Hooray for chapter 2! Yes, I know it's shorter and potentially less awesome than chapter 1, but then again, there wasn't even gonna be a chapter two until inspiration came in the form of seven lovely reviews. So this chapter's dedicated to NightRaven511, NinjaBunnyOverlord, Poison's Ivy, DataX, lilac gurl, Lovina Holmes, and lamia-amo. Oh yeah...apologies for the blatant fluff.

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Robin did not wake up in a good mood. The knockout drug had left him with a blinding headache and, after a few seconds of blinking the pulsating pain behind his eyelids into submission, he was hit with a realization even more painful. He had failed. Raven with still out there somewhere, and X had done something to her so severe that he didn't dare even risk his usual banter with Robin. He just knocked the Boy Wonder out and made his escape. Not like the Red X they knew at all. Robin was worried.

He let out a frustrated sigh, and Beast Boy jumped up from his slouched nap in the chair by Robin's infirmary bed. "Dude! You okay? Cy found you, man, and we had no idea what hap"
Robin silenced him with a hand held out and spoke urgently, "How long was I out, and where are the others?"

Beast Boy blinked. Well, Robin certainly didn't waste any time getting back to business. "Cy and Starfire are both out looking for Raven, still. Star's flying and Cy said he was working on a xeno-whatsit detector thingy."

"A xenothium detector expedient ray. He shouldn't have bothered. I've got one and it was no help." Robin sighed again and ran a hand through his hair. "Call Cyborg up here, would you? I need his help with something."

Beast Boy nodded obediently, and left.

Twenty minutes later Robin and Cyborg were sitting side by side, tinkering with a spare Titan communicator. Robin had explained how X seemed to have known his position, and Cyborg was convinced that the thief had found some way of picking up the frequencies the Titan's communicators tuned to. He was eagerly working out a way around that problem. The communicator and a regular cell phone were both opened up, spilling their electrical guts all over the table. Various wires and chips littered the table as well, and Cyborg was gingerly soldering a chip into place inside the cell phone. A moment later he retracted the mini blowtorch back into his mechanical arm and grinned at Robin. "All ready"
Robin didn't smile back, just nodded grimly. X was about to learn a lesson about tricking the leader of the Teen Titans, and Robin was ready to teach it to him. ----

Back at X's apartment, Raven was experimenting. Her strength was far from returned, but she found that if she really concentrated, she could levitate small objects. REALLY small objects. Her greatest achievement so far was with a paper clip. Every few minutes she would glance again at the half-open door, as if expecting someone at any moment to join her for a nice cup of tea. And at one very opportune moment, someone did. It was Red X, of course, panting slightly but looking pleased.

"So, where were you?" she asked, hiding the curiosity and concern in her voice with its usual monotone.

He grinned. "Fighting truth and justice."

"Fighting FOR truth and justice, you mean," she supplied, and he shook his head, and once more pulled off the mask.

"Nope. Fighting Robin. Or rather, getting him off my- or our tail." He laughed, a light fleeting sound, and perched himself on the edge of the bed, watching her. "Powers coming back at all?"

She responded by sending the aforementioned paper clip at his head, and he instinctively reached out a gloved hand and caught it in midair. "Nice. What did I tell you; you'll be better in no time."

She nodded. "Still one thing I don't understand, though."

"And what's that?"

"You. You saving me. You didn't have any obligation toward me at all...in fact, I'm one of your worst enemies. You should have been happy to see my unconscious there. Another threat down. Or you could have used me as a bribe for something...gotten the other Titans off your back in return for me kept safe. If you were feeling particularly charitable, you could have called the police or the Titans as an anonymous witness and let them try to help me themselves. But instead you actually took me in, to your own apartment, and let me recover in your own bed. I don't see your motivation."

"Who says I won't use you as a bribe still?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"You did. You called yourself my friend. And, remember, I can hear the timbre of your thoughts...it's surprisingly less diabolical than I would have thought."

"I try to keep my diabolical side buried in the subconscious for that exact purpose."

"I'm sure you do. But you're avoiding the question."

"Why does it matter? I did what I did, and that doesn't change who I am, and what that means to you. I'm a thief, you're a vigilante. It's your job to ruin my life. And mine to complicate yours."

"Well, you are certainly doing a fine job of that."

He scooted over to the space next to her, and put an arm casually around her neck. "Am I?" he questioned innocently, his head turned down to her, an amused look on his face. She automatically leaned her head against his warm, comforting shoulder, and closed her eyes. "Yeah...I think you are..."

X smiled smugly as Raven relaxed against him, and slowly fell into slumber. He wasn't surprised, after the things through in the last few hours, that she'd want to rest. Looking down at the sleeping girl, he absentmindedly stroked her violet hair, lost in thought. Why had he saved her? Even in the heat of the moment he'd felt a nagging feeling that what he was doing was wrong. Selfish, heartless thieves do not help others, particularly others that want to get said thieves thrown in jail. It went against everything he had become, everything the Red X suit had made him. He sighed as his hand traveled, feather-light, down her jawline, his thumb brushing over her soft lips before he snapped out of his musings and daydreams.

X reluctantly withdrew his arm and slid her off his shoulder and back against the pillow. As much as he liked having the half-demon girl asleep in his arms, he had things to do. And places to be. He didn't expect Robin to waste much time before coming after him again, especially now that he had a good reason to suspect X.

He quickly scrawled a note--"Raven. Out birdwatching. Back later."--and left again, this time pausing, if only for a moment, to look back at what he was leaving behind.