Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.

Warning: ...the waking nightmare... is a line break. Explanation of stuff at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Six: Truth or Dare

It had been roughly a day now, Keol guessed as he shifted awkwardly. The rope binding his hands chafed at his wrists; at this point, because his power had gradually returned, he could have tried to get away, but figured it might be a bad idea. So he sat here, back against the splintery pole, and tried not to fidget.

That girl hadn't shown up again, and he was unsure if she had been some hallucination or figment of an over used brain. The guards hadn't reacted, and she had vanished… The youngest Titan was still musing over it when a spear butt prodded hi roughly. Keol winced, knowing he'd find a nasty bruise there later. Looking up, he expected to see a scowling face. Instead, there were villagers, bearing what looked like…

Firewood.

His eyes widened and instantly he began undoing the knot; not sure how far he could go, Changeling's son only knew that it would be better than being burned to death! Just as his fingers slipped, a desperate twist of his power slit the rope and he pulled his hands away, getting to his feet and beginning to run. The cramps in his legs caused him to stumble for a few steps, but sheer drive overwhelmed the pain signals and he started gaining ground.

Reaching a cleared stretch of forest, Keol tore his eyes up and away from the ground to look for shelter. And somehow, that girl was there, beckoning urgently for him to come. Startled, he started to slow until the sounds of his pursuing captors reached him. Making a split second decision, he followed her. She ducked around a set of ragged bushes and he copied her motions, surprised at the cave mouth which rose to greet him. The floating girl motioned hurriedly for him to go in and without a second thought, prompted by that foreign emotion hiding within him, Keol plunged into darkness.

...the waking nightmare...

He expected it to be pitch black inside. When a white glow lit up the cave's interior, Keol blinked in surprise. The girl drifted beside him, grey eyes watching him as he took a step towards the bright light.

Suspended in midair, a sword cast the pure light, it's blade etched with a simple message. 'For life. For love.' The copper haired boy slowly looked to see the girl now standing across from him, sword in between them.

"You're Kalios!" It made sense now. She – Kalios – nodded. One hand lifted and touched her heart gently, form fading to slight transparency as she made the motion. Twin wounds appeared on her wrists as the white blade seemed melt into two daggers, the deeps gashes in her flesh stained red with blood. Just as quickly it disappeared and she looked at him again.

"I am. Here is the Heart, which you seek and I have made." The small hands gestured as her silent voice imparted words which flashed in Keol's mind. "You have done something no one else has ever done, Keol. You have interrupted the flow of Time. You were not supposed to come here; we were not supposed to meet here either. But you are here, and Time is winding around you." He stared blankly at her for a moment, feeling that strange, almost familiar sensation pulling at him. It was as though there were two of him, and one –older, stronger- had that emotion. What was it? Her grey eyes met his.

"You feel it, don't you?" She smiled softly, innocence in each movement and word. "I feel it too." Before he could react, question or move, a whisper of thought and sound reached them.

"Keol… hurry home… please…" His eyes grew huge and Kalios nodded slightly.

"You must go!" Bidden by the steel in her unheard voice, his right hand shot out and grabbed the Heart, which had returned to it's sword shape. Purple and blue light flashed in bands around him; before it could claim Keol, he met Kalios' eyes.

"Will I see you again?" Keol shouted, feeling waves of ice sweep his body as the light grew. In the young eyes looking at him, there was a wisdom and pain beyond her young years.

"I will try, Keol." And then- then-

Nothing.

...the waking nightmare...

Raven threw herself upright, gasping for breath as sweat rolled down her face. Even in the safety of the dark room, the terror of Trigon still lingered.

In her dreams, stone hounds, freakishly given demented life, chased her down the halls of her mind. Damned souls pleaded with their captors to free them as she slid to a stop, her Father's face looming above her head.

"Foolish child. You have run long enough; by yourself, you are NOTHING." A thrashing fight for wakefulness, and then the blessed, temporary, escape.

Catching her breath, she turned to look at Changeling. He was asleep on the other side of the bed. For the past two days, they had gone through their usual routine of fighting crime and normal life; however, not one word had passed between them. Of course the other Titans were worried, but their tentative questions had gone unanswered.

Slowly, hesitantly, Raven leaned over, one hand on either side of him supporting her weary body as she shifted her weight.

"Changeling?" He was awake; the deep green eyes opened halfway, but he didn't look at her. "I…" Words failed her as she faltered, gathering the tattered rags of her courage.

"I'm sorry." He didn't respond, but she didn't expect him to.

"I… I think I understand now. I need to stay strong."

Stronger than ever, but how can I be without you?

"It's just that- when Keol vanished, and with Trigon's growing-"

I crumbled.

"I know killing myself is wrong."

Thank you for reminding me.

"And… I hope-"

I pray-

"I know-"

Please, let me him hear me-

"… I love you." Raven shut her eyes, unwilling to let the tears flow free. Now it was up to him. If he pushed her arm away and got up to leave, she wouldn't stop him. But worse than that- much worse than that- would be if he just closed his eyes and went back to sleep. And that would break her.

He moved and she tensed, knowing the tears had finally won and were sliding down her face. He was going.

And then a hand touched her cheek, brushing away the tears and coaxing her eyelids to draw back. Heart caught in a disbelieving flutter, she opened violet wells of emotion.

Dark green eyes, glowing with a neon flash of light, met hers. In them was everything he didn't say; the infinite, intense knowledge it gave her: he would always love her.

"Thank you," Raven whispered, choking back the sobs. "Thank you." And then he kissed her, so she couldn't thank him once more, or tell him again that she loved him- but then, he already knew.

Author's Note: Okay, just for those of you who are confused, here's a behind-the-scenes explanation of recent events.

1) Changeling, in chapter 4, noticed that Raven had started to convince herself she wasn't able to defeat Trigon, the whole self-pity and 'I'm so weak' thing. He also knew she would commit suicide rather than let Trigon out, and didn't want her to kill herself. So. He 'woke' her up out of the slump by shocking her, telling her that he knew about it, and then leaving her to her own devices. Kind of a 'make or break' situation.

Armory and Mirror found about it through their blood bond before the others, because they had planned to kill themselves too. Changeling's comments that seemed random were actually aimed at them and Raven together, in an effort to make the three realize what they were doing. He couldn't come out right and say it because that's just the way it is.

2) Because Keol has upset the flow of Time, things are getting rather jumbled up. He is experiencing feelings for one version of Kalios the older version of him would have had- if Keol hadn't screwed up eternity and all by unlocking Time. So, if you read between the lines, you might have figured out that the future Keol would have been in love with the future Kalios. I get the feeling I haven't quite gotten their relationship across to you guys... but I tried. We'll see about it next chapter.

Question: Was I just not clear enough? Apparently my attempts at vagueness and sneakiness confused the heck of everyone about all of this...