hehe. I've been having too much fun with this particular fic.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 6

Lieutenant Richard Grayson was boring.

Garfield Logan shifted slightly in his seat, trying to get comfortable. How he wished that he could have just stuck it out fighting Cyborg! But, no, Commander Raven felt that a long- two hour long- briefing would be a more fitting punishment. She was right.

While Commander Raven and Cyborg sat up front, chuckling at his obvious unease, Lieutenant Grayson continued his lecture on Tamaranean culture. Something about how warriors got promoted. Surely after the first ten minutes a normal person could have run out of things to say. Robin was no longer a fitting nickname. How about Lieutenant Research? Or El Aburridisimo? The Boy Bore?

"Ensign, have you even been listening to a word I said?"

He snapped back to reality. A very angry face came very close to his own, startling him so that he nearly toppled over. "Wa!" he screeched, his arms doing whatever they wanted as his brain went on vacation out of surprise.

"That's what I thought," Richard smirked. "Well, Ensign, if you're so sure you know everything, why don't you tell me all about Tamaran?"

He returned the smirk with one of his own and jumped up. "Tamaran, home of Princess Koriand'r, has its own complex system of honor," he said, his voice a monotone as he slouched forward and let his eyes go out of focus. "So complex, in fact, that I could talk about the planet and its customs and anything else about it I want to for two full hours on end."

Cyborg laughed out loud, and he even managed to coax a slight chuckle from Commander Raven. Immediately, he grinned broadly. "Yes! I got Commander Raven to laugh!"

But he regretted saying it. Her face immediately darkened, and his hopes of gaining her admiration fluttered out the window. Again. Her voice that same whisper that could command such attention, she said, "Don't get too used to it, Ensign. We still have a job to do."

"Speaking of which, how long until we reach the Himalayas?" Lietutenant Grayson asked.

If Garfield Logan was the only person who could make Commander Raven laugh, Richard Grayson was the only one who could make her angry. Still, she managed a small smile. "Always getting down to business, aren't we, Lieutenant?"

"That's my job. Are you going to answer the question or not?"

Ensign Logan smiled. This time, the teasing was not evident in their voices, at least to those who didn't know better. The two of them had tried to hold back on fighting since Commander Raven's ...explosion, and they had done a pretty fair job of it, too.

Commander Raven sighed. "We should be entering the atmosphere in half an hour."

Garfield Logan jumped up onto his bunk and laid his head in his arms. "Great! Just enough time for an afternoon nap!"

Commander Raven looked as if she were about to argue, but, miraculously, didn't. Maybe she was trying to control herself after that last burst of anger. Who wouldn't? That was one of the scarier things Ensign Logan had seen, and he thought for sure that those eyes had been glowing.

TTTTTTTT

The wind swirled around the shuttle, carrying tiny snowflakes past the windows and into the mountain tops as they watched from the safe interior. With nothing else to do, Richard decided, for once, to just enjoy the scenery. Although, of course, he did do a periodic sweep of the horizon. Just in case.

Something had changed in Commander Raven. Something in the way she looked at him. As if she knew something... something that no one else would know. As if she suddenly understood a whole lot more of him than he wanted her to.

"You're awfully quiet, Robin," Victor teased, breaking the silence in the cockpit. Yes, Commander Raven had let him in the cockpit, but this only gave him more reason to be suspicious.

"Okay, so you caught me enjoying the scenery," he chuckled, actually glad for the reprieve from his thoughts. Suspicions only heightened his already overactive nerves.

"You won't be enjoying it for very long," Commander Raven sighed, "since we're about to go out there."

He shuddered instinctively, already picturing himself out in the middle of that snowstorm. It didn't sound fun, but he had never shirked from a challenge before. But he would not put himself in danger unneccessarily. Pointing to a spot on the map, he said, "This area looks like it's more sheltered than the surrounding regions. Take her down here, Cy."

Victor nodded, easing forward on the controls. "Careful!" Commander Raven whispered tersely as the shuttle rocked a bit.

Victor's eyes narrowed. "This is harder than it looks, Raven. We've got some major resistance here."

Richard leaned back against the wall, a small smile playing on his lips. "Amazing, isn't it, that we can explore entirely new galaxies and yet confront these types of problems on our own home world?"

"I'm glad you're entertained, Robin, but this really is difficult," Victor growled. As if to punctuate that statement, the ship rocked slightly to the right, ramming them into the side of a mountain.

"We're almost there, Cyborg, just keep her steady for a little while longer," Commander Raven said, and Richard couldn't help but notice that all color had drained from her face.

A bright green Ensign Logan stumbled into the cockpit. Greener than normal; that couldn't be good. "What's going on?" he groaned, clutching his stomach.

"We ran into some turbulance; no worries," Richard assured him even as they rocked again.

"I can't keep us in the air much longer," Victor reported, his hands flying across the controls as fast as he could manage. "We're going to have to land, and soon."

"Give it to me straight," Commander Raven sighed. "Do you have any idea where we are anymore?"

"Not really; the sensors sustained heavy damage when we rammed into the mountain," Victor admitted.

"Then there's really no point in struggling to stay up. Take us down the first chance you get, and preferrably somewhere with a cave."

Victor nodded, and the shuttle began its descent. Suddenly, a sharp jolt knocked Richard off his feet. "What was that?" he shouted, gripping the back of Victor's chair to help him get back up.

"I don't know; it looks like someone fired at us," Victor replied, his expression grim.

"Someone really doesn't want us here," Commander Raven remarked.

Richard scanned the horizon for some form of shelter, but everything was white... "There!" he shouted, indicating a small patch of color in the blanket of snow. "It's a cave."

"Anything's better than getting shot at and bounced around," Ensign Logan groaned.

"Agreed. Cyborg, land there, and quickly, please," Commander Raven ordered.

"Can do," Victor replied.

Another jolt sent Ensign Logan sprawling, though Richard had been gripping Victor's seat and managed to stay on his feet. Victor and Commander Raven both jerked forward, and sparks danced across the control panels. The alarms went off, and the shuttle dropped.

"What's happening?" Commander Raven gasped. "I can't get any readings!"

"Neither can I!" Victor shouted even as the shuttle plowed into the ground. Ensign Logan slid across the floor and into Richard, knocking them both into the wall. Commander Raven was showered with sparks, and Victor had to shield himself as well. Finally, the shuttle came to a stop.

After a moment of silence, Richard snapped out of his momentary stupor and pushed Ensign Logan off of him. "That was a little more excitement than I bargained for."

Victor nodded. "Alright, we'd better get out of here and try to find that cave before whoever was shooting at us finds us."

Ensign Logan pressed the button to open the doors, but nothing happened. "We're snowed in," he said, his eyes wide.

Victor shook his head, saying, "No, we're not." With that, he rushed forward with a growl and slammed into the door. It fell off of its hinges, letting gusts of cold air in. He grinned, "Being a cyborg has its advantages."

As the security officer, Richard went first. The cold wind stung his cheeks, but he kept his eyes on the horizon, scanning for any sign of movement. Only after he was absolutely certain did he call for the others to come.

"It's cold!" Ensign Logan said the moment he stepped outside.

"Aren't you a shape-shifter?" Commander Raven pointed out.

Shooting her an angry look, he said, "I was just saying!" Nevertheless, he transformed into a polar bear- a green polar bear.

"So where's the cave?" Victor asked.

Richard grinned; he had been sure to take note of their position relative to the cave's. "If we head this way, we should find it within a half hour," he said, pointing uphill.

"Well, lead the way, Lieutenant," Commander Raven said.

TTTTTTTT

The cave was not very warm, but it still provided some shelter from the storm. The storm showed no signs of letting up any time soon, so the four of them decided to make camp for the night. Thankfully, Commander Raven had thought to grab the emergency packs before they left.

As Ensign Logan struggled to start a fire, Richard stood over near the front of the cave, staring off into the white abyss. Commander Raven entertained the idea of bringing him back to reality, but decided against it. She didn't want to lose control again, so she instead started unrolling the sleeping bags.

It turned out that she didn't have to anyway. Victor walked up to the young lieutenant and clapped him on the shoulder. "A penny for your thoughts," he said.

"Cyborg," Richard sighed, "someone was just shooting at us. Obviously there's something here that we're not meant to find out about."

"And you can't turn down a mystery, can you? Let it rest, Robin, okay? We'll start working again tomorrow."

"I don't know, Cy, I've just got this gut feeling that we're closer to a breakthrough than we know."

Commander Raven sighed, then got up. "Am I interrupting anything?" she asked politely as she walked up to the two boys.

"No, not at all, Raven. What do you need?" Victor smiled.

"Actually, I'd like to talk to Lieutenant Grayson, if you don't mind," she said.

"Certainly," the big man chuckled, then walked away.

She decided to get right down to business. "I've been having that same feeling, like we're sitting on the evidence but just can't see it yet," she said.

Richard nodded. "Thank you. I thought I was just being paranoid at first, but now that someone else has confirmed it..." he trailed off, deep in thought. Suddenly, he got up. "Cy!" he called.

"Yeah?" Victor called back.

"How far back does this cave go?"

"Not sure, why?"

Richard grinned. "No reason, just curious!" He turned to her, excitement dancing in his blue eyes. "Tell me, Commander, have you ever been spelunking?"