You Know Who to Call

"I am not!" Beast Boy argued, his green eyes almost red with anger. "I totally could beat you at arm wrestling!"

Cyborg raised an eyebrow. "In your human form?"

Beast Boy twiddled his thumbs. "No..."

"And that's why I'm the strongest guy in the tower!" Cyborg boasted, flexing a mechanical muscle.

"You're definitely not the smartest," Raven remarked, in a surprising show of wit for the dark teen. Cyborg humphed as the others started laughing madly.

"Hee hee!" Starfire giggled. "I believe that you were just set on fire by Raven, friend Cyborg!"

"It's 'burned', Star," Robin said, the half-exasperated, half-amused look crossing his face. The five of them finally made their way across the ocean and onto their private island. "Okay, guys, it's late."

Beast Boy yawned and stretched his arms. "You bet it is," he said. "I'm gonna hit the hay as soon as we get inside."

"I've still got a few hours left in me," Cyborg said, as he unlocked the security measures on their front door. "Ya'll should get some rest. I'll set up the monitors."

"Thanks," Robin said in earnest. It had been a while since he had gotten any sleep, and as painful as it was to admit, he really needed it.

"Robin, perhaps tonight I could stay in your room?" Starfire asked sweetly.

So much for sleep, Robin thought. Although I guess I can't complain. "Of course you can," he replied, pointedly ignoring Raven's exasperated eye roll, Cyborg's thumbs-up and wink, and Beast Boy's inane laughter.

The door opened with a whoosh. And, in typical dramatic fashion, someone was already inside, waiting for them. "Hey." A gruff voice came from a lithe figure sitting on the steps.

"X?" Robin said, drawing his bo staff once more. The others fell into their battle formation as well.

"Cool your jets, Titans," Red X replied. He raised an arm, revealing that he was handcuffed to the stair railing. "I'm not picking a fight. You know I don't have enough power to fight you now."

"Beast Boy, hold his other arm to be sure," Robin ordered. He turned into his gorilla form and grabbed X's left arm. He grunted loudly, breathing down his neck. X didn't need a translation to understand what the changeling had tried to say.

"That's a real set of cuffs," Cyborg said, walking over to him and closely scanning it with his mechanical eye. "And X doesn't have the keys either."

"I threw the keys over there," he added, pointing towards the living room.

"Okay," Robin said, eyeing him suspiciously, "what do you want?"

"Your help."

"Why would we help you?" Raven spit. "You've been nothing but trouble to us."

"Aw, I'm glad you noticed," Red X replied, narrowing his eyes at her. "But I'm serious. Someone's after me."

"That's great," Cyborg said, "I hope they find you." Cyborg released X's handcuffs with a skeleton key built into his finger. "B, show him the door." In assent, Beast Boy shoved him forward.

"Wait!" the tower's resident alien said. "What if the Red X speaks truthfully? He came to our aid in the past, he is not evil like Slade or Raven's father or-"

"He can't be trusted, Starfire," Raven replied as calmly as possible. The alien's comment, innocent as it was, struck a nerve. She took out her latent frustration on X by pushing him with her powers and sending him over the threshold. The door slammed shut behind him.

"Let's get to bed, guys," Robin said, after pressing a few buttons on the the security system keypad. "X won't be getting in here again." Four Titans left the hallway, heading to their rooms - Cyborg instead heading to ops to set up the nightly watch on the city.

But Starfire stayed behind. She quietly slipped out the front door. "Red X?"

X turned around to face her, only having gotten a few feet down the hill. His eyes lit up from behind his mask. "Hey, cutie."

Starfire grunted. "The Titans do not trust you," she said. "But I will not allow someone to get hurt when they should not be." She tossed him her communicator. "If you are in danger, you may use this device."

"You're something else," X replied. "Thanks." He tossed it in the air and caught it again, clipping it to a belt loop. "It's too bad you and Bird Boy are an item... otherwise you'd be all mine."

"Leave now before I change my mind," Starfire said, glowering. "I do not trust you either."

"I'll leave," X said, grinning. "I'm not gonna get in the way between a guy and his girl. Not my style," he laughed, pressing a button on the suit and vanishing in a flash.

"Robin will be most displeased," she sighed, "but I believe that this is the right thing to do."

Back in one of Jump City's alleyways, X reappeared. "That was the last of my emergency Xynothium," he said. He glanced at the communicator - a smooth, sturdy device. The T was a nice touch. "I hope I won't need this," he said.

A few days later, the thief had made it to the outskirts of Gotham. He awoke from his bed. "I have to keep moving," he reminded himself as he slipped off his civvies and donned the clothes of Red X once again. He opened the door to the hotel room he had snuck into. But a cold man in a white suit and dark wraparound shades met him.

"The boss wants to see you," he said simply.

"Not a chance, Shiro," Red X replied.

"This is not a request," another voice said, this time from behind him. Zachi. How had he gotten in? I've gotten careless, X thought to himself.

The pair of henchmen rushed at X simultaneously. Even with his own superb agility, X couldn't keep up for long.

Then Zachi drew his sword. "Do not keep him waiting," he replied.

X had prepared for this eventuality, slipping a small pellet from his glove. He threw it to the floor, and it instantly erupted into a plume of black smoke. It was no Xynothium-powered vanish into thin air, but it got the job done. "When there's trouble..." X sighed. He pulled out Starfire's communicator and pressed the button.