I want to thank all followers of this story and I want to give a special shout-out to GaaraHinataWake for an idea I will pursue. It was the pairing that you mentioned that made sense to me so thank you! This one isnt so long so i apologize but I wanted to fit in a sweet, revealing moment for Speedy. There will be more Robin/Raven in the next chapter up by the end of this coming week. School keeps me busy, guys!

Five

Raven was as prompt as Speedy had expected and she appeared, still shaded with her dark energy, five minutes before 7:00.

"Evening, angel." He grinned and she rolled her eyes.

"My name is Raven."

"And mine's Roy."

Her amethyst eyes widened at his nonchalant reveal of identity. Robin was so private about his identity and most of his past. It wasn't just him, either. She didn't know about the pasts of her teammates, except for what they'd chosen to reveal. The only person she could say she truly knew everything about was Starfire. The alien told Raven of her life, her feelings and most of her thoughts. Raven reciprocated by revealing most of her life in a slightly censored way because Starfire had grown up but she still radiated innocence and Raven didn't want her stories to stain that. However, Speedy wasn't one to follow the unwritten rule of secrecy.

"If you're done staring, sweetheart, we have a city to patrol." He said before launching himself off the roof.

Raven gasped, flying after the archer anxiously and then feeling stupid when she saw him scaling the tower at an even pace, one of his special arrows serving as a grapple. When they reached the ground, he turned to her with his signature smirk.

"Worried about me, sweetheart?"

She flushed at her mistake.

"I was not."

"Sure." His grin said he believed otherwise. "Would you mind taking us to the north end of the city? We can move east from there."

She slowly reached out to touch his well-muscled arm and teleported them to the National Bank building at the north end of Jump City. Speedy let her take the lead, running on the rooftops as she floated along the edges, scanning the quiet streets for danger.

He was getting to her and she knew it. After a month of obvious advances with fruitless ends, Speedy was trying something new. Raven was not a materialistic girl and to reach her had to be more prudent. Yes, he could buy her a mansion or a diamond necklace with matching earrings with a snap of his fingers, but she wouldn't want that. Raven wanted the intangible things that represented truth and trust. That was why he'd told her his name. But, he wasn't done for the night. Far from it.

Apart from one museum robbery by a novice thief who tripped the alarm because he had a panic attack and collapsed, Jump city was crime-free for the night. The two Titans watched as the police took the pale robber away and lapsed into a silence Speedy ached to break. Yet, he waited for her to speak first. His patience paid off eventually when the dark sorceress looked over at him and then exhaled, releasing pent-up frustrations he guessed.

"Speedy," she began but he quickly interjected.

"Roy."

She hesitated.

"Okay… Roy, I have been trying to understand this but to no avail." She admitted.

"Understand what?"

"This." She gestured between them. "The way you feel for me. The reason behind your behavior." She paused again but then gathered her wits and asked him bluntly, "Why me?"

And all Roy could do was laugh. Her eyes narrowed as the ginger-haired man clutched his stomach and gasped between his laughter.

"It is as is suspected. You are clinically insane and in need of a doctor."

He straightened again and grinned at her last statement.

"What I'm in need of is you."

Raven's eyes widened at his confession but she couldn't formulate a response.

"Right now, I just need you to listen." He said. "My name is Roy Harper. I'm 20 years old. I was trained by Green Arrow and Black Canary but I broke away from the League four years ago. In all my life, I've only thought of myself and nothing else. My friends called me an asshole, my mentors called me an arrogant idiot, and any woman I encountered never had a chance to call my anything. I used them for an easy night and left the second I was finished with them. And I didn't give a damn because I felt happy with who I was. Speedy: the two-timing jerk with admittedly cool arrows. When I joined Titans East, I got a little better, I guess. Bumblebee was always on my case about teamwork and forgoing egoism to function as a unit and save the world. I listened to her… sort of. I tend to drown out long lectures." He shrugged unapologetically.

"I listened to Bee and to my teammates, but I was the same guy. The devil-may-care self-centered guy who fought primarily for himself and not for the people I was supposed to protect. Then… you came into my life and my world changed. My priorities shifted. I felt that I owed you purity and goodness. The parade of meaningless women stopped. The indulgent drinking I did in secret stopped. I was even doing kind things for people just because! I did it all for you, but you didn't notice, so wrapped up in Starfire's pain as you were. I made my intentions more obvious, exceedingly obvious, but that you didn't like. You preferred Aqualad's careful flattery and I was pissed because when I'd been careful, you'd overlooked me. Around that time I believed I offered you a house for only your books."

"A mansion." She whispered and he nodded.

"A mansion. And I told you that I loved you… Except when I said it, you probably got the wrong idea and were suspicious of me. I can understand that… but Raven, I do love you. I love you like I've never loved another. You ask me why? I can't give you the perfect answer. I can only tell you I love everything about who you are and what you are. You're an extraordinary woman and I've never met anyone who comes close to you."

Raven was frozen, hands clutching the railing of the building they were on like it was a lifeline. She couldn't breathe normally and her eyes felt misty. She was stunned. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Had Speedy really said so many beautiful, heart-breaking things? Who was this man, really? Where had Speedy been hiding this Roy Harper person? And why was he affecting her so much?

"I don't expect you to say anything back." He gave a resigned chuckle, a sound Raven couldn't quite connect to the fiery energy the archer usually displayed. "I want you to know everything I feel, to know all my truths so that when you make your choice, I know I did all I could."

Speedy referred to a choice between he and the Atlantian Titan because he was unaware of the more difficult choice Raven would be making, involving her masked leader and the man in front of her. She didn't consider Aqualad a match for herself, thinking that the serious telepath belonged with a joyful force and light like Starfire's. The sorceress couldn't see straight anymore and flashes of Robin amalgamated with flashes of Speedy to form a confusing jumble of thoughts and emotions.

"Roy… I had no idea." She breathed.

"I know."

"I-I'm unsure of-of everything at the moment." She was stumbling over words, a rarity in Raven, who was always sure of what she said out loud and the effect of her thoughts.

"I understand." He said softly, stepping closer to push a lock of violet hair behind her ear.

She closed her eyes at the gentle touch, but it seemed Speedy had one final card to play because when amethyst eyes opened, they met with deep azure. His mask was in his hand and his newly uncovered eyes bore into hers with a seriousness he was not known for but was frighteningly skilled at.

"You have every part of me, sweetheart. Remember that. Others might hide things from you, but I can give you everything. Everything." He repeated, touching her face again.

He breathed in her tantalizing scent of spiced vanilla with a tinge of dark rose and then stepped back, holding her gaze as he covered his blue orbs with the mask.

"Have a good night, angel." And he disappeared off the roof again except this time she didn't follow.

She couldn't. She had to be alone, had to think about what occurred. Roy would make it to the tower on his own anyway.

As Raven flew home, she realized two things. One, she didn't see Speedy as Speedy anymore but as the mature, caring man named Roy Harper. Two, when Roy mentioned others keeping things hidden from her, she'd instantly thought of Robin. And it hadn't been a pleasant thought.