A/N: This story has been particularly fun to write! Just wait to see all the twists and turns in store. ;) Thanks everyone for the support and the views!

Chapter 5

Raven's head was screaming. She was awake but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes; she just wanted the throbbing in her head to stop and she didn't think exposing her eyes to any kind of light was going to help. Her healing was correcting the internal damage from the wound on her head, she could feel it at work, but it didn't stop it from being painful. Her senses slowly returned to her and as they did her brow furrowed in annoyance.

What in the hells was that incessant beeping?!

But through the monotone beeps, hisses, and other strange noises another sound came to her attention. She tried to wrap her mind around it before her brain finally deciphered them as words. She locked in to the words, trying to make them make sense and as she focused the words came into clarity.

The voice beside her was surprising and her eyes finally flitted open and she stared at the skull caricature mask of Red X. He sat beside her bed in a chair pulled close to her and he was leaning against the arm of it, reading from a worn hardcover book held gently in his hands.

"'There she weaves by night and day, a magic web with colors gay. She has heard a whisper say, a curse is on her if she stay to look down to Camelot. She knows not what the curse may be, and so she weaveth steadily -'"

"'And little other care hath she, the Lady of Shalott,'" Raven croaked out with a weary voice, finishing the line of the poem.

"Raven?"

He looked up to see her eyes open and focused on him. He dropped the book on the bed as he reached out to cup her face in his hand, letting out a relieved sigh. She looked around her and realized for the first time that she was in a hospital bed. The constant noises and beeps were coming from the monitors she was hooked to.

The realization didn't make the noise any less annoying.

"What . . . " she started, cradling her forehead in her palm.

"You – you were bleeding out," he said, softly. Raven looked at him as she realized he had turned off the voice synthesizer on his mask. She could hear the relief and concern in his voice. "Slade had hit you with something. He hit you . . . so hard and you were falling off the building. I caught you, I got you to the ground, but . . . you were bleeding out."

"You brought me here?" she asked, sitting up and wincing. She leaned back against the headboard. "You're an idiot. You need to go before the others find you here. They'll look for me."

"They already know you're here," he said. "Robin was coming toward us after I caught you and you weren't moving. I – I panicked. I teleported away – I knew Robin would look after you – but . . . I couldn't leave you like that. I couldn't chance that they wouldn't be able to get you to help in time. I came back and told Robin I could get you to help. He told me to bring you here. I got you to the E.R. and I left before the other Titans arrived. I'm not as stupid as you might think."

She smiled a small smile, trying to ease some of the nerves he was showing in his stuttering speech. "Why are you here, then?" She looked to the book that he had abandoned on the bed beside her. "And don't tell me it was to read me Tennyson." She reached out to cup his masked cheek for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, X, I genuinely appreciate the gesture, but there's more to it than that."

He looked down at the book before lifting his head to her again. She was unnerved by this Red X who lacked his usual bravado and overconfidence. She had seen a surprising side of him on the roof of the tower, but this was different.

He was shaken and she had never seen him shaken.

"I had to see if you were okay. I couldn't stay away without knowing you were going to be okay. I brought you here and . . . it was worse than I thought. You weren't just bleeding out, your . . . your skull was shattered and your brain was swelling. They took you into surgery and they wouldn't tell me anything. Then you were healing so fast afterward they didn't know what to do about it. You were dying when you got here and then you were finally healing and meta human healing is not something they're familiar with. I had to come and see you for myself, with my own eyes. I had to know you were okay."

She stared at him for several long moments, trying to assess this side of Red X, this part of him that was the same vulnerable side she had seen on the roof of the tower. She laid a hand on his gloved one laying on her bed.

"Thank you," she said genuinely. "I know what you risked to do this; to get me here and then to check on me. You didn't have to."

"Yes I did," he said in uncharacteristic seriousness. "I could have lost you . . ."

He brushed a strand of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He cleared his throat.

"Can't lose my new prize now can I? I always get my mark," he said, the cockiness in his voice returning.

Raven could see through it now.

"How long have I been out?" she asked, changing the subject to save his ego.

"Almost twenty-four hours. It just got dark again."

"A whole day . . ." she trailed off. "It must have been bad. I almost never take that long."

He looked down at his lap. Although she couldn't see his face behind the mask she could tell that it had been frightening for him. He cared. Between their conversation the night before and everything that had transpired since, he was showing that he cared. This thing between them was growing stronger and she could see that they were going to get swallowed by it. And she was surprised that she didn't think that was a bad thing.

They started talking. Mostly Raven started a casual conversation to take his mind off of the trauma of the previous day. They started with Tennyson, Raven showing surprise that he was a fan and how he was a personal favorite of hers. He had laughed and mentioned that once upon a time he had had a very expensive education, though he refused to go further into detail than that. He had told her to keep the book. Something to remember him by when they were apart.

Their conversation moved through a variety of subjects from there. They talked about the task that had taken the Titans away for over a week, about the bond with Robin she had mentioned earlier and how all of that had come to pass, eventually even about the thing that was growing between them. Although they still couldn't make out what that might be and had given up on defining it. Some things didn't need explanation.

After a time Raven realized that her headache had dissipated and she pulled away the loose wrapping they had left on her head and found the skin beneath unbroken, and the bone beneath that whole and solid. Red X was relieved when she told him and the last of his tension seemed to finally leave his body.

They talked through most of the night, which was strange for her. Until the roof of the tower the night before the most they'd ever said to each other before were exchanged insults and sexually tense banter. They slipped into a companionable conversation that neither one of them had expected.

She found that, in addition to the weird comfort they had around each other, she actually liked him. If she had met him on the street and they had started talking, she would have genuinely enjoyed his company and that settled another level of rightness over what they had. Another layer of them that fit and made sense. She looked at him hours later after glancing at the clock and scoffed.

"Gods, you really are an idiot," she said.

He looked at her confused. "What?"

"We've been talking for hours," she explained. "My friends are bound to come check on me soon."

Red X chuckled. "The visiting hours haven't started yet, Little Bird, and they are strictly enforced. You should have seen Robin's face when they told him that he had to leave until visiting hours tomorrow."

"Didn't stop you," she pointed out.

"I'm a rogue," he pointed out while winking at her, "as well as a rake, and I earned that title by being a charming one. And I'll not leave my prize so easily."

She smirked at him, before lowering her eyes to the book in her hands as they rested on her lap. She had to admit, whatever his intentions were it was nice having his attention, both in the intense physical way of their past encounters and this unusual comfortable companionship she felt with him now. She had been pining for Robin – and then trying to get over those feelings – for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to be wanted in return.

"Good thing for you that Robin's following the rules then," she stated. "He'll kill you if he sees you. He's never forgiven you for stealing the suit."

"Stolen more than that, now," he muttered under his breath, remembering the look that had crossed Robin's face looking at her on the roof, and the blatant threat that he had made when Raven's life was at stake.

"What?" Raven asked, turning to him, not having caught what he said.

"Nothing, Little Bird," he dismissed, waving his hand. He couldn't bring himself to tell her what he now knew. She was still in love with Robin and he couldn't chance ruining what was happening between them with the knowledge that her leader might feel the way for her that she felt for him. It was selfish, yes, but they also weren't his feelings to tell. If Robin missed his chance then that would be his problem and his alone. Red X certainly wasn't about to do him any favors.

"And don't worry about my death at the hands of the Boy Blunder quite yet," he continued nonchalantly. "He won't be back until visiting hours start. The nurses don't like him and I still find it highly amusing."

"What do you mean they don't like him?"

"I mean after antagonizing the nurses like a fucking mother hen he went outside to take a breather. I came in and told them all that he's a jilted ex with a temper but that he does honesty care for you and that they shouldn't hold it against him."

She looked at him in disbelief.

"You did not."

He chucked again at her aghast expression. "Oh I did. And then he went and threw a fit about being asked to leave and to respect visiting hours. I think one of those nurses had an ex like him and she wasn't particularly kind. He didn't respond well. You can see why their opinion of him isn't very high. Why do you think they haven't come in to check on you and kick me out yet? I'm a very convincing liar."

"Wait," she said, dread growing in her. "What did you tell them to convince them to let you stay?"

He smiled at her in a way that could only be described as wicked, Raven could sense that even through his mask.

"I told them you were my fiancée."

"Excuse me?!" she choked out. "And they believed you?! They just let Red X walk in here and claim to be my fiancée and they just believed you?"

"Charming, remember? And I didn't come in here as Red X. I walked in here as myself, I put the suit on after they promised some privacy and peace for the night because I can't very well put you in the position of knowing my identity and having to decide what to do with that knowledge, now can I? The staff was quite taken with the thought of us together, actually. Said we made a beautiful couple. I told them that your abilities were unstable and that a familiar face would help spare their equipment from your powers lashing out and they agreed to give us some privacy as long as your vitals didn't spike."

Raven cradled her head in her hands.

"Have you ever considered the ramifications of what would happen if hospital security footage caught what you looked like? What if someone were to come in and see you now in the suit and connect the dots?! What if Robin finds out and checks the tapes?!"

"Please," he said flippantly, momentarily reverting to the part of the Red X persona that made her want to punch him in the face. "I made sure there was a camera malfunction. Although I'm flattered that you care about keeping my secret identity, Little Bird."

"But the staff has seen you, you idiot! They could describe you to Robin. He is the boy genius detective you know." She looked up at him and smacked him in the shoulder. "I thought you were just an idiot but now I think you might actually be mad. You risked everything coming here like this."

He shifted from his seat and sat on the bed beside her, leaning over her in a menacing manner.

"Maybe I don't care."

"Robin will kill you if he figures out who you are. Best case scenario you're in jail for a long time."

He leaned in closer.

"Maybe I don't care," he growled. He hovered by her ear before whispering, "Maybe the prize is worth the risk."

The familiar and far from unpleasant shudder that came so often when she was close to him trembled down her spine. Her eyes darted to all the complex and expensive equipment in the room that her emotions could destroy. This could be a costly rendezvous. But she then remembered that nothing had broken the last time at the tower. She still hadn't had the time to sort that part out yet.

She could feel his masked face brush against the side of hers as he nuzzled her.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered in her ear.

She thought. She thought back to their recent encounters and back to the encounters before that as well. She couldn't find an instant where he had actually tried to hurt her. Subdue her and her friends, sure, but he had never tried to hurt her. And their more recent times together were . . . intimate, close, and comforting. The night before he had confessed to feeling the same closeness that she had felt and he had been so tender, so vulnerable.

And he had saved her not long after. He had no reason to do so, he didn't even have to reveal that he was there. He was in the clear, but he had saved her anyway. And when he had done so and managed to get away he had returned to save her again. And then he had risked exposure coming to her tonight. Those were three instances all in the same day that showed he had no reason or will to hurt her. It seemed quite the opposite.

She did trust him. She nodded.

"Close your eyes," he whispered. She complied.

She could feel him pull away from her, but he remained seated on the bed beside her hip. She heard a rustling of fabric and just when she was about to question what he was doing she felt his breath against her ear again.

"I trust you, too, Little Bird."

Then his lips were on hers, forceful and hungry. She responded in kind with her own fervor and need. She slid her hand up the back of his head to pull his face closer to hers and she felt his soft hair between her fingers. Something she could only feel if he had taken off his mask. Completely. She gasped and he immediately shifted and feathered his lips over her ear.

"Keep them closed, Little Bird. I'm trusting you."

She tightened her grip on his hair in her fingers and pulled his lips back to her, deepening the kiss when she realized that, again like the night before on the rooftop and then in her room, nothing in the room was exploding or breaking. Something about how he felt with her that moment was comfortable and right and soothing. Something about him was keeping her emotions in check and balancing the chaos that usually roiled within her. And it was so liberating – such a relief that she had never felt before – that she pulled him closer, deeper. She felt her head hit the pillow as he pushed her down and lay partially beside her and partially atop her, his hands roaming up and down her body, the beeping from the monitors increasing in intensity as her heart rate rose.

She moaned at the heat of his touch and still, nothing broke around them and she wanted nothing more than to lose herself in him. She had never had the luxury of letting go like this and it was an intoxicating experience that she relished and was loathe to give up. If this is what this was like for normal people then they were taking what they had for granted.

He pulled away with a sigh that turned into a groan as his head dropped on the pillow next her her. She was about to ask him what was wrong when she heard Robin's raised voice from the nurse's desk.

"You kept me up all night," she admonished jokingly, laughing into his hair, her eyes still closed. He let out a laugh into her pillow before rising to lay light kisses all over her face. He rested his forehead on hers and sighed again.

"Next time I keep you up all night it'll be worth it, I promise you that."

"Go," she whispered against his lips. "Take your stolen kisses before you get caught."

She felt his breath on her ear before he whispered, "Kisses are only the start, Little Bird. Just wait until you see what I steal next."

She felt his warmth leave her and she almost whined at his absence. She was starting to wonder just how deep she was getting into this and starting to get concerned at how attached she was already feeling. She felt him stroke her hair before she felt the slight rush of wind that indicated his teleportation.

She opened her eyes and found herself alone. She sighed and looked around the room. Everything was in its place and unbroken. This was unfamiliar territory and she didn't know what to make of it yet. She reached for the book that he had left for her, but as her fingers grazed the fabric cover they encountered something different. She touched the soft petals of the purple calla lily that lay there atop the book. It was beautiful and rested on a square of paper with a red X scrawled on it. She stared at it, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

How did he know? she wondered. They aren't a common flower here in Jump; but how did he even know?

She grabbed the square of paper and flipped it over. In a sharp, even script was written:

A proper thief researches his prize. I know they're your favorite.

A rare find in this messed up city, just like you. -X

A smile came to her face as she tucked the paper in the book and slid both under her pillow and away from prying eyes. Likewise she took the lily and laid it gently under the covers by her pillow. The door to her room opened not a minute later.

Robin entered, saw her awake, and relief washed over his face. He strode quickly to her side held her shoulders so he could look at her.

"Raven," he sighed. "Are you okay? I've been just . . . pacing downstairs all night. You were out for so long, the whole day."

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I woke up early last night."

He looked down before meeting her eyes again. "And you woke up alone. I'm so sorry, these . . . nurses for some reason do not like me."

Raven snorted a laugh, before covering it with a cough and hoping Robin didn't catch the slight as she remembered what Red X had said about his conversations with the nurses.

"No?" she finally choked out. "What happened?"

Robin poured her a cup of water from the pitcher on the side table, hoping to ease her cough. She took the proffered cup and took a sip.

"I don't know why they have something against me," he started, "I know what a pain I was all day I just . . . I had never seen you like that, unable to heal quickly enough. I think the last time that was close was that time with Adonis and Beast Boy. I had to go take a breather toward the evening but . . ."

"But?" she asked, taking another sip to hide her smirk.

"But I got back and they were just . . . dismissive, I guess. One of them in particular. I don't know what happened but suddenly it was all about protocol and visiting hours and privileges how only family was allowed and such. It was just a weird shift, even though I was probably being an ass."

Raven coughed on her water and took a second to recover. Hearing Robin swear was rare, but all it did now was remind her of Red X. The two sides of her life were bleeding together and she didn't quite know what to do with that.

"That sounds about right," she joked, smirking.

"Ouch, Raven," he said in mock shock and hurt, his eyes, though, were smiling at her. "You're supposed to be my best friend."

"And what kind of best friend would I be if I just let an opportunity for a barb like that just pass by?"

Robin let out a laugh and she could feel the comfort of their bond hum in the back of her mind. He had been the closest she had to an emotional connection with someone . . . until Red X. Her emotions were free around the thief like with no one else, but there was still something about her connection with Robin that she couldn't deny.

"So what, exactly, happened?" she asked, playing the role of someone who hadn't already been filled in on the events during her unconsciousness by a self proclaimed rake who seemed strangely attached to her.

He explained the events from his perspective but it lined up with exactly what Red X had recounted to her. She listened and then nodded when his story was done.

"So when do I get to go home?" she asked, settling into her pillows. "I mean, my head's killing me but I can feel the healing and I suppose my consciousness is a good sign."

Robin laughed again. "Well the doctors certainly aren't used to having a meta human in their ward. Once you . . . once you were out of the worst of the surgery, they got some more blood in you, and stitched up your wound your healing finally started to catch up. Your wound closed and your skin popped out those stitches within the first couple of hours. I kept trying to tell them that you would be up and about soon but they insisted on keeping you here until you woke just in case. But I talked with them this morning and they're ready to release you later today after the last round of the latest tests come back, assuming you regained consciousness."

Raven blew out a deep breath and leaned her head back against the wall. "I guess I can wait the day."

"So, everyone else is waiting out there. They would only let us in here one at a time. But since you're out later today do you want me to let you have your peace? I can ask them to wait."

"You're going to try to tell Starfire that she can't come in here and see for herself that I'm breathing and awake?" she joked, hoping to lighten the mood for him. "You are the bravest person I know, Robin, but that might be suicidal."

He grabbed her hand and looked her in the eye, still solemn.

"I'm serious. You really scared me yesterday and if you had that much trouble healing it might be best for you to have some peace. But it's up to you. Do you want to see them or would you like to wait?"

She paused and thought about it for awhile.

"Would I be a terrible person if I took you up on your offer?"

He smiled at her, finally. "I wouldn't have offered if that were the case." He rose and leaned over her, surprising her by hugging her to him in a crushing embrace. He held her for awhile and she could feel him tremble, which scared her a little. He was always so steady. She could feel the anguish and relief through their bond.

"You really did scare me," he said into her hair as he rested his head on hers. "Our bond wavered, Raven." She felt him shudder at the memory. "It's never done that before. I hadn't realized how much I had grown accustomed to feeling it and having you there knowing how I feel. I've started to rely on it's strength and then it wavered and it started to feel weak. That . . . that scared me more than I can remember being scared in a long time. And I couldn't do anything. They told me how bad it was after I got here. Then – then they told me they were taking you to surgery. Raven, I've never felt more helpless."

He pulled away and held her at arms length, his expression holding more grief than she could remember seeing from him before.

"And I was angry, Raven. I was angry at Slade – I'm not sure what I would have done had we caught him, to be perfectly honest – I was angry at myself for being so damn useless, and I was angry at Red X for being the one to save you. Of all people, it had to be him."

Raven looked away for a moment before looking back to him.

"Not that I'm not grateful, Raven, I owe him . . . everything for saving you. But why did he save you? Why was he even there?"

"I don't know," she said truthfully. "I have no idea why he was there. I don't remember anything after the impact on the rooftop until I woke up here. His motives have always been . . . difficult to understand. I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Maybe he did it just to piss off Slade. Maybe he took me to the hospital to piss you off. Who knows with him?"

She felt so bad for lying to him. She tried her best to say things that she partially believed to be true, hoping the bond would accept them as truths and that Robin wouldn't suspect her of not telling him everything.

"He has seemed weirdly fixated with you lately," he mused, darkly.

"Do you remember your reaction the night that he kissed me?" she asked. "If he stuck around and saw that, then I'd say he knew he pushed a button. Anyway, I can't speak for his motives, but I am grateful to him. I owe him my life."

Robin looked away as he stood up. He was still wrestling with his thoughts on the matter and he certainly didn't like the thought of Raven owing anything to the criminal who had vexed him so. He couldn't figure out his motives and that, for any detective, was infuriating.

"I should go," he said, attempting to reign in his anger. "The others will be worried."

"Yeah," she said lamely. "Thank you, Robin, for being such an ass to the staff. I'm sorry I worried you, but it's always nice to know someone cares."

He turned back to her and smiled. "I'll be here when they release you. Call me if you need anything."

He tossed her communicator to her, smiled, and nodded before leaving and closing the door behind him. She let out a big breath and leaned her head back on the wall in relief. She hadn't revealed anything about Red X. But she had no idea where her life was going now. She had just lied to her best friend to cover the mysterious motives of a thief. She was going to have to deal with the repercussions of trying to reconcile both sides of her life eventually and she had absolutely no idea how to do it.

She reached for her cup on the side table and her fingers found a small glass jar instead. She grabbed it and looked at it closely. It held what looked like loose leaf tea.

She pulled the cork from the bottle and inhaled the scent from within. Earl Grey. The cream blend that she liked from a very particular tea shop. It hadn't been there on the nightstand when Robin had entered, she was sure. She would have seen it when Robin had poured her that cup of water. He had left it. He had left it for her.

She flopped down onto the pillows and locked her eyes on the ceiling, Robin's gesture and the mystery of how he even knew to get it for her laying another layer of confusion on her already overwhelmed brain. It was the last thing the thought of before sleep overtook her again.