Breaking Point

Chapter2: All for Nothing

"ERRAHH!" My fist slammed against the wall, flecks of paint drifting down around me, the plaster beneath my hand crumbling. I rested my head against its cold surface. Something my Father used to say echoed in my mind's eye. That's what happens when people are angry. Guys punch walls, girls cry. Right. I bet Raven could disprove that theory. I remember hearing about what happened with Dr. Light. Lesson One: Never make Raven angry. Though I can't say that I really follow those guidelines. Honestly, I love to mess with people. That's just the way I am. It happens.

I don't know why I did it. Why did I help her? All of those years of planning. Wasted. All for nothing. But then, what I had told her was true, she didn't deserve what had almost happened to her. Barbara hadn't deserved it. No one deserves to be manipulated, used, or victimized by that worthless piece of evil death worshipping garbage that is the Joker. I had almost killed him. Blown his deranged brains out. But just one look at her face...Beautifully dark and ethereal ...And I knew that she needed me more. More than I needed to kill that Freak.

The Goth girl. The quiet one. The Ice Queen. To me, Sunshine. Angel. Doll face. To them, Raven. But she couldn't fool me. I knew, just knew, that underneath that cool, calm, collected façade that she always wore, was something more. I could sense it. And tonight there was proof of it. She did have feelings, despite popular belief. And after seeing her, the Joker standing over her like that...That had only made me want to blow his head off even more. She had looked so...Helpless. So, un-Raven like. I had heard what he'd said to her, but I had never imagined someone to push Raven so close, so near, her breaking point. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if tonight would faze her at all. I wondered if she would be like me, and be haunted every waking second of her life. Would she bounce back and want revenge, like I had? Or would she move on? But at least now I knew something we both had in common: the Joker.

When I had her in my arms, trying to stop the bleeding in her shoulder, I couldn't help but think about all of the times I'd misread her. About how misunderstood we both were. She may think me a common thief. I may have thought of her as a Gothic Freak at some point. Part of me speculated when she had changed into something so...Beautiful. Had I really not been paying attention at all? All wrapped up in my little plan? Was I really that clueless?

After Raven had passed out, and I had made sure that she was all right, I just, well, left. But now she was all I could think about, the mental picture of most of her blood pooled around her on the concrete floor still fresh in my memory. I knew that there was only one way to get her off of my mind: Check on her. Just one time. No harm could come with that, could it?

I perched outside the window to her room, listening to the grass stain and red head argue.

"Friend Beastboy, did you give her the blood of O and Negative that she needed?" So Sunshine and I had a lot more in common than I had thought. I could already feel the smirk on my face.

"Yes." I could hear them pause as they stopped to stare at her.

"Beastboy, do you think friend Raven will be of the O and K?"

"I don't know Star...I just don't know. I don't even know what happened to her. I think X attacked her when the Joker had us occupied. I think he might have shot her."

I heard their voices drop into whispers as they continued out the door and down the hall, going over the night's events. I silently held my breath, climbing over her window ledge. I was still confused as to why they had brought her to her room and not to their infirmary. For a second, I just stood there, taking in my surroundings. I had been in the rest of the tower, in almost every room. With the exception of hers, and the tin man's. They were the only two who would've been able to detect me. Raven would've been able to detect my aura, and Cyborg most likely had some cameras rigged in his room that even I wouldn't be able to disable.

Her walls were either black or a deep blue, it was too dark to tell. From what I could make out, I saw many bookshelves spanning two of her walls. A pair of odd looking masks hung on one of the walls, and, beneath them, was a bed. It was circular, and covered with, I guessed, blue sheets. In the very middle, beneath the questionably blue sheets, was a petite form. I could just barely see the rising and falling of her body, tell-tale signs of sleeping. Silently, and without thinking, I crept up next to the side of her bed. With her window open, a shaft of moonlight had found its way in, landing upon her relaxed face. I had never before seen her this calm. It suited her, although, I had to admit that she looked pretty sexy when she was scowling and kicking my ass. Out of all of the titans, she was most likely the only one that could take me down. And, if her teammates weren't in her way all of the time, she would have already.

As I studied her face, taking in the slant of her eyebrows, long black eyelashes, the curved shape of her face, and finally, her plump, red lips, the phrase 'Beauty from pain' flashed in my head. I almost snorted. Yes, she was a beauty that could inflict very large amounts of pain. Geez, what the heck was I, Shakespeare? If I was near her for too long, I might actually develop feelings for her. I shuddered at the thought. You should never mix business with pleasure. Never. Despite my thoughts, I brushed a strand of her long lilac hair out of her face.

Suddenly, there was a noise off to my left. The hallway. The two idiots must be coming back to check on her, I thought as I straddled the window ledge and adroitly lowered myself down, waiting as I heard the hiss of the door. Not a sound came afterwards. Nightwing must've been in the room.

I held my breath, waiting until he finished whatever it was that he was doing and left her room, before even thinking about making my way down. Just as I began the tedious task of climbing downwards, I heard something. I looked up, thinking, figures, now's the time I get caught. But instead, I saw Raven poke her head out. She looked really pale, paler than usual. She shouldn't have been out of bed yet.

"You were going to leave without saying goodbye?" She smirked weakly. I couldn't help but let out a snort.

"Yes actually. Seeing as you were sleeping, in your bed. Where you should be now. Besides, I'm not one for long goodbyes." I really hoped that my voice wouldn't carry, seeing as the other titans were in the tower, although I was pretty sure that Bird boy was still asleep, on account of the knock out gas I'd used on him earlier. Crazy stuff. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on the sill for support. "How long have you known I was here?" I hated this stupid mask. It was highly annoying, especially when I couldn't hear my own voice. It kind of made me feel like a serial killer or something, then again, I wasn't leaving creepy messages on people's phones or anything.

"The moment you came through the window." I sighed and shook my head.

"Gee, thanks for letting me feel like I was being sneaky." I said sarcastically. She rolled her eyes.

"Why did you come here?" Crap. For once in my life, I didn't have a witty comeback for something she said. I needed an excuse, and fast. Honestly, though, why had I come here? "Honestly?" Think fast...

"To check on you." Okay, so I told her the truth. I can tell the truth every once in a while.

"Why?" I climbed upward a few feet.

"I thought that you would be so overjoyed to see me that I would get a hug." She scowled as she detected the notes of sarcasm.

"What do you want?" She sounded annoyed. Very annoyed.

"Want?"

"Well, you did just save me." She grimaced. In the distance, lightning flashed. A storm front was rolling in above Jump, Gotham, and Steel.

"You don't owe me anything, Angel."

"No. You don't understand." She sighed. Of course, I was a guy, I wouldn't understand. That only made me roll my eyes. "I hate owing people."

"Okay Angel. Whatever you say. Now I'm gonna leave before you start making me feel sick to my stomach." Then she smiled. She actually smiled at me. The sight was odd, but in a nice way, because I'd never seen her smile before. I did a double take, which I think she noticed.

"What?"

"Well, you're smiling at me. It's kinda freaking me out." She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Go home X." She turned away from her window, but hesitated and looked back down at me. "Thank you. Really." I nodded once and was now low enough to the ground to drop down. Now that I think about it, it's funny how things can change in the blink of an eye. How someone can go from fighting you, to owing you.

I wasn't really sure what to think anymore. Here's this arrogant, selfish, cocky thief that we've been battling for years now. And now he up and saves me? What the hell? Did he suddenly grow a heart or something? Or get some morals? He was starting to make me feel like I wasn't tough or something. I just never understood this guy. And the whole time he was here, I could practically feel the smirk radiating off of him. Damn cheeky bastard. Then again, maybe that was the point. Maybe I wasn't supposed to understand at all. I sighed as I climbed back into bed.

There was a hiss, and my door opened. Nightwing stood in the entranceway, and cleared his throat. I pretended to sleep so that he would leave.

The whole incident kept replaying in my mind. The Joker...Everything. When I came down to breakfast the next day, Nightwing wanted to know everything. So, of course, I told him the bare minimum.

"I got shot in the shoulder when I went in." Nightwing's fist slammed down onto the table.

"I KNEW IT! DAMMIT RAVEN YOU COULD'VE DIED!" I took his verbal wrath unfazed. He calmed down for a moment. "What happened after that?" Apparently, after the Joker attacked me, and Red X had saved me, the team had only seen the ending, Red X standing over me, then leaving. So, it was only natural that they thought that it was all X's fault.

"I already told you, the Joker was going to kill me. But then Red X started to attack him, like he had some personal vendetta against him. Then he left. The end." Nightwing leaned forward, staring me down.

"I know you're hiding something Raven, but I won't make you tell me. You've been acting...Odd. Are you sure that nothing else happened? Because if something happened, you can tell me, no matter what. I'm your friend." I held back a snort. No, he wasn't my friend, he was my leader. He was also the oldest of us, 25 years old. What he wanted was to poke his nose into my business. I really didn't want to relive what had happened, hence the reason I wasn't telling him. In the back of my mind, I wasn't really sure what the Joker was going to do to me. Had he been about to rape me? Or had he been planning to leave me dead and naked on the floor? Or paralyzed and in a wheel chair like Barbara? Something he had said caught my attention.

"I never repeat a crime. But this time I may have to make an exception. For a girl much better looking than Barbara Gordon. It's a shame I don't have a camera this time." Had he raped Barbara? I had spoken to her many times, we were fairly close, but she had never said anything about that.

"Nope. Can I go now?" I monotoned. Ever since we had defeated my father, I had been able to somewhat convey emotion. Even though I wasn't on a harness anymore, I still had difficulty trying to express myself. After having to keep my emotions in check for so long, it was kind of a habit. I still caught myself worrying when I realized that I was happy, sad, or angry.

"Fine." Nightwing reluctantly turned away, but then hesitated, pulling a chair around the kitchen counter, causing me to sigh exasperatedly into my tea cup. "Raven," He paused, seeming to hate having to say the words that would leave his mouth next, "We were thinking...Maybe it's time you have a vacation." I nearly dropped my cup.

"What?" I shook my head. "No. No no no no no no no. I can't leave you guys here. I don't want to stop working—"

"I was just thinking, that maybe you could go on a solo mission. To Europe." He paused once again, waiting for her to digest this. "There's a rumor going around that someone is planning something there. Someone big is planning something big. I want you to go there to investigate. It's strictly business...But I wouldn't mind if you took a few weeks and took a break..." I knew that if I didn't agree, he would just keep badgering me anyways.

"Fine." He grinned, having, once again, gotten his way.

"Great. Pack up. You leave in four hours." I just shook my head. I should've guessed that he would've chosen the first flight out. I must've looked like hell.

Thanks for reading, don't forget to review! Sorry for how long and boring that was :D

-Knisley24