(Here's Chapter 14. I can now say that I can see the end of this story coming soon. There will be at most seven or eight chapters following this one. As I've finally gotten started on detailing the ending. I knew where it was going to go when I started it, just not how it would get there, and that has been fun. Some reviews have impacted how it has been moving along, so thanks for those, I appreciate it! ~RavensMind~)
Chapter 14: Red Water
Opening the door to the interrogation room, Terra looked over to Beast Boy, who was sitting at the table playing his handheld.
"Hey, it's almost midnight. The others are asleep and I thought you might want to get something to eat from the kitchen and watch some TV or something…" Terra said.
"You bet!" Beast Boy said, jumping up from the table and leaving the room with Terra.
As they started walking down the hallway, Beast Boy began to hear his voice in his head again. "You haven't gotten Raven back yet."
"Shut up," he said aloud.
"I didn't say anything…" Terra said.
"She doesn't need to, dude, you know why she was mad at you," his voice echoed through his head.
"I'm not listening anymore!" Beast Boy said aloud.
"What's going on? Oh… damn it! Come on; let's get back to the interrogation room," Terra said.
"If you won't do it, I'll do it myself…" his voice said to him. Beast Boy crouched down, holding his head, straining to maintain control. Reacting quickly, Terra began to pull him back towards the interrogation room, practically dragging him the whole way back. She watched as Beast Boy began to change into that creature and started dragging him as fast as she could. Now the creature once more, Beast Boy tore out of Terra's grip and bounded down the hall.
"Damn!" Terra said, as she hurried after him, activating her communicator, "Beast Boy turned into that creature and is loose, we need to catch him!"
Whatever happens now…is all my fault, Terra thought, racing down the hall.
Entering the pool room, Robin turned on the lights and walked along the side of the pool to a chair, and sat down. Raven said she would be down in a few minutes; she just had to put her swim-suit on… Which he didn't really believe, he had never seen her wear one, but he had also never seen her swim either…But what else would she be doing if she wasn't doing that? Why was he making a big deal out of this? Whatever. She'll be here eventually. Looking at the pool, he watched the water flow, thinking about what they would do when they left the tower, and what they would say. He was worried about leaving Terra in charge after their disagreement earlier, but maybe Cyborg would help keep her focused and sensible. Hearing the door to the pool room open, Robin glanced over. Raven had walked in, wearing her cloak without her hood up, holding it closed with a hand, and she was bare-foot. Walking over to him, she gave him a small smile, which he returned.
"What's with the cloak?" Robin asked.
"Well, I'm not going to walk around the tower only wearing a swim-suit, especially if I didn't want the others to know what I was doing," Raven said.
"Right," he said.
"…Something is bothering you, what is it?" she asked.
"We don't need to talk about it now, it's nothing really," he replied.
"If you're sure…I'm going to swim," she said.
Raven un-clasped her cloak and hung it on the back of the chair next to Robin. As she backed up and started to turn for the pool, she stopped when she noticed his expression.
"What?" Raven asked.
"Nothing, just…well…" Robin said, looking for words. Raven was wearing a tight blue two-piece swim suit that showed off her features almost too well. She would have looked even better without the bandage across her side.
"Yes?" she asked.
"You're just…amazing," he said, smiling.
"Thanks…" she said, blushing slightly.
"Why didn't you swim with the rest of us, ever?" he asked.
"Because I knew Beast Boy would do something stupid and childish, and I was right," she said.
"Terra and Starfire didn't talk to him for months, I remember, we were lucky that only we were the only ones at that pool, too," he said.
"Yeah, we were… I'm getting in the pool now," she said, turning and walking to the edge. As she did so, Robin noticed a small tattoo of a raven with its wings outstretched on her back just above her rear.
"I didn't know you had a tattoo," he said.
"Like it?" she asked.
"It's very 'you'…yeah, I like it," he said, smiling.
"Stop staring," she said.
"Deal with it," he said.
Sitting down on the side, she slid down into the water and proceeded to swim laps.
Sitting off to the side in his chair, Robin watched Raven swim several laps, finding it hard to resist more intimate thoughts. He wished his arm was better; he wanted to swim with her. How long had she been doing this at night anyway? None of them had noticed, maybe it was a new habit. It occurred to him that they hadn't actually watched the sunrise in days. Plenty of routines were ruined by the events of the past week. Others were created, too, though. That seemed to make up for it, for him, at least, possibly Raven too. Returning his attention to Raven, he saw that she had gotten out of the pool and was walking over to him.
"Done already?" Robin asked.
"No, just taking a break. Would you pass me the towel behind you?" Raven asked.
"Maybe…You look better without it," he said, grinning slightly.
"Pass me the towel, or lose the ability to look at anything," she threatened.
"You wouldn't do that," he said, standing up.
"I might if- What are you doing?" she asked.
"Getting your towel," he said, walking around the chair and grabbing the towel. He turned around and walked over to her, holding the towel out for her. As she made to grab it, he took her hand and pulled her close.
"You didn't really think I would just ignore how you were dressed, did you?" he asked.
"No, I just didn't think you would be this forward about it," she said.
Robin took the towel and hung it around Raven's back and put his arms around her. Suddenly, their communicators went off. Robin stepped away and took his off his belt.
"What is it?" Robin asked.
"Beast Boy turned into that creature and is loose, we need to catch him!" Terra said.
"Where is he now?" Robin asked.
"Probably heading to Raven," Terra said.
As Terra finished her sentence, Beast Boy burst through the pool room door as the creature. Beast Boy scrambled across the floor, heading straight for them. Raven grabbed Robin and flew up into the air, almost to the ceiling, hovering over Beast Boy.
"I've had enough of you…" Raven said, conjuring a red fireball in her palm and throwing it at Beast Boy.
The fireball connected, setting Beast Boy on fire. As Beast Boy rolled on the ground, he then changed into a hawk and flew up at Robin and Raven. They dodged Beast Boy and flew down to the ground. Beast Boy followed, changing back to the creature as he neared the ground. Raven then summoned a wall of red flame between them and Beast Boy, dispelling it towards him. Beast Boy was again set on fire, and sent flying backwards into the pool. But Raven didn't stop there; she broke away from Robin and threw another fireball at Beast Boy.
"What are you doing?!" Robin asked.
"I'm defending myself; kicking his selfish ass one last time is just a bonus," Raven said.
As the other fireball connected, Beast Boy howled as he began to bleed from a large gash across his chest. He attempted to recover, swimming out of the water and scrambling to attack again. Robin stepped forward slowly.
"Beast Boy, stop, we're your friends," Robin said.
"Speak for yourself…" Raven said.
Beast Boy didn't stop; instead he bounded up and latched on to Robin. Reacting quickly, Robin took out his bo staff and slammed it into Beast Boy's head, knocking him down. Turning, Beast Boy raced back at Raven, who was holding a fireball firmly in front of her, and as Beast Boy leaped, Raven blasted him in the chest, launching him past her into the pool once more. Crashing into the water, Beast Boy changed back into himself, laying face up in the water as blood began to trickle around him.
"What…did you do?" Robin asked, looking at Raven in disbelief.
"He didn't exactly give me much choice... Someone had to stop him," Raven said.
Approaching the pool, Robin jumped in and swam over to Beast Boy, pulling him out of the pool and onto the floor. Immediately, he checked for a pulse.
"He's still alive," Robin said, relieved.
"Great," Raven said, sarcastically.
"What's wrong with you? He's your friend and your team-mate," he said.
"He also tried to kill me three times. Even after being set on fire, he didn't stop," she said.
"I just…don't believe any of this," he said.
"What's to question? He tried to kill me, I stopped him, and he's alive and insane… Normally after someone fits those qualifications, we lock them up," she said.
"We are not locking up our friend," he said.
"Look at him! He's not your friend anymore," she said.
"How can you say any of that?" he asked.
"He tried to kill me! Why is that so damn hard to understand?" she asked, crossing over to the chair and putting her cloak on.
"I guess you're right…I still just…I wish I knew what was going on with him," he said.
Then, Terra, Cyborg, and Starfire came running into the pool room, stopping dead in their tracks, because they were shocked at what they saw.
"What the- Is he dead?" Cyborg asked.
"No," Robin said.
"What happened?" Terra asked.
"Beast Boy tried to attack Raven again, we tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. Raven finally stopped him by setting him on fire," Robin said.
"Why?" Starfire asked.
"I thought it would stop him, and it did…Just get him to the infirmary…" Raven said.
"Right, but wait, aren't you coming?" Cyborg asked.
"No, because I might hit him again on the way there…" Raven said.
"What's the matter with you? Why did you even set him on fire?" Terra asked.
"For the 100th time, I was defending myself. It seemed like it would work best," Raven said.
"So, you were planning to set him on fire?" Terra asked.
"Stop interrogating ME, I was the one who got attacked, and he's losing blood," Raven said.
"I've got him," Cyborg said, picking up Beast Boy in his arms.
"Raven, get to the interrogation room," Terra said.
"I think not…" Raven said.
"That wasn't a suggestion," Terra said.
"What?" Raven asked, regarding Terra coolly.
"Get moving, now," Terra said.
"Or what?" Raven asked.
"Or I'll take you there," Terra said.
"Touch me and you'll join him," Raven said, indicating Beast Boy.
"I'm not kidding. Get moving!" Terra ordered.
"You're…not acting like yourself…" Raven said, backing away.
"Terra?" Robin asked, standing beside Raven.
"I'm warning you!" Terra said, seeming to not have heard what Robin and Raven had said.
"Please clam down Terra, it is not a big deal," Starfire said, approaching Terra.
"Yeah, relax," Cyborg said.
"Did you hear what I said?" Terra asked, looking only at Raven, not acknowledging Starfire or Cyborg.
"Starfire, grab Terra, now," Robin said, holding his bo staff out in defense.
Seizing Terra by the arms, Starfire held her in place as Terra made to move forward. Watching Terra, the other Titans saw only a stranger, their friend was not there. Raven looked into Terra's eyes and saw a faint red symbol floating behind Terra's irises which disappeared before Raven could focus in on it. That was when Terra tried to break free of Starfire's grip, attempting to lunge at Raven, almost unaware that Starfire was even holding her back.
"Cyborg, get Beast Boy to the infirmary and patch him up, then take him back to the interrogation room. Starfire, take Terra to the interrogation room and restrain her," Robin said.
"I'm on it," Cyborg said, carrying Beast Boy out of the pool room.
"Yes… of course," Starfire said, confused, pulling Terra along behind Cyborg.
When the others were out of view, Robin turned to Raven.
"What did you see?" Robin asked.
"How do you know I saw anything?" Raven asked.
"I just…do? I'm not even sure," Robin said.
"Your mind's eye must be noticing the stronger link more, which is good… I saw a small, red symbol of some sort almost floating in her eyes just before she tried to hit me," Raven said.
"Maybe Beast Boy had that too?" Robin suggested.
"I didn't look, I was too busy trying to fight him off," Raven said.
"Do you remember what it looked like exactly?" Robin asked.
"Not really, it disappeared before I could get a decent picture in my mind," Raven said.
"Is there a way you could remember it more clearly?" Robin asked.
"If I saw it again, I could," Raven said.
"First Beast Boy, now Terra's insane. This symbol is our only lead, we need to find out what we can about it," Robin said.
"So, where should we begin searching? My books or your files?" Raven asked.
"Neither…it will take too long, we'll ask my friend for help when we get to Gotham. He has better equipment for this kind of research," Robin said.
"So, should I start packing?" Raven asked.
"Yeah, we'll leave tomorrow," Robin said.
"Good. I'll start getting ready," Raven said, starting to leave.
"Oh, and Raven, we can't show up at his place in our uniforms, it might draw attention to who he is… Do you have something else you could wear?" Robin asked.
"Yes…" Raven said, thinking of the dress she had bought with Terra, "It's a bit formal, though."
"That actually sounds perfect," he said.
"I won't arouse suspicion by dressing up? Is your friend rich or what?" she asked.
"Maybe…he has a pool, too," he said, smiling slightly.
"How hard are you trying to not ask me to take my cloak off right now?" she asked.
"I'm not answering that," he said, chuckling.
"Smart… Come and find me later after you've finished packing and maybe we'll get back to what we were doing before this insanity started…if you would like," she said, giving a small coy smile.
"I'm looking forward to it," he said, smiling at her.
As Raven left the pool room, a strange feeling came over Robin and he had to sit down. It was good that they were finally leaving, wasn't it? He wasn't sure, with two Titans acting crazy, a part of him felt that they should stay and help. However, sitting around and asking questions of one another would get them nowhere. There was no doubt in his mind that his old partner could help them out a lot. Sitting there, watching as two of his friends went insane, he couldn't help but wonder, "What if there was no criminal behind this? Have we done this to ourselves out of paranoia and pent-up energy? Maybe we're seeing things… If so, who's next?"
(The next chapter is titled "Moving On" and it will hopefully be up next week, if I fall behind due to some college class work and it isn't up, expect it the following week. At the moment, I'm working on Chapter 16 and will be starting Chapter 17 soon. ~RavensMind~)