A/N: I guess I'm going to be wrapping this fic up pretty soon. I'm guessing just a few chapters, but I never know. Sometimes I draw it out because I don't like ending my work and the ending in my head is still a bit shaky. But here is your next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Refer to all my other chapters!

Chapter 21 A Blood Freezing Battle

"You guys don't understand!" Jake yelled at the Titans while being escorted up the stairs of the basement. He glared behind him at Cyborg with anger flaring up in his blue eyes. Cyborg pushed the teen up some more steps while completely ignoring his protests. "If Jessica sees me like this my sister is sure to be dead! Why can't we stay here?"

"Because we need to put you in a cell to make sure you don't escape," Raven snapped harshly at him with her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. She was walking next to him and staring straight ahead as they climbed the stairs.

"Escape from what, Rae?" Jake asked her with a smirk. "I would rather be on your side than on Slade's."

"Stop playing with our minds," Raven responded without even a glance to him.

Jake gave a long sigh while becoming serious once again. "I want to be on the good side but that side doesn't want me, while on the other hand, the evil side wants me but I don't want it," he murmured to himself. "Ironic BS, that's what I call it."

In around five minutes the team was in a room designed for if they needed to hold someone with any kinds of superpowers. Jake still had his hands handcuffed behind him as he was thrown into the small cell with a clear window as the door. He turned and watched the door shut with a small click. He stayed silent as the Titans argued over a few things about him. He couldn't hear anything in the cell, but he could still see them.

They finally proclaimed Raven as the person to watch over the teen and all left the small room with the cell. Raven watched them go with her eyes still narrowed. Jake knew she wasn't happy with her job. She had been the one who suffered the most from the switch. She had mixed Robin's vibes and feelings with his, who was an enemy. Now she had to redo everything in her head and untangle so many emotions. Jake knew her mind was a royal train wreck by now. He felt awful for doing all that to her. He had always felt that way.

"Hey, Raven?" he asked while seeing her pull up a chair from somewhere in the other room. She didn't seem to hear him as she sat in it and stared emotionlessly at him. He narrowed his eyes at her while saying bluntly, "I know you can hear me out there. You could at least give me some kind of feedback."

Raven then closed her eyes and hovered in her meditation position. Jake watched her lips move in her chant as she pretended to ignore him. "Dang it, Raven!" he yelled while pounding his fist on the bullet proof glass door. "You can be such a stubborn fool! I can help your team, but you have to go spoil it. Don't you want Robin back!"

Jake saw her lips stop moving as she listened to his words and let them sink into her head. She then started to chant again with her hands shaking ever so slightly. Jake gave a sigh while observing her. He had done this to the poor girl. He wished he could make it up to her, but what could he do? He finally realized that if he ever wanted to mend anything between them he would have to die to self.

"I know you can hear me, Raven," he said quietly. "So I'll just talk. I swear that everything about to come out of my mouth is pure truth, so please hear me out." He sat down on the cold floor next to the door and looked at his shoes while beginning to talk.

"As you know by now, I'm Red X," he said. "I became the thief to provide for my little sister and myself. I know that I could have been productive in other areas, but the life under the mask was addictive, so I kept stealing. I guess that side of me is what caught Slade's attention lately. Well, he picked me and only me to switch places with your leader, Robin. I said no at first. I don't work for psychopaths, I only lookout for myself and my sister. But this time that choice was not looking after her, and Slade has her now. I haven't seen her since that mad man and I made that deal."

The teen took a deep breath as he remembered his sister. He didn't look to see if Raven was listening or not. For some reason it just felt so good to get this all out. It had been kept up tightly inside of him for weeks now. It had been so hard to keep it in there, but now it was even harder to stop it from spilling off his tongue. The words just kept coming out.

"Well, the blackmail has been working," he went on. "I've been torn apart inside. I want to keep my sister alive, but if that killed this team, I would never forgive myself. But Val is the happiness in my life! She is counting on me to be the big brother and father to pull through and keep her living. I couldn't just abandon her to save a superhero team who hates my guts and didn't know that I wasn't their true leader.

"Then Beast Boy found out who I was, by mistake, I think. He knows a little bit of Slade's overall plan, but for the past week we kind of teamed up and he told me he wouldn't tell you guys. He wanted me to tell the team on my own." He paused. Telling Raven this part would kill Valentine.

It was like that question everyone likes to ask people. If a family member was about to die in one room but then twenty other unknown people were about to die in another and you could only save one room, which room would you choose? Of course most people would right away say they would pick the one with the more people in it. But you had to be in that position to fully know which one it would be. It was a lot tougher choice than what it was made out to be. Right now he was picking the room with twenty people, but it would be difficult.

Jake looked up when he saw the feet of Raven by the door. She kneeled down on the other side and locked her deep, violet eyes with his perfect blue ones. Her stare never wavered. This eye contact told Jake all that he needed. It told him that she believed him and understood what he was going through. But she wasn't pushing him at all. The choice of telling her what was going on was still up to him.

Raven had linked herself to him and could feel all his suffering. She knew everything he was telling her was the truth. She kind of felt sorry for yelling at him a few minutes ago. She finally placed her fingertips on the glass as if to tell him it was okay.

Jake leaned his head against the glass as he prepared himself to tell her Slade's plan. Why it was so hard, he couldn't exactly pin point. He gave a long sigh and finally said, "Slade's has this whole city wired. He plans on blowing the whole place up. I had been stealing the finishing touches for him with someone named Jessica who is as insane as him…"

"Talking about me, Jakey?"

Both Raven and Jake gasped while looking to the doorway to the room. And there Jessica stood, with her hands on her hips and that sticky smile planted on her lips. She brushed a long lock of her blond hair behind her shoulder as she sized Raven up.

Jake swore under his breath when seeing her. Raven stood up and went into a fighting position. Jake knew that she wasn't in a very good condition to fight Jessica. The Goth girl hadn't meditated in forever and had just had a mental connection with him. Her mind was tiered and needed rest. This fight wouldn't last long.

"I wonder how Slade will react when I tell him that you've spilled the beans about his plan," Jessica said evilly. Raven glanced down to Jake with some fright in her eyes. She knew what would happen now. But Jake didn't show any fear as he only glared at the insane girl. "Maybe you can say goodbye to her on the phone," Jessica pushed on with her smile never leaving her face. She truly did love to see others suffer.

Raven then attacked. The chair she had pulled over suddenly turned black and flew at Jessica at tremendous speed. Jessica duck rolled into the room then stuck her hand out at the dark girl. Raven closed her eyes with a grunt of pain. Jessica did the same while pushing her palm out at the other girl. Jake watched in semi interest as both girls battled it out before him in their heads.

It then hit him. Jessica's powers were somehow linked to that person's brain that she was moving. If that person had a strong mind, they could fight back her powers somehow. That was why Slade was fine with her around. His mind was so advanced, she wouldn't be able to move him if she tried. It was so simple now!

Suddenly both girls seemed to be knocked over by an invisible force. Raven gave a small yell of pain as her back slammed into the glass door to Jake's cell. She fell to her hands and knees while taking deep breaths. Her strength was depleted and she wouldn't last very much longer. Jessica shook her dizzy head while trying to understand what had just happened. No one had been able to fight back that much with her till just then. It was a weird experience.

Jake felt hopeless as he watched the battle unfold in the room just outside of his. After a few minutes of the two girls battling it out with their minds, it was clear Raven was getting weaker. All Jake could do was sit there and watch as the Goth girl slowly gave way to the blonde.

Finally Jessica was able to control Raven as she threw her into a wall a couple times relentlessly. Jake guessed that she had battled the other Titans and had won, because no one was coming to rescue their fallen teammate. Jake bit his lower lip while seeing Raven pass out on the floor. Jessica then moved Raven's beaten body to the control board to the cell and used her hand print to open the glass door.

Jake backed up while staring up at Jessica with pretend fear on his face. "I can't wait to see you're face when that brat sister of yours gets killed off," she said wickedly. She motioned for him to follow her, and Jake's stomach lurched as he let her take over his body willingly. He hovered into the air beside her as she started to walk out of the room.

"What…what are you doing?" he asked her while mentally resisting her a little. "Let me go, Jessica!"

"As you wish," Jessica said casually. She simply waved her hand at him and the hold fell away from the boy's body. The teen didn't really expect her to let him go so quickly. A small yell escaped him as he landed on his butt. He gave a small wince while looking up in time to see the fist aimed for his head. The one punch sent the boy into a world of darkness.

-Hour Later-

"Ugh, I'm getting sick of being knocked out today," Jake muttered while waking up from the darkness around him. "That was the second time today in only a few hours. Jeez! I think I'm losing it."

"You lost it a long time ago," Jessica said smugly to him from his side. "Nice to see you awake, Jakey."

"Since when were you polite, Jess?" Jake asked her with a wry smile coming to his lips. He opened his eyes and shielded them from the bright, afternoon light shinning through his living room window. He was laying on the couch in his apartment with computer equipment and other junk littering the floor that both Jessica and he had stolen the night before.

"Get over yourself," Jessica said with a frown on her lips now. "We're calling Slade. I wanted you to be awake to hear what he would say. See, I'm not so evil after all." Jake didn't answer her as he watched the blonde walk over to the kitchen counter where her communicator was located. It took the teen a second to realize that he could do something here. Jessica was such an idiot.

"Over my dead body!" Jake yelled while quickly taking out one of Robin's bird-a-rangs and throwing it skillfully at the communicator in the girl's hand. His aim was dead on. The gadget ran right through both the communicator and Jessica's palm.

Jessica gave a short gasp while seeing the weapon lodged into her hand. She fought the urge to scream in pain. Instead, she growled in anger at Jake's bold action. Her eyes lit up an icy blue and her hair hovered around her head as if she was submerged in water. She looked over to where Jake used to be and found an empty couch.

"You're dead, Jake!" she yelled in rage. She gave a cry of pain while grabbing the colorful bird-a-rang and pulling it out of her hand. Blood ran down her arm and dripped onto the tiled floor of the kitchen. She yanked a cabinet open and pulled out an old towel to wrap around her hand to stop the bleeding.

"No one's telling Slade what happened back there," Jake said from above her. Jessica looked up with shock to see him on top of the wooden shelves with a sly smile on his lips. "What he doesn't know won't kill him." He then sprung off the shelf with his back feet toward Jessica.

"You stupid boy," she chuckled while sticking her palm up at him. "I can control whatever I want to!" At first her powers worked and she forced him into the wooden cabinets forcefully. But for some reason her hold on him seemed to lose focus and her powers faded away. She was too shocked to react as she saw him come back down upon her.

"Guess again!" he yelled while landing on her shoulders and forcing her onto the kitchen floor face first. "I fully understand your powers, Jessica. It's going to take more than those weak holds to bring me down."

Jessica yelled in frustration while using her full power to pull the teen off of her. She flung his body onto the couch and got off the floor while breathing hard. Jake rolled off the couch with a small moan of pain. The two recouped on their hands and knees. They made eye contact while panting and smiled wickedly at each other.

It would be a fight to the death now, and both knew it clearly. What made them smile was that they wanted to get rid of each other for a long time now. This would be their final battle. The stakes were high and the price was big. But the odds had been leveled out. Both had a fair chance of winning.

Jake waited for Jessica to make the first move. It didn't take long for the girl to get up and run towards him with both palms pointing out at him. Jake relied on Robin's utility belt to fight back quickly. He pulled out the grappling hook and shot it at the wall across from him as Jessica's powers pushed him out the living room window. Glass flew into the air in little clear slivers that could only be seen if the light bounced off of them in right way.

The grappling hook flew right past Jessica's head. She gave a small scream of surprise while ducking. By doing so, she lost her power on Jake as he flew airborne outside the apartment. He pressed a button on the gadget and was quickly coming back toward the broken window. The wind rushed over his face as he positioned himself so his feet were coming in first. Right when Jessica stood up and looked back toward the window, she was greeted with Jake's feet slamming into her head.

Jake let go of his gadget and rolled to his feet on his kitchen floor. Jessica gave a loud moan of pain while slowly getting to her two shaky feet. She held onto her head while glaring daggers at Jake who was still smiling slyly at her. Jake put Robin's gadget back in his belt and motioned for Jessica to make the first move once again. She didn't hesitate on doing so.

Jessica shot out her palm with a battle cry. Jake closed his eyes and mentally blocked her move before jumping up onto a counter then flipping off it toward the girl as quickly as he could. Jessica was taken aback by him being able to avoid her powers so smoothly like that, but that didn't stop her from keep using them. She deftly dropped to the floor and rolled onto her back as Jake flew over her. She then put her hand up at him as he was right over her.

A cry of pain was released from Jake as his back was smashed against the ceiling by Jessica's quick move. Now it was Jessica's turn to smile up at him as he returned it with a death glare. The teen took out a bird-a-rang and threw it down at her to break her concentration. She had to roll out of the way and let him go to avoid getting cut by the gadget. Jake landed on the ground in a crouch and decided to make the next move.

He came in with a strong punch. Jessica backed up with her eyes going wide. Jake tried to punch her again, but at the last moment his arm stopped in midair. Jake didn't seem to notice the inconvenience as he brought his left leg up and delivered a sharp kick at the girl's midsection. Her powers let him go as she backed up and held onto her stomach because all the air was knocked out of her.

"That's it!" she screamed as her anger got the better of her. Jake backed up while seeing her take off her gloves. Things just got interesting. She wasn't playing around with him anymore and Jake knew he had to step it up a notch if he wanted to get out of there alive. It was then when he remembered something.

"Come on, Jess," the boy taunted her slyly. He backed up as she slowly moved toward him with her hands up. "Is that the best you can do? I don't even have powers and I've been kicking your ass so far. Bring it on!" He smiled as she took the bait yet again. She was too predictable.

"Shut up!" Jessica yelled as she ran towards him and throwing caution into the wind. Jake nimbly side stepped her and delivered a hard kick to her back that sent her into the couch with a yell of agony. Jake then took off into his room before the girl could get her head on straight. He skidded to a stop on his knees next to his bedside table. He yanked the drawer open and grabbed the cold pistol at the very back of it. He checked the bullets with his hands shaking slightly. He had never killed someone with one of these. Jessica would actually be his first kill on purpose. It scared him somewhat.

Jessica ran into the room with a frown planted on her face. Her powers were now on hyper drive now, so without even using them her eyes were their icy blue and her hair was floating around her head lazily. But no one was in there. A look of confusion swept across her face while looking around the room. She saw the move in the corner of her eye behind the bed and was able to duck before he fired at her.

The bullet shot into the wall where Jessica's head used to be before she saw him and moved. She heard him swear loudly as she uncovered her head from where she was crouched on the floor. Her look of fright left her as she stood up quickly and put both hands up toward him. Before he could block her hold, she had him knocked onto the wall a few times. She smiled evilly while throwing his body onto the floor behind the bed.

The teen cringed through his pain while snapping back into action quickly. He put both of his feet on his bed and pushed off the wall with his back. His mattress flew through the air and into Jessica on the other side. The girl tried to jump over it and managed to get tripped in mid jump. She rolled to a stop at Jake's feet.

A battle yell escaped her mouth as she lunged for his head which was the only part on is body that was uncovered. Jake's eyes went wide in panic as he kept her body away from his with his feet. His back was leaning against the wall and she was lying on the floor before him. She froze both of his feet and lunged one more time. Jake caught both her hands with a grunt. He closed his eyes and mentally had to unfreeze his legs. Once they were free he shoved one of them into her face cruelly.

Jessica got to her knees while nursing her bloody nose with a wince. Jake aimed his pistol at her to end it quickly but she was still swift as ever. She rolled to the side and the bullet tore into the mattress leaning against the opposite wall. Jake forced himself to his feet and headed to the door. He knew this wasn't the greatest room to fight in. The living room was much better because it was more open.

Jake ran over to the couch and hid behind it while gasping for breath. He gave a small wince as his injuries and cuts were able to scratch the surface through the adrenaline pumping through his body. He spat out some blood from when he bit his tongue at one point when being thrown into a wall in his bedroom. The sick taste of copper stained his taste buds as he waited for Jessica to show herself. She was being a lot more cautious now, Jake noticed.

"Come out where ever you are, Jakey," Jessica taunted the boy slyly. "Some time you're going to run out of bullets. Where will you be then, Jacob? Hm?" She paused for effect before answering for him. "Dead, Jakey! Just like how your little sister will be. Dead."

It was Jake's time to act out of anger. He jumped out of his cover behind the couch and shot at her a few times. But she had been ready for him and dodged the bullets easily while pushing him into the wall with her powers. A devilish smile crossed her lips as she made Jake point the gun at his own head. A look of delight was in her eyes when seeing the panic on his face. She then made him pull the trigger.

Click.

"Opps," he said with a chuckle. "I forgot to take it off safety guard. We don't want to get someone hurt, now do we, Jess?" He broke through her hold when seeing the confusion on her face. He landed on the ground with a smile and shot at her a few more times. All of them missed except for the last one. It went right through her arm. Blood splattered the wall as a scream of agony echoed out into the air. This pushed her over the edge. Her powers went out of control.

"I hate you!" she bellowed. She didn't have to even point at him to take control of his body. She brought him towards her and roundhouse kicked him in the chest. His pistol clattered to the ground around her feet as she pushed him up on the ceiling a few times with full force. She would then let him go and let him fall to the floor mercifulness. Every time he was able to get to his feet, she would once again throw him around the room while screaming in hatred and pain as blood ran down her arms and collected in a pool at her feet. All Jake could do was wince through the pain as a rib cracked and other collections of cuts and bruises formed.

Jessica finally moved him in front of her. She let him go and stood over his beaten body as he kneeled pitifully before her and completely at her mercy. He was gasping for breath and his whole body shook uncontrollably. He cringed a few times while waiting for her to kill him.

It was then that she was able to smile once again. She stood next to him and put her bare hand on his forehead. "You lose, Jakey," she said proudly. "Any last words before I finish you off?"

"Yes," he gasped with a wince. He could feel the control over his body, but she wasn't doing any damage to him just yet. He opened his eyes and looked into hers with pure hatred in them. "You're an idiot," he said quietly.

Before the girl could respond, Jake swung one of his hands up that had been placed behind him for the whole time. In that hand was the pistol he had dropped and then retrieved when she let him go for that one second by her feet where it had been lying. He smiled up at her while pulling the trigger with no regrets.

More blood was added to the stained wall as the shot rang out into the air. Jessica was dead before she even hit the floor. She laid there, motionless, as a puddle of blood was created under her lifeless body. She was finally gone. She would no longer bother anyone or kill innocent people. Jake felt so much relief. He was free from her once and for all.

"Jeez!" he whispered to himself as he swiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his gloved hand. "I guess I'm going to have to find a new place to stay once this is all over," he said while looking around his apartment. He then started to laugh for no reason at all. He didn't even know why he was laughing. He just felt so relieved to be done with Jessica and to be alive. He was one step closer to winning this battle. All the Titans and he needed was for Slade to get to Jump City. And Jake was smart enough to know the man would end up in the city sooner than later.

All he had to do was wait.

A/N: That fight scene took me a while to think up, but I think it came out pretty good. But I'm just happy that Jessica is dead! I hope you had the same feelings. Please give a review! Thanks!