A/N: HA! New chapter in little over a week! It would've been exactly aweek if Vinnie had betaed and sent this back last night.
Many thanks to all the reviewers who reviewed! I was ecstatic from all the nice comments and compliments I got! And, like I told you, reviews do not go unnoticed, so here is the new chapter after one week, instead of my customary two. Many thanks again!
Now, to the story! I know that cliffhanger just about killed you all... :-P
Honesty
Chapter 2
Raven groaned. Every muscle in her body was achy and sore, as if she had been flung off of a cliff. Grunting, Raven rolled over, trying to go back to sleep. Her bruised body objected, however, sending daggers of pain through her as she moved.
What happened to me? Raven wondered, grimacing at the pain, her eyes still shut and her face in her pillow. Why do I hurt so badly?
Memories assailed Raven, as she remembered the fight between herself and Jinx. She remembered how she had been about to be hit Jinx's curse, but Robin had pushed her out of the way just in time.
No wonder I'm so sore, Raven thought. Robin and I fell from pretty high up.
Rolling over to her left side, Raven opened her eyes, blinking as her they adjusted to the light. She looked around her, and realized she was not in her room.
For one thing, there was light in the room. There was actual sunlight filtering in brightly from a window somewhere, something that was never in her room. The bedding pulled around her was an unusual pale blue, instead of her customary dark gray blankets. The walls were off-white, with dusty orange-brown carpet, dusty orange stripes of color, and wooden molding accentuating the room. There were wooden shelves around the room, a wooden chest of drawers on the floor, wooden closet doors, and a white leather punching bag dangling from the ceiling. The room was simple and uncluttered, and immaculately clean. The automatic metal doors, however, told her that she was, at least, somewhere in the tower.
Trying to put all the details together, Raven rolled over to her left side to see the rest of the room. The sunlight was coming from a wall length window, preventing her from seeing anything else but tiny red circles of pain from the light. Squinting madly, Raven mentally drew the pale blue curtains half shut, and sighed, relieved, as the sunlight lessened considerably. She could now tell from the dim reddish glow outside that it was evening.
I must have slept all day, Raven thought, slightly shocked. I never sleep that much! Gathering her thoughts, Raven glanced about the new part of the room. When she looked around, however, she would have fallen over with shock had she been standing up.
Robin was on a bed about ten feet away from her own. He had several bruises and scabbing cuts, and looked to still be asleep. His breathing was measured and even, though, and he looked peaceful, despite his wounds. Raven flushed lightly. It seemed wrong, somehow, to invade his privacy like this and watch him sleep, despite the fact that someone had put her here with him.
As Raven sighed and looked around the neat room again, realization slammed into her. I'm in Robin's room! she thought, gasping, as she finally recognized her surroundings. They put me in Robin's room, all alone with him!
Robin stirred at her gasp, and Raven promptly shut her mouth and watched as he groaned, shifted, and sat up.
Raven watched as he rubbed his eyes through his mask, and looked at the window. He's probably trying to figure out what's going on, she observed. At least he knows he's in his own room.
Robin yawned, turned, and jumped slightly when he saw Raven leaning up on her elbow, watching him.
"Raven!" he exclaimed, clearly surprised.
"Robin!" Raven responded, imitating Robin's tone of shock and surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Robin demanded, sounding put off, presumably at having awakened suddenly to see a strange girl in his room.
"I have no idea," Raven heard herself say honestly, before she really knew that she was speaking. Raven scowled. There were a thousand better responses than that. "I just woke up, and here I was."
Robin raised an eyebrow skeptically at her, and glanced around the room, apparently looking for further clues.
"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Raven asked, slightly irritated at his disbelieving persona, as she sat up on the bed.
"Not a clue," he said promptly. Robin looked surprised as he spoke, as if he didn't mean to. "What do you remember from before we got knocked out?" he asked, trying to piece things together.
"Fighting Jinx," Raven responded automatically. "She had conjured energy serpents, and I was battling them."
"I remember that too," Robin said, rubbing his head slightly. "You were so busy fighting the snake things that you didn't see her summon another spell to hit you with."
"And you pushed me out of the way," she said, looking at him curiously. "You risked your life to save mine."
Robin blushed slightly. "So?" he said airily, trying to shrug it off.
"So it's a very selfless romantic thing to do," Raven heard herself say. Aghast, Raven clapped a hand over her mouth, stunned by what had just slipped out. Robin turned and looked at her incredulously. "What did you say?" he asked, unbelieving.
"I said that it was a very selfless and romantic thing to do," Raven heard herself respond. Raven groaned and threw her head into her pillow frustratedly.
"Why?"
"Because it's true," Raven said into her pillow, her face flushing embarrassedly. Pulling her face out of her pillow, she turned to Robin and angrily demanded, "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Robin said instantly, the words seeming to come out of his mouth of their own accord. Robin's eyes widened. Understanding sparked in Raven's eyes.
"We have to tell the truth!" Raven exclaimed. "Whenever someone asks us a question, we're forced to respond truthfully, whether we want to or not!"
"Really?" Robin asked skeptically.
"Really," Raven said automatically. Shaking her head, she elaborated. "Remember, when you tried to push me out of the way of Jinx's curse, it hit us slightly?"
"Yeah," Robin responded reflexively.
"Her curse must have made us speak only the truth!" Raven said, triumphant.
Robin looked thoughtful. "That would make a lot of sense," he admitted. "When she shot the curse at you, Jinx yelled, 'tell the truth' at you."
Raven looked smug. "It all makes sense," she said, smiling triumphantly. "That's what the curse must have done."
"You look beautiful when you smile," Robin said impulsively. It was his turn to clap a hand over his mouth in horror, as Raven looked to him, an eyebrow raised.
"What did you say?" she asked, disbelieving.
"I said that you look beautiful when you smile," Robin repeated, wincing as the words flew out of his mouth.
"Why?" Raven asked, without thinking.
"Because it's true," he said, repeating Raven's earlier words. He groaned embarrassedly and covered his eyes with his hands momentarily. Scowling, he stood up, and began to pace around the room.
"So, because of a spell Jinx hit us with, we both have to speak the truth," he said, summarizing. "Apparently, we both have to answer any question directed at us honestly, and we seem to be honest about our thoughts as well." He determinedly looked at the floor, not making eye contact with Raven as he paced. "So, we're stuck here until the others let us out, I suppose," he finished.
"You never tried the door," Raven said automatically, "so you don't know if we can get out or not."
Robin cocked his head at her, and considered. "True," he admitted.
"Of course," Raven smirked. "I can only speak the truth, can't I?"
"Yep," Robin said immediately, as he went to the door and tried to open it. "It's locked," he said, pushing the keypad repeatedly. "The Titans must have locked us in."
"Why?" Raven asked.
"I don't know," Robin said reflexively. Sighing at his instant response, Robin pulled out his communicator from his belt. "How about we find out?" he suggested.
"Yes!" Raven said quickly, meaning every word of her automated response this time. Robin sat down on the bed next to her, and flipped the cover open, and Raven withdrew her own and did the same.
"Titans! Come in!" Robin said into it. "Is anyone there?"
"Hey, Robin!" Cyborg's face flickered into view. "Give me a second." Some dull crashing of metal was heard, and Robin and Raven sweatdropped. Cyborg's face flickered back into view. "Nice to see you up and about, man! And Raven! You doing okay?"
"No. My whole body aches and I feel like shit," Raven said bluntly. Robin snickered, and Raven moaned and covered her face with her hands.
"Yeah, that'll happen," Cyborg said sympathetically. "Look on the bright side: at least you're not dead."
"Whatever," Raven said, rolling her eyes.
"Cyborg, why are Raven and I locked in my room?" Robin asked. "And what happened to the HIVE?"
"Oh, we took care of them easy," Cyborg scoffed. "Jinx was so drained after that last spell, it was a piece of cake."
"Then why are we locked in my room?" Robin asked irritably.
"When Jinx's last spell hit you, it mixed with that spell that had just grazed you earlier," Cyborg explained. "I ran a diagnostic. According to the results, not only do you both have to speak the truth and reveal your thoughts, as her curse intended, but it's also highly contagious as well, as a result of the magical residue left in you from her last spell.
Raven coughed, muttering something that sounded vaguely like 'stupid bitch'. Robin shot her a look.
"So you put us in here to prevent infecting the rest of the team?" Robin gathered.
"Yep," Cyborg responded, looking over his shoulder. "Hang on," he said, then yelled over his shoulder, "BB, don't you dare touch my barbecue! I'll skin you alive!" Turning back to them, he continued, "Your room's the farthest away from the other rooms, plus, I didn't think Raven would let me live if I went in her room."
Raven scowled. "How long is this going to last?" she demanded. "Are we going to spend the rest of our lives locked away and speaking the truth?"
"Nope," Cyborg said, ignoring Raven's curt tone. "It'll last a week, at the most."
"How are we going to eat?" Robin asked. "If we're being quarantined, no one will be able to get us food."
"We've got that solved, too," Cyborg smirked. "Seeing as Jinx put you in this position, she's going to be bringing you your meals. As part of her punishment, she has to help out around the tower until you guys are better."
"Are you kidding?" Raven asked incredulously. "This is nearly too good to be true!"
"It's true, all right," Cyborg laughed. "She even has this neat collar thingy on that stops her from using her magic. She has to do what we say."
Raven laughed at that, and a boom was heard over the communicator as something in the living room blew up. "Jeez, watch it Raven!" Cyborg said, irritated. "I just replaced that light bulb!"
"Why can Jinx give us our meals, but you guys can't? Won't she get infected too?" Robin asked, ignoring Cyborg's words.
"Nah," Cyborg said dismissively. "She's immune to her own spells. Lucky thing, too, or you two would starve."
"So, we're stuck here, then?" Robin said, his tone resigned.
"Yep," Cyborg said. "Anymore questions, or do you guys understand now?"
"We understand," Raven and Robin said simultaneously. They shot each other looks, and quickly turned away.
Cyborg cracked into an evil grin. "I have some questions, then. Robin, when was the last time you cried? Raven, when did you-"
Raven snapped her communicator shut promptly, as Robin said, "A year ago," and shut his hurriedly as well.
"Figures he'd take advantage of our predicament to gain blackmail material," Robin muttered darkly. Raven, however, was looking at Robin with a curious expression.
"You cried a year ago?" she asked.
"Yes," Robin muttered. "What's it to you?"
"You just don't seem the crying type," Raven said simply. "Why'd you cry?"
Robin muttered something unintelligible.
"What was that?" Raven asked, leaning closer to listen.
"I said I'd gotten caught in my zipper," Robin said loudly, his face flushing. Raven tried not to laugh, but her amusement sparkled in her eyes.
"When's the last time you cried?" Robin challenged, a vindictive gleam in his eyes. "Turnabout's only fair."
"October 9th," Raven said automatically, remembering
"You know the precise date?" Robin teased, while Raven muttered a yes. "Why?"
"It was a memorable day," Raven said carefully, making sure not to let the curse blurt out too much.
"Why? What happened on that day?" Robin asked, truly curious.
"Something bad," Raven said evasively, her emotions rising slightly in her tone.
"What specifically happened on that day?" Robin asked. Raven sighed.
"It was the day I found out Malchior had been lying to me," Raven admitted softly. Robin looked ready to kill himself for bringing such a sensitive topic up.
"I'm sorry," he said emphatically. "I didn't mean to bring up such painful memories."
"It's okay," Raven said, her tone withdrawn. "You didn't know."
"I'm still sorry, though," Robin said. He tilted her chin up so he could see her eyes. "I'm sorry," he said gently.
Raven looked at him, her eyes slightly wet. Their eyes locked, and neither seemed able to break the gaze. They sat there, silently looking at one another, neither speaking a word.
A digital alarm clock on Robin's nightstand beeped, signaling the hour, the noise breaking the spell. Raven looked away, while Robin cleared his throat and stood up. A smile sparked on Robin's face, and Raven could've sworn she practically saw a light bulb flicker on over his head. Robin fell to his knees before his drawers, opened the top one, and withdrew a battered box.
"How about a game of checkers before Jinx brings dinner up?" Robin suggested, shaking the box, and offering her a timid smile.
Raven smiled back, a genuine one. "That'd be great," she said honestly. Robin smiled back, set the game down on the bed, and proceeded to set up the board.
Raven watched Robin as he went about setting the board up and arranging the pieces. This isn't so bad…Raven thought. We're just going to hang out with each other like we normally do, mostly. She looked up at Robin, who caught her gaze and smiled at her. Raven smiled back, her cheeks flushing slightly to match the fiery sky of the setting sun outside. Maybe this won't be so bad after all…
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So, what did you think? What do you think will happen next? Review and let me know! You know the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am to write more... :) Please review!