Chapter 14. Secrets part 1

Raven caught up with the rest of the team as they entered the car. Robin nodded at her once and she responded with a nod of her own. Their own language needed no words.

As they arrived to their destination, it occurred to Robin that this was not Red X's usual target but a run down shipping warehouse that had been abandoned for quite some time now.

"Are you sure he's here?" Raven asked landing next to Robin and Cyborg.

"These are the coordinates from the stress call… but there is nothing else of interest to him in miles" Said Cyborg looking at the small screen built in his arm.

"Let's find out" Said Robin and started to run towards the entrance.

Once inside they found stacks of dusty crates all over the place. Brocken pillars on the sides and part of the roof had caved in at the far end.

"Well, I was wondering when you kids were going to show up" Said Red X leaning against a broken post with his arms crossed over his chest.

The Titans took their fighting stances. With star bolts ready, Starfire flew closer while Red X straighten up ready for whatever was coming.

"Please, what is it that you seek?" Starfire asked, eyes no longer glowing.

"What makes you think I'm looking for something, gorgeous?"

"There is nothing here for you to steal. Nothing comes in or out of this place, so, what do you want?" Said Robin, birdarangs at the ready.

"Last we heard you had a cozy living in Gotham with a big time supplier of Xenothium in the neighborhood" Said Cyborg aiming at Red X with his cannon.

"Ah, I see news travel fast and you already talked to that sweet kitten already"

Cyborg shot a blast from his cannon but went thru empty air as Red X teleported away from his spot.

"Touched a nerve I see" Red X said from behind them. They all turned and started to attack the skittish villain. Star bolts were thrown in all directions as Starfire tried to follow his moves, but with his teleportation device made it difficult and almost hit Cyborg in the process.

"I'm sorry friend Cyborg" She said, but that little distraction prevented her from seeing Red X, who with a quick move, threw a rubbery X from his hand to the alien. And another, and another until she was tied down from head to toes.

"Sorry gorgeous" He said and disappeared to dodge a blasting from Cyborg's cannon. Robin run to him with bo staff in hand. A mix of high kicks and swings of his weapon were blocked or matched as Red X seemed to know Robin's every move.

"What do you want?" Yelled Robin before another attack.

"Look kid, nothing personal, but is not you who I need to talk to" He said and threw an X at Robin's legs and another one at his torso immobilizing the Boy Wonder.

Raven had been trying to trap Red X with her dark magic but the elusive thief was proving to be a challenge.

Cyborg was trying to track him with a body heat scanner built in his arm to anticipate where Red X would appear next but the villain threw a giant X at him, wrapping him around completely. Cyborg tumbled down into several crates. He was getting ready to shoot his cannon again when he heard the villain say "I wouldn't do that if I were you" and motioned to the explosives that had spilled over around Cyborg.

Then swiftly moved away before a flying crate would crush him. He reappeared in mid air behind Raven and threw another X at her. She turned around in time to dodge the first one but the second one caught her by surprise and wrapped around her arms and torso, knocking her out of the air against a wall.

"Raven!" Yelled Robin still unable to move but Red X caught her and held her close. "Hey beautiful" He said while Raven glared at him.

"If you don't want to talk to Robin then who?" she asked.

Red X tilted his head a little and said "I knew you were beautiful but now I can understand why he threw himself at you on the floor" he said tentatively.

"What!? What are you…" Raven started to say but quickly remembered what he was talking about.

"Don't pretend you don't know beautiful. A couple of days ago… in his room…"

"Shut up! Shut up!" She said, letting panic in her voice while her eyes went wide.

"Ah, you remembered" then he leaned into her ear and said "And I guess your friends don't know"

"Get away from her!" Yelled Robin.

"Don't worry kid, I just need to talk to her" He said and picked her up in his arms and walked away to the other side of the warehouse.

"How did you know about that?" She whispered, still glaring at him. He stopped walking and looked at her.

"I was outside his window. I was about to go in when I noticed you in there…"

"Why were you there?"

"I need to talk to Beast Boy but I left when I saw him on top of you''

Raven blushed and tried to disentangle herself but the way she was trapped it had her cloak wrapped around her arms and legs so she couldn't move much. He noticed her discomfort and sat her down on a crate, then he kneeled in front of her.

"Look beautiful, I promise I didn't see anything and I wont say anything to your friends but I need to Beast Boy about his friend Meliah"

"What about her? And why didn't you just say anything that night?"

"Because whatever was going on between you two wasn't my business , and believe it or not, I think you're too beautiful to be alone" he said while run a finger along her jaw line. She moved slowly away from his touch and arched an eyebrow.

"Now you're just mocking me. What about Meliah that we don't already know?"

"A lot more than what you think. But right now, all I can tell you is that whoever is after Meliah is also targeting your boyfriend and whether she knows it or not, I need to warn them"

Suddenly, her eyes glowed white and a sharp shred of her energy cut thru the X that was holding her then she lifted a dark force field around in front of them, blocking a blast from Cyborg and star bolts directed at Red X who had been so distracted with Raven, he didn't see the other Titans breaking free and prepare an attack.

"Wait! He's coming with us!" Raven yelled at her teammates who stopped short but lowered their weapons. Raven's shield disappeared.

"Are you sure is a good idea Raven?" Asked Cyborg.

"Yes Raven… are you sure that's a good idea?" Mocked Red X.

"He has information we need" She said to her teammates, then turned to Red X and said "And since when are you scared of a bunch of kids?" Sarcasm sipping in her words.

"I'm not"

"Good" She said and enveloped both of them in her dark magic and disappeared.

"Robin? Do you think that's a good idea?" Asked Starfire with a worried frown.

"Don't worry Star, if I know Raven, there has to be a really good reason to make such decision"

"Yeah Star, and if I know my little sister, Red X is already sitting in the holding cell" Cyborg said with a smile. Robin and Starfire nodded their agreement and headed back to the tower.

…

…

Back in the tower, Beast Boy had just seen Raven disappear thru the floor on a stress call. It was the first time he had ever stayed behind, not being there to watch her back. Even though he knew she was capable of taking care of herself, he always wanted to make sure she was ok.

"You're worried about her, are you?" Asked Meliah a few feet away.

"Yeah, a little"

"You didn't have to stay with me Gar, if they need you then you should…"

"No M, I'm not going to leave you alone again"

" But you said you're worried about her. If that villain is someone that can pose a threat then…"

"Is Red X, the guy that rescued you''

"Oh" Was all she said "I guess the name should have been obvious" she thought to herself.

"I just like to know she's ok" He said while he sat down on the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees. She followed him and sat down next to him. After a few minutes Beast Boy broke the silence.

"M? Can I ask you something?"

"Of course" She noticed him fidgeting with his fingers, a nervous gesture he's had since he was little. She waited patiently but something told her she already knew what he was going to ask and dreaded to have to answer him.

"M? … Um… how is it that you're like me?" He finally asked with a worried frown. She tensed up, looked down and sat straight facing the window instead of him. After a few minutes of silence, she answered without looking at him.

"I didn't want you to leave"

"But no one knew we were leaving. I didn't find out until the night before. How did you know?"

"I was trying to see you. After … that day with those kids… you refused to get out or even see me" she said with a frown, trying to hold back tears.

"That was because I didn't want to hurt you again. I was responsible …"

"And I told you it was no big deal, that I still loved you. It had been an accident after all… but you remained in your parent's lab or in your room and I couldn't take it. The whole accident had been my fault and" She was crying now but he interrupted her.

"Don't say that Meliah, it wasn't your fault"

"If I hadn't screamed then I wouldn't have startled you and.. And…"

"M, you were a little girl, of course you were going to be scared, I never blamed you for anything"

"And I never blamed you, but when I heard your parents talking about leaving a week or so before the trip, I felt responsible. They mentioned how bad you felt after my accident, how guilty. I didn't want you to feel like that so I sneaked into their lab hoping to see you" She stopped, closed her eyes and a few more tears run down her cheeks.

"What happened there?" He whispered. She took a deep breath and continued.

"I found all the vials and monitors. Another machine running samples of your blood and more vials with your blood in them on the counter. I remembered what my mother had told me over dinner a few weeks before when you were bitten by the monkey"

"What did she tell you?"

"That you had acquired a rare virus and that they had to find a cure. She was working with your parents to find a cure for the Sakutia Virus. When I asked why were you green she said they were not sure and went on the scientific explanation on the possibilities …" She saw his look of confusion, scoffed and said " You knew our parents, if there was a scientific explanation there was no sugar coating it. I think she forgot she was talking to a little kid or hoped that I didn't understand"

"And did you understand?"

"Only that whatever was mixed in your blood made you green. By then I figured that that also had made you change into an animal."

By this point, beast Boy caught the meaning of her words and slowly, his eyes went wide and gasped.

"Meliah, what did you do?"

She turned to him for a moment, and softly said "What the logic of a little kid told me to do. It made sense to me that if I was like you then you wouldn't feel alone or guilty."

"But why?…" He started to say but she yelled.

"Isn't it obvious? I didn't want you to leave" She snapped, then closed her eyes and took a shaking breath. "I felt safe with you" she whispered. Her hands were shaking and was trying to contain her despair and anger from her voice. Beast Boy got closer, something was wrong.

"M, what are you not telling me?" He whispered.

She opened her eyes, tears running free while looking out the window. Beast boy saw them drain and crystallized into the shreds of blue. She set her jaw in the attempt to stop it from trembling along with the rest of her body.

"My dad…" she started to say, she cleared her throat one more time and continued "He used to molest me when I was that little. When you were there, you were always with me, you never left me alone so he stopped for a while. But once you were gone, all hell broke loose."

"Meliah…I didn't know…" he started to say, her words had caught him by surprise and a cold shivering chill run down his spine.

"No one knew. Not even my mother. He had threaten me with taking me away from her, and even you if I said anything to anybody." she made and expression of disgust when she said "My dad, even said he would hurt my mom if I told her… so I said nothing… when he found out what I could do, he set out to get me for his sick purposes"

Beast Boy's blood started to boil. Rage was rising within him. "How can someone be so sick and cruel and do that to a little girl… his own daughter." he yelled.

She recoiled from him when he tried to put his hand on her shoulder, she closed her eyes shut and her breath was shaking again.

He felt more anger and hurt but understood her reaction. He brought his hands back to his lap.

"Did your mom ever found out?" He said after a while. His jaw hurting from tightening his teeth.

"Yes, the first time she was kidnapped. That's why she asked Batman to find me. After that my condition got worse and…"

She whispered the last words but couldn't hold her tears anymore. She got up, tried to walk away but Beast Boy caught her. She wrapped her arms around herself, looking away from him. He came in front of her and saw her eyes blue again.

"M, I'm right here, you're safe now. I'm not going to hurt you and I will not let anyone hurt you again." He said and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. She was crying, trembling but finally loosen her arms and wrapped them around him while he shed silent tears.