Volte-Face

Give me a solid deadline in your reviews or something like this will happen! I'll take forever to update and lose all will to continue…! (Although, my hiatus was half because of laziness and half because a fabulously-good book recently came out, and I had to read it, and then we had to prepare for my sister's graduation party... But no excuses!)

Thank you…
Rave-Widow
ferretgirl-1124- Raven's a little caught up in things right now to take care of Beast Boy, but he'll get what's coming to him eventually... heh.
foreveramutant
Mutou Yasu- Of course I'd thank you! I'd be ungrateful to look over people who were reading my silly little SpAqua story... As for Robin bursting out laughing? It took a while to decide exactly how he'd react, but after much contemplation (...kinda...) I decided, "Hell, let's expect the unexpected!" and wrote it as such. I ended up liking it, so...
Xment2bursX- "Enough time" is for squares. (grin)
Sugar-Hype-Queen- I laughed so hard when I got your review—I thought about Roy's "inside" voice when I was writing the thing. (Great minds, neh?)
hannah banana 666- I got four e-mails from you alone. Thank you for alerting/favoriting so much!
Nancy- Every time someone tells me they stayed up really late reading something of mine, I can't believe it. I'm very thankful, though, that it's so enticing to people that they'll give up a decent night's sleep just to read what I've written. Thanks so much!
ramhay- Similar to what I said to Mutou Yasu—I couldn't decide how to make Beast Boy react, and then I realized "—oh, wait, this is BB we're talking about!" And shockingly, the salesperson wasn't very surprised! It was an older, jaded woman, and she just rang him up as if the magazines were Campbell's soup. She was quite annoyed, though, 'cause he emptied her entire rack of GAY LA LA!s... But why was he out shopping in the first place? Oh-ho-ho, I wonder... (hint hint cough cough...) Oh—and you rock at art. Coming from me (the talentless stick-figure-drawer), that might not mean much, but seriously... Your dA gallery is teh shiz...
Shesau- If I didn't mention in the PM: I actually like deadlines. I never feel rushed with them, no matter how short—having a set day for the new chapter makes me focus more and get things done efficiently.
GabbyAndHerEnigmas

I really dislike this chapter. It is the calm before the storm (…obviously…) but it's just so… ehh. It's not so much the content as the fact that it doesn't end on a conclusive "Chapter ends here!"-kind of note. Ah, well; so long as it advances the story and makes Roy go through the typical amounts of stress...!

"Punctuality is the virtue of the bored."
—Evelyn Waugh

Churning waters promised a storm, one that hovered over the bay for a number of hours before finally passing, a serene sunset left in its wake. Other than that, the day was normal; a lazy, cloudy morning, one of the best days for a noontime swim.

But Garth was too worried to even look at the water. His eyes were set on the horizon instead, staring down at the cityscape from his perch on roof's edge.

Roy hadn't come back. Robin called to tell them the archer had left and would arrive momentarily, but that was nearly two hours before. As the gloomy clouds rolled in to cover a greater portion of the sky, time had passed, and the moody, secretive redhead was nowhere to be seen.

And it was Garth's fault. He knew he should've kept his mouth shut about his theories, looking back at the decision, but at the time… Well, the idea had seemed so solid, so likely to be true. Now he just felt stupid, making an enormous deal of something simply because his teammate wouldn't tell him what was going on.

Karen had tried to convince him otherwise, but he knew Speedy was only taking so long because he was angry. And his anger was, as always, directed at the resident Atlantean—what had he been thinking? But he only realized how idiotic it was when Robin called to report.

Robin's call had established a number of things: Firstly, that the rumor was true in no way, shape or form. Secondly, that Speedy was angry. The Boy Wonder mentioned saying something that may have aggravated him, but Aqualad knew that that was probably just a condolence—the archer was mad, yes, but at Garth: for starting the ridiculous tale, for creating a fuss, for making Robin so irate.

The third and biggest thing the call had established, if indirectly, was the fact that Garth had inadvertently pushed Roy further away. If he knew the archer—and he did, at least in this respect—he knew Roy would only try harder to keep things from his prying mind now that he'd invaded his personal bubble to the deepest degree.

Aqualad sighed, adjusting himself on the edge; he was sitting on the border with one leg resting on the roof and the other hanging off the side. Laying back, he stared up at the looming clouds and folded his arms across his chest.

But where would Roy go? It was late in the morning, so surely the bars and clubs weren't open, and where else would he be?

A low rumble made him jerk upright, interrupting his train of thought. Either it was thunder, or the enormous main doors had just opened—was Roy back? Garth swung his leg back onto the roof and took three steps before the clouds split and the sky released a solid sheet of water, and he realized that Roy wasn't back.

In a sudden wave of apathy, Garth sunk onto the concrete, sprawled out on his back. "I give up," he mumbled, closing his eyes to the rain. It almost hurt against his skin; the droplets felt like tiny needles pricking him everywhere, creating a level of numbness. The relaxation he usually felt when it rained wasn't coming, and the flashes were irritating, and with every rolling thunder the Tower shook and threatened to fall. He was so tired of waiting…

xXx

By the time Roy returned to the Tower, his anger at Robin had simmered away, leaving him rather pleasant despite the weather. He loved sunny days, but the rain wasn't unwelcome; it had been too dry in the past few weeks and a bout of heavy storms was the only cure.

But when he walked into the main room and Karen instantly started barking out apologies, the spite boiled into his veins again. After a moment of listening to her rambling, Roy asked who was the actual mastermind behind the rumor.

Her answer had been short. "Aqualad… He's on the roof."

And so Speedy found himself at the top of the roof-entrance stairs, staring at his hand against the door. He took a breath, indignant to argue. Not gonna be swayed by him, he promised himself, knowing full well the power of the Atlantean's eyes. Coupled with the fact that the last expression Roy had seen on his teammate was one of worry, Speedy would have to fight the urge to let Garth get away with thinking rumors were okay.

He shoved the door open, stepping once into the rain before he froze. For a moment he considered he was dreaming, asleep, safe in a bed somewhere in the Tower, simply having a nightmare. But then the cold rain started flitting through his hair, on his cheeks, wetting the shoulders of his clothing and he realized that the limp body sprawled across the wet cement was very clearly in reality.

He took slow steps toward Garth, his wide-eyed stare never leaving the dark-haired prince. He heard the door clang shut, but it was miles away, planets away—all he could see was the unconscious, sodden body before him, and all he could hear was the faint, rapid heartbeats whirring below his ribs.

Every other sense was blocked with pure, unadulterated panic.

"Aqualad?" he asked hopelessly, circling around to Garth's head. He crouched and repeated the name, louder this time, vainly hoping he would stir.

Roy shifted closer, on his knees, reaching to shake the Atlantean's shoulder. It didn't help; he shook it harder, more demandingly. "Aqualad!" he barked, but a faraway thunderclap swallowed his voice.

Maybe he's just sleeping really soundly. The idea didn't soothe his pulse or mind.

Moving even closer, he tapped Garth's cheek with two fingers, gently at first but quickly becoming brisk, sharp flicks. "Aqualad," he groaned, sitting back on his heels. This wasn't normal, even for an Atlantean-turned-superhero. He should've woken up already.

"Please get up," he mumbled, resorting to begging but quickly turning to annoyance. "Fishface! Gill-head! Dolphin boy!" After a stream of random insults, he turned to derogatory terms paired with random aquatic animals, but still the dark-haired boy was unconscious.

Roy grabbed the front of Aqualad's shirt, yanking him to an upright seat. His head lolled, but Roy ignored it and put his mouth beside his ear.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP, GARTH!" he yelled, loud as he could.

A jerk made the Atlantean tense and then he was awake, violet eyes staring from close proximity into Roy's. He looked startled and then worried, but not for his own safety.

"Speedy, what's wrong?" he asked evenly, prying the archer's clenched fingers from the front of his shirt. "I was only asleep."

Roy shoved himself to his feet, awkwardly turned away from Garth, face suddenly heated. He'd forgotten, in his alarm, who he was waking up, and the curt shock of seeing those familiar, concerned eyes so close to his face was a bit much.

"Spee—"

"Well, don't fall asleep in the middle of a thunderstorm!" he snapped over one shoulder, irritated by his own stupidity. His mind raced to catch up with the abrupt turn in emotion; he felt the gears turning, groping for the point of talking to Garth and miserably coming up short. "I mean," he continued, stemming his embarrassment, "that's what we have beds for, isn't it? And at least indoors you won't get hit by lightning!"

Aqualad fidgeted, clambering to an eventual standing position. "Well, I just was lying out here and it started raining… and I fell asleep."

"In this thunderstorm?" Roy gestured toward the pitch-colored sky. He was trying not to notice how Garth's white shirt clung to his body in the rain, or how exotically angular his face looked with his hair slicked back from it, wet against his skull.

The said Atlantean shrugged. "I did come from the ocean, you know. Wet is wet. And," he said, a miffed expression crashing down onto his face, "I was only out here waiting for you to get back!"

The gears in Roy's head clicked into place. Right—Aqualad had come up with the whole pregnancy rumor, and now he needed a proper reprimand. "Well, I'm here."

Garth thought for a moment and then pushed past him, leading the way back into the building. Once again, Speedy had to tear his eyes from him—he was getting altogether too much pleasure from watching the sodden fabric move across the pale, taut shoulder blades.

Karen threw them both a disapproving look when they sloshed through the main room, but it couldn't last long; Roy could tell she was merely glad they hadn't torn each other apart yet. 'Yet,' of course, being the operative word.

They ended up in the massive bathroom on the top floor of the place, where the hallway split off into two directions; one for each gender. Both Towers had a similar facility—while the rooms were built for washing off chemicals and other toxic debris, they turned into the main bathrooms during various holiday parties after a hiatus from hardcore villains.

Garth threw Roy an entire stack of towels, landing a majority of them in the middle of a puddle one of the two had created upon traipsing into the place. Speedy, intent on changing and talking, started off the discussion.

"So," he began. "Where the hell did you get the idea that Raven was pregnant?"

Garth, towel wrapped around his head, winced. "Your conversation with her was… suspicious enough to form a theory about. It just so happens that was the possibility I ran with, and after thinking it through—er, rationalizing—it made perfect sense."

"Perfect sense," Roy repeated dimly, throwing off his shirt. Somewhere in one of the cupboards, there would be uniforms or clothing, but he didn't know where… "So you decided to tell Bee?"

He winced again. "Well… I thought she should know…"

"And it didn't occur to you that, just maybe, you should talk to me first? Or Raven, even?"

"It… No… Well…" He paused and shook his head. "It was stupid, okay? …Speedy?"

"Er—what?" The archer's attention had momentarily drifted to the mirror; a good-sized protrusion was forming on the side of his jawbone, turning an ugly bluish-black where Robin had punched him. He turned to the Atlantean, fingering the bump, jerking back when Garth was closer than he thought.

The dark-haired teen's face was incredulous. "Did someone hit you?"

Roy kept his eyes off his teammate's face as webbed fingers reached to steady his chin. Garth's skin was oddly smooth to the touch; he held back a shiver when the prince ran an examining thumb over the raised, darkened patch.

"Robin?" Aqualad said after a minute, hands dropping to the edge of his shirt. He yanked it off and treaded over to one side of the room while Roy remained still, simply nodding. "I'm really sorry," he sighed, unfolding the new shirt he'd procured from the cabinet before turned back toward Roy. "Are you mad at me?"

It was such a juvenile question, but coming from the innocent mouth of Aqualad it sounded perfectly sane. Roy, still fingering his chin, shook his head. "Not especially. I went out to lunch; that calmed me down."

"So, you were mad? At me? For the rumor?" Garth plopped himself into a tiled bench, lips pursing between each question. "I guess I can't blame you—it was rather unsubstantiated—"

"No, it's fine." He made his way to the shirt cabinet and pulled on a new one, shivering at the cold fabric.

"—and I could understand that you think I'm stupid, stereotyping you to be a playboy guy, running around and sleeping with every girl you can get your hands on—"

Roy's brow twitched lower. "Really, it's fine…"

"—without regard to who it might be or their personality. I mean, you might sleep around a bit, but you'd never go so far as to get with Raven! I mean, she's the epitome of anti-Speedy—"

"Aqualad…" That spark of anger was back.

"She's intelligent and outspoken and deep and apathetic and moody and dark and beautiful and—"

"Aqualad!"

Garth stopped short, finally looking up at the archer. He looked confused, unaware that he'd said anything out-of-line. "Hm?"

Roy wasn't sure what bothered him more: how Garth portrayed him as a shallow whore or how, as he was describing Raven, the ghost of a smile turned the corners of his lips up. Either way, he felt that crawling, aching sensation and knew that he desperately needed to hit something.

"What?" Aqualad asked again, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees.

Speedy stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. "You know what? Nevermind. I'm getting an ice pack."

Garth watched him stalk from the room, and as soon as the door closed he had the strange feeling that he'd managed to push the archer farther away by merely confessing how wrong he was.

We may not return to this Tower for a while… or perhaps we will…

Question:
From everyone I something take,
But on myself no claim I make.
Mark well my nature. If you gaze
Into my face I mock your ways:
For if you sorrow, I am sad;
But if you smile, you make me glad.
Because I tell truth from a lie,
Men call me wicked, false, and sly;
Strange saying this, but true I ween.
So I, to let it clear be seen
That truth nor honesty I lack,
Will never tell you white is black.

No hint once again, but as I said before—give me a deadline! That's the point of this, neh?

In light of my Europe trip, I feel compelled to rant about it for a paragraph or so. Thanks again to everyone wishing me a fun time! It ended up being fun, despite the not-so-amiable company-- but who needs company when you're staring down from the Eiffel Tower, or while sitting in a gondola in Venice? The food was spectacular every night, as was to be expected, and though I didn't make it to any beaches (I'm not a sun-person) it was fabulous being so close to the ocean so often. My favorite country without a doubt was Austria; both Vienna and Salzburg were just my kind of places! Our hotel in Salzburg had The Sound of Music playing 24/7-- if you remember that movie, when Maria takes the children out in their playclothes they visit a ton of random places in the city. Well, we went to nearly all of them (the horse-fish fountain she splashes, the gnomes they tap on the head, the tunnel they skip through, the steps they jump up and down while singing) and then came back to our rooms and watched the movie, pointing out "We saw that! We posed there! So-and-so tripped on those!"