Alice: New chapter!

Emily: I hope you all like it!

Alice: There will be much more RobRae moments although not exactly positive.

Emily: Don't forget to vote on my poll on which fandom I should write for next.

Alice: And here's the chapter!

X

Part 1

Robin learned long ago that there was good and there was evil. The difference between the two sides was the same as the difference between night and day. One side was peaceful, heroic even, while the other was cruel, and devious. There was a fine line between being good and being evil, and Robin thought he understood that as a child. It wasn't until one fateful night when Harley Quinn and the Joker tricked him, and he became their captive as a result. After all the torture, he grew to love the two as parents, and he stole for them, harmed for them.

By his old standards, that was evil. Yet Bruce assured him it was not his fault. How could he possibly make the right choices after what he had been through? It was that day he learned that the line between good and evil was not as clear as one might think. It was thin, so thin that it was almost impossible to see. On that night, when tensions ran high and his guardian nearly died at the Joker's hands, the line had all but disappeared when he pulled the trigger.

He murdered a man.

But that wasn't the closet he had come to being evil.

Even after everything he had been through, he would always his actions as Red X as being the closet to darkness he'd ever treaded. He robbed the people he swore to project, and he harmed the team he had come to know as family. While he had done worse as Junior, even as Slade's apprentice, he still considered his actions under Red X as the worst crimes he'd ever committed.

Unlike Junior, Red X wasn't birthed from endless torture and pain. Unlike the apprenticeship, there was no blackmail forcing him to commit these acts. It was his choice to create the suit, his choice to rob the buildings, and his choice to hurt his friends. After what happened, after he was discovered, he promised himself he would never tread that line again. He immediately locked up the suit deep in Titans Tower and rarely spoke of the incident afterwards. He didn't even tell Bruce out of shame for his actions.

Still, fate has a cruel way of reminding someone of their past mistakes.

When the team received an alert about a robbery, they instantly rushed to the scene. They made it in, and all were shocked at the masked villain before them: Red X. That slight moment of surprise gave Red X the advantage, and he instantly sprung into action, effectively hitting Cyborg first. Robin narrowed his eyes, and soon the titans were fighting someone who shouldn't exist.

And he was winning as well.

Robin silently cursed himself. When he created Red X, he made weapons that could easily take down each titan, and this new Red X seemed to know that. In minutes, each teammate was pinned down and unable to fight. The most recent one being pinned was Starfire, and Red X went up to her, leaning close, "You know, cutie, the real crime is that you and I haven't been on a date." If he wasn't wearing a mask, Robin's sure he would have winked.

Growling in frustration, Robin instantly tacked Red X and began fighting him. The team eventually started making their way out of their predicaments, and Red X seemed to notice. He quickly kicked Robin in the gut and grabbed one of the weapons on the floor. "I'd love to stay and chat," he spoke, "but I really have to go."

With that, he pressed a button on his belt and nothing happened. Robin smirked at the action and dashed towards the villain. Red X cursed and turned around, running while pressing the button. The two made it to the roof, and right before Robin could grab Red X, he disappeared. "Dammit!" Robin cursed, clenching his fists.

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder spin him around and a pain on his cheek. He blinked and looked at Raven, who was standing in front of him, and his eyes widened. "You just hit me!" He accused, pressing a hand against his red cheek.

She shrugged. "Had to make sure you were real," she narrowed her eyes. "You are, aren't you?"

"He is." Starfire spoke up, and Robin realized the entire team had made it to the roof as well. "The new Red X attempted to set up a date between the two of us, and Robin would not do such a thing."

He winced at the truth behind that statement and how it might affect Starfire, but she seemed very calm about it. He sighed, running a gloved hand through his hair. "I'm real," he sighed. "I promise. Red X was a mistake, one that I promised myself I'd never make again."

"You better not," Raven mumbled under her breath.

Robin scowled. "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm sorry. I just don't like being reminded of the time you went behind our backs as a criminal and beat us up," Raven glared back at him. "Not exactly pleasant."

"Mom and dad are fighting again," Beast boy whispered to Cyborg but frowned at the lack of a response. Instead Cyborg's eyes were fixed on Robin, who was currently having a shouting match with Raven. Starfire merely backed up, unsure of what to do.

"You could have trusted us!"

"I do trust you guys! It was a mistake!"

"A mistake that proved you don't trust us," Raven crossed her arms. "Why are you even arguing? You know it's true. You had a plan, and you didn't fill us in because you didn't think we could do it."

Robin sighed. "Maybe I didn't but that was almost a year ago. Haven't I proved that I'm not like that anymore?"

Raven narrowed her eyes, and before she could speak, Starfire quickly interrupted, "Please! Shouldn't we attempt to track the new Red X instead of fighting?"

Both participants of the fight turned to her with glares, and she backed up a few steps. Slowly, Robin and Raven exhaled and began to slowly calm down. Crossing his arms, Robin faced the team once again. "Starfire's right. We need to catch him."

When the team arrived at the tower, they instantly noticed their leader's absence. Most likely he was brooding in his room over the new criminal they had to catch. That meant it was Cyborg's job to start talking to the team. Standing in front of them, Cyborg began listing the possibilities of who it could be and how they could have stolen the uniform that was so tightly locked up. After going through multiple possibilities, the team's hope on finding him began to diminish. "Let's face it!" Raven pinched the bridge of her nose. "Red X could be anyone smart enough to steal the suit and dumb enough to take it."

"How will we find out who he is then?" Starfire questioned.

"It doesn't matter." The team whirled around to see Robin walking into the lounge, staring at the computer screen that held pictures of Red X. "I created Red X. Every system… every weapon, so it's my responsibility to take him down."

Cyborg nodded. "Alright, so we need to catch him. How? Do you have any leads?"

"One," Robin began typing into the computer and a chemical formula appeared on the screen. "Zynothium. It's what I used to power the suit."

Almost instantly, horrified expressions bloomed on each Teen Titan. They knew about the chemical, and they knew how dangerous it was. "Zynothium." Cyborg stated calmly. "You used zynothium to power the suit…"

Robin flinched. "I did…"

"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" Cyborg bellowed. "DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT STUFF IS? HOW UNSTABLE IT IS? YOU COULD HAVE KILLED YOURSELF! HOW COULD YOU GO MESSING WITH IT? AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE SOME KIND OF GENIUS?"

At the end of the rant, Robin sucked in a deep breath before speaking again. "Like I said," he gritted out. "It was a mistake."

Cyborg and Raven looked as though they were about to argue, but Beast boy instantly stepped in front of the two of them. "So how do you know he wants it?" he changed the subject. Like Starfire, he knew all of the fighting wouldn't help catch the criminal. Plus, he didn't want to see his team at odds with each other again.

"He stole a scanner that should be able to locate zynothium within a ten mile radius," Robin allowed the change of topic and pulled a picture of the scanner on the computer. "It was made due to the amount of zynothium poisoning from eighty or so years ago. Red X must have stolen it to repower his suit."

"Alright," Cyborg walked to the computer and began typing. "I'll download the molecular signature and transmit it to your—"

"No need."

Cyborg blinked and turned around. Robin was already halfway towards the door. He frowned. "How are you going to find it without a scanner?"

Robin turned around and offered a weak smile. "The same way I found it the first time," he stated before walking out of the room, leaving the titans in silence.

Cyborg, Beast boy, and Starfire all glanced at each other before turning to Raven. She raised an eyebrow at the sudden attention. "What?" she bit out.

"Keep an eye on him?" Starfire clapped her hands together with a small smile. "Please?"

"He's a big boy, Star. He can take care of himself," Raven argued.

"We both know that's not true," Cyborg snorted. "You know how he gets when he takes up personal responsibility to catch someone. Remember Slade?"

All the titans flinched at the memories of Robin obsessing over the fallen criminal and the lengths he went to just to catch him. Red X was one of those lengths, and it ended up costing them dearly. She sighed and glared at them. "Why can't one of you do it?"

"I need to figure out the molecular composition of zynothium and figure out if it's possible to depower the suit. I also want to transfer the signature to your communicators just in case we'd need to find some," Cyborg smiled at his excuse.

"Zynothium is quite common on my planet," Starfire stated. "I can help him with any of his questions."

"And I'm scared of Robin when he's like this." The team all turned to Beast boy, raising an eyebrow at his poor excuse. He shrugged, "What? It's true. He's terrifying!"

Raven sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Fine," she glared at them. "But you owe me one."

"Sure thing!"

"You got it, girl!"

"Have fun!"

She hated all of them.

Robin snuck into the old factory across the ocean easily. It had been almost a year since he first arrived here, and it looked much different than before. For starts, it was dustier and had no workers around. Boxes and crates were everywhere, signifying the company was moving a mass amount of product. He sighed, instantly figuring out that this place was no longer running. About to turn around, Robin nearly left until he saw red from the corner of his eye. Quickly, he jumped out of the way just as a black force field appeared where he was once standing.

He frowned. Raven was here? Why?

Shaking his head, he quickly leaped onto one of the crates and moved towards whoever was firing the weapon. They attempted to fire at him multiple times, but he was quick to dodge the attacks. Even if they were to hit him, Raven would instantly protect him with a shield. He quickly kicked the weapon out of the perpetrator's hands and grabbed the front of his suit, slamming him against the wall. He knew this man.

"Professor Chang," he smirked. "Remember me?"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Raven approach the two from behind him. "Ah yes," Professor Chang sweated nervously. "The good boy who wanted the dangerous weapon. How can I help you?"

"Zynothium. Where is it?" He shoved the man further into the wall.

"We don't have it anymore! Everyone who sold it to us skipped town… There is one company on the east side of town with a generous amount of zynothium, but it's not for sale! You'd have to steal it!" Professor Chang ranted out as quickly as he could.

Robin nodded, dropping the man and beginning to walk away. He glanced at Raven, who had been watching the encounter with a strange expression. "What?" he snapped.

"Did you have to be so violent with him?" She asked, walking by his side. "He's a defenseless old man."

"He's a lot of things, but defenseless isn't one of them."

Raven didn't bother asking how he knew that, and he was thankful for it. The two walked together in silence, afraid if either spoke another argument would form. Still Robin had to admit he was glad to have her there even though he suspected the rest of the team put her up to it.

"Are you in love with Raven?"

Even though he didn't show it, Cyborg's question stunned Robin into silence. Had he been that obvious about his feelings for the girl? Did anyone else on the team know? Did Raven? She started avoiding him after prom, so maybe she had sensed his affections for her and did not return the feelings? As a result she started avoiding him? He sighed, running his gloved hand through his hair. Raven sent him a questioning look but didn't bother asking what was wrong, and Robin was glad she didn't.

After this Red X fiasco was solved, he'd have to start digging into what his teammates knew, or more importantly, what Raven knew.

Robin ended up calling the rest of the team with an agreement to meet where he believed Red X would strike next. They said they would be there as soon as possible, and it left Robin and Raven awkwardly waiting on top of the building. Once again, they spent the entire moment in silence, unsure of what to say or if their comments would start a fight. When the rest of the team came to the tower, they instantly noticed one of their members missing. "Where's Cyborg?" Robin narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know…" Beast boy frowned, glancing around him to check for his friend.

Robin clenched his fists. "Red x must have attacked him. Dammit!"

He ended up swinging around and punching the pure concrete of the building making the rest of the team jump. He sighed, rubbing his forehead and wondering where Red x could have gone with Cyborg. It was his fault one of his friends was hurt. If only he had just destroyed that damn suit! No, he couldn't have. The zynothium core would have been too dangerous to try and destroy. If only he had just not made the suit… if only he had not crossed that thin line of light and darkness… if only…

"You really like blaming yourself for everything, don't you?"

Robin frowned and turned his head to Raven, whose eyes were on his injured fist. "Excuse me?"

"It's not your fault," She approached him, softly grasping his hand and beginning to heal the broken bones.

He snorted. "That's not what you said earlier."

Her eyes drifted to his face, and she frowned at him. "I never said that. I said I didn't like the reminder that whole Red X situation happened not that it was your fault. You made a mistake, and you locked it away. Whoever stole that suit… it's their fault this is happening, and it's their fault Cyborg is hurt. Don't take the blame when you don't need to."

"But—"

"If you really want to blame yourself, go ahead," Raven interjected, "but at least stop feeling bad for yourself until we get Cyborg back and take Red X down. If you hurting yourself, you'll just end up letting him get away."

Robin nodded, a small smile appearing on his features. "Thanks Rae."

Raven returned it with a smile of her own and slowly let go of his hand, which lacked the dull pain from before. It was the first time they had a real conversation without fighting since Terra died, and it felt refreshing. Robin turned to the team with newfound energy and a smirk. "Let's take down Red X."

Alice: Thanks for reading!

Emily: Part two should be up by next Wednesday at the latest.

Alice: Don't forget to vote on the poll! It's closing today!

Emily: Basically I have two story ideas for Teen Titans, and if Teen Titans wins the poll, I'll put up another one asking which story you'd like me to write.

Alice: Here they are:

1. When the titans face Warp, he accidentally brings back two people from the past: John and Mary Grayson. The titans don't know how to send them back to their proper time and allow the two to stay in Titans Tower until they figure it out.

Basically Robin's parents accidentally time travel as a result of Warp, and the titans let them stay at the tower until Warp is found. Robin tries to act calm and mature in the situation, but it still hurts him to see his parents alive and well but unable to recognize him. There will be hints at RobRae in this story but for the most part there is no pairing, and it has major Robin angst.

2. High School AU. Raven is known as the girl with no friends, and she is content with that. One day she accidentally injures the most popular boy in school, Robin, and he ends up taking an interest in her. Now he follows her around in attempts to date her, and she realizes that maybe she isn't as content with loneliness as she previously thought.

This story would be a high school AU inspired by the manga "Say I Love you." It would have a ton of RobRae, and it would have a lot of team bonding. The majority of this story would be fluff with hints of angst but not much.

Emily: So vote on the poll, and if Teen Titans wins, I'll start a new poll with these two stories as options for which one I should write next.