It's been a long time since I've posted anything on my account. I'm currently co-writing an epic Kingdom Hearts fic (24000 words and counting!) with Stella Wind. It's called Nobody Fades, and it's really good, go check it out. (/feedback whoring) But really, I could never stay away from Teen Titans permanently!

Red X always appealed to me, mostly because we know nothing about him. This was just an idea I had about who he might be. Enjoy!

Stealing the suit had been a challenge. Red had stolen a lot of things. Not that it did any good in the long run – the lifestyle stayed the same no matter what he stole. He had decided to steal something from Titans Tower just to see if he could. He'd been fully expecting to get caught. He'd been planning to explain it away as a dare – nineteen-year-old boys did stupid things like that, after all. And he was good enough not to have a criminal record. Stealing something under the noses of the city's own superhero team was for kicks, nothing more.

But the suit was something special. He hadn't just stolen a questionable fashion statement. He'd stolen some freedom.

"Ramón!"

Too bad he was apparently to damn dumb to actually use the freedom to get some real freedom.

Red took a long drag on his cigarette before replying, "What?"

"Why are you smoking that filthy thing in here?" his sister snapped, "You promised that you would quit!"

Red shrugged, "The cigarettes won't kill me before something else does. Besides, these ones smell nice." He waved the box of Djarum Blacks at her. As long as he was going to invest his ill-gotten gains in his slow suicide, he might as well go for the really good kind. It was a different kind of freedom – the freedom to be really stupid, perhaps, but it was a kind of freedom.

"Why do you waste your money on that junk, Ramón? We can barely afford the rent and you make so little as it is. Did you even go to work yesterday? You're going to be fired if you keep this up."

"I hate the job anyway," he answered simply, taking another drag, "We wouldn't be in any trouble if mom didn't waste her money on the lawyer. Dad's never getting out of jail. She should give it up and marry someone else."

"Ramón!"

"It's Red, Ida. No one's called me Ramón since freshman year."

Not since he'd dyed his hair and gotten his ear pierced and broken the arm of the guy who'd been bullying him since he was eight. God damn had breaking that arm felt good. Trent had become his friend after that, and started calling him Red. It stuck, and it suited him well. Better than freaking Ramón, anyways.

He and Trent – man, they'd had some kicks. A guy could do anything with a friend like Trent to egg him on. And they had done everything. But Trent went too far, and now he was in prison, too. Right down the hall from Dad.

Trent would've loved the suit.

"Well then, Red," Ida spat the name, "At the very least don't smoke it in here."

"Fine," Red got to his feet and headed towards the back door, "Go straighten out your panties, they're obviously in a twist."

His hands were itching with the urge to get out of here. Take the suit out for a spin – go taunt the Titans again. Robin was the funniest one of all when he got pissed. If he'd just take that stick – no, huge fucking log – out of his ass, they could be great friends. After all, Red was playing with his toys.

"You should argue with Ida more quietly, Red," his other sister said as he walked through the kitchen, "If you wake mama up, she'll probably kick you out."

"It won't be the first time, nor the last," Red blinked at the scene in front of him, "Tere, what are you doing?"

Teresita was sitting on the floor with a box of bagels and the bagel slicer. Several bagels lay sliced neatly in half, some with strawberry jelly on them. He probably didn't want to know, but he'd already asked.

"I'm reenacting the French Revolution with the bagel guillotine," she said calmly, "The cinnamon raisin one is Marie Antoinette. Did she go before or after Louis? I can't remember."

"I have no idea," Red shivered, making his exit quickly. Tere was a creepy little girl. She was probably going to murder them all in their sleep one night.

He got out onto the balcony and lit another cigarette gratefully. The moon was just past full, but still very bright. It seemed to be calling to him. The suit was back in his room, calling to him.

Come on, Red. You know how you can get away from all this. Put the suit on, help yourself to some money, get away. Fly away from everything.

But as tempting as it was, there was something keeping him here. Keeping him from flying away from his crappy little apartment, his hopeless family and the little sister who was almost definitely planning to kill him.

What he wanted was to fly away far enough that they didn't matter anymore. He wanted money and a nice house. He wanted a sexy girlfriend and a fast car. He wanted a wide-screen TV and an awesome stereo system. He wanted not to care about everything that was his life right now.

What he wanted was for Trent to get out of prison so they could tear around town together. He wanted Tere to not be so damn creepy. He wanted mom to divorce dad and find a man worth her time. He wanted Ida to stop tearing herself apart trying to keep them all together.

What he wanted was for everything to spontaneously get better while staying pretty much exactly the same.

His hands glowed in the moonlight. He stood there for a while longer, smoking and thinking and trying to build up enough of a stock of not caring that he could do what he wanted to do most.

Fly away, fly away…

Hell of a freedom he'd stolen for himself when he wouldn't even use it. He stubbed out the cigarette and dropped the butt down into the alleyway below. He walked back through the kitchen (the Marie Antoinette bagel had met her fate, he saw) and made a beeline for his room.

He stored the suit in a box under his bed. Not the safest place, he knew, but it didn't matter at the moment. He pulled it on, clicked the belt into place and put the mask on.

Red X smiled.

He opened the window, and made his exit.

No responsibilities, no family, no home… Red X had nothing but a super powered suit and a powerful need to fly away.