a.n. gracefulraven- Thank you and I'm glad I could help. And how do you reply so quickly? dang... LoL. ShadowDevil- Yes, that was the final try/draft thing. And if makes me do that again, I'll... be like Gizmo and say mean things about them. hehe. And... what about winning? I'm a little confused. o.O; VampireSelene- Actually, the 24th is Thanksgiving. :) ...are you American? Just wonderin', ëcause T-Day is written on all these calendars all over, so... yeah. heh. SabrinaRocks- Ok, I checked "National Hug a Tree Day" out on google... and I guess it's really "Arbor Day," but the invitation thing is to "Hug a tree." That's not very exciting. But there is such a thing as a Hug-a-Tree Committee. o.O; wow. LoL. Thanks for the review. :3 kidsnextdoor112- I'm glad I could make your day. :) Hope all those triangles or pentagons or whatever kind of geometrical shapes work out okay. LoL. raven717- Thank you very much. Hope you don't treat your schoolwork like that. :p heh, j/k. lolopixie- Yay, a vote of confidence for X. :) LoL. And not too many guys come up... just three. I just don't want to bring in too many characters and get overcrowded and all. You know, with those fire hazard safety things and all... hehe. But you see who all comes in this chapter. Aietradaea- A penny to know how to pronounce that... LoL. Wow, your review is the first that's really mentioned Slade's wife. Mebbe everyone else has just read the comics... / heh. No, the wife was definitely not Blackfire. That's a scary thought, actually... -eye twitch- But I'm glad you still like the story. Thanks for the review. :) Kendra Chetnova- Aaah! Keep your monkeys away from my butt... o.O;; LoL, I'm glad you like the plot and all... and it's just gonna get thicker. :3 weehee... faLLen-dreamz- Don't worry, Raven's still gonna be suspicious. Like in this chapter. And X is so sneaky, I love it. :3 He assembles his little team here, too. Actually, the majority of this chapter is devoted to X. Tritium- Slade really wasn't trying in the Hive battle. It was mainly a fight to get Raven involved... but hopefully he regains his animation glory. You hate Mondays? I always update on a Monday:( LoL j/k Lai-Ku- Hehe, wait for the 200th to get a sneak peek. Thankies for the review. One of my friends reading this story when I'm writing it out by hand likes Gizmo, too. He's her favorite character in here... so hopefully I'm getting him right. :) More Gizmo-ness to come. More of X to come, too. More of X than Gizmo, I think. :3

Chapter 15

A long silence followed Slade's revelation. Raven tried her best to comprehend Slade having a wife, but it was challenging. She wondered if the man hadn't meant to let that slip.

Slade, too, wondered why he had told Raven that. He looked out over the water, cursing himself for even opening his mouth in the first place. The man had to be extremely careful around Raven and watch what he said, because there was still a chance she could turn against him.

Suddenly Raven found her voice. "That's... um, that's- that's... wow." The dark girl pushed away her plate with the almost-finished sandwich; she was too surprised to be hungry anymore. Raven knew that Slade had secrets- big secrets- but she always figured they were evil and dark.

"What happened to her?" she asked cautiously. The girl thought she had never been so curious about a subject in her life. Mrs. Slade? Raven would never have believed it if she hadn't heard it from him. She pictured Slade's suit and armor and mask on a female body and found it almost funny.

"I want you to forget you ever heard that," the man said at last, finally looking back at Raven. The dark girl stared at him with a mixture of suspicion and disbelief in her gaze. Just as she was about to reply, Slade turned and marched for the nearest exit, holding the arm with the wounded shoulder.

It might have been possible, with many meditations, to forget what Slade had said, but after he told her to, there was no way she'd forget it now. But really, who was there to tell?

Raven walked over to the newly re-shattered window space and stared out over the water. After an hour or so, the dark girl could meditate, and she hovered in front of the empty window pane until evening. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the sun was almost set. Raven felt better, though. Not nearly as lonely as she had after countless meditations before.

As she set her feet on the ground, Slade entered the room followed by two robot guards. The dark girl could see that under the large whole in the man's suit, his wounded shoulder had been bandaged. He carried his arm as if it was in a sling.

Slade was giving orders in a low voice when Raven floated over, her arms folded across her chest. She waited patiently for the discussion to end, but when the man had dismissed the guards, he turned to the computer and began searching through files; ignoring her. Raven's eyes narrowed and her foot started loudly tapping on the floor, quick echoes following. Still she was paid no attention.

"So I've been wondering," the dark girl spoke up at last.

"Yes?" questioned Slade impatiently, his left hand quickly darting across the keyboard almost as fast as if he could use both hands.

"Are you a good guy now? You're ridding the city of enemies just like we did," she replied, inspecting him as if his mask could betray his intentions.

"I assure you, my dear, my motives are not as... honorable... as your friends' were. However, if anyone who could be a threat or a nuisance to me shows up, I will do everything necessary to get rid of him."

"So you're doing it for your own selfish reasons," accused Raven, moving her hands to her hips.

"Either way, the city's safe. Isn't that what really matters?" the man replied with a bored tone. He didn't take his eyes off the screen.

An expression resembling disgust flashed across Raven's face, lingering slightly before vanishing completely. "Motives mean everything," she protested in a sharp hiss.

"Wonderful," Slade replied in a slightly sardonic, monotone voice. "Anything else?" The girl felt her face flush with frustration. She hated it when he treated her like such an inferior.

"Sure," said Raven with an obvious tone, "what's for dinner?"

-

X checked the area around him impatiently. He was waiting near the bay, far out of sight of the Tower. The thief was hidden in the deep shadows of the forest, carefully watching for any signs of movement. X anxiously tapped his fingers on his knees.

"Come on... come on," he growled under his breath. Suddenly the sound of splashing caught his attention and his gaze shifted to the middle of the bay. There a torso surfaced and the body started swimming to shore. Cautiously, X crept from his hiding place and over to meet the boy walking out of the water.

"Aqualad, glad you could make it," the thief greeted in a friendly tone. The raven haired boy stared suspiciously at X, then his dark eyes darted around in search of anyone else.

"Who are you? Where are the Titans?" demanded Aqualad quickly.

"Easy, fish-boy," X said when Aqualad appeared ready to fight. "I'm the one who called everyone here." Again the newcomer looked around carefully.

"Everyone? No one else is-"

"Hey," called a voice from above the two. Looking up, they saw Hotspot being propelled like a jet by the powerful flames from his fists. Once the fire disappeared, he dropped to the ground. Hotspot looked from the thief to the friend, then pointed to X. "Who's the new guy?"

"I'm the one who called you here. I'm still expecting some more people. This is important," replied the thief. Aqualad still had a suspicious expression plastered on his face.

"Then why aren't the Titans here?"

"That's why I called you all. Something's come up." Hotspot and Aqualad exchanged curious glances. Just then the roar of an engine was heard from around the bend in the beach, and the three boys could barely see a plume of sand above the treetops, silhouetted against the night sky. Soon a figure on a motorcycle rounded the corner and came into view, its headlight practically blinding them. It stopped next to the small group, Speedy sitting on it.

"Sorry I took so long," he said quickly, although it didn't really sound like an apology. He dismounted the bike and took a long moment to look at everybody. "What'd I miss?"

"I'm still expecting Wildebeest," X spoke up, searching up and down the short beach for any other signs of life.

"He's off on his own mission. He's been away for over a month," informed Aqualad, not sounding any less critical than before. "Expecting anyone else?"

A mechanical sigh vented from X's mask. "No, I guess not. Okay, here's the deal: Raven's joined Slade and the rest of the Titans are prisoners aboard Starfire's sister's ship. I don't know how exactly they got captured, and I don't know where they are now. The ship was here earlier, but left. I don't think Raven knows the truth about her friends, but if she did, I think she'd help us. I couldn't get through to her, so instead I thought I'd go find and free her friends. But I need your help." The three honorary Titans looked at each other, seeing if the others understood it or believed it any better.

After a long pause, Speedy asked, "Who are you?"

"I'm X. Maybe you've heard of me?" the thief replied, puffing up his chest.

"No," the others said immediately, shaking their heads.

"Oh," X sighed with obvious disappointment. "Well, me and the Titans go way back."

"Funny... they've never talked about you," replied Aqualad. He folded his arms across his chest, inspecting the thief. He was still not completely convinced.

"It's not like I've heard a thousand tales about you either," X retorted coldly.

Hotspot slowly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it doesn't sound like you have much of a plan worked out."

"Why would he be in charge anyway?" Speedy said quickly with a sharp jerk of his head toward the thief.

"Because if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even know the Titans had been compromised," growled X. He was thoroughly annoyed that the three weren't completely believing him and falling in rank under his command.

"Okay, true," Aqualad said, sounding not as harsh as before, "but why call us?"

"The Titans trusted you to help them before, so now I trust you to help me save them," the thief explained with a modest shrug.

"A big leap of faith, trusting people you've never met," said Hotspot, looking from Aqualad to Speedy to see their opinions. The archer, however, was still suspicious of X's intentions.

"Why go to such lengths to help them?" he demanded. The thief's head snapped around and stared at Speedy, matching his glare. After a tense silence, X finally said, "Why not? You'd do the same." He looked at the other two. "I'm going to rescue the Titans, but I can't do it single-handedly. If you won't help, I'll find people who will." With that he turned and began marching away.

"I'll help," Hotspot announced, following X. Speedy and Aqualad stayed where they were, watching the other two leave, then looking at each other. The archer neared his friend.

"What do you think?" the masked boy asked in a low voice. "I've never even seen this guy before."

"Something doesn't sit right with me, either, but he does know more than we do. Besides, I owe it to the Titans to help them. They've helped me a couple of times," said Aqualad, keeping a close eye on the retreating X all the while.

"Yeah, of course. I'm all into helping the Titans, but I don't like the idea of blindly following some stranger. There's gotta be something in this for him."

"But until we know what that is, we're going to have to trust him," the long-haired boy replied. He took a step toward X and Hotspot, who were quite a distance away by now. Aqualad hesitated, waiting for his friend to follow.

"Fine," consented Speedy begrudgingly. "But the second we find out his game, and if it's not the same as what he's told us, we're taking him out of leadership." Aqualad gave an acknowledging nod of his head, then returned to the water to catch up with the other two. Speedy mounted his motorcycle and drove after X and Hotspot.

The thief only stopped walking when Titans Tower was in full view, even after everyone else had caught up. Many lights were on, causing the waters reflecting them to almost glow. X watched the building from behind a tree; he wasn't going to take any chances with so many guards patrolling the tower.

"Okay, we're going to need a base of operations," he told the other three. "We can't storm the tower, because there're too many enemies. Even if we could get past the legions of robots, we'd have to deal with Slade, and he's got Raven on his side. So to get her on our side, we need to find and free the Titans. Plus, if we did, we'd have four extra guys on our side."

"But you don't even know where the Titans are," Speedy reminded quickly.

"Yeah, so I want to break into the tower and their computer to find out the ship's last coordinates," said X.

"Wait, so explain to me: Why isn't Raven helping at all? Why did she switch sides?" Hotspot questioned, sounding angry at the thought of one of the Titans as a traitor.

"Don't hold it against her... she's going through a hard time right now," the thief replied softly, breaking his intent gaze on the tower and staring off into space for a moment.

-

Gizmo laid on his big beanbag chair, which was more like a bed for him, listening to the new music they had just stolen. The three had been deposited outside the city limits- with all their loot- so they just returned home. Home for the Hivelings was a giant, abandoned warehouse on the bay, but decorated with all the things they had stolen over the years, it was actually quite nice.

Just as Gizmo's favorite part in the song was coming up, his head phones were jerked off.

"Didn't you hear me?" demanded Jinx with an agitated glint in her eyes.

"Hey!" shouted Gizmo, reaching fiercely for the headphones. Before he could start issuing insults, Mammoth picked him up and carried him over to the large, circular table in the middle of the warehouse. This was their official spot for meetings, although sometimes it served for meals, too.

"Now that we're all here," Jinx spoke up in an official, pompous manner, "I'd like to discuss the matter of Slade." At that Gizmo gave a scoffing noise. "Who cares?"

"You should," the girl argued. "He's worse than the Titans, and by barring us from the city- which he says is his city- he's sent us a direct challenge. We can't just let him walk all over us! We're going to retaliate!"

"But he's got so many robots. If he sent them all after us, we'd lose even worse," protested Mammoth. Another unpleasant cry for attention came from Gizmo.

"Just marry the idiot. Then he'd let us do whatever we want in the stupid city. We'd have free reign!" The boy's arms shot into the air and he held that victorious pose.

"We can't compromise- share the city," Jinx retorted. Gizmo's arms dropped. "We have to meet his challenge. And if we round up everyone who hated the Titans, we'll have a whole army. One that could rival Slade's robots."

"But why would people who didn't like the Titans go after Slade?" questioned Mammoth. He looked to see if the little inventor understood it any better.

"We'll just have to convince them how much worse it will be if Slade stays in power. At least with the Titans we could get away with some stuff." Jinx paused to see if her teammates had gotten it yet. Slowly, realization was dawning on their faces.

"If we round up enough people to get rid of Slade, then there will be no one to stop us- anyone- from doing anything we want," she added slowly, savoring the thought.

"Total anarchy," said Gizmo with an evil grin.

"Or we could take over Slade's soldiers... and the city," Mammoth suggested.

"We could set up our own empire!" exclaimed Jinx. Instantly thoughts of grandeur overwhelmed her. Gizmo cackled hysterically.

"A war for the city- bad versus badder. With all the Titan-haters I'll scrounge up, that cruddy idiot Slade won't stand a chance!"

--
Next Update: November 28th, the day after the day after the day after Thanksgiving. :) That Monday's gotta have some credit, now...

Okay, so everyone have a safe Thanksgiving and have fun painting turkey eggs and all... hehe.