7Snogs: Theme 5/7: Rumor

A/N: I don't much like this one. I didn't feel it the way I felt the others. And specifically, I didn't feel the end. I don't know...maybe I can come up with something better later...but for now...this'll have to do. Oh, and I HATE the title. Gawd, I suck at titles...

Rumor Has It
by Em

"A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way."
- John Tudor

"Well, I don't know, Barbie, but they looked pretty chummy with each other during that bust they made on that ice guy that was trying to rob the Bank of Perez last week, weren't they?" the perky brunette talk host looked pointedly at the blond (presumably named 'Barbie') to her left.

"Uh-huh, I saw that," the red-head to the right added. "I say there's more going on between them than meets the casual eye if you ask me."

"No one asked you," Speedy groused to the television.

"Well, one of the things we've always liked about them all is that they're as close as a family," Barbie defended her point and Speedy found himself nodding at her. "They weren't doing anything inappropriate or anything."

"Damn straight," Speedy scoffed.

"Well, they were in public, Babs," the red-head said meaningfully. "Who knows what goes on inside that giant T-shaped house..." she looked at the audience and winked, suggesting exactly what she thought went on inside the house.

"You're full of shit," Speedy told her bluntly. "And a perverted old lady to boot," he added for good measure, "All y'all are..." he mumbled under his breath, flipping the channel.

"...she's an alien, isn't she?" the man on the next channel asked defiantly.

"So is Superman!" the other man pointed out passionately. "It has nothing to do with..."

"We're getting away from the point here," the woman with them interjected calmly, "We shouldn't be discussing the romantic entanglements of these children at all."

Speedy sat up and listened, "Finally someone is going to put all these old pervs in their place," he said aloud.

"The simple point is that they're young enough to still be in high school if they weren't super heroes," the woman shrugged superciliously, "They shouldn't even be fighting crime, let alone living unsupervised."

Speedy rolled his eyes, "You're one of those, are you?" he asked the image of the woman.

"Who's going to supervise them?" the second man asked, laughing, "You?"

"Well, with five teenagers living in a house by themselves, what do you think is bound to happen once all those hormones start...?"

Speedy growled and pressed the channel button on the control with more force than was necessary, flipping the channel, "Is that all you old farts can think about?" he wondered aloud.

"...the talk lately has been who's dating who," their city's answer to David Letterman said casually, "And I say that with three boys and two girls, the odds are kind of in the girls' favor, aren't they?" he asked to the laughter and amusement of the audience. "Seems to me, being a female superheroine is the way to go if you're in the market for a guy..."

Speedy sighed and changed the channel again.

"Who do you think...?" the man with the microphone started to ask.

The two girls in front of him facing the camera looked at each other and then at the camera, screaming in unison, "Raven!"

The image cut to a different street with two different girls, "Starfire!" they said.

Another image with one guy this time, said, "Raven man, she's hot. He'd be stupid if he didn't want to get some of that."

"Have you seen Starfire?" a weaselly looking man asked, pushing up his glasses, "She's perfection."

The image cut again to show the reporter facing the camera, outside the studios with a group of bystanders watching behind him, "So there you have it, Jack, there seems to be no end to these so called 'shipping wars' in sight, and that's The Word on the Street from Jump City."

The image turned back to Jack White, the Music Television Station's Hip society reporter. "Well, I guess if I was a guy as popular with the ladies as Robin, I wouldn't want to pick between the two hottest chicks in the city either!" he exclaimed laughingly.

"I've gotta say, though," his DJ and talk show sidekick interjected, "Did you see that video of Robin and Raven busting up that robbery of the Bank of Perez that everyone's showing?" Jack White nodded and the screen shifted to show the video in question. (1)

Speedy watched as Raven floated to the ground and nearly slipped on the ice coating the concrete, Robin's hand darting out to grasp her elbow, his arm around her waist, to steady her. As the station slowed the tape down, it appeared that his hand lingered for a few moments more than was really necessary even as he let her go once she regained her footing and they exchanged a few muted words.

"Did you see the way he looked at her?" the DJ interjected. "If you look close enough, you might even catch her blush..." he trailed off, "Rumor has it that there's definitely something going on between our resident Birds."

"Uh-huh," Jack said as the screen replayed the footage and showed a close up of Robin and Raven in the slowed down footage for another split second before changing back to the host sitting behind his desk. "I've gotta say, I'm personally rooting for Raven, she's got the body and the attitude...the other one's too sweet for my taste."

On a sigh, Speedy shut off the television and grabbed for his communicator. Two seconds later, Raven was staring at him through the miles. "Have you been watching the news?" he asked.

She looked a bit taken aback by his greeting, "Well, good afternoon to you too, Speedy, I'm doing well, thank you for asking," she said sarcastically.

Speedy sighed, "How's Beast Boy doing from the cold?" he asked, reminding himself to be a good friend first.

She offered him the barest hint of a smile, "He's doing better," she said, "Although he still whines like he's going to die, I think he's just milking it for all it's worth."

Speedy chuckled a bit.

"How are you?" Raven asked.

And suddenly, his all consuming need to speak to her about everything he'd been seeing on the television left him with the undercurrent of emotion to her normally monotonous voice. Surely she didn't speak to them all that way. "Better now that I'm looking at you," he admitted.

Her smile manifested again at his answer, but was gone as quick as a dream. "So what about the news upset you so?" she asked.

"You haven't seen it?" he pressed.

"I do not watch television news," she admitted, "I read the paper everyday however."

He felt incredibly silly now bringing up the concern he felt and couldn't bring himself to say anything about it.

She must have read something from him regardless of the distance because she cocked her head to the side consideringly, "You're not paying attention to all those rumors circulating are you?" she asked.

"Rumors?" he practically squeaked.

"About me and Robin," she said in that blunt manner she had.

"No!" he exclaimed a little too insistently. He cleared his throat and tried again, "I saw the footage of your fight with that ice guy and I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He finished, looking at her seriously. "I saw how you almost slipped and Robin had to help you, I just wanted to make sure that you weren't hurt."

She looked as if she wanted very much to smile, "That was two days ago," she informed him calmly. "I slipped on a patch of ice and Robin stopped me from falling, very un-heroine-like, on my rear."

"Yeah, I saw," he said and wasn't sure he managed to keep the undercurrent of jealousy out of his voice.

"Roy," she said, her voice taking on that soft serious tone it usually did when she used his real name. He looked up and met her eyes, inhaling at the caring look on her face, "They're just rumors..." she reminded him gently. "You should know the truth of that more than anyone."

He nodded, then looked up at her. "Don't you ever wonder why they're no rumors about us?" he asked, he hoped, casually.

"Because we're careful," she answered. "And I'm glad of it."

"Why don't we tell the truth about us again?" he asked.

"I can't hide my feelings for my friends, Roy, but I'll be damned if I tell my enemies who I love."

The vehemence in her tone startled him and he couldn't help but grin at her through the line. He knew she knew he could take care of himself and he didn't feel it necessary to remind her of that. "You lurve me," he intoned in a sing-song voice. She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "You want to kiss me..." he said playfully.

"Jackass," she said.

"Lovable jackass."

She cocked a brow, her expression showing a rare bit of mischievousness, "Jealous jackass."

He let the playfulness slide off his face and turned to her in complete and utter seriousness, "I'll always be jealous of you," he told her. She shook her head and was about to argue when he spoke before she could, "I know you'll say I shouldn't, but I can't help it," he told her frankly, "I'll never feel I'm worthy of you so I'm always going to be afraid of losing you. That simple."

Raven was taken aback by his simple and honest declaration. She sighed, "You know how much I care for you, and you know I'll always..." she faltered, everything in her being and everything in her training rebelling against the words of assurance she wanted to say to him. She sighed, "I can't promise you forever...I just don't know that I can see that far ahead."

He smiled warmly at her, "I know that," he touched the screen, letting his fingers kiss the image of her lips, wishing it could be smooth lips under his fingers instead of the cold plasma screen, "And I can live with that, so long as I've got right now."

She nodded. "I can see far enough ahead to tomorrow night..." she said softly.

He chuckled, "Your city or mine?"

x-x-x-x-x

Notes:

(1) I got this incident from Absentia's story, It Only Takes A Moment Tribute, Chapter 1: Support. You can find it here: http / www . fanfiction . net / s / 2986069 / 1 /

A/N: Um, yeah. This is what I see a relationship between Speedy and Raven might be like. ((shrug))

Spoiler: Next theme up is "Argument" and it's from Raven's POV.