A/N: So, the text after the (TT) and before the (/TT) were written by Absentia, who is no longer writing in the TT fandom, but was a very big help to the development of this story overall, so if I use something she wrote, I must give her credit.
We are almost done with this wild and crazy ride called "Stupid Cupid" folks, only a few more chapters left. For those of you that have stuck with me from the beginning, thanks for sticking around.
I did not expect this story to raise so much controversy, honestly, and although I never thought I'd do this, I will not allow any guest reviews from now on, so if you have something to say to me, please sign on so that I can respond to you. I believe in open communication and do not mistreat anyone just because I don't agree with what they say or because they say something negative about my writing, so allow me the courtesy of responding and sign in before you leave your review, or at least send me a PM if you don't want your login associated with what you will say for public consumption. Otherwise, don't bother leaving a review.
Stupid Cupid
Chapter 25: Homecoming
By Em
"There is no disguise which can hide love for long where it exists, or simulate it where it does not."
- Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Cyborg and Beast Boy were in the midst of a frantic game of something or other on the Gamestation when Robin and Raven stepped out of the elevator and into the common room. Starfire was the first to notice them.
"Friends!" she exclaimed, flying to their side. "Welcome home!" she said, bestowing each of them with an enthusiastic hug. "You have been sorely missed!"
"Thanks, Star," Raven said, patting her arms still around her neck. "It's good to be home."
"Yes, it is," Robin agreed, walking up to the two on the couch. "What'd we miss?" he asked.
Cyborg, who had paused the game, shrugged. "It's been pretty quiet," he reported. "Most exciting thing to go down was some guys with masks tried to rob the Bank of Perez, but we took them down without much of a fuss."
"Good," Robin acknowledged.
Beast Boy, meanwhile, had come off the sofa, approaching Raven and sniffing the air. "Do you have food on you?" he asked.
Raven shook her head disbelievingly and raised the takeout bag she was carrying in one of her hands. "From the Evergreen Café," she answered. "We stopped there for lunch, so we brought some food for you guys."
Beast Boy pounced, snatching the bag from her hand and rushing to the kitchen. "Oooh! Tell me you brought me their Mushroom Quinoa Burger!" he pleaded. "It's sooo good!"
Robin nodded and Beast Boy almost melted on the spot. "There's something for everyone, so come on Star and Cy…" Robin called from the kitchen.
Cyborg came up to Raven and gave her a one-armed hug in greeting. "Welcome home," he told her. She smiled at him and he ruffled her already slightly disheveled hair. "Speedy's not back from Steel City yet," he told her.
"Alright," Raven replied, because she wasn't sure what else she should say.
Cyborg measured her for a few moments, considering saying something, but he exhaled instead and started walking towards the kitchen.
Raven sat at the counter as she watched Beast Boy unpack the food they'd brought, digging around for his Quinoa burger. Robin went to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water, setting one down in front of her as he sat next to her at the counter.
She glanced at him. "Thanks."
He gave her a small smile.
"So, how was Gotham?" Cyborg asked as he sat down next to Raven with the take out box containing the churrasco steak and home made chimichurri sauce which he knew was his.
"Good," Robin replied.
"What'd you have to do anyway?" Beast Boy asked, sitting next to Cyborg with his own Quinoa burger.
"The JLA called and wanted a rundown on our cases in the last year," Robin lied. "Pretty boring stuff, actually."
"Dude!" Beast Boy enthused. "You guys got to meet the JLA! Why didn't you tell us?"
Robin smirked. "Because the last time I told you I was going to see the JLA you whined for days about wanting to meet the Martian Manhunter," Robin told Beast Boy. "Star wanted to go to meet Superman, and Cyborg wondered if the Green Lantern would sign his t-shirt."
All three Titans lowered their heads, acknowledging silently the truth to Robin's statements.
"As it was, I practically had to keep Raven from fangirling over Wonder Woman, I'm not sure I could deal with all of you-"
Raven was too surprised to hide her surprise, but the look of disbelief she shot at Robin quickly thinned out into a glare. "I. Did. Not. Fangirl."
Robin was not intimidated. "So, asking her about her lasso was just research?" he asked.
Raven had only met Wonder Woman twice in her life, and the most recent visit to Gotham was not one of them, but the team couldn't know the real reason they'd gone, so of course, she followed Robin's lead. "I was not asking her about her lasso," she replied staunchly. Following Robin's lead didn't mean she had to let him paint her as a fangirl. Robin raised a brow and Raven added, "I was asking about the Amazonian culture." At Robin's continued look of disbelief, Raven turned from him. "I have always been fascinated by different cultures," she told the room at large.
"Yeah, sure," Robin said. "I think she has a girl crush."
Raven didn't reply, but the bottle of water in front of Robin knocked him against the back of the head as he was turned to share a look with Cyborg.
Robin turned quickly, only to find that Raven was calmly sipping from her own bottle and his bottle was back where he'd put it. The rest of the team laughed.
x-x
Speedy walked into the common room from the elevator and heard the laughter coming from the kitchen.
"I'm only glad it wasn't me this time," Beast Boy said, to everyone's amusement.
"You didn't say anything stupid this time," Raven's monotone set everyone off again.
Speedy walked up to the kitchen in time to watch as Raven turned to her left, amusement obvious in the slight curve of her lips and the brightness of her eyes as she and Robin shared a look.
Robin said something to her while the rest of the team was laughing and his tone was low enough that Speedy couldn't catch it, but he watched as the amusement in her eyes grew. Her response made him grin outright and something inside Speedy twisted at the sight.
That look in Robin's eyes, that soft smile as he looked at her, even when she was responding to something Cyborg said and wasn't looking at him, that was what he had been telling himself he was doing this all for because that was what Raven wanted. But now that he saw it there, now that he knew the trip to Gotham had done what he had known it would and Robin was looking at Raven without hiding the emotion in his eyes, Speedy felt angry and the thought, unexpected although it was, appeared clear and fully formed in his mind. 'You can't have her.'
"Hey, Speedster!"
Beast Boy's voice, calling out to him, snapped him out of his thoughts and he smiled automatically at the younger boy. "Hey BB," he greeted, walking to the kitchen.
"You have returned!" Starfire added.
"Yep," Speedy said.
Raven turned on the stool to watch him approach and their eyes locked. "Welcome back," she said, her tone only slightly warmer than her usual monotone.
Speedy smiled brilliantly at her. "Hey babe," he greeted as he walked toward her. He glanced at Robin and watched as Robin's gaze intensified where it was fixed on Raven and he knew Robin was trying to read her response to Speedy's return. (++) Speedy glanced at Raven, oblivious to Robin's intense stare. His jaw clenched. 'You're too late, Robin,' he thought as he reached Raven's side.
Without warning, the redheaded archer reached out and snagged his arm around Raven's slender waist and, much to her surprise, pulled her off the stool, turning her to face him and dragging her against his chest.
She caught her hands against his shirtfront, her eyebrows crooked in surprised confusion.
Speedy grinned blindingly down at her. "Do you have any idea how stunningly sexy you are?" And, perhaps unwisely, he gave her no more time to prepare herself before capturing her lips fiercely under his own.
He smiled smugly in the back of his head. 'See, Robin?' he thought. 'Mine.'
He felt the slight nudge of her hand against his chest and pulled away immediately, feeling immediately contrite at the stunned expression on Raven's face. But before she had recovered enough to really question him in front of the others or remember their role and play along, Speedy encircled her in his arms and tucked her head under his chin, directing his satisfied smirk in the direction of a stiffly tensed Robin, caught in the act of taking a step forward.
'Take her if you dare.' (/++)
Raven's pinch at his side caught him unawares and he looked down at her to find that her surprise had turned to a mix between concern and confusion. She raised her brows, obviously asking what he thought he was doing.
"Missed you," he told her, honestly, but the look she gave him was saying more than he was willing to really read at the moment.
Cyborg, who had been about to threaten Speedy with violence if he didn't set Raven down, was stopped short by the archer's impulsive kiss. He started to say something properly threatening, when he caught movement from Robin. 'Crap,' he thought and stood from his stool, neatly stepping in front of Robin before their leader could do whatever his instinct had been to do. Now standing, Cyborg went right up to Speedy and smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!" Speedy reacted, rubbing the back of his head.
"Show some respect!" Cyborg chastised.
"Yeah," Beast Boy added, laughing. "Or at least, go get a room."
Speedy grinned at the changeling and started to answer when Cyborg swiped at Speedy's head again. Half prepared this time, Speedy ducked just in time to avoid the hit. Speedy grinned at Cyborg and Cyborg narrowed his eye at him.
"Cyborg," Raven said.
Cyborg looked at Raven and pointed at Speedy. "He's being disrespectful."
Raven elbowed Speedy. "Say you're sorry."
Speedy grinned. "But I'm not," he admitted.
Raven glared at him. "Not helping," she said in an undertone he could make out clearly. He simply grinned at her.
"Alright, fine," Speedy sighed. "Why don't we go somewhere private so we can catch up properly," he said, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Raven was going to let him lead her away, seeing as how she knew she had to talk to him about everything that had happened in Gotham and the realizations she had come to, both about her own feelings and Robin's, but Cyborg had heard Speedy's suggestion and she caught sight of it when he started forward menacingly.
Raven stepped out from next to Speedy and put her hands on Cyborg's chest. "Cyborg, I'm expecting a package – it should've arrived earlier today, by any chance has it?" Raven asked.
Cyborg glared at Speedy over Raven's head, but stopped trying to advance in order to look down at Raven. Noting that Cyborg wasn't in any immediate danger of starting a sparring match in their common room, Raven stepped back. Speedy reached out and took her hand, but she hardly noticed, so focused was she on diffusing the situation with Cyborg.
"Uh, yeah," Cyborg answered Raven. "You got one this morning. It looked like a garment bag, so I hung it on your door."
"Thank you," Raven replied.
"Is it a dress, Friend Raven?" Starfire asked.
Raven nodded.
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "May I see it, please?" Starfire asked.
Raven's lips relaxed and quirked slightly upwards. "Yes, of course," she replied.
"May we go now?" Starfire asked. "I am most desirous of seeing what dress you would consider purchase worthy."
Raven looked at Speedy, who was watching her with an unreadable expression on his face, and then back to Starfire. "Sure," she replied. "Let's go now." Turning to Speedy again, Raven said, "We need to talk," in a careful undertone only he could hear. Speedy heard her, but didn't get a chance to respond before Starfire took Raven's hand and started to drag her toward the elevators.
"We will be back later, friends" Starfire called back. "Raven has consented to show me the dress she had sent from Gotham!"
Speedy, still holding Raven's other hand, didn't let it go when Starfire started pulling her away, so that Raven turned to look a question at him.
Speedy's lips twisted into a small, brittle smile. Raven hesitated, but he let her hand slide out of his and Starfire who hadn't noticed the exchange, finished pulling Raven to the elevator.
x-x
When Raven was out of sight, Speedy turned to see Cyborg and Beast Boy were picking up the kitchen from lunch, and Robin was nowhere to be seen.
Speedy approached the kitchen and leaned on the island counter. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful, you know," Speedy said.
Cyborg glanced at him and sighed. "Sure," Cyborg allowed.
"Hey," Beast Boy said as he pushed some trash into the bin. "You guys wanna play some volleyball? It's a great day for it."
"I'll play," Cyborg told Beast Boy who grinned. "If you take out the trash."
Beast Boy pouted. "I took it out yesterday," he argued.
"Try last week," Cyborg countered. "I took it out yesterday," he reminded the changeling.
"Ah, yeah…it just seems like yesterday, I guess," Beast Boy allowed sheepishly.
Cyborg stared at him and Beast Boy laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll take out the trash…yeesh…" he said, pulling the trash bag out of the bin, tying it closed and hefting it toward the trash chute they had in the basement.
"Go on up to the roof when you're done and set up the net while I finish up here!" Cyborg called after him.
"Okay!" Beast Boy called back as he disappeared into the stairwell to the basement.
Cyborg looked up at Speedy with a container of leftovers in his hand. "You hungry?" he asked. "We got leftovers from the Evergreen Café."
"Nah, thanks, not hungry," Speedy replied.
Cyborg nodded and put the containers away in the fridge. "You want to play v-ball with us upstairs?" he asked, turning to face Speedy and closing the fridge.
"No, thanks," Speedy replied. He thought about asking where Robin was, but decided against it. He didn't want the metal-man to wonder about why he was wondering about Robin's whereabouts, and he wasn't ready to admit aloud that he was worried Robin had decided to follow the girls to Raven's room.
Cyborg shrugged. "We'll be upstairs if you change your mind," he offered as he walked out of the kitchen and to the elevator.
x-x
Once they had reached the door to her room, Raven unhooked the sturdy garment bag from the plastic hook Cyborg had stuck on her door and handed it to Starfire, opening the door and leading the alien inside.
Starfire had already unzipped the bag halfway by the time Raven's door closed behind her.
"Oh," Starfire breathed, taking in only the parts of it she could see as she pulled aside the bag. She went to Raven's closet and hooked the hanger on the door, pulling aside the bag entirely and standing back to admire it. "It is beautiful." Starfire turned from the dress to Raven who was sitting on her bed, removing her shoes. "And it is very much perfectly you," she said, grinning.
Raven dropped her boots on the ground. "There should be a pair of shoes and a handbag in there somewhere," Raven told her.
Starfire dug around the bottom of the garment bag and found the handbag and shoes, each in their own individual cotton bags. She came to sit next to Raven in order to unwrap them, ooh-ing and aah-ing as she revealed them.
"Did Robin take you to a fancy party while in Gotham?" Starfire asked.
Raven leaned back on her hands, stretching out her legs in front of her. "No," she answered, hating having to lie to Starfire, but knowing that she couldn't say exactly what they'd done or risk revealing information about Robin that Raven knew he wanted to keep private. "I went to a party," she said. "And Robin did as well."
Starfire turned to Raven, setting aside the shoes and the clutch she'd put back in their bags. "It is…okay," Starfire said cautiously.
"What is?" Raven asked.
"If Robin took you out to somewhere wonderful while you were in Gotham," Starfire said. Raven raised her brows and Starfire smiled at her. "I know he does not feel that way about me," she confessed. "For a long time now I have known this," she added. "And also, I have realized that I do not feel that way about him, because knowing that he did not want to be with me did not hurt."
Raven was staring at Starfire in surprise.
"I know," Starfire said, looking at Raven. "You are surprised, because I was quite obvious about wanting to be around him at first," she acknowledged. "But I must have mistaken my feelings, because I am not hurt at the thought of him being with someone else, or sad that it is not me." She smiled at Raven. "So, if he feels that way about you, it will not hurt me to hear it."
"Star, I don't…" Raven started, but Starfire took her hand and squeezed it.
"You do not have to share with me how you feel about him, or how you feel about Friend Speedy," Starfire assured her. "I wanted you to understand that it does not hurt me if you do feel for Robin, and also…" the alien trailed off, then as if gathering her courage, went on. "I do not believe Robin or Speedy understand about how sometimes the heart can have feelings for more than one person," Starfire said. "I would wish that whatever you decide, you try to avoid hurting anyone," she added.
Raven could feel the concern coming from Starfire through their connected hands, and the acceptance and understanding as well and Raven's heart swelled a little. She had always known Starfire was loving and understanding, but it had taken something like this and the girl's courage in sharing it with her to make her really comprehend it. Raven's emotions were swept up with an overwhelming urge to hug the alien girl. She resisted, squeezing her hand back instead.
"Speedy and I like each other," Raven admitted softly. "And we respect each other, and we enjoy each other's company, but we don't love each other."
Starfire raised her eyebrows, surprised that Raven had revealed so much. "What you describe sounds like love," Starfire mused.
"Yes, I know," Raven admitted. "But I have searched my emotions these last few days and I've realized love is…" she trailed off as she searched for the proper adjective, "…more than that," she decided, still a little uncertain.
"More?" Starfire asked, cocking her head to the side. "How?"
"I don't really know," Raven allowed. "It's somehow intangible," she said. "But it's different than anything else, any other feeling."
Raven lapsed into silence. It also did not escape Starfire's notice that Raven did not define her feelings for Robin, but Starfire had been surprised enough by the fact Raven had said what she had, and she would not push any further. Instead, Starfire let her gaze fall back on the dress hanging before them.
"I am certain you looked beautiful in that dress," Starfire said into the silence.
Raven scoffed a bit, but didn't offer the derisive remark she might normally.
"I wish I could have seen you in it," she mused.
"I'm not going to put it on now, Star," Raven said.
She felt Starfire's disappointment, but was not surprised when she perked up almost immediately as she remembered something else. "Do you wish to go to the mall of shopping with me?"
Raven looked at her sideways and Starfire laughed. "It will take no more than an hour."
"I doubt that," Raven replied. "You may intend for it only to take an hour, but you and the mall never equal less than several hours."
Still laughing, Starfire shook her head. "But I am only going to pick up the tee shirts for the middle school children who have excelled in their studies this educational period."
Raven remembered one of their outreach programs to encourage kids to do well in school where the top 5% of the fifth grade class would receive t-shirts signed by their favorite Titan.
"The tee shirts are ready and I have only to pick them up," Starfire encouraged.
Raven sighed and reached back down for her shoes again. "Alright, but if you take longer than necessary or even start to stray to one of the other shops, I swear I'll leave you there, Star."
Starfire laughed and floated in her happiness.
x-x
Speedy found Robin in the training room, quickly and efficiently going through the movements of what appeared to be a variation of a Japanese Iaido kata only with his Bo Staff instead of a sword. He stepped into the training room quietly, and thought Robin hadn't noticed him there until the Boy Wonder stopped with his back to him and spoke.
"Raven's not here, as you can see."
"Oh, I know," Speedy replied. "She's in her room with Star showing her that dress she bought in Gotham."
Robin turned around to face Speedy. "So, what do you want?" he asked. "Come to take me up on my offer of a match?"
Speedy shrugged nonchalantly. "Sure," he approached the center of the room where Robin was standing on the matts. Speedy slipped off his street shoes and pulled off his socks before stepping onto the matt. "I've got nothing better to do while Rae is otherwise engaged."
With a casual grace inherent in long practice and familiarity, Robin flipped his staff in his hand, depressing the button that would shrink it back to pocket size in one smooth motion. The staff obligingly reduced and Robin set it on the matt, rolling it out of the way so that it rolled off the matt and stopped near the back of the room.
Speedy meanwhile had taken on a casual sort of preparatory stance, hands still at his sides, but his legs slightly parted.
For a few moments, they watched each other, and Speedy waited on the matt even when Robin took a few steps closer.
"Ready?" Robin asked, even though he could see from the tension in the archer's shoulders and the flexing of his hands that he was.
Speedy hadn't finished nodding when Robin sprang toward him, flipping in the air aiming for a hit to the sternum with his left leg. Speedy saw it coming and did a backflip out of range, landing on a crouch and looking up just in time to see Robin landing and turning to attack again. Speedy pushed off the ground, sliding on the matt across with the intention of knocking Robin off balance, but Robin jumped forward, over Speedy, tumbling into a crouch a couple of feet away from the archer.
Correctly predicting Robin's stillness to signify that he was not going to immediately attack, Speedy stood from his crouch slowly, stepping back a little with his left leg to hold his balance, his eyes measuring every movement of his opponent.
"Enough of a warm up for you, then?" Speedy asked glibly, purposefully loosening his shoulders and stilling the fingers of his right hand from the habitual twitching for an arrow. He'd watched enough videos of himself in battles and training to know his tells when he fought, but it wasn't always easy to catch himself at them.
Robin, who had stood up as well, was holding himself perfectly still, even though his instinct was to keep attacking. "Do you talk this much all the time?" he asked.
Speedy laughed. "Nope," he answered. "There are some times I'm too focused on who's beneath me to do much talking at all."
The words had barely left his mouth before Robin sprang into movement, breaching the space between them before Speedy had even realized what had happened. It was almost like a choreographed dance, the way they moved; arms shooting out with deadly accuracy, legs swiping, fists punching. They moved in almost perfect complement, first Robin on the offensive and Speedy moving to counter and avoid, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Robin feinted left and Speedy left his right exposed for the split second it took for Robin to pull in close and strike up into Speedy's chest with a sharp strike of his elbow. Unable to block the strike, Speedy took the opportunity to strike out with his own elbow, catching Robin across the cheek just before being pushed back by Robin's hit.
"You're some piece of work," Robin bit out.
Speedy resisted rubbing at the spot on his chest where Robin's blow had landed, breathing a little hard from the hit. He managed to smirk at him, just the same. "Now, now, Rob," he said, straightening and readying for the next attack. "No need to go calling me names just because I've got something you want."
Robin clenched his jaw but laughed mirthlessly, "You really are a fool if you think you have Raven."
Speedy cocked his head to the side, still waiting for Robin's next move. "You're right, of course," he admitted easily. "I don't have Raven." He shifted a bit to his left experimentally, watching as Robin's body tensed to move in response to whatever he might do. "But I do have her attention," he said and stepped slowly to his right. Robin mirrored his movements, keeping the distance between them meticulously steady. "I have her affection," he continued. "And the freedom to touch her…" he took another two steps and Robin followed, his expression growing darker with every word. "…hold her hand and kiss her…" Speedy braced himself. "I don't have to make up excuses to get her to go out with me," Speedy's voice had shifted from his typical easy going lilt into a quiet and taut timbre. "I don't have to hide what I feel for—" Speedy cut himself off as Robin breached the distance between them in two quick strides and leapt into the air, flipping around mid-leap to attack with an unforgiving roundhouse kick.
Speedy dove to the side, Robin's foot missing his face by mere inches. Reaching out, Speedy's hands took hold of Robin's ankle and he started to twist, attempting to use Robin's momentum to toss him across the room, but the former acrobat had little trouble in flipping in midair so that he could kick out toward Speedy, connecting with Speedy's right shoulder. As soon as Speedy released his ankle in surprise, Robin fell onto his back with a thud, wasting no time in pushing himself off the ground to standing.
Speedy had stumbled back a few steps with the surprise of Robin's midair counter, but recovering quickly, he was on Robin almost as soon as he had regained his feet, throwing an uppercut punch that would have clipped Robin's chin had the archer been two seconds faster. Still, sidestepping Speedy's punch, Robin did not expect Speedy to take his arm and twist it around firmly behind him.
"But not her love," Robin said. Speedy's grip faltered enough for Robin to twist his arm and turn out of the hold, flipping Speedy over his shoulder onto the matt. He followed Speedy onto the ground, hand pressing Speedy's head onto the matt with a firm grip on his chin. "She doesn't love you," Robin said, his tone hard. "And once you're gone, she'll go back to –"
Speedy gripped Robin's arms and flipped him over his head, rolling up and onto his feet. "-You?" he laughed harshly. He attacked before Robin could see it coming, and for a few moments, there was nothing but a flurry of punches and dodges and swipes and kicks, the speed and accuracy making it look like a choreographed dance again, but there was nothing choreographed about the punches either landed in sides and faces or the kicks in stomachs and shoulders. "She may not love me, but I'm not shying away from what I feel about her behind selfish," Speedy's punch landed across Robin's cheek, "stupid," his knee jammed into his gut, "chicken shit," he avoided Robin's blow by pushing him away, "excuses," he finished, breathless from maintaining both the physical effort while talking. "I can make her happy," he finished.
Robin regained his balance quickly, bracing himself and glaring at the red-head. He felt the blood traveling down from the cut he could feel above his left eye and he wiped at it on his cheek with the back of his hand. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Robin bit out. He leveled his gaze on Speedy's rapidly bruising face, the undisguised anger in his eyes. "You don't even know what would make Raven happy," he continued. "You don't know the first thing about her."
Speedy laughed mirthlessly. "And you do?" he challenged. "Since I've been here, all you've done is hurt her," he flung at him. "She deserves someone who'll pick her first," Speedy shot at him. "Someone who would let the fucking city burn if it was the only way to keep her safe," he insisted. "She needs—"
For some reason, Speedy had not been expecting Robin's immediate approach and the punch that caught him across the right eye sent him reeling back a few steps. (TT) "What the fuck do you know about her!?" Robin demanded, shoving roughly at the other's shoulders, making him stumble backwards and catch himself on a rack of handheld weights. Robin's ire burned in his cheeks and behind his eyes, and he clenched his fists tightly at his sides, in order not to wrap them around the archer's throat. "Don't you talk to me like you know her, not like I do. You don't have that fucking right."
Speedy straightened himself nimbly away from the rack and bared his teeth in a warning grin at Robin's anger. "Is that so?" he asked, dangerously calm in the face of Robin's tenuous control. "You seem so convinced of that, but I'm the one with the right to share her bed, not you," Speedy pointed in Robin's direction. "Though you apparently know her so well," he mocked. "Why is that, hmm, Boy Wonder?" The war smile widened fractionally at the twitch of Robin's lips when he invoked his nickname. "I may not know what her eyes looked like when she thought the world was ending, but you don't know what I know," Speedy stalked forward toward Robin with measured steps. "What her eyes look like in invitation, or what she whispers between the sheets." Robin was shaking his head, more a warning to stop there than a denial, but Speedy plowed on relentlessly, taking a malicious glee from Robin's fury. "And it eats. You. Up."
"Shut UP!" Robin growled, before launching himself at the redheaded East Titan, fast as a snake and just as intent on striking.
Speedy ducked just short of a blow that would have knocked into his left cheek, and rolled away to one side, coming back up on his feet just in time (/TT) to raise his arms to protect his head as Robin's leg kicked into them with amazing force. Speedy crouched and swept Robin's legs out from under him as soon as he landed, but the brunette barely missed a step, tumbling to the left in a controlled roll that let him connect with Speedy's right flank with a vicious blow.
Speedy toppled to the ground and Robin was crouched behind him and had him in a headlock before Speedy could recover. As soon as his hold was secure, left arm anchoring the right across his neck, Robin squeezed. "You think that's enough to make her love you?" Robin scoffed.
The sound of the doors of the training room whooshing open was clearly heard above their labored breathing, but neither one moved an inch until Robin was forcefully lifted and pulled away. Speedy dropped onto his back.
"What in the actual fuck is going on here?" Cyborg demanded, lowering Robin to his feet on the ground a good several feet away from Speedy.
Starfire's gasp echoed in the silence and both archer and acrobat turned to find Starfire and Raven standing in the doorway, twin looks of surprise and confusion on their faces.
"You two have taken this too far," Cyborg chastised, leveling a hard look first at Robin standing next to him and then at Speedy, still on the ground.
At the look, Speedy started to sit up, but he winced and let himself fall back onto the ground. "Ouch," he said softly, not even bothering to wipe at the blood dripping down the side of his face. "Would you mind yelling at me while I stay down here?" he quipped.
"Friends! What has happened?" Starfire asked. "Have we been attacked?"
Raven, meanwhile, was silently measuring both Robin and Speedy and making herself focus on triaging their injuries rather than listening to the little voice inside her that was insisting this was somehow her fault. She stepped into the room, but stopped when she felt Robin's eyes on her. She looked up at him and wasn't sure she was able to keep the disappointment from her expression.
"Raven," Robin spoke, unsure of what would come after.
Raven forced the expressiveness off her face. "You'll live," she declared, breaking the connection between them and walking up to Speedy. She crouched down next to him and he turned toward her.
"Hey, beautiful," Speedy greeted, attempting a smile. Raven narrowed her eyes at him warningly and he laughed – or, tried to anyway. "You wouldn't hit a guy when he's down, would you?" he asked.
Raven sighed. "Can you stand?" she asked. "I can teleport us to the medlab if you can't."
"Nah," Speedy said, starting to sit up, wincing but managing it. "I got this," he assured her, then paused, obviously trying to decide how best to stand. Raven took his arm and put it around her shoulder, using it as leverage to help him stand. She could feel the pain radiating in his body and tried to take it easy, but he pushed himself upward and onto his feet, leaning a bit on her once he'd stood.
Raven slipped her arm around his back, anchoring her hand as high up his torso as she could to avoid his obviously sensitive ribs. "Let's get you to the medlab," Raven said, voice subdued.
Speedy looked at her, really only able to see her through one eye since the other was swelling up fast, and tried not to read too much into the gentleness of her touch or the way she had left Robin on his own to come to him first. Despite the pain, he found himself sort of glad. It took him a few moments to realize how incredibly messed up that was, but he couldn't really help it, could he?
"Can you walk?" she asked.
He nodded and started to walk toward the door where Starfire still stood, stunned. "Hey, Star," he greeted, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.
"Friend," Star breathed.
Raven caught Starfire eye as they walked out the door, her expression pained for a moment. Starfire frowned, and when Raven expressively jerked her head toward the room inside, Starfire understood exactly what she was saying. Starfire nodded as they walked out of the room, turning to Robin who had been watching Raven and Speedy's exit with a completely unreadable look on his face.
x-x
End A/N: So, I suck at writing action/fighting scenes, as is pretty obvious. (I have always said that my muse is a lover, not a fighter. LOL) I hope y'all forgive me for it and at least get some idea of what I had in my head was going on.
First Published on: 9/3/17