I'd like to thank Aquaven11 for practically writing this chapter's idea for me. Thanks, buddy! :)

(lotsa Aqua/Rae in dis here chappy. :D)


Speedy could hear things, this voice that stuck in his head at night when he couldn't sleep. It talked to him, it asked him questions. He talked back sometimes, through thoughts. Or, he'd cuss it out viciously and scare Aqualad nearly half to death.

Raven could hear it too. She hated having a mental connection with Speedy, she hated him so much. So one night, she decided to stop it.

She crept out from her room and into the living room where Aqualad and Speedy slept on the couch. She strode past Aqualad, smiling at how cute he looked when he slept tucked up in a ball like that. She quickly shook her head and continued on with her real reason. She walked over to Speedy, and crouched down so that his head was level to hers.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" She whispered, and everything turned dark.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

It wasn't the same as she remembered. And she wondered for a moment if Speedy's mind changed with the light. She couldn't see much, it was pretty dark. She started walking, whispering a 'Hello?' every now and again as if someone would answer. She saw a light up ahead, and continued walking.

When she reached the light, a gust of wind blew all around her, nearly knocking her down. When she regained her composure, she looked around to find that she was in the middle of an abandoned village.

"Roomy." She murmured while looking around. She heard a sort of thundering noise coming from far off in the distance. She looked behind her and her eyes widened. A stampede of black, zombie-looking horses was galloping at full speed towards her. She closed her eyes and flew up into the air and hid behind a small roof of a house. The stampede blew by, but she waited until she couldn't see the dust they left behind anymore. She raised an eyebrow and floated back to the ground. She walked around some more, until she came to a house with smoke coming from the chimney resting atop its roof.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

Aqualad thought he heard someone walk into the living room. He lifted his head slightly, trying to settle his eyes with the darkness of the room. He saw a hooded figure sitting in front of Speedy, and instantly felt curious. He sat up completely and stared at the unmoving pair. He shook his head and flipped off the blanket that was keeping him warm, and walked over to them.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

She opened the door, and found nothing but a dirty, empty house.

"Hello? Anyone home?" She asked, slowly walking to a small table. It had a note, carefully laced with a neat bow and a rose in a vase. She picked it up and read it out loud.

"I don't know how you got into my mind…but I'd like you to leave…if you don't, I'll have to shoot an arrow through your throat, you foul vermin. Love, Roy Harper." She shook her head. "What a surprise."

A rustle came from outside, and she quickly turned to the tree just outside the door.

"Is that you, Speedy?" She asked.

No answer. She walked out the door and turned to the tree.

"Roy if you don't put that bow away, I'll do it for you."

"How'd you know I was here?" Speedy asked, leaping down from a tree limb. "And how'd you get here?"

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

Aqualad was puzzled. There was Raven, sitting face to face with Speedy, her eyes closed and her body lifeless. He poked her, but she did nothing. He poked Speedy, and he only shifted a tad.

"R-Raven…? Are you…alive?" He asked cautiously. She did not answer.

"Speedy?" He touched the boy's eyelid. He still didn't respond.

"If this is some kind of prank, it's not funny guys." He said sternly. Still, no one moved.

"Raven? Are you…in Speedy's mind again?" He asked her, not expecting a reaction. "C-could you get out of there? It's dangerous in his head at night…" He tried to pick her up, but she was like stone, glued to the floor almost.

"RAVEN. Please do something…" He said, shaking her shoulders. He looked at Speedy and frowned, then he leaned over Speedy's ear.

"Hello?" He said, tapping Speedy's head as well. "If Raven's in there, I'd like her to come out please."

Speedy didn't move.

"Come on!" He said, frustrated. He shook Speedy's head a little.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

"Remember earlier today how I got in your mind? That's how I'm here now. And I'm trying to find a way to stop those voices from invading my thoughts when I sleep."

"You and me both…" He said, rubbing his neck. "So…"

"So what? We need to get going." She said, heading off in the direction the stampede of horses went.

"Oh, you don't want to go that way, Rae!" He said and ran after her.

"Why not?"

"Because, that leads you to the nightmare part of this dream…and you'll have to deal with that…vampire guy."

"I'm shaking." She said sarcastically.

"Y-you can't go! Not without me…" He said.

"Of course I can't." she rolled her eyes.

"Just…ugh, okay…let's go…" He said, trudging forward.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

"RAVEN! SPEEDY! WAKE UP!!" By now, Aqualad had resorted to slapping Speedy repeatedly and opening Raven's eyelids with his fingers. Speedy's only reaction was his cheeks turning red, and Raven's eyes appeared to have rolled back into her head.

Aqualad sighed and fell onto the couch. But he quickly shot up with a new idea. He picked Speedy up and sat him on the floor next to Raven. Then, he took Speedy's head and shook it rapidly, as if trying to shake Raven out of his head.

"GET OUT!!" He yelled and slapped Speedy one more time. Then, he lay on the floor helplessly. He'd run out of ideas, and frankly, he was too tired to care anymore. He sat up and rested his head on Raven's shoulder. What if Raven was stuck in Speedy's head? The thought made him cringe, he'd hate to be stuck in Speedy's head.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

Raven and Speedy walked silently on the dirt road. The blue sky was slowly fading to gray, and the green grass was dying as they walked on.

"So. Being possessed. Isn't fun, is it?" Raven said, trying to break the loud silence that buzzed in her ears.

Speedy shook his head, looking at his feet as if in shame.

"It hurt. It felt…it felt like my entire body was burning on the inside. My muscles hurt all over…and my throat burned so bad when he talked." Speedy explained. He shivered at the memory.

Raven nodded. "Most humans never experience anything paranormal like that. Being possessed by such a strong spirit is rare."

Speedy looked at her. She was staring at the road ahead.

"How much longer until we hit the nightmare section?" She asked.

"A few centimeters…" Speedy gulped. His heart was beating fast already. "H-hey, what happens if I wake up while you're in here?" He asked.

"I'll be stuck in here until you fall this deep in sleep again."

"Oh…" He said. "Th-then I should stay here…I'll wake up if I go any further."

"How do you know?" She asked.

"See that red swirly cloud up there?" He pointed to a deep red funnel cloud. "That marks the location of the boy. If I walk within this ring of dark gray clouds here," He pointed to a spiral of gray clouds. "I'm toast. He'll kill me in my own mind."

Raven sighed. "Of course. Look, stay here and look for a way for me to get out. I just need to talk to this guy…"

Speedy nodded, and darted back the way he came.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

Aqualad felt lonely. He was sitting with his head leaned against Raven's, and his arm around Speedy's shoulders. He began to think deeply about all sorts of things.

Will they ever wake up?

Will Speedy's nightmares stop?

Does Raven really not love me back?

He looked at her and frowned. He wanted to see her smile.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

Raven was almost within the first rung of the Red funnel cloud's rings when she heard a loud crack!

She opened her eyes and felt a sort of pressure against her head. She was looking straight at the couch. "Aqualad…?" She asked. The pressure on her head went away that instant, and was replaced with a giant hug.

"Raven! Oh God, you don't know how scared I was!"

She blushed and hugged back. "It's okay; I was only gone for a bit."

"No, you were out for hours. It's almost dawn." He said, looking her in the eyes. "What did you see?"

"Well, I saw Speedy." Speedy leaned forward, one hand on his forehead, the other resting on his knee.

"YOU!" He said, pointing a finger at Raven. "You stay OUT of my dreams!" He climbed back on the couch and rolled over angrily.

Raven looked at Aqualad.

"Were you really scared?"

"Of course…" He said, blushing. "Two of my best friends were out cold in the middle of the night."

"I'm your best friend?" She asked, a little confused.

"Sh-sure." He replied. He was blushing even more.

~~~~~/^*^\~~~~~

"Can I ask you something?" She said while Aqualad was walking her back to her room.

"Yeah."

"When that boy possessed Speedy and said that the one you truly loved didn't love you back…who was he talking about?"

Aqualad froze. He didn't want to tell her yet.

"I…"

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I'll understand."

He rubbed his neck.

"I…Um…I'll tell you later, it's late. I mean early. It's early. And I'm tired, and I'm sure you are too, and-"

Raven hugged him just to shut him up.

"Thank you." She said, and shuffled into her room.