Long Road to Ruin
Cloak and Dagger
Fifty-five … fifty-six … fifty-seven … fifty-eight … fifty-nine … twelve a.m. … Finally, I can exit this confounded Tower to track down X.
I knew for a fact Robin had stuck himself in his room to go over every file he could find involving every stolen artifact, trying to link to X or Blackfire desperately (obsessively) looking for anything to pin them down. I'll let him have his fun, but don't get me wrong I was still just as anxious of him finding something that'll implicate me in any criminal activities involving the two thieves. I just needed to get to the bottom of this before Robin so I know what I'm dealing with, dressed lightly and loosely incase anything should go down I peeked my head out my room and looked up and down the hall for any sign of life.
There was none.
Speedy's door looked permanently shut, and the entire Tower was silent.
Perfect.
I slid the rest of the way out of my room, silently closed the door and turned around to leave, but then a tiny gasp escaped my lips when Speedy's door suddenly slid open. Damnit! This is what I get for not studying the Titans East sleeping patterns close enough. Wide-eyed and frozen in anxiety I watched him casually walk out naked as the day he was born with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and his mask still over his eyes. Eyes that connected with mine after he too stopped in the hall to gaze back at me in confusion, I blinked and refrained from succumbing to my girlish-desire to ogle at his very, very nicely toned body. His muscles were all in the right place and with each slight movement I could see it ripple under his skin, no wonder he had a large fan-base.
Made me wonder if X was just as delicious, Azar, don't think that!
My cheeks flushed, I don't know how red, but I could feel my face and ears get hot and no it wasn't because I was suddenly feeling shy around the thought of naked guys, no, far from it. I was just embarrassed where my thoughts went while standing awkwardly in the middle of the hall busted for sneaking out in the middle of the night. I had to gain control of this fast before Speedy asked too many questions, so quickly coming up with an excuse I opened my mouth, but just before I could utter a single syllable Speedy spoke up, "Whoa … where are you going?"
"Into the city," Keep it short, keep it simple …
Speedy arched a suspicious brow and took a step closer to me, his door was further down the hall and our voices were raised higher than even I'd like it to be, so I was semi-thankful he moved forward, but the awkward tension between us grew thicker as he said, "Robin and I had already patrolled the city earlier."
Lucky me he didn't know me as well as Robin and neither did he know how to play our game so sidestepping him made it all the more easier for me to calmly and discreetly control the outcome of this unfortunate meeting, "I know, but I want to personally check it out to acquaint myself with my surroundings."
Predictably he responded skeptically, "At this late night?"
Now it was time to see if he really would brush me off, so I countered, "Is there a problem with that?"
He scoffed and shrugged, "None that I know of, but does Robin know where you're going?"
"No, and I'd rather he not know …" Hook, line, and sinker, I knew I was in the clear the moment I sensed his aura shrug dismissively, so I relaxed a bit and my eyes happened to trail over his still unclothed body and my previous thoughts rushed back to me. I struggled to get control of my embarrassment while I stepped back to get away from him, "… Look, I'm not accustom to talking to naked-guys in the middle of the hallway so I'm gonna go now …"
He followed me with a playful smirk, "Does my nakedness make you uncomfortable?"
I sneered, "Very …"
He chuckled, "I'm wearing a towel."
"Kinda hard to miss that …" by now he was at my side and through the corner of my eye I glared at him and his grinning face. A few more stepped and with narrowed eyes I stopped and locked him with a dark look that would have sent his towel scuttling for cover, thankfully the towel was an inanimate object so I was spared the shock and horror. However, Speedy himself wasn't so lucky when I growled, "Why are you following me?"
He arched a mocking brow then said with a finger pointed over my head, "Uh … because I'm going to the shower-room …" Oh please don't be where I think it is … I glanced over my shoulder and much to my embarrassment the coed shower-room door was just behind me. Speedy then leaned forward and mockingly whispered, "Kinda hard to miss that …"
Tonight, I have come to realize, is just not my night, my observation skills seem to be failing me and I've been making a fool of myself left and right. I had to get my shit together now before I really did something stupid, so I sighed heavily and looked up at him apologetically, "Right …"
He nodded, "Yah-huh …"
"… I should go …"
"If you have to …"
I got the impression of a clock ticking and tocking in the distance as I slowly moved out of his way to continue down the hall with what little dignity I had left to spare. I may not know Speedy well enough to work his corners, but I think I just gave him the impression that deep down inside I was just like any other girl he could charm the pants off of. He'll be getting a rude awakening later if he ever plans to get to know me better for I wasn't a very easy person to talk to. X knew it … Robin knew it … hell my whole team knew it, and so with my head held high I was one step from completing my turn around the corner when Speedy called to me, "Hey Raven …"
I was actually surprised he knew my name, yet despite this thought I stopped and turned to face him thinking that he had some snide remark he wanted to make about joining him later in the shower for a get-to-know-you party, but I couldn't be more wrong. His mysteriously masked eyes narrowed on me and I don't know when or how it happened, but the entire hallway suddenly grew so cold a physical chill raced down my spine. That look … it was enough to give Robin's glare a run for his money, but that's the thing … it wasn't a glare … it was just a look.
A blank, emotionless look that installed the fear of God in me … even his tone was nothing to joke about, it made me snap at attention when all he wanted to say was, "See ya at practice tomorrow …"
Practice? No, no, no … there was an underlining message hidden beneath the context of his words.
He was warning me … or was he threatening me?
Damn, did I get my judgment of Speedy's character all wrong?
Inwardly I bit down on my lower lip till I felt it bleed, but outwardly I nodded in affirmation, "Goodnight."
"…" he stared at me for a little longer, before he gave his own nod and disappeared into the shower-room, leaving me in paranoia.
I felt that my world had suddenly gotten smaller, events were pushing me into corners that I could not escape from … everyone was out to get me … and I had no where to run or hide.
I was blatantly fucked.
--
As fast as I could, I got the hell out of dodge and raced myself deep into the heart of Steel City where I hoped no one else from the Tower discovered my absents and decided to follow me. Speedy may have installed a paranoiac fear within me, but I couldn't let that cloud my better rational mind that logically worked out and planned my next string of movements to again get in touch with X. The card he had given me with the number written on it I had burned and put the number to memory. Ever since that night I had gazed upon that card 83 times and before departing to Steel City looked upon it once more to be sure I had it down.
Now all I had to do was get to a payphone about half an hour away from the Tower, so I didn't stop driving (I 'borrowed' Robin's motorcycle) till I was as far from Titans East as I could manage. However, it was kind of hard to judge distance since Titans East's Tower was at the base of a cliff … but it didn't matter. I already had a set destination in mind, the busiest payphones in the city that I looked up was the subway, so once I found an underground opening I stopped, parked the bike, and traversed the stairway. Forgoing the pay-booth, I jumped the gate and stepped into the empty platform.
Discreetly I checked my surroundings to be sure I was alone (besides the bum snoozing in the corner that is) I headed for the line of payphones and picked up. Paying my due I dialed in the number reciting it in my head, 671-5683 … I repeated the number over and over again in my head as I waited for X to pick up.
One …
Two …
On the third ring, someone answered, "Hello?"
But it wasn't X … I pulled the phone from my ear to stare at it incredulously for a moment, it was a female's voice … very soft, very fragile, so much so that I was afraid that if I raised my voice at her she'd crumble into nothing. Yet, the funny thing was, she wasn't a child, I could tell her tone didn't carry that of a kid or of a teenager, I treaded carefully … for all I knew this could have been X's girlfriend. My jaw clenched at the thought, but I relaxed long enough to bring the phone back to my ear to say, "Uh … hello, is this 671-5683?"
"Yes it is, and who might this be?" She asked so sweetly.
So I replied dryly, "Rae Roth."
"Rae Roth? Rae … Roth … as in Ray Fox's friend?"
Ray Fox? Who the hell is … I interrupted myself when I realized that Ray was short for Dray and Dray was short for Drake … Drake Fox, X's real name, but how did this girl know me? Who was this girl for starters, still treading carefully I answered, "Uh, yes … that's correct, who's this?"
She giggled, "Oh, hello Rae, I don't know if you remember me, I'm Kayla from Carmen's birthday."
Kayla? Kayla! It all came back to me and I nodded, "Oh, right, Kayla … Orion's girlfriend … right?"
She giggled again, "Yep, that's me … one of the Vixens as Vince would like to refer to us as."
Why the hell would X give me the number to his brother's place … assuming Kayla lives with him of course … but she must be since she's pregnant with his kid … but then again I'm assuming that's his kid … ugh, whatever! I tried not to delve into their privet matters, but it still bothered me that X would endanger the lives of his family. For all I know these phone lines could be tapped and if anyone found out X was staying with his brother (who I'm assuming lives in Steel City) Orion and Kayla's lives would be ruined! I couldn't live with that kind of guilt, so I tried to make this fast, "Right, listen, Kayla, is Drake there? I really need to talk to him."
"Ray? Uh … no, he isn't here, why would he be? He lives in Jump City … and the last I heard of him he was still there. Is everything alright?"
What the hell is X playing at? With narrowed eyes I shook my head and stalled for time to think, why would X give me the number to his brother's place? "Uh, yeah, everything is fine with me. It's just Drake gave me this number to call if ever I find myself in Steel City, so … you live in Steel?"
"Orion and I, yes, did you just arrive at Steel City? Do you need a place to stay? I'm sure Orion and I could accommodate you."
"Oh-no, I couldn't impose, besides I already found a place, I'm just trying to figure out why Drake would give me your number. You have any ideas?"
"Well … to be honest, Drake is one of the Fox brothers that I know close to nothing about, I hardly – if ever – see him or hear about him at all. The only information I get is from what Bella tells me and even that's not enough to classify him in any category, but whenever I do see him he always seems to have everything planned out. The prepared-for-anything type, you know?" She paused to breath and I let the information sink in, what she said partially made sense, X does seem to be prepared for everything, but I also wondered if it was just an illusion. Maybe he only seems to be prepared for everything because he was quick on his feet and a fast thinker, for all we knew he could just be making shit up as he goes along.
Azar, I hoped this wasn't the case … I couldn't afford it if he so happened to slip or trip over his own two feet because he was stupid enough to believe everything will work out if we wish really, really hard for it to. I listened as Kayla sighed and said, "Who knows Rae maybe he gave you the number as a just-in-case kind of thing … what are you in Steel for if you don't mind my asking."
"Uh …" Come on, think, think, think! Just when I came up with a lie that was good enough to work I heard a deep voice, it was a man no question about it, but he was distant, probably from somewhere else in the house.
"La-La! Who's on the phone?"
"It's Rae Roth, Ray's friend."
"…" he said something the receiver didn't pick up, but there was shuffling, and then suddenly he was very close to the speaker, and he didn't sound too happy, "Gimme the phone."
"Uh … alright … um, Rae I hope you don't mind, but Orion wants to speak with you."
Wonder what he wants, "It's okay."
"Alright …" more shuffling, this time it was the phone being passed to Orion and once he dominated the receiver I was certain he wasn't happy about my calling.
"Yeah, Rae? It's Orion; you got a paper and pen with you?"
I patted down my pockets, but then paused and grabbed the stringed pen in the booth and tore out a slip of paper from the beaten and battered phonebook, with the phone tucked between my ear and my shoulder I gave him the signal, "Got'em."
"Alright, listen up cuz I'm only gonna say this once, 876-8253, ask for Kimmy and don't ever call this number again. Got it?"
"Got it."
"Good, and make sure you call that number on a different phone, in a different location."
With that he hung up and I got the feeling X used Orion to conduct business on more than one count … no wonder Orion and X's relationship seemed to be tittering on a tightrope. I frowned at that thought, perhaps, just for the sake of Kayla I'll talk to X about using a different contact line. There was just something so wrong about forcing his brothers to assist him in his illegal-activities. I'm pretty sure his family (especially Orion in particular) weren't entirely blind to his 'night-job'; hell they all knew Jeremiah was a magic-user – a battle-mage by my observation – and they all knew what Malchior was and they appeared to be fine with him.
Except for Orion, from what I can recall from Carmen's birthday party, Orion seemed to be the only one with his head on straight. He had a respectable amount of fear in him about the dragon and myself whereas everyone else either treated Malchior like a good friend of the family or an exotic pet. That thought made me shake my head as I again dismounted the motorcycle after I found another place with a payphone, this time it was near a gas-station that was still open at this late at night.
I ignored the man inside curiously as I approached his phone, paid my change, dialed the number in my pocket, then ripped it up and tossed it in nearby trashcan. The phone rang for quite awhile before someone finally picked up; it was a grown disgruntled man that wasn't happy I disturbed his sleep, "What?!"
"Yeah, hi, can I speak with Kimmy?"
He grumbled, "Yeah, right … hold on – Kimmy!"
A woman, further away from the receiver responded in annoyance, "What?!"
"It's for you!"
"Who is it?!"
"Hell if I know just pick up the damn phone woman!"
"Asshole …" the rest of the dispute went incomprehensible to me before this Kimmy woman finally addressed me, "So who the hell is this and why should I care?"
Should I tell this woman who I am? My instincts told me not to, but being cautious was going to get me no where, "Uh … this is Rae Roth and I was –"
"Oh so you're the Rae-chick."
"… I guess …"
"Okay, so nut-job on the street comes up to me and hands me a Benjamin right on the spot. Says I'm gonna get a call from some chick named Rae Roth, you, and tells me the hundred is mines if I give you a message ya know. And I'm like, no way, then he hands me another hundred up front and says to me he'll give me another two-hundred after you've called. I'm like, 'This guys nuts', but what the hell right, so I take the money thinking he's out of a couple hundred bucks, but low and behold you call. Mind telling me what's so special between the two of yaz?"
I sighed heavily after her life-story and shook my head, "I'd rather not."
"Figyaz."
I shrugged impatiently, "So what's the message?"
"Oh yeah, um, downtown at da corner of Freeman and Avenue 24."
"…"
"…"
"… That's it?"
"That's it, hey, do ya know if this hair-brain is gonna be payin me or what? I could really use the money."
"…" I hung up the phone and cursed softly to myself, Freeman and Avenue 24 … that's sixteen blocks from here … damn it X. I don't know Steel City as much as I should, but I knew Freeman and Avenue 24. It was in an industrial part of the city on the outskirts of the Callie Strip, otherwise known as Party Boulevard where all the hottest nightclubs and boutiques were stationed. The only reason why I knew this was because at some point in time Starfire and Bumble Bee thought it might be a grand idea to drag me along for a little shopping trip, needless to say, Jinx was the one driving and had taken a wrong turn.
What a coincidence X would know the exact corner Jinx had stopped to get her bearings while Starfire and I had left the car to grab some drinks and snacks from the nearby corner-shop. This, of course, had happened a couple of months before my 18th birthday, and before X and I became friends … so did that mean X had been watching me before hand? Possibly … maybe … who knew, I didn't, and quite frankly I don't think I want to know, the idea that X had me scoped out made me uncomfortable. So I tried to block the thought from my mind as I pulled up to the exact same corner beside a telephone-booth, straddling the bike I looked up and all around the quiet, empty streets searching for signs of activity.
A few cars parked here and there in front of six-story, four-story, three story buildings that seemed to be old worn out business buildings. More graffiti littered the walls then there were trash scattered over the streets … steam emitted from the alleyways, and the occasional squealing rat echoed through the quiet neighborhood. I looked up again at all the blackened windows that bore down on me, Too many to search … for all I knew someone could be watching me from those windows.
Tapping my finger on the gas-tank of the bike in thought, I glanced at the phone-booth and frowned as I kicked the kick-stand and dismounted to cautiously approach the phone. I ran my fingers all along the sides and edges of the booth, searching for something, anything, some sort of clue as to what to do next. When I found nothing outside, I pushed the door open and stepped in, carefully I pushed open the roof of the phone-booth and felt around the top to find nothing … I then picked up the phone and pressed it to my ear.
There was a dial tone.
But no phone-book.
I huffed and hung the phone back on its hook as I stepped out of the booth to glare up and down the streets, Come on X, enough of the games already! Right on cue, the phone rang … I glared at it, then stepped into the booth and with one last glare at all the windows looking down on me I picked it up. His voice though it quelled my unsettled heart, only served to anger me with his arrogant snickering, "You just couldn't let me go, could you Rae."
"Where are you." I demanded rather than asked with my patience wearing thin.
"Around …"
I growled, "I've completed your little scavenger hunt, the least you could do is tell me what's with the cloak-and-dagger routine!"
Nonchalantly he replied, "Just a minor precaution sunshine, wanna make sure you weren't followed."
I scoffed, "By who? Titans East? Robin? You're about as paranoid as he is and I would never jeopardize us both by being careless, don't insult my intelligence."
"Wasn't trying to …" I huffed in exasperation as I could feel him smirking at me on the other line, "Relax Raven the world isn't ending okay, I'll see you soon."
I grinded my teeth together as my grip on the phone tightened, it was easy for him to tell me to relax when all the cards were in his favor and I was stuck with nothing, but having a shouting match about his aloof attitude was not going to get me anywhere. So I swallowed my agitation with a deep breath and an even slower exhale, "How soon X …"
"Soon."
The line went dead and I pulled the phone from my ear to stare at it and then gently (in spite of my frustrations) set it back on its hook with my head bowed and my brows furrowed in frustration. I was being impatient … but damn it all why did he have to be such a jerk?! I refrained from smash the telephone booth to smithereens as I stepped out of it to once again glare at every window around me trying to guess where the hell X was and what other obstacle he was going to put me through this time.
I soon got my wish when I whirled around at the sound of a starting car engine, down the street from me where not too far away headlights flashed on, a car parked between two other vehicles started and slowly pulled out onto the street. I slowly approached my bike as I watched the generic sports car (Mazda RX8, royal-blue, or a toy-car as I'd like to call it) roll down the street, towards me, but it didn't stop. With its pitch black tint and sleek-shiny appearance I realized it was sooo out of place in an industrial area that it was too suspicious to pass up … but it was also too suspicious to follow. It could be a trick … I thought to myself, but as I watched the vehicle stroll though the intersection I huffed and shrugged dryly, Screw it … what's the worse that could happen now?
If I'm gonna steal the last cookie from the cookie jar, I might as well take the whole damn jar.
I hopped back onto Robin's motorcycle, started it up and followed the car at a reasonable distance. It lead me straight to the Callie Strip, but not into its heart, the driver stopped on the outskirts just before an alleyway that was between a nightclub called The Caribbean and an old abandoned warehouse. Daring to park directly behind the vehicle I watched as thee bodies came out of the car, two of which were a couple that stumbled over one another as they headed for the club, but the driver … the third wheel. He slowly climbed out of the car and looked back at me with a deadly blank stare and without any other form of acknowledgement he slammed his door shut, locked the car and walked into the alley with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket.
With narrowed eyes I maneuvered the bike around the car and rolled into the alley, I parked it beside the warehouse and as I stood inside the alleyway I watched the man with short greasy black hair walk to the end of it. He stood before a padlocked 20ft gate with crates piled in front of it as if to prevent anyone from opening it, yet, it didn't phase him … and why should it? Right before my eyes he leapt into the air as high as the length of the gate and with one hand grabbed the top, flipped over and dropped on the other side … I scowled, What the hell is this?
I glanced around to be sure no one else was watching, eyed the side door of the nightclub suspiciously and ignoring the loud thrumming pulse of the heavy techno music I levitated into the air, over the gate and gently came down on the other side. However, the grass was no greener on the other side and the man I had been following was nowhere insight, that is, until I looked up at the fire escape to the nightclub and I saw him nimbly traversing the ladders and steps. Seeing no point in climbing I flew after him and dropped down in front of him just as he climbed to the second floor of the nightclub, with my arms crossed and my eyes darker than night, I scowled, "Who are you?"
He looked down at me blankly – he was a good few inches taller than me – blinked his glassy black eyes as his greasy black hair fell in front of his face and then with a shrug gave me a half-assed attempt at a smirk and leapt over the rail to crouch before the window to my right. Without hesitation he opened it, but just before he entered he looked over his shoulder and said with a voice as deep as the ocean trench and just as mysterious, "Names Lucas … I'm from Azarath too …"
I furrowed my brows, my mouth slowly fell open in an attempt to form a response to his confession, but none came. He never waited for me to say anything either, instead he silently slipped through the window and not knowing what else to do I followed in after him.
--
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans or X … but I do own our newest player Lucas
A/N: Truth be told if you're still reading this story (and you know who you are) I've also noticed Speedy has been a crutch to support the main relationship of certain stories and I'm honestly trying not to do that … but we'll have to wait and see where this story takes us. So far, I think (hopefully) I've gotten over the harder part of the story to move along, but I can't really be sure … =/ … we shall see …
L8er daez