A/N Hey! Another huge thank you to all who reviewed, I love you all soooo much. I read through quotey sections of this chapter, and I think they're clear, if anyone is confused about anything please drop me a note. And who could resist loving Raven? The party girl that she is, certainly Red X couldn't, tee hee. But this is where I ended it when I just wrote this as a quite one shot thing, but if you guys think that I should continue it I'll try, any ideas are welcome cuz I'd just be making it up as I go whereas I usually have some plot outlined when I write stories. I hope you like it!
Oh yes, and I just sort of realized that I haven't been putting up the obligatory disclaimers, so I just do one big one here to make up for it:
I DON'T OWN ANYTHING, NOT EVEN MY SOUL!
There, that was fun…
Recap:
"The transmitter we left back there is goin' crazy man, I thought you were calling us back" Cyborg explained to his perplexed face. Robin ignored the other two for a moment and checked, yes, the signal was flickering on and off like a strobe light. A little frustrated at having to let down all of his friends he waspishly asked "Why did you all automatically assume it was me and not one of you?" They all seemed to share a look on the screen, Starfire answered for them: "Because you are Robin". He sighed irritatedly, "Just everybody get back to the clearing as fast as you can and we'll see what's going on." and shut it off.
Back at the clearing...
Red X was getting thoroughly tired of flipping the switch, and thoroughly worried that no one would come. He stared moodily at Raven, watching her grow paler and paler. Usually she was pretty white, grey really, but now we were talking white, paper, bone, snow, you could practically see through her skin. She was fading, but short of opening a vein of his own for her, or teleporting back to the city, hijacking a helicopter or a jet and coming back to get her, he was out of ideas. He could foresee certain health/hygienical problems with Plan A, and he really didn't have anything against Plan B, but he was worried she'd wake up alone, or the others would arrive and not understand what happened, or worse, a bear or a lion or something would smell all of the blood (city boy remember). His worst fear of all was that he would arrive back too late, and the poor girl would have died cold and alone in the dark. He didn't understand why, but he just knew he had to save her, he couldn't just give up and leave. As he grew more and more desperate, he began to despair, and the hardened criminal surprised himself to find tears standing in his eyes and what might have been the first sob of his older-than-two life about to tear from his throat. A rustle in the trees across the clearing cut short any emotional outbursts however. His head snapped up in the direction of the noise, fists doubled up and legs raised him up automatically as eyes scanned the scene carefully. A falcon swooped out and came to a stop on the ground in the familiar shape of X's small green opponent.
"What? Red X? Raven?" he rushed to he side, "What did you do to her!" was the first frantic thing out of his mouth.
"Hey, I didn't do anything! except save her life, that is, if she survives." He raised his spread hands to indicate his innocence.
"Robin? Why are you dressed as Red X again? What happened to Raven?"
Red X was confused, "Robin? You think I'm that poncey idiot? No! I'm much tougher and better looking than him!" X considered himself righteously offended.
"Fine then" Beast Boy was skeptical, "If you really are Red X why isn't your voice all computerizied and stuff huh? X would never make such a stupid slip up. Now what happened to Rea? We've got to help her; I thought you said you didn't find her?"
Red X winced and cursed once again, reaching inside the neck of his suit and reactivated the voice modulator, this just wasn't his day.
"It's been a long day, and even I'm not perfect, but I come pretty damn close." he drawled with traditional 'Red X attitude'.
"Ahhhh! you really aren't Robin!" Beast Boy scrambled away and turned into a tiger. Red X rolled his eyes.
"Save it, if I wanted to attack you would already be in a hotdog casing. I'm just trying to help Raven." He stole a glance at her face, and hoped it did not seem too affectionately.
BB turned back to human (-ish) "You promise?" he asked sternly. Red X sighed, "Scouts honor" complete with what he thought looked like the proper hand motion. "I'll even stick around to let you guys arrest me again, I could use the jail time to figure out how to get Willy off my back. As if I could go anywhere anyway, porter's broken" tapping his belt.
"Whatever, now what happened to Rea?"
"I'll tell you everything when everyone gets here, I assume they're coming?" He received a confirming nod. "Nut shell version: struck by lightning." He took his cape off and tossed it to him "put some pressure on the wound with this." If he couldn't stay near, at least something of his would. Beast Boy wadded it up and pressed it to her lower back. "Where are you going?" Red X was swinging himself up into a tree and climbed a few feet. "Just in case someone else is more observant and trigger happy than you. I don't feel like getting attacked before I can explain myself."
Starfire came flying in next. "Beast Boy! Oh what has happened? Where did you locate friend Raven?"
"I didn't-"
"Then who-"
"Hey cutie" from his perch with an ironic salute, the words tasted stale. She gasped and squeaked "You!" X gasped himself, mockingly waving his hands. "Yes me, now simmer down, I would have attacked already if I was going to. You people just aren't really bright are you?" he observed obnoxiously as she relaxed her fighting stance.
"Star! Geddown!" Cyborg leveled his cannon at X.
"Relax guys, he says he saved Raven after she got struck by lightning (there was assorted gasping among the audience) and anyway, he's stuck here, the belt is broken."
"You! Explain! NOW!" Cyborg powered down his arm, but remained obviously suspicious.
"Easy big boy, I will as soon as macho leader man gets here."
"How are we sure that the Red X is not lying and waiting for Robin as part of a snare?"
"We could take him Star, and he saved Raven so we have to trust him for now. Anyway, his belt is broken, probably out of zena-whatever."
"How do you know?"
"He climbed up that tree by hand, he wouldn't have bothered if he could just zap there right?"
X let them argue, where was that dratted kid? There wasn't much time. He thought he heard something through his distraction, and felt watched. He half turned to look around when pinned roughly against the tree trunk by the said 'dratted kid' i.e. 'macho leader man' i.e. Robin. "What did you do to my Raven?" he hissed venomously in X's ear growling with intensity and desperate emotion.
"First off, she's not yours, secondly, nothing. If you get off me I'll tell you what happened and you can get her to a hospital." he snapped in response, angry with himself. No matter what the situation, there was no excuse for letting him of all people surprise him. Robin slammed him painfully against the tree and let him go, easily jumping down and landing in a fighter's crouch. X was careful to be more graceful and casual than Robin.
"Okay, I was porting back to the city following the power lines and saw her lying face down on a boulder and-"
"Wh-" from Starfire. Red X, Robin, and Cyborg all answered at once, "It conserves fuel to bunny hop"
"and I stopped to chat, but she was in a sorry state. I figured out she was flying too high in the storm, was struck because of the conductive metal belt she was wearing and fell, hit a chunk of granite and got a concussion, breaking her arm in the process. Her communicator broke as well and I couldn't teleport her-"
"Why-" This time it was BB.
"Only works for what's inside the suit" the three answered curtly.
"her so I tried to bring her back here on foot, but I got lost" his scathing look dared any of them to comment even through the mask. "She was able to get us pretty much the rest of the way when I got her to wake up, but she's absolutely at the end of her strength. I'm surprised she's made it this far."
Cyborg was investigating her exact physical condition with Star and Beast Boy looking on in concern. Robin's eyes never left X.
"How long ago was this?" he asked.
"I found her about four hours ago, judging by her blood loss I'd say she was struck about a half hour to an hour before that."
"She needs the ER about five hours ago then Rob" reported Cyborg.
"Star, fly her back to the car, BB you take Cyborg to drive, get her to the hospital as fast as humanly possible or faster!" They kind of looked at him for a second. "I'd slow you down, can't fly remember? Go! I'll catch up." Robin got out a set of cuffs as he spoke.
"Well, if you insist." said Red X twiddling his fingers in Robin's direction, but eyes lingering on Raven as he pressed his belt and disappeared.
"Hey! but he said it was broken!"
"I lied, thieves tend to do that." X had only blinked back into the tree, and with a cruel laugh he was gone for real this time.
Star, BB, and Cy took off at once with Raven. Robin and stayed very still, eyes locked on the darkness just inside the cave X had used as a drop point for loot.
"Why did you do it? Why did you save her life? You didn't have to."
"You don't leave people to die when you can help them." X's real voice echoed out of the cave.
"Thank you. I guess you really aren't such a bad guy."
"I'd hug you but somehow I don't really want to."
Robin smirked "Next time you do something illegal though, I'll be waiting, and Raven with me."
"I'll look forward to it, or at least the Raven part." He just threw that last bit in to gauge Robin's reaction after that 'my' comment. There was a pause.
"You hurt her and I'll tear you limb from limb, she's dealing with enough."
Red X gave a ringing laugh, "If I hurt her she will be the one doing the tearing, molecule from molecule, with her teeth, and several dull rusty blades." There was another pause.
"I have no intention to, you just keep her alive and safe." softly and seriously.
Robin nodded solemnly, and after a moment turned and jogged off into the trees.