Novocaine
Chapter One

Date and time.

Printed nice and neat in pale tan color on the inside of her right wrist, hidden easily by the long sleeves of her uniform. It had been there since she was born - an old remnant from Azarath that no one else on this earth seemed to have. Starfire had seen it once when they were in the locker room showers together. Her eyes had widened and she had somehow known exactly what it was, but she had never pressed Raven on it, nor did she tell their teammates, for which Raven was eternally grateful.

Raven couldn't imagine trying to tell a wide-eyed Boy Wonder and Beast Boy that there really were things like soulmates, and she didn't want to. Stupid. All of it was stupid. Soulmates were stupid. Like she was supposed to believe that somehow the chaotic nonsense of the universe somehow created soulmates? Pft. Idiotic. The universe didn't give a single care about her or anyone else, and yet Raven was supposed to believe that her one true love was hiding out somewhere in this bar, just waiting to meet her? Great. Color her excited.

Raven sighed and pitched her head forward, burying her face in her hands. Sometimes, it felt like her whole world felt like it was built upon secrets, and she never really knew how to tell her friends exactly what the truth was.

Besides, if her teammates knew that soulmates were real, they would start asking her questions about who their soulmate was, but Raven didn't know. No one in Azarath really knew who their soulmate was, and the only indication that they even had a soulmate was the date and time etched into their skin.

She looked down at the inside of her right wrist and glared at that stupid set of numbers that reminded her that today was the day. Today was the day she was going to meet the person who was going to be a part of her life forever - her soulmate. Ugh. She hated the sound of it, like it was something permanent that she would never be able to untangle herself from - a stain she was forced to carry around for the rest of her life.

Her eyes moved around the dark, smoky room of the bar she was in, seeing a sea of colors and shadows, and feeling a rush of emotions shove against her senses. A fleck of guilt swarmed in her stomach, as she realized she wasn't even sure where she was supposed to go - she could have been anywhere, honestly, it didn't really matter. The universe would pull them together, twist the red string of fate until they came crashing against one another. So, even if she was in this noisy bar with a band that couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, her soulmate would find her.

The only thing she knew was that she was supposed to meet them in two minutes.

Raven glanced at the clock and cursed under her breath. Correction, one minute.

She chewed on her lower lip and wondered if maybe she should have chosen a different place. Maybe somewhere better, like a nice restaurant, or a coffee shop, or a bookshop, or literally anywhere else that wasn't here-

"Fuck you, man."

The rough sound of a curse pulled her out of her own thoughts, and Raven turned around her to see a man being led out of the mosh pit to the edge of the floor. She glanced at her phone, checked at her wrist, and stared at him.

Him.

Her stupid soulmate.

Oh, god. No.

He whipped his head around to stare at her, a ragged scar ran down the edge of his face, and a pale patch of white hair shaded too-green eyes. His lip pulled up in a snarl, like he wanted to curse her, but didn't know how. There was something about him that set her on edge, like she was supposed to know him from somewhere, but couldn't quite place him. Maybe it was the fact that she was destined to be with him for the rest of her life, or maybe it was something else entirely, but she felt like her world was suddenly growing smaller and closing in on her.

It was claustrophobic. He felt too close, too sharp, too painful… too much of everything. She didn't want it. She wanted to run away and never look back. And, honestly, she should have.

"Shut up." The security guard who was leading the stranger looked utterly exhausted, as if this wasn't the first time he had to do this, and probably wasn't the last. "Stay off the floor if you're going to start fights with other concert goers."

The guy shook his arm, shoving the security guard off him with another curse "Well, maybe you should keep your eye out for dickwads who are trying to drug girls!" He spat in front of the security guard and glared, his nostrils flaring. "You should feel lucky I fucking beat his face in, or you'd have the guilt on your hands. Do your damn job so I don't have to."

The security guard looked like he wanted to say something, but instead threw up his hands and walked away. On one hand, this guy had started a fight, and on the other hand, he'd probably saved a few women from a worse situation. Raven felt her stomach turn, emotions warring inside her. One one hand, obviously this guy had a set of morals. On the other hand, it was unlikely that he followed any kind of rules.

The security guard gave him another warning and disappeared into the mass of people and smoke, and Raven was left staring at the person next to her, trying to decide if she should run the other direction. She should have run. This could not have been her soulmate. Clearly the universe made a mistake. Raven would never fall for anyone who was like… like this.

The man groaned and sunk into the bar stool next to her, glaring at his reflection in the mirror behind the bar. His eyes seemed to zero in on the bruise growing on the apple of his cheek, and he turned his face away from the mirror, staring at Raven next to him. A long moment passed between them, heavy and acidic, and he finally spoke to her directly.

"What the fuck are you looking at?"

Raven looked back at her wrist, noting the seconds that had passed and correlating them with the time she had spent next to this man. No. No. No. Nononononono. She felt an odd feeling of hopelessness sink into the pit of her stomach. Was this really where she was supposed to be? Here? Next to this asshole? Maybe she misunderstood. Maybe it was one of the security guards who had kicked him off the floor. They seemed like fine people. Fine enough anyway.

Raven looked over her shoulder, trying to see if she could find one of their faces in the crowd, but there was nothing. Instead, she was sitting here on a bar stool, during a noisy, pathetic concert, and trying to piece together what she could have misinterpreted. She sighed and rubbed her forehead, slamming her money onto the bar top, refusing to be a part of this thread of her destiny. She shoved at her hair and and stepped off the bar stool, taking a step away from what was obviously a cosmic joke.

The guy snorted and motioned for the bartender to pour him a whiskey. His eyes flicked to Raven's and the intensity behind them kept her pinned to the spot. He snarled and tilted his head. "I'd rather not either, if it's any consolation."

His words were a low rumble against the noise of the bar, and she was surprised she could hear him as well as she did. Raven swallowed a growing lump in her throat, and she turned back around to see him staring at her behind shadows in his eyes. It almost looked like his eyes were lighting up his face, holding onto an unearthly glow that reminded her of nightmares she had as a child. There was something… not right about him.

He shifted in his stool before spinning around to fully meet her stare. "I can see that mark on your arm. I have one too." He shoved up his right sleeve, and Raven realized that he would have only had that if he was really her soulmate. So much for praying the universe had made a mistake. He lifted an eyebrow. "And, if my memory serves me right, I've only seen that same mark on one other person…"

Raven blinked and continued to stare at him, waiting for him to elaborate. He didn't say anything, and reached out to down the glass of whiskey the bartender had placed in front of him. A few seconds passed as he gulped down the burning liquid, and he slammed a few dollars onto the bar top. He stayed suspiciously quiet and crawled off the bar stool, walking past her. The scent of cloves, whiskey, and cigarette smoke filled her senses, and he leveled a cold, but electric stare at her.

"Come on, Raven." He knew who she was. Oh no. "Let's go and get out of here, and deal with this like… reasonable adults." He shoved at his hair again, flicking the lock of white out of his eyes as he made his way to the exit.

Raven felt her feet move of their own accord, as if he was leading her on a leash she didn't know was tied around her neck. She felt strangely drawn to him, but knew better than to trust him. It was like he was made of shards of glass, delicate and breakable, but somehow deadly, and she found herself losing her breath the moment he moved closer to her.

No.

They stepped out of the noise of the bar and landed on a nearly-empty street, Raven stared up into his face and he glared down at her. It was as if they were both trying to size each other up, and try to understand what this meant between them - nothing good, obviously.

Finally he turned from her and rubbed at the gnarled scar along his jaw. "Jason Todd, if you're wondering, Little Bird."

Oh, fuck no.

That Jason Todd? How? Why? This definitely was a cosmic joke. That somehow made more and less sense at the same time. She fought off an annoyed curse and turned away from him, trying to walk down the quiet street sidewalk.

Something about the way he introduced himself set her on edge, and Raven glared at him, pulling the hood of her sweater up over her head. A mist had fallen over the city, blurring the lights that flickered around her and washing away the stench of the city in summer. It was as if he knew that he wanted to fight her, but wasn't sure how. She wanted to hide from him and hope he never saw her again - that would be best.

She narrowed her eyes at him and stepped past him, shoving her hands in her sweater pockets. "It's not set in stone, you know. It doesn't have to be like this."

"Really?" He scoffed and walked next to her, his eyes darkening. "Because it seems pretty damn suspicious that you've got the same mark as I do. And somehow neither of us have managed to get it off our skin in all the years we've been alive." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket and fell into step next to her. "I'd rather not think of you as some magical red string that keeps me tied together. Fucking bullshit if you ask me."

"Same." Raven pushed at her hair and moved farther away from him. She needed space from him, and he wasn't giving it to her. She could smell the scent of him, feel his head, practically hear his heartbeat, and it drowned her senses in emotion. It was the last thing she needed. "In fact, I'd like to forget that I've ever met you, or that you even exist."

"But, here we are. Destined to love each other for eternity." He rolled his eyes and fell into step next to her. "So… romantic."

Raven glared and picked up her pace, trying to keep her voice calm and her heart firmly contained in her chest. Just what was he doing to her? "Look, Jason. We should forget that we ever saw this mark on each other and try to stay as far away from each other as possible. I think it would be best for both of us."

"Sure." He shrugged and took a step towards her. "I'll be happy to forget you as soon as the universe stops pulling us together, and making us cross paths."

A sort of mortal curiosity sunk into every fold inside her brain, and Raven turned towards him, cocking her head to the side. Cross paths? When had she crossed paths with him? Dick would have told her if she did, and she hoped she would have known. Raven stared at him as she tried to place where she had seen him before, or how they might have known each other outside of the unfortunate connection between her leader and Jason's older brother, but nothing came to mind.

She chewed on her lip for just a moment before meeting his wild, unruly eyes again. "And… we've crossed paths before?"

"Loads of times, actually. Time and time again. It's like a game of cat-and-mouse between me and you and your friendly, neighborhood Titans." He leaned back on his heels and grinned at her perplexed expression, enjoying stringing her along. "Oh, Little Bird. Don't tell me you haven't noticed?" Jason shoved his hands into his pockets and let go of a low growl, the sound rumbling and rude in the heavy mist surrounding them. "Don't you know… X marks the spot."

Raven stared at him, her eyes wide. Her heart slammed against her chest, threatening to burst. She swallowed air and stumbled back, unsure of what to say, but know she had to say something. "Red… X?"

He grinned, looking like he had caught prey he'd been stalking. "The one and only."

Well, fuck.