Long Road to Ruin

Pieces

"Ugh! That miserable! Conning! Selfish! Conceited! Lying! Cheating! Son of a bitch!" I snarled through gritted teeth while I stormed down my hallway and back into my room where I ripped off my cape and threw it to the ground. The small little trinkets propped on the shelf over my bed began to rattle while I continued to rip off my uniform to slip into comfortable sweat-jacket and pants. I didn't care if it matched or not, I just needed to get out of my uniform and ultimately get out of the Tower where all the causes of my insanity were currently bunched together like little oblivious coconuts all standing neatly in a row downstairs.

I hated them!

I hated them all!

I needed to go somewhere far, far away!

I can't take it anymore!

I wanted to scream so badly and to let my powers lash out to destroy everything around me, I needed to breath, I was suffocating, I was trapped, and I knew I was being overdramatic, selfish, and pathetic. I knew I shouldn't be acting like such a spoiled rotten princess, I mean by Azar even Blackfire never acted the way I stormed around my room and tried to find everything I would need to escape this meager existence I called Hell. Starfire would have sucked it up and held it in for the greater good; she would ignore her selfish needs in favor of those who needed her powers more desperately than she herself did. Even Terra learned her lesson and had become a model Titan who just loved saving people because she loved people.

Jinx had her moments and wasn't afraid to show her emotions and express herself.

Argent was sassy, but she was dedicated to her profession.

And Bumble Bee? She just does what she loves and loves what she does.

So why did I have to be the damn defect in all this?!

Why did I have to make my own life so fucking miserable that I wined up complaining and pouting, and bitching about it in the end? I mean, am I that much of an idiot to not let go of the one thing that had been causing me so much misery? Was I that selfish to want to remain a Titan, despite getting sick of battling evil knowing that no matter what I did it would never end while at the same time suffer the balancing-act of wanting X by my side no matter the cost? Can I be any more of a damn confusion to my self?!

CRACK!

My mirror shattered.

Shards of glass exploded and littered the floor of my room with millions of tiny little microscopic pieces of mirror that made the floor of my room look like a complete mess. Or a sad attempt at mimicking the grand night skies of Azarath … where the stars shone so bright they looked like sparkling pieces of diamonds that could be plucked from the bitter darkness. I flopped on my bed; my back slouched in defeat as I stared at the tiny glass pieces randomly scattered all over my floor. I then looked out my window to the dark skies of Earth and frowned when I could not see the stars … I wanted to see stars … I wanted peace, tranquility, and serenity.

I didn't want to feel trapped.

I didn't want to hate being a Titan … not when I loved it so much.

I loved my friends, I loved my job, I loved how I got to live life in brief moments like a teenager … I loved it all … I was just getting sick of it.

How could this be?

I asked myself that over and over and over again when I realized with great dismay that I couldn't fake it anymore. And as my eyes trailed back to my glass covered floor I sucked in a deep breath and came to the conclusion that I needed to leave again … but this time not for Tameran … I needed to go back to Azarath. I needed … to go home. I was too lost here … too confused, and too blinded by so many different strings pulling me this way and that, tearing me apart and ripping me to pieces to leave a bloody mess all over my bedroom floor.

A bloody mess … much like the scattered pieces of mirror, fragments of myself in total disarray were all over the floor … but … that was just me being poetic. I closed my eyes and held out a shaky hand then focused my powers on the one appendage and tried to use my soul-self to pick up each and every shattered piece of mirror to again reassemble it within its frame. It was no problem, I've done it before, besides, unlike the small vanity mirror that was a direct link into my mind, the large one was a direct link into my soul. It's just getting into it was a lot harder, and only when under extreme spiritual pressure will it shatter the way it had.

It was a sign no doubt.

I needed to relax.

I needed to leave … maybe I should go back home …

Absentmindedly I listened to the soft chimes of each piece of mirror clicking together as I forced them back into their frame. One at a time, yet all in perfect sync I fixed my soul-mirror and once it was back together I felt it pulse with magical energy letting me know of its complete assembly. At least, that's what I'd feel every time I had to put it all back together again. However, when I opened my eyes to look at the mirror, I saw from my point of view of sitting on my bed that the mirror was missing a piece. It was a slim two inch long piece dead in the center … and it was gone.

Huh … I thought in bewilderment, how can that be … I was sure I picked up every fragment … I stood up and began to scan the floor of my room for the long piece that I felt shouldn't be too hard to find. It was big, shiny, and sharp … I'll either cut myself finding it, or it'll shine in the dim candlelit lighting of my room, either which, I wasn't too concerned about losing it. No one can lose a piece of their soul … they can only be corrupted and I'd know if I was corrupted, the shape of the mirror would change … and the color would darken.

Since it did neither, I had to ponder how I missed a piece of myself.

Maybe I wasn't focused enough?

No … I would still sense its magic and pick it up straight away, but since this wasn't the case I stood in the middle of my room and continued to scan it with my eyes first until I saw it shimmering close to the door. I frowned, How the hell did I miss that? I went to go pick it up, but just as I came close to the door I heard someone manually hack into it's automatic locking sequence and suddenly it slid open upon the hacker's will. At first I thought it was Robin (he's the only one who has the courage to hack into my room unannounced). But since I wasn't aware of anyone ever approaching my room I was in total shock to find X leaning on the door frame with a dry look on his face.

I blinked when he tilted his head and said condescendingly, like I was some kind of fool that wasn't worth the time or effort, "Ya know … if you didn't want me to go, you could have just said so last night, instead of making a scene."

I blinked again when his words sank in and my anger returned, but I was in better control since I had been focused on something else, "I was not making a scene, I knew you didn't ever want to see me after tonight so I had to be sure just where the hell you were coming from with all this cautiousness." I then shook my head when another thought hit me, "What the hell are you doing here? Aren't you suppose to be with the others?"

"I left early," he responded nonchalantly, but somehow it still sounded condescending and it just pushed more of the wrong buttons in me when he glanced around with an arched brow after he noticed something odd about me, "Uh … what are you doing?"

I scowled, "None of your business." I then bent over to snatch up the last glass shard, but he seemed to also notice my eye's target and was quicker in swiping it up.

My soul pulsed, and I had to physically restrain myself from clutching my heart when I felt his warm hands clutch at a piece of my soul. It didn't hurt, it just threw me off guard … no one has ever held onto my mirror, my soul … it felt strange … I felt vulnerable … like he literally had my life in his hands. I gritted my teeth when he tossed the shard in the air and caught it while making his way into my room uninvited like last night. Up the shard went, and back down into his grasp so he could get a closer look at it, "This looks like it could hurt someone … what is it? Glass?"

I gulped and as calmly as I could I said, "It's a mirror piece that I need …" I held out my hand for him to hand it over, "So give it back …"

His brow arched again and he glanced from me to the shard, then back at me, "Is this one of those magic voodoo shit that I shouldn't mess around with?"

"Yes …" I opened up my palm to emphasis my point, "Now just –"

He cut me off, "Wait, what does it do?"

I could have just smacked him for being such an ass, but I held my breath and my temper for the sake of keeping the peace. If anything rash happened and he accidently breaks that fragment Azar only knew what could happen, for my mother warned me to never, EVER let anyone else other than myself handle the mirror if it should shatter due to stress. Don't know why, even she didn't understand herself, all she knew was no one else can hold the shard, but me. Grinding my teeth I hissed, "X, it shouldn't even matter to you, you're not suppose to be here remember, now go away and give me back that shard!"

He frowned and glared at me, "Don't you go and start putting shit on me, you were the one who started all that destroy-each-other bullshit, I'm just finally taking it to heart so I don't see why you're getting on my back for it."

"No, I suggested we become close friends, you're the one that wants to end it, but what I can't understand is why."

"You know why."

"I know why I wanted to end it, past-tense."

He shook his head and glared at me in frustration, "Why is this even a debate?! I thought you'd be ecstatic to see me go!"

"I know what I think X, I don't need you thinking for me! Now give me the damn shard!"

"Why the hell is it so important?"

"Because it is, now hand it over and just leave me alone!"

"Oh, so now you want me go huh, why don't you make up your mind."

"Are you being intentionally thick?"

He made a face, stuck out his tongue and crossed his eyes, "Duuuhh …."

I rolled my eyes and huffed in irritation, "Argh! This is getting us nowhere," I grabbed for the shard in his fist.

But he pulled it away and since he was taller than me he grinned evilly while he stretched out his arm high over his head, "You can have it if you can reach it."

I levitated off the ground and snatched at it, but he pulled it back and snickered, "Come on, you gotta be quicker than that short stuff."

"I've had it with you!" My eyes lit-up pure white and I made a claw with my right hand, black talons from my dark-energy shot out as I tried to grab the not-so-snickering X, but he was too quick to get a hold of. Eventually I powered down, but that was only because I herded him close enough to my bookshelf where I mentally picked up a few heaver-than-dictionary books and flung them at the back of his head. The first one I fired, he went down without a fight, but he was still clutching the shard in his fist when I knelt beside him and tried to pry it out of his grasp, "I don't know what game it is you're playing at X, but I'm getting sick of playing it."

He swatted my hands away, but I slapped at his arms to stop him while I still tried to open his fist, he cringed, "It's complicated, ow! You're nails aren't exactly short ya know!"

"You don't know the first thing about complicated. Now give me the shard!"

I smacked his arm, but he wouldn't let go or stop trying to thwart my efforts until he grabbed one of my wrists and jerked me a bit so to force me to look at him, I glared when he sneered, "You are a very violent person, you ever thought about asking me to give it back."

"Asking you to do anything is like asking a horse to drink water on borrowed time; it just can't be done."

"Try me."

"…" I thought about it, then with a roll of my eyes I huffed in defeat and figured why the hell not, it was my soul he was holding, I couldn't let him break it, so I mockingly asked, "Please give me the shard."

He smirked and nodded, "There, ya see, now was that so hard?" He finally let go and I snatched the piece away before anything else happened then got up off the ground and walked back to my mirror. Using my power I put the shard back into place and it melted together with the rest of the mirror so it looked like it never shattered at all. Again, it pulsated with magical energy, but this time I felt complete, while behind me X picked himself off the ground and dusted his shoulders, "I don't see what the big deal was, it was just a mirror piece."

I decided he didn't need to know he had been holding a piece of my soul, so I didn't comment, however, I did move back to the previous topic, "What did you mean when you said complicated, what's complicated?"

He shot me a look of his that said I should know exactly what he was talking about while he stated dryly, "Look at us sunshine … we both said this wouldn't get personal, but we were both kidding ourselves …"

"…" I didn't speak, I was going to let this play itself out, besides, I think I have already established my saying anything doesn't help much, so I tried to patiently wait till he made his point.

He didn't seem to notice me lean on my dresser to wait for his reply as I watch him run his fingers through his hair. He then looked at me and shrugged, "I'll be blunt here Rae, I like you … more than I should, and that's hazardous for my lifestyle. Bad enough we're … I don't know, imma go out on a limb and say we're friends, but I've already curved my trend so we don't cross paths in the line of fire. Yet it doesn't seem to matter! You're a Titan; you attract too much attention and now look where I am! In Titan Tower pretending to be cool with Beast Boy and still watching my back in case Robin decides to pull a fast one on me, worse still they know what I look like."

I arched a sarcastic brow, "Wow, you are just full of problems aren't you, and you blame me for that?"

"No, and that's the part that fuckin' sucks … I can't blame you for any of this, believe me if I had the chance I'd throw you under the bus and ditch you in a heartbeat and that's me being honest."

I sneered, "Like I didn't already know that."

He went on as if I hadn't said anything, "But since this isn't the case here I thought quitting cold-turkey would be best for myself … I just thought you'd jump on the band-wagon."

"Yeah, but only if I had a say in the matter …" I shook my head, "X, just because an idea sounds good to you doesn't mean everyone else will think the same way. Besides, I don't know what magical-unicorn told you to change anything for anyone's sake, but I never asked for it. You seem to think you know me soo well, but you don't."

He then scoffed, "Raven, you never let anyone in far enough to know you."

I shot him a look, but didn't protest that statement, he was right.

At least on that he was right.

X sucked in a deep breath, again ran his fingers through his hair, and then shrugged in utter defeat, "So what do we do now?"

Funny, now he was leaving it up to me to decide so the blame wouldn't be on him, will his selfishness ever seize to amaze me … I scoffed at the sarcastic thought then sighed heavily and concluded that the best way to handle this was to be honest. He was already honest enough to admit that he 'liked me more than he should' whatever the hell that meant, I owe him the same response, "You are a friend, X … I guess since the beginning I always thought of you as a friend … and …" I sucked in a deep breath; damn this was harder than I thought. My eyes couldn't stay on his; they kept drifting and looking around the room desperately trying to find the right words to express myself.

I don't do well with expressing myself.

I huffed in exasperation and said, "For the lack of a better way to put it, I don't want the … friendship to end …"

No, no, no … friendship is the wrong word to use … I thought as I rolled the word around in my head trying to make it fit in with the rest of my views of X, but it just wasn't working. Friendship was definitely the wrong word to use, but I had no other way to describe it. So I stood there patiently waiting for a response never realizing through all my thinking that he had made small efforts to stand closer to me. Close enough, in fact, to reach out and take my hand into his, he pulled me closer to him and I complied, only because he looked like he needed to tell me something.

Or rather … he needed to show me something.

He pressed his lips to mine in a non-invasive kiss that made me stand on my tip-toes to deepen it, but he wouldn't let me, he had brought his other hand to my shoulder to hold me still as he pulled away to stare at me in defeat, "I'll stick around then … but it's only fair I tell you, Rae … I don't want to be just your friend."

"I know …" I whispered and thought with a chill crawling down my spine, I can feel it … it was in that one kiss when lust wasn't the motivator or the culprit, he was clear headed, so much so I almost felt his thoughts channeled through his emotions. He really did like me more than he should … his selfishness was all due to his growing feelings for me, not because I was a Titan or the others knew what he looked like. X was just plain old afraid of getting too close to me, something that I myself should be fearing … but wasn't … no, I was supporting our friendship (there goes that word again) when he wanted to end it.

He was being rational, I wasn't and while I stared into his yellow-gold eyes I saw that he seemed to understand that I now knew more about him than he wanted me to. Perhaps, that was his plan, what he couldn't express in words he explained in a kiss … poetic and romantic … but also very effective since he knew I was an empath. Why bother explain how he felt when he could merely show me … sneaky, sneaky. I almost couldn't contain my amusement when the thought of X still being X while exposing a more human side to him struck me as humorous.

Yet it was within this hidden amusement did the air around us finally clear and his somber look was replaced with his usual smug-grin when he leaned down to kiss me again, but stopped when another force interrupted him. I frowned and tilted my head when he stepped back from me and reached into his back pocket to pull out a cell phone. I arched a brow, Okay … that's a first … in the six months I've been with X; never had he ever pulled a cell-phone out while he was around me.

I tilted my head curiously as he observed the number on his blackberry, tsked and answered it, "A little busy right now, this better be important … aw, goddamn – where did you last hear from him? Well that's just wonderful. Yeah, yeah I got'im."

He hung up and sighed heavily while he stuffed the cell-phone back in his back-pocket and then announced, "I gotta go take care of something."

"What's wrong?"

"Ah …" he hesitated to tell me the truth, I could see it on his face, but when he looked down at me he gave in and confessed, "It's my brother … apparently he's not answering his cell and he hasn't come back from his job so now my sister's starting to freak and wants me to check his work to see if he's still there."

So he does have family … I made note of it, then nodded, "I guess you better get going then …"

He chuckled drily as he rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, about that … uh … I kinda also came here for one other thing …" I blinked and then sneered when he said, "You still have my suit …"

"Right …" I sighed heavily then turned and headed for my closet, sliding it open I reached up on my tip-toes to pull down a black box with circular symbols and estranged markings I knew X wouldn't have a single clue were about. I gasped softly when the weight of the heavy jade box caught me off guard and I ended up throwing it on my bed to keep it from falling on my foot … that would not have been very pretty.

In any case, the black-jade box bounced on my bed and sank into it due to its immense weight, X stood beside me then bent over to give the box a closer examination, "My suit is in this thing …?"

"When I said all Robin had to do was look in my closet, I never actually said it would have been easy for him to get to it. Not even a mega-ton nuclear warhead could open my little black-box." X chuckled at the thought while I placed a hand over the cover of the box, a bright greenish shield pulsed around it and its symbols lit up and started spinning counter clockwise. X took a step back, not entirely familiar with sorcery he watched from the sidelines as I unlocked the seal to his suit with the magic-words, "I challenge the laws of Heaven and Earth, and summon forth the forces of Darkness … Open!"

The glowing-green shield expanded, then collapsed in itself as the circular symbols suddenly froze then spun clockwise in rapid motion before it sank into the box and forced the six-prong locking-mechanism on its sides to open. The magic left and the box became just another box as I opened the top and laid it on the bed, it too sank into the mattress while I reached in and took out the Red X mask and handed it to X. X took it, but stared at the box hesitantly and repeated part of the summoning spell I muttered, "'I challenge the laws of Heaven and Earth …?' what's that all about?"

I was not at all surprised he'd ask me that so I calmly explained while I took out the rest of his suit and laid it out over my bed, "Heaven, Hell, Darkness, Light, Earth, and Nature are key elements that exist in all universes parallel to the reality each individual experiences. Summoning either will be impossible without challenging the other … Heaven and Earth are domains of Truth and Justice, Darkness is the domain of Shadows and Obscurities … secrets. It's not evil, simply misunderstood …"

Whoa … I thought to myself when I realized I had just recited the exact same words as Malchior had when he tried to teach me the Dark Arts. It didn't frighten me, just merely surprised me … the thought of that dragon has been doing that a lot too me lately, and he only seems to be brought up every time X is around. Is there a connection?

Nevertheless, Malchior wasn't the topic as of yet and so I discarded the thought of the dragon for now when X grasped my chin and brought my face up to his with that conniving smirk of his and asked mockingly, "Like you?"

I removed my head from his grasp and with a dry expression asked, "Don't you have a brother to look for?"

"Right," he sucked in a deep breath, gathered up his suit and with his usual two finger salute and a casual wink he bid me goodnight and left out the only entrance into my room. Which made me narrow my eyes for a second in thought, How exactly does he plan to escape Titan's Tower? He said he had already 'left' the group downstairs, so didn't that mean he was basically gone? Wouldn't it be suspicious if say Terra finds him snooping around the Titans' sleeping quarters on the upper-levels, especially near my room since it was the closest to the rooftop?

That's when he came back in and leaned against my door, a cowlick of his floppy messy brown hair falling over his right eye as he chuckled and asked, "Uh … could you give me a hand here, I kinda didn't plan this out all the way."

I rolled my eyes, "So I see," I levitated across the floor of my room and as I met him at the center I asked, "Where are we going?"

"Carter Library, you know the place?"

The largest library in Jump City, I knew it, I went there on occasion because an old wizard who was also local to Azarath was the head-librarian there and was nice enough to lead me to the back where the real books were stored. It was also the library where I came across the Roridian Chronicles … Malchior's imprisonment, and I had to physically refrain myself from rolling my eyes when I realized I was thinking about that dragon again. So shaking my head I summoned forth my darkness and encased X in it to soar through my alternate reality at unnatural speeds to finally arrive within the library's lobby.

It was dark … creepily dark, and dreadfully silent.

I don't care how good X was at sneaking around; there was no way to escape the echoes of our footsteps and shuffling clothes. He stepped forward, closer to the marble countertop and with his hand cupped around his mouth he softly called what I guessed was his brother's name, "Miah … Miah you there?"

I looked up at the second-floor balcony listening to the echoes, the silence, the dead stillness of the library … there was obviously no one out in the open, so I made a suggestion, "He's probably in the back …"

X grumbled something inaudible under his breath, but then said aloud, "Yeah … maybe … wait here, I'll be back."

He didn't give me a chance to protest his plan, because he was already gone, which left me standing in the middle of the empty, dark, deserted, and creepy library all alone. The glass revolving-doors behind me granted little illumination from the moonlit night and little comfort when the angle of the lighting cast many shadows, many places to hide. I bit down on my lower lip and shifted my weight to one leg while I waited patiently for X to come back.

With an intake of air I slowly exhaled, but nearly choked on it when I heard the faint sounds of approaching footsteps coming from my right … or was it from my left? This damn echo made it sound like it was coming from all around me, but I kept from panicking and calmly scanned the area around me searching for the footsteps. For all I knew it could be the old-wizard, or even X's brother or another late-night worker re-shelving the books, In the middle of the darkness …? Yeah right, I contradicted myself, especially when I heard the footsteps were getting closer.

It wasn't until it rang so loud in my ears did I finally know where it came from and I quickly snapped my attention to the left. There, out of the darkness clutching a few books in his grasp a young man morphed out of the shadows and stood in the moonlight with me staring at me through silver frameless eye-glasses and an arched brow. With one of his free long slender fingers he pushed up his glasses and narrowed his black-brown eyes on me. He seemed perplexed about my being here and even darted his eyes from side to side scanning for anything else suspiciously out of place.

It was in this moment of silent hesitation did I speak up loud enough for the echo to carry my voice to him, "Miah? Is that you?"

He blinked and his black-brown eyes narrowed on me once again, he took a step further into the light and closer to me so I could see he had long pitch-black silky-straight hair held together loosely with a single white ribbon and his build was nothing to take lightly either. He was tall and lean, but not as cut as Robin, Speedy, or X. Neither did he look like a relative of X, but when he spoke the attitude and arrogance laced within his words became a different matter, "Miah is what my family calls me, Jerry is what my friends call me … you on the other hand are neither, therefore you shall address me formally as Jeremiah Fox. Now who might you be?"

He sounded younger than X that was for sure, but that arrogance displayed as plain as day, he had to be X's brother, add to the fact he just admitted he was Miah I had to keep my mouth from hitting the floor when it hit me all of a sudden. This guy, was the infamous Red X's brother … a living, breathing proof that the ruthless thief was human, I blinked, composed myself, and introduced myself simply as, "I'm a friend of your brother's."

He seemed bored and irritated that I didn't go into detail; it showed in the way he shrugged and asked pressingly, "Which one I have three?"

X has two brothers besides Jeremiah … and a sister, I tried to wrap my mind around that fact, but I found it hard to grasp the concept of X even having living relatives … it just completely shattered my ideal image of a rogue thief that lived for no one, but himself. To have siblings … wouldn't that mean he'd have to know a simple humble gesture as sharing? Wouldn't that contradict the fact that he was a thief? I was still trying to get this idea through my head when I stumbled to find the right answer since I didn't know X's real name, "Uh …"

When it looked like I was struggling Jeremiah rolled his black eyes in annoyance and huffed, "My God is it really this hard for you to know a single name?"

I sneered, Yeah, he's X's brother alright … he's an ass just like him.

Speaking of X, the thief finally arrived from the back door and walked back into the lobby to discover Jeremiah standing with me, and he scowled, "There you are ya little prick. Seriously, Miah, would it kill ya to answer your damn cell phone every now and then so you don't give Bells a frickin' heart attack? She already got enough on her plate as it is."

Jeremiah rolled his eyes, "Relax, Dad, I called her not too long ago telling her I was on my way, and in case you've forgotten: I work in a library! Meaning I can't have my cell phone going off every five minutes just because Bella needs to know every thing of every moment of my life."

"What life? You work in a fuckin' library for crying out loud, how can you call that a life?"

"Well, let's see, because unlike you I choose to surround myself with the literary works of people whose words wielded enough power to change this contradictory world we live in."

X rolled his eyes skyward then sneered, "You're a nerd, live with it. Now go home before I smack you."

Jeremiah scowled and pushed his glassed back up on his nose, "You are a very rude individual, you know that?"

"But what are you going to do about it, becomes the question."

"Too bad there's no cure for stupidity," Jeremiah sighed in defeat while he headed for the exit and walked right by me without even acknowledging my presence, yet with a lazy salute he reminded X, "Just be sure to remind Malchior I'm sleeping over at your place this weekend, we need to go over a few things."

I blinked, Did I hear that right … I looked at X for answers and he glanced down at me with a shrug before saying, "Whatever."

Jeremiah waited for us to exit the building before he digitally locked the revolving door and went to his car, the only car parked on an empty street. X and I watched him leave and only when he was out of sight and we were once again alone did I ask, "You live with Malchior?"

X shrugged as if it were no big deal, and to him it probably wasn't, "Yeah … the guy's still trying to get use to modern life so I thought what the hell ya know …"

"You live with Malchior … and you didn't bother to tell me this, why?"

He shrugged, "What? I didn't think it mattered."

I huffed in exasperation, then asked, "And your brother? What does he have to do with him?"

"Hell if I know sunshine … some more of that mystic magic crap …"

So this Jeremiah is studying with Malchior … and Malchior had been living with X all this time … just wonderful …

"… You wanna see him don't you?"

I blinked and looked up at X to find him staring down at me with that serious face of his, one that I've been seeing a lot more frequently these days. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about Malchior, but when I did I blinked away from him to stare at the ground with a weak shrug. The thought of being able to see Malchior again had never come to me, but now that X mentioned it I felt … hesitant, "I dunno if I should …"

He suddenly stretched and yawned aloud just before saying, "Then it's settled … this Saturday at eight am, I'll pick you up and we'll go for a little stroll … night sunshine."

I frowned and shook my head, "Wait a minute I never said –!"

"Saturday at eight," he urged with a playful glare and a sneaky grin, "No exceptions, I will kidnap your ass if I have to and you know I can do it." I crossed my arms over my chest and challenged him with a glare that he thwarted with a nonchalant shrug, "Besides … my sister's been dying to meet you."

I tilted my head and slowly arched a questioning brow that he responded with another shrug and with his signature two-finger salute he began to walk down the street and caught a cab to once again leave me all alone in thought. Seeing Malchior after all this time … did I want to? Was I ready? What would happen? Just the thought of seeing him again was bringing a light blush to my cheeks. And … why did X's sister want to see me? How did she even know about me? Unless he's been talking about me to her behind my back … for some reason that thought churned my stomach and made my already light blush darken in embarrassment.

This weekend … I knew … would be an interesting one.

--

Disclaimer: Don't own the Teen Titans DC owns that, but I do own Jeremiah Fox …

A/N: Wow … this took a little longer than my last updates, sorry about that folks other things have come up that just couldn't be ignored … but … O.o … half-assed confession much X, lol.

Okay, might as well get this over with … I know most of you are going: 'WTF?! Malchior?! Seriously?! What about Speedy?!' or 'Pfft, saw it coming a mile away' well, good for you, but this has to happen for a number of reasons. One is in my own personal opinion she can't exactly jump into a romantic-typish relationship before making sure she's out of the woods with her last one (I've personally witness the chaos that ensues if this is not done and trust it's not pretty).

Second is Malchior does play a more important role other than his obvious connection with Raven, but I urge you all not to worry there's not gonna be some kind of love-triangle with x/rae/mal she just has to get over him and vise versa that's it I swear (there is a reason this story is called "Long road to Ruin" lol). Other than that, I think I said too much so I'll stop taking now and leave it up to you guys to ponder about.

L8er daez