin, she felt his uneasiness. "Anything… any of that… nobody."

Terra tried to reel herself back in, lifting her face up closer to his chin, seeing only a glimpse of his face past her hair. "So…" she sniffed. Beast Boy had always said jokes made things easier to swallow; she thought she'd give it a try. "Am I like… your therapist… or something?"

"The idea of a therapist." He started. "Is to make me less crazy, you're fired."

Terra couldn't help but chuckle a little. She quieted down a little, frowning again, but letting herself hide for just a second. "Why'd you stop… the story, why there?" She asked quietly, not expecting an answer.

"You're not ready to know yet."

"Me, or you?"

"Both."

They were both quiet for a moment, Terra in a thankful amazement she had learned as much as she did, and Red X himself in a spiraled emotion wondering what it was that possessed him to tell half the tale of someone he was trying to keep buried. She ran her fingers between them, the soft tips caressing his chest with gentle up and down movements as the back of her hand occasionally bumped against her own stomach and chest from the proximity, for just a minute, she fancied what his skin would feel like under her own, without the suit to be stuck between her fingers and his knotted muscled skin. The thought was gone almost as soon as she thought up as she felt a little blush brush against her cheeks for thinking of anything like that in the first place.

Terra sighed, pulling away, her head tilted down. Now that she wasn't alone, she had someone here with her…. Terra felt better, thought easier. She eased herself into a calmer state and hung her shoulders loosely around her chest, soaking up Red X's company as she was used to. She knew she had to get her things in order, her priorities, but choosing between the closest person she had right now, and the family that had shown her so much kindness; was unfair, brutal and tearing to think on. Terra tried to reason how to compromise between them, she calmed her mind and thought; there had to be a reason Slade wanted this case, some other reason she wasn't seeing. She needed to use that brain she had been given, and stop jumping to so many conclusions, more than just her life could hang on it

"X…" She muttered, eyes drawing up to him for a moment, finding his she felt her stomach churn. "Why does Slade want this case so badly?"

--

--

Red X studied her; he wasn't sure how he wanted to answer. He was torn between her and his own selfish wishes. He knew well, that if he told her the truth, the motives behind Slade's placement of her she wouldn't come back to the base. Something in him wanted to tell her the truth though, it longed too, but his old ways died hard, he was committed to them, committed to himself in a much deeper fashion.

"I don't know." He said dryly, holding her eyes in his as she studied him.

"Why are you willing to let him see these things?" She tapped the case with her finger tips. "This information, it's you… why don't you care?" She was trying to trap him into an answer; Red X felt something in his chest squirm uneasily, before he regained his control, the reigning to his self preservation as he lifted his chin, daunting her with his look.

"It makes no difference to me." He said simply. "That person is dead, you saw the paper yourself." With that he tugged his mask back over his chin, the skull face overtaking his own, he felt the protection, and the air circulation in the mask began to work, he breathed a few times to test them, and then settled as Terra stared at him emptily.

"I'll never understand you." She whispered, shaking her head softly as she looked away towards the tower. Some part of him, the hidden, felt thankful for her words. "I'll take the case to Slade…" she muttered, brows furrowing. "After that, I'm going back to the Titans."

Red X raised his brow towards her. "You know they're not going to let you back in."

"I know." She whispered, hanging her head. "But I will also know a lot more," she lifted her chin, eyes darkly looking towards him as tears started gathering in the corners. "Slade's recruiting people… he wants information… he says something big is going to happen… and some part in me believes him. He'll tell me what it is that's such a threat." Her eyes grew a stormy brew over them, one he wasn't sure he had seen before. "One way or another." She hissed the words under her breath. "Those two people that followed us; they have to be Huffman's, and if not him, someone else. The guy who attacked Ravager, I think they're on the same side." Her voice was growing hoarse. "I need to tell the Titan's what I know, show them the base if it's still there."

"After that?" Red X was thankful that the mask's dilution to his voice kept the broken tone of his words hidden.

"They'll do what they have too." She sighed heavily, hanging her chin, hair falling around her face in a curtain. "And I'll take it willingly." He could see the fear in her eyes, fear of what her friends could dish out, justice or beyond, he saw then; that if they wanted to hurt her, she would let them. Feeling of her own skin seemed to drip away from her expression, the care of pain, leaving her with every empty breath she exhaled into the cold night.

Just wait, see how things plan out… Red X struggled with his anxiety. He wanted to tell her so badly the real reason Slade sent her, the true meaning of her actions, what she was setting herself up for. But doing so would ruin everything, he had to stay quiet, he had to lie to her, not for Slade, Rose, Jericho or anyone else, but for himself. He had told her those things, because she was different from other people, but his trust in her, led to fear in his own quake. Too often he had seen what trusting people could lead too, the heartbreak was still vivid when he called on it, he felt it when he saw her, it frightened him, it broke Red X away, it dug another person out of the pitted heart left tattered. X decided to guard her with his interests in mind, knowing well that her denial would lead to him getting what he wanted; her acceptance, her residences close to him. All he had to do was bide his time, let her think on it a little more… and hope the Titan's still considered her friend enough to do less then worse of what a traitor deserved.

WOOT! Just a little over ten pages. Hopefully it was long enough for you guys. I had to re-do a lot of scenes, and they where driving me nuts, I don't think I've moved much from this computer since the last update O-O;

Okay, hopefully what I showed of X's past is making sense enough. Again, I had to redo a lot of stuff to make it fit better into everything else. I was going to just go ahead and write out his whole past into one big scene, but it would have been too long, and probably would have bored on after awhile. Besides, this means you have to keep reading to learn the rest. hahahaha -evil-

Another worry I had, was Terra. I'm trying really hard with her for some reason, I know she is seeming maybe a little off. But I want to show how she thinks, I really noticed after reviewing episodes and comics, that she is really single-minded, she doesn't consider things well and jumps to a lot of conclusions without looking for evidence. I paid a lot of attention with X, hopeing to show the readers why he would tell Terra even half of his backstory, hopefully I suceeded well enough in that order. For those of you who don't read the comics, and don't know the last name "DeFarge" I'd suggest you don't look it up if you want to keep it a nice little twist. Those of you who do know the name, MUAUA, aren't I mean?

Lol.

Wow... this was a long authors note... srry xD