Chapter six: Hotel Findings
Author's notes (PLEASE READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTES!): Squee! Stuff gets a little angsty from here on, but don't worry, it'll get funny again sometime. I got really sick on the 5th of this month, so that's partly why this update was so slow. ALSO, a thanks to all of the people who reviewed my one-shot "Bittersweet Sixteen." This chapter is rather long...oh, I haven't done disclaimer in a long time! I don't own the Teen Titans! Okay, now that that's over with, time to reply to the people who reviewed!
Raven-chandidntlogonOo: (the underscores in your name may not show up) Thank you, Raven-chan! You'll love this chapter! (at least, I hope so!)
TameranianRaven: Murr...how long is long for you? XP I hope that the amount of time it took me to get this up wasn't too long for you!
papersak: XD Beastboy's role...I like the way that sounds, somehow...
Regrem Erutaerc: Well, I might be able to incorporate suggestions, however, it would be rather difficult. There's probably not going to be much more interaction with the emotions, but you never know...
moo: XD It seems that many people tend to like one thing in particular with my stories that I never thought would be very funny...(i.e., in "A Helping Hand," people seemed to really like Purr attacking Slade. O.o I never thought that'd entertain anyone.) Thank you very much for the nice review!
red: Thanks!
teenRAVENtitan: The conversation between Robin and Wisdom was fun to write...nyo-ho-ho!
RavenVSdestiny: Oh, thank you very much! That's very nice!
kkori: Thank you! By the way, cute name. ;)
---
Beastboy sank into the couch, allowing a deep sigh to escape, since no one seemed to be around. Little did he know, Cyborg had just entered the room.
"What's wrong, B?" he asked.
"Aw, nothin'," Beastboy replied.
"Usually, when a person says 'nothing,' they really mean 'something,'" Cyborg pointed out wisely. "You can tell me."
Beastboy caved in. He knew he could trust Cyborg. "Well...even though it seems like Raven's problems are over, I think that there's more to this that we're not seeing."
Cyborg hopped over the back of the couch, landing next to his green friend. "What makes you say that?"
"She's just...I don't know how to describe it. There's just this feeling I'm getting that this wasn't the end. That there's something else bothering her that she won't tell us."
Cyborg's face contorted into a grin, which Beastboy noticed right away. "What's that look for?" he cried, almost offended.
Cyborg answered "Aw, nothing."
"Usually, when a person says 'nothing,' they really mean 'something,'" Beastboy countered smartly.
"Good one," Cyborg chuckled. "So what do you think we should do?"
Beastboy grinned weakly and answered "I was kinda hoping you'd have an idea. I'm all out."
"Heh, I should have known..." Cyborg stroked his beard. Okay, so Cyborg doesn't have a beard. But if he did, he would have stroked it.
The alarm sounded unexpectedly, and Robin rushed into the room, followed by Starfire.
Robin hit the power button on the monitor, and a young woman's face appeared on screen.
"This is the Teen Titans. What the trouble?" Robin queried in his business voice.
Raven had just entered the room and listened to everyone from the back of the room, so as not to attract attention to herself.
"I'm so glad I was able to contact you," she responded with a light Spanish accent. "I am in need of your assistance."
"How can we help?" Starfire inquired sweetly.
"I am the owner of a small hotel. We only just opened last week, and I have been hearing queer things at night. It has scared away my few customers, for they fear the sounds might be ghosts. Please, would you and your team do me the favor of investigating? In return, I shall, of course, provide you with a room while you are here, and free access to our food."
Robin smiled slightly and said "We'd be glad to check out your hotel for you."
"Oh, I thank you," she chirped gratefully.
Robin ended the transmission and turned to the others, sighing inwardly.
"This sounds like some superstitious chase for ghosts that don't exist," Cyborg grumbled, loud enough for all to hear.
"I am afraid of the ghosts," Starfire whimpered. "Shall they be anything like the ones in the movie 'Wicked Scary'?"
"No, Star, there aren't any ghosts," Robin assured. "We're only going to find out who or what is making the noises and how we can stop them. That way, the poor lady doesn't lose anymore business."
Raven turned on her heel and left the room, still unnoticed.
"Free food! Cool!" Beastboy reiterated, grinning broadly.
Robin was typing on the computer again, finding the co-ordinance of the hotel.
"Wow, they're really OUT there," he commented, mostly to himself. "The hotel isn't anywhere near a major city, let alone this one. It's out in a hot area, in between the way to two small cities. No wonder this lady is so concerned with keep all of her customers happy; she must get very few."
---
When the Titans arrived at their destination, they all agreed that it appeared they were in the middle of nowhere. The lady they had talked to burst through the front doors and greeted them warmly.
"I am so very happy you are here!" she blurted. "Please, please, come inside where there's air conditioning."
Starfire whispered into Robin's ear as they were following the black haired woman, "Robin, why does this lady's air need to have its hair conditioned?"
"No, Starfire, it means there's cold air inside," he whispered back.
"Oh, I see."
The lobby was very cute, if you will pardon my using that word as an adjective for a room. There were a few other young women that looked a lot like the lady they followed.
"These are my sisters, who also happen to be some of my employees," the lady explained. "My name is Lindo. This is the sister closest to me in age, Querido, this is the middle child, Medio, and the youngest, Poco. Poco, please show the Teen Titans where their room is."
A girl who looked almost exactly like Lindo, only maybe a couple of years younger, stepped forward and said "Please come with me."
Robin followed directly behind her, keeping an eye on everything that moved. Starfire kept close behind him, just in case there really were ghosts. Starfire was followed by Raven, Beastboy, and Cyborg had everybody's backs.
"Here you are," Poco said, stopped very suddenly in front of a door. Nobody had noticed that she stopped, so Robin bumped into her, Starfire into Robin, Raven into Starfire, Beastboy into Raven, and Cyborg into Beastboy, causing everyone to land on top of each other.
"I apologize," Poco said, squirming to get free.
"I have not injured you, have I, Robin?" Starfire asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," he replied. "I'd be a lot better if Cyborg would move his foot to the left a bit..."
"Sorry, man," Cyborg said, trying to oblige Robin's request.
"Beastboy, quit it! You're poking me!" Raven snarled.
"I'm not doing it on purpose! Cyborg's foot is tickling me!"
"Ack!"
Eventually, everyone managed to escape from the pile.
"I apologize again," Poco said, bowing forward. "I must leave now. If you need something, let an employee know. Enjoy your stay." With that, she left.
---
The hotel room wasn't very big. Up against the right wall were two beds and to the left wall was a couch. There was a small kitchen nook in the left wall at the back of the room with a microwave, a coffee maker, and other assorted things.
"Okay, team, it's really late and we've come a long way, so we need to decide who sleeps where," Robin said in an assertive but tired voice.
"I'll sleep in the kitchen," Cyborg volunteered. "I need to be near an electrical outlet so I can recharge."
"I shall be happy to sleep on the so-fa!" Starfire said perkily, saying sofa in a rather strange manner.
Raven shook her head. "No, that's okay, you can sleep on one of the beds, Starfire. That's what you're used to. I'll sleep here on the couch and Robin can take the other bed. Our leader needs to be in his best condition."
"But what about Beastboy?" Starfire asked, sitting on the bed she planned on sleeping in.
"I can sleep on the end of the couch in kitten form?" Beastboy offered.
"That's fine," Robin agreed. "Make sure you guys don't do anything I wouldn't do. This is a suspicious hotel and I don't want any of you wandering or something of the sort without letting me know first."
"Right," everyone agreed in unison.
"So is everyone ready for lights out?" Robin questioned.
The others nodded sleepily and retreated to their "spots" for the night.
As Beastboy curled up at Raven's feet, she gave him a strange look. He wasn't quite sure what the look was for. He tiredly dismissed it, and squirmed a bit to get comfortable.
---
Around midnight, Beastboy opened his mirror-like cat eyes, suddenly unable to sleep. He quickly scanned the room, seeing only that all of his teammates were dreaming peacefully. All except the dark girl next to him...she seemed to be tossing slightly.
Kitty-Beastboy crawled over to her to see if she was okay. Raven's expression spelled out what seemed to be...pain? But how was that possible? Beastboy rubbed his furry head against her arm, only to find that all of her muscles were tense. He daintily climbed onto her and curled into a ball, hoping that having another being near by would settle her. But unfortunately for the poor green kitten, Raven turned onto her side, causing him to fall off the narrow couch. He landed on his tiny paws, unharmed, however. On the floor, he morphed into human form, and gently stroked Raven on the arm. He was glad he didn't have to worry about waking up anyone; Raven would only wake up at noise, Starfire at physical contact, Cyborg at having his sleep mode shut down, and Robin? Robin needed an earth-splitting earthquake or an eardrum shattering alarm to be awaken. Preferably both for quicker results.
Beastboy continued to stroke Raven's upper arm as she slept fitfully. Through the darkness, he noticed something that he hadn't seen before: a rip in Raven's sleeve, revealing a nasty looking cut.
'When could she have gotten hurt like that?' he thought, examining the wound.
It appeared to be a fresh injury, which threw Beastboy for a loop. It was also relatively deep, therefore it couldn't have been something small that inflicted it.
Beastboy decided he would ask her where she got the cut in the morning. He gently ran his hand through her soft, short hair, grateful for the opportunity the be near her. He couldn't help but wonder if Wisdom was really right when she said Raven liked him.
'It just couldn't be possible,' Beastboy thought. 'I bet Wisdom was being sarcastic.'
Raven started to mutter things as she tossed. Beastboy didn't think that Raven would be the type to talk in her sleep. As more and more painful expressions etched themselves onto her features, Beastboy started to worry. Raven began trembling, and beads of sweat slipped down her forehead.
"Raven," Beastboy whispered, afraid. "Raven!"
Raven bolted upright and clutched her head. A couple of pain-brought tears escaped the corners of her violet eyes.
"Raven, are you okay?" Beastboy asked apprehensively.
Raven turned and threw her arms around him, panting and still trembling. "Oh, thank God you woke me up..." she said, out of breath.
"Raven, what happened?" Beastboy questioned, now very thoroughly confused.
"I...it's..." Raven stuttered and fumbled with the words, something Beastboy had never heard her do before. "...My emotions...it's my emotions again. My father is linked directly to Anger...he knows that I'm going through something, and he's upset about it, so he attacked me through Anger."
Beastboy put his arms around her and held her close, sparks of excitement and fear about touching Raven so intimately being sent down his spine. "What happened to you that made your father so mad?"
Raven held him at arm's length and looked him in the eyes with a penetrating stare. "I...can't say right now."
"Well, that's fine. All that's important it, are you going to be okay?" Beastboy asked, returning her stare.
"I hope so. I doubt it, though," she responded, Timid seemingly influencing her words.
"No matter what, Raven, we'll be there to help you get through anything. We're your friends."
She smiled slightly and rested her head on his chest, catching her breath. After a moment of silence, she tilted her head up and looked at him.
'I've already let Timid take over for a second tonight,' she thought as Beastboy looked at her with a smile. 'Why not appease Affection this once, too?'
Raven pulled herself up to his face and brushed her lips against his in a quick, innocent kiss. Beastboy, caught totally off-guard, stumbled backwards after she was done.
"What was that for?" he asked, surprised, with his mouth agate.
Raven replied silently, "A 'thank you' for everything you've done for me."
Beastboy put on a funny, half smile that said "You're welcome." He then yawned, "It's late. We should try to get back to sleep."
"Okay," Raven agreed, quickly glancing at the others.
Beastboy morphed into a kitten and hopped back onto the couch, curling up by Raven.
End of chapter six
Next time, on Finally Snapped...
Raven tells Beastboy the details of her attack from Anger and her father. Starfire makes something that looks like it was found in the sewer. Robin plays "Super Smash Bros. Melee." Cyborg is no where to be found! What more could you ask for?
"A Ray of Hope," on Finally Snapped. See ya then!