A/N: Yo. This one's kinda short, so it's a two for one deal this week. Enjoy!

Chapter 6

Raven walked slowly through the East Tower, hiding from the early morning sunlight under the hood of her cloak and picking unconsciously at the x-canceller that was still stuck to her forehead. If looks could kill, X would have been dead that morning when he told her that for 'safety reasons' she was going to wear that thing until they moved in to take out Slade.

'Safety reasons,' Raven thought snidely. 'I really do hate him.'

She gratefully accepted the cup of tea that Aqualad offered her and sat down at the breakfast table, trying to tune into the conversation that was taking place.

"Due to unforeseen setbacks," Bumblebee began, "we didn't have a chance to set up our attack plan, let alone put it into motion. So, first things first. Teams and assignments."

"I call dibs on a cute partner," Speedy said, sticking his hand in the air.

"It's ideal for me to cover the roof and have Aqualad take the grounds," she continued, giving Speedy the evil eye. "That leaves you four to take the inside. Teams of two are an easy option since Mas y Menos do better together than apart."

"Then it's me and the black bird," Speedy grinned, immediately earning a smack from Bumblebee.

"She has a name, you dolt," she chided.

Raven was off in her own little world and didn't even hear the conversation going on around her. Her mind was still on the night before and the odd actions of X. She was still trying to convince herself that it was the concussion that moved him to kiss her instead of kill her when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Does that sound agreeable to you Raven?"

Raven returned her focus to the table and realized everyone was staring at her.

Just say yes.

Raven blinked a couple times as her mind processed that Aqualad had just sent her a telepathic message, before she nodded. "Yes, that will be fine."

What did I just agree to? she asked Aqualad.

"Let's go for a walk, shall we?" he suggested. She followed him to the elevator, in which he pressed the button for sea level. As soon as the doors closed he turned to her. "You have been giving off weird vibes all morning."

Taken aback a little, Raven just kind of stared at him for a moment. "I guess I am a little distracted this morning."

"A little?" Aqualad repeated. "Speedy was trying out pet-names for you and you didn't even blink."

"I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, okay?" she answered, a little more irritably than she'd planned.

"Sorry," he hastily threw out, with some of his own irritability. "You've just been really distracted and distant lately. That may be something that the other Titans are used to but as you can see here, we generally are a very expressive group."

"I'm sorry that I've been acting this way," she apologized, even though she really didn't feel all that sorry. "I'm just not used to all this and I guess it takes a lot out of me."

"Maybe you should leave the attack to us," Aqualad suggested. "You don't look well."

"I'm fine!" she yelled and stomped out of the building.

"We'll see," Aqualad muttered, crossing his arms and heading for the communications console.

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Raven climbed on the back of the motorcycle without a word. X shrugged and took off for the farm. But half way there, curiosity got the better of him.

"That was unusually fast," he commented. "What, Titans East get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? Or was it just you?"

X was lucky he was as good of a rider as he was, since Raven punched him straight in the back of the head. The motorcycle weaved a little before he slammed on the brakes, luckily, on a relatively deserted street.

"What the hell is your problem?" he yelled, turning around and grabbing a tight hold of her arm before she could make an escape.

"You," she declared. "You are my problem. And I can't seem to get rid of it."

"Do we have to go through this every day?" he asked rhetorically. "Tonight. We're done tonight."

"That's not soon enough," Raven insisted. "It's bad enough that I have to be estranged from my friends at home, but now Titans East is starting to become weary of me."

"What do you mean, weary?"

"Aqualad thinks that I shouldn't go with on the attack tonight," Raven explained. "And he'll probably convince the others of it too."

"That is not allowed!" X bellowed, squeezing her arm tighter. "I don't care who you have to turn into a mental vegetable using your telepathic powers, but you are going tonight and that's the end of it."

Raven made no rebuttal, but glared nonetheless. Silence filled the rest of the ride back to the farm, as well as the few hours before Raven got a call on the spare communicator.

"Raven, we need you back here for one last meeting," Aqualad told her. She could tell that X was seething.

"I'll be there soon," she replied. More silence filled the ride back to town, but this time she could feel the anger radiating off of him as she sat behind him.

"Meet me at the fire station on Third Street," X growled at her. "And don't take all fucking day."

Raven had barely gotten off of the motorcycle before it was moving again. He had been touchy since she'd clocked him in the head and it didn't help that he'd had to make an extra trip to town for this spur of the moment meeting that Aqualad had contacted her about. Especially since it was probably to remove her from tonight's operation.

As she stepped off the lift, she saw all five members of Titans East sitting at the main table, all with grim expressions. Warily, she moved toward them.

"Good afternoon," she greeted them quietly. At the table, Speedy snorted.

"Not for long," he muttered.

"Raven, we're taking you off of tonight's operation," Bumblebee announced, standing.

"Under what pretense?" she asked, now starting to back away.

"Amongst other things, you've been lying to us," Aqualad stated, not looking at her. "We know about Red X."

"This is your last chance, Raven," Bumblebee told her. "Tell us the truth, what is going on?"

"I haven't lied to you," Raven insisted.

"Leaving out important details, like that you've been kicked out of the Titans," Speedy spoke up, "is the same as lying to us."

Raven had finally come up against a wall, but that wall was actually a person. She whipped around to see none other than Robin, with the other Titans flanking him.

"No more lies, Raven," Robin told her.

A/N: Ooh, a big climax point! Yeah, wait until you read the next chapter...