A/N: This is the first of 2 prequels to Ravensong. This is the one that is furthest back in time. It covers the first love that broke Raven referred to in Ravensong (and the origins of the ring she wears around her neck) and goes over the first time she had to lead an army. Rated M for lemons a few chapters in. Hope you enjoy!

(If you're looking for the prequel about her dealings with Speedy, that's the second prequel that will come after this one.)

Chapter 1

Raven hit the wall with a thunk and slid down to her feet, leaning back against the wall for support as she found her footing. She glowered up at the skull caricature mask that hid the identity of Red X as he stood on the landing above them. She couldn't see his face but she could feel his smirk and it annoyed her more than she liked. She looked around and saw that Beast Boy was stuck in a mass of goo from an exploding sticky goo X, Starfire was bound by an X of her own and rolling on the floor, her eyes flashing green with rage. She couldn't see Cyborg; he had been thrown into a stack of crates and had yet to emerge. Robin was crouched to her right, bo staff at the ready.

"Man," Beast Boy whined as he tried shifting into different animals but still unable to break free from the tacky substance that held him to the ground. "What is this stuff? Why do I always get the sticky one?"

Robin quickly assessed the situation. Freeing Starfire or Beast Boy would take too much time and allow Red X to escape, as would looking for Cyborg. He turned to Raven and she nodded, ready for his plan. He felt for their bond and used it as he pointed left letting her feel where he wanted her to go. She took his direction and flew at Red X from the left as Robin approached from the right, grateful that their bond could be used in such an effective way.

He bounded up stacks of crates toward Red X as Raven approached from the other side to box him in. Robin dodged an X thrown at him, but Red X anticipated his movement and threw a disk that exploded into a net, entangling Robin before he could reach him. Red X saluted at Raven before she could reach him, grabbing the wooden case he came for and bounding away in the direction that Robin's entanglement had left open for him.

Raven swore, looking down at Robin tangled in a net that seemed to be made of metal cables. He had hit the ground hard but he seemed otherwise unscathed. Furious, but unscathed.

"I'm fine!" he called out as he made eye contact with her. He tried to reach his belt for something to cut himself free. "Get X! I'll be there as soon as I can."

Raven nodded, moving to chase Red X through the warehouse before he could make an escape. She rose up above the crates, dodging between columns of them trying to catch sight of some kind of movement that might give him away. She saw a stack of creates wobble ahead and flew toward it, finally catching sight of him ahead and using her soul self to appear in front of him, blocking his path to the exit he was heading for. He stood in a crouched defensive position as he faced her.

She called her power to her hands and held it there, waiting for Red X to make a move, but he stayed stubbornly where he was, choosing to wait to react to her moves than to go on the offensive. She was hard to read and he wasn't going to lose what he had come to steal because he misjudged her.

He stood when she didn't make a move, setting the box at his feet, tipped his head to the side and crossed his arms looking every bit like he hadn't a care in the world.

She flew at him suddenly, catching him off guard. He had been expecting her to keep her distance and stick with her magic as she usually did, but she came right at him with a flurry of blows. He stood defensively over his box, protecting it while trying to fend her off.

He finally managed to knock her back and she levitated away from him out of arm's reach. She nodded slightly as if affirming something in her head. Red X had the distinct feeling that she was testing him, analyzing him.

"Where'd you learn to fight, Princess?" he asked, impressed and being unable to keep it out of his voice.

"It's been awhile, Red X," she responded. "I've had time to train. And I train with one of the best."

"You mean the Boy Blunder?" he scoffed derisively. "Please. If you ever want to learn some new moves I could help you out there."

His voice had taken on a suggestive tone and Raven didn't miss his implication.

"I've got absolutely nothing to learn from you, X," she taunted, wondering if she could get a rise out of him, "and if you think you're distracting me so you can make your get away you can think again. I'm not letting you get away this time."

"Aww," he said, in his normal, cocky manner, propping one foot onto the box and leaning over his knee toward her nonchalantly. "You miss me already, Sunshine?"

She glared at him. "Do not call me Sunshine."

She saw how he had sacrificed his stance to attempt his carefree mockery of her. She took advantage of the fact and lunged at him again. He was, indeed, caught off guard, but his derision at Robin's fighting prowess was not from unfounded arrogance. He adapted quickly and met her attack. He was quite the fighter himself.

He grappled her momentarily, bringing his masked face uncomfortably close to hers before dropping to the ground and flipping her over him. She had a moment to react and took her opportunity, grabbing the case on her way over it as Red X tossed her over him. She used her momentum to hoist it up and flung it ahead of her as she tumbled in the air. She skidded across the floor and rose to her hands and knees, tracking him with her eyes as she rose to her feet. She was now standing between him and his target. She backed up to it and kicked it further away from him, hearing it thud against the wall behind her.

"You want a different name, then?" he asked, nonplussed by their encounter or his loss of the case. "Or maybe you want a private name for when we're alone like this?" he asked, hoping to get her guard down, his digitized voice somehow growing husky and suggestive. "Something just between us? How about Little Bird? I like the idea of having my own Little Bird."

She scoffed at him and smirked, surprising him, her confidence growing now that she had his prize. If she didn't catch him she'd at least have thwarted his efforts.

"You couldn't handle me," she said wryly, responding to his banter.

She could hear the low chuckle through his mask as he took a step toward her, his interest piqued by her response.

"Is that a challenge, Little Bird?"

"Don't even think about it, Red," she said dangerously, taking an unintended step backward and chastising herself for it internally.

He took another step toward her, emboldened by her minor retreat. "Red, huh? I get nicknames too, then? I could think of more fun ones if you want to try them out. Maybe while we work on those moves I was talking about earlier."

She scoffed at him again, rolling her eyes. His overconfidence really did know no end.

"Don't be stupid," she warned. "I have your prize. It's over. Take your out while you have it."

"Maybe the box isn't the best prize in the room anymore," his eyebrow arched suggestively and the mask mimicked the motion. He took a deliberately slow assessment of her body, looking her up and down and taking another step toward her. "Hmmm," he hummed in approval. He had meant to rattle her but he found himself really liking what he saw.

"Keep pushing me and you won't like what I'll have to do to you," she growled, feeling unnerved by his actions.

"Hmm," he hummed again. "Sounds dirty. Is that a promise?"

He lunged for her, but it was a feint. As she moved to dodge him he threw a sticky X to where she was heading and caught her against the wall with it. She cursed herself. She had just seen him pull this move on Robin and here she was falling victim to the same stunt. She struggled against her bonds as he stepped up to her. He lifted her chin with a gloved finger and lowered his masked eyes to hers.

She looked at his mask with an almost bored expression on her face, though she was furious at herself inside. But she wasn't about to let him know how much it bothered her that he had bested her.

"You don't look too concerned being pinned against the wall in the face of a criminal," he noticed, cocking his head at her.

Raven scoffed. "You're a thief, X. It's not like you're a murderer."

She wasn't wrong. His file in Titans Tower, as large as it was, was only full of crimes of larceny. A criminal he may be, but she certainly wasn't in fear for her life.

"Just because someone hasn't done something in the past doesn't mean they aren't capable of it, Sunshine," he said, a sudden hard edge in his digitized voice now. "Don't forget that."

He kept his finger under her chin and kept her face lifted toward his.

"Or maybe you secretly enjoy it," he mused. "Maybe you have a thing for being pinned to the wall by a villain."

She appeared surprised at his continued implications and he analyzed her face, really looking at it and taking it in, for the first time. He'd never taken the time in all their encounters to notice how pretty the little bird truly was. Maybe he should have been paying more attention sooner. He wondered how far he could push her. He had to admit that he was having more fun than he had thought he would tonight. He brushed a lock of hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

"I don't think I've ever realized how beautiful your eyes are before, Little Bird."

A chill ran down her back and she grunted as she tried anew to free herself of the binding X. She couldn't break it and she couldn't escape by teleporting with her soul self without taking him with her. He was too close. And while she hadn't feared that he would hurt her, at least until his veiled threat, she was now more fearful of what her emotions would do if he kept toying with her. And her pride was not ready for her to lose control in front of him after he'd already tricked her.

"Are you scared now, Little Bird?" he asked, noticing her shiver and the increase in the rhythm of her breathing, his masked face inches from hers. "There's a spark in your eyes. It's either fear . . . or I was right and it's passion. So tell me, do you like being so close to me, Little Bird, or are you scared?"

"I am not scared," she bristled, realizing too late the implication he had tricked her into.

"That is not what I m-" He placed a finger against her lips to stop her protest and stepped up to her, pressing his body against hers.

"I think it is what you meant," he purred, running the backs of his fingers down the side of her neck. He watched her breath catch and something about her stirred something within him.

A shiver ran down her spine and she couldn't figure out which of her emotions had caused it. As much as she would never admit it to him a suppressed part of her liked the attention and was causing her breathing to become more rapid and her pulse to quicken.

"Fine, X," she spat, hoping to distract him from his current train of thought, "you rattled me. You win, yet again. Congratulations. Take your prize and go. Next time you won't be so lucky, though. Mark my words."

He raised his hands to his face and pulled up his mask, not completely, still letting it shield his eyes. He leaned in over her shoulder.

"Watch what you say," he whispered in her ear, his voice deep and his breath over her skin sending more shivers down her spine. "You just invited me to take my prize and, like I said earlier, maybe the case isn't the best prize anymore. Maybe it's no longer my prize."

Her eyes widened at the rather blatant implication but before she could voice a cutting response his lips pressed against hers. He was firm, but not forceful, moving his lips slowly against hers as if coaxing her while waiting for her to make her move, curious as to what she would do. Her emotions roiled within her but Lust had been suppressed for far too long and before she could determine what a bad idea it was she found herself giving in and kissing him back.

He hummed in amusement, the sound quickly turning into a groan as she deepened the kiss and he found his tongue wrestling with hers. He pressed her into the wall with his body more firmly, catching his balance with a hand on the wall by her head. His other hand trailed from her shoulder and down her torso, finally gripping her hip as he pulled her as tightly against him as the X pinning her allowed. He didn't know what had come over him. He had only wanted to have a bit of fun with the dark Titan, toy with those infamous volatile emotions of hers. He hadn't expected her to respond like this and he hadn't expected to be drawn in like this. To be enjoying it this much. To be lost in her.

But he could feel desire for her growing as his body pushed against hers and he found himself wishing that she wasn't hindered by the binding X he had thrown. The way she kissed, he now wondered what she was capable of with her hands unrestrained.

They could hear the crates nearby exploding as her emotions ran wild, but they couldn't bring themselves to care enough to break their contact with one another. Something about their physical connection resonated with each of them and it was something neither could explain or put a name to. Something neither of them wanted to stop.

He finally pulled reluctantly away from her as he heard a commotion approaching. The other Titans had extricated themselves from his traps and would be here any moment. He could hear Robin shouting orders to the team as they approached.

He looked down at Raven, panting as he tried to catch his breath. This was not how he thought tonight would go and he was not disappointed in the least by the turn of events. And by the look on her face and the heaving of her chest neither was she. He stroked her face with his thumb before taking a step back and replacing his mask. He turned to go.

"Your case," Raven said, lamely, not sure why she said it. Her brain was just so fuzzy all of a sudden, her body in some sort of weird shock at the loss of contact.

He turned back to her and she could see the mask mimic his eyebrow arching again.

"Not my prize anymore, Little Bird. Remember?" He found that this time he might actually mean it. There was something about her that was drawing him back in.

A button on his belt glowed suddenly.

"Finally charged," he said, looking back to Raven again. "I'll be seeing you soon, Sunshine." The tone of his voice conveyed a promise rather than a parting sentiment and she wasn't sure if she was concerned or excited by it.

The other Titans arrived in time to see him press the button and disappear as he teleported away to safety. They found Raven still pinned to the wall, with the case beside her, looking shell shocked.

"Raven!" Robin cried as he ran to her, using a birdarang to cut through the X and holding onto her as she stumbled. "What happened? Are you okay? What did he do to you? Raven?!"

He shook her when she wouldn't answer and the motion made her blink and finally meet his gaze.

"I'm okay," she assured once she regained some of her senses. "Robin, I'm okay. He just . . ."

She looked off to the spot where he disappeared and her brow furrowed in confusion. What the hell had that been about? And why did she respond the way she did? She touched her lips, still not sure that any of this had actually happened.

"He just what, Raven?" Robin asked, shifting his head into her line of sight and making her focus on him once more.

"He just . . . he . . . kissed me," she breathed, her fingers still on her lower lip.

"He what?!" he snarled, his grip tightening on her shoulders. She looked him in the eyes, confusion still written all over her face.

"He – he kissed me. I got the case from him, he pinned me with the X, partially pulled up his mask and . . . he kissed me. He didn't even take the case before he left."

She gestured to the ground beside her and Robin saw the case that Red X had tried to hard to steal from the warehouse just sitting there abandoned on the ground amid the debris from her emotions.

"Why would he do that?" Raven asked when his masked eyes returned to her.

"Come on," he said, helping to steady her on her feet. He could feel how much confusion she had through their bond and he tried his best to keep the emotions he felt off of his face even though his blood was boiling. She was acting strange and it only increased his ire at Red X. "Let's get you home. Cyborg. Make sure that box gets to where it needs to go. See if you can trace where Red X may have been taking it or where he went."

Cyborg nodded and lifted the box and Robin walked out with Raven, guiding her toward his motorcycle, knowing that when her emotions were in turmoil even her teleportion could be affected. He handed her a helmet and asked if she preferred this over attempting to use her powers. She nodded and climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist as the engine roared to life.