A/N: There's a T-rated and M-rated version of this fic. This is the T rated version.

Thanks to all my reviewers! I want you to know that I read and appreciate all of them. I have some long term plans for this story so get ready for some twists and turns. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 7

Raven found herself face to face with a huddle of children, varying in ages from what appeared to be as old as twelve and young as five. Fourteen of them. Her blood boiled at the knowledge of what could have befallen these children had the syndicate been allowed to continue with their plans. She crouched down slowly, holding out her hands palms out in a show of non-hostility.

"Hey. Hey, it's okay," she said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Raven. I'm with the Teen Titans. Do you know who the Titans are?"

Most of the children were still frozen with fear but a few of them nodded their heads as recognition dawned in their eyes.

"Okay. Good. Me and a friend of mine came here to help you all. Now, can you tell me what happened? Can you tell me why you're here?"

A boy of about ten walked up to her timidly, stopping a few paces from her.

"They took us," he said, quietly. "They took all of us. Said our parents had debts to pay and that we had other uses, too. We've been here for days."

Raven shook with rage and did her best to hide it from the children.

"I see. Okay, are there any more of you that I have to help? Anyone in another room?"

The boy shook his head and another, an older girl said she hadn't seen anyone else or heard talk of any others.

"Okay," Raven whispered, feeling all their fear and worry. "Okay, here's the plan. I have a safe place to take you all but you're going to have to help me, okay? I can only take-," she looked at them, assessing size and strain on her powers, "-maybe five of you at a time since we're not going far. But the rest of you are going to have to help me. I have the guards outside in kind of a trance so they don't know that anything is wrong right now. I'm going to release them, though, so no one will think anything is wrong. So when I reappear in this room with my magic I'm going to need you all to stay quiet, okay? I understand that it can be scary when I use my powers but you can't let the guards know anything is going on in here."

"Why can't you just get rid of them?" a small girl squeaked from the back, tears running down her face.

"Because if someone walks by and sees the guards knocked out or missing they'll come in here and move you and put more bad men to watch you than they already have. We're already risking someone finding the guards in their trance now. We have to go. Will you all help me? Will you all trust me?"

The children nodded furiously, the older ones calming the younger and Raven let out a breath. Three of the oldest, including the boy that had spoken to her earlier, helped her organize the trips.

"Alright, so I'll take the youngest first. They'll be the least calm if I leave them," she said as the three nodded in agreement. "I'll get them to safety, then I'll reappear here in the room for the next group. It should only take a few minutes. I will return for the rest of you, okay? A Titan keeps their promise and I promise you that I will be back for you."

She could still feel the fear in them, though they presented themselves with a brave face. She wanted so badly to use her powers to calm them, but she was going to need all the strength she could muster to get them all to safety.

"I'm going to go wake the guards now. It's time for you all to be the bravest you've ever had to be. I'm going to have to lock the door again, so everything seems normal. Be extra brave for me, okay? I know it's going to be scary, but then I'll use my powers to appear right back in this room. We're going to get out of here, all of us, I promise you."

She went into the hall, locked the door behind her, and returned the keys to the guard's pocket. She turned around the corner so they wouldn't see her when she released them. She focused her energy and and let go of her hold on them gently, pulling them out of their trance gradually so they wouldn't feel an abrupt shift in their consciousness.

They shook their heads groggily and mentioned something about needing stronger coffee if they're going to be put on babysitting duty. She let out a quiet breath that they hadn't seemed to be concerned upon coming out of their trance. They hadn't noticed anything was amiss.

Her soul self swirled around her and brought her back into the room. A couple of the smaller children squeaked in shock, but the older kids muffled their sounds so as not to alert the guards.

"That was great, guys," Raven whispered, crouching before them once more. "You were all so brave, thank you. Now, the five youngest. I need you all to gather around me."

The older kids brought the scared youngsters to her and she explained how her soul self was going to wrap around them and then bring them someplace safe with someone who would help them.

"It'll be like a big shadow bird that will wrap you in its wings. Just hold on to me and you'll be fine. I'll look after you, Okay?"

She nodded to the older kids and quickly called on her powers. The longer they delayed the more chance they took of one of the kids panicking and alerting the guards.

They appeared in room of the building Red X had instructed her to and there was a flurry of commotion as they were rushed by adults. Raven tried her best to keep calm, ready to defend the children, when she heard several of them cry out, "Mommy! Daddy!"

She looked around and realized that the room was full of anxious parents, some of whose children had just appeared before them. She breathed out a sigh of relief while simultaneously cursing Red X. He had told her that someone would be there to intercept the kids, he hadn't told her it would be an army of emotionally charged people.

"I have to go back for the others," she gasped out, desperate to be out of there. "I'll be back."

A few of the parents nodded and one man fell to his knees, sobbing in relief as he held his daughter. Raven balked at the wave of emotions in the room and immediately transported out.

The kids handled it better than the parents when she reappeared in the room. Their emotions were more in check as they did their best to stay calm. It truly amazed Raven how much people were capable of when their lives were in danger, no matter their age.

"You guys are amazing," she whispered, truthfully, looking each of them in the eyes. "Some of the bravest people I've ever seen. Come on now, next group."

She delivered the next group to their awaiting parents, bracing herself this time for the emotions she had been unprepared for the first time around. She did better this time, but left as soon as possible before the emotions rose again as the parents reunited with their children.

The last four kids were in a panic when she returned.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" she asked, not expecting their emotional onslaught.

"They're opening the door!" the oldest cried, a twelve year old girl who pointed at the door.

Indeed, Raven heard the click of a lock behind her and when she looked she saw the door open and the guards enter with two other men. They stood in shock at seeing Raven and only four children.

"Boss was right!" one of the men in the back called out, raising a gun to aim at her. "He was just a distraction! She's taking them!"

"Grab her alive!" another said. "Boss will want her too!"

Raven didn't hesitate. She wrapped the children in her soul self and disappeared from the room as she heard the first gunshot ring out.

She returned the last of the children to their parents, pushing people aside and trying to hold them back as they rushed to thank her. She shouted for them to give her space, her dark magic swirling around her erratically as she did.

They stepped back and she stood panting in a circle of grateful and confused adults as she tried to reign in her powers.

"Thank you," a woman sobbed, keeping her distance but reaching out a hand to her. "Thank you for saving them. Jason said we could count on you."

"Jason?" Raven asked, still trying to catch her breath and regain control of her powers as she heard lightbulbs begin to pop. A theory popped into her head and she went cold at the thought.

There's no way that it could be him this whole time, she thought.

"Yes," said a man on the other side of her. "He said he'd distract everyone while you got the children. He's never let us down before and he seemed sure that you wouldn't either. Thank you. Thank you for everything. Both of you."

Raven felt her panic rise as she remembered what the men had said as they'd entered the room. They had said he was a distraction. They said to grab her too.

"Where is he?" she asked, frantically looking around her. She looked at the clock on the wall. He should have been back by now.

No one in the room could answer her question, and that gave her all the answer she needed. He'd gotten caught. She couldn't leave him there.

"I have to help him," she panted.

She didn't think before she transported out of the room and back to the syndicate stronghold. She would reflect later that she should have called in the Titans. She should have called for any kind of backup now that she needn't fear repercussion against innocents. But all she could think about was that Red X had just risked his life to save a room full of children and someone like that couldn't just be left in the hands of men who would resort to child trafficking. She couldn't waste any time. She couldn't be sure what they would do to him.

Her powers worked best if she transported someplace she was familiar with, someplace she had already been or seen. So she brought herself back to the twisting hallways of the upper level, right next to a staircase that she had passed that went down to the lower level. She could hear the commotion of running feet and shouts coming from all around, though no one was in the hall she was currently occupying.

She used her powers and felt for his familiar signature. Once she locked onto it she tore down the stairs, using her powers to dart in and out of the shadows, hoping to avoid detection. She could hear snippets of orders being barked as she darted from one shadowy corner to another. Orders to secure the perimeter, orders to find the missing children, orders to keep everyone out of the back room while they dealt with the snake in their midst.

Bingo.

She made her way to the room, following the map in her head from the blueprints they had studied in their planning. She backed into a dark corner when she saw a man in the doorway to the back room talking to a group of men in the room she was now in.

"Make sure we aren't interrupted," the man said, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "Breaking him is going to be fun. And find those fucking assets. Put a mark on the girl. Titan or not you don't mess with us and get out unscathed."

Two men stood on either side of the door and the rest of the men scattered, passing by their target and not even knowing it. A dark part of her smirked as they scurried by. Wasn't the first hit someone had put out on her and likely wouldn't be the last. They'd have a hard time finding someone who would be willing to take the risk let alone someone who actually had a hope of actually pulling it off.

The man closed the door behind him as he went in and Raven sent out her spirit to scout the room and feel for how many people were in there. Two men and Red X. How fortunate for her.

She did what she hated to do and appeared in the unfamiliar room. She took the two men by surprise and saw Red X lift his masked face from where he had just been tied to the chair in the middle of the room. She took out one of the men with a desk thrown by her soul self but the other man, the one who had given orders in the doorway, recovered from his surprise more quickly than she would have thought.

She felt the knife before she saw it, slicing across her arm as it sailed past her. She used her powers to grab the knife and throw it back and the man threw himself out of its way before realizing that she wasn't aiming for him, but at the ropes binding Red X. He extricated himself from the severed ropes as she turned back toward the gangster. The gunshot rang out as she made eye contact with him.

"Raven!" Red X, screamed as she staggered, trying to stay on her feet. He dove for the man aiming his second shot at the Titan. They fought briefly before Red X knocked the man out with a savage blow to the head and kicked away his gun before diving for Raven as she she stumbled and fell.

"Raven! Shit!" he shouted as he caught her and lifted her into his arms. "What the fuck were you thinking? Why did you come after me? Fuck, this is all my fault."

"X!" He stopped his ranting and looked at her as she yelled. "I'm fine." She winced, belying her words. "It's a through and through, just in the shoulder. Bullet's out and it's already healing. You need to calm down before your panic overtakes my emotions. Please."

Her last word came out as a whispered plea and he stroked her face, attempting to calm himself. She reached up and cupped his cheek.

"It's been a hard day," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

He transported them to the room where she had taken the children. The crowd moved up to them, wanting to offer gratitude and Red X growled at everyone to stay back as he set her down on the ground and cradled her head in his lap.

He checked her over, despite her assessment that she was okay. His fear began to subside as he found she was, indeed, already healing. He hugged her to him and turned to assess the situation. He saw the kids in the arms of their parents and he felt both relief and a lilt of anger.

He turned to a man that Raven hadn't noticed the last time she was in the room. Red X called him Tyler asked him if everything else had gone according to plan. He reassured him that they weren't followed and that everyone had made it.

Red X sighed and hung his head in relief, still refusing to let loose his hold on the woman in his arms.

"Why are they all here?" Red X snarled as he raised his head at Tyler. "Her powers react to emotions, something could have happened with all the panic that she unknowingly popped in on. I would have warned her."

Raven watched what she could only assume was Red X glaring daggers at the man, and she marveled over the consideration that he had for her. She felt bad for assuming that he had known about the parents and hadn't told her and she was moved that he was so concerned for her.

The man known as Tyler shrugged and looked unapologetic.

"It was the best way I could think to make sure the kids were calm when she brought them out," he justified. "It was a last minute adjustment. She did fine. Pulled of the job without fault. Even saved your ass. She's a strong one."

Red X stared him down through the mask and shook his head at him before turning his attentions back to Raven.

A woman approached them and – despite Red X's protective hold – reached out to touch her on the shoulder.

"Thank you," she breathed to the prone Titan. "Thank you for everything."

Raven looked at the woman and gave a nod.

"I was just executing his plan," she said, inclining her head to Red X. "He's no less a hero than I am in this."

The woman smiled in a knowing way. "I'm glad someone else sees it," she said, squeezing Raven's shoulder before standing. She touched the back of Red X's head and whispered a thank you to him as well before rejoining her family.

Red X spoke to Tyler and directed him to make sure the families found someplace safe until they could go into hiding. Tyler nodded and promised he and the others had everything handled from here. He turned to the families, calling out for them to gather around as he laid out a plan.

Red X stood and picked up Raven into his arms again. She squeaked in protest, indignant at the implication of her needing more rescue.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"It's my fault you got hurt," he said in a monotone voice. "At least let me take you someplace comfortable to finish healing."

He pushed a button on his belt and a few jumps later they found themselves back in his bedroom. He began walking her to the bed and Raven shuddered at all the emotions she could feel from him: fear, anger, and most disturbing to her was his self-loathing. He was mentally spiraling down a rabbit hole of self-deprecation that seemed to be one familiar to him. All of his bravado and over-projected self assurance was all just a cover for how he really felt.

Worthless. A failure. Unworthy. And he was spending his life trying to prove otherwise.

She had to distract him from that line of thought, from his terrible brooding. She had to keep him from reliving those assumptions about himself that was likely the cause of those nightmares that he had spoken of.

She had to do something. She had to let him know that he was far from what he thought of himself. She had to let him know that he was seen. She had to let him know that she knew. But first she had to be sure of what she thought she knew.

Raven let out a dry laugh, and spoke in a low, suggestive tone, hoping to break the tension radiating from Red X.

"Anything to get me back into your bed . . ."

A small smirk crossed his face under his mask.

". . . Jason?"

He stopped, looked at her startled and took a few moments before taking the last few steps and laying her down. He stared at her for time, then sat beside her and pulled off his mask and revealed his face to her for the first time, dark hair falling in messy waves over his brow and into the brightest green eyes she had ever seen. She reached out and touched his face, a strong and rather handsome face that she recognized from pictures she had seen. A face that hadn't been seen by Robin or his mentor for quite some time. She stroked her fingers over strangely familiar features, brushing the dark hair – broken by a thin white streak at the front – away from his eyes.

"Jason Todd," she whispered.

"So you know," he whispered back. "How did you find out?"

"One of the parents tonight called you Jason. I didn't really make the connection right away, it was more a fleeting thought since you were the first Jason that came to mind. You just happen to be the most infamous Jason I know. But everything fit; your fighting style, your personality, your complete disregard for Robin. It finally made sense."

He chanced a small smirk at her and she smiled a gentle smile back.

"It wasn't until just now when I saw your face," she continued. "I've seen the pictures in Robin's room-"

"Boy Blunder has pictures of me? Kinda creepy . . . I mean I'm flattered none the less . . ."

Raven scowled at his attempt to use humor to deflect from the serious topic.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Mostly his pictures of you are from newspaper articles and reports. I've seen those same pictures in the archives when I read the reports about . . . about what happened to you. The possibility flashed in my head when I heard your name earlier, but just now, as soon as I saw your face, the face from the pictures, I knew. Although this is new," she teased, twisting the white locks of hair around her fingers.

He scoffed. "A souvenir from the Lazaraus pit," he said plainly. "Remind me to tell you about that some other time."

He stared at her for a long moment before speaking again. "You considered the possibility that I was Jason Todd earlier tonight and you still came back for me. You know, now, not only the things that I've done as Red X, but everything else. Everything I've done with Batman and then as Red Hood; the crimes that I've committed. And you still came back for me. Why, Little Bird? Why save me? Or why not at least call the Titans and have them take me in?"

"You made it very clear that the syndicate has no problem in disposing of their problems. I couldn't chance that happening to you. Because, hard though it may be for you to believe, what your name is and what you've done in the past doesn't matter, Jason. Not to me. Believe me when I say that there is darkness in my past too and I have spent years attempting to not let it define me. Just as you shouldn't let your darkness define you.

"All that matters is who I know you are." She continued. She reached over and touched his face again, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "And you were no less than a hero tonight, in so many ways, and I need you to know that I see that. Who I know you are, who I've seen and who you've revealed to me, is a better person than you're able to see. You told me some truths that night in the medical test facility that even I couldn't see about myself. Now you're just going to have to trust the truths I know about you."

He looked at her in amazement. Everything strange that he felt since their encounters together had started had nothing on this latest revelation.

She saw him. She saw him in a way that no one had in a long time . . . maybe ever. He reached out and twined his fingers through the hair at the back of her head, still wondering at his luck in finding her. He smirked at her again, she knew he was one to smirk, and closed his eyes as her fingers continued brushing across his cheek.

"Don't," she whispered. He opened his eyes, green staring into violet. "It's bad enough you hide those eyes behind a mask, X. Don't hide them from me now."

"Then don't go back to my old name, Little Bird. You see me. You know me. Call me Jason." His eyes pleaded with hers. "Please."

She smiled at him. "Jason."

He swooped down and kissed her soundly. She met his lips with hers, adrenaline still rushing through her from their rescue mission. She was on a high and planned to ride it out. His tongue sought entrance into her mouth and she parted her lips obligingly. He groaned as she dug her fingers into his hair and pulled him closer, deepening their kiss. He pulled his legs into the bed and lay flush against her as his lips moved against hers. She gripped his shoulders and pressed her chest more tightly against his. He could feel the swell of her chest as she breathed. He reached behind her and began pulling down the zipper at her back.

He moved to trace her ear with his tongue before biting, sucking, and kissing his way down her neck, setting her nerves on fire.

"Jason," she moaned, trying the name on for size and liking how it rolled off her tongue with such ease.

"Say it again," he growled fiercely against her bare shoulder as he straddled her and pulled down the neck of her leotard, taking a moment to sigh in relief that her wounds had already healed.

"Jason."

"Again," he begged as he gently lifted her and finished pulling down the zipper with one hand, the other continuing to pull the fabric away in the front and worshiping every inch of skin he exposed.

"Jason."

He pulled back and stared at her, relishing in the sheer intimacy of the moment. He closed his eyes as he kissed the crook of her neck. He could feel her undo his belt, the belt that he had fought so hard to steal from Robin, and drop it to the side of the bed. He was usually so particular about the care of that belt, but he truly had a new prize and nothing else mattered. He shimmied out of the top of the Red X suit as she pulled it over his head. He opened his eyes and stared down at her.

"Say it again," he breathed, his voice husky.

"Jason!" she cried before he kissed her again, unable to get enough of the sound of his real name on her lips, surprised at how much it affected him.

He had meant it when he said he was a rake. He was wealthy (due mostly to his current profession as thief extraordinaire), he was charming, self-indulgent, and whether or not one would define him as promiscuous he certainly wasn't a prude. He'd gotten around, taking pleasure where he could, but nothing had ever felt like this.

Even at its inception there was something different about this thing he had with Raven. She saw more of him than anyone else ever had, and the thing he had always feared – that someone would take one look at all of him (his failures, his lack of worth, his darkness) and balk – was not even a concern with her. She took every part of him and embraced it.

He had never dared hope for that before.

He ran his thumb in little circles on her hip as his lips traced the line of her collarbone and up to her neck nipping and suckling a trail up to her jaw, leaving small marks on her pale flesh as evidence of his need for her.

And marking her as his.

They gave themselves to one another, taking every pleasure they craved, and afterward they lay in a tangle of limbs and sweat kissed flesh. Their breathing evened out eventually and began to sync together, chests rising and falling in tandem. Raven absentmindedly toyed with a lock of her hair as she caught her breath.

"I told you the next time I kept you up it would be worth it," he panted, brushing a damp lock of hair out of her face.

She laughed and nestled her face up beside his. He wrapped a possessive arm around her and drew her closer to him.

She shivered after a while and Jason started to shift so he could pull the duvet over them when she smiled at him. She held him to her as her soul self wrapped around them again and lifted the duvet through them until it nestled over them. She smirked at him as he let out an impressed chuckle.

"Well that's a fun trick," he said, smirking back at her.

"I'm full of handy surprises," she said, biting her lower lip as she smiled at him. Jason found the act unbearably sexy and pulled her in for another deep, lingering, penetrating kiss.

"I don't doubt that for a second, Little Bird. My Little Bird."

She hummed in response to the slight change in his title for her, so subtle yet with so much meaning. He pulled her to his chest and buried his face in her hair, which now smelled of her normal earl grey mixed with his own of coffee and cedar, and the combination of his smell with hers made something primal in him incredibly happy. She snuggled into his chest, wrapping an arm around his waist and he wrapped both of his arms around her.

He was content in more ways than he thought possible. He had set out to save those kids and hopefully not lose Raven in the process of practically using her. But not only had the kids been saved and he hadn't lost Raven, they had somehow grown even closer together.

He had heard the term "and now I can die happy" before, but he could never rationalize the concept of what it could really feel like until this moment. He honestly didn't care what happened after this. There was only this moment for him, now, this woman in his arms.

He held her tightly to him as he contemplated the ramifications of what they now had between them. He couldn't lose her now, and that connection terrified him. He had meant it when he said to her that he didn't do attached, but here he was as attached as he felt someone could be.

This was usually the time where he would talk about how he had an early morning or how he had cab fare ready; whatever it took to get the girl out of his bed and on her way. He never let a girl spend the night, ever. It was his policy. But he held on to Raven possessively, absolutely terrified of the idea that he wouldn't get to do this every night.

He thought the idea would stifle him but he only felt warm and comforted by the thought of having her by him all the time. He felt her muscles relax as her breathing evened to a slow, steady pace that indicated she had fallen asleep.

He stroked her hair as she hummed in her sleep at the gesture. He sighed in contentment and finally closed his eyes, drifting off in the peace of her presence and finally knowing what a true peaceful night's rest was like.