Chapter 5

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The next day Raven was back to her schedule of private lessons and training. On a normal rotation she would condition out on the training field with Speedy or Aqualad, but the two heroes were finally returning to their own Tower to make way for new Titan allies to come and help with

Jump City.

And for her lack of outward heroism.

She had come to appreciate her time with the two very different boys, but there was no denying her relief to spend some time to herself. A new Titan wasn't scheduled to come until the next morning.

So she went out to the field at dawn as usual, finding a quiet spot along the rocky shore to meditate. She had just barely closed her eyes to focus on the lapping waves when an unfamiliar voice spoke to her left.

"You shouldn't be up and about if you're just gonna sleep," they said. Raven frowned and opened her eyes, turning to the invading culprit with muted chagrin.

On the rock above her knelt a boy with wily red hair and a severely devilish smile. His eyes were bright green, and his red shirt clashed horribly with the freckles that dusted over his nose. Still, Raven felt a tingle travel along her spine as he stared at her, and the waves along the shore grew significantly more aggressive. It was only in the knowledge that Cyborg's island-wide security system would never let someone dangerous get this close was how Raven was able to remain so calm.

"This is private property." she said lowly, levitating to her feet and taking a precautionary step back. "If you are not a Titan, you must leave."

The boy's grin betrayed his surprise, and he laughed under his breath. "So they weren't kidding about your memory," he said, jumping down from his perch. She took another step back. The waves started to crash along the rocks.

"Who are you?" she asked. Dark. Calculated. He raised an eyebrow.

"You really have no idea who I am?"

"Which is why I asked."

"Hm. Makes sense." He held out his hand, the universal sign of camaraderie. Raven made no attempt to reciprocate. "I was told to omit the alter ego names? Keep everything Titan-y with you for now?" She frowned.

"What you are saying does not make sense to me."

Her reaction was apparently extremely hilarious, because he laughed outright, although his hand remained outstretched.

"Yeah, sorry. We actually did have a difficult time connecting the first go around. I meant that Robin sent me a brief of this situation, and any non-Fab Five Titans are supposed to keep things strictly business with you. No names, just titles."

Robin. He knew Robin.

The waves lessoned the slightest bit.

"Yes," she answered. "That is what Robin has said."

"So you only know Aqualad and Speedy as Aqualad and Speedy?"

More familiarity. "Yes."

"Ugh. Rough," he hissed. "All right then." He shrugged and emphasized his still waiting hand. "Then the name's Wally. Titan speedster extraordinaire."

Raven's frown deepened. "Wally?"

"Yup."

"I apologize, but I don't think that is a very good title."

"That's because it's not. It's my name." He raised an eyebrow when she didn't respond. "Are you really going to leave me hanging like this? Seriously, you're humiliating me here."

"Wally is your name?"

"That's what I said."

"You just gave me your real name."

"Arm's hurting."

"Why would you give m your real name when you know you're not supposed to?"

The redhead shrugged again and took a step forward. Raven did not retreat.

"Because we're meeting for the first time, and I think it's really rude and kind of weird for us to meet without knowing names. Yeah? Now please, for the sake of my dignity, will you just shake my hand?"

She didn't move right away, only narrowed her eyes at his expectant face. Thoughts bounced around in her head, the waves were cresting into themselves, and still he waited. Finally, after a long debate behind the silence of her masked expression, Raven reached forward and carefully greeted Wally.

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Beast Boy seemed to have developed a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His only intention had been to grab a quick bite to eat before heading out to casually pass by Raven's field training before proceeding for his daily patrol, but he ended up barging into a heated argument between Robin and Kid Flash.

The speedster was dressed down in civilian clothes and offering nothing less than heavy sarcasm and an admittedly frustrating grin while Robin was all intense whisper screaming and stiff hand gestures. Garfield came to an abrupt stop in the doorway, and his lack of stealth provoked both boys to turn and look right at him.

"Hey," he said awkwardly. "Um. Yeah, sorry to interrupt."

"You're not," Robin said curtly, and immediately strode down the hallway and past Beast Boy. Gar watched his friend with careful eyes until it was only him and KF.

"Dude," he said, walking up to the speedster and grasping his outstretched hand. "You just got here. What could you have possibly done now?"

"I'm just being myself," he replied, laughing as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred at all. Gar couldn't help but grin.

"No wonder Rob's angry." Side by side they began milling through the kitchen, with Kid Flash unabashedly scouring through the Titans' stores. "Can I guess that it has to do with the fact that you're walking around the island in civvies?"

"Spandex and Kevlar have no breathing room, dude. Sometimes we need to just relax."

"Sure," Gar chuckled, snatching up an orange from the counter. "And while I'm never an advocate for a Robin lecture, he's not wrong. What if Raven sees you?"

"Well, it's a good thing I found out for myself," he replied coyly, smiling broadly when Gar's head snapped to attention. "I ran into her when I was coming in this morning. Hadn't planned on it, but you know."

"What?" Gar asked, almost dropping his orange to the floor. "You already met Rae? Without your suit on? Like, actually met her?"

"Words and all," the speedster said. "Ran into her meditating. We shook hands. It was magical. So yeah, I know exactly why Robin's got it in for me right now." He grimaced, although he didn't look the least bit remorseful.

"You're not supposed to do that," Gar said simply. "You weren't supposed to meet her out of costume." Wally started to laugh, but one glance at the seriousness of Beast Boy's face made the laughter fall dead into the air.

"Whoa, hold up. The infamous Garfield Logan is telling me to follow the rules?! This is more bizarre than Raven's dead-eyed stare!"

"This isn't a joke, Wally," Gar all but snapped. "This is serious. What did you say to her? How did you explain who you were? What did you do?"

"Hey, hey, hey." The redhead held up his hands in sincere surrender. "I was just joking. Like I told Robin, I do take all of this seriously, my hand to the League. I read the report. I know how crucial the next few months are for her."

"Then what are you doing out of uniform?"

The speedster pulled in a tight breath, his arms dropping to his sides. "I've kept up with the situation here like everyone else. I messaged the others: Garth and Roy, even Vic. I know the official scoop. But beyond that, the way everyone has been feeling, the way everyone has felt about this whole thing... Star said something to me the other day, how treating Raven like a person has taken a backseat to everything else." He shrugged. "Robin gets a free pass on that because he's Robin. But the rest of us don't have to."

"It's not as easy as walking up to her and just striking up a conversation," Beast Boy hissed. "There are restrictions for a reason. It's for her own good. You can't play around with these rules, man."

"And see, that's where things get muddled for me," he said, leaning against the counter. "Because I thought she wasn't supposed to become who she was before. You know, the repressed, I-treat-everyone-like-they're-a-plastic-bag-on-the-sidewalk Raven. I thought she was supposed to learn how to release. I thought she wasn't supposed to follow the rules anymore. Be free. Be freaking normal."

"In a controlled environment," Beast Boy grumbled. "All of this is complicated. We can't mess with the system just because we each think we know what's best." Wally shot him a smirk that was anything but light.

"Come on, Gar. You and I both know how little sense that makes." He shook his head and looked away. "Control. System. All these words that have nothing to do with actually being free."

Gar breathed in deeply, turned away, dragged out an awkward and abrupt silence between them.

Because Wally was right, and Garfield completely agreed with him.

Since the beginning.

Him. Cyborg. Starfire. Even Aqualad and Speedy. Sometimes Robin. They all knew, and they were all trying to make the harshness of the situation not seem harsh at all.

But for Wally to do that on his own, to break the rules because he thought it was best for Raven. To try and help her as person…

That was Beast Boy's job.

Not Wally's.

Garfield gritted his teeth.

The green of his envy melded too easily with his coloring.

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And Raven was responding to it more than he liked.

During that afternoon's conference call with the other Towers, Raven sat at the end of the table with Kid Flash while Gar was trapped at the other end between Robin and Cyborg. He was fully aware that he was glaring at the two, but he couldn't help it.

She was talking to him.

Actually talking to him.

Sure, she was only asking questions about some of the topics that were under discussion, but still. It had taken days before she had treated Aqualad and Speedy with that kind of familiarity.

He tried to look away, to pay closer attention to the Titans being broadcasted on the screen. But Starfire caught his eye and he glanced over at her. She offered him a sad, knowing smile. He blushed and rubbed anxiously at his neck.

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"He is only making it a point to be friendly with her," Star had said to him after the meeting, both of them standing in the doorway as they watched Cyborg and Raven leave, with KF tagging along behind them. It wasn't as if Wally was intending to tail Raven; Cyborg had asked both of them to stop by the infirmary, Raven for her daily bioscan and KF for the check-up that all the Titans went through when they first arrived at the Tower. But the fact that they were going to the infirmary at the same time didn't help Garfield feel any better. "They have only been talking normally, about the normal things."

"He shouldn't have broken the rules," Garfield replied, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. "He shouldn't have given her his real name."

Next to him Starfire sighed, and when he met her eyes she was extremely sincere.

"Yes," she said, "he should have."

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Raven found Wally West's scientific intellect to be almost on par with Cyborg's, and so she didn't mind listening to the two of them in the infirmary. They talked at length about many subjects, and when the topic of S.T.A.R. labs came up her attention was piqued. Cyborg typed at his computer and mentioned the new facility, and then nodded to Raven and told Wally how they had gone to visit. It had prompted the redhead to turn to her and ask her how she liked it. She had hesitated for only a second before answering.

Monotonously, of course, but with more words than she would have been previously inclined.

Wally listened aptly, asking questions about the different things she had seen and what she thought of them. She answered easily; as easily as she had done with Garfield on the roof the day before. Eventually Cyborg was as enthralled with the conversation as she was, and she felt levity radiate from him.

This.

Conversing with them in the calm of the infirmary room, long after both of their examinations had ended. About a subject she had interest in. A new subject she had interest in.

She did not mind this.

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The next day she had been drinking her morning tea with Starfire when Wally walked into the main room in full uniform. She was surprised.

It was very…yellow.

"I know, right?" he said, misinterpreting her careful stare. He spread his arms wide and turned as he approached, grinning. "Pretty awesome, if I do say so myself."

"It is…bright," she commented. Next to her Starfire giggled. Wally rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well…it needs to be bright, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see me with how fast I'm going."

"Is that why it is yellow?" Star asked. "I only thought it was the yellow because it was to be the opposite of the Flash's red." Wally shot the alien a look and scowled mockingly at her.

"Hey, Raven doesn't need to know that! The other thing sounded more cohesive! Ugh, whatever." He rolled his eyes as Starfire giggled again, and Raven couldn't help the smallest smile creep on her lips as she watched the alien girl. The levity was back in the room, and she found she was noticing it more and more often; as if looking for it. The main doors opened again then and Garfield strode in, hesitating as he took in the scene.

"Morning," he said, and she more felt the heaviness to the greeting than heard it. He moved to join them, staring at Wally. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm going out on patrol, where helpless civilians won't criticize my uniform." He snatched an apple from the counter and sped out of the room within the next breath. A gust of wind was left in his wake, and it rustled Raven's cardigan.

"At least he's back in uniform," Garfield grumbled lowly, although Raven heard it.

And felt it. Again.

Cold.

Coming from him.

She shivered, clutching her mug tightly in her hands.

"I must meet Robin," she said out loud, acknowledging both Starfire and Garfield. Before either could say anything more she wrapped herself in shadows and teleported away, wanting nothing more than to escape the frigidity that seemed to be pouring out from Gar.

Cold.

He always had a tendency to feel cold.

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She saw him again that evening, on his return from his patrol.

It was a fleeting interaction. Coincidental, as all of their interactions had been so far.

She was waiting for the elevator; waiting for the lift to take her down to her safe room rather than melding through the floors as a ghostly shadow. She liked moving like everyone else, forsaking the swiftness that her powers offered her and relishing in the time used to move from one place to another. It allowed her time to think, to take in her surroundings and appreciate them.

It helped her to feel human.

A soft bell sounded and the metal doors slid open, revealing to her a tired but no less energetic Wally West. He looked up as the doors opened, and the smirk that seemed to always be permanently pressed onto his face widened to a fully smile. He saluted, moved swiftly out of the elevator, and swept his hand out, guiding her into the empty space.

She didn't smile in return, but nodded her head.

An acknowledgement.

And then he was gone, tossing her a haphazard wave as he sauntered towards the main room. She could feel his hunger rumble around him, feel the welcomed strain of running through the city for the past few hours, helping where he could, investigating when he had the chance, relishing in his own speed despite the fact that it made him terribly hungry. She watched the bright yellow of his suit move down the hall as the elevator doors closed, and she unabashedly and quite surprisingly reached out one empathic thought towards him.

Grasping.

Searching his mind even though no permission had been given.

And there, where she had expected to find the tension, the wariness, the worry, the anxiety, the hope, and the loss that she felt from anyone who passed her by, she found…

…nothing.

She blinked.

The doors closed completely and the lift did not move, because she hadn't even pressed a single button.

Wally West had seen her, Wally West had acknowledged her, and Wally West had continued on with his day without offering a second thought.

She blinked again.

Didn't dwell on her like everyone else did.

Addressed her and then moved on.

It was a fleeting interaction. Coincidental, as all of their interactions had been so far.

But this one stuck.

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