A/N: So I think it should be noted before I get another lengthy long winded breakdown from Anonymous reviewers that I am taking a bit here and there from the comics, the Teen Titans show, and from my own imagination. I own nothing. Count this as my disclaimer as well. Thanks :)
The Grey Line
Kitchen Sink
There were many questions that Raven wanted answers to. She just didn't know where to begin. The first, that she confirmed secretly through her bond with Robin, was that at least her leader was stable and not feeling any particular emotion that she usually felt when Slade was a topic subject. Thankfully, Robin was very much closed off engrossed in training or whatever he did in his off time, he rarely reached out through their bond. He had told her once that he could only feel the bond when Raven reached out to him, and Raven was just as closed off if not more so than Boy Wonder. She wondered briefly if Starfire had told him of her disappearance yet, grimacing to herself as she realized what a mess she left behind at the mall. Only there wasn't any panic in Robin's mood, or boiling anger. Raven figured she had a few more minutes before her friends were all on the same page and stormed the town looking for her.
What was she going to tell them? That she felt a bond being formed, threw caution into the wind, and took an enemy to his diggy apartment to sort things out?
There were other questions, Slade being a high priority as well on her list. However, she didn't know exactly what to say to Red-X. They hadn't said a word since he had told her who the supposedly real enemy in the shadows was. She had been tricked, fell into a trap. Her mind was still whirling as she struggled to pull her emotions in. She needed to meditate, and get the hell out of here.
Red-X had taken her advice and rolled his mask up to reveal his lips. Shortly after that his breathing returned to normal and he was able to stand without labor.
What she had mistaken for his flush of his emotions was actually a calculated move to mask his probing of their newly formed bond. While he was feeling genuine emotions, and strong ones, he was using them in a way to flood her senses. That was unless he had no clue how her powers worked, or if he even knew what he did when he somehow forced a bond between them.
Raven felt frustrated tears building behind her eyes, she blinked several times furiously batting them away. She took several deep breaths as quietly as she could. Red-X seemed out of it as well, he paced about in his kitchen. Through the bond Raven could tell that he was feeling a bit queasy, the poison probably disagreeing with any food he had eaten. There was a door behind her, to the right, judging by the size of the apartment and no other doors Raven assumed that was his bedroom along with the only restroom available. Raven wasn't going to let him out of her sight, she needed some answers before figuring out what to do next. He'd have to make do with the kitchen sink if the feeling of sickness overcame him.
"The bond," she started, turning her attention towards him. She had been staring blankly at the tiny outdated tv that was stacked on top of a coffee table. Raven didn't want to take in her environment anymore than she had to, the beige undecorated walls, and outdated furniture told her enough and she didn't need any more stimulace to her emotions.
Her quiet words seemed to jerk Red-X out of a trance, he stopped his pacing and leaned against the kitchen counter.
"Ah… yes I know that's a bit sacred to an Azarthian… I'm sorry to take your choice in that."
Raven felt his emotions, he was genuinely sorry, it seemed like he had little choice in the matter as well. She let the silence linger as an urge to continue.
He indulged her, "I know it's a one time thing, Raven believe me, I-" he cut himself off, "I had to or I was going to die and frankly between your freedom of choice of an extinct culture…"
Raven was seeing red, she could feel the demon in her waking as anger at his ill mannered words sunk in.
"My freedom of choice," she hissed rising to a stand. She turned slowly to face him. She felt the window above the sink crack violently.
She wasn't going to tell him that he had accomplished the impossible, that he had established a bond with someone who was already bonded. She was going to have a bit of reading to do once she got home to the Tower and she was going to stop at nothing to reverse this. She would not be bound to such a callous man.
"I know I messed up, but listen. Please, Rae," he sounded desperate and anguished.
Raven felt her skin figuratively crawl at the use of her nickname, she was slightly ashamed of the other emotion that came with it as well. The slight perk of Pity. She chose to ignore them, even the anger as she reeled them back in with another deep breath.
"To start," Raven half growled, "You know nothing of Azarth or it's people so for you to so carelessly do something that would force a bond-"
"I didn't have-"
"Don't interrupt me," Raven snarled, a glass on the counter shattered. Raven took a deep breath.
"It was either that or die, Raven," he snapped.
"I know this is a big deal, trust me…" he sighed, his hand going to his neck and stared at her.
"Trust you?" Raven chuckled, "You won't even remove your mask."
It was off before she could finish her sentence. His deep yet bright green eyes stared back at her with more emotion than what she could feel through their bond. She didn't let her shock show, but she stared at him, letting the silence fill the area and tension choke the room.
He was handsome. Sandy brown hair, tanned skin, green eyes, a sharp distinguished nose, plump lips, and a strong jaw line littered with scruff from his 5 o'clock shadow. Not to mention he filled the suit was wearing with muscles. His hair stuck up in a few odd angles from removing his mask hastily but Raven wasn't going to point it out and he didn't seem to care.
"It's off," Red-X said lamely. "I'll do anything to earn your trust, Raven, please," he started again.
"Rot in hell," she spat.
"That's what Slade is trying to bring back," Red-X snapped. "This whole avoid the main problem isn't going to work with me, Raven. You and your little kiddie friends might have stopped it last time out of sheer dumb luck but you're going to need more than that this time."
"So what? Slade told you his master plan? And instead of coming to the Titans you decided to force a bond with me to get me alone and then what? What was your next step Red -"
"Jason," he spat back, "my name is Jason. And yes something like Slade coming to me and trying to get me on board with his dumb plan happened. However, I'm not the only one he approached. He's got people this time, actual people, not all are villains. He's put a few failsafes in place that involve my head on a platter. And while he didn't go into specifics on how he's going to destroy me, he sure as hell told me enough to scare the shit out of me," he snarled. "And I thought you out of all the Titans would be willing to listen since it involves your father."
"He's gone, I defeated him," she whispered. She knew her words felt weak as they came out of her mouth, at her tone alone she felt the bubbling of fear at the whisper that escaped her. She had meant to sound firm, strong, ready.
"Defeated but not destroyed," Jason sighed with a hint of exasperation. "Can we get on the same page? Trust me, Raven. I'm trying to switch to the good guys here. I had to start somewhere."
She felt the truth in his words, at least he believed what he was telling her. She couldn't tell, couldn't trust him. There was so much to discuss and so little time left. Jason seemed to know that too.
"Look… I prevented something terrible from happening today. You were lured out… but not by me," he said slowly. She felt his confusion as if he was piecing together a puzzle. He was withholding information but she could tell that he was trying to figure it out himself before he just blurted something out.
"What do you mean?" Raven asked, "you were the one that showed up at the mall with bombs, you were trying to get the Titans attention-" Raven cut herself off.
If she was already at the mall and he wasn't expecting her to be there had she been lured into a different trap? One that involved one of her bestfriends' and teammates?
No, Starfire would never betray her. She tugged on her bond with Robin, he was still calm, he appeared to be working out or maybe he was watching a movie. Raven couldn't tell specifics on that. She had been gone for at least an hour, four if you counted the mall trip, and her best friend seemed oblivious to her disappearance. Starfire would have definitely said something by now.
Raven's hand went to her belt, she flipped open her communicator and dialed Starfire before Jason could close the distance between them and shut it. He hissed a swear as a wall of Raven's power went up between them.
Starfire's cheery face appeared before the screen.
"Raven!" Starfire half shrieked, "come join us downstairs. We have been missing of you."
"It's just we've been missing you," Beastboy corrected in the background.
"We…" Raven trailed off. "When's the last time you saw me Star?" she asked.
Her friend furrowed her brow, Raven saw concern flick across her gaze.
"At breakfast this morning," Starfire answered.
Raven bit back the curse that threatened to rise out of her.
"I'll be down shortly, I went out for an errand, I shouldn't be too much longer," she promised.
"See you shortly!" Starfire waved as Raven clicked the communicator shut hearing her friends in the background arguing about pizza.
"Either she doesn't remember, someone spelled her, or someone was playing lookalike earlier," Raven told Jason, releasing her powers so that he was no longer barricaded away from her.
"No matter which way I cut it everyone's lying," she said narrowing her eyes at him.
"I have been nothing but truthful," he shot back. "So I think to say that everyone is lying is a bit of an exaggeration."
Raven rolled her eyes.
"I have to go, you seem to be okay for the most part," she let her eyes wander up and down his form. Perhaps for a moment longer than necessary. She would never admit it but he was attractive and the last thing she needed now was for her Lust emotion to make an appearance.
"We need a better way of getting in touch with each other that doesn't involve blowing up malls," he laughed and Raven knew it was his attempt to make the atmosphere lighter but she kept her face straight as she deadpanned back at him.
"We need nothing. You go on your merry little thief life or whatever you've been up to these days," Raven avoided looking around the sparsely decorated apartment.
"We are in this together, Raven. I wasn't kidding when I said I was doing this to save my life and now you're a big factor in saving me."
"Well now you're safe. You're in your safe house. Do what you do best and disappear," Raven snapped.
"Harsh," he chuckled, he took a step blocking his front door as Raven moved in that direction.
"I can just teleport, it's less controlling and abusive behavior if you let me leave through the front door," Raven snapped.
"Then teleport, I can't exactly have a Titan waltzing out of here and blowing my cover," he snapped back at her.
His tone nearly broke her quickly fading facade that everything was fine. She needed to get the hell away from him and figure out what happened. Why bond with her? Why force a bond to save his life? How?
She couldn't ask him. She was positive he wouldn't answer and she wasn't really in the mood to keep up with the banter laced with trying to pull information from him. Not with her emotions becoming stronger by the minute. She needed to get out of here and mediate.
"Ugh, why did you do this? I can't exactly break a bond you moron. I'm always going to be connected to your stuck-up self centered ass," she shoved him roughly against the door, snapping once he placed his hand on his hip in what she perceived as a cocky manner. Emotion was starting to show up more and more. Control, she ordered herself. She was starting to sound like a typical teenage girl. Had she really just said Ugh? She gave her head a shake to clear her thoughts.
He cocked his brow at her, his hands moved up instinctively in a truce form but he was still much taller than her. He towered over her average sized frame. She glared up at him. Green meeting purple in a silent yet brief standoff.
"Kinky-"
"Just shut up," she hissed using a little more force than needed to push him back against the door just so she could hear the satisfying thud of his body hit something. She was slipping. There was another crack of something fragile as her powers lashed out, Raven wasn't going to look to see what it was. He wasn't going to be safe much longer if this kept up. This stupid pointless back and forth. What was she doing? Why didn't she just leave? She needed to figure out what was going on with Starfire, and what exactly Red-X was up to. She also needed to figure out if this Slade thing was anything to go on.
Without another word she took a step back and teleported to the roof of the Tower. Leaving behind a slightly turned on Red-X/Jason.
()()()()()()()()
Raven took a deep breath of the salty sea air. It was an immediate relief compared to the stuffy apartment that she had just vacated. The breeze was like a slap in the face, calming her, as she folded her legs underneath her and immediately started meditating. Her emotions had gotten the best of her for a moment. That room was charred with too many emotions and it had been distracting. It had rubbed her the wrong way. Part of it was the freshness of the bond, she didn't know Red-X or Jason as he had corrected her. He didn't know her either. And from the sound of it he knew the bare minimum of her culture.
She heard a distant crack of some window shattering. Raven sighed. Deep breaths, relax, and -"Azarath metrion zinthos."