Author Note: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Raven couldn't believe what she did.

She had damned Brother Blood, sending him to the pits of hell. She was filled up with so much rage, her friends shattered and broken, that she just snapped. When the Justice League learned about this, Raven body shook, when Robin learned about this.

Letting out a staggered breath to stop herself from shaking, Raven raised up to her knees . There was no point in worrying right now, she had to get her friends out of here. Cyborg and Beast Boy were missing. Starfire unconscious, and Robin-

"A little help here!" A voice yelled.

Summoning the little strength she had left, Raven quickly got up, running to the right edge of the bridge. Red-X was dangling off the bridge edge, his fingers bearing all his weight. The slick kevlar of his gloves bringing no resistance, each finger was sliding off the slick metal bridge. Raven grabbed Red-X's forearm with both hands, trying to pull him up the bridge.

"I swear you Titans bring nothing but trouble." Red-X quipped.

"You could have ran." Raven scowled, pulling as hard as she could.

"Coulda, woulda, shoulda, but didn't" Red-X retorted.

"You betrayed me," she barked at him, "You grew a conscious all of a sudden?"

There was a moment of silence as she waited for some witty retort. Some comment on how easily she was tricked. How her disability made her daft. Any breath of words that would fit the thief's M.O. Something to make her forget the man he so perfectly played. Instead his eyes met her gaze, something very uncharacteristic shining behind the sheer mask eyeholes. His mask edged over his nose, a small indication he was smiling.

"Sort of" Red-X responded with a small laugh leaving his lips.

She didn't know how to respond to that.

The bridge and warehouse shook with the sound of bending metal and falling cement. The warehouse wasn't going to last for long. Maybe pulling a support beam from the warehouse wasn't the smartest idea, Raven grimaced. Taken a quick look around Raven noticed Starfire was awake, struggling to remove herself from under the beam. Robin had falling from the bridge , his body wedged between the tanks.

Holding on to Red-X, Raven weighed her options. Levitation was out of the questions, the last sparks of her power gone with the portal. The little strength she had left, were just the withering remnants of a human's capability. All members of the Titans were currently indisposed. If she dropped him into the waters below would it be any harm?

Fixing her gaze to the bubbling tanks below, she noticed the yellow tinted water, something odd and fixating about them. It took her only a second to realize just what the water was, a Lazarus Pit. Why Blood created a pit was perplexing, but that didn't matter right now. If Red-X fell in there he wouldn't-

The bridge buckled.

Red-X looked down, following her line of sight. He quickly looked back at her. "I guess the bridge isn't going to last for long."

"Teleporter?" Raven tried to think quickly.

"Fried" Red-X said, swinging his other hand to hold onto Raven.

Her arms shook from his weight, determination her only strength. Holding a breath, she pulled Red-X with all her might only to slide forward towards the edge, the bridge buckling again. Her muscles screamed at her, sore and shaking under the strain of holding onto Red-X. Determination was her only strength. She was unsure how long she could hold on to him, afraid help may not arrive soon enough.

Red-X let out a sigh before taking his right hand and lifting up his mask. "Raven."

Raven ignored him.

Red-X licked his lips. "Ms. Raven"

Raven looked at Red-X in confusion. It was Mr. Tim's voice, the same voice that guided her through the darkness, coming from a thief's mouth. It was a hard slap of reality that the Mr. Tim that betrayed her was indeed, without shadow of a doubt, Red-X. A sour smile graced her lips, of course he betrayed her. Wasn't that part of his nature? As much as she wanted to be angry, angry that he was calling her that affectionate nickname, somehow she couldn't muster the feeling.

"Ms. Raven" Red-X called again. "Let go."

Raven shook her head. "That is a Lazarus Pit, a makeshift one." She glared at him like it was the stupidest thing she ever heard. "If I let go you fall into it, we don't know what it may do-"

"Yeah, I know what it is." Red-X said, the sound of regret edge in his voice. "Let go."

Raven scowled. "If I let go-"

Red-X smiled. "But if you don't, you'll fall with me."

"If you think I am so selfish to let you die just to save myself, then you didn't learn anything about-"

"Stop putting on airs!" Red-X yelled, "You know why a Lazarus Pit is here? Because I made Blood make one." Red-X frowned, the edges of his mask trailing up. " I traded you in for it."

He wished the truth was enough for her grip to loosen. Enough for her to let him go. Raven only held on tighter, her knuckles white.

"So what?!" Raven barked. "You must be daft to think that I would kill you just for that. You had your reason right?!"

Raven huffed, trying to pull him up to the bridge again. "Once we are safe, I'll tell you just how stupid those reasons were!"

Red-X pursed his lips saying nothing in return. The bridge shook, tilting towards their collective weights, sliding Raven further down the edge. Raven bit her lip in concentration, trying to hold on. One more shake and rumble, and they would both fall.

"Let go." Red-X repeated.

Raven dug her nails into his kevlar suit, one part out of spit, other part to save his life.

"We just have to wait for Starfire and-" Raven try to coax him but Red-X shook his head. "Do you have a death wish!?"

"Maybe!" Red-X screamed back, but his voice quickly softened. "This version of the pit might make some things right again. It will give me the strength to make things right again."

The words he uttered didn't make sense to her. She didn't know about the psychotic episodes. How his judgement was clouded by his first dip in the Lazarus Pit. How he had tried so hard to control it, only to wake up in the middle of destruction. How the fear of his mind deteriorating to the point of Ra's Al Ghul's or worse: the monster that had killed him, was ever ticking in his mind. He just wanted to be able to see straight, because justice couldn't be served when his life had become so monochrome.

Raven frown deepened, his eyebrows furrowing.

"You don't need a pit for second chances Mr. Tim!" his affectionate nickname fell between her lips. "I don't know what this is about but we can help you. I can help you."

"Like I helped you?" Red-X shook his head. "That would be the blind leading the blind, Ms. Raven"

His grip loosened from her forearm. He gave a quick look at the tanks below before giving Raven a weak smile. It was the second time since Raven met Mr. Tim that she was able to sense his emotion. It was quick, hitting her with a wave of blue: sadness.

"What I want-no need to do, you can't help with." Red-X smile faltered for a second. "You wouldn't approve."

"Like I approve of you dropping into the Lazarus Pit!" Raven yelled.

"Don't be stubborn Raven!" Red-X barked back, pulling a knife from his pocket. "Gosh, we are going around in circles!"

Raven pulled a face but said nothing in return.

Jason tried again,"Let go, I either come out rejuvenated or-"

"Wither with the pit!" Raven yelled at him, her face scrunched up in anger. "This thing has made mad men madder. What part of it can kill you don't you understand?!"

At least this time he would be chosen his death. Death shouldn't hard a second time around, Jason thought.

"That's fine. I'm not even suppose to be alive." Jason whispered, his eyes staring at his feet as they dangled above the Lazarus Pit. If Raven heard him, she said nothing in return.

He looked up at Raven, one last time, drinking in her image. "Maybe it will kill me, but that's a chance I am willing to take." Red-X said as he swung his knife between her thumb and forefinger, and through his forearm.

Raven didn't show an ounce of pain. She held on as gravity made the knife slice right through her thumb muscle. She held on when her injured hand could no longer hold him. Held on as he slipped through her fingers. She held on with one hand gripping as tight as she could, knuckles white, until-

Starfire never made it in time. Robin only stirred after the fact. Beast Boy and Cyborg ran to the room, only to hear the splash echo across the warehouse. Raven just stood leaning over the bridge. She hoped for a bobbing head maybe a shadow of his figure. Yet the waters were too murky.

As Red-X hit the water, Starfire rushed over, scooping Raven into her arms. The red hair Titan followed Raven's gaze.

"It's just like a pool, no? He'll be-" Starfire started, but something about the way Raven looked at the tank with a vacant expression made her stop.

Cyborg ran to Robin, picking the Boy Wonder from the floor.

"We have to get out of here." Beast Boy yelled. "I don't think the warehouse is going to last any longer."

"But Red-X might-" Starfire said, but Raven silenced Starfire with a shake of her head.

Raven looked at the Tanks below as the warehouse collapsed around them. Raven closed her eyes, taking a moment to sense her teammates feelings. Starfire was worried, Beast Boy was scared, Cyborg was angry, and Robin even though unconscious was furious. What she didn't sense was static, the random mix of colors and feelings that was noise to her senses. All there was left was emptiness.

Raven opened her eyes. "That idiot."

At a safe distance, the Titans watched the warehouse fall into rubble. The sound of falling beams and cement echoing across the pier. Raven stood silent, her teammates behind her as they watched the finality of it all. Starfire had briefed Cyborg, Beast Boy and Robin on what happened in the warehouse. How Red-X had helped her get Raven back. How Mr. Tim, the man they let into their home, was Red-X. How Starfire struggled to get free only to watch Red-X fall into the pool of yellow water.

Mr. Tim was-

No, Red-X was gone. The person under that mask was gone.

Red-X had gone to great lengths, fooling Raven with kind words and kind acts, just to ensure Brother Blood created a Lazarus Pit. She was just a token to him. Raven couldn't help but to compare him to the silver tongue dragon from a rather left forgotten time. Raven tried to fight back tears. Why did she fall so easily to flattery and kind acts?

Wiping away at a rogue tear, she focused her eyes back to the torn warehouse. No matter how hard she thought she couldn't think why he had gone through such great lengths to create a Lazarus Pit. Was he seeking a way to continuously use the pit for his advantage? Was Red-X seeking immortality? Why did he believe that the Lazarus Pit was his only salvation? If he had gone to her, if he had told her what he desperately wanted maybe she could have sav-

"Raven?" Robin called out to her, walking to her side.

Quickly wiping off a tear, Raven regained her composure.

"Are you going to arrest me?" Raven asked, folding her arms over her chest.

"Why would-"

"I dragged him into hell Robin." Raven shrugged. "That isn't very heroic."

"Blood kidnapped you, Rae," Robin consoled, "he tried to bring demons to this plane. You did it to protect-"

Raven shook her head. "What's the difference? What I did was worse than prison, worse than death, Robin."

Robin frowned, three little lines forming between his eyebrows. For a moment she wondered if they had always been there or she was just more observant with her regained sight.

"It isn't my decision." Robin admitted. "The Justice League will have the final say."

Raven sighed. "Zatanna will have a field day."

Robin grabbed her shoulder. "This isn't your fault Raven, this is Red-"

Raven gave a small chuckle cutting Robin's words short. "Red-X's fault,ha, right."

A few seconds of silence crossed between them.

"Mr. Tim was never real, huh?" Raven asked.

Robin didn't know what to say. The twenty three year old home attender named Tim Drake was never real. He would have known that if he less focused on returning Raven's eyesight, and more focused on protecting his team. The name was so common, he thought nothing of it. However, this was Red-X, it was so blatantly obvious that it was a retort towards Robin. A setup of a game that Robin never knew he was playing.

Tim Drake, the wool was pulled right over his eyes. How did Red-X know the new Robin's name? How much did Red-X know about the ever growing Batman family? When his teammates described this 'Tim Drake' he couldn't create a mental image of anyone he may have come across. Six feet tall, black hair with a white streak that made him seem older than he really was and striking blue-green eyes. Robin bit his cheek.

Looking at Raven look longingly at the torn down warehouse, Robin couldn't help but admit that Red-X did some kind of good for Raven. Even if it was to fool her, he had helped her, gave her hope that she was able to overcome her disability. While he was trying to erase what he did wrong, Red-X had taught Raven to live with it. In the end, this whole mess brought Raven's eyesight back. It had brought Raven back to Robin's side.

Robin felt some sense of relief and sickly sense pride over that fact. He never was more ashamed at himself.

"I don't know," Robin admitted, "but he helped you when none of us could."

Raven shrugged in response. " I feel," Raven turned to Robin. "I don't know what to feel honestly. I have my eyesight back due to my demon half." Raven clasped her hands together. " I should be happy but, Mr. Tim taught me that I could survive without. He gave me hope, companionship when I felt lonely."

"Raven, I'm-" Robin stopped, giving a quick look at his teammates' faces. "No, we are all sorry you felt alone. We weren't there for you when we should have. But we are here now." Robin reached for Raven's hand, intertwining his fingers with her. "I am here now."

Raven looked at their hands before looking back at Robin. There was a sudden taste of rose water, the sudden tint of pink in her vision. She felt panic rise from the bottom of her stomach. Wasn't this emotion all she ever wanted from Robin? She wasn't too sure. The same feeling Robin was admitting was repressed for so long that she wasn't sure what the feeling meant anymore.

Robin held her hand firmly, as he shoulders tensed.

"Robin, I-" Raven said, her eyes casting down to her hand.

Maybe it was their bond but he knew what she wanted to say. He knew that she sensed that feeling that was blooming in him. Maybe it was there the whole time, but Raven wasn't ready for it. Robin wasn't sure he was ready either, a little afraid to admit those feelings. He gave her hand a tight squeeze before letting go.

"I understand." Robin looked at Raven, giving her a reassuring smile "I think we both need time to sort it out."

Robin turned around, walking back to Beast Boy, Cyborg and Starfire who waited at the T-Car.

Raven looked back at the rubble, closing her eyes to scan one more time.

There was silence.

Raven opened her eyes, the colors were more vivid that she remembered. Was Starfire skin always that shade of orange? Her hair like a live flame. When had Robin hair grown that long? His hair past the tips of his ears. Was the sky that blue? Raven smirked at her own cliche.

Raven sighed, "Mr. Tim-" Raven started, but quickly closed her mouth.

All the words she wanted to say to him she found that she wasn't quite ready to say. Raven wasn't sure she would ever be ready to say them. Mr. Tim was gone, no, Mr. Tim was never real to begin with. Like him, those words were as good as fake. Raven looked the hand that Red-X's knife cut through, the wound already healing. The wound would soon be nothing but a faded scar. How poetic, she thought, that all the anger she had towards Mr. Tim was gone too.

There was only one real thing she wanted to say to him.

"Mr. Tim" Raven started again, digging her nails into the palm of her hands. "Thank you."

Raven turned away, her teammates waiting for her.

Author Note: I am so happy that all of you have stuck with me for almost two years. Through the bad writing and the shitty story line. I'm so happy to finally write the last chapter. I still think to myself, how is the pacing of the story? How was the character development? Was there any character growth?

Anyways, there will be a sequel to this fan fiction. I need serious help figuring out the title though! I want to stick with the same theme as idioms, For Example: Right as Rain and Devil's Advocate are both idioms. Doesn't have to be those two, can be any idiom what so ever! Please give me some ideas on the Reviews!

Thank you everyone! I wouldn't be able to make it this far without you!