Volte-Face

I think this story's theme song should be Teardrop, by Massive Attack…

Thank you… (This isn't everyone! I just accidentally deleted all the chapter ten alerts... Sorry if I missed you!)
APurpleAvacado- But it's not as dramatic if he just shoots Slade... (whines)
DL- Action/angst/romance is my forte.
zeo knight
Xment2bursX- No, no hot-slashy-makeouts yet... Damn.
Mutou Yasu
Symmetrical- It's impossible for Raven to vision something happy. That's just a fact of life...
Smellerbee- Oh, he will. Just not yet.
Desinere
Dancing through the Storm
And everyone else!!

The answer to chapter ten's question is actually C (Karen bee-ing sneaky), because that's in the next chapter. And yes, that does mean D (Starfire buying porn) is included in this chapter… You'll see.

This is actually a rather long chapter. It's 2603 words. Whoa.

Apparently I have nothing to rant about today… So let's begin!

"Where there is no imagination, there is no horror."
—A. Conan Doyle

The first thing Roy became aware of was the sound of a door sliding open and closed, and then the sound of wet feet moving across a carpet. He groaned, hating his mind for waking him but keeping the dream going—in his dream, he'd been in the ocean, and upon finding an undersea cave that resembled the Tower, a goldfish that resembled Karen had begun to chase him. It had been a boring, repetitive dream, and apparently his mind could exactly replicate the sounds of it.

He twisted onto his stomach, shoving his face into the pillow, trying to be rid of the hallucination. But it was still there; now it was the sound of drawers sliding in their cabinets and a low hum, the off-key tune of someone familiar singing.

Speedy raised himself to his forearms, sleepy eyes squinting into the annoying sunlight that washed the room in late-morning gold.

"Oh," a voice murmured, and Roy finally woke up fully enough to realize who had been humming.

He shot upright under the covers, legs tangled in a heavy comforter he didn't remember having. The mattress undulated under him with the movement and, with a grunt, he rocked off the edge of the bed.

Garth's laugh was soft and yet jarring; Roy once more attempted to sit straight, this time having a bit more luck. "Aqualad, what the hell…?"

"I didn't mean to wake you up early," the Atlantean answered, looking over his shoulder at the dismayed archer before turning back to his primary task. He was leaned over a dresser, hands rifling through what had to be some sort of clothing.

And then Roy realized, with an internal groan, that Garth was dripping wet and in a towel. He felt his face flush and mouthed a string of oaths, desperately hoping his teammate would stay facing the other direction. Roy wouldn't be able to come up with an excuse for being red, or for staring at his taught shoulders… and the lines of strength on his arms… and the muscles on his thighs that only a life underwater could explain… and really, just his thighs in general…

…oh, fuck. Roy collapsed onto the floor, head landing on a puff of blankets he'd torn from the bed. He shut his eyes with a grimace. Not good. I think he's sexy.

And then he remembered something. "Hold on. What're you doing in my room?"

"Well," Garth laughed again, "you see… The better question is, what are you doing in my room?"

That brought Roy upright once more. "What?" Vision swirling, he looked around the room, finally realizing why the mattress was a waterbed and the comforter was different. "How…" The question died on his tongue. His face went blank and, within his bundle of blankets, put a hand on his chest.

"Speedy?" Garth faced him, clothes apparently located already and hanging in the crook of his arm. The Atlantean's dark brow quirked and he stepped closer, unsure. "Are you all right?"

"No—yes, I mean, yeah… I'm fine." Roy dropped his head onto the blanket-pillow again, face submerged in sheets. For a moment, he had remembered a moment about a year ago when he'd woken in a girl's hotel room to find both the girl and himself nude. Neither of them had had recollections of anything but alcohol. To think he'd gotten drunk, and…

"How did I get here, again?" Roy asked. He was wearing clothes and he couldn't recall having anything to drink since at least a few weekends ago, but his head felt strangely heavy, his mind groggy.

"You came to get cold medicine and fell asleep before I could find it. Why, don't you remember?"

Roy mumbled something into his pillow, and then opened his eyes and lifted his head. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Garth shrugged, fiddling with the edge of his towel. "You looked sick all of yesterday. I just didn't have the heart to wake you up when I knew it'd be hard to go back to sleep."

Something that sounded like "Thanks" came from Roy as he flopped down onto the blanket. He scrunched himself up into a ball, arms holding the blankets from the inside, and he managed to get himself back onto the mattress with minimal difficulty. He wriggled toward the pillows and sighed at the comfort in the waves moving below him.

"Don't get too comfy," Garth said from across the room. "I'm force-feeding you chicken-noodle soup, at Bee's request. She was looking for you this morning; she needed something picked up from the store and, when I told her you were sick, had to go get it herself." At the sound of Roy's harrumph, Garth chuckled. "She went herself because you're sick, but because you're sick, you'll have to endure Bee's get-well-quick treatment." He kicked the bed, making it wobble. "So don't get smug."

Roy groaned, but it was quickly cut off by a hand pulling on the outermost blanket of his collection. "C'mon. I'm done getting dressed, so let's feed you."

Roy rolled over to his other side so he could face the Atlantean prince, who immediately burst into laughter at the sight of the archer in the midst of so many blankets.

"You look ridiculous."

Roy stuck out his tongue, head drooping into the pillow. "It's warm. I like your bed."

Garth smiled and tugged on the blankets again. "I'd invite you to sleep in it more often, but I'm afraid I'd have to get a new, bigger one. I like more room than a double would allow us."

"That could be arranged," Roy laughed, finally untangling himself from his coverings. As an afterthought, he grabbed the puffy comforter and draped it around his shoulders, trotting after the still-chuckling Garth.

xXx

Beast Boy plopped down without ceremony beside his team leader, green brow quirked in confusion. "Where's Raven? I can't find her."

Robin let out a sigh, putting his fork onto the plate as he pulled out his communicator. He flipped the device open and, after pressing a series of buttons, turned the display to Beast Boy. A blinking point was stationed in the middle of a strangely familiar map, obviously an indicator for Raven's location.

"Titans East?" Beast Boy hummed. "Does this have to do with the Speedy problem?"

"Speedy doesn't have a problem," Robin muttered, but his expression said otherwise. "And this is bigger than it seemed before. If anything, it's our problem." He clicked the communicator shut and set it atop the counter, moving to resume his breakfast.

"How is it bigger? Is he going to leave? Did the media find out? Bee's not—"

Robin held a hand up to silence him, head shaking slightly. "Raven had a vision. A dream, actually, so it's probably just imaginary."

"So she's at Titans East to find out if it will happen?" He paused, and then against better judgment asked, "What was her dream?"

Robin's fingers tightened around his fork; he stared at the countertop, unwilling to answer, taking deep breaths to prevent anything unwise from exiting his mouth. "I don't think she wants anyone informed of it. She said she wouldn't even tell Speedy, if at all possible—it's best to keep—"

"To keep things under wraps, I know," Beast Boy sighed, propping his elbow on the counter, letting the side of his face sink into his open palm. "Sometimes you sound like a broken record."

Without warning, the hall door slid open, hydraulics hissing it over its track. Cyborg stomped in, expression one of confusion. Starfire's slight form glided in after him; her face was oddly guilty.

"Hey, Rob," Cyborg called. The Boy Wonder looked over his shoulder. "Were you the one who told Star about Speedy?"

Robin tensed. "About Speedy? No—Starfire, do you—"

"You gave me no time for explanation," she murmured to Cyborg, passing him. She landed easily before the counter, hands clasped across her torso.

Cyborg spoke before she could. "I was talking, and she just knew. She was asking where Raven was and I told her 'Titans East, to talk to Speedy.' She was all, 'Ah, to advise him on his newfound adoration for the teammate Aqualad?' and I didn't tell her but she knew!"

Robin raised a brow; his mask quirked. "Starfire?"

"After I found out," Beast Boy interrupted, "I told Starfire about it. Maybe I shouldn't have—but dude, she would be the most understanding, right?—and so—"

"And I suggested we test the theory," Starfire said, smiling. "Beast Boy informed me that, by buying certain periodicals and giving them to Speedy, we could help him in his discovery. And so we went to buy them, and because Beast Boy did not want to buy the periodicals and cause himself shame, I did it for him. Then Beast Boy gave them to Speedy, and Speedy seems to have decided that he is not attracted to the entire male race!" She giggled, apparently satisfied with herself despite the odd looks from her teammates.

"By certain magazines," Robin said, glaring at Beast Boy, "she doesn't mean…?"

"Grade-A nude gay porn!" Beast Boy chirped. "She bought a whole stack, if you ever feel the need to—"

A quick smack from Robin silenced the changeling. "Thank you, but no. Starfire, are you… okay, with the idea of… homosexuality?"

She gave him a blank look. "Idea of what?"

"Of being gay," Beast Boy jutted in. "Of two guys getting together instead of a guy and a girl."

"Ah." She nodded, her genuine grin an obvious indication of acceptance. "Yes, of course! It was allowed on Tamaran as well as many other planets in our system, and until recently I had assumed it was actually illegal, in some sense, here on Earth—we have had to stop crowds of protestors for that reason, have we not?" Her head tilted very slightly to one side. "So it is not illegal? No punishment will be dealt to Speedy?"

"No punishment set by the law," Robin answered, "though the public might think differently. People who don't change their thinking to fit the times and the feelings of others tend to protest things like that. It's not as if being gay is illegal, just… nonconformist."

xXx

All of the laughter died in their throats when Roy and Garth stepped through the doors of the main room. A form cloaked in purple was standing by the window, looking out over the bay; she turned as soon as she heard the two enter. Her expression was reined in tightly enough to give away her anxiety, her lips pursed together in a white line.

"Raven?" both boys asked. Roy froze just inside the door, hands tightening on his blanket; Garth was at her side in a moment, but she wasn't looking at him.

She was looking at Roy. This was about Roy.

"Speedy," she said quietly, so that Garth nearly questioned whether she had spoken at all. "I need to talk to him, Garth."

"By all means," he answered, stepping aside with narrowed eyes. He watched from across the room as the blood drained out of Roy's face, as his eyes went wide enough so that a white rim was visible all the way around his iris.

xXx

She had led Roy to his room and taken residence of his desk, leaving him to sit on the bed. She didn't speak for nearly a full minute; Roy wondered if that was because she wanted him to talk first, or simply because she didn't know what to say.

"You want to know why I'm here," she finally said in a tone that only increased his nervousness.

But he nodded, trying to keep his expression neutral. "You said we would meet today, but said nothing about the morning—and what's wrong? What happened? You aren't… Raven-y."

"Raven-y." She laughed, but it sounded tense and wrong. "I need to ask you some things and you can't ask me why, or give me vague answers. All right?"

"Is this about Aqualad?"

She frowned. "I said, you can't ask me why."

"Is this about Aqualad?" he repeated. "Did something happen? Something did happen, or else you would've waited until this afternoon. So tell me."

"If you didn't get your way, would you leave the team?"

"I… no. No, that'd be stupid." He put his elbows on his knees. "Does. This. Have to do. With. Aqualad?"

"If you didn't get Aqualad, would you leave the team?"

The question made Roy's stomach tingle. "No. I mean, I'm not really expecting… I don't think that'll… no, it… No." He chuckled. "No. I wouldn't leave."

She sighed, swallowed. "Would you ever turn on the team?"

"What is this, some psych-out dating strategy?" Roy yawned and wrapped the blanket around him tighter. "I wouldn't turn on the team. The team literally is my life—where would I be without a dominatrix like Bee? Where would I get my daily dose of Spanish? Nope—this team or bust. That's it."

"Would you ever shoot Garth?"

Roy's expression clouded; he didn't know how to respond. "Is that… Are you seriously asking me that?" He blinked. "I mean, of course I wouldn't, but… Raven, what hap—oh." He jerked his gaze to hers. "Oh, god. Raven, did you have a vision?"

She winced. It was only the slightest movement, but Roy's trained eye caught it, and understood what it meant.

"Oh, fuck." He stood, hesitating before taking long strides toward the back of his room. He stopped when he reached a wall and then spun, hands in fists, entire body quivering. "Shit, Raven, shit. You… no! You couldn't have seen that! I'm not going to shoot him—I won't betray my team! No!" He swallowed, suddenly out of breath. "I… I don't… Raven, what did you see?"

She shook her head, eyes trailing the floor. "I can't tell y—"

"Goddammit, tell me!" He turned back to the wall, grabbed the glass of water sitting on his nightstand and hurled it across the room, watching it smash against the opposite wall. "I'm not a fucking traitor!"

"I can't. I wish I could, but I can't tell you."

"Why the fuck not? I have to—"

The door opened and Garth appeared, looking slightly winded. "I heard a crash," he muttered as Karen showed up beside him, dripping wet and in a bathrobe.

"Raven?" Karen asked. "You're here?"

"I should be leaving now, actually," she answered, standing stiffly.

But Roy caught her elbow, jerking her back half a step. "I won't do it," he hissed. "I'll chain myself to the Tower—tell me what happened and I'll stop it!"

Raven pulled away and didn't look at him. She passed the other two Titans without a word; Karen followed her down the hallway.

Roy sat on his mattress, head in his hands, breath coming unevenly through gritted teeth. He heard the door close and felt a pressure beside him on the bed.

"What was that about?" Garth asked gently.

Roy could only shake his head. Half of him wanted to take advantage of the Atlantean's kindness, to have him as close as possible while it lasted—before whatever betrayal Raven had foreseen occurred. The other half wanted to shut the man out, to yell and scream and kick and tell him to never come close again, because when he did, Roy would invariably hurt him.

"Speedy…?"

Taking a long breath, Roy met the Atlantean's eyes and gave a clipped smile. "Nothing, don't worry about it." Even though I might kill you. "Now, about that chicken-noodle soup…"

A Man Owned will be updated sometime before tomorrow night…

Question: You come to a fork in the road while you're traveling. To one side is the City of Lies, to the other is the City of Truth… but you don't know which way is which. There is a man standing on one side of the fork, but you don't know which city he's from. You can ask him only one question. What do you ask him?