a.n. raex18- You still want this to be a Raven/X story, don't you? LoL. Don't think it'll really be one of those... but glad you like it all the same. faLLen-dreamz- Will Raven have a plan? Raven never has a plan. It's Slade, X, and the Hive who all have plans. XD;; Wow, why doesn't Raven have plans. :( -goes and contemplates the story- VampireSelene- Thank you very much. Hope you like this chapter as well. lolopixie- Yay, I want people to get attached to Slade. X3; I'm happy you like it so much. At least I'm doing something right. LoL. (Just gotta find out what that is XD;) kidsnextdoor112- LoL, I read your review and I'm like "romance? What? where, who?" I'm assuming you mean Slade and Raven? (It's pretty sad I don't know my own story, LoL) Eh... maybe. :3 I'm glad you like the story and I hope I can keep your interest. Tritium- No flowers, hm? Darn. -erases that part from the next chapter- j/k Doesn't he still seem evil to you? LoL. And actually, the last chapter was 3,560 words long. And that's with this whole replying part and everything. SabrinaRocks- Glad you liked it. :) I'm afraid now everyone will be comparing everything to come to the last chapter and will be disappointed. hehe. psycicflower- I've always wanted red hair, actually. That was after my phase of wanting to be oriental. XD; Women's Christmas? I think I've heard of that... no specific details- just the name. I've always wanted to know what it was like to live in another country. I mean, America has a jumble of backgrounds and shared traditions and all... but places like Ireland or European or oriental countries seem to have just one, deep culture. Just seems fun. Anyway, glad you're still into the story after 21 chapters. XD; Hope you like this one as well. zelda- Wow... I'm guessing you really like the chapters. LoL. Keep that optimism, and I won't disappoint you too badly. hehe j/k I'm really excited you like the story and hope you'll stick with it a few more chapters until the end (yes, sadly it's drawing to a close). raven717- Ooh, Mexico... how was it down there? You didn't drink the water, did you? LoL j/k Even though the Hive got another vote, they're still in last place. hehe, oh well. Lai-Ku- x.x; Dang. Actually, I do consider that last review, where you posted on the 1st chapter, to be null and void 'cause you were just doing that to get a sneak peek. :p -Gollum voice- Tricksy readers, yes... Hey, and even after all that, I find I'm not on any of your favorites lists! o.o;; LoL j/k

Chapter 22

"What about Blackfire?" cried Aqualad, also becoming alarmed at his teammates' reactions.

"Forget it- you gotta clock the ship- now!" X ordered, leaning close to the screen. The long haired boy looked around at all the controls, a confused expression on his face.

"How am I supposed to do that? Does this ship even have that ability?" Aqualad replied in a strained voice. His gaze swept over the controls again, his brow furrowed with frustration.

A beeping sound came from the corner monitor. X jumped up and rushed over to see what was happening. "Slade's accessing a tracking program!" the thief shouted, eyes widening.

Hotspot's attention snapped back to Aqualad. "Cloak it, man, cloak it!" the fiery boy exclaimed frantically, flames starting to appear on his head.

"Everything's in an alien language!" retorted a thoroughly stressed Aqualad.

X took a seat at the corner monitor and rapidly began entering codes, trying to shut Slade out. "Just start hitting random buttons!" he advised distractedly. He gave a growl of outrage each time something didn't work.

"What looks like the cloak button?" demanded Hotspot quickly. In the rush of the moment, all the boys seemed to have a snappish tone.

"They all look alike!"

"Well, are any buttons set off by themselves? Like in a protective case or something?"

Aqualad's gaze darted around the cockpit again. "Yeah, a few."

"Try the one closest to the steering controls."

"Are you sure that'd be the cloak?"

"It's the closest to the pilot's hands- easy access. What else could it be?" cried Hotspot.

"I dunno- self destruct?"

"Why would a ship have a self destruct button?"

"Why would it have a cloak button?" Aqualad shot back desperately. He looked as if he was about ready to pull his hair out in frustration.

"Guys!" shouted X from the corner. "The Titans computer is scanning! Find that cloak! Like... in the next twenty seconds! I can't stop him!"

Hotspot snapped his fingers, a look of realization dawning on his face. "Aqualad! Look for a lever! Are there any handles or levers?"

"One... kinda over there-"

"Pull it!"

"Are you-"

"PULL IT!"

Immediately Aqualad leaned far to the side, grabbed the only lever and forced it down its track. The three boys held their breath.

Finally, Hotspot managed to ask, "Did it work?" in a voice that was afraid to break the stifling silence. X checked several nearby monitors.

"They're not picking up the ship anymore." With a sigh of relief, everyone slumped back against their seats.

-

Raven watched silently with one eyebrow arched as nothing came up on the radar. Slade seemed more composed now as he called in a few of his robots.

"Watch this screen. If anything comes up, alert me immediately," he instructed them, pointing to the monitor. When they stationed themselves at different controls, Slade turned to leave.

"Expecting something?" questioned the dark girl as he passed her. The man stopped.

"More like taking precautions." He looked ready to leave when he quickly looked down at Raven. "What are you doing in here?"

Quickly the fridge door opened and a few ice cubes floated out. A shadowed towel flew out of a kitchen drawer, wrapped around the ice, and landed in the girl's hand.

"Getting some ice." Raven then floated over to the semicircular couch, swung both her legs onto it and put the ice on her bruise.

Slade looked from the dormant screen to the dark girl, skillfully hiding his apprehension. "Why don't you return to your room?" he suggested slowly. Raven looked up at him with a questioning expression.

"I like it here. I can look out the windows." Slade glanced at the wall of glass and only saw pitch blackness outside.

"And what a view tonight," he replied monotonely. Raven just paid attention to dabbing her bruise with the ice. Slade looked again at the computer, suddenly hoping the ship wouldn't show up. The man was slightly startled when Raven spoke up.

"How's your shoulder?" He turned back to her.

"Healing. You suddenly care?"

Raven gave a shallow shrug, not taking her eyes off her bruised knee. "Just thought I'd ask. Talking's better than nothing, sometimes." Slade walked around to the back of the couch and stopped behind the dark girl.

"That sounds uncharacteristic of you, my dear. I thought you lived for your silent times." Rave stopped dabbing her bruise but did not look up.

"It's been a little too silent around here lately." Slade rested his elbows on the back of the couch.

"You want to talk?" he asked, the slightest hint of criticism in his voice.

"I don't know what I want," sighed Raven as she leaned her shoulder against the couch back. Then she looked up at him. "You just volunteered to me... I guess being uncharacteristic is contagious tonight."

Slade glanced up at the screen again, half hoping Blackfire had been drunk and didn't know what she was saying. It might be disastrous if Raven saw the ship reappear.

The man finally noticed she was staring at him and he wondered how long she had been doing that. "What?"

"What's under your mask?"

"A face," Slade replied quickly, looking down at her. "What's under your mask?" An amused yet puzzled expression crossed her features.

"I don't have a mask."

"Yes, you do. You wear it every day. That emotionless expression you wear is your mask. So what's underneath?"

Raven shrugged. "Muscles and bone, I suppose." To that, Slade gave an actual laugh which startled the girl so much it made her jump. She stared at him wide eyed. He could laugh like that?

The man's gaze flashed over to the computer screen again when a lapse of silence followed. It was near midnight- Raven had to go to bed soon. But looking at her, she appeared bent on getting rid of her bruise before leaving the room.

Raven pressed the ice against her leg, a slight grimace flickering across her face. "What are you thinking about?" she asked at last.

"Nothing."

"How can you think about nothing?"

"It's not... thinking about nothing, it's... not thinking about anything," Slade replied slowly, waving his hand in an intellectual fashion. The girl snickered.

"Profound," said Raven with a slightly sarcastic shake of her head. She looked up, staring out the windows and into the darkness. "I'm thinking I want to go outside right now." The man followed her gaze, then quickly checked the computer screen.

"Go ahead," he said at length.

"Seriously?" questioned Raven, staring strangely at him. "You're letting me out of the tower? On my own?"

Slade still detected a sarcastic hint in her tone. "Yes," he replied in the same manner, "you're a big girl now." At that, Raven rose from the couch, dropped the ice, and floated outside- right through the windows.

-

"C'mon, wake up, let's GO!" Gizmo shouted, jumping up and down.

"That's my hip, doofus!" cried Jinx, shooting her teammate with a pink beam. The little inventor had entered Jinx's room and proceeded to jump on her bed- landing on her. Now he was back on the floor again.

"Well it's the day we attack! Get up! You'll have slappin' forever to sleep after this! Let's go!" he exclaimed, jumping up and waving his arms around. The girl checked her bedside clock, a possession recently stolen.

"It's midnight," Jinx said flatly as she sat up. "When I said we'd attack tomorrow, I meant at a reasonable time. Now get out of my room. I have beauty sleep to catch up on." She pointed toward the door, eyeing Gizmo dangerously. He gave a grating squeal and seemed to twitch.

"Don't give them time to prepare... or time to wake up! Attack now, while the idiots are off guard!" he protested. The girl was silent for a moment.

"Okay, we can go now." Gizmo brightened at that. "But," said Jinx, "you have to wake Mog up. Come up with a good reason for disturbing him now, because he will definitely want one." Gizmo cringed, then headed for the door with a noticeable slouch.

"Fine," he growled. "We'll wait until the real morning." But he proceeded to grumble loudly about it all the way back to his room.

-

Raven surveyed the opposite shore from the edge of the island bank. After a couple of minutes of this kind of searching, the girl vented a defeated sigh. Speedy wasn't there.

Raven pulled her hood over her head and drew her cloak tighter around herself. She was getting impatient. X, Aqualad, Hotspot and Speedy were all up to something- something to do with her. And she wanted to know what.

Suddenly the girl's attention was caught by splashing sounds nearby. Raven carefully stalked along the bank until she found the source of the noise. In the water, about twenty feet away feet out, was Speedy, swimming away from the tower. Raven's eyes grew white as she watched him. Her shadowed hand reached out toward him and instantly he was enveloped in a dark bubble that slowly returned to the shore. Once it reached Raven, it didn't disappear; the girl wasn't going to give Speedy the chance to run.

"Hey again," the archer greeted in a friendly manner, a lopsided grin on his face.

"What are you doing here?" demanded Raven flatly.

"I just came back for my arrow. See?" He leaned to one side and pointed at the quiver on his back which held rows of identical arrows. The Titan's face remained firmly set in a scowl. Her look made Speedy's smile vanish and his shoulders droop.

"Okay, no sense of humor tonight. But did you at least keep Slade off the computer?"

"Why is that so important to you?"

"Because then he won't pick up the ship Aqualad's bringing back."

"What ship?" questioned Raven, arching an eyebrow.

"The ship the Titans are in." Instantly the girl's expression hardened.

"Still on X's little missions, are you? Well, I have a message for him: Stay out of my life, stay out of my home, and if he wants to live to see the sun rise, stay out of my room!"

"We're all just trying to help. And when we free the Titans, they'll be helping, too," said Speedy, leaning his hands on the bubble as if trying to force his way out. "Listen, Raven, we're your friends!"

"I have no friends. When are you and the other guys finally going to realize that? I don't want your help. Why are you even working for a thief?"

The archer paused, observing Raven with a sorrowfully defeated gaze. "I could ask you the same question." A long silence followed. Finally the girl spoke up.

"I don't need saving so tell X to stop wasting his time. The next time I catch any of you guys around here, I'm turning you over to Slade." Speedy banged his fist against the encasement in protest, but otherwise gave no reply. With a wave of her hand, Raven sent the bubble floating back out over the water. Halfway between the island and the opposite shore, it burst, dropping Speedy into the deep bay.

Returning to the front of the tower, the girl looked up and noticed Slade's silhouette in the living room window. Her breath caught. Had he been watching her the whole time? What would he think if he saw her conversing with Titan allies? Cautiously, Raven flew back up to the window and phased through. She landed next to Slade, but the man kept staring outside, his hands behind his back.

Just like she felt when Slade had first contacted her in the tower, Raven felt almost traitorious talking with someone who considered Slade an enemy.

The girl silently returned to the couch and reclaimed her seat and the ice pack.

"It's late. You should go to bed, my dear," Slade spoke up at last, his voice almost echoing off the windows.

Raven looked up. "You're not. Why should I?"

"I still have work to do." He turned and stared at her. "Besides, you're a growing girl- you need your sleep." When a questioning expression consumed her face, Slade added, "Haven't you ever been told that? The younger you are, the more sleep you need?"

"I... I kinda knew that, but no one's really said it to me," Raven admitted with a slight shake of her head. The man looked back out the windows.

"My father used to tell me that all the time. I hated it. But now that I get to say it, it doesn't seem so bad," said Slade. The girl tried, but she couldn't see Slade as having parents... or even being a child.

The man turned back and gave an impatient prod of his head when he saw Raven still on the couch. "Go." Reluctantly she got up and floated for the side doors. Upon reaching the doorway she stopped.

"Miss America Pageant or Baywatch?"

"What?" Slade questioned with a wide eye.

"Which one would you rather watch?"

"What has that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing. Just a random question," replied Raven with a shrug of one shoulder.

"My dear, I hardly have time for television."

"Just pick one."

Slade was silent for a moment. Finally he tilted his head, saying, "I guess it depends who exactly is on. I mean if there was someone like Starfire on there..." He was not at all surprised when the ice pack, drowned in darkness, came hurtling right for his face. Lazily raising a hand, he caught it in plenty of time- much to Raven's disappointment. A tone of amusement seeped into his voice. "Go."

"I'm going, I'm going..."

-

Aqualad landed the cloaked ship right on the Mega Arcade's large roof, where X and Hotspot were already waiting. The rear hatch opened, making a ramp which the two boys ascended. Instantly they noticed the Titan tanks, then they saw Aqualad slump out of the cockpit.

"Hey," he yawned, rubbing an eye.

"You did good, man," X congratulated, checking out the controls all around the tanks.

"Thanks... mind if I crash? That flight was stressful." The thief gave an approving nod and Aqualad headed for the ramp. Passing Hotspot, he said, "I am never flying anything ever again. Your turn next time." The fiery boy slapped Aqualad's shoulder with a smirk, then headed over to X.

"Can you get them out?"

"Yeah, it'll just-" He was interrupted by the jingle of the Titan communicators on both boys' belts. "That's probably Speedy. I wonder where that idiot's run off to this time..." When they opened the devices, they found the last person they expected staring back at them.

"Okay, if you're not Slade's messenger, who are you?" screeched Blackfire.

"Name's X. And I thank you for your ship and the Titans."

"You give them back! Right now!"

X looked all around, then back at Blackfire. "Sorry, looks like the pilot's gone and left us."

"I'm coming there right now, and when I get my hands on you-" she hissed threateningly.

"Sounds great. It's a date, then?" Before she could reply, X closed his communicator. Hotspot looked at him, half in awe, half in disbelief.

"You're not afraid of her? She's got Starfire's powers..."

"And I've got a whole ocean separating us. Not even Starfire could fly that long all at once. Now c'mon, firecracker, help me find that open button." Hotspot returned his communicator to his belt and glanced thoughtfully about the room.

"Hey," he spoke up suddenly, "look for a lever..."

--
Next Update: Jan. 13th. Ooh, Friday the 13th. Freaky. hehe.

-sigh- I really like X. Such a little gentleman.

And... I'm changing it slightly... 205th reviewer gets a sneak peek. One review per person as before (:p) and if you're an anon. reviewer, I'll need an e-mail address or else I'll have no way of sending it to you. Hopefully there'll be no loopholes in that. ...heh.